around the world in seven months by charles j. gillis printed for private distribution copyright, 1891 by charles j. gillis the knickerbocker press, new york printed and bound by g. p. putnam's sons with the compliments of the author contents chapter page i.--yokohama 1 ii.--yokohama 8 iii.--tokio 14 iv.--nikko 19 v.--miynoskita 22 vi.--kobé 27 vii.--osaka 31 viii.--hong-kong 33 ix.--canton 39 x.--hong-kong 46 xi.--singapore 51 xii.--on board the "kaisar-i-hand" 57 xiii.--colombo 61 xiv.--newava eliya 66 xv.--on board the "rohilla" 70 xvi.--calcutta 76 xvii.--darjeeling 81 xviii.--benares 85 xix.--lucknow 90 xx.--cawnpore 93 xxi.--agra 95 xxii.--delhi 99 xxiii.--jeypore 105 xxiv.--bombay 111 xxv.--on board the "khedive" 115 xxvi.--through the suez canal 119 xxvii.--cairo and the pyramids 123 xxviii.--jaffa 132 xxix.--ramleh 134 xxx.--jerusalem 136 xxxi.--jaffa 140 xxxii.--on board the "poccir" 142 xxxiii.--constantinople 147 xxxiv.--conclusion 154 distances travelled 158 around the world in seven months. chapter i. yokohama. yokohama, japan, oct. 10, 1889. at 9.50 a.m., on the morning of the 8th of september i went aboard the vestibule train of the new york central & hudson river railroad, at forty-second street, new york; and having travelled on the principal railroads around the world, i can truly say that no train which has ever carried me has approached this one in luxurious ease, comfort, and safety. the train rolled into the chicago depot at 9.50 the next morning--exactly twenty-four hours. i was detained in chicago for two days, and then left by the rock island route for san francisco. at ogden, we were detained two days by the burning of a bridge built over a ravine--one hundred feet long and about the same height. the fire destroyed the massive snow-sheds and great trees for a long distance. the fire took place friday. telegrams were sent to sacramento, and the next day word came that twenty-one car loads of material had been sent with mechanics to erect a new bridge. the new bridge was erected in four days. our train was the first to pass over it, and i remarked how substantially the new erection had been constructed. we reached the summit at noon, and the palace hotel, san francisco, at midnight. on the 21st of september we went aboard the steamer _rio-de-janeiro_, built for the southern trade--370 feet long, 38 feet wide, 3,500 tons--six tubular boilers, each 13 feet diameter, 10-1/2 feet long. i remarked what heavy consumers of coal such shaped boilers must be, and the engineer said there was no room to put in any other kind. i found myself the sole occupant of a large and well ventilated state-room. at 3 p.m., captain ward, standing on the bridge, gave the signal, and the voice of an officer sang out, "all ashore that's going." several hundreds of chinese men and a dozen women, in showy dresses, crowded the wharf. the friends of the missionaries on the wharf sang a parting hymn. the big propeller started. a tug pulled the ship's bow around, and away we went on our voyage of 4,700 miles across the pacific. we passed the golden gate and the seal islands--covered with huge seals--and then on towards our destination. i soon made the acquaintance of most of the passengers, forty-five in number--including fourteen missionaries of the presbyterian board, nice young people going out to their duties in china and japan. i took my seat at the dining-table, and found that i had at my right an agreeable companion, a captain in the german army, and at the left a charming miss of ten, bessie, daughter of j. de romero, secretary of the spanish legation to china. the first week out was a rough one. the weather was bad, and the ship rolled fearfully, so that we could not walk on deck. the waves were immense, and consequently nearly every one was sick. i felt a little nausea for a couple of days, but soon did duty regularly at the fine feast placed before us three times a day, the specialty being splendid california fruits--peaches, plums, grapes, and oranges, any of which would bring a prize in an agricultural show. day after day the tireless engine drove the propeller. the splendid ship rushed on and on, not a moment's stop the entire distance. not a sail or a steamer seen from port to port, and not even a whale. once some porpoises and flying-fish, and once, when a thousand miles from land, a land-hawk lighted on the cross-trees, and proceeded leisurely to feast on a captured bird, and during the night flew away. the never-ending water was very impressive in its desolation. better weather came, the ship was steady, and we could walk on deck. my little friend and i romped along the deck from end to end in safety, but once a rude wave threw us down, and dashed us against the sides of the vessel, taking off some inches of skin from me, but the child was unhurt, and i did not mind a little thing like that. i had early made the acquaintance of mr. mathews, the chief engineer, and once went into the hold and inspected the boilers and machinery of the huge ship. i spent a good deal of time in the chief engineer's room, listening to strange tales of ship and shore. on the 9th inst., as we were approaching our destination, i was shown an engrossed resolution complimenting the captain, beautifully illustrated with a pen-and-ink sketch of the ship by señor romero. after dinner, one of the passengers was selected to make the presentation address. he said: "ladies and gentlemen, fellow-passengers by the good ship _rio-de-janeiro_: i act with pleasure as chairman on this auspicious occasion, and congratulate you on the near termination of our long trip across the great pacific ocean, rendered safe by the skill of the navigators and pleasant by the efforts of the officers, one and all. i have been many times across many seas, sometimes in magnificent floating palaces, but never on one so neat and clean, and where every detail has been so carefully attended to. "'o'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea, our thoughts as boundless and our souls as free, far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam, survey our empire and behold our home.' "our only home indeed for a brief period of time. but who can fail to remember the pleasant acquaintances made, even if we go around the world? for 'they that go down to the sea in ships; that do business in great waters; these see the works of the lord, and his wonders in the deep.' even if we look upon the lofty himalayas, the alps, the apennines, and the juras, and linger about gigantic mont blanc and her white-robed sisters, or the beautiful jungfrau, or sail along the classic shores of the blue mediterranean,--wherever we go, and whatever we see, the scenes on this good ship will be photographed, as it were, on our memories as long as we live--the romps on the deck, perchance with a charming miss; or the tramp, tramp with military regularity with those of mature age; the hours of looking upon the moonlit sea, listening to the song and music of our missionary friends. god bless them and their cause! "the temporary annoyance of sea-sickness will be forgotten. and now, fellow-passengers and friends, let us resolve that, like the passion-flower of the wilderness, which always bears within its bosom the true cross, we will bear within our bosom the true cross of 'enmity towards none, charity and goodwill for all,' and thus we shall be an honor to ourselves, the dear ones at home, the country we came from, and our god. "captain ward, by directions of the passengers on this ship, permit me to present to you an engrossed resolution, signed by all of us, and beautifully illustrated by señor romero, and expressing the hope--which has been so often said before on like occasions--that your voyage through life may be as safe and pleasant as you have made ours. i bid you farewell." the captain made a suitable reply, and the company all stood up and drank his health. one more night on the ship; and the next morning we sighted land and passed along near it for forty miles. it was a rough country, evidently of volcanic formation, and not so thickly populated as i expected to see, considering that there are thirty-eight million people in japan. at last we cast anchor in the splendid harbor of yokohama, one of the most commodious and beautiful in the world, where a tug took us off the ship. we were detained an hour or two at the custom-house, and then each took a _jinrickisha_, a low, two-wheeled chaise with a man between the shafts, who trotted up to the "grand," the most perfect of hotels. we went directly to our rooms, which had been previously engaged. chapter ii. yokohama. yokohama, oct. 12, 1889. the grand hotel, where i am located, is very large and first-class in all respects. it is two hundred feet long, fronting the matchless bay, with an extension along a canal of two hundred feet. from the room i occupy, i look down upon the canal and a fine bridge which spans it. across this bridge goes a constant procession of men, women, and children, some horses and carriages, and occasionally a single ox drawing a cart. but every thing looks so different, and is managed so differently from what one has been accustomed to, that i am more and more impressed with the idea that i am no longer in this world, but in some wonderland beyond the stars. the view of the bay from the front of the hotel is said to be, by some, the finest in the world. the harbor is very large, and could float all the navies of all nations. at anchor, in different directions, are iron-clad war-ships, english, french, german, italian, russian, and japanese,--only one showing the stars and stripes, the _st. mary_, an old side-wheel boat, about as large as a brooklyn ferry-boat, and of course about as useless. one of the naval vessels flying the british flag is an immense iron-clad of six thousand tons. with the commander, captain may, i became acquainted. he has on board an armstrong gun of one hundred and twenty tons, the largest i think ever made, which will throw a bolt of half a ton a dozen miles, and penetrate through a wrought-iron plate twelve inches thick. the captain expressed himself as having serious doubt of the efficiency of such monster ships and guns in actual warfare, as smaller, swifter crafts could run around them, and have great advantages in that respect. most of the coal used in this part of the world comes from england, and is consequently very high-priced. the harbor is crowded with many large passenger steamers, and a great fleet of fishing craft. towards evening the latter presented a beautiful appearance, coming in. i took a short walk beyond the canal and over steep hills. there are few horses or oxen to be seen. most of the transportation is done by men. a two-wheeled cart, loaded with perhaps five hundred brick, was being pushed up a steep hill by eight men, who rested often and were much fatigued by their exertions. last evening our party started for a moonlight excursion along the smooth and finely macadam-paved streets of the city. under the guidance of one of our number, _jinrickishas_--the national cab for transporting light packages and passengers--were called, the translation of this word is _pullman-car_, and thus we have the extraordinary coincidence of the same name for a crude vehicle, drawn by a man, and for the splendid pullman palace cars of america, which, with the wagner, so far surpass in elegance and comfort all others. away we went at a tremendous pace, each having a chinese lantern, my carriage leading. we passed through well-lighted streets, lined with stores filled with showy goods, into the suburbs, a mile or two away, and stopped at a tea-house, where we were received with much bowing and ceremony by the women in charge, who spoke a little english. we were shown up a narrow stair-way into a small hall, and a bargain was made for a national performance by two musicians and ten dancing girls, who presently appeared, draped in beautiful japanese costumes. these dancing girls were all very pretty, with their almond eyes and dark skins, and apparently not more than twelve or fifteen years old. they were the most jolly and laughing young women one ever saw. they shook hands with all the company, and then danced very nicely, to very poor music, in their swaying robes. at a signal, these robes were thrown aside, and the girls appeared in long loose dresses made of white and red material, much like the stripes on the american flag. the dancing, which was very graceful, continued for some time; but the show became somewhat monotonous. the ladies did not care to see any thing more, and we came away. again we took to the road, making a very unique procession by moonlight--passing over many bridges and boulevards, and rows upon rows of brilliantly illuminated tea-houses,--and returned to the hotel. the natives do not wear european clothing as much as i expected. the upper part of their persons is covered with a loose sack, often open in front, and the jolly and laughing children of ten years and under are generally entirely nude. this morning all hands took another trip through the markets. we examined cane factories, and stores filled with silks and beautiful goods of native manufacture. again we looked upon the street scenes and their never-ending wonders. from my bedroom window i see a large factory for the making of ice, which is sold at a penny a pound and is the greatest of comforts in this country. butter and cigars are so strong and bad that i have left off the use of them, and do not expect to try them again until i get to austria; but soda-water of excellent quality is to be had everywhere, and is a great comfort. we spent the evening listening to the splendid japanese marine band which played lovely music for two hours in front of the hotel; all the musicians were natives. it was gayly bright at the hotel, the entire front being illuminated by paper lanterns of various colors; the big ships in the bay shown by their own numerous lamps, and the light of the full moon glittering upon the moving waters. i have seen no such beautiful show since 1887, when, at the city of florence, i witnessed great festivities attendant upon the unveiling of a statue to an italian patriot; the great dome of the cathedral, the bridges, and the boats on the river arno, the palaces on the hills, and the whole beautiful city being illuminated in the most splendid manner--but this is a digression and i must write now about japan. i have to-day wandered about the city alone, and have seen more of the well-to-do natives. these are better dressed--always the flowing dressing-gown pattern, and stilted and inconvenient slipper-like shoes. everywhere, the babies are carried in bags, on the backs of their mothers, or more often by the older children. there are great numbers of babies to be seen all over the city, carried about in this way, and they always appear very happy, well fed, and comfortable. this morning at two o'clock i was awakened by an earthquake which rolled my bed about the room. it lasted twenty seconds or so, but i did not think it worth while to get up, and soon went off to sleep again. i am told such entertainments are frequent in this country, and one must get used to them. chapter iii. tokio. tokio, japan, oct. 15, 1889. after being entertained at yokohama, on the morning of the 14th instant, with a slight earthquake, we left for this, the capital city of the empire, on a finely built and equipped, narrow-gauge (3 ft. 6 in.) railroad. every square yard of the country we traversed was cultivated in the highest degree--distance eighteen miles, time one hour. i noticed that the locomotives, cars, and all the equipments about the railroad were of english manufacture from manchester and birmingham. i was informed that most of the twelve hundred miles of railroads in japan were owned and run by the government. the chief in charge is a native educated in england, who scouted the idea that any other country could produce any thing fit to be used on railroads. we had previously engaged rooms at one of the two hotels in the city, where foreigners are entertained, and after an excellent dinner, took _jinrickishas_, of which there are 80,000 in this city, and had a long run through the interminable streets. the city has a population of 1,600,000 and covers a space of thirty-six square miles, the streets being very narrow and the houses mostly of wood, one and two stories high--the stores all small. after passing through streets for some miles, we came to others, wider and lighted brilliantly by gas and electricity, through which carriages were not allowed to pass. the houses, for miles, were occupied as tea-houses, and were brilliantly illuminated, like the gin palaces of london, or the whiskey saloons of america. great vans were passing along, on which dancing and theatrical performances were going on. there were also a good many theatres in active operation. one of the evenings that we were in the city, these streets were occupied by an immense annual flower show, one of the features of which was a big elephant constructed of chrysanthemum flowers of many colors. the effect was very gorgeous. the next day we spent going about the great city and seeing its wonders, chief of which is the mikado's palace and grounds. i called on the american minister and asked him to get me a permit to go into the palace, but he said it was impossible, no foreigners being allowed in the palace or the grounds. the palace and gardens looked like immense fortifications, being surrounded by three moats, each a hundred feet wide, and filled with water, and by three stone walls, each thirty or forty feet high. the palace is in the heart of the city, and i should say the grounds were two hundred acres in extent, all, including the neighboring streets, being lighted by the new york edison company. i saw the superintendent who had charge of the construction of the plant, who said it took them a year to do it. the women to be seen in the streets and tea-houses are invariably small and very pretty, except some of the married ones, who have their teeth colored black in accordance with an ancient custom, which makes them look hideous. it is very cool in this part of japan at this season. there is not sufficient frost to affect the crops, but one gets cold riding about--and there is no efficient method of heating the houses. there is no coal used for domestic purposes, and wood is very scarce and high. if you ask for a fire, at most hotels, they bring you a copper pan containing ignited charcoal covered with ashes, which does about as much good as a kerosene lamp. i suffer greatly with the cold, and would be glad to pay a large price for a pair of arctic overshoes. the price of newspapers, printed in the english language, at yokohama is twenty-five cents a copy, or thirty dollars per annum. they have very little news, and almost none from america. we went through the museum, and saw many extraordinary curiosities of ancient and modern japan. among them was a stuffed rooster in a glass case, whose tail feathers were ten feet long. i thought there was some humbug about it, but i afterwards saw a live one with tail feathers twelve feet long. the public buildings are modern, large, and handsome, and the people very polite and good-natured. the streets are narrow. great crowds are everywhere. it seems to me that i must have seen a hundred thousand people to-day. every thing about the city is strange, often disagreeable and offensive. a couple of days in it is quite sufficient, and i shall be very glad to go away to-morrow. chapter iv. nikko. nikko, japan, oct. 20, 1889. we left tokio on the 17th, at 6.46 a.m., for a station called utsumorama, ninety-three miles. arrived at noon, and, after an excellent lunch, started in _jinrickishas_ for this place, and a most extraordinary and unique trip it proved to be. the road was built hundreds of years ago by a shinto king, and is an admirable example of engineering; well drained, and with an excellent foundation of small stones, which needed only a top-dressing and a steam roller to make it as good as any in europe. it is lined on both sides with immense pine and cedar trees. many of these trees are twelve feet in diameter; and often the roots are grown together, so that four or five trees look like one. they are sixty to eighty feet high, and afford an excellent shade. the distance from the railway station to this place is twenty-five miles, and we made it in four hours with two men harnessed to the _jinrickishas_ tandem. we made only one stop of half an hour for lunch, which we brought with us, and ate at one of the numerous tea-houses. we arrived at 4 p.m., delighted at the wonderful sights, but much fatigued and very cold. rooms had been engaged for us in an excellent hotel, excellent in all respects except that there was no way of heating, unless with pans of charcoal. i suffered greatly from the cold, though i had warm clothing, including a heavy overcoat which had done me good service the previous winter at montreal when the thermometer stood at thirty degrees below zero. near the hotel are a dozen, or more, costly and grotesque edifices, much adorned with carved wood statues of horrible-looking beasts and devils, covered with bronze and gold. there are temples of buddha, and gorgeous mausoleums of kings who died five hundred years ago, situated in a park of big trees; but looking at them, though interesting, was not agreeable, and i was quite satisfied with one visit. to-day we made an excursion to a lake among the mountains, five thousand feet high. i was furnished with a mountain horse which proved an ugly brute; kicked and stumbled, and put the bit between his teeth, so that i could not control him, and he nearly trotted the life out of me. we went up and along the winding paths, passing numerous water-falls, one of which was 750 feet high, and at last reached the lake, which is of great beauty. the mountains rise directly from the water's edge. they are covered to their very tops with green trees, the leaves of which have a singular feathery appearance. the tea-houses where we stopped for lunch were models of cleanliness and comfort. we brought our own provisions as usual, but had in addition a boiled fish just taken from the lake. we stopped in and around the tea-houses for some hours; and then i mounted my ugly brute of a horse and rode back to the hotel, a much used-up man. i was glad to get a bath and to retire early. we returned to the railway station by the road we came, and again made the distance in four hours, with only one stop of fifteen minutes. chapter v. miynoskita. miynoskita, japan, oct. 24, 1889. yesterday at 10 a.m. we left yokohama, arrived at the railroad station at twelve, and reached this favorite watering-place, among the mountains, in four hours by _jinrickishas_. our rooms had been engaged in an excellent hotel, called fujiya, and soon after our arrival a fine dinner was served of soup, fish, roast beef, sago pudding, and other delicacies, to which we did ample justice. the waitresses were all pretty native girls, dressed in their native costumes; there were a dozen, or more, of them about the hotel. these waitresses were pleasant, jolly, and very polite, but very small in stature; some of them walked under my outstretched arm, and all of them might have done so. i have a fine front room, and look out upon the surrounding mountains, which are very lofty and covered with green trees. this is an ideal mountain resort--great mountains, a roaring river winding some hundreds of feet below the road, and numerous water-falls; the water rushing down into the river. from one point of view i counted seven water-falls, and found, on trial, that one of them came from a hot spring far up among the mountains, and the water was quite warm when it reached the road. i walked along the road for several miles and found it wonderfully romantic everywhere. the road itself is a fine specimen of engineering, very expensive to build, and almost as good as the famous one built by napoleon iii., from geneva to chamouni. we are here rather too late in the season to thoroughly enjoy the place and surroundings, it being cold and the methods of heating houses imperfect, but in summer it must be perfectly lovely. there is another hotel being erected near the one we are in, and i was much interested watching their method of work. they required a lot of earth for filling in, and were transporting it in baskets from the mountains above. two men would fill a basket, suspend it across their shoulders by a bamboo pole, dump it where wanted, and return for more. i longed to present them with a wheelbarrow, and show them how to move earth ten times faster than they were doing. it would appear that there are no saw-mills in this country, for the men were sawing out boards and timber by hand, to use in the construction of this hotel. a stick of timber a foot or two in diameter was arranged with one end resting on the ground, and the other placed on a wooden horse four or five feet high; a man then mounted the stick and laboriously sawed out boards with a hand-saw. the workmen had no clothing on except a breech cloth, and were all doing constant and faithful service for, as we were informed, ten hours a day; the pay being ten cents per day. for similar service in our country, as every one knows, mechanics are paid from $2.50 to $3.50 per day. we left the hotel at nine this morning, and took a trip among the mountains to lake hakone. i selected my horse this time, and he proved an excellent animal, a small shaggy fellow, kind and easy trotting, but much given to stumbling and letting both heels fly if another horse came near, which little amusement of his nearly unseated me several times. we went up six thousand feet over the worst of mountain roads, but my animal walked carefully, often along narrow paths, where a fall would have tumbled us down hundreds of feet below. i enjoyed the ride very much. it took six horses and seven chairs to accommodate our party, each horse having a man to attend to him, and each chair carried by four men, making a large procession. we arrived in two or three hours at an hotel on the lake, and after an excellent lunch took boats and crossed over to near the foot of fusiyama, the horses and men going around to meet us. fusiyama is the brag mountain of japan, the only one of much size in the empire, and is universally known and photographed in all possible ways. it is fourteen thousand feet high, and is, as i write, covered with snow, and presents a beautiful appearance from the lake. we landed and walked over the mountains to the place where the horses had been sent. the sun was terribly hot in some places, and in others the only path was along the bed of dry brooks. we passed over the crater of an active volcano, steam and smoke rushing out near the path. the guide said it was dangerous to wander from the path, and pointed out where two native guides had fallen through and had not been seen since. there was no wandering after this fact was stated. after two or three hours of dreadful fatigue, we found our horses, and i was very glad to mount my shaggy old fellow, who carried me safely over slippery rocks, along narrow paths, and a road (where there was any) as bad as a road could be, arriving at the hotel at six, much fatigued, but in good form and ready for the excellent dinner which was waiting our arrival. after thoroughly enjoying this delightful spot for two days, we started down the mountain road in the morning and came along in _jinrickishas_ at a tremendous pace, making the distance--fourteen and one half miles--to the railroad in two hours. we reached yokohama at 7 p.m., in season for a fine dinner. chapter vi. kobé. kobé, japan, nov. 7, 1889. on the 2d inst. we left yokohama by the japanese steamer _omi mars_, captain island vrise. during the afternoon we passed an island on which is a volcano in eruption. it is 2,550 feet high, and was a pretty sight as seen from the steamer. we arrived at this fine city at 5 p.m., and were soon in comfortable quarters at an excellent hotel, and, as it was very cold, i had a grate fire in my room, which i enjoyed very much. the city is beautifully situated near the shore with great mountains for a background, and the harbor is very fine. as usual, big steamers and crafts of all kinds were to be seen, representing england, france, italy, russia, and other countries--but stars and stripes there were none. we left on the 4th by rail for kioto, arriving there at 5 p.m., at a really splendid hotel, as fine as any in europe. the city is a very old one, and one of the largest and most interesting in japan; great numbers of temples and palaces, and, in and around it, most lovely scenery. some of the temples were erected seven hundred years ago. in the evening i went with a party and called on the american missionaries, who were holding a monthly meeting at one of their houses. they have a large college building, and all seem greatly interested in their work. the next morning we started early to make the famous oigawa rapids excursion. the entire party, except two ladies, went in _jinrickishas_, over bad roads and through immense fields of rice, vegetables, and tea-plants, up and along a rough mountain road. once my cooly's carelessness tipped me over, but, as good luck would have it, toward the cliff and not into the rushing river, and no harm was done. we had to leave the vehicles several times, the road having been badly washed out a month ago by a big typhoon, which caused floods and great disasters all over the island. some thousands of lives were lost, and there was great destruction of property. we stopped once to rest, and then went through fields for a mile or two to the river hodza, where we took three flat-bottomed boats, manned by three boatmen each, and passed down over numerous rapids, and through what in california would be called a cañon--mountains from two thousand to three thousand feet high, clothed with verdure to their tops. the river is from two hundred to three hundred feet wide and full of rocks, and was really, it appeared to me, very dangerous; but the boatmen were skilful, and we did the distance, seven miles, in one and one half hours. we had lunch at a tea-house, and returned by another route to the city, passing through other fields and seeing an immense number of children everywhere. we arrived at the hotel at 5 p.m., the excursion being pronounced by all to have been the most interesting we had enjoyed in japan. on the 6th inst. we left the city at 9 a.m. in _jinrickishas_, and passed along a splendid wide national road for seven miles, to lake viwa. we met great crowds of people on foot coming to the city, and numerous trucks loaded with stone, timber, rice, and vegetables. occasionally a single bullock would be drawing the vehicles, but generally this was done by two or four men. we met two processions of ten trucks, each loaded with stone. the trucks were drawn by prisoners, with a soldier to guard each truck. the prisoners were comfortable-looking, and appeared as jolly as any of the travellers. they were building a canal from the lake to kioto, nine miles long, four miles of which they said was a tunnel. i examined a part of it, and found it to be of excellent construction. we arrived at the lake at noon. after lunch we went aboard a small steamer, and proceeded to a point where there was a famous temple, and landed. but looking at temples in this country has become monotonous, and i spent my time sitting under a wonderful pine tree, which is feet eight in diameter, with limbs trained out for fifty feet horizontally each way. we steamed around the lake for an hour or two, and returned by the same road we went, reaching the hotel at six. i found a good fire in a stove in my room, which was very acceptable. chapter vii. osaka. osaka, nov. 8, 1889. we left kioto at 10 a.m. this morning by rail, and arrived in this remarkable city at 11.15. it is a most interesting place, having a large number of canals and bridges, in which respect it resembles venice more than any other city. it is the second city in size and importance in the empire, having about a million and a half of inhabitants, and numerous industries, such as cotton factories, etc.; also the imperial mint, which we visited. the machinery of this mint was all made in france--with one or two exceptions, of english make--and is very fine. this is the most exclusively native city we have visited, there being only seven resident foreigners, and only one american, from charlestown, mass., who is here for two years to superintend the erection of a brush factory. there are numerous large boats constantly passing through the canals, heavily loaded with cotton and all kinds of goods, showing an extensive commerce. toward evening i took a walk across a long bridge, and rested myself on a seat in a small park overlooking the river; but the people stopped their work to look at me to such an extent as to make it disagreeable, and i returned to the hotel. the next morning we returned to our old quarters in the hotel at kobé. chapter viii. hong-kong. hong-kong, nov. 18, 1889. leaving kobé on the evening of the 8th, by the peninsular and oriental steamer _ancona_, we arrived here at seven this evening. this line of steamers has the contract for transporting the english mails all over the eastern waters, including australia, japan, and china, and has in commission fifty-four vessels, some of them of 6,000 tons, representing 7,000 horse-power. on the 14th and 15th we were steaming through the famous inland sea, the beauty of which could hardly be exaggerated by a writer of a poetical turn of mind,--passing between nipon, a large island, on one side, and many hundred smaller ones on the other. the channel would often be near the shores, where we could see the villages and cultivated land. the islands being volcanic, were in all sorts of fantastic shapes; one called the asses'-ears was very funny-looking. the water is very clear and blue, the islands largely cultivated and clothed with green to the summits of their mountains. on the morning of the 15th, the steamer dropped her anchor at nagasaki, and we all went ashore sight-seeing and shopping. we rode about through long streets, and called at several factories and stores; among others, at a place where was made a variety of shell-work, which was very pretty. i made some purchases. the owner of the place spoke english, and i recommended him to send an exhibition of his goods to the fair which was expected to be opened in new york in 1892, and he astonished me by asking what country new york was in? but life being too short for me to teach him the rudiments of geography, i paid for my purchase, and came away. we went to see more temples. in the grounds near one of them were two small trees and on a stone near it was engraved, "planted by mr. and mrs. gen. grant, 1879." we had an excellent lunch at the hotel bellevue, took another trip around the city, and came back to the ship at 6 p.m. the harbor is one of great beauty, nearly landlocked, and surrounded by hills covered with verdure. it was crowded with ships, three russian men-of-war, one american, and several english. nothing could have been more lovely than the trip from nagasaki to this port--the sea as smooth as a pond, weather warm, and every thing quite agreeable and comfortable. we came up the bay last evening between four and six. it was a splendid show. one of the finest harbors in the world, eleven miles long and from two to five wide. the islands and mountains covered with verdure. the island of hong-kong was taken possession of by the british after the war with china in 1842, and now has a population of one hundred and forty thousand. we left the steamer after dark in a tug, and had a fine view of the city of victoria; the streets and buildings covering the hills for a long distance, and the vessels in the harbor being brilliantly lighted, presented a splendid appearance as we approached. we soon took possession of rooms previously engaged at the hong-kong hotel, and found it to be in all respects first-class, including an otis elevator furnished by their london house. the waiters are all chinese, tall and good-looking, and dressed in long blue night-gowns or frocks. this city surpasses gibraltar in the number of nationalities one sees in the streets; every nation on earth appearing to be represented, and i am much interested in looking at them as they pass. the policemen are a sight--tall, black fellows from the malay peninsula. their uniform is the same as worn by those in new york, except a large red turban, which gives them a very imposing appearance. passing for a mile or so alongside the water front between 5 and 6 p.m. i found that hundreds of boats had returned from fishing, or other business, and were tied to the piers, bows on, giving me a chance to see this phase of chinese life, which had always interested me when reading about it. they were all having their suppers,--a family of ten, sitting in a circle with a big bowl of food, apparently rice, in the centre. each person had a small bowl, which was often replenished, and the food eaten with chopsticks. the boat was their home, their sole residence. in one case a small boy was eating and his mother was boxing his ears very roughly. except the children, no one paid any attention to me; this being an english city the people are accustomed to foreigners. one morning we called _jinrickishas_ and went on a ten minutes' trip to the foot of the mountains, which are back of the city, and there entered a cable tramway car, which took us up a very steep incline, a mile or so, to a station, and then we took sedan chairs and continued our trip to the top of mount victoria, 1,825 feet high. from there we looked down upon the bay, the city, many islands, and the mainland of china on the opposite shores--a scene of unsurpassed magnificence. the big steamers in the beautiful bay looked like canoes on the calm waters of an inland lake. the island is a series of mountains, over, around, and through which are built splendid roads, near which are many beautiful residences, where the governor and wealthy people reside. we looked about for a couple of hours and then took the tramway down. some of the more timid of the party preferred to come all the way down in the sedans, and said they had a delightful trip. the sedan i was in was carried by two men, who were very picturesque, their bronze bodies shining in the sun. their bare feet pressed the ground with a sure tread. sometimes i have seen a sedan carried by four men with white trousers and red sacks, their heads covered by large bamboo hats, and altogether presenting a very attractive appearance. the thermometer on the top of mount victoria registered only sixty-five degrees, but i never felt such heat in july at home. however, when in japan i suffered so much from cold weather that i am quite glad to have some of the other kind now. chapter ix. canton. canton, china, nov. 21, 1889. from hong-kong we sailed on the 21st inst. at 8 a.m., for this city, by the fine english steamer _hankow_, captain lloyd, and arrived at 2.30 p.m. there being but one hotel here, the oriental, and that a very poor one at that, we made use of the english passenger boats as hotels during our stay, and found them excellent in all ways; large, clean rooms and table very fine, including all kinds of wines and beer furnished gratis, and wood-cock, and snipe every day. leaving the beautiful harbor of hong-kong, with its immense fortifications, we passed into the canton river, a mile or two wide for many miles from its mouth, and having high mountains on each side, covered with green trees and grass. there were great fortifications all along, armed with big krupp guns. we saw large numbers of the national boats, called _sampans_, and many village, houses, and tents. as we approached canton the river narrowed to about a thousand feet, and i was able to closely observe the country. banana trees lined the shores for many miles, sugar-cane and rice fields stretched as far as i could see. scattered all along the country and in the city big brick buildings one hundred feet square and six stories high were very prominent. these were pawnbrokers' establishments. as we approached the city, the largest building seen was a catholic cathedral, with two great towers; a splendid edifice, but not yet finished. we had an excellent lunch on the steamer, and then went in sedan chairs to call on mr. charles seymour, the united states consul, and his wife. after being kindly entertained in their beautiful residence, we returned to the boat, and spent the remainder of the day and evening watching the wonderful life on the river. there was a ferry-house near, and i learned that the cost of ferrying across the river was one fifth of a cent, and that a howling swell could have a boat alone for one and a half cents. after a good dinner at seven, and a good night's sleep, we all took sedan chairs, three men to each chair, the conductor ahead with the native guide, ah cum, a fine-looking chinese gentleman with finger nails two inches long, and the entire day was spent in sight-seeing. all the streets of the city are from four to ten feet wide, no sidewalks, and are paved with granite blocks a foot wide and six feet long. the houses all have shops in front. we did not see one private house in the city outside of the foreign settlements. the buildings are mostly two stories high, built of brick, and the stores have no glass or other fronts; all open to the street. the streets are crowded with an immense mass of men, women, and children, nearly all with no clothing above their hips, and as our men pushed their way along, yelling and screaming, the people would stop, crowd around us with wonder, but were never impolite. we passed along many miles of streets, lined with stores of all kinds, the butchers' shops displaying dead rats hanging up, and once i saw the carcass of a large dog with the hair scalded off lying on the butcher's table ready to be cut up for customers. it has rained here for two days, and the streets are very dirty and bad-smelling. there is no system of sewerage, no horses or draft animals. every thing, including all kinds of sewerage and slops and building materials, is carried along by men, women, and children. frequently there were such masses of people going and coming that traffic would be clogged, and we had much difficulty in getting through. to write of all the extraordinary things i have seen to-day would require a big book, and i can therefore only mention that we went to a flour mill and saw them grinding wheat by stones forced around by blind oxen, just as they used to do in bible times in palestine. we went into a jail and saw poor wretches in irons with wooden collars around their necks; and on the street two of them were in the stocks, their hands and feet confined. the court-house was near, and some of our party attended a trial which had been progressing for some days. the wife of the judge saw there were ladies in the party, and invited them into an interior room and entertained them with tea. the prisoner was accused of forging the deed of a house and land belonging to one of his wives, and selling her furniture, all valued at two thousand dollars. several witnesses proved that all this was so, and the wife appeared with her marriage certificate. at the moment when our party arrived, the prisoner was on the stand. he denied that he was married to the woman or had ever sold any of her property. the judge was very angry, and said to the prisoner that he was the greatest liar in china, and ordered that he should be punished with 150 blows with a bamboo stick, then and there. he was thrown down, and held by several men, while another struck the blows with great severity on his bare back, causing the poor wretch to yell with agony, so that he could be heard far out on the street, as well as in the interior room, where the ladies were drinking tea. after fifty blows had been given, the man was asked to confess, but he refused and was given fifty more; and the native guide said that he would no doubt have his head cut off in a few days. we saw on our route a beautiful club-house, and a clock two hundred years old, made to go by water. lunch was served in a splendid seven-story pagoda on a hill outside of the city wall, from the top of which we looked down upon one section of the city and an immense cemetery. a part of this was devoted to rich men's tombs, all above ground, the peculiarities of which were that the coffins were all in sight. after lunch we were again rushed through the crowded streets, stopping at many shops, some of the party purchasing largely of silks, satins, crockery, and curios; and at six we returned to the boat, a very much instructed but fatigued party. in the evening i was greatly interested in watching what was going on in the family boats, called _sampans_, which were anchored between our boat and the shore. i counted from the steamer 164 of them, with their sterns towards us. each boat had a kerosene-oil stove, and in a frying-pan they were preparing their suppers, which consisted apparently of rice. i noticed that when the woman who was stirring the food wished to moisten it, she dipped water from the river, in which was floating all the filth of the great city. each member of the family had a bowl which he dipped into the food, and proceeded to eat with chopsticks. there are many thousand of such boats on the river, the only homes of their occupants. we spent another day in canton, going about in sedan chairs, steamers, and _sampans_, and saw many places and objects of interest; but two days have been quite enough for this city, and i was glad to get aboard the fine steamer _honam_, captain febor, which left at 5.30 p.m., and arrived at hong-kong at 1 a.m., we all going directly to the rooms retained for us at the hotel. here i had the pleasure of meeting a lady from new york, mrs. r. h. l. townsend, who is making a tour around the world, accompanied by another lady, and has accomplished the trip thus far without trouble, being everywhere received with distinguished consideration. chapter x. hong-kong. hong-kong, dec. 3, 1889. we have been detained here ten days, awaiting the arrival of a p. and o. steamer, for which we were booked, but have passed the time in a very delightful manner. i went nearly every day to the park and public gardens, of about twenty acres, situated several hundred feet above the main street, laid out in the best manner, and containing a great variety of trees and flowers, such as grow only in tropical climates. on one occasion a friend and myself were sitting on a bench near a handsomely dressed chinese gentleman. my friend said: "see what a handsome girl is coming, and how beautifully she is dressed, but how deplorable that she has such little feet." i agreed with him, and said it was a pity such a pretty creature was obliged to submit to a barbarous custom like that. the chinese gentleman spoke to us in excellent english, and said: "do you think so? that is my daughter, and while i agree with you, we feel obliged to make her feet small or no chinese gentleman would marry her." we made apologies which were kindly accepted, and in a long conversation with the gentleman we learned much of china, he being a resident of canton, who had been educated in the united states. i cannot agree with my chinese friend that it will be so long a time before china will be opened to european civilization, for her 332,000,000 people are beginning to feel the pressure of surrounding nations; russia on the north, and england, germany, france, and italy on her sea-coasts, and above all the example of the wonderful advances made by japan are having strong influences upon china. china has now for a prime-minister, li hung chang, a very great man, the equal of bismarck or gladstone, and the young emperor has very advanced ideas. just now we read in the newspapers that li hung chang had caused a system of railways to be laid out, to run all over the vast empire, but it appears that the religious authorities have some sort of a veto on political actions, and because one of the gates at pekin had been destroyed by fire, which they attributed to the anger of the gods on account of the attempt to build railroads, the invention of "foreign devils," they would not consent, and consequently the railroad plan was abandoned for the present. there is only one railroad in the empire, up north, running from a coal mine to the sea, eighty miles long. the emperor has, in his extensive palace grounds at pekin, a miniature railroad, much like the one which was in the grounds of the centennial exposition at philadelphia in 1876, with a locomotive and car attached, which was built and presented to him by the french, and he is said to be very much pleased riding about on it. i think it a misfortune to china, and to this country, that our great general, ulysses s. grant, was not permitted to live a few years longer, for through the great friendship of li hung chang for him, and the high regard in which he was held, not only by all the rulers of the asiatic countries, but by the people themselves, it is more than likely that we would have seen china opened to modern civilization, as japan has been, and the united states of america reaping the advantages of close commercial relations with her, and at the same time amicably restricting the emigration of her people to this country. one afternoon we hired a steam yacht and went about the harbor and partly around the island. we stopped to examine a dry dock, where a large steamer was being repaired, and i was delighted to see that one of the big pumps used for pumping the water out of the dock was made by the a. s. cameron co., of new york, for you do not often see any thing in this part of the world to remind you of home,--kerosene oil, singer's sewing-machines, and clocks being about all. the english appear to supply nearly every thing to the countless millions of this eastern country, owing, of course, to the fact that their government does so much to forward the interests of her merchants and manufacturers, and i think it only right to say that wherever you see a british flag in this part of the world there follows it christianity, civilization in all its advanced phases, and safety to life and property, and not anywhere is the great contrast between civilization and semi-barbarism shown so strongly as in the comforts and beauties of this lovely city as against the horrors of canton. this is an important commercial city. the governor stated in a late message that it was the third or fourth export city in the world. there is a great deal of building going on up the mountains, the bricks for which are being carried from the vessels to their destinations by coolies, each man carrying two baskets suspended from a bamboo stick across his shoulders, each basket containing eighteen large bricks. the mountains are very steep, and the distance about two miles, so that the men can only make two or three trips a day, and their pay is five cents a trip. the fine winding roads were alive with these men; a thousand or more were to be seen at one time. chapter xi. singapore. singapore, dec. 9, 1889. on the 4th instant we left the beautiful island of hong-kong and the city of victoria by the steamer _kaisar-i-hind_ (empress of india). the accommodations and appointments of the steamer were first-class--electric lights, plenty of ice, and every convenience. on sunday morning the english service was read from the prayer-book by the captain to a congregation consisting of all of the officers and most of the passengers. before this there was a parade of the crew and servants,--some sixty lascars, black, sharp-looking fellows dressed in frocks and bright head-dresses, and looking very fine. yesterday was very hot. we were nearing the equator, and the captain had punkas put up in the dining cabin. a lascar boy pulled the strings running over pulleys and fanned us during meal times, which was very agreeable. again i have to note how lonely these sea voyages are. since we left hong-kong, five days, not a craft has been seen, only a wide waste of water, generally as smooth as a pond. the steamer arrived at seven in the morning, and was soon surrounded by boats, each containing two or three boys. the passengers threw silver pieces into the water, and the boys would dive after them, and seemed to get them every time. it was great fun to watch them. a little bald-headed fellow not more than six years old, attracted my attention, and i threw some bright pieces near his boat. over he went and caught them every time, and was pulled into the boat by his older companion, triumphantly holding up the pieces. we came ashore and were soon in our rooms in the large and first-rate hotel de l'europe. we were within about fifty miles of the equator, and the heat was intense. after resting we took carriages, it being quite a comfort to have them once more, and drove over fine roads, past splendid government and other buildings, two or three miles out to a botanical garden, said to be one of the finest in the world, all in perfect order, with trees and plants such as can be seen only in the tropics; tall trees, with clusters of cocoa-nuts on them, and the fan palm, a great curiosity to me, being in the shape of a fan fifty feet high. pine-apples were everywhere, for this is the home of that fine fruit; big trees, covered with red and white flowers, and plants of great variety and beauty, all in a park of a hundred acres or more; houses filled with fine orchids, and others containing beautiful native birds. it was very hot--ninety degrees or so--and oppressive, but we all stood it for a couple of hours, and most of our party, who had seen many such shows in all parts of the world, said that they had never seen any thing approaching this for variety and beauty. we then took our carriages and returned to the hotel for lunch, and immediately afterwards went on another tour around the well-built, handsome city. fine stores and public buildings, perfect pavements, splendid turn-outs, and all the appliances of civilization were everywhere. no more babies carried pickapack, as in japan and china. they were often nude, but looked well cared-for, comfortable, and happy. the natives are of the malay race, and their dress is of the brightest, generally a frock of white or red cotton and no trousers. we returned to the hotel at five, and after resting an hour had an excellent dinner. being very hungry i partook of all the courses, the dinner being _à la russe_. one incident was particularly tropical. the ceiling and sides of the dining-room were covered with little green lizards, crawling about and catching flies. some of the ladies were nervous, fearing that the creatures might drop into the soup or on their hair, but i did not mind, knowing them to be harmless. the landlord, who has been here twenty-eight years, thinks that i should stay here at least a week and go on to the malay peninsula to shoot tigers, but i have concluded to postpone that kind of amusement until i come again. i find it best to be very temperate in this terribly hot country, limiting my beverages to soda and apollinaris water, and am very thankful to have plenty of ice, which is now manufactured in this city and all other large cities in the east. the p. & o. line of steamers alone spends one hundred thousand dollars annually for ice. when i retired at night i found that they had not provided me with even a sheet for a cover; only a mosquito net. the chinese chamber-man was sleeping in front of my door, but i did not like to disturb him, so i turned in, and it being very hot i got along very well, and had a good night's rest. i was out early in the morning, and was greatly interested in looking at the sights of the city. they were making a park of large dimensions, fronting the water, and a hundred or more wagons were used to transport the dirt from the country. each wagon was drawn by a pair of bullocks driven by a malay. these drivers were bright-eyed, smart-looking men, with nothing on but a cloth around their loins, and no covering to their heads. they sat on the tongues of the wagons, and i was much amused to see that when they wanted the bullocks to turn a corner they twisted their tails, and the obedient beasts at once went in the direction indicated. i saw a great drove of goats passing along, as many as four hundred, and men from all countries in great variety of dress. singapore is a very busy place, being the chief city of the straits settlements, whence comes a larger part of the tin used in such immense quantities all over the world. the familiar ingots of tin were to be seen on the streets and sidewalks and being trucked towards the big steamers. chapter xii. on board the "kaisar-i-hind." steamer "kaisar-i-hind," off sumatra, dec. 13, 1889. after mailing letters on the 10th instant at singapore we went on board the steamer at 4 p.m., and started again on our voyage. we were then only forty-five miles from the equator, and though the thermometer recorded only eighty degrees, it seemed much as if it were over a hundred. however, as soon as the steamer got under way it was quite comfortable. after a day and two nights we arrived at penang, and at 9 a.m. went ashore, and all took carriages for a drive through one of the prettiest and hottest towns in the world. we were driven along wide, beautifully paved, clean streets for three miles to a water-fall and a botanical garden, and it was a drive well worth having. on both sides of the road were plantations of cocoa-nut trees, bearing ripe fruit, and once i saw a large nut fall to the ground with a dull thud. our tough little horse, driven by a black man from india, trotted along very fast. the road was lined with many strange trees laden with fruit, and the fields near by were covered with brilliant flowers. we got out of the carriage at the botanical garden and walked about for a short time, but were glad to get in again, as the sun was intensely hot. returning we traversed the same beautiful road, viewing the cocoa-nut trees, the mango, and many strange and beautiful fruits and flowers. workmen were engaged getting out stone and paving the roads, their black backs shining in the hot sun. here we saw travelling on the road many gayly dressed indian women, with bright silver ornaments on their arms and in their noses. we drove around the soldiers' barracks and hospitals and through the handsome streets of the town, and at ten o'clock took a boat to the steamer, much pleased by our little trip ashore, which gave us a change before starting on the voyage for colombo. we steamed away once more, and soon after lunch, while i was reading in my state-room, i heard a commotion on deck, and, running up, reached there just as the captain did. "man overboard!" was the cry, and the sailors were crawling into a boat like cats. the second officer was already there, and in two minutes the boat was lowered into the water, and was off. i looked over the side of the vessel and saw that a patent buoy and a life-preserver had been thrown over. with a glass i could see the black fellow swimming for the buoy, which he soon reached, and shortly afterwards the boat picked him up and returned with him to the ship in just eighteen minutes from the time she left. wonderful discipline was displayed, not a loud word being spoken. after the boat was hauled up the captain touched a bell, and away we went again. the patent buoy before mentioned had attached to it a tin box, containing some sandwiches and a small flask of whiskey, which the rescued sailor had confiscated before the arrival of the boat. at four o'clock one morning a boy called me to get up and see the famous southern cross. i at once joined the company, and looked upon four stars, which formed an immense and perfect cross, very beautiful to behold. it was a splendid night, the bright moon shining on the water, and countless stars above, many of which are never seen except in this latitude. chapter xiii. colombo. colombo, ceylon, dec. 18, 1889. six days from singapore, we arrived here on the evening of the 16th instant, and at once went to our rooms at the grand oriental hotel, which had been engaged some weeks in advance. colombo is the capital of ceylon, and has a population of one hundred and twenty thousand, and many large and handsome buildings. as we passed along the coast last evening immense groves of cocoa-nut trees were seen from the vessel, extending along the shore for thirty miles or so. it was the hottest weather yet experienced, not more than eighty degrees, as shown by the thermometer, but very oppressive. this morning, after an excellent breakfast at the hotel, i went with all the party on a drive in and around the city. it was dreadfully hot, and we had about such an entertainment as one might expect driving around new york or chicago streets on a july day, with the thermometer at ninety degrees. the streets and roads are clean, wide, and in perfect order. we stopped at a large market, where the natives crowded around us, and where were tropical fruits of many kinds, some of which i had never heard of before. we passed many groves of cocoa-nut and banana trees laden with fruit, public and private buildings, and large and handsome bungalows, churches, and schools, but the people who crowded the streets were the most interesting to see--indians, malays, singhalese, and chinese, dressed in their native costumes, all industrious, orderly, and civil. we called upon arabi pasha, who was banished from egypt some years ago for heading a rebellion against the khedive. his residence is a fine bungalow, surrounded by handsome grounds. he is a portly gentleman of about sixty-five years, speaking good english, and appeared very glad to see us. we spent a short half-hour talking with him, and then took our leave and continued our tour around the city. we saw numerous shops and plantations once more, and studied the remarkable people we met, and were especially interested by the young children swarming in the streets everywhere, and looking like little animated bronze statues. we went through a fine museum and saw a great collection of historical objects belonging to ceylon, one being a rudely sculptured figure of a lion carved in stone three hundred years ago. this island is the great producer of the ruby, sapphire, and pearl, dealers in which have stores near, and are allowed to come around the hotel. they are very troublesome in their attentions, and, as is common among merchants in this part of the world, ask two or three times more than they expect to get for their goods. i intended to go up to the mines, fifty miles off, where they obtain the ruby and sapphire, but was prevented from doing so. i also wished to see the divers go after pearl-oysters, but a couple of weeks ago one of them went down in the water and never came up, a shark having caught him. since this accident none of his companions can be induced to do any diving, and for the present the industry, which is a very large and important one, is paralyzed. there are no fat people in this country, and no drunkards. in a buddhist temple, which i saw yesterday, was a painting of a drunkard. the culprit was represented in hell, enduring great agony, being pierced with daggers, and the ugliest-looking devil, with tusks like fish-hooks, standing over him, about to pull his teeth with big pincers. any follower of buddha looking at that picture would surely join a temperance society. one morning, accompanied by two friends, i took a carriage and drove seven miles out into the country, through the native city, and along perfect country roads, passing through wonderful tropical plantations and beautiful flowers everywhere. men and women stared at us as we passed, and crowds of bright, laughing children ran after the carriage, begging for pennies. one man had a basket of beautiful pink lotus flowers, one of which we bought. at length we came to the oldest temple on the island, 2,300 years old, and where buddha himself preached,--a splendid temple, the walls of which were covered with highly colored paintings, representing temperance, prudence, fortitude, and justice. there was the usual big statue of buddha and the usual worshippers. the ride was a delightful one, the children numerous and very funny, and beggars without number. another day we went by rail twenty-eight miles along the coast to the end of the road, the entire distance through groves of cocoa-nut trees extending as far back from the water as we could see. once we passed under a banyan tree, the limbs of which had been trained over the road twenty feet high, in shape of an arch, then taking root and forming other trees on the opposite side. we spent the day at lavini, a delightful sea-coast hotel, and enjoyed ourselves very much. it was quite a contrast to the hot city whither we returned for an eight-o'clock dinner. chapter xiv. newava eliya. newava eliya, ceylon, dec. 20, 1889. this is the sanitarium of ceylon, 133 miles from colombo and 6,200 feet above the sea level; a cool and delightful valley of a thousand acres or so, surrounded by high mountains, with a lake in the middle,--a very ideal place for a sanitarium. the thermometer averages seventy degrees. we left colombo at 9 a.m. on the 19th instant, in a first-class car engaged for the party, and passed over a six-feet-gauge road, built in the most substantial manner, with an extra guard-rail in dangerous places. there were iron bridges and stone depots at various points, each depot surrounded by a beautiful and well-kept flower-garden. for the first fifty miles the road passed through a flat country of beautiful fields and cocoa-nut trees, and then we commenced to go up and around high mountains, the building of the road being a great engineering triumph. the road was lined on both sides for a long distance with a hedge of the large-leafed spiked aloe, from five to six feet high, and impenetrable by man or beast, and then we began to see tropical vegetation in all its luxuriant growth. along the sides of the road and far as the eye could see were the blooming lantana, the sun-flower, and many large trees covered with yellow, white, and red flowers in great profusion. for the first time we saw tea, coffee, and cinchona plantations, the mountains being often covered to their tops with tea-plants, sturdy bushes about two feet high, and i should say that from the time we commenced to see them there were many thousand acres. from time to time we could see the natives in parties of fifty or more picking the leaves and putting them into large baskets and carrying them on their heads to the dry-houses, or depots, and very picturesque they looked in their petticoats of many colors, their bare backs glistening in the sun. the natives have on petticoats when they wear any thing. generally they are bare-headed, but sometimes sport gay-colored turbans. they are a fine race--bright, sharp, intelligent, cleanly, good-natured, and temperate. the women are handsome, and wear silver ornaments in their noses and ears. the hotel here is an old vice-regal bungalow, and is like a private house. after getting warmed by a wood fire i retired and slept well all night. in the morning, before breakfast, i walked out to the woods to see the monkeys, but they did not appear, and i did not dare to go far from the trodden path on account of the cobras, which abound in these parts. after breakfast we took carriages down the mountain for five miles, over as fine a road as any in europe, to the depot, and to our car, which had been retained for us, and soon we were on our way to kandy, our next stopping-place. a missionary accompanied us down the mountains, who had been twenty-seven years in the country, and entertained us with tales of snakes and elephants, and some account of his work in india and ceylon. coffee is no longer produced in ceylon, the trees having been destroyed a dozen years ago by an insect, but an immense quantity of tea is grown, pronounced to be the finest in the world, and which is largely taking the place of that raised in china and india. at 5 p.m. we reached kandy, the ancient capital of ceylon, containing 14,000 population,--a fine city, with many large buildings. there is a lake in the centre one and a half miles in circumference. in the evening we visited a large buddhist temple, erected to hold a tooth of buddha, which the faithful regard as a sacred relic. on the 21st we took carriages to the government botanical gardens, said to be the finest in the world, and of course nothing like them is possible anywhere, except in the tropics. we saw giant palms twelve feet in diameter, stood beneath the deadly upas tree and the mahogany, jujube, almond, nutmeg, clove, mango, ebony, and a great grove of immense rubber-trees, and saw an immense variety of bright-colored flowers and leaves. the gardens cover one hundred and eighty acres, and we spent two delightful hours there, after which we drove around the city and through the extensive park of the governor: returning, we took the train at 3 p.m. and arrived at our hotel in colombo at seven, just in season to enjoy the excellent dinner awaiting us. chapter xv. on board the "rohilla." steamer "rohilla," near madras, dec. 27, 1889. christmas was a fearfully hot day in columbo, ninety degrees or more, and i did not go out in the morning, except to look into an episcopal church, which was handsomely decorated with flowers, the air being kept cool by fans propelled by natives standing outside. after lunch, accompanied by two friends, i drove around the city and some miles into the country, over splendid roads. on the road we bought three cocoa-nuts for five cents, and opening one, had a refreshing drink. we returned at 5 p.m. and at once came aboard this ship, one of the finest of the splendid fleet of the p. & o. line. the weather, except the terrible heat, continues perfect--not a ripple on the sea, the sunsets splendid, and the starlit nights of great loveliness. a lady from hartford, mrs. brown, who is well up in astronomy, pointed out to me last evening many stars never seen except in this part of the world. a lady from new york, mrs. r. h. l. townsend, was taken seriously ill on the 23d at the hotel; she was confined to her rooms for three days, and had two doctors and a nurse; but just before i left for the steamer i was glad to see that she had recovered so as to be able to take a drive. at the last moment the captain decided to call at madras, where we shall be to-morrow, long enough to go ashore and see the famous city. four great steamers left colombo the same evening that we did, one each for australia, calcutta, singapore, and hong-kong; one of them being a german vessel of immense size, 7,000 tons. on this steamer we have all the modern improvements: edison lights, an excellent table, and always plenty of ice. life on the ocean, as we have it, is very pleasant, and we get along nicely, though they tell of terrific storms which rage here at other seasons. the ship is full of passengers, largely english, returning from australia, very nice, kind, and agreeable people. yesterday a north wind sprang up and it was delightfully cool; the passengers were all on deck in groups, a dozen of the stalwart young englishmen playing the national game, cricket; some reading, a lot of children playing, and all were happy. in the evening we had a delightful concert by amateurs, violin playing by a young lady, parts of the "bohemian girl" and other operas being rendered in a superior manner. the ship slowed up so as not to get to madras before morning, and it was literally sailing on a summer sea; the moon sank down behind the waters in a glow, presenting a beautiful appearance. i had a good sleep all night, and at seven in the morning looked out and saw we were at madras, between two long break-waters. soon breakfast was over, and we all entered a big row-boat, propelled by ten bare-backed hindoos; the ship was surrounded by a dozen of these boats, the crews chattering and shouting, and on one occasion a boy got overboard, but he did not mind, swam about a short time and then got aboard, none the worse for his ducking. we could see that there was a heavy surf beating on the beach, but when our boat struck the sand, i was lifted ashore by two strong black men, followed by the ladies of the party, conveyed in a similar manner. we took carriages and drove about the city, which is said to be the hottest in india, but we did not find it so; on the contrary, it was very comfortable. we went through the natives' quarters, and evidently they had seen white people before, for they paid no attention to us, not so much as we to them, as we were looking upon a race new to us. they had marks on their foreheads, showing the caste to which they belonged. we visited the markets, and saw that the banyan tree was quite common in the squares and along the streets, and passing on to the great fort, we looked at the big guns; then we entered st. george's church, where there were many statues of famous soldiers who had served in india and died here. we called at the post-office, a large and beautiful building, remarked on the fine roads, the handsome appearance of the women dressed in bright-colored robes with silver ornaments in their noses and on their toes, and then we passed on to the ship, well pleased that we were not to stop any longer in such an unattractive place. sunday, december 29, 1889. we reached the steamer at noon yesterday; the deck was crowded with native merchants trying to sell mats and all kinds of curios, but presently they were driven off to their boats, and at noon the ship was put upon her course, due north, everybody comfortable and happy, the sea as smooth as an inland lake. this morning we had a delightful service on deck, read from the english prayer book by the captain, assisted by one of his officers; the singing, by young ladies, was particularly fine, and now and again i could detect the sweet tenor of my friend from manchester. before the service the crew were mustered and reviewed by the captain. there were nearly one hundred of them, mostly lascars, dressed in white with colored turbans and presenting a very picturesque appearance. last evening i was interested to see a lady reclining on a steamer chair on deck, and reading by the light of a portable electric lamp fastened to the back of her chair. i interviewed her husband this morning, and he informed me that it was one of edison's inventions, and that they were now common in london, and cost twenty dollars each. they are four inches in diameter, and can be carried in the coat pocket. this one he charges from one of the lights on the ship, and it will last fifteen hours. december 30, 1889. we are still rushing on over a placid sea at a moderate rate, as the ship has never made more than 288 miles a day. the thermometer marks seventy degrees, with a light breeze from the north, and warm woollen clothing is comfortable. this is a great country for learning practical temperance, none of our party having tasted liquor for a month, previous experience having shown that they were much better without it. i noticed two young men at dinner to-day who drank two large bottles of champagne, but they will doubtless find out by experience that such indulgences do not pay in this climate. we are only 12,500 miles from new york now, and it seems quite like nearing home. chapter xvi. calcutta. calcutta, india, jan. 1, 1890. we arrived here yesterday, after a delightful trip from madras, and at once went to our rooms at a first-class hotel, engaged some time ago. mine happens to be a wooden barn-like structure built on the roof of a six-story building, which gives me a chance to look down upon the famous city of palaces and immense parks--a great show, particularly at night, when the streets are illuminated by gas and electricity. we were told that calcutta was a dreadfully hot place, but last night i had my overcoat on, and was very comfortable, the thermometer being seventy-two degrees. i have just returned from a tramp about the city, and find it one of the finest i have seen--population one million; splendid government and other buildings, great parks, fine wide streets and sidewalks, and every appearance of advanced civilization. the natives are a handsome race, dressed in their picturesque costumes. white and native soldiers in brilliant uniforms are to be met everywhere, and the whole scene is one of great beauty. a royal prince is here to-day, the stores are shut, and a great review of soldiers is going on. the rush for rooms at the hotels is so great that i hear of a major-general of the british army who is to sleep in a bathroom near us to-night. on the morning of the 2d instant we took a carriage drive around the city, starting at 10 a.m. and returning at 1.30. the botanical gardens established in 1792 are very fine and well kept, but nothing like the one in kandy, ceylon. we saw the famous banyan tree, one hundred years old, the main trunk of which is 42 feet in circumference, the crown 850 feet in circumference; there being 234 roots which strike down from the branches into the earth. these roots and branches become little trees themselves. in the garden were two beautiful avenues of palm trees, each a quarter of a mile long. i was much interested in a bridge of boats that we passed over. it was twelve hundred feet long and seventy feet wide, rising and falling with the tide sixteen feet. i have seen several bridges made of boats in different parts of the world, but none so large and substantial as this. we went in the afternoon to the great fort, and inspected the immense fortifications, with their great guns and piles of balls. a marriage had just taken place in the garrison church, and the party were out on the lawn waiting for the arrival of carriages. the brilliant uniforms of the officers and the handsomely dressed ladies made a fine show. the church is an exceedingly beautiful one, with many costly monuments erected to keep in memory the glorious deeds of england's heroes, statesmen, and scholars. in the great cathedral there were many splendid monuments, one to the good bishop heber, a name dear to the hearts of all christians for the beautiful hymn he wrote, "from greenland's icy mountains," and though i have heard it sung in many churches all over the world, it always seems fresh, inspiring, and beautiful. there was a beautiful monument to lord elgin, who was governor-general of india, and before that, of canada, in whose history i had a personal interest, having seen him and obtained from his hands a marriage license at montreal in 1847. we went to a public building, in the yard of which was marked out the size of a prison known as the black hole. it was underground, 18 × 25 feet, where the 20th of january, 1756, one hundred and forty-six persons were confined, and the next morning only twenty-three were alive. in one of the churches near was a monument erected to the memory of job charnock, a sailor, who, before calcutta came into the possession of england, came ashore with a boat-load of companions to see the sights. they saw a widow placed on a funeral pyre all ready to ignite and burn her alive, which was the custom in those days. the natives set fire to the wood, which was too much for the gallant sailor; so he rushed in and saved the woman, and, it is related, subsequently married her, and settled down as a merchant in calcutta, where he became rich. returning along the road beside a park a mile or two long we met many fine turn-outs, containing indian and english nabobs, and among them was a coach and four with the widow and children of the late king of oude, who were taking an airing. the ladies and children were in very gay costumes, and looked exceedingly pretty. the show was a very brilliant one, far surpassing any thing of the kind to be seen in any other country. chapter xvii. darjeeling. darjeeling, india, jan. 4, 1890. at 4 p.m. yesterday we left calcutta, passing through the city, which was everywhere decorated for prince victor, who will be a king of england, if he lives, and who was to arrive at the same hour we left. we took possession of the car engaged for us, and i noticed that the next one was engaged by two indian princes, their names being on the car. presently they appeared, handsomely dressed in long colored robes and turbans, and soon after there arrived two palanquins carried by coolies, and completely shut up, containing their wives. they held up a carpet screen to prevent outsiders from getting a look at the women, but i caught sight of two figures, completely covered from head to foot with white garments, getting out of the palanquin into the car. the car-blinds were instantly drawn down. i was much interested, it being my first look at mohammedan women. after a tolerable night's sleep in the car we crossed the ganges on a ferry-boat, and then took a narrow-gauge, two-feet-wide railroad, called the darjeeling and himalaya, which is perhaps one of the greatest feats of engineering skill in the world. it is run mainly on a cart-road previously built, and cost only fifteen thousand dollars per mile, and is fifty miles long. we passed through a flat country for some miles, and then commenced to go up, around, through, and over mountains with terrible-looking precipices, now on one hand and now on the other. it has been a bright and splendid day, one in a hundred they tell us. we were in an observation car, and we consequently could see every thing to the best advantage. elephants were at work in the fields on the plains, and immense tea plantations lined the hills and mountains. at 4 p.m. we reached our destination, 7,400 feet high and looked upon the mighty himalayas, four ranges rising each one above the other, the two highest covered with snow, and the one most remote appearing to be fifty miles off, one of the peaks of which is the famous mount everest, the highest mountain in the world. the atmosphere was exceptionally clear, and the panorama spread before us was magnificent, and would require the poetical pen of bayard taylor to do it any thing like justice. we were soon in our rooms at an excellent hotel, which had been engaged as usual. mine had an open coal-fire and a man soon brought a delicious cup of tea and some toast which were very welcome. i could hear the jackals crying in the near woods. the country is thickly populated and highly cultivated, the people bright and smart but clothed in rags and looking very poor, beggars being everywhere. darjeeling is the sanitarium of bengal. there are several hotels, and numerous fine dwellings scattered along on the mountain sides, and far up there are large barracks and hospitals for soldiers. we remained two days, and on the morning of the second day mr. kolish, mr. jackson, and i became ambitious to see mount everest from a nearer point of view and in all its glory, so we were called at 5 a.m. on getting out i found my two friends mounted, but the ugly beast waiting for me did not approve of the excursion, and first tried to kick me, and then to bite, but i finally mounted and succeeded in making him understand that he had better mind me. away we went, up the steep but excellent roads for an eight-mile trip to the top of one of the mountains. my horse proved a good roadster, sometimes trotting and then galloping, and in one and a half hours we reached our destination, and looked upon a great range of snow-covered mountains; everest, the monarch of all, was among them, but much to our disappointment, clouds settled about the tops of the range and we did not see the greatest mountain in the world. we stopped there an hour or so and took our fill of the grand sight, and then rode down the mountain at the same fast pace we had come up, for the train left at ten and we had none too much time. on our way down we met a chinese marriage procession. they were making an awful din with tomtoms and drums, and a great show with banners and flags, which scared my horse, but the good-natured chinese stopped their noise and we galloped on, reaching the hotel at nine, having enjoyed a fine morning ride. chapter xviii. benares. benares, india, jan. 12, 1890. on the evening of the 10th we left calcutta, travelled all night, and reached here at 1.30 p.m. yesterday. the railroads in india are mostly six-feet gauge, substantially built, but very slow, twenty-five miles an hour being the usual speed. we brought along our own bedding, and stopped at stations for meals, every thing being very primitive compared with accommodations found in america or europe. we passed through a country thickly populated, the fields being highly cultivated, and planted with wheat, rice, cocoa-nuts, etc. parrots were flying about in flocks, or perched on the telegraph wires. elephants could be seen in the fields, and bullocks were everywhere drawing carts or ploughing. the two days we have been here have been very active ones, seeing the wonders of this "holy city." yesterday morning, at seven o'clock, we went out on the ganges in a big boat. splendid palaces were along the shore for a mile or two, and thousands of pilgrims from all parts of india and beyond were bathing and praying. at length we came to the cremation places. the boat stopped within fifty feet of the shore, and we saw the bodies of four dead persons in different stages of the process of cremation: one where the ashes were being swept into the river, and another just being brought down; this one was covered with a red cloth, showing, as they said, that it was a female. the men who carried the body first dipped it into the water, and then placed it on a pile of wood and brush, and set fire to it. each of the other two piles of wood had a body on it, and both were being burned. passing through the city to clark's hotel, where we were stopping, we had plenty of evidence that benares sustained its reputation of being the most filthy city in india. the hindoo temples were especially dirty, though some of them had gilded domes, and one, where there was a sacred cow, was the most filthy of them all. a vienna friend asked me if i would not like to call on the maharajah of benares, he being the ruler of the province, and behind his throne being the governor-general of india. i said yes, and we sent our cards to the palace and asked an interview. an officer called, i suppose to look us over, and after asking some questions said that his highness would be pleased to see us at one o'clock, and at that hour the same officer called again, and we went to the palace in a carriage, and were at once shown up to the second story, where we were met at the door by the maharajah, a young man thirty years old and very fine-looking. he spoke english, and shook hands and welcomed us very politely. he was dressed in brown velvet breeches, coat of yellow silk covered with silver stars, cap of the same, and gold-embroidered shoes; and was smoking an immense pipe with a stem twenty feet long. he led the way to an interior hall, splendidly furnished in oriental style, and showed us to a seat. we had a conversation of about half an hour, during which i took occasion to tell him something of our country, and invited him to come to new york. he said he would be very glad to see america, and thanking us for calling said he was sorry we could not stay some time in his dominions. he then shook hands and said good-bye, directing an officer to send us books about his province. nothing could have been more polite and kind than his attentions to us. i think it proper to say that my republican pulse did not beat any quicker on seeing such a magnificent palace and potentate, though i never saw the like or read of such scenes except in the "arabian nights." in the afternoon the party took another drive around the city, and while the others were examining an extensive embroidery factory, i sat in the carriage in the market-place, and was much entertained by various aspects of oriental life. once a little prince came along, mounted on a splendid horse, led by a man dressed in red robes and with a red turban on his head. the little lad was dressed in robes embroidered with gold, and altogether the scene was one not to be witnessed anywhere except in this country, or at the theatre. we drove to an ancient city some distance off, and saw several old palaces; passed through great groves of mango trees and plantations of beans, peas, wheat, rice, etc. natives, beggars, and children in great numbers crowded around our carriages. we met a regiment of native cavalry with white officers and a fine band of native musicians. chapter xix. lucknow. lucknow, january 13, 1890. we arrived here at twelve last night, after a tedious ride by rail, and i was up at seven this morning, and have been all day seeing the wonders of the city. since a visit to the field on which the battle of waterloo was fought, i have never spent a day of such absorbing interest as this, for here lawrence, with one thousand eight hundred men, held the fort against fifty thousand rebels for six months, and up the road we saw came sir colin campbell and havelock's army of relief. the buildings are riddled with balls, and we saw where lawrence fell and the room where he died, july 4, 1857. nothing could be more thrilling than to hear many incidents of the siege related in an admirable manner by a native guide. we spent some hours in wandering about the building and ground held by the english, and especially examined the big cannons, in front of which five hundred rebels were blown away and killed. we went to a fine mohammedan mosque, one of the minarets of which was covered with gold, and would make an architectural sensation if placed in any city in europe or america. in the afternoon we took another ride and saw a walled enclosure of twenty acres or so, where havelock and his highlanders made a breach in the high wall, shot two thousand rebels in four hours, and buried them on the spot. we stopped at various mosques and public buildings, and reached the hotel at 5 p.m. it is a fearfully dirty place, and the sun of india, here as elsewhere, is intensely hot, but the evenings are quite cool. i saw many elephants and camels in the streets to-day, though horses and bullocks are generally used, and fine carriages drawn by horses are a common sight. we have seen lucknow pretty thoroughly, though one might spend a week here to advantage, especially in visiting the museum, where there are ancient and modern curiosities of the highest interest, and the mosques, which are exceedingly beautiful, in great contrast to the filthy hindoo temples. one especially reminded me of st. mark's at venice. chapter xx. cawnpore. cawnpore, january 14, 1890. at ten this morning we arrived here, and have seen all the places where such frightful massacres took place during the sepoy rebellion of 1857. mr. lee, who now keeps a hotel here, acted as our guide, and pointed out the various localities. he was a non-commissioned officer, and accompanied general havelock's army, which arrived two days after the massacre, and inflicted upon the rebels the terrible retribution of fastening several hundred of them in front of the big cannon and blowing them into pieces. mr. lee pointed out the exact spot where these executions took place, and showed how the poor wretches were fastened to the mouths of the cannon. it will be remembered that general wheeler, commanding the british troops, after defending the fort for weeks against a great army of rebels, was induced to surrender under promise of protection from nana sahib, who collected the prisoners on the banks of the ganges and had them massacred. only four escaped. general wheeler was seventy-two years of age, married to a native woman, and had by her seven children. he believed that nana sahib would keep faith with him, but he and all his officers were collected on some steps leading down to the water of the ganges, and at a signal from nana they were all shot down and killed. one of general wheeler's daughters committed suicide by jumping into a well, and another married a native and is now alive here. when the rebellion was conquered nana sahib could not be found, but mr. henry balantine, now u. s. consul at bombay, states that the monster escaped to one of the countries in the north part of india and died there of cholera. murphy, one of the men who escaped in a boat, had a singular fate. after the rebellion he was made custodian of the public buildings here; but one day he killed a native and was obliged to leave for china, and has never been heard of since. like many other places in india, cawnpore is fearfully dusty, the hotel very poor, and one is glad to get away. chapter xxi. agra. agra, january 17, 1890. we left cawnpore at five o'clock on the morning of the 15th. the train was delayed, and i wandered about the chilly depot and caught a bad cold. we were several hours on the train looking out upon the oriental scenery, the people, and the wild and domestic animals near by, and at a distance we saw elephants, camels, droves of small donkeys, big black goats, and long-legged pigs, flocks of paroquets and green parrots, now and then a deer or antelope, and the usual remarkable trees and flowers. i arrived here well fagged out, but a good night's rest made me all right again, and i have put in two days of hard work, which i regard as among the most remarkable of my life. we saw many magnificent palaces and mosques, the description of which would alone fill a large book, and i have space only to refer to the tâj-mahal, which has been regarded by all who have seen it for the last two hundred years as the most remarkable building of its kind ever erected, and one of the wonders of the world. built by the emperor shah jahan as a tomb for his wife, it is of pure white marble, 186 feet square, the centre dome being 50 feet in diameter by 80 feet high. at the four corners stand four towers, each 137 feet high. the architect came from venice, and his name was geronimo verrone. on the front gateway is the date, 1648, marking the completion of the building, which was twenty years building, and cost ten millions of dollars, nothing being paid to the twenty thousand workmen, who were said to have been employed in its construction, except an allowance of corn daily, and even this was carefully curtailed by rapacious officers, causing frightful mortality among the men. jewellers were brought from italy, and they inserted in the marble walls, both inside and out, in the shape of vases and flowers, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other precious stones. the more valuable ones were stolen, but since the english have had possession they have inserted artificial ones, and we could see what a magnificent show it must have been. the remains of the emperor were placed in a tomb by the side of those of his beloved wife. each tomb had precious stones inserted in the marble, and on the top of one i saw a place where a ruby two inches in diameter was said to have been taken out. ordinary stones, such as the cornelian and amethyst, were still there. we lingered about the beautiful building for many hours, admiring it from every point of view. my friend, mr. jackson, sang a little song under the great dome, which echoed and re-echoed, producing a remarkable effect. i have been so much impressed with the marvellous beauty of the tâj that i have purchased an alabaster model of it, and having packed it carefully hope to get it home safely. on the opposite side of the river from the tâj we were shown the foundation of a building which the emperor intended to erect for his own tomb, and to connect the two by a bridge of solid silver twelve hundred feet long, but the tale they told us was that the emperor's son shut his father up in a prison palace for several years, and there he died at ninety-four years of age. the emperor, knowing that he was about to die, asked to be taken to a marble summer-house, from which he could see the tâj. they carried him there, and on the spot where we stood he took a last look at the beautiful building, and died. i know no more touching tale in all history, and it being well told on the spot by one of the guides, was very impressive. this city, like most others we have seen in india, is very dirty, and we are put to many trials and discomforts, especially in eating, for we cannot get what we want, the hotels being very indifferent from an american point of view. chapter xxii. delhi. delhi, january 21, 1890. yesterday at noon we left agra, passing over the river by a fine iron bridge, from which we had another view of the beautiful tâj, which was lovely beyond expression. we had an english compartment car to ourselves, and were very comfortable. highly cultivated fields and frequent great barren plains, with now and then an elephant, were to be seen, and once a long caravan of camels. monkeys were in the woods, and flocks of parrots flying about, and often the beautiful peacocks were perched on the fences or wandering about the fields. it will be remembered that the hindoos consider all animal and bird life sacred, and never kill them, and consequently we see them everywhere. we passed on at the rate of about twenty miles an hour, having forty-three carriages and over a thousand passengers, mostly natives, and stopped at a station at 1 p.m. for lunch. the stations in india are all large, this one being more than a thousand feet long, and there were collected in it more than a thousand pilgrims bound for the sacred ganges with their bags and bedding. i went among them accompanied by the native guide, and saw that many of them carried painted poles, from the top of each of which was suspended a bag containing the ashes and bones of some relative, which they had brought from their far-off homes, and were taking to the ganges to be thrown into the (to them) sacred river. i looked at a group of handsomely dressed women. among them was a bride, who had a profusion of silver ornaments in her nose and ears, and on her arms and toes. my appearance among this party seemed to entertain them very much, judging by their looks and their chattering. we passed through great fields of the castor-oil plant, cotton, and mustard, and at 9 p.m. rolled into the big station here, and were soon at the hotel enjoying the comforts of a wood fire. this is the most dreadful climate i know of--eighty degrees to ninety degrees during the day, and down to sixty degrees at night. the hotels have rooms only on the ground-floor, which is paved with stone, and any thing but comfortable. this city has great historic interest, having been ravaged many times by conquerors, beginning with tamerlane, who burned it, and killed a hundred thousand of its inhabitants, men, women, and children. taking a drive, i saw monkeys running along the walls, and was everywhere beset by a great lot of beggars, dancing girls, and merchants wanting to sell shawls, jewelry, and many other articles. we have been here several days, constantly driving about and seeing magnificent palaces, tombs, and mosques. in one of the great marble palaces was a large hall in which was erected the famous peacock throne in the year 1638. the following account of it is given by tavernier, who, in the seventeenth century, travelled extensively in the east, and saw all the wonders that he relates: "the largest throne, which is set up in the hall of the first court, is in form like one of our field-beds, six feet long and four broad. the cushion at the back is round like a bolster; the cushions on the sides are flat. i counted about a hundred and eight pale rubies in collets about this throne, the least whereof weighed a hundred carats; but there are some that weigh two hundred. emeralds i counted about one hundred and sixty, that weighed threescore, some thirty, carats. the under part of the canopy is all embroidered with pearls and diamonds, with a fringe of pearls round about. upon the top of the canopy, which is made like an arch with four panes, stands a peacock with his tail spread, consisting all of sapphires and other proper colored stones; the body is of beaten gold enchased with several jewels, and a great ruby upon his breast at which hangs a pearl that weighs fifty carats. on each side of the peacock stand two nosegays as high as the bird, consisting of several sorts of flowers, all of beaten gold enamelled. when the king seats himself upon the throne there is a transparent jewel with a diamond appendant, of eighty or ninety carats, encompassed with rubies and emeralds, so hung that it is always in his eye. the twelve pillars also that uphold the canopy are set with rows of fair pearl, round and of an excellent water, that weigh from six to ten carats apiece. at the distance of four feet, upon each side of the throne, are placed two parasols or umbrellas, the handles whereof are about eight feet high, covered with diamonds; the parasols themselves are of crimson velvet, embroidered and stringed with pearls. "this is the famous throne which tamerlane began and shah jahan finished, which is really reported to have cost a hundred and sixty million five hundred thousand livres of our money [thirty-two million one hundred thousand dollars]." the famous and beautiful cashmere shawls are made in the province north of here, and are mostly sold in this city, where there are many storehouses filled with them. it is said that it takes the labor of two men a year to make one of these shawls of moderate size. wishing to purchase, i went to one of the largest establishments accompanied by three friends. the merchant showed me a book in which were written recommendations of his goods by gen. u. s. grant and col. fred. grant, and among them was one written in german, which was translated by my friend from vienna as follows: "i have bought shawls of this man, and think i got them cheap, but do not offer him a third of what he asks." we spent much time looking at a great variety of the shawls, and finally, aided by the excellent taste of my friends, mr. norris of baltimore, mr. kolish of vienna, and mr. jackson of manchester, i selected two, which i thought very beautiful, and asked the price. the merchant consulted two or three of his sharp, bright-eyed clerks in their own language and said: "i have not sold a shawl to your party; i sell you very, very cheap; you may have those beautiful shawls for 1,400 rupees." having in mind the german gentleman's remarks, i said, "no; the price is absurd; let us go," and we started out. then the merchant followed saying, "don't go; make me an offer," and i said, "i will give you 400 rupees for both shawls." greatly to my astonishment he replied, "take them; i will send to your hotel." fearing a substitution or some other trick i said: "no; hand them to me, if you please. here are 100 rupees, and you may come to the hotel and get the balance." to this he agreed and the purchase was made. chapter xxiii. jeypore. jeypore, january 25, 1890. our party arrived here on the 23d instant, and permission was obtained from the rajah, who has the reputation of being the most enlightened ruler in india, to visit his palaces and grounds; and very magnificent we found them. the palace was very large, and fitted up in a costly manner. we were admitted everywhere, except to a big building occupied by his three hundred wives. we then went to see fifty elephants in different places, each tied by the legs; and then we visited the tiger cages, a dozen of them, each containing a savage fellow. we then went to the stables and saw four hundred blooded horses from all parts of the world. the custodian in charge of the stable said that if i wanted to hunt tigers the rajah would be pleased to loan me a horse, and i would be sure to find a tiger from two to six miles from the city wall. the rajah was good enough to loan us four of his biggest elephants, and in the afternoon we sent them outside the city wall with a photographer. we followed in a carriage and had photographs taken, and afterwards mounted the elephants, four on each, and rode two miles farther to a country palace of the rajah, and to the ruins of an ancient city, where were formerly great castles, reminding one of germany and the rhine. we spent an hour looking over the castle, which is very costly and splendid. on the road and around the palace we were amused by the antics of numerous monkeys and the beauty of flocks of peacocks running wild all over, the screaming of parrots, etc. we then mounted our elephants to return. the one i was on looked as large as jumbo. meanwhile my friend, mr. jackson of manchester, who is a great walker and dislikes the motion of the elephant, had ten minutes before started to walk to the carriages, a distance of two miles. he had nearly reached them, when he met a lady and gentleman, who proved to be an english doctor and his wife. they bowed and said "good-day," but had not passed on ten paces before they came running back. the doctor took hold of jackson and said, "look on top of the wall!" (a stone wall laid in cement five feet high). "and so you went within two yards of yonder tiger!" jackson looked and saw the big head and paws of a large tiger resting on top of the wall, and then he ran away toward the carriages. meanwhile, mr. kolish, who was on the elephant ahead, had seen the tiger in the field, and shouted to me to look at him, but he went away very quickly, and i saw nothing but a movement in the brush. all this took place before we knew mr. jackson had seen the beast. there were six natives with each elephant, and they were much excited and said the tiger must be very hungry, as one seldom came so near the city, and he would most likely get a kid or a man before morning. [illustration: travelling in india.] i have been more interested in this city, where i have seen only native faces, than in any other in india, and would be glad to spend some weeks here. the main avenues are one hundred feet wide, lighted by gas, and having water supplied by pumping works. they are lined with beautiful public and private buildings, and crowded with traffic, numerous caravans of camels coming and going loaded with stone, cotton bales, and all kinds of goods. this morning we went to the museum, a large and splendid edifice erected by the present rajah. as an architectural triumph i know of nothing superior anywhere. it is of white and colored marble from base to dome; and the contents no adjectives can describe. lovely! charming! splendid! costly goods from oriental countries, owned and arranged by the rajah mahara swai madhosingh. over the arched entrance to the exhibition rooms sentences were painted, taken from native books; for instance: "how much soever one may study science, if you do not act right, you are ignorant." "by contentment make me rich, for without that there is no wealth." "rectitude is the means of pleasing god: i never saw any one lost on a straight road." we are comfortably lodged in a hotel called a bungalow, which is owned by the rajah and conducted by a native. i was amused at one of the printed notices in the dining-room, which was: "if visitors are not satisfied with the food or cooking, they can deduct from the bill what they consider fair"; an excellent notice, which i recommend for adoption by hotels elsewhere. in another hotel i saw the following: "guests are requested not to strike the servants"; and "guests wishing ice are requested to give a day's notice, and name how much they require." i walked up the street to look at a hunting tiger with hoods over his eyes, and tied to a tree, and while leaning up against a bungalow gate, a fine-looking young indian, mounted on a splendid arabian horse, interviewed me, much as an american newspaper man would have done: where did i come from? what was my profession? and what was i in jeypore for? i told him something of our country, the number of people, the miles of railroads and telegraph wires, the size of new york and chicago--in all of which he was much interested. i then interviewed him and asked him who he was, and he replied that he was colonel fyaz, commander of a regiment of native troops. he could talk the english, hindoo, persian, and oude languages, was delighted to see an american, and asked me where i learned to speak english. he seemed surprised to learn that it was the language of the united states of america. after a long conversation he asked for my card and invited me to call at his quarters, saying that he would be glad to show me about the city. chapter xxiv. bombay. bombay, january 27, 1890. leaving delightful jeypore by the evening train, we were two nights and one day on the road. it was very cold after dark, so much so that i had to get up in the middle of the night and put on my overcoat and shoes. the train went at a speed of twenty-five miles an hour, stopping at stations for meals, which were quite good, but the native waiters were of the worst, and all the arrangements very primitive compared with the splendid vestibule trains running on the central railroad from new york to chicago. we obtained accommodations at a first-rate hotel, where i rested for a day, being much fatigued by the trip from jeypore, but towards night i took a walk along a beautiful boulevard, and through fine parks for several miles, and was much interested in looking at the strange and wonderful scenes. the highly colored dresses of the native women, the silver ornaments covering their persons; the immense public and private palaces, very costly and beautiful,--all made a great impression on me, and i think that bombay is one of the finest cities in the world. there are fifty thousand parsees in this city, with some of whom i became acquainted, and found them to be very intelligent, and was told that they were very successful merchants, many of them millionaires. they originally came from persia, where they were agriculturists, but here they are merchants. these parsees are all worshippers of the sun. one day we went to their burial-place called the "towers of silence," situated in a handsomely laid out park. there were three round towers about one hundred feet in diameter and fifty feet high, without any tops, and around the edges perched some hundreds of black vultures. we were told by the attendant that the dead bodies were placed on slats inside these towers and then devoured by the vultures. we saw the dreadful creatures all flying over to one of the towers, and discovered that a body was being carried there by attendants dressed in white. we were not permitted to go near the towers, but were shown by an attendant a working model of one of them, and exactly how the dead bodies were disposed of. towards evening a band played in the beautiful park fronting the hotel, and i saw sights probably not surpassed by any other place on earth. the _élite_ were out, both native and foreign, in full force, as a public meeting was being held in a beautiful building erected by a wealthy parsee merchant, in front of which was his marble statue. the building is called the bombay university, and an officer, whose coat was covered with decorations, was delivering an address on higher education. officers and soldiers mounted on fine horses patrolled the streets; companies of sepoys dressed in native costumes marched along; many white children cared for by native nurses, splendidly dressed native women, and beautiful english ladies and children passed to and fro; carriages and fine horses went by on the road, making a scene of wonderful beauty and attraction. the city, with its many parks, covers a large space, and is elegant and clean, containing more than a million of people, but, strange to say of such an important commercial centre, there has been no united states consul here for six months, and i had in consequence much trouble in shipping home some boxes. i called upon mr. henry ballantine,[1] who had delivered a delightful lecture on cashmere before the geographical society at new york last winter, and he was good enough to give me such information as enabled me to get my goods off. [1] since the above was written mr. ballantine has been appointed u. s. consul to bombay. chapter xxv. on board "the khedive." steamer "khedive," red sea, near suez, february 10, 1890. the morning of the 31st of january was very hot at bombay, as usual, and i only went out to make a few calls, and some purchases, and at 3 p.m. we went on a tender to this steamer, passing two large english troop ships just arrived, and several ironclad men-of-war, and looked at the great forts on the land where we had before seen two 120-ton armstrong guns with piles of conical balls, each ball weighing half a ton. the harbor is large and fine, and there were at anchor many large steamers and sailing craft, but i did not see anywhere the flag of our country. on sunday there was the usual parade of officers, sailors, and servants, 149 in all, most of the sailors being lascars, dressed in white gowns, red turbans, and sashes, presenting a clean and picturesque appearance. the vessel is a fine one, wonderfully clean, and with all modern improvements, including electric lights. the doctor is a young and handsome man, and spends most of his time with the young lady passengers, who seem to require much medical advice. i notice that on most of the ships where i have been the doctors are very attentive to the ladies. one night i slept very soundly in the upper berth, but in the morning found my room flooded from the open port-holes, sofa, floor, and baggage wet, but no great harm done, my clothing being hung up. in the morning i knew the sailors were washing the deck, for the water leaked through and struck my face, but one learns not to mind such little matters when travelling, and i turned over for another sleep. it is rather hot on the steamer, thermometer eighty degrees, but the punkas are going in the cabin, and we are all quite comfortable. we came from bombay on the steamer _assam_, arrived at aden on the 6th, and were transferred to this ship, and unfortunately there was not time for us to go ashore, but i think we lost nothing, as it was a poor-looking place, nothing but rocks and fortifications. we now see for the first time the coast of arabia, big hills evidently of volcanic formation, and long reaches of white sand. the native boats crowded around the ship, offering ostrich feathers and various things for sale; boys were diving for silver pieces thrown into the water, and generally succeeded in getting them. the run of four days up the historic red sea has been full of interest. one day the air was full of locusts flying over from arabia to africa, many of them falling on the deck. they looked like small birds when flying, but were not larger than katydids, and brown in color. on sunday the service was read by a clergyman who preached an excellent sermon. he read from the bible the account of the passage of the red sea at a place not far from where we were, and the sermon was about it and egypt. the seats at the long tables in the dining-room were filled, nearly all the passengers being in attendance. the weather continues perfect, the water smooth and looking very blue. captain loggin, of this ship, says that on his last trip he had a lady passenger who was ninety-one years of age, and on a former trip another who was ninety-two, both of them very jolly and comfortable, and going from england to visit their relatives in india. the captain said that on another of his trips, two ladies, strangers to each other, were put in one state-room in which were two wash-basins. one basin being a little larger than the other, each lady wanted the larger one, and appealed to him. he gave the matter due consideration, and finally informed them that the elder should have it. as we approach the upper end of the sea it narrows to about three miles, and we have good views of both the arabian and the african coasts, long stretches of sand on both shores, and then mountains of volcanic origin, but not a sign of a town or of any inhabitants. early one morning the captain gave notice that we were nearing the sinai range of mountains, and he showed on his chart all the points of interest, and directly pointed out the historic mountain itself, situated beyond a range which was near the sea, and looming up so that we could see it with the naked eye, and very clearly with the glass. the mountain appeared to be about forty miles off. chapter xxvi. through the suez canal. cairo, february 12, 1890. at 9 p.m., on the 10th instant, the big steamer _khedive_ anchored at suez, the red sea entrance to the canal; and i was much interested in watching the engineers making steam connections to a large dynamo on deck. the connections were made by copper pipes and flange joints. in half an hour they were ready. captain loggin gave the signal, and the stately vessel moved on at the rate of six miles an hour towards port said on the mediterranean. the canal is 87 miles long, and when completed was 72 feet wide and 26 feet deep, but two years ago it was decided to enlarge it to 120 feet wide, 27 feet 8 inches deep. they are now at work on the enlargement, as i saw four immense dredgers lying in the canal near suez, and was informed that thousands of men could be seen during the day at work all along the route. i stationed myself on the upper deck at 9.30 p.m., and remained there all night with the kind and pleasant captain for my only companion, only leaving when we were nearing ismaïlia at six in the morning; and i was amply rewarded by sights such as i never expect to see again. the five thousand candle-power electric light, with a mangin reflector, spread the rays out fanlike, and illuminated the canal and vicinity for half a mile ahead and several hundred feet wide, so that the smallest thing on the land or in the water could be seen. the electric rays illuminated the water so that the white-painted buoys, of which you could often see three or four at a time, seemed to be lighted from the inside, as if made of translucent golden porcelain, and suspended in mid-air. the white sand on the banks of the canal might be readily mistaken for snow, and was in one place piled up fifty feet high, for a long distance, and the general effect was singularly weird, as the great steamer moved majestically on. when we reached the small bitter water lake, the buoys were on stands fifteen feet high, out of water, looking as if they were made of silver, the pear-shaped domes like illuminated mosques. once where there was an opening in the sand-bank, the light illuminated a hill some distance off, and it seemed as if i were looking upon a great city, with its mosques, minarets, churches, and buildings all being destroyed by fire. several times, when approaching huge dredging machines, the electric light seemed to transform them into beautiful flower boats on which fairies might be dancing. as we entered the large bitter lake, the electric lights were put out and the vessel guided by a pilot increased her speed. the tide rises seven feet at suez, and forces the water up the canal to the bitter lakes, which operate like a safety valve, distributing the water and returning it when the tide recedes. the mediterranean being a tideless sea, the water runs naturally through the canal to the bitter lakes. most of the commerce of the east passes through the canal, instead of around the cape of good hope, as formerly. in 1887 there passed through the canal 3,137 vessels, of which 2,330 were british, and only three american. i know of no greater illustration of the fallibility of human judgment than that the english opposed the building of this canal. lord palmerston said it could not be built, and if done, would never pay, or be any good to commerce; and now seventy-five per cent. of the tonnage passing through it is british, and it is of immense importance to them, both politically and in a business way. but for the persistent energy of m. de lesseps, it is safe to say the canal would not have been built for many years, if ever. the average passages through the canal from the mediterranean to the red sea have been eighteen hours, captain loggin having made the shortest in fifteen hours; but when the enlargement is completed, so that vessels may make an uninterrupted passage each way, the time may be reduced to twelve hours. the stock of the company has paid as high as twenty-one per cent., and i was informed that our steamer, the _khedive_, had several hundred cases of silk on board, and that she would pay about seven thousand dollars transit charges. every steamer passing through the canal now makes use of the electric light; those not having a dynamo on board hire one at port said in suez for ten pounds sterling per trip, including two men to run it. chapter xxvii. cairo and the pyramids. cairo, february 17, 1890. on the 13th at 1 p.m. we took the train at ismaïlia, had a first-class carriage and agreeable company. for half the distance we passed through a sandy desert, but when we came to the station tel-el-kebir, near which wolseley routed the egyptian army, the country improved, great fields of sugar-cane, lentils, grain, and grass were to be seen; men were ploughing, and others gathering the crops, assisted by camels, bullocks, and donkeys. in one instance, a camel was harnessed to a bullock drawing a plough. the people were everywhere industrious, and the fields looked in splendid condition. very often we saw large flocks of sheep and goats, and soon we came in sight of a long arched bridge spanning the nile. after crossing this we entered a fine depot at cairo, where there was the usual clamor of hackmen, but our conductor rescued us from these land sharks, and we were soon at the royal hotel and i found my room, which had been engaged, and directly a package of letters and papers were handed to me, which were very welcome. it is as cool here as march in new york, and i have on my regular winter clothing. the red sea voyage and the weather here have toned me up, and i feel in first-rate health. this is one of three fine hotels in cairo, and is first class in every respect--french cooking, splendid bread and butter, and excellent beef and mutton, which have, no doubt, helped to put me in good condition, after the horrors of our campaign of the india cookery. mr. norris sent a telegram to baltimore last evening at 5.30, and had an answer at 11.30 p.m., so that we are all now in touch of home. we have been this afternoon through the bazaars to the great citadel and the grand mosque, where i unfortunately stumbled over a prostrate man praying, with his face towards mecca, and there was a little row, but i apologized and passed on. yesterday we started out at nine and did not get back to the hotel until four. we went first to the famous museum three miles distant, over the river, and saw an immense collection of antiquities, illustrating egyptian history for six thousand years, including the mummies of the great kings, rameses i., ii., and iii., and their wives and some of their children. their remains are not pretty to look at, and it seemed to me to be sacrilegious to expose them for show in a museum at one franc admission. the museum building is very beautiful, having been erected by the khedive for a palace, the same khedive who was deposed by the english, and is now in exile in italy. one room had marble pillars three feet in diameter and thirty feet high, and the whole building is fitted up in the highest style of modern french art. we entered carriages and drove over a fine shaded road to the great pyramids, where we arrived at noon. i at once announced my intention of going to the top of the big pyramid, as did also mr. kolish of vienna and miss roe of cincinnati, the others of the party declining. the old arab sheik, who has charge here, appointed three stalwart egyptians to assist me, and two others followed with jugs of water; with one man holding each hand, and another to push, we commenced the ascent. the stones were from two to two and a half feet high, making the tallest kind of stairs, but the men were careful and good at pulling and pushing, and i made rapid progress. they stopped twice to rest, and then i found what violent exertions i had been making, for i was completely blown, and my mouth and throat as dry as if i had not had a drink for a month. we rested at each stopping-place a few minutes, and rinsing my mouth with water refreshed me; then we rushed on, reaching the top in seventeen minutes. such had been the violence of the exertion that i could hardly speak for fifteen minutes afterwards. mr. kolish being a stout young fellow got along first-rate, and miss roe being strong, cool, and fearless came up serenely. from the top the view towards the nile was of unsurpassed beauty; long stretches of country covered with green as far as the eye could reach. farther back was a boundless plain, but all sand and desolation. i intended to recite here napoleon the first's address, "soldiers of the grand army, forty centuries are looking down upon you," but i was so much engaged getting my breath that i forgot all about it. after stopping on top for half an hour, we commenced going down, one man holding each of my hands and another holding a rope which was around under my arms. we got along very nicely with only one stop, indeed i think i could have come down perfectly well without help from any one. there are 250 steps on the big pyramid, and it is 480 feet high. at one o'clock we had a capital lunch, and then started for the statue of memnon only a third of a mile from the pyramids. some camels were kneeling ready to take us, and i mounted one. the beast squealed and got up first on his front legs and then on his hind ones, pitching me back and forth, but i hung on and got along very nicely. the immense statue, partly covered with sand, did not impress me much, but a tomb which i entered near by was a wonder. i measured one of the big stones in the wall and found it was five feet square and seventeen feet long. we mounted on camels again and miss roe and i had a race across the yielding sand, the cincinnati young lady coming out ahead. the beggars crowded around and annoyed the ladies so much that i spoke to the old sheik, and he went at them with a whip and scattered them very quickly. we returned to cairo the same way we went, observing on the road large numbers of camels, bullocks, and donkeys, and once i counted seven camels loaded with fresh hay. thus ended one of the wonder days of my life. yesterday morning we left here on a steamer, and went up the swift-running waters of the nile, passing numerous palaces, tombs, and all kinds of oriental buildings, dozens of water-wheels run by bullocks, and once a steam-pump and boiler, all raising water for irrigation. we had a stalwart and fancy-dressed dragoman, but he was of little use. we took along a nice lunch and picnicked on the boat, reaching the dock in three hours, where we found about a hundred donkeys and their attendants yelling, screaming, and pushing. after much trouble we each mounted one of the ugly beasts, and started for the ancient city of memphis, seven miles away. there was a boy with a stick to each donkey, and every time he struck, my beast would kick and nearly unseat me. a young lady from boston, miss potter, was put in my charge, and several times we had splendid trots and gallops on the sandy roads and plains. we met strings of camels and donkeys on the way in front, and our cavalcade of excursionists, stretched along the sandy road, presented a remarkable appearance. half-way we stopped to rest at a place where an immense marble statue of a king was lying in the sand. it was thirty feet long, and five feet across the face. the donkey ridden by miss potter proved so bad that she changed him for another here, and we galloped over the sandy plain unto memphis, our destination. there were half a dozen big pyramids in sight, and the whole country was covered with ruins. we were on a high hill, and looked down upon the delta of the nile and its cultivated fields, a scene of rare beauty, on one side, and on the other, vast sandy plains and deserts. we walked to the entrance of the "tombs of the sacred bulls." the passage-ways and tombs are cut out of solid rock and are all under ground. these passage-ways are a mile or two long, and thirty feet in diameter. they strongly reminded me of the sewers in paris. from these passages, were dug out of solid rock twelve rooms, each containing the statue of a "sacred bull," each one carved out of the rock, highly polished and covered with writing executed in a beautiful manner. each of us carried a candle, and it was very hot, so much so that one of the young men came near fainting and had to hurry out. it was a curious and weird scene, fifty or more people, each with a candle, wandering about in the dark. after looking at the tombs, we all returned to the upper air, and went to the tomb of a great king near by, which was under ground, and contained several large rooms, all made of highly polished white marble, covered with writing and carvings; processions of men and animals, beautifully executed, and in the best state of preservation. mounted on the donkeys once more, men and boys surrounded us, offering all kinds of things for sale. one young fellow showed me the skeleton of a lady's hand, and offered to sell it for a shilling, but i declined. it was a rough ride back to the river, the donkeys being very uncomfortable creatures to ride. once the one ridden by miss potter greeted some of his friends in a field, and brayed with tremendous energy. we were very much fatigued and glad to get to the boat. the return voyage was very pleasant, and we reached cairo at 5.30 p.m. chapter xxviii. jaffa. jaffa, palestine, feb. 21, 1890. our party left cairo on the 19th, going by rail one hundred and fifty miles to alexandria, and leaving there at 10 a.m. the following day, arrived here by steamer this morning. the landing from the steamer was made in boats, and was rather rough, the sea running high and there being no breakwater. this is said to be the oldest town in the world, and is certainly the dirtiest one i ever saw. we drove all about, going first to the house of simon the tanner, situated near the sea. we saw the tank in which he used to tan his leather, and went on the top of the house, where he and his family used to sleep. we then went to the house of dorcas, situated in a grove of orange-and lemon-trees, and i bowed my head to her memory, for she not only did good to the poor herself, but her example has caused countless millions of christian women in all the ages since to do the same, very often in associations named after her. the oranges raised in and about the town are very large and fine, and much exported. great crowds of turks, camels, and donkeys were in the market-places. chapter xxix. ramleh. reinhard's hotel, ramleh, february 21, 1890. we left jaffa at 3 p.m., in as fine a landau as you would see in hyde park, with three horses and a dragoman, and drove along a splendid macadam road, meeting and constantly passing camels, donkeys, and strange-looking turks. soon we came to the plains of sharon, perfectly level, and stretching off for ten or twenty miles each way, covered with red, blue, and yellow flowers. they are said to be the "roses of sharon" mentioned in the scriptures, but really are a species of poppy. at a distance we saw the high hills and mountains which surround jerusalem. the scenes were of the most thrilling interest, for solomon often passed this way, and over the road were transported the cedars of lebanon of which the great temple was built. it was a cool and bracing day, and we had a delightful trip, arriving at this excellent hotel at 5 p.m., and at once walked to the ruins of a mosque built in 1099 a.d., by saladin. the tower, an elegant structure, is still standing. we went to the top of this tower, and looked upon a lovely landscape. as far as the eye could see, the plains were covered with almond-trees in full blossom, and other trees and shrubs peculiar to the country, the big cactus plants being used for fences. as we returned we passed a tower, from the top of which a priest was crying aloud for the faithful to pray. every few miles was a guard-house, and horsemen were often met on the road who acted as police. chapter xxx. jerusalem. jerusalem, february 23, 1890. the rest overnight at ramleh, at the hotel there, kept by a german, formerly of buffalo, n. y., proved very refreshing, and in the morning we took our fine carriage, and driving rapidly over the excellent road, reached here at 5 p.m., having had a very enjoyable trip. coming near the jaffa gate our driver ran against a heavy-loaded camel, and caused him to tumble almost into our carriage, but he fell partly under it, and the wheels ran over one of his legs and broke it. the owner of the camel, a big turk, when he saw the mischief, sat down by the side of the road and wept. the carriage stopped at the jaffa gate, and we walked to the new hotel, a large handsome building of stone, all the halls being paved with marble. it was so very cold that i had a fire made in a small stove in my room. here, as in all the countries i have lately visited, fuel is very scarce and dear; that used here was the roots of trees. at last the dream of a lifetime has been realized, and i have been on the top of the mount of olives, to me the most interesting spot on earth. it had been raining, making the slippery stones of the streets very disagreeable. accompanied by an excellent guide, i walked from the jaffa to the golden gate, along the street of "solomon and david," and mounted a small good-natured donkey, who carefully took me over a rough road to the top of the mount. thence i looked upon the scenes so often described in the bible, rendered more impressive to me from the thought that on the very spot where i was, must have stood david and solomon, christ, st. peter, paul, and the apostles! they must have looked down in their time, as i did, upon the winding jordan, the dead sea, bethlehem, and the mountains and valleys beyond. the other view was towards the compact walled city. it seemed to me that i could see the great army of titus encamped on the hills beyond the jaffa gate, preparing to assault it with their battering-rams. the scene was a very impressive one. after admiring the beautiful church lately erected by the russians, on top of the mount, i passed down by another and rougher path, and rode entirely around the city, the guide carefully explaining every thing as we rode along. the mosque of omar, built on the spot where solomon's temple stood, is a splendid edifice, the outside being made of various-colored tiles, and the inside of mosaic work, with the most exquisite stained-glass windows. at length we got away from this almost enchanted spot and went through the markets and bazaars, which do not differ much from those of other oriental cities: narrow dirty streets, small stores, and crowds of long-bearded old men, exactly as you see represented in all pictures; women, black, brown, and white, with their faces modestly covered, but barelegged and nothing on their feet except sandals; even these were often left off. we took a carriage and went to bethlehem, five miles from jerusalem, and attended religious services held in various churches by the russians, catholics, and copts. every thing we saw was of great interest, the view from the hill superb, and the people and scenes on the way wonderful to behold. chapter xxxi. jaffa. jaffa, january 26, 1890. having spent two days in jerusalem industriously sight-seeing, one noon-day i took a seat in the fine carriage provided, my only companion being a dragoman, and we were soon bowling along over the fine road to jaffa. the engineers are surveying for a railroad from jaffa to jerusalem and the people expect that it will be completed in a year. the journey may then be made in an hour. the moon came up at 6 p.m., and as we passed along the road through the mountains i saw sights and scenery not to be soon forgotten. i felt safe, for every few miles there was a stone watch-tower, occupied by guards, and often we met them on the road, mounted and armed with guns. it was a ride of thrilling interest, for over this route have passed many times the heroes of old, and on yonder field of sharon, now smiling with flowers, was once fought a great battle. the carriage rushed on, and half-way we changed horses. being very cold, i walked ahead for a couple of miles, meeting caravans and single camels, and numerous donkeys laden with wood, and men coming from the fields with their oxen and their ploughs. the black-eyed natives eyed me curiously, but said nothing, and soon the carriage overtook me, and i was so well warmed up by my walk that i felt comfortable for the remainder of the trip. we were detained for two days at jaffa on account of the rough sea, which prevented steamers from landing, but being in a comfortable hotel, i was content and spent the time looking about the ancient city. a young arab offered to sell me a tame hyena for twenty francs. it was nine months old, and as playful as a young dog. at last the sea became smooth, and i entered one of the heavy boats, and the three strong turkish boatmen put me over the rough waters in good style on board the russian steamer _poccir_ from alexandria bound for odessa. chapter xxxii. on board the "poccir." steamer "poccir," march 4, 1890. the steward gave me a very poor state-room below with another man, but i handed him a fee, and in the morning he put me in a beautiful cabin on deck, a large room, lined with handsome polished wood with two large looking-glasses, and fit for a prince or an american to occupy. i could not find a man on the ship who spoke a word of english, but i rather enjoyed the novel situation, and got along very nicely. on the 28th instant, in the morning, i came on deck, and found that we had arrived at beyrout, and after partaking of a glass of tea and some bread, i took a boat and went ashore, and there engaged an arab guide. the first call we made was on mr. bissenger, our consul, formerly from new york, with whom i had a pleasant talk. we then went along the streets lined on both sides with fine stores occupied by english and other foreign merchants, and then through the bazaars of the native town. we inspected a fine palace, splendidly furnished, owned by a russian nobleman, who has not been here for seven years, but who keeps it open, with servants in attendance, ready to be occupied by himself and family at any time. we drove out to a handsome public garden, and came back over the famous damascus road built by the french. a fine macadam roadway, over which are run diligences to damascus, eighty miles away, but now it is blocked by heavy snow in the mountains, and consequently two hundred travellers are detained in beyrout. one gentleman tried to get through on horseback, but the snow was too deep, and he was obliged to return. the bay is a beautiful one; as seen from the city, a range of mountains looming up around it, the lower ones being covered with cedars, and the higher, including mount lebanon, capped with snow. it will be remembered that solomon obtained the cedars from these mountains with which he built the temple at jerusalem. i had some anxiety about my passport, as it had not been endorsed by the turkish consul at cairo, but a fee put into the hands of the customs officer was sufficient, and he permitted me to depart without even looking at the document. we got aboard the ship at noon, and after a nice lunch, including excellent red and white odessa wine, the steamer whistled, and we were off. during the afternoon we stopped at napoli, which is a well-built town, extending along the shore a mile or two, with the snow-covered mountains for background. here a dozen passengers got off, mostly turks. there was a heavy sea, and the small boats could only be brought up to within six feet of the ship's ladder, so the passengers wishing to disembark had to jump. the steam engines were kept in constant use from 4 p.m. until midnight, taking on board from lighters three thousand large boxes of oranges for odessa. the steamer and the lighters pitched about, and it was a sight to see how skilfully every thing was managed. the cooking on this ship is excellent, though some of the food is new to me, and i look with some surprise to see the russians drink a small glass of raw brandy before each meal. we arrived at the ancient and important city of smyrna yesterday at 10 a.m., and went ashore with mr. zucker, swiss consul to chili, who speaks english, and very kindly assisted me in making known my wants. we employed a guide and went through the city, which is a large one, containing two hundred thousand people. the foreign streets and stores are very fine, but those occupied by jews, turks, armenians, and greeks are very dirty and disagreeable. after a couple of hours' walking about in the heat and dirt, we came back to the street running along the bay, which is a couple of miles long, well-paved and clean. a dozen large steamers were at the docks, and much business going on. we saw numbers of fine buildings, hotels, and cafés. mr. zucker and i called on the united states consul, mr. emmet, and i was agreeably surprised to find that he was an old acquaintance, formerly in the comptroller's office of new york. at 4 p.m. we went on board, and were soon off. the steamer had been invaded by a dozen young englishmen, and on interviewing them i found that they belonged to a foot-ball club of constantinople, and had been to smyrna playing against a club there. they were a jolly set of young fellows, and made things lively on the ship for the remainder of the trip. the wind blew hard all day. it was cold and disagreeable, and we saw little of the land, though we were passing through the famous dardanelles, the hellespont of the greeks, past the site of the ancient city of troy, of which homer sung, and i would have given much for a bright day or a moonlight night so that i could have seen the exact place where "leander swam the hellespont." but this was not to be, so i turned in and slept until morning, and when i came on deck found that we were at anchor in the world-renowned and beautiful harbor of constantinople. chapter xxxiii. constantinople. constantinople, march 9, 1890. the harbor appears to be about a mile wide and two miles long, surrounded by steep hills, on which the city is built, largely in terraces, with many great palaces, mosques, and public buildings, the mosque of st. sophia being very prominent. i took a guide at the ship and went ashore in his boat. i had been often informed of the annoyances by custom-house officials to which travellers are often obliged to submit on their arrival in the turkish dominions, and was agreeably surprised at the ease with which i was permitted to go on shore. the guide showed my passport to an officer, who looked it over and returned it, and we went to another wharf, where my trunk and bag had been landed. there were three venerable officers here, who each took a franc and passed the baggage without opening any thing, or saying a word. a big turk took my trunk and bag on his back, and we went up an ill-paved and dirty street, a quarter of a mile long, and almost as hard to climb as the pyramids of egypt, leading to a nice and well-paved avenue, lined with fine shops, on which was the hotel pesth, where we found comfortable quarters. i had a cup of tea, and then sallied out to see the city. there are few carriages to be seen in the streets, but great numbers of large and homeless yellow dogs, all of the same shaggy breed, apparently well fed and happy and certainly good-natured. there were twelve of these dogs on the walk opposite the hotel, and i counted 164 on one of the main streets, about a mile long. we remarked that they were about as thick all over the city, and there must be as many as fifty thousand altogether. we walked down a fine street to the water, and along the shore for a mile or two, and again admired the beautiful bay, which poets have raved about for centuries, and which most people think the finest in all the world. we went as far as one of the big palaces belonging to the sultan, which faces the water. it is twelve hundred feet long, and has two grand entrances built of white marble. there we took a circuit around the hills, and saw many great buildings, barracks, schools, etc. once we saw a regiment of horsemen drilling in a large square. the men were tall and fine-looking, and the horses excellent. there were two fire alarms while we were out, and it was enough to make a new york horse laugh to see the arrangements for putting them out. the engine, so called, was an ordinary force-pump with two handles, placed on a platform and carried by a dozen men, who were followed by fifty more, in a leisurely way. there are no water-works, and many large and very old wooden buildings, so one can readily see that there must be destructive fires here sometimes. i have been here a week, and have seen many mosques, including the immense and famous st. sophia, which must have been in days of old very magnificent, but it has been largely robbed of its treasures, and is now quite dilapidated. the weather here is very bad, cold, rainy, and blustering, much as we often have it in march. there was a heavy fall of snow two weeks ago, and the streets are wet, slippery, and disagreeable. on the 6th instant we made the famous trip up the bosphorus to the black sea, which has been so often written about. there were four of us, mr. zucker, myself, and two friends, all sedate, over sixty years of age, and representing a combined weight of nearly eight hundred pounds. we left the hotel at 9 a.m., walked a short distance through the middle of the muddy streets to a cable road, which we took, and in ten minutes were in a busy street near the water. we then crossed a fine iron bridge and went on board a side-wheel steamer. looking across the water we could see the great hospital buildings where florence nightingale immortalized her name, by her care of wounded soldiers during the crimean war. steam was up, and soon we were away, going along near the shore of the european side and making about ten landings. on the shore, buildings have been erected, sometimes a hundred or more together, so that practically speaking the ten miles to the black sea is a continuation of the city. palaces are to be seen all along, several of them belonging to the sultan, and one very large and splendid one occupied by the persian ambassador. the ranges of hills near the water are largely cultivated, and even now are covered with green grass, the whole presenting a panorama of great beauty. we stopped at noon, went on shore and had an excellent lunch at a german restaurant, and then took another boat as far as the black sea, and returned along the shore of asia, stopping at numerous places to take on passengers and mail, and in an hour reached the city. there was a lot of women on board, with their faces more or less covered. once as the steamer was passing a house i saw a very pretty sight. a couple of little girls made signals to our captain, and a larger one held up, for him to see, a small white puppy. the white-headed old sailor smiled a grim smile, and the swift steamer swept on. one day i took a guide and went to see the famous native bazaars, where under one roof were several hundred small stores, the passage-ways narrow, wet, and ill-paved, such as you find everywhere in the east, filled with every thing native and foreign one ever thought of. an armenian pulled me into his store and showed me elegant stuff, sofa pillows, silks, shawls, and gold embroidery, but having no use for such things i came away without purchasing. another day i called on mr. sweeney, our consul, and later upon mr. solomon hirsch, u. s. minister, who kindly gave me all the information i wanted about constantinople. returning through the lower part of the city, where there was a large crowd of people, i saw a dog-fight. a strange black dog had invaded this part of the city, and a dozen yellow ones went for him fiercely, causing an immense row and confusion, until a turk appeared with a big rope, thrashed them all and sent them yelling away. one morning we took a carriage, and went to see the sultan make his weekly trip to a mosque. we drove some three miles to the front of the mosque through the mud and snow. this mosque is a new and beautiful one, and soon after we arrived, there was a great gathering of horse and foot-soldiers. the horsemen were fine-looking, and rode splendid horses. they formed several deep in front of our carriage, but i got on a high fence, so as to have a good view, and stood there in the snow and rain for an hour, waiting for his highness. at length there came a band of music, a troop of cavalry, and many decorated officers, followed by an open carriage containing the sultan, a dark, black-bearded middle-aged turk, wearing the national red fez. he passed slowly on to his devotions, and i was asked if i would wait and see him return. i said most decidedly not, and returned with my friends to the hotel and to a late but excellent breakfast at 2 p.m. chapter xxxiv. conclusion. on the afternoon of the 10th of march, i took a walk down to the great bridge, and had a last and lingering look at the splendid harbor, the golden horn, and the bosphorus. at 6 p.m., i took a carriage and a guide to the depot at stamboul, from which leaves, twice a week, the oriental express for vienna and paris. after an examination of my passport and baggage, and considerable delay, i got on the train, composed exclusively of mann boudoir cars, lighted by gas, including dining-car; and every thing first-class, quite as good as any thing in america, except the vestibule trains from new york to chicago. the road-bed is so perfectly constructed that the cars run easier than on any railroad i was ever on. you could read with comfort, and some of the passengers were writing. my journey from constantinople was a solitary one, our party having separated, and other friends being left behind. passing through bulgaria and servia, little was to be seen except vast plains, sometimes cultivated, but often not; mud houses with thatched roofs, and oxen ploughing in the fields. we then went up and over big mountains, covered with snow. the second morning when i arose we were in hungary, and the scene had changed to every appearance of business and activity. four oxen, attached to a plough or to a four-wheel wagon, were to be seen all along the route. there were vast cultivated plains, and beyond them towns, villages, and houses, all looking in good shape. we arrived at budapest after two nights and one day on the train. i spent two days in budapest, and found it one of the most beautiful cities in europe--handsome, well paved, wide, clean streets, splendid hotels, stores, and public and private buildings. this city is the capital of hungary; the king, who is also emperor of austria, resides here for a portion of the year. in one of my trips about the city, i saw him driving out in his royal coach. leaving budapest at half-past two one afternoon, after a fine journey of five hours, i arrived in vienna, and was accommodated at the imperial hotel, which was first-class in all respects. a week was passed in vienna. it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, many think even finer than paris, and i thoroughly enjoyed the comforts of civilization once more, all the more, no doubt, from having been partly deprived of them for so many months, as recorded in the previous pages. i called on colonel grant, the united states minister, who was very polite and kind. i dined with him and his charming family, and attended a diplomatic reception given by mrs. grant. i also dined with the distinguished dr. kolish and his family, some of whom spoke excellent english, and passed a very agreeable evening with them. passing on to berlin, i there saw a grand review given by the emperor to the prince of wales; and from there went to dresden, in which delightful city several days were spent, going often to the large and splendid gallery of paintings, and lingering in front of that wonderful work of art, the "sistine madonna." one evening i went to the grand opera, and one afternoon drove around and through the city. two american young ladies were kind enough to accompany me and to point out the various objects of interest. we met the king of saxony, driving out in a showy royal carriage. hamburg came next, one of the most beautiful and enterprising cities in europe, and then bremen, where i boarded the north german lloyds steamer _eider_. every thing about this splendid ship was so perfect that one could not suggest an improvement; the table being of extraordinary excellence. we made a quick passage, and in eight days i landed in new york, april 8, 1890, having been absent exactly seven months. the distance travelled was 27,816 miles: 18,786 by water, 9,030 by land. * * * * * distances travelled: recorded from san francisco to cairo by miss roe; of cincinnati. miles from new york to san francisco 3,000 san francisco to yokohama 4,724 yokohama to tokio and return 36 nikko, lake chiu, and return 253 hankom pass and return 115-1/2 kamakura and enoshima 80 yokohama to kobé 346 kobé to kioto and osaka 152 kobé _via_ nagasaki to hong-kong 1,456 hong-kong to canton and return 180 hong-kong to colombo, ceylon 3,096 n. elliya and kandy 270-1/2 colombo to madras and calcutta 1,401 calcutta to darjeeling and return 740 calcutta to benares 475 benares to lucknow 202 lucknow to cawnpore 46 cawnpore to agra 160 agra to delhi 144 delhi to jeypore 101 jeypore to bombay 699 bombay to aden 1,661 aden to ismaïlia 1,352 ismaïlia to cairo 84 memphis and return 50 pyramids and return 16 cairo to alexandria 150 alexandria to jaffa 250 jaffa to jerusalem and return 68 jerusalem to bethlehem and return 10 jaffa to constantinople 1,000 constantinople to vienna 1,300 vienna to dresden 340 dresden to berlin 100 berlin to hamburg 168 hamburg to bremerhaven 90 bremerhaven to new york 3,500 ----- 27,816 * * * * * team. indian speeches (1907-1909) by viscount morley om _the modern and western spirit is assuredly at work in the indian countries, but the vital question for indian governments is, how far it has changed the ideas of men_?--sir henry maine. 1909 note a signal transaction is now taking place in the course of indian polity. these speeches, with no rhetorical pretensions, contain some of the just, prudent, and necessary points and considerations, that have guided this transaction, and helped to secure for it the sanction of parliament. the too limited public that follows indian affairs with coherent attention, may find this small sheaf of speeches, revised as they have been, to be of passing use. three cardinal state-papers have been appended. they mark the spirit of british rule in india, at three successive stages, for three generations past; and bear directly upon what is now being done. _november_, 1909. contents i. on presenting the indian budget. (house of commons, june 6, 1907) ii. to constituents. (arbroath, october 21, 1907) iii. on amendment to address. (house of commons, january 31, 1908) iv. indian civil service. (london, july, 1908) v. on proposed reforms. (house of lords, december 17, 1908) vi. hindus and mahometans. (january, 1909) vii. second reading of indian councils bill. (house of lords) viii. indian probationers. (oxford, june 13, 1909) appendix three state-papers: 1833, 1858, 1908 indian speeches i on presenting the indian budget (house of commons. june 6, 1907) i am afraid i shall have to ask the house for rather a large draft upon its indulgence. the indian secretary is like the aloe, that blooms once in 100 years: he only troubles the house with speeches of his own once in twelve months. there are several topics which the house will expect me to say something about, and of these are two or three topics of supreme interest and importance, for which i plead for patience and comprehensive consideration. we are too apt to find that gentlemen both here and outside fix upon some incident of which they read in the newspaper; they put it under a microscope; they indulge in reflections upon it; and they regard that as taking an intelligent interest in the affairs of india. if we could suppose that on some occasion within the last three or four weeks a wrong turn had been taken in judgment at simla, or in the cabinet, or in the india office, or that to-day in this house some wrong turn might be taken, what disasters would follow, what titanic efforts to repair these disasters, what devouring waste of national and indian treasure, and what a wreckage might follow! these are possible consequences that misjudgment either here or in india might bring with it. sir, i believe i am not going too far when i say that this is almost, if not quite, the first occasion upon which what is called the british democracy in its full strength has been brought directly face to face with the difficulties of indian government in all their intricacies, all their complexities, all their subtleties, and above all in their enormous magnitude. last year when i had the honour of addressing the house on the indian budget, i observed, as many have done before me, that it is one of the most difficult experiments ever tried in human history, whether you can carry on, what you will have to try to carry on in india--personal government along with free speech and free right of public meeting. this which last year was partially a speculative question, has this year become more or less actual, and that is a question which i shall by and by have to submit to the house. i want to set out the case as frankly as i possibly can. i want, if i may say so without presumption, to take the house into full confidence so far--and let nobody quarrel with this provision--as public interests allow. i will beg the house to remember that we do not only hear one another; we are ourselves this afternoon overheard. words that may be spoken here, are overheard in the whole kingdom. they are overheard thousands of miles away by a vast and complex community. they are overheard by others who are doing the service and work of the crown in india. by those, too, who take part in the immense work of commercial and non-official life in india. we are overheard by great indian princes who are outside british india. we are overheard by the dim masses of indians whom, in spite of all, we shall persist in regarding as our friends. we are overheard by those whom, i am afraid, we must reluctantly call our enemies. this is the reason why everybody who speaks to-day, certainly including myself, must use language that is well advised, language of reserve, and, as i say again, the fruit of comprehensive consideration. the budget is a prosperity budget. we have, however, to admit that a black shadow falls across the prospect. the plague figures are appalling. but do not let us get unreasonably dismayed, even about these appalling figures. if we reviewed the plague figures up to last december, we might have hoped that the horrible scourge was on the wane. from 92,000 deaths in the year 1900, the figures went up to 1,100,000 in 1904, while in 1905 they exceeded 1,000,000. in 1906 a gleam of hope arose, and the mortality sank to something under 350,000. the combined efforts of government and people had produced that reduction; but, alas, since january, 1907, plague has again flared up in districts that have been filled with its terror for a decade; and for the first four months of this year the deaths amounted to 642,000, which exceeded the record for the same period in any past year. you must remember that we have to cover a very vast area. i do not know that these figures would startle us if we took the area of the whole of europe. it was in 1896 that this plague first appeared in india, and up to april, 1907, the total figure of the human beings who have died is 5,250,000. but dealing with a population of 300,000,000, this dire mortality, although enormous, is not at all comparable with the results of the black death and other scourges, that spread over europe in earlier times, in proportion to the population. the plague mortality in 1904 (the worst complete year) would only represent, if evenly distributed, a death-rate of about 3 per 1,000. but it is local, and particularly centres in the punjab, the united provinces, and in bombay. i do not think that anybody who has been concerned in india--i do not care to what school of indian thought he belongs--can deny that measures for the extermination and mitigation of this disease have occupied the most serious, constant, unflagging, zealous, and energetic attention of the indian government. but the difficulties we encounter are manifold, as many members of the house are well aware. it is possible that hon. members may rise and say that we are not enforcing with sufficient zeal proper sanitary rules; and, on the other hand, i dare say that other hon. members will get up to show that the great difficulty in the way of sanitary rules being observed, arises from the reluctance of the population to practise them. that is perfectly natural and is well understood. they are a suspicious population, and we all know that, when these new rules are forced upon them, they constantly resent and resist them. a policy of severe repression is worse than useless. i will not detain the house with particulars of all the proceedings we have taken in dealing with the plague. but i may say that we have instituted a long scientific inquiry with the aid of the royal society and the lister institute. then we have very intelligent officers, who have done all they could to trace the roots of the disease, and to discover if they could, any means to prevent it. it is a curious thing that, while there appears to be no immunity from this frightful scourge for the natives, europeans enjoy almost entire immunity from the disease. that is difficult to understand or to explain. now as to opium, i know that a large number of members in the house are interested in it. judging by the voluminous correspondence that i receive, all the churches and both political parties are sincerely and deeply interested in the question, and i was going to say that the resolutions with which they have favoured me often use the expression "righteousness before revenue." the motto is excellent, but its virtue will be cheap and shabby, if you only satisfy your own righteousness at the expense of other people's revenue. mr. lupton: we are quite ready to bear the expense. mr. morley: my hon. friend says they are quite prepared to bear the expense. i commend that observation cheerfully to the chancellor of the exchequer. this question touches the consciences of the people of the country. my hon. friend sometimes goes a little far; still, he represents a considerable body of feeling. last may, when the opium question was raised in this house, something fell from me which reached the chinese government, and the chinese government, on the strength of that utterance of mine, made in the name of his majesty's government, have persistently done their best to come to some sort of arrangement and understanding with his majesty's government. in september an imperial decree was issued in china ordering the strict prohibition of the consumption and cultivation of opium, with a view to ultimate eradication in ten years. communications were made to the foreign secretary, and since then there has been a considerable correspondence, some of which the house is, by question and answer, acquainted with. the chinese government have been uniformly assured, not only by my words spoken in may, but by the foreign secretary, that the sympathy of this country was with the objects set forth in their decree of september. then a very important incident, as i regard it, and one likely by-and-bye to prove distinctly fruitful, was the application by the united states government to our government, as to whether there should not be a joint inquiry into the opium traffic by the united states and the other powers concerned. the house knows, by question and answer, that his majesty's government judge that procedure by way of commission rather than by way of conference is the right way to approach the question. but no one can doubt for a moment, considering the honourable interest the united states have shown on previous occasions, that some good result will come with time and persistence. i will not detain the house with the details, but certainly it is a true satisfaction to know that a great deal of talk as to the chinese interest in the suppression of opium being fictitious is unreal. i was much struck by a sentence written by the correspondent of _the times_ at peking recently. everybody who knows him, is aware that he is not a sentimentalist, and he used remarkable language. he said that he viewed the development in china of the anti-opium movement as encouraging; that the movement was certainly popular, and was supported by the entire native press; while a hopeful sign was that the use of opium was fast becoming unfashionable, and would become more so. a correspondence, so far as the government of india is concerned, is now in progress. those of my hon. friends who think we are lacking perhaps in energy and zeal i would refer to the language used by mr. baker, the very able finance member of the viceroy's council, because these words really define the position of the government of india- "what the eventual outcome will be, it is impossible to foresee. the practical difficulties which china has imposed on herself are enormous, and may prove insuperable, but it is evident that the gradual reduction and eventual extinction of the revenue that india has derived from the trade, has been brought a stage nearer, and it is necessary for us to be prepared for whatever may happen." he added that twenty years ago, or even less, the prospect of losing a revenue of five and a half crores of rupees a year would have caused great anxiety, and even now the loss to indian finances would be serious, and might necessitate recourse to increased taxation. but if, as they had a clear right to expect, the transition was effected with due regard to finance, and was spread over a term of years, the consequence need not be regarded with apprehension. when i approach military expenditure, and war and the dangers of war, i think i ought to say a word about the visit of the ameer of afghanistan, which excited so much attention, and kindled so lively an interest in great parts, not only of our own dominions, but in asia. i am persuaded that we have reason to look back on that visit with entire and complete satisfaction. his majesty's government, previously to the visit of the ameer instructed the governor-general in council on no account to open any political questions with the ameer. that was really part of the conditions of the ameer's visit; and the result of that policy has been to place our relations with the ameer on an eminently satisfactory footing, a far better footing than would have been arrived at by any formal premeditated convention. the ameer himself made a speech when he arrived at kabul on his return, and i am aware that in this speech i come to a question of what may seem a party or personal character, with which it is not in the least my intention to deal. this is what the ameer said on 10th april- "the officers of the government of india never said a word on political matters, they kept their promise. but as to myself, whenever and wherever i found an opportunity, i spoke indirectly on several matters which concerned the interests of my country and nation. the other side never took undue advantage of it, and never discussed with me on those points which i mentioned. his excellency's invitation (lord minto's) to me was in such a proper form, that i had no objection to accept it. the invitation which he sent was worded in quite a different form from that of the invitation which i received on the occasion of the delhi durbar. in the circumstances i had determined to undergo all risks (at the time of the delhi durbar) and, if necessary, to sacrifice all my possessions and my own life, but not to accept such an invitation as was sent to me for coming to join the delhi durbar." these thing are far too serious for me or any of us to indulge in controversy upon, but it is a satisfaction to be able to point out to the house that the policy we instructed the governor-general to follow, has so far worked extremely well. i will go back to the army. last year when i referred to this subject, i told the house that it would be my object to remove any defects that i and those who advise me might discover in the army system, and more especially, of course, in the schemes of lord kitchener. since then, with the assistance of two very important committees, well qualified by expert military knowledge, i came to the conclusion that an improved equipment was required. hon. gentlemen may think that my opinion alone would not be worth much; but, after all, civilians have got to decide these questions, and, provided that they arm themselves with the expert knowledge of military authorities, it is rightly their voice that settles the matter. certain changes were necessary in the allocation of units in order to enable the troops to be better trained, and therefore our final conclusion was that the special military expenditure shown in the financial statement must go on for some years more. but the house will see that we have arranged to cut down the rate of the annual grant, and we have taken care--and this, i think, ought to be set down to our credit--that every estimate for every item included in the programme shall be submitted to vigilant scrutiny here as well as in india. i have no prepossession in favour of military expenditure, but the pressure of facts, the pressure of the situation, the possibilities of contingencies that may arise, seem obviously to make it impossible for any government or any minister to acquiesce in the risks on the indian frontier. we have to consider not only our position with respect to foreign powers on the indian frontier, but the exceedingly complex questions that arise in connection with the turbulent border tribes. all these things make it impossible--i say nothing about internal conditions--for any government or any minister with a sense of responsibility to cancel or to deal with the military programme in any high-handed or cavalier way. next i come to what, i am sure, is first in the minds of most members of the house--the political and social condition of india. lord minto became viceroy, i think, in november, 1905, and the present government succeeded to power in the first week of december. now much of the criticism that i have seen on the attitude of his majesty's government and the viceroy, leaves out of account the fact that we did not come quite into a haven of serenity and peace. very fierce monsoons had broken out on the olympian heights at simla, in the camps, and in the councils at downing street. this was the inheritance into which we came--rather a formidable inheritance for which i do not, this afternoon, attempt to distribute the responsibility. still, when we came into power, our policy was necessarily guided by the conditions under which the case had been left. our policy was to compose the singular conditions of controversy and confusion by which we were faced. in the famous army case we happily succeeded. but in eastern bengal, for a time, we did not succeed. when i see newspaper articles beginning with the preamble that the problem of india is altogether outside party questions, i well know from experience that this is too often apt to be the forerunner of a regular party attack. it is said that there has been supineness, vacillation and hesitation. i reply boldly, there has been no supineness, no vacillation, no hesitation from december, 1905, up to the present day. i must say a single word about one episode, and it is with sincere regret i refer to it. it is called the fuller episode. i have had the pleasure of many conversations with sir bampfylde fuller since his return, and i recognise to the full his abilities, his good faith, and the dignity and self-control with which, during all this period of controversy, he has never for one moment attempted to defend himself, or to plunge into any sort of contest with the viceroy or his majesty's government.[1] conduct of that kind deserves our fullest recognition. i recognise to the full his gifts and his experience, but i am sure that if he were in this house, he would hardly quarrel with me for saying that those gifts were not altogether well adapted to the situation he had to face. [footnote 1: an unhappy lapse took place at a later date.] what was the case? the lieutenant-governor suggested a certain course. the government of india thought it was a mistake, and told him so. the lieutenant-governor thereupon said, "very well, then i'm afraid i must resign." there was nothing in all that except what was perfectly honourable to sir bampfylde fuller. but does anybody here take up this position, that if a lieutenant-governor says, "if i cannot have my own way i will resign," then the government of india are bound to refuse to accept that resignation? all i can say is, and i do not care who the man may be, that if any gentleman in the indian service says he will resign unless he can have his own way, then so far as i am concerned in the matter, his resignation shall be promptly and definitely accepted. it is said to-day that sir bampfylde fuller recommended certain measures about education, and that the government have now adopted them. but the circumstances are completely changed. what was thought by lord minto and his council to be a rash and inexpedient course in those days, is not thought so now that the circumstances have changed. i will only mention one point. there was a statement the other day in a very important newspaper that the condition of anti-british feeling in eastern bengal had gained in virulence since sir bampfylde fuller's resignation. this, the viceroy assures me, is an absolute perversion of the facts. the whole atmosphere has changed for the better. when i say that lord minto was justified in the course he took, i say it without any prejudice to sir bampfylde fuller, or the slightest wish to injure his future prospects. now i come to the subject of the disorders. i am extremely sorry to say that some disorder has broken out in the punjab. i think i may assume that the house is aware of the general circumstances from answers to questions. under the regulation of 1818 (which is still alive), coercive measures were adopted. here i would like to examine, so far as i can, the action taken to preserve the public interests. it would be quite wrong, in dealing with the unrest in the punjab, not to mention the circumstances that provided the fuel for the agitation. there were ravages by the plague, and these ravages have been cruel. the seasons have not been favourable. a third cause was an act then on the stocks, which was believed to be injurious to the condition of a large body of men. those conditions affecting the colonisation act were greatly misrepresented. an indian member of the punjab council pointed out how impolitic he thought it was; and, as i told the house about a week ago, the viceroy, declining to be frightened by the foolish charge of pandering to agitation and so forth, refused assent to that proposal. but in the meantime the proposal of the colonisation law had become a weapon in the hands of the preachers of sedition. i suspect that the member for east nottingham will presently get up and say that this mischief connected with the colonisation act accounted for the disturbance. but i call attention to this fact, in order that the house may understand whether or not the colonisation act was the main cause of the disturbance. the authorities believe that it was not. there were twenty-eight meetings known to have been held by the leading agitators in the punjab between 1st march, and 1st may. of these five only related, even ostensibly, to agricultural grievances; the remaining twenty-three were all purely political. the figures seem to dispose of the contention that agrarian questions are at the root of the present unrest in the punjab. on the contrary, it rather looks as if there was a deliberate heating of the public atmosphere preparatory to the agrarian meeting at rawalpindi on the 21st april, which gave rise to the troubles. the lieutenant-governor visited twenty-seven out of twenty-nine districts. he said the situation was serious, and it was growing worse. in this agitation special attention, it is stated, has been paid to the sikhs, who, as the house is aware, are among the best soldiers in india, and in the case of lyallpur, to the military pensioners. special efforts have been made to secure their attendance at meetings to enlist their sympathies and to inflame their passions. so far the active agitation has been virtually confined to the districts in which the sikh element is predominant. printed invitations and leaflets have been principally addressed to villages held by sikhs; and at a public meeting at ferozepore, at which disaffection was openly preached, the men of the sikh regiments stationed there were specially invited to attend, and several hundreds of them acted upon the invitation. the sikhs were told that it was by their aid, and owing to their willingness to shoot down their fellow countrymen in the mutiny, that the englishmen retained their hold upon india. and then a particularly odious line of appeal was adopted. it was asked, "how is it that the plague attacks the indians and not the europeans?" "the government," said these men, "have mysterious means of spreading the plague; the government spreads the plague by poisoning the streams and wells." in some villages the inhabitants have actually ceased to use the wells. i was informed only the other day by an officer, who was in the punjab at that moment, that when visiting the settlements, he found the villagers disturbed in mind on this point. he said to his men: "open up your kits, and let them see whether these horrible pills are in them." the men did as they were ordered, but the suspicion was so great that people insisted upon the glasses of the telescopes being unscrewed, in order to be quite sure that there was no pill behind them. see the emergency and the risk. suppose a single native regiment had sided with the rioters. it would have been absurd for us, knowing we had got a weapon there at our hands by law--not an exceptional law, but a standing law--and in the face of the risk of a conflagration, not to use that weapon; and i for one have no apology whatever to offer for using it. nobody appreciates more intensely than i do the danger, the mischief, and a thousand times in history the iniquity of what is called "reason of state." i know all about that. it is full of mischief and full of danger; but so is sedition, and we should have incurred criminal responsibility if we had opposed the resort to this law. i do not wish to detain the house with the story of events in eastern bengal and assam. they are of a different character from those in the punjab, and in consequence of these disturbances the government of india, with my approval, have issued an ordinance, which i am sure the house is familiar with, under the authority and in the terms of an act of parliament. the course of events in eastern bengal appears to have been mainly this--first, attempts to impose the boycott on mahomedans by force; secondly, complaints by hindus if the local officials stop them, and by mahomedans if they do not try to stop them; thirdly, retaliation by mahomedans; fourthly, complaints by hindus that the local officials do not protect them from this retaliation; fifthly, general lawlessness of the lower classes on both sides, encouraged by the spectacle of the fighting among the higher classes; sixthly, more complaints against the officials. the result of the ordinance has been that down to may 29th it had not been necessary to take action in any one of these districts. i noticed an ironical look on the part of the right hon. gentleman when i referred with perfect freedom to my assent to the resort to the weapon we had in the law against sedition. i have had communications from friends of mine that, in this assent, i am outraging the principles of a lifetime. i should be ashamed if i detained the house more than two minutes on anything so small as the consistency of my political life. that can very well take care of itself. i began by saying that this is the first time that british democracy in its full strength, as represented in this house, is face to face with the enormous difficulties of indian government. some of my hon. friends look even more in sorrow than in anger upon this alleged backsliding of mine. last year i told the house that india for a long time to come, so far as my imagination could reach, would be the theatre of absolute and personal government, and that raised some doubts. reference has been made to my having resisted the irish crimes act, as if there were a scandalous inconsistency between opposing the policy of that act, and imposing this policy on the natives of india. that inconsistency can only be established by anyone who takes up the position that ireland, a part of the united kingdom, is exactly on the same footing as these 300,000,000 people--composite, heterogeneous, with different histories, of different races, different faiths. does anybody contend that any political principle whatever is capable of application in every sort of circumstances without reference to conditions--in every place, and at every time? i, at all events, have never taken that view, and i would like to remind my hon. friends that in such ideas as i have about political principles, the leader of my generation was mr. mill. mill was a great and benignant lamp of wisdom and humanity, and it was at that lamp i and others kindled our modest rushlights. what did mill say about the government of india? remember he was not merely that abject and despicable being, a philosopher. he was a man practised in government, and in what government? why, he was responsible, experienced, and intimately concerned in the government of india. what did he say? if there is anybody who can be quoted as having been a champion of representative government it is mill; and in his book, which, i take it, is still the classic book on that subject, this is what he says- "government by the dominant country is as legitimate as any other, if it is the one which, in the existing state of civilization of the subject people, most facilitates their transition to a higher state of civilization." then he says this- "the ruling country ought to be able to do for its subjects all that could be done by a succession of absolute monarchs, guaranteed by irresistible force against the precariousness of tenure attendant on barbarous despotisms, and qualified by their genius to anticipate all that experience has taught to the more advanced nations. if we do not attempt to realize this ideal we are guilty of a dereliction of the highest moral trust that can devolve upon a nation." i will now ask the attention of the house for a moment while i examine a group of communications from officers of the indian government, and if the house will allow me i will tell them what to my mind is the result of all these communications as to the general feeling in india. that, after all, is what most concerns us. for this unrest in the punjab and bengal sooner or later--and sooner, rather than later, i hope--will pass away. what is the situation of india generally in the view of these experienced officers at this moment? even now when we are passing through all the stress and anxiety, it is a mistake not to look at things rather largely. they all admit that there is a fall in the influence of european officers over the population. they all, or nearly all, admit that there is estrangement--i ought to say, perhaps, refrigeration--between officers and people. there is less sympathy between the government and the people. for the last few years--and this is a very important point--the doctrine of administrative efficiency has been pressed too hard. the wheels of the huge machine have been driven too fast. our administration--so shrewd observers and very experienced observers assure me--would be a great deal more popular if it was a trifle less efficient, a trifle more elastic generally. we ought not to put mechanical efficiency at the head of our ideas. i am leading up to a practical point. the district officers representing british rule to the majority of the people of india, are overloaded with work in their official relations, and i know there are highly experienced gentlemen who say that a little of the looseness of earlier days is better fitted than the regular system of latter days, to win and to keep personal influence, and that we are in danger of creating a pure bureaucracy. honourable, faithful, and industrious the servants of the state in india are and will be, but if the present system is persisted in, there is a risk of its becoming rather mechanical, perhaps i might even say rather soulless; and attention to this is urgently demanded. perfectly efficient administration, i need not tell the house, has a tendency to lead to over-centralisation. it is inevitable. the tendency in india is to override local authority, and to force administration to run in official grooves. for my own part i would spare no pains to improve our relations with native governments, and more and more these relations may become of potential value to the government of india. i would use my best endeavours to make these states independent in matters of administration. yet all evidence tends to show we are rather making administration less personal, though evidence also tends to show that the indian people are peculiarly responsive to sympathy and personal influence. do not let us waste ourselves in controversy, here or elsewhere, or in mere anger; let us try to draw to our side the men who now influence the people. we have every good reason to believe that most of the people of india are on our side. i do not say for a moment that they like us. it does not come easy, in west or east, to like foreign rule. but in their hearts they know that their solid interest is bound up with the law and order that we preserve. there is a motion on the paper for an inquiry by means of a parliamentary committee or royal commission into the causes at the root of the dissatisfaction. now, i have often thought, while at the india office, whether it would be a good thing to have the old-fashioned parliamentary inquiry by committee or commission. i have considered this, i have discussed it with others; and i have come to the conclusion that such inquiry would not produce any of the advantages such as were gained in the old days of old committees, and certainly would be attended by many drawbacks. but i have determined, after consulting with the viceroy, that considerable advantage might be gained by a royal commission to examine, with the experience we have gained over many years, into this great mischief--for all the people in india who have any responsibility know that it is a great mischief--of over-centralisation. it seemed a great mischief to so acute a man as sir henry maine, who, after many years' experience, wrote expressing agreement with what mr. bright said just before or just after the mutiny, that the centralised government of india was too much power for any one man to work. now, when two men, singularly unlike in temperament and training, agreed as to the evil of centralisation on this large scale, it compels reflection. i will not undertake at the present time to refer to the commission the large questions that were spoken of by maine and bright, but i think that much might be gained by an inquiry on the spot into the working of centralisation of government in india, and how in the opinions of trained men here and in india, the mischief might be alleviated. that, however, is not a question before us now. you often hear people talk of the educated section of the people of india as a mere handful, an infinitesimal fraction. so they are, in numbers; but it is fatally idle to say that this infinitesimal fraction does not count. this educated section is making and will make all the difference. that they would sharply criticise the british system of government has been long known. it was inevitable. there need be no surprise in the fact that they want a share in political influence, and want a share in the emoluments of administration. their means--many of them--are scanty; they have little to lose and much to gain from far-reaching changes. they see that the british hand works the state machine surely and smoothly, and they think, having no fear of race animosities, that their hand could work the machine as surely and as smoothly as the british hand. and now i come to my last point. last autumn the governor-general appointed a committee of the executive council to consider the development of the administrative machinery, and at the end of march last he publicly informed his legislative council that he had sent home a despatch to the secretary of state proposing suggestions for a move in advance. the viceroy with a liberal and courageous mind entered deliberately on the path of improvement. the public in india were aware of it. they waited, and are now waiting the result with the liveliest interest and curiosity. meanwhile the riots happened in rawalpindi, in lahore. after these riots broke out, what was the course we ought to take? some in this country lean to the opinion--and it is excusable--that riots ought to suspend all suggestions and talk of reform. sir, his majesty's government considered this view, and in the end they took, very determinedly, the opposite view. they held that such a withdrawal would, of course, have been construed as a triumph for the party of sedition. they held that, to draw back on account of local and sporadic disturbances, however serious, anxious, and troublesome they might be, would have been a really grave humiliation. to hesitate to make a beginning with our own policy of improving the administrative machinery of the indian government, would have been taken as a sign of nervousness, trepidation, and fear; and fear, that is always unworthy in any government, is in the indian government, not only unworthy, but extremely dangerous. i hope the house concurs with his majesty's government. in answer to a question the other day, i warned one or two of my hon. friends that, in resisting the employment of powers to suppress disturbances, under the regulation of 1818 or by any other lawful weapon we could find, they were promoting the success of that disorder, which would be fatal to the very projects with which they sympathise. the despatch from india reached us in due course. it was considered by the council of india and by his majesty's government, and our reply was sent about a fortnight ago. someone will ask--are you going to lay these two despatches on the table to-day? i hope the house will not take it amiss if i say that at this stage--perhaps at all stages--it would be wholly disadvantageous to lay the despatches on the table. we are in the middle of the discussion to-day, and it would break up steady continuity if we had a premature discussion _coram populo_. everyone will understand that discussions of this kind must be very delicate, and it is of the utmost importance that they should be conducted with entire freedom. but, to employ a word that i do not often use, i might adumbrate the proposals. this is how the case stands. the despatch reached his majesty's government, who considered it. we then set out our views upon the points raised in the despatch. the government of india will now frame what is called a resolution. that draft resolution, when framed by them in conformity with the instructions of his majesty's government, will in due course be sent here. we shall consider that draft, and then it will be my duty to present it to this house if legislation is necessary, as it will be; and it will be published in india to be discussed there by all those concerned.... the main proposal is the acceptance of the general principle of a substantial enlargement of legislative councils, both the governor-general's legislative council and the provincial legislative councils. details of this reform have to be further discussed in consultation with the local governments in india, but so far it is thought best in india that an official majority must be maintained. again, in the discussion of the budget in the viceroy's council the subjects are to be grouped and explained severally by the members of council in charge of the departments, and longer time is to be allowed for this detailed discussion and for general debate. one more suggestion. the secretary of state has the privilege of recommending to the crown members of the council of india. i think that the time has now come when the secretary of state may safely, wisely, and justly recommend at any rate one indian member. i will not discuss the question now. i may have to argue it in parliament at a later stage, but i think it is right to say what is my intention, realising as we all do how few opportunities the governing bodies have of hearing the voice of indians. i believe i have defended myself from ignoring the principle that there is a difference between the western european and the indian asiatic. there is vital difference, and it is infatuation to ignore it. but there is another vital fact--namely, that the indian asiatic is a man with very vivid susceptibilities of all kinds, and with living traditions of a civilisation of his own; and we are bound to treat him with the same kind of respect and kindness and sympathy that we should expect to be treated with ourselves. only the other day i saw a letter from general gordon to a friend of mine. he wrote- "to govern men, there is but one way, and it is eternal truth. get into their skins. try to realize their feelings. that is the true secret of government." that is not only a great ethical, but a great political law, and we shall reap a sour and sorry harvest if it is forgotten. it would be folly to pretend to any dogmatic assurance--and i certainly do not--as to the course of the future in india. but for to-day anybody who takes part in the rule of india, whether as a minister or as a member of the house of commons, participating in the discussion on affairs in india--anyone who wants to take a fruitful part in such discussions, if he does his duty will found himself on the assumption that the british rule will continue, ought to continue, and must continue. there is, i know, a school,--i do not think it has representatives in this house--who say that we might wisely walk out of india, and that the indians would manage their own affairs better than we can manage affairs for them. anybody who pictures to himself the anarchy, the bloody chaos, that would follow from any such deplorable step, must shrink from that sinister decision. we, at all events--ministers and members of this house--are bound to take a completely different view. the government, and the house in all its parties and groups, is determined that we ought to face all these mischiefs and difficulties and dangers of which i have been speaking with a clear purpose. we know that we are not doing it for our own interest alone, or our own fame in the history of the civilised world alone, but for the interest of the millions committed to us. we ought to face it with sympathy, with kindness, with firmness, with a love of justice, and, whether the weather be fair or foul, in a valiant and manful spirit. ii to constituents (arbroath. october 21, 1907) it is an enormous satisfaction to me to find myself here once more, the first time since the polling, and since the splendid majority that these burghs were good enough to give me. i value very much what the provost has said, when he told you that i have never, though i have had pretty heavy burdens, neglected the local business of arbroath and the other burghs. the provost truly said that i hold an important and responsible office under the crown; and i hope that fact will be the excuse, if excuse be needed, for my confining myself to-night to a single topic. when i spoke to a friend of mine in london the other day he said, "what are you going to speak about?", and i told him. he is a very experienced man and he said, "it is a most unattractive subject, india." at any rate, this is the last place where any apology is needed for speaking about india, because it is you who are responsible for my being the indian minister. if your 2,500 majority had been 2,500 the other way, i should have been no longer the indian minister. there is something that strikes the imagination, something that awakens a feeling of the bonds of mankind, in the thought that you here and in the other burghs--(shipmen, artificers, craftsmen, and shopkeepers living here)--are brought through me, and through your responsibility in electing me, into contact with all these hundreds of millions across the seas. therefore it is that i will not make any apology to you for my choice of a subject to-night. let me say this, not only to you gentlemen here, but to all british constituencies--that it is well you should have patience enough to listen to a speech about india; because it is no secret to anybody who understands, that if the government were to make a certain kind of bad blunder in india--which i do not at all expect them to make--there would be short work for a long time to come, with many of those schemes, upon which you have set your heart. do not dream, if any mishap of a certain kind were to come to pass in india that you can go on with that programme of social reforms, all costing money and absorbing attention, in the spirit in which you are now about to pursue it. i am not particularly fond of talking of myself, but there is one single personal word that i would like to say, and my constituency is the only place in which i should not be ashamed to say that word. you, after all, are concerned in the consistency of your representative. now i think a public man who spends overmuch time in vindicating his consistency, makes a mistake. i will confess to you in friendly confidence, that i have winced when i read of lifelong friends of mine saying that i have, in certain indian transactions, shelved the principles of a lifetime. one of your countrymen said that, like the python--that fabulous animal who had the largest swallow that any creature ever enjoyed--i have swallowed all my principles. i am a little disappointed at such clatter as this. when a man has laboured for more years than i care to count, for liberal principles and liberal causes, and thinks he may possibly have accumulated a little credit in the bank of public opinion--and in the opinion of his party and his friends--it is a most extraordinary and unwelcome surprise to him, when he draws a very small cheque indeed upon that capital, to find the cheque returned with the uncomfortable and ill-omened words, "no effects." i am not going to defend myself. a long time ago a journalistic colleague, who was a little uneasy at some line i took upon this question or that, comforted himself by saying. "well, well, the ship (speaking of me) swings on the tide, but the anchor holds." yes, gentlemen, i am no pharisee, but i do believe that my anchor holds, and your cheers show that you believe it too. now to india. i observed the other day that the bishop of lahore said--and his words put in a very convenient form what is in the minds of those who think about indian questions at all--"it is my deep conviction that we have reached a point of the utmost gravity and of far-reaching effect in our continued relations with this land, and i most heartily wish there were more signs that this fact was clearly recognised by the bulk of englishmen out here in india, or even by our rulers themselves." now you and the democratic constituencies of this kingdom are the rulers of india. it is to you, therefore, that i come to render my account. just let us see where we are. let us put the case. when critics assail indian policy or any given aspect of it, i want to know where we start from? some of you in arbroath wrote to me, a year ago, and called upon me to defend the system of indian government and the policy for which i am responsible. i declined, for reasons that i stated at the moment. i am here to answer to-night, when the time makes it more fitting in anticipation all those difficulties which some excellent people, with whom in many ways i sympathise, feel. again, i say, let us see where we start from. does anybody want me to go to london to-morrow morning, and to send a telegram to lord kitchener, the commander-in-chief in india, and tell him that he is to disband the indian army, to send home as fast as we can despatch transports, the british contingent of the army, and bring away the whole of the civil servants? suppose it to be true, as some people in arbroath seem to have thought--i am not arguing the question--that great britain loses more than she gains; supposing it to be true that india would have worked out her own salvation without us; supposing it to be true that the present government of india has many defects--supposing all that to be true, do you want me to send a telegram to lord kitchener to-morrow morning to clear out bag and baggage? how should we look in the face of the civilised world if we had so turned our back upon our duty and sovereign task? how should we bear the smarting stings of our own consciences, when, as assuredly we should, we heard through the dark distances the roar and scream of confusion and carnage in india? then people of this way of thinking say "that is not what we meant." then what is it that is meant, gentlemen? the outcome, the final outcome, of british rule in india may be a profitable topic for the musings of meditative minds. but we are not here to muse. we have the duty of the day to perform, we have the tasks of to-morrow spread out before us. in the interests of india, to say nothing of our own national honour, in the name of duty and of common sense, our first and commanding task is to keep order and to quell violences among race and creed; sternly to insist on the impartial application of rules of justice, independent of european or of indian. we begin from that. we have got somehow or other, whatever the details of policy and executive act may be, we are bound by the first law of human things to maintain order. there are plenty of difficulties in this immense task in england, and i am not sure that i will exclude scotland, but i said england in order to save your feelings. one of the obstacles is the difficulty of finding out for certain what actually happens. scare headlines in the bills of important journals are misleading. i am sure many of you must know the kind of mirror that distorts features, elongates lines, makes round what is lineal, and so forth. i assure you that a mirror of that kind does not give you a more grotesque reproduction of the human physiognomy, than some of these tremendous telegrams give you as to what is happening in india. another point is that the press is very often flooded with letters from indians or ex-indians--from _indicus olim_, and others--too oftened coloured with personal partisanship and deep-dyed prepossessions. there is a spirit of caste outside the hindu sphere. there is a great deal of writing on the indian government by men who have acquired the habit while they were in the government, and then unluckily retain the habit after they come home and live, or ought to live, in peace and quietness among their friends here. that is another of our difficulties. still, when all such difficulties are measured and taken account of, it is impossible to overrate the courage, the patience and fidelity, with which the present house of commons faces what is not at all an easy moment in indian government. you talk of democracy. people cry, "oh! democracy cannot govern remote dependencies." i do not know; it is a hard question. so far, after one session of the most liberal parliament that has ever sat in great britain, this most democratic parliament so far at all events, has safely rounded an extremely difficult angle. it is quite true that in reference to a certain indian a conservative member rashly called out one night in the house of commons "why don't you shoot him?" the whole house, tories, radicals, and labour men, they all revolted against any such doctrine as that; and i augur from the proceedings of the last session--with courage, patience, good sense, and willingness to learn, that democracy, in this case at all events, has shown, and i think is going to show, its capacity for facing all our problems. now, i sometimes say to friends of mine in the house, and i venture respectfully to say it to you--there is one tremendous fallacy which it is indispensable for you to banish from your minds, taking the point of view of a british liberal, when you think of india. it was said the other day--no, i beg your pardon, it was alleged to have been said--by a british member of parliament now travelling in india--that whatever is good in the way of self-government for canada, must be good for india. in my view that is the most concise statement that i can imagine, of the grossest fallacy in all politics. it is a thoroughly dangerous fallacy. i think it is the hollowest and, i am sorry to say, the commonest, of all the fallacies in the history of the world in all stages of civilisation. because a particular policy or principle is true and expedient and vital in certain definite circumstances, therefore it must be equally true and vital in a completely different set of circumstances. what sophism can be more gross and dangerous? you might just as well say that, because a fur coat in canada at certain times of the year is a truly comfortable garment, therefore a fur coat in the deccan is just the very garment that you would be delighted to wear. i only throw it out to you as an example and an illustration. where the historical traditions, the religious beliefs, the racial conditions, are all different--there to transfer by mere untempered and cast-iron logic all the conclusions that you apply in one case to the other, is the height of political folly, and i trust that neither you nor i will ever lend ourselves to any extravagant doctrine of that species. you may say, ah, you are laying down very different rules of policy in india from those which for the best part of your life you laid down for ireland. yes, but that reproach will only have a sting in it, if you persuade me that ireland with its history, the history of the rebellion, union and all the other chapters of that dismal tale, is exactly analogous to the 300 millions of people in india. i am not at all afraid of facing your test. i cannot but remember that in speaking to you, i may be speaking to people many thousands of miles away, but all the same i shall speak to you and to them perfectly frankly. i don't myself believe in artful diplomacy; i have no gift for it. there are two sets of people you have got to consider. first of all, i hope that the government of india, so long as i am connected with it and responsible for it to parliament and to the country, will not be hurried by the anger of the impatient idealist. the impatient idealist--you know him. i know him. i like him, i have been one myself. he says, "you admit that so and so is right; why don't you do it--why don't you do it now?" whether he is an indian idealist or a british idealist i sympathise with him. ah! gentlemen, how many of the most tragic miscarriages in human history have been due to the impatience of the idealist! (loud cheers.) i should like to ask the indian idealist, whether it is a good way of procuring what everybody desires, a reduction of military expenditure, for example, whether it is a good way of doing that, to foment a spirit of strife in india which makes reduction of military forces difficult, which makes the maintenance of military force indispensable? is it a good way to help reformers like lord minto and myself, in carrying through political reform, to inflame the minds of those who listen to such teachers, to inflame their minds with the idea that our proposals and projects are shams? assuredly it is not. and i will say this, gentlemen. do not think there is a single responsible leader of the reform party in india, who does not deplore the outbreak of disorder that we have had to do our best to put down; who does not agree that disorder, whatever your ultimate policy may be--must be with a firm hand put down. if india to-morrow became a self-governing colony--disorder would still have to be put down with an iron hand; i do not know and i do not care, to whom these gentlemen propose to hand over the charge of governing india. whoever they might be, depend upon it that the maintenance of order is the foundation of anything like future progress. if any of you hear unfavourable language applied to me as your representative, do me the justice to remember considerations of that kind. to nobody in this world, by habit, by education, by experience, by views expressed in political affairs for a great many years past, to nobody is exceptional repression, more distasteful than it is to me. after all, gentlemen, you would not have me see men try to set the prairie on fire without arresting the hand. you would not blame me when i saw men smoking their pipes near powder magazines, you would not blame me, you would not call me an arch coercionist, if i said, "away with the men and away with the pipes." we have not allowed ourselves--i speak of the indian government--to be hurried into the policy of repression. i say this to what i would call the idealist party. then i would say something to those who talk nonsense about apathy and supineness. we will not be hurried into repression, any more than we will be hurried into the other direction. this party, which is very vocal in this country, say:--oh! we are astonished, and india is astonished, and amazed at the licence that you extend to newspapers and to speakers; why don't you stop it? orientals, they say, do not understand it. yes, but just let us look at that. we are not orientals; that is the root of the matter. we are in india. we english, scotch, and irish, are in india because we are not orientals. we are representatives, not of oriental civilisation, but of western civilisation, of its methods, its principles, its practices; and i for one will not be hurried into an excessive haste for repression, by the argument that orientals do not understand patience or toleration. you will want to know how the situation is viewed at this moment in india itself, by those who are responsible for the government of india. this view is not a new view at all. it is that the situation is not gravely dangerous, but it requires serious and urgent attention. that seems for the moment to be the verdict. extremists are few, but they are active; their field is wide, their nets are far spread. anybody who has read history knows that the extremist often beats the moderate by his fire, his heated energy, his concentration, by his very narrowness. so be it; we remember it; we watch it all, with that lesson of historic experience full in our minds. yet we still hold that it would be the height of political folly for us at this moment to refuse to do all we can, with prudence and energy, to rally the moderates to the cause of the government, simply because the policy will not satisfy the extremists. let us, if we can, rally the moderates, and if we are told that the policy will not satisfy the extremists, so be it. our line will remain the same. it is the height of folly to refuse to rally sensible people, because we do not satisfy extremists. i am detaining you unmercifully, but i doubt whether--and do not think i say it because it happens to be my department--of all the questions that are to be discussed perhaps for years to come, any question can be in all its actual foundations, and all its prospective bearings, more important than the question of india. there are many aspects of it which it is not possible for me to go into, as, for example, some of its military aspects. i repeat my doubt whether there is any question more commanding at this moment, and for many a day to come, than the one which i am impressing upon you to-night. is all that is called unrest in india mere froth? or is it a deep rolling flood? is it the result of natural order and wholesome growth in this vast community? is it natural effervescence, or is it deadly fermentation? is india with all its heterogeneous populations--is it moving slowly and steadily to new and undreamt of unity? it is the vagueness of the discontent, which is not universal--it is the vagueness that makes it harder to understand, harder to deal with. some of them are angry with me. why? because i have not been able to give them the moon. i have got no moon, and if i had i would not part with it. i will give the moon, when i know who lives there, and what kind of conditions prevail there. i want, if i may, to make a little literary digression. much of this movement arises from the fact that there is now a large body of educated indians who have been fed, at our example and our instigation, upon some of the great teachers and masters of this country, milton, burke, macaulay, mill, and spencer. surely it is a mistake in us not to realise that these masters should have mighty force and irresistible influence. who can be surprised that educated indians who read those high masters and teachers of ours, are intoxicated with the ideas of freedom, nationality, self-government, that breathes the breath of life in those inspiring and illuminating pages. who of us that had the privilege in the days of our youth, at college or at home, of turning over those golden chapters, and seeing that lustrous firmament dawn over our youthful imaginations--who of us can forget, shall i call it the intoxication and rapture, with which we strove to make friends with truth, knowledge, beauty, freedom? then why should we be surprised that young indians feel the same movement of mind, when they are made free of our own immortals. i would only say this to my idealist friends, whether indian or european, that for every passage that they can find in mill, or burke, or macaulay, or, any other of our lofty sages with their noble hearts and potent brains, i will find them a dozen passages in which history is shown to admonish us, in the language of burke--"how weary a step do those take who endeavour to make out of a great mass a true political personality!" they are words much to be commended to those zealots in india--how many a weary step has to be taken before they can form themselves into a mass that has a true political personality! my warning may be wasted, but anybody who has a chance ought to try to appeal to the better, the riper, mind of educated india. time has gone on with me, experience has widened. i have never lost my invincible faith that there is a better mind in all civilised communities--and that this better mind, if you can reach it, if statesmen in time to come can reach that better mind, can awaken it, can evoke it, can induce it to apply itself to practical purposes for the improvement of the conditions of such a community, they will earn the crown of beneficent fame indeed. nothing strikes me much more than this, when i talk of the better mind of india--there are subtle elements, religious, spiritual, mystical, traditional, historical in what we may call for the moment the indian mind, which are very hard for the most candid and patient to grasp or to realise in their full force. but our duty, and it is a splendid duty, is to try. i always remember a little passage in the life of a great anglo-indian, sir henry lawrence, a very simple passage, and it is this, "no one ever ate at sir henry lawrence's table without learning to think more kindly of the natives." i wish i could know that at every anglo-indian table to-day, nobody has sat down without leaving it having learned to think a little more kindly of the natives. one more word on this point. bad manners, overbearing manners are disagreeable in all countries: india is the only country where bad and overbearing manners are a political crime. the government have been obliged to take measures of repression; they may be obliged to take more. but we have not contented ourselves with measures of repression. those of you who have followed indian matters at all during the last two or three months are aware there is a reform scheme, a scheme to give the indians chances of coming more closely and responsibly into a share of the government of their country. the government of india issued certain proposals expressly marked as provisional and tentative. there was no secret hatching of a new constitution. their circular was sent about to obtain an expression of indian opinion, official and non-official. plenty of time has been given, and is to be given, for an examination and discussion of these proposals. we shall not be called upon to give an official decision until spring next year, and i shall not personally be called upon for a decision before the middle of next session. one step we have taken to which i attach the greatest importance. two indians have for the first time been appointed to be members of the council of india sitting at whitehall. i appointed these two gentlemen, not only to advise the secretary of state in council, not only to help to keep him in touch with indian opinion and indian interests, but as a marked and conspicuous proof on the highest scale, by placing them on this important and ruling body, that we no longer mean to keep indians at arm's length or shut the door of the council chamber of the paramount power against them. let me press this important point upon you. the root of the unrest, discontent, and sedition, so far as i can make out after constant communication with those who have better chances of knowing the problem at first hand, than i could have had--the root of the matter is racial and social not political. that being so, it is of a kind that is the very hardest to reach. you can reach political sentiment. this goes deeper. racial dislike is a dislike not of political domination, but of racial domination; and my object in making that conspicuous change in the constitution of the council of india which advises the secretary of state for india, was to do something, and if rightly understood and interpreted to do a great deal, to teach all english officers and governors in india, from the youngest competition wallah who arrives there, that in the eyes of the ruling government at home, the indian is perfectly worthy of a place, be it small or great, in the counsels of those who make and carry on the laws and the administration of the community to which he belongs. we stand by this position not in words alone; we have shown it in act and shall show it further. there is one more difficulty--there are two difficulties--and i must ask you for a couple of minutes. i only need name them--famine and plague. at this moment, when you have thought and argued out all these political things, the government of india still remains a grim business. if there are no rains this month, the spectre of famine seems to be approaching, and nobody can blame us for that. nobody expects the viceroy and the secretary of state to play the part of elijah on mount carmel, who prayed and saw a little cloud like a man's hand, until the heavens became black with winds and cloud, and there was a great rain. that is beyond the reach of government. all we can say is that never before was the government in all its branches and members found more ready than it is now, to do the very best to face the prospect. large suspensions of revenue and rent will be granted, allowances will be made to distressed cultivators. no stone will be left unturned. the plague figures are terrible enough. at this season plague mortality is generally quiescent; but this year, even if the last three months of it show no rise, the plague mortality will still be the worst that has ever been known, i think, in india's recorded annals. pestilence during the last nine months has stalked through the land, wasting her cities and villages, uncontrolled and uncontrollable, so far as we can tell, by human forethought or care. when i read some of these figures in the house of commons, a few perturbed cries of "shame" accompanied them. these cries came from the natural sympathy, horror, amazement, and commiseration, with which we all listen to such ghastly stories. the shame does not lie with the government. if you see anything in your newspapers about these plague figures, remember that they are not like an epidemic here. in trying to remedy plague, you have to encounter the habits and prejudices of hundreds of years. suppose you find plague is conveyed by a flea upon a rat, and suppose you are dealing with a population who object to the taking away of life. you see for yourselves the difficulty? the government of india have applied themselves with great energy, with fresh activity, and they believe they have got the secret of this fell disaster. they have laid down a large policy of medical, sanitary, and financial aid. i am a hardened niggard of public money. i watch the expenditure of indian revenue as the ferocious dragon of the old mythology watched the golden apples. i do not forget that i come from a constituency which, so far as i have known it, if it is most generous, is also most prudent. nevertheless, though i have to be thrifty, almost parsimonious, upon this matter, the council of india and myself will, i am sure, not stint or grudge. i can only say, in conclusion, that i think i have said enough to convince you that i am doing what i believe you would desire me to do--conducting administration in the spirit which i believe you will approve; listening with impartiality to all i can learn; desirous to support all those who are toiling at arduous work in india; and that we shall not be deterred from pursuing to the end, a policy of firmness on the one hand, and of liberal and steady reform on the other. we shall not see all the fruits of it in our day. so be it. we shall at least have made not only a beginning, but a marked advance both in order and progress, by resolute patience, and an unflagging spirit of conciliation. iii an amendment to the address (house of commons. jan. 31, 1908) dr. rutherford (middlesex, brentford) rose to move as an amendment to the address, at the end to add,--"but humbly submits that the present condition of affairs in india demands the immediate and serious attention of his majesty's government; that the present proposals of the government of india are inadequate to allay the existing and growing discontent; and that comprehensive measures of reform are imperatively necessary in the direction of giving the people of india control over their own affairs." mr. deputy-speaker, i think the house will allow me in the remarks that i wish to make, to refer to a communication that i had received, namely, the decision arrived at by the transvaal government in respect to the question of asiatics. everybody in the house is aware of the enormous interest, even passionate interest, that has been taken in this subject, especially in india, and for very good reasons. without further preface let me say, this is the statement received by lord elgin from the government of the transvaal last night:--"gandhi and other leaders of the indian and chinese communities have offered voluntary registration in a body within three months, provided signatures only are taken of educated, propertied, or well-known asiatics, and finger-prints of the others, and that no question against which asiatics have religious objections be pressed. the transvaal government have accepted this offer, and undertaken, pending registration, not to enforce the penalties under the act against all those who register. the sentences of all asiatics in prison will be remitted to-morrow." lord selborne adds, "this course was agreed to by both political parties." i am sure that everybody in the house will think that very welcome news. i do not like to let the matter drop without saying a word--i am sure lord elgin would like me to say it--in recognition of the good spirit shown by the transvaal government. in reference to the amendment now before the house, i have listened to the debate with keen, lively, and close interest. i am not one of those who have usually complained of these grave topics being raised, when fair opportunity offered in this house. on the whole, looking back over my parliamentary lifetime, which is now pretty long, i think there has been too little indian discussion. before i came here there were powerful minds like mr. fawcett and mr. bradlaugh and others, who constantly raised indian questions in a truly serious and practical way, though i do not at all commit myself to the various points of view that were then adopted. but, of course, this is a vote of confidence. i am not going to ask members to vote for the government on that ground. but i must submit that his majesty's present government in the indian department has the confidence both of the house and of the country. i believe we have. an important suggestion was made by my hon. friend now sitting below the gangway, that a parliamentary committee should sit--i presume a joint committee of the two houses--and my hon. friend who spoke last, said that the fact of the existence of that committee would bring parliament into closer contact with the mind of india. well, ever since i have been at the india office i have rather inclined in the direction of one of the old parliamentary committees. i will not argue the question now. i can only assure my hon. friend that the question has been considered by me, and i see what its advantages might be, yet i also perceive serious disadvantages. in the old days they were able to command the services on the indian committees, of ex-ministers, of members of this house and members of another place, who had had much experience of indian administration, and i am doubtful, considering the preoccupations of public men, whether we should now be able to call a large body of experienced administrators, with the necessary balance between the two houses, to sit on one of these committees. and then i would point out another disadvantage. you would have to call away from the performance of their duties in india a large body of men whose duties ought to occupy, and i believe do occupy, all their minds and all their time. still it is an idea, and i will only say that i do not entirely banish it from my own mind. two interesting speeches, and significant speeches, have been made this afternoon. one was made by my hon. friend, the mover, and the other by the hon. member for east leeds. those two speeches raise a really important issue. my hon. friend the member for leeds said that democracy was entirely opposed to, and would resist, the doctrine of the settled fact.[1] my hon. friend tells you democracy will have nothing to do with settled facts, though he did not quite put it as plainly as that. now, if that be so, i am very sorry for democracy. i do not agree with my hon. friend. i think democracy will be just as reasonable as any other sensible form of government, and i do not believe democracy will for a moment think that you are to rip up a settlement of an administrative or constitutional question, because it jars with some abstract _a priori_ idea. i for one certainly say that i would not remain at the india office, or any other powerful and responsible departmental office, on condition that i made short work of settled facts, hurried on with my catalogue of first principles, and arranged on those principles the whole duties of government. then my hon. friend the member for brentford quoted an expression of mine used in a speech in the country about the impatient idealists, and he reproved me for saying that some of the worst tragedies of history had been wrought by the impatient idealists. he was kind enough to say that it was i, among other people, who had made him an idealist, and therefore i ought not to be ashamed of my spiritual and intellectual progeny. i certainly have no right whatever to say that i am ashamed of my hon. friend, who made a speech full of interesting views, full of visions of a millennial future, and i do not quarrel with him for making his speech. my hon. friend said that he was for an imperial duma. the hon. gentleman has had the advantage of a visit to india, which i have never had. i think he was there for six whole long weeks. he polished off the indian population at the heroic rate of sixty millions a week, and this makes him our especially competent instructor. his imperial duma was to be elected, as i understood, by universal suffrage. [footnote 1: the secretary of state had on an earlier occasion spoken of the petition of bengal as a settled fact.] dr. rutherford: no, not universal suffrage. i said educational suffrage, and also pecuniary suffrage--taxpayers and ratepayers. mr. morley: in the same speech the hon. gentleman made a great charge against our system of education in india--that we had not educated them at all; therefore, he excludes at once an enormous part of the population. the imperial duma, as i understood from my hon. friend was to be subject to the veto of the viceroy. that is not democracy. we are to send out from great britain once in five years a viceroy, who is to be confronted by an imperial duma, just as the tsar is confronted by the duma in russia. surely that is not a very ripe idea of democracy. my hon. friend visited the state of baroda, and thought it well governed. well, there is no duma of his sort there. i will state frankly my own opinion even though i have not spent one single week-end in india. if i had to frame a new system of government for india, i declare i would multiply the baroda system of government, rather than have an imperial duma and universal suffrage. the speech of my hon. friend, with whom i am sorry to find myself, not in collision but in difference, illustrates what is to my mind one of the grossest of all the fallacies in practical politics--namely, that you can cut out, frame, and shape one system of government for communities with absolutely different sets of social, religious, and economic conditions--that you can cut them all out by a sort of standardised pattern, and say that what is good for us here, the point of view, the line of argument, the method of solution--that all these things are to be applied right off to a community like india. i must tell my hon. friend that i regard that as a most fatal and mischievous fallacy, and i need not say more. i am bound, after what i have said, to add that i do not think that it is at all involved in liberalism. i have had the great good fortune and honour and privilege to have known some of the great liberals of my time, and there was not one of those great men, gambetta, bright, gladstone, mazzini, who would have accepted for one single moment the doctrine on which my hon. friend really bases his visionary proposition for a duma. is there any rational man who holds that, if you can lay down political principles and maxims of government that apply equally to scotland or to england, or to ireland, or to france, or to spain, therefore they must be just as true for the punjab and the united provinces and bengal? dr. rutherford: i quoted mr. bright as making the very proposal i have made, with the exception of the duma--namely, provincial parliaments. mr. morley: i am afraid i must traverse my hon. friend's description of mr. bright's view, with which, i think, i am pretty well acquainted. mr. bright was, i believe, on the right track at the time, when in 1858 the government of india was transferred to the crown. he was not in favour of universal suffrage--he was rather old-fashioned--but mr. bright's proposal was perfectly different from that of my hon. friend. sir henry maine, and others who had been concerned with indian affairs, came to the conclusion that mr. bright's idea was right--that to put one man, a viceroy, assisted as he might be with an effective executive council, in charge of such an area as india and its 300 millions of population, with all its different races, creeds, modes of thought, was to put on a viceroy's shoulder a load that no man of whatever powers, however gigantic they might be, could be expected effectively to support. my hon. friend and others who sometimes favour me with criticisms in the same sense, seem to suggest that i am a false brother, that i do not know what liberalism is. i think i do, and i must even say that i do not think i have anything to learn of the principles or maxims or the practice of liberal doctrines even from my hon. friend. you are bound to look at the whole mass of the difficulties and perplexing problems connected with india, from a common-sense plane, and it is not common sense, if i may say so without discourtesy, to talk of imperial dumas. i have not had a word of thanks from that quarter, in the midst of a shower of reproach, for what i regard, in all its direct and indirect results and bearings, as one of the most important moves that have been made in connection with the relations between great britain and india for a long time--i mean, the admission of two indian gentlemen to the council of the secretary of state. an hon. friend wants me to appoint an indian gentleman to the viceroy's executive council. well, that is a different thing; but i am perfectly sure that, if an occasion offers, neither lord minto nor i would fall short of some such application of democratic principles. in itself it is something that we have a viceroy and a secretary of state thoroughly alive to the great change in temperature and atmosphere that has been going on in india for the last five or six years, and i do not think we ought to be too impatiently judged. we came in at a perturbed time; we did not find balmy breezes and smooth waters. it is notorious that we came into enormous difficulties, which we had not created. how they were created is a long story that has nothing whatever to do with the present discussion. but what i submit with the utmost confidence is that the situation to-day is a considerable improvement on the situation that we found, when we assumed power two years ago. there have been heavy and black clouds over the indian horizon during those two years. by our policy those clouds have been to some extent dispersed. i am not so unwise as to say that the clouds will never come back again; but what has been done by us has been justified, in my opinion, by the event. some fault was found, and i do not in the least complain, with the deportation of two native gentlemen. i do not quarrel with the man who finds fault with that proceeding. to take anybody and deport him without bringing any charge against him, and with no intention of bringing him to trial, is a step that, i think, the house is perfectly justified in calling me to account for. i have done my best to account for it, and to-day, anyone who knows the punjab, would agree that, whatever may happen at some remote period, its state is comparatively quiet and satisfactory. i am not going to repeat my justification of that strong measure of deportation, but i should like to read to the house the words of the viceroy in the legislative council in november last, when he was talking about the circumstances with which we had to deal. he said, addressing lord kitchener- "i hope that your excellency will on my behalf as viceroy and as representing the king convey to his majesty's indian troops my thanks for the contempt with which they have received the disgraceful overtures which i know have been made to them. the seeds of sedition have been unscrupulously scattered throughout india, even amongst the hills of the frontier tribes. we are grateful that they have fallen on much barren ground, but we can no longer allow their dissemination." will anybody say, that in view of the possible danger pointed to in that language of the viceroy two or three months ago, we did wrong in using the regulation which applied to the case? no one can say what mischief might have followed, if we had taken any other course than that which we actually took. let me beseech my hon. friends at least to try for some sense of balanced proportion, instead of allowing their wrath at one particular incident of policy to blot out from their vision all the wide and durable operations, to which we have set firm and persistent hands. after all, this absence of a sense of proportion is what, more than any other one thing, makes a man a wretched politician. now as to the reforms that are mentioned in my hon. friend's amendment. it is an extraordinary amendment. it- "submits that the present condition of affairs in india demands the immediate and serious attention of his majesty's government." i could cordially vote for that, only remarking that the hon. member must think the secretary of state, and the viceroy, and other persons immediately concerned in the government of india, very curious people if he supposes that the state of affairs in india does not always demand their immediate and very serious attention. then the amendment says- "the present proposals of the government of india are inadequate to allay the existing and growing discontent." i hope it is not presumptuous to say so, but i should have expected a definition from my hon. friend of what he guesses these proposals are. i should like to set a little examination paper to my hon. friend. i have studied them for many months, yet would rather not be examined for chapter and verse. but my hon. friend after his famous six weeks of travel knows all about them, and the state of affairs for which our plans are the inadequate remedy. i do not want to hold him up as a formidable example: but in his speech to-day he went over--and it does credit to his industry--every single one of the most burning and controversial questions of the whole system of indian government and seemed to say, "i will tell you how far this is wrong and exactly what ought to be done to put what is wrong right." i think i have got from him twenty _ipse dixits_ on all these topics on which we slow dull people at the india office are wearing ourselves to pieces. when it is said, as i often hear it said, that i, for example, am falling into the hands of my officials, it should be remembered that those gentlemen who go to india also get into the hands of other people. dr. rutherford: i was in the hands both of officials and of indians. mr. morley: then let me assure him, perhaps to his amazement, that he came out of the hands of both of them still with something to learn. i wonder whether, when this house is asked to condemn the present proposals of the government of india as being inadequate to allay the existing and growing discontent, it is realised exactly how the case stands. i will repeat what i said in the debate on the indian budget. the government of india sent over to the india office their proposals--their various schemes for advisory councils and so forth. we at the india office subjected them to a careful scrutiny and laborious examination. as a result of this careful scrutiny and examination, they were sent back to the government of india with the request that they would submit them to discussion in various quarters. the instruction to the government of india was that by the end of march, the india office was to learn what the general view was at which the government of india had themselves arrived upon the plans, with all their complexities and variations. we wanted to know what they would tell us. it will be for us to consider how far the report so arrived at, how far these proposals, ripened by indian opinion, carried out the policy which his majesty's government had in view. surely that is a reasonable and simple way of proceeding? when you have to deal with complex communities of varied races, and all the other peculiarities of india, you have to think out how your proposals will work. democracies do not always think how things will work. sir henry cotton made a speech that interested and struck me by its moderation and reasonableness. he made a number of remarks in perfect good faith about officials, which i received in a chastened spirit, for he has been for a very long time a very distinguished official himself. therefore, he knows all about it. he went on to talk of the great problem of the separation of the executive and judicial functions, which is one of the living problems of india. i can only assure my hon. friend that that is engaging our attention both in india and here. another of the subjects to which the attention of the indian government has been specifically directed has regard to the mitigation of flogging, the restriction of civil flogging, and the limitation of military flogging to specific cases. in this we are making a marked advance in humanity and common sense,--which is itself a kind of humanity. my hon. friend appeals to me saying that all will be well in india, if the secretary of state will make a statement which will show the indian people that, in his relations with them, his hopes for them, and his efforts for them, he is moved by a kindly, sympathetic, and friendly feeling, showing them that his heart is with them. all i have got to say is that i have never shown myself anything else. my heart is with them. what is bureaucracy to me? it is a great machine in india, yes a splendid machine, for performing the most difficult task that ever was committed to the charge of any nation. but show me where it fails--that it is perfect in every respect no sensible man would contend for a moment--but show me at any point, let any of my hon. friends show me from day to day as this session passes, where this bureaucracy, as they call it, has been at fault. do they suppose it possible that i will not show my recognition of that failure, and do all that i can to remedy it? although the government of india is complicated and intricate, they cannot suppose that i shall fail for one moment in doing all in my power to demonstrate that we are moved by a kindly, a sympathetic, a friendly, an energetic, and what i will call a governing spirit, in the highest form and sense of that sovereign and inspiring word. iv indian civil service (london. july 1908) gentlemen,--i have first of all to thank you for what i understand is a rare honour--and an honour it assuredly is--of being invited to be your guest to-night. the position of a secretary of state in the presence of the indian civil service is not an entirely simple one. you, gentlemen, who are still in the service, and the veterans i see around me who have been in that great service, naturally and properly look first of all, and almost altogether, upon india. a secretary of state has to look also upon great britain and upon parliament--and that is not always a perfectly easy situation to adjust. i forget who it was that said about the rulers of india in india:--"it is no easy thing for a man to keep his watch in two longitudes at once at the same time." that is the case of the secretary of state. it is not the business of the secretary of state to look exclusively at india, though i will confess to you for myself that during the moderately short time i have held my present office, i have kept my eye upon india constantly, steadfastly, and with every desire to learn the whole truth upon every situation as it arose. but there must be a thorough comprehension in the mind of the secretary of state of two things--first of all, of the indian point of view; and, secondly, the point of view as it appears to those who are the masters of me and of you. do not forget that adjustment has to be made. it would be impertinent of me to pay compliments to the civil service, to whom i propose this toast--"the health of the indian civil service." you might think for a moment, that it was an amateur proposing prosperity and success to experts. i have had in my days a good deal to do with experts of one kind and another, and i assure you that i do not think an expert is at all the worse when he gets a candid-minded and reasonably well trained amateur. now, this year is a memorable anniversary. it is fifty years within a month or two, since the crown took over the government of india from the old east india company. whether that was a good move or a bad move, it would not become me to discuss. the move was made. (a voice, "it was a good move.") my veteran friend says that it was a good move. i hope so. but at the end of fifty years we are at rather a critical moment. i read in _the times_ the other day that the present viceroy and secretary of state had to deal with conditions such as the british in india never before were called upon to face. (a voice, "that is so.") now, many of you sitting around me at this table are far better able to test the weight of that statement, than i can pretend to be. is it true that at the end of fifty years since the transfer to the crown, we have to deal with conditions such as the british in india never before were called upon to face? ("yes.") i cannot undertake to measure that; but what is clear is that decidedly heavy clouds have suddenly risen in our horizon, and are darkly sailing over our indian skies. that cannot be denied. but, gentlemen, having paid the utmost attention that a man can in office, with access to all the papers, and seeing all the observers he is able to see, i do not feel for a moment that this discovery of a secret society or a secret organisation involves any question of an earthquake. i prefer to look upon it, to revert to my own figure, as clouds sailing through the sky. i do not say you will not have to take pretty strong measures of one sort and another. yes, but strong measures in the right direction, and with the right qualifications. i think any man who lays down a firm proposition that all is well, or any man who says that all is ill--either of those two men is probably wrong. now this room is filled, and genially filled, with men who have had enormous experience, vast and wide experience, and, not merely passive experience, but that splendid active experience which is the real training and education of men in responsibility. this room is full of gentlemen with these qualifications. and i will venture to say that the theories and explanations that could be heard in the palace of truth from all of you gentlemen here, would be countless in their differences. i hear explanations of the present state of things all day long. i like to hear them. you think it may become monotonous. no: not at all; because there is so much, i will not say of random variety, but there is so much independent use of mind upon the facts that we have to deal with, that i listen with endless edification and instruction. but, i think, and i wish i could think otherwise with all my heart--that to sum up all these theories and explanations of the state of things with which we have to deal, you can hardly resist a painful impression that there is now astir in some quarters a certain estrangement and alienation of races. ("no no.") gentlemen, bear with me patiently. it is our share in the asiatic question. a difficult problem. i am trying to feel my way through the most difficult problem, the most difficult situation that a responsible government can have to face. of course, i am dependent upon information. but as i read it, as i listen to serious indian experts with large experience, it all sounds estrangement and alienation even though it be no worse than superficial. now that is the problem that we have to deal with. gentlemen, i should very badly repay your kindness in asking me to come among you to-night, if i were to attempt for a minute to analyse or to prove all the conditions that have led to this state of things. it would need hours and days. this is not, i think, the occasion, nor the moment. our first duty--the first duty of any government--is to keep order. but just remember this. it would be idle to deny, and i am not sure that any of you gentlemen would deny, that there is at this moment, and there has been for some little time past, and very likely there will be for some time to come, a living movement in the mind of the peoples for whom you are responsible. a living movement, and a movement for what? a movement for objects which we ourselves have all taught them to think desirable objects. and unless we somehow or other can reconcile order with satisfaction of those ideas and aspirations, gentlemen, the fault will not be theirs. it will be ours. it will mark the breakdown of what has never yet broken down in any part of the world--the breakdown of british statesmanship. that is what it will do. now i do not believe anybody--either in this room or out of this room--believes that we can now enter upon an era of pure repression. you cannot enter at this date and with english public opinion, mind you, watching you, upon an era of pure repression, and i do not believe really that anybody desires any such thing. i do not believe so. gentlemen, we have seen attempts, in the lifetime of some of us here to-night, attempts in continental europe, to govern by pure repression. has one of them really succeeded? they have all failed. there may be now and again a spurious semblance of success, but in truth they have all failed. whether we with our enormous power and resolution should fail, i do not know. but i do not believe anybody in this room representing so powerfully as you do dominant sentiments that are not always felt in england--that in this room there is anybody who is for an era of pure repression. gentlemen, i would just digress for a moment if i am not tiring you. ("go on,") about the same time as the transfer, about fifty years ago, of the government of india from the old east india company to the crown, another very important step was taken, a step which i have often thought since i have been concerned with the government of india was far more momentous, one almost deeper than the transfer to the crown. and what do you think that was? that was the first establishment--i think i am right in my date--of universities. we in this country are so accustomed to look upon political changes as the only important changes, that we very often forget such a change as the establishment of universities. and if any of you are inclined to prophesy, i should like to read to you something that was written by that great and famous man, lord macaulay, in the year 1836, long before the universities were thought of. what did he say? what a warning it is, gentlemen. he wrote, in the year 1836:--"at the single town of hooghly 1,400 boys are learning english. the effect of this education on the hindus is prodigious.... it is my firm belief that if our plans of education are followed up, there will not be a single idolater among the respectable classes in bengal thirty years hence. and this will be effected merely by the natural operation of knowledge and reflection." ah, gentlemen, the natural operation of knowledge and reflection carries men of a different structure of mind, different beliefs, different habits and customs of life--it carries them into strange and unexpected paths. i am not going to embark you to-night upon these vast controversies, but when we talk about education, are we not getting very near the root of the case? now to-night we are not in the humour--i am sure you are not, i certainly am not--for philosophising. somebody is glad of it. i will tell you what i think of--as i have for a good many months past--i think first of the burden of responsibility weighing on the governing men at calcutta and simla and the other main centres of power and of labour. we think of the anxieties of those in india, and in england as well, who have relatives in remote places and under conditions that are very familiar to you all. i have a great admiration for the self-command, for the freedom from anything like panic, which has hitherto marked the attitude of the european population of calcutta and some other places, and i confess i have said to myself that if they had found here, in london, bombs in the railway carriages, bombs under the prime minister's house, and so forth, we should have had tremendous scare headlines and all the other phenomena of excitement and panic. so far as i am informed, though very serious in calcutta--the feeling is serious, how could it be anything else?--they have exercised the great and noble virtue, in all ranks and classes, of self-command. now the government--if you will allow me for a very few moments to say a word on behalf of the government, not here alone but at simla--we and they, for after all we are one--have been assailed for a certain want of courage and what is called, often grossly miscalled, vigour. we were told the other day--and this brings us to the root of policy--that there had been a momentary flash of courage in the government, a momentary flash of courage when the government of india and we here assented to the deportation of two men, and it is made a matter of complaint that they were released immediately. well, they were not released immediately, but after six or eight months--i forget exactly how many months--of detention. they were there with no charge, no trial, nor intention of bringing them to trial. how long were we to keep them there? not a day, i answer, nor one hour, after the specific and particular mischief, with a view to which this drastic proceeding was adopted, had abated. specific mischief, mind you. i will not go into that argument to-night: another day i will. i will only say one thing. to strain the meaning and the spirit of an exceptional law like the old regulation of the year 1818 in such a fashion as this, what would it do? such a strain, pressed upon us in the perverse imagination of headstrong men, is no better than a suggestion for provoking lawless and criminal reprisals. ("no.") you may not agree with me. you are kindly allowing me as your guest to say things with which perhaps you do not agree. (cries of "go on.") after all, we understand one another--we speak the same language, and i tell you that a proceeding of that kind, indefinite detention, is a thing that would not be endured in this country. (a voice of "disorder.") yes, if there were great and clear connection between the detention and the outbreak of disorder, certainly; but as the disorder had abated it would have been intolerable for us to continue the incarceration. last monday, what is called a press act, was passed by the government of india, in connection with, and simultaneously with, an explosives act which ought to have been passed, i should think, twenty years ago. what is the purport of the press act? i do not attempt to give it in technical language. where the local government finds a newspaper article inciting to murder and violence, or resort to explosives for the purposes of murder or violence, that local government may apply to a magistrate of a certain status to issue an order for the seizure of the press by which that incitement has been printed; and if the owner of the press feels himself aggrieved, he may within fifteen days ask the high court to reverse the order, and direct the restoration of the press. that is a statement of the law that has been passed in india, and to which i do not doubt we shall give our assent. there has been the usual outcry raised--usual in all these cases. certain people say, "oh, you are too late." others say, "you are too early." i will say to you first of all, and to any other audience afterwards, that i have no apology to make for being a party to the passing of this law now; and i have no apology to make for not passing it before. i do not believe in short cuts, and i believe that the government in these difficult circumstances is wise not to be in too great a hurry. i have no apology to make for introducing executive action into what would normally be a judicial process. neither, on the other hand, have i any apology to make for tempering executive action with judicial elements; and i am very glad to say that an evening newspaper last night, which is not of the politics to which i belong, entirely approves of that. it says: "you must show that you are not afraid of referring your semi-executive, semi-judicial action to the high court." this act meddles with no criticism, however strong, of government measures. it discourages the advocacy of no practical policy, social, political, or economic. yet i see, to my great regret and astonishment, that this act is described as an act for judging cases of seditious libel without a jury. it is contended by some--and i respect the contention--that the imperial parliament ought to have been consulted before this act was passed, and ought to be consulted now. (cries of "no, no.") my veteran friends lived before the days of household suffrage. well, it is said that the voice of parliament ought to be heard in so grave a matter as this. but the principles of the proposals were fully considered, as was quite right, not only by the secretary of state in council, but by the cabinet. it was a matter of public urgency. i stand by it. but it is perfectly natural to ask: should the imperial parliament have no voice? i have directed the government of india to report to the secretary of state all the proceedings taken under this act; and i undertake, as long as i hold the office of secretary of state, to present to parliament from time to time the reports of the proceedings taken under this somewhat drastic act. when i am told that an act of this kind is a restriction on the freedom of the press, i do not accept it for a moment. i do not believe that there is a man in england who is more jealous of the freedom of the press than i am. but let us see what we mean. it is said, "oh, these incendiary articles"--for they are incendiary and murderous--"are mere froth." yes, they are froth; but they are froth stained with bloodshed. when you have men admitting that they deliberately write these articles and promote these newspapers with a view of furthering murderous action, to talk of the freedom of the press in connection with that is wicked moonshine. we have now got a very radical house of commons. so much, the better for you. if i were still a member of the house of commons, i should not mind for a moment going down to the house--and i am sure that my colleagues will not mind--to say that when you find these articles on the avowal of those concerned, expressly designed to promote murderous action, and when you find as a fact that murderous action has come about, it is moonshine to talk of the freedom of the press. there is no use in indulging in heroics. they are not wanted. but an incendiary article is part and parcel of the murderous act. you may put picric acid in the ink and pen, just as much as in any steel bomb. i have one or two extracts here with which i will not trouble you. but when i am told that we should recognise it as one of the chief aims of good government that there may be as much public discussion as possible, i read that sentence with proper edification; and then i turn to what i had telegraphed for from india--extracts from _yugantar_. to talk of public discussion in connection with mischief of that kind is really pushing things intolerably far. i will not be in a hurry to believe that there is not a great body in india of reasonable people, not only among the quiet, humble, law-abiding classes, but among the educated classes. i do not care what they call themselves, or what organisation they may form themselves into. but i will not be in a hurry to believe that there are no such people and that we can never depend on them. when we believe this--that we have no body of organised, reasonable people on our side in india--when you gentlemen who know the country, say this--then i say that, on the day when we believe that, we shall be confronted with as awkward, as embarrassing, and as hazardous a situation as has ever confronted the rulers of any of the most complex and gigantic states in human history. i am confident that if the crisis comes, it will find us ready, but let us keep our minds clear in advance. there have been many dark and ugly moments--see gentlemen around me who have gone through dark and ugly dates--in our relations with india before now. we have a clouded moment before us now. we shall get through it--but only with self-command and without any quackery or cant whether it be the quackery of blind violence disguised as love of order, or the cant of unsound and misapplied sentiment, divorced from knowledge and untouched by any cool consideration of the facts. v on proposed reforms (house of lords. december 17, 1908) i feel that i owe a very sincere apology to the house for the disturbance in the business arrangements of the house, of which i have been the cause, though the innocent cause. it has been said that in the delays in bringing forward this subject, i have been anxious to burke discussion. that is not in the least true. the reasons that made it seem desirable to me that the discussion on this most important and far-reaching range of topics should be postponed, were--i believe the house will agree with me--reasons of common sense. in the first place, discussion without anybody having seen the papers to be discussed, would evidently have been ineffective. in the second place it would have been impossible to discuss those papers with good effect--the papers that i am going this afternoon to present to parliament--until we know, at all events in some degree, what their reception has been in the country most immediately concerned. and then thirdly, my lords, i cannot but apprehend that discussion here--i mean in parliament--would be calculated to prejudice the reception in india of the proposals that his majesty's government, in concert with the government of india, are now making. my lords, i submit those are three very essential reasons why discussion in my view, and i hope in the view of this house, was to be deprecated. this afternoon your lordships will be presented with a very modest blue-book of 100 or 150 pages, but i should like to promise noble lords that to-morrow morning there will be ready for them a series of papers on the same subject, of a size so enormous that the most voracious or even carnivorous appetite for blue-books will have ample food for augmenting the joys of the christmas holidays. the observations that i shall ask your lordships to allow me to make, are the opening of a very important chapter in the history of the relations of great britain and india; and i shall ask the indulgence of the house if i take a little time, not so much in dissecting the contents of the papers, which the house will be able to do for itself by and by, as in indicating the general spirit that animates his majesty's government here, and my noble friend the governor-general, in making the proposals that i shall in a moment describe. i suppose, like other secretaries of state for india, i found my first, idea was to have what they used to have in the old days--a parliamentary committee to inquire into indian government. i see that a predecessor of mine in the india office, lord randolph churchill--he was there for too short a time--in 1885 had very strongly conceived that idea. on the whole i think there is a great deal at the present day to be said against it. therefore what we have done was in concert with the government of india, first to open a chapter of constitutional reform, of which i will speak in a moment, and next to appoint a royal commission to inquire into the internal relations between the government of india and all its subordinate and co-ordinate parts. that commission will report, i believe, in february or march next,--february, i hope,--and that again will involve the government of india and the india office in whitehall in pretty laborious and careful inquiries. it cannot be expected--and it ought not to be expected--that an act passed as the organic act of 1858 was passed, amidst intense excitement and most disturbing circumstances, should have been in existence for half a century without disclosing flaws and imperfections, or that its operations would not be the better for supervision, or incapable of improvement. i spoke of delay in these observations, and unfortunately delay has not made the skies any brighter. but, my lords, do not let us make the indian sky cloudier than it really is. do not let us consider the clouds to be darker than they really are. let me invite your lordships to look at the formidable difficulties that now encumber us in india, with a due sense of proportion. what is the state of things as it appears to persons of authority and of ample knowledge in india? one very important and well-known friend of mine in india says this-"the anarchists are few, but, on the other hand, they are apparently prepared to go any length and to run any risk. it must also be borne in mind that the ordinary man or lad in india has not too much courage, and that the loyal are terrorised by the ruthless extremists." it is a curious incident that on the very day before the attempt to assassinate sir andrew fraser was made, he had a reception in the college where the would-be assassin was educated, and his reception was of the most enthusiastic and spontaneous kind. i only mention that, to show the curious and subtle atmosphere in which things now are at calcutta. i will not dwell on that, because although i have a mass of material, this is not the occasion for developing it. i will only add this from a correspondent of great authority-"there is no fear of anything in the nature of a rising, but if murders continue, a general panic may arise and greatly increase the danger of the situation. we cannot hope that any machinery will completely stop outrages at once. we must be prepared to meet them. there are growing indications that the native population itself is alarmed, and that we shall have the strong support of native public opinion." the view of important persons in the government of india is that in substance the position of our government in india is as sound and as well-founded as it has ever been. i shall be asked, has not the government of india been obliged to pass a measure introducing pretty drastic machinery? that is quite true, and i, for one, have no fault whatever to find with them for introducing such machinery and for taking that step. on the contrary, my lords, i wholly approve, and i share, of course, to the full the responsibility for it. i understand that i am exposed to some obloquy on this account--i am charged with inconsistency. that is a matter on which i am very well able to take care of myself, and i should be ashamed to detain your lordships for one single moment in arguing about it. quite early after my coming to the india office, pressure was put on me to repeal the regulation of 1818, under which men are now being summarily detained without trial and without charge, and without intention to try or to charge. that, of course, is a tremendous power to place in the hands of an executive government. but i said to myself then, and i say now, that i decline to take out of the hands of the government of india any weapon that they have got, in circumstances so formidable, so obscure, and so impenetrable as are the circumstances that surround british government in india. there are two paths of folly in these matters. one is to regard all indian matters, indian procedure and indian policy, as if it were great britain or ireland, and to insist that all the robes and apparel that suit great britain or ireland must necessarily suit india. the other is to think that all you have got to do is what i see suggested, to my amazement, in english print--to blow a certain number of men from guns, and then your business will be done. either of these paths of folly leads to as great disaster as the other. i would like to say this about the summary jurisdiction bill--i have no illusions whatever. i do not ignore, and i do not believe that lord lansdowne opposite, or anyone else can ignore, the frightful risks involved in transferring in any form or degree what should be the ordinary power under the law, to arbitrary personal discretion. i am alive, too, to the temptation under summary procedure of various kinds, to the danger of mistaking a headstrong exercise of force for energy. again, i do not for an instant forget, and i hope those who so loudly applaud legislation of this kind do not forget, the tremendous price that you pay for all operations of this sort in the reaction and the excitement that they provoke. if there is a man who knows all these drawbacks i think i am he. but there are situations in which a responsible government is compelled to run these risks and to pay this possible price, however high it may appear to be. it is like war, a hateful thing, from which, however, some of the most ardent lovers of peace, and some of those rulers of the world whose names the most ardent lovers of peace most honour and revere--it is one of the things from which these men have not shrunk. the only question for us is whether there is such a situation in india to-day as to warrant the passing of the act the other day, and to justify resort to the regulation of 1818. i cannot imagine anybody reading the speeches--especially the unexaggerated remarks of the viceroy--and the list of crimes perpetrated, and attempted, that were read out last friday in calcutta--i cannot imagine that anybody reading that list and thinking what they stand for, would doubt for a single moment that summary procedure of some kind or another was justified and called for. i discern a tendency to criticise this legislation on grounds that strike me as extraordinary. after all, it is not our fault that we have had to bring in this measure. you must protect the lives of your officers. you must protect peaceful and harmless people, both indian and european, from the blood-stained havoc of anarchic conspiracy. we deplore the necessity, but we are bound to face the facts. i myself recognise this necessity with infinite regret, and with something, perhaps, rather deeper than regret. but it is not the government, either here or in india, who are the authors of this necessity, and i should not at all mind, if it is not impertinent and unbecoming in me to say so, standing up in another place and saying exactly what i say here, that i approve of these proceedings and will do my best to support the government of india. now a very important question arises, for which i would for a moment ask the close attention of your lordships, because i am sure that both here and elsewhere it will be argued that the necessity, and the facts that caused the necessity, of bringing forward strong repressive machinery should arrest our policy of reforms. that has been stated, and i dare say many people will assent to it. well, the government of india and myself have from the very first beginning of this unsettled state of things, never varied in our determination to persevere in the policy of reform. i put two plain questions to your lordships. i am sick of all the retrograde commonplaces about the weakness of concession to violence and so on. persevering in our plan of reform is not a concession to violence. reforms that we have publicly announced, adopted, and worked out for more than two years--how is it a concession to violence, to persist in those reforms? it is simply standing to your guns. a number of gentlemen, of whom i wish to speak with all respect, addressed a very courteous letter to me the other day that appeared in the public prints, exhorting me to remember that oriental countries inevitably and invariably interpret kindness as fear. i do not believe it. the founder of christianity arose in an oriental country, and when i am told that orientals always mistake kindness for fear, i must repeat that i do not believe it, any more than i believe the stranger saying of carlyle, that after all the fundamental question between any two human beings is--can i kill thee, or canst thou kill me? i do not agree that any organised society has ever subsisted upon either of those principles, or that brutality is always present as a fundamental postulate in the relations between rulers and ruled. my first question is this. there are alternative courses open to us. we can either withdraw our reforms, or we can persevere in them. which would be the more flagrant sign of weakness--to go steadily on with your policy of reform in spite of bombs, or to let yourself openly be forced by bombs and murder clubs to drop your policy? my second question is--who would be best pleased if i were to announce to your lordships that the government have determined to drop the reforms? why, it is notorious that those who would be best pleased would be the extremists and irreconcilables, just because they know well that for us to do anything to soften estrangement, and appease alienation between the european and native populations, would be the very best way that could be adopted to deprive them of fuel for their sinister and mischievous designs. i hope your lordships will agree in that, and i should like to add one reason which i am sure will weigh very much with you. i do not know whether your lordships have read the speech made last friday by sir norman baker, the new lieutenant-governor of bengal, in the council at calcutta, dealing with the point that i am endeavouring to present. in a speech of great power and force, he said that these repressive measures did not represent even the major part of the true policy dealing with the situation. the greater task, he said, was to adjust the machinery of government, so that their indian fellow-subjects might be allotted parts which a self-respecting people could fill, and that when the constitutional reforms were announced, as they would be shortly, he believed that the task of restoring order would be on the road to accomplishment. for a man holding such a position to make such a statement at that moment, is all the corroboration that we need for persisting in our policy of reform. i have talked with indian experts of all kinds concerning reforms. i admit that some have shaken their heads; they did not like reforms very warmly. but when i have asked, "shall we stand still, then?" there is not one of those experienced men who has not said, "that is quite impossible. whatever else we do, we cannot stand still." i should not be surprised if there are here some who say: you ought to have some very strong machinery for putting down a free press. a long time ago a great indian authority, sir thomas munro, used language which i will venture to quote, not merely for the purpose of this afternoon's exposition, but in order that everybody who listens and reads may feel the formidable difficulties that our predecessors have overcome, and that we in our turn mean to try to overcome. sir thomas munro said- "we are trying an experiment never yet tried in the world--maintaining a foreign dominion by means of a native army; and teaching that army, through a free press, that they ought to expel us, and deliver their country." he went on to say- "a tremendous revolution may overtake us, originating in a free press." i recognise to the full the enormous force of a declaration of that kind. but let us look at it as practical men, who have got to deal with the government of the country. supposing you abolish freedom of the press or suspend it, that will not end the business. you will have to shut up schools and colleges, for what would be the use of suppressing newspapers, if you do not shut the schools and colleges? nor will that be all. you will have to stop the printing of unlicensed books. the possession of a copy of milton, or burke, or macaulay, or of bright's speeches, and all that flashing array of writers and orators who are the glory of our grand, our noble english tongue--the possession of one of these books will, on this peculiar and puerile notion of government, be like the possession of a bomb, and we shall have to direct the passing of an explosives books act. all this and its various sequels and complements make a policy if you please. but after such a policy had produced a mute, sullen, muzzled, lifeless india, we could hardly call it, as we do now the brightest jewel in the imperial crown. no english parliament will ever permit such a thing. i do not think i need go through all the contents of the dispatch of the governor-general and my reply, containing the plan of his majesty's government, which will be in your lordships' hands very shortly. i think your lordships will find in them a well-guarded expansion of principles that were recognised in 1861, and are still more directly and closely connected with us now by the action of lord lansdowne in 1892. i have his words, and they are really as true a key to the papers in our hands as they were to the policy of the noble marquess at that date. he said- "we hope, however, that we have succeeded in giving to our proposals a form sufficiently definite to secure a satisfactory advance in the representation of the people in our legislative councils, and to give effect to the principle of selection as far as possible on the advice of such sections of the community as are likely to be capable of assisting us in that manner." then you will find that another governor-general in council in india, whom i greatly rejoice to see still among us, my noble friend the marquess of ripon, said in 1882- "it is not primarily with a view to the improvement of administration, that this measure is put forward, it is chiefly desirable as an instrument of political and popular education" the doctrines announced by the noble marquess opposite, and by my noble friend, are the standpoint from which we approached the situation and framed our proposals. i will not trouble the house by going through the history of the course of the proceedings--that will be found in the papers. i believe the house will be satisfied, just as i am satisfied, with the candour and patience that have been bestowed on the preparation of the scheme in india, and i hope i may add it has been treated with equal patience and candour here; and the end of it is that, though some points of difference arose, though the government of india agreed to drop certain points of their scheme--the advisory councils, for example--on the whole there was remarkable agreement between the government of india and myself as to the best way of dealing with these proceedings as to legislative councils. i will enumerate the points very shortly, and though i am afraid it may be tedious, i hope your lordships will not find the tedium unbearable, because, after all, what you are beginning to consider to-day, is the turning over of a fresh leaf in the history of british responsibility to india. there are only a handful of distinguished members of this house who understand the details of indian administration, but i will explain them as shortly as i can. this is a list of the powers which we shall have to acquire from parliament when we bring in a bill. i may say that we do not propose to bring in a bill this session. that would be idle. i propose to bring in a bill next year. this is the first power we shall come to parliament for. at present the maximum and minimum numbers of legislative councils are fixed by statute. we shall come to parliament to authorise an increase in the numbers of those councils, both the viceroy's council and the provincial councils. secondly, the members are now nominated by the head of the government, either the viceroy or the lieutenant-governor. no election takes place in the strict sense of the term. the nearest approach to it is the nomination by the viceroy, upon the recommendation of a majority of voters of certain public bodies. we do not propose to ask parliament to abolish nomination. we do propose to ask parliament, in a very definite way, to introduce election working alongside of nomination with a view to the aim admitted in all previous schemes, including that of the noble marquess opposite--the due representation of the different classes of the community. third. the indian councils act of 1892 forbids--and this is no doubt a most important prohibition--either resolutions or divisions of the council in financial discussions. we shall ask parliament to repeal this prohibition. fourth. we shall propose to invest legislative councils with power to discuss matters of public and general importance, and to pass recommendations or resolutions to the indian government. that government will deal with them as carefully, or as carelessly, as they think fit--just as a government does here. fifth. to extend the power that at present exists, to appoint a member of the council to preside. sixth. bombay and madras have now executive councils, numbering two. i propose to ask parliament to double the number of ordinary members. seventh. the lieutenant-governors have no executive council. we shall ask parliament to sanction the creation of such councils, consisting of not more than two ordinary members, and to define the power of the lieutenant-governor to overrule his council. i am perfectly sure there may be differences of opinion as to these proposals. i only want your lordships to believe that they have been well thought out, and that they are accepted by the governor-general in council. there is one point of extreme importance which, no doubt, though it may not be over diplomatic for me to say so at this stage, will create some controversy. i mean the matter of the official majority. the house knows what an official majority is. it is a device by which the governor-general, or the governor of bombay or madras, may secure a majority in his legislative council by means of officials and nominees. and the officials, of course, for very good reasons, just like a cabinet minister or an under-secretary, whatever the man's private opinion may be, would still vote, for the best of reasons, and i am bound to think with perfect wisdom, with the government. but anybody can see how directly, how palpably, how injuriously, an arrangement of this kind tends to weaken, and i think i may say even to deaden, the sense both of trust and responsibility in the non-official members of these councils. anybody can see how the system tends to throw the non-official member into an attitude of peevish, sulky, permanent opposition, and, therefore, has an injurious effect on the minds and characters of members of these legislative councils. i know it will be said--i will not weary the house by arguing it, but i only desire to meet at once the objection that will be taken--that these councils will, if you take away the safeguard of the official majority, pass any number of wild-cat bills. the answer to that is that the head of the government can veto the wild-cat bills. the governor-general can withhold his assent, and the withholding of the assent of the governor-general is no defunct power. only the other day, since i have been at the india office, the governor-general disallowed a bill passed by a local government which i need not name, with the most advantageous effect. i am quite convinced that if that local government had had an unofficial majority the bill would never have been passed, and the governor-general would not have had to refuse his assent. but so he did, and so he would if these gentlemen, whose numbers we propose to increase and whose powers we propose to widen, chose to pass wild-cat bills. and it must be remembered that the range of subjects within the sphere of provincial legislative councils is rigorously limited by statutory exclusions. i will not labour the point now. anybody who cares, in a short compass, can grasp the argument, of which we shall hear a great deal, in paragraphs 17 to 20 of my reply to the government of india, in the papers that will speedily be in your lordships' hands. there is one proviso in this matter of the official majority, in which your lordships may, perhaps, find a surprise. we are not prepared to divest the governor-general in his council of an official majority. in the provincial councils we propose to dispense with it, but in the viceroy's legislative council we propose to adhere to it. only let me say that here we may seem to lag a stage behind the government of india themselves--so little violent are we--because that government say, in their despatch--"on all ordinary occasions we are ready to dispense with an official majority in the imperial legislative council, and to rely on the public spirit of non-official members to enable us to carry on the ordinary work of legislation." my lords, that is what we propose to do in the provincial councils. but in the imperial council we consider an official majority essential. it may be said that this is a most flagrant logical inconsistency. so it would be, on one condition. if i were attempting to set up a parliamentary system in india, or if it could be said that this chapter of reforms led directly or necessarily up to the establishment of a parliamentary system in india, i, for one, would have nothing at all to do with it. i do not believe--it is not of very great consequence what i believe, because the fulfilment of my vaticinations could not come off very soon--in spite of the attempts in oriental countries at this moment, interesting attempts to which we all wish well, to set up some sort of parliamentary system--it is no ambition of mine, at all events, to have any share in beginning that operation in india. if my existence, either officially or corporeally, were prolonged twenty times longer than either of them is likely to be, a parliamentary system in india is not at all the goal to which i would for one moment aspire. one point more. it is the question of an indian member on the viceroy's executive council. the absence of an indian member from the viceroy's executive council can no longer, i think, be defended. there is no legal obstacle or statutory exclusion. the secretary of state can, to-morrow, if he likes, if there be a vacancy on the viceroy's council, recommend his majesty to appoint an indian member. all i want to say is that, if, during my tenure of office, there should be a vacancy on the viceroy's executive council, i should feel it a duty to tender my advice to the king that an indian member should be appointed. if it were on my own authority only, i might hesitate to take that step, because i am not very fond of innovations in dark and obscure ground, but here i have the absolute and the zealous approval and concurrence of lord minto himself. it was at lord minto's special instigation that i began to think seriously of this step. anyhow, this is how it stands, that you have at this moment a secretary of state and a viceroy who both concur in such a recommendation. i suppose--if i may be allowed to give a personal turn to these matters--that lord minto and i have had as different experience of life and the world as possible, and we belong i daresay to different schools of national politics, because lord minto was appointed by the party opposite. it is a rather remarkable thing that two men, differing in this way in political antecedents, should agree in this proposal. we need not discuss what particular portfolio should be assigned to an indian member. that will be settled by the viceroy on the merits of the individual. the great object, the main object, is that the merits of individuals are to be considered and to be decisive, irrespective and independent of race and colour. we are not altogether without experience, because a year ago, or somewhat more, it was my good fortune to be able to appoint two indian gentlemen to the council of india sitting at the indian office. many apprehensions reached me as to what might happen. so far, at all events, those apprehensions have been utterly dissipated. the concord between the two indian members of the council and their colleagues has been unbroken, their work has been excellent, and you will readily believe me when i say that the advantage to me of being able to ask one of these two gentlemen to come and tell me something about an indian question from an indian point of view, is enormous. i find in it a chance of getting the indian angle of vision, and i feel sometimes as if i were actually in the streets of calcutta. i do not say there are not some arguments on the other side. but this, at all events, must be common sense--for the governor-general and the european members of his council to have at their side a man who knows the country well, who belongs to the country and who can give him the point of view of an indian. surely, my lords, that cannot but prove an enormous advantage. let me say further, on the judicial bench in india everybody recognises the enormous service that it is to have indian members of abundant learning, and who add to that abundant learning a complete knowledge of the conditions and life of the country. i propose at once, if parliament agrees, to acquire powers to double the executive council in bombay and madras, and to appoint at least one indian member in each of those cases, as well as in the governor-general's council. nor, as the papers will show, shall i be backward in advancing towards a similar step, as occasion may require, in respect of at least four of the major provinces. i wish that this chapter had been opened at a more fortunate moment: but as i said when i rose, i repeat--do not let us for a moment take too gloomy a view. there is not the slightest occasion. none of those who are responsible take gloomy views. they know the difficulties, they are prepared to grapple with them. they will do their best to keep down mutinous opposition. they hope to attract that good will which must, after all, be the real foundation of our prosperity and strength in india. we believe that this admission of the indians to a larger and more direct share in the government of their country and in all the affairs of their country, without for a moment taking from the central power its authority, will fortify the foundations of our position. it will require great steadiness, constant pursuit of the same objects, and the maintenance of our authority, which will be all the more effective if we have, along with our authority, the aid and assistance, in responsible circumstances, of the indians themselves. military strength, material strength, we have in abundance. what we still want to acquire is moral strength--moral strength in guiding and controlling the people of india in the course on which time is launching them. i should like to read a few lines from a great orator about india. it was a speech delivered by mr. bright in 1858, when the government of india bill was in another place. mr. bright said- "we do not know how to leave india, and therefore let us see if we know how to govern it. let us abandon all that system of calumny against natives of india which has lately prevailed. had that people not been docile, the most governable race in the world, how could you have maintained your power there for 100 years? are they not industrious, are they not intelligent, are they not, upon the evidence of the most distinguished men the indian service ever produced, endowed with many qualities which make them respected by all englishmen who mix with them?... i would not permit any man in my presence without rebuke to indulge in the calumnies and expressions of contempt which i have recently heard poured forth without measure upon the whole population of india.... the people of india do not like us, but they would scarcely know where to turn if we left them. they are sheep, literally without a shepherd." however, that may be, we at least at westminster here have no choice and no option. as an illustrious member of this house wrote- "we found a society in a state of decomposition, and we have undertaken the serious and stupendous process of reconstructing it." macaulay, for it was he, said- "india now is like europe in the fifth century." yes, a stupendous process indeed. the process has gone on with marvellous success, and if we all, according to our various lights, are true to our colours, that process will go on. whatever is said, i for one--though i am not what is commonly called an imperialist--so far from denying, i most emphatically affirm, that for us to preside over this transition from the fifth european century in some parts, in slow, uneven stages, up to the twentieth--so that you have before you all the centuries at once as it were--for us to preside over that, and to be the guide of peoples in that condition, is, if conducted with humanity and sympathy, with wisdom, with political courage, not only a human duty, but what has been often and most truly called one of the most glorious tasks ever confided to any powerful state in the history of civilised mankind. vi hindus and mahometans (at the india office. january, 1909) [a deputation of the london branch of the all-indian moslem league waited upon the secretary of state, in order to represent to him the views of the mussulmans of india on the projected indian reforms.] i am delighted to meet you to-day, because i have always felt in my political experience, now pretty long, that it is when face answers to face that you come best to points of controversial issue. i have listened to the able speech of my friend mr. ameer ali and to the speech that followed, with close attention, not merely for the sake of the arguments upon the special points raised, but because the underlying feeling and the animating spirit of the two speeches are full of encouragement. why? because instead of any hostile attitude to our reforms as a whole, i find that you welcome them cordially and with gratitude. i cannot say with what satisfaction i receive that announcement. if you will allow me, i will, before i come to the special points, say a few words upon the general position. it is only five weeks, i think, since our scheme was launched, and i am bound to say that at the end of those five weeks the position may fairly be described as hopeful and promising. i do not think that the millennium will come in five more weeks, nor in fifty weeks; but i do say that for a scheme of so wide a scope to be received as this scheme has been received, is a highly encouraging sign. it does not follow that because we have launched our ship with a slant of fair wind, this means the same thing as getting into harbour. there are plenty of difficult points that we have got to settle. but when i try from my conning-tower in this office, to read the signs in the political skies, i am full of confidence. the great thing is that in every party both in india and at home--in every party, and every section, and every group--there is a recognition of the magnitude and the gravity of the enterprise on which we have embarked. i studied very closely the proceedings at madras, and the proceedings at amritsar, and in able speeches made in both those places i find a truly political spirit in the right sense of the word--in the sense of perspective and proportion--which i sometimes wish could be imitated by some of my political friends nearer home. i mean that issues, important enough but upon which there is some difference, are put aside--for the time only, if you like, but still put aside--in face of the magnitude of the issues that we present to you in these reforms. on monday, in _the times_ newspaper, there was a long and most interesting communication from bombay, written, i believe, by a gentleman of very wide indian knowledge and level-headed humour. what does he say? he takes account of the general position as he found it in india shortly after my despatch arrived. "i might have dwelt," he says, "upon the fact that i have not met a single official who does not admit that some changes which should gratify indian longings were necessary, and i might have expatiated upon the abounding evidence that lord morley's despatch and speech have unquestionably eased a tension which had become exceedingly alarming." that is a most important thing, and i believe parliament has fully recognised it. we cannot fold our arms and say that things are to go on as they did before, and i rejoice to see what this gentleman says. he is talking of officials, and i always felt from the beginning that if we did not succeed in carrying with us the goodwill of that powerful service, there would be reason for suspecting that we were wrong upon the merits, and even if we were not wrong on the merits, there would be reason for apprehending formidable difficulties. i have myself complete confidence in them. i see in some journals of my own party suspicions thrown upon the loyalty of that service to his majesty's government of the day. it is absurd to think anything of the kind. if our policy and our proposals receive the approval of parliament and the approval of officials, such as those spoken of in _the times_ the other day, i am perfectly sure there will be no more want of goodwill and zeal on the part of the indian civil service, than there would be in the officers of his majesty's fleet, or his majesty's army. it would be just the same. i should like to read another passage from _the times_ letter:--"it would probably be incorrect to say that the bulk of the civil service in the bombay presidency are gravely apprehensive. most of them are not unnaturally anxious"--i agree; it is perfectly natural that they should be anxious--"but the main officials in whose judgment most confidence can be placed, regard the future with the buoyant hopefulness without which an englishman in india is lost indeed." all that is reassuring, and no sign nor whisper reaches me that any responsible man or any responsible section or creed, either in india or here, has any desire whatever to wreck our scheme. and let me go further. statesmen abroad showing themselves capable of reflection, are watching us with interest and wishing us well. take the remarkable utterance of president roosevelt the other day at washington. and if we turn from washington to eastern europe, i know very well that any injustice, any suspicion that we were capable of being unjust, to mahomedans in india, would certainly provoke a severe and injurious reaction in constantinople. i am alive to all these things. mr. ameer ali said he was sure the secretary of state would mete out just and equitable treatment to all interests, if their views were fairly laid before him. he did me no more than justice. the government are entirely zealous and in earnest, acting in thorough good faith, in the desire to press forward these proposals. i may tell you that our bill is now quite ready. i shall introduce it at the first minute after the address is over, and, when it reaches the commons, it will be pressed forward with all the force and resolution that parliamentary conditions permit. these are not mere pious opinions or academic reforms; they are proposals that are to take parliamentary shape at the earliest possible moment; and after taking parliamentary shape, no time will, i know, be lost in india in bringing them as rapidly as possible into practical operation. now the first point mr. ameer ali made was upon the unfairness to the members of the mahomedan community, caused by reckoning in the hindu census a large multitude of men who are not entitled to be there. i submit that it is not very easy--and i have gone into the question very carefully--to divide these lower castes and to classify them. statisticians would be charged with putting too many into either one or the other division, wherever you choose to draw the line. i know the force of the argument, and am willing to attach to it whatever weight it deserves. i wish some of my friends in this country would study the figures of what are called the lower castes, because they would then see the enormous difficulty and absurdity of applying to india the same principles that are excellent guides to us westerns who have been bred on the pure milk of the benthamite word--one man one vote and every man a vote. that dream, by the way, is not quite realised even in this country; but the idea of insisting on a principle of that sort is irrational to anybody who reflects on this multiplicity and variety of race and castes. then there is the question of the joint electorate--what is called the mixed electoral college. i was very glad to read this paragraph in the paper that you were good enough to send to me. you recognise the very principle that was at the back of our minds, when we came to the conclusion about mixed electoral college. you say:--"in common with other well-wishers of india, the committee look forward to a time when the development of a true spirit of compromise, or the fusion of the races, may make principles indicated by his lordship capable of practical application without sacrificing the interests of any of the nationalities, or giving political ascendency to one to the disadvantage of the others. but the committee venture to think that, however ready the country may be for constitutional reforms, the interests of the two great communities of india must be considered and dealt with separately." therefore, to begin with, the difference between us in principle about the joint electorate is only this: we are guilty of nothing worse than that we were premature, in the views of these gentlemen--we were impatient idealists. you say to me, "it is very fine; we hope it will all come true; but you are premature; we must wait." still, though premature, i observe that your own suggestion in one of those papers adopts and accepts the principle of the scheme outlined in our despatch. it is quite true to say, "oh, but you are vague in your despatch." yes, a despatch is not a bill. a minister writing a despatch does not put in all the clauses and sections and subsections and schedules. it is the business of a minister composing a despatch like mine of november 27, 1908, to indicate only general lines--general enough to make the substance and body of the scheme intelligible, but still general. i should like to say a word about the despatch. it is constantly assumed that in the despatch we prescribed and ordered the introduction of the joint electoral college. if any of you will be good enough to look at the words, you will find that no language of that sort--no law of the medes and persians--is to be found in it. if you refer to paragraph 12 you will see that our language is this:-"i suggest for your consideration that the object in view might be better secured, at any rate in the more advanced provinces in india, by a modification of the system of popular electorate founded on the principle of electoral colleges." you see it was merely a suggestion thrown out for the government of india, not a direction of the mede and persian stamp. you say, "that for the purpose of electing members to the provincial councils, electoral colleges should be constituted on lines suggested by his lordship, composed exclusively of mahomedans whose numbers and mode of grouping should be fixed by executive authority." this comes within the principle of my despatch, and we shall see--i hope very speedily--whether the government of india discover objections to its practicability. mark, electoral colleges "composed exclusively of mahomedans whose members and mode of grouping should be fixed by executive authority"--that is a proposition which is not outside the despatch. whether practicable or not, it is a matter for discussion between us here and the government in india. the aim of the government and yours is identical--that there shall be (to quote mr. ameer ali's words) "adequate, real, and genuine mahomedan representation." now, where is the difference between us? the machinery we commended, you do not think possible. as i have told you, the language of the despatch does not insist upon a mixed electoral college. it would be no departure in substance from the purpose of our suggestion, that there should be a separate mahomedan electorate--an electorate exclusively mahomedan; and in view of the wide and remote distances, and difficulties of organisation in consequence of those distances in the area constituting a large province, i am not sure that this is not one of those cases where election by two stages would not be convenient, and so there might be a separate electoral college exclusively mahomedan. that is, i take it, in accordance with your own proposal. there are various methods by which it could be done. in the first place, an election exclusively mahomedan might be direct into the legislative council. to this it may be said that it would be impossible by reason of distance. in the second place, you could have an election by separate communities to a local board, and the local board should be the electoral college, the mahomedans separating themselves from the other members of the board for that purpose. thirdly, the members of the local board, the communities being separate in the same way, could return a member for the electoral college. fourthly, you might have a direct election to an electoral college by the community, and this electoral college would return a representative to the legislative council. these, you see, are four different expedients which well deserve consideration for attaining our end. i go to the next point, the apprehensions lest if we based our system on numerical strength alone, a great injustice would be done to your community. of course we all considered that, from the viceroy downwards. whether your apprehensions are well founded or not, it is the business of those who call themselves statesmen to take those apprehensions into account, and to do the best we can in setting up a working system to allay and meet such apprehensions. if you take numerical strength as your basis, in the punjab and eastern bengal mahomedans are in a decisive majority. in the punjab the moslem population is 53 per cent. to 38 per cent. hindu. in eastern bengal 58 per cent. are moslem and 37 per cent. are hindu. therefore, in those two provinces, on the numerical basis alone, the mahomedans will secure sufficient representation. in madras, on the other hand, the hindus are 89 per cent. against 6 per cent. of moslems, and, therefore, numbers would give no adequate representation to moslem opinion. in bombay the moslems are in the ratio of 3-3/4 to 14 millions--20 per cent. to 77 per cent. the conditions are very complex in bombay, and i need not labour the details of this complexity. i am inclined to agree with those who think that it might be left to the local government to take other elements into view required or suggested by local conditions. coming to the united provinces, there the moslems are 6-3/4 millions to 40-3/4 hindus--14 per cent. to 85 per cent. this ratio of numerical strength no more represents the proportion in the elements of weight and importance, than in eastern bengal does the hindu ratio of 37 per cent. to 58 per cent. of moslems. you may set off each of those two cases against the other. then there is the great province of bengal, where the moslems are one-quarter of the hindus--9 millions to 39 millions--18 per cent. to 77 per cent. we all see, then, that the problem presents extraordinary difficulty. how are you going in a case like the united provinces, for example, to secure that adequate and substantial representation, which it is the interest and the desire of the government for its own sake to secure. no fair-minded moslem would deny in eastern bengal, any more than a fair-minded non-moslem would deny it in the united provinces, that there is no easy solution. you see, gentlemen, i do not despair of finding a fair-minded man in a controversy of this kind. from information that reaches me i do not at all despair of meeting fair-minded critics of both communities, in spite of the sharp antagonism that exists on many matters between them. but, whatever may be the case with mahomedans and hindus, there is one body of men who are bound to keep a fair mind, and that is the government. the government are bound, whatever you may do among yourselves, strictly, and i will even say sternly, to insist on overcoming all obstacles in a spirit of absolute equity. now, what is the object of the government? it is that the legislative councils should represent truly and effectively, with a reasonable approach to the balance of real social forces, the wishes and needs of the communities themselves. that is the object of the government, and in face of a great problem of that kind, algebra, arithmetic, geometry, logic--none of these things will do your business for you. you have to look at it widely and away from those sciences, excellent in their place, but not of much service when you are solving awkward political riddles. i think if you allow some method of leaving to a local authority the power of adding to the number of representatives from the mahomedan community, or the hindu community, as the case may be, that might be a possible and prudent way of getting through this embarrassment. let us all be clear of one thing, namely--and i thought of this when i heard one or two observations that fell from mr. ameer ali--that no general proposition can be wisely based on the possession by either community, either of superior civil qualities or superior personal claims. if you begin to introduce that element, you perceive the perils to that peace and mutual goodwill which we hope to emerge by-and-by, though it may take longer than some think. i repeat that i see no harm from the point of view of a practical working compromise, in the principle that population, or numerical strength, should be the main factor in determining how many representatives should sit for this or the other community; but modifying influences may be both wisely and equitably taken into account in allotting the numbers of such representatives. as regards indian members on the executive council, if you will allow me to say so, i think it was dubious tactics in you to bring that question forward. we were told by those who object, for instance, to my recommending to the crown an indian member of the viceroy's executive--that it will never do; that if you choose a man of one community, the other will demand a second. the executive council in all--this will not be in the bill--consists of six members. suppose there were to be two vacancies, and i were to recommend to the crown the appointment of one mahomedan and one hindu, the effect would be that of the six gentlemen one-third would be non-english. you may think that all right, but it would be a decidedly serious step. suppose you say you will bring in a bill, then, for the purpose of appointing an extra member always to be an indian. that is much more easily said than done. i am talking perfectly plainly. you would not get such a bill. i want to talk even more plainly. i want to say that reference to the hindu community or the mahomedan community, in respect to the position of the viceroy's executive, is entirely wide of the mark in the view, i know, both of the viceroy and of myself. if, as i have already said i expect, it may be my duty by-and-by to recommend to the crown the name of an indian member, it will not be solely for the sake of placing on the viceroy's executive council an indian member simply as either a hindu or a mahomedan. decidedly we are of opinion that the governor-general in council will be all the more likely to transact business wisely, if he has a responsible indian adviser at his elbow. but the principle in making such a recommendation to the crown, would be to remove the apparent disability in practice--for there is no disability in law--of an indian holding a certain appointment because he is an indian. that is a principle we do not accept; and the principle i should go upon--and i know lord minto would say exactly the same--is the desirability of demonstrating that we hold to the famous promise made in the proclamation of queen victoria in 1858, that if a man is fully qualified in proved ability and character to fill a certain post, he shall not be shut out by race or religious faith. there is a very great deal more to be said on this most important subject; but to-day i need only tell you--which i do with all respect, without complaining of what you have said, and without denying that in practical usage some day there may be means of alternation for meeting your difficulty--i see no chance whatever of our being able to comply with your present request. i have endeavoured to meet you as fairly as i possibly could. i assure you again we are acting in earnest, with zeal and entire good faith; and any suggestion that any member of the government, either in this office or the government of india, has any prejudice whatever against mahomedans, for the purposes of political administration in india, is one of the idlest and most wicked misapprehensions that could possibly enter into the political mind. i am greatly encouraged by having met you. i am sure that you speak in the name of important bodies of your own countrymen and of your own community. i am sure that you are going to look at our proposals in a fair and reasonable spirit, and give us credit for a desire to do the best that we possibly can in the interests of all the communities in india, including also the interests of the british government. i can only tell you further, that if this action of ours fails, miscarries, and is wrecked, it will be a considerable time before another opportunity occurs. you will never again--i do not care whether the time be long or be short--you will never again have the combination of a secretary of state and a viceroy, who are more thoroughly in earnest in their desire to improve indian government, and to do full justice to every element of the indian population. vii second reading of indian councils bill (house of lords, february 23, 1909) my lords. i invite the house to take to-day the first definite and operative step in carrying out the policy that i had the honour of describing to your lordships just before christmas, and that has occupied the active consideration both of the home government and of the government of india for very nearly three years. the statement was awaited in india with an expectancy that with time became impatience, and it was received in india--and that, after all, is the point to which i looked with the most anxiety--with intense interest and attention and various degrees of approval, from warm enthusiasm to cool assent and acquiescence. a few days after the arrival of my despatch, a deputation waited upon the viceroy unique in its comprehensive character. both hindus and mahomedans were represented; and they waited upon the viceroy to offer warm expressions of gratitude for the scheme that was unfolded before them. a few days later at madras the congress met; they, too, expressed their thanks to the home government and to the government of india. the moslem league met at amritsar; they were warm in their approval of the policy which they took to be foreshadowed in the despatch, though they found fault with the defects they thought they had discovered in the scheme, and implored the government, both in india and here, to remedy those defects. so far as i know--and i do beg your lordships to note these details of the reception of our policy in india--there has been no sign in any quarter, save in the irreconcilable camp, of anything like organised hostile opinion among either indians or anglo-indians. the indian civil service i will speak of very shortly. i will pass them by for the moment. lord lansdowne said truly the other night that when i spoke at the end of december, i used the words "formidable and obscure" as describing the situation, and he desired to know whether i thought the situation was still obscure and formidable. i will not abandon the words, but i think the situation is less formidable and less obscure. neither repression on the one hand, nor reform on the other, could possibly be expected to cut the roots of anarchical crime in a few weeks. but with unfaltering repression on the one hand, and vigour and good faith in reform on the other, we see solid reason to hope that we shall weaken, even if we cannot destroy, those baleful forces. there are, i take it, three classes of people that we have to consider in dealing with a scheme of this kind. there are the extremists, who nurse fantastic dreams that some day they will drive us out of india. in this group there are academic extremists and physical force extremists, and i have seen it stated on a certain authority--it cannot be more than a guess--that they do not number, whether academic or physical force extremists, more than one-tenth, or even three per cent. of what are called the educated class in india. the second group nourish no hopes of this sort; they hope for autonomy or self-government of the colonial species and pattern. the third section in this classification ask for no more than to be admitted to co-operation in our administration, and to find a free and effective voice in expressing the interests and needs of their people. i believe the effect of the reforms has been, is being, and will be, to draw the second class, who hope for colonial autonomy, into the ranks of the third class, who will be content with admission to a fair and workable co-operation. a correspondent wrote to me the other day and said:- "we seem to have caught many discontented people on the rebound, and to have given them an excuse for a loyalty which they have badly wanted." in spite of all this, it is a difficult and critical situation. still, by almost universal admission it has lost the tension that strained india two or three months ago, and public feeling is tranquillised, certainly beyond any expectation that either i or the viceroy ventured to entertain. the atmosphere has changed from dark and sullen to hopeful, and i am sure your lordships will allow me to be equally confident that nothing will be done at westminster to overcloud that promising sky. the noble marquess the other day said--and i was delighted to hear it--that he, at all events, would give us, with all the reservations that examination of the scheme might demand from him, a whole-hearted support here, and his best encouragement to the men in india. i accept that, and i lean upon it, because if anything were done at westminster, either by delay or otherwise, to show a breach in what ought to be the substantial unity of parliamentary opinion in face of the indian situation, it would be a marked disaster. i would venture on the point of delay to say this. your lordships will not suspect me of having any desire to hurry the bill, but i remember that when lord cross brought in the bill of 1892 lord kimberley, so well known and so popular in this house, used language which i venture to borrow from him, and to press upon your lordships to-day- "i think it almost dangerous to leave a subject of this kind hung up to be perpetually discussed by all manner of persons, and, having once allowed that, at all events, some amendment is necessary in regard to the mode of constituting the legislative councils, it is incumbent upon the government and parliament to pass the bill which they may think expedient as speedily as possible into law." considerations of social order and social urgency in india make that just as useful to be remembered to-day, as it was useful then. the noble marquess the other day, in a very courteous manner, administered to me an exhortation and an admonition--i had almost said a lecture--as to the propriety of deferring to the man on the spot, and the danger of quarrelling with the man on the spot. i listened with becoming meekness and humility, but then it occurred to me that the language of the noble marquess was not original. those noble lords who share the bench with him, gave deep murmurs of approval to the homily that was administered to me. they forgot that they once had a man on the spot, the man then being that eminent and distinguished personage whom i may be allowed to congratulate upon his restoration to health and to his place in this assembly. he said this, which the noble marquess will see is a fair original for his own little discourse; it was said after the noble lord had thrown up the reins- "what i wish to say to high officers of state and members of government is this, as far as you can trust the man on the spot. do not weary or fret or nag him with your superior wisdom. they claim no immunity from errors of opinion or judgment, but their errors are nothing compared with yours." the remonstrance, therefore, of lord curzon, addressed to the noble lords sitting near him, is identical with the warning which i have laid to heart from the noble marquess. the house will pardon me if for a moment i dwell upon what by application is an innuendo conveyed in the admonition of the noble marquess. i have a suspicion that he considered his advice was needed; he expressed the hope that all who were responsible for administration in india would have all the power for which they had a right to ask. upon that i can--though i am half reluctant to do it--completely clear my character. in december last, shortly before i addressed your lordships, lord minto, having observed there was some talk of my interference with him and his council, telegraphed these words, and desired that i should make use of them whenever i thought fit- "i hope you will say from me in as strong language as you may choose to use, that in all our dealings with sedition i could not be more strongly supported than i have been by you. the question of the control of indian administration by the secretary of state, mixed up as it is with the old difficulties of centralisation, we may very possibly look at from different points of view. but that has nothing to do with the support the secretary of state gives to the viceroy, and which you have given to me in a time of great difficulty, and for which i shall always be warmly grateful." the marquess of lansdowne: i think the noble viscount will see from the report of my speech, that the part he has quoted had reference to measures of repression, and that what i said was that justice should be prompt, that it was undesirable that there should be appeals from one court to another, or from provincial governments to the government in calcutta, or from the government at calcutta to the secretary of state for india. i did not mean to imply merely the viceroy, but the men responsible for local government. viscount morley: i do not think that when the noble marquess refers to the report of his speech he will find i have misrepresented him. at all events, he will, i do believe, gladly agree that, in dealing with sedition, i have on the whole given all the support the government of india or anybody else concerned had a right to ask for. i will now say a word about the indian civil service. three years ago, when we began these operations, i felt that a vital condition of success was that we should carry the indian civil service with us, and that if we did not do this, we should fail. but human nature being what it is, and temperaments varying as they do, it is natural to expect a certain amount of criticism, minute criticism, and observation, i have had that, but will content myself with one quotation from the lieutenant-governor of bengal, well known to the noble lord opposite. what did he say, addressing the legislative council a few weeks ago?- "i hold that a solemn duty rests upon the officers of government in all branches, and more particularly upon the officers of the civil service, so to comport themselves in the inception and working of the new measures as to make the task of the people and their leaders easy. it is incumbent upon them loyally to accept the principle that these measures involve the surrender of some portion of the authority and control which they now exercise, and some modifications of the methods of administration. if that task is approached in a grudging or reluctant spirit, we shall be sowing the seeds of failure, and shall forfeit our claim to receive the friendly co-operation of the representatives of the people. we must be prepared to support, defend, and carry through the administrative policy, and in a certain degree even the executive acts of the government in the council, in much the same way as is now prescribed in regard to measures of legislation; and we must further be prepared to discharge this task without the aid of a standing majority behind us. we will have to resort to the more difficult arts of persuasion and conciliation, in the place of the easier methods of autocracy. this is no small demand to make on the resources of a service whose training and traditions have hitherto led its members rather to work for the people, than through the people or their representatives. but i am nevertheless confident that the demand will not be made in vain. for more than a hundred years, in the time of the company and under the rule of the crown, the indian civil service has never failed to respond to whatever call has been made upon it or to adapt itself to the changing environment of the time. i feel no doubt that officers will be found who possess the natural gifts, the loyalty, the imagination, and the force of character which will be requisite for the conduct of the administration under the more advanced form of government to which we are about to succeed." these words i commend to your lordships. they breathe a fine and high spirit; they admirably express the feeling of a sincere man; and i do not believe anybody who is acquainted with the service doubts that this spirit, so admirably expressed, will pervade the service in the admittedly difficult task that now confronts them. the bill is a short one, and will speak for itself. i shall be brief in referring to it, for in december last i made what was practically a second-reading speech. i may point out that there are two rival schools, and that the noble lord opposite (lord curzon) may be said to represent one of them. there are two rival schools, one of which believes that better government of india depends on efficiency, and that efficiency is in fact the main end of our rule in india. the other school, while not neglecting efficiency, looks also to what is called political concession. i think i am doing the noble lord no injustice in saying that, during his remarkable vice-royalty, he did not accept the necessity for political concession, but trusted to efficiency. i hope it will not be bad taste to say in the noble lord's presence, that you will never send to india, and you have never sent to india, a viceroy his superior, if, indeed, his equal, in force of mind, in unsparing and remorseless industry, in passionate and devoted interest in all that concerns the well-being of india, with an imagination fired by the grandeur of the political problem that india presents--you never sent a man with more of all these attributes than when you sent lord curzon. but splendidly designed as was his work from the point of view of efficiency, he still left in india a state of things, when we look back upon it, that could not be held a satisfactory crowning of a brilliant and ambitious career. i am as much for efficiency as the noble lord, but i do not believe--and this is the difference between him and myself--that you can now have true, solid, endurable efficiency without what are called political concessions. i know the risks. the late lord salisbury, speaking on the last indian councils bill, spoke of the risk of applying occidental machinery in india. well, we ought to have thought of that before we applied occidental education; we applied that, and a measure of occidental machinery must follow. legislative councils once called into existence, then it was inevitable that you would have gradually, in lord salisbury's own phrase, to popularise them, so as to bring them into harmony with the dominant sentiments of the people in india. the bill of 1892 admittedly contained the elective principle, and our bill to-day extends that principle. the noble lord (viscount cross) will remember the bill of 1892, of which he had charge in the house of commons. i want the house to be good enough to follow the line taken by mr. gladstone, because i base myself on that. there was an amendment moved and it was going to a division, but mr. gladstone begged his friends not to divide, because, he said, it was very important that we should present a substantial unity to india. this is upon the question of either house considering a bill like the bill that is now on the table--a mere skeleton of a bill if you like. i see it has been called vague and sketchy. it cannot be anything else, on the broad principle set out by mr. gladstone- "it is the intention of the government [that is, the conservative government] that a serious effort shall be made to consider carefully those elements which india in its present condition may furnish, for the introduction into the councils of india of the elective principle. if that effort is seriously to be made, by whom is it to be made? i do not think it can be made by this house, except through the medium of empowering provisions. the best course we could take would be to commend to the authorities of india what is a clear indication of the principles on which we desire them to proceed. it is not our business to devise machinery for the purpose of indian government. it is our business to give to those who represent her majesty in india ample information as to what we believe to be sound principles of government: and it is, of course, the function of this house to comment upon any case in which we may think they have failed to give due effect to those principles." i only allude to mr. gladstone's words, in order to let the house know that i am taking no unusual course in leaving the bulk of the work, the details of the work, to the government of india. discussion, therefore, in parliament will necessarily not, and cannot, turn substantially upon details. but no doubt it is desirable that the main heads of the regulations, rules, and proclamations to be made by the government of india under sanction of the india office, should be more or less placed within the reach and knowledge of the house so far as they are complete. the principles of the bill are in the bill, and will be affirmed, if your lordships are pleased to read it a second time. the committee points, important as they are, can well be dealt with in committee. the view of mr. gladstone was cheerfully accepted by the house of commons then, and i hope it will be accepted by your lordships to-day. there is one very important chapter in these regulations, which i think now on the second reading of the bill, without waiting for committee, i ought to say a few words to your lordships about--i mean the mahomedans. that is a part of the bill and scheme that has no doubt attracted a great deal of criticism, and excited a great deal of feeling in that important community. we suggested to the government of india a certain plan. we did not prescribe it, we did not order it, but we suggested and recommended this plan for their consideration--no more than that. it was the plan of a mixed or composite electoral college, in which mahomedans and hindus should pool their votes, so to say. the wording of the recommendation in my despatch was, as i soon discovered, ambiguous--a grievous defect, of which i make bold to hope i am not very often in public business guilty. but, to the best of my belief, under any construction the plan of hindus and mahomedans voting together, in a mixed and composite electorate, would have secured to the mahomedan electors, wherever they were so minded, the chance of returning their own representatives in their due proportion. the political idea at the bottom of this recommendation, which has found so little favour, was that such composite action would bring the two great communities more closely together, and this hope of promoting harmony was held by men of high indian authority and experience who were among my advisers at the india office. but the mahomedans protested that the hindus would elect a pro-hindu upon it, just as i suppose in a mixed college of say seventy-five catholics and twenty-five protestants voting together, the protestants might suspect that the catholics voting for the protestant would choose what is called a romanising protestant, and as a little of a protestant as they could find. suppose the other way. in ireland there is an expression, a "shoneen" catholic--that is to say, a catholic who, though a catholic, is too friendly with english conservatism and other influences which the nationalists dislike. and it might be said, if there were seventy-five protestants against twenty-five catholics, that the protestants when giving a vote in the way of catholic representation, would return "shoneens." i am not going to take your lordships' time up by arguing this to-day. with regard to schemes of proportional representation, as calvin said of another study, "excessive study of the apocalypse either finds a man mad, or makes him so." at any rate, the government of india doubted whether our plan would work, and we have abandoned it. i do not think it was a bad plan, but it is no use, if you are making an earnest attempt in good faith at a general pacification, to let parental fondness for a clause interrupt that good process by sitting obstinately tight. the mahomedans demand three things. i had the pleasure of receiving a deputation from them, and i know very well what is in their minds. they demand the election of their own representatives to these councils in all the stages, just as in cyprus, where i think, the mahomedans vote by themselves. they have nine votes and the non-mahomedans have three, or the other way about. so in bohemia, where the germans vote alone and have their own register. therefore we are not without a precedent and a parallel, for the idea of a separate register. secondly, they want a number of seats somewhat in excess of their numerical strength. those two demands we are quite ready and intend to meet in full. there is a third demand that, if there is a hindu on the viceroy's executive council--a subject on which i will venture to say something to your lordships before i sit down--there should be two indian members on the viceroy's council and one should be a mahomedan. well, as i told them and as i now tell your lordships, i see no chance whatever of meeting their views in that way. to go back to the point of the registers, some may be shocked at the idea of a religious register at all, a register framed on the principle of religious belief. we may wish--we do wish--that it were otherwise. we hope that time, with careful and impartial statesmanship, will make things otherwise. only let us not forget that the difference between mahomedanism and hinduism is not a mere difference of articles of religious faith or dogma. it is a difference in life, in tradition, in history, in all the social things as well as articles of belief, that constitute a community. do not let us forget what makes it interesting and even exciting. do not let us forget that, in talking of hindus and mahomedans, we are dealing with, and are brought face to face with, vast historic issues. we are dealing with the very mightiest forces that through all the centuries and ages have moulded the fortunes of great states and the destinies of countless millions of mankind. thoughts of that kind, my lords, are what give to indian politics and to indian work extraordinary fascination, though at the same time they impose the weight of an extraordinary burden. i come to the question which, i think, has excited, certainly in this country, more interest than anything else in the scheme before you--i mean the question of an indian member on the viceroy's executive council. the noble marquess said here the other day that he hoped an opportunity would be given for discussing it. "whether it is in order or not--am too little versed in your lordships' procedure to be quite sure--but i am told that the rules of order in this house are of an elastic description and that i shall not be trespassing beyond what is right, if i introduce the point to-night." i thoroughly understand lord lansdowne's anxiety for a chance of discussion. it is quite true, and the house should not forget it, that this question is in no way whatever touched by the bill. if this bill were rejected by parliament, it would be a grievous disaster to peace and contentment in india, but it would not prevent the secretary of state the very next morning from advising his majesty to appoint an indian member of the viceroy's executive council. the noble marquess the other day fell into a slight error, if he will forgive me for saying so. he said that the government of india had used cautious and tentative words, indicating that it would be premature to decide at once this question of the indian member until after further experience had been gained. i think the noble marquess must have lost his way in the mazes of that enormous blue-book which, as he told us, caused him so much inconvenience, and added so much to his excess luggage during the christmas holidays. the despatch, as far as i can discover, is silent altogether on the topic of the indian member of the viceroy's council, and deals only with the councils of bombay and madras and the proposed councils for the lieutenant-governorships. perhaps i might be allowed to remind your lordships of the act of 1833--certainly the most extensive and important measure of indian government between mr. pitt's famous act of 1784, and queen victoria's assumption of the government of india in 1858. there is nothing more important than that act. it lays down in the broadest way possible the desire of parliament that there should be no difference in appointing to offices in india between one race and another, and the covering despatch written by that memorable man, james mill, wound up by saying that- "for the future, fitness is to be the criterion of eligibility." i need not quote the famous paragraph in the queen's proclamation of 1858. every member of the house who takes an interest in india, knows that by heart. now, the noble marquess says that his anxiety is that nothing shall be done to impair the efficiency of the viceroy's council. i share that anxiety with all my heart. i hope the noble marquess will do me the justice to remember that in these plans i have gone beyond the government of india, in resolving that a permanent official majority shall remain in the viceroy's council. lord macdonnell said the other day:- "i believe you cannot find any individual native gentleman who is enjoying general confidence, who would be able to give advice and assistance to the governor-general in council." well, for that matter, it has been my lot twice to fill the not very exhilarating post of chief secretary for ireland, and i do not believe i can truly say i ever met in ireland a single individual native gentleman who "enjoyed general confidence." and yet i received at dublin castle most excellent and competent advice. therefore i am not much impressed by that argument. the question is whether there is no one of the 300 millions of the population of india, who is competent to be the officially-constituted adviser of the governor-general in council in the administration of indian affairs. you make an indian a judge of the high court, and indians have even been acting chief justices. as to capacity, who can deny that they have distinguished themselves as administrators of native states, where a very full demand is made on their resources, intellectual and moral? it is said that the presence of an indian member would cause restraint in the language of discussion. for a year and a half we have had two indians on the council of india, and we have none of us ever found the slightest restraint. then there is the question, what are you going to do about the hindu and the mahomedan? when indians were first admitted to the high courts, for a long time the hindus were more fit and competent than the mahomedans; but now i am told the mahomedans have their full share. the same sort of operation would go on in quinquennial periods in respect of the viceroy's council. opinion amongst the great anglo-indian officers now at home is divided, but i know at least one, not at all behind lord macdonnell in experience or mental grasp, who is strongly in favour of this proposal. one circumstance that cannot but strike your lordships as remarkable, is the comparative absence of hostile criticism of this idea by the anglo-indian press, and, as i am told, in calcutta society. i was apprehensive at one time that it might be otherwise. i should like to give a concrete illustration of my case. the noble marquess opposite said the other day that there was going to be a vacancy in one of the posts on the viceroy's executive council--that is, the legal member's time would soon be up. now, suppose there were in calcutta an indian lawyer of large practice and great experience in his profession--a man of unstained professional and personal repute, in close touch with european society, and much respected, and the actual holder of important legal office. am i to say to this man--"in spite of all these excellent circumstances to your credit; in spite of your undisputed fitness; in spite of the emphatic declaration of 1833 that fitness is to be the criterion of eligibility; in spite of the noble promise in queen victoria's proclamation of 1858--a promise of which every englishman ought to be for ever proud if he tries to adhere to it, and ashamed if he tries to betray or to mock it--in spite of all this, usage and prejudice are so strong, that i dare not appoint you, but must instead fish up a stranger to india from lincoln's inn or the temple?" is there one of your lordships who would envy the secretary of state, who had to hold language of that kind to a meritorious candidate, one of the king's equal subjects? i press it on your lordships in that concrete way. abstract general arguments are slippery. i do not say there is no force in them, but there are deeper questions at issue to which both i and the governor-general attach the greatest importance. my lords, i thank you for your attention, and i beg to move the second reading. viii indian probationers (oxford. june 13, 1909) [the vice chancellor of oxford university and the teachers of the indian civil service probationers gave a dinner to the probationers on saturday at the new masonic hall, oxford, to meet the secretary of state for india. the vice chancellor was in the chair] it is a great honour that it should fall to me to be the first secretary of state to address this body of probationers and others. personally i am always delighted at any reason, good or bad, that brings me to oxford. a great deal of cherwell water has flowed under magdalen bridge, since i was an undergraduate here, and i have a feeling of nostalgia, when i think of oxford and come to oxford. the reminiscences of one's younger days are apt to have in older times an ironical tinge, but that is not for any of you to-day to consider. i am glad to know that of the fifty odd members of the civil service who are going out this autumn, not less than half are oxford men, nearly all of them, oxford bred, and even the three or four who are not oxford bred, are practically, so far as can be, oxford men. now i will go a little wider. an indian minister is rather isolated in the public eye, amid the press and bustle of the political energies, perplexities, interests, and partisan passions that stir and concentrate attention on our own home affairs. yet let me assure you that there is no ordinary compensation for that isolation in the breast of an indian minister. he finds the richest compensation in the enormous magnitude and endless variety of all the vast field of interests, present and still more future, that are committed to his temporary charge. though his charge may be temporary, i should think every secretary of state remembers that even in that fugitive span he may either do some good or, if he is unhappy, he may do much harm. this week london has been enormously excited by the imperial press conference. i was rather struck by the extraordinarily small attention, almost amounting to nothing, that was given to the dominion that you here are concerned with. no doubt an imperial conference raises one or two very delicate questions, as to whether common citizenship is to be observed, or whether the relations between india and the colonies should remain what they are. i am not going to expatiate upon that to-night, but it did occur to me in reading all these proceedings that the part of hamlet was rather omitted, because india after all is the only real empire. you there have an immense dominion, an almost countless population, governed by foreign rulers. that is what constitutes an empire. i observed it all with a rather grim feeling in my mind, that, if anything goes wrong in india, the whole of what we are talking about now, the material and military conditions of the empire as a whole, might be strangely altered and convulsed. one of the happy qualities of youth--and there is no pleasure greater than to see you in that blissful stage, for one who has passed beyond, long beyond it--is not to be, i think i am right, in a hurry, not to be too anxious either for the present or future measure of the responsibilities of life and a career. you will forgive me if i remind you of what i am sure you all know--that the civil government of 230,000,000 persons in british india is in the hands of some 1,200 men who belong to the indian civil service. let us follow that. any member of a body so small must be rapidly placed in a position of command, and it is almost startling to me, when i look round on the fresh physiognomies of those who are going out, and the not less fresh physiognomies of those who have returned, to think of the contrast between your position, and that, we will say, of some of your oxford contemporaries who are lawyers, and who have to spend ever so many years in chambers in lincoln's inn or the temple waiting for briefs that do not come. contrast your position with that of members who enter the home civil service, an admirable phalanx; but still for a very long time a member who enters that service has to pursue the minor and slightly mechanical routine of whitehall. you will not misunderstand me, because nobody knows better than a minister how tremendous is the debt that he owes to the permanent officials of his department. certainly i have every reason to be the last man to underrate that. well, any of you may be rapidly placed in a position of real command with inexorable responsibilities. i am speaking in the presence of men who know better than i do, all the details, but it is true that one of you in a few years may be placed in command of a district and have 1,000,000 human beings committed to his charge. he may have to deal with a famine; he may have to deal with a riot; he may take a decision on which the lives of thousands of people may depend. well, i think that early call to responsibility, to a display of energy, to the exercise of individual decision and judgment is what makes the indian civil service a grand career. and that is what has produced an extraordinary proportion of remarkable men in that service. there is another elevating thought, that i should suppose is present to all of you. to those who are already in important posts and those who are by-and-by going to take them up. the good name of england is in your keeping. your conduct and the conduct of your colleagues in other branches of the indian service decides what the peoples of india are to think of british government and of those who represent it. of course you cannot expect the simple villager to care anything or to know anything about the abstraction called the _raj_. what he knows is the particular officer who stands in front of him, and with whom he has dealings. if the officer is harsh or overbearing or incompetent, the government gets the discredit of it; the villager assumes that government is also harsh, overbearing, and incompetent. there is this peculiarity which strikes me about the indian civil servant. i am not sure that all of you will at once welcome it, but it goes to the root of the matter. he is always more or less on duty. it is not merely when he is doing his office work; he is always on duty. the great men of the service have always recognised this obligation, that official relations are not to be the beginning and the end of the duties of an indian administrator. it has been my pleasure and privilege during the three or four years i have been at the india office, to see a stream of important indian officials. i gather from them that one of the worst drawbacks of the modern speeding up of the huge wheels of the machine of indian government is, that the indian civil servant has less time and less opportunity than he used to have of bringing himself into close contact with those with whose interests he is concerned. one of these important officials told me the other day this story. a retired veteran, an indian soldier, had come to him and said, "this is an odd state of things. the other day so-and-so, a commissioner or what not, was coming down to my village or district. we did the best we could to get a good camping-ground for him. we were all eagerly on the look-out for him. he arrived with his attendants. he went into his tent. he immediately began to write. he went on writing. we thought he had got very urgent business to do. we went away. we arrived in the morning soon after dawn. he was still writing, or he had begun again. so concerned was he both in the evening and in the morning with his writing that we really had nothing from him but a polite _salaam_." this may or may not be typical, but i can imagine it is possible, at all events. that must be pure mischief. if i were going to remain indian secretary for some time to come, my every effort would be devoted to an abatement of that enormous amount of writing. you applaud that sentiment now, and you will applaud it more by-and-by. upon this point of less time being devoted to writing and more time to cultivating social relations with the people, it is very easy for us here, no doubt, to say you ought to cultivate social relations. yet i can imagine a man who has done a hard day's office work--i am sure i should feel it myself--is not inclined to launch out upon talk and inquiries among the people with whom he is immediately concerned. it may be asking almost in a way too much from human nature. still, that is the thing to aim at. the thing to aim at is--all civilians who write and speak say the same--to cultivate social amenities so far as you can, i do not mean in the towns, but in the local communities with which many of you are going to be concerned. i saw the other day a letter from a lady, not, i fancy, particularly sentimental about the matter, and she said this: "there would be great improvement if only better social relations could be established with indians personally. i do wish that all young officials could be primed before they came out with the proper ideas on this question." well, i have no illusions whatever as to my right or power of priming you. i think each of us can see for himself the desirability of every one who goes out there, having certain ideas in his head as to his own relations with the people whom he is called upon to govern. that is the mission with which we have to charge you, and it is as momentous a mission as was ever confided to any great military commander or admiral of the fleet--this mission of yours to place yourself in touch with the people whom you have to govern. i am under no illusions that i can plant new ideas in your minds compared with the ideas that may be planted by experienced heads of indian government. the other day i saw a letter of instructions from a very eminent lieutenant-governor to those of the next stage below him, as to the attitude that they were to take to the new civilians when they arrived, and you 24 or 25 gentlemen will get the benefit of those instructions if you are going to that province. i do not think there is any reason why i should not mention his name--it was sir andrew fraser, the retired lieutenant-governor of bengal--and those instructions as to the temper that was to be inculcated upon newcomers, were marked by a force, a fulness, and a first-hand aptitude that not even the keenest secretary of state could venture to approach. i know that exile is hard. it is very easy for us here to preach. exile is and must be hard, but i feel confident that under the guidance of the high officers there, under whom you will find yourselves, you will take care not to ignore the indian; not to hold apart and aloof from the indian life and ways; not to believe that you will not learn anything by conversation with educated indians. and while you are in india, and among indians, and responsible to indians, because you are as responsible to them as you are to us here, while you are in that position, gentlemen, do not live in europe all the time. whether or not--if i may be quite candid--it was a blessing either for india or for great britain that this great responsibility fell upon us, whatever the ultimate destiny and end of all this is to be, at any rate i know of no more imposing and momentous transaction than the government of india by you and those like you. i know of no more imposing and momentous transaction in the vast scroll of the history of human government. we have been within the past two years in a position of considerable difficulty. but the difficulties of indian government are not the result--be sure of this--of any single incident or set of incidents. you see it said that all the present difficulties arose from the partition of bengal. i have never believed that. i do not think well of the operation, but that does not matter. i was turning the other day to the history of the oxford mission to calcutta. in 1899--the partition of bengal, as you know, was much later--what did they say? "there exists at present"--at present in 1899--"an increasing hostility to what is european and english among the educated classes." "no one can have," this oxford report goes on, "any real knowledge of india without a deep sense of the splendid work done by the indian civil service. the work is recognised by the indian people. they thoroughly appreciate the benefits of our rule, they are bound to us by self-interest, but they do not like us." it is intelligible, but that is a result to be carefully guarded against by demeanour, by temper, by action--to be guarded against at every turn. every one would agree that anything like a decisive and permanent estrangement between the indians and the europeans would end in dire failure and an overwhelming catastrophe. i am coming to other ground. the history of the last six months has been important, anxious, and trying. eight months ago there certainly was severe tension. that tension has now relaxed, and the great responsible officials on the spot assure me that the position of the hour and the prospects are reassuring. we have kept the word which was given by the sovereign on november 1 last year in the message to the people of india commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assumption of the powers of government in india by the crown, the transfer of the power from the old company to the crown. we have kept our word. we have introduced and carried through parliament a measure, as everybody will admit, of the highest order of importance. it was carried through both houses with excellent deliberation. i have been in parliament a great many years. i have never known a project discussed and conducted with such knowledge, and such a desire to avoid small, petty personal incidents. the whole proceeding was worthy of the reputation of parliament. you are entering upon your duties at a stage of intense interest. sir charles elliott, who was lieutenant-governor of bengal, wrote the other day, that this is "the most momentous change ever effected by parliament in the constitution of the government of india since 1858." he goes on to say that no prudent man would prophesy. no, and i do not prophesy. how could i? it depends upon two things. it depends, first of all, upon the civil service. it depends on the civil service, and it depends on the power of indians with the sense and instincts of government, to control wilder spirits without the sense or the instincts of government. as for the civil service, which is the other branch on which all depends, it is impossible not to be struck with the warmest admiration of the loyal and manful tone in which leading members of the civil service have expressed their resolution to face the new tasks that this legislation will impose upon them. i have not got it with me now, but certain language was used by sir norman baker, who is now the lieutenant-governor of bengal. i think i quoted it in the house of lords, and, if i could read it to you, it would be far better than any speech of mine in support of the toast i am going to propose to you. there never was a more manful and admirable expression of the devotion of the service, than the promise of their cordial, whole-hearted, and laborious support of the policy which they have now got to carry through. i am certain there is not one of you who will fall short, and i am speaking in the presence of those who are not probationers, but persons proved. there is not one of you who, when the time comes, will not respond to the call, in the same spirit in which sir norman baker responded. i am now going to take you, if you will allow me, for a moment, to a point of immediate and, i can almost say, personal interest. everybody will agree, as i say, that we have fulfilled within the last six or eight months the pledges that were given by the sovereign in november. an indian gentleman has been placed on the council of the viceroy--not an everyday transaction. it needed some courage to do it, but it was done. before that, two indians were placed on the council of india that sits in my own office at whitehall. we have passed through parliament, as i have already described to you, the councils act. those are great things. but i am told great uneasiness is growing in the house of commons as to the matter of deportation. you know what deportation means. it means that nine indian gentlemen on december 13 last were arrested and are now detained--arrested under a law which is as good a law as any law on our own statute-book. you will forgive me for detaining you with this, but it is an actual and pressing point. some of the most respected members of my own party write a letter to the prime minister protesting. a bill has been brought in, and the first reading of it was carried two or three days ago, of which i can only say--with all responsibility for what i am saying--that it is nothing less, if you consider the source from which it comes, and if you consider the arguments by which it is supported, than a vote of distinct censure on me and lord minto. the bill is also supported by a very clever and rising member of the opposition. now words of an extraordinary character have been used in support of this severe criticism of the policy of myself and lord minto. in a motion, not in connection with the bill, but earlier in the session, words were read from _magna charta_, with the insinuation that the present secretary of state is as dubious a character as the sovereign against whom _magna charta_ was directed. gloomy references were actually made to king charles i., and it was shown that we were exercising powers that, when attempted to be exercised by charles i., led to the civil war and cost charles i. his head. this was at the beginning of the present session. i doubt if they will get through to the end of the session, whenever that may be, without comparisons being instituted between the secretary of state, for example, and strafford or even cromwell in his worst moments, as they would think. if cromwell is mentioned, i shall know where to point out how cromwell was troubled by fifth monarchy men, praise-god barebones, venner, saxby, and others. in historical parallels i am fairly prepared for the worst. i will take my chance. let us look at this seriously, because serious minds are exercised by deportation, and quite naturally. on december 13 nine indians were arrested under a certain indian regulation of the year 1818, and they who reproach us with violating the glories of 1215 (which is magna charta) and the petition of rights, complain that 1818 is far too remote for us to be at all affected by anything that was then made law. now what is the regulation? i will ask you to follow me pretty closely for a minute or two. the regulation of 1818 says:--"reasons of state occasionally render it necessary to place under personal restraint individuals, against whom there may not be sufficient grounds to institute any judicial proceedings, and the governor-general in council is able for good and sufficient reasons to determine that a.b. shall be placed under personal restraint." there is no trial; there is no charge; there is no fixed limit of time of detention; and in short it is equivalent to a suspension of _habeas corpus_. that is a broad statement, but substantially that is what it is. now i do not deny for a moment that if proceedings of this kind, such as took place on december 13 last year, were normal or frequent, if they took place every day of the week or every week of the month, it would be dangerous and in the highest degree discreditable to our whole government in india. it would be detestable and dangerous. but is there to be no such thing as an emergency power? i am not talking about england, scotland, or ireland. i am talking about india. is there to be no such thing as an emergency power? my view is that the powers given under the regulation of 1818 do constitute an emergency power, which, may be lawfully applied if an emergency presents itself. was there an emergency last december? the government of india found in december a movement that was a grave menace to the very foundations of public peace and security. the list of crimes for twelve months was formidable, showing the determined and daring character of the supporters of this movement. the crimes were not all. terrorism prevented evidence. the ordinary process of law was no longer adequate, and the fatal impression prevailed that the government could be defied with impunity. the government of india did not need to pass a new law. we found a law in the armoury and we applied it. very disagreeable, but still we should have been perfectly unworthy of holding the position we do--i am speaking now of the government of india and myself--if we had not taken that weapon out of the armoury, and used it against these evildoers. it was vital that we should stamp out the impression that the government of india could be defied with impunity, not in matters of opinion, mark you, but in matters affecting peace, order, life, and property--that the government in those elementary conditions of social existence could be defied with impunity. i say, then--it was vital in that week of december that these severe proceedings should be taken, if there was to be any fair and reasonable chance for those reforms which have since been laboriously hammered out, which had been for very many months upon the anvil, and to which we looked, as we look now, for a real pacification. it was not the first time that this arbitrary power--for it is that, i never disguise it--was used. it was used some years ago--i forget how many. i was talking the other day to an officer who was greatly concerned in it in poona, and he described the conditions, and told me the effect was magical. i do not say the effect of our proceedings the other day was magical. i do not say that bombs and knives and pistols are at an end. none of the officers in india think that we may not have some of these over again, but at any rate for the moment, and, i believe, for much more than the moment, we have secured order and tranquillity and acquiescence, and a warm approval of, and interest in, our reforms. i have said we have had acceptance of our reforms. what a curious thing it is that, after the reforms were announced, and after the deportations had taken place, still there came to lord minto deputations, and to me many telegrams, conveying their appreciation and gratitude for the reforms, and other things we have done. our good friends who move a vote of censure upon us, are better indians than the indians themselves. i cannot imagine a more mistaken proceeding. let me say one more word about deportations. it is true that there is no definite charge that could be produced in a court of law. that is the very essence of the whole transaction. then it is said--"oh, but you look to the police; you get all your evidence from the police." that is not so. the government of india get their information, not evidence in a technical sense--that is the root of the matter--from important district officers. but it is said then, "who is to decide the value of the information?" i heard that one gentleman in the house of commons said privately in ordinary talk, "if english country gentlemen were to decide this, we would not mind." who do decide? do you think this is done by a police sergeant in a box? on the contrary, every one of these nine cases of deportation has been examined and investigated--by whom? by lord minto, by the late lieutenant-governor of bengal, by the present lieutenant-governor of bengal, by two or three members of the viceroy's executive council. are we to suppose for a minute that men of this great station and authority and responsibility are going to issue a _lettre de cachet_ for a.b., c.d., or e.f., without troubling themselves whether that _lettre de cachet_ is wisely issued or not? then it is said of a man who is arrested under this law, "oh, he ought not to be harshly treated." he is not harshly treated. if he is one of these nine deported men, he is not put into contact with criminal persons. his family are looked after. he subsists under conditions which are to an indian perfectly conformable to his social position, and to the ordinary comforts and conveniences of his life. the greatest difference is drawn between these nine men and other men against whom charges to be judicially tried are brought. all these cases come up for reconsideration from time to time. they will come up shortly, and that consideration will be conducted with justice and with firmness. there can be no attempt at all to look at this transaction of the nine deported men otherwise than as a disagreeable measure, but one imposed upon us by a sense of public duty and a measure that events justify. what did mr. gokhale, who is a leader of a considerable body of important political opinion in india, say? did he move a vote of censure? he said in the legislative council the other day in calcutta, that lord minto and the secretary of state had saved india from drifting into chaos. i owe you an apology, mr. vice-chancellor and gentlemen, for pressing upon your attention points suggested by criticisms from politicians of generous but unbalanced impulse. but they are important, and i am glad you have allowed me to say what i have said upon them. appendix a _extract from the dispatch of the board of directors of the east india company to the government of india, december 10, 1834, accompanying the government of india act_, 1833.[1] [footnote 1: tradition ascribes this piece to the pen of james mill. his son, j.s. mill, was the author of the protest by the company against the transfer to the crown in 1858.] 103. by clause 87 of the act it is provided that no person, by reason of his birth, creed, or colour, shall be disqualified from holding any office in our service. 104. it is fitting that this important enactment should be understood in order that its full spirit and intention may be transfused through our whole system of administration. 105. you will observe that its object is not to ascertain qualification, but to remove disqualification. it does not break down or derange the scheme of our government as conducted principally through the instrumentality of our regular servants, civil and military. to do this would be to abolish or impair the rules which the legislature has established for securing the fitness of the functionaries in whose hands the main duties of indian administration are to be reposed--rules to which the present act makes a material addition in the provisions relating to the college at haileybury. but the meaning of the enactment we take to be that there shall be no governing caste in british india; that whatever other tests of qualification may be adopted, distinctions of race or religion shall not be of the number; that no subject of the king, whether of indian or british or mixed descent, shall be excluded either from the posts usually conferred on our uncovenanted servants in india, or from the covenanted service itself, provided he be otherwise eligible consistently with the rules and agreeably to the conditions observed and exacted in the one case and in the other. 106. in the application of this principle, that which will chiefly fall to your share will be the employment of natives, whether of the whole or the mixed blood, in official situations. so far as respects the former class--we mean natives of the whole blood--it is hardly necessary to say that the purposes of the legislature have in a considerable degree been anticipated; you well know, and indeed have in some important respects carried into effect, our desire that natives should be admitted to places of trust as freely and extensively as a regard for the due discharge of the functions attached to such places will permit. even judicial duties of magnitude and importance are now confided to their hands, partly no doubt from considerations of economy, but partly also on the principles of a liberal and comprehensive policy; still a line of demarcation, to some extent in favour of the natives, to some extent in exclusion of them, has been maintained; certain offices are appropriated to them, from certain others they are debarred--not because these latter belong to the covenanted service, and the former do not belong to it, but professedly on the ground that the average amount of native qualifications can be presumed only to rise to a certain limit. it is this line of demarcation which the present enactment obliterates, or rather for which it substitutes another, wholly irrespective of the distinction of races. fitness is henceforth to be the criterion of eligibility. 107. to this altered rule it will be necessary that you should, both in your acts and your language, conform; practically, perhaps, no very marked difference of results will be occasioned. the distinction between situations allotted to the covenanted service and all other situations of an official or public nature will remain generally as at present. 108. into a more particular consideration of the effects that may result from the great principle which the legislature has now for the first time recognised and established we do not enter, because we would avoid disquisition of a speculative nature. but there is one practical lesson which, often as we have on former occasions inculcated it on you, the present subject suggests to us once more to enforce. while, on the one hand, it may be anticipated that the range of public situations accessible to the natives and mixed races will gradually be enlarged, it is, on the other hand, to be recollected that, as settlers from europe find their way into the country, this class of persons will probably furnish candidates for those very situations to which the natives and mixed race will have admittance. men of european enterprise and education will appear in the field; and it is by the prospect of this event that we are led particularly to impress the lesson already alluded to on your attention. in every view it is important that the indigenous people of india, or those among them who by their habits, character, or position may be induced to aspire to office, should, as far as possible, be qualified to meet their european competitors. thence, then, arises a powerful argument for the promotion of every design tending to the improvement of the natives, whether by conferring on them the advantages of education, or by diffusing among them the treasures of science, knowledge, and moral culture. for these desirable results, we are well aware that you, like ourselves, are anxious, and we doubt not that, in order to impel you to increased exertion for the promotion of them, you will need no stimulant beyond a simple reference to the considerations we have here suggested. 109. while, however, we entertain these wishes and opinion, we must guard against the supposition that it is chiefly by holding out means and opportunities of official distinction that we expect our government to benefit the millions subjected to their authority. we have repeatedly expressed to you a very different sentiment. facilities of official advancement can little affect the bulk of the people under any government, and perhaps least under a good government. it is not by holding out incentives to official ambition, but by repressing crime, by securing and guarding property, by creating confidence, by ensuring to industry the fruit of its labour, by protecting men in the undisturbed enjoyment of their rights, and in the unfettered exercise of their faculties, that governments best minister to the public wealth and happiness. in effect, the free access to office is chiefly valuable when it is a part of general freedom. b _proclamation by the queen in council, to the princes, chiefs, and people of india, november_ 1, 1858.[1] [footnote 1: this memorable instrument, justly called the magna charta of india, was framed in august, 1838, by the earl of derby, then the head of the government. his son, lord stanley, the first secretary of state for india, had drafted a proclamation, and it was circulated to the cabinet. it reached the queen in germany. she went through the draft with the prince consort, who made copious notes on the margin. the queen did not like it, and wrote to lord derby that she "would be glad if he would write himself in his excellent language." the specific criticisms are to be found in martin's _life of the prince consort_ (iv 284-5). lord derby thereupon consulted stanley; saw the remarks of some of the cabinet, as well as of lord ellenborough, upon stanley's draft; and then wrote and re-wrote a draft of his own, and sent it to the queen. it was wholly different in scope and conception from the first draft. the prince consort enters in his journal that it was now "_recht gut_." one or two further suggested amendments were accepted by lord derby and the secretary of state; experts assured them that it contained nothing difficult to render in the native languages; and the proclamation was launched in the form in which it now stands. one question gave trouble--the retention of the queen's title of defender of the faith. its omission might provoke remark, but on the other hand lord derby regarded it as a doubtful title, "considering its origin" [conferred by the pope on henry viii] and as applied to a proclamation to india. he was in hopes that in the indian translation it would appear as "protectress of religion" generally, but he was told by experts in vernacular that it was just the title to convey to the indian mind, the idea of the special head and champion of a creed antagonistic to the creeds of the country. lord derby was inclined to omit, but he sought the queen's own opinion. this went the other way. the last sentence of the proclamation was the queen's. the three drafts are all in the records at windsor.] victoria, by the grace of god of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland, and of the colonies and dependencies thereof in europe, asia, africa, america, and australasia, queen, defender of the faith. whereas, for divers weighty reasons, we have resolved, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in parliament assembled, to take upon ourselves the government of the territories in india, heretofore administered in trust for us by the honourable east india company. now, therefore, we do by these presents notify and declare that, by the advice and consent aforesaid, we have taken upon ourselves the said government; and we hereby call upon all our subjects within the said territories to be faithful, and to bear true allegiance to us, our heirs and successors, and to submit themselves to the authority of those whom we may hereafter, from time to time, see fit to appoint to administer the government of our said territories, in our name and on our behalf. and we, reposing especial trust and confidence in the loyalty, ability, and judgment of our right trusty and well-beloved cousin charles john, viscount canning, do hereby constitute and appoint him, the said viscount canning, to be our first viceroy and governor-general in and over our said territories, and to administer the government thereof in our name, and generally to act in our name and on our behalf, subject to such orders and regulations as he shall, from time to time, receive through one of our principal secretaries of state. and we do hereby confirm in their several offices, civil and military, all persons now employed in the service of the honourable east india company, subject to our future pleasure, and to such laws and regulations as may hereafter be enacted. we hereby announce to the native princes of india, that all treaties and engagements made with them by or under the authority of the east india company are by us accepted, and will be scrupulously maintained, and we look for the like observance on their part. we desire no extension of our present territorial possessions, and, while we will permit no aggression upon our dominions or our rights to be attempted with impunity, we shall sanction no encroachment on those of others. we shall respect the rights, dignity, and honour of native princes as our own; and we desire that they, as well as our own subjects, should enjoy that prosperity and that social advancement which can only be secured by internal peace and good government. we hold ourselves bound to the natives of our indian territories by the same obligations of duty which bind us to all our other subjects, and those obligations, by the blessing of almighty god, we shall faithfully and conscientiously fill. firmly relying ourselves on the truth of christianity, and acknowledging with gratitude the solace of religion, we disclaim alike the right and the desire to impose our convictions on any of our subjects. we declare it to be our royal will and pleasure that none be in any wise favoured, none molested or disquieted, by reason of their religious faith or observances, but that all shall alike enjoy the equal and impartial protection of the law; and we do strictly charge and enjoin all those who may be in authority under us that they abstain from all interference with the religious relief or worship of any of our subjects on pain of our highest displeasure. and it is our further will that, so far as may be, our subjects, of whatever race or creed, be freely and impartially admitted to offices in our service the duties of which they may be qualified by their education, ability, and integrity duly to discharge. we know, and respect, the feelings of attachment with which natives of india regard the lands inherited by them from their ancestors, and we desire to protect them in all rights connected therewith, subject to the equitable demands of the state; and we will that generally, in framing and administering the law, due regard be paid to the ancient rights, usages, and customs of india. we deeply lament the evils and misery which have been brought upon india by the acts of ambitious men, who have deceived their countrymen by false reports, and led them into open rebellion. our power has been shown by the suppression of that rebellion in the field; we desire to show our mercy by pardoning the offences of those who have been misled, but who desire to return to the path of duty. already, in one province, with a desire to stop the further effusion of blood, and to hasten the pacification of our indian dominions, our viceroy and governor-general has held out the expectation of pardon, on certain terms, to the great majority of those who, in the late unhappy disturbances, have been guilty of offences against our government, and has declared the punishment which will be inflicted on those whose crimes place them beyond the reach of forgiveness. we approve and confirm the said act of our viceroy and governor-general, and do further announce and proclaim as follows:-our clemency will be extended to all offenders, save and except those who have been, or shall be, convicted of having directly taken part in the murder of british subjects. with regard to such the demands of justice forbid the exercise of mercy. to those who have willingly given asylum to murderers, knowing them to be such, or who may have acted as leaders or instigators of revolt, their lives alone can be guaranteed; but in apportioning the penalty due to such persons, full consideration will be given to the circumstances under which they have been induced to throw off their allegiance; and large indulgence will be shown to those whose crimes may appear to have originated in too credulous acceptance of the false reports circulated by designing men. to all others in arms against the government we hereby promise unconditional pardon, amnesty, and oblivion of all offences against ourselves, our crown and dignity, on their return to their homes and peaceful pursuits. it is our royal pleasure that these terms of grace and amnesty should be extended to all those who comply with these conditions before the 1st day of january next. when, by the blessing of providence, internal tranquillity shall be restored, it is our earnest desire to stimulate the peaceful industry of india, to promote works of public utility and improvement, and to administer the government for the benefit of all our subjects resident therein. in their prosperity will be our strength, in their contentment our security, and in their gratitude our best reward. and may the god of all power grant to us, and to those in authority under us, strength to carry out these our wishes for the good of our people. c _proclamation of the king-emperor to the princes and peoples of india, the 2nd november, 1908._ it is now 50 years since queen victoria, my beloved mother, and my august predecessor on the throne of these realms, for divers weighty reasons, with the advice and consent of parliament, took upon herself the government of the territories theretofore administered by the east india company. i deem this a fitting anniversary on which to greet the princes and peoples of india, in commemoration of the exalted task then solemnly undertaken. half a century is but a brief span in your long annals, yet this half century that ends to-day will stand amid the floods of your historic ages, a far-shining landmark. the proclamation of the direct supremacy of the crown sealed the unity of indian government and opened a new era. the journey was arduous, and the advance may have sometimes seemed slow; but the incorporation of many strangely diversified communities, and of some three hundred millions of the human race, under british guidance and control has proceeded steadfastly and without pause. we survey our labours of the past half century with clear gaze and good conscience. difficulties such as attend all human rule in every age and place, have risen up from day to day. they have been faced by the servants of the british crown with toil and courage and patience, with deep counsel and a resolution that has never faltered nor shaken. if errors have occurred, the agents of my government have spared no pains and no self-sacrifice to correct them; if abuses have been proved, vigorous hands have laboured to apply a remedy. no secret of empire can avert the scourge of drought and plague, but experienced administrators have done all that skill and devotion are capable of doing, to mitigate those dire calamities of nature. for a longer period than was ever known in your land before, you have escaped the dire calamities of war within your borders. internal peace has been unbroken. in the great charter of 1858 queen victoria gave you noble assurance of her earnest desire to stimulate the peaceful industry of india, to promote works of public utility and improvement, and to administer the government for the benefit of all resident therein. the schemes that have been diligently framed and executed for promoting your material convenience and advance--schemes unsurpassed in their magnitude and their boldness--bear witness before the world to the zeal with which that benignant promise has been fulfilled. the rights and privileges of the feudatory princes and ruling chiefs have been respected, preserved, and guarded; and the loyalty of their allegiance has been unswerving. no man among my subjects has been favoured, molested, or disquieted, by reason of his religious belief or worship. all men have enjoyed protection of the law. the law itself has been administered without disrespect to creed or caste, or to usages and ideas rooted in your civilisation. it has been simplified in form, and its machinery adjusted to the requirements of ancient communities slowly entering a new world. the charge confided to my government concerns the destinies of countless multitudes of men now and for ages to come; and it is a paramount duty to repress with a stern arm guilty conspiracies that have no just cause and no serious aim. these conspiracies i know to be abhorrent to the loyal and faithful character of the vast hosts of my indian subjects, and i will not suffer them to turn me aside from my task of building up the fabric of security and order. unwilling that this historic anniversary should pass without some signal mark of royal clemency and grace, i have directed that, as was ordered on the memorable occasion of the coronation durbar in 1903, the sentences of persons whom our courts have duly punished for offences against the law, should be remitted, or in various degrees reduced; and it is my wish that such wrongdoers may remain mindful of this act of mercy, and may conduct themselves without offence henceforth. steps are being continuously taken towards obliterating distinctions of race as the test for access to posts of public authority and power. in this path i confidently expect and intend the progress henceforward to be steadfast and sure, as education spreads, experience ripens, and the lessons of responsibility are well learned by the keen intelligence and apt capabilities of india. from the first, the principle of representative institutions began to be gradually introduced, and the time has come when, in the judgment of my viceroy and governor-general and others of my counsellors, that principle may be prudently extended. important classes among you, representing ideas that have been fostered and encouraged by british rule, claim equality of citizenship, and a greater share in legislation and government. the politic satisfaction of such a claim will strengthen, not impair, existing authority and power. administration will be all the more efficient, if the officers who conduct it have greater opportunities of regular contact with those whom it affects, and with those who influence and reflect common opinion about it. i will not speak of the measures that are now being diligently framed for these objects. they will speedily be made known to you, and will, i am very confident, mark a notable stage in the beneficent progress of your affairs. i recognise the valour and fidelity of my indian troops, and at the new year i have ordered that opportunity should be taken to show in substantial form this, my high appreciation, of their martial instincts, their splendid discipline, and their faithful readiness of service. the welfare of india was one of the objects dearest to the heart of queen victoria. by me, ever since my visit in 1875, the interests of india, its princes and peoples, have been watched with an affectionate solicitude that time cannot weaken. my dear son, the prince of wales, and the princess of wales, returned from their sojourn among you with warm attachment to your land, and true and earnest interest in its well-being and content. these sincere feelings of active sympathy and hope for india on the part of my royal house and line, only represent, and they do most truly represent, the deep and united will and purpose of the people of this kingdom. may divine protection and favour strengthen the wisdom and mutual goodwill that are needed, for the achievement of a task as glorious as was ever committed to rulers and subjects in any state or empire of recorded time. folk-lore and legends oriental [decoration] w. w. gibbings 18 bury st., london, w.c. 1889 prefatory note the east is rich in folklore, and the lorist is not troubled to discover material, but to select only that which it is best worth his while to preserve. the conditions under which the people live are most favourable to the preservation of the ancient legends, and the cultivation of the powers of narration fits the oriental to present his stories in a more polished style than is usual in the western countries. the reader of these tales will observe many points of similarity between them and the popular fictions of the west--similarity of thought and incident--and nothing, perhaps, speaks more eloquently the universal brotherhood of man than this oneness of folk-fiction. at the same time, the tales of the east are unique, lighted up as they are by a gorgeous extravagance of imagination which never fails to attract and delight. c. j. t. contents page the cobbler astrologer, 1 the legend of the terrestrial paradise of sheddád, the son of 'a'd, 21 the tomb of noosheerwân, 30 ameen and the ghool, 37 the relations of ssidi kur, 47 the adventures of the rich youth, 53 the adventures of the beggar's son, 58 the adventures of massang, 68 the magician with the swine's head, 77 the history of sunshine and his brother, 89 the wonderful man who overcame the chan, 96 the bird-man, 101 the painter and the wood-carver, 106 the stealing of the heart, 110 the man and his wife, 115 of the maiden ssuwarandari, 119 the two cats, 127 legend of dhurrumnath, 132 the traveller's adventure, 135 the seven stages of roostem, 141 the man who never laughed, 151 the fox and the wolf, 162 the shepherd and the jogie, 184 the perfidious vizier, 186 the cobbler astrologer. in the great city of isfahan lived ahmed the cobbler, an honest and industrious man, whose wish was to pass through life quietly; and he might have done so, had he not married a handsome wife, who, although she had condescended to accept of him as a husband, was far from being contented with his humble sphere of life. sittâra, such was the name of ahmed's wife, was ever forming foolish schemes of riches and grandeur; and though ahmed never encouraged them, he was too fond a husband to quarrel with what gave her pleasure. an incredulous smile or a shake of the head was his only answer to her often-told day-dreams; and she continued to persuade herself that she was certainly destined to great fortune. it happened one evening, while in this temper of mind, that she went to the hemmâm, where she saw a lady retiring dressed in a magnificent robe, covered with jewels, and surrounded by slaves. this was the very condition sittâra had always longed for, and she eagerly inquired the name of the happy person who had so many attendants and such fine jewels. she learned it was the wife of the chief astrologer to the king. with this information she returned home. her husband met her at the door, but was received with a frown, nor could all his caresses obtain a smile or a word; for several hours she continued silent, and in apparent misery. at length she said-"cease your caresses, unless you are ready to give me a proof that you do really and sincerely love me." "what proof of love," exclaimed poor ahmed, "can you desire which i will not give?" "give over cobbling; it is a vile, low trade, and never yields more than ten or twelve dinars a day. turn astrologer! your fortune will be made, and i shall have all i wish, and be happy." "astrologer!" cried ahmed,--"astrologer! have you forgotten who i am--a cobbler, without any learning--that you want me to engage in a profession which requires so much skill and knowledge?" "i neither think nor care about your qualifications," said the enraged wife; "all i know is, that if you do not turn astrologer immediately i will be divorced from you to-morrow." the cobbler remonstrated, but in vain. the figure of the astrologer's wife, with her jewels and her slaves, had taken complete possession of sittâra's imagination. all night it haunted her; she dreamt of nothing else, and on awaking declared she would leave the house if her husband did not comply with her wishes. what could poor ahmed do? he was no astrologer, but he was dotingly fond of his wife, and he could not bear the idea of losing her. he promised to obey, and, having sold his little stock, bought an astrolabe, an astronomical almanac, and a table of the twelve signs of the zodiac. furnished with these he went to the market-place, crying, "i am an astrologer! i know the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the twelve signs of the zodiac; i can calculate nativities; i can foretell everything that is to happen!" no man was better known than ahmed the cobbler. a crowd soon gathered round him. "what! friend ahmed," said one, "have you worked till your head is turned?" "are you tired of looking down at your last," cried another, "that you are now looking up at the planets?" these and a thousand other jokes assailed the ears of the poor cobbler, who, notwithstanding, continued to exclaim that he was an astrologer, having resolved on doing what he could to please his beautiful wife. it so happened that the king's jeweller was passing by. he was in great distress, having lost the richest ruby belonging to the crown. every search had been made to recover this inestimable jewel, but to no purpose; and as the jeweller knew he could no longer conceal its loss from the king, he looked forward to death as inevitable. in this hopeless state, while wandering about the town, he reached the crowd around ahmed and asked what was the matter. "don't you know ahmed the cobbler?" said one of the bystanders, laughing; "he has been inspired, and is become an astrologer." a drowning man will catch at a broken reed: the jeweller no sooner heard the sound of the word astrologer, than he went up to ahmed, told him what had happened, and said, "if you understand your art, you must be able to discover the king's ruby. do so, and i will give you two hundred pieces of gold. but if you do not succeed within six hours, i will use all my influence at court to have you put to death as an impostor." poor ahmed was thunderstruck. he stood long without being able to move or speak, reflecting on his misfortunes, and grieving, above all, that his wife, whom he so loved, had, by her envy and selfishness, brought him to such a fearful alternative. full of these sad thoughts, he exclaimed aloud, "o woman, woman! thou art more baneful to the happiness of man than the poisonous dragon of the desert!" the lost ruby had been secreted by the jeweller's wife, who, disquieted by those alarms which ever attend guilt, sent one of her female slaves to watch her husband. this slave, on seeing her master speak to the astrologer, drew near; and when she heard ahmed, after some moments of apparent abstraction, compare a woman to a poisonous dragon, she was satisfied that he must know everything. she ran to her mistress, and, breathless with fear, cried, "you are discovered, my dear mistress, you are discovered by a vile astrologer. before six hours are past the whole story will be known, and you will become infamous, if you are even so fortunate as to escape with life, unless you can find some way of prevailing on him to be merciful." she then related what she had seen and heard; and ahmed's exclamation carried as complete conviction to the mind of the terrified mistress as it had done to that of her slave. the jeweller's wife, hastily throwing on her veil, went in search of the dreaded astrologer. when she found him, she threw herself at his feet, crying, "spare my honour and my life, and i will confess everything!" "what can you have to confess to me?" exclaimed ahmed in amazement. "oh, nothing! nothing with which you are not already acquainted. you know too well that i stole the ruby from the king's crown. i did so to punish my husband, who uses me most cruelly; and i thought by this means to obtain riches for myself, and to have him put to death. but you, most wonderful man, from whom nothing is hidden, have discovered and defeated my wicked plan. i beg only for mercy, and will do whatever you command me." an angel from heaven could not have brought more consolation to ahmed than did the jeweller's wife. he assumed all the dignified solemnity that became his new character, and said, "woman! i know all thou hast done, and it is fortunate for thee that thou hast come to confess thy sin and beg for mercy before it was too late. return to thy house, put the ruby under the pillow of the couch on which thy husband sleeps; let it be laid on the side furthest from the door; and be satisfied thy guilt shall never be even suspected." the jeweller's wife returned home, and did as she was desired. in an hour ahmed followed her, and told the jeweller he had made his calculations, and found by the aspect of the sun and moon, and by the configuration of the stars, that the ruby was at that moment lying under the pillow of his couch, on the side furthest from the door. the jeweller thought ahmed must be crazy; but as a ray of hope is like a ray from heaven to the wretched, he ran to his couch, and there, to his joy and wonder, found the ruby in the very place described. he came back to ahmed, embraced him, called him his dearest friend and the preserver of his life, and gave him the two hundred pieces of gold, declaring that he was the first astrologer of the age. these praises conveyed no joy to the poor cobbler, who returned home more thankful to god for his preservation than elated by his good fortune. the moment he entered the door his wife ran up to him and exclaimed, "well, my dear astrologer! what success?" "there!" said ahmed, very gravely,--"there are two hundred pieces of gold. i hope you will be satisfied now, and not ask me again to hazard my life, as i have done this morning." he then related all that had passed. but the recital made a very different impression on the lady from what these occurrences had made on ahmed. sittâra saw nothing but the gold, which would enable her to vie with the chief astrologer's wife at the hemmâm. "courage!" she said, "courage! my dearest husband. this is only your first labour in your new and noble profession. go on and prosper, and we shall become rich and happy." in vain ahmed remonstrated and represented the danger; she burst into tears, and accused him of not loving her, ending with her usual threat of insisting upon a divorce. ahmed's heart melted, and he agreed to make another trial. accordingly, next morning he sallied forth with his astrolabe, his twelve signs of the zodiac, and his almanac, exclaiming, as before, "i am an astrologer! i know the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the twelve signs of the zodiac; i can calculate nativities; i can foretell everything that is to happen!" a crowd again gathered round him, but it was now with wonder, and not ridicule; for the story of the ruby had gone abroad, and the voice of fame had converted the poor cobbler ahmed into the ablest and most learned astrologer that was ever seen at isfahan. while everybody was gazing at him, a lady passed by veiled. she was the wife of one of the richest merchants in the city, and had just been at the hemmâm, where she had lost a valuable necklace and earrings. she was now returning home in great alarm lest her husband should suspect her of having given her jewels to a lover. seeing the crowd around ahmed, she asked the reason of their assembling, and was informed of the whole story of the famous astrologer: how he had been a cobbler, was inspired with supernatural knowledge, and could, with the help of his astrolabe, his twelve signs of the zodiac, and his almanac, discover all that ever did or ever would happen in the world. the story of the jeweller and the king's ruby was then told her, accompanied by a thousand wonderful circumstances which had never occurred. the lady, quite satisfied of his skill, went up to ahmed and mentioned her loss, saying: "a man of your knowledge and penetration will easily discover my jewels; find them, and i will give you fifty pieces of gold." the poor cobbler was quite confounded, and looked down, thinking only how to escape without a public exposure of his ignorance. the lady, in pressing through the crowd, had torn the lower part of her veil. ahmed's downcast eyes noticed this; and wishing to inform her of it in a delicate manner, before it was observed by others, he whispered to her, "lady, look down at the rent." the lady's head was full of her loss, and she was at that moment endeavouring to recollect how it could have occurred. ahmed's speech brought it at once to her mind, and she exclaimed in delighted surprise: "stay here a few moments, thou great astrologer. i will return immediately with the reward thou so well deservest." saying this, she left him, and soon returned, carrying in one hand the necklace and earrings, and in the other a purse with the fifty pieces of gold. "there is gold for thee," she said, "thou wonderful man, to whom all the secrets of nature are revealed! i had quite forgotten where i laid the jewels, and without thee should never have found them. but when thou desiredst me to look at the rent below, i instantly recollected the rent near the bottom of the wall in the bathroom, where, before undressing, i had hid them. i can now go home in peace and comfort; and it is all owing to thee, thou wisest of men!" after these words she walked away, and ahmed returned to his home, thankful to providence for his preservation, and fully resolved never again to tempt it. his handsome wife, however, could not yet rival the chief astrologer's lady in her appearance at the hemmâm, so she renewed her entreaties and threats, to make her fond husband continue his career as an astrologer. about this time it happened that the king's treasury was robbed of forty chests of gold and jewels, forming the greater part of the wealth of the kingdom. the high treasurer and other officers of state used all diligence to find the thieves, but in vain. the king sent for his astrologer, and declared that if the robbers were not detected by a stated time, he, as well as the principal ministers, should be put to death. only one day of the short period given them remained. all their search had proved fruitless, and the chief astrologer, who had made his calculations and exhausted his art to no purpose, had quite resigned himself to his fate, when one of his friends advised him to send for the wonderful cobbler, who had become so famous for his extraordinary discoveries. two slaves were immediately despatched for ahmed, whom they commanded to go with them to their master. "you see the effects of your ambition," said the poor cobbler to his wife; "i am going to my death. the king's astrologer has heard of my presumption, and is determined to have me executed as an impostor." on entering the palace of the chief astrologer, he was surprised to see that dignified person come forward to receive him, and lead him to the seat of honour, and not less so to hear himself thus addressed: "the ways of heaven, most learned and excellent ahmed, are unsearchable. the high are often cast down, and the low are lifted up. the whole world depends upon fate and fortune. it is my turn now to be depressed by fate; it is thine to be exalted by fortune." his speech was here interrupted by a messenger from the king, who, having heard of the cobbler's fame, desired his attendance. poor ahmed now concluded that it was all over with him, and followed the king's messenger, praying to god that he would deliver him from this peril. when he came into the king's presence, he bent his body to the ground, and wished his majesty long life and prosperity. "tell me, ahmed," said the king, "who has stolen my treasure?" "it was not one man," answered ahmed, after some consideration; "there were forty thieves concerned in the robbery." "very well," said the king; "but who were they? and what have they done with my gold and jewels?" "these questions," said ahmed, "i cannot now answer; but i hope to satisfy your majesty, if you will grant me forty days to make my calculations." "i grant you forty days," said the king; "but when they are past, if my treasure is not found, your life shall pay the forfeit." ahmed returned to his house well pleased; for he resolved to take advantage of the time allowed him to fly from a city where his fame was likely to be his ruin. "well, ahmed," said his wife, as he entered, "what news at court?" "no news at all," said he, "except that i am to be put to death at the end of forty days, unless i find forty chests of gold and jewels which have been stolen from the royal treasury." "but you will discover the thieves." "how? by what means am i to find them?" "by the same art which discovered the ruby and the lady's necklace." "the same art!" replied ahmed. "foolish woman! thou knowest that i have no art, and that i have only pretended to it for the sake of pleasing thee. but i have had sufficient skill to gain forty days, during which time we may easily escape to some other city; and with the money i now possess, and the aid of my former occupation, we may still obtain an honest livelihood." "an honest livelihood!" repeated his lady, with scorn. "will thy cobbling, thou mean, spiritless wretch, ever enable me to go to the hemmâm like the wife of the chief astrologer? hear me, ahmed! think only of discovering the king's treasure. thou hast just as good a chance of doing so as thou hadst of finding the ruby, and the necklace and earrings. at all events, i am determined thou shalt not escape; and shouldst thou attempt to run away, i will inform the king's officers, and have thee taken up and put to death, even before the forty days are expired. thou knowest me too well, ahmed, to doubt my keeping my word. so take courage, and endeavour to make thy fortune, and to place me in that rank of life to which my beauty entitles me." the poor cobbler was dismayed at this speech; but knowing there was no hope of changing his wife's resolution, he resigned himself to his fate. "well," said he, "your will shall be obeyed. all i desire is to pass the few remaining days of my life as comfortably as i can. you know i am no scholar, and have little skill in reckoning; so there are forty dates: give me one of them every night after i have said my prayers, that i may put them in a jar, and, by counting them may always see how many of the few days i have to live are gone." the lady, pleased at carrying her point, took the dates, and promised to be punctual in doing what her husband desired. meanwhile the thieves who had stolen the king's treasure, having been kept from leaving the city by fear of detection and pursuit, had received accurate information of every measure taken to discover them. one of them was among the crowd before the palace on the day the king sent for ahmed; and hearing that the cobbler had immediately declared their exact number, he ran in a fright to his comrades, and exclaimed, "we are all found out! ahmed, the new astrologer, has told the king that there are forty of us." "there needed no astrologer to tell that," said the captain of the gang. "this ahmed, with all his simple good-nature, is a shrewd fellow. forty chests having been stolen, he naturally guessed that there must be forty thieves, and he has made a good hit, that is all; still it is prudent to watch him, for he certainly has made some strange discoveries. one of us must go to-night, after dark, to the terrace of this cobbler's house, and listen to his conversation with his handsome wife; for he is said to be very fond of her, and will, no doubt, tell her what success he has had in his endeavours to detect us." everybody approved of this scheme; and soon after nightfall one of the thieves repaired to the terrace. he arrived there just as the cobbler had finished his evening prayers, and his wife was giving him the first date. "ah!" said ahmed, as he took it, "there is one of the forty." the thief, hearing these words, hastened in consternation to the gang, and told them that the moment he took his post he had been perceived by the supernatural knowledge of ahmed, who immediately told his wife that one of them was there. the spy's tale was not believed by his hardened companions; something was imputed to his fears; he might have been mistaken;--in short, it was determined to send two men the next night at the same hour. they reached the house just as ahmed, having finished his prayers, had received the second date, and heard him exclaim, "my dear wife, to-night there are two of them!" the astonished thieves fled, and told their still incredulous comrades what they had heard. three men were consequently sent the third night, four the fourth, and so on. being afraid of venturing during the day, they always came as evening closed in, and just as ahmed was receiving his date, hence they all in turn heard him say that which convinced them he was aware of their presence. on the last night they all went, and ahmed exclaimed aloud, "the number is complete! to-night the whole forty are here!" all doubts were now removed. it was impossible that ahmed should have discovered them by any natural means. how could he ascertain their exact number? and night after night, without ever once being mistaken? he must have learnt it by his skill in astrology. even the captain now yielded, in spite of his incredulity, and declared his opinion that it was hopeless to elude a man thus gifted; he therefore advised that they should make a friend of the cobbler, by confessing everything to him, and bribing him to secrecy by a share of the booty. his advice was approved of, and an hour before dawn they knocked at ahmed's door. the poor man jumped out of bed, and supposing the soldiers were come to lead him to execution, cried out, "have patience! i know what you are come for. it is a very unjust and wicked deed." "most wonderful man!" said the captain, as the door was opened, "we are fully convinced that thou knowest why we are come, nor do we mean to justify the action of which thou speakest. here are two thousand pieces of gold, which we will give thee, provided thou wilt swear to say nothing more about the matter." "say nothing about it!" said ahmed. "do you think it possible i can suffer such gross wrong and injustice without complaining, and making it known to all the world?" "have mercy upon us!" exclaimed the thieves, falling on their knees; "only spare our lives, and we will restore the royal treasure." the cobbler started, rubbed his eyes to see if he were asleep or awake; and being satisfied that he was awake, and that the men before him were really the thieves, he assumed a solemn tone, and said: "guilty men! ye are persuaded that ye cannot escape from my penetration, which reaches unto the sun and moon, and knows the position and aspect of every star in the heavens. your timely repentance has saved you. but ye must immediately restore all that ye have stolen. go straightway, and carry the forty chests exactly as ye found them, and bury them a foot deep under the southern wall of the old ruined hemmâm, beyond the king's palace. if ye do this punctually, your lives are spared; but if ye fail in the slightest degree, destruction will fall upon you and your families." the thieves promised obedience to his commands and departed. ahmed then fell on his knees, and returned thanks to god for this signal mark of his favour. about two hours after the royal guards came, and desired ahmed to follow them. he said he would attend them as soon as he had taken leave of his wife, to whom he determined not to impart what had occurred until he saw the result. he bade her farewell very affectionately; she supported herself with great fortitude on this trying occasion, exhorting her husband to be of good cheer, and said a few words about the goodness of providence. but the fact was, sittâra fancied that if god took the worthy cobbler to himself, her beauty might attract some rich lover, who would enable her to go to the hemmâm with as much splendour as the astrologer's lady, whose image, adorned with jewels and fine clothes, and surrounded by slaves, still haunted her imagination. the decrees of heaven are just: a reward suited to their merits awaited ahmed and his wife. the good man stood with a cheerful countenance before the king, who was impatient for his arrival, and immediately said, "ahmed, thy looks are promising; hast thou discovered my treasure?" "does your majesty require the thieves or the treasure? the stars will only grant one or the other," said ahmed, looking at his table of astrological calculations. "your majesty must make your choice. i can deliver up either, but not both." "i should be sorry not to punish the thieves," answered the king; "but if it must be so, i choose the treasure." "and you give the thieves a full and free pardon?" "i do, provided i find my treasure untouched." "then," said ahmed, "if your majesty will follow me, the treasure shall be restored to you." the king and all his nobles followed the cobbler to the ruins of the old hemmâm. there, casting his eyes towards heaven, ahmed muttered some sounds, which were supposed by the spectators to be magical conjurations, but which were in reality the prayers and thanksgivings of a sincere and pious heart to god for his wonderful deliverance. when his prayer was finished, he pointed to the southern wall, and requested that his majesty would order his attendants to dig there. the work was hardly begun, when the whole forty chests were found in the same state as when stolen, with the treasurer's seal upon them still unbroken. the king's joy knew no bounds; he embraced ahmed, and immediately appointed him his chief astrologer, assigned to him an apartment in the palace, and declared that he should marry his only daughter, as it was his duty to promote the man whom god had so singularly favoured, and had made instrumental in restoring the treasures of his kingdom. the young princess, who was more beautiful than the moon, was not dissatisfied with her father's choice; for her mind was stored with religion and virtue, and she had learnt to value beyond all earthly qualities that piety and learning which she believed ahmed to possess. the royal will was carried into execution as soon as formed. the wheel of fortune had taken a complete turn. the morning had found ahmed in a wretched hovel, rising from a sorry bed, in the expectation of losing his life; in the evening he was the lord of a rich palace, and married to the only daughter of a powerful king. but this change did not alter his character. as he had been meek and humble in adversity, he was modest and gentle in prosperity. conscious of his own ignorance, he continued to ascribe his good fortune solely to the favour of providence. he became daily more attached to the beautiful and virtuous princess whom he had married; and he could not help contrasting her character with that of his former wife, whom he had ceased to love, and of whose unreasonable and unfeeling vanity he was now fully sensible. the legend of the terrestrial paradise of sheddád, the son of 'a'd. it is related that 'abd allah, the son of aboo kilábeh, went forth to seek a camel that had run away, and while he was proceeding over the deserts of el-yemen and the district of seba, he chanced to arrive at a vast city encompassed by enormous fortifications, around the circuit of which were pavilions rising high into the sky. so when he approached it, he imagined that there must be inhabitants within it, of whom he might inquire for his camel; and, accordingly, he advanced, but on coming to it he found that it was desolate, without any one to cheer its solitude. "i alighted," says he, "from my she-camel, and tied up her foot; and then, composing my mind, entered the city. on approaching the fortifications, i found that they had two enormous gates, the like of which, for size and height, have never been seen elsewhere in the world, set with a variety of jewels and jacinths, white and red, and yellow and green; and when i beheld this, i was struck with the utmost wonder at it, and the sight astonished me. i entered the fortifications in a state of terror and with a wandering mind, and saw them to be of the same large extent as the city, and to comprise elevated pavilions, every one of these containing lofty chambers, and all of them constructed of gold and silver, and adorned with rubies and chrysolites and pearls and various-coloured jewels. the folding-doors of these pavilions were like those of the fortifications in beauty, and the floors were overlaid with large pearls, and with balls like hazel-nuts, composed of musk and ambergris and saffron. and when i came into the midst of the city, i saw not in it a created being of the sons of adam; and i almost died of terror. i then looked down from the summits of the lofty chambers and pavilions, and saw rivers running beneath them; and in the great thoroughfare-streets of the city were fruit-bearing trees and tall palm-trees. and the construction of the city was of alternate bricks of gold and silver; so i said within myself, no doubt this is the paradise promised in the world to come. "i carried away of the jewels which were as its gravel, and the musk that was as its dust, as much as i could bear, and returned to my district, where i acquainted the people with the occurrence. and the news reached mo'áwiyeh, the son of aboo sufyán (who was then caliph), in the hejáz; so he wrote to his lieutenant in san'a of el-yemen, saying, 'summon that man, and inquire of him the truth of the matter!' his lieutenant therefore caused me to be brought, and demanded of me an account of my adventure, and of what had befallen me; and i informed him of what i had seen. he then sent me to mo'áwiyeh, and i acquainted him also with that which i had seen, but he disbelieved it; so i produced to him some of those pearls and the little balls of ambergris and musk and saffron. the latter retained somewhat of their sweet scent; but the pearls had become yellow and discoloured. "at the sight of these mo'áwiyeh wondered, and he sent and caused kaab el-ahbár to be brought before him, and said to him, 'o kaab el-ahbár, i have called thee on account of a matter of which i desire to know the truth, and i hope that thou mayest be able to certify me of it.' 'and what is it, o prince of the faithful?' asked kaab el-ahbár. mo'áwiyeh said, 'hast thou any knowledge of the existence of a city constructed of gold and silver, the pillars whereof are of chrysolite and ruby, and the gravel of which is of pearls, and of balls like hazel-nuts, composed of musk and ambergris and saffron?' he answered, 'yes, o prince of the faithful! it is irem zat-el-'emád, the like of which hath never been constructed in the regions of the earth; and sheddád, the son of 'a'd the greater, built it.' 'relate to us,' said mo'áwiyeh, 'somewhat of its history.' and kaab el-ahbár replied thus:-"''a'd the greater had two sons, shedeed and sheddád, and when their father perished they reigned conjointly over the countries after him, and there was no one of the kings of the earth who was not subject to them. and shedeed the son of 'a'd died, so his brother sheddád ruled alone over the earth after him. he was fond of reading the ancient books; and when he met with the description of the world to come, and of paradise, with its pavilions and lofty chambers, and its trees and fruits, and of the other things in paradise, his heart enticed him to construct its like on the earth, after this manner which hath been above mentioned. he had under his authority a hundred thousand kings, under each of whom were a hundred thousand valiant chieftains, and under each of these were a hundred thousand soldiers. and he summoned them all before him, and said to them, "i find in the ancient books and histories the description of the paradise that is in the other world, and i desire to make its like upon the earth. depart ye therefore to the most pleasant and most spacious vacant tract in the earth, and build for me in it a city of gold and silver, and spread, as its gravel, chrysolites and rubies and pearls, and as the supports of the vaulted roofs of that city make columns of chrysolite, and fill it with pavilions, and over the pavilions construct lofty chambers, and beneath them plant, in the by-streets and great-thoroughfare streets, varieties of trees bearing different kinds of ripe fruits, and make rivers to run beneath them in channels of gold and silver." to this they all replied, "how can we accomplish that which thou hast described to us, and how can we procure the chrysolites and rubies and pearls that thou hast mentioned?" but he said, "know ye not that the kings of the world are obedient to me, and under my authority, and that no one who is in it disobeyeth my command?" they answered, "yes, we know that." "depart then," said he, "to the mines of chrysolite and ruby, and to the places where pearls are found, and gold and silver, and take forth and collect their contents from the earth, and spare no exertions. take also for me, from the hands of me, such of those things as ye find, and spare none, nor let any escape you; and beware of disobedience!" "'he then wrote a letter to each of the kings in the regions of the earth, commanding them to collect all the articles of the kinds above mentioned that their subjects possessed, and to repair to the mines in which these things were found, and extract the precious stones that they contained, even from the beds of the seas. and they collected the things that he required in the space of twenty years; after which he sent forth the geometricians and sages, and labourers and artificers, from all the countries and regions, and they dispersed themselves through the deserts and wastes, and tracts and districts, until they came to a desert wherein was a vast open plain, clear from hills and mountains, and in it were springs gushing forth, and rivers running. so they said, "this is the kind of place which the king commanded us to seek, and called us to find." they then busied themselves in building the city according to the direction of the king sheddád, king of the whole earth, in its length and breadth; and they made through it the channels for the rivers, and laid the foundations conformably with the prescribed extent. the kings of the various districts of the earth sent thither the jewels and stones, and large and small pearls, and carnelian and pure gold, upon camels over the deserts and wastes, and sent great ships with them over the seas; and a quantity of those things, such as cannot be described nor calculated nor defined, was brought to the workmen, who laboured in the construction of this city three hundred years. and when they had finished it, they came to the king and acquainted him with the completion; and he said to them, "depart, and make around it impregnable fortifications of great height, and construct around the circuit of the fortifications a thousand pavilions, each with a thousand pillars beneath it, in order that there may be in each pavilion a vizier." so they went immediately, and did this in twenty years; after which they presented themselves before sheddád, and informed him of the accomplishment of his desire. "'he therefore ordered his viziers, who were a thousand in number, and his chief officers, and such of his troops and others as he confided in, to make themselves ready for departure, and to prepare themselves for removal to irem zat-el-'emád, in attendance upon the king of the world, sheddád, the son of 'a'd. he ordered also such as he chose of his women and his hareem, as his female slaves and his eunuchs, to fit themselves out. and they passed twenty years in equipping themselves. then sheddád proceeded with his troops, rejoiced at the accomplishment of his desire, until there remained between him and irem zat-el-'emád one day's journey, when god sent down upon him and upon the obstinate infidels who accompanied him a loud cry from the heaven of his power, and it destroyed them all by the vehemence of its sound. neither sheddád nor any of those who were with him arrived at the city, or came in sight of it, and god obliterated the traces of the road that led to it, but the city remaineth as it was in its place until the hour of the judgment!' "at this narrative, related by kaab el-ahbár, mo'áwiyeh wondered, and he said to him, 'can any one of mankind arrive at that city?' 'yes,' answered kaab el-ahbár; 'a man of the companions of mohammed (upon whom be blessing and peace!), in appearance like this man who is sitting here, without any doubt.' esh-shaabee also saith, 'it is related, on the authority of the learned men of hemyer, in el-yemen, that when sheddád and those who were with him were destroyed by the loud cry, his son sheddád the less reigned after him; for his father, sheddád the greater, had left him as successor to his kingdom, in the land of hadramót and seba, on his departure with the troops who accompanied him to irem zat-el-'emád. and as soon as the news reached him of the death of his father, on the way before his arrival at the city of irem, he gave orders to carry his father's body from those desert tracts to hadramót, and to excavate the sepulchre for him in a cavern. and when they had done this, he placed his body in it, upon a couch of gold, and covered the corpse with seventy robes, interwoven with gold and adorned with precious jewels; and he placed at his head a tablet of gold, whereon were inscribed these verses:- "'be admonished, o thou who art deceived by a prolonged life! i am sheddád, the son of 'a'd, the lord of a strong fortress, the lord of power and might, and of excessive valour. the inhabitants of the earth obeyed me, fearing my severity and threats; and i held the east and west under a strong dominion. and a preacher of the true religion invited us to the right way; but we opposed him, and said, is there no refuge from it? and a loud cry assaulted us from a tract of the distant horizon; whereupon we fell down like corn in the midst of a plain at harvest; and now, beneath the earth, we await the threatened day.' "eth-tha'álibee also saith, 'it happened that two men entered this cavern, and found at its upper end some steps, and having descended these, they found an excavation, the length whereof was a hundred cubits, and its breadth forty cubits, and its height a hundred cubits. and in the midst of this excavation was a couch of gold, upon which was a man of enormous bulk, occupying its whole length and breadth, covered with ornaments and with robes interwoven with gold and silver; and at his head was a tablet of gold, whereon was an inscription. and they took that tablet, and carried away from the place as much as they could of bars of gold and silver and other things.'" the tomb of noosheerwân. the caliph hâroon-oor-rasheed went to visit the tomb of the celebrated noosheerwân, the most famous of all the monarchs who ever governed persia. before the tomb was a curtain of gold cloth, which, when hâroon touched it, fell to pieces. the walls of the tomb were covered with gold and jewels, whose splendour illumined its darkness. the body was placed in a sitting posture on a throne enchased with jewels, and had so much the appearance of life that, on the first impulse, the commander of the faithful bent to the ground, and saluted the remains of the just noosheerwân. though the face of the departed monarch was like that of a living man, and the whole of the body in a state of preservation, which showed the admirable skill of those who embalmed it, yet when the caliph touched the garments they mouldered into dust. hâroon upon this took his own rich robes and threw them over the corpse; he also hung up a new curtain richer than that he had destroyed, and perfumed the whole tomb with camphor, and other sweet scents. it was remarked that no change was perceptible in the body of noosheerwân, except that the ears had become white. the whole scene affected the caliph greatly; he burst into tears, and repeated from the koran--"what i have seen is a warning to those who have eyes." he observed some writing upon the throne, which he ordered the moobids (priests), who were learned in the pehlevee language, to read and explain. they did so: it was as follows:- "this world remains not; the man who thinks least of it is the wisest. "enjoy this world before thou becomest its prey. "bestow the same favour on those below thee as thou desirest to receive from those above thee. "if thou shouldst conquer the whole world, death will at last conquer thee. "be careful that thou art not the dupe of thine own fortune. "thou shalt be paid exactly for what thou hast done; no more, no less." the caliph observed a dark ruby-ring on the finger of noosheerwân, on which was written- "avoid cruelty, study good, and never be precipitate in action. "if thou shouldst live for a hundred years, never for one moment forget death. "value above all things the society of the wise." around the right arm of noosheerwân was a clasp of gold, on which was engraved- "on a certain year, on the 10th day of the month erdebehisht, a caliph of the race of adean, professing the faith of mahomed, accompanied by four good men, and one bad, shall visit my tomb." below this sentence were the names of the forefathers of the caliph. another prophecy was added concerning hâroon's pilgrimage to noosheerwân's tomb. "this prince will honour me, and do good unto me, though i have no claim upon him; and he will clothe me in a new vest, and besprinkle my tomb with sweet-scented essences, and then depart unto his home. but the bad man who accompanies him shall act treacherously towards me. i pray that god may send one of my race to repay the great favours of the caliph, and to take vengeance on his unworthy companion. there is, under my throne, an inscription which the caliph must read and contemplate. its contents will remind him of me, and make him pardon my inability to give him more." the caliph, on hearing this, put his hand under the throne, and found the inscription, which consisted of some lines, inscribed on a ruby as large as the palm of the hand. the moobids read this also. it contained information where would be found concealed a treasure of gold and arms, with some caskets of rich jewels; under this was written- "these i give to the caliph in return for the good he has done me; let him take them and be happy." when hâroon-oor-rasheed was about to leave the tomb, hoosein-ben-sâhil, his vizier, said to him: "o lord of the faithful, what is the use of all these precious gems which ornament the abode of the dead, and are of no benefit to the living? allow me to take some of them." the caliph replied with indignation, "such a wish is more worthy of a thief than of a great or wise man." hoosein was ashamed of his speech, and said to the servant who had been placed at the entrance of the tomb, "go thou, and worship the holy shrine within." the man went into the tomb; he was above a hundred years old, but he had never seen such a blaze of wealth. he felt inclined to plunder some of it, but was at first afraid; at last, summoning all his courage, he took a ring from the finger of noosheerwân, and came away. hâroon saw this man come out, and observing him alarmed, he at once conjectured what he had been doing. addressing those around him, he said, "do not you now see the extent of the knowledge of noosheerwân? he prophesied that there should be one unworthy man with me. it is this fellow. what have you taken?" said he, in an angry tone. "nothing," said the man. "search him," said the caliph. it was done, and the ring of noosheerwân was found. this the caliph immediately took, and, entering the tomb, replaced it on the cold finger of the deceased monarch. when he returned, a terrible sound like that of loud thunder was heard. hâroon came down from the mountain on which the tomb stood, and ordered the road to be made inaccessible to future curiosity. he searched for, and found, in the place described, the gold, the arms, and the jewels bequeathed to him by noosheerwân, and sent them to bagdad. among the rich articles found was a golden crown, which had five sides, and was richly ornamented with precious stones. on every side a number of admirable lessons were written. the most remarkable were as follows:- _first side._ "give my regards to those who know themselves. "consider the end before you begin, and before you advance provide a retreat. "give not unnecessary pain to any man, but study the happiness of all. "ground not your dignity upon your power to hurt others." _second side._ "take counsel before you commence any measure, and never trust its execution to the inexperienced. "sacrifice your property for your life, and your life for your religion. "spend your time in establishing a good name; and if you desire fortune, learn contentment." _third side._ "grieve not for that which is broken, stolen, burnt, or lost. "never give orders in another man's house; and accustom yourself to eat your bread at your own table. "make not yourself the captive of women." _fourth side._ "take not a wife from a bad family, and seat not thyself with those who have no shame. "keep thyself at a distance from those who are incorrigible in bad habits, and hold no intercourse with that man who is insensible to kindness. "covet not the goods of others. "be guarded with monarchs, for they are like fire which blazeth but destroyeth. "be sensible to your own value; estimate justly the worth of others; and war not with those who are far above thee in fortune." _fifth side._ "fear kings, women, and poets. "be envious of no man, and habituate not thyself to search after the faults of others. "make it a habit to be happy, and avoid being out of temper, or thy life will pass in misery. "respect and protect the females of thy family. "be not the slave of anger; and in thy contests always leave open the door of conciliation. "never let your expenses exceed your income. "plant a young tree, or you cannot expect to cut down an old one. "stretch your legs no further than the size of your carpet." the caliph hâroon-oor-rasheed was more pleased with the admirable maxims inscribed on this crown than with all the treasures he had found. "write these precepts," he exclaimed, "in a book, that the faithful may eat of the fruit of wisdom." when he returned to bagdad, he related to his favourite vizier, jaffier bermekee, and his other chief officers, all that had passed; and the shade of noosheerwân was propitiated by the disgrace of hoosein-ben-sâhil (who had recommended despoiling his tomb), and the exemplary punishment of the servant who had committed the sacrilegious act of taking the ring from the finger of the departed monarch. ameen and the ghool. there is a dreadful place in persia called the "valley of the angel of death." that terrific minister of god's wrath, according to tradition, has resting-places upon the earth and his favourite abodes. he is surrounded by ghools, horrid beings who, when he takes away life, feast upon the carcasses. the natural shape of these monsters is terrible; but they can assume those of animals, such as cows or camels, or whatever they choose, often appearing to men as their relations or friends, and then they do not only transform their shapes, but their voices also are altered. the frightful screams and yells which are often heard amid these dreaded ravines are changed for the softest and most melodious notes. unwary travellers, deluded by the appearance of friends, or captivated by the forms and charmed by the music of these demons, are allured from their path, and after feasting for a few hours on every luxury, are consigned to destruction. the number of these ghools has greatly decreased since the birth of the prophet, and they have no power to hurt those who pronounce his name in sincerity of faith. these creatures are the very lowest of the supernatural world, and, besides being timid, are extremely stupid, and consequently often imposed upon by artful men. the natives of isfahan, though not brave, are the most crafty and acute people upon earth, and often supply the want of courage by their address. an inhabitant of that city was once compelled to travel alone at night through this dreadful valley. he was a man of ready wit, and fond of adventures, and, though no lion, had great confidence in his cunning, which had brought him through a hundred scrapes and perils that would have embarrassed or destroyed your simple man of valour. this man, whose name was ameen beg, had heard many stories of the ghools of the "valley of the angel of death," and thought it likely he might meet one. he prepared accordingly, by putting an egg and a lump of salt in his pocket. he had not gone far amidst the rocks, when he heard a voice crying, "holloa, ameen beg isfahânee! you are going the wrong road, you will lose yourself; come this way. i am your friend kerreem beg; i know your father, old kerbela beg, and the street in which you were born." ameen knew well the power the ghools had of assuming the shape of any person they choose; and he also knew their skill as genealogists, and their knowledge of towns as well as families; he had therefore little doubt this was one of those creatures alluring him to destruction. he, however, determined to encounter him, and trust to his art for his escape. "stop, my friend, till i come near you," was his reply. when ameen came close to the ghool, he said, "you are not my friend kerreem; you are a lying demon, but you are just the being i desired to meet. i have tried my strength against all the men and all the beasts which exist in the natural world, and i can find nothing that is a match for me. i came therefore to this valley in the hope of encountering a ghool, that i might prove my prowess upon him." the ghool, astonished at being addressed in this manner, looked keenly at him, and said, "son of adam, you do not appear so strong." "appearances are deceitful," replied ameen, "but i will give you a proof of my strength. there," said he, picking up a stone from a rivulet, "this contains a fluid; try if you can so squeeze it that it will flow out." the ghool took the stone, but, after a short attempt, returned it, saying, "the thing is impossible." "quite easy," said the isfahânee, taking the stone and placing it in the hand in which he had before put the egg. "look there!" and the astonished ghool, while he heard what he took for the breaking of the stone, saw the liquid run from between ameen's fingers, and this apparently without any effort. ameen, aided by the darkness, placed the stone upon the ground while he picked up another of a darker hue. "this," said he, "i can see contains salt, as you will find if you can crumble it between your fingers;" but the ghool, looking at it, confessed he had neither knowledge to discover its qualities nor strength to break it. "give it me," said his companion impatiently; and, having put it into the same hand with the piece of salt, he instantly gave the latter all crushed to the ghool, who, seeing it reduced to powder, tasted it, and remained in stupid astonishment at the skill and strength of this wonderful man. neither was he without alarm lest his strength should be exerted against himself, and he saw no safety in resorting to the shape of a beast, for ameen had warned him that if he commenced any such unfair dealing, he would instantly slay him; for ghools, though long-lived, are not immortal. under such circumstances he thought his best plan was to conciliate the friendship of his new companion till he found an opportunity of destroying him. "most wonderful man," he said, "will you honour my abode with your presence? it is quite at hand; there you will find every refreshment; and after a comfortable night's rest you can resume your journey." "i have no objection, friend ghool, to accept your offer; but, mark me, i am, in the first place, very passionate, and must not be provoked by any expressions which are in the least disrespectful; and, in the second, i am full of penetration, and can see through your designs as clearly as i saw into that hard stone in which i discovered salt. so take care you entertain none that are wicked, or you shall suffer." the ghool declared that the ear of his guest should be pained by no expression to which it did not befit his dignity to listen; and he swore by the head of his liege lord, the angel of death, that he would faithfully respect the rights of hospitality and friendship. thus satisfied, ameen followed the ghool through a number of crooked paths, rugged cliffs, and deep ravines, till they came to a large cave, which was dimly lighted. "here," said the ghool, "i dwell, and here my friend will find all he can want for refreshment and repose." so saying, he led him to various apartments, in which were hoarded every species of grain, and all kinds of merchandise, plundered from travellers who had been deluded to this den, and of whose fate ameen was too well informed by the bones over which he now and then stumbled, and by the putrid smell produced by some half-consumed carcasses. "this will be sufficient for your supper, i hope," said the ghool, taking up a large bag of rice; "a man of your prowess must have a tolerable appetite." "true," said ameen, "but i ate a sheep and as much rice as you have there before i proceeded on my journey. i am, consequently, not hungry, but will take a little lest i offend your hospitality." "i must boil it for you," said the demon; "you do not eat grain and meat raw, as we do. here is a kettle," said he, taking up one lying amongst the plundered property. "i will go and get wood for a fire, while you fetch water with that," pointing to a bag made of the hides of six oxen. ameen waited till he saw his host leave the cave for the wood, and then with great difficulty he dragged the enormous bag to the bank of a dark stream, which issued from the rocks at the other end of the cavern, and, after being visible for a few yards, disappeared underground. "how shall i," thought ameen, "prevent my weakness being discovered? this bag i could hardly manage when empty; when full, it would require twenty strong men to carry it; what shall i do? i shall certainly be eaten up by this cannibal ghool, who is now only kept in order by the impression of my great strength." after some minutes' reflection the isfahânee thought of a scheme, and began digging a small channel from the stream towards the place where his supper was preparing. "what are you doing?" vociferated the ghool, as he advanced towards him; "i sent you for water to boil a little rice, and you have been an hour about it. cannot you fill the bag and bring it away?" "certainly i can," said ameen; "if i were content, after all your kindness, to show my gratitude merely by feats of brute strength, i could lift your stream if you had a bag large enough to hold it. but here," said he, pointing to the channel he had begun,--"here is the commencement of a work in which the mind of a man is employed to lessen the labour of his body. this canal, small as it may appear, will carry a stream to the other end of the cave, in which i will construct a dam that you can open and shut at pleasure, and thereby save yourself infinite trouble in fetching water. but pray let me alone till it is finished," and he began to dig. "nonsense!" said the ghool, seizing the bag and filling it; "i will carry the water myself, and i advise you to leave off your canal, as you call it, and follow me, that you may eat your supper and go to sleep; you may finish this fine work, if you like it, to-morrow morning." ameen congratulated himself on this escape, and was not slow in taking the advice of his host. after having ate heartily of the supper that was prepared, he went to repose on a bed made of the richest coverlets and pillows, which were taken from one of the store-rooms of plundered goods. the ghool, whose bed was also in the cave, had no sooner laid down than he fell into a sound sleep. the anxiety of ameen's mind prevented him from following his example; he rose gently, and having stuffed a long pillow into the middle of his bed, to make it appear as if he was still there, he retired to a concealed place in the cavern to watch the proceedings of the ghool. the latter awoke a short time before daylight, and rising, went, without making any noise, towards ameen's bed, where, not observing the least stir, he was satisfied that his guest was in a deep sleep; so he took up one of his walking-sticks, which was in size like the trunk of a tree, and struck a terrible blow at what he supposed to be ameen's head. he smiled not to hear a groan, thinking he had deprived him of life; but to make sure of his work, he repeated the blow seven times. he then returned to rest, but had hardly settled himself to sleep, when ameen, who had crept into the bed, raised his head above the clothes and exclaimed, "friend ghool, what insect could it be that has disturbed me by its tapping? i counted the flap of its little wings seven times on the coverlet. these vermin are very annoying, for, though they cannot hurt a man, they disturb his rest!" the ghool's dismay on hearing ameen speak at all was great, but that was increased to perfect fright when he heard him describe seven blows, any one of which would have felled an elephant, as seven flaps of an insect's wing. there was no safety, he thought, near so wonderful a man, and he soon afterwards arose and fled from the cave, leaving the isfahânee its sole master. when ameen found his host gone, he was at no loss to conjecture the cause, and immediately began to survey the treasures with which he was surrounded, and to contrive means for removing them to his home. after examining the contents of the cave, and arming himself with a matchlock, which had belonged to some victim of the ghool, he proceeded to survey the road. he had, however, only gone a short distance when he saw the ghool returning with a large club in his hand, and accompanied by a fox. ameen's knowledge of the cunning animal instantly led him to suspect that it had undeceived his enemy, but his presence of mind did not forsake him. "take that," said he to the fox, aiming a ball at him from his matchlock, and shooting him through the head,--"take that for your not performing my orders. that brute," said he, "promised to bring me seven ghools, that i might chain them, and carry them to isfahan, and here he has only brought you, who are already my slave." so saying, he advanced towards the ghool; but the latter had already taken to flight, and by the aid of his club bounded so rapidly over rocks and precipices that he was soon out of sight. ameen having well marked the path from the cavern to the road, went to the nearest town and hired camels and mules to remove the property he had acquired. after making restitution to all who remained alive to prove their goods, he became, from what was unclaimed, a man of wealth, all of which was owing to that wit and art which ever overcome brute strength and courage. the relations of ssidi kur. glorified nangasuna garbi! thou art radiant within and without; the holy vessel of sublimity, the fathomer of concealed thoughts, the second of instructors, i bow before thee. what wonderful adventures fell to the lot of nangasuna, and to the peaceful wandering chan, and how instructive and learned the ssidi will be found, all this is developed in thirteen pleasing narratives. and i will first relate the origin of these tales:-in the central kingdom of india there once lived seven brothers, who were magicians; and one berren (a measure of distance) further dwelt two brothers, who were sons of a chan. now the eldest of these sons of the chan betook himself to the magicians, that he might learn their art; but although he studied under them for seven years, yet the magicians taught him not the true key to magic. and once upon a time it happened that the youngest brother, going to bring food to the elder, peeped through the opening of the door, and obtained the key to magic. thereupon, without delivering to the elder the food which he had brought for him, he returned home to the palace. then said the younger son of the chan to his brother, "that we have learned magic, let us keep to ourselves. we have in the stable a beautiful horse; take this horse, and ride not with him near the dwelling-place of the magicians, but sell the horse in their country, and bring back merchandise." and when he had said thus, he changed himself into a horse. but the elder son of the chan heeded not the words of his brother, but said unto himself: "full seven years have i studied magic, and as yet have learned nothing. where, then, has my young brother found so beautiful a horse? and how can i refuse to ride thereon?" with these words he mounted, but the horse being impelled by the power of magic was not to be restrained, galloped away to the dwelling-place of the magicians, and could not be got from the door. "well, then, i will sell the horse to the magicians." thus thinking to himself, the elder called out to the magicians, "saw ye ever a horse like unto this? my younger brother it was who found him." at these words the magicians communed with one another. "this is a magic horse; if magic grow at all common, there will be no wonderful art remaining. let us, therefore, take this horse and slay him." the magicians paid the price demanded for the horse, and tied him in a stall; and that he might not escape out of their hands, they fastened him, ready for slaughter, by the head, by the tail, and by the feet. "ah!" thought the horse to himself, "my elder brother hearkened not unto me, and therefore am i fallen into such hands. what form shall i assume?" while the horse was thus considering, he saw a fish swim by him in the water, and immediately he changed himself into a fish. but the seven magicians became seven herons, and pursued the fish, and were on the point of catching it, when it looked up and beheld a dove in the sky, and thereupon transformed itself into a dove. the seven magicians now became seven hawks, and followed the dove over mountains and rivers, and would certainly have seized upon it, but the dove, flying eastwards to the peaceful cave in the rock gulumtschi, concealed itself in the bosom of nangasuna baktschi (the instructor). then the seven hawks became seven beggars, and drew nigh unto the rock gulumtschi. "what may this import?" bethought the baktschi to himself, "that this dove has fled hither pursued by seven hawks?" thus thinking, the baktschi said, "wherefore, o dove, fliest thou hither in such alarm?" then the dove related to him the cause of its flight, and spake afterwards as follows:--"at the entrance to the rock gulumtschi stand seven beggars, and they will come to the baktschi and say, 'we pray thee give us the rosary of the baktschi?' then will i transform myself into the bumba of the rosary; let the baktschi then vouchsafe to take this bumba into his mouth and to cast the rosary from him." hereupon the seven beggars drew nigh, and the baktschi took the first bead into his mouth and the rest he cast from him. the beads which were cast away then became worms, and the seven beggars became fowls and ate up the worms. then the baktschi let the first bead fall from his mouth, and thereupon the first bead was transformed into a man with a sword in his hand. when the seven fowls were slain and become human corses, the baktschi was troubled in his soul, and said these words, "through my having preserved one single man have seven been slain. of a verity this is not good." to these words the other replied, "i am the son of a chan. since, therefore, through the preservation of my life, several others have lost their lives, i will, to cleanse me from my sins, and also to reward the baktschi, execute whatsoever he shall command me." the baktschi replied thereto, "now, then, in the cold forest of death there abides ssidi kur; the upper part of his body is decked with gold, the lower is of brass, his head is covered with silver. seize him and hold him fast. whosoever finds this wonderful ssidi kur, him will i make for a thousand years a man upon the earth." thus spake he, and the youth thereupon began these words: "the way which i must take, the food which i require, the means which i must employ, all these vouchsafe to make known unto me." to this the baktschi replied, "it shall be as thou demandest. at the distance of a berren (a measure of distance) from this place you will come to a gloomy forest, through which you will find there runs only one narrow path. the place is full of spirits. when thou reachest the spirits, they will throng around you; then cry ye with a loud voice, 'spirits, chu lu chu lu ssochi!' and when thou hast spoken these words, they will all be scattered like grain. when thou hast proceeded a little further, you will encounter a crowd of other spirits; then cry ye, 'spirits, chu lu chu lu ssosi!' and a little further on you will behold a crowd of child-spirits: say unto these, 'child-spirits, ri ra pa dra!' in the middle of this wood sits ssidi kur, beside an amiri-tree. when he beholds you, he will climb up it, but you must take the moon-axe, with furious gestures draw nigh unto the tree, and bid ssidi kur descend. to bring him away you will require this sack, which would hold a hundred men. to bind him fast this hundred fathoms of checkered rope will serve you. this inexhaustible cake will furnish thee with provender for thy journey. when thou hast got thy load upon thy back, wander then on without speaking, until thou art returned home again. thy name is son of the chan; and since thou hast reached the peaceful rock gulumtschi, thou shalt be called the peaceful wandering son of the chan." thus spake the baktschi, and showed him the way of expiation. when ssidi kur beheld his pursuer, he speedily climbed up the amiri-tree, but the son of the chan drew nigh unto the foot of the tree, and spake with threatening words: "my baktschi is nangasuna garbi; mine axe is called the white moon; an inexhaustible cake is my provender. this sack, capable of holding a hundred men, will serve to carry thee away, this hundred fathoms of rope will serve to bind thee fast; i myself am the peaceful wandering son of the chan. descend, or i will hew down the tree." then spake ssidi kur, "do not hew down the tree; i will descend from it." and when he had descended, the son of the chan thrust him into the sack, tied the sack fast with the rope, ate of the butter-cake, and wandered forth many days with his burden. at length ssidi kur said to the son of the chan, "since our long journey is wearisome unto us, i will tell a story unto you, or do you relate one unto me." the son of the chan kept on his way, however, without speaking a word, and ssidi began afresh, "if thou wilt tell a story, nod your head to me; if i shall relate one, then do you shake your head." but because the son of the chan shook his head from side to side, without uttering a word, ssidi began the following tale:-the adventures of the rich youth. "in former times there lived, in a great kingdom, a rich youth, a calculator, a mechanic, a painter, a physician, and a smith, and they all departed from their parents and went forth into a foreign land. when they at length arrived at the mouth of a great river, they planted, every one of them, a tree of life; and each of them, following one of the sources of the river, set forth to seek their fortunes. 'here,' said they to one another,--'here will we meet again. should, however, any one of us be missing, and his tree of life be withered, we will search for him in the place whither he went to.' "thus they agreed, and separated one from another. and the rich youth found at the source of the stream, which he had followed, a pleasure-garden with a house, in the entrance to which were seated an old man and an old woman. 'good youth,' exclaimed they both, 'whence comest thou--whither goest thou?' the youth replied, 'i come from a distant country, and am going to seek my fortune.' and the old couple said unto him, 'it is well thou hast come hither. we have a daughter, slender of shape and pleasant of behaviour. take her, and be a son unto us!' "and when they had so spoken, the daughter made her appearance. and when the youth beheld her, he thought unto himself, 'it is well i left my father and my mother. this maiden is more beauteous than a daughter of the tângâri (god-like spirits of the male and female sex). i will take the maiden and dwell here.' and the maiden said, 'youth, it is well that thou earnest here.' thereupon they conversed together, went together into the house, and lived peacefully and happily. "now, over the same country there reigned a mighty chan. and once in the spring-time, when his servants went forth together to bathe, they found, near the mouth of the river, in the water, a pair of costly earrings, which belonged to the wife of the rich youth. because, therefore, these jewels were so wondrously beautiful, they carried them to the chan, who, being greatly surprised thereat, said unto his servants, 'dwells there at the source of the river a woman such as these belong to? go, and bring her unto me.' "the servants went accordingly, beheld the woman, and were amazed at the sight. 'this woman,' said they to one another, 'one would never tire of beholding.' but to the woman they said, 'arise! and draw nigh with us unto the chan.' "hereupon the rich youth conducted his wife to the presence of the chan; but the chan, when he beheld her, exclaimed, 'this maiden is a tângâri, compared with her, my wives are but ugly.' "thus spake he, and he was so smitten with love of her, that he would not let her depart from his house. but as she remained true and faithful to the rich youth, the chan said unto his servants, 'remove this rich youth instantly out of my sight.' "at these commands the servants went forth, taking with them the rich youth, whom they led to the water, where they laid him in a pit by the side of the stream, covered him with a huge fragment of the rock, and thus slew him. "at length it happened that the other wanderers returned from all sides, each to his tree of life; and when the rich youth was missed, and they saw that his tree of life was withered, they sought him up the source of the river which he had followed, but found him not. hereupon the reckoner discovered, by his calculations, that the rich youth was lying dead under a piece of the rock; but as they could by no means remove the stone, the smith took his hammer, smote the stone, and drew out the body. then the physician mixed a life-inspiring draught, gave the same to the dead youth, and so restored him to life. "they now demanded of him whom they had recalled to life, 'in what manner wert thou slain?' he accordingly related unto them the circumstances; and they communed one with another, saying, 'let us snatch this extraordinary beautiful woman from the chan!' thereupon the mechanic constructed a wooden gerudin, or wonderful bird, which, when moved upwards from within, ascended into the air; when moved downwards, descended into the earth; when moved sideways, flew sideways accordingly. when this was done, they painted it with different colours, so that it was pleasant to behold. "then the rich youth seated himself within the wooden bird, flew through the air, and hovered over the roof of the royal mansion; and the chan and his servants were astonished at the form of the bird, and said, 'a bird like unto this we never before saw or heard of.' and to his wife the chan said, 'go ye to the roof of the palace, and offer food of different kinds unto this strange bird.' when she went up to offer food, the bird descended, and the rich youth opened the door which was in the bird. then said the wife of the chan, full of joy, 'i had never hoped or thought to have seen thee again, yet now have i found thee once more. this has been accomplished by this wonderful bird.' after the youth had related to her all that had happened, he said unto her, 'thou art now the wife of the chan--but if your heart now yearns unto me, step thou into this wooden gerudin, and we will fly hence through the air, and for the future know care no more.' "after these words the wife said, 'to the first husband to whom destiny united me am i inclined more than ever.' having thus spoken they entered into the wooden gerudin, and ascended into the sky. the chan beheld this, and said, 'because i sent thee up that thou mightest feed this beautiful bird, thou hast betaken thyself to the skies.' thus spake he full of anger, and threw himself weeping on the ground. "the rich youth now turned the peg in the bird downwards, and descended upon the earth close to his companions. and when he stepped forth out of the bird, his companions asked him, 'hast thou thoroughly accomplished all that thou didst desire?' thereupon his wife also stepped forth, and all who beheld her became in love with her. 'you, my companions,' said the rich youth, 'have brought help unto me; you have awakened me from death; you have afforded me the means of once more finding my wife. do not, i beseech you, rob me of my charmer once again.' "thus spake he; and the calculator began with these words:--'had i not discovered by my calculation where thou wert lying, thou wouldst never have recovered thy wife.' "'in vain,' said the smith, 'would the calculations have been, had i not drawn thee out of the rock. by means of the shattered rock it was that you obtained your wife. then your wife belongs to me.' "'a body,' said the physician, 'was drawn from out of the shattered rock. that this body was restored to life, and recovered his former wife, it was my skill accomplished it. i, therefore, should take the wife.' "'but for the wooden bird,' said the mechanic, 'no one would ever have reached the wife. a numerous host attend upon the chan; no one can approach the house wherein he resides. through my wooden bird alone was the wife recovered. let me, then, take her.' "'the wife,' said the painter, 'never would have carried food to a wooden bird; therefore it was only through my skill in painting that she was recovered; i, therefore, claim her.' "and when they had thus spoken, they drew their knives and slew one another." "alas! poor woman!" exclaimed the son of the chan; and ssidi said, "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words:--ssarwala missbrod jakzang!" thus spake he, and burst from the sack through the air. thus ssidi's first tale treated of the adventures of the rich youth. the adventures of the beggar's son. when the son of the chan arrived as before at the cold forest of death, he exclaimed with threatening gestures at the foot of the amiri-tree, "thou dead one, descend, or i will hew down the tree." ssidi descended. the son of chan placed him in the sack, bound the sack fast with the rope, ate of his provender, and journeyed forth with his burden. then spake the dead one these words, "since we have a long journey before us, do you relate a pleasant story by the way, or i will do so." but the son of the chan merely shook his head without speaking a word. whereupon ssidi commenced the following tale:-"a long time ago there was a mighty chan who was ruler over a country full of market-places. at the source of the river which ran through it there was an immense marsh, and in this marsh there dwelt two crocodile-frogs, who would not allow the water to run out of the marsh. and because there came no water over their fields, every year did both the good and the bad have cause to mourn, until such times as a man had been given to the frogs for the pests to devour. and at length the lot fell upon the chan himself to be an offering to them, and needful as he was to the welfare of the kingdom, denial availed him not; therefore father and son communed sorrowfully together, saying, 'which of us two shall go?' "'i am an old man,' said the father, 'and shall leave no one to lament me. i will go, therefore. do you remain here, my son, and reign according as it is appointed.' "'o tângâri,' exclaimed the son, 'verily this is not as it should be! thou hast brought me up with care, o my father! if the chan and the wife of the chan remain, what need is there of their son? i then will go, and be as a feast for the frogs.' "thus spake he, and the people walked sorrowfully round about him, and then betook themselves back again. now the son of the chan had for his companion the son of a poor man, and he went to him and said, 'walk ye according to the will of your parents, and remain at home in peace and safety. i am going, for the good of the kingdom, to serve as a sacrifice to the frogs.' at these words the son of the poor man said, weeping and lamenting, 'from my youth up, o chan, thou hast carefully fostered me. i will go with thee, and share thy fate.' "then they both arose and went unto the frogs; and on the verge of the marsh they heard the yellow frog and the blue frog conversing with one another. and the frogs said, 'if the son of the chan and his companion did but know that if they only smote off our heads with the sword, and the son of the chan consumed me, the yellow frog, and the son of the poor man consumed thee, the blue frog, they would both cast out from their mouths gold and brass, then would the country be no longer compelled to find food for frogs.' "now, because the son of the chan understood all sorts of languages, he comprehended the discourse of the frogs, and he and his companion smote the heads of the frogs with their swords; and when they had devoured the frogs, they threw out from their mouths gold and brass at their heart's pleasure. then said the wanderers, 'the frogs are both slain--the course of the waters will be hemmed in no more. let us then turn back unto our own country.' but the son of the chan agreed not to this, and said, 'let us not turn back into our own country, lest they say they are become spirits; therefore it is better that we journey further.' "as they thereupon were walking over a mountain, they came to a tavern, in which dwelt two women, beautiful to behold--mother and daughter. then said they, 'we would buy strong liquor that we might drink.' the women replied, 'what have ye to give in exchange for strong liquor?' thereupon each of them threw forth gold and brass, and the women found pleasure therein, admitted them into their dwelling, gave them liquor in abundance, until they became stupid and slept, took from them what they had, and then turned them out of doors. "now when they awoke the son of the chan and his companion travelled along a river and arrived in a wood, where they found some children quarrelling one with another. 'wherefore,' inquired they, 'do you thus dispute?' "'we have,' said the children, 'found a cap in this wood, and every one desires to possess it.' "'of what use is the cap?' "'the cap has this wonderful property, that whosoever places it on his head can be seen neither by the tângâri, nor by men, nor by the tschadkurrs' (evil spirits). "'now go all of ye to the end of the forest and run hither, and i will in the meanwhile keep the cap, and give it to the first of you who reaches me.' "thus spoke the son of the chan; and the children ran, but they found not the cap, for it was upon the head of the chan. 'even now it was here,' said they, 'and now it is gone.' and after they had sought for it, but without finding it, they went away weeping. "and the son of the chan and his companion travelled onwards, and at last they came to a forest in which they found a body of tschadkurrs quarrelling one with another, and they said, 'wherefore do ye thus quarrel one with another?' "'i,' exclaimed each of them, 'have made myself master of these boots.' "'of what use are these boots?' inquired the son of the chan. "'he who wears these boots,' replied the tschadkurrs, 'is conveyed to any country wherein he wishes himself.' "'now,' answered the son of the chan, 'go all of you that way, and he who first runs hither shall obtain the boots.' "and the tschadkurrs, when they heard these words, ran as they were told; but the son of the chan had concealed the boots in the bosom of his companion, who had the cap upon his head. and the tschadkurrs saw the boots no more; they sought them in vain, and went their way. "and when they were gone, the prince and his companion drew on each of them one of the boots, and they wished themselves near the place of election in a chan's kingdom. they wished their journey, laid themselves down to sleep, and on their awaking in the morning they found themselves in the hollow of a tree, right in the centre of the imperial place of election. it was, moreover, a day for the assembling of the people, to throw a baling (a sacred figure of dough or paste) under the guidance of the tângâri. 'upon whose head even the baling falls, he shall be our chan.' thus spake they as they threw it up; but the tree caught the baling of destiny. 'what means this?' exclaimed they all with one accord. 'shall we have a tree for our chan?' "'let us examine,' cried they one to another, 'whether the tree concealeth any stranger.' and when they approached the tree the son of the chan and his companion stepped forth. but the people stood yet in doubt, and said one to another thus, 'whosoever ruleth over the people of this land, this shall be decided to-morrow morning by what proceedeth from their mouths.' and when they had thus spoken, they all took their departure. "on the following morning some drank water, and what they threw from their mouths was white; others ate grass, and what they threw from their mouths was green. in short, one threw one thing, and another another thing. but because the son of the chan and his companion cast out from their mouths gold and brass, the people cried, 'let the one be chan of this people--let the other be his minister.' thus were they nominated chan and minister! and the daughter of the former chan was appointed the wife of the new chan. "now in the neighbourhood of the palace wherein the chan dwelt was a lofty building, whither the wife of the chan betook herself every day. 'wherefore,' thought the minister, 'does the wife of the chan betake herself to this spot every day?' thus thinking, he placed the wonderful cap upon his head, and followed the chan's wife through the open doors, up one step after another, up to the roof. here the wife of the chan gathered together silken coverlets and pillows, made ready various drinks and delicate meats, and burnt for their perfume tapers and frankincense. the minister being concealed by his cap, which made him invisible, seated himself by the side of the chan's wife, and looked around on every side. "shortly afterwards a beautiful bird swept through the sky. the wife of the chan received it with fragrance-giving tapers. the bird seated itself upon the roof and twittered with a pleasing voice; but out of the bird came solangdu, the son of the tângâri, whose beauty was incomparable, and he laid himself on the silken coverlets and fed of the dainties prepared for him. then spake the son of the tângâri, 'thou hast passed this morning with the husband whom thy fate has allotted to thee. what thinkest thou of him?' the wife of the chan answered, 'i know too little of the prince to speak of his good qualities or his defects.' thus passed the day, and the wife of the chan returned home again. "on the following day the minister followed the wife of the chan as he had done before, and heard the son of the tângâri say unto her, 'to-morrow i will come like a bird of paradise to see thine husband.' and the wife of the chan said, 'be it so.' "the day passed over, and the minister said to the chan, 'in yonder palace lives solangdu, the beauteous son of the tângâri.' the minister then related all that he had witnessed, and said, 'to-morrow early the son of the tângâri will seek thee, disguised like a bird of paradise. i will seize the bird by the tail, and cast him into the fire; but you must smite him in pieces with the sword.' "on the following morning, the chan and the wife of the chan were seated together, when the son of the tângâri, transformed into a bird of paradise, appeared before them on the steps that led to the palace. the wife of the chan greeted the bird with looks expressive of pleasure, but the minister, who had on his invisible-making cap, seized the bird suddenly by the tail, and cast him into the fire. and the chan smote at him violently with his sword; but the wife of the chan seized the hand of her husband, so that only the wings of the bird were scorched. 'alas, poor bird!' exclaimed the wife of the chan, as, half dead, it made its way, as well as it could, through the air. "on the next morning the wife of the chan went as usual to the lofty building, and this time, too, did the minister follow her. she collected together, as usual, the silken pillows, but waited longer than she was wont, and sat watching with staring eyes. at length the bird approached with a very slow flight, and came down from the birdhouse covered with blood and wounds, and the wife of the chan wept at the sight. 'weep not,' said the son of the tângâri; 'thine husband has a heavy hand. the fire has so scorched me that i can never come more.' "thus spoke he, and the wife of the chan replied, 'do not say so, but come as you are wont to do, at least come on the day of the full moon.' then the son of the tângâri flew up to the sky again, and the wife of the chan began from that time to love her husband with her whole heart. "then the minister placed his wonderful cap upon his head, and, drawing near to a pagoda, he saw, through the crevice of the door, a man, who spread out a figure of an ass, rolled himself over and over upon the figure, thereupon took upon himself the form of an ass, and ran up and down braying like one. then he began rolling afresh, and appeared in his human form. at last he folded up the paper, and placed it in the hand of a burchan (a calmuc idol). and when the man came out the minister went in, procured the paper, and remembering the ill-treatment which he had formerly received, he went to the mother and daughter who had sold him the strong liquor, and said, with crafty words, 'i am come to you to reward you for your good deeds.' with these words he gave the women three pieces of gold; and the women asked him, saying, 'thou art, indeed, an honest man, but where did you procure so much gold?' then the minister answered, 'by merely rolling backwards and forwards over this paper did i procure this gold.' on hearing these words, the women said, 'grant us that we too may roll upon it.' and they did so, and were changed into asses. and the minister brought the asses to the chan, and the chan said, 'let them be employed in carrying stones and earth.' "thus spake he, and for three years were these two asses compelled to carry stones and earth; and their backs were sore wounded, and covered with bruises. then saw the chan their eyes filled with tears, and he said to the minister, 'torment the poor brutes no longer.' "thereupon they rolled upon the paper, and after they had done so they were changed to two shrivelled women." "poor creatures!" exclaimed the son of the chan. ssidi replied, "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words: ssarwala missdood jakzank!" thus spoke he, and flew out of the sack through the air. and ssidi's second relation treats of the adventures of the poor man's son. the adventures of massang. when the son of the chan arrived at the foot of the amiri-tree, and spoke as he had formerly done, ssidi approached him, suffered himself to be placed in the sack, fastened with the rope, and carried away. ssidi spoke as before, but the son of the chan shook his head, whereupon ssidi began as follows:-"a long time ago there lived in a certain country a poor man, who had nothing in the world but one cow; and because there was no chance of the cow's calving, he was sore grieved, and said, 'if my cow does not have a calf, i shall have no more milk, and i must then die of hunger and thirst.' "but when a certain number of moons had passed, instead of the calf the poor man had looked for he found a man with horns, and with a long tail like a cow. and at the sight of this monster the owner of the beast was filled with vexation, and he lifted up his staff to kill him; but the horned man said, 'kill me not, father, and your mercy shall be rewarded.' "and with these words he retreated into the depth of a forest, and there he found among the trees a man of sable hue. 'who art thou?' inquired massang the horned. 'i was born of the forest,' was the reply, 'and am called iddar. i will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.' "and they journeyed forth together, and at last they reached a thickly-covered grassy plain, and there they beheld a green man. 'who art thou?' inquired they. 'i was born of the grass,' replied the green man, 'and will bear thee company.' "thereupon they all three journeyed forth together, until they came to a sedgy marsh, and there they found a white man. 'who art thou?' inquired they. 'i was born of the sedges,' replied the white man, 'and will bear thee company.' "thereupon they all four journeyed forth together, until they reached a desert country, where, in the very depths of the mountain, they found a hut; and because they found plenty both to eat and to drink in the hut, they abode there. every day three of them went out hunting, and left the fourth in charge of the hut. on the first day, iddar, the son of the forest, remained in the hut, and was busied preparing milk, and cooking meat for his companions, when a little old woman put up the ladder and came in at the door. 'who's there?' exclaimed iddar, and, upon looking round, he beheld an old woman about a span high, who carried on her back a little sack. 'oh, what, there is somebody sitting there?' said the old woman, 'and you are cooking meat; let me, i beseech you, taste a little milk and a little meat.' "and though she merely tasted a little of each, the whole of the food disappeared. when the old woman thereupon took her departure, the son of the forest was ashamed that the food had disappeared, and he arose and looked out of the hut. and as he chanced to perceive two hoofs of a horse, he made with them a number of horse's footmarks around the dwelling, and shot an arrow into the court; and when the hunters returned home and inquired of him, 'where is the milk and the fatted meat?' he answered them, saying, 'there came a hundred horsemen, who pressed their way into the house, and took the milk and the flesh, and they have beaten me almost to death. go ye out, and look around.' and his companions went out when they heard these words, looked around, saw the prints of the horses' feet and the arrow which he himself had shot, and said, 'the words which he spoke are true.' "on the following day the son of the grass remained at home in the hut, and it befell him as it had befallen his companion on the previous day. but because he perceived the feet of two bullocks, he made with them the marks of the feet of many bullocks around the dwelling, and said to his companions, 'there came a hundred people with laden bullocks, and robbed me of the food i had prepared for you.' "thus spake he falsely. on the third day the son of the sedges remained at home in the hut, and because he met with no better fortune, he made, with a couple of the feet of a mule, a number of prints of mules' feet around the dwelling, and said to his companions, 'a hundred men with laden mules surrounded the house, and robbed me of the food i had prepared for you.' "thus spake he falsely. on the following day massang remained at home in the hut, and as he was sitting preparing milk and flesh for his companions, the little old woman stepped in as before and said, 'oh, so there is somebody here this time? let me, i pray you, taste a little of the milk and a little of the meat.' at these words massang considered, 'of a certainty this old woman has been here before. if i do what she requires of me, how do i know that there will be any left?' and having thus considered, he said to the old woman, 'old woman, before thou tastest food, fetch me some water.' thus spoke he, giving her a bucket, of which the bottom was drilled full of holes, to fetch water in. when the old woman was gone, massang looked after her, and found that the span-high old woman, reaching now up to the skies, drew the bucket full of water again and again, but that none of the water remained in it. while she was thus occupied, massang peeped into the little sack which she carried on her shoulders, and took out of it a coil of rope, an iron hammer, and a pair of iron pincers, and put in their place some very rotten cords, a wooden hammer, and wooden pincers. "he had scarcely done so before the old woman returned, saying, 'i cannot draw water in your bucket. if you will not give me a little of your food to taste, let us try our strength against each other.' then the old woman drew forth the coil of rotten cords, and bound massang with them, but massang put forth his strength and burst the cords asunder. but when massang had bound the old woman with her own coil, and deprived her of all power of motion, she said unto him, 'herein thou hast gotten the victory; now let us pinch each other with the pincers.' "whereupon massang nipped hold of a piece of the old woman's flesh as big as one's head, and tore it forcibly from her. 'indeed, youth,' cried the old woman, sighing, 'but thou hast gotten a hand of stone; now let us hammer away at each other!' "so saying, she smote massang with the wooden hammer on his breast, but the hammer flew from the handle, and massang was left without a wound. then drew massang the iron hammer out of the fire, and smote the old woman with it in such wise that she fled from the hut crying and wounded. "shortly after this, the three companions returned home, and said to massang, 'now, massang, thou hast surely had something to suffer?' but massang replied, 'ye are all cowardly fellows, and have uttered lies; i have paid off the old woman. arise, and let us follow her!' "at these words they arose, followed her by the traces of her blood, and at length reached a gloomy pit in a rock. at the bottom of this pit there were ten double circular pillars, and on the ground lay the corpse of the old woman, among gold, brass, and armour, and other costly things. 'will you three descend,' said massang, 'and then pack together the costly things, and i will draw them up, or i will pack them, and you shall draw them out.' but the three companions said, 'we will not go down into the cavern, for of a verity the old woman is a schumnu' (a witch). but massang, without being dispirited, allowed himself to be let down into the cavern, and collected the valuables, which were then drawn forth by his companions. then his companions spoke with one another, saying, 'if we draw forth massang, he will surely take all these treasures to himself. it were better, then, that we should carry away these treasures, and leave massang behind in the cavern!' "when massang noticed that his three companions treated him thus ungratefully, he looked about the cavern in search of food, but between the pillars he found nothing but some pieces of bark. thereupon massang planted the bark in the earth, nourished it as best he might, and said, 'if i am a true massang, then from this bark let there grow forth three great trees. if i am not, then shall i die here in this pit.' "after these enchanting words, he laid himself down, but from his having come in contact with the corse of the old woman, he slept for many years. when he awoke, he found three great trees which reached to the mouth of the pit. joyfully clambered he up and betook himself to the hut, which was in the neighbourhood. but, because there was no longer any one to be found therein, he took his iron bow and his arrows, and set forth in search of his companions. these had built themselves houses and taken wives. 'where are your husbands?' inquired massang of their wives. 'our husbands are gone to the chase,' replied they. then massang took arrow and bow, and set forth. his companions were returning from the chase with venison, and when they beheld massang with arrow and bow, they cried, as with one accord, 'thou art the well-skilled one! take thou our wives and property, we will now wander forth further!' at these words massang said, 'your behaviour was certainly not what it should have been; but i am going to reward my father--live on, therefore, as before.' "by the way massang discovered a brook, and out of the brook arose a beautiful maiden. the maiden went her way, and flowers arose out of her footsteps. massang followed the maiden until he arrived in heaven, and when he was come there, churmusta tângâri (the protector of the earth) said unto him, 'it is well that thou art come hither, massang. we have daily to fight with the host of schumnu (witches). to-morrow look around; after to-morrow be companion unto us.' "on the following day, when the white host were sore pressed by the black, churmusta spake unto massang: 'the white host are the host of the tângâri, the black are the host of the schumnu. to-day the tângâri will be pressed by the schumnu; draw, therefore, thy bow, and send an arrow into the eye of the leader of the black host.' then massang aimed at the eye of the leader of the black host, and smote him, so that he fled with a mighty cry. then spake churmusta to massang, 'thy deed is deserving of reward; henceforward dwell with us for ever.' but massang replied, 'i go to reward my father.' "hereupon churmusta presented to massang, dschindamani, the wonder-stone of the gods, and said unto him, 'by a narrow circuitous path you will reach the cave of the schumnu. go without fear or trembling therein. knock at the door and say, "i am the human physician." they will then lead thee to the schumnu chan, that you may draw out the arrow from his eyes; then lay hands upon the arrow, scatter seven sorts of grain towards heaven, and drive the arrow yet deeper into his head.' "thus spake churmusta authoritatively, and massang obeyed his commands; reached, without erring, the cavern of the schumnu, and knocked at the door. 'what hast thou learned?' inquired the woman. 'i am a physician,' answered massang; and he was conducted into the building. he examined the wound of the chan, and laid hands upon the arrow. 'already,' said the chan, 'my wound feels better.' but massang suddenly drove the arrow further into the head, scattered the seven grains towards heaven, and a chain fell clattering from heaven down to earth. "but while massang was preparing to lay hands upon the chain, the schumnu woman smote him with an iron hammer with such force, that from the blow there sprang forth seven stars." "then," said the son of the chan, "he was not able to reward his father." "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words! ssarwala missdood jonkzang." thus spake ssidi, and burst from the sack through the air. thus ssidi's third relation treats of the adventures of massang. the magician with the swine's head. when the son of the chan had, as before, seized upon ssidi, and was carrying him away, ssidi spoke as formerly, but the son of the chan shook his head, without uttering a word, and ssidi began the following relation:-"a long while since there lived in a happy country a man and a woman. the man had many bad qualities, and cared for nothing but eating, drinking, and sleeping. at last his wife said unto him, 'by thy mode of life thou hast wasted all thine inheritance. arise thee, then, from thy bed, and while i am in the fields, go you out and look about you!' "as he, therefore, according to these words, was looking about him, he saw a multitude of people pass behind the pagoda with their herds; and birds, foxes, and dogs crowding and noising together around a particular spot. thither he went, and there found a bladder of butter; so he took it home and placed it upon the shelf. when his wife returned and saw the bladder of butter upon the shelf, she asked, 'where found you this bladder of butter?' to this he replied, 'i did according to your word, and found this.' then said the woman 'thou went out but for an instant, and hast already found thus much.' "then the man determined to display his abilities, and said, 'procure me then a horse, some clothes, and a bloodhound.' the wife provided them accordingly; and the man taking with him, besides these, his bow, cap, and mantle, seated himself on horseback, led the hound in a leash, and rode forth at random. after he had crossed over several rivers he espied a fox. 'ah,' thought he, 'that would serve my wife for a cap.' "so saying, he pursued the fox, and when it fled into a hamster's hole, the man got off his horse, placed his bow, arrows, and clothes upon the saddle, fastened the bloodhound to the bridle, and covered the mouth of the hole with his cap. the next thing he did was to take a large stone, and hammer over the hole with it; this frightened the fox, which ran out and fled with the cap upon its head. the hound followed the fox, and drew the horse along with it, so that they both vanished in an instant, and the man was left without any clothes. "after he had turned back a long way, he reached the country of a mighty chan, entered the chan's stable, and concealed himself in a stack of hay, so that merely his eyes were left uncovered. not long afterwards, the beloved of the chan was walking out, and wishing to look at a favourite horse, she approached close to the hayrick, placed the talisman of life of the chan's kingdom upon the ground, left it there, and returned back to the palace without recollecting it. the man saw the wonderful stone, but was too lazy to pick it up. at sunset the cows came by, and the stone was beaten into the ground. some time afterwards a servant came and cleansed the place, and the wonderful stone was cast aside upon a heap. "on the following day the people were informed, by the beating of the kettledrums, that the beloved of the chan had lost the wonderful stone. at the same time, all the magicians and soothsayers and interpreters of signs were summoned, and questioned upon the subject. on hearing this, the man in the hayrick crept out as far as his breast, and when the people thronged around him and asked, 'what hast thou learned?' he replied, 'i am a magician.' on hearing these words they exclaimed, 'because the wondrous stone of the chan is missing, all the magicians in the country are summoned to appear before him. do you then draw nigh unto the chan.' the man said, 'i have no clothes.' hereupon the whole crowd hastened to the chan, and announced unto him thus: 'in the hayrick there lieth a magician who has no clothes. this magician would draw nigh unto you, but he has nought to appear in.' the chan said, 'send unto him this robe of cloth, and let him approach.' it was done. "the man was fetched, and after he had bowed down to the chan, he was asked what he needed for the performance of his magic charms. to this question he replied, 'for the performance of my magic charms, it is needful that i should have the head of a swine, some cloths of five colours, and some baling' (a sacred figure of dough or paste). when all these things were prepared, the magician deposited the swine's head at the foot of a tree, dressed it with the cloths of five colours, fastened on the large baling, and passed the whole of three nights in meditation. on the day appointed, all the people assembled, and the magician having put on a great durga (cloak), placed himself, with the swine's head in his hand, in the street. when they were all assembled together, the magician, showing the swine's head, said, 'here not and there not.' all were gladdened at hearing these words. 'because, therefore,' said the magician, 'the wonderful stone is not to be found among the people, we must seek for it elsewhere.' "with these words the magician, still holding the swine's head in his hand, drew nigh unto the palace, and the chan and his attendants followed him, singing songs of rejoicing. when, at last, the magician arrived at the heap, he stood suddenly still, and exclaimed, 'there lies the wonderful stone.' then, first removing some of the earth, he drew forth the stone, and cleansed it. 'thou art a mighty magician,' joyfully exclaimed all who beheld it. 'thou art the master of magic with the swine's head. lift up thyself that thou mayest receive thy reward.' the chan said, 'thy reward shall be whatsoever thou wilt.' the magician, who thought only of the property he had lost, said, 'give unto me a horse, with saddle and bridle, a bow and arrows, a cap, a mantle, a hound, and a fox. such things give unto me.' at these words the chan exclaimed, 'give him all that he desireth.' this was done, and the magician returned home with all that he desired, and with two elephants, one carrying meat, and the other butter. "his wife met him close to his dwelling, with brandy for him to drink, and said, 'now, indeed, thou art become a mighty man.' thereupon they went into the house, and when they had laid themselves down to sleep, the wife said to him, 'where hast thou found so much flesh and so much butter?' then her husband related to her circumstantially the whole affair, and she answered him saying, 'verily, thou art a stupid ass. to-morrow i will go with a letter to the chan.' "the wife accordingly wrote a letter, and in the letter were the following words:--'because it was known unto me that the lost wondrous stone retained some evil influence over the chan, i have, for the obviating of that influence, desired of him the dog and the fox. what i may receive for my reward depends upon the pleasure of the chan.' "the chan read the letter through, and sent costly presents to the magician. and the magician lived pleasantly and happily. "now in a neighbouring country there dwelt seven chans, brethren. once upon a time they betook themselves, for pastime, to an extensive forest, and there they discovered a beauteous maiden with a buffalo, and they asked, 'what are you two doing here? whence come you?' the maiden answered, 'i come from an eastern country, and am the daughter of a chan. this buffalo accompanies me.' at these words these others replied, 'we are the seven brethren of a chan, and have no wife. wilt thou be our wife?'[1] the maiden answered, 'so be it.' but the maiden and the buffalo were two mangusch (a species of evil spirit like the schumnu), and were seeking out men whom they might devour. the male mangusch was a buffalo, and the female, she who became wife to the brethren. [1] it is in accordance with the customs of thibet for a woman of that country to have several husbands. "after the mangusch had slain, yearly, one of the brethren of the chan, there was only one remaining. and because he was suffering from a grievous sickness, the ministers consulted together and said, 'for the sickness of the other chans we have tried all means of cure, and yet have found no help, neither do we in this case know what to advise. but the magician with the swine's head dwells only two mountains off from us, and he is held in great estimation; let us, without further delay, send for him to our assistance.' "upon this four mounted messengers were despatched for the magician, and when they arrived at his dwelling, they made known to him the object of their mission. 'i will,' said the magician, 'consider of this matter in the course of the night, and will tell you in the morning what is to be done.' "during the night he related to his wife what was required of him, and his wife said, 'you are looked upon, up to this time, as a magician of extraordinary skill; but from this time there is an end to your reputation. however, it cannot be helped, so go you must.' "on the following morning the magician said to the messengers, 'during the night-time i have pondered upon this matter, and a good omen has presented itself to me in a dream. let me not tarry any longer but ride forth to-day.' the magician, thereupon, equipped himself in a large cloak, bound his hair together on the crown of his head, carried in his left hand the rosary, and in his right the swine's head, enveloped in the cloths of five colours. "when in this guise he presented himself before the dwelling-place of the chan, the two mangusch were sorely frightened, and thought to themselves, 'this man has quite the appearance, quite the countenance, of a man of learning.' then the magician, first placing a baling on the pillow of the bed, lifted up the swine's head, and muttered certain magic words. "the wife of the chan seeing this discontinued tormenting the soul of the chan, and fled in all haste out of the room. the chan, by this conduct being freed from the pains of sickness, sank into a sound sleep. 'what is this?' exclaimed the magician, filled with affright. 'the disease has grown worse, the sick man uttereth not a sound; the sick man hath departed.' thus thinking, he cried, 'chan, chan!' but because the chan uttered no sound, the magician seized the swine's head, vanished through the door, and entered the treasure-chamber. no sooner had he done so, than 'thief, thief!' sounded in his ears, and the magician fled into the kitchen; but the cry of 'stop that thief! stop that thief!' still followed him. thus pursued the magician thought to himself, 'this night it is of no use to think of getting away, so i will, therefore, conceal myself in a corner of the stable.' thus thinking, he opened the door, and there found a buffalo, that lay there as if wearied with a long journey. the magician took the swine's head, and struck the buffalo three times between the horns, whereupon the buffalo sprang up and fled like the wind. "but the magician followed after the buffalo, and when he approached the spot where he was, he heard the male mangusch say to his female companion, 'yonder magician knew that i was in the stable; with his frightful swine's head he struck me three blows--so that it was time for me to escape from him.' and the chan's wife replied, 'i too am so afraid, because of his great knowledge, that i would not willingly return; for, of a certainty, things will go badly with us. to-morrow he will gather together the men with weapons and arms, and will say unto the women, "bring hither firing;" when this is done he will say, "lead the buffalo hither." and when thou appearest, he will say unto thee, "put off the form thou hast assumed." and because all resistance would be useless, the people perceiving thy true shape will fall upon thee with swords, and spears, and stones; and when they have put thee to death, they will consume thee with fire. at last the magician will cause me to be dragged forth and consumed with fire. oh, but i am sore afraid!' "when the magician heard these words, he said to himself, 'after this fashion may the thing be easily accomplished.' upon this he betook himself, with the swine's head to the chan, lifted up the baling, murmured his words of magic, and asked, 'how is it now with the sickness of the chan?' and the chan replied, 'upon the arrival of the master of magic the sickness passed away, and i have slept soundly.' then the magician spake as follows: 'to-morrow, then, give this command to thy ministers, that they collect the whole of the people together, and that the women be desired to bring firing with them.' "when, in obedience to these directions, there were two lofty piles of fagots gathered together, the magician said, 'place my saddle upon the buffalo.' then the magician rode upon the saddled buffalo three times around the assembled people, then removed the saddle from the buffalo, smote it three times with the swine's head, and said, 'put off the form thou hast assumed.' "at these words the buffalo was transformed into a fearful ugly mangusch. his eyes were bloodshot, his upper tusks descended to his breast, his bottom tusks reached up to his eyelashes, so that he was fearful to behold. when the people had hewed this mangusch to pieces with sword and with arrow, with spear and with stone, and his body was consumed upon one of the piles of fagots, then said the magician, 'bring forth the wife of the chan.' and with loud cries did the wife of the chan come forth, and the magician smote her with the swine's head, and said, 'appear in thine own form!' immediately her long tusks and bloodshot eyes exhibited the terrific figure of a female mangusch. "after the wife of the chan had been cut in pieces, and consumed by fire, the magician mounted his horse; but the people bowed themselves before him, and strewed grain over him, presented him with gifts, and regaled him so on every side, that he was only enabled to reach the palace of the chan on the following morning. then spake the chan, full of joy, to the magician, 'how can i reward you for the great deed that thou hast done?' and the magician answered, 'in our country there are but few nose-sticks for oxen to be found. give me, i pray you, some of these nose-sticks.' thus spake he, and the chan had him conducted home with three sacks of nose-sticks, and seven elephants bearing meat and butter. "near unto his dwelling his wife came with brandy to meet him; and when she beheld the elephants, she exclaimed, 'now, indeed, thou art become a mighty man.' then they betook themselves to their house, and at night-time the wife of the magician asked him, 'how camest thou to be presented with such gifts?' the magician replied, 'i have cured the sickness of the chan, and consumed with fire two mangusch.' at these words she replied, 'verily, thou hast behaved very foolishly. after such a beneficial act, to desire nothing but nose-sticks for cattle! to-morrow i myself will go to the chan.' "on the morrow the wife drew near unto the chan, and presented unto him a letter from the magician, and in this letter stood the following words:--'because the magician was aware that of the great evil of the chan a lesser evil still remained behind, he desired of him the nose-sticks. what he is to receive as a reward depends upon the pleasure of the chan.' "'he is right,' replied the chan, and he summoned the magician, with his father and mother, and all his relations before him, and received them with every demonstration of honour. 'but for you i should have died; the kingdom would have been annihilated; the ministers and all the people consumed as the food of the mangusch. i, therefore, will honour thee,' and he bestowed upon him proofs of his favour." "both man and wife were intelligent," exclaimed the son of the chan. "ruler of destiny," replied ssidi, "thou hast spoken words! ssarwala missdood jakzang!" thus spake he, and burst from the sack through the air. ssidi's fourth relation treats of the magician with the head of the swine. the history of sunshine and his brother. as the chan's son was journeying along as before, laden with ssidi, ssidi inquired of him as formerly who should tell a tale. but the son of the chan shook his head without speaking a word, and ssidi began as follows:-"many years ago guchanasschang reigned over a certain happy land. this chan had a wife and a son, whose name was sunshine (narrani garral). upon the death of his first wife the chan married a second; and by her likewise he had a son, and the name of his second son was moonshine (ssarrani garral). and when both these sons were grown up, the wife of the chan thought to herself, 'so long as sunshine, the elder brother, lives, moonshine, the younger, will never be chan over this land.' "some time after this the wife of the chan fell sick, and tossed and tumbled about on her bed from the seeming agony she endured. and the chan inquired of her, 'what can be done for you, my noble spouse?' to these words the wife of the chan replied, 'even at the time i dwelt with my parents i was subject to this sickness. but now it is become past bearing. i know, indeed, but one way of removing it; and that way is so impracticable, that there is nothing left for me but to die.' hereupon spake the chan, 'tell unto me this way of help, and though it should cost me half my kingdom thou shalt have it. tell me what thou requirest.' thus spake he, and his wife replied with the following words, 'if the heart of one of the chan's sons were roasted in the fat of the gunsa (a beast); but thou wilt not, of course, sacrifice sunshine for this purpose; and i myself bare moonshine, his heart i will not consume. so that there is now nothing left for me but to die.' the chan replied, 'of a surety sunshine is my son, and inexpressibly dear unto me; but in order that i may not lose thee, i will to-morrow deliver him over to the jargatschi' (the servants of justice). "moonshine overheard these words and hastened to his brother, and said, 'to-morrow they will murder thee.' when he had related all the circumstances, the brother replied, 'since it is so, do you remain at home, honouring your father and mother. the time of my flight is come.' then said moonshine with a troubled heart, 'alone i will not remain, but i will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.' "because the following day was appointed for the murder, the two brothers took a sack with baling-cakes from the altar, crept out at night, for it was the night of the full moon, from the palace, and journeyed on day and night through the mountainous country, until they at length arrived at the course of a dried-up river. because their provender was finished, and the river afforded no water, moonshine fell to the earth utterly exhausted. then spake the elder brother, full of affliction, 'i will go and seek water; but do you watch an instant until i come down from the high places.' "after some vain attempts sunshine returned, and found that his brother had departed this life. after he had with great tenderness covered the body of his brother with stones, he wandered over high mountains, and then arrived at the entrance of a cave. within the cave sat an aged arschi. 'whence comest thou?' inquired the old man, 'thy countenance betokeneth deep affliction.' and when the youth had related all that had passed, the old man, taking with him the means of awakening the dead, went with the youth to the grave, and called moonshine back to life. 'will ye be unto me as sons?' thus spake the old man, and the two young men became as sons unto him. "not far from this place there reigned a mighty chan of fearful power; and the time was approaching in this country when the fields were watered, but the crocodiles prevented this. the crocodiles frequented a marsh at the source of the river, and would not allow the water to stream forth until such times as a son of the tiger-year[2] had been offered to them as food. after a time it happened that when search had been made in vain for a son of the tiger-year, certain people drew nigh unto the chan, and said, 'near unto the source of the river dwelleth the old arschi, and with him a son of the tiger-year. thither led we our cattle to drink, and we saw him.' [2] among the calmucs every year has its peculiar name, and persons born in any year are called the children of that year. "when he heard this, the chan said, 'go and fetch him.' "accordingly the messengers were despatched for him, and when they arrived at the entrance of the cave, the arschi himself came forth. 'what is it that ye seek here?' inquired the aged arschi. 'the chan,' replied they, 'speaketh to thee thus: thou hast a son of the tiger-year. my kingdom hath need of him: send him unto me.' but the arschi said, 'who could have told you so? who, indeed, would dwell with an old arschi?' "thus speaking he retired into his cave, closed the door after him, and concealed the youth in a stone chest, placed the lid on him, and cemented up the crevices with clay, as if it was from the distillation of arrack. but the messengers having broken down the door, thrust themselves into the cave, searched it, and then said, 'since he whom we sought is not here, we are determined that nothing shall be left in the cave.' thus speaking, they drew their swords; and the youth said, out of fear for the arschi, 'hurt not my father; i am here.' "and when the youth was come forth, the messengers took him with them; but the arschi they left behind them weeping and sorrowing. when the youth entered into the palace of the chan, the daughter of the chan beheld him and loved him, and encircled his neck with her arms. but the attendants addressed the chan, saying, 'to-day is the day appointed for the casting of the son of the tiger-year into the waters.' upon this the chan said, 'let him then be cast into the waters!' but when they would have led him forth for that purpose, the daughter of the chan spake and said, 'cast him not into the waters, or cast me into the waters with him.' "and when the chan heard these words, he was angered, and said, 'because this maiden careth so little for the welfare of the kingdom, over which i am chan, let her be bound fast unto the son of the tiger-year, and let them be cast together into the waters.' and the attendants said, 'it shall be according as you have commanded.' "and when the youth was bound fast, and with the maiden cast into the waters, he cried out, 'since i am the son of the tiger-year, it is certainly lawful for them to cast me into the waters; but why should this charming maiden die, who so loveth me?' but the maiden said, 'since i am but an unworthy creature, it is certainly lawful for them to cast me into the waters; but wherefore do they cast in this beauteous youth?' "now the crocodiles heard these words, felt compassion, and placed the lovers once more upon the shore. and no sooner had this happened than the streams began to flow again. and when they were thus saved, the maiden said to the youth, 'come with me, i pray you, unto the palace?' and he replied, 'when i have sought out my father arschi, then will i come, and we will live together unsevered as man and wife.' "accordingly the youth returned to the cave of the old arschi, and knocked at the door. 'i am thy son,' said he. 'my son,' replied the old man, 'has the chan taken and slain; therefore it is that i sit here and weep.' at these words the son replied, 'of a verity i am thy son. the chan indeed bade them cast me into the waters; but because the crocodiles devoured me not, i am returned unto you. weep not, o my father!' "arschi then opened the door, but he had suffered his beard and the hair of his head to grow, so that he looked like a dead man. sunshine washed him therefore with milk and with water, and aroused him by tender words from his great sorrow. "now when the maiden returned back again to the palace, the chan and the whole people were exceedingly amazed. 'the crocodiles,' they exclaimed, 'have, contrary to their wont, felt compassion for this maiden and spared her. this is indeed a very wonder.' so the whole people passed around the maiden, bowing themselves down before her. but the chan said, 'that the maiden is returned is indeed very good. but the son of the tiger-year is assuredly devoured.' at these words his daughter replied unto him, 'the son of the tiger-year assuredly is not devoured. on account of his goodness his life was spared him.' "and when she said this, all were more than ever surprised. 'arise!' said the chan to his ministers, 'lead this youth hither.' agreeably to these commands, the ministers hastened to the cave of the aged arschi. both arschi and the youth arose, and when they approached unto the dwelling of the chan, the chan said, 'for the mighty benefits which this youth has conferred upon us, and upon our dominions, we feel ourselves bound to go forth to meet him.' "thus spake he, and he went forth to meet the youth, and led him into the interior of the palace, and placed him upon one of the seats appropriated to the nobles. 'o thou most wondrous youth!' he exclaimed, 'art thou indeed the son of arschi?' the youth replied, 'i am the son of a chan. but because my stepmother, out of the love she bare to her own son, sought to slay me, i fled, and, accompanied by my younger brother, arrived at the cave of the aged arschi.' "when the son of the chan related all this, the chan loaded him with honours, and gave his daughters for wives unto the two brothers, and sent them, with many costly gifts and a good retinue, home to their own kingdom. thither they went, drew nigh unto the palace, and wrote a letter as follows:--'to the chan their father, the two brothers are returned back again.' "now the father and mother had for many years bewailed the loss of both their sons, and their sorrows had rendered them so gloomy that they remained ever alone. "on receipt of this letter they sent forth a large body of people to meet their children. but because the wife of the chan saw both the youths approaching with costly gifts and a goodly retinue, so great was her envy that she died." "she was very justly served!" exclaimed the son of the chan. "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words! ssarwala missdood jonkzang." thus spake ssidi, and burst from the sack through the air. thus ssidi's fifth relation treats of sunshine and his brother. the wonderful man who overcame the chan. when the son of the chan had proceeded as formerly to seize the dead one, then spake he the threatening words, seized upon ssidi, thrust him into the sack, tied the sack fast, ate of the butter-cakes, and journeyed forth with his burden. after ssidi had as before asked who should tell the tale, and the son of the chan had replied by merely shaking his head, ssidi began the following relation:-"a long, long time ago there lived in the land of barschiss, a wild, high-spirited man, who would not allow any one to be above him. then spake the chan of the kingdom to him, full of displeasure, 'away with thee, thou good-for-nothing one! away with thee to some other kingdom!' thus spake he, and the wild man departed forth out of the country. "on his journey he arrived about mid-day at a forest, where he found the body of a horse, which had been somehow killed, and he accordingly cut off its head, fastened it to his girdle, and climbed up a tree. "about midnight there assembled a host of tschadkurrs (evil spirits) mounted upon horses of bark, wearing likewise caps of bark, and they placed themselves around the tree. afterwards there assembled together other tschadkurrs, mounted upon horses of paper, and having caps of paper on their heads, and they likewise placed themselves around the tree. "during the time that those who were assembled were partaking of various choice wines and liquors, the man peeped anxiously down from the tree, and as he was doing so, the horse's head fell down from his belt. the tschadkurrs were thereby exceedingly alarmed; so much that they fled hither and thither uttering fearful cries. "on the following morning the man descended from the tree, and said, 'this night there was in this spot many choice viands and liquors, and now they are all vanished.' and while he was thus speaking, he found a brandy flask, and as he was anxious for something to drink, he immediately applied the flask which he had found to his lips; when suddenly there sprang out of it meat and cakes and other delicacies fit for eating. 'this flask,' cried he, 'is of a surety a wishing flask, which will procure him who has it everything he desires. i will take the flask with me.' "and when he had thus spoken, he continued his journey until he met with a man holding a sword in his hand. 'wherefore,' cried he, 'dost thou carry that sword in thine hand?' and the man answered, 'this sword is called kreischwinger; and when i say to it, "kreischwinger, thither goes a man who has taken such a thing from me, follow him and bring it back," kreischwinger goes forth, kills the man, and brings my property back again.' to this the first replied, 'out of this vessel springeth everything you desire; let us exchange.' so accordingly they made an exchange; and when the man went away with the flask, he who now owned the sword said, 'kreischwinger, go forth now and bring me back my flask.' so the sword went forth, smote his former master dead, and brought the golden vessel back again. "when he had journeyed a little further, he met a man holding in his hand an iron hammer. 'wherefore,' cried he, 'dost thou hold this hammer in thy hand?' to this question the other replied, 'when i strike the earth nine times with this hammer, there immediately arises a wall of iron, nine pillars high.' then said the first, 'let us make an exchange.' and when the exchange was made, he cried out, 'kreischwinger, go forth and bring me back my golden vessel!' "after kreischwinger had slain the man, and brought back the golden vessel, the man journeyed on until he encountered another man, carrying in his bosom a sack, made of goatskin, and he asked him, 'wherefore keepest thou that sack?' to this question the other replied, 'this sack is a very wonderful thing. when you shake it, it rains heavily; and if you shake it very hard, it rains very heavily.' hereupon the owner of the flask said, 'let us change,' and they changed accordingly; and the sword went forth, slew the man, and returned back to its master with the golden vessel. "when the man found himself in the possession of all these wonderful things, he said unto himself, 'the chan of my country is indeed a cruel man; nevertheless i will turn back unto my native land.' when he had thus considered, he turned back again, and concealed himself in the neighbourhood of the royal palace. "about midnight he struck the earth nine times with his iron hammer, and there arose an iron wall nine pillars high. "on the following morning the chan arose, and said, 'during the night i have heard a mighty tock, tock at the back of the palace.' thereupon the wife of the chan looked out, and said, 'at the back of the palace there stands an iron wall nine pillars high.' thus spake she; and the chan replied, full of anger, 'the wild, high-spirited man has of a surety erected this iron wall; but we shall see whether he or i will be the conqueror.' "when he had spoken these words the chan commanded all the people to take fuel and bellows, and make the iron wall red-hot on every side. thereupon there was an immense fire kindled, and the wonderful man found himself, with his mother, within the wall of iron. he was himself upon the upper pillars, but his mother was on the eighth. and because the heat first reached the mother, she exclaimed unto her son, 'the fires which the chan has commanded the people to kindle will destroy the iron wall, and we shall both die.' the son replied, 'have no fear, mother, for i can find means to prevent it.' "when he had spoken these words he shook the sack of goatskin, and there descended heavy rain and extinguished the fire. after that he shook the sack still more forcibly, and there arose around them a mighty sea, which carried away both the fuel and the bellows which the people had collected." "thus, then, the wonderful gained the mastery over the chan," exclaimed the son of the chan. "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words! ssarwala missdood jakzang!" thus spake ssidi, and burst from the sack through the air. thus ssidi's sixth relation treats of the wonderful man who overpowered the chan. the bird-man. when the son of the chan had done as formerly, spoken the threatening words, and carried off ssidi, ssidi asked him as before to tell a tale; but the son of the chan shook his head without speaking a word, and ssidi began as follows:-"in times gone by there lived in a fair country the father of a family, whose three daughters had daily by turns to watch over the calves. now it once happened, during the time that the eldest sister should have been watching the calves, that she fell asleep, and one of them was lost. when the maiden awoke and missed the calf, she arose and went forth to seek it, and wandered about until she reached a large house with a red door. "she went in, and then came to a golden door, next to that to a silver one, and last of all to a brazen door. after she had likewise opened this door she found, close to the entrance of it, a cage decorated with gold and all manner of costly jewels, and within it, on a perch, there stood a white bird. "'i have lost a calf,' said the maiden, 'and am come hither to seek it.' at these words the bird said, 'if thou wilt become my wife i will find the calf for you, but not without.' but the maiden said, 'that may not be; among men birds are looked upon but as wild creatures. therefore i will not become your wife, even though, through refusing, i lose the calf for ever.' and when she had thus spoken she returned home again. "on the following day the second sister went forth to tend the calves, and she likewise lost one of them. and it happened unto her as it had done unto the eldest sister, and she too refused to become the wife of the bird. "at last the youngest sister went forth with the calves, and when she missed one she too wandered on until she reached the house wherein the bird resided. the bird said unto her likewise, 'if thou wilt become my wife, i will procure for thee the calf which thou hast lost.' 'be it according to thy will.' thus spake she, and became the wife of the bird. "after some time it happened that a mighty thirteen days' feast was held at a large pagoda in the neighbourhood, and upon this occasion a number of persons assembled together, amongst the rest the wife of the bird. and she was the foremost among the women; but among the men the most noticed was an armed man, who rode upon a white horse three times round the assemblage. and all who saw him exclaimed, 'he is the first.' "and when the woman returned home again the white bird demanded of her, 'who were the foremost among the men and the women who were there assembled together?' then said the woman, 'the foremost among the men was seated upon a white horse, but i knew him not. the foremost of the women was myself.' "and for eleven days did these things so fall out. but on the twelfth day, when the wife of the bird went to the assemblage, she sat herself down near an old woman. 'who,' said the old woman, 'is the first in the assemblage this day?' to this question the wife of the bird replied, 'among the men, the rider upon the white horse is beyond all comparison the foremost. among the women, i myself am so. would that i were bound unto this man, for my husband is numbered among wild creatures since he is nothing but a bird.' "thus spake she, weeping, and the old woman replied as follows:--'speak ye no more words like unto these. amongst the assembled women thou art in all things the foremost. but the rider upon the white horse is thine own husband. to-morrow is the thirteenth day of the feast. come not to-morrow unto the feast, but remain at home behind the door until thine husband opens his birdhouse, takes his steed from the stable, and rides to the feast. take ye, then, the open birdhouse and burn it. and when thou hast done this thy husband will remain henceforth and for ever in his true form.' "the wife of the bird, thereupon, did as she had been told; and when the birdhouse was opened, and her husband had departed, she took the birdhouse and burnt it upon the hearth. when the sun bowed down towards the west the bird returned home, and said to his wife, 'what, art thou already returned?' and she said, 'i am already returned.' then said her husband, 'where is my birdhouse?' and the wife replied, 'i have burnt it.' and he said, 'barama, that is a pretty business--that birdhouse was my soul.' "and his wife was troubled, and said, 'what is now to be done?' to these words the bird replied, 'there is nothing can be done now, except you seat yourself behind the door, and there by day and night keep clattering a sword. but if the clattering sword ceases, the tschadkurrs will carry me away. seven days and seven nights must ye thus defend me from the tschadkurrs and from the tângâri.' "at these words the wife took the sword, propped open her eyelids with little sticks, and watched for the space of six nights. on the seventh night her eyelids closed for an instant, but in that instant the tschadkurrs and tângâri suddenly snatched her husband away. "weeping bitterly, and despising all nourishment, the distracted wife ran about everywhere, crying unceasingly, 'alas, my bird-husband! alas, my bird-husband!' "when she had sought for him day and night without finding him, she heard from the top of a mountain the voice of her husband. following the sound, she discovered that the voice proceeded from the river. she ran to the river, and then discovered her husband with a load of tattered boots upon his back. 'oh! my heart is greatly rejoiced,' said the husband, 'at seeing thee once more. i am forced to draw water for the tschadkurrs and the tângâri, and have worn out all these boots in doing so. if thou wishest to have me once again, build me a new birdhouse, and dedicate it to my soul; then i shall come back again.' "with these words he vanished into the air. but the woman betook herself home to the house again, made a new birdhouse, and dedicated it to the soul of her husband. at length the bird-man appeared and perched himself on the roof of the house." "truly, his wife was an excellent wife!" exclaimed the son of the chan. "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words! ssarwala missdood jakzang!" thus spake ssidi, and burst from the sack through the air. thus ssidi's seventh relation treats of the bird-man. the painter and the wood-carver. when the son of the chan had, as on all the former occasions, spoken the words of threatening, placed the dead one in the sack, and journeyed forth with him, ssidi spake this time also as follows:--"the day is long, and the distant journey will tire us: do you relate a tale unto me, or i will relate one unto you." but the son of the chan shook his head without saying a word, and ssidi began as follows:-"many years ago there lived in the land of gujassmunn a chan, whose name was gunisschang. this chan, however, died, and his son chamuk sakiktschi was elected chan in his place. now there lived among the people of that country a painter and a wood-carver, who bore similar names, and were evilly disposed towards each other. "once upon a time the painter, gunga, drew nigh unto the chan, and said unto him, 'thy father hath been borne into the kingdom of the tângâri, and hath said unto me, "come unto me!" thither i went, and found thy father in great power and splendour; and i have brought for you this letter from him.' with these words the painter delivered unto the chan a forged letter, the contents of which were as follows:-"'this letter is addressed to my son chamuk sakiktschi. "'when i departed this life, i was borne to the kingdom of the tângâri. an abundance of all things reigns in this land; but since i am desirous of erecting a pagoda, and there are no wood-carvers to be found here, do you despatch unto me cunga, the wood-carver. the means by which he is to reach this place he may learn from the painter.' "after he had perused this letter, the chan of gujassmunn said, 'if my father has really been carried into the realms of the tângâri, that would indeed be a good thing. call hither the wood-carver.' the wood-carver was called, and appeared before the chan, and the chan said unto him, 'my father has been carried into the realms of the tângâri. he is desirous of erecting a pagoda, and because there are no wood-carvers there he is desirous that you should be despatched unto him.' "with these words the chan displayed the forged letter, and when he had read it, the wood-carver said unto himself, 'of a surety gunga, the painter, has played me this trick; but i will try if i cannot overreach him.' "thus thinking, he inquired of the painter, 'by what means can i reach the kingdom of the tângâri?' "to these words, the painter replied, 'when thou hast prepared all thy tools and implements of trade, then place thyself upon a pile of fagots, and when thou hast sung songs of rejoicing and set light to the pile of fagots, thus wilt thou be able to reach the kingdom of the tângâri.' thus spake he, and the seventh night from that time was appointed for the carver's setting forth on his journey. "when the wood-carver returned home unto his wife, he spake unto her these words:--'the painter hath conceived wickedness in his mind against me; yet i shall try means to overreach him.' "accordingly he secretly contrived a subterranean passage, which reached from his own house into the middle of his field. over the aperture in the field he placed a large stone, covered the stone with earth, and when the seventh night was come, the chan said, 'this night let the wood-carver draw nigh unto the chan, my father.' thereupon, agreeably to the commands of the chan, every one of the people brought out a handful of the fat of the gunsa (a beast). a huge fire was kindled, and the wood-cutter, when he had sung the songs of rejoicing, escaped by the covered way he had made back to his own house. "meanwhile the painter was greatly rejoiced, and pointed upwards with his finger, and said, 'there rideth the wood-carver up to heaven.' all who had been present, too, betook themselves home, thinking in their hearts, 'the wood-carver is dead, and gone up above to the chan.' "the wood-carver remained concealed at home a whole month, and allowed no man to set eyes upon him, but washed his head in milk every day, and kept himself always in the shade. after that he put on a garment of white silk, and wrote a letter, in which stood the following words:-"'this letter is addressed to my son chamuk sakiktschi. that thou rulest the kingdom in peace; it is very good. since thy wood-carver has completed his work, it is needful that he should be rewarded according to his deserts. since, moreover, for the decoration of the pagoda, many coloured paintings are necessary, send unto me the painter, as thou hast already sent this man.' "the wood-carver then drew nigh unto the chan with this letter. 'what!' cried the chan, 'art thou returned from the kingdom of the tângâri?' the wood-carver handed the letter unto him, and said, 'i have, indeed, been in the kingdom of the tângâri, and from it i am returned home again.' "the chan was greatly rejoiced when he heard this, and rewarded the wood-carver with costly presents. 'because the painter is now required,' said the chan, 'for the painting of the pagoda, let him now be called before me.' "the painter drew nigh accordingly, and when he saw the wood-carver, fair, and in white-shining robes, and decorated with gifts, he said unto himself, 'then he is not dead!' and the chan handed over to the painter the forged letter, with the seal thereto, and said, 'thou must go now.' "and when the seventh night from that time arrived, the people came forward as before with a contribution of the fat of the gunsa; and in the midst of the field a pile of fagots was kindled. the painter seated himself in the midst of the fire, with his materials for painting, and a letter and gifts of honour for the chan gunisschang, and sang songs of rejoicing; and as the fire kept growing more and more intolerable, he lifted up his voice and uttered piercing cries; but the noise of the instruments overpowered his voice, and at length the fire consumed him." "he was properly rewarded!" exclaimed the son of the chan. "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words! ssarwala missdood jakzang!" thus spake ssidi, and burst from the sack through the air. thus ssidi's eighth relation treats of the painter and the wood-carver. the stealing of the heart. when the son of the chan was, as formerly, carrying ssidi away in the sack, ssidi inquired of him as before; but the son of the chan shook his head without speaking a word, so ssidi proceeded as follows:-"many, many years ago there ruled over a certain kingdom a chan named guguluktschi. upon the death of this chan his son, who was of great reputation and worth, was elected chan in his place. "one berren (a measure of distance) from the residence of the chan dwelt a man, who had a daughter of wonderful abilities and extraordinary beauty. the son of the chan was enamoured of this maiden, and visited her daily; until, at length, he fell sick of a grievous malady, and died, without the maiden being made aware of it. "one night, just as the moon was rising, the maiden heard a knocking at the door, and the face of the maiden was gladdened when she beheld the son of the chan; and the maiden arose and went to meet him, and she led him in and placed arrack and cakes before him. 'wife,' said the son of the chan, 'come with me!' "the maiden followed, and they kept going further and further, until they arrived at the dwelling of the chan, from which proceeded the sound of cymbals and kettledrums. "'chan, what is this?' she asked. the son of the chan replied to these inquiries of the maiden, 'do you not know that they are now celebrating the feast of my funeral?' thus spake he; and the maiden replied, 'the feast of thy funeral! has anything then befallen the chan's son?' and the son of the chan replied, 'he is departed. thou wilt, however, bear a son unto him. and when the season is come, go into the stable of the elephant, and let him be born there. in the palace there will arise a contention betwixt my mother and her attendants, because of the wonderful stone of the kingdom. the wonderful stone lies under the table of sacrifice. after it has been discovered, do you and my mother reign over this kingdom until such time as my son comes of age.' "thus spake he, and vanished into air. but his beloved fell, from very anguish, into a swoon. 'chan! chan!' exclaimed she sorrowfully, when she came to herself again. and because she felt that the time was come, she betook herself to the stable of the elephants, and there gave birth to a son. "on the following morning, when the keeper of the elephants entered the stable, he exclaimed, 'what! has a woman given birth to a son in the stable of the elephants? this never happened before. this may be an injury to the elephants.' "at these words the maiden said, 'go unto the mother of the chan, and say unto her, "arise! something wonderful has taken place."' "when these words were told unto the mother of the chan, then she arose and went unto the stable, and the maiden related unto her all that had happened, 'wonderful!' said the mother of the chan. 'otherwise the chan had left no successors. let us go together into the house.' "thus speaking, she took the maiden with her into the house, and nursed her, and tended her carefully. and because her account of the wonderful stone was found correct, all the rest of her story was believed. so the mother of the chan and his wife ruled over the kingdom. "henceforth, too, it happened that every month, on the night of the full moon, the deceased chan appeared to his wife, remained with her until morning dawned, and then vanished into air. and the wife recounted this to his mother, but his mother believed her not, and said, 'this is a mere invention. if it were true my son would, of a surety, show himself likewise unto me. if i am to believe your words, you must take care that mother and son meet one another.' "when the son of the chan came on the night of the full moon, his wife said unto him, 'it is well that thou comest unto me on the night of every full moon, but it were yet better if thou camest every night.' and as she spake thus, with tears in her eyes, the son of the chan replied, 'if thou hadst sufficient spirit to dare its accomplishment, thou mightest do what would bring me every night; but thou art young and cannot do it.' 'then,' said she, 'if thou wilt but come every night, i will do all that is required of me, although i should thereby lose both flesh and bone.' "thereupon the son of the chan spake as follows: 'then betake thyself on the night of the full moon a berren from this place to the iron old man, and give unto him arrack. a little further you will come unto two rams, to them you must offer batschimak cakes. a little further on you will perceive a host of men in coats of mail and other armour, and there you must share out meat and cakes. from thence you must proceed to a large black building, stained with blood; the skin of a man floats over it instead of a flag. two aerliks (fiends) stand at the entrance. present unto them both offerings of blood. within the mansion thou wilt discover nine fearful exorcists, and nine hearts upon a throne. "take me! take me!" will the eight old hearts exclaim; and the ninth heart will cry out, "do not take me!" but leave the old hearts and take the fresh one, and run home with it without looking round.' "much as the maiden was alarmed at the task which she had been enjoined to perform, she set forth on the night of the next full moon, divided the offerings, and entered the house. 'take me not!' exclaimed the fresh heart; but the maiden seized the fresh heart and fled with it. the exorcists fled after her, and cried out to those who were watching, 'stop the thief of the heart!' and the two aerliks (fiends) cried, 'we have received offerings of blood!' then each of the armed men cried out, 'stop the thief!' but the rams said, 'we have received batschimak cakes.' then they called out to the iron old man, 'stop the thief with the heart!' but the old man said, 'i have received arrack from her, and shall not stop her.' "thereupon the maiden journeyed on without fear until she reached home; and she found upon entering the house the chan's son, attired in festive garments. and the chan's son drew nigh, and threw his arms about the neck of the maiden." "the maiden behaved well indeed!" exclaimed the son of the chan. "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words! ssarwala missdood jakzang." thus spake ssidi, and burst from the sack through the air. thus ssidi's ninth relation treats of the stealing of the heart. the man and his wife. when ssidi had been captured as before, and was being carried away in the sack, he inquired, as he had always done, as to telling a tale; but the son of the chan shook his head without speaking a word. whereupon ssidi began the following relation:-"many, many years since, there lived in the kingdom of olmilsong two brothers, and they were both married. now the elder brother and his wife were niggardly and envious, while the younger brother was of quite a different disposition. "once upon a time the elder brother, who had contrived to gather together abundance of riches, gave a great feast, and invited many people to partake of it. when this was known, the younger thought to himself, 'although my elder brother has hitherto not treated me very well, yet he will now, no doubt, since he has invited so many people to his feast, invite also me and my wife.' this he certainly expected, but yet he was not invited. 'probably,' thought he, 'my brother will summon me to-morrow morning to the brandy-drinking.' because, however, he was not even invited unto that, he grieved very sore, and said unto himself, 'this night, when my brother's wife has drunk the brandy, i will go unto the house and steal somewhat.' "when, however, he had glided into the treasure-chamber of his brother, there lay the wife of his brother near her husband; but presently she arose and went into the kitchen, and cooked meat and sweet food, and went out of the door with it. the concealed one did not venture at this moment to steal anything, but said unto himself, 'before i steal anything, i will just see what all this means.' "so saying, he went forth and followed the woman to a mountain where the dead were wont to be laid. on the top, upon a green mound, lay a beautiful ornamental tomb over the body of a dead man. this man had formerly been the lover of the woman. even when afar off she called unto the dead man by name, and when she had come unto him she threw her arms about his neck; and the younger brother was nigh unto her, and saw all that she did. "the woman next handed the sweet food which she had prepared to the dead man, and because the teeth of the corse did not open, she separated them with a pair of brazen pincers, and pushed the food into his mouth. suddenly the pincers bounced back from the teeth of the dead man, and snapped off the tip of the woman's nose; while, at the same time, the teeth of the dead man closed together and bit off the end of the woman's tongue. upon this the woman took up the dish with the food and went back to her home. "the younger brother thereupon followed her home, and concealed himself in the treasure-chamber, and the wife laid herself down again by her husband. presently the man began to move, when the wife immediately cried out, 'woe is me! woe is me! was there ever such a man?' and the man said, 'what is the matter now?' the wife replied, 'the point of my tongue, and the tip of my nose, both these thou hast bitten off. what can a woman do without these two things? to-morrow the chan shall be made acquainted with this conduct.' thus spake she, and the younger brother fled from the treasure-chamber without stealing anything. "on the following morning the woman presented herself before the chan, and addressed him, saying, 'my husband has this night treated me shamefully. whatsoever punishment may be awarded to him, i myself will see it inflicted.' "but the husband persisted in asserting, 'of all this i know nothing!' because the complaint of the wife seemed well-founded, and the man could not exculpate himself, the chan said, 'because of his evil deeds, let this man be burnt.' "when the younger brother heard what had befallen the elder, he went to see him. and after the younger one had related to him all the affair, he betook himself unto the chan, saying, 'that the evildoer may be really discovered, let both the woman and her husband be summoned before you; i will clear up the mystery.' "when they were both present, the younger brother related the wife's visit to the dead man, and because the chan would not give credence unto his story, he said: 'in the mouth of the dead man you will find the end of the woman's tongue; and the blood-soiled tip of her nose you will find in the pincers of brass. send thither, and see if it be not so.' "thus spake he, and people were sent to the place, and confirmed all that he had asserted. upon this the chan said, 'since the matter stands thus, let the woman be placed upon the pile of fagots and consumed with fire.' and the woman was placed upon the pile of fagots and consumed with fire." "that served her right!" said the son of the chan. "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words! ssarwala missdood jakzang!" thus spake ssidi, and burst from the sack through the air. thus ssidi's tenth relation treats of the man and his wife. of the maiden ssuwarandari. when the son of the chan was carrying off ssidi, as formerly, ssidi related the following tale:-"a long while ago, there was in the very centre of a certain kingdom an old pagoda, in which stood the image of choschim bodissadoh (a mongolian idol), formed of clay. near unto this pagoda stood a small house, in which a beautiful maiden resided with her aged parents. but at the mouth of the river, which ran thereby, dwelt a poor man, who maintained himself by selling fruit, which he carried in an ark upon the river. "now it happened once, that as he was returning home he was benighted in the neighbourhood of the pagoda. he listened at the door of the house in which the two old people dwelt, and heard the old woman say unto her husband, 'we are both grown exceedingly old; could we now but provide for our daughter, it would be well.' "'that we have lived so long happily together,' said the old man, 'we are indebted to the talisman of our daughter. let us, however, offer up sacrifice to bodissadoh, and inquire of him to what condition we shall dedicate our daughter--to the spiritual or to the worldly. to-morrow, at the earliest dawn, we will therefore lay our offering before the burchan.' "'now know i what to do,' said the listener; so in the night-time he betook himself to the pagoda, made an opening in the back of the idol, and concealed himself therein. when on the following morning the two old people and the daughter drew nigh and made their offering, the father bowed himself to the earth and spake as follows:-"'deified bodissadoh! shall this maiden be devoted to a spiritual or worldly life? if she is to be devoted to a worldly life, vouchsafe to point out now or hereafter, in a dream or vision, to whom we shall give her to wife.' "then he who was concealed in the image exclaimed, 'it is better that thy daughter be devoted to a worldly life. therefore, give her to wife to the first man who presents himself at thy door in the morning.' "the old people were greatly rejoiced when they heard these words; and they bowed themselves again and again down to the earth, and walked around the idol. "on the following morning the man stepped out of the idol and knocked at the door of the aged couple. the old woman went out, and when she saw that it was a man, she turned back again, and said to her husband, 'the words of the burchan are fulfilled; the man has arrived.' "'give him entrance!' said the old man. the man came in accordingly, and was welcomed with food and drink; and when they had told him all that the idol had said, he took the maiden with the talisman to wife. "when he was wandering forth and drew nigh unto his dwelling, he thought unto himself, 'i have with cunning obtained the daughter of the two old people. now i will place the maiden in the ark, and conceal the ark in the sand.' "so he concealed the ark, and went and said unto the people, 'though i have ever acted properly, still it has never availed me yet. i will therefore now seek to obtain liberal gifts through my prayers.' thus spake he, and after repeating the zoka-prayers (part of the calmuc ritual), he obtained food and gifts, and said, 'to-morrow i will again wander around, repeat the appointed zoka-prayers, and seek food again.' "in the meanwhile it happened that the son of the chan and two of his companions, with bows and arrows in their hands, who were following a tiger, passed by unnoticed, and arrived at the sand-heap of the maiden ssuwarandari. 'let us shoot at that heap!' cried they. thus spake they, and shot accordingly, and lost their arrows in the sand. as they were looking after the arrows, they found the ark, opened it, and drew out the maiden with the talisman. "'who art thou, maiden?' inquired they. 'i am the daughter of lu.' the chan's son said, 'come with me, and be my wife.' and the maiden said, 'i cannot go unless another is placed in the ark instead of me.' so they all said, 'let us put in the tiger.' and when the tiger was placed in the ark, the chan's son took away with him the maiden, and the talisman with her. "in the meanwhile the beggar ended his prayers; and when he had done so, he thought unto himself, 'if i take the talisman, slay the maiden, and sell the talisman, of a surety i shall become rich indeed.' thus thinking he drew nigh unto the sand-heap, drew forth the ark, carried it home with him, and said unto his wife, who he thought was within the ark, 'i shall pass this night in repeating the zoka-prayers.' he threw off his upper garment. and when he had done so, he lifted off the cover of the ark, and said, 'maiden, be not alarmed!' when he was thus speaking, he beheld the tiger. "when some persons went into the chamber on the following morning, they found a tiger with his tusks and claws covered with blood, and the body of the beggar torn into pieces. "and the wife of the chan gave birth to three sons, and lived in the enjoyment of plenty of all things. but the ministers and the people murmured, and said, 'it was not well of the chan that he drew forth his wife out of the earth. although the wife of the chan has given birth to the sons of the chan, still she is but a low-born creature.' thus spoke they, and the wife of the chan received little joy therefrom. 'i have borne three sons,' said she, 'and yet am noways regarded; i will therefore return home to my parents.' "she left the palace on the night of the full moon, and reached the neighbourhood of her parents at noontide. where there had formerly been nothing to be seen she saw a multitude of workmen busily employed, and among them a man having authority, who prepared meat and drink for them. 'who art thou, maiden?' inquired this man. 'i come far from hence,' replied the wife of the chan; 'but my parents formerly resided upon this mountain, and i have come hither to seek them.' "at these words the young man said, 'thou art then their daughter?' and he received for answer, 'i am their daughter.' "'i am their son,' said he. 'i have been told that i had a sister older than myself. art thou she? sit thee down, partake of this meat and this drink, and we will then go together unto our parents.' "when the wife of the chan arrived at the summit of the mountain, she found in the place where the old pagoda stood a number of splendid buildings, with golden towers full of bells. and the hut of her parents was changed into a lordly mansion. 'all this,' said her brother, 'belongs to us, since you took your departure. our parents lived here in health and peace.' "in the palace there were horses and mules, and costly furniture in abundance. the father and mother were seated on rich pillows of silk, and gave their daughter welcome, saying, 'thou art still well and happy. that thou hast returned home before we depart from this life is of a surety very good.' "after various inquiries had been made on both sides, relative to what had transpired during the separation of the parties, the old parents said, 'let us make these things known unto the chan and his ministers.' "so the chan and his ministers were loaded with presents, and three nights afterwards they were welcomed with meat and drink of the best. but the chan said, 'ye have spoken falsely, the wife of the chan had no parents.' now the chan departed with his retinue, and his wife said, 'i will stop one more night with my parents, and then i will return unto you.' "on the following morning the wife of the chan found herself on a hard bed, without pillows or coverlets. 'what is this?' exclaimed she; 'was i not this night with my father and mother--and did i not retire to sleep on a bed of silk?' "and when she rose up she beheld the ruined hut of her parents. her father and mother were dead, and their bones mouldered; their heads lay upon a stone. weeping loudly, she said unto herself, 'i will now look after the pagoda.' but she saw nothing but the ruins of the pagoda and of the burchan. 'a godly providence,' exclaimed she, 'has resuscitated my parents. now since the chan and the ministers will be pacified, i will return home again.' "on her arrival in the kingdom of her husband, the ministers and the people came forth to meet her, and walked around her. 'this wife of the chan,' cried they, 'is descended from noble parents, has borne noble sons, and is herself welcome, pleasant, and charming.' thus speaking, they accompanied the wife of the chan to the palace." "her merits must have been great." thus spake the son of the chan. "ruler of destiny, thou hast spoken words! ssarwala missdood jakzang!" thus spake ssidi, and burst from the sack through the air. thus ssidi's eleventh relation treats of the maiden ssuwarandari. the two cats. in former days there was an old woman, who lived in a hut more confined than the minds of the ignorant, and more dark than the tombs of misers. her companion was a cat, from the mirror of whose imagination the appearance of bread had never been reflected, nor had she from friends or strangers ever heard its name. it was enough that she now and then scented a mouse, or observed the print of its feet on the floor; when, blessed by favouring stars or benignant fortune, one fell into her claws- "she became like a beggar who discovers a treasure of gold; her cheeks glowed with rapture, and past grief was consumed by present joy." this feast would last for a week or more; and while enjoying it she was wont to exclaim- "am i, o god, when i contemplate this, in a dream or awake? am i to experience such prosperity after such adversity?" but as the dwelling of the old woman was in general the mansion of famine to this cat, she was always complaining, and forming extravagant and fanciful schemes. one day, when reduced to extreme weakness, she, with much exertion, reached the top of the hut; when there she observed a cat stalking on the wall of a neighbour's house, which, like a fierce tiger, advanced with measured steps, and was so loaded with flesh that she could hardly raise her feet. the old woman's friend was amazed to see one of her own species so fat and sleek, and broke out into the following exclamation:- "your stately strides have brought you here at last; pray tell me from whence you come? from whence have you arrived with so lovely an appearance? you look as if from the banquet of the khan of khatai. where have you acquired such a comeliness? and how came you by that glorious strength?" the other answered, "i am the sultan's crumb-eater. each morning, when they spread the convivial table, i attend at the palace, and there exhibit my address and courage. from among the rich meats and wheat-cakes i cull a few choice morsels; i then retire and pass my time till next day in delightful indolence." the old dame's cat requested to know what rich meat was, and what taste wheat-cakes had? "as for me," she added, in a melancholy tone, "during my life i have neither eaten nor seen anything but the old woman's gruel and the flesh of mice." the other, smiling, said, "this accounts for the difficulty i find in distinguishing you from a spider. your shape and stature is such as must make the whole generation of cats blush; and we must ever feel ashamed while you carry so miserable an appearance abroad. you certainly have the ears and tail of a cat, but in other respects you are a complete spider. were you to see the sultan's palace, and to smell his delicious viands, most undoubtedly those withered bones would be restored; you would receive new life; you would come from behind the curtain of invisibility into the plane of observation- when the perfume of his beloved passes over the tomb of a lover, is it wonderful that his putrid bones should be re-animated?" the old woman's cat addressed the other in the most supplicating manner: "o my sister!" she exclaimed, "have i not the sacred claims of a neighbour upon you? are we not linked in the ties of kindred? what prevents your giving a proof of friendship, by taking me with you when next you visit the palace? perhaps from your favour plenty may flow to me, and from your patronage i may attain dignity and honour. withdraw not from the friendship of the honourable; abandon not the support of the elect." the heart of the sultan's crumb-eater was melted by this pathetic address; she promised her new friend should accompany her on the next visit to the palace. the latter, overjoyed, went down immediately from the terrace, and communicated every particular to the old woman, who addressed her with the following counsel:-"be not deceived, my dearest friend, with the worldly language you have listened to; abandon not your corner of content, for the cup of the covetous is only to be filled by the dust of the grave, and the eye of cupidity and hope can only be closed by the needle of mortality and the thread of fate. it is content that makes men rich; mark this, ye avaricious, who traverse the world: he neither knows nor pays adoration to his god who is dissatisfied with his condition and fortune." but the expected feast had taken such possession of poor puss's imagination, that the medicinal counsel of the old woman was thrown away. "the good advice of all the world is like wind in a cage, or water in a sieve, when bestowed on the headstrong." to conclude: next day, accompanied by her companion, the half-starved cat hobbled to the sultan's palace. before this unfortunate wretch came, as it is decreed that the covetous shall be disappointed, an extraordinary event had occurred, and, owing to her evil destiny, the water of disappointment was poured on the flame of her immature ambition. the case was this: a whole legion of cats had the day before surrounded the feast, and made so much noise that they disturbed the guests; and in consequence the sultan had ordered that some archers armed with bows from tartary should, on this day, be concealed, and that whatever cat advanced into the field of valour, covered with the shield of audacity, should, on eating the first morsel, be overtaken with their arrows. the old dame's puss was not aware of this order. the moment the flavour of the viands reached her, she flew like an eagle to the place of her prey. scarcely had the weight of a mouthful been placed in the scale to balance her hunger, when a heart-dividing arrow pierced her breast. a stream of blood rushed from the wound. she fled, in dread of death, after having exclaimed, "should i escape from this terrific archer, i will be satisfied with my mouse and the miserable hut of my old mistress. my soul rejects the honey if accompanied by the sting. content, with the most frugal fare, is preferable." legend of dhurrumnath. during the reign of a mighty rajah named guddeh sing, a celebrated, and as it is now supposed, deified priest, or hutteet, called dhurrumnath, came, and in all the characteristic humility of his sect established a primitive and temporary resting-place within a few miles of the rajah's residence at runn, near mandavie. he was accompanied by his adopted son, ghurreeb nath. from this spot dhurrumnath despatched his son to seek for charitable contributions from the inhabitants of the town. to this end ghurreeb nath made several visits; but being unsuccessful, and at the same time unwilling that his father should know of the want of liberality in the city, he at each visit purchased food out of some limited funds of his own. at length, his little hoard failing, on the sixth day he was obliged to confess the deceit he had practised. dhurrumnath, on being acquainted with this, became extremely vexed, and vowed that from that day all the rajah's putteen cities should become desolate and ruined. the tradition goes on to state that in due time these cities were destroyed; dhurrumnath, accompanied by his son, left the neighbourhood, and proceeded to denodur. finding it a desirable place, he determined on performing tupseeah, or penance, for twelve years, and chose the form of standing on his head. on commencing to carry out this determination, he dismissed his son, who established his doonee in the jungles, about twenty miles to the north-west of bhooj. after dhurrumnath had remained tupseeah for twelve years, he was visited by all the angels from heaven, who besought him to rise; to which he replied, that if he did so, the portion of the country on which his sight would first rest would become barren: if villages, they would disappear; if woods or fields, they would equally be destroyed. the angels then told him to turn his head to the north-east, where flowed the sea. upon this he resumed his natural position, and, turning his head in the direction he was told, opened his eyes, when immediately the sea disappeared, the stately ships became wrecks, and their crews were destroyed, leaving nothing behind but a barren, unbroken desert, known as the runn. dhurrumnath, too pure to remain on the earth, partook of an immediate and glorious immortality, being at once absorbed into the spiritual nature of the creating, the finishing, the indivisible, all-pervading brum. this self-imposed penance of dhurrumnath has shed a halo of sanctity around the hill of denodur, and was doubtless the occasion of its having been selected as a fitting site for a jogie establishment, the members of which, it is probable, were originally the attendants on a small temple that had been erected, and which still remains, on the highest point of the hill, on the spot where the holy dhurrumnath is said to have performed his painful tupseeah. the traveller's adventure. it is related that a man, mounted upon a camel, in the course of travelling arrived at a place where others from the same caravan had lighted a fire before proceeding on their journey. the fan-like wind, breathing on the embers, had produced a flame; and the sparks, flying over the jungle, the dry wood had become ignited, and the whole plain glowed like a bed of tulips. in the midst of this was an enormous snake, which, encircled by the flames, possessed no means of escape, and was about to be broiled like a fish, or kabobed like a partridge for the table. blood oozed from its poison-charged eyes; and, seeing the man and the camel, it thus supplicated for assistance- "what if in kindness thou vouchsafe me thy pity; loosen the knot with which my affairs are entangled." now the traveller was a good man, and one who feared god. when he heard the complaint of the snake, and saw its pitiable condition, he reasoned thus with himself: "this snake is, indeed, the enemy of man, but being in trouble and perplexity, it would be most commendable in me to drop the seed of compassion, the fruit of which is prosperity in this world, and exaltation in the next." thus convinced, he fastened one of his saddle-bags to the end of his spear, and extended it to the snake, which, delighted at escape, entered the bag, and was rescued from the flames. the man then opening the mouth of the bag, addressed it thus: "depart whither thou wilt, but forget not to offer up thanksgiving for thy preservation; henceforth seek the corner of retirement, and cease to afflict mankind, for they who do so are dishonest in this world and the next- fear god--distress no one; this indeed is true salvation." the snake replied, "o young man, hold thy peace, for truly i will not depart until i have wounded both thee and this camel." the man cried out, "but how is this? have i not rendered thee a benefit? why, then, is such to be my recompense? on my part there was faithfulness, why then this injustice upon thine?" the snake said, "true, thou hast shown mercy, but it was to an unworthy object; thou knowest me to be an agent of injury to mankind, consequently, when thou savedst me from destruction, thou subjectedst thyself to the same rule that applies to the punishment due for an evil act committed against a worthy object. "again, between the snake and man there is a long-standing enmity, and they who employ foresight hold it as a maxim of wisdom to bruise the head of an enemy; to thy security my destruction was necessary, but, in showing mercy, thou hast forfeited vigilance. it is now necessary that i should wound thee, that others may learn by thy example." the man cried, "o snake, call but in the counsel of justice; in what creed is it written, or what practice declares, that evil should be returned for good, or that the pleasure of conferring benefits should be returned by injury and affliction?" the snake replied, "such is the practice amongst men. i act according to thy own decree; the same commodity of retribution i have purchased from thee i also sell. buy for one moment that which thou sell'st for years." in vain did the traveller entreat, the snake ever replying, "i do but treat thee after the manner of men." this the man denied. "but," said he, "let us call witnesses: if thou prove thy assertion, i will yield to thy will." the snake, looking round, saw a cow grazing at a distance, and said, "come, we will ask this cow the rights of the question." when they came up to the cow, the snake, opening its mouth, said, "o cow, what is the recompense for benefits received?" the cow said, "if thou ask me after the manner of men, the return of good is always evil. for instance, i was for a long time in the service of a farmer; yearly i brought forth a calf; i supplied his house with milk and ghee; his sustenance, and the life of his children, depended upon me. when i became old, and no longer produced young, he ceased to shelter me, and thrust me forth to die in a jungle. after finding forage, and roaming at my ease, i grew fat, and my old master, seeing my plump condition, yesterday brought with him a butcher, to whom he has sold me, and to-day is appointed for my slaughter." the snake said, "thou hast heard the cow; prepare to die quickly." the man cried, "it is not lawful to decide a case on the evidence of one witness, let us then call another." the snake looked about and saw a tree, leafless and bare, flinging up its wild branches to the sky. "let us," said it, "appeal to this tree." they proceeded together to the tree; and the snake, opening its mouth, said, "o tree, what is the recompense for good?" the tree said, "amongst men, for benefits are returned evil and injury. i will give you a proof of what i assert. i am a tree which, though growing on one leg in this sad waste, was once flourishing and green, performing service to every one. when any of the human race, overcome with heat and travel, came this way, they rested beneath my shade, and slept beneath my branches; when the weight of repose abandoned their eyelids, they cast up their eyes to me, and said to each other, 'yon twig would do well for an arrow; that branch would serve for a plough; and from the trunk of this tree what beautiful planks might be made!' if they had an axe or a saw, they selected my branches, and carried them away. thus they to whom i gave ease and rest rewarded me only with pain and affliction. whilst my care overshadows him in perplexity, he meditates only how best to root me up." "well," said the snake, "here are two witnesses; therefore, form thy resolution, for i must wound thee." the man said, "true; but the love of life is powerful, and while strength remains, it is difficult to root the love of it from the heart. call but one more witness, and then i pledge myself to submit to his decree." now it so wonderfully happened that a fox, who had been standing by, had heard all the argument, and now came forward. the snake on seeing it exclaimed, "behold this fox, let us ask it." but before the man could speak the fox cried out, "dost thou not know that the recompense for good is always evil? but what good hast thou done in behalf of this snake, to render thee worthy of punishment?" the man related his story. the fox replied, "thou seemest an intelligent person, why then dost thou tell me an untruth? how can it be proper for him that is wise to speak falsely? how can it become an intelligent man to state an untruth?" the snake said, "the man speaks truly, for behold the bag in which he rescued me." the fox, putting on the garb of astonishment, said, "how can i believe this thing? how could a large snake such as thou be contained in so small a space?" the snake said, "if thou doubt me, i will again enter the bag to prove it." the fox said, "truly if i saw thee there, i could believe it, and afterwards settle the dispute between thee and this man." on this the traveller opened the bag, and the snake, annoyed at the disbelief of the fox, entered it; which observing, the fox cried out, "o young man, when thou hast caught thine enemy, show him no quarter. when an enemy is vanquished, and in thy power, it is the maxim of the wise to show him no mercy." the traveller took the hint of the fox, fastened the mouth of the bag, and, dashing it against a stone, destroyed the snake, and thus saved mankind from the evil effects of its wicked propensities. the seven stages of roostem. persia was at peace, and prosperous; but its king, ky-kâoos, could never remain at rest. a favourite singer gave him one day an animated account of the beauties of the neighbouring kingdom of mazenderan: its ever-blooming roses, its melodious nightingales, its verdant plains, its mountains shaded with lofty trees, and adorned to their summits with flowers which perfumed the air, its clear murmuring rivulets, and, above all, its lovely damsels and valiant warriors. all these were described to the sovereign in such glowing colours that he quite lost his reason, and declared he should never be happy till his power extended over a country so favoured by nature. it was in vain that his wisest ministers and most attached nobles dissuaded him from so hazardous an enterprise as that of invading a region which had, besides other defenders, a number of deevs, or demons, who, acting under their renowned chief, deev-e-seffeed, or the white demon, had hitherto defeated all enemies. ky-kâoos would not listen to his nobles, who in despair sent for old zâl, the father of roostem, and prince of seestan. zâl came, and used all his efforts, but in vain; the monarch was involved in clouds of pride, and closed a discussion he had with zâl by exclaiming, "the creator of the world is my friend; the chief of the deevs is my prey." this impious boasting satisfied zâl he could do no good; and he even refused to become regent of persia in the absence of ky-kâoos, but promised to aid with his counsel. the king departed to anticipated conquest; but the prince of mazenderan summoned his forces, and, above all, the deev-e-seffeed and his band. they came at his call: a great battle ensued, in which the persians were completely defeated. ky-kâoos was made prisoner, and confined in a strong fortress under the guard of a hundred deevs, commanded by arjeng, who was instructed to ask the persian monarch every morning how he liked the roses, nightingales, flowers, trees, verdant meadows, shady mountains, clear streams, beautiful damsels, and valiant warriors of mazenderan. the news of this disaster soon spread over persia, and notwithstanding the disgust of old zâl at the headstrong folly of his monarch, he was deeply afflicted at the tale of his misfortune and disgrace. he sent for roostem, to whom he said, "go, my son, and with thy single arm, and thy good horse, reksh, release our sovereign." roostem instantly obeyed. there were two roads, but he chose the nearest, though it was reported to be by far the most difficult and dangerous. fatigued with his first day's journey, roostem lay down to sleep, having turned reksh loose to graze in a neighbouring meadow, where he was attacked by a furious lion; but this wonderful horse, after a short contest, struck his antagonist to the ground with a blow from his fore-hoof, and completed the victory by seizing the throat of the royal animal with his teeth. when roostem awoke, he was surprised and enraged. he desired reksh never again to attempt, unaided, such an encounter. "hadst thou been slain," asked he of the intelligent brute, "how should i have accomplished my enterprise?" at the second stage roostem had nearly died of thirst, but his prayers to the almighty were heard. a fawn appeared, as if to be his guide; and following it, he was conducted to a clear fountain, where, after regaling on the flesh of a wild ass, which he had killed with his bow, he lay down to sleep. in the middle of the night a monstrous serpent, seventy yards in length, came out of its hiding-place, and made at the hero, who was awaked by the neighing of reksh; but the serpent had crept back to its hiding-place, and roostem, seeing no danger, abused his faithful horse for disturbing his repose. another attempt of the serpent was defeated in the same way; but as the monster had again concealed itself, roostem lost all patience with reksh, whom he threatened to put to death if he again awaked him by any such unseasonable noises. the faithful steed, fearing his master's rage, but strong in his attachment, instead of neighing when the serpent again made his appearance, sprang upon it, and commenced a furious contest. roostem, hearing the noise, started up and joined in the combat. the serpent darted at him, but he avoided it, and, while his noble horse seized their enemy by the back, the hero cut off its head with his sword. when the serpent was slain, roostem contemplated its enormous size with amazement, and, with that piety which always distinguished him, returned thanks to the almighty for his miraculous escape. next day, as roostem sat by a fountain, he saw a beautiful damsel regaling herself with wine. he approached her, accepted her invitation to partake of the beverage, and clasped her in his arms as if she had been an angel. it happened, in the course of their conversation, that the persian hero mentioned the name of the great god he adored. at the sound of that sacred word the fair features and shape of the female changed, and she became black, ugly, and deformed. the astonished roostem seized her, and after binding her hands, bid her declare who she was. "i am a sorceress," was the reply, "and have been employed by the evil spirit aharman for thy destruction; but save my life, and i am powerful to do thee service." "i make no compact with the devil or his agents," said the hero, and cut her in twain. he again poured forth his soul in thanksgiving to god for his deliverance. on his fourth stage roostem lost his way. while wandering about he came to a clear rivulet, on the banks of which he lay down to take some repose, having first turned reksh loose into a field of grain. a gardener who had charge of it came and awoke the hero, telling him in an insolent tone that he would soon suffer for his temerity, as the field in which his horse was feeding belonged to a pehloovân, or warrior, called oulâd. roostem, always irascible, but particularly so when disturbed in his slumbers, jumped up, tore off the gardener's ears, and gave him a blow with his fist that broke his nose and teeth. "take these marks of my temper to your master," he said, "and tell him to come here, and he shall have a similar welcome." oulâd, when informed of what had passed, was excited to fury, and prepared to assail the persian hero, who, expecting him, had put on his armour and mounted reksh. his appearance so dismayed oulâd that he dared not venture on the combat till he had summoned his adherents. they all fell upon roostem at once; but the base-born caitiffs were scattered like chaff before the wind; many were slain, others fled, among whom was their chief. him roostem came up with at the fifth stage, and having thrown his noose over him, took him prisoner. oulâd, in order to save his life, not only gave him full information of the place where his sovereign was confined, and of the strength of the deev-e-seffeed, but offered to give the hero every aid in the accomplishment of his perilous enterprise. this offer was accepted, and he proved a most useful auxiliary. on the sixth day they saw in the distance the city of mazenderan, near which the deev-e-seffeed resided. two chieftains, with numerous attendants, met them; and one had the audacity to ride up to roostem, and seize him by the belt. that chief's fury at this insolence was unbounded; he disdained, however, to use his arms against such an enemy, but, seizing the miscreant's head, wrenched it from the body, and hurled it at his companions, who fled in terror and dismay at this terrible proof of the hero's prowess. roostem proceeded, after this action, with his guide to the castle where the king was confined. the deevs who guarded it were asleep, and ky-kâoos was found in a solitary cell, chained to the ground. he recognised roostem, and bursting into tears, pressed his deliverer to his bosom. roostem immediately began to knock off his chains. the noise occasioned by this awoke the deevs, whose leader, beedâr-reng, advanced to seize roostem; but the appearance and threats of the latter so overawed him that he consented to purchase his own safety by the instant release of the persian king and all his followers. after this achievement roostem proceeded to the last and greatest of his labours, the attack of the deev-e-seffeed. oulâd told him that the deevs watched and feasted during the night, but slept during the heat of the day, hating (according to our narrator) the sunbeams. roostem, as he advanced, saw an immense army drawn out; he thought it better, before he attacked them, to refresh himself by some repose. having laid himself down, he soon fell into a sound sleep, and at daylight he awoke quite refreshed. as soon as the sun became warm, he rushed into the camp. the heavy blows of his mace soon awoke the surprised and slumbering guards of the deev-e-seffeed; they collected in myriads, hoping to impede his progress, but all in vain. the rout became general, and none escaped but those who fled from the field of battle. when this army was dispersed, roostem went in search of the deev-e-seffeed, who, ignorant of the fate of his followers, slumbered in the recess of a cavern, the entrance to which looked so dark and gloomy that the persian hero hesitated whether he should advance; but the noise of his approach had roused his enemy, who came forth, clothed in complete armour. his appearance was terrible; but roostem, recommending his soul to god, struck a desperate blow, which separated the leg of the deev from his body. this would on common occasions have terminated the contest, but far different was the result on the present. irritated to madness by the loss of a limb, the monster seized his enemy in his arms, and endeavoured to throw him down. the struggle was for some time doubtful; but roostem, collecting all his strength, by a wondrous effort dashed his foe to the ground, and seizing him by one of the horns, unsheathed his dagger and stabbed him to the heart. the deev-e-seffeed instantly expired; and roostem, on looking round to the entrance of the cavern, from whence the moment before he had seen numberless deevs issuing to the aid of their lord, perceived they were all dead. oulâd, who stood at a prudent distance from the scene of combat, now advanced and informed the hero that the lives of all the deevs depended upon that of their chief. when he was slain, the spell which created and preserved this band was broken, and they all expired. roostem found little difficulty after these seven days of toil, of danger, and of glory, in compelling mazenderan to submit to persia. the king of the country was slain, and oulâd was appointed its governor as a reward for his fidelity. the success of his arms had raised ky-kâoos to the very plenitude of power; not only men, but deevs, obeyed his mandates. the latter he employed in building palaces of crystal, emeralds, and rubies, till at last they became quite tired of their toil and abject condition. they sought, therefore, to destroy him; and to effect this they consulted with the devil, who, to forward the object, instructed a deev, called dizjkheem, to go to ky-kâoos and raise in his mind a passion for astronomy, and to promise him a nearer view of the celestial bodies than had ever yet been enjoyed by mortal eyes. the deev fulfilled his commission with such success that the king became quite wild with a desire to attain perfection in this sublime science. the devil then instructed dizjkheem to train some young vultures to carry a throne upwards; this was done by placing spears round the throne, on the points of which pieces of flesh were fixed in view of the vultures, who were fastened at the bottom. these voracious birds, in their efforts to reach the meat, raised the throne. though he mounted rapidly for a short time, the vultures became exhausted, and finding their efforts to reach the meat hopeless, discontinued them; this altered the direction and equilibrium of the machine, and it tossed to and fro. ky-kâoos would have been cast headlong and killed had he not clung to it. the vultures, not being able to disengage themselves, flew an immense way, and at last landed the affrighted monarch in one of the woods of china. armies marched in every direction to discover and release the sovereign, who, it was believed, had again fallen into the hands of deevs. he was at last found and restored to his capital. roostem, we are told, upbraided his folly, saying- "have you managed your affairs so well on earth that you must needs try your hand in those of heaven?" the man who never laughed. there was a man, of those possessed of houses and riches, who had wealth and servants and slaves and other possessions; and he departed from the world to receive the mercy of god (whose name be exalted!), leaving a young son. and when the son grew up, he took to eating and drinking, and the hearing of instruments of music and songs, and was liberal and gave gifts, and expended the riches that his father had left to him until all the wealth had gone. he then betook himself to the sale of the male black slaves, and the female slaves, and other possessions, and expended all that he had of his father's wealth and other things, and became so poor that he worked with the labourers. in this state he remained for a period of years. while he was sitting one day beneath a wall, waiting to see who would hire him, lo! a man of comely countenance and apparel drew near to him and saluted him. so the youth said to him, "o uncle, hast thou known me before now?" the man answered him, "i have not known thee, o my son, at all; but i see the traces of affluence upon thee, though thou art in this condition." the young man replied, "o uncle, what fate and destiny have ordained hath come to pass. but hast thou, o uncle, o comely-faced, any business in which to employ me?" the man said to him, "o my son, i desire to employ thee in an easy business." the youth asked, "and what is it, o uncle?" and the man answered him, "i have with me ten sheykhs in one abode, and we have no one to perform our wants. thou shalt receive from us, of food and clothing, what will suffice thee, and shalt serve us, and thou shalt receive of us thy portion of benefits and money. perhaps, also, god will restore to thee thine affluence by our means." the youth therefore replied, "i hear and obey." the sheykh then said to him, "i have a condition to impose upon thee." "and what is thy condition, o uncle?" asked the youth. he answered him, "o my son, it is that thou keep our secret with respect to the things that thou shalt see us do; and when thou seest us weep, that thou ask us not respecting the cause of our weeping." and the young man replied, "well, o uncle." so the sheykh said to him, "o my son, come with us, relying on the blessing of god (whose name be exalted!)." and the young man followed the sheykh until the latter conducted him to the bath; after which he sent a man, who brought him a comely garment of linen, and he clad him with it, and went with him to his abode and his associates. and when the young man entered, he found it to be a high mansion, with lofty angles, ample, with chambers facing one another, and saloons; and in each saloon was a fountain of water, and birds were warbling over it, and there were windows overlooking, on every side, a beautiful garden within the mansion. the sheykh conducted him into one of the chambers, and he found it decorated with coloured marbles, and its ceiling ornamented with blue and brilliant gold, and it was spread with carpets of silk; and he found in it ten sheykhs sitting facing one another, wearing the garments of mourning, weeping, and wailing. so the young man wondered at their case, and was about to question the sheykh who had brought him, but he remembered the condition, and therefore withheld his tongue. then the sheykh committed to the young man a chest, containing thirty thousand pieces of gold, saying to him, "o my son, expend upon us out of this chest, and upon thyself, according to what is just, and be thou faithful, and take care of that wherewith i have intrusted thee." and the young man replied, "i hear and obey." he continued to expend upon them for a period of days and nights, after which one of them died; whereupon his companions took him, and washed him and shrouded him, and buried him in a garden behind the mansion. and death ceased not to take of them one after another, until there remained only the sheykh who had hired the young man. so he remained with the young man in that mansion, and there was not with them a third; and they remained thus for a period of years. then the sheykh fell sick; and when the young man despaired of his life, he addressed him with courtesy, and was grieved for him, and said to him, "o uncle, i have served you, and not failed in your service one hour for a period of twelve years, but have acted faithfully to you, and served you according to my power and ability." the sheykh replied, "yes, o my son, thou hast served us until these sheykhs have been taken unto god (to whom be ascribed might and glory!), and we must inevitably die." and the young man said, "o my master, thou art in a state of peril, and i desire of thee that thou inform me what hath been the cause of your weeping, and the continuance of your wailing and your mourning and your sorrow." he replied, "o my son, thou hast no concern with that, and require me not to do what i am unable; for i have begged god (whose name be exalted!) not to afflict any one with my affliction. now if thou desire to be safe from that into which we have fallen, open not that door," and he pointed to it with his hand, and cautioned him against it; "and if thou desire that what hath befallen us should befall thee, open it, and thou wilt know the cause of that which thou hast beheld in our conduct; but thou wilt repent, when repentance will not avail thee." then the illness increased upon the sheykh, and he died; and the young man washed him with his own hands, and shrouded him, and buried him by his companions. he remained in that place, possessing it and all the treasure; but notwithstanding this, he was uneasy, reflecting upon the conduct of the sheykhs. and while he was meditating one day upon the words of the sheykh, and his charge to him not to open the door, it occurred to his mind that he might look at it. so he went in that direction, and searched until he saw an elegant door, over which the spider had woven its webs, and upon it were four locks of steel. when he beheld it, he remembered how the sheykh had cautioned him, and he departed from it. his soul desired him to open the door, and he restrained it during a period of seven days; but on the eighth day his soul overcame him, and he said, "i must open that door, and see what will happen to me in consequence; for nothing will repel what god (whose name be exalted!) decreeth and predestineth, and no event will happen but by his will." accordingly he arose and opened the door, after he had broken the locks. and when he had opened the door he saw a narrow passage, along which he walked for the space of three hours; and lo! he came forth upon the bank of a great river. at this the young man wondered. and he walked along the bank, looking to the right and left; and behold! a great eagle descended from the sky, and taking up the young man with its talons, it flew with him, between heaven and earth, until it conveyed him to an island in the midst of the sea. there it threw him down, and departed from him. so the young man was perplexed at his case, not knowing whither to go; but while he was sitting one day, lo! the sail of a vessel appeared to him upon the sea, like the star in the sky; wherefore the heart of the young man became intent upon the vessel, in the hope that his escape might be effected in it. he continued looking at it until it came near unto him; and when it arrived, he beheld a bark of ivory and ebony, the oars of which were of sandal-wood and aloes-wood, and the whole of it was encased with plates of brilliant gold. there were also in it ten damsels, virgins, like moons. when the damsels saw him, they landed to him from the bark, and kissed his hands, saying to him, "thou art the king, the bridegroom." then there advanced to him a damsel who was like the shining sun in the clear sky, having in her hand a kerchief of silk, in which were a royal robe, and a crown of gold set with varieties of jacinths. having advanced to him, she clad him and crowned him; after which the damsels carried him in their arms to the bark, and he found in it varieties of carpets of silk of divers colours. they then spread the sails, and proceeded over the depths of the sea. "now when i proceeded with them," says the young man, "i felt sure that this was a dream, and knew not whither they were going with me. and when they came in sight of the land, i beheld it filled with troops, the number of which none knew but god (whose perfection be extolled, and whose name be exalted!) clad in coats of mail. they brought forward to me five marked horses, with saddles of gold, set with varieties of pearls and precious stones; and i took a horse from among these and mounted it. the four others proceeded with me; and when i mounted, the ensigns and banners were set up over my head, the drums and the cymbals were beaten, and the troops disposed themselves in two divisions, right and left. i wavered in opinion as to whether i were asleep or awake, and ceased not to advance, not believing in the reality of my stately procession, but imagining that it was the result of confused dreams, until we came in sight of a verdant meadow, in which were palaces and gardens, and trees and rivers and flowers, and birds proclaiming the perfection of god, the one, the omnipotent. and now there came forth an army from among those palaces and gardens, like the torrent when it poureth down, until it filled the meadow. when the troops drew near to me, they hailed, and lo! a king advanced from among them, riding alone, preceded by some of his chief officers walking." the king, on approaching the young man, alighted from his courser; and the young man, seeing him do so, alighted also; and they saluted each other with the most courteous salutation. then they mounted their horses again, and the king said to the young man, "accompany us; for thou art my guest." so the young man proceeded with him, and they conversed together, while the stately trains in orderly disposition went on before them to the palace of the king, where they alighted, and all of them entered, together with the king and the young man, the young man's hand being in the hand of the king, who thereupon seated him on the throne of gold and seated himself beside him. when the king removed the litham from his face, lo! this supposed king was a damsel, like the shining sun in the clear sky, a lady of beauty and loveliness, and elegance and perfection, and conceit and amorous dissimulation. the young man beheld vast affluence and great prosperity, and wondered at the beauty and loveliness of the damsel. then the damsel said to him, "know, o king, that i am the queen of this land, and all these troops that thou hast seen, including every one, whether of cavalry or infantry, are women. there are not among them any men. the men among us, in this land, till and sow and reap, employing themselves in the cultivation of the land, and the building and repairing of the towns, and in attending to the affairs of the people, by the pursuit of every kind of art and trade; but as to the women, they are the governors and magistrates and soldiers." and the young man wondered at this extremely. and while they were thus conversing, the vizier entered; and lo! she was a grey-haired old woman, having a numerous retinue, of venerable and dignified appearance; and the queen said to her, "bring to us the kádee and the witnesses." so the old woman went for that purpose. and the queen turned towards the young man, conversing with him and cheering him, and dispelling his fear by kind words; and, addressing him courteously, she said to him, "art thou content for me to be thy wife?" and thereupon he arose and kissed the ground before her; but she forbade him; and he replied, "o my mistress, i am less than the servants who serve thee." she then said to him, "seest thou not these servants and soldiers and wealth and treasures and hoards?" he answered her, "yes." and she said to him, "all these are at thy disposal; thou shalt make use of them, and give and bestow as seemeth fit to thee." then she pointed to a closed door, and said to him, "all these things thou shalt dispose of; but this door thou shalt not open; for if thou open it, thou wilt repent, when repentance will not avail thee." her words were not ended when the vizier, with the kádee and the witnesses, entered, and all of them were old women, with their hair spreading over their shoulders, and of venerable and dignified appearance. when they came before the queen, she ordered them to perform the ceremony of the marriage-contract. so they married her to the young man. and she prepared the banquets and collected the troops; and when they had eaten and drunk, the young man took her as his wife. and he resided with her seven years, passing the most delightful, comfortable, and agreeable life. but he meditated one day upon opening the door, and said, "were it not that there are within it great treasures, better than what i have seen, she had not prohibited me from opening it." he then arose and opened the door, and lo! within it was the bird that had carried him from the shore of the great river, and deposited him upon the island. when the bird beheld him, it said to him, "no welcome to a face that will never be happy!" so, when he saw it and heard its words, he fled from it; but it followed him and carried him off, and flew with him between heaven and earth for the space of an hour, and at length deposited him in the place from which it had carried him away; after which it disappeared. he thereupon sat in that place, and, returning to his reason, he reflected upon what he had seen of affluence and glory and honour, and the riding of the troops before him, and commanding and forbidding; and he wept and wailed. he remained upon the shore of the great river, where that bird had put him, for the space of two months, wishing that he might return to his wife; but while he was one night awake, mourning and meditating, some one spoke (and he heard his voice, but saw not his person), calling out, "how great were the delights! far, far from thee is the return of what is passed! and how many therefore will be the sighs!" so when the young man heard it, he despaired of meeting again that queen, and of the return to him of the affluence in which he had been living. he then entered the mansion where the sheykhs had resided, and knew that they had experienced the like of that which had happened unto him, and that this was the cause of their weeping and their mourning; wherefore he excused them. grief and anxiety came upon the young man, and he entered his chamber, and ceased not to weep and moan, relinquishing food and drink and pleasant scents and laughter, until he died; and he was buried by the side of the sheykhs. the fox and the wolf. a fox and a wolf inhabited the same den, resorting thither together, and thus they remained a long time. but the wolf oppressed the fox; and it so happened that the fox counselled the wolf to assume benignity, and to abandon wickedness, saying to him, "if thou persevere in thine arrogance, probably god will give power over thee to a son of adam; for he is possessed of stratagems, and artifice, and guile; he captureth the birds from the sky, and the fish from the sea, and cutteth the mountains and transporteth them; and all this he accomplisheth through his stratagems. betake thyself, therefore, to the practice of equity, and relinquish evil and oppression; for it will be more pleasant to thy taste." the wolf, however, received not his advice; on the contrary, he returned him a rough reply, saying to him, "thou hast no right to speak on matters of magnitude and importance." he then gave the fox such a blow that he fell down senseless; and when he recovered, he smiled in the wolf's face, apologising for his shameful words, and recited these two verses:- "if i have been faulty in my affection for you, and committed a deed of a shameful nature, i repent of my offence, and your clemency will extend to the evildoer who craveth forgiveness." so the wolf accepted his apology, and ceased from ill-treating him, but said to him, "speak not of that which concerneth thee not, lest thou hear that which will not please thee." the fox replied, "i hear and obey. i will abstain from that which pleaseth thee not; for the sage hath said, 'offer not information on a subject respecting which thou art not questioned; and reply not to words when thou art not invited; leave what concerneth thee not, to attend to that which _doth_ concern thee; and lavish not advice upon the evil, for they will recompense thee for it with evil.'" when the wolf heard these words of the fox, he smiled in his face; but he meditated upon employing some artifice against him, and said, "i must strive to effect the destruction of this fox." as to the fox, however, he bore patiently the injurious conduct of the wolf, saying within himself, "verily, insolence and calumny occasion destruction, and betray one into perplexity; for it hath been said, 'he who is insolent suffereth injury, and he who is ignorant repenteth, and he who feareth is safe: moderation is one of the qualities of the noble, and good manners are the noblest gain.' it is advisable to behave with dissimulation towards this tyrant, and he will inevitably be overthrown." he then said to the wolf, "verily the lord pardoneth and becometh propitious unto his servant when he hath sinned; and i am a weak slave, and have committed a transgression in offering thee advice. had i foreknown the pain that i have suffered from thy blow, i had known that the elephant could not withstand nor endure it; but i will not complain of the pain of that blow, on account of the happiness that hath resulted unto me from it; for, if it had a severe effect upon me, its result was happiness; and the sage hath said, 'the beating inflicted by the preceptor is at first extremely grievous; but in the end it is sweeter than clarified honey!'" so the wolf said, "i forgive thine offence, and cancel thy fault; but beware of my power, and confess thyself my slave; for thou hast experienced my severity unto him who showeth me hostility." the fox, therefore, prostrated himself before him, saying to him, "may god prolong thy life, and mayest thou not cease to subdue him who opposeth thee!" and he continued to fear the wolf, and to dissemble towards him. after this the fox went one day to a vineyard, and saw in its wall a breach; but he suspected it, saying unto himself, "there must be some cause for this breach, and it hath been said, 'whoso seeth a hole in the ground, and doth not shun it, and be cautious of advancing to it boldly, exposeth himself to danger and destruction.' it is well known that some men make a figure of the fox in the vineyard, and even put before it grapes in plates, in order that a fox may see it, and advance to it, and fall into destruction. verily i regard this breach as a snare; and it hath been said, 'caution is the half of cleverness.' caution requireth me to examine this breach, and to see if i can find there anything that may lead to perdition. covetousness doth not induce me to throw myself into destruction." he then approached it, and, going round about examining it warily, beheld it; and lo! there was a deep pit, which the owner of the vineyard had dug to catch in it the wild beasts that despoiled the vines; and he observed over it a slight covering. so he drew back from it, and said, "praise be to god that i regarded it with caution! i hope that my enemy, the wolf, who hath made my life miserable, may fall into it, so that i alone may enjoy absolute power over the vineyard, and live in it securely." then, shaking his head, and uttering a loud laugh, he merrily sang these verses- "would that i beheld at the present moment in this well a wolf, who hath long afflicted my heart, and made me drink bitterness perforce! would that my life might be spared, and that the wolf might meet his death! then the vineyard would be free from his presence, and i should find in it my spoil." having finished his song, he hurried away until he came to the wolf, when he said to him, "verily god hath smoothed for thee the way to the vineyard without fatigue. this hath happened through thy good fortune. mayest thou enjoy, therefore, that to which god hath granted thee access, in smoothing thy way to that plunder and that abundant sustenance without any difficulty!" so the wolf said to the fox, "what is the proof of that which thou hast declared?" the fox answered, "i went to the vineyard, and found that its owner had died; and i entered the garden, and beheld the fruits shining upon the trees." so the wolf doubted not the words of the fox, and in his eagerness he arose and went to the breach. his cupidity had deceived him with vain hopes, and the fox stopped and fell down behind him as one dead, applying this verse as a proverb suited to the case- "dost thou covet an interview with leyla? it is covetousness that causeth the loss of men's heads." when the wolf came to the breach, the fox said to him, "enter the vineyard; for thou art spared the trouble of breaking down the wall of the garden, and it remaineth for god to complete the benefit." so the wolf walked forward, desiring to enter the vineyard, and when he came to the middle of the covering of the hole, he fell into it; whereupon the fox was violently excited by happiness and joy, his anxiety and grief ceased, and in merry tones he sang these verses- "fortune hath compassionated my case, and felt pity for the length of my torment, and granted me what i desired, and removed that which i dreaded. i will, therefore, forgive its offences committed in former times; even the injustice it hath shown in the turning of my hair grey. there is no escape for the wolf from utter annihilation; and the vineyard is for me alone, and i have no stupid partner." he then looked into the pit, and beheld the wolf weeping in his repentance and sorrow for himself, and the fox wept with him. so the wolf raised his head towards him, and said, "is it from thy compassion for me that thou hast wept, o abu-l-hoseyn?" "no," answered the fox, "by him who cast thee into this pit; but i weep for the length of thy past life, and in my regret at thy not having fallen into this pit before the present day. hadst thou fallen into it before i met with thee, i had experienced refreshment and ease. but thou hast been spared to the expiration of thy decreed term and known period." the wolf, however, said to him, "go, o evildoer, to my mother, and acquaint her with that which hath happened to me; perhaps she will contrive some means for my deliverance." but the fox replied, "the excess of thy covetousness and eager desire has entrapped thee into destruction, since thou hast fallen into a pit from which thou wilt never be saved. knowest thou not, o ignorant wolf, that the author of the proverb saith, 'he who thinks not of results will not be secure from perils?'" "o abu-l-hoseyn!" rejoined the wolf, "thou wast wont to manifest an affection for me, and to desire my friendship, and fear the greatness of my power. be not, then, rancorous towards me for that which i have done unto thee; for he who hath one in his power, and yet forgiveth, will receive a recompense from god, and the poet hath said- "'sow good, even on an unworthy soil; for it will not be fruitless wherever it is sown. verily, good, though it remained long buried, none will reap but him who sowed it.'" "o most ignorant of the beasts of prey!" said the fox, "and most stupid of the wild beasts of the regions of the earth, hast thou forgotten thy haughtiness, and insolence, and pride, and thy disregarding the rights of companionship, and thy refusing to be advised by the saying of the poet?- "'tyrannise not, if thou hast the power to do so; for the tyrannical is in danger of revenge, thine eye will sleep while the oppressed, wakeful, will call down curses on thee, and god's eye sleepeth not.'" "o abu-l-hoseyn!" exclaimed the wolf, "be not angry with me for my former offences, for forgiveness is required of the generous, and kind conduct is among the best means of enriching one's-self. how excellent is the saying of the poet- "'haste to do good when thou art able; for at every season thou hast not the power.'" he continued to abase himself to the fox, and said to him, "perhaps thou canst find some means of delivering me from destruction." but the fox replied, "o artful, guileful, treacherous wolf! hope not for deliverance; for this is the recompense of thy base conduct, and a just retaliation." then, shaking his jaws with laughing, he recited these two verses- "no longer attempt to beguile me; for thou wilt not attain thy object. what thou seekest from me is impossible. thou hast sown, and reap, then, vexation." "o gentle one among the beasts of prey!" resumed the wolf, "thou art in my estimation more faithful than to leave me in this pit." he then shed tears, and repeated this couplet- "o thou whose favours to me have been many, and whose gifts have been more than can be numbered! no misfortune hath ever yet befallen me but i have found thee ready to aid me in it." the fox replied, "o stupid enemy, how art thou reduced to humility, submissiveness, abjectness, and obsequiousness, after thy disdain, pride, tyranny, and haughtiness! i kept company with thee through fear of thine oppression, and flattered thee without a hope of conciliating thy kindness; but now terror hath affected thee, and punishment hath overtaken thee." and he recited these two verses- "o thou who seekest to beguile! thou hast fallen in thy base intention. taste, then, the pain of shameful calamity, and be with other wolves cut off." the wolf still entreated him, saying, "o gentle one! speak not with the tongue of enmity, nor look with its eye; but fulfil the covenant of fellowship with me before the time for discovering a remedy shall have passed. arise and procure for me a rope, and tie one end of it to a tree, and let down to me its other end, that i may lay hold of it. perhaps i may so escape from my present predicament, and i will give thee all the treasures that i possess." the fox, however, replied, "thou hast prolonged a conversation that will not procure thy liberation. hope not, therefore, for thy escape through my means; but reflect upon thy former wicked conduct, and the perfidy and artifice which thou thoughtest to employ against me, and how near thou art to being stoned. know that thy soul is about to quit the world, and to perish and depart from it: then wilt thou be reduced to destruction, and an evil abode is it to which thou goest!" "o abu-l-hoseyn!" rejoined the wolf, "be ready in returning to friendship, and be not so rancorous. know that he who delivereth a soul from destruction hath saved it alive, and he who saveth a soul alive is as if he had saved the lives of all mankind. follow not a course of evil, for the wise abhor it; and there is no evil more manifest than my being in this pit, drinking the suffocating pains of death, and looking upon destruction, when thou art able to deliver me from the misery into which i have fallen." but the fox exclaimed, "o thou barbarous, hard-hearted wretch! i compare thee, with respect to the fairness of thy professions and the baseness of thine intention, to the falcon with the partridge." "and what," asked the wolf, "is the story of the falcon and the partridge?" the fox answered, "i entered a vineyard one day to eat of its grapes, and while i was there, i beheld a falcon pounce upon a partridge; but when he had captured him, the partridge escaped from him and entered his nest, and concealed himself in it; whereupon the falcon followed him, calling out to him, 'o idiot! i saw thee in the desert hungry, and, feeling compassion for thee, i gathered for thee some grain, and took hold of thee that thou mightest eat; but thou fleddest from me, and i see no reason for thy flight unless it be to mortify. show thyself, then, and take the grain that i have brought thee and eat it, and may it be light and wholesome to thee.' so when the partridge heard these words of the falcon, he believed him and came forth to him; and the falcon stuck his talons into him, and got possession of him. the partridge therefore said to him, 'is this that of which thou saidst that thou hadst brought for me from the desert, and of which thou saidst to me, "eat it, and may it be light and wholesome to thee?" thou hast lied unto me; and may god make that which thou eatest of my flesh to be a mortal poison in thy stomach!' and when he had eaten it, his feathers fell off, and his strength failed, and he forthwith died." the fox then continued, "know, o wolf, that he who diggeth a pit for his brother soon falleth into it himself; and thou behavedst with perfidy to me first." "cease," replied the wolf, "from addressing me with this discourse, and propounding fables, and mention not unto me my former base actions. it is enough for me to be in this miserable state, since i have fallen into a calamity for which the enemy would pity me, much more the true friend. consider some stratagem by means of which i may save myself, and so assist me. if the doing this occasion thee trouble, thou knowest that the true friend endureth for his own true friend the severest labour, and will suffer destruction in obtaining his deliverance; and it hath been said, 'an affectionate friend is even better than a brother.' if thou procure means for my escape, i will collect for thee such things as shall be a store for thee against the time of want, and then i will teach thee extraordinary stratagems by which thou shalt make the plenteous vineyards accessible, and shalt strip the fruitful trees: so be happy and cheerful." but the fox said, laughing as he spoke, "how excellent is that which the learned have said of him who is excessively ignorant like thee!" "and what have the learned said?" asked the wolf. the fox answered, "the learned have observed that the rude in body and in disposition is far from intelligence, and nigh unto ignorance; for thine assertion, o perfidious idiot! that the true friend undergoeth trouble for the deliverance of his own true friend is just as thou hast said; but acquaint me, with thine ignorance and thy paucity of sense, how i should bear sincere friendship towards thee with thy treachery. hast thou considered me a true friend unto thee when i am an enemy who rejoiceth in thy misfortune? these words are more severe than the piercing of arrows, if thou understand. and as to thy saying that thou wilt give me such things as will be a store for me against the time of want, and will teach me stratagems by which i shall obtain access to the plenteous vineyards and strip the fruitful trees--how is it, o guileful traitor! that thou knowest not a stratagem by means of which to save thyself from destruction? how far, then, art thou from profiting thyself, and how far am i from receiving thine advice? if thou know of stratagems, employ them to save thyself from this predicament from which i pray god to make thine escape far distant. see, then, o idiot! if thou know any stratagem, and save thyself by its means from slaughter, before thou lavish instruction upon another. but thou art like a man whom a disease attacked, and to whom there came a man suffering from the same disease to cure him, saying to him, 'shall i cure thee of thy disease?' the first man, therefore, said to the other, 'why hast thou not begun by curing thyself?' so he left him and went his way. and thou, o wolf, art in the same case. remain, then, in thy place, and endure that which hath befallen thee." now when the wolf heard these words of the fox, he knew that he had no kindly feeling for him; so he wept for himself, and said, "i have been careless of myself; but if god deliver me from this affliction, i will assuredly repent of my overbearing conduct unto him that is weaker than i; and i will certainly wear wool, and ascend the mountains, commemorating the praises of god (whose name be exalted!) and fearing his punishment; and i will separate myself from all the other wild beasts, and verily i will feed the warriors in defence of the religion and the poor." then he wept and lamented; and thereupon the heart of the fox was moved with tenderness for him. on hearing his humble expressions, and the words which indicated his repenting of arrogance and pride, he was affected with compassion for him, and, leaping with joy, placed himself at the brink of the pit, and sat upon his hind-legs and hung down his tail into the cavity. upon this the wolf arose, and stretched forth his paw towards the fox's tail, and pulled him down to him; so the fox was with him in the pit. the wolf then said to him, "o fox of little compassion! wherefore didst thou rejoice in my misfortune? now thou hast become my companion, and in my power. thou hast fallen into the pit with me, and punishment hath quickly overtaken thee. the sages have said, 'if any one of you reproach his brother for deriving his nourishment from miserable means, he shall experience the same necessity,' and how excellent is the saying of the poet- "'when fortune throweth itself heavily upon some, and encampeth by the side of others, say to those who rejoice over us, "awake: the rejoicers over us shall suffer as _we_ have done."' "i must now," he continued, "hasten thy slaughter, before thou beholdest mine." so the fox said within himself, "i have fallen into the snare with this tyrant, and my present case requireth the employment of artifice and frauds. it hath been said that the woman maketh her ornaments for the day of festivity; and, in a proverb, 'i have not reserved thee, o my tear, but for the time of my difficulty!' and if i employ not some stratagem in the affair of this tyrannical wild beast, i perish inevitably. how good is the saying of the poet- "'support thyself by guile; for thou livest in an age whose sons are like the lions of the forest; and brandish around the spear of artifice, that the mill of subsistence may revolve; and pluck the fruits; or if they be beyond thy reach, then content thyself with herbage.'" he then said to the wolf, "hasten not to kill me, lest thou repent, o courageous wild beast, endowed with might and excessive fortitude! if thou delay, and consider what i am about to tell thee, thou wilt know the desire that i formed; and if thou hasten to kill me, there will be no profit to thee in thy doing so, but we shall die here together." so the wolf said, "o thou wily deceiver! how is it that thou hopest to effect my safety and thine own, that thou askest me to give thee a delay? acquaint me with the desire that thou formedst." the fox replied, "as to the desire that i formed, it was such as requireth thee to recompense me for it well, since, when i heard thy promises, and thy confession of thy past conduct, and thy regret at not having before repented and done good; and when i heard thy vows to abstain from injurious conduct to thy companions and others, and to relinquish the eating of the grapes and all other fruits, and to impose upon thyself the obligation of humility, and to clip thy claws and break thy dog-teeth, and to wear wool and offer sacrifice to god (whose name be exalted!) if he delivered thee from thy present state, i was affected with compassion for thee, though i was before longing for thy destruction. so when i heard thy profession of repentance, and what thou vowedst to do if god delivered thee, i felt constrained to save thee from thy present predicament. i therefore hung down my tail that thou mightest catch hold of it and make thine escape. but thou wouldst not relinquish thy habit of severity and violence, nor desire escape and safety for thyself by gentleness. on the contrary, thou didst pull me in such a way that i thought my soul had departed, so i became a companion with thee of the abode of destruction and death; and nothing will effect the escape of myself and thee but one plan. if thou approve of this plan that i have to propose, we shall both save ourselves; and after that, it will be incumbent on thee to fulfil that which thou hast vowed to do, and i will be thy companion." so the wolf said, "and what is thy proposal that i am to accept?" the fox answered, "that thou raise thyself upright; then i will place myself upon thy head, that i may approach the surface of the earth, and when i am upon its surface i will go forth and bring thee something of which to take hold, and after that thou wilt deliver thyself." but the wolf replied, "i put no confidence in thy words; for the sages have said, 'he who confideth when he should hate is in error'; and it hath been said, 'he who confideth in the faithless is deceived, and he who maketh trial of the trier will repent.' how excellent also is the saying of the poet- "'let not your opinion be otherwise than evil; for ill opinion is among the strongest of intellectual qualities. nothing casteth a man into a place of danger like the practice of good, and a fair opinion!' "and the saying of another- "'always hold an evil opinion, and so be safe. whoso liveth vigilantly, his calamities will be few. meet the enemy with a smiling and an open face; but raise for him an army in the heart to combat him.' "and that of another- "'the most bitter of thine enemies is the nearest whom thou trustest in: beware then of men, and associate with them wilily. thy favourable opinion of fortune is a weakness: think evil of it, therefore, and regard it with apprehension!'" "verily," rejoined the fox, "an evil opinion is not commendable in every case; but a fair opinion is among the characteristics of excellence, and its result is escape from terrors. it is befitting, o wolf, that thou employ some stratagem for thine escape from the present predicament; and it will be better for us both to escape than to die. relinquish, therefore, thine evil opinion and thy malevolence; for if thou think favourably of me, i shall not fail to do one of two things; either i shall bring thee something of which to lay hold, and thou wilt escape from thy present situation, or i shall act perfidiously towards thee, and save myself and leave thee; but this is a thing that cannot be, for i am not secured from meeting with some such affliction as that which thou hast met with, and that would be the punishment of perfidy. it hath been said in a proverb, 'fidelity is good, and perfidy is base.' it is fit, then, that thou trust in me, for i have not been ignorant of misfortunes. delay not, therefore, to contrive our escape, for the affair is too strait for thee to prolong thy discourse upon it." the wolf then said, "verily, notwithstanding my little confidence in thy fidelity, i knew what was in thy heart, that thou desiredst my deliverance when thou wast convinced of my repentance; and i said within myself, 'if he be veracious in that which he asserteth, he hath made amends for his wickedness; and if he be false, he will be recompensed by his lord.' so now i accept thy proposal to me, and if thou act perfidiously towards me, thy perfidy will be the means of thy destruction." then the wolf raised himself upright in the pit, and took the fox upon his shoulders, so that his head reached the surface of the ground. the fox thereupon sprang from the wolf's shoulders, and found himself upon the face of the earth, when he fell down senseless. the wolf now said to him, "o my friend! forget not my case, nor delay my deliverance." the fox, however, uttered a loud laugh, and replied, "o thou deceived! it was nothing but my jesting with thee and deriding thee that entrapped me into thy power; for when i heard thy profession of repentance, joy excited me, and i was moved with delight, and danced, and my tail hung down into the pit; so thou didst pull me, and i fell by thee. then god (whose name be exalted!) delivered me from thy hand. wherefore, then, should i not aid in thy destruction when thou art of the associates of the devil? know that i dreamt yesterday that i was dancing at thy wedding, and i related the dream to an interpreter, who said to me, 'thou wilt fall into a frightful danger, and escape from it.' so i knew that my falling into thy power and my escape was the interpretation of my dream. thou, too, knowest, o deceived idiot! that i am thine enemy. how, then, dost thou hope, with thy little sense and thine ignorance, that i will deliver thee, when thou hast heard what rude language i used? and how shall i endeavour to deliver thee, when the learned have said that by the death of the sinner are produced ease to mankind and purgation of the earth? did i not fear that i should suffer, by fidelity to thee, such affliction as would be greater than that which may result from perfidy, i would consider upon means for thy deliverance." so when the wolf heard the words of the fox, he bit his paw in repentance. he then spoke softly to him, but obtained nothing thereby. with a low voice he said to him, "verily, you tribe of foxes are the sweetest of people in tongue, and the most pleasant in jesting, and this is jesting in thee; but every time is not convenient for sport and joking." "o idiot!" replied the fox, "jesting hath a limit which its employer transgresseth not. think not that god will give thee possession of me after he hath delivered me from thy power." the wolf then said to him, "thou art one in whom it is proper to desire my liberation, on account of the former brotherhood and friendship that subsisted between us; and if thou deliver me, i will certainly recompense thee well." but the fox replied, "the sages have said, 'take not as thy brother the ignorant and wicked, for he will disgrace thee, and not honour thee; and take not as thy brother the liar, for if good proceed from thee he will hide it, and if evil proceed from thee he will publish it!' and the sages have said, 'for everything there is a stratagem, excepting death; and everything may be rectified excepting the corruption of the very essence; and everything may be repelled excepting destiny.' and as to the recompense which thou assertest that i deserve of thee, i compare thee, in thy recompensing, to the serpent fleeing from the háwee, when a man saw her in a state of terror, and said to her, 'what is the matter with thee, o serpent?' she answered, 'i have fled from the háwee, for he seeketh me; and if thou deliver me from him, and conceal me with thee, i will recompense thee well, and do thee every kindness.' so the man took her, to obtain the reward, and eager for the recompense, and put her into his pocket; and when the háwee had passed and gone his way, and what she feared had quitted her, the man said to her, 'where is the recompense, for i have saved thee from that which thou fearedst and didst dread?' the serpent answered him, 'tell me in what member i shall bite thee; for thou knowest that we exceed not this recompense.' she then inflicted upon him a bite, from which he died. and thee, o idiot!" continued the fox, "i compare to that serpent with that man. hast thou not heard the saying of the poet?- "'trust not a person in whose heart thou hast made anger to dwell, nor think his anger hath ceased. verily, the vipers, though smooth to the touch, show graceful motions, and hide mortal poison.'" "o eloquent and comely-faced animal!" rejoined the wolf, "be not ignorant of my condition, and of the fear with which mankind regard me. thou knowest that i assault the strong places, and strip the vines. do, therefore, what i have commanded thee, and attend to me as the slave attendeth to his master." "o ignorant idiot! who seekest what is vain," exclaimed the fox, "verily i wonder at thy stupidity, and at the roughness of thy manner, in thine ordering me to serve thee and to stand before thee as though i were a slave. but thou shalt soon see what will befall thee, by the splitting of thy head with stones, and the breaking of thy treacherous dog-teeth." the fox then stationed himself upon a mound overlooking the vineyard, and cried out incessantly to the people of the vineyard until they perceived him and came quickly to him. he remained steady before them until they drew near unto him, and unto the pit in which was the wolf, and then he fled. so the owners of the vineyard looked into the pit, and when they beheld the wolf in it, they instantly pelted him with heavy stones, and continued throwing stones and pieces of wood upon him, and piercing him with the points of spears, until they killed him, when they departed. then the fox returned to the pit, and standing over the place of the wolf's slaughter, saw him dead; whereupon he shook his head in the excess of his joy, and recited these verses- "fate removed the wolf's soul, and it was snatched away. far distant from happiness be his soul that hath perished. how long hast thou striven, abos tirhán, to destroy me! but now have burning calamities befallen thee. thou hast fallen into a pit into which none shall descend without finding in it the blasts of death." after this the fox remained in the vineyard alone, and in security, fearing no mischief. the shepherd and the jogie. it is related that during the reign of a king of cutch, named lakeh, a jogie lived, who was a wise man, and wonderfully skilled in the preparation of herbs. for years he had been occupied in searching for a peculiar kind of grass, the roots of which should be burnt, and a man be thrown into the flames. the body so burnt would become gold, and any of the members might be removed without the body sustaining any loss, as the parts so taken would always be self-restored. it so occurred that this jogie, whilst following a flock of goats, observed one amongst them eating of the grass he was so anxious to procure. he immediately rooted it up, and desired the shepherd who was near to assist him in procuring firewood. when he had collected the wood and kindled a flame, into which the grass was thrown, the jogie, wishing to render the shepherd the victim of his avarice, desired him, under some pretence, to make a few circuits round the fire. the man, however, suspecting foul play, watched his opportunity, and, seizing the jogie himself, he threw him into the fire and left him to be consumed. next day, on returning to the spot, great was his surprise to behold the golden figure of a man lying amongst the embers. he immediately chopped off one of the limbs and hid it. the next day he returned to take another, when his astonishment was yet greater to see that a fresh limb had replaced the one already taken. in short, the shepherd soon became wealthy, and revealed the secret of his riches to the king, lakeh, who, by the same means, accumulated so much gold that every day he was in the habit of giving one lac and twenty-five thousand rupees in alms to fakirs. the perfidious vizier. a king of former times had an only son, whom he contracted in marriage to the daughter of another king. but the damsel, who was endowed with great beauty, had a cousin who had sought her in marriage, and had been rejected; wherefore he sent great presents to the vizier of the king just mentioned, requesting him to employ some stratagem by which to destroy his master's son, or to induce him to relinquish the damsel. the vizier consented. then the father of the damsel sent to the king's son, inviting him to come and introduce himself to his daughter, to take her as his wife; and the father of the young man sent him with the treacherous vizier, attended by a thousand horsemen, and provided with rich presents. when they were proceeding over the desert, the vizier remembered that there was near unto them a spring of water called ez-zahra, and that whosoever drank of it, if he were a man, became a woman. he therefore ordered the troops to alight near it, and induced the prince to go thither with him. when they arrived at the spring, the king's son dismounted from his courser, and washed his hands, and drank; and lo! he became a woman; whereupon he cried out and wept until he fainted. the vizier asked him what had befallen him, so the young man informed him; and on hearing his words, the vizier affected to be grieved for him, and wept. the king's son then sent the vizier back to his father to inform him of this event, determining not to proceed nor to return until his affliction should be removed from him, or until he should die. he remained by the fountain during a period of three days and nights, neither eating nor drinking, and on the fourth night there came to him a horseman with a crown upon his head, appearing like one of the sons of the kings. this horseman said to him, "who brought you, o young man, unto this place?" so the young man told him his story; and when the horseman heard it, he pitied him, and said to him, "the vizier of thy father is the person who hath thrown thee into this calamity; for no one of mankind knoweth of this spring excepting one man." then the horseman ordered him to mount with him. he therefore mounted; and the horseman said to him, "come with me to my abode: for thou art my guest this night." the young man replied, "inform me who thou art before i go with thee." and the horseman said, "i am the son of a king of the jinn, and thou art son of a king of mankind. and now, be of good heart and cheerful eye on account of that which shall dispel thine anxiety and thy grief, for it is unto me easy." so the young man proceeded with him from the commencement of the day, forsaking his troops and soldiers (whom the vizier had left at their halting-place), and ceased not to travel on with his conductor until midnight, when the son of the king of the jinn said to him, "knowest thou what space we have traversed during this period?" the young man answered him, "i know not." the son of the king of the jinn said, "we have traversed a space of a year's journey to him who travelleth with diligence." so the young man wondered thereat, and asked, "how shall i return to my family?" the other answered, "this is not thine affair. it is my affair; and when thou shalt have recovered from thy misfortune, thou shalt return to thy family in less time than the twinkling of an eye, for to accomplish that will be to me easy." the young man, on hearing these words from the jinnee, almost flew with excessive delight. he thought that the event was a result of confused dreams, and said, "extolled be the perfection of him who is able to restore the wretched, and render him prosperous!" they ceased not to proceed until morning, when they arrived at a verdant, bright land, with tall trees, and warbling birds, and gardens of surpassing beauty, and fair palaces; and thereupon the son of the king of the jinn alighted from his courser, commanding the young man also to dismount. he therefore dismounted, and the jinnee took him by the hand, and they entered one of the palaces, where the young man beheld an exalted king and a sultan of great dignity, and he remained with them that day, eating and drinking, until the approach of night. then the son of the king of the jinn arose and mounted with him, and they went forth, and proceeded during the night with diligence until the morning. and lo! they came to a black land, not inhabited, abounding with black rocks and stones, as though it were a part of hell; whereupon the son of the king of men said to the jinnee, "what is the name of this land?" and he answered, "it is called the dusky land, and belongeth to one of the kings of the jinn, whose name is zu-l-jenáheyn. none of the kings can attack him, nor doth any one enter his territory unless by his permission, so stop in thy place while i ask his permission." accordingly the young man stopped, and the jinn was absent from him for a while, and then returned to him; and they ceased not to proceed until they came to a spring flowing from black mountains. the jinnee said to the young man, "alight." he therefore alighted from his courser, and the jinnee said to him, "drink of this spring." the young prince drank of it, and immediately became again a man, as he was at first, by the power of god (whose name be exalted!), whereat he rejoiced with great joy, not to be exceeded. and he said to the jinn, "o my brother, what is the name of this spring?" the jinnee answered, "it is called the spring of the women: no woman drinketh of it but she becometh a man; therefore praise god, and thank him for thy restoration, and mount thy courser." so the king's son prostrated himself, thanking god (whose name be exalted!). then he mounted, and they journeyed with diligence during the rest of the day until they had returned to the land of the jinnee, and the young man passed the night in his abode in the most comfortable manner; after which they ate and drank until the next night, when the son of the king of the jinn said to him, "dost thou desire to return to thy family this night?" the young man answered, "yes." so the son of the king of the jinn called one of his father's slaves, whose name was rájiz, and said to him, "take this young man hence, and carry him upon thy shoulders, and let not the dawn overtake him before he is with his father-in-law and his wife." the slave replied, "i hear and obey, and with feelings of love and honour will i do it." then the slave absented himself for a while, and approached in the form of an 'efreet. and when the young man saw him his reason fled, and he was stupefied; but the son of the king of the jinn said to him, "no harm shall befall thee. mount thy courser. ascend upon his shoulders." the young man then mounted upon the slave's shoulders, and the son of the king of the jinn said to him, "close thine eyes." so he closed his eyes, and the slave flew with him between heaven and earth, and ceased not to fly along with him while the young man was unconscious, and the last third of the night came not before he was on the top of the palace of his father-in-law. then the 'efreet said to him, "alight." he therefore alighted. and the 'efreet said to him, "open thine eyes; for this is the palace of thy father-in-law and his daughter." then he left him and departed. and as soon as the day shone, and the alarm of the young man subsided, he descended from the roof of the palace; and when his father-in-law beheld him, he rose to him and met him, wondering at seeing him descend from the top of the palace, and he said to him, "we see other men come through the doors, but thou comest down from the sky." the young man replied, "what god (whose perfection be extolled, and whose name be exalted!) desired hath happened." and when the sun rose, his father-in-law ordered his vizier to prepare great banquets, and the wedding was celebrated; the young man remained there two months, and then departed with his wife to the city of his father. but as to the cousin of the damsel, he perished by reason of his jealousy and envy. printed by t. and a. constable, printers to her majesty, _at the edinburgh university press_. transcriber's note minor punctuation errors have been repaired. archaic and variable spelling, e.g. corse and corpse, is preserved as printed where there was no predominance of one form over the other. "the relations of ssidi kur" contains phrasing at the end of each story, beginning with the word 'ssarwala,' which is similar but not identical each time it occurs. while two seemingly typographic errors have been amended for consistency, the phrases are otherwise preserved as printed in each case. the following amendments have been made, for consistency: page 21--el-yeman amended to el-yemen--"... and while he was proceeding over the deserts of el-yemen ..." page 58--jackzang amended to jakzang--"... thou hast spoken words:--ssarwala missbrod jakzang! ..." page 88--swarwala amended to ssarwala--"ssarwala missdood jakzang!" page 115--aerlic amended to aerliks--"and the two aerliks (fiends) cried, ..." page 118--evil-doer amended to evildoer--"... that the evildoer may be really discovered, ..." a record of buddhistic kingdoms being an account by the chinese monk fa-hsien of his travels in india and ceylon (a.d. 399-414) in search of the buddhist books of discipline translated and annotated with a corean recension of the chinese text by james legge preface several times during my long residence in hong kong i endeavoured to read through the "narrative of fa-hsien;" but though interested with the graphic details of much of the work, its columns bristled so constantly--now with his phonetic representations of sanskrit words, and now with his substitution for them of their meanings in chinese characters, and i was, moreover, so much occupied with my own special labours on the confucian classics, that my success was far from satisfactory. when dr. eitel's "handbook for the student of chinese buddhism" appeared in 1870, the difficulty occasioned by the sanskrit words and names was removed, but the other difficulty remained; and i was not able to look into the book again for several years. nor had i much inducement to do so in the two copies of it which i had been able to procure, on poor paper, and printed from blocks badly cut at first, and so worn with use as to yield books the reverse of attractive in their appearance to the student. in the meantime i kept studying the subject of buddhism from various sources; and in 1878 began to lecture, here in oxford, on the travels with my davis chinese scholar, who was at the same time boden sanskrit scholar. as we went on, i wrote out a translation in english for my own satisfaction of nearly half the narrative. in the beginning of last year i made fa-hsien again the subject of lecture, wrote out a second translation, independent of the former, and pushed on till i had completed the whole. the want of a good and clear text had been supplied by my friend, mr. bunyiu nanjio, who sent to me from japan a copy, the text of which is appended to the translation and notes, and of the nature of which some account is given in the introduction, and towards the end of this preface. the present work consists of three parts: the translation of fa-hsien's narrative of his travels; copious notes; and the chinese text of my copy from japan. it is for the translation that i hold myself more especially responsible. portions of it were written out three times, and the whole of it twice. while preparing my own version i made frequent reference to previous translations:--those of m. abel remusat, "revu, complete, et augmente d'eclaircissements nouveaux par mm. klaproth et landress" (paris, 1836); of the rev. samuel beal (london, 1869), and his revision of it, prefixed to his "buddhist records of the western world" (trubner's oriental series, 1884); and of mr. herbert a. giles, of h.m.'s consular service in china (1877). to these i have to add a series of articles on "fa-hsien and his english translators," by mr. t. watters, british consul at i-chang (china review, 1879, 1880). those articles are of the highest value, displaying accuracy of chinese scholarship and an extensive knowledge of buddhism. i have regretted that mr. watters, while reviewing others, did not himself write out and publish a version of the whole of fa-hsien's narrative. if he had done so, i should probably have thought that, on the whole, nothing more remained to be done for the distinguished chinese pilgrim in the way of translation. mr. watters had to judge of the comparative merits of the versions of beal and giles, and pronounce on the many points of contention between them. i have endeavoured to eschew those matters, and have seldom made remarks of a critical nature in defence of renderings of my own. the chinese narrative runs on without any break. it was klaproth who divided remusat's translation into forty chapters. the division is helpful to the reader, and i have followed it excepting in three or four instances. in the reprinted chinese text the chapters are separated by a circle in the column. in transliterating the names of chinese characters i have generally followed the spelling of morrison rather than the pekinese, which is now in vogue. we cannot tell exactly what the pronunciation of them was, about fifteen hundred years ago, in the time of fa-hsien; but the southern mandarin must be a shade nearer to it than that of peking at the present day. in transliterating the indian names i have for the most part followed dr. eitel, with such modification as seemed good and in harmony with growing usage. for the notes i can do little more than claim the merit of selection and condensation. my first object in them was to explain what in the text required explanation to an english reader. all chinese texts, and buddhist texts especially, are new to foreign students. one has to do for them what many hundreds of the ablest scholars in europe have done for the greek and latin classics during several hundred years, and what the thousands of critics and commentators have been doing of our sacred scriptures for nearly eighteen centuries. there are few predecessors in the field of chinese literature into whose labours translators of the present century can enter. this will be received, i hope, as a sufficient apology for the minuteness and length of some of the notes. a second object in them was to teach myself first, and then others, something of the history and doctrines of buddhism. i have thought that they might be learned better in connexion with a lively narrative like that of fa-hsien than by reading didactic descriptions and argumentative books. such has been my own experience. the books which i have consulted for these notes have been many, besides chinese works. my principal help has been the full and masterly handbook of eitel, mentioned already, and often referred to as e.h. spence hardy's "eastern monachism" (e.m.) and "manual of buddhism" (m.b.) have been constantly in hand, as well as rhys davids' buddhism, published by the society for promoting christian knowledge, his hibbert lectures, and his buddhist suttas in the sacred books of the east, and other writings. i need not mention other authorities, having endeavoured always to specify them where i make use of them. my proximity and access to the bodleian library and the indian institute have been of great advantage. i may be allowed to say that, so far as my own study of it has gone, i think there are many things in the vast field of buddhist literature which still require to be carefully handled. how far, for instance, are we entitled to regard the present sutras as genuine and sufficiently accurate copies of those which were accepted by the councils before our christian era? can anything be done to trace the rise of the legends and marvels of sakyamuni's history, which were current so early (as it seems to us) as the time of fa-hsien, and which startle us so frequently by similarities between them and narratives in our gospels? dr. hermann oldenberg, certainly a great authority on buddhistic subjects, says that "a biography of buddha has not come down to us from ancient times, from the age of the pali texts; and, we can safely say, no such biography existed then" ("buddha--his life, his doctrine, his order," as translated by hoey, p. 78). he has also (in the same work, pp. 99, 416, 417) come to the conclusion that the hitherto unchallenged tradition that the buddha was "a king's son" must be given up. the name "king's son" (in chinese {...}), always used of the buddha, certainly requires to be understood in the highest sense. i am content myself to wait for further information on these and other points, as the result of prolonged and careful research. dr. rhys davids has kindly read the proofs of the translation and notes, and i most certainly thank him for doing so, for his many valuable corrections in the notes, and for other suggestions which i have received from him. i may not always think on various points exactly as he does, but i am not more forward than he is to say with horace,-"nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri." i have referred above, and also in the introduction, to the corean text of fa-hsien's narrative, which i received from mr. nanjio. it is on the whole so much superior to the better-known texts, that i determined to attempt to reproduce it at the end of the little volume, so far as our resources here in oxford would permit. to do so has not been an easy task. the two fonts of chinese types in the clarendon press were prepared primarily for printing the translation of our sacred scriptures, and then extended so as to be available for printing also the confucian classics; but the buddhist work necessarily requires many types not found in them, while many other characters in the corean recension are peculiar in their forms, and some are what chinese dictionaries denominate "vulgar." that we have succeeded so well as we have done is owing chiefly to the intelligence, ingenuity, and untiring attention of mr. j. c. pembrey, the oriental reader. the pictures that have been introduced were taken from a superb edition of a history of buddha, republished recently at hang-chau in cheh-kiang, and profusely illustrated in the best style of chinese art. i am indebted for the use of it to the rev. j. h. sedgwick, university chinese scholar. james legge. oxford: june, 1886. [ picture: sketch map of fa-hien's travels ] the accompanying sketch-map, taken in connexion with the notes on the different places in the narrative, will give the reader a sufficiently accurate knowledge of fa-hsien's route. there is no difficulty in laying it down after he crossed the indus from east to west into the punjab, all the principal places, at which he touched or rested, having been determined by cunningham and other indian geographers and archaeologists. most of the places from ch'ang-an to bannu have also been identified. woo-e has been put down as near kutcha, or kuldja, in 43d 25s n., 81d 15s e. the country of k'ieh-ch'a was probably ladak, but i am inclined to think that the place where the traveller crossed the indus and entered it must have been further east than skardo. a doubt is intimated on page 24 as to the identification of t'o-leih with darada, but greenough's "physical and geological sketch-map of british india" shows "dardu proper," all lying on the east of the indus, exactly in the position where the narrative would lead us to place it. the point at which fa-hsien recrossed the indus into udyana on the west of it is unknown. takshasila, which he visited, was no doubt on the west of the river, and has been incorrectly accepted as the taxila of arrian in the punjab. it should be written takshasira, of which the chinese phonetisation will allow;--see a note of beal in his "buddhist records of the western world," i. 138. we must suppose that fa-hsien went on from nan-king to ch'ang-an, but the narrative does not record the fact of his doing so. introduction life of fa-hien; genuineness and integrity of the text of his narrative; number of the adherents of buddhism. 1. nothing of great importance is known about fa-hsien in addition to what may be gathered from his own record of his travels. i have read the accounts of him in the "memoirs of eminent monks," compiled in a.d. 519, and a later work, the "memoirs of marvellous monks," by the third emperor of the ming dynasty (a.d. 1403-1424), which, however, is nearly all borrowed from the other; and all in them that has an appearance of verisimilitude can be brought within brief compass. his surname, they tell us, was kung, and he was a native of wu-yang in p'ing-yang, which is still the name of a large department in shan-hsi. he had three brothers older than himself; but when they all died before shedding their first teeth, his father devoted him to the service of the buddhist society, and had him entered as a sramanera, still keeping him at home in the family. the little fellow fell dangerously ill, and the father sent him to the monastery, where he soon got well and refused to return to his parents. when he was ten years old, his father died; and an uncle, considering the widowed solitariness and helplessness of the mother, urged him to renounce the monastic life, and return to her, but the boy replied, "i did not quit the family in compliance with my father's wishes, but because i wished to be far from the dust and vulgar ways of life. this is why i chose monkhood." the uncle approved of his words and gave over urging him. when his mother also died, it appeared how great had been the affection for her of his fine nature; but after her burial he returned to the monastery. on one occasion he was cutting rice with a score or two of his fellow-disciples, when some hungry thieves came upon them to take away their grain by force. the other sramaneras all fled, but our young hero stood his ground, and said to the thieves, "if you must have the grain, take what you please. but, sirs, it was your former neglect of charity which brought you to your present state of destitution; and now, again, you wish to rob others. i am afraid that in the coming ages you will have still greater poverty and distress;--i am sorry for you beforehand." with these words he followed his companions into the monastery, while the thieves left the grain and went away, all the monks, of whom there were several hundred, doing homage to his conduct and courage. when he had finished his noviciate and taken on him the obligations of the full buddhist orders, his earnest courage, clear intelligence, and strict regulation of his demeanour were conspicuous; and soon after, he undertook his journey to india in search of complete copies of the vinaya-pitaka. what follows this is merely an account of his travels in india and return to china by sea, condensed from his own narrative, with the addition of some marvellous incidents that happened to him, on his visit to the vulture peak near rajagriha. it is said in the end that after his return to china, he went to the capital (evidently nanking), and there, along with the indian sramana buddha-bhadra, executed translations of some of the works which he had obtained in india; and that before he had done all that he wished to do in this way, he removed to king-chow (in the present hoo-pih), and died in the monastery of sin, at the age of eighty-eight, to the great sorrow of all who knew him. it is added that there is another larger work giving an account of his travels in various countries. such is all the information given about our author, beyond what he himself has told us. fa-hsien was his clerical name, and means "illustrious in the law," or "illustrious master of the law." the shih which often precedes it is an abbreviation of the name of buddha as sakyamuni, "the sakya, mighty in love, dwelling in seclusion and silence," and may be taken as equivalent to buddhist. it is sometimes said to have belonged to "the eastern tsin dynasty" (a.d. 317-419), and sometimes to "the sung," that is, the sung dynasty of the house of liu (a.d. 420-478). if he became a full monk at the age of twenty, and went to india when he was twenty-five, his long life may have been divided pretty equally between the two dynasties. 2. if there were ever another and larger account of fa-hsien's travels than the narrative of which a translation is now given, it has long ceased to be in existence. in the catalogue of the imperial library of the suy dynasty (a.d. 589-618), the name fa-hsien occurs four times. towards the end of the last section of it (page 22), after a reference to his travels, his labours in translation at kin-ling (another name for nanking), in conjunction with buddha-bhadra, are described. in the second section, page 15, we find "a record of buddhistic kingdoms;"--with a note, saying that it was the work of the "sramana, fa-hsien;" and again, on page 13, we have "narrative of fa-hsien in two books," and "narrative of fa-hsien's travels in one book." but all these three entries may possibly belong to different copies of the same work, the first and the other two being in separate subdivisions of the catalogue. in the two chinese copies of the narrative in my possession the title is "record of buddhistic kingdoms." in the japanese or corean recension subjoined to this translation, the title is twofold; first, "narrative of the distinguished monk, fa-hsien;" and then, more at large, "incidents of travels in india, by the sramana of the eastern tsin, fa-hsien, recorded by himself." there is still earlier attestation of the existence of our little work than the suy catalogue. the catalogue raisonne of the imperial library of the present dynasty (chap. 71) mentions two quotations from it by le tao-yuen, a geographical writer of the dynasty of the northern wei (a.d. 386-584), one of them containing 89 characters, and the other 276; both of them given as from the "narrative of fa-hsien." in all catalogues subsequent to that of suy our work appears. the evidence for its authenticity and genuineness is all that could be required. it is clear to myself that the "record of buddhistic kingdoms" and the "narrative of his travels by fa-hsien" were designations of one and the same work, and that it is doubtful whether any larger work on the same subject was ever current. with regard to the text subjoined to my translation, it was published in japan in 1779. the editor had before him four recensions of the narrative; those of the sung and ming dynasties, with appendixes on the names of certain characters in them; that of japan; and that of corea. he wisely adopted the corean text, published in accordance with a royal rescript in 1726, so far as i can make out; but the different readings of the other texts are all given in top-notes, instead of foot-notes as with us, this being one of the points in which customs in the east and west go by contraries. very occasionally, the editor indicates by a single character, equivalent to "right" or "wrong," which reading in his opinion is to be preferred. in the notes to the present republication of the corean text, s stands for sung, m for ming, and j for japanese; r for right, and w for wrong. i have taken the trouble to give all the various readings (amounting to more than 300), partly as a curiosity and to make my text complete, and partly to show how, in the transcription of writings in whatever language, such variations are sure to occur, "maculae, quas aut incuria fudit, aut humana parum cavit nature," while on the whole they very slightly affect the meaning of the document. the editors of the catalogue raisonne intimate their doubts of the good taste and reliability of all fa-hsien's statements. it offends them that he should call central india the "middle kingdom," and china, which to them was the true and only middle kingdom, but "a border land;"--it offends them as the vaunting language of a buddhist writer, whereas the reader will see in the expressions only an instance of what fa-hsien calls his "simple straightforwardness." as an instance of his unreliability they refer to his account of the buddhism of khoten, whereas it is well known, they say, that the khoteners from ancient times till now have been mohammedans;--as if they could have been so 170 years before mohammed was born, and 222 years before the year of the hegira! and this is criticism in china. the catalogue was ordered by the k'ien-lung emperor in 1722. between three and four hundred of the "great scholars" of the empire were engaged on it in various departments, and thus egregiously ignorant did they show themselves of all beyond the limits of their own country, and even of the literature of that country itself. much of what fa-hsien tells his readers of buddhist miracles and legends is indeed unreliable and grotesque; but we have from him the truth as to what he saw and heard. 3. in concluding this introduction i wish to call attention to some estimates of the number of buddhists in the world which have become current, believing, as i do, that the smallest of them is much above what is correct. i. in a note on the first page of his work on the bhilsa topes (1854), general cunningham says: "the christians number about 270 millions; the buddhists about 222 millions, who are distributed as follows:--china 170 millions, japan 25, anam 14, siam 3, ava 8, nepal 1, and ceylon 1; total, 222 millions." ii. in his article on m. j. barthelemy saint hilaire's "le bouddha et sa religion," republished in his "chips from a german workshop," vol. i. (1868), professor max muller (p. 215) says, "the young prince became the founder of a religion which, after more than two thousand years, is still professed by 455 millions of human beings," and he appends the following note: "though truth is not settled by majorities, it would be interesting to know which religion counts at the present moment the largest numbers of believers. berghaus, in his 'physical atlas,' gives the following division of the human race according to religion:--'buddhists 31.2 per cent, christians 30.7, mohammedans 15.7, brahmanists 13.4, heathens 8.7, and jews 0.3.' as berghaus does not distinguish the buddhists in china from the followers of confucius and laotse, the first place on the scale really belongs to christianity. it is difficult to say to what religion a man belongs, as the same person may profess two or three. the emperor himself, after sacrificing according to the ritual of confucius, visits a tao-sse temple, and afterwards bows before an image of fo in a buddhist chapel. ('melanges asiatiques de st. petersbourg,' vol. ii. p. 374.)" iii. both these estimates are exceeded by dr. t. w. rhys davids (intimating also the uncertainty of the statements, and that numbers are no evidence of truth) in the introduction to his "manual of buddhism." the buddhists there appear as amounting in all to 500 millions:--30 millions of southern buddhists, in ceylon, burma, siam, anam, and india (jains); and 470 millions of north buddhists, of whom nearly 33 millions are assigned to japan, and 414,686,974 to the eighteen provinces of china proper. according to him, christians amount to about 26 per cent of mankind, hindus to about 13, mohammedans to about 12 1_2, buddhists to about 40, and jews to about 1_2. in regard to all these estimates, it will be observed that the immense numbers assigned to buddhism are made out by the multitude of chinese with which it is credited. subtract cunningham's 170 millions of chinese from his total of 222, and there remains only 52 millions of buddhists. subtract davids' (say) 414 1_2 millions of chinese from his total of 500, and there remain only 85 1_2 millions for buddhism. of the numbers assigned to other countries, as well as of their whole populations, i am in considerable doubt, excepting in the cases of ceylon and india; but the greatness of the estimates turns upon the immense multitudes said to be in china. i do not know what total population cunningham allowed for that country, nor on what principal he allotted 170 millions of it to buddhism;--perhaps he halved his estimate of the whole, whereas berghaus and davids allotted to it the highest estimates that have been given of the people. but we have no certain information of the population of china. at an interview with the former chinese ambassador, kwo sung-tao, in paris, in 1878, i begged him to write out for me the amount, with the authority for it, and he assured me that it could not be done. i have read probably almost everything that has been published on the subject, and endeavoured by methods of my own to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion;--without reaching a result which i can venture to lay before the public. my impression has been that 400 millions is hardly an exaggeration. but supposing that we had reliable returns of the whole population, how shall we proceed to apportion that among confucianists, taoists, and buddhists? confucianism is the orthodoxy of china. the common name for it is ju chiao, "the doctrines held by the learned class," entrance into the circle of which is, with a few insignificant exceptions, open to all the people. the mass of them and the masses under their influence are preponderatingly confucian; and in the observance of ancestral worship, the most remarkable feature of the religion proper of china from the earliest times, of which confucius was not the author but the prophet, an overwhelming majority are regular and assiduous. among "the strange principles" which the emperor of the k'ang-hsi period, in one of his famous sixteen precepts, exhorted his people to "discountenance and put away, in order to exalt the correct doctrine," buddhism and taoism were both included. if, as stated in the note quoted from professor muller, the emperor countenances both the taoist worship and the buddhist, he does so for reasons of state;--to please especially his buddhist subjects in thibet and mongolia, and not to offend the many whose superstitious fancies incline to taoism. when i went out and in as a missionary among the chinese people for about thirty years, it sometimes occurred to me that only the inmates of their monasteries and the recluses of both systems should be enumerated as buddhists and taoists; but i was in the end constrained to widen that judgment, and to admit a considerable following of both among the people, who have neither received the tonsure nor assumed the yellow top. dr. eitel, in concluding his discussion of this point in his "lecture on buddhism, an event in history," says: "it is not too much to say that most chinese are theoretically confucianists, but emotionally buddhists or taoists. but fairness requires us to add that, though the mass of the people are more or less influenced by buddhist doctrines, yet the people, as a whole, have no respect for the buddhist church, and habitually sneer at buddhist priests." for the "most" in the former of these two sentences i would substitute "nearly all;" and between my friend's "but" and "emotionally" i would introduce "many are," and would not care to contest his conclusion farther. it does seem to me preposterous to credit buddhism with the whole of the vast population of china, the great majority of whom are confucianists. my own opinion is, that its adherents are not so many as those even of mohammedanism, and that instead of being the most numerous of the religions (so called) of the world, it is only entitled to occupy the fifth place, ranking below christianity, confucianism, brahmanism, and mohammedanism, and followed, some distance off, by taoism. to make a table of percentages of mankind, and assign to each system its proportion, is to seem to be wise where we are deplorably ignorant; and, moreover, if our means of information were much better than they are, our figures would merely show the outward adherence. a fractional per-centage might tell more for one system than a very large integral one for another. the travels of fa-hien or record of buddhistic kingdoms chapter i from ch'ang-gan to the sandy desert fa-hsien had been living in ch'ang-gan.(1) deploring the mutilated and imperfect state of the collection of the books of discipline, in the second year of the period hwang-che, being the ke-hae year of the cycle,(2) he entered into an engagement with kwuy-king, tao-ching, hwuy-ying, and hwuy-wei,(3) that they should go to india and seek for the disciplinary rules.(4) after starting from ch'ang-gan, they passed through lung,(5) and came to the kingdom of k'een-kwei,(6) where they stopped for the summer retreat.(7) when that was over, they went forward to the kingdom of now-t'an,(8) crossed the mountain of yang-low, and reached the emporium of chang-yih.(9) there they found the country so much disturbed that travelling on the roads was impossible for them. its king, however, was very attentive to them, kept them (in his capital), and acted the part of their danapati.(10) here they met with che-yen, hwuy-keen, sang-shao, pao-yun, and sang-king;(11) and in pleasant association with them, as bound on the same journey with themselves, they passed the summer retreat (of that year)(12) together, resuming after it their travelling, and going on to t'un-hwang,(13) (the chief town) in the frontier territory of defence extending for about 80 le from east to west, and about 40 from north to south. their company, increased as it had been, halted there for some days more than a month, after which fa-hsien and his four friends started first in the suite of an envoy,(14) having separated (for a time) from pao-yun and his associates. le hao,(15) the prefect of t'un-hwang, had supplied them with the means of crossing the desert (before them), in which there are many evil demons and hot winds. (travellers) who encounter them perish all to a man. there is not a bird to be seen in the air above, nor an animal on the ground below. though you look all round most earnestly to find where you can cross, you know not where to make your choice, the only mark and indication being the dry bones of the dead (left upon the sand).(16) notes (1) ch'ang-gan is still the name of the principal district (and its city) in the department of se-gan, shen-se. it had been the capital of the first empire of han (b.c. 202-a.d. 24), as it subsequently was that of suy (a.d. 589-618). the empire of the eastern tsin, towards the close of which fa-hsien lived, had its capital at or near nan-king, and ch'ang-gan was the capital of the principal of the three ts'in kingdoms, which, with many other minor ones, maintained a semi-independence of tsin, their rulers sometimes even assuming the title of emperor. (2) the period hwang-che embraced from a.d. 399 to 414, being the greater portion of the reign of yao hing of the after ts'in, a powerful prince. he adopted hwang-che for the style of his reign in 399, and the cyclical name of that year was kang-tsze. it is not possible at this distance of time to explain, if it could be explained, how fa-hsien came to say that ke-hae was the second year of the period. it seems most reasonable to suppose that he set out on his pilgrimage in a.d. 399, the cycle name of which was ke-hae, as {.}, the second year, instead of {.}, the first, might easily creep into the text. in the "memoirs of eminent monks" it is said that our author started in the third year of the period lung-gan of the eastern tsin, which was a.d. 399. (3) these, like fa-hsien itself, are all what we might call "clerical" names, appellations given to the parties as monks or sramanas. (4) the buddhist tripitaka or canon consists of three collections, containing, according to eitel (p. 150), "doctrinal aphorisms (or statements, purporting to be from buddha himself); works on discipline; and works on metaphysics:"--called sutra, vinaya, and abhidharma; in chinese, king {.}, leuh {.}, and lun {.}, or texts, laws or rules, and discussions. dr. rhys davids objects to the designation of "metaphysics" as used of the abhidharma works, saying that "they bear much more the relation to 'dharma' which 'by-law' bears to 'law' than that which 'metaphysics' bears to 'physics'" (hibbert lectures, p. 49). however this be, it was about the vinaya works that fa-hsien was chiefly concerned. he wanted a good code of the rules for the government of "the order" in all its internal and external relations. (5) lung embraced the western part of shen-se and the eastern part of kan-suh. the name remains in lung chow, in the extreme west of shen-se. (6) k'een-kwei was the second king of "the western ts'in." his family was of northern or barbarous origin, from the tribe of the seen-pe, with the surname of k'eih-fuh. the first king was kwo-kin, and received his appointment from the sovereign of the chief ts'in kingdom in 385. he was succeeded in 388 by his brother, the k'een-kwei of the text, who was very prosperous in 398, and took the title of king of ts'in. fa-hsien would find him at his capital, somewhere in the present department of lan-chow, kan-suh. (7) under varshas or vashavasana (pali, vassa; spence hardy, vass), eitel (p. 163) says:--"one of the most ancient institutions of buddhist discipline, requiring all ecclesiastics to spend the rainy season in a monastery in devotional exercises. chinese buddhists naturally substituted the hot season for the rainy (from the 16th day of the 5th to the 15th of the 9th chinese month)." (8) during the troubled period of the tsin dynasty, there were five (usurping) leang sovereignties in the western part of the empire ({.} {.}). the name leang remains in the department of leang-chow in the northern part of kan-suh. the "southern leang" arose in 397 under a tuh-fah wu-ku, who was succeeded in 399 by a brother, le-luh-koo; and he again by his brother, the now-t'an of the text, in 402, who was not yet king therefore when fa-hsien and his friends reached his capital. how he is represented as being so may be accounted for in various ways, of which it is not necessary to write. (9) chang-yih is still the name of a district in kan-chow department, kan-suh. it is a long way north and west from lan-chow, and not far from the great wall. its king at this time was, probably, twan-yeh of "the northern leang." (10) dana is the name for religious charity, the first of the six paramitas, or means of attaining to nirvana; and a danapati is "one who practises dana and thereby crosses {.} the sea of misery." it is given as "a title of honour to all who support the cause of buddhism by acts of charity, especially to founders and patrons of monasteries;"--see eitel, p. 29. (11) of these pilgrims with their clerical names, the most distinguished was pao-yun, who translated various sanskrit works on his return from india, of which only one seems to be now existing. he died in 449. see nanjio's catalogue of the tripitaka, col. 417. (12) this was the second summer since the pilgrims left ch'ang-gan. we are now therefore, probably, in a.d. 400. (13) t'un-hwang (lat. 39d 40s n.; lon. 94d 50s e.) is still the name of one of the two districts constituting the department of gan-se, the most western of the prefectures of kan-suh; beyond the termination of the great wall. (14) who this envoy was, and where he was going, we do not know. the text will not admit of any other translation. (15) le hao was a native of lung-se, a man of learning, able and kindly in his government. he was appointed governor or prefect of t'un-hwang by the king of "the northern leang," in 400; and there he sustained himself, becoming by and by "duke of western leang," till he died in 417. (16) "the river of sand;" the great desert of kobi or gobi; having various other names. it was a great task which the pilgrims had now before them,--to cross this desert. the name of "river" in the chinese misleads the reader, and he thinks of crossing it as of crossing a stream; but they had to traverse it from east to west. in his "vocabulary of proper names," p. 23, dr. porter smith says:--"it extends from the eastern frontier of mongolia, south-westward to the further frontier of turkestan, to within six miles of ilchi, the chief town of khoten. it thus comprises some twenty-three degrees of longitude in length, and from three to ten degrees of latitude in breadth, being about 2,100 miles in its greatest length. in some places it is arable. some idea may be formed of the terror with which this 'sea of sand,' with its vast billows of shifting sands, is regarded, from the legend that in one of the storms 360 cities were all buried within the space of twenty-four hours." so also gilmour's "among the mongols," chap. 5. chapter ii on to shen-shen and thence to khoten after travelling for seventeen days, a distance we may calculate of about 1500 le, (the pilgrims) reached the kingdom of shen-shen,(1) a country rugged and hilly, with a thin and barren soil. the clothes of the common people are coarse, and like those worn in our land of han,(2) some wearing felt and others coarse serge or cloth of hair;--this was the only difference seen among them. the king professed (our) law, and there might be in the country more than four thousand monks,(3) who were all students of the hinayana.(4) the common people of this and other kingdoms (in that region), as well as the sramans,(5) all practise the rules of india,(6) only that the latter do so more exactly, and the former more loosely. so (the travellers) found it in all the kingdoms through which they went on their way from this to the west, only that each had its own peculiar barbarous speech.(7) (the monks), however, who had (given up the worldly life) and quitted their families, were all students of indian books and the indian language. here they stayed for about a month, and then proceeded on their journey, fifteen days walking to the north-west bringing them to the country of woo-e.(8) in this also there were more than four thousand monks, all students of the hinayana. they were very strict in their rules, so that sramans from the territory of ts'in(9) were all unprepared for their regulations. fa-hsien, through the management of foo kung-sun, _maitre d'hotellerie_,(10) was able to remain (with his company in the monastery where they were received) for more than two months, and here they were rejoined by pao-yun and his friends.(11) (at the end of that time) the people of woo-e neglected the duties of propriety and righteousness, and treated the strangers in so niggardly a manner that che-yen, hwuy-keen, and hwuy-wei went back towards kao-ch'ang,(12) hoping to obtain there the means of continuing their journey. fa-hsien and the rest, however, through the liberality of foo kung-sun, managed to go straight forward in a south-west direction. they found the country uninhabited as they went along. the difficulties which they encountered in crossing the streams and on their route, and the sufferings which they endured, were unparalleled in human experience, but in the course of a month and five days they succeeded in reaching yu-teen.(13) notes (1) an account is given of the kingdom of shen-shen in the 96th of the books of the first han dynasty, down to its becoming a dependency of china, about b.c. 80. the greater portion of that is now accessible to the english reader in a translation by mr. wylie in the "journal of the anthropological institute," august, 1880. mr. wylie says:--"although we may not be able to identify shen-shen with certainty, yet we have sufficient indications to give an appropriate idea of its position, as being south of and not far from lake lob." he then goes into an exhibition of those indications, which i need not transcribe. it is sufficient for us to know that the capital city was not far from lob or lop nor, into which in lon. 38d e. the tarim flows. fa-hsien estimated its distance to be 1500 le from t'un-hwang. he and his companions must have gone more than twenty-five miles a day to accomplish the journey in seventeen days. (2) this is the name which fa-hsien always uses when he would speak of china, his native country, as a whole, calling it from the great dynasty which had ruled it, first and last, for between four and five centuries. occasionally, as we shall immediately see, he speaks of "the territory of ts'in or ch'in," but intending thereby only the kingdom or ts'in, having its capital, as described in the first note on the last chapter, in ch'ang-gan. (3) so i prefer to translate the character {.} (sang) rather than by "priests." even in christianity, beyond the priestly privilege which belongs to all believers, i object to the ministers of any denomination or church calling themselves or being called "priests;" and much more is the name inapplicable to the sramanas or bhikshus of buddhism which acknowledges no god in the universe, no soul in man, and has no services of sacrifice or prayer in its worship. the only difficulty in the use of "monks" is caused by the members of the sect in japan which, since the middle of the fifteenth century, has abolished the prohibition against marrying on the part of its ministers, and other prohibitions in diet and dress. sang and sang-kea represent the sanskrit sangha, constituted by at least four members, and empowered to hear confession, to grant absolution, to admit persons to holy orders, &c.; secondly, the third constituent of the buddhistic trinity, a deification of the _communio sanctorum_, or the buddhist order. the name is used by our author of the monks collectively or individually as belonging to the class, and may be considered as synonymous with the name sramana, which will immediately claim our attention. (4) meaning the "small vehicle, or conveyance." there are in buddhism the triyana, or "three different means of salvation, i.e. of conveyance across the samsara, or sea of transmigration, to the shores of nirvana. afterwards the term was used to designate the different phases of development through which the buddhist dogma passed, known as the mahayana, hinayana, and madhyamayana." "the hinayana is the simplest vehicle of salvation, corresponding to the first of the three degrees of saintship. characteristics of it are the preponderance of active moral asceticism, and the absence of speculative mysticism and quietism." e. h., pp. 151-2, 45, and 117. (5) the name for india is here the same as in the former chapter and throughout the book,--t'een-chuh ({.} {.}), the chuh being pronounced, probably, in fa-hsien's time as tuk. how the earliest name for india, shin-tuk or duk=scinde, came to be changed into thien-tuk, it would take too much space to explain. i believe it was done by the buddhists, wishing to give a good auspicious name to the fatherland of their law, and calling it "the heavenly tuk," just as the mohammedans call arabia "the heavenly region" ({.} {.}), and the court of china itself is called "the celestial" ({.} {.}). (6) sraman may in english take the place of sramana (pali, samana; in chinese, sha-man), the name for buddhist monks, as those who have separated themselves from (left) their families, and quieted their hearts from all intrusion of desire and lust. "it is employed, first, as a general name for ascetics of all denominations, and, secondly, as a general designation of buddhistic monks." e. h., pp. 130, 131. (7) tartar or mongolian. (8) woo-e has not been identified. watters ("china review," viii. 115) says:--"we cannot be far wrong if we place it in kharaschar, or between that and kutscha." it must have been a country of considerable size to have so many monks in it. (9) this means in one sense china, but fa-hsien, in his use of the name, was only thinking of the three ts'in states of which i have spoken in a previous note; perhaps only of that from the capital of which he had himself set out. (10) this sentence altogether is difficult to construe, and mr. watters, in the "china review," was the first to disentangle more than one knot in it. i am obliged to adopt the reading of {.} {.} in the chinese editions, instead of the {.} {.} in the corean text. it seems clear that only one person is spoken of as assisting the travellers, and his name, as appears a few sentences farther on, was foo kung-sun. the {.} {.} which immediately follows the surname foo {.}, must be taken as the name of his office, corresponding, as the {.} shows, to that of _le maitre d'hotellerie_ in a roman catholic abbey. i was once indebted myself to the kind help of such an officer at a monastery in canton province. the buddhistic name for him is uddesika=overseer. the kung-sun that follows his surname indicates that he was descended from some feudal lord in the old times of the chow dynasty. we know indeed of no ruling house which had the surname of foo, but its adoption by the grandson of a ruler can be satisfactorily accounted for; and his posterity continued to call themselves kung-sun, duke or lord's grandson, and so retain the memory of the rank of their ancestor. (11) whom they had left behind them at t'un-hwang. (12) the country of the ouighurs, the district around the modern turfan or tangut. (13) yu-teen is better known as khoten. dr. p. smith gives (p. 11) the following description of it:--"a large district on the south-west of the desert of gobi, embracing all the country south of oksu and yarkand, along the northern base of the kwun-lun mountains, for more than 300 miles from east to west. the town of the same name, now called ilchi, is in an extensive plain on the khoten river, in lat. 37d n., and lon. 80d 35s e. after the tungani insurrection against chinese rule in 1862, the mufti haji habeeboolla was made governor of khoten, and held the office till he was murdered by yakoob beg, who became for a time the conqueror of all chinese turkestan. khoten produces fine linen and cotton stuffs, jade ornaments, copper, grain, and fruits." the name in sanskrit is kustana. (e. h., p. 60). chapter iii khoten. processions of images. the king's new monastery. yu-teen is a pleasant and prosperous kingdom, with a numerous and flourishing population. the inhabitants all profess our law, and join together in its religious music for their enjoyment.(1) the monks amount to several myriads, most of whom are students of the mahayana.(2) they all receive their food from the common store.(3) throughout the country the houses of the people stand apart like (separate) stars, and each family has a small tope(4) reared in front of its door. the smallest of these may be twenty cubits high, or rather more.(5) they make (in the monasteries) rooms for monks from all quarters,(5) the use of which is given to travelling monks who may arrive, and who are provided with whatever else they require. the lord of the country lodged fa-hsien and the others comfortably, and supplied their wants, in a monastery(6) called gomati,(6) of the mahayana school. attached to it there are three thousand monks, who are called to their meals by the sound of a bell. when they enter the refectory, their demeanour is marked by a reverent gravity, and they take their seats in regular order, all maintaining a perfect silence. no sound is heard from their alms-bowls and other utensils. when any of these pure men(7) require food, they are not allowed to call out (to the attendants) for it, but only make signs with their hands. hwuy-king, tao-ching, and hwuy-tah set out in advance towards the country of k'eeh-ch'a;(8) but fa-hsien and the others, wishing to see the procession of images, remained behind for three months. there are in this country four(9) great monasteries, not counting the smaller ones. beginning on the first day of the fourth month, they sweep and water the streets inside the city, making a grand display in the lanes and byways. over the city gate they pitch a large tent, grandly adorned in all possible ways, in which the king and queen, with their ladies brilliantly arrayed,(10) take up their residence (for the time). the monks of the gomati monastery, being mahayana students, and held in great reverence by the king, took precedence of all others in the procession. at a distance of three or four le from the city, they made a four-wheeled image car, more than thirty cubits high, which looked like the great hall (of a monastery) moving along. the seven precious substances(11) were grandly displayed about it, with silken streamers and canopies hanging all around. the (chief) image(12) stood in the middle of the car, with two bodhisattvas(13) in attendance upon it, while devas(14) were made to follow in waiting, all brilliantly carved in gold and silver, and hanging in the air. when (the car) was a hundred paces from the gate, the king put off his crown of state, changed his dress for a fresh suit, and with bare feet, carrying in his hands flowers and incense, and with two rows of attending followers, went out at the gate to meet the image; and, with his head and face (bowed to the ground), he did homage at its feet, and then scattered the flowers and burnt the incense. when the image was entering the gate, the queen and the brilliant ladies with her in the gallery above scattered far and wide all kinds of flowers, which floated about and fell promiscuously to the ground. in this way everything was done to promote the dignity of the occasion. the carriages of the monasteries were all different, and each one had its own day for the procession. (the ceremony) began on the first day of the fourth month, and ended on the fourteenth, after which the king and queen returned to the palace. seven or eight le to the west of the city there is what is called the king's new monastery, the building of which took eighty years, and extended over three reigns. it may be 250 cubits in height, rich in elegant carving and inlaid work, covered above with gold and silver, and finished throughout with a combination of all the precious substances. behind the tope there has been built a hall of buddha,(15) of the utmost magnificence and beauty, the beams, pillars, venetianed doors, and windows being all overlaid with gold-leaf. besides this, the apartments for the monks are imposingly and elegantly decorated, beyond the power of words to express. of whatever things of highest value and preciousness the kings in the six countries on the east of the (ts'ung) range of mountains(16) are possessed, they contribute the greater portion (to this monastery), using but a small portion of them themselves.(17) notes (1) this fondness for music among the khoteners is mentioned by hsuan and ch'wang and others. (2) mahayana. it is a later form of the buddhist doctrine, the second phase of its development corresponding to the state of a bodhisattva, who, being able to transport himself and all mankind to nirvana, may be compared to a huge vehicle. see davids on the "key-note of the 'great vehicle,'" hibbert lectures, p. 254. (3) fa-hsien supplies sufficient information of how the common store or funds of the monasteries were provided, farther on in chapters xvi and xxxix, as well as in other passages. as the point is important, i will give here, from davids' fifth hibbert lecture (p. 178), some of the words of the dying buddha, taken from "the book of the great decease," as illustrating the statement in this text:--"so long as the brethren shall persevere in kindness of action, speech, and thought among the saints, both in public and private; so long as they shall divide without partiality, and share in common with the upright and holy, all such things as they receive in accordance with the just provisions of the order, down even to the mere contents of a begging bowl; . . . so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper." (4) the chinese {.} (t'ah; in cantonese, t'ap), as used by fa-hsien, is, no doubt, a phonetisation of the sanskrit stupa or pali thupa; and it is well in translating to use for the structures described by him the name of topes,--made familiar by cunningham and other indian antiquarians. in the thirteenth chapter there is an account of one built under the superintendence of buddha himself, "as a model for all topes in future." they were usually in the form of bell-shaped domes, and were solid, surmounted by a long tapering pinnacle formed with a series of rings, varying in number. but their form, i suppose, was often varied; just as we have in china pagodas of different shapes. there are several topes now in the indian institute at oxford, brought from buddha gaya, but the largest of them is much smaller than "the smallest" of those of khoten. they were intended chiefly to contain the relics of buddha and famous masters of his law; but what relics could there be in the tiratna topes of chapter xvi? (5) the meaning here is much disputed. the author does not mean to say that the monk's apartments were made "square," but that the monasteries were made with many guest-chambers or spare rooms. (6) the sanskrit term for a monastery is used here,--sangharama, "gardens of the assembly," originally denoting only "the surrounding park, but afterwards transferred to the whole of the premises" (e. h., p. 118). gomati, the name of this monastery, means "rich in cows." (7) a denomination for the monks as vimala, "undefiled" or "pure." giles makes it "the menials that attend on the monks," but i have not met with it in that application. (8) k'eeh-ch'a has not been clearly identified. remusat made it cashmere; klaproth, iskardu; beal makes it kartchou; and eitel, khas'a, "an ancient tribe on the paropamisus, the kasioi of ptolemy." i think it was ladak, or some well-known place in it. hwuy-tah, unless that name be an alias, appears here for the first time. (9) instead of "four," the chinese copies of the text have "fourteen;" but the corean reading is, probably, more correct. (10) there may have been, as giles says, "maids of honour;" but the character does not say so. (11) the sapta-ratna, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, rubies, diamonds or emeralds, and agate. see sacred books of the east (davids' buddhist suttas), vol. xi., p. 249. (12) no doubt that of sakyamuni himself. (13) a bodhisattva is one whose essence has become intelligence; a being who will in some future birth as a man (not necessarily or usually the next) attain to buddhahood. the name does not include those buddhas who have not yet attained to pari-nirvana. the symbol of the state is an elephant fording a river. popularly, its abbreviated form p'u-sa is used in china for any idol or image; here the name has its proper signification. (14) {.} {.}, "all the thien," or simply "the thien" taken as plural. but in chinese the character called thien {.} denotes heaven, or heaven, and is interchanged with ti and shang ti, meaning god. with the buddhists it denotes the devas or brahmanic gods, or all the inhabitants of the six devalokas. the usage shows the antagonism between buddhism and brahmanism, and still more that between it and confucianism. (15) giles and williams call this "the oratory of buddha." but "oratory" gives the idea of a small apartment, whereas the name here leads the mind to think of a large "hall." i once accompanied the monks of a large monastery from their refectory to the hall of buddha, which was a lofty and spacious apartment splendidly fitted up. (16) the ts'ung, or "onion" range, called also the belurtagh mountains, including the karakorum, and forming together the connecting links between the more northern t'een-shan and the kwun-lun mountains on the north of thibet. it would be difficult to name the six countries which fa-hsien had in mind. (17) this seems to be the meaning here. my first impression of it was that the author meant to say that the contributions which they received were spent by the monks mainly on the buildings, and only to a small extent for themselves; and i still hesitate between that view and the one in the version. there occurs here the binomial phrase kung-yang {.} {.}, which is one of the most common throughout the narrative, and is used not only of support in the way of substantial contributions given to monks, monasteries, and buddhism, but generally of all buddhistic worship, if i may use that term in the connexion. let me here quote two or three sentences from davids' manual (pp. 168-170):--"the members of the order are secured from want. there is no place in the buddhist scheme for churches; the offering of flowers before the sacred tree or image of the buddha takes the place of worship. buddhism does not acknowledge the efficacy of prayers; and in the warm countries where buddhists live, the occasional reading of the law, or preaching of the word, in public, can take place best in the open air, by moonlight, under a simple roof of trees or palms. there are five principal kinds of meditation, which in buddhism takes the place of prayer." chapter iv through the ts'ung or "onion" mountains to k'eeh-ch'a;--probably skardo, or some city more to the east in ladak when the processions of images in the fourth month were over, sang-shao, by himself alone, followed a tartar who was an earnest follower of the law,(1) and proceeded towards kophene.(2) fa-hsien and the others went forward to the kingdom of tsze-hoh, which it took them twenty-five days to reach.(3) its king was a strenuous follower of our law,(4) and had (around him) more than a thousand monks, mostly students of the mahayana. here (the travellers) abode fifteen days, and then went south for four days, when they found themselves among the ts'ung-ling mountains, and reached the country of yu-hwuy,(5) where they halted and kept their retreat.(6) when this was over, they went on among the hills(7) for twenty-five days, and got to k'eeh-ch'a,(8) there rejoining hwuy-king(9) and his two companions. notes (1) this tartar is called a {.} {.}, "a man of the tao," or faith of buddha. it occurs several times in the sequel, and denotes the man who is not a buddhist outwardly only, but inwardly as well, whose faith is always making itself manifest in his ways. the name may be used of followers of other systems of faith besides buddhism. (2) see the account of the kingdom of kophene, in the 96th book of the first han records, p. 78, where its capital is said to be 12,200 le from ch'ang-gan. it was the whole or part of the present cabulistan. the name of cophene is connected with the river kophes, supposed to be the same as the present cabul river, which falls into the indus, from the west, at attock, after passing peshawar. the city of cabul, the capital of afghanistan, may be the kophene of the text; but we do not know that sang-shao and his guide got so far west. the text only says that they set out from khoten "towards it." (3) tsze-hoh has not been identified. beal thinks it was yarkand, which, however, was north-west from khoten. watters ("china review," p. 135) rather approves the suggestion of "tashkurgan in sirikul" for it. as it took fa-hsien twenty-five days to reach it, it must have been at least 150 miles from khoten. (4) the king is described here by a buddhistic phrase, denoting the possession of viryabala, "the power of energy; persevering exertion--one of the five moral powers" (e. h., p. 170). (5) nor has yu-hwuy been clearly identified. evidently it was directly south from tsze-hoh, and among the "onion" mountains. watters hazards the conjecture that it was the aktasch of our present maps. (6) this was the retreat already twice mentioned as kept by the pilgrims in the summer, the different phraseology, "quiet rest," without any mention of the season, indicating their approach to india, e. h., p. 168. two, if not three, years had elapsed since they left ch'ang-gan. are we now with them in 402? (7) this is the corean reading {.}, much preferable to the {.} of the chinese editions. (8) watters approves of klaproth's determination of k'eeh-ch'a to be iskardu or skardo. there are difficulties in connexion with the view, but it has the advantage, to my mind very great, of bringing the pilgrims across the indus. the passage might be accomplished with ease at this point of the river's course, and therefore is not particularly mentioned. (9) who had preceded them from khoten. chapter v great quinquennial assembly of monks. relics of buddha. productions of the country. it happened that the king of the country was then holding the pancha parishad, that is, in chinese, the great quinquennial assembly.(1) when this is to be held, the king requests the presence of the sramans from all quarters (of his kingdom). they come (as if) in clouds; and when they are all assembled, their place of session is grandly decorated. silken streamers and canopies are hung out in, and water-lilies in gold and silver are made and fixed up behind the places where (the chief of them) are to sit. when clean mats have been spread, and they are all seated, the king and his ministers present their offerings according to rule and law. (the assembly takes place), in the first, second, or third month, for the most part in the spring. after the king has held the assembly, he further exhorts the ministers to make other and special offerings. the doing of this extends over one, two, three, five, or even seven days; and when all is finished, he takes his own riding-horse, saddles, bridles, and waits on him himself,(2) while he makes the noblest and most important minister of the kingdom mount him. then, taking fine white woollen cloth, all sorts of precious things, and articles which the sramans require, he distributes them among them, uttering vows at the same time along with all his ministers; and when this distribution has taken place, he again redeems (whatever he wishes) from the monks.(3) the country, being among the hills and cold, does not produce the other cereals, and only the wheat gets ripe. after the monks have received their annual (portion of this), the mornings suddenly show the hoar-frost, and on this account the king always begs the monks to make the wheat ripen(4) before they receive their portion. there is in the country a spitoon which belonged to buddha, made of stone, and in colour like his alms-bowl. there is also a tooth of buddha, for which the people have reared a tope, connected with which there are more than a thousand monks and their disciples,(5) all students of the hinayana. to the east of these hills the dress of the common people is of coarse materials, as in our country of ts'in, but here also(6) there were among them the differences of fine woollen cloth and of serge or haircloth. the rules observed by the sramans are remarkable, and too numerous to be mentioned in detail. the country is in the midst of the onion range. as you go forward from these mountains, the plants, trees, and fruits are all different from those of the land of han, excepting only the bamboo, pomegranate,(7) and sugar-cane. notes (1) see eitel, p. 89. he describes the assembly as "an ecclesiastical conference, first instituted by king asoka for general confession of sins and inculcation of morality." (2) the text of this sentence is perplexing; and all translators, including myself, have been puzzled by it. (3) see what we are told of king asoka's grant of all the jambudvipa to the monks in chapter xxvii. there are several other instances of similar gifts in the mahavansa. (4) watters calls attention to this as showing that the monks of k'eeh-ch'a had the credit of possessing weather-controlling powers. (5) the text here has {.} {.}, not {.} alone. i often found in monasteries boys and lads who looked up to certain of the monks as their preceptors. (6) compare what is said in chapter ii of the dress of the people of shen-shen. (7) giles thinks the fruit here was the guava, because the ordinary name for "pomegranate" is preceded by gan {.}; but the pomegranate was called at first gan shih-lau, as having been introduced into china from gan-seih by chang-k'een, who is referred to in chapter vii. chapter vi on towards north india. darada. image of maitreya bodhisattva. from this (the travellers) went westwards towards north india, and after being on the way for a month, they succeeded in getting across and through the range of the onion mountains. the snow rests on them both winter and summer. there are also among them venomous dragons, which, when provoked, spit forth poisonous winds, and cause showers of snow and storms of sand and gravel. not one in ten thousand of those who encounter these dangers escapes with his life. the people of the country call the range by the name of "the snow mountains." when (the travellers) had got through them, they were in north india, and immediately on entering its borders, found themselves in a small kingdom called t'o-leih,(1) where also there were many monks, all students of the hinayana. in this kingdom there was formerly an arhan,(2) who by his supernatural power(3) took a clever artificer up to the tushita heaven, to see the height, complexion, and appearance of maitreya bodhisattva,(4) and then return and make an image of him in wood. first and last, this was done three times, and then the image was completed, eighty cubits in height, and eight cubits at the base from knee to knee of the crossed legs. on fast-days it emits an effulgent light. the kings of the (surrounding) countries vie with one another in presenting offerings to it. here it is,--to be seen now as of old.(5) notes (1) eitel and others identify this with darada, the country of the ancient dardae, the region near dardus; lat. 30d 11s n., lon. 73d 54s e. see e. h. p. 30. i am myself in more than doubt on the point. cunningham ("ancient geography of india," p. 82) says "darel is a valley on the right or western bank of the indus, now occupied by dardus or dards, from whom it received its name." but as i read our narrative, fa-hsien is here on the eastern bank of the indus, and only crosses to the western bank as described in the next chapter. (2) lo-han, arhat, arahat, are all designations of the perfected arya, the disciple who has passed the different stages of the noble path, or eightfold excellent way, who has conquered all passions, and is not to be reborn again. arhatship implies possession of certain supernatural powers, and is not to be succeeded by buddhaship, but implies the fact of the saint having already attained nirvana. popularly, the chinese designate by this name the wider circle of buddha's disciples, as well as the smaller ones of 500 and 18. no temple in canton is better worth a visit than that of the 500 lo-han. (3) riddhi-sakshatkriya, "the power of supernatural footsteps,"="a body flexible at pleasure," or unlimited power over the body. e. h., p. 104. (4) tushita is the fourth devaloka, where all bodhisattvas are reborn before finally appearing on earth as buddha. life lasts in tushita 4000 years, but twenty-four hours there are equal to 400 years on earth. e. h., p. 152. (5) maitreya (spence hardy, maitri), often styled ajita, "the invincible," was a bodhisattva, the principal one, indeed, of sakyamuni's retinue, but is not counted among the ordinary (historical) disciples, nor is anything told of his antecedents. it was in the tushita heaven that sakyamuni met him and appointed him as his successor, to appear as buddha after the lapse of 5000 years. maitreya is therefore the expected messiah of the buddhists, residing at present in tushita, and, according to the account of him in eitel (h., p. 70), "already controlling the propagation of the buddhistic faith." the name means "gentleness" or "kindness;" and this will be the character of his dispensation. (6) the combination of {.} {.} in the text of this concluding sentence, and so frequently occurring throughout the narrative, has occasioned no little dispute among previous translators. in the imperial thesaurus of phraseology (p'ei-wan yun-foo), under {.}, an example of it is given from chwang-tsze, and a note subjoined that {.} {.} is equivalent to {.} {.}, "anciently and now." chapter vii crossing of the indus. when buddhism first crossed the river for the east the travellers went on to the south-west for fifteen days (at the foot of the mountains, and) following the course of their range. the way was difficult and rugged, (running along) a bank exceedingly precipitous, which rose up there, a hill-like wall of rock, 10,000 cubits from the base. when one approaches the edge of it, his eyes become unsteady; and if he wished to go forward in the same direction, there was no place on which he could place his foot; and beneath where the waters of the river called the indus.(1) in former times men had chiselled paths along the rocks, and distributed ladders on the face of them, to the number altogether of 700, at the bottom of which there was a suspension bridge of ropes, by which the river was crossed, its banks being there eighty paces apart.(2) the (place and arrangements) are to be found in the records of the nine interpreters,(3) but neither chang k'een(4) nor kan ying(5) had reached the spot. the monks(6) asked fa-hsien if it could be known when the law of buddha first went to the east. he replied, "when i asked the people of those countries about it, they all said that it had been handed down by their fathers from of old that, after the setting up of the image of maitreya bodhisattva, there were sramans of india who crossed this river, carrying with them sutras and books of discipline. now the image was set up rather more than 300 years after the nirvana(7) of buddha, which may be referred to the reign of king p'ing of the chow dynasty.(8) according to this account we may say that the diffusion of our great doctrines (in the east) began from (the setting up of) this image. if it had not been through that maitreya,(9) the great spiritual master(10) (who is to be) the successor of the sakya, who could have caused the 'three precious ones'(11) to be proclaimed so far, and the people of those border lands to know our law? we know of a truth that the opening of (the way for such) a mysterious propagation is not the work of man; and so the dream of the emperor ming of han(12) had its proper cause." notes (1) the sindhu. we saw in a former note that the earliest name in china for india was shin-tuh. so, here, the river indus is called by a name approaching that in sound. (2) both beal and watters quote from cunningham (ladak, pp. 88, 89) the following description of the course of the indus in these parts, in striking accordance with our author's account:--"from skardo to rongdo, and from rongdo to makpou-i-shang-rong, for upwards of 100 miles, the indus sweeps sullen and dark through a mighty gorge in the mountains, which for wild sublimity is perhaps unequalled. rongdo means the country of defiles. . . . between these points the indus raves from side to side of the gloomy chasm, foaming and chafing with ungovernable fury. yet even in these inaccessible places has daring and ingenious man triumphed over opposing nature. the yawning abyss is spanned by frail rope bridges, and the narrow ledges of rocks are connected by ladders to form a giddy pathway overhanging the seething cauldron below." (3) the japanese edition has a different reading here from the chinese copies,--one which remusat (with true critical instinct) conjectured should take the place of the more difficult text with which alone he was acquainted. the "nine interpreters" would be a general name for the official interpreters attached to the invading armies of han in their attempts to penetrate and subdue the regions of the west. the phrase occurs in the memoir of chang k'een, referred to in the next note. (4) chang k'een, a minister of the emperor woo of han (b.c. 140-87), is celebrated as the first chinese who "pierced the void," and penetrated to "the regions of the west," corresponding very much to the present turkestan. through him, by b.c. 115, a regular intercourse was established between china and the thirty-six kingdoms or states of that quarter;--see mayers' chinese reader's manual, p. 5. the memoir of chang k'een, translated by mr. wylie from the books of the first han dynasty, appears in the journal of the anthropological institute, referred to already. (5) less is known of kan ying than of chang k'een. being sent in a.d. 88 by his patron pan chao on an embassy to the roman empire, he only got as far as the caspian sea, and returned to china. he extended, however, the knowledge of his countrymen with regard to the western regions;--see the memoir of pan chao in the books of the second han, and mayers' manual, pp. 167, 168. (6) where and when? probably at his first resting-place after crossing the indus. (7) this may refer to sakyamuni's becoming buddha on attaining to nirvana, or more probably to his pari-nirvana and death. (8) as king p'ing's reign lasted from b.c. 750 to 719, this would place the death of buddha in the eleventh century b.c., whereas recent inquirers place it between b.c. 480 and 470, a year or two, or a few years, after that of confucius, so that the two great "masters" of the east were really contemporaries. but if rhys davids be correct, as i think he is, in fixing the date of buddha's death within a few years of 412 b.c. (see manual, p. 213), not to speak of westergaard's still lower date, then the buddha was very considerably the junior of confucius. (9) this confirms the words of eitel, that maitreya is already controlling the propagation of the faith. (10) the chinese characters for this simply mean "the great scholar or officer;" but see eitel's handbook, p. 99, on the term purusha. (11) "the precious buddha," "the precious law," and "the precious monkhood;" buddha, dharma, and sangha; the whole being equivalent to buddhism. (12) fa-hsien thus endorses the view that buddhism was introduced into china in this reign, a.d. 58-75. the emperor had his dream in a.d. 61. chapter viii woo-chang, or udyana. monasteries, and their ways. traces of buddha. after crossing the river, (the travellers) immediately came to the kingdom of woo-chang,(1) which is indeed (a part) of north india. the people all use the language of central india, "central india" being what we should call the "middle kingdom." the food and clothes of the common people are the same as in that central kingdom. the law of buddha is very (flourishing in woo-chang). they call the places where the monks stay (for a time) or reside permanently sangharamas; and of these there are in all 500, the monks being all students of the hinayana. when stranger bhikshus(2) arrive at one of them, their wants are supplied for three days, after which they are told to find a resting-place for themselves. there is a tradition that when buddha came to north india, he came at once to this country, and that here he left a print of his foot, which is long or short according to the ideas of the beholder (on the subject). it exists, and the same thing is true about it, at the present day. here also are still to be seen the rock on which he dried his clothes, and the place where he converted the wicked dragon.(3) the rock is fourteen cubits high, and more than twenty broad, with one side of it smooth. hwuy-king, hwuy-tah, and tao-ching went on ahead towards (the place of) buddha's shadow in the country of nagara;(4) but fa-hsien and the others remained in woo-chang, and kept the summer retreat.(5) that over, they descended south, and arrived in the country of soo-ho-to.(6) notes (1) udyana, meaning "the park;" just north of the punjab, the country along the subhavastu, now called the swat; noted for its forests, flowers, and fruits (e. h., p. 153). (2) bhikshu is the name for a monk as "living by alms," a mendicant. all bhikshus call themselves sramans. sometimes the two names are used together by our author. (3) naga is the sanskrit name for the chinese lung or dragon; often meaning a snake, especially the boa. "chinese buddhists," says eitel, p. 79, "when speaking of nagas as boa spirits, always represent them as enemies of mankind, but when viewing them as deities of rivers, lakes, or oceans, they describe them as piously inclined." the dragon, however, is in china the symbol of the sovereign and sage, a use of it unknown in buddhism, according to which all nagas need to be converted in order to obtain a higher phase of being. the use of the character too {.}, as here, in the sense of "to convert," is entirely buddhistic. the six paramitas are the six virtues which carry men across {.} the great sea of life and death, as the sphere of transmigration to nirvana. with regard to the particular conversion here, eitel (p. 11) says the naga's name was apatala, the guardian deity of the subhavastu river, and that he was converted by sakyamuni shortly before the death of the latter. (4) in chinese na-k'eeh, an ancient kingdom and city on the southern bank of the cabul river, about thirty miles west of jellalabad. (5) we would seem now to be in 403. (6) soo-ho-to has not been clearly identified. beal says that later buddhist writers include it in udyana. it must have been between the indus and the swat. i suppose it was what we now call swastene. chapter ix soo-ho-to. legend of buddha. in that country also buddhism(1) is flourishing. there is in it the place where sakra,(2) ruler of devas, in a former age,(3) tried the bodhisattva, by producing(4) a hawk (in pursuit of a) dove, when (the bodhisattva) cut off a piece of his own flesh, and (with it) ransomed the dove. after buddha had attained to perfect wisdom,(5) and in travelling about with his disciples (arrived at this spot), he informed them that this was the place where he ransomed the dove with a piece of his own flesh. in this way the people of the country became aware of the fact, and on the spot reared a tope, adorned with layers(6) of gold and silver plates. notes (1) buddhism stands for the two chinese characters {.} {.}, "the law of buddha," and to that rendering of the phrase, which is of frequent occurrence, i will in general adhere. buddhism is not an adequate rendering of them any more than christianity would be of {to euaggelion xristou}. the fa or law is the equivalent of dharma comprehending all in the first basket of the buddhist teaching,--as dr. davids says (hibbert lectures, p. 44), "its ethics and philosophy, and its system of self-culture;" with the theory of karma, it seems to me, especially underlying it. it has been pointed out (cunningham's "bhilsa topes," p. 102) that dharma is the keystone of all king priyadarsi or asoka's edicts. the whole of them are dedicated to the attainment of one object, "the advancement of dharma, or of the law of buddha." his native chinese afforded no better character than {.} or law, by which our author could express concisely his idea of the buddhistic system, as "a law of life," a directory or system of rules, by which men could attain to the consummation of their being. (2) sakra is a common name for the brahmanic indra, adopted by buddhism into the circle of its own great adherents;--it has been said, "because of his popularity." he is generally styled, as here, t'een ti, "god or ruler of devas." he is now the representative of the secular power, the valiant protector of the buddhist body, but is looked upon as inferior to sakyamuni, and every buddhist saint. he appears several times in fa-hsien's narrative. e. h., pp. 108 and 46. (3) the chinese character is {.}, "formerly," and is often, as in the first sentence of the narrative, simply equivalent to that adverb. at other times it means, as here, "in a former age," some pre-existent state in the time of a former birth. the incident related is "a jataka story." (4) it occurs at once to the translator to render the characters {.} {.} by "changed himself to." such is often their meaning in the sequel, but their use in chapter xxiv may be considered as a crucial test of the meaning which i have given them here. (5) that is, had become buddha, or completed his course {.} {.}. (6) this seems to be the contribution of {.} (or {.}), to the force of the binomial {.} {.}, which is continually occurring. chapter x gandhara. legends of buddha. the travellers, going downwards from this towards the east, in five days came to the country of gandhara,(1) the place where dharma-vivardhana,(2) the son of asoka,(3) ruled. when buddha was a bodhisattva, he gave his eyes also for another man here;(4) and at the spot they have also reared a large tope, adorned with layers of gold and silver plates. the people of the country were mostly students of the hinayana. notes (1) eitel says "an ancient kingdom, corresponding to the region about dheri and banjour." but see note 5. (2) dharma-vivardhana is the name in sanskrit, represented by the fa yi {.} {.} of the text. (3) asoka is here mentioned for the first time;--the constantine of the buddhist society, and famous for the number of viharas and topes which he erected. he was the grandson of chandragupta (i.q. sandracottus), a rude adventurer, who at one time was a refugee in the camp of alexander the great; and within about twenty years afterwards drove the greeks out of india, having defeated seleucus, the greek ruler of the indus provinces. he had by that time made himself king of magadha. his grandson was converted to buddhism by the bold and patient demeanour of an arhat whom he had ordered to be buried alive, and became a most zealous supporter of the new faith. dr. rhys davids (sacred books of the east, vol. xi, p. xlvi) says that "asoka's coronation can be fixed with absolute certainty within a year or two either way of 267 b.c." (4) this also is a jataka story; but eitel thinks it may be a myth, constructed from the story of the blinding of dharma-vivardhana. chapter xi takshasila. legends. the four great topes. seven days' journey from this to the east brought the travellers to the kingdom of takshasila,(1) which means "the severed head" in the language of china. here, when buddha was a bodhisattva, he gave away his head to a man;(2) and from this circumstance the kingdom got its name. going on further for two days to the east, they came to the place where the bodhisattva threw down his body to feed a starving tigress.(2) in these two places also large topes have been built, both adorned with layers of all the precious substances. the kings, ministers, and peoples of the kingdoms around vie with one another in making offerings at them. the trains of those who come to scatter flowers and light lamps at them never cease. the nations of those quarters all those (and the other two mentioned before) "the four great topes." notes (1) see julien's "methode pour dechiffrer et transcrire les nomes sanscrits," p. 206. eitel says, "the taxila of the greeks, the region near hoosun abdaul in lat. 35d 48s n., lon. 72d 44s e." but this identification, i am satisfied, is wrong. cunningham, indeed, takes credit ("ancient geography of india," pp. 108, 109) for determining this to be the site of arrian's taxila,--in the upper punjab, still existing in the ruins of shahdheri, between the indus and hydaspes (the modern jhelum). so far he may be correct; but the takshasila of fa-hsien was on the other, or western side of the indus; and between the river and gandhara. it took him, indeed, seven days travelling eastwards to reach it; but we do not know what stoppages he may have made on the way. we must be wary in reckoning distances from his specifications of days. (2) two jataka stories. see the account of the latter in spence hardy's "manual of buddhism," pp. 91, 92. it took place when buddha had been born as a brahman in the village of daliddi; and from the merit of the act, he was next born in a devaloka. chapter xii purushapura, or peshawur. prophecy about king kanishka and his tope. buddha's alms-bowl. death of hwuy-ying. going southwards from gandhara, (the travellers) in four days arrived at the kingdom of purushapura.(1) formerly, when buddha was travelling in this country with his disciples, he said to ananda,(2) "after my pari-nirvana,(3) there will be a king named kanishka,(4) who shall on this spot build a tope." this kanishka was afterwards born into the world; and (once), when he had gone forth to look about him, sakra, ruler of devas, wishing to excite the idea in his mind, assumed the appearance of a little herd-boy, and was making a tope right in the way (of the king), who asked what sort of thing he was making. the boy said, "i am making a tope for buddha." the king said, "very good;" and immediately, right over the boy's tope, he (proceeded to) rear another, which was more than four hundred cubits high, and adorned with layers of all the precious substances. of all the topes and temples which (the travellers) saw in their journeyings, there was not one comparable to this in solemn beauty and majestic grandeur. there is a current saying that this is the finest tope in jambudvipa.(5) when the king's tope was completed, the little tope (of the boy) came out from its side on the south, rather more than three cubits in height. buddha's alms-bowl is in this country. formerly, a king of yueh-she(6) raised a large force and invaded this country, wishing to carry the bowl away. having subdued the kingdom, as he and his captains were sincere believers in the law of buddha, and wished to carry off the bowl, they proceeded to present their offerings on a great scale. when they had done so to the three precious ones, he made a large elephant be grandly caparisoned, and placed the bowl upon it. but the elephant knelt down on the ground, and was unable to go forward. again he caused a four-wheeled waggon to be prepared in which the bowl was put to be conveyed away. eight elephants were then yoked to it, and dragged it with their united strength; but neither were they able to go forward. the king knew that the time for an association between himself and the bowl had not yet arrived,(7) and was sad and deeply ashamed of himself. forthwith he built a tope at the place and a monastery, and left a guard to watch (the bowl), making all sorts of contributions. there may be there more than seven hundred monks. when it is near midday, they bring out the bowl, and, along with the common people,(8) make their various offerings to it, after which they take their midday meal. in the evening, at the time of incense, they bring the bowl out again.(9) it may contain rather more than two pecks, and is of various colours, black predominating, with the seams that show its fourfold composition distinctly marked.(10) its thickness is about the fifth of an inch, and it has a bright and glossy lustre. when poor people throw into it a few flowers, it becomes immediately full, while some very rich people, wishing to make offering of many flowers, might not stop till they had thrown in hundreds, thousands, and myriads of bushels, and yet would not be able to fill it.(11) pao-yun and sang-king here merely made their offerings to the alms-bowl, and (then resolved to) go back. hwuy-king, hwuy-tah, and tao-ching had gone on before the rest to negara,(12) to make their offerings at (the places of) buddha's shadow, tooth, and the flat-bone of his skull. (there) hwuy-king fell ill, and tao-ching remained to look after him, while hwuy-tah came alone to purushapura, and saw the others, and (then) he with pao-yun and sang-king took their way back to the land of ts'in. hwuy-king(13) came to his end(14) in the monastery of buddha's alms-bowl, and on this fa-hsien went forward alone towards the place of the flat-bone of buddha's skull. notes (1) the modern peshawur, lat. 34d 8s n., lon. 71d 30s e. (2) a first cousin of sakyamuni, and born at the moment when he attained to buddhaship. under buddha's teaching, ananda became an arhat, and is famous for his strong and accurate memory; and he played an important part at the first council for the formation of the buddhist canon. the friendship between sakyamuni and ananda was very close and tender; and it is impossible to read much of what the dying buddha said to him and of him, as related in the maha-pari-nirvana sutra, without being moved almost to tears. ananda is to reappear on earth as buddha in another kalpa. see e. h., p. 9, and the sacred books of the east, vol. xi. (3) on his attaining to nirvana, sakyamuni became the buddha, and had no longer to mourn his being within the circle of transmigration, and could rejoice in an absolute freedom from passion, and a perfect purity. still he continued to live on for forty-five years, till he attained to pari-nirvana, and had done with all the life of sense and society, and had no more exercise of thought. he died; but whether he absolutely and entirely _ceased_ to be, in any sense of the word _being_, it would be difficult to say. probably he himself would not and could not have spoken definitely on the point. so far as our use of language is concerned, apart from any assured faith in and hope of immortality, his pari-nirvana was his death. (4) kanishka appeared, and began to reign, early in our first century, about a.d. 10. he was the last of three brothers, whose original seat was in yueh-she, immediately mentioned, or tukhara. converted by the sudden appearance of a saint, he became a zealous buddhist, and patronised the system as liberally as asoka had done. the finest topes in the north-west of india are ascribed to him; he was certainly a great man and a magnificent sovereign. (5) jambudvipa is one of the four great continents of the universe, representing the inhabited world as fancied by the buddhists, and so called because it resembles in shape the leaves of the jambu tree. it is south of mount meru, and divided among four fabulous kings (e. h., p. 36). it is often used, as here perhaps, merely as the buddhist name for india. (6) this king was perhaps kanishka himself, fa-hsien mixing up, in an inartistic way, different legends about him. eitel suggests that a relic of the old name of the country may still exist in that of the jats or juts of the present day. a more common name for it is tukhara, and he observes that the people were the indo-scythians of the greeks, and the tartars of chinese writers, who, driven on by the huns (180 b.c.), conquered transoxiana, destroyed the bactrian kingdom (126 b.c.), and finally conquered the punjab, cashmere, and great part of india, their greatest king being kanishak (e. h., p. 152). (7) watters, clearly understanding the thought of the author in this sentence, renders--"his destiny did not extend to a connexion with the bowl;" but the term "destiny" suggests a controlling or directing power without. the king thought that his virtue in the past was not yet sufficient to give him possession of the bowl. (8) the text is simply "those in white clothes." this may mean "the laity," or the "upasakas;" but it is better to take the characters in their common chinese acceptation, as meaning "commoners," "men who have no rank." see in williams' dictionary under {.}. (9) i do not wonder that remusat should give for this--"et s'en retournent apres." but fa-hsien's use of {.} in the sense of "in the same way" is uniform throughout the narrative. (10) hardy's m. b., p. 183, says:--"the alms-bowl, given by mahabrahma, having vanished (about the time that gotama became buddha), each of the four guardian deities brought him an alms-bowl of emerald, but he did not accept them. they then brought four bowls made of stone, of the colour of the mung fruit; and when each entreated that his own bowl might be accepted, buddha caused them to appear as if formed into a single bowl, appearing at the upper rim as if placed one within the other." see the account more correctly given in the "buddhist birth stories," p. 110. (11) compare the narrative in luke's gospel, xxi. 1-4. (12) see chapter viii. (13) this, no doubt, should be hwuy-ying. king was at this time ill in nagara, and indeed afterwards he dies in crossing the little snowy mountains; but all the texts make him die twice. the confounding of the two names has been pointed out by chinese critics. (14) "came to his end;" i.e., according to the text, "proved the impermanence and uncertainty," namely, of human life. see williams' dictionary under {.}. the phraseology is wholly buddhistic. chapter xiii nagara. festival of buddha's skull-bone. other relics, and his shadow. going west for sixteen yojanas,(1) he came to the city he-lo(2) in the borders of the country of nagara, where there is the flat-bone of buddha's skull, deposited in a vihara(3) adorned all over with gold-leaf and the seven sacred substances. the king of the country, revering and honouring the bone, and anxious lest it should be stolen away, has selected eight individuals, representing the great families in the kingdom, and committing to each a seal, with which he should seal (its shrine) and guard (the relic). at early dawn these eight men come, and after each has inspected his seal, they open the door. this done, they wash their hands with scented water and bring out the bone, which they place outside the vihara, on a lofty platform, where it is supported on a round pedestal of the seven precious substances, and covered with a bell of _lapis lazuli_, both adorned with rows of pearls. its colour is of a yellowish white, and it forms an imperfect circle twelve inches round,(4) curving upwards to the centre. every day, after it has been brought forth, the keepers of the vihara ascend a high gallery, where they beat great drums, blow conchs, and clash their copper cymbals. when the king hears them, he goes to the vihara, and makes his offerings of flowers and incense. when he has done this, he (and his attendants) in order, one after another, (raise the bone), place it (for a moment) on the top of their heads,(5) and then depart, going out by the door on the west as they entered by that on the east. the king every morning makes his offerings and performs his worship, and afterwards gives audience on the business of his government. the chiefs of the vaisyas(6) also make their offerings before they attend to their family affairs. every day it is so, and there is no remissness in the observance of the custom. when all the offerings are over, they replace the bone in the vihara, where there is a vimoksha tope,(7) of the seven precious substances, and rather more than five cubits high, sometimes open, sometimes shut, to contain it. in front of the door of the vihara, there are parties who every morning sell flowers and incense,(8) and those who wish to make offerings buy some of all kinds. the kings of various countries are also constantly sending messengers with offerings. the vihara stands in a square of thirty paces, and though heaven should shake and earth be rent, this place would not move. going on, north from this, for a yojana, (fa-hsien) arrived at the capital of nagara, the place where the bodhisattva once purchased with money five stalks of flowers, as an offering to the dipankara buddha.(9) in the midst of the city there is also the tope of buddha's tooth, where offerings are made in the same way as to the flat-bone of his skull. a yojana to the north-east of the city brought him to the mouth of a valley, where there is buddha's pewter staff;(10) and a vihara also has been built at which offerings are made. the staff is made of gosirsha chandana, and is quite sixteen or seventeen cubits long. it is contained in a wooden tube, and though a hundred or a thousand men ere to (try to) lift it, they could not move it. entering the mouth of the valley, and going west, he found buddha's sanghali,(11) where also there is reared a vihara, and offerings are made. it is a custom of the country when there is a great drought, for the people to collect in crowds, bring out the robe, pay worship to it, and make offerings, on which there is immediately a great rain from the sky. south of the city, half a yojana, there is a rock-cavern, in a great hill fronting the south-west; and here it was that buddha left his shadow. looking at it from a distance of more than ten paces, you seem to see buddha's real form, with his complexion of gold, and his characteristic marks(12) in their nicety clearly and brightly displayed. the nearer you approach, however, the fainter it becomes, as if it were only in your fancy. when the kings from the regions all around have sent skilful artists to take a copy, none of them have been able to do so. among the people of the country there is a saying current that "the thousand buddhas(13) must all leave their shadows here." rather more than four hundred paces west from the shadow, when buddha was at the spot, he shaved his hair and clipt his nails, and proceeded, along with his disciples, to build a tope seventy or eighty cubits high, to be a model for all future topes; and it is still existing. by the side of it there is a monastery, with more than seven hundred monks in it. at this place there are as many as a thousand topes(14) of arhans and pratyeka buddhas.(15) notes (1) now in india, fa-hsien used the indian measure of distance; but it is not possible to determine exactly what its length then was. the estimates of it are very different, and vary from four and a half or five miles to seven, and sometimes more. see the subject exhaustively treated in davids' "ceylon coins and measures," pp. 15-17. (2) the present hilda, west of peshawur, and five miles south of jellalabad. (3) "the vihara," says hardy, "is the residence of a recluse or priest;" and so davids:--"the clean little hut where the mendicant lives." our author, however, does not use the indian name here, but the chinese characters which express its meaning--tsing shay, "a pure dwelling." he uses the term occasionally, and evidently, in this sense; more frequently it occurs in his narrative in connexion with the buddhist relic worship; and at first i translated it by "shrine" and "shrine-house;" but i came to the conclusion, at last, to employ always the indian name. the first time i saw a shrine-house was, i think, in a monastery near foo-chow;--a small pyramidical structure, about ten feet high, glittering as if with the precious substances, but all, it seemed to me, of tinsel. it was in a large apartment of the building, having many images in it. the monks said it was the most precious thing in their possession, and that if they opened it, as i begged them to do, there would be a convulsion that would destroy the whole establishment. see e. h., p. 166. the name of the province of behar was given to it in consequence of its many viharas. (4) according to the characters, "square, round, four inches." hsuan-chwang says it was twelve inches round. (5) in williams' dictionary, under {.}, the characters, used here, are employed in the phrase for "to degrade an officer," that is, "to remove the token of his rank worn on the crown of his head;" but to place a thing on the crown is a buddhistic form of religious homage. (6) the vaisyas, or bourgeois caste of hindu society, are described here as "resident scholars." (7) see eitel's handbook under the name vimoksha, which is explained as "the act of self-liberation," and "the dwelling or state of liberty." there are eight acts of liberating one's self from all subjective and objective trammels, and as many states of liberty (vimukti) resulting therefrom. they are eight degrees of self-inanition, and apparently eight stages on the way to nirvana. the tope in the text would be emblematic in some way of the general idea of the mental progress conducting to the buddhistic consummation of existence. (8) this incense would be in long "sticks," small and large, such as are sold to-day throughout china, as you enter the temples. (9) "the illuminating buddha," the twenty-fourth predecessor of sakyamuni, and who, so long before, gave him the assurance that he would by-and-by be buddha. see jataka tales, p. 23. (10) the staff was, as immediately appears, of gosirsha chandana, or "sandal-wood from the cow's-head mountain," a species of copper-brown sandal-wood, said to be produced most abundantly on a mountain of (the fabulous continent) ullarakuru, north of mount meru, which resembles in shape the head of a cow (e. h., pp. 42, 43). it is called a "pewter staff" from having on it a head and rings and pewter. see watters, "china review," viii, pp. 227, 228, and williams' dictionary, under {.}. (11) or sanghati, the double or composite robe, part of a monk's attire, reaching from the shoulders to the knees, and fastened round the waist (e. h., p. 118). (12) these were the "marks and beauties" on the person of a supreme buddha. the rishi kala devala saw them on the body of the infant sakya prince to the number of 328, those on the teeth, which had not yet come out, being visible to his spirit-like eyes (m. b., pp. 148, 149). (13) probably="all buddhas." (14) the number may appear too great. but see what is said on the size of topes in chapter iii, note 4. (15) in singhalese, pase buddhas; called also nidana buddhas, and pratyeka jinas, and explained by "individually intelligent," "completely intelligent," "intelligent as regards the nidanas." this, says eitel (pp. 96, 97), is "a degree of saintship unknown to primitive buddhism, denoting automats in ascetic life who attain to buddhaship 'individually,' that is, without a teacher, and without being able to save others. as the ideal hermit, the pratyeka buddha is compared with the rhinoceros khadga that lives lonely in the wilderness. he is also called nidana buddha, as having mastered the twelve nidanas (the twelve links in the everlasting chain of cause and effect in the whole range of existence, the understanding of which solves the riddle of life, revealing the inanity of all forms of existence, and preparing the mind for nirvana). he is also compared to a horse, which, crossing a river, almost buries its body under the water, without, however, touching the bottom of the river. thus in crossing samsara he 'suppresses the errors of life and thought, and the effects of habit and passion, without attaining to absolute perfection.'" whether these buddhas were unknown, as eitel says, to primitive buddhism, may be doubted. see davids' hibbert lectures, p. 146. chapter xiv death of hwuy-king in the little snowy mountains. lo-e. pohna. crossing the indus to the east. having stayed there till the third month of winter, fa-hsien and the two others,(1) proceeding southwards, crossed the little snowy mountains.(2) on them the snow lies accumulated both winter and summer. on the north (side) of the mountains, in the shade, they suddenly encountered a cold wind which made them shiver and become unable to speak. hwuy-king could not go any farther. a white froth came from his mouth, and he said to fa-hsien, "i cannot live any longer. do you immediately go away, that we do not all die here;" and with these words he died.(3) fa-hsien stroked the corpse, and cried out piteously, "our original plan has failed;--it is fate.(4) what can we do?" he then again exerted himself, and they succeeded in crossing to the south of the range, and arrived in the kingdom of lo-e,(5) where there were nearly three thousand monks, students of both the mahayana and hinayana. here they stayed for the summer retreat,(6) and when that was over, they went on to the south, and ten days' journey brought them to the kingdom of poh-na,(7) where there are also more than three thousand monks, all students of the hinayana. proceeding from this place for three days, they again crossed the indus, where the country on each side was low and level.(8) notes (1) these must have been tao-ching and hwuy-king. (2) probably the safeid koh, and on the way to the kohat pass. (3) all the texts have kwuy-king. see chapter xii, note 13. (4) a very natural exclamation, but out of place and inconsistent from the lips of fa-hsien. the chinese character {.}, which he employed, may be rendered rightly by "fate" or "destiny;" but the fate is not unintelligent. the term implies a factor, or fa-tor, and supposes the ordination of heaven or god. a confucian idea for the moment overcame his buddhism. (5) lo-e, or rohi, is a name for afghanistan; but only a portion of it can be here intended. (6) we are now therefore in 404. (7) no doubt the present district of bannu, in the lieutenant-governorship of the punjab, between 32d 10s and 33d 15s n. lat., and 70d 26s and 72d e. lon. see hunter's gazetteer of india, i, p. 393. (8) they had then crossed the indus before. they had done so, indeed, twice; first, from north to south, at skardo or east of it; and second, as described in chapter vii. chapter xv bhida. sympathy of monks with the pilgrims. after they had crossed the river, there was a country named pe-t'oo,(1) where buddhism was very flourishing, and (the monks) studied both the mahayana and hinayana. when they saw their fellow-disciples from ts'in passing along, they were moved with great pity and sympathy, and expressed themselves thus: "how is it that these men from a border-land should have learned to become monks,(2) and come for the sake of our doctrines from such a distance in search of the law of buddha?" they supplied them with what they needed, and treated them in accordance with the rules of the law. notes (1) bhida. eitel says, "the present punjab;" i.e. it was a portion of that. (2) "to come forth from their families;" that is, to become celibates, and adopt the tonsure. chapter xvi on to mathura or muttra. condition and customs of central india; of the monks, viharas, and monasteries. from this place they travelled south-east, passing by a succession of very many monasteries, with a multitude of monks, who might be counted by myriads. after passing all these places, they came to a country named ma-t'aou-lo.(1) they still followed the course of the p'oo-na(2) river, on the banks of which, left and right, there were twenty monasteries, which might contain three thousand monks; and (here) the law of buddha was still more flourishing. everywhere, from the sandy desert, in all the countries of india, the kings had been firm believers in that law. when they make their offerings to a community of monks, they take off their royal caps, and along with their relatives and ministers, supply them with food with their own hands. that done, (the king) has a carpet spread for himself on the ground, and sits down in front of the chairman;--they dare not presume to sit on couches in front of the community. the laws and ways, according to which the kings presented their offerings when buddha was in the world, have been handed down to the present day. all south from this is named the middle kingdom.(3) in it the cold and heat are finely tempered, and there is neither hoarfrost nor snow. the people are numerous and happy; they have not to register their households, or attend to any magistrates and their rules; only those who cultivate the royal land have to pay (a portion of) the grain from it. if they want to go, they go; if they want to stay on, they stay. the king governs without decapitation or (other) corporal punishments. criminals are simply fined, lightly or heavily, according to the circumstances (of each case). even in cases of repeated attempts at wicked rebellion, they only have their right hands cut off. the king's body-guards and attendants all have salaries. throughout the whole country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or garlic. the only exception is that of the chandalas.(4) that is the name for those who are (held to be) wicked men, and live apart from others. when they enter the gate of a city or a market-place, they strike a piece of wood to make themselves known, so that men know and avoid them, and do not come into contact with them. in that country they do not keep pigs and fowls, and do not sell live cattle; in the markets there are no butchers' shops and no dealers in intoxicating drink. in buying and selling commodities they use cowries.(5) only the chandalas are fishermen and hunters, and sell flesh meat. after buddha attained to pari-nirvana,(6) the kings of the various countries and the heads of the vaisyas(7) built viharas for the priests, and endowed them with fields, houses, gardens, and orchards, along with the resident populations and their cattle, the grants being engraved on plates of metal,(8) so that afterwards they were handed down from king to king, without any daring to annul them, and they remain even to the present time. the regular business of the monks is to perform acts of meritorious virtue, and to recite their sutras and sit wrapt in meditation. when stranger monks arrive (at any monastery), the old residents meet and receive them, carry for them their clothes and alms-bowl, give them water to wash their feet, oil with which to anoint them, and the liquid food permitted out of the regular hours.(9) when (the stranger) has enjoyed a very brief rest, they further ask the number of years that he has been a monk, after which he receives a sleeping apartment with its appurtenances, according to his regular order, and everything is done for him which the rules prescribe.(10) where a community of monks resides, they erect topes to sariputtra,(11) to maha-maudgalyayana,(12) and to ananda,(13) and also topes (in honour) of the abhidharma, the vinaya, and the sutras. a month after the (annual season of) rest, the families which are looking out for blessing stimulate one another(14) to make offerings to the monks, and send round to them the liquid food which may be taken out of the ordinary hours. all the monks come together in a great assembly, and preach the law;(15) after which offerings are presented at the tope of sariputtra, with all kinds of flowers and incense. all through the night lamps are kept burning, and skilful musicians are employed to perform.(16) when sariputtra was a great brahman, he went to buddha, and begged (to be permitted) to quit his family (and become a monk). the great mugalan and the great kasyapa(17) also did the same. the bhikshunis(18) for the most part make their offerings at the tope of ananda, because it was he who requested the world-honoured one to allow females to quit their families (and become nuns). the sramaneras(19) mostly make their offerings to rahula.(20) the professors of the abhidharma make their offerings to it; those of the vinaya to it. every year there is one such offering, and each class has its own day for it. students of the mahayana present offerings to the prajna-paramita,(21) to manjusri,(22) and to kwan-she-yin.(23) when the monks have done receiving their annual tribute (from the harvests),(24) the heads of the vaisyas and all the brahmans bring clothes and other such articles as the monks require for use, and distribute among them. the monks, having received them, also proceed to give portions to one another. from the nirvana of buddha,(25) the forms of ceremony, laws, and rules, practised by the sacred communities, have been handed down from one generation to another without interruption. from the place where (the travellers) crossed the indus to southern india, and on to the southern sea, a distance of forty or fifty thousand le, all is level plain. there are no large hills with streams (among them); there are simply the waters of the rivers. notes (1) muttra, "the peacock city;" lat. 27d 30s n., lon. 77d 43s e. (hunter); the birthplace of krishna, whose emblem is the peacock. (2) this must be the jumna, or yamuna. why it is called, as here, the p'oo-na has yet to be explained. (3) in pali, majjhima-desa, "the middle country." see davids' "buddhist birth stories," page 61, note. (4) eitel (pp. 145, 6) says, "the name chandalas is explained by 'butchers,' 'wicked men,' and those who carry 'the awful flag,' to warn off their betters;--the lowest and most despised caste of india, members of which, however, when converted, were admitted even into the ranks of the priesthood." (5) "cowries;" {.} {.}, not "shells and ivory," as one might suppose; but cowries alone, the second term entering into the name from the marks inside the edge of the shell, resembling "the teeth of fishes." (6) see chapter xii, note 3, buddha's pari-nirvana is equivalent to buddha's death. (7) see chapter xiii, note 6. the order of the characters is different here, but with the same meaning. (8) see the preparation of such a deed of grant in a special case, as related in chapter xxxix. no doubt in fa-hsien's time, and long before and after it, it was the custom to engrave such deeds on plates of metal. (9) "no monk can eat solid food except between sunrise and noon," and total abstinence from intoxicating drinks is obligatory (davids' manual, p. 163). food eaten at any other part of the day is called vikala, and forbidden; but a weary traveller might receive unseasonable refreshment, consisting, as watters has shown (ch. rev. viii. 282), of honey, butter, treacle, and sesamum oil. (10) the expression here is somewhat perplexing; but it occurs again in chapter xxxviii; and the meaning is clear. see watters, ch. rev. viii. 282, 3. the rules are given at length in the sacred books of the east, vol. xx, p. 272 and foll., and p. 279 and foll. (11) sariputtra (singh. seriyut) was one of the principal disciples of buddha, and indeed the most learned and ingenious of them all, so that he obtained the title of {.} {.}, "knowledge and wisdom." he is also called buddha's "right-hand attendant." his name is derived from that of his mother sarika, the wife of tishya, a native of nalanda. in spence hardy, he often appears under the name of upatissa (upa-tishya), derived from his father. several sastras are ascribed to him, and indeed the followers of the abhidharma look on him as their founder. he died before sakyamuni; but is to reappear as a future buddha. eitel, pp. 123, 124. (12) mugalan, the singhalese name of this disciple, is more pronounceable. he also was one of the principal disciples, called buddha's "left-hand attendant." he was distinguished for his power of vision, and his magical powers. the name in the text is derived from the former attribute, and it was by the latter that he took up an artist to tushita to get a view of sakyamuni, and so make a statue of him. (compare the similar story in chap. vi.) he went to hell, and released his mother. he also died before sakyamuni, and is to reappear as buddha. eitel, p. 65. (13) see chapter xii, note 2. (14) a passage rather difficult to construe. the "families" would be those more devout than their neighbours. (15) one rarely hears this preaching in china. it struck me most as i once heard it at osaka in japan. there was a pulpit in a large hall of the temple, and the audience sat around on the matted floor. one priest took the pulpit after another; and the hearers nodded their heads occasionally, and indicated their sympathy now and then by an audible "h'm," which reminded me of carlyle's description of meetings of "the ironsides" of cromwell. (16) this last statement is wanting in the chinese editions. (17) there was a kasyapa buddha, anterior to sakyamuni. but this maha-kasyapa was a brahman of magadha, who was converted by buddha, and became one of his disciples. he took the lead after sakyamuni's death, convoked and directed the first synod, from which his title of arya-sthavira is derived. as the first compiler of the canon, he is considered the fountain of chinese orthodoxy, and counted as the first patriarch. he also is to be reborn as buddha. eitel, p. 64. (18) the bhikshunis are the female monks or nuns, subject to the same rules as the bhikshus, and also to special ordinances of restraint. see hardy's e. m., chap. 17. see also sacred books of the east, vol. xx, p. 321. (19) the sramaneras are the novices, male or female, who have vowed to observe the shikshapada, or ten commandments. fa-hsien was himself one of them from his childhood. having heard the trisharana, or threefold formula of refuge,--"i take refuge in buddha; the law; the church,--the novice undertakes to observe the ten precepts that forbid--(1) destroying life; (2) stealing; (3) impurity; (4) lying; (5) intoxicating drinks; (6) eating after midday; (7) dancing, singing, music, and stage-plays; (8) garlands, scents, unguents, and ornaments; (9) high or broad couches; (10) receiving gold or silver." davids' manual, p. 160; hardy's e. m., pp. 23, 24. (20) the eldest son of sakyamuni by yasodhara. converted to buddhism, he followed his father as an attendant; and after buddha's death became the founder of a philosophical realistic school (vaibhashika). he is now revered as the patron saint of all novices, and is to be reborn as the eldest son of every future buddha. eitel, p. 101. his mother also is to be reborn as buddha. (21) there are six (sometimes increased to ten) paramitas, "means of passing to nirvana:--charity; morality; patience; energy; tranquil contemplation; wisdom (prajna); made up to ten by use of the proper means; science; pious vows; and force of purpose. but it is only prajna which carries men across the samsara to the shores of nirvana." eitel, p. 90. (22) according to eitel (pp. 71, 72), a famous bodhisattva, now specially worshipped in shan-se, whose antecedents are a hopeless jumble of history and fable. fa-hsien found him here worshipped by followers of the mahayana school; but hsuan-chwang connects his worship with the yogachara or tantra-magic school. the mahayana school regard him as the apotheosis of perfect wisdom. his most common titles are mahamati, "great wisdom," and kumara-raja, "king of teaching, with a thousand arms and a hundred alms-bowls." (23) kwan-she-yin and the dogmas about him or her are as great a mystery as manjusri. the chinese name is a mistranslation of the sanskrit name avalokitesvra, "on-looking sovereign," or even "on-looking self-existent," and means "regarding or looking on the sounds of the world,"="hearer of prayer." originally, and still in thibet, avalokitesvara had only male attributes, but in china and japan (kwannon), this deity (such popularly she is) is represented as a woman, "kwan-yin, the greatly gentle, with a thousand arms and a thousand eyes;" and has her principal seat in the island of p'oo-t'oo, on the china coast, which is a regular place of pilgrimage. to the worshippers of whom fa-hsien speaks, kwan-she-yin would only be avalokitesvara. how he was converted into the "goddess of mercy," and her worship took the place which it now has in china, is a difficult inquiry, which would take much time and space, and not be brought after all, so far as i see, to a satisfactory conclusion. see eitel's handbook, pp. 18-20, and his three lectures on buddhism (third edition), pp. 124-131. i was talking on the subject once with an intelligent chinese gentleman, when he remarked, "have you not much the same thing in europe in the worship of mary?" (24) compare what is said in chap. v. (25) this nirvana of buddha must be--not his death, but his attaining to buddhaship. chapter xvii sankasya. buddha's ascent to and descent from the trayastrimsas heaven, and other legends. from this they proceeded south-east for eighteen yojanas, and found themselves in a kingdom called sankasya,(1) at the place where buddha came down, after ascending to the trayastrimsas heaven,(2) and there preaching for three months his law for the benefit of his mother.(3) buddha had gone up to this heaven by his supernatural power,(4) without letting his disciples know; but seven days before the completion (of the three months) he laid aside his invisibility,(4) and anuruddha,(5) with his heavenly eyes,(5) saw the world-honoured one, and immediately said to the honoured one, the great mugalan, "do you go and salute the world-honoured one." mugalan forthwith went, and with head and face did homage at (buddha's) feet. they then saluted and questioned each other, and when this was over, buddha said to mugalan, "seven days after this i will go down to jambudvipa;" and thereupon mugalan returned. at this time the great kings of eight countries with their ministers and people, not having seen buddha for a long time, were all thirstily looking up for him, and had collected in clouds in this kingdom to wait for the world-honoured one. then the bhikshuni utpala(6) thought in her heart, "to-day the kings, with their ministers and people, will all be meeting (and welcoming) buddha. i am (but) a woman; how shall i succeed in being the first to see him?"(7) buddha immediately, by his spirit-like power, changed her into the appearance of a holy chakravartti(8) king, and she was the foremost of all in doing reverence to him. as buddha descended from his position aloft in the trayastrimsas heaven, when he was coming down, there were made to appear three flights of precious steps. buddha was on the middle flight, the steps of which were composed of the seven precious substances. the king of brahma-loka(9) also made a flight of silver steps appear on the right side, (where he was seen) attending with a white chowry in his hand. sakra, ruler of devas, made (a flight of) steps of purple gold on the left side, (where he was seen) attending and holding an umbrella of the seven precious substances. an innumerable multitude of the devas followed buddha in his descent. when he was come down, the three flights all disappeared in the ground, excepting seven steps, which continued to be visible. afterwards king asoka, wishing to know where their ends rested, sent men to dig and see. they went down to the yellow springs(10) without reaching the bottom of the steps, and from this the king received an increase to his reverence and faith, and built a vihara over the steps, with a standing image, sixteen cubits in height, right over the middle flight. behind the vihara he erected a stone pillar, about fifty cubits high,(11) with a lion on the top of it.(12) let into the pillar, on each of its four sides,(13) there is an image of buddha, inside and out(14) shining and transparent, and pure as it were of _lapis lazuli_. some teachers of another doctrine(15) once disputed with the sramanas about (the right to) this as a place of residence, and the latter were having the worst of the argument, when they took an oath on both sides on the condition that, if the place did indeed belong to the sramanas, there should be some marvellous attestation of it. when these words had been spoken, the lion on the top gave a great roar, thus giving the proof; on which their opponents were frightened, bowed to the decision, and withdrew. through buddha having for three months partaken of the food of heaven, his body emitted a heavenly fragrance, unlike that of an ordinary man. he went immediately and bathed; and afterwards, at the spot where he did so, a bathing-house was built, which is still existing. at the place where the bhikshuni utpala was the first to do reverence to buddha, a tope has now been built. at the places where buddha, when he was in the world, cut his hair and nails, topes are erected; and where the three buddhas(16) that preceded sakyamuni buddha and he himself sat; where they walked,(17) and where images of their persons were made. at all these places topes were made, and are still existing. at the place where sakra, ruler of the devas, and the king of the brahma-loka followed buddha down (from the trayastrimsas heaven) they have also raised a tope. at this place the monks and nuns may be a thousand, who all receive their food from the common store, and pursue their studies, some of the mahayana and some of the hinayana. where they live, there is a white-eared dragon, which acts the part of danapati to the community of these monks, causing abundant harvests in the country, and the enriching rains to come in season, without the occurrence of any calamities, so that the monks enjoy their repose and ease. in gratitude for its kindness, they have made for it a dragon-house, with a carpet for it to sit on, and appointed for it a diet of blessing, which they present for its nourishment. every day they set apart three of their number to go to its house, and eat there. whenever the summer retreat is ended, the dragon straightway changes its form, and appears as a small snake,(18) with white spots at the side of its ears. as soon as the monks recognise it, they fill a copper vessel with cream, into which they put the creature, and then carry it round from the one who has the highest seat (at their tables) to him who has the lowest, when it appears as if saluting them. when it has been taken round, immediately it disappeared; and every year it thus comes forth once. the country is very productive, and the people are prosperous, and happy beyond comparison. when people of other countries come to it, they are exceedingly attentive to them all, and supply them with what they need. fifty yojanas north-west from the monastery there is another, called "the great heap."(19) great heap was the name of a wicked demon, who was converted by buddha, and men subsequently at this place reared a vihara. when it was being made over to an arhat by pouring water on his hands,(20) some drops fell on the ground. they are still on the spot, and however they may be brushed away and removed, they continue to be visible, and cannot be made to disappear. at this place there is also a tope to buddha, where a good spirit constantly keeps (all about it) swept and watered, without any labour of man being required. a king of corrupt views once said, "since you are able to do this, i will lead a multitude of troops and reside there till the dirt and filth has increased and accumulated, and (see) whether you can cleanse it away or not." the spirit thereupon raised a great wind, which blew (the filth away), and made the place pure. at this place there are a hundred small topes, at which a man may keep counting a whole day without being able to know (their exact number). if he be firmly bent on knowing it, he will place a man by the side of each tope. when this is done, proceeding to count the number of men, whether they be many or few, he will not get to know (the number).(21) there is a monastery, containing perhaps 600 or 700 monks, in which there is a place where a pratyeka buddha used to take his food. the nirvana ground (where he was burned(22) after death) is as large as a carriage wheel; and while grass grows all around, on this spot there is none. the ground also where he dried his clothes produces no grass, but the impression of them, where they lay on it, continues to the present day. notes (1) the name is still remaining in samkassam, a village forty-five miles northwest of canouge, lat. 27d 3s n., lon. 79d 50s e. (2) the heaven of indra or sakya, meaning "the heaven of thirty-three classes," a name which has been explained both historically and mythologically. "the description of it," says eitel, p. 148, "tallies in all respects with the svarga of brahmanic mythology. it is situated between the four peaks of the meru, and consists of thirty-two cities of devas, eight one each of the four corners of the mountain. indra's capital of bellevue is in the centre. there he is enthroned, with a thousand heads and a thousand eyes, and four arms grasping the vajra, with his wife and 119,000 concubines. there he receives the monthly reports of the four maharajas, concerning the progress of good and evil in the world," &c. &c. (3) buddha's mother, maya and mahamaya, the _mater immaculata_ of the buddhists, died seven days after his birth. eitel says, "reborn in tushita, she was visited there by her son and converted." the tushita heaven was a more likely place to find her than the trayastrimsas; but was the former a part of the latter? hardy gives a long account of buddha's visit to the trayastrimsas (m. b., pp. 298-302), which he calls tawutisa, and speaks of his mother (matru) in it, who had now become a deva by the changing of her sex. (4) compare the account of the arhat's conveyance of the artist to the tushita heaven in chap. v. the first expression here is more comprehensive. (5) anuruddha was a first cousin of sakyamuni, being the son of his uncle amritodana. he is often mentioned in the account we have of buddha's last moments. his special gift was the divyachakshus or "heavenly eye," the first of the six abhijnas or "supernatural talents," the faculty of comprehending in one instantaneous view, or by intuition, all beings in all worlds. "he could see," says hardy, m. b., p. 232, "all things in 100,000 sakvalas as plainly as a mustard seed held in the hand." (6) eitel gives the name utpala with the same chinese phonetisation as in the text, but not as the name of any bhikshuni. the sanskrit word, however, is explained by "blue lotus flowers;" and hsuan-chwang calls her the nun "lotus-flower colour ({.} {.} {.});"--the same as hardy's upulwan and uppalawarna. (7) perhaps we should read here "to see buddha," and then ascribe the transformation to the nun herself. it depends on the punctuation which view we adopt; and in the structure of the passage, there is nothing to indicate that the stop should be made before or after "buddha." and the one view is as reasonable, or rather as unreasonable, as the other. (8) "a holy king who turns the wheel;" that is, the military conqueror and monarch of the whole or part of a universe. "the symbol," says eitel (p. 142) "of such a king is the chakra or wheel, for when he ascends the throne, a chakra falls from heaven, indicating by its material (gold, silver, copper, or iron) the extent and character of his reign. the office, however, of the highest chakravartti, who hurls his wheel among his enemies, is inferior to the peaceful mission of a buddha, who meekly turns the wheel of the law, and conquers every universe by his teaching." (9) this was brahma, the first person of the brahmanical trimurti, adopted by buddhism, but placed in an inferior position, and surpassed by every buddhist saint who attains to bodhi. (10) a common name for the earth below, where, on digging, water is found. (11) the height is given as thirty chow, the chow being the distance from the elbow to the finger-tip, which is variously estimated. (12) a note of mr. beal says on this:--"general cunningham, who visited the spot (1862), found a pillar, evidently of the age of asoka, with a well-carved elephant on the top, which, however, was minus trunk and tail. he supposes this to be the pillar seen by fa-hsien, who mistook the top of it for a lion. it is possible such a mistake may have been made, as in the account of one of the pillars at sravasti, fa-hsien says an ox formed the capital, whilst hsuan-chwang calls it an elephant (p. 19, arch. survey)." (13) that is, in niches on the sides. the pillar or column must have been square. (14) equivalent to "all through." (15) has always been translated "heretical teachers;" but i eschew the terms _heresy_ and _heretical_. the parties would not be buddhists of any creed or school, but brahmans or of some other false doctrine, as fa-hsien deemed it. the chinese term means "outside" or "foreign;"--in pali, anna-titthiya,="those belonging to another school." (16) these three predecessors of sakyamuni were the three buddhas of the present or maha-bhadra kalpa, of which he was the fourth, and maitreya is to be the fifth and last. they were: (1) krakuchanda (pali, kakusanda), "he who readily solves all doubts;" a scion of the kasyapa family. human life reached in his time 40,000 years, and so many persons were converted by him. (2) kanakamuni (pali, konagamana), "body radiant with the colour of pure gold;" of the same family. human life reached in his time 30,000 years, and so many persons were converted by him. (3) kasyapa (pali, kassapa), "swallower of light." human life reached in his time 20,000 years, and so many persons were converted by him. see eitel, under the several names; hardy's m. b., pp. 95-97; and davids' "buddhist birth stories," p. 51. (17) that is, walked in meditation. such places are called chankramana (pali, chankama); promenades or corridors connected with a monastery, made sometimes with costly stones, for the purpose of peripatetic meditation. the "sitting" would be not because of weariness or for rest, but for meditation. e. h., p. 144. (18) the character in my corean copy is {.}, which must be a mistake for the {.} of the chinese editions. otherwise, the meaning would be "a small medusa." (19) the reading here seems to me a great improvement on that of the chinese editions, which means "fire limit." buddha, it is said, {.} converted this demon, which chinese character beal rendered at first by "in one of his incarnations;" and in his revised version he has "himself." the difference between fa-hsien's usage of {.} and {.} throughout his narrative is quite marked. {.} always refers to the doings of sakyamuni; {.}, "formerly," is often used of him and others in the sense of "in a former age or birth." (20) see hardy, m. b., p. 194:--"as a token of the giving over of the garden, the king poured water upon the hands of buddha; and from this time it became one of the principal residences of the sage." (21) this would seem to be absurd; but the writer evidently intended to convey the idea that there was something mysterious about the number of the topes. (22) this seems to be the meaning. the bodies of the monks are all burned. hardy's e. m., pp. 322-324. chapter xviii kanyakubja, or canouge. buddha's preaching. fa-hsien stayed at the dragon vihara till after the summer retreat,(1) and then, travelling to the south-east for seven yojanas, he arrived at the city of kanyakubja,(2) lying along the ganges.(3) there are two monasteries in it, the inmates of which are students of the hinayana. at a distance from the city of six or seven le, on the west, on the northern bank of the ganges, is a place where buddha preached the law to his disciples. it has been handed down that his subjects of discourse were such as "the bitterness and vanity (of life) as impermanent and uncertain," and that "the body is as a bubble or foam on the water." at this spot a tope was erected, and still exists. having crossed the ganges, and gone south for three yojanas, (the travellers) arrived at a village named a-le,(4) containing places where buddha preached the law, where he sat, and where he walked, at all of which topes have been built. notes (1) we are now, probably, in 405. (2) canouge, the latitude and longitude of which have been given in a previous note. the sanskrit name means "the city of humpbacked maidens;" with reference to the legend of the hundred daughters of king brahma-datta, who were made deformed by the curse of the rishi maha-vriksha, whose overtures they had refused. e. h., p. 51. (3) ganga, explained by "blessed water," and "come from heaven to earth." (4) this village (the chinese editions read "forest") has hardly been clearly identified. chapter xix sha-che. legend of buddha's danta-kashtha. going on from this to the south-east for three yojanas, they came to the great kingdom of sha-che.(1) as you go out of the city of sha-che by the southern gate, on the east of the road (is the place) where buddha, after he had chewed his willow branch,(2) stuck it in the ground, when it forthwith grew up seven cubits, (at which height it remained) neither increasing nor diminishing. the brahmans with their contrary doctrines(3) became angry and jealous. sometimes they cut the tree down, sometimes they plucked it up, and cast it to a distance, but it grew again on the same spot as at first. here also is the place where the four buddhas walked and sat, and at which a tope was built that is still existing. notes (1) sha-che should probably be sha-khe, making cunningham's identification of the name with the present saket still more likely. the change of {.} into {.} is slight; and, indeed, the khang-hsi dictionary thinks the two characters should be but one and the same. (2) this was, no doubt, what was called the danta-kashtha, or "dental wood," mostly a bit of the _ficus indicus_ or banyan tree, which the monk chews every morning to cleanse his teeth, and for the purpose of health generally. the chinese, not having the banyan, have used, or at least fa-hsien used, yang ({.}, the general name for the willow) instead of it. (3) are two classes of opponents, or only one, intended here, so that we should read "all the unbelievers and brahmans," or "heretics and brahmans?" i think the brahmans were also "the unbelievers" and "heretics," having {.} {.}, views and ways outside of, and opposed to, buddha's. chapter xx kosala and sravasti. the jetavana vihara and other memorials and legends of buddha. sympathy of the monks with the pilgrims. going on from this to the south, for eight yojanas, (the travellers) came to the city of sravasti(1) in the kingdom of kosala,(2) in which the inhabitants were few and far between, amounting in all (only) to a few more than two hundred families; the city where king prasenajit(3) ruled, and the place of the old vihara of maha-prajapti;(4) of the well and walls of (the house of) the (vaisya) head sudatta;(5) and where the angulimalya(6) became an arhat, and his body was (afterwards) burned on his attaining to pari-nirvana. at all these places topes were subsequently erected, which are still existing in the city. the brahmans, with their contrary doctrine, became full of hatred and envy in their hearts, and wished to destroy them, but there came from the heavens such a storm of crashing thunder and flashing lightning that they were not able in the end to effect their purpose. as you go out from the city by the south gate, and 1,200 paces from it, the (vaisya) head sudatta built a vihara, facing the south; and when the door was open, on each side of it there was a stone pillar, with the figure of a wheel on the top of that on the left, and the figure of an ox on the top of that on the right. on the left and right of the building the ponds of water clear and pure, the thickets of trees always luxuriant, and the numerous flowers of various hues, constituted a lovely scene, the whole forming what is called the jetavana vihara.(7) when buddha went up to the trayastrimsas heaven,(8) and preached the law for the benefit of his mother, (after he had been absent for) ninety days, prasenajit, longing to see him, caused an image of him to be carved in gosirsha chandana wood,(9) and put in the place where he usually sat. when buddha on his return entered the vihara, buddha said to it, "return to your seat. after i have attained to pari-nirvana, you will serve as a pattern to the four classes of my disciples,"(10) and on this the image returned to its seat. this was the very first of all the images (of buddha), and that which men subsequently copied. buddha then removed, and dwelt in a small vihara on the south side (of the other), a different place from that containing the image, and twenty paces distant from it. the jetavana vihara was originally of seven storeys. the kings and people of the countries around vied with one another in their offerings, hanging up about it silken streamers and canopies, scattering flowers, burning incense, and lighting lamps, so as to make the night as bright as the day. this they did day after day without ceasing. (it happened that) a rat, carrying in its mouth the wick of a lamp, set one of the streamers or canopies on fire, which caught the vihara, and the seven storeys were all consumed. the kings, with their officers and people, were all very sad and distressed, supposing that the sandal-wood image had been burned; but lo! after four or five days, when the door of a small vihara on the east was opened, there was immediately seen the original image. they were all greatly rejoiced, and co-operated in restoring the vihara. when they had succeeded in completing two storeys, they removed the image back to its former place. when fa-hsien and tao-ching first arrived at the jetavana monastery, and thought how the world-honoured one had formerly resided there for twenty-five years, painful reflections arose in their minds. born in a border-land, along with their like-minded friends, they had travelled through so many kingdoms; some of those friends had returned (to their own land), and some had (died), proving the impermanence and uncertainty of life; and to-day they saw the place where buddha had lived now unoccupied by him. they were melancholy through their pain of heart, and the crowd of monks came out, and asked them from what kingdom they were come. "we are come," they replied, "from the land of han." "strange," said the monks with a sigh, "that men of a border country should be able to come here in search of our law!" then they said to one another, "during all the time that we, preceptors and monks,(11) have succeeded to one another, we have never seen men of han, followers of our system, arrive here." four le to the north-west of the vihara there is a grove called "the getting of eyes." formerly there were five hundred blind men, who lived here in order that they might be near the vihara.(12) buddha preached his law to them, and they all got back their eyesight. full of joy, they stuck their staves in the earth, and with their heads and faces on the ground, did reverence. the staves immediately began to grow, and they grew to be great. people made much of them, and no one dared to cut them down, so that they came to form a grove. it was in this way that it got its name, and most of the jetavana monks, after they had taken their midday meal, went to the grove, and sat there in meditation. six or seven le north-east from the jetavana, mother vaisakha(13) built another vihara, to which she invited buddha and his monks, and which is still existing. to each of the great residences for monks at the jetavana vihara there were two gates, one facing the east and the other facing the north. the park (containing the whole) was the space of ground which the (vaisya) head sudatta purchased by covering it with gold coins. the vihara was exactly in the centre. here buddha lived for a longer time than at any other place, preaching his law and converting men. at the places where he walked and sat they also (subsequently) reared topes, each having its particular name; and here was the place where sundari(14) murdered a person and then falsely charged buddha (with the crime). outside the east gate of the jetavana, at a distance of seventy paces to the north, on the west of the road, buddha held a discussion with the (advocates of the) ninety-six schemes of erroneous doctrine, when the king and his great officers, the householders, and people were all assembled in crowds to hear it. then a woman belonging to one of the erroneous systems, by name chanchamana,(15) prompted by the envious hatred in her heart, and having put on (extra) clothes in front of her person, so as to give her the appearance of being with child, falsely accused buddha before all the assembly of having acted unlawfully (towards her). on this, sakra, ruler of devas, changed himself and some devas into white mice, which bit through the strings about her waist; and when this was done, the (extra) clothes which she wore dropt down on the ground. the earth at the same time was rent, and she went (down) alive into hell.(16) (this) also is the place where devadatta,(17) trying with empoisoned claws to injure buddha, went down alive into hell. men subsequently set up marks to distinguish where both these events took place. further, at the place where the discussion took place, they reared a vihara rather more than sixty cubits high, having in it an image of buddha in a sitting posture. on the east of the road there was a devalaya(18) of (one of) the contrary systems, called "the shadow covered," right opposite the vihara on the place of discussion, with (only) the road between them, and also rather more than sixty cubits high. the reason why it was called "the shadow covered" was this:--when the sun was in the west, the shadow of the vihara of the world-honoured one fell on the devalaya of a contrary system; but when the sun was in the east, the shadow of that devalaya was diverted to the north, and never fell on the vihara of buddha. the mal-believers regularly employed men to watch their devalaya, to sweep and water (all about it), to burn incense, light the lamps, and present offerings; but in the morning the lamps were found to have been suddenly removed, and in the vihara of buddha. the brahmans were indignant, and said, "those sramanas take out lamps and use them for their own service of buddha, but we will not stop our service for you!"(19) on that night the brahmans themselves kept watch, when they saw the deva spirits which they served take the lamps and go three times round the vihara of buddha and present offerings. after this ministration to buddha they suddenly disappeared. the brahmans thereupon knowing how great was the spiritual power of buddha, forthwith left their families, and became monks.(20) it has been handed down, that, near the time when these things occurred, around the jetavana vihara there were ninety-eight monasteries, in all of which there were monks residing, excepting only in one place which was vacant. in this middle kingdom(21) there are ninety-six(21) sorts of views, erroneous and different from our system, all of which recognise this world and the future world(22) (and the connexion between them). each had its multitude of followers, and they all beg their food: only they do not carry the alms-bowl. they also, moreover, seek (to acquire) the blessing (of good deeds) on unfrequented ways, setting up on the road-side houses of charity, where rooms, couches, beds, and food and drink are supplied to travellers, and also to monks, coming and going as guests, the only difference being in the time (for which those parties remain). there are also companies of the followers of devadatta still existing. they regularly make offerings to the three previous buddhas, but not to sakyamuni buddha. four le south-east from the city of sravasti, a tope has been erected at the place where the world-honoured one encountered king virudhaha,(23) when he wished to attack the kingdom of shay-e,(23) and took his stand before him at the side of the road.(24) notes (1) in singhalese, sewet; here evidently the capital of kosala. it is placed by cunningham (archaeological survey) on the south bank of the rapti, about fifty-eight miles north of ayodya or oude. there are still the ruins of a great town, the name being sahet mahat. it was in this town, or in its neighbourhood, that sakyamuni spent many years of his life after he became buddha. (2) there were two indian kingdoms of this name, a southern and a northern. this was the northern, a part of the present oudh. (3) in singhalese, pase-nadi, meaning "leader of the victorious army." he was one of the earliest converts and chief patrons of sakyamuni. eitel calls him (p. 95) one of the originators of buddhist idolatory, because of the statue which is mentioned in this chapter. see hardy's m. b., pp. 283, 284, et al. (4) explained by "path of love," and "lord of life." prajapati was aunt and nurse of sakyamuni, the first woman admitted to the monkhood, and the first superior of the first buddhistic convent. she is yet to become a buddha. (5) sudatta, meaning "almsgiver," was the original name of anatha-pindika (or pindada), a wealthy householder, or vaisya head, of sravasti, famous for his liberality (hardy, anepidu). of his old house, only the well and walls remained at the time of fa-hsien's visit to sravasti. (6) the angulimalya were a sect or set of sivaitic fanatics, who made assassination a religious act. the one of them here mentioned had joined them by the force of circumstances. being converted by buddha, he became a monk; but when it is said in the text that he "got the tao," or doctrine, i think that expression implies more than his conversion, and is equivalent to his becoming an arhat. his name in pali is angulimala. that he did become an arhat is clear from his autobiographical poem in the "songs of the theras." (7) eitel (p. 37) says:--"a noted vihara in the suburbs of sravasti, erected in a park which anatha-pindika bought of prince jeta, the son of prasenajit. sakyamuni made this place his favourite residence for many years. most of the sutras (authentic and supposititious) date from this spot." (8) see chapter xvii. (9) see chapter xiii. (10) arya, meaning "honourable," "venerable," is a title given only to those who have mastered the four spiritual truths:--(1) that "misery" is a necessary condition of all sentient existence; this is duhkha: (2) that the "accumulation" of misery is caused by the passions; this is samudaya: (3) that the "extinction" of passion is possible; this is nirodha: and (4) that the "path" leads to the extinction of passion; which is marga. according to their attainment of these truths, the aryas, or followers of buddha, are distinguished into four classes,--srotapannas, sakridagamins, anagamins, and arhats. e. h., p. 14. (11) this is the first time that fa-hsien employs the name ho-shang {.} {.}, which is now popularly used in china for all buddhist monks without distinction of rank or office. it is the representative of the sanskrit term upadhyaya, "explained," says eitel (p. 155) by "a self-taught teacher," or by "he who knows what is sinful and what is not sinful," with the note, "in india the vernacular of this term is {.} {.} (? munshee (? bronze)); in kustana and kashgar they say {.} {.} (hwa-shay); and from the latter term are derived the chinese synonyms, {.} {.} (ho-shay) and {.} {.} (ho-shang)." the indian term was originally a designation for those who teach only a part of the vedas, the vedangas. adopted by buddhists of central asia, it was made to signify the priests of the older ritual, in distinction from the lamas. in china it has been used first as a synonym for {.} {.}, monks engaged in popular teaching (teachers of the law), in distinction from {.} {.}, disciplinists, and {.} {.}, contemplative philosophers (meditationists); then it was used to designate the abbots of monasteries. but it is now popularly applied to all buddhist monks. in the text there seems to be implied some distinction between the "teachers" and the "ho-shang;"--probably, the pali akariya and upagghaya; see sacred books of the east, vol. xiii, vinaya texts, pp. 178, 179. (12) it might be added, "as depending on it," in order to bring out the full meaning of the {.} in the text. if i recollect aright, the help of the police had to be called in at hong kong in its early years, to keep the approaches to the cathedral free from the number of beggars, who squatted down there during service, hoping that the hearers would come out with softened hearts, and disposed to be charitable. i found the popular tutelary temples in peking and other places, and the path up mount t'ai in shan-lung similarly frequented. (13) the wife of anatha-pindika, and who became "mother superior" of many nunneries. see her history in m. b., pp. 220-227. i am surprised it does not end with the statement that she is to become a buddha. (14) see e. h., p. 136. hsuan-chwang does not give the name of this murderer; see in julien's "vie et voyages de hiouen-thsang," p. 125,--"a heretical brahman killed a woman and calumniated buddha." see also the fuller account in beal's "records of western countries," pp. 7, 8, where the murder is committed by several brahmacharins. in this passage beal makes sundari to be the name of the murdered person (a harlot). but the text cannot be so construed. (15) eitel (p. 144) calls her chancha; in singhalese, chinchi. see the story about her, m. b., pp. 275-277. (16) "earth's prison," or "one of earth's prisons." it was the avichi naraka to which she went, the last of the eight hot prisons, where the culprits die, and are born again in uninterrupted succession (such being the meaning of avichi), though not without hope of final redemption. e. h. p. 21. (17) devadatta was brother of ananda, and a near relative therefore of sakyamuni. he was the deadly enemy, however, of the latter. he had become so in an earlier state of existence, and the hatred continued in every successive birth, through which they reappeared in the world. see the accounts of him, and of his various devices against buddha, and his own destruction at the last, in m. b., pp. 315-321, 326-330; and still better, in the sacred books of the east, vol. xx, vinaya texts, pp. 233-265. for the particular attempt referred to in the text, see "the life of the buddha," p. 107. when he was engulphed, and the flames were around him, he cried out to buddha to save him, and we are told that he is expected yet to appear as a buddha under the name of devaraja, in a universe called deva-soppana. e. h., p. 39. (18) "a devalaya ({.} {.} or {.} {.}), a place in which a deva is worshipped,--a general name for all brahmanical temples" (eitel, p. 30). we read in the khang-hsi dictionary under {.}, that when kasyapa matanga came to the western regions, with his classics or sutras, he was lodged in the court of state-ceremonial, and that afterwards there was built for him "the court of the white-horse" ({.} {.} {.}), and in consequence the name of sze {.} came to be given to all buddhistic temples. fa-hsien, however, applies this term only to brahmanical temples. (19) their speech was somewhat unconnected, but natural enough in the circumstances. compare the whole account with the narrative in i samuel v. about the ark and dagon, that "twice-battered god of palestine." (20) "entered the doctrine or path." three stages in the buddhistic life are indicated by fa-hsien:--"entering it," as here, by becoming monks ({.} {.}); "getting it," by becoming arhats ({.} {.}); and "completing it," by becoming buddha ({.} {.}). (21) it is not quite clear whether the author had in mind here central india as a whole, which i think he had, or only kosala, the part of it where he then was. in the older teaching, there were only thirty-two sects, but there may have been three subdivisions of each. see rhys davids' "buddhism," pp. 98, 99. (22) this mention of "the future world" is an important difference between the corean and chinese texts. the want of it in the latter has been a stumbling-block in the way of all previous translators. remusat says in a note that "the heretics limited themselves to speak of the duties of man in his actual life without connecting it by the notion that the metempsychosis with the anterior periods of existence through which he had passed." but this is just the opposite of what fa-hsien's meaning was, according to our corean text. the notion of "the metempsychosis" was just that in which all the ninety-six erroneous systems agreed among themselves and with buddhism. if he had wished to say what the french sinologue thinks he does say, moreover, he would probably have written {.} {.} {.} {.} {.}. let me add, however, that the connexion which buddhism holds between the past world (including the present) and the future is not that of a metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, for it does not appear to admit any separate existence of the soul. adhering to its own phraseology of "the wheel," i would call its doctrine that of "the transrotation of births." see rhys davids' third hibbert lecture. (23) or, more according to the phonetisation of the text, vaidurya. he was king of kosala, the son and successor of prasenajit, and the destroyer of kapilavastu, the city of the sakya family. his hostility to the sakyas is sufficiently established, and it may be considered as certain that the name shay-e, which, according to julien's "methode," p. 89, may be read chia-e, is the same as kia-e ({.} {.}), one of the phonetisations of kapilavastu, as given by eitel. (24) this would be the interview in the "life of the buddha" in trubner's oriental series, p. 116, when virudhaha on his march found buddha under an old sakotato tree. it afforded him no shade; but he told the king that the thought of the danger of "his relatives and kindred made it shady." the king was moved to sympathy for the time, and went back to sravasti; but the destruction of kapilavastu was only postponed for a short space, and buddha himself acknowledged it to be inevitable in the connexion of cause and effect. chapter xxi the three predecessors of sakyamuni in the buddhaship. fifty le to the west of the city bring (the traveller) to a town named too-wei,(1) the birthplace of kasyapa buddha.(1) at the place where he and his father met,(2) and at that where he attained to pari-nirvana, topes were erected. over the entire relic of the whole body of him, the kasyapa tathagata,(3) a great tope was also erected. going on south-east from the city of sravasti for twelve yojanas, (the travellers) came to a town named na-pei-kea,(4) the birthplace of krakuchanda buddha. at the place where he and his father met, and at that where he attained to pari-nirvana, topes were erected. going north from here less than a yojana, they came to a town which had been the birthplace of kanakamuni buddha. at the place where he and his father met, and where he attained to pari-nirvana, topes were erected. notes (1) identified, as beal says, by cunningham with tadwa, a village nine miles to the west of sahara-mahat. the birthplace of kasyapa buddha is generally thought to have been benares. according to a calculation of remusat, from his birth to a.d. 1832 there were 1,992,859 years! (2) it seems to be necessary to have a meeting between every buddha and his father. one at least is ascribed to sakyamuni and his father (real or supposed) suddhodana. (3) this is the highest epithet given to every supreme buddha; in chinese {.} {.}, meaning, as eitel, p. 147 says, "_sic profectus sum_." it is equivalent to "rightful buddha, the true successor in the supreme buddha line." hardy concludes his account of the kasyapa buddha (m. b., p. 97) with the following sentence:--"after his body was burnt, the bones still remained in their usual position, presenting the appearance of a perfect skeleton; and the whole of the inhabitants of jambudvipa, assembling together, erected a dagoba over his relics one yojana in height!" (4) na-pei-kea or nabhiga is not mentioned elsewhere. eitel says this buddha was born at the city of gan-ho ({.} {.} {.}) and hardy gives his birthplace as mekhala. it may be possible, by means of sanskrit, to reconcile these statements. chapter xxii kapilavastu. its desolation. legends of buddha's birth, and other incidents in connexion with it. less than a yojana to the east from this brought them to the city of kapilavastu;(1) but in it there was neither king nor people. all was mound and desolation. of inhabitants there were only some monks and a score or two of families of the common people. at the spot where stood the old palace of king suddhodana(2) there have been made images of the prince (his eldest son) and his mother;(3) and at the places where that son appeared mounted on a white elephant when he entered his mother's womb,(4) and where he turned his carriage round on seeing the sick man after he had gone out of the city by the eastern gate,(5) topes have been erected. the places (were also pointed out)(6) where (the rishi) a-e(7) inspected the marks (of buddhaship on the body) of the heir-apparent (when an infant); where, when he was in company with nanda and others, on the elephant being struck down and drawn to one side, he tossed it away;(8) where he shot an arrow to the south-east, and it went a distance of thirty le, then entering the ground and making a spring to come forth, which men subsequently fashioned into a well from which travellers might drink;(9) where, after he had attained to wisdom, buddha returned and saw the king, his father;(10) where five hundred sakyas quitted their families and did reverence to upali(11) while the earth shook and moved in six different ways; where buddha preached his law to the devas, and the four deva kings and others kept the four doors (of the hall), so that (even) the king, his father, could not enter;(12) where buddha sat under a nyagrodha tree, which is still standing,(13) with his face to the east, and (his aunt) maja-prajapati presented him with a sanghali;(14) and (where) king vaidurya slew the seed of sakya, and they all in dying became srotapannas.(15) a tope was erected at this last place, which is still existing. several le north-east from the city was the king's field, where the heir-apparent sat under a tree, and looked at the ploughers.(16) fifty le east from the city was a garden, named lumbini,(17) where the queen entered the pond and bathed. having come forth from the pond on the northern bank, after (walking) twenty paces, she lifted up her hand, laid hold of a branch of a tree, and, with her face to the east, gave birth to the heir-apparent.(18) when he fell to the ground, he (immediately) walked seven paces. two dragon-kings (appeared) and washed his body. at the place where they did so, there was immediately formed a well, and from it, as well as from the above pond, where (the queen) bathed,(19) the monks (even) now constantly take the water, and drink it. there are four places of regular and fixed occurrence (in the history of) all buddhas:--first, the place where they attained to perfect wisdom (and became buddha); second, the place where they turned the wheel of the law;(20) third, the place where they preached the law, discoursed of righteousness, and discomfited (the advocates of) erroneous doctrines; and fourth, the place where they came down, after going up to the trayatrimsas heaven to preach the law for the benefit of their mothers. other places in connexion with them became remarkable, according to the manifestations which were made at them at particular times. the country of kapilavastu is a great scene of empty desolation. the inhabitants are few and far between. on the roads people have to be on their guard against white elephants(21) and lions, and should not travel incautiously. notes (1) kapilavastu, "the city of beautiful virtue," was the birthplace of sakyamuni, but was destroyed, as intimated in the notes on last chapter, during his lifetime. it was situated a short distance north-west of the present goruckpoor, lat. 26d 46s n., lon. 83d 19s e. davids says (manual, p. 25), "it was on the banks of the river rohini, the modern kohana, about 100 miles north-west of the city of benares." (2) the father, or supposed father, of sakyamuni. he is here called "the king white and pure" ({.} {.} {.}). a more common appellation is "the king of pure rice" ({.} {.} {.}); but the character {.}, or "rice," must be a mistake for {.}, "brahman," and the appellation= "pure brahman king." (3) the "eldest son," or "prince" was sakyamuni, and his mother had no other son. for "his mother," see chap. xvii, note 3. she was a daughter of anjana or anusakya, king of the neighbouring country of koli, and yasodhara, an aunt of suddhodana. there appear to have been various intermarriages between the royal houses of kapila and koli. (4) in "the life of the buddha," p. 15, we read that "buddha was now in the tushita heaven, and knowing that his time was come (the time for his last rebirth in the course of which he would become buddha), he made the necessary examinations; and having decided that maha-maya was the right mother, in the midnight watch he entered her womb under the appearance of an elephant." see m. b., pp. 140-143, and, still better, rhys davids' "birth stories," pp. 58-63. (5) in hardy's m. b., pp. 154, 155, we read, "as the prince (siddhartha, the first name given to sakyamuni; see eitel, under sarvarthasiddha) was one day passing along, he saw a deva under the appearance of a leper, full of sores, with a body like a water-vessel, and legs like the pestle for pounding rice; and when he learned from his charioteer what it was that he saw, he became agitated, and returned at once to the palace." see also rhys davids' "buddhism," p. 29. (6) this is an addition of my own, instead of "there are also topes erected at the following spots," of former translators. fa-hsien does not say that there were memorial topes at all these places. (7) asita; see eitel, p. 15. he is called in pali kala devala, and had been a minister of suddhodana's father. (8) in "the life of buddha" we read that the lichchhavis of vaisali had sent to the young prince a very fine elephant; but when it was near kapilavastu, devadatta, out of envy, killed it with a blow of his fist. nanda (not ananda, but a half-brother of siddhartha), coming that way, saw the carcase lying on the road, and pulled it on one side; but the bodhisattva, seeing it there, took it by the tail, and tossed it over seven fences and ditches, when the force of its fall made a great ditch. i suspect that the characters in the column have been disarranged, and that we should read {.} {.} {.} {.}, {.} {.}, {.} {.}. buddha, that is siddhartha, was at this time only ten years old. (9) the young sakyas were shooting when the prince thus surpassed them all. he was then seventeen. (10) this was not the night when he finally fled from kapilavastu, and as he was leaving the palace, perceiving his sleeping father, and said, "father, though i love thee, yet a fear possesses me, and i may not stay;"--the life of the buddha, p. 25. most probably it was that related in m. b., pp. 199-204. see "buddhist birth stories," pp. 120-127. (11) they did this, i suppose, to show their humility, for upali was only a sudra by birth, and had been a barber; so from the first did buddhism assert its superiority to the conditions of rank and caste. upali was distinguished by his knowledge of the rules of discipline, and praised on that account by buddha. he was one of the three leaders of the first synod, and the principal compiler of the original vinaya books. (12) i have not met with the particulars of this preaching. (13) meaning, as explained in chinese, "a tree without knots;" the _ficus indica_. see rhys davids' note, manual, p. 39, where he says that a branch of one of these trees was taken from buddha gaya to anuradhapura in ceylon in the middle of the third century b.c, and is still growing there, the oldest historical tree in the world. (14) see chap. xiii, note 11. i have not met with the account of this presentation. see the long account of prajapati in m. b., pp. 306-315. (15) see chap. xx, note 10. the srotapannas are the first class of saints, who are not to be reborn in a lower sphere, but attain to nirvana after having been reborn seven times consecutively as men or devas. the chinese editions state there were "1000" of the sakya seed. the general account is that they were 500, all maidens, who refused to take their place in king vaidurya's harem, and were in consequence taken to a pond, and had their hands and feet cut off. there buddha came to them, had their wounds dressed, and preached to them the law. they died in the faith, and were reborn in the region of the four great kings. thence they came back and visited buddha at jetavana in the night, and there they obtained the reward of srotapanna. "the life of the buddha," p. 121. (16) see the account of this event in m. b., p. 150. the account of it reminds me of the ploughing by the sovereign, which has been an institution in china from the earliest times. but there we have no magic and no extravagance. (17) "the place of liberation;" see chap. xiii, note 7. (18) see the accounts of this event in m. b., pp. 145, 146; "the life of the buddha," pp. 15, 16; and "buddhist birth stories," p. 66. (19) there is difficulty in construing the text of this last statement. mr. beal had, no doubt inadvertently, omitted it in his first translation. in his revised version he gives for it, i cannot say happily, "as well as at the pool, the water of which came down from above for washing (the child)." (20) see chap. xvii, note 8. see also davids' manual, p. 45. the latter says, that "to turn the wheel of the law" means "to set rolling the royal chariot wheel of a universal empire of truth and righteousness;" but he admits that this is more grandiloquent than the phraseology was in the ears of buddhists. i prefer the words quoted from eitel in the note referred to. "they turned" is probably equivalent to "they began to turn." (21) fa-hsien does not say that he himself saw any of these white elephants, nor does he speak of the lions as of any particular colour. we shall find by-and-by, in a note further on, that, to make them appear more terrible, they are spoken of as "black." chapter xxiii rama, and its tope. east from buddha's birthplace, and at a distance of five yojanas, there is a kingdom called rama.(1) the king of this country, having obtained one portion of the relics of buddha's body,(2) returned with it and built over it a tope, named the rama tope. by the side of it there was a pool, and in the pool a dragon, which constantly kept watch over (the tope), and presented offerings to it day and night. when king asoka came forth into the world, he wished to destroy the eight topes (over the relics), and to build (instead of them) 84,000 topes.(3) after he had thrown down the seven (others), he wished next to destroy this tope. but then the dragon showed itself, took the king into its palace;(4) and when he had seen all the things provided for offerings, it said to him, "if you are able with your offerings to exceed these, you can destroy the tope, and take it all away. i will not contend with you." the king, however, knew that such appliances for offerings were not to be had anywhere in the world, and thereupon returned (without carrying out his purpose). (afterwards), the ground all about became overgrown with vegetation, and there was nobody to sprinkle and sweep (about the tope); but a herd of elephants came regularly, which brought water with their trunks to water the ground, and various kinds of flowers and incense, which they presented at the tope. (once) there came from one of the kingdoms a devotee(5) to worship at the tope. when he encountered the elephants he was greatly alarmed, and screened himself among the trees; but when he saw them go through with the offerings in the most proper manner, the thought filled him with great sadness--that there should be no monastery here, (the inmates of which) might serve the tope, but the elephants have to do the watering and sweeping. forthwith he gave up the great prohibitions (by which he was bound),(6) and resumed the status of a sramanera.(7) with his own hands he cleared away the grass and trees, put the place in good order, and made it pure and clean. by the power of his exhortations, he prevailed on the king of the country to form a residence for monks; and when that was done, he became head of the monastery. at the present day there are monks residing in it. this event is of recent occurrence; but in all the succession from that time till now, there has always been a sramanera head of the establishment. notes (1) rama or ramagrama, between kapilavastu and kusanagara. (2) see the account of the eightfold division of the relics of buddha's body in the sacred books of the east, vol. xi, buddhist suttas, pp. 133-136. (3) the bones of the human body are supposed to consist of 84,000 atoms, and hence the legend of asoka's wish to build 84,000 topes, one over each atom of sakyamuni's skeleton. (4) fa-hsien, it appears to me, intended his readers to understand that the naga-guardian had a palace of his own, inside or underneath the pool or tank. (5) it stands out on the narrative as a whole that we have not here "some pilgrims," but one devotee. (6) what the "great prohibitions" which the devotee now gave up were we cannot tell. being what he was, a monk of more than ordinary ascetical habits, he may have undertaken peculiar and difficult vows. (7) the sramanera, or in chinese shamei. see chap. xvi, note 19. chapter xxiv where buddha finally renounced the world, and where he died. east from here four yojanas, there is the place where the heir-apparent sent back chandaka, with his white horse;(1) and there also a tope was erected. four yojanas to the east from this, (the travellers) came to the charcoal tope,(2) where there is also a monastery. going on twelve yojanas, still to the east, they came to the city of kusanagara,(3) on the north of which, between two trees,(4) on the bank of the nairanjana(5) river, is the place where the world-honoured one, with his head to the north, attained to pari-nirvana (and died). there also are the places where subhadra,(6) the last (of his converts), attained to wisdom (and became an arhat); where in his coffin of gold they made offerings to the world-honoured one for seven days,(7) where the vajrapani laid aside his golden club,(8) and where the eight kings(9) divided the relics (of the burnt body):--at all these places were built topes and monasteries, all of which are now existing. in the city the inhabitants are few and far between, comprising only the families belonging to the (different) societies of monks. going from this to the south-east for twelve yojanas, they came to the place where the lichchhavis(10) wished to follow buddha to (the place of) his pari-nirvana, and where, when he would not listen to them and they kept cleaving to him, unwilling to go away, he made to appear a large and deep ditch which they could not cross over, and gave them his alms-bowl, as a pledge of his regard, (thus) sending them back to their families. there a stone pillar was erected with an account of this event engraved upon it. notes (1) this was on the night when sakyamuni finally left his palace and family to fulfil the course to which he felt that he was called. chandaka, in pali channa, was the prince's charioteer, and in sympathy with him. so also was the white horse kanthaka (kanthakanam asvaraja), which neighed his delight till the devas heard him. see m. b., pp. 158-161, and davids' manual, pp. 32, 33. according to "buddhist birth stories," p. 87, the noble horse never returned to the city, but died of grief at being left by his master, to be reborn immediately in the trayastrimsas heaven as the deva kanthaka! (2) beal and giles call this the "ashes" tope. i also would have preferred to call it so; but the chinese character is {.}, not {.}. remusat has "la tour des charbons." it was over the place of buddha's cremation. (3) in pali kusinara. it got its name from the kusa grass (the _poa cynosuroides_); and its ruins are still extant, near kusiah, 180 n.w. from patna; "about," says davids, "120 miles n.n.e. of benares, and 80 miles due east of kapilavastu." (4) the sala tree, the _shorea robusta_, which yields the famous teak wood. (5) confounded, according to eitel, even by hsuan-chwang, with the hiranyavati, which flows past the city on the south. (6) a brahman of benares, said to have been 120 years old, who came to learn from buddha the very night he died. ananda would have repulsed him; but buddha ordered him to be introduced; and then putting aside the ingenious but unimportant question which he propounded, preached to him the law. the brahman was converted and attained at once to arhatship. eitel says that he attained to nirvana a few moments before sakyamuni; but see the full account of him and his conversion in "buddhist suttas," p. 103-110. (7) thus treating the dead buddha as if he had been a chakravartti king. hardy's m. b., p. 347, says:--"for the place of cremation, the princes (of kusinara) offered their own coronation-hall, which was decorated with the utmost magnificence, and the body was deposited in a golden sarcophagus." see the account of a cremation which fa-hsien witnessed in ceylon, chap. xxxix. (8) the name vajrapani is explained as "he who holds in his hand the diamond club (or pestle=sceptre)," which is one of the many names of indra or sakra. he therefore, that great protector of buddhism, would seem to be intended here; but the difficulty with me is that neither in hardy nor rockhill, nor any other writer, have i met with any manifestation of himself made by indra on this occasion. the princes of kusanagara were called mallas, "strong or mighty heroes;" so also were those of pava and vaisali; and a question arises whether the language may not refer to some story which fa-hsien had heard,--something which they did on this great occasion. vajrapani is also explained as meaning "the diamond mighty hero;" but the epithet of "diamond" is not so applicable to them as to indra. the clause may hereafter obtain more elucidation. (9) of kusanagara, pava, vaisali, and other kingdoms. kings, princes, brahmans,--each wanted the whole relic; but they agreed to an eightfold division at the suggestion of the brahman drona. (10) these "strong heroes" were the chiefs of vaisali, a kingdom and city, with an oligarchical constitution. they embraced buddhism early, and were noted for their peculiar attachment to buddha. the second synod was held at vaisali, as related in the next chapter. the ruins of the city still exist at bassahar, north of patna, the same, i suppose, as besarh, twenty miles north of hajipur. see beal's revised version, p. lii. chapter xxv vaisali. the tope called "weapons laid down." the council of vaisali. east from this city ten yojanas, (the travellers) came to the kingdom of vaisali. north of the city so named is a large forest, having in it the double-galleried vihara(1) where buddha dwelt, and the tope over half the body of ananda.(2) inside the city the woman ambapali(3) built a vihara in honour of buddha, which is now standing as it was at first. three le south of the city, on the west of the road, (is the) garden (which) the same ambapali presented to buddha, in which he might reside. when buddha was about to attain to his pari-nirvana, as he was quitting the city by the west gate, he turned round, and, beholding the city on his right, said to them, "here i have taken my last walk."(4) men subsequently built a tope at this spot. three le north-west of the city there is a tope called, "bows and weapons laid down." the reason why it got that name was this:--the inferior wife of a king, whose country lay along the river ganges, brought forth from her womb a ball of flesh. the superior wife, jealous of the other, said, "you have brought forth a thing of evil omen," and immediately it was put into a box of wood and thrown into the river. farther down the stream another king was walking and looking about, when he saw the wooden box (floating) in the water. (he had it brought to him), opened it, and found a thousand little boys, upright and complete, and each one different from the others. he took them and had them brought up. they grew tall and large, and very daring, and strong, crushing all opposition in every expedition which they undertook. by and by they attacked the kingdom of their real father, who became in consequence greatly distressed and sad. his inferior wife asked what it was that made him so, and he replied, "that king has a thousand sons, daring and strong beyond compare, and he wishes with them to attack my kingdom; this is what makes me sad." the wife said, "you need not be sad and sorrowful. only make a high gallery on the wall of the city on the east; and when the thieves come, i shall be able to make them retire." the king did as she said; and when the enemies came, she said to them from the tower, "you are my sons; why are you acting so unnaturally and rebelliously?" they replied, "if you do not believe me," she said, "look, all of you, towards me, and open your mouths." she then pressed her breasts with her two hands, and each sent forth 500 jets of milk, which fell into the mouths of the thousand sons. the thieves (thus) knew that she was their mother, and laid down their bows and weapons.(5) the two kings, the fathers, thereupon fell into reflection, and both got to be pratyeka buddhas.(6) the tope of the two pratyeka buddhas is still existing. in a subsequent age, when the world-honoured one had attained to perfect wisdom (and become buddha), he said to is disciples, "this is the place where i in a former age laid down my bow and weapons."(7) it was thus that subsequently men got to know (the fact), and raised the tope on this spot, which in this way received its name. the thousand little boys were the thousand buddhas of this bhadra-kalpa.(8) it was by the side of the "weapons-laid-down" tope that buddha, having given up the idea of living longer, said to ananda, "in three months from this i will attain to pavi-nirvana;" and king mara(9) had so fascinated and stupefied ananda, that he was not able to ask buddha to remain longer in this world. three or four le east from this place there is a tope (commemorating the following occurrence):--a hundred years after the pari-nirvana of buddha, some bhikshus of vaisali went wrong in the matter of the disciplinary rules in ten particulars, and appealed for their justification to what they said were the words of buddha. hereupon the arhats and bhikshus observant of the rules, to the number in all of 700 monks, examined afresh and collated the collection of disciplinary books.(10) subsequently men built at this place the tope (in question), which is still existing. notes (1) it is difficult to tell what was the peculiar form of this vihara from which it gets its name; something about the construction of its door, or cupboards, or galleries. (2) see the explanation of this in the next chapter. (3) ambapali, amrapali, or amradarika, "the guardian of the amra (probably the mango) tree," is famous in buddhist annals. see the account of her in m. b., pp. 456-8. she was a courtesan. she had been in many narakas or hells, was 100,000 times a female beggar, and 10,000 times a prostitute; but maintaining perfect continence during the period of kasyapa buddha, sakyamuni's predecessor, she had been born a devi, and finally appeared in earth under an amra tree in vaisali. there again she fell into her old ways, and had a son by king bimbisara; but she was won over by buddha to virtue and chastity, renounced the world, and attained to the state of an arhat. see the earliest account of ambapali's presentation of the garden in "buddhist suttas," pp. 30-33, and the note there from bishop bigandet on pp. 33, 34. (4) beal gives, "in this place i have performed the last religious act of my earthly career;" giles, "this is the last place i shall visit;" remusat, "c'est un lieu ou je reviendrai bien longtemps apres ceci." perhaps the "walk" to which buddha referred had been for meditation. (5) see the account of this legend in the note in m. b., pp. 235, 236, different, but not less absurd. the first part of fa-hsien's narrative will have sent the thoughts of some of my readers to the exposure of the infant moses, as related in exodus. (certainly did.--jb.) (6) see chap. xiii, note 14. (7) thus sakyamuni had been one of the thousand little boys who floated in the box in the ganges. how long back the former age was we cannot tell. i suppose the tope of the two fathers who became pratyeka buddhas had been built like the one commemorating the laying down of weapons after buddha had told his disciples of the strange events in the past. (8) bhadra-kalpa, "the kalpa of worthies or sages." "this," says eitel, p. 22, "is a designation for a kalpa of stability, so called because 1000 buddhas appear in the course of it. our present period is a bhadra-kalpa, and four buddhas have already appeared. it is to last 236 million years, but over 151 millions have already elapsed." (9) "the king of demons." the name mara is explained by "the murderer," "the destroyer of virtue," and similar appellations. "he is," says eitel, "the personification of lust, the god of love, sin, and death, the arch-enemy of goodness, residing in the heaven paranirmita vasavartin on the top of the kamadhatu. he assumes different forms, especially monstrous ones, to tempt or frighten the saints, or sends his daughters, or inspires wicked men like devadatta or the nirgranthas to do his work. he is often represented with 100 arms, and riding on an elephant." the oldest form of the legend in this paragraph is in "buddhist suttas," sacred books of the east, vol. xi, pp. 41-55, where buddha says that, if ananda had asked him thrice, he would have postponed his death. (10) or the vinaya-pitaka. the meeting referred to was an important one, and is generally spoken of as the second great council of the buddhist church. see, on the formation of the buddhist canon, hardy's e. m., chap. xviii, and the last chapter of davids' manual, on the history of the order. the first council was that held at rajagriha, shortly after buddha's death, under the presidency of kasyapa;--say about b.c. 410. the second was that spoken of here;--say about b.c. 300. in davids' manual (p. 216) we find the ten points of discipline, in which the heretics (i can use that term here) claimed at least indulgence. two meetings were held to consider and discuss them. at the former the orthodox party barely succeeded in carrying their condemnation of the laxer monks; and a second and larger meeting, of which fa-hsien speaks, was held in consequence, and a more emphatic condemnation passed. at the same time all the books and subjects of discipline seem to have undergone a careful revision. the corean text is clearer than the chinese as to those who composed the council,--the arhats and orthodox monks. the leader among them was a yasas, or yasada, or yedsaputtra, who had been a disciple of ananda, and must therefore have been a very old man. chapter xxvi remarkable death of ananda. four yojanas on from this place to the east brought the travellers to the confluence of the five rivers.(1) when ananda was going from magadha(2) to vaisali, wishing his pari-nirvana to take place (there), the devas informed king ajatasatru(3) of it, and the king immediately pursued him, in his own grand carriage, with a body of soldiers, and had reached the river. (on the other hand), the lichchhavis of vaisali had heard that ananda was coming (to their city), and they on their part came to meet him. (in this way), they all arrived together at the river, and ananda considered that, if he went forward, king ajatasatru would be very angry, while, if he went back, the lichchhavis would resent his conduct. he thereupon in the very middle of the river burnt his body in a fiery ecstasy of samadhi,(4) and his pari-nirvana was attained. he divided his body (also) into two, (leaving) the half of it on each bank; so that each of the two kings got one half as a (sacred) relic, and took it back (to his own capital), and there raised a tope over it. notes (1) this spot does not appear to have been identified. it could not be far from patna. (2) magadha was for some time the headquarters of buddhism; the holy land, covered with viharas; a fact perpetuated, as has been observed in a previous note, in the name of the present behar, the southern portion of which corresponds to the ancient kingdom of magadha. (3) in singhalese, ajasat. see the account of his conversion in m. b., pp. 321-326. he was the son of king bimbisara, who was one of the first royal converts to buddhism. ajasat murdered his father, or at least wrought his death; and was at first opposed to sakyamuni, and a favourer of devadatta. when converted, he became famous for his liberality in almsgiving. (4) eitel has a long article (pp. 114, 115) on the meaning of samadhi, which is one of the seven sections of wisdom (bodhyanga). hardy defines it as meaning "perfect tranquillity;" turnour, as "meditative abstraction;" burnouf, as "self-control;" and edkins, as "ecstatic reverie." "samadhi," says eitel, "signifies the highest pitch of abstract, ecstatic meditation; a state of absolute indifference to all influences from within or without; a state of torpor of both the material and spiritual forces of vitality; a sort of terrestrial nirvana, consistently culminating in total destruction of life." he then quotes apparently the language of the text, "he consumed his body by agni (the fire of) samadhi," and says it is "a common expression for the effects of such ecstatic, ultra-mystic self-annihilation." all this is simply "a darkening of counsel by words without knowledge." some facts concerning the death of ananda are hidden beneath the darkness of the phraseology, which it is impossible for us to ascertain. by or in samadhi he burns his body in the very middle of the river, and then he divides the relic of the burnt body into two parts (for so evidently fa-hsien intended his narration to be taken), and leaves one half on each bank. the account of ananda's death in nien-ch'ang's "history of buddha and the patriarchs" is much more extravagant. crowds of men and devas are brought together to witness it. the body is divided into four parts. one is conveyed to the tushita heaven; a second, to the palace of a certain naga king; a third is given to ajatasatru; and the fourth to the lichchhavis. what it all really means i cannot tell. chapter xxvii pataliputtra or patna, in magadha. king asoka's spirit-built palace and halls. the buddhist brahman, radha-sami. dispensaries and hospitals. having crossed the river, and descended south for a yojana, (the travellers) came to the town of pataliputtra,(1) in the kingdom of magadha, the city where king asoka(2) ruled. the royal palace and halls in the midst of the city, which exist now as of old, were all made by spirits which he employed, and which piled up the stones, reared the walls and gates, and executed the elegant carving and inlaid sculpture-work,--in a way which no human hands of this world could accomplish. king asoka had a younger brother who had attained to be an arhat, and resided on gridhra-kuta(3) hill, finding his delight in solitude and quiet. the king, who sincerely reverenced him, wished and begged him (to come and live) in his family, where he could supply all his wants. the other, however, through his delight in the stillness of the mountain, was unwilling to accept the invitation, on which the king said to him, "only accept my invitation, and i will make a hill for you inside the city." accordingly, he provided the materials of a feast, called to him the spirits, and announced to them, "to-morrow you will all receive my invitation; but as there are no mats for you to sit on, let each one bring (his own seat)." next day the spirits came, each one bringing with him a great rock, (like) a wall, four or five paces square, (for a seat). when their sitting was over, the king made them form a hill with the large stones piled on one another, and also at the foot of the hill, with five large square stones, to make an apartment, which might be more than thirty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and more than ten cubits high. in this city there had resided a great brahman,(4) named radha-sami,(5) a professor of the mahayana, of clear discernment and much wisdom, who understood everything, living by himself in spotless purity. the king of the country honoured and reverenced him, and served him as his teacher. if he went to inquire for and greet him, the king did not presume to sit down alongside of him; and if, in his love and reverence, he took hold of his hand, as soon as he let it go, the brahman made haste to pour water on it and wash it. he might be more than fifty years old, and all the kingdom looked up to him. by means of this one man, the law of buddha was widely made known, and the followers of other doctrines did not find it in their power to persecute the body of monks in any way. by the side of the tope of asoka, there has been made a mahayana monastery, very grand and beautiful; there is also a hinayana one; the two together containing six or seven hundred monks. the rules of demeanour and the scholastic arrangements(6) in them are worthy of observation. shamans of the highest virtue from all quarters, and students, inquirers wishing to find out truth and the grounds of it, all resort to these monasteries. there also resides in this monastery a brahman teacher, whose name also is manjusri,(7) whom the shamans of greatest virtue in the kingdom, and the mahayana bhikshus honour and look up to. the cities and towns of this country are the greatest of all in the middle kingdom. the inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with one another in the practice of benevolence and righteousness. every year on the eighth day of the second month they celebrate a procession of images. they make a four-wheeled car, and on it erect a structure of four storeys by means of bamboos tied together. this is supported by a king-post, with poles and lances slanting from it, and is rather more than twenty cubits high, having the shape of a tope. white and silk-like cloth of hair(8) is wrapped all round it, which is then painted in various colours. they make figures of devas, with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli grandly blended and having silken streamers and canopies hung out over them. on the four sides are niches, with a buddha seated in each, and a bodhisattva standing in attendance on him. there may be twenty cars, all grand and imposing, but each one different from the others. on the day mentioned, the monks and laity within the borders all come together; they have singers and skilful musicians; they pay their devotion with flowers and incense. the brahmans come and invite the buddhas to enter the city. these do so in order, and remain two nights in it. all through the night they keep lamps burning, have skilful music, and present offerings. this is the practice in all the other kingdoms as well. the heads of the vaisya families in them establish in the cities houses for dispensing charity and medicines. all the poor and destitute in the country, orphans, widowers, and childless men, maimed people and cripples, and all who are diseased, go to those houses, and are provided with every kind of help, and doctors examine their diseases. they get the food and medicines which their cases require, and are made to feel at ease; and when they are better, they go away of themselves. when king asoka destroyed the seven topes, (intending) to make eighty-four thousand,(9) the first which he made was the great tope, more than three le to the south of this city. in front of this there is a footprint of buddha, where a vihara has been built. the door of it faces the north, and on the south of it there is a stone pillar, fourteen or fifteen cubits in circumference, and more than thirty cubits high, on which there is an inscription, saying, "asoka gave the jambudvipa to the general body of all the monks, and then redeemed it from them with money. this he did three times."(10) north from the tope 300 or 400 paces, king asoka built the city of ne-le.(11) in it there is a stone pillar, which also is more than thirty feet high, with a lion on the top of it. on the pillar there is an inscription recording the things which led to the building of ne-le, with the number of the year, the day, and the month. notes (1) the modern patna, lat. 25d 28s n., lon. 85d 15s e. the sanskrit name means "the city of flowers." it is the indian florence. (2) see chap. x, note 3. asoka transferred his court from rajagriha to pataliputtra, and there, in the eighteenth year of his reign, he convoked the third great synod,--according, at least, to southern buddhism. it must have been held a few years before b.c. 250; eitel says in 246. (3) "the vulture-hill;" so called because mara, according to buddhist tradition, once assumed the form of a vulture on it to interrupt the meditation of ananda; or, more probably, because it was a resort of vultures. it was near rajagriha, the earlier capital of asoka, so that fa-hsien connects a legend of it with his account of patna. it abounded in caverns, and was famous as a resort of ascetics. (4) a brahman by cast, but a buddhist in faith. (5) so, by the help of julien's "methode," i transliterate the chinese characters {.} {.} {.} {.}. beal gives radhasvami, his chinese text having a {.} between {.} and {.}. i suppose the name was radhasvami or radhasami. (6) {.} {.}, the names of two kinds of schools, often occurring in the li ki and mencius. why should there not have been schools in those monasteries in india as there were in china? fa-hsien himself grew up with other boys in a monastery, and no doubt had to "go to school." and the next sentence shows us there might be schools for more advanced students as well as for the sramaneras. (7) see chap. xvi, note 22. it is perhaps with reference to the famous bodhisattva that the brahman here is said to be "also" named manjusri. (8) ? cashmere cloth. (9) see chap. xxiii, note 3. (10) we wish that we had more particulars of this great transaction, and that we knew what value in money asoka set on the whole world. it is to be observed that he gave it to the monks, and did not receive it from them. their right was from him, and he bought it back. he was the only "power" that was. (11) we know nothing more of ne-le. it could only have been a small place; an outpost for the defence of pataliputtra. chapter xxviii rajagriha, new and old. legends and incidents connected with it. (the travellers) went on from this to the south-east for nine yojanas, and came to a small solitary rocky hill,(1) at the head or end of which(2) was an apartment of stone, facing the south,--the place where buddha sat, when sakra, ruler of devas, brought the deva-musician, pancha-(sikha),(3) to give pleasure to him by playing on his lute. sakra then asked buddha about forty-two subjects, tracing (the questions) out with his finger one by one on the rock.(4) the prints of his tracing are still there; and here also there is a monastery. a yojana south-west from this place brought them to the village of nala,(5) where sariputtra(6) was born, and to which also he returned, and attained here his pari-nirvana. over the spot (where his body was burned) there was built a tope, which is still in existence. another yojana to the west brought them to new rajagriha,(7)--the new city which was built by king ajatasatru. there were two monasteries in it. three hundred paces outside the west gate, king ajatasatru, having obtained one portion of the relics of buddha, built (over them) a tope, high, large, grand, and beautiful. leaving the city by the south gate, and proceeding south four le, one enters a valley, and comes to a circular space formed by five hills, which stand all round it, and have the appearance of the suburban wall of a city. here was the old city of king bimbisara; from east to west about five or six le, and from north to south seven or eight. it was here that sariputtra and maudgalyayana first saw upasena;(8) that the nirgrantha(9) made a pit of fire and poisoned the rice, and then invited buddha (to eat with him); that king ajatasatru made a black elephant intoxicated with liquor, wishing him to injure buddha;(10) and that at the north-east corner of the city in a (large) curving (space) jivaka built a vihara in the garden of ambapali,(11) and invited buddha with his 1250 disciples to it, that he might there make his offerings to support them. (these places) are still there as of old, but inside the city all is emptiness and desolation; no man dwells in it. notes (1) called by hsuan-chwang indra-sila-guha, or "the cavern of indra." it has been identified with a hill near the village of giryek, on the bank of the panchana river, about thirty-six miles from gaya. the hill terminates in two peaks overhanging the river, and it is the more northern and higher of these which fa-hsien had in mind. it bears an oblong terrace covered with the ruins of several buildings, especially of a vihara. (2) this does not mean the top or summit of the hill, but its "headland," where it ended at the river. (3) see the account of this visit of sakra in m. b., pp. 288-290. it is from hardy that we are able to complete here the name of the musician, which appears in fa-hsien as only pancha, or "five." his harp or lute, we are told, was "twelve miles long." (4) hardy (m. b., pp. 288, 289) makes the subjects only thirteen, which are still to be found in one of the sutras ("the dik-sanga, in the sakra-prasna sutra"). whether it was sakra who wrote his questions, or buddha who wrote the answers, depends on the punctuation. it seems better to make sakra the writer. (5) or nalanda; identified with the present baragong. a grand monastery was subsequently built at it, famous by the residence for five years of hsuan-chwang. (6) see chap. xvi, note 11. there is some doubt as to the statement that nala was his birthplace. (7) the city of "royal palaces;" "the residence of the magadha kings from bimbisara to asoka, the first metropolis of buddhism, at the foot of the gridhrakuta mountains. here the first synod assembled within a year after sakyamuni's death. its ruins are still extant at the village of rajghir, sixteen miles s.w. of behar, and form an object of pilgrimage to the jains (e. h., p. 100)." it is called new rajagriha to distinguish it from kusagarapura, a few miles from it, the old residence of the kings. eitel says it was built by bimbisara, while fa-hsien ascribes it to ajatasatru. i suppose the son finished what the father had begun. (8) one of the five first followers of sakyamuni. he is also called asvajit; in pali assaji; but asvajit seems to be a military title= "master or trainer of horses." the two more famous disciples met him, not to lead him, but to be directed by him, to buddha. see sacred books of the east, vol. xiii, vinaya texts, pp. 144-147. (9) one of the six tirthyas (tirthakas="erroneous teachers;" m. b., pp. 290-292, but i have not found the particulars of the attempts on buddha's life referred to by fa-hsien), or brahmanical opponents of buddha. he was an ascetic, one of the jnati clan, and is therefore called nirgranthajnati. he taught a system of fatalism, condemned the use of clothes, and thought he could subdue all passions by fasting. he had a body of followers, who called themselves by his name (eitel, pp. 84, 85), and were the forerunners of the jains. (10) the king was moved to this by devadatta. of course the elephant disappointed them, and did homage to sakyamuni. see sacred books of the east, vol. xx, vinaya texts, p. 247. (11) see chap. xxv, note 3. jivaka was ambapali's son by king bimbisara, and devoted himself to the practice of medicine. see the account of him in the sacred books of the east, vol. xvii, vinaya texts, pp. 171-194. chapter xxix gridhra-kuta hill, and legends. fa-hien passes a night on it. his reflections. entering the valley, and keeping along the mountains on the south-east, after ascending fifteen le, (the travellers) came to mount gridhra-kuta.(1) three le before you reach the top, there is a cavern in the rocks, facing the south, in which buddha sat in meditation. thirty paces to the north-west there is another, where ananda was sitting in meditation, when the deva mara pisuna,(2) having assumed the form of a large vulture, took his place in front of the cavern, and frightened the disciple. then buddha, by his mysterious, supernatural power, made a cleft in the rock, introduced his hand, and stroked ananda's shoulder, so that his fear immediately passed away. the footprints of the bird and the cleft for (buddha's) hand are still there, and hence comes the name of "the hill of the vulture cavern." in front of the cavern there are the places where the four buddhas sat. there are caverns also of the arhats, one where each sat and meditated, amounting to several hundred in all. at the place where in front of his rocky apartment buddha was walking from east to west (in meditation), and devadatta, from among the beetling cliffs on the north of the mountain, threw a rock across, and hurt buddha's toes,(3) the rock is still there.(4) the hall where buddha preached his law has been destroyed, and only the foundations of the brick walls remain. on this hill the peak is beautifully green, and rises grandly up; it is the highest of all the five hills. in the new city fa-hsien bought incense-(sticks), flowers, oil and lamps, and hired two bhikshus, long resident (at the place), to carry them (to the peak). when he himself got to it, he made his offerings with the flowers and incense, and lighted the lamps when the darkness began to come on. he felt melancholy, but restrained his tears and said, "here buddha delivered the surangama (sutra).(5) i, fa-hsien, was born when i could not meet with buddha; and now i only see the footprints which he has left, and the place where he lived, and nothing more." with this, in front of the rock cavern, he chanted the surangama sutra, remained there over the night, and then returned towards the new city.(6) notes (1) see chap. xxviii, note 1. (2) see chap. xxv, note 9. pisuna is a name given to mara, and signifies "sinful lust." (3) see m. b., p. 320. hardy says that devadatta's attempt was "by the help of a machine;" but the oldest account in the sacred books of the east, vol. xx, vinaya texts, p. 245, agrees with what fa-hsien implies that he threw the rock with his own arm. (4) and, as described by hsuan-chwang, fourteen or fifteen cubits high, and thirty paces round. (5) see mr. bunyiu nanjio's "catalogue of the chinese translation of the buddhist tripitaka," sutra pitaka, nos. 399, 446. it was the former of these that came on this occasion to the thoughts and memory of fa-hsien. (6) in a note (p. lx) to his revised version of our author, mr. beal says, "there is a full account of this perilous visit of fa-hsien, and how he was attacked by tigers, in the 'history of the high priests.'" but "the high priests" merely means distinguished monks, "eminent monks," as mr. nanjio exactly renders the adjectival character. nor was fa-hsien "attacked by tigers" on the peak. no "tigers" appear in the memoir. "two black lions" indeed crouched before him for a time this night, "licking their lips and waving their tails;" but their appearance was to "try," and not to attack him; and when they saw him resolute, they "drooped their heads, put down their tails, and prostrated themselves before him." this of course is not an historical account, but a legendary tribute to his bold perseverance. chapter xxx the srataparna cave, or cave of the first council. legends. suicide of a bhikshu. out from the old city, after walking over 300 paces, on the west of the road, (the travellers) found the karanda bamboo garden,(1) where the (old) vihara is still in existence, with a company of monks, who keep (the ground about it) swept and watered. north of the vihara two or three le there was the smasanam, which name means in chinese "the field of graves into which the dead are thrown."(2) as they kept along the mountain on the south, and went west for 300 paces, they found a dwelling among the rocks, named the pippala cave,(3) in which buddha regularly sat in meditation after taking his (midday) meal. going on still to the west for five or six le, on the north of the hill, in the shade, they found the cavern called srataparna,(4) the place where, after the nirvana(5) of buddha, 500 arhats collected the sutras. when they brought the sutras forth, three lofty seats(6) had been prepared and grandly ornamented. sariputtra occupied the one on the left, and maudgalyayana that on the right. of the number of five hundred one was wanting. mahakasyapa was president (on the middle seat). ananda was then outside the door, and could not get in.(7) at the place there was (subsequently) raised a tope, which is still existing. along (the sides of) the hill, there are also a very great many cells among the rocks, where the various arhans sat and meditated. as you leave the old city on the north, and go down east for three le, there is the rock dwelling of devadatta, and at a distance of fifty paces from it there is a large, square, black rock. formerly there was a bhikshu, who, as he walked backwards and forwards upon it, thought with himself:--"this body(8) is impermanent, a thing of bitterness and vanity,(9) and which cannot be looked on as pure.(10) i am weary of this body, and troubled by it as an evil." with this he grasped a knife, and was about to kill himself. but he thought again:--"the world-honoured one laid down a prohibition against one's killing himself."(11) further it occurred to him:--"yes, he did; but i now only wish to kill three poisonous thieves."(12) immediately with the knife he cut his throat. with the first gash into the flesh he attained the state of a srotapanna;(13) when he had gone half through, he attained to be an anagamin;(14) and when he had cut right through, he was an arhat, and attained to pari-nirvana;(15) (and died). notes (1) karanda venuvana; a park presented to buddha by king bimbisara, who also built a vihara in it. see the account of the transaction in m. b., p. 194. the place was called karanda, from a creature so named, which awoke the king just as a snake was about to bite him, and thus saved his life. in hardy the creature appears as a squirrel, but eitel says that the karanda is a bird of sweet voice, resembling a magpie, but herding in flocks; the _cuculus melanoleucus_. see "buddhist birth stories," p. 118. (2) the language here is rather contemptuous, as if our author had no sympathy with any other mode of disposing of the dead, but by his own buddhistic method of cremation. (3) the chinese characters used for the name of this cavern serve also to name the pippala (peepul) tree, the _ficus religiosa_. they make us think that there was such a tree overshadowing the cave; but fa-hsien would hardly have neglected to mention such a circumstance. (4) a very great place in the annals of buddhism. the council in the srataparna cave did not come together fortuitously, but appears to have been convoked by the older members to settle the rules and doctrines of the order. the cave was prepared for the occasion by king ajatasatru. from the expression about the "bringing forth of the king," it would seem that the sutras or some of them had been already committed to writing. may not the meaning of king {.} here be extended to the vinaya rules, as well as the sutras, and mean "the standards" of the system generally? see davids' manual, chapter ix, and sacred books of the east, vol. xx, vinaya texts, pp. 370-385. (5) so in the text, evidently for pari-nirvana. (6) instead of "high" seats, the chinese texts have "vacant." the character for "prepared" denotes "spread;"--they were carpeted; perhaps, both cushioned and carpeted, being rugs spread on the ground, raised higher than the other places for seats. (7) did they not contrive to let him in, with some cachinnation, even in so august an assembly, that so important a member should have been shut out? (8) "the life of this body" would, i think, fairly express the idea of the bhikshu. (9) see the account of buddha's preaching in chapter xviii. (10) the sentiment of this clause is not easily caught. (11) see e. m., p. 152:--"buddha made a law forbidding the monks to commit suicide. he prohibited any one from discoursing on the miseries of life in such a manner as to cause desperation." see also m. b., pp. 464, 465. (12) beal says:--"evil desire; hatred; ignorance." (13) see chap. xx, note 10. (14) the anagamin belong to the third degree of buddhistic saintship, the third class of aryas, who are no more liable to be reborn as men, but are to be born once more as devas, when they will forthwith become arhats, and attain to nirvana. e. h., pp. 8, 9. (15) our author expresses no opinion of his own on the act of this bhikshu. must it not have been a good act, when it was attended, in the very act of performance, by such blessed consequences? but if buddhism had not something better to show than what appears here, it would not attract the interest which it now does. the bhikshu was evidently rather out of his mind; and the verdict of a coroner's inquest of this nineteenth century would have pronounced that he killed himself "in a fit of insanity." chapter xxxi gaya. sakyamuni's attaining to the buddhaship; and other legends. from this place, after travelling to the west for four yojanas, (the pilgrims) came to the city of gaya;(1) but inside the city all was emptiness and desolation. going on again to the south for twenty le, they arrived at the place where the bodhisattva for six years practised with himself painful austerities. all around was forest. three le west from here they came to the place where, when buddha had gone into the water to bathe, a deva bent down the branch of a tree, by means of which he succeeded in getting out of the pool.(2) two le north from this was the place where the gramika girls presented to buddha the rice-gruel made with milk;(3) and two le north from this (again) was the place where, seated on a rock under a great tree, and facing the east, he ate (the gruel). the tree and the rock are there at the present day. the rock may be six cubits in breadth and length, and rather more than two cubits in height. in central india the cold and heat are so equally tempered that trees will live in it for several thousand and even for ten thousand years. half a yojana from this place to the north-east there was a cavern in the rocks, into which the bodhisattva entered, and sat cross-legged with his face to the west. (as he did so), he said to himself, "if i am to attain to perfect wisdom (and become buddha), let there be a supernatural attestation of it." on the wall of the rock there appeared immediately the shadow of a buddha, rather more than three feet in length, which is still bright at the present day. at this moment heaven and earth were greatly moved, and devas in the air spoke plainly, "this is not the place where any buddha of the past, or he that is to come, has attained, or will attain, to perfect wisdom. less than half a yojana from this to the south-west will bring you to the patra(4) tree, where all past buddhas have attained, and all to come must attain, to perfect wisdom." when they had spoken these words, they immediately led the way forwards to the place, singing as they did so. as they thus went away, the bodhisattva arose and walked (after them). at a distance of thirty paces from the tree, a deva gave him the grass of lucky omen,(5) which he received and went on. after (he had proceeded) fifteen paces, 500 green birds came flying towards him, went round him thrice, and disappeared. the bodhisattva went forward to the patra tree, placed the kusa grass at the foot of it, and sat down with his face to the east. then king mara sent three beautiful young ladies, who came from the north, to tempt him, while he himself came from the south to do the same. the bodhisattva put his toes down on the ground, and the demon soldiers retired and dispersed, and the three young ladies were changed into old (grand-)mothers.(6) at the place mentioned above of the six years' painful austerities, and at all these other places, men subsequently reared topes and set up images, which all exist at the present day. where buddha, after attaining to perfect wisdom, for seven days contemplated the tree, and experienced the joy of vimukti;(7) where, under the patra tree, he walked backwards and forwards from west to east for seven days; where the devas made a hall appear, composed of the seven precious substances, and presented offerings to him for seven days; where the blind dragon muchilinda(8) encircled him for seven days; where he sat under the nyagrodha tree, on a square rock, with his face to the east, and brahma-deva(9) came and made his request to him; where the four deva kings brought to him their alms-bowls;(10) where the 500 merchants(11) presented to him the roasted flour and honey; and where he converted the brothers kasyapa and their thousand disciples;(12)--at all these places topes were reared. at the place where buddha attained to perfect wisdom, there are three monasteries, in all of which there are monks residing. the families of their people around supply the societies of these monks with an abundant sufficiency of what they require, so that there is no lack or stint.(13) the disciplinary rules are strictly observed by them. the laws regulating their demeanour in sitting, rising, and entering when the others are assembled, are those which have been practised by all the saints since buddha was in the world down to the present day. the places of the four great topes have been fixed, and handed down without break, since buddha attained to nirvana. those four great topes are those at the places where buddha was born; where he attained to wisdom; where he (began to) move the wheel of his law; and where he attained to pari-nirvana. notes (1) gaya, a city of magadha, was north-west of the present gayah (lat. 24d 47s n., lon. 85d 1s e). it was here that sakyamuni lived for seven years, after quitting his family, until he attained to buddhaship. the place is still frequented by pilgrims. e. h., p. 41. (2) this is told so as to make us think that he was in danger of being drowned; but this does not appear in the only other account of the incident i have met with,--in "the life of the buddha," p. 31. and he was not yet buddha, though he is here called so; unless indeed the narrative is confused, and the incidents do not follow in the order of time. (3) an incident similar to this is told, with many additions, in hardy's m. b., pp. 166-168; "the life of the buddha," p. 30; and the "buddhist birth stories," pp. 91, 92; but the name of the ministering girl or girls is different. i take gramika from a note in beal's revised version; it seems to me a happy solution of the difficulty caused by the {.} {.} of fa-hsien. (4) called "the tree of leaves," and "the tree of reflection;" a palm tree, the _borassus flabellifera_, described as a tree which never loses its leaves. it is often confounded with the pippala. e. h., p. 92. (5) the kusa grass, mentioned in a previous note. (6) see the account of this contest with mara in m. b., pp. 171-179, and "buddhist birth stories," pp. 96-101. (7) see chap. xiii, note 7. (8) called also maha, or the great muchilinda. eitel says: "a naga king, the tutelary deity of a lake near which sakyamuni once sat for seven days absorbed in meditation, whilst the king guarded him." the account (p. 35) in "the life of the buddha" is:--"buddha went to where lived the naga king muchilinda, and he, wishing to preserve him from the sun and rain, wrapped his body seven times round him, and spread out his hood over his head; and there he remained seven days in thought." so also the nidana katha, in "buddhist birth stories," p. 109. (9) this was brahma himself, though "king" is omitted. what he requested of the buddha was that he would begin the preaching of his law. nidana katha, p. 111. (10) see chap. xii, note 10. (11) the other accounts mention only two; but in m. b., p. 182, and the nidana katha, p. 110, these two have 500 well-laden waggons with them. (12) these must not be confounded with mahakasyapa of chap. xvi, note 17. they were three brothers, uruvilva, gaya, and nadi-kasyapa, up to this time holders of "erroneous" views, having 500, 300, and 200 disciples respectively. they became distinguished followers of sakyamuni; and are--each of them--to become buddha by-and-by. see the nidana katha, pp. 114, 115. (13) this seems to be the meaning; but i do not wonder that some understand the sentence of the benevolence of the monkish population to the travellers. chapter xxxii legend of king asoka in a former birth, and his naraka. when king asoka, in a former birth,(1) was a little boy and played on the road, he met kasyapa buddha walking. (the stranger) begged food, and the boy pleasantly took a handful of earth and gave it to him. the buddha took the earth, and returned it to the ground on which he was walking; but because of this (the boy) received the recompense of becoming a king of the iron wheel,(2) to rule over jambudvipa. (once) when he was making a judicial tour of inspection through jambudvipa, he saw, between the iron circuit of the two hills, a naraka(3) for the punishment of wicked men. having thereupon asked his ministers what sort of a thing it was, they replied, "it belongs to yama,(4) king of demons, for punishing wicked people." the king thought within himself:--"(even) the king of demons is able to make a naraka in which to deal with wicked men; why should not i, who am the lord of men, make a naraka in which to deal with wicked men?" he forthwith asked his ministers who could make for him a naraka and preside over the punishment of wicked people in it. they replied that it was only a man of extreme wickedness who could make it; and the king thereupon sent officers to seek everywhere for (such) a bad man; and they saw by the side of a pond a man tall and strong, with a black countenance, yellow hair, and green eyes, hooking up the fish with his feet, while he called to him birds and beasts, and, when they came, then shot and killed them, so that not one escaped. having got this man, they took him to the king, who secretly charged him, "you must make a square enclosure with high walls. plant in it all kinds of flowers and fruits; make good ponds in it for bathing; make it grand and imposing in every way, so that men shall look to it with thirsting desire; make its gates strong and sure; and when any one enters, instantly seize him and punish him as a sinner, not allowing him to get out. even if i should enter, punish me as a sinner in the same way, and do not let me go. i now appoint you master of that naraka." soon after this a bhikshu, pursuing his regular course of begging his food, entered the gate (of the place). when the lictors of the naraka saw him, they were about to subject him to their tortures; but he, frightened, begged them to allow him a moment in which to eat his midday meal. immediately after, there came in another man, whom they thrust into a mortar and pounded till a red froth overflowed. as the bhikshu looked on, there came to him the thought of the impermanence, the painful suffering and insanity of this body, and how it is but as a bubble and as foam; and instantly he attained to arhatship. immediately after, the lictors seized him, and threw him into a caldron of boiling water. there was a look of joyful satisfaction, however, in the bhikshu's countenance. the fire was extinguished, and the water became cold. in the middle (of the caldron) there rose up a lotus flower, with the bhikshu seated on it. the lictors at once went and reported to the king that there was a marvellous occurrence in the naraka, and wished him to go and see it; but the king said, "i formerly made such an agreement that now i dare not go (to the place)." the lictors said, "this is not a small matter. your majesty ought to go quickly. let your former agreement be altered." the king thereupon followed them, and entered (the naraka), when the bhikshu preached the law to him, and he believed, and was made free.(5) forthwith he demolished the naraka, and repented of all the evil which he had formerly done. from this time he believed in and honoured the three precious ones, and constantly went to a patra tree, repenting under it, with self-reproach, of his errors, and accepting the eight rules of abstinence.(6) the queen asked where the king was constantly going to, and the ministers replied that he was constantly to be seen under (such and such) a patra tree. she watched for a time when the king was not there, and then sent men to cut the tree down. when the king came, and saw what had been done, he swooned away with sorrow, and fell to the ground. his ministers sprinkled water on his face, and after a considerable time he revived. he then built all round (the stump) with bricks, and poured a hundred pitchers of cows' milk on the roots; and as he lay with his four limbs spread out on the ground, he took this oath, "if the tree do not live, i will never rise from this." when he had uttered this oath, the tree immediately began to grow from the roots, and it has continued to grow till now, when it is nearly 100 cubits in height. notes (1) here is an instance of {.} used, as was pointed out in chap. ix, note 3, for a former age; and not merely a former time. perhaps "a former birth" is the best translation. the corean reading of kasyapa buddha is certainly preferable to the chinese "sakya buddha." (2) see chap. xvii, note 8. (3) i prefer to retain the sanskrit term here, instead of translating the chinese text by "earth's prison {.} {.}," or "a prison in the earth;" the name for which has been adopted generally by christian missionaries in china for gehenna and hell. (4) eitel (p. 173) says:--"yama was originally the aryan god of the dead, living in a heaven above the world, the regent of the south; but brahmanism transferred his abode to hell. both views have been retained by buddhism." the yama of the text is the "regent of the narakas, residing south of jambudvipa, outside the chakravalas (the double circuit of mountains above), in a palace built of brass and iron. he has a sister who controls all the female culprits, as he exclusively deals with the male sex. three times, however, in every twenty-four hours, a demon pours boiling copper into yama's mouth, and squeezes it down his throat, causing him unspeakable pain." such, however, is the wonderful "transrotation of births," that when yama's sins have been expiated, he is to be reborn as buddha, under the name of "the universal king." (5) or, "was loosed;" from the bonds, i suppose, of his various illusions. (6) i have not met with this particular numerical category. chapter xxxiii mount gurupada, where kasyapa buddha's entire skeleton is. (the travellers), going on from this three le to the south, came to a mountain named gurupada,(1) inside which mahakasyapa even now is. he made a cleft, and went down into it, though the place where he entered would not (now) admit a man. having gone down very far, there was a hole on one side, and there the complete body of kasyapa (still) abides. outside the hole (at which he entered) is the earth with which he had washed his hands.(2) if the people living thereabouts have a sore on their heads, they plaster on it some of the earth from this, and feel immediately easier.(3) on this mountain, now as of old, there are arhats abiding. devotees of our law from the various countries in that quarter go year by year to the mountain, and present offerings to kasyapa; and to those whose hearts are strong in faith there come arhats at night, and talk with them, discussing and explaining their doubts, and disappearing suddenly afterwards. on this hill hazels grow luxuriously; and there are many lions, tigers, and wolves, so that people should not travel incautiously. notes (1) "fowl's-foot hill," "with three peaks, resembling the foot of a chicken. it lies seven miles south-east of gaya, and was the residence of mahakasyapa, who is said to be still living inside this mountain." so eitel says, p. 58; but this chapter does not say that kasyapa is in the mountain alive, but that his body entire is in a recess or hole in it. hardy (m. b., p. 97) says that after kasyapa buddha's body was burnt, the bones still remained in their usual position, presenting the appearance of a perfect skeleton. it is of him that the chapter speaks, and not of the famous disciple of sakyamuni, who also is called mahakasyapa. this will appear also on a comparison of eitel's articles on "mahakasyapa" and "kasyapa buddha." (2) was it a custom to wash the hands with "earth," as is often done with sand? (3) this i conceive to be the meaning here. chapter xxxiv on the way back to patna. varanasi, or benares. sakyamuni's first doings after becoming buddha. fa-hsien(1) returned (from here) towards pataliputtra,(2) keeping along the course of the ganges and descending in the direction of the west. after going ten yojanas he found a vihara, named "the wilderness,"--a place where buddha had dwelt, and where there are monks now. pursuing the same course, and going still to the west, he arrived, after twelve yojanas, at the city of varanasi(3) in the kingdom of kasi. rather more than ten le to the north-east of the city, he found the vihara in the park of "the rishi's deer-wild."(4) in this park there formerly resided a pratyeka buddha,(5) with whom the deer were regularly in the habit of stopping for the night. when the world-honoured one was about to attain to perfect wisdom, the devas sang in the sky, "the son of king suddhodana, having quitted his family and studied the path (of wisdom),(6) will now in seven days become buddha." the pratyeka buddha heard their words, and immediately attained to nirvana; and hence this place was named "the park of the rishi's deer-wild."(7) after the world-honoured one had attained to perfect wisdom, men build the vihara in it. buddha wished to convert kaundinya(8) and his four companions; but they, (being aware of his intention), said to one another, "this sramana gotama(9) for six years continued in the practice of painful austerities, eating daily (only) a single hemp-seed, and one grain of rice, without attaining to the path (of wisdom); how much less will he do so now that he has entered (again) among men, and is giving the reins to (the indulgence of) his body, his speech, and his thoughts! what has he to do with the path (of wisdom)? to-day, when he comes to us, let us be on our guard not to speak with him." at the places where the five men all rose up, and respectfully saluted (buddha), when he came to them; where, sixty paces north from this, he sat with his face to the east, and first turned the wheel of the law, converting kaundinya and the four others; where, twenty paces further to the north, he delivered his prophecy concerning maitreya;(10) and where, at a distance of fifty paces to the south, the dragon elapattra(11) asked him, "when shall i get free from this naga body?"--at all these places topes were reared, and are still existing. in (the park) there are two monasteries, in both of which there are monks residing. when you go north-west from the vihara of the deer-wild park for thirteen yojanas, there is a kingdom named kausambi.(12) its vihara is named ghochiravana(13)--a place where buddha formerly resided. now, as of old, there is a company of monks there, most of whom are students of the hinayana. east from (this), when you have travelled eight yojanas, is the place where buddha converted(14) the evil demon. there, and where he walked (in meditation) and sat at the place which was his regular abode, there have been topes erected. there is also a monastery, which may contain more than a hundred monks. notes (1) fa-hsien is here mentioned singly, as in the account of his visit to the cave on gridhra-kuta. i think that tao-ching may have remained at patna after their first visit to it. (2) see chap. xxvii, note 1. (3) "the city surrounded by rivers;" the modern benares, lat. 25d 23s n., lon. 83d 5s e. (4) "the rishi," says eitel, "is a man whose bodily frame has undergone a certain transformation by dint of meditation and ascetism, so that he is, for an indefinite period, exempt from decrepitude, age, and death. as this period is believed to extend far beyond the usual duration of human life, such persons are called, and popularly believed to be, immortals." rishis are divided into various classes; and rishi-ism is spoken of as a seventh part of transrotation, and rishis are referred to as the seventh class of sentient beings. taoism, as well as buddhism, has its seen jin. (5) see chap. xiii, note 15. (6) see chap. xxii, note 2. (7) for another legend about this park, and the identification of "a fine wood" still existing, see note in beal's first version, p. 135. (8) a prince of magadha and a maternal uncle of sakyamuni, who gave him the name of ajnata, meaning automat; and hence he often appears as ajnata kaundinya. he and his four friends had followed sakyamuni into the uruvilva desert, sympathising with him in the austerities he endured, and hoping that they would issue in his buddhaship. they were not aware that that issue had come; which may show us that all the accounts in the thirty-first chapter are merely descriptions, by means of external imagery, of what had taken place internally. the kingdom of nirvana had come without observation. these friends knew it not; and they were offended by what they considered sakyamuni's failure, and the course he was now pursuing. see the account of their conversion in m. b., p. 186. (9) this is the only instance in fa-hsien's text where the bodhisattva or buddha is called by the surname "gotama." for the most part our traveller uses buddha as a proper name, though it properly means "the enlightened." he uses also the combinations "sakya buddha,"="the buddha of the sakya tribe," and "sakyamuni,"="the sakya sage." this last is the most common designation of the buddha in china, and to my mind best combines the characteristics of a descriptive and a proper name. among other buddhistic peoples "gotama" and "gotama buddha" are the more frequent designations. it is not easy to account for the rise of the surname gotama in the sakya family, as oldenberg acknowledges. he says that "the sakyas, in accordance with the custom of indian noble families, had borrowed it from one of the ancient vedic bard families." dr. davids ("buddhism," p. 27) says: "the family name was certainly gautama," adding in a note, "it is a curious fact that gautama is still the family name of the rajput chiefs of nagara, the village which has been identified with kapilavastu." dr. eitel says that "gautama was the sacerdotal name of the sakya family, which counted the ancient rishi gautama among its ancestors." when we proceed, however, to endeavour to trace the connexion of that brahmanical rishi with the sakya house, by means of 1323, 1468, 1469, and other historical works in nanjio's catalogue, we soon find that indian histories have no surer foundation than the shifting sand;--see e. h., on the name sakya, pp. 108, 109. we must be content for the present simply to accept gotama as one of the surnames of the buddha with whom we have to do. (10) see chap. vi, note 5. it is there said that the prediction of maitreya's succession to the buddhaship was made to him in the tushita heaven. was there a repetition of it here in the deer-park, or was a prediction now given concerning something else? (11) nothing seems to be known of this naga but what we read here. (12) identified by some with kusia, near kurrah (lat. 25d 41s n., lon. 81d 27s e.); by others with kosam on the jumna, thirty miles above allahabad. see e. h., p. 55. (13) ghochira was the name of a vaisya elder, or head, who presented a garden and vihara to buddha. hardy (m. b., p. 356) quotes a statement from a singhalese authority that sakyamuni resided here during the ninth year of his buddhaship. (14) dr. davids thinks this may refer to the striking and beautiful story of the conversion of the yakkha alavaka, as related in the uragavagga, alavakasutta, pp. 29-31 (sacred books of the east, vol. x, part ii). chapter xxxv dakshina, and the pigeon monastery. south from this 200 yojanas, there is a country named dakshina,(1) where there is a monastery (dedicated to) the bygone kasyapa buddha, and which has been hewn out from a large hill of rock. it consists in all of five storeys;--the lowest, having the form of an elephant, with 500 apartments in the rock; the second, having the form of a lion, with 400 apartments; the third, having the form of a horse, with 300 apartments; the fourth, having the form of an ox, with 200 apartments; and the fifth, having the form of a pigeon, with 100 apartments. at the very top there is a spring, the water of which, always in front of the apartments in the rock, goes round among the rooms, now circling, now curving, till in this way it arrives at the lowest storey, having followed the shape of the structure, and flows out there at the door. everywhere in the apartments of the monks, the rock has been pierced so as to form windows for the admission of light, so that they are all bright, without any being left in darkness. at the four corners of the (tiers of) apartments, the rock has been hewn so as to form steps for ascending to the top (of each). the men of the present day, being of small size, and going up step by step, manage to get to the top; but in a former age, they did so at one step.(2) because of this, the monastery is called paravata, that being the indian name for a pigeon. there are always arhats residing in it. the country about is (a tract of) uncultivated hillocks,(3) without inhabitants. at a very long distance from the hill there are villages, where the people all have bad and erroneous views, and do not know the sramanas of the law of buddha, brahmanas, or (devotees of) any of the other and different schools. the people of that country are constantly seeing men on the wing, who come and enter this monastery. on one occasion, when devotees of various countries came to perform their worship at it, the people of those villages said to them, "why do you not fly? the devotees whom we have seen hereabouts all fly;" and the strangers answered, on the spur of the moment, "our wings are not yet fully formed." the kingdom of dakshina is out of the way, and perilous to traverse. there are difficulties in connexion with the roads; but those who know how to manage such difficulties and wish to proceed should bring with them money and various articles, and give them to the king. he will then send men to escort them. these will (at different stages) pass them over to others, who will show them the shortest routes. fa-hsien, however, was after all unable to go there; but having received the (above) accounts from men of the country, he has narrated them. notes (1) said to be the ancient name of the deccan. as to the various marvels in the chapter, it must be borne in mind that our author, as he tells us at the end, only gives them from hearsay. see "buddhist records of the western world," vol. ii, pp. 214, 215, where the description, however, is very different. (2) compare the account of buddha's great stride of fifteen yojanas in ceylon, as related in chapter xxxviii. (3) see the same phrase in the books of the later han dynasty, the twenty-fourth book of biographies, p. 9b. chapter xxxvi in patna. fa-hien's labours in transcription of manuscripts, and indian studies for three years. from varanasi (the travellers) went back east to pataliputtra. fa-hsien's original object had been to search for (copies of) the vinaya. in the various kingdoms of north india, however, he had found one master transmitting orally (the rules) to another, but no written copies which he could transcribe. he had therefore travelled far and come on to central india. here, in the mahayana monastery,(1) he found a copy of the vinaya, containing the mahasanghika(2) rules,--those which were observed in the first great council, while buddha was still in the world. the original copy was handed down in the jetavana vihara. as to the other eighteen schools,(3) each one has the views and decisions of its own masters. those agree (with this) in the general meaning, but they have small and trivial differences, as when one opens and another shuts.(4) this copy (of the rules), however, is the most complete, with the fullest explanations.(5) he further got a transcript of the rules in six or seven thousand gathas,(6) being the sarvastivadah(7) rules,--those which are observed by the communities of monks in the land of ts'in; which also have all been handed down orally from master to master without being committed to writing. in the community here, moreover, we got the samyuktabhi-dharma-hridaya-(sastra),(8) containing about six or seven thousand gathas; he also got a sutra of 2500 gathas; one chapter of the parinir-vana-vaipulya sutra,(9) of about 5000 gathas; and the mahasan-ghikah abhidharma. in consequence (of this success in his quest) fa-hsien stayed here for three years, learning sanskrit books and the sanskrit speech, and writing out the vinaya rules. when tao-ching arrived in the central kingdom, and saw the rules observed by the sramanas, and the dignified demeanour in their societies which he remarked under all occurring circumstances, he sadly called to mind in what a mutilated and imperfect condition the rules were among the monkish communities in the land of ts'in, and made the following aspiration:--"from this time forth till i come to the state of buddha, let me not be born in a frontier land."(10) he remained accordingly (in india), and did not return (to the land of han). fa-hsien, however, whose original purpose had been to secure the introduction of the complete vinaya rules into the land of han, returned there alone. notes (1) mentioned before in chapter xxvii. (2) mahasanghikah simply means "the great assembly," that is, of monks. when was this first assembly in the time of sakyamuni held? it does not appear that the rules observed at it were written down at the time. the document found by fa-hsien would be a record of those rules; or rather a copy of that record. we must suppose that the original record had disappeared from the jetavana vihara, or fa-hsien would probably have spoken of it when he was there, and copied it, if he had been allowed to do so. (3) the eighteen pu {.}. four times in this chapter the character called pu occurs, and in the first and two last instances it can only have the meaning, often belonging to it, of "copy." the second instance, however, is different. how should there be eighteen copies, all different from the original, and from one another, in minor matters? we are compelled to translate--"the eighteen schools," an expression well known in all buddhist writings. see rhys davids' manual, p. 218, and the authorities there quoted. (4) this is equivalent to the "binding" and "loosing," "opening" and "shutting," which found their way into the new testament, and the christian church, from the schools of the jewish rabbins. (5) it was afterwards translated by fa-hsien into chinese. see nanjio's catalogue of the chinese tripitaka, columns 400 and 401, and nos. 1119 and 1150, columns 247 and 253. (6) a gatha is a stanza, generally consisting, it has seemed to me, of a few, commonly of two, lines somewhat metrically arranged; but i do not know that its length is strictly defined. (7) "a branch," says eitel, "of the great vaibhashika school, asserting the reality of all visible phenomena, and claiming the authority of rahula." (8) see nanjio's catalogue, no. 1287. he does not mention it in his account of fa-hsien, who, he says, translated the samyukta-pitaka sutra. (9) probably nanjio's catalogue, no. 120; at any rate, connected with it. (10) this then would be the consummation of the sramana's being,--to get to be buddha, the buddha of his time in his kalpa; and tao-ching thought that he could attain to this consummation by a succession of births; and was likely to attain to it sooner by living only in india. if all this was not in his mind, he yet felt that each of his successive lives would be happier, if lived in india. chapter xxxvii to champa and tamalipti. stay and labours there for three years. takes ship to singhala, or ceylon. following the course of the ganges, and descending eastwards for eighteen yojanas, he found on the southern bank the great kingdom of champa,(1) with topes reared at the places where buddha walked in meditation by his vihara, and where he and the three buddhas, his predecessors, sat. there were monks residing at them all. continuing his journey east for nearly fifty yojanas, he came to the country of tamalipti,(2) (the capital of which is) a seaport. in the country there are twenty-two monasteries, at all of which there are monks residing. the law of buddha is also flourishing in it. here fa-hsien stayed two years, writing out his sutras,(3) and drawing pictures of images. after this he embarked in a large merchant-vessel, and went floating over the sea to the south-west. it was the beginning of winter, and the wind was favourable; and, after fourteen days, sailing day and night, they came to the country of singhala.(4) the people said that it was distant (from tamalipti) about 700 yojanas. the kingdom is on a large island, extending from east to west fifty yojanas, and from north to south thirty. left and right from it there are as many as 100 small islands, distant from one another ten, twenty, or even 200 le; but all subject to the large island. most of them produce pearls and precious stones of various kinds; there is one which produces the pure and brilliant pearl,(5)--an island which would form a square of about ten le. the king employs men to watch and protect it, and requires three out of every ten such pearls, which the collectors find. notes (1) probably the modern champanagur, three miles west of baglipoor, lat. 25d 14s n., lon. 56d 55s e. (2) then the principal emporium for the trade with ceylon and china; the modern tam-look, lat. 22d 17s n., lon. 88d 2s e.; near the mouth of the hoogly. (3) perhaps ching {.} is used here for any portions of the tripitaka which he had obtained. (4) "the kingdom of the lion," ceylon. singhala was the name of a merchant adventurer from india, to whom the founding of the kingdom was ascribed. his father was named singha, "the lion," which became the name of the country;--singhala, or singha-kingdom, "the country of the lion." (5) called the mani pearl or bead. mani is explained as meaning "free from stain," "bright and growing purer." it is a symbol of buddha and of his law. the most valuable rosaries are made of manis. chapter xxxviii at ceylon. rise of the kingdom. feats of buddha. topes and monasteries. statue of buddha in jade. bo tree. festival of buddha's tooth. the country originally had no human inhabitants,(1) but was occupied only by spirits and nagas, with which merchants of various countries carried on a trade. when the trafficking was taking place, the spirits did not show themselves. they simply set forth their precious commodities, with labels of the price attached to them; while the merchants made their purchases according to the price; and took the things away. through the coming and going of the merchants (in this way), when they went away, the people of (their) various countries heard how pleasant the land was, and flocked to it in numbers till it became a great nation. the (climate) is temperate and attractive, without any difference of summer and winter. the vegetation is always luxuriant. cultivation proceeds whenever men think fit: there are no fixed seasons for it. when buddha came to this country,(2) wishing to transform the wicked nagas, by his supernatural power he planted one foot at the north of the royal city, and the other on the top of a mountain,(3) the two being fifteen yojanas apart. over the footprint at the north of the city the king built a large tope, 400 cubits high, grandly adorned with gold and silver, and finished with a combination of all the precious substances. by the side of the top he further built a monastery, called the abhayagiri,(4) where there are (now) five thousand monks. there is in it a hall of buddha, adorned with carved and inlaid works of gold and silver, and rich in the seven precious substances, in which there is an image (of buddha) in green jade, more than twenty cubits in height, glittering all over with those substances, and having an appearance of solemn dignity which words cannot express. in the palm of the right hand there is a priceless pearl. several years had now elapsed since fa-hsien left the land of han; the men with whom he had been in intercourse had all been of regions strange to him; his eyes had not rested on an old and familiar hill or river, plant or tree; his fellow-travellers, moreover, had been separated from him, some by death, and others flowing off in different directions; no face or shadow was now with him but his own, and a constant sadness was in his heart. suddenly (one day), when by the side of this image of jade, he saw a merchant presenting as his offering a fan of white silk;(5) and the tears of sorrow involuntarily filled his eyes and fell down. a former king of the country had sent to central india and got a slip of the patra tree,(6) which he planted by the side of the hall of buddha, where a tree grew up to the height of about 200 cubits. as it bent on one side towards the south-east, the king, fearing it would fall, propped it with a post eight or nine spans round. the tree began to grow at the very heart of the prop, where it met (the trunk); (a shoot) pierced through the post, and went down to the ground, where it entered and formed roots, that rose (to the surface) and were about four spans round. although the post was split in the middle, the outer portions kept hold (of the shoot), and people did not remove them. beneath the tree there has been built a vihara, in which there is an image (of buddha) seated, which the monks and commonalty reverence and look up to without ever becoming wearied. in the city there has been reared also the vihara of buddha's tooth, on which, as well as on the other, the seven precious substances have been employed. the king practises the brahmanical purifications, and the sincerity of the faith and reverence of the population inside the city are also great. since the establishment of government in the kingdom there has been no famine or scarcity, no revolution or disorder. in the treasuries of the monkish communities there are many precious stones, and the priceless manis. one of the kings (once) entered one of those treasuries, and when he looked all round and saw the priceless pearls, his covetous greed was excited, and he wished to take them to himself by force. in three days, however, he came to himself, and immediately went and bowed his head to the ground in the midst of the monks, to show his repentance of the evil thought. as a sequel to this, he informed the monks (of what had been in his mind), and desired them to make a regulation that from that day forth the king should not be allowed to enter the treasury and see (what it contained), and that no bhikshu should enter it till after he had been in orders for a period of full forty years.(7) in the city there are many vaisya elders and sabaean(8) merchants, whose houses are stately and beautiful. the lanes and passages are kept in good order. at the heads of the four principal streets there have been built preaching halls, where, on the eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days of the month, they spread carpets, and set forth a pulpit, while the monks and commonalty from all quarters come together to hear the law. the people say that in the kingdom there may be altogether sixty thousand monks, who get their food from their common stores. the king, besides, prepares elsewhere in the city a common supply of food for five or six thousand more. when any want, they take their great bowls, and go (to the place of distribution), and take as much as the vessels will hold, all returning with them full. the tooth of buddha is always brought forth in the middle of the third month. ten days beforehand the king grandly caparisons a large elephant, on which he mounts a man who can speak distinctly, and is dressed in royal robes, to beat a large drum, and make the following proclamation:--"the bodhisattva, during three asankhyeya-kalpas,(9) manifested his activity, and did not spare his own life. he gave up kingdom, city, wife, and son; he plucked out his eyes and gave them to another;(10) he cut off a piece of his own flesh to ransom the life of a dove;(10) he cut off his head and gave it as an alms;(11) he gave his body to feed a starving tigress;(11) he grudged not his marrow and his brains. in many such ways as these did he undergo pain for the sake of all living. and so it was, that, having become buddha, he continued in the world for forty-five years, preaching his law, teaching and transforming, so that those who had no rest found rest, and the unconverted were converted. when his connexion with the living was completed,(12) he attained to pari-nirvana (and died). since that event, for 1497 years, the light of the world has gone out,(13) and all living beings have had long-continued sadness. behold! ten days after this, buddha's tooth will be brought forth, and taken to the abhayagiri-vihara. let all and each, whether monks or laics, who wish to amass merit for themselves, make the roads smooth and in good condition, grandly adorn the lanes and by-ways, and provide abundant store of flowers and incense to be used as offerings to it." when this proclamation is over, the king exhibits, so as to line both sides of the road, the five hundred different bodily forms in which the bodhisattva has in the course of his history appeared:--here as sudana,(14) there as sama;(15) now as the king of elephants;(16) and then as a stag or a horse.(16) all these figures are brightly coloured and grandly executed, looking as if they were alive. after this the tooth of buddha is brought forth, and is carried along in the middle of the road. everywhere on the way offerings are presented to it, and thus it arrives at the hall of buddha in the abhayagiri-vihara. there monks and laics are collected in crowds. they burn incense, light lamps, and perform all the prescribed services, day and night without ceasing, till ninety days have been completed, when (the tooth) is returned to the vihara within the city. on fast-days the door of that vihara is opened, and the forms of ceremonial reverence are observed according to the rules. forty le to the east of the abhayagiri-vihara there is a hill, with a vihara on it, called the chaitya,(17) where there may be 2000 monks. among them there is a sramana of great virtue, named dharma-gupta,(18) honoured and looked up to by all the kingdom. he has lived for more than forty years in an apartment of stone, constantly showing such gentleness of heart, that he has brought snakes and rats to stop together in the same room, without doing one another any harm. notes (1) it is desirable to translate {.} {.}, for which "inhabitants" or "people" is elsewhere sufficient, here by "human inhabitants." according to other accounts singhala was originally occupied by rakshasas or rakshas, "demons who devour men," and "beings to be feared," monstrous cannibals or anthropophagi, the terror of the shipwrecked mariner. our author's "spirits" {.} {.} were of a gentler type. his dragons or nagas have come before us again and again. (2) that sakyamuni ever visited ceylon is to me more than doubtful. hardy, in m. b., pp. 207-213, has brought together the legends of three visits,--in the first, fifth, and eighth years of his buddhaship. it is plain, however, from fa-hsien's narrative, that in the beginning of our fifth century, buddhism prevailed throughout the island. davids in the last chapter of his "buddhism" ascribes its introduction to one of asoka's missions, after the council of patna, under his son mahinda, when tissa, "the delight of the gods," was king (b.c. 250-230). (3) this would be what is known as "adam's peak," having, according to hardy (pp. 211, 212, notes), the three names of selesumano, samastakuta, and samanila. "there is an indentation on the top of it," a superficial hollow, 5 feet 3 3_4 inches long, and about 2 1_2 feet wide. the hindus regard it as the footprint of siva; the mohameddans, as that of adam; and the buddhists, as in the text,--as having been made by buddha. (4) meaning "the fearless hill." there is still the abhayagiri tope, the highest in ceylon, according to davids, 250 feet in height, and built about b.c. 90, by watta gamini, in whose reign, about 160 years after the council of patna, and 330 years after the death of sakyamuni, the tripitaka was first reduced to writing in ceylon;--"buddhism," p. 234. (5) we naturally suppose that the merchant-offerer was a chinese, as indeed the chinese texts say, and the fan such as fa-hsien had seen and used in his native land. (6) this should be the pippala, or bodhidruma, generally spoken of, in connexion with buddha, as the bo tree, under which he attained to the buddhaship. it is strange our author should have confounded them as he seems to do. in what we are told of the tree here, we have, no doubt, his account of the planting, growth, and preservation of the famous bo tree, which still exists in ceylon. it has been stated in a previous note that asoka's son, mahinda, went as the apostle of buddhism to ceylon. by-and-by he sent for his sister sanghamitta, who had entered the order at the same time as himself, and whose help was needed, some of the king's female relations having signified their wish to become nuns. on leaving india, she took with her a branch of the sacred bo tree at buddha gaya, under which sakyamuni had become buddha. of how the tree has grown and still lives we have an account in davids' "buddhism." he quotes the words of sir emerson tennent, that it is "the oldest historical tree in the world;" but this must be denied if it be true, as eitel says, that the tree at buddha gaya, from which the slip that grew to be this tree was taken more than 2000 years ago, is itself still living in its place. we must conclude that fa-hsien, when in ceylon, heard neither of mahinda nor sanghamitta. (7) compare what is said in chap. xvi, about the inquiries made at monasteries as to the standing of visitors in the monkhood, and duration of their ministry. (8) the phonetic values of the two chinese characters here are in sanskrit sa; and va, bo or bha. "sabaean" is mr. beal's reading of them, probably correct. i suppose the merchants were arabs, forerunners of the so-called moormen, who still form so important a part of the mercantile community in ceylon. (9) a kalpa, we have seen, denotes a great period of time; a period during which a physical universe is formed and destroyed. asankhyeya denotes the highest sum for which a conventional term exists;--according to chinese calculations equal to one followed by seventeen ciphers; according to thibetan and singhalese, equal to one followed by ninety-seven ciphers. every maha-kalpa consists of four asankhyeya-kalpas. eitel, p. 15. (10) see chapter ix. (11) see chapter xi. (12) he had been born in the sakya house, to do for the world what the character of all his past births required, and he had done it. (13) they could no more see him, the world-honoured one. compare the sacred books of the east, vol. xi, buddhist suttas, pp. 89, 121, and note on p. 89. (14) sudana or sudatta was the name of the bodhisattva in the birth which preceded his appearance as sakyamuni or gotama, when he became the supreme buddha. this period is known as the vessantara jataka, of which hardy, m. b., pp. 116-124, gives a long account; see also "buddhist birth stories," the nidana katha, p. 158. in it, as sudana, he fulfilled "the perfections," his distinguishing attribute being entire self-renunciation and alms-giving, so that in the nidana katha is made to say ("buddhist birth stories," p. 159):- "this earth, unconscious though she be, and ignorant of joy or grief, even she by my free-giving's mighty power was shaken seven times." then, when he passed away, he appeared in the tushita heaven, to enter in due time the womb of maha-maya, and be born as sakyamuni. (15) i take the name sama from beal's revised version. he says in a note that the sama jataka, as well as the vessantara, is represented in the sanchi sculptures. but what the sama jataka was i do not yet know. but adopting this name, the two chinese characters in the text should be translated "the change into sama." remusat gives for them, "la transformation en eclair;" beal, in his first version, "his appearance as a bright flash of light;" giles, "as a flash of lightning." julien's methode does not give the phonetic value in sanskrit of {.}. (16) in an analysis of the number of times and the different forms in which sakyamuni had appeared in his jataka births, given by hardy (m. b., p. 100), it is said that he had appeared six times as an elephant; ten times as a deer; and four times as a horse. (17) chaitya is a general term designating all places and objects of religious worship which have a reference to ancient buddhas, and including therefore stupas and temples as well as sacred relics, pictures, statues, &c. it is defined as "a fane," "a place for worship and presenting offerings." eitel, p. 141. the hill referred to is the sacred hill of mihintale, about eight miles due east of the bo tree;--davids' buddhism, pp. 230, 231. (18) eitel says (p. 31): "a famous ascetic, the founder of a school, which flourished in ceylon, a.d. 400." but fa-hsien gives no intimation of dharma-gupta's founding a school. chapter xxxix cremation of an arhat. sermon of a devotee. south of the city seven le there is a vihara, called the maha-vihara, where 3000 monks reside. there had been among them a sramana, of such lofty virtue, and so holy and pure in his observance of the disciplinary rules, that the people all surmised that he was an arhat. when he drew near his end, the king came to examine into the point; and having assembled the monks according to rule, asked whether the bhikshu had attained to the full degree of wisdom.(1) they answered in the affirmative, saying that he was an arhat. the king accordingly, when he died, buried him after the fashion of an arhat, as the regular rules prescribed. four of five le east from the vihara there was reared a great pile of firewood, which might be more than thirty cubits square, and the same in height. near the top were laid sandal, aloe, and other kinds of fragrant wood. on the four sides (of the pile) they made steps by which to ascend it. with clean white hair-cloth, almost like silk, they wrapped (the body) round and round.(2) they made a large carriage-frame, in form like our funeral car, but without the dragons and fishes.(3) at the time of the cremation, the king and the people, in multitudes from all quarters, collected together, and presented offerings of flowers and incense. while they were following the car to the burial-ground,(4) the king himself presented flowers and incense. when this was finished, the car was lifted on the pile, all over which oil of sweet basil was poured, and then a light was applied. while the fire was blazing, every one, with a reverent heart, pulled off his upper garment, and threw it, with his feather-fan and umbrella, from a distance into the midst of the flames, to assist the burning. when the cremation was over, they collected and preserved the bones, and proceeded to erect a tope. fa-hsien had not arrived in time (to see the distinguished shaman) alive, and only saw his burial. at that time the king,(5) who was a sincere believer in the law of buddha and wished to build a new vihara for the monks, first convoked a great assembly. after giving the monks a meal of rice, and presenting his offerings (on the occasion), he selected a pair of first-rate oxen, the horns of which were grandly decorated with gold, silver, and the precious substances. a golden plough had been provided, and the king himself turned up a furrow on the four sides of the ground within which the building was supposed to be. he then endowed the community of the monks with the population, fields, and houses, writing the grant on plates of metal, (to the effect) that from that time onwards, from generation to generation, no one should venture to annul or alter it. in this country fa-hsien heard an indian devotee, who was reciting a sutra from the pulpit, say:--"buddha's alms-bowl was at first in vaisali, and now it is in gandhara.(6) after so many hundred years" (he gave, when fa-hsien heard him, the exact number of years, but he has forgotten it), "it will go to western tukhara;(7) after so many hundred years, to khoten; after so many hundred years, to kharachar;(8) after so many hundred years, to the land of han; after so many hundred years, it will come to sinhala; and after so many hundred years, it will return to central india. after that, it will ascend to the tushita heaven; and when the bodhisattva maitreya sees it, he will say with a sigh, 'the alms-bowl of sakyamuni buddha is come;' and with all the devas he will present to it flowers and incense for seven days. when these have expired, it will return to jambudvipa, where it will be received by the king of the sea nagas, and taken into his naga palace. when maitreya shall be about to attain to perfect wisdom (and become buddha), it will again separate into four bowls,(9) which will return to the top of mount anna,(9) whence they came. after maitreya has become buddha, the four deva kings will again think of the buddha (with their bowls as they did in the case of the previous buddha). the thousand buddhas of this bhadra-kalpa, indeed, will all use the same alms-bowl; and when the bowl has disappeared, the law of buddha will go on gradually to be extinguished. after that extinction has taken place, the life of man will be shortened, till it is only a period of five years. during this period of a five years' life, rice, butter, and oil will all vanish away, and men will become exceedingly wicked. the grass and trees which they lay hold of will change into swords and clubs, with which they will hurt, cut, and kill one another. those among them on whom there is blessing will withdraw from society among the hills; and when the wicked have exterminated one another, they will again come forth, and say among themselves, 'the men of former times enjoyed a very great longevity; but through becoming exceedingly wicked, and doing all lawless things, the length of our life has been shortened and reduced even to five years. let us now unite together in the practice of what is good, cherishing a gentle and sympathising heart, and carefully cultivating good faith and righteousness. when each one in this way practises that faith and righteousness, life will go on to double its length till it reaches 80,000 years. when maitreya appears in the world, and begins to turn the wheel of his law, he will in the first place save those among the disciples of the law left by the sakya who have quitted their families, and those who have accepted the three refuges, undertaken the five prohibitions and the eight abstinences, and given offerings to the three precious ones; secondly and thirdly, he will save those between whom and conversion there is a connexion transmitted from the past.'"(10) (such was the discourse), and fa-hsien wished to write it down as a portion of doctrine; but the man said, "this is taken from no sutra, it is only the utterance of my own mind." notes (1) possibly, "and asked the bhikshu," &c. i prefer the other way of construing, however. (2) it seems strange that this should have been understood as a wrapping of the immense pyre with the cloth. there is nothing in the text to necessitate such a version, but the contrary. compare "buddhist suttas," pp. 92, 93. (3) see the description of a funeral car and its decorations in the sacred books of the east, vol. xxviii, the li ki, book xix. fa-hsien's {.} {.}, "in this (country)," which i have expressed by "our," shows that whatever notes of this cremation he had taken at the time, the account in the text was composed after his return to china, and when he had the usages there in his mind and perhaps before his eyes. this disposes of all difficulty occasioned by the "dragons" and "fishes." the {.} at the end is merely the concluding particle. (4) the pyre served the purpose of a burial-ground or grave, and hence our author writes of it as such. (5) this king must have been maha-nana (a.d. 410-432). in the time of his predecessor, upatissa (a.d. 368-410), the pitakas were first translated into singhalese. under maha-nana, buddhaghosha wrote his commentaries. both were great builders of viharas. see the mahavansa, pp. 247, foll. (6) see chapter xii. fa-hsien had seen it at purushapura, which eitel says was "the ancient capital of gandhara." (7) western tukhara ({.} {.}) is the same probably as the tukhara ({.}) of chapter xii, a king of which is there described as trying to carry off the bowl from purushapura. (8) north of the bosteng lake at the foot of the thien-shan range (e. h., p. 56). (9) see chap. xii, note 9. instead of "anna" the chinese recensions have vina; but vina or vinataka, and ana for sudarsana are names of one or other of the concentric circles of rocks surrounding mount meru, the fabled home of the deva guardians of the bowl. (10) that is, those whose karma in the past should be rewarded by such conversion in the present. chapter xl after two years takes ship for china. disastrous passage to java; and thence to china; arrives at shan-tung; and goes to nanking. conclusion or l'envoi by another writer. fa-hsien abode in this country two years; and, in addition (to his acquisitions in patna), succeeded in getting a copy of the vinaya-pitaka of the mahisasakah (school);(1) the dirghagama and samyuktagama(2) (sutras); and also the samyukta-sanchaya-pitaka;(3)--all being works unknown in the land of han. having obtained these sanskrit works, he took passage in a large merchantman, on board of which there were more than 200 men, and to which was attached by a rope a smaller vessel, as a provision against damage or injury to the large one from the perils of the navigation. with a favourable wind, they proceeded eastwards for three days, and then they encountered a great wind. the vessel sprang a leak and the water came in. the merchants wished to go to the small vessel; but the men on board it, fearing that too many would come, cut the connecting rope. the merchants were greatly alarmed, feeling their risk of instant death. afraid that the vessel would fill, they took their bulky goods and threw them into the water. fa-hsien also took his pitcher(4) and washing-basin, with some other articles, and cast them into the sea; but fearing that the merchants would cast overboard his books and images, he could only think with all his heart of kwan-she-yin,(5) and commit his life to (the protection of) the church of the land of han,(6) (saying in effect), "i have travelled far in search of our law. let me, by your dread and supernatural (power), return from my wanderings, and reach my resting-place!" in this way the tempest(7) continued day and night, till on the thirteenth day the ship was carried to the side of an island, where, on the ebbing of the tide, the place of the leak was discovered, and it was stopped, on which the voyage was resumed. on the sea (hereabouts) there are many pirates, to meet with whom is speedy death. the great ocean spreads out, a boundless expanse. there is no knowing east or west; only by observing the sun, moon, and stars was it possible to go forward. if the weather were dark and rainy, (the ship) went as she was carried by the wind, without any definite course. in the darkness of the night, only the great waves were to be seen, breaking on one another, and emitting a brightness like that of fire, with huge turtles and other monsters of the deep (all about). the merchants were full of terror, not knowing where they were going. the sea was deep and bottomless, and there was no place where they could drop anchor and stop. but when the sky became clear, they could tell east and west, and (the ship) again went forward in the right direction. if she had come on any hidden rock, there would have been no way of escape. after proceeding in this way for rather more than ninety days, they arrived at a country called java-dvipa, where various forms of error and brahmanism are flourishing, while buddhism in it is not worth speaking of. after staying there for five months, (fa-hsien) again embarked in another large merchantman, which also had on board more than 200 men. they carried provisions for fifty days, and commenced the voyage on the sixteenth day of the fourth month. fa-hsien kept his retreat on board the ship. they took a course to the north-east, intending to fetch kwang-chow. after more than a month, when the night-drum had sounded the second watch, they encountered a black wind and tempestuous rain, which threw the merchants and passengers into consternation. fa-hsien again with all his heart directed his thoughts to kwan-she-yin and the monkish communities of the land of han; and, through their dread and mysterious protection, was preserved to day-break. after day-break, the brahmans deliberated together and said, "it is having this sramana on board which has occasioned our misfortune and brought us this great and bitter suffering. let us land the bhikshu and place him on some island-shore. we must not for the sake of one man allow ourselves to be exposed to such imminent peril." a patron of fa-hsien, however, said to them, "if you land the bhikshu, you must at the same time land me; and if you do not, then you must kill me. if you land this sramana, when i get to the land of han, i will go to the king, and inform against you. the king also reveres and believes the law of buddha, and honours the bhikshus." the merchants hereupon were perplexed, and did not dare immediately to land (fa-hsien). at this time the sky continued very dark and gloomy, and the sailing-masters looked at one another and made mistakes. more than seventy days passed (from their leaving java), and the provisions and water were nearly exhausted. they used the salt-water of the sea for cooking, and carefully divided the (fresh) water, each man getting two pints. soon the whole was nearly gone, and the merchants took counsel and said, "at the ordinary rate of sailing we ought to have reached kwang-chow, and now the time is passed by many days;--must we not have held a wrong course?" immediately they directed the ship to the north-west, looking out for land; and after sailing day and night for twelve days, they reached the shore on the south of mount lao,(8) on the borders of the prefecture of ch'ang-kwang,(8) and immediately got good water and vegetables. they had passed through many perils and hardships, and had been in a state of anxious apprehension for many days together; and now suddenly arriving at this shore, and seeing those (well-known) vegetables, the lei and kwoh,(9) they knew indeed that it was the land of han. not seeing, however, any inhabitants nor any traces of them, they did not know whereabouts they were. some said that they had not yet got to kwang-chow, and others that they had passed it. unable to come to a definite conclusion, (some of them) got into a small boat and entered a creek, to look for some one of whom they might ask what the place was. they found two hunters, whom they brought back with them, and then called on fa-hsien to act as interpreter and question them. fa-hsien first spoke assuringly to them, and then slowly and distinctly asked them, "who are you?" they replied, "we are disciples of buddha?" he then asked, "what are you looking for among these hills?" they began to lie,(10) and said, "to-morrow is the fifteenth day of the seventh month. we wanted to get some peaches to present(11) to buddha." he asked further, "what country is this?" they replied, "this is the border of the prefecture of ch'ang-kwang, a part of ts'ing-chow under the (ruling) house of tsin." when they heard this, the merchants were glad, immediately asked for (a portion of) their money and goods, and sent men to ch'ang-kwang city. the prefect le e was a reverent believer in the law of buddha. when he heard that a sramana had arrived in a ship across the sea, bringing with him books and images, he immediately came to the seashore with an escort to meet (the traveller), and receive the books and images, and took them back with him to the seat of his government. on this the merchants went back in the direction of yang-chow;(12) (but) when (fa-hsien) arrived at ts'ing-chow, (the prefect there)(13) begged him (to remain with him) for a winter and a summer. after the summer retreat was ended, fa-hsien, having been separated for a long time from his (fellow-)masters, wished to hurry to ch'ang-gan; but as the business which he had in hand was important, he went south to the capital;(14) and at an interview with the masters (there) exhibited the sutras and the collection of the vinaya (which he had procured). after fa-hsien set out from ch'ang-gan, it took him six years to reach central india;(15) stoppages there extended over (other) six years; and on his return it took him three years to reach ts'ing-chow. the countries through which he passed were a few under thirty. from the sandy desert westwards on to india, the beauty of the dignified demeanour of the monkhood and of the transforming influence of the law was beyond the power of language fully to describe; and reflecting how our masters had not heard any complete account of them, he therefore (went on) without regarding his own poor life, or (the dangers to be encountered) on the sea upon his return, thus incurring hardships and difficulties in a double form. he was fortunate enough, through the dread power of the three honoured ones,(15) to receive help and protection in his perils; and therefore he wrote out an account of his experiences, that worthy readers might share with him in what he had heard and said.(15) it was in the year keah-yin,(16) the twelfth year of the period e-he of the (eastern) tsin dynasty, the year-star being in virgo-libra, in the summer, at the close of the period of retreat, that i met the devotee fa-hsien. on his arrival i lodged him with myself in the winter study,(17) and there, in our meetings for conversation, i asked him again and again about his travels. the man was modest and complaisant, and answered readily according to the truth. i thereupon advised him to enter into details where he had at first only given a summary, and he proceeded to relate all things in order from the beginning to the end. he said himself, "when i look back on what i have gone through, my heart is involuntarily moved, and the perspiration flows forth. that i encountered danger and trod the most perilous places, without thinking of or sparing myself, was because i had a definite aim, and thought of nothing but to do my best in my simplicity and straightforwardness. thus it was that i exposed my life where death seemed inevitable, if i might accomplish but a ten-thousandth part of what i hoped." these words affected me in turn, and i thought:--"this man is one of those who have seldom been seen from ancient times to the present. since the great doctrine flowed on to the east there has been no one to be compared with hien in his forgetfulness of self and search for the law. henceforth i know that the influence of sincerity finds no obstacle, however great, which it does not overcome, and that force of will does not fail to accomplish whatever service it undertakes. does not the accomplishing of such service arise from forgetting (and disregarding) what is (generally) considered as important, and attaching importance to what is (generally) forgotten?" notes (1) no. 1122 in nanjio's catalogue, translated into chinese by buddhajiva and a chinese sramana about a.d. 425. mahisasakah means "the school of the transformed earth," or "the sphere within which the law of buddha is influential." the school is one of the subdivisions of the sarvastivadah. (2) nanjio's 545 and 504. the agamas are sutras of the hinayana, divided, according to eitel, pp. 4, 5, into four classes, the first or dirghagamas (long agamas) being treatises on right conduct, while the third class contains the samyuktagamas (mixed agamas). (3) meaning "miscellaneous collections;" a sort of fourth pitaka. see nanjio's fourth division of the canon, containing indian and chinese miscellaneous works. but dr. davids says that no work of this name is known either in sanskrit or pali literature. (4) we have in the text a phonetisation of the sanskrit kundika, which is explained in eitel by the two characters that follow, as="washing basin," but two things evidently are intended. (5) see chap. xvi, note 23. (6) at his novitiate fa-hsien had sought the refuge of the "three precious ones" (the three refuges {.} {.} of last chapter), of which the congregation or body of the monks was one; and here his thoughts turn naturally to the branch of it in china. his words in his heart were not exactly words of prayer, but very nearly so. (7) in the text {.} {.}, ta-fung, "the great wind,"=the typhoon. (8) they had got to the south of the shan-tung promontory, and the foot of mount lao, which still rises under the same name on the extreme south of the peninsula, east from keao chow, and having the district of tsieh-mih on the east of it. all the country there is included in the present phing-too chow of the department lae-chow. the name phing-too dates from the han dynasty, but under the dynasty of the after ch'e {.} {.}, (a.d. 479-501), it was changed into ch'ang-kwang. fa-hsien may have lived, and composed the narrative of his travels, after the change of name was adopted. see the topographical tables of the different dynasties ({.} {.} {.} {.} {.}), published in 1815. (9) what these vegetables exactly were it is difficult to say; and there are different readings of the characters for them. williams' dictionary, under kwoh, brings the two names together in a phrase, but the rendering of it is simply "a soup of simples." for two or three columns here, however, the text appears to me confused and imperfect. (10) i suppose these men were really hunters; and, when brought before fa-hsien, because he was a sramana, they thought they would please him by saying they were disciples of buddha. but what had disciples of buddha to do with hunting and taking life? they were caught in their own trap, and said they were looking for peaches. (11) the chinese character here has occurred twice before, but in a different meaning and connexion. remusat, beal, and giles take it as equivalent to "to sacrifice." but his followers do not "sacrifice" to buddha. that is a priestly term, and should not be employed of anything done at buddhistic services. (12) probably the present department of yang-chow in keang-soo; but as i have said in a previous note, the narrative does not go on so clearly as it generally does. (13) was, or could, this prefect be le e? (14) probably not ch'ang-gan, but nan-king, which was the capital of the eastern tsin dynasty under another name. (15) the whole of this paragraph is probably fa-hsien's own conclusion of his narrative. the second half of the second sentence, both in sentiment and style in the chinese text, seems to necessitate our ascribing it to him, writing on the impulse of his own thoughts, in the same indirect form which he adopted for his whole narrative. there are, however, two peculiar phraseologies in it which might suggest the work of another hand. for the name india, where the first (15) is placed, a character is employed which is similarly applied nowhere else; and again, "the three honoured ones," at which the second (15) is placed, must be the same as "the three precious ones," which we have met with so often; unless we suppose that {.} {.} is printed in all the revisions for {.} {.}, "the world-honoured one," which has often occurred. on the whole, while i accept this paragraph as fa-hsien's own, i do it with some hesitation. that the following and concluding paragraph is from another hand, there can be no doubt. and it is as different as possible in style from the simple and straightforward narrative of fa-hsien. (16) there is an error of date here, for which it is difficult to account. the year keah-yin was a.d. 414; but that was the tenth year of the period e-he, and not the twelfth, the cyclical designation of which was ping-shin. according to the preceding paragraph, fa-hsien's travels had occupied him fifteen years, so that counting from a.d. 399, the year ke-hae, as that in which he set out, the year of his getting to ts'ing-chow would have been kwei-chow, the ninth year of the period e-he; and we might join on "this year keah-yin" to that paragraph, as the date at which the narrative was written out for the bamboo-tablets and the silk, and then begins the envoy, "in the twelfth year of e-he." this would remove the error as it stands at present, but unfortunately there is a particle at the end of the second date ({.}), which seems to tie the twelfth year of e-he to keah-yin, as another designation of it. the "year-star" is the planet jupiter, the revolution of which, in twelve years, constitutes "a great year." whether it would be possible to fix exactly by mathematical calculation in what year jupiter was in the chinese zodiacal sign embracing part of both virgo and scorpio, and thereby help to solve the difficulty of the passage, i do not know, and in the meantime must leave that difficulty as i have found it. (17) we do not know who the writer of the envoy was. "the winter study or library" would be the name of the apartment in his monastery or house, where he sat and talked with fa-hsien. generously made available by internet archive (http://www.archive.org) note: images of the original pages are available through internet archive. see http://www.archive.org/details/yonderyo00gavarich british borneo: sketches of brunai, sarawak, labuan, and north borneo. by w. h. treacher, c.m.g., m.a. oxon., secretary to the government of perak, formerly administrator of labuan and h.b.m. acting consul-general in borneo, first governor of british north borneo. reprinted from the journal of the straits settlements branch of the royal asiatic society. singapore: printed at the government printing department. 1891. table of contents. chapter i. pages 1-11. the hudson's bay company's charter, 1670. british north borneo company's charter, november 1881, as a territorial power. the example followed by germany. borneo the second largest island in the world. visited by friar odoric, 1322, by berthema, 1503; but not generally known until, in 1518 portuguese, and in 1521 spanish, expeditions touched there. report of pigafetta, the companion of magellan, who found there a chinese trading community. origin of the name borneo; sometimes known as kalamantan. spanish attack on brunai, 1573. first dutch connection, 1600; first british connection, 1609. diamonds. factory established by east india company at banjermassin, 1702, expelled by natives. british capture of manila, 1762, and acquisition of balambangan, followed by cession of northern borneo and part of palawan. spanish claims to borneo abandoned by protocol, 1885. factory established at balambangan, 1771, expelled by sulus, 1775; re-opened 1803 and abandoned the following year. temporary factory at brunai. pepper trade. settlement of singapore, 1819. attracted trade of borneo, celebes, &c. pirates. brooke acquired sarawak 1840, the first permanent british possession. labuan a british colony, 1846. the dutch protest. their possessions in borneo. spanish claims. concessions of territory acquired by mr. dent, 1877-78. the monopolies of the first europeans ruined trade: better prospect now opening. united states connection with borneo. population. malays, their mongolian origin. traces of a caucasic race, termed indonesians. buludupih legend. names of aboriginal tribes. pagans and mahomedans. chapter ii. pages 11-33. description of brunai, the capital, and its river. not a typical malayan river. spanish catholic mission. british consulate. inche mahomed. moses and a former american consulate. pigafetta's estimate of population in 1521, 150,000. present estimate, 12,000. decay of brunai since british connection. life of a brunai noble; of the children; of the women. modes of acquiring slaves: 'forced trade.' condition of slaves. character and customs of brunai malays. their religion, gambling, cock-fighting: _amoks_, marriage. sultan and ministers and officers of the state. how paid. feudal rights--ka-rájahan, kouripan, pusaka. ownership of land. modes of taxation. laws. hajis. punishments. executions. a naval officer's mistake. no army, navy, or police, but the people universally armed. cannon foundries. brass guns as currency. dollars and copper coinage. taxation. revenue; tribute from sarawak and north borneo; coal resources. chapter iii. pages 33-62. pigafetta's description of brunai in 1521. elephants. reception by the king. use of spirituous liquors. population. floating market. spoons. ladies appearing in public. obeisance. modes of addressing nobles. the use of yellow confined to the royal family. umbrellas closed when passing the palace. nobles only can sit in the stern of a boat. ceremonies at a royal reception; bees-wax candles. mr. dalrymple's description of brunai in 1884. quakers' meeting. way to a malay's heart lies through his pocket. market place and hideous women. beauties of the harems. present population. cholera. exports. former chinese pepper plantations. good water supply. nobles corrupt; lower classes not. the late sultan mumim. the present sultan. kampongs, or parishes and guilds. methods of fishing: kèlongs; rambat; peculiar mode of prawn-catching; serambau; pukat; hook and line; tuba fishing. sago. tobacco; its growth and use. areca-nut; its use and effects. costumes of men and women. jewellery. weapons. the _kris_; _parang_; _bliong_; _parang ílang_. the kayans imitated by the dyaks in a curious personal adornment. canoes: dug-outs; _pakerangan_; prahus; tongkangs; steering gear; similarity to ancient vikings' boat; boat races. paddling. the brunais teetotallers and temperate. business and political negotiations transacted through agents. time no object. the place of signatures taken by seals or _chops_. the great seal of state. brunais styled by the aborigines, _orang abai_. by religion mahomedans, but pagan superstitions cling to them; instances. traces of javanese and hindu influences. a native chronicle of brunai; mahomedanism established about 1478; connection of chinese with borneo; explanation of the name kina-balu applied to the highest mountain in the island. pepper planting by chinese in former years. mention of brunai in chinese history. tradition of an expedition by kublai khan. the chinese driven away by misgovernment. their descendants in the bundu district. other traces of chinese intercourse with borneo. their value as immigrants. european expeditions against brunai. how rajah brooke acquired sarawak amidst the roar of cannon. brooke's heroic disinterestedness. his appointment as british confidential agent in borneo. the episode of the murder of rajah muda hassim and his followers. brunai attacked by admiral sir thomas cochrane. captain rodney mundy follows the sultan into the jungle. the batteries razed and peace proclaimed. chapter iv. pages 63-77. sarawak under the brooke dynasty. by incorporation of other rivers extends over 40,000 square miles, coast line 380 miles, population 280,000. limbang annexed by sarawak. further extension impossible. the trusan river; 'trowser wearers'; acquired by sarawak. the limbang, the rice pot of brunai. the cross flown in the muhamadan capital by pagan savages. a launch decorated with skulls. dyak militia, the sarawak 'rangers,' and native police force. peace of sarawak kept by the people. cheap government. absolute monarchy. nominated councils. the 'civil service,' 'residents.' law, custom, equity and common sense. slavery abolished. sources of revenue--'opium farm' monopoly, poll tax, customs, excise, fines and fees. revenue and expenditure. early financial straits. sarawak offered to england, france and holland. the borneo company (ltd.). public debt. advantages of chinese immigration 'without the chinese we can do nothing.' java an exception. chinese are good traders, agriculturists, miners, artizans, &c.: sober and law-abiding. chinese secret societies and faction fights; death penalty for membership. insurrection of chinese, 1857. chinese pepper and gambier planters. exports--sago and jungle produce. minerals--antimony, cinnabar, coal. trade--agriculture. description of the capital--kuching. sir henry keppel and sir james brooke. piracy. 'head money.' charges against sir j. brooke. recognition of sarawak by united states and england. british protectorate. death of sir j. brooke. protestant and roman catholic missions. bishops macdougal and hose. father jackson. mahomedans' conversion not attempted. chapter v. pages 77-84. incident of the limbang rebellion against sultan of brunai. oppression of the nobles. irregular taxation--chukei basoh batis, bongkar sauh, tulongan, chop bibas, &c. the orang kayas. repulse of the tummonggong. brunai threatened. intervention of the writer as acting consul general. datu klassi. meeting broken up on news of attack by muruts. sultan's firman eventually accepted. demonstration by h.m.s. _pegasus_. 'cooking heads' in brunai river. death of sultan mumim. conditions of firman not observed by successor. sir frederick weld visits and reports on north borneo and brunai. legitimate extension of sarawak to be encouraged. chapter vi. pages 84-92. the colony of labuan, ceded to england in return for assistance against pirates. for similar reasons monopoly of pepper trade granted to the east india company in 1774. first british connection with labuan in 1775, on expulsion from balambangan. belcher and brooke visit brunai, 1844, to enquire into alleged detention of an european female. offer of cession of labuan. rajah muda hassim. at sultan's request, british attack osman, in marudu bay, 1845. brooke recognised as the queen's agent in borneo. captain mundy, r.n., under lord palmerston's instructions, hoists british flag in labuan, 24th dec., 1846. brooke appointed the first governor, 1847, being at the same time british representative in borneo, and independent ruler of sarawak. his staff of 'queen's officers'; concluded present treaty with brunai; ceased to be governor 1851. sir hugh low, sir j. pope hennessy, sir henry bulwer, sir charles lees. original expectations of the colony not realized. description of the island. the kadayans. agriculture, timber, trade. overshadowed by singapore, sarawak, and north borneo. writer's suggestion for proclaiming british protectorate over north borneo, and assigning to it the government of labuan, has been adopted. population of labuan. its coal measures and the failure of successive companies to work them; now being worked by central borneo company (ltd.). chinese and natives worked well under europeans. revenue and expenditure. labuan self-supporting since 1860. high-sounding official titles. one officer plays many parts. labuan celebrated for its fruits, introduced by sir hugh low. sir hugh's influence; instance of, when writer was fired on by sulus. h.m.s. _frolic_ on a rock. captain buckle, r.n. dr. treacher's coco-nut plantation. the church. chapter vii. pages 92-103. british north borneo; mode of acquisition; absence of any real native government; oppression of the inland pagans by the coast muhamadans. failure of american syndicate's chinese colonization scheme in 1865. colonel torrey interests baron overbeck in the american concessions; overbeck interests sir alfred dent, who commissions him to acquire a transfer of the concessions from the sultans of brunai and sulu, 1877-78. the ceded territory known as sabah. meaning of the term. spanish claims on ground of suzerainty over sulu. not admitted by the british government. the writer ordered to protest against spanish claims to north borneo, 1879. spain renounced claims, by protocol, 1885. holland, on ground of the treaty of 1824, objected to a british settlement in borneo; also disputed the boundary between dutch and british borneo. the writer 'violates' netherland territory and hoists the company's flag on the south bank of the siboku, 1883. annual tribute paid to the brunai government. certain intervening independent rivers still to be acquired. dent's first settlements at sandakan, tampassuk, and pappar. messrs. pryer, pretyman, witti, and everett. opposition of datu bahar at pappar. difficult position of the pioneer officers. respect for englishmen inspired by brooke's exploits. mr. w. h. read. mr. dent forms a 'provisional association' pending grant of a royal charter, 1881, composed of sir rutherford alcock, a. dent, r. b. martin, admiral mayne, w. h. read. sir rutherford energetically advocates the scheme from patriotic motives. the british north borneo company incorporated by royal charter, 1st november, 1881; nominal capital two millions, £20 shares. 33,030 shares issued. powers and conditions of the charter. flag. chapter viii. pages 103-117. area of british north borneo exceeds that of ceylon; points of similarity; styled 'the new ceylon.' joseph hatton's book. tobacco planters attracted from sumatra. coast-line, harbours, stations. sandakan town and harbour; founded by mr. pryer. destroyed by fire. formerly used as a blockade station by germans trading with sulu. capture of the blockade runner _sultana_ by the spaniards. rich virgin soil and fever. owing to propinquity of hongkong and singapore, north borneo cannot become an emporium for eastern trade. its mineralogical resources not yet ascertained. gold, coal, and other minerals known to exist. gold on the segama river. rich in timber. 'billian' or iron-wood; camphor. timber companies. on board one of her majesty's ships billian proved three times as durable as lignum vitæ. mangrove forests. monotony of tropical scenery. trade--a list of exports. edible birds'-nests. description of the great gomanton birds'-nests caves. mr bampfylde. bats' guano. mode of collecting nests. lady and miss brassey visit the madai caves, 1887. bêche-de-mer, shark fins, cuttle fish. position of sandakan on the route between australia and china--importance as a possible naval station. shipping. postal arrangements. coinage. currency. banking. probable cable station. chapter ix. pages 117-127. importance of the territory as a field for the cultivation of the fine tobacco used for 'wrappers.' profits of sumatra tobacco companies. climate and soil. rainfall. seasons. dr. walker. the sacred mountain, kina-balu. description of tobacco cultivation. chinese the most suitable labour for tobacco; difficulty in procuring sufficient coolies. count geloes d'elsloo. coolies protected by government. terms on which land can be acquired. tobacco export duty. tobacco grown and universally consumed by the natives. fibre plants. government experimental garden. sappan-wood. cotton flock. chapter x. pages 127-147. erroneous ideas as to the objects of the company. difficult to steal highlanders' trowsers. natives 'take no thought for the morrow.' the company does not engage in trade or agriculture. the company's capital is a loan to the country, to be repaid with interest as the country developes under its administration. large area of land to be disposed of without encroaching on native rights. land sales regulations. registration of titles. minerals reserved. transfer from natives to foreigners effected through the government. form of government--the governor, residents, &c. laws and proclamations. the indian penal, criminal, and civil procedure codes adopted. slavery--provision in the charter regarding. slave legislation by the company. summary of mr. witti's report on the slave system. messrs. everett and fryer's reports. commander edwards, r.n., attacks the kidnapping village of teribas in h.m.s. _kestrel_. slave keeping no longer pays. religious customs of the natives preserved by the charter. employment of natives as magistrates, &c. head-hunting. audit of 'heads account.' human sacrifices. native punishments for adultery and theft. causes of scanty population. absence of powerful warlike tribes. head hunting--its origin. an incident in labuan. mr. a. cook. mr. jesse's report on the muruts to the east india company. good qualities of the aborigines. advice to young officers. the muhamadans of the coast, the brunais, sulus, bajows. capture by bajows of a boat from an austrian frigate. baron oesterreicher. gambling and cattle lifting. the independent intervening rivers. fatal affray in the kawang river: death of de fontaine, fraser and others. mr. little. mr. whitehead. bombardment of bajow villages by captain a. k. hope, r.n., h.m.s. _zephyr_. captain alington, r.n., in h.m.s. _satellite_. the illanuns and balinini. absence of negritos. the 'tailed' people. desecration of european graves. muhamadans' sepulture. burial customs of the aborigines. chapter xi. pages 147-165. importance of introducing chinese into borneo. java not an example. sir walter medhurst commissioner of chinese immigration. the hakka chinese settlers. sir spencer st. john on chinese immigration. the revenue and expenditure of the territory. zeal of the company's officers. armed sikh and dyak police. impossible to raise a native force. heavy expenditure necessary in the first instance. carping critics. cordial support from sir cecil clementi smith and the government of the straits settlements. visit of lord brassey--his article in the 'nineteenth century.' further expenditure for roads, &c., will be necessary. what the company has done for borneo. geographical exploration. witti and hatton. the lake struck off the map. witti's murder. hatton's accidental death. admiral mayne, c.b. the _sumpitan_ or blow-pipe. errors made in opening most colonies, e.g. the straits settlements. the future of the country. the climate not unhealthy as a rule. ladies. game. no tigers. crocodiles. the native dog. pig and deer. wild cattle. elephants and rhinoceros. bear. orang-utan. long-nosed ape. pheasants. the company's motto--_pergo et perago_. governor creagh. mr. kindersley. british borneo: sketches of brunai, sarawak, labuan and north borneo. chapter i. in 1670 charles ii granted to the hudson's bay company a charter of incorporation, his majesty delegating to the company actual sovereignty over a very large portion of british north america, and assigning to them the exclusive monopoly of trade and mining in the territory. writing in 1869, mr. william forsyth, q.c., says:--"i have endeavoured to give an account of the constitution and history of the _last_ of the great proprietary companies of england, to whom a kind of delegated authority was granted by the crown. it was by some of these that distant colonies were founded, and one, the most powerful of them all, established our empire in the east and held the sceptre of the great mogul. but they have passed away ----fuit ilium et ingens gloria teucrorum-and the hudson's bay company will be no exception to the rule. it may continue to exist as a trading company, but as a territorial power it must make up its mind to fold its (buffalo) robes round it and die with dignity." prophesying is hazardous work. in november, 1881, two hundred and eleven years after the hudson's bay charter, and twelve years after the date of mr. forsyth's article, queen victoria granted a charter of incorporation to the british north borneo company, which, by confirming the grants and concessions acquired from the sultans of brunai and sulu, constitutes the company the sovereign ruler over a territory of 31,000 square miles, and, as the permission to trade, included in the charter, has not been taken advantage of, the british north borneo company now does actually exist "as a territorial power" and not "as a trading company." not only this, but the example has been followed by prince bismarck, and german companies, on similar lines, have been incorporated by their government on both coasts of africa and in the pacific; and another british company, to operate on the niger river districts, came into existence by royal charter in july, 1886. it used to be by no means an unusual thing to find an educated person ignorant not only of borneo's position on the map, but almost of the very existence of the island which, regarding australia as a continent, and yielding to the claims recently set up by new guinea, is the second largest island in the world, within whose limits could be comfortably packed england, scotland, wales and ireland, with a sea of dense jungle around them, as wallace has pointed out. every school-board child now, however, knows better than this. though friar odoric is said to have visited it about 1322, and ludovico berthema, of bologna, between 1503 and 1507, the existence of this great island, variously estimated to be from 263,000 to 300,000 square miles in extent, did not become generally known to europeans until, in 1518, the portuguese lorenzo de gomez touched at the city of brunai. he was followed in 1521 by the spanish expedition, which under the leadership of the celebrated portuguese circumnavigator magellan, had discovered the philippines, where, on the island of mactan, their leader was killed in april, 1520. an account of the voyage was written by pigafetta, an italian volunteer in the expedition, who accompanied the fleet to brunai after magellan's death, and published a glowing account of its wealth and the brilliancy of its court, with its royally caparisoned elephants, a report which it is very difficult to reconcile with the present squalid condition of the existing "venice of hovels," as it has been styled from its palaces and houses being all built in, or rather over, the river to which it owes its name. the spaniards found at brunai chinese manufactures and chinese trading junks, and were so impressed with the importance of the place that they gave the name of borneo--a corruption of the native name brunai--to the whole island, though the inhabitants themselves know no such general title for their country. in some works, pulau kalamantan, which would signify _wild mangoes island_, is given as the native name for borneo, but it is quite unknown, at any rate throughout north borneo, and the island is by no means distinguished by any profusion of wild mangoes.[1] in 1573, a spanish embassy to brunai met with no very favourable reception, and three years later an expedition from manila attacked the place and, deposing a usurping sultan, re-instated his brother on the throne, who, to shew his gratitude, declared his kingdom tributary to spain. the portuguese governor of the moluccas, in 1526, claimed the honour of being the first discoverer of borneo, and this nation appears to have carried on trade with some parts of the island till they were driven out of their colonies by the dutch in 1609. but neither the portuguese nor the spaniards seem to have made any decided attempt to gain a footing in borneo, and it is not until the early part of the 17th century that we find the two great rivals in the eastern seas--the english and the dutch east india trading companies--turning their attention to the island. the first dutchman to visit borneo was oliver van noort, who anchored at brunai in december, 1600, but though the sultan was friendly, the natives made an attempt to seize his ship, and he sailed the following month, having come to the conclusion that the city was a nest of rogues. the first english connection with borneo was in 1609, when trade was opened with sukadana, diamonds being said to form the principal portion of it. the east india company, in 1702, established a factory at banjermassin, on the south coast, but were expelled by the natives in 1706. their rivals, the dutch, also established trading stations on the south and south-west coasts. in 1761, the east india company concluded a treaty with the sultan of sulu, and in the following year an english fleet, under admiral drake and sir william draper captured manila, the capital of the spanish colony of the philippines. they found in confinement there a sultan of sulu who, in gratitude for his release, ceded to the company, on the 12th september, 1762, the island of balambangan, and in january of the following year mr. dalrymple was deputed to take possession of it and hoist the british flag. towards the close of 1763, the sultan of sulu added to his cession the northern portion of borneo and the southern half of palawan, together with all the intermediate islands. against all these cessions the spanish entered their protest, as they claimed the suzerainty over the sulu archipelago and the sulu dependencies in borneo and the islands. this claim the spaniards always persisted in, until, on the 7th march, 1885, a protocol was entered into by england and germany and spain, whereby spanish supremacy over the sulu archipelago was recognised on condition of their abandoning all claim to the portions of northern borneo which are now included in the british north borneo company's concessions. in november, 1768, the court of directors in london, with the approval of her majesty's ministers, who promised to afford protection to the new colony, issued orders to the authorities at bombay for the establishment of a settlement at balambangan with the intention of diverting to it the china trade, of drawing to it the produce of the adjoining countries, and of opening a port for the introduction of spices, etc. by the bugis, and for the sale of indian commodities. the actual date of the foundation of the settlement is not known, but mr. f. c. danvers states that in 1771 the court ordered that the government should be vested in "a chief and two other persons of council," and that the earliest proceedings extant are dated sulu, 1773, and relate to a broil in the streets between mr. alcock, the second in the council, and the surgeon of the _britannia_. this was a somewhat unpropitious commencement, and in 1774 the court are found writing to madras, to which balambangan was subordinate, complaining of the "imprudent management and profuse conduct" of the chief and council. in february, 1775, sulu pirates surprised the stockade, and drove out the settlers, capturing booty valued at about a million dollars. the company's officials then proceeded to the island of labuan, now a british crown colony, and established a factory, which was maintained but for a short time, at brunai itself. in 1803 balambangan was again occupied, but as no commercial advantage accrued, it was abandoned in the following year, and so ended all attempts on the part of the east india company to establish a colony in borneo. while at balambangan, the officers, in 1774, entered into negotiations with the sultan of brunai, and on undertaking to protect him against sulu and mindanau pirates, acquired the exclusive trade in all the pepper grown in his country. the settlement of singapore, the present capital of the straits settlements, by sir stamford raffles, under the orders of the east india company in 1819, again drew attention to borneo, for that judiciously selected and free port soon attracted to itself the trade of the celebes, borneo and the surrounding countries, which was brought to it by numerous fleets of small native boats. these fleets were constantly harassed and attacked and their crews carried off into slavery by the balinini, illanun, and dyak pirates infesting the borneo and celebes coasts, and the interference of the british cruisers was urgently called for and at length granted, and was followed, in the natural course of events, by political intervention, resulting in the brilliant and exciting episode whereby the modern successor of the olden heroes--sir james brooke--obtained for his family, in 1840, the kingdom of sarawak, on the west coast of the island, which he in time purged of its two plague spots--head-hunting on shore, and piracy and slave-dealing afloat--and left to his heir, who has worthily taken up and carried on his work, the unique inheritance of a settled eastern kingdom, inhabited by the once dreaded head-hunting dyaks and piratical mahomedan malays, the government of whom now rests absolutely in the hands of its one paternally despotic white ruler, or raja. sarawak, although not yet formally proclaimed a british protectorate,[2] may thus be deemed the first permanent british possession in borneo. sir james brooke was also employed by the british government to conclude, on 27th may, 1847, a treaty with the sultan of brunai, whereby the cession to us of the small island of labuan, which had been occupied as a british colony in december, 1846, was confirmed, and the sultan engaged that no territorial cession of any portion of his country should ever be made to any foreign power without the sanction of great britain. these proceedings naturally excited some little feeling of jealousy in our colonial neighbours--the dutch--who ineffectually protested against a british subject becoming the ruler of sarawak, as a breach of the tenor of the treaty of london of 1824, and they took steps to define more accurately the boundaries of their own dependencies in such other parts of borneo as were still open to them. what we now call british north borneo, they appear at that time to have regarded as outside the sphere of their influence, recognising the spanish claim to it through their suzerainty, already alluded to, over the sulu sultan. with this exception, and that of the brunai sultanate, already secured by the british treaty, and sarawak, now the property of the brooke family, the dutch have acquired a nominal suzerainty over the whole of the rest of borneo, by treaties with the independent rulers--an area comprising about two-thirds of the whole island, probably not a tenth part of which is under their actual direct administrative control. they appear to have been so pre-occupied with the affairs of their important colony of java and its dependencies, and the prolonged, exhausting and ruinously expensive war with the achinese in sumatra, that beyond posting government residents at some of the more important points, they have hitherto done nothing to attract european capital and enterprise to borneo, but it would now seem that the example set by the british company in the north is having its effect, and i hear of a tobacco planting company and of a coal company being formed to operate on the east coast of dutch borneo. the spanish claim to north borneo was a purely theoretical one, and not only their claim, but that also of the sulus through whom they claimed, was vigorously disputed by the sultans of brunai, who denied that, as asserted by the sulus, any portion of borneo had been ceded to them by a former sultan of brunai, who had by their help defeated rival claimants and been seated on the throne. the sulus, on their side, would own no allegiance to the spaniards, with whom they had been more or less at war for almost three centuries, and their actual hold over any portion of north borneo was of the slightest. matters were in this position when mr. alfred dent, now sir alfred dent, k.c.m.g., fitted out an expedition, and in december, 1877, and january, 1878, obtained from the sultans of brunai and sulu, in the manner hereafter detailed, the sovereign control over the north portion of borneo, from the kimanis river on the west to the siboku river on the east, concessions which were confirmed by her majesty's royal charter in november, 1881. i have now traced, in brief outline, the political history of borneo from the time when the country first became generally known to europeans--in 1518--down to its final division between great britain and the netherlands in 1881. if we can accept the statements of the earlier writers, borneo was in its most prosperous stage before it became subjected to european influences, after which, owing to the mistaken and monopolising policy of the commercial companies then holding sway in the east, the trade and agriculture of this and other islands of the malay archipelago received a blow from which at any rate that of borneo is only now recovering. by the terms of its charter, the british north borneo company is prohibited from creating trade monopolies, and of its own accord it has decided not to engage itself in trading transactions at all, and as raja brooke's government is similar to that of a british crown colony, and the dutch government no longer encourage monopolies, there is good ground for believing that the wrong done is being righted, and that a brighter page than ever is now being opened for borneo and its natives. before finishing with this part of the subject, i may mention that the united states government had entered into a treaty with the sultan of brunai, in almost exactly the same words as the english one, including the clause prohibiting cessions of territory without the consent of the other party to the treaty, and, in 1878, commodore schufeldt was ordered by his government to visit borneo and report on the cessions obtained by mr. dent. i was acting british consul-general at the time, and before leaving the commodore informed me emphatically that he could discover no american interests in borneo, "neither white nor black." the native population of borneo is given in books of reference as between 1,750,000 and 2,500,000. the aborigines are of the malay race, which itself is a variety of the mongolian and indeed, when inspecting prisoners, i have often been puzzled to distinguish the chinese from the malay, they being dressed alike and the distinctive _pig-tail_ having been shaved off the former as part of the prison discipline. these mongolian malays from high asia, who presumably migrated to the archipelago _viâ_ the malay peninsula and sumatra, must, however, have found borneo and other of the islands partially occupied by a caucasic race, as amongst the aborigines are still found individuals of distinctive caucasic type, as has been pointed out to be the case with the buludupih tribe of british north borneo, by dr. montano, whom i had the pleasure of meeting in borneo in 1878-9. to these the name of pre-malays has been given, but professor keane, to whom i beg to acknowledge my indebtedness on these points, prefers the title of indonesians. the scientific descriptions of a typical malay is as follows:--"stature little over five feet, complexion olive yellow, head brachy-cephalous or round, cheek-bones prominent, eyes black and slightly oblique, nose small but not flat, nostrils dilated, hands small and delicate, legs thin and weak, hair black, coarse and lank, beard absent or scant;" but these indonesians to whom belong most of the indigenous inhabitants of celebes, are taller and have fairer or light brown complexions and regular features, connecting them with the brown polynesians of the eastern pacific "who may be regarded as their descendants," and professor keane accounts for their presence by assuming "a remote migration of the caucasic race to south-eastern asia, of which evidences are not lacking in camboja and elsewhere, and a further onward movement, first to the archipelago and then east to the pacific." it is needless to say that the aborigines themselves have the haziest and most unscientific notion of their own origin, as the following account, gravely related to me by a party of buludupihs, will exemplify:- "_the origin of the buludupih race._ in past ages a chinese[3] settler had taken to wife a daughter of the aborigines, by whom he had a female child. her parents lived in a hilly district (_bulud_ = hill), covered with a large forest tree, known by the name of _opih_. one day a jungle fire occurred, and after it was over, the child jumped down from the house (native houses are raised on piles off the ground), and went up to look at a half burnt _opih_ log, and suddenly disappeared and was never seen again. but the parents heard the voice of a spirit issue from the log, announcing that it had taken the child to wife and that, in course of time, the bereaved parents would find an infant in the jungle, whom they were to consider as the offspring of the marriage, and who would become the father of a new race. the prophecy of the spirit was in due time fulfilled." it somewhat militates against the correctness of this history that the buludupihs are distinguished by the absence of mongolian features. the general appellation given to the aborigines by the modern malays--to whom reference will be made later on--is _dyak_, and they are divided into numerous tribes, speaking very different dialects of the malayo-polynesian stock, and known by distinctive names, the origin of which is generally obscure, at least in british north borneo, where these names are _not_, as a rule, derived from those of the rivers on which they dwell. the following are the names of some of the principal north borneo aboriginal tribes:--kadaians, dusuns, ida'ans, bisaias, buludupihs, eraans, subans, sun-dyaks, muruts, tagaas. of these, the kadaians, buludupihs, eraans and one large section of the bisaias have embraced the religion of mahomet; the others are pagans, with no set form of religion, no idols, but believing in spirits and in a future life, which they localise on the top of the great mountain of kina-balu. these pagans are a simple and more natural, less self-conscious, people than their mahomedan brethren, who are ahead of them in point of civilization, but are more reserved, more proud and altogether less "jolly," and appear, with their religion, to have acquired also some of the characteristics of the modern or true malays. a pagan can sit, or rather squat, with you and tell you legends, or, perhaps, on an occasion join in a glass of grog, whereas the mahomedan, especially the true malay, looks upon the englishman as little removed from a "kafir"--an uncircumcised philistine--who through ignorance constantly offends in minor points of etiquette, who eats pig and drinks strong drink, is ignorant of the dignity of repose, and whose accidental physical and political superiority in the present world will be more than compensated for by the very inferior and uncomfortable position he will attain in the next. the aborigines inhabit the interior parts of north borneo, and all along the coast is found a fringe of true malays, talking modern malay and using the arabic written character, whereas the aborigines possess not even the rudiments of an alphabet and, consequently, no literature at all. how is the presence in borneo of this more highly civilized product of the malay race, differing so profoundly in language and manners from their kinsmen--the aborigines--to be accounted for? professor keane once more comes to our assistance, and solves the question by suggesting that the mongolian malays from high asia who settled in sumatra, attained there a real national development in comparatively recent times, and after their conversion to mahomedanism by the arabs, from whom, as well as from the bhuddist missionaries who preceded them, they acquired arts and an elementary civilization, spread to borneo and other parts of malaysia and quickly asserted their superiority over the less advanced portion of their race already settled there. this theory fits in well with the native account of the distribution of the malay race, which makes menangkabau, in southern sumatra, the centre whence they spread over the malayan islands and peninsula. the professor further points out, that in prehistoric times the malay and indonesian stock spread westwards to madagascar and eastwards to the philippines and formosa, micronesia and polynesia. "this astonishing expansion of the malaysian people throughout the oceanic area is sufficiently attested by the diffusion of common (malayo-polynesian) speech from madagascar to easter island and from hawaii to new zealand." footnotes: [footnote 1: the explanation _sago island_ has been given, _lamantah_ being the native term for the raw sago sold to the factories.] [footnote 2: a british protectorate was established over north borneo on the 12th may, over sarawak on the 14th june, and over brunai on the 17th september, 1888. _vide_ appendix.] [footnote 3: the buludupihs inhabit the china or kina-batangan river, and sir hugh low, in a note to his history of the sultans of brunai, in a number of the journal of the straits branch of the royal asiatic society, says that it is probable that in former days the chinese had a settlement or factory at that river, as some versions of the native history of brunai expressly state that the chinese wife of one of the earliest sultans was brought thence.] chapter ii. the headquarters of the true malay in northern borneo is the city of brunai, on the river of that name, on the north-west coast of the island, where resides the court of the only nominally independent sultan now remaining in the archipelago.[4] the brunai river is probably the former mouth of the limbang, and is now more a salt water inlet than a river. contrary, perhaps, to the general idea, an ordinary eastern river, at any rate until the limit of navigability for european craft is attained, is not, as a rule, a thing of beauty by any means. the typical malay river debouches through flat, fever-haunted swampy country, where, for miles, nothing meets the eye but the monotonous dark green of the level, interminable mangrove forest, with its fantastic, interlacing roots, whose function it appears to be to extend seaward, year by year, its dismal kingdom of black fetid mud, and to veil from the rude eye of the intruder the tropical charms of the country at its back. after some miles of this cheerless scenery, and at a point where the fresh water begins to mingle with the salt, the handsome and useful _nipa_ palm, with leaves twenty to thirty feet in length, which supply the native with the material for the walls and roof of his house, the wrapper for his cigarette, the sugar for his breakfast table, the salt for his daily needs and the strong drink to gladden his heart on his feast days, becomes intermixed with the mangrove and finally takes its place--a pleasing change, but still monotonous, as it is so dense that, itself growing in the water, it quite shuts out all view of the bank and surrounding country. one of the first signs of the fresh river water, is the occurrence on the bank of the graceful _nibong_ palm, with its straight, slender, round stem, twenty to thirty feet in height, surmounted with a plume of green leaves. this palm, cut into lengths and requiring no further preparation, is universally employed by the malay for the posts and beams of his house, always raised several feet above the level of the ground, or of the water, as the case may be, and, split up into lathes of the requisite size, forms the frame-work of the walls and roof, and constitutes the flooring throughout. with the pithy centre removed, the _nibong_ forms an efficient aqueduct, in the absence of bambu, and its young, growing shoot affords a cabbage, or salad, second only to that furnished by the coco-nut, which will next come into view, together with the betel (_areca_) nut palm, if the river visited is an inhabited one; but if uninhabited, the traveller will find nothing but thick, almost impenetrable jungle, with mighty trees shooting up one hundred to a hundred and fifty feet without a branch, in their endeavour to get their share of the sun-light, and supporting on their trunks and branches enormous creepers, rattans, graceful ferns and lovely orchids and other luxuriant epiphytal growths. such is the typical north borneo river, to which, however, the brunai is a solitary exception. the mouth of the brunai river is approached between pretty verdant islets, and after passing through a narrow and tortuous passage, formed naturally by sandbanks and artificially by a barrier of stones, bare at low water, laid down in former days to keep out the restless european, you find your vessel, which to cross the bar should not draw more than thirteen or fourteen feet, in deep water between green, grassy, hilly, picturesque banks, with scarcely a sign of the abominable mangrove, or even of the _nipa_, which, however, to specially mark the contrast formed by this stream, are both to be found in abundance in the _upper_ portion of the river, which the steamer cannot enter. after passing a small village or two, the first object which used to attract attention was the brick ruins of a roman catholic church, which had been erected here by the late father cuarteron, a spanish missionary of the society of the propaganda fide, who, originally a jovial sea captain, had the good fortune to light upon a wrecked treasure ship in the eastern seas, and, feeling presumably unwonted twinges of conscience, decided to devote the greater part of his wealth to the church, in which he took orders, eventually attaining the rank of prefect apostolic. his mission, unfortunately, was a complete failure, but though his assistants were withdrawn, he stuck to his post to the last and, no doubt, did a certain amount of good in liberating, from time to time, spanish subjects he found in slavery on the borneo coast. had the poor fellow settled in the interior, amongst the pagans, he might, by his patience and the example of his good life, have made some converts, but amongst the mahomedans of the coast it was labour in vain. the bricks of his brunai church have since been sold to form the foundation of a steam sawmill. turning a sharp corner, the british consulate is reached, where presides, and flies with pride the union jack, her majesty's consular agent, mr. or inche mahomet, with his three wives and thirteen children. he is a native of malacca and a clever, zealous, courteous and hospitable official, well versed in the political history of brunai since the advent of sir james brooke. the british is the only consulate now established at brunai, but once the stars and stripes proudly waved over the consulate of an unpaid american consul. there was little scope at brunai for a white man in pursuit of the fleeting dollar, and one day the consulate was burnt to the ground, and a heavy claim for compensation for this alleged act of incendiarism was sent in to the sultan. his highness disputed the claim, and an american man-of-war was despatched to make enquiries on the spot. in the end, the compensation claimed was not enforced, and mr. moses, the consul, was not subsequently, i think, appointed to any other diplomatic or consular post by the president of the republic. a little further on are the palaces, shops and houses of the city of brunai, all, with the exception of a few brick shops belonging to chinamen, built over the water in a reach where the river broadens out, and a vessel can steam up the high street and anchor abreast of the royal palace. when pigafetta visited the port in 1521, he estimated the number of houses at 25,000, which, at the low average of six to a house, would give brunai a population of 150,000 people, many of whom were chinese, cultivating pepper gardens, traces of which can still be seen on the now deserted hills. sir spencer st. john, formerly h. b. m. consul-general in borneo, and who put the population at 25,000 at the lowest in 1863, asserts that fifteen is a fair average to assign to a brunai house, which would make the population in pigafetta's time 375,000. from his enquiries he found that the highest number was seventy, in the sultan's palace, and the lowest seven, in a fisherman's small hut. pigafetta, however, probably alluded to families, _fires_ i think is the word he makes use of, and more than one family is often found occupying a brunai house. the present population perhaps does not number more than 12,000 or 15,000 natives, and about eighty chinese and a few kling shop-keepers, as natives of india are here styled. writing in 1845, sir james brooke, then the queen's first commissioner to brunai, says with reference to this sultanate:--"here the experiment may be fairly tried, on the smallest possible scale of expense, whether a beneficial european influence may not re-animate a falling state and at the same time extend our commerce. * * * if this tendency to decay and extinction be inevitable, if this approximation of european policy to native government should be unable to arrest the fall of the bornean dynasty, yet we shall retrieve a people already habituated to european habits and manners, industrious interior races; and if it become necessary, a colony gradually formed and ready to our hand in a rich and fertile country," and elsewhere he admits that the regeneration of the borneo malays through themselves was a hobby of his. the experiment has been tried and, so far as concerns the re-animation of the malay government of brunai, the verdict must be "a complete failure." the english are a practical race, and self-interest is the guide of nations in their intercourse with one another; it was not to be supposed that they would go out of their way to teach the degenerate brunai aristocracy how to govern in accordance with modern ideas; indeed, the treaty we made with them, by prohibiting, for instance, their levying customs duties, or royalties, on the export of such jungle products as gutta percha and india rubber, in the collection of which the trees yielding them are entirely destroyed, and by practically suggesting to them the policy, or rather the impolicy, of imposing the heavy due of $1 per registered ton on all european shipping entering their ports, whether in cargo or in ballast, scarcely tended to stave off their collapse, and the borneans must have formed their own conclusions from the fact that when they gave up portions of their territory to the brookes and to the british north borneo company, the british government no longer called for the observance of these provisions of the treaty in the ceded districts. the english have got all they wanted from brunai, but i think it can scarcely be said that they have done very much for it in return. i remember that the late sultan thought it an inexplicable thing that we could not assist him to recover a debt due to him by one of the british coal companies which tried their luck in borneo. moreover, even the cession to their good and noble friend sir james brooke of the brunai province of sarawak has been itself also, to a certain extent, a factor in their government's decay, that state, under the rule of the rája--charles brooke--having attained its present prosperous condition at the expense of brunai and by gradually absorbing its territory. between british north borneo, on the one side, and sarawak, on the other, the sea-board of brunai, which, when we first appeared on the scene, extended from cape datu to marudu bay--some 700 miles--is now reduced to 125 or 130 miles, and, besides the river on which it is built, brunai retains but two others of any importance, both of which are in rebellion of a more or less vigorous character, and the whole state of brunai is so sick that its case is now under the consideration of her majesty's government. thus ends in collapse the history of the last independent malay government. excepting only johor (which is prosperous owing to its being under the wing of singapore, which fact gives confidence to european and chinese capitalists and chinese labourers, and to its good fortune in having a wise and just ruler in its sultan, who owes his elevation to british influences), all the malay governments throughout the malay archipelago and in the malay peninsula are now subject either to the english, the dutch, the spanish or the portuguese. this decadence is not due to any want of vitality in the race, for under european rule the malay increases his numbers, as witness the dense population of java and the rapidly growing malay population of the straits settlements. that the malay does so flourish in contact with the european and the chinese is no doubt to some extent due to his attachment to the mahomedan faith, which as a tee-total religion is, so far, the most suitable one for a tropical race; it has also to be remembered that he inhabits tropical countries, where the white man cannot perform out-door labour and appears only as a government official, a merchant or a planter. but the decay of the brunai aristocracy was probably inevitable. take the life of a young noble. he is the son of one of perhaps thirty women in his father's harem, his mother is entirely without education, can neither read nor write, is never allowed to appear in public or have any influence in public affairs, indeed scarcely ever leaves her house, and one of her principal excitements, perhaps, is the carrying on of an intrigue, an excitement enhanced by the fact that discovery means certain death to herself and her lover. brunai being a water town, the youngster has little or no chance of a run and game ashore, and any exercise he takes is confined to _being_ paddled up and down the river in a canoe, for to paddle himself would be deemed much too degrading--a brunai noble should never put his hand to any honest physical work--even for his own recreation. i once imported a rob roy canoe from england and amused myself by making long paddling excursions, and i would also sometimes, to relieve the monotony of a journey in a native boat, take a spell at the paddle with the men, and i was gravely warned by a native friend that by such action i was seriously compromising myself and lowering my position in the eyes of the higher class of natives. at an early age the young noble becomes an object of servile adulation to the numerous retainers and slaves, both male and female, and is by them initiated in vicious practices and, while still a boy, acquires from them some of the knowledge of a fast man of the world. as a rule he receives no sort of school education. he neither rides nor joins in the chase and, since the advent of europeans, there have been no wars to brace his nerves, or call out any of the higher qualities of mind or body which may be latent in him; nor is there any standing army or navy in which he might receive a beneficial training. no political career, in the sense we attach to the term, is open to him, and he has no feelings of patriotism whatever. that an aristocracy thus nurtured should degenerate can cause no surprise. the general term for the nobles amongst the brunais is _pangeran_, and their numbers may be guessed when it is understood that every son and daughter of every many-wived noble is also a pangeran. some of these unfortunate noblemen have nothing wherewith to support their position, and in very recent times i have actually seen a needy pangeran, in a british colony where he could not live by oppression or theft, driven to work in a coal mine or drive a buffalo cart. with the ordinary freeborn citizen of brunai life opens under better auspices. the children are left much to themselves and are merry, precocious, naked little imps, able to look out for themselves at a very much earlier age than is the case with european infants, and it is wonderful to see quite little babies clambering up the rickety stairs leading from the river to the house, or crawling unheeded on the tottering verandahs. almost before they can walk they can swim, and they have been known to share their mother's cigarettes while still in arms. all day long they amuse themselves in miniature canoes, rolling over and over in the water, regardless of crocodiles. happy children! they have no school and no clothes--one might, perhaps, exclaim happy parents, too! malays are very kind and indulgent to their children and i do not think i have seen or heard of a case of the application of the parental hand to any part of the infant person. as soon as he is strong enough, say eight or nine years of age, the young malay, according to the _kampong_, or division of the town, in which his lot has been cast, joins in his father's trade and becomes a fisherman, a trader, or a worker in brass or in iron as the case may be. the girls have an equally free and easy time while young, their only garments being a silver fig leaf, fastened to a chain or girdle round the waist. as they grow up they help their mothers in their household duties, or by selling their goods in the daily floating market; they marry young and are, as a rule, kindly treated by their husbands. although mahomedans, they can go about freely and unveiled, a privilege denied to their sisters of the higher classes. the greatest misfortune for such a girl is, perhaps, the possession of a pretty face and figure, which may result in her being honoured with the attentions of a noble, in whose harem she may be secluded for the rest of her life, and, as her charms wane her supply of both food and clothing is reduced to the lowest limit. by the treaty with great britain traffic in slaves is put down, that is, borneo is no longer the mart where, as in former days, the pirates can bring in their captives for sale; but the slaves already in the place have not been liberated, and a slave's children are slaves, so that domestic slavery, as it is termed, exists on a very considerable scale in brunai. slaves were acquired in the old days by purchase from pirates and, on any pretext, from the pagan tribes of borneo. for instance, if a feudal chief of an outlying river was in want of some cash, nothing was easier than for him to convict a man, who was the father of several children, of some imaginary offence, or neglect of duty, and his children, girls and boys, would be seized and carried off to brunai as slaves. a favourite method was that of "forced trade." the chief would send a large quantity of trade goods to a pagan village and leave them there to be sold at one hundred per cent, or more above their proper value, all legitimate trade being prohibited meanwhile, and if the money or barter goods were not forthcoming when demanded, the deficiency would be made up in slaves. this kind of oppression was very rife in the neighbourhood of the capital when i first became acquainted with borneo in 1871, but the power of the chiefs has been much curtailed of late, owing to the extensive cessions of territory to sarawak and the british north borneo company, and their hold on the rivers left to them has become very precarious, since the warlike kyans passed under rája brooke's sway. this tribe, once the most powerful in borneo, was always ready at the sultan's call to raid on any tribe who had incurred his displeasure and revelled in the easy acquisition of fresh heads, over which to hold the triumphal dance. the brunai malays are not a warlike race, and the rájas find that, without the kyans, they are as a tiger with its teeth drawn and its claws pared, and the pagan tribes have not been slow to make the discovery for themselves. those on the limbang river have been in open rebellion for the last three or four years and are crying out to be taken under the protection of the queen, or, failing that, then under the "kompani," as the british north borneo company's government like that of the east india company in days gone by, is styled, or under sarawak. the condition of the domestic slaves is not a particularly hard one unless, in the case of a girl, she is compelled to join the harem, when she becomes technically free, but really only changes one sort of servitude for another and more degrading one. with this exception, the slaves live on friendly terms with their masters' families, and the propinquity of a british colony--labuan--has tended to ameliorate their condition, as an ill-used slave can generally find means to escape thither and, so long as he remains there, he is a free man. the scientific description of a typical malay has already been given, and it answers well on almost all points for the brunai specimen, except that the nose, as well as being small, is, in european eyes, deficient as to "bridge," and the legs cannot be described as weak, indeed the brunai malay, male and female, is a somewhat fleshy animal. in temperament, the malay is described as "taciturn, undemonstrative, little given to outward manifestations of joy or sorrow, courteous towards each other, kind to their women and children. not elated by good or depressed by bad fortune, but capable of excesses when roused. under the influence of religious excitement, losses at gambling, jealousy or other domestic troubles they are liable to _amok_ or run-a-muck, an expression which appears to have passed into the english language." with strangers, the brunai malay is doubtless taciturn, but i have heard brunai ladies among themselves, while enjoying their betel-nut, rival any old english gossips over their cup of tea, and on an expedition the men will sometimes keep up a conversation long into the night till begged to desist. courtesy seems to be innate in every malay of whatever rank, both in their intercourse with one another and with strangers. the meeting at court of two brunai nobles who, perhaps, entertain feelings of the greatest hatred towards each other, is an interesting study, and the display of mutual courtesy unrivalled. i need scarcely say that horseplay and practical joking are unknown, contradiction is rarely resorted to and "chaff" is only known in its mildest form. the lowest malay will never pass in front of you if it can be avoided, nor hand anything to another across you. unless in case of necessity, a malay will not arouse his friend from slumber, and then only in the gentlest manner possible. it is bad manners to point at all, but, if it is absolutely necessary to do so, the forefinger is never employed, but the person or object is indicated, in a sort of shamefaced way, with the thumb. it is impolite to bare a weapon in public, and europeans often show their ignorance of native etiquette by asking a malay visitor to let them examine the blade of the _kris_ he is wearing. it is not considered polite to enquire after the welfare of the female members of a brunai gentleman's household. for a malay to uncover his head in your presence would be an impertinence, but a guttural noise in his throat after lunching with you is a polite way of expressing pleased satisfaction with the excellence of the repast. this latter piece of etiquette has probably been adopted from the chinese. the low social position assigned to women by brunai malays, as by nearly all mahomedan races, is of course a partial set-off to the general courtesy that characterises them. the average intelligence of what may be called the working class malay is almost as far superior to that, say, of the british country bumpkin as are his manners. mr. h. o. forbes says in his "naturalist in the eastern archipelago" that he was struck with the natives' acute observation in natural history and the accuracy with which they could give the names, habits and uses of animals and plants in the jungle, and the traveller cannot but admire the general handiness and adaptability to changed circumstances and customs and quickness of understanding of the malay coolies whom he engages to accompany him. cannot one imagine the stolid surprise and complete obfuscation of the english peasant if an intelligent malay traveller were to be suddenly set down in his district, making enquiries as to the, to him, novel forms of plants and animals and asking for minute information as to the manners and customs of the new people amongst whom he found himself, and, generally, seeking for information as the reasons for this and for that? their religion sits somewhat lightly on the brunai malays; the mahomedan mosque in the capital was always in a very dirty and neglected state, though prayers were said there daily, and i have never seen a borneo malay under the influence of religious excitement. gambling prevails, doubtless, and so does cock-righting, but neither is the absorbing passion which it seems, from travellers' accounts, to be with malays elsewhere. when visiting the spanish settlements in sulu and balabac, i was surprised to find regular officially licensed cock-fighting pits, with a special seat for the spanish governor, who was expected to be present on high days and holidays. i have never come across a regular cockpit in brunai, or in any part of northern borneo. the _amoks_ that i have been cognisant of have, consequently, not been due to either religious excitement, or to losses at gambling, but, in nearly every case, to jealousy and domestic trouble, and their occurrence almost entirely confined to the british colony of labuan where, of course, the mahomedan pains and penalties for female delinquencies could not be enforced. i remember one poor fellow whom i pitied very much. he had good reason to be jealous of his wife and, in our courts, could not get the redress he sought. he explained to me that a mist seemed to gather before his eyes and that he became utterly unconscious of what he was doing--his will was quite out of his control. some half dozen people--children, men and women--were killed, or desperately wounded before he was overpowered. he acknowledged his guilt, and suffered death at the hands of the hangman with quiet dignity. many tragical incidents in the otherwise uneventful history of labuan may be traced to the manner in which marriages are contracted amongst the borneo malays. marriages of mere love are almost unknown; they are generally a matter of bargain between the girls' parents and the expectant bridegroom, or his parents, and, practically, everything depends on the amount of the dowry or _brihan_--literally "gift"--which the swain can pay to the former. in their own country there exist certain safeguards which prevent any abuse of this system, but it was found that under the english law a clever parent could manage to dispose of his daughter's hand several times over, so that really the plot of mrs. campbell praed's somewhat unpleasant play "arianne" was anticipated in the little colony of labuan. i was once called upon, as coroner, to inquire into the deaths of a young man and his handsome young wife, who were discovered lying dead, side by side, on the floor of their house. the woman was found to be fearfully cut about; the man had but one wound, in his abdomen, penetrating the bowels. there was only one weapon by which the double murder could have been committed, a knife with a six inch blade, and circumstances seemed to point to the probability that the woman had first stabbed the man, who had then wrenched the knife from her grasp and hacked her to death. the man was not quite dead when found and he accused the dead woman of stabbing him. it was found, that they had not long been married and that, apparently with the girl's consent, her father had been negociating for her marriage with another. the father himself was subsequently the first man murdered in british north borneo after the assumption of the government by the company, and his murderer was the first victim of the law in the new colony. altogether a tragical story. many years ago another _amok_, which was near being tragical, had an almost comical termination. the then colonial treasurer was an entertaining irishman of rather mature age. walking down to his office one day he found in the road a malay hacking at his wife and another man. home rule not being then in fashion with the irish, the treasurer, armed only with his sun umbrella, attempted to interfere, when the _amoker_ turned furiously on him and the irish official, who was of spare build, took to his heels and made good his escape, the chase, though a serious matter to him, causing irrepressible mirth to onlookers. the man was never captured, and his victims, though disfigured, recovered. i remember being struck by the contemptuous reply of sir hugh low's chinese servant when he warned him to be on his guard, as there was an _amoker_ at large, and alluded to mr. c.'s narrow escape--it was to the effect that the treasurer was foolish to interfere in other people's concerns. this unwillingness to busy oneself in others' affairs, which sometimes has the appearance of callousness, is characteristic of malays and chinese. the readers of a book of travels are somewhat under a disadvantage in forming their opinion of a country, in that incidents are focussed for them by those of the same nature being grouped together. i do not wish it to be thought that murders and _amoks_ are at all common occurrences in northern borneo, indeed they are very few and far between, and criminal acts of all kinds are remarkably infrequent, that is, of course, if we regard head-hunting as an amusement sanctioned by usage, especially as, in the parts under native government, there is a total absence of any kind of police force, while every man carries arms, and houses with palm leaf walls and innocent of locks, bolts and bars, offer unusual temptations to the burglariously inclined. my wife and i nearly always slept without a watchman and with the doors and windows unclosed, the servants' offices being detached from the house, and we have never had any of our property stolen except by a "boy." brunai is governed by a sultan styled iang-di-pertuan, "he who rules," and four principal ministers of state, "wazirs"--the pangeran bandahara, the pangeran di gadong, the pangeran pamancha and the pangeran temenggong. these ministers are generally men of the royal blood, and fly distinctive flags at their residences, that of the bandahara being white, of the di gadong, green, and of the temenggong, red. the flags are remarkably simple and inexpensive, but quite distinctive, each consisting of a square bit of bunting or cloth of the requisite colour, with the exception of the temenggong's, which is cut in the shape of a burgee. the sultan's flag is a plain piece of yellow bunting, yellow being the brunei royal colour, and no man, except the sovereign, is permitted to exhibit that colour in any portion of his dress. it shows how little importance attaches to the female sex that a lady, even a slave, can sport yellow in her dress, or any colour she chooses. theoretically the duties of the bandahara are those of a home secretary; the di gadong is keeper of the seal and chancellor of the exchequer; the pamancha's functions i am rather uncertain about, as the post has remained unfilled for many years past, but they would seem to partake of those of a home secretary; and the temenggong is the war minister and military and naval commander-in-chief, and appears also to hear and decide criminal and civil cases in the city of brunai. these appointments are made by the sultan, and for life, but it will be understood that, in such a rough and ready system of government as that of brunai, the actual influence of each minister depends entirely on his own character and that of the sultan. sometimes one minister will practically usurp the functions of some, or, perhaps, all the others, leaving them only their titles and revenues, while often, on a vacancy occurring, the sultan does not make a fresh appointment, but himself appropriates the revenue of the office leaving the duties to take care of themselves. to look after trade and commerce there is, in theory, an inferior minister, the pangeran shabander. there is another class of ministers--_mantri_--who are selected by the sultan from among the people, and are chosen for their intelligence and for the influence and following they have amongst the citizens. they possess very considerable political power, their opinions being asked on important matters. such are the two juwatans and the orang kaya di gadong, who may be looked upon as the principal officers of the sultan and the wazirs. the state officials are paid by the revenues of certain districts which are assigned, as will be seen below, to the different offices. the mahomedan malays, it has already been explained, were an invading and conquering race in borneo, and their chiefs would seem to have divided the country, or, rather, the inhabitants, amongst themselves, in much the same way as england was parcelled out among the followers of william the conqueror. the people of all the rivers[5] and of the interior, up to the limits where the brunai malays can enforce their authority, own as their feudal lord and pay taxes to either the sultan, in his unofficial capacity, or to one of the nobles, or else they are attached to the office of sultan or one of the great ministers of state, and, again theoretically speaking, all the districts in the sultanate are known, from the fact of the people on them belonging to a noble, or to the reigning sultan for the time being, or to one of the ministers of state, as either:- 1. ka-rájahan--belonging to the sultan or rája. or 2. kouripan--belonging to certain public officials during their term of office. or 3. pusaka or tulin--belonging to the sultan or any of the nobles in their unofficial capacity. the crown and the feudal chiefs did not assert any claim to the land; there are, for instance, no "crown lands," and, in the case of land not owned or occupied, any native could settle upon and cultivate it without payment of any rent or land tax, either to the sultan or to the feudal chief of the district; consequently, land was comparatively little regarded, and what the feudal chief claimed was the people and not the land, so much so that, as pointed out by mr. p. leys in a consular report, in the case of the people removing from one river to another, they did not become the followers of the chief who owned the population amongst whom they settled, but remained subject to their former lord, who had the right of following them and collecting from them his taxes as before. it is only of quite recent years, imitating the example of the english in labuan, where all the land was assumed to be the property of the sovereign and leased to individuals for a term of years, that the nobles have, in some instances, put forward a claim to ownership of the land on which their followers chose to settle, and have endeavoured to pose as semi-independent princes. these feudal chiefs tax, or used to tax, their followers in proportion to their inability to resist their lords' demands. a poll tax, usually at the rate of $2 for married men and $1 for bachelors, is a form of taxation to which, in the absence of any land tax, no objection is made, but the chiefs had also the power of levying special taxes at their own sweet will, when they found their expenditure in excess of their income, and advantage was taken of any delay in payment of taxes, or of any breach of the peace, or act of theft occurring in a district, to impose excessive fines on the delinquents, all of which if paid went to the chief; and if the fine could not be paid, the defaulter's children might be seized and eventually sold into slavery. the system of "forced trade" i have alluded to when speaking on the subject of domestic slavery. the chiefs were all absentees and, while drawing everything they could out of their districts, did nothing for their wretched followers. the taxes were collected by their messengers and slaves, unscrupulous men who were paid by what they could get out of the people in excess of what they were bidden to demand, and who, while engaged in levying the contributions, lived at free quarters on the people, who naturally did their best to expedite their departure. petty cases of dispute were settled by headmen appointed by the chief and termed _orang kaya_, literally "rich men." these _orang kayas_ were often selected from their possessing some little property and being at the same time subservient to the chief. in many cases, it seemed to me, that they were chosen for their superior stupidity and pliability. i have made use of the past tense throughout my description of these feudal chiefs as, happily, for reasons already given, the "good old times" are rapidly passing away. the laws of brunai are, in theory, those inculcated by the korán and there are one or two officials who have some slight knowledge of mahomedan law. owing to the cheap facilities offered by the numerous steamers at singapore, there are many hajis--that is, persons who have made the pilgrimage to mecca--amongst the brunais and the kadaaans, amongst the latter more especially, but of course a visit to mecca does not necessarily imply that the pilgrim has obtained any actual knowledge of the holy book, which some of them can decipher, the malays having adopted the arabic alphabet, but without, however, understanding the meaning of the arabic words of which it consists. a friend of mine, son of the principal exponent of mahomedan law in the capital, and who became naturalised as a british subject, had studied law in constantinople. there is no gaol in brunai, and fines are found to be a more profitable mode of punishment than incarceration, the judge generally pocketing the fine, and when it does become necessary to keep an offender in detention, it is done by placing his feet in the stocks, which are set up on the public staging or landing before the reception room of the sultan, or of one of his chief ministers, and the wretched man may be kept there for months. the punishment for theft, sanctioned by the korán, is by cutting oft the right hand, but this barbarous, though effective, penalty has been discountenanced by the english. on one occasion, however, when acting as h. b. m. consul-general, i received my information too late to interfere. i had been on a visit to the late sultan in a british gunboat, and anchored off the palace. during the evening, just before dinner, notwithstanding the watch kept on deck, some natives came alongside and managed to hook out through the ports my gold watch and chain from off the captain's table, and the first lieutenant's revolver from his cabin. during our interview next morning with the sultan, i twitted him on the skill and daring of brunai thieves, who could perpetrate a theft from a friendly war-ship before the windows of the royal palace. the sultan said nothing, but was evidently much annoyed, and a few weeks afterwards the revolver and the remains of my watch and chain were sent to me at labuan, with a letter saying that three thieves had been punished by having had their hands chopped off. i subsequently heard that two of the unfortunate men had died from the effects of this cruel punishment. on another occasion, some brunai thieves skilfully dismounted and carried off two brass signal guns from the poop of a merchant steamer at anchor in the river, eluding the vigilance of the quarter-master, while the skipper and some of the officers were asleep on the skylight close by. the guns were subsequently recovered. execution is either by means of the bow string or the _kris_. i had once the unpleasant duty of having to witness the execution by the bow string of a man named maidin, as it was feared that, being the son of a favourite officer of the sultan, the execution might be a sham one. this man, with others, had raided a small settlement of chinese traders from labuan on the borneo coast, killing several of the shop-keepers and looting the settlement. so weak was the central government, and so little importance did they attach to the murder of a few chinese, that, notwithstanding the efforts of the british consul, maidin remained at liberty for nearly two years after the commission of the crime. the execution took place at night. the murderer was bound, with his hands behind his back, in a large canoe, and a noose of rope was placed round his neck. two men stood behind him; a short stick was inserted in the noose and twisted round and round by the two executioners, thereby causing the rope to compress the windpipe. maidin's struggles were soon over. in the case of common people the _kris_ is used, the executioner standing behind the criminal and pressing the _kris_ downwards, through the shoulder, into the heart. this mode of execution has been retained by the european rulers of sarawak. in british north borneo the english mode by hanging has been adopted. formerly, when ancient customs were more strictly observed, any person using insulting expressions in talking of members of the royal family was punished by having his tongue slit, and i was once shewn by the temenggong, in whose official keeping it was, the somewhat cumbrous pair of scissors wherewith this punishment was inflicted, but i have never heard of its having been used during the last twenty years, although opportunities could not have been wanting. i was once horrified by being informed by an observant british naval officer, who had been to brunai on duty, that he had been disgusted by noticing, notwithstanding our long connection with brunai and supposed influence with the sultan, so barbarous a mode of execution as that of keeping the criminal exposed, without food, day and night, on a stage on high posts in the river. i had never heard of this process, and soon discovered that my friend had mistaken men fishing, for criminals undergoing execution. two men perch themselves up on posts, some distance apart, and let down by ropes a net into the river. waiting patiently--and brunais can sit still contentedly doing nothing for hours--they remain motionless until a shoal of fish passes over the net, when it is partially raised and the fish taken out by a third man, and the operation repeated. i do not think my naval friend ever published his brunai reminiscences. i have already said there is no police force in brunai; an official makes use of his own slaves to carry out his orders, where an european would call in the police. neither is there any army and navy, but the theory is that the sultan and ministers can call on the brunai people to follow them to war, but as they give neither pay nor sufficient food their call is not numerously responded to. every brunai man has his own arms, spear, kris and buckler, supplemented by an old english "tower" musket, or rifle, or by one of chinese manufacture with an imitation of the tower mark. the _parang_, or chopper, or cutlass, is always carried by a malay, being used for all kinds of work, agricultural and other, and is also a useful weapon of offence or defence. brunai is celebrated for its brass cannon foundries and still produces handsome pieces of considerable size. pigafetta describes cannon as being frequently discharged at brunai during his visit there in 1521. brass guns were formerly part of the currency in brunai and, even now, you often hear the price of an article given as so many pikuls (a pikul = 133-1/3 lbs), or catties (a catty = 1-1/3 lbs) of brass gun. the brass for the guns is chiefly furnished by the chinese cash, which is current in the town. in former days, in addition to brass guns, pieces of grey shirting (_belachu_) and of nankin (_kain asap_) and small bits of iron were legal tender, and i have seen a specimen of a brunei copper coinage one sultan tried to introduce, but it was found to be so easily imitated by his subjects that it was withdrawn from circulation. at the present day silver dollars, straits settlements small silver pieces, and the copper coinage of singapore, sarawak and british north borneo all pass current, the copper, however, unfortunately predominating. recently the sultan obtained $10,000 of a copper coin of his own from birmingham, but the traders and the governments of singapore and labuan appear to have discountenanced its use, and he probably will not try a second shipment. the profit on the circulation of copper coinage, which is only a token, is of course considerable, and the british north borneo company obtained a substantial addition to its revenue from the large amount of its coin circulated in brunai. when the sultan first mooted the idea of obtaining his own coin from england, one of the company's officers expostulated feelingly with him, and i was told by an onlooker that the contrast of the expressions of the countenances of the immobile malay and of the mobile european was most amusing. all that the sultan replied to the objections of the officer was "it does not signify, sir, my coin can circulate in your country and yours can circulate in mine," knowing well all the time the profit the company was making. the inhabitants of the city of brunai are very lightly taxed, and there is no direct taxation. as above explained, there is no land tax, nor ground rent, and every man builds his own house and is his own landlord. the right of retailing the following articles is "farmed" out to the highest bidder by the government, and their price consequently enhanced to the consumer:--opium (but only a few of the nobles use the drug), foreign tobacco, curry stuff, wines and spirits (not used by the natives), salt, gambier (used for chewing with the betel or _areca_ nut), tea (little used by the natives) and earth-nut and coco-nut oil. there are no municipal rates and taxes, the tidal river acting as a self cleansing street and sewer at the same time; neither are there any demands from a poor law board. on the other hand, there being no army, navy, police, nor public buildings to keep up, the expenses of government are wonderfully light also. other government receipts, in addition to the above, are rent of chinese house-boats or rather shop-boats, pawnbroking and gambling licenses, a "farm" of the export of hides, royalties on sago and gutta percha, tonnage dues on european vessels visiting the port, and others. the salaries and expenses of the government departments are defrayed from the revenues of the rivers, or districts attached to them. considerable annual payments are now made by sarawak and british north borneo for the territorial cessions obtained by them. the annual contribution by sarawak is about $16,000, and by the british north borneo $11,800. these sums are apportioned amongst the sultan and nobles who had interests in the ceded districts. i may say here that the payment by british north borneo to the sultan of the state, under the arrangement made by mr. dent already referred to, is one of $5,000 per annum. an annual payment is also made by mr. w. c. cowie for the sole right[6] of working coal in the sultanate, which he holds for a period of several years. coal occurs throughout the island of borneo, and its existence has long been known. it is worked on a small scale in sarawak and in some portions of dutch borneo, and the unsuccessful attempts to develope the coal resources of the colony of labuan will be referred to later on. in the brunai sultanate, with which we are at present concerned, coal occurs abundantly in the brunai river and elsewhere, but it is only at present worked by mr. cowie and his partners at muara, at the mouth of the brunai river--muara, indeed, signifying in malay a river's mouth. the revd. j. e. tennison-wood, well known in australia as an authority on geological questions, thus describes the muara coalfields:--"about twenty miles to the south-west of labuan is the mouth of the brunai river. here the rocks are of quite a different character, and much older. there are sandstones, shales, and grits, with ferruginous joints. the beds are inclined at angles of 25 to 45 degrees. they are often altered into a kind of chert. at muara there is an outcrop of coal seams twenty, twenty-five and twenty-six feet thick. the coal is of excellent quality, quite bitumenised, and not brittle. the beds are being worked by private enterprise. i saw no fossils, but the beds and the coal reminded me much of the older australian coals along the hunter river. the mines are of great value. they are rented for a few thousand dollars by two enterprising scotchmen, from the sultan of brunai. the same sovereign would part with the place altogether for little or nothing. why not have our coaling station there? or what if germany, france or russia should purchase the same from the independent sultan of brunai?" as if to give point to the concluding remarks, a russian man-of-war visited muara and brunai early in 1887, and shewed considerable interest in the coal mines.[7] footnotes: [footnote 4: he has since been "protected"--see ante page 6, note.] [footnote 5: owing to the absence of roads and the consequent importance of rivers as means of getting about, nearly all districts in borneo are named after their principal river.] [footnote 6: this right was transferred by mr. cowie to rája brooke in 1833.] [footnote 7: the british protectorate has obviated the danger.] chapter iii. the fairest way, perhaps, of giving my readers an idea of what brunai was and what it is, will be by quoting first from the description of the italian pigafetta, who was there in 1521, and then from that of my friend the late mr. stair elphinstone dalrymple, who visited the city with me in 1884. pigafetta's description i extract from crawford's _descriptive dictionary of the indian islands_. "when," says he, "we reached the city, we had to wait two hours in the _prahu_ (boat or barge) until there had arrived two elephants, caparisoned in silk-cloth, and twelve men, each furnished with a porcelain vase, covered with silk, to receive and to cover our presents. we mounted the elephants, the twelve men going before, carrying the presents. we thus proceeded to the house of the governor, who gave us a supper of many dishes. next day we were left at our leisure until twelve o'clock, when we proceeded to the king's palace. we were mounted, as before, on elephants, the men bearing the gifts going before us. from the governor's house to the palace the streets were full of people armed with swords, lances and targets; the king had so ordered it. still mounted on the elephants we entered the court of the palace. we then dismounted, ascended a stair, accompanied by the governor and some chiefs and entered a great hall full of courtiers. here we were seated on carpets, the presents being placed near to us. at the end of the great hall, but raised above it, there was one of less extent hung with silken cloth, in which were two curtains, on raising which, there appeared two windows, which lighted the hall. here, as a guard to the king, there were three hundred men with naked rapiers in hand resting on their thighs. at the farther end of this smaller hall, there was a great window with a brocade curtain before it, on raising which, we saw the king seated at a table masticating betel, and a little boy, his son, beside him. behind him women only were to be seen. a chieftain then informed us, that we must not address the king directly, but that if we had anything to say, we must say it to him, and he would communicate it to a courtier of higher rank than himself within the lesser hall. this person, in his turn, would explain our wishes to the governor's brother, and he, speaking through a tube in an aperture of the wall would communicate our sentiments to a courtier near the king, who would make them known to his majesty. meanwhile, we were instructed to make three obeisances to the king with the joined hands over the head, and raising, first one foot and then the other, and then kissing the hands. this is the royal salutation. * * * all the persons present in the palace had their loins covered with gold embroidered cloth and silk, wore poiniards with golden hilts, ornamented with pearls and precious stones, and had many rings on their fingers. * * * * * * we remounted the elephants and returned to the house of the governor. * * * after this there came to the house of the governor ten men, with as many large wooden trays, in each of which were ten or twelve porcelain saucers with the flesh of various animals, that is, of calves, capons, pullets, pea-fowls and others, and various kinds of fish, so that of meat alone there were thirty or two-and-thirty dishes. we supped on the ground on mats of palm-leaf. at each mouthful we drank a porcelain cupful, the size of an egg, of a distilled liquor made from rice. we ate also rice and sweetmeats, using spoons of gold, shaped like our own. in the place where we passed the two nights, there were always burning two torches of white wax, placed on tall chandeliers of silver, and two oil lamps of four wicks each, while two men watched to look after them. next morning we came on the same elephants to the sea side, where forthwith there were ready for us two _prahus_, in which we were reconducted to the ships." of the town itself he says:- "the city is entirely built in the saltwater, the king's house and those of some chieftains excepted. it contains 25,000 _fires_, or families. the houses are all of wood and stand on strong piles to keep them high from the ground. when the flood tide makes, the women, in boats, go through the city selling necessaries. in front of the king's palace there is a rampart constructed of large bricks, with barbacans in the manner of a fortress, on which are mounted fifty-six brass and six iron cannon." with the exception of the statement concerning the number of families, mr. crawford considers pigafetta's account contains abundant internal evidence of intelligence and truthfulness. i may be allowed to point out that, seeing only the king's house and those of some of the nobles were on _terra firma_, there could have been little use for elephants in the city and probably the two elephants pigafetta mentions were the only ones there, kept for state purposes. it is a curious fact that though in its fauna borneo much resembles sumatra, yet, while elephants abound in the latter island, none are to be found in borneo, except in a restricted area on the north-east coast, in the territories of the north borneo company. it would appear, too, that the tenets of the mahomedan religion were not strictly observed in those days. now, no brunai noble would think of offering you spirits, nor would ladies on any account be permitted to appear in public, especially if europeans were among the audience. the consumption of spirits seems to have been on a very liberal scale, and it is not surprising to find pigafetta remarking further on that some of the spaniards became intoxicated. spoons, whether of gold or other material, have long since been discarded by all respectable brunais, only pagans make use of such things, the mahomedans employ the fingers which allah has given them. the description of the women holding their market in boats stands good of to-day, but the wooden houses, instead of being on "strong piles," now stand on ricketty, round _nibong_ palm posts. the description of the obeisance to the king is scarcely exaggerated, except that it is now performed squatting cross-legged--_sila_--the respectful attitude indoors, from the sanskrit çîl, to meditate, to worship (for an inferior never stands in the presence of his superior), and has been dispensed with in the case of europeans, who shake hands. though the nobles have now comparatively little power, they address each other and are addressed by the commonalty in the most respectful tone, words derived from the sanskrit being often employed in addressing superiors, or equals if both are of high rank, such as _baginda_, _duli paduka_, _ianda_, and in addressing a superior the speaker only alludes to himself as a slave, _amba_, _sahaya_. i have already referred to the prohibition of the use of yellow by others than the royal family, and may add that it is a grave offence for a person of ordinary rank to pass the palace steps with his umbrella up, and it is forbidden to him to sit in the after part of his boat or canoe, that place being reserved for nobles. at an audience with the sultan, or with one of the wazirs, considerable ceremony is still observed. whatever the time of the day, a thick bees' wax candle, about three feet long is lighted and placed on the floor alongside the european visitor, if he is a person of any rank, and it is etiquette for him to carry the candle away with him at the conclusion of his visit, especially if at night. it was a severe test of the courteous decorum of the malay nobles when on one occasion, a young officer, who accompanied me, not only spilt his cup of coffee over his bright new uniform, but, when impressively bidding adieu to h. h. the sultan, stood for sometime unconsciously astride over my lighted candle. not a muscle of the faces of the nobles moved, but the europeans were scarcely so successful in maintaining their gravity. mr. dalrymple's description of brunai, furnished to the _field_ in august, 1884, is as follows:- "on a broad river, sweeping round in an imposing curve from the south-eastward, with abrupt ranges of sandstone hills, for the most part cleared of forest, hemming it in on either side, and a glimpse of lofty blue mountains towering skywards far away to the north-east, is a long straggling collection of _atap_ (thatch made of leaves of _nibong_ palm) and _kajang_ (mats of ditto) houses, or rather huts, built on piles over the water, and forming a gigantic crescent on either bank of the broad, curving stream. this is the city of brunai, the capital of the yang di pertuan, the sultan of brunai, _ætat_ one hundred or more, and now in his dotage: the abode of some 15,000 malays, whose language is as different from the singapore malay as cornish is from cockney english, and the coign of vantage from which a set of effete and corrupt _pangerans_ extended oppressive rule over the coasts of north-west borneo, from sampanmangiu point to the sarawak river in days gone by, ere british enterprise stepped in, swept the sulu and illanun pirates from the sea, and opened the rivers to commercial enterprise. "standing on the summit of one of the above-mentioned hills, a fine bird's eye view is obtained of the city below. the ramshackle houses are all built in irregular blocks or clusters, but present on either side a regular frontage to the broad river, and following its sweeping curve, form two imposing crescent, divided by a fine water-way. behind these main crescents are various other blocks and clusters of buildings, built higgledy piggledy and without plan of any sort. on the true left bank are some chinese shops built of brick, and on the opposite bank a brick house of superior pretensions and a waving banner proclaiming the abode of the chinese consular agent of the british north borneo company. * * * "a heterogeneous collection of buildings on the right side of the upper part of the city forms the _palace_ (save the mark!) of the sultan himself. a little further down a large, straggling, but substantial plank building, with a corrugated iron roof, marks the abode of the pangeran temenggong, a son of the former sultan and the heir apparent to the throne of brunai. two steam launches are lying opposite at anchor, one the property of the sultan, the other belonging to the heir apparent. * * * "the public reception room of the sultan's palace is a long apartment with wooden pillars running along either side, and supporting a raised roof. beyond these on either side, are lateral compartments. at the far end, in the centre of a kind of alcove, is the sultan's throne. the floors are covered with matting. * * * "although the glories of brunai have departed, and it is only the shadow of what it was when pigafetta visited it, a certain amount of state is still kept up on occasions. a boat comes sweeping down the river crowded with malays, a white flag waving from its stern, seven paddles flashing on either side, and an array of white umbrellas midships. _it is_ the pangeran di gadong coming in state to pay a ceremonial visit. as it sweeps alongside, the pangeran is seen sitting on a gorgeous carpet, surrounded by his officials. one holds an umbrella over his head, while another holds aloft the _tongkat kraidan_, a long guilded staff, surmounted by a plume of yellow horse hair, which hangs down round it. the most striking point in the attire of the pangeran and his officers is the beauty of the _krises_ with which they are armed, the handles being of carved ivory ornamented with gold, and the sheaths of beautifully polished wood, resembling satin wood. cigars and coffee are produced, and a _bichara_ ensues. a quakers' meeting is no bad metaphor to describe a malay _bichara_. the pangerans sit round in a circle smoking solemnly for some time, until a question is put to them, to which a brief reply is given, followed by another prolonged pause. "in this way the business on which they have come is gradually approached. "their manners are as polished as their faces are immobile, and the way to a malay's heart lies through his pocket. "to the outsider, brunai is a city of hideous old women, for such alone are met with in the thronged market place where some hundreds of market boats jostle each other, while their inmates shriek and haggle over their bargains, or during a water promenade while threading the labyrinths of this oriental venice; but if acquainted with its intricacies, or if paying a ceremonial visit to any of the leading pangerans, many a glimpse may be had of some fair skinned beauty peeping through some handy crevice in the _kajang_ wall, or, in the latter case, a crowd of light-skinned, dark-eyed houris may be seen looking with all their might out of a window in the harem behind, from which they are privileged to peep into the hall of audience. "the present population of brunai cannot exceed 12,000 to 15,000 souls, a great number having succumbed to the terrible epidemic of cholera a year ago. the exports consist of sago, gutta percha, camphor, india-rubber, edible birds' nests, gum dammar, etc., and what money there is in the city is almost entirely in the hands of the chinese traders. * * * "in the old days, when it enjoyed a numerous chinese population, the surrounding hills were covered with pepper plantations, and there was a large junk trade with china. at present brunai lives on her exports of jungle produce and sago, furnished by a noble river--the limbang, whose valley lies but a short distance to the eastward. one great advantage the city enjoys is a copious supply of pure water, drawn from springs at the base of the hills below the town on the left bank of the river. * * * "such is a slight sketch of brunai of the brunais. if the pangerans are corrupt, the lower classes are not, but are law abiding, though not industrious. and the day may yet come when their city may lift her head up again, and be to north borneo what singapore is to the straits of malacca." this description gives a capital idea of modern brunai, and i would only observe that, from the colour of his flag and umbrellas the nobleman who paid the state visit must have been the bandahara and not the di gadong. the aged sultan to whom mr. dalrymple refers was the late sultan mumim, who, though not in the direct line, was raised to the throne, on the death of the sultan omar ali saifudin, to whom he had been prime minister, by the influence of the english, towards whom he had always acted as a loyal friend. he was popularly supposed to be over a hundred years old when he died and, though said to have had some fifty wives and concubines, he was childless. he died on the 29th may, 1885, having previously, on the advice of sir c. c. lees, then british consul-general, declared his temenggong, the son of omar ali saifudin to be his successor. the temenggong accended the throne, without any opposition, with the title of sultan, but found a kingdom distracted by rebellion in the provinces and reduced to less than a fourth of its size when the treaty was made with great britain in 1847. i have said that there is no ground rent in borneo, and that every one builds his own house and is his own landlord, but i should add that he builds his house in the _kampong_, or parish, to which, according to his occupation, he belongs and into which the city is divided. for instance, on entering the city, the first _kampong_ on the left is an important one in a town where fish is the principal article of animal food. it is the _kampong_ of the men who catch fish by means of bambu fishing stakes, or traps, described hereafter, and supply the largest quantity of that article to the market; it is known as the _kampong pablat_. next to it is the _kampong perambat_, from the casting net which its inhabitants use in fishing. another parish is called _membakut_ and its houses are built on firm ground, being principally the shops of chinese and klings. the last _kampong_ on this side is that of _burong pingé_, formerly a very important one, where dwelt the principal and richest malay traders. it is now much reduced in size, european steamers and chinese enterprise having altered entirely the character of the trade from the time when the old brunai _nakodahs_ (master or owner of a trading boat) would cruise leisurely up and down the coast, waiting for months at a time in a river while trade was being brought in. the workers in brass, the jewellers, the makers of gold brocade, of mats, of brass guns, the oil manufacturers, and the rice cleaners, all have their own _kampongs_ and are jealous of the honour of each member of their corporation. the sultan and nearly all the chief nobles have their houses on the true left bank of the river, _i.e._, on the right bank ascending. the fishing interest is an important one, and various methods are employed to capture the supply for the market. the _kélong_ is a weir composed of nets made of split bambu, fastened in an upright position, side by side, to posts fixed into the bed of the stream, or into the sand in the shallow water of a harbour. there are two long rows of these posts with attached nets, one much longer than the other which gradually converge in the deeper water, where a simple trap is constructed with a narrow entrance. the fish passing up or down stream, meeting with the obstruction, follow up the walls of the _kélong_ and eventually enter the trap, whence they are removed at low water. these _kélong_, or fishing stakes as they are termed, are a well known sight to all travellers entering malay ports and rivers. all sorts of fish are caught in this way, and alligators of some size are occasionally secured in them. the _rambat_ is a circular casting net, loaded with leaden or iron weights at the circumference, and with a spread sometimes of thirty feet. great skill, acquired by long practice, is shewn by the fisherman in throwing this net over a shoal of fish which he has sighted, in such a manner that all the outer edge touches the water simultaneously; the weights then cause the edges of the circumference to sink and gradually close together, encompassing the fish, and the net is drawn up by a rope attached to its centre, the other end of which the fisherman had retained in his hand. the skill of the thrower is further enhanced by the fact that he, as a rule, balances himself in the bow of a small "dug-out," or canoe, in which a european could scarcely keep his footing at all. the _rambat_ can also be thrown from the bank, or the beach, and is used in fresh and salt water. only small fish and prawns are caught in this way. prawns are also caught in small _kélong_ with very fine split bambu nets, but a method is also employed in the brunai river which i have not heard of elsewhere. a specially prepared canoe is made use of, the gunwale on one side being cut away and its place taken up by a flat ledge, projecting over the water. the fisherman sits paddling in the stern, keeping the ledged side towards the bank and leaning over so as to cause the said ledge to be almost level with the water. from the same side there projects a long bambu, with wooden teeth on its under side, like a comb, fastened to the stern, but projecting outwards, forwards and slightly upwards, the teeth increasing in length towards its far end, and as they sweep the surface of the water the startled prawns, shut in by the bank on one side, in their efforts to avoid the teeth of the comb, jump into the canoe in large quantities. i have described the method of using the dip net, or _serambau_, on page 30. many kinds of nets are in use, one--the _pukat_--being similar to our seine or drag net. the hook and line are also used, especially for deep sea fishing, and fish of large size are thus caught. a favourite occasional amusement is _tuba_ fishing. the _tuba_ is a plant the juice of which has strong narcotic properties. bundles of the roots are collected and put into the bottom of the canoes, and when the fishing ground is reached, generally a bend in a river, or the mouth of a stream which is barred at low tide, water is poured over the _tuba_ and the juice expressed by beating it with short sticks. the fluid, thus charged with the narcotic poison, is then baled out of the canoes into the stream and the surface is quickly covered by all sorts of fish in all stages of intoxication, the smaller ones even succumbing altogether to the poison. the large fish are secured by spearing, amid much excitement, the eager sportsmen often overbalancing themselves and falling headlong into the water to the great amusement of the more lucky ones. i remember reading an account of a dignified representative of her majesty once joining in the sport and displaying a pair of heels in this way to his admiring subjects. the _tuba_ does not affect the flesh of the fish, which is brought to the table without any special preparation. the principal export from brunai is sago flour. the sago palm is known to the natives under the name of _rumbiah_, the pith, after its first preliminary washing, is called _lamantah_ (_i.e._, raw), and after its preparation for export by the chinese, _sagu_. the botanical name is _metroxylon_, _m. lævis_ being that of the variety the trunk of which is unprotected, and _m. rumphii_ that of the kind which is armed with long and strong spikes, serving to ward off the attacks of the wild pigs from the young palm. this palm is indigenous in the malayan archipelago and grows to the height of twenty to forty feet, in swampy land along the banks of rivers not far from the sea, but out of the reach of tidal influences. a plantation once started goes "on for ever," with scarcely any care or attention from the proprietor, as the palm propagates itself by numerous off-shots, which take the place of the parent tree when it is cut down for the purpose of being converted into food, or when it dies, which, unlike most other palms, it does after it has once flowered and seeded, _i.e._, after it has attained the age of ten or fifteen years. it can also be propagated from the seed, but these are often unproductive. if required for food purposes, the sago palm must be cut down at its base before it begins to flower, as afterwards the pith or _farina_ becomes dried up and useless. the trunk is then stripped of its leaves and, if it is intended to work it up at its owner's house, it is cut into convenient lengths and floated down the river; if the pith is to be extracted on the spot the trunk is split in two, longitudinally, and is found to contain a mass of starchy pith, kept together by filaments of woody fibre, and when this is worked out by means of bambu hatchets nothing but a thin rind, the outer bark, is left. to separate the starch from the woody fibre, the pith is placed on a mat in a frame work over a trough by the river side; the sago washer then mounts up and, pouring fresh water over the pith, commences vigorously dancing about on it with his bare feet, the result being that the starch becomes dissolved in the water and runs off with it into the trough below, while the woody fibre remains on the mat and is thrown away, or, if the washer is not a mahomedan, used for fattening pigs. the starch thus obtained is not yet quite pure, and under the name of _lamantah_ is sold to chinese and undergoes a further process of washing, this time by hand, in large, solid, wooden troughs and tubs. when sufficiently purified, it is sun-dried and, as a fine white flour, is packed in gunny bags for the singapore market. at singapore, some of this flour--a very small proportion--is converted into the pearl sago of the shops, but the greater portion is sent on direct to europe, where it is used for sizing cloth, in the manufacture of beer, for confectionery, &c. it will be seen that the sago palm thus affords food and also employment to a considerable number of both natives and chinese and, requiring little or no trouble in cultivation, it is a perfect gift of the gods to the natives in the districts where it occurs. it is a curious fact that, though abounding in sarawak, in the districts near brunai and in the southern parts of british north borneo on the west coast, it seems to stop short suddenly at the putatan river, near gaya bay, and is not found indigenous in the north nor on the north-east. some time ago i sent a quantity of young shoots to a chief living on the labuk river, near sandakan, on the east coast, but have not yet heard whether they have proved a success. a nasty sour smell is inseparable from a sago factory, but the health of the coolies, who live in the factory, does not appear to be affected by it. the brunais and natives of sago districts consume a considerable quantity of sago flour, which is boiled into a thick, tasteless paste, called _boyat_ and eaten by being twisted into a large ball round a stick and inserted into the mouth--an ungraceful operation. tamarind, or some very acid sauce is used to impart to it some flavour. sago is of course cheaper than rice, but the latter is, as a rule, much preferred by the native, and is found more nutritious and _lasting_. logan, in the _journal of the indian archipelago_, calculates that three sago palms yield more nutritive matter than an acre of wheat, and six trees more than an acre of potatoes. the plantain and banana also flourish, under cultivation, in borneo, and mr. burbidge, in his preface to the _gardens of the sun_, points out that it fruits all the year round and that its produce is to that of wheat as 133 : 1, and to that of the potato as 44 : 1. what a paradise! some of my readers will exclaim. there can be no want here! i am sure the figures and calculations above quoted are absolutely correct, but i have certainly seen want and poverty in borneo, and these tropical countries are not quite the earthly paradises which some old writers would have us believe. for our poor british "unemployed," at any rate, i fear borneo can never be a refuge, as the sun would there be more fatal than the deadly cold here, and the race could not be kept up without visits to colder climates. but if sago and bananas are so plentiful and so nourishing, as we are taught by the experts, it does seem somewhat remarkable, in this age of invention, that some means cannot be devised of bringing together the prolific food stores of the east and the starving thousands of the west. both before, during and after the day's work, the malays, man and woman, boy and girl, solace and refresh themselves with tobacco and with the areca-nut, or the _betel_ nut as, for some unexplained reason, it is called in english books, though _betel_ is the name of the pepper leaf in which the areca-nut is wrapped and with which it is masticated. a good deal of the tobacco now used in brunai is imported from java or palembang (sumatra), but a considerable portion is grown in the hilly districts on the west coast of north borneo, in the vicinity of gaya bay, by the muruts. it is unfermented and sun-dried, but has not at all a bad flavour and is sometimes used by european pipe smokers. the brunai malays and the natives generally, as a rule, smoke the tobacco in the form of cigarettes, the place of paper being taken by the fine inner leaf of the _nipa_ palm, properly prepared by drying. the court cigarettes are monstrous things, fully eight inches long sometimes, and deftly fashioned by the fingers of the ladies of the harem. some of the inland natives, who are unable to procure _nipa_ leaf (_dahun kirei_), use roughly made wooden pipes, and the leaf of the maize plant is also occasionally substituted for the _nipa_. it is a common practice with persons of both sexes to insert a "quid" of tobacco in their cheek, or between the upper lip and the gum. this latter practice does not add to the appearance of a race not overburdened with facial charms. the tobacco is allowed to remain in position for a long time, but it is not chewed. the custom of areca-nut chewing has been so often described that i will only remind the reader that the nut is the produce of a graceful and slender palm, which flourishes under cultivation in all malayan countries and is called by malays _pinang_. it is of about the size of a nutmeg and, for chewing, is cut into pieces of convenient size and made into a neat little packet with the green leaf of the aromatic betel pepper plant, and with the addition of a little gambier (the inspissated juice of the leaves of the _uncaria gambir_) and of fine lime, prepared by burning sea shells. thus prepared, the bolus has an undoubtedly stimulating effect on the nerves and promotes the flow of saliva. i have known fresh vigour put into an almost utterly exhausted boat's crew by their partaking of this stimulant. it tinges the saliva and the lips bright red, but, contrary to a very commonly received opinion, has no effect of making the teeth black. this blackening of the teeth is produced by rubbing in burnt coco-nut shell, pounded up with oil, the dental enamel being sometimes first filed off. toothache and decayed teeth are almost unknown amongst the natives, but whether this is in some measure due to the chewing of the areca-nut i am unable to say. it used to be a disagreeable, but not unusual sight, to see the old sultan at an audience remove the areca-nut he had been masticating and hand it to a small boy, who placed it in his mouth and kept it there until the aged monarch again required it. the clothing of the brunai malays is simple and suitable to the climate. the one garment common to men, women and children is the _sarong_, which in its general signification means a sheath or covering, _e.g._, the sheath of a sword is a _sarong_, and the envelope enclosing a letter is likewise its _sarong_. the _sarong_ or sheath of the brunai human being is a piece of cotton cloth, of tartan pattern, sewn down the side and resembling an ordinary skirt, or petticoat, except that it is not pleated or attached to a band at the waist and is, therefore, the same width all the way down. it is worn as a petticoat, being fastened at the waist sometimes by a belt or girdle, but more often the upper part is merely twisted into its own folds. both men and women frequently wear nothing but this garment, the men being naked from the waist up, but the women generally concealing the breasts by fastening the _sarong_ high up under the arms; but for full dress the women wear in addition a short sleeved jacket of dark blue cotton cloth, reaching to the waist, the tight sleeves being ornamented with a row of half-a-dozen jingling buttons, of gold if possible, and a round hat of plaited _pandan_ (screw-pine) leaves, or of _nipa_ leaf completes the brunai woman's costume. no stockings, slippers, or shoes are worn. ladies of rank and wealth substitute silk and gold brocade for the cotton material used by their poorer sisters and, in lieu of a hat, cover their head and the greater part of the face with a _selendang_, or long scarf of gold brocade. they occasionally also wear slippers. the gold brocade is a specialty of brunai manufacture and is very handsome, the gold thread being woven in tasteful patterns on a ground of yellow, green, red or dark blue silk. the materials are obtained from china. the cotton _sarongs_ are also woven in brunai of european cotton twist, but inferior and cheap imitations are now imported from switzerland and manchester. in addition to the _sarong_, the brunai man, when fully dressed, wears a pair of loose cotton trowsers, tied round the waist, and in this case the _sarong_ is so folded as to reach only half way down to the knee, instead of to the ankle, as ordinarily. a short sleeved cotton jacket, generally white, covers his body and his head dress is a small coloured kerchief called _dastar_, the persian word for turban. the nobles wear silks instead of cottons and with them a small but handsome _kris_, stuck into the _sarong_, is _de rigueur_ for full dress. a gold or silver betel-nut box might almost be considered as part of the full dress, as they are never without one on state occasions, it being carried by an attendant. the women are fond of jewellery, and there are some clever gold and silversmiths in the city, whose designs appear to be imitated from the javanese. rings, earrings, broaches to fasten the jacket at the neck, elaborate hairpins, massive silver or gold belts, with large gold buckles, and bracelets of gold or silver are the usual articles possessed by a lady of position. the characteristic earring is quite a specialty of brunai art, and is of the size and nearly the shape of a very large champagne cork, necessitating a huge hole being made for its reception in the lobes of the ear. it is made hollow, of gold or silver, or of light wood gilt, or sometimes only painted, or even quite plain, and is stuck, lengthwise, through the hole in the ear, the ends projecting on either side. when the ladies are not in full dress, this hole occasionally affords a convenient receptacle for the cigarette, or any other small article not in use for the time being. the men never wear any jewellery, except, perhaps, one silver ring, which is supposed to have come from the holy city--mecca. the malay _kris_ is too well known to need description here. it is a dagger or poignard with a blade varying in length from six inches to two feet. this blade is not invariably wavy, or serpentine, as often supposed, but is sometimes quite straight. it is always sharp on both edges and is fashioned from iron imported from singapore, by brunai artificers. great taste is displayed in the handle, which is often of delicately carved ivory and gold, and just below the attachment of the handle, the blade is broadened out, forming a hilt, the under edge of which is generally fancifully carved. age adds greatly to the value of the _kris_ and the history of many is handed down. the highest price i know of being given for a brunai _kris_ was $100, paid by the present sultan for one he presented to the british north borneo company on his accession to the throne, but i have heard of higher prices being asked. very handsomely grained and highly polished wood is used for the sheath and the two pieces forming it are frequently so skilfully joined as to have the appearance of being in one. though naturally a stabbing weapon, the malays of brunai generally use it for cutting, and after an _amok_ the blade employed is often found bent out of all shape. the _parang_ is simply an ordinary cutlass, with a blade two feet in length. as we generally carry a pocket knife about with us, so the brunai malay always wears his _parang_, or has it near at hand, using it for every purpose where cutting is required, from paring his nails to cutting the posts of which his house is built, or weeding his patch of rice land. with this and his _bliong_ he performs all his carpentry work; from felling the enormous timber tree in the jungle to the construction of his house and boat. the _bliong_ is indeed a most useful implement and can perform wonders in the hands of a malay. it is in the shape of a small adze, but according to the way it is fitted into the handle it can be used either as an axe or adze. the malays with this instrument can make planks and posts as smooth as a european carpenter is able to do with his plane. the _parang ílang_ is a fighting weapon, with a peculiarity in the shape of the blade which, dr. taylor informs me, is not known to occur in the weapons of any other country, and consists in the surface of the near side being flat, as in an ordinary blade, while that of the off side is distinctly convex. this necessitates rather careful handling in the case of a novice, as the convexity is liable to cause the blade to glance off any hard substance and inflict a wound on its wielder. this weapon is manufactured in brunai, but is the proper arm of the kyans and, now, also of the sarawak dyaks, who are closely allied to them and who, in this as in other matters, such as the curious perforation of a part of their person, which has been described by several writers, are following their example. the kyans were once the most formidable sub-malay tribe in northern borneo and have been alluded to in preceding pages. on the west coast, their headquarters is the baram river, which has recently been added to sarawak, but they stretch right across to the east coast and dutch territory. there are many kinds of canoes, from the simple dug-out, with scarcely any free-board, to the _pakerangan_, a boat the construction of which is confined to only two rivers in north borneo. it is built up of planks fastened together by wooden pegs, carvel fashion, on a small keel, or _lunas_. it is sharp at both ends, has very good lines, is a good sea boat and well adapted for crossing river bars. it is not made in brunai itself, but is bought from the makers up the coast and invariably used by the brunai fishermen, who are the best and most powerful paddlers to be found anywhere. the trading boats--_prahus_ or _tongkangs_--are clumsy, badly fastened craft, not often exceeding 30 tons burthen, and modelled on the chinese junk, generally two-masted, the foremast raking forward, and furnished with rattan rigging and large lug sails. this forward rake, i believe, was not unusual, in former days, in european craft, and is said to aid in tacking. the natives now, however, are getting into the way of building and rigging their boats in humble imitation of the europeans. the _prahus_ are generally furnished with long sweeps, useful when the wind falls and in ascending winding rivers, when the breeze cannot be depended on. the canoes are propelled and steered by single-bladed paddles. they also generally carry a small sail, often made of the remnants of different gaily coloured garments, and a fleet of little craft with their gaudy sails is a pleasing sight on a fresh, bright morning. at the sports held by the europeans on new year's day, the queen's birthday and other festivals, native canoe races are always included and are contested with the keenest possible excitement by the competitors. a brunai malay takes to the water and to his tiny canoe almost before he is able to walk. use has with him become second nature and, really, i have known some brunai men paddle all day long, chatting and singing and chewing betel-nut, as though they felt it no exertion whatever. in the larger canoes one sees the first step towards a fixed rudder and tiller, a modified form of paddle being fixed securely to one _side_ of the stern, in such a way that the blade can be turned so as either to have its edges fore and aft, or its sides presented at a greater or less angle to the water, according to the direction in which it is desired to steer the boat. i was much interested, in going over the pitt-rivers collection, at the oxford university museum, to find that in the model of a viking boat the steering gear is arranged in almost exactly the same manner as that of the modern malay canoe; and indeed, the lines generally of the two boats are somewhat alike. to the european novice, paddling is severe work, more laborious than rowing; but then a brunai man is always in "training," more or less; he is a teetotaller and very temperate in eating and drinking; indeed the amount of fluid they take is, considering the climate, wonderfully small. they scarcely drink during meals, and afterwards, as a rule, only wash their mouths out, instead of taking a long draught like the european. mr. dalrymple is right in saying that a state visit is like a quakers' meeting. seldom is any important business more than broached on such an occasion; the details of difficult negotiations are generally discussed and arranged by means of confidential agents, who often find it to their pecuniary advantage to prolong matters to the limit of their employer's patience. the brunai malays are very nice, polite fellows to have to deal with, but they have not the slightest conception of the value of time, and the expression _nanti dahulu_ (wait a bit) is as often in their mouths as that of _malua_ (by-and-by) is by miss gordon cumming said to be in those of the fijians. a lady friend of mine, who found a difficulty in acquiring malay, pronounced _nanti dahulu_, or _nanti dulu_ as generally spoken, "nanty doodle," and suggested that "the nanty doodles" could be a good name for "the brunai malays." as writing is a somewhat rare accomplishment, state documents are not signed but sealed--"_chopped_" it is called--and much importance is accordingly attached to the official seals or _chops_, which are large circular metal stamps, and the _chop_ is affixed by oiling the stamps, blacking it over the flame of a candle and pressing it on the document to be sealed. the _chop_ bears, in arabic characters, the name, style and title of the official using it. the sultan's chop is the great seal of state and is distinguished by being the only one of which the circumference can be quite round and unbroken; the edges of those of the wazirs are always notched. by the aboriginal tribes of borneo, the brunai people are always spoken of as _orang abai_, or abai men, but though i have often enquired both of the aborigines and of the brunais themselves, i have not been able to obtain any explanation of the term, nor of its derivation. as already stated, the religion of the brunais is mahomedanism; but they do not observe its precepts and forms with any very great strictness, nor are they proselytisers, so that comparatively few of the surrounding pagans have embraced the religion of their conquerors. many of their old superstitions still influence them, as, in the early days of christianity, the belief in the old heathen gods and goddesses were found underlying the superstructure of the new faith and tinging its ritual and forms of worship. there still flourishes and survives, influencing to the present day the life of the brunais, the old spirit worship and a real belief in the power of evil spirits (_hantus_) to cause ill-luck, sickness and death, to counteract which spells, charms and prayers are made use of, together with propitiatory offerings. most of them wear some charm to ward off sickness, and others to shield them from death in battle. if you are travelling in the jungle and desire to quench your thirst at a brook, your brunai follower will first lay his _parang_, or cutlass in the bed of the stream, with its point towards the source, so that the spirit of the brook shall be powerless to harm you. in caves and on small islands you frequently find platforms and little models of houses and boats--propitiatory offerings to _hantus_. in times of general sickness a large model of a boat is sometimes made and decked with flags and launched out to sea in the hope that the evil spirit who has brought the epidemic may take his departure therein. at labuan it was difficult to prevail on a malay messenger to pass after sunset by the gaol, where executions took place, or by the churchyard, for fear of the ghosts haunting those localities. javanese element, and hindu work in gold has been discovered buried in the island of pappan, situated between labuan and brunai. mr. inche mahomet, h. b. m.'s consular agent in brunai, was good enough to procure for me a native history of brunai, called the _telselah besar_, or principal history. this history states that the first mahomedan sovereign of brunai was sultan mahomet and that, before his conversion and investiture by the sultan of johor, his kingdom had been tributary to the state of majapahit, on the fall of which kingdom the brunai government transferred its allegiance to johor. majapahit[8] was the last javanese kingdom professing hinduism, and from its overthrow dates the triumph of mahomedanism in java. this occurred in a.d. 1478, which, if the chronicle can be trusted, must have been about the period of the commencement of the mahomedan period in brunai. inclusive of this sultan mahomet and of the late sultan mumim, who died in may, 1885, twenty-three mahomedan sultans have reigned in brunai and, allowing eighteen years for an average reign, this brings us within a few years of the date assigned to the overthrow of the kingdom of majapahit, and bears testimony to the reliability of the chronicle. i will quote the first few paragraphs of the _telselah_, as they will give the reader an idea of a brunai history and also because they allude to the connection of the chinese with borneo and afford a fanciful explanation of the origin of the name of the mountain of kinabalu, in british north borneo, which is 13,700 feet in height:- "this is the genealogy of all the rájas who have occupied the royal throne of the government of brunai, the abode of peace, from generation to generation, who inherited the royal drum and the bell, the tokens from the country of johore, _kamal almakam_, and who also possessed the royal drum from menangkabau, namely, from the country of saguntang. "this was the commencement of the kingdom of brunai and of the introduction of the mahomedan religion and of the code of laws of the prophet, the beloved of god, in the country of brunai--that is to say (in the reign of) his highness sultan mahomet. but before his majesty's time the country of brunai was still infidel, and a dependency of majapahit. on the death of the batara of majapahit and of the patih gaja medah the kingdom of majapahit fell, and brunai ceased to pay tribute, which used to consist of one jar of the juice of the young betel-nut every year. "in the time of the sultan bahtri of the kingdom of johor, tuan alak betatar and patih berbahi were summoned to johor, and the former was appointed sultan mahomet by the sultan of johor, who conferred on him the royal drum and assigned him five provinces, namely, kaluka, seribas, sadong, samarahan and sarawak. patih berbai was given the title of bandhara sri maharaja. after a stay of some little time in johor, his highness the sultan mahomet returned to brunai; but his highness had no male issue and only one daughter. at that time also the emperor of china ordered two of his ministers to obtain possession of the precious stone of the dragon of the mountain kinabalu. numbers of chinese were devoured by the dragon and still possession was not obtained of the stone. for this reason they gave the mountain the name of kinabalu (_kina_ = chinese; _balu_ = _widow_). "the name of one of the chinese ministers was _ong kang_ and of another ong sum ping, and the latter had recourse to a stratagem. he made a box with glass sides and placed a large lighted candle therein, and when the dragon went forth to feed, ong sum ping seized the precious stone and put the lamp in its place and u the dragon mistook it for the precious stone. having now obtained possession of the precious stone all the junks set sail for china, and when they had got a long way off from kinabalu, ong kang asked ong sum ping for the stone, and thereupon a quarrel ensued between them. ong kang continued to press his demand for the precious stone, and ong sum ping became out of humour and sullen and refused to return to china and made his way back to brunai. on arriving there, he espoused the princess, the daughter of sultan mahomet, and he obtained the title of sultan ahamat. "the sultan ahamat had one daughter, who was remarkably beautiful. it came to pass that a sheriff named alli, a descendant of amir hassan (_one of the grandchildren of the prophet_) came from the country of taif to brunai. hearing of the fame of the beauty of the sultan's daughter, he became enamoured of her and the sultan accepted him as his son-in-law and the government of brunai was handed over to him by his highness and he was styled sultan berkat. he enforced the code of laws of the beloved of god and erected a mosque in brunai, and, moreover, ordered the chinese population to make a stone fort." the connection of the chinese with brunai was an important event in borneo history and it was certainly to them that the flourishing condition of the capital when visited by pigafetta in 1521 was due. they were the sole planters of the pepper gardens, the monopoly of the trade in the produce of which the east india company negotiated for in 1774, when the crop was reported to the company to have been 4,000 pikuls, equal to about 240 tons, valued on the spot at 17-1/4 spanish dollars per pikul. the company's agent expressly reported that the chinese were the only pepper planters, that the aborigines did not plant it, and that the produce was disposed of to chinese junks, which visited the port and which he trusted would, when the exclusive trade in this article was in the hands of the company, be diverted from brunai to balambangan. the station at this latter island, as already mentioned, was abandoned in 1775, and the english trade with brunai appears soon afterwards to have come to an end. from extracts from the journal of the batavia society of arts and sciences published in _the british north borneo herald_ of the 1st october, 1886, the first mention of brunai in chinese history appears to be in the year 669, when the king of polo, which is stated to be another name for bunlai (corruption of "brunai"), sent an envoy to pekin, who came to court with the envoy of siam. again, in the year 1406, another brunai envoy was appointed, who took with him a tribute of the products of the country, and the chronicle goes on to say that it is reported "that the present king is a man from fukien, who followed cheng ho when he went to this country and who settled there." this account was written in 1618 and alludes to the chinese shipping then frequenting brunai. it is by some supposed that the northern portion of borneo was the destination of the unsuccessful expedition which kublai khan sent out in the year 1292. towards the close of the eighteenth century a government seems to have arisen in brunai which knew not ong sum ping and, in 1809, mr. hunt reported that chinese junks had ceased visiting brunai and, owing no doubt to the rapacious and piratical character of the native government, the pepper gardens were gradually deserted and the chinese left the country. a few of the natives had, however, acquired the art of pepper cultivation, especially the dusuns of pappar, kimanis and bundu and when the colony of labuan was founded, 1846, there was still a small trade in pepper with those rivers. the brunai rájas, however, received their revenues and taxes in this commodity and their exhorbitant demands gradually led to the abandonment of its cultivation. these rivers have since passed under the government of the british north borneo company, and in bundu, owing partly to the security now afforded to life and property and partly to the very high price which pepper at present realizes on account of the dutch blockade of achin--achin having been of late years the principal pepper-growing country--the natives are again turning their attention to this article. i may remark here that the people of bundu claim and shew evidence of chinese descent, and even set up in their houses the little altar and joss which one is accustomed to see in chinamen's shops. the brunai malays call the chinese _orang kina_ and evidence of their connection with borneo is seen in such names as _kina-batangan_, a river near sandakan on the north-east coast, _kina-balu_, the mountain above referred to, and _kina-benua_, a district in labuan. they have also left their mark in the very superior mode of cultivation and irrigation of rice fields on some rivers on the north-west coast as compared with the primitive mode practised in other parts of northern borneo. it is now the object of the governments of sarawak and of british north borneo to attract chinese to their respective countries by all the means in their power. this has, to a considerable extent, been successfully achieved by the present rája brooke, and a large area of his territory is now under pepper cultivation with a very marked influence on the public revenues. this subject will be again alluded to when i come to speak of british north borneo. it would appear that brunai was once or twice attacked by the spaniards, the last occasion being in 1645.[9] it has also had the honour in more recent times, of receiving the attentions of a british naval expedition, which was brought about in this wise. sir james, then mr. brooke, had first visited sarawak in 1839 and found the district in rebellion against its ruler, a brunai rája named muda hassim, who, being a friend to the english, received mr. brooke with cordiality. mr. brooke returned to sarawak in the following year and this time assisted muda hassim to put down the rebellion and finally, on the 24th september, 1841, the malay rája retired from his position as governor in favour of the englishman. the agreement to so transfer the government was not signed without the application of a little pressure, for we find the following account of it in mr. brooke's journal, edited by captain rodney mundy, r. n., in two volumes, and published by john murray in 1848:- "october 1st, 1841. events of great importance have occurred during the last month. i will shortly narrate them. the advent of the _royalist_ and _swift_ and a second visit from the _diana_ on her return from brunei with the shipwrecked crew of the _sultana_, strengthened my position, as it gave evidence that the singapore authorities were on the alert, and otherwise did good to my cause by creating an impression amongst the natives of my power and influence with the governor of the straits settlements. now, then, was my time for pushing measures to extremity against my subtle enemy the arch-intriguer makota." this chief was a malay hostile to english interest. "i had previously made several strong remonstrances, and urged for an answer to a letter i had addressed to muda hassim, in which i had recapitulated in detail the whole particulars of our agreement, concluding by a positive demand either to allow me to retrace my steps by repayment of the sums which he had induced me to expend, or to confer upon me the grant of the government of the country according to his repeated promises; and i ended by stating that if he would not do either one or the other i _must find means to right myself_. thus did i, for the first time since my arrival in the land, present anything in the shape of a menace before the rája, my former remonstrances only going so far as to threaten to take away my own person and vessels from the river." mr. brooke's demand for an investigation into makota's conduct was politely shelved and mr. brooke deemed "the moment for action had now arrived. my conscience told me that i was bound no longer to submit to such injustice, and i was resolved to test the strength of our respective parties. repairing on board the yacht, i mustered my people, explained my intentions and mode of operation, and having loaded the vessel's guns with grape and canister, and brought her broadside to bear, i proceeded on shore with a detachment fully armed, and taking up a position at the entrance of the rája's palace, demanded and obtained an immediate audience. in a few words i pointed out the villany of makota, his tyranny and oppression of all classes, and my determination to attack him by force, and drive him from the country. i explained to the raja that several chiefs and a large body of siniawan dyaks were ready to assist me, and the only course left to prevent bloodshed was immediately to proclaim me governor of the country. this unmistakeable demonstration had the desired effect * * * none joined the party of makota, and his paid followers were not more than twenty in number. "under the guns of the _royalist_, and with a small body of men to protect me personally, and the great majority of all classes with me, it is not surprising that the negotiation proceeded rapidly to a favourable issue. the document was quickly drawn up, sealed, signed, and delivered; and on the 24th of september, 1841, i was declared rája and governor of sarawak amidst the roar of cannon, and a general display of flags and banners from the shore and boats on the river." this is a somewhat lengthy quotation, but the language is so graphic and so honest that i need make no apologies for introducing it and, indeed, it is the fairest way of exhibiting mr. brooke's objects and reasons and is, moreover, interesting as shewing under what circumstances and conditions the first permanent english settlement was formed in borneo. mr. brooke concludes his account of his accession to the government in words that remind us of another unselfish and modest hero--general gordon. he says:- "difficulty followed upon difficulty; the dread of pecuniary failure, the doubt of receiving support or assistance; this and much more presents itself to my mind. but i have tied myself to the stake. i have heaped faggots around me. i stand upon a cask of gunpowder, and if others bring the torch i shall not shrink, i feel within me the firm, unchangeable conviction of doing right which nothing can shake. i see the benefits i am conferring. the oppressed, the wretched, the outlawed have found in me their only protector. they now hope and trust; and they shall not be disappointed while i have life to uphold them. god has so far used me as a humble instrument of his hidden providence; and whatever be the result, whatever my fate, i know the example will not be thrown away. i know it tends to a good end in his own time. he can open a path for me through all difficulties, raise me up friends who will share with me in the task, awaken the energies of the great and powerful, so that they may protect this unhappy people. i trust it may be so: but if god wills otherwise; if the time be not yet arrived; if it be the almighty's will that the flickering taper shall be extinguished ere it be replaced by a steady beacon, i submit, in the firm and humble assurance that his ways are better than my ways, and that the term of my life is better in his hands than in my own." on the 1st august, 1842, this cession of sarawak to mr. brooke was confirmed by his highness sultan omar ali saifudin, under the great seal. muda hassim was the uncle of the sultan, who was a sovereign of weak, vacillating disposition, at one time guided by the advice of his uncle, who was the leader of the "english party," and expressing his desire for the queen's assistance to put down piracy and disorder and offering, in return, to cede to the british the island of labuan; at another following his own natural inclinations and siding altogether with the party of disorder, who were resolved to maintain affairs as they were in the "good old times," knowing that when the reign of law and order should be established their day and their power and ability to aggrandize and enrich themselves at the expense of the aborigines and the common people would come to an end. there is no doubt that mr. brooke himself considered it would be for the good of the country that muda hassim should be raised to the throne and the sultan certainly entertained a not altogether ill-founded dread that it was intended to depose him in the latter's favour, the more so as a large majority of the brunai people were known to be in his interest. in the early part of 1845 muda hassim appears to have been in favour with the sultan, and was publicly announced as successor to the throne with the title of _sultan muda_ (muda = young, the usual malay title for the heir apparent to the crown), and the document recognising the appointment of mr. brooke as the queen's confidential agent in borneo was written in the name of the sultan and of muda hassim conjointly, and concludes by saying that the two writers express the hope that through the queen's assistance they will be enabled to _settle the government of borneo_. in april, 1846, however, mr. brooke received the startling intelligence that in the december, or january previous, the sultan had ordered the murder of his uncle muda hassim and of several of the ràja's brothers and nobles of his party, in all some thirteen ràjas and many of their followers. muda hassim, finding resistance useless, retreated to his boat and ignited a cask of powder, but the explosion not killing him, he blew his brains out with a pistol. his brother, pangeran budrudin, one of the most enlightened nobles in brunai, likewise terminated his existence by an explosion of gunpowder. representations being made to sir thomas cochrane, the admiral in command of the station, he proceeded in person to borneo with a squadron of eight vessels, including two steamers. the sultan, foreseeing the punishment that was inevitable, erected some well-placed batteries to defend his town. only the two steamers and one sailing vessel of war, together with boats from the other vessels and a force of six hundred men were able to ascend the river and, such was the rotten state of the kingdom of borneo proper and so unwarlike the disposition of its degenerate people that after firing a few shots, whereby two of the british force were killed and a few wounded, the batteries were deserted, the sultan and his followers fled to the jungle, and the capital remained at the admiral's disposition. captain rodney mundy, accompanied by mr. brooke, with a force of five hundred men was despatched in pursuit of his highness, but it is needless to add that, though the difficulties of marching through a trackless country under a tropical downpour of rain were pluckily surmounted, it was found impossible to come up with the royal fugitive. negotiations were subsequently entered into with the prime minister, pangeran mumim, an intelligent noble, who afterwards became sultan, and on the 19th july, 1846, the batteries were razed to the ground and the admiral issued a proclamation to the effect that hostilities would cease if the sultan would return and govern lawfully, suppress piracy and respect his engagements with the british government; but that if he persisted in his evil courses the squadron would return and burn down the capital. the same day admiral cochrane and his squadron steamed away. it is perhaps superfluous to add that this was the first and the last time that the brunai government attempted to try conclusions with the british, and in the following year a formal treaty was concluded to which reference will be made hereafter. (_to be continued._) footnotes: [footnote 8: crawfurd's dictionary--indian islands--_majapait_.] [footnote 9: captain rodney mundy, r. n., states that in 1846 he captured at brunai ten large spanish brass guns, the longest being 14 feet 6 inches, cast in the time of charles iii of spain and the most beautiful specimens of workmanship he had ever seen. charles iii reigned between 1759 and 1788.] chapter iv. having alluded to the circumstances under which the government of sarawak became vested in the brooke family, it may be of interest if i give a brief outline of the history of that state under its european rulers up to the present time. the territory acquired by sir james brooke in 1841 and known as sarawak proper, was a small district with a coast line of sixty miles and with an average depth inland of fifty miles--an area of three thousand square miles. since that date, however, rivers and districts lying to the northward have been acquired by cessions for annual payments from the brunai government and have been incorporated with the original district of sarawak, which has given its name to the enlarged territory, and the present area of raja brooke's possessions is stated to be about 40,000 square miles, supporting a population of 280,000 souls, and possessing a coast line of 380 miles. the most recent acquisition of territory was in 1884, so that the young state has shewn a very vigorous growth since its birth in 1841--at the rate of about 860 square miles a year, or an increase of thirteen times its original size in the space of forty-three years. now, alas, there are no "more lands to conquer," or acquire, unless the present kingdom of brunai, or borneo proper, as it is styled by the old geographers, is altogether swallowed up by its offspring, which, under its white ruler, has developed a vitality never evinced under the rule of the royal house of brunai in its best days.[10] the limit of sarawak's coast line to the south-west is cape, or _tanjong_, datu, on the other side of which commences the dutch portion of borneo, so that expansion in that direction is barred. to the north-east the boundary is labuk pulai the eastern limit of the watershed, on the coast, of the important river barram which was acquired by raja brooke, in 1881, for an annual payment of £1,000. beyond this commences what is left of the brunai sultanate, there being but one stream of any importance between the barram river and that on which the capital--brunai--is situated. but sarawak does not rest here; it acquired, in 1884, from the then pangeran tumonggong, who is now sultan, the trusan, a river to the east of the brunai, under somewhat exceptional circumstances. the natives of the river were in rebellion against the brunai government, and in november, 1884, a party of sarawak dyaks, who had been trading and collecting jungle produce in the neighbourhood of the capital, having been warned by their own government to leave the country because of its disturbed condition, and having further been warned also by the sultan not to enter the trusan, could not refrain from visiting that river on their homeward journey, in order to collect some outstanding trade debts. they were received is so friendly a manner, that their suspicions were not in the slightest degree aroused, and they took no precautions, believing themselves to be amongst friends. suddenly in the night they were attacked while asleep in their boats, and the whole party, numbering about seventeen, massacred, with the exception of one man who, though wounded, managed to effect his escape and ultimately found his way to labuan, where he was treated in the government hospital and made a recovery. the heads of the murdered men were, as is customary, taken by the murderers. no very distinct reason can be given for the attack, except that the trusan people were in a "slaying" mood, being on the "war-path" and in arms against their own government, and it has also been said that those particular dyaks happened to be wearing trowsers instead of their ordinary _chawat_, or loin cloth, and, as their enemies, the brunais, were trowser-wearers, the trusan people thought fit to consider all natives wearing such extravagant clothing as their enemies. the sarawak government, on hearing of the incident, at once despatched mr. maxwell, the chief resident, to demand redress. the brunai government, having no longer the warlike kyans at their beck and call, that tribe having passed to raja brooke with the river barram, were wholly unable to undertake the punishment of the offenders. mr. maxwell then demanded as compensation the sum of $22,000, basing his calculations on the amount which some time previously the british government had exacted in the case of some british subjects who had been murdered in another river. this demand the bankrupt government of brunai was equally incompetent to comply with, and, thereupon, the matter was settled by the transfer of the river to raja brooke in consideration of the large annual payment of $4,500, two years' rental--$9,000, being paid in advance, and sarawak thus acquired, as much by good luck as through good management, a _pied à terre_ in the very centre of the brunai sultanate and practically blocked the advance of their northern rivals--the company--on the capital. this river was the _kouripan_ (see _ante_, page 26) of the present sultan, and a feeling of pique which he then entertained against the government of british north borneo, on account of their refusing him a monetary loan to which he conceived he had a claim, caused him to make this cession with a better grace and more readily than might otherwise have been the case, for he was well aware that the british north borneo company viewed with some jealousy the extension of sarawak territory in this direction, having, more than probably, themselves an ambition to carry their own southern boundary as near to brunai as circumstances would admit. the same feeling on the part of the tumonggong induced him to listen to mr. maxwell's proposals for the cession to sarawak of a still more important river--the limbang--one on which the existence of brunai itself as an independent state may be said to depend. but the then reigning sultan and the other ministers of state refused their sanction, and the tumonggong, since his accession to the throne, has also very decidedly changed his point of view, and is now in accord with the large majority of his brunai subjects to whom such a cession would be most distasteful. it should be explained that the limbang is an important sago-producing river, close to the capital and forming an actual portion of the brunai river itself, with the waters of which it mingles; indeed, the brunai river is probably the former mouth of the limbang, and is itself but a salt-water inlet, producing nothing but fish and prawns. as the brunais themselves put it, the limbang is their _priuk nasi_, their rice pot, an expression which gains the greater force when it is remembered that rice is the chief food with this eastern people, in a more emphatic sense even than bread is with us. this question of the limbang river will afford a good instance and specimen of the oppressive government, or want of government, on the part of the brunai rulers, and i will return to it again, continuing now my short glance at sarawak's progress. raja brooke has had little difficulty in establishing his authority in the districts acquired from time to time, for not only were the people glad to be freed from the tyranny of the brunai rajas, but the fame of both the present raja and of his famous uncle sir james had spread far and wide in borneo, and, in addition, it was well known that the sarawak government had at its back its war-like dyak tribes, who, now that "head-hunting" has been stopped amongst them, would have heartily welcomed the chance of a little legitimate fighting and "at the commandment of the magistrate to wear weapons and serve in the wars," as the xxxviith article of our church permits. in the trusan, the sarawak flag was freely distributed and joyfully accepted, and in a short time the brunai river was dotted with little roughly "dug-out" canoes, manned by repulsive-looking, naked, skin-diseased savages, each proudly flying an enormous sarawak ensign, with its christian symbol of the cross, in the muhammadan capital. a fine was imposed and paid for the murder of the sarawak dyaks, and the heads delivered up to mr. a. h. everett, the resident of the new district, who thus found his little launch on one occasion decorated in an unusual manner with these ghastly trophies, which were, i believe, forwarded to the sorrowing relatives at home. in addition to these levies of warriors expert in jungle fighting, on which the government can always count, the raja has a small standing army known as the "sarawak rangers," recruited from excellent material--the natives of the country--under european officers, armed with breech-loading rifles, and numbering two hundred and fifty or three hundred men. there is, in addition, a small police force, likewise composed of natives, as also are the crews of the small steamers and launches which form the sarawak navy. with the exception, therefore, of the european officers, there is no foreign element in the military, naval and civil forces of the state, and the peace of the people is kept by the people themselves, a state of things which makes for the stability and popularity of the government, besides enabling it to provide for the defence of the country and the preservation of internal order at a lower relative cost than probably any other asiatic country the government of which is in the hand of europeans. sir james brooke did not marry, and died in 1868, having appointed as his successor the present raja charles johnson, who has taken the name of brooke, and has proclaimed his eldest son, a youth of sixteen, heir apparent, with the title of raja muda. the form of government is that of an absolute monarchy, but the raja is assisted by a supreme council composed of two european officials and four natives nominated by himself. there is also a general council of some fifty members, which is not usually convened more frequently than once in two or three years. for administrative purposes, the country is divided into divisions, each under a european resident with european and native assistants. the resident administers justice, and is responsible for the collection of the revenue and the preservation of order in the district, reporting direct to the raja. salaries are on an equitable scale, and the regulations for leave and pension on retirement are conceived in a liberal spirit. there is no published code of laws, but the raja, when the occasion arises, issues regulations and proclamations for the guidance of officials, who, in criminal cases, follow as much as possible the indian criminal code. much is left to the common sense of the judicial officers, native customs and religious prejudices receive due consideration, and there is a right of appeal to the raja. slavery was in full force when sir james brooke assumed the government, all captives in the numerous tribal wars and piratical expeditions being kept or sold as slaves. means were taken to mitigate as much as possible the condition of the slaves, not, as a rule, a very hard one in these countries, and to gradually abolish the system altogether, which latter object was to be accomplished by 1888. the principal item of revenue is the annual sum paid by the person who secures from the government the sole right of importing, preparing for consumption, and retailing opium throughout the state. the holder of this monopoly is known as the "opium farmer" and the monopoly is termed the "opium farm." these expressions have occasionally given rise to the notion that the opium-producing poppy is cultivated locally under government supervision, and i have seen it included among the list of borneo products in a recent geographical work. it is evident that the system of farming out this monopoly has a tendency to limit the consumption of the drug, as, owing to the heavy rental paid to the government, the retail price of the article to the consumer is very much enhanced. were the monopoly abolished, it would be impossible for the government efficiently to check the contraband importation of so easily smuggled an article as prepared opium, or _chandu_, and by lowering the price the consumption would be increased. the use of the drug is almost entirely confined to the chinese portion of the population. a poll-tax, customs and excise duties, mining royalties and fines and fees make up the rest of the revenue, which in 1884 amounted to $237,752 and in 1885 to $315,264. the expenditure for the same years is given by vice-consul cadell as $234,161 and $321,264, respectively. in the early days of sarawak, it was a very serious problem to find the money to pay the expenses of a most economical government. sir james brooke sunk all his own fortune--£30,000--in the country, and took so gloomy a view of the financial prospects of his kingdom that, on the refusal of england to annex it, he offered it first to france and then to holland. fortunately these offers were never carried into effect, and, with the assistance of the borneo company (not to be confused with the british north borneo company), who acquired the concession of the right to work the minerals in sarawak, bad times were tided over, and, by patient perseverance, the finances of the state have been brought to their present satisfactory condition. what the amount of the national public debt is, i am not in a position to say, but, like all other countries aspiring to be civilized, it possesses a small one. the improvement in the financial position was undoubtedly chiefly due to the influx of chinese, especially of gambier and pepper planters, who were attracted by liberal concessions of land and monetary assistance in the first instance from the government. the present raja has himself said that "without the chinese we can do nothing," and we have only to turn to the british possession in the far east--the straits settlements, the malay peninsula, and hongkong--to see that this is the case. for instance, the revenue of the straits settlements in 1887 was $3,847,475, of which the opium farm alone--that is a tax practically speaking borne by the chinese population--contributed $1,779,600, or not very short of one half of the whole, and they of course contribute in many other ways as well. the frugal, patient, industrious, go-ahead, money-making chinaman is undoubtedly the colonist for the sparsely inhabited islands of the malay archipelago. where, as in java, there is a large native population and the struggle for existence has compelled the natives to adopt habits of industry, the presence of the chinaman is not a necessity, but in a country like borneo, where the inhabitants, from time immemorial, except during unusual periods of drought or epidemic sickness, have never found the problem of existence bear hard upon them, it is impossible to impress upon the natives that they ought to have "wants," whether they feel them or not, and that the pursuit of the dollar for the sake of mere possession is an ennobling object, differentiating the simple savage from the complicated product of the higher civilization. the malay, in his ignorance, thinks that if he can obtain clothing suitable to the climate, a hut which adequately protects him from sun and rain, and a wife to be the mother of his children and the cooker of his meals, he should therewith rest content; but, then, no country made up of units possessed of this simple faith can ever come to anything--can ever be civilized, and hence the necessity for the chinese immigrant in eastern colonies that want to shew an annual revenue advancing by leaps and bounds. the chinaman, too, in addition to his valuable properties as a keen trader and a man of business, collecting from the natives the products of the country, which he passes on to the european merchant, from whom he obtains the european fabrics and american "notions" to barter with the natives, is also a good agriculturist, whether on a large or small scale; he is muscular and can endure both heat and cold, and so is, at any rate in the tropics, far and away a superior animal to the white labourer, whether for agricultural or mining work, as an artizan, or as a hewer of wood and drawer of water, as a cook, a housemaid or a washerwoman. he can learn any trade that a white man can teach him, from ship-building to watchmaking, and he does not drink and requires scarcely any holidays or sundays, occasionally only a day to worship his ancestors. it will be said that if he does not drink he smokes opium. yes! he does, and this, as we have seen, is what makes him so beloved of the colonial chancellors of the exchequer. at the same time he is, if strict justice and firmness are shewn him, wonderfully law-abiding and orderly. faction fights, and serious ones no doubt, do occur between rival classes and rival secret societies, but to nothing like the extent that would be the case were they white men. it is not, i think, sufficiently borne in mind, that a very large proportion of the chinese there are of the lower, i may say of the lowest, orders, many of them of the criminal class and the scourings of some of the large cities of china, who arrive at their destination in possession of nothing but a pair of trowsers and a jacket and, may be, an opium pipe; in addition to this they come from different provinces, between the inhabitants of which there has always been rivalry, and the languages of which are so entirely different that it is a usual thing to find chinese of different provinces compelled to carry on their conversation in malay or "pidgeon" english, and finally, as though the elements of danger were not already sufficient, they are pressed on their arrival to join rival secret societies, between which the utmost enmity and hatred exists. taking all these things into consideration, i maintain that the chinaman is a good and orderly citizen and that his good qualities, especially as a revenue-payer in the far east, much more than counterbalance his bad ones. the secret societies, whose organization permeates chinese society from the top to the bottom, are the worst feature in the social condition of the chinese colonists, and in sarawak a summary method of suppressing them has been adopted. the penalty for belonging to one of these societies is death. when sir james brooke took over sarawak, there was a considerable chinese population, settled for generations in the country and recruited from dutch territory, where they had been subject to no supervision by the government, whose hold over the country was merely nominal. they were principally gold diggers, and being accustomed to manage their own affairs and settle their disputes amongst themselves, they resented any interference from the new rulers, and, in 1857, a misunderstanding concerning the opium revenue having occurred, they suddenly rose in arms and seized the capital. it was some time before the raja's forces could be collected and let loose upon them, when large numbers were killed and the majority of the survivors took refuge in dutch territory. the scheme for introducing chinese pepper and gambier planters into sarawak was set on foot in 1878 or 1879, and has proved a decided success, though, as vice-consul cadell remarked in 1886, it is difficult to understand why even larger numbers have not availed themselves of the terms offered "since coolies have the protection of the sarawak government, which further grants them free passages from singapore, whilst the climate is a healthy one, and there are no dangers to be feared from wild animals, tigers being unknown in sarawak." the fact remains that, though there is plenty of available land, there is an insufficiency of chinese labour still. the quantity of pepper exported in 1885 was 392 tons, valued at £19,067, and of gambier 1,370 tons, valued at £23,772. sarawak is said to supply more than half of the sago produce of the world. the value of the sago it exported in 1885 is returned at £35,953. of the purely uncultivated jungle products that figure in the exports the principal are gutta-percha, india rubber, and rattans. both antimony ores and cinnabar (an ore of quicksilver) are worked by the borneo company, but the exports of the former ore and of quicksilver are steadily decreasing, and fresh deposits are being sought for. only one deposit of cinnabar has so far been discovered, that was in 1867. antimony was first discovered in sarawak in 1824, and-for a long time it was from this source that the principal supplies for europe and america were obtained. the ores are found "generally as boulders deep in clayey soil, or perched on tower-like summits and craggy pinnacles and, sometimes, in dykes _in situ_." the ores, too poor for shipment, are reduced locally, and the _regulus_ exported to london. coal is abundant, but is not yet worked on any considerable scale.[11] the borneo company excepted, all the trade of the country is in the hands of chinese and natives, nor has the government hitherto taken steps to attract european capital for planting, but experiments are being made with the public funds under european supervision in the planting of cinchona, coffee, and tobacco. the capital of sarawak is _kuching_, which in malay signifies a "cat." it is situated about fifteen miles up the sarawak river and, when sir james first arrived, was a wretched native town, with palm leaf huts and a population, including a few chinese and klings (natives of india), of some two thousand. kuching now possesses a well built "istana," or palace of the raja, a fort, impregnable to natives, a substantial gaol, court house, government offices, public market and church, and is the headquarters of the bishop of singapore and sarawak, who is the head of the protestant mission in the country. there is a well built brick chinese trading quarter, or "bazaar," the europeans have comfortable bungalows, and the present population is said to number twelve thousand. in the early days of his reign, sir james brooke was energetically assisted in his great work of suppressing piracy and rendering the seas and rivers safe for the passage of the peaceful trader, by the british men-of-war on the china station, and was singularly fortunate in having an energetic co-adjutor in captain (now admiral) sir henry keppel, k.c.b. it will give some idea of the extent to which piracy, then almost the sole occupation of the illanun, balinini, and sea dyak tribes, was indulged in that the "headmoney," then paid by the british government for pirates destroyed, amounted in these expeditions to the large total of £20,000, the awarding of which sum occasioned a great stir at the time and led to the abolition of this system of "payment by results." mr. hume took exception altogether to the action of sir james brooke, and, in 1851, charges were brought against him, and a royal commission appointed to take evidence on the spot, or rather at singapore. a man like brooke, of an enthusiastic, impulsive, unselfish and almost quixotic disposition, who wore his heart on his sleeve and let his opinions of men and their actions be freely known, could not but have incurred the enmity of many meaner, self-seeking minds. the commission, after hearing all that could be brought against him, found that there was nothing proved, but it was not deemed advisable that sir james should continue to act as the british representative in borneo and as governor of the colony of labuan, positions which were indeed incompatible with that of the independent ruler of sarawak. sarawak independence was first recognised by the americans, and the british followed suit in 1863, when a vice-consulate was established there. the question of formally proclaiming a british protectorate over sarawak is now being considered, and it is to be hoped, will be carried into effect.[12] the _personel_ of the government is purely british, most of the merchants and traders are of british nationality, and the whole trade of the country finds its way to the british colony of the straits settlements. we can scarcely let a country such as this, with its local and other resources, so close to singapore and on the route to china, fall into the hands of any other european power, and the only means of preventing such a catastrophe is by the proclamation of a protectorate over it--a protectorate which, so long as the successors of raja brooke prove their competence to govern, should be worked so as to interfere as little as possible in the internal affairs of the state. the virulently hostile and ignorant criticisms to which sir james brooke was subjected in england, and the financial difficulties of this little kingdom, coupled with a serious dispute with a nephew whom he had appointed his successor, but whom he was compelled to depose, embittered the last years of his life. to the end he fought his foes in his old, plucky, honest, vigorous and straightforward style. he died in june, 1868, from a paralytic stroke, and was succeeded by his nephew, the present raja. what sir james brooke might have accomplished had he not been hampered by an opposition based on ignorance and imperfect knowledge at home, we cannot say; what he did achieve, i have endeavoured briefly to sketch, and unprejudiced minds cannot but deem the founding of a prosperous state and the total extirpation of piracy, slavery and head-hunting, a monument worthy of a high, noble and unselfish nature. in addition to that of the church of england, there has, within the last few years, been established a roman catholic mission, under the auspices of the st. joseph's college, mill hill. the muhammadans, including all the true malay inhabitants, do not make any concerted effort to disseminate the doctrines of their faith. the following information relative to the church of england mission has been kindly furnished me by the right reverend dr. hose, the present bishop of "singapore, labuan and sarawak," which is the official title of his extensive see which includes the colony of the straits settlements--penang, province wellesley, malacca and singapore and--its dependencies, the protected states of the malay peninsula, the state of sarawak, the crown colony of labuan, the territories of the british north borneo company and the congregation of english people scattered over malaya. the mission was, in the first instance, set on foot by the efforts of lady burdett-coutts and others in 1847, when sir james brooke was in england and his doings in the far east had excited much interest and enthusiasm, and was specially organized under the name of the "borneo church mission." the late reverend t. mcdougall, was the first missionary, and subsequently became the first bishop. his name was once well known, owing to a wrong construction put upon his action, on one occasion, in making use of fire arms when a vessel, on which he was aboard, came across a fleet of pirates. he was a gifted, practical and energetic man and had the interest of his mission at heart, and, in addition to other qualifications, added the very useful one, in his position, of being a qualified medical man. bishop mcdougall was succeeded on his retirement by bishop chambers, who had experience gained while a missionary in the country. the present bishop was appointed in 1881. the mission was eventually taken over by the society for the propagation of the gospel, and this society defrays, with unimportant exceptions, the whole cost of the see. dr. hose has under him in sarawak eight men in holy orders, of whom six are europeans, one chinese and one eurasian. the influence of the missionaries has spread over the skerang, balau and sibuyan tribes of _sea_-dyaks, and also among the _land_-dyaks near kuching, the capital, and among the chinese of that town and the neighbouring pepper plantations. there are now seven churches and twenty-five mission chapels in sarawak, and about 4,000 baptized christians of the church of england. the mission also provides means of education and, through its press, publishes translations of the bible, the prayer book and other religious and educational works, in malay and in two dyak dialects, which latter have only become written languages since the establishment of the mission. in their boys' school, at kuching, over a hundred boys are under instruction by an english master, assisted by a staff of native assistants; there is also a girls' school, under a european mistress, and schools at all the mission stations. the government of sarawak allows a small grant-in-aid to the schools and a salary of £200 a year to one of the missionaries, who acts as government chaplain. the roman catholic mission commenced its works in sarawak in 1881, and is under the direction of the reverend father jackson, prefect apostolic, who has also two or three missionaries employed in british north borneo. in sarawak there are six or eight european priests and schoolmasters and a sisterhood of four or five nuns. in kuching they have a chapel and school and a station among the land-dyaks in the vicinity. they have recently established a station and erected a chapel on the kanowit river, an affluent of the rejang. the missionaries are mostly foreigners and, i believe, are under a vow to spend the remainder of their days in the east, without returning to europe. their only reward is their consciousness of doing, or trying to do good, and any surplus of their meagre stipends which remains, after providing the barest necessaries of life, is refunded to the society. i do not know what success is attending them in sarawak, but in british north borneo and labuan, where they found that father quarteron's labours had left scarcely any impression, their efforts up to present have met with little success, and experiments in several rivers have had to be abandoned, owing to the utter carelessness of the pagan natives as to matters relating to religion. when i left north borneo in 1887, their only station which appeared to show a prospect of success was one under father pundleider, amongst the semi-chinese of bundu, to whom reference has been made on a previous page. but these people, while permitting their children to be educated and baptized by the father, did not think it worth their while to join the church themselves. neither mission has attempted to convert the muhammadan tribes, and indeed it would, at present, be perfectly useless to do so and, from the government point of view, impolitic and inadvisable as well. footnotes: [footnote 10: on the 17th march, 1890 the limbang river was forcibly annexed by sarawak, subject to the queen's sanction.] [footnote 11: since this was written, raja sir charles brooke has acquired valuable coal concessions at muara, at the mouth of the brunai river, and the development of the coal resources of the state is being energetically pushed forward.] [footnote 12: this has since been formally proclaimed.] chapter v. i will now take a glance at the incident of the rebellion of the inhabitants of the limbang, the important river near brunai to which allusion has already been made, as from this one sample he will be able to judge of the ordinary state of affairs in districts near the capital, since the establishment of labuan as a crown colony and the conclusion of the treaty and the appointment of a british consul-general in brunai, and will also be able to attempt to imagine the oppression prevalent before those events took place. the river, being a fertile and well populated one and near brunai, had been from old times the common purse of the numerous nobles who, either by inheritance, or in virtue of their official positions, as i have explained, owned as their followers the inhabitants of the various villages situated on its banks, and many were the devices employed to extort the uttermost farthing from the unfortunate people, who were quite incapable of offering any resistance because the warlike kyan tribe was ever ready at hand to sweep down upon them at the behest of their brunai oppressors. the system of _dagang sera_ (forced trade) i have already explained. some of the other devices i will now enumerate. _chukei basoh batis_, or the tax of washing feet, a contribution, varying in amount at the sweet will of the imposer, levied when the lord of the village, or his chief agent, did it the honour of a visit. _chukei bongkar-sauh_, or tax on weighing anchor, similarly levied when the lord took his departure and perhaps therefore, paid with more willingness. _chukei tolongan_, or tax of assistance, levied when the lord had need of funds for some special purpose or on a special occasion such as a wedding--and these are numerous amongst polygamists--a birth, the building of a house or of a vessel. _chop bibas_, literally a free seal; this was a permission granted by the sultan to some noble and needy favourite to levy a contribution for his own use anywhere he thought he could most easily enforce it. the method of inventing imaginary crimes and delinquencies and punishing them with heavy fines has been already mentioned. then there are import and export duties as to which no reasonable complaint can be made, but a real grievance and hindrance to legitimate trade was the effort which the malays, supported by their rulers, made to prevent the interior tribes trading direct with the chinese and other foreign traders--acting themselves as middlemen, so that but a very small share of profit fell to the aborigines. the lords, too, had the right of appointing as many _orang kayas_, or headmen, from among the natives as they chose, a present being expected on their elevation to that position and another on their death. in many rivers there was also an annual poll-tax, but this does not appear to have been collected in the limbang. sir spencer st. john, writing in 1856, gives, in his "life in the forests of the far east," several instances of the grievous oppression practiced on the limbang people. amongst others he mentions how a native, in a fit of desperation, had killed an extortionate tax-gatherer. instead of having the offender arrested and punished, the sultan ordered his village to be attacked, when fifty persons were killed and an equal number of women and children were made prisoners and kept as slaves by his highness. the immediate cause of the rebellion to which i am now referring was the extraordinary extortion practised by one of the principal ministers of state. the revenues of his office were principally derived from the limbang river and, as the sultan was very old, he determined to make the best possible use of the short time remaining to him to extract all he could from his wretched feudatories. to aid him in his design, he obtained, with the assistance of the british north borneo company, a steam launch, and the limbang people subsequently pointed out to me this launch and complained bitterly that it was with the money forced out of them that this means of oppressing them had been purchased. he then employed the most unscrupulous agents he could discover, imposed outrageous fines for trifling offences, and would even interfere if he heard of any private disputes among the villagers, adjudicate unasked in their cases, taking care always to inflict a heavy fine which went, not to the party aggrieved, but into his own pocket. if the fines could not be paid, and this was often the case, owing to their being purposely fixed at such a high rate, the delinquent's sago plantations--the principal wealth of the people in the limbang river--would be confiscated and became the private property of the minister, or of some of the members of his household. the patience of the people was at length exhausted, and they remembered that the brunai nobles could no longer call in the kayans to enforce their exactions, that tribe having become subjects to raja brooke. about the month of august, 1884, two of the minister's messengers, or tax collectors, who were engaged in the usual process of squeezing the people, were fired on and killed by the bisayas, the principal pagan tribe in the river. the tumonggong determined to punish this outrage in person and probably thought his august presence on the spot in a steam-launch, would quickly bring the natives to their knees and afford him a grand opportunity of replenishing his treasury. he accordingly ascended the river with a considerable force in september, and great must have been his surprise when he found that his messenger, sent in advance to call the people to meet him, was fired on and killed. he could scarcely have believed the evidence of his own ears, however, when shortly afterwards his royal launch and little fleet were fired on from the river banks. for two days was this firing kept up, the brunais having great difficulty in returning it, owing to the river being low and the banks steep and lined with large trees, behind which the natives took shelter, and, a few casualties having occurred on board and one of the royal guns having burst, which was known as the _amiral muminin_, the tumonggong deemed it expedient to retire and returned ignominiously to brunai. the rebels, emboldened by the impunity they had so far enjoyed, were soon found to be hovering round the outskirts of the capital, and every now and then an outlying house would be attacked during the night and the headless corpses of its occupants be found on the morrow. there being no forts and no organized force to resist attack, the houses, moreover, being nearly all constructed of highly inflammable palm leaf thatch and matting, a universal panic prevailed amongst all classes, when the limbang people announced their intention of firing the town. considerable distress too prevailed, as the spirit of rebellion had spread to all the districts near the capital, and the brunai people who had settled in them were compelled to flee for their lives, leaving their property in the hands of the insurgents, while the people of the city were unable to follow their usual avocations--trading, planting, sago washing and so forth, the brunai river, as has been pointed out, producing nothing itself. british trade being thus affected by the continuance of such a state of affairs, and the british subjects in the city being in daily fear from the apprehended attack by the rebels, the english consul-general did what he could to try and arrange matters. a certain datu klassie, one of the most influential of the bisaya chiefs, came into brunai without any followers, but bringing with him, as a proof of the friendliness of his mission, his wife. instead of utilizing the services of this chief in opening communication with the natives, the tumonggong, maddened by his ignominious defeat, seized both datu klassie and his wife and placed them in the public stocks, heavily ironed. i was acting consul-general at the time, and my assistance in arranging matters had been requested by the brunai government, while the bisayas also had expressed their warm desire to meet and consult with me if i would trust myself amongst them, and i at once arranged so to do; but, being well aware that my mission would be perfectly futile unless i was the bearer of terms from the sultan and unless datu klassie and his wife were released, i refused to take any steps until these two points were conceded. this was a bitter pill for the brunai rajas and especially for the tumonggong, who, though perfectly aware that he was quite unable, not only to punish the rebels, but even to defend the city against their attacks, yet clung to the vain hope that the british government might be induced to regard them as pirates and so interfere in accordance with the terms of the treaty, or that the raja of sarawak would construe some old agreement made with sir james brooke as necessitating his rendering armed assistance. however, owing to the experience, tact, perseverance and intelligence of inche mahomet, the consular agent, we gained our point after protracted negotiations, and obtained the seals of the sultan, the bandahara, the di gadong and the tumonggong himself to a document, by which it was provided that, on condition of the limbang people laying down their arms and allowing free intercourse with brunai, all arbitrary taxation such as that which has been described should be for ever abolished, but that, in lieu therefor, a fixed poll-tax should be paid by all adult males, at the rate of $3 per annum by married men and $2 by bachelors; that on the death of an _orang kaya_ the contribution to be paid to the feudal lord should be fixed at one pikul of brass gun, equal to about $21; that the possession of their sago plantations should be peaceably enjoyed by their owners; that jungle products should be collected without tax, except in the case of gutta percha, on which a royalty of 5% _ad valorem_ should be paid, instead of the 20% then exacted; that the taxes should be collected by the headmen punctually and transmitted to brunai, and that four brunai tax-gatherers, who were mentioned by name and whose rapacious and criminal action had been instrumental in provoking the rebellion, should be forbidden ever again to enter the limbang river; that a free pardon should be granted to the rebels. accompanied by inche mahomet and with some bisaya interpreters, i proceeded up the limbang river, on the 21st october, in a steam-launch, towing the boats of pangeran istri nagara and of the datu ahamat, who were deputed to accompany us and represent the brunai government. several hundred of the natives assembled to meet us, and the government conditions were read out and explained. it was evident that the people found it difficult to place much reliance in the promises of the rajas, although the document was formally attested by the seals of the sultan and of his three ministers, and a duplicate had been prepared for them to keep in their custody for future reference. it was seen, too, that there were a number of muhammadans in the crowd who appeared adverse to the acceptance of the terms offered, and, doubtless, many of them were acting at the instigation of the tumonggong's party, who by no means relished so peaceful a solution of the difficulties their chief's action had brought about. whilst the conference was still going on and the various clauses of the _firman_ were being debated, news arrived that the rajas had, in the basest manner, let loose the trusan muruts on the district the day we had sailed for the limbang, and that these wretches had murdered and carried off the heads of four women, two of whom were pregnant, and two young unmarried girls and of two men who were at work in their gardens. this treacherous action was successful in breaking up the meeting, and was not far from causing the massacre of at any rate the brunai portion of our party, and the pangeran and the datu quickly betook themselves to their boats and scuttled off to brunai not waiting for the steam-launch. but we determined not to be beaten by the rajas' manoeuvres, and so, though a letter reached me from the sultan warning me of what had occurred and urging me to return to brunai, we stuck to our posts, and ultimately were rewarded by the bisayas returning and the majority of their principal chiefs signing, or rather marking the document embodying their new constitution, as it might be termed, in token of their acquiescence--a result which should be placed to the credit of the indefatigable inche mahomet, whose services i am happy to say were specially recognised in a despatch from the foreign office. returning to brunai, i demanded the release of datu klassie, as had been agreed upon, but it was only after i had made use of very plain language to his messengers that the tumonggong gave orders for his release and that of his wife, whom i had the pleasure of taking up the river and restoring to their friends. h. m. s. _pegasus_ calling at labuan soon afterwards, i seized the opportunity to request captain bickford to make a little demonstration in brunai, which was not often visited by a man-of-war, with the double object of restoring confidence to the british subjects there and the traders generally and of exacting a public apology for the disgraceful conduct of the government in allowing the muruts to attack the limbang people while we were up that river. captain bickford at once complied with my request, and, as the _pegasus_ drew too much water to cross the bar, the boats were manned and armed and towed up to the city by a steam-launch. it was rather a joke against me that the launch which towed up the little flotilla designed to overawe brunai was sent for the occasion by one of the principal ministers of the sultan. it was placed at my disposal by the pangeran di gadong, who was then a bitter enemy of the tumonggong, and glad to witness his discomfiture. this was on the 3rd november, 1884. with reference to the heads taken on the occasion mentioned above, i may add that the muruts were allowed to retain them, and the disgusting sight was to be seen, at one of the watering places in the town, of these savages "cooking" and preparing the heads for keeping in their houses. as the brunai government was weak and powerless, i am of opinion that the agreement with the limbang people might have been easily worked had the british government thought it worth while to insist upon its observance. as it was, hostilities did cease, the headmen came down and visited the old sultan, and trade recommenced. in june, 1885, sultan mumim died, at the age, according to native statements, which are very unreliable on such points, of 114 years, and was succeeded by the tumonggong, who was proclaimed sultan on the 5th june of the same year, when i had the honour of being present at the ceremony, which was not of an imposing character. the new sultan did not forget the mortifying treatment he had received at the hands of the limbang people, and refused to receive their chiefs. he retained, too, in his own hands the appointment of tumonggong, and with it the rights of that office over the limbang river, and it became the interest of many different parties to prevent the completion of the pacification of that district. the gentleman for whom i had been acting as consul-general soon afterwards returned to his post. in may, 1887, sir frederick weld, governor of the straits settlements, was despatched to brunai by her majesty's government, on a special mission, to report on the affairs of the brunai sultanate and as to recent cessions of territory made, or in course of negotiation, to the british north borneo company and to sarawak. his report has not been yet made public. there were at one time grave objections to allowing raja brooke to extend his territory, as there was no guarantee that some one of his successors might not prefer a life of inglorious ease in england to the task of governing natives in the tropics, and sell his kingdom to the highest bidder--say france or germany; but if the british protectorate over sarawak is formally proclaimed, there would appear to be no reasonable objection to the brookes establishing their government in such other districts as the sultan may see good of his own free will to cede, but it should be the duty of the british government to see that their ally is fairly treated and that any cessions he may make are entirely voluntary and not brought about by coercion in any form--direct or indirect. chapter vi. the british colony of labuan was obtained by cession from the sultan of brunai and was in the shape of a _quid pro quo_ for assistance in suppressing piracy in the neighbouring seas, which the brunai government was supposed to have at heart, but in all probability, the real reason of the willingness on the sultan's part to cede it was his desire to obtain a powerful ally to assist him in reasserting his authority in many parts of the north and west portions of his dominions, where the allegiance of the people had been transferred to the sultan of sulu and to illanun and balinini piratical leaders. it was a similar reason which, in 1774, induced the brunai government to grant to the east india company the monopoly of the trade in pepper, and is explained in mr. jesse's letter to the court of directors as follows. he says that he found the reason of their unanimous inclination to cultivate the friendship and alliance of the company was their desire for "protection from their piratical neighbours, the sulus and mindanaos, and others, who make continual depredations on their coast, by taking advantage of their natural timidity." the first connection of the british with labuan was on the occasion of their being expelled by the sulus from balambangan, in 1775, when they took temporary refuge on the island. in 1844, captain sir edward belcher visited brunai to enquire into rumours of the detention of a european female in the country--rumours which proved to be unfounded. sir james brooke accompanied him, and on this occasion the sultan, who had been terrified by a report that his capital was to be attacked by a british squadron of sixteen or seventeen vessels, addressed a document, in conjunction with raja muda hassim, to the queen of england, requesting her aid "for the suppression of piracy and the encouragement and extension of trade; and to assist in forwarding these objects they are willing to cede, to the queen of england, the island of labuan, and its islets on such terms as may hereafter be arranged by any person appointed by her majesty. the sultan and the raja muda hassim consider that an english settlement on labuan will be of great service to the natives of the coast, and will draw a considerable trade from the northward, and from china; and should her majesty the queen of england decide upon the measure, the sultan and the raja muda hassim promise to afford every assistance to the english authorities." in february of the following year, the sultan and raja muda hassim, in a letter accepting sir james brooke as her majesty's agent in borneo, without specially mentioning labuan, expressed their adherence to their former declarations, conveyed through sir edward belcher, and asked for immediate assistance "to protect borneo from the pirates of marudu," a bay situated at the northern extremity of borneo--assistance which was rendered in the following august, when the village of marudu was attacked and destroyed, though it is perhaps open to doubt whether the chief, osman, quite deserved the punishment he received. on the 1st march of the same year (1845) the sultan verbally asked sir james brooke whether and at what time the english proposed to take possession of labuan. then followed the episode already narrated of the murder by the sultan of raja muda hassim and his family and the taking of brunai by admiral cochrane's squadron. in november, 1846, instructions were received in singapore, from lord palmerston, to take possession of labuan, and captain rodney mundy was selected for this service. he arrived in brunai in december, and gives an amusing account of how he proceeded to carry out his orders and obtain the _voluntary_ cession of the island. as a preliminary, he sent "lieutenant little in charge of the boats of the _iris_ and _wolf_, armed with twenty marines, to the capital, with orders to moor them in line of battle opposite the sultan's palace, and to await my arrival." on reaching the palace, captain mundy produced a brief document, to which he requested the sultan to affix his seal, and which provided for eternal friendship between the two countries, and for the cession of labuan, in consideration of which the queen engaged to use her best endeavours to suppress piracy and protect lawful commerce. the document of 1844 had stated that labuan would be ceded "on such terms as may hereafter be arranged," and a promise to suppress piracy, the profits in which were shared by the sultan and his nobles, was by no means regarded by them as a fair set off; it was a condition with which they would have readily dispensed. the sultan ventured to remark that the present treaty was different to the previous one, and that a money payment was required in exchange for the cession of territory. captain mundy replied that the former treaty had been broken when her majesty's ships were fired on by the brunai forts, and "at last i turned to the sultan, and exclaimed firmly, 'bobo chop bobo chop!' followed up by a few other malay words, the tenor of which was, that i recommended his majesty to put his seal forthwith." and he did so. captain mundy hoisted the british flag at labuan on the 24th december, 1846, and there still exists at labuan in the place where it was erected by the gallant captain, a granite slab, with an inscription recording the fact of the formal taking possession of the island in her majesty's name. in the following year, sir james brooke was appointed the first governor of the new colony, retaining his position as the british representative in brunai, and being also the ruler of sarawak, the independence of which was not formally recognised by the english government until the year 1863. sir james was assisted at labuan by a lieutenant-governor and staff of european officers, who on their way through singapore are said to have somewhat offended the susceptibilities of the officials of that settlement by pointing to the fact that they were queen's officers, whereas the straits settlements were at that time still under the government of the east india company. sir james brooke held the position of governor until 1851, and the post has since been filled by such well-known administrators as sir hugh low, sir john pope hennessy, sir henry e. bulwer and sir charles lees, but the expectations formed at its foundation have never been realized and the little colony appears to be in a moribund condition, the governorship having been left unfilled since 1881. on the 27th may, 1847, sir james brooke concluded the treaty with the sultan of brunai which is still in force. labuan is situated off the mouth of the brunai river and has an area of thirty square miles. it was uninhabited when we took it, being only occasionally visited by fishermen. it was then covered, like all tropical countries, whether the soil is rich or poor, with dense forest, some of the trees being valuable as timber, but most of this has since been destroyed, partly by the successive coal companies, who required large quantities of timber for their mines, but chiefly by the destructive mode of cultivation practised by the kadyans and other squatters from borneo, who were allowed to destroy the forest for a crop or two of rice, the soil, except in the flooded plains, being not rich enough to carry more than one or two such harvests under such primitive methods of agriculture as only are known to the natives. the lands so cleared were deserted and were soon covered with a strong growth of fern and coarse useless _lalang_ grass, difficult to eradicate, and it is well known that, when a tropical forest is once destroyed and the land left to itself, the new jungle which may in time spring up rarely contains any of the valuable timber trees which composed the original forest. a few cargoes of timber were also exported by chinese to hongkong. great hopes were entertained that the establishment of a european government and a free port on an island lying alongside so rich a country as borneo would result in its becoming an emporium and collecting station for the various products of, at any rate, the northern and western portions of this country and perhaps, too, of the sulu archipelago. many causes prevented the realization of these hopes. in the first place, no successful efforts were made to restore good government on the mainland, and without a fairly good government and safety to life and property, trade could not be developed. then again labuan was overshaded by the prosperous colony of singapore, which is the universal emporium for all these islands, and, with the introduction of steamers, it was soon found that only the trade of the coast immediately opposite to labuan could be depended upon, that of the rest' including sarawak and the city of brunai, going direct to singapore, for which port labuan became a subsidiary and unimportant collecting station. the spanish authorities did what they could to prevent trade with the sulu islands, and, on the signing of the protocol between that country and great britain and germany freeing the trade from restrictions, sulu produce has been carried by steamers direct to singapore. since 1881, the british north borneo company having opened ports to the north, the greater portion of the trade of their possessions likewise finds its way direct by steamers to the same port. labuan has never shipped cargoes direct to england, and its importance as a collecting station for singapore is now diminishing, for the reasons above-mentioned. most or a large portion of the trade that now falls to its share comes from the southern portion of the british north borneo company's territories, from which it is distant, at the nearest point, only about six miles, and the most reasonable solution of the labuan question would certainly appear to be the proclamation of a british protectorate over north borneo, to which, under proper guarantees, might be assigned the task of carrying on the government of labuan, a task which it could easily and economically undertake, having a sufficiently well organised staff ready to hand.[13] by the royal charter it is already provided that the appointment of the company's governor in borneo is subject to the sanction of her majesty's secretary of state, and the two officers hitherto selected have been colonial servants, whose service have been _lent_ by the colonial office to the company. the census taken in 1881 gives the total population of labuan as 5,995, but it has probably decreased considerably since that time. the number of chinese supposed to be settled there is about 300 or 400--traders, shopkeepers, coolies and sago-washers; the preparation of sago flour from the raw sago, or _lamuntah_, brought in from the mainland by the natives, being the principal industry of the island and employing three or four factories, in which no machinery is used. all the traders are only agents of singapore firms and are in a small way of business. there is no european firm, or shop, in the island. coal of good quality for raising steam is plentiful, especially at the north end of the island, and very sanguine expectations of the successful working of these coal measures were for a long time entertained, but have hitherto not been realised. the eastern archipelago company, with an ambitious title but too modest an exchequer, first attempted to open the mines soon after the british occupation, but failed, and has been succeeded by three others, all i believe scotch, the last one stopping operations in 1878. the cause of failure seems to have been the same in each case--insufficient capital, local mismanagement, difficulty in obtaining labour. in a country with a rainfall of perhaps over 120 inches a year, water was naturally another difficulty in the deep workings, but this might have been very easily overcome had the companies been in a position to purchase sufficiently powerful pumping engines. there were three workable seams of coal, one of them, i think, twelve feet in thickness; the quality of the coal, though inferior to welsh, was superior to australian, and well reported on by the engineers of many steamers which had tried it; the vessels of the china squadron and the numerous steamers engaged in the far east offered a ready market for the coal. in their effort to make a "show," successive managers have pretty nearly exhausted the surface workings and so honeycombed the seams with their different systems of developing their resources, that it would be, perhaps, a difficult and expensive undertaking for even a substantial company to make much of them now.[14] it is needless to add that the failure to develop this one internal resource of labuan was a great blow to the colony, and on the cessation of the last company's operations the revenue immediately declined, a large number of workmen--european, chinese and natives--being thrown out of employment, necessitating the closing of the shops in which they spent their wages. it was found that both chinese and the natives of borneo proved capital miners under european supervision. notwithstanding the ill-luck that has attended it, the little colony has not been a burden on the british tax-payer since the year 1860, but has managed to collect a revenue--chiefly from opium, tobacco, spirits, pawnbroking and fish "farms" and from land rents and land sales--sufficient to meet its small expenditure, at present about £4,000 a year. there have been no british troops quartered in this island since 1871, and the only armed force is the native constabulary, numbering, i think, a dozen rank and file. very seldom are the inhabitants cheered by the welcome visit of a british gunboat. still, all the formality of a british crown colony is kept up. the administrator is by his subjects styled "his excellency" and the members of the legislative council, native and europeans, are addressed as the "honourable so and so." an officer, as may be supposed, has to play many parts. the present treasurer, for instance, is an ex-lieutenant of her majesty's navy, and is at the same time harbour master, postmaster, coroner, police magistrate, likewise a judge of the supreme court, superintendent of convicts, surveyor-general, and clerk to the legislative council, and occasionally has, i believe, to write official letters of reprimand or encouragement from himself in one capacity to himself in another. the best thing about labuan is, perhaps, the excellence of its fruit, notably of its pumeloes, oranges and mangoes, for which the colony is indebted to the present sir hugh low, who was one of the first officials under sir james brooke, and a man who left no stone unturned in his efforts to promote the prosperity of the island. his name was known far and wide in northern borneo and in the sulu archipelago. as an instance, i was once proceeding up a river in the island of basilan, to the north of sulu, with captain c. e. buckle, r.n., in two boats of h. m. s. _frolic_, when the natives, whom we could not see, opened fire on us from the banks. i at once jumped up and shouted out that we were mr. low's friends from labuan, and in a very short time we were on friendly terms with the natives, who conducted us to their village. they had thought we might be spaniards, and did not think it worth while to enquire before tiring. the mention of the _frolic_ reminds me that on the termination of a somewhat lengthy cruise amongst the sulu islands, then nominally undergoing blockade by spanish cruisers, we were returning to labuan through the difficult and then only partially surveyed malawalli channel, and after dinner we were congratulating one another on having been so safely piloted through so many dangers, when before the words were out of our mouths, we felt a shock and found ourselves fast on an unmarked rock which has since had the honour of bearing the name of our good little vessel. besides mr. low's fruit garden, the only other european attempt at planting was made by my cousin, dr. treacher, colonial surgeon, who purchased an outlying island and opened a coco-nut plantation. i regret to say that in neither case, owing to the decline of the colony, was the enterprise of the pioneers adequately rewarded. labuan[15] at one time boasted a colonial chaplain and gave its name to the bishop's see; but in 1872 or 1873, the church was "disestablished" and the few european officials who formed the congregation were unable to support a clergyman. there exists a pretty little wooden church, and the same indefatigable officer, whom i have described as filling most of the government appointments in the colony, now acts as unpaid chaplain, having been licensed thereto by the bishop of singapore and sarawak, and reads the service and even preaches a sermon every sunday to a congregation which rarely numbers half a dozen. footnotes: [footnote 13: my suggestion has taken shape more quickly than i expected. in 1889 labuan was put under the administration of the company.] [footnote 14: since the above was written, a fifth company--the central borneo company, limited, of london--has taken in hand the labuan coal and, finding plenty of coal to work on without sinking a shaft, confidently anticipate success. their £1 shares recently went up to £4.] [footnote 15: the administration of this little crown colony has since been entrusted to the british north borneo company, their present governor, mr. c. v. creagh, having been gazetted governor of labuan.] chapter vii. the mode of acquisition of british north borneo has been referred to in former pages; it was by cession for annual money payments to the sultans of brunai and of sulu, who had conflicting claims to be the paramount power in the northern portion of borneo. the actual fact was that neither of them exercised any real government or authority over by far the greater portion, the inhabitants of the coast on the various rivers following any brunai, illanun, bajau, or sulu chief who had sufficient force of character to bring himself to the front. the pagan tribes of the interior owned allegiance to neither sultan, and were left to govern themselves, the muhammadan coast people considering them fair game for plunder and oppression whenever opportunity occurred, and using all their endeavours to prevent chinese and other foreign traders from reaching them, acting themselves as middlemen, buying (bartering) at very cheap rates from the aborigines and selling for the best price they could obtain to the foreigner. i believe i am right in saying that the idea of forming a company, something after the manner of the east india company, to take over and govern north borneo, originated in the following manner. in 1865 mr. moses, the unpaid consul for the united sates in brunai, to whom reference has been made before, acquired with his friends from the sultan of brunai some concessions of territory with the right to govern and collect revenues, their idea being to introduce chinese and establish a colony. this they attempted to carry out on a small scale in the kimanis river, on the west coast, but not having sufficient capital the scheme collapsed, but the concession was retained. mr. moses subsequently lost his life at sea, and a colonel torrey became the chief representative of the american syndicate. he was engaged in business in china, where he met baron von overbeck, a merchant of hongkong and austrian consul-general, and interested him in the scheme. in 1875 the baron visited borneo in company with the colonel, interviewed the sultan of brunai, and made enquiries as to the validity of the concessions, with apparently satisfactory results, mr. alfred dent[16] was also a china merchant well known in shanghai, and he in turn was interested in the idea by baron overbeck. thinking there might be something in the scheme, he provided the required capital, chartered a steamer, the _america_, and authorised baron overbeck to proceed to brunai to endeavour, with colonel torrey's assistance, to induce the sultan and his ministers to transfer the american cessions to himself and the baron, or rather to cancel the previous ones and make out new ones in their favour and that of their heirs, associates, successors and assigns for so long as they should choose or desire to hold them. baron von overbeck was accompanied by colonel torrey and a staff of three europeans, and, on settling some arrears due by the american company, succeeded in accomplishing the objects of his mission, after protracted and tedious negotiations, and obtained a "chop" from the sultan nominating and appointing him supreme ruler, "with the title of maharaja of sabah (north borneo) and raja of gaya and sandakan, with power of life and death over the inhabitants, with all the absolute rights of property vested in the sultan over the soil of the country, and the right to dispose of the same, as well as of the rights over the productions of the country, whether mineral, vegetable, or animal, with the rights of making laws, coining money, creating an army and navy, levying customs rates on home and foreign trade and shipping, and other dues and taxes on the inhabitants as to him might seem good or expedient, together with all other powers and rights usually exercised by and belonging to sovereign rulers, and which the sultan thereby delegated to him of his own free will; and the sultan called upon all foreign nations, with whom he had formed friendly treaties and alliances, to acknowledge the said maharaja as the sultan himself in the said territories and to respect his authority therein; and in the case of the death or retirement from the said office of the said maharaja, then his duly appointed successor in the office of supreme ruler and governor-in-chief of the company's territories in borneo should likewise succeed to the office and title of maharaja of sabah and raja of gaya and sandakan, and all the powers above enumerated be vested in him." i am quoting from the preamble to the royal charter. some explanation of the term "sabah" as applied to the territory--a term which appears in the prayer book version of the 72nd psalm, verse 10, "the kings of arabia and sabah shall bring gifts"--seems called for, but i regret to say i have not been able to obtain a satisfactory one from the brunai people, who use it in connection only with a small portion of the west coast of borneo, north of the brunai river. perhaps the following note, which i take from mr. w. e. maxwell's "manual of the malay language," may have some slight bearing on the point:--"sawa, jawa, saba, jaba, zaba, etc., has evidently in all times been the capital local name in indonesia. the whole archipelago was pressed into an island of that name by the hindus and romans. even in the time of marco polo we have only a java major and a java minor. the bugis apply the name of jawa, _jawaka_ (comp. the polynesian _sawaiki_, ceramese _sawai_) to the moluccas. one of the principal divisions of battaland in sumatra is called _tanah_ jawa. ptolemy has both jaba and saba."--"logan, journ. ind. arch., iv, 338." in the brunai use of the term, there is always some idea of a northerly direction; for instance, i have heard a brunai man who was passing from the south to the northern side of his river, say he was going _saba_. when the company's government was first inaugurated, the territory was, in official documents, mentioned as sabah, a name which is still current amongst the natives, to whom the now officially accepted designation of _north borneo_ is meaningless and difficult of pronunciation. having settled with the brunai authorities, baron von overbeck next proceeded to sulu, and found the sultan driven out of his capital, sugh or jolo, by the spaniards, with whom he was still at war, and residing at maibun, in the principal island of the sulu archipelago. after brief negotiations, the sultan made to baron von overbeck and mr. alfred dent a grant of his rights and powers over the territories and lands tributary to him on the mainland of the island of borneo, from the pandassan river on the north west coast to the sibuko river on the east, and further invested the baron, or his duly appointed successor in the office of supreme ruler of the company's territories in borneo, with the high sounding titles of datu bandahara and raja of sandakan. on a company being formed to work the concessions, baron von overbeck resigned these titles from the brunai and sulu potentates and they have not since been made use of, and the baron himself terminated his connection with the country. the grant from the sultan of sulu bears date the 22nd january, 1878, and on the 22nd july of the same year he signed a treaty, or act of re-submission to spain. the spanish government claimed that, by previous treaties with sulu, the suzerainty of spain over sulu and its dependencies in borneo had been recognised and that consequently the grant to mr. dent was void. the british government did not, however, fall in with this view, and in the early part of 1879, being then acting consul-general in borneo, i was despatched to sulu and to different points in north borneo to publish, on behalf of our government, a protest against the claim of spain to any portion of the country. in march, 1885, a protocol was signed by which, in return for the recognition by england and germany of spanish sovereignty throughout the archipelago of sulu, spain renounced all claims of sovereignty over territories on the continent of borneo which had belonged to the sultan of sulu, including the islands of balambangan, banguey and malawali, as well as all those comprised within a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast. holland also strenuously objected to the cessions and to their recognition, on the ground that the general tenor of the treaty of london of 1824 shews that a mixed occupation by england and the netherlands of any island in the indian archipelago ought to be avoided. it is impossible to discover anything in the treaty which bears out this contention. borneo itself is not mentioned by name in the document, and the following clauses are the only ones regulating the future establishment of new settlements in the eastern seas by either power:--"article 6. it is agreed that orders shall be given by the two governments to their officers and agents in the east not to form any new settlements on any of the islands in the eastern seas, without previous authority from their respective governments in europe. art. 12. his britannic majesty, however, engages, that no british establishment shall be made on the carimon islands or on the islands of battam, bintang, lingin, or on any of the other islands south of the straits of singapore, nor any treaty concluded by british authority with the chiefs of those islands." without doubt, if holland in 1824 had been desirous of prohibiting any british settlement in the island of borneo, such prohibition would have been expressed in this treaty. true, perhaps half of this great island is situated south of the straits of singapore, but the island cannot therefore be correctly said to lie to the south of the straits and, at any rate, such a business-like nation as the dutch would have noticed a weak point here and have included borneo in the list with battam and the other islands enumerated. such was the view taken by mr. gladstone's cabinet, and lord granville informed the dutch minister in 1882 that the xiith article of the treaty could not be taken to apply to borneo, and "that as a a matter of international right they would have no ground to object even to the absolute annexation of north borneo by great britain," and, moreover, as pointed out by his lordship, the british had already a settlement in borneo, namely the island of labuan, ceded by the sultan of brunai in 1845 and confirmed by him in the treaty of 1847. the case of raja brooke in sarawak was also practically that of a british settlement in borneo. lord granville closed the discussion by stating that the grant of the charter does not in any way imply the assumption of sovereign rights in north borneo, _i.e._, on the part of the british government. there the matter rested, but now that the government is proposing[17] to include british north borneo, brunai and sarawak under a formal "british protectorate," the netherlands government is again raising objections, which they must be perfectly aware are groundless. it will be noted that the dutch do not lay any claim to north borneo themselves, having always recognized it as pertaining, with the sulu archipelago, to the spanish crown. it is only to the presence of the british government in north borneo that any objection is raised. in a "resolution" of the minister of state, governor-general of netherlands india, dated 28th february, 1846, occurs the following:--"the parts of borneo on which the netherlands does not exercise any influence are:- _a._ the states of the sultan of brunai or borneo proper; * * * * * * _b._ the state of the sultan of the sulu islands, having for boundaries on the west, the river kimanis, the north and north-east coasts as far as 3° n.l., where it is bounded by the river atas, forming the extreme frontier towards the north with the state of berow dependant on the netherlands. _c._ all the islands of the northern coasts of borneo." knowing this, mr. alfred dent put the limit of his cession from sulu at the sibuku river, the south bank of which is in n. lat. 4° 5'; but towards the end of 1879, that is, long after the date of the cession, the dutch hoisted their flag at batu tinagat in n. lat. 4° 19', thereby claiming the sibuko and other rivers ceded by the sultan of sulu to the british company. the dispute is still under consideration by our foreign office, but in september, 1883, in order to practically assert the company's claims, i, as their governor, had a very pleasant trip in a very small steam launch and steaming at full speed past two dutch gun-boats at anchor, landed at the south bank of the sibuko, temporarily hoisted the north borneo flag, fired a _feu-de-joie_, blazed a tree, and returning, exchanged visits with the dutch gun-boats, and entertained the dutch controlleur at dinner. having carefully given the commander of one of the gun-boats the exact bearings of the blazed tree, he proceeded in hot haste to the spot, and, i believe, exterminated the said tree. the dutch government complained of our having violated netherlands territory, and matters then resumed their usual course, the dutch station at batu tinagat, or rather at the tawas river, being maintained unto this day. as is hereafter explained, the cession of coast line from the sultan of brunai was not a continuous one, there being breaks on the west coast in the case of a few rivers which were not included. the annual tribute to be paid to the sultan was fixed at $12,000, and to the pangeran tumonggong $3,000--extravagantly large sums when it is considered that his highness' revenue per annum from the larger portion of the territory ceded was _nil_. in march, 1881, through negotiations conducted by mr. a. h. everett, these sums were reduced to more reasonable proportions, namely, $5,000 in the case of the sultan, and $2,500 in that of the tumonggong. the intermediate rivers which were not included in the sultan's cession belonged to chiefs of the blood royal, and the sultan was unwilling to order them to be ceded, but in 1883 resident davies procured the cession from one of these chiefs of the pangalat river for an annual payment of $300, and subsequently the putalan river was acquired for $1,000 per annum, and the kawang river and the mantanani islands for lump sums of $1,300 and $350 respectively. in 1884, after prolonged negotiations, i was also enabled to obtain the cession of an important province on the west coast, to the south of the original boundary, to which the name of dent province has been given, and which includes the padas and kalias rivers, and in the same deed of cession were also included two rivers which had been excepted in the first grant--the tawaran and the bangawan. the annual tribute under this cession is $3,100. the principal rivers within the company's boundaries still unleased are the kwala lama, membakut, inanam and menkabong. for fiscal reasons, and for the better prevention of the smuggling of arms and ammunition for sale to head-hunting tribes, it is very desirable that the government of these remaining independent rivers should be acquired by the company. on the completion of the negotiations with the two sultans, baron von overbeck, who was shortly afterwards joined by mr. dent, hoisted his flag--the house flag of mr. dent's firm--at sandakan, on the east coast, and at tampassuk and pappar on the west, leaving at each a european, with a few so-called police to represent the new government, agents from the sultans of sulu and brunai accompanying him to notify to the people that the supreme power had been transferred to europeans. the common people heard the announcement with their usual apathy, but the officer left in charge had a difficult part to play with the headmen who, in the absence of any strong central government, had practically usurped the functions of government in many of the rivers. these chiefs feared, and with reason, that not only would their importance vanish, but that trade with the inland tribes would be thrown open to all, and slave dealing be put a stop to under the new regime. at sandakan, the sultan's former governor refused to recognise the changed position of affairs, but he had a resolute man to deal with in mr. w. b. pryer, and before he could do much harm, he lost his life by the capsizing of his prahu while on a trading voyage. at tampassuk, mr. pretyman, the resident, had a very uncomfortable post, being in the midst of lawless, cattle-lifting and slave-dealing bajaus and illanuns. he, with the able assistance of mr. f. x. witti, an ex-naval officer of the austrian service, who subsequently lost his life while exploring in the interior, and by balancing one tribe against another, managed to retain his position without coming to blows, and, on his relinquishing the service a few months afterwards, the arduous task of representing the government without the command of any force to back up his authority developed on mr. witti. in the case of the pappar river, the former chief, datu bahar, declined to relinquish his position, and assumed a very defiant attitude. i was at that time in the labuan service, and i remember proceeding to pappar in an english man-of-war, in consequence of the disquieting rumours which had reached us, and finding the resident, mr. a. h. everett, on one side of the small river with his house strongly blockaded and guns mounted in all available positions, and the datu on the other side of the stream, immediately opposite to him, similarly armed to the teeth. but not a shot was fired, and datu bahar is now a peaceable subject of the company. the most difficult problem, however, which these officers had to solve was that of keeping order, or trying to do so, amongst a lawless people, with whom for years past might had been right, and who considered kidnapping and cattle-lifting the occupations of honourable and high spirited gentlemen. that they effected what they did, that they kept the new flag flying and prepared the way for the government of the company, reflects the highest credit upon their pluck and diplomatic ingenuity, for they had neither police nor steam launches, nor the prestige which would have attached to them had they been representatives of the british government, and under the well known british flag. they commenced their work with none of the _éclat_ which surrounded sir james brooke in sarawak, where he found the people in successful rebellion against the sultan of brunai, and was himself recognised as an agent of the british government, so powerful that he could get the queen's ships to attack the head hunting pirates, killing such numbers of them that, as i have said, the head money claimed and awarded by the british government reached the sum of £20,000. on the other hand, it is but fair to add that the fame of sir james' exploits and the action taken by her majesty's vessels, on his advice, in north-west borneo years before, had inspired the natives with a feeling of respect for englishmen which must have been a powerful factor in favour of the newly appointed officers. the native tribes, too, inhabiting north borneo were more sub-divided, less warlike, and less powerful than those of sarawak. the promoters of the scheme were fortunate in obtaining the services, for the time being, as their chief representative in the east of mr. w. h. read, c.m.g., an old friend of sir james brooke, and who, as a member of the legislative council of singapore, and consul-general for the netherlands, had acquired an intimate knowledge of the malay character and of the resources, capabilities and needs of malayan countries. on his return to england, mr. dent found that, owing to the opposition of the dutch and spanish governments, and to the time required for a full consideration of the subject by her majesty's ministers, there would be a considerable delay before a royal charter could be issued, meanwhile, the expenditure of the embryo government in borneo was not inconsiderable, and it was determined to form a "provisional association" to carry on till a chartered company could be formed. mr. dent found an able supporter in sir rutherford alcock, k.c.b., who energetically advocated the scheme from patriotic motives, recognising the strategic and commercial advantages of the splendid harbours of north borneo and the probability of the country becoming in the near future a not unimportant outlet for english commerce, now so heavily weighted by prohibitive tariffs in europe and america. the british north borneo provisional association limited, was formed in 1881, with a capital of £300,000, the directors being sir rutherford alcock, mr. a. dent, mr. r. b. martin, admiral mayne, and mr. w. h. read. the association acquired from the original lessees the grants and commissions from the sultans, with the object of disposing of these territories, lands and property to a company to be incorporated by royal charter. this charter passed the great seal on the 1st november, 1881, and constituted and incorporated the gentlemen above-mentioned as "the british north borneo company." the provisional association was dissolved, and the chartered company started on its career in may, 1882. the nominal capital was two million pounds, in £20 shares, but the number of shares issued, including 4,500 fully paid ones representing £90,000 to the vendors, was only 33,030, equal to £660,600, but on 23,449 of these shares only £12 have so far been called up. the actual cash, therefore, which the company has had to work with and to carry on the development of the country from the point at which the original concessionaires and the provisional association had left it, is, including some £1,000 received for shares forfeited, about £384,000, and they have a right of call for £187,592 more. the charter gave official recognition to the concessions from the native princes, conferred extensive powers on the company as a corporate body, provided for the just government of the natives and for the gradual abolition of slavery, and reserved to the crown the right of disapproving of the person selected by the company to be their governor in the east, and of controlling the company's dealings with any foreign power. the charter also authorised the company to use a distinctive flag, indicating the british character of the undertaking, and the one adopted, following the example of the english colonies, is the british flag, "defaced," as it is termed, with the company's badge--a lion. i have little doubt that this selection of the british flag, in lieu of the one originally made use of, had a considerable effect in imbuing the natives with an idea of the stability and permanence of the company's government. mr. dent's house flag was unknown to them before and, on the west coast, many thought that the company's presence in the country might be only a brief one, like that of its predecessor, the american syndicate, and, consequently, were afraid to tender their allegiance, since, on the company's withdrawal, they would be left to the tender mercies of their former chiefs. but the british flag was well-known to those of them who were traders, and they had seen it flying for many a year in the colony of labuan and on board the vessels which had punished their piratical acts in former days. then, too, i was soon able to organise a police force mainly composed of sikhs, and was provided with a couple of steam-launches. owing doubtless to that and other causes, the refractory chiefs, soon after the company's formation, appeared to recognize that the game of opposition to the new order of things was a hopeless one. footnotes: [footnote 16: now sir alfred dent, k.c.m.g.] [footnote 17: the protectorate has since been proclaimed.] chapter viii. the area of the territory ceded by the original grants was estimated at 20,000 square miles, but the additions which have been already mentioned now bring it up to about 31,000 square miles, including adjacent islands, so that it is somewhat larger than ceylon, which is credited with only 25,365 square miles. in range of latitude, in temperature and in rainfall, north borneo presents many points of resemblance to ceylon, and it was at first thought that it might be possible to attract to the new country some of the surplus capital, energy and aptitude for planting which had been the foundation of ceylon's prosperity. even the expression "the new ceylon" was employed as an alternative designation for the country, and a description of it under that title was published by the well known writer--mr. joseph hatton. these hopes have not so far been realized, but on the other hand north borneo is rapidly becoming a second sumatra, dutchmen, germans and some english having discovered the suitability of its soil and climate for producing tobacco of a quality fully equal to the famed deli leaf of that island. the coast line of the territory is about one thousand miles, and a glance at the map will shew that it is furnished with capital harbours, of which the principal are gaya bay on the west, kudat in marudu bay on the north, and sandakan harbour on the east. there are several others, but at those enumerated the company have opened their principal stations. of the three mentioned, the more striking is that of sandakan, which is 15 miles in length, with a width varying from 11 miles, at its entrance, to 5 miles at the broadest part. it is here that the present capital is situated--sandakan, a town containing a population of not more than 5,000 people, of whom perhaps thirty are europeans and a thousand chinese., for its age, sandakan has suffered serious vicissitudes. it was founded by mr. pryer, in 1878, well up the bay, but was soon afterwards burnt to the ground. it was then transferred to its present position, nearer the mouth of the harbour, but in may, 1886, the whole of what was known as the "old town" was utterly consumed by fire; in about a couple of hours there being nothing left of the _atap_-built shops and houses but the charred piles and posts on which they had been raised above the ground. when a fire has once laid hold of an atap town, probably no exertions would much avail to check it; certainly our chinese held this opinion, and it was impossible to get them to move hand or foot in assisting the europeans and police in their efforts to confine its ravages to as limited an area as possible. they entertain the idea that such futile efforts tend only to aggravate the evil spirits and increase their fury. the hindu shopkeepers were successful in saving their quarter of the town by means of looking glasses, long prayers and chants. it is now forbidden to any one to erect atap houses in the town, except in one specified area to which such structures are confined. most of the present houses are of plank, with tile, or corrugated iron roofs, and the majority of the shops are built over the sea, on substantial wooden piles, some of the principal "streets," including that to which the ambitious name of "the praya" has been given, being similarly constructed on piles raised three or four feet above high water mark. the reason is that, owing to the steep hills at the back of the site, there is little available flat land for building on, and, moreover, the pushing chinese trader always likes to get his shops as near as possible to the sea--the highway of the "prahus" which bring him the products of the neighbouring rivers and islands. in time, no doubt, the sandakan hills will be used to reclaim more land from the sea, and the town will cease to be an amphibious one. in the east there are, from a sanitary point of view, some points of advantage in having a tide-way passing under the houses. i should add that sandakan is a creation of the company's and not a native town taken over by them. when mr. pryer first hoisted his flag, there was only one solitary chinaman and no europeans in the harbour, though at one time, during the spanish blockade of sulu, a singapore firm had established a trading station, known as "kampong german," using it as their head-quarters from which to run the blockade of sulu, which they successfully did for some considerable time, to their no small gain and advantage. the success attending the germans' venture excited the emulation of the chinese traders of labuan, who found their valuable sulu trade cut off and, through the good offices of the government of the colony, they were enabled to charter the sultan of brunai's smart little yacht the _sultana_, and engaging the services as captain of an ex-member of the labuan legislative council, they endeavoured to enact the roll of blockade runner. after a trip or two, however, the _sultana_ was taken by the spaniards, snugly at anchor in a sulu harbour, the captain and crew having time to make their escape. as she was not under the british flag, the poor sultan could obtain no redress, although the blockade was not recognised as effective by the european powers and english and german vessels, similarly seized, had been restored to their owners. the _sultana_ proved a convenient despatch boat for the spanish authorities. the sultan of sulu to prove his friendship to the labuan traders, had an unfortunate man cut to pieces with krisses, on the charge of having betrayed the vessel's position to the blockading cruisers. sandakan is one of the few places in borneo which has been opened and settled without much fever and sickness ensuing, and this was due chiefly to the soil being poor and sandy and to there being an abundance of good, fresh, spring water. it may be stated, as a general rule, that the richer the soil the more deadly will be the fever the pioneers will have to encounter when the primeval jungle is first felled and the sun's rays admitted to the virgin soil. sandakan is the principal trading station in the company's territory, but with hongkong only 1,200 miles distant in one direction, manila 600 miles in another, and singapore 1,000 miles in a third, north borneo can never become an emporium for the trade of the surrounding countries and islands, and the court of directors must rest content with developing their own local trade and pushing forward, by wise and encouraging regulations, the planting interest, which seems to have already taken firm root in the country and which will prove to be the foundation of its future prosperity. gold and other minerals, including coal, are known to exist, but the mineralogical exploration of a country covered with forest and destitute of roads is a work requiring time, and we are not yet in a position to pronounce on north borneo's expectations in regard to its mineral wealth. the gold on the segama river, on the east coast, has been several times reported on, and has been proved to exist in sufficient quantities to, at any rate, well repay the labours of chinese gold diggers, but the district is difficult of access by water, and the chinese are deferring operations on a large scale until the government has constructed a road into the district. a european company has obtained mineral concessions on the river, but has not yet decided on its mode of operation, and individual european diggers have tried their luck on the fields, hitherto without meeting with much success, owing to heavy rains, sickness and the difficulty of getting up stores. the company will probably find that chinese diggers will not only stand the climate better, but will be more easily governed, be satisfied with smaller returns, and contribute as much or more than the europeans to the government treasury, by their consumption of opium, tobacco and other excisable articles, by fees for gold licenses, and so forth. another source of natural wealth lies in the virgin forest with which the greater portion of the country is clothed, down to the water's edge. many of the trees are valuable as timber, especially the _billian_, or borneo iron-wood tree, which is impervious to the attacks of white-ants ashore and almost equally so to those of the _teredo navalis_ afloat, and is wonderfully enduring of exposure to the tropical sun and the tropical downpours of rain. i do not remember having ever come across a bit of _billian_ that showed signs of decay during a residence of seventeen years in the east. the wood is very heavy and sinks in water, so that, in order to be shipped, it has to be floated on rafts of soft wood, of which there is an abundance of excellent quality, of which one kind--the red _serayah_--is likely to come into demand by builders in england. other of the woods, such as _mirabau_, _penagah_ and _rengas_, have good grain and take a fine polish, causing them to be suitable for the manufacture of furniture. the large tree which yields the camphor _barus_ of commerce also affords good timber. it is a _dryobalanops_, and is not to be confused with the _cinnamomum camphora_, from which the ordinary "camphor" is obtained and the wood of which retains the camphor smell and is largely used by the chinese in the manufacture of boxes, the scented wood keeping off ants and other insects which are a pest in the far east. the borneo camphor tree is found only in borneo and sumatra. the camphor which is collected for export, principally to china and india, by the natives, is found in a solid state in the trunk, but only in a small percentage of the trees, which are felled by the collectors. the price of this camphor _barus_ as it is termed, is said to be nearly a hundred times as much as that of the ordinary camphor, and it is used by the chinese and indians principally for embalming purposes. billian and other woods enumerated are all found near the coast and, generally, in convenient proximity to some stream, and so easily available for export. sandakan harbour has some thirteen rivers and streams running into it, and, as the native population is very small, the jungle has been scarcely touched, and no better locality could, therefore, be desired by a timber merchant. two european timber companies are now doing a good business there, and the chinese also take their share of the trade. china affords a ready and large market for borneo timber, being itself almost forestless, and for many years past it has received iron-wood from sarawak. borneo timber has also been exported to the straits settlements, australia and mauritius, and i hear that an order has been given for england. iron wood is only found in certain districts, notably in sandakan bay and on the east coast, being rarely met with on the west coast. i have seen a private letter from an officer in command of a british man-of-war who had some samples of it on board which came in very usefully when certain bearings of the screw shaft were giving out on a long voyage, and were found to last _three times_ as long as lignum vitæ. in process of time, as the country is opened up by roads and railways, doubtless many other valuable kinds of timber trees will be brought to light in the interior. a notice of borneo forests would be incomplete without a reference to the mangroves, which are such a prominent feature of the country as one approaches it by sea, lining much of the coast and forming, for mile after mile, the actual banks of most of the rivers. its thick, dark-green, never changing foliage helps to give the new comer that general impression of dull monotony in tropical scenery, which, perhaps, no one, except the professed botanist, whose trained and practical eye never misses the smallest detail, ever quite shakes off. the wood of the mangrove forms most excellent firewood, and is often used by small steamers as an economical fuel in lieu of coal, and is exported to china in the timber ships. the bark is also a separate article of export, being used as a dye and for tanning, and is said to contain nearly 42% of _tannin_. the value of the general exports from the territory is increasing every year, having been $145,444 in 1881 and $525,879 in 1888. with the exception of tobacco and pepper, the list is almost entirely made up of the natural raw products of the land and sea--such as bees-wax, camphor, damar, gutta percha, the sap of a large forest tree destroyed in the process of collection of gutta, india rubber, from a creeper likewise destroyed by the collectors, rattans, well known to every school boy, sago, timber, edible birds'-nests, seed-pearls, mother-o'-pearl shells in small quantities, dried fish and dried sharks'-fins, trepang (sea-slug or bêche-de-mer), aga, or edible sea-weed, tobacco (both native and european grown), pepper, and occasionally elephants' tusks--a list which shews the country to be a rich store house of natural productions, and one which will be added to, as the land is brought under cultivation with coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, manila hemp, pine apple fibre, and other tropical products for which the soil, and especially the rainfall, temperature and climatic conditions generally, including entire freedom from typhoons and earthquakes, eminently adapt it, and many of which have already been tried with success on an experimental scale. as regards pepper, it has been previously shewn that north borneo was in former days an exporter of this spice. sugar has been grown by the natives for their own consumption for many years, as also tapioca, rice and indian corn. it is not my object to give a detailed list of the productions of the country, and i would refer any reader who is anxious to be further enlightened on these and kindred topics to the excellent "hand-book of british north borneo," prepared for the colonial and indian exhibition of 1886, at which the new colony was represented, and published by messrs. william clowes & sons. the edible birds'-nests are already a source of considerable revenue to the government, who let out the collection of them for annual payments, and also levy an export duty as they leave the country for china, which is their only market. the nests are about the size of those of the ordinary swallow and are formed by innumerable hosts of swifts--_collocalia fuciphaga_--entirely from a secretion of the glands of the throat. these swifts build in caves, some of which are of very large dimensions, and there are known to be some sixteen of them in different parts of british north borneo. with only one exception, the caves occur in limestone rocks and, generally, at no great distance from the sea, though some have been discovered in the interior, on the banks of the kinabatangan river. the exception above referred to is that of a small cave on a sand-stone island at the entrance of sandakan harbour. the _collocalia fuciphaga_ appears to be pretty well distributed over the malayan islands, but of these, borneo and java are the principal sources of supply. nests are also exported from the andaman islands, and a revenue of £30,000 a year is said to be derived from the nests in the small islands in the inland sea of tab sab, inhabited by natives of malay stock. the finest caves, or rather series of caves, as yet known in the company's territories are those of gomanton, a limestone hill situated at the head of the sapa gaia, one of the streams running into sandakan harbour. these grand caves, which are one of the most interesting sights in the country, are, in fine weather, easily accessible from the town of sandakan, by a water journey across the harbour and up the sapa gaia, of about twelve miles, and by a road from the point of debarkation to the entrance of the lower caves, about eight miles in length. the height of the hill is estimated at 1,000 feet, and it contains two distinct series of caves. the first series is on the "ground floor" and is known as _simud hitam_, or "black entrance." the magnificent porch, 250 feet high and 100 broad, which gives admittance to this series, is on a level with the river bank, and, on entering, you find yourself in a spacious and lofty chamber well lighted from above by a large open space, through which can be seen the entrance to the upper set of caves, some 400 to 500 feet up the hill side. in this chamber is a large deposit of guano, formed principally by the myriads of bats inhabiting the caves in joint occupancy with the edible-nest-forming swifts. passing through this first chamber and turning a little to the right you come to a porch leading into an extensive cave, which extends under the upper series. this cave is filled half way up to its roof, with an enormous deposit of guano, which has been estimated to be 40 to 50 feet in depth. how far the cave extends has not been ascertained, as its exploration, until some of the deposit is removed, would not be an easy task, for the explorer would be compelled to walk along on the top of the guano, which in some places is so soft that you sink in it almost up to your waist. my friend mr. c. a. bampfylde, in whose company i first visited gomanton, and who, as "commissioner of birds-nest caves," drew up a very interesting report on them, informed me that, though he had found it impossible to explore right to the end, he had been a long way in and was confident that the cave was of very large size. to reach the upper series of caves, you leave simud hitam and clamber up the hill side--a steep but not difficult climb, as the jagged limestone affords sure footing. the entrance to this series, known as _simud putih_, or "white entrance," is estimated to be at an elevation of 300 feet above sea level, and the porch by which you enter them is about 30 feet high by about 50 wide. the floor slopes steeply downwards and brings you into an enormous cave, with smaller ones leading off it, all known to the nest collectors by their different native names. you soon come to a large black hole, which has never been explored, but which is said to communicate with the large guano cave below, which has been already described. passing on, you enter a dome-like cave, the height of the roof or ceiling of which has been estimated at 800 feet, but for the accuracy of this guess i cannot vouch. the average height of the cave before the domed portion is reached is supposed to be about 150 feet, and mr. bampfylde estimates the total length, from the entrance to the furthest point, at a fifth of a mile. the simud putih series are badly lighted, there being only a few "holes" in the roof of the dome, so that torches or lights of some kind are required. there are large deposits of guano in these caves also, which could be easily worked by lowering quantities down into the simud hitam caves below, the floor of which, as already stated, is on a level with the river bank, so that a tramway could be laid right into them and the guano be carried down to the port of shipment, at the mouth of the sapa gaia river. samples of the guano have been sent home, and have been analysed by messrs. voelcker & co. it is rich in ammonia and nitrogen and has been valued at £5 to £7 a ton in england. the bat-guano is said to be richer as a manure than that derived from the swifts. to ascend to the top of gomanton, one has to emerge from the simud putih entrance and, by means of a ladder, reach an overhanging ledge, whence a not very difficult climb brings one to the cleared summit, from which a fine view of the surrounding country is obtained, including kina-balu, the sacred mountain of north borneo. on this summit will be found the holes already described as helping to somewhat lighten the darkness of the dome-shaped cave, on the roof of which we are in fact now standing. it is through these holes that the natives lower themselves into the caves, by means of rattan ladders and, in a most marvellous manner, gain a footing on the ceiling and construct cane stages, by means of which they can reach any part of the roof and, either by hand or by a suitable pole to the end of which is attached a lighted candle, secure the wealth-giving luxury for the epicures of china. there are two principal seasons for collecting the nests, and care has to be taken that the collection is made punctually at the proper time, before the eggs are all hatched, otherwise the nests become dirty and fouled with feathers, &c., and discoloured and injured by the damp, thereby losing much of their market value. again, if the nests are not collected for a season, the birds do not build many new ones in the following season, but make use of the old ones, which thereby become comparatively valueless. there are, roughly speaking, three qualities of nests, sufficiently described by their names--white, red, and black--the best quality of each fetching, at sandakan, per catty of 1-1/3 lbs., $16, $7 and 8 cents respectively. the question as to the true cause of the difference in the nests has not yet been satisfactorily solved. some allege that the red and black nests are simply white ones deteriorated by not having been collected in due season. i myself incline to agree with the natives that the nests are formed by different birds, for the fact that, in one set of caves, black nests are always found together in one part, and white ones in another, though both are collected with equal care and punctuality, seems almost inexplicable under the first theory. it is true that the different kinds of nests are not found in the same season, and it is just possible that the red and black nests may be the second efforts at building made by the swifts after the collectors have disturbed them by gathering their first, white ones. in the inferior nests, feathers are found _mixed up_ with the gelatinous matter forming the walls, as though the glands were unable to secrete a sufficient quantity of material, and the bird had to eke it out with its own feathers. in the substance of the white nests no feathers are found. then, again, it is sometimes found in the case of two distinct caves, situated at no great distance apart, that the one yields almost entirely white nests, and the other nearly all red, or black ones, though the collections are made with equal regularity in each. the natives, as i have said, seem to think that there are two kinds of birds, and the hon. r. abercromby reports that, when he visited gomanton, they shewed him eggs of different size and explained that one was laid by the white-nest bird and the other by the black-nest builder. sir hugh low, in his work on sarawak, published in 1848, asserts that there are "two different and quite dissimilar kinds of birds, though both are swallows" (he should have said swifts), and that the one which produces the white nest is larger and of more lively colours, with a white belly, and is found on the sea-coast, while the other is smaller and darker and found more in the interior. he admits, however, that though he had opportunities of observing the former, he had not been able to procure a specimen. the question is one which should be easily settled on the spot, and i recommend it to the consideration of the authorities of the british north borneo museum, which has been established at sandakan. the annual value of the nests of gomanton, when properly collected, has been reckoned at $23,000, but i consider this an excessive estimate. my friend mr. a. cook, the treasurer of the territory, to whose zeal and perseverance the company owes much, has arranged with the buludupih tribe to collect these nests on payment to the government of a royalty of $7,500 per annum, which is in addition to the export duty at the rate of 10% _ad valorem_ paid by the chinese exporters. the swifts and bats--the latter about the size of the ordinary english bat--avail themselves of the shelter afforded by the caves without incommoding one another, for, by a sort of box and cox arrangement, the former occupy the caves during the night and the latter by day. standing at the simud putih entrance about 5 p. m., the visitor will suddenly hear a whirring sound from below, which is caused by the myriads of bats issuing, for their nocturnal banquet, from the simud itam caves, through the wide open space that has been described. they come out in a regularly ascending continuous spiral or corkscrew coil, revolving from left to right in a very rapid and regular manner. when the top of the spiral coil reaches a certain height, a colony of bats breaks off, and continuing to revolve in a well kept ring from left to right gradually ascends higher and higher, until all of a sudden the whole detachment dashes off in the direction of the sea, towards the mangrove swamps and the _nipas_. sometimes these detached colonies reverse the direction of their revolutions after leaving the main body, and, instead of from left to right, revolve from right to left. some of them continue for a long time revolving in a circle, and attain a great height before darting off in quest of food, while others make up their minds more expeditiously, after a few revolutions. amongst the bats, three white ones were, on the occasion of my visit, very conspicuous, and our followers styled them the raja, his wife and child. hawks and sea-eagles are quickly attracted to the spot, but only hover on the outskirts of the revolving coil, occasionally snapping up a prize. i also noticed several hornbills, but they appeared to have been only attracted by curiosity. mr. bampfylde informed me that, on a previous visit, he had seen a large green snake settled on an overhanging branch near which the bats passed and that occasionally he managed to secure a victim. i timed the bats and found that they took almost exactly fifty minutes to come out of the caves, a thick stream of them issuing all that time and at a great pace, and the reader can endeavour to form for himself some idea of their vast numbers. they had all got out by ten minutes to six in the evening, and at about six o'clock the swifts began to come home to roost. they came in in detached, independent parties, and i found it impossible to time them, as some of them kept very late hours. i slept in the simud putih cave on this occasion, and found that next morning the bats returned about 5 a.m., and that the swifts went out an hour afterwards. as shewing the mode of formation of these caves, i may add that i noticed, imbedded in a boulder of rock in the upper caves, two pieces of coral and several fossil marine shells, bivalves and others. the noise made by the bats going out for their evening promenade resembled a combination of that of the surf breaking on a distant shore and of steam being gently blown off from a vessel which has just come to anchor. there are other interesting series of caves, and one--that of madai, in darvel bay on the east coast--was visited by the late lady brassey and miss brassey in april, 1887, when british north borneo was honoured by a visit of the celebrated yacht the _sunbeam_, with lord brassey and his family on board. i accompanied the party on the trip to madai, and shall not easily forget the pluck and energy with which lady brassey, then in bad health, surmounted the difficulties of the jungle track, and insisted upon seeing all that was to be seen; or the gallant style in which miss brassey unwearied after her long tramp through the forest, led the way over the slippery boulders in the dark caves. the chinese ascribe great strengthening powers to the soup made of the birds'-nests, which they boil down into a syrup with barley sugar, and sip out of tea cups. the gelatinous looking material of which the substance of the nests is composed is in itself almost flavourless. it is also with the object of increasing their bodily powers that these epicures consume the uninviting sea-slug or bêche-de-mer, and dried sharks'-fins and cuttle fish. to conclude my brief sketch of sandakan harbour and of the capital, it should be stated that, in addition to being within easy distance of hongkong, it lies but little off the usual route of vessels proceeding from china to australian ports, and can be reached by half a day's deviation of the ordinary track. should, unfortunately, war arise with russia, there is little doubt their east asiatic squadron would endeavour both to harass the australian trade and to damage, as much as possible, the coast towns, in which case the advantages of sandakan, midway between china and australia, as a base of operations for the british protecting fleet would at once become manifest. it is somewhat unfortunate that a bar has formed just outside the entrance of the harbour, with a depth of water of four fathoms at low water, spring tides, so that ironclads of the largest size would be denied admittance. there are at present, no steamers sailing direct from borneo to england, and nearly all the commerce from british north borneo ports is carried by local steamers to that great emporium of the trade of the malayan countries, singapore, distant from sandakan a thousand miles, and it is a curious fact, that though many of the exports are ultimately intended for the china market, _e.g._, edible birds'-nests, the chinese traders find it pays them better to send their produce to singapore in the first instance, instead of direct to hongkong. this is partly accounted for by the further fact that, though the government has spent considerable sum in endeavouring to attract chinamen from china, the large proportion of our chinese traders and of the chinese population generally has come to us _viâ_ singapore, after as it were having undergone there an education in the knowledge of malayan affairs. as further illustrating the commercial and strategical advantages of the harbours of british north borneo, it should be noted that the course recommended by the admiralty instructions for vessels proceeding to china from the straits, _viâ_ the palawan passage, brings them within ninety miles of the harbours of the west coast. as to postal matters, british north borneo, though not in the postal union, has entered into arrangements for the exchange of direct closed mails with the english post office, london, with which latter also, as well as with singapore and india, a system of parcel post and of post office orders has been established. the postal and inland revenue stamps, distinguished by the lion, which has been adopted as the company's badge, are well executed and in considerable demand with stamp collectors, owing to their rarity. the government also issues its own copper coinage, one cent and half-cent pieces, manufactured in birmingham and of the same intrinsic value as those of hongkong and the straits settlements. the revenue derived from its issue is an important item to the colony's finances, and considerable quantities have been put into circulation, not only within the limits of the company's territory, but also in brunai and in the british colony of labuan, where it has been proclaimed a legal tender on the condition of the company, in return for the profit which they reap by its issue in the island, contributing to the impoverished colonial treasury the yearly sum of $3,000. trade, however, is still, to a great extent, carried on by a system of barter with the natives. the primitive currency medium in vogue under the native regime has been described in the chapters on brunai. the silver currency is the mexican and spanish dollar and the japanese yen, supplemented by the small silver coinage of the straits settlements. the company has not yet minted any silver coinage, as the profit thereon is small, but in the absence of a bank, the treasury, for the convenience of traders and planters, carries on banking business to a certain extent, and issues bank notes of the values of $1, $5 and $25, cash reserves equal to one-third of the value of the notes in circulation being maintained.[18] sir alfred dent is taking steps to form a banking company at sandakan, the establishment of which would materially assist in the development of the resources of the territory. british north borneo is not in telegraphic communication with any part of the world, except of course through singapore, nor are there any local telegraphs. the question, however, of supplementing the existing cable between the straits settlements and china by another touching at british territory in borneo has more than once been mooted, and may yet become a _fait accompli_. the spanish government appear to have decided to unite sulu by telegraphic communication with the rest of the world, _viâ_ manila, and this will bring sandakan within 180 miles of the telegraphic station. footnotes: [footnote 18: agencies of singapore banks have since been established at sandakan.] chapter ix. in the eyes of the european planter, british north borneo is chiefly interesting as a field for the cultivation of tobacco, in rivalry to sumatra, and my readers may judge of the importance of this question from a glance at the following figures, which shew the dividends declared of late years by three of the principal tobacco planting companies in the latter island:- dividends paid by the deli the tabak the amsterdam in maatschappi. maatschappi. deli co. 1882 65 per cent. 25 per cent. 10 per cent. 1883 101 " 50 " 30 " 1884 77 " 60 " 30 " 1885 107 " 100 " 60 " 1886 108 " ..... ..... in sumatra, under dutch rule, tobacco culture can at present only be carried on in certain districts, where the soil is suitable and where the natives are not hostile, and, as most of the best land has been taken up, and planters are beginning to feel harassed by the stringent regulations and heavy taxation of the dutch government, both dutch and german planters are turning their attention to british north borneo, where they find the regulations easier, and the authorities most anxious to welcome them, while, owing to the scanty population, there is plenty of available land. it is but fair to say that the first experiment in north borneo was made by an english, or rather an anglo-chinese company, the china-sabah land farming company, who, on hurriedly selected land in sandakan and under the disadvantages which usually attend pioneers in a new country, shipped a crop to england which was pronounced by experts in 1886 to equal in quality the best sumatra-grown leaf. unfortunately, this company, which had wasted its resources on various experiments, instead of confining itself to tobacco planting, was unable to continue its operations, but a dutch planter from java, count geloes d'elsloo, having carefully selected his land in marudu bay, obtained, in 1887, the high average of $1 per lb. for his trial crop at amsterdam, and, having formed an influential company in europe, is energetically bringing a large area under cultivation, and has informed me that he confidently expects to rival sumatra, not only in quality, but also in quantity of leaf per acre, as some of his men have cut twelve pikuls per field, whereas six pikuls per field is usually considered a good crop. the question of "quantity" is a very important one, for quality without quantity will never pay on a tobacco estate. several dutchmen have followed count geloes' example, and two german companies and one british are now at work in the country. altogether, fully 350,000 acres[19] of land have been taken up for tobacco cultivation in british north borneo up to the present time. in selecting land for this crop, climate, that is, temperature and rainfall, has equally to be considered with richness of soil. for example, the soil of java is as rich, or richer than that of sumatra, but owing to its much smaller rainfall, the tobacco it produces commands nothing like the prices fetched by that of the former. the seasons and rainfall in borneo are found to be very similar to those of sumatra. the average recorded annual rainfall at sandakan for the last seven years is given by dr. walker, the principal medical officer, as 124.34 inches, the range being from 156.9 to 101.26 inches per annum. being so near the equator, roughly speaking between n. latitudes 4 and 7, north borneo has, unfortunately for the european residents whose lot is cast there, nothing that can be called a winter, the temperature remaining much about the same from year's end to year's end. it used to seem to me that during the day the thermometer was generally about 83 or 85 in the shade, but, i believe, taking the year all round, night and day, the mean temperature is 81, and the extremes recorded on the coast line are 67.5 and 94.5. dr. walker has not yet extended his stations to the hills in the interior, but mentions it as probable that freezing point is occasionally reached near the top of the kinabalu mountains, which is 13,700 feet high; he adds that the lowest recorded temperature he has found is 36.5, given by sir spencer st. john in his "life in the forests of the far east." snow has never been reported even on kinabalu, and i am informed that the charles louis mountains in dutch new guinea, are the only ones in tropical asia where the limit of perpetual snow is attained. i must stop to say a word in praise of kinabalu, "the chinese widow,"[20] the sacred mountain of north borneo whither the souls of the righteous dusuns ascend after death. it can be seen from both coasts, and appears to rear its isolated, solid bulk almost straight out of the level country, so dwarfed are the neighbouring hills by its height of 13,680 feet. the best view of it is obtained, either at sunrise or at sunset, from the deck of a ship proceeding along the west coast, from which it is about twenty miles inland. during the day time the widow, as a rule, modestly veils her features in the clouds. the effect when its huge mass is lighted up at evening by the last rays of the setting sun is truly magnificent. on the spurs of kinabalu and on the other lofty hills, of which there is an abundance, no doubt, as the country becomes opened up by roads many suitable sites for sanitoria will be discovered, and the day will come when these hill sides, like those of ceylon and java, will be covered with thriving plantations. failing winter, the bornean has to be content with the the change afforded by a dry and a wet season, the latter being looked upon as the "winter," and prevailing during the month of november, december and january. but though the two seasons are sufficiently well defined and to be depended upon by planters, yet there is never a month during the dry season when no rain falls, nor in the wet season are fine days at all rare. the dryest months appear to be march and april, and in june there generally occurs what doctor walker terms an "intermediate" and moderately wet period. tobacco is a crop which yields quick returns, for in about 110 to 120 days after the seed is sown the plant is ripe for cutting. the _modus operandi_ is somewhat after this fashion. first select your land, virgin soil covered with untouched jungle, situated at a distance from the sea, so that no salt breezes may jeopardise the proper burning qualities of the future crop, and as devoid as possible of hills. then, a point of primary importance which will be again referred to, engage your chinese coolies, who have to sign agreements for fixed periods, and to be carefully watched afterwards, as it is the custom to give them cash advances on signing, the repayment of which they frequently endeavour to avoid by slipping away just before your vessel sails and probably engaging themselves to another master. without the chinese cooly, the tobacco planter is helpless, and if the proper season is allowed to pass, a whole year may be lost. the chinaman is too expensive a machine to be employed on felling the forest, and for this purpose, indeed, the malay is more suitable and the work is accordingly given him to do under contract. simultaneously with the felling, a track should be cut right through the heart of the estate by the natives, to be afterwards ditched and drained and made passable for carts by the chinese coolies. that as much as possible of the felled jungle should be burned up is so important a matter and one that so greatly affects the individual chinese labourer, that it is not left to the malays to do, but, on the completion of the felling, the whole area which is to be planted is divided out into "fields," of about one acre each, and each "field" is assigned by lot to a chinese cooly, whose duty it is to carefully burn the timber and plant, tend and finally cut the tobacco on his own division, for which he is remunerated in accordance with the quality and quantity of the leaf he is able to bring into the drying sheds. each "field," having been cleared as carefully as may be of the felled timber, is next thoroughly hoed up, and a small "nursery" prepared in which the seeds provided by the manager are planted and protected from rain and sun by palm leaf mats (_kajangs_) raised on sticks. in about a week, the young plants appear, and the chinese tenant, as i may call him, has to carefully water them morning and evening. as the young seedlings grow up, their enemy, the worms and grubs, find them out and attack them in such numbers that at least once a day, sometimes oftener, the anxious planter has to go through his nursery and pick them off, otherwise in a short time he would have no tobacco to plant out. about thirty days after the seed has been sown, the seedlings are old enough to be planted out in the field, which has been all the time carefully prepared for their reception. the first thing to be done is to make holes in the soil, at distances of two feet one way and three feet the other, the earth in them being loosened and broken up so that the tender roots should meet with no obstacles to their growth. as the holes are ready for them, the seedlings are taken from the nursery and planted out, being protected from the sun's rays either by fern, or coarse grass, or, in the best managed estates, by a piece of wood, like a roofing shingle, inserted in the soil in such a way as to provide the required shelter. the watering has to be continued till the plants have struck root, when the protecting shelter is removed and the earth banked up round them, care being taken to daily inspect them and remove the worms which have followed them from the nursery. the next operation is that of "topping" the plants, that is, of stopping their further growth by nipping off the heads. according to the richness of the soil and the general appearance of the plants, this is ordered to be done by the european overseer after a certain number of leaves have been produced. if the soil is poor, perhaps only fourteen leaves will be allowed, while on the richest land the plant can stand and properly ripen as many as twenty-four leaves. the signs of ripening, which generally takes place in about three months from the date of transplantation, are well known to the overseers and are first shewn by a yellow tinge becoming apparent at the tips of the leaves. the cooly thereupon cuts the plants down close to the ground and lightly and carefully packs them into long baskets so as not to injure the leaves, and carries them to the drying sheds. there they are examined by the overseer of his division, who credits him with the value, based on the quantity and quality of the crop he brings in, the price ranging from $1 up to $8 per thousand trees. the plants are then tied in rows on sticks, heads downwards, and hoisted up in tiers to dry in the shed. after hanging for a fortnight, they are sufficiently dry and, being lowered down, are stripped of their leaves, which are tied up into small bundles, similar leaves being roughly sorted together. the bundles of leaves are then taken to other sheds, where the very important process of fermenting them is carried out. for this purpose, they are put into orderly arranged heaps--small at first, but increased in size till very little heat is given out, the heat being tested by a thermometer, or even an ordinary piece of stick inserted into them. when the fermentation is nearly completed and the leaves have attained a fixed colour, they are carefully sorted according to colour, spottiness and freedom from injury of any kind. the price realized in europe is greatly affected by the care with which the leaves have been fermented and sorted. spottiness is not always considered a defect, as it is caused by the sun shining on the leaves when they have drops of rain on them, and to this the best leaves are liable; but spotted leaves, broken leaves and in short leaves having the same characteristics should be carefully sorted together. after this sorting is completed as regards class and quality, there is a further sorting in regard to length, and the leaves are then tied together in bundles of thirty-five. these bundles are put into large heaps and, when no more heating is apparent, they are ready to be pressed under a strong screw press and sewn up in bags which are carefully marked and shipped off to europe--to amsterdam as a rule. as the coolies' payment is by "results," it is their interest to take the greatest care of their crops; but for any outside work they may be called on to perform, and for their services as sorters, etc. in the sheds, they are paid extra. during the whole time, also, they receive, for "subsistence" money, $4 or $3 a month. at the end of the season their accounts are made up, being debited with the amount of the original advance, subsistence money and cost of implements, and credited with the value of the tobacco brought in and any wages that may be due for outside work. each estate possesses a hospital, in which bad cases are treated by a qualified practitioner, while in trifling cases the european overseer dispenses drugs, quinine being that in most demand. if, owing to sickness, or other cause, the cooly has required assistance in his field, the cost thereof is deducted in his final account. the men live in well constructed "barracks," erected by the owner of the estate, and it is one of the duties of the chinese "tindals," or overseers acting under the europeans to see that they are kept in a cleanly, sanitary condition. the european overseers are under the orders of the head manager, and an estate is divided in such a way that each overseer shall have under his direct control and be responsible for the proper cultivation of about 100 fields. he receives a fixed salary, but his interest in his division is augmented by the fact that he will receive a commission on the value of the crop it produces. his work is onerous and, during the season, he has little time to himself, but should be here, there, and everywhere in his division, seeing that the coolies come out to work at the stated times, that no field is allowed to get in a backward state, and that worms are carefully removed, and, as a large proportion of the men are probably _sinkehs_, that is, new arrivals who have never been on a tobacco estate before, he has, with the assistance of the tindals, to instruct them in their work. when the crop is brought in, he has to examine each cooly's contribution, carefully inspecting each leaf, and keeping an account of the value and quantity of each. physical strength, intelligence and an innate desire of amassing dollars, are three essential qualifications for a good tobacco cooly, and, so far, they have only been found united in the chinaman, the european being out of the question as a field-labourer in the tropics. the coolies are, as a rule, procured through chinese cooly brokers in penang or singapore, but as regards north borneo, the charges for commission, transport and the advances--many of which, owing to death, sickness and desertion, are never repaid--have become so heavy as to be almost prohibitive, and my energetic friend, count geloes, has set the example of procuring his coolies direct from china, instead of by the old fashioned, roundabout way of the extortionate labour-brokers of the straits settlements. north borneo, it will be remembered, is situated midway between hongkong and singapore, and the court of directors of the governing company could do nothing better calculated to ensure the success of their public-spirited enterprise than to inaugurate regular, direct steam communication between their territory and hongkong. in the first instance, this could only be effected by a government subsidy or guarantee, but it is probable that, in a short time, a cargo and passenger traffic would grow up which would permit of the subsidy being gradually withdrawn. many of the best men on a well managed estate will re-engage themselves on the expiration of their term of agreement, receiving a fresh advance, and some of them can be trusted to go back to china and engage their clansmen for the estate. in british north borneo the general welfare of the indentured coolies is looked after by government officials, who act under the provisions of a law entitled "the estate coolies and labourers protection proclamation, 1883." owing to the expense of procuring coolies and to the fact that every operation of tobacco planting must be performed punctually at the proper season of the year, and to the desirability of encouraging coolies to re-engage themselves, it is manifestly the planters' interest to treat his employés well, and to provide, so far as possible, for their health and comfort on the estate, but, notwithstanding all the care that may be taken, a considerable amount of sickness and many deaths must be allowed for on tobacco estates, which, as a rule, are opened on virgin soil; for, so long as there remains any untouched land on his estate, the planter rarely makes use of land off which a crop has been taken. in north borneo the jungle is generally felled towards the end of the wet season, and planting commences in april or may. the native dusun, sulu and brunai labour is available for jungle-felling and house-building, and _nibong_ palms for posts and _nipa_ palms for thatch, walls and _kajangs_ exist in abundance. writing to the court of directors in 1884 i said:--"the experiment in the suanlambah conclusively proves so far that this country will do for tobacco. * * * there seems every reason to conclude that it will do as well here as in sumatra. when this fact becomes known, i presume there will be quite a small rush to the country, as the dutch government, i hear, is not popular in sumatra, and land available for tobacco there is becoming scarcer." my anticipations have been verified, and the rush is already taking place. the localities at present in favour with tobacco planters are marudu bay and banguey island in the north, labuk bay and darvel bay in the neighbourhood of the silam station, and the kinabatangan river on the east. the firstcomers obtained their land on very easy terms, some of them at 30 cents an acre, but the court has now issued an order that in future no planting land is to be disposed of for a less sum than $1[21] per acre, free of quit-rent and on a lease for 999 years, with clauses providing that a certain proportion be brought under cultivation. at present no export duty is levied on tobacco shipped from north borneo, and the company has engaged that no such duty shall be imposed before the 1st january, 1892, after which date it will be optional with them to levy an export royalty at the rate of one dollar cent, or a halfpenny, per lb., which rate, they promise, shall not be exceeded during the succeeding twenty years. the tobacco cultivated in sumatra and british north borneo is used chiefly for wrappers for cigars, for which purpose a very fine, thin, elastic leaf is required and one that has a good colour and will burn well and evenly, with a fine white ash. this quality of leaf commands a much higher price than ordinary kinds, and, as stated, count geloes'trial crop, from the ranan estate in marudu bay, averaged 1.83 guilders, or about $1 (3/2) per lb. it is said that 2 lbs. or 2-1/2 lbs. weight of bornean tobacco will cover 1,000 cigars. tobacco is not a new culture in borneo, as some of the hill natives on the west coast of north borneo have grown it in a rough and ready way for years past, supplying the population of brunai and surrounding districts with a sun-dried article, which used to be preferred to that produced in java. the malay name for tobacco is _tambako_, a corruption of the spanish and portuguese term, but the brunai people also know it as _sigup_. it was probably introduced into malay countries by the portuguese, who conquered malacca in 1511, and by the spanish, who settled in the philippines in 1565. its use has become universal with men, women and children, of all tribes and of all ranks. the native mode of using tobacco has been referred to in my description of brunai. fibre-yielding plants are also now attracting attention in north borneo, especially the manila hemp (_musa textilis_) a species of banana, and pine-apples, both of which grow freely. the british borneo trading and planting company have acquired the patent for borneo of death's fibre-cleaning machines, and are experimenting with these products on a considerable scale and, apparently, with good prospects of success.[22] for a long time past, beautiful cloths have been manufactured of pine-apple fibre in the philippines, and as it is said that orders have been received from france for borneo pine-apple fibre, we shall perhaps soon see it used in england under the name of french _silk_. in the government experimental garden at silam, in darvel bay, cocoa, cinnamon and liberian coffee have been found to do remarkably well. sappan-wood and _kapok_ or cotton flock also grow freely. footnotes: [footnote 19: governor creagh tells me 600,000 acres have now been taken up.] [footnote 20: for the native derivation of this appellation see page 54.] [footnote 21: raised in 1890 to $6 an acre.] [footnote 22: the anticipated success has not been achieved as yet.] chapter x. many people have a very erroneous idea of the objects and intentions of the british north borneo company. some, with a dim recollection of untold wealth having been extracted from the natives of india in the early days of the honourable east india company, conceive that the company can have no other object than that of fleecing our natives in order to pay dividends; but the old saying, that it is a difficult matter to steal a highlander's pantaloons, is applicable to north borneo, for only a magician could extract anything much worth having in the shape of loot from the easy going natives of the country, who, in a far more practical sense than the christians of europe, are ready to say "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof," and who do not look forward and provide for the future, or heap up riches to leave to their posterity. some years ago, a correspondent of an english paper displayed his ignorance on the matter by maintaining that the company coerced the natives and forced them to buy manchester goods at extortionate prices. an oxford don, when i first received my appointment as governor, imagined that i was going out as a sort of slave-driver, to compel the poor natives to work, without wages, on the company's plantations. but, as a matter of fact, though entitled to do so by the royal charter, the company has elected to engage neither in trade nor in planting, deeming that their desire to attract capital and population to their territory will be best advanced by their leaving the field entirely open to others, for otherwise there would always have been a suspicion that rival traders and planters were handicapped in the race with a company which had the making and the administration of laws and the imposition of taxation in its hands. it will be asked, then, if the company do not make a profit out of trading, or planting, or mining, what could have induced them to undertake the government of a tropical country, some 10,000 miles or more distant from london, for englishmen, as a rule, do not invest hundreds of thousands of pounds with the philanthropic desire only of benefitting an eastern race? the answer to this question is not very plainly put in the company's prospectus, which states that its object "is the carrying on of the work begun by the provisional association" (said in the previous paragraphs of the prospectus to have been the successful accomplishment of the _completion_ of the pioneer work) "and the further improvement and full utilization of the vast natural resources of the country, by the introduction of new capital and labour, which they intend shall be stimulated, aided and protected by a just, humane and enlightened government. the benefits likely to flow from the accomplishment of this object, in the opening up of new fields of tropical agriculture, new channels of enterprise, and new markets for the world's manufactures, are great and incontestable." i quite agree with the framer of the prospectus that these benefits are great and incontestable, but then they would be benefits conferred on the world at large at the expense of the shareholders of the company, and i presume that the source from which the shareholders are to be recouped is the surplus revenues which a wisely administered government would ensure, by judiciously fostering colonisation, principally by chinese, by the sale of the vast acreages of "waste" or government lands, by leasing the right to work the valuable timber forests and such minerals as may be found to exist in workable quantities, by customs duties and the "farming out" of the exclusive right to sell opium, spirits, tobacco, etc., and by other methods of raising revenue in vogue in the eastern colonies of the crown. in fact, the sum invested by the shareholders is to be considered in the light of a loan to the colony--its public debt--to be repaid with interest as the resources of the country are developed. without encroaching on land worked, or owned by the natives, the company has a large area of unoccupied land which it can dispose of for the highest price obtainable. that this must be the case is evident from a comparison with the island of ceylon, where government land sales are still held. the area of north borneo, it has been seen, is larger than that of ceylon, but its population is only about 160,000, while that of ceylon is returned as 2,825,000; furthermore, notwithstanding this comparatively large population, it is said that the land under cultivation in ceylon forms only about one-fifth of its total area. from what i have said of the prospects of tobacco-planting in british north borneo, it will be understood that land is being rapidly taken up, and the company will soon be in a position to increase its selling price. town and station lands are sold under different conditions to that for planting purposes, and are restricted as a rule to lots of the size of 66 feet by 33 feet. the lease is for 999 years, but there is an annual quit-rent at the rate of $6 per lot, which is redeemable at fifteen years' purchase. at sandakan, lots of this size have at auction realized a premium of $350. in all cases, coal, minerals, precious stones, edible nests and guano are reserved to the government, and, in order to protect the native proprietors, it is provided that any foreigner desirous of purchasing land from a native must do so through the government. titles and mutations of titles to land are carefully registered and recorded in the land office, under the provisions of the hongkong registration of documents ordinance, which has been adopted in the state. the local government is administered by a governor, selected by the court of directors subject to the approval of the secretary of state for the colonies. he is empowered to enact laws, which require confirmation by the court, and is assisted in his executive functions by a government secretary, residents, assistant residents, a treasurer-general, a commissioner of lands, a superintendent of public works, commandant, postmaster-general and other heads of departments usually to be found in crown colonies, and the british colonial regulations are adhered to as closely as circumstances admit. the title of resident is borrowed from the dutch colonies, and the duties of the post are analogous to those of the resident councillors of penang or malacca, under the governor of singapore, or of the government agents in ceylon. the governor can also call to assist him in his deliberations a council of advice, composed of some of the heads of departments and of natives of position nominated to seats therein. the laws are in the form of "proclamations" issued by the governor under the seal of the territory. most of the laws are adaptations, in whole or in part, of ordinances enacted in eastern colonies, such as the straits settlements, hongkong, labuan and fiji. the indian penal code, the indian codes of civil and criminal procedure and the indian evidence and contract acts have been adopted in their entirety, "so far as the same shall be applicable to the circumstances of this territory." the proclamation making these and other acts the law in north borneo was the first formal one issued, and bears date the 23rd december, 1881. the law relating to the protection of estate coolies and labourers has been already referred to. the question of domestic slavery was one of the first with which the company had to grapple, the royal charter having ordained that "the company shall to the best of its power discourage and, as far as may be practicable, abolish by degrees, any system of domestic servitude existing among the tribes of the coast or interior of borneo; and no foreigners whether european, chinese or other, shall be allowed to own slaves of any kind in the company's territories." slavery and kidnapping were rampant in north borneo under native regime and were one of the chief obstacles to the unanimous acceptance of the company's rule by the chiefs. at first the residents and other officers confined their efforts to prohibiting the importation of slaves for sale, and in assisting slaves who were ill-treated to purchase their liberty. in 1883, a proclamation was issued which will have the effect of gradually abolishing the system, as required by the charter. its chief provisions are as follows:--no foreigners are allowed to hold slaves, and no slaves can be imported for sale, nor can the natives buy slaves in a foreign country and introduce them into borneo _as slaves_, even should there be no intention of selling them as such. slaves taking refuge in the country from abroad will not be surrendered, but slaves belonging to natives of the country will be given up to their owners unless they can prove ill-treatment, or that they have been brought into the territory subsequently to the 1st november, 1883, and it is optional for any slave to purchase his or her freedom by payment of a sum, the amount of which is to be fixed, from time to time, by the government. a woman also becomes free if she can prove that she has cohabited with her master, or with any person other than her husband, with the connivance of her master or mistress; and finally "all children born of slave parents after the first day of november, 1883, and who would by ancient custom be deemed to be slaves, are hereby proclaimed to be free, and any person treating or attempting to treat any such children as slaves shall be guilty of an offence under this proclamation." the punishment for offences against the provisions of this proclamation extends to imprisonment for ten years and to a fine up to five thousand dollars. the late mr. witti, one of the first officers of the association, at my request, drew up, in 1881, an interesting report on the system of slavery in force in the tampassuk district, on the west coast, of which the following is a brief summary. slaves in this district are divided into two classes--those who are slaves in a strict and rigorous sense, and those whose servitude is of a light description. the latter are known as _anak mas_, and are the children of a slave mother by a free man other than her master. if a female, she is the slave or _anak mas_ of her mother's master, but cannot be sold by him; if a boy, he is practically free, cannot be sold and, if he does not care to stay with his master, can move about and earn his own living, not sharing his earnings with his master, as is the case in some other districts. in case of actual need, however, his master can call upon him for his services. if an _anak mas_ girl marries a freeman, she at once becomes a free woman, but a _brihan_, or marriage gift, of from two to two and a half pikuls of brass gun--valued at $20 to $25 a pikul is payable by the bridegroom to the master. if she marry a slave, she remains an _anak mas_, but such cases are very rare and only take place when the husband is in a condition to pay a suitable _brihan_ to the owner. if an ordinary slave woman becomes _enceinte_ by her owner, she and her offspring are henceforth free and, she may remain as one of her late master's wives. but the jealousy of the inmates of the harem often causes abortion to be procured. the slaves, as a rule, have quite an easy time of it, living with and, as their masters, sharing the food of the family and being supplied with tobacco, betel-nut and other native luxuries. there is no difference between them and free men in the matter of dress, and in the arms which all carry, and the mere fact that they are allowed to wear arms is pretty conclusive evidence of their not being bullied or oppressed. they assist in domestic duties and in the operations of harvest and trading and so forth, but there is no such institution as a slave-gang, working under task masters, a picture which is generally present to the englishman's mind when he hears of the existence of slavery. the slave gang was an institution of the white slave-owner. slave couples, provided they support themselves, are allowed to set up house and cultivate a patch of land. for such minor offences as laziness and attempting to escape, the master can punish his slaves with strokes of the rattan, but if an owner receives grave provocation and kills his slave, the matter will probably not be taken notice of by the elders of the village. an incorrigible slave is sometimes punished by being sold out of the district. if a slave is badly treated and insufficiently provided with food, his offence in endeavouring to escape is generally condoned by public opinion. if a slave is, without sufficient cause, maltreated by a freeman, his master can demand compensation from the aggressor. slaves of one master can, with their owner's consent, marry, and no _brihan_ is demanded, but if they belong to different masters, the woman's master is entitled to a _brihan_ of one pikul, equal to $20 or $25. they continue to be the slaves of their respective masters, but are allowed to live together, and in case of a subsequent separation they return to the houses of their masters. should a freeman, other than her master, wish to marry a slave, he practically buys her from her owner with a _brihan_ of $60 or $75. sometimes a favourite slave is raised to a position intermediate between that of an ordinary slave and an _anak mas_, and is regarded as a brother, or sister, father, mother, or child; but if he or she attempt to escape, a reversion to the condition of an ordinary slave is the result. occasionally, slaves are given their freedom in fulfilment of a vow to that effect made by the master in circumstances of extreme danger, experienced in company with the slave. a slave once declared free can never be claimed again by his former master. debts contracted by a slave, either in his own name, or in that of his master, are not recoverable. by their own extra work, after performing their service to their owners, slaves can acquire private property and even themselves purchase and own slaves. infidel slaves, of both sexes, are compulsorily converted to muhammadanism and circumcized and, even though they should recover their freedom, they seldom relapse. there are, or rather were, a large number of debt slaves in north borneo. for a debt of three pikuls--$60 to $75--a man might be enslaved if his friends could not raise the requisite sum, and he would continue to be a slave until the debt was paid, but, as a most usurious interest was charged, it was almost always a hopeless task to attempt it. sometimes an inveterate gambler would sell himself to pay off his debts of honour, keeping the balance if any. the natives, regardless of the precepts of the koran, would purchase any slaves that were offered for sale, whether infidel or muhammadan. the importers were usually the illanun and sulu kidnappers, who would bring in slaves of all tribes--bajaus, illanuns, sulus, brunais, manilamen, natives of palawan and natives of the interior of magindanau--all was fish that came into their net. the selling price was as follows:--a boy, about 2 pikuls, a man 3 pikuls. a girl, 3 to 4 pikuls, a young woman, 3 to 5 pikuls. a person past middle age about 1-1/2 pikuls. a young couple, 7 to 8 pikuls, an old couple, about 5 pikuls. the pikul was then equivalent to $20 or $25. mr. witti further stated that in tampassuk the proportion of free men to slaves was only one in three, and in marudu bay only one in five. in tampassuk there were more female than male slaves. mr. a. h. everett reported that, in his district of pappar-kimanis, there was no slave _trade_, and that the condition of the domestic slaves was not one of hardship. mr. w. b. pryer, speaking for the east coast, informed me that there were only a few slaves in the interior, mostly sulus who had been kidnapped and sold up the rivers. among the sulus of the coast, the relation was rather that of follower and lord than of slave and master. when he first settled at sandakan, he could not get men to work for him for wages, they deemed it _degrading_ to do so, but they said they would work for him if he would _buy_ them! sulu, under spanish influence, and bulungan, in dutch borneo, were the chief slave markets, but the spanish and dutch are gradually suppressing this traffic. there was a colony of illanuns and balinini settled at tunku and teribas on the east coast, who did a considerable business in kidnapping, but in 1879 commander e. edwards, in h. m. s. _kestrel_, attacked and burnt their village, capturing and burning several piratical boats and prahus. slavery, though not yet extinct in borneo, has received a severe check in british north borneo and in sarawak, and is rapidly dying out in both countries; in fact it is a losing business to be a slave-owner now. apart from the institution of slavery, which is sanctioned by the muhammadan religion, the religious customs and laws of the various tribes "especially with respect to the holding, possession, transfer and disposition of lands and goods, and testate or intestate succession thereto, and marriage, divorce and legitimacy, and the rights of property and personal rights" are carefully regarded by the company's government, as in duty bound, according to the terms of articles 8 and 9 of the royal charter. the services of native headmen are utilised as much as possible, and courts composed of native magistrates have been established, but at the same time efforts are made to carry the people with the government in ameliorating and advancing their social position, and thus involves an amendment of some of the old customs and laws. moreover, customs which are altogether repugnant to modern ideas are checked or prohibited by the new government; as, for example, the time-honoured custom of a tribe periodically balancing the account of the number of heads taken or lost by it from or to another tribe, an audit which, it is strange to say, almost invariably results in the discovery on the part of the stronger tribe that they are on the wrong side of the account and have a balance to get from the others. these hitherto interminable feuds, though not altogether put a stop to in the interior, have been in many districts effectually brought to an end, government officers having been asked by the natives themselves to undertake the examination of the accounts and the tribe who was found to be on the debtor side paying, not human heads, but compensation in goods at a fixed rate per head due. another custom which the company found it impossible to recognize was that of _summungap_, which was, in reality, nothing but a form of human sacrifice, the victim being a slave bought for the purpose, and the object being to send a message to a deceased relative. with this object in view, the slave used to be bound and wrapped in cloth, when the relatives would dance round him and each thrust a spear a short way into his body, repeating, as he did so, the message which he wished conveyed. this operation was performed till the slave succumbed. the muhammadan practice of cutting off the hair of a woman convicted of adultery, or of men flogging her with a rattan, and that of cutting off the hand of a thief, have also not received the recognition of the company's government. it has been shewn that the native population of north borneo is very small, only about five to the square mile, and as the country is fertile and well-watered and possesses, for the tropics, a healthy climate, there must be some exceptional cause for the scantiness of the population. this is to be found chiefly in the absence, already referred to, of any strong central government in former days, and to the consequent presence of all forms of lawlessness, piracy, slave-trading, kidnapping and head-hunting. in more recent years, too, cholera and small-pox have made frightful ravages amongst the natives, almost annihilating some of the tribes, for the people knew of no remedies and, on the approach of the scourge, deserted their homes and their sick and fled to the jungle, where exposure and privation rendered them more than ever liable to the disease. since the company's advent, efforts are being successfully made to introduce vaccination, in which most of the people now have confidence. this fact of a scanty native population has, in some ways, rendered the introduction of the company's government a less arduous undertaking than it might otherwise have proved, and has been a fortunate circumstance for the shareholders, who have the more unowned and virgin land to dispose of. in british north borneo, luckily for the company, there is not, as there is in sarawak, any one large, powerful tribe, whose presence might have been a source of trouble, or even of danger to the young government, but the aborigines are split up into a number of petty tribes, speaking very distinct dialects and, generally, at enmity amongst themselves, so that a general coalition of the bad elements amongst them is impossible. the institution and amusement of head-hunting appears never to have been taken up and followed with so much energy and zeal in north borneo as among the dyaks of sarawak. i do not think that it was as a rule deemed absolutely essential with any of our tribes that a young man should have taken at least a head or two before he could venture to aspire to the hand of the maiden who had led captive his heart. the heads of slain enemies were originally taken by the conquerors as a substantial proof and trophy of their successful prowess, which could not be gainsaid, and it came, in time, to be considered the proper thing to be able to boast of the possession of a large number of these ghastly tokens; and so an ambitious youth, in his desire for applause, would not be particularly careful from whom, or in what manner he obtained a head, and the victim might be, not only a person with whom he had no quarrel, but even a member of a friendly tribe, and the mode of acquisition might be, not by a fair stand-up fight, a test of skill and courage, but by treachery and ambush. nor did it make very much difference whether the head obtained was that of a man, a woman or a child, and in their petty wars it was even conceived to be an honourable distinction to bring in the heads of women and children, the reasoning being that the men of the attacked tribe must have fought their best to defend their wives and children. the following incident, which occurred some years ago at the colony of labuan, serves to shew how immaterial it was whether a friend, or foe, or utter stranger was the victim. a murut chief of the trusan, a river on the mainland over against labuan, was desirous of obtaining some fresh heads on the occasion of a marriage feast, and put to sea to a district inhabited by a hostile tribe. meeting with adverse winds, his canoes were blown over to the british colony; the muruts landed, held apparently friendly intercourse with some of the kadaian (muhammadan) population and, after a visit of two or three days, made preparations to sail; but meeting a kadaian returning to his home alone, they shot him and went off with his head--though the man was an entire stranger to them, and they had no quarrel with any of his tribe. with the assistance of the brunai authorities, the chief and several of his accomplices were subsequently secured and sent for trial to labuan. the chief died in prison, while awaiting trial, but one or two of his associates paid the penalty of their wanton crime. a short time afterwards, mr. cook and i visited the lawas river for sport, and took up our abode in a murut long house, where, i remember, a large basket of skulls was placed as an ornament at the head of my sleeping place. one night, when all our men, with the exception of my chinese servant, were away in the jungle, trying to trap the then newly discovered "bulwer pheasant," some muruts from the trusan came over and informed our hosts of the fate of their chief. on the receipt of this intelligence, all the men of our house left it and repaired to one adjoining, where a great "drink" was held, while the women indulged in a loud, low, monotonous, heart-breaking wail, which they kept up for several hours. mr. cook and myself agreed that things looked almost as bad for us as they well could, and when, towards morning, the men returned to our house, my chinese boy clung to me in terror and--nothing happened! but certainly i do not think i have ever passed such an uncomfortable period of suspense. writing to the court of directors of the east india company a hundred and thirteen years ago, mr. yesse, who concluded the pepper monopoly agreement with the brunai government, referring to the murut predilection for head-hunting says:--"with respect to the idaan, or muruts, as they are called here, i cannot give any account of their disposition; but from what i have heard from the borneyans, they are a set of abandoned idolaters; one of their tenets, so strangely inhuman, i cannot pass unnoticed, which is, that their future interest depends upon the number of their fellow creatures they have killed in any engagement, or common disputes, and count their degrees of happiness to depend on the number of human skulls in their possession; from which, and the wild, disorderly life they lead, unrestrained by any bond of civil society, we ought not to be surprised if they are of a cruel and vindictive disposition." i think this is rather a case of giving a dog a bad name. i heard read once at a meeting of the royal geographical society, an eloquent paper on the natives of the andaman islands, in which the lecturer, after shewing that the andamanese were suspicious, treacherous, blood-thirsty, ungrateful and untruthful, concluded by giving it as his opinion that they were very good fellows and in many ways superior to white man. i do not go quite so far as he does, but i must say that many of the aborigines are very pleasant good-natured creatures, and have a lot of good qualities in them, which, with care and discriminating legislation on the part of their new rulers, might be gradually developed, while the evil qualities which they possess in common with all races of men, might be _pari passu_ not extinguished, but reduced to a minimum. but this result can only be secured by officers who are naturally of a sympathetic disposition and ready to take the trouble of studying the natives and entering into their thoughts and aspirations. in many instances, the company has been fortunate in its choice of officials, whose work has brought them into intimate connection with the aborigines. a besetting sin of young officers is to expect too much--they are conscious that their only aim is to advance the best interests of the natives, and they are surprised and hurt at, what they consider, the want of gratitude and backwardness in seconding their efforts evinced by them. they forget that the people are as yet in the schoolboy stage, and should try and remember how, in their own schoolboy days, they offered opposition to the efforts of their masters for _their_ improvement, and how little gratitude they felt, at the time, for all that was done for them. patience and sympathy are the two qualifications especially requisite in officers selected for the management of native affairs. in addition to the indigenous population, there are, settled along the coast and at the mouths of the principal rivers, large numbers of the more highly civilized tribes of malays, of whose presence in borneo an explanation has been attempted on a previous page. they are known as brunais--called by the natives, for some unexplained reason, _orang abai_--sulus, bajows, illanuns and balininis; there are also a few bugis, or natives of celebes. these are the people who, before the company's arrival, lorded it over the more ignorant interior tribes, and prevented their having direct dealings with traders and foreigners, and to whom, consequently, the advent of a still more civilized race than themselves was very distasteful. the habits of the brunai people have already been sufficiently described. the sulus are, next to the brunais, the most civilized race and, without any exception, the most warlike and powerful. for nearly three centuries, they have been more or less in a state of war with the spaniards of the philippine islands, and even now, though the spaniards have established a fortified port in their principal island, their subjugation is by no means complete. the spanish officials dare not go beyond the walls of their settlement, unless armed and in force, and it is no rare thing for fanatical sulus, singly or in small parties, to make their way into the spanish town, under the guise of unarmed and friendly peasants, and then suddenly draw their concealed krises and rush with fury on officers, soldiers and civilians, generally managing to kill several before they are themselves cut down. they are a much bolder and more independent race than the brunais, who have always stood in fear of them, and it was in consideration of its undertaking to defend them against their attacks that the brunai government conceded the exclusive trade in pepper to the east india company. their religion--muhammadanism--sits even more lightly on the sulus than on the brunais, and their women, who are fairer and better looking than their brunai sisters, are never secluded or veiled, but often take part in public deliberations and, in matters of business, are even sharper than the men. the sulus are a bloodthirsty and hard-hearted race, and, when an opportunity occurs, are not always averse to kidnapping even their own countrymen and selling them into slavery. they entertain a high notion of their own importance, and are ever ready to resent with their krises the slightest affront which they may conceive has been put upon them. in borneo, they are found principally on the north-east coast, and a good many have settled in british north borneo under the company's government. they occasionally take contracts for felling jungle and other work of similar character, but are less disposed than the brunai men to perform work for europeans on regular wages. among their good qualities, it may be mentioned that they are faithful and trustworthy followers of any european to whom they may become attached. their language is distinct from ordinary malay, and is akin to that of the bisaias, one of the principal tribes of the philippines, and is written in the arabic character; but many malay terms have been adopted into the language, and most of the trading and seafaring sulus know enough malay to conclude a bargain. the most numerous muhammadan race in british north borneo is that of the bajows, who are found on both coasts, but, on the west coast, not south of the pappar river. these are the _orang-laut_ (men of the sea) or sea-gipsies of the old writers, and are the worst class that we have to deal with, being of a treacherous and thievish disposition, and confirmed gamblers and cattle-lifters. they also form a large proportion of the population of the sulu islands, where they are, or used to be, noted kidnappers and pirates, though also distinguished for their skill in pearl fisheries. their religion is that of mahomet and their language malay mixed, it is said, with chinese and japanese elements; their women are not secluded, and it is a rare thing for a borneo bajow to take the trouble of making the pilgrimage to mecca. they are found along the coasts of nearly all the malay islands and, apparently, in former days lived entirely in their boats. in british north borneo, a large majority have taken to building houses and residing on the shore, but when mr. pryer first settled at sandakan, there was a considerable community of them in the bay, who had no houses at all, but were born, bred, married and died in their small canoes. on the west coast, the bajows, who have for a long time been settled ashore, appear to be of smaller build and darker colour than the other malays, with small sparkling black eyes, but on the east coast, where their condition is more primitive, mr. pryer thinks they are much larger in stature and stronger and more swarthy than ordinary malays. on the east coast, there are no buffaloes or horned cattle, so that the bajows there have, or i should say _had_, to be content with kidnapping only, and as an example of their daring i may relate that in, i think, the year 1875, the austrian frigate _friederich_, captain baron oesterreicher, was surveying to the south of darvel bay, and, running short of coal, sent an armed party ashore to cut firewood. the bajows watched their opportunity and, when the frigate was out of sight, seized the cutter, notwithstanding the fire of the party on the shore, who expended all their ammunition in vain, and carried off the two boat-keepers, whose heads were subsequently shewn round in triumph in the neighbouring islands. baron oesterreicher was unable to discover the retreat of these bajows, and they remain unpunished to this day, and are at present numbered among the subjects of the british north borneo company. i have been since told that i have more than once unwittingly shaken hands and had friendly intercourse with some of them. in fairness to them i should add that it is more than probable that they mistook the _friederich_ for a vessel belonging to spain, with whom their sovereign, the sultan of sulu, was at that time at war. after this incident, and by order of his government, baron oesterreicher visited sandakan bay and, i believe, reported that he could discover no population there other than monkeys. altogether, he could not have carried away with him a very favourable impression of northern borneo. on the west coast, gambling and cattle-lifting are the main pursuits of the gentlemanly bajow, pursuits which soon brought him into close and very uncomfortable relations with the new government, for which he entertains anything but feelings of affection. one of the principal independent rivers on the west coast--_i. e._, rivers which have not yet been ceded to the company--is the mengkabong, the majority of the inhabitants of which are bajows, so that it has become a sort of river of refuge for the bad characters on the coast, as well as an entrepôt for the smuggling of gunpowder for sale to the head-hunting tribes of the interior. the existence of these independent and intermediate rivers on their west coast is a serious difficulty for the company in its efforts to establish good government and put down lawlessness, and every one having at heart the true interests of the natives of borneo must hope that the company will soon be successful in the negotiations which they have opened for the acquisition of these rivers. the kawang was an important river, inhabited by a small number of bajows, acquired by the company in 1884, and the conduct of these people on one occasion affords a good idea of their treachery and their hostility towards good government. an interior tribe had made itself famous for its head-hunting proclivities, and the kawang was selected as the best route by which to reach their district and inflict punishment upon them. the selection of this route was not a politic one, seeing that the inhabitants _were_ bajows, and that they had but recently come under the company's rule. the expedition was detained a day or two at the bajow village, as the full number of dusun baggage-carriers had not arrived, and the bajows were called upon to make up the deficiency, but did not do so. matters were further complicated by the dusuns recognising some noted cattle-lifters in the village, and demanding a buffalo which had been stolen from them. it being impossible to obtain the required luggage carriers, it was proposed to postpone the expedition, the stores were deposited in some of the houses of the village and the constabulary were "dismissed" and, piling their arms, laid down under the shelter of some trees. without any warning one of two bajows, with whom dr. fraser was having an apparently friendly chat, discharged his musket point blank at the doctor, killing him on the spot, and seven others rushed among the unarmed constables and speared the sikh jemmadhar and the sergeant-major and a private and then made off for the jungle. captain de fontaine gallantly, but rashly started off in pursuit, before any one could support him. he tripped and fell and was so severely wounded by the bajows, after killing three of them with his revolver, that he died a few days afterwards at sandakan. by this time the sikhs had got their rifles and firing on the retreating party killed three and wounded two. assistant resident little, who had received a spear in his arm, shot his opponent dead with his revolver. none of the other villagers took any active part, and consequently were only punished by the imposition of a fine. they subsequently all cleared out of the company's territory. it was a sad day for the little colony at sandakan when mr. whitehead, a naturalist who happened to be travelling in the neighbourhood at the time, brought us the news of the melancholy affray, and the wounded captain de fontaine and several sikhs, to whose comfort and relief he had, at much personal inconvenience, attended on the tedious voyage in a small steam-launch from the kawang to the capital. on the east coast, also, their slave-dealing and kidnapping propensities brought the bajows into unfriendly relations with the government, and their lawlessness culminated in their kidnapping several eraan birds' nest collectors, whom they refused to surrender, and making preparations for resisting any measures which might be taken to coerce them. as these same people had, a short time previously, captured at sea some five dutch subjects, it was deemed that their offences brought them within the cognizance of the naval authorities, and captain a. k. hope, r.n., at my request, visited the district, in 1886, in h. m. s. _zephyr_ and, finding that the people of two of the bajow villages refused to hold communication with us, but prepared their boats for action, he opened fire on them under the protection of which a party of the north borneo constabulary landed and destroyed the villages, which were quickly deserted, and many of the boats which had been used on piratical excursions. happily, there was no loss of life on either side, and a very wholesome and useful lesson was given to the pirates without the shedding of blood, thanks to the good arrangements and tact of captain hope. in order that the good results of this lesson should not be wasted, i revisited the scene of the little engagement in the _zephyr_ a few weeks subsequently, and not long afterwards the british flag was again shewn in the district, by captain a. h. alington in h. m. s. _satellite_, who interviewed the offending chiefs and gave them sound advice as to their conduct in future. akin to the bajows are the illanuns and balinini, muhammadan peoples, famous in former days as the most enterprising pirates of the malayan seas. the balinini, balignini or balanguini--as their name is variously written--originally came from a small island to the north of sulu, and the illanuns from the south coast of the island of mindanao--one of the philippines, but by the action of the spanish and british cruisers their power has been broken and they are found scattered in small numbers throughout the sulu islands and on the seaboard of northern borneo, on the west coast of which they founded little independent settlements, arrogating to their petty chiefs such high sounding titles as sultan, maharajah and so forth. the illanuns are a proud race and distinguished by wearing a much larger sword than the other tribes, with a straight blade about 28 inches in length. this sword is called a _kampilan_, and is used in conjunction with a long, narrow, wooden shield, known by the name of _klassap_, and in the use of these weapons the illanuns are very expert and often boast that, were it not for their gunpowder, no europeans could stand up to them, face to face. i believe, that it is these people who in former days manufactured the chain armour of which i have seen several specimens, but the use of which has now gone out of fashion. those i have are made of small brass rings linked together, and with plates of brass or buffalo horn in front. the headpiece is of similar construction. there are no negritos in borneo, although they exist in the malay peninsula and the philippines, and our explorers have failed to obtain any specimens of the "tailed" people in whose existence many of the brunai people believe. the late sultan of brunai gravely assured me that there was such a tribe, and that the individuals composing it were in the habit of carrying about chairs with them, in the seat of each of which there was a little hole, in which the lady or gentleman carefully inserted her or his tail before settling down to a comfortable chat. this belief in the existence of a tailed race appears to be widespread, and in his "pioneering in new guinea" mr. chalmers gives an amusing account of a detailed description of such a tribe by a man who vowed _he had lived with them_, and related how they were provided with long sticks, with which to make holes in the ground before squatting down, for the reception of their short stumpy tails! i think it is mr. h. f. romilly who, in his interesting little work on the western pacific and new guinea, accounts for the prevalence of "yarns" of this class by explaining that the natives regard europeans as being vastly superior to them in general knowledge and, when they find them asking such questions as, for instance, whether there are tailed-people in the interior, jump to the conclusion that the white men must have good grounds for believing that they do exist, and then they gradually come to believe in their existence themselves. there is, however, i think, some excuse for the brunai people's belief, for i have seen one tribe of muruts who, in addition to the usual small loin cloth, wear on their backs only a skin of a long-tailed monkey, the tail of which hangs down behind in such a manner as, when the men are a little distance off, to give one at first glance the impression that it is part and parcel of the biped. in labuan it used to be a very common occurrence for the graves of the europeans, of which unfortunately, owing to its bad climate when first settled, there are a goodly number, to be found desecrated and the bones scattered about. the perpetrators of these outrages have never been discovered, notwithstanding the most stringent enquiries. it was once thought that they were broken open by head-hunting tribes from the mainland, but this theory was disproved by the fact that the skulls were never carried away. as we know of no borneo tribe which is in the habit of breaking open graves, the only conclusion that can be come to is that the graves were rifled under the supposition that the europeans buried treasure with their dead, though it is strange that their experiences of failure never seemed to teach them that such was not the case. the muhammadan natives are buried in the customary muhammadan manner in regular graveyards kept for the purpose. the aborigines generally bury their dead near their houses, erecting over the graves little sheds adorned, in the case of chiefs, with bright coloured clothes, umbrellas, etc. i once went to see the lying in state of a deceased datoh, who had been dead nine days. on entering the house i looked about for the corpse in vain, till my attention was drawn to an old earthen jar, tilted slightly forward, on the top of the old chief's goods--his sword, spear, gun and clothing. in this jar were the datoh's remains, the poor old fellow having been doubled up, head and heels together, and forced through the mouth of the vessel, which was about two feet in diameter. the jar itself was about four feet high. over the corpse was thickly sprinkled the native camphor, and the jar was closed with a piece of buffalo hide, well sealed over with gum dammar. they told us the datoh was dressed in his best clothes and had his pipe with him, but nothing else. he was to be buried that day in a small grave excavated near the house, just large enough to contain the jar, and a buffalo was being killed and intoxicating drink prepared for the numerous friends and followers who were flocking in for the wake. over his grave cannon would be fired to arouse the spirits who were to lead him to kinabalu, the people shouting out "turn neither to the right nor to the left, but proceed straight to kinabalu"--the sacred mountain where are collected the spirits of all good dusuns under, i believe, the presidency of a great spirit known as kinaringan. chapter xi the population of north borneo, as has been shewn, is very scanty, and the great object of the new government should be to attract population and capital to their territory. java is often quoted as an island which, under dutch rule, has attained great prosperity without any large immigration of chinese or other foreigners. this is true, but in java the dutch had not only a fertile soil and good climate in their favour, but found their colony already thickly populated by native races who had, under hindu and arab influences, made considerable advances in civilization, in trade and in agriculture, and who, moreover, had been accustomed to a strong government. the dutch, too, were in those days able to introduce a government of a paternal and despotic character which the british north borneo company are, by the terms of the royal charter, precluded from imitating. it was sir james brooke's wish to keep sarawak for the natives, but his successor has recognised the impolicy of so doing and admits that "without the chinese we can do nothing." experience in the straits settlements, the malay peninsula and sarawak has shewn that the people to cause rapid financial progress in malayan countries are the hard-working, money-loving chinese, and these are the people whom the company should lay themselves out to attract to borneo, as i have more than once pointed out in the course of these remarks. it matters not what it is that attracts them to the country, whether trade, as in singapore, agriculture, as in johor and sarawak, or mining as in perak and other of the protected native states of the peninsula--once get them to voluntarily immigrate, and govern them with firmness and justice, and the financial success of the company would, in my opinion, be assured. the inducements for the chinese to come to north borneo are trade, agriculture and possibly mining. the bulk of those already in the country are traders, shop-keepers, artisans and the coolies employed by them, and the numbers introduced by the european tobacco planters for the cultivation of their estates, under the system already explained, is yearly increasing. very few are as yet engaged in agriculture on their own account, and it must be confessed that the luxuriant tropical jungle presents considerable difficulties to an agriculturist from china, accustomed to a country devoid of forest, and it would be impossible for chinese peasants to open land in borneo for themselves without monetary assistance, in the first instance, from the government or from capitalists. in sarawak chinese pepper planters were attracted by free passages in government ships and by loans of money, amounting to a considerable total, nearly all of which have since been repaid, while the revenues of the state have been almost doubled. the british north borneo company early recognised the desirability of encouraging chinese immigration, but set to work in too great haste and without judgment. they were fortunate in obtaining the services for a short time, as their commissioner of chinese immigration, of a man so well-known in china as the late sir walter medhurst, but he was appointed before the company's government was securely established and before proper arrangements had been made for the reception of the immigrants, or sufficient knowledge obtained of the best localities in which to locate them. his influence and the offer of free passages from china, induced many to try their fortune in the colony, but the majority of them were small shop-keepers, tailors, boot-makers, and artisans, who naturally could not find a profitable outlet for their energies in a newly opened country to which capital (except that of the governing company) had not yet been attracted, and a large proportion of the inhabitants of which were satisfied with a loin cloth as the sole article of their attire. great, therefore, was their disappointment, and comparatively few remained to try their luck in the country. one class of these immigrants, however, took kindly to north borneo--the hakkas, an agricultural clan, many of whom have embraced the christian religion and are, in consequence, somewhat looked down upon by their neighbours. they are a steady, hard-working body of men, and cultivate vegetable and coffee gardens in the vicinity of the settlements and rear poultry and pigs. the women are steady, and work almost as well as the men. they may form a valuable factor in the colonization of the country and a source of cheap labour for the planters in the future. sir spencer st. john, formerly her britannic majesty's consul-general at brunai and who knew borneo well, in his preface to the second edition of his "life in the forests of the far east," lays great stress on the suitability of north borneo for the immigration of chinese on a very large scale, and prophesied that "should the immigration once commence, it would doubtless assume great proportions and continue until every acre of useless jungle is cleared away, to give place to rice, pepper, gambier, sugar-cane, cotton, coffee, indigo and those other products which flourish on its fertile soil." no doubt a considerable impetus would be given to the immigration of chinese and the introduction of chinese as well as of european capital, were the british government to proclaim[23] formally a protectorate over the country, meanwhile the company should try the effect of the offer of free passages from china and from singapore and of liberal allotments of suitable land to _bonâ fide_ agriculturists. the sources of the company's revenues have been referred to on a previous page, and may be summarised here under the following principal heads:--the "farms" of opium, tobacco, spirits, and of pawnbroking, the rent of the edible birds'-nest caves, market dues, duties on imports and exports, court fines and fees, poll tax on aborigines, house and store rents, profit accruing from the introduction of the company's copper or bronze token coinage--a considerable item--interest and commission resulting from the banking business carried on by the treasury pending the establishment of a banking company, land sales and quit-rents on land alienated, and postal receipts. the poll tax is a source of revenue well-known in the east and not objected to by most of our natives, with whom it takes the place of the land rent which the government of india imposes. to our aborigines a land rent would be most distasteful at present, and they infinitely prefer the poll tax and to be allowed to own and farm what land they like without paying premium or rent. the more civilized tribes, especially on the west coast, recognize private property in land, the boundaries of their gardens and fields being carefully marked and defined, and the property descending from fathers to children. the rate of the poll tax is usually $2 for married couples and $1 for adult bachelors per annum, and i believe this is about the same rate as that collected by the british government in burma. at first sight it has the appearance of a tax on marriage, but in the east generally women do a great deal of the out-door as well as of the indoor work, so that a married man is in a much better position than a bachelor for acquiring wealth, as he can be engaged in collecting jungle produce, or in trading, or in making money in other ways, while his womenkind are planting out or gathering in the harvest. the amounts _received_ by the company for the sale of their waste lands has been as follows:- 1882, $16,340 1883, $25,449 1884, $15,460 1885, $2,860 1886, $12,035 1887,[24] $14,505 the receipts for 1888, owing to the rush for tobacco lands already alluded to, and to the fact that the balances of the premia on lands taken up in 1887 becomes due in that year, will be considerably larger than those of any previous period. the most productive, and the most elastic source of revenue is that derived from the excise on the retail of opium and, with the comparatively small number of chinese at present in the country, this amounted in 1887 to $19,980, having been only $4,537 in 1882.[25] the next most substantial and promising item is the customs duties on import and export, which from about $8,300 in 1882 have increased to $19,980 in 1887.[26] the local expenditure in borneo is chiefly for salaries of the officials, the armed constabulary and for gaols and public works, the annual "rental" payable to the sultans of brunai and sulu and others, the subsidizing of steamers, medical services, printing, stationery, prospecting, experimental gardens and harbour and postal services. the designations of the principal officials employed by the company in borneo have been given on a previous page; the salaries allowed them, as a rule, can scarcely be called too liberal, and unfortunately the court of directors does not at present feel that it is justified in sanctioning any pension scheme. those of my readers who are conversant with the working of public offices will recognize that this decision of the directors deprives the service of one great incentive to hard and continuous work and of a powerful factor in the maintenance of an effective discipline, and it speaks volumes for the quality of the officials, whose services the company has been so fortunate as to secure without this attraction, that it is served as faithfully, energetically and zealously as any government in the world. it i may be allowed to say so here, i can never adequately express my sense of the valuable assistance and support i received from the officers, with scarcely any exception, during my six years' tenure of the appointment of governor. an excellent spirit pervades the service and, when the occasions have arisen, there have never been wanting officers ready to risk their lives in performing their duties, without hope of rewards or distinctions, victoria crosses or medals. the figures below speak for the advance which the country is making, not very rapidly, perhaps the shareholders may think, but certainly, though slowly, surely and steadily:- revenue in 1883, $51,654, with the addition of land sales, $25,449, a total of $77,103. revenue in 1887, $142,687, with the addition of land sales, $14,505, a total of $157,192. expenditure in 1883, including expenditure on capital account, $391,547. expenditure in 1887, including expenditure on capital account, $209,862. for reasons already mentioned, the revenue for 1888 is expected to considerably exceed that of any previous year, while the expenditure will probably not be more and may be less than that of 1887.[27] the expenses of the london office average, i believe, about £3,000 a year. as sir rutherford alcock, their able and conscientious chairman, explained to the shareholders at a recent meeting, "with reference to the important question of expenditure, the position of the company was that of a man coming into possession of a large estate which had been long neglected, and which was little better than a wilderness. if any rent roll was to be derived from such a property there must be, in the first place, a large outlay in many ways before the land could be made profitable, or indeed tenantable. that was what the company had had to do and what they had been doing; _and that had been the history of all our colonies_." i trust that the few observations i have offered will have shewn my readers that, though british north borneo might be described as a wilderness so far as regards the absence of development when the company took possession of it, such a description is by no means applicable to it when regard is had to its great and undoubted natural resources. british north borneo not being a crown colony, it has to provide itself for the maintenance of order, both ashore and afloat, without assistance from the imperial army or navy, except such temporary assistance as has been on two occasions accorded by her majesty's vessels, under circumstances which have been detailed. there are no imperial troops stationed either in labuan or in any portion of borneo, and the company has organized an armed police force to act both in a military and in a civil capacity. the numbers of their force do not much exceed two hundred of all ranks, and are composed principally of sikhs from the punjaub and a few dyaks from sarawak--an excellent mixture for fighting purposes, the dyaks being sufficiently courageous and expert in all the arts of jungle warfare, while the pluck and cool steadiness under fire of the sikhs is too well-known to need comment here. the services of any number of sikhs can, it appears, be easily obtained for this sort of work, and some years ago a party of them even took service with the native sultan of sulu, who, however, proved a very indifferent paymaster and was soon deserted by his mercenaries, who are the most money-grabbing lot of warriors i have ever heard of. large bodies of sikhs are employed and drilled as armed constables in hongkong, in the straits settlements and in the protected native states of the malay peninsula, who, after a fixed time of service, return to their country, their places being at once taken by their compatriots, and one cannot help thinking what effect this might have in case of future disturbances in our indian empire, should the sikh natives make common cause with the malcontents. fault has been found with the company for not following the example of sarawak and raising an army and police from among its own people. this certainly would have been the best policy had it only been feasible; but the attempt was made and failed. as i have pointed out, british north borneo is fortunate in not possessing any powerful aboriginal tribe of pronounced warlike instincts, such as the dyaks of sarawak. the muhammadan bajows might in time make good soldiers, but my description of them will have shewn that the company could not at present place reliance in them. while on the subject of "fault finding," i may say that the company has also been blamed for its expenditure on public works and on subsidies for steam communication with the outer world. but our critics may rest assured that, had not the company proved its faith in the country by expending some of its money on public works and in providing facilities for the conveyance of intending colonists, neither european capital nor chinese population, so indispensable to the success of their scheme, would have been attracted to their territory as is now being done--for the country and its new government lacked the prestige which attaches to a colony opened by the imperial government. the strange experiment, in the present day, of a london company inaugurating a government in a tropical colony, perhaps not unnaturally caused a certain feeling of pique and uncharitableness in the breasts of that class of people who cannot help being pleased at the non-success of their neighbours' most cherished schemes, and who are always ready with their "i told you so." the measure of success attained by british north borneo caused it to come in for its full share of this feeling, and i am not sure that it was not increased and aggravated by the keen interest which all the officers took in the performance of their novel duties--an interest which, quite unintentionally, manifested itself, perhaps, in a too enthusiastic and somewhat exaggerated estimate of the beauties and resources of their adopted country and of the grandeur of its future destiny and of its rapid progress, and which, so to speak, brought about a reaction towards the opposite extreme in the minds of the class to whom i refer. this enthusiasm was, to say the least, pardonable under the circumstances, for all men are prone to think that objects which intensely engross their whole attention are of more importance than the world at large is pleased to admit. every man worth his salt thinks his own geese are swans. a notable exception to this narrow-mindedness was, however, displayed by the government of singapore, especially by its present governor, sir cecil clementi smith, who let no opportunity pass of encouraging the efforts of the infant government by practical assistance and unprejudiced counsel. lord brassey, whose visit to borneo in the _sunbeam_ i have mentioned, showed a kindly appreciation of the efforts of the company's officers, and practically evinced his faith in the future of the country by joining the court of directors on his return to england. in the number of the "nineteenth century" for august, 1887, is a sketch of the then position of the portion of borneo which is under the british influence, from his pen. as the country is developed and land taken up by european planters and chinese, the company will be called upon for further expenditure on public works, in the shape of roads, for at present, in the interior, there exist only rough native tracks, made use of by the natives when there does not happen to be a river handy for the transport of themselves and their goods. though well watered enough, british north borneo possesses no rivers navigable for european vessels of any size, except perhaps the sibuku river, the possession of which is at the present moment a subject of dispute with the the dutch. this is due to the natural configuration of the country. borneo, towards the north, becoming comparatively narrow and of roughly triangular shape, with the apex to the north. the only other river of any size and navigable for vessels drawing about nine feet over the bar, is the kinabatangan, which, like the sibuku, is on the east side, the coast range of mountains, of which kinabalu forms a part, being at no great distance from the west coast and so preventing the occurrence of any large rivers on that side. from data already to hand, it is calculated that the proceeds of land sales for 1887 and 1888 will equal the total revenue from all other sources, and a portion of this will doubtless be set aside for road making and other requisite public works. the question may be asked what has the company done for north borneo? a brief reply to this question would include the following points. the company has paved the way to the ultimate extinction of the practice of slavery; it has dealt the final blow to the piracy and kidnapping which still lingered on its coasts; it has substituted one strong and just government for numerous weak, cruel and unjust ones; it has opened courts of justice which know no distinction between races and creeds, between rich and poor, between master and slave; it is rapidly adjusting ancient blood feuds between the tribes and putting a stop to the old custom of head-hunting; it has broken down the barrier erected by the coast malays to prevent the aborigines having access to the outer world and is thus enabling trade and its accompanying civilisation to reach the interior races; and it is attracting european and chinese capital to the country and opening a market for british traders. these are some, and not inconsiderable ones, of the achievements of the british north borneo company, which, in its humble way, affords another example of the fact that the "expansion of britain" has been in the main due not to the exertions of its government so much as to the energy and enterprise of individual citizens, and sir alfred dent the the founder, and sir rutherford alcock the guide and supporter of the british north borneo company, cannot but feel a proud satisfaction in the reflection that their energy and patient perseverance have resulted in conferring upon so considerable a portion of the island of borneo the benefits above enumerated and in adding another colony to the long list of the dependencies of the british crown. in the matter of geographical exploration, too, the company and its officers have not been idle, as the map brought out by the company sufficiently shews, for previous maps of north borneo will be found very barren and uninteresting, the interior being almost a complete blank, though possessing one natural feature which is conspicuous by its absence in the more recent and trustworthy one, and that is the large lake of kinabalu, which the explorations of the late mr. f. k. witti have proved to be non-existent. two explanations are given of the origin of the myth of the kinabalu lake--one is that in the district, where it was supposed to exist, extensive floods do take place in very wet seasons, giving it the appearance of a lake, and, i believe there are many similar instances in dutch borneo, where a tract of country liable to be heavily flooded has been dignified with the name of _danau_, which is malay for _lake_, so that the mistake of the european cartographers is a pardonable one. the other explanation is that the district in question is known to the aboriginal inhabitants as _danau_, a word which, in their language, has no particular meaning, but which, as above stated, signifies, in malay, a lake. the first european visitors would have gained all their information from the malay coast tribes, and the reason for their mistaken supposition of the existence of a large lake can be readily understood. the two principal pioneer explorers of british north borneo were witti and frank hatton, both of whom met with violent deaths. witti's services as one of the first officers stationed in the country, before the british north borneo company was formed, have already been referred to, and i have drawn on his able report for a short account of the slave system which formerly prevailed. he had served in the austrian navy and was a very energetic, courageous and accomplished man. besides minor journeys, he had traversed the country from west to east and from north to south, and it was on his last journey from pappar, on the west coast, inland to the headwaters of the kinabatangan and sambakong rivers, that he was murdered by a tribe, whose language none of his party understood, but whose confidence he had endeavoured to win by reposing confidence in them, to the extent even of letting them carry his carbine. he and his men had slept in the village one night, and on the following day some of the tribe joined the party as guides, but led them into the ambuscade, where the gallant witti and many of his men were killed by _sumpitans_.[28] so far as we have been able to ascertain the sole reason for the attack was the fact that witti had come to the district from a tribe with whom these people were at war, and he was, therefore, according to native custom, deemed also to be an enemy. frank hatton joined the company's service with the object of investigating the mineral resources of the country and in the course of his work travelled over a great portion of the territory, prosecuting his journeys from both the west and the east coasts, and undergoing the hardships incidental to travel in a roadless, tropical country with such ability, pluck and success as surprised me in one so young and slight and previously untrained and inexperienced in rough pioneering work. he more than once found himself in critical positions with inland tribes, who had never seen or heard of a white man, but his calmness and intrepidity carried him safely through such difficulties, and with several chiefs he became a sworn brother, going through the peculiar ceremonies customary on such occasions. in 1883, he was ascending the segama river to endeavour to verify the native reports of the existence of gold in the district when, landing on the bank, he shot at and wounded an elephant, and while following it up through the jungle, his repeating rifle caught in a rattan and went off, the bullet passing through his chest, causing almost immediate death. hatton, before leaving england, had given promise of a distinguished scientific career, and his untimely fate was deeply mourned by his brother officers and a large circle of friends. an interesting memoir of him has been published by his father, mr. joseph hatton, and a summary of his journeys and those of witti, and other explorers in british north borneo, appeared in the "proceedings of the royal geographical society and monthly record of geography" for march, 1888, being the substance of a paper read before the society by admiral r. c. mayne, c.b., m.p. a memorial cross has been erected at sandakan, by their brother officers, to the memory of witti, hatton, de fontaine and sikh officers and privates who have lost their lives in the service of the government. to return for a moment to the matter of fault-finding, it would be ridiculous to maintain that no mistakes have been made in launching british north borneo on its career as a british dependency, but then i do not suppose that any single colony of the crown has been, or will be inaugurated without similar mistakes occurring, such, for instance, as the withholding money where money was needed and could have been profitably expended, and a too lavish expenditure in other and less important directions. examples will occur to every reader who has studied our colonial history. if we take the case of the colony of the straits settlements, now one of our most prosperous crown colonies and which was founded by the east india company, it will be seen that in 1826-7 the "mistakes" of the administration were on such a scale that there was an annual deficit of £100,000, and the presence of the governor-general of india was called for to abolish useless offices and effect retrenchments throughout the service. the british north borneo company possesses a valuable property, and one which is daily increasing in value, and if they continue to manage it with the care hitherto exhibited, and if, remembering that they are not yet quite out of the wood, they are careful to avoid, on the one hand, a too lavish expenditure and, on the other, an unwise parsimony, there cannot, i should say, be a doubt that a fair return will, at no very distant date, be made to them on the capital they have expended. as for the country _per se_, i consider that its success is now assured, whether it remains under the rule of the company or is received into the fellowship of _bonâ fide_ colonies of the empire. in bringing to a conclusion my brief account of the territory, some notice of its suitability as a residence for europeans may not be out of place, as bearing on the question of "what are we to do with our boys?" i have my own experience of seventeen years' service in northern borneo, and the authority of dr. walker, the able medical officer of the government, for saying that in its general effect on the health of europeans, the climate of british north borneo, as a whole, compares not unfavourably with that of other tropical countries. there is no particular "unhealthy season," and europeans who lead a temperate and active life have little to complain of, except the total absence of any cold season, to relieve the monotony of eternal summer. on the hills of the interior, no doubt, an almost perfect climate could be obtained. one great drawback to life for europeans in all tropical places is the fact that it is unwise to keep children out after they have attained the age of seven or eight years, but up to that age the climate appears to agree very well with them and they enjoy an immunity from measles, whooping cough and other infantile diseases. this enforced separation from wife and family is one of the greatest disadvantages in a career in the tropics. we have not, unfortunately, had much experience as to how the climate of british north borneo affects english ladies, but, judging from surrounding colonies, i fear it will be found that they cannot stand it quite so well as the men, owing, no doubt, to their not being able to lead such an active life and to their not having official and business matter to occupy their attention during the greater part of the day, as is the case with their husbands. of course, if sufficient care is taken to select a swampy spot, charged with all the elements of fever and miasma, splendidly unhealthy localities can be found in north borneo, a residence in which would prove fatal to the strongest constitution, and i have also pointed out that on clearing new ground for plantations fever almost inevitably occurs, but, as dr. walker has remarked, the sickness of the newly opened clearings does not last long when ordinary sanitary precautions are duly observed. at present the only employers of europeans are the governing company, who have a long list of applicants for appointments, the tobacco companies, and two timber companies. nearly all the tobacco companies at present at work are of foreign nationality and, doubtless, would give the preference to dutch and german managers and assistants. until more english companies are formed, i fear there will be no opening in british north borneo for many young englishmen not possessed of capital sufficient to start planting on their own account. it will be remembered that the trade in the natural products of the country is practically in the hands of the chinese. among the other advantages of north borneo is its entire freedom from the presence of the larger carnivora--the tiger or the panther. ashore, with the exception of a few poisonous snakes--and during seventeen years' residence i have never heard of a fatal result from a bite--there is no animal which will attack man, but this is far from being the case with the rivers and seas, which, in many places, abound in crocodiles and sharks. the crocodiles are the most dreaded animals, and are found in both fresh and salt water. cases are not unknown of whole villages being compelled to remove to a distance, owing to the presence of a number of man-eating crocodiles in a particular bend of a river; this happened to the village of sebongan on the kinabatangan river, which has been quite abandoned. crocodiles in time become very bold and will carry off people bathing on the steps of their houses over the water, and even take them bodily out of their canoes. at an estate on the island of daat, i had two men thus carried off out of their boats, at sea, after sunset, in both cases the mutilated bodies being subsequently recovered. the largest crocodile i have seen was one which was washed ashore on an island, dead, and which i found to measure within an inch of twenty feet. some natives entertain the theory that a crocodile will not touch you if you are swimming or floating in the water and not holding on to any thing, but this is a theory which i should not care to put practically to the test myself. there is a native superstition in some parts of the west coast, to the effect that the washing of a mosquito curtain in a stream is sure to excite the anger of the crocodiles and cause them to become dangerous. so implicit was the belief in this superstition, that the brunai government proclaimed it a punishable crime for any person to wash a mosquito curtain in a running stream. when that government was succeeded by the company, this proclamation fell into abeyance, but it unfortunately happened that a woman at mempakul, availing herself of the laxity of the law in this matter, did actually wash her curtain in a creek, and that very night her husband was seized and carried off by a crocodile while on the steps of his house. fortunately, an alarm was raised in time, and his friends managed to rescue him, though badly wounded; but the belief in the superstition cannot but have been strengthened by the incident. some of the aboriginal natives on the west coast are keen sportsmen and, in the pursuit of deer and wild pig, employ a curious small dog, which they call _asu_, not making use of the malay word for dog--_anjing_. the term _asu_ is that generally employed by the javanese, from whose country possibly the dog may have been introduced into borneo. in brunai, dogs are called _kuyok_, a term said to be of sumatran origin. on the north and east there are large herds of wild cattle said to belong to two species, _bos banteng_ and _bos gaurus_ or _bos sondaicus_. in the vicinity of kudat they afford excellent sport, a description of which has been given, in a number of the "borneo herald," by resident g. l. davies, who, in addition to being a skilful manager of the aborigines, is a keen sportsman. the native name for them on the east coast is _lissang_ or _seladang_, and on the north, _tambadau_. in some districts the water buffalo, _bubalus buffelus_, has run wild and affords sport. the deer are of three kinds--the _rusa_ or _sambur_ (_rusa aristotelis_), the _kijang_ or roe, and the _plandok_, or mousedeer, the latter a delicately shaped little animal, smaller and lighter than the european hare. with the natives it is an emblem of cunning, and there are many short stories illustrating its supposed more than human intelligence. wild pig, the _sus barbatus_, a kind distinct from the indian animal, and, i should say, less ferocious, is a pest all over borneo, breaking down fences and destroying crops. the jungle is too universal and too thick to allow of pig-sticking from horseback, but good sport can be had, with a spear, on foot, if a good pack of native dogs is got together. it is on the east coast only that elephants and rhinoceros, called _gajah_ and _badak_ respectively, are found. the elephant is the same as the indian one and is fairly abundant; the rhinoceros is _rhinoceros sumatranus_, and is not so frequently met with. the elephant in borneo is a timid animal and, therefore, difficult to come up with in the thick jungle. none have been shot by europeans so far, but the natives, who can walk through the forest so much more quietly, sometimes shoot them, and dead tusks are also often brought in for sale. the natives in the east coast are very few in numbers and on neither coast is there any tribe of professional hunters, or _shikaris_, as in india and ceylon, so that, although game abounds, there are not, at present, such facilities for europeans desirous of engaging in sport as in the countries named.[29] a little malay bear occurs in borneo, but is not often met with, and is not a formidable animal. my readers all know that borneo is the home of the _orang-utan_ or _mias_, as it is called by the natives. no better description of the animal could be desired than that given by wallace in his "malay archipelago." there is an excellent picture of a young one in the second volume of dr. guillemard's "cruise of the marchesa." another curious monkey, common in mangrove swamps, is the long-nosed ape, or _pakatan_, which possesses a fleshy probosis some three inches long. it is difficult to tame, and does not live long in captivity. as in sumatra, which borneo much resembles in its fauna and flora, the peacock is absent, and its place taken by the _argus_ pheasant. other handsome pheasants are the _fireback_ and the _bulwer_ pheasants, the latter so named after governor sir henry bulwer who took the first specimen home in 1874. these pheasants do not rise in the jungle and are, therefore, uninteresting to the borneo sportsman. they are frequently trapped by the natives. there are many kinds of pigeons, which afford good sport. snipe occur, but not plentifully. curlew are numerous in some localities, but very wild. the small china quail are abundant on cleared spaces, as also is the painted plover, but cleared spaces in borneo are somewhat few and far between. so much for sport in the new colony. let me conclude my paper by quoting the motto of the british north borneo company--_pergo et perago_--i under take a thing and go through with it. dogged persistence has, so far, given the territory a fair start on its way to prosperity, and the same perseverance will, in time, be assuredly rewarded by complete success.[30] w. h. treacher. p.s.--i cannot close this article without expressing my great obligations to mr. c. v. creagh, the present governor of north borneo, and to mr. kindersley, the secretary to the company in london, for information which has been incorporated in these notes. footnotes: [footnote 23: now accomplished.] [footnote 24: in 1888, $246,457.] [footnote 25: in 1888, $22,755 were realized, and the estimate for 1890 is $70,000 for the opium farm.] [footnote 26: in 1888, $22,755.] [footnote 27: revenue in 1888, $148,286, with addition of land sales, $246,457, a total of $394,743. expenditure in 1888, including padas war expenses, $210,985, and expenditure on capital account, $25,283--total $236,268.] [footnote 28: the _sumpitan_, or native blow-pipe, has been frequently described by writers on borneo. it is a tube 6-1/2 feet long, carefully perforated lengthwise and through which is fired a poisoned dart, which has an extreme range of about 80 to 90 yards, but is effective at about 20 to 30 yards. it takes the place in borneo of the bow and arrow of savage tribes, and is used only by the aborigines and not by the muhammadan natives.] [footnote 29: dr. guillemard in his fascinating book, "the cruise of the marchesa," states, that two english officers, both of them well-known sportsmen, devoted four months to big game shooting in british north borneo and returned to hongkong entirely unsuccessful. dr. guillemard was misinformed. the officers were not more than a week in the country on their way to hongkong from singapore and sarawak, and did not devote their time to sport. some other of the author's remarks concerning british north borneo are somewhat incorrect and appear to have been based on information derived from a prejudiced source.] [footnote 30: in 1889, the company declared their first dividend.] * * * * * * transcriber's notes: the author's original spelling has been preserved as far as possible, including any idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies in the spelling and accenting of words. changes have only been made in the case of obvious typographical errors and where it was felt necessary to remove ambiguity or improve readability. all changes have been documented below. inconsistencies in the hypenation of words preserved. ( blood-thirsty, bloodthirsty; head-quarters, headquarters; kina-balu, kinabalu; kina-batangan, kinabatangan; salt-water, saltwater; sand-stone, sandstone; sea-board, seaboard; shop-keepers, shopkeepers; war-like, warlike) treatment of blockquotes. there are several blocks of text where the author quoted extensively from other documentary sources. in some cases, very long paragraphs contain a mixture of the author's words and quoted material. in order to enhance readability, the portions of text which are quoted material have been separated out and indented as blockquotes. this treatment has been given to: pg. 33-37. the block of text beginning '"when," says he....' to 'maintaining their gravity.' which was originally a single contiguous paragraph. pg. 37-40, several paragraphs beginning 'mr. darymple's description....' to 'singapore is to the straits of malacca.' the first paragraph from 'mr. darymple's description....' to 'commercial enterprise' was originally a single contiguous paragraph. this block of text is also unusual in that while elsewhere, each new paragraph of quoted material began with a doublequote mark, in this block, only some paragraphs do so while others do not. this inconsistency on the part of the author has been preserved. pg. 54-55, several paragraphs beginning 'javanese element, and hindu work....' to 'make a stone fort."' the section from 'javanese element, and hindu work....' to 'country of saguntang.' was originally one contiguous paragraph. the quoted material was originally printed with a doublequote mark at the beginning of each line. these doublequote marks have been removed except for those indicating the beginning and end of a quotation. pg. 58-62, several paragraphs beginning 'the agreement to so transfer....' to 'reference will be made hereafter.' the section from 'the agreement to so transfer....' to 'twenty in number' was originally one contiguous paragraph. the block from 'mr. brooke concludes....' to 'reference will be made hereafter.' was also one contiguous paragraph. the quoted material was originally printed with a doublequote mark at the beginning of each line. these doublequote marks have been removed except for those indicating the beginning and end of a quotation. on pg. 86 there is a short section of quoted material from '"lieutenant little....' to 'await my arrival."' this quotation was originally printed with a doublequote mark at the beginning of each line. the doublequote marks have been removed. because of its short length, the quote has been left in the body of its parent paragraph, demarcated by opening and closing doublequotes. when the author quoted extensively from other sources, he used a row of between 3-6 asterisks to represent omitted material. this style has been reproduced in this transcription. the author was inconsistent with respect to whether a space was added between the letters in abbreviations such as a.m., r.n., i.e. and so on. the original spacing has been preserved in all cases. the original text included an errata with the following text: "page 136, line 15, _for_ 'head of a thief' _read_ 'hand of a thief.'" the required change has been incorporated into this ebook and hence the errata has not been transcribed. table of contents, chapter vi., "expecttations" changed to "expectations" (original expectations of the colony) table of contents, chapter x., "tranfer" changed to "transfer". (transfer from natives) pg. 2, "concesssions" changed to "concessions". (confirming the grants and concessions acquired from the sultans of brunai) pg. 9, "slighlty" changed to "slightly". (black and slightly oblique) footnote 2 makes mention of an appendix but the source document for this transcription, although complete, did not have an appendix. library catalogue entries for this title (with matching publication and physical parameters) at libraries such as the bodleian library of oxford university (uk) and harvard university make no mention of an appendix and state that this title had 165 pages, which is exactly the same as for the source document used. pg. 21, "adapability" changed to "adaptability". (adaptability to changed circumstances) pg. 44, "fatening" changed to "fattening". (used for fattening pigs) pg. 53, "invesiture" changed to "investiture". (his conversion and investiture by the sultan) pg. 55, "beetwen" changed to "between". (quarrel ensued between them) pg. 59, sentence ends after "had the desired effect" without punctuation. this is followed by a row of asterisks (omitted material) and then the beginning of a new sentence: "none joined....". as it is unclear whether "had the desired effect" ends the sentence or there were more words (which have been omitted), the original text is preserved as is. pg. 63, "poputation" changed to "population". (supporting a population) pg. 70, "beloved" original printed with an inverted "e". corrected. (beloved of the colonial) pg. 72, "expirements" changed to "experiments". (but experiments are being made) pg. 74, "scarely" changed to "scarcely". (we can scarcely let) pg. 75, "chaples" changed to "chapels". (twenty-five mission chapels in sarawak) pg. 79, "uncrupulous" changed to "unscrupulous". (most unscrupulous agents) pg. 87, "witb" changed to "with". (covered with a strong growth) pg. 105, "authories" changed to "authorities". (for the spanish authorities) pg. 114, "hat" changed to "that". (and found that next morning) pg. 114, "he" changed to "the". (and that the swifts went) pg. 116, "ino" changed to "into". (have been put into circulation) pg. 120, "rear", last letter originally printed as an inverted "r". corrected. (and appears to rear its isolated) pg. 120, inserted missing period at sentence end. (at all rare. the dryest months) pg. 124, "amasing" changed to "amassing". (an innate desire of amassing dollars) pg. 126, inserted missing period at sentence end. (kinabatangan river on the east.) pg. 126, "ordidary" changed to "ordinary". (higher price than ordinary kinds) pg. 131, "hegrees" changed to "degrees". (abolish by degrees, any system of) pg. 132, duplicated word "an" removed. (if an _anak mas_ girl) pg. 133, "incorrigble" changed to "incorrigible". (an incorrigible slave) pg. 133, "agressor" changed to "aggressor". (compensation from the aggressor) pg. 135, "pu-a stop to" changed to "put a stop to". (altogether put a stop to in) pg. 135, "effecttually" changed to "effectually". (effectually brought to an end) pg. 136, "and to the.consequent", extraneous dot removed. (and to the consequent) pg. 145, inserted missing period at end of sentence. (hope. in order that the) pg. 145, "zepyhyr" changed to "zephyr". (in the zephyr a few weeks) pg. 148, "acccustomed" changed "accustomed". (had been accustomed to) pg. 149, "desirabilty" changed to "desirability". (recognised the desirability) pg. 152, "expendiure" changed to "expenditure". (expenditure in 1887) pg. 163, apparently extraneous comma removed from inside parenthesis of "(_rusa aristotelis_,),". (_rusa aristotelis_), the) pg. 164, "n better" changed to "no better". (no better description of the) transcriber's note: inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. obvious typographical errors have been corrected. italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=. manus island, page 202. no location named. should probably be east indies. gulf of kas, page 195. missing longitude. fitze-long bay, page 187. wrong map coordinates. the index lists dharmapuri, diggi, kang-ping and radhan as having glossary entries which do not exist. alternative spellings of ibn batuta include batutu, batatu, and batouka. inconsistencies between latitude and longitude in the index and the glossary have been left as printed, including ajmere, bahera, bitlis, carmel, the dead sea, deogarh, dharwar, diarbekr, dondra head, elichpur, hugli, kagoshima, and kamagawa. everyman's library edited by ernest rhys reference a literary and historical atlas of asia the publishers of _everyman's library_ will be pleased to send freely to all applicants a list of the published and projected volumes to be comprised under the following thirteen headings: travel science fiction theology & philosophy history classical for young people essays oratory poetry & drama biography reference romance in four styles of binding: cloth, flat back, coloured top, leather, round corners, gilt top; library binding in cloth, & quarter pigskin london: j. m. dent & sons, ltd. new york: e. p. dutton & co. [illustration: to the wise man all the world's a soil ben jonson] a literary & historical atlas of asia j g. bartholomew ll.d london: published by j·m·dent & sons ltd and in new york by e·p·dutton & co introduction fourth in the series of special atlases designed for "everyman's library" the present volume deals with the countries of asia, whose history and geography, and whose possibilities, great and grave, are alike reflected in the maps and charts that follow. when queen elizabeth granted to certain merchants of london a charter that gave them a roving commission to trade in the east indies, she could not foresee the immense developments that were to rise from that adventurous commerce between east and west. the successive maps of india with their frontier changes mark the gradual advance of an old world toward the new one knit by powerful mutual ties to the isle of britain; and recently we have seen what it is to be hoped will open a greater era for those regions, marked by a return to the old capital of delhi, and a resuming of ancient rites which first gained their symbolism in those lands. but asia, as japan has taught us and as china will undoubtedly teach us again, has her own destiny to bear out, apart from our european interests and politics; and it is in that aspect we need to study her on the lines laid down and made clear and positive in this volume. it is not the military records, the charts of mutinies and battle-fields, interesting as they are, which are alone important; but those showing the conditions, physical and climatic, of the country; the dispersion of the tongues, the sites of the old religions, the wealth and tillage of the earth with its fruits, grain and minerals, its rice fields and tea plantations; the prevalence of rain, sun and trade-winds; and the course of the sea-roads that affect its human and industrial life. a gazetteer does not always seem to the ordinary man a very entertaining thing, but in this of asia its compiler, miss grant, has tried to mark in brief, close compacted in small type, the place-associations, historical and other, that give life to the names of town or country. she has related them to the books that have dealt with them, and the events they have witnessed: given ning-po its allusion to marco polo's travels, and madras its san thomé pedigree, connected palmyra with tamerlane, and puri, bengal, with the gold tooth of the buddha and the temple of vishnu's incarnation. in the brief survey of the coins and coinage, mr. j. allan (of the coins and medal department, british museum) has traced the record from lydia, six centuries and more b.c., to our own time. his notes on the phoenician coins--"tetradrachms of tyre with a dolphin or the god melkart riding on a sea-horse," or an owl with a crook and a flail (egyptian royal symbols); or the double shekels of sidon with a galley, sails, or oars, before a walled city on one side, and a king of persia on the other--show how much of history a set of coins, apparently so secretive, may hide in their silver and gold impressions. in this asian atlas, of small dimensions as it requires to be to fit its pocket, irkutsk in the north, "far mandalay," the details of the east and west indies, the route of marco polo, coasts like the carnatic, towns like lucknow and cawnpore, lhasa, "the forbidden city" of tibet, and matsuye, the old capital of idzumo, which lafcadio hearn describes, all have their record. it remains to be said, that as in other volumes of the same set, dr. bartholomew of edinburgh has acted as cartographer; and the editor and publishers wish to acknowledge his large practical aid in the design of the atlas. also, they owe a word of thanks to mr. william foster of the india office for his expert advice. finally, they wish to dedicate the volume to the people and the princes of india, japan, and the other countries of which it is a memorial, believing in their great future. e. r. contents coloured maps page the world according to hecatæus, b.c. 500 1 the world according to eratosthenes, b.c. 220 2 quadrans habitabilis according to abu rihan birunensis, a.d. 1030 3 egyptian empire, b.c. 1450 4 babylonian empire, b.c. 560 5 persian empire at its greatest extent, 525 b.c. 6, 7 empire of alexander the great, 325 b.c. 8, 9 asia minor 10, 11 palestine, old testament 12 palestine, new testament 13 asia, early explorers 14, 15 asia, thirteenth century 16 asia, about 1740 17 india, 1705 18 india, 1765 19 india, 1805 20 india, 1857 21 the far east, 1800 22, 23 russian advances in central asia 24, 25 the world on mercator's projection, showing routes to asia 26, 27 asia--orographical 28 river basins 29 january temperature 30 july temperature 31 january rainfall 32 july rainfall 33 mean annual rainfall 34 vegetation 35 races 36 religions 37 population 38 political 39 economic map of asia on mercator's projection 40, 41 trade routes of asia on mercator's projection 42, 43 turkey in asia, arabia, persia, afghanistan, and baluchistan 44, 45 asia minor, syria, etc. 46, 47 suez canal 48 aden 49 orographical central asia, with indian frontiers 50, 51 indian empire 52, 53 products of india 54, 55 bombay, berar, and part of central india 56, 57 punjab, sind, rajputana, kashmir, etc. 58, 59 united and central provinces, bengal, assam, etc. 60, 61 madras, haidarabad, mysore, and ceylon 62, 63 environs of bombay 64 environs of calcutta 65 orographical farther india 66 burma 67 malay states 68, 69 siam and indo-china 70, 71 the far east, economic 72, 73 east indies 74, 75 java 76 philippine islands 77 island of singapore 78 hong-kong 79 china and japan 80, 81 northern china 82, 83 southern china 84, 85 environs of peking and shanghai 86 environs of hong-kong and manila 87 japan 88, 89 korea and manchuria 90 central japan 91 environs of tokio 92 environs of port-arthur and nagasaki 93 siberia 94, 95 environs of vladivostok 96 a brief survey of the coinages of asia, from the earliest times to the present day, by j. allan, m.a., m.r.a.s. 97 line maps battle of sirangapatam, february 1792 130 battle of assaye, september 1803 131 battle of meanee, february 1843 131 battle of aliwal, january 1846 132 battle of sobraon, february 1846 132 indian mutiny, showing distribution of troops, may 1857 133 aryan languages of india 134 non-aryan languages of india 135 sites of ancient indian temples 136, 137 military divisions of india 138 delhi 139 lucknow 140 cawnpore 141 lahore 142 rangoon 143 lhasa, "the forbidden city" 144 a gazetteer of towns and places in asia having an historic interest 145 index 173 [illustration: the world according to hecatæus b.c. 500 john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: the world according to eratosthenes b.c. 220] [illustration: quadrans habitabilis according to abu rihan birunensis a.d. 1030 john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: egyptian empire b.c. 1450] [illustration: babylonian empire b.c. 560 john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: persian empire at its greatest extent 525 b.c. john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: empire of alexander the great 325 b.c. john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: asia minor john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: palestine old testament] [illustration: palestine new testament john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: asia early explorers john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: asia 13th century] [illustration: asia about 1740 john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: india, 1705] [illustration: india, 1765 john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: india, 1805] [illustration: india, 1857 john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: the far east 1800 john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: russian advances in central asia john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: the world on mercators projection. showing routes to asia john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: asia orographical] [illustration: asia river basins john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: asia january temperature] [illustration: asia july temperature john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: asia january rainfall] [illustration: asia july rainfall john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: asia mean annual rainfall] [illustration: asia vegetation john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: asia races] [illustration: asia religions john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: asia population] [illustration: asia political john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: economic map of asia on mercators projection john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: trade routes of asia on mercators projection john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: turkey in asia arabia, persia afghanistan & baluchistan] [illustration: asia minor, syria &c. john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: suez canal] [illustration: aden john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: orographical central asia with indian frontiers john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: indian empire john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: products of india] [illustration: products of india john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: bombay berar, and part of central india john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: punjab sind, rajputana, kashmir, &c. john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: united and central provinces bengal, assam, &c. john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: madras haidarabad, mysore, and ceylon john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: bombay] [illustration: calcutta john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: orographical farther india] [illustration: burma john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: malay states] john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: siam & indo-china john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: the far east economic john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: east indies john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: java] [illustration: philippine islands john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: island of singapore] [illustration: hong-kong john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: china & japan john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: northern china john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: southern china john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: peking shanghai john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: canton and hong kong] [illustration: manila john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: japan] [illustration: formosa & lu-chu islands on the same scale john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: korea and manchuria] [illustration: central japan john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: tokio] [illustration: port arthur nagasaki john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: siberia john bartholomew & co., edinburgh] [illustration: vladivostok] a brief survey of the coinages of asia from the earliest times to the present day a brief survey of the coinages of asia from the earliest times (700 b.c.) to the present day by j. allan, m.a., m.r.a.s. _of the department of coins, british museum_ the coins of asia from the earliest times may be conveniently reviewed in the following geographical and chronological sections: i. ancient coins of western and central asia (to the rise of islam, excluding the majority of greek and roman coins which have no claim to be asiatic); ii. mohammadan coins of western and central asia; iii. coins of india (hindu and mohammadan); iv. coins of the far east; v. coins struck by european nations for their asiatic possessions. i.--ancient coins of western and central asia _origin of coinage in lydia._--according to herodotus (i. 94) the lydians were the first people to strike coins of gold and silver, while other writers attribute the invention of coinage to pheidon, king of argos, who struck coins in aegina. the truth appears to be that gold, or rather electrum, was first coined in lydia in the seventh century b.c., while silver was first minted in aegina about the same time. the earliest lydian coins are believed to have been issued in the time of gyges, king of lydia (687-652 b.c.). these are rude oval pieces of electrum, a natural mixture of gold and silver found locally, and are stamped on one side only (plate i. 1). the uncertain value of this metal was found an embarrassment to commerce, and croesus (561-546 b.c.), under whose rule lydia became a great and wealthy power, introduced a coinage of pure gold and of pure silver, ten staters of silver being equal to one of gold (plate i. 2, gold stater). _persia._--when cyrus conquered lydia in 546 b.c., the persians, who, like the assyrians, had no coined money, became acquainted with the art of coinage. it is not certain when the persians began to issue coins, but from the statement of herodotus that darius hystaspis (521-486 b.c.) coined gold of the finest quality, and the probable etymology of "daric" from darius, the beginning of the achaemenid coinage is placed in his reign; it is most probable that it was at sardes in lydia that darius first struck his coins, as there he would be most likely to find skilled artificers. the coins of the persian empire were the _daric_ of gold about equal in value to the stater of croesus (or rather more than an english sovereign in metal value) and the _siglos_ (_shekel_) of which twenty were the equivalent of a daric. the types were the same on each coin, viz., on the obverse, the persian king in a half-kneeling position holding a bow in his left hand and a spear in his right, while the reverse still had no type but only a rough incuse caused in striking the coins (plate i. 3, daric). these two coins remained the official coinage of the persian empire till its fall. the conquered greek cities were not allowed to strike gold, but the issue of silver and copper by them was not interfered with; in addition certain persian satraps were allowed to issue silver coins bearing their own names. _phoenicia._--in spite of their commercial activity, the phoenician cities of the mediterranean coast did not begin to strike coins until comparatively late times, the end of the fifth and beginning of the fourth centuries b.c. we possess extensive silver coinages of the fourth century for most of these cities, those of tyre and sidon being particularly important. the tetradrachms of tyre have as types, a dolphin or the god melkart riding on a sea-horse and an owl with crook and flail, egyptian symbols of royalty (plate i. 4, _c._ 410-332 b.c.). the double shekels of sidon bear on the obverse a galley with sails or rowers often before a walled city, and on the reverse the suzerain king of persia in a chariot (plate i. 5, _c._ 400-384 b.c.). _imitations of athenian coins._--the coins of athens circulated very widely in the ancient world, particularly in central asia, where imitations of them were made when the athenian mint could no longer supply the demand (plate i. 6, imitation of athenian tetradrachm). on some of these imitations the owl was replaced by an eagle, while athenian influence can still be traced in the remarkably neat coins of sophytes (plate i. 11, reverse, cock), whom alexander found reigning on the north-west indian frontier on his march across it in 326 b.c. _alexander iii., the great._--when the persian empire fell before alexander the great his coins became current throughout asia, from the mediterranean to the indus, and profoundly influenced all later coinages. his gold coins (the stater, with its multiple the distater and its sub-divisions) have on the obverse a head of athena, and on the reverse a winged victory with the king's name; the silver (drachm, with multiples and subdivisions) has on the obverse a head of the young herakles in lion-skin, and reverse, zeus seated on throne holding eagle and sceptre (plate i. 7). tetradrachms bearing alexander's name and types continued to be struck for a century and a half after his death, and they are at the present day the commonest of ancient coins. _seleucid kings of syria._--we possess an extensive series of coins of the seleucid kings of syria, the dynasty founded by seleucus nikator (312-280 b.c.), the general of alexander who succeeded to his asiatic heritage. the earliest seleucid coins (before 306 b.c.) retained the name and types of alexander, but soon a greater variety of types was adopted, while the king's head began to appear regularly on the obverse. the seleucid coins are remarkable for the unique series of portraits they give us. one of the commonest types of the seleucid series has the king's head on the obverse, and a seated apollo with bow and arrow on the reverse (plate i. 8, gold stater of antiochus i., 280-266 b.c.; plate i. 10, silver tetradrachm of antiochus iv., 175-166 b.c.). _bactria._--about the middle of the third century b.c. the empire founded by seleucus began to break up. a line of kings was founded in bactria by diodotos, a revolted satrap, whose independence antiochus ii. had to acknowledge. the earlier coins of these kings, who afterwards crossed into india and gradually lost their hellenism, present some of the finest examples of portraiture on greek coins (plate i. 9, gold stater of diodotos i., _c._ 250 b.c.). _judaea._--among the smaller kingdoms who became independent of the seleucids in the second century b.c. may be mentioned that of the jews. certain shekels, bearing on the obverse a chalice with the legend "shekel of israel," and on the reverse a branch with three buds and the legend "jerusalem the holy" (plate ii. 1), have been attributed to simon maccabaeus (143-135 b.c.), but they may belong to the first revolt (66-70 a.d.). _parthia._--about the same period, the great parthian kingdom was founded in central asia and lasted till 220 a.d. the parthian coinage is of silver (drachms and tetradrachms) and bronze. although parthian drachms are at the present day one of the most extensive of ancient coinages, their classification is exceedingly difficult on account of our ignorance of parthian history, and the fact that the coins do not bear the name of the issuer but of arsakes, the founder of the dynasty. the silver drachms bear on the obverse the portrait of the reigning king, and on the reverse the first king arsakes seated holding a bow, with a legend in greek characters which is at first simply (coin of) "the king arsakes" (plate ii. 2, drachm of mithridates i. the great, 171-138 b.c.), but gradually increases in length till a century later it assumes the form (coin of) "the king of kings arsakes, the just, the illustrious, the beneficent, the friend of the greeks," which remains the usual legend. tetradrachms with similar legends were also struck in large numbers; their usual reverse type is the parthian king seated, receiving a wreath from the goddess of victory or from a city goddess (plate ii. 3, tetradrachm of phraates iv., 38-3 b.c.). after the reign of phraates iv. the coins are dated in the seleucid era, while the later coins bear a pehlevi legend in addition to the greek inscription which is by this time almost unintelligible. _sassanian empire._--early in the third century a.d. the last remnants of parthian power were destroyed by ardashir, a persian prince, who founded the sassanian empire, which after successfully disputing the supremacy of asia with the romans for four centuries finally fell before the conquering hosts of islam. the sassanian silver coins, particularly of the later kings, are exceedingly numerous at the present day, but the gold and copper are rare. the types of the gold and silver are throughout the dynasty the same; on the obverse is the head of the king with a long legend of the form, "ardashir, worshipper of ahura mazda, divine king of kings of iran, a scion of the celestial race," on the reverse a fire-altar, usually with two attendant priests, and at first the legend "the fire of ardashir" (etc.), later the mint and regnal year of issue. the earlier coins are of remarkably good workmanship, and give us fine portraits of the sassanian kings (plate ii. 4, gold coin of ardashir i., 226-241 a.d.; plate ii. 5, silver drachm of sapor i., 241-272 a.d.). the gold coins weigh rather less than an english sovereign, and their standard appears to be derived from roman solidi; the silver coins are drachms following the parthian standard, and, particularly the latter pieces, are remarkable for their thin fabric (_e.g._ plate ii. 7, khusrau (chosroes) ii., parvez, 590-628 a.d.) which was copied by the arabs in their silver coins, and can be traced in certain mohammadan series to the present day. bibliography.--b. v. head, _historia numorum_ (oxford, 1911), pp. 643-845; b. v. head, _coinage of lydia and persia_ (london, 1878); british museum catalogue of greek coins, _lydia_ (1901), _syria_ (1878), _parthia_ (1905), _phoenicia_ (1910); e. babelon, _perses acheménides_ (paris, 1893); e. babelon, _rois de syrie_ (paris, 1890); dorn & bartholomaei, _monnaies sassanides_ (st. petersburg, 1875). ii.--mohammadan coinages (_exclusive of india_) _beginnings of arab coinage._--the arabs were unacquainted with the art of coinage till they learned it on their campaigns of conquest in syria (byzantine) and persia (sassanian). at first they were content to issue gold and copper pieces imitated from contemporary byzantine coins (plate ii. 9, early copper coin of abd-al-malik; obverse, figure of the caliph; reverse, modified byzantine cross), while their silver pieces were copies of late sassanian coins (like plate ii. 7), with the addition of _bismillah_ (in the name of god) on the margin. _abd-al-malik's reformed currency._--though one traditionist says that even adam felt the need for money and struck dinars and dirhems, more reliable authorities agree in attributing to abd-al-malik, the fifth omayyad caliph (684-705 a.d.), the institution in 696 a.d. of a purely muslim coinage, worthy of the great arab empire and the foundations on which it was built. this coinage was of gold, silver, and copper, and the names _dinar_ (denarius aureus), _dirhem_ (drachma), and _falus_ (follis), which have remained in use practically to the present day, were borrowed from the byzantines. the dinar originally weighed rather more than half a sovereign, while the dirhem was a little less than sixpence in english money, but the names came to mean simply gold and silver coin respectively. mohammad's interdiction of any form of image-making, as savouring of idolatry, limited the orthodox caliph to legends on his coins, but thereby gave arab coins an importance as historical documents possessed by no other series. from the earliest times they bore the mint and date (in the mohammadan era dating from 622 a.d.), and later the ruler's name and titles, often including valuable genealogical data, were added. the right of striking coins was one of the privileges of sovereignty, and muslim coins thus throw a good deal of light on arab history. plate ii. 6 is a dinar, and plate ii. 8 a dirhem of abd-al-malik; both bear on the obverse the profession of faith, "there is no god but god; he hath no associate:" around the reverse of the dinar is the legend, "in the name of god this dinar was struck in the year 77" (696 a.d.), while the similar inscription on the dirhem includes the mint (damascus, 79 a.h.) and is placed around the obverse. on both the reverse areas is "god is alone; god is eternal; he begets not and is not begotten" (the dinar ends here, but the dirhem continues) "nor is there any one like unto him" (koran, cxii.). around the obverse of the dinar and reverse of the dirhem is, "mohammad is the prophet of god, sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all other religions" (dinar stops here), "averse though the idolaters may be" (koran ix. 33). _abbasids._--in 750 a.d. the abbasids overthrew the omayyads, and at first made but superficial alterations in the coinage; the long reverse formula was replaced by the simple profession, "mohammad is the prophet of god." plate iii. 2, a dinar of the "good" caliph harun-al-rashid (786-809 _a.d._) is typical of the period, except that it bears the name of his ill-fated vizier, ja'afar, who will be remembered by readers of the _arabian nights_ as the companion of the caliph's nocturnal ramblings, on whom this signal honour was conferred. in the ninth century a second marginal inscription, "to god belongs the order before and after, and in that day the believers shall rejoice in the help of god" (koran, xxx. 3, 4) was added on the obverse, while the caliph's name begins to appear regularly on the reverse area. _contemporaries of the caliphs._--coins with similar legends were struck by the various dynasties which arose on the weakening of the authority of the caliph in the ninth and tenth centuries. in addition to the ruler's name they usually bear the name of the reigning caliph, whose spiritual authority was still recognised; such are plate iii. 1, a dirhem of the samanid nasr b. ahmad struck in 300 a.h. at samarkand, which was then one of the great centres of mohammadan learning and literary activity; plate iii. 4, a buwayhid dinar of rukn-al-daula (932-976 a.d.), struck at hamadan in 352 a.h., bearing the name of the _fainéant_ caliph al-muti; and plate iii. 6, a dinar, struck at rayy, 447 a.h., of the great seljuk toghrul beg (1037-1063 a.d.), the turkish conqueror of western asia whose descendants were among the most redoubtable of the "saracens." plate iii. 3, a dinar of the last abbasid caliph--al-mustasim (1242-1258 a.d.), illustrates the change in the fabric and calligraphy of the coinage which had taken place in six centuries. plate iii. 5 is a dinar of mahmud of ghazni (998-1030 a.d.), with the reverse legend in sanskrit for the benefit of his indian subjects. _seljuks, ortukids, and ayyubids_ (_saracens_).--plate iii. 7, a dirhem of sulaiman ii. (1199-1203 a.d.), a seljuk of asia minor, is the first of a series of striking deviations from the orthodox mohammadan type, prompted as much by necessities of commerce with christian nations as by a lack of orthodoxy on the part of their issuers, heretics though they were. the obverse area is occupied by a horseman holding a mace over his shoulder, while around is the shia form of the mohammadan creed (as above, with the addition of the words "ali is the friend of god"); the reverse bears the usual data. plate iii. 8 is a dirhem of one of his successors kaikubad i. (1219-1236 a.d.), a fine specimen of the calligraphy of the period; plate iii. 9, is a dirhem of his successor, kai-khusru ii. (1136-1245 a.d.), bearing the "lion and sun," the horoscope of his beautiful georgian wife, whose portrait he wished to place on his coins, till his counsellors persuaded him to be content with her horoscope. the coins of the ortukids, who were also prominent opponents of the crusaders, are remarkable for their immense variety of types borrowed from all sources (greek, roman, byzantine, etc.). plate iv. 1, reverse of a copper coin of kara arslan (1148-1174 a.d.), and plate iv. 2, of a copper coin of alpi (1152-1176 a.d.), represent christ seated and the virgin crowning the emperor respectively, both well-known byzantine types. the saracen best known by name to english readers is saladin the ayyubid sultan of egypt and syria (1169-93 a.d.) whose capture of jerusalem in 1187 provoked the third crusade in which richard i., coeur-de-lion, took a prominent part. plate iv. 3 is a dirhem struck by him at damascus, his syrian capital, in 582 a.h. (1186 a.d.). _mongols._--in the thirteenth century the mongols, led by the chingiz khan (1206-1227 a.d.), one of the greatest conquerors the world has known, subjugated practically all asia with the exception of india. plate iv. 4 is one of the rare coins attributed to chingiz khan, while plate iv. 5 is a handsome dinar struck by arghun, one of the earliest (1284-1295 a.d.) of the persian line of mongols (obverse, mohammadan (shia) creed and date, etc.; reverse, the khan's titles, etc., in mongol). tamerlane (1369-1404 a.d.) (timur lang, timur the lame), a distant descendant of chingiz khan, is another great conqueror familiar to english readers through marlowe and gibbon. one of the coins struck by him, with the name of his nominal sovereign, suyurghatmish, is figured on plate iv. 6. plate iv. 7 is a dirhem of his son and ultimate successor, shah rukh (1404-1447 a.d.), of a type (obverse, mohammadan creed, with the names of the four orthodox caliphs around the margin; reverse, titles) which was very popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. plate iv. 8 is an early ottoman coin struck by mohammad i. (1402-1421 a.d.) at brusa in 822 a.h. (1419 a.d.), of a type which served the turks for some centuries. _persia._--the earliest coins of the shahs of persia (_e.g._ plate iv. 10, reverse of a silver coin of ismail i. (1502-1524 a.d.) struck at meshhed in 924 a.h. (1518 a.d.)) are of the type instituted by shah rukh to which they may be traced through the shaibanid coinage; the later persian coins are smaller and thicker (plate iv. 12, mohur of the great conqueror nadir shah (1736-1747 a.d.)). plate iv. 11, a gold tuman of fath-ali shah (1797-1834 a.d.), the first shah with whom england entered into diplomatic relations, is a remarkable fine product of the persian mint. nasir-al-din (1848-1896 a.d.) instituted a mint on the european model in teheran, and struck coins with his portrait (_e.g._ plate iv. 13, a gold tuman), or the lion and sun, on the obverse and his titles on the reverse. _bukhara._--the coins of the emirs of bukhara, now under russian suzerainty, are mainly of gold (_e.g._ plate iv. 9, a gold tila of the fanatical haidar tora, 1800-1826 a.d.). _afghanistan._--the emirs (durrani and barakzai) of afghanistan, who became independent of persia in the eighteenth century, adopted the standards and types of their moghul contemporaries. a mint on the european model has recently been established in kabul, and its coins are rapidly replacing older issues. bibliography.--o. codrington, _musulman numismatics_ (london, 1904); s. lane-poole, _mohammadan dynasties_ (london, 1894); british museum catalogue of oriental coins, vols, i.-x.; british museum catalogue of persian coins, _shahs of persia_ (1887); w. h. valentine, _copper coins of modern muhammadan states_ (london, 1911); m. longworth dames, _coins of the durranis_ (_numismatic chronicle_, 1888); l. white king, _coins of the barakzais_ (_numismatic chronicle_, 1896). iii.--coins of india _early hindu coins._--the earliest coins of india are square or oblong pieces of silver or copper punched with various symbols, the exact significance of which is not exactly known. they were probably made by money-changers or by the authority responsible for the purity of the coin. these pieces date from as early as the fourth century b.c. and circulated all over india (plate v. 1). to a somewhat later date belong the coins of various native states in north india; these soon became profoundly influenced by the coinages of foreign invaders, and indeed it is only lately that the independent origin of coinage in india has been generally recognised (plate v. 3, silver coin of the kuninda king, amoghabhuti, second century b.c.). _foreign invaders._--early in the second century b.c., in the reign of euthydemus, the greeks of bactria began to invade india. we possess coins of his son demetrius, of the square indian form with an indian legend on the reverse, showing a compromise between the greek and indian methods of coinage. henceforth the coins of his successors, many of whom are otherwise unknown to history, are bilingual (plate v. 2, hemidrachm of apollodotos i., _c._ 150 b.c.). towards the end of the second century b.c. the scythians invaded bactria and india; their coins are imitated from those of their greek predecessors, but are much inferior as works of art (plate v. 4, silver coin of azes i., _c._ 90 b.c.). they were followed about the middle of the first century b.c. by the kushans who founded a great empire in north-west india. the kushan kings of whom the greatest was kanishka, famed in buddhist legend, have left a great wealth of gold and copper coins remarkable for the variety of deities (zoroastrian, greek, hindu, and buddha) depicted on their reverses (plate v. 5, gold coin of kanishka). _andhras and western satraps._--during the first three centuries a.d. the western satraps, a dynasty of scythic origin, ruled a powerful kingdom in western india. their coinage of silver, forming a long dated series, appears to be derived from hemidrachms of the greek kings possibly influenced by roman denarii (plate v. 8, damaghsada, _c._ 180 a.d.). unique among india coinages is the lead coinage of the andhras who ruled in central and southern india from the third century b.c. till they fell before the satraps (plate v. 7, vilivayakura, _c._ 100 a.d.; reverse only). _guptas._--a new era in the history of india begins in the fourth century a.d. with the rise of the gupta dynasty which conquered practically all india and held it for two centuries. their coinage, mainly of gold, is derived from the kushan, but displays great originality and variety of types, and has legends in pure sanskrit (plate v. 9, gold coin (_suvarna_) of samudragupta, 340-380 a.d., commemorating his horse-sacrifice on his conquests; v. 10, _suvarna_ of kumaragupta i., 414-450 a.d.). _huns._--the gupta empire finally fell before the inroads of barbarous huns, who swept down through persia on india about the same time that their kinsmen under attila were ravaging europe. they have left numerous coins imitated from sassanian or indian types (plate v. 12, silver coin of toramana, _c._ 514-544 a.d., with sassanian types). from the hun imitations of sassanian coins are descended certain coins of very rude fabric known to the natives as "asses' head" money, which circulated very largely in north india from the sixth to the eighth century (plate v. 11). _mediaeval hindu dynasties._--the later kushan type (plate v. 6, gold, _c._ 250 a.d.), with a king standing, sacrificing at altar on the obverse and a goddess enthroned facing on the reverse, survived for centuries on the base gold and rude copper coins of kashmir (plate vi. 1, gold, yasovarman, _c._ 730 a.d.), and the seated goddess remains a familiar type on the gold coins of the mediaeval hindu dynasties of the present united and central provinces, and even survived on the coins of mohammadan invaders (plate vi. 4, gold coin of hallakshanavarman, 1097-1110 a.d., of jejahuti). among the commonest of indian coins are the silver "bull and horseman" coins of the brahman kings of kandahar (plate vi. 2, spalapatideva, _c._ 875 a.d.), the types of which were copied by various hindu kings (_e.g._ plate vi. 3, prithvi-raja of delhi, 1166-1192 a.d.) and retained by their mohammadan conquerors. _south india._--in south india the primitive punch-marked coins remained much longer in circulation than in the north, and from the frequent finds of roman gold and silver coins, it is probable that these formed the major part of the currency in the early centuries of the christian era. many of the hindu coins of south india are uninscribed, and their attribution is still uncertain. to the chera dynasty of malabar are attributed certain gold coins having an elephant on the obverse (plate v. 13, thirteenth century). copper coins, having on the obverse a figure of the king standing and on the reverse the king seated, were introduced by rajaraja of the chola dynasty (_c._ 1030 a.d.); this type spread through south india, was introduced into ceylon on the chola conquest, and adopted there by the independent kings of kandy (plate vi. 7, parakramabahu, 1153-1186 a.d.). thick gold cup-shaped pieces are attributed to the western chalukyas of the deccan (eighth century a.d., plate vi. 6), while large thin gold coins were struck by the eastern branch of the family (plate vi. 8, rajaraja, 1021-1062 a.d.); both bear the chalukya emblem, the boar. certain cup-shaped gold pieces bearing a lotus were struck by the kadambas of northern mysore (plate vi. 9). the great mediaeval hindu kingdom of vijayanagara (mysore) has left an extensive series of gold and copper coins. its small gold coins called pagodas (plate vi. 5, venkata raya, _c._ 1530-1542 a.d.), bearing one or more deities on the obverse, formed the pattern for later coinages not only of the native states but also of various european invaders of south india. _sultans of delhi._--when mohammad bin sam (1193-1205 a.d.) defeated the allied hindu forces on the plain of thaneswar in 1193 he became master of india and founded the dynasty known as the sultans of delhi, which survived till the moghul conquest. in addition to striking coins of the usual mohammadan type he copied the coins of his hindu predecessors (_e.g._ plate vi. 10, copper, _cf._ 2 and 3; vi. 11, gold, _cf._ 4). the coins of his successors are the tanka (about 175 grains) in gold and in silver, in addition to smaller coins of copper and billon. plate vi. 13 may be taken as typical; it is a gold tanka of mohammad iii. bin tughlak (1324-1351 a.d.); on one side it bears the name of the sultan, "mohammad shah sultan who trusts in the support of the merciful one," with a marginal inscription giving the date and mint (delhi, 726 a.h. (1326 a.d.)); on the other side is a form of the muslim creed. plate vi. 12 is one of the remarkable brass tokens with which the same sultan sought to displace gold and silver money. it bears a legend giving the value at which it was to pass, and an appeal to the piety of his subjects in a legend from the koran, "he that obeys the sultan obeys the merciful one." though no fraud was intended, this token currency was a failure. plate vi. 14 is a silver tanka of sher shah (1539-1545 a.d.), one of the last and one of the greatest of the sultans of delhi. the obverse bears the mohammadan creed and the names of the first four caliphs on the margin, a type which survived for two centuries longer in the moghul coins. the coins of the various mohammadan states which became independent of delhi in the fifteenth century cannot be detailed here. plate vii. 1, a silver tanka of ghiyas-al-din of malwa (1468-1500 a.d.), may be taken as typical of them. _moghul emperors._--the moghul emperors made but little change in the types and standards of the coins of their predecessors, but gave the standard gold coin the name mohur, while the silver was called the rupee. plate vii. 2 is a mohur of jalal-al-din ("glory of the faith"), mohammad akbar (1556-1605 a.d.), struck at agra in 976 a.h. (1568 a.d.), similar in type to sher shah's tanka (plate vi. 14). the coins of his son nur-al-din ("light of the faith"), mohammad jahangir (1605-1627 a.d.), are the most remarkable of the series. plate vii. 3, a mohur of jahangir, is a fine specimen of calligraphy (obverse, mohammadan creed; reverse, titles and mint; lahore, 1015 a.h.), while plate vii. 4 is the obverse (ram) of a mohur of the remarkable series issued by him bearing the signs of the zodiac. jahangir was, like many of the moghuls, a heavy drinker, and went so far as to portray himself with the wine cup in his hand on a well-known mohur (plate vii. 5). plate vii. 6, a mohur of his successor shihab-al-din ("flame of the faith"), shah jahan (1628-1659), is typical of the coinage of the period (obverse as plate vii. 2, reverse, titles; agra, 1050 a.h. (1640 a.d.)). his successor, aurangzib (1659-1707 a.d.), replaced the religious legends on the obverse by the mint and date, and this remained the usual type to the end of the series. (plate vii. 7, mohur of shah alam ii. 1759-1806 a.d.; delhi, 1205 a.h.). at the end of the eighteenth century numerous states became practically independent of the great moghul, but struck coins which still bore his name. when the last moghul emperor was deposed in 1858, the name of queen victoria began to appear on the coins of such native states as were allowed to continue issuing coins. to attain uniformity in the currency of the empire this right has been gradually curtailed by the british government, and is now exercised only by a few of the more important states, such as hyderabad, which issues coins struck by modern european machinery. _assam and nepal._--two important hindu kingdoms, assam and nepal, were never subject to the moghuls. the kings of assam issued an extensive coinage (octagonal in form) till their territory was acquired by britain (plate vii. 8, rupee "of the divine king siva sinha (1714-1744 a.d.) a bee on the lotus feet of hara and gauri"). plate vii. 9 is a silver mohur of prthvi vira vikrama (1881) of nepal, the reigning maharaja of nepal. bibliography.--e. j. rapson, _indian coins_ (strassburg, 1897); sir a. cunningham, _coins of ancient india_ (london, 1891), _coins of mediaeval india_ (1894); british museum catalogue of indian coins, _greek and scythic kings_ (1886), _andhras and western ksatrapas_ (1908), _sultans of delhi_ (1885), _muhammadan states_ (1885), _moghul emperors_ (1891); catalogue of coins in the indian museum, vol. i. by v. a. smith (oxford, 1906), vols. ii. and iii. (1907, 1908) by h. nelson wright; e. h. walsh, _the coins of nepal_ (_journ. of roy. asiat. society_, 1907); j. allan, _coinage of assam_ (_num. chron._, 1908). iv.--the coinages of the far east _china._--the earliest coins of china, like those of western asia, date from the seventh century b.c.: these are small bronze spades and knives, copies of the actual spades, knives, or rather billhooks, and other small articles of husbandry which had previously been used for barter. the knives are about seven inches long and bear an inscription giving the weight or value and the name of the town or confederacy which issued it; a modified form of the spade money, called the _pu_ (flattened) money, circulated widely in the fifth and fourth centuries b.c. (plate viii. 1, a _pu_ coin of the town of lu-yang). round money had been made as early as the fourth century b.c., but it was not till 221 b.c. that the great reformer shih huang ti (221-210 b.c.), the "first emperor," definitely superseded all previous currencies by round coins. his coins were pieces of half an ounce (_pan-liang_), and were continued by the han dynasty (plate viii. 6, a _pan-liang_ of the empress kao hou, 187-179 b.c.). this coinage gradually became so debased and counterfeited that in 118 b.c. the emperor wu ti (122-117 b.c.) issued a new bronze coinage of five-_chu_ pieces (plate viii. 2); the five-_chu_ piece remained the standard coin for the next eight centuries. the attempted monetary reforms of the usurper wang mang (9-22 a.d.) may be mentioned here. in addition to reviving a modified _pu_ and knife money (plate viii. 4), he instituted a round coinage (_ho tsiuen_, plate viii. 3), but after his assassination and the restoration of the han dynasty the five-_chu_ piece was restored. the history of chinese currency is henceforth a continual struggle between the government and the counterfeiter. on one occasion at least, the government sought to get rid of the forgers by making the most skilled of them mint officials. in 618 a.d. the tang emperor kao tsu (618-627 a.d.) issued the _kai yuan tung pao_, "current money of the inauguration" (_i.e._ of the tang dynasty, plate viii. 5), which gave the coinages of the far east the form they have retained almost to the present day. from the time of the sung dynasty (960-1120 a.d.) onwards the legend took the form "current money of" (name of regnal period) (plate viii. 8, "current money of (the) sung yuan" period, 960-976 a.d.). the southern sung dynasty (1127-1278 a.d.) dated their coins on the reverse in regnal years. the mongols (1260-1341 a.d.) issued but little copper money. an account of their extensive paper currency in the reign of kublai khan (1260-1295 a.d.) is given by marco polo. the ming dynasty (1368-1628 a.d.) placed the mint-name on the reverse, while the ching dynasty (1628-1911) placed the mint-name in manchu on the reverse (plate viii. 7, shun-che period, 1644-1662 a.d.; pekin mint). it is only recently that a serious attempt to institute a silver coinage in china has been made. in the nineties of last century, mints with european machinery were instituted in each province, and struck silver and copper coins of european fabric (plate ix. 1, half-dollar of the late emperor kuang hsü, 1875-1910) for sze-chuan. during the last thirty years bilingual silver coins have been issued for the mohammadan population of chinese turkestan (plate ix. 6, reverse of a five mithkal piece of kashgar). one of the most remarkable of chinese coins is the silver rupee recently issued for the sze-chuan province, bearing the emperor's head, and copied from the indian rupee, with which it is destined to compete for tibetan trade (plate ix. 3). _japan._--the japanese borrowed the art of coinage from the chinese, and issued coins as early as 708 a.d. plate viii. 9 is an early japanese copper coin or _sen_ of the period 818-835 a.d. (inscription--"divine treasure of wealth and longevity"). from the tenth to the sixteenth centuries the main coinage of japan consisted of imitations of contemporary chinese coins. one of the commonest of japanese coins is the _kwan-ei_ sen (plate viii. 10), which was extensively issued from 1624-1859. large, flat gold coins (_obans_ and _kobans_) were frequently issued from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. the smaller gold and silver coins of this period are rectangular (plate ix. 7, a gold _bu_ of 1837 a.d.). plate ix. 4 is the obverse of a coin (a piece of 5 _momme_) with an interesting history. in 1765, a high official named taruna ordered that all silver ornaments should be confiscated as useless luxuries and made into coins. this edict aroused great indignation, particularly among the fair sex, and its enforcement was one of the causes which led to the assassination of the tyrannical governor. in 1869 a mint with european machinery was established in tokio, and a coinage of gold, silver (_yen_ or dollar), and copper (_sen_, 100 = 1 dollar) on the european model adopted (plate ix. 5, 50 sen of the sixth year of meiji, 1873). _corea, annam, and siam._--corea issued bronze coins in the chinese style in its various intervals of independence. the commonest is the _shang ping_ cash issued at various mints from 1790 to 1881 (plate viii. 11). plate ix. 2 is a piece of one _yang_ (silver) issued by the new mint in 1898. japanese influence may be traced in it (_cf._ plate ix. 5), as on the chinese coin of kashgar (plate ix. 6). the kings of annam issued an extensive coinage modelled on the chinese till annam became a french possession. siam has issued a coinage struck by european machinery since 1850 (plate ix. 8, rupee of phra chom klao, 1850-1868 a.d.). bibliography.--terrien de lacouperie, british museum catalogue of chinese coins, vol. i. (all published) (1892); j. h. s. lockhart, _currency of the farther east_ (hong-kong, 1893-1895); h. g. munro, _coinage of japan_ (yokohama, 1904); a. schroeder, _annam, etudes numismatiques_ (paris, 1905). v.--coins of european possessions in asia _english._--in 1600 queen elizabeth granted a royal charter to "the governor and company of merchants of london trading into the east indies," and soon afterwards ordered silver coins to be struck at the tower mint for the company's use in the indies (plate x. 2, sixpence or real of this issue). in 1677 the first english mint in india was established at bombay, which had come to charles ii. in 1662 as part of the dowry of catherine of braganza, and rupees and copper cash were issued in the name of charles ii., or "bearing the name of their impure king" as an indignant moghul historian describes them. for trade with the natives, however, the company required coins of a type familiar to them, and had to send their bullion to be minted at the moghul mints or to imitate moghul coins at their own mints, the latter course being really forgery, as it was not till the middle of the eighteenth century that the great moghul finally allowed them to issue coins freely in his name (plate x. 5, half-rupee of murshidabad struck by the east india company in name of shah alam ii. in 1768 a.d.). in 1641 the company had acquired a settlement at fort st. george (madras) and thenceforth issued coins in imitation of the local currencies of the coromandel coast (plate x. 3, gold star pagoda; plate x. 1, silver fanam (_cf._ plate vi. 5); plate x. 4 is the later pagoda of european fabric issued at the end of the eighteenth century). it was not till 1835 that the name of an english king again appeared on the coins of the east india company, when a uniform coinage of english style was adopted for india (plate x. 6, quarter-rupee of william iv.). there has since been little change in the type then adopted. in 1858 the name of the east india company disappears from the reverse, and in 1877 the proclamation of queen victoria as empress of india necessitated a change of title on the obverse (plate x. 7, quarter-rupee of victoria). in 1796, the english occupied ceylon, hitherto a dutch possession, and were confirmed in its possession by the treaty of amiens in 1802. the earlier coins were struck on the standard introduced by their predecessors (plate x. 8, a silver piece of 24 stivers). in 1836 the english standard was adopted, and silver coins (three-halfpenny pieces) and copper (half-farthings) issued till 1870, when the cent was adopted as the standard coin (plate x. 9, 25 cents (silver) of george v.). the east india company issued coins similar to their later indian issues for their possessions in the malay peninsula, and since 1867 there has been a regular imperial coinage (100 cents = one dollar) for the straits settlements and also for hong-kong (plate x. 10, 5 cents (silver) of edward vii.). _portuguese._--in 1510 albuquerque captured goa, which became the capital of the portuguese empire in the east, and increased in wealth and commercial importance so rapidly that it became known as "golden goa" (goa dourada). from the time of albuquerque the portuguese have issued coins here, always with european types. plate x. 11 is a _pardao_ or half-rupee of maria struck at goa in 1808, and is typical of the coinage for nearly three centuries previous. since 1881 the coins for goa, which is now all that is left of the portuguese possessions in the east, have been struck at the bombay mint, and are uniform with those of british india (plate x. 12, quarter-rupee, 1885). _dutch, etc._--towards the end of the sixteenth century the dutch began to dispute portuguese supremacy in the east, and ultimately acquired considerable possessions in the malay archipelago. an extensive coinage was issued by the dutch east india company in java in the eighteenth century (plate x. 13, gold rupee of java, and x. 14, copper doit). the latter coins of the dutch territories in the east are similar to the coins of holland. coins have also been struck for their indian possessions of france (pondichery) and denmark (tranquebar) on local standards but with european types. bibliography.--j. atkins, _coins of the british possessions and colonies_ (london, 1889); e. thurston, _the coinage of the east india company_ (madras, 1890); g. da cuñha, _indo-portuguese numismatics_ (bombay, 1880); j. a. van der chijs, _de munten van nederlandsch indië_ (batavia, 1859). [illustration: plate i.] [illustration: plate ii.] [illustration: plate iii.] [illustration: plate iv.] [illustration: plate v.] [illustration: plate vi.] [illustration: plate vii.] [illustration: plate viii.] [illustration: plate ix.] [illustration: plate x.] maps and plans of notable battles, districts, & towns connected with the history of asia plans of the five chief battles of india [illustration: battle of seringapatam february 1792 bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: battle of assaye september 1803 bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration:battle of meanee february 1843 bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: battle of aliwal january 1846 bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: battle of sobraon february 1846 bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration:indian mutiny showing distribution of troops may, 1857 bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: aryan languages of india bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: non-aryan languages of india bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: sites of ancient indian temples bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: military divisions of india bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: delhi bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: lucknow bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: cawnpore bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: lahore bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: rangoon bartholomew _edinburgh_] [illustration: lhasa "the forbidden city" after map by major ryder bartholomew _edinburgh_] a gazetteer of towns and places in asia a gazetteer of towns and places in asia[1] [footnote 1: _a large number of the places are not marked in the maps, but the latitude and longitude will enable the reader to locate their position._] abbreviations f. founded. res. residence. bp. birthplace. provs. provinces. =abila=, palestine. 33n. 36e. traditional burial-place of abel. =abohar=, punjab. 30n. 74e. said to have been f. by jaura; visited by ibn batuta, 1332. =aboo=, rajputana. 25n. 73e. contains famous jain temple, the vimla sah, f. in 1032. =abydos=, asia minor. 40n. 26e. xerxes entered europe, b.c. 480. scene of story of hero and leander. (see byron's 'bride of abydos.') =acre=, palestine. 33n. 35e. taken by the crusaders, 1104; retaken by saladin, 1187; recovered by richard coeur de lion, 1191; surrendered to saracens, 1291; unsuccessfully besieged by napoleon, 1799; stormed by ibrahim pasha, 1832; bombarded by a combined english, austrian, and turkish fleet, 1840. (see scott's 'talisman,' 'travels of marco polo,' thomson's 'land and the book,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =adalia=, asiatic turkey. 36n. 31e. visited by kinglake, who gives an account of the city in 'eothen.' =adam's peak=, ceylon. 7n. 80e. supposed to contain tomb of adam. (see 'travels of marco polo.') =adas=, bombay. 22n. 73e. scene of hamid khan's victory over rustam ali, 1723; mahrattas over raghunath rao peshwa, 1775; british over mahrattas, 1775. =aden=, arabia. 13n. 45e. taken from the portuguese by turks, 1538; annexed to british india, 1839. (see 'purchas his pilgrimes,' 'travels of marco polo.') =adoni=, madras. 16n. 77e. seized by sultan of bijapur, 1568; by aurungzebe, 1686; unsuccessfully attacked by hyder ali, 1779; taken by tippoo sahib, 1786; ceded to british, 1800. =agra=, united provs. 27n. 78e. contains palace of shah jehan, the pearl mosque, and the taj mahal, and was the supposed scene of incarnation of vishnu. capital of mogul sovereigns, 1526-1658. taken by british, 1803. (see sir edwin arnold's 'with sa'di in the garden,' whittier's 'miriam,' 'purchas his pilgrimes.') =ahar=, united provs. 28n. 78e. town from which rukminí, wife of krishna, was said to have been taken. =ahmadabad= ('the abode of ahmed'), bombay. 23n. 73e. f. in 1412. ancient mohammedan capital, famed for architectural relics. taken by british, 1818. =ahmadnagar=, bombay. 19n. 75e. f. by ahmed nuzam shah, 1494. taken by general wellesley, 1803. =aivalli=, bombay. 16n. 76e. contains famous temples, and is sacred spot of vishnu. =ajmere=, rajputana. 26n. 75e. capital of ajmere-merwara. contains tomb of mussulman saint, kwajah. purchased by britain, 1818. mayo college f. 1875. =akashi=, japan. 35n. 135e. contains shinto temple in honour of the poet kakinomoto-no-hitomaro. =ak-su=, eastern turkestan. 41n. 81e. nearly destroyed by earthquake, 1718. captured by khan of kashgar, 1867; retaken by chinese, 1877. =alandi=, bombay. 19n. 74e. resort of hindu pilgrims, and said to have been res. of jnaneshvar. =aleppo=, syria. 36n. 37e. taken by saracens, 636; conquered by tamerlane, 1402; by turks, 1517. visited by earthquakes, 1170, 1822. contains the jami sakarya, or great mosque, in which lie alleged remains of zacharias, father of john the baptist. res. of mutanabbi. (see volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte,' hakluyt's 'voyages,' burckhardt's 'travels in syria and the holy land.') =aligarh=, united provs. 28n. 78e. contains fort aligarh, captured by general lake from mahrattas, 1803. seat of mohammedan anglo-oriental college. =allahabad= ('city of god'), united provs. 25n. 82e. f. by akbar, 1575. taken by britain, 1801. contains muir central college. scene of journeying of rama and sita described in the 'ramayana' as the hermitage of bharadvaja. =allah shehr=, asia minor. 38n. 29e. f. by attalus philadelphus, c. 200 b.c.; supposed to be one of 'seven churches of asia' mentioned in apocalypse. =amarapura= ('city of the gods'), burma. 22n. 96e. former capital of burma. f. in 1783, by bodawpaya. destroyed by fire, 1810; by earthquake, 1839. contains celebrated temple with colossal bronze statue of gautama. =amasia=, asiatic turkey. 41n. 36e. former capital of kings of pontus. bp. of strabo. =ambur=, madras. 13n. 79e. muzaffar jang conquered anwar-ud-din, nawab of arcot, 1749. =amoy= ('gallery gate'), china. 24n. 118e. taken by britain, 1841; opened to foreign trade by treaty of nanking, 1842. =amritsar= ('pool of immortality'), punjab. 32n. 75e. f. round sacred reservoir by guru ram das, 1574. contains darbar sahib, chief sikh temple; also fortress of govindgarh, 1809. =amroha=, united provs. 29n. 78e. said to have been f. by hastinapur; res. of shah wilayat. in the vicinity the mongols were conquered, 1304. =amu daria=, turkestan. 37n. 73e. ancient river oxus, occurring as amoo in 'the veiled prophet of khorassan.' (see moore's 'lalla rookh.') =anantapur=, madras. 15n. 78e. f. by chikkappa udaiyar, 1364; attacked by mahrattas, 1757. =aneysa=, arabia. 26n. 45e. bp. of abdul-wahab, founder of wahabis. (see doughty's 'travels in arabia deserta.') =angkor=, indo-china. 13n. 104e. ruined city, near which are ruins of angkor-vat, a famous cambodian temple. (see little's 'far east.') =angora=, asiatic turkey. 40n. 33e. supposed to have been f. by midas. scene of christian councils, 314, 358. contains temple erected to augustus. sultan bejazet i. captured by tamerlane, 1402. =ani=, asiatic turkey. 41n. 43e. ancient armenian capital. taken by greeks, 1045; by seljuks, 1064. destroyed by earthquake, 1319. =anjangaon=, berar. 21n. 77e. treaty signed between british and daulat rao sindhia after second mahratta war, 1803. =anjengo=, madras. 9n. 77e. bp. of historian, robert orme, and res. of eliza draper, friend of laurence sterne. =anjidiv=, bombay. 15n. 74e. island visited by ibn batatu, 1342; by vasco da gama, 1498. occupied by portuguese, 1505. mentioned by ptolemy. =ankai tonkai=, bombay. 20n. 74e. conquered by shah jehan, 1635; occupied by british, 1818. =antioch=, syria. 36n. 36e. f. by seleucus nicator, c. 300 b.c. scene of st. paul's first ministry. destroyed by earthquakes, 526, 1872. ruined by persians, 538; taken by saracens, 658; by turks, 1516. bp. of archias, st. luke, and chrysostom. (see volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =an-tung=, manchuria. 40n. 125e. general kuroki established here during russo-japanese war, 1904-1905. (see mckenzie's 'from tokyo to tiflis.') =anupshahr=, united provs. 28n. 78e. occupied by ahmad shah durrani, 1757; by british, 1773. =arafat= ('the mountain of mercy'), arabia. 21n. 40e. mountain on which adam and eve are alleged to have met after the fall. scene of many mohammedan pilgrimages. (see burton's 'pilgrimage to al-madinah and meccah,' burckhardt's 'travels in arabia.') =arantangi=, madras. 10n. 79e. seized by raghunatha levan, c. 1646, 1698. =ararat=, asiatic turkey. 40n. 44e. one of mountains in asia on which noah's ark is said to have rested. parrot first ascended great ararat, 1829. severe earthquake experienced, 1840. (see 'travels of marco polo.') =arcot= ('six deserts'), madras. 13n. 79e. contains ruins of nawab's palace. mentioned by ptolemy. clive defended city successfully against siege, 1751. =ardahan=, asiatic turkey. 41n. 43e. successfully stormed by russians, 1877; ceded to russia by turkey, 1878. =argaum=, berar. 21n. 77e. mahrattas defeated by wellesley, 1803. =arginusæ is.=, off w. coast of asia minor. 39n. 27e. spartan fleet defeated by athenians near these islands, 406 b.c. =arjesh=, turkish armenia. 39n. 43e. taken by jelal-ed-din, 1228. destroyed by earthquake, 1246. =arni=, madras. 13n. 79e. clive defeated raja sahib and french forces, 1751. =aror=, bombay. 28n. 69e. captured by mohammedans, c. 712. =arpad=, syria. 37n. 37e. taken by tiglath pileser ii., 740 b.c. =arrah=, bengal. 26n. 85e. in indian mutiny 12 englishmen and 50 sikhs held out against 3000 sepoys for 8 days, 1857. =artaxata=, russian armenia. 39n. 45e. ancient capital of armenia, now in ruins. hannibal supposed to have superintended building of city; named after artaxis i., c. 180 b.c. destroyed by romans, 58; by persians, 370. joseph, the patriarch, presided over ecclesiastical council, 450. =ashdod=, palestine. 32n. 35e. captured by jonathan, 147 b.c. mentioned by herodotus. contained famous temple of dagon. (see thomson's 'land and the book.') =ashta=, central india. 23n. 77e. contains fort built by dost mohammed khan, 1716; captured by mahrattas, 1745; stormed by kudsia begam, 1837. =ashta=, bombay. 18n. 75e. british defeated baji rao peshwa, 1818. =asirgarh=, central provs. 21n. 76e. massacre of garrison by ala-ud-din khilji, 1295; captured by akbar, 1600; by general wellesley, 1803; besieged by british, 1819. =askelon=, palestine. 32n. 35e. ancient seat of worship of astarte, and of dagon and dercetis, whose temple was plundered by scythians, 630 b.c. bp. of herod i., who embellished it. godfrey de bouillon defeated egyptians, 1099; city taken by crusaders, 1153; by saladin, 1187; destroyed by sultan bibars, 1270. (see scott's 'the talisman.') =assaye=, haidarabad. 20n. 76e. mahrattas conquered by sir arthur wellesley, 1803. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =athni=, bombay. 17n. 75e. visited by french traveller mandelslo, 1639. yielded to rajah sahu of satara, 1730; british possession, 1839. =atrauli=, n.w. provs. 28n. 78e. held for three months by mohammedans during mutiny, 1857. =attock=, punjab. 34n. 72e. contains fort built by akbar, 1581; captured by ranjit singh, 1812. =augur=, central india. 24n. 76e. f. by agra bhil; destroyed by bapuji sindhia, 1801; suffered during mutiny, 1857. =aurangabad= ('the abode of aurungzebe'), haidarabad. 20n. 75e. f. in 1620. contains buddhist caves, and mausoleum built by aurungzebe in memory of his daughter. =ava= ('a fish-pond'), burma. 22n. 96e. f. by thadominpaya, 1364. former capital of burma. ruined by earthquake, 1839. =ayodhya=, united provs. 27n. 82e. famous in legend as city of dasa-ratha, father of rama. (see 'ramayana.') =ayuthia=, siam. 14n. 101e. founded in 1351; capital of siam until nearly destroyed by burmese, 1767. chief ruin is a buddhist temple, the 'golden mount.' (see little's 'far east.') =baalbek= ('city of baal'), syria. 34n. 36e. contains temple of the sun, built by antoninus pius. taken by arabs, 748; by tamerlane, 1400. destroyed by earthquake, 1170, 1750. (see twain's 'new pilgrim's progress,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' moore's 'lalla rookh,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte,' burckhardt's 'travels in syria and the holy land.') =babylon= ('the gate of the god'), asiatic turkey. 33n. 45e. first mentioned, 3800 b.c.; capital of babylonia, c. 2300 b.c. destroyed by sennacherib, 689 b.c.; attained eminence under nabopolassar, 625-604 b.c.; under nebuchadnezzar, 604-561 b.c. surrendered to cyrus, 539 b.c. alexander the great died in palace of nebuchadnezzar, 323 b.c. (see 'purchas his pilgrimes,' hakluyt's 'voyages.') =badami=, bombay. 16n. 76e. contains famous cave-temple, f. 650. captured by general munro, 1818; by arabs, 1840. =badarpur=, bengal. 25n. 93e. british defeated burmese, 1824. =badnera=, berar. 21n. 78e. partially destroyed by rajah ram, 1822. =bagalkot=, bombay. 16n. 76e. captured by peshwa of savanur, 1775; by hyder ali, 1778; by general munro, 1818. =baghdad=, asiatic turkey. 33n. 44e. f. by caliph al-mansur, c. 762; embellished by harun-al-rashid; taken by hulaku khan, 1258; by tamerlane, 1393; by amurath iv., 1638. contains tomb of zobeida, wife of harun-al-rashid, and is famous by means of the 'arabian nights.' (see firdausi's 'sha name,' gosse's 'firdausi in exile,' 'purchas his pilgrimes,' 'travels of marco polo.') =baghput=, punjab. 29n. 77e. said to be the vyaghraprastha mentioned in the 'mahabharata.' =bahera=, punjab. 32n. 73e. captured by babar, 1519; pillaged by nur-ud-din, 1757. =bahraich=, united provs. 28n. 82e. contains tomb of mohammedan saint, masaud. =baj-baj=, bengal. 22n. 88e. fort captured by clive from siraj-ud-daula, 1756. =bajwara=, punjab. 32n. 76e. rajah sansar chand conquered sirdar bhup singh, 1801; fort captured by ranjit singh, 1825. =balkh=, afghan turkestan. 37n. 67e. zoroaster first preached his doctrine, 549 b.c.; died at balkh. visited by chinese explorer, fa hian, 402; hiouen thsang, 643; by marco polo, 1263. besieged and taken by ninus, 1933 b.c.; pillaged by genghis khan, 1221; destroyed by tamerlane, 1390. (see 'travels of marco polo.') =bamian=, afghanistan. 35n. 68e. destroyed by genghis khan, 1221. =bander abbas= ('harbour of abbas'), persia. 27n. 56e. ancient harmozia. portuguese driven out by shah abbas the great with help of british, 1623. (see moore's 'lalla rookh,' story of 'the fire-worshippers.') =bandhogarh=, central india. 24n. 81e. attacked by asaf khan, 1563; captured by patr das, 1597; yielded to anup singh, 1658. said to be bp. of akbar. =banera=, rajputana. 26n. 75e. conquered by akbar, 1567; fort built in 1726; captured by rajah of shahpura, c. 1756. =bangalore=, mysore. 13n. 78e. f. by hyder ali, 1537. taken by lord cornwallis, 1791. contains palace of tippoo sahib, and central college. =bangkok=, siam. 14n. 101e. ceded to louis xiv., 1687; became royal residence, 1767. contains famous temples, and a colossal statue of buddha. (see little's 'far east.') =banias=, syria. 33n. 36e. visited by w. m. thomson, and described in 'the land and the book.' =bankapur=, bombay. 15n. 76e. first mentioned, 898. stormed by firoz shah, 1406; conquered by hyder ali, 1776; ceded to british, 1802. =bantam=, east indies. 6s. 106e. described in first part of 'purchas his pilgrimes' as celebrated town of java. =baragaon=, bengal. 25n. 85e. visited by hiuen tsiang, who here studied religion. =bardwan=, bengal. 23n. 88e. scene of the third story of the vampire in burton's 'vikram and the vampire.' =bareilly=, united provs. 28n. 79e. new town f. by rajah makrand-mughals, 1657. taken by english, 1801; europeans massacred during mutiny, 1857; recaptured by sir colin campbell, 1858. =baroda=, bombay, 22n. 73e. tributary to great britain, 1802; malhar rao succeeded sayaji rao iii., 1875. =barpeta=, bengal. 26n. 91e. sankar deb, follower of vishnu, here f. a religious college. partially destroyed by earthquake, 1897. =barrackpur=, bengal. 23n. 88e. prominent town in sepoy mutinies, 1824, 1857. contains lady canning's tomb. =barsana=, united provs. 28n. 77e. fabled to be a res. of radha, mistress of kishna. pillaged by imperial troops, 1774. =barwani=, central india. 22n. 75e. said to have been f. by rana chandra singh, c. 1650. near town is sacred hill of jains, and temple with inscription dating from 1166. =basarh=, bengal. 26n. 85e. visited by buddha, and sacred town of buddhists. visited by explorers fa hian and hieun tsiang. =basavapatna=, mysore. 14n. 76e. captured by bijapurs, 1637; destroyed by hyder ali, 1763; plundered by mahrattas, 1791. ancient res. of baba budan. =basra= ('fortress'), asiatic turkey. 30n. 48e. f. under omar, 656. contains tomb of zobeir. (see 'travels of marco polo.') =bassein=, bombay. 19n. 73e. ceded to portuguese, 1534; taken by mahrattas, 1765; by british, 1780. =batala=, punjab. 32n. 75e. f. by rai ram deo, c. 1465. contains tomb of shamsher khan, foster-brother of akbar. =batavia= ('good land'), east indies. 6s. 107e. first european settlement f. by pieter both, 1610; new city f. by jean koen, 1621. unsuccessfully besieged by kings of bantam and jacantra, 1619. earthquake experienced, 1699. =bayana=, punjab. 26n. 77e. contains temple with inscription dated 1043. fort near captured by mohammed ghori, 1196; by sikanda lodi, 1492; by humayun, 1535. =bayazid=, turkish armenia. 39n. 44e. captured by russians, 1828, 1854, 1877. yielded to turkey by treaty of berlin, 1878. =bednore= ('bamboo city'), mysore. 14n. 75e. capital of rajah of ikari, 1645. taken by hyder ali, 1763; by general matthews, 1783; by tippoo sahib, 1784. =beer-sheba= ('well of the oath'), palestine. 31n. 35e. only ruins remain of ancient city famous in biblical history from time of abraham's digging a well and planting a grove. =begampur=, bombay. 18n. 76e. contains tomb of daughter of aurungzebe. =behar= ('monastery'), bengal. 25n. 86e. famous as ancient centre of buddhism, and as city in which buddha preached. =behistun= ('place of the gods'), persia. 34n. 47e. rock on which cuneiform inscriptions recounting deeds of darius i. are engraved; discovered by sir henry rawlinson, 1835. =beit jibrin=, syria. 32n. 35e. visited by w. m. thomson, and described in 'the land and the book.' =bela=, baluchistan. 26n. 66e. contains tomb of sir robert sandeman. =belgaum=, bombay. 16n. 75e. taken by aurungzebe, 1686; by hyder ali, 1776; by british, 1818. =bellary=, madras. 15n. 77e. captured by sivaji, the mahratta, c. 1678; ceded to british, 1800. =benares= ('the splendid'), n.w. provs. 25n. 83e. visited by hsuan tsang in 7th century a.d. religious capital of india, containing many temples. taken by sultan mahmoud, 1190; ceded to england, 1775; outbreak during indian mutiny, 1857. (see sir edwin arnold's 'light of asia,' burton's 'vikram and the vampire.') =bencoolen=, sumatra. 4s. 102e. f. by british, 1685; fort marlborough built, 1714. formerly chief british possession in sumatra; ceded to holland in exchange for malacca, 1824. =bendemeer=, persia. 30n. 52e. (see thos. moore's 'lalla rookh,' story of the 'veiled prophet of khorassan.') =berasia=, central india. 24n. 77e. contains tomb of his father built by dost mohammed. =berea=, palestine. 32n. 35e. battle fought in which judas maccabæus was killed, 161 b.c. =berezov=, siberia. 64n. 65e. f. in 1593. partially burnt, 1719, 1808. prince menshikov died in exile, 1729; prince dolgoruki, 1730. general ostermann exiled, 1742; died, 1747. =berghama=, asiatic turkey. 39n. 27e. ancient capital of pergamus, and contains many magnificent ruins; bequeathed to romans by attalus iii., 133 b.c. bp. of galen and apollodorus. =berhampur=, bengal. 24n. 88e. indian mutiny originated here, 1857. =besika=, asia minor. 40n. 26e. bay used as station for british fleet, 1853-1854, 1877-1878. =bethany=, palestine. 32n. 35e. frequently mentioned in the bible as the house of lazarus, martha and mary, simon the leper. contains alleged tomb of lazarus, and village is now called 'el-azariyeh,' the 'place of lazarus.' =bethel= ('house of god'), palestine. 32n. 35e. supposed to have been f. by abraham or jacob. rachel and deborah died at bethel. =beth-horon= ('place of caves'), palestine. 32n. 35e. the syrians under prince sorom vanquished by judas maccabæus. =bethlehem= ('house of bread'), palestine. 33n. 35e. bp. of david and of christ. devastated by hadrian, 132. contains church of the nativity built by constantine; enlarged by justinian; embellished by manuel comnenus, 1170; by edward iv. and philip of burgundy, 1482. burial-place of jerome. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' twain's 'new pilgrim's progress,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' 'purchas his pilgrimes,' thomson's 'land and the book.') =beyrout=, syria. 34n. 35e. destroyed by tryphon, 140 b.c.; taken by arabs, 635; by baldwin, 1111; re-captured by saladin, 1187; by turks, 1763. lamartine's only daughter died here, 1832. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' burton's 'wanderings in three continents,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' thomson's 'land and the book,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =bhadaur=, punjab. 30n. 75e. f. by sirdar dunna singh, 1718; res. of bhadaur chiefs. =bhagalpur=, bengal. 25n. 87e. contains famous jain temples, and native monument to augustus cleveland. =bhagwangola=, bengal. 24n. 88e. unsuccessfully besieged by mahrattas, 1743; burnt by mahrattas, 1750. temporary res. of surajah dowlah. =bhainsrorgarh=, rajputana. 25n. 76e. said to have been f. by bhainsa sah; captured by ala-ud-din, c. 1303. =bhanpura=, rajputana. 25n. 76e. res. and burial-place of jaswant rao holkar. =bhartpur= ('city of bhurat'), rajputana. 27n. 78e. unsuccessfully stormed by lord lake, 1805; taken by lord combermere, 1826. under british administration, 1853. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =bhatner=, punjab. 30n. 74e. captured and partially destroyed by tamerlane, 1398. =bhilsa=, rajputana. 24n. 78e. contains mosques built by akbar, 1583; by aurungzebe, 1682. plundered by altamsh, 1235; seized by ala-ud-din, 1290. =bhojpur=, bombay. 19n. 74e. contains stones bearing ancient carvings and inscription dating from c. 200 b.c. =bhubaneswar=, bengal. 20n. 86e. sacred city of the followers of siva; of great antiquity. =bhuj=, bombay. 23n. 70e. taken by storm by sir william kier, 1819. =bidar=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. captured by ulugh khan, 1321; by aurungzebe, 1656. =biderra=, bengal. 23n. 88e. colonel forde conquered dutch under colonel roussel, 1759. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =bijanagur= ('city of triumph'), madras. 16n. 77e. f. in 1336; destroyed by mohammedan kings, 1564. contains temples made of granite. =bijapur= ('city of victory'), bombay. 17n. 76e. taken by aurungzebe, 1686; given to rajah of satara by british, 1818. =bilsa=, bengal. 24n. 88e. remarkable buddhist remains discovered by english travellers, 1822; contains tomb of mussulman, djelal-ed-din bhokhary. =bimlipatam=, madras. 18n. 83e. captured by mahrattas, 1754; ceded to british by dutch, 1825. =bindraban=, bengal. 26n. 88e. krishna is supposed to have passed his childhood here, and several temples are erected in his honour. =birsinha=, bengal. 23n. 88e. bp. of iswar chandra vidyasagar, writer of 'sitar banabas.' =bisauli=, united provs. 28n. 79e. res. and burial-place of dunde khan. =bithur=, united provs. 27n. 80e. one of chief centres of worship of brahma. nana sahib here defeated by havelock during mutiny, 1857. =bitlis=, asiatic turkey. 38n. 42e. supposed to have been f. by alexander the great. taken by arabs, 648. scene of defeat of solyman by persians, 1554. =blagovieshtchensk= ('city of the annunciation'), siberia. 50n. 146e. f. in 1856; capital of amur district, 1858. attacked unsuccessfully by chinese, 1900. (see fraser's 'real siberia.') =boca tigris= ('the tiger's mouth'), china. 23n. 114e. entrance to the canton river, containing fortified islands taken by british, 1841, 1856. =bodinayakkanur=, madras. 10n. 77e. captured by hyder ali, 1776. =bokhara= ('a church'), turkestan. 40n. 65e. burnt by djenghis-khan, 1221. contains 360 mosques and many colleges. scene of youth of zelica and azim in moore's 'lalla rookh.' =bombay=, bombay. 19n. 73e. ceded to portugal, 1530; part of marriage-portion of catherine of portugal, 1661; british established themselves here, 1666. =borsad=, bombay. 22n. 73e. res. of rangoji, 1741; here made prisoner, 1748. =botad=, bombay. 22n. 72e. town near which is tomb of pir hamir khan, mussulman saint. =brahmakund=, bengal. 28n. 96e. pool which was the scene of an incident in which parasu rama, an incarnation of vishnu, took part. =brahmapuri=, bombay. 18n. 76e. res. of aurungzebe from 1695 to 1700. =brahmini=, bengal. 21n. 86e. famous as scene of wooing of matsya gandha, mother of alleged compiler of 'mahabharata' and the vedas. =broach=, bombay. 22n. 73e. captured by british, 1772; ceded to scindia, 1783; re-captured by british, 1803. =brusa=, asiatic turkey. 40n. 29e. former capital of bithynia. f. by prusus ii., king of bithynia. captured by sultan orkhan of turkey, 1326; plundered by tartars, 1402; suffered from earthquakes, 1855. =budaun=, united provs. 28n. 78e. supposed to have been f. c. 905. seized by kutb-ud-din, 1196; joined in mutiny, 1857. res. of ala-ud-din. =buddha-gaya=, bengal. 25n. 85e. formerly centre of worship of buddha, and contains sacred pipal-tree under which sakyamuni reached buddhahood. visited by hieun tsiang, 635. =budihaul=, madras. 14n. 76e. captured by hyder ali, 1761; by mahrattas, 1771, 1790. =budrum=, asiatic turkey. 37n. 27e. f. on site of ancient halicarnassus. contains a fortress built by the knights of rhodes, 1402. bp. of herodotus and dionysius. =burhanpur=, central provs. 21n. 76e. f. by nasir khan, c. 1400; adorned by akbar, 1600. pillaged by mahrattas, 1685; captured by wellesley, 1803. =buxar=, bengal. 26n. 84e. mir kasim defeated by sir hector munro, 1764. of literary interest as res. of writers of vedic hymns. =cæsarea=, palestine. 32n. 35e. f. by herod the great on site of strato's tower. famous in biblical history as city in which st. peter preached to cornelius, and st. paul was incarcerated for two years. vespasian became emperor, 69; eusebius was bishop, 315-318; captured by crusaders but regained by saladin, 1101; destroyed by sultan bibars, 1265. (see lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' thomson's 'land and the book.') =calah=, asiatic turkey. 36n. 43e. one of ancient capitals of assyria; f. by shalmaneser i., c. 1300 b.c.; rebuilt by asurnazirpal, 880 b.c. ruins discovered by sir a. h. layard, 1845. =calcutta=, bengal. 23n. 88e. f. by governor job charnock, 1686; fort william established, 1696; besieged by surajah dowlah, nawab of bengal, and captives imprisoned in the 'black hole,' 1756; recaptured by clive, 1757; chief seat of british government, 1773. (see kipling's 'city of dreadful night.') =calicut=, madras. 11n. 76e. covilham landed here, 1486; vasco da gama, 1498; captain keeling, 1615. don fernando coutinho repulsed, 1509; devastated by hyder ali, 1765; taken by british, 1782; by tippoo sahib, 1788; re-taken by british, 1790. (see burton's 'goa and the blue mountains,' also 'purchas his pilgrimes.') =cambay=, bombay. 22n. 73e. taken by general goddard, 1780; given to mahrattas, 1783; ceded to british, 1803. (see hakluyt's 'voyages.') =cana=, palestine. 33n. 35e. famous in biblical history as scene of christ's first miracle. bp. of his disciple simon. =cannanore=, madras. 12n. 75e. visited by vasco de gama, 1498. =canton=, china. 23n. 113e. bogue forts captured by british, 1841; city occupied by french and british forces, 1857. (see little's 'far east,' kipling's 'from sea to sea.') =capernaum= ('village of nahum'), palestine. 33n. 36e. city in which christ resided, and performed many miracles; home of st. matthew. (see thomson's 'land and the book.') =carchemish=, asiatic turkey. 37n. 38e. captured by tiglath-pileser i., c. 1120 b.c.; josiah killed by necho ii. of egypt, 609 b.c.; necho vanquished by nebuchadnezzar, 605 b.c. =carmel=, palestine. 33n. 35e. mountain on which elijah slaughtered the priests of baal. napoleon used one of the monasteries situated here as a hospital, 1799. visited by lamartine, 1832. =cawnpur= ('city of krishna'), united provs. 26n. 80e. scene of the massacre of europeans by nana sahib during mutiny, 1857. (see trevelyan's 'cawnpore.') =cayster=, asia minor. 38n. 28e. river made famous by virgil in the 'georgics' and ovid in the 'metamorphoses.' remains of ephesus are near its mouth. =celebes=, malay archipelago. 4s. 121e. discovered by portuguese, 1512; established fort at macassar, 1525; driven out by dutch, 1660; taken by british, but yielded to dutch, 1814. =ceylon=, indian ocean. 8n. 81e. visited by portuguese, 1505; driven from island by dutch, 1658; ceded to britain by treaty of amiens, 1802; annexed, 1815. =chakan=, bombay. 19n. 74e. captured by malik ahmad, 1486; by shaista khan, 1662; by lieut.-col. deacon, 1818. =chakdaha=, bengal. 23n. 89e. bp. of karta baba, who f. the kartabhaja sect. =champaner=, bombay. 22n. 74e. taken by mahmoud begara, 1484; plundered by humayun, 1535. =chanar=, united provs. 25n. 83e. supposed to have been f. by bhartrinath. taken by humayun, 1537; by akbar, 1575; attempted seizure by major munro, 1763. near fort is tomb of saint shah kasim sulaimani. =chandaur=, bombay. 20n. 74e. taken by the mogols, 1635; by aurungzebe, 1665; by colonel wallace, 1804; british possession, 1818. =chanderi=, central india. 25n. 78e. seized by ghiyas-ud-din, 1251; by mahmoud khilji i., 1438; by jean baptiste filose, 1811; by sir hugh rose, 1858. =chandernagore= ('city of the moon'), bengal. 23n. 88e. ceded to french by aurungzebe, 1688; taken by british, 1757; restored to french, 1816. =chandragiri=, madras. 14n. 79e. said to have been f. by immadi narashima yadava rayalu, 1000. res. of deposed vijayanagar kings. conquered by hyder ali, 1782. =charsadda=, punjab. 34n. 72e. mentioned by ptolemy and arrian; visited by hieun tsiang. =chaul=, bombay. 19n. 73e. occupied by portuguese, 1516; pillaged by gujerat troops, 1529; ahmadnagar army defeated by portuguese, 1594; taken by mahrattas, 1740. =chemulpo=, korea. 37n. 127e. in russian-japanese war, russians defeated by admiral urin, 1904. (see mckenzie's 'from tokyo to tiflis.') =chengalput=, madras. 13n. 80e. said to have been f. by timmarajah. captured by french, 1751; by clive, 1752; place of refuge of british troops, 1780. =chetwai=, madras. 11n. 76e. occupied by dutch, 1717; taken by hyder ali, 1776; british possession, 1790. =chhapia=, united provs. 27n. 82e. bp. of swami narayan, incarnation of krishna. =chidambaram= ('the atmosphere of wisdom'), madras. 11n. 80e. taken by french, 1753; unsuccessfully attacked by british, 1759; captured by major monson, 1760; unsuccessfully attacked by sir eyre coote, 1781. =chi-fu=, china. 38n. 122e. convention held between sir thomas wade and li hung chang, 1876; meeting-place of blockade runners, 1904-5. =chiknayakanhilli=, madras. 13n. 77e. pillaged by mahrattas, 1791. burial-place of dodda deva rajah. =chillianwallah=, punjab. 33n. 74e. sikhs defeated in doubtful battle by lord gough, 1849. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =chinchvad=, bombay. 19n. 74e. res. of moroba, incarnation of ganpati, and scene of his miracles. =chin-kiang=, china. 35n. 108e. partially destroyed by tai-pings, 1853. =chinsurah=, bengal. 23n. 88e. f. by dutch, 1656; routed by british under colonel forde, 1758; occupied by british, 1795; restored to dutch, 1814; ceded to british, 1825. =chitakul=, bombay. 15n. 74e. captured by portuguese, 1752; by fazl-ullah khan, 1763. =chitrakut=, united provs. 25n. 81e. mentioned in the 'ramayana' as scene of wanderings of rama and sita, and here they were sought out by bharat. =chittagong=, burma. 22n. 92e. visited by portuguese, 1618; belonged to mogol empire, 1666; taken by british, 1760. =chupni=, bengal. 25n. 92e. bp. of akhay kumar datta, prose-writer of bengal. =cnidus=, asia minor. 37n. 27e. supposed to have been f. by triopas. famous for the worship of venus. near the coast of cnidus conon defeated the spartan fleet, 314 b.c. bp. of eudoxus, ctesias, and sostratus. =cochin=, madras. 10n. 76e. taken from the portuguese by dutch, 1633; captured by british, 1795; ceded by treaty to british, 1814. visited by vasco da gama, 1502; by st. francis xavier, 1530. (see hakluyt's 'voyages.') =coimbatore=, madras. 11n. 77e. taken by british from tippoo sahib, 1799. =colgong=, bengal. 25n. 87e. death of ghiyas-ud-din mahmoud, last king of bengal, took place here, 1539. =colombo=, ceylon. 7n. 80e. taken by portuguese, 1517; ousted by dutch, 1603; conquered by british, 1796. =colophon=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. supposed to have been f. by andracmon of pylos or by mopsus. bp. of homer, mimnermus, and nicander. =colossæ=, asia minor. 38n. 29e. now represented by khonas, bp. of nicetas khoniates. mentioned by xenophon and herodotus. st. paul sent a letter to its church during his imprisonment at rome. =conjeveram=, madras. 13n. 80e. captured by mussulmans, 1310, 1646; by mahrattas, 1677; by clive, 1752; burnt by french, 1757. =coringa=, madras. 17n. 82e. became british possession, 1759. inundated and partially destroyed by ocean, 1787, 1832. =cossimbazar=, bengal. 24n. 88e. british defeated by surajah dowlah, 1757. contains tomb of first wife of warren hastings. =covelong=, madras. 13n. 80e. captured by french, 1750; by clive, 1752. =cranganore=, madras. 10n. 76e. fortress erected by portuguese, 1505; ceded to dutch, 1660; sold to rajah of travancore. =cunaxa=, asiatic turkey. 33n. 44e. cyrus the younger killed here in a battle with his brother, artaxerxes mnemon, 401 b.c. =cydnus=, asia minor. 37n. 35e. river up which cleopatra sailed to meet antony. =cyprus=, asiatic turkey. 35n. 33e. seat of worship of aphrodite; bp. of barnabas. conquered by arabs, 646; retaken by greeks, 648; secured by haroun-al-raschid, 802; by comnenus, 1184; ruled by guy de lusignan, 1193; occupied by turks, 1570; ruled by british, 1878. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' hakluyt's 'voyages.') =dafar=, arabia. 17n. 54e. described in 'travels of marco polo' as dulfar. =damalcheruvu pass=, madras. 13n. 79e. mahrattas defeated and killed nawab dost ali, 1740. =daman=, bombay. 20n. 73e. portuguese possession since 1531. =damascus=, syria. 34n. 36e. supposed to have been f. by uz. conquered by david, by jeroboam ii., tiglath-pileser, sennacherib, and nebuchadnezzar. subdued by pompey, 64 b.c.; by mohammedans, 635; conquered by nureddin, 1154; saladin died here, 1193; egyptians defeated by tamerlane, 1401; taken from turks by selim i., 1516; captured by ibrahim pasha, 1832; ceded to turkey, 1840. massacre of jews, 1840; of christians, 1860. the english historian buckle died here. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' burton's 'wanderings in three continents,' twain's 'new pilgrim's progress,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' hakluyt's 'voyages,' burckhardt's 'travels in syria and the holy land.') =daminya=, bengal. 25n. 88e. bp. of mukunda ram chakrabarti. =daulatabad= ('abode of prosperity'), haidarabad. 20n. 75e. f. by bhillama i., c. 1187 a.d.; seized by ala-ud-din khilji, 1294; by mohammedans, 1307, 1310; rajah harpal flayed alive, 1318; captured by nijam shakis from bahmanis, 1526; from emperor akbar, 1595; taken by malik amber, 1607; by shah jahan, 1633; abul hasan imprisoned here by aurungzebe, 1687. =dead sea=, palestine. 32n. 36e. frequently mentioned in biblical history. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient.') =deglur=, haidarabad. 19n. 78e. contains tomb of shah zia-ud-din rifai. =delhi=, punjab. 29n. 77e. captured by mohammedans, 1193; by tamerlane, 1398; sultan baber established mogol dynasty, 1526; burnt by mahrattas, 1736; taken by persians, who plundered it of treasures, including koh-i-noor diamond, 1739; recaptured by mahrattas, 1789; seized by lord lake, 1803; scene of terrible massacre of british in mutiny, 1857; durbar of edward vii. held here, 1903; of george v., 1911. (see mrs. f. a. steel's 'on the face of the waters' and 'india through the ages,' madhu sudan datta's 'captive ladie,' moore's 'lalla rookh.') =deogarh=, united provs. 25n. 78e. contains carvings dating from 1097. captured by colonel baptiste, 1811. =deogurk=, bengal. 25n. 87e. contains many temples to siva, and is famous place of pilgrimage. =deraiyeh=, arabia. 25n. 46e. ancient capital of wahabis; destroyed by egyptians under ibrahim pasha, 1818. =devanhalli=, madras. 15n. 78e. f. in 1501; captured by lord cornwallis, 1791. bp. of tippoo sahib. =devikottai=, madras. 11n. 80e. taken from pratap singh by british, 1749; occupied by british garrison, 1760. =dhampur=, united provs. 29n. 79e. captured by dunde khan, c. 1750; by amir khan, 1805. =dhar=, central india. 23n. 75e. destroyed by jaya sinha, 1020; yielded to aurungzebe, 1658. bp. of baji rao ii., and contains mausoleum of abdullah shah changal, mohammedan saint. =dharapuram=, madras. 11n. 78e. taken by colonel wood, 1768; by hyder ali, 1768; by general medows, 1790. =dharwar=, bombay. 15n. 75e. fort said to have been f. by dhar rao, 1403; captured by ali adil shah, 1573; by aurungzebe, 1685; by hyder ali, 1778; british possession, 1818. =dholka=, bombay. 23n. 72e. captured by mahrattas, 1736; ceded to british, 1804. =dholpur= ('the town of dholan'), rajputana. 27n. 78e. alleged to have been f. by dholan deo. taken by sikander lodi, 1501; by babar, 1526. =dhulia=, bombay. 21n. 75e. devastated by holkar, 1803; british possession, 1818. =diarbekr=, asiatic turkey. 38n. 40e. f. on the site of ancient city of amida. fortified by constantius, 340; captured by persians, 502; by arabs, 640; by sultan selim i., 1515. =dig=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. fell to najaf khan, 1776; general frazer conquered holkar in the vicinity, 1804. =dindigull=, madras. 10n. 78e. overcome by rajah of mysore, 1755; taken by british from tippoo sahib, 1783, but given back, 1784; ceded to british, 1792. =dipalpur=, punjab. 31n. 74e. conquered by tamerlane, 1398; besieged by babar, 1524; by mahrattas, 1758. =diu=, bombay. 21n. 71e. occupied by portuguese, 1515; fortified, 1535; plundered by arabs, 1670. =dolon-nor=, mongolia. 42n. 116e. contains many buddhist temples, and the ruins of changtou described by marco polo are near this city. =dondra head= ('island's end'), ceylon. 6n. 80e. most southernly point of island, considered sacred by the hindus. ibn batouka, the arabian geographer, visited this place, 1344. destroyed by portuguese, 1587. =dumdum=, bengal. 23n. 88e. scene of sepoy rising in mutiny, 1857. =dwarka=, bombay. 22n. 69e. taken by british, 1816. associated with krishna, and sometimes said to be his birthplace. =ecbatana= ('an assembly'), persia. 35n. 48e. ancient capital of media, supposed to have been f. by deioces, c. 705 b.c.; now known as hamadan. conquered and plundered by seleucus, 313; by alexander, 331 b.c. contains tombs alleged to be those of mordecai and esther, also mosque of avicenna. =efsene=, turkestan. 40n. 65e. bp. of avicenna, persian philosopher and physician. =ekron=, palestine. 32n. 35e. ancient city of philistia, frequently mentioned in the bible. taken by thothmes iii., c. 1500 b.c.; by sennacherib, 701 b.c. =elburz=, persia. 37n. 50e. mountains, on one of which saum exposed his son zalzer. (see firdausi's 'sha name.') =el elah=, arabia. 26n. 39e. visited by c. m. doughty, and described in 'travels in arabia deserta.' =elephanta=, bombay. 19n. 73e. sacred island in hindu mythology, containing many temples. =ellichpur=, berar. 21n. 77e. f. by rajah ellon. besieged by mahrattas, 1772; taken by ala-eddin, 1794. =ellora=, haidarabad. 20n. 75e. contains wonderful temples to buddha hewn out of rock. the kailasa temple possesses sculptures of scenes from the 'ramayana' and the 'mahabharata.' =endor=, palestine. 33n. 35e. place where witch summoned before saul the spirit of samuel, who foretold his defeat and death. =engedi= ('goat's spring'), palestine. 31n. 35e. frequently mentioned in the bible, especially as the wilderness to which david fled from saul. pliny refers to it as a ruin. =enoshima=, japan. 35n. 140e. an island near yokohama containing celebrated shrine. (see lafcadio hearn's 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan.') =ephesus=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. said to have been f. by amazons, or by androcles, son of codrus. taken by the arabs from the persians, 1283. famous as a sacred city of artemis. the first christian church established here, of which timothy was bishop. john the baptist and the virgin mary are said to have died in this city. bp. of heraclitus, hermodorus, hipponax, and parrhasius. (see mark twain's 'new pilgrim's progress.') =erbil=, asiatic turkey. 36n. 44e. darius finally defeated by alexander, 331 b.c. =erivan=, transcaucasia. 40n. 45e. taken by the turks 1582; by shah abbas, 1604; stormed by turks, 1615; unsuccessfully attacked by heraclius, 1780; by russians, 1804; taken by paskevich, 1827; ceded to russia, 1828. partially destroyed by earthquake, 1679. (see bodenstedt's 'tausend und ein tage im orient' for tatar poem in celebration of russian victory.) =erode=, madras. 11n. 78e. captured by british, 1768; by hyder ali, 1768; by general medows, 1790. =erzerum=, turkish armenia. 40n. 41e. taken by seljuks, 1201; by mogols, 1242; by turks, 1517; by russians, 1828, 1878; but restored to turks, 1878. experienced severe earthquake, 1859. =erzingan=, asiatic turkey. 40n. 40e. home of st. gregory. greatly suffered from earthquake, 1774. =esdraelon= ('god has sown'), palestine. 33n. 35e. plain frequently occurring in biblical history, notably at the time of barak's defeat of sisera, gideon's victory over midianites, and philistines over saul, also in the time of ahab. =eskishehr=, asiatic turkey. 40n. 30e. contains several tombs of mohammedan saints. near the city godfrey of bouillon defeated soliman. =etchmiadsin=, transcaucasia. 40n. 44e. ecclesiastical capital of armenia, with famous monastery. taken by russians during russo-persian war, 1827; ceded to russians, 1828. =euphrates=, asiatic turkey. 30n. 48e. most important river of the world. one of the four rivers of eden; on its banks nimrod f. the babylonian empire, and the old testament patriarchs dwelt. =eurymedon=, asia minor. 37n. 31e. river at whose mouth persians were defeated by cimon, 466 b.c. =everest=, mount, nepal. 28n. 87e. highest known peak in the world, the altitude of which was discovered by sir george everest, 1841; named in his honour by sir andrew waugh, 1856. =falta=, bengal. 22n. 88e. scene of british retreat after capture of calcutta, 1756. =famagousta=, cyprus. 35n. 34e. f. by ptolemy philadelphus. taken by richard coeur de lion, 1191; guy de lusignan crowned here. captured by genoese, 1376; yielded to turks, 1571. =fatehgarh=, united provs. 27n. 80e. f. by nawab mohammed khan, c. 1714; stormed by mahrattas, 1751; lord lake defeated holkar, 1804. =ferozeshah=, punjab. 31n. 75e. sir hugh gough and sir henry hardinge defeated sikhs, 1845. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =firospur= ('city of firuz'), punjab. 28n. 77e. battle fought between sikhs and british, which gave punjab to britain, 1845. =formosa= ('beautiful'), china. 24n. 121e. portuguese landed, 1590. dutch f. fort zelandia, 1624; withdrew, 1662. attached to china, 1683; opened to foreigners, 1858; anping and zelandia occupied by british, 1868, but restored to china; island invaded by japanese, 1874; captured by french, 1884; ceded by china to japan, 1895. (see diosy's 'new far east,' little's 'far east.') =fort st. david=, madras. 12n. 80e. f. by hindu, chinnia chetti; purchased by british, 1690; clive became its governor, 1756; captured by french under lally, 1758; given up, 1760; recaptured, 1782; restored to british, 1785. =fu-chau= ('happy region'), china. 26n. 119e. the walled capital of fu-kien. open to foreign trade, 1842; contains an arsenal constructed by two frenchmen, 1867; bombarded by french, 1884. =fuji yama=, japan. 35n. 139e. supposed to have sprung up in a single night, 285 b.c. highest mountain in japan, held in religious veneration, famous in legend, poetry, and art. it is volcanic, the last outbreak taking place in 1707. (see lafcadio hearn's 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan.') =fulia=, bengal. 23n. 88e. bp. of krittibas, translator into bengali of 'ramayana.' =furruckabad= ('happy abode'), bengal. 25n. 88e. lord lake defeated mahratta holkar, 1805. =futtehghur=, rajputana. 26n. 75e. nearly entire european inhabitants massacred, 1857. =futtipur-sikri= ('city of victory'), united provs. 27n. 78e. f. by akbar, 1570. res. and burial-place of saint salim chishti. (see mrs. f. a. steel's 'prince of dreamers.') =fyzabad=, afghanistan. 37n. 70e. destroyed by murad beg, 1829; rebuilt by faiz muhammed khan, 1865. =galle=, ceylon. 6n. 80e. f. by portuguese, 1518; taken by dutch, 1642; by british, 1796. =galna=, bombay. 21n. 75e. pillaged by sivaji, 1679; captured by aurungzebe, 1705; by colonel wallace, 1804. =gamala=, palestine. 33n. 36e. unsuccessfully besieged by agrippa; captured by vespasian in jewish war, 66-70. =gaur=, bengal. 25n. 88e. ancient capital of bengal. seized by mohammedans, 1204; embellished by akbar, 1575. (see burton's 'vikram and the vampire,' 7th story.) =gaya=, bengal. 25n. 85e. sacred city of the buddhists, being the bp. of buddha. =gaza=, palestine. 32n. 34e. city from which samson is said to have taken the gates. burnt by syrian king, alexander jannæus, 96 b.c.; captured by omar, 634; occupied by templars, 1152; taken by saladin, 1187. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' thomson's 'land and the book,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =gerasa=, palestine. 32n. 36e. taken by alexander jannæus, 83 b.c.; rebuilt by romans, 65 b.c. =gethsemane=, palestine. 32n. 35e. scene of christ's vigil on the eve of his crucifixion. (see lamartine's 'voyage en orient.') =ghaziabad=, united provs. 29n. 77e. f. by ghazi-ud-din, 1740. suraj mal killed by rohillas, 1763. =ghazipur=, united provs. 26n. 84e. capital of district of ghazipur; contains many magnificent ruins. lord cornwallis died here, 1805. (see kipling's 'in an opium factory.') =ghazni=, afghanistan. 34n. 68e. seized by nadir shah, 1738; by lord keane, 1839; by general nutt, 1842. contains tomb of mahmud of ghazni, 1030. =gheriah=, bombay. 17n. 73e. bombarded by british fleet under admiral watson, and captured by clive, 1756; british possession, 1818. =ghodbandar=, bombay. 19n. 73e. mahrattas unsuccessfully stormed town, 1672; captured from portuguese, 1737. =ghoraghat=, bengal. 25n. 89e. mentioned in the 'mahabharata' as place of refuge of virat rajah. =gibeah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. res. of king saul, and alleged to be his birthplace. =gibeon=, palestine. 32n. 35e. famous in old testament history, especially for joshua's defence of the city against the amorites. =gilboa=, palestine. 32n. 35e. range of hills, on one of which king saul and his three sons were killed in battle. =gingi=, madras. 12n. 79e. captured by bandaullah khan, 1638; by sivaji, 1677; besieged for eight years by zulfikar khan, 1690; taken by french, 1750; by british, 1761; abandoned to hyder ali, 1780. =giria=, bengal. 24n. 88e. celebrated for defeat of sarfaraz khan, 1740; and mir kasim, 1763. =giridhi=, bengal. 24n. 86e. centre of karharbari coal-fields, and described in kipling's 'giridih coal-fields.' =goa=, bombay. 15n. 74e. taken by mohammedans, 1469; by albuquerque, 1510; by british, 1807; recaptured by portuguese, 1815. contains tomb of st. francis xavier. (see marryat's 'phantom ship,' burton's 'goa and the blue mountains,' 'purchas his pilgrimes,' hakluyt's 'voyages.') =gobardanga=, bengal. 23n. 89e. alleged place where krishna guarded his flocks. =gobardhan=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. said to have been a favourite res. of krishna. =gokana=, punjab. 29n. 77e. contains tomb of saint shah zia-ud-din mohammed. =gokarn=, bombay. 15n. 74e. place of pilgrimage for hindus; mentioned in 'mahabharata' and 'ramayana.' =golconda=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. a ruined city, f. by rajah of warangal; destroyed by aurungzebe, 1687. =gooruncondah= ('horse-hill'), madras. 14n. 79e. taken by hyder ali, 1768; yielded to trimbak rao, 1771; captured by tippoo sahib, 1773; british possession, 1800. =granicus=, asia minor. 40n. 27e. river on the banks of which alexander the great first defeated the persians, 334 b.c.; lucullus defeated mithridates, 74 b.c. =gujranwala=, punjab. 32n. 74e. bp. of ranjit singh, and burial-place of his father and of himself. =gujrat=, punjab. 33n. 74e. sikhs conquered by sir hugh gough, 1849. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =gulbarga=, haidarabad. 17n. 77e. taken by zafar khan, 1347; by mir jumla, 1657. contains tomb of khwaja band nawaz, mussulman saint. =gumush-khaneh= ('place of silver'), asiatic turkey. 41n. 38e. pasha of trebizond defeated by russians, 1829. =gutti=, madras. 15n. 78e. res. of morari rao. fell to hyder ali, 1775; british possession, 1800. =gwalior=, central india. 26n. 78e. contains palace of man singh, f. 1486, and victoria college; also tombs of sheik mohammed ghaus and of tan sen. maharajah faithful to england, though his army rebelled during mutiny, 1857. =haidarabad=, haidarabad. 17n. 79e. capital of the nizam's dominions; f. by cuttub-shah, 1585. taken and plundered by aurungzebe, 1687. =hakata=, japan. 34n. 130e. formerly an independent town; now forming part of tukuoka. (see lafcadio hearn's 'out of the east.') =halicarnassus=, asia minor. 37n. 27e. mausoleum erected here by artemisia in honour of her husband, mausolus. bp. of herodotus and dionysius. =hamadan=, persia. 35n. 48e. f. on the site of ancient ecbatana, containing tombs alleged to be of mordecai and esther, also those of avicenna, attar, and abul-hasi. =hamah=, syria. 35n. 37e. often mentioned in the old testament. fell into the hands of tancred, 1108; of togtekin, 1115; of saladin, 1178. abulfeda, the arabian geographer, was emir, 1342-54. =hami=, china. 43n. 94e. described in the 'travels of marco polo.' =hang-chau=, china. 30n. 120e. capital of che-kiang. visited by marco polo and barrow. successfully stormed by taiping rebels, 1861; open to foreign trade and res., 1896. (see 'travels of marco polo,' little's 'far east.') =han-kau= ('han-mouth'), china. 31n. 114e. greatest commercial city of empire; mentioned by f. j. little in 'the far east.' =hanoi= ('within the river'), indo-china. 21n. 106e. f. by a chinese governor, c. 767, became capital of annam. citadel built in 808. contains a colossal buddha, also statue to paul bert. french possession since 1882. (see little's 'far east.') =hansi=, punjab. 29n. 76e. alleged to have been f. by anang pal. seized by masud, 1036; by mohammed of ghor, 1192. contains tomb of kulb jamal-ud-din. =hanumangarh=, rajputana. 30n. 74e. tamerlane defeated by dul chand, 1398; taken by kamran, 1549. =harbin=, manchuria. 46n. 127e. military base of russians during russo-japanese war. (see fraser's 'real siberia,' little's 'far east.') =hardwar= ('gate of vishnu'), united provs. 30n. 78e. famous resort of pilgrims; battle between two rival sects, 1760; terrible epidemic of cholera, 1847. =harnai=, bombay. 18n. 73e. attacked by commodore james, 1755; captured by colonel kennedy, 1818. =hattia=, bengal. 23n. 91e. captured by portuguese pirates, 1607. destroyed by cyclone, 1876. =hayil=, arabia. 28n. 42e. visited by c. m. doughty, and described in 'travels in arabia deserta.' =hebron=, palestine. 32n. 35e. frequently mentioned in the bible, especially in connection with david. traditionally supposed to have been f. by adam. the cave of macpelah reputed to be here, containing abraham, isaac, jacob, sarah, rebecca, and leah. the tombs are shown of ruth, jesse, and abner. conquered by saladin, 1187; destroyed by ibrahim pasha, 1834 and 1837. (see thomson's 'land and the book.') =hei-ku-tai=, manchuria. 42n. 123e. seized by the russians, 1904. =herat=, afghanistan. 34n. 62e. foundation attributed to alexander the great. taken by arabs, 661; by nadir shah, 1730; persians defeated by british, 1837; fell to yar mohammed khan, 1842; to dost mohammed, 1862. (see rawlinson's 'england and russia in the east.') =heshbon=, palestine. 32n. 36e. mentioned in the bible, and described by c. m. doughty in 'travels in arabia deserta.' =hikone=, japan. 35n. 137e. contains remains of ancient daimio castle. battle of sekigahare fought near here, 1600. =hinomizaki=, japan. 35n. 132e. described by lafcadio hearn in 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan.' =hissar=, punjab. 29n. 76e. f. by firoz shah tughlak, 1356; captured by the adventurer, george thomas, 1783; mutinied 1857. =homs=, syria. 35n. 37e. aurelian conquered zenobia, 272; city captured by saracens, 636; by crusaders, 1099; turks defeated by ibrahim pasha in command of egyptian forces, 1832. bp. of heliogabalus. (see volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =honawar=, bombay. 14n. 74e. visited by ibn batatu, 1342. occupied by portuguese, 1505; captured by british, 1783, 1799. =hong-kong= ('fragrant streams'), china. 22n. 114e. occupied by british troops, 1841; ceded to britain, 1842. (see kipling's 'from sea to sea,' little's 'far east.') =hor= ('mountain'), arabia petræa. 30n. 36e. mountain on which tradition relates the death of aaron took place. =horeb=, arabia petræa. 29n. 34e. mountain on which moses is said to have seen the burning bush, and to which elijah fled from jezebel. (see 'purchas his pilgrimes.') =hsi-ngan= ('west tranquil city'), china. 34n. 109e. visited by marco polo; contains oldest mosque in china and tablet with chinese and syriac inscription dating from 781. emperor and dowager empress sought refuge here, 1900. =hubli= ('old village'), bombay. 15n. 75e. captured by muazzam, 1685; by general munro, 1818. =hue=, indo-china. 16n. 108e. capital of annam; forts taken by french, 1883. (see little's 'far east.') =hugli=, bengal. 22n. 88e. f. by portuguese, 1537; besieged by shah jahan, 1629; mohammedans made it royal port, 1632; east india company established factory, 1640; destroyed by fire, 1685. =ida=, asia minor. 40n. 27e. range of mountains celebrated by homer. in them the simois, granicus and scamander had their origin, and troy lay in the valley. supposed scene of rape of ganymede and judgment of paris. =ipsus=, asia minor. 39n. 31e. seleucus and lysimachus conquered antigonus and demetrius poliorcetes, 301 b.c. or 300 b.c. =irkutsk=, siberia. 52n. 104e. f. by cossacks, 1653; proclaimed town, and first church built, 1686; government headquarters, 1736; devastated by fire, 1879. (see fraser's 'real siberia.') =isker=, siberia. 58n. 67e. captured by russians under yermak, 1579. =ismid=, asia minor. 41n. 30e. formerly capital of bithynia under name of nicomedia; given to the romans by nicomede iii. destroyed by goths, and by earthquake, 358. taken by turks, 1326. =isnik=, asia minor. 40n. 30e. f. by antigone. nicene creed formed here by a council held against arius, 325. =ispahan=, persia. 33n. 52e. said to have been f. by jews who were taken captive by nebuchadnezzar; former capital of persia. tamerlane massacred the inhabitants, 1392; besieged and plundered by afghans, 1722; re-taken by nadir shah, 1729. (see montesquieu's 'lettres persanes,' 'purchas his pilgrimes.') =issus=, asia minor. 37n. 36e. alexander the great conquered darius in a decisive battle, 333 b.c.; septimus severus defeated niger, 194; heraclius overthrew persians, 622. =istalif=, afghanistan. 35n. 69e. destroyed by british, 1842. =jabbok= ('copious river'), palestine. 32n. 36e. river on the banks of which jacob is supposed to have wrestled with an angel. (see doughty's 'travels in arabia deserta.') =jaffa=, palestine. 32n. 35e. celebrated in heathen mythology as the scene of the adventure of perseus and andromeda, in scripture history as the port from which jonas embarked and city in which peter raised tabitha. cæsar yielded town to the jews, but it returned to rome, 6; taken by el-malik el-adil, saladin's brother, 1188; ceded to christians, 1204; restored by frederick ii., 1228; fortified by st. louis, 1252; dismantled by beybars, 1267; taken by napoleon, 1799; by mehemet ali, 1832; by turks, 1840. partially destroyed by earthquake, 1838. (see lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' thomson's 'land and the book,' hakluyt's 'voyages.') =jalalabad=, afghanistan. 34n. 70e. f. by akbar, 1570. sir robert sale made a successful resistance against afghans, 1842. =jalandhar=, punjab. 31n. 76e. visited by hiuen tsiang. destroyed by sikhs, 1757; taken by ranjit singh, 1811. =jamalpur=, bengal. 25n. 86e. chief locomotive centre of east indian railway, described by kipling in 'among the railway folk.' =jaypur=, rajputana. 27n. 76e. f. by sawai jai singh, 1728; greatest city of rajputana. (see kipling's 'letters of marque.') =jericho=, palestine. 32n. 35e. ancient city frequently mentioned in biblical history, and also by josephus and strabo. it was destroyed by joshua, but rebuilt in ahab's reign. here christ healed blind bartimæus. (see twain's 'new pilgrim's progress,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' thomson's 'land and the book.') =jerusalem=, palestine. 32n. 35e. ancient capital of palestine, mentioned in egyptian record c. 1400 b.c. destroyed by nebuchadnezzar, 586 b.c.; jews permitted to return by cyrus, 536 b.c.; jews massacred by antiochus iv., 168 b.c.; fortified by judas maccabæus, 165 b.c.; captured by pompey, 63 b.c.; taken and destroyed by titus, 70; new city f. by hadrian, 71; godfrey de bouillon reigned, 1099; passed into hands of ottoman turks, 1516. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' firdausi's 'sha name,' twain's 'new pilgrim's progress,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' 'purchas his pilgrimes,' thomson's 'land and the book,' hakluyt's 'voyages.') =jezreel= ('god sows'), palestine. 33n. 35e. a town near which saul fell in battle, containing the res. of jezebel and ahab. =jhansi=, central india. 26n. 79e. f. by bir singh deo. massacre of europeans in the mutiny, 1857. =jhelum=, punjab. 31n. 72e. the hydaspes of classical literature, on the banks of which alexander the great defeated the indian chief porus. =jidda=, arabia. 22n. 39e. taken by turks, 1840; massacre of christian missionaries, 1858. contains supposed tomb of eve. (see doughty's 'travels in arabia deserta,' burckhardt's 'travels in arabia.') =jind=, punjab. 29n. 76e. attacked by gajpat singh, 1755; rahim dad khan here met his death, 1775. =joonir=, bombay. 19n. 74e. f. by malik-ut-tujar, 1436; pillaged by sivaji, 1657. =jordan=, palestine. 32n. 36e. chief river of palestine, of which mention occurs frequently in biblical history. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient.') =jugduluk=, afghanistan. 35n. 70e. british troops massacred, 1842. =kabbaldurga=, madras. 12n. 77e. chama rajah imprisoned here in 1734, and morari rao by hyder ali. =kabul=, afghanistan. 35n. 69e. conquered by nadir shah, 1739; by british, 1839; massacre of british soldiers, 1842; retaken by british, 1842; by shere ali, 1868; massacre of major cavagnari, 1879; lord roberts subdued city in his campaign, 1878-80. (see firdausi's 'sha name.') =kagoshima=, japan. 35n. 140e. destroyed by british fleet, 1863; satsuma rebellion had its origin here, but was crushed, 1877. =kaithal=, punjab. 30n. 76e. contains tomb of mohammedan saint salah-ud-din of balkh. captured by bhai desu singh, 1767. =kalat=, baluchistan. 29n. 67e. unsuccessfully attacked by ahmad shah durrani, 1758; captured by british, 1839. =kalgan=, china. 41n. 115e. walled city mentioned by a. j. little in 'the far east.' =kallinjar=, bengal. 25n. 80e. connected with worship of siva. attacked by mahmoud of ghazni, 1023; captured by kutb-ud-din, 1203; besieged by humayun, 1530; taken by akbar, 1569; by british, 1812. =kalpi=, united provs. 26n. 80e. said to have been f. by basdeo. captured by kutb-ud-din, 1196; by humayun, 1527; by british, 1798. =kalyan=, bombay. 19n. 73e. captured by portuguese, 1536; by mohammedans, 1660; by british, 1780. =kamagawa=, japan. 35n. 140e. town at which treaty was signed opening japan to europeans, 1854. =kamakura=, japan. 35n. 140e. former capital of shogunate, and contains colossal statue of buddha. (see lafcadio hearn's 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan.') =kampil=, bengal. 28n. 79e. mentioned in 'mahabharata' as scene of wedding of draupadi. =kan-chow=, china. 39n. 101e. described in 'travels of marco polo.' =kanchrapara=, bengal. 22n. 88e. bp. of iswar chandra gupta. =kandahar=, afghanistan. 32n. 66e. f. by ahmed shah, 1747, near site of city f. by alexander the great, 330 b.c. taken by british, 1839, 1879. stormed by ayub khan, but relieved by lord roberts, 1880. =kandy=, ceylon. 7n. 81e. contained temple in which was supposed to be a tooth of buddha; destroyed by portuguese. capital of ceylon, 1592; taken by portuguese, 1796; entered by british, 1803; became british possession, 1815. =kang-hwa= ('river-flower'), korea. 38n. 127e. plundered by french under admiral roze, 1866; attacked by americans, 1871; peace established by treaty, 1875. =kangra=, punjab. 32n. 76e. pillaged by firoz shah, 1360; taken by sansar chand, 1785. =kapilavastu=, nepal. 28n. 83e. site of city not definitely known, but was ancient capital of sakyas, and bp. of buddha. (see sir edwin arnold's 'light of asia.') =karachi=, sind. 25n. 67e. f. in 1725; ceded by talpur amirs to british, 1842. =karakoram=, china. 46n. 102e. said to be ancient capital of genghis khan. (see 'travels of marco polo.') =karazan=, china. 25n. 103e. capital of province of yun-nan. (see 'travels of marco polo.') =karikal=, madras, 11n. 80e. ceded to french by rajah of tanjaur, 1739; seized by british, 1803; restored to french, 1814. =karnal=, punjab. 30n. 77e. contains tomb of bu-ali kalandar. pillaged by ibrahim husain mirza, 1573; captured by mahrattas, 1787; by british, 1805. =kars=, armenia. 41n. 43e. taken by turks, 1546; fortified, 1579; conquered by persians, 1744; by russians, under paskevitch, 1828; ismael pasha and general williams held it unsuccessfully against russians, 1855; stormed by russians, 1877; and ceded to them, 1878. =karur= ('embryo town'), madras. 11n. 78e. seized by british, 1760; by hyder ali, 1768; by general medows, 1790. =kashgar=, eastern turkestan. 39n. 76e. rebelled against china, and became capital of yakub beg's dominions, 1865; retaken by chinese, 1877. (see 'travels of marco polo,' rawlinson's 'england and russia in the east,' little's 'far east.') =kashmir, vale of=, kashmir. 34n. 75e. scene of the story of 'the light of the haram' in moore's 'lalla rookh.' =kasur=, punjab. 31n. 75e. alleged to have been f. by kusa, son of rama. besieged by bhangi chiefs, 1763, 1770; ranjit singh defeated kutb-ud-din khan, 1807. =katwa=, bengal. 24n. 88e. sacred town as res. of apostle chaitanya. =kaveripak=, madras. 13n. 79e. rajah sahib and french defeated by clive, 1752. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =kaveripatnam=, madras. 12n. 78e. taken from hyder ali by british, 1767. =kendubilwa=, bengal. 24n. 88e. bp. and burial-place of jayadeva, composer of 'gita govinda.' (see r. c. dutt's 'lit. of bengal.') =kerbela=, asiatic turkey. 33n. 44e. hosein, son of caliph ali, killed in battle with rival yazid, 680; chief building of the city, visited by many pilgrims, is mosque containing hosein's tomb. subdued by turks, 1843. =kerkouk=, kurdistan. 35n. 44e. stormed and taken by nadir shah, 1741. tomb is shown supposed to be of daniel and other 'children of the furnace.' =kerman=, persia. 30n. 56e. taken and plundered by mahomed khan, 1794. =khaiba=, arabia. 26n. 40e. visited by c. m. doughty, and described in 'travels in arabia deserta.' =khaiber pass=, afghanistan. 34n. 71e. in afghan wars opposition to british passage overcome, 1839; terrible loss encountered in retreat, 1842; held by neighbouring afridis, 1879. =khatmandu=, nepal. 28n. 85e. believed to have been f. c. 723. massacre of british, 1846. =khios=, asiatic turkey. 38n. 26e. famous as bp. of ion, theocritus, and theopompus; contained the 'school of homer.' =khiva=, russian turkestan. 42n. 60e. captured by russians under general kaufmann, 1873. (see rawlinson's 'england and russia in the east.') =khuldabad=, haidarabad. 20n. 75e. contains many tombs of famous men, among others those of nasir jang and aurungzebe. =kiakhta=, siberia. 50n. 107e. described by bishop sheepshanks in 'my life in mongolia and siberia.' =kidron=, palestine. 32n. 35e. valley which was the scene of many incidents in biblical narratives; david crossed the river kidron when fleeing from absalom. believed will be scene of last judgment. mentioned by jerome and eusebius. =kin-chau=, manchuria. 39n. 121e. japanese defeated russians, 1904. =king-te-shen=, china. 29n. 117e. partially destroyed by tai-ping rebels, 1855. =kioto=, japan. 35n. 136e. f. by kuwammu. former capital of japan. (see lafcadio hearn's 'out of the east,' kipling's 'from sea to sea.') =kirtipur=, punjab. 32n. 75e. nanek, founder of sikh religion, and compiler of 'adi-granth' died here. =kishon=, palestine. 33n. 35e. scene of defeat of sisera, and elijah's destruction of the prophets of baal. battle fought on banks of river between turks and french, 1799. =kizuki=, japan. 35n. 133e. great centre of shinto religion in japan. (see lafcadio hearn's 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan.') =kobe=, japan. 35n. 135e. formerly an independent town, but united to hiogo, 1892. (see kipling's 'from sea to sea.') =kolar=, mysore. 13n. 78e. contains tomb of father of hyder ali. given to hyder ali, 1761; captured by british, 1768; by mahrattas, 1770; by british, 1791. =kondapalli=, madras. 17n. 81e. f. c. 1360. seized by krishna deva, c. 1515; by aurungzebe, 1687; by british, 1766. =konieh=, asia minor. 38n. 33e. city in which paul and barnabas preached. taken by seljuks 1075; by frederick barbarossa, 1190; by mohammed ii., 1466. mentioned by xenophon in the 'anabasis.' =kos=, asia minor. 37n. 27e. site of famous temple of æsculapius. bp. of hippocrates, apelles, philetas, ariston. theocritus also lived here. =kotagherry=, madras. 11n. 77e. res. of sir r. burton, described in 'goa and the blue mountains.' =koum=, persia. 29n. 56e. celebrated place of pilgrimage and contains shrine of fatima, sister of reza. (see montesquieu's 'lettres persanes.') =kuldja=, east turkestan. 44n. 81e. city f. after destruction of tatar kulja, 1865; taken by russians, 1871; restored to china, 1881. =kumarhatta=, bengal. 24n. 89e. bp. of poet ram prasad sen. =kunnoj=, united provs. 27n. 80e. contains two mohammedan mausoleums in memory of bala pir and his son, 1650. king of kanauj conquered by sultan of delhi, 1193. =lahore=, punjab. 32n. 74e. taken by mahmoud, 1013, 1021; by mohammed the gouride, 1186; plundered and destroyed by moguls, 1241; rebuilt, 1269; conquered by baber, 1522; by sikhs, 1758; sikhs defeated by british, 1846; became incorporated with british empire, 1849. (see 'purchas his pilgrimes,' kipling's 'kim.') =lampsacus=, asia minor. 40n. 27e. ancient centre of worship of priapus. bp. of charon, anaximenus, and metrodorus. =lang-son=, indo-china. 22n. 107e. taken by the french under general de négrier, 1885. =laswari=, rajputana. 28n. 77e. total defeat of mahrattas by british, 1803. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =latakia=, syria. 36n. 36e. scene of dolabella's last siege, 43 b.c.; taken by tancred, 1102; by saladin, 1188. experienced severe earthquakes, 1170, 1287, 1822. (see volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =lebanon, mounts.=, palestine. 34n. 36e. mountain range mentioned in the bible as famous for cedars. visited by lamartine, 1832. (see 'voyage en orient,' thomson's 'land and the book,' burckhardt's 'travels in syria and the holy land.') =leh=, kashmir. 34n. 78e. contains tomb of stolitzka, the austrian geologist, who died here, 1874. =leiah=, punjab. 31n. 71e. f. by kamal khan, c. 1550; humayun shah captured near here, 1794. =lhasa= ('god's house'), tibet. 31n. 91e. sacred city of lamas, containing famous statue of buddha. forbidden to european explorers, but has been entered several times. (see little's 'far east.') =liao-yang=, manchuria. 41n. 123e. japanese secured a victory over russians, 1904. (see mckenzie's 'from tokyo to tiflis.') =ligor=, siam. 8n. 100e. taken by burmese, 1760, 1785. =lohogarh=, bombay. 19n. 73e. mentioned by ptolemy. taken by sivaji, 1648; by british, 1818. =lonar=, berar. 20n. 77e. scene of struggle between lonasur and an incarnation of vishnu. =lucknow=, united provs. 27n. 81e. contains mausoleum of asaf-ud-daula. seized by humayun, 1526; by babar, 1528; native insurrection against british, 1857; recaptured by british, 1858. (see mrs. f. a. steel's 'on the face of the waters,' kipling's 'kim.') =macao=, china. 22n. 114e. portuguese bought right to settle here, 1557; chinese barricaded it from rest of island, 1573; occupied by british, 1802, 1808; port declared free, 1846. camöens res. here in exile, and wrote part of his 'lusiad.' =madakasira=, madras. 14n. 77e. captured by mahrattas, 1728; by hyder ali, 1762; by morari rao, 1764; recaptured by hyder ali, 1776. =madras=, madras. 13n. 80e. british established here, 1639; besieged by aurungzebe's general, 1702; by the mahrattas, 1741; fort george f. by francis day, 1744; taken by french, 1746; recovered by british, 1748; san thomé, portuguese settlement, f. in 1504, annexed, 1749; unsuccessfully attacked by french under general lally, 1758, 1759. cathedral of saint thomé supposed to contain remains of saint thomas. =madura=, madras, 10n. 78e. taken by malik kafur, 1324; by nawab of carnatic, 1736; held by british for mohammed ali, 1764; ceded to british, 1801. =mahaban=, bengal. 27n. 78e. alleged scene of childhood of krishna. =mahe=, madras. 12n. 76e. taken by french, 1722; by british, 1761, 1779, 1793; restored to french, 1815. =malatiyeh=, asiatic turkey. 38n. 38e. khosros i. defeated by romans, 577; taken by bajazet, 1396; by tamerlane, 1401. polyeuctus martyred here; great massacre of christians, 1895. (see corneille's 'polyeucte.') =mandalay=, upper burma. 22n. 96e. f. in 1859; became capital of burma, 1878; occupied by british, 1885; partially destroyed by fire, 1892. =mandawar=, united provs. 29n. 78e. taken by tamerlane, 1399; plundered by amir khan, 1805. =mangalore=, madras. 13n. 75e. visited by ibn batatu. occupied by portuguese, 1596; sustained terrible siege against tippoo sahib, 1782-3; taken by british, 1799. =manila=, luzon. 15n. 121e. capital of philippine islands; f. by spaniard, legazpi, 1571. plundered by chinese pirates, 1574; blockaded by dutch, 1602; taken by british, 1762; spanish fleet destroyed by dewey off coast, 1898. severe earthquakes, 1675, 1824, 1863. =manissa=, asiatic turkey. 39n. 27e. ancient magnesia, near which were supposed to be kingdom of tantalulus, and scene of niobe's sorrow. antiochus the great defeated by romans, 190 b.c.; city occupied by osman turks, 1398. =maraglak=, persia. 37n. 46e. contains tomb of hulaka khan, and remains of observatory built by him for the great astronomer, nasr-ud-din of tus. =masulipatam=, madras. 16n. 81e. british settled here, 1611; successfully stormed by colonel forde, 1759. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india,' 'purchas his pilgrimes.') =matsuye=, japan. 36n. 133e. former capital of idzumo, and contains numerous temples. (see lafcadio hearn's 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan.') =mecca=, arabia. 21n. 40e. bp. of mohammed, c. 570. contains the kaaba, said to be built by abraham and ishmael with help from angel gabriel. taken by wahabis, 1803, 1807; by mehemet ali, 1813. (see sir r. burton's 'wanderings in three continents' and 'pilgrimage to al-madinah and meccah,' hakluyt's 'voyages,' burckhardt's 'travels in arabia.') =medina= ('the city'), arabia. 25n. 40e. sacred city of islam, whence mohammed fled from mecca, 622; contains tomb supposed to hold remains of the prophet, his daughter fatima, abu bekr, and omar. forbidden city to all not mohammedans, but visited by burckhardt, 1811; burton, 1852. (see sir r. burton's 'wanderings in three continents' and 'pilgrimage to al-madinah and meccah,' burckhardt's 'travels in arabia.') =meerut=, united provs. 29n. 78e. plundered by mahmud of ghazni, 1017; by tamerlane, 1399; taken by british, 1803; first outbreak of indian mutiny, 1857. =megiddo=, palestine. 32n. 35e. ancient city of syria. mentioned in bible as being fortified by solomon; refuge of ahaziah fleeing from jehu, 843 b.c.; necho overcame josiah, c. 609 b.c. =menderes=, asia minor. 38n. 28e. said to be ancient scamander, flowing past troy, and sung of by homer. =merta=, rajputana. 27n. 74e. f. by duda, c. 1488. captured by akbar, 1562. =merv=, turkestan. 38n. 62e. colonised by alexander the great, occupied by arabs, 666; taken by mongols, 1221; by bokharians from persians, 1787; occupied by tekke-turkomans, 1856; under russian authority, 1884. =meshed=, persia. 36n. 59e. contains magnificent mausoleum of imam riza and caliph haroun-al-raschid. =meshed ali=, asiatic turkey. 32n. 44e. contains tomb of ali. =miana=, persia. 37n. 47e. the french traveller, thévenot, died here, 1667. =miani=, sind. 26n. 68e. sir charles napier twice defeated mohammedan emirs, 1843. =michmash=, palestine. 32n. 35e. mentioned by josephus and eusebius, and in the old testament as the camping-place of the philistines in the early part of reign of saul. =midagesidurga=, madras. 14n. 77e. seized by hyder ali, 1761; by mahrattas, 1767; by tippoo sahib, 1774. =miletus=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. cyrus defeated, 548 b.c.; city destroyed by persians, 494 b.c. res. of st. paul for several days. bp. of historians cadmus and hecatæus, philosophers thales, anaximander, and anaximenes; also of poet timothy, of aristides, æschines, and aspasia. =mionoseki=, japan. 36n. 132e. described by lafcadio hearn in 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan.' =mityleni=, asiatic turkey. 39n. 27e. rebellion crushed by athenians, 428 b.c.; ceded to genoese family, 1355; taken by mohammed ii., 1462; unsuccessful rebellion against turks, 1468; venetian naval victories over turks, 1690, 1698; greek victory, 1821. bp. of sappho, alcæus, terpander, and theophrastus; place of retirement of agrippa. =monghyr=, bengal. 25n. 86e. taken by mohammedans, 1195; became res. of todar mal, 1590; taken by british from nawab mir kasim, 1763. =mosul=, asiatic turkey. 36n. 43e. taken by moslems, 636; stormed by saladin, 1182; occupied by persians, 1623; unsuccessfully besieged by nadir shah, 1741. =mukden=, manchuria. 42n. 124e. contains relics of nurhachu, and near town is his tomb. boxer outbreak, 1900; in russo-japanese war, russians defeated and japanese occupied mukden, 1905. (see père amiot for french translation of emperor k'ien lung's poem 'en mukden.') =multan=, punjab. 30n. 71e. contains tombs of rukn-i-alam, bhawal hakk and shams-i-tabriz. mahmud of ghazni took it, 1005; ranjit singh, 1818; british, in sikh war, 1849. =murshidabad=, bengal. 24n. 88e. contains tomb of jagath singh. last mohammedan capital of bengal; plundered by mahrattas, 1742; entered by clive, 1757; warren hastings removed civil and criminal courts to calcutta, 1772. =muscat=, arabia. 24n. 59e. occupied by albuquerque, 1507; besieged by imam of oman, 1648; portuguese expelled by oman, 1650. =mush=, asiatic turkey. 39n. 42e. turks massacred armenians, 1894. visited by xenophon, and supposed burial-place of moses of chorene. =muttra=, united provs. 27n. 78e. contains ruins of jey singh's observatory and of akbar's fort. supposed bp. of krishna, whose childhood was spent here, and balarama. pillaged by mahmud of ghazni, 1017; taken by british, 1803; sepoys murdered british officers, 1857. =nabadwip=, bengal. 23n. 88e. bp. of chaitanya, supposed to be incarnation of krishna; res. of nityananda, vasudeb, and raghumath. =nabulus=, palestine. 32n. 33e. on site of ancient shechem mentioned in biblical history; later was rebuilt as neapolis by vespasian. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' mark twain's 'new pilgrim's progress,' thomson's 'land and the book,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =nagar= ('the city'), madras. 14n. 75e. captured by hyder ali, 1763; taken by british, 1783. =nagasaki=, japan. 33n. 130e. scene of pierre loti's 'madame chrysanthème.' (see also kipling's 'from sea to sea,' little's 'far east.') =nagpur= ('town of serpents'), central provs. 21n. 79e. former capital of mahratta principality, crushed by british, 1817. =nain=, palestine. 33n. 35e. scene of christ's miracle of raising from the dead the widow's son. (see mark twain's 'new pilgrim's progress.') =najibabad=, united provs. 30n. 78e. f. by najib-ud-dowlah, 1755. destroyed by mahrattas, 1772. =nakhitchevan=, asiatic russia. 40n. 45e. said to be oldest city in world, f. by noah. taken by seljuk sultan, 1064; ceded to russia by persia, 1828. =nandidrug=, madras. 13n. 78e. captured by lord cornwallis, 1791. =nan-king= ('southern capital'), china. 32n. 119e. treaty which ended opium war signed, 1842; city taken by taipings, 1853; by imperialists, 1864. (see 'purchas his pilgrimes,' little's 'far east.') =nannur=, bengal. 24n. 88e. bp. of chandidas, the poet. =narnaul=, punjab. 28n. 76e. said to have been f. by rajah launkarn, and to be bp. of sher shah. =nasik=, bombay. 20n. 74e. noted for lena caves with buddhistic sculptures. here, according to the 'ramayana,' ravana carried away siva, rama's wife. =nazareth=, palestine. 33n. 35e. res. of the virgin mary and of christ; church of annunciation f., c. 1620. town captured by moslems, 1291; junot vanquished combined army of turks and arabs, 1799. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' thomson's 'land and the book.') =negapatam=, madras. 11n. 80e. conquered by dutch, 1660; by british, 1781. (see 'purchas his pilgrimes.') =nehavend=, persia. 34n. 48e. great victory of saracens which brought persia under their sway, 641. =nellore=, madras. 14n. 80e. ancient fort of sinhapur, 'the lion city;' repulsed british, 1757. =nertchinsk=, siberia. 52n. 117e. treaty signed between russians and chinese, 1689. (see fraser's 'real siberia.') =nicæa= ('city of victory'), asia minor. 40n. 30e. f. by antigonus, c. 316 b.c. taken by seljuks, 1078; by crusaders, 1097; by the osmanlis, 1326. bp. of historian dion cassius and astronomer hipparchus. council met, 325. =nicomedia=, asiatic turkey. 41n. 30e. f. by nicomedes i., 264 b.c.; contains ruins of which pliny the younger boasted. bp. of arrian; res. of diocletian, and of constantine who died here; scene of hannibal's suicide. =nicosia=, cyprus. 35n. 33e. capital of cyprus since time of lusignan kings. taken by richard coeur de lion, 1191; besieged by turks, 1570. =nikaria=, asiatic turkey. 38n. 26e. island near which it is fabled icarus met his death. =nikko= ('sun's brightness'), japan. 37n. 140e. contains tomb of iyeyasu, 1617; and that of his grandson, iyemitsu, slain while visiting tomb of iyeyasu, 1650. (see kipling's 'from sea to sea.') =nineveh=, asiatic turkey. 36n. 43e. said to have been f. c. 2680 b.c.; enlarged by ninus, 1968 b.c. conquered by arbaces, 759 b.c.; by nabopolassar, 625 b.c.; destroyed by medes and babylonians, c. 607 b.c. excavations by botta, 1842; layard, 1845; also by hormuzd rassam and george smith. tobit said to have died here. (see 'apocrypha.') =ning-po= ('calm waves'), china. 30n. 121e. occupied by portuguese, 1522; portuguese massacred, 1545; taken by british, 1842. (see 'travels of marco polo.') =nishapur=, persia. 36n. 59e. famous as bp. of omar khayyam, whose tomb is also here. res. of nidhami-i-arudi. =nisib=, asiatic turkey. 37n. 38e. turks defeated by egyptians under ibrahim pasha, 1839. =nisibin=, asiatic turkey. 37n. 41e. captured by parthians, 149 b.c.; by lucullus, 68 b.c.; by trajan, 116; by lucius verus, 165; given to persians by jovian, 363. =oki shima=, japan. 36n. 133e. an island off the west coast of houdo, fully described by lafcadio hearn in 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan.' =omsk=, asiatic russia. 55n. 74e. capital of akmolinsk. (see fraser's 'real siberia.') =ophir, mount=, malay peninsula. 2n. 103e. gold-producing mountain often identified with the ophir of the bible. (see 'purchas his pilgrimes.') =opon=, philippine islands. 11n. 124e. magellan killed here by natives, 1521. =ormuz=, persia. 27n. 56e. visited by nearchus, 325 b.c. captured by albuquerque, 1507, 1514; by shah abbas and british, 1622. (see 'purchas his pilgrimes,' 'travels of marco polo,' hakluyt's 'voyages.') =osaka=, japan. 35n. 136e. f. by rennio shonin, 1495; captured by hideyoshi, 1580; castle secured by iyeyasu, 1615; burnt by tokugawa retainers, 1868. (see lafcadio hearn's 'out of the east,' diosy's 'new far east,' kipling's 'from sea to sea.') =padang=, sumatra. 1s. 100e. first dutch settlement in sumatra, 1666; captured by british, 1781; surrendered to dutch, 1783; recaptured, 1794; yielded to dutch, 1814. =padmanabham=, madras. 18n. 83e. british defeated and killed rajah of vizianagram, 1794. =pakpatan= ('the holy ferry'), punjab. 30n. 73e. contains tomb of saint farid-ul-hakkwa-ud-din. visited by ibn batuta; in subjection to tamerlane, 1398. =palakkat=, madras. 11n. 77e. fort f. by hyder ali taken by british, 1768. =palembang=, sumatra. 3s. 105e. visited by marco polo, and contains an alleged tomb of alexander the great. taken by british, 1812; by dutch, 1821. =palmyra= ('city of palms'), syria. 34n. 39e. supposed to have been f. by solomon; rebuilt by hadrian, 130; queen zenobia conquered by aurelian, 273; city taken by arabs, 634; pillaged by tamerlane, 1401. (see burton's 'wanderings in three continents,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =pandavgarh=, bombay. 18n. 74e. seized by sivaji, 1673; by aurungzebe, 1701; by british, 1818. =pandharpur=, bombay. 18n. 75e. contains famous temple of vishnu incarnation. =pandua=, bengal. 25n. 88e. bp. of poet bharat chandra rai. contains tombs of jalal-ud-din tabrizi and of mir kutb alam. =panipat=, punjab. 29n. 77e. afghans under ibrahim lodi defeated by mogols under baber, 1526; afghans under hermu defeated by akbar, 1556; ahmed shah conquered mahrattas, 1761. =panjim=, bombay. 15n. 74e. (see sir richard burton's 'goa and the blue mountains.') =paphos=, cyprus. 35n. 32e. scene of conversion of sergius paulus by saint paul. famous for worship of aphrodite and scene of story of pygmalion. =pasargada=, persia. 30n. 53e. ancient capital of persia; said to have been f. by cyrus, c. 555 b.c. alleged tomb of cyrus in vicinity. =patan=, baroda. 24n. 72e. f. by vanarajah, c. 746. conquered by mahmoud of ghazni, 1024; by ulugh khan, 1298. contains many jain temples and has fine collection of jain mss. =patna=, bengal. 26n. 85e. buddha said to have assisted in foundation of city; mentioned by strabo, pliny, and arrian; contains shrine of shah arzani. entered by clive, 1759; captured by major adam, 1761; massacre of british, 1763; conspiracy of sepoys, 1857; of wahabis, 1864. =pegu=, burma. 18n. 96e. destroyed by alompra, 1757; occupied by british, 1852. =peking= ('the northern capital'), china. 40n. 116e. seized by ghengis khan, 1215; res. of kubla khan, 1264; occupied by british and french, 1860; by british and americans in boxer rising, 1900. (see little's 'far east.') =penukonda=, madras. 14n. 78e. res. of krishna deva. seized by hyder ali, 1762. =perambakkam=, madras. 13n. 80e. hyder ali overcame british, 1780. =petra=, syria. 30n. 36e. mentioned by strabo and pliny, and probably sela of the bible. (see doughty's 'travels in arabia deserta,' whittier's '"the rock" in el ghor.') =petropavlovsk=, kamtchatka. 53n. 159e. french and british allies engaged in naval battle with russians under muravieff, 1854. =phyeng-yang=, korea. 39n. 126e. japanese won a victory over chinese, 1894. (see diosy's 'new far east,' mckenzie's 'from tokyo to tiflis.') =pinjaur=, punjab. 31n. 77e. besieged by patiala, 1769; taken by bourquin, 1793. =plassy=, bengal. 24n. 88e. siraj-ud-daula suffered great defeat at hands of clive, 1757. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =pollanarrua=, ceylon. 8n. 82e. capital of ceylon, 769; taken by malabars, c. 1204. =pondicherri=, madras. 12n. 80e. first french settlement, 1674; taken by dutch, 1693; unsuccessfully besieged by admiral boscawen, 1748; taken by eyre coote, 1761; restored to french, 1763; recaptured by sir hector monro, 1778; restored, 1783; retaken by british, 1793; finally restored to french, 1816. =poona=, bombay. 19n. 74e. destroyed by nizam ali, 1763; captured by british, 1818. =port arthur=, manchuria. 39n. 121e. fortified by chinese, 1891; seized by japanese, 1894; leased to russia, 1898; besieged during russo-japanese war, 1904; surrendered to japanese, 1905. (see diosy's 'new far east.') =porto novo=, madras. 11n. 80e. occupied by danes and english, 1682; sir eyre coote defeated hyder ali, 1781; ceded to british by dutch, 1823. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =pratapgarh=, bombay. 18n. 74e. res. of sivaji, and scene of his murder of afzal khan, 1659. =priene=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. one of twelve cities of ionian league, supposed to have been f. by æpytus. bp. of bias and achelaus. =prome=, burma. 19n. 95e. captured by british, 1825, 1852; partially destroyed by fire, 1856. =pulicat=, madras. 13n. 80e. occupied by dutch, 1609; conquered by british, 1781; ceded to dutch, 1818; to british, 1825. =punna=, rajputana. 25n. 80e. besieged by sikander lodi, 1494; taken by ram chandra deo, 1563. here pran nath is held sacred, and his tomb exists. =puri=, bengal. 20n. 86e. contained gold tooth of the buddha for many centuries; now famous for the temple of vishnu in his incarnation of juggernaut. =quilon=, madras. 9n. 77e. visited by marco polo; portuguese residents defeated by dutch, 1662. =radhanagar=, bengal. 23n. 88e. bp. of ram mohan rai, first writer of bengali prose. =rahun=, punjab. 31n. 76e. believed to have been f. by rajah raghab. taken by tara singh, 1759. =rajgir=, bengal. 25n. 85e. visited by fa hian and hiuen tsiang. identified with rajagriha, res. of buddha. (see sir edwin arnold's 'light of asia.') =rajpur= ('the royal town'), united provs. 30n. 78e. scene of story entitled 'the potter's thumb,' by mrs. flora annie steel. =ramleh=, syria. 32n. 35e. visited by w. m. thomson, and described in 'the land and the book.' (see volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =ramnad=, madras. 9n. 79e. captured by british, 1772. =ramnagar=, punjab. 32n. 74e. besieged by ranjit singh, 1795; lord gough defeated sikhs, 1848. =rangoon= ('the end of the war'), burma. 17n. 96e. f. as dagon, c. 588 b.c.; rebuilt by alompra, 1755; captured by british, 1824, 1852. (see kipling's 'from sea to sea.') =ranibennur=, bombay. 15n. 76e. seized by colonel wellesley, 1800; occupied by british, 1818. =rattihalli=, bombay. 14n. 76e. defeat of hyder ali by mahrattas, 1764. =rawal pindi=, punjab. 34n. 73e. scene of surrender of sikhs after sir hugh gough's defeat at gujrat, 1849. =rhodes=, asia minor. 36n. 28e. f. in 408 b.c. citizens massacred by cassius, 42 b.c.; held by knights of st. john of jerusalem, 1309; besieged by mohammed ii., 1480; taken by solyman the magnificent, 1522. bp. of panaetius, stratocles, andronicus, eudemus, hieronymus, pisander, simmias, and aristides. res. of apollonius rhodius and posidionius. (see hakluyt's 'voyages.') =rohanked=, berar. 21n. 76e. nasir khan defeated, 1437; jamal khan here slain in battle, 1590. =rohtak=, punjab. 29n. 77e. scene of murder of kai khusru, c. 1286; besieged by khizr khan, 1410. =rungpur= ('abode of bliss'), bengal. 26n. 89e. alleged res. of rajah bhagadatta. taken by british, 1765. =sabraon=, punjab. 31n. 75e. first sikh war ended by sir hugh gough's defeat of sikhs, 1846. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =safed=, palestine. 33n. 36e. believed by jews messiah will make city his capital. scene of siege of holophernes and murder of judith. bp. of tobias. castle f. by christians, 1140; taken by saladin, 1189; destroyed by sultan of damascus, 1220; rebuilt by templars, 1240; destroyed by bibars of egypt, 1266. (see thomson's 'land and the book,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =sagandari=, bengal. 23n. 89e. bp. of madhu sudan datta, writer of 'meghanad-badh' and 'krishna kumari.' =saigon=, cochin-china. 11n. 107e. captured by french, 1858. (see little's 'far east.') =st. thomé=, madras. 13n. 80e. suburb of madras; scene of victory of french under paradis over maphuz khan, 1746. (see malleson's 'decisive battles of india.') =salem=, madras. 12n. 78e. seized by british, 1768; ceded to british by treaty of seringapatam, 1792. =samana=, punjab. 30n. 76e. conquered by mohammed of ghor, 1192; by banda bairagi, 1708. =samaria=, palestine. 32n. 35e. f. by omri, 912 b.c.; captured by sargon, 722 b.c.; by alexander the great, 331 b.c.; by antiochus the great, 203 b.c.; by john hyrcanus, 120 b.c.; given by augustus to herod the great. =samarkand=, turkestan. 40n. 67e. bp. of nidhami-i-arudi, author of 'chahar maqala.' ancient city destroyed by alexander the great, 329 b.c.; conquered by kotaiba ibn moslim, 711; by genghis khan, 1220; by amir of bokhara, 1504; by russians, 1868. contains mosque of shah-zindeh, and tomb of tamerlane. bp. of aboul-mansour-matoudiri. (see 'travels of marco polo.') =sambhal=, united provs. 29n. 79e. bp. of amir khan. =samiaveram=, madras. 11n. 78e. occupied by clive, 1752. =samsat=, asiatic turkey. 38n. 39e. bp. of bishop paul of samosata and of lucian. =sana=, arabia. 15n. 45e. capital of yemen, captured by turks, 1872. =san-de-pu=, manchuria. 42n. 123e. unsuccessfully attacked by russians under general grippenberg, 1904. =sanjan=, bombay. 20n. 73e. visited by polish scholar, hove, 1787. taken by portuguese, 1534. =sante bennur=, madras. 14n. 76e. taken by hyder ali, 1761; by mahrattas, 1791. =santipur=, bengal. 23n. 88e. res. of chaitanya, and bp. of adyaita. =sarafand=, syria. 33n. 35e. ancient city, known in the bible as zareptath. (see thomson's 'land and the book.') =sardhana=, united provs. 29n. 78e. celebrated as res. of begam sumru. =sardis=, asia minor. 39n. 28e. occupied by cyrus, 548 b.c.; burned by ionians, c. 409 b.c.; destroyed by tamerlane, 1402. mentioned by æschylus and herodotus; res. of xerxes; contains ruins of temple of cybele and tomb of alyattes. =sasseram= ('one thousand toys'), bengal. 25n. 84e. contains tombs of sher shah and his father. =satyamangalam=, madras. 11n. 77e. taken by hyder ali, 1768; by tippoo sahib, 1790. =savandurga=, madras. 13n. 77e. captured by lord cornwallis, 1791. =selefke=, asiatic turkey. 36n. 34e. f. by seleucus nicator; bp. of xenarchus. =seleucia pieria=, asia minor. 36n. 36e. f. by seleucus nicator; captured by ptolemy euergetes, 246 b.c.; by antiochus the great, 219 b.c. =seoul=, korea. 38n. 127e. capital of korea since 1392. contains fine temple of confucius. (see diosy's 'new far east,' mckenzie's 'from tokyo to tiflis,' little's 'far east.') =sephora=, palestine. 33n. 35e. mentioned in the bible; visited by lamartine, 1832. =seringapatam= ('city of vishnu'), mysore. 12n. 77e. besieged by lord cornwallis, 1792; taken by british and tippoo sahib killed, 1799. contains ancient temple of vishnu, and tombs of hyder ali and tippoo sahib. =seroda=, bombay. 15n. 74e. res. of sir r. burton; described in 'goa and the blue mountains.' =sha river=, manchuria. 42n. 123e. russians under general kuropatkin conquered by japanese, 1904. =shahabad=, united provs. 28n. 80e. f. by diler khan, whose tomb is here, 1677; visited by bishop heber, 1824. =shang-hai= ('above the sea'), china. 31n. 121e. taken by triads, 1853; occupied by british and french, 1860. (see little's 'far east.') =shehr=, arabia. 15n. 50e. city described in 'travels of marco polo' as escier. =shehr-i-sebz=, turkestan. 39n. 67e. f. on site of kesh, bp. of tamerlane. =shimoga=, madras. 14n. 76e. captured by mahrattas, 1798; destroyed by dhundia wagh, 1799. =shimonosoki=, japan. 34n. 131e. bombarded by american, british, dutch, and french fleet, 1864; treaty signed here, 1895. (see mckenzie's 'from tokyo to tiflis,' little's 'far east.') =shiraz=, persia. 30n. 53e. f. c. 697; capital of persia, 1760. near by are tombs of saadi and hafiz. =shivner=, bombay. 19n. 74e. bp. of sivaji. =sholapur=, bombay. 18n. 76e. the baji rao suffered defeat at hands of british, 1818. =shwebo=, upper burma. 23n. 96e. bp. of maung aung zeya. =sidon=, syria. 34n. 35e. taken by crusaders, 1110; by saladin, 1187; recaptured by crusaders, 1197; destroyed by mongols, 1260; captured by mussulmans, 1291; bombarded by napier, 1840; persecution of christians, 1860. (see thomson's 'land and the book,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte.') =sikandarabad=, united provs. 28n. 78e. f. by sikandar lodi, 1498; suffered during mutiny, 1857. =sikandra=, united provs. 27n. 78e. res. of sikandar lodi, and contains tomb of akbar. =siloam=, palestine. 32n. 35e. pool near jerusalem mentioned in the bible. (see mark twain's 'new pilgrim's progress,' thomson's 'land and the book.') =simla=, punjab. 31n. 77e. fashionable health-resort of europeans in india, frequently the scene of kipling's stories, e.g., 'under the deodars,' 'the phantom 'rickshaw.' =sinai, mount=, arabia petræa. 28n. 34e. mentioned in the bible as the mountain on which god revealed himself to moses. (see flinders petrie's 'researches in sinai,' also 'purchas his pilgrimes,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte,' burckhardt's 'travels in syria and the holy land.') =singapore=, malay peninsula. 1n. 104e. f. by sir stamford raffles, 1819; ceded to british by sultan of johore, =1824=. (see kipling's 'from sea to sea.') =singarh= ('lion's fort'), bombay. 18n. 74e. taken by sivaji, 1647; by tanaji malusre, 1670; by british, 1818. =singi=, bengal. 28n. 81e. bp. of kasiram das, translator into bengali of 'mahabharata.' (see r. c. dutt's 'lit. of bengal.') =sinhur=, rajputana. 23n. 77e. jaswaut rao here attacked captain jean baptiste filose, 1814. =sinope=, asia minor. 42n. 35e. f. by ionians of miletus, 630 b.c.; unsuccessfully attacked by mithradates iv., 220 b.c.; captured by pharnaces, 183 b.c.; by lucullus, 70 b.c.; fleet and town partially destroyed by russians, 1853. bp. of diogenes. =sira=, madras. 14n. 77e. taken by mahrattas, 1757; by hyder ali; recaptured by mahrattas, 1766; by tippoo sahib, 1774. =sirhind=, punjab. 31n. 76e. sarang khan overcome by khizr khan, 1420; bazid khan killed by banda bairagi, 1708. =sivas=, asiatic turkey. 40n. 37e. destroyed by tamerlane, 1400. =skutari=, asia minor. 41n. 29e. scene of florence nightingale's activities during crimean war, 1854-6; destroyed by fire, 1872. =smyrna=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. ancient city celebrated by pindar, aristides, and himerius, containing famous relics of homer. destroyed by alyattes, c. 575 b.c.; rebuilt by antigonus and lysimachus, but suffered from earthquake, 179; seized by turks, 1084; conquered by aidin, c. 1330; by tamerlane, 1402. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' twain's 'new pilgrim's progress,' lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' montesquieu's 'lettres persanes.') =sohar=, arabia. 24n. 57e. visited by marco polo and ibn batatu. occupied by portuguese, 1508. =somnath=, bombay. 21n. 70e. pillaged by mahmud of ghazni, 1025. alleged place in which krishna died. =sopara=, bombay. 19n. 73e. sacred place of buddha, and mentioned in the 'mahabharata.' =su-chau=, china. 31n. 121e. f. c. 500 b.c.; captured by taiping rebels, 1860; became treaty-port, 1896. =sukkur=, sind. 28n. 69e. talpurs defeated by shah shuja, 1833; british possession, 1842. =sur= ('rock'), palestine. 33n. 35e. ancient tyre. besieged by nebuchadnezzar ii., 572 b.c.; by alexander the great, 332 b.c.; captured by crusaders, 1124; destroyed by malik al-ashraf, 1291; suffered from earthquake, 1837. (see lamartine's 'voyage en orient,' thomson's 'land and the book,' volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte,' hakluyt's 'voyages.') =surat=, bombay. 21n. 73e. overcome by akbar, 1572; british settlement, 1612; under british rule, 1800. (see 'purchas his pilgrimes.') =susa=, persia. 32n. 48e. capital of elamite kingdom, c. 2280 b.c.; conquered by assyrians, 645 b.c. contains tomb alleged to be of daniel. =tabariah=, syria. 33n. 36e. f. by herod antipas, c. 16; saladin defeated christians, 1187; given to france, 1240; taken by mussulmans, 1247. mentioned by josephus; contains tomb of arabian philosopher lokman; mishna compiled here, 190, and part of talmud. (see burckhardt's 'travels in syria and the holy land.') =tabor=, mount, palestine. 33n. 35e. scene of assembly of army of barak and deborah against sisera; alleged scene of christ's transfiguration. gabinius overcame jews, 53 b.c.; fortified by malik-el-adil, 1212; french victory over british and turks, 1799. (see burckhardt's 'travels in syria and the holy land.') =tabreez=, persia. 38n. 46e. foundation attributed to zobeida, wife of haroun-al-raschid, 791. destroyed by tamerlane, 1392; taken from turks by nadir shah, 1730; by russians, 1827. the bab here put to death, 1850. =taif=, arabia. 22n. 41e. visited by burckhardt, and described in 'travels in arabia.' =talwaudy=, punjab. 32n. 75e. village near lahore which is bp. of nanek, founder of sikh religion. =tanjore=, madras. 11n. 79e. unsuccessfully attacked by lally, 1758; taken by british, 1773; under british control, 1799. =tarsus=, asia minor. 37n. 35e. traditionally f. by sennacherib. meeting-place of mark antony and cleopatra, 38 b.c. contains tomb of sardanapalus, and is bp. of st. paul, athenodorus, and hermogenes. =tchesme=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. turkish fleet defeated by russian under orloff and elphinstowe, 1770. =teheran=, persia. 36n. 51e. treaty signed between british and persians, 1857. near city are ruins of rhages, bp. of haroun-al-raschid. =teima=, arabia. 28n. 39e. the tema of the bible. visited by c. m. doughty, and described in 'travels in arabia deserta.' =tekrit=, asiatic turkey. 35n. 44e. bp. of saladin. =tiberias, sea of=, palestine. 33n. 36e. frequently mentioned in the bible as lake of galilee or gennesaret, and by josephus. bp. of disciples simon, andrew, james the great, and john. visited by lamartine, 1832. (see kinglake's 'eothen,' twain's 'new pilgrim's progress,' 'purchas his pilgrimes,' adam smith's 'historical geography of the holy land,' thomson's 'land and the book,' burckhardt's 'travels in syria and the holy land.') =tien-tsin= ('heaven's ford'), china. 39n. 117e. besieged by taiping rebels, 1853; treaty signed with french and british, 1858; occupied by french and british, 1860; foreign inhabitants murdered, 1870; res. of li hung-chang for 20 years, 1874. =tokat=, asiatic turkey. 40n. 37e. severely damaged by earthquake, 1825; massacre of armenians, 1895. =tokio=, japan. 36n. 140e. seat of government for tokugawa ieyasu, 1603; eastern capital of japan, 1868; opened to foreign res., 1869. (see diosy's 'new far east,' mckenzie's 'from tokyo to tiflis.') =tomsk=, siberia. 56n. 85e. f. in 1604; capital of tomsk. contains university f. in 1888. (see fraser's 'real siberia,' tolstoi's 'resurrection.') =tortosa=, syria. 35n. 36e. ceded to templars, c. 1161; taken by saladin, 1188; by mussulmans, 1291. =tottori=, japan. 36n. 134e. visited by lafcadio hearn, and described in 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan.' =tranquebar=, madras. 11n. 80e. bought by dutch, 1620; taken by british, 1787; sold to british, 1845. =trebizond= ('a table'), asiatic turkey. 41n. 40e. f. by greeks from sinope, 700 b.c.; scene of xenophon's retreat with ten thousand; capital of empire of trebizond under alexius comnenus, 1204; taken by mohammed ii., 1461. =trichinopoli=, madras. 11n. 79e. british possession, 1801. contains tomb of bishop heber. =trichoor=, madras. 11n. 76e. occupied by hyder ali, 1776; by tippoo sahib, 1789. =trincomali=, ceylon. 9n. 81e. contains ruins of famous temple of a thousand columns destroyed by portuguese, 1622. taken by storm by british, 1795. =tripoli=, syria. 34n. 36e. destroyed by earthquakes, 450, 550; captured by saracens, 638; by crusaders, who destroyed celebrated arabian collection of books, 1109; by egyptians, 1289. (see volney's 'voyage en syrie et en egypte,' hakluyt's 'voyages,' burckhardt's 'travels in syria and the holy land.') =troy=, asia minor. 40n. 26e. said to have been f. by dardanus, walls built by apollo and poseidon; centre of greek legends. visited by alexander the great, 334 b.c.; roman possession, 189 b.c.; destroyed by turks, 1306. (see homer's 'iliad,' virgil's 'æneid,' tacitus' 'annals,' kinglake's 'eothen.') =tsing-tao=, china. 36n. 120e. seized by germany, 1897. =turkestan=, asiatic russia. 44n. 68e. resort of pilgrims to mosque of hazret-yassavi, built by tamerlane. occupied by russian troops, 1864. =umarkot=, sind. 25n. 70e. alleged to have been f. by umar. bp. of akbar. =ur=, palestine. 32n. 35e. contains ruins of temple to moon-god sin. frequently mentioned in bible, especially as spot from which abraham's father moved westward. =ura-tyube=, russian turkestan. 41n. 68e. alleged to have been f. by cyrus; captured by russians, 1866. =urfah=, asiatic turkey. 37n. 39e. captured by seljuk turks, 1040; by crusaders, 1097; by mussulmans, 1144. ancient centre of syrian learning; bp. of st. ephraim syrus, and said to have been res. of abraham. =urga=, mongolia. 48n. 106e. sacred city of mongols, and is the seat of the kutuktu, deified lama. contains famous temple of maidar. (see sheepshanks' 'my life in mongolia and siberia.') =urumiyah=, persian armenia. 37n. 45e. alleged bp. of zoroaster. =utakamand=, madras. 11n. 77e. town in which sir r. burton resided, described in 'goa and the blue mountains.' =utch= ('high place'), punjab. 29n. 71e. contains fort built by daughter of deo singh. captured by mahmud of ghazni, 1006. res. of persian historian, minhaj-ud-din. =van=, asiatic turkey. 38n. 43e. alleged to have been f. by semiramis; rebuilt by van; by valarsaces, 149 b.c.; taken by arabs, c. 640; by osmanlis, 1514; by persians, 1636; by kurds, 1845. =vellore=, madras. 13n. 79e. said to have been f. by bommi reddi, c. 1274; besieged by mahrattas, 1676; taken by daud khan, 1708; safdar ali murdered here by murtaza ali, 1742; occupied by british, 1760; by hyder ali, 1780. =vijayanagar= ('city of victory'), madras. 15n. 76e. f. in 1336; contains celebrated ruins, and is famous as res. of sayana, the vedic commentator. =vladivostok=, asiatic russia. 43n. 132e. occupied by russians, 1860; free port, 1873; capital of littoral, 1888. (see fraser's 'real siberia,' little's 'far east.') =wady hammanah=, syria. 34n. 36e. gorge near which lamartine lived. =wa-fang-kou=, manchuria. 40n. 122e. russians under general stackelberg conquered by japanese, 1904. =wakayama=, japan. 34n. 135e. contains castle of princes of kishu, f. 1850, and near by is temple of kumudera, said to be f. 770. =wandewash=, madras. 12n. 80e. lally-tollendal defeated by sir eyre coote 1760. =wei-hai-wei=, china. 37n. 122e. great chinese arsenal established, 1883; seized by japanese, 1895; leased to british, 1898. (see diosy's 'new far east.') =wi-ju=, korea. 40n. 125e. here manchus entered korea, 1627; japanese entered manchuria, 1894, 1904. (see mckenzie's 'from tokyo to tiflis.') =wu-chang=, china. 30n. 114e. captured by taiping rebels, 1853. =yakutsk=, eastern siberia. 62n. 130e. f. by cossacks, 1632. =yalu=, korea. 40n. 125e. japanese under admiral ito defeated chinese fleet at mouth of yalu, 1894; passage forced by japanese during russo-japanese war, 1904. (see mckenzie's 'from tokyo to tiflis.') =yamaguchi=, japan. 34n. 131e. mission established by st. francis xavier, 1550. =yanbo=, arabia. 24n. 38e. landing-place for egyptian pilgrims. (see burton's 'pilgrimage to al-madinah and meccah,' burckhardt's 'travels in arabia.') =yarkand=, chinese turkestan. 38n. 78e. annexed to chinese empire, 1757; captured by dungans, 1864; recaptured by chinese, 1877. (see 'travels of marco polo.') =yokasuka=, japan. 35n. 140e. will adams, the english pilot, landed here, 1600; tomb in vicinity of town. =yokohama=, japan. 35n. 140e. became residential treaty port, 1858; totally destroyed by fire, 1866. (see lafcadio hearn's 'out of the east' and 'glimpses of unfamiliar japan,' kipling's 'from sea to sea.') =zebulon=, palestine. 33n. 35e. mentioned several times in the bible; visited by lamartine, 1832. =zileh=, asia minor. 40n. 36e. formerly celebrated for worship of anaitis. here julius cæsar defeated pharnaces, and uttered famous words, 'veni, vidi, vici.' (see suetonius' 'de vita cæsarum,' i. 37.) index index list of abbreviations b. bay c. cape g. gulf is. island l. lake mt. mountain pk. peak pen. peninsula pt. point r. river str. strait vol. volcano _those places marked with an asterisk (*) appear also in the gazetteer_ page =abakansk=, siberia. 54n. 92e., 94 =abarim mts.=, palestine. 32n. 36e., 12 =abashiri=, japan. 43n. 144e., 88 =abazbi=, n.w. frontier provs. 34n. 72e., 58 =abbottabad=, n.w. frontier provs. 34n. 73e., 58 =abdon=, palestine. 33n. 35e., 12 =abel-beth-maachah=, pales. 33n. 36e., 12 =abel shittim=, palestine. 32n. 36e., 12 [*]=abila=, palestine. 33n. 36e., 13 =abistadah, lake=, afghanistan. 33n. 68e., 58 [*]=abohar=, punjab. 30n. 74e., 58 =aboo mt.=, rajputana. 25n. 73e., 59 =abra river=, philippine is. 18n. 120e., 77 =abreojos=, east indies. 23n. 130e., 75 =abring=, kashmir. 34n. 77e., 58 =abu arish=, arabia. 17n. 43e., 44 =accho=, palestine. 33n. 35e., 12 =achin prov.=, east indies. 5n. 96e., 74 =achzib=, palestine. 33n. 35e., 12 =actinia haven=, siberia. 76n. 98e., 94 [*]=adalia=, asia minor. 36n. 31e., 46 =adalia, gulf of=, asia minor. 36n. 31e., 46 =adam's bridge=, ceylon. 9n. 80e., 63 [*]=adam's peak=, ceylon. 7n. 80e., 63 =adana=, asia minor. 37n. 36e., 46 [*]=aden=, arabia. 13n. 45e., 44 =adi is.=, east indies. 5s. 134e., 75 =adipar=, rajputana. 29n. 74e., 59 =adipur=, rajputana. 28n. 75e., 59 =adiyaman=, turkey in asia. 38n. 38e., 47 [*]=adoni=, madras. 16n. 77e., 62 =adoraim=, palestine. 32n. 35e., 12 =adullam=, palestine. 32n. 35e., 12 =aeng pass=, burma. 20n. 94e., 67 =afioom=, asia minor. 38n. 30e., 46 =agartulla=, bengal. 24n. 91e., 61 =agincourt is.=, china. 26n. 122e., 89 [*]=agra=, united provs. 27n. 78e., 59 =agrigan=, east indies. 19n. 145e., 75 =agung, mt.=, bali. 8s. 116e., 76 [*]=ahmadabad=, bombay. 23n. 73e., 56 [*]=ahmadnagar=, bombay. 19n. 75e., 57 =ahmadpur=, punjab. 29n. 71e., 59 =ahmudpur=, punjab. 28n. 70e., 59 =ahor=, persia. 39n. 47 =ahwaz=, persia. 31n. 49e., 47 =aidin=, asia minor. 38n. 28e., 46 =aikawa=, japan. 38n. 138e., 88 =aintab=, turkey in asia. 37n. 37e., 46 =ai-shan=, china. 38n. 121e., 83 =aivalik=, asia minor. 39n. 27e., 46 =ajalon=, palestine. 32n. 35e., 12 =ajer itam bay=, borneo. 3s. 111e., 76 =ajigasawa=, japan. 41n. 140e., 88 [*]=ajmere=, rajputana. 27n. 75e., 59 =akaba=, arabia. 30n. 35e., 44 =akanogawa=, japan. 37n. 139e., 91 =akaoka=, japan. 34n. 134e., 91 =akaogi=, japan. 31n. 131e., 89 [*]=akashi=, japan. 35n. 135e., 91 =akcha=, afghanistan. 37n. 66e., 45 =ak dagh=, asia minor. 37n. 30e., 46 =ak dagh=, asia minor. 39n. 30e., 46 =akhissar=, asia minor. 39n. 28e., 46 =akhlat=, turkey in asia. 39n. 42e., 47 =aki=, japan. 35n. 133e., 91 =akita=, japan. 40n. 140e., 88 =akkeshi=, japan. 43n. 145e., 88 =akkeshi bay=, japan. 43n. 145e., 88 =ako=, formosa. 22n. 121e., 89 =ako=, japan. 35n. 134e., 91 =akola=, berar. 21n. 77e., 60 =akote=, berar. 21n. 77e., 60 =akserai=, asia minor. 38n. 34e., 46 =akshehr=, asia minor. 38n. 31e., 46 =aktan=, asiatic russia. 48n. 72e., 94 =ak tepe=, turkestan. 36n. 62e., 45 =akumi-shima=, lu-chu is. 27n. 127e., 89 =akune=, japan. 32n. 130e., 89 =akuseki is.=, lu-chu is. 30n. 130e., 89 =akyab=, burma. 20n. 93e., 67 =alabat=, philippine islands. 14n. 122e., 77 =alacham=, asia minor. 42n. 36e., 46 =ala dagh=, asia minor. 40n. 33e., 46 =aladana=, s., n.w. frontier provs. 35n. 72e., 58 =ala kul=, asiatic russia. 46n. 82e., 94 =alamaguan=, east indies. 18n. 145e., 75 =ala shan=, inner mongolia. 38n. 106e., 82 =alaya=, asia minor. 36n. 32e., 46 =alaykan=, burma. 20n. 95e., 67 =alazeisk mts.=, siberia. 67n. 150e., 95 =alazeisk river=, siberia. 71n. 154e., 95 =albay=, philippine islands. 13n. 124e., 77 =albistan=, turkey in asia. 38n. 37e., 46 =aldan, river=, siberia. 60n. 135e. 95 =aldansk=, siberia. 62n. 134e. 95 [*]=aleppo=, turkey in asia. 36n. 37e. 46 =aleppy=, madras. 10n. 76e. 63 =alexandretta=, turkey in asia. 37n. 36e. 46 =alfonso xii.=, philippine is. 6n. 121e. 77 =alibagh=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 [*]=aligarh=, united provs. 28n. 78e. 59 =ali khel=, afghanistan. 34n. 70e. 58 =alingar river=, afghanistan. 35n. 70e. 58 =aliwal=, punjab. 31n. 75e. 58 =allahabad=, n.w. provs. 26n. 82e. 60 =allahabad=, punjab. 29n. 71e. 59 [*]=allahabad=, united provs. 25n. 82e. 60 [*]=allah shehr=, asia minor. 38n. 29e. 46 =allanmyo=, burma. 19n. 95e. 67 =allas strait=, east indies. 9s. 116e. 74 =almora=, united provs. 30n. 80e. 60 =alon=, burma. 22n. 95e. 67 =alor star=, malay pen. 6n. 100e. 68 =alupu cape=, asia minor. 36n. 28e. 46 =alutgama=, ceylon. 7n. 80e. 63 =alwar=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. 59 =alwye river=, madras. 10n. 76e. 63 =amadnagar=, bombay. 24n. 73e. 56 =amaga, river=, siberia. 62n. 134e. 95 =amakusa nada=, japan. 33n. 130e. 89 =amakusashima=, japan. 32n. 130e. 89 =amallapuram=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 =amalner=, bombay. 21n. 75e. 56 =amamioshima=, lu-chu is. 29n. 129e. 89 [*]=amarapura=, burma. 22n. 96e. 67 =amarpur=, nepal. 27n. 87e. 61 [*]=amasia=, asia minor. 41n. 36e. 46 =amathus=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 13 =ambala=, punjab. 30n. 77e. 58 =ambgaon=, central provs. 20n. 80e. 60 =ambir=, rajputana. 27n. 76e. 59 =amblan=, philippine islands. 9n. 123e. 77 =amboina=, east indies. 4s. 128e. 75 =amherst=, burma. 16n. 98e. 67 =amjerah=, central india. 23n. 75e. 56 =ammon=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 [*]=amoy=, china. 24n. 118e. 85 =ampani=, madras. 20n. 83e. 62 =ampenam=, east indies. 8s. 116e. 74 =amraoti=, berar. 21n. 78e. 60 =amreeli=, bombay. 22n. 71e. 56 [*]=amritsar=, punjab. 32n. 75e. 58 [*]=amroha=, united provs. 29n. 78e. 60 =amur=, siberia. 52n. 132e. 95 =amurang=, east indies. 1n. 124e. 75 =amur, gulf of=, siberia. 54n. 142e. 95 =amur, river=, siberia. 53n. 141e. 95 =anadirsk=, siberia. 65n. 168e. 95 =anadyr=, siberia. 67n. 176e. 95 =anadyr, gulf of=, siberia. 64n. 176w. 95 =anadyr, river=, siberia. 65n. 176w. 95 =anah=, turkey in asia. 34n. 42e. 47 =anakara chattram=, madras. 11n. 80e. 63 =anakkangean is.=, e. indies. 7s. 116e. 76 =anamalli mt.=, madras. 10n. 77e. 63 =anamba is.=, east indies. 3n. 106e. 74 =anambar=, baluchistan. 30n. 69e. 58 =anamur cape=, asia minor. 36n. 33e. 46 =anand=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 [*]=anantapur=, madras. 15n. 78e. 62 =anaphi=, asia minor. 36n. 26e. 46 =anatayan=, east indies. 16n. 145e. 75 =anathoth=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =anatolia=, asia minor. 39n. 29e. 46 =anchorite is.=, east indies. 0. 145e. 75 =andidshan=, turkestan. 41n. 72e. 45 =andjar=, bombay. 23n. 70e. 56 =andkhui=, afghanistan. 37n. 65e. 45 =an-dong=, korea. 36n. 128e. 90 =andrene=, turkey in asia. 35n. 37e. 46 [*]=aneysa=, arabia. 26n. 45e. 44 =angara, river=, siberia. 56n. 110e. 94 =ang bay=, indo-china. 18n. 106e. 70 =anger=, java. 6s. 106e. 76 =angirtu nor=, mongolia. 43n. 115e. 83 [*]=angkor=, indo-china. 13n. 104e. 71 [*]=angora=, asia minor. 40n. 33e. 46 =angora, river=, siberia. 56n. 103e. 94 =angul=, bengal. 21n. 85e. 60 =anguli nor=, china. 42n. 115e. 83 [*]=anjengo=, madras. 9n. 77e. 63 =anjer=, east indies. 6s. 106e. 74 =an-ju=, korea. 40n. 126e. 90 =ankkswar=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =ankola=, bombay. 15n. 74e. 57 =ankula=, siberia. 62n. 109e. 94 =an-min-do=, korea. 36n. 126e. 90 =annam=, indo-china. 17n. 107e. 71 =annie florence reef=, e. indies. 5s. 113e. 76 =anopgarh=, rajputana. 29n. 73e. 59 =anor aeng=, burma. 20n. 94e. 67 =an-ping=, formosa. 23n. 120e. 89 =an-shan-chan=, manchuria. 41n. 123e. 90 =anson=, east indies. 13n. 141e. 75 =antakia=, turkey in asia. 36n. 36e. 46 [*]=antioch=, turkey in asia. 36n. 36e. 46 =antipatris=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =anti taurus=, turkey in asia. 39n. 37e. 46 [*]=an-tung=, manchuria. 40n. 125e. 90 =anuradhapura=, ceylon. 8n. 80e. 63 =aomori=, japan. 41n. 141e. 88 =aparri=, philippine islands. 18n. 122e. 77 =aphek=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 =apollonia=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =apo vol=, philippine islands. 7n. 125e. 77 =arab=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =arabi=, turkey in asia. 32n. 45e. 47 =arabkir=, turkey in asia. 39n. 39e. 47 =arad=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =arafura sea=, east indies. 10s. 135e. 75 =arai=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 =arakan hill tracts=, burma. 21n. 93e. 67 =arakan yoma mts.=, burma. 21n. 94e. 67 [*]=arantangi=, madras. 10n. 79e. 63 =ararat, mt.=, turkey in asia. 40n. 44e. 47 =aras river=, persia. 40n. 48e. 47 =aravalli mts.=, rajputana. 26n. 74e. 59 =arconum=, madras. 13n. 80e. 63 [*]=arcot=, madras. 13n. 79e. 63 =ardabil=, persia. 38n. 48e. 47 =ardilan=, persia. 36n. 47 =ardinga=, madras. 16n. 80e. 62 =arends is.=, east indies. 5s. 115e. 76 =argaeus mount=, asia minor. 38n. 35e. 46 =argun, river=, siberia. 53n. 121e. 95 =ariakeno-ura=, japan. 31n. 131e. 89 =arimathea=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =aripo=, ceylon. 9n. 80e. 63 =arjesh=, turkey in asia. 39n. 43e. 47 =armenia=, turkey in asia. 40n. 42e. 47 =aroer=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 [*]=arrah=, bengal. 26n. 85e. 60 =arrank=, siam. 13n. 103e. 71 =arrogant reef=, e. indies. 5s. 113e. 76 =aru island=, east indies. 6s. 135e. 75 =arut, river=, borneo. 3s. 111e. 76 =arwapalli=, haidarabad. 17n. 79e. 62 =asakusa ya=, japan. 37n. 139e. 91 =asama ya=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =ascalon=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =ashan=, inner mongolia. 41n. 108e. 82 [*]=ashdod=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =ashe-ho=, manchuria. 46n. 127e. 90 =asher=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =asheri=, bombay. 20n. 73e. 57 =ashtagram=, mysore. 13n. 76e. 63 =ashtaroth=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =asir=, arabia. 20n. 43e. 44 =aska=, madras. 20n. 85e. 62 =askabad=, turkestan. 37n. 58e. 45 [*]=askelon=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =asoh, bay=, malay pen. 3n. 103e. 69 [*]=assaye=, haidarabad. 20n. 76e. 62 =astara=, persia. 39n. 49e. 47 =astor=, kashmir. 35n. 75e. 58 =astrabad=, persia. 37n. 55e. 45 =astropalia=, asia minor. 36n. 27e. 46 =asuncion=, east indies. 20n. 145e. 75 =atbasarsk=, asiatic russia. 52n. 68e. 94 =atgyn-aila=, mongolia. 43n. 116e. 83 [*]=athni=, bombay. 17n. 75e. 57 =atrek river=, persia. 37n. 54e. 45 =atsuta=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 [*]=attock=, punjab. 34n. 72e. 58 =atto-pen=, indo-china. 15n. 107e. 70 =atur=, madras. 12n. 79e. 63 =auckland, mount=, korea. 33n. 127e. 90 =aurora bk.=, east indies. 5s. 117e. 76 =aurangabad=, haidarabad. 20n. 75e. 62 [*]=aurungabad=, bengal. 26n. 90e. 61 =ausa=, haidarabad. 18n. 76e. 62 =auwuradah=, madras. 18n. 83e. 62 [*]=ava=, burma. 22n. 96e. 67 =ava=, persia. 36n. 49e. 47 =avanashi=, madras. 11n. 77e. 63 =avid river=, east indies. 7s. 144e. 75 =awa=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =awa=, japan. 35n. 140e. 91 =awah=, persia. 35n. 50e. 47 =awaji sa.=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =awoshima island=, japan. 38n. 139e. 88 =ayabe=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 [*]=ayuthia=, siam. 14n. 101e. 71 =azamgurh=, united provs. 26n. 83e. 60 =azekah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =azerbijan=, persia. 38n. 46e. 47 =aziz=, turkey in asia. 38n. 38e. 47 =azotus=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =baal hazor=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =baal-meon=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =ba-an-susu=, manchuria. 46n. 130e. 90 =baba=, east indies. 7s. 130e. 75 =bab-el-mandeb, strait of=, arabia. 13n. 43e. 44 =babelthuap=, east indies. 8n. 135e. 75 =baburgan claro=, philippine is. 20n. 122e. 77 =baburgan is.=, philippine is. 19n. 122e. 77 =babuyanes is.=, east indies. 20n. 121e. 74 [*]=babylon=, turkey in asia. 33n. 45e. 47 =bachian=, east indies. 1s. 126e. 75 =bac-lieu=, indo-china. 9n. 106e. 71 =bacninh=, indo-china. 21n. 106e. 70 =bacolor=, philippine islands. 15n. 121e. 77 =bacolot=, philippine islands. 11n. 123e. 77 =bactrang=, indo-china. 10n. 106e. 71 =badakhshan=, afghanistan. 37n. 70e. 45 =badina=, rajputana. 28n. 74e. 59 =badjistan=, persia. 34n. 59e. 45 =badmur=, central provs. 22n. 78e. 60 [*]=badnera=, berar. 21n. 78e. 60 =badwelu=, madras. 15n. 79e. 62 =bafira=, asia minor. 41n. 36e. 46 =bagan=, sumatra. 2n. 100e. 69 =bagan api api=, sumatra. 2n. 101e. 69 =baganga=, philippine islands. 7n. 127e. 77 =bagh=, baluchistan. 29n. 68e. 59 [*]=baghdad=, turkey in asia. 33n. 44e. 47 =bagu=, rajputana. 27n. 73e. 59 =bahawalpur=, punjab. 29n. 72e. 59 [*]=bahera=, punjab. 33n. 73e. 58 [*]=bahraich=, united provs. 28n. 82e. 60 =bahranghat=, united provs. 27n. 82e. 60 =bahrein island=, arabia. 26n. 51e. 45 =bahr el benat is.=, arabia. 25n. 53e. 45 =baiburt=, turkey in asia. 40n. 40e. 47 =baik peninsula=, east indies. 4s. 133e. 75 =baikal, lake=, siberia. 54n. 108e. 94 =baikal mts.=, siberia. 53n. 108e. 94 =bain-tuchum=, inner mongolia. 41n. 105e. 82 =bairag=, bengal. 27n. 85e. 60 =baithulwaddi=, haidarabad. 20n. 75e. 62 =bakargang=, bengal. 22n. 90e. 61 =bakau mt.=, malay pen. 4n. 103e. 68 =bake, cape=, indo-china. 11n. 108e. 71 =bakhasar=, sind. 25n. 71e. 59 =bakhta river=, siberia. 63n. 89e. 94 =balabac=, philippine islands. 8n. 117e. 77 =balabac is.=, philippine is. 8n. 117e. 77 =balabac strait, n.=, philippine is. 8n. 117e. 77 =balagansk=, siberia. 55n. 103e. 94 =balaghat=, central provs. 22n. 80e. 60 =bala murghab=, afghanistan. 36n. 63e. 45 =balanga=, philippine is. 15n. 120e. 77 =balangiungui=, philippine is. 6n. 122e. 77 =balante=, east indies. 1s. 124e. 75 =balasinur=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 =balasor=, bengal. 22n. 87e. 61 =balayan=, philippine islands. 14n. 121e. 77 =baler=, philippine islands. 16n. 122e. 77 =balfrush=, persia. 36n. 53e. 45 =bali=, east indies. 9s. 115e. 74 =baliari=, sind. 24n. 70e. 59 =balikesri=, asia minor. 40n. 28e. 46 =baling=, malay peninsula. 6n. 101e. 68 =balipara=, assam. 27n. 93e. 67 =balipura=, assam. 27n. 93e. 61 =bali strait=, java. 8s. 114e. 76 =balkash, lake=, as. russia. 46n. 75e. 94 [*]=balkh=, afghanistan. 37n. 67e. 45 =balkondah=, haidarabad. 19n. 78e. 62 =ballia=, united provs. 26n. 84e. 60 =balloah=, bengal. 23n. 91e. 61 =balotra=, rajputana. 26n. 72e. 59 =baltistan=, kashmir. 35n. 76e. 58 =balut=, philippine islands. 5n. 125e. 77 =bam=, persia. 29n. 58e. 45 =bamanwas=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. 59 =bami=, turkestan. 38n. 56e. 45 =bampton reef=, e. indies. 5s. 115e. 76 =bampur=, persia. 27n. 60e. 45 =ban=, malay peninsula. 10n. 99e. 71 =banaganapalli=, madras. 15n. 78e. 62 =banam=, indo-china. 12n. 105e. 71 =banas river=, rajputana. 26n. 77e. 59 =ban-buri=, indo-china. 13n. 103e. 71 =banchar=, java. 7s. 112e. 76 =banda=, n.w. provinces. 26n. 80e. 60 =banda island=, east indies. 5s. 128e. 75 =banda sea=, east indies. 5s. 126e. 75 =bandai san=, japan. 38n. 140e. 91 =bandar=, malay peninsula. 3n. 101e. 69 =bandarawela=, ceylon. 7n. 81e. 63 =bandar maharami=, malay pen. 2n. 103e. 69 [*]=bander abbas=, persia. 27n. 56e. 45 =bandikui=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. 59 =bandon=, malay peninsula. 9n. 100e. 71 =bandon bight=, malay pen. 9n. 77e. 71 =bandra las=, sind. 24n. 70e. 59 =bandung=, java. 7s. 108e. 76 [*]=bangalore=, mysore. 13n. 78e. 63 =bangaya is.=, east indies. 2s. 122e. 74 =bangkalan=, java. 7s. 113e. 76 =bangkalis=, east indies. 2n. 102e. 74 [*]=bangkok=, siam. 14n. 101e. 71 =bang-pa-kong=, siam. 14n. 101e. 71 =bang-pla-soi=, siam. 13n. 101e. 71 =bang-pra=, siam. 13n. 101e. 71 =bangsdara river=, madras. 18n. 84e. 62 =bang-son=, indo-china. 14n. 109e. 71 =bang tapan=, malay pen. 11n. 100e. 71 =banjermassin=, east indies. 4s. 115e. 74 =banjumas=, java. 8s. 109e. 76 =banjuwangi=, java. 8s. 114e. 76 =banka island=, east indies. 3s. 106e. 74 =banki=, bengal. 20n. 86e. 60 =bankot=, bombay. 18n. 73e. 57 =bankura=, bengal. 23n. 87e. 61 =ban-muk=, siam. 16n. 105e. 70 =bannu=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 70e. 58 =ban-pao=, siam. 16n. 100e. 70 =bansda=, bombay. 21n. 73e. 56 [*]=bantam=, java. 6s. 106e. 76 =bantam, cape=, indo-china. 16n. 109e. 70 =banton=, philippine is. 13n. 122e. 77 =bantwal=, madras. 13n. 75e. 63 =banyumas=, east indies. 7s. 109e. 74 =banyuwangi=, east indies. 8s. 114e. 74 =baotsir=, rajputana. 29n. 75e. 59 =bap=, rajputana. 27n. 72e. 59 =bap-nom=, indo-china. 11n. 105e. 71 =baquba=, turkey in asia. 34n. 45e. 47 =baragua point=, burma. 16n. 95e. 67 =barak river=, assam. 25n. 92e. 61 =barakar=, bengal. 24n. 87e. 61 =baran=, rajputana. 25n. 76e. 59 [*]=bardwan=, bengal. 23n. 88e. 61 [*]=bareilly=, united provs. 28n. 79e. 60 =barguzinsk=, siberia. 54n. 110e. 94 =baria=, indo-china. 10n. 107e. 71 =bari doab canal=, punjab. 31n. 74e. 58 =barin=, mongolia. 43n. 118e. 83 =barisal=, bengal. 23n. 90e. 61 =barito river=, east indies. 2s. 115e. 74 =barkur=, madras. 14n. 75e. 63 =barmer=, rajputana. 26n. 71e. 59 =barnaul=, siberia. 54n. 83e. 94 [*]=baroda=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =barongan=, philippine is. 12n. 125e. 77 [*]=barrackpur=, bengal. 23n. 88e. 61 =barren island=, korea. 35n. 126e. 90 =barsi=, bombay. 18n. 76e. 57 =bartan=, asia minor. 42n. 32e. 46 =barung island=, java. 8s. 113e. 76 [*]=barwani=, central india. 22n. 75e. 56 =bashi channel=, east indies. 21n. 123e. 74 =bashi island=, east indies. 20n. 121e. 74 =basilan=, philippine islands. 6n. 122e. 77 =basilan is.=, philippine is. 6n. 122e. 77 =basilan str.=, philippine is. 6n. 122e. 77 =basim=, berar. 20n. 77e. 57 =bassak=, indo-china. 15n. 106e. 71 [*]=bassein=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 =bassein=, burma. 17n. 95e. 67 =bassein river=, burma. 16n. 94e. 67 =basses, great=, ceylon. 6n. 81e. 63 =basses, little=, ceylon. 6n. 82e. 63 =bassia=, bengal. 23n. 85e. 60 =basta=, turkey in asia. 31n. 48e. 47 =bastar=, central provs. 19n. 81e. 60 =basti=, united provinces. 27n. 83e. 60 =bastion, cape=, china. 18n. 110e. 84 =batag=, philippine islands. 13n. 125e. 77 [*]=batala=, punjab. 32n. 75e. 58 =batam is.=, str. of singapore. 1n. 104e. 69 =batangan, cape=, indo-china. 15n. 109e. 70 =batangas=, philippine is. 14n. 121e. 77 [*]=batavia=, java. 6s. 107e. 76 =bathinda=, punjab. 30n. 75e. 58 =batil mt.=, malay peninsula. 5n. 103e. 68 =battambang=, indo-china. 13n. 103e. 71 =batticalva=, ceylon. 8n. 82e. 63 =batu=, east indies. 4n. 96e. 74 =batu bar=, malay pen. 3n. 103e. 69 =batu island=, east indies. 0. 98e. 74 =batu pahat=, malay pen. 2n. 103e. 69 =batur, mount=, bali. 8s. 116e. 76 =baun river=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. 59 =bawean is.=, east indies. 6s. 113e. 76 =bay lake=, philippine is. 14n. 121e. 77 =bayan aulsk=, as. russia. 51n. 76e. 94 =bayan-mu=, manchuria. 46n. 128e. 90 =bayan-su-su=, manchuria. 46n. 127e. 90 =bayard, fort=, china. 21n. 110e. 84 =bayas=, turkey in asia. 37n. 36e. 46 [*]=bayazid=, turkey in asia. 39n. 44e. 47 =bear island=, siberia. 71n. 164e. 95 =beawar=, rajputana. 26n. 74e. 59 =beayan=, philippine islands. 7n. 124e. 77 =beeroth=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 [*]=beer-sheba=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =begum=, rajputana. 25n. 75e. 59 [*]=behar=, bengal. 25n. 86e. 60 =behesni=, turkey in asia. 38n. 38e. 47 =bei d.=, asia minor. 36n. 31e. 46 =beibasar=, asia minor. 40n. 32e. 46 =beishehr=, asia minor. 38n. 32e. 46 =beitarki river=, bengal. 21n. 87e. 61 =beji river=, baluchistan. 30n. 68e. 58 =bekal=, madras. 12n. 75e. 63 =bekok=, malay peninsula. 2n. 103e. 69 [*]=bela=, baluchistan. 26n. 66e. 45 [*]=belgaum=, bombay. 16n. 75e. 57 [*]=bellary=, madras. 15n. 77e. 62 =belloor=, mysore. 13n. 77e. 63 [*]=benares=, n.w. provinces. 25n. 83e. 60 =bendamurlanka=, madras. 16n. 82e. 62 =bengal, bay of=, bengal. 18n. 90e. 67 [*]=bencoolen=, east indies. 4s. 102e. 74 =bengawanior=, java. 7s. 112e. 76 =bengkalis=, malacca strait. 2n. 102e. 69 =beni=, rajputana. 29n. 75e. 59 =bennet land=, siberia. 76n. 148e. 95 =bentinck island=, burma. 12n. 98e. 71 =bentong river=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =bera river=, malay peninsula. 3n. 102e. 69 =berba river=, malay pen. 3n. 103e. 69 =berembun=, malay peninsula. 3n. 103e. 69 [*]=berezov=, siberia. 64n. 65e. 94 [*]=berghama=, asia minor. 39n. 27e. 46 [*]=berhampur=, madras. 19n. 85e. 62 =bering strait=, siberia. 68n. 172w. 95 =berlin harbour=, east indies. 3s. 142e. 75 =bernam river=, malay pen. 4n. 101e. 69 =beru=, rajputana. 27n. 72e. 59 =besar=, bawean. 6s. 113e. 76 =besar mt.=, malay peninsula. 5n. 101e. 68 =besuki=, java. 8s. 114e. 76 =besut, river=, malay pen. 6n. 103e. 68 =bethabara=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 [*]=bethany=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =beth-arbel=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =beth dagon=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 [*]=bethel=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =beth haran=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 [*]=beth-horon=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =beth jeshimoth=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 [*]=bethlehem=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 [*]=bethlehem=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =beth-nimrah=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =bethsaida=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =bethshan=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =beth shemesh=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =beth tappuah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =bethzur=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =betowa r.=, central india. 26n. 80e. 60 =bettia=, bengal. 27n. 84e. 60 =betul=, central provinces. 22n. 78e. 60 =beypoor river=, madras. 11n. 76e. 63 =beypur=, madras. 11n. 76e. 63 =beyt=, bombay. 22n. 69e. 56 =bezek=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =bezwada=, madras. 16n. 81e. 62 =bhadar=, bombay. 22n. 70e. 56 =bhadarwa=, kashmir. 33n. 76e. 58 =bhadrachalam=, madras. 18n. 81e. 62 [*]=bhagalpur=, bengal. 25n. 87e. 61 =bhakar=, punjab. 32n. 71e. 58 =bhamo=, burma. 24n. 97e. 67 =bhandara=, central provs. 21n. 80e. 60 [*]=bhartpur=, rajputana. 27n. 78e. 59 [*]=bhatner=, punjab. 30n. 74e. 58 =bhawalgarh=, punjab. 30n. 73e. 58 =bhawani river=, madras. 12n. 78e. 63 [*]=bhilsa=, rajputana. 24n. 78e. 60 =bhima river=, haidarabad. 16n. 77e. 62 =bhind river=, united provs. 26n. 79e. 60 =bhir=, haidarabad. 19n. 76e. 62 =bhiwani=, punjab. 29n. 76e. 59 =bhopal=, central india. 23n. 78e. 60 =bhor=, bombay. 18n. 74e. 57 =bhor ghat=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 [*]=bhuj=, bombay. 23n. 70e. 56 =bhusawal=, bombay. 21n. 76e. 56 =biak=, east indies. 1s. 136e. 75 =bias= bay, china. 22n. 115e. 85 =bias river=, punjab. 31n. 75e. 58 =bichiu=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 [*]=bidar=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. 62 =bien ho=, indo-china. 13n. 104e. 71 =bien-hoa=, indo-china. 11n. 107e. 71 =bien-son is.=, indo-china. 19n. 106e. 70 =bigha=, asia minor. 40n. 27e. 46 =bihac=, punjab. 30n. 74e. 58 [*]=bijapur=, bombay. 17n. 76e. 57 =bijapur=, nepal. 27n. 88e. 61 =bijnaur=, united provs. 29n. 78e. 60 =bijowar=, central india. 24n. 79e. 60 =bikampur=, rajputana. 28n. 72e. 59 =bikaner=, rajputana. 28n. 73e. 59 =bikna thori=, united provs. 28n. 84e. 60 =bila river=, sumatra. 2n. 100e. 69 =bilaspur=, central provs. 22n. 82e. 60 =bilgi=, bombay. 14n. 75e. 57 =bilin=, burma. 17n. 97e. 67 =billiton=, east indies. 3s. 107e. 74 =bimi=, east indies. 8s. 119e. 74 [*]=bimlipatam=, madras. 18n. 83e. 62 =bingat=, east indies. 1s. 102e. 74 =bingo=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =bingol dagh=, turkey in asia. 39n. 42e. 47 =binh-dinh=, indo-china. 14n. 109e. 71 =binh thuan=, indo-china. 11n. 109e. 71 =bintula=, east indies. 3n. 113e. 74 =bink-kang bay=, indo-china. 12n. 109e. 71 =bintang is.=, str. of singapore. 1n. 104e. 69 =bird island=, east indies. 16n. 145e. 75 =birejik=, turkey in asia. 37n. 38e. 47 =birjand=, persia. 33n. 59e. 45 =birsilpur=, rajputana. 28n. 72e. 59 =biru=, japan. 42n. 143e. 88 =birur=, mysore. 14n. 76e. 63 =birwi=, rajputana. 28n. 74e. 59 =bisa=, burma. 27n. 96e. 67 =bisalnagar=, bombay. 24n. 73e. 56 =bishnapur=, bengal. 23n. 87e. 61 =bislig=, philippine islands. 8n. 126e. 77 =bismarck archipelago=, east indies. 3s. 148e. 75 [*]=bitlis=, turkey in asia. 37n. 42e. 47 =bitul river=, malay peninsula. 3n. 102e. 69 =biwa ko=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =bizen=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =black mts.=, n.w. frontier provs. 35n. 73e. 58 =black river=, indo-china. 21n. 105e. 70 =black sea.= 43n. 31e. 46 =blagovehansk=, siberia. 50n. 127e. 95 =blambangan pen.=, java. 9s. 114e. 76 =blimbing mountains, malay pen.= 5n. 102e. 68 =blitar=, java. 8s. 112e. 76 =blonde island=, manchuria. 39n. 123e. 90 =blora=, java. 7s. 111e. 76 =blue mountains=, assam. 23n. 93e. 67 =bluff point=, burma. 18n. 94e. 67 =blumut, great=, malay pen. 2n. 104e. 69 =boa-lam=, china. 22n. 107e. 84 =boath=, haidarabad. 19n. 78e. 62 =bod=, bengal. 21n. 84e. 60 [*]=bodinayakkanur=, madras. 10n. 77e. 63 =bodune=, manchuria. 45n. 125e. 90 =boelang besar=, malacca str. 1n. 104e. 69 =bogeador c.=, philippine is. 18n. 121e. 77 =bogra=, bengal. 25n. 89e. 61 =boguchansk=, siberia. 58n. 98e. 94 =bohol=, philippine islands. 10n. 124e. 77 =bokan=, afghanistan. 34n. 68e. 58 [*]=bokhara=, bokhara. 40n. 65e. 45 =bokie=, burma. 22n. 93e. 67 =bojeador c.=, east indies. 19n. 120e. 74 =bolan junction=, baluchistan. 30n. 68e. 58 =bolan pass=, baluchistan. 30n. 67e. 58 =bolio=, east indies. 6s. 124e. 75 =boloven=, indo-china. 15n. 107e. 70 =bolsheretsk=, siberia. 53n. 157e. 95 =boly=, asia minor. 41n. 31e. 46 [*]=bombay=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 =bo-mu=, inner mongolia. 39n. 107e. 82 =bongon=, east indies. 7n. 116e. 74 =boni=, east indies. 5s. 120e. 74 =bontaeng=, east indies. 6s. 120e. 74 =bookit duri=, malay pen. 3n. 103e. 69 =bookit sablah=, malay pen. 6n. 101e. 68 =bookit serudom=, malay pen. 4n. 103e. 69 =bookit tung=, malay pen. 7n. 101e. 68 =boompjes is.=, east indies. 6s. 108e. 76 =boreyda=, arabia. 27n. 45e. 44 =borikan=, indo-china. 19n. 104e. 70 =borneo=, east indies. 0. 113e. 74 =borneo, british n.=, e. indies. 6n. 116e. 74 =borobalgassun=, inner mongolia. 38n. 108e. 82 =borzon=, inner mongolia. 43n. 105e. 82 =bostan=, baluchistan. 30n. 67e. 58 =boudrouet rock=, formosa. 24n. 123e. 89 =boulgourlou=, asia minor. 37n. 35e. 46 =bowringpet=, mysore. 13n. 78e. 63 =brahmaputra r.=, bengal. 24n. 90e. 61 =brindaban=, united provs. 28n. 78e. 59 [*]=broach=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =brosot=, java. 8s. 110e. 76 =brothers is.=, the, malacca strait. 3n. 100e. 69 =broughton bay=, korea. 39n. 128e. 90 =broughton strait=, japan. 35n. 129e. 89 =brouwer strait=, sumatra. 1n. 102e. 69 =bruit=, east indies. 3s. 111e. 74 =brunei=, east indies. 5n. 115e. 74 [*]=brusa=, turkey in asia. 40n. 29e. 46 =bua sum=, siam. 15n. 101e. 70 =bubbaie r.=, united provs. 28n. 81e. 60 =bubdar=, asia minor. 38n. 30e. 46 =bubian island=, persian gulf. 30n. 48e. 44 =bucas=, philippine islands. 10n. 126e. 77 =budihaul=, mysore. 14n. 76e. 63 =budra river=, mysore. 14n. 76e. 63 [*]=budrum=, asia minor. 37n. 27e. 46 =budulla=, ceylon. 7n. 81e. 63 =bugti country=, baluchistan. 29n. 69e. 59 =buitenzorg=, java. 7s. 107e. 76 =bukit batu=, sumatra. 1n. 102e. 69 =bulacan=, philippine islands. 15n. 121e. 77 =bulangan=, east indies. 3n. 117e. 74 =bulawadin=, asia minor. 39n. 31e. 46 =buldana=, berar. 20n. 76e. 60 =buleleng=, east indies. 8s. 115e. 74 =bulghar dagh=, asia minor. 37n. 34e. 46 =bulsar=, bombay. 21n. 73e. 56 =buluan lake=, mindanao, philippine is. 6n. 125e. 77 =bulun=, siberia. 70n. 126e. 95 =bu-mu-ba lake=, china. 42n. 113e. 82 =bunarbashi=, asia minor. 40n. 26e. 46 =bunauan=, mindanao, philippine is. 8n. 126e. 77 =bundelcund=, central india. 25n. 79e. 60 =bundi=, rajputana. 25n. 75e. 59 =bungo strait=, japan. 33n. 132e. 89 =buni=, bombay. 24n. 70e. 56 =bunji=, kashmir. 35n. 75e. 58 =bunli=, rajputana. 26n. 76e. 59 =burghi=, bombay. 17n. 76e. 57 =burgusto-ula=, inner mongolia. 40n. 105e. 82 [*]=burhanpur, central provinces.= 21n. 76e. 56 =burhi=, bengal. 24n. 85e. 60 =burias=, philippine islands. 13n. 123e. 77 =burka=, arabia. 24n. 58e. 45 =bursi=, kashmir. 35n. 78e. 58 =buru=, east indies. 4s. 126e. 75 =buru cape=, east indies. 2n. 103e. 74 =burujird=, persia. 34n. 49e. 47 =burwahnugur=, bengal. 23n. 84e. 60 =burwalla=, bombay. 22n. 72e. 56 =busk=, siberia. 53n. 85e. 94 =busuanga=, philippine is. 12n. 120e. 77 =buton island=, east indies. 7n. 99e. 75 =butuan=, philippine islands. 9n. 126e. 77 =butulan vol=., philippine is. 6n. 126e. 77 =caboosa island=, burma. 13n. 98e. 71 =cabul=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =cabuly pt.=, philippine is. 12n. 119e. 77 [*]=cæsarea=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =cæsarea philippi=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =cagayan r.=, philippine is. 8n. 125e. 77 =cagayanes is.=, philippine is. 9n. 122e. 77 =cagua vol.=, philippine is. 18n. 122e. 77 =calaguas is.=, philippine is. 15n. 123e. 77 =calamian=, philippine is. 12n. 120e. 77 =calamianes=, philippine is. 12n. 120e. 77 =calar river=, bombay. 20n. 75e. 57 =calayan=, philippine is. 19n. 122e. 77 =calbayog=, philippine is. 12n. 125e. 77 [*]=calcutta=, bengal. 23n. 88e. 61 [*]=calicut=, madras. 11n. 76e. 63 =calimere point=, madras. 10n. 80e. 63 =calingapatam=, madras. 18n. 84e. 62 =callianee=, haidarabad. 18n. 77e. 62 =calpi=, united provinces. 26n. 80e. 60 =camao cape=, indo-china. 9n. 105e. 71 =camarines=, philippine is. 13n. 123e. 77 =ca-mau=, indo-china. 9n. 105e. 71 [*]=cambay=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =cambay, gulf of=, bombay. 21n. 72e. 56 =cambodia=, indo-china. 12n. 105e. 71 =cam-hoa=, indo-china. 22n. 106e. 70 =camiguin=, philippine is. 19n. 122e. 77 =camotes is.=, philippine is. 11n. 124e. 77 =campbellpur=, punjab. 34n. 72e. 58 =camranh har.=, indo-china. 12n. 109e. 71 [*]=cana=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 13 =candavi=, bombay. 21n. 73e. 56 =candaya is.=, philippine is. 15n. 121e. 77 [*]=cannanore=, madras. 12n. 75e. 63 =canning town=, bengal. 22n. 89e. 61 =cantho=, indo-china. 10n. 106e. 71 [*]=canton=, china. 23n. 113e. 85 =canton river=, china. 22n. 114e. 85 =cao-bang=, indo-china. 22n. 106e. 70 =cao-sorol=, indo-china. 18n. 106e. 70 [*]=capernaum=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =capitolias=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =capiz=, philippine islands. 11n. 122e. 77 =caraga=, philippine islands. 7n. 127e. 77 =cardamum mts.=, madras. 10n. 77e. 63 =carmel=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 [*]=carmel, mount=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =caroline is.=, east indies. 9n. 140e. 75 =carteret reef=, east indies. 3n. 135e. 75 =castries bay=, siberia. 52n. 141e. 95 =catanduanes=, philippine is. 14n. 124e. 77 =catbalongan=, philippine is. 12n. 125e. 77 =catel viejo= (s. nicolas), philippine is. 8n. 127e. 77 =cauli river=, bombay. 15n. 74e. 57 =cauvery river=, madras. 11n. 80e. 63 =cavite=, philippine islands. 15n. 121e. 77 [*]=cawnpur=, united provs. 26n. 80e. 60 =cayan=, philippine islands. 17n. 121e. 77 =celebes=, east indies. 4s. 121e. 74 =celebes sea=, east indies. 4n. 120e. 74 =ceram=, east indies. 4s. 130e. 75 =chahar=, china. 42n. 114e. 83 =chaiapun=, siam. 16n. 102e. 70 =chaibassa=, bengal. 22n. 86e. 60 =chainat=, siam. 15n. 100e. 70 =chaiya=, malay peninsula. 9n. 99e. 71 =chakar river=, baluchistan. 30n. 68e. 58 =chakdara=, n.w. frontier provs. 35n. 72e. 58 =chakesar=, n.w. frontier provs. 35n. 73e. 58 =chakwal=, punjab. 33n. 73e. 58 =cha-ling=, china. 27n. 114e. 85 =chalo=, mongolia. 44n. 120e. 83 =chamar=, kashmir. 33n. 78e. 58 =chamba=, punjab. 33n. 76e. 58 =chamlung=, kashmir. 35n. 78e. 58 =chana=, malay peninsula. 7n. 101e. 68 =chanagur=, central provs. 19n. 80e. 60 [*]=chanar=, bengal. 25n. 83e. 60 =chance island=, malay pen. 9n. 98e. 71 =chanda=, central provs. 20n. 79e. 60 [*]=chandaur=, bombay. 20n. 74e. 56 =chandaur chain=, bombay. 20n. 75e. 56 =chandausi=, united provs. 29n. 79e. 60 [*]=chandernagore=, bengal. 23n. 88e. 61 =chandode=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =chandpur=, bengal. 23n. 91e. 61 =chandra river=, kashmir. 33n. 75e. 58 =chang-chau=, china. 32n. 120e. 85 =chang-chau=, china. 24n. 118e. 85 =chang-chun=, manchuria. 44n. 125e. 90 =chang-chwen is.=, china. 21n. 113e. 85 =chang-hs-tao=, china. 40n. 121e. 83 =chang-hwa=, china. 19n. 109e. 84 =chang-i=, china. 37n. 120e. 83 =chang-jin=, korea. 41n. 127e. 90 =chang-kia-kau=, china. 41n. 115e. 83 =chang-kwan-tsai=, manchuria. 45n. 129e. 90 =chang-le=, china. 30n. 111e. 84 =chang-lo=, china. 24n. 116e. 85 =chang-lo=, china. 26n. 120e. 85 =chang-ning=, china. 25n. 116e. 85 =chang-pai-shan=, manchuria. 42n. 127e. 90 =chang-ping=, china. 26n. 118e. 85 =chang-ping=, china. 40n. 116e. 83 =chang-pu=, china. 24n. 118e. 85 =chang-sha=, china. 23n. 115e. 85 =chang-sha=, china. 28n. 113e. 85 =chang-shan-tao=, china. 38n. 121e. 83 =chang-te=, china. 29n. 111e. 84 =chang-te=, china. 36n. 114e. 83 =chang-tsing=, china. 36n. 117e. 83 =chang-tu=, manchuria. 43n. 124e. 90 =chang-yang=, china. 30n. 111e. 84 =chaniot=, punjab. 32n. 73e. 58 =chan-sha=, china. 32n. 121e. 83 =chantabun=, siam. 13n. 102e. 71 =chantakam=, siam. 14n. 102e. 71 =chao=, china. 38n. 115e. 83 =chao-chau=, china. 24n. 117e. 85 =chao-king=, china. 23n. 112e. 84 =chao-lien-tao=, china. 36n. 121e. 83 =chao-yang=, china. 23n. 117e. 85 =chao-yang=, china. 42n. 120e. 83 =chapel island=, china. 24n. 118e. 85 =chapra=, bengal. 26n. 84e. 60 =charjui=, turkestan. 39n. 63e. 45 =charles louis mts.=, e. indies. 4s. 136e. 75 =charuk su=, turkey in asia. 41n. 40e. 47 =chatarpur=, central india. 25n. 80e. 60 =chatrapur=, madras. 19n. 85e. 62 =chattisgarh=, central provs. 21n. 83e. 60 =chaturat=, siam. 16n. 102e. 70 =chau-dok=, indo-china. 11n. 105e. 71 =chau-hu=, china. 32n. 117e. 85 =chaukan point=, burma. 27n. 97e. 67 =chau-tung=, china. 27n. 104e. 84 =che-cheng=, china. 34n. 116e. 83 =cheduba=, burma. 19n. 94e. 67 =cheduba island=, burma. 19n. 94e. 67 =che-ju=, korea. 34n. 126e. 90 =che-kiang=, china. 29n. 120e. 85 =chek-jem island=, korea. 37n. 126e. 90 =chel-la, north=, korea. 36n. 127e. 90 =chel-la, south=, korea. 35n. 126e. 90 =chelong=, indo-china. 12n. 106e. 71 =chelyuskin cape=, siberia. 77n. 102e. 94 [*]=chemulpo=, korea. 37n. 127e. 90 =chenab river=, punjab. 29n. 71e. 59 =chen-chau=, china. 28n. 110e. 84 =chen-chau=, china. 34n. 115e. 83 =chendras=, malay peninsula. 2n. 102e. 69 =chen-feng=, china. 25n. 106e. 84 =cheng=, china. 35n. 114e. 83 [*]=chengalput=, madras. 13n. 80e. 63 =cheng-ju=, korea. 37n. 127e. 90 =cheng-ju=, korea. 40n. 125e. 90 =cheng-kau=, china. 32n. 109e. 84 =cheng-ngan=, china. 28n. 107e. 84 =cheng-pu=, china. 26n. 110e. 84 =cheng-shan=, china. 38n. 123e. 83 =cheng-te=, china. 41n. 118e. 83 =cheng-ting=, china. 38n. 115e. 83 =cheng-tu=, china. 31n. 104e. 84 =chen-hiung=, china. 27n. 105e. 84 =chen-hsi=, china. 28n. 110e. 84 =chen-ju=, korea. 36n. 127e. 90 =chen-kiang=, china. 32n. 119e. 83 =chen-ngan=, china. 23n. 106e. 84 =chen-ping=, china. 25n. 116e. 85 =chen-yiien=, china. 27n. 108e. 84 =chen-yiien=, china. 36n. 107e. 82 =chepon=, indo-china. 17n. 106e. 70 =cheribon=, java. 7s. 109e. 76 =cherrapunji=, assam. 25n. 92e. 61 =che-yang-pau=, china. 27n. 120e. 85 =chhang-seng=, korea. 40n. 125e. 90 =chhindwara=, central provs. 22n. 79e. 60 =chho-san=, korea. 41n. 126e. 90 =chhota udepur=, bombay. 22n. 74e. 56 =chhun-chhen=, korea. 38n. 128e. 90 =chhung=, korea. 37n. 128e. 90 =chhung-chheng, e.=, korea. 36n. 127e. 90 =chhung-chheng, w.=, korea. 36n. 126e. 90 =chiamis=, java. 7s. 108e. 76 =chiba=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =chiburi=, japan. 36n. 133e. 91 =chicacole=, madras. 18n. 84e. 62 =chichalengha=, java. 7s. 108e. 76 =chi-chau=, china. 31n. 117e. 85 =chichawatu=, punjab. 30n. 73e. 58 =chi-cheng=, china. 41n. 116e. 83 =chidzu=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =chieng-hai=, siam. 20n. 100e. 70 =chieng kong=, siam. 20n. 100e. 70 =chieng mai=, siam. 19n. 99e. 70 =chieng saan=, siam. 20n. 100e. 70 =chi-feng=, china. 42n. 118e. 83 [*]=chi-fu=, china. 38n. 122e. 83 =chigar sarai=, afghanistan. 35n. 71e. 58 =chijulang=, java. 8s. 108e. 76 =chi-kau=, china. 39n. 118e. 83 =chik-ching=, china. 22n. 110e. 84 =chikmagalur=, mysore. 13n. 76e. 63 =chilachap=, java. 8s. 109e. 76 =chilas=, kashmir. 35n. 74e. 58 =chilaw=, ceylon. 8n. 80e. 63 =chi-li=, china. 40n. 117e. 83 =chi-li, gulf of=. 39n. 119e. 83 =chi-li, strait of=. 38n. 121e. 83 =chilka lake=, bengal. 20n. 85e. 60 [*]=chillianwallah=, punjab. 33n. 74e. 58 =chi-lung=, china. 23n. 115e. 85 =chimishgadsek=, turkey in asia. 39n. 39e. 47 =chin hills state=, burma. 23n. 94e. 67 =china bakier river=, burma. 16n. 96e. 67 =china sea, s.=, indo-china. 9n. 108e. 71 =chin-do=, korea. 35n. 126e. 90 =chindwin river=, burma. 22n. 95e. 67 =chindwin shan states=, burma. 26n. 96e. 67 =chin-hai=, china. 30n. 121e. 85 =chini=, punjab. 32n. 78e. 58 =chin-ju=, korea. 35n. 128e. 90 =chinnampo=, korea. 39n. 125e. 90 =chinnereth, sea of=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 =chinur=, haidarabad. 19n. 80e. 62 =chiokai-san=, japan. 39n. 140e. 88 =chiremai=, java. 7s. 108e. 76 =chisloth tabor=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =chitaldrug=, mysore. 14n. 76e. 63 =chitor=, rajputana. 25n. 75e. 59 =chitral=, n.w. frontier provs. 36n. 72e. 58 =chitral r.=, n.w. frontier provs. 36n. 72e. 58 [*]=chittagong=, burma. 22n. 92e. 61 =chittapet=, madras. 12n. 79e. 63 =chittur=, madras. 11n. 77e. 63 =chittur=, madras. 13n. 79e. 63 =chivril=, asia minor. 38n. 30e. 46 =choatilloh=, sind. 26n. 69e. 59 =cho-bo=, indo-china. 21n. 105e. 70 =chobr=, china. 41n. 113e. 82 =cho-chau=, china. 40n. 116e. 83 =cho-don=, indo-china. 18n. 107e. 70 =cholar=, indo-china. 10n. 107e. 71 =chon-kan=, indo-china. 14n. 104e. 71 =chorazin=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =choreshiri island=, japan. 44n. 141e. 88 =choshi=, japan. 36n. 141e. 91 =choshjal=, china. 42n. 114e. 83 =chotiali=, baluchistan. 30n. 69e. 58 =chotun=, rajputana. 26n. 71e. 59 =chou-tsun=, china. 37n. 118e. 83 =chu=, china. 32n. 118e. 83 =chu-chau=, china. 28n. 120e. 85 =chu-cheng=, china. 36n. 120e. 83 =chukairei mt.=, formosa. 24n. 121e. 89 =chu-ki=, china. 30n. 120e. 85 =chumay bay=, indo-china. 16n. 108e. 70 =chung=, china. 30n. 108e. 84 =chung-chang=, china. 37n. 104e. 82 =chung-kia-kau=, china. 37n. 116e. 83 =chung-king=, china. 29n. 106e. 84 =chung-ming=, china. 32n. 121e. 85 =chung-pa=, china. 32n. 105e. 84 =chung-wei=, china. 37n. 105e. 82 =chu-san=, china. 30n. 122e. 85 =chu-shan=, china. 32n. 110e. 82 =chu-tze-chieh=, manchuria. 43n. 129e. 90 =cilicia=, asia minor. 36n. 34e. 46 =clara island=, burma. 11n. 98e. 71 =cleopatra's needle=, philippine is. 10n. 119e. 77 =clifford island=, korea. 37n. 126e. 90 =cocanada=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 [*]=cochin=, madras. 10n. 76e. 63 =cochin china=, indo-china. 11n. 106e. 71 =codoor=, madras. 14n. 79e. 63 =coguiga=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 [*]=coimbatore=, madras, 11n. 77e. 63 =colleroon river=, madras, 11n. 80e. 63 =colnett strait=, japan. 30n. 130e. 89 [*]=colombo=, ceylon. 7n. 80e. 63 =combermere bay=, burma. 20n. 94e. 67 =comillah=, bengal. 23n. 91e. 61 =comorin, cape=, madras. 8n. 77e. 63 =concepcion=, philippine is. 11n. 123e. 77 =congun=, persia. 29n. 52e. 45 [*]=conjeveram=, madras. 13n. 80e. 63 =constantinovsk=, siberia. 49n. 140e. 95 =cook channel=, philippine is. 10n. 120e. 77 =coonoor=, madras, 11n. 77e. 63 =cord del norte=, philippine is. 18n. 122e. 77 =coromandel coast=, madras. 13n. 80e. 63 =coronado pt.=, philippine is. 8n. 122e. 77 =coronge island=, burma. 17n. 94e. 67 =cotabato=, east indies. 7n. 124e. 75 =cotta bato=, philippine is. 7n. 124e. 77 =craig island=, china. 25n. 122e. 89 =cuddalore=, madras. 12n. 80e. 63 =cumbum=, madras. 16n. 79e. 62 =cundapur=, madras. 14n. 75e. 63 =cuntuda=, arabia. 19n. 41e. 44 =current island=, east indies. 5n. 132e. 75 =cutch=, bombay. 23n. 70e. 56 =cutch, runn of=, bombay. 24n. 71e. 56 =cuttack=, bengal. 21n. 86e. 60 =cuttack mehal=, bengal. 21n. 85e. 60 =cuttani river=, mysore. 12n. 77e. 63 =cuyos is.=, philippine is. 11n. 121e. 77 =cyclops mts.=, east indies. 3s. 140e. 75 =dabbasheth=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =daberath=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =dabhai=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =dabla=, rajputana. 26n. 75e. 59 =dabsatu=, mongolia. 44n. 120e. 83 =dacca=, bengal. 24n. 90e. 61 =dahan=, siam. 16n. 105e. 70 =dahira=, arabia. 24n. 56e. 45 =dahna=, arabia. 25n. 48e. 44 =dahna=, arabia. 21n. 50e. 44, 45 =dairen=, china. 39n. 122e. 83 =dairen=, manchuria. 39n. 122e. 90 =daishoji=, japan. 36n. 136e. 91 =daiwurconda=, haidarabad. 17n. 79e. 62 =dakar=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 =dakka=, afghanistan. 34n. 71e. 58 =daksam=, bengal. 23n. 91e. 61 =dalai nor=, mongolia. 43n. 117e. 83 =dalhousie=, burma. 16n. 94e. 67 =dalhousie=, punjab. 32n. 76e. 58 =daltonganj=, bengal. 24n. 84e. 60 =dalupiri=, philippine is. 19n. 121e. 77 [*]=daman=, bombay. 20n. 73e. 56 =daman-i-kuh=, turkestan. 38n. 57e. 45 =damar=, arabia. 15n. 44 [*]=damascus=, palestine. 34n. 36e. 12 =dambulla=, ceylon. 8n. 81e. 63 =dammer=, east indies. 6s. 128e. 75 =damoh=, central provs. 24n. 80e. 60 =dampier island=, east indies. 5s. 146e. 75 =dampier strait=, east indies. 1s. 130e. 75 =dan=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =danu=, bombay. 20n. 73e. 57 =d'anville gulf=, siberia. 43n. 131e. 95 =dapean=, indo-china. 21n. 106e. 70 =dapitan=, philippine is. 8n. 123e. 77 =dapsang mount=, kashmir. 35n. 77e. 58 =dapuli=, bombay. 18n. 73e. 57 =darak=, persia. 32n. 58e. 45 =darbah=, punjab. 29n. 75e. 59 =darbhangah=, bengal. 26n. 86e. 61 =dardanelles=, asia minor. 40n. 26e. 46 =dare-bhyn river=, burma. 16n. 95e. 67 =dargai=, n.w. frontier provs. 34n. 72e. 58 =dargai peak=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 71e. 58 =darjiling=, bengal. 27n. 89e. 61 =darrang=, assam. 86n. 92e. 61 =darvel bay=, east indies. 5n. 118e. 74 =dasa=, turkey in asia. 34n. 42e. 47 =dasuruan=, java. 8s. 113e. 76 =data=, burma. 16n. 95e. 67 =data mt.=, philippine is. 17n. 122e. 77 =datrapur=, bengal. 26n. 90e. 61 =dattiah=, central india. 26n. 78e. 60 =daude=, east indies. 9s. 142e. 75 [*]=daulatabad=, haidarabad. 20n. 75e. 62 =daulatpur=, sind. 26s. 68e. 59 =davao=, philippine island. 7n. 126e. 77 =davao bay=, philippine is. 6n. 126e. 77 =davilacan=, east indies. 17n. 122e. 74 =davis island=, burma. 10n. 98e. 71 =dawunakonda=, madras. 16n. 78e. 62 =dayang bunting=, malacca str. 6n. 100e. 68 =dazan bandida=, mongolia. 44n. 116e. 83 =dazol bay=, philippine is. 16n. 120e. 77 [*]=dead sea=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 13 =debar lake=, rajputana. 24n. 74e. 59 =debari=, rajputana. 25n. 74e. 59 =debir=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =dedicas vol.=, philippine is. 19n. 122e. 77 =deeg=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. 59 =degode=, rajputana. 25n. 75e. 59 =dehra=, united provs. 30n. 78e. 58 =deir=, turkey in asia. 35n. 40e. 47 =delhi=, east indies. 8s. 126e. 75 [*]=delhi=, punjab. 29n. 77e. 59 =deli=, east indies. 4n. 99e. 74 =delidge irmak r.=, asia minor. 39n. 35e. 46 =demavend=, persia. 35n. 52e. 45 =demavend mount=, persia. 36n. 52e. 45 =dengiz, lake=, as. russia. 53n. 73e. 94 =denisli=, asia minor. 38n. 29e. 46 =d'entrecasteaux is.=, east indies. 10s. 150e. 75 [*]=deogarh=, central provs. 22n. 79e. 60 =deogurh=, bengal. 25n. 87e. 61 =deogurh=, bombay. 16n. 73e. 57 =deoniagarh=, nepal. 28n. 84e. 60 =dera bugti=, baluchistan. 29n. 69e. 59 =dera futti khan=, punjab. 31n. 71e. 58 =dera ghazi khan=, punjab. 30n. 71e. 58 =dera ishmail khan=, n.w. frontier provs. 32n. 71e. 58 =derajat=, punjab. 31n. 71e. 58 =desht river=, persia. 25n. 62e. 45 =dhalkot=, kashmir. 34n. 74e. 58 =dhamtari=, central provs. 21n. 81e. 60 [*]=dhar=, central india. 23n. 75e. 56 =dharampur=, bombay. 20n. 73e. 56 [*]=dharmapuri=, madras. 12n. 78e. 63 =dharmawaram=, madras. 15n. 78e. 62 =dharumsala=, punjab. 32n. 76e. 58 =dharur=, haidarabad. 19n. 76e. 62 [*]=dharwar=, bombay. 16n. 75e. 57 =dhat-irk=, arabia. 22n. 41e. 44 =dhaulagiri mt.=, nepal. 29n. 84e. 60 =dheiell=, bombay. 21n. 74e. 56 =dhola=, bombay. 22n. 72e. 56 =dholarra=, bombay. 22n. 72e. 56 [*]=dholka=, bombay. 23n. 72e. 56 [*]=dholpur=, rajputana. 27n. 78e. 59 =dhond=, bombay. 18n. 75e. 57 =dhoraji=, bombay. 22n. 70e. 56 =dhrangadra=, bombay. 23n. 71e. 56 [*]=dhulia=, bombay. 21n. 75e. 56 =dhuri river=, punjab. 30n. 76e. 58 =diamond harbour=, bengal. 22n. 88e. 61 [*]=diarbekr=, turkey in asia. 38n. 39e. 47 =diarmer mount=, kashmir. 35n. 74e. 58 =dibon=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =dibrugarh=, assam. 27n. 95e. 67 =dickson island=, siberia. 73n. 81e. 94 =dickson, point=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =dien-bien=, indo-china. 21n. 103e. 70 [*]=diggi=, rajputana. 27n. 75e. 59 =dihang river=, tibet. 28n. 95e. 61 =dihing river=, assam. 27n. 96e. 67 =dilasac bay=, philippine is. 16n. 122e. 77 =dilawar=, punjab. 29n. 71e. 59 =dilman=, persia. 38n. 45e. 47 =dinagat=, philippine islands. 10n. 126e. 77 =dinajpur=, bengal. 24n. 88e. 61 =dinapur=, bengal. 26n. 85e. 60 =dindi river=, haidarabad. 17n. 79e. 62 [*]=dindigull=, madras. 10n. 78e. 63 =dindings=, malay peninsula. 4n. 101e. 68 =dineir=, asia minor. 38n. 31e. 46 =dingarh=, punjab. 29n. 72e. 59 =diomede island=, siberia. 66n. 172w. 95 =dion=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =discovery reef=, e. indies. 4s. 109e. 76 =diu fort=, bombay. 21n. 71e. 56 =diu island=, bombay. 21n. 71e. 56 =divy, point=, madras. 16n. 81e. 62 =diwanieh=, turkey in asia. 32n. 45e. 47 =dizful=, persia. 32n. 49e. 47 =djahampur=, punjab. 30n. 71e. 58 =djambu=, east indies. 2s. 104e. 74 =djanik=, asia minor. 41n. 36e. 46 =djering, cape=, malacca str. 2n. 102e. 69 =dohad=, bombay. 23n. 74e. 56 =doktawadi river=, burma. 23n. 97e. 67 =dolar=, central india. 24n. 82e. 60 [*]=dolon-nor=, china. 42n. 116e. 83 =dolon-shirke=, inner mongolia. 40n. 107e. 82 =dolphin, cape=, malay pen. 9n. 98e. 71 =dome island=, burma. 12n. 98e. 71 =donahyu=, burma. 17n. 96e. 67 [*]=dondra head=, ceylon. 6n. 81e. 63 =dong-hoi=, indo-china. 18n. 107e. 70 =dong rek=, siam. 14n. 102e. 71 =don-nai river=, indo-china. 11n. 107e. 71 =dor=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =dorak=, persia. 31n. 49e. 47 =dornakal=, haidarabad. 17n. 80e. 62 =dothan=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =douglas=, east indies. 20n. 136e. 75 =dourga strait=, east indies. 7s. 139e. 75 =dowhali=, central provs. 21n. 80e. 60 =dowlaishwardin=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 =dounggyi=, burma. 17n. 96e. 67 =dras=, kashmir. 34n. 76e. 58 =drug=, central provs. 21n. 82e. 60 =dsergile=, mongolia. 44n. 115e. 83 =duda=, haidarabad. 17n. 77e. 62 =dudhna river=, haidarabad. 19n. 77e. 62 =dudinsh=, siberia. 69n. 87e. 94 =dudwa=, united provs. 29n. 81e. 60 =dulmera=, rajputana. 28n. 74e. 59 =dumaran is.=, philippine is. 11n. 120e. 77 =dunbula=, ceylon. 7n. 81e. 63 =dungarpur=, rajputana. 24n. 74e. 59 =dungun, river=, malay pen. 5n. 103e. 68 =dupadu=, madras. 16n. 79e. 62 =durbot=, inner mongolia. 42n. 111e. 82 =duroch, cape=, korea. 39n. 128e. 90 =d'urville island=, e. indies. 3s. 143e. 75 =d'urville point=, e. indies. 2s. 138e. 75 =dwana hills=, burma. 17n. 98e. 67 [*]=dwarka=, bombay. 22n. 69e. 56 =eap=, east indies. 10n. 136e. 75 =east cape=, siberia. 66n. 170w. 95 =ebal, mount=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =echigo=, japan. 37n. 139e. 91 =echisen=, japan. 36n. 136e. 91 =edrei=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 =edremid=, asia minor. 40n. 27e. 46 =edwardesabad=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 70e. 58 =egerdir=, asia minor. 38n. 31e. 46 =egin=, turkey in asia. 39n. 39e. 47 =eglon=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 [*]=ekron=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =el batna=, arabia. 25n. 57e. 45 =el bedda=, arabia. 25n. 52e. 45 [*]=elburz mountains=, persia. 36n. 51e. 45 =elealeh=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 [*]=elephanta=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 =el hadhr=, turkey in asia. 36n. 43e. 47 =el hasa=, arabia. 28n. 48e. 44 =el hejaz=, arabia. 25n. 38e. 44 =el hofuf=, arabia. 25n. 50e. 44 =el jezireh= or =mesopotamia=, turkey in asia. 37n. 40e. 47 =el katif=, arabia. 27n. 50e. 45 [*]=ellichpur=, berar. 21n. 78e. 60 =elliot island=, manchuria. 39n. 122e. 90 =ellore=, madras. 17n. 81e. 62 =elmaly=, asia minor. 36n. 30e. 46 =elphinstone=, burma. 12n. 98e. 71 =el wedj=, arabia. 26n. 36e. 44 =elwend mountain=, persia. 35n. 49e. 47 =el yemen=, arabia. 16n. 43e. 44 =emamgarh=, sind. 27n. 69e. 59 =emmaus=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =enciam island=, madras. 8n. 77e. 63 =endau river=, malay pen. 3n. 104e. 69 =enderes=, turkey in asia. 40n. 38e. 47 [*]=endor=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =engannim=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =engano cape=, east indies. 19n. 122e. 74 =engano island=, east indies. 5s. 103e. 74 =engedi=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =english bazar=, bengal. 25n. 88e. 61 =ennore=, madras. 13n. 80e. 63 =en-rimmon=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =enzeli=, persia. 38n. 49e. 47 =ephraim=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =ephraim, mount=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 [*]=erbil=, turkey in asia. 36n. 44e. 47 =eregli=, asia minor. 37n. 34e. 46 =eregli=, asia minor. 41n. 32e. 46 =erinpura=, rajputana. 25n. 73e. 59 =ernakolam=, madras. 10n. 76e. 63 [*]=erode=, madras. 11n. 78e. 63 [*]=erzerum=, turkey in asia. 40n. 41e. 47 [*]=erzingan=, turkey in asia. 40n. 40e. 47 =esanzaki=, japan. 41n. 141e. 88 =esashi=, japan. 41n. 140e. 88 =esasta=, japan. 44n. 143e. 88 [*]=esdraelon, plain of=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 13 =eshtemod=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =eskihissar=, asia minor. 37n. 28e. 46 [*]=eskishehr=, asia minor. 40n. 30e. 46 =etah=, united provinces. 28n. 79e. 60 =etna, mount=, china. 19n. 109e. 84 =etwali=, united provs. 27n. 79e. 60 [*]=euphrates r.=, turkey in asia. 30n. 48e. 47 =euripik=, east indies. 6n. 142e. 75 [*]=everest, mount=, nepal. 28n. 87e. 61 =fais=, east indies, 10n. 141e. 75 =faizabad=, united provs. 27n. 82e. 60 =fak-chan=, burma. 11n. 99e. 71 =fakumen=, manchuria. 42n. 123e. 90 =fakuoka=, japan. 34n. 130e. 89 =falam=, burma. 23n. 94e. 67 =falan=, indo-china. 17n. 106e. 70 =false cape=, east indies. 8s. 137e. 75 =fan=, china. 36n. 116e. 83 =fan-cheng=, china. 32n. 112e. 82 =fao=, turkey in asia. 30n. 48e. 47 =farallon de pajaros=, e. indies. 20n. 145e. 75 =faraulep=, east indies. 9n. 145e. 75 =faridkot=, punjab. 31n. 75e. 58 =farrah=, afghanistan. 32n. 62e. 45 =farridabad=, punjab. 28n. 77e. 59 =fars=, persia. 28n. 53e. 45 =farsan kebeer=, red sea. 17n. 42e. 44 =farukhabad=, united provs. 27n. 79e. 60 =farukhnagar=, punjab. 28n. 77e. 59 =fasa=, persia. 29n. 54e. 45 =fatehabad=, punjab. 30n. 75e. 58 =fatehpur=, united provs. 26n. 81e. 60 =fat-shan=, china. 23n. 113e. 85 =fattehpur=, punjab. 29n. 70e. 59 =fazilka=, punjab. 30n. 74e. 58 =fei=, china. 35n. 118e. 83 =fen-chau=, china. 37n. 112e. 82 =feng=, china. 35n. 117e. 83 =feng-chan=, china. 29n. 112e. 84 =feng-cheng=, china. 28n. 116e. 85 =feng-hsiang=, china. 34n. 108e. 82 =feng-hwa=, china. 30n. 121e. 85 =feng-hwa=, manchuria. 43n. 124e. 90 =feng-kwang-chen=, manchuria. 40n. 124e. 90 =feng-ning=, china. 41n. 117e. 83 =feng-shan-shan=, china. 26n. 117e. 85 =feng-tu=, china. 30n. 107e. 84 =feng-yang=, china. 33n. 117e. 83 =fen-ho=, china. 37n. 112e. 82 =ferahan=, persia. 34n. 50e. 47 =filias river=, asia minor. 42n. 32e. 46 =filipovskoi korennoi=, siberia. 71n. 97e. 94 =firospur=, punjab. 28n. 77e. 59 =firozpur=, punjab. 31n. 75e. 58 =fitze-long bay=, indo-china. 21n. 307e. 70 =flores=, east indies. 9s. 121e. 74 =fly river=, east indies. 8s. 142e. 75 =fo-ki=, formosa. 25n. 121e. 89 =fo-kien=, china. 26n. 118e. 85 [*]=formosa=, china. 24n. 121e. 74 =formosa strait=, formosa. 25n. 120e. 89 =fou=, china. 30n. 107e. 84 =foul island=, burma. 18n. 94e. 67 =frederick henry is.=, e. indies. 8s. 137e. 75 =frederick wilhelm harbour=, e. indies. 5s. 145e. 75 =freewill=, east indies. 1n. 135e. 75 =fu=, china. 36n. 109e. 82 [*]=fu-chau=, china. 26n. 119e. 85 =fu-chau=, china. 28n. 116e. 85 =fu-chou=, manchuria. 40n. 122e. 90 =fuga=, philippine islands. 18n. 121e. 77 [*]=fuji yama=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =fu-kang=, china. 24n. 114e. 85 =fukaye island=, japan. 33n. 129e. 89 =fu-kiang river=, china. 31n. 106e. 84 =fu-ku=, china. 39n. 111e. 82 =fukui=, japan. 36n. 136e. 91 =fukushima=, japan. 36n. 138e. 91 =fukushima=, japan. 38n. 140e. 91 =fukuyama=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =fukuyama=, japan. 41n. 140e. 88 =funatsiu=, japan. 36n. 137e. 91 =fu-ngan=, china. 27n. 120e. 85 =fu-ning=, china. 27n. 120e. 85 =fu-niu-shan=, china. 34n. 112e. 82 =fu-ping=, china. 34n. 108e. 82 =furidpur=, bengal. 24n. 90e. 61 =fusan=, korea. 35n. 129e. 90 =fu-shan=, china. 38n. 121e. 83 =fushiki=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =fushimi=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =fu-tsing=, china. 26n. 120e. 85 =futtehpur=, punjab. 30n. 72e. 58 =fyzabad=, afghanistan. 37n. 70e. 45 =gad=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =gadak=, bombay. 16n. 76e. 57 =gadara=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =gaddari=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. 62 =galas river=, malay pen. 5n. 102e. 68 =galbyn-gobi=, in. mongolia. 42n. 106e. 82 =gali=, malay peninsula. 4n. 102e. 69 =galilee=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 13 =galilee, sea of=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 [*]=galle=, ceylon. 6n. 80e. 63 [*]=gamala=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =gandava=, baluchistan. 28n. 67e. 59 =ganges=, bengal. 22n. 89e. 61 =gangpur=, bengal. 22n. 84e. 60 =ganh-rai bay=, indo-china. 10n. 107e. 71 =ganjam=, madras. 19n. 85e. 62 =ganju-san=, japan. 40n. 141e. 88 =gao-tin=, manchuria. 45n. 129e. 90 =garampi=, formosa. 21n. 121e. 89 =gares=, kashmir. 35n. 75e. 58 =garhwal=, united provs. 31n. 79e. 60 =garo hills=, assam. 26n. 91e. 61 =garut=, java. 7s. 108e. 76 =gath=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =gatkau=, bombay. 22n. 69e. 56 =gaurisankar mt.=, nepal. 28n. 87e. 61 =gautier mts.=, east indies. 3s. 137e. 75 =gawalgarh=, berar. 21n. 77e. 60 [*]=gaya=, bengal. 25n. 85e. 60 [*]=gaza=, palestine. 32n. 34e. 12 =geba=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =gede, mount=, java. 7s. 107e. 76 =gedis chai r.=, asia minor. 38n. 28e. 46 =gedor=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =geelvink bay=, east indies. 3s. 135e. 75 =geelvink strait=, east indies. 1s. 135e. 75 =geik dagh=, asia minor. 36n. 33e. 46 =gelam island=, borneo. 3s. 110e. 76 =genkai=, japan. 34n. 131e. 89 =gensan=, korea. 39n. 127e. 90 =genteng, cape=, java. 8s. 106e. 76 =geok tepe=, turkestan. 38n. 58e. 45 =georgetown=, penang. 5n. 100e. 68 =gerar=, palestine. 31n. 34e. 12 [*]=gerasa=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 13 =gergesenes=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =gerizim, mount=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =geuk su=, asia minor. 36n. 34e. 46 =ghaggan river=, punjab. 30n. 76e. 58 =ghagra r.=, united provs. 26n. 84e. 60 =gharrah=, sind. 25n. 68e. 59 [*]=ghaziabad=, united provs. 29n. 77e. 59 [*]=ghazipur=, united provs. 26n. 84e. 60 [*]=ghazni=, afghanistan. 34n. 68e. 58 =ghijinsk=, siberia. 62n. 162e. 95 =ghijinsk=, gulf of, siberia. 61n. 160e. 95 =ghilan=, persia. 38n. 49e. 47 =ghubbet el kamar=, arabia. 16n. 53e. 45 =ghunnapura=, haidarabad. 17n. 78e. 62 =giamda=, tibet. 30n. 93e. 61 =giaur dagh=, turkey in asia. 37n. 37e. 46 [*]=gibeon=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =gifu=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =gigasar=, rajputana. 28n. 73e. 59 [*]=gilboa, mount=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =gilead, mount=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =gilgal=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =gilolo=, east indies. 1n. 127e. 75 =gilolo island=, east indies. 1n. 128e. 75 =gilolo pass=, east indies. 0. 129e. 75 =gimzo=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =gioda=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =giran=, formosa. 25n. 122e. 89 =girap=, rajputana. 26n. 70e. 59 =girari=, central provs. 23n. 82e. 60 [*]=giridhi=, bengal. 24n. 86e. 61 =girishk=, afghanistan. 32n. 65e. 45 =girna=, bombay. 21n. 75e. 56 =girri river=, punjab. 31n. 78e. 58 =girwari=, central india. 26n. 77e. 60 [*]=goa=, bombay. 15n. 74e. 57 =goa goa is.=, east indies. 7s. 115e. 76 =goalpara=, assam. 26n. 91e. 61 =goalundo=, bengal. 24n. 90e. 61 =gobi=, inner mongolia. 42n. 105e. 82 =godavari river=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 =goderi=, madras. 19n. 84e. 62 =god-i-sirreh=, baluchistan. 30n. 62e. 45 =godra=, bombay. 23n. 74e. 56 =godwar=, rajputana. 25n. 73e. 59 =goghe=, bombay. 22n. 72e. 56 =gokak=, bombay. 16n. 75e. 57 =golan=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 [*]=golconda=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. 62 =golden throne mt.=, kashmir. 35n. 77e. 58 =golok river=, malay pen. 6n. 102e. 68 =golra=, punjab. 34n. 73e. 58 =golugonda=, madras. 18n. 82e. 62 =gonda=, united provs. 27n. 82e. 60 =gonokawa=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =good hope, cape of=, china. 23n. 117e. 85 =goona=, central india. 24n. 77e. 60 [*]=gooruncondah=, madras. 14n. 79e. 63 =gopalpur=, madras. 19n. 85e. 62 =gopanur=, madras. 16n. 79e. 62 =gorakhpur=, united provs. 27n. 83e. 60 =gorkha=, nepal. 28n. 84e. 60 =gorontalo=, east indies. 0. 124e. 75 =gosaigaon=, assam. 27n. 94e. 67 =gosgarh=, punjab. 28n. 72e. 59 =gotoshima=, japan. 33n. 129e. 89 =gowada=, madras. 16n. 81e. 62 =gowhatty=, assam. 26n. 92e. 61 =grajagan bay=, java. 9s. 114e. 76 =granville=, east indies. 10s. 147e. 75 =great gatwick is.=, indo-china. 10n. 109e. 71 =great gorge=, china. 31n. 110e. 84 =great karimon=, malacca str. 1n. 103e. 69 =great lake=, indo-china. 14n. 109e. 71 =great zab=, turkey in asia. 37n. 44e. 47 =grik=, malay peninsula. 5n. 101e. 68 =guam=, east indies. 13n. 145e. 75 =gudam=, madras. 18n. 82e. 62 =gudur=, madras. 14n. 80e. 63 =gugara=, punjab. 31n. 73e. 58 =guguan=, east indies. 18n. 145e. 75 =guie-chau island=, china. 21n. 109e. 84 =guimaras is.=, philippine is. 11n. 123e. 77 [*]=gujranwala=, punjab. 32n. 74e. 58 [*]=gujrat=, punjab. 33n. 74e. 58 [*]=gulbarga=, haidarabad. 17n. 77e. 62 =guma=, bombay. 22n. 72e. 56 =gumal pass=, n.w. frontier provs. 32n. 70e. 58 =gumal river=, n.w. frontier provs. 32n. 70e. 58 =gumri=, bombay. 19n. 75e. 57 =gumsur=, madras. 20n. 85e. 62 =gumti river=, bengal. 23n. 91e. 61 =gunaidio=, sind. 26n. 70e. 59 =gundakamma river=, madras. 16n. 80e. 62 =gunong hantu=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =gunong tahan=, malay pen. 5n. 102e. 68 =guntakal=, madras. 15n. 77e. 62 =guntur=, madras. 16n. 81e. 62 =gunung api=, east indies. 6s. 126e. 75 =gunungtua=, sumatra. 1n. 100e. 69 =gurdaspur=, punjab. 32n. 75e. 58 =gurgaon=, punjab. 28n. 77e. 59 =gurla mountain=, tibet. 30n. 82e. 60 =gurrah=, rajputana. 25n. 72e. 59 =gurun=, turkey in asia. 39n. 37e. 46 =gutah=, punjab. 30n. 75e. 58 [*]=gutti=, madras. 15n. 78e. 62 =gwa=, burma. 18n. 94e. 67 =gwadur=, baluchistan. 25n. 62e. 45 =gwaja-shima=, lu-chu is. 30n. 129e. 89 =gwal=, punjab. 31n. 69e. 58 [*]=gwalior=, central india. 26n. 78e. 60 =gwas-san=, japan. 39n. 140e. 88 =gwettur=, persia. 25n. 61e. 45 =gya=, kashmir. 34n. 78e. 58 =gya peak=, kashmir. 32n. 78e. 58 =gyaing=, burma. 17n. 98e. 67 =habban=, arabia. 15n. 47e. 44 =hachinohe=, japan. 40n. 142e. 88 =hachirogata=, japan. 40n. 141e. 88 =hachoji=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =hadad rimmon=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =ha-dong=, indo-china. 16n. 109e. 70 =hadramaut=, arabia. 17n. 50e. 44, 45 =hadramaut mahrah=, arabia. 17n. 50e. 44, 45 =hagi=, japan. 34n. 131e. 89 =hagiang=, indo-china. 23n. 105e. 70 =hagui=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =hai=, china. 35n. 119e. 83 =hai-an=, china. 20n. 110e. 84 =hai-cheng=, china. 36n. 106e. 82 =hai-cheng=, manchuria. 41n. 123e. 90 =hai-chwen island=, china. 21n. 113e. 85 [*]=haidarabad=, haidarabad. 17n. 79e. 62 =haidarabad=, sind. 25n. 68e. 59 =hai-duong=, indo-china. 21n. 106e. 70 =hai-ju=, korea. 38n. 126e. 90 =hai-ling island=, china. 21n. 112e. 84 =hai-nan island=, china. 19n. 110e. 84 =hai-nan strait=, china. 20n. 110e. 84 =hai-ning=, china. 31n. 121e. 85 =hai-pang=, korea. 33n. 126e. 90 =hai-phong=, indo-china. 21n. 107e. 70 =hai-tau bay=, china. 24n. 118e. 85 =hai-yang=, china. 37n. 122e. 83 =hai-yong=, korea. 43n. 130e. 90 =hajin=, turkey in asia. 38n. 36e. 46 [*]=hakata=, japan. 34n. 130e. 89 =hakodate=, japan. 41n. 141e. 88 =haku san=, japan. 36n. 137e. 91 =halcon mt.=, mindoro, philippine is. 16n. 118e. 77 =haleb=, turkey in asia. 36n. 37e. 46 =haleb=, turkey in asia. 37n. 38e. 46 =halhul=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =halla=, sind. 26n. 68e. 59 =hal-la-san=, korea. 3n. 127e. 90 =halli=, arabia. 19n. 41e. 44 =halmaheira=, east indies. 2n. 129e. 75 =halys cape=, asia minor. 42n. 36e. 46 =hamad=, arabia. 31n. 40e. 44 =hamada=, japan. 35n. 132e. 91 [*]=hamadan=, persia. 35n. 48e. 47 =hamamatsu=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 =hambantotta=, ceylon. 6n. 81e. 63 =ham-gyeng, north=, korea. 41n. 129e. 90 =ham-gyeng, south=, korea. 40n. 128e. 90 =ham-leung=, korea. 40n. 127e. 90 =hamirpur=, united provs. 26n. 80e. 60 =hammam ali=, turkey in asia. 36n. 43e. 47 =hammath=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 =hamun=, persia. 31n. 60e. 45 =hamun marsh=, persia. 28n. 62e. 45 =han=, china. 31n. 104e. 84 =han river=, korea. 37n. 127e. 90 =ha-nam=, indo-china. 21n. 106e. 70 =hanarikonda=, haidarabad. 18n. 80e. 62 =han-cheng=, china. 36n. 110e. 82 =han-chung=, china. 33n. 107e. 82 =handa=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =hangal=, bombay. 15n. 75e. 57 =hang-chau=, china. 30n. 120e. 85 =hang-chau bay=, china. 30n. 121e. 85 [*]=han-kau=, china. 31n. 114e. 85 =han-kiang=, china. 32n. 110e. 82 =han-kiang river=, china. 32n. 112e. 84 =hannathon=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 [*]=hanoi=, indo-china. 21n. 106e. 70 [*]=hansi=, punjab. 29n. 76e. 59 =han-yang=, china. 31n. 114e. 85 =han-yin=, china. 33n. 109e. 82 =haranhalli=, mysore. 13n. 76e. 63 [*]=harbin=, manchuria. 46n. 127e. 90 =hardanhulli=, mysore. 12n. 77e. 63 =hardoi=, united provinces. 27n. 80e. 60 [*]=hardwar=, united provinces. 30n. 78e. 60 =harihar=, mysore. 14n. 76e. 62 =harima=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =hari rud river=, persia. 35n. 61e. 45 =harnai=, punjab. 30n. 68e. 58 =harran=, turkey in asia. 37n. 39e. 47 =hasah=, turkey in asia. 38n. 42e. 47 =hasdu river=, central provs. 22n. 83e. 60 =hasora=, kashmir. 35n. 75e. 58 =hassan=, mysore. 13n. 76e. 63 =hassan dagh=, asia minor. 38n. 34e. 46 =hathnur=, haidarabad. 20n. 79e. 62 =hathras=, united provs. 28n. 78e. 60 =ha-tien=, indo-china. 10n. 104e. 71 =ha-tinh=, indo-china. 18n. 106e. 70 =haut=, siam. 18n. 99e. 70 =hawaii, cape=, siberia. 71n. 178w. 95 [*]=hayil=, arabia. 28n. 42e. 44 =hazaribagh=, bengal. 24n. 85e. 60 =hazor=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =hazro=, turkey in asia. 38n. 40e. 47 [*]=hebron=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =hedie=, arabia. 26n. 39e. 44 =hei-shui=, china. 43n. 118e. 83 =helmand river=, afghanistan. 34n. 67e. 58 =heng-chau=, china. 27n. 112e. 84 =heng-shan=, china. 27n. 112e. 84 =heng-shan mt.=, china. 27n. 112e. 84 =heng-shi=, china. 24n. 112e. 85 =heng-yang pen.=, korea. 34n. 127e. 90 =henzada=, burma. 17n. 95e. 67 =herald island=, siberia. 72n. 175w. 95 [*]=herat=, afghanistan. 34n. 62e. 45 =hermon, mount=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 [*]=heshbon=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =he-tan island=, china. 26n. 120e. 85 =hetozaki=, lu-chu island. 27n. 128e. 89 =hida=, japan. 36n. 137e. 91 =hidaka mountains=, japan. 42n. 143e. 88 [*]=hikone=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =hilleh=, turkey in asia. 33n. 45e. 47 =himalaya mts.=, kashmir. 33n. 77e. 58 =himeji=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =hime thuan=, indo-china. 11n. 108e. 71 =hin=, siam. 18n. 101e. 70 =hindiah=, turkey in asia. 32n. 45e. 47 =hindon=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. 59 =hindu kush mts.=, afghanistan. 36n. 70e. 45 =hindupur=, madras. 14n. 77e. 63 =hinganghat=, central provs. 20n. 79e. 60 =hingoli=, haidarabad. 20n. 77e. 62 =hiogo=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =hippos=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =hirado-shima=, japan. 33n. 130e. 89 =hira-shima=, lu-chu island. 30n. 130e. 89 =hirijuru=, mysore. 14n. 77e. 63 =hirosaki=, japan. 40n. 141e. 88 =hiroshima=, japan. 34n. 133e. 91 =hissar=, bokhara. 38n. 68e. 45 =hissar=, punjab. 29n. 76e. 59 =hit=, turkey in asia. 34n. 43e. 47 =hitachi=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =hitoyoshi=, japan. 32n. 131e. 89 =hiwase=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =ho=, china. 32n. 118e. 85 =ho=, china. 36n. 112e. 82 =hoa-binh=, indo-china. 21n. 105e. 70 =hoa-glu=, indo-china. 12n. 109e. 71 =hoa-pin-su island=, china. 26n. 134e. 89 =ho-chi=, china. 25n. 108e. 84 =hodal=, punjab. 28n. 77e. 59 =hodeida=, arabia. 15n. 43e. 44 =ho-feng=, china. 30n. 110e. 84 =hoi-hou=, china. 20n. 110e. 84 =hoi-tung=, china. 19n. 111e. 84 =hoi-yang=, korea. 39n. 128e. 90 =ho-kau=, china. 40n. 111e. 82 =hoki=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =ho-kiang=, china. 29n. 106e. 84 =ho-kien=, china. 38n. 116e. 83 =hoko-to=, formosa. 23n. 120e. 89 =ho-kow=, indo-china. 22n. 104e. 70 =hokubu-shoto is.=, lu-chu is. 28n. 130e. 89 =hokurokudo=, japan. 37n. 138e. 91 =homalin=, burma. 25n. 95e. 67 =honan=, china. 34n. 113e. 82, 83 =ho-nan=, china. 35n. 112e. 82 [*]=honawar=, bombay. 14n. 74e. 57 =honda b., palawan=, philippine is. 10n. 118e. 77 =hong-ju=, korea. 37n. 127e. 90 [*]=hong-kong=, china. 22n. 114e. 85 =hong-yen=, indo-china. 21n. 106e. 70 =honjio=, japan. 39n. 140e. 88 =hon-koe bay=, indo-china. 13n. 109e. 71 =hon-mat is.=, indo-china. 19n. 106e. 70 =hon ne island=, indo-china. 20n. 106e. 70 =hootah=, arabia. 24n. 48e. 44 =hope bay=, china. 23n. 117e. 85 =horeimele=, arabia. 25n. 46e. 44 =hosan=, formosa. 22n. 121e. 89 =hosdarg=, madras. 12n. 75e. 63 =ho-shan=, china. 22n. 113e. 84 =ho-shan=, china. 37n. 112e. 82 =hoshiarpur=, punjab. 32n. 76e. 58 =ho-shui=, china. 36n. 108e. 82 =hosur=, madras. 13n. 78e. 63 =ho-tsin=, china. 36n. 111e. 82 =howrah=, bengal. 23n. 88e. 61 =ho-yuen=, china. 24n. 115e. 85 =hpazaung=, burma. 19n. 97e. 67 =hsi=, china. 36n. 111e. 82 =hsiang-chau=, china. 24n. 110e. 84 =hsiang-cheng=, china. 34n. 114e. 83 =hsiang river=, china. 27n. 113e. 85 =hsiang-tan=, china. 28n. 113e. 85 =hsiang-yang=, china. 32n. 112e. 84 =hsiang-yin=, china. 28n. 113e. 85 =hsiao-kan=, china. 31n. 114e. 85 =hsiau-nor=, inner mongolia. 40n. 110e. 82 =hsiau-yi=, china. 34n. 109e. 82 =hsiau-wu-tai=, china. 40n. 115e. 83 =hsi-chi-chin bay=, china. 23n. 116e. 85 =hsi-chwan=, china. 33n. 112e. 82 =hsien-hsia-ling=, china. 28n. 119e. 85 =hsi-hsiang=, china. 33n. 108e. 82 =hsi-kiang river=, china. 23n. 111e. 84 =hsi-lin=, china. 24n. 106e. 84 =hsiling=, china. 39n. 115e. 83 =hsiling tombs=, china. 39n. 115e. 83 =hsi-lung=, china. 25n. 106e. 84 =hsin-chang=, china. 29n. 121e. 85 =hsin-chau=, china. 23n. 110e. 84 =hsin-feng=, china. 25n. 115e. 85 =hsing=, china. 39n. 111e. 82 [*]=hsi-ngan=, china. 34n. 109e. 82 =hsing-hwa=, china. 26n. 119e. 85 =hsing-hwa sound=, china. 25n. 119e. 85 =hsing-i=, china. 25n. 105e. 84 =hsing-kwo=, china. 30n. 115e. 85 =hsing-ngan=, china. 32n. 109e. 82 =hsin-hsiang=, china. 35n. 114e. 83 =hsin-hsing=, china. 22n. 112e. 84 =hsin-hwa=, china. 27n. 111e. 84 =hsin-i=, china. 22n. 111e. 84 =hsin-kan=, china. 27n. 115e. 85 =hsin-king=, manchuria. 42n. 124e. 90 =hsin-ning=, china. 22n. 108e. 84 =hsin-tu=, china. 31n. 104e. 84 =hsin-yang=, china. 32n. 114e. 83 =hsi-ping=, china. 33n. 114e. 83 =hsiung-erh-shan=, china. 34n. 110e. 82 =hsiung-yao=, manchuria. 40n. 122e. 90 =hsiu-yen=, manchuria. 40n. 123e. 90 =hsi-ying-tze=, china. 41n. 114e. 83 =hsu=, china. 34n. 114e. 83 =hsu-chau=, china. 34n. 117e. 83 =hsuen-hwa=, china. 41n. 115e. 83 =hsuen-wei=, china. 26n. 104e. 84 =hsun-yang=, china. 33n. 110e. 82 =hsu-yang=, china. 28n. 106e. 84 =htayan=, malay peninsula. 11n. 99e. 71 =hua-muong=, indo-china. 20n. 104e. 70 [*]=hubli=, bombay. 15n. 75e. 57 =hu-chau=, china. 31n. 120e. 85 [*]=hue=, indo-china. 16n. 108e. 70 =hugli=, bengal. 23n. 88e. 61 [*]=hugli river=, bengal. 22n. 88e. 61 =hu-hun-ho=, china. 42n. 122e. 83 =hui-fa=, manchuria. 43n. 126e. 90 =hui-fa-ho r.=, manchuria. 43n. 127e. 90 =hu-kou=, china. 30n. 116e. 85 =hulu plus mt.=, malay pen. 5n. 102e. 68 =hulu temengoh mt.=, malay pen. 5n. 102e. 68 =humboldt b.=, east indies. 3s. 141e. 75 =humnabad=, haidarabad. 18n. 77e. 62 =hun=, indo-china. 22n. 102e. 70 =hu-nan=, china. 27n. 112e. 84 =hun-chun=, manchuria. 43n. 130e. 90 =hung-cheng=, china. 36n. 104e. 82 =hung-hai=, china. 23n. 115e. 85 =hung-ho=, china. 33n. 114e. 83 =hunghoa=, indo-china. 21n. 105e. 70 =hung-shui=, china. 25n. 107e. 84 =hung-tse-hu=, china. 33n. 118e. 83 =hung-tung=, china. 36n. 112e. 82 =hun-ho=, china. 42n. 123e. 83 =hun-ho river=, manchuria. 41n. 123e. 90 =huni=, indo-china. 22n. 104e. 70 =hunter bay=, burma. 20n. 93e. 67 =hun-yuen=, china. 40n. 114e. 83 =huon gulf=, east indies. 7s. 147e. 75 =hu-peh=, china. 31n. 113e. 84 =hu-pu=, mongolia. 44n. 119e. 83 =hurapa=, punjab. 31n. 73e. 58 =hurda=, central provs. 22n. 77e. 60 =hursola=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 =hurupirayama=, japan. 43n. 140e. 88 =hushungabad=, central india. 23n. 78e. 60 =hu-tau bay=, china. 24n. 118e. 85 =hu-to-ho=, china. 38n. 114e. 83 =hu-to-ho=, china. 38n. 116e. 83 =huttah=, haidarabad. 19n. 77e. 62 =hu-yang-pu=, china. 37n. 107e. 82 =hwa=, china. 21n. 110e. 84 =hwai=, china. 33n. 117e. 83 =hwai-ho=, china. 32n. 115e. 83 =hwai-king=, china. 35n. 113e. 82 =hwai-ngan=, china. 34n. 119e. 83 =hwai-to=, manchuria. 44n. 125e. 90 =hwai-yang-shan=, china. 32n. 114e. 83 =hwai-yin=, manchuria. 41n. 126e. 90 =hwai-yuen=, china. 25n. 109e. 84 =hwai-yuen=, china. 38n. 109e. 82 =hwa-ma-chi=, china. 38n. 107e. 82 =hwan=, china. 36n. 107e. 82 =hwang=, china. 22n. 109e. 84 =hwang=, china. 38n. 121e. 83 =hwang-chau=, china. 30n. 115e. 85 =hwang-hai=, korea. 38n. 126e. 90 =hwang-ho=, china. 38n. 118e. 83 =hwang-hwa-shan=, china. 40n. 113e. 82 =hwang-ngan=, china. 31n. 115e. 85 =hwang-shan mt.=, china. 30n. 118e. 85 =hwanh-ho=, indo-china. 21n. 107e. 70 =hwan-ho=, china. 36n. 107e. 82 =hwa-ping=, china. 35n. 106e. 82 =hwei-chang=, china. 25n. 116e. 85 =hwei-chau=, china. 23n. 114e. 85 =hwei-chau=, china. 30n. 119e. 85 =hwei-ho=, china. 34n. 120e. 83 =hwei-lai=, china. 23n. 116e. 85 =hyang-ju=, korea. 39n. 126e. 90 =iamsk=, siberia. 60n. 155e. 95 =iba=, philippine islands. 16n. 120e. 77 =ibi gamin=, united provs. 31n. 80e. 60 =icarog mt.=, philippine is. 14n. 123w. 77 =i-chang=, china. 31n. 111e. 84 =i-chau=, china. 35n. 118e. 83 =i-chau=, china. 42n. 121e. 83 =i-chhen=, korea. 38n. 127e. 90 =ichibusayama=, japan. 32n. 131e. 89 =ichinomiya=, japan. 35n. 141e. 91 =i-chwan=, china. 36n. 110e. 82 =ida=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 [*]=ida mountains=, asia minor. 40n. 27e. 46 =idar=, bombay. 24n. 73e. 56 =idzuhara=, japan. 34n. 130e. 89 =idzumi=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =idzumo=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =ieros=, asia minor. 41n. 39e. 47 =ifalik=, east indies. 6n. 145e. 75 =ihiya-shima=, lu-chu is. 27n. 128e. 89 =ikeda=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =iki island=, japan. 34n. 130e. 89 =i-kiang river=, china. 25n. 110e. 84 =ikuno=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =ilgun=, asia minor. 38n. 32e. 46 =iligan, mindanao=, philippine is. 8n. 124e. 77 =iligan b., mindanao=, philippine is. 8n. 124e. 77 =ili, river=, asiatic russia. 46n. 75e. 94 =illana b., mindanao=, philippine is. 8n. 123e. 77 =iloilo=, philippine islands. 11n. 123e. 77 =imaharu=, japan. 34n. 133e. 91 =imbro island=, asia minor. 40n. 26e. 46 =imen-po=, manchuria. 45n. 128e. 90 =inaba=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =inaba sound=, japan. 34n. 139e. 91 =inawashiro=, japan. 38n. 140e. 91 =indapur=, bombay. 18n. 75e. 57 =indigirka river=, siberia. 71n. 150e. 95 =indore=, haidarabad. 19n. 78e. 62 =indramayu=, java. 6s. 108e. 76 =indrawutty r.=, central provs. 19n. 81e. 60 =indus river=, sind. 24n. 68e. 59 =ineboli=, asia minor. 42n. 34e. 46 =i-ning=, china. 29n. 115e. 85 =injeh cape=, asia minor. 42n. 35e. 46 =insarevo=, siberia. 62n. 88e. 94 =inuboye cape=, japan. 36n. 141e. 91 =iot point=, philippine is. 14n. 124e. 77 =iott-so-tone=, siam. 16n. 104e. 70 =ipoh=, malay peninsula. 5n. 101e. 68 =irawadi=, burma. 17n. 95e. 67 =irawadi river=, burma. 16n. 95e. 67 =iren dubassu=, inner mongolia. 44n. 111e. 82 =iren lake=, inner mongolia. 44n. 112e. 82 =iren-tala steppe=, inner mongolia. 44n. 113e. 82 =iriomoto-shima=, lu-chu is. 24n. 124e. 89 [*]=irkutsk=, siberia. 52n. 104e. 94 =iro cape=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =irtish, river=, siberia. 61n. 70e. 94 =isabela, basilan=, philippine is. 7n. 122e. 77 =isakhet=, punjab. 33n. 71e. 58 =isbarta=, asia minor. 38n. 30e. 46 =ise=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =i-shan=, china. 36n. 118e. 83 =ishigaki=, lu-chu island. 24n. 124e. 89 =ishigaki-shima=, lu-chu is. 24n. 124e. 89 =ishikari bay=, japan. 43n. 141e. 88 =ishikari river=, japan. 43n. 141e. 88 =ishim=, siberia. 56n. 70e. 94 =ishimo cape=, japan. 34n. 136e. 91 =ishinomaki=, japan. 38n. 141e. 88 =iskelib=, asia minor. 41n. 35e. 46 =iskenderun=, turkey in asia. 37n. 36e. 46 =iskenderun, g. of=, asia minor. 37n. 36e. 46 =islamabad=, burma. 22n. 92e. 61 =islamabad=, kashmir. 34n. 75e. 58 =islamgurh=, punjab. 28n. 71e. 59 =islamkot=, sind. 25n. 70e. 59 [*]=ismid=, asia minor. 41n. 30e. 46 [*]=isnik=, asia minor. 40n. 30e. 46 [*]=ispahan=, persia. 33n. 52e. 45 =issachar=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =issyk kul, lake=, as. russia. 43n. 78e. 94 =itaburi=, siam. 15n. 100e. 70 =itako=, japan. 36n. 141e. 91 =itchapur=, madras. 19n. 85e. 62 =itoigawa=, japan. 37n. 138e. 91 =i-tu=, china. 30n. 111e. 84 =i-tung=, manchuria. 43n. 125e. 90 =ituræa=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =iwaki=, japan. 37n. 141e. 91 =iwakuni=, japan. 34n. 132e. 91 =iwami=, japan. 35n. 132e. 91 =iwanuma=, japan. 38n. 141e. 88 =iwashiro=, japan. 38n. 140e. 91 =iwoshima=, japan. 31n. 130e. 89 =iyama=, japan. 37n. 138e. 91 =i-yang=, china. 34n. 112e. 82 =iyeshima=, lu-chu island. 27n. 128e. 89 =iyo=, japan. 34n. 133e. 91 =iyo nada=, japan. 34n. 132e. 89 =izu=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =jabalpur=, central provs. 23n. 80e. 60 [*]=jabbok, river=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =jabesh gilead=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =jabneh=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =jacobabad=, sind. 28n. 68e. 59 =jacob's well=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =jafarabad=, bombay. 21n. 71e. 56 =jafarabad=, haidarabad. 20n. 76e. 62 =jaffua=, ceylon. 10n. 80e. 63 =jagannath=, bengal. 20n. 86e. 60 =jagdalpur=, central provs. 19n. 82e. 60 =jahla r.=, turkey in asia. 34n. 45e. 47 =jaintia hills=, assam. 26n. 92e. 61 =jaintiapuri=, assam. 25n. 92e. 61 =jaintu=, bengal. 27n. 90e. 61 =jaipur=, assam. 27n. 95e. 67 =jaisalmer=, rajputana. 27n. 71e. 59 =jajepur=, bengal. 21n. 86e. 61 =jakhau=, bombay. 23n. 69e. 56 =j-akhdar=, arabia. 23n. 57e. 45 [*]=jalalabad=, afghanistan. 34n. 70e. 58 =jalalpur=, united provinces. 26n. 80e. 60 [*]=jalandhar=, punjab. 31n. 76e. 58 =jalandhar=, punjab. 32n. 77e. 58 =jalaun=, united provinces. 26n. 79e. 60 =jalk=, persia. 27n. 62e. 45 =jalna=, haidarabad. 20n. 76e. 62 =jalpaiguri=, bengal. 27n. 89e. 61 =jalurpetta=, haidarabad. 17n. 80e. 62 =jamba=, malay peninsula. 7n. 101e. 68 =jambusar=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =jammu=, kashmir. 33n. 75e. 58 =jamnagar=, bombay. 23n. 70e. 56 =jamnia=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =jamrud=, n.w. frontier prov. 34n. 72e. 58 =janjira=, bombay. 18n. 73e. 57 =janmir=, bombay. 21n. 72e. 56 =jano=, punjab. 34n. 72e. 58 =jao-chau=, china. 29n. 117e. 85 =japara=, java. 6s. 111e. 76 =japha=, nepal. 28n. 87e. 61 =japhia=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =japho=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =jappen=, east indies. 2s. 136e. 75 =jaraila=, rajputana. 27n. 71e. 59 =jaratai-dabassu=, inner mongolia. 40n. 105e. 82 =jasak=, inner mongolia. 39n. 110e. 82 =jask=, persia. 26n. 58e. 45 =jath=, bombay. 17n. 75e. 57 =jattir=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =jaunpur=, united provs. 26n. 82e. 60 =java head=, java. 7s. 105e. 76 =java island=, east indies. 7s. 110e. 74 =java sea=, east indies. 5s. 110e. 74 =jawad=, rajputana. 25n. 75e. 59 =jawhar=, bombay. 20n. 73e. 57 =jaypur=, madras. 19n. 83e. 62 [*]=jaypur=, rajputana. 27n. 76e. 59 =jazer=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =jeat=, haidarabad. 19n. 76e. 62 =jebel shomer=, arabia. 28n. 42e. 44 =jehlam=, punjab. 33n. 74e. 58 =jelapur=, bombay. 15n. 75e. 57 =jelei river=, malay peninsula. 4n. 102e. 68 =jellei river=, borneo. 3s. 111e. 76 =jelo dagh=, turkey in asia. 38n. 44e. 47 =jen-hwai=, china. 28n. 106e. 84 [*]=jericho=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =jerraguntha=, madras. 15n. 79e. 62 =jerrahi=, persia. 31n. 49e. 47 [*]=jerusalem=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =jesselton=, east indies. 6n. 116e. 74 =jessore=, bengal. 23n. 89e. 61 =jezreel=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 [*]=jezreel, valley of=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =jhal=, baluchistan. 28n. 67e. 59 =jhalore=, rajputana. 25n. 73e. 59 =jhalrapatam=, rajputana. 24n. 76e. 59 =jhang maghiana=, punjab. 31n. 72e. 58 [*]=jhansi=, central india. 26n. 79e. 60 [*]=jhelum river=, punjab. 31n. 72e. 58 =jhow=, baluchistan. 26n. 66e. 45 =jhudo=, sind. 25n. 69e. 59 =jhunjhnu=, rajputana. 28n. 75e. 59 [*]=jidda=, arabia. 22n. 39e. 44 =jigansk=, siberia. 67n. 123e. 95 =jijurt=, bombay. 18n. 74e. 57 [*]=jind=, punjab. 29n. 76e. 59 =jizou cape=, japan. 36n. 133e. 91 =jodhpur=, rajputana. 26n. 73e. 59 =jof=, arabia. 31n. 41e. 44 =jogbani=, bengal. 26n. 87e. 61 =johor=, malay peninsula. 2n. 103e. 69 =johor bharu=, malay pen. 2n. 104e. 69 =johore=, east indies. 2n. 104e. 74 =johor lama=, malay pen. 2n. 104e. 69 =johor river=, malay pen. 2n. 104e. 69 =jokneam=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =jokyakarta=, java. 8s. 110e. 76 =jollarpett=, madras. 13n. 79e. 63 [*]=joonir=, bombay. 19n. 74e. 57 =joppa=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =jorhat=, assam. 27n. 94e. 67 =joseph's tomb=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =jubeileh=, turkey in asia. 32n. 47 =judi dagh=, turkey in asia. 38n. 43e. 47 =julamerk=, turkey in asia. 38n. 43e. 47 =julfa=, persia. 32n. 52e. 45 =jumba=, nepal. 29n. 82e. 60 =jumkundi=, bombay. 17n. 75e. 57 =jumna r.=, united provs. 26n. 82e. 60 =jumpul, cape=, sumatra. 3n. 100e. 69 =junagarh=, bombay. 22n. 70e. 56 =junagarh=, central provs. 20n. 83e. 60 =jungar=, inner mongolia. 40n. 111e. 82 =junkseylon is.=, malay pen. 8n. 98e. 71 =jurah=, rajputana. 25n. 73e. 59 =jushpur=, bengal. 22n. 84e. 60 =juttah=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =kabadian=, bokhara. 37n. 68e. 45 =kabarovski=, siberia. 48n. 135e. 95 =kabend=, persia. 27n. 53e. 45 =kabin=, siam. 14n. 102e. 71 =kabul r.=, n.w. frontier provs. 34n. 72e. 58 =kachar=, assam. 25n. 93e. 67 =kachhi=, baluchistan. 29n. 68e. 59 =kachin=, burma. 26n. 97e. 67 =kachiyama=, japan. 35n. 140e. 91 =kadarpur=, punjab. 32n. 72e. 58 =kadiri=, madras. 14n. 78e. 63 =kadraman=, bombay. 21n. 73e. 56 =kadsa=, rajputana. 27n. 73e. 59 =kadur=, mysore. 14n. 76e. 63 =kafiristan=, afghanistan. 35n. 70e. 58 =kaga=, japan. 36n. 137e. 91 =kagi=, formosa. 23n. 120e. 89 =kagoshima=, japan. 31n. 131e. 89 =kagoshima, great=, japan. 31n. 131e. 89 =kaha river=, punjab. 30n. 70e. 58 =kai=, china. 27n. 107e. 84 =kai=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =kai-feng=, china. 35n. 114e. 83 =kai-ho=, manchuria. 43n. 130e. 90 =kai-hua=, china. 23n. 104e. 84 =kain=, persia. 33n. 59e. 45 =kainsk=, siberia. 56n. 78e. 94 =kai-ping=, manchuria. 40n. 122e. 90 =kai-ping island=, china. 22n. 114e. 85 =kaira=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 =kaisarieh=, asia minor. 39n. 35e. 46 =kai-seng=, korea. 38n. 126e. 90 =kaiser wilhelm's land=, east indies. 5s. 143e. 75 [*]=kaithal=, punjab. 30n. 76e. 58 =kai-yuen=, manchuria. 43n. 124e. 90 =kajang=, malay peninsula. 3n. 102e. 69 =kajikazawa=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =kajiki=, japan. 32n. 130e. 89 =kakya=, burma. 25n. 98e. 67 =kakeroma-shima=, lu-chu island. 29n. 129e. 89 =kalabagh=, punjab. 33n. 72e. 58 =kaladji=, bombay. 16n. 75e. 57 =kala drosh=, n.w. frontier provs. 35n. 72e. 58 =kalam=, n.w. frontier provs. 35n. 73e. 58 =kala nao=, afghanistan. 35n. 63e. 45 =kalapa island=, java. 7s. 105e. 76 =kalapani=, punjab. 33n. 73e. 58 =kalassim=, siam. 17n. 104e. 70 [*]=kalat=, baluchistan. 29n. 67e. 45 =kalat=, turkey in asia. 36n. 38e. 47 =kalat en nejm=, turkey in asia. 37n. 38e. 47 =kalat ramadi=, turkey in asia. 34n. 43e. 47 =kalegouk island=, burma. 16n. 98e. 67 =kalessi=, asia minor. 40n. 27e. 46 =kalewa=, burma. 23n. 94e. 67 =kali river=, united provs. 29n. 79e. 60 =kaliganj=, bengal. 25n. 90e. 61 =kali sind r.=, central india. 25n. 76e. 60 =kaliuchin bay=, siberia. 67n. 176w. 95 =kalivan=, siberia. 56n. 82e. 94 =kalka=, punjab. 31n. 77e. 58 =kalpentyn=, ceylon. 8n. 80e. 63 =kalurkot=, punjab. 32n. 71e. 58 =kalutura=, ceylon. 7n. 80e. 63 [*]=kalyan=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 =kama=, burma. 19n. 95e. 67 =kama=, burma. 26n. 96e. 67 [*]=kamagawa=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =kamaishi=, japan. 39n. 142e. 88 =kamamet=, haidarabad. 17n. 80e. 62 =kamaran island=, red sea. 15n. 43e. 44 =kambangan=, java. 8s. 109e. 76 =kambing, port=, east indies. 8s. 125e. 75 =kametsu=, lu-chu islands. 28n. 129e. 89 =kamitsu shima=, japan. 34n. 139e. 91 =kamla river=, bengal. 26n. 87e. 61 =kamok=, punjab. 32n. 74e. 58 =kamon-taung=, burma. 26n. 97e. 67 =kampali=, haidarabad. 15n. 77e. 62 =kampang=, siam. 16n. 100e. 70 =kamparg=, siam. 17n. 99e. 70 =kampot=, indo-china. 11n. 104e. 71 =kamta=, bombay. 14n. 74e. 57 =kamtchatka=, siberia. 58n. 160e. 95 =kamtchatka, g. of=, siberia. 55n. 163e. 95 =kamthi=, central provinces. 21n. 79e. 60 =kamuizaki=, japan. 43n. 140e. 88 =kanah=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 13 =kanah, brook=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =kanazawa=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =kanburi=, siam. 14n. 100e. 71 =kan-chau=, china. 26n. 115e. 85 =kanchinjinga, mt.=, sikkim. 28n. 88e. 61 [*]=kandahar=, afghanistan. 32n. 66e. 45 [*]=kandy=, ceylon. 7n. 81e. 63 =kanga=, malay peninsula. 6n. 100e. 68 =kangall=, turkey in asia. 39n. 37e. 46 =kangawa=, japan. 35n. 140e. 91 =kangean island=, e. indies. 7s. 115e. 76 =kang-ge=, korea. 41n. 126e. 90 [*]=kang-hwa=, korea. 38n. 127e. 90 [*]=kang-ping=, china. 43n. 123e. 83 =kangra=, punjab. 32n. 76e. 58 =kang-seng=, korea. 38n. 128e. 90 =kang-wen=, korea. 37n. 128e. 90 =kani=, burma. 22n. 95e. 67 =kanigurum=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 70e. 58 =kankari=, asia minor. 41n. 34e. 46 =kankasanturia=, ceylon. 10n. 80e. 63 =kanker=, central provs. 20n. 82e. 60 =kan-kiang river=, china. 27n. 115e. 85 =kankupa=, mysore. 15n. 76e. 62 =kanmitake=, japan. 42n. 143e. 88 =kan-ngen=, china. 19n. 109e. 84 =kanpetlet=, burma. 21n. 94e. 67 =kansaw=, burma. 25n. 96e. 67 =kan-su=, china. 36n. 105e. 82 =kan-tung-shan=, china. 31n. 116e. 85 =kanuma=, japan. 37n. 140e. 91 =kan-yu=, china. 35n. 119e. 83 =kao-chau=, china. 22n. 111e. 84 =kao kwang=, malay pen. 9n. 100e. 71 =kao luong=, malay peninsula. 8n. 99e. 71 =kao-mi=, china. 36n. 120e. 83 =kao-pan-tzu=, manchuria. 42n. 122e. 90 =kao prong=, malay peninsula. 9n. 99e. 71 =kao-yu-hu=, china. 33n. 119e. 83 =kapalu=, kashmir. 35n. 76e. 58 =kap-san=, korea. 41n. 128e. 90 =kapsi=, haidarabad. 19n. 77e. 62 =kapuas river=, east indies. 0. 110e. 74 =kara sea=, siberia. 73n. 65e. 94 =karaboghaz g.=, turkestan. 43n. 54e. 45 [*]=karachi=, sind. 25n. 67e. 59 =kara dagh=, asia minor. 37n. 33e. 46 =karadagh=, persia. 39n. 47 =karafuto island=, siberia. 50n. 143e. 95 =karaginski island=, siberia. 59n. 164e. 95 =kara hissar=, asia minor. 38n. 30e. 46 =karahissar=, turkey in asia. 40n. 39e. 47 =kara magora=, asia minor. 39n. 36e. 46 =karaman=, asia minor. 37n. 33e. 46 =karang=, java. 6s. 106e. 76 =karanpur=, punjab. 33n. 73e. 58 =karar=, bombay. 17n. 74e. 57 =kararizaki=, lu-chu island. 29n. 130e. 89 =karasu=, persia. 35n. 50e. 47 =kara su=, turkey in asia. 39n. 40e. 47 =karategin=, bokhara. 38n. 70e. 45 =karatsu=, japan. 33n. 130e. 89 =karauli=, rajputana. 26n. 77e. 59 =karenko=, formosa. 24n. 122e. 89 =karenni=, burma. 19n. 97e. 67 =kargil=, kashmir. 35n. 76e. 58 [*]=karikal=, madras. 11n. 80e. 63 =karimata is.=, east indies. 1s. 109e. 74 =karimnagar=, haidarabad. 18n. 79e. 62 =karimon java is.=, java. 6s. 110e. 76 =kariya=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =karkalinsk=, as. russia. 50n. 75e. 94 =karnal=, punjab. 30n. 77e. 58 =karnaphuti river=, burma. 22n. 92e. 61 =karnul=, madras. 16n. 78e. 62 =karpathos=, asia minor. 36n. 27e. 46 =karshi=, bokhara. 38n. 66e. 45 =karskaya gulf=, siberia. 69n. 68e. 94 =kartaksho=, kashmir. 35n. 76e. 58 [*]=karur=, madras. 11n. 78e. 63 =karwar=, bombay. 15n. 74e. 57 =kas, gulf of=, asia minor. 37n. 46 =kasai river=, bengal. 22n. 88e. 61 =kasaoka=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =kasara=, bombay. 20n. 74e. 57 =kashan=, persia. 34n. 52e. 45 =kashiwasaki=, japan. 37n. 139e. 91 [*]=kashmir=, kashmir. 34n. 75e. 58 =kashoto=, formosa. 22n. 121e. 89 =kasim=, arabia. 27n. 45e. 44 =kasmore=, sind. 28n. 70e. 59 =kasos=, asia minor. 35n. 27e. 46 =kasri-shirin=, persia. 35n. 46e. 47 =kassabi=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. 46 =kassot=, malay peninsula. 6n. 101e. 68 =kastamuni=, asia minor. 41n. 34e. 46 =kasukabe=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 [*]=kasur=, punjab. 31n. 75e. 58 =katapang=, east indies. 7s. 115e. 76 =katar=, sind. 27n. 69e. 59 =katar=, arabia. 25n. 51e. 45 =katarnai ghat=, united provs. 28n. 81e. 60 =katha=, burma. 24n. 96e. 67 =kathiawar pen.=, bombay. 22n. 71e. 56 =katiuchin bay=, siberia. 67n. 176e. 95 =katmandu=, nepal. 28n. 86e. 60 =katni=, central india. 24n. 80e. 60 =katolli=, rajputana. 26n. 76e. 59 =katsura=, japan. 35n. 140e. 91 =katsuyama=, japan. 36n. 137e. 91 =kattaria=, bombay. 23n. 71e. 56 =kauer=, east indies. 5s. 103e. 74 =kau-yu=, china. 33n. 120e. 83 =kawabe-shichi-to is.=, lu-chu is. 30n. 129e. 89 =kawachi=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =kawanoye=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =kawardha=, central provs. 22n. 81e. 60 =kawe=, burma. 24n. 95e. 67 =kawra=, bombay. 24n. 70e. 56 =kayeli=, east indies. 3s. 127e. 75 =kazbin=, persia. 37n. 50e. 47 =kazusa=, japan. 35n. 140e. 91 =kebao=, indo-china. 21n. 107e. 70 =kebatu island=, east indies. 4s. 108e. 76 =kebumen=, java. 8s. 110e. 76 =kechau river=, malay pen. 4n. 102e. 68 =kedah river=, malay pen. 6n. 100e. 68 =kedesh=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 =kediri=, java. 8s. 112e. 76 =kedron=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =kedu=, java. 7s. 110e. 76 =kega, cape=, indo-china. 11n. 108e. 71 =keilah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =kejeri=, bengal. 22n. 88e. 61 =kekri=, rajputana. 26n. 75e. 59 =kelantan=, malay peninsula. 5n. 102e. 68 =kelantan river=, malay pen. 6n. 102e. 68 =kelenderi=, asia minor. 36n. 33e. 46 =kelkit=, asia minor. 40n. 37e. 46 =ke-lung=, formosa. 25n. 122e. 89 =kema=, east indies. 2n. 125e. 75 =kemmarat=, siam. 16n. 105e. 70 =ken river=, united provinces. 26n. 80e. 60 =kendal=, java. 7s. 110e. 76 =kendari=, east indies. 4s. 122e. 74 =ken lao=, siam. 18n. 101e. 70 =kentei-alin=, manchuria. 45n. 130e. 90 =keonjurgurh=, bengal. 22n. 86e. 60 =kerama-shima=, lu-chu is. 26n. 127e. 89 =keramian is.=, east indies. 5s. 115e. 76 =kerasun=, asia minor. 41n. 39e. 47 =keratong=, malay peninsula. 3n. 103e. 69 [*]=kerbela=, turkey in asia. 33n. 44e. 47 =kerempeh cape=, asia minor. 42n. 33e. 46 =kerioth=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =kerkesiyeh=, turkey in asia. 35n. 40e. 47 =kerkhad=, persia. 32n. 48e. 47 [*]=kerkouk=, turkey in asia. 35n. 44e. 47 =kerman=, persia. 30n. 56e. 45 =kermanshad=, persia. 34n. 47 =kermes=, turkey in asia. 38n. 37e. 46 =keshin=, arabia. 15n. 52e. 45 =ketapang=, east indies. 2s. 110e. 74 =keum-kang-san=, korea. 38n. 128e. 90 =kevir=, persia. 35n. 55e. 45 =khabour=, turkey in asia. 36n. 41e. 47 [*]=khaibar pass=, afghanistan. 34n. 71e. 58 =khaiber=, arabia. 26n. 40e. 44 =khair=, haidarabad. 19n. 77e. 62 =khairagarh=, central provs. 21n. 81e. 60 =khairi=, bombay. 19n. 74e. 57 =khairpur=, sind. 27n. 69e. 59 =khakhi=, persia. 34n. 59e. 45 =khamar mts.=, mongolia. 44n. 120e. 83 =khamgaon=, berar. 20n. 77e. 60 =khamh-hoa=, indo-china. 12n. 109e. 71 =khamiab=, afghanistan. 37n. 66e. 45 =khamir=, arabia. 16n. 44 =kham-kheul=, indo-china. 18n. 104e. 70 =kham-num=, indo-china. 18n. 105e. 70 =kham-tong-lai=, indo-china. 16n. 106e. 70 =khana abasa=, mongolia. 44n. 115e. 83 =khandwa=, central provs. 22n. 76e. 60 =khanekin=, turkey in asia. 34n. 45e. 47 =khanewal=, punjab. 30n. 72e. 58 =khangarh=, punjab. 28n. 71e. 59 =khanpur=, punjab. 29n. 71e. 59 =kharaghova=, bombay. 23n. 72e. 56 =khara-mangnai lake=, inner mongolia. 40n. 108e. 82 =khara-morito=, inner mongolia. 40n. 105e. 82 =kharan=, baluchistan. 28n. 65e. 45 =khara-narin-ula=, inner mongolia. 41n. 106e. 82 =khara nor=, inner mongolia. 39n. 104e. 82 =khara-obo=, inner mongolia. 42n. 105e. 82 =kharapat=, burma. 24n. 94e. 67 =kharasom=, assam. 25n. 95e. 67 =kharbin=, manchuria. 46n. 127e. 90 =kharder=, punjab. 28n. 70e. 59 =kharfa=, arabia. 24n. 46e. 44 =khariar=, central provs. 20n. 83e. 60 =kharikar=, afghanistan. 35n. 69e. 45 =kharpat=, turkey in asia. 39n. 39e. 47 =kharroh=, sind. 27n. 70e. 59 =kharsawan=, bengal. 23n. 86e. 60 =khas=, indo-china. 14n. 108e. 71 =khasi hills=, assam. 26n. 92e. 61 =khatanga gulf=, siberia. 75n. 110e. 94 =khatanga, river=, siberia. 71n. 108e. 94 =khatangsk=, siberia. 72n. 102e. 94 =khatchi=, nepal. 28n. 83e. 60 =khatsir=, mongolia. 44n. 120e. 83 =khawak ft.=, afghanistan. 35n. 70e. 58 =khazr=, turkey in asia. 37n. 43e. 47 =khenka, lake=, siberia. 45n. 132e. 95 [*]=khios=, asia minor. 38n. 26e. 46 [*]=khiva=, turkestan. 42n. 60e. 45 =khobido daban=, mongolia. 44n. 117e. 83 =khoi=, persia. 39n. 45e. 47 =kholu=, baluchistan. 30n. 69e. 58 =khong=, indo-china. 14n. 106e. 71 =khongmalong=, burma. 27n. 98e. 67 =khora=, kashmir. 35n. 77e. 58 =khorasan=, persia. 34n. 59e. 45 =khoremabad=, persia. 34n. 47 =khost=, afghanistan. 33n. 70e. 58 =khuduluk=, mongolia. 44n. 118e. 83 =khulan-chen=, manchuria. 46n. 127e. 90 =khulm=, afghanistan. 37n. 68e. 45 =khurir=, bombay. 24n. 70e. 56 =khurkhu range=, inner mongolia. 43n. 105e. 82 =khusalgarh=, punjab. 34n. 72e. 58 =khyrpur=, punjab. 30n. 72e. 58 =ki=, china. 30n. 115e. 85 =ki=, china. 36n. 111e. 82 =ki=, china. 37n. 116e. 83 =ki=, china. 38n. 115e. 83 =ki=, china. 40n. 117e. 83 =ki island=, east indies. 6s. 133e. 75 =kia=, china. 38n. 110e. 82 =kia-hsing=, china. 31n. 121e. 85 =kiai=, china. 33n. 105e. 82 =kiai=, china. 35n. 111e. 82 [*]=kiakhta=, siberia. 50n. 107e. 94 =kiang=, china. 36n. 111e. 82 =kiang-hai=, siam. 20n. 100e. 70 =kiang-khan=, siam. 18n. 102e. 70 =kiang kheng=, burma. 21n. 101e. 67 =kiang-khong=, siam. 20n. 100e. 70 =kiang kwang=, indo-china. 19n. 103e. 70 =kiang-pei=, china. 30n. 106e. 84 =kiang-sen=, siam. 20n. 100e. 70 =kiang-shan=, china. 29n. 119e. 85 =kiang-si=, china. 27n. 116e. 85 =kiang-su=, china. 33n. 120e. 83 =kiang-tan-ho river=, china. 29n. 108e. 84 =kiang tung=, burma. 21n. 100e. 67 =kiao-chau=, china. 36n. 120e. 83 =kiao-chau bay=, china. 36n. 120e. 83 =kia-ting=, china. 30n. 104e. 84 =kia-ting-kiang r.=, china. 31n. 106e. 84 =kia-ying=, china. 24n. 116e. 85 =kidarnath mt.=, united provs. 31n. 79e. 60 =kidzuki=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =kien=, china. 32n. 106e. 84 =kien=, china. 34n. 108e. 82 =kien-chang=, china. 27n. 117e. 85 =kien-chang=, china. 29n. 116e. 85 =kien-chang=, china. 41n. 119e. 83 =kien-chau=, china. 28n. 109e. 84 =kien-ning=, china. 27n. 118e. 85 =kien-shi=, china. 31n. 110e. 84 =kien-te=, china. 30n. 117e. 85 =kien-yang=, china. 27n. 118e. 85 =kie-shi=, china. 23n. 116e. 85 =kii=, japan. 34n. 136e. 91 =kii chan=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =ki-kiang=, china. 29n. 107e. 84 =kil-ju=, korea. 41n. 129e. 90 =ki-men=, china. 30n. 118e. 85 =kin-chang-kau=, china. 42n. 120e. 83 =kin-chau=, china. 22n. 108e. 84 =kin-chau=, china. 41n. 121e. 83 =kin-chau=, manchuria. 39n. 121e. 90 =kindat=, burma. 24n. 95e. 67 =king=, china. 35n. 107e. 82 =king=, china. 38n. 116e. 83 =king island=, burma. 12n. 98e. 71 =kinga, cape=, siberia. 63n. 180e. 95 =ki-ngan=, china. 27n. 115e. 85 =king-chau=, china. 30n. 112e. 84 =king-men=, china. 31n. 112e. 84 [*]=king-te-shen=, china. 29n. 117e. 85 =king-yang=, china. 36n. 108e. 82 =king-yuen=, china. 24n. 108e. 84 =kin-hwa=, china. 29n. 120e. 85 =kinibalu mt.=, east indies. 6n. 116e. 74 =kin-kiang river=, china. 28n. 117e. 85 =kinkwazan=, japan. 38n. 142e. 88 =kinsan=, afghanistan. 33n. 67e. 58 =kinta s.=, malay peninsula. 4n. 101e. 68 =kioga cape=, japan. 36n. 135e. 91 =kiong-heung=, korea. 42n. 130e. 90 [*]=kioto=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =kirenga, river=, siberia. 58n. 108e. 94 =kirensk=, siberia. 58n. 108e. 94 =kirin=, manchuria. 44n. 127e. 90 =kirin=, manchuria. 45n. 128e. 90 =kirishima=, japan. 32n. 132e. 89 =kir moab=, palestine. 31n. 36e. 12 =kisanto=, formosa. 25n. 122e. 89 =kishangarh=, rajputana. 27n. 75e. 59 =kishangarh=, rajputana. 28n. 71e. 59 =kishani river=, afghanistan. 32n. 67e. 58 =kishen river=, kashmir. 34n. 74e. 58 =kishim island=, persia. 26n. 56e. 45 =kishinowada=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =kishnagherry=, madras. 13n. 78e. 63 [*]=kishon, river=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =ki-shui=, china. 27n. 115e. 85 =kislim is.=, persian gulf. 27n. 56e. 45 =kisogawa=, japan. 36n. 138e. 91 =kissengunge=, bengal. 26n. 88e. 61 =kistawar=, kashmir. 33n. 76e. 58 =kitab=, bokhara. 39n. 67e. 45 =kitakami=, japan. 40n. 141e. 88 =kit-tha-reng=, burma. 12n. 99e. 71 =kitur=, bombay. 16n. 75e. 57 =kiu-chau=, china. 29n. 119e. 85 =kiu-kiang=, china. 30n. 116e. 85 =kiu-kung-shan=, china. 29n. 115e. 85 =kiu-lung-kiang r.=, china. 24n. 118e. 85 =kiung-chau=, china. 20n. 111e. 84 =kiyamuzaki=, lu-chu is. 26n. 128e. 89 =kizil arvat=, turkestan. 39n. 56e. 45 =kizil irmak r.=, asia minor. 40n. 34e. 46 =kizil uzen=, persia. 37n. 48e. 47 =klaung pak-chau r.=, burma. 10n. 99e. 71 =klong doang=, malay pen. 8n. 99e. 71 [*]=kobe=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =kochi=, japan. 34n. 133e. 91 =kodaka=, japan. 38n. 141e. 91 =koemari=, ceylon. 7n. 82e. 63 =kofu=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =koga=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =kohat=, n.w. frontier provs. 34n. 71e. 58 =koh chang=, siam. 12n. 102e. 71 =koh gram=, malay pen. 10n. 100e. 71 =koh kong=, indo-china. 11n. 103e. 71 =koh kut=, siam. 12n. 103e. 71 =koh pennan=, malay pen. 10n. 100e. 71 =koh rong=, indo-china. 11n. 103e. 71 =koh samuie=, malay pen. 9n. 100e. 71 =koh si-chang=, siam. 13n. 101e. 71 =koh tang=, indo-china. 10n. 103e. 71 =koh tau=, malay peninsula. 10n. 100e. 71 =koh tron=, indo-china. 10n. 104e. 71 =koilah=, rajputana. 28n. 73e. 59 =koilkonda=, haidarabad. 17n. 78e. 62 =ko-je-do=, korea. 35n. 129e. 90 =kokan=, turkestan. 40n. 71e. 45 =kokarit=, burma. 17n. 98e. 67 =kokelay=, ceylon. 9n. 81e. 63 =koktechavsk=, as. russia. 53n. 69e. 94 =kokura=, japan. 34n. 131e. 89 =kolaba=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 =ko-lan=, china. 39n. 112e. 82 =kolapur=, bombay. 17n. 74e. 57 [*]=kolar=, mysore. 13n. 78e. 63 =kolima mts.=, siberia. 64n. 158e. 95 =kolima river=, siberia. 69n. 162e. 95 =kolleru lake=, madras. 17n. 81e. 62 =komagatahe=, japan. 36n. 138e. 91 =komatsu=, japan. 36n. 136e. 91 =komchuk=, china. 23n. 113e. 85 =komodo is.=, east indies. 8s. 120e. 74 =kompong-chenang=, indo-china. 12n. 105e. 71 =kompong thom=, indo-china. 13n. 105e. 71 =komta=, central provs. 22n. 80e. 60 =ko-mung b.=, indo-china. 14n. 109e. 71 =konadah=, madras. 18n. 84e. 62 =konda=, kashmir. 35n. 75e. 58 [*]=kondapalli=, madras. 17n. 81e. 62 =kong-ju=, korea. 36n. 127e. 90 =kong-mun=, china. 22n. 113e. 85 [*]=konieh=, asia minor. 38n. 33e. 46 =kon-ken=, siam. 16n. 103e. 70 =kon-tum=, indo-china. 14n. 108e. 71 =kopah=, malay peninsula. 9n. 98e. 71 =kopah inlet=, malay pen. 9n. 98e. 71 =kopal=, asiatic russia. 45n. 80e. 94 =korat=, siam. 15n. 102e. 71 =korea=, bengal. 23n. 82e. 60 =korea strait=, japan. 34n. 130e. 89 =korean archipelago=, korea. 34n. 127e. 90 =korido=, east indies. 1s. 135e. 75 =korinar=, bombay. 21n. 71e. 56 =korinchi mt.=, east indies. 2s. 101e. 74 [*]=kos=, asia minor. 37n. 27e. 46 =koshab=, turkey in asia. 39n. 43e. 47 =koshi river=, bengal. 25n. 87e. 61 =koshiki-shima=, japan. 32n. 130e. 89 =koshun=, formosa. 21n. 121e. 89 =kota bharu=, malay pen. 6n. 101e. 68 =kotah=, rajputana. 25n. 76e. 59 =kotaintan=, sumatra. 1n. 100e. 69 =kota jalor=, malay peninsula. 7n. 101e. 68 =kotakara=, lu-chu island. 30n. 130e. 89 =kota krunei=, malay pen. 6n. 101e. 68 =kotal=, punjab. 30n. 67e. 58 =kota pana=, malay peninsula. 5n. 103e. 68 =kotar=, united provinces. 28n. 80e. 60 =kota raja=, east indies. 5n. 95e. 74 =kota tek=, malay peninsula. 4n. 102e. 68 =kotelroi island=, siberia. 75n. 140e. 95 =kothupilli=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 =kotiam=, madras. 10n. 76e. 63 =kotli=, kashmir. 34n. 74e. 58 =kotour=, turkey in asia. 39n. 44e. 47 =kotri=, sind. 25n. 68e. 59 =kotsuke=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =kottur=, madras. 15n. 76e. 62 =kouznitz=, siberia. 54n. 83e. 94 =kow=, malay peninsula. 7n. 101e. 68 =koweit=, arabia. 29n. 48e. 44 =kowlas=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. 62 =kra=, malay peninsula. 11n. 99e. 71 =kra, isthmus of=, malay pen. 10n. 99e. 71 =krakatoa is.=, east indies. 6s. 105e. 74 =kranji=, malay peninsula. 1n. 104e. 69 =krasnoiarsk=, siberia. 56n. 93e. 94 =krasnovodsk=, turkestan. 40n. 53e. 45 =krat=, siam. 12n. 102e. 71 =kratie=, indo-china. 12n. 106e. 71 =krawang=, java. 6s. 107e. 76 =krian river=, malay pen. 5n. 100e. 68 =krio cape=, asia minor. 36n. 27e. 46 =krishna river=, madras. 16n. 81e. 62 =krishnagar=, bengal. 23n. 89e. 61 =kronotski, cape=, siberia. 54n. 163e. 95 =krusenstern strait=, japan. 34n. 130e. 89 =ku=, china. 31n. 107e. 84 =ku=, china. 36n. 119e. 83 =kua bassac r.=, indo-china. 10n. 106e. 71 =kua ham-long r.=, indo-china. 10n. 107e. 71 =kua ko-kien r.=, indo-china. 10n. 107e. 71 =kuala kangsar=, malay pen. 5n. 101e. 68 =kuala klang=, malay pen. 3n. 101e. 69 =kuala klawang=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =kuala kubu=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =kuala lipis=, malay pen. 4n. 102e. 68 =kuala lumpur=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =kuala pilah=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =kuala semantan=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =kuala sembrong=, malay pen. 2n. 104e. 69 =kuantan river=, malay pen. 4n. 103e. 69 =kubaritake=, japan. 43n. 142e. 88 =kubessa=, turkey in asia. 34n. 43e. 47 =kuchaman road=, rajputana. 27n. 75e. 59 =kuch behar=, bengal. 26n. 90e. 61 =kuching=, east indies. 2n. 110e. 74 =kuchino-erabu-shima=, japan. 30n. 130e. 89 =kuchino-shima=, japan. 30n. 130e. 89 =kuchinotsu=, japan. 33n. 130e. 89 =kudo-khuduk=, inner mongolia. 41n. 104e. 82 =kudri mukh=, madras. 13n. 75e. 63 =ku-fau=, china. 36n. 117e. 83 =kuhak=, persia. 27n. 62e. 45 =ku-ho river=, china. 31n. 107e. 84 =kuiten, mount=, china. 42n. 114e. 83 =kui-ting-shan mt.=, china. 32n. 104e. 84 =kuji=, japan. 40n. 142e. 88 =kuju-san=, japan. 33n. 131e. 89 =ku-kan=, siam. 14n. 104e. 71 =ku-la-dan=, burma. 21n. 93e. 67 =ku-la-dan river=, burma. 20n. 93e. 67 =kulna=, bengal. 23n. 90e. 61 =ku-lu-shan=, china. 41n. 114e. 83 =kum=, persia. 35n. 51e. 45 =kumai=, borneo. 3s. 112e. 76 =kumai bay=, borneo. 3s. 112e. 76 =kumalmer=, rajputana. 25n. 74e. 59 =kumamoto=, japan. 33n. 131e. 89 =kumanogawa=, japan. 34n. 136e. 91 =kumbakonam=, madras. 11n. 79e. 63 =kume-shima=, lu-chu is. 26n. 127e. 89 =kumisheh=, persia. 32n. 52e. 45 =kumple=, madras. 13n. 75e. 63 =kumpol=, borneo. 3s. 110e. 76 =kumpu-wapi=, siam. 17n. 103e. 70 =kun=, china. 33n. 112e. 82 =kundgol=, bombay. 15n. 76e. 62 =kunduz=, afghanistan. 36n. 69e. 45 =kung-chang=, china. 35n. 105e. 82 =kungit island=, east indies. 4s. 116e. 76 =kun-kiang river=, korea. 36n. 127e. 90 =kunlong=, burma. 23n. 99e. 67 =kun-lun-shan=, china. 37n. 121e. 83 =kunsan=, korea. 36n. 127e. 90 =kupang=, east indies. 10s. 124e. 75 =ku-pei-kou=, china. 41n. 117e. 83 =kuram=, afghanistan. 34n. 70e. 58 =kuram ft.=, n.w. frontier provs. 34n. 70e. 58 =kuram pass=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 71e. 58 =kuram r.=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 71e. 58 =kurd dagh=, turkey in asia. 37n. 37e. 46 =kurdistan=, turkey in asia. 38n. 43e. 47 =kurdo=, inner mongolia. 42n. 104e. 82 =kure=, japan. 34n. 133e. 91 =kuren=, persia. 31n. 49e. 47 =kurhurbari=, bengal. 24n. 86e. 61 =kurgan=, siberia. 55n. 65e. 94 =kuri river=, rajputana. 26n. 75e. 59 =kuria muria is.=, arabia. 18n. 56e. 45 =kurigram river=, bengal. 26n. 90e. 61 =kurmegala=, ceylon. 7n. 80e. 63 =kurna=, turkey in asia. 31n. 47 =kurohane=, japan. 37n. 140e. 91 =kuroshima=, japan. 31n. 130e. 89 =kurtle strait=, siberia. 51n. 157e. 95 =kurume=, japan. 33n. 131e. 89 =kushiro=, japan. 43n. 144e. 88 =kushiro=, japan. 43n. 145e. 88 =kushiro, lake=, japan. 43n. 144e. 88 =kushk=, afghanistan. 35n. 62e. 45 =kushkan=, persia. 31n. 56e. 45 =kushkizerd=, persia. 31n. 52e. 45 =kusupchi sands=, inner mongolia. 40n. 108e. 82 =kutaya=, asia minor. 39n. 50e. 46 =kutei river=, east indies. 1n. 116e. 74 =ku-tsing=, china. 25n. 104e. 84 =kuwana=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =ku-wu=, china. 36n. 111e. 82 =ku-yuen=, china. 36n. 106e. 82 =kwa=, burma. 18n. 94e. 67 =kwa=, indo-china. 21n. 102e. 70 =kwala banka=, sumatra. 2n. 101e. 69 =kwalu river=, sumatra. 3n. 100e. 69 =kwan=, china. 31n. 104e. 84 =kwang=, china. 32n. 115e. 83 =kwang-binh-dinh=, indo-china. 18n. 107e. 70 =kwang-chau-wan b.=, china. 21n. 111e. 84 =kwang-hai=, china. 22n. 113e. 85 =kwang-hsin=, china. 28n. 118e. 85 =kwang-ju=, korea. 35n. 127e. 90 =kwang-kiang r.=, china. 26n. 115e. 85 =kwang-nam=, indo-china. 16n. 108e. 70 =kwang-nan=, china. 24n. 105e. 84 =kwang-ngai=, indo-china. 15n. 109e. 70 =kwang-ping=, china. 37n. 115e. 83 =kwang-si=, china. 24n. 109e. 84 =kwang-suong=, indo-china. 20n. 106e. 70 =kwang-te=, china. 31n. 120e. 85 =kwang-tsi=, china. 30n. 116e. 85 =kwang-tu=, indo-china. 17n. 107e. 70 =kwang-tung=, china. 23n. 114e. 85 =kwang-tung pen.=, china. 39n. 121e. 83 =kwang-yuen=, china. 32n. 106e. 82 =kwan-tien=, manchuria. 41n. 125e. 90 =kwei=, china. 23n. 110e. 84 =kwei=, china. 31n. 111e. 84 =kwei-chau=, china. 27n. 107e. 84 =kwei-chau=, china. 31n. 110e. 84 =kwei-kiang river=, china. 24n. 111e. 84 =kwei-kwa-cheng=, china. 41n. 112e. 82 =kwei-lin=, china. 25n. 111e. 84 =kwei-tung=, china. 26n. 114e. 85 =kwei-yang=, china. 26n. 107e. 84 =kwi=, korea. 37n. 127e. 90 =kwi-chu=, indo-china. 19n. 105e. 70 =kyan-kin=, burma. 18n. 95e. 67 =kyauk-chaing-gale=, burma. 17n. 95e. 67 =kyaukkyi=, burma. 19n. 97e. 67 =kyauk-pyu=, burma. 19n. 94e. 67 =kyaukse=, burma. 22n. 96e. 67 =kyauktaga=, burma. 18n. 97e. 67 =kyeng-ju=, korea. 36n. 129e. 90 =kyeng-san, north=, korea. 36n. 128e. 90 =kyeng-san, south=, korea. 35n. 128e. 90 =kyeng-seng=, korea. 42n. 130e. 90 =kyithi bansan=, burma. 22n. 98e. 67 =kyondon=, burma. 16n. 95e. 67 =labot mt.=, philippine is. 14n. 123e. 77 =labuan batu=, sumatra. 2n. 100e. 69 =labuan bilik=, sumatra. 2n. 100e. 69 =labuan is.=, east indies. 5n. 115e. 74 =lachish=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =lacon bight=, malay pen. 8n. 100e. 71 =ladak=, kashmir. 34n. 78e. 58 =ladik=, asia minor. 38n. 32e. 46 =ladno=, rajputana. 28n. 74e. 59 =ladrone is.=, east indies. 17n. 143e. 75 =lagree peak=, indo-china. 15n. 106e. 70 =la-han=, indo-china. 20n. 102e. 70 =lahijan=, persia. 37n. 50e. 45 [*]=lahore=, punjab. 32n. 74e. 58 =lai-chau=, china. 37n. 120e. 83 =lai-chou=, indo-china. 22n. 103e. 70 =lai-feng=, china. 29n. 109e. 84 =laish=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 =lai-yang=, china. 37n. 121e. 83 =lakam=, kashmir. 34n. 78e. 58 =lakhon=, siam. 17n. 105e. 70 =lakhone=, siam. 18n. 100e. 70 =lakhpat=, bombay. 24n. 69e. 56 =laki=, sind. 26n. 68e. 59 =laki river=, baluchistan. 30n. 68e. 58 =lala musa=, punjab. 33n. 74e. 58 =lalang=, sumatra. 1n. 102e. 69 =lalin=, manchuria. 45n. 127e. 90 =la-lin-ho river=, manchuria. 45n. 126e. 90 =lallatpur=, central provs. 25n. 78e. 60 =lambay island=, formosa. 22n. 120e. 89 =lamloam=, turkey in asia. 32n. 45e. 47 =lamotrek=, east indies. 7n. 145e. 75 =lampun=, siam. 19n. 99e. 70 =lamu=, burma. 19n. 94e. 67 =lanao lake, mindanao=, philippine is. 8n. 124e. 77 =lan-chau=, china. 36n. 104e. 82 =lancon=, malay peninsula. 8n. 100e. 71 =lang bian=, indo-china. 12n. 108e. 71 =langdao=, burma. 27n. 98e. 67 =langlam mts.=, burma. 28n. 97e. 67 =lang-shan=, inner mongolia. 41n. 107e. 82 [*]=lang-son=, indo-china. 22n. 107e. 70 =lang-suan=, malay pen. 10n. 99e. 71 =lang xuyen=, indo-china. 10n. 105e. 71 =lan-ha-ho=, china. 43n. 121e. 83 =lanjut=, malay peninsula. 2n. 103e. 69 =lan-shan=, china. 25n. 112e. 84 =lan-tien=, china. 34n. 109e. 82 =lan-tsi-kala=, china. 42n. 118e. 83 =lan-yi island=, china. 25n. 120e. 85 =lao-chang-ho=, china. 38n. 117e. 83 =lao-ho=, china. 32n. 112e. 82 =lao-kay=, indo-china. 22n. 104e. 70 =laos=, indo-china. 19n. 103e. 70 =laos, west=, siam. 19n. 99e. 70 =lao-shan bay=, china. 36n. 121e. 83 =la perouse strait=, japan. 45n. 142e. 88 =lappa=, china. 22n. 114e. 85 =lar=, persia. 27n. 54e. 45 =lara river=, afghanistan. 32n. 67e. 58 =larantuca=, east indies. 8s. 121e. 74 =larkhana=, sind. 27n. 68e. 59 =lash=, afghanistan. 31n. 62e. 45 =lashio=, burma. 23n. 98e. 67 =las islas b.=, philippine is. 9n. 123e. 77 =lauag=, philippine islands. 18n. 121e. 77 =laut=, east indies. 4s. 116e. 76 =laut island=, east indies. 4s. 116e. 74 =laut kechil is.=, east indies. 5s. 116e. 76 =laut strait=, borneo. 4s. 116e. 76 =lawn mountain=, java. 8s. 111e. 76 =lay, cape=, indo-china. 17n. 107e. 70 =lay-thuy=, indo-china. 17n. 107e. 70 =lazistan=, asia minor. 41n. 40e. 47 [*]=lebanon, mounts.=, palestine. 34n. 36e. 12 =lebeh river=, malay pen. 6n. 102e. 68 =lebonah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =lebos=, asia minor. 39n. 26e. 46 =ledo=, assam. 27n. 96e. 67 =ledung bay=, sumatra. 3n. 100e. 69 =legeh=, malay peninsula. 6n. 102e. 68 =le-gnya=, burma. 11n. 99e. 71 =legya=, burma. 21n. 98e. 67 [*]=leh=, kashmir. 34n. 78e. 58 [*]=leiah=, punjab. 31n. 71e. 58 =lei-chau=, china. 21n. 110e. 84 =lei-chau peninsula=, china. 21n. 110e. 84 =lei-po=, china. 28n. 104e. 84 =lei-yang=, china. 26n. 113e. 85 =lem kolang puk=, malay pen. 8n. 100e. 71 =lemnos=, asia minor. 40n. 25e. 46 =le-mro river=, burma. 20n. 94e. 67 =le-myet-hua=, burma. 18n. 95e. 67 =len=, siam. 19n. 101e. 70 =lena river=, siberia. 73n. 128e. 95 =lenga=, malay peninsula. 2n. 103e. 69 =leontes river=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =leo porgial mt.=, kashmir. 32n. 78e. 58 =leros=, asia minor. 37n. 27e. 46 =leyte island=, philippine is. 11n. 125e. 77 =lhasa=, tibet. 31n. 91e. 61 =li=, china. 34n. 105e. 82 =lia-chau bay=, china. 38n. 119e. 83 =liakov island=, siberia. 76n. 148e. 95 =liangan=, philippine islands. 9n. 126e. 77 =liant, cape=, siam. 13n. 101e. 71 =liao-ho=, china. 42n. 123e. 83 =liao-tie-shan chan=, china. 39n. 121e. 83 =liao-tung=, manchuria. 40n. 123e. 90 =liao-yang=, manchuria. 41n. 123e. 90 =lien=, china. 25n. 113e. 85 =lien river=, china. 28n. 112e. 84 =lien-chau=, china. 21n. 109e. 84 =lien-hwa=, china. 26n. 114e. 85 =lien-kiang=, china. 26n. 120e. 85 =lien-ping=, china. 24n. 114e. 85 =lien-shan=, china. 25n. 112e. 84 =ligor, isthmus of=, malay pen. 8n. 100e. 71 =lilma=, rajputana. 26n. 70e. 59 =li-ma island=, china. 22n. 114e. 85 =limri=, bombay. 23n. 72e. 56 =lin=, china. 38n. 111e. 82 =linao b.=, philippine islands. 7e. 124e. 77 =linapacan=, philippine is. 11n. 120e. 77 =linawara=, bombay. 23n. 74e. 56 =lindsay=, east indies. 20n. 140e. 75 =ling=, china. 26n. 114e. 85 =ling=, china. 38n. 106e. 82 =linga island=, east indies. 0. 105e. 74 =lingah=, persia. 26n. 55e. 45 =lingayen=, philippine is. 16n. 120e. 77 =lingayen b.=, philippine is. 16n. 120e. 77 =ling-kiang river=, china. 29n. 111e. 84 =ling-shui=, china. 19n. 110e. 84 =ling-shui bay=, china. 19n. 110e. 84 =lingsugur=, haidarabad. 16n. 77e. 62 =ling-tsing=, china. 37n. 116e. 83 =lin-kao=, china. 20n. 110e. 84 =linkhera=, bombay. 23n. 74e. 56 =lin-kiang=, china. 28n. 115e. 85 =linping=, china. 31n. 120e. 85 =lio-yang=, china. 33n. 106e. 82 =li-ping=, china. 26n. 109e. 84 =li-po=, china. 25n. 108e. 84 =li-shin river=, china. 29n. 112e. 84 =liu-chau=, china. 24n. 109e. 84 =liu-kiang river=, china. 25n. 109e. 84 =liu kiu is.=, east indies. 25n. 126e. 75 =liu-ngan=, china. 32n. 116e. 85 =liu-pa=, china. 34n. 107e. 82 =liu-pin pass=, china. 35n. 106e. 82 =liu-pin-shan=, china. 36n. 106e. 82 =llao-hsi=, china. 41n. 121e. 83 =lo-cheng=, china. 25n. 109e. 84 =lo-chwan=, china. 36n. 109e. 82 =lodhran=, punjab. 30n. 72e. 58 =loey=, siam. 18n. 102e. 70 =lo-fu=, china. 25n. 107e. 84 =lohaia=, arabia. 16n. 43e. 44 =lo-ho=, china. 35n. 109e. 82 =lo-ho=, china. 35n. 112e. 82 =loikaw=, burma. 20n. 97e. 67 =lo-jung=, china. 24n. 110e. 84 =lo-ling=, china. 38n. 117e. 83 =lo-ma-hu=, china. 34n. 118e. 83 =lomblen is.=, east indies. 8s. 123e. 75 =lombok=, east indies. 9s. 116e. 74 =lombok strait=, east indies. 9s. 116e. 76 =lo-min=, china. 21n. 110e. 84 =londa=, bombay. 16n. 74e. 57 =londang=, malay peninsula. 2n. 103e. 69 =long island=, east indies. 5s. 147e. 75 =long strait=, siberia. 70n. 180e. 95 =lopatka, cape=, siberia. 51n. 157e. 95 =lopburi=, siam. 15n. 101e. 71 =lo-ping=, china. 25n. 104e. 84 =lora river=, afghanistan. 30n. 65e. 45 =loralai=, punjab. 30n. 69e. 58 =lord north is.=, east indies. 4n. 131e. 75 =los jardines=, east indies. 22n. 150e. 75 =loth=, arabia. 20n. 41e. 44 =lo-ting=, china. 23n. 111e. 84 =lo-ting=, china. 39n. 119e. 83 =lo-to-kan-tsze=, manchuria. 44n. 129e. 90 =loughborough is.=, burma. 10n. 98e. 71 =lu=, china. 29n. 106e. 84 =lu=, china. 36n. 113e. 83 =luang prabang=, indo-china. 20n. 102e. 70 =lubang is.=, philippine is. 14n. 120e. 77 =lubok serampang=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =lubuk batu=, sumatra. 1n. 101e. 69 =lu-chau=, china. 32n. 117e. 85 =luckimpur=, assam. 27n. 94e. 67 [*]=lucknow=, united provs. 27n. 81e. 60 =ludhiana=, punjab. 31n. 76e. 58 =lu-feng=, china. 23n. 116e. 85 =lughi=, indo-china. 11n. 108e. 71 =lulfabad=, persia. 37n. 59e. 45 =lumut=, malay peninsula. 4n. 101e. 68 =lung-chau=, china. 22n. 107e. 84 =lung-ching-tsun=, manchuria. 43n. 128e. 90 =lung-kiang river=, china. 24n. 109e. 84 =lung-kou=, china. 38n. 120e. 83 =lung-men=, china. 36n. 110e. 82 =lung-men=, china. 24n. 114e. 85 =lung-men-kau=, china. 35n. 115e. 83 =lung-ngan=, china. 32n. 104e. 82 =lungu=, malay peninsula. 7n. 100e. 68 =lung-yen=, china. 25n. 117e. 85 =luni river=, rajputana. 25n. 71e. 59 =lunkaransar=, rajputana. 29n. 74e. 59 =luristan=, persia. 34n. 47 =lushai hills=, burma. 24n. 93e. 61 =lu-shan mountain=, china. 29n. 116e. 85 =lu-shi=, china. 34n. 111e. 82 =lusi=, java. 7s. 111e. 76 =lut desert=, persia. 31n. 58e. 45 =lu-tien=, china. 27n. 104e. 84 =luzon=, philippine islands. 16n. 121e. 77 =lwan=, china. 40n. 119e. 83 =lwan-ho=, china. 41n. 117e. 83 =lyallpur=, punjab. 31n. 73e. 58 =lydda=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =macajalar b.=, philippine is. 9n. 125e. 77 [*]=macao=, china. 22n. 114e. 85 =macassar=, east indies. 5s. 119e. 74 =macassar, str. of=, e. indies. 0. 119e. 74 =mccluer inlet=, east indies. 2s. 131e. 75 =mach=, baluchistan. 30n. 67e. 58 =mackau island=, korea. 35n. 125e. 90 =macton is.=, philippine is. 10n. 124e. 77 =madawatchi=, ceylon. 9n. 80e. 63 =madeya=, burma. 22n. 96e. 67 =madgiri=, mysore. 14n. 77e. 63 =madhawipalem=, madras. 16n. 82e. 62 =madhupur=, bengal. 24n. 87e. 61 =madinn=, java. 8s. 112e. 76 [*]=madras=, madras. 13n. 80e. 63 =madura=, madras. 10n. 78e. 63 =madura=, java. 7s. 113e. 76 =madura strait=, java. 7s. 113e. 76 =magahan=, rajputana. 29n. 74e. 59 =magdala=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =maghribi=, sind. 24n. 68e. 59 =magwe=, burma. 20n. 95e. 67 =mahamonec=, burma. 21n. 93e. 67 =mahanadi river=, bengal. 20n. 86e. 60 =mahanaim=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =mahavilla river=, ceylon. 8n. 81e. 63 =mahbubnagar=, haidarabad. 17n. 78e. 62 =mahdi river=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 [*]=mahe=, madras. 12n. 76e. 63 =mahim=, bombay. 20n. 73e. 57 =mahore=, haidarabad. 20n. 78e. 62 =mahran=, persia. 35n. 49e. 47 =maia river=, siberia. 58n. 136e. 95 =maiaco=, east indies. 25n. 124e. 75 =mai-ko river=, manchuria. 46n. 129e. 90 =maimana=, afghanistan. 36n. 65e. 45 =maing-kaing=, burma. 22n. 98e. 67 =maingkat=, burma. 23n. 98e. 67 =maingkyeng=, burma. 23n. 99e. 67 =maing-long=, burma. 23n. 97e. 67 =maingma=, burma. 23n. 98e. 67 =maingnaung=, burma. 22n. 98e. 67 =maingpan=, burma. 20n. 99e. 67 =maingpat=, burma. 23n. 98e. 67 =maingpon=, burma. 21n. 98e. 67 =maingpyin=, burma. 21n. 97e. 67 =maingsat=, burma. 21n. 99e. 67 =maingshu=, burma. 22n. 99e. 67 =mainpuri=, united provs. 27n. 79e. 60 =maisana=, bombay. 23n. 72e. 56 =makallah=, arabia. 15n. 49e. 44 =makhlaf=, arabia. 18n. 45e. 44 =makhowal=, punjab. 31n. 76e. 58 =ma-kia-ho=, china. 38n. 118e. 83 =makkarinupuri=, japan. 42n. 141e. 88 =makrai=, central provs. 22n. 78e. 60 =makri=, asia minor. 36n. 29e. 46 =maktal=, haidarabad. 17n. 77e. 62 =maku=, persia. 39n. 45e. 47 =makum=, assam. 28n. 96e. 67 =malabar=, java. 7s. 107e. 76 =malabar coast=, madras. 12n. 75e. 63 =malacca=, malay peninsula. 2n. 102e. 69 =malacca strait=, e. indies. 3n. 100e. 74 =malakand=, n.w. frontier provs. 35n.72e. 58 =malakwal=, punjab. 32n. 73e. 58 =malalayor, cape=, borneo. 4s. 114e. 76 =malampaya b.= (=palawan is.=), philippine islands. 11n. 119e. 77 =malang=, java. 8s. 113e. 76 =malanud kot=, punjab. 30n. 71e. 58 [*]=malatiyeh=, turkey in asia. 38n. 38e. 47 =malay pen.=, east indies. 10n. 100e. 74 =mal bazar=, bengal. 27n. 89e. 61 =maldah=, bengal. 25n. 88e. 61 =male=, burma. 23n. 96e. 67 =maler katla=, punjab. 31n. 76e. 58 =malhou is.=, philippine is. 11n. 124e. 77 =mali-kha river=, burma. 26n. 98e. 67 =malin=, burma. 26n. 95e. 67 =malkher=, haidarabad. 17n. 77e. 62 =malki=, madras. 13n. 75e. 63 =mallia=, bombay. 23n. 71e. 56 =malligaum=, bombay. 21n. 75e. 56 =malucca passage=, e. indies. 0. 126e. 75 =malwan=, bombay. 16n. 73e. 57 =mamures=, turkey in asia. 39n. 39e. 47 =manaar=, ceylon. 9n. 80e. 63 =manaar, gulf of=, madras. 9n. 79e. 63 =manantaudi=, madras. 12n. 76e. 63 =manasseh=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =man-aung island=, burma. 19n. 94e. 67 =mancheri=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. 59 [*]=mandalay=, burma. 22n. 96e. 67 =mandan river=, sumatra. 1n. 102e. 69 =mandarin road=, indo-china. 17n. 107e. 70 =mandarin's cap.=, china. 21n. 113e. 84 =mandelika,= java. 6s. 111e. 76 =mandella=, borneo. 3s. 116e. 76 =mandlah=, central provs. 22n. 80e. 60 =mandvi=, bombay. 23n. 69e. 56 =mandwa=, bombay. 22n. 70e. 56 [*]=mangalore=, madras. 13n. 75e. 63 =mangalpur=, bombay. 21n. 70e. 56 =mangampet=, haidarabad. 18n. 80e. 62 =manikpur=, n.w. provinces. 25n. 82e. 60 [*]=manila=, philippine islands. 15n. 121e. 77 =manipur=, assam. 25n. 94e. 67 =manipur river=, burma. 24n. 94e. 67 [*]=manissa=, asia minor. 39n. 27e. 46 =maniyachi=, madras. 9n. 78e. 63 =manjerra r.=, haidarabad. 19n. 78e. 62 =mankera=, punjab. 31n. 71e. 58 =manmad=, bombay. 20n. 74e. 56 =mannagur=, haidarabad. 18n. 81e. 62 =mannargudi=, madras. 11n. 80e. 63 =mansak=, burma. 23n. 99e. 67 =mansaraur, lake=, thibet. 31n. 81e. 60 =mantalingajan mt.=, philippine is. 8n. 118e. 77 =mantotottama=, ceylon. 9n. 80e. 63 =manus island=, 2s. 146e. 75 =maon=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =mao-shan=, manchuria. 45n. 127e. 90 =maragah=, persia. 38n. 46e. 47 =marand=, persia. 39n. 46e. 47 =marash=, turkey in asia. 38n. 37e. 46 =marat=, rajputana. 27n. 75e. 59 =mardan=, n.w. frontier provs. 34n. 72e. 58 =mardin=, turkey in asia. 38n. 41e. 47 =mardodi=, haidarabad. 18n. 79e. 62 =marella=, madras. 15n. 80e. 62 =mareshah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =margaum=, bombay. 15n. 74e. 57 =margelan=, turkestan. 41n. 72e. 45 =mari=, punjab. 33n. 72e. 58 =mari river=, sind. 28n. 69e. 59 =mariani=, assam. 27n. 94e. 67 =marianne is.=, east indies. 17n. 143e. 75 =marianne strait=, e. indies. 8s. 139e. 75 =marikuppam=, mysore. 13n. 78e. 63 =marimsk=, siberia. 56n. 88e. 94 =marinduque is.=, philippine is. 13n. 122e. 77 =marmara, sea of=, asia minor. 41n. 28e. 46 =marmarice=, asia minor. 37n. 28e. 46 =marri country=, baluchistan. 30n. 68e. 58 =marshall is.=, east indies. 22n. 150e. 75 =marsiwan=, asia minor. 41n. 35e. 46 =martaban=, burma. 17n. 98e. 67 =martaban, gulf of=, burma. 16n. 97e. 67 =martapura=, borneo. 4s. 115e. 76 =marudha=, turkestan. 36n. 62e. 45 =marugame=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =marunsk=, siberia. 52n. 140e. 95 =marwar junc.=, rajputana. 26n. 74e. 59 =masada=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 13 =masampo=, korea. 35n. 128e. 90 =masbate is.=, philippine is. 12n. 124e. 77 =mascat=, arabia. 24n. 59e. 45 =mashake=, japan. 43n. 142e. 88 =mashaki=, afghanistan. 33n. 68e. 58 =mastung=, baluchistan. 30n. 67e. 58 [*]=masulipatam=, madras. 16n. 81e. 62 =mataram=, lombok. 8s. 116e. 76 =matella=, ceylon. 8n. 81e. 63 =ma-tien=, china. 36n. 108e. 82 =ma-tsu=, china. 26n. 120e. 85 =matsumoto=, japan. 36n. 138e. 91 =matsusaka=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =matsushiro=, japan. 37n. 138e. 91 =matsuyama=, japan. 34n. 133e. 91 [*]=matsuye=, japan. 36n. 133e. 91 =mattancheri=, madras. 10n. 76e. 63 =matun=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 70e. 58 =matura=, ceylon. 6n. 81e. 63 =matutum mt.=, philippine is. 6n. 125e. 77 =matuva=, borneo. 3s. 111e. 76 =mau=, china. 32n. 104e. 84 =maubin=, burma. 17n. 96e. 67 =maukadaw=, burma. 23n. 95e. 67 =maukme=, burma. 20n. 98e. 67 =maulia=, rajputana. 27n. 77e. 59 =maulmein=, burma. 16n. 98e. 67 =maung-daw=, burma. 21n. 92e. 67 =maung mai=, siam. 19n. 99e. 70 =maung nan=, siam. 19n. 101e. 70 =maung prai=, siam. 18n. 100e. 70 =maurits reef, p.=, e. indies. 6s. 116e. 76 =mawlu=, burma. 24n. 96e. 67 =mayait l.=, philippine is. 10n. 125e. 77 =mayavaram=, madras. 11n. 80e. 63 =mayehashi=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =mayhlaung=, siam. 13n. 100e. 71 =mayo bay=, philippine is. 7n. 126e. 77 =mayon=, philippine islands. 13n. 127e. 77 =mayu river=, burma. 20n. 93e. 67 =mazanderan=, persia. 36n. 52e. 45 =meakantake island=, japan. 43n. 144e. 88 =mears=, east indies. 24n. 147e. 75 [*]=mecca=, arabia. 21n. 40e. 44 =me-che=, burma. 19n. 98e. 67 =medak=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. 62 =medebah=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 [*]=medina=, arabia. 25n. 40e. 44 [*]=meerut=, united provs. 29n. 78e. 59 =meester cornelis=, java. 6s. 107e. 76 =meezan=, burma. 17n. 98e. 67 [*]=megiddo=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =megna river=, bengal. 23n. 90e. 61 =mehkar=, berar. 20n. 76e. 60 =mei=, china. 30n. 104e. 84 =mei=, china. 34n. 108e. 82 =mei-kiang river=, china. 24n. 116e. 85 =meiktila=, burma. 21n. 96e. 67 =mei-ling mountain=, china. 25n. 114e. 85 =me ing=, siam. 20n. 100e. 70 =meis=, asia minor. 36n. 29e. 46 =mei-tan=, china. 28n. 108e. 84 =me khoke=, siam. 20n. 100e. 70 =me-klong=, siam. 13n. 100e. 71 =me-kong river=, indo-china. 10n. 106e. 70 =mekran=, baluchistan. 25n. 62e. 45 =melasgerd=, turkey in asia. 39n. 42e. 47 =melkapur=, berar. 21n. 76e. 56 =melsir=, rajputana. 29n. 74e. 59 =me lu=, siam. 20n. 100e. 70 =melu prey=, indo-china. 14n. 105e. 71 =menado=, east indies. 2n. 125e. 75 =menam=, siam. 14n. 101e. 71 =menama=, arabia. 26n. 51e. 45 =menam-kway-nauna=, siam. 13n. 100e. 71 =me nam wang=, siam. 17n. 99e. 70 =menam yome=, siam. 16n. 100e. 70 =menara, river=, malay pen. 6n. 102e. 68 =mendawe=, borneo. 3s. 113e. 76 [*]=menderes river=, asia minor. 38n. 28e. 46 =meng-cheng=, china. 33n. 117e. 83 =meng-yin=, china. 36n. 118e. 83 =mentawei is.=, east indies. 2s. 98e. 74 =menyo=, burma. 18n. 96e. 67 =me ping=, siam. 16n. 100e. 70 =merapi mount=, java. 8s. 111e. 76 =merbau=, malay peninsula. 6n. 100e. 68 =mergui=, burma. 12n. 98e. 71 =mergui archipelago.= 12n. 98e. 71 =merom, waters of=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 =mersina=, asia minor. 37n. 35e. 46 [*]=merta=, rajputana. 27n. 74e. 59 =merta road=, rajputana. 27n. 74e. 59 =meru bay=, java. 9s. 114e. 76 [*]=merv=, turkestan. 38n. 62e. 45 =merwara=, rajputana. 26n. 74e. 59 =mesana=, bombay. 24n. 72e. 56 =mesandum, cape=, arabia. 26n. 56e. 45 [*]=meshed=, persia. 36n. 59e. 45 =meskineh=, turkey in asia. 36n. 38e. 47 =mesopotamia=, turkey in asia. 37n. 40e. 47 =mettapolliam=, madras, 11n. 77e. 63 =meyhere=, central india. 24n. 81e. 60 =miandoab=, persia. 37n. 46e. 47 =miani=, bombay. 22n. 69e. 56 =miankalai=, n.w. frontier provs. 35n. 72e. 58 =mianwali=, punjab. 33n. 71e. 58 =miao-tao island=, china. 38n. 121e. 83 =michailovsk=, turkestan. 40n. 54e. 45 [*]=michmash=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =middle island=, malay pen. 9n. 98e. 71 =midnapore=, bengal. 22n. 88e. 61 =midzusawa=, japan. 39n. 141e. 88 =mien=, china. 31n. 105e. 84 =mien-yang=, china. 30n. 113e. 85 =mihara=, japan. 34n. 133e. 91 =miharu=, japan. 37n. 141e. 91 =mikawa=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =mikuni toge=, japan. 37n. 139e. 91 =mikura shima=, japan. 34n. 140e. 91 =milasa=, asia minor. 37n. 28e. 46 =mimasaka=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =min=, china. 34n. 104e. 82 =minahassa=, east indies. 1n. 124e. 75 =minato=, japan. 36n. 141e. 91 =minato=, japan. 40n. 142e. 88 =minbu=, burma. 20n. 95e. 67 =mindanao=, east indies. 8n. 124e. 75 =mindoro is.=, philippine is. 13n. 121e. 77 =mindoro str.=, philippine is. 13n. 121e. 77 =mingin=, burma. 23n. 94e. 67 =minhla=, burma. 18n. 96e. 67 =min-ho river=, china. 29n. 105e. 84 =min-kiang river=, china. 26n. 119e. 85 =mino=, japan. 36n. 137e. 91 =min-tsing=, china. 26n. 119e. 85 =miraj=, bombay. 17n. 75e. 57 =miran shah=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 70e. 58 =miri=, baluchistan. 26n. 63e. 45 =mirkhan tana=, sind. 26n. 68e. 59 =mirpur=, kashmir. 33n. 74e. 58 =mirpur=, sind. 25n. 68e. 59 =mirpur=, sind. 25n. 69e. 59 =mirs bay=, china. 22n. 114e. 85 =mirzapur=, n.w. provinces. 25n. 82e. 60 =misol island=, east indies. 2s. 130e. 75 =misumi=, japan. 33n. 131e. 89 =mithan kot=, punjab. 29n. 70e. 59 =mito=, japan. 36n. 141e. 91 =mitsuna-shima=, lu-chu is. 25n. 124e. 89 =mitta=, punjab. 32n. 72e. 58 [*]=mityleni=, asia minor. 39n. 27e. 46 =miyagam=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =miyaka shima=, japan. 34n. 140e. 91 =miyako=, japan. 40n. 142e. 88 =miyako is.=, lu-chu island. 24n. 126e. 89 =miyakoshima=, lu-chu is. 25n. 125e. 89 =miyazaki=, japan. 32n. 131e. 89 =miyoshi=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =mi-yun=, china. 40n. 117e. 83 =moa=, east indies. 8s. 128e. 75 =mobarakpur=, punjab. 30n. 73e. 58 =mocha=, arabia. 13n. 43e. 44 =modeste island.= 35n. 125e. 90 =mogami river=, japan. 39n. 140e. 88 =mogaung=, burma. 25n. 97e. 67 =moghal sarai=, united provs. 25n. 83e. 60 =mogok=, burma. 23n. 96e. 67 =mohammerah=, persia. 30n. 48e. 47 =mohangarh=, rajputana. 27n. 71e. 59 =moi=, indo-china. 19n. 102e. 70 =moirang=, assam. 24n. 94e. 67 =mois=, indo-china. 15n. 108e. 70 =mojarh=, punjab. 29n. 72e. 59 =moji=, japan. 34n. 131e. 89 =mojma=, arabia. 26n. 46e. 44 =molangur=, haidarabad. 18n. 79e. 62 =mollacallamuru=, mysore. 15n. 77e. 62 =molpo=, korea. 35n. 126e. 90 =molsi=, punjab. 30n. 72e. 58 =moluccas=, east indies. 3s. 127e. 75 =mombetsu=, japan. 44n. 143e. 88 =momeit=, burma. 23n. 97e. 67 =mominabad=, haidarabad. 19n. 76e. 62 =monda=, rajputana. 26n. 74e. 59 =mone=, burma. 20n. 98e. 67 =mong-cy=, indo-china. 21n. 108e. 70 [*]=monghyr=, bengal. 25n. 86e. 61 =monhyin=, burma. 25n. 97e. 67 =montgomery=, punjab. 31n. 73e. 58 =montgomery is.=, lu-chu is. 27n. 128e. 89 =monywa=, burma. 22n. 95e. 67 =mopani=, central provs. 23n. 79e. 60 =moradabad=, united provs. 29n. 79e. 60 =morbat=, arabia. 17n. 55e. 45 =moresly port=, east indies. 10s. 146e. 75 =moresses island=, e. indies. 4s. 116e. 76 =mori=, japan. 42n. 141e. 88 =morioka=, japan. 40n. 141e. 88 =mormugao=, bombay. 15n. 74e. 57 =morne, cape=, china. 19n. 109e. 84 =mororan=, japan. 42n. 141e. 88 =morotai island.= 3n. 129e. 75 =morvi=, bombay. 23n. 71e. 56 =moscos island=, burma. 14n. 97e. 71 =moseirah island=, arabia. 20n. 59e. 45 [*]=mosul=, turkey in asia. 36n. 43e. 47 =mo-tien-ling=, manchuria. 41n. 124e. 90 =motihara=, bengal. 27n. 85e. 60 =motoyoshi=, japan. 39n. 142e. 88 =moyoro=, japan. 42n. 143e. 88 =mozuffurabad=, kashmir. 34n. 73e. 58 =muakhom=, burma. 26n. 97e. 67 =mualitch=, asia minor. 40n. 28e. 46 =muang ang tong=, siam. 14n. 101e. 71 =muang fang=, siam. 20n. 99e. 70 =muanglem=, burma. 22n. 99e. 67 =muang lim=, burma. 21n. 100e. 67 =muang lom=, siam. 17n. 101e. 70 =muang ta=, burma. 20n. 99e. 67 =muang yong=, burma. 21n. 100e. 67 =muar river=, malay pen. 2n. 103e. 69 =mubarriz=, arabia. 26n. 50e. 44 =muda river=, malay pen. 6n. 100e. 68 =mudamatt river=, bengal. 22n. 90e. 61 =mudera=, haidarabad. 19n. 78e. 62 =mudgul=, haidarabad. 16n. 76e. 62 =muding=, asia minor. 41n. 29e. 46 =mudki=, punjab. 31n. 75e. 58 =mugla=, asia minor. 37n. 28e. 46 =mu-ju=, korea. 36n. 128e. 90 [*]=mukden=, manchuria. 42n. 124e. 90 =mulapumok=, indo-china. 14n. 107e. 71 =mulda=, central provs. 23n. 82e. 60 [*]=multan=, punjab. 30n. 71e. 58 =munapaud=, madras. 8n. 78e. 63 =mundra=, bombay. 23n. 70e. 56 =mungulvera=, bombay. 18n. 75e. 57 =muntok=, east indies. 2s. 105e. 74 =muradkot=, punjab. 28n. 71e. 59 =murad su=, turkey in asia. 39n. 40e. 47 =murakami=, japan. 38n. 139e. 88 =muren=, manchuria. 44n. 130e. 90 =murghab=, persia. 30n. 53e. 45 =murghab river=, turkestan. 36n. 62e. 45 =muria mountain=, java. 6s. 111e. 76 =muroto cape=, japan. 33n. 134e. 91 =murri=, punjab. 34n. 73e. 58 [*]=murshidabad=, bengal. 24n. 88e. 61 =musa khel=, baluchistan. 31n. 70e. 58 =mu-sang=, korea. 42n. 129e. 90 =musashi=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 [*]=mush=, turkey in asia. 39n. 42e. 47 =musi river=, haidarabad. 17n. 80e. 62 =mussuri=, united provs. 30n. 78e. 60 =mutan-kiang r.=, manchuria. 46n. 129e. 90 =mutapet=, madras. 10n. 80e. 63 =mutri=, baluchistan. 29n. 68e. 59 =muttra=, arabia. 24n. 59e. 45 [*]=muttra=, united provs. 27n. 78e. 59 =muzaffargarh=, punjab. 30n. 71e. 58 =muzaffarnaggar=, united provs. 29n. 78e. 60 =muzaffarpur=, bengal. 26n. 85e. 60 =myadaung=, burma. 24n. 96e. 67 =myanaung=, burma. 18n. 95e. 67 =myaunguya=, burma. 17n. 95e. 67 =myawaddy=, burma. 17n. 98e. 67 =myedu=, burma. 23n. 95e. 67 =myeng=, burma. 17n. 98e. 67 =myingyan=, burma. 22n. 95e. 67 =myitkyina=, burma. 25n. 98e. 67 =myo-haung=, burma. 21n. 93e. 67 =myotha=, burma. 22n. 96e. 67 =myra=, asia minor. 36n. 30e. 46 =mysore=, mysore. 12n. 77e. 63 =mytho=, indo-china. 10n. 106e. 71 =na=, siam. 17n. 99e. 70 =naashahra=, punjab. 28n. 70e. 59 =na-cham=, china. 22n. 107e. 84 =nada=, japan. 34n. 130e. 89 =nadaun=, punjab. 32n. 76e. 58 =nafa=, lu-chu islands. 26n. 128e. 89 =naga=, philippine islands. 14n. 124e. 77 =naga hills=, assam. 26n. 95e. 67 =nagano=, japan. 37n. 138e. 91 =nagaoka=, japan. 37n. 139e. 91 [*]=nagar=, mysore. 14n. 75e. 63 =nagar karnul=, haidarabad. 16n. 78e. 62 =nagar parkar=, sind. 24n. 71e. 59 [*]=nagasaki=, japan. 33n. 130e. 89 =naga-shima=, japan. 32n. 130e. 89 =nagathana=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 =nagawalli, river=, madras. 18n. 84e. 62 =nagercoil=, madras. 8n. 77e. 63 =nagor=, rajputana. 27n. 74e. 59 =nagoya=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =nagpur=, bengal. 23n. 86e. 61 [*]=nagpur=, central provinces. 21n. 79e. 60 [*]=nain=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =nain river=, sind. 28n. 69e. 59 =naini tal=, united provs. 29n. 79e. 60 =naipalgang=, united provs. 28n. 81e. 60 =nakano-shima=, japan. 30n. 130e. 89 =nakatorishima=, japan. 33n. 129e. 89 =nakatsu=, japan. 34n. 131e. 89 =nakatsugawa=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 =naki shima=, japan. 36n. 133e. 91 =nakon sawan=, siam. 16n. 100e. 70 =naldurg=, haidarabad. 18n. 76e. 62 =na-le=, indo-china. 19n. 102e. 70 =nalgonda=, haidarabad. 17n. 79e. 62 =nalhati=, bengal. 24n. 88e. 61 =nambu-shoto is.=, lu-chu is. 24n. 126e. 89 =nam-dinh=, indo-china. 20n. 106e. 70 =namine=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =namiteruma is.=, lu-chu is. 24n. 124e. 89 =namkal droog=, madras. 11n. 78e. 63 =namka river=, burma. 22n. 97e. 67 =nam kho river=, burma. 22n. 99e. 67 =nam lui=, burma. 21n. 101e. 67 =nam-maw river=, burma. 24n. 96e. 67 =namonuito=, east indies. 9n. 150e. 75 =nam pat=, siam. 17n. 100e. 70 =nam si=, siam. 15n. 105e. 70 =nana=, rajputana. 25n. 73e. 59 =nanao=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =nanatsu shima=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =nan-chang=, china. 28n. 116e. 85 =nan-chwan=, china. 29n. 107e. 84 =nandadebi=, united provs. 30n. 80e. 60 =nandair=, haidarabad. 19n. 77e. 62 =nanderbar=, bombay. 21n. 74e. 56 =nandgaon=, central provs. 21n. 81e. 60 [*]=nandidrug=, mysore. 13n. 78e. 63 =naneh=, bombay. 19n. 74e. 57 =nan-feng=, china. 27n. 116e. 85 =nangamessi=, east indies. 10s. 120e. 74 =nan-hai-do=, korea. 35n. 128e. 90 =nan-hsung=, china. 25n. 114e. 85 =nan-hu=, manchuria. 44n. 129e. 90 =nanjangad=, mysore. 12n. 77e. 63 =nankaido=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =nan-kang=, china. 29n. 116e. 85 =nan-kau mts.=, china. 40n. 115e. 83 =nan-ki=, china. 29n. 105e. 84 =nan-kiang=, china. 32n. 107e. 82 =nan-ki island=, china. 27n. 121e. 85 [*]=nan-king=, china. 32n. 119e. 85 =nan-kwan=, china. 27n. 120e. 85 =nan-ling=, china. 25n. 112e. 84 =nan-ling=, china. 31n. 118e. 85 =nan mun=, siam. 15n. 104e. 70 =nan-ngan=, china. 26n. 114e. 85 =nan-ngan island=, china. 23n. 117e. 85 =nan-ning=, china. 23n. 108e. 84 =nan-shan=, china. 22n. 110e. 84 =nan-yang=, china. 33n. 113e. 82 =naoyetsu=, japan. 37n. 138e. 91 =napa=, east indies. 26n. 128e. 75 =naphtali=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =nara=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =narabet=, bombay. 24n. 71e. 56 =narbada river=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =narglah=, rajputana. 25n. 77e. 59 =nariad=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 [*]=narnaul=, punjab. 28n. 76e. 59 =narra river=, sind. 27n. 69e. 59 =narrulah=, central provs. 20n. 83e. 60 =narsinghgarh=, central india. 24n. 77e. 60 =narsingpur=, central provs. 23n. 79e. 60 =naryn=, asiatic russia. 42n. 74e. 94 =nase=, lu-chu islands. 20n. 129e. 89 =nasera=, bombay. 17n. 75e. 57 [*]=nasik=, bombay. 20n. 74e. 57 =nasirabad=, bengal. 25n. 90e. 61 =nasirabad=, bombay. 21n. 76e. 56 =nasirabad=, rajputana. 26n. 75e. 59 =nassau is.=, east indies. 3s. 100e. 74 =natal=, east indies, 1n. 99e. 74 =natmouk=, burma. 20n. 95e. 67 =natu=, malay peninsula. 7n. 100e. 68 =natuna island=, east indies. 4n. 108e. 74 =naupada=, madras. 19n. 84e. 62 =nausari=, sind. 27n. 68e. 59 =navalupitya=, ceylon. 7n. 80e. 63 =navanagar=, bombay. 23n. 70e. 56 =nawagam=, madras. 20n. 84e. 62 =naya dumka=, bengal. 24n. 87e. 61 =nayor=, japan. 43n. 142e. 88 [*]=nazareth=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 13 =nebo, mount=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =nefud=, arabia. 25n. 43e. 44 =nefud= or =dahna=, arabia. 25n. 48e. 44 =nefud desert=, arabia. 29n. 42e. 44 [*]=negapatam=, madras, 11n. 80e. 63 =negara=, bali. 8s. 115e. 76 =negombo=, ceylon. 7n. 80e. 63 =negrais, cape=, burma. 16n. 94e. 67 =negros=, philippine islands, 10n. 123e. 77 =neh=, persia. 31n. 60e. 45 [*]=nehavend=, persia. 34n. 48e. 47 =nehbandan mts.=, persia. 30n. 60e. 45 =nehbendan=, persia. 32n. 58e. 45 =nejd=, arabia. 26n. 45e. 44 =nejef=, turkey in asia. 32n. 44e. 47 =nejran jauf=, arabia. 18n. 46e. 44 [*]=nellore=, madras. 14n. 80e. 62 [*]=nertchinsk=, siberia. 52n. 117e. 95 =netrawati river=, madras. 13n. 75e. 63 =neumuro=, japan. 43n. 145e. 88 =neun=, indo-china. 19n. 104e. 70 =neung-ju=, korea. 35n. 126e. 90 =nevshehr=, asia minor. 38n. 34e. 46 =new chaman=, punjab. 31n. 67e. 58 =new guinea=, east indies. 5s. 141e. 75 =new pind sultani=, punjab. 34n. 72e. 58 =new pommern=, east indies. 6s. 149e. 75 =new siberia is.=, siberia. 76n. 148e. 95 =nezib=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =ngai=, siam. 20n. 99e. 70 =ngan=, china. 39n. 116e. 83 =ngan-hwa=, china. 28n. 112e. 84 =ngan-hwei=, china. 31n. 117e. 85 =ngan-hwei=, china. 32n. 118e. 83 =ngan-ki=, china. 25n. 118e. 85 =ngan-king=, china. 31n. 117e. 85 =ngan-lu=, china. 31n. 113e. 85 =ngan-nan=, china. 26n. 105e. 84 =ngan-shun=, china. 26n. 106e. 84 =ngan-ting=, china. 36n. 104e. 82 =ngan-ting=, china. 37n. 109e. 82 =ngan-tung=, china. 34n. 119e. 83 =ngan-yo=, china. 30n. 105e. 84 =nga-pu-taw=, burma. 17n. 95e. 67 =ngen-ping=, china. 22n. 112e. 84 =ngoi=, indo-china. 21n. 103e. 70 =ngoli=, east indies. 9n. 137e. 75 =ngo-shan=, china. 36n. 111e. 82 =nha-trang=, indo-china. 12n. 109e. 71 =nho-lam=, indo-china. 22n. 107e. 70 =nhuong har.=, indo-china. 18n. 106e. 70 =nias island=, east indies, 1n. 97e. 74 =nigde=, asia minor. 38n. 35e. 46 =nightingale is.=, indo-china. 20n. 108e. 70 =niigata=, japan. 38n. 139e. 91 =niitakayama=, formosa. 23n. 121e. 89 =nijni kamtchatsk=, siberia. 56n. 164e. 95 =nijni kolimsk=, siberia. 68n. 160e. 95 =nijni udinsk=, siberia. 55n. 99e. 94 [*]=nikaria=, asia minor. 38n. 26e. 46 =nikkomachi=, japan. 37n. 139e. 91 =nikolaevsk=, siberia. 54n. 141e. 95 =niksar=, asia minor. 41n. 37e. 46 =nilgiri hills=, madras, 11n. 77e. 63 =nimach=, rajputana. 25n. 75e. 59 =nimrud d.=, turkey in asia. 39n. 42e. 47 =nin-binh=, indo-china. 20n. 106e. 70 [*]=nineveh=, turkey in asia. 36n. 43e. 47 =ning=, china. 36n. 108e. 82 =ning-ho=, china. 39n. 118e. 83 =ning-hsia=, china. 38n. 106e. 82 =ning-hwa=, china. 26n. 117e. 85 =ning-kiang=, china. 33n. 106e. 82 =ning-kwo=, china. 31n. 119e. 85 [*]=ning-po=, china. 30n. 121e. 85 =ning-shen=, china. 33n. 109e. 82 =ning-te=, china. 27n. 119e. 85 =ning-tu=, china. 26n. 116e. 85 =ninguta=, manchuria. 44n. 129e. 90 =ning-wu=, china. 39n. 112e. 82 =ning-yuen=, china. 41n. 121e. 83 =ninh-hoa=, indo-china. 13n. 109e. 71 =ninh thuan=, indo-china. 11n. 109e. 71 =nipani=, bombay. 16n. 74e. 57 =nira river=, bombay. 18n. 74e. 57 =nirayama=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =niris lake=, persia. 29n. 54e. 45 =nirmal=, haidarabad. 19n. 78e. 62 [*]=nishapur=, persia. 36n. 59e. 45 =nishikata=, japan. 32n. 130e. 89 =nishio=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =nishi shima=, japan. 36n. 133e. 91 [*]=nisibin=, turkey in asia. 37n. 41e. 47 =nitaka mountains=, formosa. 24n. 121e. 89 =nitchbo=, rajputana. 28n. 75e. 59 =niu-chwang=, manchuria. 41n. 122e. 90 =nizamabad=, haidarabad. 19n. 78e. 62 =nizampatnam=, madras. 16n. 81e. 62 =nmai kha=, burma. 27n. 99e. 67 =noagarh=, central provinces. 20n. 82e. 60 =nobeoka=, japan. 33n. 132e. 89 =nong-han=, siam. 17n. 103e. 70 =nong-khai=, siam. 18n. 103e. 70 =nong-son=, indo-china. 16n. 108e. 70 =nordwick, gulf of=, siberia. 74n. 112e. 94 =norot=, china. 43n. 120e. 83 =north, cape=, siberia. 69n. 180e. 95 =north-east cape=, siberia. 77n. 102e. 94 =north-east point=, malay pen. 9n. 100e. 71 =nor-to mountains=, china. 42n. 116e. 83 =nosari=, bombay. 21n. 73e. 56 =noshiro=, japan. 40n. 140e. 88 =noto shima=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =nottam=, east indies. 2s. 132e. 75 =novgorod=, siberia. 43n. 131e. 95 =novgorodski=, manchuria. 43n. 130e. 90 =nowgong=, assam. 26n. 93e. 67 =nowgong=, central india. 25n. 80e. 60 =noycund=, madras, 10n. 77e. 63 =nsentaru=, burma. 26n. 98e. 67 =nubra=, kashmir. 35n. 78e. 58 =nubra river=, kashmir. 34n. 78e. 58 =nudun=, inner mongolia. 41n. 105e. 82 =nu-hsi river=, china. 27n. 118e. 85 =numazu=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =numi=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =nundijal=, madras. 16n. 78e. 62 =nushki=, baluchistan. 30n. 66e. 45 =nusumu=, madras. 15n. 78e. 62 =nusu pemida=, east indies. 9s. 116e. 76 =nutapkanshipe is.=, japan. 43n. 144e. 88 =nwangchik=, malay peninsula. 7n. 101e. 68 =nwedaung=, burma. 20n. 97e. 67 =nyaungywe=, burma. 21n. 97e. 67 =nysirus=, asia minor. 36n. 27e. 46 =obama=, japan, 35n. 136e. 91 =obdorsk=, siberia. 66n. 67e. 94 =obi=, east indies. 2s. 127e. 75 =obi, gulf of=, siberia. 68n. 72e. 94 =obi, river=, siberia. 66n. 68e. 94 =odate=, japan. 40n. 141e. 88 =odawara=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =odemish=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. 46 =ogali=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =ogi cape=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =ogi minato=, japan. 38n. 138e. 91 =ohod=, arabia. 24n. 41e. 44 =ohorji=, rajputana. 25n. 74e. 59 =oita=, japan. 33n. 132e. 89 =oka, river=, siberia. 54n. 102e. 94 =okayama=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =okazaki=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =okhotsk=, siberia. 60n. 144e. 95 =okhotsk, sea of=, siberia. 54n. 150e. 95 =okhut=, siberia. 56n. 156e. 95 =okinawa-shima=, lu-chu is. 27n. 128e. 89 =okinoerabu-shima=, lu-chu is. 28n. 129e. 89 =oki shima=, japan. 36n. 133e. 91 =okpo=, burma. 18n. 96e. 67 =okushiri island=, japan. 42n. 140e. 88 =okushiri strait=, japan. 42n. 140e. 88 =old kedah=, malay peninsula. 6n. 100e. 68 =olekima, river=, siberia. 60n. 121e. 95 =olekminsk=, siberia. 60n. 120e. 95 =olele=, east indies. 5n. 95e. 74 =olenek river=, siberia. 68n. 118e. 94 =olgantorsky, cape=, siberia. 60n. 170e. 95 =olives, mount of=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =oman=, arabia. 23n. 57e. 45 =oman, gulf of=, arabia. 25n. 58e. 45 =olympus mt.=, asia minor. 40n. 30e. 46 =ombay island=, east indies. 8s. 125e. 75 =omerkot=, punjab. 29n. 70e. 59 =ominato=, japan. 41n. 141e. 88 =omogun, river=, siberia. 52n. 136e. 95 =omol hotun=, mongolia. 44n. 115e. 83 =omon, river=, siberia. 52n. 114e. 95 =o-mo-so=, manchuria. 44n. 128e. 90 [*]=omsk=, asiatic russia. 55n. 74e. 94 =omuta=, japan. 33n. 131e. 89 =ongin=, inner mongolia. 39n. 108e. 82 =ongole=, madras. 16n. 80e. 62 =onim=, east indies. 3s. 133e. 75 =onimechi=, japan. 34n. 133e. 91 =onmaye cape=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 =ono=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =on-song=, korea. 43n. 130e. 90 [*]=ophir, mount=, malay pen. 2n. 103e. 69 =ordos=, inner mongolia. 40n. 109e. 82 =orissa=, bengal. 21n. 86e. 61 [*]=ormuz island=, persia. 27n. 56e. 45 =ormuz strait=, persia. 26n. 57e. 45 =orr-tau-ho r.=, manchuria. 43n. 127e. 90 [*]=osaka=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =oshima=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =oshima island=, japan. 41n. 140e. 88 =osmanabad=, haidarabad. 18n. 76e. 62 =osmanjik=, asia minor. 41n. 35e. 46 =ota=, manchuria. 45n. 129e. 90 =otaru=, japan. 43n. 141e. 88 =o-to-cheng=, manchuria. 43n. 128e. 90 =ot-po=, burma. 18n. 95e. 67 =otsu=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =ottok=, inner mongolia. 39n. 108e. 82 =oudh=, united provinces. 27n. 83e. 60 =oukin island=, lu-chu is. 28n. 129e. 89 =owajima=, japan. 33n. 133e. 91 =owari=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =owari bay=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =owashi=, japan. 34n. 136e. 91 =owen island=, burma, 11n. 98e. 71 =owen stanley mt.=, e. indies. 9s. 149e. 75 =oyama=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =ozerni, cape=, siberia. 58n. 164e. 95 =pa=, china. 32n. 107e. 84 =pa=, china. 39n. 116e. 83 =pabna=, bengal. 24n. 89e. 61 =pachim=, siam. 14n. 101e. 71 =pachitan=, java. 8s. 111e. 76 =pachpadra=, rajputana. 26n. 72e. 59 =pa-chum=, indo-china. 18n. 104e. 70 =padam=, kashmir. 33n. 77e. 58 [*]=padang=, east indies, 1s. 100e. 74 =padang=, east indies. 2s. 107e. 74 =padaram, cape=, indo-china. 11n. 109e. 71 =padaung=, burma. 19n. 95e. 67 =pagan=, burma. 21n. 95e. 67 =pagatan=, borneo. 4s. 116e. 76 =pagattan=, borneo. 3s. 113e. 76 =pagoda point=, burma. 16n. 94e. 67 =pahang=, malay peninsula. 4n. 102e. 69 =pahang river=, malay pen. 3n. 103e. 69 =pahtia=, malay peninsula, 11n. 99e. 71 =pai-ho=, china. 41n. 116e. 83 =paik-un-san=, korea. 40n. 128e. 90 =pai-lu-shan=, china. 25n. 116e. 85 =pain river=, berar. 20n. 79e. 57 =pai-shui=, china. 32n. 106e. 82 =pajam=, madras. 18n. 84e. 62 =pajapur=, bombay. 16n. 75e. 57 =pakal=, madras. 13n. 79e. 63 =pa-kau=, china. 41n. 119e. 83 =pakhan-nge=, burma. 21n. 95e. 67 =pakhangyi=, burma. 22n. 95e. 67 =pak-hoi=, china. 21n. 109e. 84 =paklai=, indo-china. 18n. 102e. 70 =paklan=, malay peninsula. 9n. 99e. 71 =pak-mon=, indo-china. 19n. 102e. 70 =paknam, fort=, siam. 13n. 101e. 71 =paknampo=, siam. 16n. 100e. 70 =pakokku=, burma. 21n. 95e. 67 [*]=pakpatan=, punjab. 30n. 73e. 58 =pakta=, indo-china. 20n. 101e. 70 [*]=palakkat=, madras. 11n. 77e. 63 =palakonda=, madras. 19n. 84e. 62 =palaman=, bengal. 24n. 84e. 60 =palana=, rajputana. 28n. 73e. 59 =palanan=, philippine islands. 17n. 122e. 77 =palaos=, east indies. 9n. 135e. 75 =palas=, n.w. frontier provs. 35n. 73e. 58 =palatupane=, ceylon. 6n. 81e. 63 =palawan=, philippine islands, 10n. 118e. 77 =palean=, malay peninsula. 7n. 100e. 71 [*]=palembang=, east indies. 3s. 105e. 74 =paletwa=, burma. 21n. 93e. 67 =pali=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 =pali=, rajputana. 26n. 73e. 59 =palk strait=, madras. 10n. 80e. 63 =palkot=, bengal. 23n. 85e. 60 =pallamcottah=, madras. 9n. 78e. 63 =pallas mt.=, malay peninsula. 4n. 103e. 68 [*]=palmyra=, turkey in asia. 34n. 39e. 47 =palmyra point=, ceylon. 10n. 80e. 63 =palmyras point=, bengal. 21n. 87e. 61 =palni=, madras. 10n. 78e. 63 =palni hills=, madras. 10n. 77e. 63 =palo=, burma. 19n. 95e. 67 =palos=, east indies. 1s. 119e. 74 =paltee lake=, tibet. 29n. 91e. 61 =palu=, turkey in asia. 39n. 40e. 47 =pamara=, sind. 27n. 69e. 59 =pamekasan=, java. 7s. 113e. 76 =pameungpeuk=, java. 8s. 108e. 76 =pamir plateau=, central asia. 38n. 74e. 45 =panay=, philippine islands. 11n. 122e. 77 [*]=pandharpur=, bombay. 18n. 75e. 57 =pane river=, sumatra. 2n. 100e. 69 =pangal=, haidarabad. 16n. 78e. 62 =panganur=, madras. 13n. 79e. 63 =pangkok=, borneo. 3s. 114e. 76 =pangul=, java. 8s. 111e. 76 =pangutarang is.=, philippine is. 6n. 120e. 77 [*]=panipat=, punjab. 29n. 77e. 59 =panjang=, malay peninsula. 8n. 99e. 71 =panjang is.=, east indies. 7s. 116e. 76 =panjar river=, bombay. 21n. 75e. 56 [*]=panjim=, bombay. 15n. 74e. 57 =panjkora river=, n.w. frontier provs. 36n. 72e. 58 =pannealla=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. 62 =panom=, siam. 17n. 105e. 70 =pan-ta-naw=, burma. 17n. 96e. 67 =pantar island=, east indies. 8s. 124e. 75 =pao-kang=, china. 32n. 112e. 84 =pao-king=, china. 27n. 111e. 84 =pao-ngan=, china. 37n. 109e. 82 =pao-ngan=, china. 40n. 115e. 83 =pao-ning=, china. 31n. 106e. 84 =pao-te=, china. 39n. 111e. 82 =pao-ting=, china. 39n. 116e. 83 =pao-tu=, inner mongolia. 41n. 110e. 82 =papandajan=, java. 8s. 108e. 76 =papra strait=, malay pen. 8n. 98e. 71 =papua=, east indies. 5s. 141e. 75 =papua, gulf of=, east indies. 8s. 144e. 75 =papun=, burma. 18n. 97e. 67 =parachinar=, n.w. frontier provs. 34n. 70e. 58 =paragarh=, madras. 20n. 83e. 62 =paranda=, haidarabad. 18n. 75e. 62 =parantij=, bombay. 24n. 73e. 56 =parbaini=, haidarabad. 19n. 77e. 62 =parbati river=, rajputana. 26n. 77e. 59 =pardi=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =pare pare=, east indies. 4s. 120e. 74 =pargarh=, bombay. 17n. 73e. 57 =parigi=, java. 8s. 108e. 76 =partabgarh=, rajputana. 24n. 75e. 59 =partur=, haidarabad. 20n. 76e. 62 =pase=, siam. 13n. 102e. 71 =passani=, baluchistan. 25n. 62e. 45 =passin=, east indies. 2s. 116e. 74 =passir=, east indies. 5n. 97e. 74 =pa-ta-ho river=, china. 24n. 105e. 84 =patalung=, malay peninsula. 8n. 100e. 71 =patan=, nepal. 28n. 86e. 60 =patan=, rajputana. 28n. 76e. 59 =patani=, malay peninsula. 7n. 101e. 68 =patani, cape=, malay pen. 7n. 101e. 68 =pataudi=, punjab. 28n. 77e. 59 =pathai-sung=, siam. 15n. 103e. 70 =pathankot=, punjab. 32n. 76e. 58 =pati=, java. 7s. 111e. 76 =patiala=, punjab. 30n. 76e. 58 =patience bay=, siberia. 49n. 143e. 95 =patience, cape=, siberia. 49n. 144e. 95 =patjitan=, east indies. 8s. 111e. 74 =patkai hills=, burma. 27n. 96e. 67 =patmos=, asia minor. 37n. 27e. 46 [*]=patna=, bengal. 26n. 85e. 60 =patna=, central provinces. 21n. 83e. 60 =patrang=, siam. 14n. 102e. 71 =patri=, bombay. 23n. 72e. 56 =patri=, haidarabad. 19n. 76e. 62 =pa-tung=, china. 31n. 110e. 84 =paumben island=, ceylon. 9n. 79e. 63 =paungdeh=, burma. 19n. 96e. 67 =pawgurh=, mysore. 14n. 77e. 63 =pawn=, burma. 20n. 100e. 67 =paygan=, east indies. 19n. 145e. 75 =pechabun=, siam. 16n. 101e. 70 =pechaburi=, siam. 13n. 100e. 71 =pechai=, siam. 17n. 100e. 70 =pedrotallagalla, mt.=, ceylon. 7n. 81e. 63 [*]=pegu=, burma. 18n. 96e. 67 =pei=, china. 34n. 118e. 83 =pei-hai=, china. 21n. 109e. 84 =pei-kiang river=, china. 25n. 113e. 85 =pei-ling-shan=, china. 34n. 105e. 82 =peint=, bombay. 20n. 74e. 56 =pei-shan mt.=, manchuria. 42n. 128e. 90 =pei-tang=, china. 39n. 118e. 83 =pei-tuan-lin-tsu=, manchuria. 46n. 127e. 90 =pe-kai=, china. 27n. 106e. 84 =pekalongan=, java. 7s. 110e. 76 =pekan=, malay peninsula. 3n. 103e. 69 =peking=, china. 40n. 116e. 83 =pelew=, east indies. 9n. 135e. 75 =peling island=, east indies. 1s. 124e. 75 =pella=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 13 =pemalang=, java. 7s. 110e. 76 =pemanggil=, south china sea. 3n. 104e. 69 =pembuang, cape=, borneo. 4s. 112e. 76 =penang=, malacca strait. 5n. 100e. 68 =pendjeh=, turkestan. 36n. 62e. 45 =pengaron=, borneo. 3s. 115e. 76 =peng-shui=, china. 29n. 108e. 84 =peng-tsz=, china. 30n. 117e. 85 =penjinsk, gulf of=, siberia. 62n. 162e. 95 =penjinskoe=, siberia. 62n. 164e. 95 =pennan channel=, malay pen. 10n. 100e. 71 =pennar river=, madras. 12n. 80e. 63 =pennar river=, madras. 15n. 80e. 62 =peper bay=, java. 6s. 106e. 76 =peræa=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 13 =perak=, east indies. 4n. 101e. 74 =perak mt.=, malay peninsula. 6n. 101e. 68 =perak r.=, malay peninsula. 5n. 101e. 68 =perforated is.=, malay pen. 9n. 98e. 71 =perhentian is.=, s. china sea. 6n. 103e. 68 =perlis=, malay peninsula. 6n. 100e. 68 =persepolis=, persia. 30n. 53e. 45 =persian baluchistan=, persia. 25n. 60e. 45 =persian gulf.= 28n. 52e. 44, 45 =peru island=, east indies. 21n. 141e. 75 =pescadores chan.=, formosa. 23n. 120e. 89 =pescadores island=, china. 24n. 119e. 89 =peshawar=, n.w. frontier provs. 34n. 72e. 58 =petlad=, bombay. 22n. 73e. 56 =petrieu=, siam. 14n. 101e. 71 =petropavlovsk=, siberia. 53n. 159e. 95 =phalera=, rajputana. 27n. 75e. 59 =phalian=, punjab. 32n. 74e. 58 =phalodi=, rajputana. 27n. 72e. 59 =phaltan=, bombay. 18n. 74e. 57 =philadelphia=, palestine. 32n. 56e. 13 =philippine is.=, east indies. 14n. 123e. 75 =phillour=, punjab. 31n. 76e. 58 =phineka bay=, asia minor. 36n. 30e. 46 =phrayow=, siam. 19n. 100e. 70 =phu-lang-thuong=, indo-china. 21n. 106e. 70 =phu-li=, indo-china. 21n. 106e. 70 =phu-my=, indo-china. 14n. 109e. 71 =phung-chhen=, korea. 38n. 125e. 90 =phuyen=, indo-china. 13n. 109e. 71 =phyeng-an, north=, korea. 40n. 126e. 90 =phyeng-an, south=, korea. 39n. 126e. 90 =phyeng-san=, korea. 38n. 126e. 90 =phyeng-yang=, korea. 39n. 126e. 90 =piasini, river=, siberia. 74n. 86e. 94 =pichit=, siam. 17n. 100e. 70 =piju=, lombok. 9s. 117e. 76 =pi-kau=, china. 33n. 105e. 82 =pilibhit=, united provinces. 29n. 80e. 60 =pimai=, siam. 15n. 102e. 70 =pimun=, siam. 15n. 105e. 70 =pin=, china. 35n. 108e. 82 =pin=, china. 37n. 118e. 83 =pinan=, formosa. 22n. 121e. 89 =pin-chau=, china. 23n. 109e. 84 =ping-fan=, china. 37n. 104e. 82 =ping-kiang=, china. 28n. 114e. 85 =ping-liang=, china. 35n. 106e. 82 =ping-lo=, china. 24n. 111e. 84 =ping-lo=, china. 39n. 106e. 82 =pingmar, cape=, china. 20n. 109e. 84 =ping-nan=, china. 27n. 119e. 85 =ping-shan=, china. 29n. 104e. 84 =ping-siang river=, china. 27n. 113e. 85 =ping-ting=, china. 38n. 114e. 83 =ping-tu=, china. 37n. 120e. 83 =ping-yang=, china. 28n. 120e. 85 =ping-yang=, china. 36n. 112e. 82 =ping-yang=, china. 37n. 106e. 82 =ping-yang=, korea. 39n. 125e. 90 =ping-yao=, china. 37n. 112e. 82 =ping-yue=, china. 27n. 107e. 84 =pipar=, rajputana. 26n. 74e. 59 =pippli=, bengal. 22n. 88e. 61 =pirate island=, indo-china. 21n. 108e. 70 =pishin=, baluchistan. 31n. 67e. 58 =pishpek=, asiatic russia. 44n. 75e. 94 =pitsanulok=, siam. 17n. 100e. 70 =pi-tse-wo=, manchuria. 39n. 122e. 90 =pi-tsie=, china. 27n. 106e. 84 =plassy=, bengal. 24n. 88e. 61 =plothistche stroenia=, siberia. 63n. 149e. 95 =plus river=, malay peninsula. 5n. 101e. 68 =pnom dong rek=, indo-china. 14n. 104e. 71 =pnom penh=, indo-china. 12n. 105e. 71 =po=, china. 34n. 116e. 83 =po-hai=, inner mongolia. 38n. 104e. 82 =poi-tsao-kao=, manchuria. 43n. 129e. 90 =pokaran=, rajputana. 27n. 72e. 59 =polawaram=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 =polet=, rajputana. 25n. 76e. 59 =polgahawela=, ceylon. 7n. 80e. 63 =polillo=, philippine islands. 15n. 122e. 77 =polloc=, philippine islands. 8n. 126e. 77 =pon=, siam. 20n. 101e. 70 =pondicherri=, madras. 12n. 80e. 63 =pong=, china. 31n. 106e. 84 =po-ngan=, china. 24n. 106e. 84 =ponnani=, madras, 11n. 76e. 63 =pon-pissai=, siam. 18n. 103e. 70 =pontianak=, east indies. 0. 109e. 74 =pontic ra=, turkey in asia. 40n. 38e. 47 =poona=, bombay. 19n. 74e. 57 =popa hill=, burma. 21n. 95e. 67 =po-pai=, china. 22n. 110e. 84 =pora, north=, east indies. 1s. 98e. 74 =pora, south=, east indies. 3s. 100e. 74 =por bandar=, bombay. 22n. 70e. 56 =port adams=, manchuria. 40n. 122e. 90 =port aian=, siberia. 57n. 138e. 95 =port arthur=, manchuria. 39n. 121e. 90 =port lasarev=, korea. 39n. 127e. 90 =porto novo=, madras. 11n. 80e. 63 =porto princesa=, east indies. 9n. 118e. 74 =po-se=, china. 24n. 106e. 84 =po-shan=, china. 36n. 118e. 83 =posolskoi=, siberia. 52n. 106e. 94 =poudella=, madras. 16n. 80e. 62 =po-yang-hu=, china. 29n. 117e. 85 =prai=, malay peninsula. 5n. 100e. 68 =pran=, siam. 12n. 100e. 71 =preanger=, java. 7s. 107e. 76 =prince harbour=, korea. 36n. 127e. 90 =princes island=, asia minor. 41n. 29e. 46 =princess island=, java. 7s. 105e. 76 =probolingo=, java. 8s. 113e. 76 [*]=prome=, burma. 19n. 95e. 67 =prome=, siam. 15n. 100e. 71 =providence reef=, lu-chu is. 25n. 125e. 89 =ptolemais=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 13 =pu-chau=, china. 35n. 110e. 82 =puding, cape=, borneo. 4s. 112e. 76 =pudukattai=, madras. 10n. 79e. 63 =puerto princeso=, philippine is. 9n. 123e. 77 =puger=, java. 8s. 114e. 76 =pu-hua=, indo-china. 17n. 105e. 70 =puhur=, berar. 20n. 78e. 60 =pu-kau=, china. 32n. 119e. 83 =puk-chung=, korea. 40n. 128e. 90 =pu-ki=, china. 30n. 114e. 85 =pulaodo=, bombay. 24n. 70e. 56 =pulau berhala=, s. china sea. 3n. 104e. 69 =pulau galang=, malacca strait. 1n. 104e. 69 =pulau jara=, malacca strait. 4n. 100e. 68 =pulau kapas=, s. china sea. 5n. 103e. 68 =pulau klang=, malacca strait. 3n. 101e. 69 =pulau koendoer=, malacca str. 1n. 103e. 69 =pulau kukub=, malacca strait. 1n. 103e. 69 =pulau langkawi=, malacca str. 6n. 100e. 68 =pulau lantai=, malay pen. 8n. 99e. 71 =pulau mendol=, malacca strait. 1n. 103e. 69 =pulau mohea=, malay pen. 7n. 99e. 71 =pulau padang=, malacca strait. 1n. 102e. 69 =pulau pangkor=, malacca str. 4n. 100e. 68 =pulau rajah=, malay pen. 8n. 98e. 71 =pulau rangsang=, malacca str. 1n. 103e. 69 =pulau rantau=, malacca strait. 1n. 103e. 69 =pulau rempang=, malacca str. 1n. 104e. 69 =pulau rupat=, malacca strait. 2n. 102e. 69 =pulau telibun=, malay pen. 7n. 100e. 71 =pulau tenggol=, s. china sea. 5n. 104e. 68 =pulau terutau=, malacca str. 7n. 100e. 68 =pulau tinggi=, s. china sea. 2n. 104e. 69 =pulau tuman=, s. china sea. 3n. 104e. 69 [*]=pulicat=, madras. 13n. 80e. 63 =pulicat lake=, madras. 14n. 80e. 63 =pulo ceicer de mer=, indo-china. 11n. 109e. 71 =pulo ceicer de terre=, indo-china. 11n. 109e. 71 =pulo condore=, indo-china. 9n. 107e. 71 =pulo dama=, indo-china. 10n. 104e. 71 =pu-loi=, indo-china. 20n. 103e. 70 =pulo lawang=, east indies. 0. 103e. 74 =pulo tanjang=, indo-china. 9n. 103e. 71 =pulo wai=, indo-china. 10n. 103e. 71 =pu luong=, indo-china. 19n. 104e. 70 =punakal=, haidarabad. 19n. 79e. 62 =pungal=, rajputana. 28n. 73e. 59 =pu-ngan=, china. 26n. 105e. 84 =pu-ning=, china. 23n. 116e. 85 =punjnad river=, punjab. 29n. 71e. 59 [*]=punna=, rajputana. 25n. 80e. 60 =purbatipur=, bengal. 26n. 89e. 61 [*]=puri=, bengal. 20n. 86e. 60 =purlakimedi=, madras. 19n. 84e. 62 =purna river=, berar. 21n. 76e. 60 =purna river=, haidarabad. 19n. 77e. 62 =purniah=, bengal. 26n. 88e. 61 =pursat=, indo-china. 13n. 104e. 71 =purtaligurh=, united provs. 26n. 82e. 60 =purulia=, bengal. 23n. 86e. 61 =purwakarta=, java. 6s. 107e. 76 =purworejo=, java. 8s. 110e. 76 =pu-sau mt.=, indo-china. 20n. 103e. 70 =pushti kuh=, persia. 34n. 47 =pu-tai=, china. 37n. 118e. 83 =putchum=, bombay. 24n. 70e. 56 =putlam=, ceylon. 8n. 80e. 63 =puttanapur=, madras. 9n. 77e. 63 =puttocottah=, madras. 11n. 79e. 63 =pya-ma-law river=, burma. 16n. 95e. 67 =pya-pon=, burma. 16n. 96e. 67 =pyawbwe=, burma. 21n. 96e. 67 =pyen-kwan=, china. 40n. 111e. 82 =pyinmana=, burma. 20n. 96e. 67 =pyton=, haidarabad. 20n. 75e. 62 =pyu=, burma. 18n. 97e. 67 =quang-yen=, indo-china. 21n. 107e. 70 =quelpart island=, korea. 33n. 126e. 90 =quetta=, punjab. 30n. 67e. 58 [*]=quilon=, madras. 9n. 77e. 63 =qui-nhon=, indo-china. 14n. 109e. 71 =qust viliusk=, siberia. 64n. 121e. 95 =raas island=, java. 7s. 114e. 76 =rabbath-ammon=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =rabbath moab=, palestine. 31n. 36e. 12 =rabigh=, arabia. 23n. 39e. 44 =rachel's tomb=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =rach-gia=, indo-china. 10n. 104e. 71 =rachutt=, madras. 14n. 79e. 63 [*]=radhan=, sind. 27n. 68e. 59 =raewind=, punjab. 31n. 74e. 58 =ragaba=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 13 =ragay bay=, philippine is. 13n. 123e. 77 =raheng=, siam. 17n. 99e. 70 =rahoki junction=, sind. 25n. 69e. 59 =rahori=, bombay. 19n. 75e. 57 [*]=rahun=, punjab. 31n. 76e. 58 =rai bareli=, united provs. 26n. 81e. 60 =raiboka=, bengal. 22n. 84e. 60 =raichur=, haidarabad. 16n. 77e. 62 =rai droog=, madras. 15n. 77e. 62 =raigarh=, central provinces. 22n. 83e. 60 =raigarh=, madras. 20n. 82e. 62 =raik-to-san=, manchuria. 42n. 128e. 90 =raipur=, central provinces. 21n. 82e. 60 =raishahi=, bengal. 25n. 89e. 61 =rajagudi=, madras. 19n. 83e. 62 =rajamahendri=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 =rajapalayam=, madras. 9n. 77e. 63 =rajar=, sind. 27n. 69e. 59 =rajaur=, kashmir. 33n. 74e. 58 =rajgarh=, rajputana. 29n. 75e. 59 =rajim=, central provinces. 21n. 82e. 60 =rajkot=, bombay. 22n. 71e. 56 =rajmahal=, bengal. 25n. 88e. 61 =rajpipla=, bombay. 22n. 74e. 56 =rajpur=, central india. 22n. 74e. 56 =rajpura=, punjab. 30n. 77e. 58 =ra-ju island=, korea. 35n. 126e. 90 =rajura=, haidarabad. 20n. 79e. 62 =rakapulli=, madras. 18n. 81e. 62 =rakka=, turkey in asia. 36n. 39e. 47 =ramah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =ramas, cape=, bombay. 15n. 74e. 57 =rameswaram island=, madras. 9n. 79e. 63 =ramgarh=, bengal. 24n. 85e. 60 =ramgarh=, central india. 22n. 75e. 56 =ramgarh=, central provs. 23n. 81e. 60 =ramgir=, haidarabad. 19n. 80e. 62 =ramjapatnam=, madras. 15n. 80e. 62 [*]=ramnad=, madras. 9n. 79e. 63 [*]=ramnagar=, punjab. 32n. 74e. 58 =ramoo=, burma. 21n. 92e. 61 =ramoth gilead=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =rampur=, bengal. 24n. 89e. 61 =rampur=, punjab. 31n. 78e. 58 =rampur=, united provinces. 29n. 79e. 60 =rampura=, rajputana. 26n. 76e. 59 =ramri=, burma. 19n. 94e. 67 =ramri island=, burma. 19n. 94e. 67 =ramshai hai=, bengal. 27n. 89e. 61 =ranawri=, malay peninsula. 10n. 99e. 71 =ranchi=, bengal. 23n. 86e. 60 =ranga=, malay peninsula. 6n. 102e. 68 =rangamati=, bengal. 26n. 90e. 61 =rangamati=, burma. 23n. 93e. 61 [*]=rangoon=, burma. 17n. 96e. 67 =rangoon river=, burma. 17n. 96e. 67 =rangpur=, bengal. 26n. 89e. 61 =rangpur=, punjab. 31n. 71e. 58 =rania=, punjab. 30n. 75e. 58 =raniganj=, bengal. 24n. 87e. 61 =ranikhet=, united provinces. 30n. 79e. 60 =ranipur=, sind. 27n. 68e. 59 =rannipur=, bombay. 22n. 74e. 56 =rantau=, borneo. 3s. 115e. 76 =rantau panjang=, malay pen. 2n. 103e. 69 =rasan=, sumatra. 2n. 100e. 69 =ras el hadd=, arabia. 23n. 60e. 45 =ras fartak=, arabia. 16n. 52e. 45 =rashin=, bombay. 19n. 75e. 57 =ras madrack=, arabia. 19n. 58e. 45 =rass=, arabia. 26n. 42e. 44 =ratburi=, siam. 14n. 100e. 71 =ratnagiri=, bombay. 17n. 73e. 57 =rattangarh=, rajputana. 28n. 75e. 59 =raub=, malay peninsula. 4n. 102e. 69 =raung mountain=, java. 8s. 114e. 76 =ravi river=, punjab. 31n. 72e. 58 [*]=rawal pindi=, punjab. 34n. 73e. 58 =rawnina-golyb gobi=, inner mongolia. 43n. 107e. 82 =rawra=, bombay. 20n. 74e. 56 =raxoul=, bengal. 27n. 85e. 60 =rayapur=, bombay. 17n. 73e. 57 =ra-yong=, siam. 13n. 101e. 71 =redang, great=, s. china sea. 6n. 103e. 68 =redang, little=, s. china sea. 6n. 103e. 68 =reducto, yolo=, philippine is. 6n. 121e. 77 =rembang=, java. 7s. 111e. 76 =repally=, madras. 16n. 81e. 62 =repunshiri island=, japan. 45n. 141e. 88 =resht=, persia. 38n. 50e. 47 =reti=, punjab. 28n. 70e. 59 =reuben=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 =rewah=, central india. 24n. 81e. 60 =rewari=, punjab. 28n. 77e. 59 =rhadanpur=, bombay. 24n. 71e. 56 =rhaman=, malay peninsula. 6n. 101e. 68 [*]=rhodes=, asia minor. 36n. 28e. 46 =riad, east=, arabia. 25n. 47e. 44 =riassi=, kashmir. 33n. 75e. 58 =rikuoko=, japan. 41n. 141e. 88 =rimmon=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =rindli=, baluchistan. 30n. 68e. 58 =rinjami, mount=, lombok. 8s. 117e. 76 =rio=, east indies. 1n. 104e. 74 =ri shima=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =rishiri island=, japan. 45n. 141e. 88 =rivandere=, persia. 36n. 47 =roba-el-khali, sandy desert of=, arabia. 21n. 50e. 44, 45 =rohri=, sind. 28n. 69e. 59 [*]=rohtak=, punjab. 29n. 77e. 59 =rokan river, north=, sumatra. 2n. 101e. 69 =rokan river, south=, sumatra. 2n. 101e. 69 =rokko=, formosa. 24n. 120e. 89 =roma=, east indies. 7s. 127e. 75 =romanzov bay=, japan. 45n. 142e. 88 =romblon=, philippine islands. 13n. 122e. 77 =ross island=, korea. 34n. 125e. 90 =rota=, east indies. 14n. 145e. 75 =rotasgurh=, bengal. 25n. 84e. 60 =rotti=, east indies. 11s. 124e. 75 =ruhtas=, punjab. 33n. 74e. 58 =rukshu=, kashmir. 33n. 78e. 58 =rumenia, cape=, malay pen. 1n. 104e. 69 =rumpin river=, malay pen. 3n. 103e. 69 =rupa=, punjab. 31n. 77e. 58 =rupat strait=, sumatra. 2n. 102e. 69 =rupti river=, united provs. 26n. 84e. 60 =rurumoppe=, japan. 43n. 142e. 88 =russelkonda=, madras. 20n. 85e. 62 =ruttunpur=, central provs. 22n. 82e. 60 =sa=, siam. 19n. 101e. 70 =saba=, east indies. 5n. 116e. 74 =sabanrika river=, bengal. 22n. 88e. 61 =sabara=, arabia. 26n. 52e. 45 =sab asphal=, turkey in asia. 36n. 44e. 47 [*]=sabraon=, punjab. 31n. 75e. 58 =saccol=, philippine islands. 7n. 122e. 77 =sachad=, sind. 28n. 69e. 59 =sadakam=, east indies. 6n. 118e. 74 =sadargarh=, rajputana. 27n. 70e. 59 =sadazaki=, japan. 33n. 133e. 89 =sadiya=, assam. 28n. 96e. 67 =sado=, japan. 38n. 138e. 88 =sadwan=, arabia. 19n. 43e. 44 =safed koh=, afghanistan. 34n. 71e. 58 =safed koh=, afghanistan. 35n. 64e. 45 =saga=, burma. 20n. 97e. 67 =saga=, japan. 33n. 130e. 89 =sagaing=, burma. 22n. 96e. 67 =sagami=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =sagar=, haidarabad. 17n. 77e. 62 =sagar=, central provinces. 24n. 79e. 60 =sagwe=, burma. 20n. 97e. 67 =saharanpur=, united provs. 30n. 78e. 60 =sahund mountain=, persia. 38n. 46e. 47 =sai=, indo-china. 21n. 102e. 70 =sai=, kashmir. 35n. 75e. 58 =saibai island=, east indies. 9s. 124e. 75 =saiburi=, malay peninsula. 6n. 102e. 68 =saidapet=, madras. 13n. 80e. 63 [*]=saigon=, indo-china. 11n. 107e. 71 =saigon river=, indo-china. 11n. 107e. 71 =sai-kao=, siam. 17n. 102e. 70 =saiki=, japan. 33n. 132e. 89 =st. andrew is.=, east indies. 5n. 133e. 75 =st. augustin c.=, philippine is. 6n. 126e. 77 =st. augustino is.=, e. indies. 24n. 140e. 75 =st. bern strait=, east indies. 13n. 125e. 75 =st. bernardino strait=, philippine is. 14n. 121e. 77 =st. david is.=, east indies. 1n. 135e. 75 =st. jacques, cape=, indo-china. 10n. 107e. 71 =st. john island=, china. 21n. 113e. 85 =st. john island=, siberia. 56n. 144e. 95 =st. lucia bay=, east indies. 4n. 118e. 74 =st. mathias is.=, east indies. 1s. 149e. 75 =st. matthew island=, burma. 10n. 98e. 71 =st. paul island=, siberia. 76n. 112e. 94 =st. sen=, indo-china. 13n. 105e. 71 =sakai=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =sakai=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =sakai=, japan. 36n. 136e. 91 =sakaria river=, asia minor. 41n. 31e. 46 =sakata=, japan. 39n. 140e. 88 =sakhalin island=, siberia. 50n. 143e. 95 =sakhne=, turkey in asia. 35n. 39e. 47 =sak-ju=, korea. 40n. 125e. 90 =sakon-lakon=, siam. 17n. 104e. 70 =sakri=, rajputana. 25n. 72e. 59 =salang island=, malay pen. 8n. 98e. 71 =salawatti island=, east indies. 1s. 132e. 75 =salayer island=, east indies. 6s. 120e. 74 [*]=salem=, madras. 12n. 78e. 63 =salgera=, haidarabad. 19n. 77e. 62 =salher=, bombay. 21n. 74e. 56 =salimpur=, united provinces. 26n. 84e. 60 =salin=, burma. 21n. 95e. 67 =salmi=, madras. 19n. 82e. 62 =salset island=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 =salt plain=, persia. 36n. 55e. 45 =salt range mts.=, punjab. 33n. 72e. 58 =salumbar=, rajputana. 24n. 74e. 59 =saluru=, madras. 18n. 83e. 62 =salwin river=, burma. 17n. 98e. 67 =samagarn=, siberia. 50n. 137e. 95 =samalkotta=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 =samar=, philippine islands. 12n. 125e. 77 =samara=, turkey in asia. 34n. 44e. 47 =samarang=, java. 7s. 111e. 76 =samargha=, afghanistan. 32n. 69e. 58 [*]=samaria=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =samarinda=, east indies. 0. 117e. 74 [*]=samarkand=, turkestan. 40n. 67e. 45 =samasata=, punjab. 29n. 72e. 59 =sambalpur=, central provs. 22n. 84e. 60 =sambar=, rajputana. 27n. 75e. 59 =sambar, cape=, borneo. 3s. 110e. 76 =sambar lake=, rajputana. 27n. 75e. 59 [*]=sambhal=, united provinces. 29n. 79e. 60 =sambiliung=, east indies. 2n. 117e. 74 =sambor=, indo-china. 13n. 106e. 71 =sam-chhek=, korea. 37n. 129e. 90 =samit cape=, indo-china. 11n. 103e. 71 =samit island=, siam. 13n. 102e. 71 =samos=, asia minor. 37n. 27e. 46 =sampang=, java. 7s. 113e. 76 =sampit river=, borneo. 3s. 113e. 76 [*]=samsat=, turkey in asia. 38n. 39e. 47 =samshui=, china. 23n. 113e. 85 =samsun=, asia minor. 41n. 36e. 46 =samuie strait=, malay pen. 9n. 100e. 71 [*]=sana=, arabia. 15n. 45e. 44 =san-cha=, china. 34n. 107e. 82 =san-chau island=, china. 22n. 114e. 85 =sandalwood is.=, east indies. 10s. 120e. 74 =sandeman, fort=, punjab. 31n. 69e. 58 =sandon island=, lu-chu is. 29n. 130e. 89 =sandoway=, burma. 18n. 94e. 67 =sandur=, kysore. 15n. 77e. 62 =san-fa river=, manchuria. 44n. 127e. 90 =san fernando=, philippine is. 17n. 121e. 77 =sangamner=, bombay. 20n. 74e. 57 =sanganer=, rajputana. 25n. 75e. 59 =sanga pass=, punjab. 31n. 71e. 58 =sangareddipet=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. 62 =sang-chi=, china. 29n. 110e. 84 =sangir island=, east indies. 3n. 125e. 75 =sang-ju=, korea. 36n. 128e. 90 =sangkapura=, east indies. 6s. 113e. 74 =sang-kou=, china. 37n. 123e. 83 =sangla=, kashmir. 34n. 77e. 58 =sangod=, rajputana. 25n. 76e. 59 =sangrur=, punjab. 30n. 76e. 58 =san-ho, cape=, indo-china. 14n. 109e. 71 =saniaburi=, siam. 18n. 104e. 70 =san ildefonso cape=, philippine islands. 16n. 122e. 77 =sanindo=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =sanjo=, japan. 38n. 139e. 91 =san jose de buenavista=, philippine is. 11n. 122e. 77 =sankasala=, madras. 16n. 78e. 62 =san-kio=, china. 26n. 108e. 84 =san-mun bay=, china. 29n. 122e. 85 =sano=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =san pedro b.=, philippine is. 11n. 125e. 77 =san-sa inlet=, china. 26n. 120e. 85 =san-shui=, china. 35n. 108e. 82 =san-sin=, manchuria. 46n. 129e. 90 =santa maria=, philippine is. 8n. 122e. 77 =san-tao-ho=, inner mongolia. 40n. 107e. 82 =san tomas mt.=, philippine is. 16n. 121e. 77 =san-tuao=, china. 27n. 120e. 85 =sanuki=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =sanyodo=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =sao=, formosa. 25n. 122e. 89 =sapat=, indo-china. 16n. 106e. 70 =sapporo=, japan. 42n. 141e. 88 =sapudi island=, java. 7s. 114e. 76 =sapudi strait=, java. 7s. 114e. 76 =saraga=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 =saraikalu=, bengal. 23n. 86e. 60 =sarangani=, philippine is. 5n. 125e. 77 =sarangani b.=, philippine is. 6n. 125e. 77 =sarap river=, kashmir. 34n. 77e. 58 =saraswati=, bombay. 24n. 72e. 56 =saratsi=, china. 41n. 111e. 82 =saravan=, indo-china. 16n. 106e. 70 =sarawak=, east indies. 2n. 110e. 74 =sarawak prov.=, east indies. 3n. 112e. 74 =sarawan=, baluchistan. 28n. 65e. 45 =saree=, persia. 36n. 53e. 45 =sarepta=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 13 =sarifah=, turkey in asia. 34n. 42e. 47 =sariguan=, east indies. 17n. 145e. 75 =sart=, asia minor. 38n. 28e. 46 =sartu=, manchuria. 46n. 125e. 90 =saru=, japan. 42n. 142e. 88 =sasayama=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =saschiveisk=, siberia. 66n. 142e. 95 =sasebo=, japan. 33n. 130e. 89 [*]=sasseram=, bengal. 25n. 84e. 60 =sassun=, turkey in asia. 39n. 41e. 47 =sasuna=, japan. 35n. 130e. 89 =satara=, bombay. 18n. 74e. 57 =sathalanu=, rajputana. 26n. 73e. 59 =satpura range=, bombay. 22n. 75e. 56 =satui=, borneo. 4s. 115e. 76 =satun=, malay peninsula. 7n. 100e. 68 =satur=, madras. 9n. 78e. 63 =saura=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 =sauton=, indo-china. 12n. 103e. 71 =sava=, persia. 35n. 51e. 45 =savalan dagh=, persia. 38n. 48e. 47 =savanur=, bombay. 15n. 75e. 57 =savarnadurg=, bombay. 18n. 73e. 57 =saw=, burma. 21n. 94e. 67 =sawa=, arabia. 16n. 47e. 44 =sawal=, java. 7s. 108e. 76 =sawankalok=, siam. 17n. 100e. 70 =sawant wari=, bombay. 16n. 74e. 57 =sawara=, japan. 36n. 141e. 91 =sawase-muninto-shima=, japan. 30n. 130e. 89 =sawu=, east indies. 11s. 121e. 74 =sayer island=, malay peninsula. 9n. 98e. 71 =scala nova=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. 46 =schouten island=, east indies. 1s. 136e. 75 =schouten island=, east indies. 4s. 145e. 75 =scythopolis=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =se bang fai r.=, indo-china. 17n. 105e. 70 =se bang khan=, indo-china. 13n. 106e. 71 =se bang hien=, indo-china. 16n. 105e. 70 =sedili besar=, malay peninsula. 2n. 104e. 69 =sefid=, persia. 34n. 49e. 47 =sefid rud=, persia. 37n. 50e. 45 =segaro=, malacca strait. 2n. 102e. 69 =sehaf river=, baluchistan. 29n. 68e. 59 =seheh=, malay peninsula. 8n. 100e. 71 =sehwan=, sind. 26n. 68e. 59 =seira-kei river=, formosa. 24n. 120e. 89 =seistan=, persia. 30n. 61e. 45 =seki=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =sekiz=, persia. 37n. 46e. 47 =sekudi=, malacca strait. 1n. 102e. 69 =selangor=, malay peninsula. 3n. 101e. 69 =selangor river=, malay pen. 3n. 101e. 69 =selatan, cape=, borneo. 4s. 115e. 76 =selapum=, siam. 16n. 104e. 70 [*]=selefke=, asia minor. 36n. 34e. 46 =selenginsk=, siberia. 50n. 107e. 94 =seleucia=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =selin kong buyu=, malay pen. 7n. 102e. 68 =se mam=, siam. 15n. 105e. 70 =semantan river=, malay pen. 3n. 102e. 69 =sembilan island=, malacca str. 4n. 100e. 68 =semerara=, philippine islands. 12n. 122e. 77 =semeru, mount=, java. 8s. 113e. 76 =semipolatinsk=, asiatic russia. 51n. 80e. 94 =semiretchensk=, as. russia. 45n. 78e. 94 =sempu=, java. 8s. 113e. 76 =senbo=, burma. 25n. 97e. 67 =sendai=, japan. 38n. 141e. 88 =sengora=, malay peninsula. 7n. 101e. 71 =senna=, persia. 35n. 47 =seoni=, central provinces. 22n. 80e. 60 =sepphoris=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 13 =sequevras is.=, east indies. 9n. 130e. 75 =serakhs=, persia. 36n. 61e. 45 =serang=, java. 6s. 106e. 76 =serangani is.=, east indies. 5n. 126e. 75 =seraor=, bombay. 19n. 74e. 57 =serau river=, malay peninsula. 4n. 102e. 68 =seremban=, malay peninsula. 3n. 102e. 69 =sergiopot=, asiatic russia. 48n. 80e. 94 =serindah=, malay peninsula. 3n. 102e. 69 [*]=seringapatam=, mysore. 12n. 77e. 63 =sermatten=, east indies. 8s. 129e. 75 =serpur=, haidarabad. 20n. 80e. 62 =serua=, east indies. 6s. 130e. 75 =se san=, indo-china. 13n. 106e. 71 =se-su-phon=, indo-china. 14n. 103e. 71 =setsu=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =setsu-san=, formosa. 25n. 121e. 89 =sewasmudram=, madras. 12n. 77e. 63 =seypan=, east indies. 15n. 145e. 75 =shabeh khel=, punjab. 32n. 68e. 58 =shabkadar=, n.w. frontier prov. 34n. 72e. 58 =shadipalli=, sind. 26n. 69e. 59 =shaggera=, arabia. 26n. 46e. 44 =shahabad=, haidarabad. 17n. 77e. 62 =shahabad=, rajputana. 25n. 77e. 59 [*]=shahabad=, united provinces. 28n. 80e. 60 =shah bundur=, sind. 24n. 68e. 59 =shahgarh=, central provs. 24n. 79e. 60 =shahgarh=, rajputana. 27n. 70e. 59 =shahjahanpur=, united provs. 28n. 80e. 60 =sha-ho=, china. 33n. 115e. 83 =shaho=, manchuria. 42n. 123e. 90 =shahpur=, punjab. 32n. 72e. 58 =shaikhawati=, rajputana. 28n. 75e. 59 =shaikh othman=, arabia. 13n. 45e. 44 =shaiwal=, punjab. 32n. 72e. 58 =shalkar=, punjab. 32n. 78e. 58 =shan=, china. 35n. 111e. 82 =shang=, china. 34n. 110e. 82 =shang-cheng=, china. 32n. 115e. 83 =shang-hai=, china. 31n. 122e. 83 [*]=shang-hai=, china. 31n. 121e. 85 =shang-hang=, china. 25n. 117e. 85 =shang-sze=, china. 22n. 108e. 84 =shan-hai-kwan=, china. 40n. 120e. 83 =shankeridroog=, madras. 12n. 78e. 63 =shan-si=, china. 38n. 113e. 82, 83 =shan states, north=, burma. 22n. 98e. 67 =shan states, south=, burma. 21n. 99e. 67 =shantarski island=, siberia. 55n. 138e. 95 =shan-tung=, china. 36n. 118e. 83 =shao-chau=, china. 25n. 113e. 85 =shao-hsing=, china. 30n. 121e. 85 =shao-wu=, china. 27n. 118e. 85 =shara-khada=, china. 41n. 113e. 82 =shara-muren=, mongolia. 44n. 120e. 83 =sharjah=, arabia. 25n. 55e. 45 =sharon, plain of=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =sha-shi=, china. 30n. 112e. 84 =shatt el arab=, turkey in asia. 31n. 48e. 47 =shau=, china. 32n. 117e. 83 =shayok river=, kashmir. 35n. 76e. 58 =she=, china. 37n. 114e. 83 =shechem=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =sheiten=, inner mongolia. 41n. 109e. 82 =sheiten-ula=, inner mongolia. 41n. 109e. 82 =shekhabad=, afghanistan. 34n. 69e. 58 =shemaga=, burma. 22n. 96e. 67 =shen=, china. 38n. 116e. 83 =sheng=, china. 42n. 122e. 83 =sheng-king=, manchuria. 41n. 123e. 90 =shen-si=, china. 35n. 109e. 82 =sheo=, rajputana. 26n. 71e. 59 =sheopur=, central india. 26n. 77e. 60 =shergarh=, punjab. 31n. 74e. 58 =sherghaty=, bengal. 25n. 85e. 60 =shibam=, arabia. 16n. 49e. 44 =shibata=, japan. 38n. 139e. 91 =shibetsu=, japan. 43n. 145e. 88 =shibushi=, japan. 31n. 131e. 89 =shi-chao=, china. 35n. 120e. 83 =shi-cheng=, china. 26n. 116e. 85 =shichi to=, japan. 34n. 139e. 91 =shi-chu=, china. 30n. 108e. 84 =shie-tie-tien=, china. 39n. 119e. 83 =shigatze=, tibet. 29n. 89e. 61 =shikami=, japan. 34n. 129e. 89 =shikaripur=, mysore. 14n. 75e. 63 =shikarpur=, sind. 28n. 69e. 59 =shikotsu-to=, japan. 42n. 142e. 88 =shiljin-gol=, mongolia. 44n. 116e. 83 =shilka, river=, siberia. 54n. 121e. 95 =shillong=, assam. 26n. 92e. 61 =shiloh=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =shi-lung=, china. 23n. 114e. 85 =shimabara=, japan. 33n. 130e. 89 =shi-men=, china. 29n. 111e. 84 =shimidsu=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =shimochuke=, japan. 37n. 140e. 91 [*]=shimoga=, mysore. 14n. 76e. 63 [*]=shimonosoki=, japan. 34n. 131e. 89 =shimosa=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =shi-nan=, china. 30n. 109e. 84 =shinano=, japan. 36n. 138e. 91 =shinchiku=, formosa. 25n. 121e. 89 =shindwa=, central india. 22n. 75e. 56 =shingu=, japan. 34n. 136e. 91 =shinjo=, japan. 39n. 140e. 88 =shin-mu=, china. 39n. 110e. 82 =shin-san=, japan. 40n. 140e. 88 =shin shima=, japan. 34n. 139e. 91 =shiobado=, tibet. 31n. 96e. 61 =shi-pu=, china. 29n. 122e. 85 =shirakawa=, japan. 37n. 140e. 91 [*]=shiraz=, persia. 30n. 53e. 45 =shiretokozaki=, japan. 44n. 145e. 88 =shiri bay=, japan. 43n. 144e. 88 =shiriyazaki=, japan. 41n. 142e. 88 =shiro=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =shi-shan=, china. 29n. 117e. 85 =shi-tsien=, china. 27n. 108e. 84 =shi-tsui-tze=, china. 39n. 106e. 82 =shivarai hills=, madras. 12n. 78e. 63 =shiwo cape=, japan. 33n. 136e. 91 =shizuoka=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 =shoal gulf=, korea. 36n. 126e. 90 =shoka=, formosa. 24n. 121e. 89 [*]=sholapur=, bombay. 18n. 76e. 57 =shorapur=, haidarabad. 17n. 77e. 62 =shorkot=, punjab. 31n. 72e. 58 =shozu south=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =shuan-chen-tin=, manchuria. 45n. 126e. 90 =shugshut=, asia minor. 40n. 30e. 46 =shu-ho=, china. 35n. 119e. 83 =shu-ho=, china. 34n. 113e. 82 =shui-chau=, china. 28n. 115e. 85 =shui-ho=, inner mongolia. 39n. 103e. 82 =shui-tung=, china. 21n. 111e. 84 =shu-kao=, china. 32n. 121e. 83 =shun-chang=, china. 27n. 118e. 85 =shunem=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =shung-pu=, china. 36n. 109e. 82 =shu-ning=, china. 33n. 114e. 83 =shun-king=, china. 31n. 106e. 84 =shun-te=, china. 37n. 115e. 83 =shuram river=, punjab. 32n. 69e. 58 =shuri=, lu-chu island. 26n. 128e. 89 =shuster=, persia. 32n. 49e. 47 [*]=shwebo=, burma. 23n. 96e. 67 =shwegyin=, burma. 18n. 97e. 67 =shwe-in=, burma. 25n. 97e. 67 =siak=, east indies. 1n. 102e. 74 =siak sri indrapura=, sumatra. 1n. 102e. 69 =siak koh=, afghanistan. 34n. 64e. 45 =siak river=, sumatra. 1n. 102e. 69 =sialkot=, punjab. 33n. 75e. 58 =siao=, east indies. 3n. 125e. 75 =siao-ho=, china. 32n. 104e. 82 =siargo=, philippine islands. 10n. 126e. 77 =siassi=, philippine islands. 5n. 121e. 77 =siaton point=, philippine is. 9n. 123e. 77 =sibay=, philippine islands. 12n. 122e. 77 =siberui island=, east indies. 1s. 98e. 74 =sibi=, punjab. 30n. 68e. 58 =sibiriakof island=, siberia. 73n. 80e. 94 =siboga=, east indies. 3n. 99e. 74 =siboku island=, east indies. 3s. 100e. 74 =sibsagar=, assam. 27n. 95e. 67 =sibuguey bay=, philippine is. 7n. 122e. 77 =sibuyan=, philippine islands. 12n. 122e. 77 =sidavu=, java. 7s. 113e. 76 =sidoarjo=, java. 7s. 113e. 76 [*]=sidon=, palestine. 34n. 35e. 12 =siempang=, indo-china. 14n. 106e. 70 =siemreap=, indo-china. 13n. 104e. 71 =sierra madre=, philippine is. 17n. 122e. 77 =sifa, cape=, china. 19n. 111e. 84 =sihoon river=, asia minor. 37n. 36e. 46 =sikanderabad=, haidarabad. 17n. 78e. 62 =sikhota alin mts.=, siberia. 46n. 136e. 95 =si-kiang river=, china. 22n. 108e. 84 =siktach=, siberia. 69n. 124e. 95 =silaymyo=, burma. 21n. 95e. 67 =silchar=, assam. 25n. 93e. 67 =siller river=, madras. 18n. 82e. 62 =silong belamak b.=, lombok. 9s. 116e. 76 =sim=, siam. 19n. 101e. 70 =simalur island=, east indies. 3n. 96e. 74 [*]=simla=, punjab. 31n. 77e. 58 =simoda=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =sinagawa=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =sinah river=, bombay. 18n. 75e. 57 =sindang barang=, java. 8s. 107e. 76 =sindh river=, united provs. 26n. 79e. 60 =sindjio=, lu-chu islands. 24n. 123e. 89 =sindri=, rajputana. 25n. 72e. 59 [*]=singapore=, malay peninsula. 1n. 104e. 69 =singapur=, madras. 19n. 83e. 62 =singaraji=, bali. 8s. 115e. 76 =singareni=, haidarabad. 18n. 80e. 62 =singhjani=, bengal. 25n. 90e. 61 =singhpur=, united provs. 24n. 83e. 60 =singkawang=, east indies. 1n. 109e. 74 =singkel=, east indies. 3n. 98e. 74 =sinjai=, east indies. 5s. 120e. 74 =sinjar, j.=, turkey in asia. 37n. 41e. 47 =sin-min-fu=, manchuria. 42n. 123e. 90 =sinocoan mt.=, philippine is. 15n. 121e. 77 [*]=sinope=, asia minor. 42n. 35e. 46 =sipan dagh=, turkey in asia. 39n. 43e. 47 =sipiongot=, sumatra. 2n. 100e. 69 =sipri=, central india. 26n. 78e. 60 =siquijor=, philippine islands. 9n. 124e. 77 =sirahama=, japan. 35n. 140e. 91 =siran=, sind. 24n. 68e. 59 =sircilla=, haidarabad. 18n. 79e. 62 =sirguja=, bengal. 23n. 83e. 60 [*]=sirhind=, punjab. 31n. 76e. 58 =sir james hall is.=, korea. 38n. 125e. 90 =sirmoor=, punjab. 31n. 78e. 58 =sirohi=, rajputana. 25n. 73e. 59 =sironj=, central india. 24n. 78e. 60 =sirpur=, bombay. 21n. 75e. 56 =sirsa=, punjab. 29n. 75e. 59 =sirt=, turkey in asia. 38n. 42e. 47 =sirui, cape=, java. 8s. 112e. 76 =sis=, asia minor. 37n. 36e. 46 =sisaket=, siam. 15n. 104e. 70 =sisarah=, rajputana. 29n. 72e. 59 =sisuro point=, korea. 42n. 130e. 90 =sita river=, punjab. 32n. 78e. 58 =sitapur=, united provs. 28n. 81e. 60 =sittaung=, burma. 17n. 97e. 67 =sittaung river=, burma. 17n. 97e. 67 =situbondo=, java. 8s. 114e. 76 =siu-ho river=, china. 29n. 116e. 85 [*]=sivas=, asia minor. 40n. 37e. 46 =sivrihissar=, asia minor. 39n. 32e. 46 =siwai madhopur=, rajputana. 26n. 76e. 59 =siwana=, rajputana. 26n. 72e. 59 =skardo=, kashmir. 35n. 76e. 58 [*]=skutari=, asia minor. 41n. 29e. 46 =slamat mountain=, java. 7s. 109e. 76 =slim=, malay peninsula. 4n. 101e. 69 =sloko, cape=, java. 9s. 114e. 76 [*]=smyrna=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. 46 =so-an island=, korea. 34n. 126e. 90 =society bay=, china. 39n. 122e. 83 =socoh=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 =soe-trang=, indo-china. 9n. 106e. 71 =sofask=, siberia. 51n. 140e. 95 =sohagpur=, central provinces. 23n. 78e. 60 =sohan river=, punjab. 33n. 72e. 58 [*]=sohar=, arabia. 24n. 57e. 45 =sohnagpur=, central india. 23n. 81e. 60 =sok=, indo-china. 15n. 107e. 70 =sokotai=, siam. 17n. 100e. 70 =solo river=, java. 7s. 113e. 76 =solombo island=, east indies. 5s. 114e. 76 =soma=, asia minor. 39n. 27e. 46 =sombok=, indo-china. 13n. 106e. 71 [*]=somnath=, bombay. 21n. 70e. 56 =son=, siam. 19n. 98e. 70 =son=, indo-china. 21n. 103e. 70 =sonali bazar=, assam. 24n. 93e. 67 =sone river=, bengal. 25n. 84e. 60 =sonehut=, bengal. 23n. 82e. 60 =song bo=, indo-china. 21n. 105e. 70 =song chai=, indo-china. 22n. 105e. 70 =song-chin=, korea. 41n. 129e. 90 =song ka=, indo-china. 19n. 106e. 70 =songkla=, malay peninsula. 7n. 101e. 71 =song koi=, indo-china. 20n. 106e. 70 =song-kon=, indo-china. 16n. 105e. 70 =songsan=, burma. 27n. 97e. 67 =sonipat=, punjab. 29n. 77e. 59 =son-la=, indo-china. 21n. 104e. 70 =sonmiani=, baluchistan. 25n. 67e. 45 =sonpur=, central provinces. 21n. 84e. 60 =son-tay=, indo-china. 21n. 105e. 70 =so-ping=, china. 40n. 112e. 82 =sopur=, kashmir. 34n. 74e. 58 =soran=, united provinces. 28n. 79e. 60 =sorol=, east indies. 9n. 141e. 75 =sotina=, siberia. 41n. 89e. 94 =soukbulah=, persia. 37n. 46e. 47 =south cape=, bali. 9s. 115e. 76 =south cape=, east indies. 22n. 120e. 74 =south cape=, east indies. 11s. 150e. 75 =south-west cape=, china. 19n. 109e. 84 =soya=, japan. 45n. 142e. 88 =soyazaki=, japan. 45n. 142e. 88 =spanish island=, east indies. 14n. 141e. 75 =sradet=, indo-china. 13n. 108e. 71 =srepok=, indo-china. 13n. 107e. 71 =sre-umbel=, indo-china. 11n. 104e. 71 =srinagar=, kashmir. 34n. 75e. 58 =srinagar=, united provinces. 30n. 79e. 60 =srirangam=, madras. 11n. 79e. 63 =sriwalliputur=, madras. 10n. 79e. 63 =stanovoi, mts.=, siberia. 62n. 150e. 95 =stony tunguska r.=, siberia. 61n. 90e. 94 =strait of singapore=, malay pen. 1n. 104e. 69 =strednoi kolimsk=, siberia. 67n. 158e. 95 =stung-treng=, indo-china. 13n. 106e. 71 =su=, china. 34n. 117e. 83 =sual=, east indies. 16n. 120e. 74 =sual=, philippine islands. 16n. 120e. 77 =subarmati river=, bombay. 23n. 73e. 56 =suburga=, china. 44n. 122e. 83 =subzavar=, persia. 36n. 58e. 45 =succoth=, palestine. 32n. 36e. 12 [*]=su-chau=, china. 31n. 121e. 83 =suckling mt.=, east indies. 10s. 148e. 75 =sudharam=, bengal. 23n. 91e. 61 =sue-pau-ting=, china. 32n. 104e. 82 =sufi=, sind. 26n. 70e. 59 =sugakawa=, japan. 37n. 140e. 91 =sui=, china. 32n. 113e. 85 =sui=, china. 35n. 115e. 83 =sui-fu=, china. 29n. 105e. 84 =sui-ki=, china. 21n. 110e. 84 =sui-ngan=, china. 29n. 119e. 85 =sui-ping=, china. 33n. 114e. 83 =sui-te=, china. 37n. 110e. 82 =sui-ting=, china. 31n. 108e. 84 =sui-yuen-wan=, china. 41n. 112e. 82 =suji=, inner mongolia. 43n. 109e. 82 =sukadana=, east indies. 1s. 110e. 74 =sukit=, punjab. 32n. 77e. 58 [*]=sukkur=, sind. 28n. 69e. 59 =sula island=, east indies. 3s. 125e. 75 =sulaiman mts.=, punjab. 30n. 70e. 58 =suleimamyeh=, turkey in asia. 36n. 46e. 47 =sullivan's island=, burma. 11n. 98e. 71 =sulphur is.=, east indies. 25n. 141e. 75 =sultameh=, persia. 37n. 49e. 47 =sultanpur=, punjab. 32n. 77e. 58 =sulu archipelago=, philippine is. 6n. 122e. 77 =sulu island=, east indies. 5n. 120e. 74 =sulu sea=, east indies. 8n. 120e. 74 =sulu sea=, philippine islands. 8n. 120e. 77 =suma-khada mts.=, china. 41n. 112e. 82 =sumatra=, east indies. 0. 100e. 74 =sumba island=, east indies. 10s. 120e. 74 =sumbawa=, east indies. 9s. 119e. 74 =sumbing, mount=, java. 7s. 110e. 76 =sumda=, bombay. 15n. 75e. 57 =sumenep=, java. 7s. 114e. 76 =sumoto=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =sunawaga=, japan. 43n. 143e. 88 =sunda, strait of=, east indies. 6s. 105e. 74 =sunderbuns=, bengal. 22n. 89e. 61 =sungari river=, manchuria. 45n. 125e. 90 =sungi point=, philippine is. 11n. 126e. 77 =sungiori=, madras. 15n. 80e. 62 =sung-kiang=, china. 31n. 121e. 83 =sung-shan=, china. 35n. 113e. 82, 83 =sung-tao=, china. 28n. 109e. 84 =sunites=, inner mongolia. 43n. 113e. 82 =sunkam=, madras. 18n. 82e. 62 =sunth=, bombay. 23n. 74e. 56 =suo=, japan. 34n. 132e. 91 =suo nada island=, japan. 34n. 132e. 89 =su-pu=, china. 28n. 110e. 84 =sur=, arabia. 23n. 60e. 45 =surabaya=, java. 7s. 113e. 76 =sura-buri=, siam. 14n. 101e. 71 =suradan=, madras. 20n. 84e. 62 =surakarta=, java. 8s. 111e. 76 [*]=surat=, bombay. 21n. 73e. 56 =suratgarh=, rajputana. 29n. 74e. 59 =suren=, siam. 15n. 103e. 71 =sureydi=, sind. 25n. 69e. 59 =suri=, bengal. 24n. 88e. 61 =surigao=, philippine islands. 10n. 126e. 77 =surigao strait=, philippine is. 10n. 126e. 77 =surkh koh=, afghanistan. 32n. 67e. 58 =suru=, kashmir. 34n. 76e. 58 =suruga=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =suruga bay=, japan. 35n. 139e. 91 =survasiddhi=, madras. 17n. 83e. 62 [*]=susa=, persia. 32n. 48e. 47 =susah, cape=, sumatra. 2n. 101e. 69 =susaki=, japan. 33n. 133e. 91 =sutsu=, japan. 42n. 140e. 88 =suvanapum=, siam. 16n. 104e. 70 =suverek=, turkey in asia. 38n. 39e. 47 =suzu cape=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =sverdrup island=, siberia. 74n. 80e. 94 =swat=, n.w. frontier provs. 35n. 73e. 58 =swat river=, n.w. frontier provs. 36n. 73e. 58 =swatow=, china. 23n. 117e. 85 =swettenham, pt.=, malay pen. 3n. 101e. 69 =sychar=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 13 =sylhet=, assam. 25n. 92e. 61 =syloo=, assam. 23n. 93e. 67 =syme=, asia minor. 36n. 27e. 46 =syrho desert=, inner mongolia. 38n. 105e. 82 =syria=, turkey in asia. 35n. 37e. 46 =syrian desert=, syria and arabia. 32n. 40e. 44 =sz=, china. 33n. 118e. 83 =sze-chau=, china. 27n. 109e. 84 =sze-cheng=, china. 24n. 106e. 84 =sze-chwan=, china. 30n. 105e. 84 =sze-nan=, china. 28n. 108e. 84 =sze-ngen=, china. 23n. 108e. 84 =sz-hwei=, china. 23n. 113e. 84 =taal vol.=, philippine islands. 14n. 122e. 77 =taanach=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =tabanan=, bali. 8s. 115e. 76 =tabas=, persia. 33n. 57e. 45 =tabilung=, sikkim. 27n. 89e. 61 =tablas=, philippine islands. 13n. 122e. 77 =table cape=, indo-china. 10n. 105e. 71 [*]=tabor, mount=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 [*]=tabreez=, persia. 38n. 46e. 47 =tabub=, arabia. 19n. 42e. 44 =tachin=, siam. 14n. 100e. 71 =ta-chwang-ho=, manchuria. 40n. 123e. 90 =tacloban=, philippine islands. 11n. 125e. 77 =tadmor=, turkey in asia. 34n. 38e. 47 =tadotsu=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =tadputri=, madras. 15n. 78e. 62 =taen arynsk=, siberia. 62n. 127e. 95 =tagan=, china. 33n. 104e. 82 =tagaung-myo=, burma. 23n. 96e. 67 =tagbilaran=, philippine is. 10n. 124e. 77 =tahkechi=, malay peninsula. 10n. 99e. 71 =tai=, china. 32n. 120e. 83 =tai=, china. 39n. 113e. 82 =tai-chau=, china. 29n. 121e. 85 =tai-chau bay=, china. 29n. 122e. 85 =tai-chau island=, china. 28n. 122e. 85 =taichu=, formosa. 24n. 121e. 89 =tai-hang-shan=, china. 36n. 114e. 83 =tai-ho=, china. 27n. 115e. 85 =tai-ho=, china. 33n. 116e. 83 =taiho-ku=, formosa. 25n. 121e. 89 =tai-hu=, china. 31n. 116e. 85 =tai-hu=, china. 31n. 120e. 85 =tai-jeng=, korea. 33n. 126e. 90 =tai-kang=, china. 34n. 115e. 83 =taiko=, formosa. 24n. 121e. 89 =tai-ku=, korea. 36n. 128e. 90 =tai-kung=, china. 26n. 109e. 84 =taimyr bay=, siberia. 75n. 98e. 94 =taimyr island=, siberia. 76n. 96e. 94 =taimyr peninsula=, siberia. 75n. 100e. 94 =tainan=, formosa. 23n. 120e. 89 =taindah=, burma. 20n. 95e. 67 =tai-ning=, china. 27n. 117e. 85 =taio cape=, japan. 34n. 137e. 91 =tai-ping=, china. 22n. 107e. 84 =tai-ping=, china. 28n. 121e. 85 =tai-ping=, china. 32n. 119e. 83 =taiping=, malay peninsula. 5n. 101e. 68 =taira=, japan. 37n. 141e. 91 =tais=, arabia. 14n. 44 =taitai=, east indies. 11n. 119e. 74 =taiwan=, formosa. 24n. 121e. 89 =tai-yuen=, china. 38n. 112e. 82 =tai-yuen-hsien=, china. 38n. 112e. 82 =tajima=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =taju=, java. 6s. 111e. 76 =takahagi=, japan. 37n. 141e. 91 =takahashi=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =takamatsu=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =takamatsu=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =takanabe=, japan. 32n. 132e. 89 =takang=, siam. 16n. 105e. 70 =takao=, east indies. 23n. 120e. 74 =takaoka=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =takara-shima=, lu-chu is. 29n. 129e. 89 =takasaki=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =taka-shima=, japan. 31n. 130e. 89 =takashima=, japan. 36n. 138e. 91 =takata=, japan. 34n. 136e. 91 =takata=, japan. 37n. 138e. 91 =takayana=, japan. 36n. 137e. 91 =tak-chau island=, korea. 37n. 126e. 90 =takeo=, japan. 36n. 136e. 91 =taketoyo=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =ta-kiang river=, china. 29n. 105e. 84 =takow=, formosa. 22n. 120e. 89 =takt-i-suliman mt.=, n.w. frontier provs. 32n. 70e. 58 =ta-ku=, china. 27n. 106e. 84 =ta-ku=, china. 39n. 118e. 83 =takuatung=, malay peninsula. 8n. 99e. 71 =ta-ku-shan=, manchuria. 40n. 124e. 90 =ta kuwapa=, malay peninsula. 9n. 98e. 71 =takuyama=, japan. 34n. 132e. 91 =ta-kwan=, china. 28n. 104e. 84 =talatcheri=, madras. 12n. 75e. 63 =talaut island=, east indies. 4n. 132e. 75 =ta-lien-wan=, manchuria. 39n. 122e. 90 =talikot=, bombay. 16n. 76e. 57 =ta-ling-ho=, china. 41n. 120e. 83 =talün-tün=, china. 42n. 116e. 83 =tamba=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =tambora, g. of=, east indies. 8s. 118e. 74 =ta-ming=, china. 36n. 115e. 83 =tammai=, burma. 24n. 94e. 67 =tampang=, east indies. 1s. 114e. 74 =tampi=, rajputana. 25n. 71e. 59 =tampin mt.=, malay peninsula. 2n. 102e. 69 =tamsui=, formosa. 25n. 121e. 89 =tamuntulang, c.=, sumatra. 3n. 100e. 69 =tam-yang=, korea. 35n. 127e. 90 =tanabe=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =tanah=, borneo. 3s. 116e. 76 =tanah, cape=, java. 6s. 109e. 76 =tanah merah=, malay pen. 6n. 102e. 68 =tanaka=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 =ta-nan-hu=, china. 31n. 119e. 85 =tanaputi=, sumatra. 2n. 101e. 69 =tan-chau=, china. 20n. 109e. 84 =tandi=, punjab. 33n. 77e. 58 =tanegashima=, japan. 31n. 131e. 89 =tanen taung gyi mts.=, burma. 21n. 99e. 67 =tang=, china. 23n. 111e. 84 =tangalle=, ceylon. 6n. 81e. 63 =tango=, japan. 36n. 135e. 91 =tanguan, cape=, indo-china. 15n. 109e. 71 =ta-ning=, china. 31n. 110e. 84 =tanjong baley=, sumatra. 3n. 100e. 69 =tanjong gelang=, malay pen. 4n. 104e. 68 =tanjong mas=, malay pen. 6n. 102e. 68 =tanjong penunjut=, malay pen. 4n. 103e. 68 =tanjong pinang=, strait of singapore. 1n. 104e. 69 =tanjong tohor=, malay pen. 2n. 103e. 69 [*]=tanjore=, madras. 11n. 79e. 63 =tank=, n.w. frontier provs. 32n. 71e. 58 =tanon strait=, philippine is. 10n. 123e. 77 =tantalam island=, malay pen. 8n. 101e. 71 =tao-chau=, china. 26n. 112e. 84 =tao-kau=, china. 36n. 115e. 83 =tao-kwang=, korea. 41n. 129e. 90 =tao-ping=, china. 24n. 117e. 85 =tapah=, malay peninsula. 4n. 101e. 68 =tapapolon=, siam. 18n. 98e. 70 =ta-pa-shan=, china. 32n. 107e. 82 =ta-ping-ho river=, burma. 24n. 97e. 67 =ta-ping-orr=, china. 43n. 121e. 83 =tapti river=, bombay. 21n. 73e. 56 =ta-pu=, china. 24n. 117e. 85 =tapul island=, philippine is. 6n. 121e. 77 =tara=, siberia. 57n. 74e. 94 =tarama-shima=, lu-chu is. 24n. 124e. 89 =tarang=, malay peninsula. 8n. 99e. 71 =tarapur=, bombay. 20n. 73e. 57 =tarbagatai mts.=, asiatic russia. 47n. 82e. 94 =tarim=, arabia. 16n. 49e. 44 =tarmuth=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =tarshis=, persia. 35n. 59e. 45 =tartary, gulf of=, siberia. 48n. 141e. 95 =ta-shang= or =great sandbank=, china. 34n. 122e. 83 =ta-shi-kiau=, manchuria. 41n. 122e. 90 =ta-shi-ki river=, china. 26n. 118e. 85 =ta-shi-shan=, china. 34n. 105e. 82 =tashkent=, turkestan. 41n. 69e. 45 =tash kopri=, asia minor. 42n. 34e. 46 =tashkurghan=, afghanistan. 36n. 68e. 45 =tasp=, baluchistan. 27n. 64e. 45 =tassiudon=, bhutan. 28n. 90e. 61 =tatarsar=, punjab. 30n. 74e. 58 =tate ya=, japan. 37n. 138e. 91 =ta-ting=, china. 27n. 106e. 84 =ta-tong river=, korea. 39n. 126e. 90 =ta-tsing-shan=, inner mongolia. 41n. 110e. 82 =ta-tsung-hu=, china. 33n. 120e. 83 =ta-tung=, china. 40n. 113e. 83 =ta-tung-kau=, manchuria. 40n. 124e. 90 =tatwas=, rajputana. 27n. 73e. 59 =tau=, china. 35n. 103e. 82 =taungdwing=, burma. 20n. 96e. 67 =taung-gup lake=, burma. 19n. 95e. 67 =taung-gyi=, burma. 21n. 97e. 67 =taung-ngu=, burma. 19n. 96e. 67 =taun-gup=, burma. 19n. 94e. 67 =tau passage=, malay pen. 10n. 100e. 71 =taurus mts.=, asia minor. 36n. 30e. 46 =taurus mts.=, turkey in asia. 38n. 38e. 46 =tausk bay=, siberia. 59n. 149e. 95 =tavda, river=, siberia. 58n. 67e. 94 =tavoy=, burma. 14n. 98e. 71 =tavoy island=, burma. 13n. 98e. 71 =tavoy point=, burma. 14n. 98e. 71 =tavoy river=, burma. 14n. 98e. 71 =tawang=, bhutan. 27n. 92e. 61 =tawar, river=, malay pen. 7n. 101e. 68 =tawara=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =tawi tawi is.=, philippine is. 5n. 120e. 77 =tayabas=, philippine islands. 14n. 122e. 77 =tayibeh=, turkey in asia. 35n. 39e. 47 =tay-ninh=, indo-china. 11n. 106e. 71 =tayooka=, japan. 36n. 135e. 91 =ta-ye=, china. 30n. 115e. 85 =taytay=, philippine islands. 11n. 119e. 77 =tchaoun bay=, siberia. 69n. 171e. 95 =tchaubar=, persia. 25n. 61e. 45 =tcheripaltcheri=, madras. 11n. 76e. 63 =tchikisliar=, turkestan. 38n. 54e. 45 =tchita=, siberia. 52n. 114e. 95 =tchorum=, asia minor. 40n. 35e. 46 =tchuktchees=, siberia. 65n. 170e. 95 =tchumalari mt.=, tibet. 28n. 89e. 61 =tebbing tinggi=, malacca str. 1n. 103e. 69 =tebuk=, arabia. 29n. 37e. 44 =te-chau=, china. 37n. 116e. 83 =te-do=, korea. 36n. 126e. 90 =tefeni=, asia minor. 37n. 30e. 46 =tegal=, java. 7s. 109e. 76 =tehari=, central india. 25n. 79e. 60 [*]=teheran=, persia. 36n. 51e. 45 =teiku=, burma. 18n. 97e. 67 [*]=teima=, arabia. 28n. 39e. 44 =tejen river=, turkestan. 36n. 61e. 45 =tek myoo=, burma. 20n. 93e. 61 =tek naff=, burma. 21n. 92e. 61 =tekoa=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 [*]=tekrit=, turkey in asia. 35n. 44e. 47 =tek-wen=, korea. 39n. 127e. 90 =tel river=, central provs. 21n. 84e. 60 =telek lake=, siberia. 52n. 87e. 94 =telgi=, bombay. 17n. 76e. 57 =telin=, burma. 22n. 94e. 67 =tell ashtara=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 =telok betong=, east indies. 5s. 105e. 74 =telok sera=, malay peninsula. 4n. 101e. 68 =teluk anson=, malay peninsula. 4n. 101e. 68 =tembeling, south=, malay pen. 4n. 102e. 68 =tenasserim=, burma. 12n. 99e. 71 =tenasserim island=, burma. 13n. 98e. 71 =tenedos=, asia minor. 40n. 26e. 46 =teng=, china. 33n. 112e. 82 =teng=, china. 35n. 117e. 83 =te-ngan=, china. 31n. 114e. 85 =teng-chau=, china. 38n. 121e. 83 =tengiz, lake=, asiatic russia. 46n. 75e. 94 =tengri nor=, tibet. 31n. 90e. 61 =tenimber is.=, east indies. 7s. 131e. 75 =tenkashi=, madras. 9n. 77e. 63 =tenom river=, malay pen. 4n. 102e. 68 =tenringawa=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 =teradomari=, japan. 38n. 139e. 91 =terekli=, asia minor. 40n. 30e. 46 =ternate=, east indies. 0. 127e. 75 =tersus=, asia minor. 37n. 35e. 46 =teshio=, japan. 44n. 142e. 88 =teshiogawa river=, japan. 44n. 142e. 88 =teshiotake=, japan. 43n. 143e. 88 =te-tsing=, china. 23n. 112e. 84 =tetubin, river=, malay pen. 7n. 102e. 68 =teun=, siam. 18n. 99e. 70 =tezpur=, assam. 27n. 93e. 61 =thabyedaung=, burma. 21n. 96e. 67 =tha-dua=, indo-china. 19n. 102e. 70 =thagaya=, burma. 19n. 96e. 67 =thai-an=, korea. 37n. 126e. 90 =thai-binh=, indo-china. 21n. 107e. 70 =thai-nguyen=, indo-china. 22n. 106e. 70 =thairna river=, haidarabad. 18n. 77e. 62 =thal=, punjab. 30n. 69e. 58 =thal=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 71e. 58 =thana=, bombay. 19n. 73e. 57 =than-loa=, indo-china. 20n. 106e. 70 =tharawadi=, burma. 18n. 96e. 67 =tharsuguda=, bengal. 22n. 84e. 60 =thatha=, sind. 25n. 68e. 59 =thaton=, burma. 17n. 98e. 67 =thaungdut=, burma. 24n. 95e. 67 =thaungyin river=, siam. 18n. 98e. 70 =thazi=, burma. 21n. 96e. 67 =thebez=, palestine. 32n. 55e. 12 =the-ling mountain=, china. 25n. 113e. 85 =thepong=, indo-china. 11n. 104e. 71 =thibaw=, burma. 23n. 97e. 67 =thithesar=, punjab. 30n. 77e. 58 =thong-hoa=, indo-china. 22n. 106e. 70 =thongwa=, burma. 17n. 96e. 67 =thousand is.=, east indies. 6s. 107e. 76 =thuan-an=, indo-china. 17n. 108e. 70 =thuyetmago=, burma. 19n. 95e. 67 =thuy-hoa=, indo-china. 13n. 109e. 71 =tiamat=, siam. 15n. 100e. 70 =tibaw river=, malay pen. 7n. 101e. 68 [*]=tiberias=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 13 =ticao=, philippine islands. 13n. 123e. 77 =tie-ling=, manchuria. 42n. 124e. 90 =tien-men=, china. 31n. 113e. 85 =tien-pai=, china. 21n. 111e. 84 [*]=tien-tsin=, china. 39n. 117e. 83 =tien-tuk=, siam. 15n. 102e. 71 =tien-yen=, indo-china. 21n. 107e. 70 =tigel=, siberia. 58n. 159e. 95 =tiger point=, burma. 20n. 93e. 67 =tiger point=, indo-china. 11n. 108e. 71 =tigris river=, turkey in asia. 35n. 43e. 47 =timnath=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =timor=, east indies. 10s. 125e. 75 =timoraka=, east indies. 5s. 137e. 75 =timor laut, n.=, east indies. 7s. 132e. 75 =timor laut, s.=, east indies. 8s. 132e. 75 =timor sea=, east indies. 12s. 121e. 74 =tinaca point=, philippine is. 6n. 125e. 77 =tindivanum=, madras. 12n. 80e. 63 =ting=, china. 38n. 115e. 83 =ting-chau=, china. 26n. 117e. 85 =ting-fan=, china. 26n. 107e. 84 =tinggi river=, malay pen. 3n. 101e. 69 =ting-hai=, china. 30n. 122e. 85 =ting-nan=, china. 25n. 115e. 85 =ting-ngan=, china. 20n. 110e. 84 =ting-yuen=, china. 24n. 113e. 85 =ting-yuen=, china. 32n. 108e. 82 =ting-yuen=, china. 33n. 117e. 83 =tinhosa island=, china. 19n. 111e. 84 =tinian=, east indies. 15n. 145e. 75 =tink-sai=, indo-china. 20n. 106e. 70 =tinnevelli=, madras. 9n. 78e. 63 =tipperah, hill=, bengal. 24n. 92e. 61 =tira=, bombay. 23n. 69e. 56 =tiravallur=, madras. 11n. 80e. 63 =tirdall=, bombay. 17n. 75e. 57 =tireboli=, asia minor. 41n. 39e. 47 =tiri=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 71e. 58 =tirpetty=, madras. 14n. 79e. 63 =tirupattura=, madras. 10n. 79e. 63 =tirzah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =tista river=, bengal. 26n. 90e. 61 =titabar=, assam. 27n. 94e. 67 =titalya=, bengal. 27n. 88e. 61 =ti-tao=, china. 35n. 104e. 82 =toba=, japan. 34n. 137e. 91 =tobol, river=, siberia. 58n. 68e. 94 =tobolsk=, siberia. 58n. 68e. 94 =tochi river=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 70e. 58 =tochigi=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =tohamy lake=, siberia. 55n. 77e. 94 =toizaki=, japan. 31n. 131e. 89 =tok=, indo-china. 12n. 107e. 71 =toka=, haidarabad. 20n. 75e. 62 =tokachi=, japan. 42n. 144e. 88 =tokachi=, japan. 43n. 143e. 88 =tokaido=, japan. 36n. 139e. 91 =tokamachi=, japan. 37n. 139e. 91 =tokarak=, punjab. 31n. 67e. 58 [*]=tokat=, asia minor. 40n. 37e. 46 [*]=tokio=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =tokto=, china. 41n. 112e. 82 =tokunoshima=, lu-chu is. 28n. 129e. 89 =tokushima=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =tolbatcha volcano=, siberia. 56n. 161e. 95 =tolon=, philippine islands. 9n. 123e. 77 =to-lo-shan=, china. 36n. 120e. 83 =tolstonovskoye=, siberia. 70n. 84e. 94 =tomakomai=, japan. 42n. 142e. 88 =tomamai=, japan. 44n. 142e. 88 =tomari=, japan. 41n. 141e. 88 =tomari=, japan. 43n. 145e. 88 =tomigami, cape=, japan. 37n. 141e. 91 =tomini, gulf of=, east indies. 0. 121e. 74 =tomoh=, malay peninsula. 6n. 102e. 68 =tomori, bay of=, east indies. 2s. 122e. 74 =tom, river=, siberia. 56n. 84e. 94 [*]=tomsk=, siberia. 56n. 85e. 94 =tonashi=, lu-chu islands. 26n. 127e. 89 =tondi=, madras, 10n. 79e. 63 =tong=, burma. 21n. 100e. 67 =tong-king=, indo-china. 21n. 106e. 70 =tong-king, gulf of=, indo-china. 20n. 108e. 70 =tong-kou=, inner mongolia. 40n. 106e. 82 =tonk=, rajputana. 26n. 76e. 59 =tonle sap=, indo-china. 14n. 109e. 71 =tontoli=, east indies. 1n. 121e. 74 =tonz gol=, asia minor. 38n. 33e. 46 =tori-shima=, lu-chu islands. 28n. 128e. 89 =torres strait=, east indies. 10s. 142e. 75 =tosa=, japan. 34n. 133e. 91 =tosa=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =tosa bay=, japan. 33n. 134e. 91 =tosia=, asia minor. 41n. 34e. 46 =totomi=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 [*]=tottori=, japan. 36n. 134e. 91 =tourane=, indo-china. 16n. 108e. 70 =tourane, cape=, indo-china. 16n. 108e. 70 =tou-tao-kou=, manchuria. 43n. 127e. 90 =toyama=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =toyama bay=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =toyohashi=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =tran ninh=, indo-china. 19n. 103e. 70 [*]=tranquebar=, madras. 11n. 80e. 63 =tras=, malay peninsula. 4n. 102e. 69 =travancore=, madras. 9n. 77e. 63 =tre island=, indo-china. 12n. 109e. 71 [*]=trebizond=, asia minor. 41n. 40e. 46 =trenggalek=, java. 8s. 111e. 76 =trengganu=, malay peninsula. 5n. 103e. 68 =trengganu river=, malay pen. 5n. 103e. 68 =trenuduk, gulf=, malay pen. 5n. 101e. 68 =triang river=, malay pen. 3n. 103e. 69 =trichindur=, madras. 9n. 78e. 63 [*]=trichinopoli=, madras. 11n. 79e. 63 [*]=trichoor=, madras. 11n. 76e. 63 [*]=trincomali=, ceylon. 9n. 81e. 63 =trivandrum=, madras. 9n. 77e. 63 =trivellore=, madras. 13n. 80e. 63 =trolak=, malay peninsula. 4n. 101e. 68 =tromelin=, east indies. 10n. 141e. 75 =trouvers island=, java. 7s. 106e. 76 =truhawala=, punjab. 29n. 72e. 59 =tsagan-chulutai=, inner mongolia. 41n. 111e. 82 =tsang=, china. 38n. 117e. 83 =tsan-pu river=, tibet. 29n. 92e. 61 =tsao-chau=, china. 35n. 116e. 83 =tsara nor=, china. 43n. 121e. 83 =tse-chau=, china. 35n. 113e. 82 =tsien-chow=, indo-china. 19n. 106e. 70 =tsien-tang river=, china. 30n. 120e. 85 =tsi-lan-tai=, inner mongolia. 39n. 104e. 82 =tsi-mo=, china. 36n. 121e. 83 =tsin=, china. 35n. 106e. 82 =tsin=, china. 36n. 113e. 82 =tsin=, china. 38n. 115e. 83 =tsi-nan=, china. 37n. 117e. 83 =tsing=, china. 26n. 110e. 84 =tsing-chau=, china. 37n. 119e. 83 =tsing-hai=, china. 39n. 117e. 83 =tsing-hai bay=, china. 37n. 122e. 83 =tsing-hwa=, china. 35n. 113e. 83 =tsing-kiang river=, china. 30n. 111e. 84 =tsing-lo=, china. 38n. 112e. 82 =tsing-ning=, china. 35n. 106e. 82 =tsing-shan mt.=, china. 25n. 117e. 85 =tsing-shui-ho=, china. 40n. 112e. 82 [*]=tsing-tao=, china. 36n. 120e. 83 =tsing-te=, china. 30n. 118e. 85 =tsing-tien=, china. 28n. 120e. 85 =tsing-yuen=, china. 36n. 105e. 82 =tsin-ho river=, indo-china. 22n. 105e. 70 =tsi-ning=, china. 35n. 117e. 83 =tsin-kwang-tau=, china. 40n. 119e. 83 =tsin-ling-shan=, china. 34n. 107e. 82 =tsin-ngan=, china. 35n. 106e. 82 =tsin-peng=, mongolia. 43n. 117e. 83 =tsin-shan=, china. 35n. 120e. 83 =tsong-siong=, korea. 43n. 130e. 90 =tsu=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =tsubu-shoto is.=, lu-chu is. 26n. 129e. 89 =tsuchiura=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =tsuchizaki=, japan. 40n. 140e. 88 =tsuen-chau=, china. 26n. 111e. 84 =tsuen-chau=, china. 23n. 119e. 85 =tsuen-chau bay=, china. 25n. 119e. 85 =tsugaru strait=, japan. 41n. 141e. 88 =tsun=, manchuria. 46n. 126e. 90 =tsun-feng-shan mt.=, china. 27n. 116e. 85 =tsung-ngan=, china. 28n. 118e. 85 =tsun-hwa=, china. 40n. 118e. 83 =tsun-i=, china. 28n. 107e. 84 =tsuruga=, japan. 36n. 136e. 91 =tsurugaoka=, japan. 39n. 140e. 88 =tsushima=, japan. 34n. 130e. 89 =tsuwano=, japan. 35n. 132e. 91 =tsuyama=, japan. 35n. 134e. 91 =tswan=, china. 37n. 108e. 82 =tsz=, china. 30n. 105e. 84 =tsz-kiang river=, china. 28n. 112e. 84 =tsz-li=, china. 29n. 111e. 84 =tsz-pai-shan=, china. 33n. 106e. 82 =tuanico strait=, philippine is. 11n. 125e. 77 =tuban=, java. 7s. 112e. 76 =tu-chang=, china. 29n. 116e. 85 =tu-fu=, china. 24n. 106e. 84 =tuguegarao=, philippine is. 18n. 122e. 77 =tuhana=, punjab. 30n. 76e. 58 =tulsipur=, united provinces. 28n. 82e. 60 =tumen-ula=, manchuria. 42n. 131e. 90 =tumkur=, mysore. 13n. 77e. 63 =tun=, persia. 34n. 58e. 45 =tuna=, bombay. 23n. 70e. 56 =tundra=, siberia. 71n. 145e. 95 =tung=, china. 32n. 121e. 83 =tung=, china. 40n. 117e. 83 =tungabudra=, madras. 16n. 78e. 62 =tung-chang=, china. 36n. 116e. 83 =tung-chau=, china. 35n. 110e. 82 =tung-cheng=, china. 31n. 117e. 85 =tung-chuan=, china. 26n. 104e. 84 =tung-chwan=, china. 31n. 105e. 84 =tung-hai island=, china. 21n. 110e. 84 =tung-hsiagn=, china. 31n. 108e. 84 =tung-hwa=, manchuria. 42n. 126e. 90 =tung-hwa island=, china. 22n. 113e. 85 =tung-kiang=, china. 32n. 107e. 84 =tung-kiang river=, china. 23n. 114e. 85 =tungkiangtze=, manchuria. 43n. 123e. 90 =tung-king-cheng=, manchuria. 44n. 129e. 90 =tung-kwan=, china. 23n. 114e. 85 =tung-kwan=, china. 35n. 109e. 82 =tung-kwan=, china. 35n. 110e. 82 =tung-ngan=, china. 25n. 119e. 85 =tung-ngan bay=, china. 23n. 116e. 85 =tung-ping=, china. 36n. 117e. 83 =tung-shan=, china. 24n. 118e. 85 =tung-tai=, china. 33n. 120e. 83 =tung-tao=, china. 26n. 110e. 84 =tung-ting-hu=, china. 29n. 113e. 85 =tunguska river, lower=, siberia. 64n. 88e. 94 =tunguska river, upper=, siberia. 58n. 94 =tung-wei=, china. 35n. 105e. 82 =tung-wen-ho=, china. 35n. 118e. 83 =tung-yang=, china. 29n. 120e. 85 =tung-yen=, china. 27n. 109e. 84 =tuni=, madras. 17n. 83e. 62 =tunjong bulus=, malay pen. 1n. 103e. 69 =turakom=, indo-china. 18n. 103e. 70 =turcomans=, turkestan. 40n. 58e. 45 =turinsk=, siberia. 58n. 64e. 94 =turukhansk=, siberia. 67n. 96e. 94 =tu-shan=, china. 26n. 108e. 84 =tu-shi-kan=, china. 41n. 116e. 83 =tuss-gong=, bhutan. 27n. 92e. 61 =tuticorin=, madras. 9n. 78e. 63 =tuyen-quang=, indo-china. 22n. 105e. 70 =tu-yun=, china. 26n. 107e. 84 =tuzu river=, burma. 26n. 95e. 67 =tyngeri=, inner mongolia. 38n. 104e. 82 =tyre=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =tyria=, asia minor. 38n. 27e. 46 =ua=, indo-china. 22n. 102e. 70 =ubon=, siam. 15n. 105e. 70 =uchi shima=, japan. 38n. 137e. 91 =uchur river=, siberia. 59n. 130e. 95 =udaipur=, bengal. 23n. 83e. 60 =udaipur=, rajputana. 25n. 74e. 59 =udajagiri=, madras. 15n. 79e. 62 =ude=, inner mongolia. 44n. 111e. 82 =udgir=, haidarabad. 18n. 77e. 62 =udinsk bay=, siberia. 58n. 164e. 95 =udka kot=, punjab. 30n. 71e. 58 =udong=, indo-china. 12n. 105e. 71 =udskoi=, siberia. 55n. 135e. 95 =uga=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =uji-shima=, japan. 31n. 130e. 89 =uke island=, lu-chu islands. 28n. 129e. 89 =ukushima=, japan. 33n. 129e. 89 =ulan-muren=, inner mongolia. 39n. 110e. 82 =ulithi=, east indies. 10n. 140e. 75 =ulugan bay=, philippine is. 10n. 118e. 77 [*]=umarkot=, sind. 25n. 70e. 59 =umasi pass=, kashmir. 33n. 76e. 58 =umboi island=, east indies. 6s. 147e. 75 =umenia=, central india. 23n. 81e. 60 =uniut=, china. 43n. 119e. 83 =unjunwell=, bombay. 18n. 73e. 57 =unkovsky bay=, korea. 36n. 129e. 90 =uotsu=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =uraccas=, east indies. 20n. 145e. 75 =urai=, united provinces. 26n. 79e. 60 =urakawa=, japan. 42n. 143e. 88 =urawa=, japan. 36n. 140e. 91 =urdaneta mt.=, philippine is. 9n. 124e. 77 =urfah=, turkey in asia. 37n. 39e. 47 =urot=, inner mongolia. 42n. 108e. 82 [*]=urumiyah=, persia. 37n. 45e. 47 =urumiyah lake=, persia. 38n. 46e. 47 =uska bazar=, united provs. 27n. 83e. 60 =ust kamenogorsk=, asiatic russia. 50n. 83e. 94 =ust strelka=, siberia. 52n. 121e. 95 =usun-ada=, turkestan. 40n. 53e. 45 =usu-to island=, japan. 42n. 141e. 88 [*]=utakamand=, madras. 11n. 77e. 63 =utalan=, haidarabad. 18n. 78e. 62 =utampolliam=, madras. 10n. 77e. 63 =utaradit=, siam. 18n. 100e. 70 =utch=, punjab. 31n. 72e. 58 =utch=, punjab. 29n. 71e. 59 =uthen=, siam. 17n. 104e. 70 =utran=, bombay. 21n. 75e. 56 =uttelli=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 =utum=, indo-china. 14n. 106e. 71 =uyeda=, japan. 36n. 138e. 91 =uyeno=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =u-yu river=, burma. 25n. 95e. 67 =vaddadi=, madras. 18n. 83e. 62 =vaico river, e.=, indo-china. 11n. 107e. 71 =vaico river, w.=, indo-china. 11n. 107e. 71 [*]=van=, turkey in asia. 38n. 43e. 47 =van diemen strait=, japan. 31n. 131e. 89 =vang=, indo-china. 17n. 106e. 70 =van lake=, turkey in asia. 39n. 42e. 47 =varela, cape=, indo-china. 13n. 109e. 71 =va semeru=, east indies. 8s. 112e. 74 =vasrai=, bombay. 21n. 73e. 56 =veh=, indo-china. 16n. 107e. 70 [*]=vellore=, madras. 13n. 79e. 63 =verkhoiansk=, siberia. 67n. 133e. 95 =verkhoiansk mts.=, siberia. 65n. 132e. 95 =verknoi kamtchatsk=, siberia. 55n. 159e. 95 =verknoi kolimsk=, siberia. 66n. 155e. 95 =vernoi udinsk=, siberia. 50n. 108e. 94 =victoria=, china. 22n. 114e. 85 =victoria bay=, siberia. 44n. 133e. 95 =victoria, fort=, bombay. 18n. 73e. 57 =victoria peak=, philippine is. 9n. 118e. 77 =vigan=, philippine islands. 18n. 121e. 77 =vigay river=, madras. 9n. 79e. 63 =vijapur=, bombay. 24n. 73e. 56 =vijayadurg=, bombay. 16n. 73e. 57 =vilioni, river=, siberia. 64n. 124e. 95 =viliusk=, siberia. 64n. 121e. 95 =vilkitsk island=, siberia. 73n. 76e. 94 =villupuram=, madras. 12n. 80e. 63 =vincennes strait=, japan. 30n. 131e. 89 =vingoorla=, bombay. 16n. 74e. 57 =vinh=, indo-china. 19n. 106e. 70 =vinhlong=, indo-china. 10n. 106e. 71 =vipar river=, madras. 9n. 78e. 63 =viramgam=, bombay. 23n. 72e. 56 =virawow=, sind. 24n. 71e. 59 =visayas=, philippine islands. 12n. 123e. 77 =vitim, river.=, siberia. 57n. 114e. 95 =vitimsk=, siberia. 60n. 113e. 94 =vizagapatam=, madras. 17n. 83e. 62 =vizianagram=, madras. 18n. 83e. 62 [*]=vladivostok=, siberia. 43n. 132e. 95 =volcano bay=, japan. 42n. 141e. 88 =volcano island=, east indies. 25n. 141e. 75 =vuirawull=, bombay. 21n. 70e. 56 =vukada=, japan. 37n. 141e. 91 =vung chua, c.=, indo-china. 18n. 107e. 70 =wadayama=, japan. 35n. 135e. 91 =wadhwan=, bombay. 23n. 72e. 56 =wadi=, haidarabad. 17n. 77e. 62 =wadnagar=, bombay. 24n. 73e. 56 =wadomari is.=, lu-chu is. 28n. 129e. 89 =wady dauasir=, arabia. 20n. 45e. 44 =wai=, bombay. 18n. 74e. 57 =waigeu island=, east indies. 0. 131e. 75 =waingapu=, east indies. 10s. 120e. 74 =wajima=, japan. 37n. 137e. 91 =wakamatsu=, japan. 38n. 140e. 91 =wakasa=, japan. 36n. 136e. 91 =wakasa bay=, japan. 36n. 136e. 91 [*]=wakayama=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =wakhan=, central asia. 37n. 74e. 45 =wakkanai=, japan. 45n. 142e. 88 =walckenaer bay=, east indies. 2s. 140e. 75 =walfish bay=, japan. 43n. 145e. 88 =waltair=, madras. 18n. 83e. 62 =wana=, n.w. frontier provs. 32n. 69e. 58 =wang=, inner mongolia. 40n. 110e. 82 =wanga bazar=, sind. 24n. 69e. 59 =wang-je-fu=, inner mongolia. 39n. 105e. 82 =wan-hien=, china. 31n. 108e. 84 =wankanir=, bombay. 23n. 71e. 56 =warangul=, haidarabad. 18n. 80e. 62 =wardha=, central provinces. 21n. 79e. 60 =warora=, central provinces. 20n. 79e. 60 =washington gulf=, korea. 34n. 126e. 90 =wazirabad=, punjab. 32n. 74e. 58 =waziristan=, n.w. frontier provs. 33n. 70e. 58 =weda=, east indies. 0. 127e. 75 =wei=, china. 37n. 119e. 83 =wei-chang=, china. 42n. 117e. 83 [*]=wei-hai-wei=, china. 37n. 122e. 83 =wei-ho=, china. 34n. 105e. 82 =wei-ho=, china. 35n. 105e. 82 =wei-ho=, china. 38n. 117e. 83 =wei-hwei=, china. 35n. 114e. 83 =wei-ning=, china. 27n. 105e. 84 =welcome bay=, java. 7s. 105e. 76 =weld, pt.=, malay peninsula. 5n. 101e. 68 =wellesley=, malay peninsula. 5n. 100e. 68 =wen-chau=, china. 28n. 121e. 85 =wen-chau bay=, china. 28n. 121e. 85 =wen-hs=, china. 33n. 104e. 82 =wen-ju=, korea. 37n. 128e. 90 =wensan=, korea. 39n. 127e. 90 =wen-teng=, china. 37n. 122e. 83 =werdi=, turkey in asia. 34n. 41e. 47 =west river=, china. 23n. 111e. 84 =wetter=, east indies. 8s. 126e. 75 =white, fort=, burma. 23n. 94e. 67 =white island=, siberia. 73n. 71e. 94 =widjowa=, rajputana. 25n. 73e. 59 =wiernoie=, asiatic russia. 44n. 78e. 94 [*]=wi-ju=, korea. 40n. 125e. 90 =wolia=, east indies. 7n. 144e. 75 =wonosari=, java. 8s. 111e. 76 =woon shan=, china. 28n. 118e. 85 =wowrie=, sind. 25n. 70e. 59 =wrangell island=, siberia. 71n. 179e. 95 =wu-chau=, china. 23n. 111e. 84 [*]=wu-chang=, china. 30n. 114e. 85 =wu-chi-shan=, china. 19n. 110e. 84 =wu-chwan=, china. 21n. 111e. 84 =wu-chwan=, china. 28n. 108e. 84 =wu-hi-shan=, china. 36n. 111e. 82 =wu-hu=, china. 31n. 118e. 85 =wu-kang=, china. 27n. 111e. 84 =wu-kan-ling=, china. 27n. 114e. 85 =wu-kiang river=, china. 27n. 108e. 84 =wu-la-ho=, inner mongolia. 41n. 107e. 82 =wulitun=, manchuria. 42n. 124e. 90 =wulur lake=, kashmir. 34n. 75e. 58 =wun=, berar. 20n. 79e. 60 =wu-ni-kiang river=, china. 24n. 109e. 84 =wu-ning=, china. 29n. 115e. 85 =wuntho=, burma. 24n. 96e. 67 =wu-ping=, china. 25n. 116e. 85 =wurdha river=, berar. 20n. 79e. 60 =wu-shan=, china. 31n. 111e. 84 =wu-shin=, inner mongolia. 39n. 109e. 82 =wu-sueh=, china. 30n. 116e. 85 =wu-sung=, china. 32n. 121e. 85 =wu-tai=, china. 39n. 113e. 83 =wu-tai-shan=, china. 39n. 114e. 83 =wu-ting=, china. 38n. 118e. 83 =wu-ting-ho=, china. 38n. 109e. 82 =wu-yi-shan=, china. 28n. 118e. 85 =wu-yuen=, china. 23n. 108e. 84 =wynkoops bay=, java. 7s. 106e. 76 =xuan-dai=, indo-china. 13n. 109e. 71 =xuan-dai bay=, indo-china. 13n. 109e. 71 =yabari=, japan. 42n. 142e. 88 =yablonoi mts.=, siberia. 52n. 112e. 94 =yai-chau=, china. 19n. 109e. 84 =yakan, cape=, siberia. 70n. 178e. 95 =yakushima=, japan. 30n. 131e. 89 [*]=yakutsk=, siberia. 62n. 130e. 95 =yalkundapuram=, madras. 11n. 79e. 63 =yalmal peninsula=, siberia. 70n. 70e. 94 [*]=yalu river=, korea. 40n. 125e. 90 =yama=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =yamada=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =yamagata=, japan. 38n. 141e. 88 [*]=yamaguchi=, japan. 34n. 131e. 89 =yamato=, japan. 34n. 136e. 91 =yamethin=, burma. 20n. 96e. 67 =yana, river=, siberia. 71n. 135e. 95 =yanaon=, madras. 17n. 82e. 62 [*]=yanbo=, arabia. 24n. 38e. 44 =yang=, china. 25n. 113e. 85 =yang-chau=, china. 32n. 119e. 83 =yang-ju=, korea. 38n. 127e. 90 =yang-kao=, china. 40n. 114e. 83 =yang-kiang=, china. 22n. 112e. 84 =yang-sho=, china. 24n. 111e. 84 =yang-yang=, korea. 38n. 128e. 90 =yao=, china. 35n. 109e. 82 =yao=, japan. 35n. 136e. 91 =yap=, east indies. 10n. 137e. 75 =yari-ga te=, japan. 36n. 138e. 91 =yarmuk, river=, palestine. 33n. 36e. 12 =yasen cape=, asia minor. 41n. 38e. 47 =yashiro, south=, japan. 34n. 132e. 91 =yatsauk=, burma. 21n. 97e. 67 =yatsugataka=, japan. 36n. 138e. 91 =yatsukota=, japan. 41n. 141e. 88 =yatsushiro=, japan. 32n. 131e. 89 =yawata=, japan. 35n. 140e. 91 =yawata=, japan. 36n. 137e. 91 =yayeyama is.=, lu-chu is. 24n. 126e. 89 =yazaki=, japan. 38n. 138e. 88 =ye-ju=, korea. 37n. 127e. 90 =yellandu=, haidarabad. 18n. 80e. 62 =yenama=, burma. 20n. 95e. 67 =yenangyaung=, burma. 21n. 95e. 67 =yen-bai=, indo-china. 21n. 105e. 70 =yen-chang=, china. 37n. 109e. 82 =yen-chau=, china. 30n. 119e. 85 =yen-chau=, china. 36n. 117e. 83 =yeng-chen=, korea. 40n. 125e. 90 =yeng-hai=, korea. 37n. 129e. 90 =yeng-heung=, korea. 40n. 127e. 90 =yeng-pyen=, korea. 40n. 126e. 90 =yenisei, river=, siberia. 69n. 87e. 94 =yeniseisk=, siberia. 59n. 92e. 94 =yen-ngan=, china. 37n. 109e. 82 =yen-ping=, china. 26n. 118e. 85 =yen-shan=, china. 38n. 117e. 83 =yen-shui=, china. 37n. 110e. 82 =yentai mines=, manchuria. 41n. 123e. 90 =yen-tsin=, china. 31n. 110e. 84 =yeotmal=, berar. 20n. 78e. 60 =yeotrup minbya=, burma. 20n. 93e. 67 =yerimozaki=, japan. 42n. 143e. 88 =yero=, lu-chu islands. 28n. 129e. 89 =yeshida=, japan. 33n. 133e. 91 =yeshil irmak r.=, asia minor. 41n. 37e. 46 =yesvantpur=, mysore. 13n. 77e. 63 =yeu=, burma. 23n. 95e. 67 =yey=, burma. 15n. 98e. 67 =yezd=, persia. 32n. 53e. 45 =yezo=, japan. 43n. 143e. 88 =yezo strait=, japan. 43n. 145e. 88 =yi=, china. 30n. 118e. 85 =yi=, china. 39n. 115e. 83 =ying=, china. 40n. 113e. 83 =ying-chau=, china. 33n. 116e. 83 =ying-kou=, manchuria. 41n. 122e. 90 =ying-pan-shima=, china. 37n. 104e. 82 =ying-shang=, china. 31n. 116e. 85 =ying-yu-men=, china. 35n. 120e. 83 =yin-te=, china. 24n. 113e. 85 =yi-wan bay=, china. 28n. 121e. 85 =yi-yang=, china. 28n. 112e. 84 =yi-yang=, china. 28n. 118e. 85 =yo-chau=, china. 29n. 113e. 85 =yokasuka=, japan. 35n. 140e. 91 =yokkaichi=, japan. 35n. 137e. 91 =yokoate-shima=, lu-chu is. 29n. 129e. 89 [*]=yokohama=, japan. 35n. 140e. 91 =yokosuka=, japan. 35n. 138e. 91 =yokote=, japan. 39n. 141e. 88 =yolo island=, philippine is. 6n. 121e. 77 =yonakuni-shima=, lu-chu is. 24n. 123e. 89 =yoneko=, japan. 35n. 133e. 91 =yonezawa=, japan. 38n. 140e. 91 =yoron-shima=, lu-chu is. 27n. 129e. 89 =yoshinogawa=, japan. 34n. 134e. 91 =yu=, china. 27n. 113e. 85 =yu=, china. 40n. 115e. 83 =yu-chau=, china. 33n. 113e. 82 =yu-chou peninsula=, china. 35n. 120e. 83 =yuen-chau=, china. 27n. 109e. 84 =yuen-chau=, china. 28n. 114e. 85 =yuen-kiang river=, china. 28n. 111e. 84 =yuen-ku=, china. 35n. 112e. 82 =yu-ho river=, china. 28n. 116e. 85 =yu-hwan-shan=, china. 28n. 121e. 85 =yu-kan=, china. 28n. 117e. 85 =yu-kiang river=, china. 23n. 107e. 84 =yule mountain=, east indies. 8s. 148e. 75 =yu-lin=, china. 22n. 110e. 84 =yu-lin=, china. 38n. 109e. 82 =yu-lin-kan bay=, china. 18n. 110e. 84 =yun=, china. 26n. 104e. 84 =yun-chung-shima=, china. 39n. 112e. 82 =yun-luen=, china. 28n. 104e. 84 =yung=, china. 23n. 110e. 84 =yung=, china. 30n. 104e. 84 =yung-cha=, china. 26n. 112e. 84 =yung-cheng=, china. 37n. 123e. 83 =yung-chun=, china. 25n. 118e. 85 =yung-ho=, china. 35n. 110e. 82 =yung-ngan=, china. 24n. 111e. 84 =yung-ning=, china. 25n. 110e. 84 =yung-ning=, china. 26n. 106e. 84 =yung-ning=, china. 34n. 112e. 82 =yung-ning=, china. 37n. 111e. 82 =yung-ping=, china. 40n. 119e. 83 =yung-shan=, china. 28n. 104e. 84 =yung-shun=, china. 29n. 110e. 84 =yung-sui=, china. 28n. 109e. 84 =yun-ho=, china. 28n. 119e. 85 =yun-nan=, china. 25n. 103e. 84 =yun-yang=, china. 33n. 111e. 82 =yuomi=, lu-chu islands. 29n. 129e. 89 =yu-tsai-shan=, china. 35n. 114e. 83 =yuwasa=, japan. 34n. 135e. 91 =yu-yang=, china. 28n. 109e. 84 =yuzgat=, asia minor. 40n. 35e. 46 =zafaranboli=, asia minor. 41n. 33e. 46 =zagros mts.=, turkey in asia. 36n. 45e. 47 =zairat=, punjab. 30n. 68e. 58 =zaisang, lake=, asiatic russia. 48n. 84e. 94 =zakhu=, turkey in asia. 37n. 43e. 47 =zamboanga=, philippine is. 7n. 122e. 77 =zamie river=, burma. 16n. 98e. 67 =zanoah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =zara=, turkey in asia. 40n. 38e. 47 =zarafshan river=, turkestan. 40n. 67e. 45 =zarang desert=, persia. 35n. 52e. 45 =zarephath=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =zayan mountains=, siberia. 52n. 96e. 94 =zebu island=, philippine is. 11n. 124e. 77 [*]=zebulon=, palestine. 33n. 35e. 12 =zeitun=, turkey in asia. 38n. 37e. 46 =zeitun=, turkey in asia. 38n. 41e. 47 =zeya river=, siberia. 50n. 127e. 95 =zhob=, punjab. 31n. 69e. 58 =zhob river=, punjab. 32n. 70e. 58 =ziklag=, palestine. 31n. 35e. 12 [*]=zileh=, asia minor. 40n. 36e. 46 =zinjan=, persia. 37n. 48e. 47 =zmeinogorsk=, siberia. 52n. 82e. 94 =zobeir=, turkey in asia. 30n. 48e. 47 =zorah=, palestine. 32n. 35e. 12 =zulfiear=, persia. 36n. 61e. 45 the temple press, printers, letchworth empires and emperors of russia, china, korea, and japan empires and emperors of russia, china, korea, and japan notes and recollections by monsignor count vay de vaya and luskod _with illustrations_ new york e. p. dutton and company 1906 [illustration: _monsignor the count vay de vaya and luskod._] preface as the name of the author of this book may not be so well known to some english readers as it is on the continent, i have, at his request, undertaken to write a few lines of introduction and preface. count vay de vaya and luskod is a member of one of the oldest and most distinguished families of hungary. ever since his ancestor took part with king stephen in the foundation of the hungarian kingdom, nine hundred years ago, the members of his family, in succeeding generations, have been eminent in the service of that state. the count studied at various european universities, and was destined for the diplomatic service, but early in life he decided to take holy orders and devote himself to the work of the church. in this capacity he attended the diamond jubilee of queen victoria in 1897 as one of the envoys of pope leo xiii. the chief enterprise of his life, however, has been to study the work of the roman catholic church in all parts of the world--her missions, charitable institutions, schools, and organizations of all kinds. few men have travelled so far and into such remote quarters as the count vay de vaya has, with this object. his position has secured for him access to the leading and most accomplished circles wherever he has been, and his linguistic attainments, as well as his wide personal experience of men and affairs in every quarter of the globe, give him an almost unique opportunity of describing and commenting on the countries which he has visited--their people, rulers, and institutions. seldom has any region been subjected to such complete and revolutionary changes as have the countries which he describes in the following pages. russia has been compelled to relax that grip on the far east which seemed to be permanently tightening and closing: at home she has been subjected to a social upheaval which at one time threatened the existing form of government and the throne itself. and for the first time we have witnessed the triumph of an asiatic race over one of the leading powers of europe. the substance of this volume was written in 1902 and the following year, before any of these events had occurred, or were dreamed of, and this may cause some of the details of the record to be a little out of date historically; but the change, far from diminishing, has, on the whole, probably increased its value to all thoughtful readers. a few passages of comment and forecast have been added since the occurrence of the war, but in the main the narrative remains as it was originally written. japan, korea, manchuria, and the siberian railway have been described over and over again, both during and since the war, but descriptions of them on the eve of the outbreak may come with some freshness and enable readers to compare what was yesterday with what is today. and what has been changed in the "unchanging east" bears but a very small proportion to what remains the same in spite of wars and revolutions. i hope, therefore, that these first impressions of countries which, in name at any rate, are far more familiar to the british public than they were four or five years ago, may prove of great interest to many readers in england and america. the chapters on _the tsar of all the russias_, _the reception at the summer palace_, _the audience of the emperor of korea_, and _the mikado and the empress_, appeared in "pearson's magazine," and thanks are due to the editor for kind permission to reprint them. the chapters on _manchuria under russian rule_ first appeared in the "revue des deux mondes," and those on _japan and china in the twentieth century_ in the "deutsche rundschau," but none of these have been translated into english before. the whole has been carefully revised, and considerable additions have been made. john murray. contents introduction general situation--eve of the war--political outlook in russia--characteristics of the two capitals--siberia and siberians--conquest of manchuria--position of china and the powers--korea's difficulties--racial tendencies _page_ xvii i the tsar and tsarina at their home of peterhof the baltic station of st. petersburg--the imperial "special" --through the suburbs of the capital--peterhof--sentries and passwords--the imperial family's favourite home- alexandrovsky--a homely interior--the empress and her tastes --mother and wife--h.m. nicholas ii--a conversation on different topics 1 ii to the far east by the trans-siberian railway main characteristics--the emperor's kind hospitality--prince chilkoff, minister of communications--last days at st. petersburg--the metropolis of incoherence--typical russian departure--on the way to moscow--the agricultural districts--a short visit to pienza--conversations on board the trans-siberian express--political and economical appreciations--crossing the volga--in the land of the baskirs --the ural range--western siberia--the colonization of the uninhabited regions--growing townships--central siberia- unlimited pastures and endless forests--the altai range- irkutsk--the siberian paris--arrival--luggage difficulties --civility and kindness--the luxuries of the hôtel du métropole--plush and gold, but no air and no water--a gloomy evening and a bright morning--the life and the lights of the city--lake baikal--the islands of dwarfs and fairies- the large fairy coat--myssowa a new mining centre--petrovsk, the town of inferno--trans-baikalia--buriats and their pilgrimages to tibet--the amur region--on the frontier of manchuria 16 iii manchuria under russian rule the manchurian frontier--russian soldiers and officials- public safety--trains provided with military escort--the eastern chinese railway company--the system of construction --on the borders of the desert of gobi--the travel by goods trains--my special car my home--the railway stations: what they looked like--geographical beauty and ethnological features --tsi-tsi-kar, the capital of northern manchuria--customs and habits--primitive modes of living--kharbin (harbin), the junction of the eastern asiatic railway lines--the news of the bridge by liaoyang carried away by floods--the centre of mobilization--harbin's part in case of war--pleasant surprises --at last a new start--central manchuria--the mineral wealth of this region--kirin, a picturesque city--fine scenery- a dull dawn--station and station-master--the hunt for a vehicle--a typical chinese cart--the horrors of a night's journey--manchurian highroads--exchanging the cart with a mule--a beautiful bridge--_how-di_ and _poo-how_--the fantastic aspect of the scenery--the comforts of little li-hu --in a marauders' inn--lugubrious den and its keepers--in midst of chunchuses--the bargain with li-hu for his charge- chinese diplomacy and western art save my purse--farewell from my companions--a fine daybreak, and the sun throws a veil of obligation over the misery of the night 63 iv the capital of manchuria first view of mukden--the streets, shops, and inhabitants- public buildings--the palace--the russian occupation- friendliness of russians and manchus--administrative divisions of manchuria--official reception by the governor- a luncheon party--manchus and hungarians--visit to the imperial tombs--a magnificent arch--the great ancestor- outbreak of cholera--dinner with the russian resident- russian hospitality--return journey to the station- an adventurous drive--across country--chunchuses--safe arrival at the station 88 v port arthur, dalny, niu-chwang, tien-tsin chinese agriculture--friendliness between russians and chinese--rebuilding a bridge at liaoyang--difficulties of crossing--arrival at port arthur--the staff at port arthur- essentially a military port--dalny--niu-chwang--official journal description--trade--niu-chwang a real chinese town- description--future of niu-chwang--the catholic mission- official transfer of the railway to the chinese governor-general of manchuria--the famous chinese wall- hankan-chang--dinner with the english commander- li hung-chang--his weakness for speculation--taku- tien-tsin--the home of the progressive party--the boxer rising, 1900--drawing near pekin--wonderful sunset--first impressions 119 vi pekin i: gloomy arrival--the first disappointment--incoherent impressions of the following day--yamen of the legation --how the city appeared on my round of exploration. ii: appreciations after the first month's stay- contradictions of the yellow metropolis--plan and outline --light and shadow. iii: sights of pekin--chinese, tartar, imperial, purple, inner, and sacred cities--winter and summer palaces- neighbourhood and western hills--pagodas--temples- shrines--bell and drum towers--chinese city--commercial life and shops--pei-tang--international quarter of legations 141 vii the dowager empress and the emperor of china at the summer palace pekin in the early morning--en route to the summer palace --varied modes of locomotion--on the highway--prince ching, minister of foreign affairs--the pageant of the dragon--the imperial residence--princes and mandarins--the splendour of the court--picturesque uniforms and artistic decorations--her majesty the empress regent--a striking personality--the manchu fashions--reception of the diplomatic body--the doyen's complimentary speech, and the regent's sarcastic answer--the emperor--the wonderland of the state banquet of hundred dainties--supper at the pei-tang orphanage 175 viii korea of bygone days and on the eve of the war glimpses of the past and present--geographical features- topography--soil--mineral wealth--mountains and valleys- rivers and bays--climate and natural advantages--the flora and fauna--minerals--ethnological--the korean race: its origin--physical and moral characteristics--the ancient korea--early myth of the land--first history--foundation of the present dynasty--chinese policy--internal troubles- home and foreign affairs--the administration of the country --the defence--justice--torture--the criminal court--public education--examination system--language--the present dynasty --the emperor--tai-wen-kun--the royal prince--social and public existence--daily life--the rôle of men and women- korean children--marriage--general occupations--agriculture --trades--domestic routine--spinning--weaving--sewing- ironing--cooking--recreations--music--theatricals--singing --national dances--old customs--dwellings--food--dress- games--sports--the awakening of korea--international treaties--commerce and shipping--mining concessions- means of locomotion--pedlars' guild--railways--electric tramways--changes in the last quarter of a century--korea's open ports--foreign influences--antagonistic movements- apathy and fermentation--puzzles and problems of the present--korea's future 189 ix seoul, the capital of korea late arrival--moonlight impressions--general effects- a fairy city--the dawn--military display--the korean sons of mars--my first walk through the town--street life--shops and booths--a battle-royal--the emperor's commemoration hall--the old palace yard--korean vehicles--servants and liveries--a noble wedding--quaint customs--the dowry- korean t. atkins--native school--master and pupils- the r.c. mission--the new cathedral--sunset--barracks- toy hussars--canine street police--faithful guardians- glorious evening--princely funeral--the catafalques and cortège--_danse macabre_--some reflections 240 x the emperor of korea at the new palace the capital in a state of revolution--imperial invitation --my sedan-chairs--the little suite of _kisos_ and _mapus_ --the new palace--an incoherent _tout ensemble_--court dignitaries--elaborate uniforms--the imperial apartments- court etiquette--the emperor--a thousand questions- the crown prince--state robes--the chief eunuch--farewell- y.-yung-yk the favourite 263 xi tokio first surprises--the japanese capital on a dreary winter morning--general aspect of the city--artistic disappointments --sights of yeddo--the famous shogun graves--"tories" and pagodas--natural beauties of the capital--artistic qualities --the katsura-no-rikyu palace--the school of the æsthetics --the world seen from the tsuki-mi-dai--actual characteristics --numbers and activity--railways--shipping--electric companies--telegraphs and telephones--modern institutions- schools--university--public library--printing offices- students and their work--brain power and technical skill- commercial museum--the capital at work 275 xii the emperor and empress of japan at the yeddo palace tokio buried in snow--black and white effects--the imperial grounds--avenues of cryptomerea--the yeddo palace--the home of the mikado--disappointments--modern transformations- western comfort and japanese art--private apartments- the mikado--his majesty's appearance--a long conversation- the empress--a sincere interest in european topics- education and charitable work--the japanese woman--her sense of duty--the virtue of self-abnegation--the great halls- a lilliputian garden--national taste and æsthetics 300 xiii japan and china on the threshold of the twentieth century i: japan. the yellow peril--power of assimilation in discipline--bushido--dr. nitobe's description of its origin: its great principles, justice, courage and honour- hara-kiri--kataki-ushi--the conventional smile--sanctity of the mikado--reverence for the sword--national influence of bushido--the soul of the nation--christianity and shintoism --western veneer. ii: china. contrast to japan--the chinese coolie- resourcefulness--feeling against chinese labour--trustworthy traders--guilds and clubs--music--culture--art- chan-chi-tung--his work and writings--chinese views of western ideas--government and public opinion--china and european politics--dissimilarity of chinese and japanese- europe and the yellow races--transformation in japan- chinese national inclinations--the progressive party- yuan-chi-kai--fashions and home-life--chinese christians- education--the chinaman's ideal--ignorance and prejudice 313 xiv conclusion after the war--peace negotiations of portsmouth- m. de witte and komura--national feelings--japanese diplomatic triumph 381 index 391 list of illustrations monsignor the count vay de vaya and luskod _frontispiece_ to face page le palais anglais 4 h.i.m. the empress of russia 6 h.i.m. nicholas ii, emperor of russia 12 marsanka 28 samara 30 on the volga 32 siberian home 34 a siberian town 36 railway church service 38 m. de plehve 40 irkutsk 48 lake baikal 52 the station of manchury 60 tsi-tsi-kar 68 kharbin 70 a street in kharbin 76 from mukden flats on to the town 80 the entrance to the imperial tombs 104 general kuropatkin 124 the legation quarter 152 entrance to the forbidden city 158 triumphal arch 162 the temple of heaven 172 the empress dowager of china 184 the summer palace 188 seoul 240 the emperor's throne in the old palace 248 the imperial library in seoul 252 the throne room 268 the emperor of korea 270 the state examination hall at pekin 292 shrines at nikko 296 delightful scenery 298 street in japan 300 the tokaïdo 304 a typical nippon building 312 marshal oyama 322 on the yang-tze-kiang 340 in the flowery land 344 count witte 384 introduction during my prolonged stay in the far east, i promised to send home notes whenever i came across anything interesting, or whenever i had time to do so. this is how it happened that the story of my visits to the different cities of interest, of receptions graciously granted by the various emperors of eastern asia, and the chief impressions received when crossing their empires, came to be jotted down. naturally in these pages, written often under considerable pressure and in spare moments, i was at the mercy of circumstances, and could not dwell on all the points at such length as i should have liked to do. in short, in these narratives, destined to be confided to couriers and post offices, i was compelled to leave out much that might have been more sensational. some of the papers have already appeared in periodicals, and the appreciation that has kindly been shown to them, and the favourable criticism they have received, have been due to the sincerity and the absolute lack of pretension with which i have tried to treat the different subjects. my intention was simply to note what was striking at the moment and what impressed me most vividly. i have tried to be as objective as possible, and to deal with things as they are, not as i could have wished to find them. even in the most attractive books that have dealt with these far-off countries, there has sometimes been a tendency to adopt the tone of a mentor and to judge everything from a superior standpoint, as if the complete difference between those remote lands and peoples and our own had been forgotten, and as if the westerner wished to ignore a civilization which, though different from, is not less serious than his own; in short, as though this mysterious far east, with its almost incomprehensible masses, did not possess anything at all of a higher nature and lacked a mind altogether. certainly it is difficult, almost impossible, for an alien to perceive their inner qualities and mental powers; at the same time we shall have opportunities in our everyday lives of noting explanatory manifestations. it is from living in the same atmosphere and from continual intercourse with all classes, high and low, that it will be given us to understand a little of what is called the soul of a land and its inhabitants. thus, while describing events in their simplicity, we may succeed in giving something of the local atmosphere too. this is the reason why we always read with pleasure memoirs of past generations or correspondences from far-away countries or of days gone by; and why all the best descriptions in books dealing with the far east are those unassuming and faded letters from merchants or missionaries; and why the narrative of marco polo, with all its _naïveté_, will remain for all ages a standard work. strange adventures, depicted in brilliant hues and by an exaggerated imagination, seldom help our general knowledge. instead of adding to what we see and encumbering real facts with more or less imaginary occurrences, it is more useful to omit unnecessary details, just as the important thing in painting a landscape is to know what to leave out, so as to make the general character of the scenery clearer. this it is that constitutes the difference between the very best photograph or chromo-lithograph and a rough artistic study or water-colour sketch. in short, one ought to strive to treat this land as its painters do their sketches, always bearing in mind their design of giving in a masterly manner general impressions more than worthless details, so as to get hold of something more than can be seen--something of abstract value in the life they are endeavouring to render. it was life with its everyday occupations that brought me into contact with all social phases, and rendered my journey and stay of interest, and made it possible for me to see the country and people in a stronger light than if i had been an ordinary traveller. i was investigating the civilizing, charitable, and spiritual work carried on by the catholic church under different conditions, amongst various races. these matters i have dealt with in another volume; but even the subjects that i treated of in those unassuming pages may have acquired a certain local colour, as having been seen by one who had interests and ties with the places he wrote from, and the people he lived amongst. during the year i passed in the countries bordering on the yellow sea, i had an opportunity of making the acquaintance of the greater number of those eminent persons whose names have lately been so often in the mouths of all the world. it was most interesting to listen to them and to hear their views. though there may have been great diversity in their opinions, they were none the less instructive for that. my departure from st. petersburg presented the first glimpse into orientalism. the splendour of the imperial city, and the patriarchal condition of the lower classes, gave it a different character from the usual european capitals, and the network of interests in the metropolis differs even more. i had to stay rather longer than i had expected, and this prolongation gave me the best chance of making the amplest preparations, and acquiring the necessary preliminary knowledge for my journey across the empire. moreover, since as an ecclesiastic i had to obtain special permission even to get to russia, it was therefore natural that i should have expected to find the greatest difficulties and complications thrown in the way of the accomplishment of my future journey. thanks to the kindness of the tsar himself, however, all possible obstacles were smoothed over. he was personally acquainted with the journey that awaited me, but with this difference, that he made it before the railway was completed, and travelled by post. it was interesting to listen to the narrative of the sovereign, giving his impressions of the remotest portions of his empire, where he could not but come into contact with all classes of his subjects, and where he was obliged to share the vicissitudes of "inflexible circumstance," as we so often read in official _ukases_. his majesty evidently took the liveliest interest in everything he saw, and gave charming accounts of his personal experiences. as in all royal tours, everything was naturally shown to him in as favourable a light as possible, and yet, apparently, the shadows had not altogether escaped his observation. being heir to all this enormous territory, he probably traversed it full of hope of being able one day to ameliorate the general condition of his country, and to prove a true and loving "little father" to his folk. it is indeed a melancholy reflection that those who are generally supposed to be blindly obeyed, to have all their wishes accomplished, and whose will is imagined to be absolutely autocratic, are those who are most tied by the _force majeur_. the little hermitage of alexandrovsky, nestling in pine woods, with its home-like character, stands, like an oasis, in the midst of peterhof, that town of palaces and splendour. the simplicity of the imperial family is in striking contrast with the luxury of the so-called court circle. all that one hears of the ostentation and extravagance of russian court life entirely disappears when one comes to know the home of the tsar and tsaritsa. elsewhere there is undoubtedly much pomp and glitter, for the luxury and lavishness of russian officialism is too well known to need mention here. indeed, there is hardly a country where things are done more elaborately, and the exchequer seems to be inexhaustible. if the administration leaves much to be desired and cannot be criticized too severely, we must allow that the officials themselves are the most accomplished men we could wish to know. whether an official be a minister of state, with all the polish of the old régime of the eighteenth century, or a simple _tchinovnik_, a tram conductor or a railway guard, it is equally pleasant to have dealings with him. a stay of a few weeks in st. petersburg, filled with receptions at the residences of the various members of the imperial family, calls at the embassies, official visits, sight-seeing, and business of all sorts, certainly gives one ample opportunity to gain a better insight into local matters than the study of whole volumes. it was on the eve of the war that i was there. the atmosphere was full of gunpowder, and yet nobody seemed to believe that such a thing could happen; or, even if it really came to pass, that it could have greater consequences than the annihilation of that far-away island folk, of whom the russian world seemed to know very little. for just as they are so well informed and interested in western affairs, that one might fancy oneself in a suburb of paris, so they are supremely indifferent to, and have very hazy ideas of what they call the "barbarous east." such was public opinion and such the tone adopted by the newspapers. m. de witte was the only man who seemed to be of another conviction. he was just then on his way back from port arthur and dalny. he had been on the spot and realized the situation. he had planned and built dalny with a view to having a great commercial stronghold to command the far east, in opposition to his neighbour, kuropatkin, who commanded the fortifications of port arthur. he believed that the best foundation for russia's supremacy lay in industrial development; kuropatkin trusted in the sword. witte was dismissed--the rest we know. moscow, my next stoppage, revealed another side of the empire. the holy moscow, the mother of cities, exhibited other features of interest illustrative of the mystical slavonic soul. the kremlin, with its gilt cupolas, is not only a monument unique of its kind, but also the expression of a nation's sentiment. the history of the past, the aspirations of the future, are equally manifested. the glory of arms, of arts, of thought, is expressed in this valhalla. it is the embodiment of the word "muscovite," which means all that is characteristic of russia. light and shadow, brightness and gloom, virtues and vices, are equally perceptible in this marvellous city, and what is not visible is even more impressive. all the transcendental tendencies, the shadowy mysticism, peculiar to this strange population, all that is abstract, finds new and unexpected expression within these venerable walls. patriotism and anarchy, faith and superstition, walk side by side. churches, shrines, and ikons are met at every corner, and before them all, large groups are on their knees, prostrated in devotion. in this same city the most terrible crimes are committed, and the same populace that seemed so repentant and contrite, perpetrates the most cruel and bloody outrages. in fact, moscow is an inexhaustible field of study, and not only for historical research, but also for a more certain knowledge of this paradoxical race, full as it is of inexplicable contrasts and incessant surprises. siberia was another mine of contrasts and surprises, and the longer i was there the more i began to comprehend the vast possibilities of this formidable stretch of country. it is a continent in itself, with all the natural advantages to enable it to become rich and prosperous. her future development has the same chance as that of canada, and her wealth is even larger. to say nothing of siberia's inexhaustible mines, the land is better watered, and the timber-forests even more extensive. the population is still slumbering in its cradle. the life they lead is archaic in the extreme. they dwell mostly in tents, lead a nomadic life, and provide their own clothing and food themselves. they are uneducated, but not unintelligent. in fact, after having visited different camps, i was most struck with their open expression and self-reliance. but it must not be forgotten that, in contradistinction to the slavs of russia proper, the various tribes of the ural-altai race have never been serfs. they have always led a wandering, independent existence under their hetmans. the baskirs and the kirghiz are the most interesting, and are the finest specimens of mid-asiatic types. the kalmuks and ostiaks represent a more mongolian stock. the farther we go to the east the more they resemble the yellow race, and the buriats and tunguses of trans-baikalia are hardly to be distinguished from the chinese. what tremendous force is dormant in this world of tartars! and what a shock their awakening will cause one day! towns like tomsk, omsk, tobolsk, and particularly irkutsk, show us the country from another side. commercial enterprises, trade, and general progress, have taken root. they are so-called centres of civilization, but i fear that they might more fitly be called places of exploitation. certainly these growing towns are not wanting in praiseworthy attempts at culture, and i was especially struck by the philanthropic and charitable institutions. unfortunately, the moral tone of this agglomerate population is deplorable, and money is spent in a reckless way. men, banished from their homes to such distant regions, allow themselves to be dragged down and brought to contempt, instead of trying to dominate the mass by superior character. manchuria was entirely under russian rule in those days. the famous railway was in the hands of the cossacks, although it ostensibly bore the name of the "eastern chinese line," and barracks for muscovite soldiers were dotted all over the country. the larger towns had quartered on them russian officials under various designations, such as consuls, railway directors, bank managers, and so forth. their influence and domination were uncontested, although apparently they were on the best of terms with the local officials. the russo-chinese bank had branches everywhere, and evidently the least services rendered them were amply recompensed. this asiatic method of colonization was not wanting in interest to the observer. its demoralizing effect was very sad, and could not fail to bring retribution later on. for after all, political life, like that of individuals, has a moral code, by which any criminal actions are bound to find their punishment. after crossing the great wall and staying in china proper, i still found the preponderating muscovite influence. this was especially the case in pekin, where the success of m. lessar, resident minister, and m. pocadiloff, manager of the russian bank, was at its zenith. the influence of st. petersburg, which had succeeded in gaining over li hung-chang, was still in full swing, and yung lu was a not less useful partisan. he was the man of the moment, and knew how to secure, even to a greater extent than his predecessor, the sympathy and favour of the empress dowager. the court had only just returned from their flight. they had scarcely settled down again in that marvellous palace which they had expected never to revisit. in fact, who could ever have imagined, after all the outrages against christian powers, that those powers themselves should have brought back again the very people against whom they had fought only a few months before? the diplomatic talent of the dowager empress must incontestably be of a high order. she was herself a foreigner--a simple manchu girl. no less remarkable than her achievement in raising herself step by step to the highest pinnacle of power is the manner in which she maintains her position. the way in which she deals with her own provinces, and plays them off one against the other, is most skilful. it will therefore not be astonishing if she sometimes uses the same methods in foreign difficulties. the victory of the western powers was complete, and yet, with the exception of russia, they did not reap any apparent advantage from it. they could come to no agreement among themselves as to the partition of the spoil, and the disappointment of japan at seeing the territory she had formerly conquered pass into the hands of her rivals, was only too justly founded. the situation was most interesting, the general tension being extreme. at the same time it was just this atmosphere of excitement which rendered my stay so instructive and intercourse with leading men of such great interest. every one gained in importance at this critical moment. men like prince ching, the foreign minister of china and a near relative of the emperor; his interpreter, mr. lee, who has such thorough knowledge of european countries; yan-tsi-kai, who represents the chinese military spirit and believes in introducing western methods; and chang-tsi-tung, the great sage and strict disciple of confucius--are fine specimens of the children of this vast and unknown empire. after all, among so many interesting points in the far east, the most interesting is man. situations may change, war and peace, power and decadence, follow each other at intervals, but the essential characteristics of this population will remain in their main tendencies more or less the same as long as the race endures. the expressions of national sentiment that surround us, great and small, whether apparently superficial or really striking, are human documents which must be considered with earnestness and attention, for after all it is they, more than political treatises, diplomatic achievements, or victories of armies, which will direct the natural tendencies and the relentless march of progress in and development of nations in the future. it is when observing, in all its phases, the life that surrounds us, that we can gain an approximate idea of the possibilities of the far east. i arrived in the land of the morning calm, which might more suitably be called the land of continual upheaval, when a revolution was in progress. y-yung-ik, minister of finance, was being attacked by those who sympathized with japan. the capital was divided into two camps. skirmishes took place in the open street. everybody was excited, and anarchy reigned supreme. y-yung-ik, whose views were favoured at the palace, and who, on the occasion of the last riots, had saved the emperor's life, carrying him on his back to the russian legation, where he remained for over a year, was in concealment in the palace, and the mob was raging vociferously before the imperial abode. it was a typical situation, throwing a strong light on the condition of the country. the nation was divided into two factions. there were pro-russians and pro-japanese, but no pro-koreans. this fine country, instead of constituting a guarantee of the peace of the far east, was a prey to rivalry. once suzerain of china, then under japanese influence, during my stay she seemed to be at the mercy of the slav. it seemed to be the last flicker of the candle of russian preponderance in the far east. their hegemony was not only apparent at court and in the ministries, but even began to be established all over the country. as in manchuria, so in korea, russian soldiers and sailors, who were billeted on the country for various reasons, made themselves quite at home. between the russians and koreans there did not appear to be the same difference which separates europeans from orientals. the uncultured children of the steppes amalgamated naturally with the native population. it was striking, particularly in manchuria, to notice how the so-called conquerors began to be conquered in their turn by the land they occupied, which, indeed, in the long run, has always absorbed those who dreamed of dominating her, whether mongol, tartar, or manchu. probably what happened to the descendants of the famous genghis khan would have happened to the victorious muscovite. arms cannot solve problems of a higher order. in spite of their superiority of military equipment, the new invaders of the eastern asiatic continent, the new masters of manchuria, did not seem to be conscious of their moral duty towards their lately acquired subjects. instead of attempting to raise the population among whom they had settled, to a higher degree of civilization, and to inculcate nobler ideals, they were on the point of slipping down to the level of the so-called conquered barbarians. the life and the mode of thought of the camps were low, and the moral dangers of every kind that surrounded the soldiers and officials were too great for people who, in many cases, had only a veneer of culture themselves and very little practical experience of civilizing and ennobling work, to struggle against. after all, a state has only the right to conquer when, instead of oppressing, they strengthen and educate those weaker and more primitive than themselves. conquest can only bear ripe fruit when it is for the general welfare. nations, like individuals, have their moral codes, and vocations. nemesis must always overtake evil of every kind, and to the virtuous alone is granted the palm of final victory. empires and emperors i the tsar and tsarina at their home of peterhof it is half-past nine in the morning, as i start on my journey to peterhof, having been honoured by the tsar with an invitation thither. it is yet cold and chilly. the great metropolis is covered with a veil of fog. one would imagine that winter had already begun, and it is difficult to realize that according to the calendar it is the month of august. the street leading to the baltic station, st. petersburg, is still half deserted. there switzers begin to sweep the doorways, and detachments of soldiers hurry to take up their different posts. there are a few milk-carts that rattle to and fro, and one or two private vehicles occupied by people in full dress and uniforms covered with decorations, throwing into sharp contrast the dreary surroundings of the humble suburb. in fact, contrasts are the most striking feature of the capital of the vast russian empire--contrasts in light and shadow, splendour and humility, and i dare say contrasts in everything that is characteristic of the west and the east. the railway station, where i arrive at last, is certainly one of the most interesting illustrations of what i have just pointed out--the very link and meeting-place of the west with the east. it is crowded with people: their countenances are so different, their dress so picturesque, their behaviour so unconventional, yet so characteristic, that i forget that i am on a railway platform, and imagine myself amidst the picturesqueness of a great caravanserai. perfect order is kept. the train is already at the platform, ready to start, and i am shown without delay into my compartment. there are a great many officials, all of them in striking uniforms. in fact, there are nearly as many railway employés as travellers, and together they form incoherent groups of oriental brightness. the train winds through colourless and uninteresting suburbs for some time. here and there we have a glimpse of the white neva, arched by beautiful bridges and skirted with magnificent palaces. we pass near many small villages full of summer-houses, all built of wood. each house is painted in different colours, and has its own pretty garden. there are some red, some green, and some blue, making a polychromatic mosaic on the green fields. they are all summer residences of the official or semi-official world, who are obliged to pass the summer near town. indeed, the great charm of st. petersburg consists in its neighbourhood. these attractive retreats, or, as they are called, _datshas_, are on the riverside or on the seashore, or hidden in a quiet neighbourhood like the magnificent imperial residences, tsarskoe selo, pavlovsk, and gatschina. but among them all, peterhof is the most famous--the versailles of the north. i think peterhof undoubtedly deserves the first place. there is not only splendour, but there is real beauty too. art and nature contribute to make it one of the loveliest spots on earth. there is, in fact, only one royal residence, i think, that can compare with it, and that is the castle of pena on the high peaks overlooking the ocean near lisbon. to get an idea of peterhof we must imagine a luxuriant forest overshadowing the blue waters of the baltic. buried in the woods are summer-houses, gardens, fountains, greek temples, and triumphal arches. the palace itself stands on a hill that has been cut into terraces--terraces that are surrounded by balustrades and ornamented by statues and flower-vases. then as a centre there is a magnificent cascade looking like a crystal staircase leading up to a golden palace; it spreads out its waters into a silver carpet covering the pathway and flowing in a broad canal to the sea, bordered by an avenue of rippling fountains. and when we get tired of the golden palace, of its silver carpet and its dazzling brightness, we return to some of the smaller residences, of which there are many scattered about in the grounds. some are little french châteaux, some others imitate dutch farms or roman villas. they are all different in style and taste, but they are all charming, and contain priceless collections of art. each has interesting annals; each has some historical connexion and a past of romantic or tragic memory. wars have been declared, treaties ratified, peace re-established in its lofty halls and gilded salons, every one the scene of important events. peter the great's many schemes were born within these walls; and from these groves catharine ii ruled with her iron sceptre. [illustration: le palais anglais "the great charm of petersburg is its neighbourhood" to face page 4] the present tsar selected for his home one of the smaller châteaux, called alexandrovsky. alexandrovsky is indeed a modest house. it has no lofty cupolas, no magnificent gates, no stately _cour d'honneur_. it is a simple villa such as is seen in the neighbourhood of well-to-do commercial towns. it might be somewhere near birmingham or queenstown. it is built of bright red bricks, has some friendly bow windows, and is ornamented by some little turrets. its charm consists in its homeliness. its beauty is its situation. it stands in the centre of a green lawn on the border of the sea. it is surrounded by a little flower-garden, where, instead of magnificent fountains and marble statues, there are masses of bloom full of colour and scent; borders of lilies, hollyhocks, poppies, and sweet peas form a natural fence of many hues against the sombre background of the wood. it is a garden which you can realize is tended with affection. the empress herself takes an interest in it, and, surrounded by her daughters, passes in this charming retreat many quiet hours of the long summer afternoons. undoubtedly, this must remind her of lovely wolfsgarten, hidden in the hessian forests, where she passed the merry days of her childhood, where she returns so faithfully nearly every year, and where she is so beloved by all the villagers. her majesty is tall, has a fine presence, and is extremely graceful in all her movements. she is refined in the highest degree and very artistic in her disposition. her leisure hours are mainly occupied in drawing, painting, and music. she is an ardent supporter of all the artistic societies in the capital, and gives a great impetus to literary training in all the different schools which are under her patronage. there are a large number of these schools in st. petersburg, and she pays personal visits to them frequently. her greatest interest, however, is concentrated in her children, and she finds her chief happiness in her own home. her domestic virtues are those which make her respected by the whole nation. coming as she did from a far-away country, and being a foreigner, it must have been no easy matter to be at once understood. for refined and retiring natures it is specially difficult to become at once popular. it is only in time, and by having opportunities to show deeper qualities, that sympathy can be awakened. by kind actions, by benevolence towards those she came in contact with, and by unbounded charity, the love of the nation was secured. but how she won the hearts of all was by being an ideal mother. [illustration: _copyright, nops ltd._ h.i.m. the empress of russia to face page 6] the empress is a devoted mother. she attends to her children, as much as possible, personally, and with the greatest care supervises the education of her four little daughters. the nurseries are established entirely on the english system. there is great simplicity in the furniture, but plenty of fresh air and a good water supply. the nursery governess is an english lady, and the rules of this little world are strictly observed and precisely carried out, her majesty herself having been brought up, as a grandchild of queen victoria, on the same principles. method and punctuality are strictly observed, and the little princesses must attend to their duties most scrupulously; lessons, recreation, exercises --everything is timed and planned in advance. there is a great deal to be done in the twenty-four hours, lessons and all sorts of small duties of many kinds. the simplicity of everything might serve as a model to many households. the food they partake of is of the plainest kind, healthy, but nothing elaborate, consisting mainly of porridge, bread and butter, milk and vegetables, and a little meat or fish. so it is with their attire; generally they are dressed in scrupulously neat white cotton, but it is devoid of all ornament. they pass many hours of the day on the seashore, and as they are running about, laughing, building castles in the sand, or clasping their beloved mother round the neck, they make a perfect picture of happiness. i reach peterhof at half-past ten by the special train which daily conveys the tsar's guests and visitors. officials, court dignitaries, aides-de-camp, and others of those who are on duty, have hurried to the large platform, which, covered with red carpet, presents the appearance of a reception-hall. there is great animation at the peterhof station all the time the court is there, as the greater part of the suite live in town. before the station is a long row of carriages belonging to the imperial household; peculiar-shaped victorias are there, horsed by enormous black orloff stallions with great arching necks and flowing manes and tails, looking very much as if they had stepped from one of the pictures of wouvermans or velasquez. lackeys, with three-cornered hats, gaiters, and heavy scarlet coats covered with gold lace, usher each guest to his vehicle, and each starts in a different direction to the many palaces and offices. rattling over gravelled roadways, i first fully realize that in a few moments i shall be in the presence of the mighty tsar of all the russias, the ruler over the greater part of the enormous asiatic continent, the autocratic head of millions of human beings. my request is a very modest one--simply permission to get to my destination in the far east through siberia. there was some difficulty at the russian frontier about my further journey, and i was advised to get the obstacles removed by his majesty himself. he very likely knew that i am only interested in the spiritual and philanthropic institutions established in the far east, my desire being to get through to my objective as soon as possible. we drive for quite a quarter of an hour through woods, and here and there as we pass by different residences meet sentries marching up and down. we pass through several gates, all of them made of plain wooden bars--they might almost be in leicestershire--each opened and closed by a cossack. as we get nearer there are more sentries, and several times the password is given by the groom. alexandrovsky stands isolated in a quiet corner of the vast domain. its home grounds are surrounded by walls and a kind of palisade. at last, having passed the last sentry and the last gate, the carriage stops at the private garden entrance. i am received by an officer who shows me immediately into the palace--i ought to say villa. villa indeed it is in every respect, and the entrance-hall is so small that it scarcely holds the few servants who are in attendance. the staircase is very narrow, too, and winds in exactly the same way as in small old-fashioned english houses. the drawing-room gives the same impression of comfort and cheerfulness--the privileges of english homes. it is small, and with a rather low ceiling. the furniture is extremely plain. the few sofas and armchairs are covered with bright material, and the woodwork is lacquered white. the walls are covered with watercolours, sketches, and photographs. in one corner there stands a piano with music, and in the window a desk, apparently both much in use. the main feature of this room is the quantity of flowers. tables, brackets, and furniture, are laden with jars, vases, and bowls filled with fresh-cut, sweet-smelling flowers. but i have no time for further observations or to analyze more minutely this bright, homely abode in all its detail, giving as it does such a good insight into the private life of its owners. simple, bright, unassuming, it is a sincere illustration of domestic happiness; and with its writing-desk littered with papers, its piano covered with music, and tiny jars and vases full of sweet-smelling blossoms, it is a human document in itself. the door opens and an imposing a.d.c. enters and announces that his majesty is ready to receive me. he is one of the grand dukes on duty at the palace for the day. he is a first cousin of the emperor, an officer in the russian army, and a most accomplished linguist. he narrated to me many interesting details of his yachting tour in far-distant seas. he had just returned from india, and seemed much impressed by the beauties of that wonderful land. a bell begins to ring, a signal that the emperor is ready to receive me. i am shown into the next room, which is even smaller and simpler than the one which i have just left. in its extreme modesty the furniture seems to be reduced to a few chairs, a lounge, and a large writing-table which occupies the greater part of the room. this is his majesty's study. but if the interior is so very unassuming, the view out of the windows is simply magnificent; it looks straight on to the sea--a grey and shining mirror, crowned by the dark battlements of majestic kronstadt. the famous citadel floats like a mirage in the blue haze of the distance, looking even finer than usual as i see it from one of the tsar's windows. the room is so small that there is no space to make the obligatory three bows. i have scarcely stepped into the room when his majesty gets up and meets me himself with his well-known affability. nicholas ii wears the undress uniform of a russian general--dark blue and green, with a very little gold lace, and a single medal on his breast--a modest garment, subdued in colouring, suited very well in every respect to its owner. the portraits of the emperor are well enough known to make it unnecessary for me to go into minute details. he is not tall, and of rather delicate frame, but healthy, and with a good complexion. what strikes one at the first moment is his open and kind-hearted expression. the two main features that impressed me at the first glance are the turquoise-blue colour of his eyes and their open gaze. those eyes, which are the chief feature of his countenance, and seem to be a family inheritance, can hardly fail to arouse deep sympathy in the beholder. a very great likeness exists in this respect to the heir to the english throne. [illustration: _photo, levitsky_ _copyright, nops ltd._ h.i.m. nicholas ii, emperor of russia to face page 12] his majesty seemed to be much interested in my proposed journey across siberia, and wanted to know how long i intended to stay in those regions. he spoke in an interesting way about his own experiences; he knows the whole length of the country in fact, as tsarevitch he turned the first sod for the railway about twelve years ago in vladivostok, and now the line runs from one end to the other, linking two continents. but he himself has travelled over the greater part of the route in the simple russian _tarantas_. he gave me with great vivacity many of his innumerable reminiscences and impressions. he was interested in every question, and tried to see everything as much as possible for himself. he stopped at each place of any importance and investigated the situation in detail. besides his official engagements, he was keenly interested in the purely historical and scientific sides of these unknown regions. the knowledge he gathered during his journey is unique in value, and of the greatest importance to students of the asiatic races, their origin, life, and future development. undoubtedly there has been no other ruler of this enormous empire who ever before ventured to enter these remote districts. he told me what never-failing interest it was to him to come across the different races in his asiatic dominions, and to see the nomadic tribes there leading their own primitive life. it was a pleasure to listen, not only to his world-wide experiences, but to all his different impressions, gathered with the fresh conception of a young man, and to realize the keen interest which every sentence so eloquently expressed. he spoke with such benevolence about his subjects, with such love about all those with whom he came in contact throughout his endless wanderings, that there should be no doubt that the tsar of all the russias really loves his subjects tenderly, and that their welfare is the highest aim of his life. and he spoke further of his hopes of improving their condition, of witnessing their advancement, and of his earnest wish to have peace during his reign all over his territory. when he spoke about the great blessing of universal peace his voice vibrated with an emotion that carried the conviction, that so long as the fate of his vast empire depended entirely on his personal desire, there would be no cruel wars, but calm peace and prosperity over all his possessions. in replying i ventured to remark, "what could prevent the mighty tsar of all the russias carrying out his wishes?" he only answered, with a never-to-be-forgotten expression, "i see you are yet a new-comer in this country." his majesty showed the greatest care in making my journey through his vast empire, across siberia, not only possible, but also in insuring that i should see as much as possible--that i should be able to observe and learn as much as would be useful to my endeavour. his majesty's permission was extended to embrace such hospitality as i would not have sought. i took the liberty of saying i would prefer to proceed as a humble missionary to my destination. his majesty kindly insisted: "if you will not accept it for yourself, accept it for the satisfaction of your mother. she must be very anxious. i know from my own travels how hard it is for parents to be separated from their children by thousands of miles. i sent a telegram every day, but, even then, i knew what their sufferings were. it will give your mother some relief to know that while you are in this empire you are under my protection...." * * * * * time seems to have flown. on my way back i write with difficulty in my solitary compartment, by the rays of a single light. my day at peterhof has seemed to vanish as a moment, but it has been so full of interesting incidents that to look back upon it is as if a month had been crowded into a day. i have no time to go into details in my diary, so to be correct i limit myself to generalities, and if i cannot put down _in extenso_ all that was of interest--i might say of importance--i want to fix the main outlines of the picture. ii to the far east by the trans-siberian railway i from petersburg to manchuria is it really possible to get to the far east by land? is the siberian railway open to the public? is it comfortable? those were the universal questions that everybody without exception addressed to me on my arrival. as for the first: yes, it is possible. with reference to the second, we must make distinctions. it is well known that to get through russia everybody must be provided with a passport signed by the local russian consul. it is different for priests and other church dignitaries who do not belong to the greek denomination; these require a special permission granted by the tsar himself. about comfort! the express trains are not only comfortable, but luxurious. in my many travels i do not remember having seen anything better fitted up, or affording to the traveller greater facilities for forgetting the long strain of the journey. the trans-siberian railway is undoubtedly a marvellous piece of engineering. it may have defects, and it may need several alterations, but as a whole it deserves full admiration. besides its commercial and strategical importance, as a mere civilizing influence it might become incalculable. another question which is constantly addressed to me is: is not the journey very monotonous? is it not a most uninteresting and flat country? are not the natives of a very low type? the answer to these questions depends entirely on what the wanderer is interested in. if he looks for variety and excitement, the journey may be to a certain extent uneventful. for those who are in search of swiss scenery and alpine grandeur, it may seem flat and colourless. as for social intercourse and pleasure, naturally, these cannot be expected. but to anybody who is interested in land and folk--i mean those whose emotions are awakened by the deeper characteristics of the different countries and their inhabitants--the journey across the asiatic continent cannot fail to offer a series of continuous revelations. from a geographical point of view, i admit it is in part very flat, and sometimes for days the train pursues its way in an unbroken line through green pastures or the denseness of virgin forests. the people one meets at different hamlets are certainly rough-looking, children of the steppes; but it is exactly the untouched state of those regions, and the originality of their inhabitants, that render it all of the greatest value to the student of history and folk-lore. the land may be hilly or flat; its greatest interests are not dependent upon its mere external features, and the attractive points of a race do not consist purely in the state of its advancement. they may still be very primitive, living in tents, wearing skins, leading nomadic lives, unaffected, and yet give us an insight into their characteristics and capabilities. when untouched and unaffected by outside influences, they afford even better material for psychological observation, and present us human documents of exceptional interest in regard to the possibilities of their future. but what compensates largely for the lack of panoramic effects is the vastness of the scenery. grand it is in every respect. undulating steppes like the wave-beaten ocean; never-ending, densely wooded regions which seem to extend without limit. its chief beauty--if beauty it may be called--is the sentiment. the charm of these northern regions of asia vibrates in their atmosphere. sentiment and atmosphere! these are the two features of that strange land which impressed me most during the endless hours i looked from the balcony of my railway car, or when i stopped at one or other of the various townships; or, again, when i was visiting some of the native encampments. among all i noticed that was new and striking, the most surprising thing was undoubtedly the "unseen"--what one might call the moral or metaphysical sides; the impression of unseen strength, exuberant vitality, primeval power, which forces itself on the traveller indirectly again and again in endless forms and aspects. we see it in the soil and in the people. it is equally expressed in the inanimate and animate nature. we perceive it in the yet unploughed fields, and we feel it among the unawakened humanity. it is more an instinctive sensation than the absolute reality which gives us revelations as to the future of this part of the globe. i proceeded slowly, stopping at every place of interest, and made a short halt wherever there was anything that appealed to me. and when my journey was ended, i regretted it had been so short, and i was sorry the time was too limited to permit me to penetrate deeper into the matter. but i did not fail to put down my impressions from day to day. i made a short note of everything that was interesting, new, or striking, just as it presented itself to me--just as i saw it at the moment. at present, when the general interest towards the far east is widening, and people seem to wish to know a little more about asiatic nations and their different races, and when every year will see more travellers and students trying to make the link between west and east stronger, i hope a few extracts from my diary may strengthen their wish, and help them to realize and put their intentions into execution. there are great openings for activity, and scope for intelligence; and there is a great deal to be done from commercial, scientific, and humanitarian points of view, for the benefit of the whole civilized world and the greater glory of the almighty. ii from petersburg to moscow the tsar very kindly consented to all the concessions necessary to traverse his extensive empire, and, after my leave-taking, an official brought me all the requisite papers, which had been signed by the minister of railways. what an interesting man prince chilkoff is! and such an enthusiast too! he lives literally in the midst of his locomotives, rails, and sleepers. i think his favourite abode is the extensive railway workshops of the metropolis. looking at him, you would think he was born in chicago; he speaks perfect english, but with a slight american intonation. he is american moreover in his keen sense of business and boundless energy. to hear him talk about the land, new tracks, almost impracticable tunnels, and steel bridges crossing the large rivers, is like a most descriptive geographical lecture; and when he starts on his favourite theories on locomotives, boilers, and pumps, one regrets not knowing more about the mysteries and fascinations of mechanics. prince chilkoff[a] went through a very thorough mechanical training, and has been studying the matter in the united states for many years. he worked there himself, and got initiated into all the secrets of railway communication. he returned finally to his own country, where he hoped to devote his knowledge and qualifications to the benefit of his countrymen. but every post of any importance seemed to be occupied. i hear he was told there was only a subordinate vacancy in the mechanical department. "give it to me," was his answer, and he is today minister of all the russian state railways, and controller of nearly 25,000 miles of railway and other means of communication. [a] it is needless to add that since this was written prince chilkoff has earned a world-wide reputation by his management of the railway transport during the russo-japanese war. his study is a large room in the ministry of railways, which is a country-like residence, standing in extensive grounds. in the centre of his famous office are two large tables, covered, as are also the walls, with books, plans, and railway charts; and as he kindly explains the route i shall take, he gets up and points it out on a geographical map opposite his writing-table. what an enormous territory this asiatic continent is! i look at it with a kind of amazement and a sort of fear. shall i really get across it in a comfortable railway carriage, as you would go on a trip into the country? my host seems to divine my thoughts, and with a smile assures me that from one end to another the line is entirely under the same central management, and a telegraph apparatus from the head office brings him unbroken news throughout the entire length. "i quite understand it might seem strange and unusual to other countries, but you must not forget our tendencies and our force consist in centralization." he has made the siberian journey again and again, and gives me most valuable information respecting what to see, and where to stop, and what is really of interest. it is a grand work, and, considering the space of time in which it was achieved, and its extent, it seems nearly incredible. including the branch lines, the siberian railway is over ten thousand kilometres long, and its construction was begun only twelve years ago. prince chilkoff has, moreover, under his management, 10,400 post offices, and over 100,000 miles of telegraph line. i leave his house charged with valuable hints and a packet of letters and recommendations; and prince chilkoff, with a cordial hand-shake, repeats, "good luck! and don't forget to let me know if anything should prove unsatisfactory." my last day at st. petersburg is even more crowded than the rest of the week has been. calls of farewell, final preparations, leaving cards and inscribing my name in visiting-books, occupy the greater part of it. but this going to and fro gives me opportunity of seeing it again from end to end in all its immensity before i leave. what an extraordinary idea to build a town in the midst of a marsh! to dig canals where one cannot build roads, and to be surrounded with a plain as flat as a table. peter the great must have been very much impressed by amsterdam! there are corners in st. petersburg drenched and misty as on the borders of the zuyder zee. but if it has reminiscences of quiet, home-like holland, again there are brilliant thoroughfares like a parisian boulevard. the nevsky prospect, in its bustle and traffic, full of colour and of life, is unique. nevsky is the main artery of the capital--palaces belonging to the imperial family and the grandees, public buildings, bazaars, workshops, and every edifice you can think of. and each is of different style, each of different height, and each is painted in a different hue of the rainbow. its main feature--i dare say attraction--is its incoherence. during this last week the russian metropolis presented itself to me from a thousand different sides, and in how many different lights too! trying to remember them all before i depart for good, i do so with preference for what was pleasant, instructive, and good. besides, i do not come to criticize, i merely come to pass through, and so i prefer to put down in my diary what might prove instructive. i fully understand the great attraction which st. petersburg always has for foreigners. i admit it also, though i should not choose it for my residence or for my sphere of labour. the polish is perfect, and of course, if one does not belong to a country, as a passing visitor one scarcely requires more. the conditions of life--at least, for the well-to-do--are most agreeable; manners all that can be desired; refinement exquisite. i do not think you can come in contact anywhere with better informed and more richly equipped people than here. some of the scientific institutions, like the naval academy and the public library, are quite remarkable; and the new polytechnic school--a regular town in itself, with its five faculties and its laboratories--stands alone. then the museums and galleries contain the most celebrated art treasures. the famous hermitage, large as it is, can scarcely hold them all. antiques, gems, jewels, weapons, vases, engravings, and pictures, all of the first order; and i must say they appreciate what they do possess, and the arrangements of the museums are excellent. unquestionably there is a highly intellectual current, or, if you would prefer to call it so, undercurrent, which comes to brilliant manifestations here and there; sometimes most unexpectedly, amid squalor and débris. the huge electric globes cast a cold and glaring light over the gloomy square in front of the moscow station. a dense crowd invades passages, halls, and waiting-rooms, and, like the swelling tide, groans, surges, and finally overflows the platforms. travelling in russia has a different meaning altogether from that which it possesses elsewhere--it really means a removal: a regular déplacement. then, people seem to leave for ever: all their belongings appear to follow them, so enormous and so diverse is their kit. from simple boxes and knapsacks to kitchen utensils and even furniture, it embraces everything one could desire in one's own abode. and afterwards, when they take leave, their shaking of hands, embracing, and tears, give the impression that they never are to meet again. and this is only the local train, taking me as far as moscow. what will it be there, at the siberian terminus? the journey lasts only one night, across the famous wheat-growing plains, and to-morrow, in the early hours of the morn, i hope to reach the ancient capital of the tsars. i want to break my journey to see the ancient metropolis of the mighty rulers, to revisit all the famous scenes where so many important chapters of eastern history were once displayed to view. i want to see again the towering kremlin, with its mosaic basilicas and treasure-houses, slumbering at present in quiet dreams of the past under their golden domes. and i want to get prepared and acclimatized to a certain extent for siberia; for moscow belongs altogether to the other continent; it is really the capital of asia. iii through european russia the fading disc of the sinking sun disappears slowly beneath the horizon of the waving corn-fields. the first day of the journey is over. it was uneventful, calm, but it has not lacked interest. we have ploughed through endless fields of rich land, with a peaceful agricultural aspect. here and there a few scattered villages of dark mud huts, and large white churches. sometimes there is a country seat of some landed gentleman, buildings which remind me very much of an indian bungalow. they are very long and of only one storey high, half hidden by ancient trees. on the high roads peasants are just returning in endless streams, with carts and kettles, from their daily work. however far off they may have been working, they always return home for the night, for russian peasants seldom live on their farms. the whole picture speaks of such perfect peace: the slowly moving and singing workmen, and the little villages bathed in the afterglow, express such simple happiness, that i can scarcely realize that some of those very districts have been the scene of violence and cruel outrages. it is indeed difficult to believe the reports of the latest troubles and dissatisfaction which have burst forth in the midst of the quietest of mujiks. how difficult it is to understand the inner feelings of these quaint folk! sleepy as they may look, uncultured, and a couple of centuries behind the rest of the world, they can yet occasionally awaken; and when they awake, their passions burst out like as a stream of lava without restraint. during the day we stop at many smaller and larger places, nearly all insignificant, and generally very far from the station--sometimes so far that i can scarcely understand the reason of our stopping. for miles and miles around there is no human habitation, and we wonder by whose hands all those fields are worked. the most important township seemed to be marsanka. it is a typical russian country town, with its wooden houses, each surrounded by a flower-garden, and each garden fenced by lattice-work. the houses and gates are all painted in bright colours. a river encloses the entire place like a loop, and beyond the river are low-lying hills. the main feature of the place is given by innumerable windmills, of all sizes and of every imaginable construction--all equally conspicuous, equally high, and equally equipped with gigantic sails. they all whirl--they all work as if they would never stop. i do not think i ever saw so many windmills within view at one time; i counted more than a hundred. what a fertile country it must be, to keep so many busy! [illustration: marsanka after a water colour drawing by the author "the main feature of the place is given by innumerable windmills" to face page 28] it is night as we arrive at pienza, and we can see nothing except the railway station; but, as i hear, this is the main sight of the place. a fine building, though constructed of wood. i must also add that the stations all along the line are fine and convenient. they are well kept, a great many have restaurants, abundantly stocked, with richly laid out tables, and fair attendance. prices are high, but this is to be expected, considering the distance from which they sometimes procure their provisions. here at pienza i find even luxury. grapes and peaches from the crimea, wine from germany and france, and all kinds of american and english conserves; and, as ornamentation, fine old french candelabra, derived probably from some ruined noble's residence. the station is animated. a great many officers and a great many officials, all dressed in uniform. some are travellers, some have just come from the town for mere amusement. the great express has not yet lost its novelty, and twice a week is the object of universal admiration. our train consists of two first-class and three second-class carriages, a dining-car, luggage-van, tender, and engine. a long corridor leads from one end to the other, and affords a convenient walk for daily exercise. the compartments are nicely fitted up; the one i occupy, a so-called saloon, affords me a comfortable home during the journey. the dining-car is fitted up in american style; and, as i see, all the seats are taken from morning till night. to my fellow-passengers their meals seem to be their only occupation, for if the train stops, and there is a restaurant, they alight and commence each time a fresh meal. indeed, my fellow-passengers are great eaters and great talkers; they seem to speak about everything with the same ease and unreserve. especially when they start on their own countrymen and government, there is no end to their sarcasm and witty remarks. to any one liking to hear about the local conditions, the siberian journey gives an exceptional opportunity. people soon become acquainted, and if so they are delighted to find somebody to whom to grumble. before twenty-four hours had passed i learnt more about the corn-fields and little villages we skirted; about russian agricultural and industrial aspirations; about agrarian plehve and m. de witte's commercial enterprises than i ever should have expected. [illustration: samara "i shall make a short stay at samara" to face page 30] it seems that russia is at present passing through a serious crisis which affects everybody, rich and poor--especially the latter. the conditions of the peasantry are often very hard, though the reports we read are generally exaggerated. education and moral training might do a great deal to lift them out of their stagnant state, to inspire self-reliance, and awaken sound ambitions; but this is exactly what appears to be lacking, and where so much good could be done. and the people deserve education, for these russian peasants, as a whole, are a fine stock--strong and healthy, easy to lead, and not difficult to improve. even more, they have generally an unspoilt heart, and are capable of gratitude. what i hear unanimously abused is the local administration. if i were to believe half what i heard about the unworthiness of the official employés, their untruthfulness and bribery, it would be bad enough, and would easily explain the reason of the continuous outbreaks. the antagonism between the so-called progressives and conservatives is becoming more intolerant, and strivings for reform on a smaller or larger scale seem to be universal. some are hopeful, some pessimistic; some see russia's future secured on the same old patriarchal and primitive foundations, others believe in commercial prosperity, trade, and advance. it is a great problem, and it is equally interesting to listen to the advocate of one or other theory. yet i am afraid that in their sanguine anticipations they are equally far from what will prove to be the reality. all the talk i listen to serves as a description of, or comment on, the uninterrupted panorama which unfolds itself without ceasing before us as we glide swiftly along. it is a kind of prologue to the epic of this land which we shall soon leave altogether. to-morrow we shall cross the volga by the famous steel bridge of nearly a mile. i shall make a short stay at samara, and shall visit its well-known orphanages, asylums, and other charitable establishments which the town is so proud of; and, somewhat farther towards the east, the train will wind along the ural mountains to siberia. iv western siberia at half-past nine in the morning we cross the boundary of the two continents. we are in asia. a kind of mysterious feeling impresses itself on my mind. new sensations infuse themselves into me. encouraging hopes awaken, which i trust will give me endurance to carry out my work and aims. asia! what a field for exploration! what an unlimited area for higher aspirations! modest as our endeavours may be, the result may prove incalculable in the future. from a commercial, civilizing, or spiritual point of view, there is an equally vast field for action. [illustration: on the volga "the famous steel bridge of nearly a mile" to face page 32] our last day in europe passed on the baskir land--a high plateau, a severe and cold region, covered with rich pasture and inhabited by a semi-nomadic race of the same name. fine people they are, of heavy countenance and magnificent frame; very conservative in their habits, very clannish in their intimacies, and even today living from preference in tents. they wear sheepskins; cover their heads, like eskimos, with furs; and, instead of boots, roll round their feet and legs skins fastened like a classic sandal with endless straps of leather. they look uncouth, but picturesque. their movements are unquestionably plastic. this race is one of the finest of the tartar stock, and i am sorry to learn that they are slowly dying out. we stop at different places, and on each platform there are many baskirs, men and women all looking very much alike. they are bringing from their encampments milk, eggs, and poultry, to sell. i ask several of them the prices of their goods, and i am astonished at the cheapness of the market. the price of meat per pound amounts to the trifle of five kopecks; while for twenty roubles one may buy a horse, and a good one too. the soil is rich, its fertility is exceptional, and it possesses every quality for agricultural purposes. the future of the district is bound to be prosperous, and, what is more, the climate is most invigorating--raw and windy, but withal reminding me very much of the northern scottish moors. even the scenery, when it becomes a little more hilly, has a certain likeness to scotland, and the same charm of solitude and melancholy. all this district impressed me very much, both from a geographical and an ethnological point of view, and by its magnitude it cannot fail to appeal to our minds. the famous ural range, i must simply confess, did not come up to my expectations. i understand the beauty of glaciers and snow-clad peaks, barren as they may be, and i fully appreciate all the beauty of a vast plain, or the charm of a sand-covered desert; but the medium--what is neither one nor the other, neither handsome nor grand, but what so many admire and call "pretty scenery"--never appeals to me. what interested me more was the economic possibility of this long stretch of slopes. the extent of the treasures of this range is yet unknown, though there are mines which were flourishing in the eighteenth century. suleta's shafts were sunk in 1757, and are still under the workman's tools. the mines belong largely to the crown; they are partly worked by societies, and some are private property. the strogonoffs and beloselskys have all made their great wealth in these mines. some of them seem to be inexhaustible. what is more, besides gold, silver, lead, iron, almost every mineral seems to be contained in their depths. we met a great many workmen as we stopped, apparently without any reason, on our way, winding up endless zigzags to the top of the mountain. i am rather astonished that they do not in the least look like miners. they are neither blackened by coal-dust or smoke, nor have they the gloomy expression and sad countenance of those people who are bound to work and live underground, deprived of the rays of the sun for the greater part of their lives. they look much more like farmers--people of bright disposition. i hear the wages are low; but their needs are small, so that they can easily procure all that seems necessary to their happiness. on the top of the mountain there stands a lofty granite obelisk, with a short but significant inscription. there are only two words: on one side "europe," on the other "asia." [illustration: siberian home "very conservative in their habits" to face page 34] we are in western siberia, in the midst of an expanse of steppe. it seems to be boundless, and it has nothing to mark its space. it is like a sea, with all the suggestiveness of the ocean. our train crawls like a black reptile, like a monster of a fairy tale, breathing its steam and black smoke against the cloudless sky. what a sky it is! pale blue, cold and without a single cloud. i am afraid i must again contradict the general opinion of travellers about this corner of the earth. i have repeatedly heard travellers tell of the gloom and tediousness of the journey across it. i cannot agree with either remark. instead of gloom, i rather think repose would be a more appropriate expression to describe its true character; and tediousness is really a question of personal disposition. i again break my journey at several places, and always find more of interest and more new material for study than i should have dared to anticipate. western siberia is a marvellous territory, and it possesses all that is required to make a country flourishing. i quite understand the great interest which it arouses, and it is natural that the country should invest money lavishly for the furtherance of its progress. they have built up in a comparatively short time some important townships. petropaulovsk, and especially omsk, tobolsk, and tomsk, are already well-known centres, provided with richly endowed public institutions. the government maintains some large schools and colleges, and does everything in its power to attract new settlers to the uninhabited regions. [illustration: a siberian town "they have built up in a comparatively short time some important townships" to face page 36] the colonization of siberia is one of the most important national questions--to people thousands and thousands of square miles; to exploit all its resources; to make a country where there is now only surface and space. and the government knows how to offer attractions. land is granted under the most favourable conditions; there is no taxation for the first three years, seed is provided on easy terms, and, if required, agricultural implements and machinery are sold on the instalment system. the journey is nearly free, the fare being reduced to a few kopecks per hundreds of miles. petropaulovsk is bound to become one day the junction of central asia, when railway lines will run to the north along the obi valley and south _via_ atmolinsk, to tashkend and bokhara. all this is well thought out, and already carefully planned. its accomplishment seems to be a mere question of time, and, as indeed is well known as an historical fact, time has never seemed to be an obstacle to the achievement of any aspiration conceived by russia. the long line across the vast desert area is marked at intervals by smaller or larger railway stations. for whom, and what for? one might ask, as there is nothing in sight. no town, no village, not even one human habitation. but, we are told, government will soon build a township. it already has a name, and some of those imaginary cities even have a small greek basilica, surmounted with glaring green cupolas. again, some are partly finished, and their wide streets are bordered by a few wooden buildings. at the corners there are commodious shops; on the open square very likely a school; near it store-houses for wheat and temporary lodgings for settlers. it all looks so attractive from the railway station that i wonder if they do it on purpose to make it tempting. some of these new places do not entirely lack artistic beauty, and certainly they all have the same characteristic of appearing very national, holding firmly to the native taste and following the muscovite style of architecture. everything, it must be confessed, is in keeping with the surroundings, and at the same time practical and adequate to the locality. the new settler builds a small house of wood, and at the same time tries to make it look neat by carving it elaborately if he can, and never fails to paint the wood in all kinds of bright colours. v central siberia from unlimited pastures we pass to endless forests. for days we are surrounded by magnificent vegetation, including beautiful trees of varied hues. there are dark oaks and pale elms, copper beeches and silver birches, the colour of which is just turning. the foliage is fading, and as one pierces through their depths the leaves shake and rustle and pour down in golden showers. beautiful this siberian woodland is! unknown, unpenetrated, striking in its virgin prime. [illustration: railway church service "a rolling greek basilica" to face page 38] the railway cuts through in a straight line for hundreds of miles, and there is nothing to be seen on either side but centenarian trees and feathery ferns. what a field of exploration for a botanist! what a collection of beautiful herbs and mosses! what exquisite wild flowers! the colour of them is so deep and glorious, and the green of the grass is of the richest shade. many of the species are scarcely known yet, and it is quite astonishing to find, in these far-away regions, plants belonging to families of quite different latitudes. if the flora is so surprising, the fauna is even more so: animals of every size and of every description, from large bears to tiny squirrels. there are many kinds of quadrupeds: wolves, foxes, snow-leopards, wild goats, martens, sables, ermines, and all the innumerable members of the feline race. but what are even more interesting than the animal nature are the fossils found along the banks of the rivers and deep in the gloom of the earth. some magnificent specimens of antediluvian skeletons have been excavated, and these are zealously kept in the museums of st. petersburg, moscow, and irkutsk. and for the ornithologist it is a perfect land for research. the birds and their lives seem to have in siberia a most interesting past, and the laws of migration offer a special field of observation. some come from as far as australia, while others choose for their winter home new zealand. the theories explaining this mystery of nature are rather conflicting, and scientists have devised various explanations of these far-distant wanderings. the butterflies and beetles are unique also; in fact, it is a world in itself lost in far-away siberia. the long track between tomsk and irkutsk has the reputation of being the dreariest and the most desolate part of the journey. i did not expect to find much, which may very likely be the reason that i was so surprised to come across towns like krasnoyark, kanks, and udinsk. the first, especially, is an important centre for trade and business. besides wheat and other cereals, it is the great depot for the increasing exportation of skins, furs, tallow, grease, and lately butter. the export of butter is becoming of the greatest importance in siberia. farming is increasing from day to day, and the danes accomplish a great deal in this respect. the yearly export to europe, especially to the english market, is quite astonishing, even more so when we take into consideration that there are no winter pastures, and that all the cattle must be kept on stable food. it is easy to understand the amount of labour and care it requires, and yet it must pay, considering the number of danish families which come yearly to settle down in siberia. for some time krasnoyark has been the terminus of the western siberian line, and it derives its present importance partly from this fact. udinsk is growing rapidly too, and is the centre of a vast area. around its station i saw an enormous encampment of small russian tarantas, or cars, heavily laden with piles of sacks. barns near the line were packed with wheat and corn; and yet these stores do not seem to remain there long, for all through the journey we constantly passed trains loaded with cereals. what will it be when all of this enormous land, the whole of siberia, is under cultivation! [illustration: _photo, levitsky_ _copyright, nops ltd._ m. de plehve to face page 40] it was most interesting to watch all these and many other features; to realize all that has been done already since the railway was constructed, and to conjecture the country in its full development; for nature seems to have provided it with everything. i am more and more astonished to find "dreadful siberia" in reality as rich as, or even richer than its neighbour across the sea--the beautiful canada. behind the green forest a dark blue wall seems to fence the plain in towards the south. this is the altai range. its length is six hundred verst, and its peaks seem to be crushed under the heavy clouds. on the other side is china. the altai district has some of the most beautiful scenery of the whole globe. it is densely wooded, and dotted with lakes and watered by endless streams and rivers, for the largest streams of asia flow from there to the polar sea. the mighty yenisei, lena, obi, all have their sources among this wilderness. the altai range was the cradle of the most ancient races, for the earliest inhabitants of the earth belonged to the same stock as the finnish and turanian, and prehistorical remains of them are to be found to this day. even herodotus mentions these early folk. later on mongolian hordes swept over the calm valleys, and the present populace show visible traces of the extraordinary mixture of the different races which arose in or overran this country. what great people some of them became! what extraordinary might some of them acquired! with what striking lines they have filled the pages of history! and as in those days long gone by, some of those tribes still preserve their independence and unlimited freedom. they have even kept the old name of the highest peak, and call it, as ever before, chin-chan, the golden mountain. i was roused from my reflections by the clanging of the railway bell at the irkutsk station. at last i had arrived at the largest town, what people here call the "paris" of siberia. since yesterday morning i have been travelling in the territory of the government bearing the same name, of which it is the administrative centre. the district of irkutsk is enormous, with its five divisions of nijni-oudinsk, balagansk, kirinsk, irkutsk, and erbolinsk, of which each is a territory in itself. it extends south to china, and submerges north into the arctic ocean. its variety equals its size. besides the flat pasture regions, it has mountains towering up to alpine elevations. moonkov-sarde is 11,430 feet high. the fertility of the soil is equalled by the richness of the mines; but this vast area contains scarcely a million people. the northern part of it is entirely barren, and hardly explored at all. the present populace derive their origin from mongolian lineage. the most numerous are the buriats, tungus, and kalmuks, who lead nomadic lives, and for occupation rear their herds, hunt, and fish. they are not yet acquainted with agriculture, and when they settle by the sides of rivers and fertile districts they leave the land to be cultivated by the slavs, and acquire their tools and requisites by the simple method of exchange. their religion is idolatry. in the south there are a great many buddhists, and mohammedanism appeals especially to the tartars. of all the strange folk by whom siberia is inhabited, general curiosity seems to be most interested in the convicts, of whom, during the last century alone, more than one hundred thousand were sent into exile. only half of them ever returned to their homes again--many died; and only a small contingent settled down after the expiration of the punishment. but all this has often been narrated and described by famous authors: sometimes in such vivid colours, depicted in all its gloom, lamented with sighs of agony, that on visiting some of the prisons and workhouses i am quite astonished to find them far above my expectations. considering the ordinary condition of a russian criminal, the difference between home and prison is not harder than in any other country. if the officials and jailers are men with human sympathies, there is every opportunity of spending their time in a way which will lead to general improvement. where the misery really comes in is with those who are of a higher culture and greater refinement, and who are, justly or unjustly, punished for some uproar, and who suffer merely for their convictions. to give an adequate idea of the irkutsk station on a foggy and rainy autumn night, at the hour when the express arrives, is simply beyond possibility. and to describe the way of getting from the station to the town is even more so. to begin with, the railway station does not look like a station in other parts of the world at all. roads or streets cannot be seen, and a town, in our acceptation of the word, does not exist. the words seem to change and to lose their meanings there. if it had been light i should have tried to take some pictures of the desolation; but it is pitch dark, so i will confine myself for the moment to putting down a few notes--my first impressions. the train stops with a sudden jerk. the door of my compartment is torn open with violence, some brigand-looking men jump in, and as suddenly as they came disappear again, but alas! with all my luggage. how long it took to gather and regain it altogether, i do not remember; and the extent of my walks from one end of the long platforms to the other i cannot calculate. on the chilly platform of irkutsk station all ideas of time and space vanish completely. i think i should be seeking to the present hour if a martial-looking officer had not come to my help. his height is imposing, his gestures commanding, and his voice resounding. he uses all his enviable qualities at once, and all for the same purpose--to find my kit. he fights his way to achieve this by cutting through ground heavily barricaded by cases, sacks, travelling-bags, and furniture. he makes people stand up and clear out of his way, scolds and threatens all the porters and every mujik he comes across. and, strange as it seems to me, his efforts are crowned with success. he hands me over all my belongings! i thank him heartily for his kindness and express my sincere hope that, owing to his great strategical abilities, i may find him, if ever i return to siberia, promoted to the rank of general. at the same time i cannot omit remarking that the general civility and kindness which were shown to me, by employés and passengers alike, were most gratifying. everybody seemed to wish to help, to give information, and offer whatever they possessed. their manners, from the highest to the lowest, were irreproachable. i will go further, and say that on no railway have i ever met guards showing more attention and more good-nature. and much patience they require. the electric bells of the different compartments seemed to tinkle incessantly, as if the only occupation of some of the travellers was to ask what they already know, and to order what they do not require. whips crack, horses neigh, coachmen yell, travellers scream, porters quarrel. such is the scene which awaits me in front of the station. i secure one of the many small droshkies, of which there are hundreds, and all shaky and open like the public vehicles of sunny naples. the only difference is that instead of sunbeams there is sleet falling on us from above. my belongings are put on another droshky, skilfully fitted together like an elaborate mosaic. we start in a sea of mud--dark and liquid as a sauce--which covers everything like a shiny varnish. the depths beneath must be great, for sometimes my droshky is nearly submerged, and the lava-like stream floods our small vehicle. but it seems to be built for use on land or on water, for sometimes i have a sensation of floating in a canoe, rather than rolling along on wheels. we reach terra firma in the shape of a bridge formed of logs, nailed and tied together. the bridge is long, but at last, on coming to the end of it, the driver announces with pride, "we are at irkutsk." i cannot help asking, "where?" for i do not see any buildings or any sign of a town. it takes some time before i can distinguish in the depths of the night high palisades, looking very much like those surrounding soldiers' encampments in the middle ages. above the palisades a few roofs emerge, low and sloping, very much like a tent. but at a sharp turn a brilliant electric globe spreads its beams, like those of a lighthouse at sea, to lead the wanderer to a secure harbour. following its course, we land at the doorway of the famous hôtel du métropole. for famous it is! i shall certainly not forget it, and hope never to see it again, for i think it contains all that western bad taste and eastern filth combined can produce. along a passage carpeted with red brussels and mud a waiter, in evening dress, but apparently without linen, shows me to an apartment furnished with green plush, but devoid of bedding. i am told that travellers are expected to bring their own sheets and blankets. i have none, and after some rushing about i am provided with sheets which i prefer not to use, and would rather content myself for my night's rest with an easy chair and some travelling-rugs. there is, moreover, no washstand, for the queer apparatus in the corner, bearing, apparently as an ornament, only one basin about the size of a finger-bowl, cannot be so described. no hot water! and if you call for any they bring a few drops in a cream-jug. finally, there is no air either! the windows are nailed up all the year through. on trying to open one it nearly fell to pieces. so if people nowadays ask me what hotels in siberian towns are like, i am bound to say you have plush and gold, but no fresh air and no hot water! vi the siberian metropolis [illustration: irkutsk "as i walk down to the angara's banks i am short of adjectives" to face page 48] how shall i record all the tumultuous impressions of the first twenty-four hours passed in irkutsk? after the gloom of the night a brilliant morning broke forth, brilliant as it is only seen on these high plateaux. as i took my first glance round, everything seemed to swim in a blaze of light. the small log houses seemed to have grown into palaces. the palisades presented colours of hundreds of different shades. monuments and gilded domes seemed to have arisen out of the ground. all the gloomy picture of last night vanished altogether, dispersed by the light of the sun like the melting away of a nightmare. what a magician this celestial body is! painter, sculptor, and architect, he can construct and raise marvels out of nothing, and make us see and admire where all is only glamour. as i walk down to the angara's banks i am short of adjectives. language fails to describe the pureness of the atmosphere, the variety of the tints of the distant mists, and the whole scenery of the plain with its vibrating mirages. i think it is at the early hours of the morn and at sunset that one can best realize the charm of this strange country, understand the dreamy legends which were born on the soil, realize the soul of its people, and penetrate into its wondrous atmosphere, full of enigmas and mysteries. irkutsk is a large and important centre, the seat of the military and civil governors, of the catholic bishop, of the commander of the forces. there are high schools, many public institutions, and factories. irkutsk is a famous commercial town, and is one of the most prominent markets for international trade. the high street is an endless row of shops, full of goods made in germany, and some in america. i do not see much english merchandise; but, as i hear, english commercial interests are only represented in a few of the larger mines and building enterprises. the siberian national museum deserves special mention. it is a fine stone building, rich in all that relates to the origin, history, and folk-lore of siberia. a few hours passed in its halls give one a most extensive insight into the conditions of the different races and tribes which have peopled these regions for centuries. irkutsk from a social standpoint seems to offer some advantages too. government employés, officers, and others regard it as a special favour to get an appointment here. there is a great deal of entertainment, and in the centre of the town is a most pretentious building--the imperial opera house. life is expensive, and the population shows a great tendency to luxury, and even more, what one might call waste. money is spent easily and uselessly, as is generally the case in growing places and recent settlements. in this respect there is a slight resemblance between irkutsk and a western american ranch or an australian mining town; and in the afternoon, when everybody promenades on the wooden pavements, which run like bridges across and along the muddy streets, the inhabitants show exactly the same variety of origin and of social condition as in those towns beyond the seas. besides russian, i hear german spoken. poles are numerous too, and all the different baltic provinces have a fair number of representatives. nearly all the trade is in their hands. russians are not commercial people as a rule. and there is a large chinese colony, mostly occupied with the famous overland tea trade _via_ kiahta. they walk for hours and hours up and down all these endless pathways, and a great many sit, covered with furs, in front of their house doors to see the show. about eight o'clock everything becomes quiet; streets are deserted, doors are closed, shutters fastened, lights extinguished; and there are only the watchmen sauntering slowly from corner to corner, monotonously tapping their wooden rattles to let householders know that they are awake, and to give the robber at the other side of the street time to escape. it is worth while! i should, after all, recommend travellers to stop for a few days in some of the largest siberian towns, in spite of the rough hotels and the primitive ways; it gives such a definite idea of their buildings, inhabitants, and mode of living, as could never be procured from books. vii trans-baikalia i have arrived at the climax of the journey. we are crossing lake baikal. it is the most celebrated passage of the whole overland journey; the scenery is fine: an extensive sheet of water, brilliant like a mirror, surrounded by high mountains and majestic rocks; but i am inclined to repeat what i said before about hilly scenery: lake districts do not appeal to me. a sea in its greatness, and a marsh in its diverse variations of colour, are both perfect in their artistic values, only different in conception. the former imposing, like a picture of meesdag; the latter, hazy like a corot, each perfect in its style. but a lake, even the prettiest, does not rise above the effects of a chromo-lithograph. lake baikal, viewed from the north, loses its banks, and so has the advantage of appearing as an ocean. [illustration: lake baikal "there are some enormous rocks as if thrown in by the hand of a titan" to face page 52] the whole distance is flat, veiled in silver mists and pierced through here and there by the crystal peaks of the distant mountains. there are a few islands scattered about, some enormous rocks, as if thrown in by the hand of a titan. to each a legend is attached. each has a different fairytale. all of them, i am told, were inhabited by dwarfs and fairies, possessed of marvellous gifts, and belonging to a wondrous past. at least the mythical minds of these archaic people endowed each striking spot with a different tale, and there are many such, especially on the south-eastern shore, which displays a great variety of scenery, and this proves to be a serious hindrance to the completion of the railway track. the line around lake baikal is not completed yet, for there are several tunnels still to be bored and a great many rocks to be cut through; but it is, after all, the only portion of the track which offers any serious difficulty to the engineer. all the rest has been easy to accomplish, and, with the exception of building the great railway bridges, consisted mainly of simply laying the rails on level ground. but although it was not difficult to construct, it might have been better done. the rails are altogether too light, and after a few years of traffic working it is already under constant repair, and will have to be altered altogether very soon, as it is so defectively ballasted. at present the train is carried across the lake by a huge vessel built in newcastle. in winter they sometimes use an ice-breaker, which apparently works very slowly, for generally the railway provides, for passengers and goods, sledges on which to traverse the frozen waters. our boat is overcrowded. passengers of all nations and of all grades. besides russian officials, there are foreign tradesmen, a few germans, one american, and a dane, a detachment of soldiers guarding convicts, and a few settlers. and so i have an opportunity of watching the four leading classes of this new country. these are, indeed, the four different elements by which siberia is becoming populated. i am rather impressed by the perfect cordiality with which they share the common fate in their new home. the soldiers are cossacks, a kind of irregular troops, and enjoy perfect freedom. the government gives them a certain territory, where they go in for agriculture and raise cattle and horses, and at the same time are liable for some military service. they are fine men, excellent soldiers, and deserve their long-established fame for courage. the settlers are all of a different race, coming mostly from central and southern russia. they are indifferent-looking, miserably clad, poor folk, with sallow faces and sad eyes. whole families--fathers and mothers, grandparents and grandchildren--have all gone together to the far-away promised land to live and to die. the russian government is very anxious to settle agriculturists in these eastern siberian regions, for the land is as yet barely cultivated at all. farmers are very scarce, and the famous mines are also short of labourers. it seems that possibilities here are even greater than in western siberia, the only drawback being the enormous distance. yet the journey scarcely costs anything, as i mentioned before; the fare is merely a nominal sum. it is evident that russian railways can afford to lose; their deficits last year amounted to the sum of fourteen million roubles. but the main object of these state railways is not to make money--anyhow, not at present. they are designed to colonize this newly-acquired country, and settle slavs among the native mongolian and tartar tribes. and besides--and i think before and above all--there are the strategical interests to be considered. undoubtedly the siberian railway is a military one, and with all its junctions and crossings seems to have been planned with the view to forwarding troops and ammunition speedily. and even the often-discussed puzzle--why does the siberian railway so very frequently avoid entering the most important townships?--might be partly explained from a military standpoint. opinions differ as to whether the railway in its present state can prove entirely satisfactory for the conveyance of large army corps. at the same time, we must not forget that it is partly under construction still, and its final completion seems to be far in the future. the crossing of lake baikal takes between four and five hours. the passage is extremely rough, and squalls burst forth very unexpectedly. we arrived about sunset on the eastern shore, at a place called myssowa, where there are a few log houses scattered about, and a rough railway station; but in the dining-room there is a table laid out in a lavish style, and, like the smallest of them on the line, it does not lack its pride--a gilt centre-piece and five-armed candelabra. we do not start again until midnight, so i have time to go for a walk, though soon return from it, for it is very dreary. there are but few buildings, and i am afraid every one is a public-house, for myssowa, being the centre of a rich mining district, shows all the sad sides of the miners' life. the money they earn during a hard day's work is thrown away in the hours of the night. in the front of the station are a few dozen of them standing about; dismal and stolid-looking creatures, emerged from the slums of western towns and launched in eastern siberia. in these far-away regions, workmen are rather well paid, and that is the reason so many remain for some time in the course of their flight. it is snowing hard. the feathery flakes fly and skim like so many white-winged butterflies against the pale grey sky. it is bitterly cold, and the windows of my railway carriage are thickly frozen over, and when they clear there is not much to be seen. the high mountains have disappeared, and there is no majestic plain before us. the whole district is hilly, with here and there a river, and very scant vegetation. villages seem to be unknown, and the first place of any importance we stop at is petrovsk, a locality which owes its origin to its deep mines, enormous factories, and a large prison to furnish the workmen. what a gloomy site! never have i seen factories and forges more desolate, and never has smoke appeared heavier and blacker to me than that which i see puffing from the numberless chimneys. it is an inferno, whose horrors only the genius of a dante could describe. and if petrovsk had a city gate, its sole inscription could be "lasciate ogni speranza voi ch' entrate." and how many have entered this ghastly place! how many of the russian and polish nobles have been exiled here! nariskins, mouravievs, anenkoffs, volkonskys, troubetzkois--we find descendants of all. how many historical families have had their political aspirations stranded here! the miseries of omsk have been described by dostoievsky, but those of petrovsk will never be entirely known. many of the exiles have been followed by their brave wives, ladies of marvellous courage, leaving palaces to follow their husbands and to suffer voluntary exile. through the frozen lands of trans-baikalia we continue our way. i am told the country is very rich. there are over thirty mines in work at present, and there might be a great many more. where they have already started farming it has proved a great success, and some of the towns show signs of rising commercial activity; but i know not why this part of siberia misses altogether the great charm, in admiration of which i was lost a few days ago. the high plateau of the baskirs, the steppes of the kirghiz, and the dense forests of the kalmuks, all had a peculiar charm and atmosphere; but trans-baikalia, though undoubtedly possessing great economic possibilities, seems to have no beauty at all. the inhabitants are buriats, and nomads, like the others, but lack their sympathetic features, and seem so strange--so entirely different. their yellow, parchment-like skins and beady eyes lack all expression, or if they have any, it is so incomprehensible to us that we look at them as mere curiosities--as children belonging to another planet. they live in tents or in huts covered with a kind of felt prepared from horsehair and furnished with skins; and breed horses, of which they possess large studs of their own. men and women are famous riders, and live in saddles from the cradle to the grave. men and women wear very much the same kind of garments, heavy boots and low felt hats, and leave their long hair hanging in greasy tresses. they resemble the chinese very much, and even more so the tibetans and bhutanese, and profess the same religion too--for nearly all are buddhists. hundreds of lamas swarm all over the country, and there are several monasteries belonging to them. the government, which is generally hostile to any creed except the greek church, not only tolerates, but apparently supports their claims to a certain extent. russia seems of late to be taking a great interest in its buddhist subjects, of whom it possesses several hundred thousands. it even accords them every facility to make their great pilgrimages to the lama of lhassa, in mysterious tibet, and by this means gets into constant communication with the forbidden land. the last day of our journey is passed in the amur region; that enormous district, which was granted to russia without the drawing of a sword and without any cost, by a single stroke of the pen of count muraviev after the treaty of pekin in 1860. from chitta the line turns to the south-east, and we are proceeding to the so-called chinese frontier. at midnight we reach our destination, a settlement called manchury, lost in a corner of the desert of gobi. on the other side extends manchuria, which i am emphatically assured belongs to the yellow empire. from here the railway runs under a different title. instead of being the "russian state," it is called the "eastern chinese railway company." it has three main branches. one runs from siberia to harbin, the second from harbin to vladivostok, the third from harbin to port arthur. they unite the yellow with the black sea through moscow, and the pacific with the baltic through st. petersburg. what may have appeared to be a dream only a few years ago is a reality today. a saloon car containing a bedroom, study with verandah, servant's quarters, and a kitchen, which the company very kindly put at my disposal, and which is to serve as my home while getting as far as niu-chwang and port arthur, is now being attached to the new train, and while it is being got ready i have time to sum up recollections and arrange my papers. [illustration: the station of manchury "lost in a corner of the desert of gobi" to face page 60] there is more to note than i expected, for i found interest in every direction and in every respect. siberia is more than a country, it is a continent--i might even say a world of its own. it has its characteristics and special features; its own soil and its own folk; its own geography, ethnography, and climate. it is an unknown land altogether; new or old, as you like to call it. to understand it requires more instinct than erudition, more sympathy than analysis. the observer must have sentiment; and even so it may or may not appeal to him, and he may like it or not, yet he cannot fail to regard it as impressive and imposing. it is a land of nearly five million square miles, and it has eight organized provinces, of which each is larger than most of the western kingdoms. it can be maintained and developed from its unlimited resources, and guarded by an army amounting, if required, to millions. it is grand in every respect. it is watered by the largest streams of asia, and possesses the most extensive fresh-water lake of one hemisphere. it has a greater area of productive land than all europe put together; its forests are hardly measurable; its mountains tower high to the sky; its reputed monotony should rather be called vastness, for variety it does not lack, only it occurs at enormous intervals. the same distinctions prevail with regard to the inhabitants; they belong to various tribes and descend from different races. some belong to the tartar, some to the mongolian, some to the caucasian family. some are yellow, and some are white. to-day the rulers are the latter, but it is the home of the former. will the white remain the dominating race, or will it be overwhelmed by the yellow, or will it become amalgamated and swallowed up by the great majority? what an interesting problem, and how inexplicable! it is, indeed, hard to understand the nature of these people; to read their thoughts; to comprehend their lives; and to realize their ideals. once mighty, now in decay; leading a subordinate, unorganized existence, lacking energy, unfit for higher aspirations. and yet physically all these nomads are fine creatures, possessing all the power of their forefathers of the time of genghis khan. how long will it take them to awaken? how long will it require to realize and acquire all the advantages of western civilization and the elevating power of christianity? these are questions which can only be answered by the history of the future. the best forecast, i am afraid, will fall short of what will prove to be the reality. i fear there may yet be many wars, and i hope peace too, and conferences and treaties; but racial struggles cannot be settled on battle-fields or in houses of parliament. the destiny of mankind has a higher tribunal. whatever may be the future of the far east, the siberian railway will have undoubtedly a certain share, if not by altering, certainly by hastening its course. it was a mighty step forward. the step of a colossus! iii manchuria under russian rule am i on chinese territory? does manchuria really belong to the yellow empire? since i crossed the russian frontier several days ago there has not been the slightest change that i could see. everything has remained russian. our train was in charge of muscovite soldiers, the railway officials at the stopping places were russian officers, the barracks around were inhabited by cossacks. the line was guarded by russian troops, and if the latest reports could be trusted, public safety seemed far from secured. hardly a day passed without atrocities of some kind being reported, and skirmishes between manchu marauders and russian scouts were of frequent occurrence. the railway itself was constantly threatened, the banks destroyed, and the rails torn up; so even our train was provided with a military escort to defend it in case of necessity. the "eastern chinese railway company," so called in order that there might be something chinese at all events about the name, is an exclusively russian enterprise, and no one disputes its entirely strategic object, which is to connect vladivostok and port arthur with moscow and st. petersburg. this became very evident to me during my journey. the line is constructed by russian troops and military engineers under the direction of officers. it is still far from complete, and i was therefore the better able to watch the progress of this interesting undertaking. the work is carried on at great speed--thousands of coolies are employed upon it under the supervision of cossacks. the sand is moved in wheelbarrows, sleepers are laid and rails fixed, all at one and the same time, by different gangs of workmen. the system of construction is the same as that so successfully adopted by general annenkoff for the trans-caspian railway. i had plenty of time to give my full attention to it, for there was nothing else to see. we were crossing the north-eastern border of the gobi desert, and if ever desert was rightly so named, it is this one. the sahara has at least the charm of the tropics, the arabian desert has the beauty of a cloudless sky, the desert of bikanir possesses the golden hues of the indian sun; but the gobi desert has nothing to commend it; it is absolutely desolate. there is neither colour nor charm, but a leaden sky hangs over an endless expanse of grey dust--or rather, ashes--which, when whirled about in the wind, obscures heaven and earth and covers everything as with a shroud. not a village was in sight, not even a solitary dwelling. the only living creatures in this desolate region seemed to be the russian troops and the legions of coolies working under their orders. before going any further i must explain that i was travelling by goods train. the line, as already said, was not finished, the rails hardly laid, and there were no proper stations; guards and officials being accommodated in temporary huts and encampments. there was no regular tariff and no tickets were issued. trains of trucks with materials for construction plied between the main junctions, and these same trains also conveyed the workmen and the persons connected with the undertaking, to their various destinations. it was necessary to get a special permission from the authorities to travel by this route. of course i was prepared to rough it, and the directors had not disguised from me the fact that as yet no arrangements had been made for the convenience of passengers. they could not even promise that i should reach port arthur without delay, for some of the temporary bridges had been destroyed by the autumn rains, and the railway banks in various parts were washed away by the floods. but a special car was placed at my disposal for the whole journey across manchuria, and this semi-saloon car became my domicile for several weeks. to give some idea of my movable house, i may say that although the exterior was extremely simple, the interior was comfortable enough. it consisted of a bedroom, a study, a passage, a lavatory, and a small balcony; besides these, there were a kitchen and sleeping accommodation for my servant. the balcony was my favourite resort: many a peaceful hour have i spent there in reading or writing, and looking out upon that dismal landscape unfolding itself in its monstrous immensity. sometimes my home was shunted and i was left for days to amuse myself in the vicinity of some place of interest. then it would be hooked on again behind trucks carrying bricks, iron, and all kinds of machinery. my carriage was my home, my stronghold. and indeed it was not unlike a fortified castle when it stood motionless near one of the stations, with sentries and watches patrolling round or halting in the neighbouring encampment. i was never quite sure whether they regarded me as a convict or whether they kept a kindly watch over me. along the route various stations were in process of building, some already roofed. unpretentious structures they were, never more than one storey high, and roofed with black tiles. outwardly they resemble the chinese houses, and the beams are curved in the "ting" style. although unfinished, they impress one as if encumbered with a weary past, rather than as having a bright future in store. everything, in fact, has a doleful aspect here. there are no gardens and no cultivation of any kind worth mentioning. the station yards are swamps, or pools of mud. here and there an attempt has been made to improve matters, and stones or planks are laid down at intervals to assist the traveller in crossing. refreshment rooms are liberally provided on the trans-siberian line, and occasionally they even have some pretence to luxury; but in manchuria they are of the most primitive description, scarcely provided with the barest necessities. a wooden table and a rough bench are the usual accommodation, and the cabbage soup or the national _kasha_ made of buck-wheat is served by an amateur cook with all the air of a novice in the profession. at the junctions, where trade is somewhat brisker, one is able to get _piroshki_, which means, as it is, one of the favourite russian dishes. primitive as the refreshment places are--a bare tent sometimes serving the double purpose of kitchen and dining-room, with an old kerosene-oil case for table and dresser--they are always much frequented. on the same principle as that adopted for the construction of the railway, the russian "chefs" make the chinese coolies do all the work. travelling through manchuria in this leisurely manner, i had plenty of time to obtain a thorough acquaintance with its different regions. from a geographical point of view the northern portion consists of a barren tableland; towards the south it becomes wooded, and in the vicinity of the towns the ground is fairly well cultivated. [illustration: tsi-tsi-kar "the capital of northern manchuria is tsi-tsi-kar" to face page 68] the capital of northern manchuria is tsi-tsi-kar. the governor of the province resides there, and it is the centre of that part of the country. but the town itself is very primitive, and far behind the other two chief towns, kirin and mukden. the population is a mixture of manchus, chinese, and buriats, who do a small trade in raw materials, more especially in skins of all sorts. from a very early date caravans have made this place one of their stopping stations on their way from the southern provinces to the districts north of the amur. the people still use the same primitive carts as in those remote times, sometimes drawn by mongolian ponies--i have seen as many as sixteen or eighteen to one cart--more often by oxen. the peculiar way in which the harness was fixed always amused me: it seemed an inextricable confusion of straps and cords. how do they manage it? it is a problem which only chinese patience can solve. i had equally good opportunities of studying the local dress and the customs of the natives. in this vast, barren region, where no european had ever penetrated before the construction of the railway, everything is still in its primitive state. the people live partly by agriculture, such as it is, and partly by fishing. the houses are extremely poor; we should call them hovels, built of bricks or dried mud. there they live, together with their cattle and other domestic animals. like all asiatics, they are devoted to horse-breeding, and i visited several large _haras_. flocks and herds abound, but the animal one meets with most frequently is the pig; but the pigs of this region are very different from ours. they are usually black, with long, thin tails, looking rather like boars. numbers of them are to be seen in every yard, rooting up the ground and giving the manchu homestead about as untidy and dirty an appearance as is possible to conceive. of poultry there is no lack either. geese, ducks, and fowls share the family abode. the entrance to every house is guarded by half-savage dogs, like so many wolves, and certainly not less ferocious. more than once i was nearly devoured by them, and as it is not advisable to fight them i always took care to have my pockets full of biscuits. a manchu home, in short, has the appearance of a cattle show, or a noah's ark, and the life lived is unquestionably antediluvian. speaking generally, the cultural standard of the manchus is much below the average chinese level. the people look more barbarous to begin with, their occupations are all of a rough nature, and the old confucian doctrines have never penetrated to them. they have always led a merely animal rather than an intellectual life, an existence of strife rather than of thought, and to this day the imperial army consists almost exclusively of manchu soldiers. our progress was very slow. for many days we travelled on leisurely, with occasional stoppages long enough to enable me to make excursions into the interior. i tried every means of conveyance--bullock-carts, mongol ponies, cossack horses. it was tiring work, but gave me extraordinary opportunities of making myself familiar with the country and its inhabitants. at last i reached kharbin, a famous town, being the junction where the three railways of manchuria meet, viz. the vladivostok, the port arthur, and the siberian lines. [illustration: kharbin "of all the places i have visited during this long journey, kharbin seems to me the dreariest" to face page 70] of all the places i have visited during this long journey, kharbin seems to me the dreariest, the most desolate. a dull, cold autumn afternoon greeted me on my arrival. the rain fell in torrents; not only did the water pour down from the skies, but it oozed up from the ground as well. the river had overflowed, and all the land was inundated. half the place stood under water. the railway station looked like a little island in the midst of a marsh. together with the few passengers for vladivostok i was carried on men's shoulders into the waiting-room, a mere barn, where we found a mixed crowd of mujiks and cossacks with their luggage, which consisted of bedding, cooking utensils, packages and bundles of all sorts and sizes, tied together, piled around them. the same place also served as refreshment room, and at one end of it about a dozen officers were dining at a big table. a pretentious gilded chandelier--ironically reminding one of western luxury--formed the centre-piece. but i had no time to admire its beauty or even to sit down to my meal, although i was nearly famished. the station-master came bustling up to me with a very disconsolate countenance and informed me that he had received a telegram intimating that a bridge near liaoyang had been carried away by the floods, and that in consequence of the defective state of the roads it was impossible to say when the next train would start. it would be difficult to describe my consternation on hearing this depressing announcement, for i fully realized the awfulness of my position should i be compelled to make a prolonged stay in this place. the roads were so bad that excursions would be out of the question, and i should have to remain a prisoner in my carriage until the road was open again. meanwhile, i gladly accepted the offer of a seat in a _tarantass_ to drive round the town. kharbin is of interest from a modern point of view because it is one of the headquarters of the russians in manchuria. the town has sprung up within recent years, about the time of the chino-japanese war. it consists of barracks and military quarters, ammunition stores, railroad factories, and a few private houses for the families of officers, railway officials, and employés. it has no pretence to beauty, and in the flooded condition in which i saw it, its gloomy buildings, streaming with rain, looked deplorable. we came past some shops where tinned meats, vegetables, and other provisions are sold. there is also a hotel, which i prefer not to describe. i was told that the place even boasts a café and music-hall, the only place of poor amusement for the officers and their wives in garrison there. kharbin is supposed to have about fifteen thousand inhabitants, but where were they? were they dead, asleep, or hiding? i could not see a single living being. could this be altogether accounted for by the weather, even allowing that the water in the streets rose to the knees of the horses, and that the wheels of our vehicle were submerged to the axle? as we drove along my amiable guide explained to me that kharbin is a military place, destined to see much active service in the event of a war, because, being situated on the junction of three great railway lines, it would be the centre for the mobilization and concentration of the troops. it would probably become the headquarters of the intendant and of the ammunition service. hospitals, too, would be erected and the red cross would have a large staff there. i listened with interest to all these conjectures and plans for the future. it was night when we returned to the station, where an agreeable surprise awaited me. i was told that a goods train with a convoy of coolies and troops to repair the line which had been destroyed, would be ready to start a little after midnight. could my carriage be attached to it? i inquired. at first it seemed doubtful. no one appeared to know how far we could get, and there was even some question as to whether the road would bear the weight of the train. however, anything, no matter what, would be better than kharbin, i thought; even the uncertainty of the future was preferable to the certainty of the present. about three o'clock in the morning, after an interminable night of bustling, coming and going of troops, rushing about of coolies, shunting and whistling of engines, we at last began to move. the train presented a curious appearance. it consisted chiefly of open trucks and a few wagons in which the soldiers lay huddled together, with their winter coats tucked under their heads for pillows, while hundreds of coolies were packed like cattle in the open carriages. at first we passed slowly through a vast, partially submerged plain. often the road was entirely under water, and in various places so badly damaged that we had to proceed with the greatest possible caution. more than once the coolies had to turn out with pickaxe, shovel, and building material to repair the line, under the strict supervision of the officers of the railway service. i availed myself of the frequent stoppages and our altogether casual progress to study the country. when at last we reached the large province of central manchuria there was a notable change in the geographical aspect. the ground became hilly and wooded. we followed several winding valleys, irrigated by tortuous watercourses, and surrounded by mountain ridges. in some parts it was decidedly pretty. the soil is fertile, and nature has endowed it with many precious gifts. the mountain slopes are rich in minerals and the woods abound with game. the mineral wealth of manchuria is as yet unexplored, and there are comparatively few gold, silver, and copper mines in process of exploitation. some foreign syndicates have been formed, more especially in the south, and these have proved successful, but since the russian occupation of the railway district they have been hampered by all sorts of difficulties, and except in the free port of niu-chwang, the introduction of foreign capital has been stopped. in actual size central manchuria is considerably smaller than the northern district of tsi-tsi-kar--also known as halung-kiang--but the population of the north is only about one million, while central manchuria contains twice as many inhabitants. the seat of government for this latter district is at kirin, a very ancient town with quaint houses built in the old chinese style, yamens with shining roofs, temples and pagodas, all very picturesque. kirin itself is famous for the battlemented wall which, with its heavy ramparts and pagoda-like towers, is very imposing. but the chief attraction of this provincial capital is the surrounding scenery. valleys and mountains, dark forests and distant blue mountain peaks, form a most charming picture. it is indeed a glorious region, and a joy both to the sportsman and to the artist. the fishing in the mountain streams is excellent, and there are still numbers of leopards, bears, wolves, a certain kind of deer, foxes, and hares in the forests. for the artist the opportunities here are not less ample; pretty woodland scenery, attractive bits of street corners, and town scenery, and above all the historical monuments, the celebrated royal tombs, and the commemorative tablets on the river banks, or hidden in the sacred groves; all these are excellent subjects for sketches. the great difficulty at the present moment is how to reach these beautiful regions. there are, so far, only a very few stations in process of building on this route, and it must be remembered that even these, though called by the names of the various places, are often twenty or thirty miles distant from the towns they represent, and that there are scarcely any means of conveyance, and that in many cases there is not even a road! it would seem as if the eastern chinese railway scrupulously avoided all inhabited regions, and certainly in its present condition, and as long as there are no branch lines, it is useless for all purposes of ordinary traffic or commercial enterprise. the russian officers who have projected it appear to have had only one object in view, to connect in the most direct manner vladivostok and port arthur with the siberian line, for the sole purpose of transporting troops in case of need with the least possible delay. [illustration: a street in kharbin "the water in the streets rose to the knees of the horses" to face page 76] all this great work has been done quietly, unostentatiously, and without arousing any ill-feeling among the natives. at the present moment one may travel for a whole day without catching sight of anything more conspicuous than railway buildings, barracks, and encampments with russian soldiers lining the entire length of the route. after several days' travelling we emerged into cultivated plains, rich pasture land intersected by patches of indian corn, beans, etc. crops of all kinds presented themselves before our eyes. the country no longer showed the barren desolation of the gobi desert, nor the romantic wildness of central manchuria. it was peopled! there were men working in the fields, and i could see houses and little farms, poor and miserable enough it is true, but at least indicative of human life. from mukden station to mukden town it was dawn when i looked out of my carriage window--a dull grey dawn. the sky was covered with leaden clouds and the rain came down in torrents. the river banks were entirely submerged, and the train stood still in a sea of mud. the scene of general deluge vividly recalled my ideas of the flood, and it was like stepping out of the ark when i alighted from my carriage. close by i saw a modest structure, one storey high, more like a peasant's hut than anything else, and i could scarcely believe that this was the station intended for mukden, the capital of manchuria. to my consternation i learnt that the train would go no farther that day. it might go on to-morrow or perhaps in a week's time. there was plenty of time therefore to explore mukden, although the town was over twenty miles away. but how was i to get there? there was no road to be seen and no vehicle anywhere about. i made inquiries from the station-master, a russian officer, with a long beard and resplendent with gold lace. he advised me to send my interpreter to one of the neighbouring farms, where i might possibly obtain a chinese cart, a driver, and a couple of mules, to convey me to mukden in as short a time as the state of the roads would permit. i followed this advice. the courier wasted the greater part of the day in arguing with the farmers, while i was left in my carriage at the mercy of the hurricane, and occupied the time in writing down my unpleasant impressions, wind and rain supplying the accompaniment of music. towards the close of the afternoon my faithful sancho returned, and pointed to a kind of cabriolet on two wheels with three mules harnessed in tandem fashion, and driven by a crooked little chinaman. i cannot deny that the effect was extremely picturesque. the car was lacquered yellow, the hood covered with blue; the mules were grey, and the little driver was sheltered by a huge umbrella of gold-coloured oil-cloth. but although picturesque, it was far from comfortable. the vehicle had no springs and no seat; in fact, it consisted simply of a wooden board about two and a half feet square, on which one had to sit cross-legged like a turk or a tailor. if the occupant happens to be neither the one nor the other, he suffers agonies before five minutes have passed. the only attempt at comfort was a small calico rug at the bottom of the cart, but this was a poor protection against the extremely hard wood of manchuria. i hesitated a moment before venturing to enter this uncomfortable conveyance, and pictured vividly to myself the horrors of a night's journey in it. but i had promised to visit, if possible, the site of our mission station, which had been pillaged and burned in the last boxer insurrection, and which had been the scene of so much noble martyrdom. so after all i made up my mind to go. little li-hu cracked his long whip, which, by the by, looked more like a fishing rod than a whip. and indeed, i might have amused myself with some angling on the way, for the mules were up to their fetlocks in chocolate-coloured liquid mud. the first sight which attracted my attention on the road was a one-storeyed building, used as barracks and occupied by cossacks. i learnt that it served as an encampment for the protection of the railway station. then followed a long stretch of road without anything remarkable to be seen. [illustration: from mukden flats on to the town after a water-colour drawing by the author "then followed a long stretch of road without anything remarkable to be seen" to face page 80] there were fields on both sides of the way, but they could not be seen because all the land was entirely submerged as in egypt at the rising of the nile. i presumed that we were on a road, for we advanced between two rows of irregularly planted trees; i also concluded that at one time this road had been paved, perhaps centuries ago, but it was decidedly bumpy now. these speculations were presently confirmed when we arrived at a bridge delicately arching a creek. it was a very fine structure, carved in chinese fashion, and of great architectural beauty. i left my carriage to examine it more closely, and when i had scraped off some of the mud with which it was encrusted, i found that it was entirely built of white marble. after crossing the river the road became still worse. i was jolted up and down, thrown from side to side, my head was knocked against the wooden frame of the hood, and after a mile or so of this torture i could bear it no longer and decided to try the back of one of the mules. riding without a saddle on the back of a thin manchu mule cannot be said to be a comfortable mode of travelling, and my agonies are better imagined than described. here was i, in an unknown country, surrounded by a desert which seemed more desolate than ever in its flooded condition, the rain coming down as if all the sluices of heaven had been opened, while the tiny driver at whose mercy i was, might, for all i knew, be a cut-throat. my vocabulary was as yet limited to two words, _how-di_ and _poo-how_. perhaps they are written quite differently, but this is how they sound. the former stands for everything that is good, pretty, pleasant (i have never had occasion to use it); the other expresses the reverse, and i was quite tired of saying it, because it never proved to be of the slightest effect. we encountered no one on the road, but passed one little vehicle like mine, in which i counted at least ten visible occupants. four were seated on the shafts, some on the mules, and the others outside on the hood. i could not see how many there were inside. all the outside passengers had large umbrellas of oil-cloth, the same as my driver, and they looked like big sunflowers. it was quite cheering to see those people so perfectly happy, laughing and joking under such wretched conditions. their stoicism gave me relief, and i shook the water from my dripping clothes and felt a little better too. but as night approached and the desolation became more oppressive, my self-confidence fell from hour to hour. darkness magnified all the surroundings, and gave them a fantastic aspect. the lights in the distant farm-houses looked like will-o'-the-wisps; the trees became phantoms, and the barking of the dogs sounded like the roar of the dragons, which, as every one knows, are natives of the yellow empire. all the fairy stories of my childhood came back to my memory, and assumed a shape in the reality of my surroundings. i must add, too, that what i had read lately about manchuria was not encouraging. the country, i knew, was still in a state of agitation and suppressed revolt. gangs of bandits traversed the country in all directions, burning farmsteads, pillaging villages, murdering travellers. skirmishes often took place between them and the cossacks, and more than once during my journey i heard the firing of shots. the most dreaded of all these ruffians are the chunchuses; they are formed into more or less organized bodies, like the bandits of ancient italy, and they possess as much influence as the mafia of sicily. it was getting late and we had travelled for many hours without seeing any trace of houses. i could ask no questions, because i could only say those two words, _poo-how_ and _how-di_. even if li-hu had been of a communicative turn of mind i should not have understood his explanations, so we continued our lugubrious ride in perfect silence, i perched on the back of a mule, with the shafts of the cart for stirrups, while li-hu had the carriage all to himself. he wriggled about like a serpent and finally sought consolation for the bitter reality of the present in the happy dreams of the past. at last the will-o'-the-wisps drew nearer, the phantoms took the form of ordinary trees, and the roars of the dragons resolved themselves into the barking of dogs. i scarcely dared to believe that i had reached my destination, lest i should be disappointed. li-hu was sound asleep, but the mules made straight for a dismal-looking building, and stopped as by instinct in front of a conspicuous signboard. by the same instinct, i suppose, li-hu awoke and i asked eagerly, "mukden? mukden?" but evidently i was wrong, for he emphatically shook his head. after a while the innkeeper appeared on the threshold and looked even more forbidding than the house itself, through the open doors of which escaped thick clouds of opium-smoke. i should have preferred to remain on the back of my mule, as there was no possibility of stretching my legs because of the mud, but they were already unharnessing my beast, so i had no choice, and was obliged to enter the house. the place was lugubrious in the extreme. it looked like a witch's cave, and all things combined to complete this impression. there was the cauldron hanging on a chain over the fire, while enormous logs of wood diffused a sulphurous flame in the light of which the inmates of the place looked truly terrible. at least a dozen men were crouching on the floor, and several others lay asleep on the kang or heated earthen bench which ran all along the dwelling. they were smoking opium in small bronze pipes. at my entrance most of them roused themselves from their stupor, and their small eyes expressed astonishment, united with curiosity, mistrust, and hatred. i could detect all the hostility of the east against the west in that look. the ill-will of the yellow race towards "the white devils" manifested itself in all its bitterness and force. i must confess that i did not feel quite at my ease in this uncanny company, and it was only the deep interest which i felt in these people, in the den and its surroundings, the novelty of the situation and my passionate interest in human nature, which helped me through the ordeal. what was going to happen? would they remain passive, or were they going to attack me? they were interrogating li-hu. it was like a play to watch the proceedings. without understanding the language, it was easy enough to follow the drift of the argument. "who is it? where is he going? what has he got?" from the expression of li-hu's face and his hesitation in answering, i gathered that the information he had to give concerning his charge was not satisfactory, but i also noted with interest how cleverly he concocted a story to his own advantage. evidently the shrewd chinaman had in his mind two strong points in my favour. in the first place i had not yet paid him, and in the second place i had been entrusted to his care by the station-master, by whom he was known. i also detected that he did not want to rouse the animosity of the other men, consequently he never mentioned my private car, probably also by the advice of the station-master, and from the expression of his face and the manner in which he turned out his pockets, he was clearly representing me as a poor missionary who was going to mukden to fetch his pay at the bank, and whom it would not be worth while to kidnap on his way there. the minutes dragged on like so many hours; the night seemed endless. finally, to pass the time, i began to draw with some coloured chalks. would that interest them? i wondered. i could not be sure at first, but the ruffians slowly gathered round me and i never had more complacent spectators. those men who, a few minutes ago, would have taken my life, or at least my purse, suddenly became quite friendly. like the lyre of orpheus, my pictures did wonders, soothing the savage instincts and softening the passions of these brigands. it was the greatest triumph my modest crayons ever won for me. at last there was a general stir. li-hu prepared his cart, and we started once more. it was still dark, but the rain had ceased and the cold rays of the moon from time to time broke through the parting clouds. by means of these occasional flashes of light i discerned in the distance, silhouetted against the horizon, the dark outlines of a pagoda. surely that was the point we were making for. we had long since left the so-called main road, and were jolting and jerking along by fields of turnips and indian corn. the shocks were perhaps not quite so rough as before, on the half-paved highroad, but their violence was yet amazing. it was daybreak when we arrived before the principal gate of mukden, and after the night of darkness and peril the glories of the city seemed enhanced. the sky was cloudless and intensely blue, as if enamelled in cobalt on a golden ground. the richly sculptured fronts of the houses shone with truly oriental splendour. it was the early hour of the morn. people poured out of the city gates to start their daily tasks in the fields and farms. every one wore bright-coloured garments, and looked happy and cheerful. everything breathed contentment: the effect was charming. it was the victory of light over darkness. the sun, like a great magician, had waved his wand, touched and dispersed clouds and gloom, and thrown, so it would seem, a veil of oblivion over the sadness and misery of the past night, to give courage and hope to begin another day. iv the capital of manchuria my surprise on first beholding the famous city of mukden was as complete as it was agreeable. the scene before me was simply delightful. at first i could not distinguish anything clearly, neither lines nor forms. i was dazzled by the intensity of colour and light. the façade of every house was ornamented with strange carvings and mouldings; never before had i seen such fantastic prodigality of human imagination. all the lines curve upward, and every house resembles a pagoda on a small scale. so many motives, so many different colours; red, yellow, green, blue, in endless profusion, the effect being increased by rich gilding. in front of the houses are shops or booths, where are exposed--generally in the open--goods and merchandise of all kinds, arranged in fanciful pyramids in accordance with oriental caprice. embroideries, rich silks, artificial flowers, fans, and umbrellas, anything, in fact, to tempt the local taste or satisfy the daily demands. the displays of porcelain are particularly attractive, also the shows of silver and brass ware. most fascinating are the stalls of the bric-à-brac dealers with their fine lacquer-work, fluted vases of priceless value, old porcelains, cloisonné boxes, and artistically designed snuff-bottles.[b] [b] the chinese do not use boxes, but snuff-bottles of great value. before every booth a tall mast or pole is dressed, from which floats a flag as signboard, and both are elaborately inscribed with advertisements of wares sold inside the shop. the bootmakers' insignia are particularly artistic and only surpassed in splendour by the rich festoons of gold which mark the pawnbrokers' shops. the main thoroughfare, with its endless variety of cabalistic design and rich colouring, is like an oriental bazaar or the gorgeous scenery of a theatre. but what struck me most was the enormous vitality and activity of this marvellous city. it was like watching an ants' nest to see this surging tide of human beings incessantly flooding the squares and streets. men and women, young and old, of all ranks and all nationalities, push and press past one another. some are carried in beautiful chairs, others content themselves with a modest kind of wheelbarrow, in which six or seven persons can be accommodated on a narrow board, and which is pushed along by a famished-looking coolie. these wheelbarrows answer the purpose of omnibuses in the manchu capital, and they take a person from one end of the city to the other for about a quarter of a halfpenny. "rickshaws" have recently come into fashion; they are a great improvement on the old means of conveyance, for instead of being pushed they are pulled along. all true manchus, however, prefer riding on horseback to any other mode of locomotion. whatever room is left in the street is taken up by pedestrians, labourers carrying enormous loads, and coolies going about their daily business. it is an impressive sight, and once more i came to the conclusion that the intrinsic character of a place is not expressed in the arrangement of its streets, or in the height and style of its buildings, but in the general manifestation of its activity. while the eye takes in all these various details, the ear need not be idle. the air is full of sound. strains of music proceeding from the tea-houses, costermongers' cries, shrieks of quarrelsome children, and high-pitched voices in admonition; shouting and noise of all sorts and in endless variety are heard. at every step there is a fresh surprise. fortunately, so far, no guide-books have been written to describe the attractions of the manchu capital, and no cumbersome descriptions spoil the effect of its genuine charms. to form an idea of the plan of the city, imagine an oblong chess-board. like all chinese towns, it is regular in the principal lines. there are two main streets in the form of a cross, intersected by innumerable narrow lanes, and in the middle of the town, where the two chief thoroughfares cross, stands a high tower from the top of which a drum and a gong announce the beginning and the close of the day. also from this high vantage ground the alarm is given in case of danger, and a detachment of soldiers, stationed in a sort of pigeon-holes, spend the hours of their watch in peaceful slumber. it would be difficult to enumerate all the places of interest which mukden contains, for everything is interesting to the western mind, even to the smallest cottage with its curiously shaped roof and quaint style. and the interest lies not only in their material conception or in their exterior, but also in their inner qualities, and especially in the fact that they give expression to the mental and artistic ideas of the nation. as has already been said, it is at first the general effect, the picturesqueness, and the novelty, which strike one as so charming. some of the houses are very dilapidated, the walls lean over, and the roofs are covered with a tangled growth of moss and grass. but all this makes them the more attractive from an artistic point of view. among the most interesting public edifices are the yamens belonging to the government, and occupied by the governor and some others of the mandarins of high degree; one or two lama monasteries; the large buildings where the russian consul and the commander-in-chief reside; and last, but not least, the building occupied by the famous russo-chinese bank and its agents. naturally the imperial palace is a place of great interest. with its enclosure of walls it forms a city within the city. it is divided into various courts, and consists of a great many separate structures, detached houses, halls, and pavilions. taken separately these are not of great importance, but the whole effect is very striking. the colonnades, beams, and brackets are of carved wood, richly painted and gilded. all the woodwork is painted dark purple, and the roofs, like those of all edifices connected with the imperial family, or dedicated to confucius, are covered with yellow tiles. the greater part of the palace is now occupied by russian troops. near the palace gate is a low building in which a whole detachment of soldiers is quartered, and the open court is lined with cannon. it was only on my showing them a special permission from the commander that the sentries allowed me to pass. the interior of the palace is in a sad state of ruin. since the imperial family departed for pekin, it has never been inhabited, and the few art treasures still remaining are carelessly scattered about the place. there are some valuable panels, some precious jades, and exquisite porcelains, but the greater portion of them disappeared after the last war. some say that these treasures have been stolen by the boxers, but according to another version the thieves must be looked for elsewhere. i was told that the very rare collection of old manuscripts and official documents is now quietly reposing among the archives at st. petersburg to be protected from destruction. my eyes wandered from the reception-halls to the vestibules, from the terraces to the gardens. it was all so original, so quaint. but the thing which specially strikes the visitor is the incongruity of transforming this sacred cradle of the master minds of the celestial empire into a cossack encampment. as i passed out through the principal entrance, a muscovite warrior stood on guard by the dragon's door, and his white blouse contrasted strangely with the heavy bulk of the palace. as the day advanced, the crowds in the city increased. russian soldiers paraded the streets and patrolled the ramparts in small detachments. i saw officers on frisky ponies and ladies with their families going about in the national _troïkas_. it is especially noteworthy that these russian people not only feel perfectly at home among the manchus, but that the conquered people associate on the most friendly terms with their conquerors in the taverns and inns. they sit amicably side by side and appear to be the best of friends. it is true that many of the enemies were born on the same soil; they are practically semi-asiatics themselves; often have a common origin, and belong to the same race; above all, live the same primitive and uncultivated life. the great difference which separates the european, whether of the anglo-saxon or the latin race, from the mongol and the tartar, does not exist here. as soon as a fight is concluded, they settle down to their ordinary life; the greatest cruelties committed on either side are soon forgotten. hatred may lurk in their innermost minds, but outwardly they live in peace together. they have the same tastes, the same amusements, and agree particularly on the question of frugality. contempt of comfort, indifference to refinement, and a very rudimentary degree of culture, are common to both of them. one thing which even more prevents any feeling of coldness arising between them is that, far from trying to transform and educate the conquered nation, the conquerors often stoop to the low level of the subjugated people. with the exception of the railway i am not aware that any attempts have been made to civilize the manchus. commerce is not encouraged and international traffic does not exist, because all the towns have thus far been closed to foreigners. the russian government is even taking steps to get into its own hands the english and american mining operations which are being financed by some new loans. in spiritual matters the same restrictions prevail, and the difficulties which are put in the way of the missionary work increase from day to day. in local government a semblance of the old forms is preserved. manchuria is divided into three administrations, tsi-tsi-kar, kirin, and mukden. each province has a governor, and all three are under the authority of a viceroy or mandarin of the highest rank, who resides at mukden. the official yamen, and the staff of dignitaries of various degrees, are here exactly what they are everywhere else. they all appear extremely busy, writing extraordinary cabalistic signs on sheets of rice-paper. the small details of local affairs keep them occupied all day; probably they know nothing of matters of serious importance, but they seem admirably suited to fill a post which involves a minimum of responsibility and brings with it a good substantial salary. there appears to be a perfect _entente cordiale_ between the manchu mandarins and the russian generals, and if perchance a difference of opinion should occur, the difficulty is generally smoothed over by the irresistible influence and the mysterious power of the russo-chinese bank. the important event of my first day was the official reception given by the governor. i was carried to the palace in a chair, followed by an interpreter and my little major-domo. the canopy of the chair was covered with green silk, and four stalwart fellows carried me through the narrow, tortuous streets. the shaking was terrible, for where the pavement should have been there were big holes filled with liquid mud. i could forgive my bearers for their rough handling of my chair, but it was difficult not to resent being bumped on to the ground every time they changed shoulders, which they did without slackening their pace. it was not a great height to fall from, but the sensation was decidedly unpleasant. it was like a nightmare; the time occupied by the fall seemed interminable, and on reaching the ground i felt like being hurled to the bottom of a precipice. at last we came to the principal entrance of the palace, at least what i supposed to be the principal entrance, judging from a group of queerly attired creatures, who presented arms--and such arms! it was an extraordinary collection, reminding me of the get-up of some old chinese play. they were fierce-looking warriors, carrying halberds, javelins, and sickles on long poles, glittering and sparkling in the midday sun. as seen from the outside, the palace is a poor structure. the massive wall which flanks the front gate is decorated with pictures of dragons to scare away, as i was told, evil spirits and "the white devils." the first court i came to was not much more attractive. it seemed, in fact, no better than a stable yard. there were a few horses tied to their stalls and some shelters for the soldiers and servants. i had to cross several courts before i arrived at the court of honour, which was square like the others, and had halls on each side. it was beautifully decorated with flowers and shrubs. there were chrysanthemums, and dwarf orange, peach, and pear trees, especially cultivated for the purpose of ornamentation. the effect produced was exquisite, and though the surroundings are all more or less in a state of decadence, that inner court is a picturesque specimen of chinese domestic architecture. but i had no time to study it in detail, for the mandarin stood there in the centre, surrounded by his court. he was in a robe of dark blue silk, magnificently embroidered, and his suite was no less gorgeously attired. when i appeared upon the threshold of the vestibule we exchanged profound bows, and repeated this salutation until we met half way. then we shook hands in western fashion, no easy task, considering that my host's finger-nails were at least two inches long. the customary introductions over, he led the way to his private apartments. the first room was entirely chinese, and contained some exquisitely carved armchairs. the effect of the second room was spoiled by two easy chairs of vienna manufacture, a hideous french clock, and a tablecloth, probably of manchester make. the preliminary compliments once exchanged--a formidable business here--his excellency asked me some dozen questions which in the west would be considered most indiscreet, but are obligatory in the east. then he conducted me to the dining-hall, where luncheon was set on a round table profusely decorated with flowers and sweetmeats. innumerable little dishes were scattered over the silk tablecloth, and saucers filled with raisins, grapes, almonds, olives, and a variety of dainties. etiquette prescribes that the guest shall be placed on the left of his host, and that the first mouthful of food shall be put on to his plate by the host himself. after that the servants bring in dishes containing the most delicate productions of the chinese culinary art. fish soup and snail soup, sharks' fins in unpalatable jellies, all kinds of minces and hashes, and patties with sauces most unpleasant to western taste, composed the menu. custom, which regulates all public and social functions in this country, demands that no less than fifty different dishes be presented to a guest of distinction. all these concoctions are handed round on large trays, in series of eight at a time. they look different, but all taste alike, at least so it seemed to me. they are both sweet and sour, and whether they go by the name of minced birds'-nests, or croquettes of dog-flesh, i could detect no difference in taste. the other guests, however, fully made up for my want of appreciation. as the meal proceeded, the conversation became more animated. when the subjects dictated by ceremony had been disposed of, the company expressed much interest in my researches and studies. my host questioned me on many points. he was decidedly clever, and although one was apt to forget the solemnity of the occasion on looking at his somewhat ridiculous costume and hat, formed in the shape of a pagoda surmounted by a precious stone the size of a potato, and adorned with waving peacock's feathers--in which attire even the wisest man would look a fool--i could not help being impressed by his sagacity. he was somewhat reserved, but seemed pleased to talk about his country, and gave me some valuable information when he saw how much interested i was in the ancient history of the land, and the origin of its inhabitants. for they, thousands of years ago, had proceeded from the same stock as the people of my own race, who had founded the kingdom in pannonia. the foundation of the manchu empire is connected even more closely than i thought with the migration of the huns. it would, indeed, open a vast field of study for the historian to seek the connecting link and the affinity existing between the first magyars and manchus. the repast over, the governor proposed a visit to the imperial tombs, the chief sight of the country. indeed, there is nothing the people venerate more deeply than those monuments of the defunct members of their dynasty; they are the pride of the nation. we started without much delay. it was a glorious afternoon, and in the brightness of the autumn sun the country looked its best. our cavalcade galloped across pasture land, where horses and cattle peaceably grazed together. here and there a shepherd sought diversion in the consoling melody of some old song, like all human beings whose lives are spent in solitude, and in the contemplation of the immensity of nature. the music was simple and the instrument simpler still, an archaic flute cut out of a reed. skirting the far end of the pasture was a dark brushwood; my companions told me that this was the sacred grove containing the imperial tombs. the distance to the town might be about six or seven miles, but our little horses carried us quickly over the ground. the manchu dignitaries, in their flowing silken robes, their pagoda-like hats, their embroideries and long pigtails, looked unquestionably most picturesque. my mount and my saddle were similar to theirs, pretty, but at the same time i must say that i never rode on anything more uncomfortable than a chinese saddle of embossed wood, with stirrups in the shape of slippers, and fixed so high that knees and chin nearly meet. two large stone monuments flank the path which leads to the sacred grove. forbidding-looking dragons guard the entrance. a deep cutting gives access to the place of interment, and this long alley is guarded on both sides by monsters of various descriptions. elephants, camels, gigantic human figures, are placed at intervals facing each other, all cut in stone, and intended to ward off the evil spirits. the beauty of the place is indescribable. the darkness of the foliage, the white stone statues, and the paved pathway winding through the woods, all help to give it the character of an enchanted forest, where solitude reigns, and the air is full of poetry. later we crossed some marble bridges of exquisite workmanship, their curiously sculptured balustrades softly reflecting themselves in the blue waters of the little streams flowing lazily between the flowering banks. i was told that the statues, the streams, and the bridges, have all of them some allegorical meaning in connexion with the spirits of the departed. at length, passing through a porch, we stood face to face with an arch of such surpassing beauty, that for a moment i was dazed and lost in speechless admiration. surely this must be one of the greatest, one of the most wonderful architectural creations of the yellow empire. material, design, proportions, all the details, are so supremely beautiful. it is of marble, the arch resting on two huge blocks with cross-bars and buttresses supported by imperial dragons. the decorations are exquisite, and the carving of the friezes unique of its kind. not even among all the marvellous monuments of pekin, nankin, or hankow, did i find anything to rival it. the beauty of the conception, as well as the finished workmanship, impress one most forcibly, because of its being so perfectly in keeping with the signification of the whole triumphal arch, which symbolizes the passage of the spirit, after a life of strife and victory, to the abodes of their ancestors and everlasting peace. in this respect i know of nothing to compare with it, unless it be that pearl of asiatic architecture, the taj mahal. the tomb itself is enclosed by courts, halls, sacrificial temples, guard-houses, and sentry-sheds. we left our horses at the inner entrance, and the massive doors of red lacquer-work groaned on their hinges as they were slowly pushed open by half a dozen soldiers. we found ourselves in a square yard, a kind of court of honour, with avenues of trees many centuries old, giants and monsters in stone, and canals fenced in with marble balustrades and arched by bridges. these courts are divided by open galleries which lead to the central pagoda. this square building contains the commemorative tablet, a monument cut out of a single stone of about thirty feet high. the whole stands on a colossal tortoise, larger than two elephants. immense cauldrons, big enough to cook a whole ox at a time, for sacrificial purposes, are placed at short distances. once a year a great ceremony is held in honour of the great ancestor. on this occasion the emperor should be present in person, but for many years the imperial court has been represented by ambassadors; and considering what a journey from pekin to mukden involves, it is not surprising that the sovereign is content to be present by proxy. i was told that the mandarins selected to undertake this onerous pilgrimage are often persons whose presence is not desired at pekin. their adventurous journey often occupies many months, and often there have been cases in which the envoys never returned at all. the great ancestor was one of the founders of the manchu dynasty in china, and his real tomb is cut out in the heart of the mountain, but the exact spot is unknown. we spent the greater part of the afternoon among the tombs, and i made the best use i could of the permission to sketch and to take photographs. but the most perfect apparatus, and the pen of the most accomplished narrator, are bound to fail to do justice to the reality. art and nature are blended so exquisitely here that it is impossible to give an adequate idea of the place. however beautiful the individual monuments may be--and they are very beautiful--the real charm of the ideal site lies in the perfect harmony of solitude and peace. [illustration: the entrance to the imperial tombs "the massive doors of red lacquer-work groaned on their hinges" to face page 104] on the return journey we again passed through the muddy, dreary suburbs. most of the houses along the dull, deserted roads, are built of clay and covered with straw. rough planks close the entrance, and from the windows the rice-paper hangs down in tatters. we met several funeral processions, the huge black coffins being carried in front. i have forgotten to mention that cholera was raging in the town; hundreds of people died daily, and the sanitary conditions of the place were so wretched that nothing could be done to stop it. considering the manner in which the coolies live, it is only surprising that they do not all succumb. on this account the authorities at first had been averse to the idea of my visit to mukden, but as there was smallpox in china and typhoid fever in korea, there did not seem much to choose between the two; and, besides, i was firmly convinced that providence would let me finish the work i had undertaken to do. the epidemic broke out three months ago, and had claimed many victims among the russian troops. the morale of the men was at a very low ebb in consequence. upon the coolies and the manchus the effect was different. their innate fatalism teaches them to look upon death as a benevolent friend, and as they bear away the coffins with the remains of their loved ones, they look as unconcerned as if they were taking them to a place of joy. all the small objects cherished by the dead are placed upon the coffin to be burned at the grave-side, and when the smoke rises up to heaven, popular superstition has it that all these objects assume shape again in a higher sphere, for the gratification of their former owners. it is only right, however, to add, that as the heirs are solicitous to save anything that may be of value, counterfeits of the real things, in paper or cardboard, are often substituted, and so the _auto-da-fé_ takes place only in effigy. having been entertained at luncheon by the chinese governor, to make the day complete i was the guest of the russian resident at dinner. we may criticize the muscovite system of government, we may censure the ways and means employed by the russian administration, but there is only one opinion as regards russian hospitality. no matter what quarter of the globe one comes from, whether one be a political ally or a traditional foe, a russian never fails in the duties of hospitality. as long as the guest is under his roof he is looked upon as a member of the family. host and hostess, in fact all the household, go out of their way to show kindness to him. and it is all done on such a lavish scale! his room is overheated, rugs and furs are wrapped round him whether he desires them or not, and above all a special point is made of loading him with food and drink at all hours of the day and of the night. the russian residence, or consulate, as it is still sometimes called before the world, is a yamen like all other public buildings in china, only perhaps a little more ruinous than those i saw in the morning. the interior is greatly lacking in comfort and luxury. it gives rather the impression of a camp than of a home; there is no furniture beyond what is strictly necessary, and nothing has been done to make it pretty or attractive. the only redeeming feature is the table, which appears to be permanently set for meals. it is covered with quite as many little dishes as the table of the mandarin, but instead of fruit and sweetmeats, they contain hors-d'oeuvres, such as caviare, herrings, smoked salmon, cucumber, and all the innumerable varieties which compose the famous national _zakouska_. there was a perfect array of bottles on the table; i do not remember ever seeing so many crowded on to one table. there were wines from the crimea, various liqueurs, and vodka. during dinner the guests smoked perfumed cigarettes, and talked of their family affairs and distant homes. it was difficult to realize that the boundless plains of siberia separated us from the banks of the neva, for the picture before me was so typically russian, in all its variety of shades and colours. i almost felt as if i were "in company with the gentlemen" of tourgueniéff. my visit to mukden had certainly been full of interest. not only the town itself, its famous monuments, and its strangely superannuated people, but the whole situation as it is at present, offers endless scope for speculation. chinese mandarins and russian generals, cossacks and coolies, how oddly they are amalgamated in incoherent groups! what developments may not the future have in store? truly this is a fascinating problem. will manchuria be more prosperous under the new régime? will the people be able to rise to a higher level? as i took leave of the spot, now so desolate, where the mission settlement once stood, i asked myself whether it would ever be rebuilt and whether men would come forward to take the place of those martyrs who had sacrificed their life in the cause of the orphans and forsaken children of china. casting one last lingering look upon the place, which i should probably never see again, the dismal outline of the ruined bell-tower seemed to rise up in pathetic protest against human intolerance and blind persecution. the return journey the city of mukden contained so much that was of interest to me, that my stay there was prolonged beyond my original intentions. the governor, to whom i had related all the difficulties and discomforts of my journey, very kindly placed a carriage at my disposal and gave me an escort to see me safely back to the station. but perilous as the outward journey had been, the return was no less full of various emotions. it was a beautiful autumn day when i left the town. nature seemed to be making one last effort to assert the power of her charms before falling into her winter sleep. as we passed through the precincts of the city, the gardens literally glittered with colour. all imaginable shades, from copper-tinted saffron to bronzed purple, were there displayed. these gardens are certainly most beautifully cultivated. presently we emerged into the open plain, and now i had the opportunity, which i had missed before, of forming some idea of the fertility of this privileged land. manchuria is undoubtedly one of the richest countries in the world. the soil is excellent, the hills are thickly wooded, the mountains abound in minerals. along the route we passed farms where maize and beans seemed to be chiefly cultivated, and all the people, men, women, and children, were at work in the field. the landscape is rather monotonous. we traversed a wide plain enclosed by mountains which touch the horizon; but although the scenery cannot be called picturesque, it is not devoid of a certain grandeur. it has a charm peculiar to itself, an atmosphere of vague melancholy. all vast plains, those of egypt for instance, or of rajputana, have this same undefinable, intangible characteristic, of which one is faintly conscious without being able to describe it. the people who live in such a free atmosphere are naturally affected by it, and the manchus possess all the characteristics of a race inhabiting an exposed country. the manchu is attached to his native land; he loves to live in the open, and is never so happy as when galloping across the endless plain or hunting in the virgin forests. as we laboriously proceeded on the uneven road, my fancy had full play, and i received new ideas and impressions from these novel surroundings. since i had explored the interior of the country more carefully, my ideas about manchuria had certainly undergone a great change. every now and then, however, my cogitations were rudely interrupted as we jumped over ditches, crawled up or ran down the inclines, and it was a wonder that my poor _tarantass_ was not smashed in the attempt. it may be as well, perhaps, to give some idea of what a _tarantass_ is like. four small wheels, very far apart, and joined by wooden axles, were fixed in the centre to a long pole, on which the basket, in shape something between a boat and a bath, was fastened. the vibration of this pole takes the place of springs, although it would be incorrect to say that it performed the office of such civilized improvements. but the pole kept the wheels and the basket together, and this, after all, is an accomplishment to be proud of on the highroads of asia. my carriage was not drawn by mules this time, but i had three horses harnessed abreast, in the muscovite style. they were small cossack horses, with long manes and tails, slightly larger than shetland ponies, strong and lively. the middle one was somewhat bigger than the two others; it could trot, while the ponies to the right and left of it had to gallop all the time, their heads gracefully arched and held a little to one side. the harness was most eccentric, and consisted of straps without number, the use of which it was difficult to see, but the silver-nailed mountings, studded in eastern fashion, looked decidedly picturesque. my coachman was a cossack, and evidently very much impressed with the importance of his mission. about fifteen men formed the escort, their white blouses and flat white caps forming a striking feature in the landscape. they are good-natured, simple-minded folk, these mujiks, with bright blue eyes, clear complexion, and a childlike expression. they are evidently quite at home in this far-away country, for the ways of life in their native land are primitive and patriarchal, and differ but little from those in this foreign land. it is difficult to believe that these men can ever be cruel, and in time of war commit the greatest atrocities in cold blood and almost unconsciously. when the war is over they at once make friends with the conquered people, and freely mix with the yellow tribes. a little two-wheeled cart, containing provisions, and with a young cossack as driver, completed my escort. if i were asked what were the most striking objects i passed on the road, i should mention two pagodas, one of which is particularly beautiful, seven storeys high, and richly carved. monsters of chinese mythology and all the embellishments which the sickly imagination of that ancient race could devise, have been lavishly represented upon it. we also passed some remarkable commemorative stones--massive blocks, resting on enormous tortoises--on which are inscribed the exploits of the defunct heroes of the country. the many farms on our route testified to the agricultural resources of the land, and the villages are not without interest from a sociological point of view. the houses are very shabby and dilapidated, but what amused me was the number of children there were playing about. there did not seem to be room enough to contain them all, and there were hardly any doors to be seen; the population appears to jump out of the ground like mushrooms. we met carts of various descriptions, pedestrians, strange equipages, and stranger horsemen, and to finish up with, a mandarin travelling in state. this personage was carried in a litter covered with embroidered silk, and the luggage packed, in cases of wonderful lacquer-work, was carried by his men on their backs. suite and servants followed him in single file, and all the emblems of his dignity, flags, chinese lanterns, umbrellas, and banners, with various inscriptions, were carried before him. his excellency was guarded by a detachment of native soldiers, in crimson mantles with lozenge-shaped pieces of velvet let in at the front and back, and elaborately embroidered with chinese characters. of course, many of the details of this show were very shabby. the canopy of the litter was torn and faded, the velvet of the uniforms was caked with mud, the banners were in rags, and yet as a whole it was one of the most artistic displays i have ever seen. asiatics certainly have the knack of making their pageants effective. a mandarin of secondary order, visiting a functionary about equal in rank to a tax-collector, has an escort of followers and soldiers amounting to several dozen men, while the highest western officials are content with two footmen behind their carriage on grand occasions. i have already said that the journey back to mukden station was no improvement on the journey thence, and yet, as i write these lines, seated in my comfortable railway carriage, my adventure, now that it is a thing of the past, seems like a dream to me. to make the story more interesting i must begin at the end, namely, with the dramatic incident of the journey, and tell how we only just escaped being kidnapped or possibly killed by a band of brigands. thanks to providence, however, no more serious harm was done to us than the fall of the _tarantass_ into the swollen river, a compulsory bath in full uniform for some of the cossacks, various bruises and scratches, and a broken litter. the intended attack was changed into flight, and the tragedy turned into a comedy, to the satisfaction of all. i will briefly relate the facts. when we arrived at the first village, the cossacks declared that the horses were thirsty, and that a halt was therefore necessary. they all dismounted and hurried into the wayside inn, leaving me alone with the horses. but as i could see neither well nor bucket, i could do nothing for the poor beasts. after a while the men returned, and there was no mistaking the state of affairs. if the horses had had no water, the men had found plenty to drink. presently we came to another village, and the same thing occurred there, only this time they did not trouble to invent any excuse, and never mentioned the thirsty horses. i need hardly say that after each halt the conversation waxed more animated, and the horses were pushed on more furiously. after the third stoppage the situation became alarming. they no longer talked, but all shouted at once, the clatter of their voices being intermixed with snatches of popular songs, while the trot of the horses changed to a gallop. i felt desperate, for i knew that i was quite powerless against the inveterate national custom of these children of nature. they continued, however, to behave well towards me, and treated me with the greatest respect. they were only very hilarious, that was all. they shouted and sang and waved their red kerchiefs as we sped along. the last hamlet passed, and there being no further chance of obtaining refreshment until mukden station was reached, a steeplechase was proposed across country, to the station. i cannot tell what distance we thus covered, for the speed at which we went exceeded all my previous experiences. the race over the uneven ground caused me many different sensations. across the plain it was rapid and exciting, and i fully participated in the exhilaration of these wild children. across the cultivated ground it was pleasant enough for those on horseback, but to me, in my _tarantass_, it was like being on the rack. but it was in crossing the maize-fields that i suffered most. the race increased in speed. horses and men completely lost their heads, and it was no longer a question of restraining them. the horses took the bits between their teeth and simply went like the wind. we seemed to fly over the ditches and tore through the reed hedges. some of the animals slipped and the men fell head over heels in the mud, while guns and swords described glittering circles in the air. finally, in trying to clear a deep creek, one of the wheels of the provision-cart came off, and all the contents were scattered. then, to my joy, i saw looming in the distance, like a haven of refuge, the miserable shed which is called mukden station. i lay down at the bottom of the _tarantass_, with a feeling of deliverance near at hand. i must explain that my straw seat had fallen to pieces at an early stage of our mad race, so that the only way to remain in the _tarantass_ was by lying down at the bottom and holding on to the sides. but even this comparative degree of comfort was extended to me for only a short time, for suddenly i received a terrible shock; there was a grinding noise produced by the carriage, followed by an exclamation from the driver, unintelligible to me; the sound of horses struggling in the water; and finally i felt an icy wave dashing over me. i thought i was drowning, and instinctively raised myself in my basket. we were in the middle of a river which had overflowed its banks! my little horses were half submerged. some of the cossacks were still in the saddle; others were wading through the muddy stream up to their waists in water. they were all in a state of great excitement, talking and shouting, but all quite cheerful. some were washing their scratches, others struggling desperately to rescue their belongings, which were floating away on the stream, and the horses, at last, with supreme contentment, were able to drink their fill of the water so long withheld and so fully deserved. the steeplechase under ordinary conditions may be a noble sport and may have its charm and many dangers, but it cannot be compared with such a cross-country race in a _tarantass_, escorted by a detachment of cossacks. and yet, in spite of all, i am indebted to these hardy companions, for their mad escapade and their wild merriment saved our lives. whilst in full career, with horses neighing, cossacks shouting, and swords flashing, we became aware of a body of men, who had presumably been hiding in the bushes, escaping towards the distant woods. evidently they thought we were pursuing them, and they fled in disorder. i learnt afterwards that it was a band of those chunchuses who have been the terror of the district for many years, and very likely the same i met on my previous journey. not long ago they kidnapped mr. wetzel, the director of the east china railway, whose adventures have been described at length in the newspapers. he was carried into the interior, underwent the most terrible tortures, and was on the verge of losing his mind when his ransom arrived. if my cossacks had not indulged in that steeplechase my journey might have had a tragic ending. thanks to our furious riding, we startled the band lying in wait for a prey; but if they had seen us quietly proceeding like ordinary travellers along the highroad, they would undoubtedly have attacked us; and i will therefore conclude with the well-known proverb: "all's well that ends well." v port arthur, dalny, niu-chwang, tien-tsin the country between mukden and port arthur is the granary of manchuria. rice, corn, and maize grow in great profusion, and there are from thirty-five to forty different kinds of peas and beans. chinese agriculture is based on excellent principles. the system of irrigation and the methods of working fully deserve our attention; but the plentiful harvests are chiefly due to the remarkable mode of manuring. the same piece of ground can yield several crops in rotation in one year. it would seem that the land never requires to lie fallow. as i watched the chinese farmers and labourers, i was vividly struck by the contrast between this peace-loving, agricultural population, and the armed cossacks who lined the route. the nearer we came to the coast the more numerous they seemed to become, and there were more and larger barracks also. yet the russian military and the chinese farmers appear to live on friendly terms with one another. i frequently saw russian soldiers and chinamen sitting at the same table, merrily talking together, and i even noticed signs of russification among the natives, for many pigtails were twisted up and hidden under a russian _schapka_. they eat the same food with an equally good appetite, and appear to have many tastes in common. if, during the boxer agitation, the russian troops behaved with exceptional cruelty towards the natives, it is certain that at present there is a perfect understanding between them. and after all they belong more or less to the same stock; their historic past is very similar, and they both live the same primitive life. * * * * * i was now nearing the end of my journey, and although the progress had been slow it had been full of incidents. the last obstacle on the route we encountered at liaoyang, where a bridge had been swept away. i was prepared for this delay, for some weeks before, the station-master at harbin had given me a thrilling account of the accident. i remember wondering at the time whether he was exaggerating and trying to dissuade me from penetrating further into the interior of manchuria; but when i saw the state of affairs at liaoyang i realized that his story had been perfectly true. the scene before me was one of general confusion. thousands of russian soldiers and chinese coolies were engaged in carting sand, cutting poles, and fixing rails; all talking and shouting at once in different tongues and dialects. it was a veritable babel. about a thousand men were occupied in constructing a bridge of stone and iron. a few thousand others were throwing up sandbanks to check the water, while another gang of workmen was making a pontoon. we stopped several hours and no one seemed to know how or when we should get across. but the scene was so exciting, and gave me such an excellent opportunity of watching the chinese at work, that i did not grudge the delay. at last some engineering officers suggested dividing the train and trying to take it across by the pontoon in portions. how it was exactly managed i am unable to describe, for what with the jerking and bumping of my carriage, and the whistling, creaking, and groaning of the engine over the swaying pontoon, i had no chance of making observations. and when the temporary rails over the pontoon became submerged and the waves dashed up to my carriage door, i followed the example of the stoker and the guard and stood on the step, barefooted, ready to jump and attempt to swim to land if the whole tottering structure should collapse and disappear under the waves. thus ended my journey across manchuria. many delays and excursions into the interior had retarded my progress, but at last i arrived safe and sound at port arthur, where i remained two days, including a visit to dalny. port arthur, as i saw it, was merely a military station on the extremity of the peninsula of liaotung. at one time it was the chief naval arsenal of china, but after the war with japan its defences and military works were destroyed. when, in 1898, the russians leased the two places, port arthur and dalny, they made the former into a great military and naval fortress. it was placed under the control of an admiral who had chief command over the troops and the maritime forces. he had under him a double staff of naval and military officers, comprising the commander of the port, the chiefs of the naval staff, the riflemen, the artillery, the engineering service, and the intelligence department, the harbour master, the chief of the torpedo division, the first assistant to the commander of the port, the second assistant, the commander of the commercial port, the ordnance officers of the governor-general, the civil governor, the diplomatic agent, the secretary of finances, and the chief of the police. port arthur undoubtedly has a very complicated form of administration, and at first it was suggested that it should be made into an eastern kronstadt, or the asiatic citadel of the great empire. the place itself and the surrounding hills are full of fortifications, and i have been assured over and over again that it would be perfectly impossible to take it by sea. it is one long line of arsenals, torpedo depots, barracks, and encampments. the fact that port arthur is essentially a military port is not disguised; there are only a few buildings, including those of the east china railway company and the russo-chinese bank, which do not openly serve military purposes. a new town has grown up on the opposite side to satisfy the demands of trade. this is called dalny, and is situated on the bay of talienwan, to the north-west of port arthur. the territory, like that of port arthur, was given in lease by china, and it is intended to make this into a free port connected by the manchurian railway with vladivostok, moscow, the black sea, and the baltic. it might in time become the great commercial centre of the extreme east. the port is about six miles long and very deep, and offers exceptional facilities for navigation. dalny in its present condition has a somewhat paradoxical aspect. palaces emerge from the sands, public monuments fill the deserted squares, avenues and boulevards are traced out on the shore. dalny is the hope of the partisans of russian commerce and progress, while port arthur is the pride of the military party. the development of the former is encouraged by the energetic efforts of mr. white; the latter finds a powerful protector in general kuropatkin. [illustration: general kuropatkin to face page 124] port arthur impressed me greatly on account of its strategic importance, but what i saw of dalny did not inspire me with much confidence as to its commercial future. during my visit i saw all that has been accomplished since 1898, and certainly, although many things are still far from perfect, and the mistakes made are very palpable even to the uninitiated, one cannot fail to recognize that much has been done in so short a time. but if we knew at what cost all this has been accomplished, our admiration would probably be considerably reduced. no boat for taku was likely to start for some time, so i decided to continue my journey to pekin by rail. as far as ying-tsé we travelled over the main manchurian line, whence a branch line runs to niu-chwang. this is the most northerly port of the yellow empire open to foreign trade. it is situated at a distance of thirteen miles from the mouth of the river liao, which discharges into the gulf of liaotung, a continuation of the gulf of pechili. the railway line, which brings niu-chwang into direct communication with siberia and pekin, was just finished. branch lines in the direction of tien-tsin had existed before this, but they were destroyed in the late boxer troubles. to give my readers a somewhat accurate idea of the importance of this town i will try to quote from the official journals:-the town of niu-chwang is rapidly growing in importance since the construction of the railway. the east china railway between port arthur, dalny, and the junction of ta-shik-chia, whence a branch line runs to port arthur, was finished as far as mukden towards the close of 1899. the chinese imperial line was also completed then. it was subsequently decided to deal systematically with the mineral resources of manchuria, owing to the east china line having laid open the coal-mines at mochi-shan and z'mershan near the liaoyang, and at wafungtien in the south of the liaotung peninsula. the railway line runs right along these rich exploitations. an unprecedented commercial activity has accompanied these developments, resulting in an increase of 49 per cent. for 1898. the chief articles of trade for this port are beans and oil-cake, with an export of 2,241,053 piculs of the former and 2,289,544 piculs of the latter in 1899. the net quantity of opium imported in 1898 was 92 piculs as against 2453 in 1879. the importation of opium has been steadily declining in the course of the last few years, the poppy seed being largely and successfully cultivated in manchuria. the total figure of the trade of this port for 1899 has risen to 48,357,623 taels as against 32,441,315 in 1898. the port figured conspicuously in the disturbances of 1900; the chinese troops which attacked the town being defeated by the russians, who took possession of the port. trade was necessarily at a standstill in 1900. niu-chwang was a revelation to me. i saw for the first time a real chinese town in all its immensity. it appeared an inextricable labyrinth of streets and alleys overflowing with people. all our western ideas are reversed here; indeed, buildings and people alike seemed to belong not only to another hemisphere, but to another planet. the lines are so strange, the colours so brilliant, the sounds so sharp, that one is at once deafened, blinded, and astonished. beyond the city, on the solid earth, is the floating town on the river. the liao at this point, little more than half a mile wide, is literally covered with vessels of every description. it is a thronged mass of large merchant ships, smaller boats, and wooden junks. each boat is a home, in which always one, and often several, families are housed with all their belongings: children, pigs, and poultry filling the decks. those of the better classes who can afford it have regular summer-houses on the river, built like pagodas, elaborately furnished and surrounded by artificial gardens with dwarf trees in costly pots. in between this confusion of boats, narrow passages and regular canals are left free on the water, in which graceful canoes are seen gliding and winding about like gondolas. both on land and water, the crowds of human beings, and exuberance of life, are overwhelming. one feels ill at ease and lost among this surging mass of humanity. the narrowest streets and the largest squares, the courts and the floating houses, all teem with life; and, in contrast with the sleepy, passive multitudes of india, all are active here, from the youngest to the oldest. all seem intent on their business, all appear to have some strenuous end in view. the capacity for work which this race possesses manifests itself everywhere from morning till night. chinese strength and vitality are here seen in all their original energy and force. niu-chwang is an important place even now, but it has every possibility and likelihood of becoming one of the great commercial centres of the future. its international trade has been hitherto hindered by the fact that the river is frozen for three months in the year, but since the completion of the tien-tsin line the town has become easy of access by land. a railway bridge over the liao is projected, and when this is built the train will run directly from pekin to st. petersburg. at present travellers have to cross the river in wooden junks, and continue their journey by the chinese trains. in the centre of the commercial town is the settlement of the catholic mission. buried in a maze of tortuous streets, it is almost lost sight of in the bustle and noise of the adjacent fair, giving the impression of some oriental bazaar. the little church, and the few small houses belonging to the mission, are enclosed as far as possible by a whitewashed garden wall, which is but a poor protection in case of siege or serious disorders. if the populace were to show signs of hostility that ruinous wall would not hold out long against the mob; but they who join the mission, who devote their lives to deeds of charity, who feed the starving, and care for the destitute, put their trust in a defence stronger than the strongest towers of this world. from the time that the missionary leaves his native land and offers his life to the almighty, he spends his days in a constant state of uncertainty. from the moment that he sets foot on the shores of the yellow empire dangers of all kinds crowd around him. these martyrs to duty are continuously exposed to open and secret persecution, terrible epidemics, privations, and hardships of all kinds. yet in spite of manifold trials and dangers, young priests and nuns who have only just taken the vow, go over to the far east, happy and full of zeal, ready to devote their lives to the noble spiritual work. on the day of my departure from niu-chwang i had the good fortune to witness an historical event, the official transfer of the railway to the chinese governor-general of manchuria. since the last war the route between niu-chwang and hankau-chwang had been under the military control of russia, while the other route between the latter town and tien-tsin was held by british troops. there were great festivities in honour of the day. the station buildings were decorated with all the pomp of asiatic taste; everywhere venetian masts, floating banners, chinese inscriptions, and russian trophies, announced the great event, with laurel garlands symbolizing victory, and olive branches speaking of eternal peace. ambitious mandarins and gold-bedizened russian generals exchanged salutes and bows in sign of mutual respect. no doubt it was a case of "live and let live," for all appeared quite satisfied. an interminable programme marked the order of the festivities, and if i had had an aptitude for journalism i could have written columns upon "the official transfer of the east china railway line by russia to china." i could have indulged in lengthy descriptions of the receptions, presentations, floral offerings, banquets, with streams of champagne, and endless flow of toasts. but the best correspondent could not have said more than i have done here upon the principal event, the actual transfer of the railway. he could not have pierced, any more than i could, that thick veil which hides from us the knowledge as to whether that railway has actually become chinese property or not. the country between niu-chwang and hankau-chwang is at first flat and uninteresting, although rich in vegetation. nearer to the sea it becomes more varied, and in parts it is quite picturesque. some of the bays of the yellow sea--which, by the by, is intensely blue just there--resemble the fjords and are dominated by craggy rocks. we advanced slowly and stopped at many stations, the russian soldiers still always predominating over the native contingent. it was late in the evening, when our train, with much noise, passed through the breach in the famous wall, by which i was greatly impressed. that enormous mass of masonry, one of the most colossal structures ever made by human hands, is here seen to the best advantage, skirting the steep inclines of the mountains, ascending to the tops of the highest peaks, or descending into the plains to lose itself finally in the unfathomable depths of the sea. it is indeed a wonderful sight, and, like that other gigantic human undertaking, the pyramids of egypt, this wall is interesting, not only for its own sake, but also as marking a stage in the history of the civilization of the world. i gazed at it, and looked at our powerful engine, with its long train of american-built carriages, as it passed through the breach, and in that one glance there was much to comprehend both from the past and for the future of asia. at hankau-chwang a surprise awaited me. the english troops had finished their mission, and on this momentous occasion the commander gave a dinner. the guests were assembled in the little yamen near the station. the dining-room was tastefully draped and hung with pretty watercolours. books and knick-knacks lay about, and the table was covered with an immaculately white cloth and set out with a dinner-service of severe simplicity, but scrupulously clean. a simple abode it was, but every detail of it would bring to temporary inmates the pleasant recollections of the comforts and the charm of their english homes. another interesting stage of my journey was from hankau-chwang to tien-tsin, through one of the richest districts of china. our train stopped frequently, for we touched many important towns. trade is brisk in this part. in places the ground was cultivated like a vegetable garden, but the real wealth of the district lies in its coal-mines. in the way of structural curiosities the two chief sites on the road were the country house of li hung-chang and fort taku. the late viceroy and great politician had also been a clever financier. his weakness for speculation and commercial enterprise was well-known throughout the country. the coal-mines of this neighbourhood were partly his property. he not only looked well after his personal affairs, but also took care to inquire into the financial position of those with whom he dealt. whenever he entertained a foreign diplomatist, or granted an interview to the director of some international company, or even the head of some ordinary business house desirous of gaining information about special concessions or privileges, the first question the viceroy asked invariably was: "what is he worth? how rich is he?" the success of a petition depended, so i was told, to a great extent upon the sum of money poured into the coffers of the statesman as a preliminary investment. fort taku does not need to be described at length. it has played a conspicuous part in the history of the last five-and-twenty years--in the struggles between the west and the east, the white and the yellow races. it has been several times bombarded, destroyed, and rebuilt. at present it is again in ruins. there is now a new commercial town in course of erection. in the place of the old-world style, modern colonists have introduced a somewhat vulgar and insipid form of architecture, which possesses neither the picturesqueness of the old chinese towns nor the advantages of our european cities. the colony is as yet in its infancy, and only counts a few rows of small houses and some miserable shops. the last stopping-place on my journey was tien-tsin. situated on the crossing of the peiho and the grand canal, this is one of the most important towns of china. it has a population of over a million, and is divided into the city proper, the foreign confines, and the suburbs. the old part is a perfect specimen of a chinese town, overpopulated, brilliant, noisy, and dirty; a hustling, bustling crowd of humanity living like bees in a hive. it contains many interesting monuments, although the chief attraction of the city no longer exists, i mean its enclosure, the wall which surrounded a square of four thousand feet. it was pulled down to make room for trade traffic. the european quarter is very different in character; it has large squares, shady avenues, and beautiful buildings. each nation represented there has a little colony of its own, with barracks, commercial offices, and consular residences. the english colony, which is close to the french, boasts of the best buildings, has large, well-kept streets, and is guarded by some very fine-looking sikhs. the large dwelling-houses, the homely bungalows, and the turbaned figures of the tall soldiers, remind one of some indian cantonment. the italian and austrian quarters are on the other side of the canal, and almost lost among the native town. since the occupation of the allied troops the importance of tien-tsin has grown considerably, and in time it is likely to become a powerful rival to shanghai as far as international commercial interests are concerned. in fact, it has all the commercial advantages of shanghai. when we consider that at the time of the ming dynasty it occupied only a secondary position, its development is the more remarkable. tien-tsin is about eighty miles distant from pekin, and lies near the sea; its commercial advantages as the market for export and import trade are therefore evident. the railway has added another considerable advantage to the many already possessed by tien-tsin, namely that of bringing it into direct communication with the mainland. li hung-chang, who, in his capacity of viceroy, resided there for many years, was a strong supporter of the place. under him it became, not only a large commercial centre, but with the normal schools for the organization of army and navy, other elements were attracted towards the place, and different occupations introduced. tien-tsin, in fact, has become the home of the progressive party. pamphlets, daily papers, literary and political clubs, have propagated the views and ideas of the great viceroy. it was li hung-chang who started the first coal-pit in the neighbourhood of tong-shan, about thirty years ago, and the export of coal is making rapid progress. the output amounts at present to nearly three hundred thousand tons. another local industry of great importance is the production of salt. this is a government monopoly, and is obtained through the evaporation of sea-water. the salt lies piled up in heaps along the banks of the river. spirituous liquors are distilled in large quantities and sent into the interior. the exports include wines, furs, skins, bristles, and wood. export trade, which did not exist five-and-twenty years ago, now reaches a total of about fifteen million taels per annum. from the time of the first european expedition in 1858, tien-tsin has been the scene of much fighting and many desperate battles. during the last rebellion the disturbances were greater there than anywhere else, and it was there also that the boxers, in the beginning of june, 1900, set fire to the foreign mission settlements. at first no one seemed to realize the imminence of the danger, and it was not until the second half of the same month, after the bombardment of taku, that hostilities, attended with all the horrors of war, were seriously commenced. the attack on the european colony, the blockade of the barracks, the destruction of the railway station, and the massacre of the missionaries and christians, followed each other rapidly. eye-witnesses have given us graphic descriptions of the atrocities committed during the insurrection. the bravery of the troops, the missionaries, the christian women, and the children, has excited the admiration of the world. many ruins still testify to this prolonged siege. the chief event of my stay in this place was my visit to the viceregal palace. if li hung-chang had been a great statesman, his successor was not unworthy of him. yuan-tsi-khai and chan-chi-tung are the two most prominent men of modern china. nature has endowed them very differently, but they are alike zealous in their endeavours to rouse china from its apathy. although the ways and means by which they hope to effect their object are different, the end in view is the same. chan-chi-tung is a peace-loving man, an ardent follower of the doctrine of confucius, and strongly attached to the national principles of morality. he favours reform in undertakings of a purely commercial and industrial nature, in financial transactions; but in intellectual and spiritual questions he is very conservative. in his own province he has made successful attempts at improvement. he has established factories, cotton mills and looms, forges, local railways, and an important arsenal on the yangtse-kiang. his adversaries--and he has many, like every one who rises above the common level--accuse him of being an idealist. but in most cases his ideas, practically carried out, have proved to be of very real benefit to his country. he is a deep thinker and a most pleasant and interesting companion. his writings on various political and social questions are fine specimens of human philosophy. yuan-tsi-khai is, on the contrary, before all a man of action, a soldier at heart. he loves to fight his enemies and to press forward without considering the difficulties in the way. my sojourn at tien-tsin was of special service to me in obtaining clearer ideas as to the actual conditions of china. i made the acquaintance of many interesting persons, some of whom are the makers of the history of our time. they were not all of the same nationality, nor did they all pursue the same vocation, nor were they all of the same mind; their opinions also were widely different. but it is to a certain extent owing to the antagonism of their views that i was enabled to form some provisional conclusions. it was on a bright afternoon of the short st. martin's summer that i accomplished the last twenty-four miles of my long railway journey across the two continents. as i neared my final destination, pekin, and passed through the flat and barren country i could hardly realize that i had traversed such an enormous distance during the last few months. i tried to recall to mind the different countries i had passed through and their inhabitants, the prosperous towns and the miserable villages i had visited; the centres of civilization and the primitive solitudes. then i began to comprehend all i had seen. much of my previous conceptions of this part of the world had been vague, for the difference between what one imagines and what actually is, is great! one may gather the most reliable information, listen to the most explicit descriptions, or study the best books, but how far all this falls short of personal experience! the best references, the most accurate figures, the most lucid writings, will never produce the same effect as reality, and it is not upon those somewhat abstract notions that our faculties are exercised with the greatest profit. what one feels has even more weight than what one sees, and psychological studies are of greater value than statistics. to know a country, it is the life, the everyday existence, of its inhabitants that we have to study. life in all its varied expressions, in labour and in rest, in its fundamental principles and its manifold manifestations, this it is which reveals to us the deep source from which the energizing elements flow in diverse directions. it was growing dark as we neared the end of our journey. on the platforms of the small stations we passed, i saw foreign soldiers belonging to the allied forces; here fair teuton giants, there short, brown _bersaglieri_. and at each succeeding station there was more movement, more confusion, till we reached the metropolis. the sun was setting as we skirted the imperial deer park. every moment the light effects increased in beauty. the sombre masses of foliage, framed by the blue lines of the eastern hills, formed an enchanting picture. outlines and colours were so unexpected, so strangely blended, that it looked like a painting from the magic brush of some great chinese master. the forests stood out dark and menacing, as if still sheltering the monsters and dragons of ancient folk-lore, and the hills were like so many pointed sugar-loaves, heaped up by some awful giants. it was as perfect a chinese landscape as i could have wished to see, and to crown all, the sun went down in a blaze of light; it was as if fiery darts were being shot across the flaming sky. i have seen many sunsets in the tropics, and in the east, but never anything to equal this. the brightness of it flooded with saffron the clouds of dust always hanging over the capital, and illumined all the million atoms which rise from the mongolian desert.... at an unexpected turn in the road it seemed as if the golden veil was torn aside to give me a glimpse of the mysterious city. the stage effect was perfect; the curtain might have been drawn by a clever manager's hand to reveal the great hatamen gate in all its magnificence. the famous crenellated walls; the lofty towers and proud pagodas, first described by marco polo; the heavy bastions, and the marble bridges, were but indistinctly visible, and therefore all the more suggestive and beautiful. in fact, my first impression of pekin was of a fancy or dream. what the city really looked like was as yet mercifully hidden from me; my imagination could have full play, untrammelled by the disillusions of knowledge and experience. afterwards i saw things differently, but that first day the great city of the mighty khan seemed as a mirage to me. the crumbling citadel of a great nation, nay, of the whole glory of a mighty race, the monument of its art, the walhalla of its history, shone in the dazzling splendour of the afterglow, like a golden city floating on golden clouds. vi pekin i the arrival it is evening when i arrive in pekin. the train stops outside the tartar wall. darkness shrouds everything, and the place seems to be deserted. not even a guard or porter is to be seen. alongside the embankment a few coolies with gigantic lanterns are waiting for the passengers, and, in quaint procession, with innumerable balloons hanging from long bamboo sticks, are searching for their masters. they all shout, but no one seems to understand them. there is no trace of any vehicles or carriages, and i don't see even a platform. i am standing in the midst of a desert; behind me, some sandhills and a pool are all i can distinguish, and in front, among the crowd of coolies, a tall figure is conspicuous, which approaches, and, by the yellow rays of a pumpkin-like lantern, i recognize an old acquaintance. here he occupies the position of first secretary of legation, and brings me an invitation from his chief. my trunks are taken in charge by an attendant, and we walk towards my new abode, which my friend tells me is close by. it is explained to me that the present railway station is only a temporary one; only since the occupation by the allied forces have trains been able to penetrate as far as the inner wall. they used to have to stop miles away, as no engine was allowed to desecrate the holy city of pekin. at a short distance from the temporary station is a tunnel-like opening in the wall, and i am informed that it was made for the use of members of the legations and foreign settlement, and has ex-territorial rights granted to it. i pass through the so-called gate of the nations full of expectation, for i am most anxious for surprises, which certainly are not wanting. i hope to see before me a fairy city and scenes like those on the stage; but instead of splendour and glitter i see mist. by the flickering light of a few paraffin lamps i begin to distinguish the famous international quarter, but i feel it would be better if they were not lit, for they only disclose ruins and débris. among heaps of bricks and mortar we reach the edge of a ditch of stagnant water, which, as my companion informs me, not without some pride, is the so-called canal of jade. it is a magnificent name, which i have known for a long time. if i have pictured it to myself as different from what it is in reality, it is not the fault of an exaggerated fancy; and as we stumble along in the lane skirting the ditch--i beg its pardon; on the banks of the waters of jasper--i still cannot perceive anything else but garden walls. i don't even see the famous jade stream, for though long ago there may have been water in the ditch, there are now only puddles here and there. but if i can't see, i smell all the more; smell all kinds of unimaginable and imaginable odours. at last we approach a gate with a martial sentry in front of it. the password is given, and we are at last at home. in the courtyard, on the edge of the grass, are a number of lanterns. large and yellow, they look like melons. the effect is charming, but as they give but very indifferent light, i can only distinctly discern some pillars and arches. now we pass through some open halls and reach a garden-like square. to the right and left from the windows of small summer-houses the light of candles filters through. in front is another building in the same style, a few columns supporting a heavy roof; the columns are of red lacquered wood, and the tiles of emerald-green. beyond this is another garden, and lastly the legation proper. the door is open and the hall ablaze with light. on the broad staircase are servants in red--pigtailed chinese, dressed after the fashion of their country. they salute us, bowing low, with their hands folded. the scene is interesting, the setting fine. by the light of the lanterns the roof of the old yamen appears even more gabled than it is, and its eaves the more bizarre than in reality. at last i have before me a truly chinese picture, thousands of years old, artistic and brilliant. but the scene quickly changes as we go inside, and from the past we come to the present, from oriental surroundings we step into a western interior. * * * * * the rays of the rising sun wake me as they burst brightly into the courtyard of the yamen, filtering, rosy-coloured, through the embrasures of the crenellated walls. my quarters have a verandah looking upon a small courtyard, the pillars of which are of ruby lacquer, its roof of emerald glaze. in the yard are many flowers planted in old china vases. four cedars, ages old, stand in the corners, and their branches form a lovely shady tent under the canopy of a morning sky. the branches of the old trees and the eaves are swarming with birds which awake with me, and merry with their songs. on opening my eyes i scarcely know whether i am awake or still dreaming. it takes me some time to realize my surroundings. in the little garden some one is noiselessly crossing the grass in paper shoes. he wears a light blue kaftan over a white tunic, and the colours harmonize well, for this slate-blue suits his yellow complexion, and a long pigtail hangs down his back. this is reality. i am indeed in the flowery land. i am actually awaking in pekin. ii the first drive through the town it is eight o'clock in the evening. i have just returned from pei-tang; it takes nearly an hour to come from there. and what a road! imagine a brilliant stereoscope with living figures rushing forward upon you as you gaze--a gigantic kaleidoscope in which, among multitudinous and dazzling fragments a heap of ants are busy. and if we look at these through a magnifying glass, the effect will be somewhat similar to one's first impression of pekin. bedlam, uproar, chaos; and all this half concealed by a veil of whirling dust. it would be difficult to recount what i have seen, and even more difficult to explain what my sensations were. i was amazed by the brilliant spectacle. it is early in the morning when i set out on my exploring expedition. from the street in which the legation stands we suddenly turn into the grand imperial square. the yellow-roofed palace in front of us may be called the focus of pekin, nay, the centre of the whole yellow empire, for every road leads thither. the principal street is broad, crossing the wall of the tartar city. a few miles farther to the south it strikes the chinese town, and through gates like triumphal arches, and over bridges, across moats, and skirting bastions, reaches the open. this is the perspective before me: my eyes penetrate in a straight line, almost any distance, to the sea at the farthermost point of the realm, but the crowd is so dense and the traffic so thick, and there are such clouds of dust, that we can hardly see what is going on within a yard of us. caravans of camels, people on horseback, carriages, and carts follow each other incessantly. every moment we narrowly escape a collision. it is a wonder that numbers of the shaky little vehicles do not get smashed, for there is a continuous stream of fresh phantom-like objects. the palace is surrounded by a high wall painted red, and roofed with yellow tiles. red likewise is the large gate studded with yellow nails. in fact, there are three gates side by side--in china everything is threefold--but they are all closed. in front of them are sentries, for the palace is sacred, and entrance into it means decapitation. on the other side are small shops and stores, in the windows of which are exhibited motley wares, while the façades are carved with a hundred and one very quaint pictures. what they represent i am at a loss to know. we escape into one of the many side streets. it is narrow, dark, and seems to be endless, running along between the houses like a river, to right and left. now we reach something like a desert. i cannot call it a common, because there is no grass; there is nothing but dust and dirt. farther away are some ruins, and still farther a red wall can be seen. it is again the wall of the imperial city, that gigantic structure that follows us wherever we go. it is either in front of us or behind us, on one side or the other. beyond the wilderness are rows of houses. behind huge walls the tops of some shadowy trees are visible now and again, the gabled roofs of yamens and a few flagstaffs. a little more wilderness is followed by a few rows of houses, and beyond them come some streets; shops crowded with customers, and, lastly, the ubiquitous red wall again. in the middle of the wall is the gate, a wooden structure, with gabled towers and aggressively golden dragons painted on it, and little bells hanging down from the corners. crowds are streaming from the archway; sunburnt coolies endeavouring to get their light carts over the marble steps. now we face the broad imperial street. the shops on both sides are still more carved and gilt than the others. the gables are like umbrellas blown inside out by the wind, and the edges do not lack ornament, being decorated with carved tassels and lace and every conceivable trimming. the signboards are well worth studying. some are of wood, others of metal, cast iron, or paper; but all display glaring colours. no wonder they attract the attention of passersby. the shoemakers' wooden signs are of unusually large size, showing the latest fashion in foot-gear either painted or carved, and apparently floating in the clouds or in higher spheres. the sign is generally suspended in the claws of some grinning monster or lion by a chain that is fastened to the eaves. next in point of merit are the signs of the pekin apothecaries, who in this respect decidedly excel us; and the pawnbrokers' symbols deserve even more attention than the others from an artistic point of view. the pavement is occupied by stalls and booths, their only protection from the sun being a sheet of canvas fixed to a pole. the wares are spread out on the ground. street kitchens abound, consisting of little earthenware stoves or small iron grates which are used for cooking. half-naked workmen are huddled round the tables, which are covered with little mugs about as large as teacups, each containing something different, hundreds of delicacies with sauces both bitter and sweet at once. long thin sticks are used instead of forks, and the skill shown in the handling of them is simply astonishing. i have never seen people eat more daintily. a dinner of eight or nine courses can be had for about one farthing. with their chopsticks they pick out some of the solid dishes, seasoning them with four or five different sauces. the chinese are the greatest gourmets in the world, for i notice that the ordinary meals of labourers are more complicated than the choicest menu of a french chef. the end of the street is enclosed by a wall--the usual red wall--the inner defence of the imperial city. here stands the western gate, and the monumental quarter, with yellow tiled roofs, begins. in front of it is a sentry, the entrance to the garden being strictly prohibited. my way is not in that direction, but to the north. in the centre of the park, which has recently been replanted, stands the cathedral, finished a few months ago. the work of the chinese missions is written on one of the latest pages of universal history. the events of two years ago are still vividly impressed on our memories, when the few hundred christians who had sought refuge at the mission in pei-tang seemed to be doomed. no one believed that they could stand the siege of the frantic mob, for, except a garden wall a few feet high, there were no means of defence. it was due to the most resolute courage and valour that the little flock did not surrender. old and young, priests and soldiers, fought side by side in the breaches from morning to night. during the weary weeks of the siege many fell under arms, and many more among the orphans and sisters of charity died of exhaustion. the recent graves forming the small cemetery in the inner garden were dug to receive the bodies of these new martyrs. but, after all, christian faith triumphed over pagan hatred, and finally the hour of deliverance struck. and today pei-tang and its cathedral stand finer and stronger than before, to the benefit of humanity and the glory of god. iii the new legation quarters it is now a month since i arrived in pekin. the autumn has passed quickly--and october is the finest time during the whole year in the yellow capital, for the weather is mild and clear. in the morning it is cool, and frosts are not rare at night. but later in the day the skies are cloudless, and the sun is often as hot as in summer. as regards climate--which, by the way, is an important factor in the life and progress of a nation--pekin is a bundle of contrasts. the summer is hot, the winter extremely cold, the spring wet, and the autumn very dry. since my arrival there has been no rain, but occasionally it has become cloudy, and as dark as if the sun were eclipsed. the wind, when blowing from the north, sweeps sand from the desert of gobi before it, and shrouds the whole town in a veil as it were. this sand spreads over the whole atmosphere like a dense fog, through which one can hardly see a yard's distance. it penetrates windows, doors, even cracks, and buries the whole district like a stream of lava. after a sand-storm the sky clears, and becomes bluer than the blue dome of the mediterranean, smooth and translucent as though cut out of a gigantic sapphire. this contrast between dull and bright weather seems to create two distinct towns; in the one all is gloomy, in the other all is bright. that is the reason why those who have described pekin have either found everything sombre, or have looked upon it through rosy spectacles. the truth lies between the two extremes. i go so far as to say that each is correct--but only relatively. the traveller who would describe pekin ought to make daily notes of what he has seen and heard when he sees and hears it, and use light and shade as an artist on his canvas. he who adopts this method will be more successful than those who merely restrict themselves either to recording salient points, or matters of historical importance, or to advocating some political idea. the longer i live within the walls of pekin the more am i convinced that, in spite of her decadent condition, she is yet full of vitality and, like constantinople, embodies a national ideal. in the afternoon i stroll over to the international area and pay a visit to all the legations. my amiable guide, who was here during the siege, when so many of the defenders perished, can supply information as to many dark episodes of the boxer rebellion, and shows me where the most serious attacks were made, how they bombarded the legations from the city wall over there, how they used to throw blazing torches on to the roofs of these houses, and how they tried to blow up that quarter. looking at the place now, it seems incredible that the garrison--a mere handful--should have been able to withstand the frenzied crowd; but one must not forget that it was a mob, not a disciplined army. as to the french and english legations, the former was reduced nearly to ruins, while the latter suffered comparatively little damage, but lost more lives. the so-called european quarter is a large area of about a mile and a half square, lying between the imperial city and the tartar wall, and crossed by the rue des legations. [illustration: the legation quarter "long rows of caravans coming from the western frontier and tibet" to face page 152] i start on my round at the legation yamen. in front of the royal palace on the right are the new american barracks, before the gates of which a number of soldiers of every nationality are lounging. opposite is the international hospital, a two-storeyed building painted light blue; an uglier erection i have never seen, but i am pleased to find the interior arrangements excellent. the dutch and american legations came next, adjoining each other, as do also the russian and english, but of these only the garden walls are visible. architecturally the american legation is decidedly unattractive, and therefore it does not matter much that it is hidden from view, but the russian and english legations are typical chinese dwellings. the architecture of the latter is interesting, for the house itself belonged to one of the imperial princes, and was built in a style worthy of his rank. on the opposite bank of the canal the italian and japanese concessions form a square. a new wall has been built quite recently, and is fortified at the corner by a turret. the german legation is on the other side of the rue des legations. the barracks have just been completed, and if they were built for vindictive reasons, germany has more than attained her end, so hideous are they. built in gothic style, they are the most conspicuous of all, and utterly destroy the harmony of the oriental forms around them. the austro-hungarian legation is still in course of erection, in the style of a villa with porticoes; its chief merit lies in its simplicity, but it would certainly have harmonized better with its surroundings had the architect adhered to the style of the old yamens. though the walls and slender pillars may appeal to the æsthete, it reminds one of a castle of cards, which will easily collapse in future troubles. the series of legations is closed by the belgian. the russo-chinese and shanghai banks are also in the rue des legations, the former supported by russian, the latter by english capital. their operations spread far and wide. such are the main features of the so-called international territory, that famous and historic spot, the theatre of the recent chinese troubles. every inch of it was most gallantly defended by its feeble garrison, day and night, for many months. these heroes were decimated by the bullet, sickness, or famine. the great distance between europe and china was probably the reason why the outer world knew so little of the serious nature of the siege, and the isolation of the legations made matters worse. at the time of my visit it was barely two years since it all happened, but, during that short time, a new city had arisen on the ruins of the european concession. to get a better view i ascend a bastion, and wherever i look busy workmen meet my eyes. the powers seem to be vying with each other; one patronizes gables, another prefers towers, or adorns its walls with bastions; but all is with the view of overshadowing their neighbours. my eye was at first offended by the artistic shortcomings of these buildings, but now it is their practical defects that are conspicuous. it looks as if the oft-quoted and melancholy chaos which followed the victory of the powers has found visible expression in this new quarter. there seems to be neither uniformity of plan nor advantage of position. but this is not the only weak point of the treaty of chefoo. its provisions fixed the war indemnity, established commercial treaties of dubious worth, and made a few concessions valuable only for the moment, and this at a time when the powers were absolute masters and in a position to dictate reforms, not only of local and temporary importance, but of universal, historical, and moral value. the boxer movement of 1900 came as a great surprise, at any rate to the majority of the powers, and during the outbreak the sole aim of some of the legations seemed to be to secure their own advantage and defeat the aspirations of the rest. this might partly explain how the most guilty persons escaped punishment, and the old state of affairs in china soon returned. the foreign ministers came back and occupied their new quarters, protected by thicker walls, which the boxers would have more difficulty in pulling down. i do not know whether i ought to take all i was told about these fortifications seriously, but the garden walls seemed to have been built in the belief that they were indestructible. a few hundred soldiers are kept here by the respective powers to protect their subjects in case of war. they might suffice in the event of a street riot, but if this nation of four hundred millions should some day determine to act in unison, these walls and the ornamental sentries would, i am afraid, make a very poor defence. in fact, it is hardly to be believed that, if china were once more to attack the european legations, she would employ a mob for the purpose. it is more likely that she will wait until her army is reorganized and armed with modern rifles and krupp guns. the new quarter exhibits the same defects as the old. the walls, indeed, are a little higher and the barracks have additional wings, but they remain isolated as before. it is always a difficult task to throw up defensive works within a city--even the value of the most efficient is questionable; but, if these precautionary measures were absolutely needful, it would certainly have been better to enclose the entire european quarter with a stronger common wall, as is the case with the imperial city. this would have made it possible for the garrisons of the legations to defend any point attacked conjointly. and it would have had the further advantage that a really pretty, shady town would have been built in the anglo-indian style, amongst earthworks planted with trees, instead of a number of insanitary separate walled prisons. or would it not have been better to build the european town outside the city gate, between the canal and the railway, where the movement of pekin is least felt? neither money nor concessions were wanting, and, both for hygienic and strategical reasons, it would have been far better. the air is purer there, and, in the event of danger, the chances of escape or of obtaining assistance from without are far greater. the present european quarter in pekin reminds one of a town which has been rebuilt, after violent earthquakes, on the same spot and in the same way, on that most unsubstantial foundation--chance. iv the tartar city the outward appearance of the city, with the exception of the european quarter, is the same as of yore. the ground plan of pekin is very regular, and is formed of two squares, one the tartar, the other the chinese town, each surrounded by a separate wall, with a total number of thirteen gates, with gigantic double-roofed towers. the centre is occupied by the imperial city, within which is the purple or forbidden city, and inside this we come at last to the emperor's palaces, private mansions, villas, tea-houses, and temples. the imperial palace is itself intersected by gardens, lakes, and streams, and looks more like a city than a palace, nay, like a miniature picture of this whole-walled country. [illustration: entrance to the forbidden city "the centre of this marvellous maze is the emperor's sanctuary" to face page 158] from the large gate a broad street leads through the imperial and tartar towns to the great southern gate, one of the strangest thoroughfares in the world. the innermost wall is set in a square of broad moats. four arched marble bridges lead to the four gates. the jagged wall, the pagoda-like towers of the bastions, the arches of the bridges, all are decorated with finely carved dragons, as rigidly prescribed by law. walls, moats, towers, and palaces, are repeated in all parts of the gigantic palace; the walls of all buildings being painted red. the shape of the yellow-tiled roofs is that of booths. everything is planned in accordance with traditions thousands of years old. the threshold must not be larger than that which confucius crossed, nor must the door be wider than the length of the great teacher's arms. every detail of the dwelling, to the minutest ornament, has some symbolic or mythical significance; for instance, at the entrance one never fails to find the wall which tradition demands to protect the peaceful inhabitants from evil spirits, while the ceiling of the house must not be higher than any of the goblins would care to ascend. in the same way the trimming or embroidery of the dress of an official or courtier has its particular meaning. this likewise applies to private individuals, and the innermost chambers of their homes, simply because it is required by law. it is this rigid system that makes china appear so uniform, at any rate outwardly. this same system, too, gives her her great interest from a psychological point of view. there is hardly any nation or people, throughout the whole history of civilization, whose life has been so profoundly and lastingly influenced by doctrine as the population of the yellow empire has been by the teachings of confucius. from the celestial altar (representing the centre of the universe), where only the son of heaven may worship his father, down to each separate temple, yamen, and stone of sacrifice, everything expresses one and the same ethical idea. it is this gigantic moral system, with its organic life penetrating to the minutest detail, that keeps china strong, even in her present decadence, and makes pekin, even amidst its ruins, one of the greatest cities on earth. it is the plan, or let us say conception, which makes us wonder. the metaphysical qualities of this people fascinate us; their ancient traditions are still their strongholds, and their old systems, however degenerate, the source of moral strength. but i hope to deal more fully elsewhere with the psychological side of china. at present i only want to give a hasty sketch of its capital. one can scarcely imagine a more systematically laid out city than pekin. the throne is in the centre; thence radiates every street, thither leads every road. it is the focus of the city, the heart of the empire, but--forbidden ground. the man who sets foot therein forfeits his life, so sacred and inviolable is it. within the second wall the imperial family and the court reside, precious stones set in gold, as the bards say. next comes the so-called imperial city. the extensive lotus lake, the long marble bridge, the maisan hill, the summer residence of the dowager empress, are all contained in that vast area--a number of little towns whose wonders would take whole chapters to describe. each of them has its own mysterious history. there was a time when, among the clusters of the lotus, more blood flowed than water. upon one of the islets stands a summer-house, a very homely building, looking as though its only purpose must be to shelter happiness; but fate made a most gloomy prison of it. there the young emperor was confined, in anguish, like a criminal, and never knowing whether the morrow would find him alive or lying at the bottom of the lake. poor young emperor! though he has regained his liberty--if leaving the island for the palace walls can be called freedom--his mind is wrapped in darkness. his youthful dream of making his people happy has vanished for ever. his lofty ideals have crumbled to dust, and of his early counsellors, some are in exile, others in the eternal silence. the new town residence of the empress is along the south-eastern wall, and there are other houses enclosed in gardens, all exhibiting the same architectural uniformity--red walls and yellow roofs. the only decoration is the marble staircase with carved dragons. in the adjacent gardens are the quarters of the household staff, and close by the old foreign mission and the cathedral. the mission exchanged those quarters for a fine site farther off, where it is now established. the _maisan_ (meaning "mount of coal") is an artificial hill in front of the principal northern gate. its five peaks are adorned with fine summer residences of unequalled beauty, and roofed with enamelled tiles, displaying a number of the porcelain towers so familiar to us from our school-books. many versions have come down to posterity as to the origin of the _maisan_, but i am inclined to think that originally it was erected for the same purpose as the walls round the gates--that of protection against evil spirits. my assumption is rather confirmed by the fact that in the grove extending along the side of the hill stands the great death-chamber, a hall supported on colossal pillars, wherein is deposited the coffin of a deceased emperor. the funeral procession passes through the large northern gate in front of the graves of the emperors. in china, where everything has a meaning, it would be fallacious to assume that the _maisan_ did not symbolize something, and the uncertainty and mystery only enhance the beauty of the evergreen groves of the place. it is like the roman testaccian hill in this respect, the only interesting feature of whose barrenness lies in its mysterious origin. [illustration: triumphal arch "the maisan is an artificial wall in front of the principal northern gate" to face page 162] the fourth wall is that of the tartar city, which is almost square, and has altogether ten gates--three to the north, three to the south, two to the east, and two to the west. the wall is about seventeen miles long and fifty feet high, and so wide that a dozen soldiers abreast can ride on it comfortably. at its four corners are four three-storeyed bastions with double-gabled, green-tiled roofs. over the gates are towers with similar roofs, and everywhere the same imperial emblems, the same dragons and ornamentation. everything bears the stamp of uniformity, embodying one canon of taste and one idea. one can hardly imagine a grander and more sombre structure than the symmetrical, harmonious walls of pekin, and the more we see of them the more we are charmed. the wall of the chinese town was added to that of the tartar city to form a parallelogram; it is similar to the former, though somewhat more modest. to the north the three gates of the tartar city serve as entrance, while on its eastern and western sides are two gates respectively, and to the south is the principal entrance to pekin. then come the moats and ditches and the ubiquitous bridges. so any one desiring to approach the throne must pass altogether through five cities, seven gates, and five bridges, and in the imperial city one must walk through five halls and five courts ere the throne itself is reached. the conception of all this is as grand as it is masterly. nowhere is the idea of majesty enhanced so infinitely, and nowhere is power adorned to such an extent as in china. the winter palace and windsor castle are merely private dwellings, and even versailles loses much of its grandeur when compared to the imperial palace in pekin. it is only a few months since the court returned from its protracted exile to the deserted palaces; and what a brilliant and magnificent spectacle that grand procession afforded on the long route through five cities and so many gates and bridges! although the uniforms of the soldiers must have looked rather shabby and the coats of the mandarins somewhat worn. the pageant must have been one of the most striking ever seen. v the chinese city the skill of the mechanics and industry of the chinese artisans are proverbial, and it is a never-ending source of interest to watch them, or to study the commercial spirit of the people. i have lately seen a good deal of the commercial life of pekin, though i am more familiar with that of niu-chwang. the long rows of caravans, coming from the western frontier and tibet, and laden with merchandise peculiar to those regions, are characteristic of the former. the centre of trade is in the chinese city; but how can i convey an idea of this to those who do not know this people and this part of the world? what a blending of colours! what noise and dust! what an infinity of light and shade! what a wonderful mosaic! who could ever grasp the total effect in all its splendour? who could ever understand it in all its mystery? every detail is so novel, and everything i see comes as a surprise. during my prolonged stay i go out every afternoon on some extended walk of exploration, and the greatest charm of my wanderings is that i come across famous monuments when i least expect them. i divide the city into different portions, and each day i visit another quincunx. my task is the easier owing to the fact that the town is built on a chess-board plan, like a military encampment. strictly speaking, it is composed of several towns, each having its own distinct characteristics and purpose, and each a peculiar architecture, while each is inhabited by a different caste. the so-called tartar city is the home of all the manchus, who followed the present dynasty from their native land. they are mostly public officials, or enrolled in the imperial army. the inner, or imperial city, is reserved for mandarins and higher court dignitaries, and encloses the more restricted area with the three consecutive cities--the purple, forbidden, and sacred. one part of the purple city is entirely reserved for the empress dowager, and the other part contains the abodes of the court and their guardians. the centre of this marvellous maze is the emperor's sanctuary. on the southern side of the tartar city extends the chinese city, set apart entirely for commercial purposes, where all the chinese live, whence its name. all the famous shops are there, and there a bustling trade is carried on from morning till night. "are the pekin sights worth seeing?" is the universal question of new arrivals. it would be easier to give an answer if one were asked, "what is _not_ worth seeing, and what can be omitted in pekin?" among my many excursions there was not one devoid of some striking discovery--a fine building, unknown spot, or quaint scene; and even when i did not come across any regular sight, i was always surrounded by a world full of interest, a world by itself. if i were to give my opinion, i should advise the foreigner, before everything, to examine this quaint world which surrounds him, and to seek to understand its exuberant life; and it would be a great advantage to visit the different parts of the city at different hours of the day, to watch the sun rise from the city walls when the town seems to awake with the sudden burst of light, and to pass the morning hours in the narrow lanes, overcrowded with shops; at midday to pay visits to the official yamens and to local grandees, or to drive in the afternoon to one of the temples, or make an excursion to the neighbouring shrines and watch the sun set from the eastern hills, or the top of the famous pagodas, lost amidst the country. from an artistic standpoint there are a great many gems to be found, while so far as nature is concerned, the surrounding hills are unsurpassed in their scenery. the imperial deer-park is very fine too, and in its quiet melancholy offers a charming haunt for solitary rides. another place for an outing is the famous princesses' tombs, which are worth while visiting in every respect. and there is the charming old portuguese cemetery, with its sad graves of the first christians, who played such a leading part at the emperor's court in the seventeenth century. the inscriptions on the monuments and white marble crosses are so many records of the first missionaries' work. and farther on is one of pekin's architectural marvels, the well-known so-called thirteen-storeyed pagoda. its walls are richly carved with uncanny figures, and it is covered with an indescribable roof, looking like thirteen umbrellas put one on top of the other. there are, moreover, the two summer palaces, one of rich french rococo, but now lying in ruins, and the other, which still serves as a summer abode, occupying a vast area, scattered over with many kiosks, tea-houses, and yamens, laid out with marvellous gardens, artificial fishponds, and marble bridges. unluckily, entrance to it is strictly forbidden, and a trespasser would be punished by decapitation. until quite recently permission was never accorded to a foreigner to penetrate this forbidden paradise. now on certain occasions the diplomatic body is received within, and at such a function i was an invited guest; but as i have endeavoured, in another chapter, to give a description, however inadequately, of this wonderland of china pagodas, hanging gardens belonging to the modern semiramis, and forests planted with miniature orchards and pines, i will not enlarge upon them here. it would indeed be impossible to depict in words what can only be realized by sight. i can only hope that others may have the same privilege. i would give the same advice with regard to the imperial palace in pekin, which, after all, is the greatest wonder of this wondrous city. while rambling in pekin, no one should omit to explore the main thoroughfares of both cities, to visit the side lanes, nor to stop before the great chinese gate, or ta-chin-men, and look straight down and enjoy the marvellous panorama of the ch'ien-men, or great street. sitting on the marble balustrade of the ch'ien-men san-tau bridge, one could spend hours in watching the extraordinary scene. the whole population of this gigantic city seems to assemble here at certain hours of the day. rich mandarins on horses with elaborate trappings and humble coolies, princes coming from mongolia, carried in splendid litters, are stopped by the half-naked members of the celebrated beggars' guild. there are shops on both sides and booths in front of each shop, displaying more modest wares; and besides this double row of shops, there is a third row of goods for sale; but this department consists merely of mats or sheets of paper spread out in the gutter, where ragamuffins offer the treasure-trove of the preceding night. behind the ch'ien-men street is a maze of alleys, packed with warehouses and richly carved fronts, which form the most marvellous bazaar ever seen. and the effect of this fairyland built of cardboard and tinsel is enhanced by the sun coming through the open spaces in the awnings in shafts of light. indeed, i would strongly recommend every one to take his first reconnoitring walk through the ch'ien-men quarter. as for sights and architectural treasures, there is such an amazing number of them that it is necessary to employ a little discrimination and to put aside the ambition of the average sightseer, which is to say, "i did them all." among the temples, the hall of the classics, or pi-yung-kung, also called the temple of confucius, which contains the complete text of the nine king or classical books, the foundation of ancient chinese literature, is one of the most remarkable. there are several interesting buildings in its shady grounds, and the entrance arch, covered with beautiful yellow porcelain, is a triumph of chinese art. kwo-tsze-chien is another fine pile, and its foundation dates from the time of the yuan dynasty, which reigned in the thirteenth century. the main hall contains a most interesting wooden tablet, with a characteristic inscription as follows: "the tablet to the soul of the most holy ancestral teacher, confucius." the best known and most often described temple is that of the famous lama monastery, which is a town in itself, composed of many buildings and still owning many art treasures, some very good pieces of cloisonné, and excellent jade work. at certain hours of the day the monks have services with wonderful ritual, and a procession of the great lama, clad in royal purple and saffron-yellow, followed by his silk-draped staff, wearing helmets and crests bristling with feathers. it is a spectacle of unquestionable novelty to a european. outside the wall one must not omit a visit to hwang-ssu, where, in the centre court, stands a white marble monument, erected by the emperor kien-lung to the memory of the teshoo lama, who was the uncle of the one in lhassa, the dalai lama, and who, during a visit to the imperial city, where he was the guest of the emperor himself, died suddenly, as the inscription says, of malignant smallpox. not less famous is the ta-chung-ssu, or temple of the great bell. it was built in the sixteenth century, and contains the largest bell in the empire, which a century and a half before was cast by order of yung-lo. but among all the temples, as its name indicates, the finest is the so-called temple of heaven, where only the emperor has the right to offer sacrifice. it stands in a grove, occupying over a square mile, in the south-eastern quarter of the chinese city, and although it consists of but a few buildings only, each is one of the marvels of the east. the main hall is a rotunda, a kind of pagoda built on top of a platform, which, with its balustrade and the flight of steps skirting it all round, are of finely carved marble. the colonnade, supporting the umbrella-like roof, is of purple lacquered timber, the tiles being of blue porcelain; and i think it is the only building which is permitted to be covered with the colour of the sky. from this unique shrine, across the grass and through the grove, leads a marble pathway to the imperial altar. this altar, if so it can be called, is really another platform like the previous one from which we came, but it is even more imposing, higher, and surrounded by more elaborate stairs and finer balustrades. it has no shrine and no pagoda on the top of it; its colonnade is formed by the cedars and cypresses of the grove which surround it, and the dome of this spotless white marble pedestal is the cloudless blue sky. [illustration: the temple of heaven "the main hall is a rotunda" to face page 172] it would be vain to try to make the beauty of this spot comprehensible. besides, my aim is not to trespass on the domain of a guide-book, which very likely would give a whole chapter to this place, and even so, i am afraid, would never succeed in conveying the poetic impression of the unique shrine. i must, however, mention a few other places of interest. the temple of the earth, for instance, which is also very extensive, has some very fine buildings, a delightful old sundial, and an emblematic well. in an open space there is a field of rice, the symbol of fertility, where the emperor ploughs the first furrow of the year. of course, the two huge towers which look down upon us at a distance through all our wanderings should not be omitted either. one is the tower of the gong or bell, and the other that of the drum. they are, in fact, two belfries, for announcing all good or evil news to the citizens. i would also recommend everybody to go where the two gothic spires lift their graceful forms towards heaven, and to pass an afternoon at the mission of pei-tang, where they will meet with an excellent reception and be offered sincere hospitality. they may still see traces of the boxer vandalism, ruins and shells piled up in pyramids, a small cemetery where all the martyrs are buried--soldiers and priests, starving children and helpless women--and a small commemorative chapel. it will unquestionably please them to see that most of the ruins have been restored, and that the extensive orphanage houses several hundred children. pei-tang is a centre, not only of faith but of work, and the children go through hard training schools before they are able to earn their daily bread. the boys as a rule become artisans or tradesmen, and those who show greater aptitude become silversmiths, or cloisonné makers. those who like study can enter the adjoining grammar school or the seminary. needlework is the main occupation of the little girls, who make beautiful lace and fine embroideries, and their products find an easy market in the european or legation quarter. pei-tang is certainly worth visiting, and most edifying, and not only co-religionists will find satisfaction in all they see, but any one interested in history, art, education, charitable work, and civilization in general, will gather useful information and find valuable documents. as for the evenings in pekin, even the best guide-book will fail to give advice. at sunset everything is closed and everybody retires; the city gates are barred, and traffic is stopped. even the famous theatres are deserted, and the plays, which begin early in the morning, must finish at dusk. during the night pekin is wrapped in silence and darkness. it is only in the european quarter that lights are to be perceived, and loud talk, hoarse laughter, or a hackneyed chorus, issues from a newly opened bar--sad recreation ground for the allied troops, giving the chinese but a sorry example of the european idea of amusement. furnished with letters of introduction, which are more necessary in the east than passports, the traveller will have an opportunity of passing some charming evenings at the different legations, and in the houses of the resident diplomatists, officers, priests, and so forth, and they will be able to see how their compatriots live in exile and discuss the last events that have occurred in the west, and, by the blue smoke of a cigar, forecast the possibilities of the east. vii the dowager empress and the emperor of china at the summer palace the glorious rays of the sun burst through it the eastern hills. from night to day is but a moment. there is no lingering dawn. the country is ablaze with colour, and yet the autumn is well advanced towards the so-called st. martin's summer. in spite of the early hour, the streets of pekin show unusual bustle. these endless thoroughfares, which on ordinary mornings are so gloomy and deserted, have awaked to life. at the doors of those quaint and attractive shops, full of the strange odds and ends that are of perennial interest to the wanderer in the east, and at the street corners, groups of people are talking vivaciously. curious eyes are peeping from little windows, and everybody is evidently in expectation of some unusual sight. but what gives the most unfamiliar aspect to the scene is that there are street-sweepers here and there, more or less busy at their work, and a few policemen, in the most fanciful uniforms. it is the day of the imperial reception of the diplomatic corps. it is an innovation in the functions at the court of the dragon that the representatives of the western nations should be annually received in state, a favour which has been granted since the allies entered pekin, one of the very few concessions, i am afraid, that have been granted. the court passes the autumn in the beautiful residence some sixteen miles from the city. we are compelled to travel all this way, and by any means we may find convenient, as there is no railway. some are riding, some are carried in old-fashioned canopied palanquins. i see the conservative representative of portugal carried by a magnificent team of stalwart cantonese, with endless pigtails and rich harness--i ought to say livery. germany, on the contrary, rattles over the most impracticable, neglected highway in a tyrolean carriage, an object of great wonder and interest to the natives, as it is the first and only four-wheeler in the city. it is a long journey, but not devoid of interest. we pass through a series of villages and hamlets, each of them teeming with busy life. i must say the energy and industry of the chinese fill me with admiration. all along the road we meet people bearing signs of trade or commerce. some are carrying huge baskets of fruit, of flowers, or grain. others are laden with many kinds of goods. many push wheelbarrows burdened with more than a european cart could bear. caravans of heavy mongolian camels roped together travel to and fro in one never-ending, sinuous line. but the greater part of the traffic is absorbed by the imperial household. we must not forget that the summer palace is a town in itself, a city inhabited by thousands of mandarins, court functionaries, attendants, servants, and labourers. the number, i believe, is estimated at ten thousand, and the daily expenses at something incalculable. the country all round is marvellously cultivated. it is interesting to watch the people at work in the fields, and see by what primitive methods they obtain such surprising results. at last we arrive at the palace, and are met by such a crowd that it is with difficulty that any progress can be made at all. most of the legations have sent out guards with tents, where the representatives can put on their full dress. we gather afterwards before the palace gates in a typical yamen, a choice specimen of chinese domestic architecture, simple in conception, but elaborate in detail. prince ching, minister for foreign affairs, arrives; unquestionably a striking figure and an interesting personality. slim, even fragile, his yellow skin covers the bones of his face like an old parchment, pale and wrinkled, and the brightness of his small, beady eyes makes a striking contrast. the introductions at once begin; but as prince ching does not speak either french or english, his secretary acts as interpreter. if i remember correctly, this gentleman is a member of one of the numerous li family; but what i specially recollect is his exquisite manner, exceptional refinement, and wide knowledge. he speaks perfect french, has travelled all over europe, has stopped in our capitals for years, and taken a special interest in our scientific institutions. i confess to very much surprise when he began to testify his personal appreciation of my own national university of buda pesth. perhaps it is the old-fashioned chinese dress, mandarin hat, or pigtail, that causes western people to feel astonished at finding among natives of the yellow empire sometimes a more thorough knowledge of the west and a deeper insight into our minds than we can realize. the empty compliments have been exchanged--and empty indeed they are. at last an escort of palace guards and mandarins arrives, to lead us towards the inner palace gate. i wish i could have fixed the picture then unrolled before my eyes; or have possessed a lantern of real magic, that could picture now all i saw, outline and colour and haze, all that was bright and all that was shadow! it was a scene never to be forgotten. a crowd dressed in all the hues of the rainbow, carrying silken flags, embroidered banners, painted inscriptions, gauze-covered lanterns, and glittering trophies: all the emblems of power, all the symbols of the celestial empire. the wondrous crowd stretches into a scattered procession and winds across the narrow lane like a giant serpent, with shimmering scales, in a fairy tale. a more fitting pageant could not approach the dragon's court. the huge scarlet gate, studded with golden nails, swings open on its groaning hinges. soldiers, like the fantastic creations of an uncanny dream, present their strange medley of arms--long spears, crescent-shaped scythes, threatening spikes, and grim battle-axes, are silhouetted against the peaceful sky. we enter the huge courtyard, and there is another surprise. a large square, paved with white marble, enclosed on the four sides by four marble terraces supporting each an open hall, covered with yellow tiles, and the whole domed by the sapphire firmament of the eastern sky. the open space is filled with mandarins, all dressed in dark blue silk embroidered with gold; at first sight all very much alike, and yet in the embroidery very different, each minute detail expressing some distinction. through the central hall we get to another great courtyard, apparently a copy of the first, larger, finer, and more magnificent, but in style always the same; four open halls, white marble terraces, white marble pavements, golden roofs, and sapphire dome. all the inmates are clad in sapphire and gold, the only colours i could perceive. the whole picture is painted in the gradations of these hues. it was a perfect harmony of colour, so artistic and refined that it compelled admiration. i have been at many great receptions, but i can remember none more impressive than the reception at the summer palace. that suppliants at the throne must arrive through many gates and courts and halls enhances the effect. as you approach, each gate is more magnificent, each courtyard larger, each hall loftier, all combining to add grandeur to the ceremony. in each court there are suave courtiers and silky mandarins. as we advance the rank is higher, until in the inner court there are assembled the highest viceroys and princes of the imperial blood. but i have no leisure to observe the glory of the place--gold, jewels, and sunshine are too much together. i can only see a dark blue carpet that leads us to the steps of the central hall--or pagoda, as i would prefer to call it--one of those fancy structures we read about in nursery tales. the hall seems indeed strange to us; marvellous to western eyes. it takes me some time to distinguish between colour and shape, what is reality and what is fiction. at first i perceive flowers gathered into wreaths and hung in rich festoons. they are chrysanthemums of many shapes and shades, some exceedingly small, some exceptionally large, some resembling the rose, some like huge spiders; from pale sulphur to dark bronze, there is every hue of gold. they are placed in bowls and vases, marvels of age, of incomparable beauty and priceless value, which, as i hear from my friend li, were rebought at extortionate figures from the europeans who looted them. and in this perfect garden of flowers there are mounds of magnificent fruit piled up in brightly enamelled cloisonné dishes, fresh peaches, luscious pears, bright oranges; but again, all of them in the tints of gold. each fruit and flower, of which there are so many standing isolated, has its symbolic meaning in china--the peach, longevity; the plum, youth; the cherry, affection; and the chrysanthemum, everlasting beauty. but i do not want to read the language of fruits and flowers. what interests me is the artistic beauty of the decorations and the perfect stage management of the surroundings. from the point of view of the artist or the organizer it is perfect. it is an exquisite harmony, limited to the tones of gold, the sapphire, and the emerald, with the rich hues of a peacock's feather carried to its climax in decorations, paintings, embroidery, dresses, flowers, and fruit. each object in the hall has its purpose in the magnificent scheme. it may be a simple chrysanthemum or a flag on the canopy over the throne itself, but they all emphasize the same grand central idea. whatever our opinions of chinese art may be, we cannot fail to admire its vigour and its refinement. during my repeated visits to that land, it gave me continuous interest and constant surprises. it is always grand, always strong, and always refined. these same features strike me here today in the summer palace. the greatness of the architectural conception, the marvellous plan of the surroundings, the amplitude of the accessories, all contribute to make the summer palace of pekin more royal and imperial than any other palace in the world. and again, as to refinement, i cannot imagine anything more charming than the decorations and embellishments, which are modulated like a symphony. what is the dowager empress like? what do you think of the young emperor? are questions everybody will ask. in the first place, the empress is of average height, strongly built, and completely self-possessed. as for her dress, i am afraid i cannot describe ladies' attire as i can objects of art. she was, i remember, clad in some dark blue colour, embroidered with golden thread. what struck me most was the manchu head-dress, which causes the hair to project from the head like the long wings of a bat, each decorated with a bunch of chrysanthemums. the empress is a manchu, and clings to her national garments and fashions, which, if they have no other advantage, at least permit the children's feet to be at liberty, contrary to the chinese custom. she was seated on a high throne, elaborately carved, heavily gilded, and covered by a magnificent canopy. before her was a table, on which she rested her long-nailed fingers. on her left, one step below, the emperor was seated, making in his meek appearance a striking contrast to his imperious aunt. it cannot be denied that the dowager empress of china has a commanding appearance. nearly seventy years of age, she looks younger, and her strong features have kept all their mobility. the square forehead, strong nose, and firm mouth, are the most prominent features; but i think her character is best seen in the drooping twitch of the mouth, and her searching gaze. nothing seems to escape her. during the whole reception her keen glance followed every movement, and examined separately every individual. [illustration: the empress dowager of china reproduced by kind permission of mr eveleigh nash, from miss k. a. carl's volume "with the empress dowager of china" to face page 184] we stood in a long row before the steps of the throne, and the _doyen_ of the diplomatic body stepped forward to deliver his official greeting. it was a cordial speech; taking recent events into consideration, almost too cordial, and i am afraid, as translated by prince ching, it assumed an even more complimentary tone. even so it did not rise to this proud woman's expectations. she heard it unmoved, without any visible sign of emotion, i venture to say without interest. her mouth retained its sceptical curve, her glance was cold and haughty; and when old prince ching had kow-towed for the last time to the ground the empress gave the order by a commanding sign that the answer should be read, but without uttering a syllable. the answer was read, and listened to in perfect silence. the fall of a leaf could have been heard. it was not long, and merely said, "her majesty the empress was glad the representatives of the powers had had a favourable day for their visit." was it meant to be a compliment or was it sarcasm? it would be difficult to judge. it was ambiguous, but it gave a certain insight into the speaker's character. it might have served to explain a little bit more of this extraordinary mind which has manifested itself in such manifold ways, and led to so many paradoxical actions. of the dark stories that are whispered of the palace, i would not like to speak. whether they are true or false must always remain in doubt. if the empress is not talkative when receiving a diplomatic body, if she is silent on a state occasion, it only shows her great caution. it was by her personal ability and hard work she rose step by step to the highest position of the empire. to attain it undoubtedly hard work and strength were required, and to keep it all her life must have called for even greater efforts. and this is so much more the case on account of the insignificance of the part played by women in chinese life. what ways and means she employed must be left for history to narrate. as i mentioned before, she seemed to be a keen observer. all she saw, the whole reception, must have been so new to her, if we consider that to be seen by ordinary human eyes is to the celestial imperial family like a crime. each time the court moves from the summer to the winter palace, along the whole length of the road each door and shutter is heavily closed, and the punishment of decapitation hangs over anybody discovered gazing at her. it must seem even harder to have to receive a body of men in the privacy of her home, for such a proceeding is utterly repugnant to all eastern conceptions. but it might interest people to know that, on one occasion, when she invited only the ladies of the foreign legations, her reception of them was most cordial. she took tea with them, and showed unlimited interest in all their domestic affairs. she wanted to know the number of their children, the exact amount of their incomes; but what seemed to interest her most of all was their age. she admired some of their jewels, and went so far as to ask as a souvenir a very costly fan, and returned, as the greatest sign of her regard, one of her own. its value was small, as it merely consisted of a few square inches of rice-paper, on which were painted a few chrysanthemums. but, as the empress explained with a witty smile, the painting was the work of her own hands, and she hoped that would be an ample reward. there is no question, the dowager empress is a clever woman and a skilful politician. the best proof of her diplomatic ability is that she is seated before us on her golden throne. the day on which the rescuing force was led into the besieged city to relieve the famishing legations and help the tortured christians, the empress and all her court were fleeing through a devastated country in a lumbering wooden car. the mighty empress took refuge in humble houses, hid herself in stables, and crawled for concealment into caves. who would have believed that those deserted beings, that scattered court, would return to the palace under the protection of the same allied force that arrived to avenge outraged justice and set her once more on her throne? the life of the young emperor is familiar to all. his struggle for freedom and progress failed utterly, and he now seems, morally and physically, a wreck. i was told that when his ideas had been discovered he was separated from his entourage, shut up in a pavilion, and kept as a prisoner. he sat in his armchair, immovable, almost as if he were asleep. it was a sad spectacle, and one to arouse the deepest sympathy. we remained for the whole of the day as guests of their majesties, wandering in the wonderland of their favourite grounds, going from palace to pagoda, from temple to hall, each a separate gem of chinese art, and each bearing evidence of wanton mutilation by the allied troops. i felt grieved that such monuments of history and pieces of art, which should have been a cherished possession of all the world, should have been destroyed by what we call civilized white men. we strolled over marble bridges, climbed pagodas built of china, were shown the marvellous orchard, planted with dwarf trees, the favourite resort of the princess, and had tea served on the marble boat. [illustration: the summer palace "we remained for the whole day as guests of their majesties, wandering in the wonderland of their favourite grounds" to face page 188] but the great feature of the day was the state banquet, where we were served with, i dare say, a hundred courses of unimaginable dainties: sharks' fins, water-sparrows, eggs of great age, nests of sea-birds, and puppy chops. but i will not weary my readers with such details. i only want to tell of my journey back along the dusty highway to pekin. i was so worn out and faint with hunger, not having been able to appreciate the chinese cooking, that i stopped for rest and a dish of boiled rice at our orphanage at pei-tang, where the popular hooded nuns, so well known for their heroic sacrifices on battle-fields, in plague hospitals and leper homes, maintain an asylum to save the lives of little children who would otherwise sometimes be killed by their own parents. these children are brought up to be good men and useful citizens; and i can only wish that the empress, instead of giving banquets of a hundred courses at the summer palace, would send some crumbs to the little starving babes. and never have i appreciated a meal more than on that evening, after so much gold and glitter and external show, in the humble abode. viii korea of bygone days and on the eve of the war i the history of korea reads like a fairy tale. the land of the morning calm beyond the seas is so quaint, so very much out of the common, that we can hardly realize that all we hear of it is reality and not mere fiction. the country, the people, and the life are all strange, and totally different from what we see and meet with in other parts of the world. i can scarcely imagine anything more impressive than for a traveller coming straight from some western port to land in this country--one of the remotest in the east. it is as though he had set foot in a topsy-turvy world; everything is the reverse of what he has been accustomed to. facts and ideas are antagonistic to ours; things material and spiritual seem to be governed by other rules and other natural laws. the origin of korea is buried in myth and mystery; its past is so varied, such an ever-changing chiaroscuro, that we look upon it as legendary. its present remains true to tradition. within the limits of this chapter i would like to deal with korea from a more utilitarian point of view, and not merely to describe the traditions, quaint customs, and picturesque features of the land. my desire is to represent korea not only as one of the quaintest countries on the surface of the globe--a land of old-world type--but as a country in the first stage of transition. the difference between ancient and modern korea is stupendous; a few years seem to have done the work of centuries. korea of the past is undoubtedly the more attractive to the traveller, but korea of the present does not lack interest for one anxious to find in this corner of the earth something more than panoramic scenery. the old order still catches the eye everywhere; new reforms are lost in the crowd. outwardly everything is old, but an inward change is being effected day by day. the ancient cut and faint colour of the garb have been preserved, but new ideas are being constantly interwoven and are obliterating the old. ancient habits and customs are dying out hourly and irretrievably, and have to give way to modern utilitarianism. the days of old korea are numbered. the appearance of the whole country is altered. railways now intersect the quiet, dreamy countryside; buildings of architectural beauty, as well as humble cottages, are disappearing to make room for modern houses and factories. the charm of the scenery will inevitably vanish in face of the commercial and industrial progress. the world is moving on; it is necessary that it should, and change must follow the flight of time. but i am glad that i am here today and not to-morrow; glad that i know korea as it has been in the past. for who knows what future awaits her? i shall never be able fully to describe my first impressions. everything that meets my eye is new, that which surrounds me is unintelligible, almost mysterious. korea and tibet are the most isolated countries in asia, and have, therefore, most completely preserved their ancient traditions and customs. it is only a quarter of a century since korea first opened her gates to foreigners. radical changes can hardly be expected to take place within a few years; the remodelling of a country and its people is the work of many generations. ii korea, as we see on the map, lies at the furthest eastern extremity of the asiatic continent. it is a peninsula in the shape of an irregular oblong. its frontiers on three sides are formed by the japanese and the yellow seas, and only on the north does a short strip of land divide it from manchuria. its area is eighty thousand square miles. the aspect of the country is of great variety, extremely mountainous, just here and there intersected by valleys. some of the peaks are over seven thousand feet high; but what is more striking than their height is their formation. they are all very rich in mines, and the valleys are extremely fertile, and yet korea has been, within the memory of man, one of the poorest countries of the world. the mines have never been worked, and the ground yields just enough for daily food. various reasons for this have been assigned. the mines have not been worked because the government feared that the gathering together of so many workmen at far-away districts would be favourable to revolutions. a crowd was considered a danger to the reigning family. and i have been told that the cause of the scanty cultivation of the fields is that it is not worth while to have much grain stored in the granaries, for in that case it would surely be confiscated by the government officials. the larger rivers, like the yalu and the han, would afford excellent means of communication, but navigation is as yet practically unknown. the natural bays could easily afford harbour accommodation for all the fleets of the world, but, except the few open ports, they are only visited by some miserable native wooden junks, and a few japanese or chinese fishing-boats. the climate is excellent; cold, of course, in the winter, but bright and dry; and the heat is never as oppressive in summer as it is in the same latitudes further inland. the natural advantages are plentiful in every respect: the rainfall is sufficient to secure the watering of the fields, the snow in winter protects the ground for several months, and there is bright sunshine in the summer to ripen the most beautiful fruit and grapes; but the refreshing sea-breezes prevent it from being too hot. the korean flora resembles, to a great extent, ours. the best-known flowers grow there. i could say the same of vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots, beans, peas, etc., which are all plentiful. the one exception is potatoes, which, though they were imported and flourished well in the soil, were forbidden to be grown on account of their being a foreign importation. turnips, peas, and beans are most commonly grown, and i have counted more than twenty-four varieties of beans, of different sizes, shapes, and colours, but having no taste at all, at any rate not when they are cooked in korean fashion. tobacco has been grown lately, and so have grapes; but the most valuable plant cultivated is the _gin-sen_, which is a government monopoly, and is regarded as possessing the miraculous power of rejuvenating those who drink the liquor which is made of it. it is worth its weight in gold, and a little while ago the emperor, fearing that the _gin-sen_ crop was growing too plentiful and that its value would consequently decline, ordered that the surplus production should be conveyed to an island near chemulpo and there burned. the closed boxes were carried in procession to the island, watched with great interest by the people, and were burned with great state. nobody knew exactly what had been the victim of the _auto-da-fé_, but it is more than probable that the _gin-sen_, which is assumed to have met with such a sad fate, was devoted to some more profitable purpose. korean timber is of world-wide fame. the huge korean forests are protected by law, and each individual korean has certain rights to so much for building purposes, and so much for firing. pasture land is scarcely known, and the cultivable areas are nearly all converted into bean and rice fields. the animal world is of great variety. among domestic animals we find nearly all our old friends--such as the horse, a rather rough example but strong, oxen with magnificent frames, goats and pigs in great numbers. there are very few cows, as the koreans are not great meat-eaters, and do not know how to milk, and, consequently, never use milk or butter. sheep are prohibited by law, as only the emperor may possess them for sacrificial purposes. wild animals are very plentiful. the most dreaded are, of course, the tiger and the bear. there are also wolves, jackals, and wild boars. birds are present in the greatest abundance. pheasants, partridges, and quails are so plentiful, even today, that, travelling through the country, one may buy a brace for a few pence. but the real wealth of korea consists in its minerals. the different mountain ranges are rich in the most valuable metals: coal, copper, lead, silver, and gold are found in abundance. to this subject further allusion is made later on. as a race the koreans were for many years thought to belong to the same family as the chinese, but it is now considered that they belong to another stock of the great mongolian race. its origin is today sought, not so much in the altai, as on the slopes of the himalayas. there is a difference of opinion as to the route of their migration. one theory has it that they reached their present home by way of siberia and manchuria; another that they travelled through southern asia, and partly by sea, from the cradle of mankind. with regard to their physical characteristics, the koreans are tall, well built, and fair complexioned, with a scanty beard. they are not quite so tall as the chinese of the north, but far better proportioned, and generally quite a head taller than their japanese neighbours. the women are very hard workers, and their strength is exceptional. the children are regular pictures of health. whoever desires to form an idea of the moral characteristics of this race must penetrate to their homes and watch their daily life. their mental and spiritual qualities can best be perceived by daily intercourse. the attempt to enter thus will not be easy, and seldom pleasant, but it will never fail to be of great and permanent interest. the daily round of the koreans is yet as primitive and archaic as it was centuries ago, and time seems to have left little mark on their customs and habits. iii what are the most extraordinary things in this hermit country? is the question which has been frequently addressed to me since my return. the answer would be much easier to give if the question were, what are the least striking? everything equally astonishes a stranger--country, people, customs, and daily life; every detail is characteristic, and every feature--visible and invisible--affords immense scope for observation. for the student of psychology korea is a country full of interest. to form some idea of the present condition of korea it is absolutely necessary to know something of her past; to understand the character of her people one must be familiar with the conditions of life in centuries gone by. korea's historical origin, like that of most asiatic countries, is shrouded in darkness. her earliest records are legends and stories rather than serious history. kings and gods, heroes and monsters, figure in a chaotic epic, which has preserved a few of the principal events for posterity. the founder of the nation is supposed to be ki-tsze, a chinese noble, who, with his soldiers and followers, settled on the peninsula in 1122 b.c. but it is difficult to say how much of this is true, for the koreans come, not from a chinese, but from a really different tartar stock, and consequently ki-tsze could only have been a later conqueror. the reason why subsequent chroniclers attributed the settlement of korea to him was probably to glorify china. a stringent law forbidding the writing of history makes it very difficult to collect any authentic facts about the past of korea. that a record of the principal events still survives is due to a remarkable custom. some of the court officials kept diaries in which they recorded everything of any importance that took place. each related what seemed to him of interest, sealing up the rolls with great secrecy. four copies of these records were kept in iron chests at the four different seats of government. there the documents were to remain until the then reigning family became extinct, and not until the last representative of the dynasty had departed this life might they be published. in the absence of national historical literature foreign conquerors--chinese and japanese--have issued a number of books on korea, more particularly in reference to their own conquests. it would, however, be difficult to ascertain how far these works are to be trusted. only one popular korean history is in existence, which, however, is more of an illustrated nursery tale than anything else. the diaries kept by some of the noble families are more interesting, wherein they have recorded in unbroken series the events of each day, year by year. the first reliable information we possess dates from the early centuries of our era. it is an established fact that korea was then divided into three kingdoms--sin-la in the south, kao-li in the north, and pet-si in the west. these early centuries witnessed constant civil wars, in which sometimes one and sometimes another of the kingdoms was victorious; but the greatest advantages were won by sin-la in the south. in a good many cases these successes were due to outside aid. kao-li and pet-si became more than once vassals of china or japan. the three kingdoms were united in the eleventh century. sin-la lost its supremacy and, with pet-si, was annexed to kao-li. the king of this country was assisted by china in his expedition to the north, and in return the mongol emperor was made the overlord of korea. the united kingdoms were then ruled for three centuries by the kao-li dynasty, but their power ceased with the expulsion of the mongol rulers from pekin. the emperors of the ming dynasty, who became masters of china in the fourteenth century, also conquered korea in 1392, re-establishing the ancestors of the present emperor in place of the house of kao-li. tao-tso, the first king, transferred his capital from kai-teng to hang-jang, the present seoul, recognizing the suzerainty of china as a protection. he adopted the chinese calendar and sent envoys to china to pay homage every year. subsequent events of korean history can be explained in the light of these facts. with the tsi-tsien dynasty she became the openly acknowledged vassal of china. the sending of envoys to do homage, the presentation of previously settled gifts, and also the adoption of the chinese calendar afford proofs of this. the succeeding kings managed the affairs of the country successfully, and tormer-to in the thirteenth century annexed several japanese islands, but this burst of glory soon died out. with the fall of the mings the history of korea reached its nadir. the conquering house of mand-su inundated with its troops the whole country and broke into seoul, rendering even stricter the obligations of the tributary. the chinese calendar became official from this time, and the celestial son was not only sovereign, but also managed absolutely all the private and public affairs of the king of korea. a good number of imperial rescripts referring to family quarrels has, to this day, been preserved, and throws an interesting light on the dissipated life of the court of that remote period. korean kings stood repeatedly like criminals before their judge, and carried out the emperor's sentence to the letter. but they went further than this, even to asking the chinese emperor for counsel in reference to petty domestic troubles, divorce cases, etc. as a rule the sentence was light. the former mongolian despots lost their crowns partly through over-severity. the mings, on the contrary, were clever diplomatists, and by their tact retained korea's goodwill. it is therefore not to be wondered at that their memory is still held in esteem, and the administration of the country, its customs and laws, to this day represent the ming spirit. china's present manchu dynasty has never been popular, although it did not attempt to perpetuate, literally, the strict conditions of its first conquest. since the middle of the seventeenth century korea has never been at war with any foreign power; but though no attacks have come from without, intestine troubles have been even more marked and destructive. the example was set by the royal family. in the absence of male issue, the relatives split into two parties, who, under the names of _piek-pai_ and _si-pai_, have been rivals for years. bloodshed and murder followed each other; dagger and poison were hidden under each cloak at the court. these two factions are still in existence. the followers of piek are for fighting and progress; the si party, on the contrary, represent rather conservative views. the example of the court and of the chief officials was followed by the nobility. the principal persons of the country formed themselves into four parties. we can trace back the origin of the strife to the sixteenth century; its cause was the possession of an office. two of the most powerful tribes claimed it, and their personal contention soon assumed the form of a general principle. each party had its supporters until the whole country fell a victim to party strife--as was the case with the clans of the montagus and capulets, or between the houses of york and lancaster of old. after considering these premises it will be easier to understand korea's present political situation. we have seen that for many centuries the country was under foreign rule, governed now by china, now by japan; generally by china, who more often than not was a very mild and lenient mistress. although she gave korea a free hand in her government, she retained the exclusive control of foreign affairs; and, correctly speaking, she did not manage them at all. but no matter who the ruler was, japan or china, their sole object was always to isolate the country as much as possible from the outer world, to surround her with a visible or invisible wall--in the same way as their own flowery lands. this is one of the principal causes why korea has been utterly secluded for centuries. but here is another cause. the people, not being able to defend their country against invaders, were anxious that it should remain as unknown as possible. they went even further than that, and hid the natural treasures from their own citizens. iv the ancient government of their kingdom was, as in most oriental countries, extremely complicated. the system undoubtedly shows knowledge of considerable statesmanship, china being the model. the mistakes and shortcomings lay in the execution and administration. the absolute master and owner of the country was the king, who had by his side three ministers of the first, and six of the second rank. each minister was assisted by one secretary of state and one councillor. the cabinet was called tai-sin, forming the council of state. the power of the council was only nominal, and was invested in the three ministers of first rank, or, rather, in the premier, whose office was for life. is it to be wondered at that every means was employed to attain it? it is worth noticing that the bearers of the title were not necessarily in power. they succeeded each other, some of them having only honorary rank. the country was divided into eight governorships. each governor, with powers similar to those of a chinese viceroy, had under him vice-governors, county judges, public notaries, collectors of taxes, etc. considering that the eight governorships were divided into 332 provinces, the administration naturally was extensive, requiring a complicated administration. the organization of the army was likewise well developed--on paper at any rate--the generals being distributed according to the provinces. each governorship had its separate army corps, forts, arsenals, and stores recorded with precision. the national defence nominally numbered not less than _one million two hundred thousand men_, although not one-hundredth part of those had ever seen a rifle. all this looked very imposing in the documents placed before the king. the same applied to the forts, arsenals, and stores. the forts were in ruins, the arsenals empty, and as for the stores, they did not exist. at any rate, this was the condition of the army when the first european troops entered the country. there is probably not another land in the east--and this means a good deal--where the government was more corrupt than in korea. the principal offices were sold at fixed prices. to obtain one was simply a financial transaction. of course, directly the mandarin took up his position he was anxious to recoup his expenses. under some pretext he confiscated the property of well-to-do citizens and extorted money from the people. this system had another disadvantage--the tenure of office was of short duration, lasting altogether a few years. the holder had, therefore, to be very economical with time. the mandarins generally remained two or three years only at one place, in order not to make themselves "at home." but the principal reason for such continual changes must have been that it was considered desirable at headquarters to sell the office to a new purchaser. so the succession went on, and one official after another devoted his energy to confiscation and robbery. is it to be wondered at that the people were reduced to poverty? but even those who were possessed of property lived the life of beggars, as otherwise the mandarins would have confiscated it under various pretexts. such was the administration of korea for centuries. this was the condition of public life. both action and thought were tainted. this corruption of officialdom not only drove people to beggary, but also poisoned the public morals. the people were no longer capable of governing; they could only suffer patiently. if government and administration were in such a lamentable condition, justice was even more contemptible. bribery, perjury, and treachery were of daily occurrence. envy and greed demanded and secured their victims. to be possessed of property was sufficient cause for being denounced and for confiscating the belongings of the owner, and the victim was very grateful indeed if his life was spared. the administration of justice in korea was originally patriarchal. any dispute between two parties was submitted to the _elders_ of the village. the local council was the court of first instance. in case of non-agreement the mandarin was appealed to. the governor had to decide complicated cases. the supreme court was the minister of justice himself, and the final appeal lay to the king, who, here likewise, had absolute power in rendering justice. he condemned or pardoned at his pleasure. tradition has preserved some of the quaint ways employed to obtain the king's good graces or attention. as it was an impossibility to get into the palace of the king, and he never quitted it, a large drum was placed before the gate, and the applicant used to beat this drum in order to attract the royal attention. another way was to light a bonfire upon the top of the surrounding hills in the hope of the king perceiving it and dispatching one of his messengers to the spot, by whom the petitioner could send his papers to his majesty. criminal cases were heard before the military authorities. here also the system was very much the same, and the procedure was equally defective. the way cases were tried was not only one-sided, but shockingly unjust. the saddest part of judicial administration was the way of obtaining the accused person's confession. torturing is, even now, the prevailing practice, and in this, as in many other things, korea has entirely followed china's example. considering the various kinds of torture, their inventive powers seem to have been inexhaustible. the most cruel torture, like the crushing of the knees or the use of red-hot irons, was prohibited long ago, and the new law ordered them to be entirely abolished; but i am afraid some of the methods of obtaining the desired evidences are still terrible. those who have seen the notorious dungeons of _canton_ will find the korean prisons similar to them. generally the courtyards of the magistrates are used for guarding the convicts. stables are crammed with prisoners--mostly innocent. furniture is a thing unknown, and so are all means of cleanliness. in the yamen of judicature at seoul i saw a few small private cells reserved for the better class. the inmate of one of these was a venerable-looking white-haired gentleman. he was, so the prison warder informed me, one of the wealthiest bankers in the town. "he squeezed," as he put it, "and now the mandarin is squeezing him." attorneys-at-law and jurists were not wanting, but in most cases the number of witnesses and their evidence was decisive--there being always any number of them at hand. in fact, giving evidence meant a living to a portion of the community, who favoured those who paid best. the methods of punishment also varied. in most cases fines were imposed, which formed one of the principal sources of revenue to the authorities. imprisonment was rarer. in order to save the expenses of keeping prisoners who could not pay a fine, these were often given a chance to escape, or disappeared by some other means. capital crimes were tried by a criminal court. decapitation was carried out in various ways according to social position. _lèse-majesté_ and treason were likewise dealt with by special authorities. in this respect severity knew no bounds. with the guilty person all the members of his family had to suffer. more than once whole clans, which were suspected of being traitors or rebels, were extirpated. hundreds of persons perished through being falsely accused of crimes. such was the judicature in days gone by, and no wonder that the people lost faith in judges whose sense of justice was of the lowest standard. things seem to be improving, but a less cruel death implies cruelty all the same. v how did korea educate her sons that her rule, her justice, and her people sank so low? is a question that involuntarily suggests itself. we must at once point out that there existed no such thing as _public education_; as regards _public instruction_, korea entirely followed the chinese system. as in the yellow empire, it was only the successful passing of the various university examinations that qualified for public positions and government offices. here also training was purely classical. but while in china the national masters--confucius and menzius--were studied, korea, without any regard for her history or literature, adopted the ready material in an unaltered form. her own authors thus found no field for their labours, and even if endowed with talent they were unable to develop it. this condition was in many respects similar to that prevalent in europe in the middle ages, when colleges paid more attention to greek and latin than to their national language, and when students knew more about the history of hellas and rome than of their own country. the chinese system of examination is so well known that it does not require any explanation. prior to the final examination the students gather in pekin. there they are walled in in small cells at the examination hall, entirely isolated from the outer world. korean youths proceeded to seoul. from the remotest parts of the country they came, and it was there decided whether they were qualified for office or not. the chinese system is perfectly democratic in its ground principles, granting the same right to every student and considering only his knowledge. in korea, where, quite differently from china, there is an aristocracy of birth, only the sons of this privileged class competed for the principal offices. but in this instance too, as in most other things that affected public life, corruption manifested itself. those who paid the highest examination fees won the highest offices. the korean is probably one of the tartar languages, although its grammar shows many analogies with that of the dravidian tongues of southern india. it is mostly spoken by the common people, whilst the court, nobles, and mandarins employ chinese. as a matter of fact, the latter is the official language of the country, and the records and proclamations of the king, the edicts of the mandarins, and the judgments of the courts are all in chinese. no doubt korea's long vassalage to china accounts for this; but the chinese, as spoken in korea, is almost a dialect, and could scarcely be understood by the celestials, who, as is well known, are themselves often at a loss to understand each other. for chinese differs even more in different provinces than some of the latin languages, like, for instance, spanish from italian. vi the present emperor, li hsi, is a man of but little over fifty, and has reigned for just forty years. the son of li cheng ying, he succeeded his brother, li ping, in 1864. during his minority his father, tai wen kun, assumed the regency, which lasted till 1873. a man of strong will and boundless ambition, he used every means, permissible or otherwise, to further his own ends. of narrow judgment and of most reactionary views, he has been the cause of much misfortune to his country. he opposed every innovation and reform, hated everything that was not korean, and instigated the persecution of the christians, causing many hundreds to be killed. the young emperor held entirely different opinions, but all his attempts to introduce advanced ideas have been checked by the party of reaction. hardly had he commenced his reign when he was asked by his own father to commit suicide. later on tai wen kun began intriguing against the empress, fearing her influence over the emperor, and he was so nearly successful in a scheme to murder her that she only escaped with her life by hiding for a whole year. she was believed to be dead, and mourning was worn by the whole country. finally public opinion became so enraged against this unnatural father-in-law that he was banished from korea. his supporters, however, were still numerous enough to be a cause of trouble, and in 1884 they broke into insurrection, and the emperor, in his turn, had to flee, escaping on the shoulders of a slave. shortly afterwards, during a state ceremony, a bomb of the most modern construction exploded, killing one of the ministers and some of the escort. tai wen kun was not present at this ceremony! it was in the revolution of 1895 that the empress lost her life. her palace was surrounded by rebels, she was stabbed, and then her body was burnt in an open space before the palace. the emperor was more fortunate. hidden in a sedan-chair he was taken to the russian legation, where he remained a guest for a prolonged stay. it would, however, be impossible to give an account of all the intrigues and plotting during the emperor's forty years' reign. poison has been found in the food, the palace has been set fire to, murderers have been found hidden in it; in short, it would require a whole chapter to describe the narrow escapes the emperor has had. but even what i have said will show that korean sovereigns are not always to be envied! yet after the japanese war of 1894 the king (for till then he had been only a king, the vassal of china) declared his land to be independent of chinese control, and elevated himself to the rank of emperor. such are life's ironies. but if the emperor's public career has not been very glorious, his family life has proved even less happy. he lost his wife, a woman of more than average ability and to whom he was devoted, in a terrible manner as we have seen. the crown prince has always been unsatisfactory and of no political importance. the second royal prince, who is unquestionably clever and enterprising, is considered a dangerous innovator, and so strong is the feeling against him in his father's palace that he is obliged for the safety of his life to live in america. the question who will succeed li hsi interests everybody in korea, and is the occasion of much plotting and intrigue, but i am afraid it is one of the problems which no one can answer or even guess at! vii the home life of any country is always of the deepest interest. old memoirs and diaries never fail to fascinate, more especially in the case of a country almost entirely unknown, whose habits and customs will surely be so modified as to disappear altogether, and it is therefore well to preserve the memory of them for the coming generations. a korean home, however flimsy it may appear, is a regular stronghold. it has its own traditions, and its inhabitants form a regular community of their own. its rule is patriarchal and its organization entirely oriental. divided into two distinct parts, the front is occupied by the male, and the inside reserved for the female sex. however small the house may be, this rule is strictly observed; even though the division may sometimes be only a sheet of paper, its moral strength is as great as the ramparts of a castle. conventions are stronger than stone walls. in order to enable the reader to form some idea of korean family life, i will give a passing notice of some of the habits, customs, and institutions, such as marriage, education, occupations and recreations, festivities and funerals. the condition of women in the land of the morning calm is abominable, for they are considered as mere slaves, with no privileges or rights whatever. in the upper classes the children of the two sexes, as soon as they reach the age of eight or ten, are separated from each other, the boys being removed to the front part of the house where the father lives, whilst the girls are left with their mother at the back. it is considered very bad form for brothers and sisters to associate with each other. the inevitable consequence is that family life, as we understand it, has no existence there. the korean regards his wife as a being far below him, and would not think for a moment of consulting her on anything of consequence. although man and wife live under the same roof they are practically aliens to each other. but strange to say, though women in korea have no rights, either social or within their own family circle, they are outwardly respected and addressed in terms of high esteem. if we consider that the bride has innumerable duties to observe towards her consort, while he has none towards her, it seems only natural that the number of happy unions is strictly limited. but notwithstanding the abnormal relations that exist between the parents, the children are brought up by the mother to respect their father deeply. disrespect towards the mother is of no consequence, but insubordination to the father is severely punished. in prison, sickness, or old age, a father can always rely on the assistance and support of his son. no virtue in korea is esteemed more than filial devotion. a peculiarity of a korean marriage is that it is a matter of interest to every one except the parties mostly concerned, who see one another for the first time at the beginning of the ceremony. the parents and friends arrange the match, in accordance with their own interests, and if both parties agree and the bargain is concluded, the formalities are of the simplest. there is no religious ceremony and no legal contract. early in the morning the best man arrives to tie the bridegroom's pigtail in a knot on the top of his head, and this not only remains for ever as an outward and visible sign of his condition, but entitles him to be treated as a man and to enter public life. he may be a mere child, just over ten years of age, but he has no longer any right to play with his friends and must choose his associates among old men--octogenarians they may be. he has all civil rights and is expected to behave accordingly. if, on the contrary, a man is unable to afford the luxury of a home and a wife, he may reach the age of fifty, but he must still wear his pigtail down his back, has none of the advantages of a citizen, and is expected to play with kites, marbles, and such-like, and any folly he may commit is excused, as would be the naughtiness of a baby, who is not responsible for his actions. the wedding ceremony itself is most simple. there is no going to the registry office or to church. the whole function consists of a procession, when the bride and bridegroom are conducted by their respective relations to a dais; there they are put face to face, and see each other for the first time, look at each other, bow, and the knot is tied indissolubly. the mutual surprise sometimes must be rather unexpected. but, whether agreeable or not, it is considered very bad taste to show any emotion. without exchanging a single word, a few minutes afterwards the young bride is conducted to her home, where she is cloistered for ever. social etiquette demands that the bridegroom shall return to the company of his young bachelor friends for a few days, which are passed in festivities, if not orgies. a honeymoon is unknown, and wedding trips have never been instituted. the young wife becomes more or less a head servant to her mother-in-law, and no visible change is introduced into the husband's daily routine. if married life begins in such extraordinary conditions, it remains equally ill-balanced all through life. the husband has everything, the wife nothing; she has not even a name. and yet, though legally a nonentity, socially, if clever, she can attain to a certain position. unseen, unknown, and nameless, in a hidden corner of the women's quarter, she can receive her lady friends, get all the news of the outer world, and send messages by her slaves. there have been cases when women had even decisive political influences, and, like spiders, ambushed in corners, spread their nets. viii the main occupation of the korean is agriculture. it is the ground which produces everything that is necessary for life, and it is the ground, also, which is taxed principally to furnish the necessary funds for the government. the methods of cultivation are exceedingly primitive, but the soil itself is so extremely fertile, and the irrigation so good, that the crops are quite sufficient. the women share in the cultivation of the fields, besides which they do all the domestic work, which is no mean task if we take into consideration that many functions performed in other countries by tradesmen must here be performed by them, such as the cutting of the flax, the preparing and weaving and the making of it into garments--so that they are field labourers, manufacturers, weavers, tailors, and finally washerwomen to their own husbands and households. it is the same with all the food. the poor women must first grow the rice and beans, then cut and dry them, pound them, and lastly cook them. but the principal occupation of the women of korea is the preparing of their husbands' suits of clothes. a korean has generally two suits of white linen, each of which he wears in turn for a week. these suits are not sewn, but stuck together, and every week the suit that was worn the week before must be taken to pieces, washed, and then glazed by beating, which last occupies almost a whole week. the recreations of the women are very few, and, in fact, they are treated as slaves to their husbands. the men, on the contrary, have all kinds of amusements. the two great national sports are shooting with bows and arrows, and flying of kites. they are very fond of open-air gatherings, and arrange most delightful picnics, where they entertain their friends, and engage professional singers and dancers to amuse them. these singers and dancers are women who form a separate caste. westerners find it difficult to appreciate korean music, but i could not help liking its quaint cadence and plaintive melancholy. the songs mostly treat of historical legends and reminiscences of old days, but some, of course, are lyric. korean dancing, on account of its dignity and calm, is by far the most plastic and rhythmical of all oriental worship of terpsichore. among the old customs, birthday festivities occupy the first place, particularly when a man attains his sixtieth year. on that day he becomes an object of admiration to the whole community, having been spared by fate to such an age. after this day whatever he may say is listened to with great respect, even if his advice is not always followed. but of all the social institutions funerals play the most important part. these last for days, or weeks, and even sometimes for a whole month, and mourning is observed for several years. and this observance is strict in korea. one may even say that a mourner is buried alive, for he must cover his face, and, if he meets his friends in the street, he may not stop to speak to them or shake hands. during my stay in seoul one of the late empress's relations, general ming, died, and i never saw a more magnificent pageant than his funeral. the cortège was over a mile long, and led by paid weepers. as it wound its way along, it was the most extraordinary conglomeration of riders, dancers, children, mourners, officials, torch, lantern, and flag bearers, and, in fact, it seemed to absorb the whole population of seoul. children do not receive too much attention in this far-away country. the little girls soon share in the housework, and the boys leave their mothers when they are about six, being sent first to school and then to the men's quarters, where they are carefully secluded from any kind of woman's society, even from that of their own sisters. any one who is interested in korean children will have an opportunity of studying their national characteristics and natural abilities in the schools, of which there are a great many in korea. besides the old-fashioned primary schools, there are the chinese classical schools, missionary schools, and, last but not least, the different national schools for interpreters. there are several english, even more japanese and russian, all of which undoubtedly will be of some use; and there is even a german school, and, of course, a french interpreters' school. i must say i was deeply interested to see the scholars, neatly dressed in white cotton, sitting with oriental patience at their desks, and pronouncing with the greatest assiduity the unpronounceable and to them unintelligible syllables. i admired the endurance and self-control of the children. if they are not quick and have not the imaginative capacity of a japanese child, they are good, even if not so deep thinkers as the chinese. the houses in korea are very small and offer but little comfort. most of them have not more than two rooms, exclusive of the kitchen. three-roomed dwellings are very uncommon, and without exception are most scantily furnished. the roadside inns naturally are of the most primitive kind, and visitors are expected to bring their own provisions and bedding with them. the staple food consists of rice and a few vegetables; people with some means eat occasionally a little meat or fish. milk and butter are unknown. beef is difficult to obtain, except in the capital. there is no mutton, but plenty of dog's flesh. the principal beverage is made of fermented rice. koreans, like chinese, are fond of their pipes, and smoke a great deal. their dress is very ample. to be smart, you must wear two or three pairs of trousers, as many shirts, and four or five kaftans made of white linen. sandals are the principal foot-gear. chess is one of their popular games. high and low are alike enthusiasts. in fact, the koreans have almost as high a reputation for skill in the game as the chinese. they are also fond of card-playing. gambling seems to be in the blood of the yellow races. there is no country where card-sharpers drive so brisk a business as in korea. in outdoor sports the korean does not excel. his disinclination to physical effort is too strong and his nature is altogether too lethargic for violent exertion. such mild diversions as kite-flying and archery he sometimes does indulge in, and, if so, shows no little proficiency. game is plentiful, but energy rare, and so we do not find many types of the shikari of india, but more of the trapper class. the koreans are a musical people. every village has its choir--its amateur musical society. with them songs are largely used as an accompaniment to the dance. here, at last, the korean awakes. the theatre proper is not represented in this country, but they have dramatic performances of a kind. recitations are given by a single performer, who himself plays all the characters of the story. it reminds one somewhat of the homeric rhapsodists, or the medieval jongleurs. ix the last quarter of the nineteenth century has brought about some unexpected changes in korea. the rigid isolation is gradually vanishing. not even chosen is able to conceal from the outer world her hidden and hermit land. the first breach was made by the united states navy. commodore shufeldt was the first representative of a western power to conclude a treaty with her. a year later the anglo-korean commercial agreement was ratified. then the other european powers came in their turn to establish diplomatic relations there. in the meantime the prejudice against the foreigner is losing a good deal of its virulence. the first steps towards international intercourse had been made. these relations with foreign countries promise, above all, to be advantageous to commerce and industry; and considering the comparatively short period during which this influence has been at work, and the primitive conditions of locomotion, foreign trade is making unexpected progress. the receipts of the foreign customs are steadily increasing, and whilst the returns of 1893 amounted to 7,986,880 yen, in 1898 they reached the sum of 24,702,237 yen. the latest statistics show the customs revenues as £122,783. the _total_ import of the last year represented £1,382,381, and the exports £846,034. besides the capital, _seoul_, _chemulpo_, _fusan_, _gen-san_, _mokpo_, _chinampo_, _masampo_, _kunsan_, and _song-ching_ are being opened to trade. the general commerce is almost exclusively in the hands of japanese and chinese. in this respect japan has made extraordinary progress during the last few years. in 1897 her imports amounted to 1,911,851 yen, and those of england were 3,713,907 yen. four years later the japanese trade increased to 2,844,815 and england's dropped to 2,853,866. since the commercial exhibition at osaka, japan's trade with korea has advanced even more, so that, for instance, cotton goods, once imported exclusively from manchester, are now replaced by the fabrics of nippon. the latter seem to be in a more advantageous position, for, considering that the distance between japan and korea is inconsiderable and the wages in these two countries are only one-sixth of those in english manufacturing towns, european products are experiencing more and more difficulty in competing with the japanese in asia. the shipping trade, too, is in the hands of japan, and in the course of last year 3920 vessels with nearly a million tons of cargo anchored in the ports of korea. besides japan and england, there is america that is seeking a new market for her exports. of continental european countries, germany is represented by the greatest number of articles, though of small importance and size, like nails, stove pipes, needles, chemicals, and aniline dyes. the total imports from germany at present scarcely represent a quarter of a million marks. the chinese share the local trade with the japanese. the shopkeeper belongs to one or other of the neighbouring states. as we observed when referring to the past state of korea, her own people possess no commercial instincts. their needs are few, and even those are supplied in their homes. their clothes are woven and sewn by their wives. the flax grows in their gardens. every house has as much ground attached to it as suffices, more or less, for the wants of the family. more than that is not required. it is owing mainly to this patriarchal simplicity that, though the soil of the country is rich, not half of it is under cultivation. the manner of tilling the soil is rather primitive. up to this day wooden ploughs are used. threshing is done by ordinary poles. agricultural implements are unknown. in spite of her fertile valleys, favourable climate, and cheap labour, korea is not agriculturally developed. of its products, rice takes the first place. there is also plenty of wheat, barley, oats, and beans. the most profitable plant is _gin-sen_, which has already been described. the principal wealth of korea is undoubtedly stored in its mines. the amount of ore contained in the mountains of the country is prodigious. there are numerous ancient gold and silver mines, although their working was prohibited by law. since the conclusion of the international treaties some of them have been taken over by foreign companies, and already, during the last few years, have produced considerable profits. in 1897 the export in gold amounted to 2,004,049 yen, in 1901 to 4,993,351 yen. but under the present conditions it is impossible to ascertain the exact amount. the mountains in the north-eastern part of the country are the richest in gold. the capital invested is mostly german and belgian. in addition to gold and silver, there are copper, iron, and coal mines in working, but commercial enterprise is rather handicapped by the want of means of communication. x until recently korea was not only almost devoid of railways, but had scarcely any roads. transport by means of carts is to this day exceptional--oxen and pack-horses only being employed. endless strings of caravans cover the whole length of the land. seeds, timber, fuel, metal, and stones--everything is carried by cattle to its destination. but human labour is even more general and much cheaper than animal labour. it is still the man's shoulder that carries most of the load and burden. what a korean can carry is almost incredible. besides heredity it is only through long training that he has acquired such exceptional strength. one of the most ancient organizations of korea is the pedlars' guild. it was founded centuries ago. there are families who for generations have known no other occupation than carrying the miscellaneous pack from one part of the country to another. they wander over hills and dales from morning till night. like their ancestors they migrate continually. it is little wonder that they should have known the inner state and life of the country better than anybody else. they were the carriers of news in korea, and represented the press of their land, and their influence and power still prevail. public opinion finds in them its most direct interpreter. there is no movement, outbreak, or revolt in which they do not participate. the most important messages are conveyed through the pedlars, and it is their guild that nourishes the flames of all rebellions. in korea there are several fine rivers. the _han_, watering the central provinces of the country, and the _yalu_ in the north, are the two principal ones. during a few months of the year both are frozen. neither of them is used as a waterway. the traveller who is fond of adventures hires a fishing-barge, engages a dozen fishermen, and taking with him some old furniture and provisions, tries to make himself comfortable in that noah's ark. steamers are unknown on the rivers. railways are now in a somewhat more advanced stage. between chemulpo and seoul there is a regular train service, and the short distance of twenty-six miles can be covered with western comfort. japan is at present engaged in building the great southern line as far as fusan. a french company has obtained the concession to build the northern line. on the other hand, the work of a private company on the line leading towards manchuria is making little headway. still, it is only a matter of time for korea to become a network of railways. then her harbours will be the natural gates of eastern asia. her bays in the south are always free from ice, making most excellent ports, and capable of harbouring any number of ships. chemulpo, but more particularly fusan, the extreme southern point of the peninsula, must necessarily become one of the termini and one of the principal emporiums of the whole continent. i do not think that those who look upon it as the shanghai of the future are mistaken. besides railways, seoul possesses also an electric tramway and electric light. both concerns were planned by american companies, and are said to be very profitable. the new mint is also organized on european principles. the standard money is the japanese yen; the brass rings used formerly as small coins are being replaced by the nickel sen. the various commercial articles are steadily undergoing changes, and manufactured goods are ousting the homemade products of the small shops. each day supplies new things and ideas. each week marks another step on the road to progress. the work is slow, being rendered difficult by many obstacles from within and without, but it cannot now be stopped in its natural course. korea is at present in her first stage of transition. the old system has collapsed, and a new order must be inaugurated. most striking to the stranger are the antagonisms of the present day. almost everything is in a state of metamorphosis, and it is curious to notice institutions of past centuries by the side of recent reforms. through the ancient city gate electric cars are passing, and in the vicinity of the gabled pagoda can be seen the chimney of a factory. day by day some western institutions, customs, and ideas are being adopted. it looks like gradual advancement. xi it is barely some decades since korea opened her doors to foreigners, and even in this short time she has introduced innovations which have shaken her to her foundations, and i fear even greater changes are awaiting her in the near future. her ancient suzerain, china, has retired from her political arena, but japan has taken even stronger hold of the country than ever before, and a new element has been introduced into the field by the occupation by russia of manchuria and the yalu. such was the condition of the country when in 1894 the war broke out between china and japan. korea obtained her independence without participating in any way in the great fight. her king became an emperor. but all these changes were only superficial. a new internal administration could not be consolidated in a few days, and korea's independence is only on the protocol. the freedom of korea was, as we saw, proclaimed with great pomp just at the moment when she had the least chance of making use of that unexpected independence. surrounded by enemies, she had neither the moral strength nor the military force to maintain it. she was bound to follow the advice of one or the other of her neighbours; in fact, it was only by showing herself to be of no use to her allies that she could ensure her very existence. one day it was the chinese, the next the japanese, then the russians. she has always been a mere instrument in the hands of these powers. their influence has changed very rapidly without any apparent cause. which of her attachments has been the most sincere, who can say? the manifestations of both were equally ostensible and complete, and the koreans went so far as to proclaim their adherence by adopting the uniform of the favoured country for their soldiers, and the inhabitants of seoul have had the pleasure of seeing their army parading the main streets first in the uniform of cossacks, and then in that of nippon. ever since the latter part of the nineties japan has been showing remarkable activity. she has invested considerable capital in the country, opened banks, founded large commercial firms, built railways, and established a regular steamship service. she goes even farther and is endeavouring to instil fresh life into the people. she is trying to remodel the korean government on japanese principles. as to the army of (nominally) eighty thousand soldiers, of which nearly eight thousand are stationed in seoul, it is being drilled by japanese officers and supplied with european rifles and uniforms. japan is establishing modern schools, and desires to transform young and old alike. during my visit russian influence contended with japanese for the mastery, but in the midst of all these antagonistic fluctuations it is scarcely possible to speak of political convictions. the people dislike the russians as much as they detest the japanese. they resemble a man in danger of drowning, who stretches out his hand to his enemy, in the vain hope of not being submerged in the floods. public men are divided into a great many parties and form different political groups. some even belong to the most reactionary of the time, while others are more favourably disposed to progress, and all of them are open to conviction where personal advantage is concerned. if the dislike of foreign nations is intense, the hatred of their compatriots who are attached to other political factions is still greater. and when the national apathy and indolence are broken through by animosity to rivals, the people become blind to reason, cruel, and bloodthirsty. they have no self-control, as they have never been trained to a higher moral standard, and there is no education such as will develop their better qualities. among all the puzzles of the present day in korea, certainly the most important is how to bring up the rising generation. the conditions, not only of korea but of the neighbouring states, being entirely changed, her old methods are of no practical use for the present situation. the future requires a different system. in order to face the difficulties of the present, they must bring up their children to be men; and i have been most interested to note how the children respond to a better method of training. during my stay in the country i visited again and again native, foreign, and missionary schools, and came to the conclusion that the koreans are not lacking in the mental qualities which are required by our boards of education. i listened to boys of fourteen and fifteen, not only translating the classics as well as the children in our schools do, but, what was more exceptional, they showed a real pleasure in dealing with deeper questions, where logical thought and sequence of ideas were requisite. they like to study, and, to my great astonishment, i was told by the rector of our seminary that, during the vacations, many of the boys go on with the next year's course. their moral training is not very difficult either. the children are docile, obedient, and good-natured, and are most amenable to religious principles. catechists have a high opinion of their catechumens, who take deep interest in theological doctrine. as a rule, they evince a real desire to be better acquainted with spiritual matters, and, if they become christians, conscientiously adhere to their faith and observe the religious rites. all who have lived in korea are of the same opinion--that this unexplored country and its backward people need before all cultivation and education, and it depends entirely on those who take this great work of development into their hands whether it shall become a flourishing land and its people happy or not. and in that case, instead of the country being the seat of disturbance and war, and the inhabitants mere instruments in the hands of their enemies, the land of the morning calm may deserve its name and become a guarantee for the commercial prosperity and the peace of the far east. such was the general situation at the moment of the outbreak of the japanese-russian war. xii it is evident that korea is yet incapable of self-government. she is dependent on one or the other neighbour. since china fell out of the ranks of conquering powers japan has taken up arms as she did centuries ago. to-day it is she who is aiming at ruling eastern asia, as if it were her mission to awaken the peoples of asia and to instil western civilization into them. the movement is of great interest and of more import than we should dare to believe. its significance is incalculable. whether japan will be the master who is to transform the asiatic races is another puzzling problem. already a considerable number of young chinese are frequenting japanese high schools and colleges. delegates are being sent from pekin, at the expense of the government, to japanese commercial and industrial institutions to study and to become acquainted with modern ideas. korea is face to face with similar problems of transformation. who is to secure her definite leadership--japan or russia? the present war is more than a boundary dispute; it means the old struggle between the white and yellow races for the hegemony of asia. on whichever side success ultimately lies, on that of russia or of japan, let all those who know korea and are interested in her fate, hope that the conquerors will fulfil the duties victory involves. the little country deserves that her rulers should earnestly study her conditions and seek to improve them. even from a merely utilitarian standpoint it will prove a better policy to develop and help than to exploit to excess or to oppress her. it is just as important that her people, who ever since their infancy have been the victims of cruel foes and the prey of bad government, should be elevated to a higher standard. for those who like to gather knowledge, not only about the outward circumstances of foreign countries but also about their inner life, it will be of interest to know that in spite of their degradation korea's people have preserved unimpaired the sensitiveness of their mind. they are by no means insensible to lofty ideas. they are even capable of showing some enthusiasm for higher ideals. there is hardly another nation in the east which evinces more sincere appreciation of christian ethics and doctrines than the koreans. scarcely half a century has passed since the first roman catholic priests began their work, and they already number about fifty parishes and over fifty thousand parishioners. the old religious hatred is gradually changing into sympathy. recently a few orphanages were built where children, abandoned by their parents, are being brought up and trained for some useful vocation. the people are beginning to conceive clearer ideas about christian virtues, and those who see under what wretched conditions the missionaries live, in what poor huts they dwell, on what scanty fare they have to live--especially when they realize that these men have left their own families, homes, and their country to educate little orphans, to help the needy, and to nurse the sick, no matter of what creed or sect, be they pagans or worshippers of the sun or of ancestors--regard this self-sacrifice with an admiration which is general and sincere. for those who wish to form an estimate of the intellectual powers of a people, the missionary schools offer undoubtedly the greatest facilities. it is there that the natural inclinations, good or bad, find direct expression. of all my surprising experiences in korea--a country rich in surprises--nothing equalled my impressions of the new college and seminary at yong-sang. there young people of twelve to fifteen gave as precise answers to questions put to them as one could hear in the best european high schools. and there korea's primitive children can express themselves fluently in classical latin. it was interesting for me to get an insight into their capabilities and observe their industry. for hours they would pore over their books if the teacher would not call them away for recreation. with the inherited inclination of oriental people for abstract sciences, they enter with delight and pleasure into any metaphysical question. i was delighted to hear how successful their training is, and how easy it is to form their minds. i saw young korea in a new light. there i best realized the force of the maxim that the future of a nation lies in the potentialities of its youths and their sound bringing up. but education can be of value only when carefully founded on higher morality and guided by true religion. with such an education chosen's children might hold in their hands one day their country's independence and prosperity. korea's exceptional geographical position, its natural wealth, and inborn physical strength, should tend to make her in the extreme far east a sort of buffer state, and a bulwark of international good fellowship and established peace. nations, like individuals, have their moral codes and vocations. nemesis must always overtake evil of every kind, and to the virtuous alone is granted the palm of victory. ix seoul, the capital of korea i have arrived safely in seoul. it is eventide, and the moon is just appearing. in the dimness the most desolate imperial residence in the world seems still more desolate, more wretched, miserable, and forlorn. my sedan-chair is being carried through a long street, or rather road, of small houses--but houses they cannot be called: those i have seen up to the present can at the best be termed hovels. at last we reach the walls of the inner city--for till now we have been merely in the outer town. the wall is ragged and thorny. in front stand a number of roofed and painted gates. i almost imagine myself back in pekin, for the picture is a replica, but in miniature. i am, however, unable in the dusk to see how much smaller it is, only the general effect is the same, stamped with the familiar chinese characteristics. [illustration: seoul "the broad streets seem an immense cemetery, and the mean little flat-roofed houses graves" to face page 240] the moon is now shining brightly, but it shows nothing new in the aspect of the road within the walls. the main street of seoul is as deep in clay and mud as it was at the time when the "waters dried up." its houses have not altered; they are scarcely more than the clay huts of prehistoric man, his protection against cold or heat. the first sight of an unknown country stamps itself on our minds in a manner unique, and i requested the bearers of my chair to walk slowly, for i did not wish to lose my first impression. there is a fascination in the unknown--a wonderful interest attached to the unexpected. our wanderings amongst strange peoples in the streets of a city which we have not visited before are not for the pen to describe. everything that is unknown is mysterious, until reality tears aside the veil, and so long as it is built up by our imagination and peopled by fantastic creations it remains to a certain extent a city of dreams. the streets are gradually getting broader, and the clay huts grow even more insignificant. i stop for a moment in the great square, which may be the centre of the city, but is little more than a cross-road leading into a few side-streets. it is scarcely seven o'clock, and yet over all broods a death-like silence, a peaceful calm, as complete as one can imagine. the broad streets seem an immense cemetery, and the mean little flat-roofed houses graves. one might think it is all saints' day, for on each grave a little lamp is burning. a lantern hangs from the eaves of each roof, showing a yellowish flame. but the people themselves are returning like ghosts to their homes, each robed in white--each and all mute. without a sound they flit over the roads of the endless graveyard, until they disappear into the depths of some one of the illuminated tombs. i have never been so impressed by any other city i have seen as i was by my first sight of seoul. as i saw the city just now, by the light of a november moon, dark, dumb, desolate, and ghostly, it resembled some fairy city more than reality; like those storied places sung of in the poetry of almost every people, the tale of which is listened to with such rapture by the little folk of the nursery, who know nothing as yet of life's seamy side. such a town was seoul to me, the first few hours after my arrival. next morning i was aroused by the sound of drums and trumpets. but whose? do they belong to the ghosts? what can have happened that the home of silence should have been disturbed by such an awful uproar? i hasten to my window. the long street, the square, every inch of ground, is occupied by soldiers. these are short and yellow, wearing a black uniform, the black cloth of which, set off by a broad red collar and contrasted with the yellow faces, makes a motley colour-scheme, almost like a chequered field. the men seem to like it. if the mixture serves no other purpose it offers an excellent target for an enemy, which was probably the idea of its inventors. the din continues. the trumpets blare, and these black, red, and yellow little people, like tin soldiers, keep moving before me; to and fro, up one street and down another they go, like stage-property soldiers, now appearing on and again disappearing from the stage--always the same supers; but one would think they were a mighty army. and all the time the bayonets flash on the rifle-barrels, whose weight seems rather too much for the little men. the drums still beat, and fanfares ring out on the frosty morning. what has happened? has the coronation not been postponed after all? is the emperor at last inaugurating the long-awaited festivities? i ring the bell, and a servant, dressed in white, and wearing a pigtail twisted up in a knot, enters. his long coat is of linen, his head covered by a hat of horsehair, which resembles in shape the wire lid used to protect preserves from flies. this quaint servant seems more surprised at my question than i at his livery. "but the army has been reorganized by european officers. it has been taught, in the western style, to march, manoeuvre, and kill, and for the performance of this gay farce new taxes have been raised. and now you, a european, coming from the west, ask, with obvious irony, 'what does this all mean?'" i can see how amusing the whole situation is, and what a ludicrous side it has. the fact of the collar being a few inches deeper, or of the colour of the tunic, does not alter the character of the uniform; it is still a distinctive mark, even in its best form, whether the mechanism which propels the bullet be new or old fashioned. the rifle always destroys, and whether a soldier is a couple of feet taller or not, whether he has a yellow or a white complexion, his calling is a rather gloomy one. for do we not consider that soldier most efficient who destroys the greatest number of lives? dawn now turns into morning, and the doors of the shops open one by one. most of them are only protected for the night by mats or a few planks. later on the customers begin to arrive, all of them dressed in white. men and women alike wear long linen coats (kaftans), and their lined foot-gear is also of linen; in fact, they are white from top to toe, excepting the black hat of horsehair. now and again i see a sedan-chair, which, however, is not larger than a good-sized box, its occupant huddled up inside. i cannot perceive any carriage, trap, or horse, in spite of the growing traffic, which, however, is perfectly noiseless. perhaps this may account for the fact of my still being under the impression of being in a deserted city. it is generally on the first day that we catch the most characteristic traits, or, at any rate, that the most salient features strike our imagination. while our perceptive powers are still fresh, we are able to be impressed by the smallest peculiarities. after breakfast i go out for a stroll, and find in front of me the palace gate, outside which some soldiers are standing. beyond it stretches a long street, towards which i turn. this is the same thoroughfare which yesterday resembled a vast graveyard, but the houses now stand open, as the wooden wall, looking on the street, has been removed. there are a considerable number of shops, but small and mean, displaying no wares that attract my attention. those of the cabinet-makers make the best show, consisting of small chests, inlaid with brass ornamentation, having large polished locks. these are no less quaint than they are tasteful. there seems to be a great demand for them, for in a whole row i can see nothing else. there is also no lack of fruit and seeds, but the baskets do not offer a quarter of the variety of a chinese grocer. i do not think i saw any more shops, at least any that i remarked. they seemed small and empty, never more than a couple of customers in them. what especially attracted my attention was the large number of sentry-boxes. every five or ten yards you came across a box, with a stubby black-red-and-yellow soldier inside, armed! no matter where i turn, there are sentry-boxes everywhere--to the right, to the left, in front and behind me. can it be a fact that this army is required to keep these little folk in order? * * * * * no sooner had i put this question to myself than i became aware of a disturbance going on--some coolies, carrying vegetables, engaged in a battle royal, and two boys pitching into each other. but the private stands there unmoved. his look seems rather to approve than condemn. he is evidently not intended to keep the peace; this does not seem to be part of his duties; so the coolies may fight as much as they like among the cabbages. (the group, by the way, forms a pretty picture--the coolies in white, with the green loads on their backs, in the thick of the fray.) the smaller of the boys commences to cry, as blood is dripping from his forehead; but the soldier is not affected by the sight of this either. i wonder if what he just muttered was that the "red cross" was not his business. as i went on i heard more screaming and quarrelling, and witnessed a few more little skirmishes. it was not until now that i realized how unaccustomed i was to quarrels and fights, as in china i never saw one man fighting another--they have their thousands of years of civilization to thank for that. later i approach a hall which is being repaired. it has a pointed roof and broad eaves, similar to those of the palace at pekin. a whole forest of wood is stored up there in the shape of beams. as i see with what precision the workmen make the various parts fit together, without the use of nails, i am delighted that the traditions of ancient architecture are not yet extinct. i am now in the neighbourhood of the royal palace. in front of the main gate is a large square, which farther on turns into a street, with public buildings on either side. these are the ministerial offices, where is spun the web of the korean government. externally the palace has little to distinguish it. the façade is rather low, and the walls are mud-coated, while the gates are not much better, in the chinese style, and crowned by tiles. the gates, which are wide open, lead into a large inner courtyard, where there are a number of ordinary and state sedan-chairs. crowds of servants, attendants, and coolies, are warming themselves in the sun, others are playing at ball, which they kick off and catch with their legs. [illustration: the emperor's throne in the old palace "the throne is reached by a short flight of steps, and the canopy is of barbaric splendour" to face page 248] in the middle of the street one meets mandarins hurrying to their offices, magistrates and other men of consequence, most of them in chairs, or rather boxes, carried by two servants. the vehicle is covered with a cloth, that of the better class matching in colour the servants' liveries. i have seen grey and yellow ones also. these belong to the korean aristocracy. the most attractive of all was the "carriage" of a noble in mourning. his chair had quite recently been covered with cloth of a yellowish hue, the same as that worn by his two servants, their coats reaching nearly to the ground. in order to give their limbs free play, these had been split up as far as the waist. but this can be nothing more than fashion, for not even the whip would make a korean hurry. the servants also wear a broad girdle, tied up in a bow, round their waists. when in mourning they wear straw hats, not black, but shaped like a fair-sized old-fashioned bread-basket. these have wide sloping brims, reaching the shoulders, and entirely concealing the face. in such a weird costume they strongly resemble yellow mushrooms sprung up on a summer's day. straw sandals complete the costume. in spite of these strange details and absurd combinations, the general effect is good; the colours, the silk-covered chair, straw hat and sandals, blend harmoniously together. seen from a distance, they almost have the appearance of ivory knick-knacks, such as you see exhibited for sale in japanese curio shops. but i hear a noise in the distance, and from the direction of the western gate a motley crowd comes towards me. it must be either a funeral or a wedding. so far i cannot distinguish which. the next moment two children detach themselves from the crowd and seem to lead the procession. their dress is glaring, of green, purple, and scarlet silk, with their dark hair encircling their foreheads in gleaming plaits. they are also decked out with flowers and butterflies. behind them is carried a large box, painted red, and polished. it is evidently a wedding, and this is very likely the dowry. now follow the dancers, in pairs, but wide apart from each other. their costume--i cannot describe it! almost shapeless, it consisted of skirt over skirt, kerchiefs, veils, all pell-mell and of every colour of the rainbow. i take note of many things which to-morrow might escape me. street life is one ever-flowing stream. in seoul, i observe, everybody lives on the thoroughfares, and this is probably the reason why the roads are so wide and the dwellings so cramped. in this trait the korean is like the spaniard or italian, for he is never so happy as when out of doors. there he stands on his threshold, or basking in the sunny courtyards; or he lights his pipe and strolls up and down for hours. his carriage is slow and stately. i wonder where he is going, and what he is thinking of--nowhere and of nothing. i should say, "il flâne." there is no suitable word in another language for this aimless meandering. "loitering" indicates only physical slowness, nor does even "to lounge or saunter" exactly convey the idea. physical sluggishness and moral vacuum are not simultaneously connoted by them. now and again a private comes by. he is the coming man! if he learns nothing else in the barrack-yard, he certainly does learn how to walk. his pigtail has been shorn off. at first he bemoaned it, for this antiquated head-dress of his embodied a general principle, and with its departure he was cut adrift from all his old associations and traditions; but, like the child he is at heart, he soon forgets his pigtail and its traditions along with it, and today is proud of the metamorphosis. as the man of progress and of the future, he scorns the white coats, sandals, and hats, of his countrymen. on reaching the hotel i find a gentleman awaiting me; it is the minister of great britain. he has learnt of my arrival, and is come to offer me his hospitality, my country not having a legation in the city. the hôtel du palais in seoul is new and fairly well managed, and so i did not wish to put any one to inconvenience. the bishop being away, and having no legation, i was anxious to remain my own master. we never know when we may become a nuisance to the kindest of hosts. the pleasantness of a visit, after all, depends more on circumstances than on the host or guest. all this i frankly explained, and in the end we made a compromise in such a way as not to disturb our daily programme. i was to be his guest, but each of us was to attend to his usual occupations, and we were to meet only at luncheon time. as for the afternoons, we left everything to circumstances. the british legation, on the other side of the new palace, is a pretty country mansion, with a loggia, built on a bank, and enclosed by a garden. the secretary's house stands in another part of the grounds, and at the entrance a pavilion for the guards is in course of construction. the interior is typically english, the same as we find it in the houses of the well-to-do classes, whose root principle is, "my home is my castle." among those with whom the family life is such a fine example of domestic virtues, the "home" strikes us very forcibly and with such graciousness. indeed, the "home" idea is one of great britain's bulwarks. my room was ready for me, bright and cheerful. the creeper on the balcony was still green, and my windows looked out on to the courtyard of the neighbouring palace. in the afternoon i went to the german consulate, and passed on the way the temple of heaven--a pagoda standing on a hill, with a fair double roof and in front of it a marble altar. it is a replica, a poor one it is true, of pekin's masterpiece, but quite pretty from a scenic point of view. from a small house at the corner a very babel of sound issues forth. it is the inarticulate mechanical repetition of one chapter--exactly the same method our own schoolmasters used to employ for instilling knowledge. as the door in the courtyard is open, i enter. in front of me i find a room, not more than ten feet square, in which ten or more youngsters are crowded together. there they sit on the floor, dressed green instead of white, and their long hair hanging down in fine plaits. [illustration: the imperial library in seoul "one of those charming buildings full of originality" to face page 252] each has a big a b c book in his hand. every word has a different letter; these they repeat, and in this way knowledge is driven into them. they pronounce everything out loud, moving the upper part of their body to right and left, backwards and forwards, all the time. the dominie is seated in front, also squatting on the floor. his eyes are shielded by goggles of enormous size, and he wears on his head a horsehair crown. he is wisdom personified, outwardly at any rate, and his thoughts seem to be ranging far away in the distance; and from his olympic seat he casts an indifferent eye on his perspiring pupils. but, as a famous chinese pedagogue says, "chinese spelling and writing can only be mastered mechanically; the best scholar is the jackass." the german consulate is a new building, but by no means as comfortable as the english. the consul-general is also entrusted with austro-hungarian affairs, and would look after them if there were any to look after. but i am afraid that the viennese foreign office of the present régime does not quite realize the commercial interests which it might promote, and follows strictly the advice of the late secretary of foreign affairs, ct. kálnoky, given to an enthusiastic youth, "if you want to succeed in your career and maintain your position when once acquired, do not forget 'on n'est jamais en disgrace pour ce qu'on n'a pas fait.'" he is very courteous, and talks a good deal of japan, where he acted as councillor of the legation. from there to the roman catholic mission is but a few yards. as i enter its iron grilled gate, my surprise is as great as it is agreeable, for i see before me a grand cathedral, and on either side spacious buildings standing in their own wooded grounds. it was built on the model of one of the old cathedrals in the netherlands--red brick, gothic, a style which, as i invariably avow, i do not like to find in the east. but this is only a criticism due to my artistic sense. as a building, nothing can be said against it, for of its kind it is perfect. but what struck me most was its cleanliness. the stone floor was as bright as a mirror. the bishop was away on circuit, and would not return for ten days, so father ----, the vicar, received me, and showed me over the whole little colony, the school, and convent and orphanage; but of these i will speak more fully elsewhere. as i took my leave the sun was setting. the peaks of the encircling hills were reflected in purple tints on the topaz sky. the mission down below, in the dell, appeared in a bluish mist, only the cathedral cresting the hill. returning home by a circuitous route, i find the streets even more thronged than in the morning. i glance into a few shops, but there is not much worth seeing. the furriers, who are engaged in cutting out and sewing a number of tunics, capes, and fur coats, seem to be the busiest. there are also a good many jackets and still more waistcoats without sleeves to protect the chest and back. over these are worn white linen kaftans. no wonder the wearers look like walking eider-down quilts. to the right i noticed a tavern, much like the chinese roadside inn, and in the large open stable a row of small rough-haired horses were standing with straw rugs on their backs. a coolie was carrying water from the well in two brass vessels, hanging on the ends of a long pole. the pole does not, however, rest upon his shoulders, but is fastened crosswise to his back, giving man and load the appearance of a living pair of scales. next come some unpretentious little barracks, which, in their smallness, are after the pattern of the soldiers, a number of whom are looking out of the windows. in the absence of any better occupation, they are chewing pumpkin-seeds. now we arrive at the curiosity shops displaying several porcelain articles, a few of bronze, many tiles, and a farrago of rubbish. on the cross-road are some more barracks, comprised in a long low building, the little men in front of which were wearing, not only red collars, but also red dolmans. here the cavalry are garrisoned, and a little scrap of a hussar is just galloping home. this warrior is not a whit taller than hop o' my thumb, his charger scarce larger than a well-developed calf of two months. by the side of this toy hussar rattled a formidable sabre, which seemed in danger of pulling him down from his horse. without that impediment his seat is poor enough. on his coming nearer i see that the murderous instrument is an ordinary cavalry sword. his uniform is the most chequered i ever saw. the dolman of the korean hussar is of a cinnamon colour, his collar and cuffs emerald-green, and his breeches stripes saffron. if the pattern of his uniform was the plumage of a parrot, the imitation is indeed most successful. i was wandering farther on, when in front of a gate some dogs nearly knocked me down. the streets of seoul, like those of pekin and constantinople, are full of them, but with this difference, that the dogs here are well-kept and strong. if a single one of these starts barking, this signal of some approaching danger is in a minute responded to throughout a whole quarter. it was so in my case. as i came too near the threshold, the guardian on duty there was under the impression that i intended to encroach on his domain. his attitude towards me was anything but friendly, and not being armed with either stick or umbrella, i instinctively stooped down to pick up a stone. this movement on my part, however, was sufficient to make him retire summarily into his own courtyard. he was perfectly in the right, and it only showed what a faithful watch-dog he was. the korean canine race is a subject worthy of a few words, because it affords some of the most typical figures in the streets of seoul. i must confess i never have seen better-trained dogs than these. in the streets they are the meekest of quadrupeds, and as quiet as lambs. a single word is quite sufficient to make the seoul dog scamper home to his doorway. he knows that it is his duty to be there. he will lie in the little yard for hours and hours, but prefers, best of all, to take his ease on the doorstep, with his head in the street, so as not to lose sight of any one approaching. he hardly takes any notice of you, as long as you walk in the middle of the road. at most he would stare at dark-clothed people with other than yellow faces, to the sight of whom he is not accustomed, for ever since he came into this world he has seen none other than white kaftans. but the moment any stranger directs his steps towards the house, the dog gives a growl or two, and on further approach barks as loud as he can. he reserves his attack until you are within his range, that is to say about a yard from him. by that time the auxiliary forces from the neighbourhood have concentrated, and you have the whole brigade snarling and yapping at your heels. this fearsome pandemonium at last brings the master of the house, or a member of his family, to the seat of the disturbance, and a single word, or merely a sign, suffices for cerberus to retire to a corner, wagging his tail. * * * * * darkness has set in. calm reigns supreme. the fresh autumnal night is silently spreading its grey veil of mist over the white city. but look! is not that the northern light breaking through the dark? in the direction of puk-han it begins to dawn. the sky unexpectedly flashes up; its subdued red light is getting more and more brilliant. now flames of hundreds of torches illuminate the atmosphere. here is another surprise, as if the many strange phenomena of the day had not yet reached their climax. it is a torchlight procession, the like of which i have never seen before. pedestrians, sedan-chairs, men on horseback, are coming forward in an endless string. and what a pageant this is! what effective grouping! the minutest detail has been carried out with artistic taste. the smallest traits are wonderfully harmonized, to enhance the general effect. the procession is headed by children, dressed in white from top to toe, wearing bell-shaped head-gear. then follow bearers of torchlights and banners, servants carrying inscriptions attached to poles, others dangling lanterns, and behind these another group burning straw plaits. the next section of the procession consists of riders, of whom eight are entirely covered by white cloaks. you would imagine they were phantoms, if it were not that they are weeping bitterly. these are the paid mourners, like the moaning women of ancient rome; for it is a native funeral. a member of the min family is being taken to his last resting-place. he is a descendant of a famous clan, a relative of the late empress of korea, so regal pomp is awarded him. and the funeral procession is really grand, although all dresses worn therein are of unbleached linen. the trimmings are for the most part of paper, but in such striking combinations, and designed and finished so perfectly, that we disregard the details and only admire the general effect. the group of moaning women is followed by monsters, dressed as guys, such as gruesome fables are peopled with. one wears a red, another a yellow, mask; this a green, and that a blue one. the appearance of all is awe-inspiring, their heads being adorned with horns, cockscombs, and crowns. now more and more new groups follow, approaching in a stately way, and disappearing slowly in the darkness of the night. how long the procession lasted i could not ascertain, but some thousand persons must have marched by ere the two gilt catafalques appeared on the scene. both were alike, resembling monumental pagodas, gabled in many places, designed with the quaint originality of this people, and ornamented with all the fullness of their fancy. the two coffins, prescribed by ancient traditions, rest on pedestals in the shadow of high baldachinos. behind the coffin walks a person wrapped in sackcloth, suggestive of the cloth worn over their uniforms by members of the society of the misericordia in italy. the catafalques and coffins are carried on their shoulders by thirty-two mourners, proceeding slowly and rhythmically. but the pageant is not yet at an end. on a number of sedan-chairs are heaped up the personal belongings of the deceased. his clothes, household furniture, horses, and cows, all follow him, so that they may be consumed as a burnt-offering by his grave-side; all in _effigy_, for they are but of paper. it is in such cheap counterfeit that the ancient traditions are being preserved by the more practical progeny of the present day. the silver coins, thrown by the riding "weepers" amongst the crowd, are likewise make-believe, being really nothing but small discs of paper. one sedan-chair follows another; hosts of carriers and servants accompany the members of the family. there is the whole tribe; a whole brigade is riding behind the gabled catafalque. all are covered with sackcloth; even the mendicant is dressed in white--the whole procession is white. and as they turn round at the top of the hill, the effect of the picture is unique. the weeping women, the monsters, the mourners and attendants, the gigantic catafalques, and the immense crowd, formed one of the strangest sights i ever contemplated. the furled banners, dangling inscriptions, open sunshades, lanterns with dim lights in the darkness of the night, formed the quaintest setting. the light of torches, the burning bunches of bulrushes and straw, are tinting in a vibrating red the long, white and ghostly procession. the beating of drums, and the droning of bagpipes, furnish the music, and the weeping women the proper chorus. this strange funeral, in fact, is the most perfect "danse macabre." the full moon, fuller than usual, as though anxious to light up the weird procession, is rising in a slow and stately manner behind the hills. her melancholy rays filter through the night, her silvery splendour intensifying the ghostliness of the scene. * * * * * the first day spent in the capital of korea is nearing its end. quietness penetrates the night--such profound quietness as can only be enjoyed in seoul. the alley leading to the legation is dark and deserted. and as i walk home i try to recall to my memory all that i have perceived and heard; all that was new to me and striking; all the contrasts and the incoherency of earliest perceptions. no guests were bidden to dinner, and when my host put the question to me, "what do you think about seoul?" i was scarcely able to express my thoughts clearly. what do i really think about seoul? what about her people, her life, physiology, and atmosphere? i will write it down forthwith, ere _knowledge_ spoils the glamour of first impressions, whilst every tint is shining in glaring colour, whilst every detail can be observed through the microscope of novelty. on the last day of my sojourn here, i will look through these short notes, and, like a schoolmaster, correct in red ink any mistakes that may be found therein. town and people will then be better known, but the charm of the first day will vanish for ever. x the emperor of korea at the new palace since last night we have been in the midst of revolution; but it seems that a revolution in korea is very much like everyday life in other corners of the earth, and nobody attaches any importance to it. everybody pursues his daily task, the ordinary routine goes on in its slow and lumbering way. official life maintains its sluggish pulsation, and to my astonishment i even get an invitation to be received in the course of the afternoon by the emperor and the crown prince. it is a calm day, calm in every respect, and the people of seoul seem to be at rest, as i am carried by eight unusually large bearers towards the new palace. the little _cortège_ is of a strange character. my sedan-chair is covered with green silk, and, with the bearers in dark purple, makes quite a patch of colour in the whitewashed streets. seoul might be called the white city. the houses are white, and every living being, young and old, man and woman, is clad in white cotton. i should really think that the absence of colour and sound is the most striking feature of the land of the morning calm. the reception takes place at the new palace. there are four palaces in seoul, the eastern, northern, western, and the one i am just entering. i have passed a great many delightful afternoons in their magnificent grounds, forlorn gardens, quaint summer-houses, and charming pagodas. i returned again and again to sketch for a while, or to admire the once-famous korean art, which, i am afraid, has vanished for ever, like the famous bronze-workers, sculptors, and cloisonné makers, like the whole once-famous civilization that has left only a few magnificent monuments of its existence. the sedan-chairs are put down before the main entrance, which looks very much like that of a suburban railway station, with its glass roof, supported by iron posts. it is modern indeed. it may be useful, but it is sadly commonplace. there is a platform, too, not to miss anything to complete the _tout ensemble_. i am shown first into an ante-room which might be that of any small country villa, and our coats are hung on racks which have every appearance of having come straight from tottenham court road. and then we step into a drawing-room, which i prefer to call a waiting room, an exact replica of those dreary places where we are compelled to waste so many hours of our lives. it might belong to a dentist, a doctor, or a public official at home. in the centre there is a huge table with the kind of books which nobody ever dreams of reading. the furniture is featureless, but not altogether unpretentious, and the engravings and pictures are of a sort that nobody cares for. i was told by way of compliment to the west that the court arranged this apartment for foreign receptions, and i wonder if it was entirely without sarcasm or pardonable malice that visitors are confronted with a room that makes all the faults of modern western taste so manifest. it was a climax of all that is banal. whilst waiting we are entertained by his excellency the master of ceremonies, the lord chamberlain, and several a.d.c.'s. they all wear european uniforms, dark marine-blue tunics, with many black and gold badges and heavily braided dark red trousers. everything is of the best material and highly finished, apparently made far beyond korea's frontiers. some of the officials talk french, some english, and all are most interesting and entertaining. they have charming manners and all the natural refinements of an ancient race. two of them are old acquaintances. i met them years ago at buckingham palace, on the occasion of queen victoria's diamond jubilee. prince min is an accomplished man of the world. he has just built a new house on the outskirts of the city, "with all the most modern improvements," but i am rather sorry he has left his old home, lost in the maze of the inner town and buried in the shade of a few fine chestnut trees. it was such a typical old korean home, looking outside like a hut built of mud and covered with thatch, but inside looking like a white paper box. its tiny rooms were carpeted with silky matting, and for furniture it had half a dozen silk cushions--for ornamentation, but a single flower stand. there is a striking contrast between this modern waiting-room and the old korean house; a contrast of vulgarity and refinement. i am sorry to say i saw only a few of these quaint old places, and i fear that on my next visit they will all have disappeared. to pass the time, tea, champagne-cup, and cigarettes, are handed round, as they would be in any western house. the new palace and its diplomatic receptions are managed by a western lady. there are some other westerners holding court appointments here, some with the title of teacher of languages, and many others under different pretexts. but few of them render services that are ever required. the building of this new palace is unquestionably strange and antagonistic, but i will confine myself to observing the material sides. its conception and architecture are equally incoherent; it is such an unintelligible mixture of old and new, national and foreign. near the hall, built exactly like an old yamen, there stands a shed of corrugated iron, and a wonderful old gate leads to a passage furnished with viennese chairs. the whole palace was built as opportunity offered, without previous plans. it came to be erected in the following way. during the last revolution, the empress lost her life: she was dragged out of her room, atrociously tortured, and stabbed by ruffians, or, as some say, by foreign soldiers. afterwards, her body was burned in the adjoining deer park, at the foot of the eastern hills. the emperor himself escaped only with the greatest difficulty, in a disguise, carried on men's shoulders, as anchises was out of the burning ruins of troy. he never returned to those ill-fated walls, but took refuge in the russian legation, and remained there for a long time to be in greater security. after this, land was secured near the legations, amidst the foreign settlement, and there the new palace was erected. it is not completed yet, and i am afraid it will remain unfinished for many years, and offer a source of income to the commercial, trading, labouring, and idling classes of the country. at last his majesty awoke from his siesta and was ready to receive me. there are no ushers and no court functionaries, and little or no display. the servants who came with the message wore a red calico kaftan to the ground, with a red calico hood that looked like a domino. it is the court livery, simple to make and cheap to buy. calico is the national material, that everybody wears at all seasons of the year--in winter padded with cotton-wool or sheepskin. there are over 10,000,000 purchasers of calico in korea, and it has become quite an interesting commercial question whether japan's osaka or england's manchester will secure the future market. by a little door and through a narrow passage, built of white deal boards, we get to the inner court, which is really a backyard surrounded by store-rooms and servants' sheds. [illustration: the throne room "since the revolution, in which the empress lost her life, the emperor has never returned there" to face page 268] to avoid the mud it is necessary to use a pathway composed of two planks. they are narrow enough to test the skill of an equilibrist, and it may be they are put down to drill the courtiers in that useful art. on this occasion these planks are covered with narrow bright red carpet--a poor specimen of the thing usually found in "furnished apartments," not at all conducive to comfort, and apparently only a harbour for the dust. the yard is deserted. here and there, out of peep-holes and half-open doors, a few red-calicoed servants are gazing with inquisitive eyes, but not one of them is in attendance. from the central building a wide, unpainted door leads into the yard. the door is open and we see a kind of hall, with its walls covered with a large-patterned blue-and-white paper, which probably lay for years neglected and unadmired in some mean shop. there is a table in the centre and a high screen behind. squeezed in between the two stands the emperor. i can hardly realize that i am in the presence of the all-powerful potentate--an emperor who is more than ruler, and more even than despot, in fact, an idol in the eyes of his people. his person is sacred, his power is boundless, his word is law, and he owns everything, land and people, without restriction, his simple wish is a command. if human hand touches him it is sacrilege, and the punishment for sacrilege is death. even the dead body of an emperor must be lifted into the coffin by a special device. if the emperor touches a subject, the body so touched becomes blessed. the emperor's name must not be mentioned except in whispers. his portrait is never painted except after death, when it becomes an object of worship in the ancestral halls. once a foreign envoy sought to present the emperor with the portrait of his sovereign, but the minister for foreign affairs regarded the offer as an outrage and the portrait was never accepted. how very strange all these customs seem to be! but it is scarcely thirty years since korea was still, if not the "land of the morning calm," at least the "hermit kingdom," secluded and unknown. [illustration: _copyright, nops ltd._ the emperor of korea to face page 270] my impression of the emperor is favourable. his features are heavy, but the face is kind and his expression is benevolent. physically he is delicate. i cannot imagine him to be a man of strong likes or dislikes, and his shyness approaches timidity. he wore ancient korean state robes of rich yellow hue, embroidered with numberless cabalistic signs. around his waist was clasped a stiff ceremonial girdle, inlaid with jade. it looked much like an iron hoop round a shrunken barrel and seemed peculiar to western eyes, accustomed to belts that, on the contrary, grip the body only too closely. the representative of my country, who has lived for many years in korea, and is an excellent scholar, had scarcely time to make the necessary introductions before the emperor opened the conversation. he was most interested in the way i had come, and hearing that i had used the overland route, his questions were inexhaustible. "when did you leave home?" "how long have you been travelling?" "what interested you most?" "what is the country like?" "what do the people do?" "what are their ambitions?" and so on. he seemed to be interested in my own country, and especially in all the different manners and customs of the west. "is your country a very hilly one?" "are the people agricultural, as here?" "is your capital a very fine one, and what is the emperor's palace like? i hear there are magnificent court functions, and pageants with a great many carriages. my envoys, coming home from the european tour, gave me very interesting details of your magnificent cities and great wealth, and brought home many valuable souvenirs and pictures. i am sorry to be too old, otherwise i myself would start to see all i have heard about." the state coaches seemed to appeal most to his imagination, which, after all, is but natural, considering that such a thing as a carriage has never been known to the koreans. his majesty even expressed a wish to order one in europe. question after question came, giving me scarcely time to give answers. i, of course, could not ask questions except in an indirect way, for in this respect korea sticks firmly to the etiquette of all courts, which provides that the monarch alone is allowed to start a new topic of conversation. "you must have been very glad on your arrival at seoul to find that the finest building is your cathedral? what it must have been to have built up such a high tower! and i am told its interior is beautiful. who was your architect? how much did it cost?" i explained that it was built by one of the fathers who studied with great care the architectural books of viollet le duc, and that the expense had been very limited, on account of nearly everything being made on the spot. but he was even more interested to hear about our orphan schools close by, where nearly two hundred children are saved from misery and death. he was pleased to hear a little more of what happens outside the palace gates, to know something more about the charitable work carried out in his own country. it was astonishing to see with what keen interest he followed my explanations. he wanted to know my ideas concerning koreans, and especially korean children and the rising generation trained in our schools. i was glad to have an opportunity of expressing my satisfaction, and i told him how very much surprised i was at seeing the korean children at work, and hearing their answers. i could scarcely believe that boys out here could be such good latin scholars, some of them far in advance of boys of the same age in european schools. i was even more astonished to see the real pleasure it gave them to study and to improve. to me it shed quite a new light on the korean character and mind. what is more satisfactory still is, that when these children go back to their forlorn homes, as they do for several months each year, they seldom fail to return, and never forget what they have been taught. next the emperor sat the crown prince, a man slightly over thirty years of age, overgrown and heavy, apathetic, and lethargic in all his movements. he shows little interest in anything outside his own sphere, and scarcely any capacity for the reception of new ideas. he is married, but has no family. but there is a younger brother who is in every respect the reverse. he is bright, clever, active, and instead of the heavy atmosphere of the palace seeks the fresh air of far-away countries; at present he is in the united states, working hard, studying and gathering knowledge, experience, and statesmanship, which may, as he hopes it will, be of use to himself and to his country. behind the emperor and crown prince stands a huge dark figure, casting a heavy black shadow on them. his expression is stolid, and he is mute, but he watches and follows everything that goes on around us. he is the chief eunuch of the palace, a man of great importance and influence. the chamberlains and princes accompany me to my sedan-chair when i go. before i leave them they make an appointment for next day to show me the ancestral hall and some of the public buildings. i must say they are all very courteous, and want to show me much that they think would prove useful to me. at last we start, sedan-chairs begin to swing, hanging from eight bearers' shoulders. a horseman rides ahead, while the legation servants and the kisos form a guard. as we come to the large place before the palace there is a dense crowd, a faction of the revolutionists as i am told. the city is in great excitement. as we pass along we meet crowds everywhere. seoul is divided into two parties. one is bitter against russia and claims the delivery and punishment of y.-yung-yk, on whom all the imperial confidence and favours are bestowed at this moment. another party is in favour of him and russia. the former is for japan--but there is no party to support their own country, to work for its independence, and to secure its freedom. there seem to be very few koreans for korea. xi tokio as the train stops at the terminus of shimbashi, i can scarcely realize that i have reached the capital of beautiful japan. the huge station is one of the most commonplace erections i have ever come across in my long journeys. platforms, booking offices, waiting rooms, are perfect copies of all that the western mind has produced to be useful, but from an artistic point of view featureless and colourless. and even the crowd, which bustles along and overflows the whole place, is as drab as it could be in any commercial centre on our side of the globe. even those who still cling to the national _kimono_, instead of keeping to the old bright colours, have it made of dark cloth or modern cotton material. as i step out into the street my disappointment is even greater. i see a few buildings constructed of wood, without any ornamentation, the unpainted timber grey and weather-beaten. i must say the day is very much against the creation of a favourable impression. it is a cold january morning, gloomy and dark, sleet falling from leaden clouds, and the streets are thickly covered with black mud. i can almost imagine myself in the suburbs of pittsburg, for there is a great deal of smoke, the only apparent difference being that steel is replaced mostly by timber. as my jinrickshaw rolls along through the maze of wide streets and narrow lanes, i do not feel elated. my extraordinary vehicle, which is drawn by two men harnessed tandem fashion and pushed by another, has, however, an eastern flavour, though the 'rickshaw was actually invented by an anglo-saxon genius. during the first weeks of my stay i visited all the ancient monuments, temples, and pagodas, and all the usual haunts of the traveller. there are some fine specimens of japanese art, though they cannot be compared to the buildings of the smaller cities. i come from nara and kyoto, and this may be one of the reasons that everything is so far below my expectations. some of the temples are certainly large, and one or two pagodas quaintly designed, many of the carvings being elaborate. but even the best specimens can only be classed as decorative art. among them all, the most noteworthy examples of japanese architecture are the temples dedicated to the memory of the sh[=o]guns. the decoration of the inner halls is sometimes exquisite, the beams and friezes being beautifully worked. bronzes, finely cast, magnificently finished, make the interiors delightful. i specially admired the specimens of lacquer-work i saw in the course of my rambles. nearly all the temples had panels, doors, chests, boxes, utensils, and odds and ends of exceptional beauty. it takes a long time for a western eye to appreciate fully the real qualities of good lacquer; but when once it has been trained it will always put their lacquer-work foremost among the artistic productions of this people next to bronzes, if not before them. the industry still survives in full vigour, and i saw several specimens which came very near those in the carefully guarded collection of nikko. i also saw many fine bronzes, though their beauty is often depreciated by the too-great elaborateness of the design. old national armour is to be found in many of the temples and collections of the capital, but, though most beautiful, it is not yet in much demand in the bric-à-brac market. but i have come to the conclusion that the real charm of ancient yeddo must have lain more in nature than in art, in its bright suburbs, evergreen groves, wistaria-covered arbours, and chrysanthemum gardens; nature in her exuberance, in her spring bloom, or the varied tints of autumn intermingled with arched bridges, carved balustrades, and flights of steps, relieved by art. monuments in japan seem to serve above all as a foreground to a fine view: the most conspicuous towers, ex-voto lanterns, or finest "tories," acquire an artistic value more from their surroundings than from their intrinsic worth. the way in which the monuments are placed, the effect they give to the landscape, and especially the view to be seen from them, are the main points of interest. i am sorry that books written on japanese art generally fail to perceive its real value, and point out merits it does not possess. it is particularly the imagination that ought to be dwelt on; not merely the handiwork, but the conception of the brain. shrines, kiosks, pagodas, may sometimes be very primitive, but in the imagination of the artist they represented fairy buildings. it is the same with their tiny little gardens, or dwarf woods. though they are in reality minute, they grow in the owners' minds to veritable parks or virgin forests. some of the so-called imperial palaces around nikko are most humble abodes, surrounded by a little strip of land. katsura-no-rikyu palace, for instance, consists simply of a few planks nailed together, forming a kind of log house of one storey, a few feet square, and divided in the interior by partitions or the so-called sliding screens. certainly it is no palace; it can scarcely be called a house. it is literally a shed roofed with bamboo and thatch,--nothing more. and yet the followers of the imaginative school of æsthetics saw it with different eyes. to them it represented what their fancy imagined, not what they saw in reality, and the little open space before the building, which, with the best will in the world, can only be called a gravel yard, dotted with unhewn stones, was to them the illimitable surface of the ocean, the scattered blocks so many islands and continents. in the corner stands a little estrade of bamboo, where the mikado and his chosen friends used to sit in deep contemplation before the elaborate world of their fancy, and enjoy the passive happiness of the zen doctrine. it would interest me to treat this subject most explicitly, and to deal with japanese art from a psychological point of view; to consider not merely the objects it has created, but rather the mind and genius which have been manifested in its different creations; to deal more at length with the founders and pupils of the famous masters' schools of nara and kyoto, and to explain where their real value lies. to discuss the paintings, statuary, and architecture, the refinement of their watercolours, which can only be called sketches, small bronzes and jade or stone figures, the netsukes on masks, makimonos, "tories" and pagodas, would afford to our matter-of-fact appreciation an opportunity of realizing more fully the strength of their imagination. the average european generally admires in japanese work the finish of detail, elaborateness of execution, and the patience of labour, applied to its object. he pays high prices for the workman's skill and manual dexterity, but seems to be quite indifferent to the artist's idea as such, and the originality of the conception escapes him entirely. yet in the most famous creations of the celebrated æsthetes we are more struck by the force of their imagination than by the actual work itself. the _cha-no-yu_ style consisted, as mentioned above with reference to the katsura-no-rikyu palace, of a few planks, bamboo beams, and thatched roof, and kobori enshu, nippon's le notre, designed his gardens to offer a panoramic effect more than a place of recreation. it was not the house nor the grounds in their real grandeur which effected the impression desired; in fact, it was not reality at all that was before them in its crude and sometimes primitive material; but the suggestiveness of log house and gravel yard, which developed in their vivid fantasy into enchanted palace and fairy land. men retiring from active life; generals crowned with many victories; distinguished, even abdicating mikados, secluded themselves in different rural retreats to enjoy, after the struggles of life, perfect peace. they led a life of their own, an existence not so much of active reality as of passive contemplation, in which they discussed different ideas and strove for new ideals. they invented an artificial life of artistic refinement, admiring for days together a single work of art or a flower in full bloom, inhaling choice aromas and smelling exquisite perfumes. and stately processions were organized to go and partake of afternoon tea in a summer-house, where every movement was prescribed by strict etiquette, and where the handing and receiving of the cup were attended by fastidious courtesies, and the making of the beverage of a special green leaf, pounded to powder, and poured out of a black earthen pot, was an occupation requiring several hours. the tea ceremonies have often been described; there is a whole literature at our disposal, in which the regulations respecting these proceedings are put down with the authority of a code. but what is far more interesting than the description of the elaborate ceremonies is the problem of how the mind of the people could have manifested itself in such a complex and, to us, incomprehensible way. we shall never fully realize how these men could have sat on the _tsuki-mi-dai_, the bamboo dais, for hours, watching the moon rising behind the meadows, gazing at the scene before them, lost in the intricacy of their contemplation. and we shall never understand their thoughts as we shall never realize the world as seen from a tsuki-mi-dai. is it astonishing if, in their imagination, reality and fiction became "confusion worse confounded," huts grew to palaces, the single stones to islands, and, finally, they built up a world of their own? as children gazing at clouds give full play to their fancy, so did they see in the external world what really existed only in their inner consciousness. the explanation of many of those vagaries lies in the strength of their fantasy, the vividness of their illusions; but we might go even further and justly say that one of the strongest qualities of the nation is the strength of their imagination. with them fiction almost becomes reality, fancies acquire positive values, and subjective sensations are allowed to act upon the objective world. any one who is interested in metaphysical questions will be struck by this trait, not only in their art, but in every incident of their existence. whether in the past or present, it will strike us as one of the main characteristics of the japanese, and, turning over the pages of their long history, it is one of the prevailing features. it was a potent factor, which gave strength to their convictions and endurance to their arms. in fact, their whole ancient moral code and their laws of chivalry were based on the same principle. the two qualities which inspire sincere admiration all over the world--their great loyalty to the sovereign and boundless patriotism--are emanations of the same disposition. in fact their greatest achievements were carried out under the influence of some abstract conception and brought to success by a national or ethical ideal. ii if the artistic colouring of tokio has faded away for ever, its present aspect is marked by the evidences of practical life, and if one's first impression is one of general disappointment, the second is one of deep interest. we soon realize that the capital of japan has ceased to be a mere bazaar, full of glitter, where all the toys and fancies of the east have been stored to make a pleasant resort for the western traveller. it is a place of hard work, for the accomplishment of serious aims. though my expectations in visiting the old monuments were not fulfilled, and, as i said before, from an antiquarian and artistic standpoint the town failed to satisfy me, i became daily more deeply interested in the busy life and commercial enterprise of modern nippon. workshops, manufactories, banks, insurance offices, are increasing rapidly in number. the electric and steam companies, railways and shipping, telegraph and telephone companies, have developed in a most astounding manner. if we consider that the railway was only introduced into the country in 1872, for the short distance from tokio to yokohama, which was followed by another short line in 1876 from kobe to kyoto, and the first long line connecting the two capitals was opened in 1890, it is even more astonishing to see what has been done in the succeeding ten years. to-day railways have been laid all over the country, and all the main cities are connected by direct lines. to give an idea of this rapid development, i may refer to the fact that in 1887 there were 580 miles open for traffic, and in 1899 there were 3421 miles. besides the government railways a great many private companies have been formed. about thirty years after the commencement of japan's new era, the government lines extended to 833 miles, including 60 miles in formosa, and the routes still under construction 1250. there were forty-four private companies as well, with a capital of 228 million yen. the rolling stock of the government railways amounted to about 1500 locomotives, 5000 cars, and 18,000 goods wagons. among private lines the nippon tetsudo is the most important; it is about 1000 miles long. the next in importance are the kiushiu and sanyo railways. to-day it is possible to go from the north end of the country to the south, a distance of 1400 miles. the only interruption on the whole track is the straits of moji, where there is still a ferry, but this, it is said, will probably be replaced by a steel bridge, such as that over the forth. the greater part of the rolling stock is manufactured at home, only wheels and axles being imported to any great extent from abroad. the first telegraph line was installed in 1869 by english engineers. in 1877 all the foreign employés had been replaced by natives, and ten years later japan joined the international telegraph union. in 1891 the government purchased from the great northern telegraph company, with great strategical foresight, and took into its own hands, all the cables forming a direct connexion with korea. the telegraph offices are not far off 2000 in number, and the length of the wires is close on 30,000 kilometres. the number of internal messages amounts to 16 millions, and of international messages to about 300,000. the longest main line is from tokio to nagasaki--877 kilometres. there are several thousands of employés, and in many places bicycles are used for delivering the telegrams. the telephone in japan is more common than in any other country in the world, except perhaps norway. besides the government and public telephone offices, nearly every large commercial house, and most private homes, have telephones. the establishment of the electric system of illumination has become most popular in the smallest villages, and forlorn hamlets are lighted by electricity. steam navigation companies are numerous. besides local companies running small steamers in the larger bays and inland seas, there are several companies for international commerce. among all these companies the most important is the nippon yusen kaisha. it is the pride of modern japan, and i quite agree that there are very few enterprises in the shipping line which could surpass it in size and excellence of organization. to quote from their annual report, which will be of interest as giving an idea of the success they have achieved: "with a capital of 22 million yen, establishing regular steamship services all over the world, and with a fleet of 70 steamers aggregating 200,000 tons gross, the majority of them new and provided with every resource for contributing to the comfort of passengers and every modern facility for the carrying trade, the nippon yusen kaisha now ranks among the greatest enterprises of the kind in the world. the regular services maintained by it, independently of its lines between all the principal ports in japan, are with china, asiatic russia, the straits settlements, india, the red and mediterranean seas, europe, canada, america, and australia. the japanese diet in 1899 resolved to grant subsidies to the company's european and american lines, and thus all foreign and home lines, with but a few exceptions, have been ordered to run under the mail contract of the imperial japanese government. the head office is in tokio, and branch offices and agencies to the number of over seventy, particulars of which are given elsewhere, are situated at all the ports of call and other important points. the total number of the company's employés is about 1200, in addition to about 3500 of crews, firemen, etc." this synopsis grows in interest, and is even more surprising when we consider that the first enterprise in steam navigation was started only in 1868 between osaka and tokio, and in 1880 the company possessed a fleet comprising about fifty boats. skippers, engineers, and all the chief officers, were westerners, and nearly all englishmen. but the japanese proved to be apt pupils, and every year a greater number of foreigners were replaced by natives. to-day there are only the captains and a few other officers on the international lines who are still foreigners, but even their days are numbered. during my lengthened stay in the far east, i travelled a great deal on their lines, crossed the yellow sea in several directions, went down once to shanghai and once to hong kong, made an expedition to the philippines and the neighbouring islands, and, finally, made a journey in one of their largest boats to australasia; and i can speak of them with high praise in every respect. of course, a great many of the boats are built in england, with all the latest improvements. they have electric light and ventilators. and if people who are hard to please sometimes find fault with the _chef's_ department, i think they are epicures who would make the same objections on all other lines. but every one unites in praising the general cleanliness on board. one of the suburbs of tokio is almost entirely devoted to shipbuilding, and on the strand of the large inner bay there are numberless boats in course of construction, though the most important shipbuilding yards are in nagasaki. tokio itself is the central point of all the most important commercial enterprises. the national and other banks, railway and shipping companies, all have their headquarters here. next the modest, old-fashioned wooden houses, huge palaces of brick and steel tower aloft, built on the newest principles of american skyscrapers. i must confess i don't admire them, and i was sadly disappointed to find such commonplace and up-to-date erections in the mikado's capital, where i expected to be delighted with mysterious pagodas of a romantic age. every day i passed several hours in these huge blocks, and steadily became more and more interested in japan's commercial activity. in fact, since the reorganization of the country on western principles the questions of education and commerce are the most pressing of all the problems with which they are confronted. since the establishment of the new era, which opened their once secluded country to the outer world, transformed their patriarchal system of government into a parliamentary constitution, and reformed the whole army and effected a complete change in the juridical system, the national economics and the education of the rising generation are the riddles to be solved in the future. all the commercial life gave me a great opportunity of realizing the exceptional physical capabilities, diligence, and capacity for hard work, displayed by this people. the number of hours of work an average man can do in the fields or in the factories greatly exceeds that of the western races. and what is even more striking is the great manual skill shown. the dexterity of a japanese artisan is too well known to need description, but what i cannot omit to mention is the rapidity with which they execute their work; this faculty seems almost instinctive or innate, and one glance at a model is enough to enable the workman to reproduce the object with absolute accuracy. another great advantage possessed by them is that the necessaries of life are so restricted. the frugal meals consist merely of a little rice or raw fish; for luxury they have half a cup of _sakki_ or rice wine, and for recreation and pleasure an afternoon walk in the flowering orchards or cherry-groves. and if they have a superfluous coin, they can go to the theatres, where national epics are performed in the old-fashioned fascinating style, and where a penny gives admittance from morning to night. their physical endurance and freshness of mind are two qualities which contribute to the great success they have achieved. how long will they be able to preserve them unspoilt? how long will they be able to guard them from corruption? it is evident that with a different manner of life they are bound to undergo a change; with an increase of daily needs, dissatisfaction is certain to grow. baron ivasaki, one of japan's principal financiers, and the leader of many social enterprises, after his return from a voyage of investigation round the world, wrote a most interesting paper, not only dealing with his personal experiences but pointing out possibilities, both of financial and moral crises that might occur if the country did not unite to promote, not only commercial and financial endeavour, but a high moral tone. all good patriots and friends of japan agree with the author in this respect. unquestionably, there is always a great danger when a nation's ideals become merely material. it is even more disastrous if its spiritual life threatens to become extinct. one of the causes of japan's strength has been her firm belief in her religious, national, and domestic codes. the great rapidity with which she has adopted western civilization might easily have resulted in her acceptance, not only of our good points, but also of our bad ones. considering her marvellous gift of adaptation, the question arises whether this does not happen sometimes, to the detriment of better judgment. in her great zeal to advance and to use all western means, some of her deeper thinkers begin to realize the dangers which might beset her. the rapid transformation of the old social order must develop by gradation to avoid fresh revolutions, and to spread over the whole country. it is not enough for her to accept merely the technical side of western civilization, she must understand and be fully convinced by its moral and spiritual principles. the nations of europe may belong to different denominations, but their mind and soul are imbued by the higher laws of christianity. baron ivasaki, in his articles, points out with great foresight that it is not enough for his countrymen's future greatness and happiness to improve materially, if there is not a corresponding moral elevation. it becomes evident that the most important question of the day is that of education. during my prolonged stay in the capital i visited a great many schools and colleges. besides the well-equipped government primary schools i saw many grammar and high schools, public and private colleges, and missionary establishments. public instruction, as a rule, is very satisfactory. the teaching of foreign languages, and especially of technical knowledge, is quite surprising, and the examinations in these subjects have the best results. education, as such, is less successfully carried out; the chief defect of our western system of devoting itself exclusively to the imparting of knowledge, to the detriment of the formation of character and the arming of the child for the battle of life, more from a moral than from a material standpoint, is also the drawback of this country. among tokio's scholastic foundations the university is the most important. to give an epitome of its history:-[illustration: the state examination hall at pekin "the students are secluded for several days in the small cells, while the professors watch from the tower" to face page 292] "the germ of this institution was the _bansho shirabejo_, or 'place for the examination of barbarian writings,' founded by the tokugawa government in 1856. seven years later, this name was altered to that of _kaisei-jo_, or, 'place for developing and completing,' which indicated a change for the better in the views held by the japanese as to the value of european learning. numerous other modifications have taken place, both in the name and scope of the institution, which since 1881 has been placed on a thoroughly modern footing, and now includes colleges of law, medicine, engineering, literature, science and agriculture, where lectures are delivered by a large staff of professors of various nationalities and in various languages. the students number over 2700. the courses that attract most students are those of law, medicine, and engineering. a large hospital connected with the university stands in the same grounds. other institutions under the authority of the president of the university are the botanical gardens in the district of koishikawa, and the tokio observatory at ligura." it is a large establishment, covering a huge area of park-like ground, dotted with long red brick piles. different faculties occupy separate buildings, and if not picturesque, they are well adapted to their function. the library is especially fine, very well equipped, and cleverly organized. it interested me to observe that whenever i came the large reading-room was always filled with students, and it afforded a good opportunity of watching the keenness with which they pursue their studies. i made acquaintance with several of the leading professors, some of whom are western. they all assisted me very kindly in my investigations. the statements of professor von koerber, who is the teacher of the history of modern philosophy, were of especial value. to judge the mental capacity of the rising generation, it is essential to see how metaphysical questions appeal to them, and, as i perceived, they were more prone to accept theories which appealed to their great imaginative qualities than to draw abstract conclusions by the medium of purely logical deductions. they prefer schopenhauer to kant, plato to aristotle, and so it will be easy to comprehend the unquestionable influence which the modern evolutionist school exerts over the mind of young japan. another institution of great importance is the government printing office, the so-called _insatsu kyoku_, its scope including much besides printing, the paper currency of the country being manufactured here too. the offices are marvellously equipped, but the skill of the workmen is even more marvellous. the reproduction of different old prints, etchings, and watercolours by mechanical means, is a triumph of art, and the _editions de luxe_ of the old japanese masters are unique in their way. as i said before, manual skill and the faculty of copying are national gifts, and, during my repeated visits to workshops, factories, and builders' yards, it was these characteristics which most impressed me. i returned frequently to the new commercial museum, where there is such a good opportunity given to judge what japan's commercial production will be in the future. there are already several branches in which they run us very close, if they don't surpass us. in the production of cheap articles they are certainly already ahead, and common calico and cotton goods have not only replaced the european supply for the requirements of the country, but they almost monopolize the market of korea, and export a great deal to china and eastern asia. cheap china is manufactured to a great extent also, and so are cloth, felt, and leather goods of all kinds. in the museum there are specimens of the different home industries, and if the quality leaves something to be desired, and does not promise to be very durable, the prices are so low that the customer can afford to purchase, as all orientals like to do, something new constantly. unquestionably within a very short time tokio's and osaka's large firms will be the great competitors of birmingham and manchester, and the european trade in the east will be mostly secured by japan. in speaking of tokio's noteworthy establishments, i finish, where i might have begun, with the arsenal, where the famous _san-ju-nen shiki_, japan's victorious weapon, is manufactured. arms, guns, soldiering and fights are out of my sphere, but i could not help observing the up-to-date character of tokio's military equipment. not only do the barracks bear witness to perfect order and cleanliness, but the military schools and training establishments are well organized and demand hard work in every respect. soldiers and officers impress us equally by their neatness and perfect turn-out and their spirit of discipline; and still more impressive are the extraordinary vivacity and unceasing activity which they display. their endurance and capacity for work are, i think, unsurpassed by any other army. [illustration: shrines at nikko "to conjure up the past or to recall bygone traditions, one ought to linger in nara's sacred groves and nikko's hidden shrines" to face page 296] finally, if i were asked to enumerate the interesting sights of tokio, or to give advice what to see, and especially how to see tokio, i should to a certain extent deviate from the generally adopted plans of the guide-books. instead of drawing attention to the past, i would deal more with the present; instead of describing the monuments of bygone ages only, i would point out the modern institutions of the capital; instead of dreaming in the old cemeteries of the shoguns and ronins, i would awaken some interest in schools, factories, and barracks. in fact, instead of dwelling on what is dead, i would study what is to be born and what is already alive. and so the first disappointment of missing the expected gay fairyland will turn into interest in serious reality. thus travellers would derive greater benefit and waste less time, if they were prepared at the outset for tokio, not as it may once have been and as we still imagine it from description, but as it has developed in the last quarter of a century. to conjure up the past or to recall bygone traditions, one ought to linger in nara's sacred groves and nikko's hidden shrines; but on arrival in tokio and osaka, one is awakened to the reality of modern times, and dreams are bound to give place to the hard work of life. after the first disappointment caused by the capital's inartistic and rather incoherent aspect of today, one cannot fail to be impressed by the activity of its inhabitants; and the repugnance roused by its prosaic outlook, where new and old mingle indiscriminately, once overcome, one begins to understand and appreciate the indefatigable labour by which all this change has been achieved. i would advise my friends, if they can do so, to choose a favourable season for visiting tokio. if possible, they should arrive in the middle of the spring, when the magnificent forests and shady groves are in foliage, when the orchards are in bloom, and the flower-gardens most luxuriant; or in the autumn, when the leaves begin to turn, when the maples glow like fires on the hillsides, and the sea-breeze scatters the yellow leaves of the birch in golden showers. to stay there during the months when the beauty of nature is at its zenith, and by its marvellous harmony of colour and outline, which is, after all, japan's main beauty, makes one forget what time has destroyed and civilization ruined, and recompenses one for many charms vanished for ever. at this time of the year the different suburbs offer delightful retreats for the traveller's leisure hours. and some of the old monuments, even though they be not works of art of great value, yet, surrounded as they are by rich vegetation, present a perfect _tout ensemble_. to those who have the privilege of entering the mikado's palace, and perchance obtain an invitation to the celebrated imperial chrysanthemum festival, the beauty of the grounds at this season will compensate for the modesty of the buildings and the simplicity of the interior; and though the brilliant hues of the courtiers' embroidered kimonos are replaced by black frock-coats, the chrysanthemums are still gorgeous and dazzling. [illustration: delightful scenery "when the magnificent forests and shady groves are in foliage" to face page 298] i can't help repeating with emphasis my advice to take interest in life's more serious factors. as soon as possible after arrival, observe and study, whenever there is a chance, the daily routine of one of the most advancing young countries which unfolds before the visitor. do not restrict your visits merely to sights; besides museums inspect some schools, and instead of hunting up pagodas of little artistic value, see some of the workshops. in particular, look carefully at the work, as such, and form your conclusions from your personal experience. and i would counsel the getting of introductions to managers of large firms, to the directors of railway and shipping companies; in fact, to all the leaders of tokio's various social movements. call on the different ministries, and do not omit to make the acquaintance of the chiefs of the numerous political parties, whom you will find marvellously well informed on political matters, and generally very interesting. and witness some of the sittings of parliament and a few public assemblies and meetings of shareholders. in short, my last word of advice would be, do not go with the idea of idling, but of studying, in tokio; and in this case you may not think it pretty, but unquestionably you will realize that it is one of the most interesting cities in the whole wide world. if japan has proved herself a very clever scholar of the west, the west on its side can learn a great deal today from japan. in this respect we could not find a better object-lesson than the imperial capital, tokio. xii the emperor and empress of japan at the yeddo palace it is snowing. the white flakes fall persistently, and are driven round and round in whirlwinds. looking out of my window the landscape is cold and dreary. the large square roofs of the houses and the trees are covered with a heavy white mantle. in no direction can a single soul be seen. it is as if the whole town and the inhabitants had gone into their winter sleep; all is silent and dead under nature's immaculate pall. i can scarcely believe that i am in the land of the rising sun; it is so difficult to realize that this snowed-in city is the capital of japan, as colour and glitter form the two main features in our primary conception of nippon's island. we expect to see the brilliant shades of the bright pictures and rich embroideries and heavy silks of japan even more brilliant under the beams of this eastern sun, as it is represented on the national flag. [illustration: street in japan "i never saw more poles and beams and masts of different height piercing the sky" to face page 300] the european hopes to find japan above all an asiatic, even an exotic country. he wants something like the bazaars of cairo or ceylon's palm-groves, tropical like the wildernesses of java, and ever-blooming like burmah's gardens. arriving at tokio, disappointment in this respect is general, for tokio is neither bright nor artistic. in fact, the capital of japan is one of the most colourless and prosaic places on the globe. its buildings are nearly all of logs of wood--planks nailed to each other--without any external ornamentation; to commend their style or taste is impossible, for most of the houses have not even an attractive appearance. the old pagodas and the historic temples make an exception to the general rule, but their number is limited, and they are hidden by the groves of centuries. the general impression of the town is monotonous, and what makes it even more so is that the houses are, as a rule, only one storey high, and the unpainted wood they are constructed of assumes in time a weather-beaten hue; in fact, the outline is only broken by an innumerable number of telegraph-poles. i never saw more poles and beams and masts of different height piercing the sky. i was rather sorry to have such a cold morning for the day of the audience graciously accorded to me by the emperor. i must confess that i should have preferred a warm, bright day in the late spring, when everything is in blossom, every corner full of flowers, and japan looks more as it is pictured on its rich screens and artistic fans. it is still quite early when the large, heavy barouche belonging to our legation comes to fetch me, and the two strong, well-bred, native horses have hard work to get through the snow-covered streets. our way is uninteresting; the thoroughfares are too wide altogether, and the small houses on both sides are dwarfed and insignificant. but we also pass some large modern buildings, american brick-and-steel erections. these are public offices and banks, and make a rather unpleasant contrast in the calm scenery. for some time we skirt a large canal partly frozen over; this forms the outer moat of the imperial castle. we stop before a large gate. it is opened at once, and a detachment of small but well-set-up japanese soldiers present arms. next comes a bridge, a new stone construction, ornamented with huge candelabra, without much architectural beauty, and without any japanese flavour. but it leads to a magnificent avenue of cryptomerea, each tree a giant, and all of them of venerable age, their trunks covered with dark moss, and their foliage forming an emerald arch--emerald set in crystals, for their branches are heavily laden with frost. the avenue looks like a corner of the famous tokaïdo highway, the japanese main artery for centuries, where the whole country wandered--rich and poor, mighty and humble, from kioto to tokio, from the mikado's to the shogun's court, the daimios with their retinues in gold and silver; where, too, all the warriors rode in their rich armour, and all the troops marched to war, or home to rest; where all the pilgrims walked to the famous shrines of nara and nikko. this avenue, leading to the palace, affords compensation for all the inartistic streets outside the walls. i am even glad that it is covered with snow, and that its sole inhabitants are a few gardeners shovelling the ice aside. the dark trees and the white snow, and these few men clad in straw capes looking very much like the back of a porcupine, and wearing hats like flat tea-trays, are so original and so typical. at last i have a real japanese picture before me, and not one of those we get at home highly coloured and made partly for the cheap western markets, but a picture full of harmony in an artistic setting, like one of those famous kakomenos in black and white by the most celebrated disciples of the great kano school. a sharp turn brings us to an open space, and the palace is in front of us. i am afraid "palace" is not the right expression, as it looks from the outside like a large indian bungalow. it is only one storey high, mainly constructed of wood and beams, scarcely ornamental, and covered with a sloping roof of indifferent tiles. there is nothing striking about it, nothing that would attract attention, nothing that is at all imposing; it looks comfortable and nothing more. the carriage stops before a flight of steps leading to a simple but spacious ante-room. there is a large table on which are the imperial visiting-books, a few chairs; round the room stand some servants, dressed in ordinary french livery. i am shown through a long corridor, which is japanese in character. it has no furniture at all; the beams are carved, and if not imposing are perfect in detail. the large drawing-room, where we sit down, is entirely modern. the furniture is such as you would see anywhere in europe, and specially in america--rich, but without any special style or individuality, the only exceptions being a fine cabinet of priceless old lacquer ware, and a large golden screen ornamented with an enormous dragon and signed "kano montonabu." [illustration: the tokaïdo "the avenue looks like a corner of the famous tokaïdo highway" to face page 304] i was rather sorry that the decorations of the whole room did not adhere to the national taste. i should have liked to banish every gilded bracket and velvet lounge, and restore it to its original simplicity--such simplicity as is to be found in the katsura palace at kioto. the emperor is a late riser, and until he is ready baron s----a keeps me company. he speaks perfect english, having studied in england for many years; and, even more, he married an english lady whose house has become the meeting-place of all western and local celebrities. it is a charming villa, looking very much like an english cottage, and overlooking one of the prettiest corners of the bay of tokio; full of english books and japanese art treasures--english comfort and japanese taste--it is one of those homes that one remembers with pleasure, and looks forward to seeing again. the baron is certainly a most accomplished master of ceremonies; he has all the gentleness of old japanese manners, and all the culture of japanese civility, and performs his somewhat tedious duties as if they gave him a personal pleasure. there are several other gentlemen in attendance--the lord chamberlain, also a few a.d.c.'s and chamberlains-in-waiting. they are all wearing court dresses of dark blue, or of red with gold lace. his majesty receives me in his private apartment, whither i am escorted through endless passages. the nearer we get, the colder is the temperature. all the reception-rooms are heated with water-pipes to suit western taste, but in the imperial rooms there are only old-fashioned braziers. the reception-room is small, typically japanese, has no windows, but only sliding screens, and is denuded of all furniture. the mikado is standing in the centre, and for the occasion is wearing the uniform of a general of his army, consisting of a dark blue tunic, and even darker red trousers; and as a kind attention he wears the diamond-set star of st. stephen, first king of hungary. he is surrounded by his staff and several a.d.c.'s, and throughout, the formalities are carried out with perfect court ceremonial. his majesty shakes hands in a military fashion and at once puts me at my ease by asking questions. first, he wants to hear about my country and our venerable monarch. "when did you leave home?" "how is his majesty, your benevolent sovereign?" "by what route did you come out?" "did you find the siberian line comfortable?" "prince katsura came from king edward's coronation by the same line, and enjoyed his journey very much. your journey through this region which is so little known must have interested you." "how long did the last part of your journey through manchuria take, and what were your experiences like in korea?" "it must be most interesting coming from europe to see such entirely different countries and people." "i hope your experiences have been satisfactory." "i wish you to see as much in japan as you think would be of interest to you. as you may observe, we are working very hard, and we try to adopt in many respects the main features of western civilization and ideas. i am glad to hear you are interested in education. i dare say you liked our university library and the new printing establishments; you ought to see some of the provincial towns, too, and the commercial activity carried on in some of them. don't omit to see osaka; i am going myself next month, so i hope i may meet you there again." commercial and economic questions evidently interested his majesty, who was taking a very active part in the arrangements for the exhibition at osaka, which was about to be opened. and he spoke about many other questions regarding the country and its development. the emperor detained me for an unusual length of time, and seemed to be interested in all the different matters that formed the subject of our conversation. it must be rather difficult for a sovereign who is brought up from birth within these palace walls to realize the outer world, and it must be even more so to get an insight into human nature, meeting it only at official receptions. before i left a message came from her majesty the empress, expressing a wish to receive me too. her apartments are in an adjoining wing. her boudoir is ornamented in the french style, and her windows overlook a small japanese garden. her dress was of western fashion too, rather elaborate for that early hour of the day, but in good taste. her two ladies-in-waiting were clad in the same fashion. at the first glance i understood the empress's great popularity. her gentleness and kind heart are visible in her glance in an exceptional way. there is something very small and fragile about her. she looks rather delicate, and her pale features wear an expression of sadness which cannot fail to impress. she seems, besides being kindly disposed and benevolent by nature, to have had sorrows like most other human beings, and this feature, shared in common by owners of palaces and of hovels, makes her very human, and very sympathetic. she has led, in her vast palace and high position, a rather solitary life, and solitude gives time for thought, and to ponder deeply on the problems of our destinies. nobody could better understand this spirit of abnegation for the sake of a higher ideal than her majesty. indeed woman's devotion of herself to the good of her family has always been as much praised in japan as man's loyalty to his country. the paramount qualities of the female side of this nation are not yet known by the world at large, and are very often misjudged by those who have passed through nippon's island. but all those who have stayed for some length of time, especially the members of the missions, speak with great respect of their qualities and virtues, and particularly of the marvellous sense of duty and spirit of self-sacrifice of the daughters for their parents, of the wives for their husbands, and of the mothers for their sons. our conversation was mainly about abstract questions, family life, education, charitable works, hospitals, orphanages, and homes. she is patroness of the red cross society of japan, and listened with great interest to my account of the work carried on by the sisters of charity, and in the different institutions under the archbishop's care. her sympathy can do a great deal, and i hope she will use it in favour of this great work, carried out with such apostolic zeal for the benefit of the sick and forlorn orphans, to save the children's lives, and to nurse the lepers and the incurables, whatever the cost and sacrifice. she went into all kinds of details, and asked hundreds of questions about these poor little mites, and exhibited that interest which only a woman can when she is talking about children. it seemed to appeal to her heart, and she repeatedly expressed her gladness at having had the opportunity of hearing about the good work carried on by our church. i left the room full of the hope that her noble kindness might prove to be a support to this little fraction of her needful subjects. as a special favour, i was shown over all the different apartments. we went through the state rooms and inner apartments, walked through endless corridors, and viewed the numerous art treasures. there is an extraordinary mixture in taste of west and east, but there is no doubt that the supremacy belongs to the latter, for what is japanese is really fine. all the long dadoes are carved elaborately and of exquisite workmanship, and the fretted ceilings are charming in design and colouring. they are as a rule of dark beams, framing gilt grounds; the carving and bronze casts are finely executed. we finished our wanderings in a delightful little garden, which is japanese indeed in the highest degree. there is a tiny pond, no larger than a good-sized basin, surrounded by a rockery imitating fuji; and across an almost imaginary stream a few inches wide is thrown a wooden bridge. everything is minute: even the little rustic summer-house is no larger than that of a doll. it is a lilliputian world of its own. even the trees are dwarfs; but the japanese imagination makes everything large. if any one is interested in the japanese mind and its imaginative qualities, the best fields of study are some of these famous gardens laid out by the great æsthetes of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; men of undoubted refinement and culture, some being statesmen retired from the excitement of political life, and many mikados seeking rest in solitude, after the glitter and pomp of the court. their gardens simply consisted of a few square yards of ground, surrounded by a plain bamboo hedge, a log house built of a few planks, and consisting of two rooms, with gravel scattered before the doorways, and a few tiny bushes growing round. small and simple, i dare say primitive to european eyes, but to a japanese mind these shrubs represent a virgin forest, the log house is a palace, the gravel court unlimited sea, and the stepping-stones so many islands. with their love of artistic refinement and elaborate civilization, they look through the shades of broken prisms, and scent perfumes of different compositions, and build up a whole imaginary world of dainty colours and exquisite odours. but who, coming from the west, would ever understand any of these details of an historical past and ancient customs and strange manifestations of national culture? and who, returning from one of these gardens, so full of reminiscences of old japan, to the modern streets, would understand how the new towns are being built up of brick and steel, and how the whole nation is changed by hard work and boundless energy? and above all, who can at this moment explain or understand all the progress of modern japan and fully realize all its future importance? [illustration: a typical nippon building small and simple, i dare say primitive to european eyes, but to a japanese mind the log house represents a palace" to face page 312] xiii japan and china on the threshold of the twentieth century i japan the question of the yellow peril has once again come to the front through the recent east-asiatic war. the unprecedented success of japan, both by land and sea, has roused universal surprise. when the first news of victories gained by the small insular power reached western europe, they were received with genuine joy; but as the japanese advanced on the mainland of asia, symptoms of anxiety began to manifest themselves. what would happen if they conquered all eastern asia, and perhaps siberia also? above all, what would happen if japan, united with china, were to overrun the russian dominions, and one day threaten central europe? already here and there the sad recollection of the old tartar campaigns was being revived; and indeed, why should not a modern, ambitious commander follow in the wake of his famous predecessor, genghis khan? a modern military genius, a yellow napoleon, enjoying equal popularity and possessing the same magic power, with millions of money and countless troops at his disposal, might surely become a very serious and formidable antagonist. but would it be to the interest of the yellow race to overrun europe? this problem is yet awaiting its solution. i venture to think that under the present conditions the majority of the eastern people have no intention or desire to enlarge their territory beyond its original borders. if they can only get back what is nominally theirs--what, not more than half a century ago, was possessed by them--they will be satisfied. japan, which is decidedly overpopulated, and cannot adequately provide for its nearly fifty millions of inhabitants, dispersed over the various islands, may possibly have an eye on some of the neighbouring asiatic coastlands, but for colonizing purposes is more likely to turn its attention towards the south sea. and since the ambition of japan has been awakened, and its adaptabilities to modern culture, its unflagging energy, and its admirable military skill, been developed, there is more possibility that in a remote future nippon might make australasia the utopia of its colonizing efforts. certain it is that a brilliant future awaits japan. the land is rich, and its position, between eastern asia and western america, most advantageous, both from an economic and from a strategic point of view. the people are healthy, strong, industrious, and possess in an extraordinary degree the faculty of assimilation. in this respect, indeed, japan is unrivalled by any other race. the primary cause of their present marvellous success must unquestionably be sought in this faculty of assimilation and in the power of discipline--in the wonderful ease wherewith they appropriate all the acquisitions of the west--the way in which they carry them out. the second cause of their success is their old military system of government, which has produced the present-day soldiers. but in order to grasp thoroughly the situation it is necessary to cast a cursory glance on the past history of japan. in doing so we should remember in the first place that ancient nippon was built upon the system of vassalage. the land was divided into principalities of various sizes, at the head of each of which was a _daimio_, or vassal chieftain, just as the empires of the west were formerly protected and ruled over by baronial chiefs. feudalism in europe led to perpetual frontier quarrels and wars, and this was the case also in japan. the daimios were always at enmity with one another, and their government was a period of petty warfare. the military element, therefore, naturally occupied a prominent position, and just as in europe the knight became the founder of _chivalry_, so in japan the _samurais_ established the _bushido_. and as the german knight of chivalry created a legal system called _club-law_, for the protection of his own interests, so the soldiers of japan had their own military code. the military thus became the privileged class of society. this caste, with its rigorous rules and external organization, had a perfectly developed existence, a special moral standard, and to a certain extent a religion of its own. as the age of chivalry was created by the knights of old, so "bushido," the ethics of the samurais, originated in the land of the rising sun. to give an exact definition of the word "bushido" is impossible, because the conception of it is unknown to us. there are no analogous circumstances necessitating its existence with us. the idea of chivalry is the nearest approach to an interpretation of the word, although literally "bushido" means "military manner"--the manner and the way in which it is the duty of the armed nobility to fight, to live, and to die. we notice that according to this definition the word includes more than a mere title; it expresses a whole social system, and regulates the views and appreciations of life of all its members. the description given by dr. nitobe enables us to form some idea of bushido from a japanese standpoint. "bushido is the code of moral principles which the knights were required or instructed to observe. it is not a written code; at best it consists of a few maxims handed down by oral tradition or coming from the pen of some well-known warrior or savant. more frequently it is a code unuttered and unwritten, but impressed on the fleshy tablets of the heart. it was founded, not on the creation of one brain, however able, or on the life of a single personage, however renowned. it was an organic growth of decades and centuries of military career. it perhaps fills the same position in the history of ethics that the english constitution does in political history; yet it has nothing to compare with the magna carta or the habeas corpus act. it is true that early in the seventeenth century military statutes (buké hatto) were promulgated, but their thirteen short articles were taken up mostly with marriages, castles, leagues, etc., and didactic regulations were but meagrely touched upon. we cannot, therefore, point out any definite time and place, and say, here is its fountain-head. it is not till the feudal age that it attains consciousness. its origin, in respect to time, may be identified with feudalism. but feudalism itself is woven of many threads, and bushido shares its intricate nature. as in england the political institution of feudalism may be said to date from the norman conquest, so we may say that in japan its rise was simultaneous with the ascendancy of toritomo late in the twelfth century. as, however, in england we find the social elements of feudalism far back in the period previous to william the conqueror, so, too, the germs of feudalism in japan have been long existent before. "again, in japan as in europe, when feudalism was formally inaugurated, the professional class of warriors naturally came into prominence. these were known as samurai, meaning literally, like the old english cniht (knecht, knight), guards or attendants, resembling in character the soldurii, whom caesar mentioned as existing in aquitania. a sinico-japanese class, named bu-ké or bu-shi (fighting knights), was also adopted in common use. they were a privileged class, and must originally have been a rough breed who made fighting their vocation. coming to profess great honour and great privileges, and correspondingly great responsibilities, they soon felt the need of a common standard of behaviour, especially as they were always on a belligerent footing and belonged to different clans. "'fair play in fight!' what fertile germs of morality lie in this primitive sense of savagery and childhood! is it not the root of military and civic virtues? we smile (as if we had outgrown it!) at the boyish desire of the small britisher, tom brown, 'to leave behind him the name of a fellow who never bullied a little boy or turned his back on a big one.' and yet, who does not know that this desire is the cornerstone on which moral structures of mighty dimensions can be reared? may i not go even so far as to say that the gentlest and most peace-loving of religions endorses this aspiration? this desire of tom's is the basis on which the greatness of england is largely built, and it will not take us long to discover that bushido does not stand on a lower pedestal. if fighting in itself, be it offensive or defensive, is, as quakers rightly testify, brutal and wrong, we can still say with lessing, 'we know from what failings our virtue springs.' sneaks and cowards are epithets of the worst opprobrium to healthy, simple natures. childhood begins life with those notions, as does also knighthood; but as life grows larger and its relations become many-sided, the early faith seeks sanction from higher authority and more rational sources for its own justification, satisfaction, and development. if military systems had operated alone, without higher moral support, how far short of chivalry would the moral ideal have fallen! in europe christianity, interpreted with concessions convenient to chivalry, infused it nevertheless with a spiritual ideal. 'religion, war, and glory were the three rules of a perfect christian knight,' says lamartine." bushido has no written laws; it has been handed down as a tradition from father to son. its originator was not a sage like confucius, not an ascetic like buddha; it was the people itself. it is the immediate expression of past ages, and, as far as man's memory reaches, the interpreter of the sentiments of victorious warriors. with the increasing power of the samurais grew also the necessity, as was the case with knighthood, to purify the atmosphere of their fortresses by self-prescribed rules. and it lies in the natural order of things, embracing all national codes, that those points should be most carefully guarded on which the people felt themselves to be weakest. the first principle, then, was, justice to all. the samurais despise above all things trickery and deceit, all unfairness. "adhere inflexibly to thy principle,"--thus writes a bushi--"and be ready to die for the sake of duty; but also be ready to strike and to kill if honour demand it of thee." and the more the general situation became degenerated, the more prominent became the letter of this law in the clash of swords. the second principle was courage. from his earliest childhood the japanese boy was brought up to be a soldier, and in his education many points remind us of the old spartan rigour. often the mother would admonish a crying child with such words as: "shame not the honour of thy family; men of this house have never been known to cry." or again, she might stimulate her son's courage by saying: "what wilt thou say when in battle thou losest arm or leg?" or, "how wilt thou control thy face if the emperor should bid thee to cut off thine ears or to perform the hara-kiri?" to be brave was the aim of every boy, and frequently was he called upon to prove his courage. he was made to go hungry, to walk great distances, and in many cases this system of hardening verged on cruelty. on the other hand, the benevolence of the samurai often degenerated into sentimentality, and the bushida-nashake--the warm soldier's heart--has become proverbial. to render assistance to the weak and helpless was one of the soldier's paramount duties, and, like the italian condottieri and the knights of the middle ages who, although they tyrannized over the people, were yet anxious to appear civilized and cultured, and were not blind to their own faults and cruelties, so the samurais laid special stress upon the observance of social forms, and taught their boys, besides the military arts, such accomplishments as poetry, music, and other fine arts. courteousness became a second nature, and to this day, although it sometimes may lack sincerity and has in many cases become an empty form, japanese politeness always excites the astonishment and admiration of the foreigner on his first arrival in the land. nippon society manners are the most complicated and tedious imaginable. the smallest affairs of everyday life are circumscribed with the most childish and elaborate rules. the way to enter a friend's house, how to address him, what to talk about, everything is carefully prescribed, even the slight attention of offering the guest a cup of tea amounts to a ceremony, regulated in its minutest details. the cha-no-yu (tea-drinking), in truth, is more than a ceremony, it is a precious tradition, a rite, illustrating the refinement of taste and the imagination of the people. [illustration: _copyright, nops ltd._ marshall oyama to face page 322] the third fundamental principle of bushido is honour; more particularly expressed in guai-bun and men-moku, which form the basis of the conception of the samurai. but even the valour of the most heroic samurai is as nothing compared to his pride and vanity, and to a certain extent these two qualities are still striking characteristics of the nation. extreme sensitiveness and readiness to take offence are the unavoidable consequences of such highly developed self-constrictions. the "affaires d'honneur" of the latin races, and the often mistaken chivalry of the german "junker" are but weak parallels to the sensitiveness of the bushi. the hot-blooded samurai was offended on every possible occasion, and many an innocent life has been sacrificed to this intensely developed military pride. whole volumes have been written upon the manner in which these "questions of honour" should be dealt with, and more than one tragic page had its comical features also. thus, for instance, the story is told of a busiaki, who killed a peasant for drawing his attention to the fact that there was an insect on his coat. for, argued the busiaki, vermin feed on beasts, and therefore his remark amounts to an insult. and as the simple peasant was not entitled to give satisfaction for the supposed offence in any other manner, he had to pay for it with his life, in order that the honour of the busiaki might be cleared. this condition of things might lead also to vengeance and suicide, and the favourite form of the latter was "hara-kiri," which has attained world-wide fame. it is suicide by cutting open the abdomen, and this custom was one of the institutions by which distant japan has been so often misjudged. to the european the idea is revolting and sinful, but the pride and imagination of that far-away people magnified it into a sublime action. the most sympathetic characters in the history of japan have thus ended their days, and many popular heroes of national epics thus gave up their lives. in every japanese drama there is at least one hero who dies on the stage in this manner, amid the thundering applause of an appreciative audience. if not a punishment, the motive for committing suicide is almost always an exaggerated conception, not of despair, but of offended dignity or vanity. and like every action of this enigmatical people, hara-kiri and supuku became in time a ceremony, in which every detail of the proceedings was carefully formulated. the victim, dressed in white, and with unmoved countenance, had to perform the operation with a sharp-edged sword. this formality gone through in the supreme manner in which bushido prescribed it, and the personal vanity being apparently satisfied, the victim seemed not to feel the bodily suffering, and faced his death with calmness. to realize the pagan standpoint of hara-kiri i will quote the following lines of the japanese author. "i do not wish to be understood as asserting religious or even moral justification of suicide, but the high estimate placed upon honour was ample excuse with many for taking one's own life. death involving a question of honour was accepted in bushido as a key to the solution of many complex problems, so that to an ambitious samurai a natural departure from life seemed a rather tame affair and a consummation not devoutly to be wished. i dare say that many westerners will admit the fascination of, if not a positive admiration for, the sublime composure with which cato, brutus, petronius, and a host of other ancient worthies, terminated their own earthly existence. is it too bold to hint that the death of the first of the philosophers was partly suicidal? when we are told so minutely by his pupils how their master willingly submitted to the mandate of the state--which he knew was morally mistaken--in spite of the possibilities of escape, and how he took up the cup of hemlock in his own hand, even offering libation from its deadly contents, do we not discern in his whole proceeding and demeanour an act of self-immolation? no physical compulsion here, as in ordinary cases of execution. true the verdict of the judges was compulsory; it said, 'thou shalt die, and that by thine own hand.' if suicide meant no more than dying by one's own hand, socrates was a clear case of suicide. but nobody would charge him with a crime; plato, who was averse to it, would not call his master a suicide. now, my readers will understand that hara-kiri, or seppuku, was not a mere suicidal process. it was an institution, legal and ceremonial. an invention of the middle ages, it was a process by which warriors could expiate their crimes, apologize for errors, escape from disgrace, redeem their friends, or prove their sincerity. when enforced as a legal punishment it was practised with due ceremony. it was a refinement of self-destruction, and none could perform it without the utmost coolness of temper and composure of demeanour, and for these reasons it was particularly befitting the profession of bushi." _kataki-ushi_, or vengeance, is another strong feature of national feeling. contrary to the christian doctrine of forgiveness, the japan of olden days endeavoured to exalt the original instinct of human nature, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," into a decree. and how deep this notion has rooted itself into the hearts of the people is best illustrated by the story of the forty-seven ronins, which everybody in japan knows by heart, and which is the favourite nursery tale of each nippon child. simple as the story is, it is very characteristic. a nobleman is betrayed by his adversary and put to death. forty-seven of his followers become bandits and swear to revenge their lord. after many vicissitudes the object of their revenge falls into their hands and they kill him. when brought to justice all the forty-seven commit hara-kiri. their graves remain to this day in the grove of siba, and it is one of the first places visited by country people who come to tokio. devout hands keep the modest little tombstones supplied with wreaths of fresh flowers. and thus the forty-seven ronins have become the most popular heroes of the nation, because their offence and expiation interpret one of the most salient features characteristic of the race, which, judged from a national standard, shines in a different light as we can see from the following passage:-"we have thus seen the bushido institution of suicide; we will now see whether its sister institution of revenge has its mitigating features. i hope i can dispose of the question in a few words, since a similar institution--or call it custom, as you will--prevailed among all peoples, and has not yet become entirely obsolete, as attested by the continuance of duelling and lynching. among a savage tribe which has no marriage, adultery is not a sin, so in a period which has no criminal court murder is not a crime, and only the vigilant vengeance of the victim's people preserves social order. 'what is the most beautiful thing on earth?' said osiris to horus. the reply was, 'to avenge a parent's wrongs.' to which a japanese would have added 'and a nearer's.' in revenge there is something which satisfies one's sense of justice. the avenger reasons: 'my good father did not deserve death--he who killed him did great evil. my father, if he were alive, would not tolerate a deed like this. heaven itself hates wrong-doing. it is the will of my father, it is the will of heaven, that the evil-doer should cease from his work. he must perish by my hand, because he shed my father's blood; i who am his flesh and blood must shed the murderer's. the same heaven shall not shelter him and me.' the logic is simple and childish, but it shows an innate sense of exact balance and equal justice. our sense of revenge is as exact as our mathematical faculty, and until both terms of the equation are satisfied we cannot get over the sense of something undone. both of these institutions of suicide and revenge lost their _raison d'être_ at the promulgation of the criminal code. the sense of justice satisfied, there is no need of kataki-uchi. as to hara-kiri, though it, too, has no existence _de jure_, we still hear of it from time to time, and shall continue to hear i am afraid, as long as the past is remembered." in spite of his valour, his passion for war, his thirst for revenge, the samurai always preserved in his demeanour the utmost calm. bushido ordained that a knight was never to show either joy or anger. and while remarking that the foreigner in japan is struck by the often exaggerated politeness of the people, i should have added that he is certainly no less impressed by the inexpressiveness of their faces. whether sad or joyful, they always wear the same conventional smile, which is sometimes cold as ice, sometimes nervous, or in cases of strong emotion passes into subdued laughter; but traces of really deep emotion are never visible. what a baldasare castiglione or a lord chesterfield attempted to exemplify in the west, was bred in the blood of these people as the highest form of good manners. i have seen weddings and witnessed funeral processions where the family on either occasion wore exactly the same expression. in emotions of any kind that conventional smile alone betrays their feelings. that same smile is on every countenance at great national festivals. with that smile wives took leave of their husbands, children of their fathers, mothers of their sons, when the troops started for the battle-field. the outward form and expression of it remains the same always. the face, or rather the mask that is worn on the stage of life, as in the theatre of ancient greece, never changes. no matter if the piece enacted change in its course to be a comedy, tragedy, or a drama. so it was ordained by the code of bushido, which, very likely because it was an unwritten law, came to be all the more binding. bushido thus had its own ethical laws, its own religious tenets. as the knight of the middle ages created his own rules of life for use within his own turreted stronghold--a code which scarcely held good beyond the trenches of the castle, but which at the same time he magnified into a divine law, a "gottesurtheil"--so also the samurai created his own dogmas. the basis of his creed is buddhism mixed with the doctrines of confucius and shintoism, the primitive faith of the nation. originally this was nature worship and the cult of the sun, but subsequently it came to be extended to the person of the mikado. the samurai thus elevated his emperor into a deity, or rather an idol, and the emperor, gradually more and more isolated from his people, passed his days within the walls of his palace in a series of ritualistic ceremonies, while the burden of the government was laid upon the shogun, who acted at the same time as regent and generalissimo. loyalty and devotion to their ruler were exalted into a cult. the person of the mikado was sacred and inviolable. land and people were, so to speak, his personal property, to do with as he liked. his smallest wish was a command, the blind fulfilment of which was incumbent upon every citizen of the state. the first petition in the prayers of the samurai was always for his emperor, and the second for his country. and if with us the first gift a child receives is a little cross, in token of his christian calling, so the japanese mother of old would place a miniature sword by the side of her babe, to show that his purpose in life was to defend his emperor, his country, and his honour. at the age of five the soldier's boy would receive as a toy a small real sword, and at fifteen the samurai was of age, and from that time he wore a sharp-bladed weapon. the sword represented with them more than a weapon of defence. it was a precious and symbolic possession. the manner in which it should be worn was carefully prescribed, and whenever the warrior sat down to his meal or to rest, his weapon was placed on a tray by his side, and woe to the person who touched it with his foot! such an offence could be wiped out only in blood. as a mark of the highest reverence, the samurai raised his sword to his brow, and this act, too, was made almost into a solemn rite. cutlers and sword-makers occupied a privileged position among the tradespeople, and in welding the blade, every stroke of the hammer was accompanied by the repetition of appropriate sayings and heroic devices. and when the sword was finished, inlaid with gold and silver, in damascene fashion, sharp as an arrow, and flexible as a toledo stiletto, it was, of its kind, a masterpiece. we may safely assert that neither in painting nor in sculpture, nor in any branch of industrial art, has japan ever reached such a high standard of perfection as in the manufacture of bronzes and armour. the most treasured possession of the samurai, his pride and his glory, was his sword. and now, since these weapons have been replaced by krupp guns and maxim bayonets, every japanese gentleman preserves the sword of his ancestors as a token of former greatness. for times are changed. during the last forty years the feudal system of japan has grown into a representative government, and the old conservative manner of thought and conventions have had to give way to progressive ideas. in outward form the european system is generally adopted, although intrinsically many things remain eminently national; for whether the external form be american or english, the underlying principle remains national. the japanese are still as determined as of old; their valour is unchanged; their loyalty undimmed. the grandson of the samurai of antiquity still boasts many of the proclivities of his ancestors, and above all, the moral law of bushido is still in his blood. the masses still think as their predecessors thought. it is only in dress and armament that they have changed: their feelings have remained as of old, and the same may be said of most of the national institutions, from the organization of the family to the constitution of the state. what has changed is the form and the colour; but the work of internal transformation is left for future generations to accomplish. in order rightly to apprehend the present situation of japan, to explain the admirable military discipline of the soldiers, to understand why in their blind devotion to their country they think nothing of sacrificing thousands of lives, it is necessary to make ourselves acquainted with the inner workings of the feudal system, the moral basis of their actions, the principles of bushido and samuraism. for it is only by a full knowledge of all these influences, and the conditions of the past, that we can arrive at a true understanding of its present strength. the life and the death of the forty-seven ronins may account for the fixed determination wherewith the troops met their death before the walls of port arthur. nippon's sons are in the first instance warriors. they have fought for centuries; they have fought for the honour of their country, they have shed their blood for the glory of the mikado, and with the same stoic determination they now fight to glorify their land. to form a better idea of the japanese army we must indeed bear in mind the peculiar features embodied in the principle of bushido and the samurais code. even the true character of the japanese youths studying in western lands and wearing european clothing, can only be adequately understood by those who have been to a certain extent acquainted with their fathers. and the same applies to the whole of modern progressive, fighting japan; its administration, its state organization, its politics, its military ambition, its social agitations, its industrial developments, and the entire transformation of its labour. just as we can only understand the existing condition of the land and of the people, by studying its evolution in the past, so with regard to its future development it is only from psychological features that we can draw definite conclusions. during my stay in japan i was particularly interested in collecting data from the personal experiences of those europeans who had resided there for many years. besides the members of the various european legations it was chiefly the commercial class and the merchants who furnished me with many valuable details. daily intercourse with the different grades of japanese society has shown me the life of the people from many varied points of view. particularly interesting to me were the experiences of the european teachers attached to the numerous civil and military schools. they were all unanimous in praise of their pupils, for their industry and perseverance. like most asiatics, the japanese are fond of study and of books in general, and even the school-children seem to do their lessons with pleasure. they are quick and sharp, ambitious and untiring in their zeal. the national inclination of the japanese tends towards technical science. everything practical appeals to them, and even philosophical problems are looked at from a utilitarian point of view. the course of modern philosophy at the university of tokio gave me some striking illustrations of the manner in which the japanese look upon the great thinkers of the west. upon this point i have dwelt more at large in another work of mine, and i will therefore only mention here, that as in science material rather than the moral questions appeal to them, so in the case of philosophy it is the manner in which western thought bears upon the imagination which takes hold of them, more than the way in which the conclusions are deduced by strictly logical processes. but the inner life, the soul of the nation, is unquestionably best known to the missionaries who have laboured among them for generations. since the time of st. francis xavier, who landed in japan as early as the sixteenth century and founded the first churches and schools, there has, with longer or shorter intervals, been a supply of priests and teachers from europe. in the course of the seventeenth century, long accounts from japan came to the holy see, giving graphic descriptions of the condition of the land. in these are detailed the first missionary attempts, which met with such unexpected success, and these reports present a very vivid picture of the days when people accepted christianity by hundreds and thousands, and nearly the whole of southern japan became christianized. later followed the long period of religious persecution, of suffering and torture. yet in spite of so much cruel bloodshed, in spite of the numerous hecatombs of martyrs, there are still some direct descendants of the first christian families. since the middle of the nineteenth century christianity has received a fresh impetus, and at present japan is divided into four dioceses, at the head of which is the archbishop of tokio. scattered throughout the land are many missionary establishments and christian communities. in the larger towns many primary and middle schools are established, and educational institutions for girls exist in large numbers too. the orphanages are most successful, and the leper establishments--where those living dead are cared for by the nuns at the sacrifice of their own lives--cannot fail to excite universal admiration. although at present the public spirit of japan does not show much enthusiasm concerning religious questions, christianity is at any rate free from persecution. the japanese of the present day is more or less indifferent to matters of religion. he seeks satisfaction in earthly goods. the old buddhistic faith has lost much of its influence, and the adherents of the doctrine of confucius are rapidly decreasing in number. with the introduction of the new constitution, the government has resuscitated the ancient shintoism and made it the religion of the state. the sovereign, the mikado, himself professes this faith. shintoism, or nature-worship, now chiefly serves as one of the great vehicles of patriotic force. its ceremonies are most primitive, consisting mainly of short prayers of a sentence or two, and of bowing of the head and the clasping of hands. their chapels are also of the simplest. they are plain, four-walled wooden structures without ornaments or pictures or decorations of any kind. the only conspicuous object in them is the symbol of their deity, a smoothly polished metal disc, representing the sun. but this religion, which was universally re-proclaimed from one day to another by imperial command, does not appear to satisfy the masses--at any rate not the devout among them--who prefer to seek peace and consolation in constant prayer and supplication, and therefore continue to visit the buddhist temples and convents. the cultured and more advanced classes are more and more interested in learning the tenets of the christian faith; yet, although it is doubtful whether christianity will ever make much progress in japan, it is certain that western civilization, being based on christianity, is very deficient without its moral support. the leading circles in japan are conscious of this fact, and realize more and more that a purely material life, and the lack of all spiritual comfort, can never give lasting satisfaction. should the day arrive when the people will abandon their ancient beliefs, without having had the opportunity of becoming familiar with a higher creed, a sad deterioration must be the inevitable result. and the nation may be exposed to a similar danger should the old moral basis of their existence be shaken by the too sudden introduction of new conditions, and before the growing generation has had time to reach a standard of spiritual development corresponding to it. thus far the rapid progress of japan has been confined chiefly to material efforts; there has not been leisure to give sufficient care to the spiritual and moral needs of the people. the first aim and object of the young japanese is to become rich, great, and mighty. blindly they follow the example of the commercial powers of western europe. with marvellous rapidity they have assimilated all that was external, all that was palpable. the japanese fleet in the harbour of nagasaki is a marvel of efficiency, while kobe and yokohama, as commercial towns, compare favourably with some of the largest trade centres of the united states and britain. osaka and tokio, encouraging factories of every kind, have secured to japan the market of the east, and life in the principal cities is in almost every respect a faithful copy of european institutions. but whether the people are essentially happier, with this external veneer, and the strong strain and high pressure it involves, is quite another thing, and a question of great importance to all who have the welfare of the nation seriously at heart. a too rapid transformation of existing conditions might very easily lead to an economic crisis, symptoms of which are already beginning to manifest themselves. greater still would be the danger of a moral crisis, and equally unavoidable, so long as the people conform only outwardly to the exigencies of the newly acquired culture, without realizing its moral value, and whilst ignoring its spiritual aims. ii china china is in almost every respect diametrically opposed to japan. in the first place, the two empires are entirely different in their geographical features and geological formation. in china towering mountain crags and vast, immeasurable plains alternate with one another. some of those plains are dreary, desolate, barren wastes, while in other parts the ground is closely cultivated, yet wholly inadequate to feed china's millions. the canals which traverse the land in all directions are like so many huge rivers, and the streams sometimes widen into regular lakes, the borders of which cannot be descried by the naked eye. [illustration: on the yang-tze-kiang after a water-colour drawing by the author "and the streams sometimes widen into regular lakes, the borders of which cannot be descried by the naked eye" to face page 340] everything is large, gigantic, in this yellow empire, and even in those parts where the country offers neither geographical advantages nor natural charms, we are impressed by its vastness, its immensity, as all that is truly great is imposing. japan, with its groves of evergreen, its flowering meadows, its smiling, graceful scenery, delights the beholder; but china, with its wide expanses, its enormous tracts of land and its virgin forests, captivates us by its sombre magnitude. and if the difference between the external conditions of the two yellow empires is great, still greater is the distinction between the peoples which inhabit these neighbouring states. physically the japanese is small, but strong and wiry--he is all muscle. the chinaman is big, broad-shouldered, and his nervous system is more developed. the japanese is before all things a man of action. he lives in a perpetual state of motion, he is always doing, and works from morning till night. his marvellous vital power finds expression in a multitude of ways. he acts hastily, often too hastily to give himself time to consider his actions. the chinaman, on the contrary, is reflective. before he undertakes anything he thinks out every detail of it, and his intelligence thus greatly reduces his actual labour. the chinese coolies and labourers are like so many intelligent machines. they work imperturbably, with systematic precision, and always attain their end. instructive instances of this may be seen among the chinese labourers abroad, where a chinaman does the work of two europeans with half the trouble. the secret of the advantage which they thus gain over their western rivals lies first in the right distribution of labour, and secondly in that great moral quality which ensures their success, namely temperance. the chinese working in the fields of california, in the gardens of australia, or as miners in south america, are good examples of the vitality and energy which these people possess. it is foolish to say--as i have often heard it said--that the advantage lies simply in the stronger constitution of the race; on the contrary, very often we must admit that the true advantage lies in their intellectual superiority. these national characteristics may be best observed in the lower classes, and particularly in the domestic servant. every european residing in china acknowledges the superiority of the native servant above any other. he is quiet in his movements, intelligent, industrious; and it is almost incredible how quickly these chinese peasants learn to anticipate the wishes of their european masters. at the foreign embassies at pekin and at the consulates of the interior, i observed how the pigtailed cook prepares the most delicate dishes according to the latest art in french cooking; the blue-robed house-servant keeps the establishment in perfect order, and the day labourer performs his task with accurate precision. but it is on a journey that we have the best opportunity for learning to appreciate the salient qualities of the chinese servant. far in the interior, in lonely, barren regions, our yellow companion always found ways and means to prepare a warm meal for us, and to improvise a tent or hut wherein we could pass the night. the missionaries in china tell many stories of the marvellous resourcefulness of their chinese attendants; how they saved the itinerant pastor from dying of hunger and thirst; how, if there was nothing better to be had, they would catch a few sparrows and make a savoury dish of these tiny birds. and, if even tiny birds failed, they would make pasties of locusts or a dinner from leaves and grasses. of the chinaman it may be said with truth that he never gives in. this, indeed, is one of the chief characteristics of his race. he is resourceful even where the european has given up in despair. and we must have the courage to face this truth. the recent hostility against the chinese coolies in san francisco, and the laws against yellow labour lately put in force in australasia, are the expression of it. it is true that among the chinese labourers abroad there are many spoiled characters, drunkards and card-players; but i venture to think that it was not out of consideration for them that the decrees were issued which prevent the chinese coolie from enriching the public-houses in america and australia through his intemperate habits, nor yet to save him from wasting his substance in the foul quarters of the harbour towns. no; all these measures rather indicate the existence of a racial jealousy, for as a rule the chinaman is more industrious and more temperate than the european. the question of chinese labour has in our times become one of the economic problems of the far east, of america and australia, and recently also of south africa. however, this is not the place to enter further into this question. here, as relating to our subject, it is only of importance to note that the coolie who belongs to the lowest class of chinese society, although he is poor, has fewer wants, and receives smaller wages, than the labourer of any other country, does not on that account do less work or work of an inferior quality. on the contrary, both intellectually and physically, he is generally not behind his social equals of other nationalities. [illustration: in the flowery land "the coolie, who belongs to the lowest class of chinese society, although he is poor, has fewer wants, and receives smaller wages, does not on that account do less work" to face page 344] very marked also are the virtues of the chinese tradespeople and merchants; in other words, of the lower middle class. here again, what strikes one most is the amount of work done and the indefatigable zeal of the people. in the second place we note with surprise the simplicity of their way of living, their evident contentment with the bare necessities of life, even among the fairly well-to-do, and their desire to be and abide in the state of life in which they have been born. the joiner's son becomes a joiner, the builder's son a builder. only by way of exception does a chinaman strike out in a new direction. the height of his ambition is, at most, to become a better joiner or a better builder than his father was before him--to improve in quality more than in quantity. another prominent feature of the chinese trader is his respect for his caste. as in japan with the daimios and samurais, whose moral basis was a military one, the pledged word was sacred, and the white flag inviolable, so the peaceable trader of china, whose life is governed by the civil code, is always true to his bargain. there is scarcely an instance on record in which a chinese tradesman has broken his word. in the large commercial towns, overcrowded with merchants and goods from all parts of the world, written contracts with chinamen are hardly ever thought necessary. market prices and rates of exchange may vary--and in many cases the local producer incurs heavy losses by a premature selling of the harvest to the european agent--but when a sale is once concluded, a chinaman never attempts to evade his obligations. european bankers and wholesale dealers tell us that the difference between china and japan in this respect is great. in the case of the latter, unfilled engagements and arrears of payment are a standing rule in the ledger accounts of most continental firms, and considerable loss is sometimes incurred by these houses through the avarice and the subtle devices of some traders. the japanese to a certain extent, in imitation of the latin nations, aims at becoming rich, or at least well-to-do, quickly. it is his object to amass sufficient wealth, by a few profitable speculations, to enable him to retire into private life. the chinaman, on the contrary--like the anglo-saxon--makes trade his vocation in life. "life is business," he says. and so in china as in england, or perhaps even more in america, the industrial classes and the merchants have become the ruling power in the country. socially they constitute a privileged class. as in anglo-saxon states the chambers of commerce and the trade unions, so in china the ancient guilds arrange all business matters for themselves. the guilds, indeed, are a most important institution in chinese society. their influence is not confined to trade and commerce; it dominates many other relations in life, and the often secret resolutions passed by the guilds are of great force in matters of local administration and general politics. some of the larger guild or club houses are well worth our attention. from an architectural point of view they are good specimens of old chinese style. they generally consist of several buildings, or more correctly, of a row of halls and pagodas, separated by flower-gardens with small fishponds, and courts with shady groves. besides the official departments there are conversation-halls and tea-rooms, much frequented by the members after the transaction of business. the most magnificent of these houses are found in the interior, in the cities on the hoang-ho and the yang-tze-kiang. the club-house of the tea-merchants at hankau ranks first in point of artistic perfection. it is a good specimen of the national taste. slender pagodas, china towers, trim gardens, boldly arched bridges, all harmonious in form and colour, testify to the marvellous creative genius of this people. never have i seen such finely pointed, tent-shaped roofs, such delicately tapered gables, such carving, and such tracery. never could i have believed it possible for any architect to build, in fragile clay and line pottery, such bastion-like walls, and towers reaching up into the sky, and surmounted by a roof of porcelain as delicate and rare as a precious teacup. these guild-houses are truly store-houses of old chinese art treasures, and in them receptions and dramatic performances often take place. among the musical and theatrical entertainments of china, there are some which continue from morning till night. on their merit, however, a european can hardly be expected to pass a fair judgment. the queerness and quaintness of the performance is what strikes one most at first. yet among the old dramatists there were many of first-rate talent, and life and knowledge of the world were very forcibly expressed by them, but in a form unfamiliar to the european mind. the chinese, we think, are sometimes too realistic and somewhat formal actors; but yet, even in their modern, degenerate, historical pieces, we find frequent traces of the prehistoric ideals of the greek drama. the musical accompaniment of the performance is no less interesting. contrary to the generally accepted idea that the chinese have no feeling for music, i venture to think that chinese music, although it may be discordant and unpleasing to the european ear, is not without great merits. we should not forget that the chinese musical scale is set quite differently from ours, and is offensive to us chiefly because it is unfamiliar. but notwithstanding its deafening shrillness, it has great rhythmical power; and after all it only sounds harsh to us on account of its complexity. it must not be forgotten that their musical tones are not, as in the west, divided into two, but into four parts. in fact, they have not only half, but third and fourth gradations. the same with regard to their plastic art--the foreigner is easily apt to consider the external form only. he appreciates or rejects it according as it comes up to our western standard of beauty or not, but does not stop to look at it from the national cultural point of view. and yet it is impossible to understand chinese art without doing so. in china art was confined to experts, while in japan it acquired an ever-increasing popular character. but the chinese is by far the higher form of art. the chinese have always been the teachers and pioneers in all matters of thought and creative genius in the far east. architecture, sculpture, painting, with all their various ramifications, date back to the remote ages of chinese antiquity. what we have on record of the time of the first emperors gives us some idea of their refinement and of the art treasures then already in existence, and of still greater value in this respect are the few known monuments of the shung dynasty and of the subsequent mongol period. interesting above all are remains of buildings dating back to the ming age, which still exist in considerable numbers. chinese art surprises one principally on account of its force and of the originating power manifested by it. in their colossal structures we chiefly admire the height of the pagodas, the length of the bridges; we are struck by the earnestness of the conception, the magnitude of the design, the masterful execution, the concentration of thought; all these appeal to us even now, in their dilapidated condition. the imperial palace at pekin, although in ruins, is still one of the most magnificent structures in the world. and the same might be said of all other branches of art. we see it in the old bronze statues, in the delicate porcelain work, the exquisite carvings, and the precious cut stones. these relics in themselves may leave us cold, design and colour may not be to our taste, but the artistic idea, and above all the artistic ideal, underlying all these masterpieces, and the power of execution, cannot fail to impress any one at all interested in art. we must remember that although the chinese conception of art is so different from ours, the interest of it to us lies not exclusively in the productions themselves, but rather in the mind which produced them. the longer we associate with the chinese the more we feel attracted to them, the more we recognize their worth, embodied in the versatile spheres of art and culture. in process of time we learn to appreciate, not only the civilization of chinese antiquity--which was centuries in advance of ours, and had already reached a high state of development when europe was still peopled by wild, unknown hordes--but we also begin to appreciate the different embodiments of that strange culture too. when we study the history of the people in the days of their glory, or read the biographies of their great emperors, we almost become reconciled even to the inferiority of their existing form of government. only as we glance through the works of their sages and great writers, who lived many centuries before our era, do we get a somewhat clearer idea of the intellectual capacity of this race, whose culture extended beyond their own boundaries far into neighbouring lands; penetrated to the uttermost borders of the east, and finally--making its way across korea--laid the foundation of japanese civilization. this primeval culture has crumbled away. only here and there among the ruins do we find glowing fragments and brilliant pieces of it; but even these remnants fill us with genuine wonder, and are eloquent witnesses to the greatness and strength of the nation's genius. what has remained strong, above all, to this day, amid the complete general disorganization, is the race itself, as such. the prejudice against the chinese may still be as general as ever, yet one cannot help drawing attention to the fact that neglected, uneducated, and wretched as the population is at present, there are everywhere abundant proofs of unflagging energy and exceptional capacity for work. these two characteristics strike one most forcibly among the lower classes, while among the partisans of the european movement, the progressive mercantile middle class, or among the scientists, scholars, and statesmen, who still occupy the old classical standpoint, a rare power of perception and intellectual development is worthy of recognition. the greatest living statesman of china is undoubtedly chang-chi-tung. his influence as viceroy of the two important provinces of hupek and hunan is supreme. since the death of li hung-chang he ranks first in the estimation of his countrymen. he may not possess an equally keen insight and the extraordinary knowledge of human nature which the late viceroy had at his command, and he may lack his political shrewdness, but from a moral point of view chang-chi-tung occupies an incomparably higher level. he is not only a statesman, but he is also a sage and a philosopher. he is a follower of confucius and every inch a patriot. he is said to encourage confucianism among his countrymen, but he is tolerant towards other religious convictions, and within the radius of his colossal viceregal dominions, hospitality is shown to all, including christians. in politics he is moderate, and although conservative in principle, he favours practical reforms and innovations, as may be gathered from the many industrial establishments in his capital. personally he owns cotton-mills and factories, built a few years ago by belgian engineers, which, under european management, have from the first yielded good results. gradually the foreign employés have been replaced by natives, and at present the whole administration of this extensive concern is in the hands of natives. the mercantile spirit of this enterprising viceroy is not in any way inferior to his political genius. brick-kilns, china-, glass-, and iron-works and gun-factories, besides a whole network of railways, have been established under his administration. his soldiers, instructed by german officers, are probably the best drilled and best organized troops of the empire, and his well-equipped, excellently armed cavalry is the pride of the land. his energies, however, are more particularly centred upon the educational problem. he favours practical instruction, and in order to further this, he proposes to convert some of the unused pagodas into schools. chang-chi-tung, himself a writer of no mean order, is perhaps the best read, and certainly the most influential chinese author living. his work entitled "china's only hope," published shortly after the last war with japan, caused a great sensation. several million copies were issued, and the emperor himself wrote a dedication for it. this book is of great interest, not only for the chinese, but also for us, because it throws a strong side-light upon the character of the author and upon the party to which at present the most important portion of the chinese belong. a few extracts will give some idea of the tendency of the work:-"comparing the history of china during the last two years with the history of europe during the last fifty years, the question involuntarily arises whether the governments of western states can furnish examples of benevolence, self-sacrifice, and loyalty equal to ours. "although china is not as rich as europe, its people, whether rich or poor, high or low, enjoy greater freedom. european states may be very powerful, their ruling classes very rich, but the labouring population is disproportionately poor and miserable, and frequently unjustly dealt with. a system of government which ignores such social contrasts, or rather, which creates them, can never be an example for us to follow." elsewhere he says:-"the standpoint of the west is practical; we, on the contrary, are idealistic. our sages and our scholars have taught us that the happiness of a nation consists in the well-being of its people. our religions teach us equality and charity; our customs, the organization of our family life, all social institutions, point to this one thing; to make the millions of our people contented." again, in another passage, speaking of inventions, he says:-"i do not contest the technical superiority of the west. i myself am a promoter of progress, but i do not desire that our institutions, which have stood for centuries, should be transformed all in a moment. i note with satisfaction--speaking of progress--that the same elements which at first raged so fiercely against the introduction of railways and steam navigation, have now become the most staunch supporters of these useful inventions." an equally interesting specimen of a modern chinaman's opinion of european affairs, is a pamphlet which appeared some years ago, in the english language, under the title of "letters from a viceroy's residence." the author is a young celestial who spent many years in the west, and upon his return was appointed secretary to one of the viceroys. the object of these letters was, in the first place, to convince his master of the fact that, in spite of his long residence in the west, he had remained a good patriot. in the second place, he hoped to awaken the interests of the queen regent. several of these letters appeared first in the columns of an english newspaper, published in japan, and unquestionably praise is due to the author, ku-hung-ming, at least for his zeal in making himself acquainted with the various languages and literatures of western lands. the power of his discernment and discrimination may be seen from the manner in which he points out what there is defective, puerile, and unintelligible amongst us. when he condemns shortcomings he generally does so by quoting our own writers against us, and he exposes our mistakes to the merciless scourge of our own criticism. there is not a writer, a statesman, or a philosopher, of any note, to whom he does not in some way or other appeal. he concludes an elaborate study of the civilizations of the west and the east with the words of carlyle: "europe is an anarchy, with a policeman at its head"; and he quotes ruskin, to apply to china the theory that "culture means a society of cultured beings." "to the ordinary european trader it seems no doubt a strange thing that we should object to what he describes as the opening out of our national resources. viewing everything, as he habitually does, from the standpoint of profit and loss, he conceives that if it can be shown that a certain course will lead to the increase of wealth, it follows that that is the course that ought to be adopted. the opening of china to his country and his trade he believes will have this result; and he concludes that it is our interest to welcome rather than to resist his enterprise. from his point of view he is justified; but his point of view is not ours. we are accustomed, before adopting any grave measures of policy, to estimate their effects, not merely on the sum total of our wealth, but (which we conceive to be a very different thing) on our national well-being. you, as always, are thinking of the means of living, we, of the quality of the life lived. and when you ask us, as you do in effect, to transform our whole society, to convert ourselves from a nation of agriculturists to a nation of traders and manufacturers, to sacrifice to an imaginary prosperity our political and economic independence, and to revolutionize, not only our industry, but our manners, morals, and institutions, we may be pardoned if we first take a critical look at the effects which have been produced among yourselves by the conditions you urge us to introduce in china." this statement is of peculiar interest as showing that with regard to european innovations china occupies a position diametrically opposed to that of japan. evidently china is not blind where european conditions are concerned. the chinese do not ignore the material and technical advantages and achievements of europe. they realize with tolerable clearness the superior material conditions which modern life offers. the only point upon which they are not clear is how far all these innovations help us to make life more tolerable, and how far they contribute to the inner satisfaction or happiness of the people. "i have learned that the most brilliant discoveries, the most fruitful applications of inventive genius, do not of themselves suffice for the well-being of society, and that an intelligence which is concentrated exclusively on the production of labour-saving machines, may easily work more harm for the dislocation of industry than it can accomplish good by the increase of wealth. for the increase of wealth--that is, of the means of comfort--is not to my mind necessarily good in itself; everything depends on the way in which the wealth is distributed and on its effect on the moral character of the nations. and it is from that point of view that i look with some dismay upon the prospect of the introduction of western methods into china." the author then describes at some length, and perhaps in somewhat too glowing terms, the cheerfulness, the contentment, the philosophy, the joy of living of the chinese people. he speaks of the strong bond of affection which unites families, their literary and artistic tastes, their deep-rooted love of nature, all of which stand them in such good stead in time of trouble. "all this is peculiar to our nature, it is the basis of our inner contentment, a contentment which no one can give, but which may easily be taken from us." even for the much-criticized, and unquestionably corrupt institution of the state, the loyal patriot has a few condoning words:-"the simple and natural character of our civilization, the peaceable nature of our people, above all, the institution of the family, itself a little state--a political, social, and economic unit--these and other facts have rendered us independent of government control to an extent which to europeans may seem incredible. neither the acts nor the omissions of the authorities at pekin have any real or permanent effect on the life of our masses, except so far as they register the movements of popular sentiment and demand. otherwise, as you foreigners know to your cost, they remain a dead letter. the government may make conventions and treaties, but it cannot put them into effect, except in so far as they are endorsed by public opinion.... our fundamental institutions are no arbitrary inventions of power, they are the form which the people have given to their lives. no government created and no government would think of modifying them.... law, in a word, is not with us a rule imposed from above; it is the formula of the national life, and its embodiment in practice precedes its inscription in a code." referring to the political disputes between china and europe, another chinese writer says: "when first your traders came to china it was not at our invitation; yet we received them, if not with enthusiasm, at least with tolerance. so long as they were content to observe our regulations we were willing to sanction their traffic, but always on the condition that it should not disturb our social and political order. to this condition, in earlier days, your countrymen consented to conform, and for many years, in spite of occasional disputes, there was no serious trouble between them and us. the trouble arose over a matter in regard to which you yourselves have hardly ventured to defend your conduct. a considerable part of your trade was the commerce in opium. the use of this drug, we observed, was destroying the health and the morals of our people, and we therefore prohibited the trade. your merchants, however, evaded the law; opium was smuggled in, till at last we were driven to take the matter into our own hands and to seize and destroy the whole stock of the forbidden drug. your government made our action an excuse for war. you invaded our territory, exacted an indemnity, and took from us the island of hong kong. was this an auspicious beginning? was it calculated to impress us with a sense of the justice and fair play of the british nation? years went on; a petty dispute about the privileges of the flag--a dispute in which we still believe that we were in the right--brought us once more into collision with you. you made the unfortunate conflict an excuse for new demands. in conjunction with the french you occupied our capital and imposed upon us terms which you would never have dared to offer to a european nation. we submitted because we must; we were not a military power. but do you suppose our sense of justice was not outraged? or later, when every power in europe, on some pretext or other, has seized some part of our territory, do you suppose because we cannot resist that we do not feel?" these passages, one-sided though they may be, give us some idea of what the chinese think of europe, of the politics of the west, and of our civilization as a whole, and we cannot be greatly surprised that the yellow empire looks upon us as its greatest enemy. from the time that our first trading vessels touched the coasts of china, closely followed by men-of-war, the chinese have been on the losing side, both economically and politically. one great power after another came upon the scene of action, and seized and occupied provinces, many of them larger than their own european dominions. when a chinese schoolboy of today studies the map of his country, and considers how much smaller it has become in the course of the last hundred years, how can it fail to make him sad? almost ever since the victorious english navy first made its appearance at hong kong, foreign powers have been occupied in tearing away pieces from the empire. russia owns the whole northern portion of the land, and with one stroke of the pen count muravieff has torn from china and incorporated into the russian empire the gigantic amur district, or, as it is now called, eastern siberia, the area of which is almost larger than that of the whole of central europe. korea, once a vassal state, is practically governed by japan, while tonking and annam have become french colonies. besides suffering these territorial losses china has been compelled to pay heavy damages after each war. in order to procure these moneys fresh taxes have to be levied, so that it may be said with truth that every son of the land--apart from the ignominy put upon his national pride--has personally to bear some part of the burden laid upon his country. such was the condition of things at the time of the riots in 1900, and feelings have not greatly altered since then, although on the surface all appears smooth and quiet. the recent war between russia and japan has roused the people afresh; and do we wonder at the exultation which fills the masses of the yellow race, now that one of its nations at last appears to be getting the better of its white opponents? * * * * * will china, in case of need, unite with japan to destroy the common enemy? will the chinese seek retaliation for what they consider to have been an injustice done to them, and which they evidently have not forgotten? it is hardly likely--at any rate, not just yet. japan and china are now farther apart than one would think possible, considering their close geographical vicinity, and the cultural analogy which till recently existed between them. looked at from a distance, and when one does not know all the circumstances, certain kindred features may stand out prominently; but the likeness vanishes when one comes to live amongst them. as a matter of fact, a greater dissimilarity can hardly be imagined than that which separates china from japan. the difference may be traced throughout their past and present histories. corporeal build and manner of thought, state organization, government and system of education, all were different. their similarity begins and ends in the basis from which they both started, namely, the old chinese civilization founded on buddhist principles, and early borrowed by japan from china. the nippon of the past had no national culture. from china, across korea, japan received the doctrines of buddha, of confucius, of mencius, or thao. from china also came the first scholars, artists, and writers. what to us are the greek and latin classics the writings of the old chinese academicians are to japan. upon them the japanese have based their views of life; from them their artists received their inspiration, and the ideas conceived in china found expression in japanese literature. as with us latin, so in japan chinese is the language of ancient literature. it is probably owing to this circumstance that so many erroneous views exist in the west concerning the mutual relationship of these two eastern nations. they are always being mistaken the one for the other, their virtues and failings confused, their good and bad points confounded. formerly everything that came from the borders of the yellow sea was simply called "chinoiserie," and now in the same way everything that arrives from there is called japanese. it would seem as if europe even now could not distinguish between them; above all, as if we were unable to realize the psychological and metaphysical differences of the two nations. we do not judge by what is essential, real, and original, we only go by outward appearances, by what is conspicuous at first sight. and now, since japan has made its mark in the contest with russia, it is only its external success which causes us surprise, the internal change of the people leaves us unmoved. the public of europe is strangely ignorant of the moral worth of japan. the interest of the moment is concentrated on the little japanese soldier, who handles the british gun so dexterously, who blindly rushes into danger, and dies by thousands. and all one knows or cares to know about china is, that it is backward, dull, and stupid. but as regards the real cause of the present relations, and whether there is a possibility of further developments--this is a matter of small interest to the general public. the nations of europe seem to be as little concerned to understand the inner qualities of the peoples on the yellow sea, their psychological divergences and moral strength, as they trouble to know the history of their early culture and intellectual existence. this want of interest is noticeable in all our dealings with the yellow races. in industrial undertakings we constantly confuse china and japan, and japanese goods often pass for chinese. even those who profess to have studied the history of japanese art have been found to attribute to japan the fundamental ideas which originated in china. the more one comes into contact with chinese and japanese works, the more clearly one sees that the honour of originality and initiative belongs to china. the celebrated japanese painters, sculptors, and bronze-workers were taught by china; they were clever imitators of chinese art. in point of execution they have doubtless in many cases surpassed their masters. the detail work of japanese art is decidedly finer and better finished than the chinese, and in the work of reproduction they have attained a degree of perfection unparalleled in any other industrial nation. but this, after all, is rather a matter of skill than of genius. the artistic conception, the creative power, was far more original in ancient china than in ancient japan, and although the minutiæ of chinese art were often crude and imperfect, the fundamental idea was always noble and grand. we notice this particularly in their architecture. china's marble and stone yamens and pagodas were imitated by japan, but with this difference, that they are built of wood and roofed over with shingles or thatch. in the various branches of sculpture and painting we see the same divergence. the japanese was always an excellent copyist, but he drew his inspirations from china, in much the same manner in which the masters of the renaissance school used the antique masterpieces for their models. just as the japanese imitated and appropriated the customs and institutions of the ancient chinese empire, so they have now, with astonishing rapidity, adopted european civilization. their power of assimilation is incredible. when we compare the japan of today with the land as it was five-and-twenty years ago, our surprise is fully justified. from being under the most antiquated feudal system, the empire has suddenly become one of the most progressive states. at the mikado's command all things were changed: government, army, education, even national views of life and ideals. the authority of the shogun is replaced by a parliament. the descendant of the old samurai becomes a soldier, moulded after the german pattern. the agricultural classes are gradually transformed into factory hands. from day to day the old institutions and beliefs are being destroyed, and with the new constitution a new religion is also called into existence, or rather the obsolete and somewhat obscure shinto cult is converted into the religion of the state. how much of real conviction there has been in this magic change or how much of it has been the work of natural evolution, it is difficult to say. inward convictions and the problems of moral satisfaction are outside the pale of politics. whether the present-day japanese, who wears a silk hat, is happier than his ancestor with his kimono--whether the workman in the factory is more contented than the former agricultural labourer--whether the internal peace of the land is better secured under the new system than it was under the old régime--who shall say? it will even remain doubtful whether their thirst for glory was not more gratified when guarding the frontiers and the territory of their ancient daimios than now, when, according to western notions, their chief object is occupation and material gain. the most serious of all future eventualities is evidently whether these rashly accomplished innovations, and the total transformation of all existing conditions, may not, as was the case in europe, lead to a material and moral crisis. in the most progressive circles of the land this is a much-discussed point. the recent labour riots, and the continually occurring strikes in the great cities, cast a certain shadow over the possibilities of the future. baron ivasaki, the greatest industrial power in the land, whose ships frequent all parts of the world, who has banking connexions in all commercial centres, who employs a large number of clerks, and has every opportunity of investigating the labour question in all its details, has published some interesting articles on the social questions of japan. another prominent japanese writer, okuma, occupies himself chiefly with the moral condition of the people, anticipating with fear the time when the innate religious feeling, and the once imperturbable loyalty to the head of the state, should be shaken to its roots. the ultimate crystallization of the economic and moral relations of future japan is, after all, the most interesting problem which this nation at present offers. * * * * * the reason that china still delays its reorganization, and cannot blindly follow in the footsteps of japan, lies chiefly in the internal constitution of the land. the population, which is above all things peaceful and cautious, waits to see what effect the transformation has upon japan, whether it is really for the good of the people. the above-quoted passages from the works of chinese writers clearly show that the chinese as a people do not covet either military glory or exorbitant material wealth. for them the basis of happiness is peace and stability. the disturbance of harmony is irksome to the nation. this was the initial thought which prompted them in olden times to build a great wall to protect their native land from foreign intrusion. the chinese are now beginning to realize that the highest wall cannot stem the current of time; that progress--or let us say the course of events--sweeps away even the mightiest obstacle before it. the necessity of their ultimate reorganization is more and more apparent to those natives who have come into contact with the outer world; only, as chang-chi-tung said, "it cannot be expected or desired that we should be transformed in the twinkling of an eye." the more impetuous advocates of reform, the representatives of the so-called "progressive party," have their headquarters at shanghai. the members of this faction are mostly educated, travelled persons, speaking several european languages, students who have finished their university career, officials, merchants, and authors. some amongst them, on account of their revolutionary tendencies, have been banished from pekin or from the interior, and reside in the european quarters and districts governed by consular magistrates. these are the leaders of the discontented. they reject all existing conditions and demand the total abolition of the present system of government. but the man of the day i should say is yuan-chi-kai. it is he who represents the progressive party at the court of pekin. to his influence may be attributed the various reforms introduced during the last few years, and the notable changes in the politics of the tsung-li yamen. of all the viceroys of the united empire he is the one most directly in touch with the representatives of foreign powers. yuan-chi-kai is in the first instance a military leader. his policy, which is to secure peace for his land, is based on military principles. it is probably at his instigation that a number of young chinamen were sent at state expense to japanese universities, in order that they might there study the effect of the imported reforms upon an asiatic nation already imbued with european ideas. to a chinaman all these institutions would appear in japan in a more intelligible form than in europe, where all conditions are so absolutely contrary to their preconceived notions. perhaps, in his capacity of soldier, yuan-chi-kai also hoped that the japanese might impart some of their military enthusiasm to the lethargic youths of his country. so far the results have been satisfactory. a residence in europe has seldom proved of much benefit to chinese students, but a visit to the universities and schools of tokio, yokohama, or kobe, has seldom failed to answer its purpose. the already modernized chinaman is doubtless an interesting figure, and he displays highly intellectual qualities. life in the harbour towns, where he has free intercourse with foreigners from all parts of the world, has considerably widened his field of vision, and offers him ample opportunity for making comparison between the natives of the various european countries. it enables him also to become more familiar with the achievements of western culture. the latest products of french industry, manchester goods, or any of the most recent european inventions, reach these shores within a very short time. there are many wholesale merchants and bankers who have for several years been in direct communication with the city of london, or wall street in new york. they are bold and enterprising men, and work their business exclusively on modern principles. their offices are fitted up in european fashion with telephones and type-writers; only here and there a rare plant, some precious object of art, or a singing bird in a cage, betrays the native instinct of love of nature and art. the national dress is still worn, and the wide silk trousers and traditional pigtail strike one at first as somewhat out of place in these modern surroundings. at hong kong, shanghai, and tien-tsin, one has excellent opportunities of seeing the business man at home. during my stay in those towns i thoroughly enjoyed the social intercourse with these people. it is interesting to ponder over what may become of them as they continue to acquire all the advantages of western accomplishments. what possibilities this nation possesses! the millionaires generally build their houses in european style. the furniture of their reception-rooms is also of foreign make, and only the beautiful porcelains and other art treasures remind us that we are in china. honestly speaking, all this modernization in house-building and furnishing is to be regretted, for surely the chinese yamen is more tasteful than the european house of iron and brick! dress has thus far not been touched by the fashion, and anything more beautiful than the richly embroidered silk and velvet mantles of the wealthy classes can hardly be imagined. neither has americanism been able to obliterate the old-world manners and rules of courtesy, or to sever the bond of family affection and the inborn respect to parents. a chinaman protects his home above all that is dear to him. in my intercourse with the chinese i have noticed that even the most advanced among them, who have lived for years in england or in france, and who have enjoyed all the advantages of our commercial and industrial achievements, scrupulously avoid imitating the private life of the west. all that relates to business is zealously excluded from the home, and it frequently happens that the wife or the child has never entered the office of husband or father, nor does the father ever mention business matters in the home circle. the office is for work, he says, the home for rest. it has often been remarked to me that with us the wear and whirl of business and of excessive ambition, destroy the joy of living. one of my acquaintances at hong kong once said, "the conditions of life in the west nowadays make man his own enemy. he sacrifices his whole life to acquire what is in the main worthless, without giving himself time to enjoy what he already possesses." a banker expressed himself in a similar manner. "most people in europe," he said, "love money for its own sake, but not for what money can do to ennoble their lives." the more intimately i have become acquainted with chinese mood and thought, the better have i learned to understand the psychical condition of the people. it has been said that the chinaman, when first he comes to europe, is struck by the sad expression on all the faces. they say that the anglo-saxon, or perhaps more still the latin nations, appear to be more upset by some paltry superficial annoyance, a social slight or deception, than the chinaman is at the sight of death. they say that we prize exorbitantly what is of small real value, while the things which make life worth living and give inward satisfaction are neglected by us. and i must confess that i have not been able to confute this statement. life in the west--that is to say, the stability of the moral equilibrium of existence--is very precarious. steam-engines have long since killed all sentimentality in us, and deeper feelings are only too frequently sacrificed to outward appearances and conventionalities. where even the basis of religious conviction fails, there is nothing left to compensate for the vicissitudes of life. the chinese christian, as the progressive element of the land, desires above all things that his children should lead pure, christian lives, a point which is frequently neglected with us. i have known many chinese christian families. i have been in the houses of simple labourers and in the huts of peasants, as well as in the mansions of the wealthy, and i have found, as a rule, with poor and rich alike, that charity and brotherly affection are not empty terms, but that they find expression in their daily life. their care for the poor and needy is quite touching. such at least has been my experience, and i have heard the same from missionaries who have spent their lives amongst them. the charge of insincerity, which is so often brought against the chinese converts, is greatly exaggerated, at any rate as far as the catholics are concerned. we must not forget that the greater portion of the chinese catholics have been christians for many generations, and receive regular religious instruction. the arrival of the first missionaries dates back to the thirteenth century. it was kublai khan who invited them first to settle in the country, and in course of time he entrusted the education of his son to them. more than six hundred years have passed since the foundation of the bishopric at pekin; monte corvino was appointed first bishop by pope clement v, and marco polo, the famous italian traveller, accompanied him. six thousand baptisms took place in the course of the three following years, and the number of christians soon grew to a hundred thousand. frequently recurring persecutions hindered the spread of the gospel; however, it is not my object here to trace the history of christianity in china, a question i deal with in another volume, but rather to point out that the descendants of those early converts have embraced the catholic faith already as the religion of their fathers. with regard to the so-called forced, or paid conversions, i must mention in the first place that adult conversions very seldom occur, and have seldom brought the person concerned any material advantage, but on the contrary exposed him to injustice and persecution. a chinaman rarely renounces or changes a once settled conviction, and the greater number of baptisms recorded were administered to the children of christian parents or to orphans and deserted boys, and especially girls, who, without the intervention of the church, would have died of starvation or neglect. such children are put in orphanages under the supervision of nuns, and taught a trade which afterwards enables them to provide for themselves. the more talented among them are educated in the middle schools belonging to the mission, and in the colleges established in the larger towns. the administration of these institutions is in the hands of the clergy, and their popularity is best proved by the fact that a considerable number of their students profess other religions. the children of the well-to-do merchant class, before they can receive any appointment or start on a foreign tour of study, generally finish their education at one of these establishments, which, especially in the harbour towns, are of a very high standard. their usefulness and superiority are also universally acknowledged. all classes of society, regardless of creed, contribute to the maintenance of these schools. the "christian brothers" at pekin have quite lately erected a large college on entirely modern principles, which supplies a long-felt want in the capital. in spite of all these reforms, it will be long before china acknowledges the superiority of the west. although public opinion is slowly and gradually changing, this is not entirely because the people recognize the superiority of western culture, but rather because they are in self-defence obliged to make reforms in order to ward off the dangers which threaten on all sides. to a chinaman the ideal of happiness was quietness and peace; the object of his civilization to conquer and subdue the brutishness of human nature, and to combat all desire for violence. as a result of this education and such a turn of mind which have been in force for more than ten thousand years, militarism has not only been banished from their social code of law, but died out of the upper social classes. from generation to generation the chinese are taught that the greatest of all virtues is equanimity; can we therefore wonder that they do not yet appreciate european civilization, which appears to teach the reverse? if the chinese have been at last compelled to relinquish their ancient views of life and to accept ours, can we blame them if they do it grudgingly? after all, it is only a question of time: how long the chinese can hold out, and stick to their old civilization. it may be decades, it may be hundreds of years. time is a factor of only secondary importance where it concerns the transformation of a whole race. but the day is coming, must come, when not only china's four hundred millions, but the milliard of the whole tartar races shall, without exception, adopt the european civilization, and all the advantages of it. and if in that remote future the question of the yellow peril should arise, the consequences may indeed be serious. for china would naturally remain hostile to the west, and, in conjunction with japan, be its most formidable foe, so long as the two cultures of the west and the east do not learn to understand each other. little as we really know of the peoples of the east, still less do they know of us. to remove the mutual misunderstanding should be our earnest endeavour. and this, though not an easy task, considering the prominence which has been given to the existing differences, is not an impossible one; for does not the burden of it fall alike on both the white and the yellow race? when we shall have succeeded in dispersing the prejudices existing on either side; when we shall have learnt to appreciate the virtues of the yellow race, and they shall have recognized the nobler ideals which animate us; then the two races, instead of opposing one another in the battle-field, will, let us hope, offer one another the hand of good fellowship, and the banner on the one side of the united brotherhood will bear as a device, "mutual aid and help" instead of "aggression and oppression"; and on the other side, "friendship and confidence" instead of "violence and mistrust." let us hope that the chinese will benefit, not only by our military equipments and material achievements, but that they will also share our spiritual supremacy, and above all learn or recognize the fundamental principles--the basis of all true civilization, the christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity. xiv conclusion the foregoing chapters were written on the eve of the war. since that time the situation is, to some degree, altered, though not so essentially as might be imagined; and i even believe the general feeling to be, to a certain extent, the same today as it was yesterday. neither party is entirely satisfied; the interests and aims of neither the one nor the other seem to have been fully realized, and both appear to have lost more than they have gained in the lengthy, costly, and cruel war. on the one side, the russians have had to renounce the most valuable provinces of what they regarded as their former acquisitions, whilst the japanese have not been compensated, either by the definite annexation of korea or of manchuria. the political situation is fundamentally identical with that of yesterday, or rather with that of a decade ago. the peace of portsmouth does not alter the _status quo_ much from what it was after the treaty of simonosaki, still less from what it was before the alliance of chifu. the problem of the domination of eastern asia is not solved; the two great races, the white and the yellow, with their conflicting interests, are striving for the mastery as before. the peace of portsmouth might more justly be called an armistice. a truce has been concluded, and we hope that this truce may be of longer duration than the last. and, above all, let us hope that it may really tend to the well-being of the countries interested, and of cultural and moral advantage for the nations concerned. though the peace of portsmouth may be unimportant, the moral influence of its articles is all the more real from a purely material point of view. japan, in spite of her admirable self-restraint, has become one of the great powers, and she shows her strength, her security, and her power, more especially by her moderation and self-control. the renunciation of certain points and the ratification of many conditions required, undoubtedly, a self-control and a political foresight which this young nation has lately proved she possesses. after an unexpected succession of brilliant victories--when the fleet of her rival had been annihilated, the forts of port arthur laid in ruins, the hostile armies forced back step by step--it was hardly credible that nippon would refrain from insisting upon complete evacuation of manchuria, annexation of saghalien, and at least a certain amount of war indemnity. was it not natural that count witte should inform his depressed countrymen with satisfaction, that russia is still as much a great power in the far east as she was before? was it not pardonable if this piece of news, and many others of a similar kind with regard to russia's diplomatic acquisitions, gave rise to tumult in the streets of tokio, and, at any rate among the lower classes of japan, to loud expressions of dissatisfaction? such spontaneous manifestations of a people's feelings are easily understood and cannot be taken amiss; but these people, in spite of their dissension, will daily recognize more and more what uncommon astuteness has been displayed by the envoys of the nation, in their acceptance of the present and, to some extent, unsatisfactory terms of peace. time will prove what were the motives which chiefly determined the japanese government to desist from further prosecution of the war. certainly the rôle played by the leading powers must have been an important one. it seemed increasingly doubtful if the forms of future loans would ensure the same interest for the groups concerned. anglo-american credit, which japan apparently possessed to an unlimited extent at the outbreak of the war, became circumspect and cautious to a degree. further financial undertakings, which, in consequence of the unexpected and decisive defeat of russia, might have resulted in insolvency, could of course not be agreeable to the french and continental stockholders. [illustration: count witte to face page 384] from an international point of view it was desired that the situation, at any rate as far as appearances went, should remain unchanged. what was aimed at was equilibrium, not preponderance. opinions which made themselves heard, not only in central europe, but also in the english and american newspapers, showed more and more plainly how critical the situation would be if japan alone possessed undisputed paramount power in eastern asia. the leading papers, which at first had been so enthusiastic and described with such unbounded admiration japan's gallant battles and unexpected victories, grew gradually reserved as the question of how far japan's ambitions might one day extend, became doubtful. economic acquisitions were feared even more than the actual strategic conquests. already a portion of the commerce of the far east has left european hands and fallen to the share of japan, and evidently this will more and more be the case. the vicinity of the country, the cheap rate of wages, the simplicity of social conditions and those of labour, even at the present day, all contribute to give japan the advantage in the competition. what their government chiefly covet, at any rate just now, are new commercial spheres--safe markets--to profit by the great wealth of neighbouring states. by adroit commercial treaties with china, exploitation of the mineral riches of manchuria and the korean mines, japan may, in a very short time, not only make good her war expenditure, but consolidate the economical condition of the empire and increase the general well-being. from a political point of view, it can no longer be denied that the pacific ocean will be, at least on the eastern half, dominated by the japanese fleet. in short, it is this point which is the essential one. as i have already stated, japan's schemes of conquest, if she had any, would be directed less towards the north than towards the south. siberia never seems to have had a great attraction for her, and i believe that even manchuria, together with the amur provinces, leaves her indifferent. she intends to let the original possessor, china, reconquer it one day. her far-seeing policy seems to be governed by the assumption that the eastern asiatic continent belongs to her neighbours, the chinese. for herself, she wants to secure the position of a great sea power. her island home, and more especially her sea-faring population, tend to guide her in this direction. as factors to this end they have not only subjective competency, but the greatest objective possibilities. the island empire of the pacific is still, to a great extent, with all her wealth, a _terra incognita_. we may say the same of the south sea islands, which are mostly only under the nominal dominion of the white races. honolulu and the philippines might one day be included in the dominions of this newly-arisen great power; and her sphere of action will possibly create a yet larger circle. australasia, even, might become the ultimate aim of japanese imperialism and commercialism. the climatic conditions of the northern parts are such that europeans find it difficult to settle there, and in the limitless sugar and coffee plantations the employment of white labour has always been unsuccessful, in spite of every effort. the number of the white inhabitants is still very small, although the continent was first occupied over a hundred years ago. the original native tribes have slowly died out; but the new settlers, over this whole extent of enormous territory, do not number as many as the population of london. sparsely peopled, she stands there isolated and unfortified, defenceless, so to speak, in the midst of the sea. the actual guarantee for her independence is offered by the circumstance that she forms part of the british empire. this dominion is of course nominal; still, it is enough, at any rate at present, to protect the continent from foreign attack. but it is not hard to foresee what would happen to australia, with the adjacent islands, tasmania and new zealand, should she be severed from great britain. indeed, it is much to be feared that if ever the present alliance between england and japan were to change into hostility, the former pupils and friends might be obliged to turn their arms against their instructors and allies. now, however, a truce has been declared in eastern asia. the peace of portsmouth has been concluded, and the consequences of this recent event will undoubtedly be greater than the bloodiest battles of the past few months, although it occasioned less noise. i must acknowledge that i am somewhat astonished that the world which welcomed with such jubilation japan's victories at sea, seems to fail to understand her greatness in the field of diplomacy. yet nothing was harder than to find such a solution of the various antagonistic problems as should ensure a free path for progress in the future. after such glorious battles, after the unchecked progress of an army intoxicated with success, it must have been very hard to halt, and to utilize this interlude for future strengthening and eventual expansion. nothing could really have hindered the march to harbin or to the baikal district. even the occupation of vladivostok was merely a question of time. but, as has already been stated, it was not to japan's interest to press northwards, and still less to carry the day by sowing the seeds of a yet greater hatred, and exciting the conquered country to a policy of revenge. that, probably, was the reason why the japanese gave up the war indemnity, and hope to refund it themselves from the agricultural wealth of the strip of land annexed, instead of from the russian coffers. japan did not desire either to increase the animosity of her enemy or to lose the sympathy of her allies. above all, she abstained from rousing hostility and jealousy on too many sides before the definite attainment of her goal. the self-command evinced by the japanese is the greatest feature that, in the whole course of her history, we have had occasion to admire, it is even greater than her bravery, and this same attribute was manifested in a remarkable manner during the entire war. in the battles, whether in their dealings with prisoners and wounded, in slight advantages, or in important victories, they strove to manifest their moderation, self-control, and humanity. komura's task was no easier than oyama's or togo's. to accept and carry into execution the peace, in its present form, must have been all the more distasteful in that the whole country was against it and expressed its opinion in an exceedingly hostile manner. yet, had the populace been more deliberate in its judgment, they must have appreciated the diplomacy of their statesmen no less than the strategy of their generals. they may, moreover, rest assured that the present peace, though it may appear somewhat unjust to them, will prove to be of as great benefit and of as sure advantage as if better terms had been arranged. was it not so, in the case of past victorious wars, especially as regards the terms of peace concluded with little glory and renown at simonosaki and chifu, which yet contributed so much to heighten the army's thirst for combat, and to develop the patriotism of the nation? undoubtedly japan is reckoning upon future eventualities and struggles in which she will demand yet more courage from her army and even greater enthusiasm from her sons. * * * * * but for the moment, at least, we may look with confidence to the peace, and hope that nippon, which has won the admiration of the whole world in the late war, will show herself not less capable in time of peace. may she assist the countries that have come within her sphere--especially korea--to a higher development! may she improve the conditions of agriculture, industry, as well as of culture, and truly strengthen all those moral, ethical, and spiritual aspirations which alone make for the positive weal of mankind! in one word--may the land of the rising sun earnestly strive to cast rays of light on eastern asia! index agriculture, system of, in china, 119; in korea, 218, 226 alexandrovsky château, style, 4, 9; situation, 5, 9; garden, 5; drawing-room, 9; study, 11 altai range, 41 amur district, incorporated into the russian empire, 59, 362 angara river, 49 anglo-korean commercial agreement, 224 annam, under french administration, 362 annenkoff, general, 64 art, character of chinese, 182, 348-50; of japanese, 278 asia, 32 atmolinsk, 36 australasia, the future of, 386 baikal lake, crossing the, 51-3, 55; islands, 52; railway line, 52 balagansk, 42 baltic, the, 59 baskir plateau, 32, 58; character and dress of the people, 32; climate, 33 bikanir desert, 64 black sea, 59 bokhara, 36 boxer movement of 1900, 155 buddhists, 58 buriats, 43; their appearance, 58; dress, 58; religion, 58 "bushido," establishment of, 316; definition of the word, 316; code of moral principles, 317; origin, 317; unwritten laws, 320; principles of justice, 320; courage, 321; honour, 322; "hara-kiri," or suicide, 323-6; "kataki-ushi," or vengeance, 326-8 butter, export of, 40 calico, sale of, in korea, 268 cemetery, portuguese, at pekin, 167 chan-chi-tung, viceroy, his characteristics, 136, 352; attempts at reform, 136, 352; writings, 137; political views, 352; mercantile spirit, 353; views on education, 353; extracts from his work on "china's only hope," 353-5 chefoo, treaty of, 155 chemulpo, 225, 229 ch'ien-men, or great street, in pekin, 168 ch'ien-men san-tan bridge, 168 chilkoff, prince, minister of railways, his characteristics, 20; mechanical training, 21; his study, 21; management of the railway transport during the war, 21_n._ chin-chan mountain, 42 china, 41; method of agriculture, 119; suzerainty of korea, 200; system of education, 209; language, 211; outbreak of war in 1894 with japan, 231; magnitude, 340; territorial losses, 362; payment of war indemnities, 362; relations with japan, 363-7; originality and initiative, 364-7; delay in reorganization, 369; advocates of reform, 370 china, emperor of, imprisoned, 161, 187; failure of his struggle for freedom, 187 china, dowager empress of, her summer residence, 160; appearance and dress, 183; character, 183; reception of the representatives of the powers, 184; interest in the ladies, 186; diplomatic ability, 186 "china's only hope," extracts from, 353-5 chinampoo, 225 chinese, relations with russians, 94, 119; capacity for work, 127; energy and industry, 176; character of their art, 182, 348-50; characteristics, 341-3; superiority of the native servant, 342; labour question, 344; virtues of the lower middle class, 344; honesty of tradesmen, 345; guild or club houses, 346; musical and theatrical entertainments, 347; intellectual capacity, 351, 371; ideal of happiness, 369, 378; dress, 373; family affection, 373; their view of anglo-saxons, 374; care of the poor, 375; number of christians, 376; schools, 377 ching, prince, prime minister for foreign affairs, 177; his appearance, 177; characteristics, 178 chitta, 59 cholera, epidemic of, at mukden, 105 chopsticks, use of, 148 chunchuses, band of, 82, 118 clement v, pope, appoints the first bishop of pekin, 376 confucius, influence of his teaching, 159 convicts, number of, 43 cossacks, their characteristics, 54; escort of, 111; hilarity, 115; steeplechase 115-18 cryptomerea, avenue of, 302 dalny, 123 _datshas_, 3 dogs of korea, their character, 256-8; of manchuria, 69 dostoievsky, on the miseries of omsk, 57 earth, temple of the, in pekin, 172 eastern chinese railway co., 59, 63, 76, 125; system of construction, 64; festivities on the transfer to china, 129 education method of, in japan, 292; in korea, 209, 234, 238, 272 erbolinsk, 42 formosa, 284 funeral, torchlight procession in seoul, 258-62 funerals, style of, in korea, 220 fusan, 225, 229 gardens, style of, in japan, 310 gen-san, 225 genghis khan, 61 germany, trade with korea, 226 _gen-sen_ plant, value of, in korea, 194, 227 gobi desert, 59, 64 goods train, travelling by, 65 guild or club houses in china, 346 halung-kiang, 75 han river, 193, 229 hang-jang, 200 hankau, club house at, 347 hankau-chwang, 129, 131 "hara-kiri," or suicide, 323-6 _haras_, 69 harbin, 59 heaven, temple of, in pekin, 171; in seoul, 252 honolulu, 386 hwang-ssu temple, 170 _insatsu kyoku_, or printing office in tokio, 294 irkutsk, 39, 42; characteristics, 42; inhabitants, 43, 50; railway station, 44-6; impressions of, 48-50; attractions, 50; imperial opera house, 50; chinese colony, 50 ivasaki, baron, his articles on japan, 290, 368 jade canal, 142 japan trade with korea, 225; outbreak of war in 1894 with china, 231; administration of korea, 232, 235; temples, 276; lacquer-work, 277; monuments, 277; character of art, 278-81; katsura-no-rikyu palace, 278; tea ceremonies, 281, 322; construction of railways, 284; telegraph lines, 285; telephones, 285; electricity, 286; steamship service, 286-8; reorganization of the country, 289-91, 314, 332, 367; education, 292; tokio university, 292; character of the military equipment, 296, 316; reception at the yeddo palace, 301-10; avenue of cryptomerea, 302; style of gardens, 310; history, 315; system of vassalage, 315; the _samurais_ military code, 316-23, 334; definition of the word "bushido," 316; origin, 317; "hara-kiri," or suicide, 323-6; "kataki-ushi," or vengeance, 326-8; creed, 330; military discipline, 333; religion, 336-8; shintoism or nature-worship, 337; imitations and appropriations, 364-7; development, 367; relations with china, 363-7; conclusion of peace with russia, 381; motives for desisting from war, 383-5; moderation and self-control, 382, 388; policy, 385, 387-9 japan, emperor of, 305; audience with, 305-7; his interest in various questions, 306 japan, empress of, audience with, 308-10; her dress, 308; characteristics, 308 japanese, their force of imagination, 280, 282; characteristics, 280-3, 289, 296, 311, 315, 341; gift of adaptation, 291, 315; causes of their success, 315; faculty of assimilation, 315, 367; power of discipline, 315; courteousness, 322; conventional smile, 329; creed, 330; sword, 331; fondness for study, 335; religious views, 337 jasper, waters of, 143 kai-teng, 200 kalmuks, the, 43, 58 kanks, 40 kao-li, 199 _kasha_, 67 _kataki-ushi_, or vengeance, 326-8 katsura-no-rikyu palace, 278 kharbin, 70-73 ki-tsze, founder of korea, 197 kiahta, 51 kien-lung, empress, 170 kirghiz, steppes of the, 58 kirin, 68, 75 kirinsk, 42 kinshiu railway, 284 kobe, 284, 339 koerber, professor, 294 korea, its origin, 189, 197; difference between ancient and modern, 190; situation, 192; area, 192; mines, 192, 227; rivers, 193, 229; climate, 193; flora, 193; value of the _gen-sen_ plant, 194, 227; timber, 194; animals, 195; minerals, 195; founder of the nation, 197; law forbidding the writing of history, 198; diaries of court officials, 198; three kingdoms, 199; history, 199-203; under the suzerainty of china, 200; system of administration, 203-5; number of governorships, 204; organization of the army, 204; corruption of officials, 205; system of justice, 206; criminal cases, 207; practice of torture, 207; prisons, 207; methods of punishment, 208; education, 209, 234, 238, 272; language, 211; emperor li hsi, 211; revolution of 1895, 213; family life, 214; condition of women, 215; rights of marriage, 216; wedding ceremony, 217; methods of agriculture, 218, 226; work and recreations of women, 219; amusements of men, 219; music, 220; funerals, 220; children, 221; schools, 221; houses, 222; food, 222; dress, 222; games, 223; recitations, 223; relations with foreign powers, 224; trade, 224-6; means of transport, 227; the "pedlars' guild," 228; railways, 229; harbours, 229; money, 230; independence, 231; under japanese and russian influence, 232, 235; character of the people, 233, 237; college at yong sang, 238; dogs, 256; governed by japan, 362 korea, crown prince of, 273 korea, emperor of, his attempts at reform, 212; intrigues and plots against his life, 213; sons, 213; his power, 269; appearance, 270; costume, 270; interest in the west, 270-2 korea, empress of, murdered, 267 koreans, their origin, 195; physical characteristics, 196, 233, 237; intellectual powers, 238; costume, 244, 248, 263; method of education, 252, 272 krasnoyark, 40 ku-hung-ming, extracts from his "letters from a viceroy's residence," 356-60 kublai khan, 376 kunsan, 225 kuropatkin, general, 124 kwo-tsze-chien temple, 170 kyoto, 284 lacquer-work in japan, 277 lama of lhassa, pilgrimages to, 59 lama monastery in pekin, 170 legations in pekin, 152 lena, 41 "letters from a viceroy's residence," extracts from, 355-60 li cheng ying, 211 li hsi, emperor of korea, 211 li-hu, 80 li hung-chang, viceroy, his country house, 132; character as a financier, 132; development of tien-tsin, 134 li ping, 211 liao river, 124, 126 liaotung, peninsula, 122, 125; gulf of, 124 liaoyang, bridge near, carried away by the floods, 71, 120; crossing the, 121 lotus lake, 160 maisan hill, 160, 162; origin of the name, 162 manchuria, 59; journey across, 66-121; refreshment rooms, 67; capital, 68; inhabitants, 69, 70; homes, 69; pigs, 69; poultry, 69; dogs, 69; mineral wealth, 75; size, 75; population, 75; fertility, 109; character of the scenery, 110; occupied by russia, 231 manchury, 59 manchus, their characteristics, 70, 110; mode of locomotion, 90; relations with the russians, 94; fatalism, 105 mandarin, mode of travelling, 113 marsanka, 28 masampo, 225 métropole, hôtel du, arrival at, 47 mikado, audience with, 306. _see_ japan, emperor of min, prince, his typical old korean home, 266 mines in korea, 227 ming dynasty, 199 ming, general, his funeral, 221 mission, roman catholic, at niu-chwang, 128; at pekin, siege of the, 149; at seoul, 254 mochi-shan, coal mines at, 125 moji, straits of, 285 mokpo, 225 monte corvino, appointed first bishop of pekin, 376 moonkov-sarde mountain, 42 moscow, 26 mujiks, their character, 111 mukden, 68; journey to, 78-86; impressions of, 88; mode of locomotion, 89; plan of the city, 91; public edifices, 92; imperial palace, 92, 97; interior, 93; character of the people, 94; system of local government, 95; the yamen, 95; reception given by the governor, 96-100; number of dishes, 98; visit to the imperial tombs, 100-4; epidemic of cholera, 105; journey from, 109-18 muraviev, count, 59 myssowa, 55 nagasaki, shipbuilding yards, 288, 339 neva, the, 2 new zealand, 387 nicholas ii, emperor of russia, his appearance, 11; reminiscences of his journey across siberia, 12; love for his subjects, 13; on the blessing of peace, 13 nijni-oudinsk, 42 nippon tetsudo railway, 284 nippon yusen kaisha steam company, annual report, 286 nitobe, dr., 317 niu-chwang, port, 124; railway, 124; trade, 125, 127; importation of opium, 125; life on land and on the river, 126; settlement of the roman catholic mission, 128; festivities on the transfer of the railway to china, 129 obi, 41; valley, 36 okuma, 369 omsk, 36, 57 opium, importation of, 125 osaka, 339; commercial exhibition at, 225 pacific, the, 59 pagoda, thirteen-storeyed, at pekin, 167 peasants, russian, condition of, 27, 30 pechili, gulf of, 124 "pedlars' guild," organization of, in korea, 228 pei-tang, 145, 172 peiho, 133 pekin, first impressions of, 140, 145-9; arrival in, 141; shops, 147; signboards, 148; use of chopsticks, 148; the western gate, 149; siege of the mission, 149; climate, 150; legations, 152-4; banks, 154; siege, 154; result of the treaty of chefoo, 155; fortifications of the european quarter, 156; ground plan, 158, 160; imperial city, 158, 160, 165; purple or forbidden city, 158, 165; imperial palace, 158, 164, 168; the southern gate, 158; influence of confucius, 159; the northern gate, 162; tartar city, 162, 165; chinese city, 165; excursions, 167; imperial deer park, 167; princesses' tombs, 167; portuguese cemetery, 167; thirteen-storeyed pagoda, 167; summer palaces, 167; ch'ien-men or great street, 168; temples, 169-72; towers, 172; reception at the summer palace, 177-88 pekin, treaty of, in 1860, 59 pena, castle of, 3 pet-si, 199 peterhof, 3; palace, 3; cascade, 3; châteaux, 4; station, 7 st. petersburg, impressions of, 23; conditions of life, 24 petropaulovsk, 36 petrovsk, 56 philippine islands, 386 pi-yung-kung, or hall of the classics in pekin, 169 _piek-pai_ party, 201 pienza, 28 pigs of manchuria, 69 _piroshki_, 67 polo, marco, 376 port arthur, 59, 122; military and naval fortress, 122 portsmouth, peace of, result of the, 381, 387 punishment, methods of, in korea, 208 railway, eastern chinese, 59, 63, 76, 125; system of construction, 64; festivities on the transfer to china, 129 railway, trans-siberian, 22. _see_ trans-siberian railways, construction of, in japan, 284 railways, russian, deficit of, 54 roman catholic mission, at niu-chwang, 128; pekin, 149; seoul, 254 ronins, the forty-seven, story of, 326 russia, travelling in, 25; condition of the peasants, 27, 30; state railways, deficit of, 54; hospitality, 106; occupation of manchuria, 231; incorporates the amur district, 59, 362; conclusion of peace with japan, 381 russia, empress of, her appearance, 5; characteristics, 5; devotion to her children, 6; simplicity of living, 7 russians and chinese, relations between, 94, 119 s--a, baron, 305 sahara desert, 64 samara, 31 _samurai_, meaning of the term, 318; unwritten laws, 320; principles, 320; benevolence, 321; courteousness, 322; calm demeanour, 328; conventional smile, 329; creed, 330; sword, 331 _san-ju-neu-shiki_, manufacture of, 295 sanyo railway, 284 sedan-chairs, use of, in korea, 244, 248 sentry-boxes, number of, in seoul, 246 seoul, 200, 225; railways, 229; electric tramways, 230; first impressions of, 240-2; uniforms of soldiers, 242-4, 256; shops 245; number of sentry-boxes, 246; the royal palace, 247; sedan-chairs, 248; wedding procession, 249; british legation, 251; mode of education, 252, 272; german consulate, 253; roman catholic cathedral, 254; barracks, 255; dogs, 256-8; funeral torchlight procession, 258-62; revolution, 263; the white city, 263; number of palaces, 264; reception at the new palace, 264-6; style of the building, 267; court livery, 268; the emperor, 269-73; the crown prince, 273; the chief eunuch, 274 shimbashi, 275 shintoism, or nature-worship, 337 shops, signboards of, in pekin, 148 shufeldt, commodore, 224 _si-pai_ party, 201 siba, grove of, 327 siberia, export of butter, 40; convicts, 43; characteristics, 60; extent, 60; provinces, 60; inhabitants, 61; central, 38; vegetation, 38; animals, 39; birds, 39; eastern, cultivation of, 54; western, 35; townships, 36; colonization, 36 siberian railway, 16. _see_ trans-siberian sin-la, 199 song-ching, 225 south sea islands, 386 steam navigation companies of japan, 286 suicide, or "hara-kiri," 323-6 summer palace, reception at, pekin, 177-88; artistic beauty of the decorations, 181; state banquet, 188 ta-chung-ssu, or temple of the great bell, 170 ta-shik-chia, 125 tai wen kun, assumes the regency of korea, 211; his character, 212; schemes against the empress, 212; banished, 212 taku fort, 132; bombardment of, 135 talienwan, bay of, 123 tao-tso, first king of korea, 199 _tarantass_, 72, 110 tashkend, 36 tasmania, 387 tea ceremonies in japan, 281, 322 telegraph lines in japan, 285 telephones, number of, in japan, 285 temples of japan, 276; pekin, 169-72 teshoo lama, 170 tien-tsin, 133; railway, completion, 127, 134; population, 133; european quarter, 133; situation, 134; export of coal, 135; fighting at, 135 tobolsk, 36 tokio, impressions of, 275, 283, 301; university, 292; number of students, 293; the library, 293; printing office, or _insatsu kyoku_, 294; commercial museum, 295; arsenal, 295; style of the buildings, 301 tombs, imperial, at mukden, 100-4 tombs, princesses', at pekin, 167 tomsk, 36, 39 tong-shan, first coal-pit, 135 tonking, under french administration, 362 tormer-to, 200 torture, practice of, in korea, 207 trans-baikalia, mines, 57; inhabitants, 58 trans-siberian railway, 16; extent, 22; construction, 12, 22, 55 _troikas_, 94 tsi-tsi-kar, 68, 75; population, 68 tungus, the, 43 udinsk, 40 ural mountains, 33; mines, 34; inscription, 35 vladivostok, 59 volga, the, 31 wafungtien, 125 wetzel, mr., director of the east china railway, kidnapped by chunchuses, 118 white, mr., 124 windmills, number of, 28 witte, count, 383 women, treatment of, in korea, 215; form of marriage, 217; work, 219; recreations, 219 yalu river, 193, 229 yangtse-kiang, 137 yeddo palace, reception at, 303; decorations, 304 yellow sea, 59; bays of the, 130 yenisei, 41 ying-tsé, 124 yokohama, 339 yong-sang, college and seminary at, 238 yuan-chi-kai, viceroy, 370; his policy, 371 yuan-tsi-khai, 137 yung-lo, 171 _zakouska_, 107 z'mershan, coal-mines at, 125 plymouth william brendon and son printers transcriber's notes : (1) obvious typographical, punctuation, and consistency errors have been corrected. (2) italic text is represented by _underlines_. (3) [=o] indicates the letter o with a macron mark. (http://dp.rastko.net) note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see 32418-h.htm or 32418-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32418/32418-h/32418-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32418/32418-h.zip) woman volume iv oriental women by edward b. pollard, ph. d. of the george washington university [illustration: 1: rebekah and isaac's agent, eliezer after the painting by a. cabanel probably no feature in the social life of a people is of so universal an interest as its marriage customs, and there is no courtship, either ancient or modern, which has more enkindled the imagination and awakened the interest of men than that between isaac and rebekah..... it is a truly picturesque and even romantic story, which never loses its charm; and rebekah, whether at the well or in her household, will always present a unique picture of womanly grace and beauty. the ancient wooing of rebekah is isaac, though it is by no means typical in all its details, contains many elements that mark oriental weddings..... the courage of rebekah in consenting to mount the camel of a stranger and go into a far country to be wed is noteworthy. with all the apparent grace and gentleness of rebekah, here was a pluck most commendable.] woman in all ages and in all countries volume iv oriental women by edward b. pollard, ph.d. of the george washington university illustrated philadelphia george barrie & sons, publishers preface the relative position which woman occupies in any country is an index to the civilization which that country enjoys, and this test applied to the orient reveals many stages yet to be achieved. the frequent appearance of woman in holy writ is sufficient evidence of the high position accorded her in the hebrew nation. such characters as ruth, esther, and rebekah have become famous. wicked women there were, such as jezebel, but happily their influence was not of lasting duration. no other ancient people so highly prized chastity in woman; motherhood was regarded as an evidence of divine favor, while barrenness was considered a curse. the home life was one of singular purity and sweetness. idleness was deplored as a crime, and every child was taught to work with his own hands. the deities of the babylonians and assyrians were feminine as well as masculine. ishtar was the venus of classical mythology--the goddess of love, and the babylonian hades was presided over by a feminine deity. rank, however, determined social freedom; the woman of the lowest class might go and come at will, but the woman of the high class was condemned to a life of isolation. woman's position of honor in egypt is evidenced by the presence of temples and monuments erected to her memory. she assisted her husband in the management of his affairs, and was granted a part in religious worship. in the countries in which brahmanism and mohammedanism is the prevailing religion, the position of woman is relatively low. the hindoo woman has no spiritual life apart from her husband; she can only hope for ultimate happiness through a union with him. the harem prevails, and woman is the slave of man. in contrast to the position of woman in these countries and in china is the position she holds in japan. while not yet occupying a place of respect equal to that accorded her in the occident, she is coming gradually to be regarded as she deserves. there yet remain the loose morals, characteristic of the oriental nature, and it is still regarded as right and proper that a good wife should barter her chastity if it is necessary in order to save her husband the disgrace of imprisonment for debt. the higher classes, however, are coming to treat woman with a respect far higher than that usually accorded her in the orient. the process of her elevation must of necessity be slow, for no great reform is accomplished by a _coup d'état_, but only through the ameliorating effects of enlightenment and education, and this alone will accomplish the final emancipation of the woman of the orient from her present condition of servitude. e.b. pollard. i women of the dawn the story of the first woman in the hebrew scriptures and semitic myth is as familiar as a household tale. jewish and christian literature alike have frequent mention of the part she played in the race's infancy, though in the sacred writings themselves she is but rarely mentioned. what the book of genesis furnishes upon the creation of the first woman may not be considered of great interest as a scientific treatise upon the first appearance of feminine life on the earth, but it is of marked importance as revealing the idea around which the life and character of the hebrew woman were developed. here we find a pure monotheism (the presence of no goddess at the birth of things), a high morality, the dignity of marriage and of motherhood, that give to the hebrew women great advantage over their sisters of many another country. very early was it discovered, say the hebrew records, that it is "not good for man to be alone." the method by which this fact was first made manifest is of no little suggestiveness. would it be possible from the many creatures of earth, sky, and sea, already made, for man to find a companion in whom he might confide, with whom the long hours might be made more joyous? god tries the man whom he has made. could he be satisfied with a creature of a lower order as fellow and friend? could he, by subduing and having dominion, find in dog, camel, or favorite steed a sufficient helpfulness, a satisfaction for his human longings? no! as one by one the living creatures passed in solemn order before him, it was soon realized by the names that adam gave them, that he found no true fellowship in all that earth-born throng. "and the man gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field, but for man there was not found an helpmeet for him." the epoch-making "deep sleep" that fell upon adam, the taking of the rib, the making of the first woman, the closing again of the wound, and the presentation of a helpmeet for the man--all this is a familiar scripture story. whether it be intended to be literal history is of little moment here. very beautifully have matthew henry and others, following the rabbis, commented upon the essential meaning of this narrative in suggesting that woman is not represented as taken from the head of man that she should rule over him; nor from his feet, to be trampled under foot; but she was taken from his side that she might be his equal; from under his arm that she might be protected by him; near his heart that he might cherish and love her. "this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called _ishshah_"--that is, if man is to be called _ish_, woman shall be _ishshah_, simply his equal. it is not strange that there should have arisen many legends about this first oriental woman. according to one of the jewish stories contained in the talmud, adam was at first very huge. when he stood, his head reached to the very heavens; and when he reclined, he covered the earth with his gigantic form. but in a deep sleep which god caused to fall upon him, eve was made from parts of all his members. after the creation of eve, therefore, adam was never again quite so large. some of the jewish rabbis taught that adam, the first man, had in his body thirteen ribs,--one more than was possessed by any of his descendants,--and that this surplus bone became, in the hands of the creator, the physical basis for the creation of the mother of all. the thought has been suggested that as man was commissioned to subdue and have dominion over the beasts of the field and all the forces of nature, the reason for woman's creation lies in her ability to _tame man_. whether this be true or not, the student of hebrew history will not lack ample evidence to show that to the women of israel is due largely the place that their people hold in history as teachers of religion and morals; to them is due, also, that conservative quality which has made the hebrews a peculiar and permanent people. one of the old rabbis, commenting upon the biblical account of woman's creation from the rib of adam, remarked: "it is as if adam had changed a pot of earth for a jewel." good dr. south, of pious memory, unaffected by the modern views of development, is credited with the remark that "aristotle was but the rubbish of an adam." if this be true, what must eve have been! about the beauty of the first woman, the scriptures are silent, though, in _paradise lost_, milton finds no hesitancy in creating her with surpassing physical grace, so that it was possible for her, like narcissus, to fall in love with her own charms. poets have not been slow to sing her praises: "the world was sad, the garden was a wild and man the hermit sighed, till woman smiled." the hebrews called the first woman eve--that is, _living_ or _expanded_, "the mother of all living." but these oriental records attribute to eve the advent into the world of death and human woes. the discord that came from the apple once tossed into a famous company of frolicking greeks cannot compare with that which grew out of the fatal fruit, forbidden to the primal tenants of the garden of eden. "earth felt the wound--and nature from her seat sighing through all her works, gave sign of woe, that all was lost." the french saying _cherchez la femme_ has been in some form upon the lips of men from the earliest dawn of time. "the woman which thou gavest me," is adam's lame apology for his weakness, as in one brief sentence he shifts the blame with dexterity upon god--the giver,--and woman--the god-given. in marked contrast with this dark view of the first woman's legacy to the world is the account of the first promise, the light that burst forth suddenly as through a rift in the overshadowing cloud: "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." thus lamartine's remark that "woman is at the beginning of all great things," becomes as pertinent as it is true. it is impossible to estimate the effect upon israelitish motherhood of the belief in that ancient promise that some mother's son should yet arise to crush the monster of evil that was loosed in the world. many a hebrew mother came to feel that her own babe might become the hero chosen to strangle the serpent. this thought made motherhood the more prized, it became the aim of every hebrew woman. what if we could reproduce the sensations of that mother-love when the first woman enfolded in her bosom the first infant born, and heard its first cry for a mother's care? of much interest is the hebrew narrative here; for when eve beheld her firstborn son she is said to have made an exclamation which many hebrew scholars interpret as meaning, "i have obtained the promised one," believing that the pledge of jehovah concerning the woman's seed had even then been realized. but the first son was to bring pangs to his mother's soul by slaying the first brother. who can adequately describe the effect which that first death must have had upon the maternal heart? instead of the lost abel came a new son to console the mother-heart, seth, the good; and the struggle between good and evil goes on throughout the hebrew records, woman usually taking her place with the forces that made for righteousness. concerning the first bad woman, lilith, held by some to have been the wife of the first man, very curious are the legends. later rabbinic literature is rife with these stories. among the babylonians and assyrians, lilith was a _night-fairy_, as the derivation of the name would indicate, though some derive it from _lilu_, the wind. popular superstition among the hebrews, either through inheritance from the early days before abraham, their father, lived in the mesopotamian valley, or through the contacts with this region during the babylonian exile, looked upon lilith as a female demon of the night. she was supposed to be especially hostile to children, and this is why the latin translations of the vulgate version of the scriptures rendered the word as _lamia_, a hag or witch who was supposed to be harmful to the little folk--though grown up people, also, might well beware of her baneful power. she is mentioned but once in scriptures, and then in that highly graphic portrayal by the prophet isaiah concerning the coming desolation that should soon befall the land of edom, which was to become a place where "the wild beasts of the deserts meet with the wolves, and the satyr cries to his fellows, and _lilith_ (rendered in the accepted version, _screech owl_, and in the later version, _night monster_) takes up her abode." it is lilith's earlier history that is of especial interest, for, as runs the jewish legend which one often meets in talmudic literature, lilith was the first wife of adam, but becoming angered, she flew away and became a demon of the night. but the world will probably never concede that the first woman was a wicked one. the subtlety of an evil woman's charms is probably the underlying motive of the story of this "sweet snake of eden," of whom rossetti, in his _eden bower_, affirms consolingly, "not a drop of her blood was human." "who was cain's wife?" is one of the perplexing questions asked by those who delight in hard sayings. the late professor winchell believed in a race of pre-adamites, and many persons are committed to the theory of several centres of human origin. to those holding such views the question of cain's marriage does not present particular difficulties. but those who hold to the theory that there was but one pair from whom all the family of mankind has sprung find difficulty in reconciling their theory with biblical statements, and they are driven to acknowledging the necessity for marital relations between near kindred when the race was in its beginning--relations which would offend the best moral sentiment of to-day. there is a curious passage in the book of genesis which tells of the marriage of the "sons of god" with the "daughters of men." have we here the echo of that ancient tradition that once the gods and men intermarried and from the union the great heroes of the past were born? the close position of this statement concerning the "sons of god" and the "daughters of men" with the account of the great growth of evil in the world has led some to hold that these "daughters of men" were women from the unrighteous line of the murderous cain, while the "sons of god" were men from the more upright family of seth. others, however, seeing also in close connection the statement that giants were on the earth in those days, find here a remnant of a very general tradition that from the gods had descended great heroes and giants who in past ages had fallen in love with daughters of human parentage. since the hebrews, however, were so strong in their monotheistic conceptions, this latter theory loses a great part of its force. the state of society presented in the earliest hebrew records indicates that the practice of polygamy was general. there are some who see indications among the hebrew customs that there was a period, earlier than that of which any hebrew records tell, in which polyandry and not polygamy was the fashion--when one woman had several husbands, rather than one husband several wives. the so-called levirate marriage which was in vogue among the hebrews is perhaps the strongest evidence that the customs of polyandry and mother-right were practised among them. in common, then, with other peoples, the hebrews practised polygamy; and while the influence of the best thought and teaching was, except in the earlier, patriarchal period, distinctly against it, the practice was still customary even down to the christian era. the law of moses, while not forbidding plurality of wives, discouraged the custom, and especially forbade the king from "multiplying wives." the earliest example of polygamy of which the hebrew records speak is that involving one of the most unique and interesting families of this early twilight of human existence. one lamech, a descendant of cain, is said to have married two wives, who bore the rather musical names of adah and zillah. and here we are introduced into the presence of a most remarkable household. for not only is lamech to be awarded the distinction of having made the earliest attempt at verse which the hebrew tradition has recorded, but adah and zillah became the mothers of a most talented family; the former of jabel, "the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle," and of jubal, the inventor and patron saint of the harp and the pipe; while zillah was the mother of tubal-cain, the first forger of implements of brass and iron. lamech, the father, having doubtless received a sword from the forge of his son, used it in revenge upon an enemy, and gave utterance to the first recorded lines of poetry, which are possibly a fragment from what has been called _the lay of the sword_. it is a crude poem, dedicated by lamech to his wives--for it was not uncommon among the early semites to call the women to witness a hero's deeds of prowess: "adah and zillah, hear my voice, ye wives of lamech, hearken to my speech, for i have slain a man for wounding me, even a young man for bruising me. if cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly lamech, seventy and seven." it is not to be wondered at that in the very midst of dry genealogical tables the writer of genesis should have stopped for a moment to tell of this epoch-making household. whether the women of this unique family, adah, zillah, and her daughter naamah, were equally gifted with the men of the household, we are not told; but surely there must have been some genius in those feminine members of the home, who were so closely connected with the beginnings, not only of the fine arts of poetry and music, but also of the industrial pursuits of cattle raising and of metal working. the early hebrews were nomads. at first glance it might appear that woman's part in such an order of society would be scant, and her life one of comparative inactivity. but this view would lead into error, for in the nomadic life, while the men were guarding their flocks from the depredations of hostile bands or from the ravages of wild beasts, the women were the home makers and the home keepers. mason, in his _woman's share in primitive culture_, commenting upon herbert spencer's division of the life history of civilization into the period of militancy, and the later period of industrialism, raises the question whether it may not after all be more in accord with the facts--at least in the early history of the race--to speak of a _sex_ of militancy and a _sex_ of industrialism. the hebrew woman, from her place in the tent or seated about the tent door, not only tended the fire, but invented, developed, and carried on many a handicraft into which not until later the men themselves entered. for centuries the story of the lives of the patriarchs has thrilled and edified many a young heart, but what of the credit due to the _matriarchs_? what part do we find them playing in the early life of these oriental peoples! the patriarch was not only father of his family or clan, but was their king and high priest. yet it would be a mistake to suppose that the mother of the family was not an important factor in that early society, as the lives of many a hebrew woman will easily demonstrate. the names of sarah, rebekah, rachel, miriam, huldah, and a host of others will readily occur to the mind of anyone at all familiar with the literature of the old testament. a fair type of the life of the wife and partner of an ancient chief (_sheik_) of the higher order is found in that of sarah, wife of the first and greatest hebrew patriarch, "abraham, the faithful." living the life of nomad and shepherd, this pioneer of a new monotheism took his spouse away from the land of her fathers in the valley of mesopotamia. sarah's reverence for her husband became proverbial, and her conduct has been taken as the type of what was best in the domestic life of israel--chaste behavior coupled with reverence. and peter, known as the apostle to the hebrews, writing over two thousand years after the body of sarah had been laid in its last home in the cave of machpelah, gives a glimpse of the hebrew conception of the ideal relation between husband and wife typified in abraham and sarah. while enjoining upon the women to whom he wrote the need of a "meek and quiet spirit," a spirit not discoverable in jewels and elaborate apparel, but in what he terms "the hidden man of the heart," he said: "for after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in god, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: even as sarah obeyed abraham, calling him lord; whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well." thus did the virtues of sarah impress themselves upon later generations. sarah is not to be classed among the strong-minded women. probably she was not virile in any true sense of the term, since in the traditions of her people she does not seem to have made for herself a place as leader that at all corresponds to the rank of her husband. he was to all hebrews "father abraham," the first and foremost of his race; and no jew could esteem his future life as giving promise of happiness unless his head might at length rest in abraham's bosom. there is an ancient legend which says that sarah, hearing of the plan of abraham to sacrifice isaac on the sacred spot of moriah, died from the shock to her maternal heart. the father returned, bringing his only son alive with him, but sarah had passed away. the narrative distinctly says that abraham "_came_ to mourn for sarah and weep for her," as though the end had come during the absence of her husband. the hebrew respect for women is illustrated in the costly burial accorded sarah in a cave which was purchased from the sons of heth--a place reverenced by the people of israel for many centuries, because sarah was buried there. there is but one blot upon the life of this first mother of the hebrews. sarah was a faithful wife and devoted mother, but on at least one occasion she revealed a character capable of hasty, jealous, and cruel conduct. it is the time for the weaning of her only son--an occasion of more than usual interest in a hebrew home. the family feast is at its height; sarah discovers that her handmaid, an egyptian woman, hagar, whom she herself had given to abraham as wife, for thus we may call her, was jesting at her expense. quickly and hotly she demands that the bondwoman and her son ishmael be immediately driven from the home, to which request abraham reluctantly yields. like most other women, sarah, though now aged, could brook no rival in her home, and her womanly instinct at once discerned that only a step thus sharp and decisive would prevent, in the circle of domestic life, endless friction, more bitter than the sufferings occasioned by her cruel action. hagar in the thirsty wilderness, laying her perishing child under a bit of shrubbery and then departing a little distance that her mother-eyes may not behold the end, has powerfully awakened the imagination of the artist, as, indeed, she touched the heart of the almighty, as the record tells us. for although hagar wandered in the wilderness of beersheba, the region of "the seven wells," no water had she found--so far was she from the life-giving draught; and yet was she so near--for lo! her eyes now fell upon a well of water, from which she and the lad quenched their mortal thirst. thus was preserved him who was to become the father of the ishmaelites, a people whose hand was to be against every man, and every man's hand against them. the breach that day in the tent of abraham, between his two wives, one bond and the other free, was to be deep and abiding, as n. p. willis, in describing hagar's feelings in the wilderness, has written: "may slighted woman turn and, as a vine the oak hath shaken off, bend lightly to her leaning trust again? o, no!" and an apostle versed in rabbinic lore uses the story of sarah as typical of the abiding difference between the principles of law and the precepts of grace. probably no feature in the social life of a people is of so universal an interest as its marriage customs, and there is no courtship, either ancient or modern, which has more enkindled the imagination and awakened the interest of men than that between isaac and rebekah. the english prayerbook, in its ceremony of marriage, has chosen isaac and rebekah as the ideal pair to whose fidelity the young couples of the later years are directed for inspiration and example. it is a truly picturesque and even romantic story, which never loses its charm; and rebekah, whether at the well or in her household, will always present a unique picture of womanly grace and beauty. this ancient wooing of rebekah by isaac, though it is by no means typical in all its details, contains many elements that mark oriental weddings. the prominence of the parents in the negotiations is characteristic. it cannot be said, however, that the choice of either isaac or rebekah was constrained. when isaac and his parents have reached the conclusion to which richter has given voice--"no man can live piously or die righteously without a wife"--the faithful eliezer is made to thrust his hand under the thigh of his master and swear that he will see that isaac is wedded not to a daughter of the people around, but to a woman of his own kindred living in the regions of aramea. this habit of marrying within one's own tribe became firmly fixed in hebrew custom. the use of marriage presents, here so rich and costly, is almost as old as marriage itself; and how much rebekah and laban, her brother, were influenced by this manifestation of the riches of her wooer none can ever know. the part taken by laban in this marital transaction is by no means unusual. brothers in the east often played an important rôle on such occasions. when shechem, the hivite, wished to marry dinah, daughter of jacob, he consulted not only her father, but her brothers as well; and the brothers of the heroine of the _song of songs_ are represented as saying: "what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?" the courage of rebekah in consenting to mount the camel of a stranger and go into a far country to be wed is noteworthy. with all the apparent grace and gentleness of rebekah, here was a pluck most commendable. we may say with dickens: "when a young lady is as mild as she is game and as game as she is mild, that's all i ask and more than i expect." but it turned out to be but one of the many cases, since the world began, of "love at first sight"; and affection strengthened with the years! the frequent and cynical remark that marriage is after all but a lottery will probably long survive. isaac did not act upon the sentiment expressed in the remark of francesco sforza: "should one desire to take unto himself a wife, to buy a horse, or to invest in a melon, the wise man will recommend himself to providence and draw his bonnet over his eyes." the daughters of heth and of canaan around him were not to his liking, and providence seems greatly to have helped him in the emergency, for in the unseen rebekah (whose very name means "to tie" or "to bind") isaac found a lifelong blessing; and probably nothing could better disclose the wisdom of his matrimonial choice than the words of the bible narrative, "and he loved her, and isaac _was comforted_ after his mother's death." there is one blot upon rebekah's record as a wife and mother, which, however, no less reveals a fault in isaac's character as a father. it is a defect that was doubtless inherent in the ancient oriental system itself. it was more usual than otherwise for mothers as well as for fathers to have _favorite_ children. when both parents centred their affection upon the same child, usually a boy, it was ill for the rest; when mother and father were divided, it was ill for family felicity. rebekah loved jacob, the younger; isaac loved esau, the elder. and it is in this unfortunate distribution of parental affection that is to be found the beginning of a violent fratricidal feud, a long separation, as well as the causes which led to the bringing within the confines of hebrew history two of the most important women of ancient israel,--leah and rachel. here again we find illustrated the fixed habit among the hebrews to seek wives among their own people. among the hebrews it was the custom that one who would acquire a wife must pay for her, either in money or in service. usually, the young girl's consent was not thought to be a necessary part of the matrimonial bargain, and a father delivered a daughter to the purchasing suitor, as he might a slave that he had sold to the highest bidder. the woman herself played but a secondary part. it is thus quite plain that in this early day, marriage did not depend upon a contract entered into between one man and one woman, but between two or more men. and yet, in ancient israel, while daughters were sold for wives,--or, to put it less harshly, given away for a consideration,--there is no intimation that a wife was in any sense regarded as a slave; nor are there instances of a husband selling his wife for a consideration. parents were usually the parties to matrimonial bargains. in the case of jacob and rachel, however, we do not find the parents making the match, for the parents of the pair are widely separated. jacob falls in love with rachel at his first sight of her, as she, at close of day, leads the flock of laban, her father, to drink from the open well hard by the dwelling. laban readily agrees to surrender his daughter to jacob,--who doubtless had no purchase money to procure a wife,--if the young man will serve him for seven years. but at the close of the stipulated period, the wily laban falls back upon an unwritten law among the people of the day, that the daughters must be taken in marriage in the order of their seniority. thus leah, the elder sister, is accorded to jacob, and seven years' additional service is necessary for the possession of rachel. persistence wins, and jacob is at length in possession of both laban's daughters, but the victory was the beginning of a life of struggle. some one has remarked: "the music at a marriage always reminds me of the music of soldiers entering upon a battle;" it was so with jacob. there must be a battle with laban, the uncle and father-in-law, in which the daughters both take the part of the husband against their father, and agree to flee from that parent's house with the man to whom they had linked their destinies. there must be a battle with esau, when mothers and little ones were to be exposed to great dangers and hardships; indeed, a long life of vicissitudes awaited the women whose lives were one with jacob's, and contests between rival sons of rival mothers were to follow. it has already been remarked that sarah, wife of abraham (whose name, sarah, means "the princess"), occupies no such place in the imagination and tradition of the hebrews as did abraham, their _father_. it is around leah and rachel that the tribes of israel group themselves, and the book of ruth speaks of them as having built the house of israel, and leah and rachel were the mothers of the twelve patriarchs for whom the tribes were subsequently named. especially does rachel occupy a high place, not only because she was jacob's most favorite wife, but because of those personal qualities which more readily stirred the poetic and religious imagination of the people. the poet-prophet, jeremiah, writing of the loss of life among the sons of israel, because of the invasion and cruelty of nebuchadnezzar, king of babylon, represents the people's sadness at the terrible calamity as "rachel weeping for her children because they are not"--an expression which may have been suggested by rachel's early condition of childlessness, followed by the loss of both her sons, joseph and benjamin, in the land of egypt. the expression has borrowed new force, because it is quoted as again exemplified in "the slaughter of the innocents" by herod the great at the time of the birth of jesus. ii israel's heroic age in the early history of the hebrews, the people followed the free, roving life of the shepherd. in a climate where water supply was by no means sure, where a flowing stream which gave drink to the flocks to-day might be a rocky ravine to-morrow, families must needs have no certain abiding place. woman the homekeeper must of course be affected by this bedouin manner of life. many daughters, like rebekah and rachel, were shepherdesses of their father's flocks of sheep and goats. when the israelites went down into egypt because the fertile valley of the nile made famines less frequent than in the land of canaan, they were somewhat ashamed, we are told, of the fact that they were shepherds, on account of egyptian prejudices against that occupation, but in their native country they were proud of their occupation, and rather looked down upon merchantmen. the hated "canaanite" became the synonym for "trafficker." it was the later exigencies of exile and dispersion that forced the jews to buy and sell, and right well did they learn the lesson the world forced upon them. but in the beginning it was not so. and hence we find israel, even after the twelve patriarchs had settled in the plains of goshen, their egyptian home, keeping their flocks and developing their home life in their own way in the kingdom of the pharaohs. among the many notable women of israel's heroic age, miriam must not be forgotten. the romantic story of the hiding of her infant brother, in the rushes of the nile, when king pharaoh would have destroyed every hebrew boy, is a familiar chapter. the sisterly tenderness and devotion which stationed the girl of twelve years to watch what might happen to the infant brother, to fight away wild beasts, and at length to direct the living treasure to the bosom of its own mother, is one of the best examples in literature of womanly tact and sisterly devotion. the daughter of pharaoh, a child of the nile, comes down to the sacred stream to wash her garments or bathe her body in the saving water, and quickly, indeed quite willingly, falls into the well-wrought plan of jokabed, the mother of the child moses, and miriam, the sister--a counterplot to that of the princess's father, and so ancient history is written with new headlines. it is miriam who enjoys the distinction of being the first prophetess in israel, as her brother moses is the first who was called a prophet, and her brother aaron the first high priest. the part she took in leading the intractable people of israel out of egyptian bondage into the land of the canaanites, must have been considerable, though according to the record she was nearing the century mark before the journeying began. as a poetess and musician, also, miriam holds no mean place, for we are told that when her people had successfully crossed the arm of the sea, and pharaoh's pursuing hosts had been cut off in the descending floods, miriam organized the women into a chorus, and going before them with timbrel in her hand she led in voicing the refrain sent back in antiphonal strains to the song of the great camp, while her companions followed with timbrels and dances. this aged woman had music and patriotic fervor still present in her soul, as victory was assured to her people. the hebrew song that grew out of this incident which is recorded in the book of exodus has been termed "israel's natal hymn," a sort of poetic declaration of independence, and is far more majestic in its qualities than moore's poem based upon the same event: "sound the loud timbrel; o'er egypt's dark sea jehovah hath triumphed--his people are free." by a singular confusion, the koran identifies miriam, sister of moses, with mary, the mother of jesus. this may be partly due to the fact that the new testament scriptures as well as the septuagint greek translation of the old spell both names alike, "miriam." but great women, like great men, sometimes make mistakes, and their blunders are often just at the point where they have achieved greatness. miriam's distinction lay in her insight into the merits of her brother's mission and in her unselfish devotion to the cause to which he had been dedicated. her greatest grief befell her by her unfortunate effort to break that very influence and to destroy his leadership, because she was displeased with a marriage he had contracted. she was smitten with leprosy, but the esteem with which she was held may be discovered when we read that the whole camp grieved at her calamity and consequent isolation from the people, and "journeyed not till miriam was brought in again." miriam, the first prophetess and one of the strongest women that israel ever produced, died during the wilderness wandering, and was buried in the region west of the jordan. for many generations her tomb was pointed out in the land of moab. jerome, the christian father, tells us that he saw the reputed grave close to petra in arabia. but, like the place of the entombment of her more distinguished brother, "no man knoweth it unto this day." among no people has the national consciousness been more thoroughly developed or more deeply seated than among the hebrews. it is not to be wondered at, therefore, that among the women of israel may be discovered the most ardent spirit of patriotism. miriam's part in the founding of the hebrew commonwealth has already been noticed. when in the wanderings of the wilderness it became necessary to erect a temporary structure for the worship of jehovah, the god of israel, the women willingly tore their jewels from their ears, their ornaments from their arms and ankles, and devoted them to the rearing of the tabernacle. with their own fingers they spun in blue, purple, and scarlet, and wrought fine linen for the hangings and the service of their temple in the desert. in a theocracy, piety and patriotism were one. not even the spartan mother, who wished her son to return from the wars bringing his shield with him or being borne upon it, nor the women of carthage, who plucked out their hair for bowstrings, could surpass the women of israel in their sacrifices for national independence and political glory. in the days of octavia, the ministers of rome levied a tax upon roman matrons to carry on a foreign war, and demanded a sacrifice of their jewels; and the roman women thronged the public places, appealing to the high and influential in their vigorous protest against this taxation, and thus saved their ornaments. but the women of israel did not need to be urged to tear off their ornaments and devote them to the common welfare. it was a woman who received the first recognition for services rendered the victorious hosts of joshua, after the first campaign against the canaanites had been waged. this was rahab, a woman of jericho, who, though her past life had been far from exemplary, seemed to see in the approaching israelites a people of destiny. she therefore hid the hebrew spies who had come to inspect the land, and, letting them down over the walls of the city, saved their lives. thus did rahab, the harlot of jericho, preserve her own life when joshua entered the city a victor; and, being admitted among the people of israel, she became the ancestress of their greatest king, david, and, through him, the ancestress of christ. during that era in israel's life, when the people were no longer merely an aggregation of shepherd clans, but had not yet been moulded into a national existence by a strong feeling of unity or the recognition of a common need, woman's life was exceptionally severe in its hardships and dangers. the unorganized tribes, engaged in their agricultural and pastoral pursuits, with hostile clans about them and hostile cities and strongholds as yet unsubdued, were subject to frequent incursions from bands of marauders and from armies of neighboring tribes, which would suddenly swoop down upon them like vultures on their prey. it was under such conditions as this that the women suffered untold indignities and misery. kidnappers sold the women and children to slave traders of the coast, who carried them to egyptian and greek ports; so that even before the great dispersion of the children of jacob which the kings of assyria and of babylonia brought about in the eighth and sixth centuries prior to the christian era, the hebrews were being scattered throughout the world. it was in the period of transition and chaos which immediately followed the entrance of the people into the land of palestine that israel's most manlike woman appears as a veritable savior of her people. she is the second woman to whom the title of _prophetess_ is accorded. the record reveals the fact that she was not only a woman strong in deeds of valor, but a leader in the religious life of israel. the days were dark enough for the descendants of abraham. for two decades now had jabin, with his "nine hundred chariots of iron," struck with terror the ill-equipped, disorganized hebrews. but there dwelt "under the palm tree" between ramah and bethel among the hills of ephraim a woman who, by force of will and recognized wisdom, _judged_ the people of israel. "the inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in israel, until that i deborah arose, that i arose a mother in israel." it is from the sanctuary of this woman's mind and heart that deliverance from the king of the canaanites is to break forth. she is called deborah, _i.e._, "woman of torches," or "flames," either because she made wicks for the lamps of the sanctuary, or because of her fiery, ardent nature. certainly there was warmth in her heart and fire in her love of her native land. she speedily sends for barak, a chief man of naphtali, and enjoins upon him to prepare an army of ten thousand men to meet jabin's army, which is approaching under its captain sisera, on the banks of the river kishon. barak hesitates, but at length answers: "if thou wilt go with me, i will go,"--so necessary did this strong, magnetic woman's presence seem for the enlistment of the people in the holy order of the enterprise. deborah did not flinch in the presence of this challenge. the army is raised. the battle is joined, and sisera's host is discomfited before israel. the captain himself becomes a fugitive before the victors. but the end is not yet. another woman appears upon the stage of this tragedy. the fleeing sisera seeks shelter in the secret place of jael's tent. weary to exhaustion, the captain of the enemies of her people sinks down to sleep, the more profound because of the great draught of buttermilk or curds which jael gave the thirsty man; and then with tent pin, a hammer, and an unquivering hand, jael struck the sharp instrument through the sleeping man's temple and pinned him swooning to the dirt floor of her tent. it was this bloody, but daring, deed which gave rise to one of the earliest of israel's epic songs, the song of deborah. it is a remarkable poem, given in full in the book of judges. it sets forth praises to jehovah for deliverance, and to jael for the deadly stroke. a few lines from this epic, which many consider the earliest piece of old testament writing, will disclose the patriotic spirit of israel's womanhood in those days of social and political disorder. the people are represented as crying out to the strong woman who lived under the solitary palm: "awake, awake, deborah, awake, awake, utter a song." deborah comes at the call of distress. the people are rapidly marshalled to her help. but some hold back: "why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? ......................................... gilead abode beyond jordan and why did dan remain in ships?" the battle is joined. canaan is worsted before the followers of the woman of the hour. "the stars in their courses fought against sisera. the river kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river kishon. o my soul, march on with strength." then, turning upon the indifferent and laggard hosts that held back and refused to strike the blow for liberty, the poetess exclaims: "curse ye meroz, said the angel of the lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the lord, to the help of the lord against the mighty." concerning the woman whose unfailing hand had struck the fatal blow, the poetess sings: "blessed above women shall jael be, the wife of heber the kenite. blessed shall she be above women in the tent. "he asked water and she gave him milk, she brought forth butter in a lordly dish." the tent pin has pierced the temples of the oppressor of israel: "at her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down, at her feet he bowed, he fell, when he bowed, he fell down--dead." very dramatic do the lines become when, imagining the mother of sisera waiting for her son to return victorious from the battle, and looking out through the lattice of her dwelling wondering at his long delay, she asks: "why is his chariot so long in coming, why tarry the wheels of his chariots?" but sisera never returns to his maternal roof. for forty years did the people enjoy the freedom of deborah's deliverance, the woman whose influence went out from "the sanctuary of the palm." it is said of this period, commonly known as the age of the judges, that "every man did that which was right in his own eyes." this would be known in political theory as well as in practical government as nothing short of anarchy. and indeed, it was, for while each man did that which was right in his own eyes, the "right" of each was so frequently wrong, that social chaos reigned with almost unbroken sway. and while one woman of the period became a deliverer for four decades, for more than a century many women suffered untold misery for lack of unity among the tribes and leaders capable of bringing the life of the reign to rights. it is often affirmed that sons more frequently inherit characteristics of their mothers, while to the daughters are bequeathed the traits of their fathers. an unnamed woman of this period of the political chaos, the wife of a certain manoah, from the family of the danites, was chosen to be the mother of a giant. now, giants were rare in israel, though in the earlier days of palestinian occupation, _nephelim_, and "the sons of anak," are mentioned as among those enemies of the hebrews. their huge forms, it is written, were a menace to israel's peace, and in comparison with these monsters her sons were said to be "as grass-hoppers." one day, as the story runs, an angel appears to this nameless, hitherto childless, wife of manoah, and informs her that a son who is to be born, and nourished at her own bosom, is to have a remarkable history. she herself is to take care neither to drink wine nor any strong drink, for her son is to be dedicated to the abstemious life of the nazarite. the woman is obedient to the angelic voice; and she with her husband offers up a burnt offering to jehovah in grateful praise. the son is born. he is taught that no intoxicating draught shall enter his lips, nor should a razor touch his head, that his long-grown locks might speak outwardly of his vows. but wine is not the only temptation that is to beset this giant youth. the daughters of neighboring philistia were to his eyes more than passing fair. the influence of these young women, whose features, we may suppose, bore some characteristics of grecian beauty,--as their progenitors had landed on the shores of canaan from the island of crete, gradually adopting a semitic language and civilization,--was very potent over the heart of the muscular but susceptible young hebrew. a love affair in which the long-haired nazarite plays a prominent rôle will introduce us, somewhat at least, into woman's world of this disorganized period in the early life of western palestine at a day more than a thousand years before the christian era. this affair of the heart was brought to light when one day the young man came in to tell his father and his mother that a fair damsel in timnah, a city of the philistines, had captured the very citadel of his being. neither the protestations of his parents, nor their careful descanting upon the virtues of the daughters of his own people could move the young man. his heart was set. neither parents at home nor the lion that met him on the way to secure his bride could thwart his firm-set purpose. mother and father are for the moment forgotten, and the lion is torn asunder by the strong arms of this young giant. every obstacle is surmounted and delilah is in the arms of samson. now, george sand was doubtless correct in the rather prosaic remark: "it is not so easy to see through a woman as through a man." samson did not quite penetrate the wiles of his lady love. her beauty hid all else, and samson fell. "the whisper of a beautiful woman," says diana of poitiers, "can be heard further than the loudest call of duty." the nazarite vow, so strong and binding, became in delilah's hands, as she held the shears, weaker than the withes she bound about the arms of the captured giant. robert burns has, in a characteristic fashion, given what might well be inscribed to samson's memory: "as father adam first was fooled, a case that's still too common, here lies a man a woman ruled the devil ruled the woman." delilah, the philistine, is to be contrasted with the typical hebrew women, not only in the matter of feminine chastity for which they stand out among ancient women as preëminent, but also in that fidelity to husband and to native land which made the hebrews the most stable and persistent race with which the world is acquainted. in marked contrast with this witch of the philistine plains, stands out the heroic daughter of jephtha. her purity, patriotism, and her deep respect for the sacredness of a religious oath, place her at the very opposite pole. "great women," says leigh hunt, "belong to the history of self-sacrifice." if this be true, jephtha's daughter must be enrolled among the great, as her heroic self-devotion shines through the dimness of ancient history. her father was one of israel's deliverers in the days of tribal division and political chaos. returning from victory over the hostile ammonites, jephtha purposes to give, as sacrifice to jehovah for bringing him success in arms, the first creature that comes forth to meet him as he turns his face homeward. it is his own daughter, his only child, going out to meet him with the timbrel and with dances. in his eyes a "very daughter of the gods, divinely tall, and most divinely fair." will he break his vow? will the young woman herself, this hebrew alcestis, shrink from the sacrifice? "my father, thou hast opened thy mouth unto the lord, do unto me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth." for a woman to die childless in israel was looked upon as a calamity, a mark of divine displeasure, and the daughter of jephtha was a virgin. it is for this reason that she begged the coveted privilege of two months' respite that, with her maidens, she might withdraw to the neighboring mountain and there "bewail her virginity." at the end of the required period, returning to her father's house, she yields herself a sacrifice to the hasty but well-meant vow of her patriotic father. so deeply did her pure devotion to filial and patriotic ideals impress the daughters of israel, that every year they went out to lament, four days, in honor of the daughter of jephtha, the gileadite, of whom n. p. willis has drawn this appreciative picture: "now she who was to die, the calmest one in israel at that hour, stood up alone and waited for the sun to set. her face was pale but very beautiful, her lip had a more delicate outline and the tint was deeper; but her countenance was like the majesty of angels!" among no ancient people was the love of chastity in women so thorough and imperative. there is probably no better illustration of this fact than in the very ingenious method by which the men of benjamin obtained their wives, at a time when total extinction of the tribe seemed to stare them in the face. an aged levite, with his wife, who had been unfaithful to him, but by his efforts had been reclaimed and with him was returning home, is passing through the land of benjamin. when they reach the city of jebus, afterward named jerusalem, the famous centre of israel's later life, no one offered the customary hospitality, so the man and his wife were about to lodge in the street, a disgrace to the city, according to the common customs of entertainment. it is then a temporary resident of the city invites the homeless ones into his house. when the benjamites saw them go in, they took the woman from the house and shamefully maltreated her, leaving her helpless upon the steps till morning. the levite, incensed at the terrible crime, took the woman, cut her in pieces and sent the fragments throughout the tribes, telling the story of the deed of some of the sons of benjamin. it is pronounced by all the worst blot upon the land since the sojourn in egypt. the whole people is aroused to anger. they collect men of war from the tribes, and go up to battle against their brethren of benjamin, till the entire tribe seems about to be exterminated. especially was the destruction of their women grievous. what must be done when the dust of battle has rolled away? shall a tribe be lost to israel? this must not be. the sacred number must be preserved. how shall benjamin obtain wives, for all the rest of israel had made a solemn oath that they would never give their daughters to the sons of benjamin because of this horrible crime which had been so peremptorily punished. at length, the elders of all the people devise a plan. marriage with the gentile peoples is, of course, not sanctioned, and all the tribes of israel have refused to give their daughters to benjamin--there is yet a way out of the dilemma. some one remembers that every year at harvest time there is given a feast at shiloh, where many hebrew damsels come together to enjoy the religious and festal dances. it is agreed that the sons of benjamin shall hide themselves in the adjacent vineyards, and while the maidens are dancing, each man is to run out, seize a wife and make his way swiftly homeward. but what say the fathers and brothers of the purloined damsels to this high-handed procedure of the young men of benjamin? the elders agree to step in then and to advise all to acquiesce in quietness, for the people had not violated their oaths. their daughters had not been given to benjamin; they were stolen! so benjamin obtained wives and the tribal existence was preserved by the same method in which rome was repeopled at the expense of the sabines. israel holds a high place among the people of the earth because of the prevalence of piety among its women. religion is deeply grounded in the intuitions and feelings of the race, and derives force, at least, from the sense of dependence upon higher powers, as schliermacher has taught. since women are far truer in their intuitions and feelings than men and the sense of dependence is more highly developed, it is not strange that women everywhere are more religious than men. among the holy women of old none can be accorded higher place than hannah, the mother of samuel. one may at first be astonished that childlessness is so frequently mentioned as characteristic of women in the scriptures. among them, sarah, rebekah, rachael, the unnamed wife of manoah, hannah, and elisabeth,--mother of john the forerunner,--are all familiar examples. but barrenness was probably not more common among the hebrews than among other peoples. only, in israel, childlessness was accounted a calamity, if not a direct visitation of the almighty. hence, every pious woman wished to be released from the curse. the women themselves ridiculed and ever despised those who were not blessed with offspring. besides, every man among the hebrews wished to live in his descendants. to die without children was to be "cut off" from the face of the earth, and to be forgotten. there was a yearning to live forever in the land. the contrast between the great emphasis which the egyptian laid upon immortality, the large place it held not only in their religious teachings, but in the development of their civilization, as modern excavations have revealed it, and the lack of such emphasis in the writings of the hebrew scriptures has frequently been noticed, and by many greatly wondered at. but the hebrews gave little thought to immortality in the next world. their prophets spent most of their time stressing the importance of righteousness in this life, and the people emphasized the earthward side of immortality--that is, one's power to live forever in one's posterity. the writer in the one hundred and twenty-eighth psalm expressed the common hebrew conception, as, in recounting the blessings of a truly happy man, he said: "thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table." or as another psalmist, in the same spirit, prays: "that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace." many a time in the hebrew scriptures is this ideal prominent. for a psalmist again writes: "as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." and when the prophet zachariah foretells the coming glory of jerusalem, which should supersede the then present distress, he gives as one item of blessing: "and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls, playing in the streets thereof." it may therefore be readily surmised how a woman of hannah's piety might feel in the thought of her condition of childlessness. and while the hardships of the barren woman in israel could in no way compare with those of some other peoples, as in australia, where the childless woman of the aborigines is driven out to a dire struggle for existence, yet the feeling that her god was, for some cause, against her and that her husband might in his secret heart despise her, must have been agony indeed. "the brain-woman," says oliver wendell holmes, "never interests us like the heart-woman; white roses please us less than red." hannah was preëminently a heart woman; the red blood of warm devotion coursed through her veins. when at length her prayers, made in bitterness of suffering, were answered, and heaven gave her a son, she named him samuel, for, she said, "god hath heard," and dedicated him wholly to jehovah, placing him at the service of the tabernacle. when the time came to wean the lad, she journeyed with him to shiloh, the place of the sanctuary, with her offering, as the custom was, and "lent him" forever to jehovah, her god. "i think it must somewhere be written that the virtues of the mothers are occasionally visited upon their children, as well as the sins of the fathers." these words of dickens suggest one of the occasions in which motherly virtues seem to have been visited upon the child, for samuel became the earliest representative of a long line of prophets who, for many centuries, were the spiritual leaders of israel. he was the father and founder of a "school of the prophets," the earliest theological seminary of which we have any record. the prayer of thanksgiving which the records say hannah uttered when god blessed her with this precious gift of a son, influenced not only the famous _magnificat_ of mary, when she was told of the birth of her greater son, but also that of zacharias when the birth of john the baptist was predicted by the angel who talked with him in the temple. history records several famous cases of friendship between men; that between david and jonathan, and that between damon and pythias of syracuse, have become proverbial. fewer have been the friendship among women. indeed, some have argued the impossibility of such friendships. but there is probably no more attractive story of womanly devotion in all the range of literature than that which tells of the love between ruth and naomi. the book of ruth is a beautiful idyll of early hebrew life, and the heroine here stands the test. the scene is laid in the time when judges ruled in israel; and in this, as in many instances in the early days of palestine, an epoch was born out of a famine. elimelech, with his wife, naomi, and their two sons, mahlon and chilion, hunger-driven, set out for the land of moab. death lays its claim to the husband and father, and naomi, with her boys, is left widowed in a strange land. mahlon and chilion, now grown to manhood, marry two daughters of moab, by name orpah and ruth. a decade passes, and the sons themselves die. bereaved and broken in spirit, naomi at length turns her heart toward her native judean hills. finding her daughters-in-law inclined to follow her into the uncertainty of her future subsistence in her former home, naomi counsels their return, each to her mother's house. "and they lifted up their voice and wept." orpah reluctantly obeys, but ruth cleaves to her mother-in-law, with those unsurpassed and memorable words, which the author of the book of ruth throws into hebrew measure: "intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, i will go; and where thou lodgest i will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy god, my god. where thou diest, will i die, and there will i be buried. the lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." "some women's faces are in their brightness a prophecy, and some in their sadness a history." as these two women stood with their faces set toward palestine, upon one was written a history of sorrow; upon the other there fell the sunrise of a new day. in ruth's determination to follow naomi, even to death,--for "a woman can die for her friend as well as a roman knight" when she has one, as jeremy taylor has declared,--the young widow of moab began a new life, which was destined to make her the ancestress of judah's royal house, the great grandmother of david the king. as the poetic story of ruth proceeds, it records several interesting ancient marriage customs among the people of israel. in marked contrast with the hindoo custom of condemning widows to a life of scarcely bearable hardships, the hebrew law was so framed as to make widowhood as far as possible a temporary state. the custom of levirate marriage enforced upon the brother or nearest of kin to the deceased husband the obligation of taking the widow of his brother to wife, in order that the brother might not be without heir and memory in the land. ruth's deceased husband had rights in the ancestral estate, and the hebrew law was careful that estates should not pass out of the hands of the original owners, if it were possible to prevent it. ruth, the widow, suddenly appears at bethlehem, the old home of her husband's people. it is the time of the barley harvest. naomi plays the role of the scheming mother. she would have her beautiful young daughter-in-law find a husband among her kindred, that her lamented son might have an heir to honor his memory and that the portion of the estate which was elimelech her husband's might be redeemed. the love plot sends ruth into the field of boaz, a wealthy farmer and near kinsman of elimelech, to glean after the reapers, for no man was permitted by the law to deprive the poor of whatever pickings they might find when the reapers had passed. the quick success of the plot, the fascination that boaz feels for the graceful but unknown woman, the command given the reapers to leave behind by purposeful accident a little more of the grain than was usual and be gracious to the girl; the invitation at mealtime to come and partake of the repast of parched corn with the reapers; the resolve of boaz that should there be found no nearer kinsman--whose duty it would first be to take the young woman to wife--he himself would choose her. all these incidents pass in rapid and romantic succession. the observation is apparently true that "women are never stronger than when they arm themselves with their own weakness." boaz at once pledged himself to be the damsel's friend and protector. the next of kin declines or waives his right to the young widow, for he does not care to redeem elimelech's portion of the land, a necessary part of such a matrimonial transaction. boaz therefore summons the young man, next of kin, who has declined to redeem the land of his deceased brother and raise up heirs for him, to appear at the gate of the city as the law required. here ten elders sit to witness and make legal the transaction. the shoe of the refusing kinsman is taken from his foot, in the presence of the assembled people, and given to boaz, symbolizing the relinquishment of all rights in the premises. then follows the custom of spitting in the face of the "man with the loosed shoe," which became a term of reproach, and was applied to the man who refused to fulfil toward a deceased kinsman the duties of the levirate marriage. time passes and the aged naomi, whose mother named her "winsome," forgets the bitterness of her later years as she holds in her arms the infant obed, in whom she exultingly sees the pledge that the house of her son shall live on, and a prophecy that his name will become famous among his people. "and obed begat jesse and jesse begat david," the king. iii the days of the kings as we pass out of the unsettled age of the judges into the period when the commonwealth of israel began to take definite shape, we come upon a corresponding change in the life of the hebrew woman. the heroism in female virtue was perhaps no less frequent, but when the "heroic age" is behind us there is less opportunity for women to stand out in so strong a glare. and, indeed, all through this history the remark of ruskin is close to the truth when he says: "woman's function is a guiding, not a determining one." while epoch-making women occasionally appeared in the earlier period, they became fewer and fewer as the social order became more settled. it was not till the days of the kings that the mosaic law, in the broadest sense of the term, could exert any very potential influence over the life and conduct of the people. in a disorganized condition of society, of which it was said, "every man did that which was right in his own eyes," to enforce mosaic precepts would have been an impossibility, even had the people at large been acquainted with that law. now, the law of moses became one of the most powerful factors in giving to the women of israel the high place they held in the commonwealth. the fifth of the "ten words"--which commands were the very nucleus about which the whole law was developed--reads: "honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the lord thy god giveth thee." thus, in this, the very first law of the decalogue respecting duties to man, the duty of honoring the mother was made equally imperative with that of showing honor to the father. and it may be truly affirmed that israel's remarkable permanence and persistency as a people may be traced to its domestic health, and that this vigorous domesticity is due largely to a better understanding of the true relation of the sexes than is discoverable among any other ancient nation. that honor for parents makes for the permanence of a people both reason and history affirm. any nation which honors its ancestry will hold tenaciously to ancestral ideals. notwithstanding china's limitations in other directions, that nation, because of its worship of the fathers, has lived through many centuries and seen more powerful nations rise and fall. the position of israel as a separate people abides in strength because both father and mother have for ages been respected; and even though most of her sons and daughters are no longer "upon the land which the lord their god gave them," they are still holding with wonderful firmness to the faith and ideals of their fathers. the mosaic teachings concerning woman are not a little responsible for this remarkable state of racial longevity. the hebrew woman's standing before the law gave her great advantage over her sisters of the other semitic and oriental peoples. the mosaic law tended greatly to lessen the inequalities and mitigate the hardships of womankind. even a woman captured in war was protected against the caprice of her captors. under the law, her life was equally as precious as that of a man, and therefore the taking of a woman's life was punishable with the same severity as was the murder of a man. the law was especially solicitous of her welfare during the period of child bearing, and greatly lessened the sorrows and isolation of widowhood. while divorces were given almost at the will of the man, yet he could not without formality at once eject the woman from his house. he must give her a "writing of divorcement," which set forth the fact that she had been his wife. thus was she protected from subsequent suspicion that she had lived with a man unlawfully. wives of bond-servants were to go out free with their husbands on the seventh year of service, unless the master himself had given the wife to his manservant, in which case the woman and her children still belonged to the master. daughters were allowed inheritance as well as sons, though in earlier times than those of the kings they did not inherit their father's property except there were no sons. fathers were not allowed to discriminate against a firstborn son and pass the inheritance to another because the mother of the oldest child happened to have lost favor in his eyes. laws forbidding unchastity and vice were explicit and severe. one who had taken criminal advantage of another's daughter was to marry her and pay the father the usual dowry; if not, he was to be amerced fifty shekels of silver, the ordinary dowry of virgins. if a husband suspected his wife of being unfaithful to him, an elaborate, but not severe, ordeal was laid upon the woman, called "drinking the waters of jealousy." if she passed this examination successfully, her husband had no power further to punish her; if not, she was to suffer for her shame. the widow and the fatherless were given special consideration under the law. in the feast days when the people's hearts were merry and they were rejoicing in the increase of their lands, the widow was not to be forgotten. in business transactions the people were to take heed that the widow suffer not injustice. her garments could never be taken in pledge, and judges were enjoined to see that no violence was done to her rights. the fallen sheaf in the harvest field, the forgotten gleanings of the olive trees, the droppings of the vintage were not to be withheld from her. how deep-seated this sense of obligation to the widow was in israel may be discovered in the book of job. the friends who visited job in his bewildering grief could find no more probable cause for so severe a divine chastisement upon the arch-sufferer than that job had neglected the widow or taken her in pledge. one effect of the attitude of the customary law toward widows is discovered in a most signal way in the second book of maccabees, which relates that in the period of which it tells, about b.c. 150, it was customary to lay up large sums of money in the temple treasury for the relief of widows and of fatherless children. such women as miriam and deborah were factors to be reckoned with in the political movements of their times. so it was with the prophetesses generally, for just as the great prophets dealt with the politics of state, so a prophetess could not always escape the problems of statesmanship to which her time might give birth. both prophet and prophetess were looked upon as the chosen spokesmen for jehovah. because of this, huldah acted as a sort of prime minister and adviser of both king and high priests in their jehovistic reforms during the reign of josiah. that women generally took a deep interest in political matters may be perceived in the way in which the exploits of david appealed to the imaginations of the women when saul's star was setting and david's appearing above the horizon; for young women went out to meet the coming hero and king with musical instruments, singing a song whose refrain was: "saul hath slain his thousands, david his tens of thousands." the power of the feminine idea may be forcefully seen in the very common conception of the nation itself as a young woman. both prophet and poet--and the prophets were usually poets--refer many times to the "daughter of zion," meaning the people of israel. the prophet jeremiah, foreseeing the coming destruction of the army of babylon, says: "i have likened the daughter of zion to a comely and delicate woman" who is about to be ravaged by the invader. and isaiah, seeing the time at hand for the people to return from babylonish exile, cries out: "loose thyself, o captive daughter of zion." affection for the native land was strong among the women as well as among the men. lot's wife did not turn because of curiosity, but by reason of the strong attachment to locality; she looked back longingly toward her forsaken and burning home. the little hebrew maid, torn by an invading army of syrians from her native land, was quick to tell naaman, the leper,--her new master,--of the virtues of her country and impelled him to seek out elisha, the prophet of israel. the social position of hebrew women was exceptionally free and independent. while a daughter's matrimonial plans were largely in the hands of father and brother, and wives were expected to look up to their husbands with all reverence, yet the recorded examples of independent action and influence among the women reveal a place of social equality and power, a lack of masculine restraint and domination that would do credit to more modern times. deborah accompanied, if she did not lead, the soldiers into battle and cheered them on to victory. the daughters of shiloh, unaccompanied, were accustomed annually to attend festal dances in the vineyards of benjamin. women often went without escorts upon difficult and dangerous missions. prophetesses frequently exerted not only a powerful but at times a decisive influence. marriage customs among the hebrews in the days of the kings were not greatly different from those of other oriental people of the same era. they differed but slightly from those of an earlier period. as a rule, marriage was not born out of impulse of the heart; though there were many marriages that surely ripened into love. if, as jean paul richter says, "nature sent woman into the world with a bridal dower of love," we have an explanation of the fact that there are many happy marriages in israel, notwithstanding the fact that the arrangements continued to be largely in the hands of the parents. a daughter belonged to her father till of age: after this she could not be betrothed except by her own consent. among the hebrews betrothal was of the nature of an inviolable contract, and could be annulled only by divorce. if not in early days, yet in the later periods of hebrew history there were writings of betrothal which set forth the mutual agreements between the parties. later, there followed the marriage contract, also in writing. the amount paid for a maiden came to be at least two hundred denars, and just one-half as much for a widow. the father was to provide dowry according to his ability, and an orphan girl's dowry was bestowed by the community. the marriage ceremony consisted of leading the bride from her father's house to that of the bridegroom. at which time there was a season of festivity and rejoicing. the marriage of a maiden usually occurred on wednesday evening, that of a widow on thursday. the "children of the bride chamber," the name by which the invited guests were called, made merry at the "marriage feast," which was always provided and lasted several days. as the procession passed along, going from the bride's to the bridegroom's house, people along the route might join in the festivities. grains of corn, nuts, and other edibles were the confetti tossed good-humoredly at the bridal pair. it became the custom, which still exists among jews to-day, to break a glass bottle at hymen's altar to indicate that the former life is no more, and that the bride has entered upon a new estate. among the hebrews the married woman was better protected in her rights than among most people of ancient times. while her property was usually under control of her husband, yet the dowry came to be considered her own, whether it be money, property, or jewels. a husband could not compel his wife to remove from the land of her fathers; and in many ways her individual rights were protected. woman's inferior position in greece was one element in the decline of that remarkable country; the defilement of the womanhood of rome hastened the downfall of that city's power; but the protection given to hebrew wifehood and widowhood became an element of great strength in the life of israel. the greek attitude toward woman could probably be reflected in the old saying: "a woman who is never spoken of is praised most." in the period of rome's decay women became immodestly conspicuous in the social and public functions of the day. as opposed to both these conditions the hebrew, the wise man in the proverbs, calls her a virtuous woman whom her husband can praise in the very gates. edersheim calls attention to a suggestive custom which sprung up from the slight difference of sound in the words for "find" in two passages of scripture concerning women, both of which occur in the wisdom writings. the first of these reads: "whoso findeth a wife, findeth a good thing." (proverbs 18: 22.) the other, "i find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets." hence arose the habit of saying to a newly married man, "_maza_ or _moze?_" "have you found a 'good thing' or a 'bitter'?" the tendency in israel continued to restrict marriage to one's own tribe. the law of inheritance gave force to this custom. those very near of kin were thus regarded as most eligible for wedlock. jacob married two of his first cousins. a similar situation is seen in the marriage of abraham and sarah, of isaac and rebecca. each husband, under specially trying circumstances, had claimed that his wife was his "sister," and so she was,--for in the patriarchal form of society all who belonged to the same family or clan were brother and sister,--but not in the strict sense which the word was intended to convey. while brothers and sisters of the whole blood might not marry, yet it would not have been regarded as altogether out of place for half-brothers and sisters to marry, especially if they had a different mother. the story of amnon and tamar not only throws light upon this point, but illustrates how brother and sister by the same father as well as the same mother stood in a greatly different relation, the one to the other, in the matter of brotherly protection from that of half-brother and half-sister. amnon, son of david, fell desperately in love with his half-sister, david's daughter, tamar. by a cunningly devised plot amnon succeeded in bringing the beautiful damsel into his chamber. when absalom, tamar's brother and half-brother to amnon, heard that his sister had thus been dealt with, he felt himself under obligation to defend her honor, by slaying his half-brother, which he did at a feast given during the season of sheep shearing, when the king's sons were all making merry. the remark of frances power cobbe is as true in israel as elsewhere. "a man may build a castle or a palace, but poor creature! be he as wise as solomon or as rich as croesus, he cannot turn it into a home. no masculine mortal can do that. it is a woman, and only a woman,--a woman all by herself if she must, or prefers, without any man to help her,--who can turn a house into a home." it was the hebrew wife and mother who largely gave to the homes of the israelites their peculiar quality. but it may be said it was seldom her necessity or her preference to set up a home without the presence of some son of israel. the birth of children was always considered an occasion for rejoicing. hebrew women were, as a rule, active and strong, and natural in their mode of life. there are but two cases in all the hebrew scriptures of death at the time of childbirth. one is that of rachel, who, when upon a fatiguing journey with her husband and family, gave birth to benjamin and died; the other is the wife of phineas, who, when she heard the sad news of the victory of the philistines over israel, the capture of the ark of jehovah, of her father eli's and her husband's death in the battle, gave birth to a child whom the nurse called ichabod, for said she: "the glory is departed from israel." in the naming of her children the hebrew mother thus often revealed a poetic imagination that is of a high order. in this the hebrew language was helpful, for, as one has remarked of it: "every word is a picture." the bright eyes and graceful form of the gazelle suggested the name for a daughter of tabitha, of which dorcas is the greek. zipporah was a little bird; deborah, the busy bee; esther, a star; tamar, a palm tree; zillah, a shadow; sarah, the princess; keturah, fragrance; hadassah, the myrtle. thus, some resemblance or poetic association suggested to the mother, either at the birth of the child, or because of some fact or incident of later experience, the name the little one was to bear. often there is a tragedy or a mother's sorrowful life history crystallized in a name. when rachel, jacob's favored wife, brought forth her second son amidst the suffering which was to take away her life, the woman standing by tried to comfort her in the fact that another son had been born to bless her. the mother, with her last faint breath, replied: "call his name benoni (son of my sorrow)." but the father, unwilling thus to perpetuate his wife's anguish, called him benjamin (son of my right hand). when naomi, the widow, bereft of her husband and sons, returns to her native bethlehem after many years of absence and of sorrow, the women came out to meet her, saying: "is this naomi?" she answered them: "call me not naomi (pleasant or winsome), call me mara (bitter), for the almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." so, among the hebrews, names not only were given to both men and women at birth, but were frequently changed at some critical moment or because of some extraordinary experience in their life. ordinarily, however, the favorite method of naming sons connected the boy in some way with his god; as when hannah named her baby boy samuel (god hath heard), and the name of jacob (the supplanter), was changed to israel (the prince of god). the girls seldom if ever bore names ending in _el_ (god), _ajah_ (jehovah), but were called by some name of poetic association or natal experience. in no respect do the hebrew mothers deserve greater praise than for their share in the upbringing of children. while the jewish law placed the responsibility for the training of the hebrew youth upon the father, a very large share of the responsibility fell upon the mother. with the hebrew child, as with the children of all nations, it is impossible to say exactly where its education begins. the famous dictum: "if you would bring up a child in the way it should go, you must begin with its great-grandmother," finds special force among the israelites. the women held an honored place in the education of the jewish youth. before the child could walk or could lisp a syllable, while still in its mother's arms, it would see her, as she passed from one room to another in the house, stop and touch the _mesusah_ on the doorpost, and then kiss the finger that had thus come in contact with the sacred words of the law encased there. the little one would easily learn to put out its own tiny finger and touch the aperture of the sacred box on the doorpost, and then press it to the baby lips. here was the first lesson in the law of its fathers. very early the mother took her babe to the temple, and offered a sacrifice for it. especially was the birth of the firstborn significant, for the firstborn son belonged to jehovah, just as the firstborn of the herd and the flock and the first-fruits of the ground. these must be sacrificed on the altar of the lord. but, happily for the mother heart, the firstborn son might be redeemed by the sacrifice of a lamb, or, if the mother were poor, by a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons. so the young mother brought her boy to the altar, made her offering, and took her babe back to her bosom. from the time of offering onward, the mother greatly aided in shaping the life of the young israelite. in this training the sacred scriptures played an important part. the rabbis, however, never regarded women as becoming masters of the intricacies of the law. it was a saying among them that "women are of a light mind." this was doubtless an appropriate remark, for it is certainly true that much of the rabbinic lore is heavy, almost beyond expression. there were not a few women, though, who were well versed in the scriptures and also in rabbinical teaching. the synagogues were open to the women, where they occupied seats partitioned from those of the men. the attendance of women upon the great feasts, where much could be learned of custom, tradition, and teaching, also gave them opportunity to be instructed in the religion of their fathers. the christian apostle paul congratulated his young friend timothy, that from a babe he had known the hebrew scriptures, which he had learned from his mother eunice and his grandmother lois. these are typical mothers of the higher order; and while probably only the richer homes owned a copy of the entire bible, most families possessed at least one or more scrolls containing parts of the sacred writings. the strength of motherly devotion was nowhere stronger than among the mothers of israel. the spirit of rizpah was the spirit of most of them. for when seven of her sons, the sons of saul, had been slain and their bodies exposed, in the revolution which brought david to the throne, rizpah took a piece of sackcloth, and, spreading it upon a rock near by, guarded the bodies of her offspring from the beginning of barley harvest till the early rains: that neither birds might molest them by day nor beasts of the field by night. home life among the hebrews of palestine to-day is marked by much that characterized that life ten or even twenty centuries ago; therefore a few facts concerning the home life in the jerusalem of to-day will teach us much concerning that of the past. probably nine-tenths of the native homes of jerusalem are unpretentious, unattractive, uncomfortable, and show signs of poverty. the people have learned the fine art of economy in house room. father, mother, and the multitude of little ones with which the jewish home is usually blessed do not find it difficult to be tucked snugly away in two or three rooms. these give ample space for cooking, dining, sleeping, and performing the necessary labor of domestic life; besides furnishing opportunity for the hospitality for which the east is still justly noted. call any time you will, on any business bent, and your hostess, if there be no servant, will, before you are permitted to mention the matter of your call, bring to you a glass of wine or perhaps a cup of coffee to refresh you. this, too, though the family be poor and it be deprivation for even this repast to be served to the guest. and though you know of the sacrifice the hostess makes, you must not refuse, lest you offend and wound the spirit of hospitality at its very heart. the brunt of the work of the house falls, of course, upon the wife and mother. and it is doubtful if the place of the woman of the palestine of to-day, even among the jewish families, is as high as in the days of israel's independence and power. while great respect is shown the father as head of the family, the mother is often scarcely more than the servant of her children. the sons especially do not give her the respect that was once her unquestioned due. the girl is from her birth looked upon and treated as inferior to her brothers. patiently, all women of the orient seem to bear this inferiority--a sort of penalty they must pay because heaven made them women and not men. the young girl's matrimonial prospects are never in her own hands. she tamely submits to arrangements made for her, and, without test or questioning, assumes that her husband is her superior in all things. education among the girls of modern palestine has been almost hopelessly neglected--except as teachers from england and america have been able to supply the deficiency or overcome the indifference. there is little wonder that home life is unattractive and the housekeeping miserable with so little possibility for the women to catch even a glimpse of the higher things that elevate and refine. sometimes the jewish girl is a wife as early as ten or twelve, and frequently at the age of fourteen. thus home life is often rendered unhappy and divorce frequent. physical, mental, and moral anguish follow in the wake of many of these early marriages. the young jewish maiden's life is cheerless before her wedlock, as she is shut out from the joys of social gatherings; and, after marriage, cheerlessness gives way to impenetrable gloom. to say that there are no happy marriages would be wide of the mark. but divorces are sadly common among the jews of palestine to-day; the husband having almost unlimited power to break, under very slight provocation, the bond that binds him to his wife. the rabbi must of course confirm the dissolution of the bond, and thirty piasters is the price. the effect of this custom upon modern jewish womanhood in the venerated land of rebekah and rachel is most unhappy. home life in ancient israel was singularly sweet, pure, and industrious. the family was both the social and the religious unit. idleness was considered a curse; and every child was taught to train his hands as well as to cultivate his heart. the occupations of women were numerous and varied. everywhere in the east needlework was and is highly prized. mothers set their children at it at a very early age and great skill is often attained. the poorer women frequently earn with their own fingers the amount of their marriage portion; and in the hours of seclusion wives of the harem have always found embroidery and other forms of rich needlework a common pastime for the empty hours. while working in skins, clay, and in metals was reserved for the men, the hebrew women were very largely the producers of the food and the wearing apparel. they assisted in the cultivation of the fields, were the millers, grinding with their primitive stone mortar and pestle, the bakers, the weavers and spinners, making use of the hand spindle which may be seen in syria and in egypt to-day, though in the latter country the men shared with the women the skill in this handicraft. among the hebrews, as with the greeks, clotho is a woman. we find the virtuous woman, as ideally drawn in the book of proverbs, to be one who finds good wool and flax and works willingly with her hands; distaff and spindle fly at her finger's bidding, so that her whole household sits doubly clothed in scarlet, and even fine linen is wrought in her house, and rich girdles go out to the merchantmen. she makes the field and vineyard turn out profitably and imports her food from afar. whether as shepherdess, gleaner, or the maker of food stuffs or textiles, the hebrew woman may justly hold a place of respect among her sex. among the amusements in which women specially engaged, those of music and dancing should be given first place. these often had a religious or semi-religious character. women did not usually sit down, or rather recline, at banquets with the opposite sex. their songs and dances were generally among themselves; dancing with the opposite sex was unknown. instrumental music frequently accompanied their singing, a sort of tambourine or hand drum being a favorite instrument. women played an important part also in mourning customs. professional female mourners were hired to go up and down the highways, wailing piteously as part of the funeral rites. the prophet nahum in predicting the overthrow of nineveh uses a figure suggested by frequent observation of mourning: "her maids shall lead her, as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts." the religious status of woman is one of the most significant facts in israel's history. passing out of the patriarchal stage of life, when the father was high priest in his home, into a more complex existence, it is not surprising that woman's place should become subordinated. besides this, the hebrew worshipped no goddesses, except in times of religious lapses. the women of israel, however, are often found engaged in sacrifices, prayers, and active service to their god jehovah. while only the men were required to attend the annual feasts, the attendance of women in large numbers is often recorded. their presence seems to be presupposed in the accounts of hebrew worship; though for them the annual religious pilgrimages to jerusalem were not obligatory. in the temple worship they had a separate court, further removed from the inner precincts of the holy altar than the court of the men. and while they might join in the eating of some sacrificial meals, the sin offering was only to be partaken of by males. the official duties of the sanctuary were performed by men, but there were "serving women" who performed certain menial tasks about the sacred enclosure. when the temple ritual became elaborated, women were among the singers in the temple choirs, and they often aided in the music and by singing and dancing in times of great national rejoicing. and it is not without its suggestiveness that the hebrews spoke of a divine revelation as _bath kol_, or "daughter voice." in the days when religious secretism became popular in israel, and the people began to divide the exclusive adoration they had hitherto given to jehovah and to worship other gods and even goddesses, women became prominent in idolatrous rites. jezebel, who was a worshipper of the phoenician goddess ashtoreth, not only became the patron of the priests and puppets of the baal cult, but endeavored to break down jehovah worship by the destruction of his prophets. maachah, the mother of king asa of the southern kingdom of judah, introduced the worship of the assyrian goddess astarte. devotion to ishtar, the chief goddess of babylon became the fashion in jerusalem in the days of jeremiah the prophet, who tells of hebrew women kneading dough and baking cakes in shape of the silvery moon in honor of the "queen of heaven," ishtar, the moon goddess; or perhaps, as some hold, this was the worship of the planet venus, for similar offerings were made in arabia to the goddess al-uzza, who was represented by the star venus; and the athenians too, we are told, offered cakes of the shape of the full moon in honor of artemis. during the period of the babylonish captivity, before the final fall of jerusalem, ezekiel rebukes the women of jerusalem for worshipping tammuz, the babylonian adonis, who had been taken to the under world; for, says the prophet, "there sat the women weeping for tammuz," the departed husband of ishtar. there was never among the israelites that reverence for women, akin to awe, which was manifested among the teutonic tribes--a reverence which made women natural oracles. doubtless in israel, as everywhere, the instinctive, intuitive nature of women was discovered by the men of israel as in other parts of the world. but women as oracles are isolated and exceptional. there were witches, who were under the ban. the highest spiritual influence and leadership in israel was that of the prophet, for he was regarded as the mouthpiece of god, and, though of a far higher order, corresponded to the oracle among heathen peoples. could a woman hold this place of dignity and power? the first person of this class mentioned in the literature of israel is miriam the prophetess. in the days of political confusion, before the time of the monarchy, deborah the prophetess arose; and it was huldah the prophetess who directed the reforms instituted by king josiah, when the worship of jehovah was purified, the temple repaired, and mosaism restored to power. just as there were false prophets in the days of religious decline, so there arose false prophetesses, like noadiah, who attempted to thwart the reforms of nehemiah and put his life in jeopardy. in the early days, the counterfeit of the prophetess, namely, the witch and sorceress, was not unknown in the land of palestine. the law, however, was very stringent against such persons, though king saul himself once went disguised to consult the witch of endor. scripture says: "thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live." these are the words which were thought to give sanction to the burning of witches in new england a century or more ago. in writing of the women in the days of the kings, one naturally turns to the days of david, the first who brought israel to a state of political stability. the familiar saying, "the great men are not always wise," is well illustrated in the matrimonial experiences of king david. many times was he married. four of the wives of david are worthy of note. the first may be called his wife of youthful romance, michal, saul's daughter; the next, abigail, the wife of manhood's admiration; the third, bathsheba, the wife of lustful passion; the fourth, maachah, the wife of old age's sorrow, for she bore unto him absalom, the rebel. it was a giddy and dangerous height to which david the youth had suddenly arisen when the people were giving him, because of his prowess in slaying goliath of gath, greater honor than the king. even the young princess michal could not disguise her admiration for the new and youthful hero. but he must slay one hundred philistines if he is to possess michal, says saul, thinking david would lose his life in the attempt. but the young man slew two hundred, and claimed his bride. while her father was plotting the life of his young rival, michal was plotting more skilfully to save it; for, overhearing her father give orders that her husband and lover should be slain, she let him down from the window, substituting for her absent lord an image resting in her bed, beneath the covering, in such wise as to support her statement to the messengers, who came to take him before saul, that david was sick. michal, having to make choice between her father and her husband, chose the latter; and though she was long separated from him while david warred with saul, when at last david reigned he sent and recovered her, his first love, and michal became his wife again. but there were women of affairs in israel, as well as women of sentiment and devotion. the story of abigail, wife of nabal, and how she became espoused to david, is a pleasing chapter of woman's power to excite the admiration of a manly heart by combining the grace and the tact of the womanly character with worldly wisdom and courage. it is one of the finest illustrations recorded of woman's independence in the land of the hebrews. the story of bathsheba's marriage to david is well known. falling in love with bathsheba's beautiful form, the king plotted the life of her husband, put him in the front rank in the battle, and, when he fell, took her to his own house as wife. and while maachah became the mother of a son who was to be a very thorn in the heart of his father, the wickedness which brought about the marriage to bathsheba became the cause of the bitterest expression of penitential anguish in all the range of literature. for an ancient tradition, embodied in the introduction to the fifty-first psalm, affirms that that poem of heart-stinging grief was written when nathan the prophet had shown king david the heinous blackness of his sin toward uriah the hittite. diplomatic marriages were not uncommon in the ancient commonwealth of israel. they were not provided for in the law of moses. indeed, they were distinctly prohibited both by the genius of that law and by its positive enactments. and yet, no less influential a name than that of solomon might have been quoted as giving sanction to this method of assuring national peace. even modern governments might be cited--not only of the east, but of the countries of europe--as pernicious examples of the very ancient custom of cementing political friendship by the interchange of daughters. the tel el marna tablets present a number of illustrations of diplomatic correspondence between oriental kings concerning daughters who had been given as wives to brother monarchs as a seal of friendship. now this well-nigh universal custom of diplomatic marriages, though discouraged by the law of the hebrews, spoken against by their prophets, and forbidden by the very genius of their religion, was not uncommon in the land of israel. saul, the first king, can scarcely be said to have welded the tribes into a stable and recognized nationality. david, his successor, was a warrior, who depended for his successes more upon military prowess than upon the skill of diplomacy. the third king of israel fell heir to a nation made by the master hand of his father. the hebrews were now recognized by contemporary peoples as a great nation, and, being respected for their power, peace reigned in palestine. solomon, a man of peaceful temperament, resolved to sway the sceptre and enhance his influence by the arts of diplomacy rather than by the instruments of war. among these arts was that of knowing how to be wisely and numerously wed. he it was who introduced the harem, in the modern meaning of the word, into palestine. the living wives--in number seven hundred--that are said to have been possessed by king solomon shows that the prayer made by the people when first they sought a king "like all the nations" had been answered. here was the beginning, as some of the prophets thought, of israel's subsequent disaster and final undoing as a kingdom. to them jehovah was the one unifying cause, the great power that was to preserve their national integrity, their very existence as a people. to admit foreign wives into the palace, bringing with them their gods, and becoming perchance the mothers of their future kings was to defile the religion of the realm at its heart, to undermine the worship of jehovah in the house of him who should be its main defender. in the life and reign of king solomon we have the strange contradiction which is not infrequently discovered between theoretical wisdom and practical folly, between private life and public conduct. no man of ancient days appears to have understood woman better than solomon, nor said more wise things concerning them. his dealing with the rival claimants of a certain baby, his wisdom in answering the hard questions of the queen of sheba have made his name famous. and yet it was his lack of practical wisdom in arranging his own household that sowed the seed of discord and dissolution which were later to cause great distress and at last disruption. iv the era of political decline altogether the most glorious reign in all the history of the hebrew commonwealth was that of solomon. david his father's military prowess and his own skill in diplomacy had brought peace with foreign nations, and rapid internal development. but even now germs of decay were perceptible. the custom of diplomatic marriage with daughters of heathen kings, the incoming of luxury, which was destined to undermine the social, political, and religious hardihood which had previously characterized the people, were destined powerfully to influence the life and character of hebrew women. for here, elements of weakness will often first show themselves. it was inevitable that with the harem should come immorality, luxury, effeminacy, and the encroachments of foreign influence, through the women of many lands bringing their forms of worship and also their deities with them. it was in anticipation of all these dangers that the law forbade the king to "multiply wives to himself." it will be remembered that it was the increased taxation necessary to keep up such an establishment as that which solomon brought into being in israel that led at his death to a disruption of the kingdom into two antagonistic parts. it was the violation of this law that later led the northern kingdom of israel into one of the bitterest struggles, one of the most cruel wars of extermination, ever enacted among a people which has suffered many grievous national experiences. king ahab married a princess of phoenicia, the daughter of eth-baal, king of the zidonians. with her came her worship of baal, the very name of which divinity was imbedded in the name of her father, eth-baal. for force of character, jezebel is probably unexcelled in the scripture records. but that character was, unfortunately, villainous. molière affirms that "it is more difficult to rule a wife than a kingdom." ahab must have found it so, and surrendered both enterprises to jezebel. when--like the famous miller of potsdam who would not part with his mill even to the great frederick--naboth refused to sell the vineyard which was so coveted by the king, jezebel says tauntingly to the disappointed, fretting husband: "dost thou rule over the kingdom of israel?" this lady macbeth cries: "give me the dagger." she prepares a great feast, invites naboth as a guest of honor, accuses him falsely and has him killed. triumphantly she now can present her husband with the much-coveted vineyard. her horrible death in the revolution which the fast-driving jehu led is held up by the prophets as a warning to subsequent generations, for, unburied and eaten by dogs, jezebel's body was cast away, so that none could afterward honor her memory or say: "this is jezebel." and in the same revolution, by a nemesis so common in history, jezebel's son joram was slain in the field of naboth. that her name made a deep impression upon the hebrew mind, however, may be seen in the fact that in the book of revelation, written nearly ten centuries afterward, an heretical and idolatrous influence is referred to as "that woman jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess to teach my servants to commit fornification and to eat things sacrificed to idols." in marked contrast with the motherly devotion which generally characterized the "daughters of rachel" stands out the example of athaliah the unnatural; since she was the daughter of jezebel, the fact is not strange. to the truthfulness of the remark of la bruyère that "women are ever extreme, they are better or they are worse than men," history has often testified. the woman who is usually satisfied to sit behind the throne has occasionally had ambitions to sit upon it. so it was with athaliah. the law of the hebrews, while it made provision for inheritance of daughters along with the sons, does not contemplate the dominion of a queen. only one woman ever sat upon the throne of the hebrews. when king ahaziah, the reigning king of judah, had been slain by jehu in a revolution directed against joram, king of israel, and all the seed royal, ahaziah's mother, seized with ambitions to be herself the sovereign, proceeded to put to death all the possible heirs to the throne. fortunately for the davidic dynasty, however, a sister of the dead king rescued one of his sons, an infant, from the bloody massacre, and hid him in one of the apartments of the temple. when the proper time came, the high priest jehoiada brought forth the lad, now seven years of age, and with the aid of mighty men, proclaimed him king. athaliah was surprised and overwhelmed and was slain; but she had given judah six years of unrighteous government. the religious influence of jezebel in the northern kingdom and of athaliah, her daughter, in the southern was of greater consequence in the shaping of the history of the times than their lack of moral worth. jezebel was an ardent worshipper of baal; indeed, she was the patroness of baal's prophets, the very bulwark of idolatrous practices in israel. over against her stood the prophet elijah, the representative of what was apparently a lost hope. jezebel had driven the prophets of jehovah into the dens and caves of the earth. it is commonly thought that while men have more vices than women, women have stronger prejudices. but here is a woman of whom it may be stated--altering a remark made concerning nero--"there is no better description of her than to say she was--jezebel." the baal worship which she would foster, and did greatly succeed in fastening upon israel until its overthrow by shalmaneser, king of assyria, was a debasing nature-worship, which tended to destroy manhood and drag womanhood into shame. and while there was set up no material monument of her power in israel, yet it required generations for the pernicious influence of her life to die away. if, as dean stanley suggested, that hebrew epithalamium, the forty-fifth psalm, was written in honor of jezebel's marriage to ahab, none of its ideals concerning the new-made queen was ever realized in israel. she must stand in the history with jeroboam whose constant literary monument is disclosed in the oft-repeated words, "he made israel to sin." in contrast with the proud and cruel queen whose aim had been to slay elijah and all who stood for jehovah worship are certain obscure women who protected and comforted the prophet. "you will find a tulip of a woman," says thackeray, "to be in fashion when a humble violet or daisy of creation is passed over without remark." we shall not fall under the implied condemnation by forgetting the nameless widow of zarephath who, though found gathering a few sticks to make a meal of the last handful of flour and a little oil left in the cruse, yet when asked took the fleeing tishbite into her frugal home and shared with him her poor repast. for fully a year did elijah live under the widow's roof, and the meal in the barrel wasted not, nor did the oil in the cruse fail, till the famine was broken by the coming of the long delayed rains. a people's religion will register its mark quickly upon its women. a most suggestive semitic conception is found in the use of the figure of marriage to describe the relationship between a people and their god, or perhaps more accurately, between a land and its governing divinity. this entire conception finds its best illustration in the term _baal_, which means husband, or lord. the god was conceived of as father and the land as mother of the people and of all the products of the soil. the influence of the baal cult upon israelitish society, especially upon woman, cannot be understood without reference to the nature of that worship. picture before your mind's eye the rustic prophet amos, with wandering staff in hand, impelled by a divine impulse, making his way northward, and carrying a divine message to the people. he reaches bethel in the southern part of the kingdom of israel--a city that from time immemorial had been a sanctuary. he is shocked at the terrible orgies practised about the altars there in the name of religion; at the unbridled passion and lewdness in the name of the god and goddess of fertility, baal and ashtoreth; at the men and women revelling in shame, that the increase of the land might be celebrated and productiveness symbolized. it is while looking upon such a scene of bestialized worship and debauched womanhood that amos cries out in prophetic grief: "the virgin of israel is fallen, she shall no more rise. she is forsaken upon her land there is none to raise her up." the domestic life of the prophet hosea furnishes perhaps the best illustration of the condition and dark possibilities of womanhood in israel during this era of religious lapse and of consequent moral decay. when religion sanctions prostitution at the altar, profligacy is not unnatural. hosea had married one gomer, daughter of diblaim. soon she forgets her marriage vows and gives herself to a life of shame. hosea, not then a prophet, more than once tried to reclaim the erring wife of his love; but she again falls into evil ways. his home is destroyed; and as he thinks of the meaning of this fatal blow to his domestic happiness, he can but see in it a divine call to go forth to correct a condition of society which could foster such vice and make such sorrows possible. the whole meaning of his ministry, as he starts out with his children as object lessons of his and the people's great humiliation, is but an enlarged reproduction of his own bitter experience. that the god and his land were related as husband and wife, was a very familiar conception in israel, as well as with the nations round about. even isaiah proclaimed that the land of the hebrew should be called beulah, that is, "married," a land wedded to jehovah, in pure and abiding love. but it remained for the worship of baal, which means both "lord" and "husband," to fasten upon israel the basest practices between the sexes, as a part of the worship of the god to whom the land was married. hosea sees in his own poignant grief an epitome of israel's relation of apostasy from jehovah. she should have been a wife of purity, keeping her covenant vows with her lord, but instead, she had gone away to consort with other gods and was playing the harlot against her first love. repeated efforts had failed to reclaim her, and now she is given up to horrible vice as she sacrifices her virtue at the altar of baal. it is a fearful arraignment, hot with his own experiences and saturated with tears. the words of hosea are themselves the best representation of society of the day, as we speak under the figure of his own bitter grief: "plead with your mother, plead, for she is not my wife and i am not her husband. let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts." this is the earnest plea for a purified israel and a redeemed womanhood. the day is to come, says the prophet with the broken heart, when "she shall follow after her lovers but she shall not overtake them. then shall she say, i will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now." "for she did not know," says hosea for jehovah, "that i gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for baal." and looking forward to a day when the sensual worship of baal which so debauched womanhood, should be no longer known in israel, the prophet, again as the mouthpiece of jehovah, still carrying out the same figure of wedlock, says to israel: "and i will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, i will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies. i will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know jehovah. and it shall come to pass in that day that i will hear, saith jehovah, i will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear (with) the corn, and the wine, and the oil." it was only after the destruction of jerusalem by nebuchadnezzar in b. c. 586, and the consequent exile of the hebrews, that this nature worship which so endangered womanly virtue was exterminated. during the long, synchronous reign of uzziah, king of judah, and of jeroboam ii., king of israel, in the eighth century before the christian era, prosperity both at home and abroad had given the people of both kingdoms great wealth. the syrians had for a long series of years been a breakwater against the growing power of assyria. in the meantime, there was unsurpassed opportunity for internal development, commercial expansion, and the accumulation of wealth. riches had led to luxury, and commerce had made the people more hospitable to foreign ideals, both social and religious. it was in the reign of uzziah's successor, jotham, that a new and eloquent voice was lifted up on behalf of reform, calling the people back to the ideals of the fathers and of the prophets. this new force in jerusalem was the young isaiah, whose striking vision in the year king uzziah died caused him to give up a profane life for the prophet's office; and upon none of the hebrew prophets do the condition and character of woman seem to have made so deep an impress. among the very earliest of his public utterances, so far as they have been preserved to us, is that severe arraignment of the women of jerusalem for their wanton haughtiness, their wasteful extravagance, their love of show, their self-indulgence and vice. thus in detail does the prophet draw for us the moving picture of female pride: "moreover, the lord saith: because the daughters of zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing (or tripping delicately) as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: therefore, the lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of zion, and the lord will discover their secret parts. in that day the lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments (anklets) about their feet, and their cauls (net works), and their round tires like the moon (crescents), the chains (or ear pendants), and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets (head tires), and the ornaments of the legs (ankle chains), and the headbands, and the tablets (or smelling boxes), and the earrings, the rings, and the nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel (festal robes), and the mantles, and the wimples (probably, shawls), and the crisping pins, the glasses (hand mirrors), and the fine linen, and the hoods (or turbans), and the vails. and it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell (of oriental spices) there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of well set hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. thy husbands shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. and her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate, shall sit upon the ground." in this period, the women as they went along scented the air with the perfume from the boxes that hung at their girdles; they lolled idly and luxuriantly upon ivory beds and silken cushions sprinkled with perfume, and they gossiped to the sound of music. in predicting the great disaster and slaughter that were to come upon the people through the assyrian invasion, made successful by the effeminacy of the people, the prophet discloses not only the dire extremity to which the people were to be reduced, but reveals the feminine ideal among the hebrews, already alluded to in this volume, namely, that which makes motherhood the aim of every hebrew woman and the absence of it a calamity. in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, "we will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach." widowhood and celibacy were equally sources of deepest grief among the women of israel, and both were to be among the results of the luxury and vice of the land. woman, as well as man, in this era of decay, had fallen into the habit of the most cruel covetousness, and, when occasion offered, the rich and powerful women oppressed the poor. the herdsman-prophet amos, coming from his home in the rural districts of judah, was shocked at the corruption into which even the women of samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of israel, had fallen, and so, with a rustic boldness that would not mince matters of such grave concern, he compared the women to the fat cattle of the land of bashan, saying to the wives and mothers of the corrupt and luxury-loving city: "hear this word, ye kine of bashan, that are in the mountain of samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, bring and let us drink!" in the age of decline, it is a noteworthy fact that not a woman appears to have lifted up prophetic voice against the moral and religious decay. prophets there were, but apparently no prophetesses, except those whom jeremiah rebukes with scathing earnestness,--women who prophesied according to their own feelings and desires rather than in harmony with the eternal principles as applied to the then present conditions. indeed, in the entire period of decline which preceded the fall of samaria in b.c. 722 and of jerusalem in b.c. 586, no prophetess appears in the record, except that isaiah speaks of his wife as the prophetess. this involves an entire change in the meaning of the word. but there were patriotic women, just as there were patriotic men, during the days of decline. there was no greater suffering than that of women when they saw the babylonian soldiery laying jerusalem in ashes. hugging their babes to their breasts, some were hewn in pieces, while others suffered shameful indignities and were led away among the captives, to sojourn in a strange land. the prophets had foreseen the coming anguish of the women; and when jeremiah foretold the restoration of israel to her land, he proclaimed that the eyes of rachel, which had wept for her children "because they were not," should at length be dried, and her mourning turned into rejoicing. thus the picture drawn in that elegiac poem--the greatest of all hebrew threnodies, known as the lamentations of jeremiah--when he saw the sacred city in ruins, was reversed: "how doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! "she weepeth sore in the night and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies." this was but the enlargement and national application of the distress experienced by the women of israel during the siege and final overthrow of the city in which all jewish hopes centred. of the hebrew women during the period of the exile, we know comparatively little. and yet no woman of later biblical judaism made so deep an impression upon the jewish mind as did esther. by her beauty and the wise cunning of her uncle, she became the wife of king ahasuerus, the famous persian who attempted to measure arms with the greeks--an effort which turned out so disastrously for the gigantic but undisciplined persian army. the story of vashti's deposal, because she refused to lend herself to the immodest proposal of the king, befuddled by the wine of banqueting and revelry; of the subsequent selection of esther as queen; of her entreaty for her people, against whom a deep-laid and cruel plot was soon to be executed,--is a familiar narrative. that a jewish woman should have been elevated to such a position in the persian palace seems so improbable that some have been inclined to doubt the accuracy of the story which the book of esther records, especially since profane history tells of but one wife of ahasuerus, amestris. but the argument from silence is always precarious. vashti and esther may easily have been extra-legal wives of the king, even though amestris were his only legally recognized wife. the well-known custom of oriental monarchies makes such a view highly probable. at all events, there stands the well-known feast of purim, the "festival of the lots," as a monument in jewish religious life of the substantial accuracy of the events recorded in the book of esther. the power of esther's life and of her service to her people in exile may be in a measure estimated by the fact that no book in all the bible was so much copied, or was so generally in possession of the jewish families as that of esther. indeed, it was asserted by maimonides and believed by many that when at the coming of messiah all the rest of the old testament should pass away, there would still remain the five books of the law and the book of esther. written as it was, upon separate scrolls, it was in thousands of jewish houses. even at the present day rolls containing esther are the prized possession of jewish families; and these are sometimes even now passed down from parents to their children upon the wedding day. on the day of purim, the book is read in public as a part of the service, that the way in which esther became the savior of her people may never be forgotten. the power of esther's story over the jewish mind has seemed the more remarkable, since it is the single book in the hebrew canon which does not contain the name of god. but on the other hand, there is no hebrew writing that is so intense in its national spirit; none which breathes and burns so deeply with the characteristic genius of "the peculiar people." there was perhaps no time in the history of the hebrews when social life received a more severe shock than during the days of the reforms instituted by nehemiah about the middle of the fifth century before christ. when the jews returned from their exile in babylonia many of them married women of gentile blood and religion, daughters of those who had peopled the land of palestine during the exile. children of jews were being born and taught heathen language and heathen worship by their mothers. nehemiah, under appointment as governor, when he saw that jews had married "wives of ashdod, of ammon, and of moab," commanded that all foreign women be immediately divorced, and that only jewish women should be taken for wives. great was the temporary suffering involved, to be sure, but the aim in view, namely that of keeping the people henceforth free from idolatry seemed to justify even so drastic a measure. a grandson of the high priest, himself in priestly line, had married nicaso, daughter of sanballat, the horonite, the very crafty and troublesome ruler of samaria. when nehemiah demanded of him that he give up his wife he refused. the governor accordingly expelled him from jerusalem, chasing him out of his presence, as the biblical narrative informs us. josephus says that when the people demanded that he give up his alien wife or his priestly office,--as the law flatly forbade priests from having foreign wives,--he decided first in favor of his office. but when sanballat, his father-in-law, heard of it, he told him not to move hastily, but if he would keep nicaso his wife, he, sanballat, would build him a temple of his own, so that he might be not only a priest, but high priest, and nicaso's husband at the same time. this appealed to manasseh's judgment, and he chose the plan of his father-in-law. thus was built the temple on mount gerizim, which became thereafter the centre of samaritan life and worship. it was concerning mount gerizim that the samaritan woman at the well spoke when she said to jesus: "our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say that in jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." the suffering of the women during the grievous persecution of the jews under antiochus epiphanes, "the illustrious"--nicknamed epimanes, "the madman"--was frightful in the extreme. some men, but fewer women, yielded to the pressure of the effort to destroy the jewish religion by forcing the greek pantheon, greek games and theatre, and the greek culture upon the jews. the struggle into which the people were plunged brought the self-sacrifice of the women into prominence. a typical case of suffering is given in the second book of maccabees. king antiochus had laid hold of a mother and seven sons, and commanded that they violate their law by eating swine's flesh. the eldest was first put to the test. he refused to obey. the king commanded that the tongue of him who spoke thus defiantly should be cut out, his limbs mutilated, and his living body roasted in hot pans, and that his mother and her younger sons should witness the awful sight. one after another the sons were cruelly dealt with and slain. each one was given opportunity to save his life by eating the forbidden flesh, but each refused. at length the youngest only remained. the king appealed to the mother, standing by, to advise her boy to obey and save his life. but the sturdy jewish mother turned to this son and strengthened him in his determination to die rather than prove faithless to the religion of his fathers by obeying the merciless tyrant. he too was then murdered, even more cruelly than the rest. and at length, the mother herself lost her life upon the same altar of faithfulness, rather than transgress the law. of such sturdy stuff were the jewish mothers of this awful period made. there is little wonder that the sons of such women succeeded in winning their independence and in setting up again a jewish state, which had been suppressed for more than four centuries. a look into this period would be incomplete without reference to one of the apochryphal or deutero-canonical books of the old testament, highly prized by the jews as containing a picture of pious home life among the jews in the captivity. a devout jew, as the story goes, with his wife anna and his son tobias were among those whom shalmaneser, king of assyria, had taken captive from the land of israel and placed in the city of nineveh when samaria fell about b. c. 722. loyal to his religion, tobit, even in exile, refused to eat the bread of the gentiles; but by dint of hard work and fidelity he at length became purveyor to the king. by the revolving wheel of fortune, tobit is at length reduced to poverty. here anna his wife, with devoted womanly faithfulness, comes to the rescue with her skilful fingers, weaving and spinning for a livelihood; for her husband was now both poor and blind. one day anna, wearied and provoked, reproaches her husband for his blindness--such calamities were esteemed a divine curse in israel, whereupon tobit prayed that he might die. on the self-same day, a young jewess, sara, daughter of raguel, a captive in ecbatana of media, was offering up a similar prayer that the end of her life might come. for her father's maid had charged her with killing her seven husbands, who had died one after another, each on the very first night of the wedding feast, though the strange deaths had been the work of asmodeus, the evil spirit, who was not willing that the maiden should wed. now these two widely separated and unrelated prayers were to be brought together into one romantic story by the help of an angel, who becomes a guide to the son of tobit, young tobias, who is about to start out in life in quest of a fortune. the angel guides him to ecbatana, bids him make the eighth to offer marriage to sara, whose seven husbands had perished on the nuptial night. though tobias had never seen the young woman before, he was to her the next of living kin and so should be (according to the mosaic law) the one to offer his hand to the youthful, much-married widow. would the young tobias prove strong enough bravely to face the record of the seven deaths? the angel here comes to the rescue, and calls tobias's attention to the heart and liver of a great fish which had been caught in the euphrates as the two had journeyed together from nineveh to ecbatana. these, burned with perfumes in the bridal chamber, drove the evil spirit asmodeus away, and the marriage festivities went on merrily. the life of tobias had been saved. he takes his newly wedded wife back to his father's house in joy and triumph, cures his father's blindness by the same magic charm which had saved his own life in the bridal chamber, and peace and wealth and long life follow in rich profusion. this story is chiefly of interest to us as it shows the continuation, even into the period of exile, of the levirate marriage custom. while the story of the marriage of sara, daughter of raguel, is a jewish romance, the literature of the inter-biblical period is not without its tragedies, in which woman plays an important rôle. among these is the well-known story of judith and holofernes. many jewish women have passed into literature and art. rebekah at the wellside, miriam watching by the reeds or singing the pæan of victory with timbrel, ruth gleaning in the field of boaz, delilah the voluptuous, and athaliah the monster, have exerted their influence both upon the makers of art and writers of drama, but probably no hebrew woman before the birth of jesus has made a deeper impress upon the imagination of men than judith, the beautiful woman and patriot of bethulia. a woman once saved the city of rome from overthrow. several times in the history of israel was it given to a woman to be the deliverer of the people. the names of deborah, esther, and judith have come down the centuries as those of women who risked their lives for the salvation of their people from the enemy, and succeeded because of their tact and prowess. the story of judith and holofernes is told in the apocryphal book of judith. the assyrians are at war with israel, whose cities are being besieged and wasted in the merciless onslaught. holofernes, the assyrian general, at length lays siege to bethulia in his onward march to the holy city of jerusalem. the people are reduced to straits most direful and bitter. women and little ones perish in the streets, and the people cry out to their leaders to sue asshur for peace. the rulers, thus urged, promise within five days to yield to their besiegers. it is then that judith, wealthy and pious, a widow of the city, comes forward to strengthen the fainting heart of the governors and to bid them trust god and stand firm. she promises, in the meantime, that she herself will aid them. praying earnestly that god will help her in her purpose, she lays aside the habiliments of widowhood, and, arraying herself in garments of gladness, goes forth with her maids to the camp of holofernes. charmed with her beauty and grace, the assyrian gives a feast, to which the bewitching judith is invited. holofernes makes merry, and, drinking to drowsiness, lies down in his tent to sleep. others depart in the night, leaving him and the jewess alone. seeing her opportunity, judith seizes the scimiter that hung on the pillar of holofernes's bed, and, laying hold upon the hair of the sleeping man's head, severed it from his body, and made her way in the darkness back to the city. in the early morning a sally was made from the city gates, and the assyrians, finding their captain headless, were thrown into utter confusion and completely routed. thus did judith become the deliverer of israel. the women of the city ran together to see her who had been their savior, made a great dance for her, sang her praises, and bestowed their benedictions, placing garlands of olive upon her brow. portia's shrewd dealing with shylock, the jewish money lender, called forth the frequent applause of the onlookers: "a daniel come to judgment, yea, a daniel!" it is in the _history of susanna_, an apocryphal addition to the canonical book of daniel, in which the great prophet is presented in the rôle of arbiter. he appears in a cause against a woman, susanna, a jewish lady of great beauty, the wife of a wealthy and distinguished hebrew whose home was in babylon. susanna excited the amours of two judges, elders of the people, who were frequently at her husband's home; but she spurned all their advances, till, angered and resentful, they united in a plot to destroy her, and accused her of unfaithfulness to joachim, her husband. the penalty for adultery was death, and the people crowded to the trial; for if there was conviction, stoning would follow. the two elders, standing, with their hands upon the innocent woman's head, tell the story agreed upon, how they saw the wife of joachim in the very shameful act of which they accused her; and the assembly, believing the testimony of the two elders and judges of the people, condemned susanna to death. at this juncture, the young man daniel appears upon the scene, much as portia in the trial of antonio, and, by adroitly cross-questioning the two witnesses separately, involved them in contradictions, revealing the cowardly plot against the virtuous woman and convicting them of false witnessing. and since the law of moses prescribed the same penalty for those who bore false testimony as that which would have come to the accused, the elders were put to death, and susanna was given honor before all the people. this is but one of the many examples in hebrew history which reveal the unusually high moral character and purity of life that prevailed among the hebrew women. it is one of the noteworthy and distressing facts of late jewish history that in the later teaching of the rabbis woman is placed upon a distinctly lower plane. her inferiority to man is frequently emphasized. and yet there was one factor which came into the life of judaism, after the babylonian exile, which gave to jewish women an advantage which they had not previously enjoyed. it was the establishment of the synagogue. the secondary place given to women in the temple worship has already been referred to. the man, as head of the family, was representative of the family and responsible, therefore, for the performance of the ceremonies required of every hebrew household. with the destruction of the temple and the dispersion of the jews, the temple rites were rendered impossible. when the synagogue arose to fill the vacancy made by these conditions, women were given a place in attendance at the instruction given in these new centres of jewish life. and while they were never strictly considered members of the congregation, yet, seated in a separate part of the room, they heard the scriptures read and expounded; and it was not unknown for women even to read on the sabbath as among the seven appointees for the day. the _torah_, or law, however, was considered rather too sacred and important to be committed to their exposition. judging from a remark in the _halacha_ it is just to infer that in the days when the jews had become dispersed throughout the roman world, there were two facts that had a very powerful influence upon jewish women, one of them of hebraic, the other of greco-roman origin. for the _halacha_, in speaking of the women leaving their homes, said that there were two causes which took the women away from their domestic duties: one was the synagogue, the other, the baths,--not, indeed, an altogether uncomplimentary comment upon the women of the times, for it would seem they believed in the oft-coupled virtues of cleanliness and godliness. from the days of john hyrcanus, the influence of the jewish rulers had been decidedly in favor of hellenic culture. thus the revolution brought about by the maccabean revolt seemed about to be undone by the successors of the maccabees. jewish independence had been won in an effort to resist antiochus epiphanes and others in their attempts to destroy judaism by making the greek religion and customs prevalent throughout palestine. would the sons and successors of the sturdy maccabeans give away the fruits of the hard-won victory? when to alexandra was bequeathed the government by her husband, she decided to espouse the cause of the pharisaic party, who hated the encroachments of foreign influence. but, alas, for the queen's inability to cope with a situation so strained! in her effort to appease the opposite party she put weapons into their hands, which were soon turned against her. as an old woman of seventy-three, she saw her two sons in bitter contest, at the head of opposing forces, each trying to rule over a tumultuous, faction-torn nation. she passed away, deploring a condition which she was utterly unable to correct. it was not till pompey brought his roman legions to the gates of jerusalem, and set up the roman eagles in the holy city itself that intrigue and battling for the jewish throne was brought to a close. then jewish independence was no more. a great granddaughter of alexandra was destined indirectly at least to play a prominent rôle in later jewish history. this was mariamne. herod, afterward known as the great, had hoped by marrying this descendant of both the contending jewish parties, to unite the influence of the two branches of the asmonean house. in this, however, herod was disappointed, and he proceeded to accomplish by force what he had hoped to do by wiles. in the frightful war of extermination waged by herod against the whole asmonean line, which he feared might endanger the rulership secured to him by the roman power and his own political prowess, there figured a jewish woman who, because of her sagacity, is not to be passed over in silence. she was alexandra, a granddaughter of the queen of the same name. when herod attempted to place in the office of jewish high priest a young man who would be simply a tool for him, alexandra advocated the candidature of aristobulus,--her son and a brother of mariamne,--who by birthright was in line of official succession. alexandra shrewdly wrote to cleopatra that the wily woman of the nile might use her influence with antony to force herod to terms. herod was compelled to yield and appointed aristobulus, but determined that alexandra as well as the new high priest should be put out of the way. one day after both herod and aristobulus had been enjoying a banquet given by alexandra, herod successfully plotted the killing of the high priest in a fishpond attached to the house of feasting, herod's minions holding him playfully under the water until he was drowned. but alexandra was not so stupid as to fail to take in the situation. through cleopatra she again succeeded in forcing herod upon the defensive. being summoned to appear before antony, herod succeeded, however, in again ingratiating himself with the roman, and he returned as strong as ever to jerusalem. but his return was not altogether happy; for on his departure, he had given command that should his interview with antony be ill-fated, mariamne, his jewish wife, should be slain, that no other man might have her for wife. the secret leaked out, and came to mariamne's ears. she violently resented the treatment of herod and on his return reproached him for his cruelty; but the insanely jealous and wily herod was not to be changed by reproaches. on his absence from home on the occasion when he went to meet octavius, the new star which arose on antony's downfall, herod again commanded that both mariamne and alexandra be put to death should he not return alive. mariamne on his return received him with cold resentment. with the help of herod's mother and sister the estrangement became more and more bitter. the king's cupbearer was bribed by them to declare that mariamne had attempted to poison her husband. the jury, as well as the evidence, being well-arranged before-hand, the unfortunate mariamne was led away to execution in b.c. 29, to be followed next year by alexandra, who had watched her opportunity and, taking advantage of an illness of herod, had attempted to gain possession of jerusalem and overthrow the reign of herod. it was a bold stroke for a woman. it failed, and she was executed. with her death the line of asmonean claimants to the throne was ended. but the end of this chapter in which womanly hate and intrigue played so prominent a part was not yet. when herod's sister, salome, who had taken so large a part in the death of mariamne, saw herod's sons return from their studies in rome, with the looks and royal bearing of their mother, mariamne; when she perceived the people's joy at their likeness to the late jewish queen who had been so cruelly murdered, her jealousy became most bitter, and she began to plot against them as she had against their mother. herod for a time seemed unmoved and married one of them to berenice, salome's own daughter. this only intensified salome's hate; and step after step of domestic hatred and unhappiness led at length to the order by herod that the two sons of his jewish wife, alexander and aristobulus, should be strangled at sebaste, where years before their mother mariamne had become his bride. no wonder augustus cæsar could utter his famous pun in the greek language which may be reproduced in the words: "i would rather be herod's _swine_ than his _son_!" this was the same herod who issued an edict that rent the heart of many a mother "in bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof," a command which sent mary, the mother of the infant jesus, into exile with her newborn son, whose coming into the world was destined to open a new volume, as the narrative passes from hebrew to christian womanhood. among the semitic peoples it is not usual, certainly in strictly historic times, to find women holding the first place in the seat of government. semiramis in the prehistoric period of assyria is a noteworthy exception to the general custom; and queens sometimes ruled among the arabians, and "the queen of sheba" in southern arabia became famous. but the common semitic conception that the king was son and special representative of the deity made it more difficult for women to hold the sceptre. among the hebrews there is no instance of a woman being legally recognized as queen. deborah, before the days of the kingdom, "judged israel" by virtue of her prophetic character and her ability as a woman of affairs, and athaliah was enabled to usurp the throne through the murder and banishment of male heirs to the crown. in speaking of her reign it was said that she was the only woman who ever reigned over israel. there is, however, one other woman who held the jewish sceptre. after the bloody struggle led by the maccabees, the jews at length obtained their liberty from the yoke of the seleucid kings. israel then enjoyed about a century of independence. during this period there arose one woman who for nine years ruled the nation. this was alexandra, the widow of alexander janneus, whose unhappy reign came to an end by strong drink, b. c. 78. the conception of the government as a pure theocracy where the king reigned as representative of jehovah himself rendered it impossible for women to be recognized as lawful sovereigns. the second psalm, which seems to be a sort of coronation ode, written at the time of the incoming of a new king, expresses the relationship between jehovah and the earthly ruler: "the lord said unto me, thou art my son, this day have i begotten thee." even wives of the kings of israel, as a rule, are not called queens, though jezebel,--the phoenician wife of ahab,--king of the ten tribes, is a notable exception. this may be accounted for, however, by the fact that she was not an israelite and worshipper of jehovah, but a devotee of ashtoreth, the queen divinity of phoenicia; and withal she was a far stronger, more aggressive personality than her inefficient husband. it is of interest to observe also that jezebel is called queen only in connection with her sons. the idea of queen-mother is far more common among the hebrews than that of queen-wife. mothers of kings were given especial honor. king solomon takes his seat upon his throne and sends, not for his wife to sit by his side, but for bathsheba, his mother, whose adjacent throne is set at the king's right hand. asa, in his religious reforms, removed his mother from being queen because she had set up an image or sacred pillar in honor of baal worship. jeremiah the prophet called upon the king of israel and his queen-mother--who seems to have been most active in opposing the prophet's proposed policy in submitting to the babylonians without a struggle--to humble themselves, because their crowns were even then toppling from their heads. thus the semi-royal character of the mothers of the kings is evident. this will account, at least in part, for the wording of the chronicles of the kings of israel and judah, for this is the set formula: "and a----slept with his fathers, and b----, his son, reigned in his stead. and his mother's name was m----. and he did that which was right (or evil) in the sight of the lord." thus is the importance of the queen-mother constantly emphasized in the hebrew records. v the babylonian and assyrian women archæology here puts on her apron, takes her pick and spade in hand to help us uncover the story of the woman of babylonia and assyria. skulls, jewels, cylinders, tablets, monuments, mural decorations must be brought to light after their long sleep beneath the surface of the ground. as alive from the dead these come forth to tell, at least in broken story, of those women who helped to make the valley of the tigris and euphrates among the most noteworthy spots upon the face of the eastern world. what we may know concerning the women of this early assyro-babylonian civilization may be derived in part from the greek annalists who taught the world to write history, but chiefly from the discoveries in modern excavations. and even with these sources at our command, we shall find that many things which we would like to know about assyrian and babylonian women are still obscure. the sumer-accadian question shall not disturb us here. that there was a non-semitic people living in the region of the euphrates and the tigris, and that they developed a civilization from which the babylonian and assyrians later borrowed, seems clearly established. what the sumerian and accadian women left to their semitic sisters who came at length into the ancient heritage, it would now be impossible to say with any degree of certainty. the ancient mythology and the epic poems of these people contain many female characters, which may throw some light upon woman's place in their civilization. a people's mythology is the dim daguerreotype of their childhood thinking. fortunately for us, the last fifty years have brought to light a whole series of epic poems from early babylonian life, some of them in fragmentary form, others more or less well preserved. in nearly all these the feminine character has its place. it will be remembered that in the hebrew account of the creation no female divinity plays a part. in the kindred semitic accounts from babylonia and assyria, however, tihâmat, or mummu tohâmat, becomes the primeval mother of all things. she was chaos--corresponding to the hebrew _tehôm_, or "abyss." and thus, from the womb of dark chaos, with the ocean as father, came the divinity, the sun, moon and stars, earth, man, everything. but, strangely enough, after the birth of the first gods from chaos, a strife arose between them and their mother tihâmat. it is, however, the old story of light's struggle with darkness. anu would decide the dispute, but tihâmat declares that the war must go on. marduk, the god of light, becomes the special champion of the forces arrayed against primeval darkness, and tihâmat is vanquished and cut asunder. from one part he makes the firmament of the heaven, to which the gods of the heavenly lights, sun, moon, and stars, are assigned, and from the other half he fashions the earth. so, also, in the story of the deluge, the babylonian noah, called sît-napishti, takes his wife with him into the ark; and when the floods subside and the ship rests, stranded upon the land, ishtar, the goddess of the rainbow, greatly rejoices as she smells the sweet incense that arises from the grateful altar of sît-napishti. the god bel is persuaded never again to destroy the earth with a flood, and so takes sît-napishti and his faithful wife by the hand, blesses them, and at length translates them to paradise. one of the most prominent heroines of early babylonian epic is ishtar. indeed, there are many variant stories concerning her. ishtar's descent into hades is, in fact, one of the most important legends of oriental mythology. she is the goddess of love, corresponding to the canaanite and phoenician divinities ashtoreth and astarte. she is the aphrodite, the venus of classic myth. earlier she did not hold power over men's minds. she was a goddess of war, and the earlier warriors honored her as their patroness. it was esarhaddon who enlarged the honors paid her; and he is said once to have interrupted his scribe, while reading of two important expeditions of arms, to send and fetch _the descent of ishtar into hades_. this romantic story of adventure on the part of the goddess is well set out in early assyro-babylonian literature. tammuz, the young husband of ishtar, has been cut off by the boar's tusk (of winter). ishtar mourned incessantly for her lover, but in vain. she resolved to rescue him if possible from the realm of shade, the kingdom of allat, whence he had gone; for, though god he was, he must keep company with all the rest whom death claimed. only one method of restoring him to the realm of life was possible. there was a spring which issued from under the threshold of allat's own palace. one who could bathe in and drink of these wonderful waters would live again. but, alas! they were zealously guarded; for a stone lay upon the fountain, and seven spirits of earth watched with assiduous care lest some might drink and live. of these waters ishtar resolved to go and fetch a draught. but no one, not even a goddess, can descend into this hades alive. so we read: "to the land from whence no traveller returns, to the regions of darkness, ishtar, the daughter of sin, has directed her spirit to the house of darkness, the seat of the god iskala, to the house which those who enter can never leave, by the road over which no one travels a second time, to the house the inhabitants of which never again see the light, the place where there is no bread, but only dust, no food, but wind. no one can see the light there, ... upon the gate and the lock on all sides the dust lies thick." but ishtar, in her quest of love, is nothing daunted by the difficulties or the forbidding aspects of her task. she descends to the gates of allat's abode and knocks upon them, calling commandingly to the doorkeeper to unlock the bolts: "guardian of life's waters, open thy doors, open thy doors that i may go in. if thou do not open thy gate and let me in, i will sound the knocker, i will break the lock, i will strike the threshold and break through the portal. i will raise the dead to devour the living, the dead shall be more numerous than the living." the porter goes and tells his mistress, allat, of the imperious demand of ishtar. "o goddess, thy sister ishtar has come in search of the living water; she has shaken the strong bolts, she threatens to break down the doors." allat treats her with contempt, but finally commands her messenger: "go, then, o guardian, open the gates to her, but unrobe her according to the ancient laws." since men come naked into the world, they must go out unclad, and the older custom among the babylonians was to bury the dead without clothing. ishtar is stripped of her garments and jewels, and at each successive gate more of her ornaments were appropriated. first went her crown, for allat alone was queen in that gloomy realm; then her earrings, her jewelled necklace; then her veil, her belt, her bracelets, and her anklets. when through the seventh gate she passed, all her garments were taken away; and allat commanded her demon namtar--the plague devil--to take her from the queen's presence and strike her down with disease of every sort. meanwhile, in the upper world all are mourning because of her absence; for, as goddess of love and procreation, all nature was perishing, and there was no renewal. all the forces of the upper world, therefore, united to bring her back to light; for the world would be depopulated and barren, if some means were not found to restore her. here the supreme god hea comes to the rescue, for he alone, as controller of the universe, can violate the laws which he himself has imposed thereon. hea commands that allat give life again to ishtar by the application of the water of life to her. she was informed that power over the life of her consort tammuz was given into her hands. the water of life was poured upon him, he was anointed with precious perfumes and clothed in purple. thus "nature revived with tammuz: ishtar had conquered death." that the babylonian hades was presided over by a queen; that the real sceptre in the underworld was swayed by a woman is a matter of some significance. in the old norse mythology the goddess hel, without a husband, ruled in the abode of hell, or the place of death. among the greeks, persephone divided with her husband, pluto, the control of the underworld. with the babylonians it is the goddess allat whose power controls the realm of the dead; and even her scribe, contrary to what we might expect, was also a woman, whose name was belit-iseri. allat, the mistress of death, is not represented as an attractive woman, but ill shaped, with the wings and claws of a bird of prey. she goes to and fro in her realm, exploring the river which flows from the world to her own abode. a huge serpent is brandished in each hand, with which, as "an animated sceptre," she strikes and poisons those against whom her enmity is directed. the boat in which she navigates the dark river has a fierce bird's beak upon its prow, and a bull's head upon its stern. her power is irresistible; and even the gods cannot invade her realm except they die like men, and graciously acknowledge her supremacy over them. just as the dead eat and drink and sleep, so does allat. her daily portion, as with other divinities, comes from the table of the gods, brought by her faithful messenger, namtar. libations poured out in sacrifice by the living also trickle down to her through the earth. thus allat lives and reigns in the land from which no traveller returns, a kingdom into which twice seven gates open to receive the dead; but none opens for their release. professor peter jensen, of marburg, germany, has raised the question: why in the realm of the dead is the power of woman so important, and even monarchical in character? he answers it by the very simple explanation that just as the hebrews personified their sheol, and the north germanic nations their hel, so the assyrians and babylonians regarded their country of the dead as a person. and that since names of places and lands are of feminine gender, in assyrian thought as in the hebrew, the land of the dead was conceived of under the form of a woman. whether this be the true explanation or not, certain it is that the female principle played an important part in the religious thinking of the assyro-babylonian peoples. it is not difficult, therefore, to perceive that women would hold an important place in babylonian and assyrian religious life, and in the phoenician cult. when the goddess plays an important part in religion, especially when the renovative and procreative powers of nature are worshipped, woman will naturally find a place. while the hebrews have their prophetesses, the religion of babylonia and assyria has its priestesses as well as prophetesses. no account of the women of assyria would seem complete without reference to the legend of semiramis and her wonderful exploits. and as is the case with much of the history of the dawn of nations, we are indebted to the greeks for preserving for us the story of this superlative queen. ctesias, diodorus, herodotus, strabo, and others tell her story or mention her achievements. this remarkable woman was said to be the daughter of derceto, the goddess of reproductive nature and of a youthful mortal with whom she had fallen in love. the babe was exposed by its mother, but was found and cared for by a shepherd named simmas. having developed into a very beautiful damsel, she won the hand of oannes, governor of syria. in the war against bactria she so distinguished herself for bravery, disguising herself as a soldier and scaling the wall of the besieged capital, that the king ninus, founder of the city of nineveh, took her to be his own queen. soon ninus died and semiramis became sole ruler of the realm. unbounded ambition, coupled with surpassing genius, caused her to undertake the labor of eclipsing the glory of all her predecessors. she built cities, threw up defences, conquered kings, and extended her territory in every direction. she made the city of babylon one of her capitals, fortifying it with gigantic walls of sun-dried brick, cemented with asphalt. she built wonderful bridges supported by huge pillars of stone. diodorus siculus, quoting ctesias, thus describes her work upon the walls of the city of babylon: "when the first part of the work was completed, semiramis fixed on the place where the euphrates was narrowest, and threw across it a bridge five stadia long. she contrived to build in the bed of the stream pillars twelve feet apart, the stones of which were joined with strong iron clamps, fixed into the mortises with melted lead. the side of these pillars toward the run of the stream was built at an angle, so as to divide the water and cause it to run smoothly past and lessen the pressure against the massive pillars. on these pillars were laid beams of cedar and cypress, with large trunks of palm trees, so as to form a platform thirty feet wide. the queen then built at great cost, on either bank of the river, a quay with a wall as broad as that of the city and one hundred and sixty stadia long, that is, nearly twenty miles. in front of each end of the bridge, she built a castle flanked by towers, and surrounded by triple walls. before the bricks used in these buildings were baked, she modelled on them, figures of animals of every kind, colored to represent living nature. semiramis then constructed another prodigious work: she had a huge basin, or square reservoir, dug in some low ground. when it was finished the river was directed into it, and she at once commenced building in the dry bed of the river, a covered way leading from one castle to the other. this work was completed in seven days, and the river was then allowed to return to its bed, and semiramis could then pass dry-shod under water from one of her castles to the other. she placed at the two ends of the tunnel, gates of bronze, said by ctesias to be still in existence in the time of the persians. lastly, she built in the midst of the city the temple of the god bel." it will be seen from such a paragraph as this just quoted how semiramis anticipated much of the best work of engineering of modern times. the mountains and valleys yielded to her daring when highways were to be built for the extension of her power and her commerce. in armenia, media, and all the regions around she exhibited her genius and prowess. even egypt and ethiopia fell before her. only when she undertook to carry her arms into far-off india did she meet with reverses. stabrobatis, king of india, with the aid of elephants, utterly routed the army of the valiant queen, and she never again attempted an expedition to the far east. as an example of what semiramis thought of herself, we may quote the words attributed to her: "nature gave me the body of a woman, but my deeds have equalled those of the most valiant men. i ruled the empire of ninus, which reaches eastward to the river hinaman (the indus), southward to the land of incense and myrrh (arabia felix), northward to the saces and sogdians. before me no assyrian had seen a sea; i have seen four that no one had approached, so far were they distant. i compelled the rivers to run where i wished, and directed them to the places where they were required. i made barren land fertile by watering it with my rivers; i built impregnable fortresses; with iron tools i made roads across impassable rocks; i opened roads for my chariots, where the very wild beasts were unable to pass. in the midst of these occupations, i have found time for pleasure and love!" what are we to think of this story of the very wonderful lady of the orient of long ago? did she ever live, move, and have her remarkable being? it is needless to reply that the story is purely legendary, that none of the modern excavations which have been so fruitful in character have confirmed the story of ctesias. on the contrary, the monuments have as yet failed even to certify to the existence of such a woman. the fact that her birth is given as from a goddess, that at her death she was changed into a dove, and was thereafter herself worshipped as a goddess, is some evidence of the unreliable character of the narrative. a queen who bore the name of sammuramat and lived between b.c. 812 and b.c. 783 has been discovered as a historical personage, a name that may possibly have influenced that given the great prehistoric queen. but the marvellous achievements attributed to semiramis are discovered to be the work of man through a long series of years, and that, too, highly idealized in the numerous details. that the imaginary queen, as the story goes, had a power over the minds of the people is evident from the fact that many later achievements of arms and of building were attributed to her. and yet, notwithstanding the mythological character of the story of semiramis, there is reflected much truth concerning assyro-babylonian history in these legends. that so great achievements should have been attributed to a woman is evidence of a lack of that prejudice against woman which is discoverable among many oriental people. in the region of the euphrates and the tigris, women had a noteworthy degree of independence, and in some respects a recognized equality. the legend could have developed only in such an atmosphere. the comparison of feminine and masculine virtues has been made time out of mind; the following words from plutarch are, in this connection, of interest: "neither can a man truly any better learn the resemblance and difference between feminine and virile virtue than by comparing together lives with lives, exploits with exploits, as the product of some great art, duly considering whether the magnanimity of semiramis carries with it the same character and impression with that of sesostris, or the cunning of tanaquil the same with that of king servius, or the discretion of portia the same with that of brutus, or that of pelopidas with that of timoclea, regarding that quality of these virtues wherein lie their chiefest point and force." it is certain that if early assyrian myth is to be consulted, the assyrians had no hesitancy in recognizing the possibility of real greatness in woman's accomplishments and womanly genius. while there are few queens of note among the prominent personages of whom we read upon the monuments, and while the name of no woman occurs in the eponym canon by which the chronology of the nation's life is reckoned, yet the place of woman among the assyrians and babylonians was one of greater privilege and honor than among most ancient nations. those unsurpassed walls that protected the great city of babylon and the hydraulic works which cyrus, the conqueror of babylon, was forced to capture before the city fell into his hands are attributed by herodotus to a woman,--queen nitocris. in the code of hammurabi, who was king of babylon about b. c. 2250, the most ancient of all known codes of law, woman fares well for so early a period. one of these quaint laws reads: "if a woman hates her husband and says, 'thou shalt not have me,' they shall inquire into her antecedents for her defects. if she has been a careful mistress and without reproach, and her husband has been going about and greatly belittling her, that woman has no blame. she shall receive her presents, and shall go to her father's house." "if she has not been a careful mistress, has gadded about, has neglected her house and belittled her husband, they shall throw that woman into the water!" under this code, a man might sell his wife to pay his debts. for three years she might work in the house of the purchaser; after which she was to be given her freedom. where the law of moses says: "he that smiteth his father _or his mother_ shall be surely put to death," hammurabi's code enjoins: "who smites his father, loses the offending limb." from the many contract tablets that have been exhumed much fresh light has been thrown upon the social customs of the people in the valleys of the euphrates and the tigris. in babylonia the woman did not suffer greatly before the law from the fact that she was the weaker vessel. indeed, the scales were held quite evenly as between the sexes. a woman might hold her own property, appear in public, and attend to her own business. frequently, assyrian women are depicted upon monuments riding on the highways upon mules. woman might even hold office and plead in a court of justice--so far did babylonia anticipate the progress of modern western ideas. agreements have been discovered upon tablets by which it was covenanted between a man and his wife that should the husband marry another during the lifetime of the first wife, all the dowry of the first shall be returned to her and she shall be allowed to go where she pleases. the law concerning divorce, however, would seem to lack that fairness which characterizes many other regulations of social life. a man might divorce his wife by the payment of a pecuniary consideration; but if a woman undertook the initiative in annulling the marriage contract, she might be condemned to death by drowning. in the formula for the exorcism used by the priests to break the spell the gods had sent upon one possessed or sick, we discover that despising the mother was regarded as being as culpable as dishonoring the father. "has he perchance set his parents or relations at variance, sinned against god, despised father or mother, lied, cheated, dishonored his neighbor's wife, shed his neighbor's blood, etc. indeed, an ancient law, which is thought to go back even to accadian precedents, even gives to the woman, if she be a mother, greater honor than to the man for it is prescribed that if a son denies his father he is to be fined; if he denies his mother, he is to be banished." it must be said, however, that the social freedom of the women depended much upon their social rank. the women of the lower walks of life were singularly independent for an oriental community. indeed, their liberty was practically unrestricted. they could be seen upon the public highways, with both head and face uncovered. they could make their purchases at the market place, attend to any business that they might find necessary, and visit the homes of their friends without restraint. while all women, whatever might be their rank, had the same standing before the laws of the land, unbending custom kept women of the highest plane of social life within the seclusion of the home. even when allowed the privilege of being seen in public, they must go attended by eunuchs or pages, so that both seeing and being seen were difficult processes. of course, in the highest lady of the land, the queen, was found the culmination of dignity and exclusiveness, and she was rarely seen by anyone except her husband, members of the royal family, and her servants. thus rank, instead of giving freedom and enlarged powers, tended only to bring monotony and seclusion. the women of the lower classes usually went with bare feet, as well as bare heads. with their long shaggy garments they did not present a very picturesque or attractive appearance. the truth is, the costumes of the people of babylonia and assyria were wanting in that grace and beauty which is discoverable among some other people of the orient. the garments lacked that lightness of effect which flowing robes and drapery make possible. the designs and materials were stiff, and with the profusion of borders and fringes presented a heavy aspect. the women did not choose so to dress as to show their natural figure, but by concealing themselves in heavy and sometimes padded garments, their forms were far from beautiful, and contrast most unfavorably with the greek and egyptian grace of womanly dress and carriage. the women as well as the men used much embroidery, which was generally very heavy and often elaborate. some of the designs were highly ornate and beautiful. of the education of women in babylonia and assyria little definite is known, except that it was common for women as well as men to read and write. exercises and translations of school children have been exhumed from the mounds of ancient babylonian cities. dolls and other playthings of the children have also been brought to light, showing that the children of all ages have much the same tastes and occupations. music, dancing, embroidery, besides reading and writing, were among the accomplishments of the girls of these lands. households were amply equipped religiously, for every home must be provided with some method of keeping itself free from the power of evil spirits. when all believe that the world is peopled with demons who are perpetually trying to ensnare men and bring them to ruin if possible, we might expect that the women would be especially superstitious and punctilious to the last degree in order that all evil spirits may be frightened from their dwellings. hence, they hung amulets in almost every conceivable place. talismans, statuettes of the dreaded spirits might be seen in every home. every charm was used to thwart the enemies of human happiness in their attempt to destroy domestic peace, estrange husband from wife, drive the head of the family from his own roof, and send barrenness and blight in every quarter. the ancient babylonians had a queer way of marrying off their daughters, if we may believe herodotus--which we do not. not any period in the year might the maiden select as the time to become a matron, but only on one occasion during the year, and that a public festival, was marriage permitted. on this occasion, the daughters of marriageable age were put up at public auction. the crier took his place, while the young men who were looking for wives or the young men's parents who were to pay for them, stood about watching their opportunity to exchange their money for feminine values. it is said that the girls were put up for purchase, according to their beauty--the prettiest first, and so on to the end of the sale. often the contest of buyers would run high in excitement, and large prices were offered for the coveted prize. after the good-looking damsels were all sold at fair prices, then came the less attractive maidens, who, we are informed, were not sold, but offered as wives with a dowry, the proceeds of the beauties being used to add to the value of their less fortunate sisters. when the auction was over, the marriage followed, and the brides accompanied their new-made husbands to their homes. there was no escape from this method of wedlock. the procedure was not optional, but imperative. there was no marriage ring or bracelet to commemorate the event, but each new wife was given a bit of baked clay in the form of an olive. through this model a hole was pierced so that it might be worn continually about the neck, and upon it were inscribed the names of the parties to the transaction and the date of their marriage. several of these clay memorials have been found as mute witnesses of the days when girls were put up at the annual sale of wives in the month of sabat and knocked down to the highest bidder. later, however, this custom gave way to one more rational, when marriage came to be considered both "an act of civil law and a rite of domestic worship." it became a contract entered into by two parties. a scribe must be called in to draw up the marriage bond. it is to be properly witnessed and filed away with a public notary for future reference. there is a long period of social evolution between these two methods of conducting marriage. and it is not to be supposed that all trace of bargain and sale have disappeared. not at all. the following happy effort has been made at reproducing a scene which might have easily occurred between the father of a young man who seeks in marriage the hand of a certain damsel and the father of the girl at the home of the latter. "'will you give your daughter bilitsonnon in marriage to my son zamamanadin?' the father consents and without further delay the two men arrange the dowry. both fathers are generous and rich, but they are also men of business habits. one begins by asking too much, the other replies by offering too little; it is only after some hours of bargaining that they finally agree and settle upon what each knew from the beginning was a reasonable dowry--a mana of silver, three servants, a trousseau and furniture, with permission for the father to substitute articles of equal value for the cash." there being no further obstacles the marriage is accordingly fixed for a day of the next week. but does not the young lady need a longer time to prepare for an event of so great moment in her life? no, because she has been anticipating for some time that such a transaction will be effected by her parents; for has she not already arrived at the age of thirteen? she has therefore not let the past months slip idly through her fingers. she has been busy sewing, embroidering, and making other things of beauty and usefulness for her expected home. but nothing has concerned her more than to see that her own person shall be attractive to her new husband when the veil is lifted on her wedding day. odors and ornaments ample have been provided. early upon the appointed day the friends may be seen moving toward the home of the bride-elect. the scribe who is to draw up the marriage contract is present ready to perform his important task. with his triangular stylus he indents the covenant in soft clay. this is to be inserted in an envelope also of clay that there may be a double impression of the words of the contract. this is to be carefully baked and filed away for possible future use--it may be to be found thousands of years afterward by some explorer digging in the ruins of a long buried city. the day has dawned beautiful, for the astrologer has said that all would be propitious. the hands of the bride and groom are tied together with a thread of wool, the customary emblem of the union into which they have now entered. the marriage contract is clearly read before the assembled company, and the witnesses make their mark upon the soft tablet, the dowry and other presents are given over. prayer is made to the proper gods for the happy pair, and curses are invited upon any who shall undertake to annul the covenant or revoke the gifts. next comes the banqueting, of which the assyrians were so fond. music and dancing, jesting and telling happy tales, with eating and drinking, make up the round of merriment. at length the time comes for the bridal party to make its way to the home of the groom's parents. all along the way are signs of rejoicing, in which all are expected to join. the groom's house is reached, and here the festivities are resumed and carried on for several days, till all are fatigued and sated with mirth and quite ready to see the young couple settle down to their new life as home makers. polygamy was rare for the orient, especially at so early a period; but where polygamy was practised at all, the harem existed. in assyria, the king might have more than one legitimate wife, to say nothing of those who were not so ranked. sargon had three lawful wives, for each of whom he erected a separate apartment in his royal palace of dur-sargina. like oriental houses generally, the several apartments are entered from a central court. the queen's apartments were usually rich in decoration and furnishings. the harem of sargon's palace, which may be taken as typical, was entered by gates. one of these had upon the front two huge bronze palm trees, on each side one. since the palm tree is emblematic of both grace and fecundity, the significance of its use is apparent. there were anterooms and drawing rooms, as well as bedrooms, for the use of the queen. these were plastered, and mural decorations were abundant, the designs being sometimes conventional, sometimes depicting religious ideas in symbolism. of course, the winged bull and the winged lion, watchful guardians of assyrian interest, were often painted upon the walls. the gods were favorite subjects. in the women's apartments were chairs, stools, tables, and the floors of brick or stone were covered with carpets and mats. the bed, more like a modern lounge, was raised upon wooden legs, and held a mattress and appropriate coverings, and placed in a highly ornamented alcove, gave to the bedroom an attractive air. but how does the queen amuse herself? for long indeed must the hours often have seemed as she lived out her life a comparative prisoner. g. maspero, the noted french assyriologist, has thus described the occupation of the queens, as they try to fill the idle hours: "dress, embroidery, needlework, and housekeeping, long conversation with their slaves, the exchange of visits, and the festivals, with dancing and singing with which they entertained each other, serve for occupation and amusement. from time to time the king passes some hours amongst them, or invites them to dine with him and amuse themselves in the hanging gardens of the palace. the wives of the princes and great nobles are sometimes admitted to pay homage to them, but very rarely, for fear they should serve as intermediaries between the recluses and the outer world." the kings of both assyria and babylonia were, as a rule, kings of insatiable conquest. hence, much of the year was spent with the army in some distant territory, or, it may be, in lion hunting, a sport which had great attractiveness to a number of the kings. it will be thus seen how little the wives of the monarch enjoyed his real companionship. there was ample time for monotony, broken now and again by jealousies, followed by bitter hatred and deadly plottings. one wife would almost inevitably share more of the attention of the king than the rest. those who had reason to believe themselves neglected would certainly be incensed against the more favored rival. the servants of the palace would often be drawn into the disputes, which sometimes had a tragic end. the whole harem, combining against a favorite, might, through the use of poison or by some other clandestine means, end the life of her who was so unfortunate as to be loved by the king beyond the measure thought by her rivals to be her due. one happy effort tended to relieve at least a little the dull seclusion of the ladies of the harem. this was the planting of a garden in a court adjacent to the house of the women. often these gardens would be most elaborate and beautiful. the hanging gardens of babylon, accounted as among the seven wonders of the world, were built in honor of a favorite queen. the garden of the harem consisted of trees, such as the sycamore, the poplar, or the cypress, and other plants selected to please the eye of those whose seclusion must have made this suggestion of the country most grateful. feasting played an important rôle in the heyday of nineveh's grandeur, as also in the babylon of later days. the king has just returned from a great triumph in the westland. the whole city is agog. for days the round of drinking and carousing has proceeded, till the whole city is drunken. the queen wishes to have a part in the expressions of victory and rejoicing. she, with some trepidation, invites the king to dine with her in her apartments in the harem. at the appointed hour all is arranged. the gorgeous couch the queen has prepared for the king to recline upon while he sips his wine scented with aromatic spices, the rich drapery of the couch, the small table near by, laden with golden and silver vessels of costliness and elegance, the slaves who attend upon the lord's wishes, the poet-laureate to sing the conqueror's praises in elaborate lines of flattery--all conspire to make the occasion one of great magnificence. thus, from king and queen to the lowliest of the great city, the spirit of revelry, the love of carousal, and the habit of intoxication, took hold of the luxuriant capital. we recognize the appropriateness of the familiar words of nahum, the hebrew prophet of elkosh, who had been an eyewitness of the growing effeminacy of the great assyrian capital, nineveh, when he foretold the fall of the once glorious city: "behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women, the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thy enemies; the fire shall devour thy bars." how did the ordinary housewife spend her time? m. maspero attempts to reproduce the daily life of the assyrian woman of about the eighth century before the christian era in these graphic words: "the assyrian women spend a great deal of time upon the roofs. they remain there all the morning till driven away by the noonday heat, and they go back as soon as the sun declines in the evening. there they perform all their household duties, chatting from one terrace to the other. they knead the bread, prepare the cooking, wash the linen and hang it out to dry, or if they have slaves to relieve them from these menial labors, they install themselves upon cushions, and chat or embroider in the open air. during the hottest hours of the day they descend and take refuge indoors. the coolest room in the house is often below the level of the courtyard and receives very little light." thus the assyrian lady adapts herself as well as she may to her surroundings, which were usually very simple as to furnishings and such things as a modern inhabitant of the west would classify under the head of "comforts." an assyrian housewife was usually satisfied with a few chairs and stools of various heights and sizes. there were few beds, except among the rich. the people generally slept upon mats, which could be folded and put away during the daytime. taking care of the house was woman's work, unless the family was rich enough to own slaves to attend to the menial work of domestic life. the women had the care of the oven, which was usually built in one corner of the court, and the meats were cooked by them at the open fireplace. care of the culinary work of an assyrian home was no small task, for the assyrians were good feeders,--and as for drinking, here they surpassed even their powers at eating. so the woman of the house would find it necessary to care for the wine skins and water jars that might be seen hanging about the porches to keep them cool. the people along the waterways lived largely upon fish. these were caught in great numbers and dried. the industrious housewife would take these dried fish, pound them in a crude mortar, and then make them into cakes, which herodotus tells us were almost the sole diet of those who lived in the lower or marshy regions of the mesopotamian valley. ordinarily, men and women partook together their daily repast from a common dish, into which all dipped, but on the occasion of great banquets it was customary for the women to be served separately. vi the land of the lotus "concerning the virtues of women, o cleanthes, i am not of the same mind with thucydides, for he would prove that she is the best woman concerning whom there is least discourse made by people abroad, either to her praise or her dispraise; judging that, as the person, so the very name of a good woman ought to be retired and not gad abroad. but to us gorgias seems more accurate, who requires that not only the face, but the fame of a woman should be known to many. for the roman law seems exceedingly good, which permits due praise to be given publicly both to men and to women after death." these words of plutarch find application in the life of the women of the land of the nile. there is no lack of praise for the egyptian women both while living and after they had passed away, as the testimony of the monuments amply prove. it should be remembered that the history of egypt extends over a very wide stretch of time, and that changes are to be reckoned with even in a region where everything moves slowly. for this reason it is not always possible to say that this or that was true of the egyptian women. for there were the ancient, middle and later kingdoms, with each of which came new influences, and these differed in many respects from the period of greek or macedonian power; and the egypt of to-day is a very different egypt from that of the pharaohs and the ptolemies. there are many widely differing people in the land of the nile to-day. the traveller finds great diversity of scenery and of social conditions, and one has said of this marvellous land as the great dramatist wrote of one of her most notable daughters: "age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety." the oldest book in the world is an ancient egyptian papyrus discovered by m. prisse at thebes. it goes back to a period probably not later than b.c. 3580, being a collection of didactic sayings, or precepts, of phtahhotep, a prince of the fifth dynasty. what so early an egyptian sage has to say concerning women should be of no little interest. in giving advice to husbands, he gives this counsel, which we might imagine a wise man of to-day might easily have written: "if thou be wise, guard thy house; honor thy wife, and love her exceedingly; feed her stomach and clothe her back, for this is the duty of a husband. give her abundance of ointment, fail not each day to caress her, let the desire of her heart be fulfilled, for verily he that is kind to his wife and honoreth her, the same honoreth himself. withhold thy hand from violence, and thy heart from cruelty, softly entreat her and win her to thy way, consider her desires and deny not the wish of her heart. thus shalt thou keep her heart from wandering; but if thou harden thyself against her, she will turn from thee. speak to her, yield her thy love, she will have respect unto thee; open thy arms, she will come unto thee." ancient egyptian literature does not lack its reference to women. one of the most famous of the stories that have been presented to us from egyptian sources is _the tale of the two brothers_. this goes back to the day of moses, and has suggested to many the hebrew account of joseph. it reveals the charms of her whose beauty the sea leaped up to embrace, and the acacia flowers envied. this romance, written for the entertainment of seti ii. when he was yet crown prince, and considered, by mr. flinders petrie, to be connected with the ancient phrygian of atys, gives us an early illustration of the fact that many ills and many pleasures have been born to the race through love of a woman. the women of babylonia and assyria enjoyed a measure of freedom that was exceptional for the orient, and yet the egyptian woman was more independent still. indeed, the respect that was paid to womankind by the egyptians is one of the fairest elements in the civilization of the valley of the nile. motherhood also was highly respected. but one illustration, referred to by lenormant, will suffice to prove this statement. a woman while _enceinte_, condemned to death for murder or any other crime, could not be executed till after the birth of the child; for it was considered the height of injustice to make the innocent participate in the punishment of the guilty, and to visit the crime of one person upon two. and he adds: "the judges who put to death an innocent person were held as guilty as if they had acquitted a murderer." before the law woman's rights were respected. in the division of the paternal estate, the daughters shared equally with the sons, and were more responsible than the sons for the care of the parents. in worship, the queen is sometimes depicted as standing near her husband in the temple--behind him, to be sure, as the king was the head of the religion and indeed "son of the sun," but with him, like isis behind osiris, lifting her hand in sympathetic protection and shaking the sistrum, or beating the tambourine to dispel all evil spirits, or holding the libation vase or bouquet. the egyptian woman, of the lower or middle classes at least, suffered no enforced seclusion. she came and went as her will led her, appearing in public without covered face, and chatting with acquaintances whom she met without having her conduct questioned or her modesty placed under suspicion. she might enjoy a banquet with the opposite sex, and at its close look upon the weird figure of a corpse carved in wood, placed in a coffin, which herodotus says was carried around by a servant. as he shows the image to each guest in turn the servant says: "gaze here and drink and be merry; for when you die such you will be." thus was epicurus anticipated in ancient egypt. _dum vivimus, vivamus._ the egyptians generally, however, kept the next world always in view, and immortality played no small part in shaping the egyptian life, both as to its men and its women. the greek influence, which, after the days of alexander, was destined to revolutionize egyptian thought and custom, notwithstanding the efforts of the ptolemies to win favor of the populace by revolutionizing the waning worship of osiris, is illustrated in a poem written about one hundred years before christ, a _lament for the dead wife of pasherenptah._ in this poem, the ancient hope of immortality is overcast, and the weeping spouse is enjoined: "love woman while you may make life a holiday, drive every care away and earthly sadness." the first lady of the land was of course a queen. the queens of egypt not unfrequently had a wide outlook upon the material progress of the people. this is well exemplified in the expedition of queen chuenemtamun of which we know from discovered monuments, which represent the ship being ladened with large and costly stores under her direction. queen hatshepsu fitted out a fleet of five ships and sent them to the land of punt,--the southern coast of arabia, or, as some suppose, the african coast south of abyssinia,--that they might bring back scented fig trees which she would transplant in her gigantic orchard at thebes. the tallest monolith in the world, of reddish granite and one hundred and eight feet high, said once to have been covered with a coating of gold, was the work of this famous queen. in a few cases queens ruled in egypt, wives of kings governed jointly with their husbands, and there are instances in which pretenders to the throne married women of royal lineage that their claims might have at least the show of being legitimate. this was the case with piankhi, one of the ethiopian dynasty of kings, whose wife ameniritis is described as a woman of rare intelligence and of superior merit; one who, because of her rare strength of character and wisdom, exerted a powerful influence in the government and won for herself great popularity in thebes and the entire region around. a modern traveller may easily be reminded of the honor paid to women in ancient egypt by visiting the sites where temples and tombs were erected in honor of some beloved wife and queen. the temple of hathor at the modern aboo simbel, which was erected by the famous builder rameses ii. in honor at once of hathor the goddess of love, and of his wife nofreari. six statues adorn the entrance to the temple. they are thirty feet high, and represent rameses and his beloved queen, who appears under the favor of the goddess hathor. on the brow of the goddess is the crown--the moon resting within the horns of a cow; she wears also the ostrich feathers, which are the sign of royalty. their children, as often portrayed upon egyptian monuments, have their places beside their parents: the daughters stand close to the queen; the sons, near to the father. about the sculptured forms is recorded in hieroglyphic characters the love which the king felt for his fair queen, whose name meant "beautiful and good." the temple and statues are hewn out of the living rock, and, on entering, there is the shrine of hathor, "the supreme type of divine maternity." there is a touch of romance here, for on the outer wall the inscriptions tell us that this temple was reared "by rameses the strong in faith, the beloved of ammon, for his royal wife nofreari, whom he loves"; while within the doorway of this same temple may be read the legend, it was for rameses that "his royal wife who loves him, nofreari the beloved of maat, constructed for him this abode in the mountain of the pure waters." thus beautiful was the enduring love between this royal husband and his wife. no period of ancient egyptian history is entirely wanting in the names of conspicuous women. there is a legend that comes down from the days of the ptolemies, to the effect that when king ptolemy euergetes started out upon his expeditions against syria, the strong rival of egypt for the supremacy over the east, his queen, the beautiful berenice (a favorite name for princesses for two centuries), made a vow that if her husband should be permitted to return from his expedition in safety, she would dedicate her hair to the gods. her prayer was answered; and, faithful to her solemn vow, she cut off her hair and hung "the beautiful golden tresses that had adorned her head in the temple, whose ruins still stand on the promontory of zephyrium." but, alas! they were not long allowed to adorn the walls of the holy place, for some sacrilegious thief carried them away from the shrine. the priests were bewildered, the king was wroth, no one knew what to do. at length the astronomers came to the relief of all concerned by announcing that it could have been no ordinary thief who plundered the temple for the beautiful tresses, but that the gods themselves had taken them, and that the keen eye had only to be turned heavenward to discover a new constellation which they now separated from leo. the king and all concerned were now reconciled and happy. the constellation shines on. among the most beautiful of ancient buildings is the temple of denderah. while magnificent in itself, much of its interest to us here is due to the fact that it was erected and dedicated to the egyptian goddess of love and beauty, hathor, nurse of horus, the son of osiris and isis; and further, that it was begun by that fascinator of kings, the notorious cleopatra. on the outside walls of the temple are figures of this famous queen, and of cæsarion, her son by julius cæsar. one would judge from these representations that cleopatra's beauty was of the most voluptuous and sensual type, the features being not only full but fat, though regular. on her head is placed the horned disc,--in honor of hathor,--the sacred vulture, and the horns of isis. thus have been perpetuated the personal and religious features of the most remarkable woman egypt ever produced. pascal's oft-quoted comment upon the beauty of this egyptian character doubtless contains a modicum of truth: "if the nose of cleopatra had been shorter, the whole face of the earth would have been changed." cleopatra, however, whose charms subdued victors, was more a greek than an egyptian beauty. the women of the nile country, however, were not lacking in personal grace and physical charm. their complexions were dark, their features generally regular, and their bodies athletic, though not large. one might judge from the paintings that have come down to us, which depict the form and vesture of the egyptian woman, that she was greatly lacking both in grace of figure and in taste for arraying herself attractively. but we are not to be misled by the elongated, wiry-looking figures that the monuments portray for us. some of the blame must, without doubt, be laid upon the egyptian artist, who had little idea either of proportion or perspective. egyptian women spent much time upon their toilettes. great attention was given to the care of the complexion. for this beautifying process a powder was used consisting of antimony and charcoal, powdered fine and applied with so much skill that the skin by contrast is made to stand out in soft whiteness. for this cosmetic regimen a mirror of highly polished metal was found to be of indispensable value. the finger nails came in for a full share of attention, henna being used to stain them. as for the feet, scarcely less care was given them, and anklets and toe rings frequently adorned them. shoes, or sandals, seem never to have been in high favor in egypt, and, even when clothed in the most costly apparel, women preferred to go with bare feet. it would seem very difficult, to modern taste, to attain to real beauty by means of tattooing. but we have grounds for asserting that the egyptian beauties, at least at a certain period of their national history, covered their forehead, chin, and breasts, and sometimes the arms, with indelible painting in color. they were fond of rouging their faces, especially the lips, and the eye was a feature to which much time and art were given. large eyes were the fashion, as may be readily judged from the many pictures of ox-eyed maids which have been preserved. a band of black pigment almost entirely surrounded the eyes, and extended across the temples to the roots of the hair. by painting the eyebrows and eyelids, the eyes were made to appear not only larger but more brilliant. the egyptian woman was fond of the use of oil, which was rubbed generously upon the body. perfumes also played an important part in her life. women made and sold perfumes and used them profusely. they were exceedingly fond of flowers, especially if they were new varieties. extracts and essences from sweet-scented plants were much sought after. favorite shrubs and flowers were transported from distant lands and transplanted in the land of the nile. this was often done upon a large scale. even the liquors drunk at banquets were scented with sweet perfumes. the women usually dressed in a long, close-fitting smock-frock, clinging closely to the body and reaching quite to the ankles. the shoulders and upper part of the breast were left uncovered, the frock being held in place by two straps running across the shoulders. but it is not to be supposed that the women of egypt knew nothing of fashion; though it must be confessed that fashions changed slowly. and in this matter the men were as fond of fashion as the women; for they wore linen skirts usually reaching to the knees, although their length was regulated by the prevailing style. under the new empire woman's dress did not leave both shoulders bare, as formerly, but covered the left shoulder; the right shoulder and arm being left free. at length drapery began to be more common, and instead of the heavy, straight garment of earlier days, graceful folds appeared. with the drapery came a lengthening of the skirt. when this change occurred only the priests retained the simple skirt of former days. most men wore a double skirt, consisting of an inner short garment, and an outer. indeed, the men seemed quite as fond of their costume as the women, and were more varied in their tastes, loving finery, and leaving it to the women to be more conservative in matters of dress. from the paintings and the other representations that have come down to us, both the peasant maid and the princess wore the same kind of garments, so far as the cut of them is concerned. mother, daughter, and maid were dressed much alike and without much variety of color. the rich often wore a profusion of beads. there was no part of the egyptian woman's toilet upon which so much care was bestowed as upon the hair. indeed, the egyptians prided themselves upon their coiffure. herodotus is authority for the statement that there were fewer bald-headed people in egypt than in any other country. civilization, in the valley of the nile, at least, did not seem greatly to increase the tendency to baldness. there were cases, but they were of the nature of a calamity. woe to the physician whose skill did not succeed in checking the falling hair. pomades of various ingredients were common remedies for this ill. oil, dog's feet, and date kernels were considered of great virtue, as was also a donkey's tooth pulverized and mixed with honey. and there was no more direful or more frequent imprecation pronounced by an egyptian lady upon her rival than that the hair of her whom she hated might fall out! [illustration 2: ghawazi _after the painting by c. l. muller the "dancing girls" known as_ ghawazi, _are often in evidence. they clothe themselves in gay garments of various colors. sometimes they are pretty and attractive specimens of female grace, but, as might be expected from their character and profession, they soon become coarse and repulsive. they may be seen at the public places, and their dances are indecorous and immodest. they play a leading rôle in those wild orgies known as_ fantasia.] wigs were commonly used by women as well as by men of the ancient empire. there was a coiffure of straight hair down to the shoulders or to the breasts. examples have been found, however, in which the wigs reached not so far, as is the case in the statuette of the lady takusit, which is now among the ancient ornaments in the museum of athens. she wears a wig of stiff curly locks in rigidly regular lines plastered closely to the head, reaching almost from the eyes in front to the nape of the neck, and hiding the ears. the plaiting of the hair became common in later times, the hair hanging stiffly over the shoulders. this piece of statuary, that of lady takusit, or takoushet, as it is sometimes spelled, one of the most perfect of its kind, shows a woman of good form and regular features, standing erect with one foot in advance, her right arm hanging gracefully by her side, her left pressed naturally against her bosom. she is dressed in the closely fitting skirt already described, supported by straps over the shoulders and reaching to a point just above the ankles. her robe is richly embroidered with scenes of a religious character, and her wrists are adorned with bracelets. besides the ordinary hair dress of the women, the queen enjoyed the exceptional privilege of wearing a diadem or headdress, representing a vulture, which was the sacred bird of egypt and was accounted the special protector of the king in battle. this royal bird is represented as stretching out its strong wings over the head of the first lady of the land. the women were great lovers of trinkets and jewelry of all kinds, and the men were not far behind them in this. they put an ornament wherever it could be appropriately worn. and this ruling passion was even strong in death, for the dead were often literally loaded with jewels upon their arms, fingers, ears, brow, neck, and ankles. favorite jewels, specially, were entombed with the dead. in the boulak museum has been preserved probably the most complete collection of funeral jewelry, that of queen aahhotep, mother of ahmes, the first king of the eighteenth dynasty. the following are some of the womanly belongings buried with queen aahhotep: a fan handle plated with gold, a bronze-gilt mirror mounted upon an ebony handle, on which was a lotus of chased gold, bracelets of various designs, anklets, armlets, gold rings, ornaments for the wrist made of small beads in "gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian and green feldspar, strung on gold wire in a chequer pattern," and many other ornaments of fine gold, of chased and repoussé work of great value. the women of egypt to-day are dark in complexion and generally slender. the women of the poorer classes are ill kept and poorly clothed. they generally wear long, and frequently tattered, garments of blue and black cotton. their feet are bare, but the love of decoration is manifest still; for, though they be dirty and begrimed through lack of care and suitable clothing, the silver anklets, the rings for their fingers and even for their toes, and the bracelets for their arms, tell the tale of their fondness for adornment. mohammedanism has caused the universal use of the veil. a narrow strip of black is caught by a brass or silver spiral directly between the eyes. the falling veil, therefore, covers all the face below the eyes. ladies of the higher classes wear transparent turkish veils of costly material, and their costly silk garments are loaded with embroideries. mothers in egypt carry their babes on their backs or shoulders. the mother holds fast to the feet or the legs of her offspring, while the child throws his hands about her head and seems well satisfied with his position. the tattooing, which we have noted as existent in early egypt, is no longer general; it, however, may be seen to-day among the women of nubia. some of the berber women not only are tattooed, but place blue lines on their under lip and on the cheeks and arms. the men, women, and children of that region are very dark. the women plait their hair into numerous tiny curls, which stay well in place, for the hair has first been soaked in castor oil, partly because of the æsthetic effect, and partly as a protection against the hot rays of the tropical sun. the dress of the younger women is very scant; the older females are generally clothed in long blue garments, which they gather about them in folds. the younger girls, however, with much unadorned innocence, wear simply a leathern girdle and a complacent smile, for the berber women appear good-humored and happy. this costume, a girdle of leather, soaked well in castor oil and adorned with shells, worn by the younger belles of nubia, is known as "madam nubia." the "dancing girls," known as _ghawazi_, are often in evidence in the towns of modern egypt. they clothe themselves in gay garments of various colors. sometimes they are pretty and attractive specimens of female grace, but, as might be expected from their character and profession, they soon become coarse and repulsive. they may be seen at the public cafés, and their dances are indecorous and immodest. they play a leading rôle in those wild orgies known as _fantasia_. the modern egyptian water girl is often an interesting bit of humanity. canon bell thus describes her in his _winter on the nile_: "you may be accompanied, if you like it, by a little girl clad in blue, adorned with a necklace of beads, earrings and bracelets, and sometimes a nose-ring, carrying a water jar on her head, from which she will supply you at luncheon among the temples and tombs, for a small backsheesh. she will run beside your donkey for miles, and never seem tired, and if you will drink from her jar, of the same shape which you will see sculptured on the temple walls, will reward you with a sweet smile from her coral lips. and what teeth she and all the people have! i never saw teeth so regular and so white. they are like a string of orient pearls; and it is a pleasure when the lips part, and you see them gleaming white as driven snow." in ancient egypt the woman was queen of her own house, the real mistress of domestic life. when the husband was at home, he was looked upon rather in the light of a "privileged guest," and the housewife was the respected hostess, holding everything beneath her undisputed sway. in short, she was the very soul and centre of the domestic activity, rising early and stirring the household into life and movement. let us take a peep into an egyptian home. excavation has revealed that the palaces of the kings of babylonia were built in a much more substantial and enduring fashion than were the temples of the gods. the reverse is true of egypt. egyptian temples were built not for time, but for eternity. the palaces, however, were of far lighter character, being erected of brick or undressed freestone, but rarely of granite or the more enduring materials. eternity played an important part in the religious thinking of the egyptians. this will account in a measure for the more enduring character of the houses of the gods. the dwellings of members of the richer classes were made up of an aggregation of houses, suggesting a miniature village. there were separate houses for the various members of the family: the master, the chief wife, the harem women, the visitors, and the several classes of servants. storehouses were separate from buildings designed for habitation, and the several domestic offices had their individual buildings. the court, which every villa had, was planted with trees and flowers, and frequently was provided with a fountain and a pool. the women of the harem found opportunity for amusement in these beautiful courts. during the day these secluded beauties whiled away their time in gossiping, playing upon instruments, and indulging in the games in vogue. when night came they lay down to rest with their heads upon pillows consisting of a piece of curved wood, upon which was usually carved an image of the god bisou, who guarded the sleeper. this little dwarf, a divinity with short legs and rotund stomach, drives away the demons who infest the night and are liable to injure the sleeping one, unless protected by this well-disposed and well-armed deity. the wife in the average egyptian home was the companion of her husband, assisting him to manage his affairs. she encouraged him in his own daily work, and there are pictures of wife and children, seemingly in a most interested mood, standing by while the husband and father is busily engaged in some engrossing occupation. often the king will take his wife fully into his life. the queen is frequently pictured by the king's side in some public function. the wife of amenophis iv., with the rest of the royal family, is represented, probably on some important state occasion, as standing upon the gallery of the royal residence and tossing golden collars to the people. indeed, amenophis iv. is discovered to have been most domestic in his tastes, giving his wife and daughters a place of respect and honor in his kingdom. some of his monuments represent him riding in his chariot, followed by his seven daughters, who were his companions even in battle. sometimes the queen of the pharaohs is found riding in state processions in her own chariot behind that of her husband. how did the average women of the nile busy themselves during the long days? while they were not the hewers of wood, women were usually the drawers of water, as in palestine and syria. they were not idlers, though men did the spinning, weaving, and laundry work. in truth, as we have before stated, it was the daughter, or daughters, and not the sons who were expected to provide for their parents in times of want and old age. this did not permit women to be in any sense a dependent class. the relation of the egyptian woman to the practical affairs of life is significant and of great interest. it is in the matter of buying and selling that we perhaps have most frequent representations upon the monuments. and women as well as men are portrayed driving their bargains with the venders of all sorts of wares. women both buy and sell in the public places. one has perfume of her own manufacture, upon the merits of which she glibly descants, even in terms poetic, as she thrusts the jars under the nostrils of the hoped-for purchaser. women jewelers are discovered attempting to dispose of their rings, bracelets, and necklaces, while other women are trying to obtain goods at the lowest possible prices. "cheapening" was fashionable even among the women of egypt. sometimes groups of women are represented as bargaining in the shops. herodotus in his travels observed what to him was a striking contrast between the industrial and commercial customs of the greeks and those of the egyptians in that the men of egypt worked at the looms and carried on the handicraft, while the women frequently transacted business. but it should not be thought that women did not weave. they often worked at the loom, and men as well as women bought and sold the ordinary commodities of life. in the house egyptian women not only engaged in weaving, spinning, and the making of fabrics generally, but they assisted in the curing of fowls, birds, and fish. of this kind of food the egyptians were very fond. when the husband, who was very partial to hunting, returned with the game he had killed or trapped, it was at once preserved for later use upon the table. strangely enough, the cooks are usually represented as men, though the women were not strangers to the preparation of food for family use. the egyptians laid much stress upon their dietary. they believe, herodotus tells us, that the diseases men are heir to are all caused by the materials upon which they feed. swine's flesh was, as with the israelites, forbidden flesh, except upon certain extraordinary occasions. their staff of life was bread made of spelt. their drink was chiefly a beer made from barley. salt fish, and dried fowls, such as ducks, geese, and quail, were eaten with great relish. some birds, as well as some fish, were tabooed because of religious scruples. the recreations that were allowable to the egyptian women were quite numerous and varied. but dancing, singing, and performing upon musical instruments were their favorite amusements. the kettle drum and the castanet were in common use among them, and pictures of girls playing on the lute are not infrequent. a wall painting in a theban tomb discloses the fact that dancing girls were often employed to afford merriment at the feasts. it was not against egyptian etiquette for women to attend banquets, and they are often represented as drinking freely, even to drunkenness, lying about with forms exposed, and vomiting from overindulgence. in this connection it is curious to note the relation of the women of egypt to gymnastic feats. in the turin museum there is an example of a female acrobat, who is in the very act of performing with wonderful agility a very difficult feat. the young woman is nude, with the exception of a double belt, one thong of which encircles the waist, the other confines the hips. she is willowy in form and with great ease and grace she throws herself backward, apparently about to turn a somersault, but she keeps her feet upon the ground, and her hands almost touch her heels. her hair flows out loosely as she seems about to whirl her lithe body through the air. that the egyptian women were pleasure-loving may be learned by many a monument. portrayals of elaborate festivals have been unearthed, others are recorded by early historians. herodotus gives a description of one of these in honor of the egyptian diana in the city of bubastis. "they hold public festival not only once in a year but several times.... now when they are being conveyed to the city of bubastis they act as follows; for men and women embark together, and great numbers of both sexes in every barge; some of the women have castanets on which they play, and the men play on the lute during the whole voyage, the rest of the women sing and clap their hands together at the same time. when in course of their passage they come to any town, they lay their barge near to land, and do as follows: some of the women do as i have described, others shout and scoff at the women of the place; some dance, while others stand and pull up their clothes; this they do at every town at the river-side. when they arrive at bubastis, they celebrate the feast, offering up great sacrifices and more wine is consumed at this festival than in all the rest of the year. what with men and women, besides children, they congregate, as the inhabitants say, to the number of seven hundred thousand." the law of egypt prescribed that there should be in each family but one legitimate wife. from numerous representations upon the monuments it would seem that great affection usually existed between spouses. marriage was termed "founding for one's self a home." temporary or tentative marriages were often made for one year. after the expiration of the trial period, by the payment of a certain sum, the man might annul the agreement. the tel-el-amarna tablets brought to light in 1887, furnish some very interesting and informing materials concerning diplomatic marriages. many letters passed between the kings of egypt and the rulers of the land of mitanni, and other asiatic provinces concerning the marriage of royal daughters to the king of egypt or to the king's son. even bargaining concerning dowry finds a place in this correspondence. inquiries respecting the treatment of a daughter who has been given in marriage to a prince, complaints of the breaking of the marriage contract, and all conceivable complications which might grow out of these marital relations, are discussed. in the days of the ptolemies and in the roman period, it became very common for men to marry their own sisters, especially in the royal families. this was true of cleopatra, the daughter of ptolemy epiphanes and cleopatra. she married first her brother ptolemy philometer, and later, a second brother ptolemy physcon. this was the cleopatra who lived a century before the famous "witch of the nile." she distinguished herself by her signal favoritism toward the jews, who had then become very numerous in egypt, giving great encouragement to onias in his undertaking of the erection of a jewish temple at leontopolis in egypt. in modern egypt, however, marriage with sisters has given way to marriage between cousins, which in current opinion is by far the best sort of wedding match. it is not strange that this custom of legalized incest, the marrying of sisters should have sprung up in a land where osiris and set were worshipped. for both of these gods were wedded to their sisters, isis and nephthys. as among the hebrews, it was a matter of congratulation and of great domestic happiness to possess children, and much rejoicing took place at the birth of a babe. the inscriptions of monuments and tombs would indicate, too, a very beautiful family life in egypt. there was nothing that so tended to give domestic life this charm as the fact that the mother took complete charge of the child's upbringing. she was its nurse, feeding it from her own breast often till it reached the age of three years. in eastern countries it is not uncommon to see children of considerable size thus taking nourishment. when the child was unable to walk, or when the journey was too great for the yet undeveloped limbs, the mothers carried their children upon their necks, as do the egyptian mothers to-day. motherhood was much respected both by sons and daughters,--more than is true of the children of modern egypt,--and the wise men and poets of the land wrote and spoke most tenderly and sympathetically of the maternal love. as one of them said: "thou shalt never forget what thy mother hath done for thee. she has borne and nourished thee. if thou forgettest her, she might blame thee, she might lift up her arms to god, and he would surely hear her complaint." an utterance of an egyptian sage, which bears the spirit of the words of the hebrew wise man, who said: "forsake not the law of thy mother. bind it continually upon thy heart, and tie it about thy neck. when thou goest it shall lead thee, and when thou sleepest it shall keep thee. when thou awakest it shall talk with thee;" and again: "despise not thy mother when she is old." affection between mothers and their sons was very strong. many of the inscriptions upon tombs, with the accompanying pictures, reveal the dead son and his mother, and not the son and his father. this is in accordance with the very common fact in eastern lands, especially in this part, that brothers and sisters by the same mother were much closer to one another than brothers and sisters by the same father. it is quite evident that in early days in egypt descent was always traced through the mother, and not through the father. when, in a remote period, marriage ties were loose or polyandry was practised, it was manifestly easier to trace the family lineage through the mother. in ancient egypt, it is interesting to note that inheritance of property passed not from a father to his son, but to the son of his sister, or sometimes to the son of his eldest daughter. when children were named they did not receive a family or surname. all names were individual, the gods coming in for their share of honor in the selection, as was very common among ancient people, among whom religion pervaded everything. the girls were frequently named, for poetic or imaginative reasons, after trees, animals, qualities of moral excellence, and the like. such appellations as "daughter-of-the-crocodile, kitten," etc., were not infrequent; and even here we find a religious motive, for both the crocodile and the cat were worshipped in egypt. mummied sacred cats have been exhumed in great numbers in recent years, only to be ruthlessly turned into fertilizers by the unappreciative and practical westerner. "beautiful sycamore" is also an example of a woman's name. "darling" and "beloved" were also favorite names, and "my queen" is also found. from the number of instances discovered, it would seem--and not unnaturally--that women liked to be called after hathor, the goddess of love. how did the little girls amuse themselves in those far-off egyptian days? the girl nature is the same the world over, and has not undergone any radical change since the very dawn of history. the girls, of course, played with dolls. these were made from cloth and were usually stuffed. some of them had long hair. figures resembling jumping-jacks, loosely jointed and manipulated with a string, were a means of merriment for the little ones. the nursery was also frequently brightened by the presence of flowers; and birds, some free and some caged, were common pets; cats, too, were everywhere, and the small donkey furnished much sport. it may seem somewhat strange that in a land to which has often been attributed the invention of the art of writing, there should have come down to us no literature from the hand and brain of a woman. the secret of this is probably found in the fact that while women were respected and even esteemed as the equals of men, yet it was not considered worth while to educate them in a literary way. in some of the arts, however, such as music, women were skilled. in modern egypt the education of the women is sadly neglected. it does not compare with that given them in ancient times. indeed, in mohammedan countries, generally, woman is sternly thrust into a position of inferiority, even of degradation. the school provided for the instruction of the children in egypt, as in all mohammedan countries, is the _kattub_, which is to be found in most towns and even in some of the small villages. these schools are attached, when possible, to a mosque, and the instruction is religious rather than literary, for the teaching is limited to the koran, and all instruction is in the arabic language. the schoolmaster, who usually has an assistant, is himself very ignorant of all that the modern western world would term "learning." even the elements of a modern education are strangers to him. there are said to be about nine thousand five hundred of these kattubs in egypt, and in them are enrolled one hundred and eighty thousand pupils. but the kattub is dark and unattractive. there are no seats or furniture of any kind. to an occidental eye, the schoolroom is inconvenient in every respect, and withal quite unsanitary and forbidding. the teacher sits on a mat, cross-legged. in front of him are ranged two rows of children, both boys and girls, sitting sideways to the teacher. one would suppose, seated as the children are, that the dreary humdrum of the daily instruction was surely meant to go in at one ear and out at the other. but the pupils learn to repeat passage after passage from the sacred book of mohammed. for the time is largely taken up reciting _sura_ after _sura_ from the koran, and the most lengthy passages are well memorized, the master correcting the boy or girl whose tongue has slipped, or prompting one whose memory has failed him. as the singsong of recitation is rolled out in languid sweetness, the pupils sway their bodies back and forth, keeping time to the rhythm. there is no casting of eyes at the girls, no giggling, no crooked pins in use, in the kattubs. the pupils know the stern master is on serious business bent. besides, he makes use of the principle of "the expulsive power" of preoccupation; for, while the memorizing and reciting of texts goes on, there are no idle hands for satan to make busy. the teacher himself sets the example of industry, for his hands are engaged in weaving a mat, while his ear watches to detect the slightest lapse from correctness in the pupil's tongue. so, too, the boys and girls must be busied at some useful handiwork, such as plaiting straw. thus, "technical training" goes hand in hand with the mental in modern egypt. the number of girls in these schools, however, is comparatively small. there are hopeful signs in the matter of female education in the egypt of to-day, for the government, seeing the need, has granted a double sum for every girl in attendance upon the kattubs. women of all lands have had an important place in the time of sickness and death. egypt is no exception to the rule. there were doctors in this cultured land. specialism was in vogue even in ancient egypt. as the celebrated greek historian again says: "medicine is practised among them on the plan of separation; each physician treats a single disorder and no more." there were eye specialists, headache specialists, tooth specialists, intestine specialists, and so on to the end of the category of diseases. some of their treatises, comments upon cases, diseases, formulæ, methods of physicians, both of egypt and of other lands, have come down to us. and yet, it must be confessed that exorcism held an important place in the egyptian practice of medicine; and the women were among the foremost believers in this magical method of effecting cures. the egyptian lady is suffering from a most violent attack of headache. she sends for the physician. he presently arrives, with one or more servants or assistants, bringing with them his book of incantations, and a case containing his _materia medica_, which consists of a goodly supply of clay, plants or dried roots of all sorts, cloths, models in wax or clay, black or red ink, _et cætera_. a diagnosis of the case is hurriedly made. kneading some clay, with which various ingredients are mixed, this disciple of æsculapius, or rather of imhotep, repeats the appropriate incantation several times, places the ball of clay under the head of the sick, and leaves, feeling sure that the inimical spirit which torments her will not be able to gain possession against the powerful charm. in case of death in any household, the mourning was pronounced and pitiable. the part which women played in egyptian funerals was not unlike that among the hebrews and other oriental peoples. "they were," says maspero, in his _struggle of the nations_, "not like those to which we are accustomed--mute ceremonies in which sorrow is barely expressed by a fugitive tear. noise, sobbings, and wild gestures were their necessary concomitants. not only was it customary to hire weeping women, who tore their hair, filled the air with their lamentations, and simulated by skilful actions the depths of despair, but the relations and friends did not shrink from making an outward show of their grief nor from disturbing the equanimity of the passers-by by the immoderate expressions of their sorrow." "o my father!" "o my brother!" "o my master!" "o my beloved!" would be heard from the female voices standing around the dead. there was no superstition which prevented a fond embracing of the body of the loved one who had just passed away. tears flow in great profusion, hair and garments are rent, and the women beat their breasts, and then depart from the house of death. "with nude bosoms, head sullied with dust, the hair dishevelled and feet bare, they rush from the house into the still, deserted streets." friends and sympathizers join in their grief as they pass along, and follow the procession of mourning. since the egyptian believes that the spirit can survive only so long as the body lasts,--a sort of conditional immortality,--the corpse must be embalmed. the method is determined by the rank of the deceased. if it be a princess who has passed away, the most elaborate and costly methods and materials must be used. each toe and finger must be carefully and separately wrapped and cared for. next comes the solemn funeral procession, with the noisy, heartrending hired mourners, the libations and offerings, the catafalque drawn by oxen, and at length the dead is laid away in the tombs. an important part of the egyptian funeral is the banquet, in which the dead, through his representative, partakes; during the feasting, the _almehs_ execute their death dances and sing their songs appealing to the living concerning death and the dead. it is nut, the goddess of heaven, who, during the journey of the soul, after it leaves the tomb appears from the midst of a sycamore tree, offering the spirit a dish containing loaves and a cruse of water, and if the soul accepts the proffered gift, he becomes the guest of the goddess. beyond are dangers of every sort which only amulets and the most powerful incantations can dispel. if the soul can pass these--though many fall by the way--he is transported by the divine ferryman to the presence of osiris, the great god. maat, the goddess of truth, stands by and whispers the proper confession into the ear of him whom osiris questions, and the soul is passed on to the "field of beans," the place of the blessed, where feasts, dances, songs, and conversation are thereafter enjoyed. probably no egyptian woman was ever more influential, for a period at least, than queen tyi, the mother of king chuen-aten, who is better known as amenophis iv. his father, amenophis iii., was born, as the story goes, under conditions most auspicious. ra, the great sun god, who was considered to have been the father of all the pharaohs, and the first sovereign of egypt, as well as the creator of the universe, favored king thothmes by giving to him the son for whom he prayed. queen moutemouait, wife of thothmes, as she lay sleeping in her palace was suddenly aroused by seeing her husband by her side, and then immediately afterward the form of the theban amen. in her alarm she heard a voice telling her of the birth of a son, who should come to the throne in thebes, and then the apparition "vanished in a cloud of perfume sweeter and more penetrating than all the perfumes of arabia." the child whose advent was predicted became king amenophis iii., one of the most brilliant and successful kings of the eighteenth dynasty. king amenophis iii. was wedded to a foreign wife, more than one in fact. among the wives of his harem was gilukhipa, or kirgipa, a daughter of the house of mitanni, between which and the pharaohs of this epoch the tel-el-amarna tablets reveal so voluminous a correspondence. there was also in his harem a babylonian princess, and, most famous of all, a lady, probably of semitic extraction, whose name was tyi. this queen tyi became the mother of the successor to amenophis iii. under the influence of the queen-mother, the young king amenophis iv. resolved on extensive religious reforms. he determined to dethrone or degrade the former deities of egypt and exalt the "sun disc." asiatic influence was paramount. he changed his capital from thebes to the site of tel-el-amarna, and erected there both palace and temple. he changed his name to chuen-aten (glory of the solar disc). but during his activity as a religious reformer, his empire was falling away by the sad neglect of the foreign affairs to which his father gave so large and successful attention. at his death his work fell to pieces, and his reformation swung back. even his sons who succeeded him undid his work, and his name comes down to us as "the heretic king," being caricatured by artists of the period which followed his ephemeral undertakings. a modern egyptian woman, or perhaps more accurately an arab woman, digging into a mound in middle egypt, not far from the nile, for the purpose of getting some material with which to patch her hut, pulled out a piece of baked clay with some queer inscriptions upon it, which turned out to be the cuneiform characters of the assyro-babylonian writing. further excavations revealed the record hall of amenophis iv., long buried under the ruins of his short-lived city. this collection of documents and correspondence in the assyrian language, which was the lingua franca of those early days, are the source of our most accurate knowledge of the marriages, domestic relations and diplomatic history of this period in egyptian history; indeed, of the history of the surrounding peoples as far east as the mesopotamian valley. at least two egyptian women emerge in the hebrew records, one of whom would indicate a low degree of morals, if we may judge of egyptian women of high standing of the period by this one. it is potiphar's wife who fell so deeply in love with joseph, the handsome young hebrew slave whom potiphar had bought and made a servant in his own household, that she sought to use her wiles to entice the youth from rectitude. at length failing in her purpose, she charged him with attempting to use violence upon her, and had him imprisoned, only to find that the young man was to come forth stronger at last and find an honored place in the annals of hebrew life in the land of egypt. the other egyptian woman of whom hebrew history speaks is pharaoh's daughter, who, bathing in the nile, with her maidens, discovered the infant who was destined to lead israel out of egypt and become the chief power in moulding the hebrew commonwealth. the young egyptian woman who became a mother to the child moses, gave him all the advantages of egyptian culture, which for those days were by no means meagre, and so played no insignificant part in the making of a lawgiver, and through him, in the making of a nation, whose moral and religious influence was to be second to none in the history of the past. late judaism came in contact with a number of egyptian princesses, especially in the age of the ptolemies. among these are the cleopatras, three of whom lived a whole century before the days when mark antony was led astray by the most celebrated of all the women of this name. one of these was daughter of antiochus the great and wife of ptolemy epiphanes. she being attracted by the value of the balsam and other products of palestine, asked that the taxes of the land of the jews be given her as her dowry. a second cleopatra, daughter of the last, greatly favored, as we have already noted, the jews in egypt, according to josephus, and was in turn greatly beloved by the larger number of the jews of the diraspora, or dispersion, who had sought refuge and a livelihood in the rich region of egypt. the third cleopatra, daughter of the last-mentioned and of ptolemy philometer, was married in b.c. 150 to alexander bala. his checkered career is given us by josephus and in the first book of maccabees. two other women of this name also appear in the history of the jews, one a mother of ptolemy lathyrus, a woman of great force and determination, who expelled her son from egypt and caused him to take refuge in the island of cyprus. the last was wife of herod the great, and mother of "philip the tetrarch." the story of cleopatra, the beguiler of mark antony, is too well known to need repeating here. the women of egypt of the macedonian and roman periods, let it suffice to say, were a power in the affairs of those marvellous days. the moral code of the egyptians, theoretically speaking, was relatively high, though it cannot be said that the women well known in egyptian history or presented in romance bore an exceptionally elevated character. but the best women of ancient days were not usually those whose names were furthest known or most widely heralded. according to the greek legends, some of the queens were not slow to accomplish their purposes, regardless of the method or the cost. queen nitocris, of the fifth dynasty, the celebrated queen with the "rosy cheeks," avenged the murder of her brother by inviting the conspirators against his life to a banquet hall lower than the nile, and while they feasted turned in the waters of the river upon them. the egyptian religious life was shared in by priestesses. their pantheon contained goddesses, who were highly honored. women were considered to have souls as well as men, and as great honor was paid them in the rites accorded to the dead. sacred prostitution, which was so well known among the ancient semites, was also practised in egypt. anthropomorphism was common there as elsewhere among early religionists. the gods were supposed to have their generation in the same manner as men. the male and female divinities therefore had their necessary part in the mysterious creations of nature. the female function in generation, however, was a purely passive one. just as, according to the current ideas, the father was the sole parent of the child, the mother only furnishing carriage and nourishment for the infant, so the female principle in nature was receptive matter--"the lifeless mass in which generation took place." "women," says frederick shelden, "are compounds of plain sewing and deception, daughters of sham and hem." this morsel of wit is not true of the women of egypt in ancient days. the women of the nile were, as a rule, remarkably faithful to their obligations to their gods, as they conceived them, and often to their households and to society. they were limited, to be sure, in their outlook upon life and service, yet religious to a fault, and sometimes moral. it has not been long since there was exhumed in egypt,--which has proved indeed the most fruitful of all fields for the archæologist,--a remarkable prayer engraved upon the funeral shell of an egyptian lady who lived in the age of the ptolemies. it is a prayer, the sentiments of which show how some of the essential elements of a commonwealth life have been recognized by good men and women of all lands and of all ages. the prayer is as follows: "all my life since childhood i have walked in the path of god. i have praised and adored him, and ministered to the priests, his servants. my heart was true. i have not thrust myself forward. i gave bread to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothes to the naked. my hand was open to all men. i honored my father, and loved my mother; and my heart was at one with my townsmen. i kept the hungry alive when the nile was low." here godliness, support of religious ideals and services, truthfulness, humility, charity for the distressed, honor to parents, and good citizenship, are recognized as the true conduct and held worthy of the consideration and reward of the gods. among the christian women of western egypt of to-day are the coptic women. christianity very early made wide conquests in egypt, and while the christian religion has revolutionized ideals and modified customs, it has never destroyed many of the social habits that have had racial sanction for centuries. the christian church of egypt is the coptic church, which has existed almost since the beginning of the christian era. the women of this fellowship are of course very different in many respects from the other women of modern egypt, notably the mohammedans. close to heliopolis is pointed out a sycamore fig tree called the _tree of the virgin_. it is here, according to the coptic legend, that mary and joseph rested with their infant son when fleeing from herod. not far away is a miraculous fountain, in which, as the story goes, mary bathed the feet of the child jesus. having once been salt, the spring now became wholesome and sweet. the copts have preserved their early traditions, and their customs are in many respects in contrast with those of other people around them. it is the mother of the young man, not the father who usually makes the arrangements for their son's marriage. "she goes among her friends to find a wife for her son, and when after inquiry she discovers a girl whom she thinks in every way suitable, she informs her son, who is influenced by her opinion and commits the arrangements to her judgment. sometimes the choice of the bride is left to women whose profession it is to select a fitting bride for the man who employs them, and to open the preliminary negotiations. there is naturally a good deal of risk in this; but as women are so entirely secluded in the east, as they are shut out from their legitimate place in society, such an arrangement becomes necessary, and so husband and wife are married without having looked into one another's face." but when once a copt has chosen a wife, she is his forever. no divorce is permissible. they are one till death. when the influences that had early gone out from egypt and made for art and learning in all the lands about the mediterranean began to return with compound interest from the shores of greece to the land of the lotus, the women as well as the men were destined to feel their power. many a woman had her life lifted from the drudgery of the purely physical life into the higher atmosphere of intellectual pursuits and attainments. especially marked was this in alexandria where the great library and university were exerting a powerful influence, and christianity was making its teachings felt in favor of equality of opportunity. in that great university town, the first christian theological seminary was established, where both men and women might study the teachings of the nazarene. theological discussions at length became so general in alexandria that some one has said that "every washer-woman in the city was arguing the merits of _homoousian_ and _homoiousian_ in the streets." it was in this later period of egypt's history that there arose one of the most unique of all female figures. for, of all women who ever lived in egypt probably none can be given so high a place for various attainments and virile powers as must be accorded to hypatia. she was born of intellectual ancestry, her father being the mathematician and philosopher theon, who lived in the fourth century of our era. she was a disciple of her father, and had probably been a student in the cultured city of athens. returning to her native city she became a lecturer on philosophical subjects, and was recognized as a leader in the neo-platonic school of her day. she is said to have attracted students far and wide to her classroom, not by her rare intellectual gifts alone, but by her charm of manner, her beauty of person, her modesty combined with real eloquence. not only in the classroom did she exhibit her power of persuasion and forceful speech, but in courts of law she proved a powerful advocate. her very eloquence, however, was her undoing, for because of the strife that arose in alexandria between christian sects and aroused them to the white heat of controversy and hate, the gifted hypatia lost her life in a manner most horrible. torn from the chariot in which she was riding she was dragged to the cæsareum--which had been converted into a christian church--stripped naked in the presence of a howling, fanatical mob, and then cut to pieces with oyster shells. a horrible blot is this upon alexandrian life and a fearful comment upon the wild extravagances that were sometimes enacted while christianity was disentangling itself from paganism. truly wonderful has been the life history of this land of the lotus flower. once the seat of the highest learning, by its fertilizing nile the feeder of the bodies as well as the minds of men; later, the home of greek philosophy and of christian theology--it is to-day little reckoned with, except as a prize for stronger powers. some day its natural wealth may redeem it, and its women put off their rags, or their veil, and exert new power in the march of progress. vii the women of the hindoos the mother of the primitive aryan or indo-european stock would surely be an interesting character if we could with certainty reconstruct her from her descendants of the several branches of that family which sent out the hindoo, the persian, the greek, the roman, the slav, the scandinavian, the teuton, and the celt. the part these races have played in the world's drama would indicate that the womanhood of ancient iran could not have been lacking in qualities that made both for endurance and for progress. the ancient hebrew tradition that japheth should be enlarged even to dwelling in the tents of shem seems realized in this far-spreading aryan family. it is interesting to note that the word for "daughter" in all the branches of this family of languages is the same; the two roots of which it is composed signify to draw milk, attesting not only to the primitive pastoral condition of the peoples, but also to the common occupation of the girl as milkmaid in the days before the several migrations took place. india is a populous country, there being two hundred and fifty million people living in hindoostan. these consist of hindoos, mohammedans, eurasians, europeans, and jews. there is considerable variety, therefore, of custom and condition among these millions. among those who prefer this or that particular form of religion there is a sameness of social condition, though local peculiarities may be discovered. there is probably no country where the details of life are performed with such scrupulous regard for the prescriptions of custom and religion. the great religions to-day differ among themselves upon many points; but so far as their teachings concerning women are concerned, they are in wonderful agreement. the sacred books of india, the vedas, and other writings, the code of manu, for example, were vested with an authority that had untold influences in the shaping of woman's destiny in the land of the hindoos. originally, that is, in the earliest aryan civilization,--for non-aryan people preceded the coming of the people of western asia,--women were held in esteem and exerted unusual influence. some of the most beautiful hymns of this ancient period are products of women's genius. the great epics of _mahabharata_ and _ramayana_, with their wealth of female character, belong to this early aryan period. considering her place in later hindoo history, the great attention given to woman in the hindoo literature is noteworthy. no country of the orient can furnish a literature in which woman is given a larger place, or to which women have contributed more frequently. the names of ahulya, tara, mandadari, lita, kunti, and draupadi are familiar to students of this indian literature. the _mahabharata_ and the _ramayana_ are the two most important of the ancient epics of india. both give a considerable place to women. the chivalry of man and the virtue of women furnish here as elsewhere the base of legendary literature. "the ideas of the human family are few," says mr. e. wilson, in _literature of the orient_, "when the world's great epics are compared, the same old story of human struggles and achievements are sung, though with variations. the same heroes and heroines occur again and again through the world's history; and although in literary merit, in the points of artistic proportions and movement, the great epics of greece and rome, the _iliad_, the _odyssey_, the _æneid_, are found to surpass the _ramayana_ and the _mahabharata_, yet the ideals of love, marriage, conjugal fidelity, are no stronger in the western classics, and indeed the moral tone of the eastern masterpieces is more elevated than that of the classic writings of greece and rome." like characters appear in the great works. not the least interesting of those in the eastern epos is krishna, the faithful wife of arjuna, the hindoo hector, a heroine who may readily be compared with the devoted andromache. the story of arjuna bringing home draupadi as a prize, and of his mother bidding him share her charms with his brothers, seems to point to a time when polyandry was practised in india. the method by which draupadi chose her husband from among her five suitors reveals also an early hindoo custom known as the _svayamvara_. those who seek the young girl's hand are invited to be present in some public place where the ceremonies may readily be carried out. the company forms itself into a ring; and the maiden, making the round of the circle, tosses a garland of flowers upon the head of the one whom she prefers. the marriage rite is then performed. much bloodshed was wont to occur on such occasions, because of the disappointment of the unsuccessful suitors. it is not to be supposed, however, that the choice was prompted by the impulse of the moment or by some sudden fascination. the girl usually knew the records of her suitors, and her selection was based upon previous acquaintance and deliberate preference. indeed, in marked contrast with the present customs of india, it seems clear that in early times brides, especially of the higher classes, not uncommonly made choice of their own spouses. this may be seen in the hindoo story of the faithful wife. an early ruler of madra, ashvapati, a pious and virtuous king, was much beloved by his people. he was childless. many years did he spend in prayer for offspring. the gods gave him a daughter, who grew up to be a woman of surpassing beauty; but, strangely enough, no prince sought her hand in marriage. her father, therefore, according to the ancient hindoo law, sent her forth to choose her own husband. at length she returned with the man of her love, savitri: "carried in a fair, soft litter mid the peoples' welcoming, came the queen and good savitri to the city of the king." among the choicest women of early hindoo epics is sita, heroine of the _ramayana_. the famous poet valmiki is supposed to have been the author; but the poem in its present form is supposed to contain additions made even as late as the christian era, though its earliest portions probably go back to a period as early as the third century before christ. the _ramayana_ is accounted among the sacred books of india, and special spiritual considerations, such as forgiveness of sin and prosperity, are thought to be the reward of those who diligently study it. sita, the heroine, is the wife of rama, the son of dasharatha, who had long mourned his childlessness. this dasharatha, a descendant of the sun, lives in the city of ayodhya, the modern oudh, a place of beauty and splendor: "in bygone ages built and planned by sainted manu's princely hand." but the line of the prince is threatened with extinction. he decides to lay his plea before the gods by the sacrifice known as the _asva-medha_, in which the victim is a horse. after the offering has been made with extraordinary magnificence, the high priest in charge makes known to the king that he shall have four sons to uphold his royal prerogatives and maintain dasharatha's line. one of these is rama, whose wife sita was a woman of extraordinary beauty: "rama's darling wife, loved was as he loved his life; whom happy marks combined to bless, a miracle of loveliness." and sita was deeply devoted to her lord. but the demon ravana desires ardently to possess the fair queen. he hits upon a plan to gain access to her quarters. assuming the form of a humble priest, an ascetic, he gains possession of her by craft; and, taking her in his chariot, he carries her away to lanka, a "fair city built upon an island of the sea." thus rama, like menelaus of the classic myth, has lost the woman of his love. rama decides to make use of a large army of monkeys, with which he will march against the city of lanka. but the wide waters stretch between him and the island where his fair sita is in possession of the vile ravana. rama invokes the goddess of the sea, and she comes in radiant beauty, telling how a bridge may be built to cross the waters that lie between the royal lovers. the monkeys--as busy as the little imps that reared the temple of solomon, according to the mohammedan legend--build a bridge of stones and timbers. lanka is reached, and rama begins the fight for her possession. indra looks down from heaven upon the holy contest and decides to send his own chariot down, that rama may mount in it and ride to victory. in single combat, riding in indra's chariot, rama vanquishes ravana, and sita, his wife, is restored to his bosom. as evidence of the exalted nature of the early ideals of womanhood and of man's faithfulness to the dictates of true love, we may turn to the words of prince nala, who even when about to ingloriously forsake his unprotected wife, sleeping in a dangerous wood, spoke thus: "ah, sweetheart, whom not sun nor wind before, hath even rudely touched, thou to be couched in this poor hut, its floor thy bed, and i, thy lord, deserting thee, stealing from thee thy last robe, o my love with bright smile, my slender waisted queen. will she not wake to madness? yea, and when she wanders lone in the dark road, haunted with beasts and snakes, how will it fare with bhima's tender child- the bright and peerless? o my life, my wife, may the great sun, may the eight powers of air, guard thee thou true and dear one on thy way." woman occupies an interesting place in many of the early fables of india. sir edwin arnold has translated into english a number of the stories from the _hitopadesha_, which has been called "the father of all fables," and may easily take rank with the illustrious æsop. stories which present womanly traits, the tricks and wiles of love, are there, and are graphically told. such are the fables of _the prince_ and the _wife of the merchant's son_, which illustrate how the darts of love, even in ancient india, struck their mark without waiting upon reason or social standing, as the handsome prince, son of virasena, cries concerning the beautiful lavanyavati: "the god of the five shafts has hit me; only her presence can cure my wound." an account of woman in hindoo literature would be incomplete without some allusion to the drama. this was developed after the alexandrian conquest and shows marks of greek influence. in the drama we may discern woman of brahmanic india from an interesting viewpoint. of all the dramatic productions of the hindoo poets, there is none so famous as that of shakuntala, by kalidasa, the great court poet of vikramaditya. as is true of many of the earlier hindoo masterpieces the exact date of its composition is not known. some students place this work as early as the first, some as late as the fifth century of the christian era. the drama of shakuntala is of interest as illustrating the effect of caste. it is a drama in seven acts, and, because of its importance, its story may be recounted. as king dushyanta, king of india, is driving in his chariot through a forest, armed with his bows and arrows, in hot pursuit of a black antelope, a word forbids him to slay the innocent creature. it is the word of a hermit and the antelope belongs to the hermitage. the king is obedient to the request, and is conducted to the dwelling of the great saint kanva, who is absent upon a distant pilgrimage, and has left his foster-daughter shakuntala in charge of his companions. the king finds himself in the midst of a secret grove. he stops his chariot and alights. as he goes reverently through these holy woods "he feels a sudden throb in his arm. this argues happy love and soon he sees the maidens of the hermitage approaching to sprinkle the young shrubs with watering pots suited to their strength." among these beautiful maidens, rare in form and grace, the king observes one especially; it is shakuntala, foster-daughter of the hermit, half concealed by the trees, but standing "like a blooming bud enclosed within a sheath of yellow leaves." a beautiful girl is she, but the king stands puzzled. for if she be of purely brahmanic birth, she is prohibited from marrying one of the warrior class, even though he be the king. as shakuntala moves about watering the flowers of the wood, she starts a bee from one of the jasmine flowers. the bee pursues her, as if to do her harm with its sting, but dushyanta comes to the rescue; and the fair girl of the hermitage feels some strange thrill as she sees the king, an unusual visitant in that hallowed neighborhood. off she hurries with her two companions, but a series of happy accidents enables her to cast side glances at the king: a prickly kusa-grass has stung her foot, she must wait a moment, a bush has caught her robe, she must stop to disentangle it. and love is born. in the second act, while dushyanta is thinking of his love, two hermits arrive who tell him that demons have taken advantage of kanva's absence from the sacred grove and are disturbing the sacrifices, and requests that he come and defend the grove from their intrusion. he consents with keen delight and he will not leave the grove, even though his mother requests his presence at a sacrifice offered in his own behalf. he sends his representative, but cautions him to say nothing concerning his love for the fair shakuntala. in the third act, the king is discovered walking in the hermitage calling upon the god of love "whose shafts are flowers, though the flowers' darts are hard as steel." he tracks the object of his love by the broken stems of the flowers she had plucked in her rambles, and at length finds her in an arbor with her attendants. she reclines upon a stone bench strewn with flowers, she looks pale and wasted. her maidens seek to know the cause of her sickness, and she tells her love in a poem, written on a lotus leaf. just here the king rushes in and avows his passion. he tries to overcome her scruples against a marriage, so out of accord with the regulations of caste. he hears a voice of ill omen telling of the demons "swarming round the altar fires." he hastens to the rescue. in the fourth act, shakuntala is seen wearing the signet ring of the king, which ring has the charm to restore the king's love, should it ever grow cold. kanva returns from his pilgrimage in time to see the preparations being made for shakuntala's departure. the old hermit submits resignedly to her going and gives his blessing to the departing one. the fifth act presents dushyanta, like king saul, overcome with a deep and stubborn melancholy. he is under a curse of durvasas, and this induces complete forgetfulness of his wife shakuntala. "why has this strain," says the king, "thrown over me so deep a melancholy, as though i am separated from some loved one?" here the hermit and shakuntala, who is about to become a mother, are ushered into the presence of the king. he does not know her; denies he ever knew her. the shakuntala is about to produce from her finger the ring which should be proof of the marriage. but, alas! she discovers it to be lost. "it must have slipped off, in the holy lake when thou wast offering sacrifices," said gantami, who had accompanied her. the king laughs derisively. despite her endeavors, the king fails to recollect the marriage. the sad shakuntala buries her hands in her robes and sobs piteously. at length the ring is found by a fisherman, in the belly of a carp. it is brought to the king, who places it upon his finger, when he is overcome with a flood of recollections. but his wife and little son have been carried away to a secret grove far away from earth in the upper air. the king, conducted in the celestial car indra, at length joins them. there the royal pair are reconciled and reunited, and the drama comes to a close with a prayer to siva. many of the hindoo lyrics breathe of love and woman's graces, showing now a high respect for womanly charms, now indulging in humor at her frailties. "the god of love," says the poet bhartrihari, "sits fishing on the ocean of the world, and on the end of his hook he has hung a woman. when the little human fishes come they are not on their guard, quickly he catches them and broils them in love's fire." again, the poet sings: "she whom i love, loves another, while another is pleased with me." a song from the famous kalidasa will illustrate the poet's attitude toward a woman of beauty. "thine eyes are blue like flowers; thy teeth white jessamine; thy face is very like a lotus flower, so thy body must be made of the leaves of most delicate flowers; how comes it then that god hath given thee a heart of stone?" it would be impracticable to trace the history of the chief women of the long line of kings in the several dynasties which successively ruled in india. in fact, it would not be possible to do so, even though there might be material important for our present purpose. it was probably in the days of the mogul dynasty that emerged the most influential female characters in historic times. the brilliancy of the court of the mogul kings and the prominence of some of the queens and princesses give to this period, the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of our era, an especial fascination. akbar, known as the great, was a religious reformer, as well as a great sovereign. his favorite wife was a princess of a rajput family, and to her was due no little of akbar's success. it was through his influence that the earliest attempt was made to prohibit the _suttee_, or self-immolation of widows, a religious custom which had already begun to dot the hallowed places of the land with little white pillars that commemorated such sacrifices. one of akbar's wives is said to have been a christian woman. akbar's son, emperor jahangir, was also wedded to a woman of great force, one who is said indeed to have been the power behind his throne. he called her nur mahal, or "light of the harem," for she was his favorite wife. it was during jahangir's reign that the english first established themselves at surat. nur mahal was a woman who knew how, like jezebel and lady macbeth, to take into her own hands the reins of administration when a strong grasp became necessary. many of the intrigues that characterized the emperor's reign are attributed to her. coins of the realm were stamped in her name, and at last she was buried by the side of her husband at lahore. during the period of the mogul dynasty the queen lived in the midst of the greatest splendor, which, indeed, is generally more or less true of the wives of indian kings. jewels were theirs in extravagant abundance. fountains played for their enjoyment. marble baths were provided for their comfort, and numberless slaves waited on their bidding. the magnificence of the royal houses greatly impressed the persians when they conquered the land, or they would not have said, as is illustrated by their inscription upon one of the palaces they had taken: "if there be a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this!" among the best specimens of architectural magnificence was that erected by shah jehan, son of jahangir. it was he who built the famous taj mahal at agra, his favorite residence. he also erected the costly peacock throne at delhi. the taj mahal was built as a mausoleum for the empress mumtazi mahal, who died while giving birth to the princess jehanava. isa mohammed designed the building, and its erection was begun in the year 1630. after seventeen years, the employment of twenty thousand workmen, and the expenditure of millions of dollars, the taj mahal was finished. it is one of the most magnificent public buildings in india, and one of the most famous in the world. with its dome of two hundred and ten feet in height, its tropical garden, its mosaics and inscriptions, its marble of white, black, and yellow, its crystals, jaspers, garnets, amethysts, sapphires, and even diamonds, it is the richest and most notable tribute of marital love that has ever been erected. another monument built in honor of a woman is the famous tower kootab minar, the highest pillar in the world, being of red sandstone and two hundred and thirty-eight feet high. it is said to have been built that the king's daughter, from the vantage ground of its high turret, might look out upon the mosque which could be discerned in the distance. let us revert for a moment to the ancient hindoo writings and their influence upon the history of hindoo women. to the religious books of india woman has to-day no personal access. her religious sacrifices and ceremonies before marriage are with reference to the procuring of a husband. after marriage she may approach the deity, but only in the name of her husband. him she must revere almost as if he himself were a god. she hopes that in time she herself may be born a man. anciently there were in india virgins dedicated to the service of the temple and pledged to a life of purity, like the vestal virgins of ancient rome. in the course of the centuries the custom was degraded; and young women in large numbers became the dancing girls at the temples, and others openly dedicated themselves to a life of shame at the shrines. they are euphemistically termed "god's slaves," but might more properly be spoken of as slaves to the bestial passions of the profligate brahmans of the temple to which they belong. dedication of virginity to a popular deity, through his priest, became common. the young woman was said to have been married to the god, and was given over to a life of shame. brahmanism, which has been defined as "the religion which exalts the cow and degrades the woman," has been one of the most potent factors in shaping the life of woman in india. among the hindoos, woman has no independent spiritual life. her hope is in being married to a man. through him must her fortune be secured, and only in obedience to him can she hope for any ultimate happiness. woman has been regarded by the sages of india as a snare to man's rectitude and an obstacle to his best interests. buddha is said to have been seated one day in a grove near the banks of the ganges, with many about him who had come to do him reverence. as he saw a woman, the lady amra, circumspect and pious, approaching in the distance, buddha said to those about him: "this woman is indeed exceedingly beautiful, able to fascinate the minds of the religious: now, then, keep your recollection straight. let wisdom keep your mind in subjection. better fall into the fierce tiger's mouth, or under the sharp knife of the executioner, than to dwell with a woman and excite in yourselves lustful thoughts. a woman is anxious to exhibit her form and shape, whether walking, standing, sitting, or sleeping. even when represented as a picture, she desires most of all to set off the blandishments of her beauty, and thus to rob men of their steadfast heart. how, then, ought you to guard yourselves? by regarding her tears and her smiles as enemies, her stooping form, her hanging arms, and all her disentangled hair, as toils designed to trap man's heart." caste, in india, dominates everything from the cradle to the grave, and has greatly affected the life of woman. the lines of demarcation are deep-drawn and inexorable. the social gulfs are impassable. as one has remarked, the only tie between the castes is the cow, which is revered by all. there are four castes. to quote manu, "the brahmana, the kshatriya, and the vaishya castes are the twice born ones, but the fourth, the shudra, has one birth only; there is no fifth caste." but there are the outcasts who, because of some violation of caste rule, have lost their social status and are despised by all, even the lowest. the highest caste, according to popular belief, descended from brahma's mouth, this is the priestly class. the second came from brahma's arms, this is the warrior class. the third from his thighs, this is the merchant class; least of all are the shudras people, born of brahma's feet. the highest caste influences, in a measure, the customs of the lower castes. the women of the low caste are burdened with many outside duties, caring for their children in the intervals. they therefore enjoy no little freedom. the women of the high caste, however, are shut up in the zenanas, and so know little of the outside world. [illustration 3: _interior court of a zenana from an indo-persian painting the zenanas are the apartments of the women, and are quite secluded, the windows invariably looking upon the inner quadrangle of the house. the wives are closely confined to the house. in order to enjoy a social visit, permission must be given by the husband, who is rarely willing to grant the coveted freedom. there is not much gayety about the zenanas, though sometimes there may be music, dancing, and mirth. petty duties, trivial acts, and idleness make up "the life behind the curtain." the girls and boys are permitted to play together until the girl is about ten years old, then she must begin to keep purdah; that is, she must go behind the curtain._] the zenanas are the apartments of the women, and are quite secluded, the windows invariably looking upon the inner quadrangle of the house. the wives are closely confined to the house. in order to enjoy a social visit, permission must be given by the husband, who is rarely willing to grant the coveted freedom. there is not much gayety about the zenanas, though sometimes there may be music, dancing, and mirth. petty duties, trivial acts, and idleness make up "the life behind the curtain." the girls and boys are permitted to play together until the girl is about ten years old, then she must begin to keep purdah; that is, she must go behind the curtain. she must dwell in the seclusion of the women, not allowing a man, not even her own brothers, to look upon her. the hindoos cannot believe that a woman may be good and free at the same time; she may be good, she may be free, but both, never. the mohammedan hindoo women are of course influenced by the teachings of the koran, which regards the best women as those who never see any man but their husbands and sons, the next best those that have laid eyes only upon their relatives. very meagre is a girl's educational training. besides the domestic duties, in which she is instructed that she may be fitted for her married life, the girl is taught a few prayers which may be of service to her in winning the favor of the deities concerned with marital relations, and some popular songs by means of which she may while away the hours. the deference which members of the female sex are always expected to show to those of the male manifests itself somewhat differently in different sections of india. in the northern parts, where the women uniformly wear veils, they can more readily cover their faces at the unexpected appearance of a man, or they may run into another apartment. in southern india, where veils are not common, the women are not compelled to hide from the presence of men, but must always rise and remain standing out of deference to them. the hindoo woman will not call her husband by name; she uses such terms as "master, chosen," and "husband," and the husband, on the other hand, never alludes to his wife, nor does anyone inquire of him concerning her. the absorption of the wife's identity into that of the husband is complete. after marriage they become one and he is the one. there is little wonder at this when manu says: "by a girl, by a woman, or even by an aged one nothing must be done." "in childhood, a female must be subject to the father, in youth to her husband, and when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent." and the vedas declare that he only is a perfect man who consists of three persons united, his wife, himself, and his offspring. the expense of a marriage ceremony is very heavy in india. it is the most expensive of all the festivities of the hindoos. among the higher caste the outlay is usually above two hundred dollars. this, for a country where the people are so poor, is a large outlay. since religion makes it necessary for the girls to marry, two daughters may bankrupt a family. when it is remembered that the father must not only support his wives and children, but also his aged parents, his indigent or idle brothers and their families, the nearest widowed relations, and numerous other dependants, it may be seen that a breadwinner's life in this land of recurring famines is not always a happy one. it is not an uncommon thing in india for four generations of family life to be crowded into one house. the occasion of a marriage is, of course, one of prime interest. it is the only incident in which a woman may become the centre of an event of great religious significance. then vedic prayers are offered up and festivities run high. men dancers or nautch girls may be seen singing the amours, the quarrels and reconciliations of krishna and his wives or his mistresses. these are not a whit elevating. the truth is india is not lacking in obscenity, not even in the frescoes of its temples. though little be given to the hindoo girl, much is expected of her when she becomes a wife. for, says the laws of manu, "she must always be cheerful, clever in the management of household affairs, careful in cleaning her utensils and economical in expenditure." the necessity of bringing forth sons and being a good loyal wife generally may be discerned in the law of manu, which says: "a barren wife may be superseded in the eighth year; she whose children all die, in the tenth; she who brings only daughters into the world, in the eleventh; but she who is quarrelsome, without delay." faithfulness of a wife to her husband and her husband's interests must be unquestioned. thus alone may a woman find her higher blessedness. "a faithful wife," says manu, "who desires to dwell after death with her husband must never do anything that might displease him who took her hand whether he be alive or dead. by violating her duty to her husband a wife is disgraced in this world, after death she enters the womb of a jackal and is tormented by diseases, the punishment of her sin." one of the most remarkable customs of a remarkable people is that of child marriage. since a woman attains her blessedness, if not her spiritual entity by union with a man, marriage should be early. it is regarded as a disgrace for a father to have an unmarried daughter upon his hands. in oriental lands generally the marriageable age of girls is about twelve years, the period at which, in those countries, a young girl usually attains to physical womanhood. but in india even infant girls are married by their parents to other infants, or to older boys, or to men. a woman is not esteemed at all till she is married and becomes the mother of a son. then she becomes at least worthy of a certain respect. the history of the life of a hindoo girl of high caste may be thus drawn. word comes from the zenana that it is a girl. instead of congratulations and joy at the little one's advent, the mother is reviled by an angry husband because she brings him a daughter instead of a son. in his reproaches all the household join. for has she not disgraced her husband? and is she not accursed rather than blessed of the gods? the little one is hid from the eyes of the father when he enters the zenana, lest his anger burst forth anew. two years roll around, and the little girl hears sounds of rejoicing and of feasting in the house. a boy is born, and the father's attitude is changed toward the mother, and somewhat toward the daughter; but even yet she is a negligible quantity. the mother loves and sometimes caresses the girl. occasionally the father, too, will notice her; and when the brother has become old enough, the two little ones may play together. in a short time, it may be between the ages of five and six, the little daughter is arrayed in silk and costly gems. the day of her wedding has come, though she herself knows little of what it all means, and timidly assents to what her father in his unquestioned authority has done. she is brought to the man whom the parent has chosen from his own caste. they look upon each other for the first time, and the little girl scarcely sees him now for her timidity. the ceremony is over, and the husband returns to his own home. for the child wife must be taught the duties of housewifery. her mother is diligent in imparting the required knowledge. it consists of proficiency in the arts of cooking, spinning, weaving, and waiting upon her husband, more particularly when he is eating. the fundamental duty of marital obedience is instilled with supreme care. at about eleven years the girl wife is deemed ready to assume the serious duties of wedded life. the husband comes and takes her to his own home. if his circumstances permit he is royally seated, it may be, upon a gaudily bedecked elephant, and she is conveyed in a closely covered palanquin. the girl wife is now among strangers, she must make her way as best she can. life is not always easy for her. the hindoo mother-in-law at once becomes master of the new situation, and the daughter must be a willing slave. her apartments are not over cheerful, and the other women of the zenana receive her with chilling indifference or with positive cruelty. at twelve years of age the young wife is in all probability a mother. if the child be a son, she is emancipated from her thraldom to the husband's mother. she is now worthy in the sight of her husband, and if all goes well, her life is lifted to a higher plane. since a woman is bound to her husband as long as she lives,--even though the husband himself be dead,--remarriage for her is out of the question. social ostracism would surely follow the woman who would dare marry again. the man, however, may marry as often as he pleases and as many wives as may be to his liking and convenience. the english government attempted the impossible by the passage of a law--enacted in 1856--legalizing the remarriage of widows. few, however, were able to face the social hardships and loss of property which remarriage involved. the widow who refuses to marry may often hold her property, even though she live a life of shame. financial conditions have much to do with the number of wives which each husband acquires. the brahmanic caste may marry almost without limit. indeed, it is permitted to them to make a business of marriage. sometimes an illustrious brahman may go up and down the land, marrying girls, always of course within his own caste, receiving presents from the parents of the bride,--who esteem it an honor for their daughter to be wed, especially to one so distinguished,--but passing on and never returning to claim his wife. but the father is satisfied with the bargain, for his daughter is at last free from the disgrace and ridicule of being unmarried; and being the wife of a brahman of a high caste, the girl will be happy in the world to come. since the members of the _kshatriyas_, or warrior class, are not permitted to accept gifts as are the brahmans, or priestly class, the former cannot enjoy the privilege of enrichment by the process of multi-marriage. they therefore have fewer wives, the number being regulated by their power to support them. the same is also true of the number of the daughters whom they are willing should survive, infanticide being commonest among the people of this caste. it must not be thought that every utterance of the sacred books is on the side of the woman's inferiority. a single passage from manu proclaims that "a daughter is the equal of a son," but the law proceeds to let it be known that it is only through the husband or the son that this equality is realized. this doctrine is true not of women only, for even a man is made perfect only through his possession of a son or sons. "through a son he conquers the world, through a son's son he obtains immortality, but through his son's grandson he gains the world of the sun." indeed, "there is no place in heaven for a man," says vasishtha, "who is destitute of offspring." with the exception of child marriage, there is probably no fact concerning the hindoo woman's life that has received so much attention as the customs which bear so hard upon widowhood. beginning with the assumption that the death of the husband was sent as a punishment for the wickedness of the wife, in some previous state of existence it may be, it is easy to conclude that the widow's life should be made as miserable as possible. she is therefore maltreated, neglected, and at times almost starved. when death takes away him in whom alone she had any reason for being respected, her head must be shaved, all jewels and wearing apparel are taken away, and instead the coarse weeds of the widow are put on. one meal a day is permitted, and no more. even the women themselves are most harsh in the treatment of their bereft sisters. for as soon as it is known that the husband is dead, the women rush immediately upon the bewildered, grief-stricken wife, tear her ornaments from her body, shave her hair from her head, and pronounce the severest curses upon her whose sins in a bygone state had killed her husband. they advise her to appease the wrath of the deity by throwing herself with the husband upon the funeral pyre and thus as far as possible wipe out the awful disgrace. formerly, many yielded to self-immolation, and immediately put an end to a life that otherwise would be a prolonged misery, or at length, driven to frenzy by their thousand deaths of torture, in some way cut short their terrible agony. there are about one hundred and forty million women in india. at the age of fifteen, more often several years earlier, they are either wives or widows. since child marriage is so common in india, there are many widows of very tender years. there are said to be twenty-three million widows in india; at least two million of these became widows in early childhood. of these, eighty thousand are still under nine years of age, and six hundred thousand have not yet reached the age of twenty. the sorrows produced by religious belief concerning widowhood and by social customs cause many very young girls to end their lives by self-destruction. pundita ramabai, in her _high-caste hindu woman_, says of the widow: "she must never take part in the family feasts; is known by the name of harlot; if she escapes from her home, no respectable person will take her in; suicide, or a life of infamy is inevitable." happily, the self-immolation of widows in india has now well-nigh passed away. the english government has done much to break this awful custom, which was thought to be the only means of destroying the force of a widow's eternal misery and of bringing to her any future blessedness. this horrible death, known as _suttee_, was made unlawful in 1830. but "cold _suttee_," as some have called the living death which widows suffer from social customs, is still maintained. from all that has been said, it is not strange that fathers may sometimes be found who will be willing, for so many rupees, to sell their daughters to a course of infamy, or that men may sometimes lend their wives for a money consideration, or that the suicides of females have been so numerous in india. there are above five million fewer women in india than men. this marked discrepancy may be accounted for by the infanticide which prevails in some parts and among some classes of the hindoos, notwithstanding all that the government can do to prevent it. female infants are sometimes strangled, sometimes exposed to wild beasts, or generally neglected. the dark, unsanitary conditions of the women's quarters, and the extraordinarily harsh and unintelligent treatment of women at the time of childbirth, also play their part in the death rate of females. all this is in marked contrast to the position of women in siam. here the seclusion of the turkish harem and the hindoo zenana does not exist, and the women are probably the freest, most independent of the women of the east. they openly attend to their duties, bringing their food to market, buying, selling, aiding in the management of the house and field. a man does not spend his money without consultation with the wife, should he prize the family peace: the woman usually carries the purse. inheritance of house and lands is through the mother rather than through the father--a survival of the ancient mother-right. women even in this comparatively favored land, however, are seldom educated, except it be in schools established by christian foreigners. if a woman wishes to learn at all, it must be through her husband or brother at home. woman in burmah also is comparatively free, neither the zenana nor the veil prevailing there. she too holds the purse strings; but in all other respects she is distinctly inferior to her husband and must constantly acknowledge it. a good wife will never say "i" in talking to her husband concerning herself, but must speak of herself as "your servant." in the eyes of the man, the woman here is not only inferior, but vile, even to the touch. her garments are polluting to the passer-by; hence, she always draws them more closely about herself as she passes a man upon the streets. in assam also woman holds a far higher place than in other parts of india or in burmah, even among the rude and warlike people. to the nagas of the hill country of assam a girl is most welcome at birth and by many preferred to a boy, for she is more docile, helpful, and obedient; she is less expensive to rear and more filial in her attitude to her aged parents. this last consideration is one that counts for very much in all oriental lands. instead of the early child marriages of india, here we find marriage at about thirteen, the bride not leaving the parental roof till three or four years after. the wife is respected and consulted, the husband often deferring to his wife. "i will come from the house and tell you," means "i will ask my wife." at marriage an iron bracelet is placed on the wrist. this is sometimes worn with gold circlets to lessen the sense of subjection. but the iron bracelet does not thus lose its significance, for the woman has everything to remind her of her secondary place in society. sir monier monier-williams gives the following summary of woman's life in india: "in regard to women, the general feeling is that they are the necessary machines for producing children (manu, lx: 96), and without children there could be no due performance of the funeral rites essential to the peace of a man's soul after death. this is secured by early marriage. if the law required the consent of boys and girls before the marriage ceremony they might decline to give it. hence, girls are betrothed at three or four years of age and go through the marriage ceremony at seven to boys of whom they know nothing; and if these boy husbands die the girls remain widows all their lives." since the boys soon find out their superiority to their mothers, the latter have little part in shaping the characters of the children, and therefore comparatively small influence in moulding the destiny of the people. wherever the cow is exalted and the woman degraded a nation can hope for little from its women. "we all believe," says a prominent hindoo, "in the sanctity of the cow and in the depravity of woman." unwelcomed at her arrival and often harassed and kept in subjection till her death, she can contribute little to the welfare of her people. it may be said, however, that the hindoo woman is in the main satisfied with her lot, and is the mainstay of hindooism. viii beside the persian gulf it is a familiar remark that the essential difference between the civilization of the east and that of the west is disclosed in the status of woman in each of these regions of the earth. erman, in writing of the women of egypt, broadly remarks that in the west woman is "the companion of man, while in the east she is his servant and toy. in the west at one time, the esteem in which woman was held rose to a cult, while in the east, the question has frequently been earnestly discussed whether woman really belonged to the human race." but he justly adds, this is not absolutely fair, either to the east or to the west. while in india woman has been denied a soul, and among the teutonic tribes she was honored with a superstitious reverence, yet not all the veneration can be accounted upon the one side, nor all the degradation upon the other. among the primitive aryan peoples woman's place appears to have been no mean one. the early traditions of the women of bactria, ancient iran, and the region of the oxus converge with those preserved in the rigveda of the hindoos to indicate a high degree of respect for woman, for marriage, and for the other domestic virtues. the science of comparative philology has helped us to discover some of the primitive ideas attached to the names of the female members of the household. the root _ma_, _matar_, "mother," signifies the _creatrix_, "she who brings children into the world." the coming of a girl into the countries bordering on the persian gulf does not seem to have been the matter of regret that it was so frequently in the orient; for the name "sister" appears to be connected with _svasti_, "good," or "good fortune"; while the daughter manifestly held the important place, in the pastoral life of the times, of milkmaid, from _duhitar_, "she who brings the milk from the cows." lenormant, writing of this ancient period, says: "marriage was a consecrated and free act, preceded by betrothal and symbolized by the joining of hands. the husband, in the presence of the priest, both while the priestly office was invested in the head of the family, and also after the priesthood became separate, took the right hand of the bride, pronouncing certain sacred formulæ; the bride was then conducted on a wagon drawn by two white oxen. the father of the bride presented a cow to his son-in-law, this was intended originally for the wedding feast, but in later times it was taken to the house of the bridegroom; this was the dowry, an emblem of agricultural richness. the bride's hair was parted with a dart; she was conducted around the domestic hearth and was then received at the door of her new abode with a present of fire and water." many of these ancient customs which prevailed in the regions of irania in the earliest times existed in the various branches of the indo-european family in their scattered locations. there may be mentioned the fire ordeal, such a trial as that through which the virtuous sita, heroine of the _ramayana_, was compelled by her suspicious husband king rama to pass in order to destroy his suspicions. there were two methods of testing a woman's virtue. by the first, she must pass unharmed through a trench filled with live coals. in the second, a succession of concentric circles, about ten inches apart, was marked out. a red-hot lance head, or another piece of similarly heated metal, must be carried by the accused woman without being burnt across the first eight circles and thrown into the ninth, and it must even then be sufficiently hot to scorch the grass within the last circle. if the hand that bore the red-hot metal was not burnt, the innocence of the accused was established. in the legendary period of persia's history woman performs an honorable and--it is needless to add--a romantic part. indeed, there has been an interest of romance attached to persia from the early days when herodotus travelled and xenophon gave the world his _cyropædia_. persia's great epic poets, notably firdausi in _shahnamah_, have preserved many of the early traditions of this land. more particularly do the deeds which gather about the name of shah jamshid, one of the earliest of persian rulers, stand out in bold character. according to the ancient legend, it was he who not only introduced the handicrafts of weaving, of embroidering upon woollen, cotton, and silken stuffs, but also it was he who divided the people into the four social strata,--priests, warriors, traders, and husbandmen. both these contributions to persia's early history may be said to be of prime importance in the development of the womanhood of the country. of this king many interesting stories are related, episodes in which heroic womanhood conspicuously figures. war and love, deeds of daring and of chivalry hold a large place in the persian legends. the thrilling stories of king jamshid's meeting with the irresistible daughter of gureng, king of zabulistan; of their love and marriage; the legend of the fair tahmimah, daughter of the king of semangan, and how she fascinated and led captive the love of the youthful warrior rustam, whose fame had come to her ears; the unhappy trick by which she deceived her absent husband, saying that the infant born to them was a girl, so that the child might be left with her,--a deception which ended in the tragedy of young suhrab's death at the hands of his own father; rustam and tahmimah's death from grief; the romantic finding of a queen for king kai kaus, a lady who was to become the mother of king saiawush; the story of byzun and the fair princess manijeh--all these, and more, render the persian epic literature rich in tales of love and chivalry. it is out of the long and bloody struggles between the iranians and the turanians, who for over ten centuries battled for supremacy, that the early epic stories have largely sprung. there was no prejudice in the ancient days of persia against a strenuous as well as an amatory life for womankind. in the chapter upon the women of the assyro-babylonian people, the story of semiramis, the illustrious queen, has been told. so widespread was the legend, however, that it belongs to the persians as well as to the inhabitants of the tigris-euphrates basin. the story was well known in the region of armenia, and may have been introduced into persian history because of its political value. among the early women of distinction must be named homai, who has indeed been identified with "the persian semiramis." she was a princess of renown and daughter of bahman, and to her has been given the credit of being the author of a collection of tales known as _hezar afsane_, which comprises about two hundred stories told upon a thousand nights. it is from this collection by the princess homai that many suppose the _arabian nights_ was constructed. how much of the material from the former went to make up the latter is not capable of present proof, but that the general idea and plan and some of the names, and the groundwork of many of the tales, were borrowed from the work of the persian princess seems quite certain. homai is mentioned in the avesta, the sacred book of the persians; and the persian poet firdausi makes her the daughter as well as wife of artaxerxes longimanus. her mother is said to have been a jewess, shahrazaad, among the captives brought from jerusalem to babylon by nebuchadnezzar. she is reported as having delivered her nation from captivity, and has been identified with esther of the hebrew scriptures, as well as with shahrazaad the jewess of the _arabian nights_. professor gottheil thinks that the case here is well made out by kuenen and others. the period of cyrus the great brings us upon the borderland between legend and history. very romantic is the story told by herodotus concerning the mother of cyrus. astyages, the medean king, had a daughter named mandane. this young woman was given in marriage to cambyses, son of theispes. shortly after this, king astyages had a dream in which there appeared a vine springing from his daughter mandane and spreading till it had overshadowed all asia. wishing to know the meaning of this unusual dream, astyages received from the magi the interpretation that a son of mandane should some day reign in his place. alarmed at this, the king called a trusted servant, harpagus, and commanded that he make plans to put to death the infant to which mandane was soon to give birth; and the wife of cambyses was closely guarded. harpagus, however, unwilling himself to be guilty of so bloody a crime, directed that a herdsman of the king expose the infant son on a desert mountain, where its death would be certain. the herdsman, however, instead of leaving the little one to perish, reared him himself instead of his own stillborn son. the child received the name of agradates, but later that of cyrus, who by his achievements won the cognomen "the great." according to ctesias, cyrus, after defeating astyages, married his daughter amytis, who had been the wife of a mede named spitaces, whom cyrus put to death. herodotus, as we have seen, says that the mother of cyrus was a daughter of astyages. the two statements may be both correct, however, since an oriental conqueror would not hesitate to marry his mother's sister if the procedure gave him greater power over a conquered territory. it was a woman, according to herodotus, who at length brought the great conqueror cyrus to his end. desiring to vanquish the massagetæ, a warlike tribe inhabiting the steppes north of the river jaxartes, he sent out his army, with the greater confidence of victory since this people was then governed by a woman. when the queen of the massagetæ, tomyris, perceived the approach of the large army of persians and the work of building bridges across the jaxartes, she sent a herald to cyrus, proposing a fair and open contest between the two forces, on whichever side of the river cyrus might select. cyrus chose the side of the river next the massagetæ, but made use of a piece of strategy by which the massagetæ were defeated and the queen's son, who led in the battle, was captured. queen tomyris, on hearing of the disaster, wrote a bitter message to cyrus, and threatened revenge that would be most direful if her son were not returned alive. cyrus gave no heed to the threat. thereupon, tomyris mobilized all the forces of her kingdom against the persian army. "of all the combats in which the barbarians have ever engaged among themselves," says the ancient historian, "i reckon this to have been the fiercest." first, the armies stood apart and shot their deadly arrows. when the quivers were all emptied, the forces joined in hand-to-hand encounter with lances and daggers, neither yielding, till at length the army of the queen prevailed by the destruction of the larger part of the persian army. cyrus himself was slain; and as tomyris passed his bloody corpse, she heaped insults upon it, saying: "i live, and have conquered thee in fight; and yet by thee i am ruined, for thou tookest my son with guile; but thus i make good my threat, and give thee thy fill of blood." the story of araspes and panthea, related by xenophon, is one of the earliest pieces of romantic fiction. it is told in the _cyropædia_, and is intended to illustrate the steadfastness and virtue of the great cyrus. among the early gifts to the conqueror was a susian lady, wife of abradates, king of the susians, and regarded as the most beautiful woman in asia. cyrus, never having yet seen her, committed her to the care of araspes till he might call for her. but the guardian fell so in love with his fair ward that he feared the displeasure of cyrus. the king, however, astutely seizing upon his supposed anger toward araspes, decides to send him, as if a fugitive, to the enemy, that information might be received by araspes and communicated to him. moreover, panthea now sends to cyrus a message that her own husband abradates would himself become a fast friend to her lord, should he be allowed the privilege of coming to him. thus cyrus, unlike many another king and warrior, by supreme self-control in the matter of his loves gained friends and subdued enemies. the kings of persia, while usually marrying but one legal wife, enjoyed the universal custom of supporting a vast harem, and of inviting into it daughters of neighboring kings. usually the purposes were peaceful, but sometimes they were of a hostile character. this was the case when cambyses, having resolved to carry out his father's plan of making a conquest of egypt, demanded of amasis, egypt's king, his daughter in marriage, hoping thereby to pick a quarrel. amasis replied by sending, not his own daughter, but another damsel of his realm, who, unable or unwilling to keep the secret, divulged to cambyses the deception that had been practised upon him. the persian king desired no better pretext for war, and the marriage trick was avenged by egypt's fall. the wives of the kings sometimes exerted much influence in the realm, either for good or bad. amestris, the only lawful wife of xerxes, is said to have been instrumental in the death of her husband by the hands of two of his chief men. amestris was his own cousin. that she instigated this murder is not at all improbable, since there was ample ground for jealousy on her part because of the notorious gallantries of xerxes. indeed, the hebrew book of esther draws a picture of the corruptions of his court which in general outline is certainly true to the facts. royal personages sometimes married their own sisters. this, however, was contrary to the ancient custom. cambyses, who succeeded cyrus upon the throne, fell in love with meroe, his youngest sister, and wished to marry her. not wishing to fly in the face of the custom of the persians, he called together the judges of the empire and inquired of them whether there might not be a law which allowed the marriage of brother and sister. the judges informed him that there was no such law among the persians, but that there was a law allowing the king to do whatever he pleased. disgusted and enraged, the king ordered his sister to be put to death; so that if marriage with her was prohibited to him, it might not be possible to a lesser man. this was no surprise, however, to a people who had known of the cruelties of this tyrant, whose own brother smerdis had been brutally executed at his command. cambyses having died of a self-inflicted wound, his successor, known as the pseudo-smerdis, or gomates, married all his predecessor's wives--a common custom among oriental monarchs; for the harem might easily be regarded as a part of the spoils of conquest, or of the inheritance, as the case might be. gomates kept his numerous wives confined in separate apartments, for the intrigues of the seraglio were the bane of the persian as of the other oriental dynasties. when darius i. came into possession of the persian throne he proceeded to add dignity to his kingly claims by marrying atossa, daughter of cyrus, who had already been successively the wife of her brother cambyses and of the false claimant smerdis. such political and incestuous marriages became quite common in persia. one might marry not only a sister, but a daughter, and even a mother. at the instigation of parysatis, artaxerxes ii., her son, married his own daughter. atossa figures in an interesting story, which may, however, lack historic truthfulness. democedes, a physician of crotona, had healed the injured foot of darius, and was now called upon to visit atossa in an illness. democedes, anxious to return to his native land, sees his opportunity. atossa, healed of her malady, is induced to appear before darius and reproach him for idly sitting still and not extending the persian dominion. "a man who is young," said she, "and lord of vast kingdoms should do some great thing, that the persians may know it is a man who rules over them." darius replied that he was even then preparing an expedition against the scythians. "nay," answered his wife, "do not fight against the scythians, for i have heard of the beauty of the women of hellas and desire to have athenian and spartan maidens among my slaves, and thou hast here one who above all men can show thee how thou mayest do this--i mean he who hath healed thy foot." atossa prevailed. but the expedition was only a reconnoitring party sent out in ships to greece and italy. democedes reached his home, and sent darius word that he could not return, because he had married the daughter of milon the wrestler; but the expedition met only with disaster. that persian women of royalty often took no inconsiderable part in political and military activity is illustrated by many examples from the days of persia's strength. xenophon has immortalized the zeal of parysatis in her efforts at placing her son cyrus, the younger, upon the throne, and her plottings in his behalf against his elder brother artaxerxes. parysatis failed, but won no small power even in her unsuccessful efforts. alexander the great, on his eastern campaign, seemed as willing to marry the daughters of conquered princes of the east as to be worshipped as a god by his obedient followers. indeed, he would frequently give respite to a strenuous life of conquest by marrying an oriental woman. while alexander was engaged in his phoenician campaign, darius wrote alexander a letter offering him not only all lands west of the euphrates river, but also his own daughter, statira, as the price of peace. it was on this occasion that the famous dialogue between alexander and his general parmenion occurred. the latter had advised that the offer of darius be accepted and no further risk of battle be undertaken. "were i alexander," said parmenion, "i should take these terms." "so should i, if i were parmenion," said alexander; "but as i am not parmenion, but alexander, i cannot." accordingly, he wrote to darius in reply to his offer: "you offer me a part of your possession, when i am lord of all; and if i choose to marry your daughter, i shall do so whether you give consent or not." events justified alexander's boast, for both the territory and the daughter fell into the hands of the macedonian victor. it was not, however, till the conqueror reached the palace city of susa, on his return from india, that he celebrated his marriage with statira, a daughter of darius and parysatis, who herself was daughter of ochus, predecessor of darius. alexander wished to encourage such unions with persian women, and went so far as to offer to his soldiers a full payment of all debts to those who would take to themselves persian wives--an argument which appealed powerfully to the extravagant spendthrifts, but was of little force with the sober and provident of his followers. many of the former availed themselves of their general's offer and followed his illustrious example. ten thousand soldiers received presents for marrying eastern wives, and at least eighty of alexander's courtiers celebrated their marriage to persian wives while at susa. the intermarriage of greeks with persian women was desired by alexander as one means of welding together the greeks and the persians into one united empire. in the opinion of the greeks, however, a union between the sons of hellas and the daughters of the east could not be regarded as a regular marriage; and yet, roxana, the bactrian, was exalted to be alexander's queen. the spirit of the east, however, conquered the conquerors, and polygamy was introduced among the greek invaders, alexander himself having married three wives of the east, roxana, statira, and parysatis. the most noteworthy matrimonial coup of alexander during his eastern conquest was, of course, that with roxana. her son, born after alexander's death, and called by the name of his father, laid claim to the title of "the great king"; but alexander's eastern plans, so far as they looked toward a universal empire, melted away in the early morning of their conception. after the decline of the græco-persian power and the rise of parthian supremacy, we enter a new epoch in persian history. the parthians had long been a rude, nomadic people. their women were uncultured, and played little part, except in a physical way, in the new era that dawned upon the land of proud persia. the parthian women were, however, sturdy, self-sacrificing, and brave, adapted well to the dashing character of the parthian warrior, whose tactics in battle struck terror to the stoutest hearts, even among the brave greeks and the well-nigh invincible romans. following the downfall of the parthians comes, under ardeshir, the rise of the sassanian dynasty, which many suppose to be a revival of the once glorious line of achæmenian kings. it was not long before woman began to figure prominently in the new history. sapor i., son of ardeshir, or the sassanian artaxerxes, as he is called, finding difficulty in bringing the province of hatra under his sway, receives an overture from the daughter of manizen, the ruler of hatra, an ambitious young woman,--without moral scruples,--with intimation that if she were made queen of persia she would promise to betray her father's forces into sapor's hands. the compact was faithfully carried out by the damsel; but sapor, when he came into possession of hatra, ordered the traitress to be put to death, instead of marrying her, for sapor not unnaturally felt that he could not be safe on his throne with such a wife. it was during the reign of sapor that a new element was injected into persian social and religious life which was destined somewhat later to influence almost every home in persia. this was the rise of manicheism, named for its founder manes. this was a new form of christianity--a syncretic faith into which entered a little of zoroastrianism, somewhat of judaism, a modicum of buddhism, and some christianity. manes's teachings seemed so plausible that many were swept away by them; they appeared to be destined to shake the older faiths from their foundations, and they changed many of the customs as well as portions of the worship of the people. manes was a zealous patron of the decorative arts. the art of weaving carpets of silk and of wool, which has given employment to so many female fingers from that day to this, and the fine embroideries which have made persia famous are to be attributed in no small degree to the influence of manes. the lives of the women of the sassanidæ were not always to be envied. the story, though it may have changed form and color somewhat by transmission, is not an improbable one which tells of king varahran's anger at his queen. one day, seated with her in an open pavilion overlooking the plain, he saw two wild asses approaching. with his bow the strong man, skilled in the chase, transfixed both of the animals with one well-aimed shot. turning to his spouse to receive the applause he thought due him, the wife replied: "practice makes perfect." angered at the lightness with which his skilful feat was received, he ordered her to be executed, but quickly repented, and simply divorced her from the palace. in quiet moments, he repented of his haste. for years, he had no trace of the former queen, but when hunting one day he beheld a scene which quickly excited his curiosity and admiration. it was a woman carrying upon her shoulders a cow, with which, indeed, she easily walked up and down the stairs of the country house. on asking her concerning the remarkable feat, she replied, as she dropped her veil: "practice makes perfect." the king recognized his wife, now no longer young, but still possessing physical charms, and invited her to take her place again in the palace. the woman had commenced to carry the cow when it was but a tiny calf, and had shrewdly planned the feat in the hope that some day she might win back her husband's respect. it has been suggested that cows are small in persia, as is indeed the case, but more probably some small animal, such as a goat or a gazelle, first figured in the story. persian kings of the house of sassan intermarried frequently with turkish women, and one of the best known of this dynasty, hormisda, had a turkish mother. it was he who won the mortal enmity of one of persia's greatest generals by sending to the veteran a distaff, together with a woman's costume, suggesting that he give up the art of war for that of spinning. the suggestion cost the king his sceptre. the soldiery, however, raised to the throne his son, the many-sided chosroes parveez, whose name stands out prominently not only as a foster-father of the arts among the people, but as preëminent in a long line of persian kings because of his unswerving love for his wife shirin all through his long and, in some respects, most honorable reign. his harem, however, was one of the most extensive in all persian annals. modern persia has, of course, lost much of the grandeur of the days of mandane or of the mother of xerxes. persia, being an inland as well as a mountainous country, with scarcely any railway facilities in the entire country, and no navigable waterways, has been very little influenced by modern ideas or customs. as there are many tribes and nationalities in the land, and many different religions as well, many differences are found in manners, customs, and even in language. each nationality and each sect continues distinct from the other. broad differences have engendered social distinctions and sometimes enmity and strife. no single statement as to the relation of the sexes in persia will apply to all the peoples of the country. the large majority of the people being mohammedans, the customs are very similar to those of all other countries where islam rules. among the nestorian christians and the catholic christians women are unveiled and free to come and go. among the so-called "fire worshippers" of the monsul mountains, men and women associate in their great feasts, and the sexes dance and sing together. the laws of the people fix the number of wives at not more than six, and, of course, the girl may not choose her husband; but is sold by her parents, though she may remain single by paying through hard labor a sum to the father for the privilege of remaining under the parental roof. among the parsees, the modern followers of zoroaster, who number about twenty-five thousand, woman is given a better opportunity for education than among the mohammedans. obedience to her husband is, of course, her first duty; and married life is looked upon as specially blessed, and rich parsees are known to aid in a pecuniary way those who are marriageable, but lack the material means to make them happy. polygamy is prohibited among the parsees, except that after nine years of sterility, a wife may expect another woman to share the home of her husband. divorces are forbidden, and wives have comparative freedom. the wealthier persians, generally found in the towns, reside in large dwellings having several apartments. the masses of the people, however, live poorly in mud houses or huts from thirty to forty feet square, with one room and a single door. woman's work in persia, as generally in the east, is multiform as well as menial. the women, of course, do the baking. they use yeast in the making of their bread. having kneaded the dough, they set it aside to rise, after which they divide the mass into small parts, and with a rolling-pin they roll these pieces of dough very thin, and sometimes to the size of two feet in length by a foot in width, and then stick them to the side of the oven. the latter is a cylindrical hole in the ground, lined with clay and located near the centre of the house. it is about four feet deep, and approximately two and a half feet in diameter. the women make fire in this oven but once a day. the wife bakes once or twice a week, if the family be small, but if large, every day or every other day. this oven, whose top is even with the floor, is also the place around which in cool weather the family gather upon mats to keep themselves warm. the fuel is not wood, which is very scarce, but manure. at first both the smoke and the odor are very perceptible, but when once the fire is burning freely, the impurities of the fuel are drawn up through an opening in the roof, a window, just above the oven. out of this window, which remains open day and night, the smoke is supposed to go, as indeed it will, if ample time be given. the persian housewife is thus enabled to keep her house ventilated, but its walls and ceilings soon become very black with soot. in rainy weather the good housewife must place a pan or other receptacle immediately under the window--for this opening in the ceiling is both the avenue for light and for ventilation, hence must not be closed. if a woman wishes to know her neighbor's business, she will creep upon the top of her neighbor's roof--for houses are very often close together, and eavesdrop through the open window. weaving is done both by women and by men. the weaving and spinning apparatus, as well as the crude cotton-gins, are in the same room where the family eats, sleeps, cooks, and converses. as a rule, the men weave the light goods, such as cotton fabrics, while the women make the carpets, rugs, and the like. the women are the spinsters, and, with untiring energy, they rise early and spin all day. it is said that a woman of ordinary skill can spin a pound of cotton a day, provided she works very hard. for this she receives, if done for another, about twenty cents. the women do the milking. in fact, it is regarded as beneath the dignity of a man to milk, if not as a positive disgrace. the women milk cows, buffaloes, sheep, and goats. butter is made from buffalo milk, which is given by the animals in large quantities and is exceedingly white. since clabber is more highly prized than fresh milk, the housewife, as soon as she has finished her morning's milking,--they milk twice a day,--heats the fresh milk almost to boiling, allows it to cool a little, and then adds a table-spoonful of sour milk. speedily the whole begins to coagulate, and the next morning, with the addition of syrup, it forms the customary breakfast. the good housewife finds it indispensable to keep a little sour milk at hand in order to hasten the coagulation. women residing in towns do their churning in earthen vessels or pitchers, called _meta_, always using sour milk. among the nomadic people of the country sheepskins are used for this purpose. these sheepskin churns are filled, and suspended by means of cords from a wooden frame. the churn is thus shaken back and forth by the women till the butter comes. if butter in excess of the immediate need is produced,--and the poorer classes use it sparingly,--it is converted into oil, which keeps its quality for a year or two and is much used for cooking. the women are also the millers, braying the corn in mortars in primitive fashion, or beating it to meal upon a flat stone with a stone hammer, or, in some advanced households, grinding it in hand mills. it requires two or three women to use a hand mill, which consists of two huge round stones, one revolving upon the other. two or more women will take hold of a handle attached to the upper stone and turn, while another pours the grain, from an earthen jar, through a hole in the upper millstone. as only a little wheat can be ground at a time, it requires much patience, and the men generally give over the labor to the women. harvesting is also done by the women. the season between june and august of each year is therefore peculiarly severe upon them. their domestic duties must be finished soon after sunrise; then, with their sickles, they start out from the villages to the harvest fields, a mile or two distant. one may often see the baby in its tiny cradle flung across the shoulder of the mother on her way to the day's labor. she puts the cradle down in the shade in view of the reapers, and performs her daily task in the broiling sun. while the women reap, the men gather the bundles and bind them for the threshing floor. at the close of the day, homeward they trudge, tired and soiled by the day's work; the mothers carrying their little ones back to their homes, where the domestic duties of evening are to be performed before comes the opportunity for rest. when grain harvest is over, the vineyards are to be gleaned, and the women are to do most of the work of picking the ripe, luscious branches of grapes, filling the huge baskets and carrying them to the place where the fruit is to be spread out to be dried. in fifteen or twenty days the grapes have become raisins, and they are again taken up and piled away, ready for the market. wine and molasses are also made from grapes, the work being largely the task of the women. just as persia has its ruths gleaning in the fields, so also rebekah with her water pot may be seen daily. in lieu of modern buckets, the persians are content to have their women take large earthen jars, morning and night, to the public wells, springs, or streams outside the village. there the women fill their pots, lift them first to the hips, then to the back or shoulder, and trudge home with their burden, chatting happily as they go, and becoming straight and strong by the muscular exercise involved. eight or ten trips may be necessary before each woman has filled all her jars, and so procured the necessary amount of water for the daily use. there is a saying in persia: "when cousins marry they are never happy." and yet, as a rule, marriages are within the religious sects. if a christian--christians in persia are of the ancient nestorian faith--should marry a mohammedan woman, he would be compelled to renounce his religion for the mohammedan, as the ruling class would not allow it to be otherwise. christian parents, on the other hand, would not give their consent to the union of their daughter with a worshipper of islam. occasionally, however, attractive nestorian girls are captured and carried off, and compelled to accept the mohammedan religion, and married to a persian or a turk. generally, girls marry within their own villages, since each neighborhood is, as a rule, a community uninfluenced and unvisited by people from other communities. persia is no exception to the ordinary oriental rule, that marriage contracts are made by the parents--the children accepting with unquestioning obedience the conditions that have been prepared for them. a young man, being where isolation of the sexes does not prevail, may, however, and often does, show unmistakably his preference for the girl of his liking; and since the communities are often small, isolated marriages of those who have known and loved one another from infancy are not infrequent. the wise parent finds out if the two young people are really in love, though both will often vehemently deny what is plainly true, and tries to arrange matters in accordance with the eternal fitness of things. the girl in question, however, is never consulted in the matter. all girls are supposed to marry, and a youth who remains long single is considered of all creatures the most miserable. as is general throughout the east, persian girls are ready for conjugal life at twelve years of age, certainly at the age of fifteen. betrothal often takes place as early as infancy. parents will sometimes undertake to cement, or at least to express, their strong friendship by engaging their infants, one to another. these two, growing up with the understanding that they are finally to be husband and wife, often become ardent lovers, and the match is a happy one. when a young man has become of age, which in many cases is very early in life, especially among the rich classes, the parents will send two or three male friends to act as mediators, who will go to the house of the girl in question and ask her parents for her hand. after some deliberation, with apparently great reluctance, the request is granted. to seal the contract, one of the mediators rises and kisses the hand of the father. the contracting parties return to their homes and report their success to the parents of the young man. in accordance with the affirmative report, his parents, within a few days, meet the parents of the girl and conclude the arrangements for the wedding. the first in the order of preparation is the buying of the wedding clothes for the bride; for these the father of the prospective bridegroom pays. the father must make presents to the members of the girl's family and to her friends. the chief officers of the town must also be remembered. after this the parties make ready for the marriage. while the bride is engaged in preparing for the wedding, there are feasts and revels at the houses of both the bride and the groom. provision for these sumptuous feasts is made by the groom's father. this feasting lasts from three to six days. the predominating features in it are music and dancing, in a style peculiar to persian life and custom. mirthful song is provided by professional singers, to the great delight of those present. after two or three days of incessant preparation on the part of the girl, and of festivity on the part of the ever mirthful guests, the men and the boys, following a leader, go to bring the bride home. as soon as the gay company has arrived, a feast is in readiness for them. a dance in the house or in the yard follows. meantime, the bride is being prepared to take her journey to her future home. at last it is announced that she is ready, and the musicians play a doleful tune, while the girl kisses her parents good-bye; and bidding adieu to all the friends of her childhood, she is soon mounted on the horse which is to carry her. at that moment the musicians change their mournful tune to one more lively, and off the whole company marches with the bride to her destination. at the arrival of the bride, which is reported by a young man, all the people of the community emerge from their huts and come out to witness the festive scene. after some ceremony, the bride dismounts before the house of the most prominent man in the town, into which she is escorted, and there she is received and entertained with honor. that night again the town in general enjoys hilarious feasting and mirth, especially in the house of the groom. the next day the musicians go to the different parts of the town where the guests are being entertained, and summon them to the enjoyment of another feast. as soon as this is over, they accompany the groom, led by the music and dancers, to the place where the bride is being entertained; and thence, if they be catholic christians, they at once proceed to the church, where the priest performs the marriage rite. the husband and wife are now ready to be escorted to their future home, which is the birthplace of the groom. the rest of that day is spent in conversation and feasting. the female friends of the groom look, for the first time, upon the unveiled bride; and they examine the embroidered work, which the girl has made with her own hands, and which constitutes a part of the bridal equipment. the day being over, the friends depart and the bride and groom are launched on their new life. the women of the persian seraglio are more closely confined, if possible, than the women of the hindoo or of the turkish harems. in ancient days it was customary to put the women who entered the royal harem under a strict regimen or course of preparation. a glimpse of this purifying process is given in the hebrew book of esther, the author of which shows minute acquaintance with persian life and customs. "now when every maid's turn was come, ... after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women (for so were the days of their purification accomplished, to wit: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors, and with other things for the purifying of the women), then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house." the custom of strict seclusion and oversight of the women, introduced by the ancient kings to guard better a pure lineage and to exhibit greater state, has had large influence in persia, except among the nomadic peoples. the arrangements of the house for obtaining privacy for women are usually the same throughout the land. the first apartment of the house is for the use of men; the second or interior apartment, called the "anteroom," is for the women, and no men are allowed to intrude into the "harem" or "forbidden place"; else the voice of the eunuchs, or guardians, will be quickly heard crying out: "women--away," and every face in the harem will be at once veiled from the sight of the intruder. "i am a woman" is frequently given and regarded as an ample reason why a modern persian girl need not learn to read. every city or town has its school for boys, but there are no schools for girls (unless they be mission schools), since it is commonly believed that it is a prudent policy to keep the female sex satisfied with their present position in the economy of life. the wealthier parents may, however, sometimes employ private tutors for their girls. the deep-seated line that marks a woman as different from a man appears even in the method of capital punishment meted out to women. while a man who is to be executed will have his jugular vein cut, be nailed to a wall, or be blown from a cannon's mouth, a woman will be sentenced to have her head shaved, her face blackened, to take a bareback ride upon a donkey along the public highway, and finally to be beaten to death in a bag. or she may be stripped of all clothing and placed in a bag full of cats, which will soon scratch or bite the unfortunate victim to death. domestic peace does not always hover like a white dove over persian homes. even among the nestorians, the ancient christian sect, it is very common for the husband to assert his lordship over his spouse by giving her an occasional flogging. the women expect this as one of the conditions of their position. the failure of this method of emphasizing the husband's authority, however, would appear from the testimony that "the number of women who revere their husbands is as small as the list of husbands who do not beat their wives." in this land of the ancient magi it is not strange that there should be many superstitions connected with marriages and engagements. sometimes it is manifest that the husband does not love his wife. if this be the case, the wife or her mother may consult a magician. he will write for her a charm. this is to be sewed into some designated part of her daily apparel; a like charm is prepared for direct effect upon the husband, and this must be secretly sewed into his clothing. the hoped-for result of these charms is the renewal of conjugal affection. another charm, which is highly regarded, directs the wife to cut off a few hairs from both her own and her husband's head, to burn them together and from their ashes make a potion which the husband is to be caused, clandestinely, to drink. some magicians will direct that the love prescription be placed under the hinge of the door of the house, so that as the door is constantly opened and shut, the husband's love will as constantly grow toward his spouse. sterility is uniformly regarded as a misfortune, if not a curse. incantations and charms are frequently employed to induce fecundity. the persian women and orientals generally have innumerable superstitions. for example, when a hen is heard to crow, it is regarded either as a good or a bad omen. to ascertain exactly which it may be, the crowing hen is blindfolded and carried to the top of the flat roof. she is then dropped through the open window into the centre of the room below. if the hen turns toward the corner of the house, it is considered a good omen, and all is well. if on the other hand, she starts toward the door, it is regarded as portending evil, and the hen is killed at once. this odd custom suggests another, somewhat similar, once in vogue in persia. suppose a woman has lost a piece of money, and she suspects that some disloyal neighbor, she does not know whom, has taken it. to prevent a public trial and to spare the innocent the disgrace that may come upon those wrongly suspected, all the neighbors agree that at a certain time every man and woman of the vicinage shall go, one after the other, to the dwelling from which the money was stolen, and in passing, each person shall throw a handful of dirt into the window of the person whose money has been lost. one goes and returns to his own house, and then another, till all have thrown in a handful. when the last one has deposited the dirt he has brought, the owner goes in and finds in the midst of the total deposit the lost treasure; for the guilty party, fearing that he will at length be detected and suffer punishment, and knowing that he cannot be detected if he throws the money down into the house along with his handful of dirt, avails himself of this means of escape from the charge which he fears. there are no women who have a harder, and apparently a happier, life than do the women of the kurds. the men of the tribe deny that women are possessed of souls. a woman must not, therefore, be present where a man is at prayer. if she should touch him while performing this hallowed duty, it is thought that she might get the benefit of the prayer. indeed, it is believed that if she touch him, she obtains his soul. should a woman be seen approaching, the man at prayer may rise, go out from the prayer circle, take his gun and shoot the woman, and then piously return to his devotions. the kurdish women are very dark in complexion and picturesque in their apparel. they use paints and other cosmetics in abundance, to please the eye of their husbands. their day of toil is a long one, for, after finishing their household duties, they are expected to hasten to the fields to tend the flocks, or to gather fuel for the winter. at night they return with large packs upon their shoulders, enough for two donkeys to carry. they may be seen spinning and singing on their way to and fro, as though their lot were the happiest in the world. little thinking of the ordinary ailments of women, they trudge along over the fields or the mountain heights; and frequently a kurdish woman may be seen returning home in the evening, happy, with her huge bundle of sticks for the fire, and with the infant to which she has given birth during the day! a kurd usually thinks more of his steed than of his wife, who may sometimes be compelled to vacate her place in the dwelling to make room for the horse. any account of persian women is incomplete without some reference to woman in the native poetry of the persians. no poetry of the east has been so generally admired, translated, and read as the persian. in it woman finds a large place. and yet, it cannot be said that she is presented always in the light of the brightest ideals of virtuous womanhood. the persian poet hafiz is said once to have been asked by the philosopher zenda what he was good for, and he replied: "of what use is a flower?" "a flower is good to smell," said the philosopher. "and i am good to smell it," said the poet. too often woman is shown as the plaything of man's passion and fancy. yet the virtue of heroic womanhood in the early days is presented with great force and beauty. the persian poets, in the treatment of love, leave little place for reflection, still less for practical considerations. it is spontaneous love, "love at first sight," which they deem alone worthy of their song. "love at first sight and of the most enthusiastic kind is the passion described in all persian poems, as if a whole life of love were condensed into one moment. it is all wild and rapturous; it has nothing of the rational cast. a casual glance from an unknown beauty often affords the subject of a poem." these words well sum up the persian poets' most common attitude toward love and the female graces. the following lines written concerning the beauty of the daughter of gureng king of zabulistan, are typical: "so graceful in her movements and so sweet, her very look plucked from the breast of age the root of sorrow;--her wine-sipping lips and mouth like sugar, cheeks all dimpled over with smiles and glowing as the summer rose- won every heart." these words, too, were said of a damsel who had won fame as a warrior in her father's army, and her skill, valor, and judgment had made enemies fall at her feet. indeed, one of the most romantic portions of the _shahnamah_ of firdausi are the passages describing the meeting of the gallant king jamshid with the beautiful daughter of gureng, whose father had given her permission to marry, provided only it should be spontaneous love which should guide her in the choice: "it must be love and love alone that binds thee to another's throne, in this thy father has no voice- thine the election, thine the choice." one day, as by chance, the handsome young king jamshid arrived at the city, a fatigued stranger, and was not permitted by the keepers to pass through king gureng's rose garden. weary, jamshid sat down at the gate, under a shade tree. the damsel sees him, and at once falls in love with his manly form and demeanor. she brings him wine, by which he may be refreshed, and pours out her tender soul to him. presently a dove and his cooing mate alight upon a bough above their heads. the damsel asks which of the birds her bow and arrow must bring to the ground. jamshid replies: "where a man is, a woman's aid is not required; give me the bow." "however brave a woman may appear, whatever strength of arms she may possess, she is but half a man." blushing, the girl gives over the weapon, and jamshid says: "now for the wager. if i hit the female, shall the lady whom i most admire in this company be mine?" the damsel, her heart bounding with throbs of love, assents. jamshid drew the string and struck the female bird so skilfully that both wings were transfixed with the body. the male bird flew away, but presently returned and perched itself again upon the bough as if unwilling to leave its stricken mate. the damsel grasped the bow and arrow, and said: "the male bird has returned to his former place; if my aim be successful shall the man whom i choose in this company be my husband?" just then the aged nurse of the princess appears, and recognizes in king jamshid him whom the oracles had predicted would be the young girl's spouse. "... happy tidings, blissful to her heart, increased the ardor of her love for him." they are married. and the story of her father's displeasure and of his treachery toward jamshid, the latter's betrayal and death, the young wife's inconsolable grief and sad self-slaughter move before the reader in a most thrilling fashion. this persian poem, setting forth the romantic side of female character, is one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written. the persian romances delight in making the women do most of the loving and the courting. the heroines are the first to feel passion and the most rapturous in expressing it. they, however, like saiawush in the _shahnamah_, are fond of coyness until they have determined to yield to the force of love. but when the love of a persian woman has once gone out, the persian poets usually depict it as strong and steadfast to the end. it speaks like that of manijeh, the unfortunate byzun: "can i be faithless then to thee, the choice of this fond heart of mine, why sought i bonds when i was free, but to be thine, forever thine?" even the best poets, such as firdausi, who was called the "poet of paradise," persia's great national poet, often present woman's charms in lines highly overdrawn. such these are concerning the princess rudabah: "screened from public view her countenance is brilliant as the sun; from head to foot her lovely form is fair as polished ivory. like the spring, her cheek presents a radiant bloom--in stature tall, and o'er her silvery brightness, richly flow dark musky ringlets clustering to her feet." khakani, considered the most learned of persia's lyric poets, wrote some beautiful verses in which womanly charms find place. such is his poem _the unknown beauty_, in which occur the lines: "i saw thy form of waving grace! i heard thy soft and gentle sighs; i gazed on that enchanting face, and looked in thy narcissus eyes; oh! by the hopes thy smiles allowed, bright soul-inspirer, who art thou?" the great price placed upon womanly beauty is clearly discerned in such writers as sadi, who died about a. d. 1292. in his _gulistan_, or "rose garden," he tells the story of a doctor of laws who had a daughter. she was so extremely ugly that she reached the age of womanhood long before anyone wished her in marriage, although her fortune and dowry were large--for "damask or brocade but add to deformity, when put upon a bride void of symmetry," says sadi. finally, to avoid perpetual maidenhood, the girl was given in wedlock to a blind man. very soon a physician who could restore sight to the blind happened to come that way. "why do you not get him to prescribe for your son-in-law?" the father was asked. "because," said he, "i am afraid he may recover his sight and repudiate my daughter--for the husband of an ugly woman ought to be blind." few poets have written more of love and womanly grace than did hafiz, who died in a. d. 1388. in the _diwan_, which has been compared to a story of pearls, hafiz says: "to me love's echo is the sweetest sound of all that 'neath the circling round hath staved." a story is told of hafiz and tamerlane, which is doubtless apocryphal. coming upon the poet one day, tamerlane said: "art thou not the insolent versemonger who didst offer my two great cities samarkand and bokhara for the black mole upon thy lady's cheek?" "it is true," replied hafiz, with much calmness; "and indeed, my munificence has been so great throughout my life that it has left me destitute; so, hereafter i shall be dependent on thy generosity for a livelihood." this apt reply of hafiz is said to have so pleased the conqueror that he sent the poet away with a present. it may be said, as a rule, that the persian poets emphasize almost exclusively woman's physical charms. "women, wine, and song" are, in truth, the chief burden of the poems. the sensuous side of love is most frequently disclosed. there are, however, some exceptions to this general rule, as may be discovered in passages from the writings of jami. while it is the beauty of the unmarried woman which most frequently and most naturally holds place in persian song, yet the married life is not forgotten. firdausi, in his account of the beautiful rudabah, says of wedlock: "for marriage is a contract sealed by heaven- how happy is the warrior's lot amidst his smiling children." and firdausi makes kitabun say: "a mother's counsel is a golden treasure." examples of the recognition of love that is deep and full of meaning are not wanting among the persian poets. nizami, persia's first great romantic poet, who lived in the twelfth century of our era, wrote nothing better than his romance of bedouin love, the story of laili and majnun, which has been happily termed the _romeo and juliet_ of the east. "france," says a recent writer, "has its abelard and eloise, italy its petrarch and laura, persia and arabia have their pure pathetic romance." many see in the story of laili and majnun an allegorical or spiritual interpretation. at least, it illustrates the stress which the persian poets put upon a true, undying devotion, and the orientals consider it the very personification of faithful love. the higher ideals are often found in the dramatic literature. many consider jami's celebrated _yusuf and zulaikha_, a dramatic poem modelled after firdausi, to be the finest poem in the persian language. sir william jones pronounces it "the finest poem he ever read." it gives account of yusuf--the israelite joseph--and zulaikha, potiphar's wife. in this is disclosed how the human soul attains the love for the highest beauty and goodness only when it has suffered and has been thoroughly regenerated, purified, as was the life of zulaikha. the poet, seeing the emptiness of mere beauty, reaches the inevitable conclusion that "he who gives his heart to a lovely form may look for no rest--but a life of storm if the gold of union be still his quest, with fond vain dream, love deludes his breast." the _dabistan_ was first brought to public notice by that enthusiastic orientalist of more than a century ago--sir william jones. in it there is a dissertation on the "hundred gates of paradise," in which occur directions for entering the place of blessedness. sons and daughters are to be given in early marriage. milk must be given to a child as soon as the mother gives it birth. directions are given to women in sickness and in childbearing. implicit obedience to husbands is strictly enjoined, and warning is carefully given against the woman of unchaste life. the zend-avesta, as well as the great body of persian poetry, has preserved much of the ancient life and flavor of iran. there is scarcely any feature in the literature of the religion of zoroaster, which holds a more emphatic place than that which enjoins purity of life. domestic virtues are accorded high place in these teachings. says the zend-avesta: "purity is the best of all things; purity is the fairest of all things, even as thou hast said, o righteous zarathushtra,--purity is, next to life, the greatest good." zoroaster inquires of ormuzd which is the second best place, when earth feels most happy? to which ormuzd makes reply: "it is the place whereon one of the faithful erects a house with a priest within, with cattle, with a wife and with children and good herds within, and wherein afterward the cattle continue to thrive, virtue to thrive, fodder to thrive, the dog to thrive, the wife to thrive, the child to thrive, the fire to thrive, and every blessing of life to thrive." ix the women of arabia woman's conservatism has already been referred to in these pages. there is probably no people in the world, certainly no branch of the widely scattered semitic family, among whom ancient ideals and customs have been more persistent than among the arabians. indeed, arabia occupies a unique position in the world's history. from her territory there probably went out the different branches of the semitic people, a part of the human family which is second to none in its influence upon the course of history. for one of its branches, the assyro-babylonian, probably developed the earliest civilization which has come down to us; another was the most powerful of all ancient faiths, the hebrew, while two other historic religions, the christian and the mohammedan, had their origin in semitic soil. arabia is truly a land of mystery; but for this very reason the interest in her people is yet the keener. she has but few ancient monuments written upon tablets of stone and hardened clay--in palaces and ancient temples--as have egypt and assyria. her records are in legend, story, tradition, and the persistent customs of her people. with the exception of the influence of the birth and the death of a culture which awakened the world and helped to scatter the dark ages, and of the rise of mohammed, there have been few changes in this remarkable land. two forces stand out as most potential in the shaping of the arab woman's character. these may be summed up in the words, the desert and the cult; the latter being in some sense the product of the former. to these may possibly be added a third. that is the war spirit, without which the lord as well as the lady of the arabian peninsula would have written out for themselves a far different, and perhaps a far less romantic history. for there were those who, even like khaled, spurn the love of a noble maiden from his "pride of the passion of war." even love making, which holds an important place in arabic literature, gives way to what was regarded as the noblest of all occupations, the making of war. womanhood, in the so-called "time of ignorance,"--the days before islam wrought so marked a change in the life of arabia,--enjoyed a freedom and strength which spoke of the open air and the far-stretching plains. as she followed the fortunes of her nomad chief, the woman was indelibly writing her history. it is in religious ideals too that woman must always find the key to her standing and influence among any people. among the early arabs the female idea held no small place in their religious beliefs and practices, and this is true of the early semites generally. this is specially noteworthy, however, as robertson smith has pointed out, in the olden arabic cult. gods and goddesses went in pairs, and the goddess was usually the more important divinity. the jinn, which held so conspicuous a place, were regarded as feminine. in the minæan pantheon, wadd and nikrah, "love" and "hate," female divinities, played an important rôle in the religious life of this branch of the arabic people. wherever the female divinity is prominent, woman enjoys considerable privilege and influence in religion, and this was true in ancient arabia. the people believed in an inferior order of divine beings--emanations, secondary spirits--compared to angels by some mussulman writers. these beings were of the female sex and known as _benat allah_ (daughters of allah). mohammed in the koran, however, strongly condemned this earlier belief as not consonant with the unity of god, which is a doctrine so emphatically preached in the religion of islam. each tribe not only had its _kahin_, or "diviner" (hebrew, _kohen_, "priest"), but its _arrafa_, or "sorceress." woman's sphere in the olden days of arabia was no mean one. arabic women have from time immemorial shown themselves, on occasion, to possess a courage and hardihood unsurpassed in history. arabia has had her amazons. in prehistoric times, armed heroines of invincible bravery have left their record in the myths of this ancient people. and in the days of authentic history, women have fought valiantly to advance the cause for which their husbands and brothers waged war so fiercely. the high place held by women in the ancient wars of araby still survives in the thrilling custom of having some courageous woman accompany an arab force into the battle. the maiden is mounted upon the back of a blackened camel, and placed in the front of the line as it makes its onslaught upon the enemy. as the fighting men press forward to the battle she sings verses of encouragement to her compatriots, and insults are flung from her lips against the opposing force. it is around this young woman and her camel that the fiercest battle rages. should she be so unfortunate as to be killed or captured, the calamity is unspeakable and the rout utter. but should her friends be victorious, it is she who heads the triumphal march. as we might expect, the spirit of chivalry is not lacking in arabic song and story. in the romance of _antar_, the story of the hero's love for ibla, "fair as the full moon," and the account of her rescue, breathe the spirit of genuine romance. antar does not hesitate to strike down the man who has "failed in respect to arab women." the _arabian nights_, though in less degree, has also preserved to us evidences of ancient chivalry and romance. hagar, of whose sad life the hebrew narratives give us record, though herself called an egyptian woman, became ancestress of an arab clan and plays some part in arabian tradition. she was the ancestress of the restless, roving ishmaelites--a typical arabian tribe. mohammed, in explaining the preservation of an ancient idolatrous custom of visiting in religious pilgrimages the hills of safa and marwa, where once were worshipped two idols, one representing a man and the other a woman, says, in the koran, that it was between these two eminences that hagar wandered, distracted, running from one to the other, till the angel showed her the miraculous spring which saved her boy's life. indeed, the arab legend says that when hagar and ishmael were driven from abraham's tent at sarah's behest, she was conducted far into the desert, at the place where mecca now stands. when her provisions are exhausted, laying the boy down, she runs to and fro in despair. in his thirst and suffering, ishmael strikes his head against the earth, and a spring of sparkling water gushes out. some members of an arab tribe, thirsty, and seeking their lost camels, come, guided by birds, to the spot, seeking to quench their thirst. never having known water to spring in that locality before, they received hagar and ishmael with especial reverence, and bade them take up their permanent abode with them, lest because of their departure the spring might dry up. to ishmael was given in marriage one of their maidens, amara, daughter of saïd. this is but one of the many instances of the overlapping of hebraic and arabic legends. many are the stories told by the arabs concerning the famous queen of sheba, who herself was an arabian woman. she belonged to that southern branch of the family known as the sabeans. her fame has gone into many legends, both arabic and hebrew. her visit to king solomon of israel furnishes the basis of most of these. as a lover of wisdom, or the philosophy of practical life, she was drawn to the ruler of the hebrews, whose reputation had extended far and wide. solomon proved especially successful in answering her favorite riddles and in untying for her the most knotty questions. among the many talmudic legends is this interesting one. the queen took groups of small boys and girls, dressed them precisely alike, and demanded of solomon that he distinguish the boys from the girls. the king commanded that they all wash their hands. the boys washed only to the wrists; the girls rolled up their sleeves and bathed to their elbows. thus the secret was disclosed. the mohammedan legends concerning this remarkable queen are full and minute. having with her own hand slain the reigning king, she herself, being of royal lineage, was proclaimed queen, and "protectress of her sex." she reigned with great wisdom and prudence, and administered justice throughout her kingdom. according to these arabian legends, the queen of sheba, who was called balkis, became one of solomon's wives, though he allowed her to continue her beneficent reign over her own people. the women of old arabia, the dames of the desert, were comparatively free, as their open-air life would naturally suggest. the arabian poets, in drawing the ancient life, so portray it. in the romance of _antar_, already mentioned, are found many delightful episodes, in which the woman appears as the loving friend, partner, and counsellor of her husband. these carry us back to the heroic age of arabia. the custom which permitted infanticide in case of female children seems in marked contrast with the high place of woman in early arabic literature. this cruel custom is the motive of one of the most attractive of the early romances, that of _khaled and djaida_. the latter, when a babe, that she might not be known as a girl, was called by her mother by the name djonder, and given a prolonged feast such as is accorded only to boys at their birth. about the same time, the chief of the tribe--and uncle to djonder--had born to him a son, who was called khaled. the cousins grew up, both learned in the arts of war, and both made for themselves names for their high courage. djonder was taught to ride and to fight, as though she were a man, and the very name of djonder became a terror to his foes. khaled heard of his cousin's exploits and rushed to see him, that he might witness his skill at arms. but his father, being at enmity with zahir, his own brother and father of djonder, would not permit khaled to know djonder. at length the desire of khaled was realized. he was strangely enamored of his cousin, whom, however, he thought to be a young man like himself. djonder, too, fell desperately in love with the valiant khaled. the latter chooses the field and war instead of love, however, and leaves djonder in tears. later, by the fortunes of war, they meet on the field of battle in single combat. djonder has so concealed her identity that khaled does not know with whom he fights. after a long contest of marvellous prowess, neither is victor. djonder reveals herself. the old love returns. it is djonder now who resists the importunity of khaled's love. after testing him by several difficult and dangerous exploits, she becomes his wife. of music and poetry the arabs from the most ancient days have been passionately fond. the nomad life tends to develop both poetry and song. the most ancient bards in all lands were wanderers. david, "the sweet singer of israel," was a shepherd lad. hesiod heard the call of the muses while leading his flock at mount helicon. caedmon, england's earliest poet, was watching his herd when the call came to sing. the arab bard sings freely of his camel, the antelope, the wild ass, the gazelle, of his sword, his bow and arrows, of wine, and, above all, of his ladylove. in the famous literary collection known as the _muallakat_, made by hammad about a. d. 777, seven of the best poems of the early arabs are brought together. those that most fitly set forth the love of woman are the poems of imr-al-kais and antar. sa'id ibn judi, the true representative of arabian knighthood, must not be forgotten as the poet most loved by the fair sex. the flavor of these lyrics may be discovered in the brief poem of antar upon _a fair lady_, "whose glittering pearls and ruby lips enslaved the poet's heart: "such an odor from her breath comes toward me, harbinger of her approach; or like an untouched meadow, where the rain hath fallen freshly on the fragrant herbs that carpet all its pure untrodden soil." for variety of gifts and force of character there is no arabian woman who is comparable in fame to zenobia. by birth she was a palmyrene, and without doubt, of arab blood. the descriptions of her personal beauty tell of her black, flashing eyes, her pearly teeth, and the grace of her form and carriage. her bodily strength and commanding manners gave her influence over all with whom she came in contact. as wife of odenathus, king of palmyra, she contributed much to her husband's success and power. she was a woman of rare native qualities as well as of extraordinary accomplishments. she was a linguist, being familiar with the coptic, the syriac, and the latin languages. she was skilled in the arts of war, and gifted with remarkable political insight and sagacity. after her husband's death she ruled as queen of palmyra, and personally conducted successful conquests, causing the nations around to tremble before her; and even rome itself found her no mean antagonist in arms. the high spirit of the queen would not permit her to account herself a vassal even to the imperial city on the tiber. she had won egypt, syria, mesopotamia, and parts of asia minor to her sovereignty, but in the contest with rome she was defeated, though many romans had joined her army. the battles of antioch and emesa were lost. zenobia fled to the persians, but was captured. those near her were put to death, but zenobia graced the triumph of aurelian, the victorious general who led her into the roman capital in a. d. 271. for years she resided there with gracious dignity and unconquered pride. she was essentially a woman of affairs and as queen was mistress of every situation, giving all to know, "i am queen, and while i live i will reign." as wife she is said to have declined to cohabit with her husband, except so far as was necessary to the raising up of an heir to the throne of palmyra. the brilliancy of her court was scarcely ever surpassed by any queen, while her personal charms and almost marvellous achievements rendered her one of the most remarkable, if not the greatest woman of ancient times. in the days of mohammed a new influence is brought to bear upon arab life, and therefore upon female character. mohammed's relation to woman might be of itself lengthened into an interesting chapter. abdullah, mohammed's father, was married to a woman of noble parentage, named aminah. she was a woman of sensitive, nervous temperament, and her son doubtless inherited from his mother qualities which made his subsequent religious ecstasies both physically and mentally possible. aminah is reported to have been miraculously free from the pangs of childbirth when her son first saw the light. for several months she nursed the infant, but sorrow is said to have soon dried up the fountain of her breast, and halimah, a woman of marked fidelity to her charge, became mohammed's foster-mother. a _kahin_, or sorcerer, is said once to have met halimah with the boy. "kill this child," said he; "kill this child." but halimah, snatching up the child, made away in haste. the sorcerer saw in the boy an enemy of the ancient idolatrous faith. it was not till the rich widow of mecca, khadijah, came into mohammed's life that he began to make himself felt in the world. wishing someone to attend to some business affairs for her, khadijah secured mohammed's services. so well did he execute his task that the rich widow became enamored of the young man. she asked him for his hand. at twenty-five years of age, mohammed married the woman who was destined to influence his life so powerfully, she being at least fifteen years his senior. it was not long before mohammed turned his thoughts toward religion and set himself to the task of reforming the religious ideas and practices of his people. with what result the world knows. it is mohammed's attitude toward woman and his teachings concerning her that most concern us here. his love for khadijah, his first wife, was pure and constant; and his mother he always honored with a most devoted spirit. it is with reference to mohammed's personal bearing toward the female sex that he has received the most scathing criticisms. how many times he was married subsequently to his wedding with khadijah is a matter of dispute; but there were probably no less than fourteen other wives, besides the widow of mecca. since mohammed allowed his faithful followers but four wives, it was necessary to explain why he himself should have exceeded that meagre number. the prophet was ready with his reply, that while men generally were to have no more than four, a special revelation to himself had given him the right to go beyond that number. among those whom mohammed espoused was his child wife ayesha, who lived long after the death of the prophet and took an active part in shaping the political history of islam immediately after mohammed's demise. she fostered a burning dislike toward ali, mohammed's son-in-law, to whom the prophet had given his daughter fatima. because of ayesha's intrigues ali was unable to succeed mohammed as kalif. abubekr, omar, and othman in turn held sway. but at length ali was victorious, taking ayesha a prisoner and becoming the fourth of the line of the kalifate. ayesha in personal daring belonged to the heroic type of arabian womanhood. in the battle of the camel, a. d. 656, she actually led the charge. ali, like his distinguished father-in-law, considered himself an exception to the ordinary rule which accorded but four wives to the faithful, having married eight others besides his loved fatima. among the kalifs there was none whose court was more magnificent than that of haroun al raschid. so greatly did he dazzle the eyes of his generation by his brilliancy, that his name became associated with many romances. the account of the wives and favorites of haroun borrow a halo from their association with his illustrious name. the _thousand and one nights_ are replete with the romantic adventures of the days of this brilliant kalif. but the actual life of the women of the arabian peninsula cannot be accurately gauged by the appearance they made in the stories of romantic adventure. mohammed's attitude to woman has, of course, been the decisive religious influence in shaping the history of woman's life among the followers of islam since his day. the mohammedans have a legend that when adam and eve sinned, god commanded that their lives should be purified by both the culprits standing naked in the river jordan for forty days. adam obeyed, and so became comparatively pure again; but eve refused to be thus washed, and, of course, her standing before god has been relatively lower ever since. the mohammedan woman does not worship upon an equality with the man. not that the prophet positively forbade the female sex from public attendance upon worship at the mosque, but he counselled that they should make their prayers in private. in some parts of the wide territory under the prophet's power, neither women nor young boys are allowed to enter the mosque at the time of prayer. at other places women may come, but must place themselves apart from men, and always behind them. "the moslems are of the opinion," says sale, "that the presence of females inspired a different kind of devotion from that which is requisite in a place dedicated to the worship of god," and adds that very few women among the arabs in egypt even pray at home. the koran has much to say of woman. one lengthy _sura_ is taken up almost entirely by this theme. the ancient doctrine of woman's creation from the man is accepted, and probably was derived from contact with the jews, the influence of which contact is marked throughout mohammed's teachings. honor "for the woman who has borne you" is frequently taught; justice and kindness toward female orphans is repeatedly enjoined. women should be given freely their just dowries, and should not be omitted from the rights of inheritance; but a son may receive as much as two daughters. the prohibited degrees for marriage are most carefully laid down. accusing a chaste woman of adultery is regarded as one of the seven grievous sins. the prophet counsels that husband and wife adjust their disputes amicably between themselves, "for a reconciliation is better than a separation." thus one after another, in a manner altogether lacking in order or in systematic treatment, mohammed gives forth his commands concerning women. matters of marriage, divorce, dower, chastity, and the like are frequently before the prophet's mind; but his precepts, while making concessions to human weakness, are far higher than his example. the teachings of mohammed, even at their best, placed woman on a distinctly lower plane than man, rendered her a subservient tool on the earth and painted a heaven where man's sensuality was to be gratified to the limits of his capacity for enjoyment. the arabs, while sensual in their nature, have some strict laws concerning chastity. if a woman be guilty of lewdness, she is summarily put to death by her nearest relative. unless this be done the family will lose all social recognition and civil rights. if it appears that she has been forced to the crime, the ravisher must flee or pay the penalty with his life, or if not, the life of those next of kin is in danger. if the malefactor be caught at once he is slain by the relatives of the woman. if not he may escape death through negotiations by which "the price of blood" is paid for the woman as if she had been killed. sometimes arrangements of marriage are effected, but even then "the price of virginity" must be paid to the girl's parents. the method by which a family purifies itself of the unchastity of a daughter is horrible enough. the family of the young woman assembles in some public place; the sheiks and leading men are present in considerable number. some close relative stands with sword in hand, and says: "my honor and that of my family shall be purified this day by means of this sword which i hold in my hands." the guilty woman is then led out, laid upon the ground, and her head severed from her body at the hands of her father, brother, or some next of kin. the executioner then walks dignifiedly about the bleeding form three times, passing between the head and the trunk of the body, saying at each circuit: "lo! thus our honor is left unstained." all dip their handkerchiefs in the blood of the culprit and take their leave, without any show of emotion. the body is left unburied, or is hacked to pieces by the woman's relatives and cast into a ditch. often, however, it is possible to save the young girl's life. someone who is sufficiently kindly disposed toward her steps forward at the critical moment when she is being led forth to death and intercedes to save her life. this protector approaches the girl and says to her: "wilt thou repent of thy fall? if so, i will defend thee." she replies affirmatively: "i will give thee the right to cut my throat if i commit this crime again." the man is then required to strip off his clothing in the presence of the multitude, declare that he has never seen this woman commit any crime, that it must therefore be the power of an evil spirit that took possession of her; "i therefore redeem her," says he. then the whole scene changes from one of tragic solemnity to one of intense joy. the girl returns to the bosom of her family, reinstated; and no one thereafter has the right to cast any reflections upon her past life. pierrotti, in his _customs and traditions of palestine_, tells of a scene witnessed by him when architect-engineer to surraya pasha, of jerusalem. during a visit to hebron in company with some armenian gentlemen, he found the whole community stirred. a youth of eighteen had met in the fields a girl of fifteen, who was betrothed, and had tried to kiss her without her consent. she told her parents of the young man's misconduct. the families belonged to different clans or districts, and so were enemies. efforts on the part of the boy's parents, through the sheiks of the two communities, were unavailing, though the father entreated earnestly for his son, and even promised to give up all he had as a ransom for his life. the girl's father demanded the boy's blood as propitiation for the wrong. and so, in the presence of an assembled crowd, the parent drew his sword and struck off his child's head, without a tear, saying: "thus wipe i away every stain from my family." overcome, he then instantly swooned away. his friends restored him to life, but his reason had fled. a clan war at once commenced, and those who had demanded the youth's destruction were slain in the strife. concerning the slaying of a woman, there are certain customs which sound strange to the western ear, but are in keeping with the general law of "the price of blood" which prevailed among the ancient hebrews, though in a somewhat modified form. if a man should be so unfortunate as to kill a woman, the members of the family that is wronged seek revenge, just as is the case should a man be slain, but "the price of blood" is never so high in case of the woman, it being about two thousand piastres, or about eighty dollars. this sum goes largely to the relatives of the woman. if the woman be married, the husband's damage is measured at eight hundred piastres and a silk dress. should the murdered woman be pregnant, the slayer is amerced as if he had killed two. if the offspring would have been a boy, it is as though a woman and a man were slain, and "the price of blood" is so measured. if it would have been a daughter, the smaller price is charged, the father receiving the full price for the child and his eight hundred piastres for the murdered wife. should it be a maiden, however, who has been slain, arrangement is often made whereby a sister of the slayer is given by her family to the brother of the slain as his wife; or if this arrangement is not feasible, the price of a woman is paid as first described. a very curious custom exists among the arabs in connection with the ancient "law of asylum." they recognize the right of sanctuary for those upon whom summary vengeance may be taken for some blood crime. but flight is often exceedingly dangerous because of the possibility of ambuscade along the way; and even when a village which owes protection to a fugitive undertakes to give him safe escort, the defenders may be overcome and the offender slain. under such circumstances, it is customary to give him over to the escort of two women, who are his defenders. for it is a point of honor among arabs not to attack or harm anybody or anything that has been placed under the protection of a woman. that the modern arab sometimes, however, has great confidence in the power of his wives, over others at least, may be illustrated by an amusing incident told by loftus. during his researches his party was attacked by a company of arabs, on account of which some of the assaulting party had been seized and lodged in prison. one of the chief sheiks of the country came to make friends with the explorer and to entreat for the release of the culprits. this was refused. later a coup was conceived. loftus looked out and saw the sheik's harem, in most radiant costumes, approaching the tent in single file, led by the sheik and a black eunuch. thus the arab hoped to appeal to occidental chivalry through the prayers of the masked beauties who surrounded the tent, declaring they would not raise the siege till the occupant yielded to their entreaties. the rich mohammedan ladies are far less industrious than the poorer classes. entering the harem at the tender age of twelve to fourteen years, the young woman is condemned to a life of sloth and sensuality. there is little opportunity for self-improvement or for enjoyments of a high order. they eat, drink, gossip, suckle their young, quarrel, plot, and eke out a miserable existence--always under the control of their masters. the country women have greater freedom and far more influence with their husbands than do the women of the harem. polygamy among the former class is rare, and hence the women are more highly regarded than those of the city. the peasant woman is industrious, engaged in some useful employment about the house or in the field. she buys and sells and gets gain for her husband and her home, and often is highly esteemed by him; but he will not let you know it, if he can avoid doing so. in public he always assumes the attitude of superiority. if but one can ride, it is the man and the children who sit upon the beast; the woman walks along at the side, carrying a bundle on her head or a baby at her breast--sometimes jogging along with both. if arab and wife must both walk with burdens, the man carries the lighter load. and the woman must prepare the meal at the journey's end, while her lord reposes--and smokes. excavators in the east have frequently found arab girls who desired work, and with their baskets they would for hours carry out the earth with endurance apparently equal to that of the men. the arab girls, as a rule, grow up in ignorance. it is not thought worth while to educate the daughter; and, indeed, it is regarded by many as destructive of the best order of society to give woman any opportunity which may cause her to desire to usurp the power which heaven has placed in the hands of men. there is, accordingly, little enlightened housekeeping, little to stimulate a woman's mind, little opportunity here for "the hand that rocks the cradle" to move the world. sons grow up with little respect for their mothers, for there is nothing to make it otherwise. the husband, should he wish to divorce himself from his wife, simply orders her to leave his house, and his will is law. civil government takes no cognizance of matrimonial affairs, and religious authority allows the husband to do much as he may see fit in his own house. [illustration 4: _an oriental woman's pastime after the painting by frederick a. bridgman she is not a companion, but only a gilded toy, a decorative object.... among the higher class she is still kept in strict seclusion, and her time is passed in luxurious idleness, save for the hours she employs at her embroidery or tapestry. the garden, with its heavily perfumed blossoms, pleases her; the ceaseless plash of the fountain falls musically on her ear; all her physical needs are ministered to. but everything conduces to the dreaminess of her nature, to slothful habits; her activities are fettered by the law of mohammed. after all, her garden is but an exquisite prison._] the women of the arabs, like the men, are fond of tattooing their bodies, regarding the figures they stamp into their flesh as highly ornamental, though perhaps originally there was a religious significance in them. the figure to be imprinted is first drawn upon a block of wood and blackened with charcoal. this is then impressed upon some part of the body, and then the outlines are pricked with fine needles which have been dipped into an ink made of gunpowder and ox-gall. the whole is subsequently bathed with wine, and the figure is marked indelibly. even the poor are very fond of personal ornaments. chains, rings, necklaces, gold thread, may be seen in abundance, if not in costliness. it is not unusual for an arab woman, though clothed in tattered raiment, to wear several rings of silver. but if this metal be beyond her means, then of iron or copper and sometimes of glass. ornaments of variously colored glass are very popular among arab women; often they can afford no other. even bracelets are made of this material, and are much worn. some of the nomadic tribes still wear anklets. the women of the desert are often seen with nose-drops, or rings in one or the other side of their nostrils, which in consequence tends to droop like the ear. this custom prevails in other parts of the east, more particularly among those whose occupation is thought to call for much ornamentation, such as the dancing girls and odalisques. the ancient hebrews sometimes used to put rings in swines' snouts for practical reasons, as indeed the arabs do to-day in the noses of horses, mules, and asses to aid in evaporating the moisture from the nostrils, but the beauty or the utility of a ring in an arab woman's nose has never been satisfactorily determined. the arab women of good quality do not, as a rule, wear their hair very long. it usually reaches about to the neck, and is tied with a colored ribbon. many of the poorer and less cleanly among them, however, wear their tresses long, ill-kempt, and filthy. the men often think more of their beards than do the women of their locks. the favorite flower is that of the shrub called _al henna._ it is the plant from which is obtained a dye much used by oriental ladies upon their skin and nails as a cosmetic. the manner of preparation is thus described: "the young leaves of the shrub are boiled in water, then dried in the sun, and reduced to a powder which is of a dark orange color. after this has been mixed with warm water, it is applied to the skin." the use of henna is very old; and when the woman has finished the work of art--she herself being the subject--she looks, as one has said, like a vampire stained with the blood of its victim. the flower of _alhenna_, however, is beautiful and strongly fragrant--reminding one in appearance of clusters of many-colored grapes. these blossoms are used as ornaments for the hair and as decorations for the houses, the fragrance often conquering the malodorous atmosphere of many ill-kept, uncleanly homes. as is the custom with oriental ladies generally, the women in riding place themselves astride the beast, like a man, and seldom present a graceful appearance to a western eye. loftus has thus described an arab lady as she sits astride the patient mule: "enveloped in the ample folds of a blue cotton cloak, her face (as required by the strict injunctions of the koran) concealed under a black or white mask, her feet encased in wide yellow boots, and these in turn thrust into slippers of the same color, her knees nearly on the level with her chin, and her hands holding on to the scanty mane of the mule--an eastern lady is the most uncouth and inelegant form imaginable." mohammedans are never seen walking with their wives in the street, and are seldom seen in company with them or any other woman in any public place. should a man and his wife have occasion to go to any place at the same time, he goes in advance and she follows on behind him. jessup, in _the women of the arabs_, gives the following explanation advanced by a syrian of the aversion which the men feel with reference to walking in public with women: "you franks can walk with your wives in public, because their faces are unveiled, and it is known that they are your wives, but our women are so closely veiled that if i should walk with my wife in the street, no one would know whether i was walking with my own wife or another man's. you cannot expect a respectable man to put himself in such an embarrassing position." if inquiries are made by one man of another concerning his family, the boys and the beasts are invariably mentioned first; the wife last of all. among the ancient arabs the birth of a female infant was looked upon as little short of a domestic calamity and sometimes the infant was not allowed to live. the horrible custom, _wad-el-benat_, of burying infant daughters alive grew out of an unwillingness of parents to share the scant support of the home with the newcomer, or, as has been suggested, from ferocious pride, or false sentiments of honor, fearing the shame that might come should the girl be carried off and dishonored by the enemies of their tribe. the birth of a son, however, was considered the occasion of great rejoicing. the daughters of the modern arabs are usually well cared for, though apparently with little affection. they are useful in agricultural pursuits, and they are for sale as wives when they become of a marriageable age. their marketable value is determined by their rank, their fortune, or their beauty. among the arabs marriage is seldom an affair of the heart, but is purely a commercial transaction. three thousand piastres, or about one hundred and twenty dollars, is regarded as a good price to pay for a wife. the price is generally less. the father of the young man pays the bill; his wealth regulating somewhat the amount paid. the parents of the young couple make all the arrangements, though generally assisted by relatives and interested friends. much bargaining and delay are often gone through with as a matter of course. if the whole sum finally agreed upon cannot be paid in a lump sum, the parties of the first and the second part fix upon the size and frequency of the instalments; the bride being claimed only when the last instalment has been paid. the time for the wedding is next settled upon, whether it be days, weeks, months, or years in advance. when that event is at length celebrated, the arab love of feasting has full opportunity to give itself rein. days are spent in these rounds of pleasure before the young couple settle down to the stern facts of practical copartnership. the arab women have a number of folk songs which are sung by them at weddings and at the birth of children. some of these may be here quoted as revealing the arab woman's idea of physical grace and of womanly virtue, and of those qualities which are desirable in the wife and the mother. here is a song to the bride: "go thou, where thy destiny leads thee, o fair bride! tread delicately on the carpets. should thy spouse speak to thee, what wilt thou answer? tell him thou art his, thou lovest him and he is thy delight" again, they sing: "oh yes, she is welcome! let us hail the arrival of her whose eyes shine with beauty; whose form is graceful; tall as a young palm tree, who can shut the window without a stool!" the rejoicing in maternity, and especially in the birth of sons, is notable among the arabs. the women sing: "behold the wife hath brought forth; she has risen from the bed whereon she reposed, whereon she slept! she hath brought into the world a child, the fairest of boys; he will learn to play with the sword." "no sorrow or harm shall come to thee if thou hast sons. god will give them to thee. he will make thee glad, esteemed and honored throughout the country; thou who art in the race as a gazelle." between the verses of the songs, the women who are not singing will repeat the refrain: "la, la, la, la," etc., to emphasize their sympathy with the sentiments just sung. because of a deep reverence for the mystery of life, the arabs give to the woman a separate tent or hut during the period of childbirth, and there she must remain for a period. there is a strong superstition concerning the results that might come from seeing or touching her or her belongings during the time of this separation. in the naming of children, family names are not given, but individual names, to which is often added the name of the father, and sometimes that of the mother. the latter is probably the older, and many ethnologists believe it to have once been the universal custom among the arabs; pointing to a day when polyandry prevailed, when it was customary for women to have several husbands, if they were not indeed the common property of the tribe. the influence of the nomadic life of the ancient arabians still has its power over the modern arab if he be true or a dweller in tents. these desert roamers despise those arabs who are engaged in the arts of husbandry. dr. a. h. keane, quoting from junker, gives the following evidence of this prejudice: "in the eyes of his fellow tribesmen, the humblest nomad would be degraded by marriage with the daughter of the wealthiest bourgeois." but, as he adds: "necessity knows no law, hunger pinches, and so these proud and stubborn were fain ... to renounce the free and lawless life of the solitude and at least partly turn to agriculture for several months in the year." the arabs are proverbially a hospitable people. let a stranger once eat with an arab family and he is a friend; certainly so long as the food is thought to remain a part of his body. but since the patriarchal idea survives, man is absolutely lord of his own house. hence, in the house, the inequality of the sexes is most noticeable. the moslem wife never sits down to a meal with her husband if any male guest be present; and should the husband be very strict and formal in his habits, she is not permitted to eat with her lord, even when there is no guest. it is her pleasure to serve. when the master of the house has finished his repast, he allows what remains to go to the rest of the family. by this the husband does not mean to be selfish at all; but customs which have prevailed for time out of mind give to woman an inferior place as a matter of course. but the guest is never turned away empty. even in the poorest houses, the moslems will offer the visitor a cup of black coffee, and it may be cigarettes. polygamy was common in ancient arabia. in earlier days every man might marry as many wives as he could take care of, and the length of the wifehood was solely in the husband's hand. the family possessions were his property, and should he die, his widow was looked upon as a part of the estate. unions between mothers and step-sons were not infrequent. mohammed numbered this, however, among the "shameful marriages." sir william muir, in his _annals of the early caliphate_, says: "polygamy and secret concubinage are still the privilege, or the curse of islam, the worm at its root, the secret of its fall. by these the unity of the household is fatally broken, and the purity and virtue weakened of the family tie; the vigor of the dominant classes is sapped; the body politic becomes weak and languid excepting for intrigue; and the throne itself liable to fall a prey to doubtful or contested successors." "hardly less injurious," says he, "is the power of divorce, which can be exercised without the assignment of any reason whatever, at the mere word and will of the husband. it not only hangs over each individual household like the sword of damocles, but affects the tone of society at large; for even if not put in force, it cannot fail as a potential influence, existing everywhere, to weaken the marriage bond, and detract from the dignity and self-respect of the sex at large." mohammed's complete misunderstanding of the true relation of the sexes has had much to do with the degraded position of woman in moslem lands, and the complete failure of islamic social life. it is woman that makes or unmakes society. she is the keystone of the arch, not the mudsill. mohammed's state of mind regarding woman is universal among his followers, whether in algeria, tunis, or morocco, in the land of the lotus, in the ottoman empire, or in the lesser mohammedan dominions. the customs springing from this state are, of course, modified among the different peoples, as, for instance, among the moors through the admixture of spanish and moorish blood, which resulted in a somewhat better appreciation of woman. yet she is not a companion, but only a gilded toy, a decorative object, to be fitfully enjoyed or waywardly put aside. among the higher class she is still kept in strict seclusion, and her time is passed in luxurious idleness, save for the hours she employs at her embroidery or tapestry. the garden, with its heavily perfumed blossoms, pleases her; the ceaseless plash of the fountain falls musically on her ear; all her physical needs are ministered to. but everything conduces to the dreaminess of her nature, to slothful habits; her activities are fettered by the law of mohammed. after all, her garden is but an exquisite prison. by placing women upon so far lower a plane of social and religious life than man, mohammedanism has not only degraded the female sex, but has disrupted, if not destroyed, those healthy family relations which lie at the very foundation of all social progress and national greatness. x the turkish women out of the ruins of the seljuk domination arose the turkish empire, founded by ottoman, or osman i., a nomad chieftain of great prowess, after whom the ottoman empire derived its name. among the very first events narrated concerning the life of this important turk was one of romance, for ottoman was not only a bold warrior, but a brave lover, and withal, like the young hebrew joseph, a dreamer. in the little village of itburuni there lived a learned doctor of the law, a man of aristocratic blood, one edebali, with whom it is said ottoman loved to converse, not only because of the gentleman's fine personal qualities, but because edebali had a daughter, whom many named kamariya, or "brightness of the moon," because of her beauty; but most called her mal khatum, or "lady treasure," on account of her pleasing personality. but the learned sheik did not take kindly to ottoman's advances, for he had not yet "won his spurs," and his authority was not recognized by neighboring princes. fortunately, a timely dream--that potent argument which is so effectual among the people of the east--came to ottoman's aid in the pursuit of his suit. the dream is thus recorded: "one night ottoman, as he slumbered, thought he saw himself and his host stretched upon the ground, and from edebali's breast there seemed to rise a moon which waxing to the full, approached the prostrate form of ottoman and finally sank to rest on his bosom. thereat from out his loins there sprang forth a tree, which grew taller and taller, raised its head and spread out its branches till the boughs overshadowed the earth and the seas. under the canopy of leaves towered forth mighty mountains, caucasus, atlas, taurus, and hæmus, which held up the leafy vault like four great tent poles, and from their sides flowed royal rivers, nile, danube, tigris, and euphrates. ships sailed upon the waters, harvests waved upon the fields, the rose, and the cypress, flowers and fruits delighted the eye, on the boughs birds sang their glad music. cities raised domes and minarets toward the green canopy; temples and obelisks, towers and fortresses lifted their high heads, and on their pinnacles shone the golden crescent. and behold as he looked, a great wind arose and dashed the crescent against the crown of constantine, that imperial city which stood at the meeting of the two seas and two continents, like a diamond between sapphires and emeralds, the centre jewel of the ring of the empire. ottoman was about to put the dazzling ring upon his finger when he awoke." the story of the wondrous dream was told to the father of the fair mal khatum. he was at once convinced that the fates had marked ottoman for future greatness and for wide dominion. the moon-faced damsel fell a prize to the inevitable conqueror, son of ertoghrul. another early incident in ottoman's career may be of interest in this volume upon the women of turkey. ottoman understood that a number of his rivals at arms were to be present at a certain wedding to be celebrated at bilejik, in the year 1299; and that the event was to be made the occasion of his being entrapped and slain. learning of the conspiracy against him, he secured for forty women of the ottoman clan admission to the festivities. when all present were engrossed in the ceremonies of the hour, these forty sturdy warriors cast aside their female attire and not only captured the entire garrison, but also the fair maiden whose nuptials were being celebrated. she was a young greek lady named nenuphar, or "the lotus blossom," who afterward became the mother of murad i. ottoman now descended like an avalanche upon his rivals and their territory, extending his dominion even to mount olympus. it is to arabia and to persia that turkey owes most of its civilization, its religion, its literature, its laws, its manners, and its customs. beginning with a tartar basis, turkish life has been chiefly shaped under the influence of a religion and a literature. as for the first, the debt is chiefly to arabia; for the second, persia must have the larger share of credit. since these two forces, religion and literature, are doubtless the most effective in shaping the ideals of womanhood, and so in developing the female character among any people, we are compelled to look to the ancient lands of persia and arabia for the springs of turkish life. remembering the kinship of turkish literature to the arabic and persian, it would not be difficult to surmise that woman would hold no insignificant place in the literature of turkey. while there are as many as twenty-five different written languages used in the empire, the literary language is a product of the original tartaric tongue and strong persian and arabic elements. very much of the romantic material that goes to make up the turkish literature is drawn from such early stories as the great persian epic _shahnamah_. the romance of _laili and majnun_ has made a deep impression in turkish literature. fuzuli of bagdad, one of the greatest of turkish poets, has reproduced the strong love of these characters of old persian legend, besides giving to the nation's literature many _ghazels_ in which fondness for the virtue of woman is presented with characteristic eastern passion. the persian lady also figures in the work of kemal bey, who was regarded in his lifetime as "a shining star in the turkish literary world," and one who did much to arouse the turks to enthusiasm for their native country. he was the author of a trivial novel _tzesmi_, of high repute in turkish literary circles, in which a turkish warrior of poetic talent and a persian princess figure. there are numerous love ballads of moorish origin that are highly prized and have greatly influenced turkish literature, such as _fatima's love, zaida's love, zaida's inconstancy, zaida's lament, guhala's love_, and the like; also much moorish romance, as _the zefri's bride_. so we find turkish poems breathing of love and womanly charms. among such productions is that of ghalib, whose _husn-u-ashk_, or _beauty and love_, is regarded as one of the finest productions of turkish genius. it must be remembered, however, in reading turkish poetry of love that there is often, if not indeed generally, beneath what seems to be a sensuous and even voluptuous song or romance an allegorical or mystical significance. god is the fair one whose presence the heart craves, and whose veil the suitor would see cast aside that his perfect beauty may be revealed to the worshipper. man, therefore, is the lover; the tresses are the mystery of the divine character; the ruby lip is the sought-for word of god; wine is the divine love; the zephyr is the breathing of his spirit; and so on. and yet, that many turkish, as is true of many arab and persian, poems are upon a low moral level of human passion, and are revolting to the ethical sense of the more sensitive natures, is not to be disputed. fame in poetry has not been unknown to turkish women. notable among these literary women of turkey is fatima alie, daughter of the former state historiographer dzevdet pacha, whose history of the ottoman empire takes high rank. in fatima alie, turkish womanhood finds one of its staunchest champions. zeyneb effendi was a royal poetess in the days of mohammed the conqueror. she recounted in glowing lines her hero's achievements. so also mirhi hanum was a poetess of talent. she was born of a wealthy father, a grand vizir. she was so unfortunate as to have had as a lover one who did not reciprocate her passion. she, therefore, sung her young life out in avowed virginity, wearing an amber necklace, symbolizing her eternal choice of celibacy. among other poetesses of note may be mentioned sidi, who died in the year 1707, the authoress of _pleasures of sight_ and _the divan_. mirhi, who has been styled "the ottoman sappho," was a poetess of amasiya, full of the passion of love. she sang boldly concerning the object of her devotion, but her virtue was never questioned, nor her talent deprecated. but the women of turkey have been affected less by the literary influence of persia than by the religious inheritance from the arabs. before mohammed polygamy flourished among the various arabian tribes. the prophet brought some order out of the chaos, and the harem became a more or less well-defined system, with its definite laws and regulations. therein woman was somewhat advanced from the state in which she earlier found herself. and yet, mohammed manifestly wavered in his treatment of women and in the ideals which underlay it. a certain equality between man and woman is at one time taught in the koran, as when it said: "the women ought to behave to their husbands in like manner as their husbands should behave towards them, according to what is just." and again the prophet said: "ye men have right over your wives and your wives have right over you." this truly is reciprocity. and yet he asserted that "woman is a field--a sort of property which her husband may use or abuse as he thinks fit;" and again, that "a woman's happiness in paradise is beneath the sole of her husband's feet." commercially, the girl was of more value than the boy, because she could be sold and made a wife, and perhaps she might be converted to the mohammedan faith. it is, in truth, the turkish slave woman's physical beauty, as she was captured and came into the possession of arab sheiks, which first brought the turkish woman into notice. but these superbly attractive, dark-eyed slaves at length captured their captors, and the turk became master of the arab and the most virile exponent of the arabian faith and civilization. concerning his ideals as to woman, the turk imbibed much from the arab, who valued woman mainly for her points of physical excellence--these were tabulated in a standard of eight "fours" as follows: "a woman should have four things black; namely, hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and the dark part of the eyes. four things white; namely, the skin, the white of the eyes, the teeth, and the legs. four red; namely, the tongue, the lips, the middle of the cheek, and the gums. four round; namely, the head, the neck, the forearm, and the ankle. four long: the back, the fingers, the arms, and the legs. four wide: the forehead, the eyes, the bosom, and the hips. four thick: the lower part of the back, the thighs, the calves, and the knees. four small: the ears, the breast, the hands, and the feet." since mohammed allowed four wives to all mussulmans, the sultan as a faithful follower of the prophet may have four official wives; and after these he may take as many non-official wives as his fancy may desire. the four favored ones are known as the _kadins_. first stands the bach kadin, who is the "first lady of the land." next her is the skindij kadin, or "second lady." then come the "middle lady" or artanié kadin, and last of all the kutchuk kadin, or the "little lady." when a kadin becomes the mother of a male child she is then entitled to be called khasseki-sultan, or "royal princess." when a daughter is born to one of them she is known as khasseki-kadin, or "royal lady." the mother of the reigning sultan always holds high place at court, yet not because she is mother of the ruler, but because it is thought that each of the four legitimate wives of the sultan must in every detail of court life enjoy perfect equality with the others, from the services of "the mistress of the robes down to the lowest scullion." thus, the mother, called the valideh-sultan, holds the rank that usually belongs to the wife of a monogamous ruler. should the sultan's mother be deceased, his foster-mother holds this position of influence. the present sultan's foster-mother has conducted herself with much conservatism in her exalted position and, it is said, with strict attention to the dignity and economy of the harem. the valideh is sometimes poetically known as tatch-ul-mestourat, that is, "the crown of the veiled heads." this means that the valideh is regarded as queen of all the mohammedan women, who are uniformly veiled, according to the teaching of the prophet. the valideh is in her dignity most august. no woman, not even the khasseki-sultan, may dare come before her unless sent for. all women when they appear in her presence must be clothed in full court dress, and, whatever the weather may be, without mantles. when she goes out she is entitled to a military escort similar to that of the sultan. an ancient custom still prevails which demands that the valideh, once a year, on the night of kurban bairam, present a slave girl of twelve years of age to the sultan. the slave damsel at once becomes a member of the harem, and it is possible for her to rise to the highest position a woman may attain at the turkish court. it is now customary, however, for the young girl to be sent as a pupil in the institution at scutari, which has been established by the sultan for the higher education of mohammedan women. she is now more frequently married, with a dowry, to some officer of the court or member of the sultan's household. the sultan is granted privileges not generally accorded others as to marriage. he may marry a christian or a jewess, if he should see fit so to do. as a rule, the women who thus marry are expected to become moslem in faith, though there have been notable exceptions. theodora, wife of orkhan, was a greek christian woman, and with marked persistence held on to her ancestral religion. but orkhan was unlike mohammed ii. in character; for the story is told of the latter's strong passion for the beautiful irene, who, however, refused to abjure her faith. the priests of islam reviled their ruler for loving one who would not accept the religion of the prophet. this was too much for mohammed. one day the priests were assembled in one of the halls of the palace. here, too, was irene, covered with a veil of dazzling whiteness. with great solemnity the sultan lifted irene's veil with one hand and revealed the young woman's great beauty to all who were present. "you see," said the sultan, "she is more beautiful than any other woman you have ever beheld; fairer than the houris of your dreams! i love her as i do my life; but my life is nothing beside my love for islam." with this, he seized the long, golden tresses of the unfortunate woman, entwined them in his fingers, and with one stroke of his sharp scimiter severed her head from her body. a lady of imperial blood has the right to add "sultan" to her own name. this is her privilege, even though she should marry a subject, which is sometimes the case. her superior descent, however, is always recognized; for her husband may not sit down before her, unless she should so permit. turkish rulers have taken a different view of the value of foreign marriages from that which has usually prevailed in the east. political ties have been made and strengthened by royal marriages. in turkey, however, a custom, amounting to law, prevents the sultan from marrying a free woman, one taken from the high families of his own people, or princesses of foreign courts, that no tie of politics or affinity of blood should alter the superior impartiality of the supreme master. thus, while he is above all his subjects so far as rank is concerned, he is inferior, on his mother's side at least, in the matter of birth, hence, the meanest subject of the empire of the ottomans may here feel himself on an equality with the sultan, since he is "the son of a slave woman." it is not customary for a ceremony to be performed when the sultan marries. only three turkish sultans are said to have undergone a ceremony on the occasion of taking to themselves wives. when the greek princess theodora was wedded to orkhan; when roxelana became the wife of sultan suleyman; and when besma, an adopted daughter of a princess of egypt, was married to abd-ul-medjid, the marriage ceremony was performed. as a mark of certain inferiority, the bride is expected to enter the nuptial bed from the back, lifting the covering with much ceremony. it is never good form for a gentleman to inquire concerning the health of another's wife. mothers of the harem are often compelled to live in mortal fear for their infant sons, lest they be foully dealt with. for if a child have any prospect of some day being the turkish ruler, his life is never regarded as altogether safe. the baby prince is brought up in the harem, with his mother and nurse; but since brothers and even uncles come before sons, the question of succession to the sultanate has often caused great disorder and bloodshed. on the death of mohammed, the great arab leader, there was no mention of a law of succession. this was partly due, doubtless, to the fact that he left no son who might assume leadership of the hosts of islam. at length, the seljuk turks attained to power, after which the empire fell into minor sovereignties, which were brought together at last into the ottoman empire. and while of late the stability of the reigning dynasty has been the most noteworthy of the east, yet the fact that there was not early established the ordinary custom of transmitting the sovereignty from father to son has been the cause of much intrigue, crime, and uncertainty in the dominion of the turk. cases have not been unknown in turkish history where several hundred women of the seraglio were drowned in the bosphorus because of plottings to depose the sultan. they were tied in the traditional sack and dropped into the sea. it was ibrahim i., known as the madman, one of the very worst of turkish rulers, who first conceived the idea of thus disposing of the old women of the seraglio. surprised and seized in the night, the unfortunate victims of the sultan's madness were tied in sacks and then sunk to the bottom of the sea. only one of the large company of the unfortunates escaped, by the loosing of the sack, and was picked up by a passing ship and conveyed to paris to tell the story of the cruel death of her companions. among the many notable instances of the tragic end to which the plottings of the harem have come may be mentioned that of tarkhann, mother of mohammed iv. so desirous was she that her son should reign, that she slew all the other possible male heirs to the throne. she met her nemesis, however, by strangulation. it is upon her life and that of her rival that racine has constructed his _bajazet_. connected with the sultan's harem there are estimated to be about fifteen hundred persons. the harem consists of a number of little courts, or _dairas_; and the central figure of each of these courts is a lady of the female hierarchy. in the royal household there are three classes of women. the kadins, of whom we have spoken, who may be termed the legitimate wives of the sultan, though they are never formally married. next are the _ikbals_, or "favorite women." from this class the kadins are usually chosen. then come the _gediklis_, "those pleasant to look upon." the ikbals may come from the number of these. the women of the third class are usually of slave origin, purchased or stolen perhaps from georgian or circassian parents. those who are stolen are usually taken so early from their homes, and so clandestinely, that their origin is seldom known to them. if, however, the lady comes of high station her identity usually becomes known, and she not unfrequently succeeds in elevating her family to a position of power and emolument, either by direct influence or by intrigue. in addition to these three classes of women there are _ustas_, or "mistresses," who are maids in the service of the sultan's mother; _shagirds_, or "novices," who are children in training for the higher positions in the harem; and _jariyas_, or "damsels," who do the more menial work of the establishments. captured slave girls have sometimes had a most interesting career. they are brought in an almost continuous stream, but privately. in the earliest days of their presence in the harem they are called _alaikés_, and are placed under the care of elderly women, or _kalfas_, who bring them up to suit the tastes of an oriental court. they are instructed in manners, in music, in drawing, and in embroidery. when later they reach the proper age, they become attendants upon the kadins and the princesses of the imperial household. there is no bar to their reaching at length the highest station that it is possible for a woman to attain, the favorite wife of the sultan. the female department of the turkish household is called the hareemlick, the male apartments being named the islamlick. the women's apartments are, of course, secluded. a male physician may see only the hand and tongue of the sick lady. a black curtain is stretched to separate her from his inspection. a eunuch conducts the physician to a point where the sick woman may thrust out her hand through a hole in the curtain so that the doctor may diagnose her disease. faithfulness in women is held in high esteem, restraint of the harem being intended to insure it. in former days it was not a thing unknown for unfaithful women to be drowned; but the custom has fallen into disuse. ladies of the harem, however, have a fair amount of liberty. on certain occasions they go out driving and visiting; they frequent the bazaars and the public promenades, always in vehicles, never afoot. they enjoy entertainments among themselves. theatricals are frequently witnessed by them in the garden of the palace. operas are also often rendered for their enjoyment. when turkish ladies visit one another in the harem,--which they may do without permission or restraint from their husbands,--it is customary to place their shoes outside the harem door that their husbands may know guests are being entertained. the harem of one ruler is generally regarded as the property of his successor. the women thus inherited, however, are not always sure of favor. sultan mohammed ii. killed, by drowning, all the women of his brother's harem. indeed, women of the harems generally cannot be said to have ample protection; for no officer may enter any harem to inspect the conduct there, or for any purpose whatever, unless the law of the house admits him. the women, whether they be wives or slaves, are practically at the mercy of their masters. some women of the sultan's harem have risen to positions of much influence and genuine power, though they have generally been of foreign birth. the mother of the noted reforming sultan, mahmud ii., who began to reign in 1808 when a mere child, was a french woman. his stout resistance of the allied powers won for him a certain admiration for doggedness, even if success did not crown his efforts to keep greece in subjection. it was into this struggle that lord byron threw himself on behalf of greece. mahmud, it may be to some extent through the influence of his french mother, introduced french tactics into his army, but to no avail, and at length grecian freedom was assured. the wife of mahmud, besma, taken as a little girl from the life of a peasant, rose to a position of supreme dignity and great influence. her beauty easily won the passion of mahmud. she never lost sight of her humble origin and was much beloved by the masses of the people, even those of the most lowly classes. she was the mother of abd-ul-aziz, and it was she who unsuspectingly gave to the sultan, her son, the scissors with which he killed himself. at any rate, the unfortunate monarch was found dead in his apartments. the mother pined away in seclusion, and was seen only in her deeds of charity. it was besma who built the mosque yeni kalideh at ak serai, and it is here she rests in the midst of a beautiful garden of flowers, of which, during her lifetime, she was so fond. on her death, about fifteen years ago, she was accorded a funeral of great magnificence, and she was generally mourned throughout the empire. it is said that when besma was building the mosque, her money fell short of her purpose, so that she could build but one minaret instead of two, as custom entitled. her son, however, came forward, offering the necessary funds, which she declined with the remark: "no, one minaret is sufficient to call the people to prayers; another would only glorify me; the poor need a fountain." so she built a fountain for the people, and it is one of the most beautiful in constantinople. one of the most celebrated--even if she be not one of the best--women of turkey history was khurrem, the "joyous," whom europeans generally knew as roxelana. she was wife of the greatest figure in turkish annals, suleyman the magnificent, who reigned about the middle of the sixteenth century. roxelana, though her origin has not been clearly traced, was probably of russian descent. from the first this strong-minded woman exerted great influence over suleyman. in the first place, she forced him to marry her publicly and with much ceremony, a proceeding which was then without precedent. usually to have it announced that a woman had become mother of a male heir to the throne was regarded as sufficient announcement of marriage with the sultan. but this woman, who had now risen from the position of a slave woman to that of the highest dignity possible for a woman in the empire, determined that her marriage with the great monarch should be full of publicity and pomp. there was feasting and, apparently, great rejoicing, though the people were surprised and hardly understood what it all might mean. roxelana was, however, equal to the emergency, and with the sagacity and determination which were native to her sent many slaves among the people as they feasted, distributing presents of money and pieces of silk to the masses. from this time, she not only held absolute sway over the sultan, but evinced great skill in buying the friendship of the people by gifts and acts of charity. diplomacy was characteristic of her, and from cruelty she would not shrink if it were necessary to carry out her purposes, for she induced suleyman, generally so just and prudent, to destroy the oldest and most promising of his sons, since the young man, mustafa by name, stood in the way of her own son selim as heir to the throne. she succeeded in her designs, but placed on the throne one of the weakest and most worthless of turkish rulers, "selim, the sot." roxelana's beauty is described as that which "attests that mixture of the asiatic and tartar blood, wherever the dark eyes, the silken lashes, the creamy paleness of the tint, the languor of the attitude habitual to the persian beauties, contrast with the rounded outline of the face, with the shortness of the nose, the thickness of the lips, and the warm coloring of the skin, traits peculiar to the daughters of the caucasus." at fifteen, she is said to have been the marvel and even the mystery of the harem. her memory knew only the rearing of the seraglio; but her remarkable alertness and force of mind as well as beauty of person made her from the first one of a thousand. taught in the arts of music and dancing, versed in foreign languages, and the study of history and poetry, roxelana added to her exuberance of youth a power of mind which marked her for preëminence. rebia, wife of mohammed iv., is another example of womanly power over the head and heart of the supreme ruler of turkey. rebia was a greek girl from the island of crete. lamartine says of her: "the delicacy of her lineaments, the brilliancy of her complexion, the ocean azure of her eyes, the golden auburn of her hair, the caressing tone of her voice, and the witchery of her wit made her to be dreaded still as the prison companion of a fallen monarch, of whom she might amuse the languor and reëstablish the intrigue from the depth of his captivity." even in mohammed's dethronement, rebia clung to the fortunes of her lord, over whom, during his power, she had always exerted decisive influence. italian women have also risen to a place of prominence in the royal harem. this was notably true in the case of the beautiful safia, a venetian captive girl, who had been brought into the seraglio of sultan murad iii., who succeeded selim his father in the year 1574. murad was not strong, and was easily deceived by sycophants and ruled by women. among the latter was safia, sometimes known as baffo, belonging to the family of baffo of venice. baffo proceeded to rule her royal lord in the interests of her native land. venice, after suleyman's death, had become restless of turkish rule, and proceeded successfully to throw it off. baffo never forgot her origin, and ruled with a high hand, not only as khasseki-sultan, but also as valideh. she set her son mohammed iii. on the throne as successor to her husband, even though the consummation could be reached only by the slaying of nineteen of the one hundred and two sons of murad. foreign women will probably never again play so large a rôle in turkish affairs. the present sultan is said, however, to be fond of the social attractions of european women. he is probably the first turkish sultan who has invited a european lady to dine with him. the turkish sultans have long lived in much magnificence. the old seraglio, or imperial residence (from the word _seray_, a palace), was beautifully situated "among the groves of plane and cypress that clothe the apex of the triangle upon which the ancient city of constantinople is built." now, however, the sultans have left these precincts around which clustered so many memories of the horrible tragedies enacted there, memories which even the magnificence of the place could not destroy, and established their present residence, equal in natural beauty to the old, but removed from the dirt and the memories, which had at length gathered about the old seraglio. the women's quarters are situated in the innermost portion of the seraglio. here are from three to twelve hundred women; at times there are even more. these women are all foreigners. indeed, all the guards and attendants of the palace are of foreign blood. the sultan and his children are the only turks dwelling in the inner departments of the royal palaces; and both he and they are born of foreign mothers. the women's departments are carefully guarded. there were specially appointed officers in the old seraglio as guards of the queens and their children. these were the baltajis, or "halberdiers," who were four hundred in number. they, however, really attended the royal women only when the sultan took with him some members of his harem to bear him company on a journey or a campaign. the baltajis, on such occasions, walked by the side of the carriages of the imperial ladies and guarded their camp at night. ordinarily, the sultan's harem was under the care of the black eunuchs, or about two hundred africans, who were specially entrusted with the imperial ladies. their chief was known as the kislar aghasi, or "master of the girls," and was regarded as one of the chief men of the empire. the trade in captive boys and girls stolen from europe, asia, and africa was once very large; the pick of them being brought by purchase into the sultan's palace, for one purpose or another. it was thought that his imperial majesty's life was safer in the hands of foreigners brought up almost from infancy in the palace, and knowing no other allegiance than that to the will of the sultan. times have changed, however, and it is not possible for the ruler of the turks to regard the best of the children of white and black parentage as born to replenish his harem. much of the old time mediæval splendor has been swept away, not only through the reforms of sultan mahmud ii., but by modern conditions which make the old seraglio an impossibility. in the olden days the young princes were closely confined in a part of the seraglio known as the chimshirlick, or "boxwood shrubbery." it contained twelve pavilions each surrounded by high walls which enclosed a little garden. these were the residences of the sons of the sultan. each young prince was kept guarded in his pavilion enclosure, from which he dared not emerge without his royal father's special permission. thus a prince's minority was spent in the _kafe_, or "cage." each youth had as attendants ten or twelve fair girls, besides a number of pages. these and black eunuchs, who were his teachers, were his sole companions. as a rule, the tongues of male attendants and of women unable to bear children were slit. at the tenth year a young prince leaves his mother and the harem for the guardianship of a _lalo_, or "male attendant," who is his companion day and night; next a _mullah_, or "priest," takes the youth in hand and gives him his schooling, which consists chiefly in instruction in the teachings of the koran. [illustration 5: _the mutes after the painting by p. l. bouchard the women's quarters are situated in the innermost portion of the seraglio. here are from three to twelve hundred women; at times there are even more. these women are all foreigners. indeed, all the guards and attendants of the palace are of foreign blood..... the women's departments are carefully guarded. women who bear no children and the subaltern eunuchs have their tongues slit. whan an order of death is issued, these mutes, with the fatal cords, enter and noiselessly fulfil their commands._] among the female officials of the seraglio is the hasnada ousta, or "grand mistress of the robes." she is usually an elderly woman of respectability and of dignity. this lady acts as vice-valideh, caring for matters in the establishment to which it may not be possible for the valideh sultan to give her own personal attention. she holds a place of much honor, and women holding this position have been known to become valideh. there is also the kyahya kadin, or "lady comptroller," who is generally selected by the sultan from among the oldest and most trusted of the gediklis. the dress of the ladies of the royal harem was formerly altogether oriental; so also were the furnishings of the women's apartments. these last still consist largely of low divans, costly embroidery, couches, and the like; but european customs have now made themselves felt, not only in the furnishings of the rooms, but more particularly in the matter of feminine attire. costly robes from paris and vienna have invaded the precincts of the harem; and these, added to the wealth of jewelry of which oriental ladies are so fond, make it possible for the women of the rich turkish households to be quite cosmopolitan in their modes of dressing. many of the lower ranks wear upon their head a sort of hood of black silk, the egyptian _chaf-chaf_. to this is attached a piece of black netting, which can be dropped over the face of the wearer when she so pleases. the women of constantinople, however, are not so careful in the matter of the veil as are the ladies living in cities under less cosmopolitan influence. european ideas and habits have greatly modified turkish customs. the _yashmac_ is the face veil which the turkish girl receives when she attains to the marriageable age. the word is derived from a verb which means, when fully interpreted, "may long life be granted you." the material is thin, fine lawn or similar stuff. the older and less attractive women, or ladies who do not wish to be recognized in a public concourse, as when shopping, wear a veil of thicker material. the cloak used is the _feridjè_. it is usually of black material, and its shape is intended to conceal the outlines of the figure. the _feridjè_ is now much modified, however, by european tastes, and is not greatly different from the opera cloak worn by the ladies of paris. the once fashionable footgear, the yellow turkish slipper, has given place generally to the slipper of patent leather worn by european ladies. much of the beauty of color and picturesqueness of costume has therefore passed away, as may be seen from the following description of the turkish woman's appearance at the middle of the sixteenth century: when they (the women of turkey) go abroad, the ladies wear the _yashmac_ made of gold stuff, heavily fringed, and confined to the head by a crown blazing with jewels. the figure is concealed by a cloak of richest brocade or velvet. sometimes you may have the charm of seeing as many as one hundred _arabas_, or carts, very splendid and richly gilded, drawn by gaily decorated bullocks, each containing a number of these great ladies with their children and slaves. "the procession is a most gorgeous sight. each cart has as many as four mounted eunuchs to protect it from the curiosity of the public, who have their faces almost to the earth, or avert them entirely, as the caravan passes." so, also, lady mary wortley montagu has left, in a letter to the duchess of marlborough, written in 1717, a very graphic account of the costume of the sultana. lady mary describes the _dolma_, or "vest of long sleeves," the diamond-bedecked girdle, the long and costly chain about the neck, reaching even to the knees, the earrings of diamonds shaped like pears, the _talpoche_, the headdress covered with bodkins of emeralds and diamonds, the diamond bracelets, the five rings upon her fingers, the largest ring lady mary ever saw except that worn by mr. pitt. there was also a pelisse of rich brocade brought to the royal turkish lady when she walked out into her garden. fifty different kinds of meat were served at her dinner, but one at a time; her golden knives were set with diamonds in the hafts; gorgeously embroidered napkins were in abundance, etc. much of this magnificence and display has now passed away, but, as stanley lane-poole says in his _the history of turkey_: "while the house of the ottoman monarch of to-day, if more in keeping with the spirit of the time, is very commonplace beside that of last century ... nevertheless, the modern seraglio is hardly an anchorite's cell." cosmetics were once used in profusion. the painting of the eyebrows and the dyeing of the finger tips with henna were considered marks of beauty. the custom is dying out entirely in constantinople, though in the remoter regions of the empire the habit is still in vogue. the attempts at beautifying the face are often referred to by the poets as marks of beauty, as when fuzuli dilates upon the "eyes with antimony darkened, hands with henna crimson dyed. among these beauties vain and wanton, like to thee was ne'er a bride. bows of painted green thy eyebrows; thy glances shafts provide." mohammedan countries of any culture have long held the bath in great esteem. turkish ladies of high rank once frequented the public baths with regularity, but the modern improvements in the private houses have made this custom far less general. the women of the turkish empire present an almost infinite variety. under the dominion of the sultan the nationalities are many and heterogeneous. so also it would be impossible to make any general statement of the treatment of women among the turks. in many parts of turkey there is but one wife in the household, and she is well treated and highly respected; affection prevails in the harems of not a few; while in others concubinage, neglect, harshness, ignorance, vice are present with their deadly effect. divorce may be readily obtained in turkey; but parental influence often protects the woman who otherwise might fare unjustly. mohammed also gave some protection to wives, since he considered a wife to have rights in her own fortune even while married, and held that if divorced, restitution of this fortune was to be made. turkish women, except those of the richer families, generally nurse their own children. many children die in infancy through the ignorance of mothers of the lower classes. some mothers still swaddle their little ones. in the event of illness, instead of a trained physician, many mothers send for a "wise woman" or a wizard. in the harems, it is suspected that many infants are actually killed. the mohammedan population increases more slowly, notwithstanding the practice of polygamy, than the christian population of the turkish empire. it is the custom among families of the better class to give the boys over from infancy to the care of a _dadi_, or slave girl, whose business it is to care for him during his youth, and it is not infrequent that evil springs from this intimacy. both boys and girls are under the care of a _lalo_, or male slave, when the children are out of the precincts of the harem. the influence of the slaves and menials, with whom so many turkish children are thrown, is, as a rule, far from elevating. submission is a lesson that is very early taught to turkish children. this insures an obedient, tractable spirit, and is the cause of all that is best in the turkish character. there are almost thirty million turkish women, the masses of whom move upon a very low level of culture. this cannot, however, be said of all, for many of the upper classes and of the court are well educated, though the branches or subjects they are taught are not varied. foreign governesses are often employed to teach the girls french, german, and english, which they can, in many cases, speak fluently. language and literature furnish a large part of their education. a change is gradually coming over the turkish people in this matter of the development of its women, and this, notwithstanding, the fear in many minds that a better educated woman will be a less manageable woman; a creature dissatisfied with her lot. a recent writer of acute observation of turkish affairs has said of efforts on the part of american philanthropists to instil the spirit of the american public school into the minds of the turks: "the general opinion seemed to be that the female sex had no intellectual capacity. the first efforts of the americans to make the women sharers in intellectual progress and refinement were met with opposition, and often with derisive laughter. they created a new public sentiment in favor of the education of women. this is shown by the interest taken in the schools established by americans for the education of girls. pashas, civil and military officers of high rank, the ecclesiastics and wealthy men of all the different nationalities attend the examinations, and express their hearty approval of the efforts made by the americans for improving the conditions of the women of turkey." the tendency of these influences is to win for women a greater respect from fathers, husbands, brothers; greater freedom in choice of their life partners; to defer the marriageable age from twelve years to fifteen or twenty; to secure for mothers greater respect from their children; and to elevate womanhood in every relation of life. turkish women who are still living under the patriarchal system--and in no small part of the empire does this ancient system prevail--develop under a different environment from that prevailing in the other parts of the realm. under a patriarchate the mother yields to the grandmother and the great-grandmother. the wife holds not only a subservient place in the family, which often contains as many as forty persons, but she is often, literally, a slave to the mother-in-law, and her children are trained by almost everybody else but herself. the patriarchal system is gradually yielding, however; and more and more, even in the conservative regions of the world, newly married people are forsaking father and mother and cleaving to one another, setting up their own homes and developing the parental character, and training their young in their own sweet way. under strict moslem influence, motherhood has a place of honor; at least in theory. for mohammedanism gives to the woman who bears children and trains them faithfully a rank in heaven with the martyrs. unfortunately, however, the light esteem in which women are held in moslem lands makes against woman's power, even in her noblest opportunity,--that of moulding the children into character that is noblest and best. much work has been done by foreign philanthropists in an effort to raise the standard of home training among the turks. stanley lane-poole, in his _studies in a mosque_, a book not written from the viewpoint of the modern missionary, but that of a candid and diligent student of historic conditions, says: "it is quite certain that there is no hope for the turks, so long as turkish women remain what they are, and home training is the imitation of vice." this is surely a dark picture. but the time may yet come when the turkish woman will assume a position more like that of her western sisters and become an elevating influence in the land whose present territory includes much of the most renowned soil the sun ever shone upon, not only that which saw the birth of the religion of the jew, the christian, and the mohammedan, but also much that is rich in classic and mediæval memories--the country of which byron wrote: "the land of the cedar and pine, where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine; where the light wings of zephyr, oppressed with perfume, wax faint in the gardens of gul in her bloom. ....................................................... where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine, and all save the spirit of man is divine." yes, even the land of the turk may see such ideals of womanhood realized as those which made the women of the ancient hebrews and the early christians--who lived upon what is now turkish soil--to be honored throughout the ages. xi the moorish women we are now to turn our attention to one of the most fascinating of all the women of the world--the moorish woman. her fascination does not lie altogether in her intrinsic charm, but in the atmosphere that romance has cast about her. and while there is, of course, a very close kinship between the moorish women of spain and morocco and the women of the orient, especially the mohammedan women, yet, the lady of moorish ancestry has a history and a life of her own which are well worthy of consideration. the moors brought culture to spain, and it was not long after their expulsion that learning began to decline, and with it spain. it was during the period of the western movement of mohammedanism that islam made its contribution to the world's progress. in its very work of devastation, arabian civilization was destined to render mankind great service. conquering the north of africa and then coming across the narrow straits of gibraltar, the moors were destined to write out a wonderful history in their european home. so deeply did the moors impress their life upon the spaniards, that long after their expulsion they continued to influence spain by the power of their thought and the impress of their customs. even to-day, after the lapse of more than four centuries, moorish footprints are traceable in spanish soil. while the moors brought culture into spain, it cannot be said that they made any direct attempt to educate or to elevate their women. but among a people whose learning was relatively so high for its age, it was impossible to prevent the women from receiving a certain refinement and at times an elevation of mind which made them worthy of the respect and admiration of not only the prouder sex, but of the world. the capacity for true poetry and the gift of music were not uncommon accomplishments of these women. there was ample leisure for these arts to be cultivated by them. charm of presence seemed to belong by nature and habit to the moorish woman, as "some grace propitious on her steps attends, adjusts her charms by stealth and recommends." the moorish women were pretty, as indeed their descendants are, especially when young. like the ancient egyptians, they blackened their eyelashes and eyebrows and used henna stains upon their finger tips. beauty was at a high premium, not because there was so little of it in moorish spain, but because it was highly prized. some of this peculiar type of beauty persists even to-day in parts of the peninsula. as aranzadi (quoted by ripley) says: "the very prevalent honey-brown eyes of the southwest quarter of spain, near granada, is probably due to strong moorish influence." the respect for women among the moors of spain was higher than it would be natural to expect in a land where mohammed's influence was paramount. it is a tradition that the prophet once declared: "i stood at the gate of paradise and lo! most of its inmates were poor; and i stood at the gate of hell and lo! most of its inmates were women." the arabian nature was intuitive, ardent, impulsive. so the beauty of a beautiful woman awakened the feeling of love and chivalry. on the other hand, the women were warm-hearted, though custom required them to be dignified and self-contained. among a people where generosity, courage, hospitality, and veneration for old age were conspicuous virtues, it is not strange that women should have received more than ordinary respect. and yet these very qualities, when abused, often degenerated into idleness, pride, ignorance, bigotry, and even the grossest sensuality. chivalry, however, had its better side, for "here gallants held it little thing for ladies' sake to die," as the old spanish ballad tells us. the cid stories of valor--like that of antar in arabian literature, orlando in italian, and arthur in early english legend--brought this powerful influence upon the imaginations and conduct of both men and women: "for here did valor flourish and deeds of warlike might ennobled lordly palaces in which was our delight." spain was for centuries known for its gallantry. indeed, "the spaniards bore away the palm of gallantry from the french," and have in some respects perpetuated the influence stamped upon them by the moorish women, even to this day. as thomas bourke says, in his _moors in spain_: "much of the chivalrous manner of the granadians is no doubt to be attributed to their women, who were exactly qualified to create and keep alive this spirit of gallantry among their countrymen and to occasion those excesses of love, of which so many examples, equally extraordinary as pleasing, occur both in spanish and in arabian history." what is the secret of the alluring and overpowering charms with which the moorish women have fascinated the historian, enkindled the novelist and poet, set the musician's heart to vibrating and stirred the imagination of the world? a description of them which goes back to the old arabian days is of interest in finding the secret of their power over the senses and the imaginations of men. "they are uncommonly beautiful; their charms which very rarely fail to impress, even at first sight, are further set off by a lightness and grace which gives them an influence quite irresistible. they are rather below the middle stature; their hair, which is of a beautiful black, descends almost to their ankles. no vermilion can vie with their lips, which are continually sending forth the most bewitching smiles, as if expressly to display teeth as white as alabaster. they are profuse in the use of perfumes and washes which, being exquisite in their kinds, give a freshness and lustre to the skin rarely to be equalled by the women of other countries. their steps, their dances, all their movements display a graceful softness, an easy negligence, that enhances their other charms, and not only renders them irresistible, but exalts them beyond all power of praise. their conversation is lively and poignant; their wit refined and penetrating, equally adapted to grave and abstruse discussions as to the pleasantest and most lively sallies." the dresses of the granadian women, not unlike those of the modern turks and russians, consisted chiefly of a long tunic, which was held in by a girdle. there was also an upper garment with straight sleeves. this was called a _dolyman_. large drawers upon the legs and morocco slippers upon the feet finished the costume, with the exception of their small bonnets, to which were attached costly veils, richly embroidered and descending to their knees, altogether presenting a picture which, at its best, made the moorish woman one of the most graceful and picturesque of her day. the stuffs which went into a moorish woman's dress were usually of extraordinary fineness, and the trimmings were costly, gold and silver edging being used without stint. hairdressing was not an unimportant part of her toilette. the black hair, befitting her complexion, was allowed to fall down in braids upon the shoulders, but in front there was a fringe. strings of coral beads were often intertwined with the side locks; and the ornaments of the hair, often costly pearls, were allowed to hang down, giving a delicate tinkle as the woman moved her head. there were some little superstitions about the hair. it was thought that a direful curse fell upon those who joined another's hair to their own. to send a person a bit of hair, or even, by metonymy, the silken string which bound it, was a token of submission. jewelry was used by the moorish women in great profusion. they are still passionately fond of ornaments. even the poorest are well supplied, and the shapely brown arms of the little girls are encircled at the wrist and above the elbow with bands of brass or copper. as the women walk they "make a tinkling with their feet, because of all the rings and anklets and bangles which they wear with so much delight." this jewelry is the woman's personal property, and in case her husband should see fit to divorce her, it still remains her own. one of the most important parts of a moorish lady's daily life was the bath, a pastime which was both pleasurable and imperative, especially in the homes of the wealthier classes. coppée, in his _conquest of spain_, has thus described the bathing equipment of a moorish home: "passing from the centre of a luxurious court through a double archway into another _patio_, similar in proportions and surroundings, and usually lying at right angles to the first, in the centre is a great _estangue_, or oblong basin, seventy-five feet long by thirty in width, and six feet in depth in its deepest part, supplied with limpid waters, raised to a pleasant temperature by heated metallic pipes. here the indolent, the warm, the weary, may bathe in luxurious languor. here the women disport themselves, while the entrances are guarded by eunuchs against intrusion. the contented bather may then leave the court by a postern in the gallery, which opens into a beautiful garden, with mazy walks and blooming parterres, redolent with roses and violets. water is everywhere; one garden house is ingeniously walled in with fountain columns, meant to bid defiance to the fiercest heats and droughts of summer." from these ample and often luxurious arrangements, it might be surmised that by the moor water was regarded not as a luxury, but as an absolute necessity to a happy life. all classes shared more or less in the habits of cleanliness; for it is said that many of the poor would have spent "their last _dirhem_ for soap, preferring rather to be dinnerless than dirty," while the moors of the higher order were so scrupulously cleanly that they are said to have spent a very large part of their lives in the bath. strangely enough, the catholics of spain, determining to get as far away as possible from the customs of their mohammedan captors, eschewed the bath because the moors made so much of it; and men and women among them were known to be strangers to the touch of water. so far from cleanliness being regarded as next to godliness, dirt became the very emblem of christian society, "monks and nuns boasted of their filthiness," and there is on record a female saint who boasted at the age of sixty that no drop of water had ever touched her body, except that the tips of her fingers had been dipped into the holy water at the mass! nine hundred well-equipped baths in the rich city of cordova, and thousands throughout spain, were destroyed by philip ii., the husband of queen mary of england, on the ground that they were but relics of spain's occupancy by the infidel. while mohammed refused to mohammedan women the right to marry any but a mohammedan, yet he granted to his male followers the right to marry christians or jewesses if they saw fit. this privilege led to a considerable admixture of blood in moorish spain. spanish pride did not suffice to prevent these intermarriages of arab and spaniard. polygamy also being in vogue,--for their religion allowed the moors four wives,--a blending of races went on rapidly, and the moorish type of beauty may be discovered to-day in any part of southern spain. the christian influence in spain tended to soften the almost necessary asperities of a life where plural marriages are sanctioned. the degradation incident to mohammedan ideals concerning women was much checked by a counter current of christian feeling, by which the moors could not but be influenced. so, also, did poets and lovers in moorish spain show a respect for womanly worth and grace, if not womanly virtue, which marks an advance from the mohammedan or even the earlier arabian days. as might be inferred from their oriental antecedents, the spanish arabs gave much time to eating and drinking. the chief meal followed the evening prayer. the men ate alone, the women and children followed when their lord had finished his repast. the tray containing the food was placed upon an embroidered rug. silver and fine earthenware were not wanting. bread and limes were expected with every meal. a dish made of the flesh of a sheep or fowls stewed with vegetables was a common dish, as, indeed, it is a favorite among the moorish people to-day. "the diner sat on a low cushion, with legs crossed. a servant poured water on his hands before eating, from a basin and ewer, which formed a necessary part of the table furniture. the meal then began with the _bismillah_--'in the name of the most merciful god'--for grace. the right hand only was used in eating; and with it the host, if he had guests, transferred choice pieces from his own plate to theirs, and sometimes, as a mark of greater favor, to their very mouths. ordinarily there were soups, boiled meats, stuffed lambs, and all meats not forbidden. very little water was taken during the meal; in its place, and especially after the meal, sherbets were drunk, those flavored with violet and made very sweet being preferred." the contact between the mohammedans and the christians in moorish spain inevitably brought conflict. christians often unnecessarily threw away their lives in courted martyrdom. many were the staunch women who thus willingly laid down their lives. the story of flora, the beautiful daughter of a moorish father and a christian mother, has in it elements of the deepest pathos. the offspring of mixed marriages among the moors was universally regarded by them as of necessity mohammedan in faith. flora's mother, however, had secretly instilled into her the beliefs of the christian religion, though outwardly she was a good follower of the prophet. at length, however, stirred by the sacrifices she saw the christian martyrs making for their cause, her father being now dead, she fled from her home and took refuge among the christians. her mohammedan brother searched for her, but in vain. priests were charged with her abduction and were punished with imprisonment. unwilling that they should be thus punished on her account, flora returned and gave herself up, confessing that she was no longer a moslem, but a christian. all efforts to make her recant proved fruitless. there remained nothing except to bring her before the mohammedan judge and try her for the capital offence of apostasy. the judge, however, willing to show mercy, sentenced flora not to death as the law prescribed, but to a severe flogging. her brother was enjoined to take the girl home and instruct her in the faith of mohammed. it was not long, however, before she again made good her escape and joined some christian friends, among whom a new experience awaited her. here, saint eulogius, an enthusiast among the christians, met flora and conceived for her a love that was pure and tender, so admirable did he adjudge her steadfastness to the faith. it was a day when martyrs willingly laid down their lives, accounting it a proud distinction to die at the hands of the infidel. they courted death. so with flora. appearing before the judge one day with a christian maiden who also sought a martyr's death, this girl of half moorish blood, but with staunch christian faith, reviled that officer and cursed his religion and the prophet. the mohammedan judge pitied the young girls, but had them thrown into prison. here they might have weakened had not eulogius urged them to stand fast in their holy faith. the sentence of death was passed upon them; and the girls were led away to execution. eulogius, who loved flora above all else on earth, and hence desired her to win what he considered the most glorious of all crowns, that of martyrdom, looked on in the hour of her death, and wrote: "she seemed to me an angel. a celestial illumination surrounded her; her face lightened with happiness; she seemed already to be tasting the joys of the heavenly home.... when i heard the words of her sweet mouth, i sought to establish her in her resolve, by showing her the crown that awaited her. i worshipped her, i fell down before this angel, and besought her to remember me in her prayers; and strengthened by her speech, i returned less sad to my sombre cell." thus did moorish blood and christian faith unite to make a life of wonderful daring and fortitude. to-day in moorish states the strictest seclusion prevails for the women. the love of idleness, ignorance, and sensuality are their dominating traits. they are veiled when in public, and in the north of africa wear a striped white shawl, called a _haik_, of coarser or finer material, according to the wealth or position of the wearer. this piece of apparel is thrown over the head and conceals the person down to the feet, the face being hidden by a white linen handkerchief, called the _adjar_, tied tightly across the nose just under the eyes. says sequin, in _walks about algiers_, in describing the moorish women of that region: "in the street they present the appearance of animated clothes-bags, and walk with a curious shuffling gait, very far removed from the unfettered dignity of their lords and masters. they are not 'emancipated'; and though in the houses of the richer moors the slavery of their women may be gilded, it is but slavery after all. the mohammedan invariably buys his wife--that is to say, he pays a price for her to her family, large or small, according to her reputed beauty, or accomplishments as a housewife; and though when a girl is born to him, an arab laments, a man with many daughters, if he knows how to dispose of them well, in time becomes rich. arab women, unlike the men, are small in stature, and the wearing of the _adjar_ has flattened their noses and made their faces colorless. it is a curious fact that this disguise was unknown among arab women until the time of mahommed's marriage with his young and beautiful wife ayesha, as to whose conduct, indeed, it became needful for the angel gabriel to make a special communication, before the prophet's uneasiness could be removed. the jealousy of one man has been powerful enough to cover the faces of all moslem wives and daughters for twelve hundred years." the moorish women of the better class are rarely seen upon the streets or in public places. indeed, they are not expected to cross their threshold for at least twelve months after their marriage; and when that time has elapsed, it is seldom they are seen abroad. they go to the baths, and sometimes on fridays they visit the cemeteries. other recreations or amusements are not open to them, except that in the marriage ceremonies women have peculiar privileges, since these ceremonies are held in the women's apartments. "marriage festivities last a week, during which time the chief amusement is the eating of sweetmeats and the dressing, bejewelling, dyeing, painting, and generally adorning of the bride, who is, as a rule, a girl of some thirteen or fourteen years old, and who is compelled to sit idle and immovable the whole time without showing the slightest interest in anything. she has probably never seen and has certainly never been seen by the bridegroom. at the conclusion of the ceremonies the bridegroom is introduced to the women's apartments, and permitted to raise his bride's veil, but etiquette obliges the lady to keep her eyes tightly closed on the occasion, and in some cases the unfortunate young woman's eyelashes are gummed down to her cheeks, to save the possibility of an indiscreet glance. if the face of the bride is displeasing to the bridegroom, he is at liberty after this one glance to reject her. if, on the contrary, he is satisfied, he drinks a few drops of scented water from the bride's hand, offers her the same from his, and the marriage is concluded." in contrast with their once great enemies, the spaniards, the moors have no kind of public spectacle. for the moors of africa, story-telling, in which the arabs have time out of mind delighted, the recitation of poems, to which is usually added a dance of _almehs_, generally negresses, expert in their art of pleasing the native assemblies. these entertainments are held in the open courtyard of some quaint old moorish house; the centre of the court being reserved for the dancers and the musicians. the men fill the space around, beneath the arches, while in the galleries are the ghostly forms of veiled women. it cannot be said that the moorish women of to-day still retain that grace of form and charm of manner which the moorish lady of five centuries ago possessed. a prominent woman, who has travelled widely in moslem countries, has given this rather repellent description of the women of the moors of to-day. "they are huge puncheons of greasy flesh, daubed with white and scarlet, strung with a barbaric wealth of jewels and scented beads. they eat and sleep, and then for variety's sake they sleep and eat. they gossip, scold, and intrigue; and are valued according to their weight. they blacklead their eyes, and paint their cheeks like jezebel; beat their slaves, drink tea and chat and quarrel." not a very attractive picture is this,--and perhaps a little gloomy,--but it is given as presenting a marked and altogether truthful contrast between the moorish women of the days when chivalry flourished in southern spain, and the women of the morocco of to-day in their poverty and degradation. once the women exerted a strong influence over the men; the truth is that frequently the "power behind the throne" was to be located within the harem. this was probably true during the reign of hakam ii., who was so fond of books that war and the practical concerns of government had little charm for him. he was the son of the great kalif of cordova, abd-er-rahman iii. the latter had built a city to please his ez-zahra, and called it "city of the fairest," but he did not turn over the government to his spouse. his son hakam, however, allowed the influence of the women of the court to become dominant, and on his death the sultana aurora, mother of the young kalif hisham, became the most important personage in the state. it was she who was chiefly instrumental in introducing into power the young almanzor. gifted in the fine art of flattery and being brilliant withal, the princesses, and more particularly aurora herself, fell in love with the talented young man, and turned all the currents of influence and power toward him. thus did the women of the court succeed in developing one of the most successful and unscrupulous of moorish leaders. he made all spain tremble by his victories, and christians sighed with relief when death at last conquered the conqueror. the power of the wife of the spanish moor was by no means small. a fine example of her influence at times may be illustrated by the history of muley abul hassan, the royal moorish ruler of the alhambra, who came to the throne in a.d. 1465. "though cruel by nature," says washington irving, "he was prone to be ruled by his wives." he had married early in life a young kinswoman, the daughter of the sultan mohammed vii., his great-uncle. this ayxa--or ayesha, as she has been called--was, says the historian, of almost masculine spirit and energy, and of such immaculate and inaccessible virtue that she was generally called la horra--"the chaste." to her there was born a son, who received the name of abu abdallah; or as he is commonly known, by the abbreviation boabdil. the astrologers were called upon to cast the horoscope of the infant, as was usual; and, to their great trepidation, it was found that it was "written in the book of fate that this child will one day sit upon the throne, but the downfall of the kingdom will be accomplished during his reign." at once the young prince and heir began to be looked upon with suspicion and even aversion by his father, who proceeded to persecute the child over whom such a prediction hung. he was accordingly nicknamed el zogoybi--"the unfortunate." it was a valiant and fond-hearted mother whose constant care and protection enabled him to grow up to young manhood; for she was a woman of strong character and of dominating will. but, alas! growing somewhat old, and losing some of her personal charm and influence, ayesha must face a rival in the harem. among the captives taken by the moors at this time, says irving, was one isabella, the daughter of a christian cavalier, sancho ximenes de solis. her moorish captors gave her the name of fatima; but as she grew up, her surpassing beauty gained her the surname of zoraya, or "the morning star," by which she has become known to history. her charms at length attracted the notice of muley abul hassan, and, after being educated in the moslem faith, she became his wife. zoraya soon acquired complete ascendency over the mind of muley abul hassan. "she was as ambitious as she was beautiful, and, having become the mother of two sons, looked forward to the possibility of one of them sitting on the throne of granada." zoraya succeeded in gathering about her a faction, who were drawn to her by her foreign and christian descent. these were anxious to assist her in her ambition and that of her sons, as they arrayed themselves against boabdil and his mother. the latter, however, were not without their ardent supporters. there were engendered jealousies that were inveterate and hatreds that were deep. intriguing was the order of the day. fearing that a plot would succeed in deposing muley abul hassan and in putting boabdil upon the throne of his father, the prince, together with his mother, was thrown into prison and confined in the tower of cimares. hassan resolved not only to set the stars at defiance and to prove the lying fallacy of the horoscope, but to silence at once and for all, by the executioner's sword, the ambitions of his son boabdil. but here the versatility of ayesha again asserted itself. she at once began to make a way for boabdil's escape. "at the dead of night she gained access to his prison, and, tying together the shawls and scarfs of herself and her female attendants, lowered him down from a balcony of the alhambra to the steep, rocky hillside which sweeps down to the darro. here some of her devoted adherents were waiting to receive him, who, mounting him upon a swift horse, spirited him away." the young man, acting under the advice of ambitious friends and relatives, began to make preparations for war; and his own mother encouraged his heart and equipped him for the field, giving him her fond benediction as she lovingly girded his scimiter to his side. but his young bride wept, as she tried to fancy the ills that might befall him in so uneven a conquest. "why dost thou weep, daughter of ali altar?" asked the invincible ayesha; "these tears become not the daughter of a warrior, nor the wife of a king. believe me, there lurks more danger for a monarch within the strong walls of a palace than within the frail curtains of a tent. it is by perils in the field that thy husband must purchase security on his throne." but morayma, daughter of ali altar, found it hard to be comforted; and as her husband, the prince, departed from the alhambra, she took her place at her _mirador_, and then, overlooking the vega, she watched the departing loved one, whom she thought never to see again, as his forces vanished from her sight, and "every burst of warlike melody that came swelling on the breeze was answered by a gush of sorrow." this succession of fateful incidents connected with the career of one who was destined to be the last to sit upon a moorish throne in spain is here recounted because the events give at once an insight into the strength and the weakness of the moorish womanly character, with all its ardent love and spiteful hate, with its loyalty and its trickery, its hopes and its fears. it was ferdinand, with his wife isabella, who was destined to return to the spaniards the possession of their land, so long held by the moors. the story of the overthrow of boabdil is a narrative of chivalry and real pathos. boabdil, standing on a spur of the alpuxarras, with his mother ayesha by his side, looked back upon the glory of his lost dominion. the towers of the alhambra loomed up before him, and the rich and fertile vega stretched out before his eyes for the last time. "_allahu akbar_," said he, sorrowfully, "god is most great," and burst into tears. "well may you weep like a woman," said ayesha, "for that which you were unable to defend like a man." this final standing place of the last of the moorish rulers in spain is still known as el ultimo sospiro del moro--"the last sigh of the moor." the standard of castile and aragon by the side of the cross has supplanted the crescent of islam; and ferdinand, with isabella, knelt in the alhambra and gave thanks to god, while the spanish army knelt behind them, and the royal choir chanted a _te deum_. had isabella been more gracious and kept faith with the infidel, the lot of the vanquished had been less sorrowful. when the moors were driven out from the home that had been theirs for more than seven eventful centuries, none suffered more than did the proud moorish ladies. it is creditable, however, to their spanish victors that they preserved as a part of their own national literature many of the ballads of the vanquished moors. lines from the moorish _lament for the slain celin_ are expressive of the wail of maid and mother at the loss of their former glory and their expulsion from the place they had so long held: "the mooress at the lattice stands--the moor stands at the door one maid is wringing of her hands and one is weeping sore. down to the dust men bore their heads, and ashes black they strew upon their broidered garments of crimson, green and blue." the aged women also had their hopes stricken low by the downfall of their people: "an old, old woman cometh forth, when she hears the people cry, her hair is white as silver, like horn her glazed eye." the fall of granada brought bitterness to many a heart. the words of the ballad, _woe is me_! translated from the spanish by lord byron, might well depict the feeling of the hour: "sires have lost their children--wives, their lords,--and valiant men, their lives." the aged moor, pacing to and fro before the king, pours out his plaint: "i lost a damsel in that hour, of all the land the loveliest flower; doubloons a hundred would i pay, and think her ransom cheap that day. woe is me, alhambra." as one has written: "beautiful granada, how is thy glory faded! the flower of thy chivalry lies low in the land of the stranger; no longer does the bivarambla echo to the tramp of steed and the sound of trumpet; no longer is it crowded with thy youthful nobles, gloriously arrayed for the tilt and tourney. beautiful granada! the soft note of the lute no longer floats through thy moonlit streets; the serenade is no more heard beneath thy balconies; the lively castanet is silent upon thy hills; the graceful dance of the zambra is no more seen beneath thy bowers. beautiful granada! why is the alhambra so forlorn and desolate? the orange and the myrtle still breathe their perfumes into its silken chambers; the nightingale still sings within its groves; its marble halls are still refreshed with the plash of fountains and the gush of the limpid rills! alas! the countenance of the king no longer shines within those halls. the light of the alhambra is set for ever!" "farewell, farewell, granada! thou city without peer! woe, woe, thou pride of heathendom! seven hundred years and more have gone since first the faithful thy royal sceptre bore! thou wert the happy mother of a high-renowned race; within thee dwelt a haughty line that now go from their place; .............................................................. here gallants held it little thing for ladies' sake to die, or for the prophet's honor and the pride of soldanry; for here did valor flourish and deeds of warlike might ennobled lordly palaces in which was our delight. the gardens of thy vega, its fields and blooming bowers, woe, woe! i see their beauty gone, and scattered all their flowers!" xii women of china and corea china, once the country of perpetual calm, has in recent years become the land of magnificent disturbances. not an unimportant factor in the changes that have lately taken place in the flowery kingdom has been woman. the influence of the women of the nations is generally centripetal. of the peoples of the earth the chinese would doubtless be named as altogether the most conservative, and in this conservatism the chinese women play a most important part. ancestry worship has marked this people from time immemorial, and if there be one characteristic of chinese life stronger than all the rest, it is that of filial piety. this regard is not taught to end with childhood, but is to be lasting even in mature manhood. from the lowliest subject to the emperor himself the rule is imperative. the latter is father of the people of the realm, and as such is to be reverenced; he in turn is the son of heaven. confucius was careful to instil into his pupils filial regard--a virtue which the sages before him had urged upon the people. to such teachings is to be attributed much that is best in chinese life. thus the chinese system is a gigantic patriarchal system with its base resting on the earth, its head penetrating heaven. mencius spoke often and in no uncertain words upon this theme. "of all that a filial son can attain to, there is nothing greater than his honoring his parents. of what can be attained to in honoring his parents, there is nothing greater than nourishing them with the whole empire. to be the father of the son of heaven is the highest nourishment." in this may be verified the sentence in the _book of poetry_: "ever thinking how to be filial, his filial mind was the model which he supplied." every department of life is reached by this trait. someone once asked mencius how it was that shun, an exemplary character of more ancient days, had married without consulting his parents. for "if the rule be thus (_i.e._, to inform the parents), no one ought to have illustrated it so well as shun." to which mencius replied: "if he had informed them he would not have been able to marry. that male and female should dwell together is the greatest of human relations. if shun had informed his parents, he would have made void this greatest of human relations, and incurred thereby their resentment. it was for this reason that he did not inform them." thus only did mencius save the filial character of the great and good shun. since social and religious ideals are the most potential in shaping woman's life among any people, filial piety has naturally held a notable place in the making of chinese womanhood, from the earliest period of chinese history. respect for age is, therefore, one of the most eminent of chinese virtues. this is shown in innumerable habits of everyday life. let a company be walking out together, the eldest will lead the way, while the others follow on, paired according to their respective ages. the teachings of confucius have without doubt influenced the thinking and the conduct of chinese men in their relations with the female sex; even though he said little directly about women or their conduct. his loose ideas as to marriage and the admission of concubinage are among the blots upon his social teachings. the body of early chinese literature gives a most suggestive insight into the ancient ideals concerning woman; and because of the dreary conservatism of the people these ideals are still potential. the _li ki_, or "book of ceremonies," has many bits of counsel which are intended to regulate the everyday life of the people. of course, there is much there concerning the life of woman, of wives, of concubines, of mothers; concerning betrothal, marriage, domestic and filial duties. the chinese are not usually regarded as a people overflowing with sentiment; and yet many of their ancient poems are not lacking in romantic interest. from such effusions as that which exclaims: "o sweet maiden, so fair and retiring, at the corner, i'm waiting for you,"-to deeper meditations upon feminine worth and character, the early poetry sweeps over quite a wide range of sentimental reflection. the _shi king_, a collection of chinese poetry gathered by confucius, an anthology of more than three hundred poems, contains some glowing epithalamia setting forth at length the unmistakable virtues of the bride. others of them present the industry of a queen, the charming and virtuous manners of an admired maiden, or the affection of a spouse. while still others set forth the feelings of a wife who bewails the absence of her husband, away in the performance of duty; or, it may be, of a rejected wife giving forth her bitter plaint. a husband's cruelty is bemoaned; a woman scorns the praises of an artless lover; or a wife is consoled by her husband's home-coming. these songs, born in the early days of feudalism, when the dukes or governors of the states would come together to consult with the king concerning public matters, breathe of a period long past. among the officers in attendance on these occasions were the music masters. "let me write the songs of the people," one has said, "i care not who makes their laws." to the music masters was assigned the duty of supervising the songs in use among the subjects of the realm. the songs approved by the king's music master were preserved as classics. it was from these that confucius selected; and he preserved many in which the chinese woman is the motive and inspiration. the ode celebrating the virtue of king wan's bride is but one of many such poems giving a good insight into the ancient attitude of mind toward feminine beauty and virtue, as well as preserving some of the older customs attending the festal wedding day: "the maiden modest, virtuous, coy, is found; strike every lute, and joyous welcome sound. ours now the duckweed from the stream we bear and cook to use the other viands rare. he has the maiden, honest, virtuous bright, let drums and bells proclaim our great delight." the chinese drama, a much more modern art--though nothing seems modern in china--often depicts woman in her best as well as in her less favorable light. there is present here the true spirit of romance. in the _sorrows of han_, a historical tragedy setting forth conditions in the days of effeminacy: "when love was all an easy monarch's care, seldom at council--never in a war," lady chaoukeun, a farmer's daughter, who has been raised to be princess of han, has never yet seen the king's face. she was eighteen years of age when brought into the royal palace, but by the intrigue of the prime minister she had been ignored and neglected. her picture has been mutilated by the official, not only that he might destroy her prospects in the royal eye, but also that he might extort money in selecting other beauties for the palace. her father, being poor, was unable to pay the amount exacted. but by chance the king comes upon her as she plays the lute in the darkness. he, enraptured by the music, asks to see her. her beauty at once charms him. he hears the story of her sadness, and the plot of the minister is made known. the latter is at once condemned to lose his head. making his escape, however, he reaches the camp of the tartars, who are at this very juncture threatening the land, and gives himself over to their assistance. being shown a true picture of lady chaoukeun in all her beauty, the prince of the tartars falls desperately in love, and is willing even to offer peace to the king if he will but give up the beautiful princess. the king, sorrowful, but unable otherwise to save his land from devastation, delivers over his wife to the enemy, she herself consenting to be sacrificed that the kingdom and her husband's dynasty may be preserved. but, faithful in her love, she is not long in the hand of the tartar prince. she seizes her opportunity, and throws herself into the surging river, along which the tartar army was camped, and is drowned. when khan, the tartar prince, saw his prize had escaped his grasp, he decides to give back the traitor minister to king han for punishment. that very night han sees his martyr wife in his dreams. he arises to embrace her, but she is gone again. the play closes with the order for the beheading of him who has brought upon the royal house such sorrow. most of the romance in a chinese woman's life, however, is found in the books, which tell of the earlier days. the first event in the life of most women in china, though she does not at the time realize it, is a sad one. there is usually scant welcome for the girl. certainly, amidst the masses of the people, she enters upon a rough and weary way. she is reared in seclusion and ignorance. her little brothers, even, are not her companions. if she should have any association with them, she is little better than their servant. her name does not appear upon the family register, since she is expected to belong to another family when she is old enough to wed. does one ask of courtship in china? there is no such thing there, unless bartering by go-betweens could be called by that name. girls spend their last days of maidenhood in loud wailing, and their girl friends come to weep with them. well may they do this. after marriage, which is itself a bitter rather than a happy experience for the bride, they continue a life of worse slavery--slavery abject and heartless--to women who have been slaves to other women. the mother-in-law in china rules her daughter-in-law with an iron hand, and the wife's future depends much more upon the character of the husband's mother than upon the husband himself. that the coming of girls into the home is not so welcome an event as that of boys is quite natural, for it is expected that at about sixteen years of age the girl will become a member of another family, returning but occasionally to the house of her birth. so that while a mother's hope of prestige lies in her sons, the ministering cares which she might expect in duty from her daughter must be tendered her by the wife of her son rather than by the sympathetic hands of her daughter, whose attentions must be unremitting to the mother of her own husband. betrothals are sometimes made in infancy. but since such contracts are regarded as being quite as binding as a marriage, wisdom usually dictates a postponement. girls are therefore usually betrothed a year or two before marriage, which in most cases occurs at about fifteen years of age. among the poorer classes, in order to avoid the expense ordinarily involved in betrothal, a mother will sometimes buy, or receive as a gift, an infant girl, who is reared as a wife for her son. marriage, however, in china as elsewhere, is always regarded as a matter of deep concern in a woman's career. but in china she has little share in the events which lead up to the wedding day. proposals of marriage and the acceptances are often made without either party to the life union knowing about the transactions. nor are the experiences of the nuptial day always joyous to the timid young bride. up to the time of her marriage, the girl has spent her days in comparative seclusion. thrust now suddenly among strangers, she naturally shrinks with a feeling almost akin to terror. this ordeal she must face with apparently little sympathy. audible comments are made concerning her when she is at length in the home of her new-found parents, as they give their vivid impressions of the newcomer. in parts of china at least, it is customary for the unmarried girls along the route to throw at the passing bride handfuls, not of rice, but of hayseed or chaff, which, striking upon her well-oiled black hair, adheres readily and conspicuously. not only must the girl be given in marriage by the parents, but the man must let his parents know of his desire to marry, and get counsel at their hands. in the sacred _book of poetry_ it is expressly written: "how do we proceed in taking a wife? announcement must be first made to our parents." married women seldom have names of their own. a wife may have two surnames, that of her husband and that of her mother's family. if she have a son, she may be called "mother of so-and-so." nor is she expected to speak to others of her husband directly as her husband. she must use some circumlocution which does not directly state her relation to him. chinese economists might possibly defend polygamy and concubinage on the ground that these tend to produce a sturdier race than would be otherwise possible; for the concubines of the wealthier classes are usually taken from among the stronger working people, whose superior physical vigor is constantly adding fresh blood to the more delicate classes. but the moral evils of the system undoubtedly more than counterbalance any physical advantage that may accrue to society through its existence. the birth of an infant works a marked transformation in a chinese woman's life. so long as she is childless, she is expected to serve. when she becomes a mother, she at once takes up the sceptre. wives, therefore, pray to their deities for the coming of a son; and when the object of their hearts' desire is realized, the delighted parents pay their devotions to the god who has sent the new joy into their lives. the sway of the woman over all the household, with the exception of her liege lord and her sons, is complete. the _shi king_ puts this in poetic form in describing the bride's entrance upon her new estate: "graceful and young the peach-tree stands, its foliage clustering green and full, this bride to her new home repairs, her household will attend her rule." but remember that first she must become a mother. the brightest feature in the life of chinese women, the one thing that brings them most comfort, is their boys. it is these which most surely lift women into a position of respect. and this is true, even though, according to the teaching of china's sages, the mother must be subject to her son as well as to her husband. "the one bright spot in the lives of chinese women," an educated chinaman has recently said, "is their resignation, their willingness to endure, to make the best of their circumstances." indeed, of the chinese as a race, this is true, though it is more emphatically true of the women. certainly their lot is far harder than that of the men. from the cradle to the grave, in the view of one from the occident, the chinese woman's way is a dark and cheerless one. few of the outer rays of the world's joy penetrate the seclusion of their lives. and while chinese girls and women are amply capable of being made the intellectual and social equals of the opposite sex, the fact is they are not in any true sense companions of their brothers and husbands. it is the lack of training that makes the chinese woman, as a rule, uncompanionable. there are exceptions, to be sure. in their present lack of real preparation for the wider sphere of womanly usefulness, it is doubtless well that the women have no larger freedom. wherever the western school has gone, however, there has been given to the girls of china an opportunity for a broader outlook upon life through education and training. "of all others," says confucius, in the _analects_, "women servants and men servants are the most difficult people to have the care of. approach them in a familiar manner, and they take liberties; keep them at a distance, and they grumble." these words throw some light, by way of illustration at least, upon woman's place in china as respects freedom to mingle with the outside world. the sex probably enjoys as much liberty as conditions justify. and yet keeping them from the world without does not tend to develop the most genial temperament; their faces do not evince cheerfulness or hope. what is the attitude of a chinese husband toward his wife? of course, she is regarded as his inferior; and, as a rule, she actually is. because of the limitations which from infancy have everywhere been thrown about her life, it could not be otherwise. when the girls must be married off to get rid of the craving of another mouth; and when wives are largely looked upon as but a means of rearing children, that these may do the pious duties in behalf of the ancestral dead, it could not be expected that the idea of the equality of the sexes should ever be conceived. in china, as elsewhere in the broad world, wives are often neglected. from early chinese literature, as well as from modern life, expressions of the wife's sad lament are heard. as one of the poets puts it in the mouth of a neglected spouse, whose husband comes not to her comfort: "cloudy the sky and dark--the thunders roll; such outward signs well mark my troubled soul. i wake, and sleep no more comes to my rest, his cause i sad deplore, in anguished breast." second marriages, though often made are not highly regarded in china. naturally love is less likely to spring up as in the earlier affiliation. the _yengo_, a species of wild goose is, among the chinese, the emblem of love between the sexes. this bird especially stands for strong and undying attachment. for it is said that when once its mate is dead, it never pairs again. for this reason an image of it is worshipped by the newly married couples of china. there is a popular saying among the chinese that a second husband to a second wife are husband and wife so long as the poor supply holds out. when this fails the partners fly apart, and self is the care of each. while it would be entirely unjust not to recognize the presence of genuine love on the part of many a husband, yet a wife may be handled severely by her spouse if for any reason he may think her deserving of such treatment. this is more true of concubines, whose lot is indeed a hard one. whenever there is in the household more than one wife, jealousy, bickering, strife, and plotting are almost certain. the _shi king_ sets these forth in a little poem on the jealousy of a wife: "when the upper robe is green, with a yellow lining seen, there we have a certain token right is wronged and order broken." the chinese have a saying that it is impossible to be more jealous than a woman; and in the word for "jealous" there is an intended suggestion of another word of the same sound, but of different intonation, meaning "poisonous;" which play upon the word reminds one of the remark of the hebrew sage that "jealousy is cruel as the grave." the wife is not seen upon the streets with her husband. nor does she, as a rule, eat with him. after the men of the family have finished their meals, the women take their turn at the board. too little is the sympathy they get in their ailments; for generally scant is the attention paid to their suffering, and poverty often prevents a physician's care. much, too, that goes for healing is hideously cruel and permeated with the wildest superstition. it must seem the grimmest irony in one of goldsmith's chinese letters from his _citizen of the world_, when he makes lien chi altangi, while writing of his purpose to open a school for young women, say: "in this i intended to instruct the ladies in all the conjugal mysteries; wives should be taught the art of managing their husbands, and maids the skill of properly choosing them; i would teach a wife how far she might venture to be sick without giving disgust; she should be acquainted with the great benefits of cholic in the stomach, and all the thoroughbred insolence of fashion; maids should learn the secret of nicely distinguishing every competitor; they should be able to know the difference between a pedlar and a scholar, a citizen and a prig, a squire and his horse, a beau and his monkey; but chiefly they should be taught the art of managing their smiles, from the contemptuous simper to the long laborous laugh." one of the cornerstones of confucius's teaching was "reciprocity." but this doctrine he does not seem to apply to the practical relations of married life, about which he had little or nothing to say. suicides of young wives would be far less frequent in china were this doctrine of the great lawgiver applied to marital life. a cruel husband may, almost with perfect impunity, greatly injure his wife, or even kill her, especially if he can make good a claim before the authorities that she had been unfilial to _his_ parents. the chinese wife is, of course, not free from the evils of divorce. if she be guilty of such faults as scolding, disobedience, lasciviousness, or theft, which is next to murder in its heinousness, or if she be the victim of such misfortune as leprosy or barrenness, she may be sent back to her parents, if they be still alive. among the causes for which divorce is possible, the failure to bear sons is the first. widows sometimes remarry. in some parts of china the _suttee_, or "self-immolation," of widows is not unknown, the unfortunate woman being compelled to strangle herself, after which her body is burned. the maternal instincts are seldom stronger than in the attitude toward the helplessness of infancy; yet, in china infanticide is of extraordinary prevalence. the greatest danger that besets a chinese woman is at her birth. in an already overpopulated country, it is not strange that the custom of killing the female infant, for whom it is difficult to provide sustenance, should have gained ground. besides, while the congested condition of the population is somewhat relieved by emigration of the men to other lands, the women do not leave; hence, there is a tendency toward a surplus of women. it frequently happens that if a chinese mother has not yet been blessed with the birth of a boy, she will destroy her female offspring, with the thought that in this way she may hope the sooner to bear a son. if, on the other hand, she has one or more sons, she may allow two or three daughters to live. after this, many mothers will not hesitate to smother the girls at their birth. "by the accident of sex," says a recent writer, "the infant is a family divinity; by the accident of sex, she is a dreaded burden, liable to be destroyed, and certain to be despised." the chinese officials have tried earnestly to break up this frightful custom of infanticide. books have been written and circulated condemning the practice. foundling hospitals have also been established, in order that this kind of murder might be checked and the rejected little ones cared for. stone tablets have been erected on river banks, by pools, and in places at which the killing of girls might probably occur, or where their dead bodies are likely to be deposited. during a period of rebellion, and of dire poverty, so many desperate mothers throw their babes by the roadside for the dogs and birds of prey to devour, that "baby towers" were constructed at certain points, where the tiny dead bodies might be thrown, to avoid the dangerous offensiveness to the population. but if in infancy the girl is not killed, she is allowed to live. should pinching poverty come, she may be sold or given away. in some districts baby merchants are not unknown. when the little girls grow up they become serviceable in numerous ways in the domestic life; but many of them are sold to a life of shame. a wise chinese writer, hwei kwo, in discussing infanticide among his people, says: "before you drown the infants you ought to think, 'i thus harshly violate propriety. but there are gods above; how can i deceive them? my ancestors are beside me; how can i present myself before them?' before long the babe will call _kwa, kwa_, and want some nourishment; before many months she will call _ya yah_, and begin to talk, first calling _year-niang_ (father, mother), and walk carefully about your knees. before many years she will be helping you in all your hard work, and when she is married and bears a son, how very pleased you will be. if you get a good son-in-law, and their children are well to do, how much admiration and glory. 'if i endure present trouble, i may by and by eat my daughter's rice.'" but even these low and selfish motives are not sufficient to destroy the prevalence of infanticide, which is more particularly practised in southern china. it is almost, if not quite, unknown in the north. woman's standing before the law in china would not be regarded as high in a country where woman's rights have been agitated. her property rights are practically _nil_, except as she enjoys them through male relatives. and yet, with all her limitations, the woman of china is in some respects in advance of her sisters of many other oriental lands. she is not shut up in a harem, as she is in turkey; she is not bound down by the harsh caste system, as in india; she is not looked upon as devoid of spiritual existence, as in burmah; she is not degraded by the curse of polyandry, as in thibet. in no eastern land, with the exception of japan, has woman a better opportunity to exert power and develop character than in china. the dress of chinese women might be thought by women of some other lands to be lacking in beauty and grace; and yet, it is in many respects highly sensible, being at least modest, healthful, and economical. it hides the contour of the person effectually, and this, among the chinese, is its chief design. being loose, it gives full play to the vital parts, as well as to the limbs, and the same thickness of materials prevails over the whole body. there is no waste in the cutting, and no unnecessary ornaments or appendages, eight yards of yard-wide goods being sufficient for a complete set of winter garments. the mental worry that comes to the woman of the west in selecting patterns, in cutting, and in fitting, is all done away with in china, since the chinese lady always selects the same pattern,--or has had it selected for her by her great-grandmother,--and there is little need for fitting. figures that would look unattractive in western attire can wear the chinese dress without disadvantage. some have attributed the great age to which chinese women so frequently attain--notwithstanding the often unsanitary condition of their homes, often floorless and windowless--to the hygienic character of their clothing. the winter clothes in the more northerly sections are padded garments that appear, to be sure, rather clumsy and uncomfortable. the use of woolen underclothing does not prevail. these padded garments hang about the body like bags; and sometimes when children fall down they are utterly unable to rise without assistance. it is needless to say that woman's winter attire is by no means graceful or convenient. if even the men do not use pockets,--which conveniences seem to a westerner so indispensable,--it may be surmised that the women have no such contrivances in their dress. the ordinary costume of a woman consists of two garments. the upper one appears very much like an american lady's dressing-sack, only somewhat longer, with flowing sleeves, and is quite loose fitting, the fastenings being along a curve from the neck to beneath the right arm, and then in a straight line down that side. the lower garment is a pair of loose trousers. there is little or no difference in the style of the outer and inner garments, more or fewer being worn according to the state of the weather. a skirt is seldom worn in the canton section, except by a bride at the time of her marriage. this custom, however, varies in different sections of china. in shanghai, women are seldom seen without skirts. notwithstanding the sameness and similarity of cut in chinese costume, the quality of beauty is not entirely forgotten. a chinese gentleman, when asked what things the chinese women most delight in, replied: "first, beautiful clothes and ornaments with which to make themselves attractive. secondly, to live in idleness. thirdly, to have servants to wait upon them." the remark would suggest moral weakness which is, alas! far too common. tsq-hia once asked confucius what inference might be drawn from the often quoted lines: "dimples playing in witching smile, beautiful eyes, so dark, so bright. o, and her face may be thought the while, colored by art, red rose on white." to which the teacher replied: "coloring requires a pure and clear background." this was the great master's way of emphasizing character as a necessary accompaniment of true beauty. but this ideal is largely forgotten. the custom of binding the feet is not so common as is often supposed. there are many localities in which the habit is almost universal; while in many sections, especially in the agricultural districts, the feet of the women are of normal growth. in the sections and among the classes in which this fashion prevails, the early suffering, as well as the later inconvenience, is intense. the chinese woman, however, does not emphasize the importance of convenience as would her practical sister of the west; the suffering they bear with much resignation. various explanations are given of the origin of foot binding. some accounts state that it arose from a desire thereby to remove the reproach of the club feet of a popular empress; others hold that it sprang from a great admiration for delicate feet and an attempt to imitate them; others claim that it was imposed by husbands to keep their wives from gadding. still other accounts say that the emperor hau chu, of the chan dynasty, in a.d. 583, ordered his concubines to bind their feet small enough to cover a golden lily at each step. he had golden lilies made and scattered about for them to walk upon when they were playing before him. the admirers of the ruler imitated the practice, and so it spread. this seems to be the most probable explanation, as the expression _kam-lin_, literally "golden lilies," meaning "ladies' small feet," and _lin-po_, literally "a lily step," meaning "a lady's gait," are in common use to-day. in the beginning, the feet were not bound so early nor so tightly as to-day, and the custom now varies greatly in different parts of the empire. the present, the manchu government, has made efforts to prevent the practice of foot binding among the people, but with little or no success. the manchus do not practise it themselves, and they are powerless to prevent it. as the chinese sometimes say: "fashion is stronger than the emperor." the chinese find it difficult to understand the freedom of intercourse which characterizes the sexes in the west. they regard such social freedom as being difficult to harmonize with modesty and morality. as a rule, chinese women are modest and chaste. but it is thought that these are best assured by restricting their social freedom. on the streets the women, with the exception of the lewd, appear with becoming modesty and decorum. notwithstanding the advantage that must come from the limiting of woman's sphere of influence, examples are not wanting in which chinese women have exerted their native powers to a conspicuous degree in moulding the history of their times. through the isolation of the women, they become naturally more superstitious than the men; and, as might be surmised, the former are the stronghold of the ancient religious faiths of the chinese. and yet none of the ancient religions nor the philosophies of the country have done much to elevate the feminine half of the nation. the best the buddhist priest can hold out to the pious woman is the hope that in the next transmigration her soul may be born a man's. some women of the celestial empire have held commanding positions of political influence. whether a woman might occupy an influential place in the management of chinese public affairs has depended somewhat upon the character of the ruling dynasty. and while queens are not possible in china, because sons alone may hold the sceptre, women have been known to exert such influence in the matter of government as to be practically supreme. there have been a number of cases of empresses regent. there were two such instances during the ming dynasty which were quoted as justifying a more recent regency that has been one of the most remarkable on record in any land. when the emperor hien-fung died on august 22, 1861, his son chiseang, then but six years of age, was proclaimed emperor in his stead, under a regency composed of eight men. by a bold _coup d'état_, prince kung, brother of hien-fung, succeeded, by the aid of the army, in driving this regency from power and in proclaiming a new one composed of two empresses: tsi an, the principal wife of the late hien-fung, and tszu-hszi, the mother of the young emperor. neither of these royal women knew the manchu language, and prince kung was the power behind them, and was rewarded with the post of prime minister under the two empresses. it was not long, however, before an edict was issued degrading the prince, whose growing power and arrogance the empresses feared. and just here emerges the evidence that the prince was dealing with one of the most astute and aggressive women of the world, tszu-hszi, a woman who has compelled the world to reckon with her presence for half a century. it is true that when the young emperor had reached the age of sixteen, and had been married about four months, the empresses, no longer able to present excuses for not doing so, issued a decree bestowing upon chiseang, now called tungche, the right to assume the management of the affairs of state. but his reign was brief, for after about three years, as it is said, he "ascended upon the dragon to be a guest on high." many suspected foul play, but certain it is that the outcome inured to the advantage of the two empresses. that which was more ugly still was the treatment of the young empress ahluta, wife of the late ruler. on the death of her husband she was about to give birth to a child. the empresses, however, saw their opportunity as well as their danger. for if ahluta's child should be a son, not only would he be the legal ruler, but the mother herself would at once assume a prominent place in the government. ahluta must be set aside. soon she sickened--some said because of her grief for her husband, while others knew of the determination of the empresses to retain power at all hazards. who then should be chosen heir to the throne? the empresses selected tsai tien, a son of prince chun, brother of the powerful kung. the latter was again in complete control, by the grace of the two astute and ambitious women whose minds were firmly set upon retaining rule at whatever cost. the fortunate, or unfortunate, young man who had been made nominal emperor, not by inheritance, but by selection, was given the style of kwang-su, or "illustrious succession." the way in which tszu-hszi, empress dowager, has been able to be the controlling factor in chinese national life, crushing rivals, winning the support of politicians, and carrying out policies, is one of the wonders of modern political history. this seems the more remarkable in a country where women are generally forced to the background, and in an age in which tumultuous scenes and grave upheavals have been many. the head of the army of the united states was not far from the truth when he pronounced the empress-dowager of china, not even excepting the great and good victoria, as altogether the ablest woman of the century. contiguous in territory and closely related in manners and customs to the chinese are the coreans. the corean ruler, though in his own country an absolute monarch, was for several centuries a vassal of the chinese empire, and the educated class continue to employ the chinese language in literary and social intercourse. in 1894, corea having repudiated the suzerainty of china, war ensued between japan and china, and as a result corea has since been largely under japanese influence. the native coreans fondly call their country "the land of the morning calm." its people are of the mongolian type, and are therefore closely allied in sympathy to the chinese and japanese, with whom they have had social and political kinship and contact from time out of mind. the moral status of the women may be surmised when it is remembered that woman is regarded as without moral existence. it is not to be understood, however, that she has no name. when a very little girl, she receives a temporary surname by which she is known to her relatives and intimate friends. when she reaches the age of puberty, this appellation is no longer used by her friends. when she marries, her parents cease to call her by her childhood's name. she is now known to them by the name of the district into which she has married. her husband's parents, however, speak of her as the woman of the place from which she came. in corea there is no family life in our true sense of that term, for the men and the women live in separate apartments. the husband is seldom seen in conversation with his wife, whom he looks upon as absolutely beneath him. the male and the female children are separated. when they reach the age of nine or ten years the girls are sent to the women's apartments; the boys take refuge with the men. the boys must not set foot upon the territory assigned to the women, and the girls learn that it is disgraceful to be looked upon by members of the opposite sex; so they hide at the approach of a boy or a man. the corean women have little or no legal standing. they are absolutely in the power of their husbands, who may not sell them, however, nor should their lords be _too_ brutal. percival lowell, in his _land of the morning calm_, puts it strongly when he says: "mentally, morally, and socially, she (the corean woman) is a cipher." but there are exceptions. in fact, we are not to infer that throughout the entire orient the subjection of women is universally so complete as it is sometimes pictured by writers upon the social life of the east. campbell, in his _journey through corea_, gives the following incident, showing how women may be very influential at times: "to make matters worse, the head man upon whom i had relied for assistance in hiring the men i wanted was absent, but his wife proved a capable substitute and seemed to fill her husband's place with unquestioned authority. between bullying and coaxing, she rapidly pressed twenty reluctant men into service. the subjection of women, which is probably the covenant of accepted theories in the east, receives a fresh blow in my mind. women in these parts of the world, if the truth were known, fill a higher place and wield a greater influence than they are credited with." nor is it to be supposed that there is no respect shown to the women of corea. the men give them at least an outward show of deference. they will step aside to allow a woman to pass in the street, regardless of her social position, and the ladies are often addressed in phrases of a most polite character. children are taught respect for their mother, though they are enjoined to give more to the father. when a mother dies, her children are expected to mourn at least two years; for the father the period is longer. someone has said that "there are three classes of corean women; first, there are the invisible,--those who are always in their apartments, or, when out of them, ride in a closed palanquin. second, are the visible invisible, who, possessing less wealth, must walk when they go out upon the streets, and yet are seen only as a mass of clothing moving before the eye. third, there are the invisible visible class, the poor, who are seen, to be sure, but not noticed,--working women, whom etiquette prevents one from seeing." the women's apartments do not greatly differ from the zenanas of india. in the interior of their apartments, screened as far as possible from publicity, the unmarried women may receive their parents and friends, with whom they chat and gossip upon matters of common interest, or while away the hours with games. after marriage, the confinement becomes still more secure, and the woman is inaccessible. "so strict is the rule," says griffis, "that fathers have on occasions killed their daughters, husbands, their wives, and wives have committed suicide, when strangers have touched them even with their fingers." woe unto the corean wife who is not above suspicion in the eyes of her husband. in the "hermit nation" one is accounted a boy until he is married, no matter what his age may be; but public sentiment prevents a young man from remaining long without a spouse to enrich, or at least to share, his life. the woman is a child till she is married, and sometimes long afterward. the women of corea usually marry outside of the village in which they are brought up. they have nothing whatever to do with the match that is to be made. negotiations are carried on by the parents and a middle man. the bride, indeed, must be silent all through the nuptial ceremony. the marriage festival and the funeral are the two great events in corean social life. when the festivities of the wedding are at an end the bride is conducted to her husband's home--in a palanquin, if the parties be well to do; on horseback, if they be poor. there is but one true, or legal wife, but often many concubines, the number being determined largely by the wealth of the husband. children of the true wife are the legitimate heirs. the other children, though not disgraced by their position, have no legal standing as regards the matter of inheritance. children of concubines, however, may be legitimized, in case there are no lawful descendants. the following interesting story, taken from ballet's _history of the church in corea_, will not only illustrate certain customs in corea, but show upon what a low plane the marriage relation moves in the hermit nation: "a noble wished to marry his own daughter and that of his deceased brother to eligible young men. both maidens were of the same age. he wished to wed both well, but especially his own child. with this idea in view he had already refused some good offers; finally he made a proposal to a family noted alike for pedigree and riches. after hesitating for some time which of the maidens he would dispose of first, he finally decided in favor of his own child. three days before the ceremony he learned from the diviner that the young man chosen was silly, exceedingly ugly and very ignorant. what should he do? he could not retreat. he had given his word. in such a case the law is inexorable. on the day of the marriage he appeared in the woman's apartments and gave orders in the most imperative manner, that his niece and not his daughter should don the marriage coiffure and the wedding dress and mount the nuptial platform. his stupefied daughter could not but acquiesce. the two cousins being about the same height, the substitution was easy, and the ceremony proceeded according to the usual forms. the new bridegroom passed the afternoon in the men's apartments, where he met his supposed father-in-law. what was the amazement of the old noble to find that far from being stupid and ugly, as depicted by the diviner, that the young man was good-looking, well formed, intelligent, highly connected, and amiable in manners. bitterly regretting the loss of so accomplished a son-in-law, he determined to replace the girl. he secretly ordered that instead of his niece, his daughter should be introduced as the bride. he knew well that the young man would suspect nothing, for during the salutations the brides are always so muffled up with dresses and loaded with ornaments that it is impossible to distinguish their countenance. all happened as the old man desired. during the two or three days which he passed with the new family, he congratulated himself upon having so excellent a son-in-law. the latter, on his part, showed himself more and more charming, and so gained the heart of his supposed father-in-law, that in a burst of confidence, the latter revealed to him all that had happened. he told of the diviner's report concerning him, and the successive substitutions of niece for daughter and daughter for niece. the young man was at first speechless, then recovering his composure said: 'all right! and that is a very smart trick on your part. but it is clear that both of the young persons belong to me, and i claim them. your niece is my lawful wife, since she has made to me the legal salute, and your daughter, introduced by yourself into my marriage, has become of right and law my concubine.' the crafty old man caught in his own net had nothing to answer. the two young women were conducted to the house of the new husband and master, and the old noble was jeered by both parties for his folly and his bad faith." as in other parts of the far east, the life of widows is exceedingly harsh. they may not marry again. indeed, second marriages are never looked upon with favor, except among people of the lower classes who generally disregard the etiquette and ideas which prevail among the nobles and the rich who imitate them. a widow of high standing is expected to show grief for her husband not only by weeping over his death, but by wearing mourning as long as she lives; and children of widows born after widowhood are looked upon as illegitimate. often, however, being debarred from lawful marriage, widows become victims of lust and violence. if, however, they are determined upon preserving chastity, they will frequently resort to suicide if their virtue be threatened. the method of self-slaughter among women is cutting their throat, or piercing the heart. like most women of the world, dress plays no unimportant part in the corean woman's life. there is probably no part of her toilet upon which she bestows more zealous regard than upon her hair. generally the natural growth is insufficient to suit her ideals of beauty, and so false hair is used in profusion. corean women do not attend the banquets. these are for men alone. xiii under the cherry blossoms the women of japan no woman of the orient has in recent years enlisted so much of the world's attention as the woman of japan. this interest has bordered upon real fascination. if the comparative alertness of mind has caused the japanese men to be called the "oriental yankees," the attractiveness of the women might give them the right to be compared to the "southern beauties." they have been much written about and the world has read of them with keen appreciation. japanese civilization is comparatively modern. the islands owe much to corea and china for the development of their letters and the refinement of their social life. their alertness of mind and receptivity of character mark them among all the peoples of the mongolian stock. this flexibility of temperament is no less true of the women than of the men, and it is partly these mental traits which give to the japanese their attractiveness. the women of the several strata of society present marked differences in japan, as in other countries. this was more true in the days of feudalism, when the lines were more rigidly defined than now; though the influences of the feudal system are still perceptible and will long endure. but the women of court and castle, the women of the military class, and the women of the shop and of the soil, with all that was nationally common, lived a very different order of life. these differences are inevitable and, of course, abiding. the chief glory of every japanese woman is in becoming the mother of sons. and while daughters are not unwelcome, as is the case among some oriental people, yet their birth is never so much the cause of rejoicing as is the coming of boys into the world. on the occasion of such an advent, messengers fly, notes are sent by friends, and all friends and relatives must visit the new arrival in the home. the visitor who brings his congratulations, must add to them toys, articles of dress, and the like--besides the dried fish or the eggs for good luck. the poor mother must well-nigh tax her already weakened strength to the very limit of physical endurance in receiving visitors and their congratulations. it is the father, or some chosen friend, who selects the newcomer's name, and if it be a girl, that of some attractive object in nature is usually chosen, it not being regarded as specially appropriate or as involving any compliment to name a child for a friend or loved one. this duty of naming the child occurs on the seventh day, and on the thirteenth, it is carried to the temple and placed under the special guardianship of some deity. after this the little one becomes accustomed to the ordinary routine of eating, sleeping, and crying. very soon it may be seen on the streets and in public places strapped to the back of an older sister, or it may be a brother; and it is not long before the babies themselves are interested in the play of the older children, to whose backs they are securely fastened. as our little girl emerges from babyhood she finds the life opening before her a bright and happy one, but one hedged about by proprieties, and one in which from babyhood to old age, she must expect to be always under the control of one of the stronger sex. her position will be an honored and respected one only as she learns in her youth the lesson of cheerful obedience, of pleasing manners, and of personal cleanliness and neatness. her duties must always be either within the house, or, if she belongs to the peasant class, on the farm. there is no career or vocation open to her: she must be always dependent upon either father, husband, or son, and her greatest happiness is to be gained not by the cultivation of the intellect, but by the early acquisition of the self-control which is expected of all japanese women to even a greater degree than of the men. this self-control must consist not simply in the concealment of all outward signs of any disagreeable emotion,--whether of grief, anger, or pain,--but in the assumption of a cheerful smile and an agreeable manner under even the most distressing circumstance. the duty of self-restraint is taught to the little girls of the family from the tenderest years; it is their great moral lesson and is expatiated upon at all times by their elders. the little girl must sink herself entirely, must give up always to others, must never show emotions except such as will be pleasing to others about her; this is the secret of true politeness and must be mastered if the woman wishes to be well thought of and to lead a happy life. the effect of this teaching is seen in the attractive, but dignified manners of the japanese women,--even of the very little girls. they are not forward or pushing, neither are they awkwardly bashful; there is no self-consciousness, neither is there any lack of _savoir faire_; a childlike simplicity is united with a womanly consideration for the comfort of those around them. a japanese child seems to come into the world with little savagery and barbarian bad manners, and the first ten or fifteen years of its life do not seem to be passed in one long struggle to acquire a coating of good manners that will help to render it less obnoxious in polite society. how much of the politeness of the japanese is inherited from generations of civilized ancestors, it is difficult to tell; but my impression is that babies are born into the world with a good start in the matter of manners, and that the uniformly gentle and courteous treatment they receive from those about them, together with the continual verbal teaching of the principle of self-restraint and thoughtfulness of others, produce with very little difficulty the irresistibly attractive manners of the people. one curious thing in a japanese household is to see the formalities that pass between brothers and sisters, and the respect paid to age by every member of the family. the grandmother and grandfather come first of all in everything--no one at table must be helped before them in any case; after them come father and mother; and lastly, the children according to their ages. a young sister must always wait for the elder and pay her due respect, even in the matter of walking into the room before her. the wishes and convenience of the elder, rather than of the younger, are to be consulted in everything, and this lesson must be learned early by children. the difference in years may be slight, but the elder born has the first right in all cases. etiquette, procedure, and self-control among the japanese girls are the most important of the influences shaping a japanese woman's life. considerable respect is shown to the girl of the family by her brothers. the native and conventional politeness of the japanese shows itself even in the names by which the children address one another. the parents may leave off the appellatives of respect, but brothers, sisters, and servants must treat the young lady with dignity, especially if she be the eldest daughter. what preparation does the japanese girl have for her position in the social fabric of her people? fortunately for her, there is some effort made to fit her for her future duties. quite early the daughter of a household begins to feel the responsibilities of home cares. even those families which are able to provide ample domestic service will give to the daughter of the household the duty of making the tea and of serving it to the guests with her own hands. this is regarded as of greater honor to the visitor than if a servant had performed the task. the eldest girl of the family must learn to act in the place of the parents, should a visitor appear in their absence, or when the younger children need the care and oversight of an elder. in such matters as sweeping the rooms, preparing the meals, washing the dishes, purchasing viands, and sewing, the japanese girl finds ample scope for a practical education to make her ready for the exactions of the life of a housekeeper when she herself shall become a wife and mother. besides these practical duties in which the girl is early trained, there is education in simpler mathematics and, to a degree, in literature and the art of poetry. she is expected to be familiar with the classical poetry of her country, more particularly the choice short poems, which are well known to both young and old japanese. education, in the stricter sense of the term, is on the increase among the girls of japan, as well as among the boys and young men. besides native schools, schools for the education of japanese girls have been established by missionaries from christian countries. and even higher education is making rapid strides, as is seen in the kobe college for women. but the advance of the state or public education during the past decade or more renders the foreign schools less necessary; and the private teacher, to whom the girls of the better families were formerly invariably sent, is gradually yielding to the larger school. and it may be said that to-day the girls are provided for, educationally, equally with the boys. japan has made wonderful strides in educational matters, being receptive of new ideas concerning the common schools; but there are adjustments that must be made to the social ideals and customs of the people, because of the rise of the new education. among these there is probably none more difficult and perplexing than that which grows out of the need of adapting the old ideas of early marriage for the daughter of a family to the growing demands and the enlarged opportunities for female education. the japanese girl has better opportunity to experience the pleasurable side of life than have girls of most oriental lands. her recreations are more numerous and varied. among them are the annual festivals, such as the japanese new year, the several flower fêtes, and, above all, the feast of dolls, which has been thus interestingly described: "the feast most loved in all the year is the feast of dolls, when on the third day of the third month the great fireproof storehouse gives forth its treasures of dolls--in an old family, many of them hundreds of years old--and for three days, with all their belongings of tiny furnishings in silver lacquer and porcelain, they reign supreme, arranged on red-covered shelves in the finest room in the house. most prominent among the dolls are the effigies of the emperor and empress in antique court costume, seated in dignified calm, each on a lacquered dais. near them are the figures of the five court musicians, in their robes of office, each with his instrument. besides these dolls, which are always present and form the central figures of the feast, numerous others more plebeian, but more lovable, find places on the lower shelves, and the array of dolls' furnishings which is brought out on these occasions is something marvellous. before emperor and empress is set an elegant lacquered service, tray, bowls, cups, _saké_ pots, rice buckets, etc., all complete, and in each utensil is placed the appropriate variety of food. fine silver and brass _hibachi_, or fire-boxes, are there with their accompanying tongs and charcoal baskets--whole kitchens, with everything required for cooking the finest of japanese feasts, as finely made as if for actual use; all the necessary toilet apparatus--combs, mirrors, utensils for blackening the teeth, for shaving the eyebrows, for reddening the lips and whitening the face--all these are there to delight the souls of all the little girls who may have the opportunity to behold them. for three days the imperial effigies are served sumptuously at each meal, and the little girls of the family take pleasure in serving the imperial majesties; but when the feast ends, the dolls and their belongings are packed away in their boxes, and lodged in the fireproof warehouse for another year." besides the special festivals and holidays, there is opportunity all the year round for the little girls to play their merry games of ball and battledoor and shuttlecock, which they do with keen delight and with much grace of movement. the tales of wonder which are told them are a perpetual source of pleasure; for they have their _jack, the giant killer_, in _momotaro, the peach boy_, with his wondrous conquests, and many other tales to kindle their youthful imaginations. among these are the early ancestral exploits, which tend to keep alive love of country. the japanese girl may be seen occasionally in the theatre, seated on the floor with her mother and sisters, taking into her memory impressions of heroism and self-sacrifice, through the historical dramas which present the early experiences of patriotism and passion which characterized the fathers of old. thus, the japanese girl grows up to womanhood and is a finished product five or six years earlier than is an english or american girl. at sixteen or eighteen she is regarded as quite ready herself to take up the active duties of life. the preparation given to the girls of japan has been justly criticised in that, while furnishing the future woman with remarkable powers of observation and of memory, with much tactfulness and æsthetic taste, with deftness and agility of the fingers, there is little to strengthen the powers of reason and to cultivate the religious and spiritual side of the nature. music is almost the sole possession of women, and many of them play the _koto_ (a stringed instrument with horizontal sounding boards, not unlike the piano in principle) and the _samisen_, or "japanese guitar," with great grace of touch and manner, but with little music, as adjudged by the occidental ear;--however, standards differ. so, too, the artistic arrangement of flowers is an art much loved by the women of japan. their education and their daily occupation tend to cultivate the emotional at the expense of the intellectual side of life. hence, much refinement but less strength, and the best and cleverest women of japan, therefore, are attractive rather than admirable. the diminutive size of the japanese women, their pretty hands and feet, their taste in ornamenting shapely bodies, give them a personal attractiveness rarely surpassed. to what an extent the lowness of stature among the japanese is to be attributed to their habits cannot be determined. it is the shortness of the lower limbs that is chiefly at fault; and the habit, early contracted, of sitting upon the legs bent horizontally at the knee, instead of vertically, inevitably arrests the development of the lower limbs. the japanese women have luxuriant, straight, black hair. the wavy hair which western women prize so highly is not beautiful in the eyes of the ladies of japan. curly hair is to them positively ugly. they spend much care upon the arrangement of their tresses, and their mode of hairdressing is elaborate. even the women of the poorer classes will visit the hairdressers. the locks are first treated with a preparation of oil, and then done up in the conventional style so familiar to all from pictures of japanese women. this is expected with many to remain intact for six or eight days. at present the modes of dressing the hair of female children and growing girls, as well as of married women, vary according to taste and circumstances. in ancient days, however,--and the custom still prevails in some of the more conservative regions,--the hair of the female children was cut short at the neck and allowed to hang down loosely till the girl reached the age of eight years. at about twelve or thirteen, the hair was usually bound up, although frequently this was delayed till the girl became a wife. in the romantic poem of mushimaro, _the maiden of unahi_, we find this custom referred to, as well as the custom of secluding the young girl from the eyes of her would-be suitors: "for they locked her up as a child of eight, when her hair hung loosely still; and now her tresses were gathered up, to float no more at will." as a rule, the women wear no head covering whatever, except that which their luxuriant hair furnishes. in the coldest weather, however, they wrap the head gracefully in a headgear of cloth. gloves are rarely seen upon the dainty hands of the women, and shoes are worn only when out of doors. the costume of the japanese women was, and in great measure still is, marked by simplicity and sameness of cut. there is no variation of style--fond as the women of the country are of dress. in the material used and in the color, however, they have ample scope for the display of their exquisite taste, their individuality, and their wealth. the age of the woman may aiso be determined with considerable accuracy by her manner of dress, for a japanese woman has no sensitiveness on this score. the girl baby is clothed "in the brightest colors, and largest of patterns, and looks like a gay butterfly or a tropical bird. as she grows older, colors become quieter, figures smaller, stripes narrower, until in old age she becomes a little gray moth, or a plain-colored sparrow." the hair and head ornaments also vary with the age of the wearer; so that one who is acquainted with the japanese mode can read the age of his lady friend within a few years, at most. the v-neck is the uniform fashion in japan, and when a woman of the better classes is properly clothed in her native costume she presents a most graceful and attractive appearance. when appropriate, she wears a sort of cloak fastened with a cord, and the familiar _kimono_ made without any plaits, lapped over in front and confined with a broad sash which is looped in a big bunch at the back to conceal the plainness of the _kimono_. this sash, or _obi_, and the collar, or _eri_, are usually of the finest silk the women can afford, and are altogether the gayest portion of the habit. when a japanese woman is at her best, she may be imagined to have just stepped from a group painted upon some artistic fan, especially when in the hands are the umbrella and the lantern. the women of the poorer classes, however, are often meagrely clad--sometimes too scantily so for decency. they peddle their wares or work in the fields, barefoot and almost naked. the shoes of a japanese lady are so constructed that they may be easily taken off before entering the house, as is the custom. there is first put on a short stocking, or _tabi_, which reaches a little above the ankle and fastens in the back. this is made after the fashion of a mitten, that the great toe may be separate from the others; for a cord is to pass between the toes to hold in the _geta_, or "shoes." there are several styles of these; some are partly of leather, to cover the toes on rainy days; some are merely straw sandals; while others are of wood, which are clumsy and lift the feet quite above the ground, and when worn make much noise along the streets. in japan, the disgrace of not being married does not arrive so early in the young girl's life, as is the case in some countries of the east. and yet, even here it will not do for a woman to wait until the age of twenty-five without having made her peace with the god of matrimony. usually, however, marriage, which to a japanese woman is almost as much a matter of course as death itself, comes at the age of sixteen or eighteen. here, too, the girl of the land of the cherry blossom is given more freedom of choice as respects the question who her life partner shall be than is generally true in the east; but marry she must. the inevitable eastern "go-between" is of value here. the first steps in japanese courting are undertaken by him in consultation with the parents of the girl who it is thought will make the inquiring young man happy. opportunity is given, at the home of some mutual friend, for the couple to meet and pass upon each other's qualities. if there is mutual admiration, or, indeed, if the young people find no reason why they should not be joined in marriage, the engagement present, a piece of silk, used for the girdle by the groomsman, is given, and finally arrangements are made for the wedding. [illustration 6:_woman's taste in japan after the water-color by charles e. fripp there is no variation of style--fond as the women are of dress. in the material used and in the color, however, they have ample scope for the display of their exquisite taste, their individuality, and their wealth. the age of the woman may also be determined with considerable accuracy by her manner of dress, for a japanese woman has no sensitiveness on this score. the girl baby is "in the brightest colors. as she grows older, colors become quieter, figures smaller." the hair and head ornaments vary with the age of the wearer. the v-neck is the uniform fashion in japan, and when a woman of the better classes is properly clothed in her native costume she presents a most graceful and attractive appearance._] the marriage ceremony is not at the home of the bride, but at the house of the groom, to which the bride is taken, her belongings, such as her bureau, writing desk, bedding, trays, dining tables, chopsticks, etc., having gone before. the giving of presents is often profuse. but it is not the bride and groom alone who are remembered; the groom's family, from the oldest to the youngest, the servants, even the humblest, are presented with gifts by the members of the bride's family. the gifts to the newly wedded pair are often very practical, consisting of silk for clothing or of articles of household use; and it is not uncommon for a bride to receive dress goods enough to last her her lifetime. the ceremony itself is simple and impressive. friends and relatives generally are not present. the bride and groom are there, of course; besides these are the go-betweens of the couple, and a young girl, whose duty it is to take the cup of _saké_, or native wine of japan, and press it successively to the lips of the contracting parties, emblematic of the coming joys and sorrows of their common married life. the wedding guests, who have been waiting in the next room, now appear with their congratulations, and merriment and feasting follow. on the third day after the marriage, the bride's parents must give to the couple another wedding feast. at this the bride's relatives receive presents in return for the large number of gifts sent by them on the wedding day to the household of the groom. announcement of the marriage is not sent out until two or three months later; it is then made in the form of an invitation, sent out by the bride and groom, to an entertainment at their house. acknowledgments of the bridal presents sent by friends must, of course, be made. this is done in sending to those who remember the young pair gifts of _kawaméshi_, or "red rice." it will be seen that there is in the conduct of a wedding in japan neither legal nor religious sanction. the only prescribed formality is the erasure of the bride's name from the register of her father's family and its insertion in that of the husband's. she is no longer a part of the genealogical tree. she lives with and is a part of the groom's household. the exception to the custom is found in the _yoshii_, or "young man," who becomes a part of his wife's family, taking her family name and repudiating his own. this is done when in a family there are no boys who may inherit the estate and name. some youth is then found, usually a younger member of a household, who can be induced to leave his heritage and unite himself with a brotherless daughter of another house. he cuts himself off absolutely from his own people and raises up heirs for his wife's people. but he has not the standing and authority of the woman's husband, for he becomes the servant of his mother-in-law, and may be sent back to his people if he does not conduct himself in a way acceptable to his wife's family; or if they should weary of his presence. ordinarily, children are scarcely regarded as of the mother at all--the blood is all the father's. the low social standing of the mother in no way impairs the rank or respectability of the children. the past few decades have witnessed many notable changes in japan, and there is a reaching out after legislation that shall make the marriage relation more satisfactory and permanent, for divorces have been the frequent cause of great hardships, especially upon the women, who have little opportunity to earn an honorable living when once the marriage tie has been broken. home life is kept comparatively pure in japan, but the price is enormous. the abandoned woman carries on her business or has it carried on for her with shameless openness. the ideals of purity are far higher among the women than among the men. and yet, chastity is not regarded as the highest virtue among japanese women as among northwestern people. obedience to the will of the husband stands first in the list of virtues. thus, japanese women have often been known to sell their chastity in order that they might save their husbands from debt or disgrace, and they have received the plaudits of the public for what is styled their fidelity to their husbands' interest. in few, if any, countries of the orient do the women appear in public as the equals of their husbands. the japanese women of the lower social classes, when they go out with their spouses, follow on behind, bearing whatever burden is to be borne. in trains or crowded rooms it is the women who stand, and not the men. japanese gallantry is not shown in such public courtesies as are commonly offered to women in the united states. the wife does not begin her wedded life with the thought of equality with her husband; and, in law, he is greatly her superior unless, happily, her husband should be motherless. next to her duties to her parents-in-law, the wife's great concern is to be a good housekeeper, rather than a companion for her husband. she must, with due self-control and even with smiling face, humor the whims and the vices of her lord and master, even though he bring another woman into the home. but it may be said that the japanese husband extends to a legal wife comparative respect and even honor, if, as the mother of children, she fulfils well her duties. third in line of demand upon a wife's care, stand the children. in them the japanese mother takes delight; and here the self-control which she has learned almost from the cradle stands her in good stead and beautifully exhibits itself, for she seldom loses her temper or scolds her children. even the wealthy women come in contact with their children and personally guide their lives. the training of the girls is almost entirely in the hands of the mother; and the domestic cares of routine life are under her skilful direction. in the rural districts the activities of women are enlarged by the part they take in the making of the crops, the running of the rice fields, the production of tea, the harvesting of grain, and the care of the silkworms, the bringing of products to market, and the like. but the freedom they thus enjoy makes amends, in a measure, for the more burdensome work of which their sisters of the city know nothing. the _geishas_, or singing girls of japan, are, physically speaking, among the most attractive examples of female grace. the word _geishas_ means "accomplished persons," and these girls are trained in the art of making themselves agreeable. they are accomplished in music, singing, and playing the _samisen_, witty in conversation, and beautiful in figure. theirs is a regular occupation, their services being sought on occasions when entertainment is the chief concern. while these girls do not come from the higher social circles, some of them marry well and become the mothers of reputable families, while many others, yielding to the strong temptations incident to their employment, become the concubines of some well-to-do citizen or lead lives even lower in the moral scale. among the special occupations of women may be mentioned that of acting; for there are women's theatres in which all the parts are performed by women. men and women never appear on the same stage. in literature, two japanese women have gained the distinction of having written the two greatest native works--works admittedly at the very acme of japanese classics. one of these is _genji monogatari_, or "romance of genji," and the other _makura zoshi_, or "book of the pillow." the authoresses of the two masterpieces, both court ladies living in the eleventh century of our era, were murasaki shikibu and seisho nagon. to their names may be added that of a brilliant female contemporary isé no taiyu. the emperor ichijo, who reigned at that period, was a distinguished patron of letters. he gathered about him men and women of culture, and the more lasting literary monuments of his day are those written by women. the work of these gifted women is marked by ease and grace of movement, fluency of diction, and lightness of artistic touch. murasaki shikibu was a lady of noble birth. she was, in her youth, maid of honor to the daughter of the prime minister of that day. this daughter, jioto monin, became wife of the emperor ichijo, and from this station of influence became a most valuable patroness of murasaki, the talented authoress. she herself married a noble, and their daughter also became a writer of note, producing a work of fiction called _sagoromo_, or "narrow sleeves." the chief work of this noted japanese authoress, murasaki, is what may be called a historic novel, _genji monogatari_, or "the romance of genji." in this story the writer gives an accurate view of the conditions which surrounded court life in the tenth century of our era. from the romance of _gengi_ it may be seen, as a native japanese critic has said, that "society lost sight, to a great extent of true morality, and the effeminacy of the people constituted the chief feature of the age. men were ready to carry on sentimental adventures whenever they found opportunities, and the ladies of the times were not disposed to discourage them. the court was the focus of society, the utmost ambition of ladies was to be introduced there." in those early days of japanese life, it was not an unknown occurrence for a woman when plunged into the depths of some disappointment or overwhelming grief to take the oath of a religious recluse. "her conscience," says sama-no-kami, "when she takes the fatal vow may be pure and unsullied and nothing may seem able again to call her back to the world which she forsook. but as time rolls on, some household servant or aged nurse brings her tidings that the lover has been unable to cast her out of his heart, and his tears drop silently when he hears aught about her. then, when she hears of his abiding affection and his constant heart and thinks of the uselessness of the sacrifice she has made voluntarily, she touches the hair on her forehead, and she becomes regretful. she may indeed do her best to persevere in her resolve; but if one single tear bedew her cheek, she is no longer strong in the sanctity of her vow. weakness of this kind would be in the life of buddha more sinful than those offences which are committed by those who never leave the lay circle at all, and she would eventually return to the world." there are many short japanese poems which breathe of love, and tell of womanly charm. these short poems are highly prized, and many of them are familiar to the majority of the people. among the women who won distinction as writers of love poems was the lady sakanoe, who lived in the eighth century. she was a woman of high position, being the daughter of a prime minister and wife of the viceroy of the island of skioku. her poems are among the most popular in japanese literature, and some of them reveal a high order of imaginative power. japanese poetry, which has been described as "the one original product of the japanese mind," contains many references to woman, her loves, her laments, her passions, her ills. sometimes the loyalty of a maiden's love is set forth--as in a poem by the lady sakanoe in the _manyoshu_: "full oft he swore with accents true and tender, 'though years roll by my love shall never wax old,' and so to him my heart i did surrender, clear as a mirror of pure burnished gold." a large number of the love poems are sensual; yet, pure love breathes in many others, as in _a maiden's lament_, a poem by the lady sakanoe, and in the _elegy_ written by nibi upon his wife. the poet sosei, also, has written words that speak to the heart: "i asked my soul where springs the ill-crowned seed that bears the herb of dull forgetfulness; and answer straightway came; th' accursed weed, grows in that heart which knows no tenderness." the mutual regard of husband and wife in early japanese life is beautifully expressed in an anonymous poem in the _manyoshu_. a wife laments that while other women's husbands are seen riding along the road in proud array, her own husband trudges along the weary way afoot: "come, take the mirror and the veil, my mother's parting gifts to me; in barter they must sure avail, to buy a horse to carry thee." to which self-denying love, the husband graciously replies: "and i should purchase me a horse, must not my wife still sadly walk? no, no, though stony is our course, we'll trudge along and sweetly talk." there have been many able women in this land of the cherry blossom, and the japanese people have not been blind to their claims to recognition as controlling forces. this is shown by the fact that no less than nine empresses have ruled the land. some of them have been women of marked sagacity and influence. on the dim borderland of the mythical, for example, history shows us the heroic empress jingu kogo, who, tradition says, was the conqueror of corea, and the embodiment of all that is good and great in japanese womanhood. among the women of japanese legend is the maiden of unahi, the story of whose noble life and death has been often sung by the poets. her tomb is to-day pointed out in the province of settsu, between kobe and osaka. such heroines of the earlier days have furnished inspiration for the women of japan for many generations; and the ideals of domestic life are far higher than might be expected in a region of the world where women, as a rule, live out their round of life upon a general plane that is sorrowfully low. the present generation in japan has been truly blessed by the influence of an empress who is described as not only "charming, intellectual, refined, and lovely," but also "noble and beautiful in character." haru ko, born of noble parentage, became empress in the year 1868. her husband had just come to the throne at the age of seventeen. this was the very year of the downfall of the shogunate and the restoration of the imperial power. though reared in seclusion at kioto, the young empress began at once to measure up to the responsibilities which her position had in store for her. she proceeded to exert her influence in favor of the elevation of the women of her country. without hesitancy, she mingled personally among the people, administering charity to them. very early in her life as empress, in the year 1871, she gave a special audience to five little girls of the military class who were about to set out for america in order to study to prepare themselves for the larger life of womanhood in the new japan. from the beginning of the school established for daughters of the nobility, who are expected to play an important part in the japan that is to be, she has taken great interest in its progress. the religious side of a japanese woman's life, as has been intimated, is remarkably undeveloped. in the portico of a certain temple in the interior of japan is found this inscription: "neither horses, cattle, nor women admitted here." this may be taken as but one intimation of the fact that little in the way of religion is expected of the female sex. the introduction of buddhism into japan marked an epoch in the country's history; but buddhism has done little for woman, for she does not occupy so exalted a position under it as under the more ancient religion. shintoism has its priestesses and buddhism its nuns, but neither of these religions has brought any noteworthy blessing to the women of the kingdom. the ancient religions still influence their lives. the multitude of temples still claim the veneration of the people. kioto retains its eminence as the chief seat of ecclesiastical learning, but the western spirit has found an entrance into the land of the cherry blossom; traditional customs are yielding to its influence, and inveterate prejudices are bending before it. the progress of christian ideals has in recent years been rapid, and western religious teaching has advanced with giant strides. recent legislation has done something to increase the stability of the home by making divorce less easy. the putting of concubinage under the ban by not allowing the children of concubines to inherit a noble title, making this law apply even to the son of the emperor himself, who must also hereafter be son of the empress if he would inherit the throne, will also mean much for the elevation of womanhood in the land of the cherry and the japonica. xiv women of the backward races of the east no volume upon the women of the orient could be deemed complete without some account of those women whose lives have been developed remote from the larger movements of civilization,--the women of the backward races, and those whose sphere has been contracted, not by social ideals simply, but by virtue of the lack of that larger opportunity of world contact which has given to some peoples a far more powerful impulse to progress than has been the privilege of others. as representatives of this class we may choose the women of the south seas and of some of the african tribes. these will furnish us typical examples. george eliot has declared that "the happiest women, like the happiest nations, have no history." in the advance of the world's civilization from crude savagery to high culture, woman's part, though of incalculable value, has, generally speaking, been unheralded. bearing the brunt of the downward burden, while man's shoulder presses upward, woman, from the beginning, has had a minor place in written history. but even among the obscurer races she has managed to bear her part with marked happiness. this seems to be notably true among the island women of the world. the peoples of the seas, removed from many of the pressing conditions and harsh frictions which are present in the larger countries of the continent, exhibit a freedom, if the term may be justly applied to undeveloped races, which is not the possession of many of the larger and older nations of men. one is prepared, of course, for great variety of blood, custom, and development among the peoples who inhabit the islands and the lands that lie out of the beaten track of travel and commerce. there is probably no part of the world where the races of mankind have become more mixed than in the south seas. the women of the indo-pacific area belong to certain great classes or groups of humanity. first, the australian, inhabiting the great island continent that seems to be the southeastern extension of asia; they are considered the lowest among the races of mankind, have black skins, but not woolly hair, and are looked upon as a distinct race. second, come the papuan women, who are in every respect negroes, resembling their kindred in africa in the variety of their types, including the tall, very woolly-headed people of new guinea, who have black skins and comely bodies. of the same race, but differing greatly in ethnic characteristics, are the pigmy people of the andaman islands, of the malay peninsula, and of the philippines. third, the brown polynesians, who are among the finest looking people on the face of the earth; they inhabit the groups of small islands all about the pacific ocean, from hawaii to new zealand, and from easter island to samoa. fourth and finally, the malays proper, who are a small, wiry, energetic people of southeastern asia and the great islands lying around java, sumatra, borneo, and the philippines. the eight million people (called filipinos) in the last-named islands are, as will be seen later, of mixed blood, a compound of all the sub-species of humanity, brown, black, yellow, and white, even a small sprinkling of american indian blood being there. women of so great admixture of blood must necessarily exhibit wide differences of personal appearance and of inherited as well as acquired traits. it would be highly instructive to take up the women of these several races and consider them one by one in the various experiences of their lives, from birth to burial, in childhood and name, in girlhood and marriage, in family life and social standing, in religion and the last act; for interest in this study extends far beyond the lives and activities of those to whom it is directed. the whole human species are one, and it is not a violation of good reasoning to suppose that the activities and social life of these lowly women may, in a certain general way, represent the standing of members of our own race in the early stages of their progress. it is true, however, that in the indo-pacific area we are more or less in the suburbs of the world. caution, therefore, must be exercised in forming conclusions that the abject conditions of the australians, for instance, is a correct picture of a previous condition of the caucasian race. these races have lagged in the progress of the world, and in all the centuries of their isolation have rather retrograded than advanced. they are in possession of arts and practise social customs that are evidently the survival of a more advanced state, as will be seen in the separate study of each race. further interest is added to the study of these tribes in that, despite the fact that they are the lowest of the world's peoples, they each lead a rounded existence. industries, fine art, speech, social forms and usages, the explanation of things, creed and cult, all fit together harmoniously. to the civilized woman, almost every act in the life of her sex among the people named would be intolerable, but to the woman there, these actions are the things to be done and any contrary course would never enter her thoughts. the joys of life come from obedience to the present order and to the venerable customs and traditions that have come down from mothers for many generations. in height, australian women average about five feet two inches, the tallest not exceeding five feet five inches. they have small feet and hands, the widest span being six inches. the color of the skin is dark chocolate, the lips are thick, the nose is broad and incurved, the head long, the hair black, but not woolly, and is generally worn short. some of the young girls are pretty, and from carrying burdens on the head they have an erect pose; the australians, however, are an unhandsome race, and at thirty, if she lives so long, the woman is an old hag, the acme of indescribable ugliness intensified by following the habit of knocking out the front teeth for the sake of fashion. the girl-child born in australia has little care beyond what is necessary to preserve her life. the almost deserted mother is placed apart in a brush shelter and is attended by some old woman of her clan. the birthplace of the little girl is amid the greatest squalor. on rare occasions mothers practise infanticide. the child is killed as soon as born, in the belief (in the words of nicodemus) that it can enter a second time into the mother's womb and be reborn. as infants are suckled several years, the chief cause of this unnatural act is the inability of the mother to add another ounce to life's burdens. being considered uncanny, twins are immediately killed; and once in a while a healthy child meets with a like fate, in order that its vigor may go into a weaker one. the baby's name is inherited from her mother, or perhaps from her father. it is merely a class title, for every tribe in australia is separated into classes with names. if descent be in the female line, then everyone in a class has the same name from the mothers; if it be in the male line, all whose fathers are in the same class are named alike. in all australia there is no such title as "mother," in our sense of the word. of the girl-child here considered, there are as many mothers as there are females in that class belonging to the same generation. if the reader were an australian girl, she would, then, have several or many mothers; there would be her own mother, her maternal aunts, and all collateral female kin of that generation and of the mother's class. for example, suppose a tribe in which the two moieties were named brown and smith. every brown man would have to marry a smith woman and vice versa. a smith would not and dare not marry a smith, or a brown marry a brown. now, if the mother-right prevailed, all the children of the brown mothers would be browns, of the smith mothers would be smiths; but if father-right prevailed, then all the children of brown mothers would be smiths, and those of the smith mothers would be browns. the marriage tie is so loose in australia that the family exists only in the group, and the little girl is not "miss brown," but a brown--one of the browns. the principle is as here stated, but the practice in detail is most bewildering. the little newborn girl is not merely "miss s." or "miss b." her tribe, with its two moieties or classes, may have six totems in each. in that case, her father and her mother will have totem names. take the urabrinna tribe with its two classes, matthurie and kirarwa. if the father be a dingo matthurie and the mother be a water hen kirarwa, our little girl will bear her mother's name, so will all other girls of water hen mothers and, also, their children to remotest posterity. the girls of this generation are, in fact, sisters and look upon the whole generation that gave them birth as a class of mothers; it is the best they can do. in some tribes the classification takes this quaint form: every man belongs to one of a number of families or classes, which we may mark, for convenience, a, b, c, and d. every woman belongs, also, to one of a number of named classes, which we may call e, f, g, and h. now, all the men in the a class are compelled to marry one of the four classes of women, and their children are classified by rule under the other letters in the most confusing but interesting fashion. the system is far more intricate than that of the american indians. besides these class or totem names, each little australian girl has a personal name by which she is freely addressed by all excepting such of the opposite sex as are tabooed by custom. she may also have nicknames like the american indian girls, and finally, every girl of the tribe has her secret name which may be that of some celebrated woman handed down by tradition. it is never uttered except upon most solemn occasions, and is known to those only who are initiated. when mentioned at all, it is in a whisper. if a stranger should know one's name, he would have a special chance to work her ill by ways of magic. at a very early age, the australian girl has graduated in all the hardening processes which result in the survival of the fittest, and is ready to take her place among women. the rites by which she is initiated into womanhood lessen her vitality, if they do not destroy it. no sooner does the little girl get upon her feet than her education begins. her play is imitation of her mother's labors and enjoyments. a group of girls will amuse themselves by the hour, playing little dramas with the hands. many of these games are to be found among civilized peoples. your meaningless piling of fists in the play: "take it off, or i'll knock it off," is part of a game which represents the entire operation of finding a honey tree, cutting it down, gathering the honey, mixing it with water, and eating it. the marriage tie of australian women cannot be likened to that existing among christian nations, nor is it similar to the polygamy of mohammedan peoples, but is a modified form of group marriage. the australian man obtains his wife in one of four different ways. his father secures her for him by an arrangement with the girl's father; he charms his intended by magic; he captures her as he would an enemy in battle; or she elopes with him. it is to be understood, of course, that the woman belongs to the proper class by descent. the australians are very particular in this regard. the first and most usual method of taking a wife is connected with the law which makes every woman the possible wife of some man. there is little or no ceremony in connection with the rite of matrimony. when a man has secured a wife, she becomes his private property. let us imagine, therefore, that a man has set his heart upon a woman of the proper group. there are several ways of practising magic to procure a wife. spencer and gillan, the greatest authorities in this line of study, say, that when a man is desirous of securing a woman for his wife,--it makes no difference whether or not she be already assigned to some other man,--he takes a small strip of wood, attached at one end to a string, and marks it with the design of his totem, and with this instrument (called by the american boy a "buzzer") he goes into the bush accompanied by his friends. all night long the men keep up a low singing and chanting of amorous phrases. at daylight, the man stands up alone and swings his roarer. the sound of the instrument and the singing of the air is carried to the ear of the woman by magic, and it has the power of compelling her affections. it is asserted that women have been known to come fifty miles in order to marry the man who had bewitched them. there are other ways of charming a woman upon whom the lover has set his heart,--such as the charm of the gaudy headband worn on a public occasion, the charm of blowing the horn, and more. elopement is only another form of magic. the third method of obtaining a wife, by capture, has been described as universal among the australians, but the latest writers affirm that it is the rarest way in which the central australian secures his wife. among the australians, polynesians, malays, and many others of the lower races, descent has been primarily and uniformly through the mother. it was not until tribes became sedentary and property was held by individuals that inheritance passed to the male members of the family. the so-called mother-right is based upon the belief that individuals forming a certain clan or group, by whatever name they may be called, are the offspring of a woman who lived long ago. the term _mutterrecht_, by which this custom is called, is of course a sort of legal fiction; for men have always governed the world. two benefits grew out of this form of descent. one was the certainty of motherhood. the other was the assurance, to every individual, of family support, as the children of a number of sisters were not cousins to one another, but all were brothers and sisters. so long as there were provisions with any one of this group, the rest were sure of a meal. this plan of descent through the mother has survived in many curious ways. it is found among many african tribes. even to-day the spaniards, who have a great deal of moorish blood in their veins, have the custom of adding the mother's name to the father's to show that the descent is legitimate. it may be of interest to know, in passing, that james smithson, the founder of the smithsonian institution, was required by his father, the duke of northumberland, to be known by his mother's name until he was of age, when he was allowed to assume the family name of the duke, which was smithson. this is but a modern instance of how persistent the ancient custom has been. as soon as sedentary life and settled ownership of property took the place of nomadic life and communal ownership, mother-right or matriarchy passed gradually into patriarchy. it is curious to know that among the american indians at the time they were discovered one could find all degrees of this transition. we must be careful, too, to discriminate between the tribe and the clan, or gens, for all savage tribes are exogamous with respect to the clans and endogamous with respect to the tribes. when the people develop the tendency to marriage within the tribe, it is evident that they have passed out of the earlier stages of clan grouping into the stage of property grouping. marrying in the tribes was necessary, in order, as we might put it, to "keep the money in the family." among many of the lowest as well of the highest civilization, the practice is against marrying a girl who is akin; and it is always a subject of humor when a young woman in our own country marries without changing her name, a quiet recognition of the old practice of the exogamous marriage between clan members. clothing for warmth or protection is not worn by australian women; even the apron is not universal. the sense of beauty, however, has been awakened in these savage breasts, and expresses itself in pretty headbands, necklaces, and breast ornaments of seeds, teeth, and strings colored with ochre. the men, too, are but little better attired; but one indispensable article of their costumes must not be omitted in this connection, namely, the knout, or coil of twine, with which they thrash the women. the home of the australian woman, where she and her co-wives and their children live, is nothing more than a brush shelter, so faced as to protect the occupants from the prevailing wind. in front of this, or under it, they work, eat, sleep, and hold social intercourse. in the morning, they go forth with their digging sticks and wooden troughs to gather small animals. they take no thought of what they shall eat, the problem being to have anything to eat. when the men hunt the small kangaroo, the women surround the game and drive it toward the ambush. every edible thing is known and is used for food. the women are the gleaners also, gathering large quantities of seeds, throwing them from one trough to another so that the wind may blow away the chaff, grinding them on one stone with another, and cooking in hot ashes the dough made from the meal. the cooking of flesh food is done by men, as that prepared by females may not be eaten by them; the women attend to the vegetable diet. in many places, females over a certain age take their meals apart; this rule, however, is not uniform. should the australian woman allow her child to live past the earliest stages of infancy, she is usually a devoted mother. she often bears her child about on her shoulders as she attends upon her tasks, even after the child has become five or six years old. and should the little one die, she will continue to bear the dear body with her, apparently not noting the decomposition, which soon sets in. mothers have been known to carry the body of a dead child for weeks. from earliest childhood, girls as well as boys are trained to note the tracks of every living thing. for amusement, skilful women imitate, in the sand, the tracks of animals; and they know one another's footsteps. spencer and gillan say that every woman has her _pitchi_, or "wooden trough," from one to three feet long, in which she carries everything, even the baby, for she is both pack and passenger beast; when she is hunting, it will very often be used as a scoop-shovel to clear out earth. her only other implement is her digging stick, the primitive pick-plow excavator. it is a straight staff, pointed at the end. when at work requiring its use, the owner loosens the earth with the digging stick, held in the right hand, while her left hand plays the part of shovel. acre after acre of the soil wherein lives the honey ant is dug over for this toothsome mite. little girls go out with their mothers; and while the latter are digging up vermin and insects, the toddlers, with little picks, will be taking their first lesson in what will be their chief lifework. among savages, the textile art--woman's peculiar industry--is little encouraged. the spindle used in australia before the discovery of the island-continent in 1606, and which is still in use among the wild tribes, is the most primitive conceivable, for it is merely a little switch with a hooked end. the women make string for tying, as well as for bags and network, out of human, opossum, and kangaroo hair, from sinew, like the eskimo, and from vegetable fibre. they sit upon the ground, use the left hand for a distaff, and with the right hand roll the spindle dexterously on the naked thigh. when a foot or so of string is finished, it is rolled about the hook of the spindle for a bobbin. when two of these are completed, a stick is driven into the ground, and a rude rope or twine walk is set up. the women know the dyes in many plants and use them. with the strings they make basketry, nets, bags, plaiting, and many ornamental forms of simple lacework and borders. indeed, the australian aborigines are at the bottom of the textile ladder, where human fingers perform all spinning, netting, and weaving. in lieu of the gaudy costumes and of the tattooed tooth patterns etched upon the skin among other indo-pacific tribes, australian women decorate their breasts and other parts with horrid scars. they cut the skin with flint or glass, and rub ashes or down into the open wounds in order that the cicatrices may be large and prominent. they submit to these tortures with the greatest satisfaction, and add more from time to time as memorials of personal experiences or in honor of the dead. the australian women are fond of games and sports. dr. roth, the northern protector of aborigines in queensland, says that with a fair length of twine adult women will amuse themselves for hours at a time. the twine is used in the form of an endless string, known to europeans as "cat's cradle" or "catch cradle." hundreds of the most intricate and bewildering designs are made, in the formation of which the mouth, the knees, and the toes coöperate with the hand. some of the figures are extremely complicated. dr. roth gives the plates of the finished patterns, which certainly are as fascinating as any work of savage hands. australian women are described as cheerful and light-hearted, but, on occasion, they fight with their digging sticks most furiously, giving and taking blows like men. the testimony of the best observers is to the effect that, in most tribes, women are not treated with excessive cruelty, which would be quickly fatal to the tribe in longevity, fecundity, and service. women receive their share of the resources, be they abundant or meagre. what seems to be cruelty is only custom or, as one would say, fashion; and in australia, even more so than in paris, you had as well be out of the world as out of the fashion. all her life, the australian woman is in the most abject social state; her connection with the rites and ceremonies of her tribes is only as an assistant or attendant. she is charged with all the industrial occupations of food getting, and is not allowed to venture near the sacred places on in of death. she is bound hand and foot by custom. no australian woman is believed to die a natural death. all are killed by magic--it may be a personal enemy near at hand or by a great sorcerer far away. their life, so remote from ours, is, however, less sensitive, and it would be untrue to say that they are a melancholy set, living in perpetual dread. when an australian woman dies, she is at once placed in a sitting posture, with the knees doubled up against the chin. the body thus prepared is deposited in a round hole at once or is placed on a platform, made of boughs, until some of the flesh disappears, after which the bones are put into a grave. nothing whatever is deposited with her, and the earth is piled directly upon the body so as to form a low mound with a depression on the side toward the camp ground. as soon as the burial is over, her camp is burnt utterly and her group remove to another place. those who stood in certain kinship to her may never mention her name again or go near her grave after the last act of quieting the spirit has been performed. this ceremony occurs about a year after the death of a woman, and consists of trampling on her grave. her mother and the nearest clan kin paint themselves with kaolin and visit her grave, accompanied by certain of her tribal brothers. on the way, the actual mother throws herself on the ground and is only prevented from frightfully cutting herself by watchful attendants. at the grave, the blood flows copiously from self-inflicted wounds upon all the mourners. after this blood letting, charms are planted upon the grave mound, the blood stained pipe clay, with which the half dead mother has smeared herself, is rubbed off and the grave is smoothed over. all this is done cheerfully, as it is the custom of the country. the widow (or widows) of a deceased man smears her hair, face, and breast with white pipe clay, and remains silent during a long time, perhaps a year, communicating by means of gesture language. she remains in camp, performing assiduously the ceremonies for the dead; indeed, should she venture forth on her old avocations, a younger brother of her husband, on meeting her, might run her through with his spear. when the time comes to have the ban of silence removed, she smears herself afresh with kaolin, prepares a large tray full of food, and accompanied by female friends walks to the dividing line of her camp. they are joined by the proper kindred of the deceased, who, after an elaborate ceremony, release her from her vows, and certify to her having done her whole widowly duties. at the ceremony of trampling on the grave of the dead man, in which certain women take part, and especially the widow, who scrapes the kaolin from her body, showing that her mourning is ended. when a child dies, not only does the actual _mia_, or "mother," cut herself, but all the sisters of the latter perform a like ceremony. on the death of relatives, women gash themselves. the scars thus made have naught to do with the decorative cicatrices across the breast, before mentioned. they are specially proud of these self-inflicted wounds, since they are the permanent record of their faithfulness to their dead. let us turn our attention to the smallest women of the world. history, ethnology, and classic myth have united to make the eastern pigmies the most interesting people in the world. though they are a little people, and have been hard pressed by larger and stronger races, they have survived for centuries. they are to be found in asia, africa, and the islands of the sea. africa was doubtless their aboriginal home; but this negrito type has spread eastward, probably in their canoes in the early days, till the islands of the south seas have become their home. the women among these little people are even smaller than the men. the mincopies of the andaman islands are among the most interesting of the negritos. because of their roving nature, they live in huts which are rather temporary in character. these are put up by the women, though when a sojourn in a given locality is to be of longer duration the men build huts that are more permanent. the boys and girls do not sleep in the same huts with the married people, but in huts specially constructed for them. the women often become quite expert in the manufacture of pottery by hand, the vessels having rounded bottoms, and being decorated with wavy lines, or lines made by a wooden style. both boys and girls in the first few years of life are left entirely nude. at about six years the little girl has placed upon her an apron of leaves. this is her sole garment. later in life, the womanly instinct for ornament shows itself however, so that necklaces and girdles are added. there is a certain kind of girdle, made from the pandanus leaves, which is the peculiar possession of the married women. the women, as well as the men, tattoo their entire bodies. this art of tattooing is practised almost entirely by the women. they use a piece of quartz or glass, making horizontal and vertical incisions in alternating series. there was probably some religious significance originally in this practice, since the men begin the process by making incisions with an arrow used in hunting the wild pig, and while the wounds are still fresh the man must refrain from using the flesh of this animal. the bodies of the women are usually quite shapely, though their faces are not beautiful. with the women as well as the men, the body is of nearly uniform width, there being scarcely any enlargement at the hips. since the race is comparatively pure, marrying among themselves, the type is very uniform; and since, as quatrefages says, the occupations of men and women vary little, the difference in the development of female as contrasted with masculine characteristics is exceedingly small. the young girl enjoys equal freedom with her brother, but preserves her modesty with commendable strictness. an official, "the guardian of youth," scrutinizes the conduct of the young people with much care and attempts to see that wrongs against modesty and chastity are, as far as possible, righted. the marriage relation is well guarded; bigamy and polygamy are rigidly prohibited; and betrothals, which are often made for the little ones at a very tender age, are held as inviolate, a betrothal being regarded as quite as binding as actual marriage. the young couple to be married never take the initiative for themselves, this duty falls to the "guardian of youth," whose watchful eye is expected to discern the eternal fitness of things in this important field of human interest. the marriage contract is a purely civil one, being celebrated at the hut of the chieftain of the tribe. the bride remains seated. by her side is one or more women; the groom stands surrounded by the young men. the chief approaches him and leads him to the young girl, whose legs are held by several women. after some pretended resistance on the part of both, the groom sits down on the knees of his bride. the torches are lighted so that all present can attest that the ceremony has been regularly carried out. finally the chief declares the young people duly married, and they retire to a hut prepared in advance. then they are said to spend several days silently, without so much as looking at each other, during which period they receive from friends presents of a very practical nature, such as provisions and equipments for housekeeping. after this silent but profitable function is over, a wedding dance is given in which the whole community joins, except the two who are most concerned in the festivities. "it is incorrect to say that among the andamese marriage is nothing more than taking a female slave, for one of the striking features of their social relation is the marked equality and affection which subsists between husband and wife. careful observations extended over many years prove that not only is the husband's authority more or less nominal, but that it is not at all an uncommon occurrence for andamese benedicts to be considerably at the beck and call of their better halves." a writer upon the andamese islanders has this significant utterance concerning woman's moral influence even among these uncivilized peoples: "experience has taught us that one of the most effective means of inspiring confidence when endeavoring to make acquaintance with these savages is to show that we are accompanied by women, for they at once infer that, whatever may be our intentions, they are at least not hostile." as a rule, marriage life among these andamese islanders is said to be very happy. the women are constant and faithful; the husbands also exercise marked fidelity. the spirit of equality and reciprocity prevails to an exceptional degree when compared with many other uncivilized peoples, and indeed with many civilized people. even before the mother gives birth to the child, the little one receives a name with a qualitative, according to sex. this it bears for two or three years. it is then replaced by another qualitative which the boy bears till his initiation into the rites of manhood, and the girl till the appearance of signs of puberty. this name corresponds to some tree or flower. when the girl marries she drops her "flower name." mothers, too, have great fondness for their children, nursing them as long as there is milk for them, and it is not uncommon for three children to feed at the same maternal breast. a peculiar custom prevails, however, by which most of the children are by the fifth or sixth year taken from their parents, and become parts of another household. this custom of adoption is a method by which friends express and cement their friendships for one another. as quatrefages says: "every married man received into a family regards as an expression of gratitude and proof of friendship, the privilege of adopting one of the children of the family." the parents rarely see children that have been adopted. they may pay them visits, but they never take them back permanently to their homes, and temporarily only by permission. the foster-father may, strangely enough, pass his adopted child on to some friend of his, as freely as he might one of his own. the modesty of the scantily clothed women is noteworthy. man, who has written so minutely upon the andamese, says that when a woman has occasion to remove one of her girdles in order to make it a present to a friend, she does so with a shyness that amounts almost to prudery; and she never changes her apron before a companion, but retires to some secret place. even within the same family circle, the bearing of the sexes toward each other is modest and delicate. the man will observe the greatest care in his attitude toward the wife of a cousin or of a younger brother, only addressing her through a third person. the wife of an elder brother receives the respect accorded to a mother. the negritos of luzon in the philippines are also found to be very correct in their ideas upon the relations of the sexes. adultery is very rare, and is punished, as are theft and murder, by death. the manners of the young girls are very correct, for any suspicion of their chastity might prevent their marriage, for the young men are particular that their wives should be without stain or even an imputation of it. when a young man is ready to marry and has found the girl of his choice, he lets her parents know of his heart's wish. they are said never to refuse. they do not turn her formally or informally over to her suitor, however, but they send her out into the forest, where, early in the morning, before even the sun has risen, she conceals herself. it is the young man's business to find this pearl of great price, or else he cannot claim to be worthy of her and must forever relinquish all right in her. this, it will be readily seen, is but another way of leaving the whole matter in the hands of the girl, who may not seek the thickest jungles for a hiding place. the day for the marriage has come. the lovers climb two young trees which are adjacent one to the other and may be easily bent together. an aged man comes, and presses the boughs of the trees toward each other till the heads of the young couple touch. they are then husband and wife. feasting and dancing follow, and then the pair settle down to life's realities in earnest. the husband gives his father-in-law a present, a custom surviving from a day when wives were purchased; and the father presents his daughter with a present as dowry, which becomes her own personal property. the aëta has but one wife. if he should die after his children are grown, the family home is continued; should the children be yet very young, the mother usually takes them and returns to the home of her own people. among some of the negrito tribes there has been found an incipient literature. the following are words of a love song which montano found among the aëtas. it has thus been translated: "i leave, oh, my loved one, be very prudent, thou loved one. ah! i go very far, my loved one, while thou remainest in dwelling thine, never the village will be forgotten by me." in contrast with these pigmies of probably african origin, there may come to our minds the ancient tradition of african amazons. for the poetical allusions among the greek authors to such a community of female warriors there was doubtless some basis in fact, and this even when all due allowance is made for the imaginative element in the tale. according to the tradition, these african amazons, an army of powerful women, under the leadership of their queen myrina, marched against the gorgons and atlantes and subdued them, and at last marched through egypt and arabia and founded their capital on lake tritonis, where they were finally annihilated by hercules. the truth in these amazon stories lies doubtless in the fact that it is not an unknown custom for african women, strong of body and brave of spirit, to enlist as soldiers in companies or armies, commanded by officers of their own sex, and to become very powerful in regulating the life of some communities. among the dahomeys, women captives are often enrolled in the king's army of "amazons." these are said to have a perfect passion for fighting. they are bound to perpetual celibacy and chastity, under the penalty of death. they are described as famous in battle, but their chief utility is to prevent rebellion among the male soldiers. they have separate organizations and are commanded by officers of their own sex, and are most loyal to their king. the world has long known of the hottentots of south africa. their women are taller and larger than those of the neighboring bushmen, who are the south african pigmies. among these hottentots woman often occupies a place of considerable power; this is notably in the home, where she reigns supreme. the husband may lord it over her outside of the house, and often does, making almost a slave of his spouse; but when he enters the house, he abdicates his authority. without her permission, the husband cannot take a bit of meat or a drop of milk. if he attempts to infringe the law, the neighbors take up his case; he is amerced, often to the extent of several sheep or cows, and these become the absolute property of the wife. should the chief of a tribe die, his wife takes his place and authority and becomes "queen of the tribe," unless her son is of age. and it is said that some of these women chieftains have left for themselves names of honor in the traditions of their people. it is a custom among the hottentots to call their children by the names of their parents, but by a sort of exchange, the girls assuming that of their father, the boys that of the mother--a syllabic suffix indicating the sex. to the oldest daughter are accorded especial authority and honor; for it is she who milks the cows and, in a way, has them under her control. requests for milk must be made to her, reminding us of the aryan _wood-daughter_, who was once the milkmaid. no extraordinary claims can be made for the beauty of the hottentot women. they have the knotty hair that characterizes the negro races, and the flat noses, thick lips, and prominent cheekbones. while their faces have no especial beauty, their figures, when maidens, are regular, plump and attractive; but after the first years of womanhood are past, the roundness of youth yields to the wrinkles of age, and all attractiveness disappears, the woman either becoming withered and haggard, or manifesting that peculiar development said to be so much admired among the hottentots, known to science as steatopyga. the famous "hottentot venus" furnishes an example of this type of _beauty_. the back is given a most remarkable contour by the enormous growth of fat about the hips, which, though hard and firm, shakes like jelly when our venus walks. this extraordinary development has to the hottentot lady not only an æsthetic but also a utilitarian value, in case she cares to support her infant upon it. the less cultured a people, the greater the place given by it to ornament. among many uncivilized peoples the men as well as the women exhibit a fondness for decoration; but ornamentation is preëminently the weakness of women. although the savage lady regards clothing as altogether an unnecessary burden, she must have her ornaments. one of the methods of ornamentation is that of tattooing the body. among some tribes almost the whole body is covered with more or less artistic designs, while others mark only parts of the body, as by rings around the arms, or, as among the aboriginal new zealand women, by puncture of the lips. the use of shells, metal rings, bands, beads, feathers, mats, and so on _ad infinitum_, is one of the marks of savagery. a traveller has given the following description of a kaffir's marriage ceremony witnessed by him. the occasion was the marriage of a kaffir chief to his fourteenth wife, "a fat good-natured girl--obesity is at a premium among african tribes--wrapped round and round with black glazed calico, and decked from head to foot with flowers, beads, and feathers. once within the kraal, the ladies formed two lines, with the bride in the centre, and struck up a lively air; whereupon the whole body of armed kaffirs rushed from all parts of the kraal, beating their shields and uttering demonic yells, as they charged headlong at the smiling girls, who joined with the stalwart warriors in cutting capers, and singing lustily, until the whole kraal was one confused mass of demons, roaring out hoarse war songs and shrill love ditties. after an hour dancing ceased and _joila_ (kaffir beer) was served around, while the lovely bride stood in the midst of the ring alone, stared at by all and staring in turn at all, until she brought her eyes to bear upon her admiring lord. when advancing leisurely, she danced before him amid the shouts of the bystanders, singing at the top of her voice and brandishing a huge _carving-knife_, with which she scraped big drops of perspiration from her heated head, produced by the violent exercise she was performing." among african tribes, generally, the value of a woman is rated in terms of the cow. while in india the cow is more sacred than the woman, in africa, a woman sometimes brings several cows in a trade. when a man wishes a wife there is usually little trouble in obtaining her, either by purchase, theft, or in some rather more sentimental manner. among some tribes female go-betweens are made use of, while genuine courtship prevails among other tribes. the courtship, however, is seldom of long duration. the matter of marriage is more completely guarded among the tribes of africa and the indo-pacific than we might expect of the people of their grade of culture. while tribes vary much in marriage customs, purity of life is, as a rule, rigidly expected of married women, and most women marry at an early age. lewdness, however, is not generally regarded as so great a crime as marital infidelity, which is often punished with death. betrothals are looked upon as much more sacred and binding than they are among more cultivated peoples. in tahiti, so careful have been the natives in this matter of betrothal, that the betrothed young lady was compelled to live upon a platform of considerable elevation, built in her father's house. the parents or some members of the family attended to her wants here, night and day, and she never left her high abode without permission of her parents and accompanied by them. in the yomba country courtship is carried on usually through female rather than male relatives, and either sex may make the first advances toward a minor. among all uncivilized peoples, as indeed among many that are advanced in civilization, the early marriage is one of the most important elements in the backward condition of the people, if not indeed the most serious cause of deterioration. women are forced into the arduous duties of motherhood at an age when they are neither physically nor in any other sense prepared for such an obligation. children born of immature mothers can scarcely expect to be robust either in body or mind. the kroomen, one of the native tribes of liberia, hold marriage to be the highest ambition of life. they will marry as many wives as they can pay for, often leaving their homes in search of means whereby they may accumulate wealth enough to buy another wife. enjoying for a few months the new relation, the ambitious husband goes off to seek again his fortune, returns, buys another companion, the marriage is again celebrated, and so the number of women who perform the drudgeries of life increases. at about middle life, usually, the krooman has accumulated a sufficient fortune in the form of wives to enable him to retire from active labor. he now settles down to live upon the labor of his wives, who willingly support him. he is now known as a "big man," and enjoys not only the ease, but also the reputation and honor of one who has come into possession of a well-earned retirement. another characteristic which marks woman's career among the lower races is the fact of her early and rapid physical deterioration after marriage. this is true not only of the women of polynesia, but of the african tribes, with which they have much in common. at the age when european and american women are at the prime of their vigor and physical beauty, these women have not only seen their best days, but are broken, unsightly, and withered. this deterioration is chiefly due to two causes; one is the uniform early marriages among these races, and the other is the hard life which is early thrust upon the woman. for she not only becomes the childbearer, but the beast of burden, the farmer, too, it may be, and the mechanic and the "general utility man." it is true, especially where polygamy prevails, that there is a division of labor, but the labor is divided among the women; the men do only the lighter work. the several wives of the household take their servitude as a matter of course, and usually, especially in kaffir land, they are so brought up that they regard a husband as degraded and effeminate if he takes any part in the ordinary labors of domestic life. the women are, generally, quite reconciled also to the polygamous relation, because a husband is regarded as possessing dignity and respectability in proportion as he is much or little married. the less developed a race is, the less specialized is woman's sphere. among the barbarous and savage peoples woman is the "maid of all work." she is weaver, potter, basketmaker, cook, agriculturist, water bearer, beast of burden, everything. men hunt and fish, eat and sleep. in general, it may be said, that among the barbarous races there is a greater relative disparity between the size and attractiveness of men and women. this is doubtless to be accounted for by the fact that very early the female is set to hard tasks of menial service and her body is accordingly abused and stunted. while the physical and social status of woman is one of acknowledged inferiority, there are not wanting among the african tribes instances in which woman exerts no small influence and exhibits no little power. this we have noted in mentioning the tribes dominated by warlike women. it is more particularly true of her influence within the precints of her domestic life, as was seen in the case of the pigmy women of the andamese islands. mothers, and more especially mothers-in-law, exert noteworthy power, but this is always by virtue of station rather than of any inherent respect due to the sex itself. there are isolated examples of a more active power exerted by woman. as a rule, women of the inferior races have no part in the government of their tribes. there are some exceptions, however. in the sandwich islands, as is well-known, the hereditary right of rule might fall to a woman as well as to a man, and there have been, in these islands, a number of queens. our own country took some part, as will be readily remembered, in deposing the last of them from her throne. every student of what has come to be called "woman's sphere," especially among the uncultivated races, must be led to the conclusion that the condition of the female sex, the sphere of her activity and influence in any race, is one of the very best indexes of the civilization of that people. the view of havelock ellis, in his _man and woman_, is that it is the latter who is leading in the evolution of the race, in the sense not only that the traits that more distinctively belong to her are those that characterize the advance of society, but that she registers more accurately the advances. "what is civilization?" asked emerson; and answers, "the power of good women." among the deplorable traits of women of uncivilized races is that of infanticide. among some of the pacific islanders and in some parts of africa, the regular and systematic sacrifice of children is among the most remarkable and cruel features of the social life of the people. this is more particularly true of female infants. war plays a very large part in the life of uncivilized races, and the presence of women is a source of weakness rather than strength, since usually they are not bearers of arms, and are among the most envied prizes for which war is waged. ellis, in his _polynesian researches_, draws this gloomy picture of unnatural motherhood among peoples of the pacific islands: "in tahiti, human victims were frequently immolated. yet the amount of all these and other murders did not equal that of infanticide alone. no sense of irresolution or horror appeared to exist in the bosoms of those parents, who deliberately resolved on the deed before the child was born. they often visited the dwellings of the foreigners, and spoke with perfect complacency of their cruel purpose. on these occasions the missionaries employed every inducement to dissuade them from executing their intention, warning them in the name of the living god, urging them by every consideration of maternal tenderness, and always offering to provide the little stranger with a home, and the means of education. the only answer they generally received was, that it was the custom of the country; and the only result of their efforts was the distressing conviction of the inefficacy of their humane endeavors. the murderous parents often came to their houses almost before their hands were cleansed from their children's blood, and spoke of the deed with worse than brutal insensibility, or with vaunting satisfaction at the triumph of their customs over the persuasions of their teachers." it is thought that not less than two-thirds of all the children born were murdered by their own parents. "the first three infants," says ellis, "were frequently killed; and in the event of twins being born, both were rarely permitted to live. in the largest families, more than two or three children were seldom spared, while the numbers that were killed were incredible. the very circumstance of their destroying, instead of nursing, their offspring rendered their offspring more numerous than it would otherwise have been. we have been acquainted with a number of parents, who, according to their own confessions, or the united testimony of their friends and neighbors, had inhumanly consigned to an untimely grave, four, or six, or eight, or ten children, and some even a greater number." but changes have taken place since the writing of these lines; it seems certain that a generation ago nearly if not quite two-thirds of the children were slain by their mothers, and few mothers were guiltless of the blood of their own offspring. the explanation of the prevalence of this species of massacre is readily discernible in the following paragraph from ellis's _researches_: "during the whole of their lives the females were subject to the most abasing degradation; and their sex was often, at their birth, the cause of their destruction. if the purpose of the unnatural parents had not been fully matured before, the circumstance of its being a female child was often sufficient to fix their determination on its death. whenever we have asked them what could induce them to make a distinction so invidious, they have generally answered,--that the fisheries, the service of the temple, and especially war, were the only purposes for which they thought it desirable to rear children; that in these pursuits women were comparatively useless; and therefore female children were frequently not suffered to live. facts fully confirm these statements." dense superstition, too, has sometimes played a part in this murder of children. in central africa, for example, it is held with religious scrupulosity that twin children should never be allowed to live. when children are born with a deformity, they are despatched as a matter of course. and yet, notwithstanding all these horrors, the instinct, even of the most debased mothers, is toward the love and preservation of their offspring. from the earliest days, this care for the infant, the helpless, and the weak has been the most powerful counterpoise to abnormal self-seeking. these two characteristics, self-giving and self-seeking, are among the most potent factors in the development of all the races of mankind. the filipino woman has lately had for us fresh interest. indeed, the women of the philippine islands are among the most interesting in the world. in the mountains of luzon and in the other out-of-the-way places are the negritos, or little negroes, of whom we have written in an earlier portion of this chapter. these little people are shoved away into the mountain regions, where the resources of life are as meagre as they can be if existence is to endure. in the lower parts of the archipelago, which are more accessible to the coast, will be found the descendants of an old malayo-polynesian race; these are characterized by their primitive industrial life. a later immigration of the same stock brought people to the island who have developed alphabets, metallurgic arts carried on by the men, and weaving and needlework done by the women. closely following these, and because there were opportunities for commerce, came the more cultivated races of eastern asia, chinese, japanese, siamese, and even hindoos, to mingle their blood with these more primitive stocks. in the twelfth century of our era, mohammedanized malays took possession of the southern part of the archipelago. these people are called moros, or moors. leaving out the negritos, who are only a little mixed with the other races, the other peoples we have mentioned have mingled their blood with the modern population, the spanish and portuguese, who have come in since the sixteenth century. the commingling of blood has been favorable to the modern filipinos, and many regard their women as worthy of being admired for their grace and beauty. notwithstanding their great variety of racial stocks, the women of manila have a certain common physiognomy, the malay type being the strongest element in their composite face. features that mark the yellow races are also quite prominent in many of the filipino women. as in other races of the same grade of culture, the marriage tie is a part of the social system. clan relationship, by whatever name it may be called, governs the selection of a spouse. the bond has been a very loose one in the islands, and it has not been an uncommon thing for men and women to break up their relationships unceremoniously and form new ones. among a people composed of so many elements, wide differences may be expected in the matter of marriage. the igorrotes, or wild inhabitants of luzon, though primitive in development, are monogamous. the clan system is broken down and a young man is allowed to take the woman of his choice with little ceremony, and they become man and wife. many astonishing customs are, of course, found among these people. for example, alfred marche calls attention to a form of voluntary slavery. it is that of a young man who wants to marry. in many places, he is bound to work for two or three years as a simple domestic in the house of the father of his fiancée. during this time he is fed, but never takes his place at the same table with the young girl. he is allowed to walk with her and to sleep under the same roof, but he may not eat with her. when the young man has passed this stage, he must, before the ceremony of marriage, build a house and make certain indispensable purchases. he must also pay all the expenses of the marriage. the affair does not always terminate as regularly as one could wish. the father sometimes seeks a quarrel with his future son-in-law at the moment when the ceremony is about to take place, and admits a new aspirant for his daughter's hand. the newcomer undertakes to work for him without any scruples. the house, which is of little value, is all that remains to the late fiancé as a consolation. de morgan, who travelled in the philippine islands for the spanish government and published his account, in the city of mexico, in 1609, gives an account of the native women three hundred years ago. the women of luzon are described as wearing sleeves of all colors which they call _baros_. white cotton stuffs were wrapped or folded from the waist downward to the feet, and over these sometimes was a thin cloak folded gracefully. the people of the highest rank substituted silk or fine native fabrics for the cotton, and added gold chains, bracelets, and earrings, and rings on their fingers. their hair, which is exceedingly black, was tied gracefully in a knot on the back of their head. many of these characteristics noted by de morgan may still be seen among the women of the islands. the closer contact of the philippine islands with the mainland and more particularly with western commerce and civilization is destined to work many and possibly rapid changes even in the customs and ideals of the women whose native conservatism has held them for many centuries very much in the same groove of life and daily routine. the women of luzon have always been cleanly and elegant in their persons, and they are attractive and graceful. much time is spent on their hair, which is frequently washed and anointed with the oil of sesame prepared with musk. they spend much time on their teeth, and formerly began at a tender age to file them into the shape demanded by the customs of the country. they also dyed their teeth black. like the moorish women, the filipinos are fond of the bath; they frequent the rivers and creeks and bathe throughout the entire year, the genial climate allowing such pastime. as in other countries below the grade of civilization, the industrial employments of the philippines are largely for the women. to them is the task of spinning and weaving the exceptionally delicate fabric of the archipelago into the finest cloth. they also are the food purveyors, assisting in gathering food material, pounding it in their simple mills and serving it. in their cuisine are such vegetables as sweet potatoes, beans, plantains, guavas, pineapples, and oranges. the women rear fowls and domestic animals, and take upon themselves the entire care of the family and household. while the women of all countries have always been the natural and most persistent conservers of ancient ideals and racial customs, yet it may be predicted that the throwing of the filipino tribes into contact with new world politics, trade, and customs will, at length, bring about marked social changes. these must eventually give to the women of the filipinos a wider outlook upon life and a new power to carry its burdens. contents preface i women of the dawn ii israel's heroic age iii the days of the kings iv the era of political decline v the babylonian and assyrian women vi the land of the lotus vii the women of the hindoos viii beside the persian gulf ix the women of arabia x the turkish women xi the moorish women xii women of china and corea xiii under the cherry blossoms--the women of japan xiv women of the backward races of the east list of illustration subject artist rebekah and isaac's agent, eliezer _a. cabanel_ _ghawazi c. l. muller_ interior court of a zenana _from an indo-persian painting_ an oriental woman's pastime _frederick a. bridgman_ the mutes _p. l. bouchard_ woman's taste in japan _charles e. fripp_ note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original extraordinary illustrations. see 13806-h.htm or 13806-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/3/8/0/13806/13806-h/13806-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/3/8/0/13806/13806-h.zip) two spellings, "tunguse" and "tunguze," are used throughout the book for the same tribe. the caption of illustrations #55, 58, 103, 144 differ from the captions given in the table and were not changed. overland through asia: pictures of siberian, chinese, and tartar life travels and adventures in kamchatka, siberia, china, mongolia, chinese tartary, and european russia, with full accounts of the siberian exiles, their treatment, condition, and mode of life; a description of the amoor river, and the siberian shores of the frozen ocean; with an appropriate map, and nearly 200 illustrations by thomas w. knox. author of _camp fire and cotton field_ 1871 [illustration: frontispiece, the author in siberian costume] preface. fourteen years ago major perry mcd. collins traversed northern asia, and wrote an account, of his journey, entitled "a voyage down the amoor." with the exception of that volume no other work on this little known region has appeared from the pen of an american writer. in view of this fact, the author of "overland through asia" indulges the hope that his book will not be considered a superfluous addition to the literature of his country. the journey herein recorded was undertaken partly as a pleasure trip, partly as a journalistic enterprise, and partly in the interest of the company that attempted to carry out the plans of major collins to make an electric connection between europe and the united states by way of asia and bering's straits. in the service of the russo-american telegraph company, it may not be improper to state that the author's official duties were so few, and his pleasures so numerous, as to leave the kindest recollections of the many persons connected with the enterprise. portions of this book have appeared in harper's, putnam's, the atlantic, the galaxy, and the overland monthlies, and in frank leslie's illustrated newspaper. they have been received with such favor as to encourage their reproduction wherever they could be introduced in the narrative of the journey. the largest part of the book has been written from a carefully recorded journal, and is now in print for the first time. the illustrations have been made from photographs and pencil sketches, and in all cases great care has been exercised to represent correctly the costumes of the country. to frederick whymper, esq., artist of the telegraph expedition, and to august hoffman, (photographer,) of irkutsk, eastern siberia, the author is specially indebted. the orthography of geographical names is after the russian model. the author hopes it will not be difficult to convince his countrymen that the shortest form of spelling is the best, especially when it represents the pronunciation more accurately than does the old method. a frontier justice once remarked, when a lawyer ridiculed his way of writing ordinary words, that a man was not properly educated who could spell a word in only one way. on the same broad principle i will not quarrel with those who insist upon retaining an extra letter in bering and ohotsk and two superfluous letters in kamchatka. among those not mentioned in the volume, thanks are due to frederick macrellish, esq., of san francisco, hon. f.f. low of sacramento, alfred whymper, esq., of london, and the many gentlemen connected with the telegraph expedition. there are dozens and hundreds of individuals in siberia and elsewhere, of all grades and conditions in life, who have placed me under numberless obligations. wherever i traveled the most uniform courtesy was shown me, and though conscious that few of those dozens and hundreds will ever read these lines, i should consider myself ungrateful did i fail to acknowledge their kindness to a wandering american. t.w.k. astor house, n.y., sept. 15, 1870. [illustration: list of illustrations by tay & cox 105 nassau st. n.y.] 1. frontispiece, the author in siberian costume 2. character developed 3. aspinwall to panama 4. slightly monotonous 5. montgomery street in holiday dress 6. san francisco, 1848 7. chinese dinner 8. over six feet 9. steamship wright in a storm 10. a sea sick booby 11. wreck of the ship canton 12. aleutians catching whales 13. breach of etiquette 14. unexpected honors 15. russian marriage 16. russian pope at home 17. a scaly bridge 18. russian tea service 19. change for a dollar 20. cow and bear 21. a kamchatka team 22. repulse of the assailants 23. view of sitka 24. plenty of time 25. russian officers at mess 26. ascending the bay 27. taking the census 28. light-house at ghijiga 29. towed by dogs 30. koriak yourt 31. discharging a deck load 32. reindeer ride 33. tail piece, reindeer 34. wagon ride with dogs 35. yearly mail 36. dogs fishing 37. teachings of experience 38. boat load of salmon 39. an effective protest 40. nothing but bones 41. tail piece--native woman 42. seeing off 43. life on the amoor 44. a gilyak village 45. about full 46. tail piece--a turn out 47. on the amoor 48. cash account 49. wooding up 50. bear in procession 51. practice of medicine 52. manjour merchant 53. gilyak man 54. gilyak woman 55. peasants by moonlight 56. tail piece--the net 57. ten miles an hour 58. goldee house at night 59. the hypocondriac 60. "not for joe" 61. tail piece--scene on the river 62. reception at petrovsky 63. armed and equipped 64. general activity 65. tail piece--flask 66. manjour boat 67. a private temple 68. fishing implements 69. chinese family picture 70. manjour traveling carriage 71. tail piece--towards the sun 72. the ammunition wagon 73. finishing touch 74. emigrants on the amoor 75. sa-ga-yan cliff 76. rifle shooting 77. tail piece--game 78. preparing for winter 79. tail piece 80. stratensk, eastern siberia 81. a siberian tarantass 82. tail piece 83. favorite bed 84. concentrated energies 85. prisoners at chetah 86. on the hills near chetah 87. bouriat yourts 88. a mongol bell 89. a mongol belle 90. catching sheep 91. a cold bath 92. tail piece 93. our ferry boat 94. equal rights 95. amateur concert in siberia 96. chinese mandarin 97. interior of chinese temple 98. through ordinary eyes 99. through chinese eyes 100. legal tender 101. russian pets 102. pony express 103. a disagreeable appendage 104. suspended freedom 105. punishment for burglary 106. chopstick, fork, and saucer 107. chinese theatre 108. chinese tiger 109. chinese punishment 110. provision dealer 111. chinese mendicants 112. the favorite 113. female feet and shoe 114. a lottery prize 115. a pekin cab 116. a chinese palanquin 117. priest in temple of confucius 118. comforts and conveniences 119. filial attention 120. tail piece--opium pipe 121. a musical stop 122. nankow pass 123. racing at the kalgan fair 124. street in kalgan 125. in good condition 126. lost in the desert of gobi 127. mongol dinner table 128. crossing the tolla 129. the schoolmaster 130. tail piece 131. wild boar hunt 132. a wife at irkutsk 133. no wife at irkutsk 134. a soudna 135. after the earthquake 136. lake baikal in winter 137. a specimen 138. tail piece--the world 139. gov. general korsackoff 140. view--irkutsk 141. a cold attachment 142. queen of greece 143. emperor of russia 144. tail piece--twin bottles 145. home of two exiles--real, imaginary 146. tail piece--quarters 147. tartar cavalry 148. siberian exiles 149. tail piece 150. a vashok 151. a kibitka 152. farewell to irkutsk 153. our conductor 154. jumping cradle holes 155. valley of the yenesei 156. wolf hunt 157. hydraulic mining 158. tail piece 159. down hill 160. dogs among ice 161. jumping the fissures 162. the team 163. tail piece 164. in the mine 165. strange coincidence 166. tail piece 167. the elopement 168. the fight 169. the catastrophe 170. tail piece 171. the polkedovate 172. making explanation 173. after the bath 174. tail piece 175. the driver's toilet 176. women spinning 177. flogging with sticks 178. tail piece 179. lost in a snow storm 180. fatal result 181. tail piece 182. excuse my familiarity 183. frosted horses 184. view of ekaterineburg 185. europe and asia 186. a russian beggar 187. beggars in kazan 188. the immersion 189. russian priest 199. tail piece 191. great bell of moscow 192. view of the nevski prospect, st. petersburg 193. tail piece--meeting an old friend contents chapter i. off from new york--around the world by steam--value of a letter of credit--a cure for sea sickness--doing the isthmus--an exciting porpoise race--glimpse of san francisco--trip to the yo semite valley--from the golden gate into the pacific chapter ii. a strange company--difficulties of sea life--a tall man and a short room--how the dog went to sleep--a soapy cabin--catching a booby--two sundays together--a long lost wreck--incidents at sea--manner of catching whales in alaska--a four footed pilot--dog stories--how to take an observation--coast of asia--entering avatcha bay--an economical light keeper chapter iii. in a russian port--hail columbia--petropavlovsk--volcanoes and earth-quakes--directions for making a russian town--a kamchadale wedding--standing up with the bride--a hot ceremony--a much married pope--russian religious practices--drinking with the priest and what came of it chapter iv. vegetation in kamchatka--catching salmon--a scaly bridge--an evening on shore--samovars and tea drinking--the fur trade--bear hunting--what a cow brought home one day--siberian dogs--a musical town--the adventures of norcum--training a team--sledges and how to manage them--a voyage under the polish flag--monument to captain clerke--the allied attack--the battle of petropavlovsk chapter v. bering's voyages--discovery of alaska--shipwreck and death of bering--the russian-american company--the first governor of alaska--promushleniks--russian settlement in california--account of russian explorations--character of the country--its extent and resources--advantages and disadvantages of the alaska purchase chapter vi. leaving kamchatka--farewell to the ladies--a new kind of telegraph--entering the ohotsk sea--from steam to sail--sleeping among chronometers--talking by-signs--a burial at sea--a russian funeral--land in sight--ghijiga bay chapter vii. baggage for shore travel--much wine and little bread--a perplexing dilemma--how to take the census--siberian beds--towed by dogs--encounter with a beast--coaxing a team with clubs--the koriaks--their manners and customs--comical cap for a native--a four footed currency--yourts and balagans--curious marriage ceremony--lightening a boat in a storm--very strong whisky--riding on a reindeer--an intoxicating mushroom--an electric devil--a siberian snow storm--how a party was lost chapter viii. how a pointer became a bull dog--coral in high latitudes--sending champagne to neptune--arrival at ohotsk--three kinds of natives--a lunch with the ladies--a native entertainment--a mail once a year--a lover's misfortune--an astonished american--hunting a bear and being hunted--an unfortunate ride chapter ix. at sea again--beauties of a northern sky--warlike news and preparing for war--the coast of japan--an exciting moment--a fog bell of sea lions--ready for fight--de castries' bay--a bewildered fleet--goodbye to the variag--in the straits of tartary--a difficult sleeping place--a siberian mirage--entering the amoor river chapter x. on shore at nicolayevsk--an american consul--visiting the governor--machine shops on the amoor with american managers--the servant girl question--a gilyak boat full of salmon--an unfortunate water carrier--the amoor company--foreign and native merchants--raising sheep among tigers--rats eating window glass--riding in a cart chapter xi. up the amoor--seeing off a friend--a siberian steamboat--how the steamboats are managed--packages by post--curiosities of the russian mail service--an unhappy bride--hay barges--gilyak villages--visiting a village--bad for the nose--native dogs--interviewing a gilyak lady--a rapid descent chapter xii. the monastery of eternal repose--curious religious customs--features of the scenery--passengers on our boat--an adventurous merchant--captured by the chinese--a pretty girl and her fellow passenger--wooding up--an amoor town--the telegraph--how it is built and operated--a native school--fighting the tiger--religious practices of the gilyaks--mistaken kindness chapter xiii. stepanoff and his career--a manjour boat--catching salmon--a sturgeon pen--the islands of the amoor--a night scene at a wooding station--a natural cathedral--the birds of the amoor--the natives of the country--interviewing a native mandarin chapter xiv. entering a goldee house--native politeness--what to do with a tame eagle--an intelligent dog team--an exciting race--a mongol belle--visiting a goldee house at night--a reception in a shirt--fish skin over-coats--curious medical custom--draw poker on the amoor river--curiosity--habarofka--"no turkey for me"--a visit on shore--experience with fleas chapter xv. first view of china--a beautiful region--petrovsky--women in the water--an impolite reception--a scanty population--visiting a military post--division of labor for a hunting excursion--the songaree--a chinese military station--resources of the songaree--experience of a traveler--hunting a tiger--a perilous adventure chapter xvi. ekaterin--nikolskoi--the province of the amoor--character of the cossack--the buryea mountains--a man overboard--passing a mountain chain--manjour boats--bringing pigs to market--women in the open air--a new tribe of natives--rest for a bath--russian caviar--how it is made--feeding with a native--a heavy drink--a fleet of fishing boats chapter xvii. scenery on the middle amoor--a military colony--among the manjours--a manjour temple--a chinese naval station--a crew of women--strange ways of catching fish--the city of igoon--houses plastered with mud--visiting a harem--talking pigeon-chinese--visiting the prison chapter xviii. the mouth of the zeya--blagoveshchensk--kind reception by the governor--attending a funeral--a polyglot doctor and his family--intercourse with the chinese--a visit to sakhalin-oula--a government office--a chinese traveling carriage--visiting a manjour governor--a polite official--a russian mongol reception--curiosities of the chinese police system--advice to the emperor of china chapter xix. a deer-hunting picnic--russian ploughing--nursing a deer gazelle--a shot and what came of it--the return and overturn--the siberian gazelle--a russian steam bath--how to take it--on a new steamer--the cabin of the korsackoff--a horse opera--an intoxicated priest--private stock of provisions--the dove a sacred bird--emigrant rafts--a celestial guard house chapter xx. the upper amoor--sagayan cliff--hunting for gold--rich gold mines in the amoor valley--the tungusians--a goose for a cigar--an awkward rifle--albazin--the people in sunday dress--the siege of albazin--visiting the old fort chapter xxi. a sudden change--beef preserved with laurel leaves--a russian settler--new york pictures in a russian house--the flowery kingdom--early explorations--the conquest of the amoor--a rapid expedition--the shilka and the argoon--an old settled country--a lady in the case--hotels for the exiles--stratensk--a large crowd--end of a long steamboat ride chapter xxii. a hotel at stratensk--a romantic courtship--starting overland--a difficult ferry--a russian posting carriage--good substitute for a trunk--"road agent" in siberia--rights of travelers--kissing goes by favor--captain john franklin's equipage--value of a ball--stuck in the mud--the valley of the nertcha--reaching nerchinsk chapter xxiii. an extensive house--a russian gold miner--stories of the exiles--polish exiles--"the unfortunates"--the treatment of prisoners--attempts to escape--buying a tarantass--light marching order--a bad road--sleeping on a stove--the valley of the ingodah--two hours in a mud hole--recklessness of drivers--arrival at chetah chapter xxiv. location of chetah--prisoners in chains--ingenuity of the exiles--learning hail columbia in two hours--a governor's mansion--a hunting party--siberian rabbits--difficulties of matrimony--religion in siberia--an artillery review--champagne and farewells--crossing a frozen stream--inconvenience of traveling with a dog--crossing the yablonoi mountains--approaching the arctic ocean chapter xxv. a cold night--traveling among the mongols--the bouriats and their dwellings--an unpleasant fire--the bhuddist religion--conversions among the natives--an easy way of catching sheep--a mongol bell--a mongol belle--a late hour and a big dog--bullocks under saddle--an enterprising girl--sleeping in a carriage--arrival at verkne udinsk--walking in the market place--stories of siberian robbers--an enterprising murderer--gold and iron mines on the selenga chapter xxvi. crossing a river on the ice--a dangerous situation--dining on soup and caviar--caravans of tea--the rights of the road--how the drivers treat each other--selenginsk--an old exile--troubled by the nose--lodged by the police--a housekeeper in undress--an amateur concert--troitskosavsk and kiachta--crossing the frontier--visiting the chinese governor chapter xxvii. in the chinese empire--a city without a woman--a chinese court of justice--five interpretations--chinese and russian methods of tea making--a chinese temple--sculpture in sand stone--the gods and the celestials--the chinese idea of beauty--the houses in maimaichin--chinese dogs--bartering with the merchants--the chinese ideas of honesty--how they entertained us--the abacus chapter xxviii. russian feast days--a curious dinner custom--novel separation of the sexes--the wealth of kiachta--the extent of the tea trade--dodging the custom house--foreign residents of kiachta--fifteen dogs in one family--the devil and the telegraph--russian gambling--dinner with the chinese governor--chinese punishments--ingredients of a chinese dinner--going to the theatre in midday--two dinners in one day--farewell to kiachta chapter xxix. trade between america and china--the first ship for a chinese port--chinese river system--the first steamboat on a chinese river--the celestials astonished--a nation of shop-keepers--chinese insurance and banking systems--the first letters of credit--railways in the empire--the telegraph in china--pigeon-english--the chinese treaty chapter xxx. the great cities of china--pekin and its interesting features--the chinese city and the tartar one--rat peddlers, jugglers, beggars, and other liberal professionals--the rat question in china--tricks of the jugglers--mendicants and dwarfs--"the house of the hen's feathers"--how small feet became fashionable--fashion in america and china--gambling in pekin--an interesting lottery prize--executions by lot--punishing robbers--opposition to dancing--the temple of confucius--temples of heaven and earth--the famous summer palace--chinese cemeteries--coffins as household ornaments--calmness at death chapter xxxi. a journey through mongolia--chinese dislike to foreign travel--leaving pekin--how to stop a mule's music--the nankow pass--a fort captured because of a woman--the great wall of china--loading the pack mules--kalgan--mosques and pagodas--a mongol horse fair--how a transaction is managed--a camel journey on the desert--how to arrange his load--a mongolian cart--a brisk trade in wood for coffins chapter xxxii. entering the desert of gobi--instincts of the natives--an antelope hunt--lost on the desert--discovered and rescued--character of the mongols--boiled mutton, and how to eat it--fording the tolla river--an exciting passage--arrival at urga--a mongol lamissary--the victory of genghis khan--chinese couriers--sheep raising in mongolia--holy men in abundance--inconvenience of being a lama--a praying machine--arrival at kiachta chapter xxxiii. departure from kiachta--an agreeable companion--making ourselves comfortable--a sacred village--hunting a wild boar--a russian monastery--approaching lake baikal--hunting for letters--"doing" posolsky--a pile of merchandise--a crowded house--rifle and pistol practice--a russian soudna--a historic building--a lake steamer in siberia--exiles on shore--a curious lake--wonderful journey over the ice--the holy sea--a curious group--the first custom house--along the banks of the angara--a strange fish--arrival at irkutsk chapter xxxiv. turned over to the police--visiting the governor general--an agreeable officer in a fine house--paying official visits--german in pantomime--the passport system--cold weather--streets, stores, and houses at irkutsk--description of the city--the angara river--a novel regulation--a swinging ferry boat--cossack policeman--an alarm of fire--"running with the machine" in russia--markets at irkutsk--effects of kissing with a low thermometer chapter xxxv. society in irkutsk--social customs--lingual powers of the russians--effect of speaking two languages to an infant--intercourse of the siberians with polish exiles--a hospitable people--a ceremonious dinner--russian precision--a long speech and a short translation--the amoorski gastinitza--playing billiards at a disadvantage--muscovite superstition--open house and pleasant tea-parties--a wealthy gold miner chapter xxxvi. the exiles of 1825--the emperor paul and his eccentricities--alexander i.--the revolution of 1825--its result--severity of nicholas--hard labor for life--conditions of banishment--a pardon after thirty years--where the decembrists live--the polish question--both sides of it--banishments since 1863--the government policy--difference between political and criminal exiles--colonists--drafted into the army--pension from friends--attempts to escape--restrictions find social comforts--how the prisoners travel--the object of deportation--rules for exiling serfs chapter xxxvii. serfdom and exile--peter i. and alexander ii.--example of siberia to old russia--prisoners in the mines--a revolt--the trial of the insurgents--sentence and execution--a remarkable escape--piotrowski's narrative--free after four years chapter xxxviii. preparing to leave irkutsk--change from wheels to runners--buying a suit of fur--negotiations for a sleigh--a great many drinks--peculiarities of russian merchants--similarities of russians and chinese--several kinds of sleighs--a siberian saint--a farewell dinner--packing a sleigh--a companion with heavy baggage--farewell courtesies--several parting drinks--traveling through a frost cloud--effect of fog in a cold night--a monotonous snow scape--meals at the stations--a jolly party--an honest population--diplomacy with the drivers chapter xxxix. a siberian beverage--the wine of the country--an unhappy pig--tea caravans for moscow--intelligence of a horse--champagne frappã©--meeting the post--how the mail is carried--a lively shaking up--board of survey on a dead horse--sleeping rooms in peasant houses--kansk--a road with no snow--putting our sleighs on wheels--a deceived englishman--crossing the yenesei--krasnoyarsk--washing clothes in winter--a siberian banking house--the telegraph system--no dead-heads--fish from the yenesei--a siberian neptune--going on a wolf hunt--how a hunt is managed--an exciting chase and a narrow escape chapter xl. beggars at krasnoyarsk--a wealthy city--gold mining on the yenesei--its extent and the value of the mines--how the mining is conducted--explorations, surveys, and the preparation of the ground--wages and treatment of laborers--machines for gold washing--regulations to prevent thefts--mining in frozen earth--antiquity of the mines--the native population--an eastern legend--the adventures of "swan's wing"--visit to lower regions--moral of the story chapter xli. a philosophic companion--traveling with the remains of a mammoth--talking against time--sleighs on wheels--the advantages of "cheek"--a moonlight transfer--keeping the feast days--getting drunk as a religious duty--a slight smash up--a cold night--an abominable road--hunting a mammoth--journey to the arctic circle--natives on the coast--a mammoth's hide and hair--ivory hunting in the frozen north--a perilous adventure--cast away in the arctic ocean--fight with a polar bear--a dangerous situation--frozen to the ice--reaching the shore chapter xlii. a runaway horse--discussion with a driver--a modest breakfast--a convoy of exiles--hotels for the exiles--charity to the unfortunate--their rate of travel--an encounter at night--no whips in the land of horses--russian drivers and their horses--niagara in siberia--eggs by the dizaine--caught in a storm--a beautiful night--arrival at tomsk--an obliging landlord--a crammed sleigh--visiting the governor--description of tomsk--a steamboat line to tumen--schools in siberia chapter xliii. a frozen river--on the road to barnaool--an unpleasant night--posts at the road side--very high wind--a russian bouran--a poor hotel--greeted with american music--the gold mines of the altai mountains--survey of the mining-district--general management of the business--the museum at barnaool--the imperial zavod--reducing the ores--government tax on mines--a strange coincidence chapter xliv. society at barnaool--a native coachman--an asiatic eagle--the kirghese--the original tartars--russian diplomacy among the natives--advance of civilization--railway building in central asia--product of the kirghese country--fairs in siberia--caravans from bokhara--an adventure among the natives--capture of a native prince--a love story and an elopement--a pursuit, fight, and tragic end of the journey chapter xlv. interview with a persian officer--a slow conversation--seven years of captivity--a scientific explorer--relics of past ages--an asiatic dinner--cossack dances--tossed up as a mark of honor--trotting horses in siberia--washing a paper collar--on the baraba steppe--a long-ride--a walking ice statue--traveling by private teams--excitement of a race--how to secure honesty in a public solicitor--prescription for rheumatism chapter xlvi. a monotonous country--advantages of winter travel--fertility of the steppe--rules for the haying season--breakfasting on nothing--a siberian apple--delays in changing horses--universal tea drinking--tartars on the steppe--siberian villages--mode of spinning in russia--an unsuccessful conspiracy--how a revolt was organized--a conspirator flogged to death--the city of tobolsk--the story of elizabeth--the conquest of siberia--yermak and his career chapter xlvii. another snow storm--wolves in sight--unwelcome visitors--going on a wolf chase--an unlucky pig--hunting at night--a hungry pack--wolves in every direction--the pursuers and the pursued--a dangerous turn in the road--a driver lost and devoured--a narrow escape--forest guards against bears and wolves--a courageous horse--the story of david crockett chapter xlviii thermometer very low--inconvenience of a long beard--fur clothing in abundance--natural thermometers--rubbing a freezing nose--a beautiful night on the steppe--siberian twilights--thick coat for horses--the city of tumen--magnificent distances--manufacture of carpets--a lucrative monopoly--arrival at ekaterineburg--christmas festivities --manufactures at ekaterineburg--the granilnoi fabric--russian iron and where it comes from--the demidoff family--a large piece of malachite--an emperor as an honest miner chapter xlix. among the stone workers--a bewildering collection--visit to a private "fabric"--the mode of stone cutting--crossing the mountains--boundary between europe and asia--standing in two continents at once--entering europe by the back door--in the valley of the kama--touching appeal by a beggar--the great fair at irbit--an improved road--a city of thieves--tanning in russia--evidence of european civilization--perm--pleasures of sleigh riding--the road fever--the emperor nicholas and a courier--a russian sleighing song chapter l. among the votiaks--malmouish--advice to a traveler--dress and habits of the tartars--tartar villages and mosques--a long night--overturned and stopped--arrival at kazan--new year's festivities--russian soldiers on parade--military spirit of the romanoff family--anecdote of the grand duke michel--the conquest of kazan--an evening in a ball-room--enterprise of tartar peddlers--manufactures and schools--a police secret--the police in russia chapter li. leaving kazan--a russian companion--conversation with a phrase book--a sloshy street--steamboats frozen in the ice--navigation of the volga--the cheramess--pity the unfortunate--a road on the ice--merchandise going westward--villages along the volga--a baptism through the ice--religion in russia--toleration and tyranny--the catholics in poland--the old believers--the skoptsi, or mutilators--devotional character of the russian peasantry--diminishing the priestly power--church and state--end of a long sleigh ride--nijne novgorod--at the wrong hotel--historical monuments--entertained by the police chapter lii. starting for moscow--jackdaws and pigeons--at a russian railway station--the group in waiting--the luxurious ride--a french governess and a box of _bon-bons_--cigarettes and tea--halting at vladimir--moscow through the frost--trakteers--the kremlin of moscow--objects of interest--the great bell--the memorial cannon--treasures of the kremlin--wonderful churches of moscow--the kitai gorod--the public market--imperial theatre and foundling hospital--by rail to st. petersburg--encountering an old friend chapter i. it is said that an old sailor looking at the first ocean steamer, exclaimed, "there's an end to seamanship." more correctly he might have predicted the end of the romance of ocean travel. steam abridges time and space to such a degree that the world grows rapidly prosaic. countries once distant and little known are at this day near and familiar. railways on land and steamships on the ocean, will transport us, at frequent and regular intervals, around the entire globe. from new york to san francisco and thence to our antipodes in japan and china, one may travel in defiance of propitious breezes formerly so essential to an ocean voyage. the same untiring power that bears us thither will bring us home again by way of suez and gibraltar to any desired port on the atlantic coast. scarcely more than a hundred days will be required for such a voyage, a dozen changes of conveyance and a land travel of less than a single week. the tour of the world thus performed might be found monotonous. its most salient features beyond the overland journey from the atlantic to the pacific, would be the study of the ocean in breeze or gale or storm, a knowledge of steamship life, and a revelation of the peculiarities of men and women when cribbed, cabined, and confined in a floating prison. next to matrimony there is nothing better than a few months at sea for developing the realities of human character in either sex. i have sometimes fancied that the greek temple over whose door "know thyself" was written, was really the passage office of some black ball clipper line of ancient days. man is generally desirous of the company of his fellow man or woman, but on a long sea voyage he is in danger of having too much of it. he has the alternative of shutting himself in his room and appearing only at meal times, but as solitude has few charms, and cabins are badly ventilated, seclusion is accompanied by _ennui_ and headache in about equal proportions. [illustration: character developed.] wishing to make a journey round the world, i did not look favorably upon the ocean route. the proportions of water and land were much like the relative quantities of sack and bread in falstaff's hotel bill. whether on the atlantic or the pacific, the indian, or the arctic, the appearance of ocean's blue expanse is very much the same. it is water and sky in one place, and sky and water in another. you may vary the monotony by seeing ships or shipping seas, but such occurrences are not peculiar to any one ocean. desiring a reasonable amount of land travel, i selected the route that included asiatic and european russia. my passport properly endorsed at the russian embassy, authorized me to enter the empire by the way of the amoor river. a few days before the time fixed for my departure, i visited a wall street banking house, and asked if i could obtain a letter of credit to be used in foreign travel. "certainly sir," was the response. "will it be available in asia?" "yes, sir. you can use it in china, india, or australia, at your pleasure." "can i use it in irkutsk?" "where, sir?" "in irkutsk." "really, i can't say; what _is_ irkutsk?" "it is the capital of eastern siberia." the person with whom i conversed, changed from gay to grave, and from lively to severe. with calm dignity he remarked, "i am unable to say, if our letters can be used at the place you mention. they are good all over the civilized world, but i don't know anything about irkutsk. never heard of the place before." i bowed myself out of the establishment, with a fresh conviction of the unknown character of the country whither i was bound. i obtained a letter of credit at the opposition shop, but without a guarantee of its availability in northern asia. in a foggy atmosphere on the morning of march 21, 1866, i rode through muddy streets to the dock of the pacific mail steamship company. there was a large party to see us off, the passengers having about three times their number of friends. there were tears, kisses, embraces, choking sighs, which ne'er might be repeated; blessings and benedictions among the serious many, and gleeful words of farewell among the hilarious few. one party of half a dozen became merry over too much champagne, and when the steward's bell sounded its warning, there was confusion on the subject of identity. one stout gentleman who protested that he _would_ go to sea, was led ashore much against his will. after leaving the dock, i found my cabin room-mate a gaunt, sallow-visaged person, who seemed perfectly at home on a steamer. on my mentioning the subject of sea-sickness, he eyed me curiously and then ventured an opinion. "i see," said he, "you are of bilious temperament and will be very ill. as for myself, i have been a dozen times over the route and am rarely affected by the ship's motion." then he gave me some kind advice touching my conduct when i should feel the symptoms of approaching _mal du mer_. i thanked him and sought the deck. an hour after we passed sandy hook, my new acquaintance succumbed to the evils that afflict landsmen who go down to the sea in ships. without any qualm of stomach or conscience, i returned the advice he had proffered me. i did not suffer a moment from the marine malady during that voyage, or any subsequent one.[a] [footnote a: a few years ago a friend gave me a prescription which he said would prevent sea-sickness. i present it here as he wrote it. "the night before going to sea, i take a blue pill (5 to 10 grains) in order to carry the bile from the liver into the stomach. when i rise on the following morning, a dose of citrate of magnesia or some kindred substance finishes my preparation. i take my breakfast and all other meals afterward as if nothing had happened." i have used this prescription in my own case with success, and have known it to benefit others.] the voyage from new york to san francisco has been so often 'done' and is so well watered, that i shall not describe it in detail. most of the passengers on the steamer were old californians and assisted in endeavoring to make the time pass pleasantly. there was plenty of whist-playing, story telling, reading, singing, flirtation, and a very large amount of sleeping. so far as i knew, nobody quarreled or manifested any disposition to be riotous. there was one passenger, a heavy, burly englishman, whose sole occupation was in drinking "arf and arf." he took it on rising, then another drink before breakfast, then another between iris steak and his buttered roll, and so on every half hour until midnight, when he swallowed a double dose and went to bed. he had a large quantity in care of the baggage master, and every day or two he would get up a few dozen pint bottles of pale ale and an equal quantity of porter. he emptied a bottle of each into a pitcher and swallowed the whole as easily as an ordinary man would take down a dose of peppermint. the empty bottles were thrown overboard, and the captain said that if this man were a frequent passenger there would be danger of a reef of bottles in the ocean all the way from new york to aspinwall. i never saw his equal for swallowing malt liquors. to quote from shakspeare, with a slight alteration: "he was a man, take him for half and half, i ne'er shall look upon his like again." [illustration: aspinwall to panama.] we had six hours at aspinwall, a city that could be done in fifteen minutes, but were allowed no time on shore at panama. it was late at night when we left the latter port. the waters were beautifully phosphorescent, and when disturbed by our motion they flashed and glittered like a river of stars. looking over the stern one could half imagine our track a path of fire, and the bay, ruffled by a gentle breeze, a waving sheet of light. the pacific did not belie its name. more than half the way to san francisco we steamed as calmly and with as little motion as upon a narrow lake. sometimes there was no sensation to indicate we were moving at all. [illustration: slightly monotonous.] even varied by glimpses of the mexican coast, the occasional appearance of a whale with its column of water thrown high into the air, and the sportive action of schools of porpoises which is constantly met with, the passage was slightly monotonous. on the twenty-third day from new york we ended the voyage at san francisco. on arriving in california i was surprised at the number of old acquaintances i encountered. when leaving new york i could think of only two or three persons i knew in san francisco, but i met at least a dozen before being on shore twelve hours. through these individuals, i became known to many others, by a rapidity of introduction almost bewildering. californians are among the most genial and hospitable people in america, and there is no part of our republic where a stranger receives a kinder and more cordial greeting. there is no eastern iciness of manner, or dignified indifference at san francisco. residents of the pacific coast have told me that when visiting their old homes they feel as if dropped into a refrigerator. after learning the customs of the occident, one can fully appreciate the sensations of a returned californian. [illustration: montgomery street in holiday dress.] montgomery street, the great avenue of san francisco, is not surpassed any where on the continent in the variety of physiognomy it presents. there are men from all parts of america, and there is no lack of european representatives. china has many delegates, and japan also claims a place. there are merchants of all grades and conditions, and professional and unprofessional men of every variety, with a long array of miscellaneous characters. commerce, mining, agriculture, and manufactures, are all represented. at the wharves there are ships of all nations. a traveler would find little difficulty, if he so willed it, in sailing away to greenland's icy mountains or india's coral strand. the cosmopolitan character of san francisco is the first thing that impresses a visitor. almost from one stand-point he may see the church, the synagogue, and the pagoda. the mosque is by no means impossible in the future. [illustration: san francisco, 1848.] in 1848, san francisco was a village of little importance. the city commenced in '49, and fifteen years later it claimed a population of a hundred and twenty thousand.[b] no one who looks at this city, would suppose it still in its minority. the architecture is substantial and elegant; the hotels vie with those of new york in expense and luxury; the streets present both good and bad pavements and are well gridironed with railways; houses, stores, shops, wharves, all indicate a permanent and prosperous community. there are gas-works and foundries and factories, as in older communities. there are the mission mills, making the warmest blankets in the world, from the wool of the california sheep. there are the fruit and market gardens whose products have a brobdignagian character. there are the immense stores of wine from california vineyards that are already competing with those of france and germany. there are--i may as well stop now, since i cannot tell half the story in the limits of this chapter. [footnote b: i made many notes with a view to publishing two or three chapters upon california. i have relinquished this design, partly on account of the un-siberian character of the golden state, and partly because much that i had written is covered by the excellent book "beyond the mississippi," by albert d. richardson, my friend and associate for several years. the particulars of his death by assassination are familiar to many readers.] [illustration: chinese dinner.] during my stay in california, i visited the principal gold, copper, and quicksilver mines in the state, not omitting the famous or infamous mariposa tract. in company with mr. burlingame and general van valkenburg, our ministers to china and japan, i made an excursion to the yosemite valley, and the big tree grove. with the same gentlemen i went over the then completed portion of the railway which now unites the atlantic with the pacific coast, and attended the banquet given by the chinese merchants of san francisco to the ambassadors on the eve of their departure. a chinese dinner, served with chinese customs;--it was a prelude to the asiatic life toward which my journey led me. i arrived in san francisco on the thirteenth of april and expected to sail for asia within a month. one thing after another delayed us, until we began to fear that we should never get away. for more than six weeks the time of departure was kept a few days ahead and regularly postponed. first, happened the failure of a contractor; next, the non-arrival of a ship; next, the purchase of supplies; and so on through a long list of hindrances. in the beginning i was vexed, but soon learned complacency and gave myself no uneasiness. patience is an admirable quality in mankind, and can be very well practiced when, one is waiting for a ship to go to sea. on the twenty-third of june we were notified to be on board at five o'clock in the evening, and to send heavy baggage before that hour. the vessel which was to receive us, lay two or three hundred yards from the wharf, in order to prevent the possible desertion of the crew. punctual to the hour, i left the hotel and drove to the place of embarkation. my trunk, valise, and sundry boxes had gone in the forenoon, so that my only remaining effects were a satchel, a bundle of newspapers, a dog, and a bouquet. the weight of these combined articles was of little consequence, but i positively declare that i never handled a more inconvenient lot of baggage. while i was descending a perpendicular ladder to a small boat, some one abruptly asked if that lot of baggage had been cleared at the custom house. think of walking through a custom house with my portable property! happily the question did not come from an official. it required at least an hour to get everything in readiness after we were on board. then followed the leave taking of friends who had come to see us off and utter their wishes for a prosperous voyage and safe return. the anchor rose slowly from the muddy bottom; steam was put upon the engines, and the propeller whirling in the water, set us in motion. the gang-way steps were raised and the rail severed our connection with america. it was night as we glided past the hills of san francisco, spangled with a thousand lights, and left them growing fainter in the distance. steaming through the golden gate we were soon on the open pacific commencing a voyage of nearly four thousand miles. we felt the motion of the waves and became fully aware that we were at sea. the shore grew indistinct and then disappeared; the last visible objects being the lights at the entrance of the bay. gradually their rays grew dim, and when daylight came, there were only sky and water around us. "far upon the unknown deep, with the billows circling round where the tireless sea-birds sweep; outward bound. "nothing but a speck we seem, in the waste of waters round, floating, floating like a dream; outward bound." chapter ii. the g.s. wright, on which we were embarked, was a screw steamer of two hundred tons burthen, a sort of pocket edition of the new boats of the cunard line. she carried the flag and the person of colonel charles s. bulkley, engineer in chief of the russo-american telegraph expedition. she could sail or steam at the pleasure of her captain, provided circumstances were favorable. compared with ocean steamers in general, she was a very small affair and displayed a great deal of activity. she could roll or pitch to a disagreeable extent, and continued her motion night and day, i often wished the eight-hour labor system applied to her, but my wishing was of no use. besides colonel bulkley, the party in the cabin consisted of captain patterson, mr. covert, mr. anossoff, and myself. mr. covert was the engineer of the steamer, and amused us at times with accounts of his captivity on the alabama after the destruction of the hatteras. captain patterson was an ancient mariner who had sailed the stormy seas from his boyhood, beginning on a whale ship and working his way from the fore-castle to the quarter deck. mr. anossoff was a russian gentleman who joined us at san francisco, in the capacity of commissioner from his government to the telegraph company. for our quintette there was a cabin six feet by twelve, and each person had a sleeping room to himself. colonel bulkley planned the cabin of the wright, and i shall always consider it a misfortune that the engineer-in-chief was only five feet seven in his boots rather than six feet and over like myself. the cabin roof was high enough for the colonel, but too low for me. under the skylight was the only place below deck where i could stand erect. the sleeping rooms were too short for me, and before i could lie, at full length in my berth, it was necessary to pull away a partition near my head. the space thus gained was taken from a closet containing a few trifles, such as jugs of whiskey, and cans of powder. fortunately no fire reached the combustibles at any time, or this book might not have appeared. [illustration: over six feet.] there was a forward cabin occupied by the chief clerk, the draughtsman, the interpreter, and the artist of the expedition, with the first and second officers of the vessel. sailors, firemen, cook and cabin boys all included, there were forty-five persons on board. everybody in the complement being masculine, we did not have a single flirtation during the voyage. i never sailed on a more active ship than the wright. in ordinary seas, walking was a matter of difficulty, and when the wind freshened to a gale locomotion ceased to be a pastime. frequently i wedged myself into my berth with books and cigar boxes. on the first day out, my dog (for i traveled with a dog) was utterly bewildered, and evidently thought himself where he did not belong. after falling a dozen times upon his side, he succeeded in learning to keep his feet. the carpenter gave him a box for a sleeping room, but the space was so large that, his body did not fill it. on the second day from port he took the bit of carpet that formed his bed and used it as a wedge to keep him in position. from, that time he had no trouble, though he was not fairly on his sea legs for nearly a week. sometimes at dinner our soup poured into our laps and seemed engaged in reconstructing the laws of gravitation. the table furniture was very uneasy, and it was no uncommon occurrence for a tea cup or a tumbler to jump from its proper place and turn a somersault before stopping. we had no severe storm on the voyage, though constantly in expectation of one. in 1865 the wright experienced heavy gales with little interruption for twelve days. she lost her chimney with part of her sails, and lay for sixteen hours in the trough of the sea. the waves broke over her without hindrance and drenched every part of the ship. covert gave an amusing account of the breaking of a box of soap one night during the storm. in the morning the cabin, with all it contained, was thoroughly lathered, as if preparing for a colossal shave. half way across the ocean we were followed by sea-birds that, curiously enough, were always thickest at meal times. gulls kept with us the first two days and then disappeared, their places being taken by boobies. the gull is a pretty and graceful bird, somewhat resembling the pigeon in shape and agility. the booby has a little resemblance to the duck, but his bill is sharp pointed and curved like a hawk's. beechey and one or two others speak of encountering the albatross in the north pacific, but their statements are disputed by mariners of the present day. the albatross is peculiar to the south as the gull to the north. gulls and boobies dart into the water when any thing is thrown overboard, and show great dexterity in catching whatever is edible. at night they are said to sleep on the waves, and occasionally we disturbed them at their rest. [illustration: steamship wright in a storm.] [illustration: a sea-sick booby.] one day we caught a booby by means of a hook and line, and found him unable to fly from the deck. it is said that nearly all sea-birds can rise only from the water. we detained our prize long enough to attach a medal to his neck and send him away with our date, location, and name. if kept an hour or more on the deck of a ship these birds become seasick, and manifest their illness just as an able-bodied landsman, exhibits an attack of marine malady. strange they should be so affected when they are all their lives riding over the tossing waves. about thirty miles from san francisco are the farralone islands, a favorite resort of sea-birds. there they assemble in immense numbers, particularly at the commencement of their breeding season. parties go from san francisco to gather sea-birds eggs at these islands, and for some weeks they supply the market. these eggs are largely used in pastry, omelettes, and other things, where their character can be disguised, but they are far inferior to hens' eggs for ordinary uses. there were no islands in any part of our course, and we found but a single shoal marked on the chart. we passed far to the north of the newly discovered brooks island, and kept southward of the aleutian chain. since my return to america i have read the account of a curious discovery on an island of the north pacific. in 1816, the ship canton, belonging to the east india company, sailed from sitka and was supposed to have foundered at sea. nothing was heard of her until 1867, when a portion of her wreck was found upon a coral island of the sybille group. the remaining timbers were in excellent preservation, and the place where the crew had encamped was readily discernible. the frame of the main hatchway had been cast up whole, and a large tree was growing through it. the quarter board bearing the word "canton," lay near it, and revealed the name of the lost ship. no writing or inscription to reveal the fate of her crew, could be found anywhere. [illustration: wreck of the ship canton.] on friday, july thirteenth, we crossed the meridian of 180â° from london, or half around the world. we dropped a day from our reckoning according to the marine custom, and appeared in our sunday dress on the morrow. had we been sailing eastward, a day would have been added to our calendar. a naval officer once told me that he sailed eastward over this meridian on sunday. on the following morning the chaplain was surprised to receive orders to hold divine service. he obeyed promptly, but could not understand the situation. with a puzzled look he said to an officer-"this part of the ocean must be better than any other or we would not have sunday so often." sir francis drake, who sailed around the world in the time of queen elizabeth, did not observe this rule of the navigator, and found on reaching england that he had a day too much. in the marquesas islands the early missionaries who came from the indies made the mistake of keeping sunday on saturday. their followers preserve this chronology, while later converts have the correct one. the result is, there are two sabbaths among the christian inhabitants of the cannibal islands. the boy who desired two sundays a week in order to have more resting time, might be accommodated by becoming a marquesas colonist. on the day we crossed this meridian we were three hundred miles from the nearest aleutian islands, and about eight hundred from kamchatka. the boobies continued around us, but were less numerous than a week or ten days earlier. if they had any trouble with their reckoning, i did not ascertain it. a day later we saw three "fur seal" playing happily in the water. we hailed the first and asked his longitude, but he made no reply. i never knew before that the seal ventured so far from land. yet his movements are as carefully governed as those of the sea-birds, and though many days in the open water he never forgets the direct course to his favorite haunts. how marvelous the instinct that guides with unerring certainty over the trackless waters! a few ducks made their appearance and manifested a feeling of nostalgia. mother carey's chickens, little birds resembling swallows, began to flit around us, skimming closely along the waves. there is a fiction among the sailors that nobody ever saw one of these birds alight or found its nest. whoever harms one is certain to bring misfortune upon himself and possibly his companions. a prudent traveler would be careful not to offend this or any other nautical superstition. in case of subsequent danger the sailors might remember his misdeed and leave him to make his own rescue. nearing the asiatic coast we saw many whales. one afternoon, about cigar time, a huge fellow appeared half a mile distant. his blowing sounded like the exhaust of a western steamboat, and sent up a respectable fountain of spray. covert pronounced him a high pressure affair, with horizontal engines and carrying ninety pounds to the inch. after sporting awhile in the misty distance, the whale came near us. it was almost calm and we could see him without glasses. he rose and disappeared at intervals of a minute, and as he moved along he rippled the surface like a subsoil plough on a gigantic scale. after ten or twelve small dives, he threw his tail in air and went down for ten minutes or more. when he reappeared he was two or three hundred yards from his diving place. once he disappeared in this way and came up within ten feet of our bows. had he risen beneath us the shock would have been severe for both ship and whale. after this manoeuvre he went leisurely around us, keeping about a hundred yards away. "he is working his engines on the slow bell," said our engineer, "and keeps his helm hard-a-port." we brought out our rifles to try this new game, though the practice was as much a trial of skill as the traditional 'barn at ten paces.' several shots were fired, but i did not see any thing drop. the sport was amusing to all concerned; at any rate the whale didn't seem to mind it, and we were delighted at the fun. when his survey was finished he braced his helm to starboard, opened his throttle valves and went away to windward. we estimated his length at a hundred and twenty feet, and thought he might register 'a 1,' at the proper office. captain patterson called him a 'bow head,' good for a hundred barrels of oil and a large quantity of bone. the colonel proposed engaging him to tow us into port. covert wished his blubber piled in our coal bunkers; the artist sketched him, and the draughtsman thought of putting him on a mercator's projection. for my part i have written the little i know of his life and experiences, but it is very little. i cannot even say where he lodges, whose hats he wears, when his notes fall due, or whether he ever took a cobbler or the whooping cough. of course this incident led to stories concerning whales. captain patterson told about the destruction of the ship essex by a sperm whale thirty or more years ago. the colonel described the whale fishery as practiced by the kamchadales and aleutians. these natives have harpoons with short lines to which they attach bladders or skin bags filled with air. a great many boats surround a whale and stick him with as many harpoons as possible. if successful, they will so encumber him that his strength is not equal to the buoyancy of the bladders, and in this condition he is finished with a lance. a great feast is sure to follow his capture, and every interested native indulges in whale-steak to his stomach's content. [illustration: aleutians catching whales.] the day before we came in sight of land, my dog repeatedly placed his fore feet upon the rail and sniffed the wind blowing from the coast. his inhalations were long and earnest, like those of a tobacco smoking comanche. in her previous voyage the wright carried a mastiff answering to the name of rover. the colonel said that whenever they approached land, though long before it was in sight, rover would put his paws on the bulwarks and direct his nose toward the shore. his demonstrations were invariably accurate, and showed him to possess the instinct of a pilot, whatever his lack of training. he did not enjoy the ocean and was always delighted to see land. in 1865 an esquimaux dog was domiciled on the barque golden gate, on her voyage from norton sound to kamchatka. he ran in all parts of the vessel, and made himself agreeable to every one on board. at petropavlovsk a kamchadale dog became a passenger for san francisco. immediately on being loosed he took possession aft and drove the esquimaux forward. during the whole passage he retained his place on the quarter deck and in the cabin. occasionally he went forward for a promenade, but he never allowed the other dog to go abaft the mainmast. the esquimaux endeavored to establish amicable relations, but the kamchadale rejected all friendly overtures. i heard of a dog on one of the honolulu packets that took his turn at duty with the regularity of a sailor, coming on deck when his watch was called and retiring with it to the forecastle. when the sails flapped from any cause and the clouds indicated a sudden shower, the dog gave warning with a bark--on the sea. i ventured to ask my informant if the animal stood the dog watch, but the question did not receive a definite answer. what a wonderful thing is the science of navigation. one measures the sun's height at meridian; looks at a chronometer; consults a book of mystical figures; makes a little slate work like a school-boy's problem; and he knows his position at sea. twelve o'clock, if there be neither fog nor cloud, is the most important hour of a nautical day. a few minutes before noon the captain is on deck with his quadrant. the first officer is similarly provided, as he is supposed to keep a log and practice-book of his own. ambitious students of navigation are sure to appear at that time. on the wright we turned out four instruments, with twice as many hands to hold them. a minute before twelve, _conticuere omnes_. "eight bells." "eight bells, sir." the four instruments are briefly fixed on the sun and the horizon, the readings of the scale are noted, and the quartette descend to the practice of mathematics. a few minutes later we have the result. "latitude 52â° 8' north, longitude 161â° 14' east. distance in last twenty-four hours two hundred forty-six miles." the chart is unrolled, and a few measurements with dividers, rule and pencil, end in the registry of our exact position. unlike the countryman on broadway or a doubting politician the day before election, we do know where we are. the compass, the chronometer, the quadrant; what would be the watery world without them! on the twenty-fourth of july we were just a month at sea. in all that time we had spoken no ship nor had any glimpse of land, unless i except a trifle in a flower pot. the captain made his reckoning at noon, and added to the reading-"seventy-five miles from the entrance of avatcha bay. we ought to see land before sunset." about four in the afternoon we discovered the coast just where the captain said we should find it. the mountains that serve to guide one toward avatcha bay were exactly in the direction marked on our chart. to all appearances we were not a furlong from our estimated position. how easily may the navigator's art appear like magic to the ignorant and superstitious. the breeze was light, and we stood in very slowly toward the shore. by sunset we could see the full outline of the coast of kamchatka for a distance of fifty or sixty miles. the general coast line formed the concavity of a small arc of a circle. as it was too late to enter before dark, and we did not expect the light would be burning, we furled all our sails and lay to until morning. by daybreak we were under steam, and at five o'clock i came on deck to make my first acquaintance with asia. we were about twenty miles from the shore, and the general appearance of the land reminded me of the rocky mountains from denver or the sierra nevadas from the vicinity of stockton. on the north of the horizon was a group of four or five mountains, while directly in front there were three separate peaks, of which one was volcanic. most of these mountains were conical and sharp, and although it was july, nearly every summit was covered with snow. between and among these high peaks there were many smaller mountains, but no less steep and pointed. as one sees it from, the ocean, kamchatka appears more like a desolate than a habitable country. it requires very good eyesight to discover the entrance of avatcha bay at a distance of eight or ten miles, but the landmarks are of such excellent character that one can approach without hesitation. the passage is more than a mile wide. guarding it on the right is a hill nearly three hundred feet high, and standing almost perpendicular above the water. at the left is a rock of lesser height, terminating a tongue or ridge of land. on the hill is a light-house and signal station with a flag staff. formerly the light was only exhibited when a ship was expected or seen, but in 1866, orders were given for its maintainance every night during the summer months. years ago, on the coast of new hampshire, a man from the interior was appointed light keeper. the day he assumed his position was his first on the sea-shore. very soon there were complaints that his lights did not burn after midnight. on being called to account by his superior, he explained-"well, i thought all the ships ought to be in by midnight, and i wanted to save the ile." chapter iii. as one leaves the pacific and enters avatcha bay he passes high rocks and cliffs, washed at their base by the waves. the loud-sounding ocean working steadily against the solid walls, has worn caverns and dark passages, haunted by thousands of screaming and fluttering sea-birds. the bay is circular and about twenty miles in diameter; except at the place of entrance it is enclosed with hills and mountains that give it the appearance of a highland lake. all over it there is excellent anchorage for ships of every class, while around its sides are several little harbors, like miniature copies of the bay. at petropavlovsk we hoped to find the russian ship of war, variag, and the barque clara bell, which sailed from san francisco six weeks before us. as we entered the bay, all eyes were turned toward the little harbor. "there is the russian," said three or four voices at once, as the tall masts aird wide spars of a corvette came in sight. "the clara bell, the clara bell--no, it's a brig," was our exclamation at the appearance of a vessel behind the variag. "there's another, a barque certainly,--no, it's a brig, too," uttered the colonel with an emphasis of disgust. evidently his barque was on the sea. rounding the shoal we moved toward the fort, the russian corvette greeting us with "hail columbia" out of compliment to our nationality. we carried the american flag at the quarter and the russian naval ensign at the fore as a courtesy to the ship that awaited us. as we cast anchor just outside the little inner harbor, the russian band continued playing hail columbia, but our engineer played the mischief with the music by letting off steam. as soon as we were at rest a boat from the corvette touched our side, and a subordinate officer announced that his captain would speedily visit us. very soon came the captain of the port or collector of customs, and after him the american merchants residing in the town. our gangway which we closed at san francisco was now opened, and we once more communicated with the world. petropavlovsk (port of saints peter and paul) is situated in lat. 53â° 1' north, long. 158â° 43' east, and is the principal place in kamchatka. it stands on the side of a hill sloping into the northern shore of avatcha bay, or rather into a little harbor opening into the bay. fronting this harbor is a long peninsula that hides the town from all parts of the bay except those near the sea. the harbor is well sheltered from winds and furnishes excellent anchorage. it is divided into an inner and an outer harbor by means of a sand spit that extends from the main land toward the peninsula, leaving an opening about three hundred yards in width. the inner harbor is a neat little basin about a thousand yards in diameter and nearly circular in shape. some of the mountains that serve as landmarks to the approaching mariner, are visible from the town, and others can be seen by climbing the hills in the vicinity. wuluchinski is to the southward and not volcanic, while avatcha and korianski, to the north and east, were smoking with a dignified air, like a pair of turks after a champagne supper. eruptions of these volcanoes occur every few years, and during the most violent ones ashes and stones are thrown to a considerable distance. captain king witnessed an eruption of avatcha in 1779, and says that stones fell at petropavlovsk, twenty-five miles away, and the ashes covered the deck of his ship. mr. pierce, an old resident of kamchatka, gave me a graphic description of an eruption in 1861. it was preceded by an earthquake, which overturned crockery on the tables, and demolished several ovens. for a week or more earthquakes of a less violent character occurred hourly. besides the variag we found in port the russian brig poorga and the prussian brig danzig, the latter having an american captain, crew, hull, masts, and rigging. two old hulks were rotting in the mud, and an unseaworthy schooner lay on the beach with one side turned upward as if in agony. "there be land rats and water rats," according to shakspeare. some of the latter dwelt in this bluff-bowed schooner and peered curiously from the crevices in her sides. [illustration: breach of etiquette.] the majority of our visitors made their calls very brief. after their departure, i went on shore with mr. hunter, an american resident of petropavlovsk. in every house i visited i was pressed to take _petnatzet copla_ (fifteen drops,) the universal name there for something stimulating. the drops might be american whisky, french brandy, dutch gin, or russian vodka. david crockett said a true gentleman is one who turns his back while you pour whisky into your tumbler. the etiquette of kamchatka does not permit the host to count the drops taken by his guest. take a log village in the backwoods of michigan or minnesota, and transport it to a quiet spot by a well sheltered harbor of lilliputian size. cover the roofs of some buildings with iron, shingles or boards from other regions. cover the balance with thatch of long grass, and erect chimneys that just peer above the ridge poles. scatter these buildings on a hillside next the water; arrange three-fourths of them in a single street, and leave the rest to drop wherever they like. of course those in the higgledy-piggledy position must be of the poorest class, but you can make a few exceptions. whitewash the inner walls of half the buildings, and use paper or cloth to hide the nakedness of the other half. this will make a fair counterfeit of petropavlovsk. inside each house place a brick stove or oven, four or five feet square and six feet high. locate this stove to present a side to each of two or three rooms. in each side make an aperture two inches square that can be opened or closed at will. the amount of heat to warm the rooms is regulated by means of the apertures. furnish the houses with plain chairs, tables, and an occasional but rare piano. make the doors very low and the entries narrow. put a picture of a saint in the principal room of every house, and adorn the walls with a few engravings. make a garden near each house, and let a few miscellaneous gardens cling to the hillside and strive to climb it. don't forget to build a church, or you will fail to represent a russian town. petropavlovsk has no vehicle of any kind except a single hand cart. consequently the street is not gashed with wheel ruts. we were invited to 'assist' at a wedding that happened in the evening after our arrival. the ceremony was to begin at five o'clock, and was a double affair, two sisters being the brides. a russian wedding requires a master of ceremonies to look after the affair from beginning to end. i was told it was the custom in siberia (but not in european russia) for this person to pay all expenses of the wedding, including the indispensable dinner and its fixtures. such a position is not to be desired by a man of limited cash, especially if the leading characters are inclined to extravagance. think of being the conductor of a diamond wedding in new york or boston, and then paying the bills! [illustration: unexpected honors.] the steward of the variag told me he was invited to conduct a wedding shortly after his arrival at petropavlovsk. thinking it an honor of which he would hereafter be proud, he accepted the invitation. much to his surprise on the next day he was required to pay the cost of the entertainment. the master of ceremonies of the wedding under consideration was mr. phillipeus, a russian gentleman engaged in the fur trade. the father of the brides was his customer, and doubtless the cost of the wedding was made up in subsequent dealings. as the party emerged from the house and moved toward the church, i could see that phillipeus was the central figure. he had a bride on each arm, and each bride was clinging to her prospective husband. the women were in white and the men in holiday dress. behind the front rank were a dozen or more groomsmen and bridesmaids. behind these were the members of the families and the invited relatives, so that the cortã©ge stretched to a considerable length. each of the groomsmen wore a bow of colored ribbon on his left arm and a smaller one in the button hole. the children of the families--quite a troop of juveniles--brought up the rear. the church is of logs, like the other buildings. it is old, unpainted, and shaped like a cross, lacking one of the arms. the doors are large and clumsy, and the entrance is through a vestibule or hall. the roof had been recently painted a brilliant red at the expense of the variag's officers. on the inside, the church has an antiquated appearance, but presents such an air of solidity as if inviting the earthquakes to come and see it. there were no seats in the building, nor are there seats of any kind in the edifices of the same character in any part of russia. it is the theory of the eastern church that all are equal before god. in his service, no distinction is made; autocrat and subject, noble and peasant, stand or kneel in the same manner while worshipping at his altars. as we entered, we found the wedding party standing in the center of the church; the spectators were grouped nearer the door, the ladies occupying the front. with the thermometer at seventy-two, i found the upright position a fatiguing one, and would have been glad to send for a camp stool. colonel bulkley had undertaken to escort a lady, and as he stood in a conspicuous place, his uniform buttoned to the very chin and the perspiration pouring from his face, the ceremony appeared to have little charm for him. the service began under the direction of two priests, each dressed in a long robe extending to his feet, and wearing a chapeau like a bell-crowned hat without a brim. "the short one," said a friend near me, pointing to a little, round, fat, oily man of god, "will get very drunk when he has the opportunity. watch him to-night and see how he leaves the dinner party." priests of the greek church wear their hair very long, frequently below the shoulders, and parted in the middle, and do not shave the beard. unlike those of the catholic church, they marry and have homes and families, engaging in secular occupations which do not interfere with their religious duties. during the evening after the wedding, i was introduced to "the pope's wife;" and learned that russian priests are called popes. as the only pope then familiar to my thoughts is considered very much a bachelor, i was rather taken aback at this bit of information. the drink-loving priest was head of a goodly sized family, and resided in a comfortable and well furnished dwelling. [illustration: russian marriage.] at the wedding there was much recitation by the priests, reading from the ritual of the church, swinging of censers, singing by the chorus of male voices, chanting and intonation, and responses by the victims. there were frequent signs of the cross with bowing or kneeling. a ring was used, and afterwards two crowns were held over the heads of the bride and bridegroom. the fatigue of holding these crowns was considerable, and required that those who performed the service should be relieved once by other bridesmen. after a time the crowns were placed on the heads they had been held over. wearing these crowns and preceded by the priests, the pair walked three times round the altar in memory of the holy trinity, while a portion of the service was chanted. then the crowns were removed and kissed by each of the marrying pair, the bridegroom first performing the osculation. a cup of water was held by the priest, first to the bridegroom and then to the bride, each of whom drank a small portion. after this the first couple retired to a little chapel and the second passed through the ordeal. the preliminary ceremony occupied about twenty minutes, and the same time was consumed by each couple. there is no divorce in russia, so that the union was one for life till death. before the parties left the church they received congratulations. there was much hand-shaking, and among the women there were decorous kisses. our party regretted that the custom of bride kissing as practiced in america does not prevail in kamchatka. when the affair was ended, the whole cortã©ge returned to the house whence it came, the children carrying pictures of the virgin and saints, and holding lighted candles before them. the employment of lamps and tapers is universal in the russian churches, the little flame being a representation of spiritual existence and a symbol of the continued life of the soul. the russians have adapted this idea so completely that there is no marriage, betrothal, consecration, or burial, in fact no religious ceremony whatever without the use of lamp or taper. in the house of every adherent to the orthodox russian faith there is a picture of the virgin or a saint; sometimes holy pictures are in every room of the house. i have seen them in the cabins of steamboats, and in tents and other temporary structures. no russian enters a dwelling, however humble, without removing his hat, out of respect to the holy pictures, and this custom extends to shops, hotels, in fact to every place where people dwell or transact business. during the earlier part of my travels in russia, i was unaware of this custom, and fear that i sometimes offended it. i have been told that superstitious thieves hang veils or kerchiefs before the picture in rooms where they depredate. enthusiastic lovers occasionally observe the same precaution. only the eyes of the image need be covered, and secrecy may be obtained by turning the picture to the wall. the evening began with a reception and congratulations to the married couples. then we had tea and cakes, and then came the dinner. the party was like the african giant imported in two ships, for it was found impossible to crowd all the guests into one house. tables were set in two houses and in the open yard between them. the russians have a custom of taking a little lunch just before they begin dinner. this lunch is upon a side table in the dining room, and consists of cordial, spirits or bitters, with morsels of herring, caviar, and dried meat or fish. it performs the same office as the american cocktail, but is oftener taken, is more popular and more respectable. after the lunch we sat down to dinner. fish formed the first course and soup the second. then we had roast beef and vegetables, followed by veal cutlets. the feast closed with cake and jelly, and was thoroughly washed down with a dozen kinds of beverages that cheer _and_ inebriate. the fat priest was at table and took his lunch early. his first course was a glass of something liquid, and he drank a dozen times before the soup was brought. early in the dinner i saw him gesturing toward me. "he wants to take a glass with you," said some one at my side. i poured out some wine, and after a little trouble in touching glasses we drank each other's health. not five minutes later he repeated his gestures. to satisfy him i filled a glass with sherry, as there was no champagne handy at the moment, and again went through the clinking process. as my glass was large i put it down after sipping a few drops, but the old fellow objected. draining and inverting his glass, he held it as one might suspend a rat by the tail, and motioned me to do the same. luckily he soon after conceived a fondness for one of the wright's officers, and the twain fell to drinking. the officer, assisted by three men, went on board late at night, and was reported attempting to wash his face in a tar-bucket and dry it with a chain cable. about midnight the priest was taken home on a shutter. [illustration: russian pope at home.] there were toasts in a large number, with a great deal of cheering, drinking, and smoking. about ten o'clock the dinner ended, and arrangements were made for a dance. dancing was not among my accomplishments, and i retired to the ship, satisfied that on my first day in asia i had been treated very kindly--and very often. for two days more the wedding festivities continued, etiquette requiring the parties to visit all who attended the dinner. on the third day the hilarity ceased, and the happy couples were left to enjoy the honeymoon with its promise of matrimonial bliss. may they have many years of it. chapter iv. the name of kamchatka is generally associated with snow-fields, glaciers, frozen mountains, and ice-bound shores. its winters are long and severe; snow falls to a great depth, and ice attains a thickness proportioned to the climate. but the summers, though short, are sufficiently hot to make up for the cold of winter. vegetation is wonderfully rapid, the grasses, trees and plants growing as much in a hundred days as in six months of a new england summer. hardly has the snow disappeared before the trees put forth their buds and blossoms, and the hillsides are in all the verdure of an american spring. men tell me they have seen in a single week the snows disappear, ice break in the streams, the grass spring up, and the trees beginning to bud. nature adapts herself to all her conditions. in the arctic as in the torrid zone she fixes her compensations and makes her laws for the best good of her children. it was midsummer when we reached kamchatka, and the heat was like that of august in richmond or baltimore. the thermometer ranged from sixty-five to eighty. long walks on land were out of question, unless one possessed the power of a salamander. the shore of the bay was the best place for a promenade, and we amused ourselves watching the salmon fishers at work. salmon form the principal food of the kamchadales and their dogs. the fishing season in avatcha bay lasts about six weeks, and at its close the salmon leave the bay and ascend the streams, where they are caught by the interior natives. in the bay they are taken in seines dragged along the shore, and the number of fish caught annually is almost beyond computation. some years ago the fishery failed, and more than half the dogs in kamchatka starved. the following year there was a bountiful supply, which the priests of petropavlovsk commemorated by erecting a cross near the entrance of the harbor. the supply is always larger after a scarcity than in ordinary seasons. the fish designed for preservation are split and dried in the sun. the odor of a fish drying establishment reminded me of the smells in certain quarters of new york in summer, or of cairo, illinois, after an unusual flood has subsided. one of our officers said he counted three hundred and twenty distinct and different smells in walking half a mile. in 1865 one of the merchants started the enterprise of curing salmon for the sandwich island market. he told me he paid three roubles, (about three greenback dollars,) a hundred (in number) for the fresh fish, delivered at his establishment. evidently he found the speculation profitable, as he repeated it the following year. [illustration: a scaly bridge.] when the salmon ascend the rivers they furnish food to men and animals. the natives catch them in nets and with spears, while dogs, bears, and wolves use their teeth in fishing. bears are expert in this amusement, and where their game is plenty they eat only the heads and backs. the fish are very abundant in the rivers, and no great skill is required in their capture. men with an air of veracity told me they had seen streams in the interior of kamchatka so filled with salmon that one could cross on them as on a corduroy bridge! the story has a piscatorial sound, but it _may_ be true. house gardening on a limited scale is the principal agriculture of kamchatka. fifty years ago, admiral ricord introduced the cultivation of rye, wheat, and barley with considerable success, but the inhabitants do not take kindly to it. the government brings rye flour from the amoor river and sells it to the people at cost, and in case of distress it issues rations from its magazines. when i asked why there was no culture of grain in kamchatka, they replied: "what is the necessity of it? we can buy it at cost of the government, and need not trouble ourselves about making our own flour." there is not a sawmill on the peninsula. boards and plank are cut by hand or brought from california. i slept two nights in a room ceiled with red-wood and pine from san francisco. on my second evening in asia i passed several hours at the governor's house. the party talked, smoked, and drank tea until midnight, and then closed the entertainment with a substantial supper. an interesting and novel feature of the affair was the russian manner of making tea. the infusion had a better flavor than any i had previously drank. this is due partly to the superior quality of the leaf, and partly to the manner of its preparation. the "samovar" or tea-urn is an indispensable article in a russian household, and is found in nearly every dwelling from the baltic to bering's sea. "samovar" comes from two greek words, meaning 'to boil itself.' the article is nothing but a portable furnace; a brazen urn with a cylinder two or three inches in diameter passing through it from top to bottom. the cylinder being filled with coals, the water in the urn is quickly heated, and remains boiling hot as long as the fire continues. an imperial order abolishing samovars throughout all the russias, would produce more sorrow and indignation than the expulsion of roast beef from the english bill of fare. the number of cups it will contain is the measure of a samovar. tea pots are of porcelain or earthenware. the tea pot is rinsed and warmed with hot water before receiving the dry leaf. boiling water is poured upon the tea, and when the pot is full it is placed on the top of the samovar. there it is kept hot but not boiled, and in five or six minutes the tea is ready. cups and saucers are not employed by the russians, but tumblers are generally used for tea drinking, and in the best houses, where it can be afforded, they are held in silver sockets like those in soda shops. only loaf sugar is used in sweetening tea. when lemons can be had they are employed to give flavor, a thin slice, neither rolled nor pressed, being floated on the surface of the tea. [illustration: russian tea service.] the russians take tea in the morning, after dinner, after lunch, before bed-time, in the evening, at odd intervals in the day or night, and they drink a great deal of it between drinks. in rambling about petropavlovsk i found the hills covered with luxuriant grass, sometimes reaching to my knees. two or three miles inland the grass was waist high on ground covered with snow six weeks before. among the flowers i recognized the violet and larkspur, the former in great abundance. earlier in the summer the hills were literally carpeted with flowers. i could not learn that any skilled botanist had ever visited kamchatka and classified its flora. among the arboreal productions the alder and birch were the most numerous. pine, larch, and spruce grow on the kamchatka river, and the timber from them is brought to avatcha from the mouth of that stream. the commercial value of kamchatka is entirely in its fur trade. the peninsula has no agricultural, manufacturing, or mining interest, and were it not for the animals that lend their skins to keep us warm, the merchant would find no charms in that region. the fur coming from kamchatka was the cause of the russian discovery and conquest. for many years the trade was conducted by individual merchants from siberia. the russian american company attempted to control it early in the present century, and drove many competitors from the fields. it received the most determined opposition from american merchants, and in 1860 it abandoned petropavlovsk, its business there being profitless. in 1866 i found the fur trade of kamchatka in the control of three merchants: w.h. boardman, of boston, j.w. fluger, of hamburg, and alexander phillipeus, of st. petersburg. all of them had houses in petropavlovsk, and each had from one to half a dozen agencies or branches elsewhere. to judge by appearances, mr. boardman had the lion's share of the trade. this gentleman's father began the northwest traffic sometime in the last century, and left it as an inheritance about 1828. his son continued the business until bought off by the hudson bay company, when he turned his attention to kamchatka. personally he has never visited the pacific ocean. mr. fluger had been only two years in kamchatka, and was doing a miscellaneous business. boardman's agent confined himself to the fur trade, but fluger was up to anything. he salted salmon for market, sent a schooner every year into the arctic ocean for walrus teeth and mammoth tusks, bought furs, sold goods, kept a dog team, was attentive to the ladies, and would have run for congress had it been possible. he had in his store about half a cord of walrus teeth piled against a back entrance like stove wood. phillipeus was a roving blade. he kept an agent at petropavlovsk and came there in person once a year. in february he left st. petersburg for london, whence he took the red sea route to japan. there he chartered a brig to visit kamchatka and land him at ayan, on the ohotsk sea. from ayan he went to yakutsk, and from that place through irkutsk to st. petersburg, where he arrived about three hundred and fifty days after his departure. i met him in the russian capital just as he had completed the sixth journey of this kind and was about to commence the seventh. if he were a jew he should be called the wandering jew. trade is conducted on the barter principle, furs being low and goods high. the risks are great, transport is costly, and money is a long time invested before it returns. the palmy days of the fur trade are over; the product has greatly diminished, and competition has reduced the percentage of profit on the little that remains. there was a time in the memory of man when furs formed the currency of kamchatka. their employment as cash is not unknown at present, although russian money is in general circulation. [illustration: change for a dollar] there is a story of a traveler who paid his hotel bill in a country town in minnesota and received a beaver skin in change. the landlord explained that it was legal tender for a dollar. concealing this novel cash under his coat, the traveler sauntered into a neighboring store. "is it true," he asked carelessly, "that a beaver skin is legal tender for a dollar?" "yes, sir," said the merchant; "anybody will take it." "will you be so kind, then," was the traveler's request, "as to give me change for a dollar bill?" "certainly," answered the merchant, taking the beaver skin and returning four muskrat skins, current at twenty-five cents each. the sable is the principal fur sought by the merchants in kamchatka, or trapped by the natives. the animal is caught in a variety of ways, man's ingenuity being taxed to capture him. the 'yessak,' or 'poll-tax' of the natives is payable in sable fur, at the rate of a skin for every four persons. the governor makes a yearly journey through the peninsula to collect the tax, and is supposed to visit all the villages. the merchants go and do likewise for trading purposes. mr. george s. cushing, who was long the agent of mr. boardman in kamchatka, estimated the product of sable fur at about six thousand skins annually. sometimes it exceeds and sometimes falls below that figure. about a thousand foxes, a few sea otters and silver foxes, and a good many bears, may be added, more for number than value. silver foxes and otters are scarce, while common foxes and bears are of little account. a black fox is worth a great deal of money, but one may find a white crow almost as readily. bears are abundant, but their skins are not articles of export. the beasts are brown or black, and grow to a disagreeable size. bear hunting is an amusement of the country, very pleasant and exciting until the bear turns and becomes the hunter. then there is no fun in it, if he succeeds in his pursuit. a gentleman in kamchatka gave me a bearskin more than six feet long, and declared that it was not unusually large. i am very glad there was no live bear in it when it came into my possession. there is a story of a man in california who followed the track of a grizzly bear a day and a half. he abandoned it because, as he explained, "it was getting a little too fresh." one day, about two years before my visit, a cow suddenly entered petropavlovsk with a live bear on her back. the bear escaped unhurt, leaving the cow pretty well scratched. after that event she preferred to graze in or near the town, and never brought home another bear. [illustration: cow and bear.] kamchatka without dogs would be like hamlet without hamlet. while crossing the pacific my _compagnons du voyage_ made many suggestions touching my first experience in kamchatka. "you won't sleep any the first night in port. the dogs will howl you out of your seven senses." this was the frequent remark of the engineer, corroborated by others. on arriving, we were disappointed to find less than a hundred dogs at petropavlovsk, as the rest of the canines belonging there were spending vacation in the country. about fifteen hundred were owned in the town. very few kamchadale dogs can bark, but they will howl oftener, longer, and louder than any 'yaller dog' that ever went to a cur pound or became sausage meat. the few in petropavlovsk made much of their ability, and were especially vocal at sunset, near their feeding time. occasionally during the night they try their throats and keep up a hailing and answering chorus, calculated to draw a great many oaths from profane strangers. in 1865 colonel bulkley carried one of these animals to california. the dog lifted up his voice on the waters very often, and received a great deal of rope's ending in consequence. at san francisco mr. covert took him home, and attempted his domestication. 'norcum,' (for that was the brute's name,) created an enmity between covert and all who lived within hearing distance, and many were the threats of canicide. covert used to rise two or three times every night and argue, with a club, to induce norcum to be silent. while i was at san francisco, mr. mumford, one of the telegraph company's directors, conceived a fondness for the dog, and took him to the occidental hotel. on the first day of his hotel life we tied norcum on the balcony in front of mumford's room, about forty feet from the ground. scarcely had we gone to dinner when he jumped from the balcony and hung by his chain, with his hind feet resting upon a cornice. a howling wilderness is nothing to the noise he made before his rescue, and he gathered and amused a large crowd with his performance. he passed the night in the western basement of the hotel, and spoiled the sleep of a dozen or more persons who lodged near him. when we left san francisco, norcum was residing in the baggage-room at the occidental, under special care of the porters, who employed a great deal of muscle in teaching him that silence was a golden virtue. the kamchadale dogs are of the same breed as those used by the esquimaux, but are said to possess more strength and endurance. the best asiatic dogs are among the koriaks, near penjinsk gulf, the difference being due to climate and the care taken in breeding them. dogs are the sole reliance for winter travel in kamchatka, and every resident considers it his duty to own a team. they are driven in odd numbers, all the way from three to twenty-one. the most intelligent and best trained dog acts as a leader, the others being harnessed in pairs. no reins are used, the voice of the driver being sufficient to guide them. [illustration: a kamchatka team.] dogs are fed almost entirely upon fish. they receive their rations daily at sunset, and it is always desirable that each driver should feed his own team. the day before starting on a journey, the dog receives a half ration only, and he is kept on this slender diet as long as the journey lasts. sometimes when hungry they gnaw their reindeer skin harnesses, and sometimes they do it as a pastime. once formed, the habit is not easy to break. two kinds of sledges are used, one for travel and the other for transporting freight. the former is light and just large enough for one person with a little baggage. the driver sits with his feet hanging over the side, and clings to a bow that rises in front. in one hand he holds an iron-pointed staff, with which he retards the vehicle in descending hills, or brings it to a halt. a traveling sledge weighs about twenty-five pounds, but a freight sledge is much heavier. a good team will travel from forty to sixty miles a day with favorable roads. sometimes a hundred a day may be accomplished, but very rarely. once an express traveled from petropavlovsk to bolcheretsk, a hundred and twenty-five miles, in twenty-three hours, without change of dogs. wolves have an inconvenient fondness for dog meat, and occasionally attack travelers. a gentleman told me that a wolf once sprang from the bushes, seized and dragged away one of his dogs, and did not detain the team three minutes. the dogs are cowardly in their dispositions, and will not fight unless they have large odds in their favor. a pack of them will attack and kill a single strange dog, but would not disturb a number equaling their own. most of the russian settlers buy their dogs from the natives who breed them. dogs trained to harness are worth from ten to forty roubles (dollars) each, according to their quality. leaders bring high prices on account of their superior docility and the labor of training them. epidemics are frequent among dogs and carry off great numbers of them. hydrophobia is a common occurrence. the russian inhabitants of kamchatka are mostly descended from cossacks and exiles. there is a fair but not undue proportion of half breeds, the natural result of marriage between natives and immigrants. there are about four hundred russians at petropavlovsk, and the same number at each of two other points. the aboriginal population is about six thousand, including a few hundred dwellers on the kurile islands. no exiles have been sent to kamchatka since 1830. one old man who had been forty years a colonist was living at avatcha in 1866. he was at liberty to return to europe, but preferred remaining. in 1771 occurred the first voyage from kamchatka to a foreign port, and curiously enough, it was performed under the polish flag. a number of exiles, headed by a pole named benyowski, seized a small vessel and put to sea. touching at japan and loo choo to obtain water and provisions, the party reached the portuguese colony of macao in safety. there were no nautical instruments or charts on the ship, and the successful result of the voyage was more accidental than otherwise. close by the harbor of petropavlovsk there is a monument to the memory of the ill-fated and intrepid navigator, la perouse. it bears no inscription, and was evidently built in haste. there is a story that a french ship once arrived in avatcha bay on a voyage of discovery. her captain asked the governor if there was anything to commemorate the visit of la perouse. "certainly," was the reply; "i will show it to you in the morning." during the night the monument was hastily constructed of wood and sheet iron, and fixed in the position to which the governor led his delighted guest. captain clerke, successor to captain cook, of sandwich island memory, died while his ships were in avatcha bay, and was buried at petropavlovsk. a monument that formerly marked his grave has disappeared. captain lund and colonel bulkley arranged to erect a durable memorial in its place. we prepared an inscription in english and russian, and for temporary purposes fixed a small tablet on the designated spot. americans and russians formed the party that listened to the brief tribute which one of our number paid to the memory of the great navigator. in the autumn of 1854, a combined english and french fleet of six ships suffered a severe repulse from several land batteries and the guns of a russian frigate in the harbor. twice beaten off, their commanders determined an assault. they landed a strong force of sailors and marines, that attempted to take the town in the rear, but the kamchadale sharpshooters created a panic, and drove the assailants over a steeply sloping cliff two hundred feet high. [illustration: repulse of the assailants.] naturally the natives are proud of their success in this battle, and mention it to every visitor. the english admiral committed suicide early in the attack. the fleet retired to san francisco, and returned in the following year prepared to capture the town at all hazards, but petropavlovsk had been abandoned by the russians, who retired beyond the hills. an american remained in charge of a trading establishment, and hoisted his national colors over it. the allies burned the government property and destroyed the batteries. there were five or six hundred dogs in town when the fleet entered the bay. their violent howling held the allies aloof a whole day, under the impression that a garrison should be very large to have so many watch-dogs. chapter v. the first project for making discoveries in the ocean east of kamchatka was formed by peter the great. danish, german, and english navigators and _savans_ were sent to the eastern coast of asia to conduct explorations in the desired quarter, but very little was accomplished in the lifetime of the great czar. his successors carried out his plans. in june, 1741, vitus bering, the first navigator of the straits which bear his name, sailed from avatcha bay. passing south of the islands of the aleutian chain, bering steered to the eastward, and at length discovered the american continent. "on the 16th of july," says steller, the naturalist and historian of the expedition, "we saw a mountain whose height was so great as to be visible at the distance of sixteen dutch miles. the coast of the continent was much broken and indented with bays and harbors." the nearest point of land was named cape st. elias, as it was discovered on st. ellas' day. the high mountain received the name of the saint, and has clung to it ever since. when bering discovered russian america he had no thought it would one day be sold to the united states, and there is nothing to show that he ever corresponded with mr. seward about it. he sailed a short distance along its coast, visited various islands, and then steered for kamchatka. the commander was confined to his cabin by illness, and the crew suffered severely from scurvy. "at one period," says steller, "only ten persons were capable of duty, and they were too weak to furl the sails, so that the ship was left to the mercy of the elements. not only the sick died, but those who pretended to be healthy fainted and fell down dead when relieved from their posts." in this condition the navigators were drifted upon a rocky island, where their ship went to pieces, but not until all had landed. many of the crew died soon after going on shore, but the transfer from the ship appeared to diminish the ravages of the scurvy. commander bering died on the 8th of december, and was buried in the trench where he lay. the island where he perished bears his name, but his grave is unmarked. an iron monument to his memory was recently erected at petropavlovsk. no human dwellers were found on the island. foxes were numerous and had no fear of the shipwrecked mariners. "we killed many of them," steller adds, "with our hatchets and knives. they annoyed us greatly, and we were unable to keep them from entering our shelters and stealing our clothing and food." the survivors built a small vessel from the wreck, and succeeded in reaching avatcha in the following summer. "we were given up for dead," says the historian, "and the property we left in kamchatka had been appropriated by strangers." the reports concerning the abundance of fur-bearing animals on bering's island and elsewhere, induced private parties to go in search of profit. various expeditions were fitted out in ships of clumsy construction and bad sailing qualities. the timbers were fastened with wooden pins and leathern thongs, and the crevices were caulked with moss. occasionally the cordage was made from reindeer skins, and the sails from the same material. many ships were wrecked, but this did not frighten adventurous merchants. few of these voyages were pushed farther than the aleutian islands. the natives were hostile and killed a fair proportion of the russian explorers. in 1781 a few merchants of kamchatka arranged a company with a view to developing commerce in russian america. they equipped several ships, formed a settlement at kodiak and conducted an extensive and profitable business. their agents treated the natives with great cruelty, and so bad was their conduct that the emperor paul revoked their privileges. a new company was formed and chartered in july, 1779, under the title of the russian-american company. it succeeded the old concern, and absorbed it into its organization. the russian-american company had its chief office in st. petersburg, where the directors formed a kind of high court of appeal. it was authorized to explore and place under control of the crown all the territories of north-western america not belonging to any other government. it was required to deal kindly with the natives, and endeavor to convert them to the religion of the empire. it had the administration of the country and a commercial monopoly through its whole extent. all other merchants were to be excluded, no matter what their nationality. at one time so great was the jealousy of the company's officers that no foreign ship was allowed within twenty miles of the coast. the imperial government required that the chief officer of the company should be commissioned in the service of the crown, and detailed to the control of the american territory. his residence was at sitka, to which the principal post was removed from kodiak. in the early history of the company there were many encounters with the natives, the severest battle taking place on the present site of sitka. the natives had a fort there, and were only driven from it after a long and obstinate fight. the first colony that settled at sitka was driven away, and all traces of the russian occupation were destroyed. after a few years of conflict, peace was declared, and trade became prosperous. the company occupied russian america and the aleutian islands, and pushed its traffic to the arctic ocean. it established posts on the kurile islands, in kamchatka, and along the coast of the ohotsk sea. it built churches, employed priests, and was quite successful in converting the natives to christianity. having a monopoly of trade and being the law giver to the natives, the company had things in pretty much its own way. the governor at sitka was the autocrat of all the american russians. there was no appeal from his decision except to the directory at st. petersburg, which was about as accessible as the moon. the natives were reduced to a condition of slavery; they were compelled to devote the best part of their time to the company's labor, and the accounts were so managed as to keep them always in debt. alexander baranoff was the first governor, and continued more than twenty years in power. he managed affairs to his own taste, paying little regard to the wishes of the directory, or even of the emperor, when they conflicted with his own. the russians in the company's employ were _promushleniks_, or adventurers, enlisted in siberia for a term of years. they were soldiers, sailors, hunters, fishermen, or mechanics, according to the needs of the service. their condition was little better than that of the natives they held in subjection. the territory was divided into districts, each under an officer who reported to the chief at sitka. the directory was not troubled so long as profits were large, but the government had suspicions that the company's reign was oppressive. an exploring expedition under admiral krusenstern visited the north pacific in 1805; the reports of the admiral exposed many abuses and led to changes. a more rigid supervision followed, and produced much good. the government insisted upon appointing officers of integrity and humanity to the chief place at sitka. for many years the company prospered. in 1812 it founded the colony of ross, on the coast of california, and a few years later prepared to dispute the right of the spanish governor to occupy that region. the natives were everywhere peaceable, and the dividends satisfied the stockholders. the slaughter of the fur-bearing animals was injudiciously conducted, and led to a great decrease of revenue. the last dividend of importance (12 per cent.) was in 1853. after that year misfortune seemed to follow the company. its trade was greatly reduced, partly by the diminished fur production and partly by the illicit traffic of independent vessels along the coast. several ships were lost, one in 1865, with a valuable cargo of furs. in 1866 the company's stock, from a nominal value of 150, had fallen to about 80, and the company was even obliged to accept an annual subsidy of 200,000 roubles from the government. so late as february, 1867, it received a loan of 1,000,000 roubles from the imperial bank. probably a few years more would have seen the total extinction of the company, and the reversion of all its rights and expenses to the crown. in 1866 the fleet of the russian-american company comprised two sea steamers, six ships, two brigs, one schooner, and several smaller craft for coasting and inland service. during the crimean war the company's property was made neutral on condition of its taking no part in hostilities. two of its ships were captured and burned for an alleged violation of neutrality. the company leased a portion of its territory to the hudson bay company, and allowed it to establish hunting and trading posts. a strip of land bordering the ocean was thus in english hands, and gave access to a wide region beyond the coast mountains. not content with what was leased, the hudson bay company deliberately seized a locality on the yukon river when it had no right. it built fort yukon and secured much of the interior trade of russian america. when our secretary of state purchased the emperor's title to the western coast of america, there were various opinions respecting the sagacity of the transaction. no one could say what was the intrinsic value of the country, either actual or prospective. the company never gave much attention to scientific matters. the russian government had made some explorations to ascertain the character and extent of the rivers, mountains, plains, and swamps that form the country. in 1841 lieutenant zagoyskin commenced an examination of the country bordering the rivers, and continued it for two years. he traced the course of the kuskokvim and the lower portions of the yukon, or kvikpak. his observations were chiefly confined to the rivers and the country immediately bordering them. he made no discoveries of agricultural or mineral wealth. fish and deer-meat, with berries, formed the food of the natives, while furs were their only articles of trade. [illustration: view of sitka] russian america is of great extent, superficially. it is agreeably diversified with mountains, hills, rolling country, and table land, with a liberal amount of _pereval_ or undulating swamp. in the northern portion there is timber scattered along the rivers and on the mountain slopes; but the trees and their quantity are alike small. in the southern parts there are forests of large trees, that will be valuable when oregon and washington are exhausted. along the coast there are many bays and harbors, easy of access and well sheltered. sitka has a magnificent harbor, never frozen or obstructed with ice. gold is known to exist in several localities. a few placer mines have been opened on the stikeen river, but no one knows the extent of the auriferous beds, in the absence of all 'prospecting' data. i do not believe gold mining will ever be found profitable in russian america. the winters are long and cold, and the snows are deep. the working season is very short, and in many localities on the mainland 'ground ice' is permanent at slight depths. veins of copper have been found near the yukon, but so far none that would pay for developing. building stone is abundant, and so is ice. neither is of much value in commerce. the fur trade was the chief source of the company's revenue. the principal fur-bearing animals are the otter, seal, beaver, marten, mink, fox, and a few others. there is a little trade in walrus teeth, mammoth tusks, whalebone, and oil. the rivers abound in fish, of which large quantities are annually salted and sent to the pacific markets. the fisheries along the coast are valuable and of the same character as those on the banks of newfoundland. agriculture is limited to a few garden vegetables. there are no fruit trees, and no attempts have thus far been made to introduce them. the number of native inhabitants is unknown, as no census has ever been taken. i have heard it estimated all the way from twenty to sixty thousand. the island and sea coast inhabitants are of the esquimaux type, while those of the interior are allied to the north american indians. the explorers for the western union telegraph company found them friendly, but not inclined to labor. some of the natives left their hunting at its busiest season to assist an exploring party in distress. the change of rulers will prove a misfortune to the aboriginal. very wisely the russian american company prohibited intoxicating liquors in all dealings with the natives. the contraband stuff could only be obtained from, independent trading ships, chiefly american. with the opening of the country to our commerce, whisky has been abundant and accessible to everybody. the native population will rapidly diminish, and its decrease will be accompanied by a falling off in the fur product. our government should rigidly continue the prohibitory law as enforced by the russian officials. the sale of his american property was an excellent transaction on the part of the emperor. the country brought no revenue worth the name, and threatened to be an expensive ornament in coming years. it required a sea voyage to reach it, and was upon a continent which russia does not aspire to control. it had no strategic importance in the muscovite policy, and was better out of the empire than in it. the purchase by ourselves may or may not prove a financial success. thus far its developments have not been promising. when the country has been thoroughly examined, it is possible we may find stores of now unknown wealth. politically the acquisition is more important. the possession of a large part of the pacific coast, indented with many bays and harbors, is a matter of moment in view of our national ambition. the american eagle can scream louder since its cage has been enlarged, and if any man attempts to haul down that noble bird, scoop him from the spot. chapter vi. colonel bulkley determined to sail on the 6th of august for anadyr bay, and ordered the variag to proceed to the amoor by way of ghijiga. early in the morning the corvette changed her moorings and shook a reef from her telescopic smoke stack, and at nine o'clock i bade adieu to the wright and went on board the variag, to which i was welcomed by capt. lund, according to the russian custom, and quartered in the room specially designed for the use of the admiral. the ladies were on the nearest point of the beach, and just before our departure the captain and most of his officers paid them a farewell visit. seizing the tow line of the danzig, which we were to take to sea, we steamed from the harbor into the pacific, followed by the cheers of all on board the wright and the waving of ladies' handkerchiefs till lost in the distance. we desired to pass the fourth, or amphitrite, channel of the kurile islands; the weather was so thick that we could not see a ship's length in any direction, and all night men stood with axes ready to cut the danzig's tow line in case any sudden danger should appear. the fog lifted just as we neared the channel, and we had a clear view on all sides. we cast off the danzig when fairly out of the pacific. during the two days the variag had her in tow we maintained communication by means of a log line and a junk bottle carefully sealed. casting our bottle on the waters, we allowed it to drift along side the danzig, where it could be fished up and opened. answers were returned in the same mail pouch. one response was in liquid form, and savored of gin cocktail, fabricated by the american captain. an hour after dropping the danzig we stopped our engines and prepared to run under sail. the whole crew was called on deck to hoist out the screw, a mass of copper weighing twenty-five thousand pounds, and set in a frame raised or lowered like a window sash. with strong ropes and the power of three hundred men, the frame and its contents were lifted out of water, and the variag became a sailing ship. the russian government is more economical than our own in running ships of war. whenever possible, sails are used instead of steam. a few years ago a russian admiral was transferred from active to retired service because he burned too much coal. the variag was 2100 tons burthen, and carried seventeen guns, with a crew of 306 men. she was of the fleet that visited new york in 1863, and her officers recounted many pleasant reminiscences of their stay in the united states. while wintering in japanese waters she was assigned to assist the telegraph enterprise, and reported as soon as possible at petropavlovsk; but the only service demanded was to proceed to the mouth of the amoor by way of ghijiga and ohotsk. the officers of the variag were, a captain, a commander, four lieutenants, six sub-lieutenants, an officer of marines with a cadet, a lieutenant of naval artillery, two sailing masters, two engineers, a surgeon, a paymaster, and a priest. as near as i could ascertain, their pay, including allowances, was about three-fourths that of american officers of similar grades. they received three times as much at sea as when awaiting orders, and this fact led them to seek constant service. in the ward room they read, wrote, talked, smoked, and could play any games of amusement except cards. card playing is strictly forbidden by the russian naval regulations. the sailors on the corvette were robust and powerful fellows, with appetites to frighten a hotel keeper. russian sailors from the interior of the empire are very liable to scurvy. those from finland are the best for long voyages. captain lund once told me the experience of a russian expedition of five ships upon a long cruise. one ship was manned by finlanders, and the others carried sailors from the interior. the finlanders were not attacked with scurvy, but the rest suffered severely. "all the russians," said the captain, "make good sailors, but those from the maritime provinces are the best seamen." early in the voyage it was interesting to see the men at dinner. their table utensils were wooden spoons and tubs, at the rate of ten spoons and one tub to every ten men. a piece of canvas upon the deck received the tub, which generally contained soup. with their hats off, the men dined leisurely and amicably. soup and bread were the staple articles of food. cabbage soup _(schee)_ is the national diet of russia, from the peasant up to the autocrat. several times on the voyage we had soup on the captain's table from the supply prepared for the crew, and i can testify to its excellence. the food of the sailors was carefully inspected before being served. when the soup was ready, the cook took a bowl of it, with a slice of bread and a clean spoon, and delivered the whole to the boatswain. from the boatswain it went to the officer of the deck, and from him to the chief officer, who delivered it to the captain. the captain carefully examined and tasted the soup. if unobjectionable, the bowl was returned to the galley and the dinner served at once. a sailor's ration in the russian navy is more than sufficient for an ordinary appetite and digestion. the grog ration is allowed, and the boatswain's call to liquid refreshment is longer and shriller than for any other duty. at the grog tub the sailor stands with uncovered head while performing the ceremonial abhorred of good templars. as of old in our navy, grog is stopped as a punishment. the drink ration can be entirely commuted and the food ration one half, but not more. many sailors on the variag practiced total abstinence at sea, and as the grog had been purchased in japan at very high cost, the commutation money was considerable. commutation is regulated according to the price of the articles where the ship was last supplied. i was told that the sailor's pay, including ordinary allowances, is about a hundred roubles a year. the sum is not munificent, but probably the muscovite mariner is no more economical than the american one. in his liberty on shore he will get as drunk as the oft quoted 'boiled owl.' _en passant_ i protest against the comparison, as it is a slander upon the owl. at petropavlovsk there was an amusing fraternization between the crews of the variag and the wright. the american sailors were scattered among the russians in the proportion of one to six. neither understood a word of the other's language, and the mouth and eye were obliged to perform the duties of the ear. the flowing bowl was the manual of conversation between the russians and their new friends. the americans attempted to drink against fearful odds, and the result was unfortunate. they returned sadly intoxicated and were unfit for social or nautical duties until the next day. when the variag was at new york in 1863, many of her sailors were entrapped by bounty-brokers. when sailors were missing after liberty on shore, a search through the proper channels revealed them converted into american soldiers, much against their will. usually they were found at new york, but occasionally a man reached the front before he was rescued. some returned to the ship dressed as zouaves, others as artillerists; some in the yellow of cavalry, and so on through our various uniforms. of course they were greatly jeered by their comrades. everyone conversant with russian history knows that peter the great went to england, and afterward to holland, to study ship building. he introduced naval construction from those countries, and brought from holland the men to manage his first ships and teach his subjects the art of navigation. as a result of his enterprise, the principal parts of a russian ship have english or dutch names, some words being changed a little to adapt them to russian pronunciation. the dutch navigators exerted great influence upon the nautical language of russia. to illustrate this captain lund said: "a dutch pilot or captain could come on my ship and his orders in his own language would be understood by my crew. i mean simply the words of command, without explanations. on the other hand, a dutch crew could understand my orders without suspecting they were russian." sitting among the officers in the ward-room, i endeavored to accustom my ear to the sound of the russian language and learn to repeat the most needed phrases. i soon acquired the alphabet, and could count up to any extent; i could spell russian words much as a schoolboy goes through his 'first reader' exercise, but was unable to attain rapid enunciation. i could never get over the impression that the muscovite type had been set up by a drunken printer who couldn't read. the r's looked the wrong way, the l's stood bottom upward, h's became n's, and c's were s's, and lower case and small caps were generally mixed up. the perplexities of russian youth must be greater than ours, as they have thirty-six letters in their alphabet and every one of them must be learned. a brief study of slavonic verbs and nouns convinced me they could never be acquired grammatically in the short time i proposed remaining in russia, and so i gave them up. what a hindrance to a traveler and literal man of the world is this confusion of tongues! there is no human being who can make himself verbally understood everywhere on this little globe. in the russian empire alone there are more than a hundred spoken languages and dialects. the emperor, with all his erudition, has many subjects with whom he is unable to converse. what a misfortune to mankind that the tower of babel was ever commenced! the architect who planned it should receive the execration of all posterity. the apartment i occupied was of goodly size, and contained a large writing desk. my bed was parallel to the keel, and hung so that it could swing when the ship rolled. previous to my embarkation the room was the receptacle of a quantity of chronometers, sextants, charts, and other nautical apparatus. there were seventeen chronometers in one box, and a few others lay around loose. i never had as much time at my command before or since. twice a day an officer came to wind these chronometers and note their variation. there were marine instruments enough in that room to supply a dozen sea-captains, but if the entire lot had been loan'd me, i never could have ascertained the ship's position without asking somebody who knew it. [illustration: plenty of time.] the partition separating me from the ward-room was built after the completion of the ship, and had a way of creaking like a thousand or more squeaky boots in simultaneous action. every time we rolled, each board rubbed against its neighbor and waked the echoes of the cabin. the first time i slept in the room the partition seemed talking in russian, and i distinctly remember that it named a majority of the cities and many noble families throughout the empire. after the first night it was powerless to disturb me. i thought it possible that on leaving the ship i might be in the condition of the woman, whose husband, a fearful snorer, was suddenly called from home. the lady passed several sleepless nights, until she hit upon the expedient of calling a servant with the coffee mill. the vigorous grinding of that household utensil had the effect of a powerful opiate. at eight o'clock every morning, yakuff, (the russian for jacob,) brought me a pitcher of water. when my toilet was over, he appeared with a cup of tea and a few cakes. we conversed in the beginning with a sign language, until i picked up enough russian to ask for tea, water, bread, and other necessary things. at eleven we had breakfast in the captain's cabin, where we discussed steaks, cutlets, tea, and cigars, until nearly noon. dinner at six o'clock was opened with the never failing zakushka, or lunch, the universal preparative of the empire, and closed with tea and cigars. at eight o'clock tea was served again. after it, any one who chose could partake of the cup which cheers and inebriates. [illustration: russian officers at mess.] one morning during my voyage a sailor died. the ocean burial occurred on the following day, and was conducted according to the ceremonial of the eastern church. at the appointed time, i went with captain lund to the place of worship, between decks. the corpse was in a canvas coffin, its head and breast being visible. the coffin, partially covered with the naval ensign, lay on a wide plank about two feet above the deck. at its head the priest was reading the burial service, while near him there was a group of sailors forming the choir. captain lund and several officers stood at the foot of the coffin, each holding a burning taper. the service lasted about twenty minutes, and consisted of reading by the priest and responses by the choir. the censer was repeatedly swung, as in catholic ceremonials, the priest bowing at the same time toward the sacred picture. simultaneously all the candles were extinguished, and their several men advanced and kissed a small cross lying upon the coffin. the priest read a few lines from a written paper and placed it with the cross on the breast of the corpse. the coffin was then closed and carried upon the plank to the stern of the ship. after a final chant by the choir, one end of the plank was lifted, and a single splash in the water showed where the body went down. during the service the flag floated at half mast. it was soon lowered amid appropriate music, which ended the burial at sea. on the third day after leaving the pacific we were shrouded in fog, but with it we had a fine southerly breeze that carried us rapidly on our course. the fog was so dense that we obtained no observation for four days, but so accurate was the sailing master's computation that the difference between our observed and estimated positions was less than two miles. when the fog rose we were fairly in ghijiga bay, a body of water shaped like a narrow v. sharp eyes looking ahead discovered a vessel at anchor, and all hoped it was the clara bell. as we approached she developed into a barque, and gave us comfort, till her flag completed our delight. we threw the lead and began looking for anchorage. nine, eight, seven fathoms were successively reported, and for some minutes the depth remained at six and a half. a mile from the clara bell we dropped anchor, the ship trembling from, stem to stern as the huge chain ran through the hawse-hole. we were at the end of a nine days voyage. chapter vii. we were fifteen miles from the mouth of ghijiga river, the shoals forbidding nearer approach. the tide rises twenty-two feet in ghijiga bay, and to reach the lighthouse and settlement near the river, even with small boats, it is necessary to go with the tide. we learned that major abasa, of the telegraph service, was at the light-house awaiting our arrival, and that we must start before midnight to reach the landing at the proper time. captain lund ordered a huge box filled with provisions and other table ware, and threw in a few bottles of wine as ballast. i was too old a traveler to neglect my blankets and rubber coat, and found that anossoff was as cautious as myself. we prolonged our tea-drinking to ten o'clock and then started. descending the ship's side was no easy matter. it was at least three feet from the bottom of the gang-way ladder to the water, and the boat was dancing on the chopping sea like a pea on a hot shovel. captain lund descended first, followed by anossoff. then i made my effort, and behind me was a grim cossack. just as i reached the lowest step a wave swung the boat from the ship and left me hanging over the water. the cossack, unmindful of things below, was backing steadily toward my head. i could not think of the russian phrase for the occasion and was in some dilemma how to act. i shouted 'look out' with such emphasis that the man understood me and halted with his heavy boots about two inches above my face. clinging to the side ropes and watching my opportunity, i jumped at the right moment and happily hit the boat. the cossack jumped into the lap of a sailor and received a variety of epithets for his carelessness. there are fourteen ways in the russian language of calling a man a ---fool, and i think all of them were used. [illustration: ascending the bay.] wind and tide opposed each other and tossed us rather uncomfortably. the waves breaking over the bow saturated the cossack and sprinkled some of the sailors. at the stern we managed to protect ourselves, though we caught occasionally a few drops of spray. wrapped in my overcoat and holding a bear-skin on my knees, i studied the summer night in that high northern latitude. at midnight it seemed like day break, and i half imagined we had wrongly calculated the hours and were later than we supposed. between sunset and sunrise the twilight crept along the horizon from occident to orient. further north the inhabitants of the arctic circle were enjoying the light of their long summer day. what a contrast to the bleak night of cold and darkness that stretches with faint glimmerings of dawn through nearly half the year. the shores of the bay were high perpendicular banks, sharply cut like the bluffs at vicksburg. there are several head-lands, but none project far enough to form harbors behind them. the bottom furnishes good anchoring ground, but the bay is quite open to southerly winds. captain lund dropped his chin to his breast and slept soundly. anossoff raised his coat collar and drew in his head like a tortoise returning into his shell, but with all his efforts he did not sleep. i was wakeful and found that time dragged slowly. the light-house had no light and needed none, as the darkness was far from profound. in approaching the mouth of the river we discovered a cluster of buildings, and close at hand two beacons, like crosses, marking the direction of the channel. there was a little surf breaking along the beach as our keel touched the ground. our blankets came dripping from the bottom of the boat, and my satchel had taken water enough to spoil my paper collars and a dozen cigars. my greatest calamity on that night was the sudden and persistent stoppage of my watch. an occurrence of little moment in new york or london was decidedly unpleasant when no trusty watchmaker lived within four thousand miles. major abasa and the ispravnik of ghijiga escorted us from the landing to their quarters, where we soon warmed ourselves with hot tea, and i took opportunity and a couple of bearskins and went to sleep. late in the day we had a dinner of soup, pork and peas, reindeer meat, and berry pudding. the deer's flesh was sweet and tender, with a flavor like that of the american elk. in this part of siberia there are many wide plains (_tundras_) covered with moss and destitute of trees. the blueberry grows there, but is less abundant than the "maroska," a berry that i never saw in america. it is yellow when ripe, has an acid flavor, and resembles the raspberry in shape and size. we ate the maroska in as many forms as it could be prepared, and they told us that it grew in scotland, scandinavia, and northern russia. [illustration: taking the census.] the ordinary residents at the mouth of ghijiga river were the pilot and his family, with three or four cossacks to row boats on the bay. the natives of the vicinity came there occasionally, but none were permanent citizens. the arrival of the variag and clara bell gave unusual activity to the settlement, and the ispravnik might have returned a large population had he imitated the practice of those western towns that take their census during the stay of a railway train or a steamboat. there was once, according to a rural historian, an aspiring politician in tennessee who wanted to go to congress. there were not inhabitants enough in his district to send him, and so he placed a couple of his friends at the railway station to take the names of passengers as they visited the refreshment saloon and entered or left the depot. in a short time the requisite constituency was secured and sworn to, so that the aspirant for official honor accomplished the wish of his heart. [illustration: light-house at ghijiga.] the light-house on the promontory is a hexagonal edifice ten feet in diameter and height; it is of logs and has a flat top covered with dirt, whereon to kindle a fire. the interior is entered by a low door, and i found it floored with two sticks of wood and a mud puddle. one could reach the top by climbing a sloping pole notched like an american fence-post. the pilot resides at the foot of the bluff, and is expected to visit this beacon daily. a cannon, old enough to have served at pultawa, stands near the light-house, in a condition of utter helplessness. the houses were furnished quite primitively. beds were of bearskins and blankets, and the floor was the only bedstead. there were rustic tables of hewn boards, and benches without backs. in a storehouse there was a fairbanks' scale, somewhat worn and rusty, and i found a tuneless melodeon from boston and a coffee mill from new york. the town of ghijiga is on the bank of the river, twelve miles from the light-house, and the route thither was overland or by water, at one's choice. overland there was a footpath crossing a hill and a wet tundra. the journey by water was upon the ghijiga river; five versts of rowing and thirteen of towing by men or dogs. as it was impossible to hire a horse, i repudiated the overland route altogether, and tried a brief journey on the river, but could not reach the town and return in time for certain engagements. ghijiga has a population of less than three hundred, and closely resembles petropavlovsk. two or three foreign merchants go there annually with goods to exchange for furs which the russian traders gather. the inhabitants are russians or half breeds, the former predominating. the half breeds are said to possess all the vices of both races with the virtues of neither. mr. bilzukavitch, the ispravnik of ghijiga, was a native of poland, and governed seventy-two thousand square miles of territory, with a population of sixteen hundred taxed males. his military force comprised thirty cossacks with five muskets, of which three were unserviceable. the native tribes included in the district of ghijiga are the koriaks and chukchees; the koriaks readily pay tribute and acknowledge the russian authority, but the chukchees are not yet fairly subdued. they were long in open war with the russians, and though peace is now established, many of them are not tributary. those who visit the russian towns are compelled to pay tribute and become imperial subjects before selling or purchasing goods. the ispravnik is an artist of unusual merit, as evinced by an album of his sketches illustrating life in northern siberia. some of them appeared like steel engravings, and testified to the skill and patience of the man who made them. on my second day at ghijiga i tried a river journey with a dog team. the bottom of the boat was on the 'dug-out' principle, and the sides were two planks meeting in sharp and high points at the ends. i had a seat on some bearskins on the plank flooring, and found it reasonably comfortable. one man steered the boat, another in the bow managed the towline, and a third, who walked on land, drove the dogs. we had seven canines--three pairs and a leader--pulling upon a deerskin towline fastened to a thole-pin. it was the duty of the man in the bow to regulate the towline according to circumstances. the dogs were unaccustomed to their driver, and balky in consequence. two of them refused to pull when we started, and remained obstinate until persuaded with sticks. the driver used neither reins nor whip, but liberally employed the drift wood along the banks. clubs were trumps in that day's driving. the team was turned to the left by a guttural sound that no paper and ink can describe, and to the right by a rapid repetition of the word 'ca.' [illustration: towed by dogs] occasionally the path changed from one bank to the opposite. at such times we seated the dogs in the bow of the boat and ferried them over the river. in the boat they were generally quiet, though inclined to bite each other's legs at convenient opportunities. one muddy dog shook himself over me; i forgave him, but his driver did not, the innocent brute receiving several blows for making his toilet in presence of passengers. the koriaks have a habit of sacrificing dogs to obtain a fortunate fishery. the animals are hung on limbs of trees, and the sacrifice always includes the best. major abasa urged them to give only their worthless dogs to the evil spirit, assuring them the fishery would result just as well, and they promised to try the experiment. dogs were scarce and expensive in consequence of a recent canine epidemic. only a day before our arrival three dogs developed hydrophobia and were killed. the salmon fishery was very poor in 1866, and the inhabitants of the ghijiga district were relying upon catching seals in the autumn. at kolymsk, on the kolyma river, the authorities require every man to catch one-tenth more than enough for his own use. this surplus is placed in a public storehouse and issued in case of famine. it is the rule to keep a three years supply always at hand. several seasons of scarcity led to the adoption of the plan. we were frequently visited by the natives from a koriak village near the light-house. their dress was of deer skin, and comprised a kotlanka, or frock, pantaloons, and boots, or leggings. winter garments are of deer skin with its hair remaining, but summer clothing is of dressed skins alone. these natives appear below the ordinary stature, and their legs seemed to me very small. ethnologists are divided concerning the origin of the koriaks, some assigning them to the mongol race and others to the esquimaux. the koriaks express no opinion on the disputed point, and have none. both sexes dress alike, and wear ornaments of beads in their ears. they have a curious custom of shaving the back part of the head, _a la moine_. fashion is as arbitrary among the koriaks as in paris or new york, and dictates the cut of garments and the style of hair dressing with unyielding severity. like savages everywhere, these natives manifest a fondness for civilized attire. a party visited the clara bell and obtained some american clothing. one man sported a cast-off suit, in which he appeared as uneasy as an organ grinder's monkey in a new coat. another wore a sailor's jacket from the variag, and sported the number '19' with manifest pride. a third had a fatigue cap, bearing the letters 'u.s.' in heavy brass, the rest of his costume being thoroughly aboriginal. one old fellow had converted an empty meat can into a hat without removing the printed label "stewed beef." i gave him a pair of dilapidated gloves, which he donned at once. the koriaks are of two kinds, wandering and settled. the wanderers have great numbers of reindeer, and lead a migratory life in finding pasturage for their herds. the settled koriaks are those who have lost their deer and been forced to locate where they can subsist by fishing. the former are kind and hospitable; the latter generally the reverse. poverty has made them selfish, as it has made many a white man. all are honest to a degree unusual among savages. when major abasa traveled among them in the winter of 1865, they sometimes refused compensation for their services, and were scrupulously careful to guard the property of their guests. once the major purposely left some trivial articles. the next day a native brought them forward, and was greatly astonished when pay was offered for his trouble. "this is your property," was the response; "we could not keep it in our tents, and it was our duty to bring it to you." the wandering koriaks estimate property in deer as our indians count in horses. it is only among the thousands that wealth is eminently respectable. some koriaks own ten or twelve thousand deer, and one fortunate native is the possessor of forty thousand in his own name, (o-gik-a-mu-tik.) though the wealthiest of his tribe, he does not drive fast horses, and never aspired to a seat in congress. how much he has missed of real life! reindeer form the circulating medium, and all values are expressed in this four-footed currency. the animal supplies nearly every want. they eat his meat and pick his bones, and not only devour the meat, but the stomach, entrails, and their contents. when they stew the mass of meat and half digested moss, the stench is disgusting. captain kennan told me that when he arrived among the koriaks the peculiar odor made him ill, and he slept out of doors with the thermometer at -35â° rather than enter a tent where cooking was in progress. [illustration: koriak yourt.] the koriaks build their summer dwellings of light poles covered with skin, or bark. their winter habitations are of logs covered with earth and partly sunk into the ground, the crevices being filled with moss. the summer dwellings are called _balagans_, and the winter ones _yourts_, but the latter name is generally applied to both. a winter yourt has a hole in the top, which serves for both chimney and door. the ladder for the descent is a hewn stick, with holes for one's feet, and leans directly over the fire. whatever the outside temperature, the yourt is suffocatingly hot within, and no fresh air can enter except through the top. when a large fire is burning and a thick volume of smoke pours out, the descent is very disagreeable. russians and other white men, even after long practice, never attempt it without a shudder. the yourt is generally circular or oblong, and its size is proportioned to the family of the owner. the fire is in the center, and the sleeping apartments are ranged around the walls. these apartments, called 'polags,' are about six feet square and four or five high, partitioned with light poles and skin curtains. owing to the high temperature the natives sleep entirely naked. sometimes in the coldest nights their clothing is hung out of doors to rid it of certain parasites not unknown in civilization. benumbed with, frost, the insects lose their hold and fall into the snow, to the great comfort of those who nursed and fed them. the body of a koriak, considered as a microcosm, is remarkably well inhabited. captain kennan gave me a graphic description of the koriak marriage ceremonial. the lover must labor for the loved one's father, not less than one nor more than five years. no courtship is allowed during this period, and the young man must run the risk of his love being returned. the term of service is fixed by agreement between the stern parent and the youth. at an appointed day the family and friends are assembled in a yourt, the old women being bridesmaids. the bride is placed in one polag and the bridegroom in the next. at a given signal a race commences, the bride leading. each must enter every polag, and the man must catch his prize in a specified way before she makes the circuit of the yourt. the bridesmaids, armed with long switches, offer every assistance to the woman and equal hindrance to the man. for her they lift the curtains of the polags, but hold them down against her pursuer and pound him with their switches. unless she stops voluntarily it is utterly impossible to overtake her within the circuit. if she is not overtaken the engagement is 'off,' and the man must retire or serve again for the privilege of another love chase. generally the pursuit is successful; the lover doubtless knows the temper of the lovee before becoming her father's apprentice. but coquettes are not unknown in koriakdom, and the pursuing youths are sometimes left in the lurch--or the polags. should the lover overtake the maiden, before making the circuit, both remain seven days and nights in a polag. their food is given them under the curtain during that period, and they cannot emerge for any purpose whatever. the bridesmaids then perform a brief but touching ceremonial, and the twain are pronounced one flesh. northeast of ghijiga is the country of the chukchees, a people formerly hostile to the koriaks. the feuds are not entirely settled, but the ill feeling has diminished and both parties maintain a dignified reserve. the chukchees are hunters and traders, and have large herds of reindeer but very few dogs. they are the most warlike of these northern races, and long held the russians at bay. they go far from shore with their _baydaras_, or seal skin boats, visiting islands along the coast, and frequently crossing to north america. their voyages are of a mercantile character, the chukchee buying at the russian towns and selling his goods among the esquimaux. at ghijiga i made a short voyage in a baydara. the frame appeared very fragile, and the seal skin covering displayed several leaks. i was unwilling to risk myself twenty feet from land, but after putting me ashore the koriak boatman pulled fearlessly into the bay. the chukchee trader has a crew of his own race to paddle his light canoe. occasionally the baydaras are caught in storms and must be lightened. i have the authority of major abasa that in such case the merchant keeps his cargo and throws overboard his crew. goods and furs are costly, but men are cheap and easily replaced. the crew is entirely reconciled to the state of affairs, and drowns itself with that resignation known only to pagans. "but," i asked, "do not the men object to this kind of jettison?" "i believe not," was the major's reply; "they are only discharging their duty to their employer. they go over the side just as they would step from an over-laden sledge." [illustration: discharging a deck load.] i next inquired if the trader did not first throw out the men to whom he was most indebted, but could not obtain information on that point. it is probable that with an eye to business he disposes promptly of his creditors and keeps debtors to the last. what a magnificent system of squaring accounts! the chukchees have mingled much with whalemen along anadyr bay and the arctic ocean, and readily adopt the white man's vices. they drink whisky without fear, and will get very drunk if permitted. when captain macrae's telegraph party landed at the mouth of the anadyr the natives supposed the provision barrels were full of whisky, and became very importunate for something to drink. the captain made a mixture of red pepper and vinegar, which he palmed off as the desired article. all were pleased with it, and the hotter it was the better. one native complained that its great heat burned the skin from his throat before he could swallow enough to secure intoxication. the fame of this whisky was wide-spread. captain kennan said he heard at anadyrsk and elsewhere of its wonderful strength, and was greatly amused when he arrived at macrae's and heard the whole story. many of these natives have learned english from whalemen and speak enough to be understood. gov. bilzukavitch visited anadyrsk in the spring of 1866, and met there a chukchee chief. neither spoke the other's language, and so the governor called his koriak servant. the same dilemma occurred, as each was ignorant of the other's vernacular. there was an awkward pause until it was discovered that both koriak and chukchee could speak english. business then proceeded without difficulty. [illustration: reindeer ride.] among the chukchees a deer can be purchased for a pound of tobacco, but the price increases as one travels southward. with the koriaks it is four or five roubles, at ohotsk ten or fifteen, and on the banks of the amoor not often less than fifty. south of the amoor the reindeer is not a native. i am inclined to discredit marry stories of the wonderful swiftness of this animal. he sometimes performs remarkable journeys, but ordinarily he is outstripped by a good dog team. reindeer have the advantage of finding their food under the snow, while provision for dogs must be carried on the sledge. when turned out in winter, the deer digs beneath the snow and seeks his food without troubling his master. the american sailors when they have liberty on shore in these northern regions, invariably indulge in reindeer rides, to the disgust of the animals and their owners. the deer generally comes to a halt in the first twenty yards, and nothing less than building a fire beneath him can move him from his tracks. there is a peculiar mushroom in northeastern siberia spotted like a leopard and surmounted with a small hood. it grows in other parts of russia, where it is poisonous, but among the koriaks it is simply intoxicating. when one finds a mushroom of this kind he can sell it for three or four reindeer. so powerful is this fungus that the fortunate native who eats it remains drunk for several days. by a process of transmission which i will not describe, as it might offend fastidious persons, half a dozen individuals may successively enjoy the effects of a single mushroom, each of them in a less degree than his predecessor. like savages every where, these northern natives are greatly pleased with pictures and study them attentively. i heard that several copies of american illustrated papers were circulating among the chukchees, who handled them with great care. there is a superstitious reverence for pictures mingled with childlike curiosity. people possessing no written language find the pictorial representations of the civilized world the nearest approach to savage hieroglyphics. the telegraph was an object of great wonder to all the natives. in ghijiga a few hundred yards of wire were put up in the spring of 1866. crowds gathered to see the curiosity, and many messages were exchanged to prove that the machine really spoke. at anadyrsk captain kennan arranged a small battery and held in his pocket the key that controlled the circuit. then the marvel began. the instrument told when persons entered or left the room, when any thing was taken from the table without permission, or any impropriety committed. even covered with a piece of deer skin, it could see distinctly. with the human tendency to ascribe to the devil anything not understood, these natives looked upon the telegraph as supernatural. as it showed no desire to harm them, they exhibited no fear but abundance of respect. the chukchees and koriaks are creditable workers in metals and ivory. i saw animal representations rudely but well cut in ivory, and spear-heads that would do credit to any blacksmith. their hunting knives, made from hoop-iron, are well fashioned, and some of the handles are tastefully inlaid with copper, brass, and silver. in trimming their garments they are very skillful, and cut bits of deerskin into various fantastic shapes. at ghijiga i bought a kotlanka, intending to wear it in my winter travel. its sleeves were purposely very long, and the hood had a wide fringe of dogskin to shield the face. i could never put the thing on with ease, and ultimately sold it to a curiosity hunter. gloves and mittens, lined with squirrel skin, are made at ghijiga, and worn in all the region within a thousand miles. a great hindrance to winter travel in northeastern siberia is the prevalence of _poorgas_, or snow storms with wind. on the bleak tundras where there is no shelter, the poorgas sweep with pitiless severity. some last but a few hours, with the thermometer ten or twenty degrees below zero. sometimes the wind takes up whole masses of snow and forms drifts several feet deep in a few moments. travelers, dogs, and sledges are frequently buried out of sight, and remain in the snow till the storm is over. dogs begin to howl at the approach of a poorga, long before men can see any indication of it. they display a tendency to burrow in the snow if the wind is cold and violent. poorgas do not occur at regular intervals, but are most prevalent in february and march. a few years ago a party of koriaks crossing the great tundra north of kamchatka encountered a severe storm. it was of unusual violence, and soon compelled a halt. dogs and men burrowed into the snow to wait the end of the gale. unfortunately they halted in a wide hollow that, unperceived by the party, filled with a deep drift. the snow contains so much air that it is not difficult to breathe in it at a considerable depth, and the accumulation of a few feet is not alarming. hour after hour passed, and the place grew darker, till two men of the party thought it well to look outside. digging to the surface, the depth proved much greater than expected. quite exhausted with their labor, they gained the open air, and found the storm had not ceased. alarmed for their companions they tried to reach them, but the hole where they ascended was completely filled. the snow drifted rapidly, and they were obliged to change their position often to keep near the surface. when the poorga ended they estimated it had left fifty feet of snow in that spot. again endeavoring to rescue their companions, and in their weak condition finding it impossible, they sought the nearest camp. in the following summer the remains of men and dogs were found where the melting snow left them. they had huddled close together, and probably perished from suffocation. [illustration: tail piece, reindeer] chapter viii. we remained four days at ghijiga and then sailed for ohotsk. for two days we steamed to get well out of the bay, and then stopped the engines aird depended upon canvas. a boy who once offered a dog for sale was asked the breed of the pup. "he _was_ a pointer," replied the youth; "but father cut off his ears and tail last week and made a bull-dog of him." lowering the chimney and hoisting the screw, the yariag became a sailing ship, though her steaming propensities remained, just as the artificial bull-dog undoubtedly retained the pointer instinct. the ship had an advantage over the animal in her ability to resume her old character at pleasure. on the fourth day, during a calm, we were surrounded by sea-gulls like those near san francisco. we made deep sea soundings and obtained specimens of the bottom from depths of two or three hundred fathoms. near the entrance of ghijiga bay we brought up coral from eighty fathoms of water, and refuted the theory that coral grows only in the tropics and at a depth of less than two hundred feet. the specimens were both white and red, resembling the moss-like sprigs often seen in museums. the temperature of the water was 47â° fahrenheit. captain lund told me coral had been found in the ohotsk sea in latitude 55â° in a bed of considerable extent. every day when calm we made soundings, which were carefully recorded for the use of russian chart makers. once we found that the temperature of the bottom at a depth of two hundred fathoms, was at the freezing point of water. the doctor proposed that a bottle of champagne should be cooled in the marine refrigerator. the bottle was attached to the lead and thrown overboard. "i send champagne to neptune," said the doctor. "he drink him and he be happy." when the lead returned to the surface it came alone. neptune drank the champagne and retained the bottle as a souvenir. one day the sailors caught a gull and painted it red. when the bird was released he greatly alarmed his companions, and as long as we could see them, they shunned his society. at least eighty miles from land we had a dozen sparrows around us at once. a small hawk seized one of these birds and seated himself on a spar for the purpose of breakfasting. a fowling piece brought him to the deck, where we examined and pronounced him of the genus _falco_, species _nisus_, or in plain english, a sparrow hawk. during the day we saw three varieties of small birds, one of them resembling the american robin. the sailors caught two in their hands, and released them without injury. approaching ohotsk a fog bank shut out the land for an hour or two, and when it lifted we discovered the harbor. a small sand-bar intervened between the ocean and the town, but did not intercept the view. as at petropavlovsk, the church was the most prominent object and formed an excellent landmark. with my glass i surveyed the line of coast where the surf was breaking, but was long unable to discover an entering place. the ohota river is the only harbor, and entirely inaccessible to a ship like the variag. descending the ship's side after we anchored, i jumped when the boat was falling and went down five or six feet before alighting. both hands were blistered as the gang-way ropes passed through them. keeping the beacons carefully in line, we rolled over the bar on the top of a high wave, and then followed the river channel to the landing. many years ago ohotsk was the most important russian port on the waters leading to the pacific. supplies for kamchatka and russian america were brought overland from yakutsk and shipped to petropavlovsk, sitka, and other points under russian control. many ships for the pacific ocean and ohotsk sea were built there. i was shown the spot where bering's vessel was constructed, with its cordage and extra sails of deerskin, and its caulking of moss. billings' expedition in a ship called russia's glory, was organized here for an exploration of the arctic ocean. at one time the government had foundries and workshops at ohotsk. the shallowness of water on the bar was a great disadvantage, as ships drawing more than twelve feet were unable to enter. twenty years ago the government abandoned ohotsk for ayan, and when the amoor was opened it gave up the latter place. the population, formerly exceeding two thousand, is now less than two hundred. we landed on a gravelly beach, where we were met by a crowd of cossacks and "lamuti." the almond-shaped eyes and high cheek bones of the latter betray their mongolian origin. as i walked among them each hailed me with _sdrastveteh_, the russian for 'good-morning.' i endeavored to reply with the same word, but my pronunciation was far from accurate. near these natives there were several yakuts and tunguze, with physiognomies unlike the others. the russian empire contains more races of men than any rival government, and we frequently find the population of a single locality made up from two or more branches of the human family. in this little town with not more than ten or twelve dozens of inhabitants, there were representatives of the slavonic, the tartar, and the mongolian races. we found captain mahood, of the telegraph service, in a quiet residence, where he had passed the summer in comparitive idleness. he had devoted himself to exploring the country around ohotsk and studying the russian language. "we don't expect to starve at present," said the captain; "providence sends us fish, the emperor sends us flour, and the merchants furnish tea and sugar. we have lived so long on a simple bill of fare that we are almost unfitted for any other." we had a lunch of dried fish, tea, whisky, and cigars, and soon after went to take tea at a house where most of the variag's officers were assembled. the house was the property of three brothers, who conducted the entire commerce of ohotsk. the floor of the room where we were feasted was of hewn plank, fastened with enormous nails, and appeared able to resist anything short of an earthquake. the windows were double to keep out the winter's cold, but on that occasion they displayed a profusion of flower pots. the walls were papered, and many pictures were hung upon them. every part of the room was scrupulously clean. [illustration: wagon ride with dogs.] three ladies were seated on a sofa, and a fourth occupied a chair near them. the three were the wives of the merchant brothers, and the fourth a visiting friend. one with black eyes and hair was dressed tastefully and even elaborately. the eldest, who acted as hostess, was in black, and her case in receiving visitors would have done credit to a society dame in st. petersburg. by way of commencement we had tea and _nalifka_, the latter a kind of currant wine of local manufacture and very well flavored. they gave us corned beef and bread, each person taking his plate upon his knee as at an american pic-nic, and after two or three courses of edibles we had coffee and cigarettes, the latter from a manufactory at yakutsk. according to russian etiquette each of us thanked the hostess for her courtesy. out in the broad street there were many dogs lying idle in the sunshine or biting each other. a small wagon with a team of nine dogs carried a quantity of tea and sugar from the variag's boats to a warehouse. when the work was finished i took a ride on the wagon, and was carried at good speed. i enjoyed the excursion until the vehicle upset and left me sprawling on the gravel with two or three bruises and a prejudice against that kind of traveling. by the time i gained my feet the dogs were disappearing in the distance, and fairly running away from the driver. possibly they are running yet. an old weather beaten church and equally old barracks are near each other, an appropriate arrangement in a country where church and state are united. the military garrison includes thirty cossacks, who are under the orders of the ispravnik. they row the pilot boat when needed, travel on courier or other service, guard the warehouses, and when not wanted by government labor and get drunk for themselves. the governor was a native of poland, and it struck me as a curious fact that the ispravniks of kamchatka, ghijiga, and ohotsk were poles. cows and dogs are the only stock maintained at ohotsk. the former live on grass in summer, and on hay and fish in whiter. though repeatedly told that cows and horses in northeastern siberia would eat dried fish with avidity, i was inclined to skepticism. captain mahood told me he had seen them eating fish in winter and appearing to thrive on it. what was more singular, he had seen a cow eating fresh salmon in summer when the hills were covered with grass. there is a story that cuvier in a fit of illness, once imagined his satanic majesty standing before him. "ah!" said the great naturalist, "horns, hoofs; graniverous; needn't fear him." i wonder if cuvier knew the taste of the cows at ohotsk? no ship had visited ohotsk for nearly a year before our arrival, though half a dozen whalers had passed in sight. a steamer goes annually from the amoor with a supply of flour and salt on government account. the mail comes once a year, so that the postmaster has very little to do for three hundred and sixty-four days. sometimes the mail misses, and then people must wait another twelvemonth for their letters. what a nice residence it would be for a young man whose sweetheart at a distance writes him every day. he would get three hundred and sixty-five letters at once, and in the case of a missing mail, seven hundred and thirty of them. [illustration: yearly mail.] bears are quite numerous around ohotsk, and their dispositions do not savor of gentleness. only a few days before our visit a native was partly devoured within two miles of town. many of the dogs are shrewd enough to catch their own fish, but have not learned how to cure them for winter use. when at ohotsk i went to the bank of the river as the tide was coming in, and watched the dogs at their work. wading on the sand bars and mud flats till the water was almost over their backs, they stood like statues for several minutes. waiting till a salmon was fairly within reach, a dog would snap at him with such accuracy of aim that he rarely missed. i kept my eye on a shaggy brute that stood with little more than his head out of water. his eyes were in a fixed position, and for twelve or fifteen minutes he did not move a muscle. suddenly his head disappeared, and after a brief struggle he came to shore with a ten-pound salmon in his jaws. none of the cows are skilled in salmon catching. [illustration: dogs fishing.] two or three years ago a mail carrier from ayan to yakutsk was visited by a bear during a night halt. the mail bag was lying by a tree a few steps from the cossack, and near the bank of a brook. the bear seized and opened the pouch, regardless of the government seal on the outside. after turning the letter package several times in his paws, he tossed it into the brook. the cossack discharged his pistol to frighten the bear, and then fished the letters from the water. it is proper to say the package was addressed to an officer somewhat famous for his bear-hunting proclivities. when we left ohotsk at the close of day, we took captain mahood and the governor to dine with us, and when our guests departed we hoisted anchor and steamed away. captain lund burned a blue light as a farewell signal, and we could see an answering fire on shore. our course lay directly southward, and when our light was extinguished we were barely visible through the distance and gloom. "but true to our course, though our shadow grow dark, we'll trim our broad sail as before; and stand by the rudder that governs the bark, nor ask how we look from the shore." chapter ix. on the ohotsk sea we had calms with light winds, and made very slow progress. one day while the men were exercising at the guns, the look out reported a sail. we were just crossing the course from ayan to ghijiga, and were in the danzig's track. the strange vessel shortened sail and stood to meet us, and before long we were satisfied it was our old acquaintance. at sunset we were several miles apart and nearing very slowly. the night was one of the finest i ever witnessed at sea; the moon full and not a cloud visible, and the wind carrying us four or five miles an hour. the brig was lying to, and we passed close under her stern, shortening our sail as we approached her. everybody was on deck and curious to learn the news. "sdrastveteh," shouted captain lund when we were in hearing distance. "sdrastveteh," responded the clear voice of phillipeus; and then followed the history of the danzig's voyage. "we had a good voyage to ayan, and staid there four days. we are five days out, and passed through a heavy gale on the second day. going to ghijiga." then we replied with the story of our cruise and asked for news from europe. "war in progress. france and austria against prussia, italy, and russia. no particulars." by this time the ships were separated and our conversation ended. it was conducted in russian, but i knew enough of the language to comprehend what was said. there was a universal "eh!" of astonishment as the important sentence was completed. here were momentous tidings; france and russia taking part in a war that was not begun when i left america. a french fleet was in japanese waters and might be watching for us. it had two ships, either of them stronger than the variag. as the danzig disappeared we went below. "i hoped to go home at the end of this voyage," said the captain as we seated around his table; "but we must now remain in the pacific. war has come and may give us glory or the grave; possibly both." for an hour we discussed the intelligence and the probabilities of its truth. as we separated, captain lund repeated with emphasis his opinion that the news was false. "i do not believe it," said he; "but i must prepare for any emergency." in the wardroom the officers were exultant over the prospect of promotion and prize money. the next day the men were exercised at the guns, and for the rest of the voyage they could not complain of ennui. the deck was cleared of all superfluous rubbish, and we were ready for a battle. the shotted case for the signal books was made ready, and other little preparations attended to. i seemed carried back to my days of war, and had vivid recollections of being stormed at with shot and shell. from ohotsk to the mouth of the amoor is a direct course of about four hundred miles. a light draught steamer would have made short work of it, but we drew too much water to enter the northern passage. so we were forced to sail through la perouse straits and up the gulf of tartary to de castries bay. the voyage was more than twelve hundred miles in length, and had several turnings. it was like going from new york to philadelphia through harrisburg, or from paris to london through brussels and edinboro'. a good wind came to our relief and took us rapidly through la perouse straits. there is a high rock in the middle of the passage covered with sea-lions, like those near san francisco. in nearly all weather the roaring of these creatures can be heard, and is a very good substitute for a fog-bell. i am not aware that any government allows a subsidy to the sea-lions. we saw the northern coast of japan and the southern end of sakhalin, both faint and shadowy in the fog and distance. the wind freshened to a gale, and we made twelve knots an hour under double reefed mainsails and topsails. in the narrow straits we escaped the heavy waves encountered at sea in a similar breeze. turning at right angles in the gulf of tartary, we began to roll until walking was no easy matter. the wind abated so that by night we shook out our reefs and spread the royals and to'gallant sails to keep up our speed. as we approached de castries the question of war was again discussed. "if i find only one french ship there," said the captain, "i shall proceed. if there are two i cannot fight them, and must run to san francisco or some other neutral port." just then san francisco was the last place i desired to visit, but i knew i must abide the fortunes of war. we talked of the possibility of convincing a french captain that we were engaged in an international enterprise, and therefore not subject to capture. anossoff joined me in arranging a plan to cover contingencies. as we approached de castries we could see the spars of a large ship over the islands at the entrance of the harbor. a moment later she was announced. "a corvette, with steam up." she displayed her flag--an english one. as we dropped anchor in the harbor a boat came to us, and an officer mounted the side and descended to the cabin. the ship proved to be the british corvette scylla, just ready to sail for japan. escaping her we did not encounter charybdis. the mission of the scylla was entirely pacific, and her officer informed us there had been war between prussia and austria, but at last accounts all europe was at peace. the war of 1866 was finished long before i knew of its commencement. de castries bay is on the gulf of tartary, a hundred and thirty-five miles from nicolayevsk. la perouse discovered and surveyed it in 1787, and named it in honor of the french minister of marine. it is in lat. 51â° 28' n., lon. 140â° 49' e., and affords good and safe anchorage. near the entrance are several islands, which protect ships anchored behind them. the largest of these islands is occupied as a warehouse and coal depot, and has an observatory and signal station visible from the gulf. the town is small, containing altogether less than fifty buildings. it is a kind of ocean port to nicolayevsk and the amoor river, but the settlement was never a flourishing one. twelve miles from the landing is the end of lake keezee, which opens into the amoor a hundred and fifty miles from its mouth. it was formerly the custom to send couriers by way of lake keezee and the amoor to nicolayevsk to notify consigners and officials of the arrival of ships. now the telegraph is in operation and supercedes the courier. in 1855 an english fleet visited de castries in pursuit of some russian vessels known to have ascended the gulf. when the fleet came in sight there were four russian ships in port, and a few shots were exchanged, none of them taking effect. during a heavy fog in the following night and day the russians escaped and ascended the straits of tartary toward the amoor. the aurora, the largest of these ships, threw away her guns, anchors, and every heavy article, and succeeded in entering the amoor. the english lay near de castries, and could not understand where the russians had gone, as the southern entrance of the amoor was then unknown to geographers. we reached this port on the morning of september eleventh. the variag could go no further owing to her draft of water, but fortunately the morje, a gunboat of the siberian fleet, was to sail for nicolayevsk at noon, and we were happily disappointed in our expectations of waiting several days at de castries. about eleven o'clock i left the variag and accompanied captain lund, the doctor, and mr. anassoff into the boat dancing at the side ladder. half an hour after we boarded the morje she was under way, and we saw the officers and men of the corvette waving us farewell. the morje drew eight feet of water, and was admirably adapted to the sea coast service. there were several vessels of this class in the siberian fleet, and their special duty was to visit the ports of kamchatka, north eastern siberia, and manjouria, and act as tow boats along the straits of tartary. the officers commanding them are sent from russia, and generally remain ten years in this service. at the end of that time, if they wish to retire they can do so and receive half-pay for the rest of their lives. this privilege is not granted to officers in other squadrons, and is given on the siberian station in consequence of the severer duties and the distance from the centers of civilization. in its military service the government makes inducements of pay and promotion to young officers who go to siberia. i frequently met officers who told me they had sought appointments in the asiatic department in preference to any other. the pay and allowances are better than in european russia, promotion is more rapid, and the necessities of life are generally less costly. duties are more onerous and privations are greater, but these drawbacks are of little consequence to an enterprising and ambitious soldier. the morje had no accommodations for passengers, and the addition to her complement was something serious. captain lund, the doctor, mr. anassoff, and myself were guests of her captain. the cabin was given to us to arrange as best we could. my proposal to sleep under the table was laughed at as impracticable. i knew what i was about, having done the same thing years before on mississippi steamers. when you must sleep on the floor where people may walk about, always get under the table if possible. you run less risk of receiving boot heels in your mouth and eyes, and whole acres of brogans in your ribs. the navigation of the straits of tartary is very intricate, the water being shallow and the channel tortuous. from de castries to cape catherine there is no difficulty, but beyond the cape the channel winds like the course of the ohio, and at many points bends quite abruptly. the government has surveyed and buoyed it with considerable care, so that a good pilot can take a light draught steamer from de castries to nicolayevsk in twelve or fifteen hours. sailing ships are greatly retarded by head winds and calms, and often spend weeks on the voyage. in 1857 major collins was nineteen days on the barque bering from one of these ports to the other. [illustration: teachings of experience.] in the straits we passed four vessels, one of them thirty days from de castries and only half through the worst of the passage. the water shoals so rapidly in some places that it is necessary to sound on both sides of the ship at once. vessels drawing less than ten feet can pass to the ohotsk sea around the northern end of sakhalin island, but the channel is even more crooked than the southern one. we anchored at sunset, and did not move till daybreak. at the hour of sunset, on this vessel as on the corvette, we had the evening chant of the service of the eastern church. while it was in progress a sentinel on duty over the cabin held his musket in his left hand and made the sign of the cross with his right. soldier and christian at the same moment, he observed the outward ceremonial of both. the crew, with uncovered beads, stood upon the deck and chanted the prayer. as the prayer was uttered the national flag, lowered from the mast, seemed, like those beneath it, to bow in adoration of the being who holds the waters in the hollow of his hand, and guides and controls the universe. while passing the straits of tartary we observed a mirage of great beauty, that pictured the shores of sakhalin like a tropical scene. we seemed to distinguish cocoa and palm trees, dark forests and waving fields of cane, along the rocky shores, that were really below the horizon. then there were castles, with lofty walls and frowning battlements, cloud-capped towers, gorgeous palaces, and solemn temples, rising among the fields and forests, and overarched with curious combinations of rainbow hues. the mirage frequently occurs in this region, but i was told it rarely attained such beauty as on that occasion. sakhalin island, which separates the gulf of tartary from the ohotsk sea, extends through nine degrees of latitude and belongs partly to russia and partly to japan. the japanese have settlements in the southern portion, engaging in trade with the natives and catching and curing fish. the natives are of tunguze origin, like those of the lower amoor, and subsist mainly upon fish. the russians have settlements at cape dui, where there is excellent coal in veins eighteen feet thick and quite near the coast. russia desired the entire island, but the japanese positively refuse to negotiate. some years ago the siberian authorities established a colony near the southern extremity, but its existence was brief. at three o'clock in the afternoon of september eleventh we entered the mouth of the amoor, the great river of asiatic russia. the entrance is between two capes or headlands, seven miles apart and two or three hundred feet high. the southern one, near which we passed, is called cape pronge, and has a gilyak village at its base. below this cape the hills border the gulf and frequently show precipitous sides. the shallow water at their base renders the land undesirable for settlement. the timber is small and indicates the severity of the cold seasons. in their narrowest part the straits are eight miles wide and frozen in winter. the natives have a secure bridge of ice for at least four months of the year. de castries bay is generally filled with ice and unsafe for vessels from october to march. from the time we entered the gulf of tartary the water changed its color, growing steadily dirtier until we reached the amoor. at the mouth of the river i found it a weak tea complexion, like the ohio at its middle stage, and was told that it varied through all the shades common to rivers according to its height and the circumstances of season. i doubt if it ever assumes the hue of the missouri or the sacramento, though it is by no means impossible. passing cape pronge and looking up the river, a background of hills and mountains made a fine landscape with beautiful lights and shadows from the afternoon sun. the channel is marked with stakes and buoys and with beacons along the shore. the pilots when steering frequently turned their backs to the bow of the steamer and watched the beacons over the stern. as we approached nicolayevsk there was a mirage that made the ships in port appear as if anchored in the town itself. we passed chinyrack, the fortress that guards the river, and is surrounded, as if for concealment, with a grove of trees. along the bank above chinyrack there are warehouses of various kinds, all belonging to government. soon after dark we anchored before the town, and below several other vessels. my sea travel was ended till i should reach atlantic waters. chapter x. at nicolayevsk it is half a mile from the anchorage to the shore. a sand spit projects from the lower end of the town and furnishes a site for government workshops and foundries. above this tongue of land the water is shallow and allows only light draft and flat bottomed boats to come to the piers. all sea-going vessels remain, in midstream, where they are discharged by lighters. there is deeper water both above and below the town, and i was told that a change of site had been meditated. the selection of the spot where nicolayevsk stands was owing to the advantages of the sand spit as a protection to river boats. after dining on the morje we went on shore, and landed at a flight of wooden steps in the side of a pier. the piers of nicolayevsk are constructed with 'cribs' about twenty feet apart and strong timbers connecting them. the flooring was about six feet above water, and wide enough for two teams to pass. turning to the left at the end of the pier, we found a plank sidewalk ascending a sloping road in the hillside. the pier reminded me of boston or new york, but it lacked the huge warehouses and cheerful hackmen to render the similarity complete. "this is natchez, mississippi," i said as we moved up the hill, "and this is cairo, illinois," as my feet struck the plank sidewalk. the sloping road came to an end sooner than at natchez, and the sidewalk did not reveal any pitfalls like those in cairo a few years ago. the bluff where the city stands is about fifty feet high, and the ascent of the road so gentle that one must be very weak to find it fatiguing. the officers who came on shore with me went to the club rooms to pass the evening. i sought the residence of mr. h.g.o. chase, the commercial agent of the united states, and representative of the house of boardman. i found him living very comfortably in bachelor quarters that contained a library and other luxuries of civilization. in his sitting-room there was a map of the russian empire and one of boston, and there were lithographs and steel engravings, exhibiting the good taste of the owner. rising early the next morning, i began a study of the town. nicolayevsk was founded in 1853 in the interest of the russian government, but nominally as a trading post of the russian american company. very soon it became a military post, and its importance increased with the commencement of hostilities between russia and the western powers in 1854. foundries were established, fortifications built, warehouses erected, and docks laid out from time to time, until the place has attained a respectable size. its population in 1866 was about five thousand, with plenty of houses for all residents. nicolayevsk is emphatically a government town, five-sixths of the inhabitants being directly or indirectly in the emperor's employ. "what is this building?" i asked, pointing to a neat house on the principal street. "the residence of the admiral," was the reply. "and this?" "that is the chancellerie." "and this?" "the office of the captain of the port." so i questioned till three-fourths the larger and better establishments had been indicated. nearly all were in some way connected with government. many of the inhabitants are employed in the machine shops, others in the arsenals and warehouses, and a goodly number engage in soldiering. the multitude of whisky shops induces the belief that the verb 'to soldier' is conjugated in all its moods and tenses. the best part of the town is along its front, where there is a wide and well made street called 'the prospect.' the best houses are on the prospect, and include the residences of the chief officials and the merchants. on the back streets is the '_slobodka_,' or poorer part of the town. here the laborers of every kind have their dwellings, and here the _lafka_ is most to be found. lafkas are chiefly devoted to liquor selling, and are as numerous in proportion to the population as beer-shops in chicago. i explored the '_slobodka_,' but did not find it attractive. dogs were as plentiful and as dubious in breed and character as in the sixth ward or near castle garden. the church occupies a prominent position in the foreground of the town, and, like nearly all edifices at nicolayevsk, is built of logs. back of it is the chancellerie, or military and civil office, with a flag-staff and semaphore for signalling vessels in the harbor. of other public buildings i might name the naval office, police office, telegraph house, and a dozen others. on the morning after my arrival i called on admiral fulyelm, the governor of the maritime provinces of eastern siberia. the region he controls includes kamchatka and all the seacoast down to corea, and has an area of nearly seven hundred and fifty thousand square miles. he had been only a few months in command, and was busily at work regulating his department. he spoke english fluently, and was well acquainted with america and american affairs. during my voyage on the variag i heard much of the charming manners of madame fulyelm, and regretted to learn she was spending the summer in the country. the machine shops, foundries, and dock-yard are described in russian by the single word 'port.' i visited the port of nicolayevsk and found it more extensive than one might expect in this new region. there were machines for rolling, planing, cutting, casting, drilling, hammering, punching, and otherwise treating and maltreating iron. there were shops for sawing, planing, polishing, turning, and twisting all sorts of wood, and there were other shops where copper and brass could take any coppery or brassy shape desired. to sum up the port in a few words, its managers can make or repair marine and other engines, and produce any desired woodwork for house building or ship repairing. they build ships and equip them with machinery ready for sea. the establishment is under the direct supervision of mr. woods, an american citizen of scotch birth. mr. elliott, a massachusetts yankee, and mr. laney, an englishman, are connected with the affair. mr. elliott had become a permanent fixture by marrying a russian woman and purchasing a commodious house. the three men appeared to take great pride in what they had accomplished in perfecting the port. it was a little curious to see at the mouth of the amoor a steam fire engine from the amoskeag works at manchester, n.h. the engine was labelled 'amoor' in russian characters, and appeared to be well treated. a house was assigned it, and watchmen were constantly on duty. the whole town being of wood it is highly important that the engine should act promptly in case of fire. the supply of hose was ample for all emergencies. several heavy guns were shown me, which were hauled overland from the ural mountains during the crimean war and brought in boats down the amoor. the expense of transporting them must have been enormous, their journey by roads to the head of the river being fully three thousand miles. i spent a morning with mr. chase in calling upon several foreign merchants and their families. the most prominent of the merchants is mr. ludorf, a german, who went there in 1856, and has transacted a heavy business on the amoor and in japan and china. mrs. ludorf followed her husband in 1858, and was the first foreign lady to enter nicolayevsk. the most interesting topic to mr. chase and the ladies was that of cooks. within two weeks there had been much trouble with the _chefs de cuisine_, and every housekeeper was in deep grief. servants are the universal discomfort from the banks of the hudson to those of the amoor. man to be happy must return to the primitive stages of society before cooks and housemaids were invented. the hills around nicolayevsk are covered with forests of small pines. timber for house building purposes is rafted from points on the amoor where trees are larger. formerly the town was in the midst of a forest, but the vicinity is now pretty well cleared. going back from the river, the streets begin grandly, and promise a great deal they do not perform. for one or two squares they are good, the third square is passable, the fourth is full of stumps, and when you reach the fifth and sixth, there is little street to be found. i never saw a better illustration of the road that commenced with a double row of shade trees, and steadily diminished in character until it became a squirrel-track and ran up a tree. there is very little agriculture in the vicinity, the soil and climate being unfavorable. the chief supply of vegetables comes from the settlements on the south bank of the river up to lake keezee, and along the shores of the lake. all the ordinary garden vegetables are raised, and in some localities they attain goodly size. every morning there was a lively scene at the river's edge in front of the town. peasants from the farming settlements were there with articles for sale, and a vigorous chaffering was in progress. there were soldiers in grey coats, sailors from the ships in the harbor, laborers in clothing more or less shabby, and a fair sprinkling of aboriginals. to an american freshly arrived the natives were quite a study. they were of the mongol type, their complexions dark, hair black, eyes obliquely set, noses flat, and cheek bones high. most of them had the hair plaited in a queue after the chinese fashion. some wore boots of untanned skin, and a few had adopted those of russian make. they generally wear blouses or frocks after the chinese pattern, and the most of them could be readily taken for shabby celestials. their hats were of two kinds, some of felt and turned up at the sides, and others of decorated birch bark shaped like a parasol. these hats were an excellent protection against sun and rain, but could hardly be trusted in a high wind. all these men were inveterate smokers, and carried their pipes and tobacco pouches at their waists. most had sheath knives attached to belts, and some carried flint, steel, and tinder. they formed picturesque groups, some talking with purchasers and others collected around fires or near their piles of fish. [illustration: boat load of salmon.] as i stood on the bank, a gilyak boat came near me with a full cargo of salmon. the boat was built very high at bow and stern, and its bottom was a single plank, greatly curved. it was propelled by a woman manipulating a pair of oars with blades shaped like spoon-bowls, beaten flat, which she pulled alternately with a kind of 'hand-over-hand' process. this mode of rowing is universal among the gilyaks, but does not prevail with other natives along the amoor. whenever i approached a group of gilyaks i was promptly hailed with _'reba! reba!'_ (fish! fish!) i shook my head and uttered _nierte_ (no,) and our conversation ceased. the salmon were in piles along the shore or lying in the native boats. fishing was not a monopoly of the gilyaks, as i saw several russians engaged in the business. they appeared on the best terms with their aboriginal neighbors. salmon are abundant in the amoor and as much a necessity of life as in northern siberia. they are not as good as in kamchatka, and i believe it is the rule that the salmon deteriorates as one goes toward the south. possibly the quality of the amoor salmon is owing to the time the fish remain in the brackish waters of the straits of tartary. the fishing season is the only busy portion of the year with the natives. [illustration: an effective protest.] the town is supplied with water by carts like those used in many places along our western rivers. for convenience in filling the driver goes into the stream until the water is pretty well up his horse's sides. a bucket attached to a long handle is used for dipping, and moves very leisurely. i saw one driver go so far from shore that his horse protested in dumb but expressive show. the animal turned and walked to land, over-setting the cart and spilling the driver into the water. there was a volley of russian epithets, but the horse did not observe them. at a photographic establishment i purchased several views of the city and surrounding region. i sought a watch dealer in the hope of replacing my broken time piece, but was unsuccessful. i finally succeeded in purchasing a cheap watch of so curious workmanship that it ran itself out and utterly stopped within a week. one evening in the public garden a military band furnished creditable music, and i was told that it was formed by selecting men from the ranks, most of whom had never played a single note on any instrument. writers on russia twenty years ago said that men were frequently assigned to work they had never seen performed. if men were wanted for any government service a draft was made, just as for filling the army, and when the recruits arrived they were distributed. one was detailed for a blacksmith, and straightway went to his anvil and began. another was told to be a machinist, and received his tools. he seated himself at his bench, watched his neighbor at work, and commenced with little delay. another became a glass-blower, another a lapidary, another a musician, and so on through all the trades. i have heard that an ohio colonel in our late war had a fondness for never being outdone by rivals. one day his chaplain told him that a work of grace was going on in the army. "fifteen men," said he, "were baptized last sunday in colonel blank's regiment, and the reformation is still going on." without replying the colonel called his adjutant. "captain," was the command, "detail twenty men for baptism at once. i won't be outdone by any other ---regiment in the army." near the river there are several large buildings, formerly belonging to the amoor company, an institution that closed its affairs in the summer of 1866. after the opening of the amoor this company was formed in st. petersburg with a paid up or guaranteed capital of nearly half a million pounds sterling. its object was the control of trade on the amoor and its tributaries, and the general development of commerce in northern asia. it began operations in 1858, but was unfortunate from the beginning. in 1859 it sent out three ships, two of which were lost between de castries and nicolayevsk. each of them had valuable cargoes, and the iron and machinery for two river steamers. the third ship arrived safely, and a steamer which she brought was put together during the winter. it struck a rock and sunk on its first voyage up the river. the misfortunes of the company in following years did not come quite as thick, but their number was ample. the company's dividends were invariably hibernian. it lost money from the beginning, and after spending two and a half million dollars, closed its affairs and went up in a balloon. the russian government has been disappointed in the result of opening the amoor. ten years ago it was thought a great commerce would spring up, but the result has been otherwise. there can be no traffic where there are no people to trade with, and when the amoor was opened the country was little better than a wilderness. the natives were not a mercantile community. there was only one manjour city on the bank of the amoor, and for some time its people were not allowed to trade with russians. even when it was opened it had no important commerce, as it was far removed from the silk, tea, or porcelain districts of china. plainly the dependence must be upon colonization. the amoor was peopled under government patronage, many settlers coming from the trans-baikal province, and others from european russia. nearly all were poor and brought very little money to their new homes. many were cossacks and soldiers, and not reconciled to hard labor. during the first two years of their residence the amoor colonists were supplied with flour at government expense, but after that it was expected they could support themselves. most of the colonies were half military in their character, being composed of cossacks, with their families. on the lower part of the amoor, outside the military posts, the settlers were peasants. flour was carried from st. petersburg to the amoor to supply the garrison and the newly arrived settlers. the production is not yet sufficient for the population, and when i was at nicolayevsk i saw flour just landed from cronstadt. the settlers had generally reached the self-sustaining point, but they did not produce enough to feed the military and naval force. until they do this the amoor will be unprofitable. on the upper amoor flour was formerly brought from the trans-baikal province to supply the settlements down to habarofka. in 1866 there was a short crop in that province and a good one on the upper amoor. a large quantity of wheat and rye,--i was told fifty thousand bushels,--was taken to the trans-baikal and sold there. on the whole the amoor country is very good for agriculture, and will sustain itself in time. the import trade is chiefly in american and german hands, and comprises miscellaneous goods, of which they told me at least fifty per cent. were wines and intoxicating liquors! the russian emperor should make intemperance a penal offence and issue an edict against it. a boston house was the first foreign one opened here, and then came a german one. others followed, principally from america, the sandwich islands, hamburg, and bremen. most of the americans have retired from the field, two were closing when i was at the amoor, and mr. boardman's was the only house in full operation. there were three german establishments, and another of a german-american character. all the cereals can be grown on the amoor, and the yield is said to be very good. when its production is developed, wheat can be exported to china and the sandwich islands at a good profit. until 1864 the government prohibited the export of timber, although it had inexhaustible quantities growing on the amoor and its tributaries. i saw at nicolayevsk and elsewhere oak and ash of excellent quality. the former was not as tough as new england oak, but the ash could hardly be excelled anywhere, and i was surprised to learn that no one had attempted its export to california, where good timber for wagons and similar work is altogether wanting. pine trees are large, straight, tough, and good-fibred. they ought to compete in chinese ports with pine lumber from elsewhere. [illustration: nothing but bones.] there is a peculiar kind of oak, the maackia, suitable for cabinet work. some exports of wool, hides, and tallow have been made, but none of importance. one cargo of ice has been sent to china, but it melted on the way from improper packing. a hong kong merchant once ordered a cargo of hams from the amoor, and when he received it and opened the barrels he found they contained nothing but bones. as the bone market was low at that time he did not repeat his order. flax and hemp will grow here, and might become profitable exports. there is excellent grazing land and no lack of pasturage, but at present bears make fearful havoc among the cattle and sheep. in some localities tigers are numerous, particularly among the buryea mountains, where the cossacks make a profession of hunting them. the tiger is not likely to become an article of commerce, but on the contrary is calculated to retard civilization. with increased agriculture, pork can be raised and cured, and the russians might find it to their advantage to introduce indian corn, now almost unknown on the amoor. at present hogs on the lower amoor subsist largely on fish, and the pork has a very unpleasant flavor. the steward of the variag told me that in 1865, when at de castries, he had two small pigs from japan. a vessel just from the amoor had a large hog which had been purchased at nicolayevsk. the captain of the ship offered his hog for the two pigs, on the plea that he wished to keep them during his voyage. as the hog was three times the weight of the pigs the steward gladly accepted the proposal, and wondered how a man who made so absurd a trade could be captain of a ship. on killing his prize he found the pork so fishy in flavor that nobody could eat it. the whole hog went literally to the dogs. nicolayevsk is a free port of entry, and there are no duties upon merchandise anywhere in siberia east of lake baikal. since the opening of commerce, in 1865, the number of ships arriving annually varies from six or eight to nearly forty. in 1866 there were twenty-three vessels on government, and fifteen on private account. the government vessels brought flour, salt, lead, iron, machinery, telegraph material, army and navy equipments, and a thousand and one articles included under the head of 'government stores.' the private ones, (three of them american,) brought miscellaneous cargoes for the mercantile community. there were no wrecks in that year, or at any rate, none up to the time of my departure. at the amoor i first began to hear those stories of peculation that greet every traveler in russia. according to my informants there were many deficiencies in official departments, and very often losses were ascribed to 'leakage,' 'breakage,' and damage of different kinds. "did you ever hear," said a gentleman to me, "of rats devouring window-glass, or of anchors and boiler iron blowing away in the wind?" however startling such phenomena, he declared they had been known at nicolayevsk and elsewhere in the empire. i think if all the truth were revealed we might learn of equally strange occurrences in america during the late war. the russians have explored very thoroughly the coast of manjouria in search of good harbors. below de castries the first of importance is barracouta bay, in latitude 49â°. the government made a settlement there in 1853, but subsequently abandoned it for olga bay, six degrees further south. vladivostok, or dominion of the east, was occupied in 1857, and a naval station commenced. a few years later, posyet was founded near the head of the corean peninsula, and is now growing rapidly. it has one of the finest harbors on the japan sea, completely sheltered, easily defended, and affording superior facilities for repairing ships of war or commerce. it is free from ice the entire year, and has a little cove or bay that could be converted into a dry dock at small expense. in 1865 posyet was visited by ten merchant vessels; it exported fifteen thousand poods of _beche de mer_, the little fish formerly the monopoly of the feejees, and of which john chinaman is very fond. it exported ten thousand poods of bean cake, and eleven times that quantity of a peculiar sea-grass eaten by the celestials. ginseng root was also an article of commerce between posyet and shanghae. russia appears in earnest about the development of the manjourian coast, and is making many efforts for that object. the telegraph is completed from nicolayevsk to the new seaport, and a post route has been established along the ousuree. from san francisco to the mouth of the amoor i did not see a wheeled vehicle, with the exception of a hand cart and a dog wagon. at nicolayevsk there were horses, carts, and carriages, and i had my first experience of a horse harnessed with the russian yoke. the theory of the yoke is, that it keeps the shafts away from the animal's sides, and enables him to exert more strength than when closely hedged. i cannot give a positive opinion on this point, but believe the russians are correct. the yoke standing high above the horse's head and touching him nowhere, has a curious appearance when first seen. i never could get over the idea while looking at a dray in motion, that the horse was endeavoring to walk through an arched gateway and taking it along with him. the shafts were wide apart and attached by straps to the horse's collar. all the tension came through the shafts, and these were strengthened by ropes that extended to the ends of the forward axle. harnesses had a shabby, 'fixed up' appearance, with a good deal of rope in their composition. why they did not go to pieces or crumble to nothing, like the deacon's one horse shay, was a mystery. before leaving nicolayevsk i enjoyed a ride in one of its private carriages. the vehicle was open, its floor quite low, and the wheels small. we had two horses, one between the shafts and wearing the inevitable yoke. the other was outside, and attached to an iron single-tree over the forward wheel. three horses can be driven abreast on this kind of carriage. the shaft horse trotted, while the other galloped, holding his head very low and turned outward. this is due to a check rein, which keeps him in a position hardly natural. the orthodox mode in russia is to have the shaft horse trotting while the other runs as described; the difference in the motion gives an attractive and dashy appearance to the turnout. existence would be incomplete to a russian without an equipage, and if he cannot own one he keeps it on hire. the gayety of russian cities in winter and summer is largely due to the number of private vehicles in constant motion through the streets. [illustration: tail piece--native woman] chapter xi. i arranged to ascend the amoor on the steamer ingodah, which was appointed to start on the eighteenth of september. my friend anossoff remained at nicolayevsk during the winter, instead of proceeding to irkutsk as i had fondly hoped. i found a _compagnon du voyage_ in captain borasdine, of general korsackoff's staff. in a drenching rain on the afternoon of the seventeenth, we carried our baggage to the ingodah, which lay half a mile from shore. we reached the steamer after about twenty minutes pulling in a whale-boat and shipping a barrel of water through the carelessness of an oarsman. at nicolayevsk the amoor is about a mile and a half wide, with a depth of twenty to thirty-five feet in the channel. i asked a resident what he thought the average rapidity of the current in front of the town. "when you look at it or float with it," said he, "i think it is about three and a half miles. if you go against it you find it not an inch less than five miles." the rowers had no light task to stem the rapid stream, and i think it was about like the mississippi at memphis. the boat was to leave early in the morning. i took a farewell dinner with mr. chase, and at ten o'clock received a note from borasdine announcing his readiness to go to the steamer. anossoff, chase, and half a dozen others assembled to see us off, and after waking the echoes and watchmen on the pier, we secured a skiff and reached the ingodah. the rain was over, and stars were peeping through occasional loop-holes in the clouds. [illustration: seeing off.] 'seeing off' consumed much time and more champagne. as we left the house i observed chase and anossoff each putting a bottle in his pocket, and remarking the excellent character of their ballast. from the quantity that revealed itself afterward the two bottles must have multiplied, or other persons in the party were equally provided. to send off a friend in russia requires an amount of health-drinking rarely witnessed in new york or boston. if the journey is by land the wayfarer is escorted a short distance on his route, sometimes to the edge of the town, and sometimes to the first station. adieus are uttered over champagne, tea, lunch--and champagne. it was nearly daybreak when our friends gave us the last hand-shake and went over the side. watching till their boat disappeared in the gloom, i sought the cabin, and found the table covered with a beggarly array of empty bottles and a confused mass of fragmentary edibles. i retired to sleep, while the cabin boy cleared away the wreck. the sun rose before our captain. when i followed their example we were still at anchor and our boilers cold as a refusal to a beggar. late in the morning the captain appeared; about nine o'clock fire was kindled in the furnace, and a little past ten we were under way. as our anchor rose and the wheel began to move, most of the deck passengers turned in the direction of the church and devoutly made the sign of the cross. as we slowly stemmed the current the houses of nicolayevsk and the shipping in its front, the smoking foundries, and the pine-covered hills, faded from view, and with my face to the westward i was fairly afloat on the amoor. the ingodah was a plain, unvarnished boat, a hundred and ten feet long, and about fifteen feet beam. her hull was of boiler iron, her bottom flat, and her prow sharp and perpendicular. her iron, wood work, and engines were brought in a sailing ship to the amoor and there put together. she had two cabins forward and one aft, all below deck. there was a small hold for storing baggage and freight, but the most of the latter was piled on deck. the pilot house was over the forward cabin, and contained a large wheel, two men, and a chart of the river. the rudder was about the size of a barn door, and required the strength of two men to control it. had she ever refused to obey her helm she would have shown an example of remarkable obstinacy. over the after cabin there was a cook-house, where dwelt a shabby and unwholesome cuisinier. between the wheels was a bridge, occupied by the captain when starting or stopping the boat; the engines, of thirty horse power, were below deck, under this bridge. the cabins, without state rooms, occupied the whole width of the boat. wide seats with cushions extended around the cabins, and served as beds at night. each passenger carried his own bedding and was his own chambermaid. the furniture consisted of a fixed table, two feet by ten, a dozen stools, a picture of a saint, a mirror, and a boy, the latter article not always at hand. the cabins were unclean, and reminded me of the general condition of transports during our late war. can any philosopher explain why boats in the service of government are nearly always dirty? the personnel of the boat consisted of a captain, mate, engineer, two pilots, and eight or ten men. the captain and mate were in uniform when we left port, but within two hours they appeared in ordinary suits of grey. the crew were deck hands, roustabouts, or firemen, by turns, and when we took wood most of the male deck passengers were required to assist. on american steamboats the after cabin is the aristocratic one; on the amoor the case is reversed. the steerage passengers lived, moved, and had their being and baggage aft the engine, while their betters were forward. this arrangement gave the steerage the benefit of all cinders and smoke, unless the wind was abeam or astern. steam navigation on the amoor dates from 1854. in that year two wooden boats, the shilka and the argoon, were constructed on the shilka river, preparatory to the grand expedition of general mouravieff. their timber was cut in the forests of the shilka, and their engines were constructed at petrovsky-zavod. the argoon was the first to descend, leaving shilikinsk on the 27th of may, 1854, and bringing the governor general and his staff. it was accompanied by fifty barges and a great many rafts loaded with military forces to occupy the amoor, and with provisions for the pacific fleet. the shilka descended a few months later. she was running in 1866, but the argoon, the pioneer, existed less than a decade. in 1866 there were twenty-two steamers on the amoor, all but four belonging to the government. the government boats are engaged in transporting freight, supplies, soldiers, and military stores generally, and carrying the mail. they carry passengers and private freight at fixed rates, but do not give insurance against fire or accidents of navigation. passengers contract with the captain or steward for subsistence while on board. deck passengers generally support themselves, but can buy provisions on the boat if they wish. the steward may keep wines and other beverages for sale by the bottle, but he cannot maintain a bar. he has various little speculations of his own and does not feed his customers liberally. on the ingodah the steward purchased eggs at every village, and expected to sell them at a large profit in nicolayevsk. when we left him he had at least ten bushels on hand, but he never furnished eggs to us unless we paid extra for them. one cabin was assigned to borasdine and myself, save at meal times, when two other passengers were present. one end of it was filled with the mail, of which there were eight bags, each as large as a saratoga trunk and as difficult to handle. the russian government performs an 'express' service and transports freight by mail; it receives parcels in any part of the empire and agrees to deliver them in any other part desired. from nicolayevsk to st. petersburg the charges are twenty-five copecks (cents) a pound, the distance being seven thousand miles. it gives receipts for the articles, and will insure them at a charge of two per cent. on their value. goods of any kind can be sent by post through russia just as by express in america. captain lund sent a package containing fifty sable skins to his brother in cronstadt, and another with a silk dress pattern to a lady in st. petersburg. in the mail on the ingodah there were twelve hundred pounds of sable fur sent by mr. chase to his agent in st. petersburg. money to any amount can be remitted, and its delivery insured. i have known twenty thousand roubles sent on a single order. parcels for transportation by post must be carefully and securely packed. furs, silks, clothing, and all things of that class are enveloped in repeated layers of oil cloth and canvas to exclude water and guard against abrasion. light articles, like bonnets, must be packed with abundance of paper filling them to their proper shape, and very securely boxed. a siberian lady once told me that a friend in st. petersburg sent her a lot of bonnets, laces, and other finery purchased at great expense. she waited a long time with feminine anxiety, and was delighted when told her box was at the post office. what was her disappointment to find the articles had been packed in a light case which was completely smashed. she never made use of any part of its contents. in crossing siberian rivers the mail is sometimes wet, and it is a good precaution to make packages waterproof. a package of letters for new york from nicolayevsk i enveloped in canvas, by advice of russian friends, and it went through unharmed. [illustration: scenes on the amoor.] the post wagons are changed at every station, and the mail while being transferred is not handled with care. frail articles must be boxed so that no tossing will injure them. my lady friend told me of a bride who ordered her trousseau from st. petersburg and prepared for a magnificent wedding. the precious property arrived forty-eight hours before the time fixed for the ceremony. moving accidents by flood and field had occurred. the bridal paraphernalia was soaked, crushed, and reduced to a mass that no one could resolve into its original elements. the wedding was postponed and a new supply of goods ordered. the mail is always in charge of a postillion, who is generally a cossack, and his duty is much like that of a mail agent in other countries. he delivers and receives the sacks of matter at the post offices, and guards them on the road. during our voyage on the ingodah there was no supervision over the mail bags after they were deposited in our cabin. i passed many hours in their companionship, and if borasdine and i had chosen to rifle them we could have done so at our leisure. possibly an escape from the penalties of the law would have been less easy. our cook was an elderly personage, with thin hair, a yellow beard, and a much neglected toilet. on the first morning i saw him at his ablutions, and was not altogether pleased with his manner. he took a half-tumbler of water in his mouth and then squirted the fluid over his hands, rubbing them meanwhile with invisible soap. he was quite skillful, but i could never relish his dinners if i had seen him any time within six hours. his general appearance was that of having slept in a gutter without being shaken afterwards. the day of our departure from nicolayevsk was like the best of our indian summer. there was but little wind, the faintest breath coming now and then from the hills on the southern bank. the air was of a genial warmth, the sky free from clouds and only faintly dimmed with the haze around the horizon. the forest was in the mellow tints of autumn, and the wide expanse of foliferous trees, dotted at frequent intervals with the evergreen pine, rivalled the october hues of our new england landscape. hills and low mountains rose on both banks of the river and made a beautiful picture. the hills, covered with forest from base to summit, sloped gently to the water's edge or retreated here and there behind bits of green meadow. in the distance was a background of blue mountains glowing in sunshine or dark in shadow, and varying in outline as we moved slowly along. the river was ruffled only by the ripples of the current or the motion of our boat through the water. just a year earlier i descended the saint lawrence from lake ontario to quebec. i saw nothing on the great canadian river that equaled the scenery of my first day's voyage on the amoor. soon after leaving nicolayevsk we met several loads of hay floating with the current to a market at the town. on the meadows along the river the grass is luxuriant, and hay requires only the labor of cutting and curing. during the day we passed several points where haymaking was in progress. cutting was performed with an instrument resembling the short scythe used in america for cutting bushes. after it was dried, the hay was brought to the river bank on dray-like carts. an american hay wagon would have accomplished twice as much, with equal labor. the hay is like new england hay from natural meadows, and is delivered at nicolayevsk for six or eight dollars a ton. cattle and horses thrive upon it, if i may judge by the condition of the stock i saw. for its transportation two flat-bottomed boats are employed, and held about twelve feet apart by timbers. a floor on these timbers and over the boats serves to keep the hay dry. men are stationed at both ends of the boats, and when once in the stream there is little to do beside floating with the current. a mile distant one of these barges appears like a haystack which an accident has set adrift. we saw many gilyak boats descending the river with the current or struggling to ascend it. the gilyaks form the native population in this region and occupy thirty-nine villages with about two thousand inhabitants. the villages are on both banks from the mouth of the river to mariensk, and out of the reach of all inundations. distance lends enchantment to the view of their houses, which will not bear close inspection. [illustration: a gilyak village.] some of the houses might contain a half dozen families of ordinary size, and were well adapted to the climate. while we took wood at a gilyak village i embraced the opportunity to visit the aboriginals. the village contained a dozen dwellings and several fish-houses. the buildings were of logs or poles, split in halves or used whole, and were roofed with poles covered with a thatch of long grass to exclude rain and cold. some of the dwelling houses had the solid earth for floors, while others had floorings of hewn planks. the store houses were elevated on posts like those of an american 'corn barn,' and were wider and lower than the dwellings. each storehouse had a platform in front where canoes, fishing nets, and other portable property were stowed. these buildings were the receptacles of dried fish for the winter use of dogs and their owners. the elevation of the floor serves to protect the contents from dogs and wild animals. i was told that no locks were used and that theft was a crime unknown. the dwellings were generally divided into two apartments; one a sort of ante room and receptacle of house-keeping goods, and the other the place of residence. pots, kettles, knives, and wooden pans were the principal articles of household use i discovered. at the storehouses there were several fish-baskets of birch or willow twigs. a gilyak gentleman does not permit fire carried into or out of his house, not even in a pipe. this is not owing to his fear of conflagrations, but to a superstition that such an occurrence may bring him ill luck in hunting or fishing. it was in the season of curing fish, and the stench that greeted my nostrils was by no means delightful. visits to dwellings or magazines would have been much easier had i possessed a sponge saturated with cologne water. fish were in various stages of preparation, some just hung upon poles, while others were nearly ready for the magazine. the manner of preparation is much the same as in kamchatka, save that the largest fish are skinned before being cut into strips. the poorest qualities go to the dogs, and the best are reserved for bipeds. though the natives do the most of the fishing on the amoor, they do not have a monopoly of it, as some of the russians indulge in the sport. one old fellow that i saw had a boat so full of salmon, that there was no room for more. now and then a fish went overboard, causing an expression on the boatman's face as if he were suffering from a dose of astonishment and toothache drops in equal proportions. there were dogs everywhere, some lying around loose, and others tied to posts under the storehouses. some walked about and manifested an unpleasant desire to taste the calves of my legs. all barked, growled, and whined in a chorus like a pawnee concert. there were big dogs and little dogs, white, black, grey, brown, and yellow dogs, and not one friendly. they did not appear courageous, but i was not altogether certain of their dispositions. their owners sought to quiet them, but they refused comfort. [illustration: about full.] those dogs had some peculiarities of those in kamchatka, but their blood was evidently much debased; they appeared to be a mixture of kamchadale, greyhound, bull dog, and cur, the latter predominating. they are used for hunting at all seasons, and for towing boats in summer and dragging sledges in winter. i was told that since the russian settlement of the amoor the gilyak dogs have degenerated, in consequence of too much familiarity with muscovite canines. nicolayevsk appeared quite cosmopolitan, in the matter of dogs, and it was impossible to say what breed was most numerous. one day i saw nineteen in a single group and no two alike. near the entrance of the village an old man was repairing his nets, which were stretched along a fence. he did not regard us as we scrutinized his jacket of blue cotton, and he made no response to a question which borasdine asked. further along were two women putting fish upon poles for drying, and a third was engaged in skinning a large salmon. the women did not look up from their work, and were not inclined to amiability. they had mongol features, complexion, eyes, and hair, the latter thick and black. some of the men wear it plaited into queues, and others let it grow pretty much at will. each woman i saw had it braided in two queues, which hung over her shoulders. in their ears they wore long pendants, and their dresses were generally arranged with taste. when recalled by the steam whistle we left the village and took a short route down a steep bank to the boat. in descending, my feet passed from under me, and i had the pleasure of sliding about ten yards before stopping. had it not been for a cossack who happened in my way i should have entered the amoor after the manner of an otter, and afforded much amusement to the spectators, though comparatively little to myself. the sliding attracted no special attention as it was supposed to be the american custom, and i did not deem it prudent to make an explanation lest the story might bring discredit to my nationality. [illustration: tail piece--a turn out] chapter xii. i had a curiosity to examine the ancient monuments at tyr, opposite the mouth of the amgoon river, but we passed them in the night without stopping. there are several traditions concerning their origin. the most authentic story gives them an age of six or seven hundred years. they are ascribed to an emperor of the yuen dynasty who visited the mouth of the amoor and commemorated his journey by building the 'monastery of eternal repose.' the ruined walls of this monastery are visible, and the shape of the building can be easily traced. in some places the walls are eight or ten feet high. mr. collins visited the spot in 1857 and made sketches of the monuments. he describes them situated on a cliff a hundred and fifty feet high, from which there is a magnificent view east and west of the amoor and the mountains around it. toward the south there are dark forests and mountain ridges, some of them rough and broken. to the north is the mouth of the amgoon, with a delta of numerous islands covered with forest, while in the northwest the valley of the river is visible for a long distance. back from the cliff is a table-land several miles in width. this table-land is covered with oak, aspen, and fir trees, and has a rich undergrowth of grass and flowers. on a point of the cliff there are two monuments. a third is about four hundred yards away. one is a marble shaft on a granite pedestal; a second is entirely granite, and the third partly granite and partly porphyry. the first and third bear inscriptions in chinese, mongol, and thibetan. one inscription announces that the emperor yuen founded the monastery of eternal repose, and the others record a prayer of the thibetans. archimandrate avvakum, a learned russian, who deciphered the inscriptions, says the thibetan prayer _om-mani-badme-khum_ is given in three languages.[c] [footnote c: abbe hue in his 'recollections of a journey through thibet and tartary,' says:-"the thibetans are eminently religious. there exists at lassa a touching custom which we are in some sort jealous of finding among infidels. in the evening as soon as the light declines, the thibetans, men, women, and children, cease from all business and assemble in the principal parts of the city and in the public squares. when the groups are formed, every one sits down on the ground and begins slowly to chant his prayers in an undertone, and this religious concert produces an immense and solemn harmony throughout the city. the first time we heard it we could not help making a sorrowful comparison between this pagan town, where all prayed in common, with the cities of the civilized world, where people would blush to make the sign of the cross in public. "the prayer chanted in these evening meetings varies according to the season of the year; that which they recite to the rosary is always the same, and is only composed of six syllables, _om-mani-badme-khum_. this formula, called briefly the _mani_, is not only heard from every mouth, but is everywhere written in the streets, in the interior of the houses, on every flag and streamer floating over the buildings, printed in the landzee, tartar, and thibetan characters. the lamas assert that the doctrine contained in these words is immense, and that the whole life of man is not sufficient to measure its depth and extent."] the lowest of the monuments is five and the tallest eight feet in height. near them are several flat stones with grooves in their surface, which lead to the supposition of their employment for sacrificial purposes. mr. chase told me at nicolayevsk that he thought one of the monuments was used as an altar when the monastery flourished. there are no historical data regarding the ruins beyond those found on the stones. many of the russians and chinese believe the site was selected by genghis khan, and the monastery commemorated one of his triumphs. the natives look upon the spot with veneration, and frequently go there to practice their mysterious rites. before leaving nicolayevsk i asked the captain of the irigodah how fast his boat could steam. "oh!" said he, "ten or twelve versts an hour." accustomed to our habit of exaggerating the powers of a steamer, i expected no more than eight or nine versts. i was surprised to find we really made twelve to fifteen versts an hour. ten thousand miles from st. louis and new orleans i at last found what i sought for several years--a steamboat captain who understated the speed of his boat! justice to the man requires the explanation that he did not own her. [illustration: on the amoor.] my second day on the amoor was much like the first in the general features of the scenery. hills and mountains on either hand; meadows bounding one bank or the other at frequent intervals; islands dotted here and there with pleasing irregularity, or stretching for many miles along the valley; forests of different trees, and each with its own particular hue; a canopy of hazy sky meeting ranges of misty peaks in the distance; these formed the scene. some one asks if all the tongues in the world can tell how the birds sing and the lilacs smell. equally difficult is it to describe with pen upon paper the beauties of that amoor scenery. each bend of the stream gave us a new picture. it was the unrolling of a magnificent panorama such as no man has yet painted. and what can i say? there was mountain, meadow, forest, island, field, cliff, and valley; there were the red leaves of the autumn maple, the yellow of the birch, the deep green of pine and hemlock, the verdure of the grass, the wide river winding to reach the sea, and we slowly stemming its current. how powerless are words to describe a scene like this! the passengers of our boat were of less varied character than those on a mississippi steamer. there were two russian merchants, who joined us at meal times in the cabin but slept in the after part of the boat. one was owner of a gold mine two hundred miles north of nicolayevsk, and a general dealer in everything along the amoor. he had wandered over mongolia and northern china in the interest of commerce, and i greatly regretted my inability to talk with him and learn of the regions he had visited. he was among the first to penetrate the celestial empire under the late commercial treaty, and traveled so far that he was twice arrested by local authorities. he knew every fair from leipsic to peking, and had been an industrious commercial traveler through all northern asia. once, below sansin, on the songaree river, he was attacked by thieves where he had halted for the night. with a single exception his crew was composed of chinese, and these ran away at the first alarm. with his only russian companion he attempted to defend his property, but the odds were too great, especially as his gun could not be found. he was made prisoner and compelled to witness the plundering of his cargo. every thing valuable being taken, the thieves left him. in the morning he proceeded down the stream. not caring to engage another crew, he floated with the current and shared with his russian servant the labor of steering. the next night he was robbed again, and the robbers, angry at finding so little to steal, did not leave him his boat. after much difficulty he reached a native village and procured an old skiff. with this he finished his journey unmolested. there were fifteen or twenty deck passengers, a fair proportion being women and children. among the latter was a black eyed girl of fifteen, in a calico dress and wearing a shawl pinned around a pretty face. on sunday morning she appeared in neat apparel and was evidently desirous of being seen. there were two old men dressed in coarse cloth of a 'butternut' hue, that reminded me of arkansas and tennessee. the morning we started one of them was seated on the deck counting a pile of copper coin with great care. two, three, four times he told it off, piece by piece, and then folded it carefully in the corner of his kerchief. in all he had less than a rouble, but he preserved it as if it were a million. [illustration: cash account.] the baggage of the deck passengers consisted of boxes and household furniture in general, not omitting the ever-present samovar. this baggage was piled on the deck and was the reclining place of its owners by day. in the night they had the privilege of the after cabin, where they slept on the seats and floor. 'wooding up' was not performed with american alacrity. to bring the steamer to land she was anchored thirty feet from shore, and two men in a skiff carried a line to the bank and made it fast. with this line and the anchor the boat was warped within ten feet of the shore, another line keeping the stern in position. an ordinary plank a foot wide made the connection with the solid earth. these boats have no guards and cannot overhang the land like our western craft. wood was generally piled fifty, a hundred, or five hundred feet from the landing place, wherever most convenient to the owner. no one seems to think of placing it near the water's edge as with us; they told me that this had been done formerly, and the freshets had carried the wood away. the peasants, warned by their loss, are determined to keep on the safe side. when all was ready the deck hands went very leisurely to work. each carried a piece of rope which he looped around a few sticks of wood as a boy secures his bundle of school books. the rope was then slung upon the shoulder, the wood hanging over the back of the carrier and occasionally coming loose from its fastenings. no man showed any sign of hurrying, but all acted as if there were nothing in the world as cheap as time. one day i watched the wooding operation from beginning to end. it took an hour and a half and twelve men to bring about four cords of wood on board. there was but one man displaying any activity, and _he_ was falling from the plank into the river. [illustration: wooding up.] the russian measure of wood is the _sajene_ (fathom.) and a sajene of wood is a pile a fathom long, wide, and high. the russian marine fathom measures six feet like our own, but the land fathom is seven feet. it is by the land fathom that everything on solid earth is measured. a stick seven feet long is somewhat inconvenient, and therefore they cut wood half a fathom in length. we landed our first freight at nova mihalofski, a russian village on the southern bank of the river. the village was small and the houses were far from palatial. the inhabitants live by agriculture in summer, sending their produce to nicolayevsk, and by supplying horses for the postal service in winter. i observed here and at other villages an example of russian economy. not able to purchase whole panes of window glass the peasants use fragments of glass of any shape they can get. these are set in pieces of birch bark cut to the proper form and the edges held by wax or putty. the bark is then fastened to the window sash much as a piece of mosquito netting is fixed in a frame. near springfield, missouri, i once passed a night in a farmer's house. the dwelling had no windows, and when we breakfasted we were obliged to keep the door open to give us light, though the thermometer was at zero, with a strong wind blowing. "i have lived in this house seventeen years," said the owner; "have a good farm and own four niggers." but he could not afford the expense of a window, even of the siberian kind! ten or fifteen miles above this village we reached mihalofski, containing a hundred houses and three or four hundred inhabitants. from the river this town appeared quite pretty and thriving; the houses were substantially built, and many had flower gardens in front and neat fences around them. between the town and the river there were market gardens in flourishing condition, bearing most of the vegetables in common use through the north. the town is along a ridge of easy ascent, and most of the dwellings are thirty or forty feet above the river. its fields and gardens extend back from the river wherever the land is fertile and easiest cleared of the forest. on the opposite side of the river there are meadows where the peasants engage in hay cutting. the general appearance of the place was like that of an ordinary village on the lower st. lawrence, though there were many points of difference. in several rye fields the grain had been cut and stacked. near our landing was a mill, where a man, a boy, and a horse were manufacturing meal at the rate of seven poods or 280 pounds a day. the whole machinery was on the most primitive scale. entering the house of the mill-owner i found the principal apartment quite neat and well arranged, its walls being whitewashed and decorated with cheap lithographs and wood-cuts. among the latter were several from the illustrated london news and _l'illustration universelle_. the sleeping room was fitted with bunks like those on steamboats, though somewhat wider. there was very little clothing on the beds, but several sheepskin coats and coverlids were hanging on a fence in front of the house. borasdine had business at the telegraph station, whither i accompanied him. the operator furnished a blank for the despatch, and when it was written and paid for he gave a receipt. the receipt stated the hour and minute when the despatch was taken, the name of the sender, the place where sent, the number of words, and the amount paid. this form is invariably adhered to in the siberian telegraph service. the telegraph on the lower amoor was built under the supervision of colonel romanoff and was not completed at the time of my visit. it commenced at nicolayevsk and followed the south bank of the amoor to habarofka at the mouth of the ousuree. at mariensk there was a branch to de castries, and from habarofka the line extended along the ousuree and over the mountains to posyet and vladivostok. from habarofka it was to follow the north bank of the amoor to the shilka, to join the line from irkutsk and st. petersburg. arrangements have been made recently to lay a cable from posyet to hakodadi in japan, and thence to shanghae and other parts of china. when the cable proposed by major collins is laid across the pacific ocean, and the break in the amoor line is closed up, the telegraph circuit around the globe will be complete. the telegraph is operated on the morse system with instruments of prussian manufacture. compared to our american instruments the prussian ones are quite clumsy, though they did not appear so in the hands of the operators. the signal key was at least four times as large as ours, and could endure any amount of rough handling. the other machinery was on a corresponding scale. a merchant who knew mr. borasdine invited us to his house, where he brought a lunch of bread, cheese, butter, and milk for our entertainment. salted cucumbers were added, and the repast ended with tea. in the principal room there was a connecticut clock in one corner, and the windows were filled with flowers, among which were the morning glory, aster, and verbena. several engravings adorned the walls, most of them printed at berlin. we purchased a loaf of sugar, and were shown a bear-skin seven feet long without ears and tail. the original and first legitimate owner of the skin was killed within a mile of town. in addition to his commerce and farming, this merchant was superintendent of a school where several gilyak boys were educated. it was then vacation, and the boys were engaged in catching their winter supply of fish. at the merchant's invitation we visited the school buildings. the study room was much like a backwoods schoolroom in america, having rude benches and desks, but with everything clean and well made. the copy-books exhibited fair specimens of penmanship. on a desk lay a well worn reading book containing a dozen of ã�sop's fables translated into russian and profusely illustrated. it corresponded to an american 'second reader.' there was a dormitory containing eight beds, and there was a wash-room, a dining-room, and a kitchen, the latter separate from the main building. close at hand was a forge where the boys learned to work in iron, and a carpenter shop with a full set of tools and a turning lathe. the superintendent showed me several articles made by the pupils, including wooden spoons, forks, bowls, and cups, and he gave me for a souvenir a seal cut in pewter, bearing the word 'fulyhelm' in russian letters, and having a neatly turned handle. the school is in operation ten months of each year. the superintendent said the children of the russian peasants could attend if they wished, but very few did so. the teacher was a subordinate priest of the eastern church. the expense of the establishment was paid by government, with the design of making the boys useful in educating the gilyaks. the gilyaks of the lower amoor are pagans, and the attempts to christianize them have not been very successful thus far. their religion consists in the worship of idols and animals, and their priests or _shamans_ correspond to the 'medicine man' of the american indians. among animals they revere the tiger, and i was told no instance was known of their killing one. the remains of a man killed by a tiger are buried without ceremony, but in the funerals of other persons the gilyaks follow very nearly the chinese custom. the bear is also sacred, but his sanctity does not preserve him from being killed. [illustration: bear in procession.] in hunting this beast they endeavor to capture him alive; once taken and securely bound he is placed in a cage in the middle of a village, and there fattened upon fish. on fete-days he is led, or rather dragged, in procession, and of course is thoroughly muzzled and bound. finally a great day arrives on which bruin takes a prominent part in the festival by being killed. there are many superstitious ceremonies carefully observed on such occasions. the ears, jawbones, and skull of the bear are hung upon trees to ward off evil spirits, and the flesh is eaten, as it is supposed to make all who partake of it both fortunate and courageous. i did not have the pleasure of witnessing any of these ursine festivals, but i saw several bear cages and looked upon a bear while he lunched on cold salmon. if the bear were more gentle in his manners he might become a household pet among the gilyaks; but at present he is not in favor, especially where there are small children. ermines were formerly domesticated for catching rats, the high price of cats confining their possession to the wealthy. cats have a half-religious character and are treated with great respect. since the advent of the russians the supply is very good. before they came the manjour merchants used to bring only male cats that could not trouble themselves about posterity. the price was sometimes a hundred roubles for a single mouser, and by curtailing the supply the manjours kept the market good. the gilyaks, like nearly all the natives of northern asia, are addicted to shamanism. the shaman combines the double function of priest and doctor, ministering to the physical and spiritual being at the same time. when a man is taken sick he is supposed to be attacked by an evil spirit and the shaman is called to practice exorcism. there is a distinct spirit for every disease and he must be propitiated in a particular manner. while practicing his profession the shaman contorts his body and dances like one insane, and howls worse than a dozen kamchadale dogs. he is dressed in a fantastic manner and beats a tambourine during his performance. to accommodate himself to the different spirits he modulates his voice, changes the character of his dance, and alters his costume. both doctor and patient are generally decked with wood-shavings while the work is going on. sometimes an effigy of the sick person is prepared, and the spirit is charmed from the man of flesh to the one of straw. the shaman induces him to take up lodgings in this effigy, and the success of his persuasion is apparent when the invalid recovers. if the patient dies the shaman declares that the spirit was one over which he had no control, but he does not hesitate to take pay for his services. [illustration: practice of medicine.] a russian traveler who witnessed one of these exorcisms said that the shaman howled so fearfully that two chinese merchants who were present out of curiosity fled in very terror. the gentleman managed to endure it to the end, but did not sleep well for a week afterward. the gilyaks believe in both good and evil spirits, but as the former do only good it is not thought necessary to pay them any attention. all the efforts are to induce the evil spirits not to act. they are supposed to have power over hunting, fishing, household affairs, and the health and well-being of animals and men. the shamans possess great power over their superstitious subjects, and their commands are rarely refused. i heard of an instance wherein a native caught a fine sable and preserved the skin as a trophy. very soon a man in the village fell ill. the shaman after practicing his art announced that the spirit commanded the sable skin to be worn by the doctor himself. the valuable fur was given up without hesitation. a russian traveler stopping one night in a gilyak house discovered in the morning that his sledge was missing, and was gravely told that the spirit had taken it. in 1814 the small pox raged in one of the tribes living on the kolyma river, and the deaths from it were numerous. the shamans practiced all their mysteries, and invoked the spirits, but they could not stop the disease. finally, after new invocations, they declared the evil spirits could not be appeased without the death of kotschen, a chief of the tribe. this chief was so generally loved and respected that the people refused to obey the shamans. but as the malady made new progress, kotschen magnanimously came forward and was stabbed by his own son. in general the shamans are held in check by the belief that should they abuse their power they will be long and severely punished after death. this punishment is supposed to occur in a locality specially devoted to bad shamans. a good shaman who has performed wonderful cures receives after death a magnificent tomb to his memory. the russians think that with educated gilyaks they can succeed in winning the natives to christianity, especially when the missionaries are skilled in the useful arts of civilized life. hence the school in mihalofski, and it has so far succeeded well in the instruction of the boys. russian and gilyak children were working in the gardens in perfect harmony, and there was every indication of good feeling between natives and settlers. chapter xiii. on leaving mihalofski we took the merchant and two priests and dropped them fifteen miles above, at a village where a church was being dedicated. the people were in their holiday costume and evidently awaited the priests. the church was pointed out, nestling in the forest just back of the river bank. it seemed more than large enough for the wants of the people, and was the second structure of the kind in a settlement ten years old. i have been told, but i presume not with literal truth, that a church is the first building erected in a russian colony. at night we ran until the setting of the moon, and then anchored. it is the custom to anchor or tie up at night unless there is a good moon or very clear starlight. an hour after we anchored the stars became so bright that we proceeded and ran until daylight, reaching mariensk at two in the morning. i had designed calling upon two gentlemen and a lady at mariensk, but it is not the fashion in russia to make visits between midnight and daybreak. borasdine had the claim of old acquaintance and waked a friend for a little talk. this town is at the entrance of keezee lake, and next to nicolayevsk is the oldest russian settlement on the lower amoor. it was founded by the russian american company in the same year with nicolayevsk, and was a trading post until the military occupation of the river. difficulties of navigation have diminished its military importance, the principal rendezvous of this region being transferred to sofyesk. on an island opposite mariensk is the trace of a fortification built by stepanoff, a russian adventurer who descended the amoor in 1654. stepanoff passed the winter at this point, and fortified himself to be secure against the natives. he seems to have engaged in a general business of filibustering on joint account of himself and his government. in the winter of his residence at this fortress he collected nearly five thousand sable skins as a tribute to his emperor--and himself. morning found us at sofyesk taking a fresh supply of wood. this town was founded a few years ago, and has a decided appearance of newness. there is a wagon road along the shore of keezee lake and across the hills to de castries bay. light draft steamboats can go within twelve miles of de castries. surveys have been made with the design of connecting keezee lake and the gulf of tartary by a canal. a railway has also been proposed, but neither enterprise will be undertaken for many years. i passed an hour with the post commander, who had just received a pile of papers only two months from st. petersburg, the mail having arrived the day before. the steamer telegraph lay at the landing when we arrived; among her passengers was a manjour merchant, who possessed an intelligent face, quite in contrast with the sleepy gilyaks. he wore the manjour dress, consisting of wide trowsers and a long robe reaching to his heels; his shoes and hat were chinese, and his robe was held at the waist with a silk cord. his hair was braided in the chinese fashion, and he sported a long mustache but no beard. [illustration: manjour merchant.] a few versts above sofyesk we met a manjour merchant evidently on a trading expedition. he had a boat about twenty-five feet long by eight wide, with a single mast carrying a square sail. his boat was full of boxes and bales and had a crew of four men. a small skiff was towed astern and another alongside. these manjour merchants are quite enterprising, and engage in traffic for small profits and large risks when better terms are not attainable. before the russian occupation all the trade of the lower amoor was in manjour hands. boats annually descended from san-sin and igoon bringing supplies for native use. sometimes a merchant would spend five or six months making his round journey. the merchants visited the villages on the route and bargained their goods for furs. there was an annual fair at the gilyak village of pul, below mariensk, and this was made the center of commerce. the fair lasted ten days, and during that time pul was a miniature nijne novgorod. manjour and chinese merchants met japanese from the island of sakhalin, tunguse from the coast of the ohotsk sea, and others from, the head waters of the zeya and amgoon. there were gilyaks from the lower amoor and various tribes of natives from the coast of manjouria. a dozen languages were spoken, and traffic was conducted in a patois of all the dialects. cloth, powder, lead, knives, and brandy were exchanged for skins and furs. a gentleman who attended one of these fairs told me that the scene was full of interest and abounded in amusing incidents. of late years the navigation of the amoor has discontinued the fair of pul. the manjour traders still descend the river, but they are not as numerous as of yore. with a good glass from the deck of the steamer i watched the native process of catching salmon. the fishing stations are generally, though not always, near the villages. the natives use gill nets and seines in some localities, and scoop nets in others. sometimes they build a fence at right angles to the shore, and extend it twenty or thirty yards into the stream. this fence is fish-proof, except in a few places where holes are purposely left. the natives lie in wait with skiffs and hand-nets and catch the salmon, as they attempt to pass these holes. i watched a gilyak taking fish in this way, and think he dipped them up at the rate of two a minute; when the fish are running well a skiff can be filled in a short time. sometimes pens of wicker work are fixed to enclose the fish after they pass the holes in the fence. the salmon in this case has a practical illustration of life in general: easy to get into trouble but difficult to get out of it. [illustration: gilyak man.] for catching sturgeon they use a circular net five feet across at the opening, and shaped like a shallow bag. one side of the mouth is fitted with corks and the other with weights of lead or iron. two canoes in mid stream hold this net between them, at right angles to the current. the sturgeon descending the river enters the trap, and the net proceeds of the enterprise are divided between the fishermen. it requires vision or a guide to find a fishing station, but the sense of smell is quite sufficient to discover where salmon are dressed and cured. the offal from the fish creates an unpleasant stench and no effort is made to clear it away. the natives and their dogs do not consider the scent disagreeable and have no occasion to consult the tastes or smell of others. the first time i visited one of their fish-curing places i thought of the western city that had, after a freshet, 'forty-five distinct and different odors beside several wards to hear from.' above mariensk the amoor valley is often ten or twenty miles wide, enclosing whole labyrinths of islands, some of great extent. these islands are generally well out of water and not liable to overflow. very few have the temporary appearance of the islands of the lower mississippi. here and there were small islands of slight elevation and covered with cottonwoods, precisely like those growing between memphis and cairo. [illustration: gilyak woman.] the banks of this part of the amoor do not wash like the alluvial lands along the mississippi and missouri, but are more like the shores of the ohio. they are generally covered with grass or bushes down to the edge of the water. there are no shifting sand-bars to perplex the pilot, but the channel remains with little change from year to year. i saw very little drift wood and heard no mention of snags. the general features of the scenery were much like those below mihalofski. the numerous islands and the labyrinth of channels often permit boats to pass each other without their captains knowing it. one day we saw a faint line of smoke across an island three or four miles wide; watching it closely i found it was in motion and evidently came from a descending steamboat. on another occasion we missed in these channels a boat our captain was desirous of hailing. once while general monravieff was ascending the river he was passed by a courier who was bringing him important despatches. [illustration: night scene--group of peasants] the pilot steers with a chart of the river before him, and relies partly upon his experience and partly upon the delineated route. sometimes channels used at high water are not navigable when the river is low, and some are favorable for descent but not for ascent. in general the pilotage is far more facile than on the mississippi, and accidents are not frequent. the peasants always came to the bank where we stopped, no matter what the hour. at one place where we took wood at night there was a picturesque group of twenty-five or thirty gathered around a fire; men and women talking, laughing, smoking, and watching the crew at work. the light, of the fire poured full upon a few figures and brought them into strong relief, while others were half hidden in shadow. of the men some wore coats of sheepskin, others cossack coats of grey cloth; some had caps of faded cloth, and others tartar caps of black sheepskin. red beards, white beards, black beards, and smooth faces were played upon by the dancing flames. the women, were in hoopless dresses, and held shawls over their heads in place of bonnets. a hundred versts above sofyesk the scenery changed. the mountains on the south bank receded from the river and were more broken and destitute of trees. wide strips of lowland covered with forest intervened between the mountains and the shore. on the north the general character of the country remained. i observed a mountain, wooded to the top and sloping regularly, that had a curious formation at its summit. it was a perpendicular shaft resembling bunker hill monument, and rising from the highest point of the mountain; it appeared of perfect symmetry, and seemed more like a work of art than of nature. on the same mountain, half way down its side, was a mass of rock with towers and buttresses that likened it to a cathedral. these formations were specially curious, as there were no more of the kind in the vicinity. borasdine observed the rocks soon after i discovered them, and at first thought they were ancient monuments. there were many birds along the shore. very often we dispersed flocks of ducks and sent them flying over islands and forests to places of safety. snipe were numerous, and so were several kinds of wading and swimming birds. very often we saw high in air the wild geese of siberia flying to the southward in those triangular squadrons that they form everywhere over the world. these birds winter in the south of china, siam, and india, while they pass the summer north of the range of the yablonoi mountains. the birds of the amoor belong generally to the species found in the same latitudes of europe and america, but there are some birds of passage that are natives of southern asia, japan, the philippine islands, and even south africa and australia. seven-tenths of the birds of the amoor are found in europe, two-tenths in siberia, and one-tenth in regions further south. some birds belong more properly to america, such as the canada woodcock and the water ouzel; and there are several birds common to the east and west coasts of the pacific. the naturalists who came here at the russian occupation found two australian birds on the amoor, two from tropical and sub-tropical africa, and one from southern asia. the number of stationary birds is not great, in consequence of the excessive cold in winter. mr. maack enumerates thirty-nine species that dwell here the entire year. they include eagles, hawks, jays, magpies, crows, grouse, owls, woodpeckers, and some others. the birds of passage generally arrive at the end of april or during may, and leave in september or october. it is a curious fact that they come later to nicolayevsk than to the town of yakutsk, nine degrees further north. this is due to differences of climate and the configuration of the country. the lower amoor is remarkable for its large quantities of snow, and at nicolayevsk it remains on the ground till the end of may. south of the lower amoor are the shanalin mountains, which arrest the progress of birds. on the upper amoor and in trans-baikal very little snow falls, and there are no mountains of great height. the day after leaving sofyesk i observed a native propelling a boat by pulling both oars together. on my expressing surprise my companion said: "we have passed the country of the gilyaks who pull their oars alternately, and entered that of the mangoons and goldees. the manner of rowing distinguishes the gilyaks from all others." the mangoons, goldees, and gilyaks differ in much the same way that the tribes of american indians are different. they are all of tungusian or mongolian stock, and have many traits and words in common. their features have the same general characteristics and their languages are as much alike as those of a cheyenne and comanche. each people has its peculiar customs, such as the style of dress, the mode of constructing a house, or rowing a boat. all are pagans and indulge in shamanism, but each tribe has forms of its own. all are fishers and hunters, their principal support being derived from the river. the goldee boat was so much like a gilyak one that i could see no difference. there was no opportunity to examine it closely, as we passed at a distance of two or three hundred feet. besides their boats of wood the goldees make canoes of birch bark, quite broad in the middle and coming to a point at both ends. in general appearance these canoes resemble those of the penobscot and canadian indians. the native sits in the middle of his canoe and propels himself with a double-bladed oar, which he dips into the water with regular alternations from one side to the other. the canoes are flat bottomed and very easy to overturn. a canoe is designed to carry but one man, though two can be taken in an emergency. when a native sitting in one of them spears a fish he moves only his arm and keeps his body motionless. at the russian village of gorin there was an ispravnik who had charge of a district containing nineteen villages with about fifteen hundred inhabitants. at gorin the river is two or three miles wide, and makes a graceful bend. we landed near a pile of ash logs awaiting shipment to nicolayevsk. the ispravnik was kind enough to give me the model of a goldee canoe about eighteen inches long and complete in all particulars. it was made by one anaka katonovitch, chief of an ancient goldee family, and authorized by the emperor of china to wear the uniform of a mandarin. the canoe was neatly formed, and reflected favorably upon the skill of its designer. i boxed it carefully and sent it to nicolayevsk for shipment to america. the ispravnik controlled the district between habarofka and sofyesk on both banks of the river, his power extending over native and russian alike. he said that this part of the amoor valley was very fertile, the yield of wheat and rye being fifteen times the seed. the principal articles cultivated were wheat, rye, hemp, and garden vegetables, and he thought the grain product of 1866 in his district would be thirty thousand poods of wheat and the same of rye. with a population of fifteen hundred in a new country, this result was very good. the goldees do not engage in agriculture as a business. now and then there was a small garden, but it was of very little importance. since the russian occupation the natives have changed their allegiance from china to the 'white czar,' as they call the muscovite emperor. formerly they were much oppressed by the manjour officials, who displayed great rapacity in collecting tribute. it was no unusual occurrence for a native to be tied up and whipped to compel him to bring out all his treasures. the goldees call the manjours 'rats,' in consequence of their greediness and destructive powers. the goldees are superior to the gilyaks in numbers and intelligence, and the manjours of igoon and vicinity are in turn superior to the goldees. the chinese are more civilized than the manjours, and call the latter 'dogs.' the manjours take revenge by applying the epithet to the goldees, and these transfer it to mangoons and gilyaks. the mangoons are not in large numbers, and live along the river between the gilyaks and goldees. many of the russian officials include them with the latter, and the captain of the ingodah was almost unaware of their existence. a peculiar kind of fence employed by the russian settlers on this part of the amoor attracted my attention. stakes were driven into the ground a foot apart and seven feet high. willow sticks were then woven between these stakes in a sort of basket work. the fence was impervious to any thing larger than a rat, and no sensible man would attempt climbing it, unless pursued by a bull or a sheriff, as the upper ends of the sticks were very sharp and about as convenient to sit upon as a row of harrow-teeth. it reminded me of a fence in an american village where i once lived, that an enterprising fruit-grower had put around his orchard,--a structure of upright pickets, and each picket armed with a nail in the top. one night four individuals bent on stealing apples, were confronted by the owner and a bull-dog and forced to surrender or leap the fence. three of them were "treed" by the dog; the fourth sprang over the fence, but left the seat of his trousers and the rear section of his shirt, the latter bearing in indelible ink the name of the wearer. the circumstantial evidence was so strong against him that he did not attempt an alibi, and he was unable to sit down for nearly a fortnight. [illustration: tail piece--the net] chapter xiv. i took the first opportunity to enter a goldee house and study the customs of the people. a goldee dwelling for permanent habitation has four walls and a roof. the sides and ends are of hewn boards or small poles made into a close fence, which is generally double and has a space six or eight inches wide filled with grass and leaves. inside and out the dwelling is plastered with mud, and the roofs are thatch or bark held in place by poles and stones. sometimes they are entirely of poles. the doors are of hewn plank, and can be fastened on the inside. the dwellings are from fifteen to forty feet square, according to the size of the family. in one i found a grandfather and his descendants; thirty persons at least. there are usually two windows, made of fish skin or thin paper over lattices. some windows were closed with mats that could be rolled up or lowered at will. the fire-place has a deep pan or kettle fixed over it, and there is room for a pot suspended from a rafter. around the room is a divan, or low bench of boards or wicker work, serving as a sofa by day and a bed at night. when dogs are kept in the house a portion of the divan belongs to them, and among the mangoons there is a table in the center specially reserved for feeding the dogs. i found the floors of clay, smooth and hard. near the fire-place a little fire of charcoal is kept constantly burning in a shallow hole. pipes are lighted at this fire, and small things can be warmed over it. household articles were hung upon the rafters and cross beams, and there was generally a closet for table ware and other valuables. the cross-beams were sufficiently close to afford stowage room for considerable property. fish-nets, sledges, and canoes were the most bulky articles i saw there. part of one wall was reserved for religious purposes, and covered with bear-skulls and bones, horse-hair, wooden idols, and pieces of colored cloth. occasionally there were badly-painted pictures, purchased from the chinese at enormous prices. sometimes poles shaped like small idols are fixed before the houses. a goldee house is warmed by means of wooden pipes under the divan and passing out under ground to a chimney ten or fifteen feet from the building. great economy is shown in using fuel and great care against conflagrations. i was not able to stand erect in any goldee houses i entered. like all people of the mongolian race, the natives pretended to have little curiosity. when we landed at their villages many continued their occupations and paid no attention to strangers. above gorin a goldee gentleman took me into his house, where a woman placed a mat on the divan and motioned me to a seat. the man tendered me a piece of dried fish, which i ate out of courtesy to my hosts. several children gathered to look at me, but retired on a gesture from _pater familias_. i am not able to say if the fact that my eyes were attracted to a pretty girl of seventeen had anything to do with the dispersal of the group. curiosity dwells in mongol breasts, but the asiatics, like our indians, consider its exhibition in bad taste. outside this man's house there were many scaffoldings for drying fish. a tame eagle was fastened with a long chain to one of the scaffolds; he was supposed to keep other birds away and was a pet of his owner. there were many dogs walking or lying around loose, while others were tied to the posts that supported the scaffolds. the dogs of the goldees are very intelligent. one morning mr. maack missed his pots which he had left the night before full of meat. after some search they were found in the woods near the village, overturned and empty. several dogs were prowling about and had evidently committed the theft. fearing to be interrupted at their meal they carried the pots where they could eat at leisure. while steaming up the river i frequently saw temporary dwellings of poles and bark like our indian wigwams. these were at the fishing stations upon sand bars or low islands. the afternoon following our departure from gorin i counted about thirty huts, or _yourts_, on one island, and more than fifty boats on the river. for half a mile the scene was animated and interesting. some boats were near the shore, their inmates hauling seines or paddling up or down the stream. in one heavily laden boat there was one man steering with a paddle. four men towed the craft against the current, and behind it was another drawn by six dogs. out in the river were small skiffs and canoes in couples, engaged in holding nets across the direction of the current. the paddles wore struck regularly and slowly to prevent drifting down the stream. [illustration: ten miles an hour.] one boat with two men rowing and another steering attempted a race with the steamer and fairly passed us, though we were making ten miles an hour. all these natives are very skillful in managing their boats. when we passed near a boat we were greeted with '_mendow, mendow,'_ the mongol word of welcome. sometimes we were hailed with the russian salutation of '_sdrastveteh_.' in one boat i saw a goldee belle dressed with considerable taste and wearing a ring in the cartilage of her nose. how powerful are the mandates of fashion! this damsel would scorn to wear her pendants after the manner of paris and new york, while the ladies of broadway and the boulevards would equally reject the goldee custom. the natives of this part of the amoor have a three-pronged spear like a neptune's trident, and handle it with much dexterity. the spear-head is attached to a long line, and when a fish is struck the handle is withdrawn. the fish runs out the line, which is either held in the hand or attached to a bladder floating on the water. ropes and nets are made from hemp and the common sting nettle, the latter being preferred. the nettle-stalks are soaked in water and then dried and pounded till the fibres separate. ropes and cords are equal to those of civilized manufacture, though sometimes not quite as smooth. thread for sewing and embroidery comes from china, and is purchased of manjour traders. the night after we left gorin the boat took wood at the village of doloe. it was midnight when we arrived, and as i walked through the village nearly all the inhabitants were sleeping. the only perambulating resident was very drunk and manifested a desire to embrace me, but as i did not know his language and could not claim relationship i declined the honor. near the river there was a large building for government stores and a smaller one for the men guarding it. a few hundred yards distant there was a goldee village, and for want of something better borasdine proposed that we should call on one of its inhabitants. we took a russian peasant to guide and introduce us, our credentials and passports having been left on the steamer. as we approached the first house we were greeted by at least a dozen dogs. they barked on all keys and our guide thought it judicious to provide himself with a stick; but i must do the brutes the justice to say that they made no attempt at dentistry upon our legs. some of them were large enough to consume ten pounds of beef at a sitting, and some too small for any but ornamental purposes. the door was not locked and the peasant entered without warning, while we stood outside among the dogs. our guide aroused the chief of the establishment and made a light; a strip of birch bark was used, and it took a good deal of blowing on the fire coals before a flame was produced. when we entered we found the proprietor standing in a short garment and rubbing his oblique eyes to get himself thoroughly awake. near the place he had vacated, the lady of the house was huddled under a coverlid about as large as a postage stamp, and did not appear encumbered with much clothing. three or four others had waked and made some attempt to cover themselves. at least a dozen remained asleep and lay in a charming condition of nudity. the goldee houses are heated to a high degree, and their inmates sleep without clothing. the delay in admitting us was to permit the head of the house to dress in reception costume, which he did by putting on his shirt. after wishing this aboriginal a long and happy life, and thanking him for his courtesy, we departed. i bumped my head against the rafters both in entering and leaving, and found considerable difference between the temperature in the house and out of it. the peasant offered to guide us to visit more goldees, but we returned to the boat and retired to sleep. the russian peasants and the natives live in perfect harmony and are of mutual advantage and assistance. the peasant furnishes the native with salt, flour, and other things, while the latter catches fish, enough for both. each has a peaceable disposition, and i was told that quarrels were of rare occurrence. the chinese call the natives _yu-pi-ta-tze_, which in english means 'wearers of fish-skins.' i saw many garments of fish-skins, most of them for summer use. the operation of preparing them is quite simple. the skins are dried and afterward pounded, the blows making them flexible and removing the scales. this done they are ready to be sewn into garments. [illustration: a goldee house] a coat of this material embroidered and otherwise decorated is far from ugly, and sheds water like india rubber. fish skins are used in making sails for boats and for the windows of houses. a russian who had worn a goldee coat said it was both warm and waterproof, and he suggested that it would be well to adopt fish-skin garments in america. the goldees and mangoons practice shamanism in its general features, and have a few customs peculiar to themselves. at a goldee village i saw a man wearing a wooden representation of an arm, and learned that it is the practice to wear amulets to cure disease, the amulet being shaped like the part affected. a lame person carries a small leg of wood, an individual suffering from dyspepsia a little stomach, and so on through a variety of disorders. a hypochondriac who thought himself afflicted all over had covered himself with these wooden devices, and looked like a museum of anatomy on its travels. i thought the custom not unknown in america, as i had seen ladies in new york wearing hearts of coral and other substances on their watch-chains. evidently the fashion comes from l'amour. [illustration: the hypochondriac.] the morning after leaving doloe we had a rain-storm with high wind that blew us on a lee shore. the river was four or five miles wide where the gale caught us, and the banks on both sides were low. the islands in this part of the river were numerous and extensive. at one place there are three channels, each a mile and a half wide and all navigable. from one bank to the other straight across the islands is a distance of nineteen miles. the wind and weather prevented our making much progress on that day; as the night was cloudy we tied up near a russian village and economised the darkness by taking wood. at a peasant's house near the landing four white-headed children were taking their suppers of bread and soup under the supervision of their mother. light was furnished from an apparatus like a fishing jack attached to the wall; every few minutes the woman fed it with a splinter of pine wood. very few of the peasants on the amoor can afford the expense of candles, and as they rarely have fire-places they must burn pine splinters in this way. along the amoor nearly every peasant house contains hundreds, and i think thousands, of cockroaches. they are quiet in the day but do not fail to make themselves known at night. the table where these children were eating swarmed with them, and i can safely say there wore five dozen on a space three feet square. they ran everywhere about the premises except into the fire. walls, beds, tables, and floors were plentifully covered with these disagreeable insects. the russians do not appear to mind them, and probably any one residing in that region would soon be accustomed to their presence. occasionally they are found in bread and soup, and do not improve the flavor. life on the steamboat was a trifle monotonous, but i found something new daily. our steward (who is called _boofetchee_ in russian) brought me water for washing when i rose in the morning, and the samovar with tea when i was dressed. borasdine rose about the time i did and joined me at tea. then we had breakfast of beef and bread with potatoes about eleven or twelve o'clock, and dinner at six. the intervals between meals were variously filled. i watched the land, talked with borasdine, read, wrote, smoked, and contemplated the steward, but never imagined him a disguised angel. i looked at the steerage passengers and the crew, and think their faces are pretty well fixed in memory. had i only been able to converse in russian i should have found much more enjoyment. as for the cook it is needless to say that i never penetrated the mysteries of his realm. little games of cards wore played daily by all save myself; i used to look on occasionally but never learned the games. one of the russian games at cards is called poker, and is not much unlike that seductive amusement so familiar to the united states. whence it came i could not ascertain, but it was probably taken there by some enterprising american. some years ago a western actor who was able to play hamlet, richelieu, richard iii., claude melnotte, and draw-poker, made his way to australia, where he delighted the natives with his dramatic genius. but though he drew crowded houses his cash box was empty, as the treasurer stole the most of the receipts. he did not discharge him as there was little prospect of finding a better man in that country; but he taught him draw-poker, borrowed five dollars to start the game, and then every morning won from the treasurer the money taken at the door on the previous night. as we approached the ousuree there was a superior magnificence in the forest. the trees on the southern bank grew to an enormous size in comparison, with those lower down the river. naturalists say that within a short distance in this region may be found all the trees peculiar to the amoor. some of them are three or four feet in diameter and very tall and straight. the elm and larch attain the greatest size, while the ash and oak are but little inferior. the cork-tree is two feet through, and the maackia--a species of oak with a brown, firm wood--grows to the diameter of a foot or more. in summer the foliage is so dense that the sun's rays hardly penetrate, and there is a thick 'chapparel' that makes locomotion difficult. just below the ousuree the settlers had removed the under growth over a small space and left the trees appearing taller than ever. in a great deal of travel i have never seen a finer forest than on this part of the amoor. i do not remember anything on the lower mississippi that could surpass it. tigers and leopards abound in these forests, and bears are more numerous than agreeable. occasionally one of these animals dines upon a goldee, but the custom is not in favor with the natives. it is considered remarkable that the bengal tiger, belonging properly to a region nearer the equator, should range so far north. on some of its excursions it reaches 53â° north latitude, and feeds upon reindeer and sables. the valley of the amoor is the only place in the world outside of a menagerie where all these animals are found together. the tropical ones go farther north and the arctic ones farther south than elsewhere. it is the same with the vegetable kingdom. the mahogany and cork tree grow here, and the bark of the latter is largely used by the natives. on the slopes of the mountains a few miles away are the siberian pine, the ayan spruce, and here and there a larch tree. cedars and fir trees are abundant and grow to a great size. the whole appearance of the region is one of luxuriance and fertility. the mouth of the ousuree is a mile wide, and the stream is said to be magnificent through its whole length. its sources are in latitude 44â°, and its length is about five hundred miles. while i was at nicolayevsk admiral fulyelm said to me: "i have just returned from a voyage on the ousuree. it is one of the loveliest rivers i ever saw. the valley bears such a resemblance to a settled country with alternate parks and open country that i almost looked to see some grand old mansion at every bend of the stream." a little past noon we sighted the town and military post of habarofka at the mouth of the ousuree. it stands on a promontory overlooking both rivers, and presents a pleasing appearance from the amoor. the portion first visible included the telegraph office and storehouses, near which a small steamer was at anchor. a manjour trading boat was at the bank, its crew resting on shore; a piece of canvas had been spread on the ground and the men were lounging upon it. one grave old personage, evidently the owner of the boat, waved his hand toward us in a dignified manner, but we could not understand his meaning. coming to shore we narrowly missed running over a goldee boat that crossed our track. our wheel almost touched the stern of the craft as we passed it, but the occupants appeared no wise alarmed. two women were rowing and a man steering, while a man and a boy were idle in the bow. a baby, strapped into a shallow cradle, lay in the bottom of the boat near the steersman. the young mongol was holding his thumb in his mouth and appeared content with his position. the town was in a condition of rawness like a western city in its second year; there was one principal street and several smaller ones, regularly laid out. as in all the russian settlements on the amoor the houses were of logs and substantially built. passing up the principal street we found a store, where we purchased a quantity of canned fruit, meats, and pickles. [illustration: "none for joe."] these articles were from boston, new york, and baltimore, and had american labels. the pictures of poaches, strawberries, and other fruits printed on the labels were a great convenience to the russian clerk who served us. he could not read english, but understood pictorial representations. on the boat we gave the cans to the steward, to be opened when we ordered. the pictures were especially adapted to this youth as he read no language whatever, including his own. on one occasion a quantity of devilled turkey was put up in cans and sent to the amoor, and the label was beautified with a picture of his satanic majesty holding a turkey on the end of a fork. the natives supposed that the devil was in the cans and refused to touch them. the supply was sent back to nicolayevsk, where it was eaten by the american merchants. accompanying borasdine i called upon the officer in command. we were ushered through two or three small rooms into the principal apartment, which contained a piano of french manufacture. three or four officers and as many ladies enabled us to pass an hour very pleasantly till the steam whistle recalled us, but we did not leave until two hours after going on board. two or three men had been allowed on shore and were making themselves comfortable in a _lafka_. two others went for them, but as they did not return within an hour the police went to search for both parties. when all were brought to the steamer it was difficult to say it the last were not first--in intoxication. several passengers left us at habarofka, among them the black eyed girl that attracted the eyes of one or two passengers in the cabin; as we departed she stood on the bank and waved us an adieu. in the freight taken at this point there were fifteen chairs of local manufacture; they were piled in the cabin and did not leave us much space, when we considered the number and size of the fleas. on my first night on the ingodah the fleas did not disturb me as i came after visiting hours and was not introduced. on all subsequent nights they were persevering and relentless; i was bitten until portions of my body appeared as if recovering from a polynesian tattoo. they used to get inside my under clothing by some mysterious way and when there they walked up and down like sentries on duty and bit at every other step. it was impossible to flee from them, and they appointed their breakfasts and lunches at times most inconvenient to myself. if i were emperor of russia i would issue a special edict expelling fleas from my dominions and ordering that the labor expended in scratching should be devoted to agriculture or the mechanic arts. i suggested that the engines should be removed from the ingodah and a treadmill erected for the fleas to propel the boat. there have been exhibitions where fleas were trained to draw microscopic coaches and perform other fantastic tricks; but whatever their ability i would wager that the insects on that steamboat could not be outdone in industry by any other fleas in the world. one of my standard amusements was to have a grand hunt for these lively insects just before going to bed, and i have no doubt that the exercise assisted to keep me in good health. i used to remove my clothing, which i turned inside out and shook very carefully. then i bathed from head to foot in some villainous brandy that no respectable flea would or could endure; after this ablution was ended, i donned my garments, wrapped in my blanket, and proceeded to dream that i was a hen with thirteen chickens, and doomed to tear up an acre of ground for their support. [illustration: tail piece--scene on the river] chapter xv. when i rose in the morning after leaving habarofka the steward was ready with his usual pitcher of water and basin. in siberia they have a novel way of performing ablutions. they rarely furnish a wash-bowl, but in place of it bring a large basin of brass or other metal. if you wish to wash hands or face the basin is placed where you can lean over it. a servant pours from a pitcher into your hands, and if you are skillful you catch enough water to moisten your face. frequently the peasants have a water-can attached to the wall of the house in some out-of-the-way locality. the can has a valve in the bottom opened from below like a trapdoor in a roof. by lifting a brass pin that projects from this valve one can fill his hands with water without the aid of a servant. while i was arranging my toilet the steward pointed out of the cabin window and uttered the single word "kitie"--emphasizing the last syllable. i looked where he directed and had my first view of the chinese empire. "kitie" is the russian name of china, and is identical with the cathay of marco polo and other early travelers. i could not see any difference between kitie on one hand and russia on the other; there were trees and bushes, grass and sand, just as on the opposite shore. in the region immediately above the ousuree there are no mountains visible from the river, but only the low banks on either hand covered with trees and bushes. here and there were open spaces appearing as if cleared for cultivation. with occasional sand bars and low islands, and the banks frequently broken and shelving, the resemblance to the lower mississippi was almost perfect. mr. maack says of this region: "in the early part of the year when the yellow blossoms of the lonicera chrysantha fill the air with their fragrance, when the syringas bloom and the hylonecon bedecks large tracts with a bright golden hue, when corydales, violets, and pasque flowers are open, the forests near the ousuree may bear comparison in variety of richness and coloring with the open woods of the prairie country. later in the year, the scarcity of flowers is compensated by the richness of the herbage, and after a shower of rain delicious perfumes are wafted towards us from the tops of the walnut and cork trees." a little past noon we touched at the russian village of petrovsky. at this place the river was rapidly washing the banks, and i was told that during three years nearly four hundred feet in front of the village had been carried away. the single row of houses forming the settlement stands with a narrow street between it and the edge of the bank. the whole population, men, women, and children, turned out to meet us. the day was cool and the men were generally in their sheepskin coats. the women wore gowns of coarse cloth of different colors, and each had a shawl over her head. some wore coats of sheepskin like those of the men, and several were barefooted. two women walked into the river and stood with utter nonchalance where the water was fifteen inches deep. i immersed my thermometer and found it indicated 51â°. walking on shore i was nearly overturned by a small hog running between my legs. the brute, with a dozen of his companions, had pretty much his own way at petrovsky, and after this introduction i was careful about my steps. these hogs are modelled something like blockade runners: with great length, narrow beam, and light draft. they are capable of high speed, and would make excellent time if pursued by a bull-dog or pursuing a swill-bucket. [illustration: reception at petrovsky.] a peasant told us there were wild geese in a pond near by, and as the boat remained an hour or more to take wood, borasdine and i improvised a hunting excursion. it proved in every sense a wild-goose chase, as the birds flew away before we were in shooting distance. not wishing to return empty-handed we purchased two geese a few hundred yards from the village, and assumed an air of great dignity as we approached the boat. we subsequently ascertained that the same geese were offered to the steward for half the price we paid. just above petrovsky we passed the steamer amoor, which left nicolayevsk a week before us with three barges in tow. with such a heavy load her progress was very slow. barges on the amoor river are generally built of iron, and nearly as large as the steamers. they are not towed alongside as on the mississippi, but astern. the rope from the steamer to the first barge is about two hundred feet long, and the barges follow each other at similar distances. looking at this steamer struggling against the current and impeded by the barges, brought to mind pope's needless alexandrine: "that, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along." each barge has a crew, subordinate, of course, to the captain of the tow-boat. this crew steers the barge in accordance with the course of the steamer, looks after its welfare, and watches over the freight on board. in case it fastens on a sand bar the crew remains with it, and sometimes has the pleasure of wintering there. the barge is decked like a ship, and has two or three hatchways for receiving and discharging freight. over each hatchway is a derrick that appears at a distance not unlike a mast. above petrovsky the banks generally retain their level character on the russian side. cliffs and hills frequently extend to the water on the chinese shore, most of the land being covered with forests of foliferous trees. some of the mountains are furrowed along their sides as regularly as if turned with a gigantic plow. near the villages of ettoo and dyrki the cliffs are precipitous and several hundred feet high; at their base the water is deep and the current very strong. on the north shore the plain is generally free from tall trees, but has a dense growth of grass and bushes. sand-banks are frequent, and the islands are large and numerous. this region is much frequented during the fishing season, and the huts of the natives, their canoes and drying scaffolds are quite numerous. there are but few fixed villages, the country not being desirable for permanent habitation. near one village there was a gently sloping hillside about a mile square with a forest of oak so scattered that it had a close resemblance to an american apple-orchard. the treaty between russia and china, fixing the boundaries between the two empires, contains a strange oversight. dated on the 14th of november, 1860, it says: "henceforth the eastern frontier between the two empires shall commence from the junction of the rivers shilka and argoon, and will follow the course of the river amoor to the junction of the river ousuree with the latter. the land on the left bank (to the north) of the river amoor belongs to the empire of russia, and the territory on the right bank (to the south) to the junction of the river ousuree, to the empire of china." the treaty further establishes the boundaries from the mouth of the ousuree to the sea of japan, and along the western region toward central asia. it provides for commissioners to examine the frontier line. it declares that trade shall be free of duty along the entire line, and removes all commercial restrictions. it gives the merchants of kiachta the right of going to pekin, oorga, and kalgan; allows a russian consulate at oorga, and permits russian merchants to travel anywhere in china. it annuls former treaties, and establishes a postal arrangement between pekin and kiachta. i presume the oversight in the treaty was on the part of the chinese, as the russians are too shrewd in diplomacy to omit any point of advantage. nothing is said about the land in the amoor. "the land on the north bank is russian, and on the south bank chinese." what is to be the nationality of the islands in the river? some of them are large enough to hold a population of importance, or be used, as the sites of fortifications. there are duchies and principalities in europe of less territorial extent than some islands of the amoor. when russia desires them she will doubtless extend her protection, and i observed during my voyage that several islands were occupied by russian settlers for hay-cutting and other purposes. why could not an enterprising man of destiny like the grey-eyed walker or unhappy maximilian penetrate the amoor and found a new government on an island that nobody owns? quite likely his adventure would result like the conquests of mexico and nicaragua, but this probability should not cause a man of noble blood to hesitate. below the ousuree the russian villages were generally on the south bank of the river, but after passing that stream i found them all on the north side. the villages tributary to china consisted only of the settlements of goldees and mangoons, or their temporary fishing stations. the chinese empire contains much territory still open to colonization, and i imagine that it would be to the interest of the celestial government to scatter its population more evenly over its dominions. possibly it does not wish to send its subjects into regions that may hereafter fall into the hands of the emperor of russia. there is a great deal of land in manjouria adapted to agriculture, richly timbered and watered, but containing a very small population. millions of people could find homes where there are now but a few thousands. a russian village and military post seventeen miles below the mouth of the songaree is named michael semenof, in honor of the governor general of eastern siberia. we landed before the commandant's house, where two iron guns pointed over the river in the direction of china. however threatening they appeared i was informed they were unserviceable for purposes of war, and only employed in firing salutes. a military force was maintained there, and doubtless kept a sharp watch over the chinese frontier. the soldiers appeared under good sanitary regulations, and the quarters of the commandant indicated an appreciation of the comforts of life. the peasants that gathered on the bank were better dressed than those of petrovsky and other villages. the town is on a plain covered with a scattered growth of oaks. below this place the wood furnished us was generally ash or poplar; here it was oak, somewhat gnarly and crooked, but very good for steamboat fuel. one design of the colonization of the amoor is to furnish a regular supply of wood to the government steamers. the peasants cut the wood and bring it to the bank of the river. private steamers pay cash for what they purchase; the captains of the government boats gives vouchers for the wood they take, and these vouchers are redeemed at the end of the season of navigation. about sixty thousand roubles worth of wood is consumed annually by government, and twelve thousand on private account. while the boat took wood borasdine and i resumed our hunting, he carrying a shot-gun and i an opera glass; with this division of labor we managed to bag a single snipe and kill another, which was lost in the river. my opera glass was of assistance in finding the birds in the grass; they were quite abundant almost within rifle-shot of town, and it seemed strange that the officers of the post did not devote their leisure to snipe hunting. our snipe was cooked, for dinner, and equalled any i ever saw at delmonico's. we had a wild goose at the same meal, and after a careful trial i can pronounce the siberian goose an edible bird. he is not less cunning than wild geese elsewhere, but with all his adroitness he frequently falls into the hands of man and graces his dinner table. on the northern horizon, twenty or thirty miles from michael semenof, there is a range of high and rugged mountains. as we left the town, near the close of day, the clouds broke in the west and the sunshine lighted up these mountains and seemed to lift them above their real position. with the red and golden colors of the clouds; the lights and shadows of the mountains; the yellow forests of autumn, and the green plains near the river; the stillness broken only by our own motion or the rippling of the river, the scene was 'most fair to look upon.' i have never seen sunsets more beautiful than those of the amoor. [illustration: armed and equipped.] i rose early in the morning to look at the mouth of the songaree. under a cloudy moon i could distinguish little beyond the outline of the land and the long low water line where the amoor and songaree sweep at right angles from their respective valleys. even though it was not daylight i could distinguish the line of separation, or union, between the waters of the two streams, just as one can observe it where the missouri and mississippi unite above saint louis. i would have given much to see this place in full daylight, but the fates willed it otherwise. this river is destined at some time to play an important part in russian and chinese diplomacy. at present it is entirely controlled by china, but it appears on all the late maps of eastern siberia with such minuteness as to indicate that the russians expect to obtain it before long. formerly the chinese claimed the songaree as the real amoor, and based their argument on the fact that it follows the general course of the united stream and carried a volume of water as large as the other. they have now abandoned this claim, which the russians are entirely willing to concede. once the fact established that the songaree is the real amoor, the russians would turn to the treaty which gives them "all the land north of the amoor." their next step would be to occupy the best part of manjouria, which would be theirs by the treaty. by far the larger portion of manjouria is drained by the songaree and its tributaries. the sources of this river are in the shanalin mountains, that separate corea from manjouria, and are ten or twelve thousand feet high. they resemble the sierra nevadas in having a lake twelve miles in circumference as high in air as lake tahoe. the affluents of the songaree run through a plateau in some places densely wooded while in others it has wide belts of prairie and marshy ground. a large part of the valley consists of low, fertile lands, through which the river winds with very few impediments to navigation. very little is known concerning the valley, but it is said to be pretty well peopled and to produce abundantly. m. de la bruniere when traveling to the country of the gilyaks in 1845, crossed this valley, and found a dense population along the river, but a smaller one farther inland. the principal cities are kirin and sansin on the main stream, and sit-si-gar on the nonni, one of its tributaries. the songaree is navigable to kirin, about thirteen hundred versts from the amoor, and it is thought the nonni can be ascended to sit-si-gar. the three cities have each a population of about a hundred thousand. according to the treaty of 1860 russian merchants with proper passports may enter chinese territory, but no more than two hundred can congregate in one locality. russian merchants have been to all the cities in manjouria, but the difficulties of travel are not small. the chinese authorities are jealous of foreigners, and restrict their movements as much as possible. the russians desire to open the songaree to commerce, but the chinese prefer seclusion. a month before my visit a party ascended the river to ascertain its resources. a gentleman told me the chinese used every means except actual force to hinder the progress of the steamer and prevent the explorers seeing much of the country. whenever any one went on shore the people crowded around in such numbers that nothing else could be seen. almost the whole result of the expedition was to ascertain that the river was navigable and its banks well peopled. in the dim light of morning i saw some houses at the junction of the rivers, and learned they were formerly the quarters of a manjour guard. until 1864 a military force, with two or three war junks, was kept at the mouth of the songaree to prevent russian boats ascending. mr. maximowicz, the naturalist, endeavored in 1859 to explore the river as far as the mouth of the nonni. though his passport was correct, the manjour guard ordered him to stop, and when he insisted upon proceeding the celestial raised his matchlock. maximowicz exhibited a rifle and revolver and forced a passage. he was not molested until within forty miles of san-sin, when the natives came out with flails, but prudently held aloof on seeing the firearms in the boat. finding he could not safely proceed, the gentleman turned about when only twenty-five miles below the city. after passing the songaree i found a flat country with wide prairies on either side of the river. in the forest primeval the trees were dense and large, and where no trees grew the grass was luxuriant. the banks were alluvial and evidently washed by the river during times of freshet. there were many islands, but the windings of the river were more regular than farther down. i saw no native villages and only two or three fishing stations. those acquainted with the river say its banks have fewer inhabitants there than in any other portion. on the russian shore there were only the villages established by government, but notwithstanding its lack of population, the country was beautiful. with towns, plantations, and sugar-mills, it would greatly resemble the region between baton rouge and new orleans. i could perceive that the volume of the river was much diminished above its junction with the songaree. at long and rare intervals snags were visible, but not in the navigable channel. we took soundings with a seven foot pole attached to a rope fastened to the rail of the boat. a man threw the pole as if he were spearing fish, and watched the depth to which it descended. the depth of water was shouted in a monotonous drawl. "_sheiste; sheiste polivinnay; sem; sem polivinnay;_" and so on through the various quantities indicated. i thought the manner more convenient than that in use on some of our western rivers. while smoking a cigar on the bridge i was roused by the cry of "_tigre! tigre_!" from borasdine. i looked to where he pointed on the chinese shore and could see an animal moving slowly through the grass. it may have been a tiger, and so it was pronounced by the russians who saw it; i have never looked upon a real tiger outside of a menagerie, and am not qualified to give an opinion. i brought my opera glass and borasdine iris rifle, but the beast did not again show himself. provoked by this glimpse my companions retired to the cabin and made a theoretical combat with the animal until dinner time. the day was made memorable by a decent dinner; the special reason for it was the fact that borasdine had presented our caterer with an old coat. i regretted i could not afford to reduce my wardrobe, else we would have secured another comfortable repast. both steward and cook were somewhat negligently clad, and possibly a spare garment or two might have opened their hearts and larders. of course the sight of the tiger led to stories about his kindred, and we whiled away a portion of the evening in narrating incidents of a more or less personal character. an officer, who was temporarily our fellow-passenger, on his way to one of the cossack posts, a few miles above, gave an account of his experience with a tiger on the ousuree. i was out (said he) on a survey that we were making on behalf of the government to establish the boundary between russia and china. the country was then less known than now; there were no settlements along the river, and with the exception of the villages of the natives, thirty or forty miles apart, the whole country was a wilderness. at one village we were warned that a large tiger had within a month killed two men and attacked a third, who was saved only by the sudden and unexpected appearance of a party of friends. we prepared our rifles and pistols, to avoid the possibility of their missing fire in case of an encounter with the man-stealing beast. rather reluctantly some of the natives consented to serve us as guides to the next village. we generally found them ready enough to assist us, as we paid pretty liberally for their services, and made love to all the young women that the villages contained. with an eye to a successful campaign, i laid in a liberal supply of trinkets to please these aboriginals, and found that they served their purposes admirably. so the natives were almost universally kind to us, and their reluctance to accompany us on this occasion showed the great fear they entertained of the tiger. we were camped on the bank of the ousuree, about ten miles from the village, and passed the night without disturbance. in the morning, while we were preparing for breakfast, one of the natives went a few hundred yards away, to a little pond near, where he thought it possible to spear some salmon. he waded out till he was immersed to his waist, and then with his spear raised, stood motionless as a statue for several minutes. suddenly he darted the spear into the water and drew out a large salmon, which he threw to the shore, and their resumed his stationary position. in twenty minutes he took three or four salmon, and then started to return to camp. just as he climbed the bank and had gathered his fish, a large tiger darted from the underbrush near by, and sprung upon him as a cat would spring upon a mouse. stopping not a moment, the tiger ran up the hillside and disappeared. i was looking toward the river just as the tiger sprang upon him, and so were two of the natives; we all uttered a cry of astonishment, and were struck motionless for an instant, though only for an instant. the unfortunate man did not struggle with the beast, and as the latter did not stop to do more than seize him, i suspected that the fright and suddenness of the attack had caused a fainting fit. i and my russian companion seized our rifles, and the natives their spears, and started in pursuit. we tracked the tiger through the underbrush, partly by the marks left by his feet, but mainly by the drops of blood that had fallen from his victim. going over a ridge, we lost the trail, and though we spread out and searched very carefully, it was nearly an hour before we could resume the pursuit. every minute seemed an age, as we well knew that the tiger would thus gain time to devour his prey. probably i was less agitated than the natives, but i freely and gladly admit that i have never had my nerves more unstrung than on that occasion, though i have been in much greater peril. we searched through several clumps of bushes, and examined several thickets, in the hope of finding where the tiger had concealed himself. the natives approached all these thickets with fear and trembling, so that most of the searching was done by the russian members of the party. just as we were beating around a little clump of bushes, fifteen or twenty yards across, my companion on the other side shouted: "look out; the tiger is preparing to spring upon you." instantly i cocked my rifle and fired into the bushes; they were so dense that i could hardly discern the outline of the beast, who had me in full view, and was crouching preparatory to making a leap. i called to my friend to shoot, as the density of the thicket made it very probable that my fire would be lost, by the ball glancing among the shrubbery. but my friend was in the same predicament, and i quickly formed a plan of operations. [illustration: general activity.] we were both good shots, and i thought our safety lay in killing the beast as he rose in the air. aiming at his head, i stepped slowly backward, and shouted to my friend to cover the tiger and shoot as he sprang. all this occurred in less time than i tell of it. hardly had i stepped two paces backward when the tiger leaped toward me. as he rose, his throat was exposed for a moment, and i planted a bullet in his breast. simultaneously a ball from the other rifle struck his side. we fired so closely together that neither of us heard the report of the other's weapon. the tiger gave a roar of agony, and despite the wounds he received, either of which would have been fatal, he completed his spring so nearly that he caught me by the foot and inflicted a wound that lamed me for several months, and left permanent scars. the natives, hearing the report of our rifles, came to our assistance, and so great was their reverence for the tiger, that they prostrated themselves before his quivering body, and muttered some words which i could not understand. though assured that the beast was dead, they hesitated to enter the thicket to search for the body of their companion, and it was only on my leading the way that they entered it. we found the remains of the poor native somewhat mutilated, though less so than i expected. there was no trace of suffering upon his features, and i was confirmed in my theory that he fainted the moment he was seized, and was not conscious afterward. his friends insisted upon burying the body where they found it, and said it was their custom to do so. they piled logs above the grave, and after the observance of certain pagan rites, to secure the repose of the deceased, they signified their readiness to proceed. the tiger was one of the largest of his kind. i had his skin carefully removed, and sent it with my official report to st. petersburg. a chinese mandarin who met me near lake hinka offered me a high price for the skin, but i declined his offer, in order to show our emperor what his siberian possessions contained. [illustration: tail piece--flask] chapter xvi. on the morning of september 28th we arrived at ekaterin-nikolskoi, a flourishing settlement, said to contain nearly three hundred houses. it stood on a plateau forty feet above the river, and was the best appearing village i had seen since leaving habarofka. the people that gathered on the bank were comfortably clad and evidently well fed, but i could not help wondering how so many could leave their labor to look at a steamboat. the country was considered excellent for agriculture, yielding abundantly all the grains that had been tried. on the amoor the country below gorin belongs to the maritime province, which has its capital at nicolayevsk. above gorin is the province of the amoor, controlled by the governor at blagoveshchensk. in the maritime province the settlers are generally of the civilian or peasant class, while in the amoor province they are mostly cossacks. the latter depend more upon themselves than the former, and i was told that this was one cause of their prosperity. many peasants in the maritime province do not raise enough flour for their own use, and rely upon government when there is a deficiency. it is my opinion that the emperor does too much for some of his subjects in the eastern part of his dominions. in kamchatka and along the coast of the ohotsk sea the people are supplied with flour at a low price or for nothing, a ship coming annually to bring it. it has been demonstrated that agriculture is possible in kamchatka. when i asked why rye was not raised there, one reply was: "we get our flour from government, and have no occasion to make it." now if the government would furnish the proper facilities for commencing agriculture, and then throw the inhabitants on their own resources, i think it would make a decided change for the better. a self-reliant population is always the best. some of the colonists on the amoor went there of their own accord, induced by liberal donations of land and materials, while others were moved by official orders. in siberia the government can transfer a population at its will. a whole village may be commanded to move ten, a hundred, or a thousand miles, and it has only to obey. the people gather their property, take their flocks and herds, and move where commanded. they are reimbursed for losses in changing their residence, and the expense of new houses is borne by government. a community may be moved from one place to another, and the settlers find themselves surrounded by their former neighbors. the cossacks are moved oftener than the peasants, as they are more directly subject to orders. i found the cossack villages on the amoor were generally laid out with military precision, the streets where the ground permitted being straight as sunbeams, and the houses of equal size. usually each house had a small yard or flower garden in its front, but it was not always carefully tended. every village has a chief or headman, who assigns each man his location and watches over the general good of his people. when cossacks are demanded for government service the headman makes the selection, and all cases of insubordination or dispute are regulated by him. a cossack is half soldier and half citizen. he owes a certain amount of service to the government, and is required to labor for it a given number of days in the year. he may be called to travel as escort to the mail or to an officer, to watch over public property, to row a boat, construct a house, or perform any other duty in his power. in case of war he becomes a soldier and is sent wherever required. as a servant of government he receives rations for himself and family, but i believe he is not paid in money. the time belonging to himself he can devote to agriculture or any other employment he chooses. the cossacks reside with their families, and some of them acquire considerable property. a russian officer told me there were many wealthy cossacks along the argoon river on the boundary between russia and china. they trade across the frontier, and own large droves of cattle, horses, and sheep. some of their houses are spacious and fitted with considerable attempt at luxury. the amoor settlements are at present too young to possess much wealth. soon after leaving ekaterin-nikolskoi we entered the buryea or hingan mountains. this chain extends across the valley of the amoor at nearly right angles, and the river flows through it in a single narrow defile. the mountains first reach the river on the northern bank, the chinese shore continuing low for thirteen miles higher up. there are no islands, and the river, narrowed to about half a mile, flows with a rapid current. in some places it runs five miles an hour, and its depth is from fifty to a hundred feet. the mountains come to the river on either bank, sometimes in precipitous cliffs, but generally in regular slopes. their elevation is about a thousand feet, and they are covered to their summits with dense forests of foliferous and coniferous trees. occasionally the slopes are rocky or covered with loose debris that does not give clinging room to the trees. the undergrowth is dense, and everything indicates a good vegetation. the mountains are of mica-schist, clay-slate, and rocks of similar origin resting upon an axis of granite. porphyry has been found in one locality. according to the geologists there are indications of gold and other precious metals, and i would not be surprised if a thorough exploration led to valuable discoveries. as the boat struggled against the current in this mountain passage i spent most of the time on deck. the tortuous course of the river added much to the scenic effect. almost every minute the picture changed. hill, forest, cliff, and valley assumed different aspects as we wound our sinuous way up the defile. here and there were tiny cascades breaking over the steep rocks to the edge of the river, and occasionally a little meadow peeped out from the mountain valleys. some features of the scenery reminded me of the highlands of the hudson, or the mississippi above lake pepin. at times we seemed completely enclosed in a lake from which there was no escape save by climbing the hills. frequently it was impossible to discover any trace of an opening half a mile in our front. had we been ascending an unexplored river i should have half expected to find it issuing like a huge spring from the base of a high mountain. the russian villages in these mountains are located in the valleys of streams flowing to the amoor. in one bend we found a solitary house newly-erected and waiting its occupants who should, keep the post-station in winter. we sent a cossack ashore in a skiff at this point, and he came near falling into the river while descending the steps at the steamer's side. while returning from the bank one of the men in the skiff broke an oar and fell overboard, which obliged us to back the steamer nearly half a mile down the river to pick him up. the unlucky individual was arrayed in the only suit of clothes he possessed, and was hung up to dry in the engine room. a mile above this landing place we passed two manjour boats ascending the stream. these boats were each about twenty feet long, sitting low in the water with the bow more elevated than the stern, and had a mast in the center for carrying a small sail. in the first boat i counted six men, four pushing with poles, one steering, and the sixth, evidently the proprietor, lying at ease on the baggage. where the nature of the ground permits the crew walk along the shore and tow the boat. the men were in cotton garments and conical hats, and their queues of hair hung like ships pennants in a dead calm, or the tails of a group of scared dogs. they seemed to enjoy themselves, and were laughing merrily as we went past them. they waved their hands up the stream as if urging us to go ahead and say they were coming. the one reclining was a venerable personage, with a thin beard fringing a sedate visage, into which he drew long whiffs and comfort from a chinese pipe. these boats were doubtless from kirin or san-sin, on their way to igoon. the voyage must be a tedious one to any but a mongol, much like the navigation of the mississippi before the days of steam-boats. in spite of the great advantages to commerce, the manjours resisted to the last the introduction of steam on the amoor just as they now oppose it on the songaree. [illustration: manjour boat.] in the language of the natives along its banks the amoor has several names. the chinese formerly called the songaree 'ku-tong,' and considered the lower amoor a part of that stream. above the songaree the amoor was called 'sakhalin-oula,' (black water,) by the manjours and chinese. the goldees named it 'mongo,' and the gilyaks called it 'mamoo.' the name amoor was given by the russians, and is considered a corruption of the gilyak word. when mr. collins descended, in 1857, the natives near igoon did not or would not understand him when he spoke of the amoor. they called the river 'sakhalin,' a name which the russians gave to the long island at the mouth of the amoor. as the mongolian maps do not reach the outside world i presume the russian names are most likely to endure with geographers. the upper part of the defile of the buryea mountains is wider and has more meadows than the lower portion. on one of these meadows, where there is a considerable extent of arable land, we found the village of raddevski, named in honor of the naturalist raddy, who explored this region. the resources here were excellent, if i may judge by the quantity and quality of edibles offered to our steward. the people of both sexes flocked to the landing with vegetables, bread, chickens, butter, and other good things in much larger quantity than we desired. there was a liberal supply of pigs and chickens, with many wild geese and ducks. we bought a pig and kept him on board three or four days. he squealed without cessation, until our captain considered him a bore, and ordered him killed and roasted. pigs were generally carried in bags or in the arms of their owners. one day a woman brought a thirty pound pig suspended over her shoulder. the noise and kicking of the brute did not disturb her, and she held him as unconcernedly as if he were an infant. finding no market for her property, she turned it loose and allowed it to take its own way home. milk was almost invariably brought in bottles, and eggs in boxes or baskets. eggs were sold by the dizaine (ten,) and not as with us by the dozen. at raddevski several kinds of berries were offered us, but only the blackberry and whortleberry were familiar to my eyes. one berry, of which i vainly tried to catch the russian name, was of oblong shape, three-fourths an inch in length, and had the taste of a sweet grape. it was said to grow on a climbing vine. cedar nuts were offered in large quantities, but i did not purchase. here, as elsewhere on the lower amoor, men and women labor together in the fields and engage equally in marketing at the boats. i was much amused in watching the commercial transactions between the peasants and our steward. i could not understand what was said, but the conversation in loud tones and with many words had much the appearance of an altercation. several times i looked around expecting to see blows, but the excitement was confined to the vocal organs alone. the passage of the amoor through the buryea mountains is nearly a hundred miles in length. toward the upper end the mountains are more precipitous and a few peaks rise high above the others, like the sentinels in yosemite valley. the last cliff before one reaches the level country is known as cape sverbef, a bold promontory that projects into the river and is nearly a thousand feet high. not far from this cliff is a flat-topped mountain remarkable for several crevices on its northern side, from which currents of cold air steadily issue. ice forms around these fissures in midsummer, and a thermometer suspended in one of them fell in an hour to 30â° fahrenheit. an hour after passing the mountains i saw a dozen conical huts on the chinese shore and a few dusky natives lounging in front of them. they reminded me of the lodges of our noble red men as i saw them west of the missouri several years before. instead of being cheyennes or sioux they proved to be birars, a tribe of wandering tunguse who inhabit this region. their dwellings wore of light poles covered with birch bark. one of the native gentlemen was near the bank of the river in the attitude of an orator, but not properly dressed for a public occasion. his only garments were a hat and a string of beads, and he was accompanied by a couple of young ladies in the same picturesque costume, minus the hat and beads. these tungusians lead a nomadic life. above the mouth of the zeya there are two other tribes of similar character, the managres and orochons. the principal difference between them is that the former keep the horse and the latter the reindeer. the birars have no beasts of burden except a very few horses. none of these people live in permanent houses, but move about wherever attracted by fishing or the chase. during spring and summer they generally live on the banks of the river, where they catch and cure fish. their scaffoldings and storehouses were like those of the natives already described, and during their migrations are left without guards and universally respected. their fish are dried for winter use, and they sell the roe of the sturgeon to the russians for making caviar. my first acquaintance with caviar was at nicolayevsk, and i soon learned to like it. it is generally eaten with bread, and forms an important ingredient in the russian lunch. on the volga its preparation engages a great many men, and the caviar from that river is found through the whole empire. along the amoor the business is in its infancy, the production thus far being for local consumption. i think if some enterprising american would establish the preparation of caviar on the hudson where the sturgeon is abundant, he could make a handsome profit in shipping it to russia. the roe is taken from the fish and carefully washed. the membrane that holds the eggs together is then broken, and after a second washing the substance is ready for salting. one kind for long carriage and preservation is partially dried and then packed and sealed in tin cans. the other is put in kegs, without pressing, and cannot be kept a long time. in the autumn and winter the natives are hunters. they chase elk and deer for their flesh, and sables, martens, and squirrels for their furs. squirrels are especially abundant, and a good hunter will frequently kill a thousand in a single season. the siberian squirrel of commerce comes from this region by way of irkutsk and st. petersburg. the natives hunt the bear and are occasionally hunted by him. at one landing a birar exhibited an elk skin which he wished to exchange for tobacco, and was quite delighted when i gave him a small quantity of the latter. he showed me a scar on his arm where a bear had bitten him two or three years before. the marks of the teeth and the places where the flesh was torn could be easily seen, but i was unable to learn the particulars of his adventure. these tungusians are rather small in stature, and their arms and legs are thin. their features are broad, their mouths large and lips narrow, and their hair is black and smooth, the men having very little beard. their clothing is of the skins of elk and deer, with some garments of cotton cloth of chinese manufacture. most of the men i saw wore a belt at the waist, to which several articles of daily use were attached. at each russian settlement above the mountains i observed a large post painted in the official colors and supporting a board inscribed with the name of the village. it was fixed close to the landing place, and evidently designed for the convenience of strangers. one of my exercises in learning the language of the country was to spell the names on these signs. i found i could usually spell much faster if i knew beforehand the name of a village. it was like having a bohn's translation of a latin exercise. at the village of inyakentief i saw the first modern fortification since leaving nicolayevsk,--a simple lunette without cannon but with several hundred cannon shot somewhat rusty with age. the governor of this village was a prince by title, and evidently controlled his subjects very well. i saw madame the princess, but did not have the pleasure of her acquaintance. she was dressed in a costume of which crinoline, silk, and ribbons were component parts, contrasting sharply with the coarse garments of the peasant women. this village had recently sold a large quantity of wheat and rye to the government. it had the best church i had seen since leaving nicolayevsk, and its general appearance was prosperous. among the women that came to the boat was one who recognized borasdine as an old acquaintance. she hastened back to her house and brought him two loaves of bread made from wheat of that year's growth. as a token of friendship he gave her a piece of sugar weighing a pound or two and a glass of bad brandy that brought many tears to her eyes. i think she was at least fifteen minutes drinking the fiery liquid, which she sipped as one would take a compound of cayenne pepper and boiling water. the worst 'tanglefoot' or 'forty-rod' from cincinnati or st. louis would have been nectar by the side of that brandy. the country for a hundred miles or more above the buryea mountains was generally level. here and there were hills and ridges, and in the background on the south a few mountains were visible. there were many islands which, with the banks of alluvium, were evidently cut by the river in high freshets. where the beach sloped to the water there was a little driftwood, and i could see occasional logs resting upon islands and sand bars. when taken in a tumbler the water of the amoor appeared perfectly clear, but in the river it had a brownish tinge. there were no snags and no floating timber. i never fancied an iron boat for river travel owing to the ease of puncturing it. on the mississippi or missouri it would be far from safe, but on the amoor there are fewer perils of navigation. more boats have been lost there from carelessness or ignorance than from accidents really unavoidable. the amoor is much like what the mississippi would be with all its snags removed and its channel made permanent. while among the islands i saw a small flotilla of boats in line across a channel, and after watching them through a glass discovered they were hauling a net. there were ten or twelve summer huts on the point of an island, and the boats were at least twice as many. a dozen men on shore were hauling a net that appeared well filled with fish. i do not think a single native looked up as we passed. possibly they have a rule there not to attend to outside matters when exercising their professions. chapter xvii. the second day above the mountains we passed a region of wide prairie stretching far to the north and bearing a dense growth of rank grass and bushes, with a few clumps of trees. on the chinese side there were hills that sloped gently to the river's edge or left a strip of meadow between them and the water. many hills were covered with a thin forest of oaks and very little underbrush. at a distance the ground appeared as if carefully trimmed for occupation, especially as it had a few open places like fields. in the sere and yellow leaf of autumn these groves were charming, and i presume they are equally so in the fresh verdure of summer. if by some magic the amoor could be transferred to america, and change its mouth from the gulf of tartary to the bay of new york, a multitude of fine mansions would soon rise on its banks. among the islands that stud this portion of the river we passed the steamer constantine with two barges in tow. she left nicolayevsk twelve days before us, and her impediments made her journey a slow one. her barges were laden with material for the amoor telegraph, then under construction. about the same time we met the nicolai towing a barge with a quantity of cattle destined for the garrison at the mouth of the river. the nicolai was the property of a merchant (mr. ludorf) at nicolayevsk. the village of poyarkof, where we stopped for wood, impressed me very favorably. it was carefully laid out, and its single street had a wide and deep ditch on each side, crossed by little bridges. the houses were well built and had an air of neatness, while all the fences were substantial. very few persons visited the boat, most of the inhabitants being at work in the fields. we walked through the settlement, and were shown specimens of wheat and rye grown in the vicinity. four or five men, directed by a priest, were building a church, and two others were cutting plank near by with a primitive 'up-and-down' saw. the officer controlling the village was temporarily absent with the farm laborers. all around there were proofs of his energy and industry. this village was one of the military colonies of the province of the amoor. when in proper hands the military settlement is preferable to any other, as the men are more accustomed to obeying orders and work in greater harmony than the peasants. what is most needed is an efficient and energetic chief to each village, who has and deserves the confidence of his people. with enough of the _fortiter in re_ to repress any developments of laziness and prevent intemperance, such a man can do much for the government and himself. if his imperial majesty will take nine-tenths of his present military force on the amoor, place it in villages, allow the men to send for their families, and put the villages in the hands of proper chiefs under a general superintendent, he will take a long step toward making the new region self-sustaining. we have ample proof in america that an army is an expensive luxury, and the cost of maintaining it is proportioned to its strength. the verb 'to soldier' has a double meaning in english, and will bear translation. on distant stations like the amoor, the military force could be safely reduced to a small figure in time of peace. less play and more work would be better for the country and the men. as we proceeded up the river there was another change of the native population. the tents of the birars disappeared, and we entered the region of the manjours and chinese. the captain called my attention to the first manjour village we passed. the dwellings were one story high, their walls being of wood with a plastering of mud. the chimneys were on the outside like those of the goldees already described, and the roofs of the houses were thatched with straw. the manjour villages are noticeable for the gardens in and around them. each house that i saw had a vegetable garden that appeared well cultivated. in the corner of nearly every garden i observed a small building like a sentry box. in some doubt as to its use, i asked information of my russian friends, and learned it was a temple where the family idols are kept and the owners go to offer their prayers. [illustration: a private temple.] near each village was a grove which enclosed a public temple on the plan of a church in civilized countries. the temple was generally a square house, built with more care and neatness than the private dwellings. on entering, one found himself in a kind of ante-room, separated from the main apartment by a pink curtain. this curtain has religious inscriptions in chinese and manjour. in the inner apartment there are pictures of chinese deities, with a few hideous idols carved in wood. a table in front of the pictures receives the offerings of worshippers. the manjours appear very fond of surrounding their temples with trees, and this is particularly noticeable on account of the scarcity of wood in this region. timber comes from points higher up the amoor, where it is cut and rafted down. small trees and bushes are used as fuel and always with the strictest economy. the grove around the temple is held sacred, as among the druids in england, and i presume a native would suffer long from cold before cutting a consecrated tree. along the river near the first village several boats were moored or drawn on the bank out of reach of the water. a few men and women stood looking at us, and some of them shouted '_mendow_' when we were directly opposite their position. of course we returned their salutation. unlike the aboriginals lower down the river, the manjours till the soil and make it their chief dependence. i saw many fields where the grain was uncut, and others where it had been reaped and stacked. the stacks were so numerous in proportion to the population that there must be a large surplus each year. evidently there is no part of the amoor valley more fertile than this. horses and cattle were grazing in the meadows and looked up as we steamed along. we passed a dozen horses drinking from the river, and set them scampering with our whistle. the horse is used here for carrying light loads, but with heavy burdens the ox finds preference. along the chinese shore i frequently saw clumsy carts moving at a snail-like pace between the villages. each cart had its wheels fixed on an axle that generally turned with them. frequently there was a lack of grease, and the screeching of the vehicle was rather unpleasant to tender nerves. near the village we met a manjour boat, evidently the property of a merchant. the difference between going with and against the current was apparent by comparing the progress of this boat with the one i saw in the buryea mountains. one struggled laboriously against the stream, but the other had nothing to do beyond keeping where the water ran swiftest. this one carried a small flag, and was deeply laden with merchandise. the crew was dozing and the man at the helm did not appear more than half awake. villages were passed in rapid succession, and the density of the population was in agreeable contrast to the desolation of many parts of the lower amoor. it was a panorama of houses, temples, groves, and fields, with a surrounding of rich meadows and gentle hills. there was a range of low mountains in the background, but on the russian shore the flat prairie continued. in the middle of the afternoon we passed the town of yah-tou-kat-zou, situated on the chinese shore where the river makes a bend toward the north and east. it had nothing of special interest, but its gardens were more extensive and more numerous than in the villages below. just above it there was a bay forming a neat harbor containing several boats and barges. when the chinese controlled the amoor they occupied this bay as a dock-yard and naval station. had my visit been ten or twelve years earlier i should have seen several war junks anchored here. when the russians obtained the river the chinese transferred their navy to the songaree. from this ancient navy yard the villages stretched in a nearly continuous line along the southern bank, and were quite frequent on the northern one. we saw three manjour women picking berries on the russian shore. one carried a baby over her shoulders much after the manner of the american indians. these women wore garments of blue cotton shaped much like the gowns of the russian peasants. near them a boat was moving along the shore, carrying a crew consisting of a man, a boy, and a dog. the boat, laden with hay, was evidently destined for 'cows and a market.' near it was another boat rowed by two men, carrying six women and a quantity of vegetables. some of the women were sorting the vegetables, and all watched our boat with interest. from the laughter as we passed i concluded the remarks on our appearance were not complimentary. the scene on this part of the river was picturesque. there were many boats, from the little canoe or 'dug-out,' propelled by one man, up to the barge holding several tons of merchandise. the one-man boats were managed with a double-bladed oar, such as i have already described. nearly every boat that carried a mast had a flag or streamer attached to it, and some had dragons' heads on their bows. would lindley murray permit me to say that i saw one barge manned by ten women? [illustration: fishing implements.] though subsisting mainly by agriculture and pastoral pursuits, the manjours devote considerable time to fishing. one fishing implement bore a faint resemblance to a hand-cart, as it had an axle with two small wheels and long handles. a frame over the axle sustained a pole, to which a net was fastened. the machine could be pushed into the water and the net lowered to any position suitable for entrapping fish. occasionally i saw a native seated on the top of a tripod about ten feet high, placed at the edge of the river. here he fished with pole, net, or spear, according to circumstances. he always appeared to me as if left there during a freshet and waiting for the river to rise and let him off. at one place two boys were seated cross-legged near the water and fishing with long poles. they were so intent in looking at us that they did not observe the swell of the steamer until thoroughly drenched by it. as they stood dripping on the sand they laughed good-naturedly at the occurrence, and soon seated themselves again at their employment. late in the afternoon i saw a village larger than all the others, lying in a bend of the river, stretching three or four miles along the bank and a less distance away from it. this was igoon, the principal place of the chinese on the amoor, and once possessing considerable power. originally the fort and town of igoon were on the left bank of the river, four miles below the present site. the location was changed in 1690, and when the new town was founded it grew quite rapidly. for a long time it was a sort of botany bay for pekin, and its early residents were mostly exiles. at present its population is variously estimated from twenty to fifty thousand. the chinese do not give any information on this point, and the russian figures concerning it are based upon estimates. igoon was formerly the capital of the chinese 'province of the arnoor,' but is now destitute of that honor. the seat of government was removed about twenty years ago to sit-si-gar. as we approached igoon i could see below it many herds of cattle and horses driven by mounted men. there was every appearance of agricultural prosperity. it was near the end of harvest, and most of the grain was stacked in the fields. here and there were laborers at work, and i could see many people on the bank fronting the river. around the city were groves enclosing the temples which held the shrines consecrated to mongol worship, as the cross is reverenced by the followers of the christian faith. the city had a sombre look, as all the houses were black. the buildings were of wood plastered with mud, and nearly all of one story. over the temples in the city there were flag-staffs, but with no banners hanging from them or on the outer walls. the governor's house and the arsenals were similarly provided with tall poles rising from the roofs, but here as elsewhere no flags were visible. along the beach there were many rafts of logs beside numerous boats either drawn on shore or moored to posts or stakes. fishermen and boys were sitting cross-legged near the water, and the inattention of several caused their drenching by our swell. idle men stood on the bank above the beach, nearly all smoking their little brass pipes with apparent unconcern. men and women, principally the latter, were carrying water from the river in buckets, which they balanced from the ends of a neck-yoke. we dropped anchor and threw a line that was made fast by a young manjour. on shore we met several residents, who greeted us civilly and addressed the captain in russian. most of the manjour merchants have learned enough russian to make a general conversation, especially in transacting business. i was introduced as an american who had come a long distance purposely to see igoon. the governor was absent, so that it was not possible to call on him. we were shown to a temple near at hand, a building fifteen feet by thirty, with a red curtain at the door and a thick carpet of matting over a brick pavement. the altar was veiled, but its covering was lifted to allow me to read, if i could, the inscription upon it. it stood close to the entrance, like the screen near the door of a new york bar-room. there were several pictures on the walls, a few idols, and some lanterns painted in gaudy colors. outside there were paintings over the door, some representing chinese landscapes. the windows were of lattice work, the roof had a dragon's head at each end of the ridge, and a mosaic pavement extended like a sidewalk around the entire building. our guide, who lived near, invited us to his house. we entered it through his office, which contained a table, three or four chairs, and a few account books. out of this we walked into a large apartment used for lounging by day and sleeping at night. its principal furniture was a wide divan, at one side, where the bed clothing of three or four persons was rolled into neat bundles. it turned out on inquiry that the man lived in two houses, the principal part of his family being domiciled several squares away. as time pressed we did not stop longer than to thank him for his attention. the streets of igoon reminded me of new york under the contract system four or five years ago. we walked through one street upon a narrow log fixed in the mud, and steadied ourselves against a high fence. on a larger thoroughfare there were some dry spots, but as there were two logs to walk upon we balanced very well. chinese streets rarely have sidewalks, and every pedestrian must care for himself the best way he can. the rains the week before my visit had reduced the public ways to a disagreeable condition. were i to describe the measurement of the broadway of igoon, i should say its length was two miles, more or less, its width fifty feet, and its depth two feet. our captain carried a sword cane which confused him a little as the lower part occasionally stuck in the mud and came off. this exposition of weapons he evidently wished to avoid. on the principal street i found several stores, and, true to the instinct of the american abroad, stopped to buy something. the stores had the front open to the street, so that one could stand before the counter and make his purchases without entering. the first store i saw had six or seven clerks and very little else, and as i did not wish a chinese clerk i moved to another shop. for the articles purchased i paid only five times their actual value, as i afterward learned. the merchants and their employees appeared to talk russian quite fluently, and were earnest in urging me to buy. one of them imitated the tactics of chatham street, and became very voluble over things i did not want. holding up an article he praised its good qualities and named its price. "five roubles; very good; five roubles." i shook my head. "four roubles; yes; good; four roubles." again i made a negation. "three roubles; very good; yes." i continued shaking my head as he fell to two and a half, two, and finally to one rouble. i left him at that figure, or it is possible he would have gone still lower. "they are great rascals," said borasdine as we walked away. "they ask ten times the real price and hope to cheat you in some way. it is difficult to buy anything here for its actual value." we went through more streets and more mud, passing butchers' shops where savage dogs growled with that amiable tone peculiar to butcher dogs everywhere. we passed tea shops, shoe shops, drug stores, and other establishments, each with a liberal number of clerks. labor must be cheap, profits large, or business brisk, to enable the merchants to maintain so many employees. at the end of a long street we came to the guard-house, near the entrance of the military quarters. we entered the dirty barrack, but saw nothing particularly interesting. i attempted to go inside the room where the instruments of punishment were kept, but the guard stood in the way and would not move. the soldiers in this establishment had evidently partaken of a beverage stronger than tea, as they were inclined to too much familiarity. one patted me on the shoulder and pressed my hand affectionately, indulging the while in snatches of chinese songs. in the prison were two or three unfortunates with their feet shackled so as to prevent their stepping more than four inches at a time. while we stood there a gaily dressed officer rode past us on a magnificent horse, reminding me of an american militia hero on training day. we looked at the fence of palisades, and stepped under the gateway leading to the government quarter. over the gate was a small room like the drawbridge room in a castle of the middle ages. twenty men could be lodged there to throw arrows, hot water, or chinese perfumery on the invading foe. a manjour acquaintance of our captain invited us to visit his house. we entered through the kitchen, where there was a man frying a kind of 'twisted doughnut' in vegetable oil. the flour he used was ground in the manjour mills, and lacked the fineness of european or american flour. judging by the quantity of food visible the family must have been a large one. the head of the household proclaimed himself a tartar, and said he was the proprietor of four wives. i smoked a cigar with him, and during our interview borasdine hinted that we would like to inspect his harem. after a little decorous hesitation, he led us across an open and muddy courtyard to a house where a dozen women were in the confusion of preparing and eating supper. with four wives one must have a proportionate number of servants and retainers, else he cannot maintain 'style.' such a scene of confusion i never saw before in one man's family. there were twelve or fifteen children of different ages and sexes, and not one silent. some were at table, some quarreling, some going to sleep, and some waking. two women were in serious dispute, and the tartar words poured out freely. the room was hot, stifling, and filled with as many odors as the city of cologne, and we were glad to escape into the open air as soon as possible. i did not envy that mongol gentleman his domestic bliss, and am inclined to think he considered it no joke to be as much married as he was. i did not sec any pretty women at igoon, but learned afterward that they exist there. the manjour style of hair-dressing attracts the eye of a stranger. the men plait the hair after the chinese manner, shaving the fore part of the head. the women wind theirs in a peculiar knot, in about the position of the french chignon. they pierce this knot with two long pins like knitting needles, and trim it with bright ribbons and real or artificial flowers. the fashion is becoming, and, excluding the needles, i would not be surprised to see it in vogue in western civilization within half a dozen years. the men wore long blue coats of cotton or silk, generally the former, loose linen trousers, fastened at the knee or made into leggings, and chinese shoes or boots of skin. the women dress in pantaletts and blue cotton gowns with short, loose sleeves, above which they wear at times a silk cape or mantle. they have ear rings, bracelets, and finger rings in profusion, and frequently display considerable taste in their adornment. it was nearly sunset when we landed at igoon, and when we finished our visit to the tartar family the stars were out. the delay of the boat was entirely to give me a view of a chinese-manjour city. darkness put an end to sight-seeing, and so we hastened to the steamer, followed by a large crowd of natives. [illustration: a chinese family picture.] we took three or four manjour merchants as passengers to blagoveshchensk. one of them spent the evening in our cabin, but would neither drink alcoholic beverages nor smoke. this appeared rather odd among a people who smoke persistently and continually. men, women, and children are addicted to the practice, and the amount of tobacco they burn is enormous. chapter xviii. at daylight on the morning after leaving igoon, we were passing the mouth of the zeya, a river half a mile wide, flowing with a strong current. it was along this river that the first white men who saw the amoor found their way. it is said to be practicable for steam navigation three or four hundred miles from its mouth. at present four or five thousand peasants are settled along the zeya, with excellent agricultural prospects. as i came on deck rubbing my half-opened eyes, i saw a well-built town on the russian shore. "blagoveshchensk," said the steward, as he waved his arm in that direction. i well knew that the capital of the province of the amoor was just above the mouth of the zeya. it stands on a prairie fifteen or twenty feet above the river, and when approached from the south its appearance is pleasing. the houses are large and well built, and each has plenty of space around it. some of them have flower gardens in front, and a public park was well advanced toward completion at the time of my arrival. a wharf extended into the river at an angle of forty degrees with the shore. the steamer korsackoff was moored at this wharf, with a barge nearly her own size. the ingodah tied to the bank just below the wharf, and was welcomed by the usual crowd of soldiers and citizens, with a fair number of manjours from the other bank. on landing, i called upon colonel pedeshenk, the governor of the province, and delivered my letters of introduction. the colonel invited me to dine with him that day, and stated that several officers of his command would be present. after this visit and a few others, i went with captain borasdine to attend the funeral of the late major general bussy. this gentleman was five years governor of the province of the amoor, and resigned in 1866 on account of ill-health. he died on his way to st. petersburg, and the news of his death reached blagoveshchensk three days before my arrival. i happened to reach the town on the morning appointed for the funeral service. the church was crowded, everybody standing, according to the custom prevailing in russia. colonel pedeshenk and his officers were in full uniform, and almost all present held lighted candles. five or six priests, with an archbishop, conducted the ceremonies. the services consisted of a ritual, read and intoned by the priests, with chanting by the choir of male voices. the archbishop was in full robes belonging to his position, and his long gray beard and reverend face gave him a patriarchal appearance. when the ceremony was finished the congregation opened to the right and left to permit the governor and officers to pass out first. from beginning to end the service lasted about an hour. colonel pedeshenk had been governor but a few months, and awaited confirmation in his position. having served long on the staff of general bussy, he was disposed to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and carry out his plans for developing the resources of his district. at the appointed hour i went to dine at the governor's, where i found eight or ten officers and the young wife of colonel pedeshenk. we spent a half-hour on the balcony, where there was a charming view of the river and the chinese shore with its background of mountains. the governor's house was more like a mansion in a venerable town than in a settlement less than ten years old. the reception hall would have made a good ball-room anywhere out of the large cities. the charming young madame did not speak english but was fluent in french. she was from irkutsk, and had spent several years in the schools and society of st. petersburg. she had many reminiscences of the capital, and declared herself delighted with her home on the amoor. after dinner we retired to the balcony for prosaic tea drinking and a poetical study of the glories of an autumn sunset behind the hills of manjouria. there was no hotel in the town, and i had wondered where i should lodge. before i had been half an hour on shore, i was invited by dr. snider, the surgeon in chief of the province, to make my home at his house. the doctor spoke english fluently, and told me he learned it from a young american at ayan several years before. he was ten years in government service at ayan, and met there many of my countrymen. once he contemplated emigrating to new bedford at the urgent solicitation of a whaling captain who frequently came to the ohotsk sea. dr. snider was from the german provinces of russia, and his wife, a sister of admiral fulyelm, was born in sweden. they usually conversed in german but addressed their children in russian. they had a swedish housemaid who spoke her own language in the family and only used russian when she could not do otherwise. madame snider told me her children spoke swedish and russian with ease, and understood german very well. they intended having a french or english governess in course of time. "i speak," said the doctor, "german with my wife, swedish to the housemaid, russian to my other servants, french with some of the officers, english with occasional travelers, and a little chinese and manjour with the natives over the river." blagoveshchensk has a pretty situation, and i should greatly prefer it to nicolayevsk for permanent habitation. in the middle of the amoor valley and at the mouth of the zeya, its commercial advantages are good and its importance increases every year. it was founded in 1858 by general mouravieff, but did not receive any population worthy of mention until after the treaty of igoon in 1860. the government buildings are large and well constructed, logs being the material in almost universal use for making walls. a large unfinished house for the telegraph was pointed out to me, and several warehouses were in process of erection. late one afternoon the captain of the steamer korsackoff invited me to visit sakhalin-oula-hotun (city of the black river) on the opposite shore. though called a city it cannot justly claim more than two thousand inhabitants. there was a crowd on the bank similar to the one at igoon, most of the women and girls standing with their arms folded in their sleeves. several were seated close to the water and met the same misfortune as those in similar positions at igoon. the korsackoff made a much greater swell than the ingodah, and those who caught its effects were well moistened. we landed from, the steamer's boat and ascended the bank to the village. several fat old manjours eyed us closely and answered with great brevity our various questions. sakhalin-oula stretches more than a mile along the bank, but extends only a few rods back from the river. practically it consists of a single street, which is quite narrow in several places. the houses are like those of igoon, with frames of logs and coverings of boards, or with log walls plastered with mud. the windows of stores and dwellings are of lattice work covered with oiled paper, glass being rarely used. the roofs of the buildings were covered with thatch of wheat straw several inches thick, that must offer excellent facilities for taking fire. probably the character of this thatch accounts for the chimneys rising ten or fifteen feet from, the buildings. i saw several men arranging one of these roofs. on a foundation of poles they laid bundles of straw, overlapping them as we overlap shingles, and cutting the boards to allow the straw to spread evenly. this kind of covering must be renewed every two or three years. several thatches were very much decayed, and in one of them there was a fair growth of grass. the village was embowered in trees in contrast to the russian shore where the only trees were those in the park. i endeavored to ascertain the cause of this difference, but could not. the russians said there was often a variation of three or four degrees in the temperature of the two banks, the chinese one being the milder. timber for both chinese and russian use is cut in the forests up the amoor and rafted down. sakhalin-oula abounded in vegetable gardens, which supplied the market of blagoveshchensk. the number of shops both there and at igoon led me to consider the manjours a population of shop-keepers. dr. snider said they brought him everything for ordinary table use, and would contract to furnish at less than the regular price, any article sold by the russian merchants. in their enterprise and mode of dealing they were much like the jews of europe and america, which may account for their being called manjours. once a month during the full moon they come to blagoveshchensk and open a fair, which continues seven days. they sell flour, buckwheat, beans, poultry, eggs, vegetables, and other edible articles. the russians usually purchase a month's supply at these times, but when they wish anything out of the fair season the manjours are ready to furnish it. we walked along a narrow street, less muddy than the streets of igoon, and passed several cattle yards enclosed with high fences, like california corrals. in one yard there were cattle and horses, so densely packed that they could not kick freely. groups of natives stared at us while smoking their little pipes, and doubtless wondered why we came there. several eyed me closely and asked my companions who and what i could be. the explanation that i was american conveyed no information, as very few of them ever heard of the land of the free and the former home of the slave. one large building with a yard in front and an inscription over its gate was pointed out as a government office. several employees of the emperor of china were standing at the gateway, all smoking and enjoying the evening air. at a hitching post outside the gate there were three saddled horses of a breed not unlike the 'canadian.' the saddles would be uncomfortable to an american, cavalry officer, though not so to a camanche indian. according to my recollection of our equestrian savage i think his saddle is not much unlike the mongolians'. beyond this establishment we entered a yard in front of a new and well-built house. near the door was the traveling carriage of the governor of igoon, who had arrived only an hour or two before. the carriage was a two-wheeled affair, not long enough to permit one to lie at full length nor high enough to sit bolt upright. it had no springs, the frame resting fairly on the axles. the top was rounded like that of a butcher's cart and the sides were curtained with blue cloth that had little windows or peep-holes. i looked behind the curtain and saw that the sides and bottom were cushioned to diminish the effect of jolting. two or three small pillows, round and hard, evidently served to fill vacancies and wedge the occupant in his place. [illustration: manjour traveling carriage.] the shafts were like those of a common dray, and the driver's position was on a sort of shelf within ten inches of the horse's tail. there was room for a postillion on the shelf with the driver, the two sitting back to back and their legs hanging over the side. the wheel-tires were slightly cogged as if made for use in a machine, and altogether the vehicle did not impress me as a comfortable one. being without springs it gives the occupant the benefit of all jolting, and as the chinese roads are execrable, i imagine one might feel after a hundred miles in such a conveyance very much as if emerging from an encounter with a champion prize-fighter. sometimes the chinese officials set the wheels of their carts very far aft so as to get a little spring from the long shafts. even with this improvement the carriage is uncomfortable, and it is no wonder that the chinese never travel when they can avoid it. entering a hall that led to a larger apartment, we reached the presence of the governor of igoon. he was seated on a mat near the edge of a wide divan, his legs crossed like a tailor's at his work. he was in a suit of light-colored silk, with a conical hat bearing a crystal ball on the top. it is generally understood that the grade of a chinese official may be known by the ball he wears on his hat. thus there are red, blue, white, yellow, green, crystal, copper, brass, _et cetera_, according to the rank of the wearer. these balls take the place of the shoulder-strap and epaulettes of western civilization, and it must be admitted that they occupy the most conspicuous position one could select. as i am not versed in details of the orders of chinese rank i will not attempt to give the military and civil status of my new acquaintance. i learned that he was a general in the army, had displayed skill and bravery in subduing the rebellion, and been personally decorated by the emperor. he was enjoying his pipe and a cup of tea, resting the latter on a little table at his side. he was an old man,--of how many years i dare not try to guess,--with a thin gray beard on his short chin, and a face that might have been worn by the knight of the sorrowful countenance. i was introduced as an american who had come to see china, and especially the portion bordering on the amoor. we shook hands and i was motioned to a seat at his side on the edge of the divan. tea and cigars opened the way to a slow fire of conversation. i spoke in french with borasdine, who rendered my words in russian to the governor's interpreter. the principal remarks were that we were mutually enchanted to see each other, and that i was delighted at my visit to igoon and sakhalin-oula. several officials entered and bowed low before the governor, shaking their clenched hands at him during the obeisance. one wore a red and another a yellow ball, the first being in a black uniform and the second in a white one. the principal feature of each uniform was a long coat reaching below the knees, with a cape like the capes of our military cloaks. both dresses were of silk, and the material was of excellent quality. the floor of the room was of clay, beaten smooth and cleanly swept. the furniture consisted of the divan before mentioned, with two or three rolls of bedding upon it, a chinese table, and two chinese and three russian chairs. the walls were covered with various devices produced from the oriental brain; and an american clock and a french mirror showed how the celestials have become demoralized by commerce with outside barbarians. the odor from the kitchen filled the room, and as we thought the governor might be waiting for his supper, we bade him good evening and returned to the boat and the russian shore. during my stay at blagoveshchensk i was invited to assist at a visit made by the governor of igoon to colonel pedeshenk. the latter sent his carriage at the appointed hour to bring the chinese dignitary and his chief of staff. a retinue of ten or twelve officers followed on foot, and on entering the audience hall they remained standing near the door. the greetings and hand-shakings were in the european style, and after they were ended the chinese governor took a seat and received his pipe from his pipe-bearer. he wore a plain dress of grey silk and a doublet or cape of blue with embroidery along the front. he did not wear his decorations, the visit being unofficial. in addition to the ball on his hat he wore a plume or feather that stood in a horizontal position. his chief of staff was the most elaborately dressed man of the party, his robes being more gaily decorated than the governor's. the members of the staff wore mandarin balls of different colors, and all had feathers in their hats. the governor's hair was carefully done up, and i suspect his queue was lengthened with black silk. conversation was carried on through the colonel's interpreter, and ran upon various topics. general bussy's death was mentioned in terms of regret, and then followed an interchange of compliments between the two governors who met for the first time. after this the chinese governor spoke of my visit to sakhalin-oula, and said i was the first american he ever met in his province. "how did i come from america," he asked, "and how far had i traveled to reach blagoveshchensk?" the interpreter named the distance and said i came to the amoor in a ship connected with the telegraph service. "when would the telegraph be finished?" he was told that within two or three years they would probably be able to send messages direct to america. then he asked if the railway would not soon follow the telegraph. he had never seen either, but understood perfectly their manner of working. he expressed himself pleased at the progress of the telegraph enterprise, but did not intimate that china desired anything of the kind. the interview lasted about an hour, and ended with a leave-taking after the european manner. there is much complaint among the russians that the treaty of 1860 is not carried out by the chinese. it is stipulated that trade shall be free along the entire boundary between the two empires, and that merchants can enter either country at will. the chinese merchants are not free to leave their own territory and visit russia, but are subject to various annoyances at the hands of their own officials. i was repeatedly informed at blagoveshchensk that the restrictions upon commerce wore very serious and in direct violation of the stipulations. one gentleman told me: "every manjour trader that brings anything here pays a tax of twenty to fifty per cent, for permission to cross the river. we pay now a third more for what we purchase than when we first settled here. the merchants complain of the restriction, and sometimes, though rarely, manage to evade it. occasionally a manjour comes to me offering an article twenty or thirty per cent, below his usual price, explaining that he smuggled it and requesting me not to expose him." i asked if the taxation was made by the chinese government, and was answered in the negative. "thee police of igoon and sakhalin-oula regulate the whole matter. it is purely a black-mail system, and the merchant who refuses to pay will be thrown into prison on some frivolous charge. the police master of igoon has a small salary, but has grown very wealthy in a few years. the russian and chinese governors have considered the affair several times, but accomplish nothing. on such occasions the chinese governor summons his police-master and asks him if there is any truth in the charges of the corruption of his subordinates. of course he declares everything correct, and there the matter ends." how history repeats itself! compare this with the conduct of certain treasury officials along the mississippi during our late war. the cases were exactly parallel. the government scandalized, trade restricted, and merchants plundered, to fill the pockets of rapacious officers! i began to think the mongol more like the anglo-saxon than ethnologists believe, and found an additional argument for the unity of the human race. if i knew the emperor of china i should counsel him to open his oblique eyes. if he does not he may find the conduct of the igoon police a serious affair for his dominions. russia, like oliver twist, desires more. when the opportunity comes she will quietly take possession of manjouria and hold both banks of the amoor. if the treaty of 1860 continues to be violated the governor general of eastern siberia will have an excellent excuse for taking the district of igoon and all it contains under his powerful protection. on the day i reached blagoveshchensk i saw an emigrant camp near the town. the emigrants had just landed from the rafts with which they descended the amoor. they came from astrachan, near the mouth of the volga, more than five thousand miles away, and had been two years on their travels. they came with wagons to the head waters of the amoor, and there built rafts, on which they loaded everything, including wagons and teams, and floated to their destination. i did not find their wagons as convenient as our own, though doubtless they are better adapted to the road. the russian wagon had a semi-circular body, as if a long hogshead were divided lengthwise and the half of it mounted on wheels, with the open part uppermost. there was a covering of coarse cloth over a light framework, lower and less wide than our army wagons. household goods fill the wagons, and the emigrants walk for the most part during all their land journey. i spent a few minutes at the camp near the town, and found the picture much like what i saw years ago beyond the mississippi. men were busy with their cattle and securing them for the night; one boy was bringing water from the river, and another gathering fuel for the fire; a young woman was preparing supper, and an older one endeavored, under shelter of the wagon-cover, to put a crying child to sleep. westward our star of empire takes its way. russian emigration presses eastward, and seeks the rising, as ours the setting sun. [illustration: tail piece--towards the sun] chapter xix. during my stay at blagoveshchensk the governor invited me to assist at a gazelle hunt. at nine o'clock on the day appointed we assembled at the house of the chief of staff. i breakfasted before going there, but it was necessary to discuss the coming hunt over a second breakfast. six or eight ladies were of the party, and the affair had the general appearance of a picnic. the governor seated me in his carriage at the side of madame pedeshenk, and we led the company to the field of expected slaughter. with four horses abreast,--two attached to a pole and two outside,--we dashed over an excellent road leading back from the town. there were three other carriages and two or three common wagons, in which the occupants rode on bundles of hay. there was a little vehicle on two wheels,--a sort of light gig with a seat for only one person,--driven by a lady. five or six officers were on horseback, and we had a detachment of twenty mounted cossacks to 'beat the bush.' excluding the cossacks and drivers, there were about thirty persons in the party. a mysterious wagon laden with boxes and kegs composed, the baggage train. the governor explained that this wagon contained the ammunition for the hunters. no gazelle could have looked upon those kegs and boxes without trembling in his boots. a range of low hills six miles from town was the spot selected for the hunt. there were nine armed men to be stationed across this range within shooting distance of each other. the cossacks were to make a circuitous route and come upon the hills two or three miles away, where, forming a long line and making much noise, they would advance in our direction. any game that happened in the way would be driven to us. we were to stand our ground with firmness and shoot any gazelle that attacked us. i determined to fight it out on that line. the road from blagoveshchensk led over a birch-covered plain to the bank of the zeya, four miles away. we passed on the right a small mill, which was to be replaced in the following year by a steam flouring establishment, the first on the amoor. on reaching the zeya i found a village named astrachanka, in honor of astrachan at the mouth of the volga. the settlers had lived there three or four years, and were succeeding well in agriculture. they were of the class known as german mennonites, who settled on the steppes of southern russia at the commencement of the present century. they are members of the lutheran church, and famed for their industry and their care in managing their flocks and fields. the governor praised them warmly, and expressed the kindest hopes for their prosperity. [illustration: the ammunition wagon.] we left the road near the village and passed through a field in the direction of the hunting ground. two men were at work with a yoke of oxen and a plough, whose beam rested on the axle of a pair of wheels. the yoke was like the one in use everywhere along the amoor, and was made of two pieces of thick plank, one above and the other below the animals' necks, with wooden pins to join them and bear the strain. the plough was quite primitive and did not stir the soil like an american or english plough. at the hunting ground we alighted and took our stations. the governor stood under a small oak, and the ladies rested on the grass near him. i went to the next post up the hollow, and the other hunters completed the line. dr. snider went to aid me in taking "a dear gazelle, to glad me with its soft black eye." he was armed with a cigar, while i had a double-barreled gun, loaded at (not to) the muzzle. the cossacks went to rouse the game, but their first drive resulted in nothing beyond a prodigious noise. when they started for the second drive i followed the doctor in a temporary visit to the ladies. during this absence from duty a large gazelle passed within ten steps of my station. i ran toward my post, but was not as nimble as the frightened deer. "_tirez_" commanded the governor. "fire," shouted the doctor. and i obeyed the double injunction. the distance was great and the animal not stationary. i fired, and the governor fired, but the only effect was to quicken the speed of our game. i never knew a gazelle to run faster. three weeks later i saw a beast greatly resembling him running on a meadow a thousand miles from blagoveshchensk. whether it was the same or another i will not attempt to say. a few minutes after this failure the horn of the hunter was heard on the hill, and two gazelles passed the line, but no game was secured. the governor proposed a change of base, and led us where the mysterious wagon had halted. the 'ammunition' was revealed. there were carpets and cloths on the grass, plates, knives and forks, edibles in variety, wine, ale, and other liquids, and the samovar steaming merrily at our side. i think we acquitted ourselves better at this part of the hunt than at any other. the picnic did not differ much from an american one, the most noticeable feature being the substantial character of solids and liquids. most of us sat on the grass and stumps, the number of camp-stools not exceeding half a dozen. finishing the lunch we took a new hunting spot and managed to kill a gazelle and a large hare. a fourth drive brought no game, and we returned to enjoy another lunch and drink a russian beverage called 'jonca.' in its preparation a pound or two of loaf sugar in a single lump is fixed on a wire frame above a copper pan. a bottle of cognac is poured over the sugar and set on fire. the sugar melts, and when the fire is almost extinguished a bottle of claret and one of champagne are added. the compound is taken hot, and has a sweet and very smooth taste. the russians are fond of producing this beverage when they have foreign guests, and if taken freely it has a weakening tendency. the captain of the variag told me he had placed several british officers under his table by employing this article, and there was a rumor that the fox embassy to st. petersburg was quite severely laid out by means of 'jonca.' the lunch finished we discharged our guns and returned to town at a rapid pace. while descending the bank of a brook our horses turned suddenly and nearly overset the carriage. the doctor and i jumped out to lighten the lower side, and were just in season to keep the wheels on the ground. madame pedeshenk followed into the arms of the strong doctor, but the governor, true to the martial instinct, remained in his place and gave instructions to the driver. we did not re-enter the carriage until it was across the brook; the horses were exercised rather violently during the remainder of the journey. i think the gazelle we killed was identical with the antelope of our western plains. he had a skin of the same color and a white tail, that retreating flag-of-truce so familiar to our overland emigrants. his feet, head, and body were shaped like the antelope's, and his eye had that liquid tenderness so often observed in the agile rover near the foot of the rocky mountains. gazelles abound through the amoor valley to within a hundred miles of the sea-coast. many are killed every autumn and winter in the valley of the zeya and along the middle amoor. the flesh is eaten and the skin used for winter coats and similar articles. the commerce of blagoveshchensk is in the hands of half a dozen merchants, one french, one german, and the rest russian. the amoor company before its affairs were ended kept there one of its principal stores, which was bought, with stock and good will, by the company's clerk. the wants of the officers, soldiers, and civilians in the town and its vicinity are sufficient to create a good local trade. prices are high, nearly double those of nicolayevsk, and the stocks of goods on hand are neither large nor well selected. officers complained to me of combinations among the merchants to maintain prices at an exorbitant scale. i staid four days at blagoveshchensk, and as the season was growing late was quite anxious to depart. the days were charming, corresponding to our indian summer, and the nights cool and frosty. the passenger on our steamer from igoon said ice would be running in the river in twenty-five days unless the season should be unusually mild. russians and chinese were preparing for cold weather, and i wished to do the same farther westward. borasdine contemplated a land journey in case we were delayed more than five days. the korsackoff was the only steamer to ascend the river, and she was waiting for the constantine to bring her a barge. on the evening of the 5th october the governor informed me the korsackoff would start on the next day, barge or no barge. this was cheering, and i celebrated the occasion by boiling myself in a russian bath. i look upon the bath as one of the blessings of russia. at the end of a journey, when one is sore and stiff in the joints, it is an effectual medicine. after it the patient sleeps soundly, and rises in the morning thoroughly invigorated. too much bathing deadens the complexion and enfeebles the body, but a judicious amount is beneficial. it is the russian custom, not always observed, to bathe once a week. the injury from the bath is in consequence of too high temperature of steam and water, causing a severe shock to the system. taken properly the bath has no bad effects, and will cure rheumatism, some forms of neuralgia, and several other acute diseases. the bath-house is a building of two, and generally three, rooms. in the outer room you undress, and your _chelavek_, or servant, does the same. if there is but another room you are led directly into it, and find a hot fire in a large stove. there is a cauldron of hot water and a barrel of cold water close at hand. the tools of the operator are a bucket, two or three basins, a bar of soap, a switch of birch boughs, and a bunch of matting. if there are three apartments the second is only an ante-room, not very warm and calculated to prepare you for the last and hottest of all. the chelavek begins by throwing a bucket of warm water over you. he follows this with another, and then a third, fourth, and fifth, each a little warmer than its predecessor. on one side of the room is a series of benches like a terrace or flight of large steps. you are placed horizontally on a bench, and with warm water, soap, and bunch of matting the servant scrubs you from head to foot with a manipulation more thorough than gentle. the temperature of the room is usually about 110â° fahrenheit, but it may be more or less. it induces vigorous perspiration, and sets the blood glowing and tingling, but it never melts the flesh nor breaks the smallest blood vessel. the finishing touch is to ascend the platform near the ceiling and allow the servant to throw water upon hot stones from the furnace. there is always a cloud of steam filling the room and making objects indistinct. you easily become accustomed to the ordinary heat, but when water is dropped upon the stones there is a rush of blistering steam. it catches you on the platform and you think how unfortunate is a lobster when he goes to pot and exchanges his green for scarlet. i declined this _coup de grace_ after a single experience. to my view it is the objectionable feature of the russian bath. i was always content after that to retire before the last course, and only went about half way up the terrace. the birchen switch is to whip the patient during the washing process, but is not applied with unpleasant force. to finish the bath you are drenched with several buckets of water descending from hot to cold, but not, as some declare, terminating with ice water. this little fiction is to amuse the credulous, and would be 'important if true.' men have sometimes rushed from the bath into a snow bank, but the occurrence is unusual. sometimes the peasants leave the bath for a swim in the river, but they only do so in mild weather. in all the cities there are public bath rooms, where men are steamed, polished, and washed in large numbers. in bathing the russians are more gregarious than english or americans. a russian would think no more of bathing with several others than of dining at a hotel table. nearly every private house has its bath room, and its frequent use can hardly fail to be noticed by travelers. [illustration: finishing touch.] on the morning of the 6th the constantine arrived, having left the korsackoff's barge hard aground below igoon. so we were to start unencumbered. i took my baggage to the korsackoff, and was obliged to traverse two barges before i reached the boat. twelve o'clock was the hour appointed for our departure, and at eleven the fires were burning in the furnaces. a hundred men were transferring freight from the constantine to the korsackoff, and made a busy scene. four men carrying a box of muskets ran against me on a narrow plank, and had not my good friend the doctor seized me i should have plunged headlong into the river. the hey-day in my blood was tame; i had no desire to fall into _l'amour_ at that season. at eleven there came an invitation to lunch with the governor at two. "how is this?" i said to the doctor; "start at twelve and lunch here two hours later!" smiling the doctor replied: "i see you have not yet learned our customs. the governor is the autocrat, and though the captain positively declares he will start at noon you need not be uneasy. he will not go till you are on board, and very likely you will meet him at lunch." at two o'clock i was at the governor's, where i found the anxious captain. when our lunch was finished madame pedeshenk gave me some wild grapes of native production. they were about the size of peas, and quite acid in taste. with cultivation they might be larger and better flavored, just as many of our american grapes have improved in the past twenty years. some of the hardier grapes might be successfully grown on the middle amoor, but the cold is too long and severe for tender vines. attached to his dwelling the governor has a hot-house that forms a pleasant retreat in winter. he hopes to introduce vines and raise hot-house grapes in siberia within a few years. i walked to the boat with doctor and madame snider, our promenade being enlivened by a runaway horse that came near dragging a cart over us. the governor and his lady were there, with nearly all the officers, and after saying adieu i stepped on board, and we left the pier. we waved kerchiefs again and again as long as waves could be seen. there was a cabin on the korsackoff about eight feet square, with four small rooms opening out of it. borasdine and i had two of these. my apartment had two bunks and no bedding, but the deficiency was atoned for by a large number of hungry and industrious fleas. of my blankets and pillow i made my own bed, and slept in it as on the ingodah. my only chair was a camp stool i carried from san francisco with the design of giving it away on reaching the end of my water travel. going on board the steamer i met a drunken priest endeavoring to walk to the pier, and in the cabin i found another lying on a sofa, and, as i supposed, very ill. borasdine observed my look of compassion, and indicated by signs the cause of the malady. the priest going ashore had been saying farewell to the one on board, and their partings were such as press the life from out young hearts and bottles. our holy passenger did not feel himself again until the next day. there are many good men among the priests of the eastern church in siberia, but it must also be admitted there are many bad ones. in a country where the clergy wields as great power as in russia the authorities should take care that the representatives of the church set a good example. the intemperance so prevalent among the peasantry is partly due to the debaucheries of the priesthood. where the people follow their religious leaders with blind faith and obey their commands in all the forms of worship, are they not in danger of following the example of drunkenness? russian officers frequently spoke of the condition of the church in eastern siberia, and declared with emphasis that it needed reformation. "our priests," said one, "have carried our religion wherever our armies have carried conquest, and their efforts to advance christianity deserve all praise. but abuses exist and have grown up, and the whole system needs to be arranged anew." we had much freight on board, consisting chiefly of muskets for the province of the trans-baikal. there were many passengers that lived literally on deck. they were aft of the engines and above our cabin. on deck we had the forward part of the boat as on the ingodah. the deck passengers were soldiers, and cossacks in their long grey coats, and peasants of all ages in garments of sheepskin. there were women with infants, and women without infants, the former being the more numerous. they were on deck day and night, unless when opportunity offered to go on shore. they did their cooking at the galley or at a stove near the stern of the boat. they never made any noise or disturbance, beyond the usual confusion where many persons are confined in a small space. there were three horses tied just over my cabin with only a single plank between their heels and my head. nearly every night their horse polkas and galops disturbed my sleep. sometimes early in the morning, when the frost was biting, they would have kicking matches of twenty or thirty minutes, conducted with the greatest vigor. the temporary stable was close to the cabin skylight, so that we had the odors of a barn-yard without extra charge. this would have been objectionable under other circumstances, but the cabin was so dirty that one could not be fastidious about trifles. the captain had a neat cabin of his own on the upper deck, and did not trouble himself much about the quarters of his passengers, as the regulations do not require him to look after their welfare. he was a careful commander and prompt in discharging his duties. by law steamboat captains cannot carry their wives on board. this officer had a little arrangement by which he was able to keep the word of promise to the ear and break it to the hope. we were short of fuel at starting, and barely escaped trouble in consequence. the first pile visible contained only a cord or two; we took this and several posts that had been fixed in the ground to mark the locality. when this supply was burned we cut up our landing planks and all the spare bits of wood we could find. a court of inquiry was held over the horse-troughs, but they were considered too much water-soaked for our purpose. as a last resort i had a pound of candles and a flask of brandy, but we happily reached a wood-station without using my light baggage. the korsackoff was an iron boat of a hundred horse power, with hull and engines of english make. her cabins were very small and as dirty as diminutive. there was no cabin steward, and i sincerely believe there had never been one. we were warned of this before leaving blagoveshchensk, and by way of precaution purchased enough bread, pickles, cheese, mustard, preserves, candles, etc., to stock a modest grocery. we bought eggs at the landings, and arranged for the samovar every morning. we engaged a cossack passenger as our servant for the voyage, and when we wished our eggs boiled we sent him with them to the cook. of course we had an arrangement with the latter functionary. our next move was to make terms with the captain's steward for a dinner at the hour when he fed his chief. our negotiations required much diplomacy, but our existence depended upon it, and what will not man accomplish when he wants bread and meat? we spread our table in one of our rooms. for breakfast we took tea and boiled eggs, and for dinner we had cabbage soup, roast beef or fowl, and cutlets. the cook succeeded very well, and as our appetites were pretty sharp we voted the dinners a success. we used our own bread, tea, pickles, and preserves, employing the latter as a concluding dish. our cossack was not very skillful at housework, and made many blunders in serving. frequently he brought the soup tureen before arranging the table, and it took him some time to learn the disadvantage of this practice. leaving blagoveshchensk the country continued level near the river, but the mountains gradually approached it and on the south bank they came to the water fifteen or twenty miles above sakhalin-oula. on the north the plain was wider, but it terminated about forty miles above blagoveshchensk,--a series of low hills taking its place. the first day we ran twenty-five or thirty versts before sunset. the river was less than a mile wide, and the volume of water sensibly diminished above the zeya. as the hills approached the river they assumed the form of bluffs or headlands, with plateaus extending back from their summits. the scenery reminded me of lake pepin and the region just above it. on the northern shore, between these bluffs and the river, there was an occasional strip of meadow that afforded clinging room to a russian village. at two or three settlements there was an abundance of hay and grain in stacks, and droves of well fed cattle, that indicated the favorable character of the country. at most villages along the amoor i found the crow and magpie abundant and very tame. at blagoveshchensk several of these birds amused me in sharing the dinner of some hogs to the great disgust of the latter. when the meal was finished they lighted on the backs of the hogs and would not dismount until the latter rolled in the dirt. no one appears to think them worth shooting, and i presume they do no damage. one day walking on shore i saw a flock of pigeons, and returned to the boat for borasdine's gun. as i took it i remarked that i would shoot a few pigeons for dinner. "never think of it," said my friend. "and why?" "because you will make the peasants your enemies. the news would spread that you had killed a pigeon, and every peasant would dislike you." "for what reason?" "the pigeon or dove is held sacred throughout russia. he is the living symbol of the holy spirit in the faith of the eastern church, and he brought the olive branch to the ark when the flood had ceased. no russian would harm one of these birds, and for you to do so would show disrespect to the religion of the country." i went on shore again, but without a gun. every day we saw rafts moving with the stream or tied along the shore. they were of logs cut on the upper amoor, and firmly fastened with poles and withes. an emigrant piles his wagon and household goods on a raft, and makes a pen at one side to hold his cattle. two or three families, with as many wagons and a dozen or twenty animals, were frequently on one raft. a pile of earth was the fire place, and there was generally a tent or shelter of some kind. cattle were fed with hay carried on board, or were turned ashore at night to graze. [illustration: emigrants on the amoor.] some rafts were entirely laden with cattle on their way to market or for government use at nicolayevsk. this is the most economical mode of transportation, as the cattle feed themselves on shore at night, and the rafts float with the current by day. a great deal of heavy freight has been carried down the amoor in this way, and losses are of rare occurrence. the system is quite analogous to the flat-boat navigation of the mississippi before steamboats were established. we met a few russian boats floating or propelled by oars, one of them having a crew of six cossacks and making all haste in descending. we supposed it contained the mail due at blagoveshchensk when we left. the government has not enough steamers to perform its service regularly, and frequently uses row boats. the last mail at blagoveshchensk before my arrival came in a rowboat in fifteen days from stratensk. ascending the river we made slow progress even without a barge. our machinery was out of order and we only carried half steam. we ran only by day, and unfortunately the nights had a majority of the time. we frequently took wood in the middle of the day, and on such occasions lost from one to three hours. our average progress was about sixty miles a day. i could not help contrasting this with journeys i have made on the mississippi at the rate of two hundred miles in twenty-four hours. a government boat has no occasion to hurry like a private one, and the pilot's imperfect knowledge of the amoor operates against rapidity. in time i presume the siberian boats will increase their speed. the second day from blagoveshchensk we were where the amoor flows twenty-five versts around a peninsula only one verst wide. just above this, at the village of korsackoff, was the foot of another bend of twenty-eight versts with a width of three. borasdine and i proposed walking and hunting across the last neck of land, but the lateness of the hour forbade the excursion, as we did not wish to pass the night on shore, and it was doubtful if the boat could double the point before dark. we should have crossed the first peninsula had it not been in chinese territory. to prevent possible intrusion the celestials have a guard-house at the bend. at the guard-house we could see half a dozen soldiers with matchlocks and lances. there was a low house fifteen or twenty feet square and daubed with mud according to the chinese custom. there was a quantity of rubbish on the ground, and a couple of horses were standing ready saddled near it. fifty feet from the house was a building like a sentry-box, with two flag-staffs before it; it was the temple where the soldiers worshipped according to the ceremonies of their faith. i have been much with the army in my own country, but never saw a military post of two buildings where one structure was a chapel. above the village of kazakavitch, at the upper extremity of the bend, there was some picturesque scenery. on one side there were precipitous cliffs two or three hundred feet high, and on the other a meadow or plateau with hills in the background. the villages on this part of the river are generally built twenty or thirty feet above high water mark. they have the same military precision that is observed below the zeya, and each has a bath house set in the bank. frequently we found these bath houses in operation, and on one occasion two boys came out clad in the elegant costume of the greek slave, without her fetters. they gazed at the boat with perfect _sang froid_, the thermometer being just above freezing point. the scene reminded me of the careless manners of the natives at panama. opposite komarskoi the cliffs on the chinese shore are perpendicular, and continue so for several miles. at their base there is a strong current, where we met a raft descending nearly five miles an hour. in going against the stream our pilots did not seek the edge of the river like their brethren of the mississippi, but faced the current in the center. possibly they thought a middle course the safest, and remembered the fate of the celebrated youth who took a short route when he drove the sun. two miles above the settlement is cape komara, a perpendicular or slightly overhanging rock of dark granite three hundred feet high. nothing but a worm or an insect could climb its face, and a fall from its top into the river would not be desirable. the russians have erected a large cross upon the summit, visible for some distance up and down the river. above this rock, which appears like a sentinel, the valley is wider and the stream flows among many islands. we saw just below this rock a manjour boat tied to the shore, the crew breakfasting near a fire and the captain smoking in apparent unconcern at a little distance. on the opposite bank there was a chinese custom-house and military station. it had the same kind of house and temple and the same number of men and horses as the post farther down. had it possessed a pile of rubbish and a barking dog the similarity would have been complete. there is abundance of water in the amoor except for drinking purposes. i was obliged to adopt the plan of towing a bottle out of the cabin window till it filled. the deck passengers used to look with wonder on my foreign invention, and doubtless supposed i was experimenting for scientific purposes. i have heard of a captain on the ohio who forbade water to his passengers on account of the low stage of the river. possibly the russian captains are fearful that too much use of water may affect navigation in future years. chapter xx. there is a sameness and yet a variety in the scenery of the amoor two or three hundred miles above komarskoi. the sameness is in the general outlines which can be described; the variety is in the many little details of distance, shadow, and coloring, which no pen can picture. in the general features there are cliffs, hills, ravines, islands, and occasional meadows, with forests of birch, pine, larch, and willow. the meadows are not abundant, and the attractions to settlers generally small. the hills are rugged and, though well timbered, not adapted to agriculture. the pine forests are dark and gloomy, and the leafless birches make the distant hills appear as if thinly snow-clad. the willows are generally upon the islands, and grow with great luxuriance. the large meadows are occupied by russian settlers. many little streams enter the amoor on both sides, but chiefly from the north. there is a famous cliff called sa-ga-yan, where the river has washed and undermined the high bank so that portions fall away every few years. the current strikes this hill with great force, and where it is reflected the water is broken like the rapids above niagara. it is a dangerous spot for small boats, and very difficult for them to ascend. when the expedition of 1854 descended the amoor several barges were drawn into an eddy at this cliff and nearly swamped. captain fulyelm and mr. collins, in 1857, were in danger and trouble, especially where the current rebounds from the shore. when our steamer struck this rapid it required all the strength of our engines to carry us through. i desired to examine the shore, but had no opportunity. mr. collins found the bank composed of amygdaloid sand, decomposed rock and sandstone, with many traces of iron. on the beach were chalcedony, cornelian, and agate. two veins of coal have been traced in the cliff, and it is thought a large deposit exists there. the natives have a story that the cliff smokes whenever a human being approaches it, but i saw no indications of smoke as i passed. they consider it the abode of evil spirits, and hold it in great dread. [illustration: sa-ga-yan cliff.] the russians told me that a few wreaths of smoke were visible in summer, caused probably by the decomposition of several coal seams on the upper side of the mountain. up to the present time no coal has been mined along the amoor, though enough is known to exist. the cheapness and abundance of wood will render coal of little importance for many years to come. nicolayevsk is supplied with coal from sakhalin island, where it is abundant and easily worked. iron ore has been discovered on the upper amoor and in the buryea mountains. captain anossoff proposes to erect a smelting establishment at blagoveshchensk, supplying it with iron ore from the buryea region and with coal from the zeya. copper and silver exist in several localities, but the veins have not been thoroughly examined. the mountains are like those in the nerchinsk district that have yielded so richly in precious metals. captain anossoff is the brother of my companion across the pacific, and has seen ten years service in eastern siberia. most of that time he has passed on the amoor and its tributary streams. in many places he found rich deposits of gold, the last and best being on the oldoi river, about a hundred miles north of albazin. a ton of earth yielded six hundred dollars worth of gold. i saw the specimens which the captain took out in person. the gold was like the best gulch or scale gold in california, with nuggets up to four or five ounces in weight. gold has been found in other localities. on several tributaries of the ousuree the chinese have conducted washings for many years. the russian settlers near posyet find gold in the streams flowing into the sea. an engineer officer assured me the washings in that region could be made profitable. the government has recently opened the amoor and its tributaries to private enterprise and invited its citizens to search for gold where they please. this is a concession in the right way, and partially abandons the claim hitherto enforced that all mines belong to the imperial family. some of the surveys of captain anossoff have been for private parties at st. petersburg, and the development of the mineral resources of the amoor is confidently expected in a few years. at present the lack of laborers and machinery is a great drawback, but as the country grows older the mining facilities will increase. it is not impossible that a gold fever will sometime arise on the amoor and extend to america. much of the country i saw along the amoor resembles the gold-bearing regions on the pacific coast. while we were taking wood at a village above sa-ga-yan i walked on shore and stopped at a little brook flowing from the hills. carelessly digging with a stick in the bottom of this brook i brought up some black sand, which i washed on a piece of bark. the washing left two or three shining particles that had every appearance of gold. i wrapped them in a leaf to carry on board the steamer, but as i afterward lost envelope and contents, the value of my discovery is to this day unknown. the original inhabitants along this part of the amoor are wandering tungusians, in no great number and with little wealth. we saw their huts on both banks, principally the southern one. at a russian village where we stopped there was a managre hut or yourt of light poles covered with birch bark. the covering was wound around the framework in horizontal strips that overlapped at the edges like shingles on a house-roof. entering the hut i found a varied assortment of deer skins, cooking and other utensils, dogs, dirt, and children. i gave a small coin to one of the latter, and was immediately surrounded by others who wished to be remembered. the mother of the infants sent one of them to me with a freshly killed goose, which i declined accepting. the head of the establishment examined my watch attentively, but i think his curiosity was simulated, as he must have seen marry watches among the russians. not to be outdone in curiosity, i admired the trappings attached to his belt. these were a knife, a pipe, pouches for bullets, tinder, powder, tobacco, and flints, a pointed iron for cleaning a pipe, and two or three articles whose use i could not ascertain. his dress was a deerskin frock and leggings, and his cap of chinese felt cloth was in several thicknesses and fitted close to his head. outside the hut borasdine gave the man a cigar, but the gift was not appreciated. the native preferred tobacco and was better satisfied when i gave him enough to fill his pipe. the managres smoke the manjourian tobacco, which is raised in large quantities along the middle amoor and the songaree. it is much like connecticut leaf, but has a more pungent flavor, and lacks the delicacy of havana tobacco. men, women, and children are alike addicted to its use. our new acquaintance was a hunter, and allowed us, though with hesitation, to look at his rifle. it had a flint lock of curious construction, the hammer being drawn back to a horizontal position and held in place by a notched piece of bone. the breech-pin was gone, and a piece of stone fixed in the stock filled its place. the breech of the stock was but little larger than the other part, and seemed very awkwardly contrived. a forked stick is carried to form a rest, that ensures the accuracy of aim. powder and lead are so expensive that great economy is shown in their use. i was told these natives were excellent marksmen, and rarely missed a shot. when within proper distance of their game they place their supporting sticks very quickly and with such caution as to make no noise. [illustration: rifle shooting.] one intoxicated aboriginal stood in the group of cossacks on the bank and appeared quarrelsome, but found the russians too good-natured for his purpose. a light shower scattered the crowd and left the inebriate addressing a horse and a wood-pile. on the 11th of october the weather was like summer, the air still and clear and my thermometer standing at 71 degrees. during the night i found it necessary to take an extra blanket, and at noon of the 12th the thermometer was at 45â°, with a cloudy sky and a breeze from the northeast. this change of twenty-six degrees was too much for comfort, but of little consequence compared to my subsequent experience. instances have been known of a change of seventy degrees in twelve hours from a sudden shifting of the wind. on the morning of the 13th we had a light fall of snow, with the air at freezing point and the water at 40â°.[d] [footnote d: i here enter a protest against the fahrenheit thermometer, and think all who have used it to any extent will join me in preferring the centigrade or reaumer scales. centigrade has the freezing point at zero and the boiling point at 100â°. reaumer freezes at zero and boils at 80â°. fahrenheit very clumsily freezes at 32â° and boils at 212â°. the difference in the graduation of the scale is of much less consequence than the awkwardness of beginning the reading at 32â°. the russians use reaumer's method, and i always envied them their convenience of saying 'there are so many degrees of cold,' or 'so many of heat,' while i was forced to count from 32â° to use my national scale.] we passed a rock projecting far into the river, with precipitous sides and a sharp summit visible for some distance along the amoor. below it is a small harbor, where the russian steamer mala nadeshda (little hope) passed the winter of 1855. she was on her way to stratensk, carrying admiral puchachin on his return from a mission to japan. caught by ice the nadeshda wintered under shelter of this rock, while the admiral became a horse marine and mounted a saddle for a ride of four hundred miles. since that time the rock has borne the name of the boat it protected. in most of the villages there are schools for educating the boys of the cossacks and peasants. some pupils are admitted free, while from others a small fee is required. occasionally i saw boys flocking to the schools at sound of the master's bell, or coming out at recess or dismissal. i had no opportunity to inspect one of these establishments, but presume my description of the one at mihalofski will answer for all. the youths were as noisy as school-boys everywhere, and when out of restraint indulged in the same hilarity as if born on the banks of the hudson or the thames. at noon on the 14th we stopped at albazin to leave passengers and take wood. it was sunday, and the population appeared in its best clothing, a few of the women sporting crinoline, and all wearing their best calicoes. among the men there were cossacks and soldiers in their grey coats or in plain cloth and sheepskin. i saw a few yakuts with the narrow eyes of the tunguze and their clothing of deerskin. a few orochons stood apart from the russians, but not less observant of the boat and those on board. outside the village were three or four conical yourts belonging to the aboriginals. it is said this people formerly lived in the province of yakutsk, whence they emigrated to the amoor in 1825. one of their chiefs has a hunting knife with the initials of the empress catherine. it was presented to an ancestor of the present owner. albazin is finely situated on a plateau fifty feet high and extending some distance back to the mountains. opposite is a small river abounding in fish, and in front an island several thousand acres in extent and very fertile. though less than seven years old, albazin had already begun to sell grain for transportation to nerchinsk. a steamer laden with grain left for stratensk three days before our arrival. albazin is of historical interest to the russians. in the year 1669 a polish adventurer named chernigofsky built a fort at albazin. that his men might not be without the comforts of religion he brought a priest, who founded a church at the new settlement. it is related that when organizing his expedition he forcibly seized this priest and kept him under guard during the journey to the amoor. the chinese twice besieged albazin, once with eighteen thousand men, and afterward with nearly double that number. the russians resisted a long time, and were only driven from the amoor by the famous treaty of nerchinsk in 1689. when i landed at albazin, captain porotof, superintendent of the russian settlements between that point and komarskoi, guided me through the ruins. the present village of albazin is inside the line of chinese works, and the church occupies the interior of the old fort. all the lines of intrenchment and siege can be easily seen, the fort being distinctly visible from the river. its walls are about ten feet high, and the ditch is partially filled from the washing of earth during the many years since the evacuation. a drain that carries water from the church has cut a hole through the embankment. in it i could see the traces of the trees and brushwood used in making the fort. in the fort and around it cannon shot, bullets, arrow heads, and pieces of pottery are frequently found. a few years ago a magazine of rye was discovered, the grains being perfect and little injured by time. captain porotof gave me two chinese cannon shot recently found there and greatly roughened on the surface by the action of rust. the position and arrangement of their batteries and lines of circumvallation show that the chinese were skilled in the art of war. albazin was valuable to the early adventurers on account of the fine sables taken in its vicinity. it is important now for the same reason. the albazin sable is the best on the amoor; that of the buryea mountains is next, and that from blagoveshchensk is third in grade. at several places i saw these furs, but found none of them equaling the furs of kamchatka. some interesting stories about the siege of albazin are told by the russians. while the siege was progressing and the garrison was greatly distressed for want of food, chernigofsky sent a pie weighing forty or fifty pounds to the chinese commander to convince him that the fort was abundantly supplied. the latter was so delighted with the gift that he sent back for more, but his request was unheeded. he probably saw through the little game they were attempting to play on him and determined to beat them at it. history does not say whether the pie was pork, mutton, or anything else. possibly the curs of albazin may have entered into its composition. [illustration: tail piece--game] chapter xxi. above albazin the amoor steadily narrows; the hills are more rugged; the trees less luxuriant; the meadows fewer, and the islands less extensive. on the morning of the 15th my thermometer was at +16â°, and the trees on the shore were white with frost. the deck passengers shivered around the engines and endeavored to extract heat from them. the cabin passengers, excepting myself, were wrapped in their fur coats as if it were midwinter. i walked about in my ordinary clothing, finding the air bracing but not uncomfortable. i could not understand how the russians felt the cold when it did not affect me, and was a little proud of my insensibility to frost. conceit generally comes of ignorance, and as i learned, wisdom i lost my vanity about resisting cold. nearly every day on the korsackoff i was puzzled at finding laurel leaves in the soup, and did not understand it till i saw a barrel of beef opened. there were lots of laurel leaves packed with the meat, and i learned that they assist the preservative qualities of the salt and give an agreeable flavor. i can speak in favor of the latter theory, but know nothing about the former. the ancient romans wore laurel crowns, but they did not prevent the decline and fall of their empire. possibly the russians may have better success in saving their beef by the use of the laurel. during a fog on the river we grazed a rock, slid upon a sandbar, and then anchored, as we should have done at first. when in motion we employed all possible time, and, considering the state of our engines, made very good progress. borasdine learned from our cossack the explanation of this haste. "the pilots, firemen, and nearly all the crew," said the cossack, "have their wives at stratensk, and are anxious to winter with them. if the boat is frozen in below there they must remain till she thaws out again. consequently their desire to finish the voyage before the ice is running." at igiratiena i met colonel shobeltsin, an officer identified with all the movements for the final occupation of the amoor. in 1852 he made a journey from irkutsk to nicolayevsk, following a route up to that time untraveled. he accompanied mouravieff's expedition in 1854, and was afterward intimately connected with colonization enterprises. a few years ago he retired from service and settled at this village. his face indicates his long and arduous service, and i presume he has seen enough hardship to enjoy comfort for the rest of his days. his house was the best on the amoor above blagoveshchensk and very comfortably furnished. in the principal room there were portraits of many russian notabilities, with lithographs and steel engravings from various parts of the world. among them were two pictures of american country life, bearing the imprint of a new york publisher. i had frequently seen these lithographs in a window on nassau street, little thinking i should find them on the other side of the world. one room was quite a museum and contained a variety of articles made by manjours and tunguze. there were heads of deer, sable, and birds, while a quantity of furs hung near the door. with a spirit of hospitality the colonel prepared us a breakfast during our brief stay, and invited us to join him in the beverage of the country. when we returned to the boat the steward was superintending the killing of a bullock at the bank. half a dozen wolfish dogs were standing ready to breakfast as soon as the slaughtering was over. a cossack officer in a picturesque costume stood on the bank near the boat. he wore an embroidered coat of sheepskin, the wool inside, a shaggy cap of coal-black wool, and a pair of fur-topped boots. all his garments were new and well fitting, and contrasted greatly with the greasy and long used coats of the cossacks on the boat. sheepskin garments can look more repulsive than cloth ones with equal wearing. age can wither and custom stale their infinite variety. winding among the mountains and cliffs that enclose the valley we reached in the evening a village four miles below the head of the amoor. i rose at daybreak on the 17th to make my adieus to the river. the morning was clear and frosty, and the stars were twinkling in the sky, save in the east where the blush of dawn was visible. the hills were faintly touched with a little snow that had fallen during the night. the trunks of the birches rose like ghosts among the pines and larches of the forest, while craggy rocks pushed out here and there like battlements of a fortress. the pawing steamer with her mane of stars breasted the current with her prow bearing directly toward the west. "just around that point," said the first officer of the korsackoff as he directed his finger toward a headland on the chinese shore, "you will see the mouth of the argoon on the left and the shilka on the right;--wait a moment, it is not quite time yet." when we rounded the promontory dawn had grown to daylight, and the mountains on the south bank of the argoon came into view. a few minutes later i saw the defile of the shilka. between the streams the mountains narrowed and came to a point a mile above the meeting of the waters. on the delta below the mountains is the russian village and cossack post of oust-strelka (arrow mouth,) situated in latitude 53â° 19' 45" north, and longitude 121â° 50' 7" east. it is on the argoon side of the delta and contains but a few houses. i knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled in the cold atmosphere that the inhabitants were endeavoring to make themselves comfortable. the amoor is formed by the union of these rivers, just as the ohio is formed by the allegheny and monongahela. geographers generally admit that the parent stream of a river is the one whose source is farthest from the junction. the argoon flows from the lake koulon, which is filled by the river kerolun, rising in the kentei khan mountains in northern mongolia. together the argoon and kerolun have a development of more than a thousand miles. there are many cossacks settled along the argoon as a frontier guard. the river is not navigable, owing to numerous rocks and rapids. genghis khan, who subdued china and began that wonderful career of tartar conquest that extended to middle europe, was born on the banks of the kerolun. some of his early battles were fought in its valley. the shilka is formed by the onon and ingodah, that rise in the region north of the head waters of the kerolun. from the sources of the onon to oust-strelka is a distance of seven hundred and fifty miles. there are many gold mines along this river, and the whole mountain chain is known to be rich in minerals. including its tributaries on both sides and at its formation, the amoor as it flows into the gulf of tartary drains a territory of 766,000 square miles. there is a little island just below the point of land extending between the two rivers. as we approached it the steamer turned to the right and proceeded up the shilka, leaving the amoor behind us. i may never see this great river again, but i shall never forget its magnificent valley and its waters washing the boundaries of two empires and bringing the civilization of the east and west in contact. i shall never forget its many islands, among which we wound our tortuous way; its green meadows, its steep cliffs, and its blue mountains, that formed an ever-changing and ever beautiful picture. i shall never forget its forests where the yellow hues of autumn contrasted with the evergreen pine and its kindred, and which nature has lavishly spread to shield the earth from the pitiless storm and give man wherewith to erect his habitation and light his hearthstone with generous fire. mountain, hill, forest, island, and river will rise to me hereafter in imagination as they rose then in reality. a voyage along the entire course of the amoor is one that the longest lifetime cannot efface from the memory. for a hundred and sixty years the little post of oust-strelka was the most easterly possession of russia in the amoor valley. in 1847 lieutenant general mouravieff, having been appointed governor general of eastern siberia, determined to explore the river. in the following spring he sent an officer with four cossacks to descend the amoor as far as was prudent. the officer took a liberal supply of presents for the people along the banks, and was instructed to avoid all collisions with the natives and not to enter their towns. from the day of his departure to the present nothing has ever been heard of him or his men. diligent inquiries have been made among the natives and the chinese authorities, but no information gained. it is supposed the party were drowned by accident, or killed by hostile residents along the river. in 1850 and the three following years the mouth of the amoor was examined and settlements founded, as already described. the year 1854 is memorable for the first descent of the amoor by a military expedition. the outbreak of the crimean war rendered it necessary to supply the russian fleet in the pacific. the colonies on the pacific needed provisions, and the amoor offered the only feasible route to send them. general mouravieff made his preparations, and obtained the consent of his government to the important step. he asked the permission of the chinese, but those worthies were as dilatory as usual, and mouravieff could not wait. he left shilikinsk on the 27th of may, escorted by a thousand soldiers with several guns, and carrying an ample supply of provisions for the pacific fleet. the chinese made no actual opposition, but satisfied themselves with counting the boats that passed. mouravieff supplied the fleet at the mouth of the amoor, and then returned by way of ayan to irkutsk. the troops were left to garrison the fortified points on or near the sea. in 1855 three more expeditions left shilikinsk with soldiers and colonists. general mouravieff accompanied the first of these expeditions and went directly to nicolayevsk. the allied fleet attempted to enter the amoor but could not succeed. the general sent his compliments to the english admiral and told him to come on if he could and he should be warmly received. in 1856 a few cossack posts were established along the river, and in the next year nearly three thousand cossacks were sent there. the chinese made a formal protest against these movements, and there were fears of a hostile collision. the reverses that china suffered from the english and french prevented war with russia, and in 1858 mouravieff concluded a treaty at igoon by which the russian claim to the country north of the amoor and east of the ousuree was acknowledged. the russians were thus firmly established, and the development of the country has progressed peacefully since that period. as the argoon from its mouth to lake kerolun forms the boundary between the empires i lost sight of china when we entered the shilka. as i shivered on the steamer's bridge, my breath congealing on my beard, and the hills beyond the amoor and argoon white with the early snow of winter, i could not see why the celestials call their land the 'central flowery kingdom.' the shilka has a current flowing four or five miles an hour. the average speed of the korsackoff in ascending was about four miles. the river wound among mountains that descended to the water without intervening plateaus, and only on rare occasions were meadows visible. the forests were pine and larch, with many birches. the lower part of the shilka has very little agricultural land, and the only settlements are the stations kept by a few cossacks, who cut wood for the steamers and supply horses to the post and travelers in winter. the first night after leaving the amoor there was a picturesque scene at our wooding station. the mountains were revealed by the setting moon, and their outline against the sky was sharply defined. we had a large fire of pine boughs burning on the shore, and its bright flames lighted both sides of the river. the boatmen in their sheepskin coats and hats walked slowly to and fro, and gave animation to the picture. while i wrote my journal the horses above me danced as though frolicking over a hornet's nest, and reduced sentimental thoughts to a minimum. to render the subject more interesting two officers and the priest grew noisy over a triple game of cards and a bottle of vodki. i wrote in my overcoat, as the thermometer was at 30â° with no fire in the cabin. we frequently met rafts with men and horses descending to supply the post stations, or bound on hunting excursions. i was told that the hunters float down the river on rafts and then make long circuits by land to their points of departure. the siberian squirrel is very abundant in the mountains north of the shilka, and his fur is an important article of commerce. we stopped at gorbitza, near the mouth of the gorbitza river, that formerly separated russia and china and was the boundary up to 1854. above this point the villages had an appearance of respectable age not perceptible in the settlements along the amoor. ten or twelve miles from our wooding place we met ice coming out of the chorney river, but it gave us no inconvenience. the valley became wider and the hills less abrupt, while the villages had an air of irregularity more pleasing than the military precision on the amoor. i saw many dwellings on which decay's effacing fingers were busy. the telegraph posts were fixed above gorbitza, but the wires had not been strung. there were many haystacks at the villages, and i could see droves of cattle and sheep on the cleared hills. at one landing i found a man preparing his house for winter by calking the seams with moss. under the eaves of another house there were many birds that resembled american swallows. i could not say whether they were migratory or not, but if the former they were making their northern stay a late one. their twitterings reminded me of the time when i used to go at nightfall, 'when the swallows homeward fly,' and listen to the music without melody as the birds exchanged their greetings, told their loves, and gossipped of their adventures. [illustration: preparing for winter.] just at sunset we reached shilikinsk, a town stretching nearly two miles along the river, on a plateau thirty feet high. we stopped in the morning where there was abundance of wood, but only took enough to carry us to shilikinsk. there was a lady in the case. our first officer had a feminine acquaintance at the town, and accordingly wished to stop for wood, and, if possible, to pass the night there. his plan failed, as no wood could be discovered at shilikinsk, though our loving mate scanned every part of the bank. we had enough fuel to take us a few miles farther, where we found wood and remained for the night. the disappointed swain pocketed his chagrin and solaced himself by playing the agreeable to a lady passenger. i saw in the edge of the town a large building surrounded with a palisaded wall. "what is that?" i asked, pointing to the structure new to my eyes. "it is a station for exiles," was my friend's reply, "when they pass through the town. they generally remain here over night, and sometimes a few days, and this is their lodging. you will see many such on your way through siberia." "is it also the prison for those who are kept here permanently?" "no; the prison is another affair. the former prison at shilikinsk has been converted into a glass manufactory. just behind it is a large tannery, heretofore celebrated throughout eastern siberia for its excellent leather." as we proceeded the country became more open and less mountainous, and i saw wide fields on either side. a road was visible along the northern bank of the river, sometimes cut in the hillside where the slope was steep. on the southern bank there was no road beyond that for local use. the telegraph followed the northern side, but frequently left the road to take short cuts across the hills. we struck a rock ten miles from our journey's end, and for several minutes i thought we should go gracefully to the bottom. we whirled twice around on the rock before we left it, and our captain feared we had sprung a leak. when once more afloat borasdine and i packed our baggage and prepared for the shore. we ate the last of our preserves and gave sundry odds and ends to the cossacks. as a last act we opened the remaining bottles of a case of champagne, and joined officers and fellow passengers in drinking everybody's health. late in the afternoon of the 20th october we were in sight of stratensk. the summer barracks were first visible, and a moment later i could see the church dome. in nearly all russian towns the churches are the first objects visible on arriving and the last on departing. tho house of worship is no less prominent in the picture of a russian village than the ceremonies of religion in the daily life of the people. there was a large crowd on the bank to welcome us. officers, soldiers, merchants, cossacks, peasants, women, children, and dogs were in goodly numbers. our own officers were in full uniform to make their calls on shore. the change of costume that came over several passengers was interesting in the extreme. at last the steamer ceased her asthmatic wheeze and dropped her anchor at the landing. we gave our baggage to a cossack to take to the hotel. soon as the rush over the plank was ended i walked ashore from the korsackoff for the last time. so ended, for the present, my water journeying. i had zig-zagged from new york a distance, by my line of travel, not less than fifteen thousand miles. the only actual land route on my way had been forty-seven miles between aspinwall and panama. i had traveled on two ocean passenger-steamers, one private steamer of miniature size, a russian corvette, a gunboat of the siberian fleet, and two river boats of the amoor flotilla. not a serious accident had occurred to mar the pleasure of the journey. there had been discomforts, privations, and little annoyances of sufficient frequency, but they only added interest to the way. the proverb well says there is no rose without a thorn, and it might add that the rose would be less appreciable were there no thorn. half our pleasures have their zest in the toil through which they are gained. in travel, the little hardships and vexations bring the novelties and comforts into stronger relief, and make the voyager's happiness more real. it is an excellent trait of human nature that the traveler can remember with increased vividness the pleasing features of his journey while he forgets their opposites. privations and discomforts appeal directly to the body; their effect once passed the physical system courts oblivion. pleasures reach our higher being, which experiences, enjoys, and remembers. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xxii. stratensk is neither large nor handsome. the most i saw of it was near the hotel whither we went from the boat. the rooms we were shown into faced the river, and had high walls decorated with a few pictures. my apartment had a brick stove in one corner, a table, three or four chairs, and a wide sofa or cushioned bench without a back. this last article served as bed by night and seat by day. no bed clothing is furnished in a siberian hotel, each traveler being expected to carry his own supply. the government has a foundry and repair shop two miles above the town, where several steamers pass the winter and have their machinery repaired. immediately on arrival we sent to request mr. lovett, the gentleman in charge of the works, to call upon us. he responded promptly, and came while we were at supper. being english and with a slight tendency to _embonpoint_, he readily accepted several bottles of 'bass & co.' that remained from our small stores. he was accompanied by captain ivashinsoff, who spoke english easily and well. his knowledge of it was obtained rather romantically as the story was told me. two years earlier this officer happened in hong kong and during his stay an american vessel arrived. her captain had been seriously ill for some weeks and totally incapable of duty. the first mate died on the voyage, and the second was not equal to the difficulties of navigation. the captain was accompanied by his daughter, who had been several years at sea and learned the mysteries of bowditch more as a pastime than for anything else. in the dilemma she assumed control of the ship, making the daily observation and employing the mate as executive officer. when they reached hong kong the captain was just recovering. the young woman came on shore, saw and conquered the russian. neither spoke the other's language, and their conversation was conducted in french. after their marriage they began to study, and had made such progress that i found the captain speaking good english, and learned that the lady was equally fluent in russian. she was living at stratensk at the time of my visit, and i greatly regretted that our short stay prevented my seeing her. she was a native of chelsea, massachusetts, and was said to enjoy her home on the amoor. three or four steamers were in winter quarters, and the korsackoff was to join them immediately. both at stratensk and nicolayevsk it is the custom to remove the machinery from steamers during winter. it is carefully housed to prevent its rusting, and i presume to lessen the loss in case of fire or damage from breaking ice. we talked with our new friends till late in the evening, and then prepared to continue our journey. lovett gave me his blessing and a feather pillow; the former to cover general accidents and the latter to prevent contusions from the jolting vehicle. borasdine obtained a cossack to accompany us on the road and ordered our baggage made ready. the cossack piled it into a wagon and it was transported to the ferry landing and dumped upon the gravel. we followed and halted in front of the palisaded hotel of the exiles. the ferry boat was on the opposite shore, four or five hundred yards away. borasdine called, but the boatmen did not rise. "dai sloopka!" (send a boat.) after a moment's pause he repeated: "dai sloopka!" he added the usually magic word "courier!" but it had no effect. he shouted repeatedly and grew hoarse. then i lifted up my voice like a pelican in the wilderness, but with no better effect. when we had almost reached the pitch of despair a man appeared from behind a wood pile and tried his vocal organs in our behalf. at his second call a reply was given, and very soon a light twinkled at the ferry house. [illustration: stratensk, eastern siberia.] the boat was a long time coming, and while we waited its arrival a drunken bouriat made himself unpleasantly familiar. as often as i changed my position he would come to my side and endeavor to rest his dirty arm on my shoulder. i finally walked through a pile of brushwood and crooked sticks, which was too much for the native with his weak knees and muddy brain. after struggling with a persistency that would have been commendable had the object to be attained been commensurate to the effort, he became inextricably tangled, and i left him in the loving embrace of a decayed tree-top. the boat came with four shaggy ferrymen, who had some difficulty in reaching land. it was a kind of large skiff, high at both ends and having a platform, like that of a hay-scale, in the center. the platform projected a foot or more beyond the sides of the boat, and had no railing to prevent a frightened horse or drunken man going overboard. this is the general style of river ferry boats in siberia. the boatmen do not appear very skillful in handling them, but i learned that serious accidents were very rare. we piled our baggage and left the shore, running upon two rocks and colliding with a sandbar before getting fairly away. i fell asleep during the crossing, satisfied that the crew did not need my assistance. we landed where the road is cut into the rocky bank, and were obliged to lift the baggage over a pile of stony debris. the boatmen said it was impossible to go to the regular landing, but i suspect they wished an extra gratuity for handling our impedimenta. before the work was finished they regretted their manoeuvre. as we touched the shore one man went to the station to bring horses and a vehicle. borasdine and i scrambled over the rocks to the road fifteen feet above the water, and by the time the crew brought up our baggage the conveyance arrived. it was what the russians call a _telyaga_, drawn by three horses. this carriage is of quaker simplicity. there are four wheels on wooden axles, with rough but strong 'reaches.' a body, shaped something like an old-fashioned baby-cart, rests upon the reaches or on poles fixed over them. the hood protects against wind and rain from behind, and the best of the vehicles have boots buttoned in front and attached to the hoods. the driver sits on the bow directly behind the shaft-horse, and one part of his duty is to keep from falling off. the traveler spreads his baggage inside as evenly as possible to form a bed or cushion. angular pieces should be discarded, as the corners are disagreeable when jolted against one's sides. two shafts are fixed in the forward axle, and a horse between them forms a sort of _point d'appui_. any number from one to six can be tied on outside of him. the fault of our baggage was that we, or rather i, had too much. worst of all, i had a wooden trunk that i proposed throwing away at nicolayevsk, but had been told i could carry to irkutsk without trouble. it could not ride inside, or if it did we could not. we placed the small articles in the interior of the vehicle, and tied the trunk and borasdine's _chemadan_ on the projecting poles behind. the _chemadan_ is in universal use among siberian travelers, and admirably adapted to the road. it is made of soft leather, fastens with a lacing of deer-skin thongs, and can be lashed nearly water tight. it will hold a great deal,--i never saw one completely filled,--and accommodates itself to the shape of its aggregate contents. it can be of any size up to three or four feet long, and its dimensions are proportioned to each other about like those of an ordinary pocket-book. a great advantage is the absence of sharp corners and the facility of packing closely. we acted contrary to the custom of the country in tying our baggage behind. there are gentlemen of the road in siberia as there are 'road agents' in california. the siberian highwaymen rarely disturb the person of a traveler, but their chief amusement is to cut away outside packages. as a precaution we mounted our cossack on the trunk, but before we went a mile he fell from his perch in spite of his utmost efforts to cling to the vehicle. after that event he rode by the driver's side. on seeing lovett at stratensk my first question related to the condition of the road. "horrid," said he. "the worst time to travel. there has been much rain and cold weather. you will find mud either soft or frozen most of the way to chetah." before we started the driver brought an additional horse, and after a preliminary kick or two we took the road. for a few miles we went up and down hills along the edge of the river, where the route has been cut at much labor and expense. this was not especially bad, the worst places being at the hollows between the hills where the mud was half-congealed. when we left the river we found the mud that lovett prophesied. quality and quantity were alike disagreeable. all roads have length more or less; ours had length, breadth, depth, and thickness. the bottom was not regular like that of the atlantic, but broken into inequalities that gave an uneasy motion to the telyaga. to travel in siberia one must have a _padaroshnia_, or road pass, from the government authorities, stating the number of horses to which he is entitled. there are three grades of padaroshnia; the first for high officials and couriers; the second for officers on ordinary business; and the third for civilian travelers. the first and second are issued free to those entitled to receive them, and the third is purchased at the rate of half a copeck a verst. these papers serve the double purpose of bringing revenue to government and preventing unauthorized persons traveling about the country. a traveler properly provided presents his papers at a post-station and receives horses in his turn according to the character of his documents. a person with a courier's pass is never detained for want of animals; other travelers must take their chance. of course the second class of passport precedes the third by an inflexible rule. suppose a has a second class and b a third class padaroshnia. a reaches a station and finds b with a team ready to start. if there are no more horses the _smotretal_ (station master) detaches the animals from b's vehicle and supplies them to a. b must wait until he can be served; it may be an hour, a day, or a week. the stations are kept by contract. the government locates a station and its lessee is paid a stipulated sum each year. he agrees to keep the requisite horses and drivers, the numbers varying according to the importance of the route. he contracts to carry the post each way from his station to the next, the price for this service being included in the annual payment. he must keep one vehicle and three horses at all times ready for couriers. couriers, officers, and travelers of every kind pay at each station the rate fixed by law. in kamchatka and north eastern siberia the post route is equipped with dog-teams, just as it has horses in more southerly latitudes. in the northern part of yakutsk the reindeer is used for postal or traveling service. a padaroshnia calls for a given number of horses, usually three, without regard to the number of persons traveling upon it. generally the names of all who are to use it are written on the paper, but this is not absolutely necessary. borasdine had a padaroshnia and so had i, but mine was not needed as long as we kept together. the post carriages must be changed at every station. constant changing is a great trouble, especially if one has much baggage. in a wet or cold night when you have settled comfortably into a warm nest, and possibly fallen asleep, it is an intolerable nuisance to turn out and transfer. to remedy this evil one can buy a _tarantass_, a vehicle on the general principle of the telyaga, but larger, stronger, and better in every way. when he buys there is a scarcity and the price is high, but when he has finished his journey and wishes to sell, it is astonishing how the market is glutted. at stratensk i endeavored to purchase a tarantass, but only one could be had. this was too rheumatic for the journey, and very groggy in the springs, so at the advice of lovett i adhered to the telyaga. the russians apply the term 'equipage' to any vehicle, whether on wheels or runners, and with or without its motive power. it is a generic definition, and can include anything drawn by horses, dogs, deer, or camels. the word sounds very well when applied to a fashionable turnout, but less so when speaking of a dirt-cart or wheelbarrow. the same word, 'equipage,' is used in russian as in french to denote a ship's crew. in this connection i heard an amusing story, vouched for as correct. a few years after the disappearance of sir john franklin the english admiralty requested the russian government to make inquiries for the lost navigator along the coast and islands of the arctic ocean. an order to that effect was sent to the siberian authorities, and they in turn commanded all subordinates to inquire and report. a petty officer some where in western siberia was puzzled at the printed order to 'inquire concerning the english captain, john franklin, and his equipage.' in due time he reported: "i have made the proper inquiries. i can learn nothing about captain franklin; but in one of my villages there is an old sleigh that no one claims, and it may be his equipage." we carried one and sometimes two bells on the yoke of our shaft-horse to signify that we traveled by post. every humbler vehicle was required to give us the entire road, at least such was the theory. sometimes we obtained it, and sometimes the approaching drivers were asleep, and the horses kept their own way. when this occurred our driver generally took an opportunity to bring his whip lash upon the sleeper. it is a privilege he enjoys when driving a post carriage to strike his delinquent fellow man if in reach. i presume this is a partial consolation for the kicks and blows occasionally showered upon himself. humanity in authority is pretty certain to give others the treatment itself has received. only great natures will deal charity and kindness when remembering oppression and cruelty. i was not consulted when our telyaga was built, else it would have been wider and longer. when our small parcels were arranged inside there was plenty of room for one but hardly enough for two. borasdine and i were of equal height, and neither measured a hair's breadth less than six feet. when packed for riding i came in questionable shape, my body and limbs forming a geometric figure that euclid never knew. notwithstanding my cramped position i managed to doze a little, and contemplated an essay on a new mode of triangulation. we rattled our bones over the stones and frozen earth, and dragged and dripped through the mud to the first station. as we reached the establishment our cossack and driver shouted "_courier!_" in tones that soon brought the smotretal and his attendants. they rubbed their half-open eyes and bestirred themselves to bring horses. the word 'courier' invigorates the attachã©s of a post route, as they well know that the bearer of a courier's pass must not be delayed. ten minutes are allowed for changing a courier's horses, and the change is often made in six or eight minutes. the length of a journey depends considerably upon the time consumed at stations. [illustration: a siberian tarantass.] here we found a tarantass, neither new nor elegant, but strong and capacious. we hired it to nerchinsk, and our cossack transferred the baggage while four little rats of ponies were being harnessed. the harness used on this road was a combination of leather and hemp in about equal proportions. there were always traces of ropes more or less twisted. it is judicious to carry a quantity of rope in one's vehicle for use in case of accident. a russian _yemshick_ (driver) is quite skillful in repairing breakages if he can find enough rope for his purpose. the horses, like many other terrestrial things, were better than they appeared, and notwithstanding the bad road they carried us at good speed. i was told that the horses between stratensk and lake baikal were strangers to corn and oats, and not over familiar with hay. those at the post stations must be fed in the stable, but nearly all others hunt their own food. in summer they can easily do this, but in winter they subsist on the dry grass standing on the hills and prairies. there is little snow in this region, but when it falls on the pastures the horses scrape it away to reach the grass. they are never blanketed, in the coldest weather, and the only brushing they receive is when they run among bushes. in the government of yakutsk there are many horses that find their own living in winter as in summer. they eat grass, moss, fish, bushes, and sometimes the bark of trees. captain wrangell tells of the great endurance of these beasts, and says that like all other animals of that region they shed their coats in the middle of summer. at the second station the smotretal sought our horses among the village peasants, as he had none of his own. he explained that a high official had passed and taken the horses usually kept for the courier. this did not satisfy borasdine, who entered complaint in the regulation book, stating the circumstances of the affair. at every station there is a book sealed to a small table and open to public inspection. an aggrieved traveler is at liberty to record a statement of his trouble. at regular intervals an officer investigates the affairs of every station. complaints are examined, and offences treated according to their character. this wholesome regulation keeps the station masters in proper restraint. day had fairly opened through a dense fog when our delay ended. while we descended a long hill one of our hinder wheels parted company and took a tangent to the road side. we were in full gallop at the time, but did not keep it up long. a pole from a neighboring fence, held by a pole from warsaw, lifted the axle so that the wheel could be replaced. i assisted by leaving the carriage and standing at the roadside till all was ready. we had some doubts about the vehicle holding together much longer, but it behaved very well. the tarantass is a marvel of endurance. to listen to the creaking of its joints, and observe its air of infirmity, lead to the belief that it will go to pieces within a few hours. it rattles and groans and threatens prompt analysis, but some how it continues cohesive and preserves its identity hundreds of miles over rough roads. we were merciless to the horses as they were not ours and we were in a hurry. when the driver allowed them to lag, borasdine ejaculated 'poshol!' with a great deal of emphasis and much effect. this word is like 'faster' in english, and is learned very early in a traveler's career in russia. i acquired it before reaching the first station on my ride, and could use it very skillfully. in the same connection are the words '_droghi_' ('touch up,') '_skorey_' ('hurry,') and '_stupie_' ('go ahead.') all these commands have the accent upon the last syllable, and are very easy to the vocal organs. i learned them all and often used them, but to this day i do not know the russian word for 'slower.' i never had occasion to employ it while in the empire, except once when thrown down an icy slope with a heap of broken granite at its base, and at another time when a couple of pretty girls were standing by the roadside and, as i presumed, wanted to look at me. from stratensk to nerchinsk, a distance of sixty miles, our road led among hills, undulating ground, meadows, and strips of steppe, or prairie, sometimes close to the river, and again several miles away. the country is evidently well adapted to agriculture, the condition of the farms and villages indicating prosperity. i saw much grain in stacks or gathered in small barns. as it was sunday no work was in progress, and there were but few teams in motion anywhere. the roads were such that no one would travel for pleasure, and the first day of the week is not used for business journeys. from the top of a hill i looked into the wide and beautiful valley of the nertcha, which enters the shilka from the north. on its left bank and two or three miles from its mouth is the town of nerchinsk with five or six thousand inhabitants. its situation is charming, and to me the view was especially pleasing, as it was the first russian town where i saw evidences of age and wealth. the domes of its churches glistened in the sunlight that had broken through the fog and warmed the tints of the whole picture. the public buildings and many private residences had an air of solidity. some of the merchants' houses would be no discredit to new york or london. the approach from the east is down a hill sloping toward the banks of the nertcha. we entered the gateway of nerchinsk, and after passing some of the chief buildings drove to the house of mr. kaporaki, where we were received with open arms. borasdine and his acquaintance kissed affectionately, and after their greeting ended i was introduced. we unloaded from the tarantass, piled our baggage in the hallway, and dismissed the driver with the borrowed vehicle. almost before we were out of our wrappings the samovar was steaming, and we sat down to a comforting breakfast, with abundance of tea. and didn't we enjoy it after riding eight or ten hours over a road that would have shaken skimmilk into butter? you bet we did. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xxiii. the heaviest fortunes at nerchinsk have been made in commerce and gold mining, principally the latter. i met one man reputed to possess three million roubles, and two others who were each put down at over a million. mr. kaporaki, our host, was a successful gold miner, if i may judge by what i saw. his dwelling was an edifice somewhat resembling arlington house, but without its signs of decay. the principal rooms i entered were his library, parlor, and dining-room; the first was neat and cozy, and the second elaborately fitted with furniture from st. petersburg. both were hung with pictures and paintings, the former bearing french imprints. his dining-room was in keeping with the rest of the establishment, and i could hardly realize that i was in siberia, five thousand miles from the russian capital and nearly half that distance from the pacific ocean. the realization was more difficult when our host named a variety of wines ready for our use. would we take sherry, port, or madiera, or would we prefer johannisberg, hockheimer, or verzenay? would we try veuve cliquot, or carte d'or? a box of genuine havanas stood upon his library table, and received our polite attention. we arrived about ten in the morning, and on consenting to remain till afternoon a half dozen merchants were invited to join us at dinner. mr. kaporaki's gold mines were on the tributaries of the nertcha, about a hundred miles away. from his satisfied air in showing specimens and figures i concluded his claims were profitable. the mining season had just closed, and he was footing up his gains and losses for the year. the gold he exhibited was in coarse scales, with occasional nuggets, and closely resembled the product i saw a few months earlier of some washings near mariposa. the gold on the nertcha and its tributaries is found in the sand and earth that form the bed of the streams. often it is many feet deep and requires much 'stripping.' i heard of one _priesk_ (claim) where the pay-dirt commenced sixty-five feet from the surface. notwithstanding the great expense of removing the superincumbent earth, the mine had been worked to a profit. twenty or thirty feet of earth to take away is by no means uncommon. the pay-dirt is very rich, and the estimates of its yield are stated at so many _zolotniks_ of gold for a hundred poods of earth. from one pood of dirt, of course unusually rich, mr. kaporaki obtained 24 zolotniks, or three ounces of gold. in another instance ten poods of dirt yielded 90 zolotniks of gold. the ordinary yield, as near as i could ascertain, was what a californian would call five or six cents to the pan. each of these merchant-miners pays to the government fifteen per cent. of all gold he obtains, and is not allowed to sell the dust except to the proper officials. he delivers his gold and receives the money for it as soon as it is melted and assayed. it was hinted to me that much gold was smuggled across the frontier into china, and never saw the treasury of his imperial majesty, the czar. the cossacks of the argoon keep a sharp watch for traffic of this kind. "they either," said my informant, "deliver a culprit over to justice or, what is the same thing, compel him to bribe them heavily to say nothing." nerchinsk formerly stood at the junction of the nertcha and shilka, on the banks of both rivers, but the repeated damage from floods caused its removal. even on its present site it is not entirely safe from inundation, the lower part of the town having been twice under water and in danger of being washed away. many of the present inhabitants are exiles or the descendants of exiles, nerchinsk having been a place of banishment for political and criminal offenders during the last hundred years. those condemned to work in the mines were sent to great nerchinsk zavod, about two hundred miles away. the town was the center of the military and mining district, and formerly had more importance than at present. many participants in the insurrection of 1825 were sent there, among them the princes trubetskoi and volbonskoi. after laboring in the mines and on the roads of nerchinsk, they were sent to chetah, where they were employed in a polishing mill. in many stories about siberian exiles, published in england and america, nerchinsk has occupied a prominent position. as far as i could observe it is not a place of perpetual frost and snow, its summers being warm though brief. in winter it has cold winds blowing occasionally from the yablonoi mountains down the valley of the nertcha. the region is very well adapted to agriculture, and the valley as i saw it had an attractive appearance. the product of the nerchinsk mines has been silver, gold, and lead. the search for silver and lead has diminished since the mines were opened to private enterprise. at one time 40,000 poods of lead were produced here annually, most of it being sent to the altai mountains to be employed in reducing silver. in most places where explored the country is rich in gold, and i have little doubt that thorough prospecting would reveal many placers equaling the best of those in california. very few exiles are now sent to nerchinsk in comparison with the numbers formerly banished there. under the reign of nicholas and his father nerchinsk received its greatest accessions, the polish revolutions and the revolt of 1825 contributing largely to its population. places of exile have always been selected with relation to the offence and character of the prisoners. the worst offenders, either political or criminal, were generally sent to the mines of nerchinsk, their terms of service varying from two to twenty years, or for life. i was told that the longest sentence now given is for twenty years. the condition of prisoners in former times was doubtless bad, and there are many stories of cruelty and extortion practiced by keepers and commandants. the dwellings of prisoners were frequently no better than the huts of savages; their food and clothing were poor and insufficient; they were compelled to labor in half frozen mud and water for twelve or fourteen hours daily, and beaten when they faltered. the treatment of prisoners depended greatly upon the character of the commandant of the mines. of the brutality of some officials and the kindness of others there can be little doubt. we have sufficient proof of the varied qualities of the human heart in the conduct of prison-keepers in america during our late war. there have been many exaggerations concerning the treatment of exiles. i do not say there has been no cruelty, but that less has occurred than some writers would have us believe. before leaving america i read of the rigorous manner in which the sentence of the conspirators of 1825 was carried out. according to one authority the men were loaded with chains and compelled to the hardest labor in the mines under relentless overseers. they were badly lodged, fed with insufficient food, and when ill had little or no medical treatment. nearly all these unfortunates were of noble families and never performed manual labor before reaching the mines. they had been tenderly reared, and were mostly young and unused to the hardships of life outside the capitals. thrust at once into the mines of siberia they could hardly survive a lengthened period of the cruelty alleged. most of them served out their sentences and retained their health. some returned to europe after more than thirty years exile, and a few were living in siberia at the time of my visit, forty-one years after their banishment. i conclude they were either blessed with more than iron constitutions, or there is some mistake in the account of their suffering and privation. many attempts have been made to escape from these mines, but very few were completely successful. some prisoners crossed into china after dodging the vigilant cossacks on the frontier, but they generally perished in the deserts of mongolia, either by starvation or at the hands of the natives. i have heard of two who reached the gulf of pecheli after many hardships, where they captured a chinese fishing boat and put to sea. when almost dead of starvation they were picked up by an english barque and carried to shanghae, where the foreign merchants supplied them with money to find their way to paris. a better route than this was by the amoor, before it was open to russian navigation. many who escaped this way lost their lives, but others reached the seacoast where they were picked up by whalers or other transient ships. in 1844 three men started for the ohotsk sea, traveling by way of the yablonoi mountains. they had managed to obtain a rifle, and subsisted upon game they killed, and upon berries, roots, and the bark of trees. they escaped from the mines about midsummer, and hoped by rapid travel to reach the coast before winter overtook them. one of the men was killed by falling from a rock during the first month of the journey. the others buried their dead companion as best they could, marking his grave with a cross, though with no expectation it would again be seen by human eyes. traversing the mountains and reaching the tributaries of the aldan river, they found their hardships commencing. the country was rough and game scarce, so that the fugitives were exhausted by fatigue and hunger. they traveled for a time with the wandering tunguze of this region, and were caught by the early snows of winter when the coast was still two hundred miles away. they determined to wait until spring before crossing the mountains. unluckily while with the tunguze they were seen by a russian merchant, who informed the authorities. early in the spring they were captured and returned to their place of imprisonment. the region around the yablonoi mountains is so desolate that escape in that direction is almost impossible. by way of the post route to lake baikal it is equally difficult, as the road is carefully watched and there are few habitations away from the post villages and stations. no one can travel by post without a padaroshnia, and this can only be procured at the chief towns and is not issued to an unknown applicant. i heard a story of a young pole who attempted, some years ago, to escape from exile. he was teacher in a private family and passed his evenings in gambling. at one time he was very successful at cards, and gained in a single week three thousand roubles. with this capital he arranged a plan of escape. by some means he procured a padaroshnia, not in his own name, and announced his intention to visit his friends a few miles away. as he did not return promptly search was made, and it was found that a person answering his description had started toward lake baikal. pursuit naturally turned in that direction, exactly opposite to his real course of flight. he traveled by post with his padaroshnia and reached the vicinity of omsk without difficulty. very injudiciously he quarreled with the drivers at a post station about the payment of ten copecks, which he alleged was an overcharge. the padaroshnia was examined in consequence of the quarrel and found applicable to a russian merchant of the third class, and not for a nobleman, which he claimed to be. the station-master arrested the traveler and sent him to omsk, when his real character was ascertained. on the third day of captivity he bribed his guards and escaped during the night. he remained free more than a month, but was finally recaptured and sent to irkutsk. at nerchinsk i resumed my efforts to purchase a tarantass, but my investigations showed the nerchinsk market 'out' of everything in the tarantass line and no promise of a new crop. fortune and kaporaki favored me, and found a suitable vehicle that i could borrow for the journey to irkutsk. i was to answer for its safety and deliver it to a designated party on my arrival there. the regulations did not permit, or at least encourage, borasdine to invest in vehicles. a courier is expected, unless in winter, to travel by the post carriages. all breakages in that case are at the expense of government, with the possible exception of the courier's bones and head. if a carriage breaks down he takes another and leaves the wreck for the station men to pick up. if he should buy a tarantass and it gave out he would be forced to leave it till he came again, or sell it at any price offered. nothing that relates to his personal comfort is allowed to detain a courier. he can stop only for change of team, hasty meals, and when leaving or taking despatches on his route. sometimes a river gets high and refuses to respect his padaroshnia, or a severe and blinding storm stops all travel. a courier's pass is supposed to command everything short of the elements, and i have a suspicion that some russians believe it powerful _with_ the elements. a courier ought to travel with only his baggage and servant, the former not exceeding 200 pounds. borasdine had cossack and baggage in proper quantity; adding me and my impedimenta, he was hardly in light moving order. i suggested that he drop me and i would trust to luck and my padaroshnia. i had confidence in the good nature of the russians and my limited knowledge of the language. i could exhibit my papers, ask for horses, say i was hungry, and was perfectly confident i could pay out money as long as it lasted. but my companion replied that an extra day on the route would make no difference in his catching the boat to cross lake baikal, and we would remain together until new difficulties arose. having dined we visited the post-station and ordered horses sent to the house of our host. the servants filled our tarantass with baggage, while their master filled us with champagne. the vehicle displayed the best carrying capacity, as it had room for more when our hearts were too full for utterance, save in a half breathed sigh. we rattled out of kaporaki's yard and down to the nertcha, where we had a ferry-boat like the one at stratensk, though a little larger. the horses were detached and remained on the bank until the tarantass was safely on board. there was not much room for them, but they managed to find standing places. by the time we were over the river it was night, and the sentinel stars had set their watch in the sky. we found the road an unpleasant combination of snow, dirt, and water. we had four weak little horses, and the driver told us they had made one journey to the station and back again since morning. in the russian posting system the horses carry loads only one way. the driver takes your vehicle to the station, where he is allowed to rest himself and horses one hour and then starts on his return. in ordinary seasons when the traveling is good, each team of horses will make two round trips in twenty-four hours. this gives them from fifty to seventy miles daily travel, half of it without load and at a gentle pace. after the third station the road improved, the snow and mud diminishing and leaving a comparatively dry track. the stations were generally so uncomfortably hot as to put me in a perspiration, and i was glad to get out of doors. the temperature was about 70â° fahrenheit, and the air at night contained odors from the breath and boots of dormant _moujiks_. the men sleep on the floor and benches, but the top of the stove is the favorite couch. the stove is of brick as already described, and its upper surface is frequently as wide as a common bed. sometimes the caloric is a trifle abundant, but i have rarely known it complained of. [illustration: favorite bed.] i could never clearly understand the readiness and ability of the russians to endure contrasts of heat and cold with utter complacence and without apparent ill effect. i have seen a yemshick roused at midnight from the top of a stove where he was sleeping in a temperature of eighty-five or ninety degrees. he made his toilet by tightening his waist-belt and putting on his boots. when the horses were ready he donned his cap and extra coat, thrust his hands into mittens, and mounted the front of a sleigh. the cold would be anywhere from ten to fifty degrees below zero, but the man rarely appeared to suffer. in severe weather i hesitated to enter the stations on account of the different temperature of the house and the open air, but the russians did not seem to mind the sudden changes. all natives of northern siberia subject themselves without inconvenience to extremes of heat and cold. major abasa told me that when the cold was 40â° below zero he had found the koriaks in their yourts with a temperature 75â° above. they passed from one to the other without a change of clothing and without perspiring. at night they ordinarily slept in their warm dwellings, but when traveling they rested in the snow under the open sky. in his exploration around penjinsk gulf the major saw a woman sleep night after night on the snow in the coldest weather with no covering but the clothing she wore in the day. she would have slept equally well if transferred to a hot room. the yakuts and tunguze are equally hardy. captain wrangell gives examples of their endurance, especially of living in warm rooms or sleeping on the ice at a low temperature. captain cochrane, the english pedestrian, had a wonderful experience with some natives that guided him from the lena to the kolyma. though the captain was an old traveler and could support much cold and fatigue, he was greatly outdone by his guides. he could never easily accommodate himself to wide extremes of heat and cold, and i believe this is the experience of nearly all persons not born and reared under a northern sky. the road from nerchinsk to chetah is through an undulating country, the hills in many places being high enough to merit the name of mountains. sometimes we followed the valley of the ingodah, and again we left it to wind over the hills and far away where the bluffs prevented our keeping near the stream. when we looked upon the river from these mountains the scene was beautiful, and i shall long retain my impression of the loveliness of the ingodah. mr. collins described this valley nine years before me, and with one exception i can confirm all he said of its charms. he had the good fortune to travel in spring when the flowers were in bloom, whereas my journey was late in autumn. my english friend at stratensk spoke of this particular feature of the country, and described the thick carpet of blossoms that in some places almost hid the grass from view. to compensate for the long and dreary winter nature spreads her floral beauties with lavish hand, and converts the once ice-bound region into a landscape of beautiful and fragrant flowers. the valley is fertile and well cultivated, villages and farm houses being frequent. the road was excellent, wide, and well made; much labor had been expended upon it during the last two years. its up and down-ishness was not to my liking, as the horses utterly refused to gallop in ascending hills a mile or two long. the descent was less difficult, but unfortunately we could not have it all descent. we had equal quantities of rising and falling, with the difference against us that we were ascending the valley. fortunately the road was dry and in some places we found it dusty. late in the afternoon we halted for dinner, ordering the samovar almost before we stopped the tarantass. we ordered eggs and bread, and in hopes of something substantial borasdine consulted the mistress of the house. he returned with disgust pictured on his countenance. "have they anything?" i asked. "nothing." "nothing at all?" "no; nothing but mutton." nothing but mutton! _i_ was entirely reconciled. when it came i made a fine dinner, but he took very little of it. there are great flocks of sheep belonging to the bouriats in eastern siberia, and they form the chief support of that people. curiously enough the russians rarely eat mutton, though so abundant around them. borasdine told me it seldom appeared on a siberian table, and i observed that both nobles and peasants agreed in disliking it. while at dinner we caught sight of a pretty face and figure, more to my fellow traveler's taste than the _piece de resistance_ of our meal. after dinner we passed over a hill and entered a level region where we found plenty of mud. about midnight the yemshick exhibited his skill by driving into a mudhole where there was solid ground on both sides. we were hopelessly stuck, and all our cries and utterances were of no avail. the cossack and the driver could accomplish nothing, and we were obliged to descend from the carriage. we required our subordinates to put their shoulders to the wheels, though the operation covered them with mud. while they lifted we shouted to the horses, borasdine in russian and i in french and english. twenty minutes of this toil accomplished nothing. then we unloaded all our baggage down to the smallest articles. another effort and we were still in our slough of despond. i retreated to a neighboring fence and returned with a stout pole. the cossack brought another, and we arranged to lift the fore wheels to somewhere near the surface. it was my duty to urge the horses, and i flattered myself that i performed it. i had the driver's whip to assist my utterance; the others lifted, while i struck and shouted. we had a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together, and pulled out of the depths. i attributed no small part of the success to the effect of american horse-vocabulary upon russian quadrupeds. when we reloaded it was refreshing to observe the care with which the cossack had placed our pillows on the wet ground and piled heavy baggage over them. borasdine expressed his objection to this plan in such form that the cossack was not likely to repeat the operation. the motion of the tarantass, especially its jolting over the rough parts of the route, gave me a violent headache, the worst i ever experienced. the journey commenced too abruptly for my system to be reconciled without complaint. nearly four months i had been almost constantly on ships and steamboats, all my land riding in that time not amounting to thirty miles. i came ashore at stratensk and began travel with a russian courier over siberian roads at the worst season of the year. it was like leaving the comforts of a fifth avenue parlor to engage in wood-sawing. at every bound of the vehicle my brain seemed ready to burst, and i certainly should have halted had we not intended delaying at chetah. [illustration: concentrated energies.] a russian yemshick centers his whole duty in driving his team. he gives no thought to the carriage or the persons inside; they must look out for their own interest. let him come to a hill, rough or smooth, rocky or gravelly, provided there be no actual danger, he descends at his best speed. sometimes the horses trot, and again they gallop down a long slope. near the bottom they set out on a full run, as if pursued by a pack of hungry wolves. they dash down the hill, across the hollow, and part way up the opposite ascent without slacking speed. the carriage leaps, bumps, and rattles, and the contents, animate or inanimate, are tossed violently. if there is a log bridge in the hollow the effect is more than electric. the driver does not even turn his head to regard his passengers. if the carriage holds together and follows it is all that concerns him. at first i was not altogether enamored of this practice. but as i never suffered actual injury and the carriages endured their rough treatment, i came in time to like it. as a class the russian yemshicks are excellent drivers, and in riding behind more than three hundred of them i had abundant opportunity to observe their skill. they are not always intelligent and quick to devise plans in emergencies, but they are faithful and know the duties of their profession. for speed and safety i would sooner place myself in their hands than behind professional drivers in new york. they know the rules of the road, the strength and speed of their horses, and are almost uniformly good natured. we reached chetah at five in the morning and roused the inmates of the only hotel. the sleepy _chelavek_ showed us to a room containing two chairs, two tables, and a dirty sofa. the cossack brought our baggage from the tarantass, and we endeavored to sleep. when we rose borasdine went to call upon the governor while i ordered breakfast on my own account. summoning the _chelavek_ i began, "_dai samovar, chi, saher e kleb_," (give the samovar, tea, bread, and sugar.) this accomplished, i procured beefsteaks and potatoes without difficulty. i spoke the language of the country in a fragmentary way, but am certain my russian was not half as bad as the beefsteak. chapter xxiv. chetah stands on the left bank of the ingodah, nearly three hundred miles above stratensk, and is the capital of the trans-baikal province. for many years it was a small town with a few hundred inhabitants, but the opening of the amoor in 1854 changed its character. below this point the ingodah is navigable for boats and rafts, and during the early years of the amoor occupation much material was floated down from chetah. in 1866 its population, including the garrison, was about five thousand. many houses were large and well fitted, and all were of wood. the officers lived comfortably, but complained of high rents. the governor's mansion is the largest and best, and near it is the club-house where weekly soirees are held. i attended one of these and found a pleasant party. there was music and dancing, tea-drinking and card-playing, gossip and silence at varied and irregular intervals. some of the officers read selections from russian authors, and others recited pieces of prose and poetry. there were dialogues, evidently humorous to judge by the mirth they produced, and there was a paper containing original contributions. the association appeared prosperous, and i was told that its literary features were largely due to the efforts of the governor. there is a _gastinni-dvor_ or row of shops and a market-place surrounded with huckster's stalls, much like those near fulton ferry. desiring to replace a broken watch-key i found a repair shop and endeavored to make my inquiries in russian. "_monsieur parle le francais, je crois_," was the response to my attempt, and greatly facilitated the transaction of business. before i left new york an acquaintance showed me a photograph of a siberian, who proved to be the watchmaker thus encountered. walking about the streets i saw many prisoners at work under guard, most of them wearing fetters. though i became accustomed during my siberian travels to the sight of chains on men, i could never hear their clanking without a shudder. the chains worn by a prisoner were attached at one end to bands enclosing his ankles and at the other to a belt around his waist. the sound of these chains as the men walked about was one of the most disagreeable i ever heard, and i was glad to observe that the russians did not appear to admire it. the prisoners at chetah were laboring on the streets, preparing logs for house-building, or erecting fences. most of the working parties were under guard, but the overseers did not appear to push them severely. some were taking it very leisurely and moved as if endeavoring to do as little as possible in their hours of work. i was told that they were employed on the eight hour system. their dress was coarse and rough, like that of the peasants, but had no marks to show that its wearer was a prisoner. [illustration: prisoners at chetah.] there were between three and four thousand prisoners in the province of the trans-baikal. about one-sixth of them were at chetah and in its vicinity. the prisoners were of two classes--political and criminal--and their punishment varied according to their offence. some were sentenced to labor in chains, and others to labor without chains. some could not go out without a guard, while others had more freedom. some were sentenced to work in prison and others were imprisoned without labor. some were exiled to siberia but enjoyed the liberty of a province, a particular district, or a designated town or village. some were allowed a certain amount of rations and others supported themselves. in fact there were all grades of prisoners, just as we have all grades in our penitentiaries. the polish revolution in 1863 sent many exiles to the country east of lake baikal. among the prisoners at the time of my journey there was a colonel zyklinski confined in prison at a village north of chetah. he had a prominent part in the polish troubles, and was captured at the surrender of the armies. he served in america under m'clellan during the peninsular campaign, and was in regular receipt of a pension from our government. the trans-baikal province is governed by major general ditmar, to whom i brought letters of introduction. when borasdine returned from his visit he brought invitation to transfer our quarters to the gubernatorial mansion, where we went and met the governor. i found him an agreeable gentleman, speaking french fluently, and regretting the absence of madame ditmar, in whose praise many persons had spoken. at dinner i met about twenty persons, of whom more than half spoke french and two or three english. a military band occupied the gallery over the dining-room. when general ditmar proposed "the united states of america," my ears were greeted with one of our national airs. it was well played, and when i said so they told me its history. on hearing of my arrival the governor summoned his chief musician and asked if he knew any american music. the reply was in the negative. the governor then sent the band-master to search his books. he soon returned, saying he had found the notes of "hail columbia." "is that the only american tune you have?" asked the general. "yes, sir." "have your band learn to play it by dinner time." the order was obeyed, and the american music accompanied the first regular toast. it was repeated at the club-rooms and on two or three other occasions during my stay in chetah, and though learned so hastily it was performed as well as by any ordinary band in our army. the principal rooms in general ditmar's house had a profusion of green plants in pots and tubs of different sizes. one apartment in particular seemed more like a greenhouse than a room where people dwelt. whether so much vegetation in the houses affects the health of the people i am unable to say, but i could not ascertain that it did. the custom of cultivating plants in the dwellings prevails through siberia, especially in the towns. i frequently found bushes like small trees growing in tubs, and i have in mind several houses where the plants formed a continuous line half around the walls of the principal rooms. the devotion to floriculture among the siberians has its chief impulse in the long winters, when there is no out-door vegetation visible beyond that of the coniferous trees. i can testify that a dwelling-which one enters on a cold day in midwinter appears doubly cheerful when the eye rests upon a luxuriance of verdure and flowers. winter seems defeated in his effort to establish universal sway. the winters in this region are long and cold, though very little snow falls. around chetah and in most of the trans-baikal province there is not snow enough for good sleighing, and the winter roads generally follow the frozen rivers. horses, cattle, and sheep subsist on the dead and dry grass from october to april, but they do not fare sumptuously every day. north and south of the head-waters of the ingodah and orion there are mountain ranges, having a general direction east and west. away to the north the polar sea and the lakes and rivers near it supply the rain and snow-clouds. as they sweep toward the south these clouds hourly become less and their last drops are wrung from them as they strike the slopes of the mountains and settle about their crests. the winter clouds from the indian ocean and caspian sea rarely pass the desert of gobi, and thus the country of the trans-baikal has a climate peculiar to itself. during my stay at chetah a party was organized to hunt gazelles. there were ten or fifteen officers and about twenty cossacks, as at blagoveshchensk. up to the day of the excursion the weather was delightful, but it suddenly changed to a cloudy sky, a high wind, and a freezing temperature. the scene of action was a range of hills five or six miles from town. we went there in carriages and wagons and on horseback, and as we shivered around a fire built by the cossacks near an open work cabin, we had little appearance of a pleasure party. [illustration: on the hills near chetah.] the first drive resulted in the death of two rabbits and the serious disability of a third. one halted within twenty steps of me and received the contents of my gun-barrel. i reloaded while he lay kicking, and just as i returned the ramrod to its place the beast rose and ran into the thick bushes. i hope he recovered and will live many years. he seemed gifted with a strong constitution, and i heard several stories of the tenacity of life displayed by his kindred. the rabbit or hare (_lepus variabilis_) abounds in the valley of the amoor and generally throughout siberia. he is much larger than the new england rabbit i hunted in my boyhood, and smaller than the long-eared rabbit of the rocky mountains and california. he is grey or brown in summer and white in winter, his color changing as cold weather begins. no snow had fallen at chetah, but the rabbits were white as chalk and easily seen if not easily killed. the peasants think the rabbit a species of cat and refuse to eat his flesh, but the upper classes have no such scruples. i found him excellent in a roast or stew and admirably adapted to destroying appetites. our day's hunt brought us one gazelle, six rabbits, one lunch, several drinks, and one smashed wagon. i saw at chetah a chess board in a box ten inches square with a miniature tree six inches high on its cover. the figure of a man in chains leaning upon a spade near a wheelbarrow, stood under the tree. the expression of the face, the details of the clothing, the links of the chains, the limbs of the tree, and even the roughness of its bark, were carefully represented. it was the work of a polish exile, who was then engaged upon something more elaborate. chessmen, tree, barrow, chains, and all, were made from black bread! the man took part of his daily allowance, moistened it with water, and kneaded it between his fingers till it was soft like putty. in this condition he fashioned it to the desired shape. when i called upon the watchmaker he told me of an american recently arrived from kiachta. two hours later while writing in my room i heard a rap at my door. on opening i found a man who asked in a bewildered air, "_amerikansky doma?_" "_dah_," i responded. "_parlez vous francais_?" was his next question. "_oui, monsieur, francais ou anglais_." "then you are the man i want to find. how do you do?" it was the american, who had come in search of me. he told me he was born in england and was once a naturalized citizen of the united states. he had lived in new york and chicago, crossed the plains in 1850, and passed through all the excitements of the pacific coast, finishing and being finished at frazer's river. after that he went to china and accompanied a french merchant from shanghae across the mongolian steppes to kiachta. he arrived in chetah a month before my visit, and was just opening a stock of goods to trade with the natives. he was about to begin matrimonial life with a french lady whose acquaintance he made in kiachta. he had sent for a catholic priest to solemnize the marriage, as neither of the high contracting parties belonged to the russian church. the priest was then among the exiles at nerchinsk zavod, three hundred miles away, and his arrival at chetah was anxiously looked for by others than my new acquaintance. the poles being catholics have their own priests to attend them and minister to their spiritual wants. some of these priests are exiles and others voluntary emigrants, who went to siberia to do good. the exiled priests are generally permitted to go where they please, but i presume a sharp watch is kept over their actions. when there is a sufficient number of poles they have churches of their own and use exclusively the romish service. the germans settled in russia, as well as russians of german descent, usually adhere to the lutheran faith. the siberian peasants almost invariably speak of a lutheran church as a 'german' one, and in like manner apply the name 'polish' to catholic churches. the government permits all religious denominations in siberia to worship god in their own way, and makes no interference with spiritual leaders. minor sects corresponding to free lovers, shakers, and bodies of similar character, are not as liberally treated as the followers of any recognized christian faith. of course the influence of the government is for the greek church, but it allows no oppression of catholics and lutherans. so far as i could observe, the greek church in siberia and the established church in england occupy nearly similar positions toward dissenting denominations. three days after my arrival general ditmar started for irkutsk, preceded a few hours by my late traveling companion. in the afternoon following the general's departure i witnessed an artillery parade and drill, the men being cossacks of the trans-baikal province. the battery was a mounted one of six guns, and i was told the horses were brought the day before from their summer pastures. the affair was creditable to officers and men, the various evolutions being well and rapidly performed. the guns were whirled about the field, unlimbered, fired, dismounted, and passed through all the manipulations known to artillerists. at the close of the review the commanding officer thanked his men and praised their skill. he received the response, simultaneously spoken, "we are happy to please you," or words of like meaning. at every parade, whether regular or cossack, this little ceremony is observed. as the men marched from the field to their quarters they sang one of their native airs. these cossacks meet at stated intervals for drill and discipline, and remain the balance of the time at their homes. the infantry and cavalry are subject to the same regulation, and the musters are so arranged that some part of the cossack force is always under arms. after the review i dined with a party of eighteen or twenty officers at the invitation of captain erifayeff of the governor's staff. the dinner was given in the house where my host and his friend, captain pantoukin, lived, _en garcon_. the emperor of russia and the president of the united states were duly remembered, and the toasts in their honor were greeted with appropriate music. in conversation after dinner, i found all the officers anxious to be informed concerning the united states. the organization of our army, the relations of our people after the war, our mode of life, manners, and customs, were subjects of repeated inquiry. on the morning of the 26th october, captain molostoff, who was to be my companion, announced his readiness to depart. i made my farewell calls, and we packed our baggage into my tarantass, with the exception of the terrible trunk that adhered to me like a shadow. as we had no cossack and traveled without a servant, there was room for the unwieldy article on the seat beside the driver. i earnestly advise every tourist in siberia not to travel with a trunk. the siberian ladies manage to transport all the articles for an elaborate toilet without employing a single 'dog house' or 'saratoga.' if they can do without trunks, of what should not man be capable? our leave-taking consumed much time and champagne, and it was nearly sunset before we left chetah. it is the general custom in siberia to commence journeys in the afternoon or evening, the latter extending anywhere up to daybreak. as one expects to travel night and day until reaching his destination, his hour of starting is of no consequence. just before leaving he is occupied in making farewell calls, and is generally 'seen off' by his friends. in the evening he has no warm bed to leave, no hasty toilet to make, and no disturbed household around him. with a vehicle properly arranged he can settle among his furs and pillows and is pretty likely to fall asleep before riding many miles. i was never reconciled to commencing a journey early in the morning, with broken sleep, clothing half arranged, and a 'picked-up' breakfast without time to swallow it leisurely. on leaving chetah we crossed a frozen stream tributary to the ingodah, and proceeded rapidly over an excellent road. we met several carts, one-horse affairs on two wheels, laden with hay for the chetah market. one man generally controlled three or four carts, the horses proceeding in single file. the country was more open than on the other side of chetah, and the road had suffered little in the rains and succeeding cold. for some distance we rode near two lines of telegraph; one was a temporary affair erected during the insurrection of 1866, while the other was the permanent line designed to connect america with europe by way of bering's straits. the poles used for this telegraph are large and firmly set, and give the line an appearance of durability. the captain was fond of dogs and had an english pointer in his baggage. during the day the animal ran near the carriage, and at night slept at his master's feet. he was well inclined toward me after we were introduced, and before the journey ended he became my personal friend. he had an objectionable habit of entering the tarantass just before me and standing in the way until i was seated. sometimes when left alone in the carriage he would not permit the yemshicks to attach the horses. on two or three occasions of this kind the captain was obliged to suspend his tea-drinking and go to pacify his dog. once as a yemshick was mounting the box of the tarantass, 'boika' jumped at his face and very nearly secured an attachment to a large and ruddy nose. spite of his eccentricities, he was a good dog and secured the admiration of those he did not attempt to bite. we passed the yablonoi mountains by a road far from difficult. had i not been informed of the fact i could have hardly suspected we were in a mountain range. the yablonoi chain forms the dividing ridge between the head streams of the amoor and the rivers that flow to the arctic ocean. on the south we left a little brook winding to reach the ingodah, and two hours later crossed the ouda, which joins the selenga at verkne udinsk. the two streams flow in opposite directions. one threads its way to the eastward, where it assists in forming the amoor; the other through the selenga, lake baikal, and the yenesei, is finally swallowed up among the icebergs and perpetual snows of the far north. "one to long darkness and the frozen tide; one to the peaceful sea." chapter xxv. beyond the mountains the cold increased, the country was slightly covered with snow, and the lakes were frozen over. in the mountain region there is a forest of pines and birches, but farther along much of the country is flat and destitute of timber. where the road was good our tarantass rolled along very well, and the cold, though considerable, was not uncomfortable. i found the chief inconvenience was, that the moisture in my breath congealed on my beard and the fur clothing near it. two or three times beard and fur were frozen together, and it was not always easy to separate them. from the yablonoi mountains to verkne udinsk there are very few houses between the villages that form the posting stations. the principal inhabitants are bouriats, a people of mongol descent who were conquered by genghis khan in the thirteenth century and made a respectable fight against the russians in the seventeenth. since their subjugation they have led a peaceful life and appear to have forgotten all warlike propensities. their features are essentially mongolian, and their manners and customs no less so. some of them live in houses after the russian manner, but the yourt is the favorite habitation. the bouriats cling to the manners of their race, and even when settled in villages are unwilling to live in houses. at the first of their villages after we passed the mountains i took opportunity to visit a yourt. it was a tent with a light frame of trellis work covered with thick felt, and i estimated its diameter at fifteen or eighteen feet. in the center the frame work has no covering, in order to give the smoke free passage. a fire, sometimes of wood and sometimes of dried cow-dung, burns in the middle of the yourt during the day and is covered up at night. i think the tent was not more than five and a half feet high. there was no place inside where i could stand erect. the door is of several thicknesses of stitched and quilted felt, and hangs like a curtain over the entrance. [illustration: bouriat yourts.] the eyes of the bouriats were nearly always red, a circumstance explainable by the smoke that fills their habitations and in which they appear to enjoy themselves. in sleeping they spread mats and skins on the ground and pack very closely. two or three times at the stations in the middle of the night i approached their dwellings and listened to the nasal chorus within. tho people are early risers, if i may judge by the hours when i used to find them out of floors. as to furniture, they have mats and skins to sit upon by day and convert into beds at night. there are few or no tables, and little crockery or other household comforts. they have pots for boiling meat and heating water, and a few jugs, bottles, and basins for holding milk and other liquids. a wooden box contains the valuable clothing of the family, and there are two or three bags for miscellaneous use. in the first yourt i entered i found an altar that was doubtless hollow and utilized as a place of storage. a few small cups containing grain, oil, and other offerings were placed on this altar, and i was careful not to disturb them. their religion is bhudistic, and they have their lamas, who possess a certain amount of sanctity from the grand lama of thibet. the lamas are numerous and their sacred character does not relieve or deprive them of terrestrial labor and trouble. many of the lamas engage in the same pursuits as their followers, and are only relieved from toil to exercise the duties of their positions. they perform the functions of priest, physician, detective officer, and judge, and are supposed to have control over souls and bodies, to direct the one and heal the other. man, woman, child, or animal falling sick the lama is summoned. thanks to the fears and superstitions of native thieves he can generally find and restore stolen articles, and has the power to inflict punishment. the russian priests have made very few converts among the bouriats, though laboring zealously ever since the conquest of siberia. in 1680 a monastery was founded at troitsk for the especial purpose of converting the natives. the number who have been baptized is very small, and most of them are still pagans at heart. two english missionaries lived a long time at selenginsk, but though earnest and hard working i am told they never obtained a single proselyte. it is a curious fact in the history of the bouriats that shamanism was almost universal among them two hundred years ago; practically it differed little from that of the natives on the amoor. toward the end of the seventeenth century a mission went from siberia to thibet, and its members returned as lamas and bringing the paraphernalia of the new religion which they at once declared to their people. the bhudistic faith was thus founded and spread over the country until shamanism was gradually superseded. traces of the old superstition are still visible in certain parts of the lama worship. most of their religious property, such as robes, idols, cups, bells, and other necessaries for the bhudhist service come from thibet. a russian gentleman gave me a bell decorated with holy inscriptions and possessing a remarkably fine tone. its handle was the bust and crown of a bhudhist idol, and the bell was designed for use in religious services; it was to be touched only by a disciple of the true faith, and its possession prophesied good fortune. since my return to america it occupied a temporary place on the dining-table of a new england clergyman. [illustration: a mongol bell.] the bouriats manufacture very few articles for their own use; they sell their sheep to the russians, and buy whatever they desire. their dress is partly mongol and partly russian, the inconvenient portions of the chinese costume being generally rejected. their caps were mostly conical in shape, made of quilted cloth and ornamented with a silken tassel attached to the apex. their trowsers had a chinese appearance, but their coats were generally of sheepskin, after the russian model. their waist-belts were decorated with bits of steel or brass. they shave the head and wear the hair in a queue like the chinese, but are not careful to keep it closely trimmed. a few are half mongol and half russian, caused no doubt by their owners being born and reared under muscovite protection. i saw many pleasing and intelligent countenances, but few that were pretty according to western notions. there is a famous bouriat beauty of whose charms i heard much and was anxious to gaze upon. unfortunately it was two o'clock in the morning when we reached the station where she lived. the unfashionable hour and a big dog combined to prevent my visiting her abode. [illustration: a mongol belle.] from the mountains to verkne udinsk most of our drivers were bouriats. they were quite as skillful and daring as the russian yemshicks, and took us at excellent speed where the road was good. the station-masters were russian, but frequently all their employees were of mongol blood. some part of the carriage gave way on the road, and it was necessary to repair it at a station. a bouriat man-of-all-work undertook the job and performed it very well. while waiting for the repairs i saw some good specimens of iron work from the hands of native blacksmiths. the bouriats engage in very little agriculture. properly they are herdsmen, and keep large droves of cattle, horses, and sheep, the latter being most numerous. i saw many of their flocks near the road we traveled or feeding on distant parts of the plain. the country was open and slightly rolling, timber being scarce and the soil more or less stony. each flock of sheep was tended by one or more herdsmen armed with poles like rake-handles, and attached to each pole was a short rope with a noose at the end. this implement is used in catching sheep, and the bouriats are very skillful in handling it. i saw one select a sheep which became separated from the flock before he secured it. the animal while pursued attempted to double on his track. as he turned the man swung his pole and caught the head of the sheep in his noose. it reminded me of lasso throwing in mexico and california. [illustration: catching sheep.] in looking at these flocks i remembered a conundrum containing the inquiry, "why do white sheep eat more hay than black ones?" the answer was, "because there are more of them." in siberia the question and its reply would be incorrect, as the white sheep are in the minority. in this the sheep of siberia differ materially from those i ever saw in any other country. the flocks presented a great variety of colors, or rather, many combinations of white and black. their appearance to an american eye was a very peculiar and novel one. at one station a beggar crouched on the ground near the door asked alms as we passed him. i threw him a small coin, which he acknowledged by thrice bowing his head and touching the earth. i trust this mode of acknowledging courtesy will never be introduced in my own country. we frequently met or passed small trains of two-wheeled carts, some laden with merchandise and others carrying bouriat or russian families. most of these carts were drawn by bullocks harnessed like horses between shafts. occasionally i saw bullocks saddled and ridden as we ride horses, though not quite as rapidly. a few carts had roofs of birch bark to shield their occupants from the rain; from appearances i judged these carts belonged to emigrants on their way to the amoor. at the crossing of a small river we found the water full of floating ice that drifted in large cakes. there was much fixed ice at both edges and we waited an hour to have it cut away. when the smotretal announced that all was ready we proceeded to the river and found it anything but inviting. the bouriat yemshick pronounced it safe, and as he was a responsible party we deferred to his judgment. while we waited a girl rode a horse through the stream without hesitation. [illustration: a cold bath.] we had four horses harnessed abreast and guided by the yemshick. two others were temporarily attached ahead under control of a bouriat. as we drove into the river the horses shrank from the cold water and ice that came against their sides. one slipped and fell, but was soon up again. the current drifted us with it and i thought for a moment we were badly caught. the drivers whipped and shouted so effectively that we reached the other side without accident. on the second evening we had a drunken yemshick who lost the road several times and once drove us into a clump of bushes. as a partial excuse the night was so dark that one could not see ten feet ahead. about two o'clock in the morning we reached the station nearest to verkne udinsk. here was a dilemma. captain molostoff had business at verkne udinsk which he could not transact before nine or ten in the morning. there was no decent hotel, and if we pushed forward we should arrive long before the russian hour for rising. we debated the question over a steaming samovar and decided to remain at the station till morning. by starting after daylight we might hope to find the town awake. the travelers' room at the station was clean and well furnished, but heated to a high temperature. the captain made his bed on a sofa, but i preferred the tarantass where the air was cool and pure. i arranged my furs, fastened the boot and hood of the carriage, and slept comfortably in a keen wind. at daylight the yemshicks attached horses and called the captain from the house. he complained that he slept little owing to the heat. boika was in bad humor and opened the day by tearing the coat of one man and being kicked by another. the ground was rougher and better wooded as we came near the junction of the ouda and selenga, and i could see evidences of a denser population. on reaching the town we drove to the house of mr. pantoukin, a brother of an officer i met at chetah. the gentleman was not at home and we were received by his friend captain sideroff. after talking a moment in russian with captain molostoff, our new acquaintance addressed me in excellent english and inquired after several persons at san francisco. he had been there four times with the russian fleet, and appeared to know the city very well. verkne udinsk is at the junction of the ouda and selenga rivers, three hundred versts from irkutsk and four hundred and fifty from chetah. it presents a pretty appearance when approached from the east, when its largest and best buildings first catch the eye. it has a church nearly two hundred years old, built with immensely thick walls to resist occasional earthquakes. a large crack was visible in the wall of a newer church, and repairs were in progress. in its earlier days the town had an important commerce, which has been taken away by irkutsk and kiachta. it has a few wealthy merchants, who have built fine houses on the principal street. i walked through the _gastinni-dvor_ but found nothing i desired to purchase. there were many little articles of household use but none of great value. coats of deerskin were abundant, and the market seemed freshly supplied with them. my costume was an object of curiosity to the hucksters and their customers, especially in the item of boots. the russian boots are round-toed and narrow. i wore a pair in the american fashion of the previous year and quite different from the muscovite style. there were frequent touches of elbows and deflections of eyes attracting attention to my feet. a large building overlooking the town was designated as the jail, and said to be rapidly filling for winter. "there are many vagabonds in this part of the country," said my informant. "in summer they live by begging and stealing. at the approach of winter they come to the prisons to be housed and fed during the cold season. they are generally compelled to work, and this fact causes them to leave as early as possible in the spring. had your journey been in midsummer you would have seen many of these fellows along the road." while speaking of this subject my friend told me there was then in prison at verkne udinsk a man charged with robbery. when taken he made desperate resistance, and for a long time afterward was sullen and obstinate. recently he confessed some of his crimes. he was a robber by profession and acknowledged to seventeen murders during the last three years! once he killed four persons in a single family, leaving only a child too young to testify against him. the people he attacked were generally merchants with money in their possession. robberies are not frequent in siberia, though a traveler hears many stories designed to alarm the timorous. i was told of a party of three persons attacked in a lonely place at night. they were carrying gold from the mines to the smelting works, and though well armed were so set upon that the three were killed without injury to the robbers. i was not solicitous about my safety as officers were seldom molested, and as i traveled with a member of the governor's staff i was pretty well guarded. officers rarely carry more than enough money for their traveling expenses, and they are better skilled than merchants in handling fire arms and defending themselves. besides, their molestation would be more certainly detected and punished than that of a merchant or chance traveler. my tarantass had not been materially injured in the journey, but several screws were loose and there was an air of general debility about it. like the deacon's one-horse shay in its eightieth year, the vehicle was not broken but had traces of age about it. as there was considerable rough road before me i thought it advisable to put everything in order, and therefore committed the carriage to a blacksmith. he labored all day and most of the night putting in bolts, nuts, screws, and bits of iron in different localities, and astonished me by demanding less than half i expected to pay, and still more by his guilty manner, as if ashamed at charging double. the iron used in repairing my carriage came from petrovsky zavod, about a hundred miles southeast of verkne udinsk. the iron works were established during the reign of peter the great, and until quite recently were mostly worked by convicts. there is plenty of mineral coal in the vicinity, but wood is so cheap and abundant that charcoal is principally used in smelting. i saw a specimen of the petrovsky ore, which appeared very good. the machine shops of these works are quite extensive and well supplied. the engines for the early steamers on the amoor were built there by russian workmen. there are several private mining enterprises in the region around yerkne udinsk. most of them have gold as their object, and i heard of two or three lead mines. during the night of my stay at this town captain sideroff insisted so earnestly upon giving up his bed that politeness compelled me to accept it. my blankets and furs on the floor would have been better suited to my traveling life especially as the captain's bed was shorter than his guest. i think travelers will agree with me in denouncing the use of beds and warm rooms while a journey is in progress. they weaken the system and unfit it for the roughness of the road. while halting at night the floor or a hard sofa is preferable to a soft bed. the journey ended, the reign of luxuries can begin. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xxvi. when we left verkne udinsk we crossed the selenga before passing the municipal limits. our ferry-boat was like the one at stratensk, and had barely room on its platform for our tarantass. a priest and an officer who were passengers on the steamer from blagoveshchensk arrived while we were getting on board the ferry-boat. they had been greatly delayed on the way from stratensk, and waited two days to cross the nercha. the selenga was full of ice, some cakes being larger than the platform of our boat. the temperature of the air was far below freezing, and it was expected the river would close in a day or two. it might shut while we were crossing and confine us on the wretched flat-boat ten or twelve hours, until it would be safe to walk ashore. however, it was not my craft, and as there were six or eight russians all in the same boat with me, i did not borrow trouble. the ice-cakes ground unpleasantly against each other and had things pretty much their own way. one of them grated rather roughly upon our sides. i do not know there was any danger, but i certainly thought i had seen places of greater safety than that. when we were in the worst part of the stream two of the ferrymen rested their poles and began crossing themselves. i could have excused them had they postponed this service until we landed on the opposite bank or were stuck fast in the ice. the russian peasants are more dependant on the powers above than were even the old puritans. the former abandon efforts in critical moments and take to making the sign of the cross. the puritans trusted in god, but were careful to keep their powder dry. [illustration: our ferry boat.] a wide sand bank where we landed was covered with smooth ice, and i picked my way over it much like a cat exercising on a mirror. the tarantass was pushed ashore, and as soon as the horses were attached a rapid run took them up the bank to the station. a temporary track led across a meadow that furnished a great deal of jolting to the mile. eight versts from verkne udinsk the road divides, one branch going to kiachta and the other to lake baikal and irkutsk. a pleasing feature of the route was the well-built telegraph line, in working order to st. petersburg. it seemed to shorten the distance between me and home when i knew that the electric current had a continuous way to america. puck would put a girdle round the earth in forty minutes. from china to california, more than half the circuit of the globe, we can flash a signal in a second of time, and gain by the hands of the clock more than fourteen hours. from the point of divergence the road to kiachta ascends the valley of the selenga, while that to irkutsk descends the left bank of the stream. i found the kiachta route rougher than any part of the way from chetah to verkne udinsk, and as the yemshick took us at a rattling pace we were pretty thoroughly shaken up. at the second station we had a dinner of _stchee_, or cabbage soup, with bread and the caviar of the selenga. this caviar is of a golden color and made from the roe of a small fish that ascends from lake baikal. it is not as well liked as the caviar of the volga and amoor, the egg being less rich than that of the sturgeon, though about the same size. if i may judge from what i saw, there is less care taken in its preparation than in that of the volga. the road ascended the selenga, but the valley was so wide and we kept so near its edge that the river was not often visible. the valley is well peopled and yields finely to the agriculturalist. some of the farms appeared quite prosperous and their owners well-to-do in the world. the general appearance was not unlike that of some parts of the wabash country, or perhaps better still, the region around marysville, kansas. russian agriculture does not exhibit the care and economy of our states where land is expensive. there is such abundance of soil in siberia that every farmer can have all he desires to cultivate. many farms along the selenga had a 'straggling' appearance, as if too large for their owners. _per contra_, i saw many neat and well managed homesteads, with clean and comfortable dwellings. with better implements of husbandry and a more thorough working of the soil, the peasants along the selenga would find agriculture a sure road to wealth. under the present system of cultivation the valley is pleasing to the eye of a traveler who views it with reference to its practical value. there were flocks of sheep, droves of cattle and horses, and stacks of hay and grain; everybody was apparently well fed and the houses were attractive. we had good horses, good drivers, and generally good roads for the first hundred versts. sometimes we left the selenga, but kept generally parallel to its course. the mountains beyond the valley were lofty and clearly defined. frequently they presented striking and beautiful scenery, and had i been a skillful artist they would have tempted me to sketch them. the night came upon us cold and with a strong wind blowing from the north. we wrapped ourselves closely and were quite comfortable, the dog actually lolling beneath our sheepskin coverlid. approaching selenginsk we found a few bits of bad road and met long caravans laden with tea for irkutsk. these caravans were made up of little two-wheeled carts, each drawn by a single horse. from six to ten chests of tea, according to the condition of the roads, are piled on each cart and firmly bound with cords. there is one driver to every four or five carts, and this driver has a dormitory on one of his loads. this is a rude frame two and a half by six feet, with sides about seven inches high. with a sheepskin coat and coverlid a man contrives to sleep in this box while his team moves slowly along the road or is feeding at a halting place. all the freight between kiachta and lake baikal is carried on carts in summer and on one-horse sleds in winter. from kiachta westward tea is almost the only article of transport, the quantity sometimes amounting to a million chests per annum. the tea chests are covered with raw hide, which protects them, from rain and snow and from the many thumps of their journey. the teams belong to peasants, who carry freight for a stipulated sum per pood. the charges are lower in winter than in summer, as the sledge is of easier draft than the cart. the caravans travel sixteen hours of every twenty-four, and rarely proceed faster than a walk. the drivers are frequently asleep and allow the horses to take their own pace. the caravans are expected to give up the whole road on the approach of a post carriage, and when the drivers are awake they generally obey the regulation. very often it happened that the foremost horses turned aside of their own accord as we approached. they heard the bells that denoted our character, and were aware of our yemshick's right to strike them if they neglected their duty. the sleeping drivers and delinquent horses frequently received touches of the lash. there was little trouble by day, but at night the caravan horses were less mindful of our comfort. especially if the road was bad and narrow the post vehicles, contrary to regulation, were obliged to give way. [illustration: equal rights.] it was three or four hours before daylight when we reached selenginsk, and the yemshick removed his horses preparatory to returning to his station. i believe selenginsk is older than verkne udinsk, and very much the senior of irkutsk. the ancient town is on the site of the original settlement, but frequent inundations caused its abandonment for the other bank of the river, five versts away. new selenginsk, which has a great deal of antiquity in its appearance, is a small town with a few good houses, a well built church, and commodious barracks. during the troubles between china and russia concerning the early occupation of the amoor and encroachments on the celestial frontier, selenginsk was an important spot. it was often threatened by the chinese, and sustained a siege in 1687. a convention was held there in 1727, and some provisions of the treaty then concluded are still in force. mr. bestoujeff, one of the exiles of 1825, was living at selenginsk at the time of my visit. there were two brothers of this name concerned in the insurrection, and at the expiration of their sentences to labor they were settled at this place. subsequently they were joined by three sisters, who sacrificed all their prospects in life to meet their brothers in siberia. the family was permitted to return to europe when the present emperor ascended the throne, but having been so long absent the permission was never accepted. the river was full of floating ice and could not be crossed in the night, and we ordered horses so that we might reach the bank at dawn. both banks of the river were crowded with carts, some laden and others empty. a government officer has preference over dead loads of merchandise, and so we were taken in charge without delay. to prevent accidents the horses were detached, and the carriage pushed on the ferry-boat by men. the tamed unfiery steeds followed us with some reluctance, and shivered in the breeze during the voyage. we remained in the tarantass through the whole transaction. the ice ran in the river as at verkne udinsk, but the cakes were not as large. our chief ferryman was a russian, and had a crew of six bouriats who spoke mongol among themselves and russian with their commander. from selenginsk to kiachta, a distance of ninety versts, the road is hilly and sandy. we toiled slowly up the ascents, and our downward progress was but little better. we met several caravans where the road was narrow and had but one beaten track. in such cases we generally found it better to turn aside ourselves than to insist upon our rights and compel the caravan to leave the road. the hills were sandy and desolate, and i could not see any special charm in the landscape. i employed much of the day in sleeping, which may possibly account for the lack of minute description of the road. the only point where the cold touched me was at the tip of my nose, where i left my _dehar_ open to obtain air. the russian dehar is generally made of antelope or deer skin, and forms an admirable defence against cold. mine reached to my heels, and touched the floor when i stood erect. when the collar was turned up and brought together in front my head was utterly invisible. the sleeves were four or five inches longer than my arms, and the width of the garment was enough for a man and a boy. i at first suspected i had bought by mistake a coat intended for a russian giant then exhibiting in moscow. this article of apparel is comfortable only when one is seated or extended in his equipage. walking is very difficult in a dehar, and its wearer feels about as free to move as if enclosed in a pork-barrel. it was a long time before i could turn my collar up or down without assistance, and frequently after several efforts to seize an outside object i found myself grasping the ends of my sleeves. the warmth of the garment atones for its cumbersome character, and its gigantic size is fully intentional. the length protects the feet and legs, the high collar warms the head, and the great width of the dehar allows it to be well wrapped about the body. the long sleeves cover the hands and preserve fingers from frost bites. taken as a whole it is a mental discomfort but a physical good, and may be considered a necessary nuisance of winter travel in siberia. at ust kiachta, the last station before reaching our journey's end, we were waited upon by a young and tidy woman in a well-kept room. it was about nine in the evening when we reached troitskosavsk, and entered town among the large buildings formerly occupied as a frontier custom house. as there was no hotel we drove to the house of the police master, the highest official of the place. i had letters to this gentleman, but did not find him at home. his brother took us in charge and sent a soldier to direct us to a house where we could obtain lodgings. it is the custom in siberian towns to hold a certain number of lodging places always ready for travelers. these are controlled by the police master, to whom strangers apply for quarters. whether he will or no, a man who has registered lodging rooms with the police must open them to any guest assigned him, no matter what the hour. it was ten o'clock when we reached our destined abode. we made a great deal of noise that roused a servant to admit us to the yard. the head of the household came to the door in his shirt and rubbed his eyes as if only half awake. his legs trembled with the cold while he waited for our explanations, and it was not till we were admitted that he thought of his immodest exposure. i would not wish it inferred that no one can find lodgings until provided by the police. on the contrary, it is rarely necessary to obtain them through this channel. travelers are not numerous, and the few strangers visiting siberia are most cordially welcomed. officers are greeted and find homes with their fellow officers, while merchants enjoy the hospitalities of men of their class. we ordered the samovar, and being within parrott-gun range of china we had excellent tea. i passed the night on a sofa so narrow that i found it difficult to turn over, and fairly rolled to the floor while endeavoring to bestow myself properly. while finishing my morning toilet i received a visit from major boroslofski, master of police, who came to acknowledge general ditmar's letter of introduction. he tendered the hospitalities of the place, and desired me to command his services while i remained. we had two rooms with a bedstead and sofa, besides lots of chairs, mirrors, tables, and flower pots. then we had an apartment nearly thirty feet square, that contained more chairs, tables, and flower pots. in one corner there was a huge barrel-organ that enabled me to develop my musical abilities. i spent half an hour the morning after our arrival in turning out the national airs of russia. molostoff amused himself by circulating his cap before an invisible audience and collecting imperceptible coin. while dancing to one of my liveliest airs he upset a flower pot, and the crash that followed brought our concert to a close. two sides of the large room were entirely bordered with horticultural productions, some of them six or eight feet high. [illustration: amateur concert in siberia.] troitskosavsk and kiachta have a sort of husband and wife singleness and duality. they are about two miles apart, the former having five or six thousand inhabitants and the latter about twelve hundred. in government, business, and interest the two places are one, the master of police having jurisdiction over both, and the merchants living indifferently in one or the other. many persons familiar with the name of kiachta never heard of the other town. it may surprise london merchants who send shanghai telegrams "via kiachta" to learn that the wires terminate at troitskosavsk, and do not reach kiachta at all. the treaty which established trade between russia and china at kiachta provided that no one should reside there except merchants engaged in traffic. no officer could live there, nor could any person whatever beyond merchants and their employees and families remain over night. no stone buildings except a church could be erected, and visits of strangers were to be discouraged. kiachta was thus restricted to the business of a trading post, and the town of troitskosavsk, two miles away, was founded for the residence of the officials, outside traders, and laborers. most of the restrictions above mentioned exist no longer, but the towns have not quite lost their old relations. there is an excellent road from one to the other, and the carriages, carts, and pedestrians constantly thronging it present a lively scene. the police master tendered his equipage and offered to escort me in making calls upon those i wished to know. etiquette is no less rigid in siberian towns and cities than in moscow and st. petersburg. one must make ceremonial visits as soon as possible after his arrival, officials being first called upon in the order of rank and civilians afterward. officers making visits don their uniforms, with epaulettes and side arms, and with all their decorations blazing on their breasts. civilians go in evening dress arranged with fastidious care. the hours for calling are between eleven a.m. and three p.m. a responsive call may be expected within two days, and must be made with the utmost precision of costume. arrayed for the occasion i made eight or ten visits in kiachta and troitskosavsk. the air was cold and the frost nipped rather severely through my thin boots as we drove back from kiachta. after an early dinner we went to maimaichin to visit the _sargootchay_, or chinese governor. we passed under a gateway surmounted with the double-headed eagle, and were saluted by the cossack guard as we left the borders of the russian empire. outside the gateway we traversed the neutral ground, two hundred yards wide, driving toward a screen or short wall of brick work, on which a red globe was represented. we crossed a narrow ditch and, passing behind the screen, entered a gateway into maimaichin, the most northern city of china. chapter xxvii. from 1727 to 1860 nearly all the trade between russia and china was transacted at kiachta and maimaichin. the russians built the one and the chinese the other, exclusively for commercial purposes. to this day no chinese women are allowed at maimaichin. the merchants consider themselves only sojourners, though the majority spend the best part of their lives there. contact with russians has evidently improved the celestials, as this little frontier city is the best arranged and cleanest in all china. after passing the gateway, the street we entered was narrow compared to our own, and had but a single carriage track. on the sidewalks were many chinese, who stopped to look at us, or rather at me. we drove about two hundred yards and turned into an enclosure, where we alighted. near at hand were two masts like flag-staffs, gaily ornamented at the top but bearing no banners. our halting place was near the temple of justice, where instruments of punishment were piled up. there were rattans and bamboos for flogging purposes by the side of yokes, collars, and fetters, carefully designed for subduing the refractory. there was a double set of stocks like those now obsolete in america, and their appearance indicated frequent use. to be cornered in these would be as unpleasant as in harlem or erie. from this temple we passed through a covered colonnade and entered an ante-room, where several officers and servants were in attendance. here we left our overcoats and were shown to another apartment where we met the sargootchay. his excellency shook hands with me after the european manner. his son, a youth of sixteen, was then presented, and made the acquaintance of major boroslofski. the sargootchay had a pleasing and interesting face of the true chinese type, with no beard beyond a slight mustache, and a complexion rather paler than most of his countrymen. he wore the dress of a mandarin, with the universal long robe and a silk jacket with wide sleeves. [illustration: a chinese mandarin.] after the ceremony of introduction was ended the sargootchay signed for us to be seated. he took his own place on a divan, and gave the 'illustrious stranger' the post of honor near him. tea and cigars were brought, and we had a few moments of smoky silence. the room was rather bare of furniture, and the decorations on the walls were russian and chinese in about equal proportion. i noticed a russian stove in one corner and a samovar in the adjoining room. the sargootchay had been newly appointed, and arrived only a week before. i presume his housekeeping was not well under way. the interview was as interesting as one could expect where neither party had anything important to say to the other. we attempted conversation which expressed our delight at meeting and the good-will of our respective countries toward each other. the talk was rather slow, as it went through many translations in passing between me and my host. tea and smoke were of immense service in filling up the chinks. when i wished to say anything to the sargootchay i spoke in french to major boroslofski, who sat near me. the major then addressed his bouriat interpreter in russian. this interpreter turned to a mongol-chinese official at his side and spoke to him in mongol. the latter translated into chinese for the understanding of his chief. the replies of the sargootchay returned by the same route. i have a suspicion that very little of what we really said ever reached its destination. his reply to one remark of mine had no reference to what i said, and the whole conversation was a curious medley of compliments. our words were doubtless polarized more than once in transmission. we had tea and sweetmeats, the latter in great variety. the manner of preparing tea did not please me as well as the russian one. the chinese boil their tea and give it a bitter flavor that the russians are careful to avoid. they drink it quite strong and hot, using no milk or sugar. out of deference to foreign tastes they brought sugar for us to use at our liking. after the tea and sweetmeats the sargootchay ordered champagne, in which we drank each other's health. at the close of the interview i received invitation to dine with his excellency two days later and witness a theatrical performance. our adieus were made in the european manner, and after leaving the sargootchay we visited a temple in the northern part of the town. we passed through a large yard and wound among so many courts and colonnades that i should have been sorely puzzled to find my way out alone. the public buildings of maimaichin are not far from each other, but the routes between them are difficult for one whose ideas of streets were formed in american cities. on passing the theatre we were shown two groups larger than life in rooms on opposite sides of a covered colonnade. they were cut in sand-stone, one representing a rearing horse which two grooms were struggling to hold. the other was the same horse walking quietly under control of one man. the figures evidently came from greek history, and i had little doubt that they were intended to tell of alexander and bucephalus. i learned that the words 'philip of macedon' were the literal translation of the chinese title of the groups. how or when the celestials heard the story of alexander, and why they should represent it in stone, i cannot imagine. no one could tell the age and origin of these works of art. on the walls of buildings near the temple there were paintings from chinese artists, some of them showing a creditable knowledge of perspective. 'john' can paint very well when he chooses, and any one conversant with his skill will testify that he understands perspective. why he does not make more use of it is a mystery that demands explanation. when we entered the temple it was sunset, and the gathering shadows rendered objects indistinct. from the character of the windows and the colonnades outside i suppose a 'dim religious light' prevails there at all times. the temple contains several idols or representations of chinese deities in figures larger than life, dressed with great skill and literally gotten up regardless of expense. their garments were of the finest silk, and profusely ornamented with gold, silver, and precious stones. there were the gods of justice, peace, war, agriculture, mechanics, love, and prosperity. the god of love had a most hideous countenance, quite in contrast to that of the gentle cupid with whom the majority of my readers are doubtless familiar. the god of war brandished a huge sword, and reminded me of the leading tragedian of the bowery theatre ten years ago. the temple was crowded with idols, vases, censers, pillars, and other objects, and it was not easy for our party to move about. in the middle of the apartment there were tables supporting offerings of cooked fowls and other edibles. these articles are eaten by the attendants at the temple, but whether the worshippers, know this fact or believe their gods descend to satisfy their appetites, i cannot say. to judge from what i saw the chinese are accustomed to decorate their houses of worship at great cost. there were rich curtains and a thousand and one articles of more or less value filling the greater part of the temple. lanterns and chandeliers displayed the skill and patience of the chinese in manipulating metals. there were imitations of butterflies and other insects, and of delicate leaves and flowers in metal, painted or burnished in the color of the objects represented. the aggregate time consumed in the manufacture of these decorations must be thousands of years. in a suspended vase i saw one boquet which was a clever imitation of nature, with the single exception of odor. the chinese make artificial roses containing little cups which they fill with rose-water. on our return we found the gate closed, and were obliged to wait until the ponderous key was brought to open it. the officer controlling the gate made no haste, and we were delayed in a crowd of chinese men and dogs for nearly fifteen minutes. it was a peculiar sensation to be shut in a chinese town and fairly locked in. it is the custom to close the gates of kiachta and maimaichin and shut off all communication between sunset and sunrise. the rule is less rigidly enforced than formerly. [illustration: interior of chinese temple] after this introduction i visited maimaichin almost every day until leaving for irkutsk. maimaichin means 'place of trade,' and the name was given by the officer who selected the site. the town is occupied by merchants, laborers, and government employees, all dwelling without families. the sargootchay is changed every three years, and it was hinted that his short term of office sufficed to give him a fortune. the houses were only one story high and plastered with black mud or cement. the streets cross at right angles, but are not very long, as the town does not measure more than half a mile in any direction. at the intersection of the principal streets there are towers two or three stories high, overlooking the town, and probably intended for use of the police. few houses are entered directly from the street, most of them having court yards with gateways just wide enough for a single cart or carriage. the dwelling rooms and magazines open upon the court yards, which are provided with folding gates heavily barred at night. apart from the public buildings the houses were pretty much alike. every court yard was liberally garnished with dogs of the short-nosed and wide-faced breed peculiar to china. they were generally chained and invariably made an unpleasant tumult. the dwelling rooms, kitchens, and magazines had their windows and doors upon the yards, the former being long and low with small panes of glass, talc, or oiled paper. in the magazines there were generally two apartments, one containing most of the goods, while the other was more private and only entered by strangers upon invitation. at the end of each room there was a divan, where the inmates slept at night or sat by day. near the edge of the divan, was a small furnace, where a charcoal fire burned constantly. the rooms were warmed by furnaces with pipes passing beneath the divans or by russian stoves. in every place i visited there were many employees, and i did not understand how all could be kept busy. everything was neat and well arranged, and the chinese appeared very particular on the subject of dust. i attempted to buy a few souvenirs of my visit, but very little was to be purchased. few strangers come to maimaichin, and the merchants have no inducement to keep articles rarely called for. i found they were determined to make me pay liberally. "how much?" i asked on picking up an article in one of their shops. "_chetira ruble_" (four roubles) was the reply. my russian companion whispered me not to buy, and after a few moments chaffering we departed. in a neighboring shop i purchased something precisely similar for one rouble, and went away rejoicing. on exhibiting my prize at kiachta i learned that i paid twice its real value. the chinese merchants are frequently called scoundrels from their habit of overreaching when opportunity occurs. in some respects they are worse and in others better than the same class of men in western nations. the practice of asking much more than they expect to receive prevails throughout their empire, and official peculation confined in certain limits is considered entirely consistent with honesty. their cheating, if it can be called by that name, is conducted on certain established principles. a chinese will 'beat about the bush,' and try every plan to circumvent the man with whom he deals, but when he once makes a bargain he adheres to it unflinchingly. among the merchants i was told that a word is as good as a bond. their slipperiness is confined to preliminaries. china contains good and bad like other countries, but in some things its merchants rank higher than outside barbarians. when the english were at war with the viceroy of canton, the foreigners were driven out and compelled to leave much property with chinese merchants. these chinese never thought of repudiation, but on the contrary made their way to hong kong during the blockade of the canton river for the purpose of settling with the foreigners. old john bell of antermony, who traveled to pekin in the reign of peter the great, in the suite of a russian ambassador, makes the following observations on the chinese: "they are honest, and observe the strictest honor and justice in their dealings. it must, however, be acknowledged that not a few of them are much addicted to knavery and well skilled in the art of cheating. they have, indeed, found many europeans as great proficients in that art as themselves." in the shops at maimaichin there is no display of goods, articles being kept in closets, drawers, show-cases, and on shelves, whence they are taken when called for. this arrangement suggests the propriety of the new york notice: "if you don't see what you want, ask for it." many things are kept in warerooms in other parts of the building, and brought when demanded or the merchant thinks he can effect a sale. in this way they showed me thibet sheep skins, intended for lining dressing-gowns, and of the most luxurious softness. there were silks and other goods in the piece, but the asking prices were very high. i bought a few small articles, but was disappointed when i sought a respectable assortment of knick-knacks. one of the merchants admired my watch and asked through my russian friend how much it cost. i was about to say in russian, 'two hundred roubles,' when my friend checked me. "_dites un enorme prix; deux mille roubles au moins_" accordingly i fixed the price at two thousand roubles. probably the chinaman learned the real value of the watch from this exaggerated figure better than if i had spoken as i first intended. the merchants were courteous and appeared to have plenty of time at command. they brought sweetmeats, confectionery, and tea, in fact the latter article was always ready. they gave us crystalized sugar, resembling rock candy, for sweetening purposes, but themselves drank tea without sugar or milk. they offered us pipes for smoking, and in a few instances russian cigarettes. i found the chinese tobacco very feeble and the pipes of limited capacity. it is doubtless owing to the weakness of their tobacco that they can smoke so continuously. the pipe is in almost constant requisition, the operator swallowing the smoke and emitting it in a double stream through his nostrils. they rarely offered us chinese wine, as that article is repugnant to any but celestials. sometimes they brought sherry and occasionally champagne. [illustration: through ordinary eyes.] i was interested in studying the decorations on window screens and fans, and the various devices on the walls. the chinese mind runs to the hideous in nearly everything fanciful, and most of its works of art abound in griffins and dragons. even the portrait of a tiger or other wild beast is made to look worse than the most savage of his tribe. if there ever was a dog with a mouth such as the chinese artists represent on their canines, he could walk down his own throat with very little difficulty. [illustration: through chinese eyes] the language spoken in the intercourse of russians and chinese at kiachta is a mongrel tongue in which russian predominates. it is a 'pigeon-russian' exactly analagous to the 'pigeon english' of shanghai, hong kong, and san francisco. the chinese at maimaichin can reckon in russian and understand the rudiments of that language very well. i observed at maimaichin, as at san francisco, the tendency to add an 'o' sound to monosyllabic consonant words. a chinese merchant grew familiar during one of my visits, and we exchanged lingual lessons and cards. he held up a tea-spoon and asked me its name. i tried him repeatedly with 'spoon,' but he would pronounce it 'spoonee' in spite of my instructions. when i gave him a card and called it such, he pronounced it 'cardee.' his name was chy-ping-tong, or something of the kind, but i was no more able to speak it correctly than was he to say 'spoon.' he wrote his name in my note-book and i wrote mine in his. beyond the knowledge of possessing chirographic specimens of another language, neither party is wiser. whoever has visited st. petersburg or moscow has doubtless seen the _abacus_, or calculating machine used in russian shops. it is found throughout the empire from the german frontier to bering's straits, not only in the hands of merchants but in many private houses. it consists of a wooden frame ordinarily a foot long and six inches wide. there are ten metal wires strung across this frame, and ten balls of wood on each wire. the russian currency is a decimal one, and by means of this machine computations are carried on with wonderful rapidity. i have seen numbers added by a boy and a machine faster than a new york bank teller could make the same reckoning. it requires long practice to become expert in its use, but when once learned it is preferred by all merchants, whether native or foreign. i saw the same machine at maimaichin, and learned that it was invented by the chinese. the celestials of san francisco employ it in precisely the same manner as their countrymen in mongolia. beside the chinese dwellers in maimaichin there are many mongol natives of the surrounding region, most of them engaged in transporting merchandise to and from the city. i saw several trains of their little two-wheeled carts bringing tea from the southward or departing with russian merchandise, and in one visit i encountered a drove of camels on the neutral ground. chapter xxviii. i have already mentioned the prevalence of feast-days, both national and personal. during my stay in kiachta there were several of these happy occasions, and i was told they would last the entire winter. one man opened his house on his name's day, and another on that of his wife. a third received friends on the anniversary of his daughter's birth, and a fourth had a regular house-warming. each kept open mansion in the forenoon and greeted all who came. there was a grand dinner in the afternoon, followed by a _soiree dansame_ and a supper at a late hour. in a population like that of kiachta there is a weekly average of at least three feast days for the entire year. during my stay major boroslofski had a morning reception on the anniversary of the death of a child, but there was naturally neither dinner nor dance after it. the dinner and dancing parties were much alike, the same company being present at all. even the servants were the same, there being a regular organization to conduct household festivities. at the first dinner i attended there were about forty persons at table, all of the sterner sex. according to the custom among russian merchants the ladies were by themselves in another room. between their apartment and ours there was a large room, corresponding, as i thought, to the neutral ground between kiachta and maimaichin. doors were open, and though nobody occupied the _terre neutrale_ during dinner, both parties retired to it at the end of the meal. the dinner would have been a success in st. petersburg or paris; how much more was it a triumph on the boundary between china and siberia. elegant and richly furnished apartments, expensive table ware, and a profusion of all procurable luxuries, were the attractions of the occasion. we had apples from european russia, three thousand miles westward, and grapes from pekin, a thousand miles to the south. there were liberal quantities of dried and preserved fruits, and the wines were abundant and excellent. of the local productions we had many substantials, till all appetites were satisfied. according to russian custom the host does not partake of the dinner, but is supposed to look after the welfare of his guests. at kiachta i found this branch of etiquette carefully observed. two or three times during the dinner the host passed around the entire table and filled each person's glass with wine. where he found an unemptied cup he urged its drainage. after we left the table tea was served, and i was fain to pronounce it the best i ever tasted. the evening entertainments for those who did not dance consisted of cards and conversation, principally the former. tea was frequently passed around, and at regular intervals the servants brought glasses of iced champagne. the houses of the kiachta merchants are large and well built, their construction and adornment requiring much outlay. nearly all the buildings are of two stories and situated in large court yards. there is a public garden, evidently quite gay and pretty in summer. the church is said to be the finest edifice of the kind in eastern siberia. the double doors in front of the altar are of solid silver, and said to weigh two thousand pounds avoirdupois. besides these doors i think i saw nearly a ton of silver in the various paraphernalia of the church. there were several fine paintings executed in europe at heavy cost, and the floors, walls, and roof of the entire structure were of appropriate splendor. the church was built at the expense of the kiachta merchants. troilskosavsk contains some good houses, but they are not equal in luxury to those at kiachta. many dwellings in the former town are of unpainted logs, and each town has its gastinni-dvor, spacious and well arranged. i visited the market place every morning and saw curious groups of russians, bouriats, mongols, and chinese, engaged in that little commerce which makes the picturesque life of border towns. from 1727 to 1860 the kiachta merchants enjoyed almost a monopoly of chinese trade. fortunes there are estimated at enormous figures, and one must be a four or five-millionaire to hold respectable rank. possibly many of these worldly possessions are exaggerated, as they generally are everywhere. the chinese merchants of maimaichin are also reputed wealthy, and it is quite likely that the trade was equally profitable on both sides of the neutral ground. money and flesh have affinities. these russian and chinese astors were almost invariably possessed of fair, round belly, with good capon lined. they have the spirit of genuine hospitality, and practice it toward friends and strangers alike. the treaty of 1860, which opened chinese ports to russian ships, was a severe blow to kiachta and maimaichin. up to that time only a single cargo of tea was carried annually into russia by water; all the rest of the herb used in the empire came by land. unfortunately the treaty was made just after the russian and chinese merchants had concluded contracts in the tea districts; these contracts caused great losses when the treaty went into effect, and for a time paralized commerce. kiachta still retains the tea trade of siberia and sends large consignments to nijne novgorod and moscow. there is now a good percentage of profit, but the competition by way of canton and the baltic has destroyed the best of it. under the old monopoly the merchants arranged high prices and did not oppose each other with quick and low sales. the kiachta teas are far superior to those from canton and shanghae. they come from the best districts of china and are picked and cured with great care. there is a popular notion, which the russians encourage, that a sea voyage injures tea, and this is cited as the reason for the character of the herb brought to england and america. i think the notion incorrect, and believe that we get no first class teas in america because none are sent there. i bought a small package of the best tea at kiachta and brought it to new york. when i opened it i could not perceive it had changed at all in flavor. i have not been able to find its like in american tea stores. previous to 1850 all trade at kiachta was in barter, tea being exchanged for russian goods. the russian government prohibited the export of gold and silver money, and various subterfuges were adopted to evade the law. candlesticks, knives, idols, and other articles were made of pure gold and sold by weight. of course the goods were "of russian manufacture." before 1860 the importation of tea at kiachta was about one million chests annually, and all of good quality and not including brick tea. the "brick tea" of mongolia and northern china is made from stalks, large leaves, and refuse matter generally. this is moistened with sheep's or bullock's blood and pressed into brick-shaped cakes. when dried it is ready for transportation, and largely used by the mongols, bouriats, tartars, and the siberian peasantry. in some parts of chinese tartary it is the principal circulating medium of the people. large quantities are brought into siberia, but "brick-tea" never enters into the computation of kiachta trade. [illustration: legal tender.] since 1860 the quantity of fine teas purchased at kiachta has greatly fallen off. the importation of brick-tea is undiminished, and some authorities say it has increased. none of the merchants speak any language but russian, and most of them are firmly fixed at kiachta. they make now and then journeys to irkutsk, and regard such a feat about as a countryman on the penobscot would regard a visit to boston. the few who have been to moscow and st. petersburg have a reputation somewhat analogous to that of marco polo or john ledyard. walking is rarely practiced, and the numbers of smart turnouts, compared to the population, is pretty large. there is no theatre, concert-room, or newspaper office at kiachta, and the citizens rely upon cards, wine, and gossip for amusement. they play much and win or lose large sums with perfect nonchalance. visitors are rare, and the advent of a stranger of ordinary consequence is a great sensation. kiachta and maimaichin stand on the edge of a mongolian steppe seven or eight miles wide. very little snow falls there and that little does not long remain. wheeled carriages are in use the entire year. the elevation is about twenty-five hundred feet above sea level. there was formerly a custom house at troitskosavsk, where the duties on tea were collected. after the occupation of the amoor the government opened all the country east of lake baikal to free trade. the custom house was removed to irkutsk, where all duties are now arranged. there were two englishmen and one frenchman residing at kiachta. the latter, mr. garnier, was a merchant, and was about to many a young and pretty russian whose mother had a large fortune and thirteen dogs. the old lady appeared perfectly clear headed on every subject outside of dogs. a fortnight before my visit she owned fifteen, but the police killed two on a charge of biting somebody. she was inconsolable at their loss, took her bed from grief, and seriously contemplated going into mourning. i asked garnier what would be the result if every dog of the thirteen should have his day. "ah!" he replied, with a sigh, "the poor lady could never sustain it. i fear it would cause her death." one englishman, mr. bishop, had a telegraph scheme which he had vainly endeavored for two years to persuade the stubborn chinese to look upon with favor. the chinese have a superstitious dread of the electric telegraph, and the government is unwilling to do anything not in accordance with the will of the people. a few years ago some americans at shanghae thought it a good speculation to construct a telegraph line between that city and the mouth of the river. the distance was about fifteen miles, and the line when finished operated satisfactorily. the chinese made no interference, either officially or otherwise, with its construction. [illustration: russian pets.] they did not understand its working, but supposed the foreigners employed agile and invisible devils to run along the wires and convey intelligence. all went well for a month or two. one night a chinese happened to die suddenly in a house that stood near a telegraph pole. a knowing celestial suggested that one of the foreign devils had descended from the wire and killed the unfortunate native. a mob very soon destroyed the dangerous innovation. the other englishman, mr. grant, was the projector and manager of a pony express from kiachta to pekin. he forwarded telegrams between london and shanghae merchants, any others who chose to employ him. he claimed that his mongol couriers made the journey to pekin in twelve days, and that he could outstrip the suez and ceylon telegraph and steamers. he seemed a permanent fixture of kiachta, as he had married a russian lady, the daughter of a former governor. all these foreigners placed me under obligations for various favors, and the two britons were certainly more kind to me than to each other. [illustration: pony express.] i spent an evening at the club-rooms, where there was some heavy card-playing. one man lost nine hundred roubles in half an hour, and they told me that such an occurrence was not uncommon. in all card playing i ever witnessed in russia there was 'something to make it interesting.' money is invariably staked, and the russians were surprised when i said, in answer to questions, that people in america generally indulged in cards for amusement alone. ladies had no hesitation in gambling, and many of them followed it passionately. '_chaque pays a sa habitude_,' remarked a lady one evening when i answered her query about card playing in america. it was the russian fashion to gamble, and no one dreamed of making the slightest concealment of it. though i saw it repeatedly i could never rid myself of a desire to turn away when a lady was reckoning her gains and losses, and keeping her accounts on the table cover. russian card tables are covered with green cloth and provided with chalk pencils and brushes for players' use. cards are a government monopoly. [illustration: chinese collar] [illustration: suspended freedom.] on the day fixed for my dinner with the sargoochay i accompanied the police master and captain molostoff to maimaichin. as we entered the court yard of the government house several officers came to receive us. in passing the temple of justice i saw an unfortunate wretch undergoing punishment in a corner of the yard. ho was wearing a collar about three feet in diameter and made of four inch plank. it was locked about his neck, and the man was unable to bring his hand to his head. a crowd was gazing at the culprit, but he seemed quite unconcerned and intent upon viewing the strangers. the chinese have a system of yokes and stocks that seem a refinement of cruelty. they have a cheerful way of confining a man in a sort of cage about three feet square, the top and bottom being of plank and the sides of square sticks. his head passes through the top, which forms a collar precisely like the one described above, while the sides are just long enough to force him to stand upon the tip of his toes or hang suspended by his head. in some instances a prisoner's head is passed through a hole in the bottom of a heavy cask. he cannot stand erect without lifting the whole weight, and the cask is too long to allow him to sit down. he must remain on his knees in a torturing position, and cannot bring his hands to his head. he relies on his friends to feed him, and if he has no friends he must starve. the jailers think it a good joke when a man loses the number of his mess in this way. [illustration: punishment for burglary.] the sargoochay met us in the apartment where our reception took place. he seated us around a table in much the same manner as before. while we waited dinner i exhibited a few photographs of the big trees of california, which i took with me at molostoff's suggestion. i think the representative of his celestial majesty was fairly astonished on viewing these curiosities. the interpreter told him that all trees in america were like those in the pictures, and that we had many cataracts four or five miles high. to handle our food we had forks and chopsticks, and each guest had a small saucer of _soy_, or vinegar, at his right hand. the food was roast pig and roast duck, cut into bits the size of one's thumb nail, and each piece was to be dipped in the vinegar before going into the mouth. then there were dishes of hashed meat or stew, followed by minced pies in miniature. i was a little suspicious of the last articles and preferred to stick to the pig. [illustration: chopsticks, fork, & saucer.] we had good claret and bad sherry, followed by chinese wine. champagne was brought when we began drinking toasts. chinese wine, _sam-shoo,_ is drank hot, from cups holding about a thimbleful. it is very strong, one cup being quite sufficient. the historic bowery boy drinking a glass of chinese wine might think he had swallowed a pyrotechnic display on fourth of july night. we conversed as before, going through english, french, russian, mongol, and chinese, and after dinner smoked our pipes and cigars. the sargoochay had a pipe with a slender bowl that could be taken out for reloading, like the shell of a remington rifle. a single whiff served to exhaust it, and the smoke passing through water became purified. an attendant stood near to manage the pipe of his excellency whenever his services were needed. we endeavored to smoke each others' pipes and were quite satisfied after a minute's experience. his tobacco was very feeble, and i presume mine was too strong for his taste. the sargoochay had ordered a theatrical display in my honor, though it was not 'the season,' and the affair was hastily gotten up. when all was ready he led the way to the theatre; the pipe-bearer came respectfully in our rear, and behind him was the staff and son of the sargoochay. the stage of the theatre faced an open court yard, and was provided with screens and curtains, but had no scenery that could be shifted. about thirty feet in front of the stage was a pavilion of blue cloth, open in front and rear. we were seated around a table under this pavilion, and drank tea and smoked while the performance was in progress. there was a crowd of two or three hundred chinese between the pavilion and the stage. the mongol soldiers kept an open passage five or six feet wide in front of us so that we had an unobstructed view. [illustration: chinese theatre.] a comedy came first, and i had little difficulty in following the story by the pantomime alone. female characters were represented by men, chinese law forbidding women to act on the stage. certain parts of the play were open to objections on account of immodesty, but when no ladies are present i presume a chinese audience is not fastidious. the comedy was followed by something serious, of which i was unable to learn the name. i supposed it represented the superiority of the deities over the living things of earth. first, there came representations of different animals. there were the tiger, bear, leopard, and wolf, with two or three beasts whose genera and species i could not determine. there was an ostrich and an enormous goose, both holding their heads high, while a crocodile, or something like it, brought up the rear. each beast and bird was made of painted cloth over light framework, with a man inside to furnish action. while the tiger was making himself savage the mask fell off, and revealed the head of a chinese. a rent in the skin of the ostrich disclosed the arm of the performer inside. the animals were not very well made, and the accident to the tiger's head reminded me of the bowery elephant whose hind legs became very drunk and fell among the orchestra, leaving the fore legs to finish the play. [illustration: chinese tiger.] each animal made a circuit of the stage, bowed to the sargoochay, and retired. then came half a dozen performers, only one being visible at a time. they were dressed, as i conjectured, to represent chinese divinities, and as each appeared upon the stage he made a short recitation in a bombastic tone. the costumes of these actors were brilliantly decorated with metal ornaments, and there was a luxuriance of beard on most of the performer's faces, quite in contrast to the scanty growth which nature gave them. when the deities were assembled the animals returned and prostrated themselves in submission. a second speech from each actor closed the theatrical display. during all the time we sat under the pavilion the crowd looked at me far more intently than at the stage. an american was a great curiosity in the city limits of maimaichin. the performance began about two o'clock and lasted less than an hour. at its close we thanked the sargoochay for his courtesy, and returned to kiachta. one of my russian acquaintances had invited me to dine with him; "you can dine with the sargoochay at one o'clock," he said, "and will be entirely able to enjoy my dinner two hours later." i found the dinner at maimaichin more pleasing to the eye than the stomach, and returned with a good appetite. some years ago the russian government abolished the office of governor of kiachta and placed its military and kindred affairs in the hands of the chief of police. diplomatic matters were entrusted to a 'commissary of the frontier,' who resided at kiachta, while the chief of police dwelt at troitskosavsk. when i arrived there, mr. pfaffius, the commissary of the frontier, was absent, though hourly expected from irkutsk. mr. pfaffius arrived on the third day of my visit, and invited me to a dinner at his house on the afternoon of my departure for irkutsk. as the first toast of the occasion he proposed the president of the united states, and regretted deeply the misfortune that prevented his drinking the health of mr. lincoln. in a few happy remarks he touched upon the cordial feeling between the two nations, and his utterance of good-will toward the united states was warmly applauded by all the russians present. in proposing the health of the emperor i made the best return in my power for the courtesy of my muscovite friends. chapter xxix. in the year 1786 a vessel of three hundred and fifty tons burden sailed from an american port for canton. she was the first to carry the flag of the united states to the shores of cathay, and to begin a commerce that has since assumed enormous proportions. european nations had carried on a limited trade with the chinese before that time, but they were restricted to a single port, and their jealousy of each other prevented their adopting those measures of co-operation that have recently proved so advantageous. china was averse to opening her territory to foreign merchants, and regarded with suspicion all their attempts to gain a foothold upon her soil. on the north, since 1727, the russians had a single point of commercial exchange. in the south canton was the only port open to those who came to china by sea, while along the coast-line, facing to the eastward, the ports were sealed against foreign intrusion. commerce between china and the outer world was hampered by many restrictions, and only its great profits kept it alive. but once fairly established, the barbarian merchants taught the slow-learning chinese that the trade brought advantage to all engaged in it. step by step they pressed forward, to open new ports and extend commercial relations, which were not likely to be discontinued, if only a little time were allowed to show their value. as years rolled on, trade with china increased. for a long time the foreigners trading with china had no direct intercourse with the general government, but dealt only with the local and provincial authorities. it was not until after the famous "opium war" that diplomatic relations were opened with the court at pekin, and a common policy adopted for all parts of the empire, in its dealings with the outer world. considering the extremely conservative character of the chinese, their adherence to old forms and customs, their general unwillingness to do differently from their ancestors, and the not over-amiable character of the majority of the foreigners that went there to trade, it is not surprising that many years were required for commercial relations to grow up and become permanent. the wars between china and the western powers did more than centuries of peace could have done to open the oriental eyes. austria's defeat on the field of sadowa advanced and enlightened her more than a hundred years of peace and victory could have done, at her old rate of progress. the victories of the allied forces in china, culminating in the capture of pekin and dictation of terms by the foreign leaders, opened the way for a free intercourse between the east and west, and the immense advantages that an unrestricted commerce is sure to bring to an industrious, energetic, and economical people. with a river-system unsurpassed by that of any other nation of the world, china relied upon navigation by junks, which crept slowly against the current when urged by strong winds, and lay idle or were towed or poled by men when calms or head-breezes prevailed. of steam applied to propulsion, she had no knowledge, until steamboats of foreign construction appeared in her waters and roused the wonder of the oblique-eyed natives by their mysterious powers. the first steamboat to ascend a chinese river created a greater sensation than did the clermont on her initial voyage along the hudson or her western prototype, several years later, among the indians of the upper missouri.[e] in 1839 the first steam venture was made in china. an english house placed a boat on the route between canton and macao, and advertised it to carry freight and passengers on stated days. for the first six months the passengers averaged about a dozen to each trip--half of them europeans, and the rest natives. the second half-year the number of native patrons increased, and by the end of the second year the boat, on nearly every trip, was filled with chinese. the trade became so lucrative that another boat was brought from england and placed on the route, which continued to be a source of profit until the business was overdone by opposition lines. as soon as the treaties permitted, steamers were introduced into the coasting-trade of china, and subsequently upon the rivers and other inland waters. the chinese merchants perceived the importance of rapid and certain transportation for their goods in place of the slow and unreliable service of their junks, and the advance in rates was overbalanced by the increased facilities and the opportunities of the merchants to make six times as many ventures annually as by the old system. [footnote e: a gentleman once described to me the sensation produced by the first steam vessel that ascended one of the chinese rivers. "it was," said he, "a screw steamer, and we were burning anthracite coal that made no smoke. the current was about two miles an hour, and with wind and water unfavorable, the chinese boats bound upward were slowly dragged by men pulling at long tow-lines. we steamed up the middle of the stream, going as rapidly as we dared with our imperfect knowledge, and the necessity of constant sounding. our propeller was quite beneath the water, and so far as outward appearance went there was no visible power to move us. chinamen are generally slow to manifest astonishment, and not easily frightened, but their excitement on that occasion was hardly within bounds. men, women, and children ran to see the monster, and after gazing a few moments a fair proportion of them took to their heels for safety. dogs barked and yelped on all the notes of the chromatic scale, occasional boats' crews jumped to the shore, and those who stuck to their oars did their best to get out of our way."] probably there is no people in the world that can be called a nation of shop-keepers more justly than the chinese; thousands upon thousands of them are engaged in petty trade, and the competition is very keen. of course, where there is an active traffic the profits are small, and any thing that can assist the prompt delivery of merchandise and the speedy transmission of intelligence, money, credits, or the merchant himself, is certain to be brought into full use. no accurate statistics are at hand of the number of foreign steamers now in china, but well-informed parties estimate the burden of american coasting and river-vessels at upward of thirty thousand tons, while that of other nationalities is much larger. steamboats, with a burden of more than ten thousand tons, are owned by chinese merchants, and about half that quantity is the joint property of chinese and foreigners. in managing their boats and watching the current expenses, the chinese are quite equal to the english and americans, and are sometimes able to carry freight upon terms ruinous to foreign competitors. foreign systems of banking and insurance have been adopted, and work successfully. the chinese had a mode of banking long before time european nations possessed much knowledge of financial matters; and it is claimed that the first circulating-notes and bills-of-credit ever issued had their origin during a monetary pressure at pekin. but they were so unprogressive that, when intercourse was opened with the western world, they found their own system defective, and were forced to adopt the foreign innovation. insurance companies were first owned and managed by foreigners at the open ports, and as soon as the plan of securing themselves against loss by casualties was understood by the chinese merchants, they began to form companies on their own account, and carry their operations to the interior of the empire. all the intricacies of the insurance business--even to the formation of fraudulent companies, with imaginary officers, and an explosion at a propitious moment--are fully understood and practised by the chinese. by the facilities which the advent of foreigners has introduced to the chinese, the native trade along the rivers and with the open ports has rapidly increased. on the rivers and along the coast the steamers and native boats are actively engaged, and the population of the open ports has largely increased in consequence of the attractions offered to the people of all grades and professions. the greatest extension has been in the foreign trade, which, from small beginnings, now amounts to more than nine hundred millions of dollars annually. where formerly a dozen or more vessels crept into canton yearly, there are now hundreds of ships and steamers traversing the ocean to and from the accessible points of the coast of the great eastern empire. america has a large share of this commerce with china, and from the little beginning, in 1786, she has increased her maritime service, until she now has a fleet of sailing ships second to none in the world, and a line of magnificent steamers plying regularly across the pacific, and bringing the east in closer alliance with the west than ever before. [illustration: chinese punishment.] railways will naturally follow the steamboat, and an english company is now arranging to supply the chinese with a railway-system to connect the principal cities, and especially to tap the interior districts, where the water communications are limited. there is no regular system of mail-communication in china; the government transmits intelligence by means of couriers, and when merchants have occasion to communicate with persons at a distance they use private expresses. foreign and native merchants, doing an extensive business, keep swift steamers, which they use as despatch-boats, and sometimes send them at heavy expense to transmit single messages. it has happened that, on a sudden change of markets, two or more houses in hong kong or shanghae have despatched boats at the same moment; and some interesting and exciting races are recorded in the local histories. the barriers of chinese exclusion were broken down when the treaties of the past ten years opened the empire to foreigners, and placed the name of china on the list of diplomatic and treaty powers. the last stone of the wall that shut the nation from the outer world was overthrown when the court at pekin sent an embassy, headed by a distinguished american, to visit the capitals of the western nations, and cement the bonds of friendship between the west and the east. it was eminently fitting that an american should be selected as the head of this embassy, and eminently fitting, too, that the ambassador of the oldest nation should first visit the youngest of all the great powers of the world. america, just emerged from the garments of childhood, and with full pride and consciousness of its youthful strength, presents to ruddy england, smiling france, and the other members of the family of nations, graybeard and dignified china, who expresses joy at the introduction, and hopes for a better acquaintance in the years that are to come. during his residence at pekin, mr. burlingame interested himself in endeavoring to introduce the telegraph into china, and though meeting with opposition on account of certain superstitions of the chinese, he was ultimately successful. the chinese do not understand the working of the telegraph--at least the great majority of them do not--and like many other people elsewhere, with regard to any thing incomprehensible, they are inclined to ascribe it to a satanic origin. in california, the chinese residents make a liberal use of the telegraph; though they do not trouble themselves with an investigation of its workings, they fully appreciate its importance. john, in california, is at liberty to send his messages in "pigeon-english," and very funny work he makes of it occasionally. chin lung, in sacramento, telegraphs to ming yup, in san francisco, "you me send one piecee me trunk," which means, in plain language, "send me my trunk." mr. yup complies with the request, and responds by telegraph, "me you trunkee you sendee." the inventor of pigeon-english is unknown, and it is well for his name that it has not been handed down; he deserves the execration of all who are compelled to use the legacy he has left. it is just as difficult for a chinese to learn pigeon-english as it would be to learn pure and honest english, and it is about as intelligible as greek or sanscrit to a newly-arrived foreigner. in shanghae or hong kong, say to your chinese _ma-foo_, who claims to speak english, "bring me a glass of water," and he will not understand you. repeat your order in those words, and he stands dumb and uncomprehending, as though you had spoken the dialect of the moon. but if you say, "you go me catchee bring one piecee glass water; savey," and his tawny face beams intelligence as he obeys the order. in the phrase, "pigeon-english," the word pigeon means "business," and the expression would be more intelligible if it were "business-english." many foreigners living in china have formed the habit of using this and other words in their chinese sense, and sometimes one hears an affair of business called "a pigeon." a gentleman whom i met in china used to tell, with a great deal of humor, his early experiences with the language. "when i went to shanghae," said he, "i had an introduction to a prominent merchant, who received me very kindly, and urged me to call often at his office. a day or two later i called, and inquired for him. 'won't be back for a week or two,' said the clerk; 'he has gone into the country, about two hundred miles, after a little pigeon.' i asked no questions, but as i bowed myself out, i thought, 'he must be a fool, indeed. go two hundred miles into the country after a pigeon, and a little one at that! he has lost his senses, if he ever possessed any.'" nearly all the trade with china is carried on at the southern and eastern ports, and comparatively few of the foreign merchants in china have ever been at pekin, which was opened only a few years ago. but the war with the allied powers, the humiliation of the government, the successes of the rebels, and the threatened extinction of the ruling dynasty, led to important changes of policy. the treaty of tientsin, in 1860, opened the empire as it had never been open before. foreigners could travel in china where they wished, for business or pleasure, and the navigable rivers were declared free to foreign boats. pekin was opened to travelers but not to foreign merchants; but it is probable that commerce will be carried to that city before long. there is an extensive trade at tientsin, ninety miles south of the capital, and when it becomes necessary to carry it to the doors of the palace of the celestial ruler, the diplomats will not be slow to find a sufficient pretext for it. chapter xxx. the great cities of china are very much alike in their general features. none of them have wide streets, except in the foreign quarters, and none of them are clean; in their abundance of dirt they can even excel new york, and it would be worth the while for the rulers of the american metropolis to visit china and see how filthy a city can be made without half trying. the most interesting city in china is pekin, for the reason that it has long been the capital, and contains many monuments of the past greatness and the glorious history of the celestial empire. its temples are massive, and show that the chinese, hundreds of years ago, were no mean architects; its walls could resist any of the ordinary appliances of war before the invention of artillery, and even the tombs of its rulers are monuments of skill and patience that awaken the admiration of every beholder. throughout china pekin is reverentially regarded, and in many localities the man who has visited it is regarded as a hero. though the capital, it is the most northern city of large population in the whole empire. pekin is divided into the chinese city and the tartar one, the division was made at the time of the tartar conquest, and for many years the two people refused to associate freely. a wall separates the cities; the gates through it are closed at night, and only opened when sufficient reason is given. if the party who desires to pass the gate can give no verbal excuse he has only to drop some money in the hands of the gate-keeper, and the pecuniary apology is considered entirely satisfactory. time has softened the asperities of tartar and chinese association, so that the two people mingle freely, and it is impossible for a stranger to distinguish one from the other. many chinese live in the tartar town and transact business, and i fancy that they would not always find it easy to explain their pedigree, or, at all events, that of some of their children. the foreign legations are in the tartar city, for the reason that the government offices are there, and also for the reason that it is the most pleasant, (or the least unpleasant,) part of pekin to reside in. all the embassies have spacious quarters, with the exception of the russian one, which is the oldest; when it was established there it was a great favor to be allowed any residence whatever. [illustration: provision dealer.] from the center gate between the chinese and tartar cities there is a street two or three miles long, and having the advantages of being wide, straight, and dirty. it is blocked up with all sorts of huckster's stalls and shops, and is kept noisy with the shouts of the people who have innumerable articles for sale. especially in summer is there a liberal assemblage of peddlers, jugglers, beggars, donkey drivers, merchants, idlers, and all the other professions and non-professions that go to make up a population. the peddlers have fruit and other edibles, not omitting an occasional string of rats suspended from bamboo poles, and attached to cards on which the prices, and sometimes the excellent qualities of the rodents, are set forth. it is proper to remark that the chinese are greatly slandered on the rat question. as a people they are not given to eating these little animals; it is only among the poorer classes that they are tolerated, and then only because they are the cheapest food that can be obtained. i was always suspicious when the chinese urged me to partake of little meat pies and dumplings, whose components i could only guess at, and when the things were forced upon me i proclaimed a great fondness for stewed duck and chicken, which were manifestly all right. but i frankly admit that i do not believe they would have inveigled me into swallowing articles to which the european mind is prejudiced, and my aversion arose from a general repugnance to hash in all forms--a repugnance which had its origin in american hotels and restaurants. the jugglers are worth a little notice, more i believe than they obtain from their countrymen. they attract good audiences along the great street of pekin, but after swallowing enough stone to load a pack-mule, throwing up large bricks and allowing them to break themselves on his head, and otherwise amusing the crowd for half an hour or so, the poor necromancer cannot get cash enough to buy himself a dinner. those who feel disposed to give are not very liberal, and their donations are thrown into the ring very much as one would toss a bone to a bull-dog. sometimes a man will stand with a white painted board, slightly covered with thick ink, and while talking with his auditors he will throw off, by means of his thumb and fingers, excellent pictures of birds and fishes, with every feather, fin, and scale done with accuracy. such genius ought to be rewarded, but it rarely receives pecuniary recognition enough to enable its possessor to dress decently. other slight-of-hand performances abound; the chinese are very skillful at little games of thimble-rig and the like, and when a stranger chooses to make a bet on their operations they are sure to take in his money. in sword-swallowing and knife-throwing, the natives of the flowery kingdom are without rivals, and the uninitiated spectator can never understand how a man can make a breakfast of asiatic cutlery without incurring the risk of dyspepsia. [illustration: chinese mendicants.] china is the paradise of beggars--i except italy from the mendicant list--so far as numbers are concerned, though they do not appear to flourish and live in comfort. there are many dwarfs, and it is currently reported at pekin that they are produced and cultivated for the special purpose of asking alms. one can be very liberal in china at small expense, as the smallest coin is worth only one-fifteenth of a cent, and a shilling's worth of "cash" can be made to go a great way if the giver is judicious. many of the beggars are blind, and they sometimes walk in single file under the direction of a chief; they are nearly all musicians, and make the most hideous noises, which they call melody. anybody with a sensitive ear will pay them to move on where they will annoy somebody beside himself. many of the beggars are almost naked, and they attract attention by striking their hands against their hips and shouting at the top of their voices. one day the wife of the french minister at pekin gave some garments to those who were the most shabbily dressed; the next morning they returned as near naked as ever, and some of them entirely so. outside of the tartar city there is a beggar's lodging house, which bears the name of "the house of the hen's feathers." it is a hall, with a floor of solid earth and a roof of thin laths caulked and plastered with mud. the floor is covered with a thick bed of feathers, which have been gathered in the markets and restaurants of pekin, without much regard to their cleanliness. there is an immense quilt of thick felt the exact size of the hall, and raised and lowered by means of mechanism. when the curfew tolls the knell of parting day, the beggars flock to this house, and are admitted on payment of a small fee. they take whatever places they like, and at an appointed time the quilt is lowered. each lodger is at liberty to lie coiled up in the feathers, or if he has a prejudice in favor of fresh air, he can stick his head through one of the numerous holes that the coverlid contains. a view of this quilt when the heads are protruding is suggestive of an apartment where dozens of dilapidated chinese have been decapitated. all night long the lodgers keep up a frightful noise; the proprietor, like the individual in the same business in new york, will tell you, "i sells the place to sleep, but begar, i no sells the sleep with it." the couch is a lively one, as the feathers are a convenient warren for a miscellaneous lot of living things not often mentioned in polite society. in the southern cities of china one sees fewer women in the street than in the north. those that appear in public are always of the poorer classes, and it is rare indeed that one can get a view of the famous small-footed women. the odious custom of compressing the feet is much less common at pekin than in the southern provinces. the manjour emperors of china opposed it ever since their dynasty ascended the throne, and on several occasions they issued severe edicts against it. the tartar and chinese ladies that compose the court of the empresses have their feet of the natural size, and the same is the case with the wives of many of the officials. but such is the power of fashion that many of these ladies have adopted the theatrical slipper, which is very difficult to walk with. no one can tell where the custom of compressing the feet originated, but it is said that one of the empresses was born with deformed feet, and set the fashion, which soon spread through the empire. the jealousy of the men and the idleness and vanity of the women have served to continue the custom. every chinese who can afford it will have at least one small-footed wife, and she is maintained in the most perfect indolence. for a woman to have a small foot is to show that she is of high birth and rich family, and she would consider herself dishonored if her parents failed to compress her feet. [illustration: the favorite.] when remonstrated with about the practice, the chinese retort by calling attention to the compression of the waist as practiced in europe and america. "it is all a matter of taste," said a chinese merchant one day when addressed on the subject. "we like women with small feet and you like them with small waists. what is the difference?" and what _is_ the difference? the compression is begun when a girl is six years old, and is accomplished with strong bandages. the great toe is pressed beneath the others, and these are bent under, so that the foot takes the shape of a closed fist. the bandages are drawn tighter every month, and in a couple of years the foot has assumed the desired shape and ceased to grow. [illustration: female feet and shoe.] very often this compression creates diseases that are difficult to heal; it is always impossible for the small-footed woman to walk easily, and sometimes she cannot move without support. to have the finger-nails very long is also a mark of aristocracy; sometimes the ladies enclose their nails in silver cases, which are very convenient for cleansing the ears of their owner or tearing out the eyes of somebody else. walking along the great street of pekin, one is sure to see a fair number of gamblers and gambling houses. gambling is a passion with the chinese, and they indulge it to a greater extent than any other people in the world. it is a scourge in china, and the cause of a great deal of the poverty and degradation that one sees there. there are various games, like throwing dice, and drawing sticks from a pile, and there is hardly a poor wretch of a laborer who will not risk the chance of paying double for his dinner on the remote possibility of getting it for nothing. the rich are addicted to the vice quite as much as the poor, and sometimes they will lose their money, then their houses, their lands, their wives, their children, and so on up to themselves, when they have nothing else that their adversaries will accept. the winter is severe at pekin, and it sometimes happens that men who have lost everything, down to their last garments, are thrust naked into the open air, where they perish of cold. sometimes a man will bet his fingers on a game, and if he loses he must submit to have them chopped off and turned over to the winner. [illustration: a lottery prize.] there is a tradition that one of the chinese emperors used to get up lotteries, in which the ladies of the court were the prizes. he obtained quite a revenue from the business, which was popular with both the players and the prizes, as the latter were enabled to obtain husbands without the trouble of negotiation. the lottery has a place in the chinese courts of justice. there is one mode of capital punishment in which a dozen or twenty knives are placed in a covered basket, and each knife is marked for a particular part of the body. the executioner puts his hand under the cover and draws at random. if the knife is for the toes, they are cut off one after another; if for the feet, they are severed, and so on until a knife for the heart or neck is reached. usually the friends of the victim bribe the executioner to draw early in the game a knife whose wound will be fatal, and he generally does as he agrees. the bystanders amuse themselves by betting as to how long the culprit will stand it. facetious dogs, those chinese. to enumerate all the ways of inflicting punishment in china would be to fill a volume. punishment is one of the fine arts, and a man who can skin another elegantly is entitled to rank as an artist. the bastinado and floggings are common, and then they have huge shears, like those used in tin shops, for snipping off feet and arms, very much as a gardener would cut off the stem of a rose. some years ago the environs of tientsin were infested by bands of robbers who were suspected of living in villages a few miles away. the governor was ordered by the imperial authority to suppress these robberies, and in order to get the right persons he sent out his soldiers and arrested everybody, old and young, in the suspected villages. of course there were innocent persons among the captives, but that made no difference; some of them were blind, and others crippled, but the police had orders to bring in everybody. the prisoners were summarily tried; some of them had their heads cut off, others were imprisoned, and others were whipped. nobody escaped without some punishment; the result was that the robber bands were broken up and the robberies ceased. [illustration: a chinese palanquin.] [illustration: a pekin cab.] it is not easy to go about pekin. it is a city of magnificent distances, and the sights which one wants to see are far apart. the streets are bad, being dusty in dry weather and muddy when it rains, and the carriage way is cut up with deep ruts that make riding very uncomfortable. the cabs of pekin are little carts, just large enough for two persons of medium size. they are without springs, and not very neatly arranged inside. if one does not like them he can walk or take a palanquin--there are plenty of palanquins in the city, and they do not cost an exorbitant sum. they are not very commodious, but infinitely preferable to the carts. the comforts of travel are very few in china. a chinese never travels for pleasure, and he does not understand the spirit that leads tourists from one end of the world to the other in search of adventure. when he has nothing to do he sits down, smokes his pipe, and thinks about his ancestors. he never rides, walks, dances, or takes the least exercise for pleasure alone. it is business and nothing else that controls his movements. when an english ship touched at hong kong some years ago, the captain gave a ball to the foreign residents, and invited several chinese merchants to attend the festivities. one heavy old merchant who had never before seen anything of the kind, looked on patiently, and when the dance was concluded he beckoned the captain to his side and asked if he could not get his servants to do that work and save him the trouble. [illustration: priest in temple of confucius.] one of the great curiosities of pekin is the temple of confucius, where once a year the emperor worships the great sage without the intervention of paintings or images. in the central shrine there is a small piece of wood, a few inches long, standing upright and bearing the name of confucius in chinese characters. the temple contains several stone tablets, on which are engraved the records of honor conferred on literary men, and it is the height of a chinese scholar's ambition to win a place here. there are several fine trees in the spacious court yard, and they are said to have been planted by the mongol dynasty more than five hundred years ago. the building is a magnificent one, and contains many curious relics of the various dynasties, some of them a thousand years old. the ceiling is especially gorgeous, and the tops of the interior walls are ornamented with wooden boards bearing the names of the successive emperors in raised gilt characters. as soon as an emperor ascends the throne he at once adds his name to the list. the temple of heaven and the temple of earth are also among the curiosities of pekin. the former stands in an enclosed space a mile square, and has a great central pavilion, with a blue roof, and a gilt top that shines in the afternoon sun like the dome of st. isaac's church at st. petersburg. the enclosed space includes a park, beautifully laid out with avenues of trees and with regular, well paved walks. in the park are some small buildings where the priests live, that is to say, they are small compared with the main structure, though they are really fine edifices. the great pavilion is on a high causeway, and has flights of steps leading up to it from different directions. the pavilion is three stories high, the eaves of each story projecting very far and covered with blue enameled tiles. an enormous gilt ball crowns the whole, and around the building there is a bewildering array of arches and columns, with promenades and steps of white marble, evincing great skill and care in their construction. unfortunately, the government is not taking good care of the temple, and the grass is growing in many places in the crevices of the pavements. the temple of earth is where the emperor goes annually to witness the ceremony of opening the planting season, and to inaugurate it by ploughing the first furrow. the ceremony is an imposing one, and never fails to draw a large assemblage. one of the most interesting objects in the vicinity of pekin previous to 1860 was "yuen-ming yuen," or the summer palace of the emperor, kien loong. it was about eight miles northwest of the city, and bore the relation to pekin that versailles does to paris. i say _was_, because it was ravaged by the english and french forces in their advance upon the chinese capital, and all the largest and best of the buildings were burned. the country was hilly, and advantage was taken of this fact, so that the park presented every variety of hill, dale, woodland, lawn, garden, and meadow, interspersed with canals, pools, rivulets, and lakes, with their banks in imitation of nature. the park contained about twelve square miles, and there were nearly forty houses for the residence of the emperor's ministers, each of them surrounded with buildings for large retinues of servants. the summer palace, or central hall of reception, was an elaborate structure, and when it was occupied by the french army thousands of yards of the finest silk and crape were found there. these articles were so abundant that the soldiers used them for bed clothes and to wrap around other plunder. the cost of this palace amounted to millions of dollars, and the blow was severely felt by the chinese government. the park is still worth a visit, but less so than before the destruction of the palace. in the country around pekin there are many private burying grounds belonging to families; the chinese do not, like ourselves, bury their dead in common cemeteries, but each family has a plot of its own. sometimes a few families combine and own a place together; they generally select a spot in a grove of trees, and make it as attractive as possible. the chinese are more careful of their resting places after death than before it; a wealthy man will live in a miserable hovel, but he looks forward to a commodious tomb beneath pretty shade trees. the tender regard for the dead is an admirable trait in the chinese character, and springs, no doubt, from that filial piety which is so deeply engraved on the oriental mind. [illustration: comforts and conveniences.] [illustration: filial affection.] in europe and america it is the custom not to mention coffins in polite society, and the contemplation of one is always mournful. but in china a coffin is a thing to be made a show of, like a piano. in many houses there is a room set apart for the coffins of the members of the family, and the owners point them out with pride. they practice economy to lay themselves out better than their rivals, and sometimes a man who has made a good thing by swindling or robbing somebody, will use the profits in buying a coffin, just as an american would treat himself to a gold watch or diamond pin. the most elegant gift that a child can make to his sick father is a coffin that he has paid for out of his own labor; it is not considered a hint to the old gentleman to hand in his checks and get out of the way, but rather as a mark of devotion which all good boys should imitate. the coffins are finely ornamented, according to the circumstances of the owner, and i have heard that sometimes a thief will steal a fine one and commit suicide--first arranging with his friends to bury him in it before his theft is discovered. if he is not found out he thinks he has made a good thing of it. whenever the chinese sell ground for building purposes they always stipulate for the removal of the bones of their ancestors for many generations. the bones are carefully dug up and put in earthen jars, when they are sealed up, labeled, and put away in a comfortable room, as if they were so many pots of pickles and fruits. every respectable family in china has a liberal supply of potted ancestors on hand, but would not part with them at any price. nothing can surpass the calm resignation with which the chinese part with life. they die without groans, and have no mental terror at the approach of death. abbe hue says that when they came for him to administer the last sacraments to a dying convert, their formula of saying that the danger was imminent, was in the words, "the sick man does not smoke his pipe." when a chinese wishes to revenge himself upon another he furtively places a corpse upon the property of his enemy. this subjects the man on whose premises the body is found to many vexatious visits from the officials, and also to claims on the part of the relations of the dead man. the height of a joke of this kind is to commit suicide on another man's property in such a way as to appear to have been murdered there. this will subject the unfortunate object of revenge to all sorts of legal vexations, and not unfrequently to execution. suicide for revenge would be absurd in america, but is far from unknown at the antipodes. [illustration: tail piece--opium pipe] chapter xxxi. it was my original intention to make a journey from kiachta to pekin and back again, but the lateness of the season prevented me. i did not wish to be caught in the desert of gobi in winter. i talked with several persons who had traversed mongolia, and among them a gentleman who had just arrived from the chinese capital. i made many notes from his recital which i found exceedingly interesting. for a time the chinese refused passports to foreigners wishing to cross mongolia; but on finding their action was likely to cause trouble, they gave the desired permission, though accompanying it with an intimation that the privilege might be suspended at any time. the bonds that unite mongolia to the great empire are not very strong, the natives being somewhat indifferent to their rulers and ready at any decent provocation to throw off their yoke. though engaged in the peaceful pursuits of sheep-tending, and transporting freight between russia and china, they possess a warlike spirit and are capable of being roused into violent action. they are proud of tracing their ancestry to the soldiers that marched with genghis khan, and carried his victorious banners into central europe; around their fires at night no stories are more eagerly heard than those of war, and he who can relate the most wonderful traditions of daring deeds may be certain of admiration and applause. the first "outside barbarian," other than russians, who attempted this overland journey, was a young french count, who traveled in search of adventure. proceeding eastward from st. petersburg, he reached kiachta in 1859. after some hesitation, the governor-general of eastern siberia appointed him secretary to a russian courier _en route_ for pekin. he made the journey without serious hindrance, but on reaching the chinese capital his nationality was discovered, and he was forced to return to siberia. from pekin the traveller destined for siberia passes through the northern gate amid clouds of dust or pools of mud, according as the day of his exit is fair or stormy. he meets long strings of carts drawn by mules, oxen, or ponies, carrying country produce of different kinds to be digested in the great maw of the imperial city. animals with pack-saddles, swaying under heavy burdens, swell the caravans, and numerous equestrians, either bestriding their steeds, or sitting sidewise in apparent carelessness, are constantly encountered. now and then an unruly mule causes a commotion in the crowd by a vigorous use of his heels, and a watchful observer may see an unfortunate native sprawling on the ground in consequence of approaching too near one of the hybrid beasts. chinese mules _will_ kick as readily as their american cousins; and i can say from experience, that their hoofs are neither soft nor delicate. they can bray, too, in tones terribly discordant and utterly destructive of sleep. the natives have a habit of suppressing their music when it becomes positively unbearable, and the means they employ may be worth notice. a chinaman says a mule cannot bray without elevating his tail to a certain height; so to silence the beast he ties a stone to that ornamental appendage, and depends upon the weight to shut off the sound. out of compassion to the mule, he attaches the stone so that it rests upon the ground and makes no strain as long as the animal behaves himself. [illustration: a musical stop.] a chinese pack-mule will carry about four hundred pounds of dead weight, if properly adjusted. the loads are not lashed on the animals' backs, but simply balanced; consequently, they must be very nicely divided and arranged on each side of the saddles. on the road from pekin the track is so wretched, and the carts so roughly made, that journeying with wheeled vehicles is next to an impossibility. travelers go on horseback--if their circumstances allow--and by way of comfort, especially if there be ladies in the party, they generally provide themselves with mule-litters. the mule-litter is a goodly-sized palanquin, not quite long enough for lying at full length, but high enough to allow the passenger to sit erect. there is a box or false flooring in the bottom, to accommodate baggage in small parcels that can be easily stowed. a good litter has the sides stuffed to save the occupant from bruises; and with plenty of straw and a couple of pillows, he generally finds himself quite comfortable. the body is fastened to two strong and flexible poles that extend fore and aft far enough to serve as shafts for a couple of mules. at the ends of the shafts their points are connected by stout bands of leather that pass over the saddles of the respective mules; each band is kept in place by an iron pin fixed in the top of the saddle, and passing through a hole in the leather. as the shafts are long enough to afford the animals plenty of walking room, there is a good deal of spring to the concern, and the motion is by no means disagreeable. sometimes the bands slip from the shafts, and in such case the machine comes to the ground with a disagreeable thump; if the traveler happens to be asleep at the time he can easily imagine he is being shot from a catapult. just outside of pekin there is a sandy plain, and beyond it a fine stretch of country under careful cultivation, the principal cereal being millet, that often stands ten or twelve feet high. some cotton is grown, but the region is too far north to render its culture profitable. about twenty miles from pekin is the village of sha-ho, near two old stone bridges that span a river now nearly dried away. the village is a sort of half-way halting place between. pekin and the nankow pass, a rocky defile twelve or fifteen miles long. the huge boulders and angular fragments of stone have been somewhat worn down and smoothed by constant use, though they are still capable of using up a good many mule-hoofs annually. with an eye to business, a few traveling farriers hang about this pass, and find occasional employment in setting shoes. chinese shoeing, considered as a fine art, is very much in its infancy. animals are only shod when the nature of the service requires it; the farriers do not attempt to make shoes to order, but they keep a stock of iron plates on hand, and select the nearest size they can find. they hammer the plate a little to fit it to the hoof and then fasten it on; an american blacksmith would be astonished at the rapidity with which his chinese brother performs his work. the pass of nankow contains the remains of several old forts, which were maintained in former times to protect china from mongol incursions. the natural position is a strong one, and a small force could easily keep at bay a whole army. just outside the northern entrance of the pass there is a branch of one of the "great walls" of china. it was built some time before _the_ great wall. foreigners visiting pekin and desiring to see the great wall are usually taken to nankow, and gravely told they have attained the object they seek. perhaps it is just as well for them to believe so, since they avoid a journey of fifty miles farther over a rough road to reach the real great wall; besides, the chinese who have contracted to take them on the excursion are able to make a nice thing of it, since they charge as much for one place as for the other. the country for a considerable distance is dotted with old forts and ruins, and the remains of extensive earthworks. many battles were fought here between the chinese and the mongols when genghis khan made his conquest. for a long time the assailants were kept at bay, but one fortress after another fell into their hands, and finally the capture of the nankow pass by che-pee, one of genghis khan's generals, laid pekin at their mercy. [illustration: nankow pass.] there is a tradition that the loss of the first line of northern forts was due to a woman. intelligence was transmitted in those days by means of beacon fires, and the signals were so arranged as to be rapidly flashed through the empire. once a lady induced the emperor to give the signal and summon his armies to the capital. the mandarins assembled with their forces, but on finding they had been simply employed at the caprice of a woman, they returned angrily to their homes. by-and-by the enemy came; the beacon fires were again lighted; but this time the mandarins did not heed the call for assistance. the great wall--the real one--crosses the road at chan-kia-kow, a large and scattered town lying in a broad valley, pretty well enclosed by mountains. the russians call the town kalgan (gate), but the natives never use any other than the chinese name. in maps made from russian authorities, kalgan appears, while in those taken from the chinese, the other appellation is used. kalgan (i stick to the russian term, as more easily pronounced, though less correct) is the centre of the transit trade from pekin to kiachta, and great quantities of tea and other goods pass through it annually. several russians are established there, and the town contains a population of chinese from various provinces of the empire, mingled with mongols and thibetans in fair proportion. the religion is varied, and embraces adherents to all the branches of chinese theology, together with mongol lamas and a considerable sprinkling of mahommedans. there are temples, lamissaries, and mosques, according to the needs of the faithful; and the russian inhabitants have a chapel of their own, and are thus able to worship according to their own faith. the mingling of different tribes and kinds of people in a region where manners and morals are not severely strict, has produced a result calculated to puzzle the present or future ethnologist. many of the merchants have grown wealthy, and take life as comfortably as possible; they furnish their houses in the height of chinese style, and some of them have even sent to russia for the wherewith to astonish their neighbors. the great wall runs along the ridge of hills in a direction nearly east and west; where it crosses the town it is kept in good repair, but elsewhere it is very much in ruins, and could offer little resistance to an enemy. many of the towers remain, and some of them are but little broken. they seem to have been better constructed than the main portions of the wall, and, though useless against modern weapons, were, no doubt, of importance in the days of their erection. the chinese must have held the mongol hordes in great dread, to judge by the labor expended to guard against incursions. as kalgan is the frontier town between china and mongolia, many mongols go there for all purposes, from trading down to loafing. they bring their camels to engage in transporting goods across the desert, and indulge in a great deal of traffic on their own account. they drive cattle, sheep, and horses from their pastures farther north, and sell them for local use, or for the market at pekin. mutton is the staple article of food, and nearly always cheap and abundant. the hillsides are covered with flocks, which often graze where nothing else can live. in the autumn, immense numbers of sheep are driven to pekin, and sometimes the road is fairly blocked with them. every morning there is a horse-fair on an open space just beyond the great wall, and on its northern side. the modes of buying and selling horses are very curious, and many of the tricks would be no discredit to american jockeys. the horses are tied or held wherever their owners can keep them, and in the centre of the fair grounds there is a space where the beasts are shown off. they trot or gallop up and down the course, their riders yelling as if possessed of devils, and holding their whips high in air. these riders are generally mongols; their garments flutter like the decorations of a scarecrow in a morning breeze, and their pig-tails, if not carefully triced up, stand out at right angles like ships' pennants in a northeast gale. notwithstanding all the confusion, it rarely happens that anybody is run over, though there are many narrow escapes. [illustration: racing at the kalgan fair.] the fair is attended by two classes of people--those who want to trade in horses, and those who don't; between them they manage to assemble a large crowd. there are always plenty of curbstone brokers, or intermediaries, who hang around the fair to negotiate purchases and sales. they have a way of conducting trades by drawing their long sleeves over their hands, and making or receiving bids by means of the concealed fingers. this mode of telegraphing is quite convenient when secrecy is desired, and prevails in many parts of asia. taverneir and other travelers say the diamond merchants conduct their transactions in this manner, even when no one is present to observe them. [illustration: street in kalgan.] unless arrangements have been made beforehand, it will be necessary to spend three or four days at kalgan in preparing for the journey over the desert. camels must be hired, carts purchased, baggage packed in convenient parcels, and numerous odds and ends provided against contingencies. of course, there is generally something forgotten, even after careful attention to present and prospective wants. but we are off at last. the start consumes the greater part of a day, as it is best to have nothing done carelessly at the outset. the heavy baggage is loaded upon the camels, the animals lying down and patiently waiting while their cargoes are stowed. pieces of felt cloth are packed between and around their humps, to prevent injury from the cords that sustain the bundles. the drivers display much ingenuity in arranging the loads so that they shall be easily balanced, and the sides of the beasts as little injured as possible. spite of precautions, the camels get ugly sores in their sides and backs, which grow steadily worse by use. occasionally their hoofs crack and fill with sand, and when this occurs, their owner has no alternative but to rest them a month or two, or risk losing their services altogether. the principal travel over the desert is in the cold season. in the autumn, the camels are fat, and their humps appear round and hard. they are then steadily worked until spring, and very often get very little to eat. as the camel grows thin, his humps fall to one side, and the animal assumes a woe-begone appearance. in the spring, his hair falls off; his naked skin wrinkles like a wet glove, and he becomes anything but an attractive object. [illustration: in good condition.] as a beast of burden, the camel is better than for purposes of draft. he can carry from six hundred to eight hundred pounds, if the load be properly placed on his back; but when he draws a cart the weight must be greatly diminished. in crossing mongolia, heavy baggage is carried on camels, but every traveler takes a cart for riding purposes, and alternates between it and his saddle horse. the cart is a sort of dog-house on two wheels; its frame is of wood, and has a covering of felt cloth, thick enough to ward off a light fall of rain, and embarrass a heavy one. it is barely high enough to allow a man to sit erect, but not sufficiently long to enable him to lie at full length. the body rests directly upon the axle, so that the passenger gets the full benefit of every jolt. the camel walks between the shafts, and his great body is the chief feature of the scenery when one looks ahead. the harness gives way occasionally, and allows the shafts to fall to the ground; when this happens, the occupant runs the risk of being dumped among the ungainly feet that propel his vehicle. one experience of this kind is more than satisfactory. after passing a range of low mountains north of kalgan, the road enters the table-land of mongolia, elevated about five thousand feet above the sea. the country opens into a series of plains and gentle swells, not unlike the rolling prairies of kansas and nebraska, with here and there a stretch of hills. very often not a single tree is visible, and the only stationary objects that break the monotony of the scene are occasional yourts, or tents of the natives. all the way along the road there are numerous trains of ox-carts, and sometimes they form a continuous line of a mile or more. those going southward are principally laden with logs of wood from the valley of the tolla, about two hundred miles from the siberian frontier. the logs are about six or seven feet long, and their principal use is to be cut into chinese coffins. many a gentleman of pekin has been stowed in a coffin whose wood grew in the middle of mongolia; and possibly when our relations with the empire become more intimate, we shall supply the chinese coffin market from the fine forests of our pacific coast. chapter xxxii. north of kalgan the native habitations are scattered irregularly over the country wherever good water and grass abound. the mongols are generally nomadic, and consult the interest of their flocks and herds in their movements. in summer they resort to the table-land, and stay wherever fancy or convenience dictates; in winter they prefer the valleys where they are partially sheltered from the sharp winds, and find forage for their stock. the desert is not altogether a desert; it has a great deal of sand and general desolation to the day's ride, but is far from being a forsaken region where a wolf could not make a living. antelopes abound, and are often seen in large droves as upon our western plains; grouse will afford frequent breakfasts to the traveler if he takes the trouble to shoot them; there are wild geese, ducks, and curlew in the ponds and marshes; and taken for all in all, the country might be much worse than it is--which is bad enough. the flat or undulating country is, of course, monotonous. sunset and sunrise are not altogether unlike those events on the ocean, and if a traveler wishes to feel himself quite at sea, he has only to wander off and lose his camp or caravan. the natives make nothing of straying out of sight, and seem to possess the instincts which have been often noted in the american indian. without landmarks or other objects to guide them, they rarely mistake their position, even at night, and can estimate the extent of a day's journey with surprising accuracy. where a stranger can see no difference between one square mile of desert and a thousand others, the mongol can distinguish it from all the rest, though he may not be able to explain why. perception is closely allied to instinct, and as fast as we are developed and educated the more we trust to acquired knowledge and the less to the unaided senses. of course it is quite easy for a stranger to be lost in the mongolian desert beyond all hope of finding his way again, unless some one comes to his aid. a russian gentleman told me his experience in getting lost there several years ago. "i used," said he, "to have a fondness for pursuing game whenever we sighted any, which was pretty often, and as i had a couple of hardy ponies, i did a great deal of chasing. one afternoon i saw a fine drove of antelopes, and set out in pursuit of them. the chase led me further than i expected: the game was shy, and i could not get near enough for a good shot; after a long pursuit i gave up, and concluded to return to the road. just as i abandoned the chase the sun was setting. my notion of the direction i ought to go was not entirely clear, as i had followed a very tortuous course in pursuing the antelopes. "i was not altogether certain which way i turned when i left the road. it was my impression that i went to the eastward and had been moving away from the sun; so i turned my pony's head in a westerly direction and followed the ridges, which ran from east to west. hour after hour passed away, the stars came out clear and distinct in the sky, and marked off the progress of the night as they, slowly moved from east to west. i grew hungry, and thirsty, and longed most earnestly to reach the caravan. my pony shared my uneasiness, and moved impatiently, now endeavoring to go in one direction and now in another. thinking it possible that he might know the proper route better than i, i gave him free rein, but soon found he was as much at fault as myself. then i fully realized i was lost in the desert. "without compass or landmark to guide me, there was no use in further attempts to find the caravan. following the mongol custom, i carried a long rope attached to my saddle-bow, and with this i managed to picket the pony where he could graze and satisfy his hunger. how i envied his ability to eat the grass, which, though scanty, was quite sufficient. i tried to sleep, but sleeping was no easy matter. first, i had the consciousness of being lost. then i was suffering from hunger and thirst, and the night, like all the nights in mongolia, even in midsummer, was decidedly chilly, and as i had only my ordinary clothing, the cold caused me to shiver violently. the few snatches of sleep i caught were troubled with many dreams, none of them pleasant. all sorts of horrible fancies passed through my brain, and i verily believe that though i did not sleep half an hour in the whole night, the incidents of my dreams were enough for a thousand years. [illustration: lost in the desert of gobi.] "thoughts of being devoured by wild beasts haunted me, though in truth i had little of this fate to fear. the only carnivorous beasts on the desert are wolves, but as game is abundant, and can be caught with ordinary exertion, they have no occasion to feed upon men. about midnight my fears were roused by my pony taking alarm at the approach of some wild beast. he snorted and pulled at his rope, and had it not been for my efforts to soothe him, he would have broken away and fled. i saw nothing and heard nothing, though i fancied i could discover half a dozen dark forms on the horizon, and hear a subdued howl from an animal i supposed to be a wolf. "morning came. i was suffering from hunger, and more from thirst. my throat was parched, my tongue was swollen, and there was a choking sensation as if i were undergoing strangulation. how i longed for water! mounting my horse, i rode slowly along the ridge toward the west, and after proceeding several miles, discovered a small lake to my right. my horse scented it earlier than i, and needed no urging to reach it. dismounting, i bent over and drank from the edge, which was marked with the tracks of antelopes, and of numerous aquatic birds. the water was brackish and bitter, but i drank it with eagerness. my thirst was satisfied, but the water gave me a severe pain in my stomach, that soon became almost as unendurable as the previous dryness. i stood for some minutes on the shore of the lake, and preparing to remount my horse, the bridle slipped from my hand. mongol ponies are generally treacherous, and mine proved no exception to the rule. finding himself free, he darted off and trotted back the way we had come. "i know that search would be made for me, and my hope now lay in some one coming to the lake. it did not require long deliberation to determine me to remain in the vicinity of the water. as long as i was near it i could not perish of thirst; and moreover, the mongols, who probably knew of the lake, might be attracted here for water, and, if looking for me, would be likely to take the lake in the way. tying my kerchief to my ramrod, which i fixed in the ground, i lay down on the grass and slept, as near as i could estimate, for more than two hours. "seeing some water-fowl a short distance away, i walked in their direction, and luckily found a nest among the reeds, close to the water's edge. the six or eight eggs it contained were valuable prizes; one i swallowed raw, and the others i carried to where i left my gun. gathering some of the dry grass and reeds, i built a fire and roasted the eggs, which gave me a hearty meal. the worst of my hardships seemed over. i had found water--bad water, it is true--but still it was possible to drink it; by searching among the reeds i could find an abundance of eggs; my gun could procure me game, and the reeds made a passable sort of fuel. i should be discovered in a few days at farthest, and i renewed my determination to remain near the lake. "the day passed without any incident to vary the monotony. refreshed by my meal and by a draught from a small pool of comparatively pure water, i was able to sleep most of the afternoon, so as to keep awake during the night, when exercise was necessary to warmth. about sunset a drove of antelopes came near me, and by shooting one i added venison to my bill of fare. in the night i amused myself with keeping my fire alive, and listening to the noise of the birds that the unusual sight threw into a state of alarm. on the following morning, as i lay on my bed of reeds, a dozen antelopes, attracted by my kerchief fluttering in the wind, stood watching me, and every few minutes approaching a few steps. they were within easy shooting distance, but i had no occasion to kill them. so i lay perfectly still, watching their motions and admiring their beauty. "all at once, though i had not moved a muscle, they turned and ran away. while i was wondering what could have disturbed them i heard the shout of two mongol horsemen, who were riding toward me, and leading my pony they had caught a dozen miles away. a score of men from the caravan had been in search of me since the morning after my disappearance, and had ridden many a mile over the desert." the mongols are a strong, hardy, and generally good-natured race, possessing the spirit of perseverance quite as much as the chinese. they have the free manners of all nomadic people, and are noted for unvarying hospitality to visitors. every stranger is welcome, and has the best the host can give; the more he swallows of what is offered him, the better will be pleased the household. as the native habits are not especially cleanly, a fastidiously inclined guest has a trying time of it. the staple dish of a mongol yourt is boiled mutton, but it is unaccompanied with capers or any other kind of sauce or seasoning. a sheep goes to pot immediately on being killed, and the quantity that each man will consume is something surprising. when the meat is cooked it is lifted out of the hot water and handed, all dripping and steamy, to the guests. each man takes a large lump on his lap, or any convenient support, and then cuts off little chunks which he tosses into his mouth as if it were a mill-hopper. the best piece is reserved for the guest of honor, who is expected to divide it with the rest; after the meat is devoured they drink the broth, and this concludes the meal. knives and cups are the only aids to eating, and as every man carries his own "outfit," the mongol dinner service is speedily arranged. the entire work consists in seating the party around a pot of cooked meat. [illustration: mongol dinner table.] the desert is crossed by various ridges and small mountain chains, that increase in frequency and make the country more broken as one approaches the tolla, the largest stream between pekin and kiachta. the road, after traversing the last of these chains, suddenly reveals a wide valley which bears evidence of fertility in its dense forests, and the straggling fields which receive less attention than they deserve. the tolla has an ugly habit of rising suddenly and falling deliberately. when at its height, the stream has a current of about seven miles an hour, and at the fording place the water is over the back of an ordinary pony. the bottom of the river consists of large boulders of all sizes from an egg up to a cotton bale, and the footing for both horses and camels is not specially secure. the camels need a good deal of persuasion with clubs before they will enter the water; they have an instinctive dread of that liquid and avoid it whenever they can. horses are less timorous, and the best way to get a camel through the ford is to lead him behind a horse and pound him vigorously at the same time. when the river is at all dangerous there is always a swarm of natives around the ford ready to lend a hand if suitably compensated. they all talk very much and in loud tones; their voices mingle with the neighing of horses, the screams of camels, the roaring of the river, and the laughter of the idlers when any mishap occurs. the confused noises are in harmony with the scene on either bank, where baggage is piled promiscuously, and the natives are grouped together in various picturesque attitudes. men with their lower garments rolled as high as possible, or altogether discarded, walk about in perfect nonchalance; their queues hanging down their backs seem designed as rudders to steer the wearers across the stream. [illustration: crossing the tolla] about two miles from the ford of the tolla there is a chinese settlement, which forms a sort of suburb to the mongol town of urga. the mongols have no great friendship for the chinese inhabitants, who are principally engaged in traffic and the various occupations connected with the transport of goods. between this suburb and the main town the russians have a large house, which is the residence of a consul and some twenty or thirty retainers. the policy of maintaining a consulate there can only be explained on the supposition that russia expects and intends to appropriate a large slice of mongolia whenever opportunity offers. she has long insisted that the chain of mountains south of urga was the "natural boundary," and her establishment of an expensive post at that city enables her to have things ready whenever a change occurs. in the spirit of annexation and extension of territory the russians can fairly claim equal rank with ourselves. i forget their phrase for "manifest destiny," and possibly they may not be willing that i should give it. urga is not laid out in streets like most of the chinese towns; its by-ways and high-ways are narrow and crooked, and form a network very puzzling to a stranger. the chinese and russian settlers live in houses, and there are temples and other permanent buildings, but the mongols live generally in yourts, which they prefer to more extensive structures. most of the mongol traffic is conducted in a large esplanade, where you can purchase anything the country affords, and at very fair prices. the principal feature of urga is the lamissary or convent where a great many lamas or holy men reside. i have heard the number estimated at fifteen thousand, but cannot say if it be more or less. the religion of the mongols came originally from thibet, by direct authority of the grand lama, but a train of circumstances which i have not space to explain, has made it virtually independent. the chinese government maintains shrewd emissaries among these lamas, and thus manages to control the mongols and prevent their setting up for themselves. as a further precaution it has a lamissary at pekin, where it keeps two thousand mongol lamas at its own expense. in this way it is able to influence the nomads of the desert, and in case of trouble it would possess a fair number of hostages for an emergency. about the year 1205 the great battle between timoujin and the sovereign then occupying the mongol throne was fought a short distance from urga. the victory was decisive for the former, who thus became genghis khan and commenced that career of conquest which made his name famous. great numbers of devotees from all parts of mongolia visit urga every year, the journey there having something of the sacred character which a mahommedan attaches to a pilgrimage to mecca. the people living at urga build fences around their dwellings to protect their property from the thieves who are in large proportion among the pious travelers. from urga to the siberian frontier the distance is less than two hundred miles; the russian couriers accomplish it in fifty or sixty hours when not delayed by accidents, but the caravans require from four to eight days. there is a system of relays arranged by the chinese so that one can travel very speedily if he has proper authority. couriers have passed from kiachta to pekin in ten or twelve days; but the rough road and abominable carts make them feel at their journey's end about as if rolled through a patent clotheswringer. a mail is carried twice a month each way by the russians. several schemes have been proposed for a trans-mongolian telegraph, but thus far the chinese government has refused to permit its construction. the desert proper is finished before one reaches the mountains bordering the tolla; after crossing that stream and leaving urga the road passes through a hilly country, sprinkled, it is true, with a good many patches of sand, but having plenty of forest and frequently showing fertile valleys. these valleys are the favorite resorts of the mongol shepherds and herdsmen, some of whom count their wealth by many thousand animals. in general, mongolia is not agricultural, both from the character of the country and the disposition of the people. a few tribes in the west live by tilling the soil in connection with stock raising, but i do not suppose they take kindly to the former occupation. the mongols engaged in the caravan service pass a large part of their lives on the road, and are merry as larks over their employment. they seem quite analogous to the teamsters and miscellaneous "plainsmen" who used to play an important part on our overland route. a large proportion of the men engaged in this transit service are lamas, their sacred character not excusing them, as many suppose, from all kinds of employment. many lamas are indolent and manage in some way to make a living without work, but this is by no means the universal character of the holy men. about one-fifth of the male population belong to the religious order, so that there are comparatively few families which do not have a member or a relative in the pale of the church. if not domiciled in a convent or blessed by fortune in some way, the lama turns his hand to labor, though he is able at the same time to pick up occasional presents for professional service. many of them act as teachers or schoolmasters. theoretically he cannot marry any more than a romish priest, but his vows of celibacy are not always strictly kept. one inconvenience under which he labors is in never daring to kill anything through fear that what he slaughters may contain the soul of a relative, and possibly that of the divine bhudda. a lama will purchase a sheep on which he expects to dine, and though fully accessory before and after the fact, he does not feel authorized to use the knife with his own hand. even should he be annoyed by fleas or similar creeping things (if it were a township or city the lama's body could return a flattering census,) he must bear the infliction until patience is thoroughly exhausted. at such times he may call an unsanctified friend and subject himself and garments to a thorough examination. [illustration: the schoolmaster.] every lama carries with him a quantity of written prayers, which he reads or recites, and the oftener they are repeated the greater is their supposed efficacy. quantity is more important than quality, and to facilitate matters they frequently have a machine, which consists of a wheel containing a lot of prayers. sometimes it is turned by hand and sometimes attached to a wind-mill; the latter mode being preferred. abbe hue and others have remarked a striking similarity between the bhuddist and roman catholic forms of worship and the origin of the two religions. hue infers that bhuddism was borrowed from christianity; on the other hand, many lamas declare that the reverse is the case. the question has caused a great deal of discussion first and last, but neither party appears disposed to yield. the final stretch of road toward the siberian frontier is across a sandy plain, six or eight miles wide. on emerging from the hills at its southern edge the dome of the church in kiachta appears in sight, and announces the end of mongolian travel. no lighthouse is more welcome to a mariner than is the view of this russian town to a traveler who has suffered the hardships of a journey from pekin. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xxxiii. the week i remained at kiachta was a time of festivity from beginning to end. i endeavored to write up my journal but was able to make little more than rough notes. the good people would have been excusable had they not compelled me to drink so much excellent champagne. the amiable merchants of kiachta are blessed with such capacities for food and drink that they do not think a guest satisfied until he has swallowed enough to float a steamboat. i found an excellent _compagnon du voyage_, and our departure was fixed for the evening after the dinner with mr. pfaffius. a change from dinner dress to traveling costume was speedily made, and i was _gotovey_ when my friend arrived with several officers to see us off. about eight o'clock we took places in my tarantass, and drove out of the northern gate of troitskosavsk. my traveling companion was mr. richard maack, superintendent of public instruction in eastern siberia. he was just finishing a tour among the schools in the trans-baikal province, and during fourteen years of siberian life, he had seen a variety of service. he accompanied general mouravieff oil the first expedition down the amoor, and wrote a detailed account of his journey. subsequently he explored the ousuree in the interest of the russian geographical society. he said that his most arduous service was in a winter journey to the valley of the lena, and along the shores of the arctic ocean. the temperature averaged lower than in dr. kane's hibernation on the coast of greenland, and once remained at -60â° for nearly three weeks. of five persons comprising the party, maack is the only survivor. one of his companions fell dead in general mouravieff's parlor while giving his account of the exploration. we determined to be comfortable on the way to irkutsk. we put our baggage in a telyaga with maack's servant and took the tarantass to ourselves. the road was the same i traveled from verkne udinsk to kiachta, crossing the selenga at selenginsk. we slept most of the first night, and timed our arrival at selenginsk so as to find the school in session. during a brief halt while the smotretal prepared our breakfast, maack visited the school-master at his post of duty. over the hills behind a lake about a day's ride from selenginsk there is a bouriat village of a sacred character. it is the seat of a large temple or lamisary whence all the bouriats in siberia receive their religious teachings. a grand lama specially commissioned by the great chief of the bhuddist faith at thibet, presides over the lamisary. he is supposed to partake of the immortal essence of bhudda, and when his body dies, his spirit enters a younger person who becomes the lama after passing a certain ordeal. the village is wholly devoted to religious purposes, and occupied exclusively by bouriats. i was anxious to visit it, but circumstances did not favor my desires. we made both crossings of the selenga on the ice without difficulty. it was only a single day from the time the ferry ceased running until the ice was safe for teams. we reached verkne udinsk late in the evening, and drove to a house where my companion had friends. the good lady brought some excellent nalifka of her own preparation, and the more we praised it the more she urged us to drink. what with tea, nalifka, and a variety of solid food, we were pretty well filled during a halt of two hours. it was toward midnight when we emerged from the house to continue our journey. maack found his tarantass at verkne udinsk, and as it was larger and better than mine we assigned the latter to evan and the baggage, and took the best to ourselves. evan was a yakut whom my friend brought from the lena country. he was intelligent and active, and assisted greatly to soften the asperities of the route. with my few words of russian, and his quick comprehension, we understood each other very well. during the first few hours from verkne udinsk the sky was obscured and the air warm. my furs were designed for cold weather, and their weight in the temperature then prevailing threw me into perspiration. in my dehar i was unpleasantly warm, and without it i shivered. i kept alternately opening and closing the garment, and obtained very little sleep up to our arrival at the first station. while we were changing horses the clouds blew away and the temperature fell several degrees. under the influence of the cold i fell into a sound sleep, and did not heed the rough, grater-like surface of the recently frozen road. from verkne udinsk to lake baikal, the road follows the selenga valley, which gradually widens as one descends it. the land appears fertile and well adapted to farming purposes but only a small portion is under cultivation. the inhabitants are pretty well rewarded for their labor if i may judge by the appearance of their farms and villages. until reaching ilyensk, i found the cliffs and mountains extending quite near the river. in some places the road is cut into the rocks in such a way as to afford excitement to a nervous traveler. the villages were numerous and had an air of prosperity. here and there new houses were going up, and made quite a contrast to the old and decaying habitations near them. my attention was drawn to the well-sweeps exactly resembling those in the rural districts of new england. from the size of the sweeps, i concluded the wells were deep. the soil in the fields had a loose, friable appearance that reminded me of the farming lands around cleveland, ohio. one of the villages where we changed horses is called kabansk from the russian word '_kaban_' (wild boar). this animal abounds in the vicinity and is occasionally hunted for sport. the chase of the wild boar is said to be nearly as dangerous as that of the bear, the brute frequently turning upon his pursuer and making a determined fight. we passed the monastery of troitska founded in 1681 for the conversion of the bouriats. it is an imposing edifice built like a russian church in the middle of a large area surrounded by a high wall. though it must have impressed the natives by its architectural effects it was powerless to change their faith. [illustration: wild boar hunt.] as it approaches lake baikal the selenga divides into several branches, and encloses a large and very fertile delta. the afternoon following our departure from verkne udinsk, we came in sight of the lake, and looked over the blue surface of the largest body of fresh water in northern asia. the mountains on the western shore appeared about eight or ten miles away, though they were really more than thirty. we skirted the shore of the lake, turning our horses' heads to the southward. the clear water reminded me of lake michigan as one sees it on approaching chicago by railway from the east. its waves broke gently on a pebbly beach, where the cold of commencing winter had changed much of the spray to ice. there was no steamer waiting at posolsky, but we were told that one was hourly expected. maack was radiant at finding a letter from his wife awaiting him at the station. i enquired for letters but did not obtain any. unlike my companion. i had no wife at irkutsk. [illustration: a wife at irkutsk.] [illustration: no wife at irkutsk.] the steamboat landing is nine versts below the town, and as the post route ended at posolsky, we were obliged to engage horses at a high rate, to take us to the port. the alternate freezing and thawing of the road--its last act was to freeze--had rendered it something like the rough way in a son-of-malta lodge. the agent assured us the steamer would arrive during the night. was there ever a steamboat agent who did not promise more than his employers performed? according to the tourist's phrase the port of posolsky can be 'done' in about five minutes. the entire settlement comprised two buildings, one a hotel, and the other a storehouse and stable. a large quantity of merchandise was piled in the open air, and awaited removal. it included tea from kiachta, and vodki or native whiskey from irkutsk. there are several distilleries in the trans-baikal province, but they are unable to meet the demand in the country east of the lake. from what i saw _in transitu_ the consumption must be enormous. the government has a tax on vodki equal to about fifty cents a gallon, which is paid by the manufacturers. the law is very strict, and the penalties are so great that i was told no one dared attempt an evasion of the excise duties, except by bribing the collector. the hotel was full of people waiting for the boat, and the accommodations were quite limited. we thought the tarantass preferable to the hotel, and retired early to sleep in our carriage. a teamster tied his horses to our wheels, and as the brutes fell to kicking during the night, and attempted to break away, they disturbed our slumbers. i rose at daybreak and watched the yemshicks making their toilet. the whole operation was performed by tightening the girdle and rubbing the half-opened eyes. morning brought no boat. there was nothing very interesting after we had breakfasted, and as we might be detained there a whole week, the prospect was not charming. we organized a hunting excursion, maack with his gun and i with my revolver. i assaulted the magpies which were numerous and impertinent, and succeeded in frightening them. gulls were flying over the lake; maack desired one for his cabinet at irkutsk, but couldn't get him. he brought down an enormous crow, and an imprudent hawk that pursued a small bird in our vicinity. his last exploit was in shooting a partridge which alighted, strange to say, on the roof of the hotel within twenty feet of a noisy crowd of yemshicks. the bird was of a snowy whiteness, the siberian partridge changing from brown to white at the beginning of winter, and from white to brown again as the snow disappears. a "soudna" or sailing barge was anchored at the entrance of a little bay, and was being filled with tea to be transported to irkutsk. the soudna is a bluff-bowed, broad sterned craft, a sort of cross between noah's ark and a chinese junk. it is strong but not elegant, and might sail backward or sidewise nearly as well as ahead. its carrying capacity is great in proportion to its length, as it is very wide and its sides rise very high above the water. every soudna i saw had but one mast which carried a square sail. these vessels can only sail with the wind, and then not very rapidly. an american pilot boat could pass a thousand of them without half trying. about noon we saw a thin wreath of smoke betokening the approach of the steamer. in joy at this welcome sight we dined and bought tickets for the passage, ours of the first class being printed in gold, while evan's billet for the deck was in democratic black. it cost fifteen roubles for the transport of each tarantass, but our baggage was taken free, and we were not even required to unload it. [illustration: a soudna.] there is no wharf at posolsky and no harbor, the steamers anchoring in the open water half a mile from shore. passengers, mails, and baggage are taken to the steamer in large row boats, while heavy freight is carried in soudnas. the boat that took us brought a convoy of exiles before we embarked. they formed a double line at the edge of the lake where they were closely watched by their guards. when we reached the steamer we found another party of prisoners waiting to go on shore. all were clad in sheepskin pelisses and some carried extra garments. several women and children accompanied the party, and i observed two or three old men who appeared little able to make a long journey. one sick man too feeble to walk, was supported by his guards and his fellow prisoners. though there was little wind, and that little blew from shore, the boat danced uneasily on the waves. our carriages came off on the last trip of the boat, and were hoisted by means of a running tackle on one of the steamer's yards. while our embarkation was progressing a crew of russians and bouriats towed the now laden soudna to a position near our stern. when all was ready, we took her hawser, hoisted our anchor and steamed away. for some time i watched the low eastern shore of the lake until it disappeared in the distance. posolsky has a monastery built on the spot where a russian embassador with his suite was murdered by bouriats about the year 1680. the last objects i saw behind me were the walls, domes, and turrets of this monastery glistening in the afternoon sunlight. they rose clear and distinct on the horizon, an outwork of christianity against the paganism of eastern asia. the steamer was the _ignalienif_, a side wheel boat of about 300 tons. her model was that of an ocean or coasting craft, she had two masts, and could spread a little sail if desired. her engines were built at ekaterineburg in the ural mountains, and hauled overland 2500 miles. she and her sister boat, the _general korsackoff_, are very profitable to their owners during the months of summer. they carry passengers, mails, and light freight, and nearly always have one or two soudnas in tow. their great disadvantage at present is the absence of a port on the eastern shore. the navigation of lake baikal is very difficult. storms arise with little warning, and are often severe. at times the boats are obliged to remain for days in the middle of the lake as they cannot always make the land while a gale continues. there was very little breeze when we crossed, but the steamer was tossed quite roughly. the winds blowing from the mountains along the lake, frequently sweep with great violence and drive unlucky soudnas upon the rocks. the water of the lake is so clear that one can see to a very great depth. the lake is nearly four hundred miles long by about thirty or thirty-five in width; it is twelve hundred feet above the sea level, and receives nearly two hundred tributaries great and small. its outlet, the angara, is near the southwestern end, and is said to carry off not more than a tenth of the water that enters the lake. what becomes of the surplus is a problem no one has been able to solve. the natives believe there is an underground passage to the sea, and sonic geologists favor this opinion. soundings of 2000 feet have been made without finding bottom. on the western shore the mountains rise abruptly from the water, and in some places no bottom has been found at 400 feet depth, within pistol shot of the bank. this fact renders navigation dangerous, as a boat might be driven on shore in even a light breeze before her anchors found holding ground. the natives have many superstitions concerning lake baikal. in their language it is the "holy sea," and it would be sacrilege to term it a lake. certainly it has several marine peculiarities. gulls and other ocean birds frequent its shores, and it is the only body of fresh water on the globe where the seal abounds. banks of coral like those in tropical seas exist in its depths. [illustration: after the earthquake.] the mountains on the western shore are evidently of volcanic origin, and earthquakes are not unfrequent. a few years ago the village of stepnoi, about twenty miles from the mouth of the selenga, was destroyed by an earthquake. part of the village disappeared beneath the water while another part after sinking was lifted twenty or thirty feet above its original level. irkutsk has been frequently shaken at the foundations, and on one occasion the walls of its churches were somewhat damaged. around lake baikal there are several hot springs, some of which attract fashionable visitors from irkutsk during the season. [illustration: lake baikal in winter] the natives say nobody was ever lost in lake baikal. when a person is drowned there the waves invariably throw his body on shore. the lake does not freeze until the middle of december, and sometimes later. its temperature remains pretty nearly the same at all seasons, about 48â° fahrenheit. in winter it is crossed on the ice, the passage ordinarily occupying about five hours. the lake generally freezes when the air is perfectly still so that the surface is of glossy smoothness until covered with snow. a gentleman in irkutsk described to me his feelings when he crossed lake baikal in winter for the first time. the ice was six feet thick, but so perfectly transparent that he seemed driving over the surface of the water. the illusion was complete, and not wholly dispelled when he alighted. "starting from the western side, the opposite coast was not visible, and i experienced" said my friend, "the sensation of setting out in a sleigh to cross the atlantic from liverpool to new york." in summer and in winter communication is pretty regular, but there is a suspension of travel when the ice is forming, and another when it breaks up. this causes serious inconvenience, and has led the government to build a road around the southern extremity of the lake. the mountains are lofty and precipitous, and the work is done at vast expense. the road winds over cliffs and crags sometimes near the lake and again two thousand feet above it. largo numbers of peasants, bouriats, and prisoners have been employed there for several years, but the route was not open for wheeled vehicles at the time i crossed the lake. one mode of cutting the road through the mountains was to build large bonfires in winter when the temperature was very low. the heat caused the rock to crack so that large masses could be removed, but the operation was necessarily slow. the insurrection of june, 1866, occurred on this road. formerly a winter station was kept on the ice half-way across the lake. by a sudden thaw at the close of one winter the men and horses of a station were swallowed up, and nothing was known of them until weeks afterward, when their bodies were washed ashore. since this catastrophe the entire passage of the lake, about forty miles, is made without change of horses. we left posolsky and enjoyed a sunset on the lake. the mountains rise abruptly on the western and southeastern shores, and many of their snow covered peaks were beautifully tinged by the fading sunlight. the illusion regarding distances was difficult to overcome, and could only be realized by observing how very slowly we neared the mountains we were approaching. the atmosphere was of remarkable purity, and its powers of refraction reminded me of past experience in the rocky mountains. we had sunset and moon-rise at once. 'adam had no more in eden save the head of eve upon his shoulder.' the boat went directly across and then followed the edge of the lake to listvenichna, our point of debarkation. there was no table on board. we ordered the samovar, made our own tea, and supped from the last of our commissary stores. our fellow passengers in the cabin were two officers traveling to irkutsk, and a st. petersburg merchant who had just finished the amoor company's affairs. we talked, ate, drank, smoked, and slept during the twelve hours' journey. congratulate us on our quick passage! on her very next voyage the steamer was eight days on the lake, the wind blowing so that she could not come to either shore. to be cooped on this dirty and ill-provided boat long enough to cross the atlantic is a fate i hope never to experience. there is a little harbor at listvenichna and we came alongside a wharf. maack departed with our papers to procure horses, and left me to look at the vanishing crowd. take the passengers from the steerage of a lake or river steamer in america, dress them in sheepskin coats and caps, let them talk a language you cannot understand, and walk them into a cloud of steam as if going overboard in a fog, and you have a passable reproduction of the scene. a bright fire should be burning on shore to throw its contrast of light and shadow over the surroundings and heighten the picturesque effect. just as the deck hands were rolling our carriages on shore my companion returned, and announced our horses ready. we sought a little office near the head of the wharf where the chief of the '_tamojna_' (custom house) held his court. this official was known to mr. maack, and on our declaring that we had no dutiable effects we were passed without search. as before remarked all the country east of lake baikal is open to free trade. this result has been secured by the efforts of the present governor general of eastern siberia. under his liberal and enlightened policy he has done much to break down the old restrictions and develop the resources of a country over which he holds almost autocratic power. it was about three in the morning when we started over the frozen earth. two miles from the landing we reached the custom house barrier where a pole painted with the government colors stretched across the road. presenting our papers from the chief officer we were not detained. on the steamer when we were nearing harbor our conversation turned upon the custom house. it was positively asserted that the officials were open to pecuniary compliments, much, i presume like those in other lands. the gentleman from the amoor had considerable baggage, and prepared a five rouble note to facilitate his business. evidently he gave too little or did not bribe the right man, as i left him vainly imploring to be let alone in the centre of a pile of open baggage, like marius in the ruins of carthage. the road follows the right bank of the angara from the point where it leaves the lake. the current here is very strong, and the river rushes and breaks like the rapids of the st. lawrence. for several miles from its source it never freezes even in the coldest winters. during the season of ice this open space is the resort of many waterfowl, and is generally enveloped in a cloud of mist. at the head of the river rises a mass of rock known as _shaman kamen_ (spirit's rock). it is held in great veneration by the natives, and is believed to be the abode of a spirit who constantly overlooks the lake. when shamanism prevailed in this region many human sacrifices were made at the sacred rock. the most popular method was by tying the hands of the victim and tossing him into the 'hell of waters' below. many varieties of fish abound in the lake, and ascend its tributary rivers. the fishery forms quite a business for the inhabitants of the region, who find a good market at irkutsk. the principal fish taken are two or three varieties of sturgeon, the herring, pike, carp, the _askina_, and a white fish called _tymain_. there is a remarkable fish consisting of a mass of fat that burns like a candle and melts away in the heat of the sun or a fire. it is found dead on the shores of the lake after violent storms. a live one has never been seen. [illustration: a specimen.] the distance to irkutsk from our landing was about forty miles, and we hoped to arrive in time for breakfast. a snow storm began about dayliglit, so that i did not see much of the wooded valley of the river. we met a train of sixty or seventy carts, each carrying a cask of vodki. this liquid misery was on its way to the trans-baikal, and the soudna which brought a load of tea would carry vodki as a return cargo. the clouds thinned and broke, the snow ceased falling, and the valley became distinct. while i admired its beauty, we reached the summit of a hill and i saw before me a cluster of glittering domes and turrets, rising from a wide bend in the angara. at first i could discern only churches, but very soon i began to distinguish the streets, avenues, blocks, and houses of a city. we entered irkutsk through its eastern gate, and drove rapidly along a wide street, the busiest i had yet seen in asiatic russia. just as the sun burst in full splendor through the departing clouds, i alighted in the capital of oriental siberia, half around the world from my own home. [illustration: tail piece--the world] chapter xxxiv. as we entered the city a cossack delivered a letter announcing that i was to be handed over to the police, who had a lodging ready for me. on learning of my presence at kiachta the governor general kindly requested an officer of his staff to share his rooms with me. captain paul, with whom i was quartered, occupied pleasant apartments overlooking the _gastinni-dvor_. he was leading a bachelor life in a suite of six rooms, and had plenty of space at my disposal. that i might lose no time, the chief of police stationed the cossack with a letter telling me where to drive. i removed the dust and costume of travel as soon as possible, and prepared to pay my respects to the governor general. my presentation was postponed to the following day, and as the russian etiquette forbade my calling on other officials before i had seen the chief, there was little to be done in the matter of visiting. the next morning i called upon general korsackoff, delivered my letters of introduction, and was most cordially welcomed to irkutsk. the governor general of eastern siberia controls a territory larger than all european russia, and much of it is not yet out of its developing stage. he has a heavy responsibility upon his shoulders in leading his subjects in the way best for their interests and those of the crown. much has been done under the energetic administration of general korsackoff and his predecessor, and there is room to accomplish much more. the general has ably withstood the cares and hardships of his siberian life. he is forty-five years of age, active and vigorous, and capable of doing much before his way of life is fallen into the sere and yellow leaf. like madame de stael, he possesses the power of putting visitors entirely at their ease. to my single countrywomen i will whisper that general korsackoff is of about medium height, has a fair complexion, blue eyes, and saxon hair, and a face which the most crabbed misanthrope could not refuse to call handsome. he is unmarried, and if rumor tells the truth, not under engagement. [illustration: gov. gen'l korsackoff.] the governor general lives in a spacious and elegant house on the bank of the angara, built by a merchant who amassed an immense fortune in the chinese trade. on retiring from business he devoted his time and energies to constructing the finest mansion in eastern siberia. it is a stone building of three stories, and its halls and parlors are of liberal extent. furniture was brought from st. petersburg at enormous cost, and the whole establishment was completed without regard to expense. at the death of its builder the house was purchased by government, and underwent a few changes to adapt it to its official occupants. on the opposite bank of the river there is a country seat, the private property of general korsackoff, and his dwelling place in the hot months. it was my good fortune that mr. maack was obliged by etiquette to visit his friends on returning from his journey. i arranged to accompany him, and during that day and the next we called upon many persons of official and social position. these included the governor and vice governor of irkutsk, the chief of staff and heads of departments, the mayor of the city, and the leading merchants. succeeding days were occupied in receiving return visits, and when these were ended i was fairly a member of the society of the siberian capital. the evening after my arrival i returned early to my lodgings to indulge in a russian bath. captain paul was absent, but his servant managed to inform me by words and pantomime that all was ready. on the captain's return the man said he had told me in german that the bath was waiting. "how did you speak german?" asked the captain, aware that his man knew nothing but russian. "oh," said the servant, "i rubbed my hands over my face and arms and pointed toward the bath-room." on the morning after my arrival the proprietor of the house asked for my passport; when it returned it bore the visa of the chief of police. there is a regulation throughout russia that every hotel keeper or other householder shall register his patrons with the police. by this means the authorities can trace the movements of '_suspects_' and prevent unlicensed travel. in siberia the plan is particularly valuable in keeping exiles on the spots assigned them. at st. petersburg and moscow the police keep a directory and hold it open to the public. when i reached the capital and wished to find some friends who arrived a few days before me, i obtained their address from this directory. those who sought my whereabouts found me in the same way. the weather was steadily cold--about zero fahrenheit--and was called mild for the season by the residents of irkutsk. i brought from new york a heavy overcoat that braved the storms of broadway the winter before my departure. my russian friends pronounced it _nechevo_ (nothing,) and advised me to procure a '_shooba,_' or cloak lined with fur. the shooba reaches nearly to one's feet, and is better adapted to riding than walking. it can be lined according to the means and liberality of the wearer. sable is most expensive, and sheepskin the least. both accomplish the same end, as they contain about equal quantities of heat. the streets of irkutsk are of good width and generally intersect at right angles. most of the buildings are of wood, and usually large and well built. the best houses are of stone, or of brick covered with plaster to resemble stone. very few dwellings are entered directly from the street, the outer doors opening into yards according to the russian custom. to visit a person you pass into an enclosure through a strong gateway, generally open by day but closed at night. a '_dvornik_' (doorkeeper) has the control of this gate, and is responsible for everything within it. storehouses and all other buildings of the establishment open upon the enclosure, and frequently two or more houses have one gate in common. the stores or magazines are numerous, and well supplied with european goods. some of the stocks are very large, and must require heavy capital or excellent credit to manage them. tailors and milliners are abundant, and bring their modes from paris. occasionally they paint their signs in french, and display the latest novelties from the center of fashion. bakers are numerous and well patronized. '_frantsooski kleb_,' (french bread,) which is simply white bread made into rolls, is popular and largely sold in irkutsk. one of my daily exercises in russian was to spell the signs upon the stores. in riding i could rarely get more than half through a word before i was whisked out of sight. i never before knew how convenient are symbolic signs to a man who cannot read. a picture of a hat, a glove, or a loaf of bread was far more expressive to my eye than the word _shapka_, _perchatki_, or _kleb_, printed in russian letters. the russians smoke a great deal of tobacco in paper cigarettes or '_papiros_.' everywhere east of lake baikal the papiros of irkutsk is in demand, and the manufacture there is quite extensive. in irkutsk and to the westward the brand of moscow is preferred. the consumption of tobacco in this form throughout the empire must be something enormous. i have known a party of half a dozen persons to smoke a hundred cigarettes in an afternoon and evening. many ladies indulge in smoking, but the practice is not universal. i do not remember any unmarried lady addicted to it. irkutsk was founded in 1680, and has at present a population of twenty-eight or thirty thousand. about four thousand gold miners spend the winter and their money in the city. geographically it is in latitude 52â° 40' north, and longitude 104â° 20' east from greenwich. little wind blows there, and storms are less frequent than at moscow or st. petersburg. the snows are not abundant, the quantity that falls being smaller than in boston and very much less than in montreal or quebec. in summer or winter the panorama of irkutsk and its surroundings is one of great beauty. [illustration: view in irkutsk.] there are twenty or more churches, of which nearly all are large and finely placed. several of them were planned and constructed by two swedish engineer officers captured at pultawa and exiled to siberia. they are excellent monuments of architectural skill, and would be ornamental to any european city. the angara at irkutsk is about six hundred yards wide, and flows with a current of six miles an hour. it varies in height not more than ten or twelve inches during the entire year. it does not freeze until the middle of january, and opens early in may. there are two swinging ferries for crossing the river. a stout cable is anchored in mid-stream, and the ferry-boat attached to its unanchored end. the slack of the cable is buoyed by several small boats, over which it passes at regular intervals. the ferry swings like a horizontal pendulum, and is propelled by turning its sides at an angle against the current. i crossed on this ferry in four minutes from bank to bank. there are many public carriages in the streets, to be hired at thirty copecks the hour; but the drivers, like their profession everywhere, are inclined to overcharge. every one who thinks he can afford it, keeps a team of his own, the horses being generally of european stock. a few horses have been brought from st. petersburg; the journey occupies a full year, and the animals, when safely arrived, are very costly. private turnouts are neat and showy, and on a fine afternoon the principal drives of the city are quite gay. general korsackoff has a light wagon from new york for his personal driving in summer. i found here a curious regulation. sleighs are prohibited by municipal law from carrying bells in the limits of the city. reason: in a great deal of noise pedestrians might be run over. in american cities the law requires bells to be worn. reason: unless there is a noise pedestrians might be run over. "you pays your money and you takes your choice." cossack policemen watch the town during the day, and at night there are mounted and foot patrols carrying muskets with fixed bayonets. every block and sometimes every house has its private watchman, and at regular intervals during the night you may hear these guardians thumping their long staves on the pavement to assure themselves and others that they are awake. the fire department belongs to the police, and its apparatus consists of hand engines, water carts, and hook and ladder wagons. there are several watch towers, from which a semaphore telegraph signals the existence of fire. an electric apparatus was being arranged during my stay. during my visit there was an alarm of fire, and i embraced the opportunity to see how the russians 'run with the machine.' when i reached the street the engines and water carts were dashing in the direction of the fire. the water carts were simply large casks mounted horizontally on four wheels; a square hole in the top served to admit a bucket or a suction hose. those carts bring water from the nearest point of supply, which may be the river or an artificial reservoir, according to the locality of the fire. engines and carts are drawn by horses, which appear well selected for strength and activity. all the firemen wore brass helmets. the burning house was small and quite disengaged from others, and as there was no wind there was no danger of a serious conflagration. the chief of police directed the movements of his men. the latter worked their engines vigorously, but though the carts kept in active motion the supply of water was not equal to the demand. for some time it seemed doubtful which would triumph, the flames or the police. fortune favored the brave. the building was saved, though in a condition of incipient charcoalism. the chief of police wore his full uniform and decorations as the law requires of him when on duty. during the affair he was thoroughly spattered with water and covered with dirt and cinders. when he emerged he presented an appearance somewhat like that of a butterfly after passing through a sausage machine. a detachment of soldiers came to the spot but did not form a cordon around it. every spectator went as near the fire as he thought prudent, but was careful not to get in the way. two or three thousand officers, soldiers, merchants, exiles, moujiks, women, boys, and beggars gathered in the street to look at the display. the russian fire engines and water carts with their complement of men, and each drawn by three horses abreast, present a picturesque appearance as they dash through the streets. the engines at irkutsk are low-powered squirts, worked by hand, less effective than the hand engines used in america twenty or thirty years ago, and far behind our steamers of the present day. in moscow and st. petersburg the fire department has been greatly improved during the past ten years, and is now quite efficient. the markets of irkutsk are well supplied with necessaries of life. beef is abundant and good, at an average retail price of seven copecks a pound. fish and game are plentiful, and sell at low figures. the _rebchik_, or wood-hen, is found throughout siberia, and is much cheaper in the market than any kind of domestic fowl. pork, veal, and mutton are no more expensive than beef, and all vegetables of the country are at corresponding rates. in fact if one will eschew european luxuries he can live very cheaply at irkutsk. everything that comes from beyond the urals is expensive, on account of the long land carriage. champagne costs five or six roubles a bottle, and a great quantity of it is drank. sherry is from two to seven roubles according to quality, and the same is the case with white and red wines. the lowest price of sugar is thirty copecks the pound, and it is oftener forty-five or fifty. porter and ale cost two or three roubles a bottle, and none but the best english brands are drank. the wines are almost invariably excellent, and any merchant selling even a few cases of bad wine would very likely lose his trade. clothes and all articles of personal wear cost about as much as in st. louis or new orleans. labor is neither abundant nor scarce. a good man-servant receives ten to fifteen roubles a month with board. wood comes in soudnas from the shores of lake baikal and is very cheap. these vessels descend the river by the force of the current, but in going against it are towed by horses. the principal market place is surrounded with shops where a varied and miscellaneous lot of merchandise is sold. i found ready-made clothing, crockery, boots, whisky, hats, furniture, flour, tobacco, and so on through a long list of saleable and unsaleable articles. how such a mass could find customers was a puzzle. nearly all the shops are small and plain, and there are many stalls or stands which require but a small capital to manage. a great deal of haggling takes place in transactions at these little establishments, and i occasionally witnessed some amusing scenes. the best time to view the market is on sunday morning, when the largest crowd is gathered. my first visit was made one sunday when the thermometer stood at -15â° fahrenheit. the market houses and the open square were full of people, and the square abounded in horses and sleds from the country. a great deal of traffic was conducted on these sleds or upon the solid snow-packed earth. the crowd comprised men, women, and children of all ages and all conditions in life. peasants from the country and laborers from the city, officers, tradesmen, heads of families, and families without heads, busy men, and idlers, were mingled as at a popular gathering in city hall park. everybody was in warm garments, the lower classes wearing coats and pelisses of sheepskin, while the others were in furs more or less expensive. occasionally a drunken man was visible, but there were no indications of a tendency to fight. the intoxicated american, eight times out of ten, endeavors to quarrel with somebody, but our muscovite neighbor is of a different temperament. when drunk he falls to caressing and gives kisses in place of blows. [illustration: a cold attachment.] the most novel sight that day in the market at irkutsk was the embrace of two drunken peasants. they kissed each other so tenderly and so long that the intense cold congealed their breath and froze their beards together. i left them as they were endeavoring to arrange a separation. a few beggars circulated in the crowd and gathered here and there a copeck. the frost whitened the beards of the men and reddened the cheeks of the women. where hands were bared to the breeze they were of a corned-beefy hue, and there were many persons stamping on the ground or swinging their arms to keep up a circulation. the little horses, standing, were white with frost, but none of them covered with blankets. the siberian horses are not blanketed in winter, but i was told they did not suffer from cold. their coats are thick and warm and frequently appear more like fur than hair. everything that could be frozen had succumbed to the frost. there were frozen chickens, partridges, and other game, thrown in heaps like bricks or stove wood. beef, pork, and mutton, were alike solid, and some of the vendors had placed their animals in fantastic positions before freezing them. in one place i saw a calf standing as if ready to walk away. his skin remained, and at first sight i thought him alive, but was undeceived when a man overturned the unresisting beast. frozen fish were piled carelessly in various places, and milk was offered for sale in cakes or bricks. a stick or string was generally frozen into a corner of the mass to facilitate carrying. one could swing a quart of milk at his side or wrap it in his kerchief at discretion. there were many peripatetic dealers in cakes and tea, the latter carrying small kettles of the hot beverage, which they served in tumblers. occasionally there was a man with a whole litter of sucking pigs frozen solid and slung over his shoulder or festooned into a necklace. the diminutive size of these pigs awakened reflections upon the brevity of swinish life. chapter xxxv. custom is the same at irkutsk as in all fashionable society of the empire. visits of ceremony are made in full dress-uniform for an officer and evening costume for a civilian. ceremonious calls are pretty short, depending of course upon the position and intimacy of the parties. the russians are very punctilious in making and receiving visits. so many circumstances are to be considered that i was always in dread of making a mistake of etiquette somewhere. nearly all my acquaintances in irkutsk spoke french or english, though comparatively few conversed with me in the latter tongue. the facility with which the russians acquire language has been often remarked. almost all russians who possess any education, are familiar with at least one language beside their own. very often i found a person conversant with two foreign languages, and it was no unusual thing to find one speaking three. i knew a young officer at irkutsk who spoke german, french, english, and swedish, and had a very fair smattering of chinese, manjour, and japanese. a young lady there conversed well and charmingly in english, french, and german and knew something of italian. it was more the exception than the rule that i met an officer with whom i could not converse in french. french is the society language of the russian capital, and one of the first requisites in education. children are instructed almost from infancy. governesses are generally french or english, and conversation with their charges is rarely conducted in russian. tutors are generally germans familiar with french. there is no other country in the world where those who can afford it are so attentive to the education of their children. this attention added to the peculiar temperament of the russians makes them the best linguists in the world. an english gentleman and lady, the latter speaking russian fluently, lived in siberia several years. during their sojourn a son was born to them. it was a long time before he began talking, so long in fact, that his parents feared he would be dumb. when he commenced he was very soon fluent in both english and russian. his long hesitation was doubtless caused by the confusion of two languages. [illustration: queen of greece.] the present emperor is an accomplished linguist, but no exception in this particular to the imperial family in general. the queen of greece, a niece of the emperor of russia, is said to be very prompt to learn a new language whenever it comes in her way, and when she was selected for that royal position she conquered the greek language in a very short time. french is the leading foreign language among the russians, and the second rank is held by the german. of late years english has become very popular, and is being rapidly acquired. the present _entente cordiale_ between russia and the united states is exerting an influence for the increased study of our language. why should we not return the compliment and bestow a little attention upon the slavonic tongue? most persons in society at irkutsk were from european russia or had spent some time in moscow at st. petersburg. of the native born siberians there were few who had not made a journey beyond the ural mountains. among the officials, st. petersburg was usually the authority in the matter of life and habit, while the civilians turned their eyes toward moscow. society in irkutsk was not less polished than in the capitals, and it possessed the advantage of being somewhat more open and less rigid than under the shadow of the imperial palace. etiquette is etiquette in any part of the empire, and its forms must everywhere be observed. but after the social forms were complied, with there was less stiffness than in european russia. some travelers declare that they found siberian society more polished than that of old russia. on this point i cannot speak personally, as my stay in the western part of the empire was too brief to afford much insight into its life. there may be some truth in the statement. siberia has received a great many individuals of high culture in the persons of its political exiles. men of liberal education, active intellects, and refined manners have been in large proportion among the banished poles, and the exiles of 1825 included many of russia's ablest minds. the influence of these exiles upon the intelligence, habits, and manners of the siberians, has left an indelible mark. as a new civilization is more plastic than an old one, so the society of northern asia may have become more polished than that of ancient russia. i could learn of only six of my countrymen who had been at irkutsk before me. of these all but two passed through the city with little delay, and were seen by very few persons. i happened to reach siberia when our iron-clad fleet was at cronstadt, and its officers were being feasted at st. petersburg and elsewhere. the siberians regretted that mr. fox and his companions could not visit them, and experience their hospitality. so they determined to expend their enthusiasm on the first american that appeared, and rather unexpectedly i became the recipient of the will of the siberians toward the united states. two days after my arrival i was visited by mr. hamenof, one of the wealthiest merchants of irkutsk. as he spoke only russian, he was accompanied by my late fellow-traveler who came to interpret between us, and open the conversation with-"mr. hamenof presents his compliments, and wishes you to dine with him day after to-morrow." i accepted the invitation, and the merchant departed. maack informed me that the dinner would be a ceremonious one, attended by the governor general and leading officials. about forty persons were present, and seated according to rank. the tables were set on three sides of a square apartment, the post of honor being in the central position facing the middle of the room. the dinner was served in the french manner, and but for the language and uniforms around me, and a few articles in the bill of fare, i could have thought myself in a private parlor of the _trois freres_ or the _cafe anglais_. madame ditmar, the wife of the governor of the trans-baikal, was the only lady present. when the champagne appeared, mr. hamenof proposed "the united states of america," and prefaced his toast with a little speech to his russian guests. i proposed the health of the emperor, and then the toasts became irregular and applied to the governor general, the master of the house, the ladies of siberia, the russo-american telegraph, and various other persons, objects, and enterprises. from the dinner table we adjourned to the parlors where tea and coffee were brought, and most of the guests were very soon busy at the card tables. on reaching my room late at night, i found a russian document awaiting me, and with effort and a dictionary, i translated it into an invitation to an official dinner with general korsackoff. five minutes before the appointed hour i accompanied a friend to the governor general's house. as we entered, servants in military garb took our shoobas, and we were ushered into a large parlor. general korsackoff and many of the invited guests were assembled in the parlor, and within two minutes the entire party had gathered. as the clock struck five the doors were thrown open, and the general led the way to the dining hall. i found at irkutsk a great precision respecting appointments. when dinners were to come off at a fixed hour all the guests assembled from three to ten minutes before the time specified. i never knew any one to come late, and all were equally careful not to come early. no one could be more punctual than general korsackoff, and his example was no doubt carefully watched and followed. it is a rule throughout official circles in russia, if i am correctly informed, that tardiness implies disrespect. americans might take a few lessons of the russians on the subject of punctuality. [illustration: emperor of russia.] the table was liberally decorated with flowers and plants, and the whole surroundings were calculated to make one forget that he was in cold and desolate siberia. a band of music was stationed in the adjoining parlor, and furnished us with russian and american airs. at the first toast general korsackoff made a speech in russian, recounting the amity existing between the two nations and the visit of our special embassy to congratulate the emperor on his escape from assassination. he thought the siberians felt no less grateful at this mark of sympathy than did the people of european russia, and closed by proposing, "the president, congress, and people of the united states." the toast was received with enthusiasm, the band playing yankee doodle as an accompaniment to the cheering. the speech was translated to me by captain linden, the private secretary of the governor general, who spoke french and english fluently. etiquette required me to follow with a toast to the emperor in my little speech. i spoke slowly to facilitate the hearing of those who understood english. the captain then translated it into russian. general korsackoff spoke about four minutes, and i think my response was of the same length. both speeches were considered quite elaborate by the siberians, and one officer declared it was the longest dinner-table address the general ever made. two days later at another dinner i asked a friend to translate my remarks when i came to speak. he asked how long i proposed talking. "about three minutes," was my reply. "oh," said he, "you had better make it one or two minutes. you made a long speech at the governor general's, and when you dine with a person of less importance he will not expect you to speak as much." i had not taken this view of the matter, as the american custom tends to brevity on the ascending rather than on the descending scale. ten years earlier major collins dined with general mouravieff in the same hall where i was entertained. after dinner i heard a story at the expense of my enterprising predecessor. it is well known that the major is quite a speech maker at home, and when he is awakened on a favorite subject he has no lack either of ideas or words. on the occasion just mentioned, general mouravieff gave the toast, "russia and america," major collins rose to reply and after speaking six or eight minutes came to a pause. captain martinoff, who understood english, was seated near the major. as the latter stopped, general mouravieff turned to the captain and asked: "will you be kind enough to translate what has been said?" "_blagodariete_," (he thanks you) said the captain. the major proceeded six or eight minutes more and paused again. "translate," was the renewed command of the governor general. "he thanks you very much." again another period of speech and the address was finished. "translate if you please," the general suggested once more to his aid. "he thanks you very much indeed." the major was puzzled, and turning to captain martinoff remarked that the russian language must be very comprehensive when a speech of twenty minutes could be translated in three or four words. on days when i was disengaged i dined at the _amoorski gastinitza_ or amoor hotel. the hotel comprised two buildings, one containing the rooms of lodgers, and the other devoted to restaurant, dining and billiard rooms. in the dining department there were several rooms, a large one for a restaurant and table d'hote, and the rest for private parties. considering the general character of russian hotels the one at irkutsk was quite creditable. in its management, cookery, and service it would compare favorably with the establishments on courtlandt street or park row. in the billiard room there were two tables on which i sometimes complied with a request to 'show the american game.' the tables had six pockets each, and as the cues had no leather tips, there was an unpleasant clicking whenever they wore used. the russian game of billiards is played with five balls, and the science consists in pocketing the balls. the carom does not count. the first time i dined at the hotel the two candles burned dimly, and we called for a third. when it was brought the servant drew a small table near us and placed the extra candle upon it. i asked the reason for his doing so, and it was thus explained. there is a superstition in russia that if three lighted candles are placed upon a table some one in the room will die within a year. everybody endeavors to avoid such a calamity. if you have two candles and order another, the servant will place the third on a side table or he will bring a fourth and make your number an even one. there was formerly a theatre at irkutsk, but it was burned a few years ago, and has not been rebuilt. during my stay there was a musical concert in the large hall of the officers' club, and a theatrical display was prepared but not concluded before my departure. at the concert a young officer, captain lowbry, executed on the piano several pieces of his own composition, and was heartily applauded by the listeners. once a week there was a social party at the club house where dancing, cards, billiards, and small talk continued till after midnight. nearly every one in society kept 'open house' daily. in most of the families where i was acquainted tea was taken at 8 p.m., and any friend could call at that hour without ceremony. the samovar was placed on the table, and one of the ladies presided over the tea. those who wished it could sit at table, but there was no formal spreading of the cloth. tea was handed about the room and each one took it at his liking. i have seen in these social circles a most pleasing irregularity in tea drinking. some were seated on sofas and chairs, holding cups and saucers in their hands or resting them upon tables; other stood in groups of two, three, or more; others were at cards, and sipped their tea at intervals of the games; and a few were gathered around the hostess at the samovar. the time passed in whatever amusements were attainable. there were cards for some and conversation for others, with piano music, little dances and general sports of considerable variety. those evenings at irkutsk were delightful, and i shall always remember them with pleasure. what with visits, dinners, balls, suppers, social evenings, and sleigh rides, i had little time to myself, and though i economized every minute i did not succeed in finishing my letters and journal until the very day before my departure. the evening parties lasted pretty late. they generally closed with a supper toward the wee small hours, and the good nights were not spoken until about two in the morning. there is a peculiarity about a russian party,--whether a quiet social assemblage or a stately ball,--that the whole house is thrown open. in america guests are confined to the parlors and the dancing and supper apartments, from the time they leave the cloaking rooms till they prepare for departure. in russia they can wander pretty nearly where they please, literally "up stairs, down stairs, or in my lady's chamber." of course all the rooms are prepared for visitors, but i used at first to feel a shrinking sensation when i sauntered into the private study and work room of my official host, or found myself among the scent bottles and other toilet treasures of a lady acquaintance. this literal keeping of 'open house' materially assists to break the stiffness of an assemblage though it can hardly be entirely convenient to the hosts. immediately after my entertainment with general korsackoff, the mayor of irkutsk invited me to an official dinner at his house. this was followed a few days later by a similar courtesy on the part of mr. trepaznikoff, the son of a wealthy merchant who died a few years ago. private dinners followed in rapid succession until i was qualified to speak with practical knowledge of the irkutsk cuisine. no stranger in a strange land was ever more kindly taken in, and no hospitality was ever bestowed with less ostentation. i can join in the general testimony of travelers that the russians excel in the ability to entertain visitors. mr. kartesheftsoff, the mayor, or _golovah_ as he is called, resided in a large house that formerly belonged to prince trubetskoi, one of the exiles of 1825. my host was an extensive owner of gold mines, and had been very successful in working them. he was greatly interested in the means employed in california for separating gold from earth, and especially in the 'hydraulic' process. on my first visit madame kartesheftsoff spoke very little french. she must have submitted her studies to a thorough revision as i found her a week later able to conduct a conversation with ease. there were other instances of a vigorous overhauling of disused french and english that furnished additional proof of the russian adaptability to foreign tongues. to reach the golovah's house we crossed, the ouska-kofka, a small river running through the northern part of irkutsk; it had been recently frozen, and several rosy-cheeked boys were skating on the ice. the view from the bridge is quite picturesque, and the little valley forms a favorite resort in certain seasons of the year. the water of the ouska-kofka is said to be denser than that of the angara, and on that account is preferred for culinary purposes. [illustration: tail piece--twin bottles] chapter xxxvi. i have made occasional mention of the exiles of 1825, and it may be well to explain how they went to siberia. in the early part of the present century russia was not altogether happy. the emperor paul, called to the throne by the death of catherine ii., did not display marked ability, but, 'on the contrary, quite the reverse.' what his mother had done for the improvement of the country he was inclined to undo. under his reign great numbers were banished to siberia upon absurd charges or mere caprice. the emperor issued manifestoes of a whimsical character, one of which was directed against round hats, and another against shoe strings. the glaring colors now used upon bridges, distance posts, watch boxes, and other imperial property, were of his selection, and so numerous were his eccentricities that he was declared of unsound mind. in march, 1801, he was smothered in his palace, which he had just completed. it is said that within an hour after the fact of his death was known round hats appeared on the street in great numbers. alexander i. endeavored to repair some of the evils of his father's reign. he recalled many exiles from siberia, suppressed the secret inquisition, and restored many rights of which the people had been deprived. his greatest abilities were displayed during the wars with france. after the general peace he devoted himself to inspecting and developing the resources of the country, and was the first, and thus far the only, emperor of russia to cross the ural mountains and visit the mines of that region. his death occurred during a tour through the southern provinces of the empire. some of his reforms were based upon the principles of other european governments, which he endeavored to study. on his return from england he told his council that the best thing he saw there was the opposition in parliament. he thought it a part of the government machinery, and regretted it could not be introduced in russia. constantine, the eldest brother of alexander i., had relinquished his right to the crown, thus breaking the regular succession. from the time of paul a revolutionary party had existed, and once at least it plotted the assassination of alexander. there was an interregnum of three weeks between the death of alexander and the assumption of power by his second brother, nicholas. the change of succession strengthened the revolutionists, and they employed the interregnum to organize a conspiracy for seizing the government. the conspiracy was wide spread, and included many of the ablest men of the day. the army was seriously implicated. the revolutionists desired a constitutional government, and their rallying cry of "constitutia!" was explained to the soldiers as the name of constantine's wife. the real design of the movement was not confided to the rank and file, who supposed they were fighting for constantine and the regular succession of the throne. nicholas learned of the conspiracy the day before his ascension; the imperial guard of the palace was in the plot, and expected to seize the emperor's person. the guard was removed during the night and a battalion from finland substituted. it is said that on receiving intelligence of the assembling of the insurgents, the emperor called his wife to the chapel of the palace, where he spent a few moments in prayer. then taking his son, the present emperor, he led him to the soldiers of the new guard, confided him to their protection, and departed for st. isaac's square to suppress the revolt. the soldiers kept the boy until the emperor's return, and would not even surrender him to his tutor. the plot was so wide-spread that the conspirators had good promise of success, but whole regiments backed out at the last moment and left only a forlorn hope to begin the struggle. nicholas rode with his officers to st. isaac's square, and twice commanded the assembled insurgents to surrender. they refused, and were then saluted with "the last argument of kings." a storm of grape shot, followed by a charge of cavalry, put in flight all who were not killed, and ended the insurrection. a long and searching investigation followed, disclosing all the ramifications of the plot. the conspirators declared they were led to what they undertook by the unfortunate condition of the country and the hope of improving it. nicholas, concealed behind a screen, heard most of the testimony and confessions, and learned therefrom a wholesome lesson. the end of the affair was the execution of five principal conspirators and the banishment of many others to siberia. the five that suffered capital punishment were hanged in front of the admiralty buildings in st. petersburg. one rope was broken, and the victim, falling to the ground, suffered such agony that the officer in charge of the execution sent to the emperor asking what to do. "take a new rope and finish your duty," was the unpitying answer of nicholas. the accession of nicholas and the attempted revolt occurred on the 14th december, (o.s.) 1825. within six months from that date the most of the conspirators reached siberia. they were sent to different districts, some to labor in the mines for specified periods, and others to become colonists. they included some of the ablest men in russia, and were nearly all young and enterprising. many of them were married, and were followed into exile by their wives, though the latter were only permitted to go to siberia on condition of never returning. each of the exiles was deprived of all civil or political rights, and declared legally dead. his property was confiscated to the crown, and his wife considered a widow and could marry again if she chose. to the credit of the russian women, not one availed herself of this privilege. i was told that nearly every married exile's family followed him, and some of the unmarried ones were followed by their sisters and mothers. i have previously spoken of the effect of the unfortunates of the 14th december upon the society and manners of siberia. these men enjoyed good social positions, and their political faults did not prevent their becoming well received. their sentence to labor in the mines was not rigorously enforced, and lasted but two or three years at farthest. they were subsequently employed at indoor work, and, as time wore on and passion subsided, were allowed to select residences in villages. very soon they were permitted to go to the larger towns, and once there, those whose wives possessed property in their own right built themselves elegant houses and took the position to which their abilities entitled them. [illustration: home of two exiles.] general korsackoff told me that when he first went to serve in siberia there was a ball one evening at the governor general's. noticing one man who danced the mazurka splendidly, he whispered to general mouravieff and asked his name. "that," said mouravieff, "is a revolutionist of 1825. he is one of the best men of society in irkutsk." after their first few years of exile, the decembrists had little to complain of except the prohibition to return to europe. to men whose youth was passed in brilliant society and amid the gayeties of the capital, this life in siberia was no doubt irksome. year after year went by, and on the twenty-fifth anniversary of their banishment they looked for pardon. little else was talked of among them for some weeks, but they were doomed to disappointment. nicholas had no forgiving disposition, and those who plotted his overthrow were little likely to obtain favor, even though a quarter of a century had elapsed since their crime. but the death of nicholas and the coronation of alexander ii. wrought a change for the exiles. nicholas began his reign with an act of severity; alexander followed his ascension with one of clemency. by imperial ukase he pardoned the exiles of 1825, restored them to their civil and political rights, and permitted their return to europe. as the fathers were legally dead when sent into exile, the children born to them in siberia were illegitimate in the eye of the law and could not even bear their own family name. properly they belonged to the government, and inherited their father's exile in not being permitted to go to europe. the ukase removed all these disabilities and gave the children full authority to succeed to their father's hereditary titles and social and political rights. these exiles lived in different parts of siberia, but chiefly in the governments of irkutsk and yeneseisk. but the thirty years of the reign of nicholas were not uneventful. death removed some of the unfortunates. others had dwelt so long in siberia that they did not wish to return to a society where they would be strangers. some who were unmarried at the time of their exile had acquired families in siberia, and thus fastened themselves to the country. not more than half of those living at the time of alexander's coronation availed themselves of his permission to return to russia. the princes trubetskoi and volbonskoi hesitated for some time, but finally concluded to return. both died in europe quite recently. their departure was regretted by many persons in irkutsk, as their absence was quite a loss to society. i heard some curious reminiscences concerning the prince volbonskoi. it was said that his wife and children, with the servants, were the occupants of the large and elegant house, the prince living in a small building in the court yard. he had a farm near the town and sold the various crops to his wife. both the princes paid great attention to educating their children and fitting them for ultimate social position in europe. while in irkutsk i saw one of the decembrists who had grown quite wealthy as a wine merchant. another of these exiles was mentioned, but i did not meet him. another resided at selenginsk, a third near verkne udinsk, and a fourth near lake baikal. there are several at other points, but i believe the whole number of the decembrists now in siberia is less than a dozen. forty-two years have brought them to the brink of the grave, and very soon the active spirits of that unhappy revolt will have passed away. the other political exiles in siberia are almost entirely poles. every insurrection in poland adds to the population of asiatic russia, and accomplishes very little else. the revolt of 1831 was prolific in this particular, and so was that of 1863. revolutions in poland have been utterly hopeless of success since the downfall and division of the kingdom, but the poles remain undaunted. i do not propose entering into a discussion of the polish question, as it would occupy too much space and be foreign to the object of my book; but i will briefly touch a few points. the russians and poles were not inclined to amiability when both had separate governments. europe has never been converted to republican principles, and however much the western powers may sympathize with poland, they would be unwilling to adopt for themselves the policy they desire for russia. england holds india and ireland, regardless of the will of indians and irish. france has her african territory which did not ask to be taken under the tri-color, and we are all aware of the relations once held by her emperor toward mexico. it is much easier to look for generosity and forbearance in others than in ourselves. those who are disposed to shed tears over the fate of poland, should remember that the unhappy country has only suffered the fortune of war. when russia and poland began to measure swords the latter was the more powerful, and for a time overran a goodly portion of the muscovite soil. we all know there has been a partition of poland, but are we equally aware that the russia of rurik and ivan iv. was partitioned in 1612 by the swedes (at novgorod) and the poles (at moscow?) in 1612 the poles held moscow. the russians rose against them in that year, just as the poles have since risen against the russians, but with a different result. the polish exiles of 1881 and previous years were pardoned by the same ukase that liberated the russian exiles of 1825. just before the insurrection of 1863 there were not many poles in siberia, except those who remained of their own free will. the last insurrection caused a fresh deportation, twenty-four thousand being banished beyond the ural mountains. ten thousand of these were sent to eastern siberia, the balance being distributed in the governments west of the yenesei. the decree of june, 1867, allowed many of these prisoners to return to poland. the government has always endeavored to scatter the exiles and prevent their congregating in such numbers as to cause inconvenience. the prime object of deportation to siberia is to people the country and develop its natural wealth. though russia occupies nearly an eighth of the land on the face of the globe, her population numbers but about seventy millions. it is her policy to people her territory, and she bends her energies to this end. she does not allow the emigration of her subjects to any appreciable extent, and she punishes but few crimes with death. notwithstanding her general tolerance on religious matters, she punishes with severity a certain sect that discourages propagation. there are other facts i might mention as illustrations were it not for the fastidiousness of the present age. siberia is much more in need of population than european russia, and exiles are sent thither to become inhabitants. so far as the matter of sentence goes there is little difference between political and criminal exiles. the sentence is in accordance with the offence to be punished, and may be light or severe. some exiles are simply banished to siberia, and can do almost anything except go away. they may travel as they choose, engage in business, and even hold official position. it is no bar to their progress that they emigrated involuntarily. if they forget their evil ways and are good citizens, others will be equally oblivious and encourage them. they have special inducements to become colonists and till the soil or develop its mineral wealth. with honesty and industry they have at least a fair chance in life. some exiles are confined to certain districts, governments, towns, or villages, and must report at stated intervals to the chief of police. these intervals are not the same in all cases, but vary from one day to a month, or even more. some are not allowed to go beyond specified limits without express permission from the authorities, while others may absent themselves as they choose during the intervals of reporting to the police. some can engage in whatever business they find advantageous, while others are prohibited certain employments but not restricted as to others. if a man is sentenced to become a colonist, the government gives him a house or means to build it, a plot of ground, and the necessary tools. he is not allowed to be any thing else than a colonist. criminals of a certain grade cannot engage in commerce, and the same restriction applies to 'politiques.' no criminal can be a teacher, either in a public or private school, and no politique can teach in a public school. while i was in siberia an order was issued prohibiting the latter class engaging in any kind of educational work except music, drawing, and painting. many criminal and political offenders are 'drafted in the army' in much the same manner that our prisons sent their able-bodied men into military service during our late war. their terms of enlistment are various, but generally not less than fifteen years. the men receive the pay and rations of soldiers, and have the possibility of promotion before them. they are sent to regiments stationed at distant posts in order to diminish the chances of desertion. the siberian and caucasian regiments receive the greater portion of these recruits. many members of the peculiar religious sect mentioned elsewhere are sent to the caucasian frontier. they are said to be very tractable and obedient, but not reliable for aggressive military operations. an exile may receive from his friends money to an amount not exceeding twenty-five roubles a month. if his wife has property of her own she may enjoy a separate income. those confined in prisons or kept at labor may receive money to the same extent, but it must pass through the hands of the officials. of course the occupants of prisons are fed by government, and so are those under sentence of hard labor. the men restricted to villages and debarred from profitable employment receive monthly allowances in money and flour, barely enough for their subsistence. there are complaints that dishonest officials steal a part of these allowances, but the practice is not as frequent as formerly. a prisoner's comfort in any part of the world depends in a great measure upon the character of the officer in charge of him. siberia offers no exception to this rule. formerly the polish exiles enjoyed more social freedom than at present. the cause of the change was thus explained to me: five or six years ago a polish noble who had been exiled lived at irkutsk and enjoyed the friendship of several officers. the amoor had been recently opened, and this man asked and obtained the privilege of visiting it, giving his parole not to leave siberia. at nicolayevsk he embraced the opportunity to escape, and advised others to do the same. this breach of confidence led to greater circumspection, and the distrust was increased by the conduct of other exiles. since that time the poles have been under greater restraint. many books on russia contain interesting stories of the brutality toward exiles, both on the road and after they have reached their destination. undoubtedly there have been instances of cruelty, just as in every country in christendom, but i do not believe the russians are worse in this respect than other people. i saw a great many exiles during my journey through siberia. frequently when on the winter road i met convoys of them, and never observed any evidence of needless severity. five-sixths of the exiles i met on the road were in sleighs like those used by russian merchants when traveling. there were generally three persons in a sleigh, and i thought them comfortably clad. i could see no difference between them and their guards, except that the latter carried muskets and sabres. any women among them received special attention, particularly when they were young and pretty. i saw two old ladies who were handled tenderly by the soldiers and treated with apparent distinction. when exiles were on foot, their guards marched with them and the women of the party rode in sleighs. the object of deportation is to people siberia; if the government permitted cruelties that caused half of the exiles to die on the road, as some accounts aver, it would be inconsistent with its policy. as before mentioned, the ripe age to which most of the decembrists lived, is a proof that they were not subjected to physical torture. in the eyes of the government these men were the very worst offenders, and if they did not suffer hardships and cruelties it is not probable that all others would be generally ill-used. i do not for a moment suppose exile is either attractive or desirable, but, so far as i know, it does not possess the horrors attributed to it. the worst part of exile is to be sent to hard labor, but the unpleasant features of such punishment are not confined to siberia. plenty of testimony on this point can be obtained at sing sing and pentonville. it is unpleasant to leave one's home and become an involuntary emigrant to a far country. the siberian road is one i would never travel out of pure pleasure, and i can well understand that it must be many times disagreeable when one journeys unwillingly. but, once in siberia, the worldly circumstances of many exiles are better than they were at home. if a man can forget that he is deprived of liberty, and i presume this is the most difficult thing of all, he is not, under ordinary circumstances, very badly off in siberia. certainly many exiles choose to remain when their term of banishment is ended. a laboring man is better paid for his services and is more certain of employment than in european russia. he leads a more independent life and has better prospects of advancement than in the older civilization. many poles say they were drawn unwillingly into the acts that led to their exile, and if they return home they may be involved in like trouble again. in poland they are at the partial mercy of malcontents who have nothing to lose and can never remain at ease. in siberia there are no such disturbing influences. about ten thousand exiles are sent to siberia every year. except in times of political disturbance in poland or elsewhere, nearly all the exiles are offenders against society or property. the notion that they are generally 'politiques,' is very far from correct. as well might one suppose the majority of the convicts at sing sing were from the upper classes of new york. the regular stream of exiles is composed almost entirely of criminal offenders; occasional floods of revolutionists follow the attempts at independence. i made frequent inquiries concerning the condition of the exiles, and so far as i could learn they were generally well off. i say 'generally,' because i heard of some cases of poverty and hardship, and doubtless there were others that i never heard of. a large part of the siberian population is made up of exiles and their descendants. a gentleman frequently sent me his carriage during my stay at irkutsk. it was managed by an intelligent driver who pleased me with his skill and dash. one evening, when he was a little intoxicated, my friend and myself commented in french on his condition, and were a little surprised to find that he understood us. he was an exile from st. petersburg, where he had been coachman to a french merchant. the clerk of the hotel was an exile, and so was one of the waiters. _isvoshchiks_, or hackmen, counted many exiles in their ranks, and so did laborers of other professions. occasionally clerks in stores, market men, boot makers, and tailors ascribed their exile to some discrepancy between their conduct and the laws. i met a polish gentleman in charge of the museum of the geographical society of eastern siberia, and was told that the establishment rapidly improved in his hands. two physicians of irkutsk were 'unfortunates' from warsaw, and one of them had distanced all competitors in the extent and success of his practice. then there were makers of cigarettes, dealers in various commodities, and professors of divers arts. some of the educated siberians i met told me they had been taught almost entirely by exiles. before the abolition of serfdom a proprietor could send his human property into exile. he was not required to give any reason, the record accompanying the order of banishment stating only that the serf was exiled "by the will of his master." this privilege was open to enormous abuse, but happily the ukase of liberty has removed it. the design of the system was no doubt to enable proprietors to rid themselves of serfs who were idle, dissolute, or quarrelsome, but had not committed any act the law could touch. a proprietor exiling a serf was required to pay his traveling expenses of twenty-five roubles, and to furnish him an outfit of summer and winter clothing. a wife was allowed to follow her husband, with all their children not matured, and all their expenses were to be paid. the abuse of the system consisted in the power to banish a man who had committed no offence at all. the loss of services and the expense of exiling a serf may have been a slight guarantee against this, but if the proprietor were an unprincipled tyrant or a sensualist, (and he might be both,) there was no protection for his subjects. it has happened that the best man on an estate incurred the displeasure of his owner and went to siberia in consequence. exile is a severe punishment to the russian peasant, who clings with enduring tenacity to the place where his youthful days were passed. every serf exiled for a minor offense or at the will of his master was appointed on his arrival in siberia to live in a specified district. if he could produce a certificate of good behavior at the end of three years, he was authorized to clear and cultivate as much land as he wished. if single he could marry, but he was not compelled to do so. he was exempt from taxes for twelve years, and after that only paid a trifle. he had no master and could act for himself in all things except in returning to russia. he was under the disadvantage of having no legal existence, and though the land he worked was his own and no one could disturb him, he did not hold it under written title. the criminal who served at labor in the mines was placed, at the expiration of his sentence, in the same category as the exile for minor offences. both cultivated land in like manner and on equal terms. some became wealthy and were able to secure the privileges of citizenship. [illustration: tail piece--quarters] chapter xxxvii. the descendants of exiles are in much greater number than the exiles themselves. eastern siberia is mainly peopled by them, and western siberia very largely so. they are all free peasants and enjoy a condition far superior to that of the serf under the system prevalent before 1859. many of them have become wealthy through gold mining, commerce, and agriculture, and occupy positions they never could have obtained had they lived in european russia. i know a merchant whose fortune is counted by millions, and who is famous through siberia for his enterprise and generosity. he is the son of an exiled serf and has risen by his own ability. since i left siberia i learn with pleasure that the emperor has honored him with a decoration. many of the prominent merchants and proprietary miners were mentioned to me as examples of the prosperity of the second and third generation from banished men. i was told particularly of a wealthy gold miner whose evening of life is cheered by an ample fortune and two well educated children. forty years ago his master capriciously sent him to siberia. the man found his banishment 'the best thing that could happen.' the system of serfdom never had any practical hold in siberia. there was but one siberian proprietor of serfs in existence at the time of the emancipation. this was mr. rodinkoff of krasnoyarsk, whose grandfather received a grant of serfs and a patent of nobility from the empress catherine. none of the family, with a single exception, ever attempted more than nominal exercise of authority over the peasants, and this one paid for his imprudence with his life. he attempted to put in force his full proprietary rights, and the result was his death by violence during a visit to one of his estates. the difference between the conditions of the russian and siberian peasantry was that between slavery and freedom. the owner of serfs had rarely any common interest with his people, and his chief business was to make the most out of his human property. serfdom was degrading to master and serf, just as slavery degraded owner and slave. the moujik bore the stamp of servility as the negro slave bore it, and it will take as much time to wear it away in the one as the other. centuries of oppression in russia could not fail to open a wide gulf between the nobility and those who obeyed them. thanks to alexander the work of filling this gulf has begun, but it will require many years and much toil to complete it. the comparative freedom enjoyed in siberia was not without visible result. the peasants were more prosperous than in russia, they lived in better houses and enjoyed more real comforts of life. the absence of masters and the liberty to act for themselves begat an air of independence in the peasant class that contrasted agreeably with the cringing servility of the serf. wealth was open to all who sought it, and the barriers between the different ranks of society were partially broken down. the peasants that acquired wealth began to cultivate refined tastes. they paid more attention to the education of their children than was shown by the same class in russia, and the desire for education rapidly increased. the emancipation of the serfs in russia was probably brought about by the marked superiority of the siberian population in prosperity and intelligence. in coming ages the russians will revere the name of alexander not less than that of peter the great. to the latter is justly due the credit of raising the nation from barbarism; the former has the immortal honor of removing the stain of serfdom. the difficulties in the way were great and the emperor had few supporters, but he steadily pursued his object and at length earned the eternal gratitude of his people. russia is yet in her developing stage. the shock of the change was severe and not unattended with danger, but the critical period is passed, and the nation has commenced a career of freedom. the serf has been awakened to a new life, and his education is just commencing. already there is increased prosperity in some parts of the empire, showing that the free man understands his new condition. the proprietors who were able to appreciate and prepare for the change have been positively benefited, while others who continued obstinate were ruined. on the whole the derangement by the transition has been less than many friends of the measure expected, and by no means equal to that prophesied by its opponents. but the grandest results in the nation's progress are yet to come, and it is from future generations that alexander will receive his warmest praise. the working of mines on government account has greatly diminished in the past few years, and the number of hard labor convicts in siberia more than equals the capacity of the mines. when the political exiles, after the revolution of 1863, arrived at irkutsk, the mines were already filled with convicts. the 'politiques' sentenced to hard labor were employed in building; roads, most of them being sent to the southern end of lake baikal. in june, 1866, seven hundred and twenty prisoners were sent to this labor, and divided into eight or ten parties to work on as many sections of the road. before the end of the month a revolt occurred. various accounts have been given and different motives assigned for it. i was told by several poles that the prisoners were half starved, and the little food they received was bad. hunger and a desire to escape were the motives to the insurrection. on the other hand the russians told me the prisoners were properly fed, and the revolt must be attributed entirely to the hope of escaping from siberia. i obtained from an officer, who sat on the court-martial which investigated the affair, the following particulars: on the 24th of june, (o.s.,) the working party at koultoukskoi, the western end of the road, disarmed its guard by a sudden and bloodless attack. the insurgents then moved eastward along the line of the road, and on their way overpowered successively the guards of the other parties. many of the prisoners refused to take part in the affair and remained at their work. a polish officer named sharamovitch assumed command of the insurgents, who directed their march toward posolsky. [illustration: tartar cavalry.] as soon as news of the affair reached irkutsk, the governor general ordered a battalion of soldiers by steamer to posolsky. on the 28th of june a fight occurred at the river bestriya. the insurgents were defeated with a loss of twenty-five or thirty men, while the force sent against them lost five men and one officer. the polish leader was among the killed. after the defeat the insurgents separated in small bands and fled into the mountains. they were pursued by tartar cavalry, who scoured the country thoroughly and retook all the fugitives. the insurrection caused much alarm at its outbreak, as it was supposed all prisoners in siberia were in the conspiracy. exaggerated reports were spread, and all possible precautions taken, but they proved unnecessary. the conspiracy extended no farther than the working parties on the baikal road. the prisoners were brought to irkutsk, where a court-martial investigated the affair. a russian court-martial does not differ materially from any other in the manner of its proceedings. it requires positive evidence for or against a person accused, and, like other courts, gives him the benefit of doubts. my informant told me that the court in this case listened to all evidence that had any possible bearing on the question. the sitting continued several weeks, and after much deliberation the court rendered a finding and sentence. in the finding the prisoners were divided into five grades, and their sentences accorded with the letter of the law. the first grade comprised seven persons, known to have been leaders in the revolt. these were sentenced to be shot. in the second grade there were a hundred and ninety-seven, who knew the design to revolt and joined in the insurrection. one-tenth of these were to suffer death, the choice being made by lot; the remainder were sentenced to twenty years labor. the third grade comprised a hundred and twenty-two, ignorant of the conspiracy before the revolt, but who joined the insurgents. these received an addition of two or three years to their original sentences to labor. the fourth grade included ninety-four men, who knew the design to revolt but refused to join the insurgents. these were sentenced "to remain under suspicion." in the fifth and last grade there were two hundred and sixty, who were ignorant of the conspiracy and remained at their posts. their innocence was fully established, and, of course, relieved them from all charge. it was found that the design of the insurgents was to escape into mongolia and make their way to pekin. this would have been next to impossible, for two reasons: the character of the country, and the treaty between china and russia. the region to be traversed from the siberian frontier toward pekin is the mongolian steppe or desert. the only food obtainable on the steppe is mutton from the flocks of the nomad inhabitants. these are principally along the road from kiachta, and even there are by no means numerous. the escaping exiles in avoiding the road to ensure safety would have run great risk of starvation. the treaty between china and russia requires that fugitives from one empire to the other shall be given up. had the exiles succeeded in crossing mongolia and reaching the populous parts of china, they would have been once more in captivity and returned to russian hands. the finding of the court-martial was submitted to general korsackoff for approval or revision. the general commuted the sentence of three men in the first grade to twenty years labor. those in the second grade sentenced to death were relieved from this punishment and placed on the same footing as their companions. in the third grade the original sentence (at the time of banishment) was increased by one or two years labor. other penalties were not changed. during my stay in irkutsk the four prisoners condemned to death suffered the extreme penalty, the execution occurring in the forest near the town. a firing party of forty-eight men was divided into four squads. according to the custom at all military executions one musket in each squad was charged with a blank cartridge. the four prisoners were shot simultaneously, and all died instantly. two of them were much dejected; the others met their deaths firmly and shouted "_vive la pologne_" as they heard the order to fire. i was told that the crowd of people, though large, was very quiet, and moved away in silence when the execution was over. very few officers and soldiers were present beyond those whose duty required them to witness or take part in the affair. one of the most remarkable escapes from siberia was that of rufin piotrowski, a polish emigrant who left paris in 1844 to return to his native country, with impossible plans and crude ideas for her relief. the end of his journey was kamimetz, in podolia, where he gave himself out as a frenchman, who had come to give private lessons in foreign languages, and received the usual permit from the authorities without exciting any suspicion. he was soon introduced into the best society; and the better to shield his connections, he chose the houses of russian employã©s. his security rested upon his not being supposed to understand the polish language; and, during the nine months that he remained, he obtained such command over himself, that the police had not the slightest suspicion of his being a pole. the warning voice came from st. petersburg, through the spies in paris. early one winter's morning he was roughly shaken out of slumber by the director of police, and carried before the governor of the province, who had come specially on this errand. his position was represented to him as one of the greatest danger, and he was recommended to make a full confession. this for many days he refused to do, until a large number of those who were his accomplices were brought before him; and their weary, anxious faces induced him to exclaim loudly, and in his native tongue--"yes, i am a pole, and have returned because i could not bear exile from my native land any longer. here i wished to live inoffensive and quiet, confiding my secret to a few countrymen; and i have nothing more to say." an immediate order was made out for the culprit's departure to kiev. according to the story he has published his sufferings were frightful, and were not lessened when they stopped at a hut, where some rusty chains were brought out, the rings of which were thrust over his ankles: they proved much too small, and the rust prevented the bars from turning in the sockets, so that the pain was insupportable. he was rudely carried and thrown into the carriage, and thus arrived in an almost insensible condition at the fortress of kiev. after many months' detention in this prison, being closely watched and badly treated, he was sentenced to hard labor in siberia for life, degraded from his rank as a noble, and ordered to make the journey in chains. as soon as this was read to him, he was taken to a kibitka, with three horses, irons were put on, and he was placed between two armed soldiers; the gates of the fortress were shut, and the road to siberia was before him. an employee came up to m. piotrowski, and timidly offered him a small packet, saying--"accept this from my saint." the convict not understanding, he added, "you are a pole, and do not know our customs. it is my fãªte-day, when it is above all a duty to assist the unfortunate. pray, accept it, then, in the name of my saint, after whom i am called." the packet contained bread, salt, and money. night and day the journey continued, with the utmost rapidity, for about a month, when, in the middle of the night, they stopped at the fortress of omsk, where he was placed for a few hours with a young officer who had committed some breach of discipline. they talked on incessantly until the morning, so great was the pleasure of meeting with an educated person. a map of siberia was in the room, which piotrowski examined with feverish interest. "ah!" said his companion, "are you meditating flight? pray, do not think of it: many of your fellow-countrymen have tried it, and never succeeded." at midday he was brought before prince gortchakoff, and the critical moment of his fate arrived: he might either be sent to some of the government factories in the neighborhood, or to the mines underground. an hour passed in cruel suspense while this was debated. at length one of the council announced to him that he was to be sent to the distillery of ekaterinski, three hundred miles to the north of omsk. the clerks around congratulated him on his destination, and his departure was immediate. on a wintry morning he reached a vast plain near the river irtish, on which a village of about two hundred wooden huts was built around a factory. when introduced into the clerks' office, a young man who was writing jumped up and threw himself into his arms: he also was a pole from cracow, a well-known poet, and sent away for life as "a measure of precaution." soon they were joined by another political criminal: these spoke rapidly and with extreme emotion, entreating their new friend to bear everything in the most submissive and patient manner, as the only means of escaping from menial employment, and being promoted to the clerks' office. not long was he permitted to rest. a convict came and ordered him to take a broom and sweep away a mass of dirt that some masons had left; a murderer was his companion; and thus he went on until nightfall, when his two friends were permitted to visit him, in the presence of the soldiers and convicts, most of the latter of whom had been guilty of frightful crimes. thus day after day passed on, in sweeping, carrying wood and water, amid snow and frost. his good conduct brought him, in a year and a half, to the office, where he received ten francs a month and his rations, and the work was light. during this time he saw and conversed with many farmers and travelers from a distance, and gained every information about the roads, rivers, etc., with a view to the escape he was ever meditating. some of the natives unite with the soldiers in exercising an incessant supervision over the convicts, and a common saying among the tartars is: "in killing a squirrel you get but one skin, whilst a convict has three--his coat, his shirt, and his skin." slowly and painfully he collected the materials for his journey. first of all, a passport was an essential. a convict who had been sentenced for making false money, still possessed an excellent stamp of the royal arms; this piotrowski bought for a few francs. the sheet of paper was easily obtained in the office, and the passport forged. after long waiting, he procured a siberian wig--that is, a sheepskin with the wool turned in, to preserve the head from the cold--three shirts, a sheepskin bournouse, and a red velvet cap bordered with fur--the dress of a well-to-do peasant. on a sharp frosty night he quitted ekaterinski for tara, having determined to try the road to the north for archangel, as the least frequented. a large fair was shortly to be held at irbit, at the foot of the urals, and he hoped to hide himself in the vast crowd of people that frequented it. soon after he had crossed the river a sledge was heard behind him. he trembled for his safety--his pursuers were perhaps coming. "where are you going?" shouted the peasant who drove it. "to tara." "give me ten sous, and i will take you." "no; it is too much. i will give eight." "well, so let it be. jump in quickly." he was set down in the street; and knocking at a house, inquired in the russian fashion--"have you horses to hire?" "yes--a pair. where to?" "to irbit. i am a commercial traveler, and going to meet my master. i am behind my time, and wish to go as quickly as possible." no sooner had they set off than a snow-storm came on, and the driver lost his way. they wandered about all night in the forest, and it was impossible to describe the anguish and suffering piotrowski endured. "return to tara," said he, as the day broke; "i will engage another sledge; and you need not expect any money from me, after the folly you have shown in losing your way." they turned, but had hardly gone a mile before the driver jumped up, looked around, and cried--"this is our road." then making up for lost time, he set him down at a friend's house, where he procured some tea and fresh horses. on he went in safety, renewing his horses at small expense, until late at night, when he suffered from a most unfortunate robbery. he had not money at hand to pay the conductor. they turned into a public-house, where a crowd of drunken people were celebrating the carnival. he drew out some paper-money to get change, when the crowd coming round, some one seized his papers, among which were several rouble notes, his invaluable passport, and a note in which he had minutely inscribed all the towns and villages he must pass through on the road to archangel. he was in despair. the very first day, a quarter of his money was gone, and the only thing by which he hoped to evade suspicion, his passport. he dare not appeal to the police, and was obliged to submit. regret and hesitation were not to be thought of. he soon found himself on the high-road to irbit, crowded with an innumerable mass of sledges, going or returning to the fair. it is the season of gain and good humor, and the people show it by unbounded gaiety. piotrowski took courage, returned the salutations of the passers-by--for how could he be distinguished in such a crowd? the gates of irbit were reached on the third day. "halt, and shew your passport," cried an official; but added in a whisper--"give me twenty copecks, and pass quickly." the demand was willingly gratified, and with some difficulty he procured a night's lodging, lying on the floor amidst a crowd of peasants, who had previously supped on radish-soup, dried fish, oatmeal gruel, with oil and pickled cabbage. up at daybreak, he took care to make the orthodox salutations, and passing rapidly through the crowded town, he walked out of the opposite gate, for, henceforwards, his scanty funds demanded that the journey should be made on foot. in the midst of a heavily falling snow, he managed to keep the track, avoiding the villages, and, when hungry, drawing a piece of frozen bread from his bag. at nightfall, he buried himself in the forest, hollowed a deep hole in the snow, and found a hard but warm bed, where he gained the repose he so greatly needed. another hard day, with a dry cutting wind, forced him to ask for shelter at night in a cottage, which was granted without hesitation. he described himself as a workman, going to the iron-foundries at bohotole, on the ural mountains. whilst the supper was preparing, he dried his clothes, and stretched himself on a bench with inexpressible satisfaction. he fancied he had neglected no precautions; his prayers and salutations had been made; and yet suspicion was awakened, as it appeared, by the sight of his three shirts, which no peasant possesses. three men entered, and roughly shook him from sleep, demanding his passport. "by what right do you ask for it? are you police?" "no; but we are inhabitants of the village." "and can you enter houses, and ask for passports! who can say whether you do not mean to rob me of my papers? but my answer is ready. i am lavrenti kouzmine, going to bohotole; and it is not the first time i have passed through the country." he then entered into details of the road and the fair at irbit, ending by showing his permission to pass, which, as it bore a stamp, satisfied these ignorant men. "forgive us," said they. "we thought you were an escaped convict; some of them pass this way." henceforward, he dared not seek the shelter of a house. from the middle of february to the beginning of april, in the midst of one of the severest winters ever known, his couch was in the snow. frozen bread was his food for days together, and the absence of warm aliments brought him face to face with the terrible spectres of cold and hunger. the urals were reached, and he began to climb their wooded heights. on passing through a little village at nightfall, a voice cried: "who is there?" "a traveler." "well, would you like to come and sleep here?" "may god recompense you, yes; if it will not inconvenience you." an aged couple lived there--good people, who prepared a meagre repast, which seemed a feast to piotrowski: the greatest comfort of all being that he could take off his clothes. [illustration: siberian exiles.] they gave him his breakfast, and would not accept any remuneration but his warm and cordial thanks. one evening piotrowski's life was nearly extinct. the way was lost, the hail pierced his skin, his supply of bread was exhausted, and after vainly dragging his weary limbs, he fell into a kind of torpor. a loud voice roused him--"what are you doing here?" "i am making a pilgrimage to the monastery of solovetsk, but the storm prevented my seeing the track, and i have not eaten for several days." "it is not surprising. we who live on the spot often wander away. there, drink that." the speaker gave him a bottle containing some brandy, which burned him so fearfully, that in his pain he danced about. "now try to calm yourself," said the good samaritan, giving him some bread and dried fish, which piotrowski ate ravenously, saying--"i thank you with all my heart. may god bless you for your goodness." "ah, well, do not say so much; we are both christians. now, try to walk a little." he was a trapper; and led him into the right path, pointing out a village inn where he could get rest and refreshment. piotrowski managed to crawl to the place, and then fainted away. when he recovered himself, he asked for radish-soup, but could not swallow it; and toward noon he fell asleep on the bench, never awaking until the same time on the next day, when the host roused him. sleep, rest, and warmth restored him, and he again started on his long pilgrimage. the town of veliki-ustiug was reached, where he determined to change his character and become a pilgrim, going to pray to the holy images of solovetsk, on the white sea. there are four of these holy places to which pious russians resort, and everywhere the wayfarers are well received, hospitality and alms being freely dispensed to those who are going to pray for the peace of the donor. passports are not rigorously exacted, and he hoped to join himself to a company, trusting to be less marked than if alone. as he was standing irresolute in the market-place, a young man accosted him, and finding that they were bound to the same place, invited him to join their party. there were about twenty; but no less than two thousand were in the city on their way, waiting until the thaw should have opened the dwina for the rafts and boats which would transport them to archangel, and then to solovetsk. it was a scene for chaucer: the half-idiot, who sought to be a saint; the knave who played upon the charity of others; and the astute hypocrite. the rafts are loaded with corn, and the pilgrims receive a free passage; or a small sum of money is given them, if they consent to row; from forty to sixty sailors being required for each, the oars consisting of a thin fir-tree. piotrowski was only too happy to increase his small store of money by working. at the break of day, before starting, the captain cried--"seat yourselves, and pray to god." every one squatted down like a mussulman for a moment, then rose and made a number of salutations and crossings; and next, down to the poorest, each threw a small piece of money into the river to secure a propitious voyage. fifteen days passed, during which piotrowski learned to be an expert oarsman. then the golden spires of archangel rose before them; a cry of joy was uttered by all; and the rowers broke off the lower parts of their oars with a frightful crash, according to the universal custom. it was a heartfelt prayer of gratitude that piotrowski raised to god for having brought him thus far in safety. how pleasant was the sight of the ships, with their flags of a thousand colors, after the snow and eternal forests of the urals! but there was again disappointment. he wandered along the piers, but could not find a single vessel bound for france or germany, and not daring to enter the cafes, where perhaps the captains might have been, he left archangel in sadness, determined to skirt the coast towards onega. he would thus pass the celebrated monastery without the necessity of stopping, and pretend that he was proceeding to novgorod and moscow on the same pious pilgrimage. through marshes and blighted fir-plantations the weary wayfarer sped, the white sea rising frequently into storms of the utmost grandeur; but the season was lovely, and the sun warm, so that camping out offered less hardship. the wolves howled around him, but happily he never saw them. many soldiers, who were poles, were established at different points to take charge of the canals. having reached vytegra, he was accosted on the shore by a peasant, who asked where he was going. on hearing his story, he said--"you are the man i want. i am going to st. petersburg. my boat is small, and you can assist me to row." the crafty fellow evidently intended to profit by the pilgrim's arms without wages; but, after long debate, he agreed to supply piotrowski with food during the transport. it seemed strange, indeed, to go to the capital--like running into the jaws of the lion--but he seized every occasion to pass on, lest his papers should be asked for. as they coasted down through lake ladoga and the neva, they took in some women as passengers, who were servants, and had been home to see their parents. one of them, an aged washerwoman, was so teased by the others, that piotrowski took her part, and in return she offered him some very useful assistance. "my daughter," she said, "will come to meet me, and she will find you a suitable lodging." it will be guessed with what joy he accepted the proposal; and during all the time spent in the boat, no one came to ask for passports. the house she took him to was sufficiently miserable; as the russians say, "it was the bare ground, with the wrist for a pillow." he asked his hostess if he must see the police to arrange the business of his passport. "no," she said. "if you only stay a few days, it is useless. they have become so exacting, that they would require me to accompany you, and my time is too precious." as he passed along the quays, looking for a ship, his eyes rested on one to sail for riga on the following morning. he could scarcely master his emotion. the pilot on board called out--"if you want a place to riga, come here." "i certainly want one; but i am too poor to sail in a steamer. it would cost too much." he named a very small sum, and said--"come; why do you hesitate?" "i only arrived yesterday, and the police have not _visã©_ my passport." "that will occupy three days. go without a visã©. be here at seven o'clock, and wait for me." both were to their time. the sailor said, "give me some money," and handed him a yellow paper; the clock struck; the barrier was opened, and, like a dream, he was safely on the ocean. from riga he went through courland and lithuania. the difficulty of crossing the russian frontier into prussia was still to be managed. he chose the daytime; and when sentinels had each turned their backs, he jumped over the wall of the first of the three glacis. no noise was heard. the second was tried, and the firing of pistols showed that he was perceived. he rushed on to the third, and, breathless and exhausted, gained a little wood, where for many hours he remained concealed. he was in prussia. wandering on through mernel, tilsit, and konigsberg, he decided at the last place to take a ship the next morning to elbing, where he would be near to posen, and among his compatriots. sitting down on a heap of stones, he intended taking refuge for the night in a corn-field; but sleep overcame him, and he was rudely awakened in the darkness by a policeman. his stammering and confused replies awakened suspicion, and to his shame and grief, he was carried off to prison. he announced himself as a french cotton-spinner, but returning from russia, and without a passport. not a word he said was believed. at length, after a month's detention, weary of being considered a concealed malefactor, he asked to speak to m. fleury, a french advocate, who assisted at his trial. to him he confessed the whole truth. nothing could equal his advocate's consternation and astonishment. "what a misfortune!" he said. "we must give you up to the russians; they have just sent many of your countrymen, across the frontier. there is but one way. write to count eulenberg; tell your story, and trust to his mercy." after ten days he received a vague reply, desiring him to have patience. the affair got wind in the town, and a gentleman came to him, asking if he would accept him as bail. efforts had been made in his favor, and the police were ready to set him free. m. kamke, his kind friend, took him home, and entertained him for a week; but an order came from berlin to send the prisoner back to russia, and he received warning in time to escape. letters to various friends on the way were given him, to facilitate his journey; and just four years after he had left paris he reached it in safety again, after having crossed the urals, slept for months in the snow, jumped over the russian frontier in the midst of balls, and passed through so many sufferings and privations. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xxxviii. i remained in irkutsk until snow fell, and the winter roads were suitable for travel. one day the moving portion of the city was on wheels: the next saw it gliding on runners. the little sleighs of the _isvoshchiks_ are exactly like those of st. petersburg and moscow,--miniature affairs where you sit with your face within six inches of the driver's back, and cannot take a friend at your side without much crowding. they move rapidly, and it is a fortunate provision that they are cheap. in all large cities and towns of russia many _isvoshchiks_ go to spend the winter. with a horse and little sleigh and a cash capital sufficient to buy a license, one of these enterprising fellows will set up in business. nobody thinks of walking in moscow or st. petersburg, unless his journey or his purse is very short. it is said there are thirty thousand sleighs for public hire in st. petersburg alone, during the winter months, and two-thirds that number in moscow. the interior towns are equally well supplied in proportion to their population. one may naturally suppose that accidents are frequent where there are many vehicles and fast driving is the fashion. accidents are rare from the fact that drivers are under severe penalties if they run over any one. furthermore the horses are quick and intelligent, and being driven without blinkers, can use their eyes freely. to my mind this plan is better than ours, and most foreigners living in russia are inclined to adopt it. considered as an ornament a blinker decorates a horse about as much as an eye shade does a man. with the first fall of snow, i began preparations for departure. i summoned a tailor and gave orders for a variety of articles in fur and sheep-skin for the road. he measured me for a coat, a cap, a pair of stockings, and a sleigh robe, all in sheep-skin. he then took the size of my ears for a pair of lappets, and proposed fur socks to be worn under the stockings. when the accumulated result of his labors was piled upon the floor of my room, i was alarmed at its size, and wondered if it could ever be packed in a single sleigh. out of a bit of sable skin a lady acquaintance constructed a mitten for my nose, to be worn when the temperature was lowest. it was not an improvement to one's personal appearance though very conducive to comfort. to travel by _peraclodnoi_ (changing the vehicle at every station) is bad enough in summer but ten times bad in winter. to turn out every two or three hours with the thermometer any distance below zero, and shift baggage and furs from one sleigh to another is an absolute nuisance. yery few persons travel by _peraclodnoi_ in winter, and one does not find many sleighs at the post stations from the fact that they are seldom demanded. nearly all travelers buy their sleighs before starting, and sell them when their journeys are ended. i surveyed the irkutsk market and found several sleighs 'up' for sale. throughout siberia a sleigh manufactured at kazan is preferred, it being better made and more commodious than its rivals. my attention was called to several vehicles of local manufacture but my friends advised me not to try them. i sought a _kazanski kibitka_ and with the aid of an intelligent _isvoshchik_ succeeded in finding one. its purchase was accomplished in a manner peculiarly russian. the seller was a _mischanin_ or russian merchant of the peasant class. accompanied by a friend i called at his house and our negotiation began over a lunch and a bottle of nalifka. we said nothing on the subject nearest my heart and his, for at least a half hour, but conversed on general topics. my friend at length dropped a hint that i thought of taking up my residence at irkutsk. this was received with delight, and a glass of nalifka, supplementary to at least half a dozen glasses i had already swallowed. "why don't you come to sleighs at once, and settle the matter?" i asked. "he probably knows what we want, and if we keep on at this rate i shall need a sleigh to go home in." "don't be impatient," said my friend; "you don't understand these people; you must angle them gently. when you want to make a trade, begin a long way from it. if you want to buy a horse, pretend that you want to sell a cow, but don't mention the horse at first. if you do you will never succeed." we hedged very carefully and finally reached the subject. this was so overpowering that we took a drink while the merchant ordered the sleigh dragged into the court yard. we had another glass before we adjourned for the inspection, a later one when we returned to the house, and another as soon as we were seated. after this our negotiations proceeded at a fair pace, but there were many vacuums of language that required liquid filling. after endeavoring to lower his price, i closed with him and we clenched the bargain with a drink. sleighs were in great demand, as many persons were setting out for russia, and i made sure of my purchase by paying on the spot and taking a glass of nalifka. as a finale to the transaction, he urged me to drink again, begged my photograph, and promised to put an extra something to the sleigh. the siberian peasant classes are much like the chinese in their manner of bargaining. neither begins at the business itself, but at something entirely different. a great deal of time, tea, and tobacco is consumed before the antagonists are fairly met. when the main subject is reached they gradually approach and conclude the bargain about where both expected and intended. an american would come straight to the point, and dealing with either of the above races his bluntness would endanger the whole affair. in many matters this patient angling is advantageous, and nowhere more so than in diplomacy. every one will doubtless acknowledge the russians unsurpassed in diplomatic skill. they possess the faculty of touching gently, and playing with their opponents, to a higher degree than any nation of western europe. other things being equal, this ability will bring success. there are several descriptions of sleigh for siberian travel. at the head, stands the _vashok_, a box-like affair with a general resemblance to an american coach on runners. it has a door at each side and glass windows and is long enough for one to lie at full length. [illustration: a vashok.] three persons with limited baggage can find plenty of room in a vashok. a _kibitka_ is shaped much like a tarantass, or like a new england chaise stretched to about seven feet long by four in width. there is a sort of apron that can be let down from the hood and fastened with straps and buckles to the boot. the boot can be buttoned to the sides of the vehicle and completely encloses the occupants. the vashok is used by families or ladies, but the kibitka is generally preferred by men on account of the ability to open it in fine weather, and close it at night or in storms. a sleigh much like this but less comfortable is called a _povoska_. in either of them, the driver sits on the forward part with his feet hanging over the side. his perch is not very secure, and on a rough road he must exercise care to prevent falling off. "why don't you have a better seat for your driver?" i asked of my friend, when negotiating for a sleigh. "oh," said he, "this is the best way as he cannot go to sleep. if he had a better place he would sleep and lose time by slow traveling." a sleigh much used by russian merchants is shaped like an elongated mill-hopper. it has enormous carrying capacity, and in bad weather can be covered with matting to exclude cold and snow. it is large, heavy, and cumbersome, and adapted to slow travel, and when much luggage is to be carried. all these concerns are on runners about thirty inches apart, and generally shod with iron. on each side there is a fender or outrigger which serves the double purpose of diminishing injury from collisions and preventing the overturn of the sleigh. it is a stout pole attached to the forward end of the sleigh, and sloping downward and outward toward the rear where it is two feet from the runner, and held by strong braces. on a level surface it does not touch the snow, but should the sleigh tilt from any cause the outrigger will generally prevent an overturn. in collision with other sleighs, the fender plays an important part. i have been occasionally dashed against sleds and sleighs when the chances of a smash-up appeared brilliant. the fenders met like a pair of fencing foils, and there was no damage beyond the shock of our meeting. [illustration: a kibitka.] the horses are harnessed in the russian manner, one being under a yoke in the shafts, and the others, up to five or six, attached outside. there is no seat in the interior of the sleigh. travelers arrange their baggage and furs to as good a level as possible and fill the crevices with hay or straw. they sit, recline, or lie at their option. pillows are a necessity of winter travel. i exchanged my trunk for a chemadan of enormous capacity, and long enough to extend across the bottom, of my sleigh. for the first thousand versts, to krasnoyarsk, i arranged to travel with a young officer of engineers whose baggage consisted of two or three hundred pounds of geological specimens. for provisions we ordered beef, cabbage soup, little cakes like 'mince turnovers,' and a few other articles. tea and sugar were indispensable, and had a prominent place. our soups, meat, pies, _et cetera_ were frozen and only needed thawing at the stations to be ready for use. the day before my departure was the peculiar property of saint inakentief, the only saint who belongs especially to siberia. everybody kept the occasion in full earnest, the services commencing the previous evening when nearly everybody got drunk. i had a variety of preparations in the shape of mending, making bags, tying up bundles and the like, but though i offered liberal compensation neither man-servant nor maid-servant would lend assistance. labor was not to be had on any terms, and i was obliged to do my own packing. there are certain saints' days in the year when a russian peasant will no more work than would a puritan on sunday. all who could do so on the day above mentioned visited the church four miles from irkutsk, where saint inakentief lies buried. i occupied the fashionable hours of the two days before my departure in making farewell visits according to russian etiquette. not satisfied with their previous courtesy my friends arranged a dinner at the club rooms for the last evening of my stay at irkutsk. the other public dinners were of a masculine character, but the farewell entertainment possessed the charm of the presence of fifteen or twenty ladies. general shelashnikoff, governor of irkutsk, and acting governor general during the absence of general korsackoff, presided at the table. we dined directly before the portraits of the last and present emperors of russia, and as i looked at the likeness of nicholas i thought i had never seen it half as amiable. after the dinner the tables disappeared with magical rapidity and a dance began. while i was talking in a corner behind a table, a large album containing views of irkutsk was presented to me as a souvenir of my visit. the _golovah_ was prominent in the presentation, and when it was ended he urged me to be his _vis a vis_ in a quadrille. had he asked me to walk a tight rope or interpret a passage of sanscrit, i should have been about as able to comply. my education in 'the light fantastic' has been extremely limited, and my acquaintances will testify that nature has not adapted me to achievements in the terpsichorean art. i resisted all entreaties to join the dance up to that evening. i urged that i never attempted it a dozen times in my life, and not at all within ten years. the golovah declared he had not danced in twenty-five years, and knew as little of the art as i did. there was no more to be said. i resigned myself to the pleasures awaiting me, and ventured on the floor very much as an elephant goes on a newly frozen mill-pond. personal diffidence and a regard for truth forbid a laudatory account of my success. i did walk through a quadrille, but when it came to the mazurka i was as much out of place as a blind man in a picture gallery. my arrangement to travel with the geologic officer and his heavy baggage fell through an hour before our starting time. a now plan was organized and included my taking captain paul in my sleigh to krasnoyarsk. two ladies of our acquaintance were going thither, and i gladly waited a few hours for the pleasure of their company. when my preparations were completed, i drove to the house of madame rodstvenny whence we were to set out. the madame and her daughter were to travel in a large kibitka, and had bestowed two servants with much baggage and provisions in a vashok. with our three vehicles we made a dignified procession. we dined at three o'clock, and were ready to start an hour later. just before leaving the house all were seated around the principal room, and for a minute there was perfect silence. on rising all who professed the religion of the greek church bowed to the holy picture and made the sign of the cross. this custom prevails throughout russia, and is never omitted when a journey is to be commenced. there was a gay party to conduct us to the first station, conveniently situated only eight miles away. at the ferry we found the largest assemblage i saw in irkutsk, not excepting the crowd at the fire. the ferry boat was on the other side of the river, and as i glanced across i saw something that caused me to look more intently. it was a little past sunset, and the gathering night showed somewhat indistinctly the american and russian flags floating side by side on the boat. my national colors were in the majority. the scene was rendered more picturesque by a profusion of chinese lanterns lighting every part of the boat. the golovah stood at my side to enjoy my astonishment. it was to his kindness and attention that this farewell courtesy was due. he had the honor of unfurling the first american flag that ever floated over the angara--and his little surprise raised a goodly sized lump in the throat of his guest. [illustration: farewell to irkutsk.] our party was so large that the boat made two journeys to ferry us over the water. i remained till the last, and on the bank of the river bade adieu to irkutsk and its hospitable citizens. i may not visit them again, but i can never forget the open hearted kindness i enjoyed. the siberians have a climate of great severity, but its frosts and snows have not been able to chill the spirit of genuine courtesy, as every traveler in that region can testify. hospitality is a custom of the country, and all the more pleasing because heartily and cheerfully bestowed. the shades of night were falling fast as i climbed the river bank, and began my sleigh ride toward the west. the arched gateway at irkutsk close by the ferry landing, is called the moscow entrance, and is said to face directly toward the ancient capital. as i reached the road, i shouted "_poshol_" to the yemshick, and we dashed off in fine style. at the church or monastery six versts away, i overtook our party. the ladies were in the chapel offering their prayers for a prosperous journey. when they emerged we were ready to go forward over a road not remarkable for its smoothness. at the first station our friends joined us in taking tea. cups, glasses, cakes, champagne bottles, cakes and cold meats, crept somehow from mysterious corners in our vehicles. the station master was evidently accustomed to visits like this, as his rooms were ready for our reception. we were two hours in making our adieus, and consuming the various articles provided for the occasion. there was a general kissing all around at the last moment. we packed the ladies in their sleigh, and then entered our own. as we left the station our friends joined their voices in a farewell song that rang in our ears till lost in the distance, and drowned by nearer sounds. our bells jingled merrily in the frosty air as our horses sped rapidly along the road. we closed the front of our sleigh, and settled among our furs and pillows. the night was cold, but in my thick wrappings i enjoyed a tropical warmth and did not heed the low state of the thermometer. our road for seventy versts lay along the bank of the angara. a thick fog filled the valley and seemed to hug close to the river. in the morning every part of our sleigh except at the points of friction, was white with frost. each little fibre projecting from our cover of canvas and matting became a miniature stalactite, and the head of every nail, bolt, and screw, buried itself beneath a mass like oxydised silver. everything had seized upon and congealed some of the moisture floating in the atmosphere. our horses were of the color, or no color, of rabbits in january; it was only by brushing away the frost that the natural tint of their hair could be discovered, and sometimes there was a great deal of frost adhering to them. during my stay at irkutsk i noticed the prevalence of this fog or frost cloud. it usually formed during the night and was thickest near the river. in the morning it enveloped the whole city, but when the sun was an hour or two in the heavens, the mist began to melt away. it remained longest over the river, and i was occasionally in a thick cloud on the bank of the angara when the atmosphere a hundred yards away was perfectly clear. the moisture congealed on every stationary object. houses and fences were cased in ice, its thickness varying with the condition of the weather. trees and bushes became masses of crystals, and glistened in the sunlight as if formed of diamonds. i could never wholly rid myself of the impression that some of the trees were fountains caught and frozen when in full action. the frost played curious tricks of artistic skill, and its delineations were sometimes marvels of beauty. any one who has visited st. petersburg in winter remembers the effect of a fog from the gulf of finland after a period of severe cold. the red granite columns of st. isaac's church are apparently transformed into spotless marble by the congelation of moisture on their surface. in the same manner i have seen a gray wall at irkutsk changed in a night and morning to a dazzling whiteness. the crystalline formation of the frost had all the varieties of the kaleidoscope without its colors. i slept well during the night, awaking occasionally at the stations or when the sleigh experienced an unusually heavy thump. in the morning i learned we had traveled a hundred and sixty versts from irkutsk. the road was magnificent after leaving the valley of the angara, and the sleigh glided easily and with very little jolting. "no cloud above, no earth below; a universe of sky and snow." i woke to daylight and found a monotonous country destitute of mountains and possessing few hills. it was generally wooded, and where under cultivation near the villages there was an appearance of fertility. there were long distances between the clusters of houses, and i was continually reminded of the abundant room for increase of population. we stopped for breakfast soon after sunrise. the samovar was ordered, and our servants brought a creditable supply of toothsome little cakes and pies. these with half a dozen cups of tea to each person prepared us for a ride of several hours. we dined a little before sunset, and for one i can testify that full justice was done to the dinner. very little can be had at the stations on this road, so that experienced travelers carry their own provisions. one can always obtain hot water, and generally bread, and eggs, but nothing else is certain. in winter, provisions can be easily carried as the frost preserves them alike from decaying or crushing. soup, meats, bread, and other edibles can be carried on long routes with perfect facility. there is a favorite preparation for russian travel under the name of _pilmania_. it is a little ball of minced meat covered with dough, the whole being no larger than a robin's egg. in a frozen state a bag full of pilmania is like the same quantity of walnuts or marbles, and can be tossed about with impunity. when a traveler wishes to dine upon this article he orders a pot of boiling water and tosses a double handful of pilmania into it. after five minutes boiling the mass is ready to be eaten in the form of soup. salt, pepper, and vinegar can be used with it to one's liking. our _diner du voyage_ consisted of pilmania, roast beef, and partridge with bread, cakes, tea, and quass. our table furniture was somewhat limited, and the room was littered with garments temporarily discarded. the ladies were crinolineless, and their coiffures were decidedly not parisian. my costume was a cross between a shooting outfit and the everyday dress of a stevedore, while my hair appeared as if recently dressed with a currant bush. captain paul was equally unpresentable in fastidious parlors, but whatever our apparel it did not diminish the keenness of our appetites. the dinner was good, and the diners were hungry and happy. fashion is wholly rejected on the siberian road, and each one makes his toilet without regard to french principles and tastes. according to russian custom, somebody was to be thanked for the meal. as the dinner came from the provisions in the servants' sleigh we presented our acknowledgments to madame rodstvenny. with the forethought of an experienced traveler the lady had carefully provided her edibles and so abundant was her store that my supply was rarely drawn upon. we were more like a pic-nic party than a company of travelers on a long journey in a siberian winter. mademoiselle was fluent in french, and charming in its use. the only drawback to general conversation was my inability to talk long with madame except by interpretation. in our halts we managed to pass the time in tea-drinking, conversation, and sometimes with music of an impromptu character. i remember favoring air appreciative audience with a solo on a trunk key, followed by mademoiselle and the captain in a duett on a tin cup and a horn comb covered with letter paper. there was very little scenery worthy of note. the villages generally lay in single streets each containing from ten to a hundred houses. between these clusters of dwellings there was little to be seen beyond a succession of wooded ridges with stretches of open ground. the continued snow-scape offered no great variety on the first day's travel, and before night i began to think it monotonous. the villages were from ten to twenty miles apart, and very much the same in general characteristics. the stations had a family likeness. each had a travelers' room more or less comfortable, and a few apartments for the smotretal and his attendants. the travelers' room had some rough chairs, one or two hard sofas or benches, and the same number of tables. while the horses were being changed we had our option to enter the station or stay out of doors. i generally preferred the latter alternative on account of the high temperature of the waiting rooms, which necessitated casting off one's outer garment on entering. during our halts i was fain to refresh myself with a little leg stretching and found it a great relief. the first movement at a station is to present the padaroshnia and demand horses. marco polo says, that the great khan of tartary had posting stations twenty-five miles apart on the principal roads of his empire. a messenger or traveler carried a paper authorizing him to procure horses, and was always promptly supplied. the padaroshnia is of ancient date, if marco be trustworthy. it is not less important to a russian traveler at present than to a tartar one in earlier times. our documents were efficacious, and usually brought horses with little delay. the size of our party was a disadvantage as we occasionally found one or two sets of horses ready but were obliged to wait a short time for a third. paul had a permit to impress horses in the villages while i carried a special passport requesting the authorities to 'lend me all needed assistance.' this was generally construed into despatching me promptly, and we rarely failed with a little persuasion and money, to secure horses for the third sleigh. when we entered the stations for any purpose the sleighs and their contents remained unguarded in the streets, but we never lost anything by theft. with recollections of my experience at stage stations in america, i never felt quite at ease at leaving our property to care for itself. my companions assured me that thefts from posting vehicles seldom occur although the country numbers many convicts among its inhabitants. the native siberians have a reputation for honesty, and the majority of the exiles for minor offences lead correct lives. i presume that wickedly inclined persons in villages are deterred from stealing on account of the probability of detection and punishment. so far as my experience goes the inhabitants of siberia are more honest that those of european russia. in siberia our sleighs required no watching when we left them. after passing the ural mountains it was necessary to hire a man to look after our property when we breakfasted and dined. the horses being the property of the station we paid for them at every change. on no account was the _navodku_ or drink-money to the driver forgotten, and it varied according to the service rendered. if the driver did well but made no special exertion we gave him eight or ten copecks, and increased the amount as we thought he deserved. on the other hand if he was obstinate and unaccommodating he obtained nothing. if he argued that the regulations required only a certain speed we retorted that the regulations said nothing about drink-money. in general we found the yemshicks obliging and fully entitled to their gratuities. we went at breakneck pace where the roads permitted, and frequently where they did not. a travelers' speed depends considerably on the drink-money he is reported to have given on the previous stage. if illiberal to a good driver or liberal to a bad one he cannot expect rapid progress. the regulations require a speed of ten versts (6-2/3 miles) per hour for vehicles not on government service. if the roads are bad the driver can lessen his pace, but he must make all proper exertion to keep up to the schedule. when they are good and the driver is thirsty (as he generally is), the regulations are not heeded. we arranged for my sleigh to lead, and that of the servants to bring up the rear. whatever speed we went the others were morally certain to follow, and our progress was frequently exciting. money was potent, and we employed it. fifteen copecks was a liberal gratuity, and twenty bordered on the munificent. when we increased our offer to twenty-five or thirty it was pretty certain to awaken enthusiasm. sometimes the pecuniary argument failed, and obliged us to proceed at the legal rate. in such cases we generally turned aside and placed the ladies in advance. we made twelve, fourteen, or sixteen versts per hour, and on one occasion i held my watch, and found that we traveled a trifle less than twenty-two versts or about fourteen and a half miles in sixty minutes. i do not think i ever rode in america at such a pace (without steam) except once when a horse ran away with me. ordinarily we traveled faster than the rate prescribed by regulation, and only when the roads were bad did we fall below it. we studied the matter of drink-money till it became an exact science. about noon on the first day from irkutsk we took a yemshick who proved sullen in the highest degree. the country was gently undulating, and the road superb but our promises of navodku were of no avail. we offered and entreated in vain. as a last resort we shouted in french to the ladies and suggested that they take the lead. our yemshick ordered his comrade to keep his place, and refused to turn aside to allow him to pass. he even slackened his speed and drew his horses to a walk. our stout-armed _garcon_ took a position on our sleigh, and by a fistic argument succeeded in turning us aside. we made only fair progress, and were glad when the drive was ended. when we began our rapid traveling, i had fears that the sleigh would go to pieces in consequence, but was soon convinced that everything was lovely. the sport was exciting, and greatly relieved the monotony of travel. we were so protected by furs, pillows, blankets, and hay, that our jolting and bounding had no serious result. the ladies enjoyed it as much as ourselves, and were not at all inconvenienced by any ordinary shaking. once at the end of a furious ride of twenty versts, i found the madame asleep and learned that she had been so since leaving the last station. i have ridden much in american stage coaches, and witnessed some fine driving in the west and in california. but for rapidity and dash, commend me always to the siberian yemshicks. chapter xxxix. on the second morning we stopped at tulemsk to deliver several boxes that encumbered the sleighs. the servants have a way of putting small articles, and sometimes large ones, in the forward end of the vehicle. they are no special annoyance to a person of short stature, but in my own case i was not reconciled to the practice. a russian sleigh is shaped somewhat like a laundry smoothing-iron, much narrower forward than aft, so that a traveler does not usually find the space beneath the driver a world too wide for his shrunk shanks. we thawed out over a steaming samovar with plenty of hot tea. the lady of the house brought a bottle of nalifka of such curious though agreeable flavor that i asked of what fruit it was made. "nothing but orange peel," was the reply. every siberian housewife considers it her duty to prepare a goodly supply of nalifka during the autumn. a glass jar holding two or three gallons is filled to the neck with any kind of fruit or berries, currants and gooseberries being oftenest used. the jar is then filled with native whisky, and placed in a southern window where it is exposed to the sunlight and the heat of the room for ten days. the whisky is then poured off, mixed with an equal quantity of water, placed in a kettle with a pound of sugar to each gallon, and boiled for a few minutes. when cooled and strained it is bottled and goes to the cellar. many siberians prefer nalifka to foreign wines, and a former governor-general attempted to make it fashionable. he eschewed imported wine and substituted nalifka, but his example was not imitated to the extent he desired. our halt consumed three or four hours. after we started an unfortunate pig was found entangled in the framework of my sleigh, and before we could let him out he was pretty well bruised and shaken up. how he came there we were puzzled to know, but i do not believe he ever willingly troubled a sleigh again. we encountered many caravans of sleds laden with merchandise. they were made up much like the trains i described between kiachta and lake baikal, there being four or five sleds to each man. the horses generally guided themselves, and followed their leaders with great fidelity. while we were stopping to make some repairs near the foot of a hill, i was interested in the display of equine intelligence. as a caravan reached the top of the hill each horse stopped till the one preceding him had descended. holding back as if restrained by reins he walked half down the descent, and then finished the hill and crossed the hollow below it at a trot. one after another passed in this manner without guidance, exactly as if controlled by a driver. i noticed that the horses were quite skillful in selecting the best parts of the road. i have occasionally seen a horse pause when there were three or four tracks through the snow, and make his choice with apparent deliberation. i recollect a school boy composition that declared in its first sentence, 'the horse is a noble animal,' but i never knew until i traveled in siberia how much he is entitled to a patent of nobility. in the daytime we had little trouble with these caravans, as they generally gave us the road on hearing our bells. if the way was wide the horses usually turned aside of their own accord; where it was narrow they were unwilling to step in the snow, and did not until directed by their drivers. if the latter were dilatory our yemshicks turned aside and revenged themselves by lashing some of the sled horses and all the drivers they could reach. in the night we found more difficulty as the caravan horses desired to keep the road, and their drivers were generally asleep. we were bumped against innumerable sleds in the hours of darkness. the outriggers alone prevented our sleighs going to pieces. the trains going eastward carried assorted cargoes of merchandise for siberia and china. those traveling westward were generally loaded with tea in chests, covered with cowhide. the amount of traffic over the principal road through siberia is very large. when we halted for dinner i brought a bottle of champagne from, my sleigh. it was the best of the 'cliquot' brand and frozen as solid as a block of ice. it stood half an hour in a warm room before thawing enough to drip slowly into our glasses and was the most perfect _champagne frappã©_ i ever saw. a bottle of cognac was a great deal colder than ordinary ice, and when we brought it into the station the moisture in the warm room congealed upon it to the thickness of card-board. after this display i doubted the existence of latent heat in alcohol. just as we finished dinner the post with five vehicles was announced. we hastened to put on our furs and sprang into the sleighs with the least possible delay. there was no fear that we should lose the first and second set of horses, but the last one might be taken for the post as the ladies had only a third-class padaroshnia. the yemshicks were as anxious to escape as ourselves, as the business of carrying the mail does not produce navodka. the post between irkutsk and krasnoyarsk passes twice a week each way, and we frequently encountered it. where it had just passed a station there was occasionally a scarcity of horses that delayed us till village teams were brought. a postillion accompanies each convoy, and is responsible for its security. travelers sometimes purchase tickets and have their vehicles accompany the post, but in so doing their patience is pretty severely taxed. the postillion is a soldier or other government employã©, and must be armed to repel robbers. one of these conductors was a boy of fourteen who appeared under heavy responsibility. i watched him loading a pistol at a station and was amused at his ostentatious manner. when the operation was completed he fixed the weapon in his belt and swaggered out with the air of the heavy tragedian at the old bowery. another postillion stuck around with pistols and knives looked like a military museum on its travels. [illustration: the conductor.] from our dining station we left the main road, and traveled several versts along the frozen surface of the birusa river. the snow lay in ridges, and as we drove rapidly over them we were tossed like a yawl in a hopping sea. it was a foretaste of what was in store for me at later periods of my journey. the birusa is rich in gold deposits, and the government formerly maintained extensive mining establishments in its valley. about nine o'clock in the evening we voted to take tea. on entering the station i found the floor covered with a dormant mass, exhaling an odor not altogether spicy. i bumped my head against a sort of wide shelf suspended eighteen or twenty inches from the ceiling, and sustaining several sleepers. "here" said paul, "is another _chambre ã¡ coucher_" as he attempted to pull aside a curtain at the top of the brick stove. a female head and shoulders were exposed for an instant, until a stout hand grasped and retained the curtain. the suspended shelf or false ceiling is quite common in the peasant houses, and especially at the stations. the yemshicks and other attachã©s of the concern are lodged here and on the floor, beds being a luxury they rarely obtain. frequently a small house would be as densely packed as the steerage of a passenger ship, and i never desired to linger in these crowded apartments. a russian house has little or no ventilation, and the effect of a score of sleepers on the air of a room is 'better imagined than described.' on the road west of irkutsk the rules require each smotretal to keep ten teams or thirty horses, ready for use. many of them have more than that number, and the villages can supply any ordinary demand after the regular force is exhausted. fourteen yemshicks are kept at every station, and always ready for service. they are boarded at the expense of the smotretal, and receive about five roubles each per month, with as much drink-money as they can obtain. frequently they make two journeys a day to the next station, returning without loads. they appeared on the most amiable terms with each other, and i saw no quarreling over their work. on our first and second nights from irkutsk the weather was cold, the thermometer standing at fifteen or twenty degrees below zero. on the third day the temperature rose quite rapidly, and by noon it was just below the freezing point. our furs designed for cold weather became uncomfortably warm, and i threw off my outer garments and rode in my sheepskin coat. in the evening we experienced a feeling of suffocation on closing the sleigh, and were glad to open it again. we rode all night with the wind beating pleasantly against our faces, and from time to time lost our consciousness in sleep. for nearly two days the warm weather continued, and subjected us to inconveniences. we did not travel as rapidly as in the colder days, the road being less favorable, and the horses diminishing their energy with the increased warmth. some of our provisions were in danger of spoiling as they were designed for transportation only in a frozen state. between nijne udinsk and kansk the snow was scanty, and the road occasionally bad. the country preserved its slightly undulating character, and presented no features of interest. where we found sufficient snow we proceeded rapidly, sometimes leaving the summer road and taking to the open ground, and forests on either side. we pitched into a great many _oukhabas_, analagous to american "hog wallows" or "cradle holes." to dash into one of these at full speed gives a shock like a boat's thumping on the shore. it is only with pillows, furs, and hay that a traveler can escape contusions. in mild doses _oukhabas_ are an excellent tonic, but the traveler who takes them in excess may easily imagine himself enjoying a field-day at donnybrook fair. [illustration: jumping cradle holes.] an hour before reaching kansk one of our horses fell dead and brought us to a sudden halt. the yemshick tried various expedients to discover signs of life but to no purpose. paul and i formed a board of survey, and sat upon the beast; the other sleighs passed us during our consultation, and were very soon out of sight. when satisfied that the animal, as a horse, was of no further use, the yemshick pulled him to the roadside, stripped off his harness, and proceeded with our reduced team. i asked who was responsible for the loss, and was told it was no affair of ours. the government pays for horses killed in the service of couriers, as these gentlemen compel very high speed. on a second or third rate padaroshnian the death of a horse is the loss of its owner. horses are not expensive in this region, an ordinary roadster being worth from fifteen to twenty roubles. within a mile of kansk the road was bare of snow, and as we had but two horses to our sleigh i proposed walking into town. we passed a long train of sleds on their way to market with loads of wood and hay. tea was ready for us when we arrived at the station, and we were equally ready for it. after my fifth cup i walked through the public square as it was market day, and the people were in the midst of traffic. fish, meat, hay, wood, and a great quantity of miscellaneous articles were offered for sale. in general terms the market was a sort of pocket edition of the one at irkutsk. i practiced my knowledge of russian in purchasing a quantity of rope to use in case of accidents. foreigners were not often seen there if i may judge of the curiosity with which i was regarded. kansk is a town of about three thousand inhabitants, and stands on the kan, a tributary of the yenesei. we were told there was little snow to the first station, and were advised to take five horses to each sleigh. we found the road a combination of thin snow and bare ground, the latter predominating. we proceeded very well, the yemshicks maintaining sublime indifference to the character of the track. they plied their whips vigorously in the probable expectation of drink-money. the one on my sleigh regaled us with an account of the perfectly awful condition of the road to krasnoyarsk. about sunset we changed horses, thirty versts from kansk, and found no cheering prospect ahead. we drowned our sorrows in the flowing tea-cup, and fortified ourselves with a large amount of heat. tea was the sovereign remedy for all our ills, and we used it most liberally. we set out with misgivings and promised liberal rewards to the yemshicks, if they took us well and safely. the road was undeniably bad, with here and there a redeeming streak of goodness. notwithstanding the jolts i slept pretty well during the night. in the morning we took tea fifty versts from krasnoyarsk, and learned there was absolutely no snow for the last thirty versts before reaching the city. there was fortunately a good snow road to the intervening village where we must change to wheels. curiously enough the snow extended up to the very door of the last station, and utterly disappeared three feet beyond. looking one way we saw bare earth, while in the other direction there was a good road for sleighing. at this point we arranged our programme over the inevitable cakes and tea. the ladies were to leave their vashok until their return to irkutsk ten or twelve days later. the remaining sleighs were unladen and mounted upon wheels. we piled our baggage into telyagas with the exception of a few articles that remained in the sleighs. the ladies with their maid took one wagon, while paul and myself rode in another, the man servant conveying the sleighs. the whole arrangement was promptly effected; the villagers scented a job on our arrival, and were ready for proposals. my sleigh was lifted and fastened into a wagon about as quickly as a hackman would arrange a trunk. _place aux dames toujours._ we sent away the ladies half an hour in advance of the rest of the party. our telyaga was a rickety affair, not half so roomy as the sleigh, but as the ride was short the discomfort was of little consequence. we had four ill conditioned steeds, but before we had gone twenty rods one of the brutes persistently faced about and attempted to come inside the vehicle, though he did not succeed. after vain efforts to set him right, the yemshick turned him loose, and he bolted homeward contentedly. we climbed and descended a long hill near the village, and then found a level country quite free from snow, and furnishing a fine road. i was told that very little snow falls within twenty miles of krasnoyarsk, and that it is generally necessary to use wheels there in the winter months. the reason was not explained to me, but probably the general configuration of the country is much like that near chetah. krasnoyarsk lies on the yenesei which has a northerly course into the arctic ocean. the mountains bounding the valley are not lofty, but sufficiently high to wring the moisture from the snow clouds. both above and below krasnoyarsk, there is but little snow even in severe seasons. our animals were superbly atrocious, and made good speed only on descending grades. we were four hours going thirty versts, and for three-fourths that distance our route was equal to the bloomingdale road. occasionally we saw farm houses with a dejected appearance as if the winter had come upon them unawares. from the quantity of ground enclosed by fences i judged the land was fertile, and well cultivated. toward sunset we saw the domes of krasnoyarsk rising beyond the frozen yenesei. we crossed the river on the ice, and passed near several women engaged in rinsing clothes. a laundress does her washing at the house, but rinses her linen at the river. in summer this may be well enough, but it seemed to me that the winter exercise of standing in a keen wind with the thermometer below zero, and rinsing clothes in a hole cut through the ice was anything but agreeable. it was a cold day, and i was well wrapped in furs, but these women were in ordinary clothing, and some had bare legs. they stood at the edges of circular holes in the ice, and after 'swashing' the linen a short time in the water, wrung it with their purple hands. how they escaped frost bites i cannot imagine. the yenesei is a magnificent river, one of the largest in siberia. it is difficult to estimate with accuracy any distance upon ice, and i may be far from correct in considering the yenesei a thousand yards wide at krasnoyarsk. the telegraph wires are supported on tall masts as at the crossing of the missouri near kansas city. in summer there are two steamboats navigating the river from yeneseisk to the arctic ocean. rapids and shoals below krasnoyarsk prevent their ascending to the latter town. the tributaries of the yenesei are quite rich in gold deposits, and support a mining business of considerable extent. krasnoyarsk derives its name from the red hills in its vicinity, and the color of the soil where it stands. it is on the left bank of the yenesei, and has about ten thousand inhabitants. it was nearly night when we climbed the sloping road in the hillside, and reached the level of the plateau. the ladies insisted that we should occupy their house during our stay, and utterly forbade our going to the hotel. while walking up the hill the captain hailed a washerwoman, and asked for the residence of madame rodstvenny. her reply was so voluminous, and so rapidly given that my friend was utterly bewildered, and comprehended nothing. to his astonishment i told him that i understood the direction. "_c'est impossible_," he declared. "by no means," i replied. "the madame lives in a stone house to the left of the gastinni dvor. the washerwoman said so." following my advice we found the house. as we entered the courtyard, the captain begged to know by what possibility i understood in his own language what he could not. i explained that while the woman spoke so glibly i caught the words "_doma, kamen, na leva, gastinni dvor_." i understood only the essential part of her instruction, and was not confused by the rest. i was somewhat reluctant to convert a private house into a hotel as i expected to remain four or five days. but siberian hospitality does not stop at trifles, and my objections were promptly overruled. after toilet and dinner, paul and i were parboiled in the bath house of the establishment. an able-bodied moujik scrubbed me so thoroughly as to suggest the possibility of removing the cuticle. in the morning i went to the bank to change some large bills into one-rouble notes for use on the road. horses must be paid for at every station, and it is therefore desirable to carry the smallest notes with abundance of silver and copper to make change. the bank was much like institutions of its class elsewhere, and transacted my business promptly. the banks in siberia are branches of the imperial bank at st. petersburg. they receive deposits, and negotiate exchanges and remittances just like private banks, but do not undertake risky business. the officers are servants of the government, and receive their instructions from the parent bank. my finances arranged, i went to the telegraph office to send a message to a friend. my despatch was written in russian, and i paid for message and response. a receipt was given me stating the day, hour, and minute of filing the despatch, its destination, address, length, and amount paid. when i received the response i found a statement of the exact time it was filed for transmission, and also of its reception at krasnoyarsk. this is the ordinary routine of the russian telegraph system. i commend it to the notice of interested persons in america. there is no free telegraphing on the government lines, every despatch over the wires being paid for by somebody. if on government business the sender pays the regular tariff and is reimbursed from the treasury. i was told that the officers of the telegraph paid for their own family messages, but had the privilege of conversing on the lines free of charge. high position does not confer immunity. when the czarevitch was married, general korsackoff sent his congratulations by telegraph, and received a response from the emperor. both messages were paid for by the sender without reduction or trust. i found the general features of krasnoyarsk much like those of irkutsk. official and civilian inhabitants dressed, lived, walked, breathed, drank, and gambled like their kindred nearer the east. it happened to be market day, and the public square was densely crowded. i was interested in observing the character and abundance of the fish offered for sale. among those with a familiar appearance were the sturgeon, perch, and pike, and a small fish resembling our alewife. there was a fish unknown to me, with a long snout like a duck's bill, and a body on the extreme clipper model. all these fish are from the yenesei, some dwelling there permanently while others ascend annually from the arctic ocean. all in the market were frozen solid, and the larger ones were piled up like cord-wood. from the bank overlooking the river there is a fine view of the valley of the yenesei. there are several islands in the vicinity, and i was told that in the season of floods the stream has a very swift current. it is no easy work to ferry across it, and the boats generally descend a mile or two while paddling over. a few years ago a resident of krasnoyarsk made a remarkable voyage on this river. he had been attending a wedding several miles away on the other bank, and started to return late at night so as to reach the ferry about daybreak. his equipage was a wooden telyaga drawn by two powerful horses. having partaken of the cup that inebriates, the man fell asleep and allowed his horses to take their own course. knowing the way perfectly they came without accident to the ferry landing, their owner still wrapped in his drunken slumber. [illustration: valley of the yenesei.] the boat was on the other side, and the horses, no doubt hungry and impatient, plunged in to swim across. the telyaga filled with water, but had sufficient buoyancy not to sink. the cold bath waked and sobered the involuntary voyager when about half way over the river. he had the good sense, aided by fright, to remain perfectly still, and was landed in safety. those who saw him coming in the early dawn were struck with astonishment, and one, at least, imagined that he beheld neptune in his marine chariot breasting the waters of the yenesei. my informant vouched for the correctness of the story, and gave it as an illustration of the courage and endurance of siberian horses. according to the statement of the condition of the river, the beasts could have as easily crossed the mississippi at memphis in an ordinary stage of water. wolves are abundant in the valley of the yenesei, though they are not generally dangerous to men. an officer whom i met there told me they were less troublesome than in poland, and he related his experience with them in the latter country while on a visit to the family of a young lady to whom he was betrothed. i give his story as nearly as possible in his own words. "one day my friend rasloff proposed a wolf hunt. we selected the best horses from his stable; fine, quick, surefooted beasts, with a driver who was unsurpassed in all that region for his skill and dash. the sleigh was a large one, and we fitted it with a good supply of robes and straw, and put a healthy young pig in it to serve as a decoy. we each had a gun, and carried a couple of spare guns, with plenty of ammunition, so that we could kill as many wolves as presented themselves. "just as we were preparing to start, christina asked to accompany us. i suggested the coldness of the night, and rasloff hinted that the sleigh was too small for three. but christina protested that the air, though sharp, was clear and still, and she could wrap herself warmly; a ride of a few hours would do her more good than harm. the sleigh, she insisted, was a large one, and afforded ample room. 'besides,' she added, 'i will sit directly behind the driver, and out of your way, and i want to see a wolf-hunt very much indeed.' "so we consented. christina arrayed herself in a few moments, and we started on our excursion. "the servants were instructed to hang out a light in front of the entrance to the courtyard. it was about sunset when we left the chateau and drove out upon the plain, covered here and there with patches of forest. the road we followed was well trodden by the many peasants on their way to the fair at the town, twenty-five miles away. we traveled slowly, not wishing to tire our horses, and, as we left the half dozen villages that clustered around the chateau, we had the road entirely to ourselves. the moon rose soon after sunset, and as it was at the full, it lighted up the plain very clearly, and seemed to stand out quite distinct from the deep blue sky and the bright stars that sparkled everywhere above the horizon. we chatted gayly as we rode along. the time passed so rapidly that i was half surprised, when rasloff told me to get ready to hunt wolves. "the pig had been lying very comfortably in the bottom, of the sleigh, and protested quite loudly as we brought him out. the rope had been made ready before we started from home, and so the most we had to do was to turn the horses around, get our guns ready, and throw the pig upon the ground. he set up a piercing shriek as the rope dragged him along, and completely drowned our voices. paul had hard work to keep the horses from breaking into a run, but he succeeded, and we maintained a very slow trot. christina nestled in the place she had agreed to occupy, and rasloff and i prepared to shoot the wolves. "we drove thus for fifteen or twenty minutes. the pig gradually became exhausted, and reduced his scream to a sort of moan that was very painful to hear. i began to think we should see no wolves, and return to the chateau without firing our guns, when suddenly a howl came faintly along the air, and in a moment, another and another. "'there,' said rasloff; 'there comes our game, and we shall have work enough before long.' "a few moments later i saw a half dozen dusky forms emerging from the forest to the right and behind us. they seemed like moving spots on the snow, and had it not been for their howling i should have failed to notice them as early as i did. they grew more and more numerous, and, as they gathered behind us, formed a waving line across the road that gradually took the shape of a crescent, with the horns pointing toward our right and left. at first they were timid, and kept a hundred yards or more behind us, but as the hog renewed his scream, they took courage, and approached nearer. "by the time they were within fifty yards there were two or three hundred of them--possibly half a thousand. i could see every moment that their numbers were increasing, and it was somewhat impatiently that i waited rasloff's signal to fire. at last he told me to begin, and i fired at the center of the pack. the wolf i struck gave a howl of pain, and his companions, roused by the smell of blood, fell upon and tore him to pieces in a moment. rasloff fired an instant after me, and then we kept up our firing as fast as possible. as the wolves fell, the others sprung upon them, but the pack was so large that they were not materially detained by stopping to eat up their brethren. they continued the pursuit, and what alarmed me, they came nearer, and showed very little fear of our guns. "we had taken a large quantity of ammunition--more by half than we thought would possibly be needed--but its quantity diminished so rapidly as to suggest the probability of exhaustion. the pack steadily came nearer. we cut away the pig, but it stopped the pursuit only for a moment. directly behind us the wolves were not ten yards away; on each side they were no further from the horses, who were snorting with fear, and requiring all the efforts of the driver to hold them. we shot down the beasts as fast as possible, and as i saw our danger i whispered my thoughts to rasloff. "he replied to me in spanish, which christina did not understand, that the situation was really dangerous, and we must prepare to get out of it. 'i would stay longer,' he suggested, 'though there is a good deal of risk in it; but we must think of the girl, and not let her suspect anything wrong, and, above all, must not risk her safety.' "turning to the driver, he said, in a cheery tone: "'paul, we have shot till we are tired out. you may let the horses go, but keep them well in control.' "while he spoke a huge wolf sprang from the pack and dashed toward one of the horses. another followed him, and in twenty seconds the line was broken and they were upon us. one wolf jumped at the rear of the sleigh and caught his paws upon it. rasloff struck him with the butt of his gun, and at the same instant he delivered the blow, paul let the horses have their way. rasloff fell upon the edge of the vehicle and over its side. luckily, his foot caught in one of the robes and held him for an instant--long enough to enable me to seize and draw him back. it was the work of a moment, but what a moment! "christina had remained silent, suspecting, but not fully comprehending our danger. as her brother fell she screamed and dropped senseless to the bottom of the sleigh. i confess that i exerted all my strength in that effort to save the brother of my affianced, and as i accomplished it, i sank powerless, though still conscious, at the side of the girl i loved. rasloff's right arm was dislocated by the fall, and one of the pursuing wolves had struck his teeth into his scalp as he was dragging over the side, and torn it so that it bled profusely. how narrow had been his escape! "'faster, faster, paul!' he shouted; 'drive for your life and for ours.' "paul gave the horses free rein, and they needed no urging. they dashed along the road as horses rarely ever dashed before. in a few minutes i gained strength enough to raise my head, and saw, to my unspeakable delight, that the distance between us and the pack was increasing. we were safe if no accident occurred and the horses could maintain their pace. "one horse fell, but, as if knowing his danger, made a tremendous effort and gained his feet. by-and-by we saw the light at the chateau, and in a moment dashed into the courtyard, and were safe." [illustration: a wolf hunt.] chapter xl. i found at krasnoyarsk more beggars than in irkutsk, in proportion to the population. like beggars in all parts of the empire, they made the sign of the cross on receiving donations. a few were young, but the great majority were old, tattered, and decrepid, who shivered in the frosty air, and turned purple visages upon their benefactors. the peasantry in russia are liberal to the poor, and in many localities they have abundant opportunities to practice charity. with its abundance of beggars krasnoyarsk can also boast a great many wealthy citizens. the day before my departure one of these siberian croesuses died, and another was expected to follow his example before long. a church near the market place was built at the sole expense of this deceased individual. its cost exceeded seven hundred thousand roubles, and its interior was said to be finely decorated. among the middle classes in siberia the erection of churches is, or has been, the fashionable mode of public benefaction. the endowment of schools, libraries, and scientific associations has commenced, but is not yet fully popular. the wealth of krasnoyarsk is chiefly derived from gold digging. the city may be considered the center of mining enterprises in the government of yeneseisk. two or three thousand laborers in the gold mines spend the winter at krasnoyarsk, and add to the volume of local commerce. the town of yeneseisk, three hundred versts further north, hibernates an equal number, and many hundreds are scattered through the villages in the vicinity. the mining season begins in may and ends in september. in march and april the clerks and superintendents engage their laborers, paying a part of their wages in advance. the wages are not high, and only those in straitened circumstances, the dissolute, and profligate, who have no homes of their own, are inclined to let themselves to labor in gold mines. many works are extensive, and employ a thousand or more laborers each. the government grants mining privileges to individuals on certain conditions. the land granted must be worked at least one year out of every three, else the title reverts to the government, and can be allotted again. the grantee must be either a hereditary nobleman or pay the tax of a merchant of the second guild, or he should be able to command the necessary capital for the enterprise he undertakes. his title holds good until his claim is worked out or abandoned, and no one can disturb him on any pretext. he receives a patent for a strip of land seven versts long and a hundred fathoms wide, on the banks of a stream suitable for mining purposes. the claim extends on both sides of the stream, and includes its bed, so that the water may be utilized at the will of the miner. sometimes the grantee desires a width of more than a hundred fathoms, but in such case the length of his claim is shortened in proportion. it requires a large capital to open a claim after the grant is obtained. the location is often far from any city or large town, where supplies are purchased. transportation is a heavy item, as the roads are difficult to travel. sometimes a hundred thousand roubles will be expended in supplies, transportation, buildings, and machinery, before the work begins. then men must be hired, taken to the mines, clothed, and furnished with, proper quarters. the proprietor must have at hand a sufficient amount of provisions, medical stores, clothing, and miscellaneous goods to supply his men during the summer. everything desired by the laborer is sold to him at a lower price than he could buy elsewhere, at least such is the theory. i was told that the mining proprietors make no profits from their workmen, but simply add the cost of transportation to the wholesale price of the merchandise. the men are allowed to anticipate their wages by purchase, and it often happens that there is very little due them at the end of the season. government regulations and the interest of proprietors require that the laborers should be well fed and housed and tended during sickness. every mining establishment maintains a physician either on its own account or jointly with a neighbor. the national dish of russia, _schee_, is served daily, with at least a pound of beef. sometimes the treatment of the men lapses into negligence toward the close of the season, especially if the enterprise is unfortunate; but this is not the case in the early months. the mining proprietors understand the importance of keeping their laborers in good health, and to secure this end there is nothing better than proper food and lodging. vodki is dealt out in quantities sufficiently small to prevent intoxication, except on certain feast-days, when all can get drunk to their liking. no drinking shops can be kept on the premises until the season's work is over and the men are preparing to depart. every laborer is paid for extra work, and if industrious and prudent his wages will equal thirty-five or forty roubles a month beside his board. while in debt he is required by law to work every day, not even resting on saints' days or sundays. the working season lasting only about four months, early and late hours are a necessity. when the year's operations are ended the most of the men find their way to the larger towns, where they generally waste their substance in riotous living till the return of spring. as in mining communities everywhere, the prudent and economical are a minority. the mines in the government of yeneseisk are generally on the tributaries of the yenesei river. the valley of the pit is rich in gold deposits, and has yielded large fortunes to lucky operators during the past twenty years. usually the pay-dirt begins twenty or thirty feet below the surface, and i heard of a mine that yielded handsome profits though the gold-bearing earth was under seventy feet of soil. prospecting is conducted with great care, and no mining enterprise is commenced without a thorough survey of the region to be developed. wells or pits are dug at regular intervals, the exact depth and the character of the upper earth being noted. this often involves a large expenditure of money and labor, and many fortunes have been wasted, by parties whose lucky star was not in the ascendant, in their persistent yet unsuccessful search for paying mines. solid rock is sometimes struck sooner or later after commencing work, which renders the expense of digging vastly greater. in such cases, unless great certainty exists of striking a rich vein of gold beneath, the labor is suspended, the spot vacated, and another selected with perhaps like results. occasionally some sanguine operator will push his well down through fifty feet of solid rock at a great outlay, and with vast labor, to find himself possessed of the means for a large fortune, while another will find himself ruined by his failure to strike the expected gold. when the pay-dirt is reached, its depth and the number of zolotniks of gold in every pood taken out are ascertained. with the results before him a practical miner can readily decide whether a place will pay for working. of course he must take many contingent facts into consideration, such as the extent of the placer, the resources of the region, the roads or the expense of making them, provisions, lumber, transportation, horses, tools, men, and so on through a long list. the earth over the pay-dirt is broken up and carted off; its great depth causes immense wear of horseflesh. a small mine employs three or four hundred workmen, and larger ones in proportion. i heard of one that kept more than three thousand men at work. the usual estimate for horses is one to every two men, but the proportion varies according to the character of the mine. the pay-dirt is hauled to the bank of the river, where it is washed in machines turned by water power. various machines have been devised for gold-washing, and the russians are anxious to find the best invention of the kind. the one in most general use and the easiest to construct is a long cylinder of sheet iron open at both ends and perforated with many small holes. this revolves in a slightly inclined position, and receives the dirt and a stream of water at the upper end. the stones pass through the cylinder and fall from the opposite end, where they are examined to prevent the loss of 'nuggets.' fine dirt, sand, gold, and water pass through the perforations, and are caught in suitable troughs, where the lighter substance washes away and leaves the black sand and gold. great care is exercised to prevent thefts, but it does not always succeed. the laborers manage to purloin small quantities, which they sell to contraband dealers in the larger towns. the government forbids private traffic in gold dust, and punishes offences with severity; but the profits are large and tempting. every gold miner must send the product of his diggings to the government establishment at barnaool, where it is smelted and assayed. the owner receives its money value, minus the imperial tax of fifteen per cent. the whole valley of the yenesei, as far as explored, is auriferous. were it not for the extreme rigor of its climate and the disadvantages of location, it would become immensely productive. some mines have been worked at a profit where the earth is solidly frozen and must be thawed by artificial means. one way of accomplishing this is by piling wood to a height of three or four feet and then setting it on fire. the earth thawed by the heat is scraped off, and fresh fires are made. sometimes the frozen earth is dug up and soaked in water. either process is costly, and the yield of gold must be great to repay the outlay. a gentleman in irkutsk told me he had a gold mine of this frozen character, and intimated that he found it profitable. the richest gold mines thus far worked in siberia are in the government of yeneseisk, but it is thought that some of the newly opened placers in the trans-baikal province and along the amoor will rival them in productiveness. [illustration: hydraulic mining.] in irkutsk i met a russian who had spent some months in california, and proposed introducing hydraulic mining to the siberians. no quartz mines have been worked in eastern siberia, but several rich leads are known to exist, and i presume a thorough exploration would reveal many more. i saw excellent specimens of gold-bearing quartz from the governments of irkutsk and yeneseisk. one specimen in particular, if in the hands of certain new york operators, would be sufficient basis for a company with a capital of half a million. in the altai and ural mountains quartz mills have been in use for many years. the siberian gold deposits were made available long before russia explored and conquered northern asia. there are many evidences in the ural mountains of extensive mining operations hundreds of years ago. large areas have been dug over by a people of whom the present inhabitants can give no account. it is generally supposed that the tartars discovered and opened these gold mines shortly after the time of genghis khan. the native population of the valley of the yenesei comprises several distinct tribes, belonging in common to the great mongolian race. in the extreme north, in the region bordering the arctic ocean, are the samoyedes, who are of the same blood as the turks. the valley of the lena is peopled by yakuts, whose development far exceeds that of the samoyedes, though both are of common origin. the latter are devoted entirely to the chase and the rearing of reindeer, and show no fondness for steady labor. the yakuts employ the horse as a beast of burden, and are industrious, ingenious, and patient. as much as the character of the country permits they till the soil, and are not inclined to nomadic life. they are hardy and reliable laborers, and live on the most amicable terms with the russians. before the opening of the amoor the carrying trade from yakutsk to ohotsk was in their hands. as many as forty thousand horses used to pass annually between the two points, nearly all of them owned and driven by yakuts. most of these natives have been converted to christianity, but they still adhere to some of their ancient practices. on the road, for example, they pluck hairs from their horse's tails and hang them upon trees to appease evil spirits. some of the russians have imbibed native superstitions, and there is a story of a priest who applied to a shaman to practice his arts and ward off evil in a journey he was about to make. examples to the natives are not always of the best, and it would not be surprising if they raised doubts as to the superiority of christian faith. a traveler who had a mixed party of cossacks and natives, relates that the former were accustomed to say their prayers three or four times on evenings when they had plenty of leisure and omit them altogether when they were fatigued. at nijne kolymsk captain wrangell found the priests holding service three times on one sunday and then absenting themselves for two weeks. south of krasnoyarsk are the natives belonging to the somewhat indefinite family known as tartars. they came originally from central asia, and preserve many mongol habits added to some created by present circumstances. some of them dwell in houses, while others adhere to yourts of the same form and material as those of the bouriats and mongols. they are agriculturists in a small way, but only adopt tilling the soil as a last resort. their wealth consists in sheep, cattle, and horses, and when one of them has large possessions he changes his habitation two or three times a year, on account of pasturage. a gentleman told me that he once found a tartar, whose flocks and herds were worth more than a million roubles, living in a tent of ordinary dimensions and with very little of what a european would call comfort. these natives harmonize perfectly with the russians, of whom they have a respectful fear. like their kindred in central asia, these tartars are excellent horsemen, and show themselves literally at home in the saddle. dismounted, they step clumsily, and are unable to walk any distance of importance. on horseback they have an easy and graceful carriage, and are capable of great endurance. they show intense love for their horses, caressing them constantly and treating their favorite riding animals as household pets. in all their songs and traditions the horse occupies a prominent place. one of the most popular tartar songs, said to be of great antiquity, relates the adventures of "swan's wing," a beautiful daughter of a native chief. her brother had been overpowered by a magician and carried to the spirit laird. according to the tradition the horse he rode came to swan's wing and told her what had occurred. the young girl begged him to lead her by the road the magician had taken, and thus guided, she reached the country of the shades. assisted by the horse she was able to rescue her brother from the prison where he was confined. on her return she narrated to her people the incidents of her journey, which are chanted at the present time. the song tells how one of the supernatural guardians was attracted by her beauty and became her _valet de place_ during her visit. near the entrance of the grounds she saw a fat horse in a sandy field, and a lean one in a meadow. a thin and apparently powerless man was wading against a torrent, while a large and muscular one could not stop a small brook. "the first horse," said her guide, "shows that a careful master can keep his herds in good condition with scanty pasturage, and the second shows how easily one may fail to prosper in the midst of plenty. the man stemming the torrent shows how much one can accomplish by the force of will, even though the body be weak. the strong man is overpowered by the little stream, because he lacks intelligence and resolution." she was next led through several apartments of a large building. in the first apartment several women were spinning incessantly, while others attempted to swallow balls of hemp. next she saw women holding heavy stones in their hands and unable to put them down. then there were parties playing without cessation upon musical instruments, and others busy over games of chance. in one room were men and dogs enraged and biting each other. in a dormitory were many couples with quilts of large dimensions, but in each couple there was an active struggle, and its quilt was frequently pulled aside. in the last hall of the establishment there were smiling couples, at peace with all the world and 'the rest of mankind.' the song closes with the guide's explanation of what swan's wing had seen. "the women who spin now are punished because in their lives they continued to spin after sunset, when they should be at rest. "those who swallow balls of hemp were guilty of stealing thread by making their cloth too thin. "those condemned to hold heavy stones were guilty of putting stones in their butter to make it heavy. "the parties who make music and gamble did nothing else in their life time, and must continue that employment perpetually. "the men with the dogs are suffering the penalty of having created quarrels on earth. "the couples who freeze under ample covering are punished for their selfishness when mortals, and the couples in the next apartment are an example to teach the certainty of happiness to those who develop kindly disposition." the region of the lower yenesei contains many exiles whom the government desired to remove far from the centers of population. these include political and criminal prisoners, whose offences are of a high grade, together with the members of a certain religious order, known as "the skoptsi." the latter class is particularly obnoxious on account of its practice of mutilation. whenever an adherent of this sect is discovered he is banished to the remotest regions, either in the north of siberia or among the mountains of circassia. it is the only religious body relentlessly persecuted by the russian government, and the persecution is based upon the sparseness of population. some of these men have been incorporated into regiments on the frontier, where they prove obedient and tractable. those who become colonists in siberia are praised for their industry and perseverance, and invariably win the esteem of their neighbors. they are banished to distant localities through fear of their influence upon those around them. most of the money-changers of moscow are reputed to believe in this peculiar faith. many prominent individuals were exiled to the lower yenesei and regions farther eastward, under former sovereigns. count golofkin, one of the ministers of catherine ii., was banished to nijne kolymsk, where he died. it is said that he used to put himself, his servants, and house in deep mourning on every anniversary of catherine's birthday. two officers of the court of the emperor paul were exiled to a small town on the yenesei, where they lived until recalled by alexander i. the settlers on the angara are freed from liability to conscription, on condition that they furnish rowers and pilots to boats navigating that stream. the settlers on the lena enjoy the same privilege under similar terms. on account of the character of the country and the drawbacks to prosperity, the taxes are much lighter than in more favored regions. in the more northern districts there is a considerable trade in furs and ivory. the latter comes in the shape of walrus tusks, and the tusks and teeth of the mammoth, which are gathered on the shores of the arctic ocean and the islands scattered through it. this trade is less extensive than it was forty or fifty years ago. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xli. i spent three days in krasnoyarsk, chiefly employed upon my letters and journal. my recent companions were going no farther in my direction, and knowing this beforehand, i arranged with a gentleman at irkutsk to travel with him from krasnoyarsk. he arrived two days behind me, and after sending away a portion of his heavy baggage, was ready to depart. there was no snow to the first station, and so we sent our sleighs on wheels and used the post carriages over the bare ground. a peasant who lived near the station sought me out and offered to transport my sleigh for three roubles and a little drink-money. as i demurred, he proposed to repair, without extra charge, one of my fenders which had come to grief, and we made a bargain on this proposition. my companion, dr. schmidt, had recently returned from a mammoth-hunting expedition within the arctic circle. he had not secured a perfect specimen of this extinct beast, but contented himself with some parts of the stupendous whole, and a miscellaneous collection of birds, bugs, and reptiles. he despatched a portion of his treasures by post; the balance, with his assistant, formed a sufficient load for one sleigh. the doctor was to ride in my sleigh, while his assistant in another vehicle kept company with the relicts. the kegs, boxes, and bundles of arctic zoology did not form a comfortable couch, and i never envied their conductor. on the day fixed for our departure we sent our papers to the station in the forenoon, and were told we could be supplied at sunset or a little later. this was not to our liking, as we desired to reach the first station before nightfall. a friend suggested an appeal to the master of the post, and together we proceeded to that functionary's office. an amiable, quiet man he was, and listened to our complaint with perfect composure. after hearing it he summoned the smotretal with his book of records, and an animated discussion followed. i expected to see somebody grow indignant, but the whole affair abounded in good nature. the conversation was conducted with the decorum of a school dialogue on exhibition day. in half an hour by the clock i was told i could have a troika at once, in consideration of my special passport. "wait a little," whispered my friend in french, "and we will have the other troika for schmidt." so i waited, kicking my heels about the room, studying the posters on the walls, eyeing a bad portrait of the emperor, and a worse one of the empress, and now and then drawing near the scene of action. the clerks looked at me in furtive glances. at every pronunciation of my name, coupled with the word "amerikansky," there was a general stare all around. i am confident those attachã©s of the post office at krasnoyarsk had a perfect knowledge of my features. in exactly another half hour our point and the horses were gained. when we entered the office it was positively declared there were no horses to be had, and it was a little odd that two troikas and six horses, could be produced out of nothing, and each of them at the end of a long talk. i asked an explanation of the mystery, but was told it was a russian peculiarity that no american could understand. the horses came very promptly, one troika to schmidt's lodgings and the other to mine. the servants packed my baggage into the little telyaga that was to carry me to the first station. joining schmidt with the other team, we rattled out of town on an excellent road, and left the red hills of krasnoyarsk. the last object i saw denoting the location of the town was a church or chapel on a high cliff overlooking the yenesei valley. the road lay over an undulating region, where there were few streams and very little timber. the snow lay in little patches here and there on the swells least exposed to the sun, but it did not cover a twentieth part of the ground. in several hollows the mud had frozen and presented a rough surface to our wheels. our telyaga had no springs, and when we went at a rapid trot over the worst places the bones of my spinal column seemed engaged in a struggle for independence. a thousand miles of such riding would have been too much for me. a dog belonging to madame radstvenny's house-keeper followed me from krasnoyarsk, but did not show himself till we were six or eight versts away. etiquette, to say nothing of morality, does not sanction stealing the dog of your host, and so i arranged for the brute's return. in consideration of fifty copecks the yemshick agreed to take the dog on his homeward trip and deliver him in good order and condition at krasnoyarsk. just before reaching the first station we passed through a village nearly four miles long, but only a single street in width. the station was at the extreme end of the village; our sleighs were waiting for us, and so were the men who brought them from krasnoyarsk. there was no snow for the next twenty versts, and consequently the sleighs needed further transportation. schmidt's sleigh was dragged empty over the bare ground, but mine, being heavier, was mounted upon wheels. other difficulties awaited us. there was but one troika to spare and only one telyaga. we required two vehicles for ourselves and baggage, but the smotretal could not accommodate us. we ordered the samovar, and debated over our tea. i urged my friend to try the effect of my special passport, which had always been successful in paul's hands. he did so after our tea-drinking, but the document was powerless, the smotretal doubtless arguing that if the paper were of consequence we should have shown it on our arrival. we sent it to the _starost_, or head man of the village, but that worthy declined to honor it, and we were left to shift for ourselves. evidently the power of the governor general's passport was on the wane. the document was a request, not an order, and therefore had no real force. paul always displayed it as if it were an imperial ukase. his manner of spreading the double page and exhibiting seal and signature carried authority and produced horses. the amiable naturalist had none of the quality called 'cheek,' and the adoption of an authoritative air did not accord with his character. he subsequently presented the passport as if he thought it all-powerful, and on such occasions it generally proved so. a man who wishes to pass a doorkeeper at a caucus, enter a ladies' car on a railway, or obtain a reserved seat in a court room, is much more certain of success if he advances with a confident air than if he hesitates and appears fearful of ejection. humanity is the same the world over, and there is more than a shadow of truth in the saying that society values a man pretty much as he appears to value himself. i can testify that the smotretals in siberia generally regarded our papers according to our manner of showing them. we took tea a second time, parlayed with the yemshicks and their friends, and closed by chartering a team at double the regular rates. just before reaching the snow we passed the sleighs, and halted for them to come up. my sleigh was very soon ready, and we rejoiced at our transfer of baggage. during the change a bottle of cognac disappeared mysteriously, and i presume we shall never see it again. the other and more cumbersome articles preserved their numbers faithfully. our party halting in the moonlight and busy about the vehicles, presented a curiously picturesque appearance. schmidt was in his arctic costume, while i wore my winter dress, minus the dehar. the yemshicks were wrapped in their inevitable sheepskins, and bustled about with unwavering good humor. in the sleigh we were at home, and had a roof to cover us; we made very good speed to the station, where we found no horses. the floor of the travelers' room was covered with dormant figures, and after bumping my head over the doorway, i waded in a pond of bodies, heads, and legs. the moon was the only light, and its beams were not sufficient to prevent my stepping on several sleepers, and extracting russian oaths for my carelessness. "now for it," i whispered to the good-natured doctor, as we waked the smotretal. "make him think our papers are important." the official rubbed his eyes over the passport, and then hastened to arouse the starost. the latter ordered horses from the village without delay. it had been a fete-day in honor of the emperor, and most of the villagers were drunk, so that it required some time to assemble the requisite yemshicks and horses. a group of men and women from an evening party passed the station, and amused us with native songs. an inebriated moujik, riding on a small sled, turned from the road to enter the station yard. one side of the sled passed over a log, and as the man had not secured his balance, he rolled out of sight in a snow drift. i watched him as he emerged, much as neptune might appear from the crest of a foamy wave. the siberians keep all the imperial fete-days with scrupulous exactness, and their loyalty to the emperor is much akin to religious awe. the whole imperial family is the object of great respect, and whatever is commanded in the name of the emperor meets the most cheerful acquiescence. one finds the portrait of alexander in almost every house, and i never heard the name of that excellent ruler mentioned disrespectfully. if his majesty would request that his subjects abstain from vodki drinking on imperial fete-days, he would do much toward their prosperity. it would be an easy beginning in the cause of temperance, as no one could consider it out of place for the emperor to prescribe the manner of celebrating his own festivals. the work once begun in this way, would be likely to lead to good results. drunkenness is the great vice of the russian peasant, and will never be suppressed without the active endeavors of the government. [illustration: down hill.] when we started from the station we ran against the gate post, and were nearly overturned in consequence. my head came against the side of the sleigh with a heavy thump that affected me more than it did the vehicle. we descended a long hill at a full run, and as our yemshick was far from sober i had a lively expectation of a general smash at the bottom. about half way down the descent we met a sleigh and dashed our fenders against it. the strong poles rubbed across each other like fencing foils, and withstood the shock finely. at sunset there were indications of a snow storm, in the gradual ascent of the thermometer. an hour past midnight the temperature was above freezing point, and the sleigh runners lost that peculiar ringing sound that indicates cold weather. i threw off my furs and endeavored to sleep, but accomplished little in that direction. my clothing was too thick or too thin. without my furs i shivered, and with them i perspired. my sleigh robe was too much for comfort, and the absence of it left something to be desired. warm weather is a great inconvenience in a siberian winter journey. the best temperature for travel is from five to fifteen degrees below the freezing point. the road was abominable, though it might have been worse. it was full of drifts, bare spots, and _oukhabas_, and our motion was as varied as a politician's career. sometimes it was up, then down, then sidewise, and then all ways at once. we pitched and rolled like a canoe descending the lachine rapids, or a whale-boat towed by a hundred-barrel "bow-head." in many places the snow was blown from the regular road, and the winter track wound through fields and forests wherever snow could be found. there was an abundance of rocks, stumps, and other inequalities to relieve the monotony of this mode of travel. we went much out of our way to find snow, and i think we sometimes increased, by a third or a half, the distance between stations. the road was both horizontally and vertically tortuous. my companion took every occurrence with the utmost coolness, and taught me some things in patience i had not known before. he was long accustomed to siberian travel, having made several scientific journeys through northern asia. in 1859 the russian geographical society sent him to visit the amoor valley and explore the island of sakhalin. his journey thither was accomplished in winter, and when he returned he brought many valuable data touching the geology and the vegetable and animal life of the island. he told me he spoke the american language, having learned it among my countrymen at nicolayevsk, but had never studied english. his journey to the arctic circle was made on behalf of the russian academy of science, of which he was an active member. in 1865 the captain of a yenesei steamer learned that some natives had discovered the perfectly preserved remains of a mammoth in latitude 67â°, about a hundred versts west of the river. he announced the fact to a _savant_, who sent the intelligence to st. petersburg. scientific men deemed the discovery so important that they immediately commissioned dr. schmidt to follow it up. the doctor went to eastern siberia in february, and in the following month proceeded down the yenesei to turuhansk, where he remained four or five weeks waiting for the season of warmth and light. he was accompanied by mr. lopatin, a russian geologist, and a staff of three or four assistants. they carried a photographic apparatus, and one of the sensations of their voyage was to take photographs at midnight in the light of a blazing sun. when the yenesei was free of ice the explorers, in a barge, descended from turuhansk to the landing place nearest the mammoth deposit. several cossacks accompanied the party from turuhansk, and assisted in its intercourse with the natives. the latter were peacefully inclined, and gladly served the men who came so recently from the emperor's dwelling place. they brought their reindeer and sledges, and guided the explorers to the object of their search. the country in the arctic circle has very little vegetation, and the drift wood that descends the yenesei is an important item to the few natives along the river. the trees growing north of latitude 66â° are very small, and as one nears the coast of the frozen ocean they disappear altogether. the principal features of the country are the wide _tundras_, or moss-covered plains, similar to those of north eastern siberia. the scattered aboriginals are tunguse and samoyedes. their chief employment is the chase in winter, fishing in summer, and the care of their reindeer at all seasons. reindeer form their principal wealth, and are emphatically the circulating medium of the country. dr. schmidt told me he rode in a reindeer sledge from the river to within a short distance of the mammoth. it was the month of june, but the snow had not disappeared and nothing could be accomplished. a second visit several weeks later was more successful. in the interval the party embarked on the steamer which makes one or two journeys every summer to the arctic ocean in search of fish, furs, and ivory. a vigorous traffic is maintained during the short period that the river remains open. on the return from the arctic ocean, the season was more favorable to mammoth-hunting. unfortunately the remains were not perfect. the skeleton was a good deal broken and scattered, and some parts were altogether lacking. the chief object of the enterprise was to obtain the stomach of the mammoth so that its contents could be analyzed. it is known that the beast lived upon vegetable food, but no one has yet ascertained its exact character. some contend that the mammoth was a native of the tropics, and his presence in the north is due to the action of an earthquake. others think he dwelt in the arctic regions, and never belonged in the tropics. "if we had found his stomach," said the doctor, "and ascertained what kind of trees were in it, this question would have been decided. we could determine his residence from the character of his food." though making diligent search the doctor found no trace of the stomach, and the great point is still open to dispute. he brought away the under jaw of the beast, and a quantity of skin and hair. the skin was half an inch thick, and as dry and hard as a piece of sole leather. the hair was like fine long bristles, and of a reddish brown color. from the quantity obtained it is thought the animal was pretty well protected against ordinary weather. the doctor gave me a cigar tube which a samoyede fabricated from a small bone of the mammoth. he estimated that the beast had been frozen about ten thousand years in the bank where he found him, and that his natural dwelling place was in the north. the country was evidently much warmer when the mammoth, roamed over it than now, and there is a belief that some convulsion of the earth, followed by a lowering of the temperature, sealed the remains of the huge beasts in the spots where they are now discovered. in the year 1799 a bank of frozen earth near the mouth of the lina, in latitude 77â° broke away and revealed the body of a mammoth. hair, skin, flesh and all, had been completely preserved by the frost. in 1806 a scientific commission visited the spot, but the lapse of seven years proved of serious consequence. there had been a famine in the surrounding region, and the natives did not scruple to feed their dogs from the store of flesh which nature had preserved. not supposing the emperor desired the bones of the beast they carried away such as they fancied. the teeth of the bears, wolves, and foxes were worse than the tooth of time, and finished all edible substance the natives did not take. only the skeleton remained, and of this several bones were gone. all that could be found was taken, and is now in the imperial collection at st. petersburg. the remains of the mammoth show that the beast was closely akin to the elephant, but had a longer and more compressed skull, and wore his tusks in a different manner. tusks have been found more than nine feet long, and i am told that one discovered some years ago, exceeds ten feet in length. the skull from the lena mammoth weighed four hundred and some odd pounds. others have been found much larger. the mammoth was evidently an animal that commanded the respect of the elephant, and other small fry quadrupeds. bones of the rhinoceros and hippopotamus abound in northern siberia, and like those of the mammoth are found in the frozen earth. in the last century the body of a rhinoceros of an extinct species was found on the river vilouy, a tributary of the lena. in the museum at st. petersburg there is a head of the arctic rhinoceros on which the skin and tendons remain, and a foot of the same animal displays a portion of its hair. the claws of an enormous bird are also found in the north, some of them three feet long, and jointed through their whole length like the claws of an ostrich. captain wrangell and other explorers say the mammoth bones are smaller on the arctic islands than on the main land, but are wonderfully increased in quantity. for many years the natives and fur traders have brought away large cargoes, but the supply is not yet exhausted. the teeth and tusks on the islands are more fresh and white than those of the continent. on the lachoff islands the principal deposit was on a low sand bank, and the natives declared that when the waves receded after an easterly wind, a fresh supply was always found. one island about latitude 80â° was said to be largely composed of mammoth bones. i presume this statement should be received with a little caution. during the doctor's expedition the supply of provisions was not always abundant, but there was no absolute scarcity. the party lived for some time on fish, and on the flesh of the reindeer. a story was told that the explorers were reduced to subsisting on the mammoth they discovered, and hence their failure to bring away portions of the flesh. mammoth cutlets and soup were occasionally proposed for the entertainment of the _savants_ on their return to irkutsk. one of my acquaintances had a narrow escape from death on the ice during an expedition toward kotelnoi island, and the chain lying to the east of it, generally known as new siberia. it was early in the spring--somewhat later than the time of the ordinary winter journeys--that he set out from the mouth of the lena, hoping to reach kotelnoi island, and return before the weather became warm. he had four dog teams, and was accompanied by a russian servant and two yakut natives, whom he engaged for a voyage down the lena, and the expedition across the ice. it was known that a quantity of ivory had been gathered on the island, and was waiting for transportation to the lena; to get this ivory was the object of the journey. i will tell the story in the words of the narrator, or as nearly as i can do so from recollection. "we reached the island without serious trouble; the weather was clear and cold, and the traveling quite as good as we expected. where the ice was level we got along very well, though there were now and then deep fissures caused by the frost, and which we had some difficulty in crossing. frequently we were obliged to detach the dogs from the sleds and compel them to jump singly across the fissures. the sledges were then drawn over by hand, and once on the other side the teams were re-harnessed, and proceeded on their way. the ice was seven or eight feet thick, and some of the fissures were a yard wide at the surface, and tapered to a wedge shape at the bottom. it was not absolutely dangerous, though very inconvenient to fall into one of the crevices, and our dogs were very careful to secure a good foothold on the edges where they jumped. [illustration: dogs among ice.] "the second day out we got among a great many hummocks, or detached pieces of bergs, that caused us much trouble. they were so numerous that we were often shut out from the horizon, and were guided solely by the compass. frequently we found them so thick that it was impossible to break a road through them, and after working for an hour or two, we would be compelled to retrace our steps, and endeavor to find a new route. where they formed in ridges, and were not too high, we broke them down with our ice-hatchets; the work was very exhausting to us, and so was the task of drawing the sledges to the poor dogs. "just as we left the level ice, and came among these hummocks, the dogs came on the fresh track of a polar bear, and at once started to follow him. my team was ahead, and the dogs set out in full chase, too rapidly for me to stop them, though i made every effort to do so. the other teams followed close upon us, and very soon my sledge overturned, and the dogs became greatly mixed up. the team of nicolai, my servant, was likewise upset close to mine, and we had much trouble to get them right again. ivan and paul, the two yakuts, came up and assisted us. their dogs following on our track had not caught the scent of the bear so readily as ours, and consequently were more easily brought to a stop. "we set the sledges right, and when we were ready to start, the sharp eyes of ivan discovered the bear looking at us from behind a hummock, and evidently debating in his mind whether to attack us or not. leaving the teams in charge of paul, i started with nicolai and ivan to endeavor to kill the bear. nicolai and myself were armed with rifles, while ivan carried a knife and an ice-hatchet. "the bear stood very patiently as we approached; he was evidently unaccustomed to human visitors, and did not understand what we were about. the hummock where he stood was not very steep, and i thought it best to get a position a little above him for better safety, in case we had a sharp fight after firing our first shot. we took our stand on a little projection of ice a few feet higher than where he was, and about thirty paces distant; i arranged that nicolai should fire first, as i was a better shot than he, and it would be best for me to have the reserve. nicolai fired, aiming at the bear's heart, which was well protected, as we knew, by a thick hide and a heavy mass of flesh. "the shot was not fatal. the bear gave a roar of pain, and sprang toward us. i waited until he placed his huge fore paws over the edge of the little ridge where we stood, and exposed his throat and chest. he was not more than ten feet away, and i buried the bullet exactly where i wished. but, notwithstanding both our shots, the animal was not killed, but lifted himself easily above the shelf, and sprang toward us. "we retreated higher up to another shelf, and as the bear attempted to climb it, nicolai struck him with the butt of his rifle, which the beast warded off with his paw, and sent whirling into the snow. but at the same instant ivan took his opportunity to deal an effective blow with his ice-hatchet, which he buried in the skull of the animal, fairly penetrating his brain. the blow accomplished what our shots had not. bruin fell back, and after a few convulsive struggles, lay dead at our feet. "we hastened back to the teams, and brought them forward. we were not absent more than twenty minutes, but by the time we returned several arctic foxes had made their appearance, and were snuffing the air, preparatory to a feast. we drove them off, and very soon, the dogs were enjoying a meal of fresh meat, that we threw to them immediately on removing the skin of the bear, which the yakuts accomplished with great alacrity. the beast was old and tough, so that most of his flesh went to the dogs, part of it being eaten on the spot, while the rest was packed on the sledges for future use. "we had no other incidents of importance until our return from the island. the weather suddenly became cloudy, and a warm wind set in from the southward. the snow softened so that the dogs could with difficulty draw the sledges, even when relieved of our weight. we walked by their side, encouraging them in every possible way, and as the softness of the snow increased, it became necessary to throw away a part of the loads. our safety required that we should reach the land as soon as possible, since there were many indications that the ice was about to break up. after sixteen hours of continuous dragging, we stopped, quite exhausted, though still thirty miles from land, as it was absolutely impossible for men or dogs to proceed further without rest. i was so utterly worn out that i sank upon the snow, hardly able to move. the yakuts fed the dogs, and then lay down at their side, anxiously waiting the morning to bring us relief. "just as the day was opening, i was awakened by a rumbling noise, and a motion below me, followed by a shout from ivan. "'the ice is breaking up!' "i sprang to my feet, and so did my companions. the dogs were no less sensible of their danger than ourselves, and stirred uneasily while giving vent to plaintive whines. the wind from the south had increased; it was blowing directly off the land, and i could see that the ice was cracking here and there under its influence, and the whole field was in motion. dark lanes appeared, and continued to increase in width, besides growing every minute more numerous. i ordered all the loads thrown from the sledges, with the exception of a day's provisions for men and dogs, and a few of our extra garments. when this was done--and it was done very speedily--we started for the shore. [illustration: jumping the fissures.] "we jumped the dogs over the smaller crevices without serious accident, but the larger ones gave us a great deal of trouble. on reaching them, we skirted along their edges till we could find a cake of ice large enough to ferry us over. in this way we crossed more than twenty openings, some of them a hundred yards in width. do not suppose we did so without being thrown several times in the water, and on one occasion four of the dogs were drowned. the poor brutes became tangled in their harness, and it was impossible to extricate them. all the dogs seemed to be fully aware of their danger, and to understand that their greatest safety lay in their obeying us. i never saw them more obedient, and they rarely hesitated to do what we commanded. it grieved me greatly to see the dogs drowning when we were unable to help them, but could only listen to their cries for help, until stifled by the water. "we toiled all day, and night found us five miles from shore, with a strip of open water between us and land. here and there were floating cakes of ice, but the main body had been blown off by the wind and promised to be a mile or two further to the north before morning. "i determined to wait for daylight, and then endeavor to reach the shore on cakes of ice. the attempt would be full of danger, but there was nothing else to be done. reluctantly i proposed abandoning the dogs, but my companions appealed to me to keep them with us, as they had already saved our lives, and it would be the basest ingratitude to desert them. i did not require a second appeal, and promised that whatever we did, the dogs should go with us if possible. "imagine the horror of that night! we divided the little food that remained, men and dogs sharing alike, and tried to rest upon the ice. we had no means of making a fire, our clothing was soaked with water, and, during the night, the wind shifted suddenly to the northward and became cold. i was lying down, and fell asleep from utter exhaustion; though the cold was severe, i did not think it dangerous, and felt quite unable to exercise to keep warm. the yakuts, with nicolai, huddled among the dogs, and were less wearied than i. when they shouted to me at daybreak, i slowly opened my eyes, and found that i could not move. i was frozen fast to the ice! "had i been alone there would have been no escape. my companions came to my relief, but it was with much difficulty that they freed me from my unpleasant situation. when we looked about, we found that our circumstances had greatly changed during the night. the wind had ceased, and the frost had formed fresh ice over the space where there was open water the day before. it was out of the question to ferry to land, and our only hope lay in driving the sledges over the new ice. i ordered the teams to be made ready, and to keep several hundred yards apart, so as to make as little weight as possible on one spot. i took one sledge, nicolai another, and the yakuts the third. our fourth sledge was lost at the time of our accident the day before. [illustration: the team.] "our plan was to drive at full speed, to lessen the danger of breaking through. once through the ice, there would have been no hope for us. we urged the dogs forward with loud cries, and they responded to our wishes by exerting all their strength. we went forward at a gallop. i reached the shore in safety, and so did nicolai, but not so the poor yakuts. "when within a mile of the land i heard a cry. i well knew what it meant, but i could give no assistance, as a moment's pause would have seen me breaking through our frail support. i did not even dare to look around, but continued shouting to the dogs to carry them to land. once there, i wiped the perspiration from my face, and ventured to look over the track where i came. "the weight of the two men upon one sledge had crushed the ice, and men, dogs and sledge had fallen into the water. unable to serve them in the least, we watched till their struggles were ended, and then turned sorrowfully away. the ice closed over them, and the bed of the arctic ocean became their grave." chapter xlii. in the morning after our departure from krasnoyarsk we reached a third station, and experienced no delay in changing horses. the road greatly improved, but we made slow progress. when we were about two versts from the station one of our horses left the sleigh and bolted homeward. the yemshick went in pursuit, but did not overtake the runaway till he reached the station. during his absence we sat patiently, or rather impatiently, in our furs, and i improved the opportunity to go to sleep. when we wore properly reconstructed we moved forward, with my equipage in the rear. the mammoth sleigh went at a disreputably low speed. i endeavored to persuade our yemshick to take the lead, but he refused, on the ground that the smotretal would not permit it. added to this, he stopped frequently to make pretended arrangements of the harness, where he imagined it out of order. to finish my irritation at his manoeuvres, he proposed to change with a yemshick he met about half way on his route. this would bring each to his own station at the end of the drive, and save a return trip. the man had been so dilatory and obstinate that i concluded to take my opportunity, and stubbornly refused permission for the change. this so enraged him that he drove very creditably for the rest of the way. "both of them jews," he said to the attendants at the station when we arrived. his theory as to our character was something like this. of the male travelers in siberia there are practically but two classes--officers and merchants. we could not be officers, as we wore no uniform; therefore we were merchants. the trading class in siberia comprises russians of pure blood and jews, the former speaking only their own language and never using any other. as the yemshick did not understand our conversation, he at once set us down as israelites in whom there was any quantity of guile. we breakfasted on pilmania, bread, and tea while the horses were being changed, and i managed to increase our bill of fare with some boiled eggs. the continual jolting and the excessive cold gave me a good appetite and excellent digestion. our food was plain and not served as at delmonico's, but i always found it palatable. we stopped twice a day for meals, and the long interval between dinner time and breakfast generally made me ravenously hungry by morning. the village where the obstinate yemshick left us, had a bad reputation on the scale of honesty, but we suffered no loss there. at another village said to contain thieves, we did not leave the sleigh. about noon we met a convoy of exiles moving slowly along the snowy road. the prisoners were walking in double column, but without regularity and not attempting to 'keep step.' two soldiers with muskets and fixed bayonets marched in front and two others brought up the rear. there were thirty or more prisoners, all clad in sheepskin garments, their heads covered with russian hoods, and their hands thrust into heavy mittens. behind the column there were four or five sleighs containing baggage and foot-sore prisoners, half a dozen soldiers, and two women. the extreme rear was finished by two soldiers, with muskets and fixed bayonets, riding on an open sledge. the rate of progress was regulated by the soldiers at the head of the column. most of the prisoners eyed us as we drove past, but there were several who did not look up. at nearly every village there is an _ostrog_, or prison, for the accommodation of exiles. it is a building, or several buildings, enclosed with a palisade or other high fence. inside its strong gate one cannot easily escape, and i believe the attempt is rarely made. generally the rooms or buildings nearest the gate are the residences of the officers and guards, the prisoners being lodged as far as possible from the point of egress. the distance from one station to the next varies according to the location of the villages, but is usually about twenty versts. generally the ostrog is outside the village, but not far away. the people throughout siberia display unvarying kindness to exiles on their march. when a convoy reaches a village the inhabitants bring whatever they can spare, whether of food or money, and either deliver it to the prisoners in the street or carry it to the ostrog. many peasants plant little patches of turnips and beets, where runaway prisoners may help themselves at night without danger of interference if discovered by the owner. in every party of exiles, each man takes his turn for a day in asking and receiving charity, the proceeds being for the common good. in front of my quarters in irkutsk a party of prisoners were engaged several days in setting posts. one of the number accosted every passer by, and when he received any thing the prisoners near him echoed his 'thank you.' many couples were engaged, under guard, in carrying water from the river to the prison. one man of each couple solicited 'tobacco money' for both. the soldiers make no objection to charity toward prisoners. i frequently observed that when any person approached with the evident intention of giving something to the water carriers, the guards halted to facilitate the donation. very often on my sleigh ride i met convoys of exiles. on one occasion as we were passing an ostrog the gate suddenly opened, and a dozen sleighs laden with prisoners emerged and drove rapidly to the eastward. five-sixths of the exiles i met on the road were riding, and did not appear to suffer from cold. they were well wrapped in sheepskin clothing, and seated, generally three together, in the ordinary sleighs of the country. formerly most exiles walked the entire distance from moscow to their destination, but of late years it has been found better economy to allow them to ride. only certain classes of criminals are now required to go on foot. all other offenders, including 'politiques,' are transported in vehicles at government expense. any woman can accompany or follow her husband into exile. those on foot go from one station to the next for a day's march. they travel two days and rest one, and unless for special reasons, are not required to break the sabbath. medical officers are stationed in the principal towns, to look after the sanitary condition of the emigrants. the object being to people the country, the government takes every reasonable care that the exiles do not suffer in health while on the road. of course those that ride do not require as much rest as the pedestrians. they usually stop at night at the ostrogs, and travel about twelve or fourteen hours a day. distinguished offenders, such as the higher class of revolutionists, officers convicted of plotting against the state or robbing the treasury, are generally rushed forward night and day. to keep him secure from escape, an exile of this class is sometimes chained to a soldier who rides at his side. one night, between irkutsk and krasnoyarsk, i was awakened by an unusual motion of the sleigh. we were at the roadside passing a column of men who marched slowly in our direction. as i lifted our curtain and saw the undulating line of dark forms moving silently in the dim starlight, and brought into relief against the snow hills, the scene appeared something more than terrestrial. i thought of the array of spectres that beleaguered the walls of prague, if we may trust the bohemian legend, and of the shadowy battalions described by the old poets of norseland, in the days when fairies dwelt in fountains, and each valley was the abode of a good or evil spirit. but my fancies were cut short by my companion briefly informing me that we were passing a convoy of prisoners recently ordered from irkutsk to yeneseisk. it was the largest convoy i saw during my journey, and included, as i thought, not less than two hundred men. in the afternoon of the first day from krasnoyarsk we reached achinsk, a town of two or three thousand inhabitants, on the bank of the chulim river. we were told the road was so bad as to require four horses to each sleigh to the next station. we consented to pay for a horse additional to the three demanded by our padaroshnia, and were carried along at very good speed. part of the way was upon the ice, which had formed during a wind, that left disagreeable ridges. we picked out the best places, and had not our horses slipped occasionally, the icy road would not have been unpleasant. on the bare ground which we traversed in occasional patches after leaving the river, the horses behaved admirably and made little discrimination between sand and snow. whenever they lagged the yemshick lashed them into activity. i observed in siberia that whip cracking is not fashionable. the long, slender, snapping whips of western europe and america are unknown. the siberian uses a short stock with a lash of hemp, leather, or other flexible substance, but never dreams of a snapper at its end. its only use is for whipping purposes, and a practiced yemshick can do much with it in a short time. the russian drivers talk a great deal to their horses, and the speech they use depends much upon the character and performance of the animals. if the horse travels well he may be called the dove or brother of his driver, and assured that there is abundance of excellent hay awaiting him at home. sometimes a neat hint is given that he is drawing a nice gentleman who will be liberal and enable the horse to have an extra feed. sometimes the man rattles off his words as if the brute understood everything said to him. an obstinate or lazy horse is called a variety of names the reverse of endearing. i have heard him addressed as '_sabaka_,' (dog); and on frequent occasions his maternity was ascribed to the canine race in epithets quite disrespectful. horses came in for an amount of profanity about like that showered upon army mules in america. it used to look a little out of place to see a yemshick who had shouted _chort!_ and other unrefined expressions to his team, devoutly crossing himself before a holy picture as soon as his beasts were unharnessed. a few versts from achinsk we crossed the boundary between eastern and western siberia. the chulim is navigable up to achinsk, and during the past two years steamers have been running between this town and tomsk. the basin of the ob contains nearly as many navigable streams as that of the mississippi, and were it not for the severity of the climate, the long winter, and the northerly course of the great river, this valley might easily develop much wealth. but nature is unfavorable, and man is powerless to change her laws. on changing at the station we again took four horses to each sleigh, and were glad we did so. the ground was more bare as we proceeded, and obliged us to leave the high road altogether and seek a track wherever it could be found. while we were dashing through a mass of rocks and stumps one of our horses fell dead, and brought us to a sudden halt. in his fall he became entangled with the others, and it required some minutes to set matters right. the yemshick felt for the pulse of the beast until fully satisfied that no pulse existed. happily we were not far from a station, so that the reduction of our team was of no serious consequence. in this region i observed cribs like roofless log houses placed near the roadside at intervals of a few hundred yards. they were intended to hold materials for repairing the road. on the upper waters of the chulim there is a cascade of considerable beauty, according to the statement of some who never saw it. a few years ago a siberian gold miner discovered a cataract on the river hook, in the irkutsk government, that he thought equal to niagara, and engaged an artist to make a drawing of the curiosity. on reaching the spot, the latter individual found the cascade a very small affair. throughout russia, niagara is considered one of the great wonders of the world, and nothing could have been more pleasing to the siberians than to find its rival in their own country. when i first began traveling in siberia a gentleman one day expressed the hope of seeing america before long, but added, "much pleasure of my visit will be lacking now that you have lost niagara." i could not understand him, and asked an explanation. "why," said he, "since niagara has been worn away to a continuous rapid it must have lost all its grandeur and sublimity. i shall go there, but i cannot enjoy it as i should have enjoyed the great cataract." i explained that niagara was as perfect as ever, and had no indication of wearing itself away. it appeared that some russian newspaper, misled, i presume, by the fall of table rock, announced that the whole precipice had broken down and left a long rapid in place of the cataract. several times during my journey i was called upon to correct this impression. at the third station beyond achinsk we found a neat and well kept room for travelers. we concluded to dine there, and were waited upon by a comely young woman whose _coiffure_ showed that she was unmarried. she brought us the samovar, cooked our pilmania, and boiled a dizaine of eggs. among the russians articles which we count by the dozen are enumerated by tens. "_skolka stoit, yieetsa_?" (how much do eggs cost), was generally answered, "_petnatzet capecka, decetu_" (fifteen copecks for ten.) only among the western nations one finds the dozen in use. while we were at dinner the cold sensibly increased, and on exposing my thermometer i found it marking -18â° fahrenheit. schmidt wrapped himself in all his furs, and i followed his example. thus enveloped we filled the entire breadth of our sleigh and could not turn over with facility. a sharp wind was blowing dead ahead, and we closed the front of the vehicle to exclude it. the snow whirled in little eddies and made its way through the crevices at the junction of our sleigh-boot with the hood. i wrapped a blanket in front of my face for special protection, and soon managed to fall asleep. the sleigh poising on a runner and out-rigger, caused the doctor to roll against me during the first hour of my slumber, and made me dream that i was run over by a locomotive. when i waked i found my breath had congealed and frozen my beard to the blanket. it required careful manipulation to separate the two without injury to either. when we stopped to change horses after this experience, the stars were sparkling with a brilliancy peculiar to the northern sky. the clear starlight, unaided by the moon, enabled us to see with great distinctness. i could discover the outline of the forest away beyond the village, and trace the road to the edge of a valley where it disappeared. every individual star appeared endeavoring to outshine his rivals, and cast his rays to the greatest distance. vesta, sirius, and many others burned with a brightness that recalled my first view of the drummond light, and seemed to dazzle my eyes when i fixed my gaze upon them. the road during the night was rough but respectable, and we managed to enjoy a fair amount of slumber in our contracted _chambre a deux_. before daylight we reached a station where a traveling bishop had just secured two sets of horses. though outside the jurisdiction of general korsackoff, i exhibited my special passport knowing it could not, at all events, do any harm. out of courtesy the smotretal offered to supply us as soon as the bishop departed. the reverend worthy was dilatory in starting, and as we were likely to be delayed an hour or two, we economized the time by taking tea. i found opportunity for a short nap after our tea-drinking was over, and only awoke when the smotretal announced, "_loshadi gotovey"_ in the forenoon we entered upon the steppe where trees were few and greatly scattered. frequently the vision over this siberian prairie was uninterrupted for several miles. there was a thin covering of snow on the open ground, and the dead grass peered above the surface with a suggestion of summer fertility. shortly after noon i looked through the eddies of snow that whirled in the frosty air, and distinguished the outline of a church. another and another followed, and very soon the roofs and walls of the more prominent buildings in tomsk were visible. as we entered the eastern gate of the city, and passed a capacious powder-magazine, our yemshick tied up his bell-tongues in obedience to the municipal law. our arrival inside the city limits was marked by the most respectful silence. we named a certain hotel but the yemshick coolly took us to another which he assured us was "_acleechny_" (excellent). as the exterior and the appearance of the servants promised fairly, we made no objection, and allowed our baggage unloaded. the last i saw of our yemshick he was receiving a subsidy from the landlord in consideration of having taken us thither. the doctor said the establishment was better than the one he first proposed to patronize, so that we had no serious complaint against the management of the affair. hotel keepers in siberia are obliged to pay a commission to whoever brings them patrons, a practice not unknown, i believe, in american cities. we engaged two rooms, one large, and the other of medium size. the larger apartment contained two sofas, ten or twelve chairs, three tables, a boy, a bedstead, and a chamber-maid. the boy and the maid disappeared with a quart or so of dirt they had swept from the floor. we ordered dinner, and took our ease in our inn. our baggage piled in one corner of the room would have made a creditable stock for an operator in the "elbow market" at moscow. we thawed our beards, washed, changed our clothing, and pretended we felt none the worse for our jolting over the rough road from krasnoyarsk. the hotel, though asiatic, was kept on the european plan. the landlord demanded our passports before we removed our outer garments, and apologized by saying the regulations were very strict. the documents went at once to the police, and returned in the morning with the visa of the chief. throughout russia a hotel proprietor generally keeps the passports of his patrons until their bills are paid, but this landlord trusted in our honor, and returned the papers at once. the visa certified there were no charges against us, pecuniary or otherwise, and allowed us to remain or depart at our pleasure. it is a russian custom for the police to be informed of claims against persons suspected of intent to run away. the individual cannot obtain authority to depart until his accounts are settled. formerly the law required every person, native and foreign, about to leave russia, to advertise his intention through a newspaper. this formula is now dispensed with, but the intending traveler must produce a receipt in full from his hotel keeper. at the hotel we found a gentleman from eastern siberia on his way to st. petersburg. he left irkutsk two days behind me, passed us in krasnoyarsk, and came to grief in a partial overturn five miles from tomsk. he was waiting to have his broken vehicle thoroughly repaired before venturing on the steppe. he had a single vashok in which he stowed himself, wife, three children, and a governess. how the whole party could be packed into the carriage i was at a loss to imagine. its limits must have been suggestive of the close quarters of a can of sardines. we used our furs for bed clothing and slept on the sofas, less comfortably i must confess than in the sleigh. the close atmosphere of a russian house is not as agreeable to my lungs as the open air, and after a long journey one's first night in a warm room is not refreshing. there was no public table at the hotel; meals were served in our room, and each item was charged separately at prices about like those of irkutsk. in the morning we put on our best clothes, and visited the gubernatorial mansion. the governor was at st. petersburg, and we were received by the vice-governor, an amiable gentleman of about fifty years, who reminded me of general s.r. curtis. before our interview we waited ten or fifteen minutes at one end of a large hall. the vice-governor was at the other end listening to a woman whose streaming eyes and choked utterance showed that her story was one of grief. the kind hearted man appeared endeavoring to soothe her. i could not help hearing the conversation though ignorant of its purport, and, as the scene closed, i thought i had not known before the extent of pathos in the russian language. we had a pleasant interview with the vice-governor who gave us passports to barnaool, on learning that we wished to visit that place. among those who called during our stay was the golovah of tomsk, a man whose physical proportions resembled those of the renowned wouter van twiller, as described by washington irving. every golovah i met in siberia was of aldermanic proportions, and i wondered whether physical developments had any influence in selections for this office. just before leaving the governor's residence, we were introduced to mr. naschinsky, of barnaool, to whom i had a letter of introduction from his cousin, paul anossoff. as he was to start for home that evening, we arranged to accompany him. our visit ended, we drove through the principal streets, and saw the chief features of the town. tomsk takes its name from the river tom, on whose banks it is built. it stands on the edge of the great baraba steppe, and has about twenty thousand inhabitants of the usual varied character of a russian population. i saw many fine houses, and was told that in society and wealth the city was little inferior to irkutsk. here, as at other places, large fortunes have been made in gold mining. several heavy capitalists were mentioned as owners of concessions in the mining districts. many of their laborers passed the winter at tomsk in the delights of urban life. the city is of considerable importance as it controls much of the commerce of siberia. the site is picturesque, being partly on the low ground next the river, and partly on the hills above it. in contemplating the location, i was reminded of quebec. i found much activity in the streets and market places, and good assortments of merchandise in the shops. near our hotel, over a wide ravine, was a bridge, constantly traversed by vehicles and pedestrians, and lighted at night by a double row of lamps. some long buildings near the river, and just outside the principal market had a likeness to american railway stations, and the quantities of goods piled on their verandas aided the illusion. about noon the market-place was densely crowded, and there appeared a brisk traffic in progress. there was a liberal array of articles to eat, wear, or use, with a very fair quantity for which no use could be imagined. in summer there is a waterway from tomsk to tumen, a thousand miles to the westward, and a large amount of freight to and from siberia passes over it. steamers descend the tom to the ob, which they follow to the irtish. they then ascend the irtish, the tobol, and the tura to tumen, the head of navigation. the government proposes a railway between perm and tumen to unite the great water courses of europe and siberia. a railway from tomsk to irkutsk is among the things hoped for by the siberians, and will be accomplished at some future day. the arguments urged against its construction are the length of the route, the sparseness of population, and the cheap rates at which freight is now transported. probably siberia would be no exception to the rule that railways create business, and sustain it, but i presume it will be many years before the locomotive has a permanent way through the country. some years ago it was proposed to open a complete water route between tumen and kiachta. the most eastern point that a steamer could attain in the valley of the ob is on the river ket. a canal about thirty miles long would connect the ket with the yenesei, whence it was proposed to follow the angara, lake baikal, and the selenga to oust kiachta. but the swiftness of the angara, and its numerous rapids, seventy-eight in all, stood in the way of the project. at present no steamers can ascend the angara, and barges can only descend when the water is high. to make the channel safely navigable would require a heavy outlay of money for blasting rocks, and digging canals. i could not ascertain that there was any probability of the scheme being realized. in 1866 twelve steamers were running between tumen and tomsk. these boats draw about two feet of water, and tow one or more barges in which freight is piled. no merchandise is carried on the boats. twelve days are consumed in the voyage with barges; without them it can be made in a week. all the steamers yet constructed are for towing purposes, the passenger traffic not being worth attention. the golovah of tomsk is a heavy owner in these steamboats, and he proposed increasing their number and enlarging his business. a line of smaller boats has been started to connect tomsk with achinsk. the introduction of steam on the siberian rivers has given an impetus to commerce, and revealed the value of certain interests of the country. an active competition in the same direction would prove highly beneficial, and bye and bye they will have the railway. during my ride about the streets the isvoshchik pointed out a large building, and explained that it was the seminary or high school of tomsk. i was told that the city, like irkutsk, had a female school or "institute," and an establishment for educating the children of the priests. the schools in the cities and large towns of siberia have a good reputation, and receive much praise from those who patronize them. the institute at irkutsk is especially renowned, and had during the winter of 1866 something more than a hundred boarding pupils. the gymnasium or school for boys was equally flourishing, and under the direct control of the superintendent of public instruction for eastern siberia. the branches of education comprise the ordinary studies of schools everywhere--arithmetic, grammar, and geography, with reading and writing. when these elementary studies are mastered the higher mathematics, languages, music, and painting follow. in the primary course the prayers of the church and the manner of crossing one's self are considered essential. most of those who can afford it employ private teachers for their children, and educate them at home. the large schools in the towns are patronized by the upper and middle classes, and sometimes pupils come from long distances. there are schools for the peasant children, but not sufficiently numerous to make education general. it is a lamentable fact that the peasants as a class do not appreciate the importance of knowledge. hitherto all these peasant schools have been controlled by the church, the subordinate priests being appointed to their management. quite recently the emperor has ordered a system of public instruction throughout the empire. schools are to be established, houses built, and teachers paid by the government. education is to be taken entirely from, the hands of the priests, and entrusted to the best qualified instructors without regard to race or religion. the common school house in the land of the czars! universal education among the subjects of the autocrat! well may the other monarchies of europe fear the growing power and intelligence of russia. may god bless alexander, and preserve him many years to the people whose prosperity he holds so dearly at heart. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xliii. when we left tomsk in the evening, the snow was falling rapidly, and threatened to obliterate the track along the frozen surface of the river. there were no post horses at the station, and we were obliged to charter private teams at double the usual rates. the governor warned us that we might have trouble in securing horses, and requested us to refer to him if the smotretal did not honor our pada ashnia. we did not wish to trespass further on his kindness, and concluded to submit to the extortion and say nothing. the station keeper owned the horses we hired, and we learned he was accustomed to declare his regular troikas "out" on all possible occasions. of course, a traveler anxious to proceed, would not hesitate long at paying two or three roubles extra. we dashed over the rough ice of the tom for a few versts and then found a road on solid earth. we intended to visit barnaool, and for this purpose left the great road at the third station, and turned southward. the falling snow beat so rapidly into our sleigh that we closed the vehicle and ignored the outer world. mr. naschinsky started with us from tomsk, but after a few stations he left us and hurried away at courier speed toward barnaool. he proved an _avant courier_ for us, and warned the station masters of our approach, so that we found horses ready. on this side road the contract requires but three troikas at a station. three sleighs together were an unusual number, so that the smotretals generally obtained one or both our teams from the village. on the last half of the route the yemshicks did not take us to the stations but to the houses of their friends where we promptly obtained horses at the regular rates. the peasants between tomsk and barnaool own many horses, and are pleased at the opportunity to earn a little cash with them. snow, darkness, and slumber prevented our seeing much of the road during the night. in the morning, i found we were traveling through an undulating and generally wooded country, occasionally crossing rivers and small lakes on the ice. the track was a wonderful improvement over that between tomsk and krasnoyarsk. the stations or peasant houses where we changed horses, were not as good as those on the great road. the rooms were frequently small and heated to an uncomfortable degree. in one house, notwithstanding the great heat, several children were seated on the top of the stove, and apparently enjoying themselves. the yemshicks and attendants were less numerous than on the great road, but we could find no fault with their service. on one course of twenty versts our sleigh was driven by a boy of thirteen, though seemingly not more than ten. he handled the whip and reins with the skill of a veteran, and earned an extra gratuity from his passengers. the road was marked by upright poles ten or twelve feet high at distances of one or two hundred feet. there were distance posts with the usual black and white alternations, but the figures were generally indistinct, and many posts were altogether wanting. on the main road through the whole length of siberia, there is a post at every verst, marking in large numbers the distance to the first station on either side of it. at the stations there are generally posts that show the distance to moscow, st. petersburg, and the provincial or 'government' capitals on either side. for a long time i could never rid myself of a sensation of 'goneness' when i read the figures indicating the distance to st. petersburg. above seven thousand they were positively frightful; between six and seven thousand, they were disagreeable to say the least. among the five thousand and odd versts, i began to think matters improving, and when i descended below four thousand, i felt as if in my teens. the proverb says, "a watched pot never boils." i can testify that these distance figures diminished very slowly, and sometimes they seemed to remain nearly the same from day to day. the snow storm that began when we left tomsk, continued through the night and the following day. the air was warm, and there was little wind, so that our principal inconvenience was from the snow flakes in our faces, and the gradual filling of the road. toward sunset a wind arose. every hour it increased, and before midnight there was good prospect of our losing our way or being compelled to halt until daybreak. the snow whirled in thick masses through the air, and utterly blinded us when we attempted to look out. the road filled with drifts, and we had much difficulty in dragging through them. the greatest personal inconvenience was the sifting of snow through the crevices of our sleigh cover. at every halt we underwent a vigorous shaking to remove the superfluous snow from our furs. a storm with high winds in this region takes the name of _bouran_. it is analogous to the _poorga_ of northeastern siberia and kamchatka, and may occur at any season of the year. bourans are oftentimes very violent, especially in the open steppe. any one who has experienced the norther of texas, or the _bora_ of southern austria, can form an idea of these siberian storms. the worst are when the thermometer sinks to twenty-five degrees or more below zero, and the snow is dashed about with terrific fury. at such times they are almost insupportable, and the traveler who ventures to face them runs great risk of his life. many persons have been lost in the winter storms, and all experienced voyagers are reluctant to brave their violence. in summer the wind spends its force on the earth and sand which it whirls in large clouds. a gentleman told me he had seen the dry bed of a river where there were two feet of sand, swept clean to the rock by the strength of the wind alone. a little past daylight the sleigh came to a sudden stop despite the efforts of all concerned. the last hundred versts of our ride we had four horses to each sleigh, and their united strength was not more than sufficient for our purpose. the drift where we stopped was at least three feet deep, and pretty closely packed. we, that is to say, the horses and yemshicks, made several efforts but could not carry the sleigh through. the mammoth sleigh came up and the two yemshicks trod a path through the worst part of the drift. the doctor and i descended from the vehicle, and assisted by looking on. the sleigh thus lightened, was dragged through the obstruction but unfortunately turned on its beam ends, and filled with snow before it could be righted. the bouran was from the south, and raised the temperature above the freezing point. the increasing heat became uncomfortable after the cold i had experienced. the horses did not turn white from perspiration as in colder days, and the exertion of travel set them panting as in summer. the drivers carefully knotted their (the horses') tails to prevent them (the tails) from filling with snow, but the precaution was not entirely successful. the snow was of the right consistency for a school boy's frolic, and would have thrown a group of american urchins into ecstacies. whenever our pace quickened to a trot or gallop, the larboard horse threw a great many snowballs with his feet. he seemed to aim at my face, and every few minutes i received what the prize ring would call 'plumpers in the peeper, and sockdolagers on the potato-trap.' we drove into barnaool about forty-four hours after leaving tomsk. at the hotel we found three rooms containing chairs and tables in profusion, but not a bed or sofa. of course we were expected to supply our own bedding, and need not be particular about a bedstead. the worst part of the affair was the wet condition of our furs. my sheepskin sleigh robe was altogether too damp for use, and i sent it to be dried in the kitchen. several of my fur garments went the same way. even my shooba, which i carried in a bag, had a feeling of dampness when i unfolded it, and in fact the only dry things about us, were our throats. we set things drying as best we could, and then ordered dinner. before our sleighs were unloaded, a policeman took our passports and saved us all trouble of going to the station. in the evening i accompanied dr. schmidt on a visit to a friend and fellow member of the academy of science. we found a party of six or eight persons, and, as soon as i was introduced, a gentleman despatched a servant to his house. the man returned with a roll of sheet music from which our host's daughter favored us with the "star spangled banner," and "hail columbia," as a greeting to the first american visitor to barnaool. on our return to our lodgings we made our beds on the floor, and slept comfortably. the dampness of the furs developed a rheumatic pain in my shoulder that stiffened me somewhat inconveniently. we breakfasted upon cakes and tea at a late hour in the morning, and then went to pay our respects to general freeze, the nachalnik or director of mines, and to colonel filoff, chief of the smelting works. both these officers were somewhat past the middle age, quiet and affable, and each enjoyed himself in coloring a meerschaum. they have been engaged in mining matters during many years, and are said to be thoroughly versed in their profession. after visiting these gentlemen we called upon other official and civilian residents of the city. barnaool is the center of direction of the mining enterprises of the altai mountains, and has a population of ten or twelve thousand. almost its entire business is in someway connected with mining affairs, and there are many engineer officers constantly stationed there. i met some of these gentlemen during my stay, and was indebted to them for information concerning the manner of working mines and reducing ores. the city contains a handsome array of public buildings, including the mining bureau, the hospital, and the zavod or smelting establishment. general freeze, the nachalnik, is director and chief, not only of the city but of the entire mining district of which barnaool is the center. the first discoveries of precious metals in the altai regions were made by one of the demidoffs who was sent there by peter the great. a monument in the public square at barnaool records his services, in ever during brass. i was shown an autograph letter from the empress elizabeth giving directions to the nachalnik who controlled the mines during her reign. the letter is kept in an ivory box on the table around which the mining board holds its sessions. the mines of this region are the personal property of the emperor, and their revenues go directly to the crown. i was told that the government desires to sell or give these mines into private hands, in the belief that the resources of the country would be more thoroughly developed. the day before my departure from barnaool, i learned that my visit had reference to the possible purchase of the mining works by an american company. i hastened to assure my informant that i had no intention of buying the altai mountains or any part of them. the nachalnik visits all mines and smelting works in his district at least once a year, and is constantly in receipt of detailed reports of operations in progress. his power is almost despotic, and like the governors of departments throughout all siberia, he can manage affairs pretty much in his own way. there are no convict laborers in his district, the workmen at the mines and zavods being peasants subject to the orders of government. each man in the district may be called upon to work for the emperor at fixed wages of money and rations. i believe the daily pay of a laborer is somewhat less than forty copecks. a compromise for saints days and other festivals is made by employing the men only two weeks out of three. relays are so arranged as to make no stoppage of the works except during the christmas holidays. i saw many sheets of the geological map of the altai region, which has been a long time in preparation, and will require several years to complete. every mountain, hill, brook, and valley is laid down by careful surveyors, and when the map is finished it will be one of the finest and best in the world. one corps is engaged in surveying and mapping while another explores and opens mines. when the snows are melted in the spring, and the floods have receeded from the streams, the exploring parties are sent into the mountains. each officer has a particular valley assigned him, and commands a well equipped body of men. he is expected to remain in the mountains until he has finished his work, or until compelled to leave by the approach of winter. the party procures meat from game, of which there is nearly always an abundant supply. holes are dug at regular intervals, on the system i have already described in the mines of the yenesei. the rocks in and around the valley are carefully examined for traces of silver, and many specimens have been collected for the geological cabinet at barnaool. maps are made showing the locality of each test hole in the valley, and the spot whence every specimen of rock is obtained. on the return of the party its reports and specimens are delivered to the mining bureau. the ores go to the laboratory to be assayed, and the specimens of rock are carefully sorted and examined. gold washings are conducted on the general plan of those in the yeneseisk government, the details varying according to circumstances. a representation of the principal silver mine--somewhat on the plan of barnum's "niagara with real water"--was shown me in the museum. in general features the mines are not materially unlike silver mines elsewhere. there are shafts, adits, and levels just as in the mines of colorado and california. the russians give the name of _priesk_ to a mine where gold is washed from the earth. the silver mine with its shafts in the solid rock is called a _roodnik._ as before stated, the word _zavod_ is applied to foundries, smelting works, and manufactories in general. colonel filoff invited the doctor and myself to visit the zavod at barnaool on the second day after our arrival. as he spoke no language with which i was familiar, the colonel placed me in charge of a young officer fluent in french, who took great pains to explain the _modus operandi_. the zavod is on a grand scale, and employs about six hundred laborers. it is enclosed in a large yard with high walls, and reminded me of a pennsylvania iron foundry or the establishment just below detroit. a sentry at the gate presented arms as we passed, and i observed that the rule of no admittance except on business was rigidly enforced. [illustration: in the mine.] in the yard we were first taken to piles of ore which appeared to an unpracticed eye like heaps of old mortar and broken granite. these piles were near a stream which furnishes power for moving the machinery of the establishment. the ore was exposed to the air and snow, but the coal for smelting was carefully housed. there were many sheds for storage within easy distance of the furnaces. the latter were of brick with tall and substantial chimneys, and the outer walls that surrounded the whole were heavily and strongly built. charcoal is burned in consequence of the cheapness and abundance of wood. i was told that an excellent quality of stove coal existed in the vicinity, and would be used whenever it proved most economical. nearly all the ore contains copper, silver, and lead, while the rest is deficient in the last named article. the first kind is smelted without the addition of lead, and sometimes passes through six or seven reductions. for the ore containing only copper and silver the process by evaporation of lead is employed. formerly the lead was brought from nerchinsk or purchased in england, the land transport in either case being very expensive. several years ago lead was found in the altai mountains, and the supply is now sufficient for all purposes. the lead absorbs the silver, and leaves the copper in the refuse matter. this was formerly thrown away, but by a newly invented process the copper is extracted and saved. the production of silver in the altai mines is about a thousand and fifty poods annually, or forty thousand pounds avoirdupois. the silver is cast into bars or cakes about ten inches square, and weighing from seventy to a hundred pounds each. colonel filoff showed us into the room where the silver is stored. two soldiers were on guard and six or eight others rested outside. a sergeant brought a sealed box which contained the key of the safe. first the box and then the safe were opened at the colonel's order, and when we had satisfied our curiosity, the safe was locked and the key restored to its place of deposit. the colonel carried the seal that closed the box, and the sergeant was responsible for the integrity of the wax. the cakes had a dull hue, somewhat lighter than that of lead, and were of a convenient shape for handling. each cake had its weight, and value, and result of assay stamped upon it, and i was told that it was assayed again at st. petersburg to guard against the algebraic process of substitution. about thirty poods of gold are extracted from every thousand poods of silver after the treasure reaches st. petersburg. the silver is extracted from the lead used to absorb it, the latter being again employed while the former goes on its long journey to the banks of the neva. the ore continues to pass through successive reductions until a pood of it contains no more than three-fourths a zolotink of silver; less than that proportion will not pay expenses. i was told that the annual cost of working the mines equaled the value of the silver produced. the gold contained in the silver is the only item of profit to the crown. about thirty thousand poods of copper are produced annually in this district, but none of the copper zavods are at barnaool. [illustration: strange coincidence.] all gold produced from the mines of siberia, with the exception of that around nerchinsk, is sent to barnaool to be smelted. this work is performed, in a room about fifteen feet square, the furnaces being fixed in its centre like parlor stoves of unusual size. the smelting process continues four months of each year, and during this time about twelve hundred poods of gold are melted and cast into bars. this work, for 1866, was finished a few days before my arrival, and the furnaces were utterly devoid of heat. in the yard at the zavod, i saw a dozen or more sleds, and on each of them there was an iron-bound box filled with bars of gold. this train was ready to leave under strong guard for st. petersburg. the morning after my visit to the zavod it was reported that a soldier guarding the sled train had been killed during the night. the incident was a topic of conversation for the rest of my stay, but i obtained no clear account of the affair. all agreed that a sentinel was murdered, and one of the boxes plundered of several bars of gold, but beyond this there were conflicting statements. it was the first occurrence of the kind at barnaool, and naturally excited the peaceful inhabitants. the doctor trusted that the affair would not be associated with our visit, and i quite agreed with him. it is to be hoped that the future historian of barnaool will not mention, the murder and robbery in the same paragraph with the distinguished arrival of dr. schmidt and an american traveler. the rich miners send their gold once a year to barnaool, the poorer ones twice a year. those in pressing need of money receive certificates of deposit as soon as their gold is cast into bars, and on these certificates they can obtain cash at the government banks. the opulent miners remain content till their gold reaches the capital, and is coined. four or six months may thus elapse after gold has left barnaool before its owner obtains returns. [illustration: tail piece.] chapter xliv. the society of barnaool consists of the mining and other officers, with a larger proportion of families than at irkutsk. it had a more quiet and reserved character than the capital of eastern siberia, but was not the less social and hospitable. many young officers of the mining and topographical departments pass their summers in the mountains and their winters in barnaool. the cold season is therefore the gayest, and abounds in balls, parties, concerts, and amateur theatricals. the former theatre has been converted into a club-room. there is a good proportion, for a siberian town, of elegant and luxuriant houses. the furniture and adornments were quite as extensive as at irkutsk or tomsk, and several houses that i visited would have been creditable in moscow or st. petersburg. it is no little wonder to find all the comforts and luxuries of russian life in the southern part of siberia, on the borders of the kirghese steppes. the large and well arranged museum contained more than i could even glance over in a single day. there were models of machines used in gold-washing, quartz mills fifty years old, and almost identical with those of the present day; models of furnaces and zavods in various parts of siberia, and full delineations of the principal silver mines of the altai. there was a curious steam engine, said to have been made at barnaool in 1764, and used for blowing the furnaces. i saw a fine collection of minerals, birds, beasts, and other curiosities of the altai. particular attention was called to the stuffed skins of two enormous tigers that were killed several years ago in the southern part of the district. one of them fell after a long fight, in which he killed one of his assailants and wounded two others. the museum contains several dead specimens of the bearcoot, or eagle of the altai. i saw a living bird of this species at the house of an acquaintance. the bearcoot is larger than the american eagle, and possesses strength enough to kill a deer or wolf with perfect ease. dr. duhmberg, superintendent of the hospitals, told me of an experiment with poison upon one of these birds. he began by giving half a grain of _curavar_, a poison from south america. it had no perceptible effect, the appetite and conduct of the bird being unchanged. a week later he gave four grains of strychnine, and saw the bird's feathers tremble fifteen minutes after the poison was swallowed. five hours later the patient was in convulsions, but his head was not affected, and he recovered strength and appetite on the next day. a week later the bearcoot swallowed seven grains of curavar, and showed no change for two days. on the second evening he went into convulsions, and died during the night. the kirghese tame these eagles and employ them in hunting. a gentleman who had traveled among the kirghese told me he had seen a bearcoot swoop down upon a full grown deer and kill him in a few minutes. sometimes when a pack of wolves has killed and begun eating a deer, the feast will be interrupted by a pair of bearcoots. two birds will attack a dozen wolves, and either kill or drive them away. barnaool is quite near the kirghese steppes. one of my acquaintances had a kirghese coachman, a tall, well formed man, with thick lips and a coppery complexion. i established a friendship with this fellow, and arranged that he should sit for his portrait, but somehow he was never ready. he brought me two of his kindred, and i endeavored to persuade the group to be photographed. there was a superstition among them that it would be detrimental to their post mortem repose if they allowed their likenesses on this earth when they themselves should leave it. i offered them one, two, three, and even five roubles, but they stubbornly refused. their complexions were dark, and their whole physiognomy revealed the tartar blood. they wore the russian winter dress, but had their own costume for state occasions. in this part of siberia kirghese are frequently found in russian employ, and are said to be generally faithful and industrious. a considerable number find employment at the altai mines, and a great many are engaged in taking cattle and sheep to the siberian markets. the kirghese lead a nomadic life, making frequent change of residence to find pasturage for their immense flocks and herds. the different tribes are more or less hostile to each other, and have a pleasant habit of organizing raids on a colossal scale. one tribe will suddenly swoop down upon another and steal all portable property within reach. they do not mind a little fighting, and an enterprise of this kind frequently results in a good many broken heads. the chiefs believe themselves descended from the great warriors of the ancient tartar days, and boast loudly of their prowess. the kirghese are brave in fighting each other, but have a respectful fear of the russians. occasionally they plunder russian traders crossing the steppes, but are careful not to attack unless the odds are on their own side. the russians have applied their diplomacy among the kirghese and pushed their boundaries far to the southward. they have purchased titles to districts controlled by powerful chiefs, and after being fairly settled have continued negotiations for more territory. they make use of the hostility between the different tribes, and have managed so that nearly every feud brought advantages to russia. under their policy of toleration they never interfere with the religion of the conquered, and are careful not to awaken prejudices. the tribes in the subjugated territory are left pretty much to their own will. every few years the chain of frontier posts is pushed to the southward, and embraces a newly acquired region. western siberia is dotted over with abandoned and crumbling forts that once guarded the boundary, but are now far in the interior. some of these defences are near the great road across the baraba steppe. the kirghese do not till the soil nor engage in manufactures, except of a few articles for their own use. they sell sheep, cattle, and horses to the russians, and frequently accompany the droves to their destination. in return for their flocks and herds they receive goods of russian manufacture, either for their own use or for traffic with the people beyond. their wealth consists of domestic animals and the slaves to manage them. horses and sheep are legal tender in payment of debts, bribes, and presents. in the last few years russian conquest in central asia has moved so fast that england has taken alarm for her indian possessions. the last intelligence from that quarter announces a victory of the russians near samarcand, followed by negotiations for peace. if the muscovite power continues to extend over that part of asia, england has very good reason to open her eyes. i never conversed with the emperor on this topic, and cannot speak positively of his intentions toward asia, but am confident he has fixed his eye upon conquest as far south of the altai as he can easily go. that his armies may sometime hoist the russian flag in sight of the indo-english possessions, is not at all improbable. but that they will either attempt or desire an aggressive campaign against india is quite beyond expectation. it is but a few years ago that english travelers were killed for having made their way into central asia in disguise, and vambery, the hungarian traveler, was considered to have performed a great feat because he returned from there with his life. there is now the tashkend _messenger_, a russian paper devoted to the interests of that rich province. moscow merchants are establishing the bank of central asia, having its headquarters at tashkend and a branch at orenburg, and tashkend will soon be in telegraphic communication with the rest of the world. a plan has been proposed to open central asia to steam boat navigation. the river oxus, or amoo-daria, which flows through bakhara and khiva, emptying into the aral sea, was once a tributary of the caspian. several steamers have been placed upon it, and others are promised soon. the dry bed of the old channel of the oxus is visible in the turcoman steppe at the present day. the original diversion was artificial, and the dikes which direct it into the aral are said to be maintained with difficulty. it has been proposed to send an expedition to remove these barriers and turn the river into its former bed. coupled with this project is another to divert the course of the syr-daria and make it an affluent of the oxus. this last proposition was half carried out two hundred years ago, and its completion would not be difficult. by the first project, russia would obtain a continuous water-way from nijne novgorod on the volga to balkh on the amoo-daria, within two hundred miles of british india. the second scheme carried out would bring tashkend and all central asia under commercial control, and have a political effect of no secondary importance. a new route might thus be opened to british india, and european civilization carried into a region long occupied by semi-barbarian people. afghanistan would be relieved from its anarchy and brought under wholesome rule. the geographical effect would doubtless be the drying up of the aral sea. a railway between balkh and delhi would complete an inland steam route between st. petersburg and calcutta. surveys have been ordered for a central asiatic railway from orenburg or some point farther south, and it is quite possible that before many years the locomotive will be shrieking over the tartar steppes and frightening the flocks and herds of the wandering kalmacks and kirghese. a railway is in process of construction from the black sea to the caspian, and when this is completed, a line into central asia is only a question of time. the russians have an extensive trade with central asia. goods are transported on camels, the caravans coming in season for the fairs of irbit and nijne novgorod. the caravans from bokhara proceed to troitska, (lat. 54â° n., lon. 61â° 20' e.,) petropavlovsk, (lat. 54â° 30' n., lon. 69â° e.,) and orenburg, (lat. 51â° 46' n., lon. 55â° 5' e.) there is also a considerable traffic to sempolatinsk, (lat. 50â° 30' n., lon. 80â° e.) the russian merchandise consists of metals, iron and steel goods, beads, mirrors, cloths of various kinds, and a miscellaneous lot "too numerous to mention." much of the country over which these caravans travel is a succession of asiatic steppes, with occasional salt lakes and scanty supplies of fresh water. after passing the altai mountains and outlying chains the routes are quite monotonous. fearful bourans are frequent, and in certain parts of the route they take the form of sand storms. a russian army on its way to khiva twenty-five years ago, was almost entirely destroyed in one of these desert tempests. occasionally the caravans suffer severely. the merchandise from bokhara includes raw cotton, sheepskins, rhubarb, dried fruits, peltries, silk, and leather, with shawl goods of different kinds. cotton is an important product, and in the latter part of my journey i saw large quantities going to russian factories. three hundred years ago a german traveler in russia wrote an account of 'a wonderful plant beyond the caspian sea.' "veracious people," says the writer, "tell me that the _borauez_, or sheep plant, grows upon a stalk larger than my thumb; it has a head, eyes, and ears like a sheep, but is without sensation. the natives use its wool for various purposes." i heard air interesting story of an adventure in which one of the kirghese, who was living among the russians at the time of my visit to barnaool, played an important part. he was a fine looking fellow, whose tribe lived between the altai mountains and lake ural, spending the winters in the low lands and the summers in the valleys of the foot-hills. he was the son of one of the patriarchs of the tribe, and was captured, during a baranta or foray, by a chief who had long been on hostile terms with his neighbors. the young man was held for ransom, but the price demanded was more than his father could pay, and so he remained in captivity. he managed to ingratiate himself with the chief of the tribe that captured him, and as a mark of honor, and probably as an excuse for the high ransom demanded, he was appointed to live in the chief's household. he was allowed to ride with the party when they moved, and accompany the herdsmen; but a sharp watch was kept on his movements whenever he was mounted, and care was taken that the horses he rode were not very fleet. the chief had a daughter whom he expected to marry to one of his powerful neighbors, and thereby secure a permanent friendship between the tribes. she was a style of beauty highly prized among the asiatics, was quite at home on horseback, and understood all the arts and accomplishments necessary to a kirghese maiden of noble blood. it is nothing marvelous that the young captive, selim, should become fond of the charming acson, the daughter of his captor. his fondness was reciprocated, but, like prudent lovers everywhere, they concealed their feelings, and to the outer world preserved a most indifferent exterior. selim thought it best to elope, and broached his opinion to acson, who readily favored it. they concluded to make the attempt when the tribe was moving to change its pasturage, and their absence would not be noticed until they had several hours start and were many miles on their way. they waited until the chief gave the order to move to another locality, where the grass was better. acson managed to leave the tent in the night, under some frivolous pretext, and select two of her father's best horses, which she concealed in a grove not far away. by previous arrangement she appeared sullen and indignant toward selim, who, mounted on a very sorry nag, set off with a party of men that were driving a large herd of horses. the latter were ungovernable, and the party became separated, so that it was easy for selim to drop out altogether and make his way to the grove where the horses were concealed. in the same way acson abandoned the party she started with, and within an hour from the time they left the _aool_, or encampment, the lovers met in the grove. [illustration: the elopement.] it was a long way to selim's tribe, but he knew it was somewhere in the mountains to the north and west, having left its winter quarters in the low country. the pair said their prayers in the true mahommedan style, and then, mounting their horses, set out at an easy pace to ascend the valley toward the higher land. their horses were in excellent condition, but they knew it would be necessary to ride hard in case they were pursued, and they wished to reserve their strength for the final effort. an hour before nightfall, they saw, far down the valley, a party in pursuit. the party was riding rapidly, and from appearances had not caught sight of the fugitives. after a brief consultation the latter determined to turn aside at the first bend of the valley, and endeavor to cross at the next stream, while leaving the pursuers to go forward and be deceived. they turned aside, and were gratified to see from a place of concealment the pursuing party proceed up the valley. the departure of the fugitives was evidently known some time earlier than they expected, else the pursuit would not have begun so soon. guided by the general course of the hills, the fugitives made their way to the next valley, and, as the night had come upon them, they made a camp beneath a shady tree, picketing their horses, and eating such provisions as they had brought with them. in the morning, just as their steeds were saddled and they were preparing to resume their journey, they saw their pursuers enter the valley a mile or two below them, and move rapidly in their direction. evidently they had turned back after losing the track, and found it without much delay. but their horses wore more weary than those of the fleeing lovers, so that the latter were confident of winning the race. swift was the flight and swift the pursuit. the valley was wide and nearly straight, and the lovers steadily increased the distance between them and their pursuers. they followed no path, but kept steadily forward, with their faces toward the mountains. their pursuers, originally half a dozen, diminished to five, then to four, and as the hours wore on selim found that only two were in sight. but a new obstacle arose to his escape. [illustration: the fight] he knew that the valley he was ascending was abruptly enclosed in the mountains, and escape would be difficult. further to the east was a more practicable one, and he determined to attempt to reach it. turning from the valley, he was followed by his two pursuers, who were so close upon him that he determined to fight them. acson had brought away one of her father's scimetars, and with this selim prepared to do battle. finding a suitable place among the rocks, he concealed his horses, and with acson made a stand where he could fight to advantage. he took his position on a rock just over the path his pursuers were likely to follow, and watched his opportunity to hurl a stone, which knocked one of them senseless. the other was dismounted by his horse taking fright, and before he could regain his saddle, selim was upon him. a short hand-to-hand fight resulted in selim's favor. leaving his adversaries upon the ground, one of them dead and the other mortally wounded, selim called acson and returned to his horses. both the fugitives were thoroughly exhausted on reaching the valley, and found to their dismay that a stream they were obliged to cross was greatly swollen with recent rains in the mountains. they were anxious to put the stream between them and their remaining pursuers, and after a brief halt they plunged in with their horses. selim crossed safely, his horse stemming the current and landing some distance below the point where he entered the water. acson was less fortunate. while in the middle of the stream her horse stumbled upon a stone, and sprang about so wildly as to throw her from the saddle. grasping the limb of a tree overhanging the water, she clung for a moment, but the horse sweeping against her, tore the support from her hand. with a loud cry to her terror-stricken lover, she sank beneath the waters and was dashed against the rocks a hundred yards below. [illustration: the catastrophe.] day became night, the stars sparkled in the blue heavens; the moon rose and took her course along the sky; the wind sighed among the trees; morning tinged the eastern horizon, and the sun pushed above it, while selim paced the banks of the river and watched the waters rolling, rolling, rolling, as they carried his heart's idol away from him forever, and it was not until night again approached that he mounted his steed and rode away, heart-broken, and full of sadness. he ultimately made his way to his own tribe, but years passed before he recovered from the crushing weight of that blow; and when i saw him there was still upon his countenance a deep shadow which will never be removed. such is the story of selim and acson. a more romantic one is hardly to be found. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xlv. one morning while i was in barnaool the doctor left me writing, and went out for a promenade. in half an hour he returned accompanied by a tall, well-formed man with a brunette complexion, and hair and mustache black as ebony. his dress was russian, but the face impressed me as something strange. "let me introduce you," said the doctor, "to an officer of the persian army. he has been eight years from home, and would like to talk with an american." we shook hands, and by way of getting on familiar footing, i opened my cigar case. dr. schmidt translated our conversation, the persian speaking russian very fairly. his story was curious and interesting. he was captured in 1858 near herat, by a party of predatory turcomans. his captors sold him to a merchant at balkh where he remained sometime. from balkh he was sold to khiva, and from khiva to bokhara, whence he escaped with a fellow captive. i asked if he was compelled to labor during his captivity, and received a negative reply. soldiers and all others except officers are forced to all kinds of drudgery when captured by these barbarians. officers are held for ransom, and their duties are comparatively light. russian slaves are not uncommon in central asia, though less numerous than formerly. the kirghese cripple their prisoners by inserting a horse hair in a wound in the heel. a man thus treated is lamed for life. he cannot use his feet in escaping, and care is taken that he does not secure a horse. the two fugitives traveled together from bokhara, suffering great hardships in their journey over the steppes. they avoided all towns through fear of capture, and subsisted upon whatever chance threw in their way. once when near starvation they found and killed a sheep. they ate heartily of its raw flesh, and before the supply thus obtained was exhausted they reached the russian boundary at chuguchak. one of the twain died soon afterward, and his companion in flight came to barnaool. the authorities would not let him go farther without a passport, and he had been in the town nearly a year at the time of my visit. through the persian ambassador at st. petersburg, he had communicated, with his government at teheran, and expected his passport in a few weeks. during the eight years that had elapsed since his capture this gentleman heard nothing from his own country. he had learned to speak russian but could not read it. i told him of the completion of the indo-european telegraph by way of the euphrates and the persian gulf, and the success of electric communication between england and india. naturally he was less interested concerning the atlantic cable than about the telegraph in his own country. we shook hands at parting, and mutually expressed a wish to meet again in persia and america. after his departure, the doctor commented upon the intelligent bearing and clear eye of the persian, and then said: "i have done several strange and unexpected things in my life, but i never dreamed i should be the interpreter between a persian and an american at the foot of the altai mountains." i met at barnaool, a prussian gentleman mr. radroff, who was sent to siberia by the russian academy of science. he knew nearly all the languages of europe, and had spent some years in studying those of central asia. he could converse and read in chinese, persian, and mongol, and i don't know how many languages and dialects of lesser note. his special mission was to collect information about the present and past inhabitants of central asia, and in this endeavor he had made explorations in the country of the kirghese and beyond lake balkask. he was preparing for a journey in 1867 to kashgar. mr. radroff possessed many archaeological relics gathered in his researches, and exhibited drawings of many tumuli. he had a curious collection of spear heads, knives, swords, ornaments, stirrup irons, and other souvenirs of ancient days. he discoursed upon the ages of copper, gold, and iron, and told the probable antiquity of each specimen he brought out. he gave me a spear head and a knife blade taken from a burial mound in the kirghese country. "you observe," said he, "they are of copper and were doubtless made before the discovery of iron. they are probably three thousand years old, and may be more. in these tumuli, copper is found much better preserved than iron, though the latter is more recently buried." at this gentleman's house, i saw a persian soldier who had been ten years in captivity among the turcomans, where he was beaten and forced to the lowest drudgery, and often kept in chains. after long and patient waiting he escaped and reached the siberian boundary. having no passport, and unable to make himself understood, he was sent to barnaool and lodged in prison where he remained nearly two years! the persian officer above mentioned, heard of him by accident, and procured his release. mr. radroff had taken the man as a house servant and a teacher of the persian language. i heard him read in a sonorous voice several passages from the koran. his face bore the marks of deep suffering, and gave silent witness to the story of his terrible captivity in the hands of the turcomans. his incarceration at barnaool was referred to as an "unfortunate oversight." escaping from barbarian slavery he fell into a civilized prison, and must have considered christian kindness more fanciful than real. he expected to accompany his countryman on his return to persia. the day before our departure, we were invited to a public dinner in honor of our visit. it took place at the club rooms, the tables being set in what was once the parquet of the theatre. the officials, from general freeze downward, were seated in the order of their rank, and the post of honor was assigned to the two strangers. no ladies were present, and the dinner, so far as its gastronomic features went, was much like a dinner at irkutsk or kiachta. at the second course my attention was called to an excellent fish peculiar to the ob and yenesei rivers. it is a species of salmon under the name of nalma, and ascends from the arctic ocean. beef from the kirghese steppes elicited our praise, and so did game from the region around barnaool. at the end of the dinner i was ready to answer affirmatively the inquiry, "all full inside?" at the appearance of the champagne, colonel taskin of the mining engineers made a brief speech in english, and ended by proposing the united states of america and the health of the american stranger. dr. schmidt translated my response as well as my toast to the russian empire, and especially the inhabitants of barnaool. the doctor was then honored for his mammoth hunt, and made proper acknowledgment. then we had personal toasts and more champagne with russian and american music, and champagne again, and then we had some more champagne and then some champagne. when the tables were removed, we had impromptu dancing to lively music, including several cossack dances, some familiar and others new to me. there is one of these dances which usually commences by a woman stepping into the centre of the room and holding a kerchief in her right hand. moving gracefully to the music, she passes around the apartment, beckoning to one, hiding her face from another, gesticulating with extended arms before a third, and skilfully manipulating the kerchief all the while. when this sentimental pantomime is ended, she selects a partner and waves the kerchief over him. he pretends reluctance, but allows himself to be dragged to the floor where the couple dance _en deux_. the dance includes a great deal of entreaty, aversion, hope, and despair, all in dumb show, and ends by the lady being led to a seat. i saw this dance introduced in a ballet at the grand theatre in moscow, and wondered why it never appeared on the stage outside the russian empire. one of the gentlemen who danced admirably had recovered the use of his legs two years before, after being unable to walk no less than twenty-eight years. he declared himself determined to make up for lost time, and when i left the hall, he continued entertaining himself. during the dancing, a party gathered around where i stood and i observed that every lady was assembling as if to witness some fun. "be on your watch," a friend whispered, "they are going to give you the _polkedovate_." the _polkedovate_ is nothing more nor less than a tossing up at the hands of a dozen or twenty russians. it has the effect of intoxicating a sober man, but i never heard that it sobered a drunken one. major collins was elevated in this way at kiachta, and declares that the effect, added to the champagne he had previously taken, was not at all satisfactory. remembering his experience, and fearing i might go too high or come too low, i was glad when a diversion was made in my favor by a gentleman coming to bid me good night. [illustration: the polkedovate.] the custom of tossing up a guest is less prevalent in siberia than ten or twenty years ago. it was formerly a mark of high respect, but i presume few who were thus honored would have hesitated to forego the distinguished courtesy. one of the gentlemen i met at dinner had a passion for trotting horses. he asked me many questions about the famous race horses in america, from lady suffolk down to the latest two-twenties. i answered to the best of my abilities, but truth required me to say i was not authority in equine matters. the gentleman treated me to a display of trotting by a siberian horse five years old, and carefully trained. i forget the exact figures he gave me, but believe they were something like two-thirty to the mile. to my unhorsy eye, the animal was pretty, and well formed, and i doubt not he would have acquitted himself finely on the bloomingdale road. the best horses in siberia are generally from european russia, the siberian climate being unfavorable to careful breeding. kirghese horses are excellent under the saddle, but not well reputed for draught purposes. i gave out some washing at barnaool, and accidentally included a paper collar in the lot. when the laundress returned the linen, she explained with much sorrow the dissolution of the collar when she attempted to wash it. i presume it was the first of its kind that ever reached the altai mountains. [illustration: making explanation.] we arranged to leave barnaool at the conclusion of the dinner at the club room. first we proceeded to the house of colonel taskin where we took 'positively the last' glass of champagne. our preparations at our lodgings were soon completed, and the baggage carefully stowed. a party of our acquaintances assembled to witness our departure, and pass through a round of kissing as the yemshick uttered 'gotovey.' they did not make an end of hand-shaking until we were wrapped and bundled into the sleigh. it was a keen, frosty night with the stars twinkling in the clear heavens as we drove outside the yard of our hotel. horses, driver, and travelers were alike exhilarated in the sharp atmosphere and we dashed off at courier pace. the driver was a musical fellow, and endeavored to sing a russian ballad while we were galloping over the glistening snow. we had a long ride before us. the wide steppe of baraba, or barabinsky, lies between barnaool and the foot of the ural mountains. there was no town where we expected to stop before reaching tumen, fifteen hundred versts away. as the luxuries of life are not abundant on this road we stored our sleighs with provisions, and hoped to add bread and eggs at the stations. our farewell dinner was considered a sufficient preparation for at least a hundred and fifty versts. i nestled down among the furs and hay which formed my bed, leaned back upon the pillows and exposed only a few square inches of visage to the nipping and eager air. a few versts from town we stuck upon an icy bank where the smooth feet of our horses could not obtain holding ground. after a while we attached one horse to a long rope, and enabled him to pull from the level snow above the bank. i expected the yemshick would ask us to lighten the sleigh by stepping out of it. an american driver would have put us ashore without ceremony, but custom is otherwise in siberia. horses and driver are engaged to take the vehicle and its burden to the next station, and it is the traveler's privilege to remain in his place in any emergency short of an overturn. the track was excellent, having been well trodden since the storm. we followed our former road a hundred versts from barnaool, and then turned to the left to strike the great post route near kiansk. it was necessary to cross the river ob, and as we reached the station near it during the night, we waited for daylight. the ice was sufficiently thick and firm, but the danger arose from holes and thin places that could not be readily discovered in the dark. while crossing we met a peasant who had tumbled into one of these holes, and been fished out by his friends. he looked unhappy, and no doubt felt so. his garments were frozen stiff, and altogether he resembled a bronze statue of franklin after a freezing rain storm. [illustration: after the bath.] the thermometer fell on the first night to fifteen degrees below zero, and to about -20â° just before sunrise. the colder it grew the better was our speed, the horses feeling the crisp air and the driver being anxious to complete his stage in the least time possible. with uniform roads and teams one can judge pretty fairly of the temperature by the rate at which he travels. from barnaool we did not have the horses of the post, but engaged our first troikas of a peasant who offered his services. our yemshick took us to his friend at the first station, and this operation was regularly repeated. occasionally our two yemshicks had different friends, and our sleighs were separately out-fitted. when this was the case the teams were speedily attached out of a spirit of rivalry. we frequently endeavored to excite the yemshicks to the noble ambition of a race by offering a few copecks to the winner. when the teams were furnished from different houses the temper of emulation roused itself spontaneously. twice we left the post route to make short cuts that saved thirty or forty miles travel. on those side roads we found plenty of horses, and were promptly served. the inhabitants of the steppe are delighted at the opportunity to carry travelers at post rates. the latter are saved the trouble of exhibiting their _padarashnia_ at every station, and generally prefer to employ private teams. the horses were small, wiry beasts of tartar breed, and utter strangers to combs and brushes. while at breakfast on the second morning we were accosted by an old and decrepid beggar. the fellow wore a decoration consisting of a box six or seven inches square, suspended on his breast by a strap around his neck. though seedy enough to set up business on his own account, he explained that he was begging for the church. his honesty was evidently in question as the box was firmly locked and had an aperture in the top for receiving money. we each gave ten copecks into his hand, and i observed that he did not drop the gratuity into the box. i was reminded of the man who owed a grudge against a railroad line, and declared that the company should never have another cent of his money. a friend asked how he would prevent it, as he frequently traveled over the road. "easy enough," was the calm reply, "i shall hereafter pay my fare to the conductor." the morning after reaching barnaool, i had a fine twinge of rheumatism that adhered during my stay. quite to my surprise it left me on the second day after our departure, and like the bad boy in the story never came back again. the medical faculty can have the benefit of my experience, and prescribe as follows for their rheumatic patients. "st. nt. o. lg. sl. s. r. = ther. z "start at night on a long sleigh ride over a siberian road with the thermometer below zero." a bouran arose in the afternoon of the second day, but was neither violent nor very cold. at barnaool i had my sleigh specially prepared to exclude drifting snow. i ordered a liberal supply of buttons and straps to fasten the boot to the hood, besides an overlapping flap of thick felt to cover the crevice between them. the precaution was well taken, and with our doors thoroughly closed we were not troubled with much snow. the drivers were exposed on the outside of the sleigh, and had the full benefit of the wind. at the end of the first drive after this storm commenced our yemshick might have passed for an animated snow statue. the road was tolerable, and a great improvement upon that from krasnoyarsk to tomsk. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xlvi. the great steppe of baraba is quite monotonous, as there is very little change of scenery in traveling over it. whoever has been south or west from chicago, or west from leavenworth, in winter, can form a very good idea of the steppe. the winter appearance is much like that of a western prairie covered with snow. whether there is equal similarity in summer i am unable to say. the country is flat or slightly undulating, and has a scanty growth of timber. sometimes there were many versts without trees, then there would be a scattered and straggling display of birches, and again the growth was dense enough to be called a forest. the principal arboreal productions are birches, and i found the houses, sheds, and fences in most of the villages constructed of birch timber. the open part of the steppe, far more extensive than the wooded portion, was evidently favorable to the growth of grass, as i saw a great deal protruding above the snow. there are many marshy and boggy places, covered in summer with a dense growth of reeds. they are a serious inconvenience to the traveler on account of the swarms of mosquitoes, gnats, and other tormenting insects that they produce. while crossing the baraba swamps in summer, men and women are obliged to wear veils as a protection against these pests. horses are sometimes killed by their bites, and frequently became thin in flesh from the constant annoyance. a gentleman told me that once when crossing the swamps one of his horses, maddened by the insects, broke from the carriage and fled out of sight among the tall reeds. the yemshicks, who knew the locality, said the animal would certainly be killed by his winged pursuers in less than twenty-four hours. there is much game on the steppe in summer, birds being more numerous than beasts. the only winter game we saw was the white partridge, (_kurupatki_,) of which we secured several specimens. the steppe is fertile, and in everything the soil can produce the people are wealthy. they have wheat, rye, and oats in abundance, but pay little attention to garden vegetables. in 1866 the crops were small in all parts of siberia west of lake baikal, and i frequently heard the peasants complaining of high prices. they said such a season was almost unprecedented. on the steppe oats were forty copecks, and wheat and rye seventy copecks a pood; equaling about thirty cents and seventy-five cents a bushel respectively. in some years wheat has been sold for ten copecks the pood, and other products at proportionate prices. we paid twelve copecks the dizaine for eggs, which frequently sell for one-third that sum. the fertility of the soil cannot be turned to great account, as there is no general market. men and horses engaged in the transportation and postal service create a limited demand, but there is little sale beyond this. with so small a market there are very few rich inhabitants on the steppe; and with edibles at a cheap rate, there are few cases of extreme poverty. we rarely saw beggars, and on the other hand we found nobody who was able to dress in broadcloth and fine linen and fare sumptuously every day. hay is abundant, and may be cut on any unclaimed part of the steppe. i was told that in some places the farmers of a village assemble on horseback at an appointed time. at a given signal all start for the haying spots, and the first arrival has the first choice. there is enough for all, and in ordinary seasons no grass less than knee high is considered worth cutting. at the villages we generally obtained excellent bread of unbolted wheat flour, rye being rarely used. there were many windmills of clumsy construction, the wheels having but four wings, and the whole concern turning on a pivot to bring its face to the wind. no bolting apparatus has been introduced, and the machinery is of the simplest and most primitive character. it was a period of fasting, just before christmas, and our whole obtainable bill of fare comprised bread and eggs. as we reached a certain station we asked what we could get to eat. "everything," was the prompt reply of the smotretal. we were hungry, and this information was cheering. "give us some _schee_, if you please," said the doctor. an inquiry in the kitchen showed this edible to be 'just out.' "some beef, then?" there was no beef to be had. cutlets were alike negatived. "any pilmania?" was our next inquiry. "_nierte; nizniu_." the 'everything' hunted down consisted of eggs, bread, and hot water. we brought out a boiled ham, that was generally our _piece de resistance_, and made a royal meal. if _trichina spiralis_ existed in siberian ham, it was never able to disturb us. we found no fruit as there are no orchards in siberia. attempts have been made to cultivate fruit, but none have succeeded. a little production about the size of a whortleberry was shown me in eastern siberia, where it was pickled and served up as a relish with meat. "this is the siberian apple," said the gentleman who first exhibited it, "and it has degenerated to what you see since its introduction from europe." on dissecting one of these little berries, i found it possessed the anatomy of the apple, with seeds smaller than pin-heads. kotzebue and other travelers say there are no bees in siberia, but the assertion is incorrect. i saw native honey enough to convince me on this point, and learned that bees are successfully raised in the southern part of asiatic russia. we were not greatly delayed in our team changing, though we lost several hours in small instalments. we had two sleighs, and although there were anywhere up to a dozen men to prepare them, the harnessing of one team was generally completed before the other was led out. when the horses were ready, the driver often went to fetch his dehar and make his toilet. in this way we would lose five or ten minutes, a small matter by itself, but a large one when under heavy multiplication. [illustration: the driver's toilet.] we took breakfast and dinner daily in the peasants' houses, which we found very much like the stations. we carried our own tea and sugar, and with a fair supply of provisions, added what we could obtain. tea was the great solace of the journey, and proved, above all others, the beverage which cheers. i could swallow several cups at a sitting, and never failed to find myself refreshed. it is far better than vodki or brandy for traveling purposes, and many russians who are pretty free drinkers at home adhere quite closely to tea on the road. the merchant traveler drinks enormous quantities, and i have seen a couple of these worthies empty a twenty cup samovar with no appearance of surfeit. so much hot liquid inside generally sets them into a perspiration. nothing but loaf sugar is used, and there is a very common practice of holding a lump in one hand and following a sip of the unsweetened tea with a nibble at the sugar. when several persons are engaged in this rasping process a curious sound is produced. there are many tartars living on the steppe, but we saw very little of them, as our changes were made at the russian villages. before the reign of catherine ii. there was but a small population between tumen and tomsk, and the road was more a fiction than a fact. the governor general of siberia persuaded catherine to let him have all conscripts of one levy instead of sending them to the army. he settled them in villages along the route over the steppe, and the wisdom of his policy was very soon apparent. the present population is made up of the descendants of these and other early settlers, together with exiles and voluntary emigrants of the present century. several villages have a bad reputation, and i heard stories of robbery and murder. in general the dwellers on the steppe are reputable, and they certainly impressed me favorably. i was told by a russian that catherine once thought of giving the siberians a constitution somewhat like that of the united states of america, but was dissuaded from so doing by one of her ministers. [illustration: women spinning.] the villages were generally built each in a single street, or at most, in two streets. the largest houses had yards, or enclosures, into which we drove when stopping for breakfast or dinner. the best windows were of glass or talc, fixed in frames, and generally made double. the poorer peasants contented themselves with windows of ox or cow stomachs, scraped thin and stretched in drying. there were no iron stoves in any house i visited, the russian _peitcha_ or brick stove being universal. very often we found the women and girls engaged in spinning. no wheel is used for this purpose, the entire apparatus being a hand spindle and a piece of board. the flax is fastened on an upright board, and the fingers of the left hand gather the fibres and begin the formation of a thread. the right hand twirls the spindle, and by skillful manipulation a good thread is formed with considerable rapidity. a great deal of hemp and flax is raised upon the steppe, and we found rope abundant, cheap, and good. i bought ten fathoms of half-inch rope for forty copecks, a peasant bringing it to a house where we breakfasted. when i paid for it the mistress of the house quietly appropriated ten copecks, remarking that the rope maker owed her that amount. she talked louder and more continuously than any other woman i met in siberia, and awakened my wonder by going barefooted into an open shed and remaining there several minutes. she stood in snow and on ice, but appeared quite unconcerned. our thermometer at the time showed a temperature of 21â° below zero. the only city on the steppe is omsk, at the junction of the om and irtish, and the capital of western siberia. it is said to contain twelve thousand inhabitants, and its buildings are generally well constructed. we did not follow the post route through omsk, but took a cut-off that carried us to the northward and saved a hundred versts of sleigh riding. the city was founded in order to have a capital in the vicinity of the kirghese frontier, but since its construction the frontier line has removed far away. in 1834 a conspiracy, extending widely through siberia, was organized at omsk. m. piotrowski gives an account of it, from which i abridge the following: it was planned by the abbe sierosiuski, a polish catholic priest who had been exiled for taking part in the rebellion of 1831. he was sent to serve in the ranks of a cossack regiment in western siberia, and after a brief period of military duty was appointed teacher in the military school at omsk. his position gave him opportunity to project a rebellion. his plan was well laid, and found ready supporters among other exiles, especially the poles. some ambitious russians and tartars were in the secret. the object was to secure the complete independence of siberia and the release of all prisoners. in the event of failure it was determined to march over the kirghese steppes to tashkend, and attempt to reach british india. everything was arranged, both in eastern and western siberia. the revolt was to begin at omsk, where most of the conspirators were stationed, and where there was an abundance of arms, ammunition, supplies, and money. the evening before the day appointed for the rising, the plot was revealed by three polish soldiers, who confessed all they knew to colonel degrave, the governor of omsk. sierosiuski and his fellow conspirators in the city were at once arrested, and orders were despatched over the whole country to secure all accomplices and suspected persons. about a thousand arrests were made, and as soon as news of the affair reached st. petersburg, a commission of inquiry was appointed. the investigations lasted until 1837, when they were concluded and the sentences confirmed. [illustration: flogging with sticks.] six principal offenders, including the chief, were each condemned to seven thousand blows of the _plette_, or stick, while walking the gauntlet between two files of soldiers. this is equivalent to a death sentence, as very few men can survive more than four thousand blows. only one of the six outlived the day when the punishment was inflicted, some falling dead before the full number of strokes had been given. the minor offenders were variously sentenced, according to the extent of their guilt, flogging with the stick being followed by penal colonization or military service in distant garrisons. it is said that the priest sierosiuski while undergoing his punishment recited in a clear voice the latin prayer, "misere mei, deus, secundum magnam misericordium tuam." on approaching the irtish we found it bordered by hills which presented steep banks toward the river. the opposite bank was low and quite level. it is a peculiarity of most rivers in russia that the right banks rise into bluffs, while the opposite shores are low and flat. the volga is a fine example of this, all the way from tver to astrachan, and the same feature is observable in most of the siberian streams that reach the arctic ocean. various conjectures account for it, but none are satisfactory to scientific men. steamboats have ascended to omsk, but there is not sufficient traffic to make regular navigation profitable. we crossed the irtish two hundred and seventy versts south of tobolsk, a city familiar to american readers from its connection with the "story of elizabeth." the great road formerly passed through tobolsk, and was changed when a survey of the country showed that two hundred versts might be saved. formerly all exiles to siberia were first sent to that city, where a "commission of transportation" held constant session. from tobolsk the prisoners were told off to the different governments, provinces, districts, and 'circles,' and assigned to the penalties prescribed by their sentences. many prominent exiles have lived in the northern part of the government of tobolsk, especially at beresov on the river ob. menshikoff, a favorite of peter the great, died there in exile, and so did the prince dolgorouki and the count osterman. it is said the body of menshikoff was buried in the frozen earth at beresov, and found perfectly preserved a hundred years after its interment. in that region the ground never thaws more than a foot or two from the surface; below to an unknown depth it is hardened by perpetual frost. many poles have been involuntary residents of this region, and contributed to the development of its few resources. north of tobolsk, the ostiaks are the principal aboriginals, and frequently wander as far south as omsk. before the russian occupation of siberia the natives carried on a trade with the tartars of central asia, and the abundance and cheapness of their furs made them attractive customers. marco polo mentions a people "in the dark regions of the north, who employ dogs to draw their sledges, and trade with the merchants from bokhara." there is little doubt he referred to the ostiaks and samoyedes. a polish lady exiled to beresov in 1839, described in her journal her sensation at seeing a herd of tame bears driven through the streets to the market place, just as cattle are driven elsewhere. she records that while descending the irtish she had the misfortune to fall overboard. the soldier escorting her was in great alarm, at the accident, and fairly wept for joy when she was rescued. he explained through his tears that her death would have been a serious calamity to him. "i shall be severely punished," he said, "if any harm befalls you, and, for my sake, i hope you won't try to drown yourself, but will keep alive and well till i get rid of you." tobolsk is on the site of the tartar settlement of sibeer, from which the name of siberia is derived. in the days of genghis khan northern asia was overrun and wrested from its aboriginal inhabitants. tartar supremacy was undisputed until near the close of the sixteenth century, when the tartars lost kazan and everything else west of the urals. during the reign of ivan the cruel, a difficulty arose between the czar and some of the don cossacks, and, as the czar did not choose to emigrate, the cossacks left their country for their country's good. headed by one yermak, they retired to the vicinity of the ural mountains, where they started a marauding business with limited liability and restricted capital. crossing the urals, yermak subjugated the country west of the irtish and founded a fortress on the site of sibeer. he overpowered all the tartars in his vicinity, and received a pardon for himself and men in return for his conquest. the czar, as a mark of special fondness, sent yermak a suit of armor from his own wardrobe. yermak went one day to dine with some tartar chiefs, and was arrayed for the first time in his new store clothes. one tradition says he was treacherously killed by the tartars on this occasion, and thrown in the river. another story says he fell in by accident, and the weight of his armor drowned him. a monument at tobolsk commemorates his deeds. no leader rose to fill yermak's place, and the russians became divided into several independent bands. they had the good sense not to quarrel, and remained firm in the pursuit of conquest. they pushed eastward from the irtish and founded tomsk in 1604. ten years later the tartars united and attempted to expel the russians. they surrounded tomsk and besieged it for a long time. russia was then distracted by civil commotions and the war with the poles, and could not assist the cossacks. the latter held out with great bravery, and at length gained a decisive victory. from that time the tartars made no serious and organized resistance. subsequent expeditions for siberian conquest generally originated at tomsk. cossacks pushed to the north, south, and east, forming settlements in the valley of the yenesei and among the yakuts of the lena. in 1639 they reached the shores of the ohotsk sea, and took possession of all eastern siberia to the aldan mountains. i believe history has no parallel to some features of this conquest. a robber-chieftain with a few hundred followers,--himself and his men under ban, and, literally, the first exiles to siberia--passes from europe to asia. in seventy years these cossacks and their descendants, with, little aid from others, conquered a region containing nearly five million square miles. everywhere displaying a spirit of adventure and determined bravery, they reduced the tartars to the most perfect submission. the cost of their expeditions was entirely borne by individuals who sought remuneration in the lucrative trade they opened. the captured territory became russian, though the government had neither paid for nor controlled the conquest. i saw the portrait and bust of yermak, but no one could assure me of their fidelity. the face was thoroughly russian, and the lines of character were such as one might expect from the history of the man. he was represented in the suit of armor he wore at his death. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xlvii. the evening after we passed the irtish, a severe bouran arose. as the night advanced the wind increased. the road was filled and apparently obliterated. the yemshicks found it difficult to keep the track, and frequently descended to look for it. each interval of search was a little longer than the preceding one, so that we passed considerable time in impatient waiting. about midnight we reached a station, where we were urged to rest until morning, the people declaring it unsafe to proceed. a slight lull in the storm decided us and the yemshicks to go forward, but as we set out from the station it seemed like driving into the spray at the foot of niagara. midway between the station, we wandered from the route and appeared hopelessly lost, with the prospect of waiting until morning. just before nightfall, we saw three wolves on the steppe, pointing their sharp noses in our direction, and apparently estimating how many dinners our horses would make. whether they took the mammoth into account i cannot say, but presume he was not considered. wolves are numerous in all siberia, and are not admired by the biped inhabitants. when our road seemed utterly lost, and our chances good for a bivouac in the steppe, we heard a dismal howl in a momentary lull of the wind. "volk," (wolf,) said the yemshick, who was clearing away the snow near the sleigh. again we heard the sound, and saw the horses lift their ears uneasily. an instant later the fury of the wind returned. the snow whirled in dense clouds, and the roaring of the tempest drowned all other sounds. had there been fifty howling wolves, within a hundred yards of us, we could have known nothing until they burst upon us through the curtain of drifting snow. it was a time of suspense. i prepared to throw off my outer garments in case we were attacked, and roused the doctor, who had been some time asleep. at the cry of "wolf," he was very soon awake, though he did not lose that calm serenity that always distinguished him. the yemshicks continued their search for the road, one of them keeping near the sleigh and the other walking in circles in the vicinity. our position was not enviable. [illustration: lost in a snow storm.] to be served up _au natural_ to the lupine race was never my ambition, and i would have given a small sum, in cash or approved paper, for a sudden transportation to the astor house, but with my weight and substance, all the more desirable to the wolves, a change of base was not practicable. our only fire-arms were a shot-gun and a pistol, the latter unserviceable, and packed in the doctor's valise. of course the wolves would first eat the horses, and reserve us for dessert. we should have felt, during the preliminaries, much like those unhappy persons, in the french revolution, who were last in a batch of victims to the guillotine. after long delay the road was discovered, and as the wolves did not come we proceeded. we listened anxiously for the renewal of their howling, but our ears did not catch the unwelcome sound. the doctor exhibited no alarm. as he was an old traveler, i concluded to follow his example, and go to sleep. in ordinary seasons wolves are not dangerous to men, though they commit more or less havoc among live stock. sheep and pigs are their favorite prey, as they are easily captured, and do not resist. horses and cattle are overpowered by wolves acting in packs; the hungry brutes displaying considerable strategy. a gentleman told me he once watched a dozen wolves attacking a powerful bull. some worried him in front and secured his attention while others attempted to cut his ham-strings. the effort was repeated several times, the wolves relieving each other in exposed positions. at length the bull was crippled and the first part of the struggle gained. the wolves began to lick their chops in anticipation of a meal, and continued to worry their expected prey up to the pitch of exhaustion. the gentleman shot two of them and drove the others into the forest. he could do no more than put the bull out of his misery. on departing he looked back and saw the wolves returning to their now ready feast. the best parts of russia for wolf-hunting are in the western governments, where there is less game and more population than in siberia. it is in these regions that travelers are sometimes pursued by wolves, but such incidents are not frequent. it is only in the severest winters, when driven to desperation by hunger, that the wolves dare to attack men. the horses are the real objects of their pursuit, but when once a party is overtaken the wolves make no nice distinctions, and horses and men are alike devoured. apropos of hunting i heard a story of a thrilling character. "it had been," said the gentleman who narrated the incident, "a severe winter in vitebsk and vilna. i had spent several weeks at the country residence of a friend in vitebsk, and we heard, during the latter part of my stay, rumors of the unusual ferocity of the wolves. "one day kanchin, my host, proposed a wolf-hunt. 'we shall have capital sport,' said he, 'for the winter has made the wolves hungry, and they will be on the alert when they hear our decoy.' "we prepared a sledge, one of the common kind, made of stout withes, woven like basket-work, and firmly fastened to the frame and runners. it was wide enough for both of us and the same height all around so that we could shoot in any direction except straight forward. we took a few furs to keep us warm, and each had a short gun of large bore, capable of carrying a heavy load of buck-shot. rifles are not desirable weapons where one cannot take accurate aim. as a precaution we stowed two extra guns in the bottom of the sledge. "the driver, ivan, on learning the business before him, was evidently reluctant to go, but as a russian servant has no choice beyond obeying his master, the man offered no objection. three spirited horses were attached, and i heard kanchin order that every part of the harness should be in the best condition. "we had a pig confined in a strong cage of ropes and withes, that he might last longer than if dragged by the legs. a rope ten feet long was attached to the cage and ready to be tied to the sledge. "we kept the pig in furs at the bottom of the sledge, and drove silently into the forest. the last order given by kanchin was to open the gates of the courtyard and hang a bright lantern in front. i asked the reason of this, and he replied with a smile: 'if we should be going at full speed on our return, i don't wish to stop till we reach the middle of the yard.' "as by mutual consent neither uttered a word as we drove along. we carried no bells, and there was no creaking of any part of the sledge. ivan did not speak but held his reins taut and allowed the horses to take their own pace. in his secure and warm covering the pig was evidently asleep. the moon and stars were perfectly unclouded, and there was no motion of anything in the forest. the road was excellent, but we did not meet or pass a single traveler. i do not believe i ever _felt_ silence more forcibly than then. "the forest in that region is not dense, and on either side of the road there is a space of a hundred yards or more entirely open. the snow lay crisp and sparkling, and as the country was but slightly undulating we could frequently see long distances. the apparent movement of the trees as we drove past them caused me to fancy the woods rilled with animate forms to whom the breeze gave voices that mocked us. "about eight versts from the house we reached a cross road that led deeper into the forest. '_naprava,_' in a low voice from my companion turned us to the right into the road. eight or ten versts further kanchin, in the same low tone, commanded '_stoi._' without a word ivan drew harder upon his reins, and we came to a halt. at a gesture from my friend the team was turned about. "kanchin stepped carefully from the sledge and asked me to hand him the rope attached to the cage. he tied this to the rear cross-bar, and removing his cloak told me to do the same. getting our guns, ammunition, and ourselves in readiness, and taking our seats with our backs toward the driver, we threw out the pig and his cage and ordered ivan to proceed. "the first cry from the pig awoke an answering howl in a dozen directions. the horses sprang as if struck with a heavy hand, and i felt my blood chill at the dismal sound. the driver with great difficulty kept his team from breaking into a gallop. five minutes later, a wolf came galloping from the forest on the left side where i sat. "'don't fire till he is quite near,' said kanchin, 'we shall have no occasion to make long shots.' "the wolf was distinctly visible on the clean snow, and i allowed him to approach within twenty yards. i fired, and he fell. as i turned to re-load kanchin raised his gun to shoot a wolf approaching the right of the sledge. his shot was successful, the wolf falling dead upon the snow. "i re-loaded very quickly, and when i looked up there were three wolves running toward me, while as many more were visible on kanchin's side. my companion raised his eyes when his gun was ready and gave a start that thrilled me with horror. ivan was immovable in his place, and holding with all his might upon the reins. "'_poshol!_' shouted kanchin. "the howling grew more terrific. whatever way we looked we could see the wolves emerging from the forest; "'with their long gallop, which can tire, the hounds' deep hate, the hunter's fire.' "not only behind and on either side but away to the front, i could see their dark forms. we fired and loaded and fired again, every shot telling but not availing to stop the pursuit. "the driver did not need kanchin's shout of '_poshol_!' and the horses exerted every nerve without being urged. but with all our speed we could not outstrip the wolves that grew every moment more numerous. if we could only keep up our pace we might escape, but should a horse stumble, the harness give way, or the sledge overturn, we were hopelessly lost. we threw away our furs and cloaks keeping only our arms and ammunition. the wolves hardly paused over these things but steadily adhered to the pursuit. "suddenly i thought of a new danger that menaced us. i grasped kanchin's arm and asked how we could turn the corner into the main road. should we attempt it at full speed the sledge would be overturned. if we slackened our pace the wolves would be upon us. "i felt my friend trembling in my grasp but his voice was firm. "'when i say the word,' he replied, giving me his hunting knife, 'lean over and cut the rope of the decoy. that will detain them a short time. soon as you have done so lie down on the left side of the sledge and cling to the cords across the bottom.' "then turning to ivan he ordered him to slacken speed a little, but only a little, at the corner, and keep the horses from running to either side as he turned. this done kanchin clung to the left side of the sledge prepared to step upon its fender and counteract, if possible, our centrifugal force. "we approached the main road, and just as i discovered the open space at the crossing kanchin shouted,-"'strike!' "i whipped off the rope in an instant and we left our decoy behind us. the wolves stopped, gathered densely about the prize, and began quarreling over it. only a few remained to tear the cage asunder. the rest, after a brief halt, continued the pursuit, but the little time they lost was of precious value to us. "we approached the dreaded turning. kanchin placed his feet upon the fender and fastened his hands into the net-work of the sledge. i lay down in the place assigned me, and never did drowning man cling to a rope more firmly than i clung to the bottom of our vehicle. as we swept around the corner the sledge was whirled in air, turned upon its side and only saved from complete oversetting by the positions of kanchin and myself. "just as the sledge righted, and ran upon both runners, i heard a piercing cry. ivan, occupied with his horses, was not able to cling like ourselves; he fell from his seat, and hardly struck the snow before the wolves were upon him. that one shriek that filled my ears was all he could utter. the reins were trailing, but fortunately where they were not likely to be entangled. the horses needed no driver; all the whips in the world could not increase their speed. two of our guns wore lost as we turned from the by-road, but the two that lay under me in the sledge were providentially saved. we fired as fast as possible into the dark mass that filled the road not twenty yards behind us. every shot told but the pursuit did not lag. to-day i shudder as i think of that surging mass of gray forms with eyes glistening like fireballs, and the serrated jaws that opened as if certain of a feast. [illustration: fatal result.] "a stern chase is proverbially a long one. if no accident happened to sledge or horses we felt certain that the wolves which followed could not overtake us. "as we approached home our horses gave signs of lagging, and the pursuing wolves came nearer. one huge beast sprang at the sledge and actually fastened his fore paws upon it. i struck him over the head with my gun and he released his hold. a moment later i heard the barking of our dogs at the house, and as the gleam of the lantern caught my eye i fell unconscious to the bottom of the sledge. i woke an hour later and saw kanchin pacing the floor in silence. repeatedly i spoke to him but he answered only in monosyllables. "the next day, a party of peasants went to look for the remains of poor ivan. a few shreds of clothing, and the cross he wore about his neck, were all the vestiges that could be found. for three weeks i lay ill with a fever and returned to st. petersburg immediately on my recovery. kanchin has lived in seclusion ever since, and both of us were gray-haired within six months." before the construction of the railway between moscow and nijne novgorod there were forest guards at regular intervals to protect the road from bears and wolves. the men lived in huts placed upon scaffoldings fifteen or twenty feet high. this arrangement served a double purpose; the guards could see farther than on the ground and they were safe from nocturnal attacks of their four-footed enemies. one evening at a dinner party, i heard several anecdotes about wolves, of which i preserve two. "i was once," said a gentleman, "pursued by ten or twelve wolves. one horse fell and we had just time to cut the traces of the other, overturn our sleigh and get under as in a cage, before the wolves overtook us. we thought the free horse would run to the village and the people would come to rescue us. what was our surprise to see him charge upon the wolves, kill two with his hoofs and drive away the rest. when the other horse recovered we harnessed our team and drove home." "and i," said another, "was once attacked when on foot. i wore a new pelisse of sheep-skin and a pair of reindeer-skin boots. wolves are fond of deer and sheep, and they eat skin and all when they have a chance. the brutes stripped off my pelisse and boots without harming my skin. just as i was preparing to give them my woolen trousers, some peasants came to my relief." although i feared my auditors would be incredulous, i told the story of david crockett when treed by a hundred or more prairie wolves. "i shot away all my ammunition, and threw away my gun and knife among them, but it was no use. finally, i thought i would try the effect of music and began to sing 'old hundred.' before i finished the first verse every wolf put his fore paws to his ears and galloped off." my story did not produce the same results upon my audience, but almost as marked a one, for all appreciated its humor, and before i had fairly finished a burst of laughter resounded through the room, and it was unanimously voted that americans could excel in all things, not excepting wolf stories. [illustration: tail piece] chapter xlviii. the many vehicles in motion made a good road twelve hours after the storm ceased. the thermometer fell quite low, and the sharp frost hardened the track and enabled the horses to run rapidly. i found the temperature varying from 25â° to 40â° below zero at different exposures. this was cold enough, in fact, too cold for comfort, and we were obliged to put on all our furs. when fully wrapped i could have filled the eye of any match-making parent in christendom, so far as quantity is concerned. the doctor walked as if the icy and inhospitable north had been his dwelling-place for a dozen generations, and promised to continue so a few hundred years longer. we were about as agile as a pair of prize hogs, or the fat boy in the side show of a circus. my beard was the greatest annoyance that showed itself to my face, and i regretted keeping it uncut. it was in the way in a great many ways. when it was outside my coat i wanted it in, and when it was inside it would not stay there. it froze to my collar and seemed studying the doctrine of affinity. a sudden motion in such case would pull my chin painfully and tear away a few hairs. it was neither long nor heavy, but could hold a surprising quantity of snow and ice. it would freeze into a solid mass, and when thawing required much attention. the russian officers shave the chin habitually, and wear their hair pretty short when traveling. i made a resolution to carry my beard inviolate to st. petersburg, but frequently wished i had been less rash. a mustache makes a very good portable thermometer for low temperatures. after a little practice one can estimate within a few degrees any stage of cold below zero, fahrenheit. a mustache will frost itself from the breath and stiffen slowly at zero, but it does not become solid. it needs no waxing to enable it to hold its own when the scale descends to -10â° or thereabouts, and when one experiences -15â° and so on downward, he will feel as if wearing an icicle on his upper lip. the estimate of the cold is to be based on the time required for a thorough hardening of this labial ornament, and of course the rule is not available if the face is kept covered. there is a traveler's story that a freezing nose in a russian city is seized upon and rubbed by the bystanders without explanation. in a winter's residence and travel in russia i never witnessed that interesting incident, and am inclined to scepticism regarding it. the thermometer showed -53â° while i was in st. petersburg, and hovered near that figure for several days. though i constantly hoped to see somebody's nose rubbed i was doomed to disappointment. i did observe several noses that might have been subjected to friction, but it is quite probable the operation would have enraged the rub_bee_. [illustration: excuse my familiarity.] during our coldest nights on the steppe we had the unclouded heavens in all their beauty. the stars shone in scintillating magnificence, and seemed nearer the earth than i ever saw them before. in the north was a brilliant aurora flashing in long beams of electric light, and forming a fiery arch above the fields of ice and snow. oh, the splendor of those winter nights in the north! it cannot be forgotten, and it cannot be described. twilight is long in a siberian winter, both at the commencement and the close of day. morning is the best time to view it. a faint glimmer appears in the quarter where the sun is to rise, but increases so slowly that one often doubts that he has really seen it. the gleam of light grows broader; the heavens above it become purple, then scarlet, then golden, and gradually change to the whiteness of silver. when the sun peers above the horizon the whole scene becomes dazzlingly brilliant from the reflection of his rays on the snow. in the coldest mornings there is sometimes a cloud or fog-bank resting near the earth, from the congelation and falling of all watery particles in the atmosphere. when the sun strikes this cloud and one looks through it the air seems filled with millions of microscopic gems, throwing off many combinations of prismatic colors, and agitated and mingled by some unseen force. gradually the cloud melts away as it receives the direct rays of light and heat. [illustration: frosted horses.] the intense cold upon the road affects horses by coating them, with white frost. their perspiration congeals and covers them as one may see the grass covered in a november morning. nature has dressed these horses warmly, and very often their hair may justly be called fur. they do not appear to suffer from the cold; they are never blanketed, and their stables are little better than open sheds. one of their annoyances is the congelation of their breath, and in the coldest weather the yemshicks are frequently obliged to break away the icicles that form around their horses' mouths. i have seen a horse reach the end of a course with his nose encircled in a row of icy spikes, resembling the decoration sometimes attached to a weaning calf. in a clear morning or evening of the coldest days the smoke from the chimneys in the villages rises very slowly. gaining a certain height, it spreads out as if unable to ascend farther. it is always light in color and density, and when touched by the sun's rays appears faintly crimsoned or gilded. once when we reached a small hill dominating a village, i could see the cloud of smoke below me agitated like the ground swell of the ocean. i had only a moment to look upon it ere we descended to the level of the street. i have not recorded the incidents of each day on the steppe in chronological order, on account of their similarity and monotony. just one week after our departure from barnaool we observed that the houses were constructed of pine instead of birch, and the country began to change in character. at a station where a fiery-tempered woman required us to pay in advance for our horses, we were only twenty versts from tumen. it is but a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, and it is only a steppe (a thousand miles wide) between tomsk and tumen. travelers from irkutsk to st. petersburg consider their journey pretty nearly accomplished on getting thus far along. the siberians make light of distances that would frighten many americans. "from tumen you will have only sixteen hundred versts to the end of the railway," said a gentleman to me one day. a lady at krasnoyarsk said i ought to wait until spring and visit her gold mines. i asked their locality, and received the reply, "close by here; only four hundred versts away. you can go almost there in a carriage, and will have only a hundred and twenty versts on horseback." the best portion of tumen is on a bluff eighty or a hundred feet above the river tura. the lower town spreads over a wide meadow, and its numerous windmills at once reminded me of stockton, california. we happened to arrive on market day, when the peasants from the surrounding country were gathered in all their glory for purposes of traffic. how such a lot of merchandise of nearly every kind under the siberian sun could find either buyer or seller, it is difficult to imagine. the market-place was densely thronged, but there seemed to be very little traffic in progress. the population of tumen is about twenty thousand, and said to be rapidly increasing. the town is prosperous, as its many new and well-built houses bear witness. it has shorn tobolsk of nearly all her commerce, and left her to mourn her former greatness. it is about three hundred versts from the ridge of the urals, and at the head of navigation on the tura. half a dozen steamers were frozen in and awaited the return of spring, their machinery being stored to prevent its rusting. in the public square of tumen there was a fountain, the first i saw in siberia. men, women, boys, and girls were filling buckets and barrels, which they dragged away on sleds. when we returned from our drive, and were seated at dinner, the cook brought a quantity of "tumen carpets" for sale. he used all his eloquence upon me, but in vain. these carpets were made by hand in the villages around tumen, their material being goat's hair. from their appearance i judged that a coarse cloth was "looped" full of thread, which was afterward cut to a plush surface. some of the figures were quite pretty. these carpets can be found in nearly every peasant house in western siberia, where they are used as bed and table coverings, floor mats, and carriage robes. from tumen to nijne novgorod the post is in the hands of a company, and one can buy a ticket for any distance he chooses. we bought to ekaterineburg, 306 versts, paying nine copecks a verst for each vehicle. at the stations it is only necessary to show the ticket, which will bring horses without delay. the company has a splendid monopoly, protected by an imperial order forbidding competition. the peasants would gladly take travelers at lower rates if the practice were permitted. the only thing they can do is to charter their horses to the company at about one-third the ticket prices. alexander would make many friends among the people by curtailing the monopoly. from the tura the country became undulating as we approached the urals, but we passed no rugged hills. a great deal of the road lay between double rows of birch trees, that serve for shade in summer and do much to prevent the drifting of snow in winter. forests of fir appeared on the slopes, and were especially pleasing after the half-desolation of the steppe. the villages had a larger and more substantial appearance, that indicated our approach to europe. long trains laden with freight from perm, blocked the way and delayed us. a few collisions made our sleigh tremble, and in two instances turned it on its beam ends. we were ahead of the tea trains that left irkutsk with the early snows, so that we passed few sledges going in our own direction. the second night found us so near ekaterineburg that we halted a couple of hours for the double purpose of taking tea and losing time. at the last station, about six in the morning, we were greeted with christmas festivities. while we waited in the traveler's room, two boys sung or chanted several minutes, and then begged for money. we gave them a few copecks, and their success brought two others, who were driven away by the smotretal. i was told that poor children have a privilege of begging in this manner on christmas morning. there are many beggars in the towns and villages of the urals, and in summer there is a fair supply of highwaymen. several beggars surrounded our sleigh as we prepared to depart and seemed determined to make the most of the occasion. the undulations of the road increased, and the fir woods became thicker as we approached ekaterineburg, nestled on the bank of the isset. just outside the town we passed a large zavod, devoted to the manufacture of candles. an immense quantity of tallow from the kirghese steppes undergoes conversion into stearine at this establishment, and the production supplies candles to all siberia and part of european russia. as we entered the _slobodka_ and descended rapidly toward the river, the bells were clanging loudly and the population was generally on its way to church. the men were in their best shoobas and caps, while the women displayed the latest fashions in winter cloaks. several pretty faces, rosy from the biting frost, peered at the strangers, who returned as many glances as possible. our yemshick took us to the hotel de berlin, and, for the first time in eighteen hundred versts, we unloaded our baggage from the sleighs. breakfast, a bath, and a change of clothes prepared me for the sights of this uralian city. for sight-seeing, the time of my arrival was unfortunate. every kind of work was suspended, every shop was closed, and nothing could be done until the end of the christmas holidays. i especially desired to inspect the _granilnoi fabric_, or imperial establishment for stone cutting, and the machine shop where all steam engines for siberia are manufactured. but, as everything had yielded to the general festivities, i could not gratify my desire. ekaterineburg is on the asiatic side of the urals, though belonging to the european government of perm. it has a beautiful situation, the isset being dammed so as to form a small lake in the middle of the city. many of the best houses overlook this lake, and, from their balconies, one can enjoy charming views of the city, water, and the dark forests of the urals. the principal street and favorite drive passes at the end of the lake, and is pretty well thronged in fine weather. there are many wealthy citizens in ekaterineburg, as the character of the houses will attest. i was told there was quite a rage among them for statuary, pictures, and other works of art. special care is bestowed upon conservatories, some of which contain tropical plants imported at enormous expense. the population is about twenty thousand, and increases very slowly. [illustration: view of ekaterineburg.] the city is the central point of mining enterprises of the ural mountains, and the residence of the nachalnik, or chief of mines. the general plan of management is much like that already described at barnaool. the government mines include those of iron, copper, and gold, the latter being of least importance. great quantities of shot, shell, and guns have been made in the urals, as well as iron work for more peaceful purposes. beside the government works, there are numerous foundries and manufactories of a private character. in various parts of the ural chain some of the zavods are of immense extent, and employ large numbers of workmen. at nijne tagilsk, for example, there is a population of twenty-five thousand, all engaged directly or indirectly in the production of iron. the sheet iron so popular in america for parlor stoves and stove pipe, comes from ekaterineburg and its vicinity, and is made from magnetic ore. the bar iron of the urals is famous the world over for its excellent qualities, and commands a higher price than any other. great quantities of iron are floated in boats down the streams flowing into the kama and volga. thence it goes to the fair at nijne novgorod, and to the points of shipment to the maritime markets. the development of the wealth of the urals has been largely due to the demidoff family. nikite demidoff was sent by peter the great, about the year 1701, to examine the mines on both sides of the chain. he performed his work thoroughly, and was so well satisfied with the prospective wealth of the region that he established himself there permanently. in return for his services, the government granted a large tract to the demidoffs in perpetuity. the famous malachite mines are on the demidoff estate, but are only a small portion of the mineral wealth in the original grant. i have heard the demidoff family called the richest in russia--except the romanoff. many zavods in the urals were planned and constructed by nikite and his descendants, and most of them are still in successful operation and have undergone no change. the iron works of the urals are very extensive, and capable of supplying any reasonable demand of individual or imperial character. at zlatoust there is a manufactory of firearms and sword blades that is said to be unsurpassed in the excellence of its products. the sabres from zlatoust are of superior fineness and quality, rivaling the famous blades of damascus and toledo. close by the little lake in ekaterineburg is the _moneta fabric,_ or imperial mint, where all the copper money of russia is coined. it is an extensive concern, and most of its machinery was constructed in the city. the copper mines of the urals are the richest in russia, and possess inexhaustible wealth. malachite--an oxide of copper--is found here in large quantities. i believe the only mines where malachite is worked are in the urals, though small specimens of this beautiful mineral have been found near lake superior and in australia. about twenty-five years ago an enormous mass of malachite, said to weigh 400 tons, was discovered near tagilsk. it has since been broken up and removed, its value being more than a million roubles. sir roderick murchison, while exploring the urals on behalf of the russian government, saw this treasure while the excavations around it were in progress. according to his account it was found 280 feet below the surface. strings of copper were followed by the miners until they unexpectedly reached the malachite. other masses of far less importance have since been found, some of them containing sixty per cent. of copper. the gold mines of the ural are less extensive now than formerly, new discoveries not equaling the exhausted placers. they are principally on the asiatic slope, in the vicinity of kamenskoi. the emperor alexander first visited the mines of the ural in 1824, and personally wielded the shovel and pickaxe nearly two hours. a nugget weighing twenty-four pounds and some ounces was afterward found about two feet ibelow the point where his majesty 'knocked off' work. a monument now marks the spot, and contains the tools handled by the emperor. chapter xlix. i had several commissions to execute for the purchase of souvenirs at ekaterineburg, and lost no time in visiting a dealer. while we were at breakfast an itinerant merchant called, and subsequently another accosted us on the street. at ordinary times, strangers are beset by men and boys who are walking cabinets of semi-precious stones. a small boy met me in the corridor of the hotel and repeated a lapidarious vocabulary that would have shamed a professor of mineralogy. at the dealer's, i was very soon in a bewildering collection of amethyst, beryl, chalcedony, topaz, tourmaline, jasper, aquamarine, malachite, and other articles of value. the collection numbered many hundred pieces comprising seals, paper, weights, beads, charms for watch chains, vases, statuettes, brooches, buttons, etc. the handles of seals were cut in a variety of ways, some representing animals or birds, while a goodly portion were plain or fluted at the sides. the prettiest work i saw was in paper weights. there were imitations of leaves, flowers, and grapes in properly tinted stone fixed upon marble tablets either white or colored. equal skill was displayed in arranging and cutting these stones. i saw many beautiful mosaics displaying the stones of the ural and altai mountains. natural crystals were finely arranged in the shape of miniature caves and grottoes. beads were of malachite, crystal, topaz, and variegated marble, and seemed quite plentiful. malachite is the most abundant of the half-precious stones of the ural, crystal and topaz ranking next. aquamarine was the most valuable stone offered. it is not found in the urals but comes from eastern siberia. in another establishment there were little busts of the emperor and other high personages in russia, cut in crystal and topaz. i saw a fine bust of yermak, and another of the elder demidoff, both in topaz. a crystal bust of louis napoleon was exhibited, and its owner told me it would be sent to the _exposition universelle_. learning that i was an american, the proprietor showed me a half completed bust of mr. lincoln, and was gratified to learn that the likeness was good. the bust was cut in topaz, and when finished would be about six inches high. though no work was in progress i had opportunity to look through a private "fabric." stone cutting is performed as by lapidaries every where with small wheels covered with diamond dust or emery. each laborer has his bench and performs a particular part of the work under the direction of a superintendent. wages were very low, skilled workmen being paid less than ordinary stevedores in america. for three roubles, i bought a twelve sided topaz, an inch in diameter with the signs of the zodiac neatly engraved upon it. in london or new york, the cutting would have cost more than ten times that amount. the granilnoi fabric employs about a hundred and fifty workmen, but no private establishment supports more than twenty-five. the granilnoi fabric was to be sold in 1867, and pass out of government control. the laborers there were formerly crown peasants, and became free under the abolition ukase of alexander ii. the palace and imperial museum at st. petersburg contain wonderful illustrations of their skill. diamonds have been sought in the urals, and the region is said to resemble the diamond districts of brazil. they have been found in but a single instance, and there is a suspicion that the few discovered on that occasion were a "plant." we remained two days at ekaterineburg, repairing sleighs and resting from fatigue. on account of the holidays, we paid double prices for labor, and were charged double by drosky drivers. at the hotel, the landlord wished to follow the same custom, but we emphatically objected. a theatrical performance came off during our stay, but we were too weary to witness it. near the hotel there was a "live beast show" almost an exact counterpart of what one sees in america. music, voluble doorkeepers, gaping crowd of youngsters, and canvas pictures of terrific combats between beasts and snakes, all were there. according to our custom we prepared to start in the evening for another westward stride. the thermometer was low enough to give the snow that crisp, metallic sound under the runners only heard in cold weather. we took tickets for kazan, and ordered horses at nine o'clock. as we left the city, we passed between two monument-like posts, marking the gateway. two or three versts away, we passed the zavod of verkne issetskoi, an immense concern with a population sufficient to found a score of western cities. in this establishment is made a great deal of the sheet-iron that comes to america. the material is of so fine a quality that it can be rolled to the thickness of letter paper without breaking. every thing at the zavod is on a grand scale even to the house of the director, and his facilities for entertaining guests. all was silent at the time of our passage, the workmen being busy with their christmas festivities. leaving the zavod we were once more among the forests of the urals, and riding over the low hills that form this part of the range. the road was good, but there were more _oukhabas_ than suited my fancy. i was on constant lookout for the steep road leading over the range, but failed to find it. before leaving new york a friend suggested that i should have a severe journey over the ural mountains which were deeply shaded on the map we consulted. i can assure him it was no worse than a sleigh ride anywhere else on a clear, frosty night. the ascent is so gradual that one does not perceive it at all. ekaterineburg stands eight hundred feet above the sea; the pass, twenty-four miles distant, is only nine hundred feet higher. the range is depressed at this point, but nowhere attains sufficient loftiness to justify its prominence on the maps. in ekaterineburg i asked for the mountains. "there they are," said the person of whom i enquired, and he waved his hand toward a wooded ridge in the west. the designated locality appeared less difficult of passage than the hills opposite cincinnati. "don't fail to tell the yemshick to stop at the boundary." this was my injunction several times repeated as we changed horses at the first station. eight or ten versts on our second course, the sleigh halted and the yemshick announced the highest point on the road. i stepped from the sleigh and waded through a deep snowdrift to the granite obelisk erected by the first alexander to mark the line between the two continents. it is a plain shaft--bunker hill monument in miniature--bearing the word "europe" on one side, and "asia" on the other. two fir trees planted by his august majesty are on opposite sides of the monument. [illustration: europe and asia.] a snow-drift in the middle of a frosty night is not the place for sentimental musings. i rested a foot in each of two continents at the same moment, but could not discover any difference in their manners, customs, or climate. regaining the sleigh, i nestled into my furs, and soon fell asleep. i was in europe. i had accomplished the hope and dream of my boyhood. but in my most romantic moments, i had not expected to stand for the first time in europe on the ridge of the ural mountains. [illustration: a russian beggar.] after passing the boundary, we dashed away over the undulating road, and made a steady though, imperceptible descent into the valley of the kama. as i commenced my first day in europe, the sunbeams wavered and glistened on the frost-crystals that covered the trees, and the flood of light that poured full into my opening eyes was painfully dazzling. where we halted for breakfast, the station was neat and commodious, and its rooms well furnished. we fared sumptuously on cutlets and eggs, with excellent bread. just as we were seated in the sleigh, a beggar made a touching appeal, as explained by the doctor, in behalf of the prophet elias. the prophet's financial agent was of so unprepossessing appearance that we declined investing. beggars often ask alms in the interest of particular saints, and this one had attached himself to elias. we met many sledges laden with goods _en route_ to the fair which takes place every february at irbit. this fair is of great importance to siberia, and attracts merchants from all the region west of tomsk. from forty to fifty million roubles worth of goods are exchanged there during the four weeks devoted to traffic. the commodities from siberia are chiefly furs and tea, those from europe comprise a great many articles. irbit is on the asiatic side of the ural mountains, about two hundred versts northeast of ekaterineburg. it is a place of little consequence except during the time of the fair. after entering europe, we relied upon the stations for our meals, carrying no provisions with us except tea and sugar. we knew the peasants would be well supplied with edibles during christmas holidays, and were quite safe in depending upon them. a traveler in russia must consult the calendar before starting on a journey, if he would ascertain what provision he may, or may not, find among the people. congour was the first town of importance, and has an unenviable reputation for its numerous thieves. they do not molest the post vehicles unless the opportunity is very favorable, their accomplishments being specially exercised upon merchandise trains. sometimes when trains pass through congour the natives manage to steal single vehicles and their loads. the operation is facilitated by there being only one driver to five or six teams. this town is also famous for its tanneries, the leather from congour having a high reputation throughout russia. peter the great was at much trouble to teach the art of tanning to his subjects. at present, the russians have very little to learn from others on that score. peter introduced tanning from holland and germany, and when the first piece of leather tanned in russia was brought to him he took it between his teeth and exerted all the strength of his jaws to bite through it. the leather resisted his efforts, and so delighted the monarch that he decreed a pension to the successful tanner. the specimen, with the marks of his teeth upon it, is still preserved at st. petersburg. while waiting for dinner at congour, i contemplated some engravings hanging in the public room at the station. four of them represented scenes in "elizabeth, or the exiles of siberia," a story which has been translated into most modern languages. these engravings were made in moscow several years ago, and illustrated the most prominent incidents in the narrative. there were many things to remind me i was no longer in siberia, and especially on the baraba steppe. snows were deeper, and the sky was clearer. the level country was replaced by a broken one. forests of pine and fir displayed regular clearings, and evinced careful attention. villages were more numerous, larger and of greater antiquity. stations were better kept and had more the air of hotels. churches appeared more venerable and less venerated. beggars increased in number, and importunity. in asia the yemshick was the only man at a station who asked "navodku," but in europe the _chelavek_ or _starost_ expected to be remembered. in asia, the gratuity was called "navodku" or whisky money; in europe, it was "_nachi_," tea money. during the second night, we reached perm and halted long enough to eat a supper that made me dream of tigers and polar bears during my first sleep. in entering, we drove along a lighted street with substantial houses on either side, but without meeting man or beast. this street and the station were all i saw of a city of 25,000 inhabitants. in summer travelers for siberia usually leave the steamboat at this point, and begin their land journey, the kama being navigable thus far in ordinary water. perm is an important mining center, and contains several foundries and manufactories on an extensive scale. the doctor assured me that after the places i had visited in siberia, there was nothing to be seen there--and i saw it. a deep snow had been trodden into an uneven road in this part of the journey. at times it seemed to me as if the sleigh and all it contained would go to pieces in the terrific thumps we received. we descended hills as if pursued by wolves or a guilty conscience, and it was generally our fate to find a huge oukhaba just when the horses were doing their best. i think the sleigh sometimes made a clear leap of six or eight feet from the crest of a ridge to the bottom of a hollow. the leaping was not very objectionable, but the impact made everything rattle. i could say, like the irishman who fell from a house top, "'twas not the fall, darling, that hurt me, but stopping so quick at the end." when the roads are rough the continual jolting of the sleigh is very fatiguing to a traveler, and frequently, during the first two or three days of his journey, throws him into what is very properly designated the road fever. his pulse is quick, his blood warm, his head aches, his whole frame becomes sore and stiff, and his mind is far from being serene and amiable. in the first part of my land journey i had the satisfaction of ascertaining by practical experience the exact character of the road-fever. my brain seemed ready to burst, and appeared to my excited imagination about as large as a barrel; every fresh jolt and thump of the vehicle gave me a sensation as if somebody were driving a tenpenny nail into my skull; as for good-nature under such circumstances that was out of the question, and i am free to confess that my temper was not unlike that of a bear with a sore head. where the roads are good, or if the speed is not great, one can sleep very well in a russian sleigh; i succeeded in extracting a great deal of slumber from my vehicle, and sometimes did not wake for three or four hours. sometimes the roads are in such wretched condition that one is tossed to the height of discomfort, and can be very well likened to a lump of butter in a revolving churn. in such cases sleep is almost if not wholly, impossible, and the traveler, proceeding at courier speed, must take advantage of the few moments' halt at the stations while the horses are being changed. as he has but ten or fifteen minutes for the change he makes good use of his time and sleeps very soundly until his team is ready. during the crimean war, while the emperor nicholas was temporarily sojourning at moscow, a courier arrived one day with important dispatches from sebastopol. he was commissioned to deliver them to no one but his majesty, and waited in the ante-room of the palace while his name and business were announced. overcome by fatigue he fell asleep; when the chamberlains came to take him to the imperial presence they were quite unable to rouse him. the attendants shook him and shouted, but to no purpose beyond making so much disturbance as to bring the emperor to the ante-room. nicholas ordered them to desist, and then, standing near the officer, said, in an ordinary voice, "_vashe prevoschoditelstvo, loshadi gotovey_" (your horses are ready, your excellency). the officer sprang to his feet in an instant, greatly to the delight of the emperor and to his own confusion when he discovered where he was. the russians have several popular songs that celebrate the glories of sleigh-riding. i give a translation of a portion of one of them, a song that is frequently repeated by the peasants in the vicinity of moscow and nijne novgorod. it is proper to explain that a _troika_ is a team of three horses abreast, the _douga_ is the yoke above the shaft-horse's neck, and valdai is the town on the moscow and st. petersburg road where the best and most famous bells of russia are made. a russian sleighing song. away, away, along the road the fiery troika bounds, while 'neath the douga, sadly sweet, the valdai bell resounds. away, away, we leave the town, its roofs and spires behind, the crystal snow-flakes dance around as o'er the steppe we wind. away, away, the glittering stars shine greeting from above, our hearts beat fast as on we glide, swift as the flying dove. chapter l. we found the road much better after leaving the government of perm and entering that of viatka. the yemshicks we took in this region were "votiaks," descendants of the finnish races that dwelt there before the russian conquest. they had the dark physiognomy of the finns, and spoke a mixture of their own language and russian. they have been generally baptized and brought into the greek churches, though they still adhere to some of their ancient forms of worship. they pay taxes to the crown, but their local administration is left to themselves. approaching malmouish we had a sullen driver who insisted upon going slowly, even while descending hills. indignantly i suggested giving the fellow a kick for his drink money. the doctor attempted to be stern and reproved the delinquent, but ended with giving him five copecks and an injunction to do better in future. i opposed making undeserved gratuities, and after this occurrence determined to say no more about rewards to drivers during the rest of the journey. memorandum for travelers making the siberian tour: an irritable disposition, (like mine,) should not be placed with an amiable one, (like the doctor's.) if misery loves company, so does anger; and a petulant man should have an associate who _can_ be ruffled. after leaving the votiaks, we entered the country of the tartars, the descendants of the followers of genghis khan, who carried the mongol standard into central europe. russia remained long under their yoke, and the tartars of the present day live as a distinct people in various parts of the empire. they are nearly all mohammedans, and the conversion of one of them to christianity is a very rare occurrence. my attention was called to their mosques in the villages we passed, the construction being quite unlike that of the russian churches. a tall spire or minaret, somewhat like the steeple of an american church, rises in the center of a tartar mosque and generally overlooks the whole village. no bells are used, the people being called to prayer by the voice of a crier. these tartars have none of the warlike spirit of their ancestors, and are among the most peaceful subjects of the russian emperor. they are industrious and enterprising, and manage to live comfortably. their reputation for shrewdness doubtless gave rise to the story of the difficulty of catching a tartar. at the stations we generally found russian smotretals with tartar attendants. blacksmiths, looking for jobs, carefully examined our sleighs. one found my shafts badly chafed where they touched the runners, and offered to iron the weak points for sixty copecks. i objected to the delay for preparing the irons. "_grotovey, grotovey; piet minute_" said the man, producing the ready prepared irons from one pocket and a hammer and nails from another. by the time the horses were led out the job was completed. i should have been better satisfied if one iron had not come off within two hours, and left the shaft as bare as ever. the tartars speak russian very fairly, but use the mongol language among themselves. they dress like the russians, or very nearly so, the most distinguishing feature being a sort of skull cap like that worn by the chinese. their hair is cut like a prize fighter's, excepting a little tuft on the crown. out of doors they wore the russian cap over their mohammedan one--unconsciously symbolizing their subjection to muscovite rule. these tartars drove horses of the same race as those in the baraba steppe. they carried us finely where the road permitted, and i had equal admiration for the powers of the horses and the skill of their drivers. in the night, after passing malmouish, the weather became warm. i laid aside my dehar only a half hour before the thermometer fell, and set me shivering. about daybreak it was warmer, and the increasing temperature ushered in a violent storm. it snowed and it blowed, and it was cold, frosty weather all day and all night. we closed the sleigh and attempted to exclude the snow, but our efforts were vain. the little crevices admitted enough to cover us in a short time, and we very soon concluded to let the wind have its own way. the road was filled, and in many places we had hard work to get through. how the yemshicks found the way was a mystery. once at a station, when the smotretal announced "gotovey," i was actually unable to find the sleigh, though it stood not twenty feet from the door. the yemshicks said they were guided by the telegraph posts, which followed the line of road. we were four hours making twenty-five versts to the last station before reaching kazan. we took a hearty supper of soup, eggs, and bread, under a suspicion that we might remain out all night. once the mammoth sleigh came up with us in the dark, and its shafts nearly ran us through. collisions of this kind happened occasionally on the road, but were rarely as forcible as this one. we were twice on our beam ends and nearly overturned, and on several occasions stuck in the snow. by good luck we managed to arrive at kazan about 2 a. m. on reaching the hotel, we were confronted by what i thought a snow statue, but which proved to be the _dvornik_, or watchman. our baggage was taken up stairs, while we shook the snow from our furs. the samovar shortened our visages and filled our stomachs with tea. we retired to rest upon sofas and did not rise until a late hour. it happened to be new year's, and the fashionable society of kazan was doing its congratulations. i drove through the principal part of the city and found an animated scene. numberless and numbered droskies were darting through the streets, carrying gayly dressed officers making their ceremonious calls. soldiers were parading with bands of music, and the lower classes were out in large numbers. the storm had ceased, the weather was warm, and everything was propitious for out-door exercise. the soldiers were the first i had seen since entering europe, and impressed me favorably with the russian army. they wore grey uniforms, like those i saw in siberia, and marched with a regular and steady stride. it was not till i had reached st. petersburg that i saw the _elite_ of the emperor's military forces. the reforms of alexander have not left the army untouched. great improvements have been made in the last twelve or fifteen years. more attention has been paid to the private soldiers than heretofore, their pay being increased and time of service lessened. the imperial family preserves its military character, and the present emperor allows no laxity of discipline in his efforts to elevate the men in the ranks. it is said of the grand duke michel, uncle of alexander ii., that he was a most rigid disciplinarian. his great delight was in parades, and he never overlooked the least irregularity. not a button, not a moustache even, escaped his notice, and whoever was not _en regle_ was certain to be punished. he is reported to have said,-"i detest war. it breaks the ranks, deranges the soldiers, and soils their uniforms."[f] [footnote f: the land forces of russia are formed of two descriptions of troops--the regular troops properly so called, and the feudal militia of the cossacks and similar tribes. the regular army is recruited from the classes of peasants and artisans partly and principally by means of a conscription, partly by the adoption of the sons of soldiers, and partly by voluntary enlistment. every individual belonging to these classes is, with a few exceptions, liable to compulsory service, provided he be of the proper age and stature. the nominal strength of the russian army, according to the returns of the ministry of war, is as follows: 1. _regular army_. peace-footing. war-footing. infantry......... 364,422 694,511 cavalry.......... 38,306 49,183 artillery........ 41,831 48,773 engineers........ 13,413 16,203 ------ ------ total.................. 457,875 808,670 2. _army of first reserve_. troops of the line........ 80,455 74,561 garrison in regiments..... 80,455 23,470 garrison in battalions.... 19,830 29,862 ------ ------ total................... 100,285 127,925 3. _army of second reserve_. troops of all arms........ 254,036 199,380 ------ -------- general total........... 812,096 1,135,975 among the irregular troops of russia, the most important are the cossacks. the country of the don cossacks contains from 600,000 to 700,000 inhabitants. in case of necessity, every cossack, from 15 to 60 years, is bound to render military service. the usual regular military force, however, consists of 54 cavalry regiments, each numbering 1,044 men, making a total of 56,376. the cossacks are reckoned in round numbers as follows: in military heads. service. on the black sea............................ 125,000 18,000 great russian cossacks on the caucasian line 150,000 18,000 don cossacks................................ 440,000 66,000 ural cossacks............................... 50,000 8,000 orenburg cossacks........................... 60,000 10,000 siberian cossacks........................... 50,000 9,000 ------ ------ total..................................... 875,000 129,000 the russian navy consists of two great divisions--the fleet of the baltic and that of the black sea. each of these two fleets is again subdivided into sections, of which three are in or near the baltic and three in or near the black sea, to which must be added the small squadrons of galleys, gunboats, and similar vessels. according to an official report, the russian fleet consisted last year of 290 steamers, having 38,000 horse power, with 2,205 guns, besides 29 sailing vessels, with 65 guns. the greater and more formidable part of this navy was stationed in the baltic. the black sea fleet numbered 43; the caspian, 39; the siberian or pacific, 30; and the lake aral or turkistan squadron, 11 vessels. the rest of the ships were either stationed at kronstadt and sweaborg or engaged in cruising in european waters. the iron-clad fleet of war consisted, at the commencement of 1868, of 24 vessels, with an aggregate of 149 guns, as follows: 2 frigates, one of 18, and one of 24 guns.... 42 guns. 3 floating batteries of 14, 16, and 27 guns.. 57 guns. 2 corvettes of 8 guns........................ 16 guns. 6 monitors of 2 guns each.................... 12 guns. 11 turret ships of 2 guns each................ 22 guns. - --total, 24 iron-clads with............................ 149 guns. the imperial navy was manned at the beginning of 1868 by 60,230 sailors and marines, under the command of 3,791 officers, among whom are 119 admirals and generals.] i had a letter to colonel molostoff, the brother of a siberian friend and _compagnon du voyage_. i knew the colonel would not be at home on the first day of the year, as he had many relatives and friends to visit. so i sent the letter to his house, and accompanied schmidt on a call upon dr. freeze, a prominent physician of kazan. madam freeze was a native of heidelburg, and evidently loved the rhine better than the volga. she gave me a letter to her brother in moscow, where she promised me an introduction to a niece of the poet goethe. in the evening colonel molostoff called at the hotel and took me to the new year's ball of the nobility of kazan. there was a maze of apartments belonging to the nobility club,--the dancing room being quite as elegant and as spacious as the large hall of the fifth avenue hotel. i found files of english, french, and german papers in the reading-room, and spent a little while over the latest news from america. the male portion of the assemblage consisted of officers and civilians, the former in the majority. there was a perfect blaze of stars and gay uniforms, that quite outshone the evening dress of the civilians. as kazan is old, populous, and wealthy, it is needless to add that the ladies were dressed just like those of st. petersburg or paris. i was introduced to several officials, among them the governor, who had recently assumed command. colonel molostoff introduced me to three ladies who spoke english, but hardly had i opened conversation with the first before she was whisked away into the dance. the second and the third followed the same fate, and i began to look upon ball-room acquaintance as an uncertainty. "now," said the colonel, "i will introduce you to one who is not young, but she is charming, and does not dance." we went to seek her, but she was in the midst of a gay party just preparing for a visit to the lunch room. i was so utterly wearied after my long ride that conversation was a great effort, and i could hardly keep my eyes from closing. i had promised to join a supper party at three o'clock, but midnight found me just able to stand. fearful that i might bring discredit upon america by going to sleep during the festivities, i begged an excuse and returned to my hotel. five minutes after entering my room i was in the land of dreams. in the treasury of the kremlin of moscow the royal crown of kazan is preserved. the descendants of genghis khan founded the city and made it the seat of their european power. for three centuries it remained a menace to russia, and held the princes of muscovy in fear and dread. but as the russians grew in strength kazan became weaker, and ultimately fell under the muscovite control. ivan the terrible determined to drive the tartars from the banks of the volga. after three severe and disastrous campaigns, and a siege in which assailant and assailed displayed prodigies of valor, kazan was stormed and captured. the kingdom was overthrown, and the russian power extended to the urals. the cruelties of ivan the terrible were partially forgiven in return for his breaking the tartar yoke. a pyramidal monument marks the burial place of the russians who fell at the capture of the city, and the positions of the besiegers are still pointed out; but i believe no traces of the circumvallation are visible. the walls of the tartar fortress form a part of the present kremlin, but have been so rebuilt and enlarged that their distinctive character is gone. nicholas called kazan the third capital of his empire, and the city is generally admitted first in importance after st. petersburg and moscow. its position is well chosen on the banks of a small river, the kazanka, which joins the volga six versts away. on a high bluff stretching into a plateau in the rear of the city and frowning defiantly toward the west, its position is a commanding one. on the edge of this bluff is the kremlin, with its thick and high walls enclosing the governor's palace and other public buildings, all overlooked by a lofty bell-tower. every part of the city gives evidence of wealth. the population is about sixty thousand, including, i presume, the military garrison. there are twelve or fifteen thousand tartars, who live in a quarter of the city specially assigned them. they are said to be industrious and peaceful, and some of them have amassed great wealth. i saw a tartar merchant at the ball on new year's eve, and was told that his fortune was one of the best in kazan. i can testify personally to the energy of tartar peddlers. on my first morning at the hotel i was visited by itinerant dealers in hats, boots, dressing gowns, and other articles of wear. the tartars at moscow are no less active than their brethren of kazan, and very shrewd in their dealings. every one of them appears to believe that strangers visit russia for the sole purpose of buying dressing gowns. i took a drive through the tartar quarter, or _katai gorod_, of kazan, and inspected (but did not read) the signs over the shops. the houses are little different from those in the russian quarter, and the general appearance of the streets was the same. i glanced at several female faces in defiance of mohammedan law, which forbids women unveiling before strangers. on one occasion when no tartar men were visible, a young and pretty woman removed her veil and evidently desired to be looked at. i satisfied my curiosity, and expressed admiration in all the complimentary russian adjectives i could remember. as we passed a butcher's shop, my isvoshchik intimated that horse meat was sold there. the tartars are fond of equine flesh, and prefer it to beef. on the kirghese steppes the horse is prominent in gastronomic festivities. kazan is famous throughout russia for the extent and variety of its manufactures. russians and tartars are alike engaged in them, and the products of their industry bear a good reputation. the city has printing establishments on an extensive scale, one of them devoted to tartar literature. several editions of the koran have been printed here for the faithful in northern and central asia. the university of kazan is one of the most celebrated institutions of learning in russia, and has an excellent board of professors. special attention is devoted to the asiatic languages and literature, but no other branch of knowledge is neglected. i met the professor of persian literature, and found him speaking english and french fluently. i was invited to look through the museum and cabinet attached to the university, but time did not permit. there is a ladies' seminary in equally good reputation for its educational facilities. one morning, about two weeks before my arrival at kazan, the early risers passing this seminary discovered the body of a young man hanging upon the fence. it was clad only in a shirt, and no other clothing could be found. no one recognized the features of the individual, and the occupants of the seminary professed utter ignorance of the affair. as might be expected, great excitement followed the discovery. visits of the sterner sex were absolutely forbidden, and the young maidens in the building were placed under surveillance. the gentleman who told me the story, said: "it is very strange, especially as the public can learn nothing about the young man's identity." while conversing with a high official at nijne novgorod, a few days later, i referred to this affair and expressed my surprise that the police could not trace it out. "that is to say," he replied, with a shrug of the shoulders, "that the police have suppressed the particulars. it is a scandalous occurrence that may as well be kept from the public." one thing was quite certain: if the police thought proper to conceal the details of this affair, there was no likelihood of their publication. in russia the police exercise a power much greater than in the united states. those who have visited france and austria can form a pretty correct idea of the russian system, the three countries being nearly alike in this respect. the police has supervision over the people in a variety of ways; controls the fire department, looks after the general health, and provides for the well-being of society. every man, woman, and child is considered under its surveillance, and accounted for by some member of the force. passports are examined by the police, and if _en regle_, the owners are not likely to be troubled. taxes are collected, quarrels adjusted, and debts paid through its agency. almost everybody has heard of the secret police of russia, and many questions have been asked me about it. i cannot throw much light upon it, and if i could it would not be a secret police. i never knowingly came in contact with the shadow, neither did i have the slightest reason to fear it. if my letters were opened and read, those familiar with my manuscript will agree that the police had a hard time of it. if anybody dogged my steps or drew me into conversation to report my opinions at the _bureau secret_, i never knew it. the servants who brought my cutlets and tea, the woman who washed my linen, or the dvornik who guarded the door, may have been spies upon me; but, if so, i didn't see it. where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. people talk politics in russia with apparent freedom, more so than i expected to find. men and women expressed their opinions with candor (as i believe,) and criticised what they saw wrong in their government. the russian journals possess more freedom than those of paris, and the theatres can play pretty nearly what they like. official tyranny or dishonesty can be shown up by the press or satirized on the stage more freely and safely than in the country of napoleon third, with all its boasted freedom. i once read a story in which an englishman in austria is represented saying to his companion, "no gentleman meddles with the politics of the countries he visits." i made it my rule in russia never to start the subject of politics in conversation with anybody. very often it was started, and i then spoke as freely as i would have spoken in new york. if my opinion was asked upon any point, i gave it frankly, but never volunteered it. i believe the golden rule a good one for a traveler. we americans would think it very rude for a foreigner to come here and point out to us our faults. but for all that, a great many of us visit europe and have no hesitation in telling the subjects of the various monarchies a variety of impolite truths. during the reign of nicholas, the secret police was much more extensive than at present. the occurrences of 1825 and subsequent years led to a close surveillance of men in all stations of life. it was said under nicholas that when three men were assembled, one was a spy and another might be. doubtless the espionage was rigid, but i never heard that it affected those who said or did nothing objectionable. under alexander ii. the stability of the throne hardly requires the aid of a detective force, and, if what i was told be true, it receives very little. the police have a standing order to arrest any person who speaks to the emperor in the promenade at the public garden. one day nicholas recognized in the crowd a favorite comedian, and accosted him with a few words of encouragement. the actor thanked his majesty for his approval, and the two separated. a stupid policeman arrested the actor, and hurried him to prison on the charge of violating the law. "but the emperor spoke to me first," was the apology. "no matter," replied the policeman; "you spoke to the emperor, and must be arrested." at the theatre that evening nicholas was in the imperial box, utterly ignorant of what had occurred to his favorite. the performance was delayed, the audience impatient, manager frantic, and the emperor finally sent to know the cause of the curtain remaining down. the actor did not come, and after waiting some time, his majesty went home. next morning the prisoner was released, and during the day the emperor learned what had occurred. sending for the victim of police stupidity, he asked what reparation could be made for his night in prison. "i beg your majesty," was the frank request, "never to speak to me again in the public garden." nicholas promised compliance. he also made a pecuniary testimonial at the comedian's next benefit. chapter li. dr. schmidt sold his sleigh and left kazan by diligence the day after our arrival. i remained four days, and, when ready to start, managed to pick up a young russian who was going to nijne novgorod. each of us spoke two languages, but we had no common tongue. i brushed up all the russian i had learned, and compelled it to perform very active service. before our companionship ended i was astonished to find what an extensive business of conversation could be conducted with a limited capital of words. our communications were fragmentary and sometimes obscure, but we rarely became "hopelessly stuck." when my knowledge of spoken words failed i had recourse to a "manual of russian-english conversation," in which there were phrases on all sorts of topics. examining the book at leisure one would think it abundantly fertile; but when i desired a particular phrase it was rarely to be found. as a last resource we tried latin, but i could not remember a hundred words out of all my classics. a regular thaw had set in, and the streets were in a condition of 'slosh' that reminded me of broadway in spring. when we left the hotel, a crowd of attendants gathered to be remembered pecuniarily. the yemshick tied his horses' tails in the tightest of knots to prevent their filling with snow and water. at the western gate we found a jam of sleds and sleighs, where we stuck for nearly half an hour, despite the efforts of two soldier policemen. when able to proceed we traversed a high causeway spanning the kazanka valley and emerged into a suburb containing a large foundry. a mosque and a church, side by side, symbolized the harmony between tartar and russian. passing this suburb we reached the winter station of many steamboats and barges, among which we threaded our way. seven versts from kazan we reached the bank of the volga. the first view of the road upon the river was not inviting. there were many pools of surface water, and the continuous travel had worn deep hollows in the snow and ice. some of the pools into which our yemshick drove appeared about as safe as a mill-pond in may. as the fellow ought to know his route i said nothing, and let him have his own way. we met a great many sleds carrying merchandise, and passed a train going in our direction. one driver carelessly riding on his load was rolled overboard, and fell sidewise into a deep mass of snow and water. he uttered an imprecation, and rose dripping like a boiled cabbage just lifted out of a dinner pot. we headed obliquely across the river toward a dozen tow-boats frozen in the ice. the navigation of the volga employs more than four hundred steamers, three-fourths of which are tows. dead walls in kazan frequently displayed flaming announcements, that reminded me of st. louis and new orleans. the companies run a sharp rivalry in freight and passenger traffic, their season lasting from april to october. the gross receipts for 1866 of one company owning thirty-four boats, was one million, two hundred and fifty-three thousand, and some odd roubles. this, after deducting running expenses, would not leave a large amount of profit. the surplus in the case of that company was to be applied to paying debts. "not a copeck," said my informant, "will the stockholders receive in the shape of dividends." i did not obtain any full and clear information touching the navigation of the volga. the steamboats run from tver, on the moscow and st. petersburg railway, to astrachan, at the mouth of the river. the best part of the business is the transport of goods and passengers,--chiefly the former,--to the fair at nijne novgorod. the river is full of shifting sand-bars, and the channel is very tortuous, especially at low water. the first company to introduce steam on the volga was an english one. its success induced many russians to follow its example, so that the business is now over done. here, as in the siberian rivers, the custom prevails of carrying freight in barges, which are towed by tugs. all the steamers i saw were side-wheelers. we changed horses on the south bank of the volga, only twelve versts from kazan. the right bank of the river presents an unbroken line of hills or bluffs, while the opposite one is generally low. the summer road from kazan westward follows the high ground in the vicinity of the river, but often several versts away. the winter road is over the ice of the volga, keeping generally pretty near the bank. a double line of pine or other boughs in the ice marks the route. these boughs are placed by the administration of roads, under whose supervision the way is daily examined. no one is allowed to travel on the ice until the officials declare it safe. night came upon us soon after passing the first station. the road was a combination of pitch-holes, water, soft snow, and detours to avoid dangerous places. the most unpleasant drives were when we left the river to change horses at the villages on the high bank. it was well enough going up, but in descending the sleigh sometimes endeavored to go ahead of the horses. once we came near going over a perpendicular bank sixty or eighty feet high. had we done so, our establishment would have not been worth fifty cents a bushel at the bottom of the bank. back from the volga on this part of the route there were many villages of cheramess, a people of tartar descent who preserve many of their ancient customs. they are thoroughly loyal to russia, and keep the portrait of the emperor in nearly every cottage. in accordance with their custom of veiling women they hang a piece of gauze over the picture of the empress. while changing horses, we were beset by many beggars, whose forlorn appearance entitled them to sympathy. i purchased a number of blessings, as each beggar made the sign of the cross over me on receiving a copeck. russian beggars are the most devout i ever saw, and display great familiarity with the calendar of saints. one morning at kazan i stood at my hotel window watching a beggar woman soliciting alms. several poorly dressed peasants gave her each a copeck or two, and both giver and receiver made the sign of the cross. one decrepid old man gave her a loaf of bread, blessing it devoutly as he placed it in her hands. so far as i saw not a single well dressed person paid any attention to the mendicant. 'only the poor can feel for the poor.' [illustration: beggars in kazan.] we encountered a great deal of merchandise, carried invariably upon, one-horse sleds. cotton, and wool in large sacks were the principal freight going westward, while that moving toward kazan was of a miscellaneous character. the yemshicks were the worst i found on the whole extent of my sleigh ride. they generally contented themselves with the regulation speed, and it was not often that the promise of drink-money affected them. i concluded that money was more easily obtained here than elsewhere on the route. ten copecks were an important item to a yemshick in siberia, but of little consequence along the volga. [illustration: the immersion.] villages were numerous along the volga, and most of them were very liberally supplied with churches. we passed makarief, which was for many years the scene of the great fair of european russia. fire and flood alike visited the place, and in 1816 the fair was transferred to nijne novgorod. one of the villages has a church spire that leans considerably toward the edge of the river. about fifty versts from nijne novgorod the population of a large village was gathered, in sunday dress, upon the ice. a baptism was in progress, and as we drove past the assemblage we caught a glimpse of a man plunging through a freshly cut hole. half a minute later he emerged from the crowd and ran toward the nearest house, the water dripping from his garments and hair. as we passed around the end of the village, i looked back and saw another person running in the same direction. converts to the russian church are baptized by immersion, and, once received in its bosom, they continue members until death do them part. what i have said of the church in siberia will apply throughout all russia. the government is far more tolerant in the matter of religion than that of any roman catholic country in europe, and might reprove great britain pretty sharply for its religious tyrannies in unhappy ireland. every one in russia can worship god according to the dictates of his own conscience, provided he does not shock the moral sense of civilization in so doing. every respectable form of christian worship enjoys full liberty, and so does every respectable form of paganism and anti-christianity. the greek faith is the acknowledged religion of the government, and the priests, by virtue of their partly official character, naturally wield considerable power. the abuse or undue employment of that power is not (theoretically) permitted, however much the church may manifest its zeal. every effort is made to convert unbelievers, but no man is forced to accept the greek faith. traveling through russia one may see many forms of worship. he will find the altars of shamanism, the temples of bhudha, the mosques of islam, and the synagogues of israel. on one single avenue of the russian capital he will pass in succession the churches of the greek, the catholic, the armenian, the lutheran, and the episcopal faith. he will be told that among the native russians there are nearly fifty sects of greater or less importance. there are some advantages in belonging to the church of state, just as in england, but they are not essential. i am acquainted with officers in the military, naval, and civil service of the government who are not, and never have been, members of the greek church. i never heard any intimation that their religion had been the least bar to their progress. the pope, in his encyclical of october, 1867, complains of the conduct of the russian government toward the catholics in poland. no doubt alexander has played the mischief with the pope's faithful in that quarter, but not on account of their religion. in warsaw a russian officer, a pole by birth, told me of the misfortunes that had fallen upon the catholic monastery and college in that city. "we found in the insurrection," said the officer, "that the monks were engaged in making knives, daggers, cartridges, and other weapons. the priests were the active men of the rebellion, and did more than any other class to urge it forward, and here is a specimen of iron-mongery from the hands of the monks. we found two hundred of these in the college recently suppressed. many more were distributed and used." as he spoke he opened a drawer and showed me a short dagger fitting into a small handle. the point of the blade had been dipped in poison, and was carefully wrapped in paper. the instrument was used by sticking it into somebody in a crowd, and allowing it to remain. death was pretty certain from a very slight scratch of this weapon. if this gentleman's story is correct, and it was corroborated by others, the russian persecution of the polish catholics is not entirely without reason. among the dissenters in the greek church there is a body called _staroviersty_ (old believers). the difference between them and the adherents of the orthodox faith is more ritualistic than doctrinal. both make the sign of the cross, though each has its own way of holding the fingers in the operation. the staroviersty do not use tobacco in any form, and their mode of life is generally quite rigid. under catherine and paul they were persecuted, and, as a matter of course, increased their numbers rapidly. for the past sixty years oppression has been removed, and they have done pretty nearly as they liked. they are found in all parts of the empire, but are most numerous in the vicinity of the ural mountains. russia has its share of fanatical sects, some of whom push their religion to a wonderful extreme. one sect has a way of sacrificing children by a sort of slow torture in no way commendable. another sect makes a burnt offering of some of its adherents, who are selected by lot. they enter a house prepared for the occasion, and begin a service of singing and prayer. after a time spent in devotions, the building is set on fire and consumed with its occupants. another sect which is mentioned elsewhere practices the mutilation of masculine believers, and steals children for adoption into their families. against all these fanatics the government exercises its despotic power. the peasants are generally very devout, and keep all the days of the church with becoming reverence. there is a story that a moujik waylaid and killed a traveler, and while rifling the pockets of his victim found a cake containing meat. though very hungry he would not eat the cake, because meat was forbidden in the fast then in force. [illustration: russian priest.] the government is endeavoring to diminish the power and influence of the priests, and the number of saints' days, when men must abstain from, labor. heretofore the priests have enjoyed the privilege of recruiting the clergy from their own members. when a village priest died his office fell to his son, and if he had no male heir the revenues went to his eldest daughter until some priest married her and took charge of the parish. by special order of the emperor any vacancy is hereafter to be filled by the most deserving candidate. it is said that during the crimean war the governor of moscow notified the pastor of the english church in that city that the prayer for the success of her brittanic majesty's armies must be omitted. the pastor appealed to the emperor, who replied that prayers of regular form might continue to be read, no matter what they contained. the governor made no further interference. about three o'clock in the afternoon of the second day from kazan, the yemshick pointed out the spires of nijne novgorod, on the southern bank of the volga. a fleet of steamers, barges, and soudnas lay sealed in the ice along the shore, waiting for the moving of the waters. the road to the north bank was marked with pine boughs, that fringed the moving line of sleighs and sledges. we threaded our way among the stationary vessels, and at length came before the town. a friend had commended me to the hotel de la poste, and i ordered the yemshick to drive there. with an eye to his pocket the fellow carried me to an establishment of the same name on the other side of the oka. i had a suspicion that i was being swindled, but as they blandly informed me that no other hotel with that title existed, i alighted and ordered my baggage up. this was the end of my sleigh ride. i had passed two hundred and nine stations, with as many changes of horses and drivers. nearly seven hundred horses had been attached to my sleigh, and had drawn me over a road of greatly varied character. out of forty days from irkutsk, i spent sixteen at the cities and towns on the way. i slept twenty-six nights in my sleigh with the thermometer varying from thirty-five degrees above zero to forty-five below, and encountered four severe storms and a variety of smaller ones. including the detour to barnaool, my sleigh ride was about thirty-six hundred miles long. from stratensk by way of kiachta to irkutsk, i traveled not far from fourteen hundred miles with wheeled vehicles, and made ninety-three changes. my whole ride from steam navigation on the amoor to the railway at nijne novgorod was very nearly five thousand miles. there was a manifest desire to swindle me at the bogus hotel de la poste. half a dozen attendants carried my baggage to my room, and each demanded a reward. when i gave the yemshick his "na vodka," an officious attendant suggested that the gentleman should be very liberal at the end of his ride. i asked for a bath, and they ordered a sleigh to take me to a bathing establishment several squares away. my proposition to be content for the present with a wash basin was pronounced impossible, until i finished the argument with my left boot. the waiter finally became affectionate, and when i ordered supper he suggested comforts not on the bill of fare. the landlord proposed to purchase my sleigh and superfluous furs, and we concluded a bargain at less than a twelfth of their cost. after a night's rest i recrossed the oka and drove to the town. here i found the veritable hotel de la poste, to which i immediately changed my quarters. the house overlooked a little park enclosing a pond, where a hundred or more persons were skating. the park was well shaded, and must be quite pleasant in summer. the town hardly deserves the name of nijne (lower) novgorod, as it stands on a bluff nearly two hundred feet above the river. its lower town contains little else than small shops, storehouses, poor hotels, and steamboat offices. the kremlin, or fortress, looks down from a very picturesque position, and its strong walls have a defiant air. from the edge of the bluff the view is wide; the low field and forest land on the opposite side of the river, the sinuous volga and its tributary, the oka, are all visible for a long distance. opposite, on a tongue of land between the volga and the oka, is the scene of the fair of nijne novgorod, the greatest, i believe, in the world. there are many fine houses in the upper town, with indications of considerable wealth. i had a letter of introduction to the chief of police, colonel kretegin, who kindly showed me the principal objects of interest in and around the kremlin. the monument to the memory of minin sukhoruky possessed the greatest historical importance. this man, a peasant and butcher, believed himself called to deliver russia from the poles in 1612. he awakened his countrymen, and joined a russian noble in leading them to expel the invaders. a bronze monument at moscow represents minin starting on his mission. the memorial at nijne is of a less elaborate character. we drove through the fair grounds, which wore as empty of occupants as goldsmith's deserted village. it is laid out like a regular town or city, and most of its houses are substantially built. so much has been written about this commercial center that i will not attempt its description, especially as i was not there in fair season. the population of the town--ordinarily forty thousand--becomes three hundred thousand during the fair. more than half a million persons have visited the city in a single summer, and the value of goods sold or exchanged during each fair is about two hundred millions of roubles. colonel kretegin told me that the members of the fox embassy were much astonished at finding american goods for sale at nijne novgorod. it would be difficult to mention any part of the civilized world where some article of our manufacture has not penetrated. [illustration: tail piece] chapter lii. at the close of the second day at nijne novgorod i started for moscow. as we drove from the hotel to the railway the jackdaws, perched everywhere on the roofs, were unusually noisy. leaving asia and entering europe, the magpie seemed to give place to the jackdaw. the latter bird inhabits the towns and cities east of the ural mountains, and we frequently saw large flocks searching the debris along the volga road. he associates freely with the pigeon, and appears well protected by public sentiment. possibly his uneatable character and his fancied resemblance to the pigeon saves him from being knocked in the head. pigeons are very abundant in all russian cities, and their tameness is a matter of remark among foreign visitors. the railway station is across the oka and near the site of the annual fair. we went at a smashing pace down hill and over the ice to the other side, narrowly missing several collisions. at the railway i fell to the charge of two porters, who carried my baggage while i sought the ticket office. a young woman speaking french officiated at the desk, and furnished me with a _billet de voyage_ to moscow. in the waiting room a hundred or more persons were gathered. the men were well wrapped in furs, and among the ladies hoods were more numerous than bonnets. three-fourths of the males and a third of the females were smoking cigarettes, and there was no prohibition visible. in accordance with the national taste the chief article sold at the _buffet_ was hot tea in tumblers. some one uttered "sibeerski" as, clad in my dehar, i walked past a little group. to keep up appearances and kill time i drank tea, until the door opened and a rush was made for the train. there is an adage in germany that three kinds of people--fools, princes, and americans--travel first class. to continue russian pretences, and by the advice of a friend, i took a second class ticket, and found the accommodation better than the average of first class cars in america. how strange was the sensation of railway travel! since i last experienced it, i had journeyed more than half around the globe. i had been tossed on the pacific and adjacent waters, had ascended the great river of northern asia, had found the rough way of life along the frozen roads beyond the baikal, and ended with that long, long ride over siberian snows. i looked back through a long vista of earth and snow, storm and sunshine, starlight and darkness, rolling sea and placid river, rugged mountains and extended plains. the hardships of travel were ended as i reached the land of railways, and our motion as we sped along the track seemed more luxurious than ever before. contrasted with the cramped and narrow sleigh, pitching over ridges and occasionally overturning, the carriage where i sat appeared the perfection of locomotive skill. how sweet is pleasure after pain. sunshine is brightest in the morning, and prosperity has a keener zest when it follows adversity. to be truly enjoyed, our lives must be chequered with light and shadow, and varied with different scenes. the railway between nijne novgorod and moscow is about two hundred and fifty miles in length, and was built by french and russian capital combined. there is only one passenger train each way daily, at a speed not exceeding twenty miles an hour. in the compartment where i sat there was a young french woman, governess in a family at simbirsk, with a russian female servant accompanying her. the governess was chatty, and invited me to join her in a feast of bon-bons, which she devoured at a prodigious rate. the servant was becomingly silent, and solaced herself with cigarettes. the restaurants along the road are quite well supplied, especially those where full meals are provided. two hours after starting we halted ten minutes for tea and cigarettes. two hours later we had thirty minutes for supper, which was all ready at our arrival. about midnight we stopped at the ancient city of vladimir, where there is a cathedral founded in the twelfth century. stepping from the train to get a night glimpse of the place, i found a substantial supper (or breakfast) spread for consumption. in justice to the russians, i am happy to say very few patronized this midnight table. at daybreak i rubbed the frost from a window and looked upon a stretch of snow and frost, with peasant cottages few and far between. an hour later, our speed slackened. again cleaning the glass and peering through it, a large city came in sight. it was moscow,--"holy moscow,"--the city of the czars, and beloved of every russian. suffering through tartar, polish, and french occupations, it has survived pillage, massacre, fire, and famine, and remains at this day the most thoroughly national of the great cities of the empire. the towers and domes of its many churches glittered in the morning sunlight as they glittered half a century ago, when napoleon and his soldiers first climbed the hills that overlook the city. it was a long drive from the station to the hotel. the morning was clear and cold, and the snow in the streets had been ground into a sand-like mass several inches deep. the solid foundation beneath was worn with hollows and ridges, that vividly recalled the oukhabas of the post road. streets were full of sleds and sleighs, the latter dashing at a rapid rate. in the region near the station there were so many signs of '_trakteer_' as to suggest the possibility of one half the inhabitants selling tea, beer, and quass to the other half. near the center of the city the best shops displayed signs in french or english, generally the former. of course i went early to the kremlin. who has ever read or talked of moscow without its historic fortress? entering by the sacred gate, i lifted my hat in comformity to the custom, from which not even the emperor is exempt. one of my school-books contained a description of the czar kolokol, or great bell, and stated that a horse and chaise could pass through the hole where a piece was broken from one side. possibly the miniature vehicle of tom thumb could be driven through, but, certainly, no ordinary one-horse shay could have any prospect of success. the hole is six feet in height, by about a yard wide at the bottom, and narrows like a wedge toward the top. the height and diameter of the bell are respectively nineteen feet four inches by twenty feet three inches. it weighs 444,000 pounds. it was cast in 1733, by order of the empress anne, and the hole in its side was made by the falling of some rafters during a fire in 1737. it remained buried in the ground until 1836, when it was raised and placed on its present pedestal by order of the emperor nicholas. [illustration: great bell of moscow.] to enumerate all the wonders of the kremlin would consume much time and space. somebody tells of a yankee gazing at niagara, and lamenting that a magnificent water power should run to waste. i could not help wondering how many miles of railway could be built from the proceeds of the mass of wealth inside the kremlin. diamonds, rubies, pearls, crowns, sceptres, thrones, princely and priestly robes, are gathered in such numbers that eye and brain become weary in their contemplation. the most interesting of these treasures are those around which cling historic associations. the crowns of the kingdoms of kazan and astrachan point to the overthrow of tartar power in europe, while the throne of poland symbolizes the westward course of the muscovite star of empire. there are flags borne or captured in russia's victories, from the storming of kazan and the defence of albazin down to the suppression of polish revolt. mute and dumb witnesses of the misfortunes of the _grand armee_ are the long rows of cannon that lie near the kremlin palace. three hundred and sixty-five french guns tell of napoleon's disastrous march to moscow. the holiest part of holy moscow is within the kremlin. in the church of the assumption, the czars of russia, from john the terrible down to the present day, have been crowned. in the michael church, until the accession of peter the great, the rurik and romanoff dynasties were buried; while another church witnessed their baptism, and marriage. what a wonderful amount of gold and jewels are visible in the churches and chapels of the kremlin! the floor of one is of jasper and agate; pearl and amethyst and onyx adorn the inner walls of another. one has vast pillars of porphyry, and the domes and turrets of all are liberally spread or starred with gold. the pictures of the infant saviour and his mother are hung with necklaces of jewels, each of them almost a fortune. one might easily think that the wealth of ormuz or of ind had been gathered to adorn the shrines of the most oriental christian faith. i visted the imperial theatre, which the muscovites pronounce the finest in the world. to my mind it is only equaled by la scala at milan, or san carlo at naples. outside it reminded me of our _ci-devant_ academy of music. inside it was gorgeous, well arranged, and spacious. [illustration: view on the nevski prospect--st. petersburgh.] the _kitai gorod,_ or chinese town of moscow, is close by the kremlin and outside its walls. the only feature worthy the name of this part of the city is the number of tartar inhabitants and the immense bazaar, or gustinni dvor, where the principal trade of moscow has been centered for nearly three hundred years. the quantity of goods in the bazaar is something enormous. a russian said to me: "if half the houses in moscow were stripped of furniture, ornaments, and all things save the walls and roofs; if their inhabitants were plundered of all clothing and personal goods except their bank accounts,--the _gastinni dvor_ could supply every deficiency within two hours. you may enter the bazaar wearing nothing but your shirt, and can depart in an hour dressed and decorated in any manner you choose, and riding in your carriage with driver and footman in livery." the railway between st. petersburg and moscow is a government affair, and forms nearly a direct line from one city to the other. it is said that the emperor nicholas placed a ruler on the map and drew a line from one capital to the other to mark the route the engineers must follow. notwithstanding the favorable character of the country the cost of the road was enormous, in consequence of alleged peculations. there is a story that the government once wished to make a great impression upon a persian embassy. all the marvels of st. petersburg and moscow were exhausted, but the oriental embassadors remained serene and unmoved. "what shall we do to surprise them," the emperor demanded of his prime minister. "nothing is better, sire," replied that official, "than to tell them the cost of the imperial railway." one hears more about stealing and bribe taking in russia than in any other country i ever visited. the evil is partly on account of low salaries and great expense of living, and partly due to ancient custom. the emperor has endeavored to establish a reform in this particular, but the difficulties are very great because of the secret character of "palm-greasing," it is related that a german _savant_ once remarked to nicholas that he could do russia a great service by breaking up the system of financial corruption. "to get such a project in action," replied the emperor, "i must begin by bribing my prime minister." of the country between the capitals i saw very little. in the cars the double windows, covered with frost, were about as transparent as a drop curtain. we stopped at a great many capacious and well built stations, where there was abundant opportunity for feeding and drinking. the journey commenced at two in the afternoon, and was finished at ten on the following morning. the distance, according to official measurement, is four hundred and three miles. the train halted at the station nearest st. petersburg, and as we stood a moment upon the platform, we saw the great, gilded dome of st. isaac's cathedral rising over the city. in st. petersburg my first duty was to take breakfast, a bath, and a change of clothes at a hotel, and then, to drive to the banker's for letters from home. i had not seen an american for five months; as i alighted from my droshky, a well-dressed individual looked at me, and not to be outdone i returned his glance. our eyes peered over two fur collars that exposed very little of our faces. after a moment's hesitation each of us spoke the other's name, and i experienced the double pleasure of meeting in one individual a countryman and an old friend. [illustration: tail piece--meeting an old friend] [illustration: map _to accompany_ thos. w. knox's "overland through asia"] _the "chandos classics."_ eastern tales by many story tellers compiled and edited from ancient and modern authors by mrs. valentine _author of "sea fights and land battles," &c., &c., &c._ with numerous illustrations london frederick warne & co. bedford street, strand * * * * * preface. [illustration] in compiling this volume of eastern tales, the editor has been careful to select only those best suited to youthful readers. they have been gathered from both ancient and modern, french, italian, and english sources, and therefore offer great variety of style and subject. in the stories taken from the tales of the genii, an omission of a few words has been made, to fit them for their place in this volume. * * * * * contents [illustration] page jalaladdeen of bagdad 1 the story of haschem 40 the pantofles 73 story of the prince and the lions 78 the city of the demons 95 jussuf, the merchant of balsora 104 the seven sleepers 169 the enchanters; or, misnar, the sultan of india 200 sadik beg 306 halechalbe and the unknown lady 309 the four talismans 341 the story of bohetzad; or, the lost child 366 urad; or, the fair wanderer 499 alischar and smaragdine 524 * * * * * eastern tales. jalaladdeen of bagdad. [illustration] once upon a time there lived in the city of bagdad a young man called jalaladdeen. it was not his native place; but, in his early days, his father had taken up his abode there. he was, however, little acquainted with the town, in which he had grown up a sturdy youth; for his father inhabited a small house in one of the suburbs, and lived a very retired and frugal life. they managed their household affairs, and cultivated their small garden, without the aid of any domestics. one day the father, feeling his end approaching, called for his son once more to his bed-side before his death, and said to him, "jalaladdeen, my dearest son, thou seest that i have arrived at the bourne of my earthly career: now i should joyously quit this life, were it not for the thought that i must leave thee here alone. after my death, thou wilt find that thou are not so poor as thou mayest have conceived, and that too with good reason, from our hitherto contracted habits of life. nevertheless, guard against the impression that thou art in possession of inexhaustible riches. reflect that a year has three hundred and sixty-five days, and that the smallest expenditure, when it occurs daily, will in the end amount to no inconsiderable sum. pay careful heed, therefore, to these my instructions, and be contented with the necessaries of life. provide that which is indispensable to thy subsistence; but beware of purchasing superfluities. man's wants increase daily, if he do not accustom himself in his early days to practise self-denial. but shouldest thou ever be so unhappy as to neglect these my sincere cautions, and consequently fall into poverty, i have only this piece of advice left for thee:--take this rope, fasten it to the nail in yonder wall, and pull stoutly three times." after these words, with his latest strength he drew a new rope from under the head of his bed, and presented it to jalaladdeen: the next moment he expired. so remarkable was the last lesson of the dying father to jalaladdeen, that he carefully preserved the rope. the care of the funeral of the deceased, and the grief for the loss of his parent, and his own abandonment in the world, occupied jalaladdeen's mind for the first week; but soon the household matters demanded his attention, and he speedily found his father's words verified. one day he discovered in a chamber which his father had always kept locked, and which he himself had never before entered, a great quantity of gold and jewels. he still, however, persevered in his accustomed solitary and frugal life in the same manner as before the death of his father. he fetched his daily provisions for himself, worked in his garden, and dressed his own food. one day it happened that as he went to fetch a piece of meat from his butcher, he passed a house adjacent to his own, from an inner room of which there sounded joyous voices, jokes, songs, and laughter. he felt a desire to open the door a little and to peep in; and a tastefully furnished chamber, hung with light blue silk draperies ornamented with golden lace, presented itself to his view. beneath a canopy reclined five richly dressed young men at a table covered with a costly cloth, on which stood dishes and plates. on a side-board stood drinking-vessels and jugs; and five slaves were busily employed in serving the company with viands and liquors. at sight of this cheerful and joyous assemblage, jalaladdeen felt discontented with his lot. "how happy are they!" said he to himself: "here they repose together, and take their refreshments in common, savoured by sprightly conversation and jokes. alas! i, poor jalaladdeen, must sit at home alone, and take my solitary meal!" while he was indulging in these reflections, one of the young men observed him; and, as jalaladdeen was withdrawing, he stepped forward hastily and invited him in a most friendly manner to remain with them during the day, and to pass it in a cheerful and convivial spirit. jalaladdeen endeavoured to excuse himself by pointing to his mean garb, intimating his inability to mix in such society; but his objections were of no avail. he was conducted to the table in a most courteous manner, and seated with them. the slaves waited on him, and placed before him viands with which he was at once pleased and astonished. as one of the slaves handed him a full goblet, he held it doubtfully in his hand for some time, without tasting it. upon this, one of the young men, who appeared to be the host, said, "why do you not drink?" "i do not know," replied he, "what the liquor is: i am fearful it may be wine, which our great prophet has forbidden us." hereupon all the company raised a hearty laugh at him. "do you know," said one, "why the prophet forbade his disciples to drink wine?" as jalaladdeen replied in the negative, the other proceeded thus: "the prophet observed many of his disciples, when they had partaken freely of the vine, brawling and quarrelsome; and therefore he forbade it. the beverage, however, was very different in its effects: some of them it rendered lazy and inactive; others, too, would defy the whole world, when heated by its influence. but why should he order us to shun it? he in fact allows us to use it, so long as we do not abuse it; and as we are all good companions, and avoid brawls in every possible way, there is no danger of neglecting the prophet's command." in consequence of this explanation, jalaladdeen lifted the flagon to his mouth, and emptied it with the greatest pleasure. "sorry company spoils good liquor." this maxim was readily adopted. in consequence of his father's precepts, jalaladdeen had always been in the habit of treating all religious tenets with the greatest respect. but fearful that, by remaining long with his new acquaintance, he should neglect his father's words, he contrived at first to drink very sparingly. the beverage, which he had hitherto never tasted, proved very agreeable to his palate; and when the host called upon him to drain his cup, "ah," thought he, "i have made one false step; i have erred from the right path! whether i drink little, or empty the goblet, is of no great consequence; for i have broken the commandment of the prophet." he quaffed again and again, and had his cup filled so frequently, that he gradually forgot all his good intentions, and felt a degree of excitement which seemed to run through his veins in a manner he had never before experienced. he had by this time lost all self-command; and as he could neither call sense nor recollection to his aid, by degrees he fashioned himself to the habits of his friends, and pleased them more and more. "here, friend," said one of them at last, "your company is very pleasant. i wish to have you always with us, that we may revel and enjoy ourselves together." the others also approved of the plan, and pressed him to become one of them. "i would willingly do so," said jalaladdeen; "but i must first know what your society is, and whether it would be proper for me to conform to its customs. some associations are dangerous." "have no fear on that account," said one: "our brotherhood is perfectly harmless, and its aim innocent. see, we are five unencumbered young men, each having some independent property. we have linked ourselves together, and formed a confederacy to meet at one another's residences, and to enjoy ourselves day after day in comfort and pleasure. he to whose lot it has fallen to become host to-day provides meat and drink, and if it should cost him something more than usual, he makes up the loss by becoming on the next occasions the guest of others. in this manner we pass a life devoid of care, and feast, joke, and laugh with one another the livelong day." the condition into which the wine and the luxuries of the table had brought jalaladdeen disposed him to be well pleased with the offer, and he was easily induced to identify his lot with theirs. when evening drew on, and he rose to take his departure, they showed him the house of meeting for the morrow, and he returned to his own home delighted with the events of the day, and, retiring to rest, was soon locked in profound sleep, and lulled by happy dreams. when he awoke the next morning, he reflected on the transactions of the previous day, lamenting that he had so entirely disregarded his father's last words, and had totally neglected the observance of the prophet's command. these thoughts, coupled with the admonition of his dying father, occasioned great anguish to his heart; and the recollection of the vast expense incurred by the feasting of the former day, and the calculation of the sum he should require to entertain his friends with similar hospitality, made him feel an inclination to withdraw from the connection; but, as he had pledged his word, he was reluctant to quit them at so early a stage. he then calculated what he should require, and proceeded to the chamber where his riches lay. but the sight of the treasures banished all cares from his breast; "for," thought he to himself, "if i should expend a sum similar to that of yesterday, i shall want but very little of this gold." he then took a bag of gold with him, and went out to purchase the necessaries for the banquet. on arriving at the city he took a porter with him, and bought various articles for the feast: a table for six, with a costly cover and carpet. from thence he proceeded to a silversmith, and purchased jugs, and flagons, and drinking-vessels, and other utensils for the table, superior to those of his friends. then he visited a china-shop, and selected some of the handsomest porcelain china and japan ware that was to be found, and provided himself with elegant services of plates and dishes. he continued in this manner furnishing himself with every useful and ornamental article for one of his largest rooms. while he was thus employed in collecting and dispatching to his house these various utensils, the time for assembling at his friend's house drew near. he accordingly bent his steps thither, and was most gladly welcomed. they sat down to table, and when the first course was served, "you should have brought a slave with you," said the host, "as we do: that is one of our customs." jalaladdeen explained that he had not yet purchased a slave, but undertook to procure one by the following morning. the day passed, like the former one, in great glee and festivity. the second supply of wine was ordered, and jalaladdeen took his first goblet with great hesitation; but this was soon dissipated by his friends, and his cup was filled again and again, till he became exactly in the same condition as on the previous occasion. after three or four days, he was altogether accustomed to his new mode of living; and he was at a loss to comprehend how he could have remained so long in his old quiet habits, blaming his father in his mind for keeping him in retirement so many years, and for depriving him of the happiness of a convivial life. he looked back with joy to the day upon which he had formed an acquaintance with his new friends, and congratulated himself on the prospect of a closer intimacy with them. he soon provided himself with two slaves: to one he confided the duties of the kitchen; the office of the other was to wait upon him and his friends. when the young men met for the first time at his house, they were astonished at its meanness and the want of accommodation, owing to the small size of the rooms. jalaladdeen apologized to them, saying it had been his father's house, and that in consequence he did not wish to part with it. though his companions approved of this motive, still they considered that he ought to provide a spacious dining-room for their comfort, or to build an open pavilion in the garden, where they might assemble more conveniently. "in this small chamber," said one, "it is impossible to enjoy oneself at ease: the room is so contracted and inconvenient." "yes, brother," said another; "you must do something: a pavilion must be erected in the garden; and while you are about it, let it be both handsome and commodious." then they suggested all kinds of plans for the building, each one pointing out some novel feature or other which he particularly begged might not be forgotten in its construction. jalaladdeen was soon thoroughly convinced of the necessity of providing a large room for their comfort; and pledging himself now, as he knew what was required, to follow the suggestion of his friends, he promised to use his best endeavours to render the building conformable to their several tastes. he accordingly the next day sent for an architect, who well knew how to enlarge upon what was necessary for the solidity of the pavilion, what was requisite for its proper appearance, and what the cost of the building would be, and desired him to erect it. jalaladdeen yielded to his opinion on every point, hoping to gain the praise and approbation of his friends; and in order to carry this out more fully, he would not suffer any one to enter the garden during the progress of the work. at length the pavilion was completed, and the friends were assembled together there for the banquet. everything was deemed praiseworthy, and highly approved. at last, however, one exclaimed, "it is much to be regretted, friend jalaladdeen, that your garden is so small. what a miserable prospect you have! on this side nothing but poor vegetable-gardens; on the other side that ugly old building obstructs the view. if i were in your place, i would buy up the land around, pull down the barracks and the little buildings adjacent, and thus make one vast pleasure-garden, befitting such a splendid pavilion." as the rest of the guests concurred, jalaladdeen began to think himself that to erect a large handsome pavilion on such small grounds was indeed a mistake. he immediately, therefore, bought up all the small gardens, for which he was obliged to pay a very heavy price--firstly, because the owners did not wish to part with them; and secondly, as the produce of the ground was necessary for their subsistence. as he had now got the requisite space on all sides, he employed a skilful gardener to lay out the grounds tastefully; and in order to cultivate this new garden, and keep it constantly in proper order, he was compelled to enlarge his establishment by a head gardener and several assistants. his house was too small to accommodate them. he therefore built a dwelling-house for them on a suitable spot of the garden. thus one foolish expenditure always renders another outlay necessary. soon, by degrees, their manner of living became more and more expensive, as each endeavoured to excel the others in the splendour of his hospitality, and to procure for the next meeting at his house scarcer viands and more costly wines. in this manner they vied with each other, increasing their expenses with savoury spices and the most delicious perfumes. this daily intercourse, however, was soon discontinued; and they assembled every day at jalaladdeen's pavilion. he took a delight in being continual host, on account of the praise they lavished upon him, and the assurance they gave him that his table produced the best fare, and that the taste of his saloon was of the most superior order. by this means, in a short time his treasures of gold were expended; still he comforted himself with his precious stones, of which he possessed an immense quantity. at last these gems were squandered away; and he offered one costly article after another to a jeweller for sale, who on each occasion named a less price than before. soon his only remaining valuable ring was sold for a small sum; and jalaladdeen entertained his friends for the last time. in the course of the banquet, he took the opportunity of explaining the state of his affairs, and begged some one of them to undertake the office of host, as they had been in the habit of doing. but his friends on this occasion received his announcement with great surprise. "is it thus with you?" said one, in astonishment. "are you obliged to have recourse to such means?" said another. "you have invited us here, and furnished your table most sumptuously; and are matters thus with you? if it be so, you are rightly served. your profligate habits have led us into great expenses. 't is good; you have given us a proof of what such things lead to." "what!" said a third, "do you wish us to take up the office of host in order to come to the same end at which you have arrived?" "i will give you some sound advice," said a fourth: "whenever you meet with a fool who is inclined to lay out his money in the purchase of such a poor tasteless garden as you have made, dispose of it to him, and with the proceeds take a little shop, and support yourself by trade." "look to yourself," said the fifth: "i am very sorry for you; but i cannot help you." they then left him, some upbraiding him, others shrugging their shoulders with pity. "these are friends indeed!" said jalaladdeen, bitterly, as they deserted him. "oh, why did i neglect my father's injunctions? even on the first day of our acquaintance, i should have taken warning by their carelessness in disregarding the prophet's commandment concerning the abuse of wine. ah me! i am justly punished." he immediately began to retrench his household expenditure, and shortly his handsome tapestries and costly goods were all sold off, and he was reduced to the necessity of economizing most rigidly. but deeply as he felt the loss of those comforts which he had so lately enjoyed, his reflections bore still heavier upon him. in his contemplations one day on his unhappy lot, he laid himself down in the same chamber in which he had received his dying father's commands. here he experienced the most bitter anguish for the past--looked forward with sorrow and amazement to the future, as he had no one to advise and counsel him. here his eye lighted upon the nail in the wall; and the last words of his father rung again in his ears--"take this rope; you will see a nail in the wall; fasten it, and pull three times." jalaladdeen immediately opened a drawer where the rope lay, fetched a stool to the spot, made fast the end of the rope to the nail, and pulled with all his might. at the third pull he found he had torn the nail out of the wall, which had brought with it a square piece of board, thus leaving a large opening: he observed, too, that this was not the effect of chance, but of design. how great, then, was his astonishment when, on fetching a ladder, and looking into the opening, he discovered a much larger bag of gold, pearls, and other precious stones, than that one he found on a previous occasion, and which he had so thoughtlessly squandered. he now perceived that his father had prevented his touching this treasure until he should have learnt by misfortune how easily vast riches are dissipated, and should have been convinced by experience of the truth of his fatherly instructions and warning. in order to avoid falling again into the hands of his profligate friends, should they hear of his improved circumstances, and to rid himself of their company for ever, he sold his house, and bought another, moderately large, pleasantly situated in an open plain in the neighbourhood of a mosque. he fitted it up conveniently; for his wealth, though not limited, was still not superfluously large. when he took possession of his new house, the person who had sold it to him said, "i must leave something of my own here with you, as i have not been able to remove it, though with the best intention." he then conducted him into one of the apartments in which was standing a large copper vessel of elaborate workmanship. the cover of the vessel was sealed, and on the seal jalaladdeen perceived the letters of a strange language. "sir," said the former owner, "this chest has stood in this room from time immemorial. my father forbade me to break the seal, and declared that he who should lay his hand on it for such a purpose would suffer severely for his foolhardiness. i have, i confess, in former times felt a strong inclination to loosen the seal, but fear has hitherto deterred me; but to-day as i had all my furniture removed from this house, i had this chest also conveyed to my new dwelling; but scarcely had the porter placed it down, when it disappeared. however, i found it shortly afterwards in this room again, and ordered its removal a second time; but it was soon standing here again in its old place. perhaps a tutelary genius, invisible to us, inhabits the house. however, as it will not suffer itself to be removed, you may keep it here in the name of the prophet. but forget not my warning--leave the seal unbroken." jalaladdeen felt half inclined to doubt these words; but nodding his head, he said to the man, "well, well, leave the chest here; and if at any time i find it inconvenient, you will not, of course, object to remove it." scarcely had the man quitted the house, when jalaladdeen called a slave, and desired him to place the vessel in a corner of the house. "'t is an old chest," said he: "remove it; its old appearance does not correspond with the decorations of this room, which i intend to use as my sleeping-chamber. now," said he to himself, "i shall see if the man has told the truth." the slave removed the chest without ceremony, and jalaladdeen contemplated, for some time, with great earnestness, the spot where it had lately stood; and as it did not appear again, he fancied that he had rid himself of it for ever. all at once, however, it was standing on the same spot once more, without his having observed by what agency it had been done. he had it then removed again and again, and on each occasion it returned to the same chamber. seeing at last all his efforts fruitless, he permitted it to remain. the adventure, however, was too remarkable to make no impression on his mind. he threw himself down in his clothes on his couch; but sleep was denied to him. a train of thought on the subject of the wondrous chest, and his fear on account of the warning he had received, disturbed his mind, and prevented him from taking any rest. there he lay awake till midnight, and saw the chest glittering in the light of the moon, which fell upon it as it streamed through the window. curiosity at once overcame his fear: he started up and procured an iron tool with which he could break the seal of the cover, and took a hammer and chisel with him. with the aid of these instruments he broke through the leaden seal; but scarcely had it given way, when the lid opened, and a blue curling smoke arose from it, and from the midst of it issued a hideous old woman in a strange dress. she carried a crutch under her left arm, and held another in her right hand. she limped over the side of the vessel, and hobbling towards the astonished jalaladdeen, said, "fool, fool that thou art! is it befitting for thee, so young as thou art, to stand there like an old idler? go forth into the world, and fetch the wonder-stone from mount massis, otherwise thou canst never be my husband." after these words she hobbled back on her crutch to the copper vessel, gathered herself together, as it were, into a ball, tumbled hastily in, and closed the cover on herself. overcome with fear and astonishment, jalaladdeen threw himself upon his couch; but the dawn of morning found him still awake. he endeavoured to beguile the day in the arrangement of his house; but, nevertheless, he could not chase from his memory the wonderful spectacle which he had witnessed, and the portentous words that attended it. he felt an uneasiness which he endeavoured in vain to subdue, nor could he rest satisfied until he had investigated the cause of his anxiety. at length he was so exhausted by the business of the day, fatigue, and want of rest, that he laid himself down early in the evenings and fell asleep; but at the hour of midnight he awoke again. he saw the vessel open, and the blue smoke arising from it, and from the midst of it the ugly old woman hobbled towards him, and cried out, as she swung her crutch to and fro in the air, "fool, fool, young idle fool! think of the stone of mount massis, otherwise thou canst not be my husband." after these words she limped back again, gathered herself up as before, and the lid of the urn closed once more of itself. this occurred every night; but after that jalaladdeen had recovered from the agitation caused by her first appearance, he slept as soundly as ever: still the old woman woke him night after night by thrusts in the ribs with her crutch, and on every occasion repeated the same or similar words. but she generally awoke him in the midst of a dream, in which he always saw a very beautiful young lady, who rose from a kingly throne near him, and touched him with her golden sceptre. to this succeeded the reality of the hideous old woman; and instead of the sceptre, the crutch was wielded against him. he often endeavoured by day to get the vessel removed; and sometimes even it was thrown into the river which flows by bagdad; but still it always found its way back to his chamber at night. he then caused his couch to be removed to another room, but this was to no purpose, as the vessel always followed it. thus matters went on, till the nightly disturbances, and still more the disturbed state of his mind, affected him to such a degree, that his health was very much impaired. he sought the advice of physicians, who prescribed all kinds of stimulants and restoratives; but their combined skill could not restore him to his lost rest. at length one of the physicians said to him, "my skill has done all it can, my medicines avail nothing: if your illness were really that of the body, you would have been restored to health long since; but if your indisposition has its source in the mind, my prescriptions cannot aid you. seek a magician--that is my advice: he by his occult science may be enabled to discover the cause of your bad health, and to effect a cure." jalaladdeen felt the truth of these words. "it cannot be denied," said he, "that the cause of my illness is seated in my mind, and till that be removed, my health cannot be restored." he then sought out one of the most skilful magicians of the day, and disclosed to him the circumstances of his nightly disturbance, assuring him, that before the first night on which the old woman had made her odious appearance out of the vessel, his rest had never been impaired. he ended by begging and entreating of him that he would use all his skill to make the vision cease, and to rid his house of the fatal urn. the magician consulted for some time with himself, and then addressed him thus: "you tell me that this vessel was fastened down by a leaden seal; if it be loose, let me see it." jalaladdeen immediately conducted the magician to his house, and showed him the vessel, to which the seal was still attached. the magician studied with great attention the inscription on the seal, and then turning to jalaladdeen, spoke thus: "all my skill put together could not accomplish your wishes: know that this is the seal of the great solomon; and it is inevitable, that he who breaks it must become an inmate of the vessel. to counteract this fate is not in the power of the most mighty magician. you are in the hands of this old woman, and no human power or wisdom can extricate you from it." this speech involved jalaladdeen in the greatest perplexity; he threw himself upon the ground, beat his breast, and sobbed and wept violently. "whence," exclaimed he, "is the power of this hideous old woman? shall i, to the end of my days, remain in her trammels? shall she, even when i have recovered from my illness, and lie wrapped in sweet dreams, approach my couch, and rouse me with her crutch to listen to her croaking voice? whither can i fly for comfort? i would rather die than drag on a miserable existence in such trouble and anxiety. take this dagger, i pray you, and stab me, and thus put an end to my illness." with this he handed a dagger to the magician, and prayed him with many tears, as he bared his breast, to plunge it in, and rid him of his sufferings. "heaven forbid that i should commit such an act," replied the magician. "you are, without doubt, destined for great deeds, which will be worthy of you, one of which is, that you should break the seal of the great solomon. you tell me that the old woman has desired you to fetch the wonder-stone from mount massis; follow her advice, journey to the mountain, and work out your good fortune. perhaps your fate may take another and a more prosperous turn." he lengthened out his speech in the same tone and spirit, and spoke seriously for some time, till at length he succeeded in quieting jalaladdeen; so that he embraced the hope of being restored one day to perfect health. "but," said he to the magician, "whither shall i bend my course? where is mount massis? and even if i succeed in reaching it, how shall i discover the wonder-stone?" hereupon the magician promised to consider all these points, and to give him the necessary instructions on the morrow. on the following night the ugly old woman appeared again out of the vessel; but did not, as on former occasions, rouse him with her crutch; but it seemed as though he woke of his own accord, and found her standing by his bed-side. "now," said she to him, "will you at last be wise, and give up this idleness? it will prove advantageous both to you and me." she then addressed him in the most friendly terms, and left him in her usual manner. the next morning the magician made his appearance again, and gave him the necessary information as to the course to be pursued. he told him that the wonder-stone lay concealed in a stone castle about midway up mount massis; but that the enterprise required great patience, perseverance, and skill. with such words as these he brought his speech to a close, and left jalaladdeen to his own reflections. "the mountain is difficult of ascent, and is guarded by vigilant genii: he who cannot comply with their singular demands must certainly sink under the dangers to be encountered, or at least withdraw from the attempt without bringing it to completion." jalaladdeen assured the magician that he had sufficient patience to carry him through any trial, and that he was ready and willing to submit to any labour, if by that means he could rid himself of the illness from which he was at that time suffering. "then," said he, "where is mount massis? which i have never before heard of." "you will know it, perhaps, by another name; it is also called mount ararat. there was, at some time or other, a great flood upon the earth, which destroyed every creature, man and beast, save one, who, with his wife and family, was warned by allah; and placed in a large vessel, which floated upon the waters; then, as soon as the flood subsided, the ship remained fixed on one of the two ridges of the mountain; from this time the mount has been considered holy, and the spot most devoutly worshipped." "i have heard of it," replied jalaladdeen; "but in which direction am i to journey, in order to discover this wonder-stone?" "you must follow the course of the tigris," said he, "and then you will be at no great distance from the place." jalaladdeen immediately set his house in order, hired some armed attendants, took from his chest some gold and valuable jewels, and set off on his journey, following the windings of the river. the road appeared pleasant to him, and no danger or misfortune occurred to annoy him; the weather was fine, and he feasted his eyes upon the various features of the country, which were most beautiful and enchanting, travelling cheerfully onward. he began to forget his old sorrows and grievances, and to enjoy an unusual degree of happiness, as he left behind him the vision of the ugly old woman; for she never visited him again from the time he quitted his home. at length he arrived with his suite on a high eminence, from which he beheld a most beautiful expanse of country, and in the distance the most charming scenery, from morning till night. in a corner of the valley a single hill towered up to the sky; farther on rose a chain of mountains; but the little hill was formed at the summit into two peaks. a cloud floated over their tops, one of which shot up more lofty than the other, and the sun cast a brilliant light upon them. but it was remarkable, that the nearer one approached the hill, the higher it appeared, and more majestic. at its base lay a very fruitful plain, and on the other side stood at little city. jalaladdeen inquired the name of the city, and was told that it was semã¦num. "what!" said he, "semã¦num? how did it acquire this extraordinary name?" the people laughed at his simplicity, and inquired whether or not he had heard of the great flood from which only one man and his wife, and three sons with their wives also, escaped. "these eight persons," added they, "on their descent from the mountain, took up their abode here, and laid the foundation of the city." after this jalaladdeen heard that the castle in which the wonder-stone was concealed lay on the other side of the hill; but still no one knew anything of the stone, nor had the inhabitants a satisfactory idea of the castle. but he was informed that so many extraordinary and gigantic masses of stone were standing in the various clefts of the mount, that their appearance was certainly that of a castle, and that the lofty crowning point in the distance resembled a tower. "however," added the relaters, "yonder spot is not accessible, nor has it ever been heard of, within the memory of man, that any one ever dreamt of attempting its ascent. everybody dreads the road on that side of the hill, as it has been said that mighty genii carry on their orgies there; and there is also a tradition, that a traveller once undertook to attain the summit, but that he had never been known to return." as soon as jalaladdeen had clearly ascertained from the inhabitants on which side of the hill the so-called castle was situated, he felt a strong inclination to journey on towards it at that minute, regardless of the warnings of the neighbouring people and the entreaties of his guide. he accordingly took some of his gold and jewels with him, and set off on his journey, ordering his guide to remain behind. he gave these last instructions to his servants: "if i return not in three months, you may regard my property here as your own; then go back each one to his home, or wherever his inclination may lead him." he soon lost his road, and arrived at unknown and intricate paths, with which the foot of the mountain was surrounded. gradually the trees and all traces of vegetation disappeared, save here and there a tuft of close underwood, which sprang up in the clefts of the rocks. round about him were piled blocks of stone of monstrous size, and his farther progress was soon altogether stopped. there rose before him a massive stone wall like a tower, which was so steep and smooth, that it was impossible to pass it. he therefore made a wide circuit round, and at last found himself in a broad chasm of the rock, which seemed to extend far into the mountain. wild and unfrequented as this appeared, nevertheless he ventured to descend. the way was very laborious; he was often obliged to mount sharp-pointed masses of rock, often to wind along between crags and briars, often again to descend into deep abysses, down which rapid streams rushed violently, and then again to clamber up on the other side. at times he hung suspended from one side, searching out in vain a resting-place for his foot, to furnish him a support in his progress. at length, after long and incessant labour through a dangerous pathway, he arrived at the steep summit, from which he discovered massive walls and lofty towers, that appeared to be constructed of rough unhewn stone. with the last exertion of his exhausted strength, he ascended these heights, and found himself before an opening. he knew not whether this was merely a cleft in the rock resembling a doorway, or a doorway hewn in the rough rock like a natural chasm. it was formed of upright blocks of stone, on which was cast another of wonderful size; but there was no door. he laboured now more assiduously than ever through the thorns and pointed stones, which lay here and there over the little level space that extended in front of the opening, till he stood before the dark entrance. the gloom concealed the nature of the interior of the cavity from his view, and he stood for a short time on the threshold, thinking on his past trials and collecting his scattered senses. as he was about to enter, a man stepped up to him, armed with a bow and bearing on his back a quiver of arrows. "take the bow," said he to jalaladdeen, "choose yourself an arrow, and go do your duty." so surprised and astonished was he, that he seized the bow, drew an arrow from the quiver, and asked, "what is my duty? what shall i do?" "there," answered the man, pointing in the distance, "far beyond you must go; there is a great sea, which you must compass to its southern side, and then proceed through a wide expanse of plain until you arrive at a large inland lake, called the eagles' lake. there, every morning immediately after sunrise, you will see a swarm of black eagles on the shore, and among them a single white one. this kill, and, in proof of what you have done, bring back here the left wing." this announcement came like a thunderbolt upon the miserable jalaladdeen, who had fancied that he had arrived very near the end of his journey. but now he was ordered to proceed still farther through an unknown tract of land. on looking back he saw that the sun had already sunk in the heavens, and that dusky and humid clouds were gathering over the sky; so, turning to the man, he said, "the night is fast drawing on, and i am very weary; and if i were to be exposed for so many hours in the abyss of this rocky ravine, i should certainly perish. may i not be permitted to pass the night here?" the man nodded assent, and ordered jalaladdeen to follow him. they passed into a dark hall from the entrance, with a vaulted roof formed of rough blocks of stone, from which hung a single iron lamp, that spread a feeble and dim light around. his conductor left him here alone, and two domestics soon appeared. they brought him an ottoman, and made him understand by signs that he was to sit down. they then placed a table before him with meat and drink, and stationed themselves at a respectful distance from him, waiting to serve him. he ate and drank and refreshed himself after the labours of the day, while the attendants handed everything to him with the greatest attention. as soon as he had satisfied the craving of his appetite, they removed the table with its appendages, and beckoned to him to follow them. they conducted him through a side passage to a door, and when they had drawn back the curtain which hung before it, jalaladdeen stood mute with astonishment. the chamber was precisely like his sleeping-room at bagdad: every article of furniture was of the same size and colour as his, and occupied exactly the same position. "you are surprised at this chamber," said one of the attendants: "our master wished to make it as comfortable for you as possible after your long journey, and he thinks that a man never experiences more comforts than in his own house." with this they saluted him, and retired; but jalaladdeen was too much astonished to sink to rest immediately; he accordingly walked round the room and inspected everything. it was his own chamber, with his own cushions, tapestries, and carpet; the curtains which he had purchased on entering his new house were there, and even the most minute article of furniture was the same; and that nothing might be wanting, there stood, on the precise spot, the fatal vessel which he had not been able to remove from his room by any means. disagreeable as this last was, still he was so taken with surprise at the strange resemblance to his own chamber, that it made no impression on his mind; and at last he laid himself down on the couch, and nature soon asserting her rights, he slumbered. he slept soundly throughout the night, and experienced the same happy dream which had so often visited him when at home. he saw a beautiful young maiden in princely garb, adorned with the most costly jewels, and at the moment that she raised herself from her queenly throne, and bent towards him her golden sceptre, he awoke, and the hideous old woman hobbled up to him. "commit no rash act of folly," said she, in a hoarse croaking voice; "do not go without a dog: they _must_ give you one." she then turned herself about, shook her crutch at him in a menacing manner, and disappeared all at once into the vessel, as on every former occasion. "a dog!" said jalaladdeen to himself: "what shall i do with such an unclean animal? however, she seems to know of the journey in store for me." and revolving the matter in his mind, it appeared to him better to follow her advice. in the midst of his thoughts he again fell fast asleep; and when he awoke, he found, to his no small surprise, that he had been slumbering in a chasm of the rock upon a bed of dried mountain grass. the sun shone in upon him, and before him stood the man who had given him the bow and arrow, and who immediately reminded him of his journey, and urged him to prepare speedily to do his duty. he arose at once, and declared himself ready. "but," said he, calling to mind the old woman's words, "could i not have a dog to accompany me on the way?" "certainly," replied the man; and at his call a large dog with broad paws made its appearance, and began to run round him in a friendly manner, barking for joy. he then tore off a small piece of the hem of his garment, and having shewn it to the dog, gave it to jalaladdeen, and said, "so long as you bear this with you, the dog will follow you wherever you go; be therefore careful of it. now proceed, turn not back to the town, but go straight on to the east." the dog immediately bounded forward, and, on issuing from the hollow of the rock, turned toward the east. jalaladdeen followed, and found, to his astonishment, a winding path, not altogether level, but still not very inconvenient. whenever a dangerous spot showed itself at times, the dog discovered another path by which the danger might be avoided. jalaladdeen therefore allowed him to run on before, and followed his steps. they soon reached the plain, and arrived at a hilly district, where the mountains rose higher and higher behind them in the distance. the land on the other side declined gently; and, afar off, they beheld the sea. many days, however, passed before he was able to make the wide circuit which led to the southern side. he then found himself in a flat country, and, after a journey of fourteen days, arrived at the shores of the eagle lake. jalaladdeen threw himself down, in the evening, upon a dry spot of the shore; for in the course of his long journey he had habituated himself to rest on the earth under the broad canopy of heaven. in the morning, his dog awoke him by a low barking and lively indications of restlessness. he had hardly risen from the ground, when the dog sprang joyously up to him, looking to one side, as though to direct his attention. on turning his eyes towards the spot, he discovered a great multitude of black birds hovering over the trees, and felt satisfied that they were the eagles. he then looked anxiously for the white one, which he was to kill; but in vain. whilst he was engaged in the search, the dog made a circuit, and crept close to them beneath some bushes; then, by a sudden loud bark, he dislodged them from the spot, and they flew in the direction of jalaladdeen, across the lake. he, on a sudden, discovered the snow-white eagle among the others, and bent his bow, and, although the bird was now at so great a distance that no ordinary shot could have reached it, still the arrow flew straight to its mark, and he saw the object of his aim fall far from the shore into the blue waters of the lake. "what avails my fortunate shot?" said he, looking with vexation on the waves which bore it farther from the shore. immediately the dog plunged hastily into the water, and swimming with extraordinary rapidity, seized the eagle in his mouth, and brought it safely to his master. jalaladdeen quickly drew out the arrow, which had pierced it through the middle of the body, and cutting off the left wing, secured it to his person. during this operation, he had smeared his fingers with blood; and, as he was wiping it off on the inside of his girdle, the little piece of the man's garment, which he had hitherto kept safely, fell to the ground without his noticing it. hereupon the dog caught up the body of the eagle, which jalaladdeen had thrown away, and ran off with it at full speed. jalaladdeen called repeatedly to the dog, and coaxed him to return, but in vain; so he proceeded home on his way alone. he certainly met with nothing of material import to molest him in his journey; nevertheless he had to encounter a thousand little obstacles, which very much impeded his progress. he could not discover the path by which he had originally come, but frequently arrived at places where there was no road, or at thick forests, through which he was obliged to hew a path with his sabre, and to pass the night upon the naked earth beneath the open sky. after a much longer journey than before, and many different detours, he arrived at a spot from which he could see the two-pointed head of mount massis. when, after some days, he came to the foot of the mount, he was in hopes of finding the path by which he had descended in company with the dog; but he looked for it in vain, and was obliged to climb up by one of the dreadful rocky ravines, at the risk of his life, as on a former occasion. at length, weary and exhausted, he arrived at the opening, and was about to enter, with the eagle's wing in his hand, when the man who had given him the bow and arrow presented himself before him, and said, "hast thou done thy duty?" jalaladdeen immediately placed the wing in his hands. "good," replied the other; "i will see if it be the right one." he then called the dog by name, who immediately appeared from the castle, carrying the eagle's body in his mouth. as soon as the man had applied the wing to the place from which it had been cut, and compared it with the other, he said to him, nodding approvingly, "'t is well: i have that which i wanted. but stay here a moment; my brother will come to you, and inform you what you must do for him, if you wish to have your desire fulfilled." with these words, he entered the hollow again, and the dog accompanied him. jalaladdeen followed him with his eyes; and then, sighing deeply, said, "another labour still! i fancied i had already discovered the wonder-stone of mount massis, and now i must journey out into the world again on anew adventure. god knows whither the brother will send me." his soliloquy was interrupted by the appearance of a man, who stepped forward from the opening, and presented to him a lance with a glittering steel head. "take it," said he, "and with it do thy duty." jalaladdeen took it, and intimated his readiness to undertake the mission, at the same time asking, "what is my duty?" the man answered, "on the way hence to mount lebanon, on the other side of the tigris and euphrates, the traveller comes, after a journey of some days, to a vast desert. there, in the middle of a large barren and sandy plain, lies a fruitful oasis, watered by a little stream, on whose brink grow tall palms, refreshing the wanderer with their shade and fruit. but the neighbourhood of the palms is frequented by a monstrous lion of a dark colour,--the only one that has wandered into the district,--and his ferocity renders it dangerous to rest beneath their shade. this you must kill--not only for the safety of future travellers, but in order to accomplish your own wishes. then bring here to me the lion's tail; you will hereafter need it." again it was evening; and jalaladdeen begged permission to recruit his strength and refresh himself by a night's rest. the man assented, and made a sign that he should follow him. in the hall he was again provided with meat and drink by the two attendants; and after his repast, they conducted him to the same door, drew back the curtain from before it, and he again, to his utter amazement, found himself in his own sleeping-chamber at bagdad. once more he recognized every article of furniture as his own, or exactly similar to his own, and the copper vessel standing precisely on the same spot. he then threw himself on his couch, and was soon locked in deep slumber. but at the hour of midnight he was again roused from his dream by the hideous old woman, who stood by his bed-side, flourishing her crutch in a threatening attitude, and calling upon him in a hoarse, croaking voice, "see thou commit no rash act of folly," she cried. "go not on foot to the desert, otherwise the floating clouds of sand will bury thee for ever before thou arrivest at the palms; or if thou shouldest attain the spot, the lion will tear thee in pieces if he find no other booty. they must give thee a camel: see that thou demand it." at these words she shook her crutch at him, and disappeared into the vessel. "a camel!" said jalaladdeen to himself: "can they possibly have camels in this unfrequented place? and even if they had, how could i descend to the plain with such a beast, through the clefts in the rocks, from this height?" his weariness was so great that, amid a chain of thoughts that attended the vision, he fell fast asleep again. the next morning he was awoke by the man who gave him the lance, and he discovered himself at the opening of the rock, as on a former occasion. the sun again shone through the hollow, and the man said to him, "'t is time that you should make ready to do your duty: take the bow and arrow, together with my lance, and journey on to the desert." at the moment he called to mind the injunction of the old woman, and answered, "for my passage through the desert i shall require a camel." "then thou shalt have one," replied the man; and, on emerging a second time from the opening, there stood a camel, ready furnished with many necessaries for his comfort and convenience during the journey. to his astonishment, after he had mounted the animal, it proceeded by an easy pathway down the side of the mountain; and, although he could see nothing but impassable spots, huge blocks of stone, and deep abysses both before and behind, still the camel travelled on by a level and gently declining track. on this occasion, too, his journey was more prosperous and far more speedy than at the first. he arrived at the desert without any mishap, and in the evening reached the fruitful strip of land where the palms stood. the camel immediately refreshed itself with water, while jalaladdeen's repast consisted of dates from the neighbouring trees. he then allowed the camel to browse upon the brink of the stream, while he resigned himself, without care, to rest beneath the shade. he was soon, however, terrified by the roar of a lion, which sounded close to him; accordingly he sprang up hastily, seized his arms, and took up a position behind some large palms, which concealed him from the sight of his approaching enemy. soon the lion drew on with rapid strides, and was about to rush upon the browsing camel, when jalaladdeen shot an arrow, which took effect in his right eye. scarcely had the dart reached the lion, when he sprang vengefully forward on his foe, whom he had but that moment discovered. jalaladdeen, nothing daunted, stepped boldly forwards, and thrust at him with the point of his lance; but the lion bounded on with such force, that he could not withstand the attack: he fell, and the whole bulk of the lion rolled over him. jalaladdeen gave himself up for lost: he lay senseless some time, and when he had recovered sufficiently to comprehend his dreadful situation, the moon was high in the heavens. he was very weak, and bruised all over the body, and he felt some great weight upon him. by means of considerable exertion, he released himself, and remarked for the first time that his clothes were saturated with blood. he immediately fancied that he had been wounded by the teeth or claws of the lion, and accordingly rolled over to the water and washed himself; but, after a very careful examination of his person, he could not discover a wound. the coolness of the water refreshed his limbs, and eased the pain of the bruises in the various parts of his body. after this he was soon enabled to stand up, and he found that the weight which had been pressing upon him was the lion, dead and stiff, and soaked in his blood. in its bound forward it had pierced itself with the lance, and had fallen to the ground, in consequence of the furious attack it was designing. the body of the dead lion proved a soft pillow, and its bulk was so immense that jalaladdeen could recline at full length upon its back with great ease. in this manner he slept on, and did not rise till broad daylight, when he felt himself fully refreshed and well. he then cut off the lion's tail, and remounted the camel, which had strayed to a short distance from the spot. the return to the castle on the mount was prosperous, and not marked by any particular adventure. he soon left the desert behind, and found himself at the foot of mount massis. but as evening was approaching, he considered whether it would be better to rest till morning, and then ascend the acclivity; the camel, however, perseveringly trotted on with that zeal which animals generally show when approaching their accustomed dwelling. the last gleam of day had not disappeared in the western sky when he found himself in the little chamber before the well-known entrance of the castle. although the distance from the foot of the hill thus far up to the castle, notwithstanding the rapid steps of the beast, had occupied the greater part of a whole day, yet it appeared that it could now be accomplished in the short space of a single hour. jalaladdeen could not comprehend how he had reached it so rapidly; but it occurred to him for the first time that he had never seen so extraordinary a pathway, or one accompanied with so much difficulty and danger. he contemplated with surprise the rapidity with which he had completed this journey, and made a sign to the camel to kneel, to give his rider an opportunity of descending and unloading him. he took his arms and the lion's tail, and entered the gate of the castle. on his entry he was met by a man, who took his lance from him and said, "hast thou done thy duty?" and as jalaladdeen presented to him the lion's tail, he said that he had failed in nothing. "good," said he; "but still i will put it to the test, to prove whether you are right." he then called out aloud four names, upon which immediately appeared four large dogs out of the chasm in the rock, dragging after them the dead body of the dark lion. the man now applied the tail to the lion's body, and on finding that it corresponded, "good," said he; "i have now what i desire. wait, however, a short time, and my brother will come and tell you what he requires you to do for him, if you are inclined to see your wishes fulfilled." with these words he retired into the castle, and the four dogs dragged in the lion after him. "alas!" said jalaladdeen, "i have not yet accomplished my labours! who knows how many brothers may be dwelling here together? and if i receive only a slight demand from each of them, a year may elapse ere i obtain the wonder-stone." he had scarcely uttered these words when the third brother advanced, and handing to him a basket made of rushes, accompanied it with the words, "go and do thy duty." he inquired what was his duty, and received this answer: "go and fetch water." "what!" said he; "fetch water in a basket! it will run out between the rushes!" the man shrugged up his shoulders, and said, "that is for you to look to: water you must bring in this basket, and without the aid of any other vessel; for you will stand in need of the water." "that is impossible," replied jalaladdeen. "set me to any other kind of work--send me into a distant country on the other side of the caucasus, let me herd with wild beasts, and i will, without making any objection, obey your injunctions, even at the risk of my life; but do not require impossibilities of me." "'t is not impossible," answered the man. "reflect: i dare not say anything more to you. you have till morning to consider what you will do. come in here and refresh yourself with food and rest." jalaladdeen followed him, and was conducted into a chamber, where he was abundantly supplied with viands and liquors. the bed-room appropriated to him was that in which he had formerly rested and known as his own; and he laid himself down, exhausted and overcome with grief on account of the new demand made upon him. he awoke again at midnight, and the little old woman stood once more before him with her uplifted crutch. "commit no rash act of folly," said she. "seek not water out of the deep: carry _that_ not in thy basket; the water which thou must bring in it will not escape through it. step out; above thou wilt find the water i speak of; thence thou must fetch it. dost thou hear? be not foolish: hast thou lost thine understanding?" after she had disappeared, as on previous occasions, jalaladdeen rolled about for some time on his couch, sleepless and perplexed with care. it appeared to him like an unsolvable riddle. "what! shall i not fetch water from the depth, whence commonly springs and streams flow? and yet shall i go upwards? and am i to carry it in a simple wicker basket?" at last, however, he fell asleep again, and was awoke in the morning, with positive orders to make ready to do his duty. as he was preparing, he said, "the way up the rock and the oft-frequented path is dangerous; could i not get a travelling-staff to help me?" "here is one ready," answered the man, handing him a long pole, made of a light tough wood, with a strong iron spike fixed to it. he then shook him heartily by the hand, and let him out of the opening. when he gained the exterior, he looked all around him. he hoped to discover some track which would indicate in what direction he should set out; but stones and ruins, the effects of a great convulsion of nature, surrounded, in a wild and unnatural confusion, the small and even spot before the entrance of the castle. but what most astonished him was, that the road which had appeared formerly to be impassable for his camel should now present an even and unencumbered path. at last, after various attempts, by great good fortune, he found a part where, by help of his travelling-staff, he was able to climb up the projecting mass of rock. on the other side he found a spot by which he could, without much danger, descend into a large plain. it seemed to him like the same piece of rock on which he, in the first instance, had got in proceeding from the castle. he was nearly, from this circumstance, led to descend there; but he thought of the warning given to him by the old woman in good time, who had advised him not to fetch water from the bottom, but from the summit, and he accordingly bent his steps upwards. but here the road lay through enormous fragments of rock, choked up at intervals with briars and thorns. at length, after frequently-repeated efforts, he succeeded in journeying on a short distance by the help of his travelling-staff, when a spot presented itself where there was a chasm in the rock, which it was impossible for him to surmount. he was accordingly obliged to turn sideways till he had passed it, in order to follow up his prescribed route. he toiled on with intense exertion, endeavouring to reach the summit of the rock, for more than an hour; but, from various obstacles, had not made any great progress. at last, worn out with fatigue, he sat himself down beneath the shade of an overhanging crag, to recruit his strength, in order to renew the attempt with increased vigour. up to this time, through all his wanderings, he had not found a stream from whose source he was able to draw water. he had certainly seen in deep hollows small rivulets issuing from the rock, which by their fall covered the neighbouring plain with white flakes of foam. still, although he persevered assiduously, he could not discover one spot which he could approach sufficiently near. he was by this time suffering intensely from thirst; for, notwithstanding the height at which he had arrived, where the cold was more severe than in the hollows beneath, still his anxiety, and his journey upwards beneath the midday sun, had parched his lips, and he had not yet been able to reach a stream at which to moisten them. "fool, fool that i am!" exclaimed jalaladdeen, bitterly; "why should i thus exhaust my strength? if i attain the summit of the hill, i shall meet with no water; or even if i were to find a spring at the top of it, still i should not be able to carry its waters in a rush basket." he then reasoned with himself whether or not it were better to return; but then the thought flashed across his mind that the words of the old woman had on two previous occasions been fully verified. he therefore determined to follow her advice once more. "did she not assure me," said he, "that i should find water enough above me? 't is passing strange: the streams certainly flow thence, or remain still in their channels." with this he set forward again on his ascent, and it now appeared that he had advanced much farther than he had been aware of, and in a shorter space of time. he had not proceeded far when he arrived at a spot hollowed out, and sheltered from behind by a large mass of rock. in this cavity was a quantity of snow and ice, which the air at that height could not melt, and to which the rays of the sun could not penetrate through the surrounding masses. jalaladdeen laid himself down to rest at the edge of the snow, and refreshed himself with its grateful coolness by taking a small quantity in his hands, and by applying it to his lips. he first of all moistened the exterior of his mouth, and then swallowed a little with great pleasure. this at once solved the mystery of the problem. "here," said he, "is a large expanse of snow: the tops of the mountains are covered with it. what is snow but water? and such water i can easily carry in my rush basket; and even if some should melt in the journey, it cannot all dissolve and escape." he then began immediately to fill the basket with clean snow from the middle of a heap, and to render it more firm, he pressed it together with his hands. as soon as he had filled his basket, he set off joyously on his return; but it seemed as though he must again have taken a different route, as he did not meet in the course of his way one of the thousand obstacles that had impeded his progress on his journey in search of this water. the last traces of sunlight were fast disappearing in the west when he found himself at the entrance of the castle. immediately the three brothers advanced to meet him. "see," said the third, who had imposed this last mission on him, "see, thou hast brought us water in a rush basket." with these words they ushered him into the interior, and gave him the joyful intelligence that he had now accomplished everything that was necessary to put him in possession of the wonder-stone. "you must know," said they, "that the wonder-stone is concealed in an iron chest; but the bolt, by lapse of time, is so thoroughly rusted that no power has yet been discovered sufficient to force it back and to disclose the contents. there is, however, a tradition that he who shall be deemed worthy to possess this treasure, and who shall have successfully performed all our commands, shall be endued with power to draw back the bolt--a feat which has been deemed impossible for many hundred years. but, as destiny often depends on circumstances which mortals consider trivial and insignificant, so in this case a combination of materials is requisite, by whose agency alone a sure and happy success can crown our hitherto prosperous attempts. it would, doubtless, be imagined that a rusty bolt might be moved by the application of a little oil or grease, of whatever nature it might be; but in this case nothing save that portion of marrow which is contained in the lion's tail will be efficient, and this, too, must be boiled in water fetched in a rush basket. nor is this all: the marrow must be applied with three feathers plucked from the left wing of a white eagle, the king of eagles in eagle land." after these words they conducted him into a chamber; in the middle of it stood a large iron chest, whose cover was fastened down by seven strong iron bolts. "behold the chest in which the wonder-stone is hid," said they. "let us proceed to work immediately." hereupon they brought in a cauldron, and filled it with snow from the rush basket, and placed it on a fire in the kitchen. the lion's tail was then cut into pieces and thrown into the water; the fat was soon extracted, and floated at the top. then the first of the three brothers brought in the eagle's wing, and jalaladdeen was ordered to pluck out the three outside feathers, and with them to anoint the bolts. while he was thus occupied, a drop of the fat fell upon his hands, which he rubbed over them. "right, right!" said another brother, who had observed it with great satisfaction; "it is very strengthening to the limbs." and he accordingly rubbed both his hands and feet, and immediately experienced a pleasurable sensation of new vigour. jalaladdeen had been exceedingly fatigued by the toils of the day; nevertheless by this application he felt as recruited as he had on other occasions in consequence of a prolonged and peaceful slumber. "the marrow has done its work," said the second brother; "it has already unclosed the bolt. approach, then, and open the chest." jalaladdeen bowed, and with great apparent ease withdrew the bolts. as soon as he had lifted up the lid he beheld a beautiful gem, which appeared to be a rare specimen of the onyx. in the middle of it was a golden hook, to which a chain was attached, by which it might be suspended from the neck. upon the stone was an engraving of an altar, upon which a sacrificial fire was burning, and before it a suppliant family bowed the knee; over this was thrown a white vestment archwise in the form of a rainbow. "is this really the wonder-stone?" said jalaladdeen, gazing on it with rapture. "it is," replied the brothers; and continuing, "hail, thou happy youth!" they exclaimed; "hail, prince! thou wilt shortly be seated on the throne of thy fathers." "a prince!" cried jalaladdeen, in astonishment; "a prince! my father died at bagdad, a quiet, retired man, and never in the whole course of my life did i hear him say that he had ever been a king." "he was a king," exclaimed one of the brothers; "but his subjects made war against him, and drove him into exile; they then elected another sultan, who sat upon the throne there many years. he is since dead, and the people are not unanimous in raising his daughter to the queenly station. they are divided into two factions, opposed to one another with the most dreadful hatred and animosity. go thither, and give thy people peace." "whither shall i go?" asked jalaladdeen, anxiously. "how shall i procure myself to be recognized as their lawful monarch?" "that will be easily accomplished," answered one of the brothers, "by the agency of this wonder-stone. place the chain round thy neck, and support the gem on thy breast. now come," said they, as soon as he had complied with this direction; "thou hast no time to spare: refresh thyself, as though for a long journey, with meat and drink, and then set out." they then conducted him into an adjoining room, and waited upon him themselves; after his repast they handed to him a crystal goblet filled with a liquor most agreeable to his palate, superior to any drink he had formerly tasted. "now proceed onward," said they: "this is the first step towards your happiness." one of them then traced a small cross with his forefinger upon the wall, and immediately there opened a small vaulted chamber. "what!" said jalaladdeen, "am i to enter that gloomy hole?" shuddering and involuntarily drawing back, in consequence of the cold damp vapour that issued from it. "hand him another goblet to refresh himself," said one of the brothers, and at the same time filling one for him. then the third brother presented to him the eagle's wing and the tip of the lion's tail, which had been reserved from the cauldron, and the arrow and lance, too, with which he had killed them. "forward! on, in the name of the prophet!" was the next command. "i obey," answered jalaladdeen; "but suffer me before my departure to ask, who are ye?" "we are three genii," said they, "sent here by the king of spirits, as keepers of the mysteries of the holy mount massis. but proceed, in order that thou mayest arrive in due time at thy destination." they led him to the opening, and as he was stooping down to enter it, "see," said they, "if thou shouldst return by this way, throw upon the ground this wing of the eagle and the tail of the lion, and call out in a loud voice our names, arjeh, neschar, and mana-guma. we shall then know what thou requirest." with these words the passage closed upon him, and he found himself in such dense darkness that there was not a single glimmer of light through the whole space. the ground as he advanced was even, and for the first few steps he could walk upright, so that it did not seem inconvenient. suddenly, however, he came to a gradual declivity, and after a few steps he felt the bottom sinking beneath his feet. he could no longer remain upright, but sank upon his knees, and eventually sat himself down; for it gave way more and more, and the more he struggled the lower he sank. at last he bent forward with his head laid upon his knee, as he was completely exhausted, in consequence of the rapid though gradual fall of earth. how long he might have been descending he could not tell, as his self-possession had entirely deserted him; and when he recovered himself, he seemed to be just awakening out of a sound sleep. this commotion was suspended for a moment, and he felt the spot on which he was seated rising up again; but it soon descended, and continued to ascend and descend with unceasing force and rapidity. but at times he lost all consciousness, and recovered his recollection again as the motion changed and proceeded downwards. in this manner was he driven from sleeping to waking, overcome with exhaustion and perplexed with the darksomeness of his journey. how long he was in this gloomy passage he knew not: at one time he thought that the journey had been one of several days; but then this could not be so, as he had not even once experienced the cravings of hunger or thirst: as he had not suffered in this particular, he felt convinced that the time that had elapsed was much less, and that it must have appeared so from his total abstinence. at length he perceived a small gleam of light at the farther end of this way, and by it he observed that he was in a narrow part of a subterranean chamber, which seemed scarcely large enough to admit his body. his movements, however, were so quick that he brought himself nearer and nearer to the light at every step, till at last he succeeded in extricating himself. he found himself standing upon a mount on a spot hitherto unknown to him, which was illumined by the sun from the opposite horizon. here he remained, gazing joyously around, and breathing now for the first time the pure fresh air. on a sudden he heard a loud warlike sound at the foot of the hill; and, on a closer inspection, he discovered several companies, ranged in battle order half-way up the hill, and preparing for the attack. without allowing himself time for reflection, he threw the lion's tail and eagle's wing to the ground, exclaiming at the same time in a loud voice the names of the three genii of mount massis, "arjeh, neschar, mana-guma!" scarcely had he uttered the last word, when he found himself mounted upon a noble white steed with a black tail, the arrow in his left hand, and the spear in his right; and without his taking hold of the reins, which were ornamented with gold and precious stones, the tractable steed flew along the hill rapidly, and bore him safely between the two contending factions. "what are you doing?" exclaimed jalaladdeen in a tone of anger to both parties, who immediately ceased their hostile contentions, through their amazement at the sudden appearance of the stranger horseman. "what is the cause of this deadly feud?" at these words a joyous train of voices proceeded from the band upon his right hand; and the combatants immediately threw down their weapons, exclaiming, "this, this is he who shall bring peace to our people! this is the appointed sultan! lo! it was prophesied that he should appear upon a white horse with a black tail, upon the longest day of the year. hail, sultan! all hail!" upon this the commander of the company approached jalaladdeen with submission, bending before him with his arms crossed upon his breast; and the troops threw themselves upon the earth, each one bowing low with his forehead to the dust. hereupon the leader of the opposite faction sprang forward, crying out, "down with them! down with them!" but jalaladdeen's horse turned towards him instinctively, and bore him to the band. "why would you prolong the strife and contest?" cried he. "what is your complaint?" "they carry arms for gulnaschare," was the answer. "dost thou not know that a young maiden dares to rule over a people of warlike customs--that she arrogates to herself a right to the throne, alleging that thus it hath been decreed she should reign until the son of the late banished sultan shall appear, who is the appointed one to share the sovereignty? canst thou be such a stranger in the country as to be ignorant of the prediction of the prophet and the astrologers? and how she has led her subjects into grievous error, to the effect that the prince jalaladdeen would appear in a wonderful manner in the country on the longest day of the year, and fall upon his enemies with the strength of a lion and the swiftness of an eagle?" upon this jalaladdeen cried out aloud, "the people have not been led into error, nor have they been deceived; they have heard the truth. behold, i am jalaladdeen; and if ye do not all, to a man, cease from your hostilities, ye shall be made to feel the strength of the lion and the swiftness of the eagle." but the leader of the party said, "what! hast thou suffered thyself to be deceived, and to be made an advocate of the imposition? now our arms must decide it." at these words they pressed upon him and drew near, when jalaladdeen wielded his lance with the swiftness of lightning, and with extraordinary strength and courage beat them off, one after the other. his steed gave a joyous neigh, and bounded forward among the crowd; while the troops of gulnaschare followed after him, seeing his perilous position. when the enemy saw their leader weltering in his blood, and the courageous youth heading their antagonists, they fled in disorder; some even threw their arms from them, and surrendered at discretion. jalaladdeen and his troops pursued the fugitives; but so fleet was his steed, that he found himself alone in the midst of the flying, while his band had not yet come up. as soon as the enemy perceived this, they surrounded him and enclosed him in a large circle. in this emergency the swiftness of the eagle and the strength of the lion proved necessary to him; and his steed, as though endued with reason, turned itself about continually, shooting quick glances like lightning from its eyeballs, so that jalaladdeen could perceive every man in the circle who stood near him. in this manner he struck them to the ground, or shot them through before they had determined upon their method of attack, or could see through his manoeuvres. but, to his astonishment, he found that he had a fresh arrow in his hand after every shot from his bow. in a short time there was a large circle of killed and wounded round him. at length his own army arrived; and the enemy again took to flight. jalaladdeen pursued after them again, to a narrow pass, whence there was no escape. here they threw themselves upon their faces, and humbly sought for mercy. jalaladdeen then proceeded to the capital of the country, followed by his warriors, and accompanied by a train of many thousand prisoners and captured foes. the news of his appearance upon the hill, and the account of the victory which he had subsequently gained, had already reached the city; and the elders poured out to the gate to meet him. the prophets and astrologers also flocked together to welcome him as the appointed sultan, and to escort him to the royal palace. the streets through which they passed were magnificently decorated; and the joy of the populace was such as greets an ancient and once loved lord on his entry into his capital. in the palace yard the upper officers of the household, the servants of the court, and the slaves, were drawn up to welcome him with becoming respect. here he dismounted from his horse, passed up the steps, and proceeded through the colonnades and antechambers which led to the throne-room, where gulnaschare was seated, surrounded by a splendid retinue. the royal maiden rose from her throne at his entrance; but how amazed and confused was jalaladdeen! she was not altogether unknown to him; for he now saw before him in reality the young maid who had been so often present to him in his dreams, out of which he had been so repeatedly roused by the old woman belabouring him with her crutch. she gazed upon him with an affectionate smile; and as he drew near, she descended the steps of her throne, extended to him the golden sceptre, and touched him with the point of it. "hast thou the wonder-stone from mount massis?" said she. jalaladdeen was too confused to reply to her; but the gem suspended from his neck assured her as to his identity. "that is it," said she, in continuation. "the possession of that stone proves thee destined to become my husband, and to reign over the vast empire of the moguls, from which thou, with thy father, wast banished in thine early days." she then took him by the hand, led him up the steps, and seated him upon the throne, bent before him, and delivered the sceptre into his hand. "behold," said she to the surrounding multitude, "behold your rightful sovereign! it was written in the book of fate that janghiz his father should, in consequence of his covetousness, be driven into exile by my father khamar; then that the innocent son, after many severe proofs and labours imposed by the king of spirits, if deemed worthy, should share the throne with me." "he has been tried, and is found worthy!" exclaimed all the prophets and astrologers. "hail to him! hail, sultan!" immediately burst from the lips of all present in the palace; and the multitudes in the streets and approaches reiterated the shout. then jalaladdeen, advancing from the throne, addressed the throng: "heartily do i thank allah and the prophet that my fate has taken so wondrous and happy a turn; but, above all, i prize my good fortune in becoming the husband of this amiable princess." jalaladdeen thus concluded his address; and gulnaschare said to him, "didst thou so often wish for me when i, in the guise of an old woman, roused thee night after night from thy peaceful slumbers and happy dreams with my crutch?" "how!" exclaimed jalaladdeen; "wast thou that hideous old woman? impossible!" "passing strange, perchance, it may seem; but nevertheless it is so: all things are possible to the king of spirits, which mortal mind can barely comprehend." the marriage ceremony was now ordered to take place; and one festivity followed another; happiness, and joy, and peace, reigned together. jalaladdeen ruled for many years over the kingdom of the moguls, and enlarged it by many prosperous conquests; he brought it to a state of peace and tranquillity which it had never experienced in former years, and which, after his death, it did not long enjoy. [illustration] the story of haschem. [illustration] chapter i. the lost son. more than a thousand years ago, there lived in the famous city of bagdad a man called naima, who, although he was now grey with age, had still the lusty strength of earlier days. the opening of his life was devoted to trade; and in pursuit of it he made many journeys, by which he not only gained great intellectual treasures and experiences, but also acquired property, which afforded him, not certainly the means for extravagant expenditure, but still sufficient to live in comfort. he had the good sense and wisdom to be satisfied with such moderate possessions, and to enjoy them in peaceful quiet--labouring meanwhile for the improvement of his only son. many of his acquaintance, however, sought to amass greater wealth, forgetting, as it would seem, that by such constant efforts, life itself, after its meridian, would be but lost without some new and higher enjoyment. the city of mossul was his home in early days; but he quitted it, and took up his abode in bagdad, partly owing to the suggestions of a friend with whom he had been on the most intimate and confidential terms from his youth--partly, too, for the sake of the education of his son, as he expected that a residence in that city would produce worthy and lasting impressions on the mind of the young man. bagdad was, at this time, under the rule of the famed caliph haroun al raschid, and was the resort of strangers from all parts of the globe, where artists and sages of that country mingled among those of the neighbouring lands. nor had naima conceived a vain expectation. his son haschem was a young man gifted with good natural abilities, and endowed with a pure unsullied heart. he used every opportunity which chance threw in his way to extend his knowledge, cultivate his mind, or to improve his disposition; nor was he deficient in bodily exercises and warlike accomplishments; so that through good discipline he became powerful in body and strong in mind. he was, therefore, as was natural enough, not only the joy and pride of his father, but was loved and esteemed by all who knew him, and was often pointed out by the elders, to others of his own age, as an example worthy of imitation. as the father saw his greatest treasure in the person of his only son, so he, with all the fervour of a well-directed mind, clung to his father. some years passed over them in this mutual love, heightened still more by the companionship of their friend saad, and their happiness was full and uninterrupted. it chanced one day that naima and saad were taking their accustomed walk in the princely gardens adjoining the city in front of the gate. the heat of the summer's day had been diminished by a gentle rain, and the two strolled on in happy conversation, and extended their walk beyond its ordinary length. the last gardens were already left behind them, and they wandered on over green meadow-land; behind a little wood, at the entrance of which stood high palms, whose shadows invited to repose. a fresh spring gushed from a neighbouring rock, and meandered sparkling among the verdant herbage and variegated flowers. the two friends lay down in the shade, and conversed on the dangers to which the most virtuous men are subject, and how easily one may, through passion, be led into a false step, if he allow himself to confide in his own firmness of purpose. "i have known men," continued saad, "who, although among the best and noblest whom i have ever known in the course of my life, were led unawares, by too great self-confidence, to an action which they might easily have avoided by a little caution, but which has been the beginning of a long chain of transgressions and vices, ending in their complete ruin." naima maintained that a heart accustomed from early youth to virtue would, on the contrary, not be easily led to commit a serious fault; and even if it should happen so, that it would readily find its way back from a slight error to the right road. they talked still longer on these subjects, each endeavouring to confirm his assertions by examples. haschem, stretched beside them, listened with attention to their instructive conversation; but suddenly he sprang to his feet, and ran quickly up the woody hill, at the foot of which they were reposing. saad and his father looked after him with astonishment, as they could not comprehend what had occasioned his sudden departure. then they saw that a little bird, as white as snow, was flying before him, which he was trying to catch. he was soon lost to their view among the bushes; they cried to him, and begged him to come back--but in vain. they waited for a quarter of an hour, and still haschem did not return. uneasy as to what had become of him, they advanced in the direction in which he had disappeared; but they could discover nothing. they called his name: the wood echoed it. at last the sun set; then said saad, "let us return home: your son is a robust and strong young man; he will easily find his way back into the city. perhaps he has gone home some other way." after long opposition, the father was at last persuaded to return without his son; but he was still full of anxiety, which no arguments could overcome. when they arrived at the city, his friend accompanied him to his house. they entered hastily, and inquired for haschem; but he had not returned. saad's hopes were of no more avail; naima would no longer listen to him, but weeping, threw himself on his couch. saad rebuked him for this weakness, and represented to him that it might easily have happened that the young man had lost his way in the pursuit of the bird, and could not recover the track. "he has certainly found a shelter where he will remain till morning," continued he; "he will return here early to-morrow, and will laugh heartily at your unmanly spirit and desponding grief." when saad was gone naima gave free scope to his feelings. he wept aloud, tore his beard, and threw himself upon the ground, like a madman. the servants and slaves of the house stood around in motionless astonishment, as they were not accustomed to see their master exhibiting such passionate emotion; others sought to console him, but fruitlessly; so they cried and bewailed with him for his dear son, who was beloved by them all. after a sleepless night, the afflicted father was not at all quieted. he wished early in the morning to send messengers in all directions; but saad, who had come to hear if the lost one had returned home, explained to him how foolish this step would be. "remember," said he, "that your haschem has most probably found a night's lodging, and slept better than you. if he had set out on his way at daybreak, he could not be here now; and if you send these messengers after him, he may perhaps come home by a shorter path, while they will be searching for him in vain. wait, at least, till noon." naima yielded: he appointed the messengers to be ready at noon, and in the meanwhile walked through the gardens and in the country round about the city, where they had been on the preceding day. his friend accompanied him, although he pointed out that haschem might, in the interval, have reached home while they were walking, and that he was thus perhaps giving himself more grief than was necessary. "i have given up to you in the rest," replied naima; "let me at least in this instance have my own will, that i may walk here." they went together to the fountain in the rock near the palms; they climbed the neighbouring heights; they called the name of the lost one in all directions; but no sound was heard in reply. at noon they went home, and asked all they met if they had not seen a young man, whom they accurately described. nobody could give them any information about him. naima now sent out his messengers in all directions; to each he promised a rich reward, but tenfold to that one who should lead the lost one back to his arms. they set out joyfully, each one hoping to gain the tenfold sum, and they all intended to return home in the evening; but these hopes were disappointed. naima with earnest desire expected them in the evening; none came. at last a few returned on the third day. they had gone a day's journey in the appointed direction, had sought everywhere, had described the wanderer to all they had met, but none had seen him. the rest of the messengers also returned, one by one, and none had discovered the least trace of him. the hopes of the sorrowing father had almost disappeared: only one of the dispatched messengers was not yet come back. although it was probable that this one might remain away without success, he still clung to the hope that he at least might discover a trace of his son, who had disappeared in so unaccountable a manner. but when this last messenger returned on the tenth day, and reported that all his researches had been without success, the parent's grief knew no bounds. his friend saad stood by him comforting him, and inquired, together with all his friends, whether no tidings could be learned of haschem. he could not have been killed, for then his corpse would have been found; he had no cause to conceal himself; he could not have been attacked by enemies, as he had none: might he, in the pursuit of the bird, have been led to the brink of the stream, and have thrown himself in, and been carried away by the waves? scarcely did the possibility of this idea arise, when two messengers were dispatched to each side of the river to make fresh search, from its junction with the euphrates above balsora to the spot where it flows into the arabian sea, to ascertain if the corpse of haschem had been washed ashore. but these messengers also returned to the anxious father, and had not found what they sought. now the father and his friend gave up haschem for lost; naima's manly spirit was broken; grief for his lost son shortened his life; he soon became old: all joy had by this time fled from his mind; and his sorrow was only a little alleviated when his faithful friend saad sat by him in the evening, talked with him of his son, relating the virtues by which he had been distinguished, and told him how it had been his darling wish that this excellent young man should marry his daughter zoraine. chapter ii. the sympathizing ruler. in a few days the caliph haroun al raschid went, as he was accustomed, in disguise, with his grand vizier giafar, and mesrour his chamberlain, through the streets of bagdad, to see with his own eyes and to hear with his own ears how justice and order were maintained by his servants, and whether his people were happy and prosperous. he had, as usual, chosen the last hour of the evening for this walk, because he thought that at this time he could look deeper into men's joys and pleasures, as they had then ended their daily toils, and were seeking comfort and repose in the bosom of their family. in his progress he came to a street distinguished by peculiar silence and quiet. as he approached a house, before the door of which two men were standing whispering, haroun al raschid addressed them with these words: "why do you whisper, as if you were concerting a crime? is not this street lonely enough, that you cannot hold your discourse aloud? can you tell me why this street is so quiet, as though every inhabitant were dead?" "i can easily tell you, my lord," answered one of the whisperers: "here, in the next house, lives the unfortunate naima, and, as usual at this hour, his friend saad sits with him to console him. now, all the inhabitants of this street respect this man, and wish not to remind him, by any outburst of joy, that happier men than himself live in his neighbourhood." before the caliph could answer him, he turned away and went into the house, and the other followed him. "have you ever heard of this unfortunate naima before?" asked haroun al raschid of his grand vizier; and as he answered in the negative, he said, "let us rap at the door of the next house, where this naima dwells; perhaps we may discover the cause of his sorrow." they drew near, and saw the light from the inner court shining through a crevice. the caliph placed his eye at this crevice, and after he had watched for some time, he beckoned his followers to him, and said, "two grey-headed men are sitting in this court by a lamp, and one seems to be comforting the other; but this latter continues to weep more bitterly. both seem of the same rank; and i am desirous to know what sorrow oppresses the unfortunate naima. order him to appear at my palace early to-morrow morning; perhaps it may be in my power to lighten his calamity." the next day the grand vizier executed his commission. naima was frightened when his presence was required at the palace. he was led into the great hall where the divan usually assembled; but he was quite alone there when the servants had left him. he reviewed the whole of his past life, to see if he had sinned in any way so as to bring on him the displeasure of the righteous caliph; for he knew that haroun al raschid often, in a mysterious manner, discovered the faults of his subjects, and punished them accordingly. but he could not call to mind any deed of which he, felt ashamed, nor any that deserved punishment. whilst he was thus meditating, a curtain was drawn back, and the caliph entered, followed by his vizier and his chamberlain. naima rose from the ground, and bowed with his head even to the carpet on which the caliph stood. "naima," said the caliph, "a heavy weight of grief oppress you; and by the anxiety which your neighbours manifest to show respect for the sorrows of your soul, i must consider you as a man of great worth. i wish to know the cause of your despondency: will you confess it before these two witnesses, or would you rather confide to me alone the reason of your tears?" "ruler of the faithful," answered naima, "sorrow is great and deep in my soul; but still the cause of it is unworthy to distract for a moment the attention of the caliph from the cares of his kingdom." but haroun al raschid answered, "that which fills the heart of the meanest of my subjects with such grief that it consumes his life is not unworthy of my care. when i am careful for my whole kingdom, this care extends to each individual; if, then, i am careful for one, this one is a member of the whole, and thus my care is not lost. but speak, what is the cause of your sorrow and your tears?" then naima recounted the mysterious disappearance of his son; how he had sought for him everywhere, and how all trouble had been useless, so that all his messengers had returned home without the least trace of him. "i must therefore weep for him as one that is dead"--thus he ended his relation; "and tears, perhaps, might appease my sorrow, if at the same time a ray of hope did not dart through my heart that possibly he is still alive; but where does he live, if indeed he be still alive? this ray of hope keeps the wound in the father's heart always open." "you have real cause for grief," answered the caliph, "and i comprehend that the uncertainty of your son's fate must be as terrible to bear as would be the mournful certainty of his death. you did wrong in not applying to me before: my power extends not only over believers, but also in foreign lands. other kings and rulers i have as my servants, whose eyes see for me, whose ears hear for me, and whose hands perform what is necessary for my pleasure. that which was not possible to yourself, your friends, and your servants to accomplish, might perhaps have been easy to me. now go home, and believe that you shall obtain news of your son, if he lives on the earth, in any land where my power can reach." with these words he dismissed him, after he had first inquired the marks by which his lost son might be recognized. when naima again sat with his friend saad in the evening, he related to him the gracious and comforting words of the caliph. saad perceived that hope was again revived in his friend's heart, and that he confidently trusted to find his son. he thought it therefore his duty to damp this hope, and said, "beloved friend, i have once heard a speech, which by its truth sank deeply in my memory: it is, 'trust not in princes; they are but men.' the moral of which is, that the mightiest on earth are subject to fate. if the caliph have influence in distant lands, it must be in a confined and narrow limit. that which is but a span distant is under the control of all-governing fate, even from the meanest slave to the ruler of the faithful." but if the power of haroun al raschid were bounded by the immensity of fate, yet he did all he could to fulfil the hope he had raised in naima's heart. he gave a commission to all his servants in his kingdom, high and low, and to his ambassadors in the neighbouring kingdoms, and even sent into distant lands, with the princes of which he was friendly, and on the same day dispatched messengers with the charge to search for haschem with all diligence, and gave them a description how they might recognize him if they found him. but week after week passed away, month after month, and even a whole year elapsed, without intelligence being received either of the life or death of the lost one. so all hope of finding him now deserted the father for ever. chapter iii. the captive. haschem was not dead; he still lived, but in such retirement that it was impossible to discover his abode. he followed the snow-white bird till evening, without clearly knowing why: he was induced to think he could catch the curious creature, particularly as it flew at such a moderate height from the ground, and so slowly that he hoped quickly to reach it. the tardiness of its flight made him conjecture that it must have a defect in its wing: he often stretched out his hand to it, and drew near it, but the bird again raised its wings, and flew a little in advance. haschem now felt himself tired, and would have given up the pursuit, but the bird also seemed fatigued; he approached it, but again the bird flew a little farther off. in this chase he reached a hill, which he climbed; he was now in a narrow meadow-valley, which he ran along; twilight came, but the snow-white colour of the bird still lighted him on. at last the pursued bird perched in a thicket; he hastened to it, but when he closed his hand to take his prisoner, it flew away, leaving only one feather of its tail behind, which he had tightly grasped; still he saw it through the twilight flying before him, and he hastened after it. the bird seemed now to quicken its pace; and as he followed and had once nearly caught it, he continued the pursuit with more eagerness: he ran through the high grass, and with his strained sight fixed on this glimmering white object, he saw nothing else. thus he came unexpectedly to a little dam which lay across his path; he jumped in and tried to climb the other side, but it was so steep that he fell in with some of the crumbling earth: while the water rushed over his head he lost all consciousness. when he came to himself, he lay on the turf, and a tall, grey-headed man, of strange appearance, stood before him, clothed in a long black robe, which reached to his ankles, and was fastened by a glittering girdle of a fiery colour. instead of a turban, he wore a high pointed cap on his head, at the end of which was a tassel of the same hue as the girdle. "has your life returned to you?" he asked: "you deserved to be suffocated in the mud. come, we must go farther before daylight quite leaves us." with these words he raised him from the ground, passed his left arm round his body, and flew with him through the air as quickly as an arrow. haschem again momentarily lost recollection: it is not known how long he remained in this condition. he awoke at last as from a deep sleep; and as he looked around, the first thing he recognized was a cage of gold wire, which hung from the ceiling by a long golden chain, and within was the snow-white bird he had so long followed. he found himself alone with this bird in a hall, the roof of which was supported on pillars of white marble, and the walls were built of smooth pale-green stones. the openings to the windows were skilfully contrived with so many windings and narrow gratings, that even the white bird could have found no space to pass through, even if it had escaped from the cage. beside one wall stood a crystal urn; and from this fell a stream of clear water, which, passing over the curved brim of the urn, dripped into a white basin beneath, from which it disappeared unseen. whilst he observed this, and wondered what had happened to him, and how he came there, he suddenly heard the old man in the black robe enter from behind a curtain. he carried a small golden box in his hand, and approached him with these words: "you have now caught the white bird; you now have it in a cage: in this box is food for it, and there is water; take diligent care of it, and mind that it does not escape." as he said this he disappeared. haschem now arose and walked round the hall: he looked through the windows, and ascertained that he must be in a foreign land, as the forms of the mountains and trees were quite different to any he had before seen. the hall seemed high, as if it were the upper storey of a lofty tower. no other edifice was to be seen, and from the windows he could not distinguish the trees and plants which bloomed beneath. he drew the curtain aside, and discovered an outlet; but there was a thick metal door which he could not open. he was now very much embarrassed, for he began to feel hungry, and could find nothing that would serve him for food. he examined the walls, to see if he could discover any concealed outlet. he tried to open the windows, that he might put his head out to see if there was anybody in the building beneath, to whom he might cry out. there was no door: he could not open the windows; and as far as he could stretch his sight in every direction, he could see nobody. he threw himself in despair on the pillow on which he recovered his consciousness, and wrung his hands, and wept, and cried, "i am, then, imprisoned--imprisoned in a dungeon where splendour and riches are lavished around! of what avail is it that these walls are built of precious stones? that this lattice is of fine gold? that this cage is of gold, and hangs on a golden chain? i am as much a prisoner behind golden lattices as i should be behind iron." as hunger pinched him still more, he cried out, "how much rather would i be in the vilest prison, with the coarsest food, than be confined in this splendid hall, where i must die of hunger!" then he again called out of the lattices, in hopes that his voice might be heard, and aid brought; but nobody appeared, and no one answered him. when he again threw himself, weeping, on his couch, after such useless attempts, he observed that the white bird fluttered restlessly in its prison, and pecked on the golden dish, where food was placed, without finding any. "poor brother in misfortune!" said haschem, "you shall not suffer want; i will take care of you: come, i will bring you assistance." he took the pans from the cage, and filled one with water from the urn, the other with grain from the gold box which the old man had given him. scarcely had he hung the last on the cage, when, on turning round, he saw a table behind him covered with costly viands. he was astonished, and could not understand how all this had happened; but still it was not long before he attacked the meats with the zest of a young man who has fasted for several days. although these viands were altogether different from those he had been accustomed to taste in his father's house, still they all appeared excellent. he ate till he was fully satisfied, and then took a golden cup from the table, with which he quenched his thirst with pure water from the urn. afterwards he threw himself on a couch and fell asleep. when he awoke, he felt strong and well. he arose and walked round the hall, and he then observed that the table with the meats had disappeared. this did not please him, as he had thought to make a good supper of the remainder. he did not allow this, however, to trouble him much, as he was now sure that he was not to die of hunger. he had now leisure enough to examine his prison more closely. he searched all anew pillars, walls, and floor; but he could nowhere find a crevice or a fissure: all was fast and whole. his view from the windows did not allow him to make any discovery: he only saw that he was very far from the earth, and in a spacious valley. mountains were to be seen in the distance, with curiously pointed summits: the nearest offered no change of prospect, and the farthest was too distant to raise his spirits by its contemplation: it was a high, wearisome abode. as soon as he had completed this examination, and found there was nothing to occupy him, he turned his attention to the white bird in the cage. here was still life; and if the cage was narrow, yet the prisoner could hop about on the different perches. soon it remained still, and looked at him with its bright eyes; and it seemed as if sense and speech lay in these eyes, only the interpretation was wanting. night put an end to these reflections. on the next morning he observed that the bird again wanted food. he filled its seed-box with grain from the golden box, and gave it fresh water from the urn. scarcely had he done this, when the table, covered with meats, again stood in the same place as the day before. this day passed like the former, and the following in the same manner. haschem wept and mourned, took care of the little bird, fed it, and was every time rewarded in the same manner with the table covered with dishes, as soon as he had filled the bird's seed-box. he could not perceive who brought the table, nor how it disappeared. it always came when he stood beside the cage with his back turned, and without any noise. on the ninth day the old man suddenly appeared to him, and said, "to-day is a day of repose for you: you have performed your duty during the preceding days in giving the bird its food; now you may amuse yourself in the garden till evening." he led him through a door into a narrow passage, at the end of which they descended twenty steps. then he opened a small metal trap-door, and haschem again descended twenty steps more. they came to a similar door; and after descending twenty more steps to another, and so on, till after passing the ninth door, they found themselves in the open air. "remain here till you are called," said the old man, who went back into the building through the same doors, which he shut after him. haschem was very curious to examine more closely the building in which he had been imprisoned: he therefore went round it, and narrowly observed it. it was a tower of nine storeys, each about fifteen feet in height. the tower had nine angles and nine flat walls; in each storey were three windows, so contrived that for every two walls without a window, the third had one. these windows were not directly over one another in the storeys, but alternate; so that only three appeared in each wall. this distribution of regularity and order reigned throughout the whole building. the walls were made of large pieces of gold, quite as smooth as glass, like large stones; and these were so skilfully put together that, even when closely looked at, the joints could not be discovered. the lattices of the windows were all of gold, like those in the upper hall, and the lower doors through which he had passed were of a yellow metal, inclining to green. all these considerations were not calculated to lessen his conviction that no man could possibly find him out in such a prison. suddenly a new hope awoke in him. "i am no longer shut up in the tower," said he to himself; "here i am in the open air, in a garden: i can clamber and jump like a monkey. i may possibly find some outlet from this garden, by which i can escape." he immediately turned from the tower, and hastened through the gardens, seeking freedom; but he soon discovered that this hope was vain. with a few steps he reached the end of the garden, and stood before a gate of lattice-work of strong smooth iron bars, so close together that he could scarcely pass his arm through. he tried to climb it by holding by the upper bars with his hands; but his feet slipped on the smooth iron, and he hurt his knee so much that, in consequence of not being able to bear the pain, he fell backwards on the earth. he now examined the lattice closely to see if there were no means of escape; but all was in vain--everywhere the bars were high, thick, and like polished glass. mournfully he wandered round the garden: the sun's rays darting down scorched up the grass, and he sought some shade where he might screen himself from their influence. he lay down on a neighbouring mossy bank, and meditated anew on his fate. besides his own grief at his imprisonment, the thought of his father's sorrow at his loss pained him. the exhaustion consequent on his tears and loud lamentations, joined with the noontide heat, at last caused him to fall into a deep sleep. when he awoke, the table covered with meats was again before him: he ate, and wandered anew mournfully through the garden, meditating whether he could not make a ladder from the trees around him, to aid him in his escape over the lattice. but there was something wanting for this work: he had not even a dagger or a pocket-knife. during these thoughts the old man appeared, and said, "evening is drawing on. follow me in." he led him again to the upper room of the tower, and locked the metal door upon him. there was no change observable in his prison--only the bird seemed harassed and mournful: it sat quiet and still on the lowest perch; its plumage was rough, and its eyes dull. "poor creature," said haschem, "what is the matter? are you ill?" it seemed as if the bird was affected by these sympathizing questions; but it soon sank again into its former dejection. he mused long upon this. the next day and the following ones passed like the former; but on the ninth the old man again appeared, led him into the garden, and at night conducted him back into the hall. he took care of the bird; and as soon as he had given it food and water, he always found the table covered with meats behind him. in the intervals he stood at the lattice of one of the three windows looking on the plain below, earnestly hoping to catch sight of some person to free him from his captivity. in such monotonous employment many months passed away. every ninth day the old man appeared, and gave him leave to walk in the garden; but he did not derive much amusement from his strolls in this narrow enclosure. in the meantime he asked the old man many times the reason of his imprisonment, and how long it was to last. no answer was vouchsafed but these words: "every man has his own fate. this is thine." chapter iv. the deliverance. one day the old man appeared and led him into the garden; but he had not been there more than a quarter of an hour, when he returned, called him in, and then quickly retired with marks of disquietude. haschem also remarked that the white bird, which he loved more every day, sat at the bottom of its cage, more mournful than usual after his visit. he drew near, and observed a little door, which he had never before seen. he examined it closely, and found a fine bolt which passed into a ring of gold wire. these were made so skilfully, like concealed ornaments, that nobody could have discovered them if his attention had not been drawn to them by accident. haschem pushed back the bolt and opened the door; the bird moved as if some sudden joy had seized it, hopped out, and as soon as it touched the floor, it was transformed, and in its stead a young maiden stood before haschem, clothed in a white silk robe; beautiful dark locks streamed over her neck and shoulders, and a thin fragrant veil fell over them, fastened to a forehead-band set with precious stones; her finely-formed countenance was as white as ivory, relieved by the softest shade of a rose. surprised and astonished, haschem started back and said, "by the beard of the prophet, i conjure you to tell me whether you are of human race, or whether you belong to the genii?" "i am a weak maiden," said she, "and implore you to deliver me from the hands of this cruel magician. i will reward you handsomely for it. know, i am the only daughter of kadga singa, king of selandia; and this wicked enchanter has cunningly carried me off from my father's palace, and shut me up in this cage. he has one son, as ugly as night, whom he wishes me to take for my husband. every ninth day he comes, brings him with him, and praises his excellent qualities--presses me for my consent, and threatens me with cruel tortures if i give it not at the next new moon. on that day he will have kept me a year in imprisonment, and longer than a year he says he will not wait, and still give good words: then will the time of my punishment begin. i conjure you, therefore, to help me!" at these words she burst into a flood of tears. "noble royal maiden," answered haschem, "how willingly would i help you! but, alas, i am only a weak man, and cannot free myself. but tell me--how is it possible? you say the enchanter brings his hateful son with him: why, then, have i never seen him?" "he always sends you away when he comes," answered the princess. "well," pursued haschem, "the son could not conceal himself from me on the steps, or in the narrow passage." "well, well," she answered, "he carries him in his pocket." then haschem cried out in his astonishment, "in his pocket! how can that be?" the princess related to him that the young man was every time a white bird, like herself; that the enchanter put him into the cage with her, and that she felt such a dislike to him that she always fluttered about the cage to avoid getting near him; but that he, with his contrary friendly feeling, would follow her and settle confidingly near her. "oh," she continued, "you must have remarked how tired and mournful i always was when you returned on the ninth day." haschem, astonished at this explanation, assured her of his willingness to help her, but bewailed his helplessness. but the princess would not give up hopes of their safety. "it seems to me," said she, "a good omen that the enchanter has to-day received a message which caused him to leave so early and in such haste that he did not securely close the cage, and that you returned so early to-day from the garden. this day is my birthday, the only day that i can be delivered from the magician's power. on any other day i should still have remained a dumb bird if you had freed me from my cage; only on this day has my touching the floor restored me to my natural form: the enchantment lies in the cage." haschem then seized the cage, and said, "if it be so, we will break the enchantment." he threw the cage to the ground, stamped on it with his feet till it was quite flat and its shape no longer distinguishable, then he rolled it together, and threw it into a corner of the hall. at this moment a frightful noise resounded through the air like violent thunder, a gale of wind seemed to shake the hall, and suddenly the doors opened, the curtains were drawn aside, and the magician stood before them with a countenance full of anger. "ah!" cried he, "weak worms, what have you presumed to do? how did you learn to break my charm in this manner? who bid you destroy the cage?" haschem, terrified, could answer nothing. then the enchanter turned to the maiden, and cried, "and you, you thought this miserable worm could defend you against my power: i will show you how useless it is to oppose me." he felt in the pocket of his black robe, and pulled out a thin box. this he opened, and a white bird flew out and perched on the table. then he took a small box from his girdle and opened it: it was filled with grains of millet. from these he took one, laid it before the bird, who had scarcely eaten it before such a distorted man stood in its place, that both haschem and the princess screamed aloud. his head was large and thick, his eyes red and dark, his nose small and pressed quite flat, his lips thick and bluish-red, his chin broad and projecting, and on his head grew a few stiff white hairs; a hump grew out of his breast, and a similar one from his back, and his shoulders were quite drawn up: his head was so jammed between them that his ears could not be seen. his head and upper part of his body were so unshapely, and his legs so weak and thin, that it was wonderful how they supported him: he tottered about incessantly, balancing himself first on one leg, then on the other. "go in, my son," said the enchanter to this misformed creature: "behold! there is your bride. she does not wish to wait till the new moon, which i fixed upon for your betrothal: to-day she has effected her change by the help of this friend. go, my son, give your bride a kiss, and then thank this young man." the deformed creature approached the princess with a horrible fiendish laugh. she averted her face with disgust, and stretched out her arms, motioning him away. and now courage returned to haschem. resolved to venture all, he stepped before the princess, and gave the deformity such a blow that he reeled. he instantly assumed the form of a terrible dragon; but haschem, drawing a scimitar which he still wore, cut him down. he fell with such violence on the corner of the pedestal of one of the marble pillars that it was broken to pieces: a stream of blood flowed from the wound, and, resuming his former shape, the monster gave a hollow groan. now haschem thought of the father's rage and revenge, and gave up his life for lost. but the enchanter stood quite confounded as he observed his son's mortal wound; then, threw himself down beside him, and examined it, and wrung his hands, forgetting his revenge in his sorrow. haschem quickly seized the hand of the princess, and led her through the door and down the steps. all the doors were open, and they fortunately came into the garden. soon they stood before the lattice of the iron wicket, which was closed to them. "of what use is our flight?" said haschem; "we are still in the power of the enchanter; and even if we were on the other side of the wicket, and concealed ourselves in the deepest cavern, he would discover us by his knowledge, and wreak his vengeance on us." "i am of a different opinion," said the princess. "i know there are things of which men think little, but on which the superior power of the magician depends. it appears to me that if we could get out of this place, we should be safe." they went farther, and came to a spot where many trees had been uprooted by a hurricane. one of these lay overturned, with its crown resting on the lattice, and its boughs and branches hanging far over the other side. at this sight the young man rejoiced: he climbed quickly up the trunk, pulled the princess after him, and led her with great care and tenderness into the crown of the tree. they then clambered over the spiked top of the wicket, and let themselves down on the other side by the overhanging branches. they did not quite reach to the ground, but near enough for them to leap down: when they let go their hands, they fell softly to the earth. they quickly jumped up, and proceeded as rapidly as the strength of the princess and the unknown way would allow them through the thickets, underwood, and plains studded with prickly plants, towards the distant mountains. after the two fugitives had continued their flight for several successive hours without looking back on the scene of their imprisonment, the princess felt her strength exhausted, and could go no farther; she begged her companion to repose for a short time. haschem sought a place free from bushes, and clad with moss and long grass. they seated themselves there, and haschem entreated her to relate her history. she was soon ready, and commenced thus: "my early history is very simple and unimportant. i am called handa, the only daughter of the sultan of the island selandia. my mother was brought from beyond arabia and mount caucasus over the wide-stretching sea, and was sold to him as a slave. soon attracted by her excessive beauty and pleasing manners, he raised her to the dignity of his principal wife. my earliest youth was spent in pleasing sports under my mother's eyes. she died before i had passed the age of childhood, as the change from the mild climate of her land to the heat of my father's shortened her days. after the loss of my mother, which did not much affect me, as i was too young to feel it, i enjoyed many happy days. my father loved me as his greatest treasure, and was wise enough to confide me to a careful nurse. every evening i passed several hours with him, as soon as he was released from the cares of government, and one whole day in each week he devoted to conversation with me. we then went together in a light bark to a neighbouring promontory, where he had a beautiful palace and gardens. the air there blew cooler and more refreshing, the trees and shrubs were clothed with fresher green than in the shut-up garden in the capital, and we passed the whole day in the open air. in the meantime i had outgrown childhood, and was beloved by a prince, the son of a neighbouring king, to whom i was betrothed, and who was to succeed my father in his kingdom. this prince, whose name was mundian oppu, also often took part in these visits to the castle on the promontory. "it happened one day, as we were sitting on a terrace by the sea, a foreign ship anchored just below us. a foreigner caused himself to be landed in a little boat, and asked us permission to appear before us, as he had many costly wares to offer for sale. i was desirous to see the stranger's wares, and begged my father to grant the desired petition. the man laid many costly trinkets of gold and precious stones before us, and my father bought some, with which i was much pleased. i remarked that the merchant watched me closely, but he did this with such evident pleasure that my vanity ascribed it to his opinion of my pleasing expression, and found no harm in it. whilst he shewed his wares, he let fall some words which intimated that he had left his most precious articles behind in the ship. he had there many curious birds, particularly a snow-white bird, which was the most beautiful of all creatures of this kind. he managed thus to raise my desires so much that i begged my father to allow me to go with the stranger to his ship to see these silken stuffs: my father was weak enough to comply with this unreasonable wish. a suitable train should have accompanied me, but the stranger prevented this. he said his boat had only room in it for three people, and that he should not like to show his wares if many people came into his ship. 'they are only things for the royal princess,' he said, 'and i dare not expose her to danger. i can never forget that a powerful king has entrusted his only daughter to my care; therefore your betrothed prince mundian oppu may accompany you as a watchful protector.' we went with the merchant to the ship. there we found an immense number of extraordinary things and unknown animals. in the place where in other ships the rowers sat were great apes; on high on the mast sat an eagle; in the inner rooms were many large and small cages of smooth ebony with thick gold bars, behind which moved a confused multitude of animals. "my desire was now directed to the snow-white bird, about which i made inquiry. he showed it me high up in a box, and as i could not see it distinctly, he took it out and put it on my hand. 'it is quite singular,' said he, 'when the bird is here, it can only remain a few days alive, but i have found the corn of life, which i give it each week, and it is then refreshed for nine days.' we asked for the corn of life, of which we had never heard, and he opened a little box and took out three grains. he gave me one to give the bird, the other i was to try, and the third prince mundian oppu. when i offered the grain to the bird, it refused to peck it; and when i pressed my hand closer, the bird drew back, lost its balance, and fell down with outspread wings. i hastened to it, picked it up perhaps somewhat roughly, and as it tried to escape, i held some of its tail-feathers fast, so that it lay fluttering in my hand. i was very much frightened, and the merchant seemed so also. he soon laughed with malicious joy, and said that i should swallow the corn, because it would prevent the flight of the frightened prisoner. he said the same to the prince, and we swallowed the grains in the same moment. i felt a wonderful transformation pass over me, and found that i was changed into a snow-white bird; and when i looked towards the prince, in his stead i saw a black bird. now the stranger, who was no other than the enchanter, seized me, and shut me up in the golden cage which you have trodden to pieces. the apes began to ply the oars, and the ship moved with unusual swiftness over the sea. i still saw my father sitting on the terrace, and the wonder of the servants as they saw the ship depart: i believed that i heard their voices calling us back. but what could i do in my cage? the black bird flew to the promontory; and from that moment i have neither heard nor seen anything of prince mundian oppu. "when my home was far in the distance, and even the summit of the mountain could no longer be distinguished, the enchanter rose with my cage high in the air, leaving his ship behind, and bore me into the hall of the tower. how he brought the other white bird, i don't know: i only know that he took it out of his pocket and put it into the cage. 'now you have a companion,' said he. as i took him for a real bird, i considered myself, though unfortunate, superior to him, and drew myself back into a corner. but the bird came nearer, and followed me. at last i lost patience, and pecked his eyes. when the enchanter saw this, he took out a little box, and took from it a grain, which he laid before the bird, who picked it immediately. it was then changed into a man, as ugly as you saw him in the tower. he desired me, as i have already told you, to take that deformity for my husband, and promised me that, on my consent, i should be immediately restored to my proper form, and assured me that otherwise i should always remain as a bird, except on my birthday. i have now no other wish than to return to my father in selandia, because i know he is living in great affliction, if, indeed, sorrow at my loss have not already brought him to the grave." chapter v. the faithful conductor home. at the conclusion of this relation, haschem thought with compassion of his father, and had his mournful countenance and bowed-down form before his mind. he knew, from the great love he had always shown him, that he must have pined for his loss. "princess," said he, "your desire cannot be greater than mine. still, i swear to you that i will not return to my father till i have safely conducted you to your native land, or have given you over to safe guides to bring you to your father; if i do not, may heaven not grant my father life to receive this joy!" they journeyed on with renewed vigour. but evening was drawing near, and they must find a resting-place for the night. fortune was favourable: they soon found a spot, shadowed, by a high bush. haschem broke away the boughs so as to form a hedge, which quite concealed the princess, and to which he only left a narrow entrance, before which he lay down to watch. night passed without danger. however anxiously haschem strove against sleep, to watch over his companion, it at last weighed down his eyelids, and they both awoke with the first rays of the sun. their good star soon led them to a spot where they found refreshing wood-berries, the names of which were unknown to them, and they were anxious to discover if they were poisonous; but hunger made them venture. they wandered the whole day, resting alternately. at every step the journey became more hazardous. the thickets became thicker and higher; they were often obliged to creep between the boughs, and their clothes hung in rags. on the fourth day they reached the foot of the mountain. there they found cultivated land and human habitations. haschem inquired where they were, and asked for the sea. the people told them the name of the country, which was unknown to haschem and the princess handa. on the other side of the high mountain lay a large flat land, whose coast was washed by the sea. they received this information with great joy. they descended the mountain, came to the flat land, and at last, after a wearisome journey, during which they had seen the sun rise and set seven times, they arrived at the sea-coast. a ship lay ready at anchor, and when they inquired its destination, the steersman answered, "we are going to selandia to fetch a cargo of cinnamon." to haschem's question where they came from, and what this land where they were was called, he received for answer, "that the ship belonged to a merchant of balsora, and that it had been cast on these unknown shores by a violent storm." when the princess perceived that the ship was going towards her native land, she was very much rejoiced. she took one of the precious stones out of her forehead-band, and gave it as a reward for her and her companion. the following morning they weighed anchor, and, after a prosperous voyage, they reached the same place where the enchanter's ship had formerly lain at anchor when he carried off the princess. they were landed in a small boat, and handa led her deliverer into the beautiful leafy walks of the imperial gardens. in this way they came to a terrace, from which they could see the ship. instead of pressing quickly forwards, they concealed themselves behind a bush. a very melancholy old man sat on this terrace, looking over the sea; and while a flood of tears ran down his face, "ah!" cried he, "it was just so on the day that my sorrows began! there lay the ship of the robber, there landed the boat which carried away my beloved daughter and her betrothed. it was even at the same hour of the day. i have sent messengers into all the neighbouring lands; i have caused the opposite sea-coasts to be searched; but all has been in vain! i must die, and never see my child again." he pronounced these words aloud, and covered his face as he bowed himself forward on his hands. princess handa wished to hasten to him, but haschem held her back, and said, "let me first prepare him for your arrival, else joy may kill him." and he sprang forward, and bowed before the sorrowing old man, making his forehead touch the ground. the king then said, "who are you? are you a beggar, and do you need any gift? it shall be given you: go to my palace." haschem stood up and answered, "in such circumstances you might well take me for a beggar, o great king kadga singa. but know that under these ragged clothes is concealed a magician, who is come to change your tears into smiles, your sobs into transports of joy." "can any man on earth do this?" asked kadga singa. "i have only to speak three words," he answered, "and it will happen. are you strong enough to support the highest joy that your heart can conceive and feel?" at these questions a ray of hope in the soul of the mourning father beamed through his tearful eyes. "what is it? who are you who can promise this?" asked he. and haschem repeated his question, "do you feel strong enough?" "i think so," answered the king, regarding him with hopeful looks. "draw near, princess handa, your father is prepared," cried the youth; and she sprang forwards into her father's open arms. then was haschem's word fulfilled: his tears were changed into smiles, his sobs into transports of joy. their embrace continued long. at last kadga singa raised himself, beckoned haschem to approach, and said, "you are a magician; such an one i have never before seen. by your magic words you have changed the mournful course of my life into the brightest sunshine. i will not now ask you who you are, and what i have to thank you for; i will not now inquire what chance brought you to my daughter; i shall only give myself up to joy at her return." they went back to the capital in a kingly boat, and soon the joyful news of the unexpected reappearance of the princess spread everywhere. numbers assembled at the palace to ascertain if the news were true; and princess handa went out to the gate and down the steps. then arose a shout of joy of a thousand voices, and loud wishes for her health and happiness. chapter vi. reward. the next day, after the king had heard the history of her imprisonment related by his daughter, and with what devotion haschem had watched over her, and when haschem had narrated his history, kadga singa was very thoughtful, and caused his council to assemble to deliberate how they should reward him. "if he were not so young," said some of them, "he might be made grand vizier, the next in dignity to the king, or be appointed governor of a province. but his youth prevents his being raised over the people next to the king." after longer consultation, the eldest of the councillors rose, and said, "kadga singa, my king and lord. the youth has certainly performed a great service to you and the princess handa; therefore it seems to me that his reward ought to come from you. it seems to me that the king, having received from him good in his family, must reward him from his family. were i in such a case, i would appoint him as mundiana, and give him for a wife the daughter whom he has restored." the whole assembly were of the same opinion, and the king gave them to understand that this was also his wish. "i am old," he said, "and can easily perceive that the cares of this land will soon need other hands to support them. i shall be much pleased to see my daughter with a noble husband. prince mundian oppu has disappeared, whom i had before chosen; and this youth, although of meaner origin, is of noble soul, and will soon, under my guidance, acquire the necessary circumspection to promote justice and order in my kingdom." he did not delay, but immediately caused haschem to be called. a costly band of gold and silver was fastened round his forehead, and the king then said, "i herewith appoint you mundiana." and the assembled councillors cried out, "we congratulate you, hail, mundiana!" but haschem laughed, and said, "forgive my ignorance: what is mundiana?" the eldest councillor stepped forward, and said, "this name points out the highest step of honour which the king can bestow. you are found worthy of this honour; and no other lives who bears this title, because prince mundian oppu has disappeared." an elephant covered with costly trappings was now brought in by its keeper, and upon it was a richly ornamented seat. on this the new mundiana was placed, and led through the streets. heralds went before him, and cried aloud, "listen to what kadga singa makes known to all people. this youth has restored to him his dearest jewel which he had lost. in gratitude, the king has nominated him mundiana, and has appointed his daughter handa for his wife. to-morrow will the betrothal be celebrated; and everybody is requested to come into the court of the palace to partake of the joy of the festival." haschem knew not how all this had come about. he received clothes and rich arms as a present from the king; and the king so highly favoured him that he was not only to be husband of the princess handa, but was to succeed kadga singa on the throne, and to reign over that beautiful and rich land. in this happiness he forgot his early life, his father's sorrow, and even zoraine his playfellow in youth, his father's faithful friend saad, and thought no more of his home or his fatherland. the next day his betrothal with the princess was celebrated with great pomp. the princess had willingly yielded to her father's wish, without manifesting any particular joy, or showing any affection for her future husband; although she felt very friendly towards him, and treated him with great respect and attention, as her grateful heart did not forget in prosperity how much she had owed to him in misfortune. the first days and weeks passed in the delights of joy: then he was introduced by the king into the council, and taught the business of the state. the king and councillors had often reason to wonder at his acuteness in judgment in difficult cases, and, above all, at his perception of right and wrong. soon no sentence was pronounced without his opinion being first consulted; and it often happened that it was contrary to that of the rest of the council; but the reasons for his decision always prevailed. in all lands the justice and wisdom of the king's future son-in-law were praised, and it was hoped that fortune would permit him to rule over the land. a whole year had now elapsed, and the day was fast approaching when he was to marry the princess and ascend the throne. one day, as usual, he sought his betrothed, the princess handa, in her apartments. as he was announced by a servant, he went in quickly, and saw the princess hastily wiping her eyes; and as he drew nearer, he found the traces of her tears. sympathizing with her, he asked the cause of her grief, and she tried to avoid answering him; but as he continued to urge her, she at last said, "i dare tell you why these tears flow, because you are good and compassionate, and will not consider it a crime that i have a feeling and sympathizing heart. you know that i was formerly beloved by prince mundian oppu, the son of the neighbouring king. i related to you that this prince was changed into a blackbird by the enchanter, and flew from the ship to the promontory of the island where our country seat was situated. now, i must tell you that i grieve so much the more about this prince's fate, as from my own change i can compassionate his mournful condition. i could not repress this desire, and i have obtained certain news of his life and present condition by the secret knowledge of a clever tirinaxian. and in this manner i have learned that he still lives in his new form, and that he has flown, from fear of the snares of the hunter, whom we call dodda waddas, out of the land into distant regions; and that it is ordained by fate that he shall never regain his human form if i give my hand to another husband. sorrow at this mournful destiny has drawn these tears from my eyes, the traces of which you observed." this narrative made a deep impression on haschem: he discovered also that handa had acceded to her father's wish only from gratitude and filial obedience, whilst her affection was fixed on the absent prince. he saw that he must purchase the good fortune to be husband of the noble princess, and son-in-law of the great king kadga singa, and after him to be king of selandia, only by the misfortunes of prince mundian oppu. he asked himself if this were right, and was obliged to confess that his reason and knowledge of justice and honour were opposed to it. he saw that the intoxication of good fortune had hitherto blinded him. then the remembrance of his father came before him, and he imagined him pining away at the uncertainty of his son's fate. he bitterly reproached himself for his long forgetfulness, and for not having sent an embassy to announce his safe arrival in selandia. scarcely had these thoughts and feelings arisen in his breast, than he made up his mind. he took handa's hand, and promised her that he would do all he could to find her former lover, and restore him to her. then he went to the king, told him all, and begged him to let him go to fulfil a son's duty to a father whom he had too long neglected. kadga singa sighed deeply at these disclosures of his future son-in-law: he proposed to send a ship to bring his father, so that he might end his life in sharing his son's good fortune and companionship. but haschem declared to him, with determination, that he could never be his son-in-law or successor to the throne. "i cannot purchase such good fortune at another's expense," said he. "it was otherwise before i knew the decision of fate; but now that i know the prince mundian oppu must, through my happiness, always remain in his present condition, if i thus take away the possibility of his ever returning to human form, i should be in the highest degree culpable. therefore i voluntarily give up my good fortune." all the persuasions and urgings of kadga singa were useless. the councillors also, and the grand vizier and the governors of the provinces, begged him to continue in the land, and to take still more share in the government. he remained firm in his resolution. he promised the princess, who was astonished at his honourable spirit, that as soon as he had seen and comforted his father, he would demand information of prince mundian oppu from all the sages and magicians of his native land, and that he would try all means to restore him to his former condition. as he was determined to set out, the king gave him costly presents, besides many precious stones from his treasury, and provided him with a ship, and all necessaries for the voyage. he took leave, and the good wishes of all who knew him accompanied him. chapter vii. the return to his father. the heavens seemed to favour the resolution of the returning son: the warmest weather and most favourable winds seconded his journey, and the ship anchored in the harbour without accident. he took some servants; bought some camels, which he loaded with the king's presents, and so went through balsora along the river to bagdad. one beautiful evening he came near the city to the place where he had lain at the feet of his father and saad, and listened to their discourses: their last discourse there returned to his memory. "well," said he to himself, "it is true that it is easy for a man to be seduced from virtue into one false step, if he is not watchful, but relies on his own power: so it happened to me. i thought that my heart was always right, and neglected to try if what i did was just. in this manner have i so much forgotten my love for my father, and had nearly committed a great wrong; whilst i, in the intoxication of good fortune, was about to sacrifice to my vanity the happiness of the princess and her betrothed. and you, my dearest father, were also right when you maintained that a heart accustomed to virtue from early years would only for a short time wander from the right road. i have myself experienced the truth of these words, and i therefore thank you with tears that you always accustomed me to what was good." whilst he spoke, he lifted up his eyes, and saw a single hut where the palm-trees used to stand. a venerable old man, much marked by sorrow, appeared at the door: he stood still before the threshold, and watched the youth with astonishment. the young man gazed earnestly at him. he suddenly recognized the features of the old man, and threw himself on his knees before him, seized his hand, and bowing his head on it, bedewed it with his tears, and covered it with kisses. "my father!" cried he: "is it so indeed? have you so much altered in the course of so few years?--that is my fault. father, forgive your easily offending son, who forgot you in the height of prosperity." naima stretched his other hand to him, blessed him, and said, "rise up, my son, rise: he who feels repentance is forgiven." he rose and threw himself into his father's arms. when he looked up, he saw a man approach, leading a maiden whose features he recognized. it was saad and his daughter zoraine, haschem's playfellow. after welcoming him, they sat down, and haschem related to them all that had happened to him since that evening. he related, truly and candidly, how he had forgotten his father, and nearly fallen into greater crimes, because he had been blinded by fortune, by empty greatness, and honour. whilst they were sitting, they observed three birds, who came from a distance, and seemed to pursue one another. they soon perceived a black bird, which flew anxiously, and seemed followed by a bird of prey. he would soon have reached his prey, had he not been pursued by a larger bird; and to avoid this, he was often compelled to go from side to side: at last they came to close conflict. the pursued black bird flew into haschem's lap; the bird of prey, struck by his pursuer, fell to the ground at their feet, and was, by his strong hooked bill and sharp claws, soon killed and torn to pieces. scarcely had the last occurrence taken place, when the conqueror changed into a venerable-looking sage. he turned to haschem, who was quite astonished, and said, "dip quickly your forefinger in the blood of this slain one, and anoint with it the beak of the black bird." haschem obeyed immediately; and scarcely had he touched the black bird's beak with the blood, than it changed, and a handsome youth in kingly dress stood before them. "guess who this is," said the genius. "mundian oppu?" asked haschem. and the genius answered, "it is he!" and as he stood looking at the young man with astonishment, he said, "you do not perceive how and why all this has happened. i could explain to you all these mysteries; but to what purpose? it is not necessary for weak men to know the threads by which their fates are linked together: suffice it to know that it was necessary that you should perform all this, that you might be tried. you are found worthy, and heaven rewards you with zoraine, the early companion of your youth, now to be your wife." then haschem turned towards zoraine, and looked inquiringly at saad, her father. this latter said, "with joy i listen to the will of fate: the highest wish of my heart will now be fulfilled." "know," continued the genius, "that the slain bird was the enchanter who had changed the princess handa and the prince mundian oppu. they were also to pass through trials: thus it was decreed by fate. because the enchanter only fulfilled the will of fate from selfish motives, and carried his revenge beyond it, and contrary to it, the king of the genii commanded me to slay him." with these words he disappeared from their sight. they returned now in happy union to the city; and naima, who had built his hut at the edge of the wood, to be always near the place of his sorrow, dwelt again with his children. prince mundian oppu went back to selandia in the same ship that had brought haschem. he was received there with immeasurable joy, and was soon married to his early love. but haschem's name lived long in their memory, and in that of all the inhabitants of that island. when the caliph haroun al raschid heard of haschem's return, he had him called before him, and made him relate his history. the caliph was so pleased with him, that he took him into his palace, and gave him an important post in his court. his history he caused to be inscribed in the records of his kingdom. as giafar, his old vizier, wished to end his life in quietness, the caliph raised haschem to be grand vizier; and he continued long in this office, to the pleasure of his relatives and the happiness of the people, by whom he was greatly beloved. [illustration] the pantofles. [illustration] in bagdad lived an old merchant, of the name of abon casem, who was famous for his riches, but still more for his avarice. his coffers were small to look at--if you could get a sight of them--and very dirty; but they were crammed with jewels. his clothes were as scanty as need be; but then, even in his clothes, there was _multum in parvo_: to wit, much dirt, in little space. all the embroidery he wore was of that kind which is of necessity attendant upon a ragged state of drapery. it meandered over his bony form in all the beauty of ill-sewn patches. his turban was of the finest kind of linen for lasting: a kind of canvas, and so mixed with elementary substances that its original colour, if it still existed, was invisible. but, of all his habiliments, his slippers were most deserving the study of the curious. they were the extreme cases, both of his body and his dirt. the soles consisted chiefly of huge nails, and the upper leathers of almost everything. the ship of the argonauts was not a greater miscellany. during the ten years of their performance in the character of shoes, the most skilful cobblers had exercised their science and ingenuity in keeping them together. the accumulation of materials had been so great, and their weight was so heavy in proportion, that they were promoted to honours of proverbialism; and abon casem's slippers became a favourite comparison when a superfluity of weight was the subject of discourse. it happened one day, as this precious merchant was walking in the market, that he had a great quantity of fine glass bottles offered him for sale; and, as the proposed bargain was greatly on his side, and he made it still more so, he bought them. the vendor informed him, furthermore, that a perfumer having lately become bankrupt, had no resource left but to sell, at a very low price, a large quantity of rose-water; and casem, greatly rejoicing at this news, and, hastening to the poor man's shop, bought up all the rose-water at half its value. he then carried it home, and comfortably put it in his bottles. delighted with these good bargains, and buoyant in his spirits, our hero, instead of making a feast, according to the custom of his fellows, thought it more advisable to go to the bath, where he had not been for some time. while employed in the intricate business of undressing, one of his friends, or one whom he believed such--for your misers seldom have any--observed that his pantofles had made him quite the bye-word of the city, and that it was high time to buy a new pair. "to say the truth," said casem, "i have long thought of doing so; but they are not yet so worn as to be unable to serve me a little longer." and, having undressed himself, he went into the stove. during the luxury he was there enjoying, the cadi of bagdad came in, and, having undressed himself, he went into the stove likewise. casem soon after came out, and, having dressed himself, looked about for his pantofles; but nowhere could he find them. in the place of his own, he found a pair sufficiently different to be not only new, but splendid. and, feeling convinced that they were a gift from his friend--not the less so, perhaps, because he wished it--he triumphantly thrust his toes in them, and issued forth into the air, radiant with joy and a skin nearly clean. on the other hand, when the cadi had performed the necessary purifications, and was dressed, his slaves looked for his lordship's slippers in vain. nowhere could they be found. instead of the embroidered pantofles of the judge, they detected, in a corner, only the phenomena left by casem, which were too well known to leave a doubt how their master's had disappeared. the slaves went immediately for casem, and brought him back to the indignant magistrate, who, deaf to his attempts at defence, sent him to prison. now, in the east, the claws of justice open just as wide, and no wider than the purse of the culprit; and it may be supposed that abon casem, who was known to be as rich as he was miserly, did not get his freedom at the same rate as his rose-water. the miserable casem returned home, tearing his beard--for beard is not a dear stuff--and, being mightily enraged with the pantofles, he seized upon them, and threw them out of his window into the tigris. it happened a few days after that some fishermen drew their nets under the window, and the weight being greater than usual, they were exulting in their success, when out came the pantofles. furious against casem (for who did not know casem's pantofles?), they threw them in at the window, at the same time reviling him for the accident. unhappy casem! the pantofles flew into his room, fell among his bottles, which were ranged with great care along the shelf, and, overthrowing them, covered the room with glass and rose-water. imagine, if you can, the miser's agony! with a loud voice, and tearing his beard, according to custom, he roared out, "accursed pantofles, will you never cease persecuting the wretched casem?" so saying, he took a spade, and went into his garden to bury them. it so happened that one of his neighbours was looking out of window at the time, and seeing casem poking about the earth in his garden, he ran to the cadi, and told him that his old friend had discovered a treasure. nothing more was requisite to excite the cupidity of the judge. he allowed the miser to aver, as loudly as he pleased, that he was burying his slippers, and had found no treasure, but at the same time demanded the treasure he had found. casem talked to no purpose. wearied out at last with his own asseverations, he paid the money, and departed, cursing the very souls of the pantofles. determined to get rid of these unhappy moveables, our hero walked to some distance from the city, and threw them into a reservoir, hoping he had now fairly seen the last of them; but the evil genii, not yet tired of tormenting him, guided the pantofles precisely to the mouth of the conduit. from this point they were carried along into the city, and, sticking at the mouth of the aqueduct, they stopped it up, and prevented the water from flowing into the basin. the overseers of the city fountains, seeing that the water had stopped, immediately set about repairing the damage, and at length dragged into the face of day the old reprobate slippers, which they immediately took to the cadi, complaining loudly of the damage they had caused. the unfortunate proprietor was now condemned to pay a fine still heavier than before; but far was he from having the luck of seeing his chattels detained. the cadi, having delivered the sentence, said, like a conscientious magistrate, that he had no power of retaining other peoples' property, upon which the slippers, with much solemnity, were faithfully returned to their distracted master. he carried them home with him, meditating as he went--and as well as he was able to meditate--how he should destroy them; at length he determined upon committing them to the flames. he accordingly tried to do so, but they were too wet; so he put them on a terrace to dry. but the evil genii, as aforesaid, had reserved a still more cruel accident than any before; for a dog, whose master lived hard by, seeing these strange wild fowl of a pair of shoes, jumped from one terrace to the other, till he came to the miser's, and began to play with one of them: in his sport he dropped it over the balustrade, and it fell, heavy with hobnails and the accumulated dirt of years, on the tender head of an infant, and killed him on the spot. the parents went straight to the cadi, and complained that they had found their child dead, and casem's pantofle lying by it, upon which the judge condemned him to pay a very heavy fine. casem returned home, and taking the pantofles, went back to the cadi, crying out with an enthusiasm that convulsed everybody, "behold! behold! see here the fatal cause of all the sufferings of casem! these pantofles, which have at length brought ruin upon his head. my lord cadi, be so merciful, i pray you, as to give an edict that may free me from all imputation of accident which these slippers henceforth may occasion, as they certainly will to anybody who ventures into their accursed leather!" the cadi could not refuse this request, and the miser learned to his cost the ill effects of not buying a new pair of shoes. [illustration] story of the prince and the lions. [illustration] in a great city of the east lived prince azgid, who grew up to manhood beloved by every one, for he was virtuous, intelligent, and accomplished, though somewhat of a timorous disposition, and this was indeed his chief fault. his father had died, and he had reached now the proper age to mount the throne, a time having been already fixed for the ceremony, to which the young man was looking forward with great interest. a few days previous to the event the old vizier called upon the prince, and telling him he wished to take a walk with him, led him out of the town to a mountain, on one side of which was a wide staircase of white marble, with a handsome balustrade on each side. it had three broad landings, and on these the vizier and prince rested as they ascended the stairs, for it was of great height, and they were both sorely tired before they reached the top. there was a small house on the summit, out of which came a black slave, who made a profound obeisance to the visitors, and, leading the way, took them a short distance to a kind of arena dug in the ground, and faced also with white marble. he then took out a key and opened a brazen door, whereupon the prince drew near, and, looking down, saw a red lion of fierce aspect and tremendous size. he wondered what it all meant, and gazed with a look of inquiry into the face of the vizier, who, having ordered the servant to retire, thus spoke: "my son," said he, "the day is now very near on which you are to ascend the throne; but before you can do so you must fulfil a custom which has been established for many ages, and which your father and all your ancestors submitted to; in short, you must descend into this den with a dagger, and fight yonder lion. this will test your courage and fortitude, and show whether you are really worthy of governing a kingdom." when the young man heard this, he turned pale, and almost fell to the ground. "this is a severe task," said he; "is there no alternative, nor any method by which i may evade it?" "none, whatever," answered the vizier. "can i not have a few days granted me to think over the matter, and prepare for the sore trial?" asked the youth. "oh, yes!" returned the other, "that you can have, of course." whereupon he beckoned to the slave to lock the door, and the visitors descended the stairs and returned to the palace. the joy of azgid's life seemed now to have fled, and he was suddenly immersed in deep despair. the horrid combat he was to engage in was continually before him. he could neither eat nor drink, but wandered about the palace like one distracted, or sat moping for hours, with his head buried in his hands, speaking to no one. he was glad when night came, that he might hide himself from observation, and retired to his chamber in tears. but he found no comfort there. sleep fled from him, and he lay tossing upon his bed, anxiously awaiting the return of day. during the tedious hours of darkness he had meditated what course he had best pursue, and at length came to the resolution that he would extricate himself from the dilemma he was in by bidding farewell to his home, and seeking peace and safety in some far-distant land. accordingly, as soon as it was daylight, he hastily dressed himself, and going to the stables, mounted a fleet horse and rode off. glad was he when he got outside the town, and turning round to take a last look, he thus exclaimed: "oh, cursed city! cursed home! what misery lies within you! may each hour carry me farther from you! and may these eyes never behold you again!" with these words he put spurs to his horse, and was soon out of sight of the detested spot. he journeyed forward with a light heart, and on the third day came to a pleasant country overgrown with forest trees, intermingled with lawns and romantic vales. proceeding a little farther on, he heard the sound of delicious music, and soon overtook a handsome youth of ruddy countenance, somewhat younger than himself, playing on a flute, and leading a few sheep. the shepherd, on seeing the stranger, stopped playing, and saluted him very courteously; but azgid begged him to go on, telling him what an admirer of music he was, and that he had never in his life heard such enchanting strains. the young man smiled at this compliment, and commenced playing some fresh tunes; and, when he had finished, he informed the prince that he was slave to a rich shepherd named oaxus, who lived near, and who would be rejoiced to see him, and show him some hospitality. in a few moments they reached the abode of oaxus. it was a low stone building of considerable size, with a porch surrounding it, overgrown with vines and flowers. around it was a large yard, encircled with a high wall, in which were some flocks of sheep, with a number of men tending them. on entering, the old shepherd came forward and gave the stranger a hearty welcome, leading him into a neat apartment, and setting before him a handsome repast. after azgid had finished eating, he thought it his duty to give his kind host some information as to who he was, and thus spoke: "my friend," said he, "you no doubt wonder at seeing a stranger of my appearance thus suddenly visiting you, and will naturally wish to inquire who i am. this wish i can only in part gratify. suffice it to say that i am a prince whom troubles at home have driven abroad; but my name i cannot tell. that is a secret lodged in my own breast, to be imparted to no one. if no inconvenience to you, it would please me much to remain in this delightful spot. i have ample means at my disposal, and will remunerate you for whatever trouble i may put you to." oaxus replied to this speech in the kindest manner, begging the young man to say nothing about remuneration, for that the company of one so exalted and accomplished would more than repay him for any trouble he might be put to in entertaining him, and that nothing would give him more happiness than to have him remain there to the end of his days. "but come, asdril," said he, addressing the musician, "take the prince and show him what is most worthy to be seen in this neighbourhood. lead him to the waterfalls, the fountains, the rocks and vales, for i perceive our guest is one able to appreciate nature's beauties." the young shepherd did as requested, and, taking up his flute, led the youth to all the pleasantest and most interesting spots. they wandered about the sloping hills and deep valleys, and over beautiful lawns, sprinkled with trees of immense size. at one time they stood by the side of some gently murmuring stream, and now they were startled with a romantic cascade, whose flashing waters tumbled from mossy cliffs and echoed far and wide. they now entered a shady vale, and, seating themselves on a rock, the shepherd commenced playing his flute. the prince listened with delight, for, as we said before, he was passionately fond of music, and had never in his life heard any one who pleased him so much. indeed, he made up his mind that, if ever he left the place, he would endeavour to purchase from oaxus the accomplished slave, and have him as his constant companion as long as he lived. thus did azgid enjoy himself amid these delicious scenes, congratulating himself that he had escaped from all his troubles, and had at last reached a spot where he might live in peace and tranquillity for ever. but his joy was not to last long; for young asdril on a sudden rose up, and, taking his companion by the hand, told him it was time for them to be gone. "why so?" asked the prince. "why should we so soon leave these enchanting scenes?" "alas!" answered the shepherd, "this place is infested with lions. they come out at a certain hour every day, and we all have to retire within the walls of our abode and close the gates. see here," continued he, rolling up his sleeve, and showing a great scar on his arm, "this is what i received in an encounter with these fierce beasts. i once lagged behind, and was with great difficulty saved from destruction. so, let us lose no time, but make the best of our way home." on hearing these words, the prince turned pale; but he said nothing, and they silently returned to the house. on reaching the gate, azgid called for his horse, and, having mounted, told his host that he was about to leave, and thanked him for his kindness. "farewell, oaxus!" said he. "farewell, young asdril! i thought i should have remained here forever; but fate decrees otherwise. i must seek another abode, another home." and, so saying, he put spurs to his horse and galloped away. he journeyed on and on, and soon left the groves and green valleys. the country became more barren, trees began to disappear, and, not long after, scarcely any verdure was visible. he was soon in the midst of the desert. far as the eye could reach, the vast plain spread before him. not a shrub or blade of grass could be seen, and nothing met the view but, now and then, some low sand-hills, piled up by the wind like drifts of snow, among which, with much fatigue to his horse, he pursued his way. the sun blazed on him with great power; and it was with much satisfaction, on the third day, that he perceived in the distance a number of black tents, which he knew to be an encampment of arabs. as he drew near, a band of warriors, mounted on fine horses and brandishing their spears, came forth to meet him. this was their usual mode of welcoming a stranger. they seemed struck with the appearance of azgid, and showed him much respect, forming a sort of guard around him, and leading him to the tent of their chief. the latter was a person of dignified aspect, somewhat past the prime of life. his name was sheik hajaar. he sat smoking in front of his tent; and, when the youth approached, he rose up and cordially saluted him. he then took him inside the tent, and set before him a repast, of which, when the young man had eaten, he thought it his duty to inform his kind host who he was. "my friend," said he, "you are no doubt surprised at seeing a stranger of my appearance thus suddenly visiting you, and will naturally wish to inquire who i am. this wish i can only in part gratify: suffice it, then, to say that i am a prince whom troubles at home have driven abroad, but my name i cannot tell; that is a secret lodged within my own breast, to be imparted to no one. if no inconvenience to you, it would please me much to remain here. i have ample means at my command, and will remunerate you for whatever trouble i may put you to." the sheik replied that the company of one so exalted and accomplished was remuneration enough, and that he would be rejoiced to have him as his guest for ever. he then introduced him to a number of his friends, and leading him out, presented him with a beautiful horse of great value. azgid thought he had never in his life seen so fine an animal; and when he mounted him he found him so gentle and docile as scarcely to require any management, for the intelligent creature seemed to anticipate all his wishes. "but, come," said the sheik, "it is time for us to be off: to-day we hunt the antelope; you, prince, will of course accompany us." azgid, with a smile, replied in the affirmative, and they started off in pursuit of the game. they soon overtook a herd, and commenced chasing them--spears flew, and the air resounded with cries. the prince was exhilarated with the sport, and enjoyed himself exceedingly. "ah!" thought he, "this is a happy life, and these children of the desert are happy people: i am resolved never to quit them." the hunt lasted nearly the whole day, and about sunset the company returned with the spoil, which consisted of more than a dozen antelopes. these sports were kept up nearly every day, and azgid's time passed most agreeably. a week had now elapsed, and the youth had one night retired to rest, congratulating himself on the happy life he led, when the sheik hajaar quietly approached his couch, and thus spake: "my son," said he, "i have come to tell you how much my people are pleased with you, and especially with the spirit you evince in the sports of the chase. but these sports do not comprise all our life: we have frequent wars with hostile tribes, where great valour is necessary. my men are all approved warriors, and, before they can have perfect confidence in you as a trusty comrade, desire to see some specimen of your prowess. two leagues south of this is a range of hills infested with lions; rise, then, early on the morrow, mount your horse, take your sword and spear, and slay and bring us the skin of one of these savage beasts: then will we be assured of your courage, and have confidence in you in the day of battle." having thus spoke, the sheik bid him good night, and retired. his words disturbed azgid extremely. "ah!" thought he, "here are the lions again! wherever i go i meet them. i thought i had found at last a quiet home, but i am mistaken; this is not the place for me." he then got out of bed, and, lifting up the covering of the tent, slipped out, and went first to see the horse the sheik had given him. he found him tethered among the others, and, going up to him, threw his arms around him and kissed him. "farewell, kind creature," said he, "i grieve to leave you!" the animal leaned his head on his shoulders, and seemed to return his good feelings. the youth then sought his own steed, and, having mounted him, started off. he rode over the trackless sands, with the bright stars glittering above him, a homeless wanderer, not knowing whither he was going. at length morning began to appear, and soon the sun rose and beat upon his head with its fierce rays; by the middle of the day he was rejoiced to perceive that he was leaving the desert; and late in the afternoon he reached a charming region of hill and dale, streams and meadows. he soon after came to one of the most beautiful palaces he had ever seen. it was built of porphyry, and stood in the midst of an immense garden, where every plant and flower grew that could delight the sight or regale the senses. trees loaded with all kinds of delicious fruits, some trimmed and cut into the most curious shapes, were seen on all sides. statues of exquisite forms stood among them. from many of these fountains spouted upwards to a vast height, whose waters fell murmuring into large basins, where gold-fish, swans and other water-fowl were seen swimming about. peacocks and other gorgeous birds strutted and flew around in every direction; and so many objects met the young man's eye, as he slowly rode up the broad avenue, that he stopped almost every moment to gaze and admire. at last lie reached the portico, which was raised twenty steps, and adorned with twelve columns of clear jasper. the owner of the palace, who was an emir of great wealth, was seated on the portico, in company with his daughter, the golden-haired perizide. on seeing a stranger of such dignified mien approaching, he rose up and went to welcome him. he led him up the steps, and introduced him to the young lady, who became at once interested with the looks and demeanour of the handsome youth. the emir then took his guest inside the palace. azgid looked round with wonder. if the exterior of the building delighted him, how much more was he pleased with its interior? the hall was of vast size, with a noble staircase in the middle; the apartments were spacious, and shone with gold; the walls and ceilings were covered with the most exquisite paintings in fresco; and vases of precious stones, statues, and all kinds of rare curiosities were ranged around; the windows were of something that resembled pearl, and were stained with different colours, so that, as the sun shone through them, the tesselated floor received the rays, and glittered with all the tints of the rainbow. azgid gazed with astonishment. the emir now set before him a collation composed of the most delicate viands, delicious fruits, and wines. after he had finished eating, the prince thought it his duty to inform his kind host who he was. "sir," said he, "you no doubt wonder at one of my appearance thus suddenly visiting you, and will naturally wish to inquire who i am. this wish i can only in part gratify. suffice it, then, to say that i am a prince whom troubles at home have driven abroad, but my name i cannot tell: that is a secret lodged in my own breast, to be imparted to no one. if no inconvenience to you, it would delight me much to remain with you; and at some future day, if fortune should again smile upon me, i will be happy to return the favour, and reciprocate your hospitality." the emir replied to this speech in the kindest manner, telling the youth that he did him a great honour in making him a visit, and that he hoped he would remain to the end of his days. he further informed him that he expected that night a number of his friends to favour him with their company, and, wishing to look after the preparations for the banquet, he begged his guest to excuse him for a short time. when the emir retired, azgid was left alone with the fair perizide, and was struck more than ever with her ravishing beauty. in fact, he fell deeply in love with her. she, on her part, seemed not insensible to his merits, and exerted herself to amuse and entertain him. she led him into the garden, showing him all the rare sights, and bidding him observe the consummate art with which the shrubbery and trees were arranged, and the charming green alleys and vistas which opened before them as they walked along. they explored the beauties of this fairy scene, seating themselves by the side of the glittering fountains, and sometimes beneath the dark shadows of the flowery arbours, through which the rays of a bright full moon began now to penetrate. they then returned to the palace, and, approaching, heard the strains of festive music, and perceived the building illuminated from top to bottom. they passed through the throngs on the portico, and entered the house, which was lit up with hundreds of dazzling lustres, and crowded with guests, all habited in splendid dresses. perizide led the youth into the grand saloon, and seated him on one of the purple divans. the attendants now served up a splendid supper, brought in on gold and silver trays, and which consisted of every delicacy that could be procured. it was made up of many courses, and lasted a considerable time, and at its conclusion the room was partially cleared, and a number of dancing girls, of elegant form and richly clad, entered the apartment, and amused the guests with their graceful movements. azgid, observing a lute lying near him, took it up, and, telling the lady how fond he was of music, begged her to favour him with an air. perizide complied with his request very graciously, and commenced playing. the prince listened with delight, and was drinking in the soft strains with rapt attention, when he suddenly heard a loud and very unusual sound. "what noise is that?" asked the youth. "i heard nothing," replied his companion; "nor do i think there was any. it is your imagination only that fancies it." whereupon she went on playing; but she had only proceeded a few minutes, when the prince started a second time. "there it is again!" said he. "did you not hear it?" "i heard nothing," answered perizide, "but the sound of music and the merry voices of hundreds of happy guests. it must be your imagination, prince, as i said before, and nothing else." "perhaps it is," returned the youth, striking his forehead. "you must pardon me, fair lady: i have lately passed through many trying scenes, and i fear my nerves are none of the strongest." perizide thereupon resumed her lute, but she had not proceeded very long, when her guest again cried out, "oh!" said he, "tell me not that this is imagination! i heard it most distinctly. explain to me i pray, what it means." "oh," replied the young lady, laughing, "that is boulak, our black porter. he is a great pet and a privileged character; he gets drowsy sometimes, and often yawns, and that was the sound you just heard." "good heavens!" said azgid, "what lungs he must have, to make such a yawn as that!" perizide made no reply except a smile, but went on playing the lute, when, having finished, the prince complimented her highly for her performance. it was by this time pretty late, and the guests gradually retired; perizide also went to her chamber, and the prince and the emir were left alone. they passed nearly an hour smoking and conversing very pleasantly, till at length the host rose up, and telling his guest it was bed-time, took him by the hand to lead him to his chamber. they proceeded to the hall, and soon reached the great staircase, which was of white marble, with a handsome balustrade on each side. when they came to the foot of it, azgid gazed for a moment admiring its beauty; but what was his horror, when, on looking up, he spied a black lion of immense size lying stretched on the topmost landing. he trembled and turned pale. "what is that?" said he, pointing with his finger. "oh," returned the emir, "that is boulak, our black porter. he is tame, and will not hurt you if you are not afraid of him; but he can tell when any one fears him, and then he becomes ferocious." "i fear him," whispered the prince, "and fear him greatly." "you must cast aside your fear, my son," replied the other, "and then there is not the slightest danger." "that is easier said than done," answered the youth. "i try to cast it aside, but do not succeed. no, i believe i will not go to my chamber, but will sleep somewhere else, where there is no need of approaching this terrible beast." "just as you like," replied the emir. "you can return to the saloon, and repose on one of those divans." the prince accordingly took up his lodgings in the saloon, and having bid his friend "good night," he carefully locked the door and windows, making everything as secure as possible. he then lay down on the cushions, listening eagerly if he might perchance hear any sound. but all was silent; for every soul had retired, and the vast mansion presented a striking contrast to the noisy merriment which a little while before had reigned everywhere. the young man now composed himself to rest, thinking that the lion was most probably fast asleep and would not disturb him--but he was mistaken; for in the course of an hour he heard most evidently a soft, heavy tread coming down the stairs. the beast, on reaching the hall, seemed for a moment to pause; then his steps were heard moving along the vast corridor, till it could be no longer distinguished. azgid now breathed more freely, and was in hopes that his tormentor had retired to some secluded part of the building, and had gone to sleep; but he was doomed to be disappointed, for in a short time he heard the faint steps approaching nearer and nearer, and perceived that the beast stopped every now and then, snuffing with his nose, as if in search of some one. at last he came to the door, putting his nose at the lower part, and snuffing louder than ever; then he sprang with his fore feet against it, giving it such a push as almost to burst it open, and at the same time uttering a tremendous roar, which echoed through the palace. azgid jumped from his couch in dismay, and retreated to the farthest corner of the room; his hair stood on end, and the cold perspiration rolled from his body. he believed for a certainty that the door would fly open, and then the lion would rush in and devour him; but nothing of the kind occurred, for in a few moments the beast again went upstairs, and nothing more was heard of him. the prince then lay down on his couch--but not to sleep: he revolved in his mind all that had happened to him since his departure from his own city, and thinking that providence would not afflict him in such a manner for nought, but that there must be some design in it, he came to the determination that he would instantly return home, and fulfil the law and custom of his country by fighting the lion. early on the morrow, the emir came to wake his guest, and bid him "good morning." he found the young man in tears, and putting his arm round him, thus spoke: "my son," said he, "your behaviour last night, when about to retire, surprised me greatly, and my amazement is increased now at seeing you in this unhappy state. what ails you, my son? tell me all, and hide nothing from me; and first let me know frankly who you are?" "i am one," replied the youth, "who has fled from duty. i am azgid, son of the renowned king almamoun. i fled from a work providence assigned to me to perform--but my sin followed me. i searched far and wide for comfort, but in vain--trouble and disaster pursued me wherever i went. but i have repented, and am now going back to retrieve my error, and meet the trial from which i once endeavoured to escape." "i am rejoiced to hear you thus speak," said the emir. "i was well acquainted with your father, and think i know now from what duty it was you tried to escape. go back, then, to your home, my son, and may heaven grant you strength to perform your excellent resolution." he then ordered his guest's horse to be brought, which when the youth hath mounted, he asked his host to remember him to the beautiful perizide, and beg her to excuse him for leaving her in so strange and abrupt a manner. "i will do as you desire," replied the other, "and when my daughter learns the cause of your departure, she will think more of you than ever." thus with mutual good wishes the two friends separated, and azgid rode away. he pursued the same route he had travelled before, and on the second day reached the desert and the encampment of the arabs. he found the sheik hajaar, sitting in his tent door, calmly smoking his pipe: the sheik was surprised at seeing him, and begged him to dismount and refresh himself; but this the prince refused to do, saying that he had only come to explain his past strange behaviour in leaving his hospitable abode so abruptly. "i am azgid," continued he, "son of the renowned king almamoun. i was sorely troubled in mind when i visited you, for i had fled from duty; but i am now going back to retrieve my error and begin a new life. but tell me, i pray, how is that beautiful animal i used to ride with so much pleasure?" "he is well," answered the other, "and it would please me much if you could remain and ride him again; but i feel that it would be wrong to interrupt you in such a pious journey as you now undertake. go on, then, my son: may heaven prosper you in your good resolutions, and peace be with you." so saying, he bade the prince farewell, and the latter, having returned his salutation, rode off. he pursued his course rapidly, and in a day or two arrived at the abode of oaxus, whom he found in the courtyard, busily engaged in tending his sheep and goats. the old man was delighted to see him, and begged him to dismount; but the prince declined doing so, and went on to explain who he was in the same words he had used to the sheik hajaar. oaxus was much astonished when he heard the account, and congratulated the young man on the happy change that had come over him. "go on, my friend," continued he: "may heaven prosper you, and give you strength to carry out your wise designs." "farewell," replied azgid, "and tell young asdril that if fortune favours me, i hope one day to be back, and listen to his sweet music again in spite of the lions." with these words he rode away, and travelling on, in due time reached his own city. he proceeded at once to the palace, and sought out the old vizier, to whom he related all that had happened to him, and all that he intended to do, without concealing anything. "and now," said he, "lead me at once to the lion, and let me fight him and fulfil the law, as all my ancestors have done before me." the old man heard this speech with great pleasure, and almost wept for joy: he tenderly embraced his young friend, and, smiling, told him not to run into extremes nor to be in too great a hurry; for that his trial with the lion had better be put off for a week at least, and that in the meantime he needed rest and refreshment. to this suggestion azgid acceded, and waited till the day his friend had fixed upon. it at length arrived, and very early in the morning the prince arose and prepared for the combat. he clad himself in a light garment, tying a sash around it, in which he stuck a sharp dagger, took a spear in his hand, and, accompanied by the vizier, left the palace and proceeded to the mountain. they climbed up the high steps and reached the top, whereupon the slave met them, and, going before, unlocked the gate. the young man looked down and saw the lion, sitting on his haunches, at one end of the arena; he then shook hands with his companions, and committing himself to the care of heaven, sprang in. the beast gave a loud roar when he saw him, and crouching down, drew himself slowly toward his opponent, glaring fiercely on him all the while. the prince quailed not, but gazed steadily on the animal, and advanced on him spear in hand; the lion now gave another loud roar, and bounding forward, sprang over the youth's head. he then returned, and commenced licking his hands and rubbing himself against his body. the vizier now called out joyfully to his young friend, telling him he had conquered, and begging him to approach; and, with the assistance of the slave, he lifted him out of the den, the lion following like a dog. "yes, azgid," continued the old man, embracing the prince, "the beast is tame and will injure no one; but, ignorant of this, you encountered him, and the proof of your valour is complete. come, then, and ascend your throne, for you are worthy of it." they then began to descend the stairs, and azgid, observing a couple of figures on the landing, asked the vizier who they were. "i know not," replied he; "i can see them, but the height is too great for me to distinguish who they are." in a little while they reached the platform, when the new-comers proved to be oaxus and asdril. "azgid," said the old shepherd, "i have come to congratulate you on your good fortune and happy deliverance; and here, too, is young asdril, whose music you so much admired, and whom i now present to you as your own." "oaxus," replied the prince, "i heartily thank you; and as for you, asdril, you are no longer a slave: from this moment you are free. you shall be the companion of my leisure hours, and entertain me with your delightful strains." they now began to descend again; and azgid, observing a group on the second landing, asked the vizier who they were. "i know not," replied he; "i can see them, but the height is too great for me to distinguish who they are." in a little while they reached the platform, when the new-comers proved to be the sheik hajaar, with a group of arabs, leading the beautiful horse with which the prince had been so much pleased. "azgid," said the sheik, "i have come to congratulate you on your good fortune and happy deliverance. i have brought you as a present the horse you used to ride when you honoured me with a visit: will your highness deign to accept of it as a slight testimonial of my loyal regard?" "valiant sheik," answered the young man, "i am rejoiced to see you again, and receive with gratitude your noble gift; you could not have given me anything more acceptable." he then embraced the sheik, and kissed the beautiful animal, who seemed to recognize him. they then began to descend; and the prince, observing at the bottom of the stairs quite a concourse of people, inquired of the vizier who they were. "i know not," replied he; "i can see them, but the height is too great for me to distinguish who they are." in a little while they reached the end of the staircase, when the new-comers proved to be the emir, with a large retinue of his guards, with music and banners. "azgid," said the emir, "i am come to congratulate you on your good fortune and happy deliverance. i have brought no present; that i considered needless, since myself and all that i have are yours." "noble emir," cried the youth, "i am rejoiced to see you--tell me, how is perizide? as soon as i have been crowned i intend to visit her with the speed of lightning." "there is no need of that," returned the other: "come with me;" and, so saying, he led the young man to a splendid white steed, on which sat a lady, covered with a long veil. the emir lifted the veil, and azgid beheld the beautiful face of his beloved mistress. their meeting, as may be imagined, was most tender and affectionate; and the vizier, having ordered the music to strike up, the whole procession moved toward the palace. "how strange it seems!" said the prince: "when i fled from my duty everything went wrong with me; but now, after fulfilling it, good luck meets me at every step." azgid was crowned the same day, and in the evening his nuptials with the fair perizide were celebrated; they lived long and happily; and the prince ordered the story of his life to be written in the annals of the kingdom, and an inscription in gold letters to be placed over the door of the palace, with these words: "_never run from the lion._" [illustration] the city of the demons [illustration] in days of yore there lived in the flourishing city of cairo a hebrew rabbi, by name jochonan, who was the most learned of his nation. his fame went over the east, and the most distant people sent their young men to imbibe wisdom from his lips. he was deeply skilled in the traditions of the fathers, and his word on a disputed point was decisive. he was pious, just, temperate, and strict; but he had one vice: a love of gold had seized upon his heart, and he opened not his hand to the poor. yet he was wealthy above most: his wisdom being to him the source of riches. the hebrews of the city were grieved at this blemish on the wisest of their people; but, though the elders of the tribes continued to reverence him for his fame, the women and children of cairo called him by no other name than that of rabbi jochonan the miser. none knew so well as he the ceremonies necessary for initiation into the religion of moses, and, consequently, the exercise of those solemn offices was to him another source of gain. one day, as he walked in the fields about cairo, conversing with a youth on the interpretation of the law, it so happened that the angel of death smote the young man suddenly, and he fell dead before the feet of the rabbi, even while he was yet speaking. when the rabbi found that the youth was dead, he rent his garments, and glorified the lord. but his heart was touched, and the thoughts of death troubled him in the visions of the night. he felt uneasy when he reflected on his hardness to the poor; and he said, "blessed be the name of the lord! the first good thing that i am asked to do in that holy name will i perform." but he sighed, for he feared that some one might ask of him a portion of his gold. while yet he thought upon these things, there came a loud cry at his gate. "awake, thou sleeper!" said the voice, "awake! a child is in danger of death, and the mother hath sent me for thee, that thou mayest do thine office." "the night is dark and gloomy," said the rabbi, coming to his casement, "and mine age is great: are there not younger men than i in cairo?" "for thee only, rabbi jochonan, whom some call the wise, but whom others call rabbi jochonan the miser, was i sent. here is gold," said he, taking out a purse of sequins; "i want not thy labour for nothing. i adjure thee to come, in the name of the living god." so the rabbi thought upon the vow he had just made, and he groaned in spirit, for the purse sounded heavy. "as thou hast adjured me by that name, i go with thee," said he to the man; "but i hope the distance is not far. put up thy gold." "the place is at hand," said the stranger, who was a gallant youth, in magnificent attire. "be speedy, for time presses." jochonan arose, dressed himself, and accompanied the stranger, after having carefully locked up all the doors of his house, and deposited his keys in a secret place--at which the stranger smiled. "i never remember," said the rabbi, "so dark a night. be thou to me as a guide, for i can hardly see the way." "i know it well," replied the stranger with a sigh. "it is a way much frequented, and travelled hourly by many. lean upon mine arm, and fear not." they journeyed on, and, though the darkness was great, yet the rabbi could see, when it occasionally brightened, that he was in a place strange to him. "i thought," said he, "i knew all the country for leagues about cairo, yet i know not where i am. i hope, young man," said he to his companion, "that thou hast not missed the way." and his heart misgave him. "fear not," returned the stranger; "your journey is even now done." and, as he spoke, the feet of the rabbi slipped from under him, and he rolled down a great height. when he recovered, he found that his companion had fallen also, and stood by his side. "nay, young man," said the rabbi, "if thus thou sportest with the grey hairs of age, thy days are numbered. woe unto him who insults the hoary head!" the stranger made an excuse, and they journeyed on some little farther in silence. the darkness grew less, and the astonished rabbi, lifting up his eyes, found that they had come to the gates of a city which he had never before seen. yet he knew all the cities of the land of egypt, and he had walked but half an hour from his dwelling in cairo. so he knew not what to think, but followed the man with trembling. they soon entered the gates of the city, which was lighted up as if there were a festival in every house. the streets were full of revellers, and nothing but a sound of joy could be heard. but when jochonan looked upon their faces, they were the faces of men pained within; and he saw, by the marks they bore, that they were mazikin.[1] he was terrified in his soul, and, by the light of the torches, he looked also upon the face of his companion, and, behold! he saw upon him too the mark that showed him to be a demon. the rabbi feared excessively--almost to fainting; but he thought it better to be silent, and sadly he followed his guide, who brought him to a splendid house in the most magnificent quarter of the city. [footnote 1: demons] "enter here," said the demon to jochonan, "for this house is mine. the lady and the child are in the upper chamber." and accordingly the sorrowful rabbi ascended the stairs to find them. the lady, whose dazzling beauty was shrouded by melancholy beyond hope, lay in bed; the child, in rich raiment, slumbered on the lap of the nurse, by her side. "i have brought to thee, light of my eyes!" said the demon, "rebecca, beloved of my soul! i have brought unto thee rabbi jochonan the wise, for whom thou didst desire. let him, then, speedily begin his office; i shall fetch all things necessary, for he is in haste to depart." he smiled bitterly as he said these words, looking at the rabbi, and left the room, followed by the nurse. when jochonan and the lady were alone, she turned in the bed towards him, and said, "unhappy man that thou art! knowest thou where thou hast been brought?" "i do," said he, with a heavy groan. "i know that i am in a city of the mazikin." "know then, further," said she, and the tears gushed from eyes brighter than the diamond, "know then, further, that up one is ever brought here unless he hath sinned before the lord. what my sin hath been imports not to thee--and i seek not to know thine. but here thou remainest for ever--lost, even as i am lost." and she wept again. the rabbi dashed his turban on the ground, and, tearing his hair, exclaimed, "woe is me! who art thou, woman, that speakest to me thus?" "i am a hebrew woman," said she, "the daughter of a doctor of the laws, in the city of bagdad; and being brought hither--it matters not how--i am married to a prince among the mazikin, even him who was sent for thee. and that child whom thou sawest is our first-born, and i could not bear the thought that the soul of our innocent babe should perish. i therefore besought my husband to try and bring hither a priest, that the law of moses (blessed be his memory!) should be done; and thy fame, which has spread to bagdad, and lands farther towards the rising of the sun, made me think of thee. now, my husband, though great among the mazikin, is more just than the other demons; and he loves me, whom he hath ruined, with a love of despair. so he said that the name of jochonan the wise was familiar unto him, and that he knew thou wouldst not be able to refuse. what thou hast done to give him power over thee is known to thyself." "i swear, before heaven," said the rabbi, "that i have ever diligently kept the law, and walked steadfastly according to the traditions of our fathers from the days of my youth upward. i have wronged no man in word or deed, and i have daily worshipped the lord, minutely performing all the ceremonies thereto needful." "nay," said the lady, "all this thou mightest have done, and more, and yet be in the power of the demons. but time passes, for i hear the foot of my husband mounting the stair. there is one chance of thine escape." "what is that, o lady of beauty?" said the agonized rabbi. "eat not, drink not, nor take fee or reward while here, and as long as thou canst do thus, the mazikin have no power over thee, dead or alive. have courage and persevere." as she ceased from speaking, her husband entered the room, followed by the nurse, who bore all things requisite for the ministration of the rabbi. with a heavy heart he performed his duty, and the child was numbered among the faithful. but when, as usual, at the conclusion of the ceremony, the wine was handed round to be tasted by the child, the mother, and the rabbi, he refused it when it came to him, saying, "spare me, my lord, for i have made a vow that i fast this day, and i will eat not, neither will i drink." "be it as thou pleasest," said the demon; "i will not that thou shouldst break thy vow." and he laughed aloud. so the poor rabbi was taken into a chamber looking into a garden, where he passed the remainder of the night and the day, weeping and praying to the lord that he would deliver him from the city of demons. but when the twelfth hour came, and the sun was set, the prince of the mazikin came again unto him, and said, "eat now, i pray thee, for the day of thy vow is past." and he set meat before him. "pardon again thy servant, my lord," said jochonan, "in this thing. i have another vow for this day also. i pray thee be not angry with thy servant." "i am not angry," said the demon; "be it as thou pleasest: i respect thy vow." and he laughed louder than before. so the rabbi sat another day in his chamber by the garden, weeping and praying; and when the sun had gone behind the hills, the prince of the mazikin again stood before him, and said, "eat now, for thou must be an hungered. it was a sore vow of thine." and he offered him daintier meats. and jochonan felt a strong desire to eat, but he prayed inwardly to the lord, and the temptation passed, and he answered, "excuse thy servant yet a third time, my lord, that i eat not. i have renewed my vow." "be it so, then," said the other: "arise, and follow me." the demon took a torch in his hand, and led the rabbi, through winding passages of his palace, to the door of a lofty chamber, which he opened with a key that he took from a niche in the wall. on entering the room, jochonan saw that it was of solid silver--floor, ceiling, walls, even to the threshold and the door-posts; and the curiously carved roof and borders of the ceiling shone in the torchlight as if they were the fanciful work of frost. in the midst were heaps of silver money, piled up in immense urns of the same metal, even over the brim. "thou hast done me a serviceable act, rabbi," said the demon: "take of these what thou pleasest; ay, were it the whole." "i cannot, my lord," said jochonan. "i was adjured by thee to come hither in the name of god, and in that name i came, not for fee or for reward." "follow me," said the prince of the mazikin; and jochonan did so into an inner chamber. it was of gold, as the other was of silver. its golden roof was supported by pillars and pilasters of gold, resting upon a golden floor. the treasures of the kings of the earth would not purchase one of the four and twenty vessels of golden coins, which were disposed in six rows along the room. no wonder! for they were filled by the constant labours of the demons of the mine. the heart of jochonan was moved by avarice when he saw them shining in yellow light, like the autumnal sun, as they reflected the beams of the torch. but god enabled him to persevere. "these are thine," said the demon: "one of the vessels which thou beholdest would make thee richest of the sons of men, and i give thee them all." but jochonan refused again, and the prince of the mazikin opened the door of a third chamber, which was called the hall of diamonds. when the rabbi entered, he screamed aloud, and put his hands over his eyes, for the lustre of the jewels dazzled him, as if he had looked upon the noonday sun. in vases of agate were heaped diamonds beyond numeration, the smallest of which was larger than a pigeon's egg. on alabaster tables lay amethysts, topazes, rubies, beryls, and all other precious stones, wrought by the hands of skilful artists, beyond power of computation. the room was lighted by a carbuncle, which, from the end of the hall, poured its ever-living light, brighter than the rays of noontide, but cooler than the gentle radiance of the dewy moon. this was a sore trial to the rabbi; but he was strengthened from above, and he refused again. "thou knowest me, then, i perceive, o jochonan, son of ben-david," said the prince of the mazikin. "i am a demon who would tempt thee to destruction. as thou hast withstood so far, i tempt thee no more. thou hast done a service which, though i value it not, is acceptable in the sight of her whose love is dearer to me than the light of life. sad has been that love to thee, my rebecca! why should i do that which would make thy cureless grief more grievous?--you have yet another chamber to see," said he to jochonan, who had closed his eyes, and was praying fervently to the lord, beating his breast. far different from the other chambers, the one into which the rabbi was next introduced was a mean and paltry apartment without furniture. on its filthy walls hung innumerable bunches of rusty keys of all sizes, disposed without order. among them, to the astonishment of jochonan, hung the keys of his own house--those which he had put to hide when he came on this miserable journey--and he gazed upon them intently. "what dost thou see," said the demon, "that makes thee look so eagerly? can he who has refused silver and gold and diamonds be moved by a paltry bunch of rusty iron?" "they are mine own, my lord," said the rabbi. "them will i take, if they be offered me." "take them, then," said the demon, putting them into his hand: "thou mayst depart. but, rabbi, open not thy house only when thou returnest to cairo, but thy heart also. that thou didst not open it before was that which gave me power over thee. it was well that thou didst one act of charity in coming with me without reward, for it has been thy salvation. be no more rabbi jochonan the miser." the rabbi bowed to the ground, and blessed the lord for his escape. "but how," said he, "am i to return, for i know not the way?" "close thine eyes," said the demon. he did so, and, in the space of a moment, heard the voice of the prince of the mazikin ordering him to open them again. and behold, when he opened them, he stood in the centre of his own chamber, in his house at cairo, with the keys in his hand. when he recovered from his surprise, and had offered thanksgivings to god, he opened his house, and his heart also. he gave alms to the poor, he cheered the heart of the widow, and lightened the destitution of the orphan. his hospitable board was open to the stranger, and his purse was at the service of all who needed to share it. his life was a perpetual act of benevolence, and the blessings showered upon him by all were returned bountifully upon him by the hand of god. but people wondered, and said, "is not this the man who was called rabbi jochonan the miser? what hath made the change?" and it became a saying in cairo. when it came to the ears of the rabbi, he called his friends together, and he avowed his former love of gold, and the danger to which it had exposed him, relating all which has been above told, in the hall of the new palace that he built by the side of the river, on the left hand, as thou goest down the course of the great stream. and wise men, who were scribes, wrote it down from his mouth for the benefit of mankind, that they might profit thereby. and a venerable man, with a beard of snow, who had read it in these books, and at whose feet i sat that i might learn the wisdom of the old time, told it to me. and i write it in the tongue of england, the merry and the free, on the tenth day of the month nisan, in the year, according to the lesser computation, five hundred ninety and seven, that thou mayest learn good thereof. if not, the fault be upon thee. [illustration] jussuf, the merchant of balsora. [illustration] many hundred years ago, when the renowned caliph haroun al raschid ruled in bagdad, there lived in the town of balsora a merchant of good repute, who was called jussuf. he had received a considerable property by inheritance from his father; and his paternal house, which was esteemed as the most splendid palace of the town, was situated on one of the finest spots. he was obliged to keep a great number both of male and female slaves, as well for the management of his household affairs, as also to assist him in his commercial pursuits, for his business was very extensive. the largest warehouse in the bazaar of the city belonged to him, and it was always filled with the most precious goods, which he caused to be collected from the remotest parts of the globe--either in ships or on the backs of his camels. there you might see all the rarest and choicest gifts of nature, together with the finest and richest productions of art; the most costly tissues and stuffs, the most valuable vessels and implements of silver and gold; elegant jewellery and trinkets, adorned skilfully with sparkling stones of considerable value, heaped up one on another. but the agreeable manner and contrast in which all these were exposed for sale gratified the eye more than even the costly articles themselves. it was not, therefore, to be wondered at that the crowd in his warehouse, in so great and rich a city, was very numerous. it had already become a custom for people to apply to jussuf if they wished to buy anything which had come in fashion with the wealthy citizen, either on account of its intrinsic value or of its skilful workmanship. could they find the required goods as fine or as beautiful at another magazine, still they always preferred to go to jussuf, even if they paid him more dearly for them. they felt confident that they should find everything more genuine, more handsome, and more tasteful there than at any other merchant's. this, however, may have been only a favourable prepossession; but it is nevertheless certain, that in no other warehouse were so many objects, alike useful and ornamental, collected together, as in that of jussuf. and as his business flourished more and more, so his riches increased from day to day. at the same time his cares and exertions in watching after the number of men whom he employed, his zeal in the equipment of his ships, and in the forwarding and dispatching of his caravans, increased in equal measure. he had continued his business in this way for several years, and had altogether neglected his health through his perseverance and unflinching attention, when he felt at once that his usual strength was declining, and that he should soon become exhausted unless he permitted himself at times to take some recreation. he therefore very willingly took the opportunity which offered itself accidentally about this time of buying a fine estate. it was situated only a few miles from the town, by the side of a stream, in a country as pleasant as it was fruitful, combining means for hunting and for fishing; and the price was so moderate that he resolved on the purchase without much consideration. he purposed to detach himself for a few weeks from his business, and to devote himself to pleasure and repose in the quiet and calm of his country residence. he caused a new and elegant country house to be built by a skilful architect on an eminence, instead of the old one, surrounded by a large pleasant artificial garden. as all was settled and prepared, he shut up his warehouse at the end of every week early enough for him to ride over. there he would repose from the troubles of the preceding days, and recreate himself with hunting and fishing, and collect new strength in the peaceful serenity of his country estate. but custom is often stronger than our inclinations: he had become so accustomed to an active life, that his thoughts always returned to his wares in his warehouse, or to his ships that were transporting his goods over distant seas. hence it happened that he soon entertained a hope of drawing large profits, as well as the restoration of his health, from this country residence. he employed himself very successfully in the chase and in fishing, or in raising choice flowers in the beds before his house, or else with the care of rare foreign birds, which he fed and kept in a large aviary. but these only charmed him for a time: the chase of wild beasts appeared to him too soon to be but a cruel sport; fishing was tedious; the cultivation of his flowers, too, was monotonous; and, if he contemplated the imprisoned foreign birds, he heartily pitied them because they were deprived of freedom. one day he had tried everything to divert himself, but without success; at last he seated himself, half discontented, in the open colonnade which extended along the side of his country house, and his eye glanced over the flower-beds before him into the extreme distance: there his gaze could follow over a small tract the course of the river schat al arab, which, rising at the mouths of the euphrates and tigris, flows between shores clothed with verdure. some large merchant ships were sailing by; several fishing-boats were visible. "ah, thou magnificent stream!" exclaimed jussuf, who had given himself to reflection after he had viewed it for some time; "what a pity that thou must fall into the sea so soon below the kingly town of balsora! there thou art, wasted and forgotten; the navigator on the great sea never thinks that the streams of his native country flow mingled with the waves through which the keel of his ship cuts. now, then," continued he, after a short reflection, "it is all the better for me: now i am still active in business; my ships set out at morning, noon, and evening; my camels march to india through the deserts of arabia, and the plains of tartary and persia; thousands and thousands of men call me still the rich and great merchant jussuf, and praise me as the most lucky of mortals; yet a little while, and my existence will be lost as thine, in the sea of eternity." among such earnest considerations and soliloquies, he had hardly observed that a large variegated butterfly, hovering over the neighbouring flower-bed, moved slowly to and fro, just as if it were undecided in choosing on which flower it would alight. he was very attentive to its broad wings, which glittered with the most splendid colours, while the insect, brilliantly variegated, settled on a scarlet poppy, as though it wished to eclipse the magnificence of the flower with the variety of its different hues. "what splendid colours! what beautifully delineated wings!" exclaimed jussuf. "oh that i might possess the rare insect! the dyers who stain my silk stuffs, and the weavers, might take the liveliness of the colours, the design, and the well-wrought combination of colours, for a pattern." when the butterfly settled itself quietly on the poppy, jussuf approached it carefully to catch it; but, as he had no other convenient thing at his hand, he took off his turban, and covered the butterfly and the flower. the butterfly had not flown away, therefore it must be under the turban. already he rejoiced at his lucky capture, and was proceeding to raise the turban slowly a little on one side, in order to seize the imprisoned insect securely, when he remarked that the turban was raising itself, and that under it a human form was growing up higher and higher out of the flower. full of astonishment, he drew back a step. as he kept his eyes fixed on the object, a maiden of astonishing beauty appeared before him, such as he had never before seen. her face was veiled, and his turban was on her head: smilingly she removed it, and extended it to him, saying, with a mischievous look, "there, friend jussuf, take it again: this turban is accustomed to ornament a brain in which rule very earnest and high thoughts; it would, perhaps, feel very badly honoured were it to serve as a covering for my frivolous caprices." "thou jestest, high daughter of a genius," exclaimed jussuf, sinking on his knees: "thy incomparable beauty testifies that thou art no ordinary mortal, if even the wonderful manner in which thou hast appeared had not fixed it beyond all doubt." "it may be," replied the maiden, "that thou hast rightly guessed. but that is no matter; i am come here to-day to help to banish your idle thoughts: come, run a race with me." immediately she threw the poppy which he had covered with his turban roughly in his face, and ran away. jussuf remained irresolute, and looked after her; then she stopped her pace, and called back to him, "art thou transformed into a statue? canst thou not run? run, and catch me, if you can." her mischievous manner gave her an irresistible grace, which urged him to begin the race, even although he did not wish to join in it. she flew on, allowing him sometimes to approach her, and then turned suddenly aside out of the way, and ran over the turf to avoid him: she did not even spare the flower-beds; and when she wanted to escape from him, she passed over them without caring for the finest plants. the more she provoked him in different ways, the more he exerted all his strength to catch her. at last she appeared exhausted, and threw herself, breathing heavily, on a bank of turf. "here is an asylum," exclaimed she. tired and breathless with the unusual exertion of running, he followed her example, and sat down near her on the bank. while they were resting, she plucked some flowers and branches of a flourishing shrub, which had spread itself from the bank into a green roof over their heads, and skilfully wove a garland. "come," said she to jussuf, when the wreath was ready, "come, let us throw up the garland." she arose at these words and led him to the nearest open space; she leaped around, dancing in a circle and holding the garland on high in her right hand, and then threw it up high into the air. the garland of flowers rose while she sang these words: "rise, thou garland fresh and fair, blend thy hues in liquid air: downward sinking, may'st thou be a fairy coronal for me." high above the shoots of the surrounding trees it seemed to remain hovering in the sunshine which lighted the colours of the flowers, inducing a very peculiar splendour. then it sank down gradually in soft vibrations, and settled on her head, as if she had placed it there herself as a crown. she took it from her locks and handed it to jussuf. "now it is thy turn," said she; "throw it up, and see whether it will fall on thy head." jussuf took it and threw it as high as he could; but it did not from his hand attain the sunny height, and the garland fell quickly, and at a great distance, to the ground before him. by the time he had altogether recollected himself, she was at the spot, and had already raised the garland, and was laughing heartily at his awkwardness. she threw it up, dancing in the former manner, and sang the spell. this time also the garland ascended high above the tops of the trees into the sunshine, and sank down on her head as at first. jussuf must needs try again, but he succeeded no better than before. thereupon she again threw it up, and caught it once more. after she had thus shown him several times, she cried out, laughing mischievously, "well, hast thou not yet observed why thou failest? why dost thou not sing my little song when thou throwest up the garland? try once more, and sing the spell; then it will succeed better." jussuf did so. he threw the garland and sang the verse; and, behold, the garland hovered in the sunshine, and descended in soft vibrations on his head, crowning his turban. "dost thou see?" said the maiden, laughingly: "the spell is of very great avail." she threw up the wreath again several times, and then she took it, and exclaimed, "now it is enough; but the game will be tedious." she threw it up high, and sang: "flower-garland, raise thee high, float in sunshine brilliantly; lend thy varied hues, to shed light on the darksome forest-head." the garland floated far out over the open space towards the edge of the park; there it melted suddenly in the air, and the blossoms rained down as it were on a dark cypress, and clung to it, so that it was adorned at once with a number of splendid flowers. jussuf saw this with astonishment. "well," exclaimed he, "thou conjurest. how is it possible that a cypress-tree should bear such beautiful blossoms?" but she answered, "what is there to be wondered at? who would make such a commotion about a merry game? come," continued she, "let us play at ball." and jumping up, she picked a ripe pomegranate from a neighbouring tree, placed herself at a tolerable distance from him at a shrub, and threw him the apple for a ball. jussuf had been very fond of playing at ball in his younger days, and still possessed some skill, so that he caught it. "well, indeed, well done," exclaimed she, as she caught it from jussuf, who had not thrown it quite straight, with the same ease as if it had fallen from the hand of the ablest thrower. they threw it in this way several times to each other, till at last jussuf let it fall. "oh!" cried she, "well done! whoever lets it fall, to him the punishment is due." and when she had caught the pomegranate again, she winked at him, and exclaimed, "now come back, i will give you a blow on the face." but jussuf remained where he was, watching for the throw, that he might avoid it. "come back," she said still; but he remained stationary. then she breathed low some words over the pomegranate, and threw it suddenly at jussuf. he wished to avoid the blow, by bending down quickly; but before he could succeed, he felt it on his forehead. the pomegranate was so violently thrown that it burst in pieces. the numerous grains lay scattered on the ground; but hardly had they touched the earth than they changed into so many wasps, which flew into the air and swarmed round his head. in the anguish of their stings, he held his hands before his eyes and ran on; but the swarm of wasps followed him, buzzing around him. "throw now thy turban on the ground," called the maiden at last to him, who was standing in the distance, loudly laughing at his anguish. he listened, and obeyed her call without thinking of it, and quickly all the wasps crept under the turban. he stood in astonishment, and looked at the turban. then the maiden approached him with ceaseless laughter, and said, "what has happened to thee, friend jussuf? why dost thou gaze upon thy turban with such anxious attention? it is a pity they are not bees, the honey might be collected there. take it up and put it on thy head." he stooped down and raised it with cautious slowness; but, to his astonishment, all the wasps had disappeared; only a green lizard ran to and fro, and was lost among the grass and the leaves near the pathway. "where did that go?" asked jussuf, reflectingly. "that was a pomegranate and became wasps, and where are they now gone?" "what!" rejoined the maiden; "where did it go? who would ask such a thing? how are wasps and pomegranates generally produced in this world? or can you tell me how it is that grass comes up and grows out of a grain of seed? or how is it that a fig-tree can spring up from each little seed of the fig? the case is just so; and if people would ask questions about everything, there would be no end to such inquiries. but man must not inquire too closely. come," continued she, quickly changing to a quieter and more mischievous manner, "dost thou see those figs hanging on the branch over the way? let us see if you can jump high enough to reach and pick them." he saw the figs, and sprang, but did not nearly reach the height at which they hung. she encouraged him to jump again and again, and at every awkward spring she laughed at his fruitless exertions. she then took a short run with little steps, and, floating as easily in the air as if she were borne on wings, plucked the figs, and then was wafted down as softly on the other side. "see," said she to him, holding out the figs, "here they are; now we will eat them together. we have earned them with one spring." jussuf declined them. "they all belong to thee," said he; "for thou alone didst pick them. i could not reach." "do you wish to make me angry?" said she. "hast thou not tired thyself more than i?--there, take and eat." she forced him, by her friendly manner, to eat half the figs; while she pressed the other to her lips, sucked a little of its juice, and then threw it away. "i did that," said she, clapping her hands, "that thou mightest not soon forget me: now thou must think of me for some time." immediately she began a new game with him, and after a short time another, and so on, continually changing the sport. the serious jussuf jumped, and hopped, and danced just as she wished, and tried to perform all the tricks she invented, as if he were a boy. at last they came to a fish-pond which was in the garden. she jumped into the boat, which was standing all ready, and rowed with ease into the middle of the little lake. then she stopped and called to him, "come here, my true playfellow, come to me." jussuf stood on the bank, and would have willingly walked to her through the water; but he knew that it was too deep, and he could not swim. "art thou not coming?" said she; "art thou afraid of the water?" "i cannot swim," answered he. "well, that is no consequence," she called out; "do as i do." and at these words she sprang lightly out of the boat, and walked over the surface of the waves as if on dry land; the water did not even moisten the sole of her sandal. "oh that i could!" exclaimed jussuf. "but i am too heavy; i should sink at once." the maiden had in the meantime sprung back into the boat, and called out, "if thou wilt not come to me, i will never come again to thee; nor will i now stay any longer with thee. evening is drawing near. for the future, then, thou mayest sit alone and grow ill tempered; and if thou ever wishest to see thy playmate again, thou mayest seek her in the native country of the variegated butterfly, which thou believedst thou hadst caught to-day, but which has flown away. recollect, and come before i have counted three. one--two--three." as she said the last number she disappeared. jussuf now saw the variegated butterfly flutter over the lake, and lose itself among the flowers of the garden; the boat moved back towards the bank where it had before been placed. the abandoned jussuf stood for some time, as if in a dream; but when the evening twilight veiled the distant hills, he awoke to consciousness. then the occurrences of the day appeared like a wonderful vision to his soul. in the silence of his chamber he soon threw himself on his bed, and here everything recurred to his memory; and he now wondered less at the wonderful appearance of the maiden than at himself--that he, a serious man, who till now had lived in the activity and cares of business, should have amused himself for several hours with childish games, at which he had not before played since his earliest boyish days. gradually his thoughts passed into dreams. he awoke late the next morning. the sun was already high in the heavens, and his slaves had long been waiting at the threshold of the door which led to his room, to receive his commands. he remembered that he wished to return early in the morning to the town, because it was his custom regularly to keep open his warehouse on this day of the week. it proved, therefore, very agreeable to him, when he went out, to find his horse was standing ready saddled before the house. after he had dressed quickly, and taken his breakfast, he mounted his splendid arab steed, and rode towards balsora, followed by several slaves. when he arrived at the bazaar to open his warehouse, a number of customers were already assembled, and the crowd increased at every moment, so that he could hardly satisfy all--he had not hands enough. when all was produced that was wished for, time was wanting to give the inquirers the needful information about the worth and quality of the goods; and if a purchaser wished to pay for his articles, he had no time to count over the money, but he placed it uncounted in his money-box, trusting to the honour of his customers. this press of business so fully occupied his attention, that he soon forgot his last night's adventure, though at first the form of his fair playmate was present to his soul. so many days passed away in the bustle of his vast employment. one day, about the end of the week, when he was busy in his warehouse, the public crier went by, offering for sale some small foreign insects and butterflies; and holding the case in which they were in the air, "who will buy," he exclaimed--"who will buy fine bright silken creatures, very cheap, very cheap?" jussuf raised his eyes by chance, while conversing with a customer about a necklace of jewels, and perceived in the case the beautiful butterfly which he wanted to catch himself a few days before, and out of which his comical playmate had raised herself from the poppy. then his words died on his lips. he looked at the crier, dumb for a minute, and then called him back quickly. "let me see," said he; and when he had convinced himself that he was not mistaken, he offered the man at once a thousand sequins, without allowing him to ask anything. the crier gave him the case quickly, as if he feared that jussuf would repent of his purchase, and smilingly received the purse of gold. "i thank thee," said he. "it is well that i know thee to be an amateur in such things. if i get any more, i will certainly bring them to thee first. people say, indeed, that thou dost not sell cheaply. i have convinced myself thou also payest well for what thou purchasest." overjoyed, and praising his good fortune, he went away. jussuf had scarcely received the case of insects, when he carefully examined it in a division of his warehouse, whilst a red blush mantled over his face, and his looks betokened the greatest pleasure. the bystanders could not believe that he was such a lover of insects, and such a connoisseur; and they conjectured that his eyes must have discovered some extraordinary value in the purchased case. but from this moment jussuf paid little more attention to his business. this absence of mind increased every moment, and often caused him to ask quite a trifling sum for very precious goods, and an unconscionably high one for those equally insignificant. he could scarcely conceal his chagrin whenever new customers made their appearance; and all saw with wonder, how--contrary to his usual custom--he hailed with joy the time for closing his warehouse, and how joyously he departed with his case of insects! immediately he wrapped the case in a cloth, and had it carried by some slaves who accompanied him to his house. till now he did not know why he had so much value for the butterfly; he was only led to purchase it by some impulse, and had not as yet given himself any reasons for it. for the first time, as he lay quietly in bed, he asked himself this question: "what shall i do with thee?" then--"the other butterfly flew away over the flowers of my garden some days ago; this is dry and pierced, as if it had been dead for many years. what connection can it have with my bright and waggish playmate, who is only fit to be a daughter of the genii?" he recalled to himself everything in the remarkable occurrence--even the most trifling events that happened in their different games, from the appearance of the maiden to her disappearance out of the boat, returned to his mind. then he thought over her last words. "what did she say?" said he to himself. "did she not say, 'if thou shouldst wish to see me, thou must seek me in the fatherland of the variegated butterflies?'" now a thought shot through his mind which made all perfectly clear to him. he confessed to himself that he had been more happy with her fun and play than he had been before since his boyhood, and that he had then quite forgotten all the cares and troubles of business. he earnestly longed to have always about him so merry a playfellow, to afford him diversion with her childish mirth. "this playmate of thine," continued he, speaking to himself, "if she has entirely disappeared, and no track leads to her, has not a chance fallen into thy hands by this butterfly? still thou canst seek for her in her native land. but what naturalist could name it from this imperfect description, without having seen the butterfly?" he then recalled to his memory many tales which he had heard in his childhood, in which were instances of daughters of genii, who, becoming the wives of mortals, blessed them in a wonderful manner, and, after the death of their husbands, returned to the kingdom of the genii. amid such thoughts as these he sank into slumber, and awoke the next morning with the firm resolution of seeking the daughter of the genii, and of choosing her for his wife. the first thing, then, was for him to discover the native country of the butterflies; for it was there that he was to find her. he took, therefore, the butterfly out of the case from among the other insects, and set out for one of the suburbs of balsora. there lived in one of the last houses a man who he was aware knew not only the name of every beast, stone, and plant, but also the hidden strength of nature and her mysterious operations. this man had once been his master, and to his instruction jussuf owed his intimate knowledge of the manifold productions of nature out of which the various goods were manufactured in different lands, and which afforded him the means of always purchasing the best and most superior articles, whereby he obtained such a crowd of customers. in order to show his gratitude to his master for this instruction, he had given him, out of the inheritance of his father, this large house, with the surrounding vast garden, that he might live undisturbed in his secret studies. with this man he now took refuge, hoping certainly to receive from him some information about the native land of his silken butterfly. upon his knocking at the door, an old servant, the only one in the house, opened it, and led him into a chamber in which his old master was sitting upon a cushion, before a large table covered with a black cloth. rolls of parchment with unknown characters, compasses, a sextant, a triangle, and other instruments, lay scattered round in disorder. he received jussuf with friendly nods, without rising from his cushion, motioning him to sit down opposite, and then said, "ah, ah! my jussuf; this is a rare visit. hast thou at last been able to spare an hour from thy business to pay a visit to the old modibjah? i hear that thou art become the most popular merchant in all balsora, and that thou hast immense connections. i am glad of it; then all is right and prosperous. what one has once chosen for his calling, for that one must entirely live. what we do must be done well; and may that one live who devotes his life to a useful activity!" jussuf was prevented by a certain shyness from mentioning his wish at once to his grave master. he said how he had longed to see him once more, to hear how he was; and reproached him tenderly for not coming to see him. he added that he had certainly a great many curious things in his warehouses, and that he had promised himself the pleasure of showing them all to his wise master. perhaps he might find among them something that might be useful to him, and it would be a pleasure to him to give it to him. at these words modibjah laughed, and answered, "i want none of thy goods. what i wanted thou hast given me: while thou continuest to me this house and garden as my property, i am contented, so that i remain undisturbed. here i can devote myself to my reflections and my pursuits undistracted and unobserved by the curiosity of mankind. then i should have erred in visiting thee; for thy time is equally taken up with the cares and business of thy profession; and i should but have disturbed thee with my visits. but now speak," said he, ending his discourse: "i see from thy looks that a particular request brings thee to me." jussuf blushed that his master should have so seen through him, and then related to him how the numerous cares and exertions of his business had produced a prejudicial effect on his health, and how he had been obliged to seek diversion; that he had then renewed a partiality which he had in his boyish years, and had again begun to collect butterflies and other insects. "but," continued he, "the necessary knowledge is wanting to me. some days ago i bought by chance a collection of butterflies, of whose names and native country i know nothing." he drew out the box at these words, and held it open before the old man. but hardly had he glanced at it when he shook his head silently; and, considering, at last he said, "poor jussuf! still thou wishest to inquire about it as of secondary import, as if i did not know that thou only comest to me for this reason. art thou gone so far as to play the hypocrite with thy old master?" "well, then, i am curious to learn the name and the country of this butterfly," answered jussuf, with a trembling voice. then the grey haired old man raised himself from his cushion, and looked at jussuf with such a searching and piercing glance, that he was constrained through his shame to cast down his eyes. "still, i should do thee injustice were i to blame thee," continued he: "i know that thou art still innocent. i can only lament that thou shouldst have fallen into the snares of my implacable enemy. in order to obtain the victory over me, she will seek to ruin thee." he laid his hand on his forehead, and sank into profound reflection. at last jussuf broke silence, and said, "i do not understand thee. what enemy dost thou mean? see, it is my fault for not having told thee the whole openly. now shalt thou know all." he then related to him, without any reserve, the transactions of the previous days. when he had finished, the old man answered, "now thou hast been candid with me, and hast a claim to equal sincerity on my side. but i know that thou art not now capable of hearing the truth--that it is a useless trouble to attempt to cure thee of thy delusion. if i were to conceal the native land of the butterflies from thee, i know that thou wouldst find ways and means of learning what thou now desirest to discover. thou wouldst fain find her who is thy enemy, although thou deemest her to be thine innocent friend. i will show thee the way to her. but i will think of ways and means to guard thee against her wickedness. for that purpose i must know thy exact age. if thou hast not quite forgotten thy former love for thy true master, tell me now the day and hour of thy birth." jussuf willingly told him the day and the hour, for he was very glad that modibjah promised to tell him the native country of the butterfly. what he said about the wickedness of an enemy he took for the whims of an old man, and therefore it did not weigh at all with him. in the meanwhile, modibjah had gone into a side-chamber, and now brought out a large, deep box, whilst he cleared away the parchments and instruments spread about on the table. on the cover a great number of cross lines were drawn through one another, and among them were worked innumerable gold and silver stars. after he had carefully traced all these, he produced a small box of ebony, skilfully inlaid with streaks of mother-of-pearl. "i have reckoned thine age," said he: "thou art now just thirty years, nine months, and seven days, and eight hours old. all these years, months, days, and hours form the figure of fifty-four. god be praised and his great prophet, it is not yet of the worst." during this speech he sat down, and at a nod from him jussuf seated himself opposite. then he pressed a hidden spring in the little black box, the lid sprang up, and he shook the contents before jussuf on the table. they were a number of half-moons, little stars, triangles, and other figures of ivory. "count out fifty-four of them," said he. and jussuf did it. after the old man had quickly collected the remainder together, and placed them again in the box, he called to him to throw the figures that he had counted out in the air in such a manner that they should fall down on the table-cloth. jussuf did as he was desired, and the figures spread themselves in their fall over the whole table. the old man considered them attentively for some time, and began to murmur, half-singing, a form of words in a foreign language, and touched with his finger quickly, as if he were counting one or other of them, now and then taking away one and placing it with the others in the box. he repeated his words twice, and counted and pointed with his finger, taking away from the figures as at first, till at last there only remained nine. now he began another speech, which appeared to jussuf to be in a different language, and sang it three times, while he took away more of the ivory figures, and pointed to some of the gold and silver worked stars. at last he had collected all the three nearest constellations. "it is good," said the old man, with a joyful and tranquil countenance. "i now know what i wanted; now i can tell you what you so earnestly wish to know. if thou wishest to find thy vain, trifling playmate, go towards the rising of the sun till thou comest to a town of persia, in the neighbourhood of which are situated the ruins of an old royal city, now destroyed. there stay till the third day after the new moon. then go to the ruins in the evening. on the eastern edge, at some distance from the heap of relics, thou wilt find a large well-formed stone, which once served as the head; seat thyself on this stone, and at the moment when the narrow illumined streak of the moon, like a fiery ship, seems to swim over the mountains on the horizon, call out the word 'haschanascha,' and a sign-post will soon appear. but then thou art still distant from the object of thy journey. but may the exertions and vicissitudes of thy long travel so lessen thy foolishly-ardent desire that thou mayest listen to the voice of a prudent friend, who will certainly be near thee when thou hast need of him." hardly had jussuf heard where he was to go when he sprang out of his seat, in order to take leave at once of modibjah, and to commence his journey. the wish which modibjah had expressed was hardly heard by him. "wait, wait," said the former; "who knows whether we shall ever see each other again? this journey leads thee far away, and i am old. thou art also a mortal, who mayest be overwhelmed by the dangers thou hast to encounter. here, take this as a token of remembrance." at these words he reached him a small leathern pouch. "what is this?" asked jussuf, after he had opened it, and saw in it a rather opaque milk-white stone, at the bottom of which a red spark seemed to shine. "that is certainly a talisman." "it is a talisman," answered modibjah: "esteem it for my sake. use it when thy strength and intellect are not sufficient for thee. as long as thou perceivest the spark, thou wilt proceed in the right way, and wilt not encounter any danger; but the contrary will happen when the spark appears to be quite extinguished. then breathe over it the name 'haschanascha.' do not allow it to be taken away from thee, either by force or by stratagem; nor give it willingly as a present to any stranger's hand. if thou shouldst wish to make an experiment, throw it behind thee over thy head." jussuf thanked his master for the present, and hid the talisman in his bosom; he then took leave of his master in an absent spirit and hastened home. he immediately gave his slaves the necessary charges, committed the care of his house to an old faithful servant, locked up his warehouse in the bazaar, and proceeded in the evening of the same day, with a train of twenty armed and well-mounted followers, and with forty camels loaded with gold and precious things of all kinds, and with all necessaries, out at the eastern gate of the city of balsora. whoever perceived or heard, that jussuf had set out on a distant journey believed that he had gone to fetch some rare goods which he could not entrust to his servants; and people were generally in curious expectation to see what could be the interest in any jewels that should induce the so greatly-altered merchant, who till now let everything be managed by his servants, to go himself on the journey, and with so small an escort. jussuf kept exactly to the rule of his old master, and proceeded straight towards the rising of the sun. he reached, with his little caravan, without any particular adventures, the plains which extend between the mountains and the persian sea. but here the summer heat was so oppressive that he turned more to the left towards the north, that he might find in the neighbourhood of the mountains some shade from the trees and, above all, springs of water, which, murmuring down from the mountains, might serve for coolness and refreshment to them, after they had wandered far in the plains through dry sand. he proceeded for some days towards his destination without the occurrence of anything unusual or remarkable. after some days, he reached a spot where a small rivulet flowed between two mountains. the opposite side of this mountain extended out a long way towards the sea-coast, so that there was only a very narrow slip of the plain. uncertain whether he should go straight towards the sea, or turn off to the left along the valley through which the rivulet wound, he ordered his slaves to stop. he looked round to see if he could not perceive in the surrounding country some track to indicate the proximity of men, of whose advice he might avail himself; but there was not a hut, nor a tent, nor a flock to be seen far or near. although fertile, the country appeared quite desolate. some of his slaves advised the direction along the sea-shore, because there were imprinted the footsteps of camels and horses of earlier travellers; others suggested, on the contrary, to advance along the river. but jussuf shook his head at these counsels. "why should we," said he, "enter in uncertainty on either of those roads? if we proceed to the right by the sea-coast, it will lead us too far south; if we follow the valley of the river, it will conduct us straight to its entrance towards the north; but farther up it may take another direction, whereby we might be enabled to continue our route, even if it be a very winding way; or we may ascend the mountains, which will probably be higher and steeper near the source of the river. our camels already throw a long shadow on the earth, and in two hours we must select a place for repose. it is therefore more prudent to stay here. two roads evidently unite at this point, and therefore it cannot be long before some one arrives from one side or the other, who can give us the desired information. so make preparations to pass the night here." as he commanded, so they did. the slaves unpacked from the camels what was necessary, and quickly erected a tent for their master of variegated painted poles and thick silk stuffs. then they kindled a fire on a neighbouring spot, and made preparations for the meals of all. in the meantime, jussuf wandered to the foremost height of the mountains, towards the valley of the river, and rejoiced at the richly blossoming flowers which seemed heaped on all the shrubs, and at the magnificent country, and the refreshing air which floated up to him out of the valley. as he walked carelessly along, his foot struck against a ripe melon, which still hung fast to a withered branch. "well," thought he to himself, "a juicy melon is a refreshing fruit in the heat of the day." he picked it and took it home to the encampment. there he delivered it to a slave, and charged him to take care that it was freed of its seeds, and brought up to his meal with the other dishes. he then entered his tent, which had meanwhile been erected, and stretched himself on his soft cushion, covered with costly cloths, that he might rest awhile. he soon sank into slumber, exhausted with the fatigue of the day; but he was shortly roused from his dream. two of his slaves stood at his couch, and exclaimed, "master! master! come out and see the wonder!" "what is the matter?" said he, raising himself up. "o master, the melon!" they called out at once. "well, what of the melon? perhaps it is beginning to decay, or is it not good for anything? if so, throw it away. was it worth while to wake me up about that?" "oh, no, master, do not be angry; but that is not it," said the slaves. "perhaps one of you has eaten it, not knowing that i picked it for myself?" "no, master! no, master!" cried the slaves, as it were with one mouth. "who would do that? come and see yourself." "i see i must come myself if i wish to learn what has happened," said jussuf, half unwillingly; and rising from his couch, he followed them out of the tent. they led him to the place where they had made preparations for the meal. there he saw a melon, in form like the one which he had found, but of such a gigantic size, that he had never before seen one like it. "whence, then, comes this monster of a melon?" said he to the slaves, who were standing at a distance with signs of astonishment and fear. "yes, master, that is the same melon that you brought here yourself," answered several voices at once. "but that was so small, that i could conveniently span it with my fingers, and carry it in my hand," returned he; "but three men could scarcely surround this with their arms." they assured him that it was the same melon which he had bought. "then," continued he, "things cannot go right if a ripe and gathered melon can grow to such a monstrous size." at these words, the slave to whom he had given the melon came to him and said, "it may well be that things do not go right." he then related to him that he had laid the melon down where the large one now lay; that when he had come near it, at a later period, a great wasp had settled on the melon and pierced it with its sting. hardly had it flown away, when a bee came buzzing, and lodged on it: after stinging it, this one also flew away. from this moment the melon grew larger and larger; and they should have called him to see the wonder long ago, had not they all been fixed with curiosity and astonishment to see what would happen. since the rising of the moon, which was how beaming above the horizon in full splendour, had the melon ceased increasing. they asked jussuf what should now happen, and imagined that he would not ask them to cut up and pare the melon. "that we cannot do," said they, finishing their speech, "for it is evident that magic is at play here. an ordinary melon cannot grow any more after it is ripe and picked off the tree; and even if that were possible, it could not in any case grow to such an immense size as never has been seen before in the world. who knows what is hidden in it?" "oh, you silly cowards!" exclaimed jussuf, provoked at the terror of his servants,--"shame on you! you are in a foreign land, and do not consider that everything here is not exactly as it is at home. what can be concealed in it? outside is the peel; under the peel is the pulp; and in the middle is the texture of cells, with the seeds. look here," said he to those who stood next to him, as he took off his short broad scimitar: "i will cut off a piece, that you may see that it is as i say." while he spoke, he made two vigorous cuts--one along and the other across the melon, so as to loosen a four-angled piece of the peel. now he commanded one of his slaves to lift up the piece. as the slave anxiously approached the melon, in order to obey the command of his master, the piece sprang out of it with wonderful strength over his head, so that he tumbled backwards on the ground from terror. "mahomet, great prophet, stand by us!" exclaimed the slaves, when they saw this. but soon their astonishment changed to terror, and they all ran away, when suddenly a human figure rose out of the aperture in the melon, and, with one spring, stood before jussuf. the latter drew back, startled as much at the sudden and unexpected appearance of the man as at his unusual figure. the top of his perfectly flat face was disfigured by two monstrous eyes, and by long black eyebrows, which extended over the greatest part of his face. on his short upper lip he had a narrow but long, hairy, stiff substance, the ends of which reached to the crown of his head, and there intermixed with his hair in two tufts, which stood sideways in the air like antennã¦. his dress was marked with bright shining stripes of a black and brimstone colour; and behind him a transparent head-covering hung in two gauze-like wings nearly down to the ground. his clothes fitted tight everywhere. he also wore a girdle round his body, which rendered his leanness still more striking. besides this, the nail of his middle finger was very long, and bent over like a hoe. his whole figure had the appearance of an immense wasp. the man had hardly observed that jussuf shrank before him, when he seized the wings of his head-dress with both his hard hands, and gave a leap, as if he were trying to fly. jussuf was too frightened to ask him who he was, and what he wanted. but the man immediately uttered a guttural, grumbling sound, which was probably intended for a song; and jussuf heard these words: "i come, a slave at one's behest, who knoweth more than thou canst tell; she warned thee, whiles of friends the best, of bees that lurk in honied bell. guide well thy course; nor seek, proud man, whate'er thou deem'st a better way; she can each hidden secret scan- so follow thou without delay." when his song was nearly ended, another voice hummed on the side where the melon lay. on looking there, jussuf saw a second human form, as wonderful as the first, rise out of the aperture. this one had a dark dress, inclining to olive-green, and his form was rather less slim than that of the former; but he had the appearance of a bee in human form. leaping also nearer to jussuf, it sang in a higher but equally buzzing tone: "mark me well: oh, what can be direful wasps but plagues to thee? thine is every vain desire; yet the bees that never tire, they can serve and tend thee well- the busy storers of the cell. keep me, then; thy path shall prove a path of hope that leads to love." but the first one grumbled again, so that jussuf could not understand any more. however terrified jussuf might have been at this appearance, he yet collected himself, and said, "her dear servants seem to mean very well, but----" before he had finished his speech, both of them were grumbling and buzzing at him. he understood still so much, that each of them wished to lessen the reputation of his fellow, and to make him suspected in his eyes. both turned against each other again, and hummed and buzzed at one another with unheard-of obstinacy. their struggle became constantly more vehement, and at last they seized each other in mad rage, and whirled round, struggling and burring in a circle. jussuf saw a kind of lance and a long dagger shine, and both of them fell down pierced through at his feet. in their dying moments they begged him to bury them in their cradle. he nodded assuringly, and they lay dead in the moment. immediately jussuf called his slaves to him, who were standing in the distance in earnest expectation, and ordered them to carry the dead bodies to the melon. but they refused, certainly with humble excuses, but still with steadfast decision. "in the name of all natural things," said they, "we will prove to thee our certain obedience; but do not ask us to make ourselves unclean, or to meddle with such unnatural appearances." he represented to them quietly that he could not place both the dead bodies in the hollow melon, and that one of them must help him--that what he ventured they might also venture; but they denied perseveringly, and no one appeared ready to lend a helping hand. angry at their obstinacy, jussuf was on the point of chastising them with the flat part of his sabre-blade, when one of the slaves called out, "hold, hold, dear master! the dead bodies are no longer there!" they had certainly vanished; and when he looked on the ground where they had lain, he discovered in the dust a dead wasp and a dead bee. "see, see!" said he, in perfect astonishment; "would not any one believe that all those things were only a delusion of the mind? if the great melon did not lie there now, i should be inclined to think that i had, in a mad fancy, taken the bees and wasps for large figures of men." at these words, he turned to the side where the melon had been, and, lo! that had also disappeared. approaching nearer, he found in its place the little melon again, just as he had picked it during his walk. in its side he discovered a small four-angled opening. then he went quickly back, fetched the two dead insects, and put them through the aperture into the melon. "it may now be as it may," said he to himself. "i promised them to bury their dead bodies in the melon, and i fulfil this promise." "now, you will not wish to eat any of this enchanted melon?" inquired one of the slaves; and as jussuf shook his head in the negative, and at once entered his tent, the slave gave the melon a kick with his foot, so that it rolled all the way down the hill, and fell below into the river that flowed there. the waves swept over it. the night passed tranquilly. at first, jussuf could not get any sleep, for the events of wonder had so stirred up his soul. at last fatigue conquered, and he slumbered till near morning. in the commencement of his journey he had made an arrangement that four of his slaves should watch every night alternately. in the morning he asked with uncommon curiosity whether nothing had happened in the night, or whether no traveller had passed by from whom they might learn the direction. but no one had gone by. low-spirited at not having any sure direction for his journey, he struck his bosom, and said, "so are we borne away and removed from good fortune." he had with the blow hit the pouch containing the talisman which he had received from his master modibjah, and which till now he had quite forgotten. he pulled it out, opened the pouch, and said, "thou hast disclosed thyself in a good hour. come, tell me whether i shall do well if i proceed through the valley along the river-side." after he had considered it, he exclaimed joyfully, "yes, yes; the resolution is good; the fiery spark still shines living in the stone." he immediately gave orders for departure, and the procession, rode out into the valley. his slaves wondered that he who had been so uncertain about the direction should now be so secure, and take so confident a resolution. the journey was much more pleasant in the valley than it had before been. the air from the stream was cooled, for a mild breeze was always breathing through the valley; and they soon reached an inhabited place, and learned that they were in the direct road to a small town, in whose neighbourhood were situated the ruins of the old royal city. pleased as jussuf was at this news, still it was rather disagreeable, to him: he remembered that on the evening of his adventure with the melon the moon was in full splendour, and he could now calculate that he would arrive several days too early for the first object of his journey. and what should he set about in that small town till, on the third day after the new moon, he should find his sign-post? however, he continued on his way by small day journeys. at last he came to the little town in whose neighbourhood the ruins were situated, and stopped at a caravanserai. whilst his people unloaded the camels and settled everything, he wandered idly through the town to see something of it. in the course of his walk a young man presented himself to him, who was willing to show him in passing the few curiosities of the place. while they were conversing together they made themselves known to each other; and jussuf learned that the young man's name was hassan assad, a man of whom his people had often spoken to him in terms of commendation, and who had been very useful to him several times in commissions for goods in persia. he heartily thanked him, therefore, and assured him of his pleasure at being able to form his personal acquaintance. hassan also seemed very much pleased to have seen the far-famed merchant from balsora face to face, and offered to be his guide and companion as long as he remained in those parts. "to-morrow," said he, "i have some necessary business to do in shiraz, which i cannot put off. but without doubt thou also art going there, for thou wilt certainly have to give large orders to the ablest silver and gold workers, and to the most skilful silk-weavers; and because personal acquaintance with our correspondents is very useful, i will join thee in thy journey. in this way it will not be necessary for us to separate again on the first day of our acquaintance; nor can it be disagreeable to thee to go with me, who am already known there, and can lead thee to the dwellings of all those with whom i am connected in commerce." jussuf's mind had been but little turned on trade, and now he could not recollect the names of all the people with whom he transacted business in shiraz: besides, he had a certain aversion to disclose the true reasons for his journey; so he let his friendly companion entertain the idea that he had come to persia for the purpose of purchasing and giving commissions. and, because he must still wait several days for the new moon, he willingly accepted hassan's proposal, and promised to accompany him the next morning to the great and celebrated town of shiraz, and to spend some days with him there. the distance to shiraz was not far, and jussuf reached it with his new friend the next day before the noonday heat. hassan conducted him in the afternoon to the house of a rich merchant, with whom he had long had considerable dealings. "here," said he, "i bring you the far-famed merchant jussuf from balsora, whose name cannot be strange to you, since you have long done business with him. he has taken this journey to make new purchases, and also to become personally acquainted with those who have hitherto served him so satisfactorily." the dealer was very glad to become acquainted with the renowned jussuf, and, as what hassan had said appeared very natural to him, he continued, "if i do not mistake, i furnished thee lately with a considerable quantity of oil of roses. thou wert, then, pleased with it?" jussuf assured him of his perfect satisfaction with the supply. "ah," continued the dealer, "thou must now again give me a commission; for i have at present a much better supply, and i can let thee have it at a very moderate price, although it is of a superior quality." jussuf was ashamed to confess that he had entirely neglected his magazine and warehouse, and could not think of his business. he therefore left him in his error, and gave him a considerable order for oil of roses. but, as he thought of travelling farther, and the time of his return was not decided, he ordered him to wait for further instructions for sending the oil. still, he paid the amount beforehand. in this manner he went to all his friends in trade in shiraz. hassan conducted him, announcing that his appearance in persia was to give orders; and so he was seduced into fresh commissions and fresh purchases. at the silk-weavers' he ordered many hundred pieces of silk stuffs; at others, a quantity of gold and silver stuffs; at the jewellers' costly trinkets, and gold and silver vessels, and implements. his companion not only led him to such dealers and workers as he was already acquainted with in business, but introduced him to many others. they induced him, partly by the beauty of their goods, partly by their moderate prices, to make extensive purchases, and to take himself large orders for goods which he promised to send them from balsora. it could not fail that a merchant of such fame as jussuf, who gave so many orders in the same town, should attract attention. they sought after him with a friendly spirit in every place; they asked him to all the feasts which were given in those days in the families where he was known. now he was to appear at a banquet in the town; then at a rural feast in one of the largest and most splendid gardens in the suburbs. people exerted themselves on all sides to show him honour and to give him pleasure. the new moon had arrived in the meantime, and jussuf had still so many invitations that he would have been obliged to remain till after the full moon to fulfil them all. but the third evening after the new moon had been named to him as the decisive moment, and he would not neglect it. hassan persuaded him strongly to stay a few more days, and those who had invited him pressed him very much; but he continued steadfast against longer delay, and he set out early on the third day after the new moon for the little town where he had left his slaves and camels. on arriving there, he found everything in order. he rested till evening, and then went out, without any companions, to the ruins of the destroyed town. before sunset he was on the eastern side of them, and had soon also found, at some distance, the marked-out stone. he seated himself on it; and the sun had hardly gone down when he observed the moon riding like a golden ship through the blue of the obscure sky. he waited with palpitating heart and anxious impatience for the moment when it should seem to stand on the mountain-ridges on the western horizon. then he called out quickly and loudly, "haschanascha!" he expected that at this call a guide would immediately appear to him; but nothing appeared. the moon was, in the meantime, sunk behind the mountains; but the bright and sparkling stars still lighted the dark blue sky. he stood by the stone on which he had hitherto sat, and was going to return to his people in the town, discouraged at his deluded expectations, when he heard his name called by a well-known voice. he turned towards the place from whence it came, and soon recognized, in the light of the stars, his friend hassan, whom he thought he had left that morning in shiraz. "well, well," said he, as he drew nearer to jussuf, "it seemed to me that thou stopped behind the mountains. whenever i wished to speak with thee of thy journey, thou always soughtest to evade me, and turned the conversation some other way. now all is clear to me: with me thou needest not have made any mystery of it; since i find thee here to-day, the third day after the new moon, i already know everything. i regret very much that i must serve thee in this case, for i have already conducted many on this road, and none of them have ever come back." "how, hassan assad, thou the guide that i was to find here?" exclaimed jussuf. "thou wilt lead me to the object of my desires?" "no," answered hassan, "i cannot myself conduct thee: i can only bring thee on the right road; but come, now, and follow me." he led him back near the extensive ruins of the destroyed city: they soon found tolerably passable roads, the few unobstructed tracks of the former principal streets of the large royal city; but they were often obliged to scramble over the rubbish of overthrown buildings, across pillars, and the remains of mighty columns. his guide turned now right, now left, to seek the easiest road; then backwards, then forwards. they might, perhaps, have spent an hour scrambling about in this manner, when at last hassan arrived at a passage, closed with a small iron door, which was not covered with ruins: here he took a little silver hammer, and knocked nine times on the head of a great nail which was in the door: at each knock he stopped for some seconds, and jussuf heard the sound in singular tones inside the door, as if it reached to a great distance. at the last stroke the door flew open, and showed a row of steps leading down to a cellar-like vault. "here we must descend," said hassan; "here thou wilt see many wonderful things, and thou wilt have rich presents; but take care not to refuse any presents, or to speak a word: only when thou art asked if thou hast enough, always answer no, till they abuse thee as an unreasonable person, and ask thee what thou still desirest, then say the word 'ketlafgat,'--it is the name of a talisman, without which thou canst never attain the end of thy wishes." jussuf observed the word, and promised to obey his instructor. they now descended the steps together; and the door closed behind them with a great noise. as they proceeded in profound darkness, jussuf thought of the talisman which he had received from modibjah: he wished to see if he were walking in the right road, and drew it out of the pouch: although it was very dark, he still discerned the bright red spark in the stone. he now descended after his guide with more courage. they might have left about fifty steps behind when they arrived at a large room: over this was raised a vast round vault from the ground, in the form of a regular hemisphere. from the middle of the vault hung a great lamp, on which, out of twelve branches, burned twelve long dazzling white flames. the whole vault played with thousands of lights of this flame, as if it were faced with an innumerable number of small mirrors. as jussuf moved to one side, curious to see the cause of this reflection, he perceived that the vault was covered with eight large oriental pearls of the greatest clearness, and that the space between four of them was filled up with a smaller. he tried to detach one of the large pearls from the wall; but it was so fast cemented that it was impossible to remove it. in the meantime his guide had reached a concealed door, and had knocked three times with his little hammer on one spot. the door sprang open, and they entered a spacious four-cornered room, on the walls of which were very large friezes, supported too by pillars of solid gold. but each of the panels of the flat part of the wall stood on a transparent gay green smooth-polished stone, which jussuf could only consider to be most valuable emeralds--however improbable it seemed. hassan allowed him no time to look about him: he had already opened a third room with the strokes of his silver hammer. the form of this was octagonal: the pillars and sockets were of silver; but the panels rested on a precious stone of a bright blue colour. in the same manner they reached a more splendid and larger room. they had already passed through twelve without having found any living creature. thus, with all this splendour, there was an unpleasant air of desertion, which oppressed jussuf so much that he would willingly have imparted his feeling to his companion; but he strode on with such seriousness and caution, in his passage through the opened doors and rooms, that he had not courage to say a word aloud. after they had passed through the twelfth chamber, hassan knocked three times with his hammer on the ground, which consisted of clear large and small quadrangles of the most magnificent polished stripes of jasper. immediately one of these quadrangles opened and fell back, as if it were a trap-door: here were disclosed many steps of beautiful crystal, which led down still deeper. they descended, and the trap-door shut down behind them. jussuf saw no lamp by which the long descent of steps was lighted, nor any window through which the light of day could enter; but still it was not dark around them, for at each footstep shone a clear blue light. he observed that this proceeded from a small ball which rolled down before him from step to step, and, every time that it alighted on a step, a clear blue ray of light streamed out, which spread out its rays till the ball had rolled to another. at last the steps ceased, and before him extended a long passage, the opposite end of which was lighted by a clear point: they approached it, and soon discovered a folding-door with glass windows, through which shone the bright daylight. they passed through it, and found themselves in a splendid garden, full of rare flowers and shrubs, such as jussuf had never before seen. at the entrance, two slaves approached him, who bowed to him respectfully, but silently, and beckoned to him to follow them. they led him into a large summer-house: there sat some men whom jussuf took for dervishes; they stood up and greeted him. "thou comest to fetch the treasure of the poor," said one of them: "thy desires shall be fulfilled." he immediately made a sign to the others, and they all moved off through another door. "men," continued he, "certainly are complete fools; they fix their hearts on such useless things; and the more they have the more insatiable they are." he shook his head contemptuously. before he had said anything more, the remaining dervishes came back, one bringing a number of purses filled with sequins; two others bringing precious boxes filled with pearls; the third, two boxes with great diamonds of the finest fire; a fourth, two boxes full of the finest emeralds; and so each one another precious thing. jussuf took all the things, and hid the boxes and the purses about his person. "are you satisfied?" asked the dervish who had first spoken. and jussuf answered, "no." "i said so," grumbled the dervish. and, at a sign from him, the others again went and brought, as at the first time, purses of gold and boxes of jewels. "hast thou enough now?" asked the dervish. and jussuf, who could hardly dispose of all about him, answered, "no." with still greater signs of displeasure, the dervish caused a fresh burden of similar presents to be brought. and, as jussuf could not carry any more, he asked again, "now hast thou not enough, at last?" remembering hassan's instructions, he again answered, "no." then the dervish got up, and turned round on one foot angrily, and exclaimed, "thou shameful man, art thou insatiable? thou canst not take all with thee that thou hast already received, and thou must load thy companion also with the trifles in order to convey them hence, and yet thou hast not enough, thou glutton!" immediately the other dervishes surrounded him, and screamed out, as from a cave, "glutton! impudent creature! avaricious man!" "and what dost thou want now?" asked the dervish. then jussuf said the word that hassan had taught him for this occasion, "ketlafgat." he had hardly spoken it, when the other dervishes sat down, and he who had asked the question went out of the summer-house. he soon came back with a small box, which he gave to jussuf: it was made of mean wood, and without any ornament. "here is what thou desirest," said he. and, while he reached to him a small golden key, he added, "henceforward thou no longer needest a guide. go where thy inclination leads thee: thou wilt always be in the right road if thou do not open this box with the key; but, if thou art once in despair, and all hope has vanished of reaching the end of thy journey, thou mayest then open it." he made a sign with his hand, and immediately the two slaves were ready to conduct him away. hassan took the boxes and the purses, which jussuf could not carry, in his pockets, and bowed to go away. then the dervish called after him, "many persons have already fetched the ketlafgat from us, and it has always come back to us: it will return from thee also." the slaves led them another way out of the garden into the entrance of a cave in the rock, shut the door behind them, and left them in a dark passage. they groped about with their hands, and soon felt a door. hassan knocked again nine times with his hammer, and, behold, the door opened at the last blow, and they issued out at another end of the ruins of the destroyed town into the open air. "now we dare speak again," said hassan. "what dost thou think of doing? morning is not very distant. wilt thou not return to the town, and unload thyself of thy treasures?" but jussuf shook his head thoughtfully, and said, "what shall i do? what shall i say? i have lately witnessed such wonders that i am almost unable to think. i am no longer the man that i was, who had a decided will of his own. i appear to myself like a play-ball to beings of a superhuman nature. every man, however, plays this part to a certain extent." "well, bethink thee. see, i have packed up the treasures for thee, and would willingly be released soon from thee, for i must return to shiraz in good time to-day, as thou probably knowest. let us hasten, then, back to the little town: there thou canst consider with thy people what thou shalt do." jussuf followed him in deep thought, and, soon arriving at the town, they entered the caravanserai. the slaves received their master with joy, for they had become suspicious at his going out without attendants, and, not coming back at night, they feared lest some misfortune should have happened to him. after he had laid down the purses and the boxes with the jewels, he turned to hassan, and said, "thou hast already performed so many services for me, that i must trespass and require still further from thee. i see that this train will be more troublesome than serviceable to me in my long journey; but i cannot leave it behind. do me the pleasure of taking these slaves, camels, and all the treasures which are contained in each bale of goods, and travel with them as if they were thine own property. if i return happily, and thou art willing, should i be in need, to let me have part back again, i will accept it from thee as a free-will present; should i not return, i shall have no more need of them." after a short conversation, hassan consented, and immediately ordered his camels to be laden to return to shiraz. jussuf took some of the boxes of precious stones, a good number of purses with sequins, and, above all, the box with the talisman ketlafgat, loaded his horse with them, took leave of hassan with heartfelt thankfulness, commanded his slaves to obey their new master, mounted his horse, and rode at the dawn of morning towards the rising of the sun. jussuf had proceeded ten days in this direction without anything remarkable happening to him. on the evening of the eleventh day he arrived at a high hill, which appeared fruitless, not a tree or a bush to be seen. there was not a village, a hut, or a tent within his sight all round. he was obliged to resolve to pass the night under the open sky, and looked about to see to what he could fasten his horse; for, although it was a tame, trusty animal, yet he was afraid that it might run away in the night. at last, finding nothing, he unbuckled the pack-saddle, and let his steed pasture on the half-withered grass, which was the only thing there. then he lay down on the ground, and soon fell asleep; but he suddenly awoke again, and, looking for his horse, found it had vanished; he looked towards the place where the saddle was laid--that was not there either. it was clear to him that a robber had taken his horse. he peered round in the deceptive moonlight, but could perceive nothing. he was much grieved, and said to himself, "it is quite just: i had a company of true servants, and have sent them away in a frivolous manner; i had immense riches, and have given them into the hands of a stranger without surety, who may live happily in their possession whilst i must starve." but he soon continued, with collected courage, "yet of what use are all the goods of the earth to me? what help would a whole army of the most faithful and the boldest companions be to me? i seek a gift with which i shall ever be on the right road, as the dervish said, and i always carry the box and the golden key with me. everything may go if the talisman ketlafgat remains to me, which will preserve me if despair should seize me in the attainment of my wishes." as he spoke thus to himself, he saw a number of riders appear in the distance, and he soon perceived that they were riding straight to him. he looked round for some place of shelter; but there was no place on the level high plains where he could hide himself. the riders approached nearer: he saw them divide and form a cross, and so they advanced till they came quite near. some of them alighted and went with drawn sabres to him. he found that all defence was vain, and, throwing away his sabre, he knelt down, bowing himself to the ground like a humble slave. "seize him!" called out the leader of the horsemen, "and seat him on a spare horse, and bring him with us; but, by your lives, stand by me, and see that he does not escape." both the horsemen to whom he had spoken these words inclined full of reverence to him, then seized jussuf, bound his hands, and seated him on a horse, and, taking him between them, rode, alternately seizing the bridle of his horse, at a fast trot over the high plains. the remaining riders followed at a little distance. with short interruptions, which were necessary for the forage of the horses and the rest of the men and animals, they continued riding for several days. about the tenth day they reached a wide valley through which flowed a great river. jussuf saw cultivated fields, gardens, and men's dwellings. they made him alight from his horse, and led him into the little room of a house. there they gave him everything necessary to make himself clean after so long a journey. for a man who had before lived in the greatest affluence, he had felt very heavily in these last days of his imprisonment his want of cleanliness: it seemed to him, therefore, a most wonderful favour of fate that they now brought him water with which to bathe himself, a comb, and some ointment for his beard, and signified to him that he was to take a bath and anoint himself. after he had bathed, combed his beard, and anointed himself, he was conducted to the garden of the house; and here the owner of it advanced towards him. after he had observed him with searching looks, he said to his companions, "good! the man is quite right; keep him carefully and examine him for nine days, then we will take him to his place, and sacrifice him to the fire." he winked with his eye, and his servants took him back to his chamber, which they carefully watched. in his solitude jussuf thought over his fate. he lamented again his thoughtlessness in exposing himself alone to the dangers of a journey in an unknown country; he bewailed his fate in falling into the hands of fire-worshippers, and tried several times to open the box with the golden key. then said he to himself, "what hope can i now have of attaining the end of my wishes? i am a captive, and well watched; and if i am delivered from captivity, it will be to sacrifice me to the flames." often hope woke again. he still possessed the treasures that he carried about his body, and they were not inconsiderable: he concealed them carefully, for he hoped that they might be a means of bribery to his companions on the road to sacrifice, and that he might thus purchase his freedom. he received daily clean and good food, and would have had nothing of which to complain, if he had not wanted freedom, and had not the fear of death before his eyes. on the morning of the ninth day he had a farther and faster passage from the house where he was imprisoned. eighty black slaves rode forward on white horses. then came as many white slaves on black horses. after these came a number of riders, whom jussuf could easily discern to be those who had taken him prisoner. behind these, and surrounded by them, rode the master of the country, who had destined him to be sacrificed. then came twenty venerable grey-headed men, in red and gold striped garments, each of whom bore a broad glittering blade, and a bundle of dry bamboo-sticks. behind them followed ten youths, with coal-dishes full of glowing coals. and now jussuf was brought forth, and, with his hands fastened, and his feet chained to the horse, he rode between his former companions. behind him followed a number of armed men, and then a crowd of people. in this order the procession wound along the valley. towards evening they chose a place for encampment, and struck some tents. jussuf was watched in a distinct tent. as he observed that stillness reigned in the camp, he approached the entrance of his tent, and called out, half aloud, "i am very thirsty. is no one here who could bring me a refreshing drink?" the watchman who guarded his tent answered him, "when my hour is up, i will fetch you some water from the river. till then remain quiet." "alas!" sighed jussuf, "my lips thirst not for water; my soul thirsts after liberty. i will prove myself very grateful if you will let me escape." the watchman answered, "i dare not; for my life is at stake." this conversation continued for some time. jussuf offered him six purses of sequins, and a large diamond, which was worth ten times their value. he had still a box of the finest and most costly diamonds, which he had taken from hassan. but the guard always urged other objections. he did not deny that he would willingly win the prize; but he dreaded the consequences. jussuf proposed that he should flee with him, and seek another home; but he would not listen to it. "i cannot separate from my wife and children; i must return home. what good would all the possessions of earth be to me if i were obliged to live a fugitive in a strange country, and consume my life longing after my kindred?" then a thought flashed through jussuf's mind. "let me stop your mouth--let me bind and tie you, that they may perceive that you were overcome. when they find you so, you can exculpate yourself, saying that i was too strong for you--that i stopped your mouth, so that you could not cry for help. i will give you what i have said, and you can bury it in the sand, and dig it up at some fit season." the bargain was soon struck. jussuf gave him what he had promised. the guard buried the purses in the sand, hid the diamond in a fold of his garment, and then allowed jussuf to tie his hands and feet, and to stop his mouth. then jussuf passed as quietly through the camp as he could, mounted one of the horses which stood ready saddled, and set off at a full gallop. thus he escaped fortunately. he rode the whole night, and thereby won a lengthened start. but still he feared that they might perceive the track of the horse's hoofs, and follow him, and fetch him back; so he killed his horse (whose strength was relaxing) with his dagger, and fled into a neighbouring wood, where he hoped, by its thickness, to be screened from the pursuit of riders. here he refreshed himself by drinking at a spring of water, and with fruits and berries, which grew there in abundance. he then went on farther and farther. he observed, in his flight, the traces of wild beasts, and was therefore afraid to lie down on the ground. in the evening he climbed a high tree, bound himself fast to a branch, and composed himself for the night. his seat was very uncomfortable, and he always feared danger. still his resolution overcame his fear, and he slept quietly for some hours, and, strengthened with new courage, he descended, and continued his wanderings through the wood. he lived also this day on berries and wild fruits, and again ascended a high tree in the evening, in which he spent the night. thus he passed several days. at last he remarked that here the land rose considerably. the wood soon became broken in parts with rocks; the growth of the trees was not so considerable; the shrubs gradually disappeared altogether; great masses of rock covered the ground. between them grew luxuriantly small bushes. at last only grass and moss were to be seen. he went farther, and soon saw a bare high rock, from which extended, far and wide, only great wooded mountains. in the distance arose still higher cliffs over the woods, whose summits shone white in the sunlight; and from some of them there arose a thick smoke, as though there were a huge furnace underneath, the chimney being the top of the mountain. the air blew here cold and cutting. jussuf thought he could not spend the night among the bare rocks, so he wandered on with activity. before night came on he had reached a place where high trees were growing, and where he again found a safe, but uncomfortable, sleeping-place. he wandered about for many days on the wooded mountains, and again reached a high ridge, over which he passed, until he arrived at a valley through which a brook ran, in a serpentine direction, among verdant meadows. he traced the brook through the valley, and reached a spot where it flowed into a river. he now followed the course of the river, and as night came on before he perceived any human habitations, he lay down on the bank among the high grass, and resolved to sleep there, since he had not seen any track of wild beasts in his passage through the valley. the hope of at last reaching some inhabited spot, after so long and lonely a wandering among deserted woods, had urged him on this day to a longer journey, and he was thereby much exhausted. he had also only slept for many days in a sitting and tiresome posture; he therefore found the high grass very agreeable, and slept till dawn of morning. he would probably have not even then awoke had he not been forced to do so. when he came to himself, he saw some men on the ground, who were busy fastening his hands and feet with fine but very strong string. he wrestled with them, and threw them down. but all was in vain: he was bound, and they laid him on a litter of bamboo-sticks, and carried him off with rapid strides. they soon reached a place where the river became deeper, and broader, so that it was navigable for boats. here lay a vessel on the bank, into which they carried him, and conveyed him up the stream. after a journey of several hours, they reached a great city. they passed by several gardens and country houses, and at last arrived at the middle of the city, which was divided by the river, but connected by several high bridges. they lay off the shore, and carried jussuf out of the ship into the court of a great palace, where everybody collected at once from the neighbourhood, even the casual passers-by. they observed him with curious looks, handled his clothes, which were all cut and torn about by his wanderings in the thicknesses of the woods, and laughed at him. at last the owner of the palace appeared at the principal gate with a large retinue of distinguished servants. from the respect of those around him, and the awe with which all present withdrew to a distance, jussuf concluded that he must be the sultan, or the prince of the country. he looked at the poor captive, and spoke to his servants in a language which jussuf did not understand. they immediately brought a large cage of strong bamboo-poles. jussuf was unbound, pushed in, and locked up. they then brought out a tame elephant, put the cage on it, and so led him through the streets of the town, whilst the crier called out some taunting thing in every street, and pointed at him with his stick. the boys threw stones at him, and even persons of more mature age derided him in every possible manner. if he showed himself in pain from any of the stones hitting him, and crouched up, or if he evaded any of the stones by the bars of his prison, every one burst out into an immoderate fit of laughter. tired of their ill treatment, he cowered on the ground, turning his face downwards, and putting his hands over his head, to guard it against the blows of the stones. as soon as the crier remarked this, he pushed him with his long stick, and gave him such pokes in the ribs, that he was obliged to sit up. jussuf was enraged and in despair. he turned round as quickly as possible in his narrow cage, seized a bar of the lattice-work, and, shaking it, screamed out, "is there any man among you who understands my language? do you take me, then, for a strange outlandish animal, that you lead me about in a cage as a sight?" and, as no one answered him, he despaired anew, and upbraided his tormentors. new laughter followed this. at last they accomplished the circuit of the town. at the palace the cage was again taken down from the elephant's back and placed on four posts, of the height of a man's stature, which stood in the court before the entrance of the garden of the palace. they brought him some food, consisting of parboiled rice, which, in his displeasure, he allowed to remain untouched. at first, several curious people had collected from among the servants around him; but they soon dispersed, and left him alone to despair and bitter reflection. he thought on his situation, and how he was in a distant land where nobody understood his language, nor could aid in delivering him from his mournful imprisonment. at this moment death would have been welcome. he seized his dagger, which he had carefully concealed in a fold of his robe, intending to put an end to his life by its means. as he drew it from the sheath, a ray of the sun fell on the blade, and reflected back the fiery glance so as to dazzle his eyes like a glow of fire. a spark lighted his talisman, and immediately he remembered the words of his old preceptor modibjah. he put the dagger back, and took from his bosom the pouch containing the talisman; but, as he looked at the stone, the spark disappeared. it was a milk-white stone, like an ordinary fragment of white porcelain: then he breathed on it with a deep sigh, and with his lips said, "haschanascha!" scarcely had he pronounced this name, than a slave appeared, passed before the cage, and said, "oh, you poor knave, how i pity you!" as jussuf heard these words, he cried out joyfully, "that is my native language! oh, pity an unfortunate, and tell me why i am so maltreated!" "i dare not now," answered the slave: "wait till midnight, then i will come and speak to you. i pity you exceedingly: at the first glance i recognized you as a countryman, and wished extremely to lighten your fate." with these words he disappeared through another door in the palace. the thought that he had found a man with whom he could converse on his misfortune, and who felt a sympathy for him, consoled jussuf: all idea of killing himself was quite forgotten; on the contrary, he saw himself again free to pursue his journey. in this disposition he felt with renewed vigour the necessity of supporting life, and partook of the meal spread before him. the strengthening of his body refreshed his spirits. in gaining tranquillity of mind and body, his sorrows passed away, and he fell asleep in his cage. he awoke at midnight: the slave had come to speak to him. "if you will promise with a holy oath," said he to jussuf, "that you will not place me in danger by your conduct, but will talk with me quietly, for the time of our conversation, i will let you out of the cage." "by the beard of the prophet!" swore jussuf, "i will be very quiet, and will not put you in any danger." at this oath, the slave climbed up a small ladder and opened the cage, which was fastened very cunningly without a lock, but so that nobody could open it unless he knew the secret. he helped jussuf down, and went with him into the garden, the door of which stood open. there they seated themselves, and jussuf asked, "why am i imprisoned? what is the reason that i am held up in this scandalous manner as a show, and shut up in a cage like a wild beast?" to these questions the slave replied, "the king and the inhabitants of this city are worshippers of a snake; their idol is a great serpent, to whom they have erected a large and magnificent temple, where he is attended by a great number of priests: the priests mislead the people, and what they wish takes place. now, the king has one princess--the daughter of his wife by a former marriage--she is black like a negress; but she has learned from her mother to know and to venerate the prophet. the king loves this black princess dearly as an only daughter; but the priests have misled him, and persuaded him to send her away from the court and city, and to keep her confined in a palace built under a stream; for they have a prophecy, according to which, at the time when the white summit of that mountain, which lies to the north-east from the tower of the palace and from the cupola of the temple, can be seen to smoke, a man shall come to the kingdom who shall marry the king's daughter, and put all the worshippers of the serpent to fire and sword. now," he continued, "the mountain has begun to smoke: the king has therefore, by the advice of his priests, given commandment to his servants to seize all the foreigners they meet, that they may be sacrificed to their idol. so you were found, and are now destined to be a victim. the priests know of your imprisonment, and are making preparations for a very grand sacrifice, which is to last seven days." "what!" cried jussuf, "shall i be offered to a snake--to a stupid, superstitious fancy?" he wept, and begged and prayed the slave to let him escape. "how will you escape?" asked the slave. "it is not possible through the palace--guards are at every entrance; and you would also fall into the hands of the watchmen in the city. you cannot fly over the garden wall, for on the other side is a deep ditch, full of mud and water. if you jumped over, you would be embedded in the mud." jussuf exhausted himself in prayers and entreaties to persuade the slave to help him in his flight. "only one means is possible," he replied. "to-morrow is the day on which a messenger is usually sent to the princess's palace, to inquire, in the king's name, after her health and wishes. i have many times had this commission, and will offer again. if i go, i am sure she will have me brought before her, as she knows i belong to the faithful, and speak many languages which she learned from her mother. i will relate to her your imprisonment, and ask her assistance or counsel. she is as clever as good and innocent, and can give excellent advice." although jussuf placed little reliance on this plan, still there was some hope of success, and the only hope that he could find. he therefore agreed to it, and returned to his cage, in which the slave fastened him, having told him that if he did not return at noon, he was to take it as a sign that he was sent on the embassy to the princess. on the morrow a slave brought him some food, and curious people came with the king's servants to see him; but the day passed without jussuf being able to observe his countryman among the remaining slaves in the court below. full of hope, he watched the approach of night, when he hoped to receive counsel and help. the slave came at midnight and called him by his name. "now," said jussuf, "what news do you bring?" "alas! my lord," answered the slave, "i know not what to think. although the princess is a faithful follower of the prophet, she was very quiet when i related your history: i expected she would have concerned herself about your being offered to a snake; but she heard me tranquilly." jussuf asked if she had not sent him any counsel. "no; she said no other word," answered the slave, "than, 'tell your countryman that everybody must be obedient, and resigned to the will of heaven. heathenish prophecies are often the consequence of godly truth and wisdom.'" "what can i conclude from that?" said jussuf. "in allah's name, i must give myself up as a sacrifice to a snake, because it is the will of heaven!" he then broke out in desperate tears and cries. "listen," said the slave: "do not abandon all hope; i will give you good counsel. she has charged me to tell the king that to-morrow she wishes once more to visit her father in his palace. this is the first time since she has dwelt in her own palace. the king has sent her permission, as he thinks the prophecy cannot be now fulfilled, seeing that he has you in his power. she will certainly go into the garden, and pass through that farther door. when she passes, call her, and relate your case, and beg her to deliver you. she understands your language, and will certainly feel pity when she hears and sees you." he now turned away as a glimmer of light fell on him from one of the palace windows. "farewell, i must away," whispered he; "it must not be betrayed that i have given you advice. do not forget to call to her: only from her can you hope for anything. call her haschanascha: that is her name." with these words he left the palace quickly. "haschanascha is her name! how? is not that the name of her whom i was to call in the ruins of the destroyed capital? shall i not call her if the spark in modibjah's talisman no longer shines? is not haschanascha the magic word which has led me here alone, away from all men who understand my language and share my anxieties?" so he spoke to himself, and determined to follow the counsel given him by the slave. after he had passed the night, partly in unquiet wakefulness, partly in dozing, he observed in the early part of the morning a great disturbance and unusual business in the courtyard. it was quiet in the inner court, when the princess at last came. at this moment all pressed into the square before the palace. when jussuf saw this, he pulled the talisman out of his pocket, and thought, "i must see if the stone preserves its spark. it seems a good sign of deliverance." and, behold, as he drew it forth, the red spot shone more fiery than ever. at noon he suddenly heard a trampling, as if the procession of slaves of the princess were going into the garden. he attentively watched the appointed door, and he soon saw her pass, and her father, followed by a long train. at this moment jussuf cried out, "haschanascha! haschanascha! pity an unfortunate!" on hearing the cry she looked up at jussuf, and the king also gazed at him full of astonishment. meantime the princess drew near, and he followed her close. when he had said some words to her, she asked jussuf, "my king and foster-father asks who taught you the name haschanascha?" jussuf knew that he ought not to betray the faithful slave, and yet he wished to confess the truth. he said, therefore, "before i knew that it was the name of a human being, my old teacher, modibjah, taught me, whatever difficulties and dangers befell me, to pronounce the word haschanascha. it has always been a defence to me whenever i have pronounced it. may it this time also procure me assistance!" "you have named to me a very dear name," answered the princess; "and it is a sign that you are he whom i must release from being sacrificed. but there is only one way--you must be my husband. this is the command of a higher being whom you must obey. examine, if you will not thus purchase life and liberty at too dear a price. without the fulfilling of this condition, i cannot deliver you. i give you time for consideration. when i return from the garden, let me know your determination." she pronounced these words in a loud, earnest tone, and then turned with her father into the garden. the train of slaves accompanied them. jussuf gave himself up to deep thought. "i had selected a different one for my future bride; i would not take many wives, according to our customs, but only one companion for life, who was my playfellow, whom i have sought for, and for whose sake i have encountered these dangers. if i take this black princess for my wife, it will only be from love of life, that i may be freed from prison. then i must leave my old playfellow." he thus meditated for some time, and at last resolved of the two evils to choose the lesser. when the princess returned from the garden, he called her by name, and she approached with her father, and asked him, with an earnest mien and firm tone, what resolution he had adopted. "how could i remain a moment in doubt?" answered he. "you, dearest princess, will condescend to a poor unknown, and become my wife. you are the sun of my life. without you life is worth nothing." at these words she broke out into a hearty laugh. when she had finished laughing, she said, "ah! i see you are like all men--a hypocrite and a jester. much truth is in your jesting words. i am the sun of your life! without me life would be worth nothing! indeed, without me, you would be sacrificed to a snake!" she seated herself, and said, "be not afraid: swear to me by the prophet that you will take me for your wife, and you shall to-day be delivered from your prison." jussuf swore; and now she turned to her father, and spoke earnestly with him in his language. but the faithful slave approached the cage, and interpreted all that was said. "it is not prudent to keep this man imprisoned without knowing whether he is the right one to offer to the snake. you have seized the best, and in the meanwhile justice is forgotten. have the priests to the snake called, that they may see him, and that i may speak with them." the king answered that this would be easy, as two priests had arrived from the snake's temple, before they had gone into the garden, to demand an audience. they were called, and there soon appeared the priests in long white garments, with particoloured girdles. "is this the man pointed out by your god?" asked she, as they approached jussuf's cage. "it is, it is!" they cried in the same voice, and bowed humbly before the princess. "what have you for a sign?" she again asked. "we have no sign," they answered; "but he it is." "you have no sign! how, then, do you know he is the right one?" asked she. to which they answered, "the divine snake has discovered it." then she replied, with contempt, "be silent to me about your snake!" and she turned to the king, and said, "my king and father, will you suffer yourself any longer to be deceived by these stupid and obstinate men? they give out that they have divine knowledge, and yet they are as ignorant as a maiden of sixteen! i beg you, have their god, the snake, brought here, and i will prove that i speak truth; but they, only deceit and falsehood." at these words, the priests doubled their fists, and struck their foreheads and breasts, and bowed themselves to the ground, and jumped about as if seized by convulsions. then the king looked at the princess with a frightened countenance, and said, "child, take heed what you do; revile not the gods." all the servants who stood around were astonished, not rightly comprehending what was passing. but the princess earnestly coaxed the king to cause the priests to bring the divine serpent there, that they might test the truth of what she had spoken. the king gave the command, and the priests left; at the princess's request the king remained. all stood around in anxious expectation. they had not to wait long before a numerous train of priests appeared, eight of whom bore, on four golden staves, a costly chest adorned with gold, ebony, and precious stones, and placed it in the middle of the court. then they bowed before the king, and the high priest stepped forward and said, "the king has given us an unusual command, and we fear that a great misfortune is about to happen. what is the reason that we are summoned from the recesses of the temple, and must even bring the divine snake in its chest with us?" then the princess said, "i will explain all. it is doubted that you really take charge of a divine snake; therefore let the chest be opened, and show it to the people." then the priests answered, "do the people doubt of our god? let the doubters approach and be convinced." he opened the lid, and every one saw a great snake in the chest it lay stupefied, as snakes usually do after a heavy repast. the princess approached the chest, and cried, "behold, doubters! is not this a snake?" then she turned to the high priest, and asked, "has your god shown you no sign by which you may know the man that ought to be sacrificed?" the high priest mused, but did not reply. then she said, "now i will show you the truth. man does not properly understand heavenly things. i honour your prudence; but answer me another question. would your god know its enemies if there were any such here? and would he revenge himself on them if they attempted his life?" "certainly, certainly!" vociferated the priest. "fire would fall from heaven and destroy them." "very well," she said; "i am the enemy, and your god dies by my hand." and quickly, even before she had quite uttered these words, she drew her poniard and with it pierced the head of the snake, so that the weapon ran into its chest and transfixed it. the priests gave a common cry, and the king seized the princess by both arms, and pulled her back. "my child, my child!" he cried, "what have you done?" "what you, my father, ought long since to have done," she replied. "will you all believe," she called aloud to the spectators, "that i have done right in killing this snake, if i tell you what you will find within it?" after a short pause, the king answered, "yes, certainly." and the people cried, "then is the snake rightly slain--it was no god." the priests said to the king, "she shall tell us; but we will accuse her of its death if she does not speak truth." the princess cried with a firm voice, "let it be so; i promise them." the king bowed consent. then she said, "there is a man among us whose wife sits at home weeping and bewailing, for she had a beautiful little boy, eighteen months old, who often ran about the streets. this child did not return home yesterday: it was taken to the snake's temple, and the priests know where it is. let the man step forward and seek his child in the snake's belly." while she was speaking, a deep silence reigned around; but now a man broke forth from the crowd, and said, "it is true; i am the man. my beautiful boy, my hamed, has not returned, and my wife sits at home and weeps. i left her, for i could not bear to hear her lament." then arose a common shout of astonishment and compassion from all, and he waited long for silence. then the princess said to the man, "draw your sword, cut open the snake, and you will find your child. i do not know if life still remain in him--the snake has only swallowed it an hour." the man approached the chest, drew his sword with a trembling hand, and opened the snake with an anxious face. when, behold, he pulled out his child! he immediately ran with him from the palace, as he thought he discovered some slight traces of life in him. then the priests fell on their knees before the king, and begged for pardon. but the people, who were assembled in great crowds, cried, "down with them! down with them!" and laid hands on them, as the king commanded them to be imprisoned. the princess now turned to the king, and said, "let us release this unfortunate man: he has come as a stranger into our land, to whom you ought to have shown hospitality; instead of which you have imprisoned him as a criminal; you have mocked and jeered him, whilst, by your oath, you should have allowed him to quit your city free. let what you have said in mockery of him be now reversed to his honour; for a king's word must not be blown away by the wind. this and no other shall be my husband." the king commanded, and the prisoner was immediately freed. he bowed thankfully to the king and princess. the king raised him, embraced him, called him his son, and led him to the princess, saying, "let him be your husband: the solemnities of marriage shall be immediately prepared." he caused his servants to proclaim through the city that the marriage of princess haschanascha was to be celebrated the next day, and all people were invited to assemble before the palace and to feast there. in his palace he pointed out to jussuf a wing, in the apartments of which he for the future should dwell with his wife. but the princess said, "i will inhabit the apartments which i formerly dwelt in in this palace; for i only consider myself as his betrothed, till an imam of the religion which we both profess has pronounced over us the marriage blessing." the king did not oppose her, but said, "you may command all as it pleases you. since yesterday, i have discovered that you possess more knowledge and wisdom than the rest of mankind." the betrothal was celebrated with great splendour. the king, according to his former oath, showed jussuf all honour, carried him to his different country seats, pointed out to him his gardens and lands, prepared many feasts, and did all to make his residence in his court agreeable. the princess accompanied them everywhere, and helped not a little to render these short journeys pleasing and satisfactory. she watched with great care for the convenience of her future husband, and sought to fulfil even his smallest wish before he had spoken it; so that jussuf was often astonished, and said to himself, "she must read my thoughts before they arise." he felt that he was happy in everything except in her having a black complexion. one day they all went together to a beautiful neighbouring hunting-seat, in the environs of which a grand hunt was held. the princess haschanascha took part in it. she rode on a tame elephant, over whose back was thrown a cloth embroidered with gold. on the middle of its back a couch was skilfully fastened, and over this a canopy was raised on four slender pillars of gold. jussuf remained generally near her during the hunt. he rode on a beautiful horse of the most noble race, which the king had sent him from his stable. whenever he saw a curious bird or a wild beast, he aimed so well that the animal always fell pierced by his arrow. in the evening when they returned to the palace from the wood, jussuf wished to remain there some days away from the bustle of the court, and the king granted this wish. he left behind some servants to wait on him, and returned with his daughter to the capital. at parting, haschanascha appeared very sad, and jussuf perceived tears in her eyes. "i know," said she, "this stay will be unfortunate for me; you will forget me: even the talisman of your teacher modibjah will fall into other hands, and on it depends my life. might it be that this body--this hateful black veil of haschanascha--should fall to pieces if it might conduce to your happiness. you will soon awake from a bright dream to longer and more bitter sorrows." jussuf consoled her, and represented that she troubled herself with useless fears. he took an affectionate farewell of her, and saw the procession depart not without emotion: he would willingly have accompanied her, but an irresistible feeling held him back. he went, as he was now quite alone, into the garden, which was adorned with curious flowers. "why was it," said he anxiously to himself, "that haschanascha was to-day so mournful at parting? she is so prudent, and with her clear eyes foresees the events of life. why can she fear that i should ever allow modibjah's talisman to get into a stranger's hands when i always wear it?" with these words he pulled the little bag out, and said, "no, i will never separate from you unless you are taken by force. but can robbers be sheltered in this land?" whilst he asked himself these questions, he thought that it would be better not to carry it in his bosom, where it might easily be found if he were searched. he therefore wrapped it up carefully in the folds of his turban, and believed it to be quite safe. night had spread its veil over the garden, and he returned to the palace. wonderful dreams disturbed his sleep, and their impressions accompanied him when he went into the garden the next morning. he had dreamt a great deal about red poppy-flowers, and now he saw them before him in the garden-beds. he found some alone in a bed, and while he watched them he again saw in fancy the same butterfly that he had before seen in his own garden upon similar flowers, and the memory of the circumstances of the last time were deeply graven in his soul. then he again dwelt upon the maiden to seek whom he had made this journey. thus, amid these reflections, he took hold of the wooden box which he had received from the dervish in the subterraneous chambers in the ruined city near shiraz. "without thee," said he, "could i never have obtained the object of my desires? and of what use have you been to me till to-day? you ought to lead me straight to my mark, and i should always be in the right way as long as i did not open the box with the golden key. you indeed have led me through dangers and misery, and at the end to a betrothal with a maiden as different from the one i sought as day from night. and shall i open you only when i have lost all hope to attain my desire? well, let us see what it contains." with these words he pulled out the golden key and unlocked the box; but he let it fall to the earth with a joyous cry, for scarcely had he opened it when the curious butterfly flew out, hovered in the sunshine over the flowers, and soon settled on one of the poppies. he quickly snatched off his turban, and covered with it the butterfly and the flowers. when he raised it, a figure was underneath, and before him stood his pleasant playfellow. "are you truly she? do i really see you at last?" he cried, astonished. "i am truly she," she answered. "have you quite forgotten me, that you have allowed so long a time to elapse without asking after me? but what have you done with your turban? let us see." she took it from his head, sought in the folds, and pulled out the little bag with the talisman. "oh, oh!" cried she, returning his turban, "do you carry such things about with you? you will not want it any more: i will keep it." and she sprang forward. he ran after her and caught her, begging her to return his pouch, explaining that it contained a talisman which had hitherto preserved him from every danger. "well," said she, when he paused, "and the only error is, that you have met with me again to-day." she assured him that she would never return the talisman, and began many games with him as they had done in the garden at balsora. at dinner-time he asked her to go into the palace to take some refreshment. she looked at him with a scornful laugh, and said, "i? go under a roof--sit to table with you to partake of meats prepared from the flesh of animals and the flour of wheat? what can you mean? do you not recollect the fig that we ate together? it still nourishes me; but i know that you need more." she went to a neighbouring bush, plucked a white blossom, and offered it to him. "there, drink honey," said she. when he took the flower, it changed into a silver-gilt goblet filled with delicious drink. he drank, and felt himself quite refreshed, strengthened, and satisfied. they again played many childish games together, and the maiden always invented new pastimes. the day passed by, and jussuf did not perceive how the hours flew away: the sun was just sinking; then his playfellow sprang over a neighbouring bush, and cried, "good night." as she passed over the flowers of the bush, she disappeared from jussuf's eyes, and he saw only the butterfly flying. when he returned to the palace, his servants were much rejoiced. they had waited for him since noon, and had searched for him in the gardens, as an embassy had been sent from the capital to bring him news that the princess had suddenly fallen ill. he caused the messengers to be brought before him, to learn from them all the attendant circumstances. he discovered from them that she had retired to rest early the preceding evening, and had risen quite well in the morning after a peaceful slumber; but hardly had the sun shone half an hour, when she fell, and was obliged to be carried to her apartments. she soon came to herself, but felt very weak, and informed her sorrowing father that she must die. jussuf was very thoughtful, for he remembered her warning about the talisman, and also recollected that it was exactly the same hour in which the maiden had taken it from the folds of his turban. he resolved early the next morning to desire the talisman from her earnestly, and then to hasten to the city; and commanded the embassy to return at sunrise the next day, to announce his arrival in the evening. in the loneliness of night he felt angry with himself. but the loss of the talisman, which exceedingly disquieted him, was not the only reason: it was a mortifying feeling to him that he had passed the whole day in childish sports, according to the caprice of his playfellow. he thought over all the words they had spoken, and found nothing in them but excessive frivolity. he arose the next morning by daybreak, and at sunrise he again stood in the garden. scarcely had the sun's rays dried the dew, when the beautiful butterfly hovered over the beds. once more it settled on a poppy. jussuf covered it with his turban--the change was again completed--the maiden once more stood before him. he immediately demanded of her the little bag with the talisman. she mocked him with a mischievous laugh, and said, "you shall not have it to-day: perhaps to-morrow, if you are polite." then they again began their sports, and jussuf soon forgot in their amusements everything else, and played and sported with her. she gave him, in the same manner as yesterday, honey to drink from a flower, after she had sipped a little herself, and knew how to draw him round the gardens in her sports, so that nobody met them. on this day also his servants sought him in the garden, and could not find him; another messenger had arrived from the city, wishing to speak to him in great haste. he did not return to the palace till she had flown away as a butterfly. the messenger informed him that the princess still remained very unwell, and that her weakness had materially increased when he did not arrive as he had promised. she had not said anything about this delay; but the king was very unhappy, and requested that he would come to the city the next day. he promised it, ordered the messenger to return at daybreak, and went into his sleeping-apartment. there he again reproached himself as on the previous day, and resolved to set out on the morrow, as soon as his playmate should return the talisman. when he met her the next day in the garden, he immediately asked for it. "how now, jussuf?" said she. "what a tone! is this the way to greet your frolicking playmate? is it worth while to make such a fuss about a miserable fragment of stone?" she bowed to him, laughing, and ran off. jussuf followed, and when he got near her, cried, "it concerns the life of the princess." then she stopped, and asked, "is this the reason of your earnestness? the princess? the black negress? what binds you to her? do you consider her as a creature like yourself? and, even if it were so, what can such a tiresome serious person be to you? have you ever played with her an hour so merrily as we have played the whole day? and, believe me, my stock is not yet nearly exhausted. i have novelties every day." she again began a game, and, before jussuf could recollect himself, he had deeply entered into it; and he had soon forgotten the messenger, his intentions, and his resolutions. he played with her till evening, and returned to the palace when she had disappeared as usual. he had been sought for as on the former days, but in vain. a fresh messenger had brought still worse tidings of haschanascha's health, and he made the bitterest reproaches to himself for his neglect. he ordered his horse to be saddled, and, as it was a moonlight night, he returned to the city with the messenger. at his arrival, he saw the windows of the apartment inhabited by his betrothed still illuminated. he immediately went in and inquired after her health: people shrugged their shoulders, and he hastened to go in to her. she lay, breathing faintly, on her pillow, and beckoned to him to draw near: she then motioned to the servants, who left the apartment. he threw himself on his knees by the couch and wept, mourned her affliction, and regretted that he had not paid more attention to her warnings. "i know how it has happened," she said; "still, the worst has not happened. you have been forced to leave the talisman in her hands: take care that she does not keep it with your consent. i am now weak and ill: i shall become still weaker; but so long as you possess the earnest wish to recover the talisman, my life will be preserved. return, now, whence you came, and let not the king see you. he is angry with you because he is sure you are the cause of my illness." he obeyed her will, and returned to the hunting-seat by daybreak. he would not lose the vivid recollection of haschanascha's mournful condition by going to sleep; but went immediately into the garden, and when the sun had sufficient influence to dry the dew on the flowers, he again saw the butterfly settle on a poppy. this time he kept his turban on his head, and tried to catch the butterfly with his hand; but it eluded him, and a wasp within the same flower stung his hand, so that it swelled very much. the butterfly flew away, and did not return to the garden. the hours passed very slowly, and would have seemed longer if his mind had not been agitated by various plans to recover the talisman. to do this, he must find its present possessor, and he reproached himself with having allowed the butterfly to escape by his awkwardness. at noon he returned to the palace, to the great astonishment of his servants, who were now accustomed not to see him all day. when he had eaten, he reposed a few hours on his couch, and, on his awaking, a messenger had come from the city with the news that the princess was better since the morning. thus the day concluded with more inward peace than heretofore: only one fear made him sad, that perhaps the butterfly had disappeared for ever from the garden, and then he could never recover his talisman. but the next morning, when he went into the garden, he found the butterfly perched on a poppy in the sunshine. he threw his turban over it, and again the maiden stood before him. he asked her why she had not come the previous day, and she answered, "oh, there was a clumsy peasant in the garden who tried to catch me in his hand, like an ugly fly! he would have rubbed the beautiful dust off my wings; and then, what would have become of my beauty? i could not allow it, for my clothing is beautiful." she laughed so maliciously, that he well knew who she meant by the clumsy peasant. before he could reply, she had engaged him in a new game, and then in another, and so on, that he could find no opportunity to demand the talisman. even so passed the next and some following days. messengers arrived daily from the city to bring news of the princess's health. but these news were not comforting: the invalid grew worse from day to day, and the whole company of physicians knew no name for the disease, nor could they apply a remedy. if the priests were to be believed, this long and extraordinary sickness was a consequence of killing the sacred snake, and a punishment from heaven. scarcely had this conclusion reached the king's ear, than it found credence in his weak mind. he caused the still imprisoned high priest to be called before him, and he advised that the priests should be immediately set at liberty, and reinstated in their former rank. it was proclaimed through the city that sacrifices and gifts should be offered, and that all the people were to return to the worship of the snake. the priests gave it out that they had found a similar snake, and jussuf was again destined for the principal sacrifice, as the princess lay so near death that she scarcely breathed or gave any sign of life. jussuf had, in the meanwhile, passed many days in play; and, although he daily received tidings of the princess, he was ignorant of everything else that passed in the capital. on one of the last days, he proposed to his playfellow that she should be his wife, and go home with him. but she laughed, and said, "are you not already betrothed to haschanascha? did you think i did not know it? i also know that you have dared this with many women. you have turned your house into a seraglio, as birds are kept in a cage. how hateful must such a life be! shall i allow myself to be bound for life by the speaking of a hoary imam? heaven forbid it!" she began to jump and dance before jussuf, while she sang: [illustration] "a happy life, a roving wing, a sprightly dance, a voice to sing, to sport 'mid flowers and crowns of spring, such, such be the life for me. no care to-day, no toil the morrow, ever sunshine, never sorrow: i sip and quaff the honied wine with my rosy lips divine. fearless i stray, whate'er my will, seeking pleasure, pleasure still. such, such be the life for me: who aims at more, a fool is he." when she had finished her song, she bowed before jussuf in a mocking mood, and said, "how does that please you, jussuf? why, you are making a face as if you had drunk poison. what thoughts are now passing through your head?" "i am thinking of the talisman," answered jussuf. "give it me to-day. haschanascha lies at the point of death." "what of that?" asked she, jestingly: "if there be one such black creature more or less in the world, what consequence is it to you? come, will you give me your talisman? it has served you well. be polite for once, and say that you give it me." she approached him, patted his cheek with her left hand, and holding out the talisman with her right, said smiling, "does it belong to me? is it not true that you have given it me?" jussuf's first impulse was to say yes; but when he looked into her eyes, and, instead of human eyes, saw a great number of butterflies' eyes, horror came over him. he snatched away the talisman, and threw it quickly over his head, calling on haschanascha's name. at this moment haschanascha's elephant appeared exactly as he had seen it at the hunt. a brown slave, with a head-dress of beautiful feathers and variegated jewels, acted as leader, with a short staff in his hand. a maiden holding a drawn bow knelt on the elephant, and before jussuf perceived it, the arrow flew from the bow, and his playfellow lay in his arms, pierced through with the arrow. fright and astonishment took possession of him. before he recovered himself, the elephant, with its guide, had disappeared, and also the deadly-struck maiden lay no longer in his arms. he looked on the ground to find traces of her blood, which he had seen gush out. there lay the beautiful butterfly, transfixed with a needle shaped like an arrow, as men keep such insects in a collection. he took it from the ground, and perceived again the wooden box and golden key which he had formerly opened and dropped. in doubt whether he were awake or asleep, he shut the butterfly fast up in the box, and was going thoughtfully away. then the faithful slave came running to him, quite breathless, and cried, "flee quickly through the garden! the servants of the priests have already arrived in the palace-yard, and ask for you: you are again destined for a sacrifice." he asked after the princess. "she must be dead," answered the slave, and pressed him, half with prayers and entreaties, and half with force, to take flight. jussuf hastened through the garden into the wood which joined it, and ran like a startled roe urged forward by terror and dread of its pursuers. the wood covered his flight. he came to the river below the capital, and found a ship about to go down the stream. the man who guided it yielded to his earnest request, took him in, and immediately set sail. at the approach of night, jussuf thought they would have landed; but the man informed him, to his great joy, that the moon would shine clearly, and favour their voyage. they let the ship float down, and only guided it with a rudder now and then, when they saw a rock or a dangerous place stand out of the water. at midnight jussuf made the man understand that he would guide the rudder. he gave it up readily, and lay down to sleep. he sat alone in the stillness of night at the helm, and thought over the events of the last few days. all passed distinctly before his mind. he remembered haschanascha's sorrow at his resolution to remain alone at the hunting-seat; her warning about the talisman; her illness when he no longer possessed it; her life withering away, and her death. then he thought of the sorrow of her foster-father the king, and how he had again fallen under the dominion of the crafty and deceitful snake-priests. also the image of his playful companion rose before him, and the merry childish sports in which they had both joined, and in which he had always forgotten all the care and sorrow of haschanascha. he saw her, again, pierced by the arrow, sinking in his arms. he also remembered haschanascha's appearance as she knelt on the elephant, and shot the deadly arrow at his companion. could this only have been a shade of the dead one? or was it she herself? no; she herself was dead: the faithful slave had assured him so. all these reflections brought no peace to his soul. involuntarily haschanascha's superiority to his playfellow rose before him, and he felt with surprise that at these thoughts his cheeks were wet with tears. on the morrow they came near a city: he wished to recompense the seaman, who had now reached his destination. whilst he sought for a piece of gold out of his purse, he remembered that he had left the box of diamonds with the rest of his goods in the palace in his hasty flight. the seaman would take nothing, but assured him that by having taken charge of the vessel during the night he had quite earned his passage-money. jussuf parted from him with many thanks. in the city he sold his costly clothes, which he had bought new in the city of the snake-worshippers, clothed himself in the mean dress of a dervish, had his eyebrows scraped off, and set off on foot along the course of the river. after a tedious wandering of some weeks, he happily reached the place where, in his former journey, he had observed the river flow by a city into the sea. he met there many who spoke his language, and from them he learned that a ship lay in the harbour, which was to sail the next day to balsora. he immediately resolved to embark in it, and return home. the captain was very ready to take him, and when he asked about the passage-money, he answered, "what! you want to pay passage-money? what would my master say if i took anything from a poor devil like you? no, no, the rich merchant jussuf of balsora, who has twenty such ships on the sea, takes no passage-money from a poor dervish." "how!" asked jussuf, "does the merchant jussuf still live?" then the captain laughed heartily, and said, "indeed he lives. he is now, certainly, on a distant journey, but his business still prospers. look at this proof. this box of diamonds is a treasure than which no sultan has any more precious in his treasury, and this has been given me to-day by one of his servants to convey to balsora." jussuf saw with astonishment the box which he had left behind in his flight from the hunting-seat. he did not wish to be recognized in his poor condition, and feared to be taken for an impostor if he claimed the treasure. but he could not understand how the box could come into the captain's hands. he therefore turned to him, and said, "forgive me, sir, my curiosity, and tell me if you knew jussuf's servant who brought the box?" but the captain answered angrily, "listen. i have certainly mistaken you, as i thought you were a dervish; therefore i am displeased that you speak so disrespectfully of the mighty merchant jussuf, talking of him as if he were your equal. when you next pronounce his name, give him the honour due to him, and forget not the 'lord.' but as you asked if i knew the servant, know that i had never seen him before; but i did not doubt, when he gave it me in my lord's name. if he had given me only the ten thousandth part in worth in his lord's name, there would have been cause to doubt." the next day a favourable south wind blew; they weighed anchor, and the ship, under press of sail, left the harbour for the open sea. the voyage was prosperous. no cloud overcast the heavens, the wind continued favourable, and, in the shortest possible time, they landed in the port of balsora. there lay many new ships at anchor, ready prepared, and laden with various wares. "see," said the active captain to jussuf, in saying farewell; "these new ships belong also to the same lord jussuf. do not forget when you go into the city to see his palace, and also his warehouse in the bazaar." jussuf promised not to forget it; and, on his entrance into the city, went straight to the bazaar. he passed through the row where his warehouse used to stand, and was astonished to see a much larger one in its place, adorned on the outside with precious metals and costly stones; but in the interior was contained riches and a great heap of jewels, such as he had seen in the subterranean chambers of the ruins near shiraz. he pushed through the crowd, and saw that six young men were unceasingly occupied in selling. he pressed forward, and stood immediately before one of the traders. "to whom does this warehouse belong?" asked he, when no buyer seemed ready to occupy him. "you must only have arrived here to-day, if you do not know that there is only one merchant in balsora who can display such riches. you must have heard the name of the merchant jussuf, the king of merchants!" "oh, yes! i have certainly heard that name," answered jussuf; "but i thought that he had shut up his warehouse, and gone on a far journey." "that is very true," replied the young man; "but a few weeks ago he sent his brother, hassan assad, who carries on the commerce, and has taken account of the treasures which he sends here from his journeys. this business is much increased; it is well seen that my lord jussuf does not leave his affairs in strange hands without good reason." "you named his brother, and i have heard that your lord had no brother. what do you, then, mean?" asked jussuf. "hassan assad is not his brother, but his wife's brother," was the answer. "his wife?" asked jussuf, with unfeigned astonishment. "i know not how it seems to you," said the young man. "what is there so much to be wondered at, and to stand with open mouth? why should not my lord jussuf have a wife? for he might have them by the dozen. if all this interests you so much, go to his palace: there are idle people enough there that can satisfy your curiosity. i have no time: some buyers are waiting whom i have neglected by my conversation with you." he turned to the customers, apologized for his inattention, and demanded their wishes. jussuf resolved to follow his advice and go to the palace. he no longer recognized it: two small palaces which stood on each side had been thrown down, and, in their places, two wings had been added to his own. the principal door of the middle palace stood open, and many male and female servants went in and out. he asked one of the porters to whom the palace belonged, and received the same answer as at the bazaar. "but will your lord ever come again?" he asked. "he has been gone a long while; no man knows where he is, and he has sent no messengers back." "what! sent no messenger?" cried both porters in a breath; "he has sent his wife here a long time since, and has himself arrived to-day. his brother hassan assad has always had sure news of him, and so he knew of his arrival to-day, and has prepared everything for his reception. his old teacher, who had not before been seen for years, has come forth to-day from his solitude, and arrived here." "what! modibjah also here?" he asked. "see, see!" answered both, "you know his name better than we. yes, yes, his name is modibjah: i could not recollect." "let me go in, good people," said he, "that i may speak to him." "no, no," said one of them, obstructing the way; "what business have you in? the marriage ceremony is about to be performed in the hall, after the manner of our religion; the imam is just now gone in; therefore no strangers can be admitted." "what!" cried jussuf, "your lord already arrived? where is the impostor? let me in, that i may confront him." both porters opposed him, because he tried to force his way in. "do you not know your lord," asked jussuf, full of indignation, "that you thus oppose him?" they assured him that they had not been long in assad's service, and did not know jussuf; but they had been told that he was arrived. "yes," cried jussuf, "he is arrived, but not yet in his palace; he will soon be in." with these words he pushed the nearest on one side, threw him to the ground, and then the other also. he pressed forward quickly into the splendid hall, unopposed by the numerous servants, to whom he seemed to come from the passage into the hall. he placed himself in the midst, and cried with great earnestness, "who dares here to usurp jussuf's place? who dares here to pass for jussuf's wife? i am jussuf, who was thought lost! where is the impostor? let him come here, that he may receive the just reward of his treachery." whilst he spoke a richly-dressed man, but unknown to him, approached, and said, "you speak of deceit! nobody here passes for jussuf but yourself. we expected him, because we have sure knowledge that he has landed to-day. you may be the expected one. now for the proof: what word will your lips breathe on this talisman?" he held to him modibjah's talisman. jussuf looked astonished and surprised, for the spark had disappeared. "haschanascha!" he cried, with a sigh. the spark shone out clear, and a veiled lady walked forth from the circle of numerous assembled guests, and asked, as she threw her veil back, "do you remember haschanascha, your betrothed?" but he looked at her with marks of astonished joy. there were indeed the beautiful features of her face, the mild look of her soft eyes, the happy seriousness that reigned in haschanascha's forehead; but her dark complexion had disappeared, and in its place played a soft blush, like the first breath of dawn, on her cheeks. "haschanascha!" cried he, at last awaking from his astonishment, "are you indeed she? i can no longer trust my senses, since i have been lost in so many adventures and dreams, that i cannot distinguish between reality and dreaming. is it possible that you live? you were dead through my guilt." "ask not after what is past," said modibjah's voice. "the king of the genii has selected you to be his favourite on earth. two daughters of genii were destined to try to lead you different ways; human nature nearly conquered, but you came out at last victorious from the fight. you have chosen the nobler. may she adorn your life with greater joy, as she helped you to conquer your selfishness, which bound you in weakness to the form you carried in the box! this is haschanascha, the sister of your friend hassan assad, who has carried on your business since you separated from him near shiraz. i am uncle to both; and that your wife may not enter your house as a beggar, here are the presents destined for the wedding present, which you saw under the ruins of the destroyed capital." with these words he embraced jussuf, who was again lost in astonishment. the young man who had offered him the talisman stepped forward, and jussuf recognized in him his friend hassan, and saluting him with heartfelt joy, called him his dear brother. in the same hour the imam pronounced over jussuf and haschanascha the blessing, and performed the usual prayers and ceremonies. then were splendid feasts prepared that lasted many days, and such as never at any other time were celebrated in balsora; so that in after years people spoke of the splendour with which the rich merchant jussuf's wedding had been consummated. he attained with haschanascha a great and very happy old age, and his latest descendants revere his memory. the seven sleepers. [illustration] [the "seven sleepers" is a mahommedan as well as christian legend. it is alluded to in the koran: and many of the circumstances of the following tale are related in the notes to sale's translation of it.] historians relate that there was in ancient persia a shepherd named dakianos, who for thirty years had attended his sheep without having ever neglected the holy custom of making his daily prayers. all those who knew him did justice to his probity; and nature had endowed him with an eloquence capable of raising him to the highest employments, had he lived in the great world. one day, as he was at his usual prayers, his flock took fright and were dispersed. dakianos ran every way to reassemble them, and perceiving that one of his sheep had got half of its body into the hole of a rock, where it could not get out, he ran to it and delivered it; but he was struck with a dazzling light which immediately shone out of the opening. he examined what it was that produced it, and soon found that it proceeded from a tablet or plate of gold, of no very large extent: he opened the hole still farther, and found himself in a vault, which was not above seven feet high, and about four or five broad. he considered this tablet of gold with much attention, but could not read it, neither could he comprehend what the four lines signified which he saw written thereon. to inform himself, therefore, of this mystery, he took it away with him, and, as soon as it was night, he put it under his vest and repaired to the city. his first care was to show it to those who, as he was informed, were the most learned men; but, however versed they might be in the sciences, there was not one of them who could explain this inscription. however, one of the doctors said to him, "no person here can translate these characters. go into egypt: you will find there a venerable man, of three hundred years of age, who can read the most ancient writings, and who knows all the sciences; he alone can satisfy your curiosity." dakianos delivered his flock to the person to whom it belonged, and departed immediately for egypt. as soon as he arrived there, he inquired after the old man, who was so celebrated that everybody was ready to show him his house. he went to him there, told him the occasion of his journey, and presented to him the tablet of gold. the old man received it with affability, and was struck with astonishment at the sight of this wonder. he read the characters with the greatest ease; but, after having reflected some time, he cast his eyes upon dakianos, and said to him, "how did this tablet fall into your hands?" dakianos gave him an account of his adventure. "these characters," resumed the old man, "promise to the person who shall find them, events which it is not likely can happen to you. you have," continued he, "a happy countenance, and this inscription speaks of an infidel, whose end must be fatal and tragical. but since fortune has given you this tablet, that which is written upon it doubtless regards you." dakianos, surprised with this discourse, answered, "how can it be as you say? i have said my prayers every day these thirty years. i have never been an infidel; how can i then be a reprobate?" "if it had been three hundred years," replied the old man, "you will be no less the victim of darkness." these last words pierced the heart of dakianos. he groaned, he sighed, he even wept, and he cried out, "would that i had never found this golden tablet! that i had never shown it you and that i had never heard so terrible a sentence!" "what use would it have been to you not to have brought it to me?" said this learned man. "the predestination of allah is from all eternity; what is written in the book of life cannot be effaced. but i may be mistaken: the knowledge of men is often doubtful, allah alone is infallible. i can, however, inform you that this golden tablet indicates a most considerable treasure, and that an those riches belong to him who shall be the possessor of the tablet." this word _riches_ consoled dakianos, and in the transport of his soul he said to the old man, "delay not a moment; let us go to seek the treasure. we will share it like two brothers." but the old man said to him, sighing, "you will no sooner be the master of all these riches than you will abuse them. it is not an easy talent to know how to be rich; and i shall perhaps be the first to repent having done you this service." "what a discourse you hold to me!" cried dakianos. "what shall i owe the obligation to you of procuring me such treasures, shall you make my fortune, and do you think i shall be failing in my return? an infidel would not be guilty of such ingratitude, and i cannot so much as harbour a thought of it. i swear, then, to look upon you as my father, and to share equally all the riches with you; or, rather, you shall give me what share you please, and i shall always be content." these protestations would not much have reassured the old man, but avarice--the only passion which is felt at a certain age--overcame his reflections, and he consented to their departure. they arrived at the place where dakianos had found the tablet of gold. the old man commanded him to dig the ground about twenty feet round. they soon discovered a gate of steel, and the old man told dakianos to open it. dakianos obeyed with such eager haste that he broke the door open with his foot, though the key was in the lock. they both of them entered into a vault, without being discouraged by the great obscurity which reigned there. after having gone some steps, a faint light enabled them to distinguish objects. the farther they advanced, the more the light increased. they found themselves at last before a large and magnificent palace, the seven gates of which were closed, but the keys were fastened by them. dakianos took that of the first gate, and opened it. the first apartment enclosed ornaments and habits of the greatest magnificence, and above all, girdles of solid gold, adorned with jewels. they opened the second, which they found filled with sabres, the hilts and sheaths of which were covered with the most precious stones. the third was adorned with an infinite number of cuirasses, coats of mail, and helmets of gold of different fashions, and all the arms were enriched with the most magnificent jewels. the fourth enclosed the most superb horse furniture, answerable to the magnificence of the arms. the fifth offered to their sight piles of gold and silver ingots. the sixth was full of gold coin; and it was scarcely possible to enter into the seventh, it was so heaped with sapphires, with amethysts, and diamonds. these immense treasures dazzled dakianos. from that moment he was sorry that he had a witness of his good fortune. "do you consider," said he to the old man, "of what consequence secrecy will be upon this occasion?" "doubtless," replied he. "but," resumed dakianos, "if the king has the least knowledge of this treasure, his first act will be to confiscate it. are you sure of yourself? do you fear nothing from your own indiscretion?" "the desire of possessing the half of those riches," replied the old man, "ought to be a pledge that will satisfy you." "the half of these riches!" interrupted dakianos, with an alteration visible in his countenance, "but that half surpasses the treasures of the greatest kings." the old man perceived this alteration, and said to him, "if you think the half too much for me, you may give me only a quarter of it." "most willingly," returned dakianos. "but what precaution will you take to remove them with safety? you will cause us to be discovered, and be the occasion of our ruin." "well, then," replied the old man, "though you have promised me much more, give me only one of the apartments--i shall be fully satisfied. you do not answer my question." "we will examine at leisure what you have proposed to me," returned dakianos. "i am glad, however, that you are more reasonable, and that you begin to understand yourself." dakianos again examined these riches with more avidity, and his eyes were still further dazzled by them. after having thoroughly considered the magnificent apartment of the diamonds, in which they then were, "you are sensible," said he to the old man, "that this is, without contradiction, the most valuable, and that it is not natural i should yield up to you the lawful right i have over it?" "you have reason for what you say," returned the old man, "and i do not demand it of you." they passed afterwards into the apartment which was filled with gold coin. "this treasure," said dakianos, after having looked upon it for some time, "is certainly what would cause the least trouble, and be the most easily disposed of; it may be useful also towards preserving all the rest, either by establishing a guard or raising walls; therefore i believe you too reasonable," continued he, "not to agree to the necessity that obliges me to keep it." "i agree to it," replied the old man; "let us pass on to another. these piles of ingots of silver and gold are not all necessary to you," said he, as he viewed the fifth apartment. "no," returned dakianos, "i might possibly do without some of these; but i have too great obligations to you, to expose you, by giving them to you: how could you convey them away? what a trouble it would be to you to dispose of them!" "that will be my business," replied the old man. "no, no," added dakianos, "i love you too well to consent to it; besides, it would be the means to have me discovered; you would be arrested, and you could not prevent yourself from accusing me. let us see the others." they opened the fourth apartment. "this horse-furniture is absolutely unsuitable to you; your age is an obstacle to the use of it." he made use of the same difficulty to refuse him the cuirasses and the armour which filled the third. when he had locked that up with the same care as the rest, they found themselves in that which contained the sabres; and the old man said to him, "these arms are easy to carry, i will go and offer them to the kings of the indies; i will sell them separately, and you will run no risk." "you are right," returned dakianos, "i may give you some of these." as he said these words he examined them, both the weight of the gold and the value of the diamonds. at length he drew one of them out of the scabbard; then he compared all the riches of which he might be the sole possessor, with the head of one man; and, unable to conceive how he could have hesitated so long, "i distrust thee!" said he, springing upon the old man. the old man embraced his knees. "be moved," said he to him, "with my old age! the treasures no longer make any impression upon me, and i pretend not to them." "truly i believe not," resumed dakianos: "they are mine, the tablet of gold gives them to me." the old man recalled his promises to his memory. "but i will cancel them," pursued he: "in return for the obligation you have to me i only demand my life." "i have offended thee too far," replied dakianos: "thy life would be my death, it would give me too much inquietude." then at one blow striking off the head of the old man, "now," cried he, "my secret is my own!" the first care of dakianos was immediately to make a grave and to inter this unfortunate victim of his avarice. he feared not remorse, though he dreaded a witness; his heart was wholly occupied with the treasure that he possessed, and his mind with the methods of preserving it. but after devouring it with his eyes, and enjoying that cruel satisfaction, in what trouble did he not find himself when he was obliged to leave it in order to seek for provision? how often did he reproach himself with not having carried it with him? and if he ever remembered the old man, it was only to accuse his memory, and to persuade himself that he must have had some bad design, since he had not advertised him of a thing which he might have foreseen without being so learned as he really was. not to die with hunger in this subterranean vault, he was obliged to quit it. what succours could he find in so barren a desert as that with which it was surrounded? he was obliged, therefore, to go to a place at some distance; but how could he resolve upon that, especially at a time when the ground lately removed might attract the curiosity of a traveller? dakianos almost determined to let himself die rather than lose sight of his treasure. all that he could do to calm his inquietudes was not to depart till night, when he took some handfuls of the gold coin and repaired to the city, where he bought a horse, which he loaded with biscuit and with a small barrel of water, and returned before daybreak to seek his treasure, which he found in the same condition he had left it, with as much pleasure as he had felt chagrin at leaving it. his first care was, with incredible fatigue, to make a very deep ditch round the cavern. he contrived a passage to it underground, the opening of which he covered with his clothes, that in a few days he laid upon them, and afterwards raised a hut of earth to preserve himself from the weather. all that he suffered during these immense labours is not to be conceived, and no one could have imagined, who had seen him thus wasted with labour and fatigue, that he was the richest inhabitant of the earth. when he had conducted his work so far as to be able to leave it without fear, he repaired again to the city, but with the same precaution--that is to say, he went only in the night. he employed it wholly in purchasing some slaves, with whose assistance by degrees he brought thither everything that was necessary for his safety and convenience. soon after, he gathered workmen, with whose aid he built more solidly the works which he had begun. he surrounded the place with three walls of stone, and lay always between the first and the second. he took great care to spread abroad a report after this that he carried on a large foreign commerce, and spoke much of the fortune he had made in egypt. upon this pretext--for there must be one for becoming so suddenly rich--he built a magnificent palace: that of the thousand columns erected by melik jouna, the ancient king of the indies, was nothing in comparison to it. such great magnificence soon made him considered and respected by the world, and the pains he had given himself to preserve his riches not only flattered his self-love, but easily persuaded him that he had acquired them, and might enjoy them without remorse, the old man being totally forgotten. it was easy for him to bring out the treasures from his vault, the secret of which was not trusted to any person. he sent caravans to all parts of the indies to authorize the expenses he bestowed in slaves, in building, in women, and in horses, and fortune also favoured a commerce which was of little consequence to him. his heart, fully satisfied as to riches, was not long insensible to ambition. the court has strong attractions for the rich; they are received so graciously, they are praised in so delicate and so insinuating a manner, that they are generally seduced by it. and dakianos, who now joined to his opulence an immeasurable ambition, neglected nothing to introduce himself at the court of the king of persia; but made presents to the viziers to obtain their protection, and, by gaining it, rendered himself their slave. his magnificence and his generosity, as he foresaw and wished, soon reached the ears of the king, who desired to see him. dakianos had an audience as soon as he appeared at court, and to give a favourable impression of himself, and to deserve the favour of the king, he brought him presents which the greatest kings upon earth could not, perhaps, have collected together. it is generally by nines that eastern presents are given, when their magnificence is extended to the last degree. he therefore caused himself to be preceded by nine superb camels. the first was loaded with nine suits and ornaments of gold, adorned with the most beautiful jewels, of which the girdles were of the greatest lustre. the second bore nine sabres, the hilts and scabbards of which were of gold adorned with diamonds. upon the third were seen nine suits of armour of equal magnificence. the fourth had for its load nine suits of horse furniture, suitable to the other presents. nine cases full of sapphires were upon the fifth. nine other cases heaped with rubies loaded the sixth. the same weight of emeralds was upon the seventh. the amethysts, in an equal number of cases, was the load of the eighth. at last, there appeared upon the ninth camel nine cases of diamonds. nine young women of the greatest beauty, and magnificently adorned, followed this caravan; and eight young slaves immediately preceded dakianos. in the midst of the surprise which these presents gave to the king and the whole court, some of those who composed it, and who, according to the customs of that place, endeavoured to criticise upon it, and who wished to contradict those who applauded it, or to show the justness of their own remarks, demanded where was the ninth slave. dakianos, who expected the question, pointed to himself. the king, pleased with the turn of delicacy, which he joined to such magnificent presents, received him with extreme distinction; and, his natural eloquence increasing his favour, it was impossible for the prince to be without him. he seated dakianos by himself, gave him the pleasure of his music, sent him every day dishes from the royal table, and very often the most exquisite wines; during which, on the other side, dakianos returned all this bounty by presents, the quantity of which was as surprising as their magnificence. at length his continued liberality and his eloquence procured him so great a power over the heart of the king, that he created him his vizier, that they might never part; yet the confidence and the friendship he testified to him gave him still more power than the charge with which he was provided. dakianos governed persia with an absolute sway: he ought to have enjoyed a happiness which might satisfy his vanity. but can ambition ever be satisfied? the mountain of kaf may set bounds to the world, but never to the ideas and wishes of the ambitious. the king being informed of the arrival of an ambassador from greece, gave him audience immediately. the ambassador, after having kissed the foot of the throne, delivered him a letter, which he caused his secretary to read aloud, it was conceived in these terms: "i, emperor and sultan of seven climates, to you, king of persia. as soon as my royal letter shall be delivered to you, fail not to send to me the tribute of seven years. if you make any difficulty to satisfy me, know that i have an army in readiness to march against you." this letter caused so much astonishment in the king, that he knew not what answer to make to it. dakianos, to deliver the king from the perplexity he was in, rose from his place, touched the ground with his head, and endeavoured to restore his spirits. "the letter of the emperor of greece," said he, "ought not to afflict you: it is easy to answer it, and to make him repent his menaces and his insolence. order your most faithful subjects to join with me, who am the humblest of your slaves; i shall inform them what they have to do." these words consoled the king: he gave his orders in pursuance of them, and dakianos raised above a hundred thousand men for the king, whilst on his side he assembled ten thousand more, whom he equipped at his own expense. the king joined to this chosen troop two thousand of the most valiant soldiers, whom he had always had near his own person, and of whom he formed the guard of dakianos, and declared him general of this army of one hundred and twelve thousand men. the new general took leave of the king, and put himself at the head of his troops, which served as an escort to all his riches, which he took care to convey along with him, and which ten thousand camels could scarce carry. the king of persia, who parted from his vizier with regret, accompanied him for three days, and quitted him with tears in his eyes, giving him a thousand benedictions, and repeating to him a thousand times that he was his strength, his support, and, what was much more, the only friend of his heart. dakianos chose out the most warlike men in all the cities through which he passed, equipped them at his own expense, and gave them whatever pay they demanded. the report which was spread abroad of this magnificence drew together men from all parts of the world, and his army was in a short time increased to three hundred thousand soldiers. the emperor of greece, upon the news he had of the persian army, immediately assembled his troops, and advanced to meet dakianos with seven hundred thousand men. as soon as he perceived the enemy, he divided his army into two bodies, and gave the signal for battle. the troops of dakianos acted with so much valour, and their first onset was so terrible, that the army of the grecians had not time to recover themselves, and they were almost as soon defeated as attacked. dakianos ordered the grecian emperor, whom he had taken prisoner, to be beheaded, and without the least difficulty made himself master of all his dominions, of which he caused himself to be acknowledged sovereign. the first business of this new monarch was to write the following letter to the king of persia: "i have defeated and overcome cã¦sar,[2] i have conquered his dominions, i have mounted his throne, and have been acknowledged the sovereign of his whole empire. as soon as this letter is delivered to you, defer not a moment to send me the tribute due for seven years: if you make the least difficulty to pay it me, you must submit to the same fate as cã¦sar." [footnote 2: in the east they always give that name to the emperors of greece.] this letter, with great reason, provoked the king of persia beyond all the bounds of moderation. without loss of time he assembled his troops; but before he put himself at their head to march towards the confines of greece, he returned this answer to dakianos: "can a man so despicable as thou art have possibly conquered greece? thou hast betrayed me--i, who am thy king, and who am seated upon the golden throne of my ancestors. thou hast attacked me, notwithstanding the gratitude and fidelity thou owest to me. i am upon my departure to cause even the very memory of thee to perish, to restore greece to her former situation, and to deliver her to her lawful sovereign!" this daring answer of the king of persia threw dakianos into the most dreadful rage: he immediately formed a detachment of two hundred thousand men from his army to advance and give battle to the king of persia. those troops were not long without meeting him. the combat was bloody and obstinate; but at length the king of persia was defeated, taken prisoner, and conducted to dakianos. when that prince was in his presence, "wretch!" said he to him, "how canst thou bear my sight, thou most ungrateful of mankind?" "i ungrateful?" replied dakianos. "i have levied troops at my own expense; i have spent the greater part of my immense treasures; i have, therefore, bought this conquest. i have done more: i have fought; i have revenged thy quarrel. what canst thou reproach me with?" "i have loved thee," returned the king. it is hard for those in power to bear a well-founded reproach. the only answer of dakianos was to command his head to be struck off, and immediately to send troops to seize on his dominions. he chose ephesus to fix his residence in; but, not thinking that city magnificent enough, he caused it to be rebuilt with the utmost elegance, and gave all his care to the erecting of a palace, which was unparalleled for its solidity, its extent, and its magnificence. he erected in the centre of it a kiosk, the walls of which were six hundred feet long, and the cement and all the jointings of it were of silver. this kiosk contained a thousand chambers, each of which enclosed a throne of gold: he caused three hundred and sixty-five gates of crystal to be made, which he placed in such a manner that every day throughout the year the rising sun shone upon one of them. his palace had seven hundred porters; sixty viziers were occupied in his affairs. there were always in the hall of audience sixty thrones, on which were seated those who had signalized themselves in war. he had seven thousand astrologers, who assembled every day, and continually declared to him the different influences of the stars. he was always surrounded by ten thousand ichoglans, who wore girdles and crowns of solid gold, and were most magnificently clad: they had no other employment but that of being always ready to receive his orders. he appointed sixty pashas, each of whom had under his command two thousand well-made and valiant young men, who each in particular commanded two thousand soldiers. one day, when dakianos was in the height of his splendour, an old man arose from beneath the throne upon which he was seated. the king, amazed, asked him who he was. he was an unbelieving genie, but, far from confessing it, "i am," he answered, "a prophet of god: i obey his orders by coming to you. know, therefore, that he has made me the god of the heavens, and that he ordains that you should be the god of the earth." dakianos answered him, "who will believe that i am so?" and the genie immediately disappeared. some time after, dakianos had again the same apparition, and the genie repeated to him the same things; but he answered him, "you deceive me. how can i be the god of the earth?" "your power, your great actions, and the care that allah has taken of you, ought to persuade you; but if you will not believe me," pursued the old man, "do what i shall tell you, and you will soon be convinced." dakianos, whose pride this flattered, and who had nothing more to desire of human greatness, promised him to consent to everything. "let your throne be placed upon the shore of the sea," pursued the old man. what he desired was executed. and when dakianos was placed there, "prince," said the genie to him, "there is at the bottom of the sea a fish, the bigness of which is known only to allah, and which every day comes to land. it remains there till noon to adore the almighty. no person interrupts its prayers: when they are finished, it plunges again to the bottom of the sea." the fish appeared as usual, and the genie said to dakianos, "though the fish will not believe your power, it has, however, declared to all the fishes of the sea that you are the god of the earth. it fears nothing, and comes now to inform itself. you will know the truth of what i have declared to you," continued he, "if you will only condescend to say to him, 'i am the god of the earth.' your voice will freeze him with terror--he cannot hear it without surprise, and will certainly take flight." this proposition pleased dakianos, and he called the fish, and said to it, "'i am the god of the earth.'" these words of infidelity made the fish immediately plunge to the bottom of the sea, in the fear he was under lest the almighty power should dart his thunder to punish that impostor. dakianos easily persuaded himself that the fish was an infidel, and that his presence had made him take flight. from that moment he believed all the deluding words of the genie, and soon had no doubt left of his divinity. not only his subjects adored him, but people came from all corners of the world to give him those marks of adoration which he exacted; for he caused all those to be thrown into a burning furnace who refused to adore him. in the number of the ten thousand slaves who stood always before him with their hands crossed upon their breasts, there were six greeks who possessed his confidence, and who approached the nearest to his person. they were named jemlikha, mekchilinia, mechlima, merlima, debermouch, and charnouch. they were generally placed in an equal number upon his right and left hand. jemlikha was one whom he most favoured, nature having endowed him with all her charms: his words were sweeter than the honey of arabia, and his wit sparkling and agreeable; in a word, this young man united in himself all perfections. their employments engaged both him and his companions to pay that homage to dakianos which was due to god alone. one day, as dakianos was at table, jemlikha held a fan to drive away the flies that might incommode him: there came one which settled itself with so much obstinacy upon the dish he was eating that he was obliged to give it up. jemlikha, struck with this slight event, thought it ridiculous that a man who could not drive away even a fly that troubled him, should pretend to divinity. "surely," continued he, "i ought to have no regard for such a god." some time after, dakianos entered into one of his apartments to repose himself for some hours; and jemlikha still waited by him with the fan. allah once more sent the same fly, and at this time it placed itself upon the face of the monarch. jemlikha would have driven it away lest it should interrupt his lord's sleep; but his pains were in vain: it awakened dakianos, and threw him into the greatest impatience. jemlikha, already touched by his first reflections, said within himself, "this man certainly is no more a god than i am: there can be but one god, and it is he who has created the sun that gives us light." from that time jemlikha used the custom of saying every night when he lay down, "the true god is he who created the heavens, and fixed them in the air without a pillar." it is difficult to make a serious reflection and not to communicate it to a friend. jemlikha declared all his doubts to his companions. "a man," says he, "who cannot disengage himself from a fly, can he have power over the works of nature?" then he related the adventure of the fly. "but if our king is not a god," said they to him, "whom then are we to adore?" jemlikha told them what he thought, and they were so far persuaded of it, that from that day they joined with him every night in prayer. their assembling themselves together in private places soon became the subject of conversation. dakianos being informed of it, sent for them into his presence, and said to them, "do you adore another god beside me?" they contented themselves with answering him, "we adore the sovereign master of the world." the king, who took that answer to mean himself, loaded them with caresses, and bestowed upon each of them a robe of honour. they retired, covered with the favours of their master, and their first care was to adore and thank the high god for his bounty to them. jemlikha afterwards said to them, "if there should be again such an information given to the king as has now put us into such imminent danger, we can hope for no further mercy from him. i imagine, therefore, the only resolution we can take is to quit our country, and to seek another, where we may adore god without constraint." "but how can we take our flight?" replied his companions. "we know no other country but this." "let us put our trust in god," resumed jemlikha, "and make use of any favourable circumstance. we are not to follow dakianos when he goes on his magnificent chase for six days at the head of his army: what hinders us taking that time for our departure? we will demand permission of the officers of the palace that guard us to play at feheukian;[3] we will go out of the square, throw the ball to a great distance, and take our flight upon those swift horses which are usually given us for that exercise." [footnote 3: an exercise performed on horseback.] they approved this project, and waited with impatience for the time of its execution. at length dakianos departed with his numerous army. the day after the king's departure they put in execution what they had projected. the eunuchs pursued them, and would have forced them to return back to the palace; but they answered them, "we are tired of our king: he endeavours to pass for the god of the earth, and we adore him alone who has created all that we behold." the young men had already drawn their sabres, and in a moment they put the eunuchs out of a condition of following them. then jemlikha said to them, "my friends, we are ruined if we do not use all possible expedition." they immediately put their horses at full speed, which so much fatigued them that their strength was soon exhausted. they were then obliged to continue their journey on foot, but being tired, and faint with thirst and hunger, they stopped on the side of the road, and, with entire confidence in god, prayed to him to relieve them. some faithful genii heard them, and, touched with their situation, they inspired into jemlikha the thought of ascending a mountain, at the foot of which they were. it was not without pain that he arrived at the summit; but at length he perceived a spring, the pure and clear water of which was to him the water of life, and a shepherd sitting by it, who sang whilst his flock was feeding. jemlikha called to his companions: the few words he could make them hear augmented their strength, and gave them courage sufficient to ascend the mountain. the shepherd, whose name was keschetiouch, gave them some provisions, and they drank of the water of this delightful fountain. this refreshment re-established their strength, and their first care was to return their thanks to heaven for it. then keschetiouch said to them, "how have you found the way to a place where i never yet saw any mortal? if i am not mistaken, you are fugitives. trust me with your misfortunes: i may perhaps be of some service to you." jemlikha related to him all that had happened to them, and his discourse struck the light of faith into the heart of this shepherd, god so enlightening his mind, that he soon learned and repeated with them their prayers. afterwards he told them he would never quit them. "ephesus," says he, "is so near to this place, that you will still be in some danger. doubt not but dakianos will use his utmost efforts to have you seized. i know a cavern not far from hence, which perhaps in a forty years' search could not be found: i will conduct you there." immediately without delay they arose and followed him. the shepherd had a little dog, which he called catnier, that followed them. they did not care to take him with them; and using all their skill to drive him away, they at last threw a stone at him, which broke his leg; but he still followed them limping. they threw a second at him, which did not turn him back, though it broke his other fore leg, so that he walked only upon his two hind feet, continuing his march. the third stone having broke one more, he was no longer in a condition to stand. but allah gave the gift of speech to this little dog, who said to them, "alas! you go to seek after allah, and you have prevented me from all hope of going with you! am not i also the creature of allah? are you alone obliged to acknowledge him?" they were so astonished at this wonderful miracle, and moved with the condition to which they had reduced the dog, that they carried him in turn, and went on begging the protection of heaven. they were not long before they arrived at the cavern to which the shepherd conducted them, and finding themselves fatigued with their journey, they lay down to sleep; but by the particular mission of heaven, they slept with their eyes open, in such a manner that no one could suspect they tasted any real repose. the cavern was so gloomy, the heat of the sun could not incommode them; a gentle, pleasing wind incessantly refreshed them, and a long narrow opening gave an entrance to the rays of the sun at his rising. in the meantime those eunuchs who had escaped from the sabres of the young slaves came directly to give an account of what had passed to dakianos. he was in despair at their flight, and as he was recollecting in his mind the favours he had shown them, and accusing them of the highest ingratitude, the same unfaithful genie who had so often appeared to him presented himself before him, and said to him, "your slaves have quitted you only that they might worship another god, in whom they place all their trust." this discourse so heightened the anger of dakianos that he conjured the genie to let him know the place of their retreat. "i alone can bring you to it," returned the genie. "all mankind would search for it in vain, but i will conduct you to it at the head of your army." they immediately departed, and were not long before they arrived at the mouth of the cavern. the genie then said to dakianos, "it is here they are retired." dakianos, who was wholly possessed with the spirit of revenge, immediately would have entered it; but that moment there burst out from the cave a dreadful vapour, which was followed by a furious wind, and a darkness that spread over all that part of the world. the army gave back with horror; but anger redoubling the courage of dakianos, he advanced to the entrance of the cavern, but it was with incredible difficulty, and, in spite of all his efforts, it was absolutely impossible for him to enter it, the air being so impenetrable. he perceived catnier, who slept with his head resting upon his paw, and distinguished plainly the six young greeks and the shepherd, who were all in a profound sleep, though he was far from suspecting it, as their eyes were open. dakianos was not rash enough to renew his efforts--a secret horror restrained him. the sight of this cavern and all the prodigies of heaven spread so great a terror in his mind that he returned to his army, and said that he had discovered his slaves, who had prostrated themselves before him without having the courage to speak to him, and that he had left them prisoners in the cavern till he fixed his resolution respecting their punishment. in effect, he consulted his sixty viziers, and demanded of them what remarkable vengeance he could exercise upon these young slaves; but no advice of theirs could give him satisfaction. he had recourse, therefore, to his genie, who advised him to command the architects, who always marched along with him, to raise a very thick wall, which should entirely close up the entrance of the cavern, and take away all hope of succour from those who were enclosed in it. "you must take care for your own glory to cause to be engraved upon this wall the time, the year, and the reasons that obliged you to erect it; that will be the means," said he, "of informing posterity that you revenged yourself with a greatness of spirit." dakianos approved this counsel, and caused a wall to be erected as thick and solid as those of alexandria; but he had the precaution to reserve one passage, of which he alone knew the entrance, in hopes of being one day able to seize upon his slaves, and with a view of examining the events at the cavern, which, in spite of himself, continually took up his thoughts. he added to all these precautions that of placing a guard of twenty thousand men, who encamped before the wall. all his armies had orders to relieve this body of troops every month, who were commanded to put to death all those who endeavoured to approach a place which enclosed those whose revolt and flight were the first misfortunes of his life; for till that moment everything had succeeded happily to him. a desire of revenge joined itself to the insult he had received from them, which appeared greater to him, as nothing had ever before dared to resist him. to a man intoxicated with his power, of which he had been himself the sole cause, so positive an opposition to his will was a cruel situation. nothing could prevent him from repairing every day to the cavern in order to make new efforts to enter it, or at least to feed his eyes with the objects of his vengeance. the calm which was enjoyed by those whom he still looked upon as his slaves redoubled his fury. their eyes, which were, as he imagined, fixed upon him--their silence to all the reproaches and invectives with which he loaded them--even their attitude--all were marks of the greatest contempt of him. one day, when he had joined to his usual speeches the blackest imprecations against heaven, allah permitted catnier, without any motion, to answer him: "wretch! darest thou blaspheme a god who has let thee live, notwithstanding the crimes that thou hast been guilty of? believest thou that he has forgot to punish the fate of the learned egyptian, whom thy avarice put to death, contrary to the most sacred oaths?" dakianos, whose wrath was impotent there, went out, distracted and provoked with the insulting reproaches that he received from the dog of his slaves. what a subject of humility! but far from having recourse to prayer, and imploring allah's clemency, his pride revolted, and by a sentiment natural to the wicked, who generally render those who are subject to them answerable for everything that wounds their vanity, at his return he caused to be executed, in the public square, above two thousand men, who had refused to adore him. these examples of severity spread abroad the fire of a rebellion, which was lighted in all parts of his dominions; and, notwithstanding the anxiety that these troubles gave him to stop the progress of them, an inward emotion, which he could not resist, led him continually towards the cavern. "what is it i go there to seek?" said he within himself. "the reproaches and contempt of one of the vilest animals, whilst i am everywhere adored--whilst every word that comes from my sacred mouth is revered. yet, notwithstanding this, what am i in the eyes of an animal whom god protects? a shadow of power--an object of impotence! ah! dakianos, what shame! what confusion but, however, i have concealed it, notwithstanding this god, who will torment me, and his efforts will be in vain against my regulations. how happy i am to have concealed from my subjects the knowledge of such a misfortune! how prudent was i in erecting a wall which forbids all entrance to the cavern, and in hindering all mankind from approaching it by the troops which i have disposed before it! but in what manner can my slaves have subsisted whilst i have kept them enclosed there? doubtless they have some communication into the country, and that communication is unknown to me. to remedy this inconvenience, i must surround the mountain with my troops." accordingly he gave orders to six hundred thousand men to form an encampment round it, and to let no person approach a place that was so odious to him. when he had taken these new precautions, he returned to the entrance of the cavern, and said, with a fierce and haughty voice, "now you will be obliged to deliver yourselves up to my power!" catnier answered him again, "we fear thee not: god is our protector. but believe me, and return to ephesus: thy presence is become necessary there." dakianos perceiving that he would give no further answer, returned to the city, and found that several of the chief of the eunuchs of his seraglio were murdered. dakianos, distracted at this affront, could not forbear returning to the cavern, and saying to catnier (because he was the only creature that answered him), "if thy god could restore me the honour that has been taken from me, i would endeavour----" catnier answered him, "go, return to ephesus; other misfortunes attend thee there." these words threw dakianos into the utmost confusion. he returned immediately, and found that the demon of hatred had seized upon his three sons, that they had drawn their sabres against each other, and that the angel of death was come to fetch them hence, which he did before his eyes. what an affliction to a father! what a disappointment to an ambitious mind, who depended upon giving each of them an empire in different parts of the world! in the midst of the sorrow with which he was surrounded, he could not prevent himself from returning once more to the cavern. "wretches!" said he to them, "what torments ought i not to make you suffer when you shall fall into my hands? however, restore me my children, and i will forgive all that you have done against me." catnier, who always spoke, answered him thus: "god will restore no children whom he has banished from the world to punish the crimes of their father. go, return to ephesus. thou deservest to find new misfortunes there." "it is too much," cried dakianos, retiring; and immediately, with rage and despair in his heart, he commanded all his troops, and all the inhabitants of ephesus, to bring each of them a faggot, and see his orders executed. then he caused this enormous quantity of wood to be piled before the cavern, in hopes of stifling those whom it enclosed; but the wind beat back the flames of this amazing fire against the army (who took to flight), and against the city. no private house, notwithstanding, was in the least incommoded by it; but the fire seized upon the palace of dakianos, which was wholly reduced to ashes, and all the treasure which he had amassed with so much care vanished in a moment, whilst the cavern did not undergo the least alteration. this last prodigy engaged him to have recourse to the seven sleepers, and to catnier himself, begging them to intercede for him. the little dog answered him thus: "it is fear, and not piety, that seems to soften the hardness of thy heart. begone: thou canst not deceive allah." dakianos retired, confounded with this last reproach, but still more distracted at having humbled himself so far. in the midst of all these misfortunes which succeeded each other to oppress this enemy of god, the revolt, which was considerably augmented, demanded an example to be made, and the heart of dakianos engaged him to render it of the greatest severity. to that effect he caused to be erected in the public square, upon the ashes of his palace, a throne of iron; he commanded all his court and all his troops to be clothed in red,[4] and to be covered with black turbans. he took care to put on the same habit, with a design of murdering in one moment five or six hundred thousand souls, whom he resolved to sacrifice to the safety of his throne, to the manes of his children, to his lost honour, and to what affected him still more, the incessant remorse and horror that gnawed his heart. but before he performed this cruel execution, he resolved once more to visit the cavern, in hopes that his weapons, the usual confidence of the wicked, might intimidate those whom by prayers or by menaces he could obtain nothing from. when he arrived there, he redoubled his usual blasphemies. [footnote 4: this colour in the east is a mark of the vengeance of princes.] "tremble, thou wretch!" said catnier then to him, without any emotion or so much as raising his head, which lay upon his paws. "shall i tremble?" returned dakianos: "allah himself cannot make me tremble." "but he can punish thee," pursued catnier; "thou drawest near thy last moment." dakianos, at that word, listening only to his resentment, took his arrows and his bow. "we shall see," said he, "whether i am not redoubtable--to thee at least." he then shot an arrow at him with the utmost strength of his arm; but a supernatural power made it fall at the feet of him who shot it, and at the same instant there sprang out of the cavern a serpent, which was above twenty feet in length, and whose dreadful and inflamed look made him tremble. dakianos would have taken his flight; but the serpent soon overtook him, grasped him round the body, and dragged him through the whole city, that all his subjects might be witnesses of his terror and of his punishment. he then conveyed him to the iron throne which he had prepared for the scene of his vengeance. it was there that, being devoured by degrees, dakianos by his dreadful sufferings gave a terrible example of the punishment due to ingratitude and impiety. the serpent afterwards returned to his cavern without having done the least hurt to any person, and all the inhabitants of ephesus loaded it with benedictions at its departure. several kings succeeded dakianos, and filled his throne during the time of one hundred and forty years; after which it fell into the power of the ancient greeks, who enjoyed it for the space of one hundred and sixty-nine years longer. when the time of the repose of the seven sleepers was accomplished, that which was written happened unto them. one of the seven awakened at that instant; and the dawn beginning to appear, he raised himself up, and said within himself, "i seem to have slept at least twenty-four hours;" and by degrees the others awakened, struck with the same idea. jemlikha, always more lively than the rest, leapt up immediately, and was extremely surprised to find, at the opening of the cavern, a wall erected of large square stones, which entirely enclosed it. he returned to his companions and told them the occasion of his astonishment. notwithstanding this inconvenience, they agreed that they must absolutely send one of their number to the city to buy provisions; and casting their eyes upon the shepherd, jemlikha gave him money, telling him that he ran no hazard by going. the shepherd rising to do them that service, at that moment catnier[5] awakened, perfectly cured of his broken legs, and ran to caress them. the shepherd strove in vain to get out of the cavern, for the passage that dakianos had reserved to himself was fallen down; and examining the wall carefully, he remarked the enormous bigness of the stones that composed it; and through the chinks that time had made between them, he saw with astonishment that part of the trees were dead, others were fallen, and that the water of the springs was differently placed; in one word, he was so confounded at the uncommon change that he perceived, that he returned into the cavern to inform his companions of this surprising event. they immediately arose and went to the entrance to judge of it themselves; but every fresh object redoubled their amazement. [footnote 5: there are ten animals which, according to mahommedans, must enter into paradise: the whale that swallowed jonas; the ant of solomon; the ram of ismael; the cuckoo of belkis; the camel of the prophet of god; the ass of aazis, queen of saba; the calf of abraham; the camel of the prophet saleb; the ox of moses; and the dog that accompanied the seven sleepers.] jemlikha then said to the shepherd, "give me thy habit; i will go myself to the city and fetch what is necessary for us, and endeavour to find out what we cannot now comprehend." the shepherd gave him his habit, and took his in return. jemlikha, with much labour, made himself a passage through the ruins of this thick wall, followed the road to the city, and remarked over the gate a standard, upon which was written, "there is no other god but the true god." he was astonished to find that one night had produced so great a change. "is not this a vision?" said he. "do i awake, or do i feel the illusions of a dream?" whilst he made these embarrassing reflections, he saw a man come out of the castle, whom he approached, and asked him if this city was not called ephesus. he told him that was its name. "what is the name of him who governs it?" resumed jemlikha immediately. "it belongs to encouch: he is the king of it, and has his residence in it," replied the man. jemlikha, still more astonished, pursued his questions. "what do these words signify," cried he, "which are upon the standard?" he satisfied his curiosity by telling him that they represented the holy name of god. "but i apprehend," interrupted jemlikha, with eagerness, "that dakianos is the king of this city, and that he makes himself be worshipped here as a god." "i have never heard of any king so named," returned the inhabitant of the city. "what an uncommon sleep i am in!" cried jemlikha. "awaken me, i conjure you," said he to him. the man, surprised in his turn, could not forbear saying to him, "what! you have asked me reasonable and sensible questions, you have understood my answers, and can you imagine that you are asleep?" jemlikha, ashamed of speaking to him so inadvertently, quitted him, saying within himself, "most high allah, have you deprived me of reason?" with this confusion of ideas, he entered into the city, which he could not in the least recollect: the houses, the temples, the seraglios, appeared under a new form to him. at length he stopped before the door of a baker, where he chose out several loaves, and presented his money for them: the baker examined it, and looking upon jemlikha with much attention, he was alarmed at it, and said to him, "why dost thou look upon me? give me thy bread, take my money, and concern thyself no further." the baker answered him with the most eager curiosity, "where hast thou found this money?" "what is that to thee?" resumed jemlikha. "i don't know this money," replied the baker, "it is not the coin of the king that now reigns. let me share the treasure which thou hast doubtless been so happy as to find, and i promise thee to be secret." jemlikha, almost out of patience, said to him, "this money is struck with the image of dakianos, the absolute lord of this country. what can i tell thee more?" but the baker, still prepossessed with the same idea, pursued thus: "thou comest from the country: believe me, thy occupation of a shepherd has not rendered thee cunning enough to deceive me, nor to impose upon me. god has favoured thee with the discovery of a treasure: if thou dost not consent to share it with me, i will go this moment and declare it to the king; he will soon have thee arrested, thy riches will be seized upon, and perhaps thou mayest be put to death for not having declared them." jemlikha, impatient at this discourse of the baker's, would have taken his bread and left him; but the baker detained him, and, their dispute growing hot, a mob gathered round them to listen to it. jemlikha said to the baker, "i went out of the city but yesterday, i return to it this day. what can make thee imagine that i have found a treasure?" "nothing is more true," returned the baker, "and i am resolved to have a share of it." a man belonging to the king running in at the noise, and in the incertitude he was in of the event, went and fetched the guards, who seized upon jemlikha, and conducted him before the king, whom they informed of the occasion of this dispute. and the prince said to him, "where hast thou found those ancient coins they speak of?" "sire," replied jemlikha, "i carried them yesterday from this city; but in one night ephesus has taken so different a form that i no longer know it: all whom i have met, all whom i see, are unknown to me, and yet i was born in this city, and i cannot express the confusion of my mind." the king said to him, "thou seemest to have sense; thy countenance is agreeable, and thy manner composed: how can thy speech be so unreasonable? is it to abuse me that thou feignest this distraction? i will absolutely know where thou hast concealed the treasure which thy good fortune has made thee possessor of. the fifth part by law belongs to me, and i consent to leave thee the remainder." "sire," replied jemlikha, "i have not found a treasure, but certainly i have lost my senses." jemlikha durst not speak too plainly, he still fearing lest this king, who was unknown to him, should be one of the viziers of dakianos, who might order him to be conveyed to that prince, who perhaps was absent. happily for him, encouch had a vizier of a penetrating genius, and who had an extensive knowledge of the precepts of the law, and of ancient history: that of dakianos was not unknown to him, and by consequence he had some knowledge of the seven sleepers, who were imagined to be in a neighbouring cavern. the discourse of jemlikha gave him suspicions; and to enlighten them, he said in a whisper to the king, "i am much deceived, or this young man attended upon dakianos. god enlightened his mind, he quitted him, and retired into a cavern with five of his companions, a shepherd, and a little dog. those seven persons were to appear out of this cavern after having slept three hundred and nine years: their awakening was to confirm the people in their duty, and everything induces me to believe that this young man is the former slave of dakianos." encouch, with reason, reposed much confidence in his vizier; therefore, addressing himself to jemlikha, "relate thy adventure to us without disguise," said he, "or i will have thee seized this moment." jemlikha, who knew the necessity his friends were under of his return, obeyed him, notwithstanding the fear he was under of seeing dakianos, and finished his recital, which proved conformable to all that the vizier had read in history; but what still further convinced the king was, that he added, "your majesty may be pleased to know that i have a house, a son, and several relations in this city, that can bear witness to the truth of what i have said." "consider," said the prudent vizier to him, "that all thou hast related to the king happened three hundred and nine years since." "thou must, then, give us some other proof," resumed the king. "i make no answer out of respect," returned jemlikha, "to all the difficulties that are made; but to persuade you of what i have advanced, there is a considerable treasure, concealed by me in the house that belongs to me, which none but myself has the knowledge of." the king and all his court immediately rose to repair to this house. but jemlikha, who went first, in order to conduct them, looked all round, and knew neither the street nor his own house. he was in this confusion, when god permitted an angel, under the form of a young man, to come to his assistance, who said to him, "servant of the true god, you seem to be much astonished." "how can i but be surprised?" replied jemlikha; "this city is so changed in one night, that i cannot find my house, nor even the street in which it is situated." "follow me," said the angel of god; "i will conduct you thither." jemlikha, still accompanied by the king, the beys, and the viziers, followed the angel of god, who after some time stopped before a door and disappeared, saying to him, "behold your house." jemlikha, through his confidence in god, entered into it, and saw an old man, unknown to him, and who was surrounded by several young people. he saluted them all very politely, and said very affably to the old man, "this house, i believe, belongs to me; why do i find you here? and what business have you to do in it?" "i believe you are mistaken," replied the old man, with the same affability. "this house has long been in our family. my grandfather left it to my father, who is not yet dead, but who indeed has but one breath of life left." the young men would have answered, and were enraged at jemlikha; but the old man said to them, "be not angry, my children; passion is never necessary. he has perhaps some good reason to give us: let us hearken to him." he afterwards turned himself towards jemlikha, and said to him, "how can this house belong to you? by what right do you pretend to it? who are you?" "ah! venerable old man," returned jemlikha, "how can i tell you of my adventure? none of those to whom i have related it will give credit to it; i cannot myself comprehend it: judge of the situation i am in!" the old man, touched with his affliction, said to him, "take courage, my child: i interest myself in your fate; my heart was moved at the sight of you." jemlikha, reassured by this discourse, related to the old man all that had happened to him; and he had no sooner heard his story than he went and brought out a picture to compare it with jemlikha. when he had examined him for some time, he sighed, and his trouble and concern increased. he kissed the picture several times, and threw himself at the feet of jemlikha, prostrating his wrinkled countenance, and his beard, whitened by age, upon the ground. at length he cried out, "oh, my dearest ancestor!" the torrent of tears which ran from his eyes prevented him from saying more. the king and his viziers, whom this scene had rendered very attentive to the conversation, said then to the old man, "what! do you acknowledge him for your ancestor?" "yes, sire," replied he: "he is the great-great-father of my father." he could not finish these words without bursting again into tears. he afterwards took him by the hand, and conducted him through the house. jemlikha, perceiving a beam of cypress, said, "it was i who caused that beam to be placed. under the end of it will be found a large stone of granite; it covers ten vases, equal to those that are in the king's treasury. they are filled with gold pieces of the coin of dakianos, and each of those pieces weighs a hundred drachmas." whilst they laboured to raise up the cypress beam, the old man approached jemlikha with the greatest respect, and said to him, "my father is still alive, but he has very little strength left. it is he who has formerly related to me some of the things that you have told me. come," continued he, "come and see my father, and your descendant." jemlikha followed him into another apartment, and saw a very old man. they made him swallow a drop of milk; he opened his eyes, and could not forbear shedding a torrent of tears when he heard who jemlikha was, and jemlikha could not restrain his. what an astonishment to all those who saw a young man whose grandson's son was in that excess of decrepitude--an old man oppressed with years, and the children of that old man resembling by their tone and countenance their great-grandfather! the people at the sight of this miracle could not forbear admiring the greatness of the power of god. they examined the annals, and found that the three hundred and nine years were accomplished that day. when the beam of cypress was taken up, they found all that jemlikha had declared. he made a present of one part of the treasure to the king, and gave the other to the children of his great-grandson. the king after this said to jemlikha, "we are now convinced of the truth of thy history: let us go to thy companions in the cavern, and give them assistance." "it is the only wish i have to form," replied jemlikha. the prince then, caused a great quantity of provisions to be carried with him, and departed, accompanied with his army and all the people, to repair to the cavern. it appeared so dreadful that no one had courage to enter it. it is said, however, that the king resolved to do it--that he saw the companions of jemlikha--but that it was at the very moment of his entering it that jemlikha gave up the ghost, with the six others and the little dog. he even heard them repeat their acts of adoration to the sovereign master of the universe, and die as they pronounced them. encouch caused everything to be brought that was necessary to pay them the last duty, and had them interred in the same cavern where they had slept so long. when all the people were gone out of it, by a particular permission of god, the entrance of the cavern was closed, and since that time it has been impossible for any man to enter it. the king commanded a column to be erected some paces from it, upon which he caused to be engraved the history of the seven sleepers, to make known the power of god, to inspire a horror for ingratitude, and to show by this example the efficacy of prayer. [illustration] the enchanters. [illustration] at the death of the mighty dabulcombar, the lord of the east, misnar, the first-born of the sultan, ascended the throne of india; but, though he had scarcely arrived at the age of manhood, yet neither the splendour of his court nor the flatteries of the east could steal from the youthful sultan the knowledge of himself. his first royal command was to assemble together the wise men throughout his extensive dominions, from cabul and attok in the west to kehoa and thoanoa in the east. the learned and devout accordingly came from every part of his dominions. on an appointed day the sultan ordered the illustrious assembly to meet in the divan, where, being placed on the throne of his forefathers, he thus opened unto them the desires of his heart: "o ye sources of light and fountains of knowledge!" said misnar, "more precious are your counsels to me than the mines of raalconda: wisdom is the true support of honour, and the sultan is established by the counsel of his sages. say, then, what course shall misnar pursue that may secure him on the throne of the mighty dabulcombar?" the sages in the divan were struck with astonishment at the condescension of their young sultan, and one and all fell prostrate before his throne. "may wisdom," said they, "guide the footsteps of the illustrious misnar! may the mind of our sultan be as the eye of day!" then arose the prophet zeuramaund, and said, "i perceive, o mighty sultan, the dark clouds of evil are gathering to disturb the hours of futurity; the spirits of the wicked are preparing the storm and the tempest against thee!" the venerable sages looked aghast as zeuramaund uttered these ominous predictions; the whole council were dismayed at his words, and all fell again prostrate on the earth. misnar alone appeared to be unconcerned at his predicted fate. "o my friends," said the youthful sultan, "the rose cannot blossom without the thorn, nor life be unchequered by the frowns of fate. grieve not, then, that trials await me, since the spirit of prudence and virtue blossoms fairest in a rugged soil." the sages arose as their royal master spake, and beheld with wonder the youthful countenance of their prudent sultan. silence and amazement for a time prevailed, till one of the sages, advancing before the rest, thus counselled the intrepid prince: "o light of the earth!" said the trembling sage, "whose virtue and innocence have not been vexed by frauds, and deceit, whose pure mind seeth not the foul devices of man's heart, trust not to the fickle interpositions of chance, where thine own arm can work security, and establish a permanent foundation to thy father's throne. thou hast a brother, o my sultan, whose veins are filled with royal blood, and whose heart is by descent above control. ahubal, therefore, ere his youth unfolds in the fulness of manhood, should be cut off." "what!" said the young sultan misnar, "what do thy base suspicious fears advise? is there no way to build up the seat of justice and mercy but in murder and fratricide? never let him who was born to execute judgment secure his honours by cruelty and oppression. the righteous allah planted me not here to spread a poisonous shade over the offspring of his prophet mahomet: though fear and submission be a subject's tribute, yet is mercy the attribute of allah, and the most pleasing endowment of the vicegerents of earth. but as thou, weak man, hast dared to advise the extirpation of one of the race of the mighty dabulcombar, the vengeance of my injured brother's blood fasten upon thy life!" the guards of the divan, hearing the sentence of the sultan, approached with their drawn sabres towards the decrepit sage; but misnar, rising, cried out, "who of my subjects shall dare to violate with blood the sanctity of this refuge for the oppressed? let the divan of justice be sacred: nevertheless, lead that author of malice from my sight, and let his own blood make satisfaction for the cruelty of his desires." as he spake thus, the guards attempted to seize the sage; but when they advanced towards him, flames of fire burst from his mouth, and his whole form appeared as that of a fiery dragon. the rest of the sages fled from the dreadful monster; but misnar, with an intrepid countenance, stood before his throne, with his drawn sabre pointing towards the dragon, when through the flames he perceived a hoary magician on the back of the monster. "vain, o silly child of mahomet!" said the enchanter, "were thy sabre against the power of my art, did not a superior force uphold thee; but tremble at thy doom: twice four of my race are determined against thee, and the throne of dabulcombar noddeth over thy head; fear hath now preserved thee, and the weakness of thy heart, which the credulous believers of mahomet will call prudence and moderation; but the fiend of darkness is let loose, and the powers of enchantment shall prevail." as the old magician spake thus, his fiery dragon, with tremendous hissings, arose, and, cleaving the dome of the divan, disappeared from their sight. "thus," said the illustrious misnar, "let the enemies of mahomet be dismayed! but inform me, o ye sages, under the semblance of which of your brethren did that foul enchanter gain admittance here?" "as i travelled on the mountains from queda," answered bahilu, the hermit of the faithful from queda, "and saw neither the footsteps of beasts nor the flights of birds, behold, i chanced to pass through a cavern, in whose hollow sides i found this accursed sage, to whom i unfolded the invitation of the sultan of india, and we journeyed together towards the divan; but ere we entered he said unto me, 'put thy hand forth, and pull me toward thee into the divan, calling on the name of mahomet; for the evil spirits are on me and vex me.'" after the hermit bahilu had spoken, mangelo arose. "may the power of the sultan of the east be multiplied!" said he; "but know, o sultan, that neither evil genius nor enchanter can enter this seat of justice unless he be invited in the name of mahomet." "if it be so," answered the sultan misnar, "then neither can they be masked against the voice of justice; for thou, o righteous allah, wilt uphold the tribunal which thou has founded upon earth, and make the visions of fraud to depart from him who seeketh truth. therefore," continued the sultan, "lest this assembly be still tainted with malice and infidelity, i command the evil spirits to stand confessed before me." at his word, sulphurous smokes arose, and from the thronged assembly seven hideous forms broke forth. first, on a vulture's pinions, the fell enchanter tasnar soared aloft, whose skin was as the parched indian's when he writhes impaled upon the bloody stake. next, on the back of an enormous scorpion, whose tail dropped deadly poison, ahaback appeared, and with his eyes darted malignant flashes on the youthful sultan. happuck, a subtle magician, followed him, seated on the shoulders of a tiger, whose mane was shagged with snakes, and whose tail was covered with twining adders. hapacuson also, that decrepit hag, who personated the righteous sallasalsor, from nechal, now stripped of the garments of hypocrisy, filled the eyes of the sages with terror and amazement. her lean bones, wrapped round with yellow skin, appeared like the superstitious mummies of western egypt. she was mounted on a dreadful monster. its form was like the deadly spider, but in bulk like the elephant of the woods; hairs, like cobwebs, covered its long bony legs, and from behind, a bag of venom, of a whitish hue, spurted forth its malignant influence. she was followed by her malicious sister ulin, squatting on the back of a hideous toad. then, with a loud hiss, started forth, in many a fold, a black serpent, in length and bulk like the cedars of the forest, bearing the powerful enchantress desra, whose wide-extended ears covered a head of iniquity. last, with majestic horrors, the giant kifri swelled into his full proportion: the long alligator that bore him groaned with his load, and opening all his mouths (for every scale appeared a mouth), vomited forth streams of blood. in his hand the giant brandished a tall pine, and, shaking it at the dauntless misnar, said, "tremble, vile reptile, at a giant's wrath! tremble at the magic powers of all my brethren, for thy doom is fixed!" at these words, the infernal crew joined with kifri, and all at once pronounced in harsh discordant sounds, "tremble, vile reptile, for thy doom is fixed!" the enchanters were then involved in a thick cloud of smoke, from which issued flashes of lightning, which, ascending to the roof of the divan, disappeared in a moment. "there is neither wisdom nor prudence," said misnar, as he prostrated himself on the ground, after the enchantments were at an end, "but what is derived from allah. if thou dost vouchsafe to direct my steps, o protector of mussulmen, the fear of evil shall not come upon me." "happy," said candusa, the imam of lahor, "happy is the prince whose trust is in allah, and whose wisdom cometh from the heavens." "happy," said all the sages, humbling themselves before the sultan misnar, "happy is our sultan, the favourite of allah!" "that, o sages," replied misnar, "is too much for even the sultan of the east to hear. but, may the all-righteous allah approve of my thoughts and actions; so shall the infernal powers destroy the wretches that employ them, and the dark poisoned arrow recoil upon him that blew it forth. but, o sages, though your numbers are reduced, your integrity is more tried and approved; therefore let your sultan partake of the sweetness of your counsels, and learn from aged experience the wisdom of the sons of earth. say, then, what doth the peace and security of my throne require from me concerning my brother ahubal, the issue of the mighty dabulcombar?" "far be it from me," said the sage carnakan, "to presume to utter my words as oracles before the prince; but may not the security of the east require that the prince thy brother be not enlarged, as my sultan is, to do whatsoever seemeth good in his heart? should not the younger be as servant to the first-born of his father, and are not all the princes the vassals of the sultans of the east? let, therefore, the prince ahubal enjoy the pleasure of life; but let him be removed from giving pain and uneasiness to my royal sultan misnar. at the sources of the springs of ava, on the craggy rocks of aboulfaken, is a royal castle built by the sage illfakircki, to which there is no passage but through a narrow vale, which may be ever guarded by the slaves of misnar. hither let the prince be sent; and let him live there, and enjoy life, without having any power to molest the glories of thy reign." the counsel of carnakan was agreeable to the sultan and his sages; and misnar gave immediate orders, that the mutes of his seraglio should attend the prince to the royal castle at aboulfaken; and then dismissing, for the present, the assembled sages, he commanded them to attend the divan every week. in a few days, the mutes and guards who were sent with the prince ahubal being admitted into the presence of their sultan, fell on their faces, and cried out, "oh, let not the displeasure of the sultan visit his slaves, who, in obedience to thy royal word, journeyed toward the castle of aboulfaken, and, as they passed along through the deserts, a party of five thousand horse appeared, who, setting upon us, ordered us either to deliver up the prince ahubal, or defend him with our lives. thy slaves would willingly have chosen the latter fate. yet, alas! what were four hundred guards and twenty mutes to the army that opposed us? but our consultation was vain; for while we debated how to defend ourselves, the prince drew his sabre, and, killing three of our number, cut his way through the guards to his friends. the horsemen then would have set upon us and hewed us in pieces; but their chief forbade them, saying, 'no, let them live, and be the messengers of the prince's escape. go,' continued he, 'dastard slaves! and let your sultan know, that ahubal has friends who will shortly punish him for his designs on the prince.'" at these words of the guards misnar gave a deep sigh, and said, "human prudence alone is far too weak to fight against the wiles of the deceitful; but allah is more powerful than man. i will therefore send for the prophets, and inquire of them where i may seek for the assistance of mahomet." the sultan then commanded zeuramaund and his tribe, and mangelo the prophet, from the hollow rocks of caxol, to be brought before him; and when they were come into his presence, he demanded of them, where he might seek for the assistance of mahomet, and the countenance of allah. then zeuramaund answered the sultan in these words: "in the tomb of the prophet of mecca is the signet of mahomet, which no human power may remove; but if the prophet will hear the prayer of the sultan, it may easily be taken thence." "yes," replied mangelo, "the seal of mahomet will indeed preserve the prince from enchantment; but it is also necessary that he put on the girdle of opakka, which is worn by the giant kifri, the sworn enemy of the eastern throne. for although the signet of mahomet will preserve the sultan from evil, yet will the girdle of opakka only save him from deceit." the sultan misnar was moved at the discourse of his prophets, and spent the night in thought and perplexity. he had little hope that the signet of mahomet, which had for ages remained immovable, should yield to him; or that, with all his numerous armies, he should be able to force the girdle of opakka from the loins of an enchanter, who could in a moment overwhelm his troops by the power of his art. however, he determined the next morning to go with his court on a public pilgrimage to mecca, and to offer up the most solemn petitions to the prophet of his faith. early in the morning the sultan arose from his seraglio, and commanded his courtiers to prepare the procession, as he intended immediately to make a public pilgrimage to mecca. but as misnar was making known his intentions, a messenger arrived in haste at the entrance of the seraglio, who brought advice that one of the southern kingdoms had revolted, and was led on by a skilful heroine, who declared her intentions of placing ahubal, the brother of the sultan, on the throne of india. misnar was conscious that this revolt was brought about through the contrivances of the enchanters, and therefore despaired of conquering them by means of his armies; but lest the other kingdoms, seeing no troops were sent to repel the rebels, should also join the adverse party, the sultan commanded the signal of war to sound; and sending for his grand vizier horam in private, he ordered him to lead out the armies of delhi against the rebels, and to dispatch daily messengers to the capital, to bring advice of his success. the vizier horam received the sultan's commission with reverence, and said, "let not my sultan be angry at his slave. if my lord should require ten thousand messengers, his slave horam would dispatch them. but if my lord will accept of this tablet, he shall know in a moment the success of his servant, though numberless leagues distant." "what!" said misnar, taking the tablet from his vizier. "by what means is this tablet endued with these rare virtues?" "my lord," answered horam, "when my father, through the malice of his enemies, was banished from the presence of the mighty dabulcombar--whom the houris of paradise do serve--he called me to him, and said, 'o horam, the evil-minded have prevailed, and thy father has fallen a sacrifice to the enemies of truth! no more, my son, shall i behold the children of my strength, nor the splendour of my sultan's court. whither i go, i know not. but take this tablet, my son; and whatever befalleth thy parent shall at times be made known to thee in the leaves of this book; and to whomsoever thou givest it, that friend shall, after my death, read therein whatever horam my son shall wish to make known unto him.'" "faithful horam," answered the sultan, "your present is of such exquisite value, that i shall, in confidence, honour you with the first place in my esteem. know, then, my faithful vizier, that the powers of enchantment are let loose against my throne, and the prophets have said, 'thou shalt not prevail but with the signet of mahomet and the girdle of opakka;' therefore it is expedient that i first go to mecca to obtain this valuable gift of the prophet. my purpose this morning was to go surrounded by the nobles of my court; but while rebellion stalketh abroad, pageants are idle, and the parade of a sultan's pilgrimage will give my enemies time to increase in their numbers and strength. no, horam; i myself will in secret approach the tomb of my prophet, for allah requireth the service of the heart, and searcheth out the purity of his servants' intentions: i shall go with greater humility as a peasant than as a prince. in the meantime my royal tent shall be pitched, and horam only shall be suffered to approach it. so shall my slaves imagine their sultan goeth forth with them to the field, and their hearts shall be strengthened." "be the desires of the sultan fulfilled," said horam, with reverence; "but will not my lord take with him a guard in his pilgrimage?--for the dangers of the journey are great over the mountains and deserts, and the voyage by the seas is perilous." "no," answered the sultan; "those who are my slaves _here_, may at a distance become my masters, and sell me to my foes: where the trust is great, great is the danger also. shall i set guards over my person in the heart of my kingdom amidst my faithful subjects, and trust my life in a slave's hand where i am neither known nor respected?" the vizier horam was struck with the prudence of his youthful sultan, and bowed in assent to his words. in a few days the armies of india assembled; the royal tent was pitched, and the vizier was declared the leader of his sultan's forces. misnar entered his tent in great state, and horam alone followed the sultan into the retirements of the movable pavilion. the vizier had, according to the sultan's instructions, prepared a disguise for his master; and at midnight led him, like a peasant, through the encampment into a wood, where, falling at his feet, he besought him to consider well the dangers he was about to encounter. "horam," answered the sultan, "i well know the goodness of thy heart, and that thy fears arise from thy love. sensible am i that the dangers of my pilgrimage are great; but what resource have i left? more than man is risen up against me, and more than man must assist me, or i perish. to whom, then, can i fly, but to the prophet of the faithful? for i am well assured that no enchantment shall prevail against me while i journey toward mecca, for such is the faith of all true believers: though they may oppress and fatigue me, yet in the end shall i triumph. besides, horam, there remains no other course for me." "true, my sultan," answered the vizier: "without allah, vain is the counsel of man; but is not allah everywhere present to aid and defend the sons of the faithful?" "though allah be all-powerful," answered misnar, "yet is not the slave of his hand to direct the lord of all things. if we would gain the help and assistance of allah, we must obey his commands; and well are we assured in the law of our prophet, that at mecca shall the prayer of the faithful be heard. wherefore, o horam, no longer my slave, but my friend, lead forth my armies with confidence and trust, and doubt not that he, who daily refresheth the sun with light, will shortly restore misnar to the throne of his forefathers." as he spake thus the sultan broke from his vizier, horam, who had fallen at his feet weeping at his fixed resolves, and penetrated into the gloomy recesses of the forest. all was silence and darkness, save where, through broken fragments of fleeting clouds, the moon sometimes threw a feeble light on the gloom of the forest. "this gloomy recess," said misnar, as he passed on, "which hides me from the world, makes me better known to myself. in the court of my forefathers i am called the 'light of the world,' the 'glory of the east,' and the 'eye of day;' but in the wild forest of tarapajan i am a poor helpless creature. what, then, is the pride of man but deceit, and the glories of the earth but shadows? surely more had i to fear from enchantment on the throne of dabulcombar than in the bosom of this forest. here the wild beast will not flatter me, nor will the lordly lion acknowledge me the sultan of his wild domains." with such thoughts misnar passed on for many days; till one night, at a distance, he perceived the skies looked red with light from various fires, and, by the noise, found that some indians were carousing in the woods before him. the disguised sultan endeavoured to avoid them, striking into a path which led round their fires; but some of the indians observing him, called to their brother peasant, and desired him to partake of their mirth. misnar thought it would be vain to refuse the request, as they all seemed disposed to insist on their demands, and therefore hastened to the scene of their festivity. here he found ten or twelve fires, with a number of males and females, some sitting, and some dancing around them to the sound of rustic music. misnar inquired the cause of their mirth. "what!" said an ancient female, "though you are a stranger in tarapajan, and know not that the feast of tigers is celebrated by these nightly fires, yet must you now learn that no stranger comes but to partake of our joy, nor departs till, the fires are extinct." "and how long," said misnar, "doth this feast last?" "this," answered the old woman, "is the third night, and these fires must blaze yet eleven nights and days more, during which time the axe is not seen in the hand of the forester, nor doth the bow twang in the woods of tarapajan; neither may he which seeth these rites depart till they be fulfilled." misnar was thunderstruck at this relation. and ere he could answer, the crowd gathered round him. "come," said he that appeared to be the chief, "let us initiate this stranger into our rites: bring hither the skin of the tiger, and the paw of the lion, and the lance, and the bow that twangs not in the woods of tarapajan during these nightly festivals." then one brought the skin of a tiger, and threw it over the shoulders of misnar; another came with the paw of a lion, and hung it before him; a third brought a lance, and put it in misnar's right hand; and a fourth slung a bow on his breast. then all the crowd made a loud howling, and danced round the astonished sultan. "now," said the chief, when the dance was finished, "sound the hollow instruments of brass, which give notice to the moon and to the stars that this stranger is about to swear not to reveal our rites. lay thine hand on thy head," said the chief to the disguised sultan, "and put thy fingers on thy mouth, and say, 'as the starless night is dark, as the cave of death is dark, so shall my thoughts and words continue in darkness concerning the festival of tigers.'" "and wherefore," said misnar, "is this silence imposed? and what shall befall him that sweareth not unto you? is not the mind of man free? and who shall offend him who seeketh not to offend others?" "whosoever," answered the chief, "travelleth, should become obedient to the customs of those people among whom he tarrieth." "right," continued misnar; "and i am willing, on two conditions, to fulfil your will: first, you shall all swear that i be at liberty to pursue my journey on the eleventh day; and, next, that i shall not be bound to perform aught contrary to the law of mahomet." "stranger," replied the chief, "when we are at liberty to depart, thou shalt depart likewise; but during this festival, which is held in honour of our noble ancestor, who remained fourteen days in this forest till he had subdued a ravenous race of tigers, no man that has entered here may stir hence till the fires be extinguished: for by the fire did our ancestor drive away and destroy the tigers and beasts of the forest, and by fire do we commemorate his mighty deeds. neither," continued the chief, "may we reveal these rites to any one but those who by accident espy them; for such as are present with us we are bound to receive into our society; wherefore we compel those who come among us to keep in silence the knowledge of our rites." "if such is your custom," answered misnar, "i shall willingly comply, and swear to you, that 'as the starless night is dark, as the cave of death is dark, so shall my words and thoughts continue in darkness concerning the festival of tigers.'" as he uttered these words, the whole assembly again danced around him, till the hollow brazen instruments were ordered to sound, and all the inhabitants of the forest were commanded to receive the disguised sultan as their brother. then the men, one by one, passed by misnar, each as he passed laying the hand of the sultan on his breast. after they were passed by, came the females also, who embraced their new brother. these misnar suffered to pass on without much reflection, till, among the youngest, who last approached, he beheld a beautiful virgin, with downcast looks, drawing near him, and who seemed ashamed of that freedom the custom of the place obliged her to use. at sight of this lovely figure, misnar at once forgot his purpose and his crown, and was impatient till the ceremony brought her near to him. the other females perceived his emotion; and the chief of the festival approaching her, asked the lovely noradin "whether she would at length fix her choice? for in this place," continued the chief, addressing himself to misnar, "every sex hath freedom, and none are compelled to take the hand they do not love. noradin hath for these three days been courted by all our tribe, but she has refused every advance: if she refuse not you, our joy will be complete, and then none of our company will be without his companion." misnar, forgetting the great designs of his heart, waited for the fair one's answer, and felt more fear at her silence than at this dreadful enchantments of his monstrous enemies. at length noradin answered, "may the joy of my comrades be complete!" misnar, in raptures at the fair noradin's preference, took her by the hand, and led up the dance, while the instruments of brass a third time sounded, to proclaim the choice of noradin. at the appearance of day, each repaired to the cottages around, and misnar and noradin were led by the chief to a spot, where shortly the whole assembly built them a cottage of bamboo and the leaves of the plantain. as soon as they retired, noradin, taking misnar by the hand, asked him whether she deserved his constant love for the choice she had made. misnar reflected upon the words of his fair companion, and his heart recoiled at them. "what!" said the sultan to himself, "shall i, for the gratification of my passion, give up the glories of my father's kingdom, and the viceregency of mahomet? or shall i basely betray that love which is proffered me, and embitter fair noradin's future cup of life? no," said he aloud, turning to his amiable companion, "never let the man of integrity deceive the heart that means to make him happy. forgive me, all-beauteous noradin! but the volumes of my fate are open, and the prophet of the faithful will not permit me to indulge here my secret affections: though the soul of thy slave will be torn and divided, yet must he depart with the expiring fires of your festival." "base, cold, and senseless wretch!" said the false noradin (as the beauteous vision vanished from the eyes of the sultan, and he beheld the enchantress ulin before him), "call not thy frozen purpose virtue, but the green fruits of unripened manhood. though thou art escaped, puny animal as thou art! from the power of my enchantments, yet shall the southern kingdoms of india feel my scourge. proceed, then, superstitious reptile! on thy tame pilgrimage to mecca, while horam feels the vengeance of my army in the sultry deserts of ahajah." as she spake thus, she stretched out her wand, and the fires and the foresters, and the enchantress ulin, disappeared from the sight of the astonished sultan. the sultan immediately prostrated himself on the ground, and gave glory to god for his wonderful escape; and, pursuing his journey, continued his course for two moons through the wide-extended forest of tarapajan. during this time he daily examined the tablets which the vizier horam had given him; but was very uneasy at finding the leaves always fair. "alas!" said he to himself, "i have trusted to a base man, who perhaps has taken this advantage of my credulity, and intends to set the crown of india on my brother's head! there needed not the powers of enchantment to overthrow me, since i have betrayed at once my folly and my cause." misnar, therefore, resolved to travel back to delhi, and learn the cause of horam's silence; but as he neglected not to look on the tablets every day, he at length found the following inscription therein: "horam, the faithful slave of the sultan of the east, to misnar, the lord of his heart. "some time after i left my royal sultan in the forest, while my heart was sad within me, came a hasty messenger from the outskirts of the rebel army, and declared their approach, and that the southern provinces had revolted, and were added to the opposers of the sultan of the east. when thy slave was certain of this intelligence from the mouths of many, who hastened to the camp with these bad tidings, i commanded the armies of india to be increased, and a more exact discipline to be observed in my master's camp; and, perceiving that the enemy hastened to meet the forces, i shortened the march of my slaves, that the fatigues of the deserts might not prevail more against them than the face and the sword of their enemies. moreover, i led thy troops through the most cultivated countries, that the necessaries of life might with the greater ease be procured for the multitudes that followed thy tent. but, alas! the presence of my lord is not with his people, and the army murmur that they are led by a sultan who cheers not their labours by the light of his person; so that the hearts of thy people are withdrawn from horam thy slave, and the captains of thousands demand admittance to thy tent, and accuse thy vizier of evil devices against thee, my lord the sultan." as the sultan read this intelligence in the tablet of horam, his heart failed within him, and the sight of his eyes was as a mist before him. "o misnar! misnar!" said he, falling to the ground, "the fiend of darkness is let loose upon thee! and the powers of enchantment still prevail!" "yes," said ulin the enchantress, who immediately appeared, "the powers of enchantment shall prevail! misnar, the faithful servant of mahomet, hath at length yielded to my power, and allah hath given to my vengeance the wretch that doubts his protection. crawl, therefore," continued she, "vile reptile, on the earth, and become a toad." at the powerful voice of her enchantment, the sultan shrank from his natural form and became a reptile on the earth. his change of form did not take from misnar his memory or recollection: he was sensible of his disgrace, and of the justness of his sentence; and though he could not fly from himself, yet he hastened into the thicket, that he might hide from the light of heaven. but the calls of nature soon drove him from his recess, to seek his proper food in the desert. he crawled forth, and was led on by a scent that pleased him: his spirits seemed enlivened by the sweet odour, and his cold feeble limbs were endued with brisker motion. "surely," said he, in his heart, "the bounteous allah hath not left the meanest of his creatures without comfort and joy. the smell is as the smell of roses, and life and vigour are in these attractive paths." with these thoughts he crawled forwards into the thickest covert; and though his body was drawn with a secret impulse, yet his mind was filled with horror when he came in sight of a mangled and corrupted body, which lay hid among the bushes. one of his own deformed kind sat squatting beside it, and, like himself, seemed to desire and yet detest the loathsome feast. misnar, at sight of one of his hideous kind, was filled with scorn and rage; and, forgetting his transformation, was about to drive him from the mangled body, when the reptile, opening his mouth, addressed him in the language of delhi. "whether thou art really what thy form bespeaks thee," said the reptile, "or, like me, the victim of enchantment, answer." the sultan, surprised at this address, and perceiving that misery was not his portion alone, desired to know by what means his fellow-creature suffered such a wretched change. "since i perceive by your speech," said the reptile, "that one event has happened to us both, i shall not be adverse to declare to you the cause of my transformation; but i shall expect that my confidence will not be misplaced, and that, after i have made you acquainted with my history, you will not refuse to reveal your own." "a similitude in our fates," replied misnar, "has already made us brethren, and i should be unreasonable to ask a favour i meant not to return." "well, then," said he, "we will depart from this wretched sight into a different thicket, where we may unmolested bewail our uncommon fates; for although the enchantress ulin, to disgrace our former natures, and to make us the more sensible of our present deformity, obliges us to meet daily before this horrid spectacle, yet our food is of the fruits of the earth; for the wicked enchantress has not the power to make us, even in this deformed habit, do that which is contrary to our human nature." while he was speaking another toad came up. "here," continued the first, "is another of our brethren, and another will soon be here: we were three before you came among us.--where, o princess, is the last victim of ulin's rage?" said he to the second. "he was basking," answered the second, "in the sand; but i aroused him, and he is now on his way." in a few minutes the third arrived. as soon as he had beheld the mangled body, and, the attraction ceased, the first leading the way, they departed into another thicket. "here," said the first, "o stranger, we may rest securely, and the serpent cannot annoy us, for we are seated under the shade of the fragrant cinnamon." "we are obliged to you for your care of us," said misnar; "but i am eager to hear the cause of your transformation." the history of mahoud. i am (replied the toad) the son of a jeweller in delhi, and my name is mahoud. my father, after a life of industry and parsimony, finding himself declining, sent for me, and on his death-bed said, "o mahoud, my days have been the days of care, but success hath attended them. i have toiled, that thou mayest reap; sown, that thou mayest gather; and laboured, that my son may enjoy the fruits of my industry. my peace and comfort have been sacrificed to thine; and now i die, assured that my beloved mahoud will not be pinched by poverty or oppressed by penury and want." thus said my aged father, and expired, and my tears accompanied his departing spirit; but these soon gave place to that ardent curiosity which drove me to explore the riches he had left me. i opened box after box with silent rapture, and was pleased to find wealth sufficient to satisfy even the appetite of youth. many diamonds were among my father's wealth, besides large quantities of gold and silver; so that, in my youthful judgment, there appeared no end to my riches. it was not wonderful that, being so suddenly put in possession of these riches, i should seek every pleasure and diversion which wealth could purchase. all who were the companions of my childhood, all who would court an inexperienced heart, were admitted to my table; and the strict laws of mahomet were less regarded at my house than the rich wines which sparkled at my feasts. nor were the charms of the fair forgotten; and while our goblets were filled with wine, we envied not the deceased their rivers of milk. thus passed i my life among those who jest with religion, and make their mock at the rules of prudence and sobriety. but the time soon came when my hours of revelry were to be changed for those of sorrow, and when i was first to learn that a father's prudence will not secure a wicked son from the shafts of bitterness and grief. my possessions, though ample, were nearly exhausted by ignorance and extortion; my jewels were gone; unacquainted with their value, i had flung them away rather than sold them; my silver and gold were become the property of my friends, who, when i applied to them in return, were much more assiduous, if possible, in keeping it from me than i had been in squandering it on them. so that, in a little while, even the merchants, who had been such gainers by me, came to demand some trifling sums that i had borrowed from them, which being unable to pay, they seized my furniture and stripped me of my clothes to satisfy their demands. in this situation i was turned out of my own doors by those whom i had received a thousand times in my arms, and spurned at like a dog by those whom i had pressed to my bosom. stung by reflecting on my former follies, and ignorant where to fly for shelter, i covered myself with some few rags that had been cast to me, and sat down before the house of a rich young man, who, like myself, seemed to be squandering his wealth on the scum of the earth. bennaskar--for that was his name--soon came forth, with his minstrels and singers at his heels, and, seeing a miserable figure before his door, he asked what i wanted. i told him that once, like himself, i gave life to the dance and mirth to my friends; but that want of caution had been the cause of my ruin, and too much confidence in those who least deserved my favour. several of his friends, hearing this, would have driven me from his presence, saying it was unfit such a wretch should even enjoy the blessings of the air; but bennaskar would not suffer it, and asked me, "whether the insincerity of my friends had taught me to be sincere to others?" i answered that i had ever been sincere, even to those who were undeserving, and that i would rather die than betray my friend. "if what you say is true," said bennaskar, "i will try you. go in, and my servants shall clothe you, and you shall live with me. i only ask in return, that you never disclose to any one what you hear or see transacted in my house." "sir," answered i, "your offer is gracious, and bespeaks your generous intentions; but i do not choose to live on another's bounty unless i can make myself useful." "that," answered bennaskar, "you may do if i find i can trust you. i have long been in search of one i could trust. i want such an one, but cannot find him." the friends of bennaskar then surrounded their lord, and each confusedly offered their services to him. "no," said the young man, "though i appear unthoughtful in your eyes, o, servile race of flatterers! yet know, to your confusion, that i have tried you all, and find you trifling and insincere. this man alone refuses my proffered love unless he can return it, and this man alone is worthy of my esteem." the friends of bennaskar were thunderstruck at his words, and renewed their protestations; but he commanded his servants to drive them from his house, and, taking me by the hand, he led me into an inner but sumptuous apartment. as soon as we entered, i prostrated myself at his feet, and said, "let not my lord be angry with his servant, but thou hast not told me what service thou wilt expect from me." "all that i require," answered bennaskar, "is that you disclose not to any one what you hear or see transacted in my house." "my lord," answered i, "of what service can i be to you by such a compliance? if i am silent thy slaves may speak, and i shall be blamed for their insincerity. i pray thee, let me return to my rags, and set me not in a place where thy vassals will be tempted to ruin me in thy favour." "your answer," said bennaskar, "is the answer of a prudent man. but fear not: i cannot do without you, and i hope you will not refuse my proffered love. what you will see, none will see besides you; therefore none but yourself will be unfaithful to me." on this assurance, i accepted the offer of bennaskar. after which the slaves led me to the bath, where i washed, and was perfumed, and arrayed in a vestment of my lord's. bennaskar was impatient to see me; and, as i was led into his presence, the young man hastened to meet me, and, folding me in his arms, he said, "may i at length meet a friend i call trust?" and i answered, "may mahoud be the friend of thy bosom?" bennaskar then led me into another apartment, and meats were set before us, and he ordered the females that danced to come and entertain us. thus i spent my time with the agreeable bennaskar: every day we varied our enjoyments, and were mutually satisfied with each other. i had now been with my friend eighteen days, and nothing had occurred to interrupt our friendship, when, on the nineteenth morning, bennaskar appeared with a clouded visage. "what," said i, "my lord, is the cause of your grief? shall not mahoud share alike with you the smiles and the frowns of allah?" "is it not," asked bennaskar, "o mahoud, the full of the moon?" "it is," replied i, with a smile; "but doth bennaskar intend to change with that fluctuating planet?" "o mahoud," said bennaskar, "the fate of thy friend is dependent on the caprice of the stars. to-night must i put thy utmost friendship to the trial. if mahoud prove insincere, then is bennaskar cursed among men. if thy heart is not firm, now, while there is time, depart. but why should i doubt thee? surely mahoud is of the sons of the faithful. what must i say? leave me, mahoud, leave me; nay, if thou departest, where shall i find thy fellow? and the presence of a friend is necessary to my quiet." "then," answered i, "fear not, bennaskar: mahoud may be unhappy, but he cannot be unjust. but what is this dreadful trial that obliges bennaskar to suspect his friend?" "true," said bennaskar, "mahoud is undeserving of suspicion. let us wait till the sun sink from the skies, and the stars return with their glimmering light." bennaskar then proceeded to the bath, and arrayed himself in a costly robe, and desired me to do the same. i obeyed my friend, and we met in the saloon together. "alas!" said bennaskar, as we met, "how can i request my friend to wear the image of deformity?" "what image of deformity," said i, "must mahoud wear? all appearances are to mahoud alike; and the severer the trial, the more shall i commend thy friendship." "then," said bennaskar, pulling out a pot of black ointment, "thou must suffer me to disguise thy face with this ointment: to-night thou must personate a black slave." "is such a trifle," said i, "the test of friendship? give me the ointment, and furnish me with the habit of a slave." "the habit," answered bennaskar, "is ready, and all is ready; but you must not as yet disguise yourself, lest my slaves observe us. come, let us for the present enjoy ourselves, and, when night approaches, bennaskar will rely on the friendship of mahoud." the slaves then brought us the costly viands of delhi; but bennaskar remained pensive, and seemed not to relish the dainties before him. i endeavoured all i could to divert his melancholy; i smiled, i sang before him; the dancers were introduced with music to dissipate his gloom; but bennaskar still remained mute. the music continued till night, when bennaskar commanded the slaves to withdraw, and, taking a lamp in his hand, led me through several apartments. "mahoud," said he, as we went along, "has never yet seen the wonders of my palace." "i am happy, my lord," answered i, "to see your wealth; but i am not inquisitive to explore, unbidden, the secrets of another." we had now arrived at a small vaulted room, from the centre of which hung a lamp, which bennaskar trimmed, putting out the one he held in his hand. "now," said he, "mahoud, enter that closet which is opposite to us, and put on the slave's dress which you will find there, and anoint thy face and hands with this black ointment." i immediately obeyed, and in a short time came forth arrayed as a slave. "kind mahoud," said bennaskar, "thou art excellently disguised; now obey with silence, and stand as a mute before his lord." i folded my arms and nodded assent, at which he smiled. "take hold, mahoud," said he, "of that iron ring which is fastened to the middle of the floor, and pull." i obeyed, and a little trap-door opened. on looking down, i perceived a woman in rich vestments, half buried in the earth. i shuddered at the sight, and was falling backward, when bennaskar struck me with a chabouc,[6] which he drew from his bosom, and said, "villain, if thou fail me, i shall use thee as my slave." [footnote 6: a large whip.] although enraged at the blow, yet i remembered my promise, and returned to the trap-door. "slave," said bennaskar, "dig that female out of the ground: the spade and the mattock are hidden under the floor." i immediately jumped down, found the tools, and began to work; but neither my fear nor my labour could prevent me from fixing my eyes on the lovely female, who seemed as one dead. as soon as i had removed the earth from her, which i did with great care, bennaskar commanded me to lift the body into the apartment, gave me a phial of clear blue liquor, and ordered me to pour it into her mouth, while he retired to the closet. i willingly obeyed, and hastened to administer the liquid, while bennaskar retired. the liquor was no sooner swallowed than the lovely female began to move, and in a short time opening her eyes, she cast them upon me, and shrieked out, clapping her hands together and crying, "o allah, defend me!" bennaskar at the same time spoke to her from the closet where he was concealed. "hemjunah," said he, "are you as yet disposed to yield yourself to the will of bennaskar, or must we still experience the evils of opposite enchantment?" "wretch!" answered the fair stranger, "i fear not the powers of your accursed magic, for macoma has assured me that you shall not be able to harm me except with my own consent; and mahomet, though for a time he permits this enchantment, will at length assuredly deliver me." "then," answered bennaskar, "must the lash be inflicted. here," continued he, "slave mahoud, inflict fifty lashes on that obdurate female." i took the chabouc from bennaskar, and began, with trembling, my cruel office, lamenting my own blind compliance in promising to obey a monster whom i had mistaken for a friend. as the lash touched the beautiful hemjunah, she made the vaulted roof re-echo with her cries; nor did my heart feel less sensibly the strokes which i gave than her own. the tears trickled down my cheeks, and i prayed inwardly to be delivered from the hateful task. "what," said bennaskar from the closet, "what doth hemjunah now say to my desires?" "the hard-hearted and the cruel," said hemjunah, faintly, "are the last to win the soft affections of a female heart: rather let me die than be the property of the vile bennaskar." "if so," said he, coming from the closet, "die: for the present i resign my power. let macoma hide thee again in the dust of the earth." bennaskar no sooner appeared than the beautiful hemjunah again seemed to die away, and immediately a hissing noise was heard, and an ugly dwarf arose from the trap-door, and took the body of hemjunah and replaced it in the earth, and the trap-door was closed with a roaring noise. bennaskar then beckoned me to follow him, and leading me to the bath, bade me wash and return to the saloon in my proper vestments. i was so surprised at these horrors that i hardly knew what i did. however, in the bath i had time to recollect myself; but recollection was of little service, for reflection rather increased than cleared my confusion. one moment i resolved to apply to the cadi, and declare every circumstance of the terrible adventure. the next i was awed by the thoughts of my rash and imprudent vows of secrecy. "bennaskar," said i, "has for a month appeared as an angel before me; but one base action has deformed all his former purity. how can i reconcile these inconsistencies? can he, who is the tenderest, the best of friends, be also the vilest and most cruel of mankind? i have been accessory to the torture of a most beautiful female--one, too, who called on the perfect allah to deliver her. i have been the instrument of a mean revenge on a helpless woman, and now i yet delay to inform the cadi of the villanies of this house of enchantment." i resolved immediately to repair to the cadi, and give him full information of the sorceries of bennaskar. i hastened out of the bath, threw my vestments over me, and advanced to the door. "but," said i, as i went along, "what am i about to do? i shall forfeit my faith without serving the distressed. bennaskar expects me in the saloon, and when he finds that i am gone forth, he will, by the power of his art, secrete the beautiful female from the eyes of the cadi. i have been the guest of bennaskar a month, and never, till this day, did i perceive the rooms through which i was led to that detestable act of cruelty: nay, bennaskar himself was obliged to wait: he was impatient till the full of the moon, and oppressed with sorrow and care when it arose. i will, therefore, for the present, return to bennaskar, and will put on the face of cheerfulness, and make my countenance to shine before him." bennaskar met me on my return. "whence cometh mahoud?" said he. "i am," answered i, "just risen from the bath, and i come to meet my friend bennaskar." "mahoud," answered bennaskar, "art thou faithful, and wilt thou ever remain faithful to thy friend?" these words embarrassed me, and, not daring to answer otherwise, i said, "why doth my lord doubt the sincerity of my heart?" "mahoud, then," returned he, "is faithful?" "he is," answered i, but with an unwilling heart. "i doubt not," continued bennaskar, "that my friend is amazed at the scene he lately beheld. but ask no explanations: let thy mouth be ever closed to seek or reveal." "then," answered i, "you doubt the faithfulness of mahoud; else why may not i know the meaning of the wonders i have seen?" "the age of thy friendship," said bennaskar, "is a month, and wouldst thou be admitted in so short a time to all the secrets of my heart? forbear, rash youth. a well-tried friend is bennaskar's joy; but woes and death are in the paths of his enemies." as he said this, he frowned and left me, and i retired to my apartment, irresolute in mind. as i entered my chamber, i perceived a small book open on a desk before the burning lamps. i went up to it, and found it was the koran of our holy law. being little desirous of sleep, i sat down; and as i read, methought i saw the name of mahoud in the book. startled at the vision, i looked again, and read distinctly these words: "mahoud! mahoud! mahoud! there is much good in the world, but there is more evil; the good is the gift of allah, but the evil is the choice of his creatures. because of man's sin, and because of the darkness of his heart, do the evil genii and the enchantments of wickedness prevail. even now is mahoud in the house of a magician, to whom he is imprudently bound by the ties of honour: to draw back is meanness; but to persist is sin. when men act wrong, they subject themselves to the power of a wicked race; and we who are the guardians of mortality cannot interpose but in proportion to their remorse. taken by the crafty dissimulation of bennaskar, thy easy soul gave in to his snares, and thy prudence was decoyed by the voice of his mouth. thou hast promised, at all events, not to reveal the secrets of his house, and thou hast, unknowingly, joined thyself in the fellowship of the wicked. but can man, who is bound to the service of allah by an unalterable law, dispose of himself against the will of his maker? or can the worm of the earth, the property of heaven, set up itself against the hand that formed it? had mahoud engaged to conceal everything but what the law of mahomet obliged him to reveal, he had behaved wisely; but he who walketh in darkness will undoubtedly fall into the pit. past errors cannot be recalled; and mahoud must learn the wisdom of experience. under the resemblance of the koran, behold, the genius macoma instructs thine heart. i perceive evil will attend thee, if thou dost attempt the enlargement of the princess of cassimir; and yet, without it, thou must still continue the servant of cruelty and oppression. choose, therefore, for yourself: if injured innocence can move thee, boldly suffer in the cause of truth, and take this book in thy bosom, which shall at all times admit thee to a sight of the princess; if not, be still the slave of the enemy of thy prophet." after this, i looked again on the book, but found i could read no more; however, i hesitated not to engage in the service of the princess; and therefore, taking the book in my bosom, and the lamp in my hand, i went toward the saloon, supposing that bennaskar was asleep. i searched for the rooms through which i had passed before, and soon perceived the vaulted apartment at the end of them. i hastened to take up the trap-door, and touching the princess hemjunah with the book, essayed to deliver her from her miserable confinement. the princess awoke at the touch of the book; but, at the sight of me, shrieked aloud, and i feared her cries would awaken bennaskar. i assured her that i was sent by the genius macoma to effect her deliverance, and that i abhorred every kind of cruelty which i had practised upon her. "alas!" said she, still shrieking at intervals, "your story betrays your wickedness. i never before saw you, unless you are, as i suspect, the magician bennaskar under some feigned appearance; but rest assured, vile man! that no deceit or cruelty shall ever make me the creature of bennaskar. i will ever persist in my hatred of you; and i am assured that you cannot injure or destroy me." "most gracious princess hemjunah!" said i, prostrating myself before her, "let me beseech you to hear me: i am not bennaskar, nor a creature of bennaskar's, but the servant of the genius macoma, who has instructed me, by means of this holy book (which i then pulled out), to attempt your rescue, and i am willing to lay down my life for your safety. you have not indeed seen me in my present character, but this very night was i brought hither by bennaskar, under the similitude of a slave, and forced, through a most accursed oath, to inflict the severest tortures on the most delicate of her sex." "wretch!" said the princess, "i am now convinced of thy perfidy, allowing thine own account to be true; for what promise could bind thee to a cruel action? and why not rather be thyself a sufferer than make an innocent virgin the subject of thy cruelties? but if thou art truly the servant of macoma, and ashamed of thy late inhuman deeds, quit the house of the vile bennaskar, and inform the cadi of his cruelties and sorceries." "rather," said i, "let me dig around you, and release you from this miserable confinement." "that," said the princess, "you cannot do, unless you are indeed, as i suspect, the wretch bennaskar; for by his command alone can i be released. oh, fool that i was," continued she, with tears, "to listen for a moment to the falsehood of man!" "if my information," said i, "o lovely hemjunah, will avail, this moment will i fly to the cadi, and acquaint him with your distress." i then hastened to go; but oh, imagine my terror and amazement when i saw bennaskar moving through the apartments which led to the vaulted chamber! as he advanced, hemjunah shrieked, and i was ready to sink: though my intentions were just and good, yet was i terrified by his appearance, so much was i sunk by the rash promise which i had made; and i every moment expected the dreadful effects of his powerful malice. as bennaskar entered the vaulted chamber, i shrank back with fear, and dared not lift up my eyes; but my terror was soon quieted, when i saw him fall prostrate at my feet. i then no longer doubted that the genius macoma supported me, and attributed his behaviour to her supernatural power. "o mahoud," said bennaskar, "the friend of my bosom, the partner of my secrets; although the power of love has not the rule in thine heart, yet pity those who are the slaves of its dominion; if the lovely princess of cassimir did but know the purity of my heart, the----" "hear not the villain," said hemjunah, "o servant of macoma, unless he release me from this detested place: me he hath already deceived; and you will be subjected likewise to his power, unless the prudent spirit of macoma direct thee." "then," said bennaskar, rising up, and laying bare his bosom, "here, mahoud, strike, and end my miseries, and the miseries of hemjunah; but never will bennaskar consent to lose the treasure of his heart." "i will not," answered i, "lift up my private arm against thy life, but i shall deliver thee to the power of the cadi, who is the deputy of the great allah's vicegerent." "give me, then," said the princess of cassimir, "the book of the genius macoma, that i may be defended from the insults and contrivances of the base bennaskar." the request of the princess appeared to be so reasonable, that i obeyed her, and put the book into her hands. bennaskar, when i was leaving the vaulted chamber, besought me not to destroy the friend who had supported me; but i told him that allah was to be obeyed rather than man. i hastened to the cadi; but as it was night, his officers told me i could not be heard, till i informed them that i had in my power a wicked magician, who, by sorceries, had stolen the princess of cassimir. when they heard this, they acquainted the cadi; and that vigilant magistrate arose, and followed me to the house of bennaskar with his guard. as i entered the house, i was amazed to see him standing in the entrance with a lamp in his hand; but my astonishment increased when i saw him fall down before the cadi, and confess his guilt. the cadi commanded the guards to seize him, and then ordered him to lead us to the place where he had concealed the princess of cassimir. bennaskar obeyed; but as he went through the apartments, he said to me, "mahoud, you are sensible that the princess hemjunah's body is half buried in the earth, and uncovered; therefore prevail upon the cadi that he suffer us to go before and release her: for my part, my sins oppress me, and i wish to restore to her dignity a much-injured princess." "if," said i, "you will promise to release the princess, i will endeavour to prevail on the cadi to permit what you propose; but, otherwise, let the whole world be a witness of your wicked malice." "o my friend," said bennaskar, "accuse me not, my own heart persecutes me sufficiently. yes, mahoud," continued he, "i will, as you require me, release the princess, and trust to the mercy of the cadi; for the service of the evil genii will neither bring me profit nor peace." i was pleased at this repentance of bennaskar, and besought the cadi that he would suffer us to enter the vaulted chamber first, and recover the princess from her enchantment. the cadi acquiesced in my proposal, but ordered the guards to surround the entrance, while bennaskar and myself entered the chamber. as soon as we entered, bennaskar seized me suddenly by the throat, and, before i could speak or recollect myself, he dragged me into the closet and shut the door after us. "now," said he, "villain! receive the just rewards of a perjured heart." saying this, he spat in my face, and threw me on the ground, and then flew out of the closet, shutting the door forcibly after him. i remained for some moments stupefied by my fall; but after a time arose, and opening the closet, i was surprised to see neither the princess of cassimir nor the magician bennaskar. while i was in this confusion, the cadi and his guards, being impatient at our stay, entered the chamber, and the cadi commanded his guards to seize me, saying, "villain! where is the princess of cassimir, and the man who revealed thy unrighteous actions?" at this i began to answer, when i perceived that my voice was as the voice of bennaskar. i immediately looked on my clothes, and found them changed. in short, i doubted not that my malicious foe had transformed me into his own appearance. i fell at the feet of the cadi, and besought him for one moment to hear me. i acquainted him with every circumstance of my adventures, from my entrance into the house of bennaskar to the present moment. but he and his guards laughed at my tale, and commanded me to deliver up my friend and the princess of cassimir. in vain did i call allah to witness the truth of my story; the cadi was enraged at my persisting in the tale, and ordered his guards to give me a hundred strokes with the chabouc. to add to my misfortune, bennaskar appeared at one end of the room; and when i cried out and pointed to him, the cadi, who saw him not, thinking that i meant to mock him, ordered me another hundred lashes with the chabouc. vexed with myself, and subdued by the pain, i fell on the ground, and my guards were ordered to carry me to the prison, where i was loaded with chains, and thrown into a deep dungeon. the next morning i was brought out again before the cadi, and carried into the hall of justice. the cadi there passed sentence upon me, that i should be burnt alive the next day unless i delivered up mahoud and the princess of cassimir. finding it vain to repeat my declarations that i was the real mahoud, and that i suffered through the vile enchantments of bennaskar, i remained silent; but this was construed into surliness, and i was ordered five hundred bastinadoes to make me speak. the cadi then commanded me to be carried back to the dungeon, and ordered a large pile of wood to be raised in the market-place, whereon i was to be burnt the next morning, before all the people. i spent the night in the utmost horror, and earnestly wished that the sun might never more behold my sorrows. but the darkness passed away as usual, and i beheld the dreadful morning dawn. a tumultuous crowd had collected before the door of the dungeon to see me pass to execution, and as i was dragged along, the common people nearly overwhelmed me with stones. as i advanced to the pile, i perceived the cadi and his officers were seated before it. he commanded me to be brought again before him ere i was bound to the pile. "art thou," said he, "wretched magician, willing to bring forth the princess, or thy friend, who are concealed by thy wicked arts, or must the sentence of our law be executed upon thee?" "o judge," said i, "since my tale will not gain credit with thee, at least let me know by whose accusation it is that i am brought before thee, and who it is that accuses me of magic or sorcery. am not i bennaskar, the wealthy merchant of delhi? and where are my accusers? who dare say aught against my fame? you came into my house by night, you seized my person, you inflicted on me the punishment of a slave; you cast me into a dungeon, and condemned me to the flames; and all this without the appearance of a single witness against me: wherefore, o cadi, i appeal unto the righteous sultan of the east, and i hope my fellow-citizens will not suffer me to be executed while no proofs of guilt are brought against me." "young man," answered the cadi, "your appeal is unnecessary, for i am not desirous of destroying my fellow-creatures without a cause. your plea were just and proper, did not your own confession contradict your present assertion. yesterday you declared that you were not bennaskar, and to-day you say you are; wherefore out of your own lips i have convicted you of falsehood; whereas, had you really been bennaskar the merchant, and not a magician, there had been no need of two different accounts of yourself." the people, hearing this distinction of the cadi, applauded their judge; and one and all cried out that i was a magician, and deserved the flames. the guards were then ordered to bind me on the pile, and i was led up and fixed to a post by the chains which had been fastened on my body the day before; and now, amidst the acclamations of the mob, was the pile kindled, and the smoke and the flame surrounded the unfortunate mahoud. in a moment the crowd and the heavens disappeared from my sight, and i found myself in the body of a toad, at the bottom of the pile. i hopped forward out of the flames, and with difficulty hid myself beneath a stone in the street. the crowd, having waited till the pile was consumed, carried the ashes out of the city, and scattered them in the air. i remained till night beneath the stone. it was my intention, as soon as it was dark, to creep out of the city into the woods; but sleep overtook me at the time when animals retire to their rest, and when i awoke in the morning i found myself in this forest, where i remained during the space of a moon alone, till i met with these two miserable companions of my solitude. * * * * * "your adventures, o mahoud," said the sultan of india, "are wonderful, and an excellent lesson of caution and prudence to us who are joined in one common fate; and since i perceive both your misfortunes and my own have been brought about by our want of trust and prudence, i shall, with the utmost resignation, acknowledge that the all-perfect allah is ever willing to assist those who are not wanting to themselves. "but, o mahoud, suffer me, ere i declare my own grief, to ask what has become of the lovely hemjunah, the princess of cassimir? and wonder not at my solicitude, for the mention of her name brings to my memory ideas of the past. how was it possible that lovely being should be betrayed into the powers of those wicked enchanters? but why should i be surprised at her weakness, who am myself the object of their malice? surely," continued the sultan, "this our companion, whom you called princess, cannot be the daughter of zebenezer, the sultan of cassimir?" "you are right, indeed, in your conjectures," answered mahoud; "the princess of cassimir is a fellow-sufferer with us, and he who is on my right hand is horam, the favourite of misnar, the lord of delhi." "what!" said misnar, transported, and yet at the same time recoiling with surprise, "is my faithful horam also the unfortunate partner of my griefs?" misnar then, turning to the princess of cassimir, said, "o princess, whom a severe enchantment has deprived of the most exquisite of forms, to load thee with the most wretched, permit me to request an account of your unfortunate labours since you left the court of your father zebenezer; that at least i may indulge my wishes for your recovery, though my arm is too weak to work either my own or your deliverance." "most illustrious sultan," answered the princess, "i shall obey your commands, although the remembrance of my misfortune is grievous, and the confession of my indiscretion must fill me with shame." "it is enough, o princess," said the sultan, "to confess our faults to heaven; and he is the weakest of the sons of earth who takes a pleasure in hearing of the failings of others." "o sultan," replied hemjunah, "your politeness cannot extenuate, though it may gloss over, my imprudence; and by delaying to unfold my little history to you, my crime may seem more black while hidden than when it shall be revealed." as the princess uttered these words, a dervish, worn with age and bowed down by infirmity, appeared among the thickets of the forest. horam immediately recollected the features of the good old saint, and said, "my royal master, yonder is shemshelnar, the most pious worshipper of allah among all the sons of asia." "i do not remember his features," answered misnar: "came he not to the council of our divan?" "no, my royal lord," said horam, "the infirmities of age were upon him." by this time shemshelnar had reached the place where the transformed company were seated; and, falling prostrate before misnar, he said, "wonder not, o prince of india, that shemshelnar, thy slave, doth thus acknowledge his prince, though deformed by the enchantments of the wicked. i knew the evils that surrounded thee; and although i was unable to attend thy council, yet i prayed in secret to him who bestoweth at the noonday, that he would avert from my royal master the misfortunes which threatened to overpower him. allah heard my prayer as i lay prostrate in my cell; and the genius bahoudi appearing, commanded me to seek thee in the forest of tarapajan, whither thy wayward fortune should lead thee. 'o genius,' replied i, 'how shall age and infirmity comply with thy commands?' "'go,' said bahoudi, touching me with his finger, 'for strength is given thee from above. the enchantress ulin hath transformed thy prince into the most hideous reptile of the earth. but wonder not at the deformity of his appearance, nor at the malice of her who has overpowered him; for such is the fate of those who are most exalted in their virtues, that their enemies, whenever an opportunity is afforded to them, will strive to render them most odious. thy prince, before thou canst arrive in the forest, will be surrounded by three others in equal affliction: it is permitted thee to rescue the sultan of india; but the rest must wear the chains of the enchantress till ulin is no more.' "but ere i restore thee, o sultan of my heart," continued shemshelnar, "such are the words which the genius hath commanded me to utter before thee: "religion, o misnar, is the first and the greatest duty of life, and the service of allah the sweetest offering of a grateful heart. but he who appointed the ceremonies and services of piety and devotion hath also given to all their respective stations in the warfare of life. how, then, shall we pay honour to allah, if we neglect and desert the peculiar duties of that post wherein allah hath placed us? the signet of mahomet, o prince, of which mangelo the prophet did prophesy, is it not that seal which the faithful bear on their frontlets, when they obey the voice of reason and religion? and the girdle of opakka, with which kifri, the enchanter, is endued, what is it but foresight and prudence, the best allies of the sultans of the earth? to save his people my prince has deserted them, and given away what he sought to keep. when allah placed thee on the throne of india, he thence expected to hear thy petitions; but, as faults which proceed from goodness, though uninstructed, are beheld with heaven's piteous eye, therefore arise, o sultan," said shemshelnar, and touched him, "rise from the filth of the earth, and again assume the glories with which allah hath endued thee. and know, that such is his care over thee, that he hath curbed the hands of thine enemies, and bids thee go forth against them, assured of this, that they shall not be able by their enchantments to foresee thy designs, nor to overpower thee by the help of their magical deceits, unless thou yield to their snares. be prudent and vigilant, and fear them not. only this is permitted against thee,--if thou canst not overpower and destroy them unawares, they may use their art to conceal their escape, and avoid thy arm; therefore be bold and quick, and yet cautious and discerning, lest, when force avails not, they employ fraud to destroy thee." as shemshelnar finished these words, misnar arose in his natural form; but, ere he spake to the holy dervish who had released him, he fell prostrate, and adored the goodness of allah, who had thus rescued him from the power of ulin. then, rising, he took shemshelnar by the hand, and thanked him for his release and advice. "thou hast done right, o misnar," said the dervish, "to give the greatest honour to allah, for to him alone belongs all honour." "and may i not hope," continued the sultan, "that it will please him to release these my fellow-sufferers also?" "misnar alone can release them," answered the dervish. "let ulin perish, and these unfortunate persons shall be restored to thee and themselves; but in the meantime they must learn to bear their misfortunes with patience, and offer their prayers for thy safety. the road to delhi is through this desert forest, and to the left is situated the palace of ulin. she is already aware of thy re-transformation, and is studying to deceive thee a second time; but beware, o misnar! for if she prevail, death and destruction await thee." misnar, having received the instructions of the dervish, took leave of his companions, assuring them he was desirous of meeting the crafty ulin as soon as possible, that he might either give up all pretensions to his kingdom, or deliver his subjects and his friends from the hands of the enchantress. the sultan of the indies, having left the dervish and his friends, advanced into the forest, chewing some leaves which shemshelnar had given him to support him till he should arrive at his palace. he had not advanced more than two days' journey in the forest before he heard the violent shrieks of a distressed woman, and at a distance saw four ruffians stripping a lady, and beating her inhumanly. misnar was enraged at what he saw, and, flying to the lady's assistance, he bade the ruffians defend themselves. they chose not to encounter the arm of misnar, but, leaving the lady, fled; and the prince, stepping up to her, desired to know by what accident she had fallen thus alone into the hands of the robbers. "o noble sir!" said the lady in tears--"for i perceive by your mien i speak to no common friend--it was my fate to be beloved by the handsomest of the sons of the faithful. i lived in delhi, the daughter of an emir; and hazar, the captain of a thousand in the army of misnar, the sultan of the east, was my admirer; but, alas! his love has proved my destruction. the second son of the great dabulcombar, assisted by ulin the enchantress, aspired to his brother's throne; and the soldiers, who loved the hazardous chance of war, deserted frequently from misnar our sultan: among the rest hazar, in spite of my utmost endeavours, revolted with his thousand men." "'there is no preferment,' said he, 'in the peaceful reign of misnar; i will follow the fortunes of his brother, whose throne must be gained and supported by arms.' in vain i remonstrated, and urged both love and duty. 'my love,' said hazar, 'is still unalterable: thou wilt soon see me return the favourite of the new monarch, and it will then be in my power to raise thee to higher dignities than those which thy father now possesses.' "hazar then left me by night, and soon i heard that he had joined the rebel army; but, o generous stranger! what was my grief when i understood that ulin, the detestable enchantress, was stricken with his appearance, and had deceived him! i set out without delay for the camp, and, studying to avoid the army of misnar, travelled through this wood with four slaves. "being now arrived at the farther side, i struck into the thickest part of the forest, and, losing sight of my attendants, i wandered about for some time till morning, when on a sudden i heard several voices among the trees. in an instant four ruffians surrounded me, and, had not your powerful arm interposed, i should have suffered the vilest of deaths." misnar endeavoured to comfort the afflicted stranger, and asked her whether she thought it possible for any man to enter the palace of ulin undiscovered. "o sultan," said she, "let me prevail upon you to follow me, and i will ensure your success." misnar besought her to walk before, and show him the path which led to the palace. "we will reach it by night," said the stranger, "when the darkness shall protect thee." the beautiful stranger then went forward, and misnar followed after. ere they had proceeded twenty paces, misnar said, "it will be proper, o fair stranger, to draw my scimitar, lest we be set upon suddenly by the robbers." "you are right," answered the fair stranger, "and your precaution is just." the sultan misnar, having drawn his sabre, followed close behind the beautiful stranger, and suddenly with a blow smote her on the shoulders, and felled her to the ground. she had no sooner fallen, than her countenance changed, and discovered to misnar the features of the malicious enchantress ulin, who, though nearly spent and exhausted by the blow, yet lived to utter the following imprecations: "may the curse of our sex light upon thee, thou traitor to manhood! since neither the charms nor the afflictions of the fair have been able to soften thine heart. thou hast, indeed, avoided my snares, by doing violence to the noblest of passions, and by trampling on the most sacred laws of humanity and hospitality. idiot that i was to trust myself to thee, though guarded by the strongest appearances of innocence and distress! the injured and the helpless can find no protection in thy government, though thou boastest thyself the delegate of allah and the friend of the oppressed; and i, trusting to thy specious virtues, have fallen a sacrifice to thy deceitful heart." her iniquitous spirit then fled from the body of ulin, and the sultan left her mangled and deformed corpse a prey to the beasts of the forest. he travelled for several days backward, hoping to find the former companions of his misery, and at last came to the place which he had left, but could see no signs of them; wherefore, concluding that their enchantment was broken by the death of ulin, the sultan returned towards delhi, subsisting on the leaves which the dervish had given him, and on the fruits of the earth, and in twelve days' time arrived at a small town in his own dominions. here he lodged at a poor cottage, where he found an old woman and her son, and inquired whether she could procure him any horses or mules to carry him the next morning to delhi. "alas!" answered the old woman, "we have no cattle with us; the army has stripped us of all." "what!" answered misnar, "has the rebel army been foraging so near delhi?" "alack!" said the old woman, "i think all armies are rebels, for my part. indeed, the soldiers told us that they were the sultan's army, and that they were sent to guard us from the rebels; but in the meantime they took our cattle and provision, and paid us nothing for them; and still, every time they came, they called themselves our guardians and friends. if this is all the friendship great men can show us, we poor people should be best pleased to live as far from them as we can." although misnar smiled at the poor woman's speech, yet, lifting up his eyes and hands secretly to heaven, as she went out for sticks to kindle a fire to dress his provisions, he said, "o just and merciful allah, preserve me from the avarice of ambition! that, while the rich and the proud advise me to delight in blood, i may ever remember the severities which the poor must suffer; and that i may rather rejoice to relieve one oppressed slave, than to enrich ten thousand flattering emirs of my court!" as soon as the old woman entered again into her house, the disguised sultan advised her and her neighbours to join in a petition, and present it to the sultan in his divan. "a petition!" answered the old woman, "and for what?" "to relieve your distresses," said misnar. "alas! who is to relieve our distresses but allah?" said the woman. "your sultan, the servant of allah, will relieve them," replied misnar. "what!" answered the old woman; "can he restore to these arms my dutiful first-born, who has been so long the joy of my aged heart, but was lately torn from me to fill up the armies of the sultan? can he call back the brave men he has caused to be destroyed, and give life and spirits and joy again to the widows and orphans of india? if he can, oh! let him hasten to relieve the afflicted hearts of his subjects, and become as a god upon earth!" the sultan was astonished at the words and the gestures of the poor old woman, and deeply stricken by her observations. "how seldom," said he to himself, "do the rich feel the distresses of the poor! and in the midst of conquest and acclamation, who regardeth the tears and afflictions of those who have lost their friends in the public service?" the sultan misnar rested that night in the cottage of the old woman; and the next morning he arose, and was conducted by her younger son to a town half a day's journey farther. here he supplied himself with mules, and in one day more reached the city of delhi. the sultan entered a caravanserai, where he found several merchants. he asked them how they dared venture to trade, when the armies of the rebels were spread over the face of india. "as to that," answered the first merchant, "we have lived here some time, in expectation that one party or the other would prevail. it little matters to us which, provided trade be encouraged. as to the sultan's party, there was not, till within these few days, any hope of their success. the young man himself had retired from his throne, being fearful of encountering his enemies; and the captains of the army had destroyed the prime vizier horam." "and what," interrupted misnar, "is the cause of this change in favour of the sultan?" "ten days since," answered the merchant, "contrary to every one's belief, as we all thought him dead, the vizier horam appeared at the head of the army, and assured the officers that his lord misnar was living, and had destroyed the enchantress ulin, who espoused the cause of his brother ahubal; that, in consequence of ulin's death, ahubal had fled, and his army had been dispersed; and that he expected his royal master would shortly appear among them." the sultan rejoiced at this news, and without delay hastened to the palace of his vizier. the slaves of horam, seeing the disguised sultan, asked him his business. "i come," replied misnar, "to communicate to thy lord tidings of our sultan." at this word, the slaves of horam conducted misnar to their master's presence; and horam no sooner saw his master in the disguise with which he had furnished him, than he fell at the sultan's feet, and congratulated him on his safe return. "my faithful horam," said misnar, "arise. the day is not yet so far spent but that my court may be assembled. give orders, horam, that the army be drawn up, and let thy slaves proceed to the palace, and bring the imperial robes. my people require my presence, and misnar yearns to see the supporters of his throne." horam arose, and the sultan, embracing him, said, "horam, i am desirous of hearing the particulars of thy fate; but public advantage must not yield to private friendship." the faithful horam then hastened to call together the princes and the viziers of the court of delhi, and gave orders that the army should be drawn up in the royal square before the divan. the sultan misnar, being arrayed in his imperial robes, delayed not to show himself to his people; and no sooner did he appear, than his subjects cried out, "long live the sultan of our hearts, who alone was able to conquer the powers of enchantment!" the sultan was overjoyed to find that his people received him with gladness, and commanded money to be thrown among the populace, and double subsistence to be dealt out to his army. the viziers and officers of justice being assembled in the divan, waited the arrival of their sultan; and misnar, having ascended the throne, commanded horam to deliver to him a faithful account of his enemies. horam the vizier then arose from his seat, and assured his sultan that the rebel army was dispersed, and that ahubal had fled with a few friends to the shores of the indian ocean. the sultan, on this report, commanded his army to be stationed at suitable intervals, about a day's journey round the city of delhi, that their numbers should be reduced, and that peace should be proclaimed the next day in the city. no sooner were the viziers dismissed from the divan, than misnar, retiring into his palace, sent for his faithful vizier horam, and desired him to give him a true relation of what had happened to him since his departure from the army. "royal sir," answered horam, "you were no sooner departed than i began to inspect the order and discipline of your troops; to look into the methods of providing for the army; and to appoint proper officers, who should take care that the soldiers had sufficient and wholesome provision--that their tents were good--that the situations of the different battalions were in healthy places, near springs and rivers, but on dry soils, and as far as possible removed from swampy fens or the stagnated air of the forests. "during this time little occurred of which i could inform my lord, as i meant not to trouble you with my own concerns, lest it should seem that i was proud of the trifling dispositions which i had made in favour of the army. "the rebels in the meantime were quiet, and their distance only prevented me from destroying them; but, on a sudden, a messenger arrived with tidings that all the southern provinces had revolted; that the enchantress ulin was with them, and conducted their forces; that ahubal was declared sultan of india by her; and that she was determined to support his cause. upon this i took such precautions as, doubtless, my sultan must have read in the tablets; but my precautions seemed vain, for the next night we were on a sudden terrified with a second alarm, that the rebels were within half a day's march of our camp, which i thought, considering their former distance, must be the effect of enchantment. "this threw our officers into the greatest consternation, who, collecting themselves in a body, came rushing towards the royal tent, and demanded a sight of the sultan, and declared their resolution of revolting to the enemy unless you headed the troops. "i was writing despatches in the royal tent when i heard their tumult, and my heart fled as they approached; but as they stopped for some time to fix upon one for their speaker, i had just time to slip on a slave's habit, and cut my way through the hinder part of the tent. "i ran as swiftly as my feet could carry me out of the encampment; and being stopped by several sentinels, i told them i was dispatched by the vizier, and showed them my own signet. "but i was no sooner clear of the army than i repented of my folly. 'what have i done?' said i to myself. 'i have deserted my post, and ruined the interests of my lord: better had i died at the head of my sultan's troops, or fallen a sacrifice to their rage, than thus ingloriously to perish! besides, i may have been terrified without just cause: the rebel army may not be so near. i ought to have stayed in the tent, and endeavoured to pacify the officers of the army.' "and now i was in doubt whether to return, or, as i had penetrated thus far, whether it would not be most prudent to take a near survey of the rebel army. i resolved upon the last, and cautiously travelled towards the place where the spies said they were encamped. "i arrived at the spot described, but saw neither sentinels nor encampment. amazed at this, i proceeded onwards during that and the next day, but no army was to be seen, nor anything indicating their approach. "'alas!' said i to myself, 'how little worthy wert thou of the confidence of thy lord! and yet, better is this mistake than the certainty of the rebels' approach, which could not have been effected without the power of enchantment.' "ere it was too late, i resolved to return, hoping that i should pacify the troops by assuring them that i had in person been a witness to the untruth of the last alarm. "but, alas! when i essayed to return, i found my feet fixed to the ground: in a moment the earth trembled, and ulin the enchantress arose on the back of an enormous reptile. "'wise and gracious vizier,' said she, in an insulting tone, 'i admire your prudence and discretion! and although mahomet and his faithful crew of genii may not permit us to overpower you or your prudent master while you resist our temptation, yet there is little to be feared from their interposition while you become such easy dupes to our artifices. the army which i led against thy wretched sultan is not less than forty days' march hence, and is embarrassed by the mountains and the forests; and yet the credulous vizier abandoned his charge on the most improbable alarm, and fled into the arms of one who well knows how to reward his prudence and address. become, therefore, o silly vizier, a loathsome toad; and i shall in a moment transport thee into the forest of tarapajan, whither several of thy wise brethren are gone before thee.' "as she spake thus, the enchantress breathed on me with her pestiferous breath, and, falling to the ground, i crawled like a toad before her. ulin then waved her hand, and sleep overpowered me. when i awoke i found myself between the merchant of delhi and the princess of cassimir, who, like me, had felt the vengeance of ulin the enchantress. "it was some consolation to us that our speech was not taken from us, but that we were able to communicate to each other our misfortunes. "mahoud first inquired of me the adventures of my life, and i had just finished them the day before you, o sultan! appeared among us. while mahoud was relating his history, your voice struck my ears, and i feared to ask whether my lord was in equal affliction with his slave." "did you not, then," said misnar, "hear the adventures of hemjunah, the princess of cassimir?" "i did not, my sultan," answered horam. "hemjunah was about to relate her adventures when you appeared; and after shemshelnar, the dervish, had released you, she desired to reserve them till such time as we should meet hereafter in our natural forms. "two days after you left us with shemshelnar, who endeavoured to alleviate our afflictions, on a sudden we perceived a vivid flash of lightning, which was succeeded by a violent clap of thunder, and while we were all looking at each other, the wood instantly vanished, and i found myself in my palace at delhi. what became of mahoud, or the princess of cassimir, i know not; but i was sensible that my prince had conquered the enchantress, who had laid such hateful chains upon us. "i hastened to the divan of viziers and emirs, who were astonished at my presence. they were met in order to appoint a sultan, having just heard from the army that both their sultan and his vizier had fled from the encampments. a friend of ahubal's had proposed that prince to succeed my royal master, and orders were given to proclaim him when i arrived in the divan. "being acquainted with the resolutions of the viziers and emirs, i proclaimed aloud that my royal master misnar was alive, and that he had destroyed the enchantress ulin, who had espoused the cause of ahubal. "at this declaration, the viziers and emirs prostrated themselves, and gave thanks to allah; and the trumpets and the cornets went through the streets of delhi, and proclaimed my arrival and the victory of misnar their sultan over the enchantress ulin. "i dispatched orders, before the divan broke up, to the army, with advice of your success, and commanded a part to march for the city of delhi, leaving only a sufficient number of troops to observe the motions of the enemy if they should again unite; for i knew that ulin's destruction would cause a dispersion of their army. "having settled the affairs of my master, to complete my joy, tidings were brought me of his approach, and horam is again blessed with the sight of his sultan." the vizier horam, having finished his relation, bowed himself before the sultan, and said, "shall thy slave give orders that an ambassador be sent to the sultan of cassimir to inquire after the fate of the princess hemjunah?" "horam," answered the sultan, "while war stalks thus boldly through our dominions, it were vain to assume a state that we may in a moment be deprived of. no, horam, let us wait for more prosperous times." early in the morning several messengers arrived with the news of the death of ulin and the revolt of ten provinces from ahubal, and soon after the provinces sent deputies to excuse their rebellion, and to beseech the sultan to pardon their offences. misnar yielded to their prayers, but ordered some of the most faithful of his troops to march into their borders and encamp among them. the sultan then redressed the grievances which his soldiers had committed as far as he was able, and, by a just and equal law, obliged every division to furnish such a number of troops; for, although no clouds were then seen to interrupt his reign, yet misnar was assured that, through the wiles of his enemies the enchanters, he should shortly be called upon to exercise his prudence. nor were his fears unjust. ahubal, though deserted by the provinces, was yet espoused by the magician happuck, who, hearing of the defeat of his sister ulin, was resolved to revenge the cause of that detested race. it was not long before the sultan heard that the magician happuck was encouraging the provinces who had followed ulin to revolt again from their sultan; but the fear of misnar's troops overawed them; so that whatever might be their real inclinations, they refused the offers and entreaties of happuck. the sultan, more effectually to secure their obedience, increased the number of his forces in the provinces, and preserved the chain of communication from them quite through his extensive dominions. the magician, finding the sultan's forces so well disposed, and that no encouragement could prevail on the southern provinces to revolt, abandoned his design of succeeding by the force of arms, and flew to the weapons of craft and dissimulation. though happuck had now been employed nearly a year in raising commotions among the subjects of india, two provinces only owned the government of ahubal: the rest continued firm in their loyalty to the sultan misnar. these provinces had raised a light army of about forty thousand men, who, by forced marches, harassed the neighbouring provinces around them. of these, three thousand horsemen parted suddenly from the rest, and, by following unfrequented tracks over the mountains and through the forests, arrived at length within two days' march of delhi. here, pitching their tents, they sent several of their chief officers to delhi, to assure the sultan that they were greatly afflicted at their crimes, and were desirous of laying down their rebellious arms at his feet. horam the vizier received these suppliants, and representing their contrition to the sultan, he commanded them to join the main army; at the same time sending dispatches to his general to dismount them from their horses, and to encamp them in such a situation that they might not be able either to escape or to annoy his army if they should be disposed to revolt again. the magician happuck, who was among the officers that appeared at delhi, and who had contrived the revolt in order to get into the presence of the sultan, was greatly chagrined to find that the vizier horam received him, and that he was not to be admitted into misnar's presence; but, concealing his disappointment, he, with the rest, joined the three thousand horsemen, and marched to the grand army of misnar. once a year the whole army was reviewed by the sultan in person, and it happened that the disguised magician and his troops of horsemen arrived at the army three days before this general review. the magician rejoiced at this fortunate event. "ibrac," said he to the officer who commanded his troop, "fortune has now given me an opportunity of revenging the death of my sister ulin. this disguise of an officer is not sufficient: i will descend to the lowest station, where i shall be less suspected, and as the sultan misnar passes between the ranks where i am situated, i will draw my bow, and pierce him to the heart. having done this, i shall render myself invisible, and do you, in the general consternation, proclaim ahubal the sultan of india." "most powerful magician," answered ibrac, "what need is there of this deceit? since you are able to render yourself invisible, why cannot you enter the sultan's palace unseen, and stab him to the heart?" "faithful ibrac," answered the magician, "you know not the powers which support this boy-like urchin. the genius bahoudi, at whose name our race trembles, is his guardian, and prevents my approach; and it is written in the volumes of fate that no enchantment shall prevail against misnar unless he first allow our crafty race to deceive him. otherwise, ibrac, dost thou suppose that so many of my brethren, before whom the mountains tremble and the ocean boils, should need to league against a boy? no, ibrac; misnar were beneath our vengeance or our art, did not mahomet espouse him, and his mean vassals, the good genii of mankind! the conquest of this boy, while thus supported, would add strength to our cause." ibrac then furnished the magician with the clothing of one of the common soldiers; and he was mustered with the rest of the troops. early in the morning on which misnar was to review his men, the sultan arose, and bade his slaves, who waited in the pavilion, call his vizier horam to him. "horam," said the sultan, "i suspect the crafty magician happuck: he is doubtless here disguised in our camp, and if i expose myself to-day, it may be in his power to destroy me, and set the crown of india on my brother's head." "let my sultan, then," said horam, "proclaim a reward to him who discovers the magician, even to the holding of the second place in your empire." "that contrivance would have little effect," said the sultan. "happuck would elude our search, and, transforming himself into some reptile, escape our vengeance, and then meditate some new device to deceive us. no, horam," continued misnar, "if he be really with us, it were folly to let him escape." "but how will my lord discover him amidst three hundred thousand troops?" answered the vizier. "there is no officer in your army who knows the fiftieth part of your soldiers; and where recruits are daily coming in, to search for a particular person, without giving the alarm so that happuck might escape, would be impossible." "in how many ranks," said the sultan, "is the army to be disposed?" "the plain," answered the vizier, "on which they are to be reviewed will contain three thousand in a row." "bring me, then, two hundred of the most expert archers in my army," said the sultan, "and take them from those troops who are the farthest from the deserters who lately joined the army." the vizier did as the sultan commanded, and brought the archers before the royal pavilion. "go now, horam," said the sultan, "and order all the troops to be drawn out on the plain." "they are almost assembled already," said horam. "then," replied the sultan, "take these archers, and place one at each extremity of the ranks, an archer on the right of each rank; but, before you station them thus, give them the following orders: 'be ready with your bows drawn, and your arrows fixed to the bow-string, and, whenever the word of command is given for all the army to fall prostrate, let your arrows fly at the man who is last to obey the word of command.'" the troops being all drawn forth in their ranks, and the archers disposed according to the sultan's orders, misnar came forth, attended by his eunuchs, viziers, emirs, and guards. the loud clarion sounded, the notes of the trumpets were heard, and the brazen cymbals shook the air. the magician, who was impatient to perpetrate the malicious purposes of his heart, was elated at the warlike sound, and beheld the sultan's retinue at a distance with such joy as the eagle views the flocks of sheep on the plains of homah. the sultan, having arrived at the front of his army, which he knew was composed of his most faithful troops, commanded silence throughout the plain. "my brave soldiers," said he, "although neither care nor resolution has been wanting on your parts to extirpate the rebellion of my provinces, yet to allah only belong the glory and the honour of your arms; wherefore let immediate orders be issued forth among my troops, that all do together fall prostrate on the ground before the all-seeing allah, the governor of the world and the disposer of kingdoms and crowns." as this order went forth through the ranks, the soldiers at once fell prostrate before allah, all but the magician happuck, who was surprised and astonished at the order, and irresolute what to do. but little time was given him to think; for no sooner were his fellow-soldiers fallen prostrate on each side of him, than the arrows of the archers pierced his heart. the magician, finding himself overpowered, and that the messengers of death had seized him, raised his voice aloud, and, with what little strength was left, cursed both allah and his prophet; but the stream of life flowed swiftly from him, and his curses grew fainter and fainter, till they were lost in death. those who were acquainted with the designs of happuck, perceiving that the magician was dead and their plot discovered, began to fly; and first ibrac essayed to head his discarded troops; but they, not being used to march on foot, soon fell into confusion, and, the forces of the sultan surrounding them, they were quickly destroyed. the sultan misnar saw, by the confusion of his army in the centre, that the discovery was made, and sent horam, with some chosen troops, to inquire into the cause of their disorder. the vizier had no sooner arrived than he perceived several soldiers bringing along the body of the magician happuck, which appeared undisguised after death. "bid the two archers," said the vizier, "who destroyed the monster come forward." when the archers came, horam applauded their skill and their obedience, and advised them to take the body between them, and carry it before the sultan. the archers obeyed, and, the ranks opening as they passed, they soon arrived at the feet of misnar. the sultan, seeing his enemy thus destroyed, ordered the two archers ten purses, containing each one hundred pieces of gold; and to every other archer one purse containing one hundred pieces of gold. to him who brought the head of ibrac also he gave five purses of like value; and then again issued his commands that the whole army should fall prostrate and adore the mercy of allah, who had so soon delivered into their hands the chief of their enemies. in the meantime, two only of the troops of ibrac and happuck escaped; and, returning to ahubal, they acquainted him with their defeat. ahubal fled at the news, and hid himself in the mountains; for he feared lest his soldiers should betray him, and deliver him up to his brother. but ollomand, the enchanter, who first counselled the sultan of india to secure his throne by spilling the innocent blood of his brother, now resolved to revenge the common cause. he therefore directed the steps of ahubal toward a cave in the mountains, where, fatigued with flight and fearful of pursuit, the royal rebel arrived in the heat of the day. the cave was, for the most part, surrounded by steep mountains, at a great distance from any track or path, and was situated at the entrance of a long valley which led among the mountains. ahubal, having slept and refreshed himself in the cave, pursued his journey through the valley, till he found his path stopped by inaccessible rocks, on the top of which he perceived a magnificent castle, whose walls reflected the rays of the sun like burnished gold. the brother of misnar fixed his eye for some time on that part of the castle which was shaded by the rest, for the front was too dazzling to behold, and, in a few moments, he perceived a small wicket open, and a dwarf come forth. ahubal soon lost sight of the dwarf behind the rocks; but he resolved to wait there to see whether he could find any passage into the valley. the dwarf, after being hid for some time, appeared again about the middle of the rocks, and by his course appeared to descend in a spiral path around the mountain. when the dwarf had reached the bottom he advanced to ahubal, and, presenting him with a clue, he told him that, if he threw it before him, and followed it, the clue would unravel itself, and discover to him the path which led up the rocks to the castle of ollomand, his master. ahubal, having heard from ulin and happuck that ollomand was his friend, took the clue out of the hand of the dwarf, and threw it before him. as the clue rolled onward until it touched the rocks, ahubal discovered a regular ascent, which, winding round, brought him by degrees to the castle on the summit of the mountain. the enchanter ollomand received ahubal at the entrance of the castle, which was guarded by four dragons, and led him through a large court into a spacious hall, the walls of which were lined with human bones that had been whitened in the sun. "favourite of the race of the powerful," said ollomand, "see here the bones of those who have lifted up their arms against thee; and i will add to their number till this castle be filled." "alas," answered ahubal, "ulin is no more, and the vultures are preying on the vitals of happuck! ten provinces have deserted my cause, and the coffers of my army are exhausted!" "happuck," answered ollomand, "despised the assistance of riches and trusted to deceit, and therefore failed. the provinces dared not revolt while the armies of misnar overawed them; but i will replenish thy coffers, and ollomand will tempt the leaders of the sultan's troops to join the cause of ahubal. in this castle are riches and arms sufficient to equip all the inhabitants of asia; and when these are exhausted, we will apply to pharesanen, hapacuson, and all the chieftains of our race: and fear not, ahubal; for, by my art, i read that misnar the sultan shall fly before the face of his enemies." ahubal was encouraged by the words of ollomand; and the enchanter, having opened his design to the prince, invited him to behold the riches of his castle. passing through the hall of bones, they descended into a square court, much more spacious than the former, in the middle of which appeared a deep and dark pit. this court contained four hundred massive gates of brass, and each gate was supported by nine enormous hinges of the same metal. as ollomand the enchanter entered this court, with the prince ahubal in his hand, he lifted up his voice, which echoed like thunder amidst the lofty turrets of the castle, and commanded his slaves to expose to the sight of ahubal the treasures of their master. the prince ahubal, who had seen no creature but the dwarf and the enchanter in the castle, wondered whence the slaves would come; but his wonder was shortly turned into fear when he beheld a gigantic black, with a club of ebony forty feet in length, arise out of the pit which was in the centre of the court. but his horrors were increased when he perceived a succession of the same gigantic monsters following one another out of the pit, and advancing to the four hundred brazen gates, till every gate had a slave standing before it. when ollomand saw his slaves were all prepared before the gates, he bade them strike with their clubs of ebony against them. the black slaves, in obedience to the enchanter's orders, lifted up their ponderous clubs of ebony, and struck against the four hundred gates, which jarred so much with the blows of the slaves that ahubal was forced to stop his ears, and was ready to sink into the earth with astonishment and dread. as soon as the black slaves of ollomand had struck the four hundred gates of brass, the gates began to move, and the harsh creaking of the hinges sent forth a noise which alone had chilled the hearts of all the armies of misnar, could they have heard them. ahubal then, lifting up his head, looked around the court, and saw the four hundred gates were opened. in those to the right were millions of wedges of gold and silver, piled beneath craggy arches of huge unchiselled stone. opposite to these he beheld a hundred vaulted roofs, under which were sacks and bags of the gold and silver coin of many nations. before him another hundred gates exposed to his view the arms and warlike accoutrements of ten thousand nations, and all the instruments of death which the inventive malice of man had ever devised. ahubal, who understood but little of these instruments, was amazed at their construction, and asked for what purposes they were formed. "these," said ollomand, "are the arms of europe, a part of the earth filled with industrious robbers, whose minds are hourly on the stretch to invent new plagues to torment each other. of these mortals many are settled on the sea-coasts of our southern provinces, whom i shall persuade through the instigation of that god whom they worship, to join the forces of ahubal." "hast thou, then, mighty enchanter," answered the prince ahubal, "the gods of europe in thy power?" "the europeans," said ollomand, "acknowledge one god, who, they pretend, doth inhabit the heavens, but whom _we_ find buried in the entrails of the earth: gold, o prince, is their god, for whose sake they will undertake the most daring enterprises, and forsake the best of friends. to these shalt thou send presents, and future promises of wealth; and, by their machinations, fear not but misnar shall yield to thy superior address." "what need of the arms or the persons of europeans," answered the prince ahubal, "while my friend has an army of such gigantic slaves, ten of whom are more than sufficient to destroy the puny armies of my brother the sultan?" "alas!" said ollomand, "the slaves of enchantment cannot fight against the sons of the faithful. though we deny mahomet, and will not adore him, yet we cannot control a power that must overrule us. as misnar's troops are in possession of the country, we will transport ourselves to orixa in the disguise of merchants, and there endeavour to forward the destruction of misnar, the tame sultan of the east." as ollomand spake these words he stamped with his feet, and a chariot, drawn by four dragons, arose from the pit in the centre of the court, which ahubal and the enchanter ascended, and were conveyed in a dark cloud to the woods behind the city of orixa. when ollomand's chariot alighted on the ground, he touched the dragons with his wand, and they became four camels laden with merchandise, and the chariot was converted into an elephant. ahubal became like a merchant, and the enchanter appeared as a black slave. they entered the town in the evening, and the next morning exposed their goods in the market-place. the bales of ahubal, the sham merchant, being opened, were found to contain chiefly materials for clothing the officers of the army. the troops of misnar, hearing this, were his chief customers; and as ahubal sold his wares very cheap, he soon got acquainted with all the officers at orixa. in all his conversations with them, the enchanter had directed ahubal to lament the small salaries which the army were allowed: this was a subject all agreed in, and soon led to more lucrative offers, if they would embrace the cause of ahubal. the officers, who were, for the most part, soldiers for the sake of pay and plunder, rather than duty and honour, soon came into the sham merchant's proposal; and in ten days ahubal found himself in a condition to recover the province of orixa. the young prince, fired with his success, was about to discover himself; but the enchanter checked his ardour, and besought him to consider how many more provinces must be gained before he could make head against his brother. the advice of ollomand prevailed with the prince; and they sent some of those officers who were strongest in their interest into the different provinces of the south to corrupt the minds of the commanders. as there was no want of money and bribery, so an easier conquest was made over the loyalty of the troops than could have been made over their prowess by the sword. in a few moons all the southern provinces were ripe for a revolt, and the troops who were sent to overawe them were most desirous of opening the campaign against their sultan. two hundred french engineers were also invited, by large rewards, to join the armies of ahubal; and the troops were supplied by the vigilance of the enchanter ollomand. on a fixed day all the armies of the provinces were in motion, and all unfurled the standard of ahubal; the provinces were invited to rebel, and thousands were daily added to the troops of the prince. tidings of these alterations were sent to delhi by the few friends of the sultan who remained in those parts, and horam the vizier laid before his master the dreadful news of a general revolt both of his troops and provinces in the south. "the enemies of misnar," said the sultan, as the vizier horam ended his report, "are many, and one only is his friend!" horam bowed low at his master's words. "faithful horam," said the sultan, "i honour and esteem thee; but think not i prefer my vizier to my god: no, horam, allah alone is the friend of misnar; a friend more mighty than the armies of ahubal, or the sorceries of the enchanters." misnar then assembled his troops; and putting himself at their head, he marched by easy stages towards the southern frontiers of his dominions. the armies of ahubal continued to increase, and cambaya acknowledged him for its sultan. in a short time he arrived with his forces at narvar, and encamped within seven leagues of the army of misnar the sultan. ollomand the enchanter, notwithstanding ahubal had thrown off the disguise of a merchant, still attended him as a black slave, being always about his person, till the freedom which the prince allowed him was resented by the officers of his army. this the enchanter perceived; and therefore he desired ahubal would grant him five thousand of his troops, and the european engineers, that he might advance before the main army, and signalize himself by a blow which he meditated to give the enemy. the counsel of ollomand was never opposed by ahubal; the prince commanded the troops to attend ollomand, and be subject unto him. the enchanter then marched with his selected troops into a thick wood, which the army of misnar must pass through ere they could oppose their enemies; and in this wood the engines of european war were placed, to command every avenue which had been hewn out by the troops of the sultan. ollomand, marching by night, surprised all the advanced guards of the sultan, and possessed himself of the wood, where he placed the european engineers, before the sun could penetrate through the branches of the forest of narvar. this enterprise would have ruined all the hopes of the sultan, who proposed to march his army through the next day, if the europeans had continued faithful to ahubal and his party; but one, favoured by the darkness of the night, escaped, and betrayed the whole design to the sultan. misnar was no sooner apprised of the enchanter's contrivance than he ordered certain of his troops to climb over the mountains to the right of the wood, and if possible gain the opposite side, and there, in several parts, set the wood on fire. this was so successfully executed by the soldiers, that, as soon as ollomand was possessed of the wood, he perceived it was on fire, and had made a separation between him and the army of ahubal. in this distress, the enchanter resolved to dispose of his troops and engineers in the most advantageous manner, proposing in his mind to secure his own retreat by the power of enchantment. but while the subtle enchanter was directing his engineers in the rear to bring up the fell engines of war, one of the cannon which was left in the wood (the flames having obliged those who belonged to it to retreat), being made hot by the raging fires among the trees, discharged its contents, and a ball striking the enchanter, carried with it the head of ollomand toward the camp of the sultan. this occurrence threw the troops in the wood into the utmost confusion, and many fled to the sultan's camp, declaring the loss of their leader, and the rest resolved rather to submit than perish by fire or sword. the flames of the wood, which rose between the armies of misnar and ahubal, soon disturbed the peace of the rebel prince. at first, indeed, he hoped ollomand had enclosed his brother's troops, and was consuming them by his fires. but no dispatch arriving from his friend, ahubal was filled with just fears, which were greatly increased, as, in a few days, the fire decreasing, and having opened a passage through the wood, he was informed by his spies that the armies of misnar were approaching. the prince ahubal, having lost his friend the enchanter, was fearful of the event, and wished to fly; but his generals, being rebels, and fearing their fate if they should be taken, resolved to conquer or die; so that ahubal was constrained against his will to put his army in a state of defence. the sultan, supposing his brother's army would be disheartened at the loss of the enchanter, was desirous of giving them battle before they had recovered from their consternation, and therefore led on his troops with great impetuosity toward the front of the rebel army, while the vizier horam, covered by the main body of misnar's forces, used his utmost endeavours to gain the right flank of the enemy. and now the adverse elephants made the sandy plains shake as they advanced, and from the turrets on their backs ten thousand hostile arrows were discharged. the loud hollow cymbals sounded the alarm. the troops of the sultan advanced with confidence, and the rebellious supporters of ahubal rushed forward with resolute despair. innumerable scimitars blazed fearfully over the heads of the warlike. the feet of the elephants were stained with the blood of the slain. but the troops of misnar were flushed with hope, and fear and dismay were in the paths of ahubal. the prince himself, in confusion, sounded the retreat; and the backs of his troops were already exposed to the darts of the sultan, when the swarthy enchanter tasnar appeared aloft, seated on a rapacious vulture. "base cowards!" exclaimed he, as he hovered in the air, "turn again, and fear not while tasnar is your friend. the troops of the sultan are exhausted and fatigued, and you are flying from those who are destined for your prey. are, then, the riches of delhi to be so easily resigned, and your tedious marches over the deserts to be foiled by a moment's fear? even now is india offered as the reward of your toils, and you prefer shame and ignominy to glory and honour!" the troops of ahubal hearing these words, and being encouraged by a sight so wonderful, for a time stood still, irresolute what to do; till tasnar, alighting on the ground, and seizing a javelin, bade the brave support and defend the avenger of their wrongs. the sultan's army, finding their enemies retreat, had followed them in a tumultuous manner, and were therefore less able to resist the enchanter tasnar and those who supported him. and they would have experienced the truth of the enchanter's assertion, had not the vizier horam, perceiving their resistance, hastened with a few chosen troops to the rescue of his friends. the battle, though not so general as before, was yet much fiercer; and tasnar and horam met face to face. the vizier aimed in vain his scimitar at the head of the enchanter, and tasnar found a superior arm withhold him when he attempted to demolish the faithful vizier. but this prevented not the general slaughter that ensued; till night, which recruits the wasted strength of man, divided the armies of misnar and ahubal. after the retreat of the two contending armies, the vizier horam attended the sultan in the royal pavilion, and informed him of the descent of the enchanter tasnar, and his prowess in the field. "alas!" answered misnar, "it is in vain, o horam, that the sword is uplifted against the power of enchantment, so long as these magicians are prepared against our attacks: we must surprise them, or we cannot prevail. tasnar is joined to my faithless brother ahubal; but there is in my camp, doubtless, some trusty slave, who will penetrate into the camp of ahubal, and destroy this enchanter while he sleeps in security; and horam my vizier must find that slave." horam bowed, and went out from the presence of the sultan in great distress of heart. "where," said he to himself, "can the mighty find a trusty friend? or what slave will be faithful to that master who has robbed him of his liberty? better had i perished by the hand of tasnar, than be betrayed through the wickedness of my servants!" the vizier, doubtful where to apply or whom to trust, returned to his tent; where he found an old female slave, who waited to deliver a message from his seraglio, which was kept in a tent adjoining to his own. horam, not regarding her presence, threw himself on his sofa, and there bemoaned his fate in being commanded to find a trusty slave. the female slave, who saw her master's tears, cast herself at his feet, and called allah to witness that she had always served him faithfully, and was ready to sacrifice her life for his pleasure. horam was rather more distressed than alleviated by her protestations. "what art thou?" said he to her, sternly--"a poor decrepit woman! and canst thou go forth and combat the enchantments of tasnar, the enemy of thy master's peace?" "the locust and the worm," said the female slave, "are the instruments of allah's vengeance on the mighty ones of the earth; and mahomet can make even my weakness subservient to the cause of my lord." "and how wilt thou prevail against ahubal the prince and tasnar the magician?" said horam, careless of what he spoke. "i will go," answered she, "into the camp of ahubal, and engage to poison my master the vizier, and misnar the lord of our lives, as i stand before them to minister unto them the pleasing draught. and while tasnar is intently hearing my proposals, the steel of death shall suddenly search out the vile enchanter's heart." "but knowest thou not," said horam, "that death will be the consequence of this rash deed?" "my lord," answered the slave, "i was, when young, bred up in the caves of denraddin, and was taught by a sage to know what should happen to me in future times; and the sage read in the stars of heaven, that by my means should the sultan of india be delivered from the enemy that oppressed him." the vizier rejoiced at the assurances of his female slave, and bade her immediately prepare herself to appear before the sultan. the slave, having put on her veil, followed the vizier horam, and was introduced to the tent of misnar. "what!" said the sultan, as he saw his vizier enter with the female slave, "what new kind of warrior has horam brought me?" "light of mine eyes!" answered the vizier, "behold a woman who is desirous of executing thy commands. this slave assures me that the sages of the caves of denraddin have read in the stars of heaven that by her means the sultan of india should be delivered from the enemy that oppressed him." "then," said the sultan, "let her go; and may the prophet of the faithful guide her footsteps in safety and security! i am assured that horam would not consent to an enterprise that was foolish and weak; and to his direction i leave the fate of this trusty female." the slave then fell prostrate, and besought the sultan to give her some of his writings and mandates, that she might pretend she had stolen them from his tent, with a design to carry and lay them at the feet of tasnar and ahubal. the sultan approved of her scheme, and ordered several mandates to be written and signed relative to the motions of his army the next day, which were quite contrary to the real disposition he intended to give out. the female slave being furnished with these, and being conducted by the vizier to the outskirts of the sultan's army, walked forward till she was challenged by the sentinels of ahubal, who seized upon and carried her to their commander. the commander, fearful of deceit, first satisfied himself that she was really a female slave, and then asked her what brought her alone out of the camp of the sultan. "bring me," said she, "before your prince; for i have things to deliver up to him that will be of service to his army." the commander then sent her with the guard to the pavilion of ahubal, where that prince and the enchanter tasnar were consulting in private together. as soon as the female slave had gained admittance, she fell prostrate at the feet of ahubal, which tasnar observing, commanded the guards to seize her. "let us see," said the enchanter, "what service this slave can do us, before she is trusted so near our persons." the female slave, being secured by the guards, was doubtful how to behave. "have you, base slave," said the enchanter, "aught to reveal to us? or are you sent as a spy to betray the counsels of the brave?" "i have," said the female slave (somewhat recovered from her surprise), "papers and mandates of great consequence, which i have stolen from the tent of the sultan; and i bring them to the prince ahubal, the lord of all the hearts of the indian empire." she then produced her mandates, and the guards laid them at the feet of ahubal. the prince ahubal, having read the papers, gave them to tasnar, saying, "these are indeed valuable acquisitions, and the female slave that brought them is worthy of high honour and reward." the slave, hearing this encomium, bowed down her head; for the guards who held her prevented her falling prostrate. "mighty son of dabulcombar," said the enchanter, "let the guards carry her forth, till we consult what reward she shall receive." as soon as the female slave was carried out, "my prince," said tasnar, "it is indeed politic to give rewards to those who serve us; and therefore it is sometimes necessary to do it, that the silly birds may be the more surely entangled in the snares of state; but when we can better serve our ends by their destruction than by their safety, it is but just that we should do so. this slave has already risked her life for our service, and therefore she will no doubt be ready to lay it down if we require it." as the enchanter said this, he called one of the guards, and commanded him to bring in the female slave and the bow-string. the slave approached, still held by the guards. "kind slave," said the enchanter, "you have already served us much; there is one thing more that we require: let the slaves fit the bow-string to thy neck, and let thy last breath be sent forth in praise of thy lord ahubal." the slaves of ahubal then put upon the wretched female the deadly bow-string, and strangled her instantly; after which they retired, leaving her dead body on the floor of the tent. "what hast thou done, o tasnar?" said ahubal, astonished at the deed. "i suspect," said the enchanter, "that this female was sent on a vile errand; and see, here," continued he, searching her garments, "is the weapon of death!" so saying, he drew a dagger from her bosom, which she had concealed with a design of stabbing the enchanter. "prudent tasnar," said the prince, "i admire thy foresight; but of what use is this murdered slave now to us?" "the disguise of this slave," answered the enchanter, "will introduce me into the camp of the sultan, and, i hope, will give me an opportunity of reaching his heart with that steel which he designed for mine. but no time must be lost: the morning will, ere long, disclose its grey light in the east." thus it is that deceit often leads into danger, and recoils upon itself. the enchanter then put on the garments of the murdered female slave, and stroking his face, it became like hers, so that ahubal could scarcely believe but the slave was revived. he also cut off the head of the female slave, and, anointing it with a white ointment, it resembled his own. thus equipped, the commander of the advanced guard conducted him to the foremost sentinels of the rebel army. the disguised enchanter soon reached the camp of the sultan; and the sentinels, imagining it was the same female slave whom horam had led through their ranks in the former part of the night, suffered him to pass unexamined. in a short time he reached the royal pavilion, and demanded admittance. the vizier horam, who was there in waiting, heard, as he supposed, the voice of his female slave, and went out to bring her before the sultan. "my slave," said horam, as he saw the disguised enchanter, "hast thou succeeded? and is tasnar, the foe of the faithful, dead?" "bring me before the sultan," said the pretended slave, "that my lord may first behold the head of his foe." the vizier then led the disguised enchanter into the pavilion, where the sultan misnar, being warned of her coming, was seated on his throne. as the enchanter approached, he held a dagger in one hand, which was covered by a long sleeve, and in the other he bore the fictitious head. and now the pretended female was about to ascend the steps of the throne, when the vizier commanded her first to fall prostrate before the sultan. the sham slave did as she was ordered; and the vizier, seeing her prostrate, fell upon her, and slew her with his sabre. "what hast thou done, wretched vizier?" said the sultan. "has envy thus rashly stirred thee up against my faithful slave, that----" the sultan would probably have continued his invective against his vizier much longer, had he not beheld the corpse of the dead enchanter change its appearance, and found that horam, by the sudden destruction of tasnar, had but just preserved his own life. at the sight of this transformation, misnar descended from his throne, and closely embraced his vizier horam. "o horam, forgive my impetuous temper!" said the sultan: "how have i blamed my friend for doing that which alone could have saved my life! but by what means did my faithful vizier become acquainted with the disguise of this wicked enchanter, or how did he discover himself to thy watchful eye?" "lord of my heart," answered horam, "when i carried my poor female slave through the camp (whose death we have unhappily caused by our fraud), i bade her, when she returned and saw me, first repeat these words in my ear: 'allah is lord of heaven, mahomet is his prophet, and misnar is his vicegerent upon earth.' and this precaution i took, fearful less tasnar, discovering our design, should invent this method of revenge. wherefore, when the pretended slave was brought before me, and she repeated not the words that i had taught her, i was assured that it was the enchanter in disguise, and waited till, by prostrating himself before my lord, he gave me an opportunity of destroying the life of the chief of thine enemies." the sultan of india again embraced his faithful vizier; and as soon as the eye of morn was opened in the east, the armies of ahubal beheld the enchanter tasnar's head fixed on a pole in the front of the sultan's army. the prince ahubal, rising with the earliest dawn of the morning, went forward to the front of his troops, and there, at a small distance, saw the hideous features of the enchanter tasnar already blackening in the sun. fear immediately took possession of his soul; and he ran, with tears in his eyes, and hid himself, till the sun went down, in his pavilion. the vizier horam, perceiving the approach of the sun, would have led on the sultan's troops to a second attack; but misnar commanded him to forbear, that his army might rest one day after their fatigues. the great distress of the enchanters, and their unexpected deaths, alarmed the rest of that wicked race; and ahaback and desra, seeing that no one enchanter had succeeded against the sultan, resolved to join their forces; and while one led a powerful army to ahubal's assistance from the east, the other raised the storms of war and rebellion on the western confines of the sultan's empire. in the meantime, the two armies of the sultan and ahubal continued inactive, till an express arrived that ahaback was leading the strength of nine thousand squadrons against their sultan, and that desra was travelling over the plains of embracan, with three thousand elephants and a hundred thousand troops from the western provinces. the sultan instantly resolved to attack ahubal before these succours could arrive; but the vizier horam fell at his feet, and besought him not to hazard his army, but rather to recruit and strengthen it. this advice, though quite contrary to the opinion of misnar, was yet so strongly urged by the vizier, that the sultan gave up his better judgment to the opinion of horam; and, when every one expected to be called forth to action, the vizier gave orders in the camp for recruits to be sought after, and went himself to the north of delhi to raise a second army for his master's service. the troops of ahubal, finding themselves free from the attacks of the sultan's army, endeavoured to comfort their prince, who was grieved and dejected at the loss of his friends; and the provinces of the south, to dissipate his gloom, besought him to permit them to raise a pavilion worthy of his dignity, as heretofore he contented himself with such as his generals made use of. the prince ahubal, who by nature was not formed for war or contest, but only stirred up by the enchanters to be their tool against the sultan his brother, was easily persuaded to accept of the offers of his troops, and a hundred curious artisans were set to work to contrive and erect a sumptuous pavilion for the use of the prince. to these workmen, all the provinces who acknowledged the authority of ahubal sent diamonds and jewels, and rich silks, and all the costly materials of the world, to finish the splendid pavilion which they purposed to raise for their prince. while the sumptuous tent was raising, the squadrons of ahaback drew nearer and nearer, and the elephants of desra were within thirty days of the camp of ahubal. the vizier horam, having returned with his reinforcements, waited on the sultan, and besought him to trust the management of his army to him for forty days. "horam," said the sultan, "i have such confidence in thy sense and loyalty, that i grant thy request." the vizier, having obtained his end, sent a messenger to ahubal, and desired a forty-days' truce between the armies, to which the prince readily agreed. in a few hours the truce was proclaimed in the sultan's camp; and when misnar hoped that his vizier would have attacked the rebel army with a force more than double their number, he heard the trumpets sound a truce in the tents. such a behaviour, so contrary to reason, alarmed the sultan, and he sent for the vizier horam, and demanded his reasons for making a truce with his enemies. "my lord," answered horam, "i have heard that the southern provinces are erecting a pavilion for your rebel brother ahubal, which in splendour and magnificence is to surpass all the glories of thy palace at delhi; and being convinced that thy subjects are led more by show and appearance than by duty and honour, i feared that ahubal's glorious pavilion might draw the neighbouring cities into his encampment, and thereby strengthen his army, and weaken the resources of my prince. for this reason i besought my lord to give me the command of his army for forty days, in which time i propose to build thee such a pavilion as shall far outshine in splendour every glory upon earth." "horam," answered the sultan, "i have put all things into thine hands; but let me beseech thee to be careful of thy master." the vizier horam, leaving the sultan, sent to delhi for workmen and artificers; and, ordering a large spot to be enclosed, that none might behold his pavilion till it was completed, he proceeded with the work with great care and assiduity. while these works of peace, rather than of war, were carrying on in the two armies of misnar and ahubal, the reinforcements of ahaback and desra arrived; and the captains in the sultan's army, hearing of the great addition which was made to the rebel army, while the vizier was spending his time with his curious workmen, petitioned the sultan that one might be put over them who loved war rather than the amusements of females and children. the sultan, who thought, with his captains, that horam was rather betraying than forwarding his cause, commanded the vizier to be brought before him, and, in the presence of the captains, asked him why he delayed to lead his troops against the rebel army. the vizier horam made no answer to the sultan's question, but desired his lord to bring the captains towards the pavilion which he had erected. as soon as the sultan appeared before the enclosure, several slaves behind were employed to remove it, so that in an instant misnar and his captains beheld the most magnificent spectacle that art could achieve. the sight of the pavilion was highly acceptable to the army of the sultan; but the captains justly condemned a performance which had, without cause, wasted the greatest part of the coffers of india. the pavilion was situated at one extremity of the sultan's army, at a small distance from a rocky mountain, and surrounded by a grove of palm-trees, part of which had been cut down by the vizier's order, to admit the air and light among the rest. it was composed of crimson velvet, embroidered round with flowers and festoons of silver and gold; and in the body was worked, in golden tissue, the deaths of the enchanters ulin, happuck, ollomand, and tasnar. the pavilion stood upon a carpet or cloth of gold, and within was supported by four massive pillars of burnished gold; the ceiling of the canopy within was studded with jewels and diamonds, and under it were placed two sofas of the richest workmanship. the sultan, though much averse to such pageantry, was yet persuaded by his vizier to sleep in his new pavilion; and the glorious appearance which it made brought thousands to view the magnificent abode of their sultan. the account of this splendid tent soon reached ahubal's army, and every one extolled the glorious pavilion: so that ahubal's tent seemed as nothing in comparison with the sultan's. ahaback and desra, who were in the prince's pavilion, hearing the account, resolved to go invisibly and examine it; and leaving the prince, and putting each a ring on his fingers, they passed the sentinels and watches of both armies. but if the sight of the pavilion filled them with malice and envy, the histories of their brethren's deaths increased that malice, and urged them to revenge. they returned hastily to ahubal's pavilion, and related to him what they had seen. ahubal's heart rankled at their account, and his visage fell, to hear how much his brother had outdone him in magnificence. "get me a tent more splendid than the sultan's," said he to the enchanters, "or disband your armies, and leave me to my fate." "my prince," answered ahaback, "let not such a trifle discompose you. it is true, we could in a moment erect a pavilion more magnificent than the sultan's; but it will be more glorious to dispossess him of that which he has built, and to set my prince upon the throne of his father: for which purpose let the trumpet sound on the morrow,--the truce is at an end, and if it were not, we mean not to keep faith with an usurper,--and ere the sultan be prepared, let us fall upon him. who knows but we may sleep to-morrow night in this pavilion which now causes uneasiness?" the counsel of ahaback pleased both desra and ahubal; and they gave orders for the troops to march in the morning, and attack the army of the sultan. the forces of misnar were sleeping in their tents when the alarm was spread that the enemy was upon them. the vizier horam arose in haste, and put himself at the head of the army; but, instead of leading them towards their enemies, he fled off to the right with the choicest of the troops, and taking possession of a pass in the mountains behind the pavilion, sent a messenger to inform the sultan that he had secured him a retreat, in case the armies of ahubal should conquer. the sultan, being at the extremity of his army, knew not of the confused attack till it was too late to redeem his lost opportunity. he collected his scattered troops, and led them towards the enemy, at the same time sending a message to horam to leave the mountains and support him. the captains and officers that followed misnar behaved with great resolution and intrepidity, and the sultan exposed himself frequently to the darts and missile weapons of his enemies, till, overpowered by numbers, and his own troops on all sides giving way, through the confusion which prevailed, he was forced to make to the mountains, where his vizier still continued, though he had received the sultan's commands to the contrary. the troops of ahubal pursued the sultan's scattered forces to the mountains, where the vizier's troops opened to receive their friends, and then opposed the rebels, who were faint with the fatigues of the day. after a great slaughter, the rebels were forced to give over, and, returning to the encampment of the sultan, they loaded themselves with the spoils of their enemies. ahaback and desra were greatly elated at their success, and ahubal in one day found himself master of india, his brother defeated, and his gaudy pavilion wrested from him. ahubal beheld with surprise the magnificence of the pavilion, and seeing the invidious workmanship on the outside, where the deaths of his former friends were displayed, "ahaback and desra," said the prince, "it is but just that you should revenge yourselves on my proud brother. for my part, i never can inhabit a pavilion which was meant as a triumph over my friends; but you may justly take up your abode here, that the nations may at once learn, when they see you in this pavilion, the former misfortunes of your brethren, and your present well-deserved success: wherefore, to-night, my friends, take up your residence here, as this place is most worthy to hold you, and to-morrow i will order my workmen to remove the pavilion next my own." the enchanters were pleased at the speech of ahubal, and the banquet was prepared for the conquerors in the gay pavilion of the unfortunate sultan, while he remained among the mountains, wanting even the necessaries of life for himself and his army. but the sultan's misfortunes did not make him forget the cause of them. he called a council of his captains, and commanded the vizier horam to be brought before them. the vizier was condemned by every voice, and misnar, with tears in his eyes, pronounced the sentence of death against him. "to-morrow," said the sultan, "must the ill-fated horam be numbered with the dead." horam heard the sentence without emotion. "my life," said he, "is in the hand of my lord, and he is welcome to the blood of his slave." the vizier was then ordered into the custody of a hundred men, and a captain was appointed to guard him until morning. the unfortunate sultan then retired to rest in an obscure tent, or rather not to rest, but to an irksome contemplation. "my kingdom," said he, "is passed from me, and, worse than my kingdom, my friend, my dearly beloved horam, has proved a traitor to his master." as the sultan was filled with these meditations, his guards gave him notice that the captain who was set over the vizier had brought horam to communicate an affair of moment to him. "is there deceit in horam," said the sultan, "that he cometh like a thief in the night? if horam is false, farewell my life. let him that destroyed my kingdom complete his ingratitude by finishing my fate." the captain then entered the tent of his sultan with horam in chains. "life of my life, and master of my thoughts," said the vizier, "ere i die, i am constrained to show thee among these mountains far greater riches than are in thy palace at delhi, or in the tents of thine enemies--riches that will restore thy affairs, and turn thy tears into showers of joy." "are you not satisfied," said misnar, "o ill-fated horam, that you come to deceive me with new illusions? where is my kingdom? where my royalty? where my army? by thy fatal counsels destroyed, overwhelmed, confounded! now, then, lead the way, and let me see these curious treasures which are to recompense the loss of all my hopes." the captain then led horam out of the tent, and the sultan followed. the vizier, being in chains, moved but slowly, and the captain of the guard, dismissing his men, drew his sabre, and held it naked over the head of the vizier. the darkness of the night prevented the sultan from seeing whither he was carried by his vizier. they passed over various rocks, and were obliged to wade through some small brooks or rivulets which fell from the tops of the mountains, till at length they arrived at a spacious cavern, which was formed by two pendent rocks. here the vizier entered, and, lifting up his chains, knocked against a small door at the extremity of the cavern. in a moment it opened, and four slaves came forward with flambeaux in their hands. the slaves, seeing their master and the sultan, fell prostrate: and horam inquired whether all was safe. "yes, my lord," answered the slaves. "we have not been disturbed since my lord first brought us to this gloomy cavern." "where is camul?" said the vizier. "he watches," replied the slaves, "with the axe in his hand." "what hour of the night is it?" said horam to his slaves. "the third watch of the night is past," answered the slaves. "then enter, my sultan," said horam, "and see thine enemies perish from before thee." "what enemies? and what mysterious place is this?" said the sultan. "who is camul? and what axe doth he bear in his hand? lead me, horam, not into danger, and remember that the sabre of my captain hangeth over thy head." the sultan then entered in at the little door, and followed the vizier and his guard, and the four slaves with flambeaux in their hands. in this manner misnar passed through a long passage hewn out of the solid rock, till he beheld, at a distance, a man seated on a stone with an axe in his hand, and nine lamps burning before him. as they drew near, the man fell prostrate before them; and the vizier, also falling prostrate, desired misnar to take the axe out of the hand of camul his slave. "what wonderful axe is this," said the sultan, "that is thus preserved in the bowels of the earth?" the sultan took the axe, and camul the slave removing the stone on which he sat, there appeared a strong rope underneath, one end of which passed through the rocks, and the other was fastened to an enormous ring of iron. "strike, royal master," said horam, "and sever that rope from the ring of iron." the sultan did as horam desired, and struck the rope with his axe, and divided it from the ring. the rope, being released, flew with great swiftness through the hole in the rock, and misnar waited some time to see what might be the consequence of cutting it asunder; but nothing appearing, he said to his vizier, "where are the riches, horam, which i left my bed to view? is this like the rest of your promises? and am i brought here to be again deceived?" "royal master," answered horam, "let me die the death of a rebel. i have nothing more to discover: pardon my follies, and avenge thine own losses by the sword of justice." "what!" said the sultan, enraged, "hast thou brought me through the dangerous passes of the mountains by night only to cut a rope asunder? and was i called forth to see only a passage made in the rocks, and the slaves of horam as ill employed as their master lately has been? lead me, villain!" continued he, "back to my tent, and expect with the rising of the sun the fate you have so amply merited." thus saying, the sultan returned, and the captain of the guard led horam back in chains to his place of confinement. in the morning, the army of the sultan misnar, which had escaped to the mountains, were all drawn out, the cymbals sounded, and a gibbet forty feet high was erected in their front, to which the captain of the guard led the unfortunate vizier horam. at the sound of the cymbals the sultan came from his tent, and gave orders that horam should be conducted to his fate. the vizier, unmoved at his doom, surrendered himself to the officer who was to execute the sultan's sentence; and the ignominious rope was put about his neck, when a messenger, attended by several sentinels, came running into the camp. the messenger hastened to the sultan, and thus delivered his message: "ahaback and desra, the wicked enchanters who have upholden thy rebellious brother, are dead; the army of ahubal is in the utmost consternation; and the friends of the sultan wish to see thee hunting thine enemies, as the lion hunts the wild asses in the forest." this messenger was succeeded by several of the sultan's spies, who confirmed the account. misnar then put himself at the head of his troops, ordered horam back to his former confinement, and hastened to fall upon the forces of the rebels. early the same morning, ahubal was awakened by his guards, who, with countenances of woe, declared to him the death of his friends ahaback and desra. "are my friends dead?" said ahubal, trembling: "by what misfortune am i bereaved of them? what new device has misnar practised against them? are not these wise and sage magicians, then, a match for a boy's prudence? alas! what can _i_ effect against them, when these fall away before his victorious arm?" "prince," answered the guards, "we have too late discovered the wiles of our enemies. over the magnificent pavilion of the sultan, which horam built for his master, the artful vizier had concealed a ponderous stone, which covered the whole pavilion. this, by some secret means, he contrived in the night to release from its confinement, while ahaback and desra were sleeping on the sofas beneath it; and ere day began to rise, their guards were surprised by the fall, and ran to release their masters from the stone; but, alas! their bodies were crushed to atoms, and still remain buried under the pavilion, as fifty of the strongest of thy troops were unable to remove the stone from the ground." at these words the countenance and the heart of ahubal sank; and ere he could recover, word was brought him that the sultan's troops were in the midst of his army, and that none dared stand against them unless he approached to encourage them. ahubal was so overwhelmed with fear and grief, that, instead of leading his troops, he prepared himself for flight; and misnar, pursuing his good fortune, was in a few hours in possession, not only of his own tents, but also of those of the enemy. having gained a complete victory, and sent part of his troops after those that were fled, the sultan commanded his vizier to be brought before him, and, in the sight of his army, asked him what merit he could challenge in the success of that day. "the contrivances of thy slave had been useless," horam replied, "if a less than my sultan had afterwards led his troops to the battle. therefore thine only be the glory and the honour of the day; but my lord must know, that some time since we were informed that the enchanters ahaback and desra were preparing to uphold thy rebellious brother; and well i knew that prudence, and not force, must prevail against them. i therefore besought my lord to grant me the chief command for forty days, and neglected to take such advantages over ahubal's troops as the captains of thy armies advised. "this i did, knowing that any victory would be vain and fruitless, if the enchanters were not involved in the ruin; and that, while they were safe, a second army would spring up as soon as the first was destroyed. for these reasons, i endeavoured to strengthen my sultan's army, that when the reinforcements of ahaback and desra should arrive, their numbers might not prevail against us. "in the meantime, the sumptuous pavilion which was built for ahubal inspired me with a device, which i hoped would put the enchanters in my power. "studious that no one might interrupt or betray my designs, i enclosed a place near the mountains, surrounded with trees, where i began to build a pavilion, which i gave out was erected in honour of my lord the sultan: within this pavilion i concealed a massy stone, which was sawn out of the solid rock, and which, by the help of several engines, was hung upon four pillars of gold, and covered the whole pavilion. the rope which upheld this massy stone passed through one of the golden pillars into the earth beneath, and, by a secret channel cut in the rock, was carried onward through the side of the mountain, and was fastened to a ring of iron in a cave hollowed out of the rock on the opposite side. "by the time the enchanters were arrived in the camp of ahubal, the pavilion was finished; and although i had secret advice that my sultan's troops were to be attacked on the morrow, yet i chose to conceal that knowledge, and so to dispose of the army that the chief part might fly with me behind the mountains which hung over the pavilion, and that the rest, having no conductor, might be put to flight with as little slaughter as possible. this i did, expecting that ahaback and desra, puffed up with their good fortune, would take possession of my sultan's pavilion." "rise, faithful horam," said the sultan misnar; "your plot is sufficiently unravelled; but why did you hide your intentions from your lord?" "lord of my life," answered the vizier, "because i was resolved, in case my plot did not succeed, to bear the burden myself, that my sultan's honour might not be lessened in the eyes of his troops." this noble confession of the vizier pleased the whole army, and they waited with the utmost impatience to hear his pardon pronounced. the sultan then embraced his vizier, and the shouts of the army were,--"long live misnar the lord of our hearts, and horam the first and the most faithful of his slaves!" the army of ahubal still continued to fly after their prince, whose fear did not suffer him to direct those who came up to him. and now, in a few days, the army would have been totally dispersed, had not the giant kifri, enraged at the death of his brethren, and travelling in his fury, appeared before the eyes of the terrified prince and his troops, in a narrow pass among the rocks. the presence of kifri was not less terrifying than the noise of the pursuers; and ahubal, at the sight of the monster, fell with his face to the ground. "who art thou," said kifri, with the voice of thunder, "that fliest like the roebuck, and tremblest like the heart-stricken antelope?" "prince of earth," said ahubal, "i am the friend of ulin, of happuck, of ollomand, of tasnar, of ahaback, and of desra. i am he who, through the power of the enchanters, have contended for the throne of india." "wretched, then, are they that league with thee," answered the giant kifri, "thou son of fear, thou wretch unworthy of such support! was it for thee, base coward, that ollomand poured forth his unnumbered stores? that the plains of india were dyed with the blood of desra, the mistress of our race?" as kifri spake thus, his broad eyeballs glowed like the red orb of day when covered with dark fleeting clouds, and from his nostrils issued forth the tempest and the flame. in an instant he seized on the fear-shaken ahubal, as the eagle shuts within her bloody talons the body of the affrighted trembling hare; and, lifting him high in the air, he dashed the wretched prince against the rugged face of the mountains. the blood of ahubal ran down from the mountain's side, and his mangled limbs, crushed by the fall, hung quivering on the pointed rocks. the death of ahubal lessened not the fury of kifri; but all that followed the unhappy prince experienced his rage, till, glutted with blood, and tired of his revenge, the monstrous giant sank to rest, and stretched out his limbs upon the tops of the mountains. but the sleep of kifri was cumbrous as his body. in the visions of the night came ulin before him, and the ghost of the murdered happuck was in the eye of his fancy. "enemy of our race," said they, "where is he who was to redeem our glory and to revenge our blood? where is ahubal, of whom the dark saying went forth, that none but our race could overpower him? the dark saying is now interpreted by thy shameful deed, and the powers of enchantment are at an end!" the giant, disturbed at his visions, started up: the moon rode high above the mountains, and the trees of the forest looked broad with the shades of night. he cast his black eyes to the south, and saw the storm rolling forth in clouds: the tempest gathered around him, and poured its fury against him. the giant bent his body towards a huge rock, whereon he had slept, and straining his tough sinews, tore up the mighty fragment from the ground. the earth felt the shock, and its dark entrails trembled; but kifri, undismayed, threw the wild ruin to the clouds. the labouring mountain returned quickly on the rebellious head of the giant, crushing him beneath its ponderous mass, and finished, by its descent, the life and the presumption of kifri. the intelligence of kifri's death was brought to the sultan by one of the followers of ahubal, who, at the first approach of the giant, had run from his presence, and hid himself in a cave in the rocks. "horam," said the sultan, "our enemies are no more; seven are destroyed, and one weak woman alone remains. but since kifri, the terror of asia, has fallen a sacrifice to the cause of ahubal, and since the rebel is himself destroyed, what has misnar more to fear? however, let our army be yet increased: let trusty nabobs be sent into every province, and nothing omitted which may preserve the peace of my empire: it is the part of prudence to watch most where there is the least appearance of danger." the vizier horam obeyed his master's command; and misnar, having regulated his army, returned in triumph to delhi. the sultan, having restored peace to his kingdoms, began to administer impartial justice to his subjects: and, although the faith of horam had often been tried, yet misnar chose not to rely altogether on any but himself. "vizier," said the sultan, as horam was standing before him, "are my people happy?--it is for them i rule, and not for myself; and though i delay not to punish the licentious and rebellious, yet shall i ever study to gain the hearts of my obedient subjects. a father's frown may restrain his children, but his smile can only bless them. dost not thou remember, horam, the story of mahoud, the son of the jeweller? and how am i sure but even now private malice may be wreaking as great cruelty upon some innocent person, as the princess hemjunah suffered from the enchanter bennaskar?" "my prince," answered the vizier, "the toils and the dangers of the war have never for a moment driven from my mind the memory of that princess, who, with mahoud, underwent the most odious transformation through the power of ulin." "nor have i," answered the sultan, "forgot their distress; but the cares of my empire have hitherto prevented my search after them. as to the princess, she is possibly with her father in cassimir; but mahoud is doubtless an inhabitant of delhi, where he lived before his transformation; therefore, o vizier, give immediate orders that the respective cadis of each division of the city, who have the numbers and the names of every inhabitant within their district, be questioned concerning this jeweller's son; and let him to-morrow be brought before me." the vizier horam did as he was commanded, and sent for all the cadis of the city, and examined them concerning mahoud; but no one could give any account of him. the next morning horam attended the divan, and acquainted the sultan with his fruitless search. the sultan was much dissatisfied at the vizier's report; and after he had answered the petitioners and dismissed them, he sent again for his favourite vizier. "horam," said the sultan, "my cadis are remiss in their duty: mahoud is certainly hid in my city: all is not right, horam; the poor son of the jeweller would be proud to own that he was formerly the companion of the sultan of the indies, though in his distress; he had long ere this been at the foot of my throne, did not somewhat prevent him." "prince of my life," answered the vizier, "if mahoud is in this city, he is doubtless disguised, and has reasons for concealing himself; and how shall thy officers of justice discover, among many millions, one obscure person, who is studious to hide himself?" "in a well-regulated city," answered the sultan, "every one is known, and sound policy has always invented such distinctions as may prevent the disguise of designing and wicked men. but, till my capital is better regulated, i mean to take advantage myself of the confusion of my city, and examine, in disguise, those private outrages which are screened from the public eye of justice. wherefore, horam, procure two disguises for yourself and me; and let the emir matserak be sent ambassador to the sultan of cassimir, to inquire after the welfare of the princess hemjunah." the vizier, in obedience to the sultan's orders, sent the habits of two fakeers into the palace; and at evening the sultan, accompanied by his vizier, went forth in his disguise. as they passed through the second street from the royal palace, one habited like a fakeer, with his horn, saluted them, and asked them to partake of the alms he had received. the sultan readily accepted his offer, lest the brother of his order should be offended. they immediately retired into a remote place, and, the strange fakeer pulling out the provision he had received, they began their repast. "brother," said the fakeer to the disguised sultan, "you are, i perceive, but a novice in your profession; you have seen but little of life, and you would be puzzled were you to encounter such wonders as i experienced but last night in my approach to this city." "what," answered the sultan hastily, "were they? perhaps, brother, you mistake me: possibly, though not so communicative as yourself, i may nevertheless be as brave and resolute." "alas!" answered the fakeer, "i begin to suspect that you are no true brother: you know we are communicative among ourselves, but secret to the world about us. by the faith which i profess, i will no longer converse with you unless you give me some convincing proofs of the genuineness of your profession!" here the vizier, perceiving that the sultan was hard pressed, interrupted the fakeer, and said, "o holy fakeer, but stranger to our tribe, whence comest thou that thou knowest not elezren, the prince of devotees in the city of delhi, to whom the emirs bow, and before whom the populace lie prostrate as he passes? thou art indeed but newly come to delhi, since the fame of elezren hath not been sounded in thine ears." "brother," answered the fakeer, "the fame of elezren is not confined to delhi alone, since all asia receives him; but where are the silver marks of wisdom on his cheeks, and the furrows of affliction, which are deep-wrought in the aged front of elezren?" at these words the fakeer sprang from the ground, and, running into the streets, he made the air echo with his complaints. the mob, hearing that two young men had personated the appearance of the caste, crowded to the place where the sultan and his vizier sat trembling at their own temerity, and were just about to tear them to pieces when the vizier, stepping forward to meet them, cried aloud, "slaves, presume not to approach your sultan! for know that misnar, the idol of his people, sits here disguised as a fakeer." luckily for the prince, several of the foremost were well acquainted with his features, or it is probable the mob would have looked upon the vizier's speech as only a device to prevent their fury. but when the fakeer saw the foremost of the crowd acknowledge misnar as their sultan, and fall down before him, he tried to escape. "my friends," said the sultan, "secure that wretch, and suffer him not to escape. and, horam," said he, turning to his vizier, "let him be confined in a dungeon this night, and to-morrow brought before me in the divan of justice." "the words of my lord," answered horam, "are a law which cannot be changed. but let me beseech my prince to retire from the crowd." misnar willingly did as horam advised; and the people made way for him to the palace, crying out, "long live misnar, the pride of his slaves!" the sultan being returned to his palace with his vizier, "horam," said he, "each man has his part in life allotted to him; and the folly of those who, leaving the right and regular path, strike into the mazes of their own fancy, is sufficiently seen from our adventure this day: wherefore i would have every man endeavour to fill his real character and to shine in that, and not attempt what belongs to another, in which he can gain no credit, and runs a great hazard of disgrace." the vizier went forth, and brought the fakeer bound in chains before the sultan. the fakeer advanced to the presence of the sultan, full of shame and fear; and falling at his footstool, cried out, "i call mahomet to witness, i slew not the man in my wrath, but in mine own defence." "what man?" said the sultan, astonished at his words; "whom hast thou slain, o wicked fakeer, that thine own fears should turn evidence against thee?" "alas!" answered the fakeer, "hear me, most injured lord, for the blood of my brother presseth me sore. "as i journeyed yesterday, and was arrived within a league of the city of delhi, i turned me towards a place walled round, which i supposed was a repository for the dead; and finding the gate open, i entered into it, intending to shelter myself for a few minutes against the scorching sun. "as i entered i perceived at one end a stone sepulchre, whose mouth was opened, and the stone rolled from it. surprised at the sight, i walked forward to the vault, and heard within the voices of several persons. at this i was in doubt whether to proceed or retire, supposing that some robbers had taken up their residence there. "in the midst of my confusion, a young man with a turban hanging over his face came out, and seeing me, drew his sabre and made toward me to kill me. whereupon i took up a large fragment of the wall which lay at my feet, and as he came forward i threw it and felled him to the ground; then running up, i snatched the sabre from his hand, and would have destroyed him, but he cried out, saying, 'take care what thou doest, rash man; for it is not one but two lives that thou takest away when thou destroyest me!' "amazed and wondering how it was possible for me to destroy two lives by avenging myself on one wretch, who, without offence, had meditated my death, i stayed my hand; which the young man seeing, he aimed to pull the sabre out of my hand, whereupon i lifted up the sabre above his head, and at one blow severed it from his body. immediately, seeing the blood start from his veins, i ran out of the enclosure, fearing lest any one of his company should overtake me, and flew till i reached the city of delhi, where i subsisted that night and this day on the alms of the faithful, till i met my sultan and his vizier in the habit of two fakeers." "and what," said the sultan, "has made thee thine own accuser, since the life you took was in your own defence? if thy tale is true, his blood rests on his own head, who was the aggressor; but the story is so singular, that i shall detain thee till my vizier and a party of soldiers be sent to search the enclosure you have mentioned." the vizier then gave orders for the guard to mount their horses, and the sultan resolved to accompany the vizier, the fakeer being carried between two of the guards to point out the scene of the encounter. the party having arrived at the iron gate of the enclosure, horam, with ten of the guards, went in on foot, and marched with the fakeer to the tomb where he heard the voices, and whence the young man had issued forth. as they approached the tomb they beheld the body of the young man on the ground, and his head at a distance. the guards, entering the tomb, found no one within, but at the upper end they saw a stone case supported by two blocks of black marble. the stone case was covered with a flat marble, which the guards could not remove from its place. the vizier, being acquainted with these particulars, returned to the sultan, and related to him what the guards had discovered. but misnar, recollecting the many devices which the enchanters had prepared to ensnare him, was very doubtful what course to take. on a sudden the moon, which shone exceeding bright, was overcast, and the clouds appeared of a glowing red, like the fiery heat of a burning furnace; hollow murmurs were heard at a distance, and a putrid and suffocating smell arose; when, in the midst of the fiery clouds, the black form of a haggard and hideously distorted female became visible, furiously riding on an unwieldy monster with many legs. in an instant the clouds to the east disappeared, and the heavens from that quarter shone like the meridian sun, and discovered a lovely graceful nymph, the brightness of whose features expressed the liveliest marks of meekness, grace, and love. "hapacuson," said the fair one, addressing herself to the hag, "why wilt thou vainly brandish thy rebellious arms against the powers of heaven? if the sultan, though he be the favourite of allah, do wrong, the mighty one, who delighteth in justice, will make thee the instrument of his vengeance on the offending prince. but know the extent of thy power, vain woman! and presume not to war against the will of heaven, lest the battle of the faithful genii be set in array against thee, and thou be joined to the number of those who are already fallen." "proud vassal of light," answered the enchantress hapacuson, "i fear not thy threats, nor the bright pageants that surround thee: war, tumult, chaos, and darkness, fear and dismay, are to me more welcome than the idle splendours of thy master." "abandoned wretch!" answered the bright being, "defile not thy maker's creations by thy blasphemous tongue; but learn at least to fear that mighty one thou art not worthy to honour." thus saying, she blew from her mouth a vivid flame, like a sharp two edged-sword, which, entering into the clouds that surrounded hapacuson, the hag gave a horrible shriek, and the thick clouds rolling around her, she flew away into the darkness. the fair one then descending towards the sultan, the brightness disappeared, and misnar, the vizier, and the guards, fell prostrate before her. "arise, misnar," said she, "heaven's favourite! and fear not to enter the tomb, where the enchantments of hapacuson are now at an end." the sultan was about to answer, but the fair one led the way to the tomb, and commanded him to enter with her, and uncover the stone case which stood at the upper end. as the lid was removing, a sigh issued from its case, and a lovely female arose as from a deep sleep. "inform me," said the sultan, "whom it is my happy fate to release from this wretched confinement?" "alas!" answered the beautiful maiden, "art thou the vile bennaskar, or the still more vile mahoud? oh, let me sleep till death, and never more behold the wretchedness of life!" "what!" said the sultan, starting from his knees, "do i behold the unfortunate princess of cassimir?" "illustrious hemjunah," said the vizier horam, as the princess stared wildly about her, "misnar, the sultan of india, is before thee." "yes," interrupted the fair spirit, "doubt not, hemjunah, the truth of the vizier horam; for behold! macoma, thy guardian genius, assures thee of the reality of what thou beholdest." "helper of the afflicted," answered the princess of cassimir, "doubt vanishes when you are present; but wonder not at my incredulity, since my whole life has been a false illusion. o allah, wherefore hast thou made the weakest the most subject to deceit?" "to call in question the wisdom of allah," answered the genius macoma, "is to act like the child of folly: go, then, thou mirror of justice and understanding, and span with thy mighty arms the numberless heavens of the faithful; weigh in thy just balance the wisdom of thy maker, and the fitness of his creation; and, joined with the evil race from whom i have preserved thee, rail at that goodness thou canst not comprehend." "spare me, just genius," answered the princess of cassimir; "spare the weakness of my disordered head. i confess my folly; but weak is the offspring of weakness." "true," replied the genius; "but although you are weak, ought you therefore to be presumptuous? knowest thou not that the sultan misnar suffered with you because he despaired? and now would hapacuson return thee to thy former slumbers, did not allah, who has beheld thy former sufferings, in pity forgive the vain thoughts of mortality." "blessed is his goodness," answered the princess, "and blessed are his servants, who delight in succouring and instructing the weak and distressed." "to be sorry for our errors," said the genius, "is to bring down the pardon of heaven; and hemjunah, though so long overpowered by the malicious, is nevertheless one of the loveliest of her sex. "sultan of india," continued macoma, turning to misnar, "i leave the princess of cassimir to your care, in full assurance that the delicacy of her sentiments will not be offended by your royal and noble treatment of her. but let an ambassador be immediately dispatched from your court to inform her aged and pious father of the safety of his daughter." "the dictates of macoma," answered the sultan, bowing before her, "are the dictates of virtue and humanity, and her will shall be religiously obeyed." at these words the genius vanished, and the sultan bade part of his guards return to delhi to the chief of his eunuchs, and order him to prepare a palanquin and proper attendants to convey the princess of cassimir to the royal palace. while these preparations were making, the sultan and his vizier endeavoured to soothe and entertain the princess of cassimir; and though horam was desirous of hearing her adventures, yet the sultan would not suffer him to request hemjunah's relation, till she was carried to the palace, and refreshed after her fatigues. the chief of the eunuchs arrived in a short time, and the princess was conveyed, ere morning, to the palace of misnar, where the female apartments were prepared for her reception, and a number of the first ladies of delhi appointed to attend her. the sultan, in the meantime, having ordered the fakeer to be released and sent out of the city, entered the divan with his vizier, and, having dispatched the complainants, retired to rest. in the evening of the same day, the princess, being recovered from her fatigue, sent the chief of the eunuchs to the sultan, and desired leave to throw herself at his feet in gratitude for her escape. the sultan received the message with joy, and ordering horam his vizier to be called, they both went into the apartments of the females, where the princess of cassimir was seated on a throne of ivory, and surrounded by the slaves of the seraglio. the princess descended from her throne at the approach of the sultan, and fell at his feet; but misnar, taking her by the hand, said, "rise, princess, and injure not your honour by thus abasing yourself before your slave. the lovely hemjunah has promised to relate her wonderful adventures; and horam, the faithful friend of my bosom, and our former fellow-sufferer, is come to participate with me in the charming relation." "prince," said hemjunah, "i shall not conceal what you are so desirous of knowing." the sultan then waved his hand, and the slaves withdrew. the history of the princess of cassimir. before i had attained my thirteenth year, my father proposed to marry me to the prince of georgia. it was in vain that, when my mother disclosed the fatal news to me, i urged my youth, and my entire ignorance of the prince or his qualities. "my child," said chederazade, "to make ourselves happy, we must be useful to the world. the prince of georgia has done your father great service in the wars, and you are destined to reward his toils: all the subjects of cassimir will look upon your choice as a compliment to them, and they will rejoice to see their benefactor blessed with the hand of their princess." "but, madam," answered i, "does the happiness of my father's subjects require such a sacrifice in me? must i live in a country to whose language and manners i am a stranger? must i be for ever banished?" "i have given sufficient reasons," replied my mother, "to engage your compliance with your father's desire, and these will influence you, if prudence and wisdom are the motives of your choice; and if you want prudence, it is fit that those who are able to instruct you should also guide and direct your actions." at these words, chederazade left me bathed in tears and trembling at my fate. my nurse eloubrou was witness to the hard command my mother had imposed upon me, and endeavoured to comfort me in my affliction; but her words were as the wind on the surface of the rock; and to add to my griefs, in a few minutes after, the chief of the eunuchs entered, and bade me prepare to receive the sultan my father. the sultan of cassimir entering my apartment, i fell at his feet. "hemjunah," said he, "the prince of georgia is my friend, and i intend to give my daughter to his arms." shocked at these successive declarations of my fate, which i had no reason to suspect the day before, i fainted away, and when i recovered, found myself on a sofa, with eloubrou at my feet. "my lovely princess," said eloubrou, "how little am i able to see you thus! and yet i fear the news i have to impart to you may reduce you to your former condition." "alas," said i, "nurse, what new evil has befallen me? what worse can happen than my marriage with a stranger?" "princess," replied eloubrou, "the prince is to see you this night: nay, the ceremonies are preparing, the changes of vestment, the dessert, and the choral bands." "ah," said i, "cruel eloubrou! what hast thou said? am i to be sacrificed this night to my father's policy? am i to be given as a fee to the plunderer of cities?--for such they are whose profession is arms." "no, princess," said a young female slave who attended on eloubrou; "trust but to me, and the prince of georgia shall in vain seek the honour of your alliance." the faithful eloubrou shrieked at the words of the female slave, and endeavoured to clap her hands and bring the chief of the eunuchs to her assistance; but the female slave waved her left hand, and eloubrou and the rest of the slaves stood motionless before her. "most lovely princess," said she, "i am the friend of the distressed, and love to prevent the severe and ill-natured authority of parents: give me your hand, and i will deliver you from that monster, the prince of georgia." "what!" answered i, "shall i trust to a stranger, whom i know not, and fly from my father's court? no!" "well, then," said she, "i hear the cymbals playing before the prince, and the trumpets, and the kettledrums. farewell, sweet mistress of the fierce and unconquerable prince of georgia." as she spoke, the warlike music sounded in my ears; and, not doubting but that the prince and my father were coming, i held out my hand to the female slave, and said, "save me, oh, save me from my father's frown!" the slave eagerly snatched my hand, and, blowing forth a small vapour from her mouth, it filled the room, and we arose in a cloud. the manner of my flight from my father's palace i know not, as i immediately fainted; but when i recovered, i found myself in a magnificent apartment, and a youth standing before me. "charming hemjunah," said he, falling at my feet, "may i hope that the service i have performed, in delivering you from the prince of georgia, will merit your love?" "alas!" said i, "what service hast thou performed? who art thou, bold man, that durst stand before the princess of cassimir? eloubrou," shouted i, "faithful eloubrou! where art thou? where is picksag, the chief of my eunuchs? where are my slaves? where are the guards of the seraglio?" "princess," answered the young man, "fatigue not yourself with calling after them, since they are in the kingdom of cassimir, and you are in the house of bennaskar, the merchant of delhi; but, not to keep you in suspense, o princess! know that i have for several years traded from cassimir to delhi, and, although i never saw you till lately, yet the fame of your opening beauties was so great that it fired the hearts of all the young men in your father's kingdom. every time i arrived at cassimir, the subject of all conversation was the adorable princess hemjunah. impelled by these encomiums, i resolved to see you or die." he then recounted how he had obtained access to me through the art of ulin. the wicked bennaskar would have made me the victim of his passions, when, in a gentle cloud, a venerable and majestic personage descended into the apartment. "unhappy princess of cassimir!" said she, "how has thy imprudence weakened my power, and destroyed thine own safety! if thou hadst not yielded to the false female slave, the sorceress ulin had not triumphed over thee and me; but now she has given thee into the power and possession of bennaskar, and i am not permitted to rescue thee from the clutches of this detested merchant." "then," said bennaskar, who before was awed by the presence of the genius macoma, "hemjunah is my own, and my faithful ulin has not deceived me." at these words, exerting all his strength, the villain seized me; but his triumph was short, for the genius, advancing, immediately touched him with her wand, and said, "wretched slave of iniquity! though i am not permitted to rescue the princess, yet i have power over thee, base tool of sin! therefore i ordain, that whenever you look upon the princess, you shall deprive her of sensation." "then," said bennaskar, rising and turning from me, "i will at present disappoint thy power till i receive my commands from the mouth of ulin, the mistress of my fate." "ah!" cried the enchantress ulin, who that moment entered the vaulted chamber from the closet, which, my prince, you have heard described by mahoud, "what hast thou done, thou enemy of our race? accursed and fatal neglect, that i had not at first secured bennaskar from thy power! but since the inexorable word is gone forth, i will add to thy sentence. here," continued she, stamping with her foot, and an ugly dwarf arose through a trap-door in the chamber, "nego, be it thy business to attend my servant bennaskar, and whenever thou seest that female deprived of sensation, do you bury her in the earth beneath this chamber. and, bennaskar," continued the enchantress, "do you take this phial, and whenever you want to converse with this stubborn female, let one of your slaves, whom you can trust, pour part of the liquor into her mouth, and she shall recover: only retire yourself into the closet, that you be not seen of her, at least till she consent to your will, for then the enchantments of macoma shall no longer prevail against you." "the enchantments," said macoma, "o wretched ulin, are not yet complete! there is yet a moment left, and both our power over hemjunah and bennaskar will be at an end. therefore thus shall it be: although bennaskar is possessed of the princess, yet shall these apartments be hidden from the sight of all men, except on that day when thy evil race prevails. on the full of the moon only shall bennaskar be able to explore these rooms. and fear not, amiable hemjunah," said the genius, addressing herself to me, "for neither force nor enchantment shall work your ruin without your own consent; and although mahomet, displeased at your late imprudence, for a time permits this enchantment, yet at length, if you continue faithful and virtuous, he will assuredly deliver you." at these words, bennaskar turned towards me, with anger and disappointment in his eye, and immediately i was seized with a deep sleep, and what passed afterwards i know not. one day i found myself awakened by the pouring of some liquor into my mouth, and saw a black slave standing before me. at the same time the voice of bennaskar issued from the closet. "ill-fated princess! thy tyrant genius hath now hidden thee a month from my sight, while thy friends, ulin and bennaskar, seek to restore thee to light and to life: say but, therefore, thou wilt be mine, and the enchantments of macoma will be destroyed." "wretched bennaskar!" answered i, "i knew not that my sleep had continued a month; but, if it be so long since i saw the genius macoma in this chamber, i thank mahomet that he hath so long hidden me from the persecutions of bennaskar." "haughty princess!" answered the vile bennaskar from the closet, "my slave shall inspire you with humbler words." whereupon he ordered the black slave to give me fifty lashes with the chabouc. but it is needless, o prince, to repeat the various designs of that wretch. for three months was i thus confined, and bennaskar having exercised, through the hands of his slave, the cruelties of his heart, used at length, when he found me persist in my resolution, to come forth, and by his presence deprive me of sensation. the adventures of the third month you have heard from the mouth of mahoud; i shall therefore only continue my narrative from the time that he left me with the book in my hand. bennaskar, seeing his friend mahoud had left him, went out, and soon returned again with him, and taking him into the closet, in a moment came forth, and, touching me, he said, "come, fair princess, the enchantments of macoma are now at an end, and thou art given up entirely to bennaskar." i shrieked at his words, hoping the cadi would hear me, but in vain. bennaskar ran with me through the vaulted passage, and found myself with him in an extended plain. "wretch!" said the genius macoma, who that moment appeared, "hast thou dared to disobey my commands, and remove the princess from the vaulted chamber, where even thy mistress yielded to my power? but i thank thee: what the imprudent mahoud could not accomplish against thee thou hast effected thyself." as she spake, the form of bennaskar perished from the face of the plain, and his body crumbled to atoms and mixed with the dust of the earth; but from his ashes the enchantress ulin arose, and with an enraged visage turned towards me and said, "thou art still the victim of my power; and since bennaskar is no more, go, sweet princess, and join thy delicate form to the form of thy preserver mahoud, whom i designed for the flames; but, my will being opposed, he is rescued thence, and now defiles the air of tarapajan with his pestiferous breath." such, sultan of india, were the consequences of my imprudence; and thus are our sex, by the smallest deviations, often led through perpetual scenes of misery and distress. * * * * * "lovely princess of cassimir," said the sultan misnar, "i have felt more anxiety during this short interval in which you have related your adventures than in all the campaigns i have made. but suffer us, o princess, to add a further trouble to you by a second request; for i am as anxious to hear by what misfortune you were enclosed in the tomb of death as i was to know in what manner you were subjected to the villanous cruelties of the wretched bennaskar." "the tale, o prince," said the fair hemjunah, "is wonderful; but, alas! new indiscretions drew upon me the severities i have experienced." the history of the princess continued. as soon as, by our restoration to our pristine forms, we were apprised of your victory over the enchantress ulin, i found myself in the seraglio of my father's palace. in the apartment from which i was taken by the wicked enchantress, i beheld my nurse eloubrou: she was prostrate on the ground, and the palace was filled with her cries. "faithful eloubrou," said i, "arise and look upon thy beloved hemjunah. where is my royal father zebenezer, and the fond chederazade, the mother of my heart?" eloubrou, at my voice, started up like one awakened from a trance. "what is it?" said she in emotion, "what is it i behold? art thou the departed shade of my once-loved hemjunah?" "no shade, beloved eloubrou," said i, running to her, "but the true princess of cassimir, whom misnar the sultan of india hath rescued from the enchantments of the wicked ulin." "oh that thy royal mother," said eloubrou, "were, like me, blessed with the sight of thy return!" "what," said i "eloubrou, what dost thou say? where, then, is the much-honoured chederazade? where the dear parent of my life?" "alas!" said eloubrou, "who shall tell the dismal tale to thy tender heart?" "ah!" said i, "is my beloved mother no more? is she gone to seek her disobedient daughter over the burning lake?" at these words my spirit failed, and i sank motionless to the ground. but my lord must forgive me if i hasten over the dreadful scene that followed. the report of eloubrou was too true: chederazade, the dearest chederazade, had been ten days dead when i was restored to my father's palace; and zebenezer, distracted at the double loss of his consort and his child, had shut himself up in the tomb of my mother. eloubrou hastened to the tomb wherein my father poured forth his tears, and acquainted the guards who watched without that i was returned. the sorrowful zebenezer, although he was rejoiced at the news, resolved not to come forth out of his consort's tomb till the month was expired, according to his oath; and gave orders, that during that interval i should be obeyed by his subjects. my mourning was not less poignant than my royal father's. i shut myself up in my apartments, and would suffer none but eloubrou to see me. nine days passed in silence; our loss affected both, and eloubrou was as little disposed as myself to forget the cause of her griefs. on the tenth morning, eloubrou was called out by the grand vizier, who then had the command of my father's kingdom. she returned in haste. "princess of cassimir," said she, "one who calleth himself mahoud inquires for thee; and the grand vizier, understanding that he was instrumental in your release, waits without to know your will." at the name of mahoud i started from my reverie. "mahoud," said i, "o eloubrou! deserves my notice; and the son of the jeweller of delhi shall be rewarded for his services to your mistress." "alas!" answered eloubrou, "my lovely mistress is distracted with sorrows, and supposes the prince mahoud to be the offspring of a slave!" "if he be a prince," answered i, "he has hitherto concealed his circumstances and birth from me, or he is not that mahoud whom i remember in the deserts of tarapajan." "that," answered eloubrou, "you will soon discover when you see him. but," continued she, "he desires a private audience." "well, then," replied i, "introduce him, eloubrou; but let my slaves be ready to enter at my call." eloubrou obeyed, and brought the merchant mahoud into my presence, and then retired. mahoud fell at my feet, and said, "forgive my presumption in approaching the throne of cassimir, and that i have added hypocrisy to my boldness, by assuming the title of a prince." "what, then," answered i, sternly, "has induced you to deceive my court?" "let death," said mahoud, falling again before me, "let death atone for my crime; but first permit me to explain the motives of my presumption." "proceed," said i. he then informed me that, after assuming his natural form, he visited delhi, where he was spurned by misnar and horam, and had been compelled to beg his way to my dominions. a merchant of the city had furnished him with the robes in which he appeared. then clapping my hands, eloubrou appeared, and i said, "eloubrou, let the prince mahoud be lodged in my father's palace, and let a proper number of slaves attend him; and do you acquaint the vizier with his quality." eloubrou did as i commanded; and mahoud, full of joy, fell down at my feet, and kissed the hem of my garment. "prince," said i, "arise; and eloubrou shall conduct you to my father's palace." a few days' experience made me repent my folly in giving credit to the falsehoods of mahoud, for the insolent merchant got proud of his newly-assumed honours. he came daily, and was introduced to me, and every time assumed greater state; till at last he dared to declare his passion for me, and talked of asking my father's consent as soon as the days of his sorrow should be accomplished. astonished at his insolence, i bade him depart from my presence, which he did reluctantly, muttering revenge as he went. as soon as he was gone, i acquainted eloubrou with mahoud's story, his ridiculous and insolent behaviour, and that he had even dared to threaten me with revenge. "the threats of mahoud," said eloubrou, "are of little consequence, though prudence should never esteem the least enemy unworthy of its notice; care shall, therefore, be taken of this insolent merchant." while eloubrou was giving the necessary instructions, one of the slaves entered the apartment, and gave me notice that zebenezer, my father, expected me in the tomb immediately. i put on the solemn veil, and followed the guard to the tomb of chederazade. i entered the lonely mansions of the dead with fear and trembling, and, at the upper end of the vaulted tomb, saw my father kneeling before the embalmed corpse of my mother. "unhappy hemjunah," said the aged man, "come hither, and behold the sad remains of my dearest chederazade." although my heart sank with grief, and my limbs tottered, yet i went to reach the place where chederazade lay embalmed, and fell at the feet of my father zebenezer. "rise," said he, "o daughter!" and caught me suddenly in his arms; when, oh fearful sight! i perceived his visage alter, and that the villanous mahoud held me in his embrace. struck with horror and despair, i endeavoured to cry out, but in vain--my voice was gone, and the power of speech was taken from me. "no," said he, with a fierce air, "your struggles and resistance, o prudent princess, are all vain; for she who would join to deceive others must expect to be deceived when there is none to help her; therefore speech, if you resist, is taken from you." "what," said i, "cruel mahoud! is this the return my friendship deserves, when, to save you from infamy and slavery, i gave way to your entreaties, and represented you otherwise than you really were?" "friendship, o princess," said he, "is built on virtue, which mahoud has disclaimed since he entered into the service of the sage hapacuson; and by her advice it was that he told you a false tale to deceive you to your own destruction. had you not yielded to that tale, i could have had no power over you or your father; but it is our triumph to circumvent the prudence of mahomet's children; wherefore, seeing you would not yield openly to my wishes, i had no sooner left you with eloubrou, than, by hapacuson's assistance, i entered this tomb invisibly, and, by my enchantments, overpowered your father zebenezer, and then, assuming his person, i sent for my princess, and she came obedient to my call. but, now," continued the false mahoud, "your cries will profit you but little; for hapacuson, who is ever hovering over delhi, to watch the motions of the sultan misnar, has by this time placed us in a repository of the dead, where we shall have none to overhear or disturb us." "mahoud then showed me my father zebenezer, whom, by his enchantment, he had deprived of all sensation: he lay in a coffin of black marble, in an inner apartment, and after that he vowed that he would desist from force; but, till i consented to love him, i must be content to live in the tomb. "he, by his enchantments, obliged me to sleep in the place whence you delivered me, and what time has elapsed during my confinement i know not." * * * * * "princess," said the sultan, "we rejoice at your escape; but as it is probable, by your account, that your royal sire zebenezer still sleeps in the tomb, we will pray for his deliverance from the chains of enchantment." the sultan then sent officers to search in the tomb for the body of zebenezer, and also called together those who were skilled in magic, and desired them to use incantations to invoke the genius macoma to their assistance. but the arts of the magicians were vain, and macoma remained deaf to the entreaties of the sultan and his sages. in the meantime, while the sultan and his vizier horam endeavoured to comfort the afflicted hemjunah, the ambassadors returned from cassimir, bringing advice that the grand vizier hobaddan had assumed the title of sultan, and that the whole kingdom of cassimir acknowledged his authority. at this report, hemjunah sank on the earth, and the sultan misnar ran to comfort her, declaring that he would march his whole army to recover her dominions from the rebel hobaddan. "horam," said the sultan, "let us be prudent as well as just: therefore, while you march to the assistance of the injured subjects of cassimir, and to restore that kingdom to its lawful prince, i will keep strict discipline and order in the provinces of my empire; and i trust, in a short time, i shall see you return with the head of the rebel hobaddan." the vizier horam set out in a few days from delhi with three hundred thousand troops of the flower of the sultan's army, and by forced marches reached the confines of cassimir ere the pretended sultan hobaddan had notice of his arrival. the vizier horam's intention to restore the princess hemjunah to the throne of her ancestors being proclaimed, numbers of the subjects of cassimir flocked to the standard of horam; and the army, now increased to five hundred thousand troops, marched forthwith toward the capital of cassimir. hobaddan, having notice of the increase and progress of his enemies, and finding that to engage them upon equal terms was vain, sent an embassy to the vizier horam, assuring him that he and his whole army would surrender themselves up to the mercy and clemency of his master's troops. horam rejoiced at the success of his march; and desirous of regaining the kingdom of cassimir without bloodshed, sent an assurance to hobaddan in answer, that, if he fulfilled his promise, his own life should be saved. the next morning hobaddan appeared in front of his troops, with their heads dejected and their arms inverted toward the ground; and in this manner they came forward to the vizier horam's army. horam, to encourage the submission of hobaddan, had placed the forces, which he had raised in the kingdom of cassimir, in the van of his army; and also to secure them from retreating, by the support which his own troops were to give them in the rear. when hobaddan was within hearing, instead of throwing his arms on the ground, he unsheathed his scimitar, and thus spake to the troops before him: "brethren and countrymen, suffer me to speak what my affection to you all, and my love for my country, requires me to say. against whom, o my brethren, is this array of battle? and whose blood seek ye to spill on the plains which our forefathers have cultivated? is it our own blood that must be poured forth over these lands to enrich them for a stranger's benefit? is it not under pretence of fighting for the princess of cassimir, who has been long since dead, that the sultan of india's troops are now ravaging, not on our borders only, but penetrating even into the heart of our nation? but suppose ye that the conquerors will give up the treasures they hope to earn by their blood? will they not rather, invited by the fruitfulness of our vales, and by the rich produce of our mountains, fix here the standard of their arms, and make slaves of us, who are become thus easily the dupes of their ambitious pretences? then, farewell content! farewell pleasure! farewell the well-earned fruits of industry and frugality! our lands shall be the property of others, and we still tied down by slavish chains to cultivate and improve them. our houses, our substance, shall be the reward of foreign robbers; our wives and our virgins shall bow down before conquerors; and we, like the beasts of the field, shall be drawn in the scorching midday to the furrow or the mine." as hobaddan began to utter these words, horam, astonished at his malice and presumption, ordered the archers who attended him to draw forth their arrows, and pierce him to the heart; but the weapons of war were as straws on the armour of hobaddan, and he stood dauntless and unhurt amidst ten thousand arrows. "friends and brethren!" continued hobaddan, "you see the powers above are on our side; the arrows of horam are as chaff on the plain, and as the dust which penetrates not the garments of the traveller. halt not, therefore, but join your arms to the defender and supporter of your liberties and your possessions." at these words the recruits of horam filed off in a body and joined the party of hobaddan; while the pretended sultan, elated at his success, pushed forward to the vizier horam's troops, and charged them with the utmost impetuosity. the weapons of the brave were foiled by the armour of hobaddan; for the enchantress hapacuson, studious of diverting the attention of the sultan misnar, had assisted hobaddan with her counsel and with invulnerable arms; wherefore, seeing their labour vain and fruitless against the pretended and unconquerable sultan, the hearts of horam's warriors melted within them, and they fell away from the field of battle; and hobaddan, sensible of his advantage, hastened after the troops of horam all the day and night; and the vizier himself barely escaped with his life, having none left behind him to send to delhi with the unhappy report of his defeat. but malicious fame, ever indefatigable in representing the horrors of affliction and distress, soon spread her voice throughout the regions of delhi; and misnar heard from every quarter, that his faithful horam and all his chosen troops were defeated or cut off by the victorious arm of hobaddan. the princess hemjunah gave up herself to sighs and tears, and refused the consolation of the court of delhi; and the sultan misnar, enraged at his loss, resolved to assemble the greatest part of his troops, and march to the assistance of horam. but first he gave orders that recruits should be raised, and that the number of his troops should be increased; and then, mixing his young raised soldiers with the veterans of his army, he left one half of his troops to guard his own provinces, and with the other he marched towards the confines of cassimir. the vizier horam had concealed himself in the hut of a faithful peasant, and hearing that his master had arrived with a numerous army in the kingdom of cassimir, he went forward to meet him, and, falling down at his feet, besought his forgiveness. "horam," said the sultan, "arise. i forgive thee, although thou hast lost so many of my troops; but i little suspected hobaddan had been too artful for the experience and sagacity of my vizier. however, horam, he must not expect to deceive us again: we are more in number, and we are aware of his deceit. you, horam, forced your marches and weakened your troops, but i will bring them on slowly and surely. have we prevailed against ulin, and happuck, and ollomand, and tasnar--have we crushed ahaback and desra by our prudent arts--and shall we fear the contrivance of a poor vizier, who leads a few rebels among the rocks of the province of cassimir? let us but use prudence with resolution, and these enemies must soon fade away like the shadow that flieth from the noontide sun." the two armies of the sultan of india and the pretended sultan of cassimir approached each other; and the troops of misnar were pleased to hear that their number was treble the number of their enemies. but, however great their superiority might be, the sultan misnar and his vizier kept the strictest discipline among them, and acted as if they were about to engage a superior force. for some time the armies continued within sight of each other, neither choosing to engage without some superiority of circumstances, and both watchful to prevent that superiority. at length the sultan observing a weakness in the left wing of hobaddan's army, caused by sickness, as they were encamped near a morass, gave orders for a furious attack upon the front, but directed the main effort to be made against that wing. but the sultan's intentions were defeated; for hobaddan, commanding not in the centre, as was expected, but in the left wing (with a chosen troop he had conveyed there the very morning of the engagement), totally defeated those who were sent to oppose him. the troops to the right of the sultan's army, giving way, put all in confusion; and the unwieldy number of misnar's forces, instead of regularly supporting them, poured toward the right in such tumult as destroyed the whole disposition of the army. during this confusion, hobaddan hewed down on all sides those who dared oppose his arms; and his chosen troop followed him over heaps of the slain, every one flying through fear at his presence. the sultan and his vizier horam, finding it in vain to rally their troops or oppose the conquerors, sounded a retreat, and, amidst the general confusion, fled toward the sandy deserts which divide the realms of cassimir from the province of delhi. but the prudent sultan, in his flight, endeavoured to restore to his troops their rank and order; and while horam reduced the foot under their proper banners, misnar regulated the confusion of the horse, and placed them as a covering to the rest of his forces. in this manner they marched before the face of their enemies into the desert, without any provision or forage but what they carried with their accoutrements; and although the sultan and his vizier used every argument to persuade their troops (who still exceeded the number of their enemies) to turn and pursue the army of hobaddan, yet so great was their dread of the victorious rebel and his forces, that they threatened to throw down their arms rather than return to the battle. seeing all his endeavours to inspire his men with courage ineffectual, the sultan travelled onward with them into the desert, as one given up to certain destruction. after two days' march, they halted beside several small pools; and such was the excessive drought of misnar's army, that many perished before they could be prevailed upon to quit the refreshing waters of the desert. these, indeed, thought of little more than present relief; but misnar, their lord, was overwhelmed with the severest pangs of distress. to increase their grief, scouts brought word that the troops of hobaddan, being refreshed after their fatigues, were marching towards them, intending to destroy them while they were faint from want of provision. the army of the sultan, terrified by the report, and seeing no hope of escape, fell upon the wretched sultan and his faithful vizier, and bringing them into the centre of the troops, demanded their blood as an atonement for the losses they were about to suffer in their cause. the ringleader of this general mutiny was ourodi, the ancient enemy of the faithful horam, who, standing foremost in the ranks, commanded the archers to bind their sultan and vizier to a stake. the sultan, seeing all his hopes defeated, and the rage of the multitude, knelt down and commended his cause to the all-powerful allah. [illustration] and now the archers were about to bend their bows and fit the deadly shafts to their bow-strings, when a luminous appearance was discovered to the eastward, and the outskirts of the army saw a female in robes of light travelling over the sands of the desert. in a moment she passed through the ranks of the army, and stood in the circle who were gathered around to see the execution of the sultan and his vizier. "misnar," said she, "arise, and fear not those sons of clay, nor the malice of enchantment: i am the genius macoma, sent by mahomet to save and deliver thee when human assistance was vain and impossible. therefore assume thy just command over these thy subjects, and let them all fall prostrate on the ground to allah, and wait to see the fate of those who fight against the prophet of the faithful. but first learn, from thine own experience, the folly of trusting even to the greatest human power or prudence, without an affiance in the lord of heaven. the world, o misnar, is allah's, and the kingdom of heaven is the work of his hands; let not, therefore, the proudest boast, nor the most humble despair; for, although the towering mountains appear most glorious to the sight, the lowly valleys enjoy the fatness of the skies. but allah is able to clothe the summit of the rocks with verdure, and dry up even the rivers of the vale. wherefore, although thou wert suffered to destroy the greatest part of thine enemies, yet one was left to overpower thee, that thou mightest know that thou wert but a weak instrument in the hands of strength." "i know," answered the sultan misnar, "that allah is able to dissolve this frame of earth, and every vision of the eye; and therefore not the proudest nor the most powerful can stand against him." as the sultan spake thus; the army of hobaddan appeared on the face of the sandy desert. "although his power be infinite," said the genius, "yet can he effect these changes by the most unexpected means. but i will not waste that time in words which i am commanded to employ in action, to convince both you and your army of the sovereignty of allah. therefore suffer no man to rise from the earth or to quit his place; but lift up your heads only, and behold those enemies destroyed before whom you fled." so saying, the genius macoma waved her wand, and instantly the air was darkened, and a confused noise was heard above the armies of misnar and hobaddan. for some hours the sultan's troops knew not the cause of the darkness that overshadowed them; but in a little time the light returned by degrees, and they looked toward the army of hobaddan, and saw them overwhelmed with innumerable locusts. "thine enemies," said macoma, "o sultan, are no more, save the enchantress hapacuson, who personates the rebel ourodi." "the glory of extirpating her infernal race," said the vizier horam, bowing before the genius macoma, "belongs to my sultan; otherwise horam would esteem himself the happiest of mankind in her destruction." "the glory you speak of," answered the genius macoma, "is given to another: a fly has gone forth, the winged messenger of allah's wrath, and at this moment bereaves the vile hapacuson of her breath and of her life." the vizier horam held down his head at the just reproof of the genius; but the words of her reproof were the words of truth; for an account was brought that the rebel ourodi was suddenly dead, being strangled by some impediment in his throat, and that, at his death, his figure was changed into the appearance of a deformed enchantress. "although your enemies, o misnar, are no more," said the genius, "yet the assistance of allah is as necessary for your support as for their defeat; wherefore he hath given life to the springs of the pools of the desert, and your troops will find such refreshment from them, that you may safely march over the sandy plains; and, to add to your happiness, the old sultan zebenezer, being released from the enchantments of hapacuson, waits, with his daughter hemjunah, your safe arrival, and knows not as yet those wonders which i leave your prudence to reveal to him." the sultan misnar well understood the mysterious speech of the genius macoma; but before he or his troops tasted of the pools or pursued their march, he commanded them to fall down before allah, the only lord of the world. the soldiers, having done reverence to allah, were desirous of repeating it before misnar, to ask his forgiveness; but the sultan would not permit them. "let us make," said he, "allah and his prophet our guide and defence, and then neither presumption nor rebellion shall lead us into error." the unexpected change reached not the court of delhi till the troops were within a few day's march of the city; and zebenezer and hemjunah were but just prepared to meet the sultan misnar when he entered the gates of the palace. as misnar advanced toward the aged zebenezer, the good old man started with surprise, and cried out, "oh! is it possible that the sultan of india and the prince of georgia should be one and the same?" the princess hemjunah was confounded at her father's speech, and she fell on his bosom and hid her face. "what you suspect, my royal friend," said misnar, "is true: i am indeed the man who once passed in cassimir for the prince of georgia. i beseech thee, o zebenezer, forgive my deception." "you have no forgiveness," said the aged zebenezer, "o sultan, to ask from me." "indeed," answered the sultan, "my title was just: my royal father, dabulcombar, being treacherously advised by those who wished to place his younger son ahubal on the throne, commanded me to travel, and gain renown and experience in arms; and, to conceal my importance, gave me the title of prince of georgia. in this disguise i came to the royal court of cassimir, and engaged in your service, o venerable sultan, and allah sent his blessing on us: your enemies were put to flight, and your subjects, who favoured me, gave the credit of the defeat to my arms. "hearing that you intended me the honour of an alliance with your illustrious family, i resolved first to see the princess hemjunah, whom i heard you had confined, being warned, from an ancient prophecy, that a stranger should deprive you of her. i saw the princess by means of one of her slaves, and hemjunah from that moment took possession of my heart. i was earnest, therefore, with you to propose the nuptials, and was to have been introduced to the princess, when i received advice that my father was drawing near his end. in expectation of demanding your daughter as the sultan of india, and not as an obscure prince, i journeyed to delhi, and arrived time enough to see my royal sire ere he departed. "'son,' said he, 'evil threatens your reign: extricate, therefore, yourself from danger, and do not involve others in your ruin.' "mindful of my father's words, i resolved to quell the commotions of the empire before i made myself known to the sultan of cassimir; but allah has so wound the string of our fates together, that it is needless to repeat the rest of my adventures. only the princess must forgive me this, that, hearing she had been taken away from her father's court, i was resolved to conceal my interest in her affairs till i was sensible that the prince of georgia, though not blessed with her smiles, had yet no rival in her affections." "most noble sultan," said the princess hemjunah, "it is vain to dissemble: suffer me, therefore, freely to declare that the sultan of india has totally extirpated the prince of georgia from my heart; but, whatever my own sentiments may be, assure yourself that i shall not, at my father's commands, refuse the prince of georgia my hand." the sultan of india and zebenezer were both delighted with the princess hemjunah's answer; and the faithful vizier horam rejoiced to find that his master and the princess hemjunah were to be united. the whole court expected the nuptials with impatience; and the good old sultan zebenezer stayed to see his daughter the sultaness of india, and misnar the happiest and the most thankful of the children of allah. "the children of allah," said the sage horam, "have indeed a freedom of action; but that freedom is best exercised when it leads them to trust and depend on the lord of all things: not that he who seeth even beyond the confines of light is pleased with idleness, or giveth encouragement to the sons of sloth; the spirit which he has infused into mankind he expects to find active and industrious; and, when prudence is joined with religion, allah either gives success to its dictates, or, by counteracting its motions, draws forth the brighter virtues of patience and resignation. learn, therefore, ye pupils of the race of immortals, not to forget your dependence on allah while ye follow the prudent maxims of wisdom and experience; for he only is truly prudent who adds faith to his practice, and he truly religious whose actions are the result of his faith." [illustration] sadik beg. sadik beg was of good family, handsome in person, and possessed of both sense and courage; but he was poor, having no property but his sword and his horse, with which he served as a gentleman retainer of a pasha. the latter, satisfied with the purity of sadik's descent, and entertaining a respect for his character, determined to make him the husband of his daughter hooseinee, who, though beautiful as her name implied, was remarkable for her haughty manner and ungovernable temper. giving a husband of the condition of sadik beg to a lady of hooseinee's rank was, according to usage in such unequal matches, like giving her a slave; and as she heard a good report of his personal qualities, she offered no objections to the marriage, which was celebrated soon after it was proposed, and apartments were assigned to the happy couple in the pasha's palace. some of sadik beg's friends rejoiced in his good fortune, as they saw, in the connection he had formed, a sure prospect of his advancement. others mourned the fate of so fine and promising a young man, now condemned to bear through life all the humours of a proud and capricious woman; but one of his friends, a little man called merdek, who was completely henpecked, was particularly rejoiced, and quite chuckled at the thought of seeing another in the same condition with himself. about a month after the nuptials, merdek met his friend, and, with malicious pleasure, wished him joy of his marriage. "most sincerely do i congratulate you, sadik," said he, "on this happy event." "thank you, my good fellow, i am very happy indeed, and rendered more so by the joy i perceive it gives my friends." "do you really mean to say you are happy?" said merdek, with a smile. "i really am so," replied sadik. "nonsense!" said his friend; "do we not all know to what a termagant you are united? and her temper and high rank combined must no doubt make her a sweet companion." here he burst into a loud laugh, and the little man actually strutted with a feeling of superiority over the bridegroom. sadik, who knew his situation and feelings, was amused instead of being angry. "my friend," said he, "i quite understand the grounds of your apprehension for my happiness. before i was married, i had heard the same reports as you have done of my beloved bride's disposition; but i am happy to say, i have found it quite otherwise: she is a most docile and obedient wife." "but how has this miraculous change been wrought?" "why," said sadik, "i believe i have some merit in effecting it; but you shall hear. after the ceremonies of our nuptials were over, i went in my military dress, and with my sword by my side, to the apartment of hooseinee. she was sitting in a most dignified posture to receive me, and her looks were anything but inviting. as i entered the room, a beautiful cat, evidently a great favourite, came purring up to me. i deliberately drew my sword, struck its head off, and taking that in one hand and the body in the other, threw them out of the window. i then very unconcernedly turned to the lady, who appeared in some alarm; she, however, made no observations, but was in every way kind and submissive, and has continued so ever since." "thank you, my dear fellow," said little merdek, with a significant shake of the head: "a word to the wise." and away he capered, obviously quite rejoiced. it was near evening when this conversation took place; soon after, when the dark cloak of night had enveloped the bright radiance of day, merdek entered the chamber of his spouse, with something of a martial swagger, armed with a scimitar. the unsuspecting cat came forward as usual, to welcome the husband of her mistress, but in an instant her head was divided from her body by a blow from the hand which had so often caressed her. merdek, having proceeded so far courageously, stooped to take up the dissevered members of the cat, but before he could effect this, a blow upon the side of the head, from his incensed lady, laid him sprawling on the floor. the tattle and scandal of the day spreads from zenaneh to zenaneh with surprising rapidity, and the wife of merdek saw in a moment whose example it was that he had imitated. "take that!" said she, as she gave him another cuff, "take that, you paltry wretch! you should," she added, laughing him to scorn, "have killed the cat on the wedding day." [illustration] halechalbe and the unknown lady. [illustration] the caliph haroun al raschid sent for giafar, his grand vizier, and mesrour, his chief eunuch. "i intend," said he, "to go down to bagdad in disguise, that i may visit my hospitals, and examine whether the administration of them is wise and regular, and whether the patients there receive the assistance and relief of which they stand in need. i will assume the disguise of a dervish: do you, who are to accompany me, choose a dress by which you will be completely concealed." the orders of the caliph were obeyed, and he set out with his attendants on his expedition. he was in the centre of the establishments which he had proposed to visit, and everything appeared in the order which he wished for, until he arrived at the gate of a very large court, where he heard a noise. "whence comes this noise?" said he to giafar. "this," answered the vizier, "is the place where mad people are confined. those whose madness is not dangerous are allowed to walk in the great court, and they have their cells or small apartments all around." "let us go in," said the caliph: "this object is also interesting. let us first ascertain if they are all confined for proper reasons. there are many people left at liberty who deserve to be confined; perhaps there are some here whom it would be for the interest, both of society and themselves, to restore to freedom. let each of us examine apart one of the inhabitants of this place; let us determine by lot which of the three shall begin the examination, and we will immediately set to work." the lot decided that mesrour should begin. all three having entered the court, the chief eunuch went straight to the first cell. he found there a man of about forty years of age, smoking a pipe with a serious air, and leaning his elbow on a table, upon which there were some papers. he saluted the smoker, who made him a due return. "i suppose," said mesrour to him, "that you are entrusted with overseeing those who make a noise in the court?" "overseeing," answered the smoker, "is a trouble from which i am free; i am entrusted with watching over myself, and that is quite enough." "but surely," said mesrour, "you are not kept here in confinement among the number of mad people?" "and why should i not be kept in that character? do you think me wiser than others? they have done me that justice, which they ought to do to all the inhabitants of bagdad. i cannot complain: i was condemned by my equals, and they are so attentive as to come here every day to visit me." "i understand you," said mesrour: "we have all a small grain of madness. however, when it does not pass certain bounds, we are very properly allowed to enjoy our liberty. it is only extraordinary madness----" "ah, you are right," interrupted the smoker: "men excuse all their ordinary follies, however ridiculous; but when any one raises himself, by his ideas, knowledge, and observation, above others, he is a kind of reproach to them for the debasement into which they allow themselves to fall, and they endeavour to remove him from their sight. this is my history: i knew more than the vulgar, and therefore was separated from them." "in what branch did you excel?" inquired mesrour. "in that science which is the chief of all others--astrology." "and were you in possession of that science?" "i endeavoured after it, but my progress was interrupted." "you were in correspondence with the stars, then?" "yes, indeed." "and by whom were you chiefly favoured?" "by the moon." "are you no longer in favour with her?" "since i have lost my liberty, she uses me as she pleases. she formerly owed me great obligations, but now she has forgotten them. she had an enormous wart upon her nose, of which i cured her. thus it is to me she owes that beautiful appearance which you sometimes see her assume. besides, by causing her to go on her side, i saved her from an eclipse which was expected by all the astronomers. at first she showed me some gratitude; but since i have been confined, if i address her in her increase, she is yet too weak to act in my favour; if i address her when she is full, she is surrounded with clouds and mist; but if in her wane, all her malignant influences are at my service. defluxions, rheumatisms, catarrhs are showered down upon me. i endeavour actually to deliver myself from this last mark of her beneficence. ah! if i could get hold of her some day, she would find that she has not obliged an ungrateful person." "and what will you do to get hold of her?" inquired mesrour. "nothing can be more easy," said the smoker: "if a man like you would assist me; she will come this evening at nine o'clock to admire herself, and to bathe in that well which you see in the middle of the court. i will give you my table, and you will lie in wait. she will not suspect you; and while she is amusing herself with making her beams play upon the water, you will suddenly shut the well: then we shall get hold of her. it will make both our fortunes, and we will see how she will be put to it to justify her conduct." "she will speak, then?" said mesrour. "shall we hear her?" "i don't say that you will hear it very distinctly," answered the smoker; "but i, whose ear is by practice become so perfect as to be able to mark the cadence of the celestial harmony, shall not lose a single word. with respect to you, we must know how your ear is formed." so saying, the smoker laid down his pipe, examined narrowly mesrour's ear, and, taking hold of it very roughly, suddenly pulled it with all his force, crying out, "your ear is too short!" mesrour uttered a dreadful cry. one of the keepers ran up, and caused the astrologer to quit his hold. the eunuch, holding his ear with both his hands, rejoined the caliph, and related to him his lamentable adventure. "i have long been persuaded," said haroun, smiling, "that those madmen who have an air of wisdom are most to be distrusted. come, giafar," said he to his grand vizier, "you are warned beforehand not to allow your ear to be pulled. proceed to your examination: mesrour and i will not go far from the cell which you enter, that we may be at hand to assist you if there is occasion." the grand vizier had already cast his eye upon a door, by the side of which sat an old man, with a venerable beard and an engaging air. he began with giving him alms, and then saluted him. he appeared more attentive to the civility of the salutation than to the alms he had received. he returned the salute, and made a sign to giafar to sit down on a seat a few paces distant from him. "you are undoubtedly come here to be instructed, young man," said he to him. "you ought to thank heaven for having been so well directed. of what chapter in my book do you wish to understand the text or the explanation?" the book, of which this man seemed to speak, was a small square plank of cedar, on which there were no characters. giafar asked what book it was. "what! do you not distinguish in these characters the finger of god, and the inspiration of the angel gabriel? a mussulman not know the divine koran, nor discover in him who presents it, according as he was inspired, the great prophet mahomet!" upon this exclamation, the vizier rose up and withdrew. having joined the caliph, "commander of the faithful," said he, "i have been forced to abandon my project. the man whom i have left makes me tremble at his blasphemy: he says he is the great prophet." "it is not certain that he blasphemes," replied the caliph: "every man may call himself a prophet, provided he proves his mission by miracles. go and ask him concerning this point." giafar obeyed, and returned to his place. "if you are mahomet," said he to the old madman, "who has put you in a place like this?" "my ungrateful people," replied the pretended prophet. "they would not believe in me, and this has vexed rather than surprised me, for they scarcely believe in allah." "but a prophet proves his mission by miracles. why have you wrought none?" "my people should first have demanded them from me; but they were afraid of being convinced: they seek to believe nothing." "you could work miracles, then?" "do you doubt the power of mahomet?" "work them immediately." "your request shall not be refused. ascend to the top of this spire by this outer stair, and throw yourself down from it without hesitation. when you are at the earth, though you were in a thousand pieces, with one word i will set you upon your feet, straighter and with a better carriage than you now have." "i would rather," said giafar as he was going away, "believe you a prophet than oblige you to prove yourself one." he came and gave the caliph an account of the proposal which had been made to him. "you can learn very little," said haroun to him, "for you will make no trial." "if any one wishes to be instructed in this matter," replied giafar, "the man and the tower are there, he may try the adventure--i will not be jealous of his success." the conversation of the prince and his ministers was a little interrupted by some persons who accosted them. one of them was caliph, and came to propose haroun's quitting his habit of dervish, and accepting the place of vizier. he intended to clothe him in a magnificent robe: it was an old piece of stuff, full of holes, dirty, and devoured by vermin. another, with a basket full of nut-shells, came to sell him confections. these short and public scenes did not answer the design of haroun, nor the purpose of the agreement into which he had entered with his ministers. it was his turn to go into a cell, where, like his two companions in adventure, he might have a private conversation. he passed near one, which appeared larger and better furnished than the rest. a young man, of a soft and engaging figure, was sitting upon a sofa, and appeared to be in deep melancholy: he held in his hand the koran. the caliph accosted and saluted him, addressing him in that kind and familiar tone which the robe of a dervish authorized him to assume. "young man," said he, "why is a man so rational as you appear to be, to be found among mad people?" at this question, the young man shut his book, modestly opened his eyes, looked at the dervish, and answered him: "all the actions of my life have not been rational; i have given reason for the abuse which is now made of power in keeping me here." "and could not i," said the dervish, "learn from you your history, when you appear to be so well qualified for giving it?" "pious dervish," answered the young man, "were you the caliph, i would persuade you to sit down by me, and i would open to you my heart. every day do i beseech god to send me this equitable prince; but it would serve no purpose to have any other confidant. you see here a victim of his grand vizier giafar, by whose orders i was brought hither, for a reason which appeared well founded; but i can declare that there is no reason why i should be still detained; and without the support of religion, i should sink under the weight of my misfortune and the horror of my situation." the caliph was greatly astonished to hear so reasonable and connected a discourse. he called giafar and mesrour, and repeated what he had heard. the grand vizier attentively considered the young man, and assured the caliph that the prisoner and his history were totally unknown to him. haroun's curiosity grew stronger, and made him anxious to hear his history. he entered the cell with that freedom which dervishes generally use, and sat down beside the supposed victim of giafar's orders. "unfortunate young man," said he to him, "you know that people of my character have many privileges, and especially that of approaching the great, and of speaking to them the truth. the commander of the faithful is to us of all men the easiest of access: depend upon my zeal; it may be possible for me to serve you; you will entrust your misfortunes to a prudent ear, and to a soul truly charitable." the young man again sighed, mused a short time, shed some tears, and thus began his history: "my name is halechalbe, and my father is syndic of the trade of bagdad. one evening he invited to supper the principal merchants in the city, each of whom brought with him his eldest son. after the repast, which was plentiful and gay, the guests began to converse concerning the disposal of their children. "one had sent his son to a foreign counting-house; another had entrusted to his a vessel full of merchandise; a third had given up a certain branch of his trade; in short, it appeared from what i heard, that all my contemporaries were either advantageously placed or settled in life. after fully discoursing of these different arrangements, the company retired. "remaining behind with my father, i observed to him, that though the son of the first in our profession, i alone was unemployed. he allowed the force of the observation, and proposed that i should open a warehouse of whatever goods i chose, in one of the quarters of bagdad. "this proposal was agreeable to my inclination for trade and independence. i accepted it; and next day was put into possession of a large assortment of the most beautiful persian and indian stuffs. i had slaves who were skilled in trade, and who relieved me of the troublesome part of the business. "being surrounded during the day with all the nobility of bagdad, with whom i had an opportunity of getting acquainted, i returned in the evening to my father's house. in the management of my business i led a very active and busy life--a life, in short, agreeable to my own taste. my father often visited me in my shop, and was pleased to see the concourse of virtuosi and customers of both sexes. he never received anything uncommon from abroad but he was happy to send it to me; the manager of his own trade had orders to that purpose. "i was one day surrounded with a great many people in my counting-house, when two women of a fine external appearance came in. civility made the other customers give place; and one of the two women put aside her veil sufficiently to discover charms which dazzled the sight. "they sat down upon a sofa, asked for the richest stuffs, bargained with me, and bought them for three thousand crowns. by this bargain, from calculation, i was a gainer of five hundred crowns. the goods were folded up, and, by the orders of one of the women who appeared mistress, were carried away by slaves. i was preparing to hold out my hand for payment, when the young lady began to speak. "'halechalbe,' said she to me, 'i have brought no money with me; but be not uneasy about what is owing to you: i will return in a few days and bring it with me, at which time i intend to make very considerable purchases from you.' "'the other woman then spoke. "'madam,' said she, 'do you speak to a son of the chief of trade, a man of acknowledged opulence, and whose worth is known to the caliph himself, as if you supposed that he would not reckon it an honour to give so trifling a credit to a lady like you?' "the discourse of this woman, the impression made upon me by the beautiful eyes of her mistress, in consequence of the derangement of her veil, and my natural timidity, prevented me not only from venturing to ask payment, but even from insisting to know the name of the lady to whom i gave credit. she left me, after saluting me in a very graceful manner; and i remained at my door, fixed like a post, without taking the precaution to cause a slave to follow her, and observe the place of her abode. "when i was alone, the imprudence of which i had been guilty presented itself to my mind in the strongest colours. to whom had i given my goods? could i forget, after the lessons i had received from my father, that bagdad swarmed with adventurers, who could appear in any form and assume any tone? everything, even the beautiful eyes which she had allowed me to see, then became suspicious. i believed myself cheated out of my goods, and returned to my father's house, trembling for the reproaches which i thought i had brought upon myself. "my mother soon perceived my distress. she well knew how to draw from me a confession of the cause, and endeavoured, as much as she could, to calm my apprehensions. "'the merchant who knows not how to lose,' said she, 'deserves not to gain. if you are embarrassed in your accounts with your father, my purse will supply the defect.' "i returned next day to my shop, hurt at being duped and at the loss which i had sustained. i had some hopes, however, that the lady would return; but the evening came, and she had not made her appearance. this unhappy day was followed by two others of the same kind, and my mother saw my distress increase, without being able to give it any relief. "in vain did she tell me that she would supply this loss out of her own purse, and that i should consider what had happened to me as a useful misfortune, for it was only by experience that man could learn wisdom. "all her discourses were in vain: nothing could console me for having allowed myself to be cheated by a pair of fine eyes, by mere compliment and show; my vanity, which was hurt, tormented my soul. "on the fourth day the unknown lady at last came to my shop, and threw a large purse upon my counter. "'fair young man,' said she, 'i bring you your money; see if the account is right.' "at this desirable and unexpected sight my fears and anxieties vanished, and i felt myself suddenly recover new life. "the unknown lady caused other stuffs to be brought to her. she chose some of them, and carried from my shop goods to the value of three hundred pieces of gold. in my enthusiasm i would have given her credit for two thousand. as soon as she was gone i returned to my mother, and now showed as much joy as formerly i had shown sorrow and dejection. i related to her the lucky adventure of the day, and perceived the full force of the reasoning which till that time she had made use of in vain, to persuade me that in trade _he who never ventures can never gain_. "in short, respectable dervish, i continued to deal in the same manner with the unknown lady, who always carried from my shop stuffs worth more money than she left in it, till she was owing me about ten thousand crowns, equal to all the profit which i had been able to make in my different bargains with her. "one day, after opening my shop, i was scarcely seated on my sofa when an aged woman came and accosted me. i thought she wanted some robes or stuffs, and proposed to show them to her. "'no, my son,' answered she, 'i am entrusted with a commission of much greater importance: i come from the young lady who owes you ten thousand crowns. i do not bring you payment, but i am charged by her to tell you that you became her merchant in preference to every other of the same profession at bagdad, only because her heart granted you a preference of another kind. in short, she is beautiful, young, and rich, and offers you her hand in marriage. if you find it agreeable to enter into this engagement after you have seen and conversed with her, no other dowry is required than the ten thousand crowns in which she stands indebted to you; if you do not agree to it, the money shall instantly be paid down. but you must resolve to follow me, that you may have it in your power to know whether the affair is agreeable to your wishes.' "during this discourse of the old woman, a flame, to which i was till then quite a stranger, penetrated through my veins, and the hope which was now suggested having increased its violence, i soon felt the fire of love burning in my heart. the beautiful eyes of the lady, from the first moment i beheld them, had so dazzled and blinded me concerning my real interest, that i allowed her to carry off my goods without knowing how i should receive payment for them. though, in the visits which she afterwards made me, her veil had wholly concealed the features of her countenance, yet the fulness of her dress could not conceal the elegance of her stature, the gracefulness of her motions, the exquisite form of her foot, and the extraordinary beauty of her hands. besides, she disputed with me about the price with so much courtesy, and with such an angelic voice, that she never left my shop without carrying away something more than my goods; but i did not well know what it was. scarcely had she left my shop, when i felt myself extremely uneasy; said to myself, this is a charming lady! and then fell into a long state of profound thoughtfulness. "when the old woman had informed me that the unknown lady was in love with me, my passion increased to a desperate height. i ordered my slaves to shut up my shop; and, having desired them to tell my father and mother that i was going to enjoy myself with some of my friends, in a garden at some distance from the city, before i returned home, i put myself under the direction of the old woman. "'you will never repent,' said she, as we went along, 'of having put confidence in me; but you must still give me another proof of it. if the lady is not agreeable to you, if you do not accept the proposals which she is to make, and consequently a separation takes place, it is proper that she should remain always unknown. her delicacy requires this; and i was ordered to put a covering over your eyes, that you may not be able to discover the house to which you are going.' "i readily agreed to this condition; and we withdrew under a portico, where, being concealed by two advanced pillars, she covered my eyes with a very thick silk handkerchief. she made me turn three or four times round on my heel; then took me by the hand, and caused me to walk by her side for a full quarter of an hour. we suddenly stopped. i heard her knock at a door, which opened, and, as soon as we had entered, immediately shut. "i was in a short time restored to the use of my eyes, and committed to the care of two female slaves of remarkable beauty and richness of dress. they conducted me through seven doors, at the end of which i was received by fourteen other slaves, whose figures were so striking, and whose dress so magnificent, that i was dazzled with beholding them. i was now in a superb apartment, where everything was marble, jasper, or rich gilding. my adventure had so much the appearance of a dream, that, though my eyes were open, i could scarcely be convinced that i was really awake. the old woman, who had still followed me, went out for an instant, and soon returned, accompanied by a slave, who brought breakfast upon a large golden plate. i sat down to refresh myself. "while i was satisfying my hunger, the old woman counted down upon a table the ten thousand crowns which were owing to me. 'there is your whole sum,' said she. 'be not uneasy that my mistress does not yet appear. the law commands, and decency requires, that you should not see one another before the contract is made.' "before she had done speaking, a cadi appeared, with ten persons in his train. i arose to salute him, when the old woman, addressing the lawyer, said to him, "'the young lady who is to be married to this merchant has chosen you for her guardian: do you agree to accept the office?' "the cadi replied, 'that he reckoned himself highly honoured by the choice which had been made of him.' "he immediately drew up the contract, and got it signed by the witnesses whom he had brought with him. after partaking of an ample collation, which was served up to him and his attendants, and having been presented with a magnificent dress and three hundred sequins, he retired, charging the old woman to beg her mistress to accept his thanks. "i was so astonished at what i saw, that when the cadi went away, i made a motion to follow him, without perceiving that i left my money behind. i was prevented by the old woman, who made me sit down again. "'are you mad?' said she. 'need i inform you that the marriage follows the contract? come, be wiser, and remain quiet till night, when everything will be ready for the completion of the ceremony.' "i continued in the hall, where a great number of slaves were attentive to every motion and ready to anticipate every wish. i was in a very extraordinary state of mind. the power of that feeling which had made me run so fast with my eyes blindfolded was no longer felt, and love remained fixed at the bottom of my heart, astonished at the luxury with which i was surrounded, and the ceremony of this extraordinary marriage. "towards the evening, a magnificent repast was served up, accompanied with all kinds of confections, and exquisite wines, which i used very sparingly. as soon as i made a signal for them to remove the dishes, the old woman took me by the hand, and conducted me to the bath. i was there received by eight slaves, dressed in silk, who wrapped me in stuffs of the same material, entered into the water with me, and served me with all that respect and attention which could have been paid to the caliph himself. "imagine, o respectable dervish, my astonishment: it almost deprived me of my senses! i was soon drawn from it, however, by the appearance of twenty female slaves, beautiful and well dressed. some held flambeaux, and other pots full of exquisite perfumes, the sweet odour of which, mingled with that of the wood of aloes, which served to warm the bath, embalmed the air, and raised an agreeable vapour to the very roof of the apartment. "from these delights i was carried to the enjoyment of others. twenty slaves went before me, and conducted me into a magnificent apartment; i sat down on a sofa covered with cloth of gold. i was there attended by the most melodious music, which was at the same time so cheerful and lively, and so fitted to inspire delight, that i could not help feeling a little reanimated. the slaves at length proposed to conduct me into the apartment destined for the celebration of the nuptials. "i arose. a great door opened; and i beheld the person approach who had marked me out for her husband, preceded by twenty other slaves, whom she alone could surpass in beauty. at the sight of her i remained almost senseless; but this first impression instantly gave place to love; and my passion at length assumed over me that power, which even at this day makes me, every moment of my life, endure torments worse than death. "the beautiful stranger, preceded by her twenty slaves, and i attended by the same number, went into the grand apartment prepared for our nuptials, and there sat down together on the same sofa. the old woman then appeared at the head of four slaves, and brought us, on golden plates, different refreshments, exquisite confections, and fruit of all kinds, which we mutually presented to one another. after this, the service disappeared, and we remained alone. "i was almost trembling, when the lovely unknown lady took me by the hand to encourage me. "'halechalbe,' said she, 'since the day when curiosity first led me into your shop i have loved you; and the same sentiment has frequently carried me back, under pretence of cheapening and purchasing goods. the little intercourse we have had together has given me an opportunity of knowing you; and my liking for you has so much increased as to make me ambitious of being united to you for life. can you think of sacrificing your liberty?' "'madam,' answered i, 'from the first moment you appeared in my sight, your charms failed not to produce their effect. i never saw you without feeling an unaccountable disorder, mixed, however, with the sweetest pleasure. you never left me without occasioning the most lively regret: i expected you every day, and my thoughts were incessantly occupied about your image. i dared not avow my passion to myself; but since you have confessed your regard for me, i swear to you, that nothing can equal the strength of my love, and that the sacrifice of liberty is nothing to one who would give his life for your sake.' "'halechalbe,' said she, 'truth seems to flow from your lips: spare your life; it is essential to my happiness; but if we are to be united for life, attend to the conditions upon which i will yield my heart. my name and rank must remain unknown to you until the steps i am now taking shall have enabled me publicly to acknowledge you for my husband. you shall make no inquiry within this place for the purpose of getting information, and the door of the house shall be opened only once a year.' "'o madam,' said i, 'i will keep silence; i will remain ignorant; i will never leave the house---"'stop,' said she, 'i have a still more severe condition to impose upon you: as i give myself wholly to you, it is reasonable that you should be wholly mine. my slaves are become yours, and will obey you in everything; but you must not speak to them, except to require their services. if you condescend to use the smallest familiarity with any one of them, further than mere expressions of kindness, if----i must discover to you a part of my character. i am inclined to be jealous; and if you make me the subject of this fatal passion, i know not how far my resentment may carry me against you.' "'take courage,' said i, 'my adorable spouse: the strength of my passion secures you from every indiscretion on my part. i should die with vexation were i capable of displeasing you; but i am not afraid that i will ever be so unlucky as to give you offence.' "the unknown lady burst into tears when she saw the frankness and air of sincerity with which my protestations were accompanied. 'halechalbe,' said she, 'we will now be united; but had you hesitated about accepting them, i would have sacrificed my happiness to my delicacy, and we would have separated for ever.' "i tenderly embraced her, and she fainted away in my arms. a slave was called, and she, the idol of my heart, after a time opened her beautiful eyes, and with rapture i beheld them turned towards me. "i pass over the remaining events of my marriage, because they cannot be interesting to you, and the remembrance of them is still the torment of my life. "i was so enchanted by my passion, that i spent a fortnight in total forgetfulness of the whole world besides; and i will confess, to my shame, that i even omitted the most essential of all duties, for i never once thought of the uneasiness of my father and mother on my account. at last, by little and little, nature resumed her rights, and i began to think seriously of the grief which i must have occasioned to my affectionate parents. i uttered some sighs, which proceeded from the bottom of my heart; and the distress of my mind appeared in my countenance. my wife, who possessed great discernment, soon perceived the change which i underwent, got from me the secret, took an interest in my pain, and pointed out the method of being delivered from its attacks. "'dear halechalbe,' said she, 'i commend you for your attachment to your father and mother: they are dear to me on your account. we have given ourselves laws; but, as we are the judges, we must not allow them to do injury to nature. you will go to see your parents, spend a week with them, and also resume your business. there are many reasons for so doing. first of all, it will serve as a cloak to hide our marriage, and will furnish you with an opportunity of being present or absent at pleasure, without occasioning any suspicion of our marriage. it will likewise enable you to acquire, by your civil, frank, and generous dealings, the public esteem, which will one day be of great advantage to us; for we live under the government of a caliph who has ears everywhere, and who likewise makes very good use of his own. go, then, and my heart will accompany you wherever you are: if it could be rendered visible, you would see it continually fluttering around you. besides, you will be under my hand: we have our trusty old woman, by whose means you will have the satisfaction of hearing me spoken of, and i shall have that of being informed of your welfare, and communicating to you my wishes. above all,' added she, 'as our marriage cannot be concealed from your parents, charge them to keep it a profound secret.' "night was beginning to come on when this discourse was ended; and my wife ordered the old woman to blindfold me, and conduct me out of the gates of the palace till i was under the portico where i had first submitted to this operation. as soon as my guide had restored to me the use of my eyes, i flew with all speed to my father's house. a neighbouring lady was just entering it. she discovered me by the light of a shop before which i passed. "'halechalbe!' exclaimed she, 'what! is it you? do not show yourself so unexpectedly to your mother. retire for a few minutes into my house, and in the meantime my husband will go and inform her of your return. she is in the utmost distress and despair at your loss; and the joy occasioned by your sudden and unexpected return might be productive of fatal consequences. "'whence come you, wicked young man?' said she, as soon as she had sat down. 'how could you let your worthy parents continue ignorant of what had become of you?' "not having a story ready made for the first inquisitive person i should meet, and it being necessary to conceal my marriage from everybody, i was very much at a loss what answer to give. but i made it up by presence of mind, and was obliged to have recourse to a lie. "'i am astonished, madam,' answered i, 'to hear you talk of the vexation which i have occasioned to my parents. having met with an opportunity of going to balsora, where i had a very urgent and important examination to take against one of my most considerable debtors, and, not having a moment to lose, i set out without being able to inform my father of my departure. i dispatched an express as soon as it was in my power; but some accident must have befallen him, as no news have been received of me.' "the lady was satisfied with the excuse. "'all bagdad, however,' said she, 'supposed you dead, and, moreover, magnificently buried; for a superb funeral was given you yesterday. i will relate the whole affair to you, when once my husband has prepared our neighbours for again seeing in good health the son whom they believed dead.' "the husband having with great pleasure undertaken the commission, the woman returned to her recital. "'your slave informed your father and mother that you were to spend the remainder of the day and the night in a garden with your friends. this prevented them from being uneasy during that evening and next day; but on the following days all the merchants of bagdad were in search of you. messengers were sent to all the gardens in the neighbourhood of the city, to the woods, and to a great distance in the country. as you were nowhere to be found, and nobody had observed you, it was conjectured that you had fallen into one of those snares which are too common at bagdad, where young people without knowledge and experience find death in the very cup of pleasure. "'your father and mother tore their hair through grief; your family and friends went into mourning. some kind of consolation was supposed to be derived from the pretended funeral, which all the mourners in bagdad were hired to attend, but where many real tears were shed. every person was affected with the distress of your parents.' "this recital, o virtuous dervish! made me very uneasy. i perceived the dreadful consequences of forgetting myself and my duty; and i always considered my misfortunes, and the distraction of mind which was the consequence thereof, as a punishment from heaven, because, in the arms of love, i was unmindful of the sacred obligations of nature. "after our neighbour had related that part of my history which it was necessary i should know, she rose up. "'it is now time,' said she, 'to appear: my husband must already have announced you; go, and confirm the account which he has given of your return.' "i then entered my father's house, and it is impossible to describe his joy, much less that of my mother, who fainted away in my arms. "'what!' said my father, 'you are returned from balsora? poor child! the loss you might have sustained was not nearly equal in my estimation to the danger which you have run and the fatigues you have undergone.' "'father,' said i, still keeping up before the neighbours the story which i had thought it convenient to adopt, 'i know not whether our correspondent is to fail, but i will deliver to you securities sufficient to remove every fear. there is a diamond to put in your turban; here is one for the hilt of your poniard; another for the handle of your scimitar, and a bracelet for my mother. i believe that this is a full equivalent for the sum which we may lose by him.' "they again embraced me, without asking any further explanation; the weeds of mourning soon disappeared, and every one was dressed in his festival robes. the house was filled with music; a thousand tapers shed their light, and the friends of my father and mother assembled to enjoy a splendid entertainment. the evening and night were spent by the company in amusement and joy. "next morning i thought it my duty to eradicate from the mind of my parents those opinions which, in order to deceive the public, prudence had made me establish the evening before. i related to them the circumstances of my marriage, and besought them to keep it secret, as my happiness depended on its being concealed. everything increased their astonishment, and the rich jewels which i had brought them from my wife were speaking proofs. "'he must have married the daughter of a genie,' said my mother. "'such nuptials,' said my father, 'are celebrated without a cadi.' "they knew not what to think; but they saw me happy, and they were satisfied. "i proposed to my parents to resume my trade. they were delighted to find that fortune had not deprived me of economy and diligence, and next day i again appeared in my shop. the quarter in which i lived expressed their happiness at seeing me again. as i was no longer directed by the hope of gain, i was perfectly easy and disinterested in my dealings, and brought to my shop all the people of bagdad. in the evening i returned as usual to my father's house. "on the evening preceding the seventh day, i informed my father that i was again to disappear. he endeavoured to get my place filled up by an intelligent clerk, who was bound to conduct himself according to my principles. it was easy to account for my being a second time absent, by pretending that i had some business abroad. "on the seventh day, towards evening, the old woman came and informed me that my wife was waiting impatiently for my arrival. as i was equally impatient to rejoin her, i needed no entreaties to persuade me to follow my guide. the same mystery as before was still observed in conducting me to the palace, where my presence was expected, and i was received at the first door by my charming wife, who loosened the bandage with her own hands. "i passed another fortnight, still happier than the former, in those enjoyments which mutual love bestows, and amid those delights, pleasures, and amusements which the eager wishes and riches of my spouse could bring together. at the conclusion of this period, which seemed very short, i returned to my father's house, and afterwards to my business. my parents received me with the greatest affection; but scarcely did i enjoy it before i sighed for the return of the seventh day, when the old woman would come to blindfold me, and conduct me to an abode which i now considered as a celestial paradise. "my wife appeared to feel with equal force the pangs of separation. during my absence from the palace, the only method which she pursued to divert her attention was to play upon a musical instrument, or to sing in concert with her slaves. "one day, during my absence, while my mistress and her slaves were singing my praises and our loves, zaliza, one of the slaves, hearing a couplet in praise of my fidelity, affected to drop her lute, as if through impatience, and did not take it up again. "'why,' said my spouse, 'do you leave your lute lying upon the ground?' "'i cannot sing the fidelity of men,' answered zaliza, 'for i do not believe it. halechalbe,' continued she, 'is very amiable; he undoubtedly loves you, and who would not? but i do not believe that his affection is equal to yours, or that he is more faithful than another: of this i can give proofs whenever they are required.' "these base and perfidious words infused the most fatal jealousy into the heart of my spouse: she gave me no opportunity, however, of perceiving that she entertained any suspicions. at the time fixed between us, i returned to my father's house and my ordinary business, and when i went back to the lady i was received as kindly and affectionately as before. "one day i was in my shop, when, about two hours before the usual time of the old woman's arrival to conduct me to my spouse, the public crier proclaimed in the street a golden censer set with diamonds, to be sold for two thousand sequins. i ordered a slave to call the crier. "'who is the proprietor of that censer?' said i to him. "'it belongs,' answered he, 'to a young lady, whom you behold there;' at the same time he pointed out a handsome and well-dressed woman, and i desired him to bid her speak with me. "the woman took the censer from the crier, gave him a reward, and advanced towards me. "'madam,' said i, 'since this censer belongs to you, i know where to place it; will you allow me to have it?' "'since it pleases you, halechalbe,' said the lady, 'it is yours, and i demand nothing in return.' "'i am not accustomed,' answered i, 'to make such bargains.' "'nor i,' said the lady, 'to enjoy the happiness of making a present to the most amiable and best-beloved of his sex. i have,' continued she, 'for a long time past frequented your shop, unobserved, alas! by you; but your figure and your manners enchanted me, and still enchant me more and more. since the censer pleases you, i reckon myself very fortunate in having it in my power to present you with it.' "'i will receive your present, madam,' said i, 'if you will accept from me its value.' "'silver and gold,' said she, 'are of no account in my estimation. the love which i bear you has deprived me of repose: do not treat me with cruel disdain. a liking for me would do you no dishonour, for, thank god! i may be proud of my descent. but if, despised by you, i cannot aspire to the highest marks of your affection, let me have a single kiss, and the censer shall be yours.' "'i cannot agree,' replied i, 'that you should make so bad a bargain. take your money, or keep your censer. a kiss is no trading price.' "'it is beyond price,' answered the lady, 'to one who dies of love. i brought not this censer here to sell, but to give it to you; accept it at the price mentioned, and you will save my life.' "venerable dervish, i will confess my weakness, and declare that i was gained over by these flattering praises and this language of love. i had no suspicions, and was unable to discover the features of the lady through her veil. overcome by self-love more than by her entreaties, i retired into a dark part of the shop, and presented my cheek; but instead of kissing it, she bit it with such force as made me cry out; and i was left alone with the censer in my hand, my cheek bathed in blood, and my countenance totally disfigured. the blood was at length stopped, but i was unable to allay the swelling or remove the marks of her cruel teeth. "at this moment the old woman came for me, and appeared surprised at the situation in which she beheld me. i intended to tell her that i had fallen upon a piece of broken glass, and i was ready to give the same account to my spouse. but the treacherous zaliza had previously informed her of the whole matter. it was she who had played me that base trick, and she had no doubt reported it to my spouse in such a manner as to make me appear much more guilty than i really was. when i arrived at the palace, instead of being received as formerly by an eager and affectionate wife, i fell into the power of an enraged and implacable judge. "'what has hurt your cheek?' was the first question proposed by my wife as soon as i was before her. i was about to tell her of the pieces of glass, but she interrupted me with asking, 'whence i got the censer which i held in my hand?' "'it cost me two thousand sequins,' said i, stammering. "'liar!' replied my spouse, her eyes inflamed with rage, 'it cost you much more: the account of it is on your cheek. vile and base man! you have made a trade of your love, but you shall pay dear for your infamous conduct. morigen,' said she, addressing her first eunuch, 'let him be beheaded.' "morigen had already seized me, when the old woman, our confidante, threw herself at the feet of her mistress. "'oh, madam!' said she, 'do not commit such a crime; do not expose yourself to remorse which you will be unable to support.' "the behaviour of the old slave brought my wife to reflection. she appeared to meditate a little; and then, changing her opinion, ordered me to receive the bastinado. while morigen was executing her rigorous orders, which i endeavoured to bear without complaining, she seized a musical instrument, and made the chords resound with an air which expressed a mixture of jealous rage and malignant satisfaction. "the pain i suffered totally deprived me of feeling; and i did not recover till i was in my father's house, placed upon a bed, surrounded by the whole family, and attended by physicians, who were employed in procuring me relief. i had been carried away after the fatal execution of my wife's orders, and left on the threshold of my father's door. "it was six weeks before i recovered from the consequences of the severe treatment i had undergone. at the end of this time, when i was again able to be out of bed, my father tried to gain my confidence, and i concealed not the smallest circumstance of my last adventure. "'o heaven!' said he, 'you are united, my son, to a monster of cruelty and injustice.' "'do not say so, father!' exclaimed i: 'my wife, i must confess, was cruel, but she thought she had reason to complain, and i was wanting in my duty to her, even when she loaded me with kindness and affection. i find that i still adore her, and that my love is increased by the consciousness of my fault, and by the fear of a final separation. ah! would that i were admitted to be the lowest of her slaves!' "'you have not the feelings of a man,' said my father: 'know the dignity of your sex. i cannot determine to what kind of a being you have been united by the ceremony of a contract. i should suppose it entirely whimsical, if so strong proofs, and particularly the last, had not been given us of its reality. be ashamed, that a man like you, who are well descended, and who might have aspired to a connection with the best families in bagdad, has been hurried away by a foolish passion to so extraordinary and unequal a connection as that which you have now formed. forget your disgraceful passion.' "every word which my father uttered, by way of invective against my marriage and my wife, was a dagger to my heart. "'i shall one day discover this abominable creature,' added he. 'i will bring an information against her before the caliph, who will put it out of her power to make further victims.' "instead of seconding my father's resentment, my heart revolted against his plans of revenge, and placed itself betwixt him and my cruel but charming spouse. "this disposition of mind, in spite of the assistance of medicine, soon injured my health, and deranged my understanding. i became thoughtful and melancholy, refused every means of consolation, grieved my too affectionate parents, and was a torment to all the domestics. nothing could be prepared to my taste, and i constantly blamed the unskilfulness of the cooks. "one of them came one day to justify his conduct. "'see,' said i, overturning the table, and treading the dishes under my feet, 'there is the estimation in which i hold your skill and diligence!' "as he wanted to make a reply, i threw myself upon him to give him a hearty beating. his cries and screams soon brought my mother, who wished to tear from me the person at whom i was offended. she even ventured to add blows to her reproofs; and, in the blindness of my fury, i unfortunately struck her. when my father arrived, he was not more prudent, and i was at length put in chains. i recollect that, having put my hand across my mouth, it was covered with foam. in short, i lost my recollection, and only recovered it to behold myself an inhabitant of this mournful abode. i then learned that i was kept here by order of giafar, the grand vizier. "many months have now elapsed since i groaned a miserable captive in this place. i have now recovered soundness of mind, in consequence of the solitude, but more especially the opportunity of indulging my unfortunate passion, which i here enjoy without hearing the person whom i will ever love loaded with imprecations. "here, o respectable dervish! i am swayed by sadness, and not by passion, and can discover in myself nothing for which i ought to be detained in this hospital. my friends, it would appear, have forgotten me; but it is the duty of the grand vizier, whose orders are here followed, to inspect this place, and endeavour to bring back to me my parents, since i only offended by one fit of madness, and have now sufficiently recovered my reason to regulate my conduct. this, venerable dervish, is the whole of my history. all my consolation is the koran, and the hope that some time or other the commander of the faithful, who wishes to see everything himself, will direct his steps towards this mournful abode. i ask this from allah a hundred times a day; but, alas! my supplications have never reached his throne." "cease not to pray, my dear son," replied the caliph: "you will soon know the efficacy thereof, and your request will be heard." after these words of consolation, haroun returned with giafar and mesrour to the palace. "what think you," said the prince to the companions of his adventures, "of the story which has now been related? you were at hand, and must have heard everything which was spoken." "i think," said giafar, "that this young man, of whom i never heard before, though he accuses me of being the cause of his misfortunes, has been employing his invention to relate to you a collection of dreams or falsehoods." "it is impossible that everything can be false in his relation," replied the caliph; "and i command you to think on the means of ascertaining the truth. to-morrow i expect to hear from you." next day the grand vizier gave an account of the plan which he had devised for discovering what trust was to be placed in the history and complaints of halechalbe. "those people," said the minister, "who are deranged in their mind, are never consistent in their accounts. let your highness therefore order the young man to be brought before you; and if he repeats his long story in the same connection he did yesterday, and without varying its circumstances, it will then be proper to make the necessary inquiries for ascertaining the truth of the facts." the vizier's opinion was highly approved of, and orders were instantly given to go for halechalbe. when the young man was at the foot of the throne, the caliph thus addressed him: "halechalbe, i have been informed that you have been confined in a madhouse, by a series of the most extraordinary adventures: recover your spirits, and be assured that i am anxious to do justice to all my subjects. but in the relation i demand from you, omit no circumstance, and consider the respect which is due to truth and to my presence." halechalbe, seeing the prediction of the dervish fulfilled, being inspired with confidence and affected with his subject, again began his history, and made not the smallest variations, even in the expressions. giafar was obliged to own that the recital which he had twice heard bore very striking marks of veracity. his sole object now was to discover halechalbe's beloved but cruel enemy, in order to procure justice from her towards her injured husband; and his sagacity soon suggested the steps which were proper to be taken. by calling together all the cadis in bagdad, in order to learn by whom the contract had been drawn up, the affair would be in danger of being divulged, without resolving the difficulty. for, if any of them had, contrary to law, drawn up a contract of so extraordinary a nature, he would not readily confess it; and besides, a man might have been suborned to act the part. if halechalbe's father was reconciled to him, and persuaded again to entrust his son with the management of his trade, it was probable that the old woman would be going about him, were it only from curiosity; and spies, properly placed, might apprehend her, and force her to disclose the name of her mistress. the caliph approved the scheme, and the syndic was immediately sent for. this unfortunate father, still supposing that his son was totally deranged in his mind, was greatly astonished to find himself in his company at the foot of the caliph's throne, and still more to see halechalbe treated by haroun with the kindest attention. upon the first proposal of a reconciliation made by the grand vizier, the father stretched out his arms to receive his son. measures were then agreed upon for unravelling the adventure, and halechalbe's father promised to execute with fidelity the orders which he received. the father and son returned to their house, after having received two rich robes from the munificent caliph; and next day halechalbe was re-established in his shop, which was as richly furnished as before. the young man endeavoured, by submission, kindness, and attention, to make his parents forget the cause of complaint which he had given them. though still inflamed by love, he strove to conceal from them its effects, and to get the better of his melancholy. he yielded to it only when free from every other business, and when left to himself in solitude and retirement. halechalbe's wife did not long enjoy the satisfaction of her revenge. having come to serious reflection on her conduct, she blamed herself for the excess of her cruelty, and at length became uneasy about the fate of the husband whom she had treated with too much severity, though she still supposed him criminal and ungrateful. love soon regained the empire of her heart; and though she struggled for some days against a feeling which she durst not avow, silence at length became burdensome to her, and she ordered the old woman, as if solely through compassion, to make inquiry about the situation of her unfortunate husband. "alas, madam!" answered she, "my pity for him led me to his father's house, and i there learned from the inhabitants of that quarter, that the poor young man's life was in danger." "his life in danger!" replied the lady. "ah! unfortunate that i am! i have killed the only man in the world i ever loved, or can love! can i not inform him that my life depends upon his? but everything prevents me from doing so. go, however, and speedily get information concerning him, as far as you can, consistently with the safety of my honour." the old woman received the order with great pleasure, and for some time was able to give her mistress good hopes of the recovery of her husband's health. but her inquiries soon became fruitless, for the neighbours were altogether silent concerning halechalbe, from the moment when he was privately taken to a madhouse in a state of insanity. her mistress now yielded to despair, and shut herself up with her confidante, that she might indulge her sorrow and shed her tears without restraint. the musical instrument, which had formerly been employed to insult over the misfortune of halechalbe, now served to express her own complaints. the lady, quite inconsolable, could no longer make verses, as she was wont to do when inspired by love or revenge, but only uttered a few broken words, intermingled with sighs and tears. the good old woman was one day traversing the city, little thinking that she would have any agreeable news to carry to her mistress, when, as she passed through the quarter where halechalbe's shop was, she observed it open. stopping to look at it, she discovered the master himself, seated on a sofa and lost in deep thought, and she determined to enter. as soon as she saw him she wished to throw herself into his arms, and halechalbe was running to meet her when he perceived her approaching; but the grand vizier's spies, who had not lost sight of the slave, interposed, carried off the woman, and conducted her to giafar. great was the astonishment of giafar to find that the woman now brought before him was nemana, the old governess of his beloved daughter zeraã¯de. "is it possible," said he, "that you whom my daughter loads with her kindness should be engaged in the intrigue of halechalbe's marriage? who is the woman you have given him for a wife?" "o my prince and master," answered nemana, in great astonishment, "whom could i serve but your daughter, the princess zeraã¯de?" giafar was thunderstruck when he learned that his daughter had married without his knowledge and consent; but knowing that the caliph was very anxious to get this affair unravelled, instead of returning to his own palace to get an explanation from zeraã¯de, he instantly repaired to the commander of the faithful, followed by nemana and the spies whom he had sent in pursuit of her. "wise prince," said he "the old woman who was concerned in halechalbe's marriage has been found: she is at the door, and i have put some questions to her. halechalbe's wife," continued the vizier, "has only availed herself of the law delivered in the koran, by chastising her husband, who was surprised in a fault worthy of punishment. the duties of husband and wife are reciprocal, and halechalbe had received the caresses of a strange woman." "i think," said haroun, "you strain the expressions of the law: you make it too sanguinary, and you would expose a great many in bagdad to danger if the right of doing themselves justice was granted to all who really are, or think themselves, injured in this respect." "marriages of every kind," replied the vizier, "will not admit of the rigorous application of the law; but when the lady who is married, while she subjects herself to the law in all its rigour, has it likewise in her power to demand the same subjection from the man whom she is to marry, and this condition is freely accepted, the injured person in avenging herself only makes use of her legal right." "notwithstanding all your fine arguments," said haroun, "i am still inclined to favour the unfortunate halechalbe: it yet remains that i be informed of the name of the woman in whose cause you are so eloquent." "she is my daughter," answered the vizier in great confusion. "you have now," replied the caliph, "let me into the secret. i see that the multiplicity of my affairs makes you neglect your own, and renders you perfectly ignorant of what passes in your own house. marriages are contracted, and men's lives disposed of, without your knowing anything of the matter. imagine the consequences which would result from allowing an arm directed by passion to execute a rigorous law. i know the rights which are assumed by women in cases of unequal marriages. if conveniency and prudence, those powerful directors of human conduct, sometimes oblige them to give their hand to one of an inferior station, then they may avail themselves of these rights to a certain extent: they are a sort of compensation for the sacrifice which they make. but this is not the case with your daughter, who has made no sacrifice but to her own taste, and the son of the chief of trade is in every respect become her equal. he loves and adores her, notwithstanding all the cruelty which she has exercised against him, and she would certainly be too happy in having him again for her husband. you well know that with one word i can make my meanest subject a prince. i will raise halechalbe's father to that dignity, from a principle of justice, and i will take care of the son, from regard to himself and to you. find out the name of the cadi who drew up the contract, and why he ventured to do so without your consent, since without that the deed would be void; take care that nothing be wanting in the form." after this discourse with his vizier, the caliph ordered halechalbe to approach. "young man," said he, "your wife shall be restored to you, and you shall have it in your power either to pardon or punish her. she is my grand vizier's daughter; but nothing ought to have any influence in preventing you from following the inclinations of your heart and the dictates of your mind." "o commander of the faithful!" exclaimed the young halechalbe, "can i retain any resentment against the person who is dearer to me than life? i aspire after nothing but the happiness of seeing her again, and if i can once more gain her heart, and the consent of her father, i vow to an affection which will terminate only with my existence." "giafar," replied the caliph, "i recommend the interests of your daughter and son-in-law to your care. henceforth consider him as a man connected with my service, and for whom i mean to provide." the grand vizier returned to his palace, holding halechalbe by the hand, and followed by the old woman, who perceiving herself at liberty, soon made her escape to go and inform her mistress of the visit which she might expect to receive. the vizier, whom she had outrun, at length arrived at his house. zeraã¯de arose to meet him, and to give the usual marks of her attachment and respect; but a signal with his hand, and a look of severity, forced her to desist. "suppress these demonstrations of attachment," said giafar: "there can be no love without confidence, and no respect without obedience. you first married without my consent, and then, in a fit of delirium, abusing the authority which i gave you over my servants, you went to the most criminal excess against your husband, and committed a crime which exposed us to the wrath of the caliph. when you gave your hand to the son of the chief of trade at bagdad--a man esteemed and respected by everybody, and valued even by the caliph himself--did you think that you were entering into a connection with the meanest slave? and if the life even of these is to be spared, how could you imagine that you might dispose of your husband's according to your pleasure and caprice? i have brought him to you; he is your master, and in his turn has your life in his power. fall at his feet, and be assured that you can never regain my esteem unless you obliterate from his mind, by submission and obedience, the undeserved and cruel treatment which he has received." while the vizier was speaking, the trembling zeraã¯de would have fallen dead at his feet if she had not perceived in the eyes of halechalbe something more than compassion for the confusion to which she was reduced. with pleasure did she throw herself at his feet, and kissed them with transport. the young husband, happy beyond expression, having raised zeraã¯de, embraced her, and for some moments their tears were mingled together. this affecting scene made an impression on giafar, who was passionately fond of his daughter: the father and the minister were at once disarmed. but the cadi must be called to correct the irregularity in the contract of marriage. he learned that his name was yaleddin, and ordered him to be instantly sent for. yaleddin arrived, and did not allow giafar time to ask why he agreed to marry zeraã¯de in private, and without the concurrence of any one but the young lady. "your daughter," said the judge, "sent for me, and discovered the excess of her passion. i thought it my duty to fulfil her wishes, that i might prevent, though by an irregular proceeding on my part, a conduct still more irregular in her. she proposed that i should be her guardian; and having undertaken this character, and not condemning her choice, i believed i was doing an important service to this fond couple, and i plainly foresaw that one day it would not meet your disapprobation." giafar, instead of showing dissatisfaction, generously expressed his gratitude to the cadi; but ordered the slave zaliza to be delivered to him, that she might be punished, after a confession should be extorted from her of the odious stratagem which she had employed for separating her mistress and her husband. the happy pair were then left to themselves, after the vizier had assured halechalbe that he would be as dear to him as his own son. magnificent feasts were afterwards given, that all possible splendour might accompany an union authorized and approved by the caliph, and which diffused joy among all the inhabitants of bagdad. thus did halechalbe pass almost unexpectedly from a madhouse to that honourable elevation to which he was raised by the caliph haroun, and from the most mournful of all situations to the highest degree of happiness. [illustration] the four talismans. [illustration] abouali nabul,[7] emperor of the moguls, reflecting upon his great age, felt convinced that he could not long enjoy the light of the sun; he therefore sent for his well-beloved and only son nourgehan, and spoke to him thus: [footnote 7: great father.] "nourgehan, i leave my throne to thee. you will soon fill my place: forget not to do justice equally to the poor as to the rich. be satisfied with possessing a flourishing kingdom. envy not the dominions of any other prince: leave every one in possession of that which they have inherited from their fathers. in one word, always remember that clemency and justice are the noblest titles of a sovereign." after having said these words, the emperor descended from his throne, made his son ascend it, and retired into a delightful apartment (where he had passed his happiest days), where he remained till he died, which was shortly afterwards. nourgehan, after having paid all the honours that nature and gratitude required for so good a father, was wholly occupied in fulfilling the last counsels that he had received from him. his heart was naturally good, and his judgment just; but if every man stands in need of experience to form his mind, much more is it necessary for those who are destined to fill a throne. nourgehan, persuaded of this important truth, was far from the presumption too common to princes. one day, as he conversed with his courtiers upon the subject of government, he applauded those kings who had shown the greatest love of justice. solomon was quoted as having been the most just. "this example is not a just one," replied nourgehan. "solomon was a prophet, and could easily prevent the evils which he foresaw; but a common mortal can only use his best endeavours to repair the faults of his weakness: therefore i command you all, not only to inform me of all my duties without flattery, but also to prevent or repair my faults by your counsels. when a king testifies a love for virtue, all his subjects become virtuous." as soon as nourgehan had ceased speaking, abourazier rose up and said, "great prince, if you wish to have justice truly exercised in your dominions, you must make choice of a disinterested vizier, who has only your glory and the good of the state in view. the satisfaction of having done right must be the only recompense he desires." "you say well, abourazier," returned nourgehan; "but the difficulty is to find such a man." "you have, my lord," replied the courtier, "one of your subjects whose moderation and wisdom made him renounce all public employments under the reign of your illustrious father: your majesty, perhaps, is ignorant of what happened to him in the city of shiras." the king having commanded him to inform him of it, abourazier pursued his discourse thus: "imadil deule,[8] in the last war which we sustained against persia, led our victorious army as far as shiras, which he took, and, by a sentiment of humanity, preserved from being plundered. his soldiers, however, demanded a recompense that might make them amends for the booty they expected to have obtained, and spoke to him so strongly, that he was obliged to promise one to them, though he knew not where he could procure it." [footnote 8: the support and assistance of felicity.] "one day as he was in his palace, thinking of this demand, he perceived a serpent creep out of a hole in the wall and return into it again. he called the officers of his harem, and said to them, 'break open that hole, and take out the serpent that i saw enter it this moment.' "the courtiers obeyed him, and found a vault full of presses ranged along the walls, with chests piled upon each other. they were opened, and found to be filled with sequins, while the presses were heaped up with the most magnificent stuffs. imadil deule returned thanks to god for this discovery, and distributed the treasure to his soldiers. he afterwards commanded a tailor to be sent for to make habits of these stuffs, with which he designed to recompense the merits of those officers who had served under his command. the most experienced tailor of the city was presented to him, who had always wrought for the late governor. imadil deule said to him, 'not only thou shalt be well paid if these habits are carefully made, but i will procure thee a further recompense, and some bowls of cassonnade.'"[9] [footnote 9: a kind of sherbet mixed with honey.] "the tailor, who was deaf of one ear, understood that he was to have the bastinado, and fell a-weeping. imagining that it was intended to exact an account of the late governor's clothes which he had in his possession, he declared he had only twelve chests full, and those who accused him of having more had not said the truth. "imadil deule could not forbear smiling at the effect which fear had produced in the poor tailor: he caused the habits to be brought, which were found to be magnificent and entirely new. the only use he made of them, as well as of the rich stuffs he found in the presses, was to clothe and adorn the officers of his army. i believe, therefore, that so disinterested a man deserves the confidence of your majesty." abourazier having ceased speaking, nourgehan said to him, "imadil deule shall not be my vizier. i believe him an honest man, but he wants prudence, and i do not think him capable of supporting my authority. he had the seals of the empire, and yet knew not how to order everything necessary for his expedition; in a word, his treasure failed him, and his soldiers presumed to give him laws. without the accident of the serpent, of which any other man would have made the same use, what would have become of him? the story of the tailor is of no consequence." nourgehan was continually occupied with the love of justice and the desire of reigning well. he left his palace at all hours to inform himself of the truth by his own knowledge. there was an old potter of earthen vessels who dwelt near his palace. nourgehan, moved by seeing him every day pray to god with the most ardent and zealous fervour, stopped one day before the little hut in which he dwelt, and said to him, "ask of me whatever thou desirest, and i promise to grant it thee." "command all your officers," said the potter, "to take each of them one of my pots, and pay for it that which i ask. i will not abuse this permission." nourgehan granted him his request, and gave orders to his guard to watch over the sale of the pots, and, above all, to do whatever the potter ordered him. he made a very modest use of the favour that he had obtained, and, satisfied with the sale of his work, he exacted no more than the value of it, thinking himself happy in being able to live by his industry, and wishing that he might give a proof of his gratitude to his sovereign. the vizier of nourgehan was avaricious; but for fear of displeasing his master, he concealed that vice with the utmost care. he went one morning to the emperor's audience, when the potter demanded a sequin for a pot which he presented to him. the vizier refused it, and said it was a jest to ask such a sum for a thing that the least coin would sufficiently pay for. the potter, seeing that he added menaces to his refusal, answered him, "that since he took it in that strain, he demanded a thousand sequins for his pot," and added, "that he should not enter into the emperor's presence until he had hung the pot round his neck, and carried him upon his back to have an audience of the emperor, that he might make his complaints of the refusal and menaces he had given him." the vizier made many difficulties and great entreaties to avoid these vexatious and mortifying conditions; but the hour approaching which the emperor had appointed for an audience, and the guards refusing to let him enter till he had satisfied the desires of the potter, he was obliged to submit to them; to promise the thousand sequins, to hang the pot about his neck, and to carry the potter on his back, a condition from which he would not recede. the emperor, surprised at seeing his vizier arrive in a manner so ridiculous and so unsuitable to his dignity, commanded him to explain what it all meant. when he was told, he obliged the vizier to pay the thousand sequins immediately; and comprehending of how great an injury it might be to a prince to have an avaricious minister, he deposed him, and was pleased with the potter for having made known to him a fact that he never would have suspected otherwise. nourgehan formed a counsel of the most worthy men of the empire, ordained wise and prudent laws, and departed to visit his provinces, with a resolution of releasing his people from any possible abuse of an authority which is always dangerous, when those who exercise it are at too great a distance from the sovereign. this prince, endowed with every virtue, had no other wish than that of deserving after his death the noble epitaph of that persian monarch who has graved upon his tomb, "weep! for shah chuja is dead!" nourgehan, visiting all the provinces of his kingdom, had already gone through the greatest part of them, and remedied numberless disorders, when his curiosity engaged him in a journey into tartary, his neighbouring kingdom. finding himself so near their country, he had a desire also to see and know the manners of these tartars, who were more civilized than others, for they had cities and fixed habitations: their women also are not shut up like those of the other asiatics. the tartars came to meet the emperor of the moguls. some of them performed courses on their swiftest horses to do him honour, others, accompanied with their women, formed a kind of dance which, though a little savage, was not destitute of grace. in the number of the tartar women who presented themselves before him, nourgehan was struck with the beauty of a young person of eighteen, named damake.[10] she possessed great beauty; an inexpressible sense and modesty was visible in her countenance. nourgehan did homage to so many charms, and caused a place in his harem to be proposed to her, but she refused it. love but too often causes the greatest change in the worthiest characters. the prince, so wise, and till then so moderate, led away by his passion, joined menaces to his entreaties; he even went so far as to threaten that he would bring a formidable army thither to obtain a beauty whose refusals did not permit him to hope to win her otherwise. he made this rash speech to damake alone; for if the tartars, who are a people most jealous of their liberty, had had the least knowledge of it, war would have been that moment declared. but damake answered him with the utmost sweetness, without showing the least fear, and without losing that respect which she owed to a sovereign; and it was with the gentle and yet resolved tone that courage and truth always inspire, that she related this little history to him: [footnote 10: joy of the heart.] "one of the great lamas," said she, "of whose supreme authority in this country you are not ignorant, fell in love, in this very place, with a maiden of my tribe. she not only refused all that he offered to her, but she would not accept the proposal he made to marry her. the love she felt for a musician was the sole cause of her refusal, which she confessed to the lama, with a hope of appearing unworthy of his attachment. but that prince--for they are looked upon as such--distracted with anger and sorrow, caused his unworthy rival to be put to death, and under the pretext of her being agreeable to the grand lama, it was not difficult to have her carried off. for you are sensible, my lord, that in this country every one trembles at the very name of him, whom we look upon as a god. but the lama enjoyed not much satisfaction from his cruelty and injustice; for after she had promised to marry him, in order to obtain a greater liberty, she precipitated herself from the top of a rock, which can be perceived from hence, and which is always shown in the country as a proof of the constancy and resolution of which the tartar virgins are capable. it is not," continued damake, "love for another that makes me refuse the offers of your majesty. my heart to this hour is free; but, my lord, learn to know it thoroughly. it is noble, and perhaps worthy of the favour you condescend to honour me with. my weak charms have seduced you; but a woman who has no other merit than beauty, in my opinion, is of little value." "perhaps," returned nourgehan, "the difference of our religions is an obstacle to my happiness?" "no, my lord, i am a mussulman," resumed damake. "can you imagine i could submit to the ideas that are given us of the grand lama? can we believe that a man is immortal? the artifice that is made use of to persuade us of it is too gross. in one word, my eyes are too much enlightened for me to hesitate between the ideas inculcated by these priests, and those by which the divinity of god is preached by his most sacred prophet. no, my lord," continued she, "i am sensible of the risk i shall run by your goodness to me. time causes the nightingale to perish and the rose to fade. the moon shines during the night; but its lustre fades when the day approaches. can i expect, therefore, that time should spare me? yet, notwithstanding these reflections, i confess, my lord, i should be flattered with the thought of pleasing a man whose virtues i esteem above his greatness. but i should wish to please him by other qualities: i should wish to have rendered myself worthy of him by services so considerable, that even a marriage thus unsuitable, far from exposing him to reproaches, should only serve to make his choice more applauded." nourgehan, charmed at finding such uncommon sense and such delicate sentiments in an object whose figure alone would have rendered her amiable, admired her virtue, gave her his royal promise never to constrain her inclinations, and resolved never to depart from her. he sent a numerous train of slaves and camels to the beauteous damake, who followed him with all her family. she would never have consented to this step if she had been obliged to abandon her family, to whom she was fondly attached. the king saw her every day, and could not exist a moment without wishing to see her, or without admiring her when he did see her. in the meantime the discourses of the court and of the populace reached the ears of damake. she knew the evil opinion they had of her. to repair this wrong she conjured nourgehan to assemble all the learned men of his kingdom, that she might answer their questions, and afterwards propose some to them. nourgehan, who dreaded lest a person so young as damake should expose herself too hastily, and return with confusion from such a dispute, used his utmost efforts to dissuade her from her request; for the fear and concern that is felt for those whom we love is most certainly far stronger than that which interests us for ourselves. his remonstrances were in vain. learned men were assembled to the number of twelve; and in the audience that was given them, the king was placed upon an elevated throne, in his habits of ceremony. damake was seated lower, opposite to him, leaning upon a sofa, dressed with the greatest plainness, but shining with every charm of youth and every gift of nature, surrounded by the twelve sages, venerable by their extreme age and their flowing beards, leaning upon a large table, round which they and she were seated. the sages, who knew not with what design nourgehan had assembled them, were extremely astonished when he made known to them the project of damake. they looked upon the adversary who was presented to them, and kept silence, not doubting that the king did it with the design of showing them contempt. nourgehan said to them, "i perceive your thoughts, but i have given my royal promise, and it is your duty to acquit me of it. propose boldly the hardest questions to this lady, who has engaged to resolve all the difficulties that your great learning gives you the opportunity of proposing to her." the first sage demanded, "what is that which takes the colour of those who look upon it, which men cannot do without, and which of itself has neither form nor colour?" "it is the water," replied damake. the second said to her, "can you, o miracle of sense and beauty, tell me what is the thing which has neither door nor foundation, and which is within filled with yellow and white?" "it is an egg," said the beauteous maiden. the third sage, after having considered a little, in hopes of surpassing his brethren (for the learned men in the mogul have a share of self-love), said to her, "there is in a certain garden a tree; this tree bears twelve branches, upon each branch there are thirty leaves, and upon each leaf there are five fruits, of which three are in the shade and two in the sun. what is this tree? and where is it to be found?" "this tree," returned damake, "represents the year: the twelve branches are the months, the thirty leaves the days, the five fruits the five prayers, of which two are made by day and three by night." the sage was amazed, and the courtiers, whose minds vary like the air, and whose sentiments are changed by that which is less than nothing, began to be inwardly persuaded of the value of that which they had at first only pretended to admire. the other sages, who had not yet spoken, would have excused themselves, and had their silence passed over in favour of the applauses they gave to the uncommon sense of her who had confounded those who preceded them. but nourgehan, at the entreaty of damake, having commanded them to continue the conference, one of them demanded, "what is heavier than a mountain?" the other, "what is more cutting than a sabre?" and the third, "what is swifter than an arrow?" damake answered that the first "was the tongue of a man that complains of oppression;" the second, "calumny," and the third, "a glance." there were four sages remaining who had not yet proposed their difficulties. nourgehan trembled, lest at length the mind of damake should be exhausted, and she should lose the honour of so great a number of judicious answers. yet this beautiful maiden appeared neither fatigued nor exalted with that which would have raised the vanity of the greatest part of mankind. but the very property of love being to submit to the will of that which it loves, nourgehan, whom the preceding examples had not yet reassured, full of alarms and inquietudes, commanded them to speak by a sign of his head, which they durst not refuse. the first demanded of her, "what that animal was which avoided everybody, was composed of seven different animals, and inhabited desolate places." the second desired to know who that was whose habit was armed with darts, who wore a black vest, a yellow shirt, whose mother lived above a hundred years, and who was liked by the whole world. the third desired her to name that which had but one foot, which had a hole in its head, a leathern girdle, and which raised up its head when its hairs were torn off and its face was spit upon. damake answered to the first that it was a grasshopper, which is composed of seven animals; for it has the head of a horse, the neck of an ox, the wings of an eagle, the feet of a camel, the tail of a serpent, the horns of a stag, and the body of a scorpion. the lady found it more difficult to answer the question of the second: for a moment the whole assembly thought her vanquished. this idea, which she perceived in the eyes of all who looked upon her, made her blush. she appeared only still more beautiful from her modesty; and nourgehan was charmed when he saw the sage who had proposed the question agree that she had answered with her usual justness, when she said that it was a chestnut. she answered the third without hesitation, that it was a distaff. so much knowledge, so much presence of mind, joined to such uncommon personal charms, threw all minds into so pleasing a confusion that, notwithstanding the awe that the presence of nourgehan inspired, they all loudly expressed the joy, admiration, and pleasure they felt at being witnesses of so uncommon a scene. damake then made a sign that she wished now to speak. silence was commanded, and she desired the sages to inform her what was sweeter than honey. some of them answered that it was the satisfaction of having our wishes fulfilled, some that of gratitude, and others it was the pleasure of conferring obligations. when damake had let them speak, she applauded all their reasonable and just thoughts, but finished her discourse by asking them with gentleness if she was mistaken when she imagined the sweetest thing upon earth to be the love of a mother for her child. an answer so suitable to her sex, who ought always to be attached to their maternal duty, and proposed with so much modesty, entirely finished the conquest of their hearts. but damake, who had no other design upon this occasion than to conciliate their esteem and authorize the favours with which nourgehan honoured her, was resolved to finish a scene which she did not design to repeat, resolving for the future to be occupied with schemes and ideas of a higher kind. damake then caused instruments to be brought, and sang and played in all the different modes of music, finishing by singing the famous strain of zeaghioule. nourgehan, in those transports of joy which are given by the repeated successes of those one loves, dismissed the assembly, but not without making some large presents to the sages; and when they had all retired, he threw himself at the knees of damake, saying, "thou art the life of my soul: haste thee to make me happy!" the beauty answered that she was not yet worthy of him. "what can you require further?" cried the passionate prince. "you have charmed my whole court; you have confounded the learning of the men most celebrated for their wisdom; the justness of your answers, the moderation of your questions, and the modesty with which you bore the advantage of so great a triumph, have dazzled them. not satisfied with having proved your sense, what talents did not you show when you touched the musical instruments! what taste did you not express in your song! whoever, like damake, joined such merit to so much beauty? but i perceive you love me not," added this passionate prince, with the utmost tenderness, "since you refuse to attach your destiny to mine. doubtless you have an aversion for my person." "i am very far from deserving this reproach, my lord," said damake; "you yourself shall be the judge. the greatest pleasure and the highest satisfaction i have felt on this day, which your prejudice in my favour has made you think so glorious, was the being able to express before the whole court, in a proper manner, the sentiments with which you have filled my heart." "what can you wait for further to render me the happiest man upon earth?" cried nourgehan with eagerness. "you love me, and i adore you. what wants there more? my wishes for you are become an ocean unbounded by any shore." "i resolve to deserve you, my lord," replied she, "by talents of more value than those of music; by a justness of sense more valuable than that which your sages set such a price upon, and which is only a mere subtlety of mind. i wish to establish myself in your heart upon foundations more solid than beauty, or those superficial talents that you have had the goodness to applaud. in short, i wish that love may in you only be a passage to that esteem and friendship which i aspire to deserve. submit your impatience to grant me this favour--it perhaps gives me more pain to ask it than your majesty to grant: let me live some time under the shadow of your felicity." "i am capable of nothing now," replied nourgehan, "but of loving and adoring you; but at least permit me to give a full proof of the justice i do your merit. assist in the divan, preside in all affairs, and give me your counsels: i can follow none that are more prudent or better judged." "the diamond boasted," replied damake, smiling, "that there was no stone which equalled it in strength and hardness. allah, who loves not pride, changed its nature in favour of lead, the vilest of metals, to which he gave the power to cut it. independently of the pride i must render myself guilty of if i accepted your offers,--allah forbid that i should do that wrong to my sovereign lord!--to authorize by my behaviour the reproaches that would be thrown upon him. there would be a foundation to say that he was governed by a woman. i allow," added she, "that your majesty ought to have a vizier: you cannot see to everything with your own eyes, and i believe i am able to show you one worthy of nourgehan." "name him to me," replied he, "and i will give him the charge this moment." "your majesty," replied the beauteous damake, "must know him before you accept him. i hope you will find in him whom i propose those virtues and talents necessary in a man dignified with so great an employment. he lives in the city of balk, and is named diafer. the post of vizier to one of the most powerful kings of the indies has been in his family above a thousand years. judge then, my lord, what a collection of admirable precepts he must have upon all parts of government, and yet a prince, blinded by the pernicious counsels of his favourites, has deposed him, and he passes his days at balk--days which might be happy if he had not lived in the habit of labour and a hurry of great affairs, which seldom leave the mind at liberty to be satisfied with anything less tumultuous." nourgehan immediately replied, "diafer is my vizier: damake can never be mistaken." upon the spot he wrote to the governor of balk, and sent him a note for a hundred thousand sequins, to be delivered to diafer, to defray the expenses of his journey; and he charged the same courier with a letter for diafer, in which he conjured him to accept the post that he had destined him for. diafer began his journey. he was received with magnificence in every city, and the emperor sent all the noblemen of his court to meet him, and conduct him to the palace which he had destined for him in the kingdom of visiapour, where he then resided. he was treated there with incredible magnificence during three days, after which he was conducted to an audience of the prince. he appeared at the height of joy for possessing a man whom damake esteemed so highly; but that joy was of no long duration, for the prince, who was so gracious and so prejudiced in his favour, flew into the most dreadful anger the moment diafer appeared in his presence. "go," said he to him, "depart this moment, and never see me again!" diafer obeyed, and retired in all the confusion, the sorrow, and the surprise that such a reception must needs give him. he returned to his apartment without being able to imagine the cause of the king's sudden anger, who, in the meantime, held a council, and examined the affairs of his kingdom, without taking any notice of what had passed with him whom he had destined to be his vizier. he afterwards repaired to the apartment of damake, who, already informed of an event which employed the thoughts of the whole court, doubted not that there was an alteration in the mind of him to whom she was so perfectly attached. the sorrow which this reflection had given her had plunged her into a state so languishing as scarce left her the use of speech. yet making an effort to conquer herself, she said to him, after some moments' silence, "how is it possible, my lord, that after all the expenses you have been at, and all the cares you took for the arrival of diafer at your court--after all the honours you have ordered to be paid him, and those that you have loaded him with, you should receive him so ill?" "ah! damake," cried nourgehan, "i should have had no regard to all that i have done for him, to his illustrious family, nor to the fatigues that he has suffered in coming so far, if any one but you had recommended him to me. i would have had his head struck off the moment he presented himself before me, and it was wholly in regard to you that i satisfied myself with banishing him from my presence for ever." "but how did he incur your indignation?" pursued damake. "know, then," resumed nourgehan, "that when he came up to me he had the most subtle of poisons about him." "may i ask you, my lord," returned damake, "what certainty you have of such a fact, and if you may not doubt of the fidelity of him who made you the report?" nourgehan replied, "i knew it myself. i permit you to inquire into it, and you will find whether i was mistaken or not." when nourgehan had left damake more reassured as to the heart of the emperor, though alarmed at the impressions he was capable of taking so lightly, she sent for diafer, who appeared sunk in the most violent chagrin. she conversed with him for some time, and perceiving how deeply the ill-treatment he had received from the king had plunged the poniard of sorrow into his heart, she said to him that he ought not to afflict himself so much, that the wrath of nourgehan would be of no long duration, and that he would soon repair the affront that he had publicly given him. she added that princes had their hasty moments, that ought to be passed by and excused. when she had a little calmed his chagrin, she finished her discourse by saying to him, "if i have deserved your confidence, if you believe that i shall endeavour to repair the affront you have suffered--since i, by doing justice to your talents, was the innocent cause of that which has happened to you--if i deserve any return from you, vouchsafe to inform me why you had poison about you when you were presented to nourgehan?" diafer, surprised at this question, after having reflected some moments, replied, "true, i had poison with me; but my heart, though i bore it about me, was as pure as the dew of the morning. i even have it now that i speak to you." saying this, he drew a ring from his finger and presented it to her. "the setting of this ring," said he, "encloses a most subtle poison. it is a treasure that has been preserved in our family from father to son these thousand years. my ancestors have always worn it, to preserve themselves from the anger of those princes they served, in case they should have had the misfortune to displease them in the exercise of their post of vizier. you may believe," continued he, "that when the king sent for me, who was wholly unknown to him, to exercise that charge, and conscious of the many enemies a stranger generally meets with, i would not forget to bring this treasure. the sorrow that the cruel behaviour of nourgehan has given me, and the shame that he has covered me with, render it still more precious to me: it will not be long before i make use of it." damake obtained from him that he should delay, at least for some days, this fatal design, and conjured him to wait in his palace till he heard from her. she immediately repaired to give an account to nourgehan of what she had learned. that prince, perceiving by her relation that diafer had no ill design, and that the cruelty of princes in general authorized but too justly such a precaution, repented that he had received him so unworthily, and promised damake the next day to make amends for the pain he had given him. she approved this design; but before she quitted him she conjured him to satisfy her curiosity by informing her how he could perceive the poison which diafer had with him. nourgehan replied, "never will i have anything concealed from the sovereign of my heart. i always wear a bracelet, which my father left me, and which has long been in our family, though i am ignorant of the name of the sage who composed it, or how it fell into the hands of my ancestors. it is of a substance that nearly resembles coral, and it has the property of discovering poison, even at a very great distance. it is moved and agitated whenever poison approaches; and when diafer came near me, the bracelet was very nigh breaking, the poison which he bore had so much strength and violence. had he not been recommended by you, his head should have been struck off that moment. i was the more certain that diafer bore that dangerous poison, as my bracelet remained immovable immediately after his leaving the hall where i gave audience." nourgehan loosed it from his arm, and gave it to damake. she examined it with great attention, and said to him, "this talisman, my lord, is doubtless very wonderful; yet this adventure ought to prove to you how much those who have the sovereign power are obliged to be upon their guard against appearances, and of what consequence it is for them not to give judgment rashly." damake retired, and nourgehan commanded the greatest pomp and the most splendid train to conduct diafer the next day to an audience. this order was executed. nourgehan received him with the utmost affability, and testified the greatest regret for what had passed. then there was presented to him, by the sultan's command, a standish of gold, a pen and paper. immediately he wrote in the most beautiful characters sublime sentences upon the manner in which a vizier ought to fulfil the duties of his important post. nourgehan admired his talents, made him clothe himself in the robe of a vizier, and, to crown his goodness, confided to him the secret of his bracelet. diafer strenuously advised that prince never to part with it; and in his admiration, and the pleasure he felt at possessing so great a treasure, he asked his new vizier if he believed that through the whole world there could be found anything so curious. "great prince," replied diafer to him, "i have seen in the city of dioul another miracle of nature, less useful, indeed, but which for the strength of art and learning with which a sage has composed it, may be compared to this." "what is it?" returned nourgehan. "i should be glad to be informed of it." then diafer spoke thus: "when i had received your majesty's command to repair to your presence, i departed at once, but was obliged to make some stay at dioul, through which i passed in my way to visiapour, where i knew i might join your majesty. notwithstanding my impatience, i was obliged to collect several things which were necessary for my journey, and made use of that time to view the beauties of the city. the governor, whose riches and opulence astonished me, came to meet me on the day of my arrival, and conducted me to his palace. he loaded me with honours, and, during my residence there, showed me the utmost respect and favour; yet it was accompanied with a constraint that rendered his fidelity suspected by me. among the amusements that he procured for me, was a party upon the river: i consented to join it, and we embarked the next day in a small frigate which he had provided. the weather was fair, and the conversation most agreeable. the governor of dioul was seated on the upper deck, and i was placed close to him. a young boy, beautiful as the sun, lay at his feet; the most exquisite wines were served upon a table which stood before us: their coldness, and that of the ice with which all the fruits were surrounded, contributed to the most seducing voluptuousness. the slaves sang and played upon different instruments. our pleasure was thus accompanied with everything that could render it delicious; and as i was thinking upon something to say that might be agreeable to the governor, i perceived upon his finger so magnificent a ruby, that i could not forbear giving it the praises it deserved. the governor immediately drew it off, and presented it to me. i examined it with attention, and returned it to him again, but had great trouble to make him take it. seeing that i absolutely refused to keep it, he was so concerned that he threw it into the river. i repented then that i had not accepted so perfect a work of nature, and testified my sorrow to the governor, who answered, that it was my own fault. "'yet,' continued he, 'if you will promise me to accept it, it will not be difficult for me to find the ring again, which is really deserving of your acceptance.' "i imagined that, having another not unlike it, he designed to offer me that; but, without saying any more to me, he immediately commanded they should steer the vessel to the land. when he was arrived there, he sent his slave to his treasurer to demand a small casket which he described to him, and cast anchor to wait the return of the slave, who was expeditious in executing the orders he had received. the governor, having then taken out of his pocket a small gold key, opened the casket, out of which he took a small fish of the same metal and of admirable workmanship, and threw it into the river. immediately it plunged to the bottom, and soon after appeared upon the surface of the water holding the ring in its mouth. the rowers who were in the boat took it in their hands and brought it to the governor, to whom it delivered the ring with a motion of its head: no other person could have forced it from its teeth. the governor again presenting the ring to me, i could not refuse it, especially as he redoubled his entreaties. the fish was replaced in the little casket and sent back to the treasury." diafer, after having related this history, drew the ring from his finger and presented it to nourgehan, who, finding it to be extremely magnificent, said to him, "never part from this ring, which is still more precious from the virtue of the talisman which rendered you the possessor of it. but," continued he, "you ought to have informed yourself at what time, how, and by whom that wonderful masterpiece of art was composed." "i used my utmost efforts to be informed," replied diafer, "but they were in vain. struck with so singular an event, i thought no more of the pleasures of the day. the governor, perceiving that i fell into a deep reverie, said to me, 'life is short: make use of every moment and enjoy every pleasure. the soul is a bird imprisoned in the cage of the body, which it must soon quit: rejoice while it is in your power, you know not who shall exist to-morrow.' i confessed to him that curiosity had penetrated my heart. he replied, 'i am in despair that i cannot satisfy you,' and pronounced these words with a tone that expressed his design of not giving a more particular answer. 'let us think only of amusing ourselves agreeably,' continued he. i followed his counsels as much as it was in my power, and departed from dioul without being able to obtain any information upon the subject, but fully persuaded that this talisman was the source of all the treasures which he possesses." nourgehan terminated the audience of diafer by assuring him of his favour if he used his utmost care in the administration of justice. he afterwards gave an account to damake of the conversation he had held with his vizier, and told her the history of the fish. "i have a love for these talismans," said that prince, "and this little fish rouses my curiosity. i wish at least i knew the maker of it." damake promised him to use her utmost efforts to inform him. in effect, the next day, she told him, that of all the talismans which the great seidel-beckir had made, there existed only four--his bracelet, the little fish of which diafer had spoken to him, and which she presented to him from the governor of dioul, adding, that he had just sent it as a present to his majesty in order to obtain a life which he had deserved to lose, his faithful subjects having taken him in arms against the sultan. the third, a poniard, very meanly adorned, which she begged him to accept. "the others," continued she, "are either worn out (for you know, my lord they only last for a certain time), or have been destroyed by different accidents." "why did the governor of dioul," resumed nourgehan, "conceal from diafer that seidel-beckir was the maker of that which he possessed?" "he was ignorant of it, my lord," interrupted damake; "and perhaps, ashamed of not knowing it, he feigned it to be a secret. it is the habit of men to cover their ignorance by an affectation of mystery." "but what is the virtue of this talisman that you offer me?" said nourgehan, as he accepted the poniard. "i will inform you of it, my lord," said damake, "at the same time that i give you an account of what i have been able to learn concerning the fish. it may be about three thousand years since there appeared, in the part of asia which we inhabit, a man named houna, who was so great that he was surnamed seidel-beckir. he was a sage who possessed in perfection all those talents which acquire a general veneration. the science of talismans he possessed in so eminent a degree, that by their means he commanded the stars and the constellations. unhappily, his writings are lost, and therefore no talismans like his can now be made. antinmour, king of hindostan, having found means to form a friendship with him, seidel-beckir, in return for his kindness and some small services that he had done him, made him a present of that little fish of which your vizier gave you an account. it always remained in the treasury of antinmour as long as his family existed. one of the ancestors of the governor of dioul finding himself the vizier of the last of that race, when the family was extinct by those revolutions which the history of the indies relates at length, and which are universally known, seized upon this curiosity, and his successors have kept it with the utmost care till this time. not only does this talisman bring back whatever is fallen into a river, or the sea, to the person to whom it belongs, but if you indicate to it anything to be brought out of that element, it goes in search of it with the greatest readiness, and brings it wherever it is commanded." "i am fully satisfied," replied nourgehan, "as to the two talismans, and never prince was possessor of such treasures. i may now truly style myself the sovereign of the sea. what do i owe to thee, the ruler of my soul! but of what use is this one which the beauteous damake has presented to me?" "my lord," replied she, "when i tell you for what reason it was composed, you will know its virtue." "we read in the revolutions of hindostan, that antinmour would have unjustly exacted a tribute from keiramour, who was too weak to resist the forces of his enemy; and not knowing to whom to have recourse, he resolved to address himself to the sage seidel-beckir, and sent his vizier to him with magnificent presents. the sage refused them; but he was so touched by the situation to which the king, his friend, had been reduced, that he declared antinmour should not succeed in his designs. immediately he composed this very poniard, which i have now presented to my sovereign, and gave it to the vizier. 'tell your master from me,' said he, 'to choose out twenty of the bravest soldiers of his kingdom, and deliver the poniard into the hands of him who commands them; for this poniard has the virtue (when it is drawn) to render invisible not only the person who bears it, but all those whom he designs should participate in the virtue of the talisman. his will alone decides the effect of it. keiramour shall send these twenty persons to antinmour with a letter, in which he shall refuse to pay the tribute that is demanded of him. antinmour, in the excess of his anger, will order the ambassadors to be seized. then the law of nations being violated, he who bears the poniard shall render himself invisible by drawing it with one hand, and his sabre with the other; and his troop following his example, and doing the same, he shall obey, without hesitation, the dictates of his courage.' "the vizier returned to keiramour, and all that seidel-beckir had commanded was executed. the son of the king was charged with the command and execution of this great enterprise. antinmour was enraged on reading the letter that was presented to him. "'let this insolent ambassador be seized,' cried he, 'this moment.' "then the prince, hastily drawing out his poniard and sabre, struck off the head of antinmour. his train did the same to all those who composed the divan; and running directly into the city, an infinity of heads were flying off without knowing who caused this disorder. after this great execution, the ambassador and his train made themselves visible, and declared to the people in the public square that there was no other method of avoiding certain death but to submit to the government of keiramour, which they did without reluctance. this poniard," continued damake, "has been long kept in the treasury of the princes of that country. by little and little, however, its value was forgotten, and the remembrance of its uncommon property totally lost; and when your majesty desired an explanation of the talismans, i found that this was at balsora in the possession of a poor jew, a broker, who sells upon the bridge of that city all the old iron and useless weapons that are cast away. it was not difficult to procure the possession of it, therefore it was no merit in me to give my sovereign lord a talisman which would be absolutely useless to me, whilst the destiny of monarchs may unfortunately render such precautions necessary to them." nourgehan made a thousand exclamations upon the boundless ocean of her liberality, and said to her, "sovereign of my heart, reflect upon what you have said to me: consider that if these talismans, valuable in themselves, but mean in comparison with you, have excited my wish to possess them, how much greater must my desire be to wed the giver! all the sages, seidel-beckir himself, never composed a talisman so wonderful as you are. yesterday you knew not a single word of the history of the talisman, to-day you are perfectly instructed in it. this poniard was not four and twenty hours since at balsora, yet notwithstanding the great distance we are from that city, you have presented it to me this moment. are you the daughter of seidel-beckir, or are you an enchantress yourself?" damake blushed at this discourse, and nourgehan again pressing her to speak, she replied, "nothing is impossible when one desires to please him whom one loves. but i will explain at once all that puzzles my sultan. not long after my birth, my mother was seated at the foot of a palm-tree, enjoying with me the coolness of the morning, without any other thought than that of returning by her tender kisses my innocent caresses, when in a moment she perceived herself surrounded by a numerous court who attended a queen, beautiful, majestic, magnificently dressed, and who had herself also an infant in her arms. notwithstanding the pomp of her train, and all the grandeur of royalty, she caressed me, young as i was, and after some moments' stay said to my mother, "'this child whom you see in my arms, and who is mine, is by fate obliged to taste the milk of a mortal, it being a command laid upon us by allah; and i cannot find one more modest, more wise, nor whose milk is purer than thine. do me the pleasure, therefore, of nursing my infant for a few moments.' "my mother consented with pleasure; and the queen, in return for her complaisance, said to her, "'whenever you have any sorrow or any desire, come to the foot of a palm-tree, cut a leaf off it, burn it, and call for me--i am named the peri malikatada--and i will haste immediately to your assistance. i grant the same power to your little girl when she attains the age of reason.' "my mother never importuned the peri except for the care of my education; and i, my lord, before i knew you, had never addressed myself to her, for i knew no desire, nor had my heart formed any wish. from that time i fear i have fatigued her, so many troubles and inquietudes have seized upon my soul. it was she, as you will judge, who made diafer known to me, who dictated to me the answers i gave the sages, who informed me of the talismans, and delivered this one to me. it was she, likewise, who caused the governor of dioul to be arrested, and who demands his life of you in return for the golden fish which i have given you from him; she also would have given me----" she paused. "go on, beauteous damake," said nourgehan, with tenderness; "if you love me, can you conceal anything from me?" "she would have given me," resumed damake, "a talisman of her composition that should force you always to love me, but i have refused it. can there be any happy talisman in love but the heart?" nourgehan, struck with so many virtues, and such proofs of her attachment to him, would no longer defer his happiness. he immediately caused his whole court, and all the grandees of his kingdom, to be assembled. "i may boast with reason," said he to them, "that i am the happiest prince upon earth: i possess a bracelet which preserves me from all fear of poison; all the treasures of the sea are mine by the means of a fish, which at my command will fetch them from the bottom of the waves; damake has given me this poniard, which renders whoever i please invisible. the proof that i can make before your eyes of this magnificent talisman will convince you of their virtues better than the golden fish, which it would be more tedious and difficult to exhibit." he drew his poniard as he spoke, and disappeared from their sight. the astonishment of the spectators was not yet dissipated, when he disappeared with all his military officers, and said to his magistrates, "do you see such a general, such an officer that has served so long in my army?" to every question they answered no. he ceased then to be visible to the eyes of his warriors, and disappeared with his viziers and all the doctors of the law, designing by that means to convince them fully, and leave no room for jealousy and suspicion. "return thanks, then, with me," added he, "to allah and his holy prophet, for having made me the most powerful prince upon earth." he performed his action of thanks with a fervour worthy of the bounty which heaven had shown him, and all his courtiers followed his example. when he had fulfilled that important duty, he said to them, "the greatest vice of the human heart is ingratitude: it is to damake that i owe these powerful treasures; her beauty alone, her merit and her virtue, would deserve the gratitude i shall my whole life preserve for her; but gratitude ought to be accompanied with more than words: i will this day unite her to me for ever." all the court and the grandees applauded his choice; and nourgehan, having commanded damake to be brought, she appeared with all those modest graces that nature had adorned her. when the prince had given her his hand in presence of the great imam, damake, who had prostrated herself before him, said with an audible voice, "when i gave an account of the talismans of the great seidel-beckir, i informed you, my lord, that there were four still subsisting in the world: you have yet but three." "have i not riches enough in possessing thee?" returned nourgehan. "thou art reckoned, perhaps, for the fourth; but they are not all of half thy value." "no, my lord," resumed damake, casting her eyes upon the ground, and presenting him with a ring, "this was wanting. this ring of steel gives you a power of penetrating into the secrets of every heart. others, in my place, might look upon this talisman as a danger, but i shall look upon it as a blessing if you still condescend to interest yourself in the sentiments that you have for ever graved in mine; and if i have the misfortune not to deserve that interesting curiosity, it will at least make known to you, without any doubts, the characters and the fidelity of your subjects." at that instant the peri malikatada appeared with her whole court, and desired the king to pass into a garden, which by her power, and that of the genii, she had adorned with exquisite taste and magnificence. here she honoured the nuptials with her presence, and nourgehan lived happily ever afterwards, more happy in the love and counsels of damake than in all the talismans upon earth, if he could have joined them to those which he already possessed. [illustration] the story of bohetzad; or, the lost child. [illustration] the kingdom of dineroux comprehended all syria and the isles of india lying at the mouth of the persian gulf. this powerful state was formerly subject to king bohetzad, who resided in the city of issessara. nothing could equal the power of this monarch. his troops were without number, his treasures inexhaustible, and the population of his dominions was equal to their fertility. his whole kingdom, divided into ten great departments, was entrusted to the administration of ten viziers, of whom his divan was composed. this prince used often to repair to the chase as a recreation after the cares of government. one day, while he entered with his usual keenness into this exercise, he allowed himself to be carried so far in pursuit of a stag which had darted into the forest, and left his attendants at so great a distance, that, upon coming out of the wood, he could perceive none of his people; he had also lost sight of his prey. and while he endeavoured to find out the east of the place he was in, he perceived at a distance a pretty large troop of men. he approached them, and as he drew near he could distinguish a body of forty knights,[11] surrounding a splendid litter, the brightness of which was heightened by the rays of the sun. this carriage was made of rock crystal, the mouldings and hinges were of carved gold, and the roof, in form of a crown, was made of wood of aloes, having cornices of silver. this litter resembled in shape a small antique temple, but so brilliant that the eye was quite dazzled with it. a prodigy of this kind in the midst of a desert, astonished the king, and at the same time excited his curiosity. he came up and saluted the convoy, and, addressing his discourse to the knight who held the reins of the mules, "friends," said he, "be so kind as to tell me the meaning of all this equipage, and the name of the person to whom it belongs." [footnote 11: knights. the very ancient knighthood of india existed at this time. those who devoted themselves to this manner of life came, armed from head to foot, to offer their services to the different princes. see the "memoirs of hyder ali khan."] notwithstanding the civil and polite manner in which the monarch spoke this, yet, as the hunting dress did not express the dignity of the wearer, they answered, "what matters it to you?" bohetzad was not discouraged with so dry an answer, but still insisted with politeness, and even earnestness, for a more satisfactory reply. he who appeared to be the leader of the troop then presented to him the point of his spear, and said, "go on your way, audacious fellow! otherwise, if your curiosity becomes more impertinent, be assured it will cost you your life." this insolent behaviour excited the indignation of the king. he went up to the knight who thus threatened him, with that air of confidence and that commanding tone, the habit of which he had acquired in the exercise of absolute power. "slave of my throne!" said he to him, "dost thou not know bohetzad? but, had i been only a common man, after speaking to you in so modest and friendly a manner, ought you to have threatened me with death?" at the very name of bohetzad, the knights alighted and prostrated themselves on the earth. "sire," said one of the oldest of them, "pardon an answer which we could not think addressed to the greatest monarch of the earth; for it was very possible not to recognize your majesty in a hunting dress, and without attendants." "rise," said the king, "and gratify my curiosity. who is the person in that litter, and whither are you conducting it?" "sire," answered the knight, "it is the daughter of asphand, your grand vizier: we are conducting her to the prince of babylon, to whom she is going to be married." during this, the daughter of the vizier, uneasy on account of the delay, presented her head at the curtain of the litter, in order to get information, and was perceived by bohetzad. whatever pains she had taken to prevent herself from being seen, her extraordinary beauty struck the sovereign. his heart received a fatal wound: his passion, arrived at its height, aspired after gratification from the very moment of its existence; and bohetzad, determined to make sure of the object of it, made use of his absolute authority, and spoke thus to the conductor of the litter: "i command you to take the road to issessara, and to conduct the daughter of my grand vizier to my palace." the commander of the troop thought it necessary to make some reply to his majesty. "sire," said he, "your vizier is your slave as well as we; and therefore, if we return his daughter to his own palace, she will continue there in equal subjection to your will." "but my vizier has disposed of his daughter without my consent, and i do not owe him the attention which you propose i should pay him." "sire," replied the knight, "your grand vizier asphand has always been held in the highest estimation, and has had the honour to enjoy the confidence of your majesty. one instance of violence exercised against him may affect his reputation, and cause him to lose, in the opinion of the public, that credit which it is your interest that he should enjoy." "all his credit depends on me, and i do not detract from it by doing him the honour to marry his daughter." the oldest, and likewise the best informed of the knights, still ventured to speak. "sire," said he, "precipitation is dangerous; it often draws repentance after it: your slaves beseech your majesty to reflect maturely on this." "i have reflected already, audacious old man!" replied the prince in anger; "what caution should i observe with my slave? obey." being able to restrain his impatience no longer, he himself seized the bridle of the mules, and directed their steps towards that part of the forest where he presumed his people would be assembled at the appointed rendezvous. he soon found himself at the tent which they had set up, and he ordered all his suite to accompany the princess in the litter to his palace. when the retinue was arrived, the king ordered the chief of his eunuchs to bring the cadi, who instantly appeared, and drew up a contract of marriage between bohetzad and the princess baherjoa, daughter of asphand the vizier. while the king was taken up with the ceremonies of the marriage, the forty knights returned to the palace of the grand vizier, being forced to abandon the litter, and the princess whom they were conducting to babylon. the minister was confounded at so speedy a return. having set out from the city of issessara, how could they come back so soon from babylon? he feared that some extraordinary accident had befallen them. one of the knights came and told what had happened: he exaggerated the violence and despotic manner of bohetzad, and filled the mind of the minister with fear and resentment, although he assured him that the monarch was that very night to marry his daughter. "thus to oppose himself to my disposal of my own family! to carry off my daughter! to marry her against my will!--in this manner to repay my services!" said the enraged minister. full of a desire of vengeance, he immediately ordered expresses to be sent to all his friends, the princes and grandees of his family, to assemble them at his house. when they were come, he represented to them the outrage which the king had committed against his daughter, the prince of babylon, and himself. shame and resentment entered into every breast. asphand perceived, from the effect of the relation which he had made them, that it would be easy to associate them with him in his schemes of revenge. "princes and lords!" said he to them, "the king, occupied with his pleasures, is not delicate about the means of gratification; and, as a recompense for my labours, he hesitates not to expose me to the disgrace of an irreparable insult. i am nothing but a vile slave in his eyes. thinks he that my daughter is obliged to share his unsteady attachment? you yourselves will not be safe from this dishonour; your wives and daughters will not be spared. his torrent of iniquity will discharge itself on you, if we endeavour not to stop its course." the relations and friends of the vizier entered into his interests, and a deliberation was held concerning the measures which were to be taken. one of them, deeply skilled in politics, thus gave his opinion: "vizier, write to the king, and express to him how sensible you are of the unexpected honour which he has done you, to which you could never have had the smallest pretensions. along with this letter send another to your daughter, in which you must seem delighted with her good fortune. supplicate heaven with her, to pour down happiness upon a monarch so beloved by his people. accompany these despatches with magnificent presents, and bohetzad, blinded by his passion, will readily believe everything which can flatter it. you will take advantage of this security to leave him at the first opportunity, under pretence of attending to his business; and, having secured yourself against any sudden attack from him, transmit to all the princes, the governors, and people entrusted with the management of the finances, alarming accounts of the situation of the kingdom. represent to them the danger of the state, while the government, is in the hands of a young prince, addicted to the gratification of his passions, and incapable of rewarding the services done him, which he only repays with violence and disgrace, being guided by no law but the dictates of a will as depraved as it is absolute." the grand vizier and the rest of the assembly adopted this plan. they all agreed to embrace every opportunity which might present itself of preparing the minds of the people, without exposing themselves to danger, and to continue at issessara when asphand had left it, for the purpose of giving him information and directing his conduct. these resolutions being entered into, the assembly quickly broke up, that they might give no room for suspicion; and asphand wrote to the king in the following terms: "mighty king, monarch of two seas! your slave, already elevated by you to the place of grand vizier, and honoured with the title of prince, did not expect the distinguished honour of becoming your relation. infinitely obliged by this new favour, i offer up to the god of heaven the most ardent wishes that he would continually heap on your majesty new marks of his kindness; that he would prolong your days, and grant you all the blessings of a kingdom which shall not be shaken to the latest posterity. my duty hitherto has been to labour for maintaining both external and internal peace in your dominions, by the wise administration of justice, and by defending your frontiers from the enemy. i filled the station of your first vizier; the duties thereof are now become more sacred to me; the honour of a connection with you gives me a personal interest in their success; and my daughter and i will only be slaves more faithfully attached to your person and interests." the letter to baherjoa contained congratulations on her good fortune, and was as artfully expressed as the one addressed to her spouse. asphand caused the first officer of his household to deliver these letters, and accompanied them with a magnificent present. the young son of the vizier joined the envoy; they went together to the king's palace, and prostrated themselves before him. bohetzad, intoxicated with the good fortune which he enjoyed, did not in the least suspect the false declarations of the vizier. he ordered his son to be clothed with the richest robe, and a thousand pieces of gold to be given to the officer who was entrusted with the message. scarcely were they gone out, when the oldest of the viziers came to pay his court to the king. the monarch received him with his usual goodness, made him sit down, and communicated to him the happiness which he expected to enjoy in the possession of his lovely spouse; for, though he had gained her by an act of violence, he imagined that his happiness could be obscured by no cloud. "the attachment shown me by asphand," said he, "removes my fears concerning the resentment which i might suppose him to possess: here are his letters; read them, and you will see how well he is pleased with this alliance. besides, the magnificence of his presents exceeds even the force of his expressions." the old minister, after reading the letters, continued thoughtful, and with downcast eyes. "are you not satisfied with what you have read?" said the king. "a dangerous reptile," replied the minister, "when it means to introduce itself anywhere, does not try to frighten by its odious hissings: it creeps in artfully under the folds of its flexible and thin body; its scales are glittering and smooth; its looks are soft and fawning, and it takes care to conceal its treacherous and venomous sting. the letters of asphand are studied: doubt not that you have offended; and the pretended softness of his expressions only conceals a scheme of revenge, the consequences of which you ought to guard against and prevent." bohetzad, entirely occupied with his love, and supposing that the minister who thus spoke to him was influenced by motives of jealousy, paid no regard to the advice, which proceeded from attachment, zeal, and prudence, but allowed himself to be blinded concerning the conduct of asphand. the latter, in prosecution of his plan, and under pretence of appeasing some rumours in certain parts of the kingdom, left the capital, in a few months after, with his whole retinue. as soon as he saw himself out of the reach of power, he communicated to the governors of the provinces the affront which he had received; he excited them to revolt, by inspiring them with a fear that they would all meet with a treatment similar to that which he had received; and to determine them, he calumniated, in every instance, the person and government of bohetzad. on receiving the messengers of the grand vizier, the grandees of the kingdom, enraged against a prince whose administration was held forth in such odious colours, concerted together, from one province to another, and assured asphand that, upon the first signal given by him, they would take the field with the troops under their command. the vizier at the same time warned the princes who remained at issessara to hold themselves in readiness against the day on which he should come to complete his revenge, and to free the state from a tyrant who was sunk in effeminacy. the plot was executed before bohetzad had the smallest suspicion of it. the city of issessara was completely invested by the army of asphand. on receiving this news, the king armed in haste; he ordered the troops who were about his person to follow him; but they had been gained over, and were devoted to his enemy. he saw no safety for himself but in flight. he saddled, with his own hands, one of his finest coursers; and, taking baherjoa behind him, endeavoured to gain the desert. he made a passage for himself through the midst of his mutinous subjects, whom he trod under his feet. the young hero, whose courage seemed only to be increased by love, burst like a torrent through a troop of those who wished to interrupt his passage; his invincible spear spared none of the rebels; and his horse, as vigorous as swift, soon carried him out of sight of his enemies. he was now in the midst of the desert; and, night obliging him to allow some repose to his wife, fatigued with so violent an expedition, he stopped at the foot of a frightful mountain. on this spot the queen, exhausted with weariness, gave birth to her first-born child, and the prince received in his arms a young boy, no less beautiful than his mother. the tender pair loaded him with caresses, and soon forgot, in their new joy, the fatigue, uneasiness, and horror of their situation. the child was wrapped in a part of the queen's robes; and, in this solitude, they enjoyed a profound sleep. the returning day invited them, however, to pursue their journey. the affectionate mother nursed her infant tenderly, but it pined away, and the mother herself was in danger. bohetzad then saw himself under the cruel necessity of sacrificing nature to duty. he perceived a limpid fountain, on the borders of which there was a green bank, defended from the rays of the sun by the neighbouring willows. here the unhappy parents abandoned to the care of providence the object of their affection, having first watered it with their tears. "great allah!" said the afflicted mother, "thou who formerly watched over the young ishmael, take care of this innocent creature. send the preserving angel to him. we have no hope but in thy succour." sighs prevented her from saying more. they both tore themselves away from this dreadful sacrifice, and committed this sacred deposit into the hands of its creator. the noise they had made in coming thither had frightened away from the brink a hind, who, along with her fawns, was refreshing herself at this exuberant fountain. as soon as they were gone, she returned, and approached the languishing creature, which seemed about to lose for ever the little strength which remained. a powerful instinct led this animal to give the child that nourishment which was reserved only for her young ones. she fed quietly around her nursling, and left the place no more. the wild beasts of the forest, it appeared, had abandoned to her the enjoyment of this happy spot, although so necessary to the supply of their wants, amid the burning sands and parched deserts with which they were surrounded. nevertheless, men came to disturb their repose. it was a band of robbers, whom thirst had brought into these places. they saw a child wrapped in rich swaddling-clothes, but still more remarkable for the beauty of its features. the leader of the banditti approached it, took it up, and sent it straightway to his wife, that she might pay it the necessary attentions, and educate it as if it had been their own son. when the wife saw it she was moved with its innocent beauty, entered into the benevolent views of her husband, and immediately procured for their adopted son the best nurse in the horde. having seen the son of bohetzad in safe hands, let us now follow the steps of those illustrious travellers. full of grief for the sacrifice which they had been forced to make, the king and queen continued their journey in sadness till they reached the capital of persia, where kassera then reigned. this powerful monarch received the fugitive prince and his charming spouse with the respect which was due from a crowned head to a great sovereign, his ally, whose rebellious subjects had revolted under the standard of a criminal usurper. to bohetzad he allotted an apartment in his palace as magnificent as his own, and to baherjoa one equal to that of his favourite sultana. such were the riches and magnificence of the palace in which the king of dineroux and his wife now were, that, besides the magnificent apartments in which they were lodged themselves, there were twenty-four others occupied by as many ladies belonging to the sultan, each of whom was served by fifty slaves of their own sex, in the bloom of youth and of the most exquisite beauty. the treasures of the east seemed to have been exhausted in beautifying these stately dwellings. the gardens were full of the rarest and the most gaudy flowers; the waters, whose courses were distributed with great art, presented a magnificent scene to the eye; the trees gave at once, by the beauty of their fruit and the thickness of their foliage, the idea of plenty and the delight of repose; the birds, with the variety of their plumage and their song, enchanted the inhabitants of these happy regions. everything, in short, concurred to display the riches of the great monarch of persia, whose immense power was further displayed by an army of two hundred thousand men which constituted his life guard. a prince so powerful and magnificent need spare nothing in treating, in a manner suitable to their rank, the illustrious guests whom he had received into his palace. at the same time that he ordered a powerful army to be assembled on the frontiers, with the necessary stores and military engines, he endeavoured to dispel the melancholy of the husband and wife by feasts, which displayed the greatest splendour and variety. but generosity and greatness of soul were not the only cause of his attentions; a less noble but more powerful feeling had taken possession of his heart. he was enamoured of baherjoa, whose beauty was superior to that of all the wives in his seraglio. his passion for her was disguised under the veil of friendship; but, from the profusion which he displayed on every occasion, the delicacy of his attentions, and the care which he took to anticipate her wishes, it was easy to discover the love by which he was actuated. the sad baherjoa, whose attention was occupied solely by the loss of her son and the misfortunes of her husband, was far from ascribing any of the attentions which she met with to this motive; her soul, weighed down with grief, was incapable of enjoying any of the pleasures which were presented to her; her heart, sincerely affected, was inaccessible to every impression but that with which it was already occupied. her son abandoned in the desert to the care of providence, and her husband reduced by her father to the necessity of asking succour from a foreign king, were the only objects which engrossed her thoughts. in the meantime, the army which bohetzad was to command was assembled. he took leave of kassera to put himself at the head of this formidable body, and soon penetrated into the heart of syria. asphand, the usurper, being informed of the danger which threatened him, communicated it to his associates, assembled them as quickly as possible, and met his enemy at the head of two hundred thousand men. the armies were now in sight of one another. the centre of bohetzad's army was commanded by an experienced vizier of the persian king. bohetzad himself, at the head of a chosen body of knights, was everywhere to give orders. he suddenly began the combat on the right by attacking the opposite wing of the enemy with such fury that they were obliged to fall back upon the centre, and were thrown into confusion and disorder. the king of dineroux lost not a moment: he advanced his main body towards that of the enemy as if he meant to attack it; but, frugal of the blood of his subjects, whose lives he wished to spare, he made them halt, and ordered his left wing to attack the right wing of the enemy: they gave way and fell back in disorder, so that three-fourths of asphand's army remained surrounded. the usurper endeavoured in vain to rally his troops, whom an attack equally prudent and vigorous had thrown into disorder. fear, and above all remorse, disarmed them. a pardon being offered, they accepted it; and, that they might appear less unworthy of it, they unanimously delivered up the ringleaders of the revolt. asphand, his family, and his principal associates, were put to death on the field of battle. this victory decided anew the fate of the kingdom of dineroux, which again submitted to the laws of its rightful sovereign. the monarch returned to his capital, re-established order throughout his empire, and contrived proper means for testifying his gratitude to the sovereign who had given him such powerful assistance. he determined that the most intelligent of his viziers should go into persia, at the head of twelve thousand men. twenty elephants, loaded with magnificent presents, were to follow in his train. at the same time, he was charged with a more delicate commission. he was to pass through the desert in which the son of baherjoa had been abandoned, and endeavour to find out the place near the fountain which had served him for a cradle. he was to make inquiry of every living soul he might meet on the road, in order to get information concerning the fate of this precious deposit; and having found him, to carry him to the arms of his tender mother, whom he was to bring with him also to issessara. but many obstacles stood in the way of these things. the prudent envoy caused the whole desert to be searched, but to no purpose: he did not succeed so well in finding the child as in bringing back the mother. kassera, desperately in love with this princess, could not think of parting with her. on the arrival of the ambassador, with presents from the king of dineroux, and a commission to bring away the queen, he felt some struggles in his heart; but love triumphed over them. this imperious passion magnified, in his eyes, the good offices he had done, and made the giving up of a woman seem but a poor return for them. in a word, he renounced the glorious title of a generous protector for that of a base ravisher of the wife of his ally. nevertheless, he appeared to receive with gratitude the embassy of bohetzad, and the presents with which it was accompanied. meanwhile, he was informed that the auxiliary troops, which he had furnished this monarch, had returned into persia. the officers who commanded them extolled to the skies the bravery, the abilities, and the magnificence of bohetzad. they returned from his dominions, delighted with himself, loaded with kindness, and astonished at the power with which he was surrounded, and the resources of the country over which he reigned. these universal reports raised an unusual conflict in the soul of kassera. he was not accustomed to victory over himself, for, till that moment, he had yielded to every inclination. but he must now either give up a violent passion, or the title of the benefactor of a sovereign equal to himself in dignity and in power, and that, too, at the hazard of drawing upon persia the scourge of a cruel war, and of seeing all asia in dreadful confusion. "be ashamed, kassera," said he to himself, "of the guilty designs you have formed. return thanks to fortune for the favour it has done you, in opening your eyes to the folly of your conduct. may the king of dineroux for ever remain ignorant that, forgetting what you owe both to yourself and him, you have dared to covet a blessing which he holds so dear. remember the benefit you have derived from encountering difficulties which have recalled you to your duty. oh! absolute power! how much art thou to be dreaded by the man who knows not how to command himself! allowing myself to be carried away by my desires, i was about to become criminal, and to show myself unworthy to reign. but i know how to check my passions and change my projects." the king of persia, having taken this resolution, sent immediately for his principal treasurer, and gave orders that a litter, ornamented with precious stones, and more splendid than had ever been seen, should be prepared to carry baherjoa into her husband's dominions. a considerable embassy was ordered to follow it, with magnificent presents. in this manner did baherjoa begin her journey to syria, after being well assured of respect and attachment by the sovereign who had now determined to part with her. bohetzad met his spouse before she entered issessara. it is impossible to describe the transports of this interview. yet the tender uneasiness of the mother, respecting the fate of her son, soon disturbed the happiness with which the pair were intoxicated. baherjoa offered the greatest reward to obtain news of her son, and bohetzad gave orders that the most minute inquiry should be made. it was by no means probable that he had been devoured by wild beasts, otherwise some remnants would have been found, at the first search, of the clothes wherein he was wrapped. a thousand knights were again dispatched to the desert, and ordered to spread themselves all around the fountain; but their search was in vain. bohetzad concealed their want of success from his inconsolable spouse, and endeavoured to soften her pain and vexation. "there is as yet no room for despair," said he to her: "the favour of heaven, which did not abandon us amidst the dangers to which we have been exposed, and which has restored to us the throne whereon we are now seated, will have preserved the son so dear to our heart. it only withholds him in order to deliver him to us when we shall have merited this favour by our submission to its will. to be deprived of him is grievous, but we are still of an age to expect consolation. dry up your tears, my dear baherjoa; they are the torment of my life." the queen appeared somewhat more tranquil, but the wound which her heart had received could not be so easily closed. in the meantime, the tender object of their uneasiness, snatched from the arms of death by the chief of the robbers, and educated by his wife with all the care of the most tender mother, grew in strength and beauty. the leisure of his early youth was filled up by reading and study. he was soon able to engage in those exercises which strengthen the body; he outstripped all the children of the horde by abilities, address, strength, and intrepidity, very surprising at his years. he was also distinguished by an application to study, from which he derived the greatest advantages, and by punctuality in those duties which were required of him by a society little suited to him, but of which chance had made him a member. the chief of these vagabonds, seeing him so expert in the use of arms and in riding, soon associated him with himself in his expeditions against the travellers whom business led into the countries infested by their depredations; and the young aladin (for this was his name) showed himself as brave as he was expert. one day the troop attacked a caravan returning from india, and which, as it was loaded with goods of the most valuable kind, a formidable guard defended from danger. the desire of booty prevented the vagabonds from thinking of the danger to which they were exposing themselves. they attacked this convoy with an unusual degree of boldness, but were soon repulsed. two-thirds of the troop remained on the field of battle, and the rest fled. aladin, as yet young and inexperienced, drawn on by his valour, was soon surrounded and made prisoner. when a robber is taken with arms in his hand he ought to be beheaded. but the engaging air, the elegance, and beauty of this young prince, interested the whole caravan in his favour, and saved him from the common fate. they did not believe the ingenuous replies which he made. when questioned about his birth and profession, he declared himself the son of the chief of the robbers. they could not imagine how this youth should unite so many natural advantages with an air so remarkable. he was carried along with the caravan, which soon arrived at issessara, where his father bohetzad held his court. the arrival of the caravan afforded a new opportunity of diverting the attention of the queen, as yet afflicted with the loss of a son, whom she could not banish from her memory. the sovereign sent the chief of the eunuchs to make choice of such stuffs and valuable articles as might be most agreeable to baherjoa. the merchants were eager to display them before him; but the figure of aladin, who was there as a slave, appeared to him so ravishingly beautiful that he attracted his particular attention. he wished to conduct him to the palace, hoping that his service might be agreeable to the monarch; so that, after having purchased what was proper, he returned, together with aladin, to the palace, where the king appeared satisfied with his bargains. "sire," said the eunuch, "your majesty seems pleased with what i have purchased; but the most beautiful article in the _kan_[12] was a young man of such complete beauty that i thought him the perfect image of him who is mentioned in the alcoran, before whom the eleven stars prostrated themselves, as before the sun and the moon." [footnote 12: the _kan_ is a place allotted for the shops of foreign merchants, where they expose their merchandise for sale.] the king, curious to see this slave, ordered him to be brought with his master, and they both quickly appeared before the king. the appearance of the young stranger did not belie the favourable character which the chief of the eunuchs had given of him. the king could not believe that so beautiful a slave could owe his birth to a class of men so vulgar as that which composed the caravan. he made inquiry concerning him of their chief, to whom he communicated his doubts on that point. "sire," replied the merchant, "this young man does not in reality belong to any of us, and we know neither his family nor origin. we were attacked in the desert by a band of robbers; we defended ourselves with bravery. part of them remained on the field of battle, the rest fled, and left in our hands the young man who now engages your curiosity. custom condemned him to death, but we could not think of inflicting it. we asked him concerning his station and family, and he told us that he was the son of the chief of these vagabonds. we know no more of him, and can say nothing more to your majesty with any degree of certainty." "let him be left here," said the king; "i want him to enter into my service." "your majesty," replied the chief, "may dispose as you please of all that belongs to the slaves of your throne." at that instant aladin fell at the feet of the monarch, with his face on the ground, and kissed his robe. the king ordered the chief of the eunuchs to admit him into the class of slaves which were most frequently about his person. nature spoke in the monarch's heart in favour of his new page. he never saw him without feeling emotions which he could by no means account for. he always wished to have him with him; and that which at first appeared no more than a rising inclination, soon became a very warm attachment. an interest which he felt very strongly made him regard with pleasure the progress both of the young aladin's mind and body. he admired his application, prudence, discretion, and fidelity, and already considered his rare virtues as the fruit of his cares. after long experience of his abilities and activity, he went so far as to trust him with the superintendence of his finances, and deprived his viziers of an administration in which he suspected them. in short, he decided every affair of importance, by submitting it to the sagacity of the young aladin. the confidence of the sovereign was not misplaced. the more he trusted the reason and wisdom of his favourite, the more the happiness of his people, the prosperity of the realm, and his revenues were increased. his confidence in a short time knew no bounds. aladin became as dear to his father as if he had known himself to be so in reality, and the influence of the viziers was lost in that of the young minister. jealous of a power which they had lost, the ten viziers assembled in secret for the purpose of contriving the means of gratifying their ambition and their avarice. they determined, at any rate, to hasten the ruin of their hated rival; and, unfortunately, he himself seemed to furnish a favourable opportunity for this purpose. a grand entertainment was given in the palace. aladin was naturally sober; but, while he sought only to participate in the pleasure of the guests, he indulged himself in drink, with so much the greater security that he was not accustomed to it, and was ignorant of its effects. at the end of the repast he wanted to retire to his own apartment. he staggered, his eyes grew dim, and he lost the use of his senses. the first apartment which came in his way seemed to be made ready for him. it was a very rich one, and lighted by a great number of wax candles set in lustres. but aladin saw nothing; he only sought repose, and having found a sofa, he threw himself upon it and fell asleep. there were no slaves there to inform him of his mistake. they were enjoying the feast, and only returned to the apartment, which they had left open, to fill the pots with perfumes, and prepare, according to the custom of the east, a collation of different sherbets and dried sweetmeats. the hangings concealed the sofa on which aladin lay. all these preparations being finished, the king and queen retired to their apartment. bohetzad approached the sofa, opened the curtains, and beheld his minister stretched upon it and asleep. he was instantly seized with frantic indignation. "what dreadful behaviour is this of yours?" said he to baherjoa. "this slave could not have got into your apartment and placed himself there without your knowledge." "sire," replied the queen, in astonishment, but without confusion, "in the name of the great prophet i swear that i have never spoken to this young man. this is the first time i ever saw him, and in nothing have i encouraged his audacity." at the noise which was made around the sofa aladin awoke, surprised and astonished at his situation. he hastily arose. "traitor!" said the frantic king to him, "ingrate! is this thy gratitude for my favour? darest thou enter into my womens' apartment, wretch that thou art? speedily shalt thou receive the chastisement of thy boldness." having said this, bohetzad, inflamed with rage, ordered the chief of his eunuchs to shut up the minister in prison. the monarch, agitated with the most violent and opposite passions, spent the night without closing his eyes. at daybreak he called to him the first of his viziers, who had not, for a long time, been admitted into his presence. he told him of the insult which he supposed he had received. at this recital the vizier concealed his secret joy. envy, hatred, and revenge were about to triumph. it was no feeble victim which was offered: it was a most powerful rival whom he had to crush. the old courtier recollected himself. he endeavoured still further to exasperate his sovereign, and determine him to take distinguished vengeance; and with a humble air he spoke as follows: "sire, your faithful subjects were astonished when they saw your confidence bestowed upon an avowed son of a chief of the robbers. it would have been too great an instance of your majesty's goodness to have admitted the branch of so corrupt a stock near your sacred person. you could expect nothing from him but treachery and crimes." at this speech of the vizier, the eyes of the monarch sparkled with rage. immediately he ordered the young man to be brought before him, loaded with chains. "wretch!" said he, as soon as he saw him, "recollect the excess of my favours, and of your ingratitude! let the recollection of these, and your remorse, be to you the preludes of the punishment that awaits you! your head is soon to fall upon the scaffold." the fury and threatening of the king could not change the countenance of the innocent and unfortunate aladin. no trouble altered the beauty of his features: he preserved that sweet, modest, and firm air which had hitherto gained him the goodwill of the monarch. he began to speak, and ingenuous candour flowed from his lips. "sire, my fault was an involuntary one. if an indiscretion on my part reduced me to a situation in which, during some time, i was deprived of the use of reason, so that it was no longer my guide, and allowed me to fall into a very gross mistake, the rest was the work of the cruelty of fate. my heart, overcome by your favours, and entirely devoted to your majesty, has hitherto felt no pleasure but in the happiness of serving you. but, alas! what avail the best intentions, and all the exertions of zeal, if a superior law, ruling our destiny, can put a different appearance on the purity of the motives by which we are influenced?--if a single action of our life, and that, too, done from the momentary disorder of our senses, can expose us to the apparent guilt of a crime, although all our inclinations are virtuous? hurried from the summit of happiness into the horrors of disgrace, i must submit to the decree which inflicts the blow, like the merchant, whose memorable story is known even in your majesty's palace." "what merchant do you mean?" said the king. "what connection has his story with thy crime? i allow you to relate it." the history of kaskas, or the unlucky man. sire, there lived at bagdad a very wealthy merchant, whose manners and knowledge rendered him worthy of public confidence. his name was kaskas. fortune had hitherto seconded his labours so well, that he could boast of success in all his enterprises; but fate soon declared against him. he could now no longer send a commission, or receive a return, without being obliged to make considerable sacrifices. he determined at length to change the nature of his commerce. he sold his stock, and laid out one-half of the money in buying grain, in hopes that this article would rise in its price during the winter. circumstances, however, were against his speculation, for grain fell in its value. to avoid this loss, he locked up his granaries, determined to wait for a more favourable opportunity. in the meantime, one of his friends having come on a visit to him, wished to persuade him to give up this new kind of commerce in which he was engaged; but he did not listen to this advice, and was obstinately determined to keep his grain a third year. soon after there happened so violent a storm that the streets and houses of bagdad suffered by an inundation. when the waters were abated, kaskas went to see if his corn had received any damage; he found it all springing, and beginning to rot. in order to escape the penalty, it cost him five hundred pieces to get thrown into the river that which he had heaped up in his granaries at a great expense. his friend returned to him. "you have neglected," said he, "the advice which i gave you. distrust fortune, she seems to have sworn against you, and engage in no enterprise without the advice of a skilful astrologer." there was no scarcity of these in bagdad; and kaskas, taught by his ill success, thought the advice of his friend deserved attention. the soothsayer drew out his horoscope, and assured him that his star was so malignant, that he must of necessity lose whatever stock he should hazard in commerce. kaskas, shocked with a prophecy so contrary to his own inclination, attempted to prove the prediction false. he laid out all the money he had remaining in loading a vessel, and embarked in it with all his wealth. at the end of four days, during which he had an agreeable voyage, a terrible tempest arose, which broke in pieces the masts and sails, carried away the rudder, and at last sunk the ship, with the whole crew. kaskas alone, after seeing the remainder of his fortune perish, was saved from shipwreck by a fragment of the vessel, which carried him towards a sandy country, where he landed at length, after much difficulty and fatigue. tired and naked, he landed in the neighbourhood of a village which was situated on the sea-shore. he hastened thither to implore relief, and return thanks to heaven for having preserved him from death, while his unfortunate companions had perished. as he entered this little colony, he met an old man whose features and dress inspired respect and confidence. this man, affected with the situation of kaskas, covered him with his cloak, and led him to his house, where, after having given such relief as his exhausted strength required, he clothed him in a suitable dress. it was natural for kaskas to gratify his landlord's curiosity by the relation of his adventures, and he recounted them with such an air of candour as to leave no doubt of their truth. as this old man had just lost his steward, he judged kaskas worthy to succeed him, and offered him this new office, with an appointment of two pieces of gold a day. it was a laborious office: he had to sow a considerable quantity of ground, to direct the work and workmen, to gather in immense harvests, to look after the flocks, and to give in accurate and faithful accounts of the whole at the end of the year. the poor kaskas returned thanks to providence for thus putting it in his power to earn a subsistence by his labour, since every other resource in the world had failed him; and he immediately entered on the duties of his new place. these he fulfilled with assiduity, zeal, and knowledge, till the very moment when he was to treasure up the different crops. as his master had never yet given him any part of his wages, he suspected that he would not fulfil his engagements, and, to make sure of his salary, he set apart as much of the grain as would amount to the sum, and shut up all the rest, giving an account of it to his master. the latter received this account, full of confidence in his steward, and paid him all the wages which he owed him, assuring him of the same punctuality in that respect every year. kaskas was much ashamed of the precautions which he had taken, and of the suspicions which he had allowed himself to entertain. he immediately returned to the little magazine he had made, in order to repair his injustice, if happily it were still in his power. but what was his surprise when he did not find in it the grain he had set apart! he thought he saw in this theft the punishment of heaven, and determined to confess the fault of which he had been guilty. with a heart full of grief he returned to his master. "you appear vexed," said the old man. "what can be the cause of it?" then kaskas, flattering himself that he would obtain by his sincerity the pardon of his fault, made a humble confession of the motive, and all the circumstances of it, even to the carrying off the grain which he had set apart, and of which he had not been able to discover the thieves. the old man, discovering the marked influence of his steward's malignant star, thought it would be imprudent to keep him any longer in his service, and determined to give him his dismissal immediately. "we do not suit one another," said he to him; "let us part. but, as it is not just that i should bear the loss of that which you improperly set apart, restore me the money which i gave you, and seek the reward of your labour in the sale of the grain which you took from me. i abandon you." the unfortunate kaskas acknowledged the justice of this order: he submitted to it without murmuring, and left the house of his benefactor somewhat less naked than he entered it, but without a single piece of money, and plunged into a deep melancholy. this sorrowful sport of fortune was thoughtfully walking along the sea-shore, when he perceived a tent, which he approached. he found in it four persons, who, discovering in his countenance, which was otherwise engaging, the traces of deep sorrow, eagerly asked him the cause of it. he gratified their curiosity by the recital of his misfortunes. as he spoke he drew a very marked attention from one of the four, who seemed to have a kind of authority over the other three. this man soon recognized him as one of his correspondents at bagdad, with whom he had formerly had important and lucrative concerns. the merchant was moved with compassion. at that time he was engaged in an adventure of pearl-fishing, and was the chief of the three divers who were with him. "throw yourselves into the sea," said he to them, "and the first take of pearls which you have shall be for this unfortunate traveller." the three divers, affected as well as their master with the misfortune of kaskas, threw themselves into the sea, and brought up, in shells which they carried with them, ten pearls of an inestimable value for their size and beauty. the merchant was delighted with the little fortune he had been able to procure for his former correspondent. "take these pearls," said he to him; "sell two of them when you arrive in the capital, and their price will be sufficient for any adventure in which you may be inclined to engage; but take particular care of the other eight, that they may serve you in the time of need, and sell them where you can do it to the greatest advantage." kaskas, after thanking his benefactor, departed, and took the road which he was directed to follow in his way to the capital. he had been three days on his journey, when he perceived at a distance some people on horseback. afraid lest they should be robbers, he hid eight of the pearls betwixt the two cloths of his vest, and put into his mouth the two others which he proposed to sell. he was not wrong in his conjecture concerning the persons he had seen--they were in reality robbers. they came up to him, surrounded him, and stripped him; and in this situation they left him on the road, with nothing but a single pair of drawers. the unfortunate traveller recognized in this new feature of fortune the effect of the evil destiny which pursued him. meanwhile, he congratulated himself on having been able to save from the hands of the rascals the two most beautiful pearls, which were sufficient to re-establish his affairs and assist him in some lucrative adventure. the capital was not far distant. he arrived there, and entrusted to the dellal[13] the two pearls which remained, to expose them for sale. the dellal proclaimed the jewels with a loud voice in the market, and invited the curious to bid for them. unfortunately, some days before there had been some pearls stolen from one of the richest jewellers in the city. he thought he recognized some of his own in those which were set up to sell, and demanded that the pretended owner of the jewels should appear. when he saw him so ill dressed he was convinced he had found the thief. [footnote 13: the dellal is a public crier.] "there are two pearls," said he to him, "but you ought to have ten: what have you done with the other eight?" kaskas, thinking the jeweller had been informed of the present that the fisher had made him, ingenuously replied, "i had ten of them, it is true; but some robbers whom i met on the road have carried off the other eight in the lining of my waistcoat, where i had concealed them." on this confession, which appeared to the jeweller an acknowledgment of guilt, he took kaskas by the hand and carried him before the civil magistrate, accusing him of having stolen his pearls. this judge, led away by appearances, and on the declaration of the rich citizen, condemned the poor kaskas to the bastinado, and to imprisonment as long as his accuser should be pleased to detain him in custody. this unhappy creature, the sport of fortune and of men's injustice, underwent the punishment, and was forced, during a whole year, to groan under the rigour of a severe confinement, till at length chance brought a man of his acquaintance into the same prison. this was one of the three divers in the persian gulf, whose labour appeared to have been so profitable to him. the diver, surprised to see him in this situation, asked the cause of it. kaskas related to him all that had happened since they parted. this new confidant immediately addressed a petition to the king, in which he implored the favour of being admitted into his presence, that he might communicate to him a secret of the utmost importance. the king caused the diver to be brought before him. he prostrated himself; and the king, after having made him rise up, ordered him to communicate the secret which he was to reveal. "great king," said the diver, "the greatness of your majesty's soul, and your love of justice, are known to all your subjects. i venture, this day, to call upon these sublime virtues, in favour of an unhappy innocent stranger, who has suffered an unjust punishment for a crime which he did not commit, and who is still confined in the same dungeon in which i have been shut up for a trifling fault. you love, sire, to punish the wicked; but it is with the spirit of equity, and for the maintenance of good order. your majesty would wish that the wolf and the lamb should walk together securely; and it is the duty of your slave to co-operate with your benevolent intentions, by putting it in your power to repair an injustice committed against a man, persecuted by his evil destiny, and worthy of your compassion." he then entered into a minute detail of the adventure of kaskas with regard to the pearls. he showed him the circumstance which had led the jeweller into a mistake, and occasioned the ignorance of the judge; in fine, he added, "if your majesty still suspects the truth of my recital, you may cause the chief of the fishery, and my companions the divers, to be interrogated concerning it." the diver, having no interest in a matter that concerned only an unfortunate and helpless man, spoke with that boldness and openness which truth inspires. in the end, the monarch was convinced of the innocence of the unfortunate kaskas, and ordered the chief of the eunuchs to set him at liberty, conduct him to the bath, and, after having clothed him decently, to bring him into his presence. the eunuch obeyed. kaskas was led to the feet of the sovereign, where he confirmed the report of the diver. he told the fruitless efforts he had made to undeceive the jeweller and remove the prejudice of the judge. in a word, by the detail of all his adventures, he interested the king so much, that he obtained from him, that instant, a lodging in the palace, and a place of trust near his person, with great appointments. as to the jeweller, after being obliged to restore the pearls, he was sentenced to receive two hundred strokes of the bastinado: the judge received double that number, and was deposed from his office. kaskas, loaded with favours, thought fate reconciled to him for ever. he took pleasure in hardening himself against his bad fortune, and was already arranging the plans of that success which he promised himself in the new office which he filled, when his curiosity laid a new snare for him. he discovered one day in the apartment which was allotted to him a door covered up with a thin coat of plaster, which, from age, fell to dust at the smallest touch. it required no effort to force this passage--the door opened of itself. he entered, without reflecting, into a rich apartment, to which he was an entire stranger, and found himself, without knowing it, in the middle of the palace. scarcely had he made one step when the chief of the eunuchs observed him, and without delay informed the king of it. the monarch instantly came. the fragments of the plaster, which were still upon the ground, appeared a proof that the door had been forced, and the astonishment of kaskas carried a complete conviction of his guilt. "unhappy man!" said the king to him, "is it thus you acknowledge my favours and your obligations? my justice saved you when i believed you innocent: guilty now, it condemns you to lose your sight." the imprudent man, without daring to attempt any justification, was instantly delivered over to the executioner, asking no other favour than that they would put into his hands the eyes which were to be torn out. he carried them in his hand as he walked groping through the streets of the capital. "behold," said he, "o ye who hear me, that which the unfortunate kaskas hath gained by hardening himself against the decrees of his evil destiny, and despising the advice of his friends! behold the lot of the obstinate!" * * * * * aladin having thus finished the history of the merchant, addressed himself directly to bohetzad. "sire, you have seen the effect of fortune's influence on the man whose adventures i have now related. so long as his star was propitious, he succeeded in everything; but whenever it changed, his efforts to correct its malignity were fruitless. the transient instances of success which seemed to arrest the current of his misfortunes soon plunged him into greater evils than those which he had escaped. circumstances that were unforeseen, and steps that were innocent, gave him the appearance of ingratitude and guilt, even when everything assured him of the purity of his conduct. my lot, alas! is but too like that of his." the young man had related the adventures of the unfortunate merchant of bagdad so naturally and with so much grace, and had made so happy an application of them, that bohetzad, still disposed to favour a criminal whom he had loved so well, and moved by the instance of rash judgment which he had just heard, put off the execution which he had ordered till the day following, under pretence of its being too late for it then. "return to thy prison," said he to him. "i grant thee thy life till to-morrow: i put off till that time the punishment that is justly due to thee." in the meantime the first vizier expected with impatience the account of aladin's execution, and when he heard that it was delayed, he assembled his associates, and thus addressed the second vizier: "the favourite has found means to suspend the execution of his sentence. i have done my duty in determining the king to an act of justice. it now belongs to you to do yours by representing to him the wrong which he does in forgetting the duties of the throne, and in withholding so long the punishment of a crime that has been proved. make your remonstrances to his majesty, and give them that force which both his personal safety and ours requires." the next morning, as soon as access could be had to bohetzad, baharon (for that was the name of the second vizier) was introduced to the king. "sire," said this minister to him, "i heard in the retirement of my closet, and amid the important business with which i am entrusted, of the insult your majesty has received. excuse the zeal by which i am animated if i offer your majesty all the service which can arise from my experience and attachment to you to stop the progress of this evil." the king thought baharon might really be ignorant of the event which had happened within the palace, and told him the crime of which aladin was guilty. the vizier seemed to shake as he listened to this report. "sire," said he to the king, as soon as he had done speaking, "if the son of a chief of villains, brought up and nourished amidst guilt, could have been capable of virtuous sentiments, this phenomenon would have contradicted experience, and even proved it deceitful. i will here venture to recall to your majesty a fable of our ancestors which tradition has preserved to us: "in ancient times a young wolf was put to school, to endeavour, by instruction, to correct his natural propensity to voracity. his master, in order to teach him to read, transcribed, in large characters, some letters of the alphabet, and attempted to make him understand these signs. but instead of reading k l s, as it was written, the savage animal read fluently kid, lamb, sheep. he was governed by instinct, and his nature was incorrigible. the son of a robber is in the very same situation: vice is coeval with his existence. from the beginning he is an infected mass, which it is impossible to purify. but what astonishes me most, sire, is that such a criminal should have survived one moment the insult he has offered to the crown." these remonstrances of the second vizier having enraged the mind of the monarch still more, he ordered the prisoner to be brought in chains into his presence. he was obeyed. aladin appeared. the king, doing violence to the sentiments which moved him in his favour, addressed him with the greatest severity. "traitor!" said he to him, "nothing can hereafter delay your punishment; and the world shall be informed of your crime and my vengeance!" at the same time he gave the executioner the signal of death. "sire," interrupted aladin, whose steady and modest countenance was the genuine proof of courage and innocence, "my life is in the hands of your majesty; but i conjure you still not to hasten my death. he who thinks only of the present, without reference to the future, exposes himself to as bitter a repentance as that which the merchant felt, whose history i have heard. he, on the contrary, who looks into futurity, has a right one day to congratulate himself on his prudence, as it happened to the son of this merchant." bohetzad, in spite of himself, felt his curiosity excited anew, and was desirous to hear the story which aladin wanted to relate to him. "i will consent," said the monarch, "to hear the adventures of this merchant; but it is the last instance of complaisance i shall show you." "may it please your beneficent majesty," returned aladin, "order this man, who holds the sabre above my head, to be gone. i think i see the angel of death." the executioner, having withdrawn by the king's order, aladin fulfilled the engagement he had come under in the following terms: [illustration] the history of illage mahomet and his sons. there was, in the city of naka in tartary, a merchant, whose name was illage mahomet, who, wishing to extend his commerce to the most remote boundaries of the world, constructed a vessel in such a manner as to be able to endure the longest voyage and carry a considerable burden. when this ship was ready to go to sea, he filled it with merchandise; and observing that the wind was favourable, he took leave of his wife, embraced his three children, went on board, and sailed with a fair wind for the indies. a fortunate voyage having, in a short time, brought him to the port of the capital of india, he took lodgings, and placed his merchandise in the _kan_. quite at ease respecting the fate of his effects, he then visited the different quarters of the city, accompanied by four slaves, and soon entered into friendship with the most celebrated merchants of the place. as his attendants had orders to publish the nature of his merchandise, and to distribute patterns of them, a crowd of purchasers resorted to his magazines. the king of india was accustomed to come out of his palace in order to walk through the town, and inform himself of what was going on there, under a disguise which rendered it impossible he should be known. chance having directed his steps to the neighbourhood of the _kan_, he was anxious to know what drew everybody there. he saw this foreign merchant, whom a happy and engaging physiognomy, with a gracious address, announced in a very favourable manner. he heard him answer, with good breeding and perspicuity, the questions that were put to him, and saw him conduct his affairs with an openness which gained the confidence of all. he was desirous of having some conversation with him; but the fear of being discovered made him renounce his design for the present. he returned to his palace as quickly as he could, resumed the dress which became his dignity, and sent for this honourable merchant. the merchant quickly obeyed the will of the monarch. he was admitted into his presence, and the king expressed his desire to be acquainted with him. "sire," replied the merchant, "i was born and established in naka, near mount caucasus. commerce is my profession. the favour and liberty which your majesty grants it have directed my speculations to your dominions, and heaven hath favoured my voyage." the king, satisfied with the simple and noble reply of this stranger, wished to find out more particularly the amount of his knowledge, by showing, by turns, curiosity on some subjects and embarrassment on others; but he was equally pleased with all his answers. convinced, by all that he had heard, that the stranger's abilities were far beyond those necessary for trade, he determined to attach him to his own service by raising him to the highest office. it was not the design of the sovereign to try the stranger by the allurements of honour; but, knowing that distinguished merit may become useless in an inferior station, and is frequently only the object of envy, he gave him the office of grand vizier, in order that it might afford him an opportunity of displaying to greater advantage his knowledge and ability. illage received this favour with expressions of respect and gratitude. "i should have considered myself as too much honoured, sire, in being admitted into the number of the slaves who surround your throne. the dignity of the honourable office to which you have called me far surpasses my merit and pretensions; but the high idea which i have conceived of your majesty inspires me with an unbounded zeal for your service, and a confidence that i shall be wholly devoted to it." the monarch, still more pleased with his new minister, ordered him a magnificent robe, assigned him for lodgings a palace in the neighbourhood of his own, and caused him to be installed in his new dignity. the prince had no reason to repent of his choice, which might appear rash. the new minister sat in the divan on the right hand of his master. he was never embarrassed in the discussion of affairs, however intricate. he had great sagacity in understanding every report concerning them. justice and equity were summed up in his decisions, so that the people and the monarch enjoyed, under the administration of this enlightened minister, all the blessings of a wise government. two years passed in labour and great employments; but at last nature resumed her rights. the vizier, separated so long from a family which he tenderly loved, felt a desire to see them. the first request which he made on this subject alarmed the sovereign. but he had a soul of sensibility; he could not long resist the voice of nature, and permitted his minister to undertake a voyage which he limited to a certain period, assuring him that if he brought his whole family along with him he should never be exposed to any uneasiness in his service. with this permission, the vizier embarked for naka in a vessel of war, of which he had the command. the family of this merchant of tartary, being entirely ignorant of his fate since the time of his departure, were abandoned to the most cruel uneasiness. fortunately, a merchant of the country, returning from india, had given them news of him, and restored tranquillity to the family, who were raised to the summit of joy on hearing of the elevation and success of him on whose account they were alarmed. the wife of illage determined that moment to repair to her husband, less to share his glory than his love. she set her affairs in order, and, after having taken every necessary step, she embarked with the same merchant who had given her the consolatory news. after some days' sailing, the vessel which carried them cast anchor near an island where they were to land and exchange merchandise. contrary winds had obliged illage to land at the same place. he had hired a lodging pretty near the harbour, and, being fatigued with the bad weather which he had met with, had thrown himself upon a bed in order to take repose. his spouse, who lived in an opposite quarter of the city, soon learned that a vessel had arrived on its way from india, and that it had sailed from the capital. she sent her children to ask the news concerning the grand vizier, thinking it impossible but that they should be able to receive some. the young people went from the inn where their mother was, running, the one after the other, till they had come under the windows of the apartment where the vizier was at rest. they took possession of a little eminence on which a number of bales of goods were collected to keep them dry. the thoughtless youths went to play on the bales, trying which of the two could push down his brother. these playful lads, disputing with address and roguery, announced their victory or their defeat by such piercing shouts that they awoke the vizier. he lost his patience: he went to the window to check the noise, and, leaning over it, three diamonds, which the king had given him, fell from his fingers. the agitation of the sea had already stirred up the minister's choler; the habit of command rendered him incapable of forbearance; and, the island on which he was being within the jurisdiction of his government, he ordered these troublesome children to be taken into custody. he came down himself to search for his diamonds; but, amidst such confusion, this search was fruitless. driven by degrees to indignation and fury, he accused the children, not only of being the cause of the loss of his diamonds, but even of having stolen them. their innocence could not defend them against prejudice. he punished them with the bastinado, and then caused each of them to be tied to a board and cast into the sea. the innocent victims, expecting a cruel death, became the sport of the waves and billows. meanwhile night approached, and the spouse of illage, not seeing her children return, uneasy, and bathed in tears, went out to seek them. the neighbours could tell her nothing of them. she ran from street to street, without meeting any person who could satisfy her well-founded impatience. this tender mother came at last to the harbour. there, from the description she gave of the three persons who were the object of her search and the cause of her uneasiness, a sailor replied to her, "madam, the young people whom you inquire after are the same whom a powerful man, lately arrived from india, hath punished by his slaves for a theft which he imputed to them. they gave them the bastinado, tied them to a plank, and, by his order, threw them into the sea." at these words, the unhappy mother filled the air with her shrieks and groans: she rent her clothes and tore her hair. "o my children," said she, "where is the vizier your father, to revenge me on the man who hath murdered my children?" her despair struck the ear of her husband, who was not far distant. he seemed to know the voice, and learned that it was that of the inconsolable mother whose children he had condemned to death. the cry of nature resounded in his heart, and he no longer doubted that the children he had punished were his own. he hastened to the unfortunate woman whose misery he had occasioned, and immediately knew her. "ah, barbarian that i am, i have been the murderer of our children! fatal power with which i am invested! blinded by thee, i had not time allowed me to be just! i am the executioner of my own children!" as he spoke these words, all the signs of the most violent despair were painted in his countenance, and manifested themselves by every sort of extravagance. his wife sank at his feet under the weight of her grief. "do not pardon me," added he: "i am a monster; and so much the more criminal as i am at this moment placed beyond the reach of the law. i must for ever be torn by my own remorse and loaded with your reproaches. i thought myself injured, and i hastened to revenge myself, without taking time to reflect. i saw a crime where there was none, and let fall the stroke upon innocence without thinking it would rebound upon myself." "you see, sire," continued aladin, "what cause this vizier had to repent his believing these children guilty upon a deceitful appearance, and his having hurried on a severe punishment without reflecting on whom it was to fall. he forgot that a regard to futurity ought to regulate the present." the unfortunate minister, disgusted with glory and opulence, renounced the search for his diamonds, abandoned the vessel and its lading, and supporting the tottering steps of a weeping mother, they both walked along the shore of the sea mournfully demanding of it the treasures which the vizier had cruelly committed to the inconstancy of its waves. "your majesty," continued aladin, "will pardon me, if, for a short time, i make you lose sight of this disconsolate pair, while i fix your attention on their unhappy children." the billows, to whose caprice they had been abandoned, were so agitated that, although they were frequently thrown against one another, they were immediately separated again. one of them, after having struggled for two days against the billows, and after having escaped the danger of being dashed to pieces on the rocks against which he was continually driven, found himself, all at once, ashore on the coast of a neighbouring kingdom. the chains which fixed him to the plank were much worn by the sea, and notwithstanding his fatigue and hunger, he had still strength enough to disengage himself from them, and reach the land. he there found an officer who was going to refresh his horse at the stream of a neighbouring fountain. this man, affected with the sight of the unfortunate child, gave him part of his clothes, set him behind him, and carried him to his own house. there nourishing food and repose completely recovered the shipwrecked youth. after decently dressing him, his benefactor presented him to the king, already informed of the event. the happy physiognomy of the young man made an impression on the king, and his answers soon completed the very favourable opinion he had of him. he became a distinguished officer in the palace, where his conduct gained the complete esteem and confidence of his sovereign. this prince, to whom heaven had not granted children, thought he could not do his people a greater service than by adopting the youth, whom fortune had thrown into his arms. his choice was applauded by the whole court, and confirmed by the divan. the people were happy, and the abilities of the young prince soon placed him in the number of the most valiant kings of asia. age and infirmities rendered the king unable to support the weight of the government, and he abdicated the sceptre in favour of his adopted son. he saw him married, and thus terminating his career of glory, calmly resigned his life into the hands of his creator. the young sovereign, bewailing the loss of his benefactor, gave himself up to the justest sorrow. he wished to fulfil the duties of gratitude and piety, and summoned his divan, that he might honour the ashes of his predecessor by prayers and solemn ceremonies. the people repaired to the mosques. the imam, the nabib, the dervishes, and all those who serve at them, paid to his memory the homage which was due to it. he caused many alms to be distributed among the poor and through all the hospitals of the kingdom. these religious duties early announced the wisdom of his government, and they were not proved false by the event. he was always a just and active king, and governed his people with the affection of a father. in this manner did fortune snatch from the fury of the waves one of the vizier's children, to raise him to the summit of greatness. but this unhappy father continued to grieve for the loss of his two sons, until, in one of the islands where he had his residence, he heard the dellal proclaim, with a loud voice, that there was a young slave to be sold, and that the curious were invited to come and examine him. illage stopped, looked at the young man, and, constrained by a feeling of which he knew not the cause, he determined to purchase him. the figure of this stranger had attractions which he could not resist. his age corresponded to that of one of his own children; and if the beauty of his features was a true indication of the virtues of his mind, he hoped he would supply the place of one of those whom he had lost. he returned home with his new purchase. his wife, who perceived them at a distance, recognized the youth, and was about to throw herself into his arms, but sank under this unexpected surprise. but although her joy deprived her of the use of her senses, she was still able to utter the name of her son. the attention of her husband, and that of the young man, who bathed her with his tears, recalled her to life. the father, affected with what he saw, recognized the cry of nature, and returning thanks to heaven for the unexpected favour he had received, mingled together his tears and caresses at this moving picture, and partook of the happiness of an unlooked-for discovery. nevertheless, he was tormented by a new uneasiness: the presence of his son recalled to him his brother--"what is become of him?" "alas!" replied the young man, "the waves soon separated the planks on which we were carried, and i can tell you nothing of his fate." this answer redoubled the affliction of the husband and wife; but they seemed to be comforted with the hope of another blessing similar to that which they had just received; and in this pleasing expectation their tenderness centred on the beloved son whom heaven had at length restored to their arms. several years had elapsed. achib, the son of illage, grew stronger every day. he acquired knowledge, and became capable of following commerce, in which his father had instructed him. seeing him fit even to undertake a profitable voyage, his father purchased a ship, loaded it with merchandise, and destined it for the capital of the islands in which they were settled, entrusting him with the management of it. upon his arrival in the capital, achib hired a storehouse in the _kan_, deposited his goods there, and passed some days in arranging them to advantage. the feast of the ramezan came. the young man, a faithful mussulman, possessed the art of singing so perfectly, that he was able to fulfil with dignity the functions of the imam.[14] he dressed himself in his _faragi_, and went to the principal mosque. there the king, with all his court and the grandees of the kingdom, were present at the noonday service. the young man took his place near the king, and when the athib[15] mounted the pulpit and began to chaunt the _falhea_,[16] achib repeated three times, _alla akbar_. [footnote 14: imam is a priest who reads and explains the koran.] [footnote 15: athib is a reader who chaunts over the prayers in plain song.] [footnote 16: falhea, the mahommedan confession of faith.] the assembly, and the king himself, were astonished at this young stranger seating himself so near his majesty; but the pleasure of his melodious and affecting voice excited so agreeable a surprise, that they soon forgot his assurance. all agreed that they had never heard anything so exquisite and perfect. the athib was jealous of him: he had never supposed that there was a voice in the world superior to his own, and the despair which he felt deprived him of the use of it--he felt it die upon his lips. achib did not give him time to recover it: he continued the prayer with a force and ease which the efforts of the athib, supposing him to have had the courage to attempt it, could not have surpassed. when the king had ended his prayer, as he came out of the mosque he ordered his officers to wait for the new singer, to have a horse ready for him, and to conduct him to the palace, where his majesty desired to see him. achib received this invitation with respect, and obeyed the orders of his sovereign. the monarch gave him a most gracious reception, bestowing the highest praise upon his talents, and soon felt himself prejudiced in favour of this stranger by a sympathy of which he could not discover the springs; but it seemed to be of the most interesting nature. achib was only in his seventeenth year, and was endowed with every personal grace. everything seemed to unite in strengthening the liking which the king showed for this stranger. thus, whether on this pretence or to do a beneficent action, he made him lodge in his palace, and gave him a distinguished preference over the pages and those who composed his household. the officers soon conspired the destruction of their rival. in the meantime the virtuous achib, after a long residence at court, became desirous of seeing his parents and giving them an account of the goods with which he had been entrusted. afraid lest he should not obtain the monarch's permission to return to them, he wrote to them and informed them of the favour he enjoyed. this motive, and the desire he expressed of seeing them again, determined the family to go to him immediately. illage and his wife bore in their hearts the letter which they had just received; and both being flattered with having a son who at so early an age had been able to gain the good graces of a king, they instantly determined to hasten their departure, and informed their son of this resolution. as soon as achib received this information, he purchased a house and suitable furniture, and in a short time embraced in it the authors of his existence, to whom the king sent presents of such magnificence as showed that they were intended for the family of his favourite. the fineness of the season having invited the king to one of his country houses, he removed thither, and gave entertainments for the amusement of his court. one evening, contrary to his usual custom, he gave himself up to the pleasures of the table, and drank of a strange liquor of which he knew not the strength. in a short time after he was suddenly seized with such a stupidity that he was obliged to throw himself on a sofa, where he soon fell asleep. pleasure had removed from him all his servants. achib alone, following from affection every step of his master and benefactor, entered into the apartment and found him asleep. then placing himself within the door, he drew his sabre, and stood there as a guard. one of the pages having returned, was surprised to find him in this situation, and asked him the cause of it. "i am watching," said achib, "for the safety of my king: my attachment and my duty fix me here." the page ran and told his companions what he had seen. they thought they might easily avail themselves of this event to destroy him, and went in a body to the monarch. the witness swore that he had found achib with a naked sabre in his hand in his majesty's chamber while he was asleep. he ascribed the most criminal intentions to this faithful guard, and pretended that nothing but some sudden alarm had prevented the intended blow. "if your majesty, sire," added he, "suspects the truth of my report, you need only to-day feign giving yourself up to sleep without any precaution, and we do not doubt that this rash man, pursuing his detestable purpose, will come to renew his attempt." though moved by this accusation, the king was unwilling to trust entirely to the declaration of his pages, and thought it his duty to clear up his doubts himself. in the meantime the pages had gone to find the young favourite. "the king," said they to him, "is highly pleased with the zeal you have shown for the safety of his person. 'achib,' hath he said, 'is to me as a shield; under his protection i can sleep without fear.'" night came, and the king, after a repast, during which he affected much gaiety and cheerfulness, suddenly retired, and threw himself upon a sofa, apparently in the same state in which he had been the night before. achib, who never lost sight of him, supposing he was asleep, entered the apartment to place himself on guard, with his sabre uplifted and naked. as soon as the king saw the gleam of the sabre he was seized with terror, and a cry which he uttered brought to him all the officers of his guard. achib was arrested by his order, loaded with chains, and led away to prison. the next morning, after the first prayer, the king assembled his divan, ascended his throne, and caused the man to be brought before him whom slanderous and false reports and deceitful appearances had exposed to the presumption of so much guilt. "ungrateful that you are!" said he to him. "is it by putting me to death that you would show your gratitude and repay my favours? i will not delay to take signal vengeance on your detestable baseness." achib, having made no reply to these reproaches, was sent back to prison. scarcely was he gone out, when two of the courtiers who were most eager for his destruction approached the king. "sire," said they to him, "everybody is surprised to see the execution of the criminal delayed. there is no crime equal to that which he intended to commit; and you ought to give such a speedy example of justice as your personal safety and the tranquillity of your people require." "let us not be rash," replied the king, "in a judgment of this nature. the criminal is in chains, and cannot make his escape. and as to public vengeance, it will never be too late to gratify it. it is easy to take away a man's life, but it is impossible to restore it. life is a blessing of heaven which we ought to respect, and it becomes not us to deprive our fellow-creatures of it without the most mature deliberation. the evil, once done, can never be repaired. i have it now in my power to reflect on what i ought to do, and wish not that the future should have to reproach me with the improper conduct of the present." having said this, the king dismissed the divan, ordered his hunting equipage to be got ready, and gave himself up for some days to the amusements of the chase. on his return, he was again set upon by the enemies of achib. the longer, according to them, that this criminal's punishment was delayed, the more the people were discontented. clemency and moderation ceased to be virtues when they spared such crimes as his. these new remarks embarrassed the sovereign, who had now nothing to oppose to them, since the delay which he had granted had brought nothing to light. he determined to inflict that severe punishment which justice seemed to require, and ordered the criminal to be brought before him, accompanied by the officers of justice and the executioner. achib stood blindfolded at the foot of the throne. the executioner, with the sword in his hand, waited the king's command. at that instant a confused noise was heard; a stranger pierced through the crowd, and hastened to the feet of the king. it was the unfortunate illage. "mercy, sire! mercy!" exclaimed he: "pardon the only child that heaven has restored to me! my son could not intend an attack upon your life: he was incapable of designing so unnatural a murder; your life is dearer to him than his own. i have letters of his which made me fly to your majesty, that i might admire more nearly those virtues which i adored. but, o monarch, whose illustrious virtues are renowned through the most distant corners of the world, justify the public admiration by a new display of wisdom, in overcoming a resentment with which false appearances have inspired you! consider with horror the melancholy consequences of a too rash judgment! behold in me a dreadful example of the consequence of being led away by passion, and of yielding, without reflection, to its imprudent follies. heaven blessed me with children; but having been separated from them from their earliest infancy, the day at length came when we were to be reunited. not knowing them, and being blinded by passion, i abused the power with which i was invested. i had them bound upon planks and thrown into the sea. the man whom you threaten with death alone escaped from perishing in the waves, and must i this day be the witness of his death? behold the reward of my guilty rashness! my heart is filled with bitterness, and tears will flow from mine eyes till they are closed in death." during this discourse, the king stood motionless through astonishment. it was his own history he had just heard. the man who spoke was his father, and the supposed criminal his brother! having happily acquired, in the exercise of power, the habit of self-command, he knew how to shun the dangers of too sudden a discovery. nature, however, yielded at length to his eagerness, and he affectionately embraced the author of his life. he ordered his brother to be set free from those shameful chains with which envy had bound him. he made himself known to him; and after mutual consolation. "behold," said he to his divan, "to what a dreadful evil i should have exposed myself, had i lightly credited the detractions of slander, and, upon your artful reports, had hastened the punishment which you so eagerly urged! go, and be ashamed! was there one among you all who supported innocence?" after these few words, the king retired into his apartments with his father and brother. he admitted them to a share in all the joys of his court, and sent twenty slaves, magnificently dressed, in quest of his mother. this family, so happily reunited, lived in the blessings of the most affectionate unity, grateful to the almighty, and faithful to the law written by his great prophet, till the moment when they were called, by the decree of fate, from this world to a better. * * * * * aladin, having thus finished the history of "illage mahomet, or the imprudent," added some reflections fitted to make an impression on the mind of the king, whose attention he had been so fortunate as to engage. "sire!" said he to him, "if the son, when he became a king, had conducted himself as rashly as the father when he was a minister, innocence would have been sacrificed to jealousy and ambition, and a whole family devoted for life to misery and remorse. there is always something gained by delay. appearances are equally against me, and envy hath availed itself of them to make me appear guilty; but i have heaven and your wisdom on my side." when the young man had done speaking, bohetzad turned towards his ministers. "i do not mean," said he, "that crimes should remain unpunished. but truth, even when it comes from the mouth of an enemy, ought to be esteemed precious. this criminal hath well remarked, that there can be nothing lost by taking time to reflect. let him be carried back to prison." the viziers were enraged. delay might discover the truth, through the cloud under which they had concealed it. as they jointly endeavoured to conceal the stratagems they had devised in secret, the third among them went early the next day to the palace. the king inquired if the interval that had elapsed had produced no new light. "sire," replied this minister, "the police which, under your majesty's orders, we exercise, maintains the peace of your capital, and all would be perfectly quiet if the throne were avenged of the outrage of this son of a villain, whose punishment your majesty still delays. the people are murmuring at it, and i should have thought myself wanting in my duty had i concealed from you their uneasiness, the consequences of which may be dangerous. it is never too soon to prevent a rebellion, and that which is now forming would be extremely fatal." constrained by these observations, the king commanded the criminal to be brought before him. "unhappy man!" said he to him, "thou shalt never summon me to the tribunal of heaven for having hastened thy punishment. i have listened to all the weak shifts by which thou hast defended thyself. i have weighed their value. but reserve and circumspection have an end. my people murmur. their patience and mine is exhausted. heaven and earth look to me for justice, and thou hast reached thy last moment." "sire," replied the modest aladin, "do the people look for an example of your justice? impatience is the fault of the people. but patience ought always to sit upon the throne, amidst the virtues which form its basis and safety. this virtue, necessary to all, and which calls upon us for that resignation which we owe to the eternal decrees, raised the patient abosaber from the bottom of a well even to the throne." "who is this abosaber?" asked the king. "give me a short account of his history." [illustration] the history of abosaber the patient. sire (said aladin), abosaber, surnamed the patient, was a wealthy and generous man, who lived in a village which he rendered happy by his charities. he was hospitable and beneficent to the poor, and every one that applied to him. his granaries were full, his ploughs were continually at work, his flocks covered the plains, and he maintained plenty in the country. he had a wife and two children, and the happiness of this way of life was disturbed by nothing but the devastations of a monstrous lion, which ravaged the stables and folds belonging to the peaceful cultivators of these happy regions, according to its necessities and those of its young. the wife of abosaber wanted her husband, at the head of his people, to hunt this animal, by whose devastation they, on account of their riches, were more particularly affected. "wife," said abosaber to her, "let us have patience! i have not any skill in lion hunting; leave it to others." the king of the country heard of the ravages of this lion, and ordered a general chase. the people immediately took arms: the lion was sought for, and soon surrounded on every side. a shower of arrows was discharged upon him. he became furious: his bristles stood on end, his eyes flashed, he beat his sides with his terrible tail, and, setting up tremendous roarings, darted with fury upon the nearest of the hunters. this was a young man of nineteen years of age, mounted upon a vigorous horse. at the cries of the lion the courser was seized with terror, and his strength instantly failed him. he fell, and died as if he had been struck with a thunderbolt. the valiant knight soon got upon his feet, and, invoking the name of the great prophet, he plunged his spear into the enormous jaws which were opened to devour him. this exploit of courage and intrepidity gained him, together with the applauses of his sovereign, the office of commander-in-chief of all his troops. abosaber, hearing of the lion's death, said to his wife, "see of what advantage patience hath been to us! had i followed your advice, and exposed myself to the danger of attacking an animal against which it was necessary to draw out so much strength, i should have lost my life, with all my people, to no purpose." the dangerous lion did not alone disturb the peaceful retreat of abosaber; the inhabitants of the village did not all enjoy the same good character. one of them committed a considerable robbery in the capital, and made his escape, after having murdered the master of the house he had plundered. the king, informed of this double crime, sent in search of the relations and slaves of the man who had been so inhumanly murdered. no one could give him any information, but by throwing out suspicions against the inhabitants of the village where abosaber dwelt. these had the character of being very bad people, and were known to have frequented the house in which the murder and theft had been committed, the perpetrators of which they were endeavouring to discover. upon this declaration alone, and without having recourse to any other proof, the enraged monarch commanded an officer at the head of a detachment to lay waste the village, and bring away its inhabitants loaded with chains. those who are employed in the execution of severe commands frequently go beyond the orders they have received. troops very ill disciplined spread their devastation over all the neighbouring country. they spared only the dwelling of abosaber and six persons of his household; but they pillaged his granaries and his standing corn, with those of all the inhabitants. the wife of abosaber bewailed this disaster. "we are ruined," said she to her husband; "you see our flocks carried off with those of the guilty, notwithstanding the orders they have to spare whatever belongs to us. see with what injustice we are treated. speak to the officers of the king." "i have spoken," said abosaber, "but they have not time to hear me. let us have patience: the evil will recoil on those who commit it. unhappy the man who gives orders at once rigorous and urgent! unhappy the man who acts without reflection! i fear that the evils which the king has brought upon us will soon return upon himself." an enemy of abosaber had heard this discourse, and reported it to the king. "thus," said he, "speaks the man whom the goodness of your majesty had spared!" the monarch instantly gave orders that abosaber, his wife, and his two children, should be driven from the village and banished from his dominions. the wife of the wise and resigned mussulman made loud complaints: she reproached the authors of her calamity, and carried her resentment to excess. "have patience, wife," said he to her: "this virtue is the sovereign balm against adversity; it gives salutary counsel, and carries with it hope and consolation. let us go to the desert, since they persecute us here." the good abosaber lifted up his eyes and blessed the almighty as he pursued his journey with his family. but they had scarcely entered the desert when they were attacked by a band of robbers. they were plundered, their children were carried off, and, deprived of every resource or human aid, they were left to the care of providence. the wife, having lost by this new stroke of fate what was most dear to her, gave free course to her grief, and set up mournful cries. "indolent man!" said she to her husband, "lay aside your listlessness. let us pursue the robbers: if they have any feeling of humanity left, they will restore us our children." "let us have patience," replied abosaber; "it is the only remedy for evils which appear desperate. these robbers are well mounted; naked and fatigued as we are, there is no probability of our overtaking them. and suppose we should succeed in that, perhaps these barbarous men, harassed with our lamentations, might put us to death." the wife grew calm, for the decay of her strength made her unable to complain; and they both arrived on the bank of a river, from whence they discovered a village. "sit down here," said abosaber to his wife; "i will go to seek a lodging and some clothes to cover us." saying this, he went away, taking the road to the village, from which they were not far distant. scarcely was abosaber out of sight when a gentleman passing near her stopped in astonishment at seeing a most beautiful woman plundered and abandoned thus in a solitary road. he put several questions to her, which this singular adventure might seem to authorize, and she answered them with sufficient spirit. these replies increased the fancy of the young man. "madam," said he to her, "you seem formed to enjoy a happier lot, and if you will accept of that which i will prepare for you, follow me, and, together with my heart and hand, i offer you a situation that deserves to be envied." "i have a husband," replied the lady, "to whom, unfortunate as he is, i am bound for life." "i have no time," replied the gentleman, "to convince you of the folly of a refusal in your situation. i love you. mount my horse without reply, or with one stroke of my scimitar i will terminate both your misfortunes and your life." the wife of abosaber, forced to yield, before she departed wrote these words upon the sand: "abosaber, your patience hath cost you your fortune, your children, and your wife, who is carried off from you. heaven grant that it may not prove still more fatal to you!" while she traced these words, the gentleman quitted his horse's bridle, and when everything was ready, he seized his prey and disappeared. abosaber, on his return, sought for his spouse, and called upon her in vain. he demanded her of all nature, but nature was silent. he cast his eyes upon the ground, and there learned his misfortune. he could not restrain the first accents of grief: he tore his hair, rent his breast, and bruised himself with strokes. but soon becoming quiet, after all this agitation, "have patience, abosaber!" said he to himself; "thou lovest thy wife, and art beloved by her. allah hath undoubtedly suffered her to fall into the situation in which she is in order to snatch her from more dreadful evils. does it become thee to search into the secrets of providence? it is thy part to submit, and also to cease from fatiguing and offending heaven by thy cries and thy complaints." these reflections completely restored his tranquillity, and abandoning the design he had of returning to the village from which he came, he took the road to a city whose distant spires had attracted his attention. as he approached it, he perceived a number of workmen engaged in constructing a palace for the king. the overseer of this work took hold of him by the arm, and obliged him to labour with his workmen, under pain of being sent to prison. abosaber was forced to have patience, while he exerted himself to the utmost, receiving no wages but a little bread and water. he had been a month in this laborious and unprofitable situation, when a workman, falling from a ladder, broke his leg. this poor unhappy man set up dreadful cries, interrupted by complaints and imprecations. abosaber approached him. "companion," said he to him, "you increase your misfortunes instead of relieving them. have patience! the fruits of this virtue are always salutary: it supports us under calamity, and such is its power that it can raise a man to the throne, even though he were cast into the bottom of a well." the monarch of the country was at this moment at one of the windows of his palace, to which the cries of the unfortunate workman had drawn him. he had heard abosaber's discourse, and was offended at it. "let this man be arrested," said he to one of his officers, "and brought before me." the officer obeyed. abosaber was in the presence of the tyrant whose pride he had unintentionally shocked. "insolent fellow!" said this barbarous king to him, "can patience then bring a man from the bottom of a well to a throne? thou art going to put the truth of thy own maxim to the trial." at the same time he ordered him to be let down to the bottom of a dry and deep well which was within the palace. there he visited him regularly every day, carrying him two morsels of bread. "abosaber," would he say to him, "you appear to me to be still at the bottom of the well: when is your patience to raise you to the throne?" the more this unfeeling monarch insulted his prisoner, he became the more resigned. "let us have patience," would he say to himself; "let us not repel contempt with reproach; we are not suffered to avenge ourselves in any shape whatever. let us allow the crime to come to its full height: heaven sees, and is our judge. let us have patience." the king had a brother, whom he had always concealed from every eye in a secret part of the palace. but suspicion and uneasiness made him afraid lest he should one day be carried off and placed upon the throne. some time ago he had secretly let him down into the bottom of this well we have spoken of. this unhappy victim soon sank under so many difficulties. he died, but this event was not known, although the other parts of the secret had transpired. the grandees of the realm and the whole nation, shocked at the capricious cruelty, which exposed them all to the same danger, rose with one accord against the tyrant, and assassinated him. the adventure of abosaber had been long since forgotten. one of the officers of the palace reported that the king went every day to carry bread to a man who was in the well, and to converse with him. this idea led their thoughts to the brother who had been so cruelly used by the tyrant. they ran to the well, went down into it, and found there the patient abosaber, whom they took for the presumptive heir to the crown. without giving him time to speak, or to make himself known, they conducted him to a bath, and he was soon clothed in the royal purple and placed upon the throne. the new king, always steady to his principles, left heaven to operate in his favour, and was patient. his deportment, his reserve, and his coolness disposed men to prophecy well of his reign, and the wisdom of his conduct justified these happy presages. not contented to weigh with indefatigable patience the decisions of his own judgment, he was present as often as possible at all the business of the state. "viziers, cadis, ministers of justice," said he to them, "before deciding hastily, take patience and inquire." they admired his wisdom, and yielded themselves to its direction. such was the disposition of their minds with respect to him, when a train of events produced a great change in it. a neighbouring monarch, driven from his dominions by a powerful enemy, vanquished, and followed by a small retinue, took refuge with abosaber, and implored on his knees the hospitality, assistance, and good offices of a king renowned for his virtues, and especially for his patience. abosaber dismissed his divan to converse with this exiled prince, and, as soon as they were alone, he said to him, "behold in me abosaber, your former subject, unjustly spoiled by you of all his fortune, and banished from your kingdom. observe the just difference in the conduct of heaven towards us. i departed from my village, reduced by you to the last point of wretchedness. i submitted, however, to my lot, was patient, and providence hath conducted me to the throne, while your passionate, cruel, and rash conduct hath brought you down from one. it appears to me that, in seeing you thus at my discretion, i am commissioned to execute on you the decrees of heaven, as a warning to the wicked." after this reproof, and without waiting a reply, abosaber commanded his officers to drive the exiled king and all his followers from the city. these orders were instantly put in execution, but they occasioned some murmurs. should an unfortunate and suppliant king be treated with so much rigour? this seemed contrary to all the laws of equity, of humanity, and of policy. some time after this abosaber, having been informed that a band of robbers infested a part of his dominions, sent troops in pursuit of them. they were surprised, surrounded, and brought before him. the king recognized them to be those who had carried off his children, and privately interrogated their chief. "in such a situation," said he to him, "and in such a desert, you found a man, a woman, and two children. you plundered the father and mother, and carried away their children. what have you done with them? what is become of them?" "sire," replied the chief of the robbers, "these children are among us, and we will give them to your majesty to dispose of them as you please. we are ready, moreover, to deliver into your hands all that we have heaped up in our profession. grant us life and pardon; receive us into the number of your subjects; we will return from our evil courses, and no soldiers in your majesty's service shall be more devoted to you than we." the king sent for the children, seized the riches of the robbers, and caused their heads to be instantly struck off, without regarding their repentance or entreaties. the subjects of abosaber, seeing this hasty conduct, and recollecting the treatment of the exiled monarch, in a short time did not know what might be their own. "what precipitation!" said they. "is this the compassionate king, who, when the cadi was about to inflict any punishment, continually repeated to him, '_wait, examine, do nothing rashly; have patience_'?" they were extremely surprised, but a new event rendered them still more astonished. a gentleman came with complaints against his wife. abosaber, before hearing them, said to him, "bring your wife with you: if it be just for me to listen to your arguments, it cannot be less so to hear hers." the gentleman went out, and in a few moments after returned with his wife. the king had scarcely looked at her, when he ordered her to be conducted into the palace, and the man's head to be cut off, who had come to complain of her. the order was obeyed. the viziers, the officers, and the whole divan murmured aloud, that abosaber might hear them. "never was there seen such an act of violence," said they among themselves. "the king who was beheaded was never guilty of so shocking an action, and this brother, coming out of a well, and promising at first wisdom and prudence, is carried in cold blood to an excess which borders on madness." abosaber listened and remained patient, till at length a wave of his hand having imposed silence, he spoke as follows: "viziers, cadis, ministers of justice, and all ye vassals of the crown who hear me, i have always advised you against precipitation in your judgments; you owe me the same attention, and i pray you hear me. "arrived at a point of good fortune to which i had never even dared to aspire, the circumstances which were necessary for my success being so difficult to be united; indifferent as to the crown which i wear, and to which i had no right by my birth; it only remains for me to gain your esteem by justifying the motives of my conduct, and making myself known to you. "i am not brother to the king whom you judged unworthy to reign; i am a man of mean birth. persecuted, undone, and driven from my country, i took refuge in this kingdom, after having seen my two children and my wife torn from me in the way. i devoutly submitted to the strokes which fate had laid on me, when, at the entrance of this city, i was seized by force, and constrained to labour at the building of the palace. convinced in my mind that patience is the most necessary virtue to man, i exhorted one of my fellow-labourers to bear with resignation a dreadful evil he had met with in breaking his leg. _patience_, said i to him, _is so great a virtue, that it could raise a man to the throne, although he were cast into the bottom of a well_. "the king, my predecessor, heard me. this maxim shocked him, and that instant he caused me be let down into the well, from which you took me to set me on the throne. "when a neighbouring monarch, driven by an usurper from his dominions, came to implore my assistance, i recognized in him my own sovereign, who had unjustly stripped me of my possessions and sent me into banishment. i was not the only object of his capricious cruelties: i saw all his subjects groaning under them. "the robbers, whom i punished, had carried off my children and reduced me to the last point of wretchedness. "in fine, the gentleman whom i caused to be beheaded is he who violently took away my wife. "in all these judgments, i have not had the revenge of my own particular offences in view. king of these dominions by your choice, the instrument of god upon earth, i did not think myself at liberty to yield to an arbitrary clemency, which would have weakened your power. it was my duty to execute the decrees of providence upon such as were clearly convicted of guilt, and to cut off from society mortals too dangerous for it. "a tyrannical king who respects not the laws, and is only directed by his passions and caprice, is the scourge of his people. if it is not lawful to make any attempt upon his life, it is still less so to grant him such assistance as would authorize him in the perpetual exercise of revenge, and in the indulgence of the injustice and atrocity of his disposition. it is even wise to deprive him of the means of it. "villains whose sole occupation is to attack caravans, plunder travellers, and who are accustomed to nothing but disorder, can never become useful and valuable citizens. they deserve still less to be admitted to the honour of defending their country. banishment to them is only a return to their former life. by increasing their number, the evils of the world are rendered perpetual. "the ravisher of a wife is a monster in society from which it ought to be freed. the man who indulges himself in this crime is capable of every other. "such are the motives of my conduct: severity costs me more than any one else. but i should have been unworthy of the confidence of my people, and wanting in the duties of the throne, had i not exercised it in this situation. "if i have exceeded the limits of my authority, i am ready to resign it into your hands. reunited to my wife and my children, and thus loaded with the most precious blessings of the almighty, i should have nothing left but to wish you happy days under a government wiser than mine." when abosaber had finished this justification of his conduct, admiration and respect held the whole assembly in silence. soon, however, a shout followed by a thousand others resounded through the divan. "long live abosaber! long live our king! long live the patient monarch! may he live for ever! and may his reign endure to eternity!" the king having returned into his apartment, sent for his wife and his children, and after yielding to the sweet impulses of nature, "behold," said he to his spouse, "the fruits of patience, and the consequences of rashness. give up at last your prejudices, and engrave on the hearts of our children these important truths. good and evil happen under the inspection of providence, and divine wisdom infallibly bestows the punishment or the reward. the patient man who submits to his lot is sooner or later crowned with honour." * * * * * after having ended his story aladin kept a respectful silence. bohetzad seemed lost in thought. "how is it possible," said he, "that the maxims of wisdom should flow from the lips of a man whose heart must be corrupted, and whose soul must be guilty? young man!" added he, addressing himself to the supposed criminal, "i will still defer your punishment till to-morrow. you are to be carried back to prison. the counsels which you have given me shall have their proper effect. a professed robber ought to be cut off from the class of citizens, from that of the defenders of the kingdom, and from the whole world. but as you have at the same time guarded me against precipitation in judgment, i consent that you may live during the remainder of this day and the following night." at these words the king dismissed the assembly. the viziers took counsel together respecting the step they should take to secure the destruction of the favourite. perceiving the punishment so often delayed, it was their business to alarm the king respecting the dangerous effects of his clemency, and his weakness in allowing himself to be led away by these discourses, prepared on purpose to suspend an act of justice which was absolutely necessary. he ought to banish from the people every suspicion of weakness on the part of the government, and show them that equity was its foundation. the artful detail of this reasoning was entrusted to the fourth vizier; and this minister came next morning to bohetzad to perform his part. the poison of flattery was artfully mingled with remonstrances, which appeared to be dictated by a disinterested zeal, and made a deep impression on the king. he ordered the superintendent to be brought before him, as formerly, with all the apparatus of punishment. "unhappy man!" said he to him, "i have reflected enough to punish you for your crime. may your death, if it be possible, make me forget you for ever!" "sire," replied aladin, with respect and firmness, "i receive with submission the sentence of my crime. it is dictated by circumstances; and were it not, i feel that the misery of having fallen under your disgrace would be worse to me. the sacrifice once made, i can repent of it no more. but the day will come, when your majesty, regretting your unjust precipitation, will repent that you did not sufficiently consult the rules of prudence, as it happened to bhazad, the son of cyrus, founder of the syrian empire." history of bhazad the impatient. bhazad was a prince possessed of every external accomplishment. his beauty, celebrated by the poets, was become proverbial among all nations. he was the delight of every company, and scarcely anything was noticed in it but himself. one day, while he was unperceived, his beauty became the subject of conversation. after it had been much praised, one who was present, and had till then been silent, added, "prince bhazad is doubtless one of the most beautiful men in the world; but i know a woman who in this respect is much more superior to her own sex than he is to his." this discourse roused the curiosity of bhazad more than his pride; and, addressing himself in private to the man who spoke thus: "might one know from you," said he to him, "the name of this beauty, in whose praise you have just now spoken?" "prince," replied this man, "she is the daughter of one of the most illustrious vassals of the syrian throne; and if she enchants every eye by her external charms, the virtues of her heart and of her mind contribute still more to make her perfect." those few words made a lively impression upon the heart of bhazad. he could think of nothing but of the object whose praises he had heard, and he endeavoured to make a conquest of her. the love which consumed him injured his health, rendered him thoughtful and solitary; and the king his father, being surprised at this change, upon inquiring of him, was informed of its cause. bhazad, after having made a confession of his passion to cyrus, suffered from him some reproaches for his reserve. "why have you concealed from me the state of your heart?" said he to him. "are you ignorant that i have all power over the prince whose daughter you are desirous to marry? are you afraid that he will not accept the honour of our alliance?" upon this cyrus sent in quest of the father of the young beauty, and demanded her for his son. the dowry, which was to be three hundred thousand pieces of gold, was agreed upon at once. but the future father-in-law required that the celebration of the nuptials should be delayed for nine months. "nine months without seeing her!" said the impatient bhazad to himself. "nine months without her! it is insupportable." he quickly formed the design of going to her. he mounted the best courser in his stables, and immediately departed, having provided himself with some necessary articles, such as a bow, a lance, and a scimitar. he was not far from the capital of syria when he was attacked by a band of robbers. his undaunted countenance and his martial air made an impression upon them; and far from endeavouring, according to their usual custom, to murder him after they had robbed him, they proposed to him a very different plan, and promised him his life on condition that he would associate with them. bhazad thought it necessary to discover to these vagabonds his rank, his projects, and the fatal delay of nine months, which his impatience had been unable to endure. upon this declaration, the chief of the robbers replied to him, "we will shorten this delay. we know the castle in which the object of your love dwells, and the strength that defends it. march at our head; we will attack it, and no object shall be able to resist us. all we ask of you for this important service is a share in the dowry, your future protection, and a delay of some days to prepare ourselves for the enterprise." bhazad, in his impatience, thought himself already on the very point of happiness. every method seemed just to him which could serve his passion, and he was by no means delicate in the choice of them. thus he deliberated no more, but continued his journey at the head of the robbers. they soon met a numerous caravan, and the robbers, constrained by their natural propensity, attacked it in disorder. they were repulsed, however, with the loss of several men and a considerable number of prisoners, among whom bhazad was included. he was conducted to the capital of the country to which the caravan was travelling. the commander of it, after relating his adventure, presented bhazad to the king. "here, sire, is a young man who, in our opinion, deserves to be distinguished from the rest, and we beseech your majesty to dispose of him according to your pleasure." the countenance of the captive attracted the particular attention of the king. "who are you, young man?" inquired the prince. "you seem not to have been born for the criminal profession you follow. how did you fall into the hands of the caravan?" bhazad, lest he should dishonour his respectable name, was unwilling to make himself known. "sire," replied he, "my appearance ought not to impose upon your majesty: i am, and always have been, a professed robber." "your answer," said the king, "is your sentence of death. yet," said he to himself, "i ought to be rash in nothing. regard must be had to his youth and external qualities, which seem to distinguish him from people of his profession. if this young man is in reality a robber, he deserves punishment; but if he is an unfortunate sport of destiny, who hath sought for death as a deliverance from the sorrows of life, one may become an accomplice in his crime by not preventing his death." the prudent sovereign, having made this soliloquy, ordered bhazad to be shut up in close confinement, expecting some great discovery respecting his rank. in the meantime the king of syria, having in quest of his son searched his dominions in vain, addressed circular letters to all the sovereigns of asia. one of them came to the king in whose dominion bhazad was in custody. from the description which it gave of him, he had no doubt that the young adventurer whom he kept in prison was the well-beloved son of the powerful monarch of syria. what reason had he to applaud himself for not having hurried his judgment! he sent immediately for the handsome prisoner, and asked his name. "my name is bhazad," replied the young man. "you are the son, then, of king cyrus. but what motives determined you to conceal your birth? had i not been slow in the execution of punishment, it would have cost you your life, and me the remorse of having treated you as a vile assassin." "sire," replied bhazad, after having revealed to him the secret of his escape, "finding myself seized among robbers, in whose crimes i had involuntarily shared, i preferred death to shame, and was unwilling to dishonour a name so illustrious." "son," replied the sage monarch, "there has been a great deal of imprudence in your behaviour. you were in love, and assured of wedding in a few months the object of your affection. see to what rashness and impatience have brought you. instead of waiting patiently till you should become the son-in-law of one of your father's noble vassals, after having quitted the court of syria without permission, and after having incautiously exposed yourself to be murdered by the robbers who infest these deserts, you joined yourself to these vagabonds to carry off by force the woman who was voluntarily to be given you in marriage. see into what a train of crimes you have drawn yourself. check this passion and calm your impatience. i will procure you the means of uniting yourself soon to the princess whose hand you are anxious to obtain. but as everything ought to be done in a manner suitable to her condition and your rank, we will hurry nothing." after this, the king, having caused bhazad to be magnificently dressed, appointed him lodgings in his palace, and admitted him to his table. he wrote to cyrus to set him at ease respecting the fate of his son, whose equipage was getting ready that he might appear with more splendour at the court of the prince whose daughter he was about to espouse. the impatient bhazad saw these preparations with uneasiness. the attention which was paid to them retarded his happiness. at length, however, the order for his departure was given, and he might begin his journey. a small army escorted him, but every halt which it made appeared an age to this impatient prince. messengers had been dispatched to the father of the princess, to inform him of the arrival of his son-in-law. he came, with his daughter covered with a veil, to receive him at the gate of his castle, and allotted him a magnificent apartment next to that of his future spouse. all the arrangements had been previously fixed by the two fathers. the term of nine months would have elapsed in three days, and all the preparations suitable to this so much wished-for union were finished. bhazad was only separated from the object of his affection by the breadth of a thin wall. in three days he might see her. but this wall was like mount ararat to him, and these three days seemed an eternity. as he constantly inquired what she was doing, he learnt that she was at her toilet, assisted by her female slaves, and without her veil. this was the time for him to surprise her and behold her at his pleasure. he presently examined all the openings of his apartment, to find some way of gratifying his impatience and curiosity. he discovered, to his misfortune, a small grated window, to which he applied his eye. but an eunuch, placed there on guard, perceived the inquisitive man, and, without knowing him, struck him with the point of his scimitar, which at once ran through both his eyes, and drew from him a piercing cry, which soon collected around him all those engaged in his service. they stood around the wounded, inquiring the cause which could have reduced him to the unhappy situation he was in. his misfortune discovered to him his crime. "it was my impatience," replied he, with sorrow. "i have too soon forgotten the sage counsels of the king my benefactor. in three days i would have seen her who was to crown my happiness; but i was unable to bear this delay with patience. i wished to enjoy beforehand the pleasure of seeing her, and for this i am punished with the loss of my sight." * * * * * "in this manner," added aladin, "did the impatient bhazad, on the very point of becoming happy, lose that hope for ever, and was condemned to the most cruel loss in being deprived of the sense of sight. he ought to have recollected the dangers to which his former imprudence had exposed him; with what maturity of deliberation, with what wise delay, the monarch to whom he was indebted for his fortune and life had conducted himself with respect to him, and he ought to have yielded entirely to his advice. but it is not from acting without reflection that experience is acquired, and the wise alone can profit by that of others." * * * * * the young superintendent, having made an end of speaking, bohetzad, drowned in thought, dismissed the assembly, and remanded the criminal to prison. the ten viziers, afraid lest their victim should escape, assembled again next day, and sent three of their number in a deputation to the king to strike the last blow against the young aladin. they assured bohetzad that the dangerous consequences of his clemency were already felt. "every day," said they, "ordinary justice is engaged in checking the audacious crimes of your subjects against the sanctity of the harem. prevaricating criminals have the boldness to defend themselves by the example that is before their eyes; and the delays which arise from your majesty in this affair are so many pretences which they allege in their justification. we conjure you, sire, to put an end to this disorder, which your ministers will soon be unable to restrain." bohetzad, ashamed of his too great indulgence, caused the superintendent to be brought before him. "thou appearest at length," said he to him, "for the last time, on the scaffold, which thou art about to stain with thy blood. the crime which thou hast committed allows me no rest. the too long suspension of the sword of the law draws along with it an example fatal to my subjects. every voice is united against thee, and not one justifies thee." "men pursue me," interrupted the undaunted aladin. "i am the object of hatred and slander; but, if the eternal and his prophet are for me, i have nothing in this world to fear. heaven protects my innocence, and the sword cannot deprive me of it. it will always shine upon my forehead, even when it shall be separated from my body. my confidence is in god. i expect everything from him, as king bazmant at length did after the reverses he experienced." history of bazmant, or the confident. this sovereign, too much addicted to the pleasures of the table, was giving himself up one day to the immoderate enjoyment of a sumptuous feast, when his vizier came to inform him that the enemy was coming to besiege his capital. "have not i," replied he, "excellent generals and good troops? let them take care of everything, and beware of disturbing my pleasures." "i will obey, sire," replied the vizier; "but remember that the almighty disposes of thrones, and that if you invoke not his aid, your riches and power will not support you or yours." disregarding this wise counsel, bazmant fell asleep in the arms of sensuality; and when he awoke was obliged to take to flight: notwithstanding the bravery of his soldiers, the enemy had become masters of the city. the fugitive king withdrew to one of his allies, his father-in-law and friend, who granted him a powerful army, with which he hoped in a short time to re-enter his dominions and take vengeance on his enemy. full of confidence in this assistance, he marched at the head of his troops, and advanced towards the capital which he had lost. but victory again declared in favour of the usurper. his army was routed, and he himself owed his safety to the swiftness and vigour of his horse, which, pursued by the enemy, crossed an arm of the sea which lay in his way, and soon landed him on the opposite shore. not far from the shore was situated a fortified city called kerassin, at that time under the dominion of king abadid. bazmant went to it, and demanded an asylum in the hospital destined for the reception of poor strangers. he learned that king abadid resided in medinet-ilahid, the capital of the kingdom. he took the road to it, arrived there, and demanded an audience of the sovereign, which was immediately granted. his external appearance prejudiced the monarch in his favour, and he asked him concerning his rank, his country, and the motives which had brought him to medinet-ilahid. "i was," replied he, "a distinguished officer in the court of king bazmant, to whom i was much attached. this unfortunate prince has been driven from his kingdom, and as it became necessary for me to choose a master, i am come to make a voluntary offer of my person and services to your majesty." abadid, full of prudence and penetration, conceived a favourable opinion of the stranger. he loaded him with presents, and assigned him a distinguished rank among his officers. bazmant might have been proud of his new situation could he have banished from his memory the fortune he had once enjoyed, and had he not been still wholly occupied with the loss of his kingdom. a neighbouring power at that time threatened abadid with an invasion of his dominions. the sovereign put himself in a posture of defence, and took every necessary precaution to repel his enemy. he himself took arms, and left his capital at the head of a formidable army. bazmant had the chief command of the van. the battle was soon begun, during which abadid and bazmant conducted themselves like experienced chiefs, and were distinguished by remarkable feats of courage and intrepidity. the enemy was entirely defeated and repulsed. bazmant extolled to the skies the mighty deeds and wise plans of abadid. "sire," said he to him, "with an army so well disciplined and so much good conduct you might easily humble the most formidable nations." "you are mistaken," replied the wise monarch; "without the assistance of allah i could not resist the most feeble atoms in the creation. it is by trusting in him alone that we have the power of posting our troops to advantage, of directing our plans with wisdom, and of preserving that presence of mind which is the guide of all our operations. if i had not had recourse to him, the greatest force would have vanished in my hands." "i am convinced of it," replied bazmant, "and the misfortunes which i have experienced are a proof of it. a false prudence induced me to conceal my name and my misfortunes. but your virtues forcibly draw the secret from me. you see before you the unhappy bazmant, whom too much confidence in his own troops could not preserve upon the throne." upon this confession, abadid, seized with astonishment, wished to make an apology to bazmant for the reception he had given him. "how could you know me," replied the dethroned prince, "since shame and confusion obliged me to be silent? could you read upon my forehead a character which the justice of heaven had effaced? great king," added he, embracing him, "i owe to your generosity a full account of my faults: lend me your attention." at these words bazmant related his history. "my dear brother," said abadid to him, after having heard it, "cease to humble yourself before a man brought up in your very principles, and corrected at last by a series of misfortunes similar to yours. i have not been wiser than you. it appears that we must be instructed by misery! formerly i put my confidence in my troops and my own abilities, and at the head of a numerous army i was conquered by an enemy who had nothing to oppose me but a handful of men. forced to take to flight, i retired to the mountains, with fifty men who would not abandon me. providence caused me to fall in with a dervish in his hermitage, where he was wholly devoted to the exercise and duties of religion. he showed me the cause of my misfortunes, and told me that the enemy had put his trust in allah alone, and was thus enabled to strike me with unerring blows; while i, depending upon the effort of my spear and the thickness of my battalions, and full of audacious pride, neglected my duty, and gave no order which did not lead to an error. 'put,' said he to me, 'your confidence in him who directs everything here below, and if his arm is engaged in your behalf, fifty men will be sufficient to regain your kingdom.' these discourses of the sage made a strong impression upon me. i raised my eyes on high, and, full of a salutary confidence, i returned to my capital. prosperity had blinded my enemy. he had forgotten in the lap of pleasure the wise maxims to which he was indebted for his victory. everything seemed quiet in his dominions. he believed himself secure in the possession of them, and neglected the maintenance of an army. i arrived unawares at the beginning of the night. i hastened to the palace with my small party, which curiosity, however, increased. it became a formidable army within the palace: dismay and terror marched in its train. the usurper had only just time to make his escape and avoid the danger which surrounded him. and the next day beheld me re-established on my throne, and in the undisturbed possession of my kingdom." the recital of abadid's adventures completely changed the opinions of bazmant. "you have," said the prince to him, "inspired me with a confidence equal to that which animated you, and henceforward i will place it nowhere else. god alone and his great prophet are able to restore me my crown; and in order to regain it, i will follow the same method that you did." at these words he took leave of abadid, and hastened into a desert, through which he was obliged to pass in order to reach his dominions. guided by the confidence which he had placed in the sovereign ruler of men, and imploring his support by prayer, he gained the summit of a mountain. he was oppressed with fatigue, and, having fallen asleep, he saw a vision in a dream. he thought he heard a voice say to him, "bazmant, allah has heard thy prayers: he accepts thy penitence, and thou mayest march without fear whither thou intendest." the prince believed he had heard his guardian angel, and hastened his journey towards the capital of his kingdom. scarcely had he reached the frontiers, when he met a party of those who had been most faithful to him. they lived under a tent, ready to seek another asylum on the least instance of tyranny in the usurper. without making himself known, he entered into conversation, and told them that he was travelling to the capital. they endeavoured to divert him from his design. they described the avenues to the city as extremely dangerous. they told him that suspicion and fear were upon the throne; that strangers who approached it were believed to be emissaries of bazmant, and were, without distinction, beheaded by order of the tyrant. "he causes the former king to be regretted, then?" inquired the prince, certain that they could not know him. "alas!" replied they, "would indeed that our worthy monarch were here! he would find a safe asylum in the hearts of all his subjects, and a hundred thousand arms to avenge him. the monster who has dethroned him, confiding in his forces, sacrifices everything to his unbridled desires, and frees himself by the sword of his slightest alarms." "he is in the wrong," replied bazmant, "to trust wholly in his army: the true support of kings is the favour of heaven. as for me, who have come here with no other intention than to acquire knowledge by travelling, knowing that no one can injure me while i have the divine protection, i will, without fear, approach the place which the vain precautions of your master have caused to be looked upon as so dangerous." "we conjure you not to do this," replied these worthy people, in a feeling tone: "do not give us another misfortune to bewail. since you are a good mussulman, wait patiently till the divine justice shall have struck this tyrant: the time is not far distant, for the measure of his iniquity is full. and should the arm of man delay to strike, the pillars of his palace will fall upon him." at these words, bazmant felt his hopes revive. he laid aside all disguise, and declared that he was the monarch whom they wished to return. at that instant his faithful subjects, exiled on his account, fell at his feet. they kissed his hands and moistened them with their tears. a part of the knights who were there devoted themselves as his life-guard. the rest spread all around to announce his happy return, and appoint a place of rendezvous. a formidable army was soon in a condition to advance to the capital, the tyrant was overthrown, and bazmant resumed the reins of government and power amidst the acclamations of all his people. * * * * * at the end of this history, aladin ventured to add some reflections of his own. "you see," said he to bohetzad, "how bazmant reascended his throne, without any other assistance than that of heaven. my true throne, sire, is my innocence; and, as if inspired from above, i have a fixed belief that i will yet be re-established on it, and triumph over mine enemies." as the young minister mingled sage truths with the recital of his stories, the sovereign, who had listened to him, felt his anger relent. he again ordered the punishment to be deferred, and the criminal was carried back to prison. the viziers again resolved to diffuse in the mind of the king the poison of those perfidious insinuations which had hitherto been so unsuccessful. one of them accordingly arrived well prepared. he brought with him seditious libels and a list of disorders which, he said, the violation of a law that was refused to be put in execution had occasioned, in leaving unpunished a crime which appeared in so obvious a manner. these reports, which seemed to be dictated by disinterestedness and fidelity, again inflamed bohetzad. he resumed his first resolutions, and sent for the criminal to his presence. "i have hesitated too long," said he. "thy death is essential to the safety of my kingdom, and thou canst no more hope either for delay or mercy." "sire," said aladin, "every fault deserves pardon. i have committed one in indulging myself in a drink which i did not know, and which deprived me, for a moment, of reason. but i have a right to obtain your majesty's pardon. i am incapable of the crime of which i am accused. sovereigns, sire, have a noble right which they derive from heaven: it is that of exercising mercy when it is proper. let us suppose that, after a little delay and deliberate examination, you had snatched an innocent person from punishment, would not your majesty have done an action something like that of raising him from the dead? an action may often appear agreeable to strict justice, while in reality it is only the effect of lawless tyranny. and what glory is there not, even in pardoning an offence? he who is capable of mercy will, like baharkan, sooner or later receive his reward." aladin, perceiving bohetzad inclined to listen to him, proceeded thus in the explanation of what he had advanced: history of baharkan. baharkan was an intemperate prince. he sacrificed everything to his passions, and, in order to gratify them, he boldly plunged into the greatest excess of tyranny. he never pardoned even the appearance of a crime: so that involuntary faults were punished no less than avowed transgressions. being one day at the chase, one of his officers inadvertently discharged from his bow an arrow which he was holding prepared. it struck the ear of the king, and unfortunately carried it off. baharkan, in his fury, ordered the offender to be brought before him, and his head to be struck off. as soon as the unhappy young man was in his presence, having heard the sentence of death pronounced by the monarch, he spoke to him thus: "sire, the fault i have committed was unpremeditated on my part; it was the effect of the fatality of the stars. i throw myself on your clemency. i implore your pardon. it will be meritorious in the sight of god and approved of by men. in the name of the heavenly power which hath put the sceptre into your hands, i entreat for pardon, and your majesty will one day receive your reward." this prayer softened the unrelenting heart of the king, and, contrary to the general expectation, the young officer obtained his pardon. his name was tirkan. he was a prince who had fled from his father's court in order to escape the punishment of a fault which he had committed. after having wandered unknown from kingdom to kingdom, he at length settled at the court of baharkan, where he obtained employment. he remained there for some time after the accident which had befallen him; but his father, having discovered the place of his retreat, sent him his pardon, and advised him to return to him. he did this in such affectionate and paternal terms that tirkan, trusting in his father's goodness, immediately departed. his hopes were not deceived, and he was re-established in all his rights. king baharkan, desiring one day to amuse himself with pearl-fishing, embarked in a vessel with a design to coast along the shores of his kingdom in search of pearls. an unexpected storm drove the ship into the open sea. it became the sport of the winds and the waves, and, stripped of all its rigging, ran aground on an unknown shore, and was dashed to pieces against the rocks which surrounded it. the whole crew perished. baharkan alone was saved from shipwreck by a plank which he had had the good fortune to seize. fortunately, he landed on the dominions of the monarch whose son had shot away his ear, and whom he had pardoned. night began to descend when baharkan landed. he wanted neither courage nor vigour, and therefore took the first road that presented itself, which led to a large fortified city. but, as the gates had just been shut, he was forced to wait without till next day, and to pass the night in a neighbouring churchyard. day began to appear, and the gates were opened. the first persons who came from the city found, at the gate of the churchyard, a man who had been murdered. baharkan was coming out of it at the same time. the efforts he had made in the evening to reach the coast with his plank had given him some slight wounds, from which the blood was still trickling. this proof appeared sufficient in the eyes of the bystanders: he was taken for the murderer, and carried to prison. there this unfortunate prince, left to his own reflections, thus communed with himself: "heaven chastises thee, baharkan. thou wast cruel, vindictive, and inexorable. with thee humanity had no value. thou sacrificedst thy brethren on the slightest suspicion. behold thyself now on a level with the vilest of mortals. thou hast met with no more than thy desert." as he rendered this terrible justice to himself, he perceived in the air a vulture, which hovered above the prison in the court of which he was walking. he instinctively took a flint, and threw it with great force at the bird, which avoided the stroke; but, in falling, the stone accidentally struck the same prince tirkan who formerly had carried off his ear by the stroke of an arrow. it wounded him exactly on the ear, but not so severely as baharkan had been. pain forced a cry from the young prince, which brought all his courtiers around him. surgeons were sent for, who soon cured this slight wound. the king ordered a search to be made, in order to discover the person who had thrown the stone. baharkan was accused by his fellow-prisoners of picking up and throwing it. he was brought before the monarch, who condemned him to lose his head, since, besides this, he believed him to be the murderer of the man who had been assassinated near the churchyard. the executioner of justice had already taken off the turban which covered him, and was drawing the sword from its scabbard, when the king, examining attentively the head which had just been uncovered, perceived that it wanted an ear. "it appears," said he to the criminal, "that this is not your first offence. for what crime have you been already condemned to lose an ear?" baharkan, having assumed a manly spirit since his misfortunes, replied, with boldness, "sire, if i have committed crimes, i owe no account of them but to heaven; and till it should have determined to punish me, human justice had no right to inflict it. i have been, in one word, your equal--i was a king. the ear which i want was unfortunately carried off by an arrow, which escaped from the bow of one of my officers, whose name was tirkan. impelled by the first emotion of anger, i condemned him to death. he besought my pardon, and obtained it. my name is baharkan." tirkan, without giving him time to finish, had already thrown himself into his arms. he recognized at once his ancient master and his deliverer. baharkan, far from being punished, was treated as a king, and an unfortunate one. he related the adventure which had landed him in the dominions of tirkan's father. the latter communicated to him his own, and especially the unfortunate accident which had wounded baharkan. "recollect, sire," added he, "that in soliciting a pardon, i ventured to promise you, from heaven, the same favour which i expected from you. here you have received it, under the very same circumstances, through the instrumentality of my father." after these discoveries, the two sovereigns embraced each other, with marks of esteem and kindness. a short time after, baharkan returned to his kingdom in a fleet well equipped, and at the head of an army of fifty thousand fighting men, commanded by prince tirkan. * * * * * "in this manner," added aladin, "baharkan was rewarded for suffering himself to be softened when he was personally offended. heaven did not confine its blessings to his receiving the same treatment in a similar situation and restoring him to his subjects, it moreover granted to him every virtue requisite in a good king; and in governing his subjects, it enabled him always to govern himself." bohetzad, shaken in his resolution by this discourse, ordered the instruments of death to be again removed, and the minister to be conducted back to prison. he even pronounced these last words so hesitatingly, that the viziers, who observed it, were alarmed. the whole conspiracy formed against aladin awoke with still greater force, and it was determined that the ten viziers should go in a body to the king. their danger would become so great, if aladin should succeed in justifying himself, that every step should be taken to destroy him. the next day they all repaired to the palace, and he who was possessed of the warmest eloquence spoke. if the monarch would believe it, the wicked story-teller, whose talents were so specious, was indebted for his success to the art of magic, in which he was well skilled. but he ought to distrust an illusion which exposes at once the laws, religion, morals, the honour of the throne, and the public welfare; and unless he punished this crime, it would be impossible to check disorder. all the other viziers supported this insidious harangue. each of them alleged his own disinterestedness, his zeal, and his fidelity. "unbridled audacity is in him united with matchless cunning," they said. "everything is in danger if this offence remains unpunished." bohetzad could not resist the unanimous voice of so many counsellors. his anger re-awoke, and he ordered the criminal to be brought forth. aladin appeared in chains, and the king, perceiving him, exclaimed, "let the head of this unhappy man be struck off." the ten viziers hastened to seize the sword of the executioner, in order to dispute with him the execution of his office. this motion gave aladin time to speak. "behold, sire, the eagerness of your viziers to bathe themselves in the blood of innocence. justice pursues the crime, but does not rush upon the criminal. zeal, like every other virtue, should be moderated. stop, eager and wicked men! i am here under the justice of the king, not under yours. you have no power over my life. it is sacred with respect to you, who are neither judges nor executioners. speak! show yourselves openly as you really are. i have offended you by checking your rapine. you are my enemies and base slanderers." "you recriminate upon my viziers," interrupted the king; "truth which flows from their mouths confounds you." "nothing from them can confound me," replied aladin; "not even the blackness of their calumny. it is coeval with their existence. but for these, who have reduced me to the necessity of this defence, i must question them in my turn. they are all here, and let them answer. does not the law require that every accuser or deponent should have been a witness of the crime? their evidence is therefore objectionable in this case; the law rejects it. it is only the effect of envy and jealous rage by which they are devoured. look at them, sire, and at me. the sword is above my head, yet i dare raise it up, while their eyes shun both yours and mine. heaven supports me and condemns them; our sentence is written on our countenance. o great king! deserving of better ministers, beware of being drawn into the guilty plot they have contrived for you. one may, but without passion, bear testimony against the accused. if he is convicted, justice condemns him. but the judge, in describing the crime and pronouncing sentence, never forgets the duty due to the creature of god on whom the punishment is about to fall. here i see nothing but fury and jealous rage. they are devoured by their thirst for blood, and equity is not the basis of their judgments. all the injurious imputations which have been levelled against me vanish. an invisible hand imprints on my forehead the serenity of innocence. an inward sentiment tells me that, having lived free from crimes, i shall not be confounded with the guilty. unhappy is the man whose conscience gives a contrary testimony. he endeavours in vain to shun the stroke that threatens him. the history of the sultan hebraim and of his son is a proof of this." bohetzad, struck with astonishment at the intrepid firmness of aladin and the united rage of his ministers, wished to hear the adventures of hebraim; and the superintendent, having obtained permission to relate them, thus began: history of the sultan hebraim and his sons, or the predestinated. [illustration] the sultan hebraim, called by his birth to the government of extensive dominions, had enlarged them considerably by the success of his arms. but the want of an heir disturbed the enjoyment of his glory. at length, however, a son was born, whose birth was celebrated by public rejoicings and feasts, which, during forty days, announced to the people the happiness of the sovereign. this time was employed in a very different manner by the astrologers who were employed to cast the infant's nativity. they could not conceal from the sultan that an evil star had presided at the birth of his son. the orbit of his planet, black and stained with blood, announced misfortunes, which it would be difficult to resist. they unanimously declared that before he was seven years old, the infant would be exposed to the devouring jaws of a tiger; and that if he could escape the fury of that animal during this determinate space of time, his hand would become fatal to the author of his existence; and that there was no other way by which he could escape the evils that threatened him but by becoming, from the effects of education, an enlightened, wise, and virtuous prince. the annunciation of so mournful a prediction dissipated the joy of hebraim, and the days of public happiness were spent by him in tears and in grief. nevertheless, as hope never forsakes the unfortunate, he flattered himself, and was happy to think, that it was possible to screen the heir of his power from the decrees of fate. it did not appear to him impossible to protect his son from the attacks of the tiger during the appointed term of seven years; and after having snatched him from the first decree of destiny, he might, by carefully watching over his education, beget in him sentiments of wisdom and the love of virtue, and thus disprove the prediction of the astrologers. after these reflections, the sultan prepared a retreat on the summit of a mountain, in which he hoped that his son would be safe from the attacks of the tiger for the seven years determined by fate. a number of workmen were employed in forming in the rock a cavity of a hundred feet in depth, about a hundred and fifty in length, and thirty in breadth. they let down into this every material necessary to make a commodious lodging; a spring of water was found there, and they contrived a passage for it, as well as for the rain-water which might be collected in this cavity. they carried earth to it, and put plants there, which were soon in a thriving condition. after having furnished this little palace in a proper manner, they let down into it the prince and his nurse by the help of a pulley, together with every necessary article for a month. at the end of every moon hebraim came regularly to visit his son. the nurse laid the child in a basket made of bulrushes, which was lifted up to the very brim of the entrance; and while the father yielded to the sweetest emotions of nature in caressing his son, a numerous guard, by the thundering sound of their instruments, kept the wild beasts at a distance. when the visit was over the provisions were renewed, and the cord, rolling upon the pulley, gently returned to the bottom of the cave the basket and the infant. the young prince grew and prospered in this solitary habitation, which a very strong vegetation had adorned with trees and shrubs of every kind. the fatal term marked out by the astrologers had almost elapsed. only twenty days were wanting to fulfil the seven years, when a troop of unknown hunters, in vigorous pursuit of an enormous tiger which they had already wounded, came to the summit of the mountain in full view of their prey. the furious animal, terrified by their shouts, and struck by arrows which were shot at it from every quarter, found this cavity in its course, and either blinded by terror or being now in despair, immediately sprang down it. it fell upon a tree, which, bending under its weight, considerably broke the force of a fall which would have dashed it to pieces on the bottom of this pit. the terrified nurse endeavoured to conceal herself, and the monster found the child, which it grievously wounded on the shoulder. on hearing the cries of the infant, however, the nurse, forgetting her own danger, flew to his assistance. the tiger darted at her, and having torn her in pieces, was about to devour her, when the huntsmen, coming suddenly up to the brink of the precipice, discharged at once a shower of arrows upon the voracious animal. his body was full of them, the blood gushed from every part of it, and an enormous stone thrown at his head killed him on the spot. after this exploit the huntsmen, anxious to discover the child whose cries resounded in this frightful habitation, eagerly descended into it. but what was their astonishment when they found there at the side of a dead woman a beautiful infant, richly dressed, and swimming in the blood of the wounds it had received! their first care was to assist the innocent creature, which still breathed. they bathed its wounds, and wrapped them up with healing herbs. as soon as the infant appeared more calm, they buried the nurse and examined this strange retreat. the furniture of this small habitation appeared extremely rich, and a quantity of provisions was found there, which seemed to have come down from heaven. the huntsmen took possession of everything by the right of conquest, and sought how they might take out of this dungeon everything it concealed. the basket of bulrushes was first employed in drawing up the young child out of this habitation, and next all the effects, the furniture, and the provisions, were raised by means of the pulley which was fixed at the top of the cave. when everything was out a division was made. the chief of the troop took possession of the infant, in whose preservation he felt himself strongly interested, and carried it with him to his own house. the only son of the sultan hebraim had fallen into good hands. his benefactor was a man of distinction, wealthy, and without a fault but that of an unlimited passion for the chase. struck with the beauty and the sweetness of his young charge, he paid the greatest attention to him. and when he found him capable of answering his questions, he endeavoured to learn from him who he was, and for what reason he had been made to dwell in so extraordinary a habitation. "i know not," replied the child. "i lived with the woman whom you found dead; she gave me everything i wanted. from time to time a man, much bigger than you, came and stood at the top of the dwelling where you found me. i was put into a basket and drawn up to him. he caressed me very much, and called me his dear child. i called the woman nurse, and she likewise said i was her dear child. i know nothing more." the benefactor could not conclude, from this simple declaration, anything else than that this child owed its birth to parents of an illustrious rank, but he could not discover the very extraordinary reason which had forced them to conceal its existence by a method still more extraordinary. expecting that time would unravel this mystery, he paid every attention to the boy's education, had him instructed in the sciences, and trained up in exercises suitable to the most illustrious descent. the young disciple early answered the hopes of his friend. he excelled particularly in the art of horsemanship, handled every sort of weapon with dexterity, and in general acquired all the knowledge necessary for the most resolute warrior or hunter. one day, as they were both hotly engaged in the pursuit of some tigers, they were suddenly surrounded by a band of robbers. abaquir (for that was the young man's name) displayed, as well as his master, prodigious feats of valour. but, overpowered by numbers, they were both plundered. the protector of abaquir lost his life, and he himself received some slight wounds; but the faintness which succeeded was more the effect of fatigue than of blows. as soon as the robbers had disappeared he came to himself, and being naturally courageous, he attempted, though deprived of every aid, to cross the desert, in order to reach some inhabited place, having nothing for his defence but a hunter's javelin, which had been left on the field of battle. he had travelled but a few hours when he perceived in the plain a man in the habit of a dervish. he made haste to join him, to address and salute him. the dervish prevented him by beginning the conversation himself. "beautiful young man," said he to him, "you are naked and wounded. who hath reduced you to the distressed situation in which i see you?" abaquir did not hesitate to relate his adventure to this man, whom he took for some holy person, and confidently asked from him some food and clothing. "one ought," replied the dervish, "to know what it is to strip himself in order to clothe his brother, and to share with him his food in order to preserve him." at the same time he covered the young man with his cloak, made him sit down, and drew from a sort of wallet some dates, bread baked with the milk of a camel, and a bottle of the skin of a goat, containing five or six pints of water. "hold," said he, "you shall have the repast of a penitent. i carry these with me to supply my own wants and those of others; but we will go to my cave, and there you will find both repose and plenty." abaquir, before he began to eat, returned thanks to the holy prophet for so seasonable a relief. when the first calls of hunger were satisfied, the dervish prevailed upon him to go with him to his cell, which was at no great distance. abaquir was received therewith every mark of benevolent charity. his wounds were washed and dressed, and the most nourishing food was set before him. in this wild habitation the tables and chairs were nothing but stones rudely thrown together, and the beds were made of heaps of moss; but it was very well for abaquir, who had been reduced to the want of everything. besides, the attention of his landlord supplied the want of conveniences in this retreat. the young man conceived the highest idea of the profession of a dervish, from its inspiring sentiments so humane. "my dear child," said the disguised person to him, "i take pleasure in bestowing care on you; do not place all to the account of religion. you inspire me with a strong interest, and if you wish to go away from me, you must at least tarry till you are perfectly recovered of your wounds, for the passage from this desert is extremely difficult." although the young man could not but show himself grateful for so much attention, yet it did not appear uncommon to him. accustomed to the tender caresses of his nurse, to those of his father, and of his generous benefactor who had since directed his education, the attentions of the pretended dervish seemed to him affectionate and natural. the latter, by degrees, came to know all the adventures of abaquir, and appeared to take in him an interest always more marked. "either i am much deceived, child," said the recluse, "or i perceive that you are reserved for very high fates, and i devote myself to become your conductor in this fortunate career. i will restore to you this father who took so much pleasure in lavishing his caresses upon you." "ah! if you can," replied abaquir, "conduct me to him immediately." "in your present condition? no, my child, you are unacquainted with mankind. nature speaks not with the great in favour of a stranger covered with the old cloak of a dervish. before you could obtain a hearing, you would experience the treatment reserved for an impostor, and there would be a number of interested people ready to forbid you all access. but at present you are with a man who loves you, and whose resources are inexhaustible. a disgust at the riches and vanities of the world made me form the resolution of retiring from it. but to-morrow, if i choose, i can have more of them in my possession than would satisfy the ambition of the most wealthy potentates on earth. i can show you part of them. the earth conceals treasures which i can force her to give up. not far from this there is great abundance of them, and i will conduct you thither. you shall take what may be necessary to carry you to your father's court, preceded by a hundred camels, loaded with the richest stuffs of the east, and each of them led by a slave. you shall be surrounded by a guard, which will secure you respect wherever you pass." abaquir was lost in admiration. he could not imagine that these magnificent promises were real when he looked upon the coarse cloak with which he was covered, the furniture, and the fantastic utensils of his landlord. the latter, after having been some moments lost in reflection, thus resumed his speech: "o my child, never let appearances deceive you! the more you advance in years, the more you will learn to distrust its illusions. i am a dervish by inclination, but all the garments i wear are not mean. here is one which becomes none but brave and powerful men." at the same time the pretended dervish opened his cassock, and discovered a girdle of red, yellow, and green silk. "take courage, young man," continued he: "to-morrow i will show you great things. our attention shall be engaged about your fortune. i shall be able, without being obliged to go far, to find out this singular cave in which you were brought up. i shall know the architect; and in a month, after having finished all our preparations, we will depart for your father's court, with a train of attendants that will force everybody to welcome us." the discovery of this girdle under rags had struck abaquir with astonishment. he depended upon the promises of his new protector, and accepted his offers. "but," continued this extraordinary man, "as soon as you shall be at your father's house, and, notwithstanding the pain which our separation will cost you, i shall require your permission to return to my solitary manner of life." "willingly," replied abaquir; "but you will not prevent me from conducting you thither." on the morning of the next day the dervish made the young man take a basket with provisions for breakfast, and a parcel of ropes, and they went together to the bottom of a steep mountain. when they had arrived there, the companion of abaquir encouraged him to exert new strength. "you may," said he, "suffer a little fatigue, but reflecting that you are to reap the fruit of it, you must redouble your courage. be not astonished at what you are about to see. this mountain contains in its bosom a treasure which cannot be estimated. these riches are abandoned to magi, like me; but we despise using them for ourselves. do not spend your time in gathering gold, which you will find here in great quantity: take nothing but precious stones. this is the best method of enriching yourself speedily." after this advice, the dervish threw off his cloak, and appeared as a magician. he was covered only with his large particoloured girdle which adorned his breast. he took from a purse which hung from his girdle an instrument for striking fire, and, having lighted a taper, he burnt perfumes, and running over a book, he pronounced with a loud voice a magical charm. scarcely had he finished when the earth shook under his feet, opened before him, and discovered a square stone of marble, upon the middle of which the magician immediately scattered perfumes. when he thought the air sufficiently purified and refreshed with them, he girded abaquir with a rope under his arms, put a taper in his hand, and let him down into the opening. as soon as abaquir had got into it, his eyes were dazzled by the splendour of the riches with which he was surrounded. but, faithful to the advice of the magician, he picked up only precious stones, with which he filled the basket which his guide had let down to him by a cord. when it was full and lifted out of the pit, the magician took it; and at that moment a dreadful noise was heard, the fatal trap was shut, and the young abaquir found himself swallowed up in the bowels of the earth, without any hope of ever getting out. he believed he was betrayed by the magician, and, without great vigour of mind, would have abandoned himself to despair. but, after having shed some tears, he retraced in his memory the events of his former life. threatened in his early infancy with becoming the prey of a tiger, providence had protected him from danger. attacked afterwards by robbers, the same protection had saved him. "the arm which hath defended me," said he, "will not cease to do so still. i am innocent and betrayed." in this confidence he prostrated himself before him who has the keys of the deep, and rested with confidence in his assistance. by the light of the candle, which was still burning, he examined the immense cave which served him as a prison. he thought he perceived at the bottom a passage, the path of which could not be followed without stooping. he approached it with his light, but there came from it so strong a wind that it was instantly extinguished. far from lessening his hopes, this accident increased them. so violent a wind announced to him a passage outward. he entered it with great difficulty, and almost creeping in the darkness. as he advanced he heard a hollow noise, the murmur of which presaged to him some singular event. he soon perceived that he dipped his hands and his knees in a spring of running water. he raised his head, and finding that he could take some rest, he sat down upon a stone which he had met with, amid the murmurs of many other streams which flowed from these deep caves. he filled the hollow of his hand with the water, which was fresh and delicious. he drank of it, and after having recruited his strength, he continued this fatiguing journey. but these little streams, which thus far had only run upon the ground, had here hollowed out a bed for themselves. he was obliged to enter it, and the farther he advanced the more the danger increased, till at last he began to swim. the darkness around him at length began to be dissipated. the cavern grew wider and higher, and admitted a feeble ray of light, which seemed to announce that the outlet was near. the strength of the swimmer increased with his hopes; and he soon found himself under the vault of heaven, at the moment when the sun was ceasing to adorn it, and the goddess of the night was succeeding to her task. abaquir might now repose without fear, and his strength was exhausted. he laid himself upon the ground, and, overcome with fatigue, soon fell asleep. he had but few of the wet clothes which he had received from the magician to put off, for the rubbing of the flints had carried away part of them, and the remainder were but shreds. the singing of birds announced the return of morning, and the first rays of the sun awakened abaquir. the young prince, on opening his eyes, recollected the dangers from which he had just escaped. he retraced the most trifling circumstances of them in his memory. he thought he remembered to have seen, in the frightful cavern he had traversed, the carcasses of many who had fallen victims to the avarice of the wicked magician. this remembrance filled his soul with terror and dismay; but, at the same time, he felt the value of the blessings of the almighty hand, which had miraculously rescued him from this tomb. his eyes, raised to heaven and swimming in tears, expressed his gratitude, while his lips celebrated the praises of the almighty and of his prophet. these first duties being fulfilled, it became necessary to appease the hunger which preyed upon him. in running round the borders of a small lake where he was, he perceived some reeds, of which he sucked the stalks, and chewed the roots with his teeth. he dug up the earth all around, which furnished him such supplies as his urgent need required. by the help of care and patience he at last regained strength, and with it, courage. he then took up some shreds of his clothes, already dried by the sun, and fixed them to a girdle made of the leaves of reeds; and by searching carefully he found a stick, which served him at once for support and defence. he arrived, after much fatigue, upon a little plain, from whence he discovered a neighbouring city, to which he directed his steps by the first road that presented itself. as soon as he was perceived by the inhabitants, one of them ran to meet him, and appeared eager to lavish upon him the assistance of which his external appearance showed he had need. he obliged him to take an asylum in his house, where he was received with kindness; the recital of his adventures was listened to with feeling, and he found friends in his misfortunes. and now, without feeling a moment's uneasiness concerning the fate of this young prince, let us return to the sultan hebraim, his father, much more afflicted than he by the accomplishment of the mournful prediction. the second day after the defeat of the tiger was the term assigned by the astrologers. the sultan, thinking to reap at length the fruit of his cares and prudence, appeared at the top of the opening, and announced his arrival as usual by the sound of a horn. but nobody having answered his first signal, hebraim, uneasy at this silence, made some of his officers go down into the pit, who, after much diligent but fruitless search, found nothing in it but the dead body of a tiger. the unhappy father doubted no longer the death of his son: he returned in haste to his palace, and sent for the same astrologers whom he had formerly consulted respecting the fate of his heir. "unhappy that i am!" said he to them, "your fatal prediction is verified: my son has been devoured by a tiger before the expiration of the seven years; for in the retreat which i prepared for him i have found nothing but the body of an enormous tiger." "invincible sultan!" replied the astrologers, "since the event forces from you an acknowledgment of the truth of our presage, we must congratulate you now on being beyond the reach of an inevitable death, which he whose loss you deplore would have brought upon you. your son, falling under his destiny, has died in innocence and you are preserved." this reflection brought some relief to the natural sorrow of the sultan, and time completely effaced the remembrance of it. in the meantime, abaquir, of whom we must not lose sight, grew weary of his idleness in this little village where he had been so well received. his landlord had a numerous family, and but very small resources for their maintenance. the young prince being unwilling to be a burden on him, went frequently to hunt in the country. one day as he had killed a deer, and was preparing to lay it on his shoulders, he was suddenly surrounded by a troop of horsemen, and doubted not that he was in the middle of a band of robbers. "companion!" said the chief to him, "you hunt on foot, and carry nothing but a bow. there are, however, in these deserts many lions and tigers, and you may some day be worsted. come and hunt along with us, and we will give you an excellent horse." abaquir, already eager for the chase, thought he had found an excellent opportunity of following his inclination, and of relieving his landlord of the burden of his entertainment. he briskly replied to this offer by saying that he accepted the favour they intended him of admitting him into their number. the chief of the band perceived by this reply that the young man, who was as yet a novice, had not understood his proposal in its true sense, and thus resumed his speech: "since you are willing to join us, we will breakfast together to confirm our acquaintance." upon this the rest of the band dismounted, opened their knapsacks, and began each to satisfy his appetite. "since you are one of us," said the chief, "i must inform you of the laws by which we are governed. we love and assist one another as brethren, we make an equal division of our booty, and we swear to be faithful in life or in death." "i have already lived among hunters," replied abaquir; "i love that way of life, and you must know that if i do not owe my birth to them, i am at least indebted to them for my life. your laws appear to me extremely equitable." "since it is so," said the chief, "i have nothing more to do but instruct you in our rules. although i am only your equal, every one here submits to me as their chief. and as it is necessary that i should be feared and respected, i treat with extreme rigour all those who disobey my orders." "the moment you associate in a band," said abaquir, "subordination is essentially necessary." "swear, then, upon the koran, and by the name of the holy prophet," replied the chief, "to submit to all our laws without limitation." as soon as abaquir heard the divine book mentioned, he believed he had got among saints, and without hesitating took the koran, put it thrice upon his heart, his head, and his lips, and promised more than was required of him. thus was he enrolled without knowing it in the number of the greatest miscreants of the desert. all his new companions embraced him with joy. he mounted a fine horse, was covered with a cloak, and armed with a bow, a sabre, and a spear. abaquir was delighted, and perceived not till next day the rashness of the engagements he had made. in a short time these vagabonds spread themselves over the desert, and robbed and plundered travellers and caravans. their number was every day increased by the success of their fatal expeditions. at length their ravages became so considerable that the sovereign of these countries put himself at the head of some troops to pursue them. this was the sultan hebraim. the robbers were surrounded on every side; and abaquir, being at the head of the band, was particularly aimed at by the sultan. but the young man, warding off the danger which threatened him, wounded his adversary with an arrow; while, in another quarter, the subjects of the prince had made themselves masters of the robbers. every one that did not fall by the sword was taken prisoner, and the deserts were at last cleared of this wandering and destructive band. the sultan, however, was very grievously wounded. on his return to the capital, and after having received some medicines for his hurt, he sent for the astrologers. "impostors!" said he to them. "did you foretell that i was to die by the hand of a robber?--you who threatened me only with dying by that of my son?" "sultan," replied they, "everything which we have foretold is unhappily but too true. first let your highness examine the criminal; inform yourself from what hand the fatal arrow came, and then form your opinion of us." hebraim ordered all the prisoners to be brought into his presence, and promised them their lives and their liberty if they would discover the person that wounded him. "it was i," said abaquir, with firmness; "i have been so unfortunate as to attack the life of my sovereign, whom i did not know, and i deserve death." "take courage, young man," said the astonished sultan. "tell me only who you are, and who is your father." upon this demand, abaquir gave a full detail of his history, so far as was consistent with his knowledge, up to that part of it where the tiger wounded him and devoured his nurse. the relation was interrupted by the visible change which was observed on the countenance of the sultan. but somewhat recovered from this first emotion, hebraim warmly solicited the account of his adventures. the young prince continued his history, and ended by describing the dread he had felt when fighting against the sultan. "stop!" said hebraim, with tears in his eyes. "approach, and show me the bite of the tiger." abaquir obeyed. "i have found the truth," exclaimed the sultan, as he examined the scar. "hesitate no more, my dear son; come into my arms! let me have at least the consolation, before going down to the grave, of having found my only son.--astrologers!" said he, turning towards them, "you have told me truth as far as it was possible for you, but i was in the wrong to consult you about my destiny: we ought to submit in silence to the decree pronounced upon us; in seeking to shun it, we only increase its weight." then addressing the whole court: "viziers, and grandees of the realm!" said he to them, "acknowledge as your rightful sovereign ben-hebraim, my only son and assist him in fulfilling with dignity the difficult duties of the throne." abaquir having been immediately crowned, under the name of abaquir-ben-hebraim, his father died; for he caused the arrow which had entered his body to be pulled out, and his life escaped with the blood which issued from the large wound, while he reverenced the decree whose execution he had drawn upon himself, and blessed god for granting him an heir worthy of his crown. ben-hebraim, early called to the government of a kingdom, but instructed by adversity, brought up amid labour, and virtuous from principle, showed himself worthy of the public confidence. the adventure of the magician and the robbers put him on his guard against appearances. he pardoned the latter, but ardently wished that heaven would bring the former under his power, that he might make him an example of justice. one day, as the young sultan was passing through the market-places of the city in disguise, he perceived a stranger surrounded by a crowd, whom curiosity had attracted. they were admiring some diamonds and jewels of the most exquisite beauty. ben-hebraim observed this stranger attentively, and, under the rich dress of an armenian, he recollected his wicked dervish. the tone of his voice and his striking air marked him so strongly, that it was impossible to mistake him. the sultan speedily returned to his palace, and sent secretly for the youngest of the robbers, whom he had kept on account of the happy dispositions he had discovered in him, and of the aversion he had shown for a manner of life which he had formerly been compelled to embrace. "margam," said he to him, "i have need of your assistance in delivering the world from a most dangerous man." and at the same time he pointed out to him the part he was to act in the plan which they concerted together. two days after, ben-hebraim sent his chief eunuch, attended by four officers of the palace and a train of slaves, to invite the armenian jeweller daboul to come to the palace. and for this purpose one of the finest horses in the stables was led to him. the pretended armenian was astonished at so much honour; and not supposing that this invitation had any other motive than curiosity, he collected his most precious effects, and intended to dazzle every eye by the magnificence of the present he was to carry to the sultan. he entrusted two of his own slaves with it, and allowed himself to be conducted by the eunuch. as soon as he arrived at the gates of the palace, a deputation from the sultan, with an officer at their head, came to present him with a richly-ornamented box filled with betel-nuts. all the halls of the palace which he crossed were perfumed with aloes and sandal-wood; he passed thus even to the most retired closet of the sultan's apartments. margam, in the robes of a sultan, seated upon an elevated sofa, well instructed in what he was to do and say, was waiting for the stranger. ben-hebraim had acquired some knowledge in the magical art, the effect of which will soon be perceived. at the sight of daboul, margam descended from the sofa, and came to meet the pretended armenian, without allowing him time to kneel, as was usual, and made him sit down on the sofa, giving him the right-hand place. "permit this homage," added he: "it is that of a young magician towards his master." the astonished daboul was silent. "here are my proofs," pursued margam, and, uncovering his deliman, he showed him the red, yellow, and green-coloured girdle which adorned his breast. "i earnestly wished," continued the false sultan, "again to bring near me the man for whom wonderful circumstances have inspired me with as much respect as curiosity. the moment is now come, and i congratulate myself upon it." "sultan," replied daboul, "when science is united with power, everything must bend before them. and you see me in admiration at being within the reach of kissing the feet of another solomon." "let us leave to ordinary men," said margam, "the desire of external respect. i seek not for empty homage, but am desirous to obtain new knowledge. besides, what is an earthly sovereignty, subjected to so much labour and exposed to so many dangers, compared to that which you enjoy? what a happiness to be able to acquire immense riches, and to diffuse the blessings thereof, without being burdensome to any!" "i cannot, o wise sultan," replied daboul, "but approve of this noble ambition and these virtuous sentiments. we can make ourselves masters of many things with great facility, and without delivering a whole people to misery and the horrors of war: we sacrifice but one man." "that is precisely," interrupted margam, "what i wanted to avoid. i would wish to be able to save a man, and it is on this very subject i was desirous to consult you." "to save him?" said daboul. "when he is predestined to it, one could not preserve him even by putting oneself in his place." "in this case, he must be abandoned; but i would wish, at least, that he might only be a slave." "sultan, you would obtain nothing. he must be a victim of consequence, and of a distinguished rank." "but it appears to me," said margam, "that in a choice like this one is exposed to dangerous resentments." "there is a method of consulting beforehand," replied the magician, "such as i made use of in my last search, and i received for answer, '_in order that you may run some danger, it would be necessary that you should meet with your victim on earth_.' now, having put him two hundred feet below ground, i could not fear the danger of his return." after appearing to muse, margam added, "it will be necessary, then, that i overcome my scruples. i have only one thing to desire of you. we can work together during your residence here. i am going to show you the book which i have upon my breast, and wish you to give me yours." daboul could not refuse; he was in a place where everything was subject to the power of the sultan. margam took the book, carelessly approached a burning pan, and threw it in. the magician wished to pull it out; but at that instant the real sultan, coming from behind a curtain, stopped him. "wretch," said he, "thy hour is come! thou art in presence of abaquir, thy victim, and at the same time of ben-hebraim, sovereign of these dominions." then, addressing his page, "margam," said he to him, "lay aside your royal dress, and make my eunuchs approach. infamous magician!" continued he, speaking to daboul, "see how the deceitful illusions of thy art have hurried thee under the sword which must strike thee. whither shall guilt flee when heaven pursues it?--when the divine vengeance arises from the earth to strike?" at these words the magician remained horror-stricken. but in a short time the terrible remorse which gnawed his conscience appeared to have the same effect upon him that the hot fire had upon his detestable book. "i burn!" exclaimed he at short intervals, and setting up dismal shrieks. "let him be conducted from the palace," said the sultan, "and let his head be cut off in presence of his slaves and of the people who are there assembled." * * * * * aladin thus finished the history of the sultan hebraim and of his son; and, after a moment's silence, he again addressed himself to bohetzad. "sire, i might here apply to my own adventures the reflections which naturally arise from the history you have just heard. but if the decree of heaven hath not determined my deliverance, there is no means whatever which could save me from the danger in which i am involved. the characters imprinted upon my forehead decide concerning my safety, and the success or the shame of my enemies. but at all events i shall remain rich in my innocence, and sooner or later it will triumph." bohetzad, more irresolute than ever, gave notice by a signal that the minister was to be conducted back to prison. the seventh day had just appeared since the condemnation of the young aladin had been so often deferred. it was the time of a festival. the grandees, the courtiers, and the nobility of the kingdom were assembled around the throne, a duty they were obliged to fulfil. the ten viziers had all their creatures there. some of these, authorized by the duties of their station, undertook to speak to the king against the superintendent, by repeating all the strongest and most deceitful things that had been said, in order to bring the sovereign to the resolution of exercising against this convicted criminal all the severity of justice. they finished by insinuating that, being descended from robbers, nothing was to be expected from him but crimes. every one appeared to support these assertions by looks and gestures. the unanimity of these advices, in appearance so disinterested, shook the monarch once more. he thought himself obliged to acknowledge these marks of zeal by thanks, and to justify the irresolution of his conduct. "i do not mean," he said, "that the wicked should remain unpunished, but i would wish that the criminal himself, convinced that he has merited death, should be forced to acknowledge the equity of the judgment by which he is condemned." after this observation he ordered the criminal, who was still loaded with irons, to be brought before him. "audacious young man!" said he to him, "you see around me the representatives of my nation, to whom the continuance of your life is a grievance. it is only by your death that the murmurings of my people can be appeased." "sire," replied aladin, with respect and dignity, "as to the crime with which so many voices seem to accuse me, and with whose vengeance i am pursued, i throw it always far from me, even to the shadow of suspicion. if the nation were here worthily represented, its voice would be the voice of god, and would be lifted up in favour of my innocence. this voice, to whose sound every one is deaf at this moment, yet resounds at the bottom of your majesty's heart. the fowler has less power to smother with his hands the bird which he holds in them, than you have to take away my life. your clemency alone would not have led you to have deliberated so long, if the finger of allah did not weigh in your heart the atrocity of the imputations with which i am charged, and if the power of the star which rules my fortune were not opposed to my fall. i find, among the adventures of the family of selimansha, innumerable circumstances that have a resemblance to mine. balavan, his son, found, in attempting the death of one of his nephews, that no human power can hasten the moment of death marked out by providence." "i should wish to know," said bohetzad, "if you can show us in the history of this family an example of ingratitude like yours." history of selimansha and his family. sire (replied the young superintendent immediately) history has preserved to us the memory of a king of persia, named selimansha, who possessed all the virtues of a great sovereign. his family consisted of two sons, but was increased by an only daughter of kalisla, his brother, whom the latter, when dying, had entrusted to his care. sensible of his preference, selimansha forgot nothing in order to return his confidence. his love for his brother, joined to the purest virtues, engaged him to bestow the greatest care on the education of this princess, whom he looked upon as his own daughter. favours so delicate met in this young disciple the happiest dispositions, and soon brought her to a great degree of perfection. from the age of twelve the charms of her person and the graces of her mind caused her to be remarked by persons of her own sex as the star of morning in the bosom of the firmament. her well-stored memory always enabled her to display the soundness of her judgment. she was so well acquainted with the koran as to repeat chapters of it at pleasure, and she explained its meaning with a precision that delighted every hearer. selimansha, seeing his amiable niece fit for marriage, thought he could not dispose of her hand better than by bestowing it on one of his sons. he proposed this to the princess, leaving her, however, absolute mistress of her choice. "it is only your happiness that i seek, daughter; pronounce, and my will shall follow your decision." "on whose judgment could i better rely than on yours?" replied chamsada. "i commit myself entirely to the tenderness of which i have every day the most affecting proofs, and i submit with pleasure to everything which your wisdom shall determine concerning me." "your confidence flatters me," replied the good monarch, "and would redouble my affection for you were it capable of being increased. since you leave to me the disposal of your lot, i will join it to that of my second son. the happy similarity which i have observed in your dispositions seems to me to promise the most agreeable union. i discern in him virtues which, now unfolding themselves, will soon become the rivals of your own. you are born to govern kingdoms, and i think he possesses virtues worthy of a throne. in giving him your hand, and in allotting him my crown, i promote your happiness, his, and that of my people." the amiable princess cast down her eyes, while she thanked her uncle for his goodness. selimansha immediately ordered the preparations necessary for the celebration of the nuptials. public rejoicings followed it, and manifested the general satisfaction. they lasted sixty days. at the end of this term selimansha, desirous of repose, abdicated the crown in favour of the son to whose fortunes he had just united the lovely chamsada. balavan, the eldest of selimansha's sons, expected to ascend the throne at the death of his father. smitten with the charms of his beautiful relation, he was reckoning upon offering her his hand, and associating her with his fortune. indignation and jealousy took possession of his heart when he saw the rank and happiness to which he thought himself called by the right of age pass into the hands of his brother. even if his merit had not been a reason for this preference, he knew that the sovereigns of this part of the east have the power of choosing their successors in their family without regard to the prerogatives of age. but the impetuous balavan thought they should have departed from this usage in his behalf, and followed that of other nations. the birth of a son to his brother increased his rage, and was another obstacle to his pretensions. he found means to introduce himself secretly into the apartment of the king his brother, and with a furious hand plunged his poniard into his breast. he entered with the same precautions and the same design into that where the infant was asleep; but lifting the veil which concealed this young prince, more beautiful than the day, a supernatural feeling seemed to withhold his hand. "thou shouldst have been my son," said he, "if injustice had not torn from me the heart and the hand of chamsada." and recognizing at the same time in this innocent victim the features of her whose charms he adored, an involuntary emotion made him strike a feeble blow; the poniard wavered in his trembling hand, and the wound of the stroke was not mortal. balavan was only induced to spare his sister-in-law from the hopes he entertained of one day obtaining her hand. this hope, however, restrained his murdering arm. as for selimansha, he escaped this monster by the vigilance of his guards. at the moment when he approached the apartment of his father, in the dreadful design of completing his crimes by embruing his hands in his parent's blood, he was perceived by a slave, who, assisted by the eunuchs of the guard, deprived the murderer of every hope of success in the crime he was about to commit. convinced then that he could not escape suspicion, he fled and concealed himself on the frontiers of the kingdom, in a castle fortified both by nature and by art. day, which began to appear, was soon to discover the horrors of this bloody night. with the first rays of morning the nurse went to feed her tender care, whose blood deluged the cradle. lost in astonishment, she ran to the apartment of the king and queen to announce this fatal news. her despair and shrieks went before her, and awakened chamsada. the unhappy queen opened her eyes, and found her husband breathing his last at her side. the cries of the nurse made her dread misfortunes still more terrible. a widowed spouse and a weeping mother, she ran to the cradle of her son and took him in her arms. he still breathed, and she conceived the hope of saving his life. the whole palace was in motion. selimansha arrived with his eunuchs, and surgeons were called, whose skill and attention restored the life of this innocent creature. but they were employed to no purpose on the body of the young monarch, whose death the unfortunate chamsada deplored. aromatic and medicinal herbs and the balms of the east produced their effect on the wound of the child, and rekindled the hopes of his mother. he was again placed in the bosom of his nurse, and the presumptive heir of selimansha was at length out of danger. in the meantime the aged monarch endeavoured to discover the murderer of his children. the hasty flight of balavan, his poniard stained with blood, which was found in the apartment, soon confirmed the suspicions to which his vicious disposition had at first given rise. the unfortunate old man with difficulty restrained the excess of his grief. "heaven," exclaimed he, "keep far from me the angel of death, since it is your will that i should still be useful on earth." after this he assembled the grandees and the viziers, and announced to them his intention of resuming the reins of government. his first care was to comfort the disconsolate chamsada, and they agreed in directing their attention to the lovely infant whom providence had preserved. while they strengthened his constitution, they also formed his understanding and his heart. the mother explained to him passages of the law which ought to guide his manners and his conduct, and the old man instructed him in the important knowledge of the world and of men. at the age of eight, the young prince was so robust that he was able to handle arms and endure the fatigue of riding; and in a few years more, his moral virtues were unfolded, and promised one day to eclipse those which had shone so conspicuous in the king his father. selimansha, now judging that his grandson, with the assistance of good counsel, was capable of wearing the crown, resigned the reins of empire into his hands amidst the assembled divan, and caused him to be proclaimed king, under the name of shaseliman, amidst the acclamations of the kingdom. the people, not yet recovered from astonishment at the dreadful stroke which had deprived them of a sovereign they adored, promised his heir the same attachment, and expected from him the same love. the new king, directed by wise counsels, did not belie the happy anticipation of his subjects in his favour. the cadis and viziers, fulfilling with propriety the duties of their office, made the laws beloved, the wise and speedy execution of which confirmed the happiness of all. equally punctual in the duties of religion as in those of the throne, shaseliman was regular in his ablutions, attended prayers in the mosques, held three divans in the week, was every day busied with his ministers, and was found in every place where his presence was necessary to restore tranquillity and good order. the people, happy under his government, enjoyed their felicity in peace, when new crimes came to disturb it, and tear from them the hope of a durable happiness. the accursed balavan, pursued by remorse at the crime which he had committed, and not thinking himself safe among a people by whom he was hated, left the fortified place where he had taken refuge, and attempted to retire into egypt, in order to implore the protection of the sovereign of that vast empire. there, concealing his crimes, he presented himself as an unfortunate prince, the victim of a woman, and sacrificed by a father whom age had rendered weak. the king of egypt received him with kindness, and was preparing to give him assistance, when an envoy of selimansha arrived and demanded audience. this old monarch, informed by his spies of the road which balavan had taken, had sent deputies to all the courts at which this wretch might beg a retreat or support. a very full description was given of the fugitive, and all his crimes were mentioned. the sultan, in communicating to the criminal the despatches he had received, gave immediate orders that he should be shut up in close confinement, waiting the sentence which an enraged father should pass against him. such was the order intimated to balavan, and such was the import of the answer which was given to the king selimansha. but this father, too weak and affectionate, committed at once two capital blunders. in order to excite against his son all the anger of the egyptian king, he had concealed from him that the young shaseliman had escaped the mortal blow which was aimed at him. he did not correct this opinion in his second letter, and advised the king of egypt to set the criminal at liberty. "already too unhappy," said he, "i do not wish to stain my hand by tracing the order for my son's death. let him wander from place to place, destitute of resources and assistance, having no companion but remorse, and no society but the tigers of the desert, less inhuman than himself. assailed by want, tormented by grief, and detested by others, may he himself become the instrument of my vengeance, which i leave to the king of kings." upon this resolution, the sultan set balavan at liberty, and banished him for ever from his kingdom. of this he gave an account to selimansha, with whom he entered upon a much more agreeable negotiation. the fame of the beauty and valuable qualities of chamsada had reached even to egypt. bensirak, the sultan just mentioned, perceiving that it was possible to obtain her hand, made the proposal to selimansha in the most urgent and respectful terms, beseeching him to gain the consent of her whom both nature and blood had made subject to him as his niece and daughter-in-law. the aged monarch of persia, pleased with a demand which offered to his amiable niece so advantageous an establishment, instantly laid the proposal before her. the feeling chamsada could not hear it without tears. her heart still belonged wholly to the husband whom she had lost, and she must tear herself from the arms of her uncle and her child to be able to open her soul to the impressions of a new affection! "alas! dear uncle," said she, "what sentiments will ever replace those whose sweetness i here experience? where could i find duties so pleasant to fulfil?" "my dear daughter," replied selimansha, "you are asked in marriage by one of the most powerful monarchs in the world. his virtues are highly praised, and his person favourably spoken of. your son, whom i have placed upon my throne, stands in need of a protection more vigorous and lasting than mine. you will be able by your address to bring about a strict alliance betwixt the two monarchs. but forget not that, in order to procure the expulsion of balavan, i have charged him with the double crime of having assassinated his brother and his nephew. shaseliman reigns in persia as a descendant of my house, and his mother must be concealed from bensirak. you will become dearer to him when he can hope for your undivided affections, and that they will only be extended to the children who shall be born of this marriage. my experience hath taught me the weakness of the human heart. a powerful man always distrusts discourses in which personal interest is concerned. you can render your son upon the persian throne the most essential services as a distant relation without being suspected of sacrificing the interests of your husband and children; but were you to speak in behalf of a son, you would be looked on as a mother blinded by an excess of love. besides, it is very fortunate for us that bensirak expects from our favour that which he might force from us by his power. let us not by a refusal draw the scourge of war upon our people, and let us sacrifice to their repose and our own interests the pleasure we should have in living together." chamsada made no opposition to these arguments, more specious than solid; and selimansha in a short time returned, in answer to the sultan, that his niece found herself extremely honoured by the choice of the powerful sovereign of egypt, and that she was ready to be united to him. on hearing this, the sultan, intoxicated with joy, sent an ambassador with a superb retinue to bring his spouse. selimansha, informed of the arrival of the egyptian minister in his kingdom, went twenty leagues from his capital to meet him, received him in a magnificent camp, and after having feasted him for two days, delivered to him his niece. the ceremonies were shortened, as well to gratify the impatience of the sultan as to conceal from the ambassador the secret of the existence of chamsada's son. the aged monarch at that time assumed the dignity of envoy from the king of persia, to fulfil the conditions of the treaty. no sooner had chamsada arrived in the capital of egypt, than the sultan sent for the mufti and the cadi for the contract and ceremony of marriage. their obedience was immediately rewarded by a present of robes and five thousand pieces of gold. the princess entered the apartment allotted for the nuptials. a crowd of most beautiful slaves, and magnificently dressed, conducted her to the bath, carrying pots in which the most precious spices were burning. at her coming out of the bath she was dressed by her attendants with the greatest care. they fanned her with peacocks' feathers while her long and lovely hair was dressed, and spared no pains to attire her in the most costly garments, till her splendour outshone the lights of the apartment, and her beauty eclipsed that of everything around her. thus attired, she was conducted to the sultan. the monarch received her with demonstrations of the most tender affection, and seated her by his side. a supper was served up to them, of which the delicacy exceeded the profusion of the dishes; and he presented his future spouse with several boxes stored with the rarest jewels. in the meantime chamsada, far from partaking of the public felicity and of the happiness of her husband, pined in secret. separated from her son, she was occupied about him alone, to whom her heart was truly attached. seconding the political and foolish views of her uncle, she would hazard nothing with the sultan which might lessen the character of this respectable old man, and she durst not speak of her son. what evils, however, might she not have prevented by a proper confidence! and what might she not have expected from the love of bensirak, which grew stronger every day! the event was soon to justify the tender uneasiness of the queen respecting her son. balavan, informed of the marriage of his sister-in-law with the sultan of egypt, and having learned that selimansha reigned in persia, felt his projects of vengeance awaken in his heart. he beheld himself deprived of the fruit of his crimes, of the throne of persia, the object of his ambition, and of the beauty he was anxious to conquer. the wretch, delivered over to his inclinations, infested by every sort of crime the kingdom, which he hoped to seize after the death of his father. he lived by rapine and robbery. at length selimansha, sinking under the weight of years, resigned his soul into the hands of his creator. no sooner was balavan informed of this event than he placed himself at the head of the banditti of whom he was the chief, stirring them up to revolt, drawing together new forces--gaining some by magnificent promises, and seducing others by the allurement of the gold which his crimes had amassed. they concerted their measures together. he dethroned his nephew, threw him into a dungeon, and was proclaimed in his stead. this cruel usurper, not content with his success, determined to put to death the innocent victim, who had formerly had such a miraculous escape from his murdering arm. but compassion, which could find no avenue to his soul, had entered the heart of his wretched accomplices. "we cannot consent to the death of a young man that hath done no evil," said they to balavan: "keep him in close confinement if you are afraid of his interest, but spare his life." he was forced to comply with their demand, and shut up his nephew in a cave. chamsada, having heard this afflicting news, was unable to restrain her excessive grief. but she could not inform her husband of the misfortunes of her son without exposing the memory of her uncle selimansha, without representing him as an impostor, since he had written that the young shaseliman had been assassinated. in the meantime the detestable balavan completed the conquest of persia. all the grandees of the kingdom came to pay him homage. the young shaseliman remained shut up four years, scarcely receiving as much food as was necessary for his subsistence. loaded with misfortune, his beauty no longer recalled the image of his mother, of whom he was the perfect resemblance. at length it pleased providence, that watched over him, to relieve him for a time from so many evils. balavan, seated in his divan and surrounded by a brilliant court, seemed to enjoy in peace an authority which appeared immovable. in midst of grandees whose confidence he thought he possessed, and of courtiers whose flattery he received, a voice was heard. this voice, sacred to truth, and still devoted to the memory of selimansha, spake as follows: "sire, heaven has crowned you with prosperity: in giving you, with this empire, the hearts of your people, your throne appears to rest upon an immovable foundation; show yourself more and more worthy of the favours of the most high. cast a look of compassion upon a feeble young man, whose innocence is his only support; who never opens his eyes to the light but to shed tears; every moment of whose existence has been marked by sufferings and misfortune. the unfortunate shaseliman never could offend you: restore him his liberty." "i would agree to your request," replied balavan, "had i not some reasons to fear that he would form a party against me, and become the leader of the malcontents whom a king never fails to make in spite of his best intentions." "alas! sire," replied the prince who had spoken, "who would follow a young man in whom nature is partly wasted by suffering, and whose soul has no longer any vigour? your subjects are devoted to your interest, and where would he find any who would be foolish enough to cherish ambitious designs against you?" balavan yielded to these arguments, and affecting clemency in the presence of his court, he set the young shaseliman at liberty, dressed him in a rich robe, and gave him the command of a distant province. but this was not so much with a view to procure him prosperity as to get rid of him altogether, by sending him to the defence of a country which was continually exposed to the attacks of infidels. he presumed, with some reason, that he would sacrifice his life there, since none of his predecessors had ever escaped the dangers with which that part of persia was threatened. the young prince departed with a small party. scarcely had they arrived at the place of their destination when the conjectures of his uncle balavan were partly verified. the infidels made an irruption. shaseliman, having nothing to oppose to them but a handful of men, was forced to yield to numbers, and fell himself into the hands of the enemy. but they, on account of his age and beauty (departing from the cruel usage they practised on such occasions), instead of putting him to death, were satisfied with letting him down into a well, where several mussulmans were already shut up prisoners. this unhappy prince, the victim of destiny, saw a whole year elapse in this dreadful captivity. these infidels had a custom every year, on a certain day, of carrying such as they had made prisoners to be thrown from the top of a very high tower. shaseliman was drawn up from the well, conducted to the top of the tower, and thrown down with others. but providence, who watched over his life, made him fall upon the body of one of his companions in misfortune. this body partly bearing him up, and the air supporting his clothes, preserved him from a mortal fall. he was stunned by the rapidity of the motion, but he neither met with a fracture nor a contusion, and except a long swoon, he experienced no other accident. he was at length recalled to life amidst the unfortunate people who had lost it. his first step was to raise his soul to god, and to testify his gratitude to him, through the intercession of his great prophet. he discovered that he was in the middle of an immense forest, and that the corpses which surrounded him must necessarily attract the wild beasts; he therefore removed from this dangerous spot. he walked all night, and as soon as he thought himself beyond the reach of men and animals, he ascended a tree, endeavouring to conceal himself in its foliage from the notice of travellers, and supporting himself by wild fruits. this way of life he constantly pursued till he reached the dominions of balavan his uncle. he was near entering the first city of persia when he perceived five or six men conversing together. perceiving them to be mussulmans, he accosted them, and gave them an account of the treatment he had received from the infidels, and of the miraculous way in which he had been saved. the simplicity of his relation leaving no room to suspect its truth, they were affected with compassion in his favour, and conducted him to their house, where he enjoyed all the rites of hospitality. after some days' rest he took leave of his benefactors, in order to continue his journey towards the capital where balavan reigned. his hosts, after furnishing him with whatever he had need of, showed him the way, without suspecting that the young man whom they had entertained in so obliging a manner was the nephew of their sovereign. the young prince walked night and day. fatigued, tired, his legs and feet torn by the brambles and flints, he at length arrived under the walls of ispahan, and sat down near a basin which served as a reservoir to a neighbouring fountain. scarcely had he time to recover his breath, when he saw several gentlemen on horseback approaching. they were officers of the king who were returning from the chase, and were going to give their horses drink. looking about them, they perceived the young shaseliman; and notwithstanding the disorder of his dress, and the change which sufferings and dejection had made upon the natural charms of his countenance, they easily distinguished its sweetness and beauty, and were not able to look at him without feeling an emotion of the most tender interest. "what are you doing here, young man?" asked one of the officers. "brother!" replied the wise shaseliman, "you know the proverb: 'ask not a stranger who is naked where are his clothes.' let that answer for me. i am hungry and thirsty, i am weak and deprived of every resource." at this reply one of the officers ran to their beasts of burden, and taking some venison and bread, brought it to him. as soon as he had profited by this food, and seemed to have sufficient strength to continue the conversation, "brother!" said one of the officers of the company to him, "we are interested in your fortune. would it be indiscreet in us, should we beg of you to give us some account of your history?" "before satisfying you," replied the unfortunate prince, "answer, if you please, one question of the greatest consequence to me. is king balavan, your sovereign, still alive?" "do you know the king?" "yes. you see before you shaseliman, his nephew." "how can you be shaseliman," replied the officer, "since we know that his uncle, after delivering him from a dungeon in which he had been for four years shut up, gave him the command of a province, where it was impossible but he must have died by the hands of the infidels? besides, we have heard that he was thrown down from the summit of a high tower by them with many other mussulmans." then the young prince, in order completely to convince them, entered into the detail of all his adventures, and of the wonderful manner in which providence had preserved his life. at this relation the officers were struck with astonishment: they prostrated themselves at his feet and watered his hand with their tears. "you are king, sire," said they to him, "the son of our rightful sovereign, and in all respects worthy of a better fate. but, alas! what do you come to seek at a court where you can find nothing but death? recollect the cruelties of which you have been the victim--the treatment you have experienced, and the dangerous snare by which, under the shadow of power, you were devoted to certain death in the office to which you were appointed. fly! seek the country where the beautiful chamsada reigns queen over the heart of the sultan of egypt. it is there you will find happiness." "alas! how can i direct my steps to egypt? selimansha, my grandfather, deceived the sovereign of that empire by assuring him that i was dead: my mother and i would be considered as impostors should i hazard an appearance there." "you are right," replied he to him; "but should you be reduced to the necessity of living concealed in egypt, you will at least be beyond the reach of your uncle's attempts, whose cruelties you will not escape if he learns that you are alive." to these advices the oldest of the officers likewise added his entreaties. "o my master and my king!" said he to the prince, throwing himself on his knees, "the only and true descendant of selimansha! alas! must the slave who for thirty years was subject to his orders, who was the witness of his virtues and the object of his kindness, see you reduced to this depth of misfortune? does fate, then, pursue this monarch even beyond the grave? fly, dear prince and wait not till you are attacked by greater misfortunes!" each of them was eager to supply the most urgent necessities of shaseliman. one stripped himself of part of his garments in order to clothe him; another divided with him his little provision; and all together made up a small sum of money, which might enable him to continue his journey. the unfortunate prince, availing himself of their beneficence and counsel, took his leave. they did not separate from him without giving proofs of their attachment; and shaseliman began his journey, recommending himself to god, and mahomet his great prophet. after a long and fatiguing journey, he at length arrived in egypt, where chamsada, his mother, reigned. when he drew near to grand cairo, he was unwilling to enter that great city, lest he should expose himself to discovery. he therefore stopped at a village at a little distance from the road, with the intention of entering into the service of some of its inhabitants. he offered himself to a farmer of the place to tend his flocks. he did not demand high wages, and lived in this obscure and miserable situation, subsisting with difficulty on the crumbs which fell from his master's table. but while the presumptive heir of the persian throne was reduced to such a strange situation, how was queen chamsada employed? every day this disconsolate mother felt her uneasiness increase. in the struggle betwixt her affection for her son and the secret which she must keep from the monarch, for the sake of her uncle's honour, her situation was as distressing as that of shaseliman. there was at the court of bensirak an old slave of selimansha, who had accompanied the queen into egypt, and who since that time had remained in her service. he had all her confidence, and was frequently the depository of the uneasiness of this tender mother. one day she perceived him alone, and made him a signal to approach her. "well," said she to him, "you know my attachment for my son; you know my fears on his account, and you have taken no step in order to know what has become of him." "queen!" replied the slave, "that which you wish to know is extremely difficult, and i know no means by which i could get information of it. you know that you have yourself confirmed the report of his death, which was attested by selimansha; and although by chance your son should appear here, how could you destroy the public opinion? how could you make him known?" "ah! would to god that my son were here, although i should even be deprived of the pleasure of seeing him. to know that he was still alive would be sufficient to confirm my repose and happiness." "queen," replied the slave, "i am willing to sacrifice my life for you: what do you require of me?" "take from my treasures," said the queen, "the sum which you judge necessary for your journey: go to persia and bring my son." "money alone is less necessary here than prudence. some plausible reason must be given for the journey which your majesty proposes to me. you know that the sultan honours me with his bounty, and that, engaged in his service, i cannot remove from his court without his express permission. you yourself must ask and obtain it under some specious pretence, which may prevent him from entertaining any suspicion, and at the same time secure the success of your application. tell him that during the disturbances which preceded the death of your husband you concealed, in a place known only to me, a casket of precious jewels, which you were anxious to put beyond the reach of accident. beseech his majesty to grant you permission to send me into persia in search of this treasure. the care of the rest belongs to me." the queen, convinced of her slave's attachment, and approving his counsels, flew instantly to put them in execution, and found no difficulty in obtaining her desire. the faithful emissary speedily departed, disguised as a merchant, that he might not be recognized in persia. after much fatigue, he arrived at ispahan, and having privately made inquiry concerning the fate of shaseliman, received at first the most distressing accounts of him. some days after, as he was walking in the environs of the palace, he found by chance one of the officers who had assisted the young prince when he was sitting near the fountain which we have already mentioned. having served together under the reign of selimansha, they recollected one another, and entered into conversation. "you come from egypt," said the officer: "did you meet prince shaseliman?" "shaseliman!" replied the slave. "ah! can he be alive after the dreadful news that are spread here concerning him?" "yes, he is alive, and i will tell you, in confidence, how we learned this." he then related everything which had befallen him, as well as the other officers, when they had met the prince, and how, upon their advice, the latter had taken the road to egypt. the pretended merchant, transported with joy, wished, in his turn, to return the confidence of his former companion, and revealed to him the whole mystery of his mission into persia; after this he took his leave of him to return into egypt. in every place through which he passed he made diligent inquiry after the young prince, describing his appearance as the officer had represented it to him. being arrived at the village where he expected to meet him, he was very much surprised that no person could give any information concerning him. as he was preparing to continue his journey, he found, at his going out of the city, a young man asleep under a tree, near which some sheep were feeding quietly. he cast a look of compassion upon this poor creature, whose tattered garments announced his misery. "alas!" said he, "it is impossible that this can be the man whom i seek. this is doubtless the child of some unhappy shepherd. my trouble will be lost; yet what do i risk by awaking this young man, and inquiring concerning the person of whom i am in search? let me not neglect even this hopeless expedient." having soon awakened him, he put the same questions to him which he had been accustomed to propose to every one. "i am a stranger in these places," replied shaseliman, who was afraid to make himself known, being ignorant of the motives of this curiosity; "but, if i am not greatly mistaken, from the description which you have given, the person whom you are in search of is shaseliman, the young king of persia, and grandson to selimansha. his father was killed by his barbarous brother balavan, who usurped his throne; the son was wounded in his cradle, yet allah preserved the life of that unfortunate infant." "o heaven!" exclaimed the slave, "am i so happy as to hear shaseliman mentioned? how, young man, have you guessed the cause which made me travel from egypt into persia? who could inform you of it? do you know, then, what has become of this unfortunate prince? shall i reap at length the fruit of my anxiety and labours? where could i find him?" when shaseliman was convinced that he who thus spoke to him was a messenger from his mother, he thought he might make himself known. "in vain would you run over the whole world," said he to him, "in order to find shaseliman, since it is he who now speaks to you." at these words, the slave fell at the feet of his sovereign, and covered his hands with tears and kisses. "ah," exclaimed he, "how overjoyed will chamsada be! what happy news shall i bring to her! remain here, my prince: i am going to find everything that is necessary for your going with me." he ran quickly to the village, and brought from it a saddled horse and more suitable clothes for shaseliman, and they both took the road to grand cairo. an unforeseen event interrupted their journey. as they were crossing a desert, they were surrounded by robbers, seized, plundered, and let down into a well. shut up in this frightful place, the slave abandoned himself to grief. "how! are you disconsolate?" said the young prince. "is it the prospect of death which terrifies you?" "death hath nothing dreadful to me," replied he; "but can i remain insensible to the hardships of your lot? can i think calmly upon the loss which the sorrowful chamsada will suffer?" "take courage," said shaseliman. "i must fulfill the decrees of the almighty. all that has happened to me was written in the book of life; and, if i must end my days in this dreadful abode, no human power can rescue me from it, and it becomes me to be submissive and resigned." in these sentiments and in this dreadful situation did this virtuous prince and his slave pass two days and two nights. in the meantime, the eye of providence continually watched over shaseliman. it brought the king of egypt, in pursuit of a roebuck, to the place where this prince was shut up. the animal, struck by a deadly arrow, came to lie down and die on the brink of the well. a hunter, outstripping the king's retinue, came first to seize the prey. as he approached it, he heard a plaintive voice from the bottom of the well. having listened to ascertain whether it was so, he ran to report this to the king, who was speedily advancing with his train, and ordered some of them to descend into the well. shaseliman and the slave were immediately drawn out of it. the cords which tied them were cut, cordials recalled them to life; and no sooner had they opened their eyes than the king recognized in one of them his own officer. "are not you," said he to him, "the confidant of chamsada?" "yes, sire, i am." "well, what has brought you into this situation?" "i was returning," said the slave, "loaded with the treasure the queen had ordered me to search for in persia; i was attacked by robbers, plundered, and thrown alive into this sepulchre." "and who is this young man?" "he is son to the nurse of your majesty's august spouse. i was bringing him to your court, with the view of procuring him a place." after these two unfortunate men had received proper food, the king returned to his palace. he flew instantly to chamsada, to give her an account of what he had seen, of the return of her slave with a young man, and of the loss of her treasure. when the queen learned that they had been thrown into a well, grief took possession of her soul. she tried to hide her disorder, which was, however, betrayed by the visible alteration of her countenance under the mask of apparent tranquillity. the king, who was looking at her, and perceived the efforts she employed to restrain herself, wished to penetrate into the cause of her trouble. "what is the matter with you, chamsada?" said he. "are you afflicted at the loss of your treasure? is not mine at your disposal?" "i swear by your life, o glorious sultan," replied she, "that i am less sorry for the loss of my treasures, than for the sufferings of the poor slave, of which i have been the cause. i have a feeling heart, and you know how much i am affected by the misfortunes of others." however, as the king continued to relate the adventure of the well, and as she learned that the slave and the young man had been drawn up from it, she recovered her tranquillity, and at the end of her husband's relation her feelings were entirely calm. "be comforted, my dear chamsada," said he to her. "if all that i possess is not sufficient to make up for the loss of your treasure, think that you have one that is inexhaustible in the affection of a heart which is yours for life." having said this, he retired. as soon as chamsada was alone she called for her slave. he gave her an account of the manner in which he had got information of the prince's adventures; of the means which providence had employed in saving him from the cruelties and snares of his uncle; of the barbarity of the infidels; and even of his too great confidence, when, having escaped being dashed to pieces by the fall, from which no mussulman before him was ever saved, he was about again to deliver himself into the power of the barbarous balavan. he continued his recital even to the moment when, drawn up from the well, the young prince had been seen by the egyptian monarch, whose curiosity he had excited. the queen then interrupted him. "ah!" said she to him, "what answer did you make to the king when he asked you who this young man was?" "alas!" replied the slave, "i told a lie, and i beseech you to pardon it. i told him that he was the son of your nurse, and that he was intended for his majesty's service." "wise and faithful friend!" exclaimed chamsada, her eyes bathed in tears, and still moved with what she had heard, "what gratitude will ever repay the service you have rendered to the most tender mother? watch over my son. i trust him to your zeal and prudence. never shall i forget the obligation i am under for what you have already done for him, and for what your attachment may still be able to do." "queen! the recommendation is unnecessary. i know what i owe to the posterity of my sovereigns, and there is no sacrifice i am not ready to make for your majesty." these were not empty promises; the slave was no courtier. considering what care and precaution would be necessary to repair the health and constitution of the young prince, wasted by sufferings and fatigue, he made this his only study. a salutary and light diet, the use of the bath, and moderate exercise, gradually succeeded in renewing his strength. nature resumed her empire; his body and mind regained their energy and every external charm, restored at length to the fairest of queens the most beautiful prince in the world. a happy similarity of disposition gained him the monarch's heart, who distinguished this page above all the rest. he soon became so necessary to his service, that he alone was admitted into his private apartment. the monarch boasted continually of his virtues, and praised this new favourite to the grandees of his court, endeavouring to render him as dear to them as he was to himself. amidst these flattering praises, which resounded in the ears of chamsada, what conflicts of tenderness did not this feeling mother experience in the loss of her own son! she often perceived him, but durst not cast upon him one affectionate look. she was forced to restrain the affection of her heart, and give no visible tokens of her regard. every day she observed his steps, and secretly longed for the moment when she might pour out her soul in his embraces. as he passed one day before the door of her apartment, and when she presumed no one would perceive her, she suddenly yielded to a mother's transports, threw herself on his neck, and in that happy moment forgot many years of sorrow. while this fond mother was indulging the sweetest feelings of nature, danger surrounded her. one of the king's ministers, coming accidentally out of the neighbouring apartment, was the unintentional witness of this scene. he was uncertain what to think of it. as chamsada was veiled he might have mistaken her. but having asked of the eunuchs the name of the lady who inhabited the apartment before which he had passed, he came trembling to his majesty, eager to discover the mystery of which chance had made him a witness. the charming page had already gone before him to the throne. "august majesty," said the minister, "you see me still in horror at the crime which has just now been committed, and of which i have been a witness. pardon me, sire, if i am under the necessity of discovering to you the conduct of a spouse whom you have loved too dearly, but as i passed before her apartment, i saw her embracing the vile slave who is at your side." he knows not the power of the passions who cannot figure to himself the sudden revolution which this report occasioned in the soul of the enamoured sultan. the confusion of shaseliman seemed still to increase it, and to remove every doubt concerning the truth of the fact. the sultan instantly ordered the young man and the slave who had brought him from persia to be thrown into a dungeon. "what abominable treachery!" exclaimed he. "what! was this pretended treasure nothing but a slave?" and running hastily into chamsada's apartment, "what has she become," said he, addressing himself to chamsada, "whose prudence, wisdom, and love were the glory of my court and the pattern of wives? how has this mirror of perfection been tarnished in a moment! how has she become my shame after having been my true honour, and a subject of reproach to the world after having been its admiration! how, alas! have appearances deceived me! henceforward, every woman shall be dishonoured in my eyes, from past and present to all future generations." having said this, the king went out, his soul struggling betwixt love and jealousy, fury and grief. chamsada was astonished at the reproaches she had just heard, and tormented by the false suspicions to which her husband, whom she loved, was abandoned. but how could she remove them? she had always confirmed to the sultan the false report of her son's death intentionally spread by her father selimansha, and she could not venture to discover him at present without exposing him to the utmost danger. alas! when one has so long wandered from truth, is it possible to return? could one regain confidence who has not known how to deserve it by a sincere and timely confession? "no, no," would she say, "it was my inclination, and, without doubt, my duty, to spare the reputation of my uncle, and to-day i would in vain attempt to sully it. o sovereign wisdom! divine goodness! only resource of the innocent, to thee i lift my hands and my heart. by invisible means you formerly snatched my unfortunate son from the snares of death with which he was on all sides surrounded. he falls into them still, notwithstanding his innocence. the fatality of his star draws along with him my faithful slave and myself, and even the sultan my husband, who is weighed down by the too well-founded presumption of our crime. deliver us, o allah, from the horrors of suspicion! and thou, great prophet! if thou bearest in thy heart thy faithful followers--if all thy prayers in their behalf are heard--make mine ascend before the god of justice! and since all the wisdom of the world could not untie the fatal knot in which we are bound, be pleased to employ in this work thy omnipotent power." after this invocation, she placed her confidence in allah, and waited the event with resignation. in the meantime the irresolute soul of the sultan was abandoned to the greatest uncertainty. his passion for chamsada seemed to acquire new strength in proportion as he attempted to destroy it. he knew not what step to take. how should he take vengeance on the guilty? how could he discern if they were both equally so? how could he know which of the two he ought to spare? how could he strike two objects who were so dear to him? harassed by these painful and afflicting considerations, he lost his repose and his health, and his nurse, who still remained in the seraglio, was alarmed at this change. this woman, whom age and experience had rendered prudent, having deserved the confidence of her masters, had acquired the right of approaching them whenever she thought proper, and accordingly she went to the sultan. "what is the matter with you, my son?" said she to him. "you are not as you used to be. you shun the amusements which, till now, appeared agreeable to your inclinations. riding, walking, and hunting, please you no more. you do not now assemble your court, nor give feasts and entertainments. i well know that you scarcely take food. what secret grief consumes you? open to me your heart, my son. you know my tender attachment, and you ought to fear nothing from my indiscretion. we often allow ourselves to be prepossessed by phantoms, and perhaps i may be able to dissipate, in a moment, those which disturb your imagination. trust me with your affliction, my son, and i hope to soothe it." whatever confidence this prince had in his good nurse, and notwithstanding the great estimation in which he held her excellent qualities, he did not think it proper to disclose his grief to her. he must speak against chamsada, and this remembrance would make the wound bleed afresh which she had made in his heart. the sage old woman was not discouraged by the ill success of her first attempt: she watched every opportunity of being seen by her master; and the tender looks which she cast upon him seemed to say, "o my dear son! speak to me, unfold your heart to your good nurse." but all her cares were fruitless. finding that she could not succeed by this method, and presuming that chamsada must have been informed of the sultan's grief, and conjecturing, moreover, that a woman would more easily reveal the secret which she wished to know, she flew to the queen, whom she found plunged in sorrow apparently as deep as that which consumed the sultan. she employed every method which address and experience could furnish her, in order to deserve the confidence of chamsada. "but why this cruel reserve with me?" said the good nurse. "look, my daughter, upon my grey hairs! if age and time have furrowed my brow with wrinkles, they have also given me experience. i am no more the sport of passion, and my counsels will be dictated by prudence." chamsada, shaken but not convinced by these arguments, replied to her, "my secret is very weighty, my dear nurse; it weighs down my heart; but it is impossible it should ever come out of it. in trusting you with it, i must be well assured that it will remain for ever shut up in your breast." "your wishes shall be fulfilled," said the old woman. "i am discreet, and never shall my lips divulge your secret; but let it be no more one with her who takes so lively an interest in your happiness." at length chamsada could resist her no longer: she related to her all her adventures, and informed her that the young man of whom the sultan was become jealous was her son shaseliman, who had been supposed to have been dead. "o great prophet, i thank you!" exclaimed the nurse. "praised be mahomet! we have nothing to struggle with but chimeras! be comforted, my daughter: every cloud will disappear: i behold the rising of a bright day." "o my good mother, we shall never, never reach it. never will this young man be believed to be my son. we shall be accused of falsehood, and i would prefer the loss of his life, and of my own, rather than be suspected of this infamy." "i approve of your delicacy," said the nurse; "but my precautions shall prevent everything that might hurt it." upon this she went out, and immediately entered the sultan's apartment, whom she found in the same state of dejection and sorrow in which she had left him; she embraced him and took him by the hand. "my son," said she to him, "you are too much afflicted. if you are a true mussulman, i conjure you by the name of the great prophet to reveal to me the true cause of the grief which afflicts you." unable any longer to withstand the force of this intercession, the sultan was forced to reveal all his distress. "i loved chamsada with my whole heart," said the sultan. "her graces, her wisdom, her virtues, all the charms, in a word, with which she was adorned, appeared to me a delicious garden, where my thoughts wandered with delight. all is now changed into a frightful desert, where i see nothing but hideous monsters and dreadful precipices. chamsada is faithless. the false chamsada whom i adored, and whom i love still, has betrayed me. she has given her heart to a vile slave. i am fallen from the height of an imaginary happiness into a hell where every evil torments me. the two criminals must perish: nothing remains for me but to proportion the punishment to the crime, and endeavour to distinguish on which of the two my severest justice ought to fall. but, alas! what will it cost me to execute this fatal sentence! the same weapon which pierces the heart of my adorable chamsada, will wound my own with a deadly stroke." "my son! do nothing rashly," said the nurse. "you may expose yourself to eternal repentance. those whom you think guilty are in your hands: you will always have time to punish them: allow yourself time to examine them. 'time,' says the proverb, 'is the wisest of all counsellors: many things are brought to light by time and patience.'" "ah! my good nurse, what explanation can i expect? is there any that could destroy an attested fact? chamsada loves this young man; and pretending that she had a treasure in persia, she abused my confidence and affection to obtain from me an order to go in search of him." "my dear son, be calm," said the old woman. "i have a method of laying open to you the soul of chamsada. cause your hunters to bring me an egret.[17] i will tear out the heart of this bird, which i will give to you, and as soon as chamsada shall be asleep, you must bring it near hers, and it will be impossible for her to conceal from you the smallest secret." [footnote 17: egret. a bird with a tuft upon its head.] the king, delighted with having it in his power to discover so easily the mystery which kept him in such perplexity, instantly ordered his officers to go and catch an egret in his gardens. one was brought to him, which he immediately gave to the old nurse. she tore its breast, accompanying this action, extremely simple in itself, with a magical charm, and the sultan was put in possession of its reeking heart. while the prince was reflecting on the surprising virtues of this method, the nurse had gone secretly to the apartment of chamsada. "everything goes well," said she to her. "let your heart be filled with hope, and let your mouth be prepared to disclose the truth, without any reserve. expect this night to receive a mysterious visit. it will be from the sultan himself, with the heart of an egret in his hand. as soon as you perceive that he brings it near yours, feign to be asleep, but answer with precision all the questions which he may put to you, and let truth flow from your mouth, unsullied by the slightest scruple." chamsada tenderly thanked the nurse, and prepared herself to second this innocent stratagem, beseeching the favour of the holy prophet to carry conviction to his heart who was endeavouring to discover the truth. as soon as night had spread her shades, chamsada, contrary to her custom, signified that she had need of rest. she sent away her slaves, and threw herself upon a sofa. scarcely had she been there two hours when the sultan, impatient to prove the nurse's secret, presented himself at the apartment of his favourite: he found there the chief of the eunuchs. "how is chamsada employed?" demanded he. "she had need of rest," replied the eunuch, "and i believe she is upon her sofa." the sultan entered without making the least noise, and found her asleep. he approached very near her, in order the better to judge of the soundness of her sleep, and, thinking it profound, he judged it proper to try his experiment, and gently applied the heart of the bird to that of chamsada, saying to her, "chamsada, who is that young man whom you were caressing when one of my ministers surprised you?" "he is shaseliman," replied she, without awaking, "the only child of my first marriage with the son of selimansha my uncle." "this child was stabbed in his cradle; i am assured of this by letters from your uncle himself." "he was indeed wounded, but the stroke was not mortal; skilful surgeons restored him to life; and this was kept a secret from the murderer of my husband." "why have you concealed it from me, who loved you so dearly?" "because my uncle, whose memory i cherished, and wished to be respected, had for a political reason imposed upon you respecting this fact. if what i have told you does not appear possible, interrogate the young man, and his mouth will confirm the truth of this declaration." having got this ray of light, the sultan gave over his inquiries, withdrew from his spouse, whom he supposed still asleep, left her apartment, and gave orders that the young man and the slave should be brought out of the dungeons in which they were shut up. this order was immediately executed. the unfortunate shaseliman, who was languishing in his prison, suddenly hearing the vaults resound with the noise of the bolts and keys, believed that his last hour was come, and that the ignominy of punishment was about to terminate his existence. "o allah!" said he, raising his innocent hands to heaven, "my life is in thy hands; to thee i resign it; but watch over the life of my mother!" shaseliman and the slave were brought before the sultan. the prince did not leave to others the care of proving a fact so important to his honour and repose. he ran to the young man, and searched in his bosom for the scar of balavan's poniard; he found it, and, transported with joy, he exclaimed, "o allah! for ever be thou blessed for having preserved me from the dreadful crime i was about to commit! and thou his great prophet, a signal mark of whose protection the virtues of chamsada have drawn down upon me, to so many favours still add that of enabling me to efface, by my services, the dreadful sorrows i have occasioned, and the idea of the injustice i was about to commit!" then throwing himself into the arms of shaseliman, "come, dear and unfortunate prince, come to my heart! let your image be joined there with that of my beloved chamsada, that my most tender affections may henceforth be centred on one object alone! but deign to satisfy my curiosity, and inform me by what chain of events you have been conducted hither, unknown to all the world. how have you existed? speak, prince. i am impatient to know more particularly the person who restores me to happiness." shaseliman, encouraged by the demonstration of such affecting kindness, then gave a faithful detail of his adventures, from the very moment in which he had been hurled from the throne into prison, even to that in which, reduced to the humble condition of a shepherd, he had been found by the messenger of his mother, surrounded by robbers, drawn up out of the well into which they had been let down, and conducted to the court of the sultan. while this recital engaged the attention of bensirak, chamsada, his spouse, although less troubled than on the preceding days, was not altogether in a tranquil state. the events had become too important for her. she endeavoured to find out with what design the sultan, after having questioned her, had departed so abruptly. she had not been able to learn what he had done, nor what was become of him, since the confession which she had made to him. she was indulging these reflections, and continued sunk in the sleep in which the sultan seemed to surprise her. all at once twenty slaves, carrying flambeaux, came to illuminate her apartment; they walked before the sultan, who conducted by the hand and looked with kindness on the beloved son of the most virtuous of mothers. he had caused shaseliman to be dressed in the most magnificent garments; he was adorned with beautiful diamonds, in which bensirak had delighted to be decked on the days of triumph. "soothe your sorrows, adorable chamsada," cried he, throwing himself into her arms. "the favour of heaven restores to you a husband and a son, whose feelings and affection secure your felicity for ever." shaseliman, on his knees, kissed the hands of his mother; and tears of consolation expressed the sentiments of the son and of the delighted pair. as soon as day had succeeded this happy night, the sultan assembled the best of his troops, and put himself at their head, accompanied by shaseliman. he took the road for persia, causing heralds go before him, and announce to the people of that kingdom that he was about to re-establish on the throne their rightful king, assassinated, persecuted, and dethroned by the usurper balavan. scarcely had they reached the frontiers of persia, when a party of the faithful subjects of the old king selimansha, always attached to the blood of this august family, came to range themselves under the banners of the sultan of egypt and of shaseliman. the perfidious balavan heard this intelligence, and endeavoured to assemble his forces, in order to dispute the ground with a powerful enemy who came to overwhelm him; but no one would repair to his colours, and he was obliged to shut himself up in his capital with his usual guard and the few subjects on whose fidelity he thought he could depend. but if virtue, pursued by a superior force, is so often deserted, where are the resources of guilt? ispahan is invested, and balavan, betrayed by his ministers, is delivered up to the sultan bensirak, who, turning his eyes from a monster who had dishonoured the throne by the most dreadful crimes, and directing himself to shaseliman, "my son," said he, "to you i commit the scourge of your subjects and your father's murderer; dispose of his lot, and give orders for his punishment." "o my benefactor! o my father! it belongs not to me to dispose of him," replied shaseliman; "vengeance must come down from above. let him go to the frontiers to guard that dangerous post with which i was entrusted. if he is innocent, he will be preserved as i have been; but if he is guilty, his decree is pronounced, and nothing can suspend its execution." the sultan approved of the decision of shaseliman, and balavan set out to make head against the infidels. but divine justice was now prepared to inflict its stroke. he was taken, chained, and thrown into the fatal well, where gnawing remorse and dreadful despair continued to torment him till the moment of his death. meanwhile the presumptive heir of the persian crown, the happy shaseliman, seated on the throne of his ancestors, received the oaths of his people. he commenced a reign of which the wisdom and piety recalled to the persians the sublime virtues of the grand caliph moavie. the sultan of egypt, after having seen this young sovereign shine in the splendour of the most distinguished virtues, and having tenderly embraced him, returned to his dominions, and by his presence completed the joy of chamsada. nothing afterwards disturbed the repose of this happy pair, and having reached at last the term allotted to human greatness, they fell asleep in that peace which is the portion of faithful mussulmans. * * * * * "sire," said aladin to king bohetzad, after having finished his recital, "see by what secret and wonderful ways providence delivered shaseliman from the hands of persecution! see how it led balavan into the very gulf he had dug for another! no, allah will never suffer guilt to triumph and innocence to be punished. his vigilance and justice nothing can escape, and sooner or later he will tear asunder the veil with which the wicked are covered. as for me, sire, encouraged by my conscience and convinced that man cannot alter the decrees of my destiny, i am always firm and hopeful. i only fear that your justice will light on your viziers, my accusers." at this discourse, equally firm, wise, and modest, the king was left still more irresolute than ever. "let the execution of the sentence be suspended," said he; "let this young man be conducted back to prison. the silence of the night, and the reflections which his recital will occasion, may enlighten my judgment, and to-morrow i shall more easily take my resolution." as soon as aladin had been led back to his dungeon, one of the viziers began: "sire, your majesty suffers yourself to be overcome by the magic of this young impostor's discourses. the great prophet preserve you from yielding to sentiments of mercy in his behalf! when guilt remains unpunished, the splendour of the throne is obscured. you are seated there for no other purpose but to administer justice: the crime of this villain is evident, and his punishment ought to be signal; the most awful should be fixed upon, that it may serve as an example to such." "let orders be immediately given," interrupted bohetzad eagerly, "to erect a scaffold without the walls of the city, on the most elevated situation. let the dread of death terrify those who might attempt to follow his footsteps. such is my final resolution, and let it be announced to the people by the public criers." the ten viziers were well pleased to hear this resolution. they hoped at length, by their secret plots, to make the object of their envy fall beneath the sword of justice, and were eager to order the apparatus of punishment. on the morning of the following day, which was the eleventh since the confinement of aladin, the ten viziers went to the king. "sire," said they, "your orders are obeyed; your pleasure is known, and the people assembled round the spot wait only for him who is to die there." bohetzad gave orders that the criminal should be brought to him. as soon as he appeared the ten viziers lifted up their voices against him. "wretch! offspring of villains!" said they to him, "the scythe of death is raised over thy head; thy stratagems are exhausted, and thou art about to receive the reward of thy crimes and rashness." "audacious ministers," said aladin, looking at them with a confident but modest air, "it belongs not to you to mark my forehead with the seal of death! if the decree which strikes me comes not from heaven, what could all your attempts avail? guilt alone can be afraid of them. but since i have nothing wherewith to reproach myself, had i even my head under the fatal sword, i should be preserved from the stroke, like the slave who was accused although innocent." "sire," interrupted all the viziers at once, "impose silence on this audacious fellow; he wishes still to deceive your majesty by a new tale." "i wish not to impose upon the king," said aladin; "it is you who cherish falsehood and imposture." "stop!" said bohetzad to him; "i will yet put my patience to a last effort, and agree to hear the history of your slave and of his deliverance." "oh, the clemency of my king!" replied aladin. "may truth at length reach your heart, which is so difficult of access! i wish not by a false relation to deceive your majesty; the story i am going to relate is well known throughout all chaldea." history of the king of haram, and of the slave. the king of haram, uneasy at the manner in which his viziers and cadis administered justice in the provinces of his empire, went one night from his palace disguised, and only escorted by two eunuchs. by chance he passed near a dungeon, from whence he heard a plaintive and lamentable voice. he learned that this place served as a prison, in which criminals condemned to death were shut up; and approaching nearer it in order to hear distinctly the doleful accents, which appeared to come from the bowels of the earth, he heard these words: "o powerful allah! thou who watchest constantly over the unfortunate, stooping under the burden of his misery, wilt thou suffer innocence, falsely accused, to sink under presumptions which a fatal destiny hath heaped upon it? infinite mercy! none of thy creatures are insignificant in thy eyes; thou hearest the cries of a worm; listen to that of thy slave; and if my death is not determined by thy providence, arrest the stroke with which i am threatened." a silence, interrupted only by sighs, succeeded this prayer. the king of haram returned to his palace with a heart moved by these lamentations, and a spirit troubled with this adventure. in vain did he seek repose: the idea of the death of an innocent person agitated him, and he only waited the return of day to clear up this mystery. as soon as the sun had enlightened the earth, he called together his ministers, and described to them the place from which the cries came that had excited his pity. they informed him that the unfortunate person confined in this dungeon was destined to die that very day upon the scaffold. they gave him an account of his trial, from which the crime appeared clear, and two witnesses certified that the slave, whom his majesty had heard, was the perpetrator of it. the king of haram could not resist what human justice reckons evidence, and immediately confirmed the order for his execution. the slave, convicted of the crime, was taken from the dungeon: he walked to punishment with a firm and modest countenance; his hands bound, and his eyes lifted up to heaven, which was now his only hope. he was at the foot of the scaffold; the executioners were preparing to strip him of his clothes, when an unexpected noise entirely changed the aspect of this scene of death. a hostile party, having formed the design of making themselves masters of the city, waited until the people, attracted by curiosity to see the execution, should have gone out of it. they hastily quitted the ambuscade in which they were concealed, fell upon the guard, and dispersed it. all those who endeavoured to defend it either fell by the sword or were made prisoners; not one escaped except the unhappy slave who was about to suffer an ignominious death. the enemy, dreading the approach of the king, then withdrew to a distance in order to increase their forces, carrying with them the booty they had got, and deferred to another time the consummation of their enterprise. meanwhile, the slave, delivered from his chains by the hands of the enemy, and still fearing lest people should be dispatched to pursue him, gained the country, and walked day and night without stopping. at length, overcome with fatigue, he stopped under the shade of a laurel, which, from its size and height, appeared coeval with the world, and sat down. opposite to this tree, and very near it, was the entrance of a dark cave; two torches threw a dreadful light around it, without altogether dispelling its darkness. his attention was fixed with astonishment on these objects, which inspired him with terror, when he thought he observed these two lights move and advance towards him. these bright fires were nothing but the glaring eyes of a monstrous lion, which came out of the cave and slowly approached the unhappy slave, who had nothing with which he could defend himself. the animal seized him, and, without hurting him, carried him into the cave. he instantly went out of it again, tore down the enormous laurel under which the man had been formerly seated, and, having placed it at the mouth of the cave in order to shut up its passage, ran into the desert in search of its mate, whom the need of food for their whelps had carried far from their common haunt. the mouth of this cave, shut up by the trunk of the tree, was inaccessible to all human power. however, there was still sufficient light left for the slave to view the inside of this dreadful habitation, to distinguish its inhabitants, and to see there the fragments of bones and food with which the ground was covered. he saw likewise two young lions couching on a heap of moss, who were not frightened by his presence. in an opposite corner he perceived a heap of human bones, the sad remains of the unfortunate whom the same destiny that had brought him there had drawn toward this frightful abode. nevertheless, amid these objects, fear did not damp his courage: he turned towards the south, and, like a faithful mussulman, addressed his prayer to the great prophet with as much zeal and fervour as if he had been in the most splendid mosque and in the most secure asylum. full of confidence in the sovereign arbiter of destiny, he then cast his eyes into the dark cavities of this den. there were many clothes in it: he put his hand into the pockets of one garment, and found there a stone and a piece of steel for striking fire; the earth was covered with a dry moss, which served as litter to the savage inhabitants of this dwelling. the possibility of getting out revived his courage; and scarcely was the enterprise conceived when it was put in execution. he set fire to the moss which he had collected at the mouth of the cave; the flames penetrated the moist bark of the laurel's roots, and the fire speedily increasing, the tree lost its support and fell upon its side with a crash, so as to leave the mouth of the cave quite open. in examining this cave he had seen a bow, sabres, and poniards, which might serve for his defence. he had also discovered, by the light, a pan with coined gold, and pieces of this metal, with precious jewels of different kinds. provided in this manner, with everything which could assist his escape, he armed himself with what was necessary, cut away with his sabre the burning branches which opposed his passage, and, blessing heaven, at length recovered his liberty. scarcely had the slave got out of this dangerous cave, when he perceived the lion at the distance of four bowshots, and the lioness somewhat farther off in the plain. he put upon his bow a deadly arrow; and the lion, thinking to dart upon his prey, ran with great rapidity against the arrow, which was discharged at him. the steel reached his heart, and he fell lifeless. the slave, freed from this enemy, soon had the other also to contend with. he darted another arrow, but it made only a slight wound. the animal, rendered still more furious, rushed forwards to throw him on the ground. the slave opposed her with his poniard, and plunged it into her side. the lioness, roaring aloud, made a new effort; but with his scimitar he struck off one of her fore-paws, and disabled her for further combat. she rolled along the earth, making the echoes resound with her roaring: the young lions from the cave answered her with hideous cries, which would have filled the most warlike soul with terror. in the meantime the conqueror secured his victory by piercing the animal in the vital parts, till at length she sank under the vigour of his arm. he ran immediately to kill the whelps, and drew them out of the cave. after this feat of valour, he looked in the plain for a tree, the fruit of which might afford him nourishment, and a stream in which he might quench his thirst; and still aided by providence, everything seemed subject to his desires and offered itself to his hand. having at length recruited his strength, exhausted by so much fatigue, he re-entered the cave whose inhabitants he had destroyed, made himself master of the treasures it contained, shut up its entrance with the branches of a tree, and, armed to as much advantage as possible, and furnished with gold and silver to satisfy his wants, he took the road to his native country. he arrived there at the end of some days, and gave an account of his history to his relations. camels and slaves were dispatched to bring away the precious effects which were left in the lions' den. possessed of so much riches, the beneficent slave shared them with the indigent. not far from his habitation he built an asylum for caravans, pilgrims, and travellers who might be obliged to take that road; and from the spoils of a lions' den he erected a temple of charity. * * * * * "sire," added aladin, after having finished his relation, "you see how this slave, condemned to perish upon the scaffold, on the false evidence of his enemies, and in danger of being devoured by lions, was miraculously delivered from these dangers; while his accusers and enemies, eager to feast their eyes with the sight of his tortures, were massacred and punished. the king of haram, deprived of part of his subjects, suffered the punishment of his negligence in not examining the proceedings himself, and not listening sufficiently to complaints which, although they moved his pity, had not armed his justice." bohetzad felt an unusual struggle betwixt his own power, the relations and reflections of aladin, and the solicitations of his ministers. a voice within him pleaded powerfully against the judgment he had pronounced; yet the orders which he had given publicly, the scaffold already prepared without the walls of the city, the crowd of people impatient to enjoy this execution, so long delayed, all seemed to increase the embarrassment of the king. his viziers, seeing him hesitate again, were eager to fix his resolution by the strongest remonstrances; and going over all the arguments they had already alleged, they ended by alarming the king respecting the duration of his power. "i feel in spite of you," said the king, "that my heart revolts at what i am doing; nevertheless, as the safety of my kingdom depends upon this decree, i yield to your reasons. let the criminal be conducted to punishment." that very instant the guard seized aladin. he was bound with cords, loaded with chains, and led without the city to the place where he was to terminate his existence. the king himself, mounted upon an elephant, and followed by his whole court, repaired to the place of punishment: he was seated upon a throne from which he would behold the execution. the unfortunate aladin was already on the scaffold, when suddenly a stranger, rushing through the crowd, and removing the guards and every obstacle that opposed his passage, threw himself into the arms of aladin. "oh, my son! my dear son!" exclaimed he, the tears flowing in a torrent from his eyes. he could say no more, for grief stopped his utterance. this unexpected event threw the people into commotion, and the king gave orders that the stranger should be brought before him. "sovereign monarch," said he to him, embracing his knees, "save the life of the unfortunate young man whom you have condemned to death. if a criminal must die, give orders for my punishment: i await it at your feet." "who are you?" said the king. "what interest have you in this criminal?" "sire, i am the chief of a band of robbers. searching one day in the desert for a fountain to allay the thirst of my company, i found upon the grass, on the brink of a fountain, and at the feet of five palm-trees, which covered it with their shadow, a piece of cloth interwoven with gold, and some swaddling-clothes, on which an infant lay. moved with compassion for this innocent creature, i carried him to my house, where my wife became his nurse. this child was not ours, sire; but he was to us a gift from heaven, and became dearer to us than our own. he was endowed with such excellent qualities and so many virtues, that we regretted our having abandoned those which the exercise of our profession had made us forget; for in short--to my shame i avow it, sire--we were robbers. he followed us in our expeditions, and distinguished himself on every occasion by deeds of valour and humanity. we lost him in a conflict with your troops." no other circumstance was necessary to inform the king that he who was about to die by his command was his only son! he rushed from his throne, flew to aladin, with his own poniard struck the cords off him, and clasped him in his arms, with marks of the most tender affection. "ah! my son," exclaimed he, "i have been on the point of plunging in my heart the dagger of endless repentance. my heart must have been torn at the sight of a cruel punishment, and it has been mercifully converted into a spectacle of triumph and joy, whose ravishing splendour my soul can with difficulty support!" he again embraced aladin, set him upon his elephant, and returned to the palace, amid the din of trumpets and the acclamations of the people. baherjoa had been already informed of his unexpected happiness in finding a son for whose fate she had been so often alarmed. in a short time the king himself presented to her this dear child, dressed in such splendid garments that it was not easy to discover the alteration which a tedious confinement had produced upon him. the joy of this event soon spread through all ranks in the kingdom. courtiers, merchants, and artists partook of it; the mosques were opened, and the people crowded thither to render thanks to allah and his prophet; public rejoicings testified the general happiness; the city of ispahan was on this day transformed into a scene of pleasure; and everything, even the birds of heaven, sang the glory of the monarch and the deliverance of aladin. the ten viziers alone, far from participating in the public happiness, were thrown into a dark dungeon, where the remorse of their consciences anticipated the punishment which, at the end of the thirty days that had been appointed for feasting, they were doomed to suffer. at length, by the orders of the sovereign, they were brought to the foot of the throne, which was now become so formidable to them. aladin was seated at his father's right hand. they turned away their guilty eyes, and after a silence that imposed respect and terror, bohetzad thus addressed them: "pretended supports of my throne!" said he to them, "ministers so jealous of my glory! behold this criminal whom, with so much cruel obstinacy and such distinguished eagerness, you pursued. i ought to have sent him to punishment without hearing him! by listening to his stories, i exposed my glory, my safety, and the peace of my subjects! justify yourselves if you can: you have liberty to speak." in vain did the king endeavour to make these guilty ministers open their mouths. they were seized with a mortal coldness; their eyes, fixed on the ground, could not be drawn from it; their lips quivered; their feeble limbs bent under their knees and seemed ready to fail them. "speak," said aladin to them in his turn: "where now is that attachment to the rules of justice which rendered you so eloquent against the son of a chief of the robbers, whose mere mistake was in your eyes a crime which ought to be expiated by the most infamous punishment? are your courage and your zeal for the glory of the kingdom annihilated? guilt weighs you down, remorse preys upon you, and you are confounded with shame." "your sentence, already written in heaven," resumed bohetzad, "is about to be executed on earth. on the scaffold where my son was to suffer let these ten wretches finish their days, and let the public criers announce this decree to the people." the order was instantly executed. bohetzad then leading back his son to the palace, continually renewed the tender proofs of his affection. "ah, dear son!" would he say, "how were you so little intimidated by the death which threatened you as to recollect all the circumstances you related? whence have you drawn those numerous maxims and judicious reflections which can only be the fruit of experience and study?" "sire," replied aladin, "it was not i who spoke, but heaven which inspired me. in my infancy i had not been neglected; and since the happy moment in which i had the good fortune to be placed near your majesty, i have been perfected in wisdom. the woman, whom i took for my mother, early directed my attention to the divine koran, by whose sacred precepts, she told me, i ought to regulate my conduct. and that which will appear most extraordinary to you, sire, is, that her husband, led away by the force of habit, brought up in guilt almost from his infancy, and not hesitating in the least to plunder caravans, should yet be afraid of breaking his word. he was a faithful husband, a kind master to his slaves, to me more than an affectionate father, and of all men the least greedy of plunder. he cherished me; and as at that time i was not so well informed as i am at present, i honoured him as a benefactor and loved him as a parent." "enough respecting him, my son," replied the king. "returning from the awful scene they have just beheld, and warned by the signal which the muezzins have sounded from the tops of the mosques, the people are about to fill them. order my treasurer to follow you; let plentiful alms and charity everywhere accompany your steps, and announce, in a suitable manner, the heir, whom, for the prosperity of my empire, heaven has restored to my arms." as soon as the religious ceremonies were finished, the king ordered the chief of the robbers, who was known to have remained at issessara, to be conducted to the bath, to be decently dressed, and brought to the palace, that he might enjoy the triumph of his adopted son. far from reproaching him with his former manner of life, but presuming on the natural principles of this man, whom example had not corrupted, whom opportunities had not seduced, and whom want had not provoked, he appointed him to the command of a frontier province, where he must necessarily command respect by his activity and military talents. bohetzad, baherjoa, and aladin, reunited by the ties of blood, of love, and of friendship, passed many years in unalterable affection, continually finding means to draw closer the knots which bound them together. at length, the monarch, feeling from his age and strength that it was time to resign the sceptre into more steady hands, assembled his divan, his ministers, viziers, cadis, lawyers, princes, lords, and all the grandees of the realm. "nature," said he to them, "hath called my son to succeed me; but, in his miraculous preservation, heaven has given a clear indication of its will. in putting the crown upon his head this day, i only obey its decrees, and give you a master more worthy than i to command." the adventures of urad; or, the fair wanderer. [illustration] on the banks of the river tigris, far above where it washes the lofty city of the faithful, lived nouri, in poverty and widowhood, whose employment it was to tend the worm who clothes the richest and the fairest with its beautiful web. her husband, who was a guard to the caravans of the merchants, lost his life in an engagement with the wild arabs, and left the poor woman no other means of supporting herself, or her infant daughter urad, but by her labours among the silk-worms, which were little more than sufficient to support nature, although her labours began ere the sunbeams played on the waters of the tigris, and ended not till the stars were reflected from its surface. such was the business of the disconsolate nouri, when the voluptuous almurah was proclaimed sultan throughout his extensive dominions; nor was it long before his subjects felt the power of their sultan; for, almurah resolving to inclose a large tract of land for hunting and sporting, commanded the inhabitants of fourteen hundred villages to be expelled from the limits of his intended inclosure. a piteous train of helpless and ruined families were in one day driven from their country and livelihood, and obliged to seek for shelter amidst the forests, the caves, and deserts, which surround the more uncultivated banks of the tigris. many passed by the cottage of nouri the widow, among whom she distributed what little remains of provision she had saved from the earnings of her labours the day before; and, her little stock being exhausted, she had nothing but wishes and prayers left for the rest. it happened, among the numerous throngs that travelled by her cottage, that a young man came with wearied steps, bearing on his shoulders an old and feeble woman; setting her down on the ground before the door of nouri, he besought her to give him a drop of water, to wash the sand and the dust from his parched mouth. nouri, having already distributed the contents of her pitcher, hastened to the river to fill it for the wearied young man; and, as she went, she begged a morsel of provisions from a neighbour, whose cottage stood on a rock which overlooked the flood. with this, and her pitcher filled with water, the good nouri returned, and found the feeble old woman on the ground, but the young man was not with her. "where," said nouri, "o afflicted stranger, is the pious young man that dutifully bore the burden of age on his shoulders?" "alas!" answered the stranger, "my son has brought me hither from the tyranny of almurah, and leaves me to perish in the deserts of tigris. no sooner were you gone for the water, than a crowd of young damsels came this way, and led my cruel son from his perishing mother. but, courteous stranger," said she to nouri, "give me of that water to drink, that my life fail not within me, for thirst, and hunger, and trouble are hastening to put an end to the unhappy houadir." the tender and benevolent nouri invited houadir into the cottage, and there placed her on a straw bed, and gave her the provisions, and a cup of water to drink. houadir, being somewhat refreshed by the care of nouri, acquainted her with the cruel decree of almurah, who had turned her son out of his little patrimony, where, by the labour of his hands, he had for many years supported her, and that till that day she had ever found him a most dutiful and obedient son, and concluded with a wish that he would shortly return to his poor helpless parent. nouri did all she could to comfort the wretched houadir, and, having persuaded her to rest awhile on the bed, returned to the labours of the day. when her work was finished, nouri, with the wages of the day, purchased some provisions, and brought them home to feed herself and the little urad, whose portion of food, as well as her own, had been distributed to the unhappy wanderers. as nouri was giving a small morsel to urad, houadir awaked, and begged that nouri would be so kind as to spare her a bit of her provisions. immediately, before nouri could rise, the little urad ran nimbly to the bed and offered her supper to the afflicted houadir, who received it with great pleasure from her hands, being assured her mother would not let urad be a loser by her benevolence. houadir continued several days with the widow nouri, expecting the return of her son; till, giving over all hopes of seeing him, and observing that she was burdensome to the charitable widow, she one evening, after the labours of the day, thus addressed her hospitable friend: "i perceive, benevolent nouri, that my son has forsaken me, and that i do but rob you and your poor infant of the scanty provision which you, by your hourly toil, are earning: wherefore, listen to my proposal, and judge whether i offer you a suitable return. there are many parts of your business that, old as i am, i can help you in, as the winding your silk and feeding your worms. employ me, therefore, in such business in the day as you think me capable of performing; and at night, while your necessary cares busy you about the house, give me leave (as i see your labour allows you no spare time) to instruct the innocent urad how to behave herself, when your death shall leave her unsheltered from the storms and deceits of a troublesome world." nouri listened with pleasure to the words of houadir. "yes," said she, "benevolent stranger, you well advise me how to portion my poor infant, urad, whom i could neither provide for by my industry nor instruct without losing the daily bread i earn for her. i perceive a little is sufficient for your support; nay, i know not how, i seem to have greater plenty since you have been with me than before; whether it be owing to the blessing of heaven on you i know not." "far be it from me," said houadir, "to see my generous benefactress deceived; but the thinness of inhabitants, occasioned by the tyranny of almurah, is the cause that your provisions are more plentiful; but yet i insist upon bearing my part in the burden of the day, and urad shall share my evening's labour." from this time houadir became a useful member of the family of nouri, and urad was daily instructed by the good old stranger in the pleasures and benefits of a virtuous, and the horrors and curses of an evil, life. little urad was greatly rejoiced at the lessons of houadir, and was never better pleased than when she was listening to the mild and pleasing instructions of her affable mistress. it was the custom of houadir, whenever she taught urad any new rule or caution, to give her a peppercorn; requiring of her, as often as she looked at them, to remember the lessons which she learnt at the time she received them. in this manner urad continued to be instructed; greatly improving, as well in virtue and religion, as in comeliness and beauty, till she was near woman's estate; so that nouri could scarcely believe she was the mother of a daughter so amiable and graceful in person and manners. neither was urad unskilled in the labours of the family, or the silk-worm; for, nouri growing old and sickly, she almost constantly, by her industry, supported the whole cottage. one evening, as houadir was lecturing her attentive pupil, nouri, who lay sick on the straw bed, called urad to her. "my dear daughter," said nouri, "i feel, alas! more for you than myself: while houadir lives, you will have indeed a better instructor than your poor mother was capable of being unto you; but what will my innocent lamb, my lovely urad do, when she is left alone, the helpless prey of craft or power? consider, my dear child, that allah would not send you into the world to be necessarily and unavoidably wicked; therefore always depend upon the assistance of our holy prophet when you do right, and let no circumstance of life, nor any persuasion, ever bias you to live otherwise than according to the chaste and virtuous precepts of the religious houadir. may allah and the prophet of the faithful ever bless and preserve the innocence and chastity of my dutiful and affectionate urad!" the widow nouri spoke not again; her breath for ever fled from its confinement, and her body was delivered to the waters of the tigris. the inconsolable urad had now her most difficult lesson to learn from the patient houadir; and scarcely did she think it dutiful to moderate the violence of her grief. "sorrows," said houadir, "o duteous urad, which arise from sin or evil actions, cannot be assuaged without contrition or amendment of life; there the soul is deservedly afflicted, and must feel before it can be cured: such sorrows may my amiable pupil never experience! but the afflictions of mortality are alike the portions of piety or iniquity: it is necessary that we should be taught to part with the desirable things of this life by degrees, and that by the frequency of such losses our affections should be loosened from their earthly attachments. while you continue good be not dejected, my obedient urad; and remember, it is one part of virtue to bear with patience and resignation the unalterable decrees of heaven; not but that i esteem your sorrow, which arises from gratitude, duty, and affection. i do not teach my pupil to part with her dearest friends without reluctance, or wish her to be unconcerned at the loss of those who, by a marvellous love, have sheltered her from all those storms which must have overwhelmed helpless innocence. only remember that your tears be the tears of resignation, and that your sighs confess a heart humbly yielding to his will who ordereth all things according to his infinite knowledge and goodness." "o pious houadir," replied urad, "just are thy precepts: it was allah that created my best of parents, and allah is pleased to take her from me; far be it from me, though an infinite sufferer, to dispute his will; the loss indeed wounds me sorely, yet will i endeavour to bear the blow with patience and resignation." houadir still continued her kind lessons and instructions, and urad, with a decent solemnity, attended both her labours and her teacher, who was so pleased with the fruits which she saw spring forth from the seeds of virtue that she had sown in the breast of her pupil, that she now began to leave her more to herself, and exhorted her to set apart some portion of each day to pray to her prophet, and frequent meditation and recollection of the rules she had given her, that so her mind might never be suffered to grow forgetful of the truths she had treasured up. "for," said the provident houadir, "when it shall please the prophet to snatch me also from you, my dear urad will then have only the peppercorns to assist her." "and how, my kind governess," said urad, "will those corns assist me?" "they will," answered houadir, "each of them (if you remember the precepts i gave you with them, but not otherwise), be serviceable in the times of your necessities." urad, with great reluctance, from that time was obliged to go without her evening lectures; which loss affected her much, for she knew no greater pleasure in life than hanging over houadir's persuasive tongue, and hearing, with fixed attention, the sweet doctrines of prudence, chastity, and virtue. as urad, according to her usual custom (after having spent some few early hours at her employment), advanced toward the bed to call her kind instructress, whose infirmities would not admit her to rise betimes, she perceived that houadir was risen from her bed. the young virgin was amazed at the novelty of her instructress's behaviour, especially as she seldom moved without assistance, and hastened into a little inclosure to look after her; but not finding houadir there, she went to the neighbouring cottages, none of the inhabitants of which could give any account of the good old matron; nevertheless the anxious urad continued her search, looking all around the woods and forest, and often peeping over the rocks of the tigris, as fearful that some accident might have befallen her. in this fruitless labour the poor virgin fatigued herself, till the sun, as tired of her toils, refused any longer to assist her search; when, returning to her lonely cot, she spent the night in tears and lamentations. the helpless urad now gave herself up entirely to grief; and the remembrance of her affectionate mother added a double portion of sorrows to her heart: she neglected to open her lonely cottage, and went not forth to the labours of the silk-worm; but, day after day, with little or no nourishment, she continued weeping the loss of houadir, her mild instructress, and nouri, her affectionate mother. the neighbouring cottagers, observing that urad came no longer to the silk-worms, and that her dwelling was daily shut up, after some time knocked at her cottage, and demanded if urad the daughter of nouri was living. urad, seeing the concourse of people, came weeping and trembling toward the door, and asked them the cause of their coming. "o urad," said her neighbours, "we saw you, not long ago, seeking your friend houadir, and we feared you also were missing, as you have neither appeared among us, nor attended your daily labours among the worms, who feed and provide for us by their subtle spinning." "o my friends," answered urad, "suffer a wretched maid to deplore the loss of her dearest friends. nouri, from whose breasts i sucked my natural life, is now a prey to the vulture on the banks of the tigris; and houadir, from whom i derive my better life, is passed away from me like a vision in the night." her rustic acquaintance laughed at these sorrows of the virgin urad. "alas!" said one, "urad grieves that now she has to work for one, instead of three." "nay," cried another, "i wish my old folks were as well bestowed." "and i," said a third, "were our house rid of the old-fashioned lumber that fills it at present (my superannuated father and mother), would soon bring a healthy young swain to supply their places with love and affection." "ay, true," answered two or three more, "we must look out a clever young fellow for urad; whom shall she have?" "oh, if that be all," said a crooked old maid, who was famous for match-making, "i will send darandu to comfort her, before night; and, if i mistake not, he very well knows his business." "well, pretty urad," cried they all, "darandu will soon be here: he is fishing on the tigris; and it is but just that the river which has robbed you of one comfort, should give you a better." at this speech, the rest laughed very heartily, and they all ran away, crying out, "oh, she will do very well when darandu approaches." urad, though she could despise the trifling of her country neighbours, yet felt an oppression on her heart at the name of darandu, who was a youth of incomparable beauty, and added to the charms of his person an engaging air, which was far above the reach of the rest of the country swains, who lived on those remote banks of the tigris. "but, o houadir, o nouri!" said the afflicted virgin to herself, "never shall urad seek, in the arms of a lover, to forget the bounties and precepts of so kind a mistress and so indulgent a parent." these reflections hurried the wretched urad into her usual sorrowful train of thoughts, and she spent the rest of the day in tears and weeping, calling for ever on nouri and houadir, and wishing that the prophet would permit her to follow them out of a world where she foresaw neither comfort nor peace. in the midst of these melancholy meditations, she was disturbed by a knocking at the door. urad arose with trembling, and asked who was there. "it is one," answered a voice in the softest tone, "who seeketh comfort and cannot find it; who desires peace, and it is far from him." "alas!" answered urad, "few are the comforts of this cottage, and peace is a stranger to this mournful roof: depart, o traveller, whosoever thou art, and suffer the disconsolate urad to indulge in sorrows greater than those from which you wish to be relieved." "alas!" answered the voice without, "the griefs of the beautiful urad are my griefs; and the sorrows which afflict her, rend the soul of the wretched darandu!" "whatever may be the motive for this charitable visit, darandu," answered urad, "let me beseech you to depart; for ill does it become a forlorn virgin to admit the conversation of the youths that surround her: leave me, therefore, o swain, ere want of decency make you appear odious in the sight of the virgins who inhabit the rocky banks of the rapid tigris." "to convince the lovely urad," answered darandu, "that i came to soothe her cares and condole with her in her losses (which i heard but this evening), i now will quit this dear spot, which contains the treasure of my heart, as, however terrible the parting is to me, i rest satisfied that it pleases the fair conqueror of my heart, whose peace to darandu is more precious than the pomegranate in the sultry noon, or the silver scales of ten thousand fishes enclosed in the nets of my skilful comrades." darandu then left the door of the cottage, and urad reclined on the bed, till sleep finished her toils, and for a time released her from the severe afflictions of her unguarded situation. early in the morning the fair urad arose, and directed her steps to the rocks of the tigris, either invited thither by the melancholy reflections which her departed mother occasioned, or willing to take a nearer and more unobserved view of the gentle darandu. darandu, who was just about to launch his vessel into the river, perceived the beauteous mourner on the rocks; but he was too well versed in love affairs to take any notice of her: he rather turned from urad, and endeavoured by his behaviour to persuade her that he had not observed her, for it was enough for him to know that he was not indifferent to her. urad, though she hardly knew the cause of her morning walk, yet continued on the rocks till darandu had taken in his nets, and, with his companions, was steering up the stream in quest of the fishes of the tigris. she then returned to her cottage, more irresolute in her thoughts, but less than ever inclined to the labours of her profession. at the return of the evening she was anxious lest darandu should renew his visit--an anxiety which, though it arose from fear, was yet near allied to hope; nor was she less solicitous about provisions, as all her little stock was entirely exhausted, and she had no other prospect before her than to return to her labours, which her sorrows had rendered irksome and disagreeable to her. while she was meditating on these things, she heard a knocking at the door, which fluttered her little less than the fears of hunger or the sorrows of her lonely life. for some time she had not courage to answer, till, the knocking being repeated, she faintly asked who was at the door. "it is lahnar," answered a female: "lahnar, your neighbour, seeks to give urad comfort, and to condole with the distressed mourner of a mother and a friend." "lahnar," answered urad, "is then a friend to the afflicted, and kindly seeks to alleviate the sorrows of the wretched urad." she then opened the door, and lahnar entered with a basket on her head. "kind lahnar," said the fair mourner, "leave your burden at the door, and enter this cottage of affliction. alas! alas! there once sat nouri, my ever-affectionate mother, and there houadir, my kind counsellor and director; but now are their seats vacant, and sorrow and grief are the only companions of the miserable urad!" "your losses are certainly great," answered lahnar; "but you must endeavour to bear them with patience, especially as they are the common changes and alterations of life. your good mother nouri lived to a great age, and houadir, though a kind friend, may yet be succeeded by one as amiable; but what i am most alarmed at, o urad! is your manner of life. we no longer see you busied among the leaves of the mulberries, or gathering the bags of silk, or preparing them for the wheels. you purchase no provision among us; you seek no comfort in society; you live like the mole buried under the earth, which neither sees nor is seen." "my sorrows indeed hitherto," replied urad, "have prevented my labour; but to-morrow i shall again rise to my wonted employment." "but even to-night," said lahnar, "let my friend take some little nourishment, that she may rise refreshed; for fasting will deject you as well as grief; and suffer me to partake with you. and see, in this basket i have brought my provisions, some boiled rice, and a few fish, which my kind brother darandu brought me this evening from the river tigris." "excuse me, kind lahnar," answered urad, "but i must refuse your offer. grief has driven away appetite to aught but itself far from me, and i am not solicitous to take provisions which i cannot use." "at least," replied lahnar, "permit me to sit beside you, and eat of what is here before us." upon which, without other excuses, lahnar emptied her basket, and set a bowl of rice and fish before urad, and began to feed heartily on that which she had brought for herself. urad was tempted by hunger and the example of lahnar to begin, but she was doubtful about tasting the fish of darandu; wherefore she first attempted the boiled rice, though her appetite was most inclined to the fish, of which she at last ate very heartily, when she recollected that as she had partaken with lahnar, it was the same whatever part she accepted. lahnar having finished her meal, and advised urad to think of some methods of social life, took her leave, and left the unsettled virgin to meditate on her strange visitor. urad, though confused, could not help expressing some pleasure at this visit; for such is the blessing of society, that it will always give comfort to those who have been disused to its sweet effects. but urad, though pleased with the friendship of lahnar, yet was confounded when, some few minutes after, she perceived her again returning. "what," said urad, "brings back lahnar to the sorrows of this cottage?" "urad," said lahnar, "i will rest with my friend to-night, for the shades of night cast horrors around, and i dare not disturb my father's cottage by my late approach." but as soon as she had admitted lahnar, she perceived that it was darandu disguised in lahnar's clothes. urad, greatly terrified, recollecting her lost friend houadir, felt for a peppercorn, and let it fall to the ground. a violent rapping was in a moment heard at the cottage, at which urad uttered a loud cry, and darandu, with shame and confusion, looked trembling toward the door. urad ran forward and opened it, when the son of houadir entered, and asked urad the reason of her cries. "o thou blessed angel!" said urad; "this wicked wretch is disguised in his sister's clothes." but darandu was fled, as guilt is ever fearful, mean, and base. "now, urad," said the son of houadir, "before you close your doors upon another man, let me resume my former features." upon which urad looked, and beheld her old friend houadir. at the sight of houadir, urad was equally astonished and abashed. "why blushes, urad?" said houadir. "how, o genius," said urad, "for such i perceive thou art--how is urad guilty? i invited not darandu hither: i wished not for him." "take care," answered houadir, "what you say. if you wished not for him, you hardly wished him away, and, but for your imprudence, he had not entered your home. consider how have your days been employed since i left you? have you continued to watch the labours of the silk-worm? have you repeated the lessons i gave you? or has the time of urad been consumed in idleness and disobedience? has she shaken off her dependence on mahomet, and indulged the unavailing sorrows of her heart?" "alas!" answered the fair urad, "repeat no more, my ever-honoured houadir: i have indeed been guilty, under the mask of love and affection; and i now plainly see the force of your first rule, that idleness is the beginning of all evil and vice. yes, my dearest houadir, had i attended to your instructions i had given no handle to darandu's insolence; but yet methinks some sorrows were allowable for the loss of such a mother and such a friend." "sorrows," answered houadir, "proceed from the heart, and, totally indulged, soon require a change and vicissitude in our minds; wherefore, in the midst of your griefs, your feet involuntarily wandered after darandu, and your soul, softened by idle sighs, was the more easily impressed by the deceits of his tongue. "but this remember, o urad--for i must, i find, repeat an old instruction to you--that of all things in the world, nothing should so much engage a woman's attention as the avenues which lead to her heart. such are the wiles and deceits of men, that they are rarely to be trusted with the most advanced post; give them but footing, though that footing be innocent, and they will work night and day till their wishes are accomplished. trust not, therefore, to yourself alone, nor suffer your heart to plead in their favour, lest it become as much your enemy as the tempter, man. place your security in flight, and avoid every evil, lest it lead you into danger, for hard it is to turn the head and look backward when a beautiful or agreeable object is before you. remember my instructions, o urad! make a prudent use of your peppercorns, and leave this place, which holds a man sensible of your folly and resolute in his own dark and subtle intentions." urad was about to thank houadir, but the genius was fled, and the eyelids of the morning were opening in the east. urad, in a little wallet, packed up her small stock of necessaries, and, full of terror and full of uncertainty, struck into the forest, and without reflection took the widest path that offered. and first, it was her care to repeat over deliberately the lessons of houadir. she then travelled slowly forward, often looking, and fearing to behold the wicked darandu at her heels. after walking through the forest for the greater part of the day, she came to a steep descent, on each side overshadowed with lofty trees; this she walked down, and came to a small spot of ground surrounded by hills, woods, and rocks. here she found a spring of water, and sat down on the grass to refresh herself after the travels of the day. as urad's meal was almost at an end she heard various voices issuing from the woods on the hills opposite to that which she came down. her little heart beat quick at this alarm; and recollecting the advice of houadir, she began to repeat the lessons of her instructress, and ere long she perceived through the trees several men coming down the hill, who, at sight of her, gave a loud halloo, and ran forward, each being eager who should first seize the prize. urad, trembling and sighing at her danger, forgot not to drop one of her peppercorns, and immediately she found herself changed into a pismire, and with great pleasure she looked for a hole in the ground, and crept into it. the robbers, coming down to the bottom of the vale, were surprised to find their prize eloped; but they divided into separate bodies, resolved to hunt till night, and then appointed that little vale as the place of rendezvous. urad, perceiving that they were gone, wished herself into her original form, but alas! her wish was not granted, and the once beautiful urad still continued an ugly pismire. late at night the robbers returned, and the moon shining bright, reflected a gloomy horror upon their despairing faces. urad shuddered at the sight of them, though so well concealed, and dared hardly peep out of her hole--so difficult is it to forget our former fears. the gang resolved to spend the rest of the night in that place, and therefore unloaded their wallets, and spread their wine and provisions on the banks of the spring, grumbling and cursing each other all the time for their unfortunate search. urad heard them lamenting their ill fortune with the utmost horror and indignation, and praised continually the gracious allah who had rescued her from such inhuman wretches; while they with singing and drinking spent the greatest part of the night, and wishing that their comrades in the other part of the forest had been with them; at length falling into drunkenness and sleep, they left the world to silence and peace. urad, finding them fast asleep, crawled out of her hole, and going to the first, she stung him in each eye, and thus she went round to them all. the poison of the little pismire working in their eyes, in a short time occasioned them to awake in the utmost tortures; and perceiving they were blind, and feeling the pain, they each supposed his neighbour had blinded him in order to get away with the booty. this so enraged them that, feeling about, they fell upon one another, and in a short time almost the whole gang was demolished. urad beheld with astonishment the effect of her stings, and at a wish resumed her pristine form, saying at the same time to herself, "i now perceive that providence is able by the most insignificant means to work the greatest purposes." continuing her journey through the forest, she was terribly afraid of meeting with the second band of robbers, and therefore she directed her steps with the greatest caution and circumspection. as she walked forward, and cast her eyes all around, and stopped at every motion of the wind, she saw the son of houadir coming to meet her in the path in which she was travelling. at this sight urad ran toward him, and with joy begged her old governess would unmask herself, and entertain her with instruction and persuasion. "no, my dear child," answered the son of houadir, "that i cannot do at present; the time is not as yet come. i will first, as you have been tried, lead you to the palace of the genii of the forest, and present your unspotted innocence before them; for, o my sweet urad, my heavenly pupil!" said he, kissing and taking her in his arms, "your virtue is tried; i have found you worthy of the lessons which i gave you. i foresaw evils might befall you, and therefore i took pity on your innocence, and lived with nouri your mother, that i might train up my beloved urad in the paths of virtue; and now your trial is past, urad shall enjoy the happiness of a genius." urad, though somewhat confounded at houadir's embrace under the appearance of a man, yet with great humility thanked her benefactor; and the son of houadir, turning to the left, led urad into a little by-path, so concealed that few, if any, might ever find its beginning. after a long walk through various turnings and intricate windings, they came to a small mean cottage, where, the son of houadir leading the way, urad followed. the son of houadir striking fire with his stick, a bright flame arose from the centre of the floor, into which he cast divers herbs, and repeating some enchantments, the back part of the cottage opened and presented to the view of urad a beautiful dome, where she saw sitting round a table a numerous assembly of gay persons of both sexes. the son of houadir, leading in urad, said, "this, my dear pupil, is the assembly of the genii of the forest." and, presenting her to the company, "behold," said he, "the beautiful and well-tried urad. but here you may cast off your reserve, fair maid, and indulge in the innocent pleasures of the genii of the forest." the son of houadir then led her to the table, and seated her on the same sofa with himself. the remainder of the day was spent in mirth and pleasure. urad, having never beheld anything splendid or magnificent, was greatly delighted at the gay company and beautiful saloon, nor did she receive the caresses of the son of houadir reluctantly. at night, urad was shown a glorious apartment to rest in, and the son of houadir attended her. "my dear houadir," said urad, "when shall i behold your proper shape? when shall i see you as my tutelary genius?" "that," answered the son of houadir, "i shall be in every shape; but call neither one nor the other my _proper_ shape; for to a genius all shapes are assumed: neither is this my proper shape, nor the wrinkles of an old woman. but, to confess the truth, o beautiful urad, from the first moment of your birth i resolved to make you my bride, and therefore did i so patiently watch your growing years, and instruct you in the fear of vice and the love of virtue." urad, astonished at the words of the son of houadir, knew not what answer to make; but the natural timidity of her sex, and the strangeness of the proposal, filled her with strange apprehensions. however, she begged at least that the genius would, for a time, leave her to herself. "no, my lovely urad," answered the son of houadir, "never, never, will thy faithful genius leave thee!" "why," said urad, "didst thou bestow so many peppercorns upon me, as they now will become useless?" "not useless," said the son of houadir: "they are indeed little preservatives against danger; but i have the seeds of some melons which will not only rescue you, but always preserve you from harm. here, faithful urad," continued he, "take these seeds, and, whenever you are fearful, swallow one of these, and no dangers shall surround you." urad thankfully received the seeds. "and what," said she, "must i do with the peppercorns?" "give them," said the son of houadir, "to me, and i will endue them with stronger virtues, and thou shalt by them have power also over others, as well as to defend thyself." urad pulled the peppercorns out of her bag, and presented them to the son of houadir, whose eyes flashed with joy at the sight, and he immediately thrust them into the folds of his garments. "o son of houadir, what hast thou done?" said urad. "i have," answered the false son of houadir, "gained the full possession of my lovely urad, and now may address her in my proper shape." so saying, he resumed his natural figure, and became like a satyr of the wood. "i am," said he, "o beautiful urad, the enchanter repah, who range in the solitude of the forest of the tigris. you i saw surrounded by the influence of the genius houadir, and therefore was obliged to use artifice to gain you as my wife." the poor deluded victim, with tears in her eyes, implored his mercy and forbearance; but he laughed at her tears, and told her her eyes glittered the brighter for them. urad, in her despair, again put her hands into the bag whence she had fatally resigned the peppercorns, and felt about in agony for her lost treasure. and now finding none, and perceiving that the genius houadir attended not to her cries, she was drawing out her hand when, in a corner of the bag, she felt one peppercorn, which had before escaped her search. she instantly drew it out, and, throwing it on the ground, the enchanter stood motionless before her; the apartments vanished, and she found herself with him in a dark hut, with various kinds of necromantic instruments about her. urad, though fearful, yet was so much overcome with fatigue and fright that she sank on the ground; and, happily for her, the enchanter was in no condition to persecute her. "curse on my folly," said he, as he stood fixed to the ground, "that i neglected to ask for the bag itself which held the gifts of the genius houadir! her pretty pupil had then been my slave, in spite of the many fine lessons she had been taught by that pitiful and enthusiastic genius; but now by chance, and not by the merit of thy virtues, or thy education, art thou delivered from my seraglio. but this grieves me not so much to lose a sickly girl as that i find a superior power condemns me to declare to you the causes of your error. "know, then, urad--i speak not from myself, but he speaks who, from casual evil, can work out certain good--he forces me to declare that no specious appearance, no false colours, should incline the virtuous heart to listen to the wiles of deceit; for evil then comes most terrible when it is cloaked under friendship. why, then, had urad so great an opinion of her own judgment as to confide in the false appearance of the son of houadir when she might have consulted her faithful monitors? the falling of a peppercorn would have taught her to trust to no appearances, nor would she have parted with her peppercorns, which were to refresh in her memory the sentiments of virtue, chastity, and honour--no, not to houadir herself. no adviser can be good who would destroy what he himself has first inculcated; and no appearance ought to bias us to receive as truths those things which are contrary to virtue and religion. how, then, did urad keep to the instructions of houadir?" thus spoke the enchanter, and no more; his mouth closed up, and he stood fixed and motionless. and urad, finding her spirits somewhat recovered, hastened out of the hut, and perceived that it was morning. she had now no more peppercorns to depend upon; wherefore she cried to houadir to succour her; but the genius was deaf to her entreaties. "poor miserable wretch!" said urad to herself, "what will become of thee, inclosed in a forest through which thou knowest no path? but," continued she, "why should i not examine the enchanter, who perhaps is yet immovable in the cottage? i saw him fold them in the plaits of his garments, and they may yet become mine." so saying, she returned to the hut, where entering, the very sight of the dumb enchanter affrighted her so much, that it was a long time before she could venture near him. at length she put out her hand, and pulled forth her beloved peppercorns, the enchanter still standing motionless. away flew urad like lightning from the hut, and ran till she had again reached the road from which she had been decoyed. she continued her journeying for seven days, feeding on the fruits of the forest, and sleeping in the densest thickets. the eighth day, as she was endeavouring to pass a ford where a small rivulet had been swelled by the rains, she perceived a large body of horsemen riding through the woods, and doubted not that it was the remainder of the gang of robbers whom she had before met with. urad was now in some measure reconciled to danger; and therefore, without much fear, dropped a peppercorn, and expected relief. the peppercorn had been dropped some time, the horsemen advanced, and no one appeared to her succour. "alas!" said urad, "why has houadir deceived me? neither her advice, nor her magical peppercorns, can save me from these cruel robbers. o genius, genius! why hast thou forsaken me in my severest trials!" by this time the robbers were come up, and were highly rejoiced to find such a beautiful prize. their captain leaped from his horse to seize her, and the trembling urad gave a loud shriek, which was answered from the woods by the roaring of a hundred lions. "o allah," said the chief, "the lions are upon us!" "that may be," said he who was dismounted; "but were the whole world set against me, i would secure my prize." so saying, he took urad in his arms to place her on his horse. the roaring of the lions continued, and many of them came howling out of the woods: the robbers fled in dismay, all but the ruffian who had seized on the fair urad, who was striving in vain to fix her on his horse. a lion furiously made at him, and tore him limb from limb, while urad expected the same fate from several others who came roaring around. "but," said she, "better is death than infamy, and the paw of the hungry lion, than slavery to a robber." the noble beast, having devoured his prey, came fawning at the feet of urad, who was surprised at his behaviour and gentleness; but much more was her astonishment increased when she heard him speak. "o virgin (for none other can experience the assistance of our race, or stand unhurt before us), i am the king and sovereign of these mighty forests, and am sent by the genius houadir to thy protection. but why did the distrustful urad despair, or why did she accuse providence of deserting her? should not the relieved wait with patience on the hand that supports him, and not cry out with impatience, and charge its benefactor with neglect?" "true, o royal lion," answered the fair urad; "but fear is irresistible, and the children of men are but weakness and ingratitude. but blessed be allah, who, though justly provoked at my discontent, yet sent to my assistance the guardian of the fair. yet how cometh it to pass, o royal protector, that you, who are so bold and so fierce in your nature, should yet behave with such tenderness and kindness to a helpless virgin, whom you might with pleasure to yourself in a moment devour?" "the truly great and noble spirit," answered the lion, "takes a pride in protecting innocence, neither can he wish to oppress it. hence learn, fair virgin, that of all mankind he only is noble, generous, and truly virtuous, who is ready to defend helpless womanhood. what, then, must you think of those mean wretches who cajole you under the appearance of affection, and yet tell you that it was only to try you? he that is suspicious is mean: he that is mean is unworthy of the chaste affections of the virtuous maid. wherefore, o urad, shun him, however honoured by mankind, or covered by the specious characters of virtue, whoever attempts the honour of your chastity, for he cannot be just: to deceive you he must himself swear falsely, and therefore cannot be good; or if he tell the truth, he must be weak and ungenerous, and unworthy of you." in such conversation they passed along the forest, till, after a few days, they were alarmed at the noise of the hunters and the music of the chase. "alas!" said the beautiful urad, "what is this that i hear?" "it is," answered the royal beast, "the noise of the hunters; and thou shalt escape, but me will they in sport destroy. the lion you call cruel, who kills to devour. what, then, is he who wantons in the death of those who advantage him not? but man is lord of all: let him look to it how he governs!" "nay, but," answered urad, "leave me, gentle protector, and provide for your safety; nor fear but houadir will prevent the storms that hover over from breaking upon me." "no," answered the royal beast, "she has commanded me to follow you till i see her presence; and where can i better sacrifice my life than in the service of chastity and virtue?" the hunters were now in sight, but advanced not towards the lion; they turned their coursers aside, and only one of superior mien, with several attendants, rode towards urad. the lion erecting his mane, his eyes glowing with vivid lightnings, drew up the wide sinews of his broad back, and with wrathful front leaped towards him who seemed to have the command. the horseman, perceiving his intention, poised his spear in his right hand, and spurred his courser to meet him. ere the royal beast had reached the horseman, the rider threw his spear, which, entering between the fore-paws of the lion, nailed him to the ground. the enraged animal tore his paw from the ground; but the spear still remained in his foot, and the anguish of the wound made him shake the whole forest with his lordly roarings. the stranger then rode up to the fair urad, whom viewing, he cried out, "by allah! thou art worthy of the seraglio of the vizier mussapulta: take her, my eunuchs, behind you, and bear her through the forest of bagdad, to the home of my ancestors." the eunuchs obeyed, and bore her away, though urad dropped her corn upon the ground; but still she trusted in the help of houadir. the vizier mussapulta then ordered that one of his slaves should stay behind, and destroy and bury the lion; which he commanded to be done with the utmost caution, as almurah had made a decree that if any subjects should wound, maim, or destroy any lion in his forests, the same should be put to death. the eunuchs bore away urad to the seraglio, taking her through by-ways to the palace of the vizier, lest her shrieks should be heard. mussapulta followed at a distance, and the slave was left with the tortured and faithful lion. in a few hours they reached the palace, and urad, being conducted to the seraglio, was ordered to be dressed, as the vizier intended visiting her. urad was thunderstruck at the news, and now began to fear houadir had forgotten her, and resolved, as soon as the eunuchs had left her, to drop a second peppercorn. but poor urad had forgotten to take her bag from her old garments, which the women who dressed her had carried away. she dissolved in fresh tears at this piece of carelessness. "well," said she, "surely houadir will neglect me, if i so easily neglect myself." she waited that night with fear and trembling; but no vizier appeared. this eased her greatly, and the next day, when the eunuchs came, they informed her that mussapulta had that evening been sent by the sultan to quell an insurrection, and that they did not expect him home under twenty days. during this time no pains were spared with urad to teach her the accomplishments of the country, all which, in spite of her unwillingness to learn in such a detestable place, she nevertheless acquired with the utmost ease and facility. the insurrection being quelled, the vizier returned, and, not unmindful of his fair captive, ordered that she might be prepared for his reception in the evening. accordingly urad was sumptuously adorned with jewels and brocades, and looked more beautiful than the fairest circassian; and the dignity of her virtue added such a grace to her charms, that even her keepers, the eunuchs, dared not look upon her. in the evening the chief eunuch led her into the presence of mussapulta. she shrank from him with horror. "what!" said he, "cannot a fortnight's pleasure in this palace efface the remembrance of your sorrows? but be gay and cheerful, for know that the vizier mussapulta esteems you beyond any of his wives." "the esteem of a robber, the esteem of a lawless ranger," answered urad, "charms not the ears of virtue." "what," said mussapulta, sternly, "dost thou refuse my proffered love? then shalt thou die! slay this proud maiden in my sight. cut off her head at once." the eunuch hesitated. "why," said the proud vizier, "do you delay to obey me?" as he said this an eunuch came running in haste, crying, "the sultan, the sultan almurah, approaches!" all was instant confusion. mussapulta turned pale and trembled. he ordered the eunuch to release the fair urad, and at that moment the faithful lion entered with the sultan almurah. the lion instantly seized on the vizier mussapulta, and tore him limb from limb. yet the generous animal would not defile himself with the carcass, but with great wrath tossed the bloody remains among the females of the seraglio. almurah commanded urad to advance, and at the sight of her, "o royal beast," said he to the lion, "i wonder not that thou wert unable to describe the beauties of this lovely maid, since they are almost too dazzling to behold. o virtuous maid," continued almurah, "whose excellencies i have heard from this faithful animal, if thou canst deign to accept of the heart of almurah, thy sultan will be the happiest of mankind; but i swear, by my unalterable will, that no power on earth shall force or distress you." "oh," sighed urad, "royal sultan, you honour your poor slave too much; yet happy should i be were houadir here!" as she spoke, the genius houadir entered the room: the face of the sage instructress still remained, but a glowing splendour surrounded her, and her walk was majestic and commanding. almurah bowed to the ground, urad made obeisance, and the rest fell prostrate before her. "my advice," said houadir, "is necessary now, o urad, nor ought young virgins to enter into such engagements without counsel and the approbation of those above them, how splendid and lucrative soever the union may appear. i, who know the heart of almurah, the servant of mahomet, know him to be virtuous: some excesses he has been guilty of, but they were chiefly owing to his villanous vizier, mussapulta." (here the lion gave a dreadful roar.) "against your command, almurah, did he wound this animal, which i endowed with speech for the service of urad, to teach her that strength and nobleness of soul would always support the innocent. "mussapulta having wounded him, commanded his slave to put the royal beast to death; but i gave the slave bowels of mercy, and he carried him home to his cottage till the wound was healed, when the lion, faithful to his trust, came towards you as you were hunting, and being endowed with speech, declared the iniquity of mussapulta--but he is no more. "now, urad, if thy mind incline to almurah, receive his vows, but give not thine hand where thy heart is estranged, for no splendour can compensate the want of affection." "if almurah, my gracious lord," answered urad, "will swear in three things to do my desire, his handmaid will be happy to serve him." "i swear," answered the fond almurah. "hadst thou three thousand desires, almurah would satisfy them or die." "what strange things," said houadir, "has urad to ask of the sultan almurah?" "whatever they are, gracious genius," said almurah, "urad, the lovely urad, may command me." "then," said urad, "first i require that the poor inhabitants of the forest be restored to their native lands, whence thou hast driven them." "by the great allah, and mahomet the prophet of the just," answered almurah, "the deed was proposed and executed by the villain mussapulta! yes, my lovely urad shall be obeyed. but now, urad," continued the sultan, "ere you proceed in your requests, let me make one sacrifice to chastity and justice, by vowing, in the presence of the good genius houadir, to dismiss my seraglio, and take thee only for my wife." "so noble a sacrifice," answered urad, "demands my utmost returns; wherefore, beneficent sultan, i release thee from any further compliance with my requests." "lovely urad," said almurah, "permit me, then, to dive into your thoughts:--yes, by your kind glances on that noble beast, i perceive you meditated to ask some bounty for your deliverer. he shall, fair virgin, be honoured as urad's guardian, and the friend of almurah; he shall live in my royal palace, with slaves to attend him; and, that his rest may not be inglorious or his life useless, once every year shall those who have injured the innocent be delivered up to his honest rage." the lovely urad fell at the feet of her sultan, and blessed him for his favours; and the sage houadir approved of urad's request and the promises of almurah. the lion came and licked the feet of his benefactors; and the genius houadir, at parting, poured her blessings on the royal pair. [illustration] alischar and smaragdine. [illustration] there lived once on a time, in the province of khorassan, a rich merchant, to whom, in his sixtieth year, a son was born, and he called his name alischar. fifteen years afterwards the father died, but not without giving his son, in the hour of death, many excellent advices and moral instructions as to his conduct through life. alischar buried his father, and not long afterwards his mother also, and began to exercise diligently the trade which his parents had bequeathed to him. in this way a whole year was spent, without the least departure from the wise course of behaviour which his father had prescribed for him in his last moments. but, unfortunately, ere many weeks more were gone, he fell into the company of certain vicious people, who seduced him into a life of such luxury and extravagance, that in a short time the money the old man had left him was entirely spent. proceeding in the same follies, he by-and-bye was obliged to part with the shop itself,--the household furniture followed,--and, in a word, alischar was left without anything he could call his own, except the bare roof over his head and the clothes upon his back. having nothing wherewithal to still the cravings of hunger, the youth might now be seen daily roaming about the streets, idle and listless. one day in this sad condition he was loitering about in the great square of the city, when his attention was attracted by a crowd of people, who seemed to be gathered around one who sold some merchandise by auction. he drew near, and, mixing among the assemblage, saw that the business was the selling of a beautiful young slave, who stood in the midst with a form of the most fascinating elegance, cheeks that outshone the rose, and beauty more dazzling than the reflection of the full moon in a fountain of dissolved pearls. scarcely had he looked upon her ere love seized him and mastered him; he knew not what to do or to say, but remained like a stone in the midst of the crowd, gazing. the bystanders, who were ignorant that alischar had so soon dissipated his patrimony, never doubted that he had come in order to be a bidder for the beautiful slave. the crier moved his situation so as to stand right opposite to him, with the girl in his hand, and began to call out the usual words more loudly than before, "ye rich merchants, ye honourable wholesale dealers, gentlemen all of worth and condition, what say ye for this brunette slave, who is the mistress of the moon of heaven, whose name is called smaragdine, and whose fame is purer than the pearl in the depths of the red sea? say your bidding, great and small." at first five hundred and twenty-five ducats were offered; but immediately there came forward an old man, by name beschadeddin, shapeless in his form and shuffling in his gait,--the aversion of every eye that rested on him. this old man came forward across the market-place, and offered without hesitation a thousand ducats. the crier cast his eyes around, but the former bidders remained silent, and then asked the master of the slave if he was satisfied with this offer. "i am," said the merchant, "but upon condition that the girl herself is so also; for i have sworn to her, that she shall be sold to no one for whose service she does not herself feel an inclination." upon this the crier turned to the girl, and asked her what she had to say to the matter. she cast her bright eyes upon the hateful old man, and replied, "know ye not the verse of the old poet, how he says: "'grey hairs were never formed to give me delight; sooner would i twist my fingers amidst the dead leaves that are about to fall from the tree, when the wind of winter is blowing?'" "you are right," said the auctioneer, laughing (and the master of the slave re-echoed his laugh and his answer); "let us see whether we cannot light upon a younger bidder." with that there drew near a man whose years were not few, but he had dyed his beard and moved trippingly. he also offered a thousand ducats; but at that moment smaragdine began to recite as from the book of some poet, but the verses were in truth her own: "'say to him that dyes his beard, that i love not the false. deception is in him that conceals the works of god and time. he that disguises his countenance, how shall one put faith in his words?'" a third now came forward, but unfortunately he was one-eyed. the slave regarded him, and quoted, or seemed to quote, without hesitation, "'avoid the one-eyed lover, maiden; how shall he be thy safe guardian, fair woman? will he love thee better than the apple of his eye?'" "look round you," said the crier; "is there none here that pleases you better?" and with this he pointed to a short stout man whose beard was of unusual dimensions. "fie!" said the slave, "this is he whom the poet had in his eye when he sang, "'providence has given my adorer too great an allowance of beard. this bush resembles the night of winter--long, black, and cold.'" "choose for yourself, girl," said the auctioneer, laughing more heartily than before; "i pray you look round upon all the circle of the bystanders." the slave cast her eyes slowly around the company, and at last rested them upon alischar, whose appearance had charmed her from the first moment. "mr. crier," said she, "i will belong to no one but this handsome young man. it is of him that the poet was thinking when he wrote those verses: "'sorrow and pain fly from the loveliness of his countenance, and pierce the hearts of the maidens every one. why are they not veiled deeply over the eyes? why court they destruction in gazing upon his beauty? the breath of his lip is like the odour of myrrh and camphor. men slander him; but the moon rises in heaven, and who will then believe that there is darkness?'" when she ceased from her recitation, her master drew near to alischar, and said, "friend, you see what a wonder of beauty, education, and eloquence this slave is; and, if you got such a treasure for a thousand ducats, be assured you were a most fortunate man. i swear to you that she can read the koran in seven different methods--that she excels equally in seven different styles of penmanship--that she embroiders to admiration in silk, in silver, and in gold--and that you will soon get your money out of her, if it were but by the sale of her works in the market-place." the crier also put in his word. "o sir," quoth he to alischar, "it is obvious that providence has an especial kindness for you: she is a pearl and a jewel. you are about to be the happiest of men." alischar could not help smiling when he heard all this. "how!" said he to himself, "last night i went supperless to bed, and yet these people all fancy i am in a condition to pay a thousand ducats for a dark-eyed slave!" he shook his head, for he would fain escape the pain of saying openly that he was too poor to think of such a purchase. "quick," said the beautiful slave, "let me speak to the young man myself: i must talk to him a little in private, for i am determined that he, and he only, shall buy me." the crier took her by the hand, and, leading her to alischar, retired a few paces to allow them opportunity of conversation. "amiable young man!" whispered she to the youth, "will you not buy me?" alischar shook his head sorrowfully. "aha!" said she, "i have it. perhaps you think i am too dear? will you give nine hundred ducats for me?" "no." "eight hundred?" "no." "seven hundred?" "no, no." and in this way she came down to one hundred ducats, receiving always the same melancholy monosyllable in reply. "i have not a hundred ducats in the world," said alischar, and a deep sigh came from his breast. "perhaps you could give ninety--eighty--seventy?" at last he could not help himself, and whispered in her ear,--"angel of light!" said he, "i have neither gold nor silver, not to talk of ducats; i have not a penny in the world: you must find another purchaser." "do what i bid you," answers she. "take hold of my hand, and kiss me on the side of the cheek, for that is the signal of the bargain being completed." alischar, scarcely conscious of his proceedings, obeyed the girl. the instant afterwards she drew a purse from her bosom, and said, "take that, my love; you will find a thousand ducats in it: pay nine hundred to my master for me, and lead your new slave home with all speed." when they came to the house there was neither bed, sofa, table, nor dish in it. the slave instantly sent alischar to the market to get a few necessary moveables and provisions. he did what she bade him. smaragdine forthwith put the house in the nicest order, and set about dressing a little supper with the most exquisite skill. in short, the next day alischar married the beautiful slave. then smaragdine set herself busily to work in embroidering a carpet. she represented on it all sorts of quadrupeds so skilfully that one expected to see them move; and birds, so that it was a wonder one did not hear them singing. in the whole of this work she occupied only eight days, and when these were over she sent her man to the market to sell the carpet, cautioning him, however, with great strictness, to avoid falling into any adventure that might terminate in their separation. alischar followed scrupulously the instructions of his wife, and in this manner, supported by smaragdine's needlework, they spent a whole year of undisturbed felicity. one day, as alischar was going to market with one of smaragdine's coverlets, as usual, to sell, he happened to meet with a certain infidel who at once offered him sixty ducats for it. he had a secret disinclination to have any dealings with a giaour, and asked first sixty-five, and then seventy ducats, and so up at last to a hundred. the man, to his astonishment, said, "well, there is your money;" and not having the face to play the extortioner further, alischar pursed the gold, and returned homewards. he was close to the door of his house ere he observed that the giaour had been following him, and was just behind him. "i see you are now at home," said the infidel, "and i beg you will have the kindness to give me a cup of water, for i have been broiling in the streets all day, and am ready to expire with thirst." alischar, who would never have forgiven himself for refusing so trivial a civility, went immediately into the house for a jug of water. "where have you been lingering so long to-day?" said smaragdine. "i know not how or why, but a certain painful anticipation of some misfortune has been hanging over my mind ever since you went out. it rejoices my very heart to see you come home sound and well again; but what is it you want with the water-jug?" "only to refresh a person who seems about to die of thirst," answered alischar; "but i shall be back again in a moment, my dear smaragdine." with this he ran downstairs, and was surprised to find the infidel, whom he had left without on the street, seated within the porch. "dog of a giaour!" says he, "what do you here?" "pardon me, good sir," replies the giaour; "i was so wearied that my legs refused to support me any longer, and it was a matter of mere necessity that i should sit down somewhere." alischar gave him a cup of water, and waited to see him arise and take his departure; but, behold, nothing was less in the man's mind. "out with you," at last cries alischar; "out this moment, i say." "blessed," says the giaour, "be they that refuse not a drink of water to him who standeth athirst before the door, and who grudge not a bit of bread to him that is a-hungered. now my thirst is quenched, but my hunger is even greater than that was. give me a bit of bread and a couple of onions, and for more i will not trouble you." "pack off!" said alischar; "there is nothing in the house." "with your leave, sir," says the other, producing his purse, "here are one hundred ducats: have the kindness to seek some bread and onions here in your neighbourhood, and i shall feel myself eternally obliged by your condescension." "the man is mad," thinks alischar to himself; "but that is no reason why i should suffer a hundred ducats to go a-begging for quarters." "haste, sir, haste!" continued the giaour. "i am near to death, so great is my hunger, and no one knows what sort of a misery that is until he has experienced it himself. if it be but a crust, a crumb--a morsel of dry meal even; but something i must have, else i want strength to move myself from this seat." "wait a moment, then," said alischar. and with that he went out, taking care to lock the door behind him. he soon returned with roast meat, pastry, honey, a water-melon, and some bread, upon a tray. "oh!" cried the giaour, when he saw him returning so, "this is too much. ten men might dine on this, and here am i alone before it all, unless you would do me the honour to sit with me." "eat alone," said alischar harshly. but by-and-bye the guest takes the water-melon, and divides it very neatly into two parts, contriving by dexterous management of the knife to besmear the one of these with a strong tincture of _nepenthe_ of crete and opium, enough to have put an elephant to sleep. "pray," said the infidel, holding the medicated half towards alischar, "accept this beautiful slice of melon at the hands of your servant." alischar could not be so rude as to refuse this: he ate the fruit, and in a moment the fatal effects of it were apparent, for he sank into utter oblivion, losing all his senses at once. the giaour rises softly the moment he perceives this, locks the door, and putting the key of the house in his pocket, runs with all speed to inform his brother of the success of his treachery. this was the old beschadeddin, our acquaintance, who, though he pretended to be a mussulman, had always remained an infidel. it was he who had excited his brother to all this knavery, in order that he himself might if possible gain possession of smaragdine. he now took his people with him, provided himself with gold, mounted his mule, and repaired directly to alischar's habitation. his slaves seized smaragdine by force, threatening her with instant death if she dared to utter a single cry, and so conveyed her in safety to the house of their master. "ah, wretch!" says the old reprobate, "have i got you at last into my hands? i swear to you, that if you do not consent to renounce mahomet i will make minced meat of you forthwith." "hack me and hew me into a thousand shreds, if such be your pleasure," answers she; "but know, wretch of wretches! that a moslem i am, and a moslem i will die. allah chastises those he best loves with difficulties and dangers, and upon him alone i set all my trust." upon this the wretched ancient gave orders to his female slaves to prick smaragdine's flesh with pins, and then to tie her up in the corner of the kitchen, but on no account to give her a morsel to eat. but even this last blow had no effect on smaragdine, who merely exclaimed as she had been doing before, "god is god, and mahomet is his prophet!" when poor alischar, on his part, awoke from his sleep, and found himself alone in his bed, fear unutterable came into his mind, and he began to cry out for his smaragdine like one possessed. but his cries were as useless as his searches: he could find his love nowhere, and concluded that the vile giaour had deceived him for the sake of abstracting her. at first he sat in a corner shedding hot tears, hour after hour, by himself; but perceiving that his tears were of no avail, he tore his garments, took a stone in each hand, and walked through the town beating his breast alternately with these stones, and crying out all the time in a loud voice of distress, "o smaragdine! smaragdine!" the children collected about him, and first one and then another of them entreated him to tell his story. he did so, and whoever heard him pitied him. after he had in this way gone through the whole town, he happened to see an old woman of his acquaintance sitting at her door, and saluted her respectfully. the old lady, being knowing in such matters, perceived at once the symptoms of a desolate lover, and asked him the reason of his distress. he told her all, and she said to him, "i am very much grieved for your case, my son; but take courage. i certainly think my assistance will be of much advantage to you. go hence immediately, buy one of the bread-baskets in which the hawkers carry their loaves about, and put a few articles of female attire in it. i undertake to go about with the wares, and i flatter myself you will ere long hear some tidings of smaragdine." alischar was out of himself with joy even at this small glimpse of hope; he covered the hand of the old dame with tears and kisses, and forthwith fetched her what she had asked for. she made herself ready without delay to commence her operations, and in the course of her wanderings came, after no long space of time, to the very house of beschadeddin. she happened to enter at a moment when the female slaves of the house were misusing poor smaragdine. "and what," says she, "has the poor child done to you that you should treat her so roughly?" "in truth," they answered, "we do what we do against our own inclination, but we must obey our master's orders." "not when he is from home, surely," says the old woman again; "do have a little pity. oblige me so far as to unbind this unfortunate, and refresh her a little with some food." the slave-girls, whose hearts were by no means destitute of sensibility, loosed her bands, and left her for a moment alone with the old woman. she made good use of the happy occasion, told her in whose name she had come, and said that if she would take care to be at the window exactly at midnight, alischar would be there at that moment, when she might easily drop upon his shoulders and regain her freedom. with this she hies away to alischar to make him acquainted with her success. she assured him that beschadeddin being from home, the slaves had promised to leave smaragdine unbound for that one night, and he needed not many words to make him undertake the adventure. he was at the appointed spot the moment darkness closed, determined to stand there and wait patiently for the time when his love should appear. but alas! his sorrow had cost him many slumberless nights, and now that he thought himself secure of his happiness again, long-absent sleep came, and overpowered him suddenly where he stood on the street. it happened that just about this time a thief was passing down the same street. perceiving that alischar was fast asleep, this fellow eased him of his turban, and setting that on his head, was about to proceed on his way. smaragdine, at this moment standing in the window, saw the gleam of her lover's turban, and never doubting that it was worn by alischar himself, opened the lattice, and said to the thief in an audible whisper, "come, come, love, i am ready to come down." "here is a fine adventure," quoth the thief to himself; "let us make the best of it." with this he placed himself below smaragdine's window, received her on his shoulders, and darted off with her like lightning. "oh," says she to him, "you are so strong, you trot as nimbly as if you were a horse under me; and the good old woman had persuaded me that grief had weakened you so that you could scarcely drag your own limbs along." the gentleman, on his part, made no answer to these observations, and smaragdine at last began to feel his face, which being very rough and half covered with hair, her error was apparent, and she began to cry out with all her might, "who art thou? who art thou?" "silence!" answered the thief: "i am hirvan the kurd, and i belong to the band of ahmed-ed-deyf. we are forty of us, all jolly brothers of the trade, and a happy life shall you lead with us." smaragdine perceived into what horrors her error had plunged her: she committed her soul to god and her body to the prophet, and allowed hirvan to proceed with her in silence. he conveyed her straight to a cavern without the city, which was the hiding-place of the band. at that moment there was no one in it but the mother of the captain, who had been left to arrange the plunder of the preceding night, and in particular the wardrobe of a young cavalier whom they had murdered, and whose horse and portmanteau were observed just within the entrance of the cavern. the young robber handed over smaragdine to the old lady's protection, and went out again in quest of more adventures; and no sooner were they alone than the old one began to praise smaragdine's beauty, and to felicitate her upon the prospect of being bride to her own son, the captain, whose manifold accomplishments she most vigorously extolled. smaragdine, after a little while, began to dry her tears, and by degrees affected to be quite comforted. she even went so far as to say that she regretted one thing more than all the rest, and this was that she could not take a bath, and be ready to give the captain a reception more worthy of his rank and character. "ah, the bath! the bath!" cries the old woman, "you are quite in the right; there is no comfort in this world like the bath; but it is a luxury i never enjoy, for i have nobody about me to shampoo me." "here am i," says smaragdine; "allow me to attend on you the first, and then you will do the like good office to me." the bargain was soon struck. the bath was got into order, and the old woman, the first time for many years, entered it. smaragdine kept the water very hot, and rubbed and scrubbed the old dame so, that she was quite in transports, and at length fell fast asleep under the pleasing influence. while she slept smaragdine took possession of the clothes and arms of the murdered cavalier, mounted his horse, and galloped from the cavern, without having the least notion whither. when morning broke she found herself in an uncultivated country, destitute of any marks of human habitation. she ate some roots and fruits, allowed her horse to graze under the trees, and so proceeded all the day. on the eleventh morning she descried, in the valley before her, a noble and beautifully situated town; and behold, as she drew nearer to the gates, there came from thence a multitude of horsemen, who surrounded her upon the highway, threw themselves on the ground before the hoofs of her horse, kissed her garment, and hailed her as the sultan sent to them by the especial care of heaven. each man clapped his hands, and exclaimed, _allah jausur es sultaun_![18] that is to say, god give victory to the sultan, king of the world--blessed be thy coming! [footnote 18: this is a cry which still survives in egypt--the very cry with which the inhabitants of that country welcomed successively, in 1800-1, the generals of the french, the turkish, and the english armies.] what may all this mean? thinks the bewildered girl to herself. she asked the question aloud, and the lord high chamberlain hastened to answer it. "know, sire," said he, "that when the sovereign of this city dies without children, all the inhabitants are, according to the constitution, assembled together in the great street, there ready to come out and salute as their prince the first traveller who happens to emerge from the wilderness; and in this manner it is impossible for us not to acknowledge the finger of providence, who gives the crown to the person he judges most fit to wear it. heaven be praised for having sent us, on this occasion, a king such as you seem to be; for had it been never such a ragamuffin, or even scoundrel, it must have been equally our duty to welcome him as our lord." "believe not," answered smaragdine, recollecting herself, "believe not that in me you hail any low-born prince. no, my lords, i am the son of a noble house, who happened to take into my head the fancy of riding through the world in quest of adventures; and here, as you perceive, gentlemen, here is one that appears to be by no means of a despicable description to begin with." without delay smaragdine held her triumphant entry into the city, opened the treasury chambers of the dead king, and distributed a large proportion of the gold that was found there to propitiate the goodwill of the inhabitants, above all of the army. in this way all hearts were won, and every class of the people remained full of affection and devotion to the sovereign authority. the sultan alone was unhappy. her thoughts rested afar off upon her alischar. in the harem she constrained herself so far as to appear well pleased with the songs, dances, and banquets prepared for her; but when night approached, she retired to a solitary chamber, and spent the silent hours in fasting and praying and melancholy reflection. after a full twelve months had been passed in this manner, without any tidings of the lost alischar, she assembled on the feast of the new year the viziers and lords of the chamber, and gave command that a vast amphitheatre should be erected in the centre of the city. in the midst a lofty dome was placed, below which seats were arranged for the nobles of the realm. here, when all was finished, smaragdine entertained them with a stately feast; and her heralds made proclamation, that henceforth, on the first day of every new moon, a season naturally devoted to festivities, the sultan would give a banquet to all his subjects in the amphitheatre: on that day, under pain of death, no shop should be opened, nor merchandise cared for. on the day of the first new moon, accordingly, the whole of the people were assembled in the presence of their prince. each ate, drank, and enjoyed himself as much as he could, well satisfied that in so doing he fulfilled the decree of his sovereign. glad at heart was smaragdine, for she flattered herself that this assembling of the people might one day or other furnish the means of getting some intelligence concerning her dear alischar. just while this thought passed through her mind, behold, a man rose up, and stretching out his hand, drew to himself from some distance a dish of milk, in which rice, sugar, and cinnamon were mingled, and there arose a cry of "shame! shame! shame on the glutton, who is unsatisfied with that which the king's bounty had placed before his own seat." "the reason," said the man, "is only this, that they have placed a fricassee before me, and i eat no fricassees." "i am convinced," cries another, "that this is some dog of an infidel, and that this happens to be one of their fast-days." smaragdine, whom this disturbance had not escaped, gave orders forthwith that the man should be brought before her throne. the people ceased from eating and drinking, and every eye and ear were fixed upon the footstool of the sultan. "what is your name?" said smaragdine, "and for what purpose have you come into my states?" the wretch, who had clothed himself in a white turban, which of right belongs only to the moslems, made answer, "my name is ali; i am a weaver by trade, and i have come hither in the hope to gain my bread honestly by the labour of my hands." "well, well," says smaragdine, "bring quickly hither my necromantic tablet _romla_, and the steel pen that belongs to it, and soon shall the truth be made manifest." with that she began, apparently, her calculation, cast her eyes upwards, and after a pause of some moments, said, "dog, thou liest! thou art a giaour, and thou hast come hither with some wicked intention. confess the truth, or thy head flies from thy shoulders upon the spot!" "pardon! pardon!" cried the stranger, altogether astonished; for he never doubted that the secret virtue of the _romla_ had detected him: "pardon, great king! it is true i am a giaour." smaragdine gave orders that he should instantly be hung, his carcass thrown into the court of offal, and his head fixed before the gate of the palace. the people witnessed the execution, and applauded equally the astrological skill and the stern justice of their sovereign. on the first day of the second month the same festival was repeated. it was again proclaimed that every one should eat, drink, and rejoice, but that none should on any account touch anything but what happened to be set before himself. the nobles assembled; the troops stood in order of parade; the people had taken their places in the amphitheatre. the king was on his throne, and surveyed the scene around with attentive eyes. at this moment a foreigner came, all hastily and dusty from his journey, to the door of the amphitheatre, and his loud inquiries as to the meaning of the splendid scene before him were heard distinctly even where the king sat. an old woman, near the entrance, explained to him the meaning of the feast, but forgot to inform him of the regulations as to meddling with dishes at a distance from one's own place. the man took his place, and shortly afterwards stretched out his hand to seize something a little way off. "hold!" cried at once a thousand voices; "hold, or you will be hanged." the man, who had no very pure conscience to sustain his nerves, took it for granted his fate was sealed; and, without a moment's delay, began leaping over the benches, in the hopes to make his escape. the king nodded; he was arrested and placed before the throne. "who art thou?" said smaragdine, "and wherefore hast thou come into our states?". "my name," answered he, "is osman. i am by profession a gardener, and have come hither to seek for certain rare trees and flowers." "holla, there!" cries the king, "bring hither quickly my tablet _romla_ and the steel pen, and speedily will the truth see daylight." with this, smaragdine began to study the tablet attentively: she kept her eyes for some moments fixed upon the sky, and then said, "hateful churl, thou liest! thy name is hirvan the kurd, and by profession thou art a thief. confess the truth, wretch!" the man's colour changed; his tongue refused its office; at length he confessed the truth. the king ordered him to be hung immediately, his carcass and head to be treated as had been done with those of the giaour. the people returned with quickened appetites to their dinner, and admired more than ever the wisdom and rectitude of their prince. the first day of the third moon brought with it the usual proclamation, the usual feast, and the usual consequences. a stranger appears, who, not knowing the law of the festival, transgresses it grossly, is accused, and finally conducted into the immediate presence of smaragdine, who puts to him the usual questions. "my name," replies the stranger, "is resim, and i am a poor dervish." "bring my _romla_ tablet and my steel pen," cries the king. they do as they are bid: smaragdine casts her eyes upwards, preserves for a moment the usual silence, and exclaims, "thou liest, dog! thy name is beschadeddin; outwardly thou art a moslem, but in heart an unbeliever: confess the verity, or thou diest." it was no one but beschadeddin. like the robber, he had, after the loss of the beautiful slave, set out upon his travels in the hope of finding her again, and his ill fortune had conducted him to the same city. full of dismay, he was constrained to confess the truth, and his head figured forthwith beside those of his brother adventurers. the feast proceeded with redoubled jollity, and louder than ever were the sagacity and justice of the sultan extolled. smaragdine alone took no part in the general merriment. it was the first morning of the fourth moon, as the people were congregated together for the usual festival, when there appeared, at one of the doors of the amphitheatre, a young man, beautiful as the day, but having the lustre of his complexion dimmed by the cloud of long afflictions. it was alischar, and smaragdine had nigh swooned away with the joy of beholding him. after he awoke in the street without his turban, and learnt from the old woman what had happened, and that his dear smaragdine had indeed vanished, though not in his company, his spirit was yielded up as a prey to the bitterest anguish. a sore illness fell upon him, and for a whole year he had lain helpless, nursed carefully by the good old woman. but as soon as he began to recover a little strength, he set out a-wandering though the world, if perchance he might yet once again find his wife. it happened that he came on the morning of this feast-day to the city where she was king, and, being unacquainted with the regulations of the amphitheatre, he fell into a mistake similar to that which had already proved fatal to so many travellers. he was, like them, accused and summoned to the prince's footstool. he knelt down reverently, and kissed the dust before her; and being asked what was his name and his business, made answer, without hesitation, "my name is alischar, and i am come hither, wandering over the whole earth, in quest of the fountain of my life, my dear smaragdine, whom i have lost." the king sent for the tablet _romla_ and the steel pen. "you have said the truth," says the king; "and i perceive that heaven designs ere long to restore to you your lost love." with this she commanded them to lead alischar to the bath, to clothe him in a robe of honour, and treat him in her palace with all respect and consideration. smaragdine could scarcely wait until night came, so great was her impatience. when it was dark, she commanded that alischar should be brought before her, and invited him to partake of the royal supper. the young man, who was naturally modest, was confounded with this condescension, but constrained himself, and acquitted himself as well as he could. it appeared that his behaviour gave no displeasure to the king; for, supper being ended, the chief of the black eunuchs came into the apartment, and alischar heard him receive his sovereign's orders to place him in one of the palace sleeping-chambers. presently a whisper was heard close to his pillow, and ere he could make any answer, his visitant revealed herself. it was smaragdine: she was out of herself with joy; she burst out into loud laughter, such as could proceed from no lips but hers, and made herself known to the enraptured alischar. next morning the king called together the nobles of the city, and requested them to choose some one to act as viceroy for a season, announcing the necessity of undertaking a journey to his own country in company with the stranger. they immediately complied with this request, and escorted the prince from their gates with all the splendour of royal attendance. but smaragdine had no intention ever to reclaim their homage: she had found her alischar, and preferred a life of love and peace in her native place, to a disagreeable disguise and the troublesome magnificence of sovereign estate. finis. * * * * * transcriber's notes this ebook is a set of two volumes. the table of contents for part ii is copied to follow the table of contents of part i. this seems to make the book more accessible. the table of contents of part ii is also located at its original location. from sea to sea from sea to sea letters of travel by rudyard kipling complete in one volume garden city new york doubleday, page & company 1913 copyright, 1899, 1907, by rudyard kipling. preface in these two volumes i have got together the bulk of the special correspondence and occasional articles written by me for the _civil and military gazette_ and the _pioneer_ between 1887-1889. i have been forced to this action by the enterprise of various publishers who, not content with disinterring old newspaper work from the decent seclusion of the office files, have in several instances seen fit to embellish it with additions and interpolations. rudyard kipling. contents of part i letters of marque i page of the beginning of things. of the taj and the globe-trotter. the young man from manchester and certain moral reflections 3 ii shows the charm of rajputana and of jeypore, the city of the globe-trotter. of its founder and its embellishment. explains the use and destiny of the stud-bred, and fails to explain many more important matters 10 iii does not in any sort describe the dead city of amber, but gives detailed information about a cotton-press 18 iv the temple of mahadeo and the manners of such as see india. the man by the water-troughs and his knowledge. the voice of the city and what it said. personalities and the hospital. the house beautiful of jeypore and its builders 25 v of the sordidness of the supreme government on the revenue side; and of the palace of jeypore. a great king's pleasure-house, and the work of the servants of state 33 vi showing how her majesty's mails went to udaipur and fell out by the way 41 vii touching the children of the sun and their city, and the hat-marked caste and their merits, and a good man's works in the wilderness 50 viii divers passages of speech and action whence the nature, arts, and disposition of the king and his subjects may be observed 62 ix of the pig-drive which was a panther-killing, and of the departure to chitor 70 x a little of the history of chitor, and the malpractices of a she-elephant 78 xi proves conclusively the existence of the dark tower visited by childe rolande, and of "bogey" who frightens children 88 xii contains the history of the bhumia of jhaswara, and the record of a visit to the house of strange stories. demonstrates the felicity of loaferdom, which is the veritable companionship of the indian empire, and proposes a scheme for the better officering of two departments 100 xiii a king's house and country. further consideration of the hat-marked caste 113 xiv among the houyhnhnms 124 xv treats of the startling effect of a reduction in wages and the pleasures of loaferdom. paints the state of the boondi road and the treachery of ganesh of situr 134 xvi the comedy of errors and the exploitation of boondi. the castaway of the dispensary and the children of the schools. a consideration of the shields of rajasthan and other trifles 144 xvii shows that there may be poetry in a bank, and attempts to show the wonders of the palace of boondi 158 xviii of the uncivilised night and the departure to things civilised. showing how a friend may keep an appointment too well 171 xix comes back to the railway, after reflections on the management of the empire; and so home again, with apology to all who have read thus far 180 from sea to sea i of freedom and the necessity of using her. the motive and the scheme that will come to nothing. a disquisition upon the otherness of things and the torments of the damned 193 ii the river of the lost footsteps and the golden mystery upon its banks. the iniquity of jordan. shows how a man may go to the shway dagon pagoda and see it not and to the pegu club and hear too much. a dissertation on mixed drinks 202 iii the city of elephants which is governed by the great god of idleness, who lives on the top of a hill. the history of three great discoveries and the naughty children of iquique 214 iv showing how i came to palmiste island and the place of paul and virginia, and fell asleep in a garden. a disquisition on the folly of sight-seeing 223 v of the threshold of the far east and the dwellers thereon. a dissertation upon the use of the british lion 233 vi of the well-dressed islanders of singapur and their diversions; proving that all stations are exactly alike. shows how one chicago jew and an american child can poison the purest mind 240 vii shows how i arrived in china and saw entirely through the great wall and out upon the other side 247 viii of jenny and her friends. showing how a man may go to see life and meet death there. of the felicity of life and the happiness of corinthian kate. the woman and the cholera 259 ix some talk with a taipan and a general: proves in what manner a sea picnic may be a success 268 x shows how i came to goblin market and took a scunner at it and cursed the chinese people. shows further how i initiated all hong-kong into our fraternity 281 xi of japan at ten hours' sight, containing a complete account of the manners and customs of its people, a history of its constitution, products, art, and civilisation, and omitting a tiffin in a tea-house with o-toyo 291 xii a further consideration of japan. the inland sea and good cookery. the mystery of passports and consulates and certain other matters 305 xiii the japanese theatre and the story of the thunder cat. treating also of the quiet places and the dead man in the street 313 xiv explains in what manner i was taken to venice in the rain and climbed into a devil fort; a tin-pot exhibition and a bath. of the maiden and the boltless door, the cultivator and his fields, and the manufacture of ethnological theories at railroad speed. ends with kioto 323 xv kioto, and how i fell in love with the chief belle there after i had conferred with certain china merchants who trafficked in tea. shows further how, in a great temple, i broke the tenth commandment in fifty-three places and bowed down before kano and a carpenter. takes me to arashima 337 xvi the party in the parlour who played games. a complete history of all modern japanese art; a survey of the past and a prophecy of the future, arranged and composed in the kioto factories 352 xvii of the nature of the tokaido and japanese railway construction. one traveller explains the life of the sahib-log, and another the origin of dice. of the babies in the bath tub and the man in d. t. 363 xviii concerning a hot-water tap, and some general conversation 375 xix the legend of nikko ford and the story of the avoidance of misfortune 386 xx shows how i grossly libelled the japanese army, and edited a civil and military gazette which is not in the least trustworthy 396 xxi shows the similarity between the babu and the japanese. contains the earnest outcry of an unbeliever. the explanation of mr. smith of california and elsewhere. takes me on board ship after due warning to those who follow 411 xxii shows how i came to america before my time and was much shaken in body and soul 423 xxiii how i got to san francisco and took tea with the natives there 436 xxiv shows how through folly i assisted at a murder and was afraid. the rule of the democracy and the despotism of the alien 451 contents of part ii from sea to sea xxv page tells how i dropped into politics and the tenderer sentiments. contains a moral treatise on american maidens and an ethnological one on the negro. ends with a banquet and a type-writer 3 xxvi takes me through bret harte's country and to portland with "old man california." explains how two vagabonds became homesick through looking at other people's houses 18 xxvii shows how i caught salmon in the clackamas 33 xxviii takes me from vancouver to the yellowstone national park 50 xxix shows how yankee jim introduced me to diana of the crossways on the banks of the yellowstone and how a german jew said i was no true citizen. ends with the celebration of the 4th of july and a few lessons therefrom 62 xxx shows how i entered mazanderan of the persians and saw devils of every colour, and some troopers. hell and the old lady from chicago. the captain and the lieutenant 73 xxxi ends with the cañon of the yellowstone. the maiden from new hampshire--larry--"wrap-up-his-tail"--tom--the old lady from chicago--and a few natural phenomena--including one briton 88 xxxii of the american army and the city of the saints. the temple, the book of mormon, and the girl from dorset. an oriental consideration of polygamy 106 xxxiii how i met certain people of importance between salt lake and omaha 120 xxxiv across the great divide; and how the man gring showed me the garments of the ellewomen 130 xxxv how i struck chicago, and how chicago struck me. of religion, politics, and pig-sticking, and the incarnation of the city among shambles 139 xxxvi how i found peace at musquash on the monongahela 154 xxxvii an interview with mark twain 167 the city of dreadful night i a real live city 185 ii the reflections of a savage 191 iii the council of the gods 199 iv on the banks of the hugli 208 v with the calcutta police 217 vi the city of dreadful night 223 vii deeper and deeper still 233 viii concerning lucia 240 among the railway folk i a railway settlement 249 ii the shops 257 iii vulcan's forge 266 the giridih coal-fields i on the surface 275 ii in the depths 284 iii the perils of the pits 291 part i letters of marque letters of marque i of the beginning of things. of the taj and the globe-trotter. the young man from manchester and certain moral reflections. nov.-dec., 1887 except for those who, under compulsion of a sick certificate, are flying bombaywards, it is good for every man to see some little of the great indian empire and the strange folk who move about it. it is good to escape for a time from the house of rimmon--be it office or cutchery--and to go abroad under no more exacting master than personal inclination, and with no more definite plan of travel than has the horse, escaped from pasture, free upon the countryside. the first result of such freedom is extreme bewilderment, and the second reduces the freed to a state of mind which, for his sins, must be the normal portion of the globe-trotter--the man who "does" kingdoms in days and writes books upon them in weeks. and this desperate facility is not as strange as it seems. by the time that an englishman has come by sea and rail _via_ america, japan, singapur, and ceylon, to india, he can--these eyes have seen him do so--master in five minutes the intricacies of the _indian bradshaw_, and tell an old resident exactly how and where the trains run. can we wonder that the intoxication of success in hasty assimilation should make him overbold, and that he should try to grasp--but a full account of the insolent globe-trotter must be reserved. he is worthy of a book. given absolute freedom for a month, the mind, as i have said, fails to take in the situation and, after much debate, contents itself with following in old and well-beaten ways--paths that we in india have no time to tread, but must leave to the country cousin who wears his _pagri_ tail-fashion down his back, and says "cabman" to the driver of the _ticca-ghari_. now, jeypore from the anglo-indian point of view is a station on the rajputana-malwa line, on the way to bombay, where half an hour is allowed for dinner, and where there ought to be more protection from the sun than at present exists. some few, more learned than the rest, know that garnets come from jeypore, and here the limits of our wisdom are set. we do not, to quote the calcutta shopkeeper, come out "for the good of our 'ealth," and what touring we accomplish is for the most part off the line of rail. for these reasons, and because he wished to study our winter birds of passage, one of the few thousand englishmen in india on a date and in a place which have no concern with the story, sacrificed all his self-respect and became--at enormous personal inconvenience--a globe-trotter going to jeypore, and leaving behind him for a little while all that old and well-known life in which commissioners and deputy-commissioners, governors and lieutenant-governors, aides-de-camp, colonels and their wives, majors, captains, and subalterns after their kind move and rule and govern and squabble and fight and sell each other's horses and tell wicked stories of their neighbours. but before he had fully settled into his part or accustomed himself to saying, "please take out this luggage," to the coolies at the stations, he saw from the train the taj wrapped in the mists of the morning. there is a story of a frenchman who feared not god, nor regarded man, sailing to egypt for the express purpose of scoffing at the pyramids and--though this is hard to believe--at the great napoleon who had warred under their shadow. it is on record that that blasphemous gaul came to the great pyramid and wept through mingled reverence and contrition; for he sprang from an emotional race. to understand his feelings it is necessary to have read a great deal too much about the taj, its design and proportions; to have seen execrable pictures of it at the simla fine arts exhibition, to have had its praises sung by superior and travelled friends till the brain loathed the repetition of the word; and then, sulky with want of sleep, heavy-eyed, unwashed, and chilled, to come upon it suddenly. under these circumstances everything, you will concede, is in favour of a cold, critical, and not too impartial verdict. as the englishman leaned out of the carriage he saw first an opal-tinted cloud on the horizon, and, later, certain towers. the mists lay on the ground, so that the splendour seemed to be floating free of the earth; and the mists rose in the background, so that at no time could everything be seen clearly. then as the train sped forward, and the mists shifted, and the sun shone upon the mists, the taj took a hundred new shapes, each perfect and each beyond description. it was the ivory gate through which all good dreams come; it was the realization of "the gleaming halls of dawn" that tennyson sings of; it was veritably the "aspiration fixed," the "sigh made stone" of a lesser poet; and, over and above concrete comparisons, it seemed the embodiment of all things pure, all things holy, and all things unhappy. that was the mystery of the building! it may be that the mists wrought the witchery, and that the taj seen in the dry sunlight is only, as guide-books say, a noble structure. the englishman could not tell, and has made a vow that he will never go nearer the spot, for fear of breaking the charm of the unearthly pavilions. it may be, too, that each must view the taj for himself with his own eyes, working out his own interpretation of the sight. it is certain that no man can in cold blood and colder ink set down his impressions if he has been in the least moved. to the one who watched and wondered that november morning the thing seemed full of sorrow--the sorrow of the man who built it for the woman he loved, and the sorrow of the workmen who died in the building--used up like cattle. and in the face of this sorrow the taj flushed in the sunlight and was beautiful, after the beauty of a woman who has done no wrong. here the train ran in under the walls of agra fort, and another train--of thought incoherent as that written above--came to an end. let those who scoff at overmuch enthusiasm look at the taj and thenceforward be dumb. it is well on the threshold of a journey to be taught reverence and awe. but there is no reverence in the globe-trotter: he is brazen. a young man from manchester was travelling to bombay in order--how the words hurt!--to be home by christmas. he had come through america, new zealand, and australia, and finding that he had ten days to spare at bombay, conceived the modest idea of "doing india." "i don't say that i've done it all; but you may say that i've seen a good deal." then he explained that he had been "much pleased" at agra; "much pleased" at delhi; and, last profanation, "very much pleased" at the taj. indeed, he seemed to be going through life just then "much pleased" at everything. with rare and sparkling originality he remarked that india was a "big place," and that there were many things to buy. verily, this young man must have been a delight to the delhi boxwallahs. he had purchased shawls and embroidery "to the tune of" a certain number of rupees duly set forth, and he had purchased jewellery to another tune. these were gifts for friends at home, and he considered them "very eastern." if silver filigree work modelled on palais royal patterns, or aniline blue scarves be eastern, he had succeeded in his heart's desire. for some inscrutable end it had been decreed that man shall take a delight in making his fellow-man miserable. the englishman began to point out gravely the probable extent to which the young man from manchester had been swindled, and the young man said: "by jove! you don't say so? i hate being done. if there's anything i hate, it's being done!" he had been so happy in the thought of "getting home by christmas," and so charmingly communicative as to the members of his family for whom such and such gifts were intended, that the englishman cut short the record of fraud and soothed him by saying that he had not been so very badly "done," after all. this consideration was misplaced, for, his peace of mind restored, the young man from manchester looked out of the window and, waving his hand over the empire generally, said: "i say. look here. all those wells are wrong, you know!" the wells were on the wheel and inclined plane system; but he objected to the incline, and said that it would be much better for the bullocks if they walked on level ground. then light dawned upon him, and he said: "i suppose it's to exercise all their muscles. y' know a canal horse is no use after he has been on the tow-path for some time. he can't walk anywhere but on the flat, y' know, and i suppose it's just the same with bullocks." the spurs of the aravalis, under which the train was running, had evidently suggested this brilliant idea which passed uncontradicted, for the englishman was looking out of the window. if one were bold enough to generalise after the manner of globe-trotters, it would be easy to build up a theory on the well incident to account for the apparent insanity of some of our cold weather visitors. even the young man from manchester could evolve a complete idea for the training of well-bullocks in the east at thirty seconds' notice. how much the more could a cultivated observer from, let us say, an english constituency, blunder and pervert and mangle? we in this country have no time to work out the notion, which is worthy of the consideration of some leisurely teuton intellect. envy may have prompted a too bitter judgment of the young man from manchester; for, as the train bore him from jeypore to ahmedabad, happy in his "getting home by christmas," pleased as a child with his delhi atrocities, pink-cheeked, whiskered, and superbly self-confident, the englishman whose home for the time was a dark bungaloathsome hotel, watched his departure regretfully; for he knew exactly to what sort of genial, cheery british household, rich in untravelled kin, that young man was speeding. it is pleasant to play at globe-trotting; but to enter fully into the spirit of the piece, one must also be "going home for christmas." ii shows the charm of rajputana and of jeypore, the city of the globe-trotter. of its founder and its embellishment. explains the use and destiny of the stud-bred, and fails to explain many more important matters. if any part of a land strewn with dead men's bones have a special claim to distinction, rajputana, as the cock-pit of india, stands first. east of suez men do not build towers on the tops of hills for the sake of the view, nor do they stripe the mountain sides with bastioned stone walls to keep in cattle. since the beginning of time, if we are to credit the legends, there was fighting--heroic fighting--at the foot of the aravalis and beyond, in the great deserts of sand penned by those kindly mountains from spreading over the heart of india. the "thirty-six royal races" fought as royal races know how to do, chohan with rahtor, brother against brother, son against father. later--but excerpts from the tangled tale of force, fraud, cunning, desperate love and more desperate revenge, crime worthy of demons and virtues fit for gods, may be found, by all who care to look, in the book of the man who loved the rajputs and gave a life's labours in their behalf. from delhi to abu, and from the indus to the chambul, each yard of ground has witnessed slaughter, pillage, and rapine. but, to-day, the capital of the state, that dhola rae, son of soora singh, hacked out more than nine hundred years ago with the sword from some weaker ruler's realm, is lighted with gas, and possesses many striking and english peculiarities. dhola rae was killed in due time, and for nine hundred years jeypore, torn by the intrigues of unruly princes and princelings, fought asiatically. when and how jeypore became a feudatory of british power and in what manner we put a slur upon rajput honour--punctilious as the honour of the pathan--are matters of which the globe-trotter knows more than we do. he "reads up"--to quote his own words--a city before he comes to us, and, straightway going to another city, forgets, or, worse still, mixes what he has learnt--so that in the end he writes down the rajput a mahratta, says that lahore is in the northwest provinces, and was once the capital of sivaji, and piteously demands a "guide-book on all india, a thing that you can carry in your trunk y' know--that gives you plain descriptions of things without mixing you up." here is a chance for a writer of discrimination and void of conscience! but to return to jeypore--a pink city set on the border of a blue lake, and surrounded by the low, red spurs of the aravalis--a city to see and to puzzle over. there was once a ruler of the state, called jey singh, who lived in the days of aurungzeb, and did him service with foot and horse. he must have been the solomon of rajputana, for through the forty-four years of his reign his "wisdom remained with him." he led armies, and when fighting was over, turned to literature; he intrigued desperately and successfully, but found time to gain a deep insight into astronomy, and, by what remains above ground now, we can tell that whatsoever his eyes desired, he kept not from him. knowing his own worth, he deserted the city of amber founded by dhola rae among the hills, and, six miles further, in the open plain, bade one vedyadhar, his architect, build a new city, as seldom indian city was built before--with huge streets straight as an arrow, sixty yards broad, and cross-streets broad and straight. many years afterward the good people of america builded their towns after this pattern, but knowing nothing of jey singh, they took all the credit to themselves. he built himself everything that pleased him, palaces and gardens and temples, and then died, and was buried under a white marble tomb on a hill overlooking the city. he was a traitor, if history speak truth, to his own kin, and he was an accomplished murderer; but he did his best to check infanticide, he reformed the mahometan calendar; he piled up a superb library and he made jeypore a marvel. later on came a successor, educated and enlightened by all the lamps of british progress, and converted the city of jey singh into a surprise--a big, bewildering, practical joke. he laid down sumptuous _trottoirs_ of hewn stone, and central carriage drives, also of hewn stone, in the main street, he, that is to say, colonel jacob, the superintending engineer of the state, devised a water supply for the city and studded the ways with standpipes. he built gas works, set afoot a school of art, a museum--all the things in fact which are necessary to western municipal welfare and comfort, and saw that they were the best of their kind. how much colonel jacob has done, not only for the good of jeypore city but for the good of the state at large, will never be known, because the officer in question is one of the not small class who resolutely refuse to talk about their own work. the result of the good work is that the old and the new, the rampantly raw and the sullenly old, stand cheek-by-jowl in startling contrast. thus, the sacred bull of shira trips over the rails of a steel tramway which brings out the city rubbish; the lacquered and painted cart behind the two little stag-like trotting bullocks catches its primitive wheels in the cast-iron gas-lamp post with the brass nozzle atop, and all rajputana, gayly clad, small-turbaned swaggering rajputana, circulates along the magnificent pavements. the fortress-crowned hills look down upon the strange medley. one of them bears on its flank in huge white letters the cheery inscription, "welcome!" this was made when the prince of wales visited jeypore to shoot his first tiger; but the average traveller of to-day may appropriate the message to himself, for jeypore takes great care of strangers and shows them all courtesy. this, by the way, demoralises the globe-trotter, whose first cry is, "where can we get horses? where can we get elephants? who is the man to write to for all these things?" thanks to the courtesy of the maharaja, it is possible to see everything, but for the incurious who object to being driven through their sights, a journey down any one of the great main streets is a day's delightful occupation. the view is as unobstructed as that of the champs élysées; but in place of the white-stone fronts of paris, rises a long line of open-work screen-wall, the prevailing tone of which is pink, caramel-pink, but house-owners have unlimited license to decorate their tenements as they please. jeypore, broadly considered, is hindu, and her architecture of the riotous, many-arched type which even the globe-trotter after a short time learns to call hindu. it is neither temperate nor noble, but it satisfies the general desire for something that "really looks indian." a perverse taste for low company drew the englishman from the pavement--to walk upon a real stone pavement is in itself a privilege--up a side-street, where he assisted at a quail fight and found the low-caste rajput a cheery and affable soul. the owner of the losing quail was a trooper in the maharaja's army. he explained that his pay was six rupees a month paid bimonthly. he had to pay the cost of his khaki blouse, brown-leather accoutrements, and jack-boots; lance, saddle, sword, and horse were given free. he refused to tell for how many months in the year he was drilled, and said vaguely that his duties were mainly escort ones, and he had no fault to find with them. the defeat of his quail had vexed him, and he desired the sahib to understand that the sowars of his highness's army could ride. a clumsy attempt at a compliment so fired his martial blood that he climbed into his saddle, and then and there insisted on showing off his horsemanship. the road was narrow, the lance was long, and the horse was a big one, but no one objected, and the englishman sat him down on a doorstep and watched the fun. the horse seemed in some shadowy way familiar. his head was not the lean head of the kathiawar, nor his crest the crest of the marwarri, and his forelegs did not belong to these stony districts. "where did he come from?" the sowar pointed northward and said, "from amritsar," but he pronounced it "armtzar." many horses had been bought at the spring fairs in the punjab; they cost about two hundred rupees each--perhaps more, the sowar could not say. some came from hissar and some from other places beyond delhi. they were very good horses. "that horse there," he pointed to one a little distance down the street, "is the son of a big government horse--the kind that the sirkar make for breeding horses--so high!" the owner of "that horse" swaggered up, jaw bandaged and cat-moustached, and bade the englishman look at his mount; bought, of course, when a colt. both men together said that the sahib had better examine the maharaja sahib's stable, where there were hundreds of horses, huge as elephants or tiny as sheep. to the stables the englishman accordingly went, knowing beforehand what he would find, and wondering whether the sirkar's "big horses" were meant to get mounts for rajput sowars. the maharaja's stables are royal in size and appointments. the enclosure round which they stand must be about half a mile long--it allows ample space for exercising, besides paddocks for the colts. the horses, about two hundred and fifty, are bedded in pure white sand--bad for the coat if they roll, but good for the feet--the pickets are of white marble, the heel-ropes in every case of good sound rope, and in every case the stables are exquisitely clean. each stall contains above the manger, a curious little bunk for the syce who, if he uses the accommodation, must assuredly die once each hot weather. a journey round the stables is saddening, for the attendants are very anxious to strip their charges, and the stripping shows so much. a few men in india are credited with the faculty of never forgetting a horse they have once seen, and of knowing the produce of every stallion they have met. the englishman would have given something for their company at that hour. his knowledge of horse-flesh was very limited; but he felt certain that more than one or two of the sleek, perfectly groomed country-breds should have been justifying their existence in the ranks of the british cavalry, instead of eating their heads off on six seers[1] of gram and one of sugar per diem. but they had all been honestly bought and honestly paid for; and there was nothing in the wide world to prevent his highness, if he wished to do so, from sweeping up the pick and pride of all the stud-bred horses in the punjab. the attendants appeared to take a wicked delight in saying "eshtud-bred"[2] very loudly and with unnecessary emphasis as they threw back the loin-cloth. sometimes they were wrong, but in too many cases they were right. [1] a seer is about two pounds. [2] stud-bred, _i.e._ bred at the indian government studs. the englishman left the stables and the great central maidan, where a nervous biluchi was being taught, by a perfect network of ropes, to "monkey-jump," and went out into the streets reflecting on the working of horse-breeding operations under the government of india, and the advantages of having unlimited money wherewith to profit by other people's mistakes. then, as happened to the great tartarin of tarescon, wild beasts began to roar, and a crowd of little boys laughed. the lions of jeypore are tigers, caged in a public place for the sport of the people, who hiss at them and disturb their royal feelings. two or three of the six great brutes are magnificent. all of them are short-tempered, and the bars of their captivity not too strong. a pariah-dog was furtively trying to scratch out a fragment of meat from between the bars of one of the cages, and the occupant tolerated him. growing bolder, the starveling growled; the tiger struck at him with his paw, and the dog fled howling with fear. when he returned, he brought two friends with him, and the three mocked the captive from a distance. it was not a pleasant sight and suggested globe-trotters--gentlemen who imagine that "more curricles" should come at their bidding, and on being undeceived become abusive. iii does not in any sort describe the dead city of amber, but gives detailed information about a cotton-press. and what shall be said of amber, queen of the pass--the city that jey singh bade his people slough as snakes cast their skins? the globe-trotter will assure you that it must be "done" before anything else, and the globe-trotter is, for once, perfectly correct. amber lies between six and seven miles from jeypore among the "tumbled fragments of the hills," and is reachable by so prosaic a conveyance as a _ticca-ghari_, and so uncomfortable a one as an elephant. _he_ is provided by the maharaja, and the people who make india their prey, are apt to accept his services as a matter of course. rise very early in the morning, before the stars have gone out, and drive through the sleeping city till the pavement gives place to cactus and sand, and educational and enlightened institutions to mile upon mile of semi-decayed hindu temples--brown and weather-beaten--running down to the shores of the great man sagar lake, wherein are more ruined temples, palaces, and fragments of causeways. the water-birds have their home in the half-submerged arcades and the crocodile nuzzles the shafts of the pillars. it is a fitting prelude to the desolation of amber. beyond the man sagar the road of to-day climbs up-hill, and by its side runs the huge stone causeway of yesterday--blocks sunk in concrete. down this path the swords of amber went out to kill. a triple wall rings the city, and, at the third gate, the road drops into the valley of amber. in the half light of dawn, a great city sunk between hills and built round three sides of a lake is dimly visible, and one waits to catch the hum that should arise from it as the day breaks. the air in the valley is bitterly chill. with the growing light, amber stands revealed, and the traveller sees that it is a city that will never wake. a few beggars live in huts at the end of the valley, but the temples, the shrines, the palaces, and the tiers-on-tiers of houses are desolate. trees grow upon and split the walls, the windows are filled with brushwood, and the cactus chokes the street. the englishman made his way up the side of the hill to the great palace that overlooks everything except the red fort of jeighur, guardian of amber. as the elephant swung up the steep roads paved with stone and built out on the sides of the hill, he looked into empty houses where the little grey squirrel sat and scratched its ears. the peacock walked on the house-tops, and the blue pigeon roosted within. he passed under iron-studded gates whose hinges were eaten out with rust, and by walls plumed and crowned with grass, and under more gate-ways, till, at last, he reached the palace and came suddenly into a great quadrangle where two blinded, arrogant stallions, covered with red and gold trappings, screamed and neighed at each other from opposite ends of the vast space. for a little time these were the only visible living beings, and they were in perfect accord with the spirit of the spot. afterwards certain workmen appeared; for it seems that the maharaja keeps the old palace of his forefathers in good repair, but they were modern and mercenary, and with great difficulty were detached from the skirts of the traveller. a somewhat extensive experience of palace-seeing had taught him that it is best to see palaces alone, for the oriental as a guide is undiscriminating and sets too great a store on corrugated iron roofs and glazed drain-pipes. so the englishman went into this palace built of stone, bedded on stone, springing out of scarped rock, and reached by stone ways--nothing but stone. presently, he stumbled across a little temple of kali, a gem of marble tracery and inlay, very dark and, at that hour of the morning, very cold. if, as viollet-le-duc tells us to believe, a building reflects the character of its inhabitants, it must be impossible for one reared in an eastern palace to think straightly or speak freely or--but here the annals of rajputana contradict the theory--to act openly. the cramped and darkened rooms, the narrow smooth-walled passages with recesses where a man might wait for his enemy unseen, the maze of ascending and descending stairs leading nowhither, the ever-present screens of marble tracery that may hide or reveal so much,--all these things breathe of plot and counter-plot, league and intrigue. in a living palace where the sightseer knows and feels that there are human beings everywhere, and that he is followed by scores of unseen eyes, the impression is almost unendurable. in a dead palace--a cemetery of loves and hatreds done with hundreds of years ago, and of plottings that had for their end, though the greybeards who plotted knew it not, the coming of the british tourist with guide-book and sun-hat--oppression gives place to simply impertinent curiosity. the englishman wandered into all parts of the palace, for there was no one to stop him--not even the ghosts of the dead queens--through ivory-studded doors, into the women's quarters, where a stream of water once flowed over a chiselled marble channel. a creeper had set its hands upon the lattice there, and there was dust of old nests in one of the niches in the wall. did the lady of light virtue who managed to become possessed of so great a portion of jey singh's library ever set her dainty feet in the trim garden of the hall of pleasure beyond the screen-work? was it in the forty-pillared hall of audience that the order went forth that the chief of birjooghar was to be slain, and from what wall did the king look out when the horsemen clattered up the steep stone path to the palace, bearing on their saddle-bows the heads of the bravest of rajore? there were questions innumerable to be asked in each court and keep and cell; but the only answer was the cooing of the pigeons. if a man desired beauty, there was enough and to spare in the palace; and of strength more than enough. with inlay and carved marble, with glass and colour, the kings who took their pleasure in that now desolate pile, made all that their eyes rested upon royal and superb. but any description of the artistic side of the palace, if it were not impossible, would be wearisome. the wise man will visit it when time and occasion serve, and will then, in some small measure, understand what must have been the riotous, sumptuous, murderous life to which our governors and lieutenant-governors, commissioners and deputy commissioners, colonels and captains and the subalterns, have put an end. from the top of the palace you may read if you please the book of ezekiel written in stone upon the hillside. coming up, the englishman had seen the city from below or on a level. he now looked into its very heart--the heart that had ceased to beat. there was no sound of men or cattle, or grind-stones in those pitiful streets--nothing but the cooing of the pigeons. at first it seemed that the palace was not ruined at all--that soon the women would come up on the house-tops and the bells would ring in the temples. but as he attempted to follow with his eye the turns of the streets, the englishman saw that they died out in wood tangle and blocks of fallen stone, that some of the houses were rent with great cracks, and pierced from roof to road with holes that let in the morning sun. the drip-stones of the eaves were gap-toothed, and the tracery of the screens had fallen out so that zenana-rooms lay shamelessly open to the day. on the outskirts of the city, the strong-walled houses dwindled and sank down to mere stone-heaps and faint indications of plinth and wall, hard to trace against the background of stony soil. the shadow of the palace lay over two-thirds of the city and the trees deepened the shadow. "he who has bent him o'er the dead" _after_ the hour of which byron sings, knows that the features of the man become blunted as it were--the face begins to fade. the same hideous look lies on the face of the queen of the pass, and when once this is realised, the eye wonders that it could have ever believed in the life of her. she is the city "whose graves are set in the side of the pit, and her company is round about her graves," sister of pathros, zoan, and no. moved by a thoroughly insular instinct, the englishman took up a piece of plaster and heaved it from the palace wall into the dark streets. it bounded from a house-top to a window-ledge, and thence into a little square, and the sound of its fall was hollow and echoing, as the sound of a stone in a well. then the silence closed up upon the sound, till in the far-away courtyard below the roped stallions began screaming afresh. there may be desolation in the great indian desert to the westward, and there is desolation on the open seas; but the desolation of amber is beyond the loneliness either of land or sea. men by the hundred thousand must have toiled at the walls that bound it, the temples and bastions that stud the walls, the fort that overlooks all, the canals that once lifted water to the palace, and the garden in the lake of the valley. renan could describe it as it stands to-day, and verestchaguin could paint it. arrived at this satisfactory conclusion, the englishman went down through the palace and the scores of venomous and suggestive little rooms, to the elephant in the courtyard, and was taken back in due time to the nineteenth century in the shape of his highness, the maharaja's cotton-press, returning a profit of twenty-seven per cent, and fitted with two engines, of fifty horse-power each, an hydraulic press, capable of exerting a pressure of three tons per square inch, and everything else to correspond. it stood under a neat corrugated iron roof close to the jeypore railway station, and was in most perfect order, but somehow it did not taste well after amber. there was aggressiveness about the engines and the smell of the raw cotton. the modern side of jeypore must not be mixed with the ancient. iv the temple of mahadeo and the manners of such as see india. the man by the water-troughs and his knowledge. the voice of the city and what it said. personalities and the hospital. the house beautiful of jeypore and its builders. from the cotton-press the englishman wandered through the wide streets till he came into an hindu temple--rich in marble stone and inlay, and a deep and tranquil silence, close to the public library of the state. the brazen bull was hung with flowers, and men were burning the evening incense before mahadeo; while those who had prayed their prayer beat upon the bells hanging from the roof and passed out, secure in the knowledge that the god had heard them. if there be much religion, there is little reverence, as westerns understand the term, at the services of the gods of the east. a tiny little maiden, child of a monstrously ugly, wall-eyed priest, staggered across the marble pavement to the shrine and threw, with a gust of childish laughter, the blossoms she was carrying into the lap of the great mahadeo himself. then she made as though she would leap up to the bell and ran away, still laughing, into the shadow of the cells behind the shrine, while her father explained that she was but a baby and that mahadeo would take no notice. the temple, he said, was specially favoured by the maharaja, and drew from lands an income of twenty thousand rupees a year. thakoors and great men also gave gifts out of their benevolence; and there was nothing in the wide world to prevent an englishman from following their example. by this time--for amber and the cotton-press had filled the hours--night was falling, and the priests unhooked the swinging jets and began to light up the impassive face of mahadeo with gas. they used swedish matches! full night brought the hotel and its curiously composed human menagerie. there is, if a work-a-day world will believe, a society entirely outside, and unconnected with, that of the station--a planet within a planet, where nobody knows anything about the collector's wife, the colonel's dinner-party, or what was really the matter with the engineer. it is a curious, an insatiably curious, thing, and its literature is newman's _bradshaw_. wandering "old arms-sellers" and others live upon it, and so do the garnetmen and the makers of ancient rajput shields. the world of the innocents abroad is a touching and unsophisticated place, and its very atmosphere urges the anglo-indian unconsciously to an extravagant mendacity. can you wonder, then, that a guide of long-standing should in time grow to be an accomplished liar? into this world sometimes breaks the anglo-indian returned from leave, or a fugitive to the sea, and his presence is like that of a well-known land-mark in the desert. the old arms-seller knows and avoids him, and he is detested by the jobber of gharis who calls every one "my lord" in english, and panders to the "glaring race anomaly" by saying that every carriage not under his control is "rotten, my lord, having been used by natives." one of the privileges of playing at tourist is the brevet-rank of "lord." there are many, and some very curious, methods of seeing india. one of these is buying english translations of the more zolaistic of zola's novels and reading them from breakfast to dinner-time in the verandah. yet another, even simpler, is american in its conception. take a newman's _bradshaw_ and a blue pencil, and race up and down the length of the empire, ticking off the names of the stations "done." to do this thoroughly, keep strictly to the railway buildings and form your conclusions through the carriage-windows. these eyes have seen both ways of working in full blast; and, on the whole, the first is the most commendable. let us consider now with due reverence the modern side of jeypore. it is difficult to write of a nickel-plated civilisation set down under the immemorial aravalis in the first state of rajputana. the red-grey hills seem to laugh at it, and the ever-shifting sand-dunes under the hills take no account of it, for they advance upon the bases of the monogrammed, coronet-crowned lamp-posts, and fill up the points of the natty tramways near the waterworks, which are the outposts of the civilisation of jeypore. escape from the city by the railway station till you meet the cactus and the mud-bank and the maharaja's cotton-press. pass between a tramway and a trough for wayfaring camels till your foot sinks ankle-deep in soft sand, and you come upon what seems to be the fringe of illimitable desert--mound upon mound of tussocks overgrown with plumed grass where the parrots sit and swing. here, if you have kept to the road, you shall find a dam faced with stone, a great tank, and pumping machinery fine as the heart of a municipal engineer can desire--pure water, sound pipes, and well-kept engines. if you belong to what is sarcastically styled an "able and intelligent municipality" under the british rule, go down to the level of the tank, scoop up the water in your hands and drink, thinking meanwhile of the defects of the town whence you came. the experience will be a profitable one. there are statistics in connection with the waterworks figures relating to "three-throw-plungers," delivery and supply, which should be known to the professional reader. they would not interest the unprofessional who would learn his lesson among the thronged standpipes of the city. while the englishman was preparing in his mind a scathing rebuke for an erring municipality that he knew of, a camel swung across the sands, its driver's jaw and brow bound mummy-fashion to guard against the dust. the man was evidently a stranger to the place, for he pulled up and asked the englishman where the drinking-troughs were. he was a gentleman and bore very patiently with the englishman's absurd ignorance of his dialect. he had come from some village, with an unpronounceable name, thirty _kos_ away, to see his brother's son, who was sick in the big hospital. while the camel was drinking the man talked, lying back along his mount. he knew nothing of jeypore, except the names of certain englishmen in it, the men who, he said, had made the waterworks and built the hospital for his brother's son's comfort. and this is the curious feature of jeypore; though happily the city is not unique in its peculiarity. when the late maharaja ascended the throne, more than fifty years ago, it was his royal will and pleasure that jeypore should advance. whether he was prompted by love for his subjects, desire for praise, or the magnificent vanity with which jey singh must have been so largely dowered, are questions that concern nobody. in the latter years of his reign, he was supplied with englishmen who made the state their fatherland, and identified themselves with its progress as only englishmen can. behind them stood the maharaja ready to spend money with a lavishness that no supreme government would dream of; and it would not be too much to say that they together made the state what it is. when ram singh died, madho singh, his successor, a conservative hindu, forbore to interfere in any way with the work that was going forward. it is said in the city that he does not overburden himself with the cares of state, the driving power being mainly in the hands of a bengali, who has everything but the name of minister. nor do the englishmen, it is said in the city, mix themselves with the business of government; their business being wholly executive. they can, according to the voice of the city, do what they please, and the voice of the city--not in the main roads, but in the little side-alleys where the stall-less bull blocks the path--attests how well their pleasure has suited the pleasure of the people. in truth, to men of action few things could be more delightful than having a state of fifteen thousand square miles placed at their disposal, as it were, to leave their mark on. unfortunately for the vagrant traveller, those who work hard for practical ends prefer not to talk about their doings, and he must, therefore, pick up what information he can at second-hand or in the city. the men at the standpipes explain that the maharaja sahib's father gave the order for the waterworks and that yakub (jacob) sahib made them--not only in the city, but out away in the district. "did the people grow more crops thereby?" "of course they did. were canals made only to wash in?" "how much more crops?" "who knows? the sahib had better go and ask some official." increased irrigation means increase of revenue for the state somewhere, but the man who brought about the increase does not say so. after a few days of amateur globe-trotting, a shamelessness great as that of the other loafer--the red-nosed man who hangs about one garden and is always on the eve of starting for calcutta--possesses the masquerader; so that he feels equal to asking a resident for a parcel-gilt howdah, or dropping into dinner with a lieutenant-governor. no man has a right to keep anything back from a globe-trotter, who is a mild, temperate, gentlemanly, and unobtrusive seeker after truth. therefore he who, without a word of enlightenment, sends the visitor into a city which he himself has beautified and adorned and made clean and wholesome, deserves unsparing exposure. and the city may be trusted to betray him. the _malli_ in the ram newas gardens--gardens which are finer than any in india and fit to rank with the best in paris--says that the maharaja gave the order and yakub sahib made the gardens. he also says that the hospital just outside the gardens was built by yakub sahib, and if the sahib will go to the centre of the gardens, he will find another big building, a museum by the same hand. but the englishman went first to the hospital, and found the out-patients beginning to arrive. a hospital cannot tell lies about its own progress as a municipality can. sick folk either come or lie in their own villages. in the case of the mayo hospital, they came, and the operation book showed that they had been in the habit of coming. doctors at issue with provincial and local administrations, civil surgeons who cannot get their indents complied with, ground-down and mutinous practitioners all india over, would do well to visit the mayo hospital, jeypore. they might, in the exceeding bitterness of their envy, be able to point out some defects in its supplies, or its beds, or its splints, or in the absolute isolation of the women's quarters from the men's. from the hospital the englishman went to the museum in the centre of the gardens, and was eaten up by it, for museums appealed to him. the casing of the jewel was in the first place superb--a wonder of carven white stone of the indo-saracenic style. it stood on a stone plinth, and was rich in stone-tracery, green marble columns from ajmir, red marble, white marble colonnades, courts with fountains, richly carved wooden doors, frescoes, inlay, and colour. the ornamentation of the tombs of delhi, the palaces of agra, and the walls of amber have been laid under contribution to supply the designs in bracket, arch, and soffit; and stone-masons from the jeypore school of art have woven into the work the best that their hands could produce. the building in essence if not in the fact of to-day, is the work of freemasons. the men were allowed a certain scope in their choice of detail and the result--but it should be seen to be understood, as it stands in those imperial gardens. and, observe, the man who had designed it, who had superintended its erection, had said no word to indicate that there were such a thing in the place, or that every foot of it, from the domes of the roof to the cool green chunam dadoes and the carving of the rims of the fountains in the courtyard, was worth studying! round the arches of the great centre court are written in sanskrit and hindi, texts from the great hindu writers of old, bearing on the beauty of wisdom and the sanctity of true knowledge. in the central corridor are six great frescoes, each about nine feet by five, copies of illustrations in the royal folio of the _razmnameh_, the _mahabharata_, which abkar caused to be done by the best artists of his day. the original is in the museum, and he who can steal it will find a purchaser at any price up to fifty thousand pounds. v of the sordidness of the supreme government on the revenue side; and of the palace of jeypore. a great king's pleasure-house, and the work of the servants of state. internally, there is, in all honesty, no limit to the luxury of the jeypore museum. it revels in "south kensington" cases--of the approved pattern--that turn the beholder homesick, and south kensington labels, whereon the description, measurements, and price of each object are fairly printed. these make savage one who knows how labelling is bungled in some of the government museums--our starved barns that are supposed to hold the economic exhibits, not of little states, but of great provinces. the floors are of dark red chunam, overlaid with a discreet and silent matting; the doors, where they are not plate glass, are of carved wood, no two alike, hinged by sumptuous brass hinges on to marble jambs and opening without noise. on the carved marble pillars of each hall are fixed revolving cases of the south kensington pattern to show textile fabrics, gold lace, and the like. in the recesses of the walls are more cases, and on the railing of the gallery that runs round each of the three great central rooms, are fixed low cases to hold natural history specimens and wax models of fruits and vegetables. hear this, governments of india from the punjab to madras! the doors come true to the jamb, the cases, which have been through a hot weather, are neither warped nor cracked, nor are there unseemly tallow-drops and flaws in the glasses. the maroon cloth, on or against which the exhibits are placed, is of close texture, untouched by the moth, neither stained nor meagre nor sunfaded; the revolving cases revolve freely without rattling; there is not a speck of dust from one end of the building to the other, because the menial staff are numerous enough to keep everything clean, and the curator's office is a veritable office--not a shed or a bath-room, or a loose-box partitioned from the main building. these things are so because money has been spent on the museum, and it is now a rebuke to all other museums in india from calcutta downwards. whether it is not too good to be buried away in a native state is a question which envious men may raise and answer as they choose. not long ago, the editor of a bombay paper passed through it, but having the interests of the egocentric presidency before his eyes, dwelt more upon the idea of the building than its structural beauties; saying that bombay, who professed a weakness for technical education, should be ashamed of herself. and he was quite right. the system of the museum is complete in intention, as are its appointments in design. at present there are some fifteen thousand objects of art, covering a complete exposition of the arts, from enamels to pottery and from brass-ware to stone-carving, of the state of jeypore. they are compared with similar arts of other lands. thus a damio's sword--a gem of lacquer-plated silk and stud-work--flanks the _tulwars_ of marwar and the _jezails_ of tonk; and reproductions of persian and russian brass-work stand side by side with the handicrafts of the pupils of the jeypore school of art. a photograph of his highness the present maharaja is set among the arms, which are the most prominent features of the first or metal-room. as the villagers enter, they salaam reverently to the photo, and then move on slowly, with an evidently intelligent interest in what they see. ruskin could describe the scene admirably--pointing out how reverence must precede the study of art, and how it is good for englishmen and rajputs alike to bow on occasion before geisler's cap. they thumb the revolving cases of cloths do those rustics, and artlessly try to feel the texture through the protecting glass. the main object of the museum is avowedly provincial--to show the craftsman of jeypore the best that his predecessors could do, and what foreign artists have done. in time--but the curator of the museum has many schemes which will assuredly bear fruit in time, and it would be unfair to divulge them. let those who doubt the thoroughness of a museum under one man's control, built, filled, and endowed with royal generosity--an institution perfectly independent of the government of india--go and exhaustively visit dr. hendley's charge at jeypore. like the man who made the building, he refuses to talk, and so the greater part of the work that he has in hand must be guessed at. at one point, indeed, the curator was taken off his guard. a huge map of the kingdom showed in green the portions that had been brought under irrigation, while blue circles marked the towns that owned dispensaries. "i want to bring every man in the state within twenty miles of a dispensary--and i've nearly done it," said he. then he checked himself, and went off to food-grains in little bottles as being neutral and colourless things. envy is forced to admit that the arrangement of the museum--far too important a matter to be explained off-hand--is continental in its character, and has a definite end and bearing--a trifle omitted by many institutions other than museums. but--in fine, what can one say of a collection whose very labels are gilt-edged! shameful extravagance? nothing of the kind--only finish, perfectly in keeping with the rest of the fittings--a finish that we in _kutcha_[3] india have failed to catch. [3] casual: half-finished. from the museum go out through the city to the maharaja's palace--skilfully avoiding the man who would show you the maharaja's european billiard-room,--and wander through a wilderness of sunlit, sleepy courts, gay with paint and frescoes, till you reach an inner square, where smiling grey-bearded men squat at ease and play _chaupur_[4]--just such a game as cost the pandavs the fair draupadi--with inlaid dice and gayly lacquered pieces. these ancients are very polite and will press you to play, but give no heed to them, for _chaupur_ is an expensive game--expensive as quail-fighting, when you have backed the wrong bird and the people are laughing at your inexperience. the maharaja's palace is gay, overwhelmingly rich in candelabra, painted ceilings, gilt mirrors, and other evidences of a too hastily assimilated civilisation; but, if the evidence of the ear can be trusted, the old, old game of intrigue goes on as merrily as of yore. a figure in saffron came out of a dark arch into the sunlight, almost falling into the arms of one in pink. "where have you come from?" "i have been to see ----" the name was unintelligible. "that is a lie; you have _not_!" then, across the court, some one laughed a low, croaking laugh. the pink and saffron figures separated as though they had been shot, and disappeared into separate bolt-holes. it was a curious little incident, and might have meant a great deal or just nothing at all. it distracted the attention of the ancients bowed above the _chaupur_ cloth. [4] something like _parchesi_. in the palace-gardens there is even a greater stillness than that about the courts, and here nothing of the west, unless a critical soul might take exception to the lamp-posts. at the extreme end lies a lake-like tank swarming with _muggers_.[5] it is reached through an opening under a block of zenana buildings. remembering that all beasts by the palaces of kings or the temples of priests in this country would answer to the name of "brother," the englishman cried with the voice of faith across the water. and the mysterious freemasonry did not fail. at the far end of the tank rose a ripple that grew and grew and grew like a thing in a nightmare, and became presently an aged _mugger_. as he neared the shore, there emerged, the green slime thick upon his eyelids, another beast, and the two together snapped at a cigar-butt--the only reward for their courtesy. then, disgusted, they sank stern first with a gentle sigh. now a _mugger's_ sigh is the most suggestive sound in animal speech. it suggested first the zenana buildings overhead, the walled passes through the purple hills beyond, a horse that might clatter through the passes till he reached the man sagar lake below the passes, and a boat that might row across the man sagar till it nosed the wall of the palace-tank, and then--then uprose the _mugger_ with the filth upon his forehead and winked one horny eyelid--in truth he did!--and so supplied a fitting end to a foolish fiction of old days and things that might have been. but it must be unpleasant to live in a house whose base is washed by such a tank. [5] crocodiles. and so back through the chunamed courts, and among the gentle sloping paths between the orange trees, up to an entrance of the palace, guarded by two rusty brown dogs from kabul, each big as a man, and each requiring a man's charpoy to sleep upon. very gay was the front of the palace, very brilliant were the glimpses of the damask-couched, gilded rooms within, and very, very civilised were the lamp-posts with ram singh's monogram, devised to look like v. r., at the bottom, and a coronet at the top. an unseen brass band among the orange bushes struck up the overture of the _bronze horse_. those who know the music will see at once that that was the only tune which exactly and perfectly fitted the scene and its surroundings. it was a coincidence and a revelation. in his time and when he was not fighting, jey singh, the second, who built the city, was a great astronomer--a royal omar khayyam, for he, like the tent-maker of nishapur, reformed a calendar, and strove to wring their mysteries from the stars with instruments worthy of a king. but in the end he wrote that the goodness of the almighty was above everything, and died, leaving his observatory to decay without the palace-grounds. from the _bronze horse_ to the grass-grown enclosure that holds the yantr samrat, or prince of dials, is rather an abrupt passage. jey singh built him a dial with a gnomon some ninety feet high, to throw a shadow against the sun, and the gnomon stands to-day, though there is grass in the kiosque at the top and the flight of steps up the hypotenuse is worn. he built also a zodiacal dial--twelve dials upon one platform--to find the moment of true noon at any time of the year, and hollowed out of the earth place for two hemispherical cups, cut by belts of stone, for comparative observations. he made cups for calculating eclipses, and a mural quadrant and many other strange things of stone and mortar, of which people hardly know the names and but very little of the uses. once, said a man in charge of two tiny elephants, _indur_ and _har_, a sahib came with the viceroy, and spent eight days in the enclosure of the great neglected observatory, seeing and writing things in a book. but _he_ understood _sanskrit_--the sanskrit upon the faces of the dials, and the meaning of the gnoma and pointers. nowadays no one understands sanskrit--not even the pundits; but without doubt jey singh was a great man. the hearer echoed the statement, though he knew nothing of astronomy, and of all the wonders in the observatory was only struck by the fact that the shadow of the prince of dials moved over its vast plate so quickly that it seemed as though time, wroth at the insolence of jey singh, had loosed the horses of the sun and were sweeping everything--dainty palace-gardens and ruinous instruments--into the darkness of eternal night. so he went away chased by the shadow on the dial, and returned to the hotel, where he found men who said--this must be a catch-word of globe-trotters--that they were "much pleased at" amber. they further thought that "house-rent would be cheap in those parts," and sniggered over the witticism. there is a class of tourists, and a strangely large one, who individually never get farther than the "much pleased" state under any circumstances. this same class of tourists, it has also been observed, are usually free with hackneyed puns, vapid phrases, and alleged or bygone jokes. jey singh, in spite of a few discreditable _laches_, was a temperate and tolerant man; but he would have hanged those globe-trotters in their trunk-straps as high as the yantr samrat. next morning, in the grey dawn, the englishman rose up and shook the sand of jeypore from his feet, and went with master coryatt and sir thomas roe to "adsmir," wondering whether a year in jeypore would be sufficient to exhaust its interest, and why he had not gone out to the tombs of the dead kings and the passes of gulta and the fort of motee dungri. but what he wondered at most--knowing how many men who have in any way been connected with the birth of an institution, do, to the end of their days, continue to drag forward and exhume their labours and the honours that did _not_ come to them--was the work of the two men who, together for years past, have been pushing jeypore along the stone-dressed paths of civilisation, peace, and comfort. "servants of the raj" they called themselves, and surely they have served the raj past all praise. the people in the city and the camel-driver from the sand-hills told of their work. they themselves held their peace as to what they had done, and, when pressed, referred--crowning baseness--to reports. printed ones! vi showing how her majesty's mails went to udaipur and fell out by the way. arrived at ajmir, the englishman fell among tents pitched under the shadow of a huge banian tree, and in them was a punjabi. now there is no brotherhood like the brotherhood of the pauper province; for it is even greater than the genial and unquestioning hospitality which, in spite of the loafer and the globe-trotter, seems to exist throughout india. ajmir being british territory, though the inhabitants are allowed to carry arms, is the headquarters of many of the banking firms who lend to the native states. the complaint of the setts[6] to-day is that their trade is bad, because an unsympathetic government induces native states to make railways and become prosperous. "look at jodhpur!" said a gentleman whose possessions might be roughly estimated at anything between thirty and forty-five lakhs. "time was when jodhpur was always in debt--and not so long ago, either. now, they've got a railroad and are carrying salt over it, and, as sure as i stand here, they have a _surplus_! what can we do?" poor pauper! however, he makes a little profit on the fluctuations in the coinage of the states round him, for every small king seems to have the privilege of striking his own image and inflicting the great exchange question on his subjects. it is a poor state that has not two seers and five different rupees. [6] native bankers. from a criminal point of view, ajmir is not a pleasant place. the native states lie all round and about it, and portions of the district are ten miles off, native state-locked on every side. thus the criminal, who may be a burglarious meena lusting for the money bags of the setts, or a peshawari down south on a cold weather tour, has his plan of campaign much simplified. the englishman made only a short stay in the town, hearing that there was to be a ceremony--_tamasha_ covers a multitude of things--at the capital of his highness the maharana of udaipur--a town some hundred and eighty miles south of ajmir, not known to many people beyond viceroys and their staffs and the officials of the rajputana agency. so he took a neemuch train in the very early morning and, with the punjabi, went due south to chitor, the point of departure for udaipur. in time the aravalis gave place to a dead, flat, stone-strewn plain, thick with dhak-jungle. later the date-palm fraternised with the dhak, and low hills stood on either side of the line. to this succeeded a tract rich in pure white stone--the line was ballasted with it. then came more low hills, each with a cock's comb of splintered rock, overlooking dhak-jungle and villages fenced with thorns--places that at once declared themselves tigerish. last, the huge bulk of chitor showed itself on the horizon. the train crossed the gumber river and halted almost in the shadow of the hills on which the old pride of udaipur was set. it is difficult to give an idea of the chitor fortress; but the long line of brown wall springing out of bush-covered hill suggested at once those pictures, such as the _graphic_ publishes, of the _inflexible_ or the _devastation_--gigantic men-of-war with a very low free-board ploughing through green sea. the hill on which the fort stands is ship-shaped and some miles long, and, from a distance, every inch appears to be scarped and guarded. but there was no time to see chitor. the business of the day was to get, if possible, to udaipur from chitor station, which was composed of one platform, one telegraph-room, a bench, and several vicious dogs. the state of udaipur is as backward as jeypore is advanced--if we judge it by the standard of civilisation. it does not approve of the incursions of englishmen, and, to do it justice, it thoroughly succeeds in conveying its silent sulkiness. still, where there is one english resident, one doctor, one engineer, one settlement officer, and one missionary, there must be a mail at least once a day. there was a mail. the englishman, men said, might go by it if he liked, or he might not. then, with a great sinking of the heart, he began to realise that his caste was of no value in the stony pastures of mewar, among the swaggering gentlemen, who were so lavishly adorned with arms. there was a mail, the ghost of a tonga, with tattered side-cloths and patched roof, inconceivably filthy within and without, and it was her majesty's. there was another tonga,--an _aram_ tonga, a carriage of ease--but the englishman was not to have it. it was reserved for a rajput thakur who was going to udaipur with his "tail." the thakur, in claret-coloured velvet with a blue turban, a revolver--army pattern--a sword, and five or six friends, also with swords, came by and indorsed the statement. now, the mail tonga had a wheel which was destined to become the wheel of fate, and to lead to many curious things. two diseased yellow ponies were extracted from a dung-hill and yoked to the tonga; and after due deliberation her majesty's mail started, the thakur following. in twelve hours, or thereabouts, the seventy miles between chitor and udaipur would be accomplished. behind the tonga cantered an armed sowar. he was the guard. the thakur's tonga came up with a rush, ran deliberately across the bows of the englishman, chipped a pony, and passed on. one lives and learns. the thakur seems to object to following the foreigner. at the halting-stages, once in every six miles, that is to say, the ponies were carefully undressed and all their accoutrements fitted more or less accurately on to the backs of any ponies that might happen to be near; the released animals finding their way back to their stables alone and unguided. there were no grooms, and the harness hung on by special dispensation of providence. still the ride over a good road, driven through a pitilessly stony country, had its charms for a while. at sunset the low hills turned to opal and wine-red and the brown dust flew up pure gold; for the tonga was running straight into the sinking sun. now and again would pass a traveller on a camel, or a gang of _bunjarras_[7] with their pack-bullocks and their women; and the sun touched the brasses of their swords and guns till the poor wretches seemed rich merchants come back from travelling with sindbad. [7] gipsy traders. on a rock on the right-hand side, thirty-four great vultures were gathered over the carcass of a steer. and this was an evil omen. they made unseemly noises as the tonga passed, and a raven came out of a bush on the right and answered them. to crown all, one of the hide and skin castes sat on the left-hand side of the road, cutting up some of the flesh that he had stolen from the vultures. could a man desire three more inauspicious signs for a night's travel? twilight came, and the hills were alive with strange noises, as the red moon, nearly at her full, rose over chitor. to the low hills of the mad geological formation, the tumbled strata that seem to obey no law, succeeded level ground, the pasture lands of mewar, cut by the beruch and wyan, streams running over smooth water-worn rock, and, as the heavy embankments and ample waterways showed, very lively in the rainy season. in this region occurred the last and most inauspicious omen of all. something had gone wrong with a crupper, a piece of blue and white punkah-cord. the englishman pointed it out, and the driver, descending, danced on that lonely road an unholy dance, singing the while: "the _dumchi_![8] the _dumchi_! the _dumchi_!" in a shrill voice. then he returned and drove on, while the englishman wondered into what land of lunatics he was heading. at an average speed of six miles an hour, it is possible to see a great deal of the country; and, under brilliant moonlight, mewar was desolately beautiful. there was no night traffic on the road, no one except the patient sowar, his shadow an inky blot on white, cantering twenty yards behind. once the tonga strayed into a company of date trees that fringed the path, and once rattled through a little town, and once the ponies shied at what the driver said was a rock. but it jumped up in the moonlight and went away. [8] the crupper. then came a great blasted heath whereon nothing was more than six inches high--a wilderness covered with grass and low thorn; and here, as nearly as might be midway between chitor and udaipur, the wheel of fate, which had been for some time beating against the side of the tonga, came off, and her majesty's mails, two bags including parcels, collapsed on the wayside: while the englishman repented him that he had neglected the omens of the vultures and the raven, the low-caste man and the mad driver. there was a consultation and an examination of the wheel, but the whole tonga was rotten, and the axle was smashed and the axle pins were bent and nearly red-hot. "it is nothing," said the driver, "the mail often does this. what is a wheel?" he took a big stone and began hammering proudly on the tire, to show that that at least was sound. a hasty court-martial revealed that there was absolutely not one single relief vehicle on the whole road between chitor and udaipur. now this wilderness was so utterly waste that not even the barking of a dog or the sound of a night-fowl could be heard. luckily the thakur had, some twenty miles back, stepped out to smoke by the roadside, and his tonga had been passed meanwhile. the sowar was sent back to find that tonga and bring it on. he cantered into the haze of the moonlight and disappeared. then said the driver: "had there been no tonga behind us, i should have put the mails on a horse, because the sirkar's mail cannot stop." the englishman sat down upon the parcels-bag, for he felt that there was trouble coming. the driver looked east and west and said: "i, too, will go and see if the tonga can be found, for the sirkar's dak cannot stop. meantime, oh, sahib, do you take care of the mails--one bag and one bag of parcels." so he ran swiftly into the haze of the moonlight and was lost, and the englishman was left alone in charge of her majesty's mails, two unhappy ponies, and a lop-sided tonga. he lit a fire, for the night was bitterly cold, and only mourned that he could not destroy the whole of the territories of his highness, the maharana of udaipur. but he managed to raise a very fine blaze, before he reflected that all this trouble was his own fault for wandering into native states undesirous of englishmen. the ponies coughed dolorously from time to time, but they could not lift the weight of a dead silence that seemed to be crushing the earth. after an interval measurable by centuries, sowar, driver, and thakur's tonga reappeared; the latter full to the brim and bubbling over with humanity and bedding. "we will now," said the driver, not deigning to notice the englishman who had been on guard over the mails, "put the sirkar's mail into this tonga and go forward." amiable heathen! he was going--he said so--to leave the englishman to wait in the sahara, for certainly thirty hours and perhaps forty-eight. tongas are scarce on the udaipur road. there are a few occasions in life when it is justifiable to delay her majesty's mail. this was one of them. seating himself upon the parcels-bag, the englishman cried in what was intended to be a very terrible voice, but the silence soaked it up and left only a thin trickle of sound, that any one who touched the bags would be hit with a stick, several times, over the head. the bags were the only link between him and the civilisation he had so rashly foregone. and there was a pause. the thakur put his head out of the tonga and spoke shrilly in mewari. the englishman replied in english-urdu. the thakur withdrew his head, and from certain grunts that followed seemed to be wakening his retainers. then two men fell sleepily out of the tonga and walked into the night. "come in," said the thakur, "you and your baggage. my pistol is in that corner; be careful." the englishman, taking a mail-bag in one hand for safety's sake,--the wilderness inspires an anglo-indian cockney, with unreasoning fear,--climbed into the tonga, which was then loaded far beyond plimsoll mark, and the procession resumed its journey. every one in the vehicle--it seemed as full as the railway carriage that held alice through the looking-glass--was _sahib_ and _hazur_. except the englishman. he was simple _tum_ (thou), and a revolver, army pattern, was printing every diamond in the chequer-work of its handle, on his right hip. when men desired him to move, they prodded him with the handles of _tulwars_ till they had coiled him into an uneasy lump. then they slept upon him, or cannoned against him as the tonga bumped. it was an _aram_ tonga, a tonga for ease. that was the bitterest thought of all! in due season the harness began to break once every five minutes, and the driver vowed that the wheels would give way also. after eight hours in one position, it is excessively difficult to walk, still more difficult to climb up an unknown road into a dak-bungalow; but he who has sought sleep on an arsenal and under the bodies of burly rajputs can do it. the grey dawn brought udaipur and a french bedstead. as the tonga jingled away, the englishman heard the familiar crack of broken harness. so he was not the jonah he had been taught to consider himself all through that night of penance! a jackal sat in the verandah and howled him to sleep, and he dreamed that he caught a viceroy under the walls of chitor and beat him with a _tulwar_ till he turned into a dak-pony whose near foreleg was perpetually coming off and who would say nothing but _tum_ when he was asked why he had not built a railway from chitor to udaipur. vii touching the children of the sun and their city, and the hat-marked caste and their merits, and a good man's works in the wilderness. it was worth a night's discomfort and revolver-beds to sleep upon--this city of the suryavansi, hidden among the hills that encompass the great pichola lake. truly, the king who governs to-day is wise in his determination to have no railroad to his capital. his predecessor was more or less enlightened, and had he lived a few years longer, would have brought the iron horse through the dobarri--the green gate which is the entrance of the girwa or girdle of hills around udaipur; and, with the train, would have come the tourist who would have scratched his name upon the temple of garuda and laughed horse-laughs upon the lake. let us, therefore, be thankful that the capital of mewar is hard to reach. each man in this land who has any claims to respectability walks armed, carrying his tulwar sheathed in his hand, or hung by a short sling of cotton passing over the shoulder, under his left armpit. his matchlock, or smooth-bore, if he has one, is borne naked on the shoulder. now it is possible to carry any number of lethal weapons without being actually dangerous. an unhandy revolver, for instance, may be worn for years, and, at the end, accomplish nothing more noteworthy than the murder of its owner. but the rajput's weapons are not meant for display. the englishman caught a camel-driver who talked to him in mewari, which is a heathenish dialect, something like multani to listen to; and the man, very gracefully and courteously, handed him his sword and matchlock, the latter a heavy stump-stock arrangement without pretence of sights. the blade was as sharp as a razor, and the gun in perfect working order. the coiled fuse on the stock was charred at the end, and the curled ram's-horn powder-horn opened as readily as a much-handled whisky-flask. unfortunately, ignorance of mewari prevented conversation; so the camel-driver resumed his accoutrements and jogged forward on his beast--a superb black one, with the short curled _hubshee_ hair--while the englishman went to the city, which is built on hills on the borders of the lake. by the way, everything in udaipur is built on a hill. there is no level ground in the place, except the durbar gardens, of which more hereafter. because colour holds the eye more than form, the first thing noticeable was neither temple nor fort, but an ever-recurring picture, painted in the rudest form of native art, of a man on horseback armed with a lance, charging an elephant-of-war. as a rule, the elephant was depicted on one side the house-door and the rider on the other. there was no representation of an army behind. the figures stood alone upon the whitewash on house and wall and gate, again and again and again. a highly intelligent priest grunted that it was a picture; a private of the maharana's regular army suggested that it was an elephant; while a wheat-seller, his sword at his side, was equally certain that it was a raja. beyond that point, his knowledge did not go. the explanation of the picture is this. in the days when raja maun of amber put his sword at akbar's service and won for him great kingdoms, akbar sent an army against mewar, whose then ruler was pertap singh, most famous of all the princes of mewar. selim, akbar's son, led the army of the toork; the rajputs met them at the pass of huldighat and fought till one-half of their band was slain. once, in the press of battle, pertap on his great horse, chytak, came within striking distance of selim's elephant, and slew the mahout, but selim escaped, to become jehangir afterwards, and the rajputs were broken. that was three hundred years ago, and men have reduced the picture to a sort of diagram that the painter dashes in, in a few minutes, without, it would seem, knowing what he is commemorating. thinking of these things, the englishman made shift to get to the city, and presently came to a tall gate, the gate of the sun, on which the elephant-spikes, that he had seen rotted with rust at amber, were new and pointed and effective. the city gates are said to be shut at night, and there is a story of a viceroy's guard-of-honour which arrived before daybreak, being compelled to crawl ignominiously man by man through a little wicket-gate, while the horses had to wait without till sunrise. but a civilised yearning for the utmost advantages of octroi, and not a fierce fear of robbery and wrong, is at the bottom of the continuance of this custom. the walls of the city are loopholed for musketry, but there seem to be no mounting for guns, and the moat without the walls is dry and gives cattle pasture. coarse rubble in concrete faced with stone makes the walls moderately strong. internally, the city is surprisingly clean, though with the exception of the main street, paved after the fashion of jullundur, of which, men say, the pavement was put down in the time of alexander and worn by myriads of naked feet into deep barrels and grooves. in the case of udaipur, the feet of the passengers have worn the rock veins that crop out everywhere, smooth and shiny; and in the rains the narrow gullies must spout like fire-hoses. the people have been untouched by cholera for four years, proof that providence looks after those who do not look after themselves, for neemuch cantonment, a hundred miles away, suffered grievously last summer. "and what do you make in udaipur?" "swords," said the man in the shop, throwing down an armful of _tulwars_, _kuttars_, and _khandas_ on the stones. "do you want any? look here!" hereat, he took up one of the commoner swords and flourished it in the sunshine. then he bent it double, and, as it sprang straight, began to make it "speak." arm-venders in udaipur are a sincere race, for they sell to people who really use their wares. the man in the shop was rude--distinctly so. his first flush of professional enthusiasm abated, he took stock of the englishman and said calmly: "what do _you_ want with a sword?" then he picked up his goods and retreated, while certain small boys, who deserved a smacking, laughed riotously from the coping of a little temple hard by. swords seem to be the sole manufacture of the place. at least, none of the inhabitants the englishman spoke to could think of any other. there is a certain amount of personal violence in and about the state, or else where would be the good of the weapons? there are occasionally dacoities more or less important; but these are not often heard of, and, indeed, there is no special reason why they should be dragged into the light of an unholy publicity, for the land governs itself in its own way, and is always in its own way, which is by no means ours, very happy. the thakurs live, each in his own castle on some rock-faced hill, much as they lived in the days of tod; though their chances of distinguishing themselves, except in the school, and dispensary line, are strictly limited. nominally, they pay _chutoond_, or a sixth of their revenues to the state, and are under feudal obligations to supply their head with so many horsemen per thousand rupees; but whether the _chutoond_ justifies its name and what is the exact extent of the "tail" leviable, they, and perhaps the rajputana agency, alone know. they are quiet, give no trouble except to the wild boar, and personally are magnificent men to look at. the rajput shows his breeding in his hands and feet, which are almost disproportionately small, and as well shaped as those of a woman. his stirrups and sword-handles are even more unusable by westerns than those elsewhere in india, whereas the bhil's knife-handle gives as large a grip as an english one. now the little bhil is an aborigine, which is humiliating to think of. his tongue, which may frequently be heard in the city, seems to possess some variant of the zulu click, which gives it a weird and unearthly character. from the main gate of the city the englishman climbed uphill towards the palace and the jugdesh temple built by one juggat singh at the beginning of the last century. this building must be--but ignorance is a bad guide--jain in character. from basement to the stone socket of the temple flagstaff, it is carved in high relief with elephants, men, gods, and monsters in friezes of wearying profusion. the management of the temple have daubed a large portion of the building with whitewash, for which their revenues should be "cut" for a year or two. the main shrine holds a large brazen image of garuda, and, in the corners of the courtyard of the main pile, are shrines to mahadeo, and the jovial, pot-bellied ganesh. there is no repose in this architecture, and the entire effect is one of repulsion; for the clustered figures of man and brute seem always on the point of bursting into unclean, wriggling life. but it may be that the builders of this form of house desired to put the fear of all their many gods into the hearts of the worshippers. from the temple whose steps are worn smooth by the feet of men, and whose courts are full of the faint smell of stale flowers and old incense, the englishman went to the palaces which crown the highest hill overlooking the city. here, too, whitewash had been unsparingly applied, but the excuse was that the stately fronts and the pierced screens were built of a perishable stone which needed protection against the weather. one projecting window in the façade of the main palace had been treated with minton tiles. luckily it was too far up the wall for anything more than the colour to be visible, and the pale blue against the pure white was effective. a picture of ganesh looks out over the main courtyard, which is entered by a triple gate, and hard by is the place where the king's elephants fight over a low masonry wall. in the side of the hill on which the palaces stand is built stabling for horses and elephants--proof that the architects of old must have understood their business thoroughly. the palace is not a "show place," and, consequently, the englishman did not see much of the interior. but he passed through open gardens with tanks and pavilions, very cool and restful, till he came suddenly upon the pichola lake, and forgot altogether about the palace. he found a sheet of steel-blue water, set in purple and grey hills, bound in, on one side, by marble bunds, the fair white walls of the palace, and the grey, time-worn ones of the city; and, on the other, fading away through the white of shallow water, and the soft green of weed, marsh, and rank-pastured river-field, into the land. to enjoy open water thoroughly, live for a certain number of years barred from anything better than the yearly swell and shrinkage of one of the five rivers, and then come upon two and a half miles of solid, restful lake, with a cool wind blowing off it and little waves spitting against the piers of a veritable, albeit hideously ugly, boat-house. on the faith of an exile from the sea, you will not stay long among palaces, be they never so lovely, or in little rooms panelled with dutch tiles. and here follows a digression. there is no life so good as the life of a loafer who travels by rail and road; for all things and all people are kind to him. from the chill miseries of a dak-bungalow where they slew one hen with as much parade as the french guillotined pranzini, to the well-ordered sumptuousness of the residency, was a step bridged over by kindly and unquestioning hospitality. so it happened that the englishman was not only able to go upon the lake in a soft-cushioned boat, with everything handsome about him, but might, had he chosen, have killed wild-duck with which the lake swarms. the mutter of water under a boat's nose was a pleasant thing to hear once more. starting at the head of the lake, he found himself shut out from sight of the main sheet of water in a loch bounded by a sunk, broken bund to steer across which was a matter of some nicety. beyond that lay a second pool, spanned by a narrow-arched bridge built, men said, long before the city of the rising sun, which is little more than three hundred years old. the bridge connects the city with brahmapura--a whiter walled enclosure filled with many brahmins and ringing with the noise of their conches. beyond the bridge, the body of the lake, with the city running down to it, comes into full view; and providence has arranged for the benefit of such as delight in colours, that the rajputni shall wear the most striking tints that she can buy in the bazaars, in order that she may beautify the ghâts where she comes to bathe. the bathing-ledge at the foot of the city wall was lighted with women clad in raw vermilion, dull red, indigo and sky-blue, saffron and pink and turquoise; the water faithfully doubling everything. but the first impression was of the unreality of the sight, for the englishman found himself thinking of the simla fine arts exhibition and the overdaring amateurs who had striven to reproduce scenes such as these. then a woman rose up, and clasping her hands behind her head, looked at the passing boat, and the ripples spread out from her waist, in blinding white silver, far across the water. as a picture, a daringly insolent picture, it was superb. the boat turned aside to shores where huge turtles were lying, and a stork had built her a nest, big as a haycock, in a withered tree, and a bevy of coots were flapping and gabbling in the weeds or between great leaves of the _victoria regia_--an "escape" from the state gardens. here were divers and waders, kingfishers and snaky-necked birds of the cormorant family, but no duck. they had seen the guns in the boat and were flying to and fro in companies across the lake, or settling--wise things!--in the glare of the sun on the water. the lake was swarming with them, but they seemed to know exactly how far a twelve-bore would carry. perhaps their knowledge had been gained from the englishman at the residency. later, as the sun left the lake, and the hills began to glow like opals, the boat made her way to the shallow side of the lake, through fields of watergrass and dead lotus-raffle that rose as high as the bows, and clung lovingly about the rudder, and parted with the noise of silk when it is torn. there she waited for the fall of twilight when the duck would come home to bed, and the englishman sprawled upon the cushions in deep content and laziness, as he looked across to where two marble palaces floated upon the waters, and saw all the glory and beauty of the city, and wondered whether tod, in cocked hat and stiff stock, had ever come shooting among the reeds, and, if so, how in the world he had ever managed to bowl over.... "duck and drake, by jove! confiding beasts, weren't they. hi! lalla, jump out and get them!" it was a brutal thing, this double-barrelled murder perpetrated in the silence of the marsh when the kingly wild-duck came back from his wanderings with his mate at his side, but--but--the birds were very good to eat. if the venetian owned the pichola sagar he might say with justice: "see it and die." but it is better to live and go to dinner, and strike into a new life--that of the men who bear the hat-mark on their brow as plainly as the well-born native carries the _trisul_ of shiva. they are of the same caste as the toilers on the frontier--tough, bronzed men, with wrinkles at the corners of the eyes, gotten by looking across much sun-glare. when they would speak of horses they mention arab ponies, and their talk, for the most part, drifts bombaywards, or to abu, which is their simla. by these things the traveller may see that he is far away from the presidency; and will presently learn that he is in a land where the railway is an incident and not an indispensable luxury. folk tell strange stories of drives in bullock-carts in the rains, of breakdowns in nullahs fifty miles from everywhere, and of elephants that used to sink for rest and refreshment half-way across swollen streams. every place here seems fifty miles from everywhere, and the legs of a horse are regarded as the only natural means of locomotion. also, and this to the indian cockney, who is accustomed to the bleached or office man, is curious, there are to be found many veritable "tiger-men"--not story-spinners, but such as have, in their wanderings from bikaneer to indore, dropped their tiger in the way of business. they are enthusiastic over princelings of little known fiefs, lords of austere estates perched on the tops of unthrifty hills, hard riders, and good sportsmen. and five, six, yes fully nine hundred miles to the northward, lives the sister branch of the same caste--the men who swear by pathan, biluch, and brahui, with whom they have shot or broken bread. there is a saying in upper india that the more desolate the country, the greater the certainty of finding a padre-sahib. the proverb seems to hold good in udaipur, where the scotch presbyterian mission have a post, and others at todgarh to the north and elsewhere. to arrive, under providence, at the cure of souls through the curing of bodies certainly seems the rational method of conversion; and this is exactly what the missions are doing. their padre in udaipur is also an m.d., and of him a rather striking tale is told. conceiving that the city could bear another hospital in addition to the state one, he took furlough, went home, and there, by crusade and preaching, raised sufficient money for the scheme, so that none might say that he was beholden to the state. returning, he built his hospital, a very model of neatness and comfort, and, opening the operation-book, announced his readiness to see any one and every one who was sick. how the call was and is now responded to, the dry records of that book will show; and the name of the padre-sahib is honoured, as these ears have heard, throughout udaipur and far around. the faith that sends a man into the wilderness, and the secular energy which enables him to cope with an ever-growing demand for medical aid, must, in time, find their reward. if patience and unwearying self-sacrifice carry any merit, they should do so soon. to-day the people are willing enough to be healed, and the general influence of the padre-sahib is very great. but beyond that.... still it was impossible to judge aright. viii divers passages of speech and action whence the nature, arts, and disposition of the king and his subjects may be observed. in this land men tell "sad stories of the death of kings" not easily found elsewhere; and also speak of _sati_, which is generally supposed to be out of date in a manner which makes it seem very near and vivid. be pleased to listen to some of the tales, but with all the names cut out, because a king has just as much right to have his family affairs respected as has a british householder paying income tax. once upon a time, that is to say when the british power was well established in the land and there were railways, was a king who lay dying for many days, and all, including the englishmen about him, knew that his end was certain. but he had chosen to lie in an outer court or pleasure-house of his palace; and with him were some twenty of his favourite wives. the place in which he lay was very near to the city; and there was a fear that his womankind should, on his death, going mad with grief, cast off their veils and run out into the streets, uncovered before all men. in which case nothing, not even the power of the press, and the locomotive, and the telegraph, and cheap education and enlightened municipal councils, could have saved them from the burning-pyre, for they were the wives of a king. so the political did his best to induce the dying man to go to the fort of the city, a safe place close to the regular zenana, where all the women could be kept within walls. he said that the air was better in the fort, but the king refused; and that he would recover in the fort; but the king refused. after some days, the latter turned and said: "_why_ are you so keen, sahib, upon getting my old bones up to the fort?" driven to his last defences, the political said simply: "well, maharana sahib, the place is close to the road, you see, and ..." the king saw and said: "oh, _that's_ it? i've been puzzling my brain for four days to find out what on earth you were driving at. i'll go to-night." "but there may be some difficulty," began the political. "you think so," said the king. "if i only hold up my little finger, the women will obey me. go now, and come back in five minutes, and all will be ready for departure." as a matter of fact, the political withdrew for the space of fifteen minutes, and gave orders that the conveyances which he had kept in readiness day and night should be got ready. in fifteen minutes those twenty women, with their handmaidens, were packed and ready for departure; and the king died later at the fort, and nothing happened. here the englishman asked why a frantic woman must of necessity become a _sati_, and felt properly abashed when he was told that she _must_. there was nothing else for her if she went out unveiled. the rush-out forces the matter. and, indeed, if you consider the matter from the rajput point of view it does. then followed a very grim tale of the death of another king; of the long vigil by his bedside, before he was taken off the bed to die upon the ground; of the shutting of a certain mysterious door behind the bed-head, which shutting was followed by a rustle of women's dress; of a walk on the top of the palace, to escape the heated air of the sick room; and then, in the grey dawn, the wail upon wail breaking from the zenana as the news of the king's death went in. "i never wish to hear anything more horrible and awful in my life. you could see nothing. you could only hear the poor wretches," said the political, with a shiver. the last resting-place of the maharanas of udaipur is at ahar, a little village two miles east of the city. here they go down in their robes of state, their horse following behind, and here the political saw, after the death of a maharana, the dancing-girls dancing before the poor white ashes, the musicians playing among the cenotaphs, and the golden hookah, sword, and water-vessel laid out for the naked soul doomed to hover twelve days round the funeral pyre, before it could depart on its journey toward a fresh birth. once, in a neighbouring state it is said, one of the dancing-girls stole a march in the next world's precedence and her lord's affections, upon the legitimate queens. the affair happened, by the way, after the mutiny, and was accomplished with great pomp in the light of day. subsequently those who might have stopped it but did not, were severely punished. the girl said that she had no one to look to but the dead man, and followed him, to use tod's formula, "through the flames." it would be curious to know whether _sati_ is altogether abolished among these lonely hills in the walled holds of the thakurs. but to return from the burning-ground to modern udaipur, as at present worked under the maharana and his prime minister rae punna lal, _c. i. e._ to begin with, his highness is a racial anomaly in that, judged by the strictest european standard, he is a man of temperate life, the husband of one wife whom he married before he was chosen to the throne after the death of the maharana sujjun singh in 1884. sujjun singh died childless and gave no hint of his desires as to succession and--omitting all the genealogical and political reasons which would drive a man mad--futteh singh was chosen, by the thakurs, from the seorati branch of the family which sangram singh ii. founded. he is thus a younger son of a younger branch of a younger family, which lucid statement should suffice to explain everything. the man who could deliberately unravel the succession of any one of the rajput states would be perfectly capable of explaining the politics of all the frontier tribes from jumrood to quetta. roughly speaking, the maharana and the prime minister--in whose family the office has been hereditary for many generations--divide the power of the state. they control, more or less, the mahand raj sabha or council of direction and revision. this is composed of many of the rawats and thakurs of the state, _and_ the poet laureate who, under a less genial administration, would be presumably the registrar. there are also district officers, officers of customs, superintendents of the mint, masters of the horses, and supervisor of doles, which last is pretty and touching. the state officers itself, and the englishman's investigations failed to unearth any bengalis. the commandant of the state army, about five thousand men of all arms, is a retired non-commissioned officer, a mr. lonergan; who, as the medals on his breast attest, has done the state some service, and now in his old age rejoices in the local rank of major-general, and teaches the maharaja's guns to make uncommonly good practice. the infantry are smart and well set up, while the cavalry--rare thing in native states--have a distinct notion of keeping their accoutrements clean. they are, further, well mounted on light, wiry mewar and kathiawar horses. incidentally, it may be mentioned that the pathan comes down with his pickings from the punjab to udaipur, and finds a market there for animals that were much better employed in our service--but the complaint is a stale one. let us see, later on, what the jodhpur stables hold; and then formulate an indictment against the government. so much for the indigenous administration of udaipur. the one drawback in the present maharaja, from the official point of view, is his want of education. he is a thoroughly good man, but was not brought up with the kingship before his eyes, consequently he is not an english-speaking man. there is a story told of him which is worth the repeating. an englishman who flattered himself that he could speak the vernacular fairly well, paid him a visit and discoursed with a round mouth. the maharana heard him politely, and turning to a satellite, demanded a translation; which was given. then said the maharana:--"speak to him in _angrezi_." the _angrezi_ spoken by the interpreter was urdu as the sahibs speak it, and the englishman, having ended his conference, departed abashed. but this backwardness is eminently suited to a place like udaipur, and a european prince is not always a desirable thing. the curious and even startling simplicity of his life is worth preserving. here is a specimen of one of his days. rising at four--and the dawn can be bitterly chill--he bathes and prays after the custom of his race, and at six is ready to take in hand the first instalment of the day's work which comes before him through his prime minister, and occupies him for three or four hours till the first meal of the day is ready. at two o'clock he attends the mahand raj sabha, and works till five, retiring at a healthily primitive hour. he is said to have his hand fairly, firmly upon the reins of rule, and to know as much as most monarchs know of the way in which his revenues--some thirty lakhs--are disposed of. the prime minister's career has been a chequered and interesting one, including a dismissal from power (this was worked by the queens from behind the screen), an arrest, and an attack with swords which all but ended in his murder. he has not so much power as his predecessors had, for the reason that the present maharaja allows little but tiger-shooting to distract him from the supervision of the state. his highness, by the way, is a first-class shot and has bagged eighteen tigers already. he preserves his game carefully, and permission to kill tigers is not readily obtainable. a curious instance of the old order giving place to the new is in process of evolution and deserves notice. the prime minister's son, futteh lal, a boy of twenty years old, has been educated at the mayo college, ajmir, and speaks and writes english. there are few native officials in the state who do this; and the consequence is that the lad has won a very fair insight into state affairs, and knows generally what is going forward both in the eastern and western spheres of the little court. in time he may qualify for direct administrative powers, and udaipur will be added to the list of the states that are governed english fashion. what the end will be, after three generations of princes and dewans have been put through the mill of the rajkumar colleges, those who live will learn. more interesting is the question, for how long can the vitality of a people whose life was arms be suspended? men in the north say that, by the favour of the government which brings peace, the sikh sirdars are rotting on their lands; and the rajput thakurs say of themselves that they are growing rusty. the old, old problem forces itself on the most unreflective mind at every turn in the gay streets of udaipur. a frenchman might write: "behold there the horse of the rajput--foaming, panting, caracoling, but always fettered with his head so majestic upon his bosom so amply filled with a generous heart. he rages, but he does not advance. see there the destiny of the rajput who bestrides him, and upon whose left flank bounds the sabre useless--the haberdashery of the ironmonger only! pity the horse in reason, for that life there is his _raison d'être_. pity ten thousand times more the rajput, for he has no _raison d'être_. he is an anachronism in a blue turban." the gaul might be wrong, but tod wrote things which seem to support this view, in the days when he wished to make "buffer-states" of the land he loved so well. let us visit the durbar gardens, where little naked cupids are trampling upon fountains of fatted fish, all in bronze, where there are cypresses and red paths, and a deer-park full of all varieties of deer, besides two growling, fluffy little panther cubs, a black panther who is the prince of darkness and a gentleman, and a terrace-full of tigers, bears, and guzerat lions brought from the king of oudh's sale. ix of the pig-drive which was a panther-killing, and of the departure to chitor. above the durbar gardens lie low hills, in which the maharana keeps, very strictly guarded, his pig and his deer, and anything else that may find shelter in the low scrub or under the scattered boulders. these preserves are scientifically parcelled out with high, red-stone walls; and here and there are dotted tiny shooting-stands--masonry sentry-boxes, in which five or six men may sit at ease and shoot. it had been arranged to entertain the englishmen who were gathered at the residency to witness the investiture of the king with the g. c. s. i.--that there should be a little pig-drive in front of the kala odey or black shooting-box. the rajput is a man and a brother, in respect that he will ride, shoot, eat pig, and drink strong waters like an englishman. of the pig-hunting he makes almost a religious duty, and of the wine-drinking no less. read how desperately they used to ride in udaipur at the beginning of the century when tod, always in his cocked hat to be sure, counted up the tale of accidents at the end of the day's sport. there is something unfair in shooting pig; but each man who went out consoled himself with the thought that it was utterly impossible to ride the brutes up the almost perpendicular hillsides, or down rocky ravines, and that he individually would only go "just for the fun of the thing." those who stayed behind made rude remarks on the subject of "pork butchers," and the dangers that attended shooting from a balcony. there are ways and ways of slaying pig--from the orthodox method which begins with "_the boar--the boar--the mighty boar!_" overnight, and ends with a shaky bridle-hand next morn, to the sober and solitary pot-shot at dawn, from a railway embankment running through river marsh; but the perfect way is this. get a large, four-horse break, and drive till you meet an unlimited quantity of pad-elephants waiting at the foot of rich hill-preserves. mount slowly and with dignity, and go in swinging procession, by the marble-faced border of one of the most lovely lakes on earth. strike off on a semi-road, semi-hill-torrent path through unthrifty, thorny jungle, and so climb up and up and up, till you see, spread like a map below, the lake and the palace and the city, hemmed in by the sea of hills that lies between udaipur and mount abu a hundred miles away. then take your seat in a comfortable chair, in a fine two-storied grand stand, with an awning spread atop to keep off the sun, while the rawat of amet and the prime minister's heir--no less--invite you to take your choice of the many rifles spread on a ledge at the front of the building. this, gentlemen who screw your pet ponies at early dawn after the sounder that vanishes into cover soon as sighted, or painfully follow the tiger through the burning heats of mewar in may, this is shooting after the fashion of ouida--in musk and ambergris and patchouli. it is demoralising. one of the best and hardest riders of the lahore tent club in the old days, as the boars of bouli lena singh knew well, said openly: "this is a first-class scheme," and fell to testing his triggers as though he had been a pot-hunter from his birth. derision and threats of exposure moved him not. "give me an arm-chair!" said he. "this is the proper way to deal with pig!" and he put up his feet on the ledge and stretched himself. there were many weapons to choose from the double-barrelled '500 express, whose bullet is a tearing, rending shell, to the rawat of amet's regulation military martini-henri. a profane public at the residency had suggested clubs and saws as amply sufficient for the work in hand. here they were moved by envy, which passion was ten-fold increased when--but this comes later on. the beat was along a deep gorge in the hills, flanked on either crest by stone walls, manned with beaters. immediately opposite the shooting-box, the wall on the upper or higher hill made a sharp turn downhill, contracting the space through which the pig would have to pass to a gut which was variously said to be from one hundred and fifty to four hundred yards across. most of the shooting was up or down hill. a philanthropic desire not to murder more bhils than were absolutely necessary to maintain a healthy current of human life in the hilly tracts, coupled with a well-founded dread of the hinder, or horse, end of a double-barrelled '500 express which would be sure to go off both barrels together, led the englishman to take a gunless seat in the background. then a silence fell upon the party, and very far away up the gorge the heated afternoon air was cut by the shrill tremolo squeal of the bhil beaters. now a man may be in no sort or fashion a _shikari_--may hold buddhistic objections to the slaughter of living things--but there is something in the extraordinary noise of an agitated bhil, which makes even the most peaceful mortals get up and yearn, like tartarin of tarescon for "lions," always at a safe distance be it understood. as the beat drew nearer, under the squealing--the "_ul-al-lu-lu-lu_"--was heard a long-drawn bittern-like boom of "_so-oor!_" "_so-oor!_" (pig! pig!) and the crashing of boulders. the guns rose in their places, forgetting that each and all had merely come "to see the fun," and began to fumble among the little mounds of cartridges under the chairs. presently, tripping delicately over the rocks, a pig stepped out of a cactus-bush, and the fusillade began. the dust flew and the branches chipped, but the pig went on--a blue-grey shadow almost undistinguishable against the rocks, and took no harm. "sighting shots," said the guns, sulkily. the beat came nearer, and then the listener discovered what the bubbling scream was like; for he forgot straightway about the beat and went back to the dusk of an easter monday in the gardens of the crystal palace before the bombardment of kars, "set piece ten thousand feet square" had been illuminated, and about five hundred 'arries were tickling a thousand 'arriets. their giggling and nothing else was the noise of the bhil. so curiously does sydenham and western rajputana meet. then came another pig, who was smitten to the death and rolled down among the bushes, drawing his last breath in a human and horrible manner. but full on the crest of the hill, blown along--there is no other word to describe it--like a ball of thistle-down, passed a brown shadow, and men cried: "_bagheera_," or "panther!" according to their nationalities, and blazed. the shadow leaped the wall that had turned the pig downhill, and vanished among the cactus. "never mind," said the prime minister's son, consolingly, "we'll beat the other side of the hill afterwards and get him yet." "oh, he's a mile off by this time," said the guns; but the rawat of amet, a magnificent young man, smiled a sweet smile and said nothing. more pig passed and were slain, and many more broke back through the beaters who presently came through the cover in scores. they were in russet green and red uniform, each man bearing a long spear, and the hillside was turned on the instant to a camp of robin hood's foresters. then they brought up the dead from behind bushes and under rocks--among others a twenty-seven-inch brute who bore on his flank (all pigs shot in a beat are _ex-officio_ boars) a hideous, half-healed scar, big as a man's hand, of a bullet wound. express bullets are ghastly things in their effects, for, as the _shikari_ is never tired of demonstrating, they knock the inside of animals into pulp. the second beat, of the reverse side of the hill, had barely begun when the panther returned--uneasily as if something were keeping her back--much lower down the hill. then the face of the rawat of amet changed, as he brought his gun up to his shoulder. looking at him as he fired, one forgot all about the mayo college at which he had been educated, and remembered only some trivial and out-of-date affairs, in which his forefathers had been concerned, when a bridegroom, with his bride at his side, charged down the slope of the chitor road and died among akbar's men. there are stories connected with the house of amet, which are told in mewar to-day. the young man's face, for as short a time as it takes to pull trigger and see where the bullet falls, was a white light upon all these tales. then the mask shut down, as he clicked out the cartridge, and, very sweetly, gave it as his opinion that some other gun, not his own, had bagged the panther who lay shot through the spine, feebly trying to drag herself downhill into cover. it is an awful thing to see a big beast die, when the soul is wrenched out of the struggling body in ten seconds. wild horses shall not make the englishman disclose the exact number of shots that were fired. it is enough to say that four englishmen, now scattered to the four winds of heaven, are each morally certain that he and he alone shot that panther. in time, when distance and the mirage of the sands of uodhpur shall have softened the harsh outlines of truth, the englishman who did _not_ fire a shot will come to believe that he was the real slayer, and will carefully elaborate that lie. a few minutes after the murder, a two-year-old cub came trotting along the hillside, and was bowled over by a very pretty shot behind the left ear and through the palate. then the beaters' lances showed through the bushes, and the guns began to realise that they had allowed to escape, or had driven back by their fire, a multitude of pig. this ended the beat, and the procession returned to the residency to heap dead panthers upon those who had called them "pork butchers," and to stir up the lake of envy with the torpedo of brilliant description. the englishman's attempt to compare the fusillade which greeted the panther to the continuous drumming of a ten-barrelled nordenfeldt was, however, coldly received. thus harshly is truth treated all the world over. and then, after a little time, came the end, and a return to the road in search of new countries. but shortly before the departure, the padre-sahib, who knows every one in udaipur, read a sermon in a sentence. the maharana's investiture, which has already been described in the indian papers, had taken place, and the carriages, duly escorted by the erinpura horse, were returning to the residency. in a niche of waste land, under the shadow of the main gate, a place strewn with rubbish and shards of pottery, a dilapidated old man was trying to control his horse and a _hookah_ on the saddle-bow. the blundering garron had been made restive by the rush past, and the _hookah_ all but fell from the hampered hands. "see that man," said the padre, tersely. "that's ---singh. he intrigued for the throne not so very long ago." it was a pitiful little picture, and needed no further comment. for the benefit of the loafer it should be noted that udaipur will never be pleasant or accessible until the present mail contractors have been hanged. they are extortionate and untruthful, and their one set of harness and one tonga are as rotten as pears. however, the weariness of the flesh must be great indeed, to make the wanderer blind to the beauties of a journey by clear starlight and in biting cold to chitor. about six miles from udaipur, the granite hills close in upon the road, and the air grows warmer until, with a rush and a rattle, the tonga swings through the great dobarra, the gate in the double circle of hills round udaipur on to the pastures of mewar. more than once the girwa has been a death-trap to those who rashly entered it; and an army has been cut up on the borders of the pichola lake. even now the genius of the place is strong upon the hills, and as he felt the cold air from the open ground without the barrier, the englishman found himself repeating the words of one of the hat-marked tribe whose destiny kept him within the dobarra. "you must have a hobby of some kind in these parts or you'll die." very lovely is udaipur, and thrice pleasant are a few days spent within her gates, but ... read what tod said who stayed two years behind the dobarra, and accepted the deserts of marwar as a delightful change. it is good to be free, a wanderer upon the highways, knowing not what to-morrow will bring forth--whether the walled-in niceties of an english household, rich in all that makes life fair and desirable, or a sleepless night in the society of a goods-_cum_-booking-office-_cum_-parcels-clerk, on fifteen rupees a month, who tells in stilted english the story of his official life, while the telegraph gibbers like a maniac once in an hour and then is dumb, and the pariah-dogs fight and howl over the cotton-bales on the platform. verily, there is no life like life on the road--when the skies are cool and all men are kind. x a little of the history of chitor, and the malpractices of a she-elephant. there is a certain want of taste, an almost actual indecency, in seeing the sun rise on the earth. until the heat-haze begins and the distances thicken, nature is so very naked that the actæon who has surprised her dressing, blushes. sunrise on the plains of mewar is an especially brutal affair. the moon was burnt out and the air was bitterly cold, when the englishman headed due east in his tonga, and the patient sowar behind nodded and yawned in the saddle. there was no warning of the day's advent. the horses were unharnessed, at one halting-stage, in the thick, soft shadows of night, and ere their successors had limped under the bar, a raw and cruel light was upon all things, so that the englishman could see every rent seam in the rocks around. a little further, and he came upon the black bulk of chitor between him and the morning sun. it has already been said that the fort resembles a man-of-war. every distant view heightens this impression, for the swell of the sides follows the form of a ship, and the bastions on the south wall make the sponsons in which the machine-guns are mounted. from bow to stern, the thing more than three miles long, is between three and five hundred feet high, and from one-half to one-quarter of a mile broad. have patience, now, to listen to a rough history of chitor. in the beginning, no one knows clearly who scraped the hillsides of the hill rising out of the bare plain, and made of it a place of strength. it is written that, eleven and a half centuries ago, bappa rawul, the demi-god whose stature was twenty cubits, whose loin-cloth was five hundred feet long, and whose spear was beyond the power of mortal man to lift, took chitor from "man singh, the mori prince," and wrote the first chapter of the history of mewar, which he received ready-made from man singh who, if the chronicles speak sooth, was his uncle. many and very marvellous legends cluster round the name of bappa rawul; and he is said to have ended his days far away from india, in khorasan, where he married an unlimited number of the daughters of heth, and was the father of all the nowshera pathans. some who have wandered, by the sign-posts of inscription, into the fogs of old time, aver that, two centuries before bappa rawul took chitor the mori division of the pramar rajputs, who are the ruling family of mewar, had found a hold in bhilwara, and for four centuries before that time had ruled in kathiawar; and had royally sacked and slain, and been sacked and slain in turn. but these things are for the curious and the scholar, and not for the reader who reads lightly. nine princes succeeded bappa, between 728 and 1068 a.d., and among these was one alluji, who built a jain tower upon the brow of the hill, for in those days, though the sun was worshipped, men were all jains. and here they lived and sallied into the plains, and fought and increased the borders of their kingdom, or were suddenly and stealthily murdered, or stood shoulder to shoulder against the incursions of the "devil men" from the north. in 1150 a.d. was born samar singh, and he married into the family of prithi raj, the last hindu emperor of delhi, who was at feud, in regard to a succession question, with the prince of kanauj. in the war that followed, kanauj, being hard pressed by prithi raj, and samar singh, called shahabuddin ghori to his aid. at first, samar singh and prithi raj broke the army of the northern somewhere in the lower punjab, but two years later shahabuddin came again, and, after three days' fighting on the banks of the kaggar, slew samar singh, captured and murdered prithi raj, and sacked delhi and amber, while samar singh's favourite queen became _sati_ at chitor. but another wife, a princess of patun, kept her life, and when shahabuddin sent down kutbuddin to waste her lands, led the rajput army, in person, from chitor, and defeated kutbuddin. then followed confusion, through eleven turbulent reigns that the annalist has failed to unravel. once in the years between 1193 and the opening of the fourteenth century, chitor must have been taken by the mussulman, for it is written that one prince "recovered chitor and made the name of rana to be recognised by all." six princes were slain in battles against the mussulman, in vain attempts to clear the land from the presence of the infidel. then ala-ud-din khilji, the pathan emperor, swept the country to the dekkan. in those days, and these things are confusedly set down as having happened at the end of the thirteenth century, a relative of rana lakhsman singh, the then rana of chitor, had married a rajput princess of ceylon--pudmini, "and she was fairest of all flesh on earth." her fame was sung through the land by the poets, and she became, in some sort, the helen of chitor. ala-ud-din heard of her beauty and promptly besieged the fort. when he found his enterprise too difficult, he prayed that he might be permitted to see pudmini's face in a mirror, and this wish, so says the tale, was granted. knowing that the rajput was a gentleman, he entered chitor almost unarmed, saw the face in the mirror, and was well treated; the husband of the fair pudmini accompanying him, in return, to the camp at the foot of the hill. like raja runjeet in the ballad the rajput he- "... trusted a mussulman's word wah! wah! trust a liar to lie. out of his eyrie they tempted my bird, fettered his wings that he could not fly." pudmini's husband was caught by a trick, and ala-ud-din demanded pudmini as the price of his return. the rajputs here showed that they too could scheme, and sent, in great state, pudmini's litter to the besiegers' intrenchments. but there was no pudmini in the litter, and her following of handmaidens was a band of seven hundred armed men. thus, in the confusion of a camp-fight, pudmini's husband was rescued, and ala-ud-din's soldiery followed hard on his heels to the gates of chitor, where the best and bravest on the rock were killed before ala-ud-din withdrew, only to return soon after and, with a doubled army, besiege in earnest. his first attack men called the half-sack of chitor, for, though he failed to win within the walls, he killed the flower of the rajputs. the second attack ended in the first sack and the awful _sati_ of the women on the rock. when everything was hopeless and the very terrible goddess, who lives in the bowels of chitor, had spoken and claimed for death eleven out of the twelve of the rana's sons, all who were young or fair women betook themselves to a great underground chamber, and the fires were lit and the entrance was walled up and they died. the rajputs opened the gates and fought till they could fight no more, and ala-ud-din the victorious entered a wasted and desolated city. he wrecked everything except only the palace of pudmini and the old jain tower before mentioned. that was all he could do, for there were few men alive of the defenders of chitor when the day was won, and the women were ashes underground. ajai singh, the one surviving son of lakshman singh, had at his father's insistence, escaped from chitor to "carry on the line" when better days should come. he brought up hamir, son of one of his elder brothers, to be a thorn in the side of the invader, and hamir overthrew maldeo, chief of jhalore and vassal of ala-ud-din, into whose hands ala-ud-din had, not too generously, given what was left of chitor. so the sesodias came to their own again, and the successors of hamir extended their kingdoms and rebuilt chitor, as kings know how to rebuild cities in a land where human labour and life are cheaper than bread and water. for two centuries, saith tod, mewar flourished exceedingly and was the paramount kingdom of all rajasthan. greatest of all the successors of hamir, was kumbha rana who, when the ghilzai dynasty was rotting away and viceroys declared themselves kings, met, defeated, took captive, and released without ransom, mahmoud of malwa. kumbha rana built a tower of victory, nine stories high, to commemorate this and the other successes of his reign, and the tower stands to-day a mark for miles across the plains. but the well-established kingdom weakened, and the rulers took favourites and disgusted their best supporters--after the immemorial custom of too prosperous rulers. also they murdered one another. in 1535 a.d. bahadur shah, king of gujarat, seeing the decay, and remembering how one of his predecessors, together with mahmoud of malwa, had been humbled by mewar in years gone by, set out to take his revenge of time and mewar then ruled by rana bikrmajit, who had made a new capital at deola. bikrmajit did not stay to give battle in that place. his chiefs were out of hand, and chitor was the heart and brain of mewar; so he marched thither, and the gods were against him. bahadur shah mined one of the chitor bastions, and wiped out in the explosion the hara prince of boondee, with five hundred followers. jowahir bae, bikrmajit's mother, headed a sally from the walls, and was slain. there were frank gunners among bahadur shah's forces, and they hastened the end. the rajputs made a second _johur_, a sacrifice greater than the sacrifice of pudmini; and thirteen thousand were blown up in the magazines, or stabbed or poisoned, before the gates were opened and the defenders rushed down. out of the carnage was saved udai singh, a babe of the blood royal, who grew up to be a coward, and a shame to his line. the story of his preservation is written large in tod, and edwin arnold sings it. read it, who are interested. but, when udai singh came to the throne of chitor, through blood and misrule, after bahadur shah had withdrawn from the wreck of the fort, akbar sat on the throne of delhi, and it was written that few people should withstand the "guardian of mankind." moreover, udai singh was the slave of a woman. it was akbar's destiny to subdue the rajputs, and to win many of them to his own service; sending a rajput prince of amber to get him far-away arrakan. akbar marched against chitor once, and was repulsed; the woman who ruled udai singh heading a charge against the besiegers because of the love she bore to her lover. something of this sort had happened in ala-ud-din's time, and, like ala-ud-din, akbar returned and sat down, in a huge camp, before chitor in 1568 a.d. udai singh fled what was coming; and because the goddess of chitor demands always that a crowned head must fall if the defence of her home is to be successful, chitor fell as it had fallen before--in a _johur_ of thousands, a last rush of the men, and the entry of the conqueror into a reeking, ruined slaughter-pen. akbar's sack was the most terrible of the three, for he killed everything that had life upon the rock, and wrecked and overturned and spoiled. the wonder, the lasting wonder, is that he did not destroy kumbha rana's tower of victory, the memorial of the defeat of a mahometan prince. with the third sack the glory of chitor departed, and udai singh founded himself a new capital, the city of udaipur. though chitor was recovered in jehangir's time by udai singh's grandson, it was never again made the capital of mewar. it stood, and rotted where it stood, till enlightened and loyal feudatories, in the present years of grace, made attempts, with the help of executive engineers, to sweep it up and keep it in repair. the above is roughly, very roughly indeed, the tale of the sacks of chitor. follows an interlude, for the study even of inaccurate history is indigestible to many. there was an elephant at chitor, to take birds of passage up the hill, and she--she was fifty-one years old, and her name was gerowlia--came to the dak-bungalow for the englishman. let not the word dak-bungalow deceive any man into believing that there is even moderate comfort at chitor. gerowlia waited in the sunshine, and chuckled to herself like a female pauper when she receives snuff. her _mahout_ said that he would go away for a drink of water. so he walked, and walked, and walked, till he disappeared on the stone-strewn plains, and the englishman was left alone with gerowlia, aged fifty-one. she had been tied by the chain on her near hind leg to a pillar of the verandah; but the string was coir, and more an emblem of authority than a means of restraint. when she had thoroughly exhausted all the resources of the country within range of her trunk, she ate up the string and began to investigate the verandah. there was more coir string, and she ate it all, while the carpenter, who was repairing the dak-bungalow, cursed her and her ancestry from afar. about this time the englishman was roused to a knowledge of the business, for gerowlia, having exhausted the string, tried to come into the verandah. she had, most unwisely, been pampered with biscuits an hour before. the carpenter stood on an outcrop of rock, and said angrily: "see what damage your _hathi_ has done, sahib." "'tisn't my _hathi_," said the sahib, plaintively. "you ordered it," quoth he, "and it has been here ever so long, eating up everything." he threw pieces of stone at gerowlia, and went away. it is a terrible thing to be left alone with an unshackled elephant, even though she be a venerable spinster. gerowlia moved round the dak-bungalow, blowing her nose in a nervous and undecided manner, and presently found some more string and thatch, which she ate. this was too much. the englishman went out and spoke to her. she opened her mouth and salaamed; meaning thereby "biscuits." so long as she remained in this position she could do no harm. imagine a boundless rock-strewn plain, broken here and there by low hills, dominated by the rock of chitor, and bisected by a single metre-gauge railway track running into the infinite, and unrelieved by even a way-inspector's trolly. in the foreground put a brand-new dak-bungalow, furnished with a french bedstead, and nothing else; in the verandah place an embarrassed englishman, smiling into the open mouth of an idiotic female elephant. but gerowlia could not live on smiles alone. finding that no food was forthcoming, she shut her mouth, and renewed her attempts to get into the verandah, and ate more thatch. to say "hi!" to an elephant is a misdirected courtesy. it quickens the pace, and if you flick her on the trunk with a wet towel, she curls the trunk out of harm's way. special education is necessary. a little breechless boy passed, carrying a lump of stone. "hit her on the feet, sahib," said he; "hit her on the feet." gerowlia had by this time nearly scraped off her pad, and there were no signs of the _mahout_. the englishman went out and found a tent-peg, and returning, in the extremity of his wrath smote her bitterly on the nails of the near forefoot. gerowlia held up her foot to be beaten, and made the most absurd noises--squawked in fact, exactly like an old lady who has narrowly escaped being run over. she backed out of the verandah, still squawking, on three feet and in the open held up near and off forefoot alternately to be beaten. it was very pitiful, for one swing of her trunk could have knocked the englishman flat. he ceased whacking her, but she squawked for some minutes and then fell placidly asleep in the sunshine. when the _mahout_ returned, he beat her for breaking her tether exactly as the englishman had done, but much more severely, and the ridiculous old thing hopped on three legs for fully five minutes. "come along, sahib," said the _mahout_. "i will show this mother of bastards who is the driver. fat daughter of the devil, sit down. you would eat thatch, would you? how does the iron taste?" and he gave gerowlia a headache, which affected her temper all through the afternoon. she set off, across the railway line which runs below the rock of chitor, into broken ground cut up with _nullahs_ and covered with low scrub, over which it would have been difficult to have taken a sure-footed horse, so fragmentary and disconnected was its nature. xi. proves conclusively the existence of the dark tower visited by childe rolande, and of "bogey" who frightens children. the gamberi river--clear as a trout-stream--runs through the waste round chitor, and is spanned by an old bridge, very solid and massive, said to have been built before the sack of ala-ud-din. the bridge is in the middle of the stream--the floods have raced round either end of it--and is reached by a steeply sloping stone causeway. from the bridge to the new town of chitor, which lies at the foot of the hill, runs a straight and well-kept road, flanked on either side by the scattered remnants of old houses, and, here and there, fallen temples. the road, like the bridge, is no new thing, and is wide enough for twenty horsemen to ride abreast. new chitor is a very dirty, and apparently thriving, little town, full of grain-merchants and sellers of arms. the ways are barely wide enough for the elephant of dignity and the little brown babies of impudence. the englishman went through, always on a slope painfully accentuated by gerowlia who, with all possible respect to her years, must have been a baggage-animal and no true _sahib's_ mount. let the local baedeker speak for a moment: "the ascent to chitor, which begins from within the southeast angle of the town, is nearly a mile to the upper gate, with a slope of about 1 in 15. there are two zig-zag bends, and on the three portions thus formed, are seven gates, of which one, however, has only the basement left." this is the language of fact, which, very properly, leaves out of all account the genius of the place who sits at the gate nearest the new city and is with the sightseer throughout. the first impression of repulsion and awe is given by a fragment of tumbled sculpture close to a red daubed _lingam_, near the padal pol or lowest gate. it is a piece of frieze, and the figures of the men are worn nearly smooth by time. what is visible is finely and frankly obscene to an english mind. the road is protected on the cliff side by a thick stone wall, loopholed for musketry, one aperture to every two feet, between fifteen and twenty feet high. this wall is being repaired throughout its length by the maharana of udaipur. on the hillside, among the boulders, loose stones, and _dhak_-scrub, lips stone wreckage that must have come down from the brown bastions above. as gerowlia laboured up the stone-shod slope, the englishman wondered how much life had flowed down this sluice of battles, and been lost at the padal pol--the last and lowest gate--where, in the old days, the besieging armies put their best and bravest battalions. once at the head of the lower slope, there is a clear run-down of a thousand yards with no chance of turning aside either to the right or left. even as he wondered, he was brought abreast of two stone chhatris, each carrying a red daubed stone. they were the graves of two very brave men, jeemal of bedmore, and kalla, who fell in akbar's sack fighting like rajputs. read the story of their deaths, and learn what manner of warriors they were. their graves were all that spoke openly of the hundreds of struggles on the lower slope where the fight was always fiercest. at last, after half an hour's climb, the main gate, the ram pol, was gained, and the englishman passed into the city of chitor and--then and there formed a resolution, since broken, not to write one word about it for fear that he should be set down as a babbling and a gushing enthusiast. objects of archæological interest are duly described in an admirable little book of chitor which, after one look, the englishman abandoned. one cannot "do" chitor with a guide-book. the chaplain of the english mission to jehangir said the best that was to be said, when he described the place three hundred years ago, writing quaintly: "chitor, an ancient great kingdom, the chief city so called which standeth on a mighty high hill, flat on the top, walled about at the least ten english miles. there appear to this day above a hundred churches ruined and divers fair palaces which are lodged in like manner among their ruins, as many englishmen by the observation have guessed. its chief inhabitants to-day are zum and ohim, birds and wild beasts, but the stately ruins thereof give a shadow of its beauty while it flourished in its pride." gerowlia struck into a narrow pathway, forcing herself through garden-trees and disturbing the peacocks. an evil guide-man on the ground waved his hand, and began to speak; but was silenced. the death of amber was as nothing to the death of chitor--a body whence the life had been driven by riot and the sword. men had parcelled the gardens of her palaces and the courtyards of her temples into fields; and cattle grazed among the remnants of the shattered tombs. but over all--over rent and bastion, split temple-wall, pierced roof, and prone pillar--lay the "shadow of its beauty while it flourished in its pride." the englishman walked into a stately palace of many rooms, where the sunlight streamed in through wall and roof, and up crazy stone stairways, held together, it seemed, by the marauding trees. in one bastion, a wind-sown peepul had wrenched a thick slab clear of the wall, but held it tight pressed in a crook of a branch, as a man holds down a fallen enemy under his elbow, shoulder, and forearm. in another place, a strange, uncanny wind sprung from nowhere, was singing all alone among the pillars of what may have been a hall of audience. the englishman wandered so far in one palace that he came to an almost black-dark room, high up in a wall, and said proudly to himself: "i must be the first man who has been here;" meaning no harm or insult to any one. but he tripped and fell, and as he put out his hands, he felt that the stairs had been worn hollow and smooth by the thread of innumerable naked feet. then he was afraid, and came away very quickly, stepping delicately over fallen friezes and bits of sculptured men, so as not to offend the dead; and was mightily relieved when he recovered his elephant and allowed the guide to take him to kumbha rana's tower of victory. this stands, like all things in chitor, among ruins, but time and the other enemies have been good to it. it is a jain edifice, nine storeys high, crowned atop--was this designed insult or undesigned repair?--with a purely mahometan dome, where the pigeons and the bats live. excepting this blemish, the tower of victory is nearly as fair as when it left the hands of the builder whose name has not been handed down to us. it is to be observed here that the first, or more ruined, tower of victory, built in alluji's days, when chitor was comparatively young, was raised by some pious jain as proof of conquest over things spiritual. the second tower is more worldly in intent. those who care to look, may find elsewhere a definition of its architecture and its more striking peculiarities. it was in kind, but not in degree, like the jugdesh temple at udaipur, and, as it exceeded it in magnificence, so its effect upon the mind was more intense. the confusing intricacy of the figures with which it was wreathed from top to bottom, the recurrence of the one calm face, the god enthroned, holding the wheel of the law, and the appalling lavishness of decoration, all worked toward the instilment of fear and aversion. surely this must have been one of the objects of the architect. the tower, in the arrangement of its stairways, is like the interior of a chinese carved ivory puzzle-ball. the idea given is that, even while you are ascending, you are wrapping yourself deeper and deeper in the tangle of a mighty maze. add to this the half-light, the thronging armies of sculptured figures, the mad profusion of design splashed as impartially upon the undersides of the stone window-slabs as upon the door-beam of the threshold--add, most abhorrent of all, the slippery sliminess of the walls always worn smooth by naked men, and you will understand that the tower is not a soothing place to visit. the englishman fancied presumptuously that he had, in a way, grasped the builder's idea; and when he came to the top storey and sat among the pigeons his theory was this: to attain power, wrote the builder of old, in sentences of fine stone, it is necessary to pass through all sorts of close-packed horrors, treacheries, battles, and insults, in darkness and without knowledge whether the road leads upward or into a hopeless _cul-de-sac_. kumbha rana must many times have climbed to the top storey, and looked out toward the uplands of malwa on the one side and his own great mewar on the other, in the days when all the rock hummed with life and the clatter of hooves upon the stony ways, and mahmoud of malwa was safe in hold. how he must have swelled with pride--fine insolent pride of life and rule and power--power not only to break things but to compel such builders as those who piled the tower to his royal will! there was no decoration in the top storey to bewilder or amaze--nothing but well-grooved stone-slabs, and a boundless view fit for kings who traced their ancestry- "from times when forth from the sunlight, the first of our kings came down, and had the earth for his footstool, and wore the stars for his crown." the builder had left no mark behind him--not even a mark on the threshold of the door, or a sign in the head of the topmost step. the englishman looked in both places, believing that those were the places generally chosen for mark-cutting. so he sat and meditated on the beauties of kingship and the unholiness of hindu art, and what power a shadowland of lewd monstrosities had upon those who believed in it, and what lord dufferin, who is the nearest approach to a king in this india, must have thought when aide-de-camps clanked after him up the narrow steps. but the day was wearing, and he came down--in both senses--and, in his descent, the carven things on every side of the tower, and above and below, once more took hold of and perverted his fancy, so that he arrived at the bottom in a frame of mind eminently fitted for a descent into the gau-mukh, which is nothing more terrible than a little spring, falling into a reservoir, in the side of the hill. he stumbled across more ruins and passed between tombs of dead ranis, till he came to a flight of steps, built out and cut out from rock, going down as far as he could see into a growth of trees on a terrace below him. the stone of the steps had been worn and polished by the terrible naked feet till it showed its markings clearly as agate; and where the steps ended in a rock-slope, there was a visible glair, a great snail-track, upon the rocks. it was hard to keep safe footing upon the sliminess. the air was thick with the sick smell of stale incense, and grains of rice were scattered upon the steps. but there was no one to be seen. now this in itself was not specially alarming; but the genius of the place must be responsible for making it so. the englishman slipped and bumped on the rocks, and arrived, more suddenly than he desired, upon the edge of a dull blue tank, sunk between walls of timeless masonry. in a slabbed-in recess, water was pouring through a shapeless stone gargoyle, into a trough; which trough again dripped into the tank. almost under the little trickle of water, was the loathsome emblem of creation, and there were flowers and rice around it. water was trickling from a score of places in the cut face of the hill; oozing between the edges of the steps and welling up between the stone slabs of the terrace. trees sprouted in the sides of the tank and hid its surroundings. it seemed as though the descent had led the englishman, firstly, two thousand years away from his own century, and secondly, into a trap, and that he would fall off the polished stones into the stinking tank, or that the gau-mukh would continue to pour water until the tank rose up and swamped him, or that some of the stone slabs would fall forward and crush him flat. then he was conscious of remembering, with peculiar and unnecessary distinctness, that, from the gau-mukh, a passage led to the subterranean chambers in which the fair pudmini and her handmaids had slain themselves. and, that tod had written and the station-master at chitor had said, that some sort of devil, or ghoul, or something, stood at the entrance of that approach. all of which was a nightmare bred in full day and folly to boot; but it was the fault of the genius of the place, who made the englishman feel that he had done a great wrong in trespassing into the very heart and soul of all chitor. and, behind him, the gau-mukh guggled and choked like a man in his death-throe. the englishman endured as long as he could--about two minutes. then it came upon him that he must go quickly out of this place of years and blood--must get back to the afternoon sunshine, and gerowlia, and the dak-bungalow with the french bedstead. he desired no archæological information, he wished to take no notes, and, above all, he did not care to look behind him, where stood the reminder that he was no better than the beasts that perish. but he had to cross the smooth, worn rocks, and he felt their sliminess through his bootsoles. it was as though he were treading on the soft, oiled skin of a hindu. as soon as the steps gave refuge, he floundered up them, and so came out of the gau-mukh, bedewed with that perspiration which follows alike on honest toil or--childish fear. "this," said he to himself, "is absurd!" and sat down on the fallen top of a temple to review the situation. but the gau-mukh had disappeared. he could see the dip in the ground and the beginning of the steps, but nothing more. perhaps it was absurd. it undoubtedly appeared so, later. yet there was something uncanny about it all. it was not exactly a feeling of danger or pain, but an apprehension of great evil. in defence, it may be urged that there is moral, just as much as there is mine, choke-damp. if you get into a place laden with the latter you die, and if into the home of the former you ... behave unwisely, as constitution and temperament prompt. if any man doubt this, let him sit for two hours in a hot sun on an elephant, stay half an hour in the tower of victory, and then go down into the gau-mukh, which, it must never be forgotten, is merely a set of springs "three or four in number, issuing from the cliff face at cow-mouth carvings, now mutilated. the water, evidently percolating from the hathi kund above, falls first in an old pillared hall and thence into the masonry reservoir below, eventually, when abundant enough, supplying a little waterfall lower down." that, gentlemen and ladies, on the honour of one who has been frightened of the dark in broad daylight, is the gau-mukh, as though photographed. the englishman regained gerowlia and demanded to be taken away, but gerowlia's driver went forward instead and showed him a new mahal just built by the present maharana. carriage drives, however, do not consort well with chitor and the "shadow of her ancient beauty." the return journey, past temple after temple and palace upon palace, began in the failing light, and gerowlia was still blundering up and down narrow by-paths--for she possessed all an old woman's delusion as to the slimness of her waist when the twilight fell, and the smoke from the town below began to creep up the brown flanks of chitor, and the jackals howled. then the sense of desolation, which had been strong enough in all conscience in the sunshine, began to grow and grow. near the ram pol there was some semblance of a town with living people in it, and a priest sat in the middle of the road and howled aloud upon his gods, until a little boy came and laughed in his face and he went away grumbling. this touch was deeply refreshing; in the contemplation of it, the englishman clean forgot that he had overlooked the gathering in of materials for an elaborate statistical, historical, geographical account of chitor. all that remained to him was a shuddering reminiscence of the gau-mukh and two lines of the "holy grail," "and up into the sounding halls he passed, but nothing in the sounding halls he saw." _post scriptum._--there was something very uncanny about the genius of the place. he dragged an ease-loving egotist out of the french bedstead with the gilt knobs at head and foot, into a more than usually big folly--nothing less than a seeing of chitor by moonlight. there was no possibility of getting gerowlia out of _her_ bed, and a mistrust of the maharana's soldiery who in the day-time guarded the gates, prompted the englishman to avoid the public way, and scramble straight up the hillside, along an attempt at a path which he had noted from gerowlia's back. there was no one to interfere, and nothing but an infinity of pestilent nullahs and loose stones to check. owls came out and hooted at him, and animals ran about in the dark and made uncouth noises. it was an idiotic journey, and it ended--oh, horror! in that unspeakable gau-mukh--this time entered from the opposite or brushwooded side, as far as could be made out in the dusk and from the chuckle of the water which, by night, was peculiarly malevolent. escaping from this place, crab-fashion, the englishman crawled into chitor and sat upon a flat tomb till the moon, a very inferior and second-hand one, rose, and turned the city of the dead into a city of scurrying ghouls--in sobriety, jackals. the ruins took strange shapes and shifted in the half light and cast objectionable shadows. it was easy enough to fill the rock with the people of old times, and a very beautiful account of chitor restored, made out by the help of tod, and bristling with the names of the illustrious dead, would undoubtedly have been written, had not a woman, a living breathing woman, stolen out of a temple--what was she doing in that galley?--and screamed in piercing and public-spirited fashion. the englishman got off the tomb and departed rather more noisily than a jackal; feeling for the moment that he was not much better. somebody opened a door with a crash, and a man cried out: "who is there?" but the cause of the disturbance was, for his sins, being most horribly scratched by some thorny scrub over the edge of the hill--there are no bastions worth speaking of near the gau-mukh--and the rest was partly rolling, partly scrambling, and mainly bad language. when you are too lucky sacrifice something, a beloved pipe for choice, to ganesh. the englishman has seen chitor by moonlight--not the best moonlight truly, but the watery glare of a nearly spent moon--and his sacrifice to luck is this. he will never try to describe what he has seen--but will keep it as a love-letter, a thing for one pair of eyes only--a memory that few men to-day can be sharers in. and does he, through this fiction, evade insulting, by pen and ink, a scene as lovely, wild, and unmatchable as any that mortal eyes have been privileged to rest upon? an intelligent and discriminating public are perfectly at liberty to form their own opinions. xii contains the history of the bhumia of jhaswara, and the record of a visit to the house of strange stories. demonstrates the felicity of loaferdom, which is the veritable companionship of the indian empire, and proposes a scheme for the better officering of two departments. come away from the monstrous gloom of chitor and escape northwards. the place is unclean and terrifying. let us catch to-day by both hands and return to the station-master who is also booking-parcels and telegraph-clerk, and who never seems to go to bed--and to the comfortably wadded bunks of the rajputana-malwa line. while the train is running, be pleased to listen to the perfectly true story of the _bhumia_ of jhaswara, which is a story the sequel whereof has yet to be written. once upon a time, a rajput landholder; a _bhumia_, and a mahometan _jaghirdar_, were next-door neighbours in ajmir territory. they hated each other thoroughly for many reasons, all connected with land; and the _jaghirdar_ was the bigger man of the two. in those days, it was the law that the victims of robbery or dacoity should be reimbursed by the owner of the lands on which the affair had taken place. the ordinance is now swept away as impracticable. there was a highway robbery on the _bhumia's_ holding; and he vowed that it had been "put up" by the mahometan who, he said, was an ahab. the reive-gelt payable nearly ruined the rajput, and he, labouring under a galling grievance or a groundless suspicion, fired the _jaghirdar's_ crops, was detected and brought up before the english judge who gave him four years' imprisonment. to the sentence was appended a recommendation that, on release, the rajput should be put on heavy securities for good behaviour. "otherwise," wrote the judge, who seems to have known the people he was dealing with, "he will certainly kill the _jaghirdar_." four years passed, and the _jaghirdar_ obtained wealth and consideration, and was made, let us say, a khan bahadur, and an honorary magistrate; but the _bhumia_ remained in gaol and thought over the highway robbery. when the day of release came, a new judge hunted up his predecessor's finding and recommendation, and would have put the _bhumia_ on security. "sahib," said the _bhumia_, "i have no people. i have been in gaol. what am i now? and who will find security for me? if you will send me back to gaol again i can do nothing, and i have no friends." so they released him, and he went away into an outlying village and borrowed a sword from one house, and had it sharpened in another, for love. two days later fell the birthday of the khan bahadur and the honorary magistrate, and his friends and servants and dependants made a little levee and did him honour after the native custom. the _bhumia_ also attended the levee, but no one knew him, and he was stopped at the door of the courtyard by the servant. "say that the _bhumia_ of jhaswara has come to pay his salaams," said he. they let him in, and in the heart of ajmir city, in broad daylight, and before all the _jaghirdar's_ household, he smote off his enemy's head so that it rolled upon the ground. then he fled, and though they raised the countryside against him he was never caught, and went into bikanir. five years later, word came to ajmir that chimbo singh, the _bhumia_ of jhaswara, had taken service under the thakur sahib of palitana. the case was an old one, and the chances of identification misty, but the suspected was caught and brought in, and one of the leading native barristers of the bombay bar was retained to defend him. he said nothing and continued to say nothing, and the case fell through. he is believed to be "wanted" now for a fresh murder committed within the last few months, out bikanir way. and now that the train has reached ajmir, the crewe of rajputana, whither shall a tramp turn his feet? the englishman set his stick on end, and it fell with its point northwest as nearly as might be. this being translated, meant jodhpur, which is the city of the houyhnhnms. if you would enjoy jodhpur thoroughly, quit at ajmir the decent conventionalities of "station" life, and make it your business to move among gentlemen--gentlemen in the ordnance or the commissariat, or, better still, gentlemen on the railway. at ajmir, gentlemen will tell you what manner of place jodhpur is, and their accounts, though flavoured with oaths, are amusing. in their eyes the desert that rings the city has no charms, and they discuss affairs of the state, as they understand them, in a manner that would curl the hair on a political's august head. jodhpur has been, but things are rather better now, a much-favoured camping ground for the light-cavalry of the road--the loafers with a certain amount of brain and great assurance. the explanation is simple. there are more than four hundred horses in his highness's city stables alone; and where the houyhnhnm is, there also will be the yahoo. this is sad but true. besides the uhlans who come and go on heaven knows what mysterious errands, there are bag-men travelling for the big english firms. jodhpur is a good customer, and purchases all sorts of things, more or less useful, for the state or its friends. these are the gentlemen to know, if you would understand something of matters which are not written in reports. the englishman took a train from ajmir to marwar junction, which is on the road to mount abu, westward from ajmir, and at five in the morning, under pale moonlight, was uncarted at the beginning of the jodhpur state railway--one of the quaintest little lines that ever ran a locomotive. it is the maharaja's very own, and pays about ten per cent; but its quaintness does not lie in these things. it is worked with rude economy, and started life by singularly and completely falsifying the government estimates for its construction. an intelligent bureau asserted that it could not be laid down for less than--but the error shall be glossed over. it was laid down for a little more than seventeen thousand rupees a mile, with the help of second-hand rails and sleepers; and it is currently asserted that the station-masters are flagmen, pointsmen, ticket-collectors, and everything else, except platforms, and lamp-rooms. as only two trains are run in the twenty-four hours, this economy of staff does not matter. the state line, with the comparatively new branch to the pachpadra salt-pits, pays handsomely and is exactly suited to the needs of its users. true, there is a certain haziness as to the hour of starting, but this allows laggards more time, and fills the packed carriages to overflowing. from marwar junction to jodhpur, the train leaves the aravalis and goes northwards into the region of death that lies beyond the luni river. sand, _ak_ bushes, and sand-hills, varied with occasional patches of unthrifty cultivation, make up the scenery. rain has been very scarce in marwar this year, and the country, consequently, shows at its worst, for almost every square mile of a kingdom nearly as large as scotland is dependent on the sky for its crops. in a good season, a large village can pay from seven to nine thousand rupees revenue without blenching. in a bad one, "all the king's horses and all the king's men" may think themselves lucky if they raise fifteen rupees from the same place. the fluctuation is startling. from a countryside, which to the uninitiated seems about as valuable as a stretch of west african beach, the state gets a revenue of nearly forty lakhs; and men who know the country vow that it has not been one tithe exploited, and that there is more to be made from salt marble and--curious thing in this wilderness--good forest conservancy, than an open-handed durbar dreams of. an amiable weakness for unthinkingly giving away villages where ready cash failed, has somewhat hampered the revenue in past years; but now--and for this the maharaja deserves great credit--jodhpur has a large and genuine surplus and a very compact little scheme of railway extension. before turning to a consideration of the city of jodhpur, hear a true story in connection with the hyderabad-pachpadra project which those interested in the scheme may lay to heart. his state line, his "ownest own," as has been said, very much delighted the maharaja who, in one or two points, is not unlike sir theodore hope of sainted memory. pleased with the toy, he said effusively, in words which may or may not have reached the ears of the hyderabad-pachpadra people: "this is a good business. if the government will give me independent jurisdiction, i'll make and open the line straight away from pachpadra to the end of my dominions, _i.e._, all but to hyderabad." then "up and spake an elder knight, sat at the king's right knee," who knew something about the railway map of india and the controlling power of strategical lines: "maharaja sahib--here is the indus valley state line and here is the bombay-baroda line. where would _you_ be?" "by jove," quoth the maharaja, though he swore by quite another god: "i see!" and thus he abandoned the idea of a hyderabad line, and turned his attention to an extension to nagore, with a branch to the makrana marble quarries which are close to the sambhar salt lake near jeypore. and, in the fulness of time, that extension will be made and perhaps extended to bahawalpur. the englishman came to jodhpur at midday, in a hot, fierce sunshine that struck back from the sands and the ledges of red rock, as though it were may instead of december. the line scorned such a thing as a regular ordained terminus. the single track gradually melted away into the sands. close to the station was a grim stone dak-bungalow, and in the verandah stood a brisk, bag-and-flask-begirdled individual, cracking his joints with excess of irritation. _nota bene._--when one is on the road it is above all things necessary to "pass the time o' day" to fellow-wanderers. failure to comply with this law implies that the offender is "too good for his company"; and this, on the road, is the unpardonable sin. the englishman "passed the time o' day" in due and ample form. "ha! ha!" said the gentleman with the bag. "isn't this a sweet place? there ain't no _ticca-gharies_, and there ain't nothing to eat, if you haven't brought your vittles, an' they charge you three-eight for a bottle of whisky. oh! it's a sweet place." here he skipped about the verandah and puffed. then turning upon the englishman, he said fiercely: "what have you come here for?" now this was rude, because the ordinary form of salutation on the road is usually "and what are you for?" meaning "what house do you represent?" the englishman answered dolefully that he was travelling for pleasure, which simple explanation offended the little man with the courier-bag. he snapped his joints more excruciatingly than ever: "for pleasure? my god! for pleasure? come here an' wait five weeks for your money, an', mark what i'm tellin' you now, you don't get it then! but per'aps your ideas of pleasure is different from most people's. for pleasure! yah!" he skipped across the sands toward the station, for he was going back with the down train, and vanished in a whirlwind of luggage and the fluttering of female skirts: in jodhpur the women are baggage coolies. a level, drawling voice spoke from an inner room: "'e's a bit upset. that's what 'e is! i remember when i was at gworlior"--the rest of the story was lost, and the englishman set to work to discover the nakedness of the dak-bungalow. for reasons which do not concern the public, it is made as bitterly uncomfortable as possible. the food is infamous, and the charges seem to be wilfully pitched about eighty per cent above the tariff, so that some portion of the bill, at least, may be paid without bloodshed, or the unseemly defilement of walls with the contents of drinking glasses. this is short-sighted policy, and it would, perhaps, be better to lower the prices and hide the tariff, and put a guard about the house to prevent jackal-molested donkeys from stampeding into the verandahs. but these be details. jodhpur dak-bungalow is a merry, merry place, and any writer in search of new ground to locate a madly improbable story in, could not do better than study it diligently. in front lies sand, riddled with innumerable ant-holes, and beyond the sand the red sandstone wall of the city, and the mahometan burying-ground that fringes it. fragments of sandstone set on end mark the resting places of the faithful, who are of no great account here. above everything, a mark for miles around, towers the dun-red pile of the fort which is also a palace. this is set upon sandstone rock whose sharper features have been worn smooth by the wash of the windblown sand. it is as monstrous as anything in dore's illustrations of the _contes drolatiques_ and, wherever it wanders, the eye comes back at last to its fantastic bulk. there is no greenery on the rock, nothing but fierce sunlight or black shadow. a line of red hills forms the background of the city, and this is as bare as the picked bones of camels that lie bleaching on the sand below. wherever the eye falls, it sees a camel or a string of camels--lean, racer-built _sowarri_ camels, or heavy, black, shag-haired trading ships bent on their way to the railway station. through the night the air is alive with the bubbling and howling of the brutes, who assuredly must suffer from nightmare. in the morning the chorus round the station is deafening. knowing what these camels meant, but trusting nevertheless that the road would not be _very_ bad, the englishman went into the city, left a well-kunkered road, turned through a sand-worn, red sandstone gate, and sank ankle-deep in fine reddish white sand. this was the main thoroughfare of the city. two tame lynxes shared it with a donkey; and the rest of the population seemed to have gone to bed. in the hot weather, between ten in the morning and four in the afternoon all jodhpur stays at home for fear of death by sun-stroke, and it is possible that the habit extends far into what is officially called the "cold weather"; or, perhaps, being brought up among sands, men do not care to tramp them for pleasure. the city internally is a walled and secret place; each courtyard being hidden from view by a red sandstone wall except in a few streets where the shops are poor and mean. in an old house now used for the storing of tents, akbar's mother lay two months, before the "guardian of mankind" was born, drawing breath for her flight to umarkot across the desert. seeing this place, the englishman thought of many things not worth the putting down on paper, and went on till the sand grew deeper and deeper, and a great camel, heavily laden with stone, came round a corner and nearly stepped on him. as the evening fell, the city woke up, and the goats and the camels and the kine came in by hundreds, and men said that wild pig, which are strictly preserved by the princes for their own sport, were in the habit of wandering about the roads. now if they do this in the capital, what damage must they not do to the crops in the district? men said that they did a very great deal of damage, and it was hard to keep their noses out of anything they took a fancy to. on the evening of the englishman's visit, the maharaja went out, as is his laudable custom, alone and unattended, to a road actually _in_ the city along which one specially big pig was in the habit of passing. his highness got his game with a single shot behind the shoulder, and in a few days it was pickled and sent off to the maharana of udaipur, as a love-gift. there is great friendship between jodhpur and udaipur, and the idea of one king going abroad to shoot game for another has something very pretty and quaint in it. night fell and the englishman became aware that the conservancy of jodhpur might be vastly improved. strong stenches, say the doctors, are of no importance; but there came upon every breath of heated air--and in jodhpur city the air is warm in mid-winter--the faint, sweet, sickly reek that one has always been taught to consider specially deadly. a few months ago there was an impressive outbreak of cholera in jodhpur, and the residency doctor, who really hoped that the people would be brought to see sense, did his best to bring forward a general cleansing-scheme. but the city fathers would have none of it. their fathers had been trying to poison themselves in well-defined ways for an indefinite number of years; and they were not going to have any of the sahib's "sweeper-nonsense." to clinch everything, one travelled member of the community rose in his place and said: "why, i've been to simla. yes, to simla! and even _i_ don't want it!" when the black dusk had shut down, the englishman climbed up a little hill and saw the stars come out and shine over the desert. very far away, some camel-drivers had lighted a fire and were singing as they sat by the side of their beasts. sound travels as far over sand as over water, and their voices came into the city wall and beat against it in multiplied echoes. then he returned to the house of strange stories--the dak-bungalow--and passed the time o' day with a light-hearted bagman--a cockney, in whose heart there was no thought of india, though he had travelled for years throughout the length and breadth of the empire and over new burma as well. there was a fort in jodhpur, but you see that was not in his line of business exactly, and there were stables, but "you may take my word for it, them who has much to do with horses is a bad lot. you get hold of the maharaja's coachman and he'll drive you all round the shop. i'm only waiting here collecting money." jodhpur dak-bungalow seems to be full of men "waiting here." they lie in long chairs in the verandah and tell each other interminable stories, or stare citywards and express their opinion of some dilatory debtor. they are all waiting for something; and they vary the monotony of a life they make wilfully dull beyond words, by waging war with the dak-bungalow khansama. then they return to their long chairs or their couches, and sleep. some of them, in old days, used to wait as long as six weeks--six weeks in may, when the sixty miles from marwar junction to jodhpur was covered in three days by slow-pacing bullock carts! some of them are bagmen, able to describe the demerits of every dak-bungalow from the peshin to pagan, and southward to hyderabad--men of substance who have "the trades" at their back. it is a terrible thing to be in "the trades," that great doomsday book of calcutta, in whose pages are written the names of doubtful clients. let light-hearted purchasers take note. and the others, who wait and swear and spit and exchange anecdotes--what are they? bummers, land-sharks, skirmishers for their bread. it would be cruel in a fellow-tramp to call them loafers. their lien upon the state may have its origin in horses, or anything else; for the state buys anything vendible, from abdul rahman's most promising importations to a patent, self-acting corkscrew. they are a mixed crew, but amusing and full of strange stories of adventure by land and sea. and their ends are as curiously brutal as their lives. a wanderer was once swept into the great, still back-water that divides the loaferdom of upper india--that is to say, calcutta and bombay--from the north-going current of madras, where nym and pistol are highly finished articles with certificates of education. this back-water is a dangerous place to break down in, as the men on the road know well. "you can run rajputana in a pair o' sack breeches an' an old hat, but go to central injia with money," says the wisdom of the road. so the waif died in the bazaar, and the barrack-master sahib gave orders for his burial. it might have been the bazaar sergeant, or it might have been an hireling who was charged with the disposal of the body. at any rate, it was an irishman who said to the barrack-master sahib: "fwhat about that loafer?" "well, what's the matter?" "i'm considtherin whether i'm to mash in his thick head, or to break his long legs. he won't fit the store-coffin anyways." here the story ends. it may be an old one; but it struck the englishman as being rather unsympathetic in its nature; and he has preserved it for this reason. were the englishman a mere secretary of state instead of an enviable and unshackled vagabond, he would remodel that philanthropic institution of teaching young subalterns how to spell--variously called the intelligence and the political department--and giving each boy the pair of sack breeches and old hat, above prescribed, would send him out for a twelvemonth on the road. not that he might learn to swear australian oaths (which are superior to any ones in the market) or to drink bazaar-drinks (which are very bad indeed), but in order that he might gain an insight into the tertiary politics of states--things less imposing than succession-cases and less wearisome than boundary disputes, but very well worth knowing. a small volume might be written of the ways and the tales of indian loafers of the more brilliant order--such chevaliers of the order of industry as would throw their glasses in your face did you call them loafers. they are a genial, blasphemous, blustering crew, and preëminent even in a land of liars. xiii a king's house and country. further consideration of the hat-marked caste. the hospitality that spreads tables in the wilderness, and shifts the stranger from the back of the hired camel into a two-horse victoria, must be experienced to be appreciated. to those unacquainted with the peculiarities of the native-trained horse, this advice may be worth something. sit as far back as ever you can, and, if oriental courtesy have put an english bit and bridoon in a mouth by education intended for a spiked curb, leave the whole contraption alone. once acquainted with the comparative smoothness of english iron-mongery, your mount will grow frivolous. in which event a four-pound steeplechase saddle, accepted through sheer shame, offers the very smallest amount of purchase to untrained legs. the englishman rode up to the fort, and by the way learnt all these things and many more. he was provided with a racking, female horse who swept the gullies of the city by dancing sideways. the road to the fort, which stands on the hill of strife, wound in and out of sixty-foot hills, with a skilful avoidance of all shade; and this was at high noon, when puffs of heated air blew from the rocks on all sides. "what must the heat be in may?" the englishman's companion was a cheery brahmin, who wore the lightest of turbans and sat the smallest of neat little country-breds. "awful!" said the brahmin. "but not so bad as in the district. look there!" and he pointed from the brow of a bad eminence, across the quivering heat-haze, to where the white sand faded into bleach blue sky and the horizon was shaken and tremulous. "it's very bad in summer. would knock you--oh yes--all to smash, but _we_ are accustomed to it." a rock-strewn hill, about half a mile, as the crow flies, from the fort was pointed out as the place whence, at the beginning of this century, the pretender sowae besieged raja maun for five months, but could make no headway against his foe. one gun of the enemy's batteries specially galled the fort, and the jodhpur king offered a village to any of his gunners who should dismount it. "it was smashed," said the brahmin. "oh yes, all to pieces." practically, the city which lies below the fort is indefensible, and during the many wars of marwar has generally been taken up by the assailants without resistance. entering the fort by the jeypore gate, and studiously refraining from opening his umbrella, the englishman found shadow and coolth, took off his hat to the tun-bellied, trunk-nosed god of good-luck who had been very kind to him in his wanderings, and sat down near half a dozen of the maharaja's guns bearing the mark, "a. broome, cossipore, 1857," or "g. hutchinson, cossipore, 1838." now rock and masonry are so curiously blended in this great pile that he who walks through it loses sense of being among buildings. it is as though he walked through mountain-gorges. the stone-paved, inclined planes, and the tunnel-like passages driven under a hundred feet height of buildings, increase this impression. in many places the wall and rock runs up unbroken by any window for forty feet. it would be a week's work to pick out even roughly the names of the dead who have added to the buildings, or to describe the bewildering multiplicity of courts and ranges of rooms; and, in the end, the result would be as satisfactory as an attempt to describe a nightmare. it is said that the rock on which the fort stands is four miles in circuit, but no man yet has dared to estimate the size of the city that they call the palace, or the mileage of its ways. ever since ras joda, four hundred years ago, listened to the voice of a _jogi_, and leaving mundore built his eyrie on the "bird's nest" as the hill of strife was called, the palaces have grown and thickened. even to-day the builders are still at work. takht singh, the present ruler's predecessor, built royally. an incomplete bastion and a hall of flowers are among the works of his pleasure. hidden away behind a mighty wing of carved red sandstone lie rooms set apart for viceroys, durbar halls and dinner-rooms without end. a gentle gloom covers the evidences of the catholic taste of the state in articles of "bigotry and virtue"; but there is enough light to show the _raison d'être_ of the men who wait in the dak-bungalow. and, after all, what is the use of royalty in these days if a man may not take delight in the pride of the eye? kumbha rana, the great man of chitor, fought like a rajput, but he had an instinct which made him build the tower of victory at, who knows what cost of money and life. the fighting-instinct thrown back upon itself must have some sort of outlet; and a merciful providence wisely ordains that the kings of the east in the nineteenth century shall take pleasure in shopping on an imperial scale. dresden china snuff-boxes, mechanical engines, electro-plated fish-slicers, musical boxes, and gilt blown-glass christmas-tree balls do not go well with the splendours of a palace that might have been built by titans and coloured by the morning sun. but there are excuses to be made for kings who have no fighting to do. in one of the higher bastions stands a curious specimen of one of the earliest _mitrailleuses_--a cumbrous machine carrying twenty gun-barrels in two rows, which small-arm fire is flanked by two tiny cannon. as a muzzle-loading implement its value after the first discharge would be insignificant; but the soldiers lounging by assured the englishman that it had done good service in its time. a man may spend a long hour in the upper tiers of the palaces, but still far from the roof-tops, in looking out across the desert. there are englishmen in these wastes, who say gravely that there is nothing so fascinating as the sand of bikanir and marwar. "you see," explained an enthusiast of the hat-marked caste, "you are not shut in by roads, and you can go just as you please. and, somehow, it grows upon you as you get used to it, and you end, y'know, by falling in love with the place." look steadily from the palace westward where the city with its tanks and serais is spread at your feet, and you will, in a lame way, begin to understand the fascination of the desert which, by those who have felt it, is said to be even stronger than the fascination of the road. the city is of red sandstone and dull and sombre to look at. beyond it, where the white sand lies, the country is dotted with camels limping into the eiwigkeit or coming from the same place. trees appear to be strictly confined to the suburbs of the city. very good. if you look long enough across the sands, while a voice in your ear is telling you of half-buried cities, old as old time, and wholly unvisited by sahibs, of districts where the white man is unknown, and of the wonders of far-away jeysulmir ruled by a half-distraught king, sand-locked and now smitten by a terrible food and water famine, you will, if it happen that you are of a sedentary and civilised nature, experience a new emotion--will be conscious of a great desire to take one of the lobbing camels and get away into the desert, away from the last touch of to-day, to meet the past face to face. some day a novelist will exploit the unknown land from the rann, where the wild ass breeds, northward and eastward, till he comes to the indus. but the officials of marwar do not call their country a desert. on the contrary, they administer it very scientifically and raise, as has been said, about thirty-eight lakhs from it. to come back from the influence and the possible use of the desert to more prosaic facts. read quickly a rough record of things in modern marwar. the old is drawn in tod, who speaks the truth. the maharaja's right hand in the work of the state is maharaj sir pertab singh, prime minister a.--d.--c. to the prince of wales, capable of managing the marwari who intrigues like a--marwari, equally capable, as has been seen, of moving in london society, and colonel of a newly raised crack cavalry corps. the englishman would have liked to have seen him, but he was away in the desert somewhere, either marking a boundary or looking after a succession case. not very long ago, as the setts of ajmir knew well, there was a state debt of fifty lakhs. this has now been changed into a surplus of three lakhs, and the revenue is growing. also, the simple dacoit who used to enjoy himself very pleasantly, has been put into a department, and the thug with him. consequently, for the department takes a genuine interest in this form of _shikar_, and the gaol leg-irons are not too light, dacoities have been reduced to such an extent that men say "you may send a woman, with her ornaments upon her, from sojat to phalodi, and she will not lose a nose-ring." again, and this in a rajput state is an important matter, the boundaries of nearly every village in marwar have been demarcated, and boundary fights, in which both sides preferred small-arm fire to the regulation club, are unknown. the open-handed system of giving away villages had raised a large and unmannerly crop of _jaghirdars_. these have been taken up and brought in hand by sir pertab singh, to the better order of the state. a punjabi sirdar, har dyal singh, has reformed, or made rather, courts on the civil and criminal side; and his hand is said to be found in a good many sweepings out of old corners. it must always be borne in mind that everything that has been done, was carried through over and under unlimited intrigue, for jodhpur is a native state. intrigue must be met with intrigue by all except gordons or demi-gods; and it is curious to hear how a reduction in tariff, or a smoothing out of some tangled court, had to be worked by shift and byway. the tales are comic, but not for publication. howbeit, har dyal singh got his training in part under the punjab government, and in part in a little native state far away in the himalayas, where intrigue is not altogether unknown. to the credit of the "pauper province" be it said, it is not easy to circumvent a punjabi. the details of his work would be dry reading. the result of it is good, and there is justice in marwar, and order and firmness in its administration. naturally, the land-revenue is the most interesting thing in marwar from an administrative point of view. the basis of it is a tank about the size of a swimming-bath, with a catchment of several hundred square yards, draining through leeped channels. when god sends the rain, the people of the village drink from the tank. when the rains fail, as they failed this year, they take to their wells, which are brackish and breed guinea-worm. for these reasons the revenue, like the republic of san domingo, is never alike for two years running. there are no canal questions to harry the authorities; but the fluctuations are enormous. under the aravalis the soil is good: further north they grow millet and pasture cattle, though, said a revenue officer cheerfully, "god knows what the brutes find to eat." _apropos_ of irrigation, the one canal deserves special mention, as showing how george stephenson came to jodhpur and astonished the inhabitants. six miles from the city proper lies the balsaman sagar, a great tank. in the hot weather, when the city tanks ran out or stank, it was the pleasant duty of the women to tramp twelve miles at the end of the day's work to fill their lotahs. in the hot weather jodhpur is--let a simile suffice. sukkur in june would be simla to jodhpur. the state engineer, who is also the jodhpur state line, for he has no european subordinates, conceived the idea of bringing the water from the balsaman into the city. was the city grateful? not in the least. it is said that the sahib wanted the water to run uphill and was throwing money into the tank. being true marwaris, men betted on the subject. the canal--a built out one, for water must not touch earth in these parts--was made at a cost of something over a lakh, and the water came down because its source was a trifle higher than the city. now, in the hot weather, the women need not go for long walks, but the marwari cannot understand how it was that the waters came down to jodhpur. from the marwari to money matters is an easy step. formerly, that is to say, up to within a very short time, the treasury of jodhpur was conducted in a shiftless, happy-go-lucky sort of fashion, not uncommon in native states, whereby the mahajuns "held the bag" and made unholy profits on discount and other things, to the confusion of the durbar funds and their own enrichment. there is now a treasury modelled on english lines, and english in the important particular that money is not to be got from it for the asking, and the items of expenditure are strictly looked after. in the middle of all this bustle of reform planned, achieved, frustrated, and replanned, and the never-ending underground warfare that surges in a native state, move the english officers--the irreducible minimum of exiles. as a caste, the working englishmen in native states are curiously interesting; and the traveller whose tact by this time has been blunted by tramping, sits in judgment upon them as he has seen them. in the first place, they are, they must be, the fittest who have survived; for though, here and there, you shall find one chafing bitterly against the burden of his life in the wilderness, one to be pitied more than any chained beast, the bulk of the caste are honestly and unaffectedly fond of their work, fond of the country around them, and fond of the people they deal with. in each state their answer to a question is the same. the men with whom they are in contact are "all right" when you know them, but you've got to "know them first," as the music-hall song says. their hands are full of work; so full that, when the incult wanderer said: "what do you find to do?" they look upon him with contempt and amazement, exactly as the wanderer himself had once looked upon a globe-trotter, who had put to him the same impertinent query. and--but here the englishman may be wrong--it seemed to him that in one respect their lives were a good deal more restful and concentrated than those of their brethren under the british government. there was no talk of shiftings and transfers and promotions, stretching across a province and a half, and no man said anything about simla. to one who has hitherto believed that simla is the hub of the empire, it is disconcerting to hear: "oh, simla! that's where you bengalis go. we haven't anything to do with simla down here." and no more they have. their talk and their interests run in the boundaries of the states they serve, and, most striking of all, the gossipy element seems to be cut altogether. it is a backwater of the river of anglo-indian life--or is it the main current, the broad stream that supplies the motive power, and is the other life only the noisy ripple on the surface? you who have lived, not merely looked at, both lives, decide. much can be learnt from the talk of the caste, many curious, many amusing, and some startling things. one hears stories of men who take a poor, impoverished state as a man takes a wife, "for better or worse," and, moved by some incomprehensible ideal of virtue, consecrate--that is not too big a word--consecrate their lives to that state in all single-heartedness and purity. such men are few, but they exist to-day, and their names are great in lands where no englishman travels. again the listener hears tales of grizzled diplomats of rajputana--machiavellis who have hoisted a powerful intriguer with his own intrigue, and bested priestly cunning, and the guile of the oswal, simply that the way might be clear for some scheme which should put money into a tottering treasury, or lighten the taxation of a few hundred thousand men--or both; for this can be done. one tithe of that force spent on their own personal advancement would have carried such men very far. truly the hat-marked caste are a strange people. they are so few and so lonely and so strong. they can sit down in one place for years, and see the works of their hands and the promptings of their brain grow to actual and beneficent life, bringing good to thousands. less fettered than the direct servant of the indian government, and working over a much vaster charge, they seem a bigger and a more large-minded breed. and that is saying a good deal. but let the others, the little people bound down and supervised, and strictly limited and income-taxed, always remember that the hat-marked are very badly off for shops. if they want a neck-tie they must get it up from bombay, and in the rains they can hardly move about; and they have no amusements and must go a day's railway journey for a rubber, and their drinking-water is doubtful: and there is less than one white woman _per_ ten thousand square miles. after all, comparative civilisation has its advantages. xiv among the houyhnhnms. jodhpur differs from the other states of rajputana in that its royalty are peculiarly accessible to an inquiring public. there are wanderers, the desire of whose life it is "to see nabobs," which is the globe-trotter's title for any one in unusually clean clothes, or an oudh taluqdar in gala dress. men asked in jodhpur whether the englishman would like to see his highness. the englishman had a great desire to do so, if his highness would be in no way inconvenienced. then they scoffed: "oh, he won't _durbar_ you, you needn't flatter yourself. if he's in the humour he'll receive you like an english country-gentleman." how in the world could the owner of such a place as jodhpur palace be in any way like an english country-gentleman? the englishman had not long to wait in doubt. his highness intimated his readiness to see the englishman between eight and nine in the morning at the raika-bagh. the raika-bagh is not a palace, for the lower storey and all the detached buildings round it are filled with horses. nor can it in any way be called a stable, because the upper storey contains sumptuous apartments full of all manner of valuables both of the east and the west. nor is it in any sense a pleasure-garden, for it stands on soft white sand, close to a multitude of litter and sand training tracks, and is devoid of trees for the most part. therefore the raika-bagh is simply the raika-bagh and nothing else. it is now the chosen residence of the maharaja who loves to live among his four hundred or more horses. all jodhpur is horse-mad by the way, and it behoves any one who wishes to be any one to keep his own race-course. the englishman went to the raika-bagh, which stands half a mile or so from the city, and passing through a long room filled with saddles by the dozen, bridles by the score, and bits by the hundred, was aware of a very small and lively little cherub on the roof of a garden-house. he was carefully muffled, for the morning was chill. "good morning," he cried cheerfully in english, waving a mittened hand. "are you going to see my faver and the horses?" it was the maharaja kanwar, the crown prince, the apple of the maharaja's eye, and one of the quaintest little bodies that ever set an englishman disrespectfully laughing. he studies english daily with one of the english officials of the state, and stands a very good chance of being thoroughly spoiled, for he is a general pet. as befits his dignity, he has his own carriage or carriages, his own twelve-hand stable, his own house and retinue. a few steps further on, in a little enclosure in front of a small two-storied white bungalow, sat his highness the maharaja, deep in discussion with the state engineer. he wore an english ulster, and within ten paces of him was the first of a long range of stalls. there was an informality of procedure about jodhpur which, after the strained etiquette of other states, was very refreshing. the state engineer, who has a growing line to attend to, cantered away and his highness after a few introductory words, knowing what the englishman would be after, said: "come along, and look at the horses." other formality there was absolutely none. even the indispensable knot of hangers-on stood at a distance, and behind a paling, in this most rustic country residence. a well-bred fox-terrier took command of the proceedings, after the manner of dogs the world over, and the maharaja led to the horse-boxes. but a man turned up, bending under the weight of much bacon. "oh! here's the pig i shot for udaipur last night. you see that is the best piece. it's pickled, and that's what makes it yellow to look at." he patted the great side that was held up. "there will be a camel sowar to meet it half way to udaipur; and i hope udaipur will be pleased with it. it was a very big pig." "and where did you shoot it, maharaja sahib?" "here," said his highness, smiting himself high up under the armpit. "where else would you have it?" certainly this descendant of raja maun was more like an english country-gentleman than the englishman in his ignorance had deemed possible. he led on from horse-box to horse-box, the terrier at his heels, pointing out each horse of note; and jodhpur has many. "there's _raja_, twice winner of the civil service cup." the englishman looked reverently and _raja_ rewarded his curiosity with a vicious snap, for he was being dressed over, and his temper was out of joint. close to him stood _autocrat_, the grey with the nutmeg marks on the off-shoulder, a picture of a horse, also disturbed in his mind. next to him was a chestnut arab, a hopeless cripple, for one of his knees had been smashed and the leg was doubled up under him. it was _turquoise_, who, six or eight years ago, rewarded good feeding by getting away from his groom, falling down and ruining himself, but who, none the less, has lived an honoured pensioner on the maharaja's bounty ever since. no horses are shot in the jodhpur stables, and when one dies--they have lost not more than twenty-five in six years--his funeral is an event. he is wrapped in a white sheet which is strewn with flowers, and, amid the weeping of the _saises_, is borne away to the burial ground. after doing the honours for nearly half an hour the maharaja departed, and as the englishman has not seen more than forty horses, he felt justified in demanding more. and he got them. _eclipse_ and _young revenge_ were out down-country, but _sherwood_ at the stud, _shere ali_, _conqueror_, _tynedale_, _sherwood ii_, a maiden of abdul rahman's, and many others of note, were in, and were brought out. among the veterans, a wrathful, rampant, red horse still, came _brian boru_, whose name has been written large in the chronicles of the indian turf, jerking his _sais_ across the road. his near-fore is altogether gone, but as a pensioner he condescends to go in harness, and is then said to be a "handful." he certainly looks it. at the two hundred and fifty-seventh horse, and perhaps the twentieth block of stables, the englishman's brain began to reel, and he demanded rest and information on a certain point. he had gone into some fifty stalls, and looked into all the rest, and in the looking had searchingly sniffed. but, as truly as he was then standing far below _brian boru's_ bony withers, never the ghost of a stench had polluted the keen morning air. the city of the houyhnhnms was specklessly clean--cleaner than any stable, racing or private, that he had been into. how was it done? the pure white sand accounted for a good deal, and the rest was explained by one of the masters of horse: "each horse has one _sais_ at least--old _ringwood_ has four--and we make 'em work. if we didn't, we'd be mucked up to the horses' bellies in no time. everything is cleaned off at once; and whenever the sand's tainted it's renewed. there's quite enough sand you see hereabouts. of course we can't keep their coats so good as in other stables, by reason of the rolling; but we can keep 'em pretty clean." to the eye of one who knew less than nothing about horse-flesh, this immaculate purity was very striking, and quite as impressive was the condition of the horses, which was english--quite english. naturally, none of them were in any sort of training beyond daily exercise, but they were fit and in such thoroughly good fettle. many of them were out on the various tracks, and many were coming in. roughly, two hundred go out of a morning, and, it is to be feared, learn from the heavy going of the jodhpur courses how to hang in their stride. this is a matter for those who know, but it struck the englishman that a good deal of the unsatisfactory performances of the jodhpur stables might be accounted for by their having lost their clean stride on the sand, and having to pick it up gradually on the less holding down-country courses--unfortunately when they were _not_ doing training gallops, but the real thing. it was pleasant to sit down and watch the rush of the horses through the great opening--gates are not affected--going on to the countryside where they take the air. here a boisterous, unschooled arab shot out across the road and cried, "ha! ha!" in the scriptural manner, before trying to rid himself of the grinning black imp on his back. behind him a cabuli--surely all cabulis must have been born with pelhams in their mouths--bored sulkily across the road, or threw himself across the path of a tall, mild-eyed kurnal-bred youngster, whose cocked ears and swinging head showed that, though he was so sedate, he was thoroughly taking in his surroundings, and would very much like to know if there were anybody better than himself on the course that morning. impetuous as a schoolboy and irresponsible as a monkey, one of the prince's polo ponies, not above racing in his own set, would answer the question by rioting past the pupil of parrott, the monogram on his bodycloth flapping free in the wind, and his head and hogged tail in the elements. the youngster would swing himself round, and polka-mazurka for a few paces, till his attention would be caught by some dainty child of the desert, fresh from the bombay stables, sweating at every sound, backing and filling like a rudderless ship. then, thanking his stars that he was wiser than some people, number 177 would lob on to the track and settle down to his spin like the gentleman he was. elsewhere, the eye fell upon a cloud of nameless ones, purchases from abdul rahman, whose worth will be proved next hot weather, when they are seriously taken in hand--skirmishing over the face of the land and enjoying themselves immensely. high above everything else, like a collier among barges, screaming shrilly, a black, flamboyant marwari stallion, with a crest like the crest of a barb, barrel-bellied, goose-rumped, and river-maned, pranced through the press, while the slow-pacing waler carriage-horses eyed him with deep disfavour, and the maharaja kanwar's tiny mount capered under his pink, roman nose, kicking up as much dust as the _foxhall_ colt who had got on to a lovely patch of sand and was dancing a saraband in it. in and out of the tangle, going down to or coming back from the courses, ran, shuffled, rocketed, plunged, sulked, or stampeded countless horses of all kinds, shapes, and descriptions--so that the eye at last failed to see what they were, and only retained a general impression of a whirl of bays, greys, iron greys, and chestnuts with white stockings, some as good as could be desired, others average, but not one distinctly bad. "we have no downright bad 'uns in this stable. what's the use?" said the master of horse, calmly. "they are all good beasts and, one with another, must cost more than a thousand rupees each. this year's new ones bought from bombay and the pick of our own studs are a hundred strong about. may be more. yes, they look all right enough; but you can never know what they are going to turn out. live-stock is very uncertain." "and how are the stables managed? how do you make room for the fresh stock?" something this way. here are all the new ones and parrott's lot, and the english colts that maharaja pertab singh brought out with him from home. _winterlake_ out o' _queen's consort_ that chestnut is with the two white stockings you're looking at now. well, next hot weather we shall see what they're made of and which is who. there's so many that the trainer hardly knows 'em one from another till they begin to be a good deal forward. those that haven't got the pace, or that the maharaja don't fancy, they're taken out and sold for what they'll bring. the man who takes the horses out has a good job of it. he comes back and says: "i sold such and such for so much, and here's the money." that's all. well, our rejections are worth having. they have taken prizes at the poona horse show. see for yourself. is there one of those that you wouldn't be glad to take for a hack, and look well after too? only they're no use to us, and so out they go by the score. we've got sixty riding-boys, perhaps more, and they've got their work cut out to keep them all going. what you've seen are only the stables. we've got one stud at bellara, eighty miles out, and they come in sometimes in droves of three and four hundred from the stud. they raise marwaris there too, but that's entirely under native management. we've got nothing to do with that. the natives reckon a marwari the best country-bred you can lay hands on; and some of them are beauties! crests on 'em like the top of a wave. well, there's that stud and another stud and, reckoning one with another, i should say the maharaja has nearer twelve hundred than a thousand horses of his own. for this place here, two wagon-loads of grass come in every day from marwar junction. lord knows how many saddles and bridles we've got. i never counted. i suppose we've about forty carriages, not counting the ones that get shabby and are stacked in places in the city, as i suppose you've seen. we take 'em out in the morning, a regular string altogether, brakes and all; but the prettiest turn-out we ever turned out was lady dufferin's pony four-in-hand. walers--thirteen-two the wheelers, i think, and thirteen-one the leaders. they took prizes in poona. that _was_ a pretty turn-out. the prettiest in india. lady dufferin, she drove it when the viceroy was down here last year. there are bicycles and tricycles in the carriage department too. i don't know how many, but when the viceroy's camp was held, there was about one apiece for the gentlemen, with remounts. they're somewhere about the place now, if you want to see them. how do we manage to keep the horses so quiet? you'll find some o' the youngsters play the goat a good deal when they come out o' stable, but, as you say, there's no vice generally. it's this way. we don't allow any curry-combs. if we did, the _saises_ would be wearing out their brushes on the combs. it's all elbow-grease here. they've got to go over the horses with their hands. they must handle 'em, and a native he's afraid of a horse. now an english groom, when a horse is doing the fool, clips him over the head with a curry-comb, or punches him in the belly; and that hurts the horse's feelings. a native, he just stands back till the trouble is over. he _must_ handle the horse or he'd get into trouble for not dressing him, so it comes to all handling and no licking, and that's why you won't get hold of a really vicious brute in these stables. old _ringwood_ he had four _saises_, and he wanted 'em every one, but the other horses have no more than one _sais_ apiece. the maharaja he keeps fourteen or fifteen horses for his own riding. not that he cares to ride now, but he likes to have his horses; and no one else can touch 'em. then there's the horses that he mounts his visitors on, when they come for pig-sticking and such like, and then there's a lot of horses that go to maharaja pertab singh's new cavalry regiment. so you see a horse can go through all three degrees sometimes before he gets sold, and be a good horse at the end of it. and i think that's about all!" a cloud of youngsters, sweating freely and ready for any mischief, shot past on their way to breakfast, and the conversation ended in a cloud of sand and the drumming of hurrying hooves. in the raika-bagh are more racing cups than this memory holds the names of. chiefest of all was the delhi assemblage cup--the imperial vase, of solid gold, won by _crown prince_. the other pieces of plate were not so imposing. but of all the crown jewels, the most valuable appeared at the end of the inspection. it was the small maharaja kanwar lolling in state in a huge barouche--his toes were at least two feet off the floor--that was taking him from his morning drive. "have you seen _my_ horses?" said the maharaja kanwar. the four twelve-hand ponies had been duly looked over, and the future ruler of jodhpur departed satisfied. xv treats of the startling effect of a reduction in wages and the pleasures of loaferdom. paints the state of the boondi road and the treachery of ganesh of situr. "a twenty-five per cent reduction all roun' an' no certain leave when you wants it. _of_ course the best men goes somewhere else. that's only natural, and 'ere's this sanguinary down mail a-stickin' in the eye of the khundwa down! i tell you, sir, injia's a bad place--a very bad place. 'tisn't what it was when i came out one and thirty year ago, an' the drivers was getting their seven and eight 'undred rupees a month an' was treated as _men_." the englishman was on his way to nasirabad, and a gentleman in the railway was explaining to him the real reason of the decadence of the empire. it was because, the rajputana-malwa railway had cut all its employés twenty-five per cent. it is ungenerous to judge a caste by a few samples; but the englishman had on the road and elsewhere seen a good deal of gentlemen on the railway, and they spend their pay in a manner that would do credit to an income of a thousand a month. now they say that the twenty-five per cent reduction deprives them of all the pleasures of life. so much the better if it makes them moderately economical in their expenditure. revolving these things in his mind, together with one or two stories of extravagances not quite fit for publication, the englishman came to nasirabad, before sunrise, and there to an evil-looking tonga. quoth ram baksh, proprietor, driver, _sais_, and everything else, calmly: "at this time of the year and having regard to the heat of the sun who wants a top to a tonga? i have no top. i have a top, but it would take till twelve o'clock to put it on. and behold sahib, padre martum sahib went in this tonga to deoli. all the officer sahibs of deoli and nasirabad go in this tonga for _shikar_. this is a 'shutin-tonga'!" "when church and army are brought against one, argument is in vain." but to take a soft, office-bred unfortunate into the wilderness, upon a skeleton, a diagram of a conveyance, is brutality. ram baksh did not see it, and headed his two thirteen-hand rats straight towards the morning sun, along a beautiful military road. "we shall get to deoli in six hours," said ram baksh the boastful, and, even as he spoke, the spring of the tonga bar snapt "mit a harp-like melodious twang." "what does it matter?" said ram baksh. "has the sahib never seen a tonga-iron break before? padre martum sahib and all the officer sahibs in deoli--" "ram baksh," said the englishman, sternly, "i am not a padre sahib nor an officer sahib, and if you say anything more about padre martum sahib or the officer in deoli i shall grow very angry, ram baksh." "humph," said ram baksh, "i knew you were not a padre sahib." the little mishap was patched up with string, and the tonga went on merrily. it is stevenson who says that the "invitation to the road," nature's great morning song, has not yet been properly understood or put to music. the first note of it is the sound of the dawn-wind through long grass. it is good, good beyond expression, to see the sun rise upon a strange land and to know that you have only to go forward and possess that land--that it will dower you before the day is ended with a hundred new impressions and, perhaps, one idea. it is good to snuff the wind when it comes in over large uplands or down from the tops of the blue aravalis--dry and keen as a new-ground sword. best of all is to light the first pipe--is there any tobacco so good as that we burn in honour of the breaking day?--and, while the ponies wake the long white road with their hooves and the birds go abroad in companions together, to thank your stars that you are neither the subaltern who has orderly room, the 'stunt who has office, or the judge who has the court to attend; but are only a loafer in a flannel shirt bound, if god pleases, to "little boondi," somewhere beyond the faint hills beyond the plain. but there was alloy in this delight. men had told the englishman darkly that boondi state had no love for englishmen, that there was nowhere to stop, and that no one would do anything for money. love was out of the question. further, it was an acknowledged fact that there were no englishmen of any kind in boondi. but the englishman trusted that ganesh would be good to him, and that he would, somehow or other, fall upon his feet as he had fallen before. the road from nasirabad to deoli, being military in its nature, is nearly as straight as a ruler and about as smooth. here and there little rocky hills, the last off-shoots of the aravalis to the west, break the ground; but the bulk of it is fair and without pimples. the deoli force are apparently so utterly irregular that they can do without a telegraph, have their mails carried by runners, and dispense with bridges over all the fifty-six miles that separate them from nasirabad. however, a man who goes shikarring for any length of time in one of ram baksh's tongas would soon learn to dispense with anything and everything. "_all_ the sahibs use my tonga; i've got eight of them and twenty pairs of horses," said ram baksh. "they go as far as gangra, where the tigers are, for they are 'shutin-tongas.'" now the englishman knew gangra slightly, having seen it on the way to udaipur; and it was as perverse and rocky a place as any man would desire to see. he politely expressed doubt. "i tell you my tongas go anywhere," said ram baksh, testily. a hay-wagon--they cut and stack their hay in these parts--blocked the road. ram baksh ran the tonga to one side, into a rut, fetched up on a tree-stump, rebounded on to a rock, and struck the road again. "observe," said ram baksh; "but that is nothing. you wait till we get on the boondi road, and i'll make you shake, shake like a bottle." "is it _very_ bad?" "i've never been to boondi myself, but i hear it is all rocks--great rocks as big as this tonga." but though he boasted himself and his horses nearly all the way, he could not reach deoli in anything like the time he had set forth. "if i am not at boondi by four," he had said, at six in the morning, "let me go without my fee." but by midday he was still far from deoli, and boondi lay twenty-eight miles beyond that station. "what can i do?" said he. "i've laid out lots of horses--any amount. but the fact is i've never been to boondi. i shan't go there in the night." ram baksh's "lots of horses" were three pair between nasirabad and deoli--three pair of undersized ponies who did wonders. at one place, after he had quitted a cotton wagon, a drove of gipsies, and a man on horseback, with his carbine across his saddle-bow, the englishman came to a stretch of road so utterly desolate that he said: "now i am clear of everybody who ever knew me. this is the beginning of the waste into which the scape-goat was sent." from a bush by the roadside sprang up a fat man who cried aloud in english: "how does your honour do? i met your honour in simla this year. are you quite well? ya-as, i am here. your honour remembers me? i am travelling. ya-as. ha! ha!" and he went on, leaving his honour bemazed. it was a babu--a simla babu, of that there could be no doubt; but who he was or what he was doing, thirty miles from anywhere, his honour could not make out. the native moves about more than most folk, except railway people, imagine. the big banking firms of upper india naturally keep in close touch with their great change-houses in ajmir, despatching and receiving messengers regularly. so it comes to pass that the necessitous circumstances of lieutenant mcrannamack, of the tyneside tailtwisters, quartered on the frontier, are thoroughly known and discussed, a thousand miles south of the cantonment where the light-hearted lieutenant goes to his money-lender. this is by the way. let us return to the banks of the banas river, where "poor carey," as tod calls him, came when he was sickening for his last illness. the banas is one of those streams which runs "over golden sands with feet of silver," but, from the scarp of its banks, deoli in the rains must be isolated. ram baksh, questioned hereon, vowed that all the officer sahibs never dreamed of halting, but went over in boats or on elephants. according to ram baksh the men of deoli must be wonderful creatures. they do nothing but use his tongas. a break in some low hills gives on to the dead flat plain in which deoli stands. "you must stop here for the night," said ram baksh. "i will _not_ take my horses forward in the dark; god knows where the dak-bungalow is. i've forgotten, but any one of the officer sahibs in deoli will tell you." those in search of a new emotion would do well to run about an apparently empty cantonment, in a disgraceful shooting-tonga, hunting for a place to sleep in. chaprassis come out of back verandahs, and are rude, and regimental babus hop off godowns, and are flippant, while in the distance a sahib looks out of his room, and eyes the dusty forlorn-hope with silent contempt. it should be mentioned that the dust on the deoli road not only powders but masks the face and raiment of the passenger. next morning ram baksh was awake with the dawn, and clamorous to go on to boondi. "i've sent a pair of horses, big horses, out there and the _sais_ is a fool. perhaps they will be lost; i want to find them." he dragged his unhappy passenger on the road once more and demanded of all who passed the dak-bungalow which was the way to boondi. "observe," said he, "there can be only one road, and if i hit it we are all right, and i'll show you what the tonga can do." "amen," said the englishman, devoutly, as the tonga jumped into and out of a larger hole. "without doubt this is the boondi road," said ram baksh; "it is so bad." it has been before said that the boondi state has no great love for sahibs. the state of the road proves it. "this," said ram baksh, tapping the wheel to see whether the last plunge had smashed a spoke, "is a very good road. you wait till you see what is ahead." and the funeral staggered on--over irrigation cuts, through buffalo wallows, and dried pools stamped with the hundred feet of kine (this, by the way, is the most cruel road of all), up rough banks where the rock ledges peered out of the dust, down steep-cut dips ornamented with large stones, and along two-feet deep ruts of the rains, where the tonga went slantwise even to the verge of upsetting. it was a royal road--a native road--a raj road of the roughest, and, through all its jolts and bangs and bumps and dips and heaves, the eye of ram baksh rolled in its blood-shot socket, seeking for the "big horses" he had so rashly sent into the wilderness. the ponies that had done the last twenty miles into deoli were nearly used up, and did their best to lie down in the dry beds of nullahs. a man came by on horseback, his servant walking before with platter and meal-bag. "have you seen any horses hereabouts?" cried ram baksh. "horses? what the devil have i to do with your horses? d'you think i've stolen them?" now this was decidedly a strange answer, and showed the rudeness of the land. an old woman under a tree cried out in a strange tongue and ran away. it was a dream-like experience, this hunting for horses in a wilderness with neither house nor hut nor shed in sight. "if we keep to the road long enough we must find them. look at the road. this raj ought to be smitten with bullets." ram baksh had been pitched forward nearly on the off-pony's rump, and was in a very bad temper indeed. the funeral found a house--a house walled with thorns--and near by were two big horses, thirteen-two if an inch, and harnessed quite regardless of expense. everything was repacked and rebound with triple ropes, and the sahib was provided with an extra cushion; but he had reached a sort of dreamsome nirvana, having several times bitten his tongue through, cut his boot against the wheel-edge, and twisted his legs into a true-lovers'-knot. there was no further sense of suffering in him. he was even beginning to enjoy himself faintly and by gasps. the road struck boldly into hills with all their teeth on edge, that is to say, their strata breaking across the road in little ripples. the effect of this was amazing. the tonga skipped merrily as a young fawn, from ridge to ridge. it shivered, it palpitated, it shook, it slid, it hopped, it waltzed, it ricochetted, it bounded like a kangaroo, it blundered like a sledge, it swayed like a top-heavy coach on a down-grade, it "kicked" like a badly coupled railway carriage, it squelched like a country-cart, it squeaked in its torment, and lastly, it essayed to plough up the ground with its nose. after three hours of this performance, it struck a tiny little ford, set between steeply sloping banks of white dust, where the water was clear brown and full of fish. and here a blissful halt was called under the shadow of the high bank of a tobacco field. would you taste one of the real pleasures of life? go through severe acrobatic exercises in and about a tonga for four hours; then, having eaten and drank till you can no more, sprawl in the cool of a nullah bed with your head among the green tobacco, and your mind adrift with the one little cloud in a royally blue sky. earth has nothing more to offer her children than this deep delight of animal well-being. there were butterflies in the tobacco--six different kinds, and a little rat came out and drank at the ford. to him succeeded the flight into egypt. the white banks of the ford framed the picture perfectly--the mother in blue, on a great white donkey, holding the child in her arms, and joseph walking beside, his hand upon the donkey's withers. by all the laws of the east, joseph should have been riding and the mother walking. this was an exception decreed for the englishman's special benefit. it was very warm and very pleasant, and, somehow, the passers by the ford grew indistinct, and the nullah became a big english garden, with a cuckoo singing far down in the orchard, among the apple-blossoms. the cuckoo started the dream. he was the only real thing in it, for on waking the garden slipped back into the water, but the cuckoo remained and called and called for all the world as though he had been a veritable english cuckoo. "cuckoo--cuckoo--cuck;" then a pause and renewal of the cry from another quarter of the horizon. after that the ford became distasteful, so the procession was driven forward and in time plunged into what must have been a big city once, but the only inhabitants were oil-men. there were abundance of tombs here, and one carried a life-like carving in high relief of a man on horseback spearing a foot-soldier. hard by this place the road or rut turned by great gardens, very cool and pleasant, full of tombs and black-faced monkeys who quarrelled among the tombs, and shut in from the sun by gigantic banians and mango trees. under the trees and behind the walls, priests sat singing; and the englishman would have inquired into what strange place he had fallen, but the men did not understand him. ganesh is a mean little god of circumscribed powers. he was dreaming, with a red and flushed face, under a banian tree; and the englishman gave him four annas to arrange matters comfortably at boondi. his priest took the four annas, but ganesh did nothing whatever, as shall be shown later. his only excuse is that his trunk was a good deal worn, and he would have been better for some more silver leaf, but that was no fault of the englishman. beyond the dead city was a jhil, full of snipe and duck, winding in and out of the hills; and beyond the jhil, hidden altogether among the hills, was boondi. the nearer to the city the viler grew the road and the more overwhelming the curiosity of the inhabitants. but what befel at boondi must be reserved for another chapter. xvi the comedy of errors and the exploitation of boondi. the castaway of the dispensary and the children of the schools. a consideration of the shields of rajasthan and other trifles. it is high time that a new treaty were made with maha rao raja ram singh, bahadur, raja of boondi. he keeps the third article of the old one too faithfully, which says that he "shall not enter into negotiations with any one without the consent of the british government." he does not negotiate at all. arrived at boondi gate, the englishman asked where he might lay his head for the night, and the quarter guard with one accord said: "the sukh mahal, which is beyond the city," and the tonga went thither through the length of the town till it arrived at a pavilion on a lake--a place of two turrets connected by an open colonnade. the "house" was open to the winds of heaven and the pigeons of the raj; but the latter had polluted more than the first could purify. a snowy-bearded _chowkidar_ crawled out of a place of tombs, which he seemed to share with some monkeys, and threw himself into anglo-saxon attitudes. he was a great deal worse than ram baksh, for he said that all the officer sahibs of deoli came to the sukh mahal for _shikar_ and--never went away again, so pleased were they. the sahib had brought the honour of his presence, and he was a very old man, and without a written permit could do nothing. then he fell deeply asleep without warning; and there was a pause, of one hour only, which the englishman spent in seeing the lake. it, like the jhils on the road, wound in and out among the hills, and, on the bund side, was bounded by a hill of black rock crowned with a _chhatri_ of grey stone. below the bund was a garden as fair as eye could wish, and the shores of the lake were dotted with little temples. given a habitable house,--a mere dak-bungalow,--it would be a delightful spot to rest in. warned by some bitter experiences in the past, the englishman knew that he was in for the demi-semi-royal or embarrassing reception, when a man, being the unwelcome guest of a paternal state, is neither allowed to pay his way and make himself comfortable, nor is he willingly entertained. when he saw a one-eyed _munshi_ (clerk), he felt certain that ganesh had turned upon him at last. the _munshi_ demanded and received the _purwana_, or written permit. then he sat down and questioned the traveller exhaustively as to his character and profession. having thoroughly satisfied himself that the visitor was in no way connected with the government or the "agenty sahib bahadur," he took no further thought of the matter and the day began to draw in upon a grassy bund, an open-work pavilion, and a disconsolate tonga. at last the faithful servitor, who had helped to fight the battle of the mail bags at udaipur, broke his silence, and vowing that all these devil-people--not more than twelve--had only come to see the fun, suggested the breaking of the _munshi's_ head. and, indeed, that seemed the best way of breaking the ice; for the _munshi_ had, in the politest possible language, put forward the suggestion that there was nothing particular to show that the sahib who held the _purwana_ had really any right to hold it. the _chowkidar_ woke up and chanted a weird chant, accompanied by the anglo-saxon attitudes, a new set. he was an old man, and all the sahib-log said so, and within the pavilion were tables and chairs and lamps and bath-tubs, and everything that the heart of man could desire. even now an enormous staff of menials were arranging all these things for the comfort of the sahib bahadur and protector of the poor, who had brought the honour and glory of his presence all the way from deoli. what did tables and chairs and eggs and fowls and very bright lamps matter to the raj? he was an old man and ... "who put the present raja on the throne?" "lake sahib," promptly answered the _chowkidar_. "i was there. that is the news of many old years." now tod says it was he himself who installed "lalji the beloved" in the year 1821. the englishman began to lose faith in the _chowkidar_. the _munshi_ said nothing but followed the englishman with his one workable eye. a merry little breeze crisped the waters of the lake, and the fish began to frolic before going to bed. "is nobody going to do or bring anything?" said the englishman, faintly, wondering whether the local gaol would give him a bed if he killed the _munshi_. "i am an old man," said the _chowkidar_, "and because of their great respect and reverence for the sahib in whose presence i am only a bearer of orders and a servant awaiting them, men, many men, are bringing now tent-flies which i with my own hands will wrap, here and there, there and here, in and about the pillars of the place; and thus you, o sahib, who have brought the honour of your presence to the boondi raj over the road to deoli, which is a _kutcha_ road, will be provided with a very fine and large apartment over which i will watch while you go to kill the tigers in these hills." by this time two youths had twisted _canvas_ round some of the pillars of the colonnade, making a sort of loose-box with a two-foot air-way all round the top. there was no door, but there were unlimited windows. into this enclosure the _chowkidar_ heaped furniture on which many generations of pigeons had evidently been carried off by cholera, until he was entreated to desist. "what," said he, scornfully, "are tables and chairs to this raj? if six be not enough, let the presence give an order, and twelve shall be forthcoming. everything shall be forthcoming." here he filled a native lamp with kerosene oil and set it in a box upon a stick. luckily, the oil which he poured so lavishly from a quart bottle was bad, or he would have been altogether consumed. night had fallen long before this magnificence was ended. the superfluous furniture--chairs for the most part--was shovelled out into the darkness, and by the light of a flamboyant lamplet--a merry wind forbade candles--the englishman went to bed, and was lulled to sleep by the rush of the water escaping from the overflow trap and the splash of the water-turtle as he missed the evasive fish. it was a curious sight. cats and dogs rioted about the enclosure, and a wind from the lake bellied the canvas. the brushwood of the hills around snapped and cracked as beasts went through it, and creatures--not jackals--made dolorous noises. on the lake it seemed that hundreds of water-birds were keeping a hotel, and that there were arrivals and departures throughout the night. the raj insisted upon providing a guard of two sepoys, very pleasant men, on four rupees a month. these said that tigers sometimes wandered about on the hills above the lake, but were most generally to be found five miles away. and the englishman promptly dreamed that a one-eyed tiger came into his tent without a _purwana_. but it was only a wild cat after all; and it fled before the shoes of civilisation. the sukh mahal was completely separated from the city, and might have been a country-house. it should be mentioned that boondi is jammed into a v-shaped gorge--the valley at the main entrance being something less than five hundred yards across. as it splays out, the thickly packed houses follow its lines, and, seen from above, seem like cattle herded together preparatory to a stampede through the gate. owing to the set of the hills, very little of the city is visible except from the palace. it was in search of this latter that the englishman went abroad and became so interested in the streets that he forgot all about it for a time. jeypore is a show-city and is decently drained; udaipur is blessed with a state engineer and a printed form of government; for jodhpur the dry sand, the burning sun, and an energetic doctor have done a good deal, but boondi has none of these things. the crampedness of the locality aggravates the evil, and it can only be in the rains which channel and furrow the rocky hillsides that boondi is at all swept out. the nal sagar, a lovely little stretch of water, takes up the head of the valley called banda gorge, and must, in the nature of things, receive a good deal of unholy drainage. but setting aside this weakness, it is a fascinating place--this jumbled city of straight streets and cool gardens, where gigantic mangoes and peepuls intertwine over gurgling watercourses, and the cuckoo comes at midday. it boasts no foolish municipality to decree when a house is dangerous and uninhabitable. the newer shops are built into, on to, over, and under time-blackened ruins of an older day, and the little children skip about tottering arcades and grass-grown walls, while their parents chatter below in the crowded bazaar. in the black slums, the same stones seem to be used over and over again for house-building. wheeled conveyances are scarce in boondi city--there is scant room for carts, and the streets are paved with knobsome stones, unpleasant to walk over. from time to time an inroad of _bunjaras'_ pack-bullocks sweeps the main streets clear of life, or one of the raja's elephants--he has twelve of them--blocks the way. but, for the most part, the foot-passengers have all the city for their own. they do not hurry themselves. they sit in the sun and think, or put on all the arms in the family, and, hung with ironmongery, parade before their admiring friends. others, lean, dark men, with bound jaws and only a tulwar for weapon, dive in and out of the dark alleys, on errands of state. it is a beautifully lazy city, doing everything in the real, true, original native way, and it is kept in very good order by the durbar. there either is or is not an order for everything. there is no order to sell fishing-hooks, or to supply an englishman with milk, or to change for him currency notes. he must only deal with the durbar for whatever he requires; and wherever he goes he must be accompanied by at least two armed men. they will tell him nothing, for they know or affect to know nothing of the city. they will do nothing except shout at the little innocents who joyfully run after the stranger and demand _pice_, but there they are, and there they will stay till he leaves the city, accompanying him to the gate, and waiting there a little to see that he is fairly off and away. englishmen are not encouraged in boondi. the intending traveller would do well to take a full suit of political uniform with the sunflowers, and the little black sword to sit down upon. the local god is the "agenty sahib," and he is an incarnation without a name--at least among the lower classes. the educated, when speaking of him, always use the courtly "bahadur" affix; and yet it is a mean thing to gird at a state which, after all, is not bound to do anything for intrusive englishmen without any visible means of livelihood. the king of this fair city should declare the blockade absolute, and refuse to be troubled with any one except "colon-nel baltah, agenty sahib bahadur" and the politicals. if ever a railway is run through kotah, as men on the bombay side declare it must be, the cloistered glory of boondi will depart, for kotah is only twenty miles easterly of the city and the road is moderately good. in that day the globe-trotter will pry about the place, and the charitable dispensary--a gem among dispensaries--will be public property. the englishman was hunting for the statue of a horse, a great horse hight hunja, who was a steed of irak, and a king's gift to rao omeda, one time monarch of boondi. he found it in the city square as tod had said; and it was an unlovely statue, carven after the dropsical fashion of later hindu art. no one seemed to know anything about it. a little further on, one cried from a byway in rusty english: "come and see my dispensary." there are only two men in boondi who speak english. one is the head, and the other the assistant, teacher of the english side of boondi free school. the third was, some twenty years ago, a pupil of the lahore medical college when that institution was young; and he only remembered a word here and there. he was head of the charitable dispensary; and insisted upon, then and there, organising a small levee and pulling out all his books. escape was hopeless: nothing less than a formal inspection and introduction to all the native physicians would serve. there were sixteen beds in and about the courtyard, and between twenty and thirty out-patients stood in attendance. making allowances for untouched orientalism, the dispensary is a good one, and must relieve a certain amount of human misery. there is no other in all boondi. the operation-book, kept in english, showed the principal complaints of the country. they were: "asthama," "numonia," "skindiseas," "dabalaty" and "loin-bite." this last item occurred again and again--three and four cases per week--and it was not until the doctor said "_sher se mara_" that the englishman read it aright. it was "lion-bite," or tiger, if you insist upon zoological accuracy. there was one incorrigible idiot, a handsome young man, naked as the day, who sat in the sunshine, shivering and pressing his hands to his head. "i have given him blisters and setons--have tried native and english treatment for two years, but it is no use. he is always as you see him, and now he stays here by the favour of the durbar, which is a very good and pitiful durbar," said the doctor. there were many such pensioners of the durbar--men afflicted with chronic "asthama" who stayed "by favour," and were kindly treated. they were resting in the sunshine their hands on their knees, sure that their daily dole of grain and tobacco and opium would be forthcoming. "all folk, even little children, eat opium here," said the doctor, and the diet-book proved it. after laborious-investigation of everything, down to the last indent to bombay for europe medicines, the englishman was suffered to depart. "sir, i thank ...," began the native doctor, but the rest of the sentence stuck. sixteen years in boondi does not increase knowledge of english; and he went back to his patients, gravely conning over the name of the principal of the lahore medical school--a college now--who had taught him all he knew, and to whom he intended to write. there was something pathetic in the man's catching at news from the outside world of men he had known as assistant and house surgeons who are now rai bahadurs, and his parade of the few shreds of english that still clung to him. may he treat "loin-bites" and "catrack" successfully for many years. in the happy, indolent fashion that must have merits which we cannot understand, he is doing a good work, and the durbar allows his dispensary as much as it wants. close to the dispensary stood the free school, and thither an importunate _munshi_ steered the englishman, who, by this time, was beginning to persuade herself that he really was an accredited agent of government, sent to report on the progress of boondi. from a peepul-shaded courtyard came a clamour of young voices. thirty or forty little ones, from five to eight years old, were sitting in an open verandah learning accounts and hindustani, said the teacher. no need to ask from what castes they came, for it was written on their faces that they were mahajans, oswals, aggerwals, and in one or two cases, it seemed, sharawaks of guzerat. they were learning the business of their lives, and, in time, would take their father's places, and show in how many ways money might be manipulated. here the profession-type came out with startling distinctness. through the chubbiness of almost babyhood, or the delicate suppleness of maturer years, in mouth and eyes and hands, it betrayed itself. the rahtor, who comes of a fighting stock, is a fine animal, and well bred; the hara, who seems to be more compactly built, is also a fine animal; but for a race that show blood in every line of their frame, from the arch of the instep to the modelling of the head, the financial--trading is too coarse a word--the financial class of rajputana appears to be the most remarkable. later in life may become clouded with fat jowl and paunch; but in his youth, his quick-eyed, nimble youth, the young marwar, to give him his business title, is really a thing of beauty. his manners are courtly. the bare ground and a few slates sufficed for the children who were merely learning the ropes that drag states; but the english class, of boys from ten to twelve, was supplied with real benches and forms and a table with a cloth top. the assistant teacher, for the head was on leave, was a self-taught man of boondi, young and delicate looking, who preferred reading to speaking english. his youngsters were supplied with "the third english reading book," and were painfully thumbing their way through a doggerel poem about an "old man with hoary hair." one boy, bolder than the rest, slung an english sentence at the visitor, and collapsed. it was his little stock-in-trade, and the rest regarded him enviously. the durbar supports the school, which is entirely free and open; a just distinction being maintained between the various castes. the old race prejudice against payment for knowledge came out in reply to a question. "you must not sell teaching," said the teacher; and the class murmured applausively, "you must not sell teaching." the population of boondi seems more obviously mixed than that of the other states. there are four or five thousand mahometans within its walls, and a sprinkling of aborigines of various varieties, besides the human raffle that the bunjaras bring in their train, with pathans and sleek delhi men. the new heraldry of the state is curious--something after this sort. _or_, a demi-god, _sable_, issuant of flames, holding in right hand a sword and in the left a bow--_all proper_. in chief, a dagger of the _second_, sheathed _vert_, fessewise over seven arrows in sheaf of the _second_. this latter blazon boondi holds in commemoration of the defeat of an imperial prince who rebelled against the delhi throne in the days of jehangir, when boondi, for value received, took service under the mahometan. it might also be, but here there is no certainty, the memorial of rao rutton's victory over prince khoorm, when the latter strove to raise all rajputana against jehangir his father; or of a second victory over a riotous lordling who harried mewar a little later. for this exploit, the annals say, jehangir gave rao rutton honorary flags and kettle-drums which may have been melted down by the science of the heralds college into the blazon aforesaid. all the heraldry of rajputana is curious, and, to such as hold that there is any worth in the "royal science," interesting. udaipur's shield is, naturally _gules_, a sun in splendour, as befits the "children of the sun and fire," and one of the most ancient houses in india. her crest is the straight rajput sword, the _khanda_, for an account of the worship of which very powerful divinity read tod. the supporters are a bhil and a rajput, attired for the forlorn-hope; commemorating not only the defences of chitor, but also the connection of the great bappa rawul with the bhils, who even now play the principal part in the crown-marking of a rana of udaipur. here, again, tod explains the matter at length. banswara claims alliance with udaipur, and carries a sun, with a label of difference of some kind. jeypore has the five-coloured flag of amber with a sun, because the house claim descent from rama, and her crest is a kuchnar tree, which is the bearing of dasaratha, father of rama. the white horse, which faces the tiger as supporter, may or may not be memorial of the great _aswamedha yuga_, or horse sacrifice, that jey singh, who built jeypore, did--_not_ carry out. jodhpur has the five-coloured flag, with a falcon, in which shape durga, the patron goddess of the state, has been sometimes good enough to appear. she has perched in the form of a wagtail on the howdah of the chief of jeysulmir, whose shield is blazoned with "forts in a desert land," and a naked left arm holding a broken spear, because, the legend goes, jeysulmir was once galled by a horse with a magic spear. they tell the story to-day, but it is a long one. the supporters of the shield--this is canting heraldry with a vengeance!--are antelopes of the desert spangled with gold coin, because the state was long the refuge of the wealthy bankers of india. bikanir, a younger house of jodhpur, carries three white hawks on the five-coloured flag. the patron goddess of bikanir once turned the thorny jungle round the city to fruit trees, and the crest therefore is a green tree--strange emblem for a desert principality. the motto, however, is a good one. when the greater part of the rajput states were vassals of akbar, and he sent them abroad to do his will, certain princes objected to crossing the indus, and asked bikanir to head the mutiny because his state was the least accessible. he consented, on condition that they would all for one day greet him thus: "_jey jangal dar badshah!_" history shows what became of the objectors, and bikanir's motto: "hail to the king of the waste!" proves that the tale _must_ be true. but from boondi to bikanir is a long digression, bred by idleness on the bund of the burra. it would have been sinful not to let down a line into those crowded waters, and the guards, who were mahometans, said that if the sahib did not eat fish, they did. and the sahib fished luxuriously, catching two and three pounders, of a perch-like build, whenever he chose to cast. he was wearied of schools and dispensaries, and the futility of heraldry accorded well with sloth--that is to say boondi. it should be noted, none the less, that in this part of the world the soberest mind will believe anything--believe in the ghosts by the gau mukh, and the dead thakurs who get out of their tombs and ride round the burra talao at boondi--will credit every legend and lie that rises as naturally as the red flush of sunset, to gild the dead glories of rajasthan. xvii shows that there may be poetry in a bank, and attempts to show the wonders of the palace of boondi. "this is a devil's place you have come to, sahib. no grass for the horses, and the people don't understand anything, and their dirty _pice_ are no good in nasirabad. look here." ram baksh wrathfully exhibited a handful of lumps of copper. the nuisance of taking a native out of his own beat is that he forthwith regards you not only as the author of his being, but of all his misfortunes as well. he is as hampering as a frightened child and as irritating as a man. "padre martum sahib never came here," said ram baksh, with an air of one who had been led against his will into bad company. a story about a rat that found a piece of turmeric and set up a bunnia's shop had sent the one-eyed _munshi_ away, but a company of lesser _munshis_, runners, and the like were in attendance, and they said that money might be changed at the treasury, which was in the palace. it was quite impossible to change it anywhere else--there was no order. from the sukh mahal to the palace the road ran through the heart of the city, and by reason of the continual shouting of the _munshis_, not more than ten thousand of the fifty thousand people of boondi knew for what purpose the sahib was journeying through their midst. cataract was the most prevalent affliction, cataract in its worst forms, and it was, therefore, necessary that men should come very close to look at the stranger. they were in no sense rude, but they stared devoutly. "he has not come for _shikar_, and he will not take petitions. he has come to see the place, and god knows what he is." the description was quite correct, as far as it went; but, somehow or another, when shouted out at four crossways in the midst of a very pleasant little gathering it did not seem to add to dignity or command respect. it has been written "the _coup d'oeil_ of the castellated palace of boondi, from whichever side you approach it, is perhaps the most striking in india. whoever has seen the palace of boondi can easily picture to himself the hanging gardens of semiramis." this is true--and more too. to give on paper any adequate idea of the boondi-ki-mahal is impossible. jeypore palace may be called the versailles of india; udaipur's house of state is dwarfed by the hills round it and the spread of the pichola lake; jodhpur's house of strife, grey towers on red rock, is the work of giants, but the palace of boondi, even in broad daylight, is such a palace as men build for themselves in uneasy dreams--the work of goblins more than of men. it is built into and out of the hillside, in gigantic terrace on terrace, and dominates the whole of the city. but a detailed description of it were useless. owing to the dip of the valley in which the city stands, it can only be well seen from one place, the main road of the city; and from that point looks like an avalanche of masonry ready to rush down and block the gorge. like all the other palaces of rajputana, it is the work of many hands, and the present raja has thrown out a bastion of no small size on one of the lower levels, which has been four or five years in the building. no one knows where the hill begins and where the palace ends. men say that there are subterranean chambers leading into the heart of the hills, and passages communicating with the extreme limits of taragarh, the giant fortress that crowns the hill and flanks the whole of the valley on the palace side. they say that there is as much room under as above ground, and that none have traversed the whole extent of the palace. looking at it from below, the englishman could readily believe that nothing was impossible for those who had built it. the dominant impression was of height--height that heaved itself out of the hillside and weighed upon the eyelids of the beholder. the steep slope of the land had helped the builders in securing this effect. from the main road of the city a steep stone-paved ascent led to the first gate--name not communicated by the zealous following. two gaudily painted fishes faced each other over the arch, and there was little except glaring colour ornamentation visible. this gate gave into what they called the _chowk_ of the palace, and one had need to look twice ere realising that this open space, crammed with human life, was a spur of the hill on which the palace stood, paved and built over. there had been little attempt at levelling the ground. the foot-worn stones followed the contours of the ground, and ran up to the walls of the palace smooth as glass. immediately facing the gate of the fish was the quarter-guard barracks, a dark and dirty room, and here, in a chamber hollowed out in a wall, were stored the big drums of state, the _nakarras_. the appearance of the englishman seemed to be the signal for smiting the biggest of all, and the dull thunder rolled up the palace _chowk_, and came back from the unpierced palace walls in hollow groaning. it was an eerie welcome--this single, sullen boom. in this enclosure, four hundred years ago, if the legend be true, a son of the great rao bando, who dreamed a dream as pharaoh did and saved boondi from famine, left a little band of haras to wait his bidding while he went up into the palace and slew his two uncles who had usurped the throne and abandoned the faith of their fathers. when he had pierced one and hacked the other, as they sat alone and unattended, he called out to his followers, who made a slaughter-house of the enclosure and cut up the usurpers' adherents. at the best of times men slip on these smooth stones; and when the place was swimming in blood, foothold must have been treacherous indeed. an inquiry for the place of the murder of the uncles--it is marked by a staircase slab, or tod, the accurate, is at fault--was met by the answer that the treasury was close at hand. they speak a pagan tongue in boondi, swallow half their words, and adulterate the remainder with local patois. what can be extracted from a people who call four miles variously _do kosh_, _do kush_, _dhi hkas_, _doo-a koth_, and _diakast_ all one word? the country-folk are quite unintelligible; which simplifies matters. it is the catching of a shadow of a meaning here and there, the hunting for directions cloaked in dialect, that is annoying. foregoing his archæological researches, the englishman sought the treasury. he took careful notes; he even made a very bad drawing, but the treasury of boondi defied pinning down before the public. there was a gash in the brown flank of the palace--and this gash was filled with people. a broken bees' comb with the whole hive busily at work on repairs will give a very fair idea of this extraordinary place--the heart of boondi. the sunlight was very vivid without and the shadows were heavy within, so that little could be seen except this clinging mass of humanity wriggling like maggots in a carcass. a stone staircase ran up to a rough verandah built out of the wall, and in the wall was a cave-like room, the guardian of whose depths was one of the refined financial classes, a man with very small hands and soft, low voice. he was girt with a sword, and held authority over the durbar funds. he referred the englishman courteously to another branch of the department, to find which necessitated a blundering progress up another narrow staircase crowded with loungers of all kinds. here everything shone from constant contact of bare feet and hurrying bare shoulders. the staircase was the thing that, seen from without, had produced the bees' comb impression. at the top was a long verandah shaded from the sun, and here the boondi treasury worked, under the guidance of a grey-haired old man, whose sword lay by the side of his comfortably wadded cushion. he controlled twenty or thirty writers, each wrapped round a huge, country paper account-book, and each far too busy to raise his eyes. the babble on the staircase might have been the noise of the sea so far as these men were concerned. it ebbed and flowed in regular beats, and spread out far into the courtyard below. now and again the _click-click-click_ of a scabbard tip being dragged against the wall, cut the dead sound of tramping naked feet, and a soldier would stumble up the narrow way into the sunlight. he was received, and sent back or forward by a knot of keen-eyed loungers, who seemed to act as a buffer between the peace of the secretariat and the pandemonium of the administrative. _saises_ and grass-cutters, mahouts of elephants, brokers, mahajuns, villagers from the district, and here and there a shock-headed aborigine, swelled the mob on and at the foot of the stairs. as they came up, they met the buffer-men who spoke in low voices and appeared to filter them according to their merits. some were sent to the far end of the verandah, where everything melted away in a fresh crowd of dark faces. others were sent back, and joined the detachment shuffling for their shoes in the _chowk_. one servant of the palace withdrew himself to the open, underneath the verandah, and there sat yapping from time to time like a hungry dog: "the grass! the grass! the grass!" but the men with the account-books never stirred. and they bowed their heads gravely and made entry or erasure, turning back the rustling leaves. not often does a reach of the river of life so present itself that it can without alteration be transferred to canvas. but the treasury of boondi, the view up the long verandah, stood complete and ready for any artist who cared to make it his own. and by that lighter and less malicious irony of fate, who is always giving nuts to those who have no teeth, the picture was clinched and brought together by a winking, brass hookah-bowl of quaint design, pitched carelessly upon a roll of dull red cloth in the foreground. the faces of the accountants were of pale gold, for they were an untanned breed, and the face of the old man, their controller, was frosted silver. it was a strange treasury, but no other could have suited the palace. the englishman watched, open-mouthed, blaming himself because he could not catch the meaning of the orders given to the flying chaprassies, nor make anything of the hum in the verandah and the tumult on the stairs. the old man took the commonplace currency note and announced his willingness to give change in silver. "we have no small notes here," he said. "they are not wanted. in a little while, when you next bring the honour of your presence this way, you shall find the silver." the englishman was taken down the steps and fell into the arms of a bristly giant who had left his horse in the courtyard, and the giant spoke at length waving his arms in the air, but the englishman could not understand him and dropped into the hubbub at the palace foot. except the main lines of the building there is nothing straight or angular about it. the rush of people seems to have rounded and softened every corner, as a river grinds down boulders. from the lowest tier, two zigzags, all of rounded stones sunk in mortar, took the englishman to a gate where two carved elephants were thrusting at each other over the arch; and, because neither he nor any one round him could give the gate a name, he called it the "gate of the elephants." here the noise from the treasury was softened, and entry through the gate brought him into a well-known world, the drowsy peace of a king's palace. there was a courtyard surrounded by stables, in which were kept chosen horses, and two or three grooms were sleeping in the sun. there was no other life except the whir and coo of the pigeons. in time--though there really is no such a thing as time off the line of railway--an official appeared begirt with the skewer-like keys that open the native bayonet-locks, each from six inches to a foot long. where was the raj mahal in which, sixty-six years ago, tod formally installed ram singh, "who is now in his eleventh year, fair and with a lively, intelligent cast of face"? the warden made no answer, but led to a room, overlooking the courtyard, in which two armed men stood before an empty throne of white marble. they motioned silently that none must pass immediately before the seat of the king, but go round, keeping to the far side of the double row of pillars. near the walls were stone slabs pierced to take the butts of long, venomous, black bamboo lances; rude coffers were disposed about the room, and ruder sketches of ganesh adorned the walls. "the men," said the warden, "watch here day and night because this place is the rutton daulat." that, you will concede, is lucid enough. he who does not understand it, may go to for a thick-headed barbarian. from the rutton daulat the warden unlocked doors that led into a hall of audience--the chutter mahal--built by raja chutter lal, who was killed more than two hundred years ago in the latter days of shah jehan for whom he fought. two rooms, each supported on double rows of pillars, flank the open space, in the centre of which is a marble reservoir. here the englishman looked anxiously for some of the atrocities of the west, and was pleased to find that, with the exception of a vase of artificial flowers and a clock, there was nothing that jarred with the exquisite pillars, and the raw blaze of colour in the roofs of the rooms. in the middle of these impertinent observations, something sighed--sighed like a distressed ghost. unaccountable voices are at all times unpleasant, especially when the hearer is some hundred feet or so above ground in an unknown palace in an unknown land. a gust of wind had found its way through one of the latticed balconies, and had breathed upon a thin plate of metal, some astrological instrument, slung gongwise on a tripod. the tone was as soft as that of an æolian harp, and, because of the surroundings, infinitely more plaintive. there was an inlaid ivory door, set in lintel and posts crusted with looking-glass--all apparently old work. this opened into a darkened room where there were gilt and silver charpoys, and portraits, in the native fashion, of the illustrious dead of boondi. beyond the darkness was a balcony clinging to the sheer side of the palace, and it was then that the englishman realised to what a height he had climbed without knowing it. he looked down upon the bustle of the treasury and the stream of life flowing into and out of the gate of the fishes where the big drums lie. lifting his eyes, he saw how boondi city had built itself, spreading from west to east as the confined valley became too narrow and the years more peaceable. the boondi hills are the barrier that separates the stony, uneven ground near deoli from the flats of kotah, twenty miles away. from the palace balcony the road to the eye is clear to the banks of the chumbul river, which was the debatable ford in times gone by and was leaped, as all rivers with any pretensions to a pedigree have been, by more than one magic horse. northward and easterly the hills run out to indurgarh, and southward and westerly to territory marked "disputed" on the map in the present year of grace. from this balcony the raja can see to the limit of his territory eastward, his empire all under his hand. he is, or the politicals err, that same ram singh who was installed by tod in 1821, and for whose success in killing his first deer, tod was, by the queen-mother of boondi, bidden to rejoice. to-day the people of boondi say: "this durbar is very old; so old that few men remember its beginning, for that was in our father's time." it is related also of boondi that, on the occasion of the queen's jubilee, they said proudly that their ruler had reigned for sixty years, and he was a man. they saw nothing astonishing in the fact of a woman having reigned for fifty. history does not say whether they jubilated; for there are no englishmen in boondi to write accounts of demonstrations and foundation-stone laying to the daily newspaper, and boondi is very, very small. in the early morning you may see a man pantingly chased out of the city by another man with a naked sword. this is the mail and the mail-guard; and the effect is as though runner and swordsman lay under a doom--the one to fly with the fear of death always before him, as men fly in dreams, and the other to perpetually fail of his revenge. the warden unlocked more doors and led the englishman still higher, but into a garden--a heavily timbered garden with a tank for gold fish in the midst. for once the impassive following smiled when they saw that the englishman was impressed. "this," said they, "is the rang bilas." "but who made it?" "who knows? it was made long ago." the englishman looked over the garden-wall, a foot-high parapet, and shuddered. there was only the flat side of the palace, and a drop on to the stones of the zigzag scores of feet below. above him was the riven hillside and the decaying wall of taragarh, and behind him this fair garden, hung like mahomet's coffin, but full of the noise of birds and the talking of the wind in the branches. the warden entered into a lengthy explanation of the nature of the delusion, showing how--but he was stopped before he was finished. his listener did not want to know "how the trick was done." here was the garden, and there were three or four storeys climbed to reach it. at one end of the garden was a small room, under treatment by native artists who were painting the panels with historical pictures, in distemper. theirs was florid polychromatic art, but skirting the floor was a series of frescoes in red, black, and white, of combats with elephants, bold and temperate as good german work. they were worn and defaced in places; but the hand of some bygone limner, who did not know how to waste a line, showed under the bruises and scratches, and put the newer work to shame. here the tour of the palace ended; and it must be remembered that the englishman had not gone the depth of three rooms into one flank. acres of building lay to the right of him, and above the lines of the terraces he could see the tops of green trees. "who knew how many gardens, such as the rang bilas, were to be found in the palace?" no one answered directly, but all said that there were many. the warden gathered up his keys, and, locking each door behind him as he passed, led the way down to earth. but before he had crossed the garden the englishman heard, deep down in the bowels of the palace, a woman's voice singing, and the voice rang as do voices in caves. all palaces in india excepting dead ones, such as that of amber, are full of eyes. in some, as has been said, the idea of being watched is stronger than in others. in boondi palace it was overpowering--being far worse than in the green shuttered corridors of jodhpur. there were trap-doors on the tops of terraces, and windows veiled in foliage, and bull's-eyes set low in unexpected walls, and many other peep-holes and places of vantage. in the end, the englishman looked devoutly at the floor, but when the voice of the woman came up from under his feet, he felt that there was nothing left for him but to go. yet, excepting only this voice, there was deep silence everywhere, and nothing could be seen. the warden returned to the chutter mahal to pick up a lost key. the brass table of the planets was sighing softly to itself as it swung to and fro in the wind. that was the last view of the interior of the palace, the empty court, and the swinging, sighing astrolabe. about two hours afterwards, when he had reached the other side of the valley and seen the full extent of the buildings, the englishman began to realise first that he had not been taken through one-tenth of the palace; and secondly, that he would do well to measure its extent by acres, in preference to meaner measures. but what made him blush hotly, all alone among the tombs on the hillside, was the idea that he with his ridiculous demands for eggs, firewood, and sweet drinking water should have clattered and chattered through any part of it at all. he began to understand why boondi does not encourage englishmen. xviii of the uncivilised night and the departure to things civilised. showing how a friend may keep an appointment too well. "let us go hence my songs, she will not hear. let us go hence together without fear." but ram baksh the irrepressible sang it in altogether a baser key. he came by night to the pavilion on the lake, while the sepoys were cooking their fish, and reiterated his whine about the devildom of the country into which the englishman had dragged him. padre martum sahib would never have thus treated the owner of sixteen horses, all fast and big ones, and eight superior "shutin-tongas." "let us get away," said ram baksh. "you are not here for _shikar_, and the water is very bad." it was indeed, except when taken from the lake, and then it only tasted fishy. "we will go, ram baksh," said the englishman. "we will go in the very early morning, and in the meantime here is fish to stay your stomach with." when a transparent piece of canvas, which fails by three feet to reach ceiling or floor, is the only bar between the east and the west, he would be a churl indeed who stood upon invidious race distinctions. the englishman went out and fraternised with the military--the four-rupee soldiers of boondi who guarded him. they were armed, one with an old tower musket crazy as to nipple and hammer, one with a native-made smooth-bore, and one with a composite contrivance--english sporting muzzle-loader stock with a compartment for a jointed cleaning-rod, and hammered octagonal native barrel, wire-fastened, a tuft of cotton on the foresight. all three guns were loaded, and the owners were very proud of them. they were simple folk, these men-at-arms, with an inordinate appetite for broiled fish. they were not _always_ soldiers they explained. they cultivated their crops until called for any duty that might turn up. they were paid now and again, at intervals, but they were paid in coin and not in kind. the _munshis_ and the vakils and the runners had departed after seeing that the englishman was safe for the night, so the freedom of the little gathering on the bund was unrestrained. the _chowkidar_ came out of his cave into the firelight. he took a fish and incontinently choked, for he was a feeble old man. set right again, he launched into a very long and quite unintelligible story while the sepoys said reverently: "he is an old man and remembers many things." as he babbled, the night shut in upon the lake and the valley of boondi. the last cows were driven into the water for their evening drink, the waterfowl and the monkeys went to bed, and the stars came out and made a new firmament in the untroubled bosom of the lake. the light of the fire showed the ruled lines of the bund springing out of the soft darkness of the wooded hill on the left and disappearing into the solid darkness of a bare hill on the right. below the bund a man cried aloud to keep wandering pigs from the gardens whose tree-tops rose to a level with the bund-edge. beyond the trees all was swaddled in gloom. when the gentle buzz of the unseen city died out, it seemed as though the bund were the very swordwide bridge that runs, as every one knows, between this world and the next. the water lapped and muttered, and now and again a fish jumped, with the shatter of broken glass, blurring the peace of the reflected heavens. "and duller should i be than some fat weed that rolls itself at ease on lethe's wharf." the poet who wrote those lines knew nothing whatever of lethe's wharf. the englishman had found it, and it seemed to him, at that hour and in that place, that it would be good and desirable never to return to the commissioners and the deputy commissioners any more, but to lie at ease on the warm sunlit bund by day, and, at night, near a shadow-breeding fire, to listen for the strangled voices and whispers of the darkness in the hills. thus after as long a life as the _chowkidar's_, dying easily and pleasantly, and being buried in a red tomb on the borders of the lake. surely no one would come to reclaim him, across those weary, weary miles of rock-strewn road.... "and this," said the _chowkidar_, raising his voice to enforce attention, "is true talk. everybody knows it, and now the sahib knows it. i am an old man." he fell asleep at once, with his head on the clay pipe that was doing duty for a whole _huqa_ among the company. he had been talking for nearly a quarter of an hour. see how great a man is the true novelist! six or seven thousand miles away, walter besant of the golden pen had created mr. maliphant--the ancient of figure-heads in the _all sorts and conditions of men_, and here, in boondi, the englishman had found mr. maliphant in the withered flesh. so he drank walter besant's health in the water of the burra talao. one of the sepoys turned himself round, with a clatter of accoutrements, shifted his blanket under his elbow, and told a tale. it had something to do with his _khet_, and a _gunna_ which certainly was not sugar-cane. it was elusive. at times it seemed that it was a woman, then changed to a right of way, and lastly appeared to be a tax; but the more he attempted to get at its meaning through the curious patois in which its doings or its merits were enveloped, the more dazed the englishman became. none the less the story was a fine one, embellished with much dramatic gesture which told powerfully against the firelight. then the second sepoy, who had been enjoying the pipe all the time, told a tale, the purport of which was that the dead in the tombs round the lake were wont to get up of nights and go hunting. this was a fine and ghostly story; and its dismal effect was much heightened by some clamour of the night far up the lake beyond the floor of stars. the third sepoy said nothing. he had eaten too much fish and was fast asleep by the side of the _chowkidar_. they were all mahometans, and consequently all easy to deal with. a hindu is an excellent person, but ... but ... there is no knowing what is in his heart, and he is hedged about with so many strange observances. this hindu or musalman bent, which each englishman's mind must take before he has been three years in the country, is, of course, influenced by province or presidency. in rajputana generally, the political swears by the hindu, and holds that the mahometan is untrustworthy. but a man who will eat with you and take your tobacco, sinking the fiction that it has been doctored with infidel wines, cannot be very bad after all. that night when the tales were all told and the guard, bless them, were snoring peaceably in the starlight, a man came stealthily into the enclosure of canvas and woke the englishman, muttering "sahib, sahib," in his ear. it was no robber but some poor devil with a petition--a grimy, welted paper. he was absolutely unintelligible, and stammered almost to dumbness. he stood by the bed, alternately bowing to the earth and standing erect, his arms spread aloft, and his whole body working as he tried to force out some rebellious word in a key that should not wake the men without. what could the englishman do? he was no government servant, and had no concern with petitions. the man clicked and choked and gasped in his desperate desire to make the sahib understand. but it was no use; and in the end he departed as he had come-bowed, abject, and unintelligible. * * * * * let every word written against ganesh be rescinded. it was by his ordering that the englishman saw such a dawn on the burra talao as he had never before set eyes on. every fair morning is a reprint, blurred perhaps, of the first day; but this splendour was a thing to be put aside from all other days and remembered. the stars had no fire in them and the fish had stopped jumping, when the black water of the lake paled and grew grey. while he watched it seemed to the englishman that voices on the hills were intoning the first verses of genesis. the grey light moved on the face of the waters till, with no interval, a blood-red glare shot up from the horizon and, inky black against the intense red, a giant crane floated out towards the sun. in the still-shadowed city the great palace drum boomed and throbbed to show that the gates were open, while the dawn swept up the valley and made all things clear. the blind man who said, "the blast of a trumpet is red," spoke only the truth. the breaking of the red dawn is like the blast of a trumpet. "what," said the _chowkidar_, picking the ashes of the overnight fire out of his beard, "what, i say, are five eggs or twelve eggs to such a raj as ours? what also are fowls--what are" ... "there was no talk of fowls. where is the fowl-man from whom you got the eggs?" "he is here. no, he is there. i do not know. i am an old man, and i and the raj supply everything without price. the fowl-man will be paid by the state--liberally paid. let the sahib be happy. _wah. wah._" experience of forced labour in himalayan villages had made the englishman very tender in raising supplies that were given gratis; but the fowl-man could not be found, and the value of his wares was, later, paid to ganesh--ganesh of situr, for that is the name of the village full of priests, through which the englishman had passed in ignorance two days before. a double handful of sweet smelling flowers made the receipt. boondi was wide-awake before half-past seven in the morning. her hunters, on foot and on horse, were filing towards the deoli gate. they would hunt tiger and deer they said, even with matchlocks and muzzle loaders as uncouth as those the sahib saw. they were a merry company and chaffed the quarter-guard at the gate unmercifully when a bullock-cart, laden with the cases of the "batoum naphtha and oil company" blocked the road. one of them had been a soldier of the queen, and, excited by the appearance of a sahib, did so rebuke and badger the quarter-guard for their slovenliness that they threatened to come out of the barracks and destroy him. so, after one last look at the palace high up the hillside, the englishman was borne away along the deoli road. the peculiarity of boondi is the peculiarity of the covered pitfall. one does not see it till one falls into it. a quarter of a mile from the gate, town and palace were invisible. but the englishman was grieved at heart. he had fallen in love with boondi the beautiful, and believed that he would never again see anything half so fair. the utter untouchedness of the town was one-half the charm and its association the other. read tod, who is far too good to be chipped or sampled; read tod luxuriously on the bund of the burra talao, and the spirit of the place will enter into you and you will be happy. to enjoy life thoroughly, haste and bustle must be abandoned. ram baksh has said that englishmen are always bothering to go forward, and for this reason, though beyond doubt they pay well and readily, are not wise men. he gave utterance to this philosophy after he had mistaken his road and pulled up in what must have been a disused quarry hard by a cane-field. there were patches and pockets of cultivation along the rocky road, where men grew cotton, chillies, tobacco, and sugar-cane. "i will get you sugar-cane," said ram baksh. "then we will go forward, and perhaps some of these jungly-fools will tell us where the road is." a "jungly fool," a tender of goats, did in time appear, but there was no hurry; the sugar-cane was sweet and purple and the sun warm. the englishman lay out at high noon on the crest of a rolling upland crowned with rock, and heard, as a loafer had told him he would hear, the "set of the day," which is as easily discernible as the change of tone between the rising and the falling tide. at a certain hour the impetus of the morning dies out, and all things, living and inanimate, turn their thoughts to the prophecy of the coming night. the little wandering breezes drop for a time, and, when they blow afresh, bring the message. the "set of the day," as the loafer said, has changed, the machinery is beginning to run down, the unseen tides of the air are falling. this moment of change can only be felt in the open and in touch with the earth, and once discovered, seems to place the finder in deep accord and fellowship with all things on earth. perhaps this is why the genuine loafer, though "frequently drunk," is "always polite to the stranger," and shows such a genial tolerance towards the weaknesses of mankind, black, white, or brown. in the evening when the jackals were scuttling across the roads and the cranes had gone to roost, came deoli the desolate, and an unpleasant meeting. six days away from his kind had bred in a cockney heart a great desire to see a fellow-subject. an elaborate loaf through the cantonment--fifteen minutes' walk from end to end--showed only one distant dog-cart and a small english child with an ayah. there was grass in the soldierly straight roads, and some of the cross-cuts had never been used at all since the days when the cantonment had been first laid out. in the western corner lay the cemetery--the only carefully tended and newly whitewashed thing in this god-forgotten place. some years ago a man had said good-by to the englishman; adding cheerily: "we shall meet again. the world's a very little place y' know." his prophecy was a true one, for the two met indeed, but the prophet was lying in deoli cemetery near the well, which is decorated so ecclesiastically with funeral urns. xix comes back to the railway, after reflections on the management of the empire; and so home again, with apology to all who have read thus far. in the morning the tonga rattled past deoli cemetery into the open, where the deoli irregulars were drilling. they marked the beginning of civilisation and white shirts; and so they seemed altogether detestable. yet another day's jolting, enlivened by the philosophy of ram baksh, and then came nasirabad. the last pair of ponies suggested serious thought. they had covered eighteen miles at an average speed of eight miles an hour, and were well-conditioned little rats. "a colonel sahib gave me this one for a present," said ram baksh, flicking the near one. "it was his child's pony. the child was five years old." when he went away, the colonel sahib said: "ram baksh, you are a good man. never have i seen such a good man. this horse is yours." ram baksh was getting a horse's work out of a child's pony. surely we in india work the land much as the colonel sahib worked his son's mount; making it do child's work when so much more can be screwed out of it. a native and a native state deals otherwise with horse and holding. perhaps our extreme scrupulousness in handling may be statecraft, but, after even a short sojourn in places which are dealt with not so tenderly, it seems absurd. there are states where things are done, and done without protest, that would make the hair of the educated native stand on end with horror. these things are of course not expedient to write; because their publication would give a great deal of unnecessary pain and heart-searching to estimable native administrators who have the hope of a star before their eyes and would not better matters in the least. note this fact though. with the exception of such journals as, occupying a central position in british territory, levy blackmail from the neighbouring states, there are no independent papers in rajputana. a king may start a weekly, to encourage a taste for sanskrit and high hindi, or a prince may create a court chronicle; but that is all. a "free press" is not allowed, and this the native journalist knows. with good management he can, keeping under the shadow of our flag, raise two hundred rupees from a big man here, and five hundred from a rich man there, but he does not establish himself across the border. to one who has reason to hold a stubborn disbelief in even the elementary morality of the native press, this bashfulness and lack of enterprise is amusing. but to return to the native states' administrations. there is nothing exactly wrong in the methods of government that are overlaid with english terms and forms. they are vigorous, in certain points; and where they are not vigorous, there is a cheery happy-go-luckiness about the arrangement that must be seen to be understood. the shift and play of a man's fortune across the border is as sudden as anything in the days of haroun-al-raschid of blessed memory, and there are stories, to be got for the unearthing, as wild and as improbable as those in the _thousand and one nights_. most impressive of all is the way in which the country is "used," and its elasticity under pressure. in the good old days the durbar raised everything it could from the people, and the king spent as much as ever he could on his personal pleasures. now the institution of the political agent has stopped the grabbing, for which, by the way, some of the monarchs are not in the least grateful--and smoothed the outward face of things. but there is still a difference, between our ways and the ways of the other places. a year spent among native states ought to send a man back to the decencies and the law courts and the rights of the subject with a supreme contempt for those who rave about the oppressions of our brutal bureaucracy. one month nearly taught an average englishman that it was the proper thing to smite anybody of mean aspect and obstructive tendencies on the mouth with a shoe. hear what an intelligent loafer said. his words are at least as valuable as these babblings. he was, as usual, wonderfully drunk, and the gift of speech came upon him. the conversation--he was a great politician, this loafer--had turned on the poverty of india. "poor?" said he. "of course, it's poor. oh, yes, d----d poor. and i'm poor, an' you're poor, altogether. do you expect people will give you money without you ask 'em? no, i tell you, sir, there's enough money in india to pave hell with if you could only get at it. i've kep' servants in my day. did they ever leave me without a hundred or a hundred and fifty rupees put by--and never touched? you mark that. does any black man who had been in guv'ment service go away without hundreds an' hundreds put by, and never touched? you mark that. money? the place stinks o' money--just kept out o' sight. do you ever know a native that didn't say _garib admi_ (i'm a poor man)? they've been sayin' _garib admi_ so long that the guv'ment learns to believe 'em, and now they're all bein' treated as though they was paupers. i'm a pauper, an' you're a pauper--_we_ 'aven't got anything hid in the ground--an' so's every white man in this forsaken country. but the injian he's a rich man. how do i know? because i've tramped on foot, or warrant pretty well from one end of the place to the other, an' i know what i'm talkin' about, and this 'ere guv'ment goes peckin' an' fiddlin' over its tuppenny-ha'penny little taxes as if it was afraid. which it is. you see how they do things in ----. it's six sowars here, and ten sowars there, and--'pay up, you brutes, or we'll pull your ears over your head.' and when they've taken all they can get, the headman, he says: 'this is a dashed poor yield. i'll come again.' _of course_ the people digs up something out of the ground, and they pay. i know the way it's done, and that's the way to do it. you can't go to an injian an' say: 'look here. can you pay me five rupees?' he says: '_garib admi_,' of course, an' would say it if he was as rich as banker. but if you send half a dozen swords at him and shift the thatch off of his roof, he'll pay. guv'ment can't do that. i don't suppose it could. there is no reason why it shouldn't. but it might do something like it, to show that it wasn't going to have no nonsense. why, i'd undertake to raise a hundred million--what am i talking of?--a hundred and fifty million pounds from this country _per annum_, and it wouldn't be strained _then_. one hundred and fifty millions you could raise as easy as paint, if you just made these 'ere injians understand that they had to pay an' make no bones about it. it's enough to make a man sick to go in over yonder to ---and see what they do; and then come back an' see what we do. perfectly sickenin' it is. borrer money? why the country could pay herself an' everything she wants, if she was only made to do it. it's this blooomin' _garib admi_ swindle that's been going on all these years, that has made fools o' the guv'ment." then he became egotistical, this ragged ruffian who conceived that he knew the road to illimitable wealth and told the story of his life, interspersed with anecdotes that would blister the paper they were written on. but through all his ravings, he stuck to his hundred-and-fifty-million theory, and though the listener dissented from him and the brutal cruelty with which his views were stated, an unscientific impression remained not to be shaken off. across the border one feels that the country is being used, exploited, "made to sit up," so to speak. in our territories the feeling is equally strong of wealth "just round the corner," as the loafer said, of a people wrapped up in cotton wool and ungetatable. will any man, who really knows something of a little piece of india and has not the fear of running counter to custom before his eyes, explain how this impression is produced, and why it is an erroneous one? nasirabad marked the end of the englishman's holiday, and there was sorrow in his heart. "come back again," said ram baksh, cheerfully, "and bring a gun with you. then i'll take you to gungra, and i'll drive you myself. 'drive you just as well as i've driven these four days past." an amicable open-minded soul was ram baksh. may his tongas never grow less! * * * * * "this 'ere burma fever is a bad thing to have. it's pulled me down awful; an' now i am going to peshawar. are you the station-master?" it was thomas--white-cheeked, sunken-eyed, drawn-mouthed thomas--travelling from nasirabad to peshawar on pass; and with him was a corporal new to his stripes and doing station duty. every thomas is interesting, except when he is too drunk to speak. this thomas was an enthusiast. he had volunteered, from a home-going regiment shattered by burma fever, into a regiment at peshawar, had broken down at nasirabad on his way up with his draft, and was now journeying into the unknown to pick up another medal. "there's sure to be something on the frontier," said this gaunt, haggard boy--he was little more, though he reckoned four years' service and considered himself somebody. "when there's anything going, peshawar's the place to be in, they tell me; but i hear we shall have to march down to calcutta in no time." the corporal was a little man and showed his friend off with great pride: "ah, you should have come to _us_," said he; "we're the regiment, we are." "well, i went with the rest of our men," said thomas. "there's three hundred of us volunteered to stay on, and we all went for the same regiment. not but what i'm saying yours is a good regiment," he added with grave courtesy. this loosed the corporal's tongue, and he descanted on the virtues of the regiment and the merits of the officers. it has been written that thomas is devoid of _esprit de corps_, because of the jerkiness of the arrangements under which he now serves. if this be true, he manages to conceal his feelings very well; for he speaks most fluently in praise of his own regiment; and, for all his youth, has a keen appreciation of the merits of his officers. go to him when his heart is opened, and hear him going through the roll of the subalterns, by a grading totally unknown in the army list, and you will pick up something worth the hearing. thomas, with the burma fever on him, tried to cut in, from time to time, with stories of his officers and what they had done "when we was marchin' all up and down burma," but the little corporal went on gayly. they made a curious contrast--these two types. the lathy, town-bred thomas with hock-bottle shoulders, a little education, and a keen desire to get more medals and stripes; and the little, deep-chested, bull-necked corporal brimming over with vitality and devoid of any ideas beyond the "regiment." and the end of both lives, in all likelihood, would be a nameless grave in some cantonment burying-ground with, if the case were specially interesting and the regimental doctor had a turn for the pen, an obituary notice in the indian medical journal. it was an unpleasant thought. from the army to the navy is a perfectly natural transition, but one hardly to be expected in the heart of india. dawn showed the railway carriage full of riotous boys, for the agra and mount abu schools had broken up for holidays. surely it was natural enough to ask a child--not a boy, but a child--whether he was going home for the holidays; and surely it was a crushing, a petrifying thing to hear in a clear treble tinged with icy scorn: "no. i'm on leave. i'm a midshipman." two "officers of her majesty's navy"--mids of a man-o'-war at bombay--were going up-country on ten days' leave. they had not travelled much more than twice round the world; but they should have printed the fact on a label. they chattered like daws, and their talk was as a whiff of fresh air from the open sea, while the train ran eastward under the aravalis. at that hour their lives were bound up in and made glorious by the hope of riding a horse when they reached their journey's end. much had they seen "cities and men," and the artless way in which they interlarded their conversation with allusions to "one of those shore-going chaps, you see," was delicious. they had no cares, no fears, no servants, and an unlimited stock of wonder and admiration for everything they saw, from the "cute little well-scoops" to a herd of deer grazing on the horizon. it was not until they had opened their young hearts with infantile abandon that the listener could guess from the incidental _argot_ where these pocket-ulysseses had travelled. south african, norwegian, and arabian words were used to help out the slang of shipboard, and a copious vocabulary of shipboard terms, complicated with modern greek. as free from self-consciousness as children, as ignorant as beings from another planet of the anglo-indian life into which they were going to dip for a few days, shrewd and observant as befits men of the world who have authority, and neat-handed and resourceful as ---blue-jackets, they were a delightful study, and accepted freely and frankly the elaborate apologies tendered to them for the unfortunate mistake about the "holidays." the roads divided and they went their way; and there was a shadow after they had gone, for the globe-trotter said to his wife, "what i like about jeypore"--accent on the first syllable, if you please--"is its characteristic easternness." and the globe-trotter's wife said: "yes. it is purely oriental." this was jeypore with the gas-jets and the water-pipes as was shown at the beginning of these trivial letters; and the globe-trotter and his wife had not been to amber. joyful thought! they had not seen the soft splendours of udaipur, the nightmare of chitor, the grim power of jodhpur, and the virgin beauties of boondi--fairest of all places that the englishman had set eyes on. the globe-trotter was great in the matter of hotels and food, but he had not lain under the shadow of a tonga in soft warm sand, eating cold pork with a pocket-knife, and thanking providence who put sweet-water streams where wayfarers wanted them. he had not drunk out the brilliant cold-weather night in the company of a king of loafers, a grimy scallawag with a six days' beard and an unholy knowledge of native states. he had attended service in cantonment churches; but he had not known what it was to witness the simple, solemn ceremonial in the dining room of a far-away residency, when all the english folk within a hundred-mile circuit bowed their heads before the god of the christians. he had blundered about temples of strange deities with a guide at his elbow; but he had not known what it was to attempt conversation, with a temple dancing-girl (_not_ such an one as edwin arnold invented), and to be rewarded for a misturned compliment with a deftly heaved bunch of marigold buds in his respectable bosom. yet he had undoubtedly lost much, and the measure of his loss was proven in his estimate of the orientalism of jeypore. but what had he who sat in judgment upon him gained? one perfect month of loaferdom, to be remembered above all others and the night of the visit to chitor, to be remembered even when the month is forgotten. also the sad knowledge that of all the fair things seen, the inept pen gives but a feeble and blurred picture. let those who have read to the end, pardon a hundred blemishes. from sea to sea from sea to sea march-september, 1889 no. i of freedom and the necessity of using her. the motive and the scheme that will come to nothing. a disquisition upon the otherness of things and the torments of the damned. when all the world is young, lad, and all the trees are green, and every goose a swan, lad, and every lass a queen,- then hey for boot and horse, lad, and o'er the world away- young blood must have its course, lad, and every dog its day. after seven years it pleased necessity, whom we all serve, to turn to me and say: "now you need do nothing whatever. you are free to enjoy yourself. i will take the yoke of bondage from your neck for one year. what do you choose to do with my gift?" and i considered the matter in several lights. at first i held notions of regenerating society; but it appeared that this would demand more than a year, and perhaps society would not be grateful after all. then i would fain enter upon one monumental "bust"; but i reflected that this at the outside could endure but three months, while the headache would last for nine. then came by the person that i most hate,--a globe-trotter. he, sitting in my chair, discussed india with the unbridled arrogance of five weeks on a cook's ticket. he was from england and had dropped his manners in the suez canal. "i assure you," said he, "that you who live so close to the actual facts of things cannot form dispassionate judgments of their merits. you are too near. now i--" he waved his hand modestly and left me to fill the gaps. i considered him, from his new helmet to his deck-shoes, and i perceived that he was but an ordinary man. i thought of india, maligned and silent india, given up to the ill-considered wanderings of such as he--of the land whose people are too busy to reply to the libels upon their life and manners. it was my destiny to avenge india upon nothing less than three-quarters of the world. the idea necessitated sacrifices,--painful sacrifices,--for i had to become a globe-trotter, with a helmet and deck-shoes. in the interests of our little world i would endure these things and more. i would deliver "brawling judgments all day long; on all things unashamed." i would go toward the rising sun till i reached the heart of the world and once more smelt london asphalt. the indian public never gave me a brief. i took it, appointing myself commissioner in general for our own sweet selves. then all the aspects of life changed, as, they say, the appearance of his room grows strange to a dying man when he sees it upon the last morning, and knows that it will confront him no more. i had wilfully stepped aside from the current of our existence, and had no part in any of our interests. up-country the peach was beginning to bud, and men said that by cause of the heavy snows in the hills the hot weather would be a short one. that was nothing to me. the punkahs and their pullers sat together in the verandah, and the public buildings spawned thermantidotes. the copper-smith sang in the garden and the early wasp hummed low down by the door-handle, and they prophesied of the hot weather to come. these things were no concern of mine. i was dead, and looked upon the old life as a dead man--without interest and without concern. it was a strange life; i had lived it for seven years or one day, i could not be certain which. all that i knew was that i could watch men going to their offices, while i slept luxuriously; could go out at any hour of the day and sit up to any hour of the night, secure that each morning would bring no toil. i understood with what emotions the freed convict regards the prison he has quitted--insight which had hitherto been denied me; and i further saw how intense is the selfishness of the irresponsible man. some said that the coming year would be one of scarcity and distress because unseasonable rains were falling. i was grieved. i feared that the rains might break the railway line to the sea, and so delay my departure. again, the season would be a sickly one. i fancied that necessity might repent of her gift and for mere jest wipe me off the face of the earth ere i had seen anything of what lay upon it. there was trouble on the afghan frontier; perhaps an army-corps would be mobilised, and perhaps many men would die, leaving folk to mourn for them at the hill-stations. my dread was that a russian man-of-war might intercept the steamer which carried my precious self between yokohama and san francisco. let armageddon be postponed, i prayed, for my sake, that my personal enjoyments may not be interfered with. war, famine, and pestilence would be so inconvenient to me. and i abased myself before necessity, the great goddess, and said ostentatiously: "it is naught, it is naught, and you needn't look at me when i wander about." surely we are only virtuous by compulsion of earning our daily bread. so i looked upon men with new eyes, and pitied them very much indeed. they worked. they had to. i was an aristocrat. i could call upon them at inconvenient hours and ask them why they worked, and whether they did it often. then they grunted, and the envy in their eyes was a delight to me. i dared not, however, mock them too pointedly, lest necessity should drag me back by the collar to take my still warm place by their side. when i had disgusted all who knew me, i fled to calcutta, which, i was pained to see, still persisted in being a city and transacting commerce after i had formally cursed it one year ago. that curse i now repeat, in the hope that the unsavoury capital will collapse. one must begin to smoke at five in the morning--which is neither night nor day--on coming across the howrah bridge, for it is better to get a headache from honest nicotine than to be poisoned by evil smells. and a man, who otherwise was a nice man, though he worked with his hands and his head, asked me why the scandal of the simla exodus was allowed to continue. to him i made answer: "it is because this sewer is unfit for human habitation. it is because you are all one gigantic mistake,--you and your monuments and your merchants and everything about you. i rejoice to think that scores of lakhs of rupees have been spent on public offices at a place called simla, that scores and scores will be spent on the delhi-kalka line, in order that civilised people may go there in comfort. when that line is opened, your big city will be dead and buried and done with, and i hope it will teach you a lesson. your city will rot, sir." and he said: "when people are buried here, they turn into adipocere in five days if the weather is rainy. they saponify, you know." i said: "go and saponify, for i hate calcutta." but he took me to the eden gardens instead, and begged me for my own sake not to go round the world in this prejudiced spirit. i was unhappy and ill, but he vowed that my spleen was due to my "simla way of looking at things." all this world of ours knows something about the eden gardens, which are supposed by the uninitiated of the mofussil to represent the gilded luxury of the metropolis. as a matter of fact they are hideously dull. the inhabitants appear in top-hats and frock-coats, and walk dolorously to and fro under the glare of jerking electric lamps, when they ought to be sitting in their shirt-sleeves round little tables and treating their wives to iced lager beer. my friend--it was a muggy march night--wrapped himself in the prescribed garments and said graciously: "you can wear a round hat, but you mustn't wear deck-shoes; and for goodness' sake, my dear fellow, don't smoke on the red road--all the people one knows go there." most of the people who were people sat in their carriages, in an atmosphere of hot horse, harness, and panel-lacquer, outside the gardens, and the remnant tramped up and down, by twos and threes, upon squashy green grass, until they were wearied, while a band played at them. "and is this all you do?" i asked. "it is," said my friend. "isn't it good enough? we meet every one we know here, and walk with him or her, unless he or she is among the carriages." overhead was a woolly warm sky; underfoot feverish soft grass; and from all quarters the languorous breeze bore faint reminiscences of stale sewage upon its wings. round the horizon were stacked lines of carriages, and the electric flare bred aches in the strained eyebrow. it was a strange sight and fascinating. the doomed creatures walked up and down without cessation, for when one fled away into the lamp-spangled gloom twenty came to take his place. slop-hatted members of the mercantile marine, armenian merchants, bengal civilians, shop-girls and shop-men, jews, parthians, and mesopotamians, were all there in the tepid heat and the fetid smell. "this," said my friend, "is how we enjoy ourselves. there are the viceregal liveries. lady lansdowne comes here." he spoke as though reading to me the government house list of paradise. i reflected that these people would continue to walk up and down until they died, drinkless, dusty, sad, and blanched. in saying this last thing i had made a mistake. calcutta is no more anglo-indian than west brompton. in common with bombay, it has achieved a mental attitude several decades in advance of that of the raw and brutal india of fact. an intelligent and responsible financier, discussing the empire, said: "but why do we want so large an army in india? look at the country all about." i think he meant as far as the circular road or perhaps raneegunge. some of these days, when the voice of the two uncomprehending cities carries to london, and its advice is acted upon, there will be trouble. till this second journey to calcutta i was unable to account for the acid tone and limited range of the presidency journals. i see now that they are ward papers and ought to be treated as such. in the fulness of time--there was no hurry--imagine that, o you toilers of the land--i took ship and fled from calcutta by that which they call the mutton-mail, because it takes sheep and correspondence to rangoon. half the punjab was going with us to serve the queen in the burma military police, and it was grateful to catch once more the raw, rasping up-country speech amid the jabber of burmese and bengali. to rangoon, then, aboard the _madura_, come with me down the hughli, and try to understand what sort of life is led by the pilots, those strange men who only seem to know the land by watching it from the river. "and i fetched up under the north ridge with six inches o' water under me, with a sou'west monsoon blowing, an' me not knowing any more than the dead where in--paradise--i was taking her," says one deep voice. "well, what do you expect?" says another. "they ought not all to be occulting lights. give me a red with two flashes for outlying danger anyhow. the hughli's the worst river in the world. why, off the lower gasper only last year...." "and look at the way government treats you!" the hughli pilot is human. he may talk greek in the exercise of his profession, but he can unite at swearing at the government as thoroughly as though he were an uncovenanted civilian. his life is a hard one; but he is full of strange stories, and when treated with proper respect may condescend to tell some of them. if he has served on the river for six years as a "cub," and is neither dead nor decrepit, i believe he can earn as much as fifty rupees by sending two thousand tons of ship and a few hundred souls flying down the reaches at twelve miles an hour. then he drops over the side with your last love-letters and wanders about the estuary in a tug until he finds another steamer and brings her up. it does not take much to comfort him. * * * * * _somewhere in the open sea some days later._ i give it up. i _cannot_ write, and to sleep i am not ashamed. a glorious idleness has taken entire possession of me; journalism is an imposture; so is literature; so is art. all india dropped out of sight yesterday and the rocking pilot-brig at the sandheads bore my last message to the prison that i quit. we have reached blue water--crushed sapphire--and a little breeze is bellying the awning. three flying-fish were sighted this morning; the tea at _chota-hazri_ is not nice, but the captain is excellent. is this budget of news sufficiently exciting, or must i in strict confidence tell you the story of the professor and the compass? you will hear more about the professor later, if, indeed, i ever touch pen again. when he was in india he worked about nine hours a day. at noon to-day he conceived an interest in cyclones and things of that kind--would go to his cabin to get a compass and a meteorological book. he went, but stopped to reflect by the brink of a drink. "the compass is in a box," said he, drowsily, "but the nuisance of it is that to get it i shall have to pull the box out from under my berth. all things considered, i don't think it's worth while." he loafed on deck, and i think by this time is fast asleep. there was no trace of shame in his voice for his mighty sloth. i would have reproved him, but the words died on my tongue. i was guiltier than he. "professor," said i, "there is a foolish little paper in allahabad called the _pioneer_. i am supposed to be writing it a letter--a letter with my hands! did you ever hear of anything so absurd?" "i wonder if angostura bitters really go with whisky," said the professor, toying with the neck of the bottle. there is no such place as india; there never was a daily paper called the _pioneer_. it was all a weary dream. the only real things in the world are crystal seas, clean-swept decks, soft rugs, warm sunshine, the smell of salt in the air, and fathomless, futile indolence. no. ii the river of the lost footsteps and the golden mystery upon its banks. the iniquity of jordan. shows how a man may go to the shway dagon pagoda and see it not and to the pegu club and hear too much. a dissertation on mixed drinks. "i am a part of all that i have met, yet all experience is an arch where through gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades for ever and for ever when i move." there was a river and a bar, a pilot and a great deal of nautical mystery, and the captain said the journey from calcutta was ended and that we should be in rangoon in a few hours. it is not an impressive stream, being low-banked, scrubby, and muddy; but as we gave the staggering rice-boats the go-by, i reflected that i was looking upon the river of the lost footsteps--the road that so many, many men of my acquaintance had travelled, never to return, within the past three years. such a one had gone up to open out upper burma, and had himself been opened out by a burmese dah in the cruel scrub beyond minhla; such another had gone to rule the land in the queen's name, but could not rule a hill stream and was carried down under his horse. one had been shot by his servant; another by a dacoit while he sat at dinner; and a pitifully long list had found in jungle-fever their sole reward for "the difficulties and privations inseparably connected with military service," as the bengal army regulations put it. i ran over half a score of names--policemen, subalterns, young civilians, employés of big trading firms, and adventurers. they had gone up the river and they had died. at my elbow stood one of the workers in new burma, going to report himself at rangoon, and he told tales of interminable chases after evasive dacoits, of marchings and counter-marchings that came to nothing, and of deaths in the wilderness as noble as they were sad. then, a golden mystery upheaved itself on the horizon--a beautiful winking wonder that blazed in the sun, of a shape that was neither muslim dome nor hindu temple spire. it stood upon a green knoll, and below it were lines of warehouses, sheds, and mills. under what new god, thought i, are we irrepressible english sitting now? "there's the old shway dagon" (pronounced dagone, _not_ like the god in the scriptures), said my companion. "confound it!" but it was not a thing to be sworn at. it explained in the first place why we took rangoon, and in the second why we pushed on to see what more of rich or rare the land held. up till that sight my uninstructed eyes could not see that the land differed much in appearance from the sunderbuns, but the golden dome said: "this is burma, and it will be quite unlike any land you know about." "it's a famous old shrine o' sorts," said my companion, "and now the tounghoo-mandalay line is open, pilgrims are flocking down by the thousand to see it. it lost its big gold top--'thing that they call a _'htee_--in an earthquake: that's why it's all hidden by bamboo-work for a third of its height. you should see it when it's all uncovered. they're regilding it now." why is it that when one views for the first time any of the wonders of the earth a bystander always strikes in with, "you should see it, etc."? such men given twenty minutes from the tomb at the day of judgment, would patronize the naked souls as they hurried up with the glare of tophet on their faces, and say: "you should have seen this when gabriel first began to blow." what the shway dagon really is and how many books may have been written upon its history and archæology is no part of my business. as it stood overlooking everything it seemed to explain all about burma--why the boys had gone north and died, why the troopers bustled to and fro, and why the steamers of the irrawaddy flotilla lay like black-backed gulls upon the water. then we came to a new land, and the first thing that one of the regular residents said was: "this place isn't india at all. they ought to have made it a crown colony." judging the empire as it ought to be judged, by its most prominent points--_videlicet_, its smells--he was right; for though there is one stink in calcutta, another in bombay, and a third and most pungent one in the punjab, yet they have a kinship of stinks, whereas burma smells quite otherwise. it is not exactly what china ought to smell like, but it is not india. "what is it?" i asked; and the man said "_napi_," which is fish pickled when it ought to have been buried long ago. this food, in guide-book language, is inordinately consumed by ... but everybody who has been within downwind range of rangoon knows what _napi_ means, and those who do not will not understand. yes, it was a very new land--a land where the people understood colour--a delightfully lazy land full of pretty girls and very bad cheroots. the worst of it was that the anglo-indian was a foreigner, a creature of no account. he did not know burman,--which was no great loss,--and the madrassi insisted upon addressing him in english. the madrassi, by the way, is a great institution. he takes the place of the burman, who will not work, and in a few years returns to his native coast with rings on his fingers and bells on his toes. the consequences are obvious. the madrassi demands, and receives, enormous wages, and gets to know that he is indispensable. the burman exists beautifully, while his women-folk marry the madrassi and the chinaman, because these support them in affluence. when the burman wishes to work he gets a madrassi to do it for him. how he finds the money to pay the madrassi i was not informed, but all men were agreed in saying that under no circumstances will the burman exert himself in the paths of honest industry. now, if a bountiful providence had clothed you in a purple, green, amber or puce petticoat, had thrown a rose-pink scarf-turban over your head, and had put you in a pleasant damp country where rice grew of itself and fish came up to be caught, putrified and pickled, would _you_ work? would you not rather take a cheroot and loaf about the streets seeing what was to be seen? if two-thirds of your girls were grinning, good-humoured little maidens and the remainder positively pretty, would you not spend your time in making love? the burman does both these things, and the englishman, who after all worked himself to burma, says hard things about him. personally i love the burman with the blind favouritism born of first impression. when i die i will be a burman, with twenty yards of real king's silk, that has been made in mandalay, about my body, and a succession of cigarettes between my lips. i will wave the cigarette to emphasise my conversation, which shall be full of jest and repartee, and i will always walk about with a pretty almond-coloured girl who shall laugh and jest too, as a young maiden ought. she shall not pull a sari over her head when a man looks at her and glare suggestively from behind it, nor shall she tramp behind me when i walk: for these are the customs of india. she shall look all the world between the eyes, in honesty and good fellowship, and i will teach her not to defile her pretty mouth with chopped tobacco in a cabbage leaf, but to inhale good cigarettes of egypt's best brand. seriously, the burmese girls are very pretty, and when i saw them i understood much that i had heard about--about our army in flanders let us say. providence really helps those who do not help themselves. i went up a street, name unknown, attracted by the colour that was so wantonly flashed down its length. there is colour in rajputana and in southern india, and you can find a whole paletteful of raw tints at any down-country durbar; but the burmese way of colouring is different. with the women the scarf, petticoat, and jacket are of three lively hues, and with the men putso and head-wrap are gorgeous. thus you get your colours dashed down in dots against a background of dark timber houses set in green foliage. there are no canons of art anywhere, and every scheme of colouring depends on the power of the sun above. that is why men in a london fog do still believe in pale greens and sad reds. give me lilac, pink, vermilion, lapis lazuli, and blistering blood red under fierce sunlight that mellows and modifies all. i had just made this discovery and was noting that the people treated their cattle kindly, when the driver of an absurd little hired carriage built to the scale of a fat burma pony, volunteered to take me for a drive, and we drove in the direction of the english quarter of the town where the sahibs live in dainty little houses made out of the sides of cigar boxes. they looked as if they could be kicked in at a blow and (trust a globe-trotter for evolving a theory at a minute's notice) it is to avoid this fate that they are built for the most part on legs. the houses are not cantonment bred in any way--nor did the uneven ground and dusty reddish roads fit in with any part of the indian empire except it may be ootacamund. the pony wandered into a garden studded with lovely little lakes which, again, were studded with islands, and there were sahibs in flannels in the boats. outside the park were pleasant little monasteries full of clean-shaved gentlemen in gold amber robes learning to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil by chatting furiously amongst themselves, and at every corner stood the three little maids from school, almost exactly as they had been dismissed from the side scenes of the savoy after the _mikado_ was over: and the strange part of it all was that every one laughed--laughed, so it seemed, at the sky above them because it was blue, at the sun because it was sinking, and at each other because they had nothing better to do. a small fat child laughed loudest of all, in spite of the fact that it was smoking a cheroot that ought to have made it deathly sick. the pagoda was always close at hand--as brilliant a mystery as when first sighted far down the river; but it changed its shape as we came nearer, and showed in the middle of a nest of hundreds of smaller pagodas. there appeared suddenly two colossal tigers (after the burmese canons) in plaster on a hillside, and they were the guardians of burma's greatest pagoda. round them rustled a great crowd of happy people in pretty dresses, and the feet of all were turned towards a great stoneway that ran from between the tigers even to the brow of the mound. but the nature of the stairs was peculiar. they were covered in for the most part by a tunnel, or it may have been a walled-in colonnade, for there were heavily gilt wooden pillars visible in the gloom. the afternoon was drawing on as i came to this strange place and saw that i should have to climb up a long, low hill of stairs to get to the pagoda. once or twice in my life i have seen a globe-trotter literally gasping with jealous emotion because india was so much larger and more lovely than he had ever dreamed, and because he had only set aside three months to explore it in. my own sojourn in rangoon was countable by hours, so i may be forgiven when i pranced with impatience at the bottom of the staircase because i could not at once secure a full, complete, and accurate idea of everything that was to be seen. the meaning of the guardian tigers, the inwardness of the main pagoda, and the countless little ones, was hidden from me. i could not understand why the pretty girls with cheroots sold little sticks and coloured candles to be used before the image of buddha. everything was incomprehensible to me, and there was none to explain. all that i could gather was that in a few days the great golden _'htee_ that has been defaced by the earthquake would be hoisted into position with feasting and song, and that half upper burma was coming down to see the show. i went forward between the two great beasts, across a whitewashed court, till i came to a flat-headed arch guarded by the lame, the blind, the leper, and the deformed. these plucked at my clothes as i passed, and moaned and whined: but the stream that disappeared up the gentle slope of the stairway took no notice of them. and i stepped into the semi-darkness of a long, long corridor flanked by booths, and floored with stones worn very smooth by human feet. at the far end of the roofed corridor there was a breadth of evening sky, and at this point rose a second and much steeper flight of stairs, leading directly to the shwedagon (this, by the way, is its real spelling). down this staircase fell, from gloom to deeper gloom, a cascade of colour. at this point i stayed, because there was a beautiful archway of burmese build, and adorned with a chinese inscription, directly in front of me, and i conceived foolishly that i should find nothing more pleasant to look at if i went farther. also, i wished to understand how such a people could produce the dacoit of the newspaper, and i knew that a great deal of promiscuous knowledge comes to him who sits down by the wayside. then i saw a face--which explained a good deal. the chin, jowl, lips, and neck were modelled faithfully on the lines of the worst of the roman empresses--the lolloping, walloping women that swinburne sings about, and that we sometimes see pictures of. above this gross perfection of form came the mongoloid nose, narrow forehead, and flaring pig's eyes. i stared intently, and the man stared back again, with admirable insolence, that puckered one corner of his mouth. then he swaggered forward, and i was richer by a new face and a little knowledge. "i must make further inquiries at the club," said i, "but that man seems to be of the proper dacoit type. he could crucify on occasion." then a brown baby came by in its mother's arms and laughed, wherefore i much desired to shake hands with it, and grinned to that effect. the mother held out the tiny soft pud and laughed, and the baby laughed, and we all laughed together, because that seemed to be the custom of the country, and returned down the now dark corridor where the lamps of the stall-keepers were twinkling and scores of people were helping us to laugh. they must be a mild-mannered nation, the burmese, for they leave little three-year-olds in charge of a whole wilderness of clay dolls or a menagerie of jointed tigers. i had not actually entered the shwedagon, but i felt just as happy as though i had. in the pegu club i found a friend--a punjabi--upon whose broad bosom i threw myself and demanded food and entertainment. he had not long since received a visit from the commissioner of peshawar, of all places in the world, and was not to be upset by sudden arrivals. but he had come down in the world hideously. years ago in the black north he used to speak the vernacular as it should be spoken, and was one of us. "_daniel, how many socks master got?_" the unfinished peg fell from my fist. "good heavens!" said i, "is it possible that you--you--speak that disgusting pidgin-talk to your _nauker_? it's enough to make one cry. you're no better than a bombaywallah." "i'm a madrassi," said he, calmly. "we all talk english to our boys here. isn't it beautiful? now come along to the gymkhana and then we'll dine here. daniel, master's hat and stick get." there must be a few hundred men who are fairly behind the scenes of the burma war--one of the least known and appreciated of any of our little affairs. the pegu club seemed to be full of men on their way up or down, and the conversation was but an echo of the murmur of conquest far away to the north. "see that man over there. he was cut over the head the other day at zoungloung-goo. awfully tough man. that chap next him has been on the dacoit-hunt for about a year. he broke up boh mango's gang: caught the boh in a paddy field, y'know. the other man's going home on sick leave--got a lump of iron somewhere in his system. try our mutton; i assure you the club is the only place in rangoon where you get mutton. look here, you must _not_ speak vernacular to our boys. hi, boy! get master some more ice. they're all bombay men or madrassis. up at the front there are some burman servants: but a real burman will never work. he prefers being a simple little _daku_." "how much?" "dear little dacoit. we call 'em _dakus_ for short--sort o' pet name. that's the butter-fish. i forgot you didn't get much fish up-country. yes, i s'pose rangoon has its advantages. you pay like a prince. take an ordinary married establishment. little furnished house--one hundred and fifty rupees. servants' wages two twenty or two fifty. that's four hundred at once. my dear fellow, a sweeper won't take less than twelve or sixteen rupees a month here, and even then he'll work for other houses. it's worse than quetta. any man who comes to lower burma in the hope of living on his pay is a fool." _voice from lower end of table._ "dee fool. it's different in upper burma, where you get command and travelling allowances." _another voice in the middle of a conversation._ "they never got that story into the papers, but i can tell you we weren't quite as quick in rushing the fort as they made believe. you see boh gwee had us in a regular trap, and by the time we had closed the line our men were being peppered front and rear: that jungle-fighting is the deuce and all. more ice please." then they told me of the death of an old school-fellow under the ramp of the minhla redoubt--does any one remember the affair at minhla that opened the third burmese ball? "i was close to him," said a voice. "he died in a.'s arms, i fancy, but i'm not quite sure. anyhow, i know he died easily. he was a good fellow." "thank you," said i, "and now i think i'll go;" and i went out into the steamy night, my head ringing with stories of battle, murder, and sudden death. i had reached the fringe of the veil that hides upper burma, and i would have given much to have gone up the river and seen a score of old friends, now jungle-worn men of war. all that night i dreamed of interminable staircases down which swept thousands of pretty girls, so brilliantly robed that my eyes ached at the sight. there was a great golden bell at the top of the stairs, and at the bottom, his face turned to the sky, lay poor old d----dead at minhla, and a host of unshaven ragamuffins in khaki were keeping guard over him. no. iii the city of elephants which is governed by the great god of idleness, who lives on the top of a hill. the history of three great discoveries and the naughty children of iquique. "i built my soul a lordly pleasure-house wherein at ease for aye to dwell, i said: oh, soul, make merry and carouse, dear soul, for all is well." so much for making definite programmes of travel beforehand. in my first letter i told you that i would go from rangoon to penang direct. now we are lying off moulmein in a new steamer which does not seem to run anywhere in particular. why she should go to moulmein is a mystery; but as every soul on the ship is a loafer like myself, no one is discontented. imagine a shipload of people to whom time is no object, who have no desires beyond three meals a day and no emotions save those caused by a casual cockroach. moulmein is situated up the mouth of a river which ought to flow through south america, and all manner of dissolute native craft appear to make the place their home. ugly cargo-steamers that the initiated call "geordie tramps" grunt and bellow at the beautiful hills all round, and the pot-bellied british india liners wallow down the reaches. visitors are rare in moulmein--so rare that few but cargo-boats think it worth their while to come off from the shore. strictly in confidence i will tell you that moulmein is not a city of this earth at all. sindbad the sailor visited it, if you recollect, on that memorable voyage when he discovered the burial-ground of the elephants. as the steamer came up the river we were aware of first one elephant and then another hard at work in timber-yards that faced the shore. a few narrow-minded folk with binoculars said that there were _mahouts_ upon their backs, but this was never clearly proven. i prefer to believe in what i saw--a sleepy town, just one house thick, scattered along a lovely stream and inhabited by slow, solemn elephants, building stockades for their own diversion. there was a strong scent of freshly sawn teak in the air--we could not see any elephants sawing--and occasionally the warm stillness was broken by the crash of the log. when the elephants had got an appetite for luncheon they loafed off in couples to their club, and did not take the trouble to give us greeting and the latest mail papers; at which we were much disappointed, but took heart when we saw upon a hill a large white pagoda surrounded by scores of little pagodas. "this," we said with one voice, "is the place to make an excursion to," and then shuddered at our own profanity, for above all things we did not wish to behave like mere vulgar tourists. the _ticca-gharies_ at moulmein are three sizes smaller than those of rangoon, as the ponies are no bigger than decent sheep. their drivers trot them uphill and down, and as the _ghari_ is extremely narrow and the roads are anything but good, the exercise is refreshing. here again all the drivers are madrassis. i should better remember what that pagoda was like had i not fallen deeply and irrevocably in love with a burmese girl at the foot of the first flight of steps. only the fact of the steamer starting next noon prevented me from staying at moulmein forever and owning a pair of elephants. these are so common that they wander about the streets, and, i make no doubt, could be obtained for a piece of sugar-cane. leaving this far too lovely maiden, i went up the steps only a few yards, and, turning me round, looked upon a view of water, island, broad river, fair grazing ground, and belted wood that made me rejoice that i was alive. the hillside below me and above me was ablaze with pagodas--from a gorgeous golden and vermilion beauty to a delicate grey stone one just completed in honour of an eminent priest lately deceased at mandalay. far above my head there was a faint tinkle, as of golden bells, and a talking of the breezes in the tops of the toddy-palms. wherefore i climbed higher and higher up the steps till i reached a place of great peace, dotted with burmese images, spotlessly clean. here women now and again paid reverence. they bowed their heads and their lips moved, because they were praying. i had an umbrella--a black one--in my hand, deck-shoes upon my feet, and a helmet upon my head. i did not pray--i swore at myself for being a globe-trotter, and wished that i had enough burmese to explain to these ladies that i was sorry and would have taken off my hat but for the sun. a globe-trotter is a brute. i had the grace to blush as i tramped round the pagoda. that will be remembered to me for righteousness. but i stared horribly--at a gold and red side-temple with a beautifully gilt image of buddha in it--at the grim figures in the niches at the base of the main pagoda--at the little palms that grew out of the cracks in the tiled paving of the court--at the big palms above, and at the low hung bronze bells that stood at each corner for the women to smite with stag-horns. upon one bell rang this amazing triplet in english, evidently the composition of the caster, who completed his work--and now, let us hope, has reached nibban--thirty-five years ago:- "he who destroyed this bell they must be in the great hel and unable to coming out." i respect a man who is not able to spell hell properly. it shows that he has been brought up in an amiable creed. you who come to moulmein treat this bell with respect, and refrain from playing with it, for that hurts the feelings of the worshippers. in the base of the pagoda were four rooms, lined as to three sides with colossal plaster figures, before each of whom burned one solitary dip whose rays fought with the flood of evening sunshine that came through the windows, and the room was filled with a pale yellow light--unearthly to stand in. occasionally a woman crept in to one of these rooms to pray, but nearly all the company stayed in the courtyard; but those that faced the figures prayed more zealously than the others, so i judged that their troubles were the greater. of the actual cult i knew less than nothing; for the neatly bound english books that we read make no mention of pointing red-tipped straws at a golden image, or of the banging of bells after the custom of worshippers in a hindu temple. it must be a genial one, however. to begin with, it is quiet and carried on among the fairest possible surroundings that ever landscape offered. in this particular case, the massive white pagoda shot into the blue from the west of a walled hill that commanded four separate and desirable views as you looked either at the steamer in the river below, the polished silver reaches to the left, the woods to the right, or the roofs of moulmein to the landward. between each pause of the rustling of dresses and the low-toned talk of the women fell, from far above, the tinkle of innumerable metal leaves which were stirred by the breeze as they hung from the _'htee_ of the pagoda. a golden image winked in the sun; the painted ones stared straight in front of them over the heads of the worshippers, and somewhere below a mallet and a plane were lazily helping to build yet another pagoda in honour of the lord of the earth. sitting in meditation while the professor went round with a sacrilegious camera, to the vast terror of the burmese youth, i made two notable discoveries and nearly went to sleep over them. the first was that the lord of the earth is idleness--thick slab idleness with a little religion stirred in to keep it sweet, and the second was that the shape of the pagoda came originally from a bulging toddy-palm trunk. there was one between me and the far-off sky line, and it exactly duplicated the outlines of a small grey stone building. yet a third discovery, and a much more important one, came to me later on. a dirty little imp of a boy ran by clothed more or less in a beautifully worked silk putso, the like of which i had in vain attempted to secure at rangoon. a bystander told me that such an article would cost one hundred and ten rupees--exactly ten rupees in excess of the price demanded at rangoon, when i had been discourteous to a pretty burmese girl with diamonds in her ears, and had treated her as though she were a delhi boxwallah. "professor," said i, when the camera spidered round the corner, "there is something wrong with this people. they won't work, they aren't all dacoits, and their babies run about with hundred-rupees putsoes on them, while their parents speak the truth. how in the world do they get a living?" "they exist beautifully," said the professor; "and i only brought half a dozen plates with me. i shall come again in the morning with some more. did i ever dream of a place like this?" "no," said i. "it's perfect, and for the life of me i can't quite see where the precise charm lies." "in its beastly laziness," said the professor, as he packed the camera, and we went away, regretfully, haunted by the voices of many wind-blown bells. not ten minutes from the pagoda we saw a real british bandstand, a shanty labelled "municipal office," a collection of p. w. d. bungalows that in vain strove to blast the landscape, and a madras band. i had never seen madrassi troops before. they seem to dress just like tommies, and have an air of much culture and refinement. it is said that they read english books and know all about their rights and privileges. for further details apply to the pegu club, second table from the top on the right hand side as you enter. in an evil hour i attempted to revive the drooping trade of moulmein, and to this end bound a native of the place to come on board the steamer next morn with a collection of burmese silks. it was only a five minutes' pull, and he could have sat in the stern all the while. morning came, but not the man. not a boat of watermelons, pink fleshy watermelons, neared the ship. we might have been in quarantine. as we slipped down the river on our way to penang, i saw the elephants playing with the teak logs as solemnly and as mysteriously as ever. they were the chief inhabitants, and, for aught i know, the rulers of the place. their lethargy had corrupted the town, and when the professor wished to photograph them, i believe they went away in scorn. we are now running down to penang with the thermometer 87° in the cabins, and anything you please on deck. we have exhausted all our literature, drunk two hundred lemon squashes; played forty different games of cards (patience mostly), organised a lottery on the run (had it been a thousand rupees instead of ten i should not have won it), and slept seventeen hours out of the twenty-four. it is perfectly impossible to write, but you may be morally the better for the story of the bad people of iquique which, "as you have not before heard, i will now proceed to relate." it has just been told me by a german orchid-hunter, fresh from nearly losing his head in the lushai hills, who has been over most of the world. iquique is somewhere in south america--at the back of or beyond brazil--and once upon a time there came to it a tribe of aborigines from out of the woods, so innocent that they wore nothing at all--absolutely nothing at all. they had a grievance, but no garments, and the former they came to lay before his excellency, the governor of iquique. but the news of their coming and their exceeding nakedness had gone before them, and good spanish ladies of the town agreed that the heathen should first of all be clothed. so they organised a sewing-bee, and the result, which was mainly aprons, was served out to the bad people with hints as to its use. nothing could have been better. they appeared in their aprons before the governor and all the ladies of iquique, ranged on the steps of the cathedral, only to find that the governor could not grant their demands. and do you know what these children of nature did? in the twinkling of an eye they had off those aprons, slung them round their necks, and were dancing naked as the dawn before the scandalised ladies of iquique, who fled with their fans before their eyes into the sanctuary of the cathedral. and when the steps were deserted the bad people withdrew, shouting and leaping, their aprons still round their necks, for good cloth is valuable property. they encamped near the town, knowing their own power. 'twas impossible to send the military against them, and equally impossible that donnas and señoritas should be exposed to the chance of being shocked whenever they went abroad. no one knew at what hour the bad people would sweep through the streets. their demands were therefore granted and iquique had rest. nuda est veritas et prevalebit. "but," said i, "what is there so awful in a naked indian--or two hundred naked indians for that matter?" "my friend," said the german, "dey vas indians of sout' america. i dell you dey do not demselves shtrip vell." i put my hand on my mouth and went away. no. iv showing how i came to palmiste island and the place of paul and virginia, and fell asleep in a garden. a disquisition on the folly of sight-seeing. "some for the glories of this world and some sigh for the prophet's paradise to come. ah, take the cash and let the credit go, nor heed the rumble of a distant drum." there is something very wrong in the anglo-saxon character. hardly had the _africa_ dropped anchor in penang straits when two of our fellow-passengers were smitten with madness because they heard that another steamer was even then starting for singapur. if they went by it they would gain several days. heaven knows why time should have been so precious to them. the news sent them flying into their cabins, and packing their trunks as though their salvation depended upon it. then they tumbled over the side and were rowed away in a sampan, hot, but happy. they were on a pleasure-trip, and they had gained perhaps three days. that was their pleasure. do you recollect besant's description of palmiste island in _my little girl_ and _so they were married_? penang is palmiste island. i found this out from the ship, looking at the wooded hills that dominate the town, and at the regiments of palm trees three miles away that marked the coast of wellesley province. the air was soft and heavy with laziness, and at the ship's side were boat-loads of much jewelled madrassis--even those to whom besant has alluded. a squall swept across the water and blotted out the rows of low, red-tiled houses that made up penang, and the shadows of night followed the storm. i put my twelve-inch rule in my pocket to measure all the world by, and nearly wept with emotion when on landing at the jetty i fell against a sikh--a beautiful bearded sikh, with white leggings and a rifle. as is cold water in a thirsty land so is a face from the old country. my friend had come from jandiala in the umritsar district. did i know jandiala? did i not? i began to tell all the news i could recollect about crops and armies and the movements of big men in the far, far north while the sikh beamed. he belonged to the military police, and it was a good service, but of course it was far from the old country. there was no hard work, and the chinamen gave but little trouble. they had fights among themselves, but "they do not care to give _us_ any impudence;" and the big man swaggered off with the long roll and swing of a whole pioneer regiment, while i cheered myself with the thought that india--the india i pretend to hold in hatred--was not so far off, after all. you know our ineradicable tendency to damn everything in the mofussil. calcutta professes astonishment that allahabad has a good dancing floor; allahabad wonders if it is true that lahore really has an ice-factory; and lahore pretends to believe that everybody in peshawar sleeps armed. very much in the same way i was amused at seeing a steam tramway in rangoon, and after we had quitted moulmein fully expected to find the outskirts of civilisation. vanity and ignorance were severely shocked when they confronted a long street of business--a street of two-storied houses, full of _ticca-gharies_, shop signs, and above all _jinrickshaws_. you in india have never seen a proper _'rickshaw_. there are about two thousand of them in penang, and no two seem alike. they are lacquered with bold figures of dragons and horses and birds and butterflies: their shafts are of black wood bound with white metal, and so strong that the coolie sits upon them when he waits for his fare. there is only one coolie, but he is strong, and he runs just as well as six bell-men. he ties up his pigtail,--being a cantonese,--and this is a disadvantage to sahibs who cannot speak tamil, malay, or cantonese. otherwise he might be steered like a camel. the _'rickshaw_ men are patient and long-suffering. the evil-visaged person who drove my carriage lashed at them when they came within whip range, and did his best to drive over them as he headed for the waterfalls, which are five miles away from penang town. i expected that the buildings should stop, choked out among the dense growth of cocoanut. but they continued for many streets, very like park and middleton streets in calcutta, where shuttered houses, which were half-bred between an indian bungalow and a rangoon rabbit-hutch, fought with the greenery and crotons as big as small trees. now and again there blazed the front of a chinese house, all open-work vermilion, lamp-black, and gold, with six-foot chinese lanterns over the doorways and glimpses of quaintly cut shrubs in the well-kept gardens beyond. we struck into roads fringed with native houses on piles, shadowed by the everlasting cocoanut palms heavy with young nuts. the heat was heavy with the smell of vegetation, and it was not the smell of the earth after the rains. some bird-thing called out from the deeps of the foliage, and there was a mutter of thunder in the hills which we were approaching: but all the rest was very still--and the sweat ran down our faces in drops. "now you've got to walk up that hill," said the driver, pointing to a small barrier outside a well-kept botanical garden; "all the carriages stop here." one's limbs moved as though leaden, and the breath came heavily, drawing in each time the vapour of a turkish bath. the soil was alive with wet and warmth, and the unknown trees--i was too sleepy to read the labels that some offensively energetic man has written--were wet and warm too. up on the hillside the voice of the water was saying something, but i was too sleepy to listen; and on the top of the hill lay a fat cloud just like an eider-down quilt tucking everything in safely. "and in the afternoon they came unto a land in which it seemed always afternoon." i sat down where i was, for i saw that the upward path was very steep and was cut into rude steps, and an exposition of sleep had come upon me. i was at the mouth of a tiny gorge, exactly where the lotus-eaters had sat down when they began their song, for i recognised the waterfall and the air round my ears "breathing as one that has a weary dream." i looked and beheld that i could not give in words the genius of the place. "i can't play the flute, but i have a cousin who plays the violin." i knew a man who could. some people said he was not a nice man, and i might run the risk of contaminating morals, but nothing mattered in such a climate. see now, go to the very worst of zola's novels and read there his description of a conservatory. that was it. several months passed away, but there was neither chill nor burning heat to mark the passage of time. only, with a sense of acute pain i felt that i must "do" the waterfall, and i climbed up the steps in the hillside, though every boulder cried "sit down," until i found a small stream of water coursing down the face of a rock, and a much bigger one down my own. then we went away to breakfast, the stomach being always more worthy than any amount of sentiment. a turn in the road hid the gardens and stopped the noise of the waters, and that experience was over for all time. experiences are very like cheroots. they generally begin badly, taste perfect half way through, and at the butt-end are things to be thrown away and never picked up again.... his name was john, and he had a pigtail five feet long--all real hair and no silk braided, and he kept an hotel by the way and fed us with a chicken, into whose innocent flesh onions and strange vegetables had been forced. till then we had feared chinamen, especially when they brought food, but now we will eat anything at their hands. the conclusion of the meal was a half-guinea pineapple and a siesta. this is a beautiful thing which we of india--but i am of india no more--do not understand. you lie down and wait for time to pass. you are not in the least wearied--and you would not go to sleep. you are filled with a divine drowsiness--quite different from the heavy sodden slumber of a hot-weather sunday, or the businesslike repose of a europe morning. now i begin to despise novelists who write about _siestas_ in cold climates. i know what the real thing means. * * * * * i have been trying to buy a few things--a _sarong_, which is a _putso_ which is a _dhoti_; a pipe; and a "damned malayan kris." the _sarongs_ come chiefly from germany, the pipes from the pawn-shops, and there are no krises except little toothpick things that could not penetrate the hide of a malay. in the native town, i found a large army of chinese--more than i imagined existed in china itself--encamped in spacious streets and houses, some of them sending block-tin to singapur, some driving fine carriages, others making shoes, chairs, clothes, and every other thing that a large town desires. they were the first army corps on the march of the mongol. the scouts are at calcutta, and a flying column at rangoon. here begins the main body, some hundred thousand strong, so they say. was it not de quincey that had a horror of the chinese--of their inhumaneness and their inscrutability? certainly the people in penang are not nice; they are even terrible to behold. they work hard, which in this climate is manifestly wicked, and their eyes are just like the eyes of their own pet dragons. our hindu gods are passable, some of them even jolly--witness our pot-bellied ganesh; but what can you do with a people who revel in d. t. monsters and crown their roof-ridges with flames of fire, or the waves of the sea? they swarmed everywhere, and wherever three or four met, there they eat things without name--the insides of ducks for choice. our deck passengers, i know, fared sumptuously on offal begged from the steward and flavoured with insect-powder to keep the ants off. this, again, is not natural, for a man should eat like a man if he works like one. i could quite understand after a couple of hours (this has the true globe-trotter twang to it) spent in chinatown why the lower-caste anglo-saxon hates the celestial. he frightened me, and so i could take no pleasure in looking at his houses, at his wares, or at himself.... the smell of printer's ink is marvellously penetrating. it drew me up two pair of stairs into an office where the exchanges lay about in delightful disorder, and a little hand-press was clacking out proofs just in the old sweet way. something like the _gazette of india_ showed that the straits settlements--even they--had a government of their own, and i sighed for a dead past as my eye caught the beautiful official phraseology that never varies. how alike we english are! here is an extract from a report: "and the chinese form of decoration which formerly covered the office has been wisely obliterated with whitewash." that was just what i came to inquire about. what were they going to do with the chinese decoration all over penang? would they try to wisely obliterate that? the straits settlement council which lives at singapur had just passed a bill (ordinance they call it) putting down all chinese secret societies in the colony, which measure only awaited the imperial assent. a little business in singapur connected with some municipal measure for clearing away overhanging verandahs created a storm, and for three days those who were in the place say the town was entirely at the mercy of the chinese, who rose all together and made life unpleasant for the authorities. this incident forced the government to take serious notice of the secret societies who could so control the actions of men, and the result has been a measure which it will not be easy to enforce. a chinaman _must_ have a secret society of some kind. he has been bred up in a country where they were necessary to his comfort, his protection, and the maintenance of his scale of wages from time immemorial, and he will carry them with him as he will carry his opium and his coffin. "do you expect then that the societies will collapse by proclamation?" i asked the editor. "no. there will be a row." "what row? what sort of a row?" "more troops, perhaps, and perhaps some gunboats. you see, we shall have sir charles warren then as our commander-in-chief at singapur. up till the present our military administration has been subordinate to that of hong-kong; when that is done away with and we have sir charles warren, things will be different. but there will be a row. neither you nor i nor any one else will be able to put these things down. every joss house will be the head of a secret society. what can one do? in the past the government made some use of them for the detection of crime. now they are too big and too important to be treated in that way. you will know before long whether we have been able to suppress them. there will be a row." certainly the great grievance of penang is the chinese question. she would not be human did she not revile her municipal commissioners and talk about the unsanitary condition of the island. if nose and eyes and ears be any guide, she is far cleaner even in her streets than many an indian cantonment, and her water-supply seems perfection. but i sat in that little newspaper office and listened to stories of municipal intrigue that might have suited serampore or calcutta, only the names were a little different, and in place of ghose and chuckerbutty one heard titles such as yih tat, lo eng, and the like. the englishman's aggressive altruism always leads him to build towns for others, and incite aliens to serve on municipal boards. then he gets tired of his weakness and starts papers to condemn himself. they had a chinaman on the municipality last year. they have now got rid of him, and the present body is constituted of two officials and four non-officials. _therefore_ they complain of the influence of officialdom. having thoroughly settled all the differences of penang to my own great satisfaction, i removed myself to a chinese theatre set in the open road, and made of sticks and old gunny-bags. the orchestra alone convinced me that there was something radically wrong with the chinese mind. once, long ago in jummu, i heard the infernal clang of the horns used by the devil-dancers who had come from far beyond ladakh to do honour to the prince that day set upon his throne. that was about three thousand miles to the north, but the character of the music was unchanged. a thousand chinamen stood as close as possible to the horrid din and enjoyed it. once more, can anything be done to a people without nerves as without digestion, and, if reports speak truly, without morals? but it is not true that they are born with full-sized pigtails. the thing grows, and in its very earliest stages is the prettiest head-dressing imaginable, being soft brown, very fluffy, about three inches long, and dressed as to the end with red silk. an infant pigtail is just like the first tender sprout of a tulip bulb, and would be lovable were not the chinese baby so very horrible of hue and shape. he isn't as pretty as the pig that alice nursed in wonderland, and he lies quite still and never cries. this is because he is afraid of being boiled and eaten. i saw cold boiled babies on a plate being carried through the heart of the town. they said it was only sucking-pig, but i knew better. dead sucking-pigs don't grin with their eyes open. about this time the faces of the chinese frightened me more than ever, so i ran away to the outskirts of the town and saw a windowless house that carried the square and compass in gold and teakwood above the door. i took heart at meeting these familiar things again, and knowing that where they were was good fellowship and much charity, in spite of all the secret societies in the world. penang is to be congratulated on one of the prettiest little lodges in the east. no. v of the threshold of the far east and the dwellers thereon. a dissertation upon the use of the british lion. "how the world is made for each of us, how all we perceive and know in it tends to some moment's product--thus when a soul declares itself--to wit by its fruit, the thing it does." "i assure you, sir, weather as hot as this has not been felt in singapur for years and years. march is always reckoned our hottest month, but this is quite abnormal." and i made answer to the stranger wearily:-"yes, of course. they always told that lie in the other places. leave me alone and let me drip." this is the heat of an orchid-house,--a clinging, remorseless, steam-sweat that knows no variation between night and day. singapur is another calcutta, but much more so. in the suburbs they are building rows of cheap houses; in the city they run over you and jostle you into the kennel. these are unfailing signs of commercial prosperity. india ended so long ago that i cannot even talk about the natives of the place. they are all chinese, except where they are french or dutch or german. england is by the uninformed supposed to own the island. the rest belongs to china and the continent, but chiefly china. i knew i had touched the borders of the celestial empire when i was thoroughly impregnated with the reek of chinese tobacco, a fine-cut, greasy, glossy weed, to whose smoke the aroma of a huqa in the cookhouse is all rimmell's shop. providence conducted me along a beach, in full view of five miles of shipping,--five solid miles of masts and funnels,--to a place called raffles hotel, where the food is as excellent as the rooms are bad. let the traveller take note. feed at raffles and sleep at the hotel de l'europe. i would have done this but for the apparition of two large ladies tastefully attired in bedgowns, who sat with their feet propped on a chair. this joseph ran; but it turned out that they were dutch ladies from batavia, and that that was their national costume till dinner time. "if, as you say, they had on stockings and dressing-gowns, you have nothing to complain of. they generally wear nothing but a night-gown till five o'clock," quoth a man versed in the habits of the land. i do not know whether he spoke the truth; i am inclined to think that he did; but now i know what "batavian grace" really means, i don't approve of it. a lady in a dressing-gown disturbs the mind and prevents careful consideration of the political outlook in singapur, which is now supplied with a set of very complete forts, and is hopefully awaiting some nine-inch breach-loaders that are to adorn them. there is something very pathetic in the trustful, clinging attitude of the colonies, who ought to have been soured and mistrustful long ago. "we hope the home government may do this. it is possible that the home government may do that," is the burden of the song, and in every place where the englishman cannot breed successfully must continue to be. imagine an india fit for permanent habitation by our kin, and consider what a place it would be this day, with the painter cut fifty years ago, fifty thousand miles of railways laid down and ten thousand under survey, and possibly an annual surplus. is this sedition? forgive me, but i am looking at the shipping outside the verandah, at the chinamen in the streets, and at the lazy, languid englishmen in banians and white jackets stretched on the cane chairs, and these things are not nice. the men are not really lazy, as i will try to show later on, but they lounge and loaf and seem to go to office at eleven, which must be bad for work. and they all talk about going home at indecently short intervals, as though that were their right. once more, if we could only rear children that did not run to leg and nose in the second generation in this part of the world and one or two others, what an amazing disruption of the empire there would be before half of a parnell commission sitting was accomplished! and then, later, when the freed states had plunged into hot water, fought their fights, overborrowed, overspeculated, and otherwise conducted themselves like younger sons, what a coming together and revision of tariffs, ending in one great iron band girdling the earth. within that limit free trade. without, rancorous protection. it would be too vast a hornet's nest for any combination of powers to disturb. the dream will not come about for a long time, but we shall accomplish something like it one of these days. the birds of passage from canada, from borneo,--borneo that will have to go through a general rough-and-tumble before she grips her possibilities,--from australia, from a hundred scattered islands, are saying the same thing: "we are not strong enough yet, but some day we shall be." oh! dear people, stewing in india and swearing at all the governments, it is a glorious thing to be an englishman. "our lot has fallen unto us in a fair ground. yea, we have a goodly heritage." take a map and look at the long stretch of the malay peninsula,--a thousand miles southerly it runs, does it not?--whereon penang, malacca, and singapur are so modestly underlined in red ink. see, now. we have our residents at every one of the malay native states of any importance, and right up the line to kedah and siam our influence regulates and controls all. into this land god put first gold and tin, and after these the englishman, who floats companies, obtains concessions and goes forward. just at present, one company alone holds a concession of two thousand square miles in the interior. that means mining rights; and that means a few thousand coolies and a settled administration such as obtains in the big indian collieries, where the heads of the mines are responsible kings. with the companies will come the railroads. so far the straits papers spend their space in talking about them, for at present there are only twenty-three or twenty-four miles of narrow-gauge railway open, near a civilised place called pirates' creek, in the peninsula. the sultan of johore is, or has been, wavering over a concession for a railway through his country, which will ultimately connect with this pirates' creek line. singapur is resolved ere long to bridge over the mile or mile-and-a-half straits between herself and the state of johore. in this manner a beginning will be made of the southerly extension of colquhoun's great line running, let us say, from singapur through the small states and siam, without a break, into the great indian railway systems, so that a man will be able to book from here to calcutta direct. anything like a business summary of the railway schemes that come up for discussion from time to time would fill a couple of these letters, and would be uncommonly dry reading. you know the sort of "shop" talk that rages among engineers when a new line is being run in india through perfectly known ground, whose traffic-potentialities may be calculated to the last pie. it is very much the same here, with the difference that no one knows for a certainty what the country ahead of the surveys is like, or where the development is likely to stop. this gives breeziness to the conversation. the audacity of the speakers is amazing to one who has been accustomed to see things through indian eyes. they hint at "running up the peninsula," establishing communications here, consolidating influence there, and providence only knows what else; but never a word do they breathe about the necessity for increased troops to stand by and back these little operations. perhaps they assume that the home government will provide, but it does seem strange to hear them cold-bloodedly discussing notions that will inevitably demand doubled garrisons to keep the ventures out of alien hands. however, the merchant-men will do their work, and i suppose we shall borrow three files and a sergeant from somewhere or other when the time comes, and people begin to realise what sort of a gift our straits settlements are. it is so cheap to prophesy. they will in the near future grow into-the professor looked over my shoulder at this point. "bosh!" said he. "they will become just a supplementary china--another field for chinese cheap labour. when the dutch settlements were returned in 1815,--all these islands hereabouts, you know,--we should have handed over these places as well. look!" he pointed at the swarming chinamen below. "let me dream my dream, 'fessor. i'll take my hat in a minute and settle the question of chinese immigration in five minutes." but i confess it was mournful to look into the street, which ought to have been full of beharis, madrassis, and men from the konkan--from our india. then up and spake a sunburned man who had interests in north borneo--he owned caves in the mountains, some of them nine hundred feet high, so please you, and filled with the guano of ages, and had been telling me leech-stories till my flesh crawled. "north borneo," said he, calmly, "wants a million of labourers to do her any good. one million coolies. men are wanted everywhere,--in the peninsula, in sumatra for the tobacco planting, in java,--everywhere; but borneo--the company's provinces that is to say--needs a million coolies." it is pleasant to oblige a stranger, and i felt that i spoke with india at my back. "we could oblige you with two million or twenty, for the matter of that," said i, generously. "your men are no good," said the north borneo man. "if one man goes away, he must have a whole village to look after his wants. india as a labour field is no good to us, and the sumatra men say that your coolies either can't or won't tend tobacco properly. we must have china coolies as the land develops." oh, india, oh, my country! this it is to have inherited a highly organised civilisation and an ancient precedence code. that your children shall be scoffed at by the alien as useless outside their own pot-bound provinces. here was a labour outlet, a door to full dinners, through which men--yellow men with pigtails--were pouring by the ten thousand, while in bengal the cultured native editor was shrieking over "atrocities" committed in moving a few hundred souls a few hundred miles into assam. no. vi of the well-dressed islanders of singapur and their diversions; proving that all stations are exactly alike. shows how one chicago jew and an american child can poison the purest mind. "we are not divided, all one body we- one in hope and doctrine, one in charity." when one comes to a new station the first thing to do is to call on the inhabitants. this duty i had neglected, preferring to consort with chinese till the sabbath, when i learnt that singapur went to the botanical gardens and listened to secular music. all the englishmen in the island congregated there. the botanical gardens would have been lovely at kew, but here, where one knew that they were the only place of recreation open to the inhabitants, they were not pleasant. all the plants of all the tropics grew there together, and the orchid-house was roofed with thin battens of wood--just enough to keep off the direct rays of the sun. it held waxy-white splendours from manila, the philippines, and tropical africa--plants that were half-slugs, drawing nourishment apparently from their own wooden labels; but there was no difference between the temperature of the orchid-house and the open air; both were heavy, dank, and steaming. i would have given a month's pay--but i have no month's pay--for a clear breath of stifling hot wind from the sands of sirsa, for the darkness of a punjab dust-storm, in exchange for the perspiring plants, and the tree-fern that sweated audibly. just when i was most impressed with my measureless distance from india, my carriage advanced to the sound of slow music, and i found myself in the middle of an indian station--not quite as big as allahabad, and infinitely prettier than lucknow. it overlooked the gardens that sloped in ridge and hollow below; and the barracks were set in much greenery, and there was a mess-house that suggested long and cooling drinks, and there walked round about a british band. it was just we our noble selves. in the centre was the pretty _memsahib_ with light hair and fascinating manners, and the plump little _memsahib_ that talks to everybody and is in everybody's confidence, and the spinster fresh from home, and the bean-fed, well-groomed subaltern with the light coat and fox-terrier. on the benches sat the fat colonel, and the large judge, and the engineer's wife, and the merchant-man and his family after their kind--male and female met i them, and but for the little fact that they were entire strangers to me, i would have saluted them all as old friends. i knew what they were talking about, could see them taking stock of one another's dresses out of the corners of their eyes, could see the young men backing and filling across the ground in order to walk with the young maidens, and could hear the "do you think so's" and "not really's" of our polite conversation. it is an awful thing to sit in a hired carriage and watch one's own people, and know that though you know their life, you have neither part nor lot in it. "i am a shadow now; alas! alas! upon the skirts of human nature dwelling," i said mournfully to the professor. he was looking at mrs. ----, or some one so like her that it came to the same thing. "am i travelling round the world to discover _these_ people?" said he. "i've seen 'em all before. there's captain such-an-one and colonel such-another and miss what's-its-name as large as life and twice as pale." the professor had hit it. that was the difference. people in singapur are dead-white--as white as naaman--and the veins on the backs of their hands are painted in indigo. it is as though the rains were just over, and none of the womenfolk had been allowed to go to the hills. yet no one talks about the unhealthiness of singapur. a man lives well and happily until he begins to feel unwell. then he feels worse because the climate allows him no chance of pulling himself together--and then he dies. typhoid fever appears to be one gate of death, as it is in india; also liver. the nicest thing in the civil station which lies, of course, far from the native town, and boasts pretty little bungalows--is thomas--dear, white-robed, swaggering, smoking, swearing thomas atkins the unchangeable, who listens to the band and wanders down the bazaars, and slings the unmentionable adjective about the palm trees exactly as though he were in mian mir. the 58th (northamptonshire) live in these parts; so singapur is quite safe, you see. nobody would speak to me in the gardens, though i felt that they ought to have invited me to drink, and i crept back to my hotel to eat six different fresh chutnies with one curry. * * * * * i want to go home! i want to go back to india! i am miserable. the steamship _nawab_ at this time of the year ought to have been empty, instead of which we have one hundred first-class passengers and sixty-six second. all the pretty girls are in the latter class. something must have happened at colombo--two steamers must have clashed. we have the results of the collision, and we are a menagerie. the captain says that there ought to have been only ten or twelve passengers by rights, and had the rush been anticipated, a larger steamer would have been provided. personally, i consider that half our shipmates ought to be thrown overboard. they are only travelling round the world for pleasure, and that sort of dissipation leads to the forming of hasty and intemperate opinions. anyhow, give me freedom and the cockroaches of the british india, where we dined on deck, altered the hours of the meals by plebiscite, and were lords of all we saw. you know the chain-gang regulations of the p. and o.: how you must approach the captain standing on your head with your feet waving reverently; how you must crawl into the presence of the chief steward on your belly and call him thrice-puissant bottle-washer; how you must not smoke abaft the sheep-pens; must not stand in the companion; must put on a clean coat when the ship's library is opened; and crowning injustice, must order your drinks for tiffin and dinner one meal in advance? how can a man full of pilsener beer reach that keen-set state of quiescence needful for ordering his dinner liquor? this shows ignorance of human nature. the p. and o. want healthy competition. they call their captains commanders and act as though 'twere a favour to allow you to embark. again, freedom and the british india for ever, and down with the comforts of a coolie ship and the prices of a palace! there are about thirty women on board, and i have been watching with a certain amount of indignation their concerted attempt at killing the stewardess,--a delicate and sweet-mannered lady. i think they will accomplish their end. the saloon is ninety feet long, and the stewardess runs up and down it for nine hours a day. in her intervals of relaxation she carries cups of beef-tea to the frail sylphs who cannot exist without food between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. this morning she advanced to me and said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world: "shall i take away your tea-cup, sir?" she was a real white woman, and the saloon was full of hulking, half-bred portuguese. one young englishman let her take his cup, and actually did not turn round when he handed it. this is awful, and teaches me, as nothing else has done, how far i am from the blessed east. she (the stewardess) talks standing up, to men who sit down! we in india are currently supposed to be unkind to our servants. i should very much like to see a sweeper doing one-half of the work these strapping white matrons and maids exact from their sister. they make her carry things about and don't even say, "thank you." she has no name, and if you bawl, "stewardess," she is bound to come. isn't it degrading? but the real reason of my wish to return is because i have met a lump of chicago jews and am afraid that i shall meet many more. the ship is full of americans, but the american-german-jew boy is the most awful of all. one of them has money, and wanders from bow to stern asking strangers to drink, bossing lotteries on the run, and committing other atrocities. it is currently reported that he is dying. unfortunately he does not die quickly enough. but the real monstrosity of the ship is an american who is not quite grown up. i cannot call it a boy, though officially it is only eight, wears a striped jacket, and eats with the children. it has the wearied appearance of an infant monkey--there are lines round its mouth and under its eyebrows. when it has nothing else to do it will answer to the name of albert. it has been two years on the continuous travel; has spent a month in india; has seen constantinople, tripoli, spain; has lived in tents and on horseback for thirty days and thirty nights, as it was careful to inform me; and has exhausted the round of this world's delights. there is no flesh on its bones, and it lives in the smoking-room financing the arrangements of the daily lottery. i was afraid of it, but it followed me, and in a level expressionless voice began to tell me how lotteries were constructed. when i protested that i knew, it continued without regarding the interruption, and finally, as a reward for my patience, volunteered to give me the names and idiosyncracies of all on board. then it vanished through the smoking-room window because the door was only eight feet high, and therefore too narrow for that bulk of abnormal experiences. on certain subjects it was partly better informed than i; on others it displayed the infinite credulity of a two-year-old. but the wearied eyes were ever the same. they will be the same when it is fifty. i was more sorry for it than i could say. all its reminiscences had got jumbled, and incidents of spain were baled into turkey and india. some day a schoolmaster will get hold of it and try to educate it, and i should dearly like to see at which end he will begin. the head is too full already and the--the other part does not exist. albert is, i presume, but an ordinary american child. he was to me a revelation. now i want to see a little american girl--but not now--not just now. my nerves are shattered by the jews and albert; and unless they recover their tone i shall turn back at yokohama. no. vii shows how i arrived in china and saw entirely through the great wall and out upon the other side. "where naked ignorance delivers brawling judgments all day long on all things unashamed." the past few days on the _nawab_ have been spent amid a new people and a very strange one. there were speculators from south africa: financiers from home (these never talked in anything under hundreds of thousands of pounds and, i fear, bluffed awfully); there were consuls of far-off china ports and partners of china shipping houses talking a talk and thinking thoughts as different from ours as is our slang from the slang of london. but it would not interest you to learn the story of our shipload--to hear about the hard-headed scotch merchant with a taste for spiritualism, who begged me to tell him whether there was really anything in theosophy and whether tibet was full of levitating _chelas_, as he believed; or of the little london curate out for a holiday who had seen india and had faith in the progress of missionary work there--who believed that the c. m. s. was shaking the thoughts and convictions of the masses, and that the word of the lord would ere long prevail above all other councils. he in the night-watches tackled and disposed of the great mysteries of life and death, and was looking forward to a lifetime of toil amid a parish without a single rich man in it. when you are in the china seas be careful to keep all your flannel-wear to hand. in an hour the steamer swung from tropical heat (including prickly) to a cold raw fog, as wet as a scotch mist. morning gave us a new world--somewhere between heaven and earth. the sea was smoked glass: reddish grey islands lay upon it under fog-banks that hovered fifty feet above our heads. the squat sails of junks danced for an instant like autumn leaves in the breeze and disappeared, and there was no solidity in the islands against which the glassy levels splintered in snow. the steamer groaned and grunted and howled because she was so damp and miserable, and i groaned also because the guide-book said that hong-kong had the finest harbour in the world, and i could not see two hundred yards in any direction. yet this ghost-like in-gliding through the belted fog was livelily mysterious, and became more so when the movement of the air vouchsafed us a glimpse of a warehouse and a derrick, both apparently close aboard, and behind them the shoulder of a mountain. we made our way into a sea of flat-nosed boats all manned by most muscular humans, and the professor said that the time to study the chinese question was now. we, however, were carrying a new general to these parts, and nice, new, well-fitting uniforms came off to make him welcome; and in the contemplation of things too long withheld from me i forgot about the pigtails. gentlemen of the mess-room, who would wear linen coats on parade if you could, wait till you have been a month without seeing a patrol-jacket or hearing a spur go _ling-a-ling_, and you will know why civilians want you always to wear uniform. the general, by the way, was a nice general. he did not know much about the indian army or the ways of a gentleman called roberts, if i recollect aright; but he said that lord wolseley was going to be commander-in-chief one of these days on account of the pressing needs of our army. he was a revelation because he talked about nothing but english military matters, which are very, very different from indian ones, and are mixed up with politics. all hong-kong is built on the sea face; the rest is fog. one muddy road runs for ever in front of a line of houses which are partly chowringhee and partly rotherhithe. you live in the houses, and when wearied of this, walk across the road and drop into the sea, if you can find a square foot of unencumbered water. so vast is the accumulation of country shipping, and such is its dirtiness as it rubs against the bund, that the superior inhabitants are compelled to hang their boats from davits above the common craft, who are greatly disturbed by a multitude of steam-launches. these ply for amusement and the pleasure of whistling, and are held in such small esteem that every hotel owns one, and the others are masterless. beyond the launches lie more steamers than the eye can count, and four out of five of these belong to us. i was proud when i saw the shipping at singapur, but i swell with patriotism as i watch the fleets of hong-kong from the balcony of the victoria hotel. i can almost spit into the water; but many mariners stand below and they are a strong breed. how recklessly selfish does a traveller become! we had dropped for more than ten days all the world outside our trunks, and almost the first word in the hotel was: "john bright is dead, and there has been an awful hurricane at samoa." "ah! indeed that's very sad; but look here, where do you say my rooms are?" at home the news would have given talk for half a day. it was dismissed in half the length of a hotel corridor. one cannot sit down to think with a new world humming outside the window--with all china to enter upon and possess. a rattling of trunks in the halls--a click of heels--and the apparition of an enormous gaunt woman wrestling with a small madrassi servant.... "yes--i haf travelled everywhere and i shall travel everywhere else. i go now to shanghai and pekin. i have been in moldavia, russia, beyrout, all persia, colombo, delhi, dacca, benares, allahabad, peshawar, the ali musjid in that pass, malabar, singapur, penang, here in this place, and canton. i am austrian-croat, and i shall see the states of america and perhaps ireland. i travel for ever; i am--how you call?--_veuve_--widow. my husband, he was dead; and so i am sad--i am always sad und so i trafel. i am alife of course, but i do not live. you onderstandt? always sad. vill you tell them the name of the ship to which they shall warf my trunks now. you trafel for pleasure? so! i trafel because i am alone und sad--always sad." the trunks disappeared, the door shut, the heels clicked down the passage, and i was left scratching my head in wonder. how did that conversation begin--why did it end, and what is the use of meeting eccentricities who never explained themselves? i shall never get an answer, but that conversation is true, every word of it. i see now where the fragmentary school of novelists get their material from. when i went into the streets of hong-kong i stepped into thick slushy london mud of the kind that strikes chilly through the boot, and the rattle of innumerable wheels was as the rattle of hansoms. a soaking rain fell, and all the sahibs hailed 'rickshaws,--they call them 'ricks here,--and the wind was chillier than the rain. it was the first touch of honest weather since calcutta. no wonder with such a climate that hong-kong was ten times livelier than singapur, that there were signs of building everywhere, and gas-jets in all the houses, that colonnades and domes were scattered broadcast, and the englishmen walked as englishmen should--hurriedly and looking forward. all the length of the main street was verandahed, and the europe shops squandered plate glass by the square yard. (_nota bene._--as in simla so elsewhere: mistrust the plate glass shops. you pay for their fittings in each purchase.) the same providence that runs big rivers so near to large cities puts main thoroughfares close to big hotels. i went down queen street, which is not very hilly. all the other streets that i looked up were built in steps after the fashion of clovelly, and under blue skies would have given the professor scores of good photographs. the rain and the fog blotted the views. each upward-climbing street ran out in white mist that covered the sides of a hill, and the downward-sloping ones were lost in the steam from the waters of the harbour, and both were very strange to see. "hi-yi-yow," said my 'rickshaw coolie and balanced me on one wheel. i got out and met first a german with a beard, then three jolly sailor boys from a man-of-war, then a sergeant of sappers, then a parsee, then two arabs, then an american, then a jew, then a few thousand chinese all carrying something, and then the professor. "they make plates--instantaneous plates--in tokio, i'm told. what d'you think of that?" he said. "why, in india, the survey department are the only people who make their own plates. instantaneous plates in tokio; think of it!" i had owed the professor one for a long time. "after all," i replied, "it strikes me that we have made the mistake of thinking too much of india. we thought we were civilised, for instance. let us take a lower place. this beats calcutta into a hamlet." and in good truth it did, because it was clean beyond the ordinary, because the houses were uniform, three storied, and verandahed, and the pavements were of stone. i met one horse, very ashamed of himself, who was looking after a cart on the sea road, but upstairs there are no vehicles save 'rickshaws. hong-kong has killed the romance of the 'rickshaw in my mind. they ought to be sacred to pretty ladies, instead of which men go to office in them, officers in full canonicals use them; tars try to squeeze in two abreast, and from what i have heard down at the barracks they do occasionally bring to the guard-room the drunken defaulter. "he falls asleep inside of it, sir, and saves trouble." the chinese naturally have the town for their own, and profit by all our building improvements and regulations. their golden and red signs flame down the queen's road, but they are careful to supplement their own tongue by well-executed europe lettering. i found only one exception, thus:- fussing, garpenter and gabinet naktr has good gabi nets tor sale. the shops are made to catch the sailor and the curio hunter, and they succeed admirably. when you come to these parts put all your money in a bank and tell the manager man not to give it you, however much you ask. so shall you be saved from bankruptcy. the professor and i made a pilgrimage from kee sing even unto yi king, who sells the decomposed fowl, and each shop was good. though it sold shoes or sucking pigs, there was some delicacy of carving or gilded tracery in front to hold the eye, and each thing was quaint and striking of its kind. a fragment of twisted roots helped by a few strokes into the likeness of huddled devils, a running knop and flower cornice, a dull red and gold half-door, a split bamboo screen--they were all good, and their joinings and splicings and mortisings were accurate. the baskets of the coolies were good in shape, and the rattan fastenings that clenched them to the polished bamboo yoke were whipped down, so that there were no loose ends. you could slide in and out the drawers in the slung chests of the man who sold dinners to the 'rickshaw coolies; and the pistons of the little wooden hand-pumps in the shops worked accurately in their sockets. i was studying these things while the professor was roaming through carved ivories, broidered silks, panels of inlay, tortoise-shell filigree, jade-tipped pipes, and the god of art only knows what else. "i don't think even as much of him (meaning our indian craftsman) as i used to do," said the professor, taking up a tiny ivory grotesque of a small baby trying to pull a water-buffalo out of its wallow--the whole story of beast and baby written in the hard ivory. the same thought was in both our minds; we had gone near the subject once or twice before. "they are a hundred times his superior in mere idea--let alone execution," said the professor, his hand on a sketch in woods and gems of a woman caught in a gale of wind protecting her baby from its violence. "yes; and don't you see that _they_ only introduce aniline dyes into things intended for _us_. whereas _he_ wears them on his body whenever he can. what made this yellow image of a shopman here take delight in a dwarf orange tree in a turquoise blue pot?" i continued, sorting a bundle of cheap china spoons--all good in form, colour, and use. the big-bellied chinese lanterns above us swayed in the wind with a soft chafing of oiled paper, but they made no sign, and the shopkeeper in blue was equally useless. "you wanchee buy? heap plitty things here," said he; and he filled a tobacco-pipe from a dull green leather pouch held at the mouth with a little bracelet of plasma, or it might have been the very jade. he was playing with a brown-wood abacus, and by his side was his day-book bound in oiled paper, and the tray of indian ink, with the brushes and the porcelain supports for the brushes. he made an entry in his book and daintily painted in his latest transaction. the chinese of course have been doing this for a few thousand years, but life, and its experiences, is as new to me as it was to adam, and i marvelled. "wanchee buy?" reiterated the shopman after he had made his last flourish. "you," said i, in the new tongue which i am acquiring, "wanchee know one piecee information b'long my pidgin. savvy these things? have got soul, you?" "have got how?" "have got one piecee soul--allee same spilit? no savvy? this way then--your people lookee allee same devil; but makee culio allee same pocket-joss, and not giving any explanation. why-for are you such a horrible contradiction?" "no savvy. two dollar an' half," he said, balancing a cabinet in his hand. the professor had not heard. his mind was oppressed with the fate of the hindu. "there are three races who can work," said the professor, looking down the seething street where the 'rickshaws tore up the slush, and the babel of cantonese, and pidgin went up to the yellow fog in a jumbled snarl. "but there is only one that can swarm," i answered. "the hindu cuts his own throat and dies, and there are too few of the sahib-log to last for ever. these people work and spread. they must have souls or they couldn't understand pretty things." "i can't make it out," said the professor. "they are better artists than the hindu,--that carving you are looking at is japanese, by the way,--better artists and stronger workmen, man for man. they pack close and eat everything, and they can live on nothing." "and i've been praising the beauties of indian art all my days." it was a little disappointing when you come to think of it, but i tried to console myself by the thought that the two lay so far apart there was no comparison possible. and yet accuracy is surely the touchstone of all art. "they will overwhelm the world," said the professor, calmly, and he went out to buy tea. neither at penang, singapur, nor this place have i seen a single chinaman asleep while daylight lasted. nor have i seen twenty men who were obviously loafing. all were going to some definite end--if it were only like the coolie on the wharf, to steal wood from the scaffolding of a half-built house. in his own land, i believe, the chinaman is treated with a certain amount of carelessness, not to say ferocity. where he hides his love of art, the heaven that made him out of the yellow earth that holds so much iron only knows. his love is for little things, or else why should he get quaint pendants for his pipe, and at the backmost back of his shop build up for himself a bowerbird's collection of odds and ends, every one of which has beauty if you hold it sufficiently close to the eye. it grieves me that i cannot account for the ideas of a few hundred million men in a few hours. this much, however, seems certain. if we had control over as many chinamen as we have natives of india, and had given them one tithe of the cossetting, the painful pushing forward, and studious, even nervous, regard of their interests and aspirations that we have given to india, we should long ago have been expelled from, or have reaped the reward of, the richest land on the face of the earth. a pair of my shoes have been, oddly enough, wrapped in a newspaper which carries for its motto the words, "there is no indian nation, though there exists the germs of an indian nationality," or something very like that. this thing has been moving me to unholy laughter. the great big lazy land that we nurse and wrap in cotton-wool, and ask every morning whether it is strong enough to get out of bed, seems like a heavy soft cloud on the far-away horizon; and the babble that we were wont to raise about its precious future and its possibilities, no more than the talk of children in the streets who have made a horse out of a pea-pod and match-sticks, and wonder if it will ever walk. i am sadly out of conceit of mine own other--not mother--country now that i have had my boots blacked at once every time i happened to take them off. the blacker did not do it for the sake of a gratuity, but because it was his work. like the beaver of old, he had to climb that tree; the dogs were after him. there was competition. * * * * * is there really such a place as hong-kong? people say so, but i have not yet seen it. once indeed the clouds lifted and i saw a granite house perched like a cherub on nothing, a thousand feet above the town. it looked as if it might be the beginning of a civil station, but a man came up the street and said, "see this fog it will be like this till september. you'd better go away." i shall not go. i shall encamp in front of the place until the fog lifts and the rain ceases. at present, and it is the third day of april, i am sitting in front of a large coal fire and thinking of the "frosty caucasus"--you poor creatures in torment afar. and you think as you go to office and orderly-room that you are helping forward england's mission in the east. 'tis a pretty delusion, and i am sorry to destroy it, but you have conquered the wrong country. let us annex china. no. viii of jenny and her friends. showing how a man may go to see life and meet death there. of the felicity of life and the happiness of corinthian kate. the woman and the cholera. "love and let love, and so will i, but, sweet, for me no more with you, not while i live, not though i die. good night, good-by!" i am entirely the man about town, and sickness is no word for my sentiments. it began with an idle word in a bar-room. it ended goodness knows where. that the world should hold french, german, and italian ladies of the ancient profession is no great marvel; but it is, to one who has lived in india, something shocking to meet again englishwomen in the same sisterhood. when an opulent papa sends his son and heir round the world to enlarge his mind, does he reflect, i wonder, on the places into which the innocent strolls under the guidance of equally inexperienced friends? i am disposed to think that he does not. in the interest of the opulent papa, and from a genuine desire to see what they call life, with a capital hell, i went through hong-kong for the space of a night. i am glad that i am not a happy father with a stray son who thinks that he knows all the ropes. vice must be pretty much the same all the round world over, but if a man wishes to get out of pleasure with it, let him go to hong-kong. "of course things are out and away better at 'frisco," said my guide, "but we consider this very fair for the island." it was not till a fat person in a black dressing-gown began to squeal demands for horrible stuff called "a bottle of wine" that i began to understand the glory of the situation. i was seeing life. "life" is a great thing. it consists in swigging sweet champagne that was stolen from a steward of the p. and o., and exchanging bad words with pale-faced baggages who laugh demnibly without effort and without emotion. the _argot_ of the real "chippy" (this means man of the world--_anglice_, a half-drunk youth with his hat on the back of his head) is not easy to come at. it requires an apprenticeship in america. i stood appalled at the depth and richness of the american language, of which i was privileged to hear a special dialect. there were girls who had been to leadville and denver and the wilds of the wilder west, who had acted in minor companies, and who had generally misconducted themselves in a hundred weary ways. they chattered like daws and shovelled down the sickly liquor that made the rooms reek. as long as they talked sensibly things were amusing, but a sufficiency of liquor made the mask drop, and verily they swore by all their gods, chief of whom is obidicut. very many men have heard a white woman swear, but some few, and among these i have been, are denied the experience. it is quite a revelation; and if nobody tilts you backwards out of your chair, you can reflect on heaps of things connected with it. so they cursed and they drank and they told tales, sitting in a circle, till i felt that this was really life and a thing to be quitted if i wished to like it. the young man who knew a thing or two, and gave the girls leave to sell him if they could, was there of course, and the hussies sold him as he stood for all he considered himself worth; and i saw the by-play. surely the safest way to be fooled is to know everything. then there was an interlude and some more shrieks and howls, which the generous public took as indicating immense mirth and enjoyment of life; and i came to yet another establishment, where the landlady lacked the half of her left lung, as a cough betrayed, but was none the less amusing in a dreary way, until she also dropped the mask and the playful jesting began. all the jokes i had heard before at the other place. it is a poor sort of life that cannot spring one new jest a day. more than ever did the youth cock his hat and explain that he was a real "chippy," and that there were no flies on him. any one without a cast-iron head would be "real chippy" next morning after one glass of that sirupy champagne. i understand now why men feel insulted when sweet fizz is offered to them. the second interview closed as the landlady gracefully coughed us into the passage, and so into the healthy, silent streets. she was very ill indeed, and announced that she had but four months more to live. "are we going to hold these dismal levees all through the night?" i demanded at the fourth house, where i dreaded the repetition of the thrice-told tales. "it's better in 'frisco. must amuse the girls a little bit, y'know. walk round and wake 'em up. that's life. you never saw it in india?" was the reply. "no, thank god, i didn't. a week of this would make me hang myself," i returned, leaning wearily against a door-post. there were very loud sounds of revelry by night here, and the inmates needed no waking up. one of them was recovering from a debauch of three days, and the other was just entering upon the same course. providence protected me all through. a certain austere beauty of countenance had made every one take me for a doctor or a parson--a qualified parson, i think; and so i was spared many of the more pronounced jokes, and could sit and contemplate the life that was so sweet. i thought of the oxonian in _tom and jerry_ playing jigs at the spinet,--you seen the old-fashioned plate,--while corinthian tom and corinthian kate danced a stately saraband in a little carpeted room. the worst of it was, the women were real women and pretty, and like some people i knew, and when they stopped the insensate racket for a while they were well behaved. "pass for real ladies anywhere," said my friend. "aren't these things well managed?" then corinthian kate began to bellow for more drinks,--it was three in the morning,--and the current of hideous talk recommenced. they spoke about themselves as "gay." this does not look much on paper. to appreciate the full grimness of the sarcasm hear it from their lips amid their own surroundings. i winked with vigour to show that i appreciated life and was a real chippy, and that upon me, too, there were no flies. there is an intoxication in company that carries a man to excess of mirth; but when a party of four deliberately sit down to drink and swear, the bottom tumbles out of the amusement somehow, and loathing and boredom follow. a night's reflection has convinced me that there is no hell for these women in another world. they have their own in this life, and i have been through it a little way. still carrying the brevet rank of doctor, it was my duty to watch through the night to the dawn a patient--gay, _toujours_ gay, remember--quivering on the verge of a complaint called the "jumps." corinthian kate will get hers later on. her companion, emerging from a heavy drink, was more than enough for me. she was an unmitigated horror, until i lost detestation in genuine pity. the fear of death was upon her for a reason that you shall hear. "i say, you say you come from india. do you know anything about cholera?" "a little," i answered. the voice of the questioner was cracked and quavering. a long pause. "i say, doctor, what are the symptoms of cholera? a woman died just over the street there last week." "this is pleasant," i thought. "but i must remember that it is life." "she died last week--cholera. my god, i tell you she was dead in six hours! i guess i'll get cholera, too. i can't, though. can i? i thought i had it two days ago. it hurt me terribly. i can't get it, can i? it never attacks people twice, does it? oh, say it doesn't and be damned to you. doctor, what are the symptoms of cholera?" i waited till she had detailed her own attack, assured her that these and no others were the symptoms, and--may this be set to my credit--that cholera never attacked twice. this soothed her for ten minutes. then she sprang up with an oath and shrieked:-"i won't be buried in hong-kong. that frightens me. when i die--of cholera--take me to 'frisco and bury me there. in 'frisco--lone mountain 'frisco--you hear, doctor?" i heard and promised. outside the birds were beginning to twitter and the dawn was pencilling the shutters. "i say, doctor, did you ever know cora pearl?" "'knew _of_ her." i wondered whether she was going to walk round the room to all eternity with her eyes glaring at the ceiling and her hands twisting and untwisting one within the other. "well," she began, in an impressive whisper, "it was young duval shot himself on her mat and made a bloody mess there. i mean real bloody. you don't carry a pistol, doctor? savile did. you didn't know savile. he was my husband in the states. but i'm english, pure english. that's what i am. let's have a bottle of wine, i'm so nervous. not good for me? what the--no, you're a doctor. you know what's good against cholera. tell me! tell me." she crossed to the shutters and stared out, her hand upon the bolt, and the bolt clacked against the wood because of the tremulous hand. "i tell you corinthian kate's drunk--full as she can hold. she's always drinking. did you ever see my shoulder--these two marks on it? they were given me by a man--a gentleman--the night before last. i _didn't_ fall against any furniture. he struck me with his cane twice, the beast, the beast, the beast! if i had been full, i'd have knocked the dust out of him. the beast! but i only went into the verandah and cried fit to break my heart. oh, the beast!" she paced the room, chafing her shoulder and crooning over it as though it were an animal. then she swore at the man. then she fell into a sort of stupor, but moaned and swore at the man in her sleep, and wailed for her _amah_ to come and dress her shoulder. asleep she was not unlovely, but the mouth twitched and the body was shaken with shiverings, and there was no peace in her at all. daylight showed her purple-eyed, slack-cheeked, and staring, racked with a headache and the nervous twitches. indeed i was seeing life; but it did not amuse me, for i felt that i, though i only made capital of her extreme woe, was guilty equally with the rest of my kind that had brought her here. then she told lies. at least i was informed that they were lies later on by the real man of the world. they related to herself and her people, and if untrue must have been motiveless, for all was sordid and sorrowful, though she tried to gild the page with a book of photos which linked her to her past. not being a man of the world, i prefer to believe that the tales were true, and thank her for the honour she did me in the telling. i had fancied that the house had nothing sadder to show me than her face. here was i wrong. corinthian kate had really been drinking, and rose up reeling drunk, which is an awful thing to witness, and makes one's head ache sympathetically. something had gone wrong in the slatternly menage where the plated tea-services were mixed with cheap china; and the household was being called to account. i watched her clutching the mosquito net for support, a horror and an offence in the eye of the guiltless day. i heard her swear in a thick, sodden voice as i have never yet heard a man swear, and i marvelled that the house did not thunder in on our heads. her companion interposed, but was borne down by a torrent of blasphemy, and the half a dozen little dogs that infested the room removed themselves beyond reach of corinthian kate's hand or foot. that she was a handsome woman only made the matter worse. the companion collapsed shivering on one of the couches, and kate swayed to and fro and cursed god and man and earth and heaven with puffed lips. if alma tadema could have painted her,--an arrangement in white, black hair, flashing eyes, and bare feet,--we should have seen the true likeness of the eternal priestess of humanity. or she would have been better drawn when the passion was over, tottering across the room, a champagne glass held high above her head, shouting, at ten o'clock in the morning, for some more of the infamous brewage that was even then poisoning the air of the whole house. she got her liquor, and the two women sat down to share it together. that was their breakfast. i went away very sick and miserable, and as the door closed i saw the two drinking. "out and away better in 'frisco," said the real "chippy" one. "but you see they are awfully nice--could pass for ladies any time they like. i tell you a man has to go round and keep his eyes open among them when he's seeing a little sporting life." i have seen all that i wish to see, and henceforward i will pass. there may be better champagne and better drinkers in 'frisco and elsewhere, but the talk will be the same, and the mouldiness and staleness of it all will be the same till the end of time. if this be life, give me a little honest death, without drinks and without foul jesting. anyway you look at it 'tis a poor performance, badly played, and too near to a tragedy to be pleasant. but it seems to amuse the young man wandering about the world, and i cannot believe that it is altogether good for him--unless, indeed, it makes him fonder of his home. and mine was the greater sin! i was driven by no gust of passion, but went in cold blood to make my account of this inferno, and to measure the measureless miseries of life. for the wholly insignificant sum of thirty dollars i had purchased information and disgust more than i required, and the right to look after a woman half crazed with drink and fear the third part of a terrible night. mine was the greater sin. when we stepped back into the world i was glad that the fog stood between myself and the heaven above. no. ix some talk with a taipan and a general; proves in what manner a sea picnic may be a success. "i should like to rise and go where the golden apples grow, where beneath another sky parrot-islands anchored lie." --_r. l. stevenson._ hong-kong was so much alive, so built, so lighted, and so bloatedly rich to all outward appearance that i wanted to know how these things came about. you can't lavish granite by the cubic ton for nothing, or rivet your cliffs with portland cement, or build a five-mile bund, or establish a club like a small palace. i sought a _taipan_, which means the head of an english trading firm. he was the biggest _taipan_ on the island, and quite the nicest. he owned ships and wharves and houses and mines and a hundred other things. to him said i:-"o _taipan_, i am a poor person from calcutta, and the liveliness of your place astounds me. how is it that every one smells of money; whence come your municipal improvements; and why are the white men so restless?" said the _taipan_: "it is because the island is going ahead mightily. because everything pays. observe this share-list." he took me down a list of thirty or less companies--steam-launch companies, mining, rope-weaving, dock, trading, agency and general companies--and with five exceptions all the shares were at premium--some a hundred, some five hundred, and others only fifty. "it is not a boom," said the _taipan_. "it is genuine. nearly every man you meet in these parts is a broker, and he floats companies." i looked out of the window and beheld how companies were floated. three men with their hats on the back of their heads converse for ten minutes. to these enters a fourth with a pocket-book. then all four dive into the hong-kong hotel for material wherewith to float themselves and--there is your company! "from these things," said the _taipan_, "comes the wealth of hong-kong. every notion here pays, from the dairy-farm upwards. we have passed through our bad times and come to the fat years." he told me tales of the old times--pityingly because he knew i could not understand. all i could tell was that the place dressed by america--from the hair-cutters' saloons to the liquor-bars. the faces of men were turned to the golden gate even while they floated most of the singapur companies. there is not sufficient push in singapur alone, so hong-kong helps. circulars of new companies lay on the bank counters. i moved amid a maze of interests that i could not comprehend, and spoke to men whose minds were at hankow, foochoo, amoy, or even further--beyond the yangtze gorges where the englishman trades. after a while i escaped from the company-floaters because i knew i could not understand them, and ran up a hill. hong-kong is all hill except when the fog shuts out everything except the sea. tree ferns sprouted on the ground and azaleas mixed with the ferns, and there were bamboos over all. consequently it was only natural that i should find a tramway that stood on its head and waved its feet in the mist. they called it the victoria gap tramway and hauled it up with a rope. it ran up a hill into space at an angle of 65°, and to those who have seen the rigi, mount washington, a switchback railway, and the like would not have been impressive. but neither you nor i have ever been hauled from annandale to the chaura maidàn in a bee-line with a five-hundred-foot drop on the off-side, and we are at liberty to marvel. it is not proper to run up inclined ways at the tail of a string, more especially when you cannot see two yards in front of you and all earth below is a swirling cauldron of mist. nor, unless you are warned of the opticalness of the delusion, is it nice to see from your seat, houses and trees at magic-lantern angles. such things, before tiffin, are worse than the long roll of the china seas. they turned me out twelve hundred feet above the city on the military road to dalhousie, as it will be when india has a surplus. then they brought me a glorified dandy which, not knowing any better, they called a chair. except that it is too long to run corners easily, a chair is vastly superior to a dandy. it is more like a bombay side _tonjon_--the kind we use at mahableshwar. you sit in a wicker chair, slung low on ten feet of elastic wooden shafting, and there are light blinds against the rain. "we are now," said the professor, as he wrung out his hat gemmed with the dews of the driving mist, "we are now on a pleasure trip. this is the road to chakrata in the rains." "nay," said i; "it is from solon to kasauli that we are going. look at the black rocks." "bosh!" said the professor. "this is a civilised country. look at the road, look at the railings--look at the gutters." and as i hope never to go to solon again, the road was cemented, the railings were of iron mortised into granite blocks, and the gutters were paved. 'twas no wider than a hill-path, but if it had been the viceroy's pet promenade it could not have been better kept. there was no view. that was why the professor had taken his camera. we passed coolies widening the road, and houses shut up and deserted, solid squat little houses made of stone, with pretty names after our hill-station custom--townend, craggylands, and the like--and at these things my heart burned within me. hong-kong has no right to mix itself up with mussoorie in this fashion. we came to the meeting-place of the winds, eighteen hundred feet above all the world, and saw forty miles of clouds. that was the peak--the great view-place of the island. a laundry on a washing day would have been more interesting. "let us go down, professor," said i, "and we'll get our money back. this isn't a view." we descended by the marvellous tramway, each pretending to be as little upset as the other, and started in pursuit of a chinese burying-ground. "go to the happy valley," said an expert. "the happy valley, where the racecourse and the cemeteries are." "it's mussoorie," said the professor. "i knew it all along." it was mussoorie, though we had to go through a half-mile of portsmouth hard first. soldiers grinned at us from the verandahs of their most solid three-storied barracks; all the blue-jackets of all the china squadron were congregated in the royal navy seaman's club, and they beamed upon us. the bluejacket is a beautiful creature, and very healthy, but ... i gave my heart to thomas atkins long ago, and him i love. by the way, how is it that a highland regiment--the argyll and southerlandshire for instance--get such good recruits? do the kilt and sporran bring in brawny youngsters of five-foot nine, and thirty-nine inch round the chest? the navy draws well-built men also. how is it that our infantry regiments fare so badly? we came to the happy valley by way of a monument to certain dead englishmen. such things cease to move emotion after a little while. they are but the seed of the great harvest whereof our children's children shall assuredly reap the fruits. the men were killed in a fight, or by disease. we hold hong-kong, and by our strength and wisdom it is a great city, built upon a rock, and furnished with a dear little seven-furlong racecourse set in the hills, and fringed as to one side with the homes of the dead--mahometan, christian, and parsee. a wall of bamboos shuts off the course and the grand-stand from the cemeteries. it may be good enough for hong-kong, but would you care to watch your pony running with a grim reminder of "gone to the drawer" not fifty feet behind you? very beautiful are the cemeteries, and very carefully tended. the rocky hillside rises so near to them that the more recent dead can almost command a view of the racing as they lie. even this far from the strife of the churches they bury the different sects of christians apart. one creed paints its wall white, and the other blue. the latter, as close to the race-stand as may be, writes in straggling letters, "_hodie mihi cras tibi._" no, i should _not_ care to race in hong-kong. the scornful assemblage behind the grand-stand would be enough to ruin any luck. chinamen do not approve of showing their cemeteries. we hunted ours from ledge to ledge of the hillsides, through crops and woods and crops again, till we came to a village of black and white pigs and riven red rocks beyond which the dead lay. it was a third-rate place, but was pretty. i have studied that oilskin mystery, the chinaman, for at least five days, and why he should elect to be buried in good scenery, and by what means he knows good scenery when he sees it, i cannot fathom. but he gets it when the sight is taken from him, and his friends fire crackers above him in token of the triumph. that night i dined with the _taipan_ in a palace. they say the merchant prince of calcutta is dead--killed by exchange. hong-kong ought to be able to supply one or two samples. the funny thing in the midst of all this wealth--wealth such as one reads about in novels--is to hear the curious deference that is paid to calcutta. console yourselves with that, gentlemen of the ditch, for by my faith, it is the one thing that you can boast of. at this dinner i learned that hong-kong was impregnable and that china was rapidly importing twelve and forty ton guns for the defence of her coasts. the one statement i doubted, but the other was truth. those who have occasion to speak of china in these parts do so deferentially, as who should say: "germany intends such and such," or "these are the views of russia." the very men who talk thus are doing their best to force upon the great empire all the stimulants of the west--railways, tram lines, and so forth. what will happen when china really wakes up, runs a line from shanghai to lhassa, starts another line of imperial yellow flag immigrant steamers, and really works and controls her own gun-factories and arsenals? the energetic englishmen who ship the forty-tonners are helping to this end, but all they say is: "we're well paid for what we do. there's no sentiment in business, and anyhow, china will never go to war with england." indeed, there is no sentiment in business. the _taipan's_ palace, full of all things beautiful, and flowers more lovely than the gem-like cabinets they adorned, would have made happy half a hundred young men craving for luxury, and might have made them writers, singers, and poets. it was inhabited by men with big heads and straight eyes, who sat among the splendours and talked business. if i were not going to be a burman when i die i would be a _taipan_ at hong-kong. he knows so much and he deals so largely with princes and powers, and he has a flag of his very own which he pins on to all his steamers. the blessed chance that looks after travellers sent me next day on a picnic, and all because i happened to wander into the wrong house. this is quite true, and very like our anglo-indian ways of doing things. "perhaps," said the hostess, "this will be our only fine day. let us spend it in a steam-launch." forthwith we embarked upon a new world--that of hong-kong harbour--and with a dramatic regard for the fitness of things our little ship was the _pioneer_. the picnic included the new general--he that came from england in the _nawab_ and told me about lord wolseley--and his aide-de-camp, who was quite english and altogether different from an indian officer. he never once talked shop, and if he had a grievance hid it behind his mustache. the harbour is a great world in itself. photographs say that it is lovely, and this i can believe from the glimpses caught through the mist as the _pioneer_ worked her way between the lines of junks, the tethered liners, the wallowing coal hulks, the trim, low-lying american corvette, the _orontes_, huge and ugly, the _cockchafer_, almost as small as its namesake, the ancient three-decker converted into a military hospital,--thomas gets change of air thus,--and a few hundred thousand sampans manned by women with babies tied on to their backs. then we swept down the sea face of the city and saw that it was great, till we came to an unfinished fort high up on the side of a green hill, and i watched the new general as men watch an oracle. have i told you that he is an engineer general, specially sent out to attend to the fortifications? he looked at the raw earth and the granite masonry, and there was keen professional interest in his eye. perhaps he would say something. i edged nearer in that hope. he did:-"sherry and sandwiches? thanks, i will. 'stonishing how hungry the sea-air makes a man feel," quoth the general; and we went along under the grey-green coast, looking at stately country houses made of granite, where jesuit fathers and opulent merchants dwell. it was the mashobra of this simla. it was also the highlands, it was also devonshire, and it was specially grey and chilly. never did _pioneer_ circulate in stranger waters. on the one side was a bewildering multiplicity of islets; on the other, the deeply indented shores of the main island, sometimes running down to the sea in little sandy coves, at others falling sheer in cliff and sea-worn cave full of the boom of the breakers. behind, rose the hills into the mist, the everlasting mist. "we are going to aberdeen," said the hostess; "then to stanley, and then across the island on foot by way of the ti-tam reservoir. that will show you a lot of the country." we shot into a fiord and discovered a brown fishing village which kept sentry over two docks, and a sikh policeman. all the inhabitants were rosy-cheeked women, each owning one-third of a boat, and a whole baby, wrapped up in red cloth and tied to the back. the mother was dressed in blue for a reason,--if her husband whacked her over the shoulders, he would run a fair chance of crushing the baby's head unless the infant were of a distinct colour. then we left china altogether, and steamed into far lochaber, with a climate to correspond. good people under the punkah, think for a moment of cloud-veiled headlands running out into a steel-grey sea, crisped with a cheek-rasping breeze that makes you sit down under the bulwarks and gasp for breath. think of the merry pitch and roll of a small craft as it buzzes from island to island, or venturously cuts across the mouth of a mile-wide bay, while you mature amid fresh scenery, fresh talk, and fresh faces, an appetite that shall uphold the credit of the great empire in a strange land. once more we found a village which they called stanley; but it was different from aberdeen. tenantless buildings of brownstone stared seaward from the low downs, and there lay behind them a stretch of weather-beaten wall. no need to ask what these things meant. they cried aloud: "it is a deserted cantonment, and the population is in the cemetery." i asked, "what regiment?" "the ninety-second, i think," said the general. "but that was in the old times--in the sixties. i believe they quartered a lot of troops here and built the barracks on the ground; and the fever carried all the men off like flies. isn't it a desolate place?" my mind went back to a neglected graveyard a stone's throw from jehangir's tomb in the gardens of shalimar, where the cattle and the cowherd look after the last resting-places of the troops who first occupied lahore. we are a great people and very strong, but we build our empire in a wasteful manner--on the bones of the dead that have died of disease. "but about the fortifications, general? is it true that etc., etc.?" "the fortifications are right enough as things go; what we want is men." "how many?" "say about three thousand for the island--enough to stop any expedition that might come. look at all these little bays and coves. there are twenty places at the back of the island where you could land men and make things unpleasant for hong-kong." "but," i ventured, "isn't it the theory that any organised expedition ought to be stopped by our fleet before it got here? whereas the forts are supposed to prevent cutting out, shelling, and ransoming by a disconnected man-of-war or two." "if you go on that theory," said the general, "the men-of-war ought to be stopped by our fleets, too. that's all nonsense. if any power can throw troops here, you want troops to turn 'em out, and--don't we wish we may get them!" "and you? your command here is for five years, isn't it?" "oh, no! eighteen months ought to see me out. i don't want to stick here for ever. i've other notions for myself," said the general, scrambling over the boulders to get at his tiffin. and that is just the worst of it. here was a nice general helping to lay out fortifications, with one eye on hong-kong and the other, his right one, on england. he would be more than human not to sell himself and his orders for the command of a brigade in the next english affair. he would be afraid of being too long away from home lest he should drop out of the running and ... well, we are just the same in india, and there is not the least hope of raising a legion of the lost for colonial service--of men who would do their work in one place for ever and look for nothing beyond it. but remember that hong-kong--with five million tons of coal, five miles of shipping, docks, wharves, huge civil station, forty million pounds of trade, and the nicest picnic parties that you ever did see--wants three thousand men and--she won't get them. she has two batteries of garrison artillery, a regiment, and a lot of gun lascars--about enough to prevent the guns from rusting on their carriages. there are three forts on an island--stonecutter's island--between hong-kong and the mainland, three on hong-kong itself, and three or four scattered about elsewhere. naturally the full complement of guns has not arrived. even in india you cannot man forts without trained gunners. but tiffin under the lee of a rock was more interesting than colonial defence. a man cannot talk politics if he be empty. our one fine day shut in upon the empty plates in wind and rain, and the march across the island began. as the launch was blotted out in the haze we squelched past sugar-cane crops and fat pigs, past the bleak cemetery of dead soldiers on the hill, across a section of moor, till we struck a hill-road above the sea. the views shifted and changed like a kaleidoscope. first a shaggy shoulder of land tufted with dripping rushes and naught above, beneath, or around but mist and the straight spikes of the rain; then red road swept by water that fell into the unknown; then a combe, straight walled almost as a house, at the bottom of which crawled the jade-green sea; then a vista of a bay, a bank of white sand, and a red-sailed junk beating out before the squall; then only wet rock and fern, and the voice of thunder calling from peak to peak. a landward turn in the road brought us to the pine woods of theog and the rhododendrons--but they called them azaleas--of simla, and ever the rain fell as though it had been july in the hills instead of april at hong-kong. an invading army marching upon victoria would have a sad time of it even if the rain did not fall. there are but one or two gaps in the hills through which it could travel, and there is a scheme in preparation whereby they shall be cut off and annihilated when they come. when i had to climb a clay hill backwards digging my heels into the dirt, i very much pitied that invading army. whether the granite-faced reservoir and two-mile tunnel that supplies hong-kong with water be worth seeing i cannot tell. there was too much water in the air for comfort even when one tried to think of home. but go you and take the same walk--ten miles, and only two of 'em on level ground. steam to the forsaken cantonment of stanley and cross the island, and tell me whether you have seen anything so wild and wonderful in its way as the scenery. i am going up the river to canton, and cannot stay for word-paintings. no. x shows how i came to goblin market and took a scunner at it and cursed the chinese people. shows further how i initiated all hong-kong into our fraternity. providence is pleased to be sarcastic. it sent rain and a raw wind from the beginning till the end. that is one of the disadvantages of leaving india. you cut yourself adrift, from the only trustworthy climate in the world. i despise a land that has to waste half its time in watching the clouds. the canton trip (i have been that way) introduces you to the american river steamer, which is not in the least like one of the irrawaddy flotilla or an omnibus, as many people believe. it is composed almost entirely of white paint, sheet-lead, a cow-horn, and a walking-beam, and holds about as much cargo as a p. and o. the trade between canton and hong-kong seems to be immense, and a steamer covers the ninety miles between port and port daily. none the less are the chinese passengers daily put under hatches or its equivalent after they leave port, and daily is the stand of loaded sniders in the cabin inspected and cleaned up. daily, too, i should imagine, the captain of each boat tells his globe-trotting passengers the venerable story of the looting of a river steamer--how two junks fouled her at a convenient bend in the river, while the native passengers on her rose and made things very lively for the crew, and ended by clearing out that steamer. the chinese are a strange people! they had a difficulty at hong-kong not very long ago about photographing labour coolies, and in the excitement, which was considerable, a rickety old war junk got into position off the bund with the avowed intention of putting a three-pound shot through the windows of the firm who had suggested the photographing. and this though vessel and crew could have been blown in cigarette-ash in ten minutes! but no one pirated the _ho-nam_, though the passengers did their best to set her on fire by upsetting the lamps of their opium pipes. she blared her unwieldy way across the packed shipping of the harbour and ran into grey mist and driving rain. when i say that the scenery was like the west highlands you will by this time understand what i mean. large screw steamers, china pig-boats very low in the water and choked with live-stock, wallowing junks and ducking sampans filled the waterways of a stream as broad as the hughli and much better defended so far as the art of man was concerned. their little difficulty with the french a few years ago has taught the chinese a great many things which, perhaps, it were better for us that they had left alone. the first striking object of canton city is the double tower of the big catholic church. take off your hat to this because it means a great deal, and stands as the visible standard of a battle that has yet to be fought. never have the missionaries of the mother of the churches wrestled so mightily with any land as with china, and never has nation so scientifically tortured the missionary as has china. perhaps when the books are audited somewhere else, each race, the white and the yellow, will be found to have been right according to their lights. i had taken one fair look at the city from the steamer, and threw up my cards. "i can't describe this place, and besides, i hate chinamen." "bosh! it is only benares, magnified about eight times. come along." it was benares, without any wide streets or chauks, and yet darker than benares, in that the little skyline was entirely blocked by tier on tier of hanging signs,--red, gold, black, and white. the shops stood on granite plinths, pukka brick above, and tile-roofed. their fronts were carved wood, gilt, and coloured savagely. john knows how to dress a shop, though he may sell nothing more lovely than smashed fowl and chitterlings. every other shop was a restaurant, and the space between them crammed with humanity. do you know those horrible sponges full of worms that grow in warm seas? you break off a piece of it and the worms break too. canton was that sponge. "hi, low yah. to hoh wang!" yelled the chair-bearers to the crowd, but i was afraid that if the poles chipped the corner of a house the very bricks would begin to bleed. hong-kong showed me how the chinaman could work. canton explained why he set no value on life. the article was cheaper than in india. i hated the chinaman before; i hated him doubly as i choked for breath in his seething streets where nothing short of the pestilence could clear a way. there was of course no incivility from the people, but the mere mob was terrifying. there are three or four places in the world where it is best for an englishman to agree with his adversary swiftly, whatever the latter's nationality may be. canton heads the list. never argue with anybody in canton. let the guide do it for you. then the stinks rose up and overwhelmed us. in this respect canton was benares twenty times magnified. the hindu is a sanitating saint compared to the chinaman. he is a rigid malthusian in the same regard. "very bad stink, this place. you come right along," said ah cum, who had learned his english from americans. he was very kind. he showed me feather-jewellery shops where men sat pinching from the gorgeous wings of jays, tiny squares of blue and lilac feathers, and pasting them into gold settings, so that the whole looked like jeypore enamel of the rarest. but we went into a shop. ah cum drew us inside the big door and bolted it, while the crowd blocked up the windows and shutter-bars. i thought more of the crowd than the jewellery. the city was so dark and the people were so very many and so unhuman. the march of the mongol is a pretty thing to write about in magazines. hear it once in the gloom of an ancient curio shop, where nameless devils of the chinese creed make mouths at you from back-shelves, where brazen dragons, revelations of uncleanliness, all catch your feet as you stumble across the floor--hear the tramp of the feet on the granite blocks of the road and the breaking wave of human speech, that is not human! "watch the yellow faces that glare at you between the bars, and you will be afraid, as i was afraid. "it's beautiful work," said the professor, bending over a cantonese petticoat--a wonder of pale green, blue, and silver. "now i understand why the civilised european of irish extraction kills the chinaman in america. it is justifiable to kill him. it would be quite right to wipe the city of canton off the face of the earth, and to exterminate all the people who ran away from the shelling. the chinaman ought not to count." i had gone off on my own train of thought, and it was a black and bitter one. "why on earth can't you look at the lions and enjoy yourself, and leave politics to the men who pretend to understand 'em?" said the professor. "it's no question of politics," i replied. "this people ought to be killed off because they are unlike any people i ever met before. look at their faces. they despise us. you can see it, and they aren't a bit afraid of us either." then ah cum took us by ways that were dark to the temple of the five hundred genii, which was one of the sights of the rabbit-warren. this was a buddhist temple with the usual accessories of altars and altar lights and colossal figures of doorkeepers at the gates. round the inner court runs a corridor lined on both sides with figures about half life-size, representing most of the races of asia. several of the jesuit fathers are said to be in that gallery,--you can find it all in the guide-books,--and there is one image of a jolly-looking soul in a hat and full beard, but, like the others, naked to the waist. "that european gentleman," said ah cum. "that marco polo." "make the most of him," i said. "the time is coming when there will be no european gentlemen--nothing but yellow people with black hearts--black hearts, ah cum--and a devil-born capacity for doing more work than they ought." "come and see a clock," said he. "old clock. it runs by water. come on right along." he took us to another temple and showed us an old water-clock of four _gurrahs_: just the same sort of thing as they have in out-of-the-way parts of india for the use of the watchmen. the professor vows that the machine, which is supposed to give the time to the city, is regulated by the bells of the steamers in the river, canton water being too thick to run through anything smaller than a half-inch pipe. from the pagoda of this temple we could see that the roofs of all the houses below were covered with filled water-jars. there is no sort of fire organisation in the city. when lighted it burns till it stops. ah cum led us to the potter's field, where the executions take place. the chinese slay by the hundred, and far be it from me to say that such generosity of bloodshed is cruel. they could afford to execute in canton alone at the rate of ten thousand a year without disturbing the steady flow of population. an executioner who happened to be wandering about--perhaps in search of employment--offered us a sword under guarantee that it had cut off many heads. "keep it," i said. "keep it, and let the good work go on. my friend, you cannot execute too freely in this land. you are blessed, i apprehend, with a purely literary bureaucracy recruited--correct me if i am wrong--from all social strata, more especially those in which the idea of cold-blooded cruelty has, as it were, become embedded. now, when to inherited devildom is superadded a purely literary education of grim and formal tendencies, the result, my evil-looking friend,--the result, i repeat,--is a state of affairs which is faintly indicated in the little pilgrim's account of the hell of selfishness. you, i presume, have not yet read the works of the little pilgrim." "he looks as if he was going to cut at you with that sword," said the professor. "come away and see the temple of horrors." that was a sort of chinese madame tussaud's--life-like models of men being brayed in mortars, sliced, fried, toasted, stuffed, and variously bedevilled--that made me sick and unhappy. but the chinese are merciful even in their tortures. when a man is ground in a mill, he is, according to the models, popped in head first. this is hard on the crowd who are waiting to see the fun, but it saves trouble to the executioners. a half-ground man has to be carefully watched, or else he wriggles out of his place. to crown all, we went to the prison, which was a pest-house in a back street. the professor shuddered. "it's all right," i said. "the people who sent the prisoners here don't care. the men themselves look hideously miserable, but i suppose they don't care, and goodness knows i don't care. they are only chinamen. if they treat each other like dogs, why should we regard 'em as human beings? let 'em rot. i want to get back to the steamer. i want to get under the guns of hong-kong. phew!" then we ran through a succession of second-rate streets and houses till we reached the city wall on the west by a long flight of steps. it was clean here. the wall had a drop of thirty or forty feet to paddy fields. beyond these were a semicircle of hills, every square yard of which is planted out with graves. her dead watch canton the abominable, and the dead are more than the myriads living. on the grass-grown top of the wall were rusty english guns spiked and abandoned after the war. they ought not to be there. a five-storied pagoda gave us a view of the city, but i was wearied of these rats in their pit--wearied and scared and sullen. the excellent ah cum led us to the viceroy's summer garden-house on the cityward slope of an azalea-covered hill surrounded by cotton trees. the basement, was a handsome joss house: upstairs was a durbar-hall with glazed verandahs and ebony furniture ranged across the room in four straight lines. it was only an oasis of cleanliness. ten minutes later we were back in the swarming city, cut off from light and sweet air. once or twice we met a mandarin with thin official mustache and "little red button a-top." ah cum was explaining the nature and properties of a mandarin when we came to a canal spanned by an english bridge and closed by an iron gate, which was in charge of a hong-kong policeman. we were in an indian station with europe shops and parsee shops and everything else to match. this was english canton, with two hundred and fifty sahibs in it. 'twould have been better for a gatling behind the bridge gate. the guide-books tell you that it was taken from the chinese by the treaty of 1860, the french getting a similar slice of territory. owing to the binding power of french officialism, "la concession française" has never been let or sold to private individuals, and now a chinese regiment squats on it. the men who travel tell you somewhat similar tales about land in saigon and cambodia. something seems to attack a frenchman as soon as he dons a colonial uniform. let us call it the red-tape-worm. "now where did you go and what did you see?" said the professor, in the style of the pedagogue, when we were once more on the _ho-nam_ and returning as fast as steam could carry us to hong-kong. "a big blue sink of a city full of tunnels, all dark and inhabited by yellow devils, a city that doré ought to have seen. i'm devoutly thankful that i'm never going back there. the mongol will begin to march in his own good time. i intend to wait until he marches up to me. let us go away to japan by the next boat." the professor says that i have completely spoiled the foregoing account by what he calls "intemperate libels on a hard-working nation." he did not see canton as i saw it--through the medium of a fevered imagination. once, before i got away, i climbed to the civil station of hong-kong, which overlooks the town. there in sumptuous stone villas built on the edge of the cliff and facing shaded roads, in a wilderness of beautiful flowers and a hushed calm unvexed even by the roar of the traffic below, the residents do their best to imitate the life of an india up-country station. they are better off than we are. at the bandstand the ladies dress all in one piece--shoes, gloves, and umbrellas come out from england with the dress, and every _memsahib_ knows what that means--but the mechanism of their life is much the same. in one point they are superior. the ladies have a club of their very own to which, i believe, men are only allowed to come on sufferance. at a dance there are about twenty men to one lady, and there are practically no spinsters in the island. the inhabitants complain of being cooped in and shut up. they look at the sea below them and they long to get away. they have their "at homes" on regular days of the week, and everybody meets everybody else again and again. they have amateur theatricals and they quarrel and all the men and women take sides, and the station is cleaved asunder from the top to the bottom. then they become reconciled and write to the local papers condemning the local critic's criticism. isn't it touching? a lady told me these things one afternoon, and i nearly wept from sheer home-sickness. "and then, you know, after she had said _that_ he was obliged to give the part to the other, and that made _them_ furious, and the races were so near that nothing could be done, and mrs. ---said that it was altogether impossible. you understand how very unpleasant it must have been, do you not?" "madam," said i, "i do. i have been there before. my heart goes out to hong-kong. in the name of the great indian mofussil i salute you. henceforward hong-kong is one of us, ranking before meerut, but after allahabad, at all public ceremonies and parades." i think she fancied i had sunstroke; but you at any rate will know what i mean. we do not laugh any more on the p. and o. s. s. _ancona_ on the way to japan. we are deathly sick, because there is a cross-sea beneath us and a wet sail above. the sail is to steady the ship who refuses to be steadied. she is full of globe-trotters who also refuse to be steadied. a globe-trotter is extreme cosmopolitan. he will be sick anywhere. no. xi of japan at ten hours' sight, containing a complete account of the manners and customs of its people, a history of its constitution, products, art, and civilisation, and omitting a meal in a tea-house with o-toyo. "thou canst not wave thy staff in air or dip thy paddle in the lake, but it carves the bow of beauty there, and ripples in rhyme the oar forsake."--_emerson._ this morning, after the sorrows of the rolling night, my cabin porthole showed me two great grey rocks studded and streaked with green and crowned by two stunted blue-black pines. below the rocks a boat, that might have been carved sandal wood for colour and delicacy, was shaking out an ivory-white frilled sail to the wind of the morning. an indigo-blue boy with an old ivory face hauled on a rope. rock and tree and boat made a panel from a japanese screen, and i saw that the land was not a lie. this "good brown earth" of ours has many pleasures to offer her children, but there be few in her gift comparable to the joy of touching a new country, a completely strange race, and manners contrary. though libraries may have been written aforetime, each new beholder is to himself another cortez. and i was in japan--the japan of cabinets and joinery, gracious folk and fair manners. japan, whence the camphor and the lacquer and the shark-skin swords come: among what was it the books said?--a nation of artists. to be sure, we should only stop at nagasaki for twelve hours ere going on to kobé, but in twelve hours one can pack away a very fair collection of new experiences. an execrable man met me on the deck, with a pale-blue pamphlet fifty pages thick. "have you," said he, "seen the constitution of japan? the emperor made it himself only the other day. it is on entirely european lines." i took the pamphlet and found a complete paper constitution stamped with the imperial chrysanthemum--an excellent little scheme of representation, reforms, payment of members, budget estimates, and legislation. it is a terrible thing to study at close quarters, because it is so pitifully english. there was a yellow-shot greenness upon the hills round nagasaki different, so my willing mind was disposed to believe, from the green of other lands. it was the green of a japanese screen, and the pines were screen pines. the city itself hardly showed from the crowded harbour. it lay low among the hills, and its business face--a grimy bund--was sloppy and deserted. business, i was rejoiced to learn, was at a low ebb in nagasaki. the japanese should have no concern with business. close to one of the still wharves lay a ship of the bad people; a russian steamer down from vladivostok. her decks were cumbered with raffle of all kinds; her rigging was as frowsy and draggled as the hair of a lodging-house slavey, and her sides were filthy. "that," said a man of my people, "is a very fair specimen of a russian. you should see their men-of-war; they are just as filthy. some of 'em come into nagasaki to clean." it was a small piece of information and perhaps untrue, but it put the roof to my good humour as i stepped on to the bund and was told in faultless english by a young gentleman, with a plated chrysanthemum in his forage cap and badly fitting german uniform on his limbs, that he did not understand my language. he was a japanese customs official. had our stay been longer, i would have wept over him because he was a hybrid--partly french, partly german, and partly american--a tribute to civilisation. all the japanese officials from police upwards seem to be clad in europe clothes, and never do those clothes fit. i think the mikado made them at the same time as the constitution. they will come right in time. when the 'rickshaw, drawn by a beautiful apple-cheeked young man with a basque face, shot me into the _mikado_, first act, i did not stop and shout with delight, because the dignity of india was in my keeping. i lay back on the velvet cushions and grinned luxuriously at pittising, with her sash and three giant hair-pins in her blue-black hair, and three-inch clogs on her feet. she laughed--even as did the burmese girl in the old pagoda at moulmein. and her laugh, the laugh of a lady, was my welcome to japan. can the people help laughing? i think not. you see they have such thousands of children in their streets that the elders must perforce be young lest the babes should grieve. nagasaki is inhabited entirely by children. the grown-ups exist on sufferance. a four-foot child walks with a three-foot child, who is holding the hand of a two-foot child, who carries on her back a one-foot child, who--but you will not believe me if i say that the scale runs down to six-inch little jap dolls such as they used to sell in the burlington arcade. these dolls wriggle and laugh. they are tied up in a blue bed-gown which is tied by a sash, which again ties up the bed-gown of the carrier. thus if you untie that sash, baby and but little bigger brother are at once perfectly naked. i saw a mother do this, and it was for all the world like the peeling of hard-boiled eggs. if you look for extravagance of colour, for flaming shop fronts and glaring lanterns, you shall find none of these things in the narrow stone-paved streets of nagasaki. but if you desire details of house construction, glimpses of perfect cleanliness, rare taste, and perfect subordination of the thing made to the needs of the maker, you shall find all you seek and more. all the roofs are dull lead colour, being shingled or tiled, and all the house fronts are of the colour of the wood as god made it. there is neither smoke nor haze, and in the clear light of a clouded sky i could see down the narrowest alleyway as into the interior of a cabinet. the books have long ago told you how a japanese house is constructed, chiefly of sliding screens and paper partitions, and everybody knows the story of the burglar of tokio who burgled with a pair of scissors for jimmy and centrebit and stole the consul's trousers. but all the telling in print will never make you understand the exquisite finish of a tenement that you could kick in with your foot and pound to match-wood with your fists. behold a _bunnia's_[9] shop. he sells rice and chillies and dried fish and wooden scoops made of bamboo. the front of his shop is very solid. it is made of half-inch battens nailed side by side. not one of the battens is broken; and each one is foursquare perfectly. feeling ashamed of himself for this surly barring up of his house, he fills one-half the frontage with oiled paper stretched upon quarter-inch framing. not a single square of oil paper has a hole in it, and not one of the squares, which in more uncivilised countries would hold a pane of glass if strong enough, is out of line. and the _bunnia_, clothed in a blue dressing-gown, with thick white stockings on his feet, sits behind, not among his wares, on a pale gold-coloured mat of soft rice straw bound with black list at the edges. this mat is two inches thick, three feet wide and six long. you might, if you were a sufficient pig, eat your dinner off any portion of it. the _bunnia_ lies with one wadded blue arm round a big brazier of hammered brass on which is faintly delineated in incised lines a very terrible dragon. the brazier is full of charcoal ash, but there is no ash on the mat. by the _bunnia's_ side is a pouch of green leather tied with a red silk cord, holding tobacco cut fine as cotton. he fills a long black and red lacquered pipe, lights it at the charcoal in the brazier, takes two whiffs, and the pipe is empty. still there is no speck on the mat. behind the _bunnia_ is a shadow-screen of bead and bamboo. this veils a room floored with pale gold and roofed with panels of grained cedar. there is nothing in the room save a blood-red blanket laid out smoothly as a sheet of paper. beyond the room is a passage of polished wood, so polished that it gives back the reflections of the white paper wall. at the end of the passage and clearly visible to this unique _bunnia_ is a dwarfed pine two feet high in a green glazed pot, and by its side is a branch of azalea, blood red as the blanket, set in a pale grey crackle-pot. the _bunnia_ has put it there for his own pleasure, for the delight of his eyes, because he loves it. the white man has nothing whatever to do with his tastes, and he keeps his house specklessly pure because he likes cleanliness and knows it is artistic. what shall we say to such a _bunnia_? [9] grain-dealer's. his brother in northern india may live behind a front of time-blackened open-work wood, but ... i do not think he would grow anything save _tulsi_[10] in a pot, and that only to please the gods and his womenfolk. [10] a sacred herb of the hindus. let us not compare the two men, but go on through nagasaki. except for the horrible policemen who insist on being continental, the people--the common people, that is--do not run after unseemly costumes of the west. the young men wear round felt hats, occasionally coats and trousers, and semi-occasionally boots. all these are vile. in the more metropolitan towns men say western dress is rather the rule than the exception. if this be so, i am disposed to conclude that the sins of their forefathers in making enterprising jesuit missionaries into beefsteak have been visited on the japanese in the shape of a partial obscuration of their artistic instincts. yet the punishment seems rather too heavy for the offence. then i fell admiring the bloom on the people's cheeks, the three-cornered smiles of the fat babes, and the surpassing "otherness" of everything round me. it is so strange to be in a clean land, and stranger to walk among doll's houses. japan is a soothing place for a small man. nobody comes to tower over him, and he looks down upon all the women, as is right and proper. a dealer in curiosities bent himself double on his own door-mat, and i passed in, feeling for the first time that i was a barbarian, and no true sahib. the slush of the streets was thick on my boots, and he, the immaculate owner, asked me to walk across a polished floor and white mats to an inner chamber. he brought me a foot-mat, which only made matters worse, for a pretty girl giggled round the corner as i toiled at it. japanese shopkeepers ought not to be so clean. i went into a boarded passage about two feet wide, found a gem of a garden of dwarfed trees, in the space of half a tennis court, whacked my head on a fragile lintel, and arrived at a four-walled daintiness where i involuntarily lowered my voice. do you recollect mrs. molesworth's _cuckoo clock_, and the big cabinet that griselda entered with the cuckoo? i was not griselda, but my low-voiced friend, in his long, soft wraps, was the cuckoo, and the room was the cabinet. again i tried to console myself with the thought that i could kick the place to pieces; but this only made me feel large and coarse and dirty,--a most unfavourable mood for bargaining. the cuckoo-man caused pale tea to be brought,--just such tea as you read of in books of travel,--and the tea completed my embarrassment. what i wanted to say was, "look here, you person. you're much too clean and refined for this life here below, and your house is unfit for a man to live in until he has been taught a lot of things which i have never learned. consequently i hate you because i feel myself your inferior, and you despise me and my boots because you know me for a savage. let me go, or i'll pull your house of cedar-wood over your ears." what i really said was, "oh, ah yes. awf'ly pretty. awful queer way of doing business." the cuckoo-man proved to be a horrid extortioner; but i was hot and uncomfortable till i got outside, and was a bog-trotting briton once more. you have never blundered into the inside of a three-hundred-dollar cabinet, therefore you will not understand me. we came to the foot of a hill, as it might have been the hill on which the shway dagon stands, and up that hill ran a mighty flight of grey, weather-darkened steps, spanned here and there by monolithic _torii_. every one knows what a _torii_ is. they have them in southern india. a great king makes a note of the place where he intends to build a huge arch, but being a king does so in stone, not ink--sketches in the air two beams and a cross-bar, forty or sixty feet high, and twenty or thirty wide. in southern india the cross-bar is humped in the middle. in the further east it flares up at the ends. this description is hardly according to the books, but if a man begins by consulting books in a new country he is lost. over the steps hung heavy blue-green or green-black pines, old, gnarled, and bossed. the foliage of the hillside was a lighter green, but the pines set the keynote of colour, and the blue dresses of the few folk on the steps answered it. there was no sunshine in the air, but i vow that sunshine would have spoilt all. we climb for five minutes,--i and the professor and the camera,--and then we turned, and saw the roofs of nagasaki lying at our feet--a sea of lead and dull-brown, with here and there a smudge of creamy pink to mark the bloom of the cherry trees. the hills round the town were speckled with the resting-places of the dead, with clumps of pine and feathery bamboo. "what a country!" said the professor, unstrapping his camera. "and have you noticed, wherever we go there's always some man who knows how to carry my kit? the _gharri_ driver at moulmein handed me my stops; the fellow at penang knew all about it, too; and the 'rickshaw coolie has seen a camera before. curious, isn't it?" "professor," said i, "it's due to the extraordinary fact that we are not the only people in the world. i began to realise it at hong-kong. it's getting plainer now. i shouldn't be surprised if we turned out to be ordinary human beings, after all." we entered a courtyard where an evil-looking bronze horse stared at two stone lions, and a company of children babbled among themselves. there is a legend connected with the bronze horse, which may be found in the guide-books. but the real true story of the creature is that he was made long ago out of the fossil ivory of siberia by a japanese prometheus, and got life and many foals, whose descendants closely resemble their father. long years have almost eliminated the ivory in the blood, but it crops out in creamy mane and tail; and the pot-belly and marvellous feet of the bronze horse may be found to this day among the pack-ponies of nagasaki, who carry pack-saddles adorned with velvet and red cloth, who wear grass shoes on their hind feet, and who are made like to horses in a pantomime. we could not go beyond this courtyard because a label said, "no admittance," and thus all we saw of the temple was rich-brown high roofs of blackened thatch, breaking back and back in wave and undulation till they were lost in the foliage. the japanese can play with thatch as men play with modelling clay, but how their light underpinnings can carry the weight of the roof is a mystery to the lay eye. we went down the steps to tiffin, and a half-formed resolve was shaping itself in my heart the while. burma was a very nice place, but they eat _gnapi_ there, and there were smells, and after all, the girls weren't so pretty as some others-"you must take off your boots," said y-tokai. i assure you there is no dignity in sitting down on the steps of a tea-house and struggling with muddy boots. and it is impossible to be polite in your stockinged feet when the floor under you is as smooth as glass and a pretty girl wants to know where you would like tiffin. take at least one pair of beautiful socks with you when you come this way. get them made of embroidered _sambhur_ skin, of silk if you like; but do not stand as i did in cheap striped brown things with a darn at the heel, and try to talk to a tea-girl. they led us--three of them and all fresh and pretty--into a room furnished with a golden-brown bearskin. the _tokonoma_, recess aforementioned, held one scroll-picture of bats wheeling in the twilight, a bamboo flower-holder, and yellow flowers. the ceiling was of panelled wood, with the exception of one strip at the side nearest the window, and this was made of plaited shavings of cedar-wood, marked off from the rest of the ceiling by a wine-brown bamboo so polished that it might have been lacquered. a touch of the hand sent one side of the room flying back, and we entered a really large room with another _tokonoma_ framed on one side by eight or ten feet of an unknown wood, bearing the same grain as a penang lawyer, and above by a stick of unbarked tree set there purely because it was curiously mottled. in this second _tokonoma_ was a pearl-grey vase, and that was all. two sides of the room were of oiled paper, and the joints of the beams were covered by the brazen images of crabs, half life-size. save for the sill of the _tokonoma_, which was black lacquer, every inch of wood in the place was natural grain without flaw. outside was the garden, fringed with a hedge of dwarf-pines and adorned with a tiny pond, water-smoothed stones sunk in the soil, and a blossoming cherry tree. they left us alone in this paradise of cleanliness and beauty, and being only a shameless englishman without his boots--a white man is always degraded when he goes barefoot--i wandered round the wall, trying all the screens. it was only when i stooped to examine the sunk catch of a screen that i saw it was a plaque of inlay work representing two white cranes feeding on fish. the whole was about three inches square and in the ordinary course of events would never be looked at. the screens hid a cupboard in which all the lamps and candlesticks and pillows and sleeping-bags of the household seemed to be stored. an oriental nation that can fill a cupboard tidily is a nation to bow down to. upstairs i went by a staircase of grained wood and lacquer, into rooms of rarest device with circular windows that opened on nothing, and so were filled with bamboo tracery for the delight of the eye. the passages floored with dark wood shone like ice, and i was ashamed. "professor," said i, "they don't spit; they don't eat like pigs; they can't quarrel, and a drunken man would reel straight through every portion in the house and roll down the hill into nagasaki. they can't have any children." here i stopped. downstairs was full of babies. the maidens came in with tea in blue china and cake in a red lacquered bowl--such cake as one gets at one or two houses in simla. we sprawled ungracefully on red rugs over the mats, and they gave us chopsticks to separate the cake with. it was a long task. "is that all?" growled the professor. "i'm hungry, and cake and tea oughtn't to come till four o'clock." here he took a wedge of cake furtively with his hands. they returned--five of them this time--with black lacquer stands a foot square and four inches high. those were our tables. they bore a red lacquered bowlful of fish boiled in brine, and sea-anemones. at least they were not mushrooms. a paper napkin tied with gold thread enclosed our chopsticks; and in a little flat saucer lay a smoked crayfish, a slice of a compromise that looked like yorkshire pudding and tasted like sweet omelette, and a twisted fragment of some translucent thing that had once been alive but was now pickled. they went away, but not empty handed, for thou, oh, o-toyo, didst take away my heart--same which i gave to the burmese girl in the shway dagon pagoda! the professor opened his eyes a little, but said no word. the chopsticks demanded all his attention, and the return of the girls took up the rest. o-toyo, ebon-haired, rosy-cheeked, and made throughout of delicate porcelain, laughed at me because i devoured all the mustard sauce that had been served with my raw fish, and wept copiously till she gave me _saki_ from a lordly bottle about four inches high. if you took some very thin hock, and tried to mull it and forgot all about the brew till it was half cold, you would get _saki_. i had mine in a saucer so tiny that i was bold to have it filled eight or ten times and loved o-toyo none the less at the end. after raw fish and mustard sauce came some other sort of fish cooked with pickled radishes, and very slippery on the chopsticks. the girls knelt in a semicircle and shrieked with delight at the professor's clumsiness, for indeed it was not i that nearly upset the dinner table in a vain attempt to recline gracefully. after the bamboo-shoots came a basin of white beans in sweet sauce--very tasty indeed. try to convey beans to your mouth with a pair of wooden knitting-needles and see what happens. some chicken cunningly boiled with turnips, and a bowlful of snow-white boneless fish and a pile of rice, concluded the meal. i have forgotten one or two of the courses, but when o-toyo handed me the tiny lacquered japanese pipe full of hay-like tobacco, i counted nine dishes in the lacquer stand--each dish representing a course. then o-toyo and i smoked by alternate pipefuls. my very respectable friends at all the clubs and messes, have you ever after a good tiffin lolled on cushions and smoked, with one pretty girl to fill your pipe and four to admire you in an unknown tongue? you do not know what life is. i looked round me at that faultless room, at the dwarf pines and creamy cherry blossoms without, at o-toyo bubbling with laughter because i blew smoke through my nose, and at the ring of _mikado_ maidens over against the golden-brown bearskin rug. here was colour, form, food, comfort, and beauty enough for half a year's contemplation. i would not be a burman any more. i would be a japanese--always with o-toyo--in a cabinet workhouse on a camphor-scented hillside. "heigho!" said the professor. "there are worse places than this to live and die in. d'you know our steamer goes at four? let's ask for the bill and get away." now i have left my heart with o-toyo under the pines. perhaps i shall get it back at kobé. no. xii a further consideration of japan. the inland sea, and good cookery. the mystery of passports and consulates, and certain other matters. "rome! rome! wasn't that the place where i got the good cigars?" --_memoirs of a traveller._ alas for the incompleteness of the written word! there was so much more that i meant to tell you about nagasaki and the funeral procession that i found in her streets. you ought to have read about the wailing women in white who followed the dead man shut up in a wooden sedan chair that rocked on the shoulders of the bearers, while the bronze-hued buddhist priest tramped on ahead, and the little boys ran alongside. i had prepared in my mind moral reflections, purviews of political situations, and a complete essay on the future of japan. now i have forgotten everything except o-toyo in the tea-garden. from nagasaki we--the p. and o. steamer--are going to kobé by way of the inland sea. that is to say, we have for the last twenty hours been steaming through a huge lake, studded as far as the eye can reach with islands of every size, from four miles long and two wide to little cocked-hat hummocks no bigger than a decent hayrick. messrs. cook and son charge about one hundred rupees extra for the run through this part of the world, but they do not know how to farm the beauties of nature. under any skies the islands--purple, amber, grey, green, and black--are worth five times the money asked. i have been sitting for the last half-hour among a knot of whooping tourists, wondering how i could give you a notion of them. the tourists, of course, are indescribable. they say, "oh my!" at thirty-second intervals, and at the end of five minutes call one to another: "sa-ay, don't you think it's vurry much the same all along?" then they play cricket with a broomstick till an unusually fair prospect makes them stop and shout "oh my!" again. if there were a few more oaks and pines on the islands, the run would be three hundred miles of naini tal lake. but we are not near naini tal; for as the big ship drives down the alleys of water, i can see the heads of the breakers flying ten feet up the side of the echoing cliffs, albeit the sea is dead-still. now we have come to a stretch so densely populated with islands that all looks solid ground. we are running through broken water thrown up by the race of the tide round an outlying reef, and apparently are going to hit an acre of solid rock. somebody on the bridge saves us, and we head out for another island, and so on, and so on, till the eye wearies of watching the nose of the ship swinging right and left, and the finite human soul, which, after all, cannot repeat "oh my!" through a chilly evening, goes below. when you come to japan--it can be done comfortably in three months, or even ten weeks--sail through this marvellous sea, and see how quickly wonder sinks to interest, and interest to apathy. we brought oysters with us from nagasaki. i am much more interested in their appearance at dinner to-night than in the shag-backed starfish of an islet that has just slidden by like a ghost upon the silver-grey waters, awakening under the touch of the ripe moon. yes, it is a sea of mystery and romance, and the white sails of the junks are silver in the moonlight. but if the steward curries those oysters instead of serving them on the shell, all the veiled beauties of cliff and water-carven rock will not console me. to-day being the seventeenth of april, i am sitting in an ulster under a thick rug, with fingers so cold i can barely hold the pen. this emboldens me to ask how your thermantidotes are working. a mixture of steatite and kerosene is very good for creaking cranks, i believe, and if the coolie falls asleep, and you wake up in hades, try not to lose your temper. i go to my oysters. _two days later._ this comes from kobé (thirty hours from nagasaki), the european portion of which is a raw american town. we walked down the wide, naked streets between houses of sham stucco, with corinthian pillars of wood, wooden verandahs and piazzas, all stony grey beneath stony grey skies, and keeping guard over raw green saplings miscalled shade trees. in truth, kobé is hideously american in externals. even i, who have only seen pictures of america, recognised at once that it was portland, maine. it lives among hills, but the hills are all scalped, and the general impression is of out-of-the-wayness. yet, ere i go further, let me sing the praises of the excellent m. begeux, proprietor of the oriental hotel, upon whom be peace. his is a house where you can dine. he does not merely feed you. his coffee is the coffee of the beautiful france. for tea he gives you peliti cakes (but better) and the _vin ordinaire_ which is _compris_, is good. excellent monsieur and madame begeux! if the _pioneer_ were a medium for puffs, i would write a leading article upon your potato salad, your beefsteaks, your fried fish, and your staff of highly trained japanese servants in blue tights, who looked like so many small hamlets without the velvet cloak, and who obeyed the unspoken wish. no, it should be a poem--a ballad of good living. i have eaten curries of the rarest at the oriental at penang, the turtle steaks of raffles's at singapur still live in my regretful memory, and they gave me chicken liver and sucking-pig in the victoria at hong-kong which i will always extol. but the oriental at kobé was better than all three. remember this, and so shall you who come after slide round a quarter of the world upon a sleek and contented stomach. we are going from kobé to yokohama by various roads. this necessitates a passport, because we travel in the interior and do not run round the coast on shipboard. we take a railroad, which may or may not be complete as to the middle, and we branch off from that railroad, complete or not, as the notion may prompt. this will be an affair of some twenty days, and ought to include forty or fifty miles by 'rickshaw, a voyage on a lake, and, i believe, bedbugs. _nota bene._--when you come to japan stop at hong-kong and send on a letter to the "envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at tokio," if you want to travel in the interior of this fairyland. indicate your route as roughly as ever you choose, but for your own comfort give the two extreme towns you intend to touch. throw in any details about your age, profession, colour of hair, and the like that may occur to you, and ask to have a passport sent to the british consulate at kobé to meet you. allow the man with a long title a week's time to prepare the passport, and you will find it at your service when you land. only write distinctly, to save your vanity. my papers are addressed to a mister kyshrig--radjerd kyshrig. as in nagasaki, the town was full of babies, and as in nagasaki, every one smiled except the chinamen. i do not like chinamen. there was something in their faces which i could not understand, though it was familiar enough. "the chinaman's a native," i said. "that's the look on a native's face, but the jap isn't a native, and he isn't a sahib either. what is it?" the professor considered the surging street for a while. "the chinaman's an old man when he's young, just as a native is, but the jap is a child all his life. think how grown-up people look among children. that's the look that's puzzling you." i dare not say that the professor is right, but to my eyes it seemed he spoke sooth. as the knowledge of good and evil sets its mark upon the face of a grown man of our people, so something i did not understand had marked the faces of the chinamen. they had no kinship with the crowd beyond that which a man has to children. "they are the superior race," said the professor, ethnologically. "they can't be. they don't know how to enjoy life," i answered immorally. "and, anyway, their art isn't human." "what does it matter?" said the professor. "here's a shop full of the wrecks of old japan. let's go in and look." we went in, but i want somebody to solve the chinese question for me. it's too large to handle alone. we entered the curio-shop aforementioned, with our hats in our hands, through a small avenue of carved stone lanterns and wooden sculptures of devils unspeakably hideous, to be received by a smiling image who had grown grey among _netsukes_ and lacquer. he showed us the banners and insignia of daimios long since dead, while our jaws drooped in ignorant wonder. he showed us a sacred turtle of mammoth size, carven in wood down to minutest detail. through room after room he led us, the light fading as we went, till we reached a tiny garden and a woodwork cloister that ran round it. suits of old-time armour made faces at us in the gloom, ancient swords clicked at our feet, quaint tobacco pouches as old as the swords swayed to and fro from some invisible support, and the eyes of a score of battered buddhas, red dragons, jain _tirthankars_, and burmese _beloos_ glared at us from over the fence of tattered gold brocade robes of state. the joy of possession lives in the eye. the old man showed us his treasures, from crystal spheres mounted in sea-worn wood to cabinet on cabinet full of ivory and wood carvings, and we were as rich as though we owned all that lay before us. unfortunately the merest scratch of japanese characters is the only clew to the artist's name, so i am unable to say who conceived, and in creamy ivory executed, the old man horribly embarrassed by a cuttle-fish; the priest who made the soldier pick up a deer for him and laughed to think that the brisket would be his and the burden his companion's; or the dry, lean snake coiled in derision on a jawless skull mottled with the memories of corruption; or the rabelaisan badger who stood on his head and made you blush though he was not half an inch long; or the little fat boy pounding his smaller brother; or the rabbit that had just made a joke; or--but there were scores of these notes, born of every mood of mirth, scorn, and experience that sways the heart of man; and by this hand that has held half a dozen of them in its palm i winked at the shade of the dead carver! he had gone to his rest, but he had worked out in ivory three or four impressions that i had been hunting after in cold print. the englishman is a wonderful animal. he buys a dozen of these things and puts them on the top of an overcrowded cabinet, where they look like blobs of ivory, and forgets them in a week. the japanese hides them in a beautiful brocaded bag or a quiet lacquer box till three congenial friends come to tea. then he takes them out slowly, and they are looked over with appreciation amid quiet chuckles to the deliberative clink of cups, and put back again till the mood for inspection returns. that is the way to enjoy what we call curios. every man with money is a collector in japan, but you shall find no crowds of "things" outside the best shops. we stayed long in the half-light of that quaint place, and when we went away we grieved afresh that such a people should have a "constitution" or should dress every tenth young man in european clothes, put a white ironclad in kobé harbour, and send a dozen myoptic lieutenants in baggy uniforms about the streets. "it would pay us," said the professor, his head in a clog-shop, "it would pay us to establish an international suzerainty over japan to take, away any fear of invasion or annexation, and pay the country as much as ever it chose, on condition that it simply sat still and went on making beautiful things while our men learned. it would pay us to put the whole empire in a glass case and mark it, '_hors concours_,' exhibit a." "h'mm," said i. "who's us?" "oh, we generally--the _sahib log_ all the world over. our workmen--a few of them--can do as good work in certain lines, but you don't find whole towns full of clean, capable, dainty, designful people in europe." "let's go to tokio and speak to the emperor about it," i said. "let's go to a japanese theatre first," said the professor. "it's too early in the tour to start serious politics." no. xiii the japanese theatre and the story of the thunder cat. treating also of the quiet places and the dead man in the street. to the theatre we went, through the mud and much rain. internally it was nearly dark, for the deep blue of the audience's dress soaked up the scanty light of the kerosene lamps. there was no standing room anywhere except next to the japanese policeman, who in the cause of morals and the lord chamberlain had a corner in the gallery and four chairs all to himself. he was quite four feet eight inches high, and napoleon at st. helena could not have folded his arms more dramatically. after some grunting--i fear we were upsetting the principles of the constitution--he consented to give us one chair, receiving in return a burma cheroot which i have every reason to believe blew his little head off. a pit containing fifty rows of fifty people and a bonding layer of babies, with a gallery which might have held twelve hundred, made up the house. the building was as delicate a piece of cabinet work as any of the houses; roof, floor, beams, props, verandahs, and partitions were of naked wood, and every other person in the house was smoking a tiny pipe and knocking out the ashes every two minutes. then i wished to fly; death by the _auto da fe_ not being anywhere paid for in the tour; but there was no escape by the one little door where pickled fish was being sold between the acts. "yes, it's not exactly safe," said the professor, as the matches winked and sputtered all round and below. "but if that curtain catches that naked light on the stage, or you see this matchwood gallery begin to blaze, i'll kick out the back of the refreshment buffet, and we can walk away." with this warm comfort the drama began. the green curtain dropped from above and was whisked away, and three gentlemen and a lady opened the ball by a dialogue conducted in tones between a "burble" and a falsetto whisper. if you wish to know their costumes, look at the nearest japanese fan. real japs of course are like men and women, but stage japs in their stiff brocades are line for line as japs are drawn. when the four sat down, a little boy ran among them and settled their draperies, pulling out a sash bow here, displaying a skirt-fold there. the costumes were as gorgeous as the plot was incomprehensible. but we will call the play "_the thunder cat_, or _harlequin bag o' bones and the amazing old woman_, or _the mammoth radish_, or _the superfluous badger and the swinging lights_." a two-sworded man in the black and gold brocade rose up and imitated the gait of an obscure actor called henry irving, whereat, not knowing that he was serious, i cackled aloud till the japanese policeman looked at me austerely. then the two-sworded man wooed the japanese-fan lady, the other characters commenting on his proceedings like a greek chorus till something--perhaps a misplaced accent--provoked trouble, and the two-sworded man and a vermilion splendour enjoyed a vincent crummles fight to the music of all the orchestra--one guitar and something that clicked--not castanets. the small boy removed their weapons when the men had sufficiently warred, and, conceiving that the piece wanted light, fetched a ten-foot bamboo with a naked candle at the end, and held this implement about a foot from the face of the two-sworded man, following his every movement with the anxious eye of a child intrusted with a typewriter. then the japanese-fan girl consented to the wooing of the two-sworded man, and with a scream of eldritch laughter turned into a hideous old woman--a boy took off her hair, but she did the rest herself. at this terrible moment a gilded thunder cat, which is a cat issuing from a cloud, ran on wires from the flies to the centre of the gallery, and a boy with a badger's tail mocked at the two-sworded man. then i knew that the two-sworded man had offended a cat and a badger, and would have a very bad time of it, for these two animals and the fox are to this day black sorcerers. fearful things followed, and the scenery was changed once every five minutes. the prettiest effect was secured by a double row of candles hung on strings behind a green gauze far up the stage and set swinging with opposite motions. this, besides giving a fine idea of uncanniness, made one member of the audience sea-sick. but the two-sworded man was far more miserable than i. the bad thunder cat cast such spells upon him that i gave up trying to find out what he meant to be. he was a fat-faced low comedian king of the rats, assisted by other rats, and he ate a magic radish with side-splitting pantomime till he became a man once more. then all his bones were taken away,--still by the thunder cat,--and he fell into a horrid heap, illuminated by the small boy with the candle--and would not recover himself till somebody spoke to a magic parrot, and a huge hairy villain and several coolies had walked over him. then he was a girl, but, hiding behind a parasol, resumed his shape, and then the curtain came down and the audience ran about the stage and circulated generally. one small boy took it into his head that he could turn head-over-heels from the prompt side across. with great gravity, before the unregarding house, he set to work; but rolled over sideways with a flourish of chubby legs. nobody cared, and the polite people in the gallery could not understand why the professor and i were helpless with laughter when the child, with a clog for a sword, imitated the strut of the two-sworded man. the actors changed in public, and any one who liked might help shift scenes. why should not a baby enjoy himself if he liked? a little later we left. the thunder cat was still working her wicked will on the two-sworded man, but all would be set right next day. there was a good deal to be done, but justice was at the end of it. the man who sold pickled fish and tickets said so. "good school for a young actor," said the professor. "he'd see what unpruned eccentricities naturally develop into. there's every trick and mannerism of the english stage in that place, magnified thirty diameters, but perfectly recognisable. how do you intend to describe it?" "the japanese comic opera of the future has yet to be written," i responded, grandiloquently. "yet to be written in spite of the _mikado_. the badger has not yet appeared on an english stage, and the artistic mask as an accessory to the legitimate drama has never been utilised. just imagine the _thunder cat_ as a title for a serio-comic opera. begin with a domestic cat possessed of magic powers, living in the house of a london tea-merchant who kicks her. consider--" "the lateness of the hour," was the icy answer. "to-morrow we will go and write operas in the temple close to this place." * * * * * to-morrow brought fine drizzling rain. the sun, by the way, has been hidden now for more than three weeks. they took us to what must be the chief temple of kobé and gave it a name which i do not remember. it is an exasperating thing to stand at the altars of a faith that you know nothing about. there be rites and ceremonies of the hindu creed that all have read of and must have witnessed, but in what manner do they pray here who look to buddha, and what worship is paid at the shinto shrines? the books say one thing; the eyes, another. the temple would seem to be also a monastery and a place of great peace disturbed only by the babble of scores of little children. it stood back from the road behind a sturdy wall, an irregular mass of steep pitched roofs bound fantastically at the crown, copper-green where the thatch had ripened under the touch of time, and dull grey-black where the tiles ran. under the eaves a man who believed in his god, and so could do good work, had carved his heart into wood till it blossomed and broke into waves or curled with the ripple of live flames. somewhere on the outskirts of lahore city stands a mazy gathering of tombs and cloister walks called chajju bhagat's chubara, built no one knows when and decaying no one cares how soon. though this temple was large and spotlessly clean within and without, the silence and rest of the place were those of the courtyards in the far-off punjab. the priests had made many gardens in corners of the wall--gardens perhaps forty feet long by twenty wide, and each, though different from its neighbour, containing a little pond with goldfish, a stone lantern or two, hummocks of rock, flat stones carved with inscriptions, and a cherry or peach tree all blossom. stone-paved paths ran across the courtyard and connected building with building. in an inner enclosure, where lay the prettiest garden of all, was a golden tablet ten or twelve feet high, against which stood in high relief of hammered bronze the figure of a goddess in flowing robes. the space between the paved paths here was strewn with snowy-white pebbles, and in white pebbles on red they had written on the ground, "how happy." you might take them as you pleased--for the sigh of contentment or the question of despair. the temple itself, reached by a wooden bridge, was nearly dark, but there was light enough to show a hundred subdued splendours of brown and gold, of silk and faithfully painted screen. if you have once seen a buddhist altar where the master of the law sits among golden bells, ancient bronzes, flowers in vases, and banners of tapestry, you will begin to understand why the roman catholic church once prospered so mightily in this country, and will prosper in all lands where it finds an elaborate ritual already existing. an art-loving folk will have a god who is to be propitiated with pretty things as surely as a race bred among rocks and moors and driving clouds will enshrine their deity in the storm, and make him the austere recipient of the sacrifice of the rebellious human spirit. do you remember the story of the bad people of iquique? the man who told me that yarn told me another--of the good people of somewhere else. they also were simple south americans with nothing to wear, and had been conducting a service of their own in honour of their god before a black-jowled jesuit father. at a critical moment some one forgot the ritual, or a monkey invaded the sanctity of that forest shrine and stole the priest's only garment. anyhow, an absurdity happened, and the good people burst into shouts of laughter and broke off to play for a while. "but what will your god say?" asked the jesuit, scandalised at the levity. "oh! he knows everything. he knows that we forget, and can't attend, and do it all wrong, but he is very wise and very strong," was the reply. "well, that doesn't excuse you." "of course it does. he just lies back and laughs," said the good people of somewhere else, and fell to pelting each other with blossoms. i forget what is the precise bearing of this anecdote. but to return to the temple. hidden away behind a mass of variegated gorgeousness was a row of very familiar figures with gold crowns on their heads. one does not expect to meet krishna the butter thief and kali the husband beater so far east as japan. "what are these?" "they are other gods," said a young priest, who giggled deprecatingly at his own creed every time he was questioned about it. "they are very old. they came from india in the past. i think they are indian gods, but i do not know why they are here." i hate a man who is ashamed of his faith. there was a story connected with those gods, and the priest would not tell it to me. so i sniffed at him scornfully, and went my way. it led me from the temple straight into the monastery, which was all made of delicate screens, polished floors, and brown wood ceilings. except for my tread on the boards there was no sound in the place till i heard some one breathing heavily behind a screen. the priest slid back what had appeared to me a dead wall, and we found a very old priest half-asleep over his charcoal handwarmer. this was the picture. the priest in olive-green, his bald head, pure silver, bowed down before a sliding screen of white oiled paper which let in dull silver light. to his right a battered black lacquer stand containing the indian ink and brushes with which he feigned to work. to the right of these, again, a pale yellow bamboo table holding a vase of olive-green crackle, and a sprig of almost black pine. there were no blossoms in this place. the priest was too old. behind the sombre picture stood a gorgeous little buddhist shrine,--gold and vermilion. "he makes a fresh picture for the little screen here every day," said the young priest, pointing first to his senior, and then to a blank little tablet on the wall. the old man laughed pitifully, rubbed his head, and handed me his picture for the day. it represented a flood over rocky ground; two men in a boat were helping two others on a tree half-submerged by the water. even i could tell that the power had gone from him. he must have drawn well in his manhood, for one figure in the boat had action and purpose as it leaned over the gunwale; but the rest was blurred, and the lines had wandered astray as the poor old hand had quavered across the paper. i had no time to wish the artist a pleasant old age, and an easy death in the great peace that surrounded him, before the young man drew me away to the back of the shrine, and showed me a second smaller altar facing shelves on shelves of little gold and lacquer tablets covered with japanese characters. "these are memorial tablets of the dead," he giggled. "once and again the priest he prays here--for those who are dead, you understand?" "perfectly. they call 'em masses where i come from. i want to go away and think about things. you shouldn't laugh, though, when you show off your creed." "ha, ha!" said the young priest, and i ran away down the dark polished passages with the faded screens on either hand, and got into the main courtyard facing the street, while the professor was trying to catch temple fronts with his camera. a procession passed, four abreast tramping through the sloshy mud. they did not laugh, which was strange, till i saw and heard a company of women in white walking in front of a little wooden palanquin carried on the shoulders of four bearers and suspiciously light. they sang a song, half under their breaths--a wailing, moaning song that i had only heard once before, from the lips of a native far away in the north of india, who had been clawed past hope of cure by a bear, and was singing his own death-song as his friends bore him along. "have makee die," said my 'rickshaw coolie. "few-yu-ne-ral." i was aware of the fact. men, women, and little children poured along the streets, and when the death-song died down, helped it forward. the half-mourners wore only pieces of white cloth about their shoulders. the immediate relatives of the dead were in white from head to foot. "aho! ahaa! aho!" they wailed very softly, for fear of breaking the cadence of the falling rain, and they disappeared. all except one old woman, who could not keep pace with the procession, and so came along alone, crooning softly to herself. "aho! ahaa! aho!" she whispered. the little children in the courtyard were clustered round the professor's camera. but one child had a very bad skin disease on his innocent head,--so bad that none of the others would play with him,--and he stood in a corner and sobbed and sobbed as though his heart would break. poor little gehazi! no. xiv explains in what manner i was taken to venice in the rain, and climbed into a devil fort; a tin-pot exhibition, and a bath. of the maiden and the boltless door, the cultivator and his fields, and the manufacture of ethnological theories at railroad speed. ends with kioto. "there's a deal o' fine confused feedin' about sheep's head." --_christopher north._ "come along to osaka," said the professor. "why? i'm quite comfy here, and we shall have lobster cutlets for tiffin; and, anyhow, it is raining heavily, and we shall get wet." sorely against my will--for it was in my mind to fudge japan from a guide-book while i enjoyed the cookery of the oriental at kobé--i was dragged into a 'rickshaw and the rain, and conveyed to a railway station. even the japanese cannot make their railway stations lovely, though they do their best. their system of baggage-booking is borrowed from the americans; their narrow-gauge lines, locos, and rolling stock are english; their passenger-traffic is regulated with the precision of the gaul, and the uniforms of their officials come from the nearest ragbag. the passengers themselves were altogether delightful. a large number of them were modified europeans, and resembled nothing more than tenniel's picture of the white rabbit on the first page of _alice in wonderland_. they were dressed in neat little tweed suits with fawn-coloured overcoats, and they carried ladies' reticules of black leather and nickel platings. they wore paper and celluloid stuck-up collars which must have been quite thirteen inches round the neck, and their boots were number fours. on their hands--their wee-wee hands--they had white cotton gloves, and they smoked cigarettes from fairy little cigarette cases. that was young japan--the japan of the present day. "wah, wah, god is great," said the professor. "but it isn't in human nature for a man who sprawls about on soft mats by instinct to wear europe clothes as though they belonged to him. if you notice, the last thing that they take to is shoes." a lapis-lazuli coloured locomotive which, by accident, had a mixed train attached to it happened to loaf up to the platform just then, and we entered a first-class english compartment. there was no stupid double roof, window shade, or abortive thermantidote. it was a london and south-western carriage. osaka is about eighteen miles from kobé, and stands at the head of the bay of osaka. the train is allowed to go as fast as fifteen miles an hour and to play at the stations all along the line. you must know that the line runs between the hills and the shore, and the drainage-fall is a great deal steeper than anything we have between saharunpur and umballa. the rivers and the hill torrents come down straight from the hills on raised beds of their own formation, which beds again have to be bunded and spanned with girder bridges or--here, perhaps, i may be wrong--tunnelled. the stations are black-tiled, red-walled, and concrete-floored, and all the plant from signal levers to goods-truck is english. the official colour of the bridges is a yellow-brown most like unto a faded chrysanthemum. the uniform of the ticket-collectors is a peaked forage cap with gold lines, black frock-coat with brass buttons, very long in the skirt, trousers with black mohair braid, and buttoned kid boots. you cannot be rude to a man in such raiment. but the countryside was the thing that made us open our eyes. imagine a land of rich black soil, very heavily manured, and worked by the spade and hoe almost exclusively, and if you split your field (of vision) into half-acre plots, you will get a notion of the raw material the cultivator works on. but all i can write will give you no notion of the wantonness of neatness visible in the fields, of the elaborate system of irrigation, and the mathematical precision of the planting. there was no mixing of crops, no waste of boundary in footpath, and no difference of value in the land. the water stood everywhere within ten feet of the surface, as the well-sweeps attested. on the slopes of the foot-hills each drop between the levels was neatly riveted with unmortared stones, and the edges of the watercuts were faced in like manner. the young rice was transplanted very much as draughts are laid on the board; the tea might have been cropped garden box; and between the lines of the mustard the water lay in the drills as in a wooden trough, while the purple of the beans ran up to the mustard and stopped as though cut with a rule. on the seaboard we saw an almost continuous line of towns variegated with factory chimneys; inland, the crazy-quilt of green, dark-green and gold. even in the rain the view was lovely, and exactly as japanese pictures had led me to hope for. only one drawback occurred to the professor and myself at the same time. crops don't grow to the full limit of the seed on heavily worked ground dotted with villages except at a price. "cholera?" said i, watching a stretch of well-sweeps. "cholera," said the professor. "must be, y'know. it's all sewage irrigation." i felt that i was friends with the cultivators at once. these broad-hatted, blue-clad gentlemen who tilled their fields by hand--except when they borrowed the village buffalo to drive the share through the rice-slough--knew what the scourge meant. "how much do you think the government takes in revenue from vegetable gardens of that kind?" i demanded. "bosh," said he, quietly, "you aren't going to describe the land-tenure of japan. look at the yellow of the mustard!" it lay in sheets round the line. it ran up the hills to the dark pines. it rioted over the brown sandbars of the swollen rivers, and faded away by mile after mile to the shores of the leaden sea. the high-peaked houses of brown thatch stood knee-deep in it, and it surged up to the factory chimneys of osaka. "great place, osaka," said the guide. "all sorts of manufactures there." osaka is built into and over and among one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four canals, rivers, dams, and watercuts. what the multitudinous chimneys mean i cannot tell. they have something to do with rice and cotton; but it is not good that the japs should indulge in trade, and i will not call osaka a "great commercial _entrepot_." "people who live in paper houses should never sell goods," as the proverb says. because of his many wants there is but one hotel for the englishman in osaka, and they call it juter's. here the views of two civilisations collide and the result is awful. the building is altogether japanese; wood and tile and sliding screen from top to bottom; but the fitments are mixed. my room, for instance, held a _tokonoma_, made of the polished black stem of a palm and delicate woodwork, framing a scroll picture representing storks. but on the floor over the white mats lay a brussels carpet that made the indignant toes tingle. from the back verandah one overhung the river which ran straight as an arrow between two lines of houses. they have cabinet-makers in japan to fit the rivers to the towns. from my verandah i could see three bridges--one a hideous lattice-girder arrangement--and part of a fourth. we were on an island and owned a watergate if we wanted to take a boat. _apropos_ of water, be pleased to listen to a shocking story. it is written in all the books that the japanese though cleanly are somewhat casual in their customs. they bathe often with nothing on and together. this notion my experience of the country, gathered in the seclusion of the oriental at kobé, made me scoff at. i demanded a tub at juter's. the infinitesimal man led me down verandahs and upstairs to a beautiful bath-house full of hot and cold water and fitted with cabinet-work, somewhere in a lonely out-gallery. there was naturally no bolt to the door any more than there would be a bolt to a dining-room. had i been sheltered by the walls of a big europe bath, i should not have cared, but i was preparing to wash when a pretty maiden opened the door, and indicated that she also would tub in the deep, sunken japanese bath at my side. when one is dressed only in one's virtue and a pair of spectacles it is difficult to shut the door in the face of a girl. she gathered that i was not happy, and withdrew giggling, while i thanked heaven, blushing profusely the while, that i had been brought up in a society which unfits a man to bathe _à deux_. even an experience of the paddington swimming baths would have helped me; but coming straight from india lady godiva was a ballet-girl in sentiment compared to this actæon. it rained monsoonishly, and the professor discovered a castle which he needs must see. "it's osaka castle," he said, "and it has been fought over for hundreds of years. come along." "i've seen castles in india. raighur, jodhpur--all sorts of places. let's have some more boiled salmon. it's good in this station." "pig," said the professor. we threaded our way over the four thousand and fifty-two canals, etc., where the little children played with the swiftly running water, and never a mother said "don't," till our 'rickshaw stopped outside a fort ditch thirty feet deep, and faced with gigantic granite slabs. on the far side uprose the walls of a fort. but such a fort! fifty feet was the height of the wall, and never a pinch of mortar in the whole. nor was the face perpendicular, but curved like the ram of a man-of-war. they know the curve in china, and i have seen french artists, introduce it into books describing a devil-besieged city of tartary. possibly everybody else knows it too, but that is not my affair; life as i have said being altogether new to me. the stone was granite, and the men of old time had used it like mud. the dressed blocks that made the profile of the angles were from twenty feet long, ten or twelve feet high, and as many in thickness. there was no attempt at binding, but there was no fault in the jointing. "and the little japs built this!" i cried, awe-stricken at the quarries that rose round me. "cyclopean masonry," grunted the professor, punching with a stick a monolith of seventeen feet cube. "not only did they build it, but they took it. look at this. fire!" the stones had been split and bronzed in places, and the cleavage was the cleavage of fire. evil must it have been for the armies that led the assault on these monstrous walls. castles in india i know, and the forts of great emperors i had seen, but neither akbar in the north, nor scindia in the south, had built after this fashion--without ornament, without colour, but with a single eye to savage strength and the utmost purity of line. perhaps the fort would have looked less forbidding in sunlight. the grey, rain-laden atmosphere through which i saw it suited its spirit. the barracks of the garrison, the commandant's very dainty house, a peach-garden, and two deer were foreign to the place. they should have peopled it with giants from the mountains, instead of--gurkhas! a jap infantryman is not a gurkha, though he might be mistaken for one as long as he stood still. the sentry at the quarter-guard belonged, i fancy, to the 4th regiment. his uniform was black or blue, with red facings, and shoulder-straps carrying the number of the regiment in cloth. the rain necessitated an overcoat, but why he should have carried knapsack, blanket, boots, _and_ binoculars i could not fathom. the knapsack was of cowskin with the hair on, the boots were strapped soles, cut on each side, while a heavy country blanket was rolled u-shape over the head of the knapsack, fitting close to the back. in the place usually occupied by the mess-tin was a black leather case shaped like a field-glass. this must be a mistake of mine, but i can only record as i see. the rifle was a side-bolt weapon of some kind, and the bayonet an uncommonly good sword one, locked to the muzzle, english fashion. the ammunition pouches, as far as i could see under the greatcoat, ran on the belt in front, and were double-strapped down. white spatterdashes--very dirty--and peaked cap completed the outfit. i surveyed the man with interest, and would have made further examination of him but for fear of the big bayonet. his arms were well kept,--not speckless by any means,--but his uniform would have made an english colonel swear. there was no portion of his body except the neck that it pretended to fit. i peeped into the quarter-guard. fans and dainty tea-sets do not go with one's notions of a barrack. one drunken defaulter of certain far-away regiments that i could name would not only have cleared out that quarter-guard, but brought away all its fittings except the rifle-racks. yet the little men, who were always gentle, and never got drunk, were mounting guard over a pile that, with a blue fire on the bastions, might have served for the guard-gates of hell. i climbed to the top of the fort and was rewarded by a view of thirty miles of country, chiefly pale yellow mustard and blue-green pine, and the sight of the very large city of osaka fading away into mist. the guide took most pleasure in the factory chimneys. "there is an exposition here--an exposition of industrialities. come and see," said he. he took us down from that high place and showed us the glory of the land in the shape of corkscrews, tin mugs, egg-whisks, dippers, silks, buttons, and all the trumpery that can be stitched on a card and sold for five-pence three farthings. the japanese unfortunately make all these things for themselves, and are proud of it. they have nothing to learn from the west as far as finish is concerned, and by intuition know how to case and mount wares tastefully. the exposition was in four large sheds running round a central building which held only screens, pottery, and cabinet-ware loaned for the occasion. i rejoiced to see that the common people did not care for the penknives, and the pencils, and the mock jewellery. they left those sheds alone and discussed the screens, first taking off their clogs that the inlaid floor of the room might not suffer. of all the gracious things i beheld, two only remain in my memory,--one a screen in grey representing the heads of six devils instinct with malice and hate; the other, a bold sketch in monochrome of an old woodcutter wrestling with the down-bent branch of a tree. two hundred years have passed since the artist dropped his pencil, but you may almost hear the tough wood jar under the stroke of the chopper, as the old man puts his back into the task and draws in the labouring breath. there is a picture by legros of a beggar dying in a ditch, which might have been suggested by that screen. next morning, after a night's rain, which sent the river racing under the frail balconies at eight miles an hour, the sun broke through the clouds. is this a little matter to you who can count upon him daily? i had not seen him since march, and was beginning to feel anxious. then the land of peach blossom spread its draggled wings abroad and rejoiced. all the pretty maidens put on their loveliest crêpe sashes,--fawn colour, pink, blue, orange, and lilac,--all the little children picked up a baby each, and went out to be happy. in a temple garden full of blossom i performed the miracle of deucalion with two cents' worth of sweets. the babies swarmed on the instant, till, for fear of raising all the mothers too, i forbore to give them any more. they smiled and nodded prettily, and trotted after me, forty strong, the big ones helping the little, and the little ones skipping in the puddles. a jap child never cries, never scuffles, never fights, and never makes mud pies except when it lives on the banks of a canal. yet, lest it should spread its sash-bow and become a bald-headed angel ere its time, providence has decreed that it should never, never blow its little nose. notwithstanding the defect, i love it. there was no business in osaka that day because of the sunshine and the budding of the trees. everybody went to a tea-house with his friends. i went also, but first ran along a boulevard by the side of the river, pretending to look at the mint. this was only a common place of solid granite where they turn out dollars and rubbish of that kind. all along the boulevard the cherry, peach, and plum trees, pink, white, and red, touched branches and made a belt of velvety soft colour as far as the eye could reach. weeping willows were the normal ornaments of the waterside, this revel of bloom being only part of the prodigality of spring. the mint may make a hundred thousand dollars a day, but all the silver in its keeping will not bring again the three weeks of the peach blossom which, even beyond the chrysanthemum, is the crown and glory of japan. for some act of surpassing merit performed in a past life i have been enabled to hit those three weeks in the middle. "now is the japanese festival of the cherry blossom," said the guide. "all the people will be festive. they will pray too and go to the tea-gardens." now you might wall an englishman about with cherry trees in bloom from head to heel, and after the first day he would begin to complain of the smell. as you know, the japanese arrange a good many of their festivals in honour of flowers, and this is surely commendable, for blossoms are the most tolerant of gods. the tea-house system of the japanese filled me with pleasure at a pleasure that i could not fully comprehend. it pays a company in osaka to build on the outskirts of the town a nine-storied pagoda of wood and iron, to lay out elaborate gardens round it, and to hang the whole with strings of blood-red lanterns, because the japanese will come wherever there is a good view to sit on a mat and discuss tea and sweetmeats and _saki_. this eiffel tower is, to tell the truth, anything but pretty, yet the surroundings redeem it. although it was not quite completed, the lower storeys were full of tea-stalls and tea-drinkers. the men and women were obviously admiring the view. it is an astounding thing to see an oriental so engaged; it is as though he had stolen something from a sahib. from osaka--canal-cut, muddy, and fascinating osaka--the professor, mister yamagutchi,--the guide,--and i took train to kioto, an hour from osaka. on the road i saw four buffaloes at as many rice-ploughs--which was noticeable as well as wasteful. a buffalo at rest must cover the half of a japanese field; but perhaps they are kept on the mountain ledges and only pulled down when wanted. the professor says that what i call buffalo is really bullock. the worst of travelling with an accurate man is his accuracy. we argued about the japanese in the train, about his present and his future, and the manner in which he has ranged himself on the side of the grosser nations of the earth. "did it hurt his feelings very much to wear our clothes? didn't he rebel when he put on a pair of trousers for the first time? won't he grow sensible some day and drop foreign habits?" these were some of the questions i put to the landscape and the professor. "he was a baby," said the latter, "a big baby. i think his sense of humour was at the bottom of the change, but he didn't know that a nation which once wears trousers never takes 'em off. you see 'enlightened' japan is only one-and-twenty years old, and people are not very wise at one-and-twenty. read reed's _japan_ and learn how the change came about. there was a mikado and a _shogun_ who was sir frederick roberts, but he tried to be the viceroy and--" "bother the _shogun_! i've seen something like the babu class, and something like the farmer class. what i want to see is the rajput class--the man who used to wear the thousands and thousands of swords in the curio-shops. those swords were as much made for use as a rajputana sabre. where are the men who used 'em? show me a samurai." the professor answered not a word, but scrutinised heads on the wayside platforms. "i take it that the high-arched forehead, club nose, and eyes close together--the spanish type--are from rajput stock, while the german-faced jap is the khattri--the lower class." thus we talked of the natures and dispositions of men we knew nothing about till we had decided (1) that the painful politeness of the japanese nation rose from the habit, dropped only twenty years ago, of extended and emphatic sword-wearing, even as the rajput is the pink of courtesy because his friend goes armed; (2) that this politeness will disappear in another generation, or will at least be seriously impaired; (3) that the cultured japanese of the english pattern will corrupt and defile the tastes of his neighbours till (4) japan altogether ceases to exist as a separate nation and becomes a button-hook manufacturing appanage of america; (5) that these things being so, and sure to happen in two or three hundred years, the professor and i were lucky to reach japan betimes; and (6) that it was foolish to form theories about the country until we had seen a little of it. so we came to the city of kioto in regal sunshine, tempered by a breeze that drove the cherry blossoms in drifts about the streets. one japanese town, in the southern provinces at least, is very like another to look at--a grey-black sea of house roofs, speckled with the white walls of the fire-proof godowns where merchants and rich men keep their chief treasures. the general level is broken by the temple roofs, which are turned up at the edges, and remotely resemble so many terai-hats. kioto fills a plain almost entirely surrounded by wooded hills, very familiar in their aspect to those who have seen the siwaliks. once upon a time it was the capital of japan, and to-day numbers two hundred and fifty thousand people. it is laid out like an american town. all the streets run at right angles to each other. that, by the way, is exactly what the professor and i are doing. we are elaborating the theory of the japanese people, and we can't agree. no. xv kioto and how i fell in love with the chief belle there after i had conferred with certain china merchants who trafficked in tea. shows further how, in a great temple, i broke the tenth commandment in fifty-three places and bowed down before kano and a carpenter. takes me to arashima. "could i but write the things i see, my world would haste to gaze with me. but since the traitor pen hath failed to paint earth's loveliness unveiled, i can but pray my folk who read:- 'for lavish will take starveling deed.'" we are consorting with sixty of the _sahib-log_ in the quaintest hotel that ever you saw. it stands on the hillside overlooking the whole town of kioto, and its garden is veritable japanese. fantastically trimmed tea trees, junipers, dwarfed pine, and cherry, are mixed up with ponds of goldfish, stone lanterns, quaint rock-work, and velvety turf all at an angle of thirty-five degrees. behind us the pines, red and black, cover the hill and run down in a long spur to the town. but an auctioneer's catalogue cannot describe the charms of the place or deal justly with the tea-garden full of cherry trees that lies a hundred yards below the hotel. we were solemnly assured that hardly any one came to kioto. that is why we meet every soul in the ship that had brought us to nagasaki; and that is why our ears are constantly assailed with the clamour of people who are discussing places which must be "done." an englishman is a very horrible person when he is on the war-path; so is an american, a frenchman, or a german. i had been watching the afternoon sunlight upon the trees and the town, the shift and play of colour in the crowded street of the cherry, and crooning to myself because the sky was blue and i was alive beneath it with a pair of eyes in my head. immediately the sun went down behind the hills the air became bitterly cold, but the people in crêpe sashes and silk coats never ceased their sober frolicking. there was to be a great service in honour of the cherry blossom the next day at the chief temple of kioto, and they were getting ready for it. as the light died in a wash of crimson, the last thing i saw was a frieze of three little japanese babies with fuzzy top-knots and huge sashes trying to hang head downwards from a bamboo rail. they did it, and the closing eye of day regarded them solemnly as it shut. the effect in _silhouette_ was immense! a company of china tea-merchants were gathered in the smoking-room after dinner, and by consequence talked their own "shop," which was interesting. their language is not our language, for they know nothing of the tea-gardens, of drying and withering and rolling, of the assistant who breaks his collar-bone in the middle of the busiest season, or of the sickness that smites the coolie lines at about the same time. they are happy men who get their tea by the break of a thousand chests from the interior of the country and play with it upon the london markets. none the less they have a very wholesome respect for indian tea, which they cordially detest. here is the sort of argument that a foochow man, himself a very heavy buyer, flung at me across the table. "you may talk about your indian teas,--assam and kangra, or whatever you call them,--but i tell _you_ that if ever they get a strong hold in england, the doctors will be down on them, sir. they'll be medically forbidden. see if they aren't. they shatter your nerves to pieces. unfit for human consumption--that's what they are. though i don't deny they _are_ selling at home. they don't keep, though. after three months, the sorts that i've seen in london turn to hay." "i think you are wrong there," said a hankow man. "my experience is that the indian teas keep better than ours by a long way. but"--turning to me--"if we could only get the china government to take off the duties, we could smash indian tea and every one connected with it. we could lay down tea in mincing lane at threepence a pound. no, we do not adulterate our teas. that's one of _your_ tricks in india. we get it as pure as yours--every chest in the break equal to sample." "you can trust your native buyers then?" i interrupted. "trust 'em? of course we can," cut in the foochow merchant. "there are no tea-gardens in china as you understand them. the peasantry cultivate the tea, and the buyers buy from them for cash each season. you can give a chinaman a hundred thousand dollars and tell him to turn it into tea of your own particular chop--up to sample. of course the man may be a thorough-paced rogue in many ways, but he knows better than to play the fool with an english house. back comes your tea--a thousand half-chests, we'll say. you open perhaps five, and the balance go home untried. but they are all equal to sample. that's business, that is. the chinaman's a born merchant and full of backbone. i like him for business purposes. the jap's no use. he isn't man enough to handle a hundred thousand dollars. very possibly he'd run off with it--or try to." "the jap has no business savvy. god knows i hate the chinamen," said a bass voice behind the tobacco smoke, "but you can do business with him. the jap's a little huckster who can't see beyond his nose." they called for drinks and told tales, these merchants of china,--tales of money and bales and boxes,--but through all their stories there was an implied leaning upon native help which, even allowing for the peculiarities of china, was rather startling. "the compradore did this: ho whang did that: a syndicate of pekin bankers did the other thing"--and so on. i wondered whether a certain lordly indifference as to details had anything to do with eccentricities in the china tea-breaks and fluctuations of quality, which do occur in spite of all the men said to the contrary. again, the merchants spoke of china as a place where fortunes are made--a land only waiting to be opened up to pay a hundredfold. they told me of the home government helping private trade, in kind and unobtrusive ways, to get a firmer hold on the public works department contracts that are now flying abroad. this was pleasant hearing. but the strangest thing of all was the tone of hope and almost contentment that pervaded their speech. they were well-to-do men making money, and they liked their lives. you know how, when two or three of us are gathered together in our own barren pauper land, we groan in chorus and are disconsolate. the civilian, the military man, and the merchant, they are all alike. the one overworked and broken by exchange, the second a highly organised beggar, and the third a nobody in particular, always at loggerheads with what he considers an academical government. i knew in a way that we were a grim and miserable community in india, but i did not know the measure of our fall till i heard men talking about fortunes, success, money, and the pleasure, good living, and frequent trips to england that money brings. their friends did not seem to die with unnatural swiftness, and their wealth enabled them to endure the calamity of exchange with calm. yes, we of india are a wretched folk. very early in the dawn, before the nesting sparrows were awake, there was a sound in the air which frightened me out of my virtuous sleep. it was a lisping mutter--very deep and entirely strange. "that's an earthquake, and the hillside is beginning to slide," quoth i, taking measures of defence. the sound repeated itself again and again, till i argued, that if it were the precursor of an earthquake, the affair had stuck half-way. at breakfast men said: "that was the great bell of kioto just next door to the hotel a little way up the hillside. as a bell, y'know, it's rather a failure, from an english point of view. they don't ring it properly, and the volume of sound is comparatively insignificant." "so i fancied when i first heard it," i said casually, and went out up the hill under sunshine that filled the heart and trees, that filled the eye with joy. you know the unadulterated pleasure of that first clear morning in the hills when a month's solid idleness lies before the loafer, and the scent of the deodars mixes with the scent of the meditative cigar. that was my portion when i stepped through the violet-studded long grass into forgotten little japanese cemeteries--all broken pillars and lichened tablets--till i found, under a cut in the hillside, the big bell of kioto--twenty feet of green bronze hung inside a fantastically roofed shed of wooden beams. a beam, by the way, _is_ a beam in japan; anything under a foot thick is a stick. these beams were the best parts of big trees, clamped with bronze and iron. a knuckle rapped lightly on the lip of the bell--it was not more than five feet from the ground--made the great monster breathe heavily, and the blow of a stick started a hundred shrill-voiced echoes round the darkness of its dome. at one side, guyed by half a dozen small hawsers, hung a battering-ram, a twelve-foot spar bound with iron, its nose pointing full-butt at a chrysanthemum in high relief on the belly of the bell. then, by special favour of providence, which always looks after the idle, they began to sound sixty strokes. half a dozen men swung the ram back and forth with shoutings and outcries, till it had gathered sufficient way, and the loosened ropes let it hurl itself against the chrysanthemum. the boom of the smitten bronze was swallowed up by the earth below and the hillside behind, so that its volume was not proportionate to the size of the bell, exactly as the men had said. an english ringer would have made thrice as much of it. but then he would have lost the crawling jar that ran through rock-stone and pine for twenty yards round, that beat through the body of the listener and died away under his feet like the shock of a distant blasting. i endured twenty strokes and removed myself, not in the least ashamed of mistaking the sound for an earthquake. many times since i have heard the bell speak when i was far off. it says _b-r-r-r_ very deep down in its throat, but when you have once caught the noise you will never forget it. and so much for the big bell of kioto. from its house a staircase of cut stone takes you down to the temple of chion-in, where i arrived on easter sunday just before service, and in time to see the procession of the cherry blossom. they had a special service at a place called st. peter's at rome about the same time, but the priests of buddha excelled the priests of the pope. thus it happened. the main front of the temple was three hundred feet long, a hundred feet deep, and sixty feet high. one roof covered it all, and saving for the tiles there was no stone in the structure; nothing but wood three hundred years old, as hard as iron. the pillars that upheld the roof were three feet, four feet, and five feet in diameter, and guiltless of any paint. they showed the natural grain of the wood till they were lost in the rich brown darkness far overhead. the cross-beams were of grained wood of great richness; cedar-wood and camphor-wood and the hearts of gigantic pine had been put under requisition for the great work. one carpenter--they call him only a carpenter--had designed the whole, and his name is remembered to this day. a half of the temple was railed off for the congregation by a two-foot railing, over which silks of ancient device had been thrown. within the railing were all the religious fittings, but these i cannot describe. all i remember was row upon row of little lacquered stands each holding a rolled volume of sacred writings; an altar as tall as a cathedral organ where gold strove with colour, colour with lacquer, and lacquer with inlay, and candles such as holy mother church uses only on her greatest days, shed a yellow light that softened all. bronze incense-burners in the likeness of dragons and devils fumed under the shadow of silken banners, behind which, wood tracery, as delicate as frost on a window-pane, climbed to the ridge-pole. only there was no visible roof to this temple. the light faded away under the monstrous beams, and we might have been in a cave a hundred fathoms below the earth but for the sunshine and blue sky at the portals where the little children squabbled and shouted. on my word, i tried to note down soberly what lay before me, but the eye tired, and the pencil ran off into fragmentary ejaculations. but what would you have done if you had seen what i saw when i went round the temple verandah to what we must call a vestry at the back? it was a big building connected with the main one by a wooden bridge of deepest time-worn brown. down the bridge ran a line of saffron-coloured matting, and down the matting, very slowly and solemnly, as befitted their high office, filed three and fifty priests, each one clad in at least four garments of brocade, crêpe, and silk. there were silks that do not see the light of the markets, and brocades that only temple wardrobes know. there was sea-green watered silk with golden dragons; terra-cotta crêpe with ivory-white chrysanthemums clustering upon it; black-barred silk shot with yellow flames; lapis-lazuli silk and silver fishes; avanturine silk with plaques of grey-green let in; cloth of gold over dragon's blood; and saffron and brown silk stiff as a board with embroidery. we returned to the temple now filled with the gorgeous robes. the little lacquer stands were the priests' book-racks. some lay down among them, while others moved very softly about the golden altars and the incense-burners; and the high priest disposed himself, with his back to the congregation, in a golden chair through which his robe winked like the shards of a tiger-beetle. in solemn calm the books were unrolled, and the priests began chanting pali texts in honour of the apostle of unworldliness, who had written that they were not to wear gold or mixed colours, or touch the precious metals. but for a few unimportant accessories in the way of half-seen images of great men--but these could have been called saints--the scene before me might have been unrolled in a roman catholic cathedral, say the rich one at arundel. the same thought was in other minds, for in a pause of the slow chant a voice behind me whispered:- "to hear the blessed mutter of the mass and see god made and eaten all day long." it was a man from hong-kong, very angry that he too had not been permitted to photograph an interior. he called all this splendour of ritual and paraphernalia just "an interior," and revenged himself by spitting browning at it. the chant quickened as the service drew to an end, and the candles burned low. we went away to other parts of the temple pursued by the chorus of the devout till we were out of earshot in a paradise of screens. two or three hundred years ago there lived a painterman of the name of kano. him the temple of chion-in brought to beautify the walls of the rooms. since a wall is a screen, and a screen is a wall, kano, r. a., had rather a large job. but he was helped by pupils and imitators, and in the end left a few hundred screens which are all finished pictures. as you already know, the interior of a temple is very simple in its arrangements. the priests live on white mats, in little rooms, with brown ceilings, that can at pleasure be thrown into one large room. this also was the arrangement at chion-in, though the rooms were comparatively large and gave on to sumptuous verandahs and passages. since the emperor occasionally visited the place there was a room set apart for him of more than ordinary splendour. twisted silk tassels of intricate design served in lieu of catches to pull back the sliding screens, and the woodwork was lacquered. these be only feeble words, but it is not in my grip to express the restfulness of it all, or the power that knew how to secure the desired effect with a turn of the wrist. the great kano drew numbed pheasants huddled together on the snow-covered bough of a pine; or a peacock in his pride spreading his tail to delight his womenfolk; or a riot of chrysanthemums poured out of a vase; or the figures of toilworn countryfolk coming home from market; or a hunting scene at the foot of fujiyama. the equally great carpenter who built the temple framed each picture with absolute precision under a ceiling that was a miracle of device, and time, the greatest artist of the three, touched the gold so that it became amber, and the woodwork so that it grew dark honey-colour, and the shining surface of the lacquer so that it became deep and rich and semi-transparent. as in one room, so in all the others. sometimes we slid back the screens and discovered a tiny bald-pated acolyte praying over an incense-burner, and sometimes a lean priest eating his rice; but generally the rooms were empty, swept and garnished. minor artists had worked with kano the magnificent. these had been allowed to lay brush upon panels of wood in the outer verandahs, and very faithfully had they toiled. it was not till the guide called my attention to them that i discovered scores of sketches in monochrome low down on the verandah doors. an iris broken by the fall of a branch torn off by a surly ape; a bamboo spray bowed before the wind that was ruffling a lake; a warrior of the past ambushing his enemy in a thicket, hand on sword, and mouth gathered into puckers of intensest concentration, were among the many notes that met my eye. how long, think you, would a sepia-drawing stand without defacement in the midst of our civilisation were it put on the bottom panel of a door, or the scantling of a kitchen passage? yet in this gentle country a man may stoop down and write his name in the very dust, certain that, if the writing be craftily done, his children's children will reverently let it stand. "of course there are no such temples made nowadays," i said, when we regained the sunshine, and the professor was trying to find out how panel pictures and paper screens went so well with the dark dignity of massive woodwork. "they are building a temple on the other side of the city," said mister yamagutchi. "come along, and see the hair-ropes which hang there." we came flying in our 'rickshaws across kioto, till we saw netted in a hundred cobwebs of scaffolding a temple even larger than the great chion-in. "that was burned down long ago,--the old temple that was here, you know. then the people made a penny subscription from all parts of japan, and those who could not send money sent their hair to be made into rope. they have been ten years building this new temple. it is all wood," said the guide. the place was alive with men who were putting the finishing touches to the great tiled roof and laying down the floors. wooden pillars as gigantic, carving as wantonly elaborate, eaves as intricate in their mouldings, and joinery as perfect as anything in the chion-in temple met me at every turn. but the fresh-cut wood was creamy white and lemon where, in the older building, it had been iron-hard and brown. only the raw ends of the joists were stopped with white lacquer to prevent the incursions of insects, and the deeper tracery was protected against birds by fine wire netting. everything else was wood--wood down to the massive clamped and bolted beams of the foundation which i investigated through gaps in the flooring. japan is a great people. her masons play with stone, her carpenters with wood, her smiths with iron, and her artists with life, death, and all the eye can take in. mercifully she has been denied the last touch of firmness in her character which would enable her to play with the whole round world. we possess that--we, the nation of the glass flower-shade, the pink worsted mat, the red and green china puppy-dog, and the poisonous brussels carpet. it is our compensation.... "temples!" said a man from calcutta, some hours later as i raved about what i had seen. "temples! i'm sick of temples. if i've seen one, i've seen fifty thousand of 'em--all exactly alike. but i tell you what is exciting. go down the rapids at arashima,--eight miles from here. it's better fun than any temple with a fat-faced buddha in the middle." but i took my friend's advice. have i managed to convey the impression that april is fine in japan? then i apologise. it is generally rainy, and the rain is cold; but the sunshine when it comes is worth it all. we shouted with joy of living when our fiery, untamed 'rickshaws bounded from stone to stone of the vilely paved streets of the suburbs and brought us into what ought to have been vegetable gardens but were called fields. the face of the flat lands was cut up in every direction by bunds, and all the roads seem to run on the top of them. "never," said the professor, driving his stick into the black soil, "never have i imagined irrigation so perfectly controlled as this is. look at the _rajbahars_ faced with stone and fitted with sluices; look at the water-wheels and,--phew! but they manure their fields too well." the first circle of fields round any town is always pretty rank, but this superfluity of scent continued throughout the country. saving a few parts near dacca and patna, the face of the land was more thickly populated than bengal and was worked five times better. there was no single patch untilled, and no cultivation that was not up to the full limit of the soil's productiveness. onions, barley, in little ridges between the ridges of tea, beans, rice, and a half a dozen other things that we did not know the names of, crowded the eye already wearied with the glare of the golden mustard. manure is a good thing, but manual labour is better. we saw both even to excess. when a japanese ryot has done everything to his field that he can possibly think of, he weeds the barley stalk by stalk with his finger and thumb. this is true. i saw a man doing it. we headed through the marvellous country straight across the plain on which kioto stands, till we reached the range of hills on the far side, and found ourselves mixed up with half a mile of lumber-yard. cultivation and water-cuts were gone, and our tireless 'rickshaws were running by the side of a broad, shallow river, choked with logs of every size. i am prepared to believe anything of the japanese, but i do not see why nature, which they say is the same pitiless power all the world over, should send them their logs unsplintered by rocks, neatly barked, and with a slot neatly cut at the end of each pole for the reception of a rope, i have seen timber fly down the ravi in spate, and it was hooked out as ragged as a tooth-brush. this material comes down clean. consequently the slot is another miracle. "when the day is fine," said the guide, softly, "all the people of kioto come to arashima to have picnics." "but they are always having picnics in the cherry-tree gardens. they picnic in the tea-houses. they--they--" "yes, when it is a fine day, they always go somewhere and picnic." "but why? man isn't made to picnic." "but why? because it is a fine day. englishmen say that the money of the japanese comes from heaven, because they always do nothing--so you think. but look now, here is a pretty place." the river charged down a turn in the pine-grown hills, and broke in silver upon the timber and the remains of a light bridge washed away some days before. on our side, and arranged so as to face the fairest view of the young maples, stood a row of tea-houses and booths built over the stream. the sunlight that could not soften the gloom of the pines dwelt tenderly among the green of the maples and touched the reaches below where the cherry blossom broke in pink foam against the black-roofed houses of a village across the water. there i stopped. no. xvi the party in the parlour who played games. a complete history of all modern japanese art; a survey of the past, and a prophecy of the future, arranged and composed in the kioto factories. "oh, brave new world that has such creatures in it, how beautiful mankind is!" how i got to the tea-house i cannot tell. perhaps a pretty girl waved a bough of cherry blossom at me, and i followed the invitation. i know that i sprawled upon the mats and watched the clouds scudding across the hills and the logs flying down the rapids, and smelt the smell of the raw peeled timber, and listened to the grunts of the boatmen as they wrestled with that and the rush of the river, and was altogether happier than it is lawful for a man to be. the lady of the tea-house insisted upon screening us off from the other pleasure-parties who were tiffining in the same verandah. she brought beautiful blue screens with storks on them and slid them into grooves. i stood it as long as i could. there were peals of laughter in the next compartment, the pattering of soft feet, the clinking of little dishes, and at the chinks of the screens the twinkle of diamond eyes. a whole family had come in from kioto for the day's pleasuring. mamma looked after grandmamma, and the young aunt looked after a guitar, and the two girls of fourteen and fifteen looked after a merry little tomboy of eight, who, when she thought of it, looked after the baby who had the air of looking after the whole party. grandmamma was dressed in dark blue, mamma in blue and grey, the girls had gorgeous dresses of lilac, fawn, and primrose crêpe with silk sashes, the colour of apple blossom and the inside of a newly cut melon; the tomboy was in old gold and russet brown; but the baby tumbled his fat little body across the floor among the dishes in the colours of the japanese rainbow, which owns no crude tints. they were all pretty, all except grandmamma, who was merely good-humoured and very bald, and when they had finished their dainty dinner, and the brown lanquer stands, the blue and white crockery, and the jade-green drinking-cups had been taken away, the aunt played a little piece on the _samisen_, and the girls played blindman's-buff all round the tiny room. flesh and blood could not have stayed on the other side of the screens. i wanted to play too, but i was too big and too rough, and so could only sit in the verandah, watching these dainty bits of dresden at their game. they shrieked and giggled and chattered and sat down on the floor with the innocent abandon of maidenhood, and broke off to kiss the baby when he showed signs of being overlooked. they played puss-in-the-corner, their feet tied with blue and white handkerchiefs because the room did not allow unfettered freedom of limb, and when they could play no more for laughing, they fanned themselves as they lay propped up against the blue screens,--each girl a picture no painter could reproduce,--and i shrieked with the best of them till i rolled off the verandah and nearly dropped into the laughing street. was i a fool? then i fooled in good company, for an austere man from india--a person who puts his faith in race-horses and believes nothing except the civil code--was also at arashima that day. i met him flushed and excited. "'had a lively time," he panted, with a hundred children at his heels. "there's a sort of roulette table here where you can gamble for cakes. i bought the owner's stock-in-trade for three dollars and ran the monte carlo for the benefit of the kids--about five thousand of 'em. never had such fun in my life. it beats the simla lotteries hollow. they were perfectly orderly till they had cleared the tables of everything except a big sugar-tortoise. then they rushed the bank, and i ran away." and he was a hard man who had not played with anything as innocent as sweetmeats for many years! when we were all weak with laughing, and the professor's camera was mixed up in a tangle of laughing maidens to the confusion of his pictures, we too ran away from the tea-house and wandered down the river bank till we found a boat of sewn planks which poled us across the swollen river, and landed us on a little rocky path overhanging the water where the iris and the violet ran riot together and jubilant waterfalls raced through the undergrowth of pine and maple. we were at the foot of the arashima rapids, and all the pretty girls of kioto were with us looking at the view. up-stream a lonely black pine stood out from all its fellows to peer up the bend where the racing water ran deep in oily swirls. down-stream the river threshed across the rocks and troubled the fields of fresh logs on its bosom, while men in blue drove silver-white boats gunwale-deep into the foam of its onset and hooked the logs away. underfoot the rich earth of the hillside sent up the breath of the turn of the year to the maples that had already caught the message from the fire-winds of april. oh! it was good to be alive, to trample the stalks of the iris, to drag down the cherry-bloom spray in a wash of dew across the face, and to gather the violets for the mere pleasure of heaving them into the torrent and reaching out for fairer flowers. "what a nuisance it is to be a slave to the camera," said the professor, upon whom the dumb influences of the season were working though he knew it not. "what a nuisance it is to be a slave to the pen," i answered, for the spring had come to the land. i had hated the spring for seven years because to me it meant discomfort. "let us go straight home and see the flowers come out in the parks." "let us enjoy what lies to our hand, you philistine." and we did till a cloud darkened and a wind ruffled the river reaches, and we returned to our 'rickshaws sighing with contentment. "how many people do you suppose the land supports to the square mile?" said the professor, at a turn in the homeward road. he had been reading statistics. "nine hundred," i said at a venture. "it's thicker set with humans than sarun or behar. say one thousand." "two thousand two hundred and fifty odd. can you believe it?" "looking at the landscape i can, but i don't suppose india will believe it. s'pose i write fifteen hundred?" "they'll say you exaggerate just the same. better stick to the true total. two thousand two hundred and fifty-six to the square mile, and not a sign of poverty in the houses. how do they do it?" i should like to know the answer to that question. japan of my limited view is inhabited almost entirely by little children whose duty is to prevent their elders from becoming too frivolous. the babies do a little work occasionally, but their parents interfere by petting them. at yami's hotel the attendance is in the hands of ten-year-olds because everybody else has gone out picnicing among the cherry trees. the little imps find time to do a man's work and to scuffle on the staircase between whiles. my special servitor, called "the bishop" on account of the gravity of his appearance, his blue apron, and gaiters, is the liveliest of the lot, but even his energy cannot account for the professor's statistics of population.... i have seen one sort of work among the japanese, but it was not the kind that makes crops. it was purely artistic. a ward of the city of kioto is devoted to manufactures. a manufacturer in this part of the world does not hang out a sign. he may be known in paris and new york: that is the concern of the two cities. the englishman who wishes to find his establishment in kioto has to hunt for him up and down slums with the aid of a guide. i have seen three manufactories. the first was of porcelain-ware, the second of _cloissonnée_, and the third of lacquer, inlay, and bronzes. the first was behind black wooden palings, and for external appearance might just as well have been a tripe-shop. inside sat the manager opposite a tiny garden four feet square in which a papery-looking palm grew out of a coarse stoneware pot and overshadowed a dwarfed pine. the rest of the room was filled with pottery waiting to be packed--modern satsuma for the most part, the sort of thing you get at an auction. "this made send europe--india--america," said the manager, calmly. "you come to see?" he took us along a verandah of polished wood to the kilns, to the clay vats, and the yards where the tiny "saggers" were awaiting their complement of pottery. there are differences many and technical between japanese and burslem pottery in the making, but these are of no consequence. in the moulding house, where they were making the bodies of satsuma vases, the wheels, all worked by hand, ran true as a hair. the potter sat on a clean mat with his tea-things at his side. when he had turned out a vase-body he saw that it was good, nodded appreciatively to himself, and poured out some tea ere starting the next one. the potters lived close to the kilns and had nothing pretty to look at. it was different in the painting rooms. here in a cabinet-like house sat the men, women, and boys who painted the designs on the vases after the first firing. that all their arrangements were scrupulously neat is only saying that they were japanese; that their surroundings were fair and proper is only saying that they were artists. a sprig of a cherry blossom stood out defiantly against the black of the garden paling; a gnarled pine cut the blue of the sky with its spiky splinters as it lifted itself above the paling, and in a little pond the iris and the horsetail nodded to the wind. the workers when at fault had only to lift their eyes, and nature herself would graciously supply the missing link of a design. somewhere in dirty england men dream of craftsmen working under conditions which shall help and not stifle the half-formed thought. they even form guilds and write semi-rhythmical prayers to time and chance and all the other gods that they worship, to bring about the desired end. would they have their dream realised, let them see how they make pottery in japan, each man sitting on a snowy mat with loveliness of line and colour within arm's length of him, while with downcast eyes he--splashes in the conventional diaper of a satsuma vase as fast as he can! the barbarians want satsuma and they shall have it, if it has to be made in kioto one piece per twenty minutes. so much for the baser forms of the craft! the owner of the second establishment lived in a blackwood cabinet--it was profanation to call it a house--alone with a bronze of priceless workmanship, a set of blackwood furniture, and all the medals that his work had won for him in england, france, germany, and america. he was a very quiet and cat-like man, and spoke almost in a whisper. would we be pleased to inspect the manufactory? he led us through a garden--it was nothing in his eyes, but we stopped to admire long. stone lanterns, green with moss, peeped through clumps of papery bamboos where bronze storks were pretending to feed. a dwarfed pine, its foliage trimmed to dish-like plaques, threw its arms far across a fairy pond where the fat, lazy carp grubbed and rooted, and a couple of eared grebes squawked at us from the protection of the--waterbutt. so perfect was the silence of the place that we heard the cherry blossoms falling into the water and the lisping of the fish against the stones. we were in the very heart of the willow-pattern plate and loath to move for fear of breaking it. the japanese are born bower-birds. they collect water-worn stones, quaintly shaped rocks, and veined pebbles for the ornamentation of their homes. when they shift house they take the garden away with them--pine trees and all--and the incoming tenant has a free hand. half a dozen steps took us over the path of mossy stones to a house where the whole manufactory was at work. one room held the enamel powders all neatly arranged in jars of scrupulous cleanliness, a few blank copper vases ready to be operated on, an invisible bird who whistled and whooped in his cage, and a case of gaily painted butterflies ready for reference when patterns were wanted. in the next room sat the manufactory--three men, five women, and two boys--all as silent as sleep. it is one thing to read of _cloissonnée_ making, but quite another to watch it being made. i began to understand the cost of the ware when i saw a man working out a pattern of sprigs and butterflies on a plate about ten inches in diameter. with finest silver ribbon wire, set on edge, less than the sixteenth of an inch high, he followed the curves of the drawing at his side, pinching the wire into tendrils and the serrated outlines of leaves with infinite patience. a rough touch on the raw copper-plate would have sent the pattern flying into a thousand disconnected threads. when all was put down on the copper, the plate would be warmed just sufficiently to allow the wires to stick firmly to the copper, the pattern then showing in raised lines. followed the colouring, which was done by little boys in spectacles. with a pair of tiniest steel chopsticks they filled from bowls at their sides each compartment of the pattern with its proper hue of paste. there is not much room allowed for error in filling the spots on a butterfly's wing with avanturine enamel when the said wings are less than an inch across. i watched the delicate play of wrist and hand till i was wearied, and the manager showed me his patterns--terrible dragons, clustered chrysanthemums, butterflies, and diapers as fine as frost on a window-pane--all drawn in unerring line. "those things are our subjects. i compile from them, and when i want some new colours i go and look at those dead butterflies," said he. after the enamel has been filled in, the pot or plate goes to be fired, and the enamel bubbles all over the boundary lines of wires, and the whole comes from the furnace looking like delicate majolica. it may take a month to put a pattern on the plate in outline, another month to fill in the enamel, but the real expenditure of time does not commence till the polishing. a man sits down with the rough article, all his tea-things, a tub of water, a flannel, and two or three saucers full of assorted pebbles from the brook. he does not get a wheel with tripoli, or emery, or buff. he sits down and rubs. he rubs for a month, three months, or a year. he rubs lovingly, with his soul in his finger ends, and little by little the efflorescence of the fired enamel gives way, and he comes down to the lines of silver, and the pattern in all its glory is there waiting for him. i saw a man who had only been a month over the polishing of one little vase five inches high. he would go on for two months. when i am in america he will be rubbing still, and the ruby-coloured dragon that romped on a field of lazuli, each tiny scale and whisker a separate compartment of enamel, will be growing more lovely. "there is also cheap _cloissonnée_ to be bought," said the manager, with a smile. "we cannot make that. the vase will be seventy dollars." i respected him for saying "cannot" instead of "do not." there spoke the artist. our last visit was paid to the largest establishment in kioto, where boys made gold inlay on iron, sitting in camphor-wood verandahs overlooking a garden lovelier than any that had gone before. they had been caught young, even as is the custom in india. a real grown-up man was employed on the horrible story, in iron, gold, and silver, of two priests who waked up a rain-dragon and had to run for it, all round the edge of a big shield; but the liveliest worker of the batch was a small fat baby who had been given a tenpenny nail, a hammer, and a block of metal to play with, that he might soak in the art by which he would live, through the pores of his skin. he crowed and chuckled as he whacked. there are not many five-year-olds in england who could hammer anything without pulping their little pink fingers. the baby had learned how to hit straight. on the wall of the room hung a japanese painting of the apotheosis of art. it represented with fidelity all the processes of pottery from the digging of the clay to the last firing. but all the pencilled scorn of the artist was reserved for the closing scene, where an englishman, his arm round his wife's waist, was inspecting a shop full of curios. the japanese are not impressed with the grace of our clothing or the beauty of our countenances. later we beheld the manufacture of gold lacquer, which is laid on speck by speck from an agate palette fitted on the artist's thumb; and the carving of ivory, which is exciting until you begin to realise that the graver never slips. "a lot of their art is purely mechanical" said the professor, when he was safe back in the hotel. "so's a lot of ours--'specially our pictures. only we can't be spiritedly mechanical," i answered. "fancy a people like the japanese solemnly going in for a constitution. observe! the only two nations with constitution worth having are the english and the americans. the english can only be artistic in spots and by way of the art of other nations--sicilian tapestries, persian saddle-bags, khoten carpets, and the sweepings of pawn-brokers' shops. the americans are artistic so long as a few of 'em can buy their art to keep abreast of the times with. spain is artistic, but she is also disturbed at intervals; france is artistic, but she must have her revolution every twenty years for the sake of fresh material; russia is artistic, but she occasionally wishes to kill her czar, and has no sort of government; germany is not artistic, because she experienced religion; and italy is artistic, because she did very badly. india--" "when you have finished your verdict on the world, perhaps you'll go to bed." "consequently," i continued, with scorn, "i am of opinion that a constitution is the worst thing in the world for a people who are blessed with souls above the average. now the first demand of the artistic temperament is mundane uncertainty. the second is--" "sleep," said the professor, and left the room. no. xvii of the nature of the tokaido and japanese railway construction. one traveller explains the life of the sahib-log, and another the origin of dice. of the babies in the bath tub and the man in d. t. "when i went to hell i spoke to the man on the road." --_old saw._ you know the story of the miner who borrowed a dictionary and returned it with the remark that the stories, though interesting in the main, were too various. i have the same complaint to make against japanese scenery--twelve hours of it by train from nagoya to yokohama. about seven hundred years ago the king of those days built a sea-road which he called the tokaido (or else all the sea-coast was called the tokaido, but it's of no importance), which road endures to the present. later on, when the english engineer appeared, he followed the grand trunk more or less closely, and the result has been a railway that any nation might take off their hat to. the last section of the through line from kioto to yokohama was only opened five days before the professor and i honoured it with an unofficial inspection. the accommodation of all kinds is arranged for the benefit of the japanese; and this is distressing to the foreigner, who expects in a carriage remotely resembling e. i. r. rolling-stock the conveniences of that pea-green and very dusty old line. but it suits the japanese admirably: they hop out at every other station--_pro re nata_--and occasionally get left behind. two days ago they managed to kill a government official of high standing between a footboard and a platform, and to-day the japanese papers are seriously discussing the advantages of lavatories. far be it from me to interfere with the arrangements of an artistic empire; but for a twelve hours' run there might at least be arrangements. we had left the close-packed cultivation at the foot of the hills and were running along the shores of a great lake, all steel-blue from one end to the other, except where it was dotted with little islands. then the lake turned into an arm of the sea, and we ran across it on a cut-stone causeway, and the profligacy of the pines ceased, as the trees had to come down from clothing dank hills, and fight with bowed head, outstretched arms, and firmly planted feet, against the sands of the pacific, whose breakers were spouting and blowing not a quarter of a mile away from the causeway. the japs know all about forestry. they stake down wandering sand-torrents, which are still allowed to ruin our crops in the hoshiarpur district, and they plug a shifting sand-dune with wattle dams and pine seedlings as cleverly as they would pin plank to plank. were their forest officers trained at nancy, or are they local products? the stake-binding used to hold the sand is of french pattern, and the diagonal planting out of the trees is also french. half a minute after the train dropped this desolate, hardly controlled beach it raced through four or five miles of the suburbs of patna, but a clean and glorified patna bowered in bamboo plantations. then it hit a tunnel and sailed forth into a section of the london, brighton, and south coast, or whatever the line is that wants to make the channel tunnel. at any rate, the embankment was on the beach, and the waves lapped the foot of it, and there was a wall of cut rock to landward. then we disturbed many villages of fishermen, whose verandahs gave on to the track, and whose nets lay almost under our wheels. the railway was still a new thing in that particular part of the world, for mothers held up their babes to see it. any one can keep pace with indian scenery, arranged as it is in reaches of five hundred miles. this blinding alternation of field, mountain, sea-beach, forest, bamboo grove, and rolling moor covered with azalea blossoms was too much for me, so i sought the society of a man who had lived in japan for twenty years. "yes, japan's an excellent country as regards climate. the rains begin in may or latter april. june, july, and august are hot months. i've known the thermometer as high as 86° at night, but i'd defy the world to produce anything more perfect than the weather between september and may. when one gets seedy, one goes to the hot springs in the hakone mountains close to yokohama. there are heaps of places to recruit in, but we english are a healthy lot. of course we don't have half as much fun as you do in india. we are a small community, and all our amusements are organised by ourselves for our own benefit--concerts, races, and amateur theatricals and the like. you have heaps of 'em in india, haven't you?" "oh, yes!" i said, "we enjoy ourselves awfully, 'specially about this time of the year. i quite understand, though, that small communities dependent on themselves for enjoyment are apt to feel a little slow and isolated--almost bored, in fact. but you were saying--?" "well, living is not very dear, and house rent is. a hundred dollars a month gets you a decent house and you can get one for sixty. but house property is down just now in yokohama. the races are on in yokohama to-day and monday. are you going? no? you ought to go and see all the foreigners enjoying themselves. but i suppose you've seen much better things in india, haven't you? you haven't anything better than old fuji--fujiyama. there he is now to the left of the line. what do you think of him?" i turned and beheld fujiyama across a sea of upward-sloping fields and woods. it is about fourteen thousand feet high--not very much, according to our ideas. but fourteen thousand feet above the sea when one stands in the midst of sixteen-thousand-foot peaks, is quite another thing from the same height noted at sea-level in a comparatively flat country. the labouring eye crawls up every foot of the dead crater's smooth flank, and at the summit confesses that it has seen nothing in all the himalayas to match the monster. i was satisfied. fujiyama was exactly as i had seen it on fans and lacquer boxes; i would not have sold my sight of it for the crest of kinchinjunga flushed with the morning. fujiyama is the keynote of japan. when you understand the one you are in a position to learn something about the other. i tried to get information from my fellow-traveller. "yes, the japanese are building railways all over the island. what i mean to say is that the companies are started and financed by japs, and they make 'em pay. i can't quite tell you where the money comes from, but it's all to be found in the country. japan's neither rich nor poor, but just comfortable. i'm a merchant myself. can't say that i altogether like the jap way o' doing business. you can never be certain whether the little beggar means what he says. give me a chinaman to deal with. other men have told you that, have they? you'll find that opinion at most of the treaty ports. but what i will say is, that the japanese government is about as enterprising a government as you could wish, and a good one to have dealings with. when japan has finished reconstructing herself on the new lines, she'll be quite a respectable little power. see if she isn't. now we are coming into the hakone mountains. watch the railway. it's rather a curiosity." we came into the hakone mountains by way of some irish scenery, a scotch trout-stream, a devonshire combe, and an indian river running masterless over half a mile of pebbles. this was only the prelude to a set of geological illustrations, including the terraces formed by ancient river-beds, denudation, and half a dozen other ations. i was so busy telling the man from yokohama lies about the height of the himalayas that i did not watch things closely, till we got to yokohama, at eight in the evening, and went to the grand hotel, where all the clean and nicely dressed people who were just going in to dinner regarded us with scorn, and men, whom we had met on steamers aforetime, dived into photograph books and pretended not to see us. there's a deal of human nature in a man--got up for dinner--when a woman is watching him--and you look like a brick-layer--even in yokohama. the grand is the semi or cottage grand really, but you had better go there unless a friend tells you of a better. a long course of good luck has spoiled me for even average hotels. they are too fine and large at the grand, and they don't always live up to their grandeur; unlimited electric bells, but no one in particular to answer 'em; printed menu, but the first comers eat all the nice things, and so forth. none the less there are points about the grand not to be despised. it is modelled on the american fashion, and is but an open door through which you may catch the first gust from the pacific slope. officially, there are twice as many english as americans in the port. actually, you hear no languages but french, german, or american in the street. my experience is sadly limited, but the american i have heard up to the present, is a tongue as distinct from english as patagonian. a gentleman from boston was kind enough to tell me something about it. he defended the use of "i guess" as a shakespearian expression to be found in _richard the third_. i have learned enough never to argue with a bostonian. "all right," i said, "i've never heard a real american say 'i guess'; but what about the balance of your extraordinary tongue? do you mean to say that it has anything in common with ours except the auxiliary verbs, the name of the creator, and damn? listen to the men at the next table." "they are westerners," said the man from boston, as who should say "observe this cassowary." "they are westerners, and if you want to make a westerner mad tell him he is not like an englishman. they think they are like the english. they are awfully thin-skinned in the west. now in boston it's different. _we_ don't care what the english people think of us." the idea of the english people sitting down to think about boston, while boston on the other side of the water ostentatiously "didn't care," made me snigger. the man told me stories. he belonged to a republic. that was why every man of his acquaintance belonged either "to one of the first families in boston" or else "was of good salem stock, and his fathers had come over in the _mayflower_." i felt as though i were moving in the midst of a novel. fancy having to explain to the casual stranger the blood and breeding of the hero of every anecdote. i wonder whether many people in boston are like my friend with the salem families. i am going there to see. "there's no romance in america--it's all hard, business facts," said a man from the pacific slope, after i had expressed my opinion about some rather curious murder cases which might have been called miscarriages of justice. ten minutes later, i heard him say slowly, _apropos_ of a game called "round the horn" (this is a bad game. don't play it with a stranger.) "well, it's a good thing for this game that omaha came up. dice were invented in omaha, and the man who invented 'em he made a colossal fortune." i said nothing. i began to feel faint. the man must have noticed it. "six-and-twenty years ago, omaha came up," he repeated, looking me in the eye, "and the number of dice that have been made in omaha since that time is incalculable." "there is no romance in america," i moaned like a stricken ring-dove, in the professor's ear. "nothing but hard business facts, and the first families of boston, massachusetts, invented dice at omaha when it first came up, twenty-six years ago, and that's the solid truth. what am i to do with a people like this?" "are you describing japan or america? for goodness' sake, stick to one or the other," said the professor. "it wasn't my fault. there's a bit of america in the bar-room, and on my word it's rather more interesting than japan. let's go across to 'frisco and hear some more lies." "let's go and look at photographs, and refrain from mixing our countries or our drinks." by the way, wherever you go in the further east be humble to the white trader. recollect that you are only a poor beast of a buyer with a few dirty dollars in your pockets, and you can't expect a man to demean himself by taking them. and observe humility not only in the shops, but elsewhere. i was anxious to know how i should cross the pacific to 'frisco, and very foolishly went to an office where they might, under certain circumstances, be supposed to attend to these things. but no anxiety troubled the sprightly soul who happened to be in the office-chair. "there's heaps of time for finding out later on," he said, "and anyhow, i'm going to the races this afternoon. come later on." i put my head in the spittoon, and crawled out under the door. when i am left behind by the steamer it will console me to know that that young man had a good time, and won heavily. everybody keeps horses in yokohama, and the horses are nice little fat little tubs, of the circus persuasion. i didn't go to the races, but a calcutta man did, and returned saying that "they ran 13-2 cart-horses, and even time for a mile was four minutes and twenty-seven seconds." perhaps he had lost heavily, but i can vouch for the riding of the few gentlemen i saw outside the animals. it is very impartial and remarkably all round. just when the man from boston was beginning to tell me some more stories about first families, the professor developed an unholy taste for hot springs, and bore me off to a place called myanoshita to wash myself. "we'll come back and look at yokohama later on, but we must go to this because it's so beautiful." "i'm getting tired of scenery. it's all beautiful and it can't be described, but these men here tell you stories about america. did you ever hear how the people of carmel lynched edward m. petree for preaching the gospel without making a collection at the end of the service? there's no romance in america--it's all hard business facts. edward m. petree was--" "_are_ you going to see japan or are you not?" i went to see. first in a train for one hour in the company of a carriageful of howling globe-trotters, then in a 'rickshaw for four. you cannot appreciate scenery unless you sit in a 'rickshaw. we struck after seven miles of modified flat--the flattery of nature that lures you to her more rugged heart--a mountain river all black pools and boiling foam. him we followed into the hills along a road cut into the crumbling volcanic rock and entirely unmetalled. it was as hard as the simla cartroad, but those far hills behind kalka have no such pine and maple, ash and willow. it was a land of green-clothed cliff and silver waterfall, lovely beyond the defilement of the pen. at every turn in the road whence a view could be commanded, stood a little tea-house full of admiring japanese. the jap dresses in blue because he knows that it contrasts well with the colour of the pines. when he dies he goes to a heaven of his own because the colouring of ours is too crude to suit him. we kept the valley of the glorified stream till the waters sank out of sight down the cliff side and we could but hear them calling to one another through the tangle of the trees. where the woodlands were lovelier, the gorge deepest, and the colours of the young hornbeam most tender, they had clapped down two vile hostelries of wood and glass, and a village that lived by selling turned wood and glass inlay things to the tourist. australians, anglo-indians, dwellers in london and the parts beyond the channel were running up and down the slopes of the hotel garden, and by their strange dresses doing all they knew to deface the landscape. the professor and i slid down the cliff at the back and found ourselves back in japan once more. rough steps took us five or six hundred feet down through dense jungle to the bed of that stream we had followed all the day. the air vibrated with the rush of a hundred torrents, and whenever the eye could pierce the undergrowth it saw a headlong stream breaking itself on a boulder. up at the hotel we had left the gray chill of a november day and cold that numbed the fingers; down in the gorge we found the climate of bengal with real steam thrown in. green bamboo pipes led the hot water to a score of bathing-houses in whose verandahs japanese in blue and white dressing-gowns lounged and smoked. from unseen thickets came the shouts of those who bathed, and--oh shame! round the corner strolled a venerable old lady chastely robed in a white bathing towel, and not too much of that. then we went up the gorge, mopping our brows, and staring to the sky through arches of rampant foliage. japanese maids of fourteen or fifteen are not altogether displeasing to behold. i have not seen more than twenty or thirty of them. of these none were in the least disconcerted at the sight of the stranger. after all, 'twas but brighton beach without the bathing-gowns. at the head of the gorge the heat became greater, and the hot water more abundant. the joints of the water-pipes on the ground gave off jets of steam; there was vapour rising from boulders on the river-bed, and the stab of a stick into the warm, moist soil was followed by a little pool of warm water. the existing supply was not enough for the inhabitants. they were mining for more in a casual and disconnected fashion. i tried to crawl down a shaft eighteen inches by two feet in the hillside, but the steam, which had no effect on the japanese hide, drove me out. what happens, i wonder, when the pick strikes the liquid, and the miner has to run or be parboiled? in the twilight, when we had reached upper earth once more and were passing through the one street of myanoshita, we saw two small fat cherubs about three years old taking their evening tub in a barrel sunk under the eaves of a shop. they feigned great fear, peeping at us behind outspread fingers, attempting futile dives, and trying to hide one behind the other in a hundred poses of spankable chubbiness, while their father urged them to splash us. it was the prettiest picture of the day, and one worth coming even to the sticky, paint-reeking hotel to see. * * * * * he was dressed in a black frock-coat, and at first i took him for a missionary as he mooned up and down the empty corridor. "i have been under a ban for three days," he whispered in a husky voice, "through no fault of mine--no fault of mine. they told me to take the third watch, but they didn't give me a printed notification which i always require, and the manager of this place says that whisky would hurt me. through no fault of mine, god knows, no fault of mine!" i do not like being shut up in an echoing wooden hotel next door to a gentleman of the marine persuasion, who is just recovering from d. t., and who talks to himself all through the dark hours. no. xviii concerning a hot-water tap, and some general conversation. "always speak to the stranger. if he doesn't shoot, the chances are he'll answer you."--_western proverb._ it is a far cry from myanoshita to michni and mandalay. that is why we have met men from both those stations, and have spent a cheerful time talking about dacoits and the black mountain expedition. one of the advantages of foreign travel is that one takes such a keen interest in, and hears so much about, home. truly, they change their trains, but not their train of thought, who run across the sea. "this is a most extraordinary place," said the professor, red as a boiled lobster. "you sit in your bath and turn on the hot or cold spring, as you choose, and the temperature is phenomenal. let's go and see where it all comes from, and then let's go away." there is a place called the burning mountain five miles in the hills. there went we, through unbroken loveliness of bamboo-copse, pine wood, grass downs, and pine wood again, while the river growled below. in the end we found an impoverished and second-hand hell, set out orderly on the side of a raw and bleeding hillside. it looked as though a match-factory had been whelmed by a landslip. water, in which bad eggs had been boiled, stood in blister-lipped pools, and puffs of thin white smoke went up from the labouring under-earth. despite the smell and the sulphur incrustations on the black rocks, i was disappointed, till i felt the heat of the ground, which was the heat of a boiler-sheathing. they call the mountain extinct. if untold tons of power, cased in a few feet of dirt, be the japanese notion of extinction, glad i am that i have not been introduced to a lively volcano. indeed, it was not an overweening notion of my own importance, but a tender regard for the fire-crust below, and a dread of starting the machinery by accident, that made me step so delicately, and urge return upon the professor. "huh! it's only the boiler of your morning bath. all the sources of the springs are here," said he. "i don't care. let 'em alone. did you never hear of a boiler bursting? don't prod about with your stick in that amateur way. you'll turn on the tap." when you have seen a burning mountain you begin to appreciate japanese architecture. it is not solid. every one is burned out once or twice casually. a business isn't respectable until it has received its baptism of fire. but fire is of no importance. the one thing that inconveniences a jap is an earthquake. consequently, he arranges his house that it shall fall lightly as a bundle of broom upon his head. still further safeguarding himself, he has no foundations, but the corner-posts rest on the crowns of round stones sunk in the earth. the corner-posts take the wave of the shock, and, though the building may give way like an eel-trap, nothing very serious happens. this is what epicures of earthquakes aver. i wait for mine own experiences, but not near a suspected district such as the burning mountain. it was only to escape from one terror to another that i fled myanoshita. a blue-breeched dwarf thrust me into a dwarf 'rickshaw on spidery wheels, and down the rough road that we had taken four hours to climb ran me clamorously in half an hour. take all the parapets off the simla road and leave it alone for ten years. then run down the steepest four miles of any section,--not steeper than the drop to the old gaiety theatre,--behind one man! "we couldn't get six hill-men to take us in this style," shouted the professor as he spun by, his wheels kicking like a duck's foot, and the whole contraption at an angle of thirty. i am proud to think that not even sixty hill-men would have gambolled with a sahib in that disgraceful manner. nor would any tramway company in the real east have run its cars to catch a train that used to start last year, but now--rest its soul--is as dead as queen anne. this thing a queer little seven-mile tramway accomplished with much dignity. it owned a first-class car and a second-class car,--two horses to each,--and it ran them with a hundred yards headway--the one all but empty, and the other half full. when the very small driver could not control his horses, which happened on the average once every two minutes, he did not waste time by pulling them in. he screwed down the brake and laughed--possibly at the company who had paid for the very elaborate car. yet he was an artistic driver. he wore no philistine brass badge. between the shoulders of his blue jerkin were done in white, three railheads in a circle, and on the skirts as many tram-wheels conventionalised. only the japanese know how to conventionalise a tram-wheel or make a key-pattern of railheads. though we took twelve hours to cover the thirty miles that separated us from yokohama, we admitted this much while we waited for our train in a village by the sea. a village of any size is about three miles long in the main street. villages with a population of more than ten thousand souls take rank as towns. "and yet," said a man at yokohama that night, "you have not seen the densest population. that's away in the western _kens_--districts, as you call them. the folk really are crowded thereabouts, but virtually poverty does not exist in the country. you see, an agricultural labourer can maintain himself and his family, as far as rice goes, for four cents a day, and the price of fish is nominal. rice now costs a hundred pounds to the dollar. what do you make it by indian standards? from twenty to twenty-five seers the rupee. yes, that's about it. well, he gets, perhaps, three dollars and a-half a month. the people spend a good deal in pleasuring. they must enjoy themselves. i don't think they save much. how do they invest their savings? in jewellery? no, not exactly; though you'll find that the women's hair-pins, which are about the only jewellery they wear, cost a good deal. seven and eight dollars are paid for a good hair-pin, and of course jade may cost anything. what the women really lock their money up in is in their _obis_--the things you call sashes. an _obi_ is ten or twelve yards long, and i've known them sold wholesale for fifty dollars each. every woman above the poorest class has at least one good dress of silk and an _obi_. yes, all their savings go in dress, and a handsome dress is always worth having. the western _kens_ are the richest taken all round. a skilled mechanic there gets a dollar or dollar and a-half a day, and, as you know, lacquer-workers and inlayers--artists--get two. there's enough money in japan for all current expenses. they won't borrow any for railroads. they raise it 'emselves. most progressive people the japanese are as regards railways. they make them very cheaply, much more cheaply than any european lines. i've some experience, and i take it that two thousand pounds a mile is the average cost of construction. not on the tokaido, of course--the line that you came up by. that's a government line, state built, and a very expensive one. i'm speaking of the japanese railway company with a mileage of three hundred, and the line from kobé south, and the kinshin line in the southern island. there are lots of little companies with a few score miles of line, but all the companies are extending. the reason why the construction is so cheap is the nature of the land. there's no long haulage of rails, because you can nearly always find a creek running far up into the country, and dump out your rails within a few miles of the place where they are wanted. then, again, all your timber lies to your hand, and your staff are japs. there are a few european engineers, but they are quite the heads of the departments, and i believe if they were cleared out to-morrow, the japs would go on building their lines. they know how to make 'em pay. one line started on a state guarantee of eight per cent. it hasn't called for the guarantee yet. it's making twelve per cent on its own hook. there's a very heavy freight traffic in wood and provisions for the big towns, and there's a local traffic that you can have no idea of unless you've watched it. the people seem to move in twenty-mile circles for business or pleasure--'specially pleasure. oh, i tell you, japan will be a gridiron of railways before long. in another month or two you'll be able to travel nearly seven hundred miles on and by the tokaido line alone from one end to the other, of the central islands. getting from east to west is harder work. the backbone-hills of the country are just cruel, and it will be some time before the japs run many lines across. but they'll do it, of course. their country must go forward. "if you want to know anything about their politics, i'm afraid i can't help you much. they are, so to speak, drunk with western liquor, and are sucking it up by the hogshead. in a few years they will see how much of what we call civilisation they really want, and how much they can discard. 'tisn't as if they had to learn the arts of life or how to make themselves comfortable. they knew all that long ago. when their railway system is completed, and they begin to understand their new constitution, they will have learned as much as we can teach 'em. that's my opinion; but it needs time to understand this country. i've been a matter of eight or ten years in it, and my views aren't worth much. i've come to know some of the old families that used to be of the feudal nobility. they keep themselves to themselves and live very quietly. i don't think you'll find many of them in the official classes. their one fault is that they entertain far beyond their means. they won't receive you informally and take you into their houses. they raise dancing-girls, or take you to their club and have a big feed. they don't introduce you to their wives, and they haven't yet given up the rule of making the wife eat after the husband. like the native of india you say? well, i am very fond of the jap; but i suppose he _is_ a native any way you look at him. you wouldn't think that he is careless in his workmanship and dishonest. a chinaman, on an average, is out and away a bigger rogue than a jap; but he has sense enough to see that honesty is the best policy, and to act by that light. a jap will be dishonest just to save himself trouble. he's like a child that way." how many times have i had to record such an opinion as the foregoing? everywhere the foreigner says the same thing of the neat-handed, polite little people that live among flowers and babies, and smoke tobacco as mild as their own manners. i am sorry; but when you come to think of it, a race without a flaw would be perfect. and then all the other nations of the earth would rise up and hammer it to pieces. and then there would be no japan. "i'll give you a day to think over things generally," said the professor. "after that we'll go to nikko and tokio. who has not seen nikko does not know how to pronounce the world 'beautiful.'" yokohama is not the proper place to arrange impressions in. the pacific ocean knocks at your door, asking to be looked at; the japanese and american men-of-war demand serious attention through a telescope; and if you wander about the corridors of the grand hotel, you stop to play with spanish generals, all gold lace and spurs, or are captured by touts for curio-shops. it is not a nice experience to find a sahib in a panama hat handing you the card of his firm for all the world like a delhi silk-merchant. you are inclined to pity that man, until he sits down, gives you a cigar, and tells you all about his diseases, his past career in california, where he was always making money and always losing it, and his hopes for the future. you see then that you are entering upon a new world. talk to every one you meet, if they show the least disposition to talk to you, and you will gather, as i have done, a host of stories that will be of use to you hereafter. unfortunately, they are not all fit for publication. when i tore myself away from the distractions of the outer world, and was just sitting down to write seriously on the future of japan, there entered a fascinating man, with heaps of money, who had collected indian and japanese curios all his life, and was now come to this country to get some old books which his collection lacked. can you imagine a more pleasant life than his wanderings over the earth, with untold special knowledge to back each signature of his cheque-book? in five minutes he had carried me far away from the clattering, fidgetty folk around, to a quiet world where men meditated for three weeks over a bronze, and scoured all japan for a sword-guard designed by a great artist and--were horribly cheated in the end. "who is the best artist in japan now?" i asked. "he died in tokio, last friday, poor fellow, and there is no one to take his place. his name was k----, and as a general rule he could never be persuaded to work unless he was drunk. he did his best pictures when he was drunk." "_ému._ artists are never drunk." "quite right. i'll show you a sword-guard that he designed. all the best artists out here do a lot of designing. k---used to fritter away his time on designs for old friends. had he stuck to pictures he could have made twice as much. but he never turned out potboilers. when you go to tokio, make it your business to get two little books of his called _drunken sketches_--pictures that he did, when he was--_ému_. there is enough dash and go in them to fill half a dozen studios. an english artist studied under him for some time. but k----'s touch was not communicable, though he might have taught his pupil something about technique. have you ever come across one of k----'s crows? you could tell it anywhere. he could put all the wicked thoughts that ever came into the mind of a crow--and a crow is first cousin to the devil--on a piece of paper six inches square, with a brush of indian ink and two turns of his wrist. look at the sword-guard i spoke of. how is that for feeling?" on a circular piece of iron four inches in diameter and pierced by the pole for the tang of the blade, poor k----, who died last friday, had sketched the figure of a coolie trying to fold up a cloth which was bellying to a merry breeze--not a cold wind, but a sportive summer gust. the coolie was enjoying the performance, and so was the cloth. it would all be folded up in another minute and the coolie would go on his way with a grin. this thing had k---conceived, and the faithful workman executed, with the lightest touches of the graver, to the end that it might lie in a collector's cabinet in london. "wah! wah!" i said, and returned it reverently. "it would kill a man who could do that to live after his touch had gone. well for him he died--but i wish i had seen him. show me some more." "i've got a painting by hokusai--the great artist who lived at the end of the last century and the beginning of this. even _you_ have heard of hokusai, haven't you?" "a little. i have heard it was impossible to get a genuine painting with his signature attached." "that's true; but i've shown this one to the japanese government expert in pictures--the man the mikado consults in cases of doubt--to the first european authority on japanese art, and of course i have my own opinion to back the signed guarantee of the seller. look!" he unrolled a silk-scroll and showed me the figure of a girl in pale blue and grey crêpe, carrying in her arms a bundle of clothes that, as the tub behind her showed, had just been washed. a dark-blue handkerchief was thrown lightly over the left forearm, shoulder, and neck, ready to tie up the clothes when the bundle should be put down. the flesh of the right arm showed through the thin drapery of the sleeve. the right hand merely steadied the bundle from above; the left gripped it firmly from below. through the stiff blue-black hair showed the outline of the left ear. that there was enormous elaboration in the picture, from the ornamentation of the hair-pins to the graining of the clogs, did not strike me till after the first five minutes, when i had sufficiently admired the certainty of touch. "recollect there is no room for error in painting on silk," said the proud possessor. "the line must stand under any circumstances. all that is possible before painting is a little dotting with charcoal, which is rubbed off with a feather-brush. did he know anything about drapery or colour or the shape of a woman? is there any one who could teach him more if he were alive to-day?" then we went to nikko. no. xix the legend of nikko ford and the story of the avoidance of misfortune. a rose-red city, half as old as time. five hours in the train took us to the beginning of a 'rickshaw journey of twenty-five miles. the guide unearthed an aged cart on japanese lines, and seduced us into it by promises of speed and comfort beyond anything that a 'rickshaw could offer. never go to nikko in a cart. the town of departure is full of pack-ponies who are not used to it, and every third animal tries to get a kick at his friends in the shafts. this renders progress sufficiently exciting till the bumpsomeness of the road quenches all emotions save one. nikko is reached through one avenue of _cryptomerias_--cypress-like trees eighty feet high, with red or dull silver trunks and hearse-plume foliage of darkest green. when i say one avenue, i mean one continuous avenue twenty-five miles long, the trees so close to each other throughout that their roots interlace and form a wall of wood on either side of the sunken road. where it was necessary to make a village along the line of march,--that is to say once every two or three miles,--a few of the giants had been wrenched out--as teeth are wrenched from a full-planted jaw--to make room for the houses. then the trees closed up as before to mount guard over the road. the banks between which we drove were alight with azaleas, camelias, and violets. "glorious! stupendous! magnificent!" sang the professor and i in chorus for the first five miles, in the intervals of the bumps. the avenue took not the least notice of our praise except by growing the trees even more closely together. "vistas of pillared shade" are very pleasant to read about, but on a cold day the ungrateful heart of man could cheerfully dispense with a mile or two of it if that would shorten the journey. we were blind to the beauty around; to the files of pack-ponies with manes like hearth-brooms and the tempers of eblis kicking about the path; to the pilgrims with blue and white handkerchiefs on their heads, enviable silver-grey leggings on their feet, and buddha-like babies on their backs; to the trim country drays pulled by miniature cart-horses bringing down copper from the mines and _saki_ from the hills; to the colour and movement in the villages where all the little children shouted "ohio's!" and all the old people laughed. the grey tree-trunks marched us solemnly along over that horrid bad road which had been mended with brushwood, and after five hours we got nikko in the shape of a long village at the foot of a hill, and capricious nature, to reward us for our sore bones, laughed on the instant in floods of sunshine. and upon what a mad scene did the light fall! the _cryptomerias_ rose in front of us a wall of green darkness, a tearing torrent ran deep-green over blue boulders, and between stream and trees was thrown a blood-red bridge--the sacred bridge of red lacquer that no foot save the mikado's may press. very cunning artists are the japanese. long ago a great-hearted king came to nikko river and looked across at the trees, up-stream at the torrent and the hills whence it came, and down-stream at the softer outlines of the crops and spurs of wooded mountains. "it needs only a dash of colour in the foreground to bring this all together," said he, and he put a little child in a blue and white dressing-gown under the awful trees to judge the effect. emboldened by his tenderness, an aged beggar ventured to ask for alms. now it was the ancient privilege of the great to try the temper of their blades upon beggars and such cattle. mechanically the king swept off the old man's head, for he did not wish to be disturbed. the blood spurted across the granite slabs of the river-ford in a sheet of purest vermilion. the king smiled. chance had solved the problem for him. "build a bridge here," he said to the court carpenter, "of just such a colour as that stuff on the stones. build also a bridge of grey stone close by, for i would not forget the wants of my people." so he gave the little child across the stream a thousand pieces of gold and went his way. he had composed a landscape. as for the blood, they wiped it up and said no more about it; and that is the story of nikko bridge. you will not find it in the guide-books. i followed the voice of the river through a rickety toy-village, across some rough bottom-land, till, crossing a bridge, i found myself among lichened stones, scrub, and the blossoms of spring. a hillside, steep and wooded as the flanks of the red aravallis, rose on my left; on my right, the eye travelled from village to cropland, crop to towering cypress, and rested at last on the cold blue of an austere hill-top encircled by streaks of yet unmelted snow. the nikko hotel stood at the foot of this hill; and the time of the year was may. then a sparrow came by with a piece of grass in her beak, for she was building her nest; and i knew that the spring was come to nikko. one is so apt to forget the changes of the year over there with you in india. sitting in a solemn line on the banks of the river were fifty or sixty cross-legged images which the untrained eye put down immediately as so many small buddhas. they had all, even when the lichen had cloaked them with leprosy, the calm port and unwinking regard of the lord of the world. they are not buddhas really, but other things--presents from forgotten great men to dead and gone institutions, or else memorials of ancestors. the guide-book will tell you. they were a ghostly crew. as i examined them more closely i saw that each differed from the other. many of them held in their joined arms a little store of river pebbles, evidently put there by the pious. when i inquired the meaning of the gift from a stranger who passed, he said: "those so distinguished are images of the god who plays with little children up in the sky. he tells them stories and builds them houses of pebbles. the stones are put in his arms either that he may not forget to amuse the babies or to prevent his stock running low." i have no means of telling whether the stranger spoke the truth, but i prefer to believe that tale as gospel truth. only the japanese could invent the god who plays with little children. thereafter the images took a new aspect in my eyes and were no longer "græco-buddhist sculptures," but personal friends. i added a great heap of pebbles to the stock of the cheeriest among them. his bosom was ornamented with small printed slips of prayers which gave him the appearance of a disreputable old parson with his bands in disorder. a little further up the bank of the river was a rough, solitary rock hewn with what men called a shinto shrine. i knew better: the thing was hindu, and i looked at the smooth stones on every side for the familiar dab of red paint. on a flat rock overhanging the water were carved certain characters in sanscrit, remotely resembling those on a thibetan prayer-wheel. not comprehending these matters, and grateful that i had brought no guide-book with me, i clambered down to the lip of the river--now compressed into a raging torrent. do you know the strid near bolton--that spot where the full force of the river is pent up in two yards' breadth? the nikko strid is an improvement upon the yorkshire one. the blue rocks are hollowed like soapstone by the rush of the water. they rise above head-level and in spring are tufted with azalea blossom. the stranger of the godlings came up behind me as i basked on a boulder. he pointed up the little gorge of rocks, "now if i painted that as it stands, every critic in the papers would say i was a liar." the mad stream came down directly from a blue hill blotched with pink, through a sky-blue gorge also pink-blotched. an obviously impossible pine mounted guard over the water. i would give much to see an accurate representation of that view. the stranger departed growling over some hidden grief--connected with the academy perhaps. hounded on by the professor, the guide sought me by banks of the river and bade me "come and see temples." then i fairly and squarely cursed all temples, being stretched at my ease on some warm sand in the hollow of a rock, and ignorant as the grass-shod cattle that tramped the further bank. "very fine temples," said the guide, "you come and see. by and by temple be shut up because priests make half an hour more time." nikko time is half an hour ahead of the standard, because the priests of the temples have discovered that travellers arriving at three p.m. try to do all the temples before four--the official-hour of closing. this defrauds the church of her dues, so her servants put the clock on, and nikko, knowing naught of the value of time, is well content. when i cursed the temples i did a foolish thing, and one for which this poor pen can never make fitting reparation. we went up a hill by way of a flight of grey stone slabs. the _cryptomerias_ of the nikko road were as children to the giants that overshadowed us here. between their iron-grey boles were flashes of red--the blood-red of the mikado's bridge. that great king who killed the beggar at the ford had been well pleased with the success of his experiment. passing under a mighty stone arch we came into a square of splendour alive with the sound of hammers. thirty or forty men were tapping the pillars and steps of a carnelian shrine heavy with gold. "that," said the guide, impassively, "is a godown. they are renewing the lacquer. first they extract it." have you ever "extracted" lacquer from wood? i smote the foot of a pillar with force, and after half a dozen blows chipped off one small fragment of the stuff, in texture like red horn. betraying no surprise, i demanded the name of a yet more magnificent shrine across the courtyard. it was red lacquered like the others, but above its main door were carved in open work three apes--one with his hands to his ears, another covering his mouth, and a third blinding his eyes. "that place," said the guide, "used to be a stable when the daimio kept his horses there. the monkeys are the three who hear no wrong, say no wrong, and see no wrong." "of course," i said. "what a splendid device for a stable where the grooms steal the grain!" i was angry because i had grovelled before a godown and a stable, though the round world cannot hold their equals. we entered a temple, or a tomb, i do not know which, through a gateway of carven pillars. eleven of them bore a running pattern of trefoil--the apex pointing earthward--the twelfth had its pattern reversed. "make 'em all the same--no good," said the guide, emphatically. "something sure to come bad by an' by. make one different all right. save him so. nothing happen then." unless i am mistaken, that voluntarily breaking of the set was the one sacrifice that the designer had made to the great gods above who are so jealous of the craft of men. for the rest he had done what he pleased--even as a god might have done--with the wood in its gleaming lacquer sheath, with enamel and inlay and carving and bronze, hammered work, and the work of the inspired chisel. when he went to his account he saved himself from the jealousy of his judges, by pointing to the trefoil pillars for proof that he was only a weak mortal and in no sense their equals. men say that never man has given complete drawings, details, or descriptions of the temples of nikko. only a german would try, and he would fail in spirit. only a frenchman could succeed in spirit, but he would be inaccurate. i have a recollection of passing through a door with _cloisonnée_ hinges, with a golden lintel and red lacquer jambs, with panels of tortoise-shell lacquer and clamps of bronze tracery. it opened into a half-lighted hall on whose blue ceiling a hundred golden dragons romped and spat fire. a priest moved about the gloom with noiseless feet, and showed me a pot-bellied lantern four feet high, that the dutch traders of old time had sent as a present to the temple. there were posts of red lacquer dusted over with gold, to support the roof. on one post lay a rib of lacquer, six inches thick, that had been carved or punched over with high relief carvings and had set harder than crystal. the temple steps were of black lacquer, and the frames of the sliding screens red. that money, lakhs and lakhs of money, had been lavished on the wonder impressed me but little. i wished to know who were the men that, when the _cryptomerias_ were saplings, had sat down and spent their lives on a niche or corner of the temple, and dying passed on the duty of adornment to their sons, though neither father nor child hoped to see the work completed. this question i asked the guide, who plunged me in a tangle of daimios and shoguns, all manifestly extracted from a guide-book. after a while the builder's idea entered into my soul. he had said: "let us build blood-red chapels in a cathedral." so they planted the cathedral three hundred years ago, knowing that tree-boles would make the pillars and the sky the roof. round each temple stood a small army of priceless bronze or stone lanterns, stamped, as was everything else, with the three leaves that make the daimio's crest. the lanterns were dark green or lichened grey, and in no way lightened the gloom of the red. down below, by the sacred bridge, i believed red was a joyous colour. up the hillside under the trees and the shadow of the temple eaves i saw that it was the hue of sorrow. when the great king killed the beggar at the ford he did not laugh, as i have said. he was very sorry, and said: "art is art, and worth any sacrifice. take that corpse away and pray for the naked soul." once, in one of the temple courtyards, nature dared to rebel against the scheme of the hillside. some forest tree, all unimpressed by the _cryptomerias_, had tossed a torrent of tenderest pink flowers down the face of a grey retaining wall that guarded a cutting. it was as if a child had laughed aloud at some magnificence it could not understand. "you see that cat?" said the guide, pointing out a pot-bellied pussy painted above a door. "that is the sleeping cat. the artist he paint it left-handed. we are proud of that cat." "and did they let him remain left-handed after he had painted that thing?" "oh yes. you see he was always left-handed." the infinite tenderness of the japanese towards their children extends, it would seem, even to artists. every guide will take you to see the sleeping cat. don't go. it is bad. coming down the hill, i learned that all nikko was two feet under snow in the winter, and while i was trying to imagine how fierce red, white, and black-green would look under the light of a winter sun i met the professor murmuring expletives of admiration. "what have you done? what have you seen?" said he. "nothing. i've accumulated a lot of impressions of no use to any one but the owner." "which means you are going to slop over for the benefit of the people in india," said the professor. and the notion so disgusted me that i left nikko that very afternoon, the guide clamouring that i had not seen half its glories. "there is a lake," he said; "there are mountains. you must go see!" "i will return to tokio and study the modern side of japan. this place annoys me because i do not understand it." "yet i am _the_ good guide of yokohama," said the guide. no. xx shows how i grossly libelled the japanese army, and edited a civil and military gazette which is not in the least trustworthy. "and the duke said, 'let there be cavalry,' and there were cavalry. and he said, 'let them be slow,' and they were slow, d----d slow; and the japanese imperial horse called he them." i was wrong. i know it. i ought to have clamoured at the doors of the legation for a pass to see the imperial palace. i ought to have investigated tokio and called upon some of the political leaders of the liberal and radical parties. there are a hundred things which i ought to have done, but somehow or other the bugles began to blare through the chill of the morning, and i heard the tramp of armed men under my window. the parade-ground was within a stone's throw of the tokio hotel; the imperial troops were going on parade. would _you_ have bothered your head about politics or temples? i ran after them. it is rather difficult to get accurate information about the japanese army. it seems to be in perpetual throes of reorganisation. at present, so far as one can gather, it is about one hundred and seventy thousand strong. everybody has to serve for three years, but payment of one hundred dollars will shorten the term of service by one year at least. this is what a man who had gone through the mill told me. he capped his information with this verdict: "english army no use. only navy any good. have seen two hundred english army. no use." on the parade-ground they had a company of foot and a wing of what, for the sake of brevity, i will call cavalry under instruction. the former were being put through some simple evolutions in close order; the latter were variously and singularly employed. to the former i took off the hat of respect; at the latter i am ashamed to say i pointed the finger of derision. but let me try to describe what i saw. the likeness of the jap infantryman to the gurkha grows when you see him in bulk. thanks to their wholesale system of conscription the quality of conscripts varies immensely. i have seen scores of persons with spectacles whom it were base flattery to call soldiers, and who i hope were in the medical or commissariat departments. again i have seen dozens of bull-necked, deep-chested, flat-backed, thin-flanked little men who were as good as a colonel commanding could desire. there was a man of the 2d infantry whom i met at an up-country railway station. he carried just the proper amount of insolent swagger that a soldier should, refused to answer any questions of mine, and parted the crowd round him without ceremony. a gurkha of the prince of wales' own could not have been trimmer. in the crush of a ticket-collecting--we both got out together--i managed to run my hand over that small man's forearm and chest. they must have a very complete system of gymnastics in the japanese army, and i would have given much to have stripped my friend and seen how he peeled. if the 2d infantry are equal to sample, they are good. the men on parade at tokio belonged either to the 4th or the 9th, and turned out with their cowskin valises strapped, but i think not packed. under full kit, such as i saw on the sentry at osaka castle, they ought to be much too heavily burdened. their officers were as miserable a set of men as japan could furnish--spectacled, undersized even for japan, hollow-backed and hump-shouldered. they squeaked their words of command and had to trot by the side of their men to keep up with them. the jap soldier has the long stride of the gurkha, and he doubles with the easy lope of the 'rickshaw coolie. throughout the three hours that i watched them they never changed formation but once, when they doubled in pairs across the plain, their rifles at the carry. their step and intervals were as good as those of our native regiments, but they wheeled rather promiscuously, and were not checked for this by their officers. so far as my limited experience goes, their formation was not ours, but continental. the words of command were as beautifully unintelligible as anything our parade-grounds produce; and between them the officers of each half-company vehemently harangued their men, and shook their swords at 'em in distinctly unmilitary style. the precision of their movements was beyond praise. they enjoyed three hours of steady drill, and in the rare intervals when they stood easy to draw breath i looked for slackness all down the ranks, inasmuch as "standing easy" is the crucial test of men after the first smartness of the morning has worn off. they stood "easy," neither more nor less, but never a hand went to a shoe or stock or button while they were so standing. when they knelt, still in this queer column of company, i understood the mystery of the long-sword bayonet which has puzzled me sorely. i had expected to see the little fellows lifted into the air as the bayonet-sheath took ground; but they were not. they kicked it sideways as they dropped. all the same, the authorities tie men to the bayonets instead of bayonets to the men. when at the double there was no grabbing at the cartridge pouch with one hand or steadying the bayonet with the other, as may be seen any day at running-firing on indian ranges. they ran cleanly--as our gurkhas run. it was an unchristian thought, but i would have given a good deal to see that company being blooded on an equal number of our native infantry--just to know how they would work. if they have pluck, and there is not much in their past record to show that they have not, they ought to be first-class enemies. under british officers instead of the little anatomies at present provided, and with a better rifle, they should be as good as any troops recruited east of suez. i speak here only for the handy little men i saw. the worst of conscription is that it sweeps in such a mass of fourth and fifth-rate citizens who, though they may carry a gun, are likely, by their own excusable ineptitude, to do harm to the morale and set-up of a regiment. in their walks abroad the soldiery never dream of keeping step. they tie things to their side-arms, they carry bundles, they slouch, and dirty their uniforms. and so much for a raw opinion on japanese infantry. the cavalry were having a picnic on the other side of the parade-ground--circling right and left by sections, trying to do something with a troop, and so forth. i would fain believe that the gentlemen i saw were recruits. but they wore all their arms, and their officers were just as clever as themselves. half of them were in white fatigue-dress and flat cap,--and wore half-boots of brown leather with short hunting-spurs and black straps; no chains. they carried carbine and sword--the sword fixed to the man, and the carbine slung over the back. no martingales, but breastplates and crupper, a huge, heavy saddle, with single hide-girth, over two _numdahs_, completed the equipment which a thirteen-hand pony, all mane and tail, was trying to get rid of. when you thrust a two-pound bit and bridoon into a small pony's mouth, you hurt his feelings. when the riders wear, as did my friends, white worsted gloves, they cannot take a proper hold of the reins. when they ride with both hands, sitting well on the mount's neck, knuckles level with its ears and the stirrup leathers as short as they can be, the chances of the pony getting rid of the rider are manifestly increased. never have i seen such a wild dream of equitation as the tokio parade-ground showed. do you remember the picture in _alice in wonderland_, just before alice found the lion and the unicorn; when she met the armed men coming through the woods? i thought of that, and i thought of the white knight in the same classic, and i laughed aloud. here were a set of very fair ponies, sure-footed as goats, mostly entires, and full of go. under japanese weights they would have made very thorough mounted infantry. and here was this blindly imitative nation trying to turn them into heavy cavalry. as long as the little beasts were gravely trotting in circles they did not mind their work. but when it came to slashing at the turk's head they objected very much indeed. i affiliated myself to a section who, armed with long wooden swords, were enjoying some turk's-heading. out started a pony at the gentlest of canters, while the rider bundled all the reins into one hand, and held his sword like a lance. then the pony shied a little shy, shook his shaggy head, and began to passage round the turk's head. there was no pressure of knee or rein to tell him what was wanted. the man on top began kicking with the spurs from shoulder to rump, and shaking up the ironmongery in the poor brute's mouth. the pony could neither rear, nor kick, nor buck; but it shook itself free of the incubus who slid off. three times i saw this happen. the catastrophe didn't rise to the dignity of a fall. it was the blundering collapse of incompetence plus worsted gloves, two-handed riding, and a haystack of equipment. very often the pony went at the post, and the man delivered a back-handed cut at the turk's head which nearly brought him out of his world-too-wide saddle. again and again this solemn performance was repeated. i can honestly say that the ponies are very willing to break rank and leave their companions, which is what an english troop-horse fails in; but i fancy this is more due to the urgent private affairs of the pony than any skill in training. the troops charged once or twice in a terrifying canter. when the men wished to stop they leaned back and tugged, and the pony put his head to the ground, and bored all he knew. they charged me, but i was merciful, and forebore to empty half the saddles, as i assuredly could have done by throwing up my arms and yelling "hi!" the saddest thing of all was the painful conscientiousness displayed by all the performers in the circus. they had to turn these rats into cavalry. they knew nothing about riding, and what they did know was wrong; but the rats must be made troop-horses. why wouldn't the scheme work? there was a patient, pathetic wonder on the faces of the men that made me long to take one of them in my arms and try to explain things to him--bridles, for instance, and the futility of hanging on by the spurs. just when the parade was over, and the troops were ambling off, providence sent diagonally across the parade-ground, at a gallop, a big, rawboned man on a lathy-red american horse. the brute cracked his nostrils, and switched his flag abroad, and romped across the plain, while his rider dropped one hand and sat still, swaying lightly from the hips. the two served to scale the surroundings. some one really ought to tell the mikado that ponies were never intended for dragoons. if the changes and chances of military service ever send you against japanese troops, be tender with their cavalry. they mean no harm. put some fusees down for the horses to step on, and send a fatigue-party out to pick up the remnants. but if you meet japanese infantry, led by a continental officer, commence firing early and often and at the longest ranges compatible with getting at them. they are bad little men who know too much. having thoroughly settled the military side of the nation exactly as my japanese friend at the beginning of this letter settled us,--on the strength of two hundred men caught at random,--i devoted myself to a consideration of tokio. i am wearied of temples. their monotony of splendour makes my head ache. you also will weary of temples unless you are an artist, and then you will be disgusted with yourself. some folk say that tokio covers an area equal to london. some folk say that it is not more than ten miles long and eight miles broad. there are a good many ways of solving the question. i found a tea-garden situated on a green plateau far up a flight of steps, with pretty girls smiling on every step. from this elevation i looked forth over the city, and it stretched away from the sea, far as the eye could reach--one grey expanse of packed house-roof, the perspective marked by numberless factory chimneys. then i went several miles away and found a park, another eminence, and some more tea-girls prettier than the last; and, looking again, the city stretched out in a new direction as far as the eye could reach. taking the scope of the eye on a clear day at eighteen miles, i make tokio thirty-six miles long by thirty-six miles broad exactly; and there may be some more which i missed. the place roared with life through all its quarters. double lines of trams ran down the main streets for mile on mile, rows of omnibuses stood at the principal railway station, and the "compagnie general des omnibus de tokio" paraded the streets with gold and vermilion cars. all the trams were full, all the private and public omnibuses were full, and the streets were full of 'rickshaws. from the sea-shore to the shady green park, from the park to the dim distance, the land pullulated with people. here you saw how western civilisation had eaten into them. every tenth man was attired in europe clothes from hat to boots. it is a queer race. it can parody every type of humanity to be met in a large english town. eat and prosperous merchant with mutton-chop whiskers; mild-eyed, long-haired professor of science, his clothes baggy about him; schoolboy in eton jacket, broadcloth trousers; young clerk, member of the clapham athletic club in tennis flannels; artisans in sorely worn tweeds; top-hatted lawyer with clean-shaven upper lip and black leather bag; sailor out of work; and counter-jumper; all these and many, many more you shall find in the streets of tokio in half an hour's walk. but when you come to speak to the imitation, behold it can only talk japanese. you touch it, and it is not what you thought. i fluctuated down the streets addressing myself to the most english-looking folk i saw. they were polite with a graciousness that in no way accorded with their raiment, but they knew not a word of my tongue. one small boy in the uniform of the naval college said suddenly: "i spik inglees," and collapsed. the rest of the people in our clothes poured their own vernacular upon my head. yet the shop-signs were english, the tramway under my feet was english gauge, the commodities sold were english, and the notices on the streets were in english. it was like walking in a dream. i reflected. far away from tokio and off the line of rail i had met men like these men in the streets. perfectly dressed englishmen to the outer eye, but dumb. the country must be full of their likes. "good gracious! here is japan going to run its own civilisation without learning a language in which you can say damn satisfactorily. i must inquire into this." chance had brought me opposite the office of a newspaper, and i ran in demanding an editor. he came--the editor of the _tokio public opinion_, a young man in a black frock-coat. there are not many editors in other parts of the world who would offer you tea and a cigarette ere beginning a conversation. my friend had but little english. his paper, though the name was printed in english, was japanese. but he knew his business. almost before i had explained my errand, which was the pursuit of miscellaneous information, he began: "you are english. how you think now the american revision treaty?" out came a note-book and i sweated cold. it was not in the bargain that he should interview me. "there's a great deal," i answered, remembering sir roger, of blessed memory,--"a great deal to be said on both sides. the american revision treaty--h'm--demands an enormous amount of matured consideration and may safely be referred--" "but we of japan are now civilised." japan says that she is now civilised. that is the crux of the whole matter so far as i understand it. "let us have done with the idiotic system of treaty-ports and passports for the foreigner who steps beyond them," says japan in effect. "give us our place among the civilised nations of the earth, come among us, trade with us, hold land in our midst. only be subject to our jurisdiction and submit to our--tariffs." now since one or two of the foreign nations have won special tariffs for their goods in the usual way, they are not over-anxious to become just ordinary folk. the effect of accepting japan's views would be excellent for the individual who wanted to go up-country and make his money, but bad for the nation. for our nation in particular. all the same i was not prepared to have my ignorance of a burning question put down in any note-book save my own. i gladstoned about the matter with the longest words i could. my friend recorded them much after the manner of count smorltork. then i attacked him on the subject of civilisation--speaking very slowly because he had a knack of running two words of mine together, and turning them into something new. "you are right," said he. "we are becoming civilised. but not too quick, for that is bad. now there are two parties in the state--the liberal and the radical: one count he lead one, one count lead the other. the radical say that we should swiftly become all english. the liberal he says not so quick, because that nation which too swiftly adopt other people's customs he decay. that question of civilisation and the american revision treaty he occupied our chief attentions. now we are not so zealous to become civilised as we were two--three years gone. not so quick--that is our watchword. yes." if matured deliberation be the wholesale adoption of imperfectly understood arrangements, i should dearly like to see japan in a hurry. we discussed comparative civilisations for a short time, and i protested feebly against the defilement of the streets of tokio by rows of houses built after glaring european models. surely there is no need to discard your own architecture, i said. "ha," snorted the chief of the _public opinion_. "you call it picturesque. i call it too. wait till he light up--incendiate. a japanese house then is one only fire box. _that_ is why we think good to build in european fashion. i tell you, and you must believe, that we take up no change without thinking upon it. truth, indeed, it is not because we are curious children, wanting new things, as some people have said. we have done with that season of picking up things and throwing them down again. you see?" "where did you pick up your constitution, then?" i did not know what the question would bring forth, yet i ought to have been wise. the first question that a japanese on the railway asks an englishman is: "have you got the english translation of our constitution?" all the book-stalls sell it in english and japanese, and all the papers discuss it. the child is not yet three months old. "our constitution?--that was promised to us--promised twenty years ago. fourteen years ago the provinces they have been allowed to elect their big men--their heads. three years ago they have been allowed to have assemblies, and thus civil liberty was assured." i was baffled here for some time. in the end i thought i made out that the municipalities had been given certain control over police funds and the appointment of district officials. i may have been entirely wrong, but the editor bore me along on a torrent of words, his body rocking and his arms waving with the double agony of twisting a foreign tongue to his service and explaining the to-be-taken-seriouslyness of japan. whack come the little hand on the little table, and the little tea-cups jumped again. "truly, and indeed, this constitution of ours has _not_ come too soon. it proceeded step-by. you understand that? now your constitution, the constitutions of the foreign nations, are all bloody--bloody constitutions. ours has come step-by. we did not fight as the barons fought with king john at runnymede." this was a quotation from a speech delivered at otsu, a few days previously, by a member of the government. i grinned at the brotherhood of editors all the world over. up went the hand anew. "we shall be happy with this constitution and a people civilised among civilisations." "of course. but what will you actually do with it? a constitution is rather a monotonous thing to work after the fun of sending members to parliament has died out. you have a parliament, have you not?" "oh yes, _with_ parties--liberal and radical." "then they will both tell lies to you and to each other. then they will pass bills, and spend their time fighting each other. then all the foreign governments will discover that you have no fixed policy." "ah, yes. but the constitution." the little hands were crossed in his lap. the cigarette hung limply from his mouth. "no fixed policy. then, when you have sufficiently disgusted the foreign powers, they will wait until the liberals and radicals are fighting very hard, and then they will blow you out of the water." "you are not making fun? i do not quite understand," said he. "your constitutions are all so bloody." "yes. that is exactly what they are. you are very much in earnest about yours, are you not?" "oh yes, we all talk politics now." "and write politics, of course. by the way, under what--h'm, arrangements with the government is a japanese paper published? i mean, must you pay anything before starting a press?" "literary, scientific, and religious papers--no. quite free. all purely political papers pay five hundred yen--give to the government to keep, or else some man says he will pay." "you must give security, you mean?" "i do not know, but sometimes the government can keep the money. we are purely political." then he asked questions about india, and appeared astonished to find that the natives there possessed considerable political power, and controlled districts. "but have you a constitution in india?" "i am afraid that we have not." "ah!" he crushed me there, and i left very humbly, but cheered by the promise that the _tokio public opinion_ would contain an account of my words. mercifully, that respectable journal is printed in japanese, so the hash will not be served up to a large table. i would give a good deal to discover what meaning he attached to my forecast of constitutional government in japan. "we all talk politics now." that was the sentence which remained to me. it was true talk. men of the educational department in tokio told me that the students would "talk politics" by the hour if you allowed them. at present they were talking in the abstract about their new plaything, the constitution, with its upper house and its lower house, its committees, its questions of supply, its rules of procedure, and all the other skittles we have played with for six hundred years. japan is the second oriental country which has made it impossible for a strong man to govern alone. this she has done of her own free will. india, on the other hand, has been forcibly ravished by the secretary of state and the english m. p. japan is luckier than india. no. xxi shows the similarity between the babu and the japanese. contains the earnest outcry of an unbeliever. the explanation of mr. smith of california and elsewhere. takes me on board ship after due warning to those who follow. very sadly did we leave it, but we gave our hearts in pledge to the pine above the city, to the blossoms by the hedge, to the cherry and the maple and the plum tree and the peach, and the babies--oh, the babies!--romping fatly under each. eastward ho! across the water see the black bow drives and swings from the land of little children, where the babies are the kings. the professor discovered me in meditation amid tea-girls at the back of the ueno park in the heart of tokio. my 'rickshaw coolie sat by my side drinking tea from daintiest china, and eating maccaroons. i thought of sterne's donkey and smiled vacuously into the blue above the trees. the tea-girls giggled. one of them captured my spectacles, perched them on her own snubby-chubby nose, and ran about among her cackling fellows. "and loose thy fingers in the tresses of the cypress-slender minister of wine," quoted the professor, coming round a booth suddenly. "why aren't you at the mikado's garden party?" "because he didn't invite me, and, anyhow, he wears europe clothes--so does the empress--so do all the court people. let's sit down and consider things. this people puzzles me." and i told my story of the interview with the editor of the _tokio public opinion_. the professor had been making investigation into the educational department. "and further," said he at the end of the tale, "the ambition of the educated student is to get a place under government. therefore he comes to tokio: will accept any situation at tokio that he may be near to his chance." "whose son is that student?" "son of the peasant, yeoman farmer, and shopkeeper, _ryot_, _tehsildar_, and _bunnia_. while he waits he imbibes republican leanings on account of the nearness of japan to america. he talks and writes and debates, and is convinced he can manage the empire better than the mikado." "does he go away and start newspapers to prove that?" "he may; but it seems to be unwholesome work. a paper can be suspended without reason given under the present laws; and i'm told that one enterprising editor has just got three years' simple imprisonment for caricaturing the mikado." "then there is yet hope for japan. i can't quite understand how a people with a taste for fighting and quick artistic perceptions can care for the things that delight our friends in bengal." "you make the mistake of looking on the bengali as unique. so he is in his own peculiar style; but i take it that the drunkenness of western wine affects all oriental folk in much the same way. what misleads you is that very likeness. followest thou? because a jap struggles with problems beyond his grip in much the same phraseology as a calcutta university student, and discusses administration with a capital a, you lump jap and chatterjee together." "no, i don't. chatterjee doesn't sink his money in railway companies, or sit down and provide for the proper sanitation of his own city, or of his own notion cultivate the graces of life, as the jap does. he is like the _tokio public opinion_--'purely political.' he has no art whatever, he has no weapons, and there is no power of manual labour in him. yet he is like the jap in the pathos of his politics. have you ever studied pathetic politics? _why_ is he like the jap?" "both drunk, i suppose," said the professor. "get that girl to give back your gig-lamps, and you will be able to see more clearly into the soul of the far east." "the 'far east' hasn't got a soul. she swapped it for a constitution on the eleventh of february last. can any constitution make up for the wearing of europe clothes? i saw a jap lady just now in full afternoon calling-kit. she looked atrocious. have you seen the later japanese art--the pictures on the fans and in the shop windows? they are faithful reproductions of the changed life--telegraph poles down the streets, conventionalised tram-lines, top-hats, and carpet-bags in the hands of the men. the artists can make those things almost passable, but when it comes to conventionalising a europe dress, the effect is horrible." "japan wishes to take her place among civilised nations," said the professor. "that's where the pathos comes in. it's enough to make you weep to watch this misdirected effort--this wallowing in unloveliness for the sake of recognition at the hands of men who paint their ceilings white, their grates black, their mantelpieces french grey, and their carriages yellow and red. the mikado wears blue and gold and red, his guards wear orange breeches with a stone-blue stripe down them; the american missionary teaches the japanese girl to wear bangs--"shingled bangs"--on her forehead, plait her hair into a pigtail, and to tie it up with magenta and cobalt ribbons. the german sells them the offensive chromos of his own country and the labels of his beer-bottles. allen and ginter devastate tokio with their blood-red and grass-green tobacco-tins. and in the face of all these things the country wishes to progress toward civilisation! i have read the entire constitution of japan, and it is dearly bought at the price of one of the kaleidoscope omnibuses plying in the street there." "are you going to inflict all that nonsense on them at home?" said the professor. "i am. for this reason. in the years to come, when japan has sold her birthright for the privilege of being cheated on equal terms by her neighbours; when she has so heavily run into debt for her railways and public works that the financial assistance of england and annexation is her only help; when the daimios through poverty have sold the treasures of their houses to the curio-dealer, and the dealer has sold them to the english collector; when all the people wear slop-trousers and ready-made petticoats, and the americans have established soap factories on the rivers and a boarding-house on the top of fujiyama, some one will turn up the files of the _pioneer_ and say: 'this thing was prophesied.' then they will be sorry that they began tampering with the great sausage-machine of civilisation. what is put into the receiver must come out at the spout; but it must come out mincemeat. _dixi!_ and now let us go to the tomb of the forty-seven ronins." "it has been said some time ago, and much better than you can say it," said the professor, _apropos_ of nothing that i could see. distances are calculated by the hour in tokio. forty minutes in a 'rickshaw, running at full speed, will take you a little way into the city; two hours from the ueno park brings you to the tomb of the famous forty-seven, passing on the way the very splendid temples of shiba, which are all fully described in the guide-books. lacquer, gold-inlaid bronze-work, and crystals carved with the words "om" and "shri" are fine things to behold, but they do not admit of very varied treatment in print. in one tomb of one of the temples was a room of lacquer panels overlaid with gold leaf. an animal of the name of v. gay had seen fit to scratch his entirely uninteresting name on the gold. posterity will take note that v. gay never cut his fingernails, and ought not to have been trusted with anything prettier than a hog-trough. "it is the handwriting upon the wall," i said. "presently there will be neither gold nor lacquer--nothing but the finger-marks of foreigners. let us pray for the soul of v. gay all the same. perhaps he was a missionary." * * * * * the japanese papers occasionally contain, sandwiched between notes of railway, mining, and tram concessions, announcements like the following: "dr. ---committed _hara-kiri_ last night at his private residence in such and such a street. family complications are assigned as the reason of the act." nor does _hara-kiri_ merely mean suicide by any method. _hara-kiri_ is _hara-kiri_, and the private performance is even more ghastly than the official one. it is curious to think that any one of the dapper little men with top-hats and reticules who have a constitution of their own, may in time of mental stress, strip to the waist, shake their hair over their brows, and, after prayer, rip themselves open. when you come to japan, look at farsari's _hara-kiri_ pictures and his photos of the last crucifixion (twenty years ago) in japan. then at deakin's, inquire for the modelled head of a gentleman who was not long ago executed in tokio. there is a grim fidelity in the latter work of art that will make you uncomfortable. the japanese, in common with the rest of the east, have a strain of blood-thirstiness in their compositions. it is very carefully veiled now, but some of hokusai's pictures show it, and show that not long ago the people revelled in its outward expression. yet they are tender to all children beyond the tenderness of the west, courteous to each other beyond the courtesy of the english, and polite to the foreigner alike in the big towns and in the mofussil. what they will be after their constitution has been working for three generations the providence that made them what they are alone knows! all the world seems ready to proffer them advice. colonel olcott is wandering up and down the country now, telling them that the buddhist religion needs reformation, offering to reform it, and eating with ostentation rice gruel which is served to him in cups by admiring handmaidens. a wanderer from kioto tells me that in the chion-in, loveliest of all the temples, he saw only three days ago the colonel mixed up with a procession of buddhist priests, just such a procession as the one i tried vainly to describe, and "tramping about as if the whole show belonged to him." you cannot appreciate the solemnity of this until you have seen the colonel and the chion-in temple. the two are built on entirely different lines, and they don't seem to harmonise. it only needs now madame blavatsky, cigarette in mouth, under the _cryptomerias_ of nikko, and the return of mr. caine, m. p., to preach the sin of drinking _saki_, and the menagerie would be full. something should be done to america. there are many american missionaries in japan, and some of them construct clapboard churches and chapels for whose ugliness no creed could compensate. they further instil into the japanese mind wicked ideas of "progress," and teach that it is well to go ahead of your neighbour, to improve your situation, and generally to thresh yourself to pieces in the battle of existence. they do not mean to do this; but their own restless energy enforces the lesson. the american is objectionable. and yet--this is written from yokohama--how pleasant in every way is a nice american whose tongue is cleansed of "right there," "all the time," "noos," "revoo," "raound," and the falling cadence. i have met such an one even now--a californian ripened in spain, matured in england, polished in paris, and yet always a californian. his voice and manners were soft alike, temperate were his judgments and temperately expressed, wide was his range of experience, genuine his humour, and fresh from the mint of his mind his reflections. it was only at the end of the conversation that he startled me a little. "i understand that you are going to stay some time in california. do you mind my giving you a little advice? i am speaking now of towns that are still rather brusque in their manners. when a man offers you a drink accept at once, and then stand drinks all round. i don't say that the second part of the programme is as necessary as the first, but it puts you on a perfectly safe footing. above all, remember that where you are going you must never carry anything. the men you move among will do that for you. they have been accustomed to it. it is in some places, unluckily, a matter of life and death as well as daily practice to draw first. i have known really lamentable accidents occur from a man carrying a revolver when he did not know what to do with it. do you understand anything about revolvers?" "n-no," i stammered, "of course not." "do you think of carrying one?" "of course not. i don't want to kill myself." "then you are safe. but remember you will be moving among men who go heeled, and you will hear a good deal of talk about the thing and a great many tall stories. you may listen to the yarns, but you must not conform to the custom however much you may feel tempted. you invite your own death if you lay your hand on a weapon you don't understand. no man flourishes a revolver in a bad place. it is produced for one specified purpose and produced before you can wink." "but surely if you draw first you have an advantage over the other man," said i, valorously. "you think so? let me show you. i have no use for any weapon, but i believe i have one about me somewhere. an ounce of demonstration is worth a ton of theory. your pipe-case is on the table. my hands are on the table too. use that pipe case as a revolver and as quickly as you can." i used it in the approved style of the penny dreadful--pointed it with a stiff arm at my friend's head. before i knew how it came about the pipe case had quitted my hand, which was caught close to the funny-bone and tingled horribly. i heard four persuasive clicks under the table almost before i knew that my arm was useless. the gentleman from california had jerked out his pistol from its pocket and drawn the trigger four times, his hand resting on his hip while i was lifting my right arm. "now, do you believe?" he said. "only an englishman or an eastern man fires from the shoulder in that melodramatic manner. i had you safe before your arm went out, merely because i happened to know the trick; and there are men out yonder who in a trouble could hold me as safe as i held you. they don't reach round for their revolver, as novelists say. it's here in front, close to the second right brace-button, and it is fired, without aim, at the other man's stomach. you will understand now why in event of a dispute you should show very clearly that you are unarmed. you needn't hold up your hands ostentatiously; keep them out of your pockets, or somewhere where your friend can see them. no man will touch you then. or if he does, he is pretty sure to be shot by the general sense of the room." "that must be a singular consolation to the corpse," i said. "i see i've misled you. don't fancy that any part in america is as free and easy as my lecture shows. only in a few really tough towns do you require _not_ to own a revolver. elsewhere you are all right. most americans of my acquaintance have got into the habit of carrying something; but it's only a habit. they'd never dream of using it unless they are hard pressed. it's the man who draws to enforce a proposition about canning peaches, orange-culture, or town lots or water-rights that's a nuisance." "thank you," i said faintly. "i purpose to investigate these things later on. i'm much obliged to you for your advice." when he had departed it struck me that, in the language of the east, "he might have been pulling my leg." but there remained no doubt whatever as to his skill with the weapon he excused so tenderly. i put the case before the professor. "we will go to america before you forejudge it altogether," said he. "to america in an american ship will we go, and say good-by to japan." that night we counted the gain of our sojourn in the land of little children more closely than many men count their silver. nagasaki with the grey temples, green hills, and all the wonder of a first-seen shore; the inland sea, a thirty-hour panorama of passing islets drawn in grey and buff and silver for our delight; kobé, where we fed well and went to a theatre; osaka of the canals and the peach blossom; kioto--happy, lazy, sumptuous kioto, and the blue rapids and innocent delights of arashima; otzu on the shoreless, rainy lake; myanoshita in the hills; kamakura by the tumbling pacific, where the great god buddha sits and equably hears the centuries and the seas murmur in his ears; nikko, fairest of all places under the sun; tokio, the two-thirds civilised and altogether progressive warren of humanity; and composite franco-american yokohama; we renewed them all, sorting out and putting aside our special treasures of memory. if we stayed longer, we might be disillusioned, and yet--surely, that would be impossible. "what sort of mental impression do you carry away?" said the professor. "a tea-girl in fawn-coloured crêpe under a cherry tree all blossom. behind her, green pines, two babies, and a hog-backed bridge spanning a bottle-green river running over blue boulders. in the foreground a little policeman in badly fitting europe clothes drinking tea from blue and white china on a black lacquered stand. fleecy white clouds above and a cold wind up the street," i said, summarising hastily. "mine is a little different. a japanese boy in a flat-headed german cap and baggy eton jacket; a king taken out of a toy-shop, a railway taken out of a toy-shop, hundreds of little noah's ark trees and fields made of green-painted wood. the whole neatly packed in a camphor-wood box with an explanatory book called the constitution--price twenty cents." "you looked on the darker side of things. but what's the good of writing impressions? every man has to get his own at first hand. suppose i give an itinerary of what we saw?" "you couldn't do it," said the professor, blandly. "besides, by the time the next anglo-indian comes this way there will be a hundred more miles of railway and all the local arrangements will have changed. write that a man should come to japan without any plans. the guide-books will tell him a little, and the men he meets will tell him ten times more. let him get first a good guide at kobé, and the rest will come easily enough. an itinerary is only a fresh manifestation of that unbridled egoism which--" "i shall write that a man can do himself well from calcutta to yokohama, stopping at rangoon, moulmein, penang, singapur, hong-kong, canton, and taking a month in japan, for about sixty pounds--rather less than more. but if he begins to buy curios, that man is lost. five hundred rupees cover his month in japan and allow him every luxury. above all, he should bring with him thousands of cheroots--enough to serve him till he reaches 'frisco. singapur is the last place on the line where you can buy burmas. beyond that point wicked men sell manila cigars with fancy names for ten, and havanas for thirty-five, cents. no one inspects your boxes till you reach 'frisco. bring, therefore, at least one thousand cheroots." "do you know, it seems to me you have a very queer sense of proportion?" and that was the last word the professor spoke on japanese soil. no. xxii shows how i came to america before my time and was much shaken in body and soul. "then spoke der captain stossenheim who had theories of god, 'oh, breitmann, this is judgment on der ways dot you have trod. you only lifs to enjoy yourself while you yourself agree dot self-development requires der religious idee.'"--_c. g. leland._ this is america. they call her the _city of peking_, and she belongs to the pacific mail company, but for all practical purposes she is the united states. we are divided between missionaries and generals--generals who were at vicksburg and shiloh, and german by birth, but more american than the americans, who in confidence tell you that they are not generals at all, but only brevet majors of militia corps. the missionaries are perhaps the queerest portion of the cargo. did you ever hear an english minister lecture for half an hour on the freight-traffic receipts and general working of, let us say, the midland? the professor has been sitting at the feet of a keen-eyed, close-bearded, swarthy man who expounded unto him kindred mysteries with a fluency and precision that a city leader-writer might have envied. "who's your financial friend with the figures at his fingers' ends?" i asked. "missionary--presbyterian mission to the japs," said the professor. i laid my hand upon my mouth and was dumb. as a counterpoise to the missionaries, we carry men from manila--lean scotchmen who gamble once a month in the manila state lottery and occasionally turn up trumps. one, at least, drew a ten-thousand-dollar prize last december and is away to make merry in the new world. everybody on the staff of an american steamer this side the continent seems to gamble steadily in that lottery, and the talk of the smoking-room runs almost entirely on prizes won by accident or lost through a moment's delay. the tickets are sold more or less openly at yokahama and hong-kong, and the drawings--losers and winners both agree here--are above reproach. we have resigned ourselves to the infinite monotony of a twenty days' voyage. the pacific mail advertises falsely. only under the most favorable circumstances of wind and steam can their under-engined boats cover the distance in fifteen days. our _city of peking_, for instance, had been jogging along at a gentle ten knots an hour, a pace out of all proportion to her bulk. "when we get a wind," says the captain, "we shall do better." she is a four-master and can carry any amount of canvas. it is not safe to run steamers across this void under the poles of atlantic liners. the monotony of the sea is paralysing. we have passed the wreck of a little sealing-schooner lying bottom up and covered with gulls. she weltered by in the chill dawn, unlovely as the corpse of a man, and the wild birds piped thinly at us as they steered her across the surges. the pulse of the pacific is no little thing even in the quieter moods of the sea. it set our bows swinging and nosing and ducking ere we were a day clear of yokohama, and yet there was never swell nor crested wave in sight. "we ride very high," said the captain, "and she's a dry boat. she has a knack of crawling over things somehow; but we shan't need to put her to the test this journey." * * * * * the captain was mistaken. for four days we have endured the sullen displeasure of the north pacific, winding up with a night of discomfort. it began with a grey sea, flying clouds, and a head-wind that smote fifty knots off the day's run. then rose from the southeast a beam sea warranted by no wind that was abroad upon the waters in our neighbourhood, and we wallowed in the trough of it for sixteen mortal hours. in the stillness of the harbour, when the newspaper man is lunching in her saloon and the steam-launch is crawling round her sides, a ship of pride is a "stately liner." out in the open, one rugged shoulder of a sea between you and the horizon, she becomes "the old hooker," a "lively boat," and other things of small import, for this is necessary to propitiate the ocean. "there's a storm to the southeast of us," explained the captain. "that's what's kicking up this sea." the _city of peking_ did not belie her reputation. she crawled over the seas in liveliest wise, never shipping a bucket till--she was forced to. then she took it green over the bows to the vast edification of, at least, one passenger who had never seen the scuppers full before. later in the day the fun began. "oh, she's a daisy at rolling," murmured the chief steward, flung starfish-wise on a table among his glassware. "she's rolling some," said a black apparition new risen from the stoke-hold. "is she going to roll any more?" demanded the ladies grouped in what ought to have been the ladies' saloon, but, according to american custom, was labelled "social hall." passed in the twilight the chief officer--a dripping, bearded face. "shall i mark out the bull-board?" said he, and lurched aft, followed by the tongue of a wave. "she'll roll her guards under to-night," said a man from louisiana, where their river-steamers do not understand the meaning of bulwarks. we dined to a dashing accompaniment of crockery, the bounds of emancipated beer-bottles livelier than their own corks, and the clamour of the ship's gong broken loose and calling to meals on its own account. after dinner the real rolling began. she did roll "guards under," as the louisiana man had prophesied. at thirty-minute intervals to the second arrived one big sea, when the electric lamps died down to nothing, and the screw raved and the blows of the sea made the decks quiver. on those occasions we moved from our chairs, not gently, but discourteously. at other times we were merely holding on with both hands. it was then that i studied fear--terror bound in black silk and fighting hard with herself. for reasons which will be thoroughly understood, there was a tendency among the passengers to herd together and to address inquiries to every officer who happened to stagger through the saloon. no one was in the least alarmed,--oh dear, no!--but all were keenly anxious for information. this anxiety redoubled after a more than usually vicious roll. terror was a large, handsome, and cultured lady who knew the precise value of human life, the inwardness of _robert elsmere_, the latest poetry--everything in fact that a clever woman should know. when the rolling was near its worst, she began to talk swiftly. i do not for a moment believe that she knew what she was talking about. the rolling increased. she buckled down to the task of making conversation. by the heave of the labouring bust, the restless working of the fingers on the tablecloth, and the uncontrollable eyes that turned always to the companion stairhead, i was able to judge the extremity of her fear. yet her words were frivolous and commonplace enough; they poured forth unceasingly, punctuated with little laughs and giggles, as a woman's speech should be. presently, a member of her group suggested going to bed. no, she wanted to sit up; she wanted to go on talking, and as long as she could get a soul to sit with her she had her desire. when for sheer lack of company she was forced to get to her cabin, she left reluctantly, looking back to the well-lighted saloon over her shoulder. the contrast between the flowing triviality of her speech and the strained intentness of eye and hand was a quaint thing to behold. i know now how fear should be painted. no one slept very heavily that night. both arms were needed to grip the berth, while the trunks below wound the carpet-slips into knots and battered the framing of the cabins. once it seemed to me that the whole of the labouring fabric that cased our trumpery fortunes stood on end and in this undignified posture hopped a mighty hop. twice i know i shot out of my berth to join the adventurous trunks on the floor. a hundred times the crash of the wave on the ship's side was followed by the roar of the water, as it swept the decks and raved round the deckhouses. in a lull i heard the flying feet of a man, a shout, and a far-away chorus of lost spirits singing somebody's requiem. _may 24_ (queen's birthday).--if ever you meet an american, be good to him. this day the ship was dressed with flags from stem to stern, and chiefest of the bunting was the union-jack. they had given no word of warning to the english, who were proportionately pleased. at dinner up rose an ex-commissioner of the lucknow division (on my honour, anglo-india extends to the ends of the earth!) and gave us the health of her majesty and the president. it was afterwards that the trouble began. a small american penned half a dozen english into a corner and lectured them soundly on--their want of patriotism! "what sort of queen's birthday do you call this?" he thundered. "what did you drink our president's health for? what's the president to you on this day of all others? well, suppose you _are_ in the minority, all the more reason for standing by your country. don't talk to me. you britishers made a mess of it--a mighty bungle of the whole thing. i'm an american of the americans; but if no one can propose her majesty's health better than by just throwing it at your heads, i'm going to try." then and there he delivered a remarkably neat little oration--pat, well put together, and clearly delivered. so it came to pass that the queen's health was best honoured by an american. we english were dazed. i wondered how many englishmen not trained to addressing their fellows would have spoken half so fluently as the gentleman from 'frisco. "well, you see," said one of us feebly, "she's our queen, anyhow, and--and--she's been ours for fifty years, and not one of us here has seen england for seven years, and we can't enthuse over the matter. we've lived to be hauled over the coals for want of patriotism by an american! we'll be more careful next time." and the conversation drifted naturally into the question of the government of men--english, japanese (we have several travelled japanese aboard), and americans throwing the ball from one to another. we bore in mind the golden rule: "never agree with a man who abuses his own country," and got on well enough. "japan," said a little gentleman who was a rich man there, "japan is divided into two administrative sides. on the one the remains of a very strict and quite oriental despotism; on the other a mass of--what do you call it?--red-tapeism which is not understood even by the officials who handle it. we copy the red tape, and when it is copied we believe that we administer. that is a vice of all oriental nations. we are orientals." "oh no, say the most westerly of the westerns," purred an american, soothingly. the little man was pleased. "thanks. that is what we hope to believe, but up to the present it is not so. look now. a farmer in my country holds a hillside cut into little terraces. every year he must submit to his government a statement of the size and revenue paid, not on the whole hillside, but on each terrace. the complete statement makes a pile three inches high, and is of no use when it is made except to keep in work thousands of officials to check the returns. is that administration? by god! we call it so, but we multiply officials by the twenty, and _they_ are not administration. what country is such a fool? look at our government offices eaten up with clerks! some day, i tell you, there will be a smash." this was new to me, but i might have guessed it. in every country where swords and uniforms accompany civil office there is a natural tendency towards an ill-considered increase of officialdom. "you might pay india a visit some day," i said. "i fancy that you would find that our country shares your trouble." thereupon a japanese gentleman in the educational department began to cross-question me on the matters of his craft in india, and in a quarter of an hour got from me the very little that i knew about primary schools, higher education, and the value of an m. a. degree. he knew exactly what he wanted to ask, and only dropped me when the tooth of desire had clean picked the bone of ignorance. then an american held forth, harping on a string that has already been too often twanged in my ear. "what will it be in america itself?" "the whole system is rotten from top to bottom," he said. "as rotten as rotten can be." "that's so," said the louisiana man, with an affirmative puff of smoke. "they call us a republic. we may be. i don't think it. you britishers have got the only republic worth the name. you choose to run your ship of state with a gilt figurehead; but i know, and so does every man who has thought about it, that your queen doesn't cost you one-half what our system of pure democracy costs us. politics in america? there aren't any. the whole question of the day is spoils. that's all. we fight our souls out over tram-contracts, gas-contracts, road-contracts, and any darned thing that will turn a dishonest dollar, and we call that politics. no one but a low-down man will run for congress and the senate--the senate of the freest people on earth are bound slaves to some blessed monopoly. if i had money enough, i could buy the senate of the united states, the eagle, and the star-spangled banner complete." "and the irish vote included?" said some one--a britisher, i fancy. "certainly, if i chose to go yahooing down the street at the tail of the british lion. anything dirty will buy the irish vote. that's why our politics are dirty. some day you britishers will grant home rule to the vermin in our blankets. then the real americans will invite the irish to get up and git to where they came from. 'wish you'd hurry up that time before we have another trouble. we're bound hand and foot by the irish vote; or at least that's the excuse for any unusual theft that we perpetrate. i tell you there's no good in an irishman except as a fighter. he doesn't understand work. he has a natural gift of the gab, and he can drink a man blind. these three qualifications make him a first-class politician." with one accord the americans present commenced to abuse ireland and its people as they had met them, and each man prefaced his commination service with: "i am an american by birth--an american from way back." it must be an awful thing to live in a country where you have to explain that you really belong there. louder grew the clamour and crisper the sentiments. "if we weren't among americans, i should say we were consorting with russians," said a fellow-countryman in my ear. "they can't mean what they say," i whispered. "listen to this fellow." he was saying: "and i know, for i have been three times round the world and resided in most countries on the continent, that there was never people yet could govern themselves." "allah! this from an american!" "and who should know better than an american?" was the retort. "for the ignorant--that is to say for the majority--there is only one argument--fear; the fear of death. in our case we give any scallawag who comes across the water all the same privileges that we have made for ourselves. there we make a mistake. they thank us by playing the fool. then we shoot them down. you can't persuade the mob of any country to become decent citizens. if they misbehave themselves, shoot them. i saw the bombs thrown at chicago when our police were blown to bits. i saw the banners in the procession that threw the bombs. all the mottoes on them were in german. the men were aliens in our midst, and they were shot down like dogs. i've been in labour riots and seen the militia go through a crowd like a finger through tissue paper." "i was in the riots at new orleans," said the man from louisiana. "we turned the gatling on the other crowd, and they were sick." "whew! i wonder what would have happened if a gatling had been used when the west end riots were in full swing?" said an englishman. "if a single rioter were killed in an english town by the police, the chances are that the policeman would have to stand his trial for murder and the ministry of the day would go out." "then you've got all your troubles before you. the more power you give the people, the more trouble they will give. with us our better classes are corrupt and our lower classes are lawless. there are millions of useful, law-abiding citizens, and they are very sick of this thing. we execute our justice in the streets. the law courts are no use. take the case of the chicago anarchists. it was all we could do to get 'em hanged: whereas the dead in the streets had been punished off-hand. we were sure of _them_. guess that's the reason we are so quick to fire on a mob. but it's unfair, all the same. we receive all these cattle--anarchists, socialists, and ruffians of every sort--and then we shoot them. the states are as republican as they make 'em. we have no use for a man who wants to try any more experiments on the constitution. we are the biggest people on god's earth. all the world knows that. we've been shouting that we are also the greatest people. no one cares to contradict us but ourselves; and we are now wondering whether we are what we claim to be. never mind; you britishers will have the same experiences to go through. you're beginning to rot now. your county councils will make you more rotten because you are putting power into the hands of untrained people. when you reach our level,--every man with a vote and the right to sell it; the right to nominate fellows of his own kidney to swamp out better men,--you'll be what we are now--rotten, rotten, rotten!" the voice ceased, and no man rose up to contradict. "we'll worry through it somehow," said the man from louisiana. "what would do us a world of good now would be a big european war. we're getting slack and sprawly. now a war outside our borders would make us all pull together. but that's a luxury we shan't get." "can't you raise one within your own borders?" i said flippantly, to get rid of the thought of the great blind nation in her unrest putting out her hand to the sword. mine was a most unfortunate remark. "i hope not," said an american, very seriously. "we have paid a good deal to keep ourselves together before this, and it is not likely that we shall split up without protest. yet some say we are too large, and some say that washington and the eastern states are running the whole country. if ever we do divide,--god help us when we do,--it will be east and west this time." "we built the old hooker too long in the run. we put the engine room aft. break her back," said an american who had not yet spoken. "'wonder if our forbears knew how she was going to grow." "a very large country." the speaker sighed as though the weight of it from new york to 'frisco lay upon his shoulders. "if ever we do divide, it means that we are done for. there is no room for four first-class empires in the states. one split will lead to another if the first is successful. what's the use of talking?" what was the use? here's our conversation as it ran, the night of the queen's birthday. what do _you_ think? no. xxiii how i got to san francisco and took tea with the natives there. "serene, indifferent to fate, thou sittest at the western gate, thou seest the white seas fold their tents, oh warder of two continents. thou drawest all things small and great to thee beside the western gate." this is what bret harte has written of the great city of san francisco, and for the past fortnight i have been wondering what made him do it. there is neither serenity nor indifference to be found in these parts; and evil would it be for the continent whose wardship were intrusted to so reckless a guardian. behold me pitched neck-and-crop from twenty days of the high seas, into the whirl of california, deprived of any guidance, and left to draw my own conclusions. protect me from the wrath of an outraged community if these letters be ever read by american eyes. san francisco is a mad city--inhabited for the most part by perfectly insane people whose women are of a remarkable beauty. when the _city of peking_ steamed through the golden gate i saw with great joy that the block-house which guarded the mouth of the "finest harbour in the world, sir," could be silenced by two gunboats from hong-kong with safety, comfort, and despatch. then a reporter leaped aboard, and ere i could gasp held me in his toils. he pumped me exhaustively while i was getting ashore, demanding, of all things in the world, news about indian journalism. it is an awful thing to enter a new land with a new lie on your lips. i spoke the truth to the evil-minded custom-house man who turned my most sacred raiment on a floor composed of stable-refuse and pine-splinters; but the reporter overwhelmed me not so much by his poignant audacity as his beautiful ignorance. i am sorry now that i did not tell him more lies as i passed into a city of three hundred thousand white men. think of it! three hundred thousand white men and women gathered in one spot, walking upon real pavements in front of real plate-glass windowed shops, and talking something that was not very different from english. it was only when i had tangled myself up in a hopeless maze of small wooden houses, dust, street-refuse, and children who play with empty kerosene tins, that i discovered the difference of speech. "you want to go to the palace hotel?" said an affable youth on a dray. "what in hell are you doing here, then? this is about the lowest place in the city. go six blocks north to corner of geary and market; then walk around till you strike corner of gutter and sixteenth, and that brings you there." i do not vouch for the literal accuracy of these directions, quoting but from a disordered memory. "amen," i said. "but who am i that i should strike the corners of such as you name? peradventure they be gentlemen of repute, and might hit back. bring it down to dots, my son." i thought he would have smitten me, but he didn't. he explained that no one ever used the word "street," and that every one was supposed to know how the streets run; for sometimes the names were upon the lamps and sometimes they weren't. fortified with these directions i proceeded till i found a mighty street full of sumptuous buildings four or five stories high, but paved with rude cobble stones in the fashion of the year one. a cable-car without any visible means of support slid stealthily behind me and nearly struck me in the back. a hundred yards further there was a slight commotion in the street--a gathering together of three or four--and something that glittered as it moved very swiftly. a ponderous irish gentleman with priest's cords in his hat and a small nickel-plated badge on his fat bosom emerged from the knot, supporting a chinaman who had been stabbed in the eye and was bleeding like a pig. the bystanders went their ways, and the chinaman, assisted by the policeman, his own. of course this was none of my business, but i rather wanted to know what had happened to the gentleman who had dealt the stab. it said a great deal for the excellence of the municipal arrangements of the town that a surging crowd did not at once block the street to see what was going forward. i was the sixth man and the last who assisted at the performance, and my curiosity was six times the greatest. indeed, i felt ashamed of showing it. there were no more incidents till i reached the palace hotel, a seven-storied warren of humanity with a thousand rooms in it. all the travel-books will tell you about hotel arrangements in this country. they should be seen to be appreciated. understand clearly--and this letter is written after a thousand miles of experiences--that money will not buy you service in the west. when the hotel clerk--the man who awards your room to you and who is supposed to give you information--when that resplendent individual stoops to attend to your wants, he does so whistling or humming, or picking his teeth, or pauses to converse with some one he knows. these performances, i gather, are to impress upon you that he is a free man and your equal. from his general appearance and the size of his diamonds he ought to be your superior. there is no necessity for this swaggering, self-consciousness of freedom. business is business, and the man who is paid to attend to a man might reasonably devote his whole attention to the job. in a vast marble-paved hall under the glare of an electric light sat forty or fifty men; and for their use and amusement were provided spittoons of infinite capacity and generous gape. most of the men wore frock-coats and top-hats,--the things that we in india put on at a wedding breakfast if we possessed them,--but they all spat. they spat on principle. the spittoons were on the staircases, in each bedroom--yea, and in chambers even more sacred than these. they chased one into retirement, but they blossomed in chiefest splendour round the bar, and they were all used, every reeking one of 'em. just before i began to feel deathly sick, another reporter grappled me. what he wanted to know was the precise area of india in square miles. i referred him to whittaker. he had never heard of whittaker. he wanted it from my own mouth, and i would not tell him. then he swerved off, like the other man, to details of journalism in our own country. i ventured to suggest that the interior economy of a paper most concerned the people who worked it. "that's the very thing that interests us," he said. "have you got reporters anything like our reporters on indian news papers?" "we have not," i said, and suppressed the "thank god" rising to my lips. "_why_ haven't you?" said he. "because they would die," i said. it was exactly like talking to a child--a very rude little child. he would begin almost every sentence with: "now tell me something about india," and would turn aimlessly from one question to another without the least continuity. i was not angry, but keenly interested. the man was a revelation to me. to his questions i returned answers mendacious and evasive. after all, it really did not matter what i said. he could not understand. i can only hope and pray that none of the readers of the _pioneer_ will ever see that portentous interview. the man made me out to be an idiot several sizes more drivelling than my destiny intended, and the rankness of his ignorance managed to distort the few poor facts with which i supplied him into large and elaborate lies. then thought i: "the matter of american journalism shall be looked into later on. at present i will enjoy myself." no man rose to tell me what were the lions of the place. no one volunteered any sort of conveyance. i was absolutely alone in this big city of white folk. by instinct i sought refreshment and came upon a bar-room, full of bad salon pictures, in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. it was the institution of the "free lunch" that i had struck. you paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. for something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in san francisco, even though he be bankrupt. remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. later, i began a vast but unsystematic exploration of the streets. i asked for no names. it was enough that the pavements were full of white men and women, the streets clanging with traffic, and that the restful roar of a great city rang in my ears. the cable-cars glided to all points of the compass. i took them one by one till i could go no farther. san francisco has been pitched down on the sand-bunkers of the bikaneer desert. about one-fourth of it is ground reclaimed from the sea--any old-timer will tell you all about that. the remainder is ragged, unthrifty sand-hills, pegged down by houses. from an english point of view there has not been the least attempt at grading those hills, and indeed you might as well try to grade the hillocks of sind. the cable-cars have for all practical purposes made san francisco a dead level. they take no count of rise or fall, but slide equably on their appointed courses from one end to the other of a six-mile street. they turn corners almost at right angles; cross other lines, and, for aught i know, may run up the sides of houses. there is no visible agency of their flight; but once in a while you shall pass a five-storied building, humming with machinery that winds up an everlasting wire-cable, and the initiated will tell you that here is the mechanism. i gave up asking questions. if it pleases providence to make a car run up and down a slit in the ground for many miles, and if for twopence-halfpenny i can ride in that car, why shall i seek the reasons of the miracle? rather let me look out of the windows till the shops give place to thousands and thousands of little houses made of wood--each house just big enough for a man and his family. let me watch the people in the cars, and try to find out in what manner they differ from us, their ancestors. they delude themselves into the belief that they talk english,--_the_ english,--and i have already been pitied for speaking with "an english accent." the man who pitied me spoke, so far as i was concerned, the language of thieves. and they all do. where we put the accent forward, they throw it back, and _vice versa_; where we use the long _a_, they use the short; and words so simple as to be past mistaking, they pronounce somewhere up in the dome of their heads. how do these things happen? oliver wendell holmes says that yankee schoolmarms, the cider, and the salt codfish of the eastern states are responsible for what he calls a nasal accent. a hindu is a hindu, and a brother to the man who knows his vernacular; and a frenchman is french because he speaks his own language; but the american has no language. he is dialect, slang, provincialism, accent, and so forth. now that i have heard their voices, all the beauty of bret harte is being ruined for me, because i find myself catching through the roll of his rhythmical prose the cadence of his peculiar fatherland. get an american lady to read to you "how santa claus came to simpson's bar," and see how much is, under her tongue, left of the beauty of the original. but i am sorry for bret harte. it happened this way. a reporter asked me what i thought of the city, and i made answer suavely that it was hallowed ground to me because of bret harte. that was true: "well," said the reporter, "bret harte claims california, but california don't claim bret harte. he's been so long in england that he's quite english. have you seen our cracker-factories and the new offices of the _examiner_?" he could not understand that to the outside world the city was worth a great deal less than the man. * * * * * night fell over the pacific, and the white sea-fog whipped through the streets, dimming the splendours of the electric lights. it is the use of this city, her men and women, to parade between the hours of eight and ten a certain street, called kearney street, where the finest shops are situated. here the click of heels on the pavement is loudest, here the lights are brightest, and here the thunder of the traffic is most overwhelming. i watched young california and saw that it was at least expensively dressed, cheerful in manner, and self-asserting in conversation. also the women are very fair. the maidens were of generous build, large, well-groomed, and attired in raiment that even to my inexperienced eyes must have cost much. kearney street, at nine o'clock, levels all distinctions of rank as impartially as the grave. again and again i loitered at the heels of a couple of resplendent beings, only to overhear, when i expected the level voice of culture, the _staccato_ "sez he," "sez i," that is the mark of the white servant-girl all the world over. this was depressing because, in spite of all that goes to the contrary, fine feathers ought to make fine birds. there was wealth--unlimited wealth--in the streets, but not an accent that would not have been dear at fifty cents. wherefore, revolving in my mind that these folk were barbarians, i was presently enlightened and made aware that they also were the heirs of all the ages, and civilised after all. there appeared before me an affable stranger of prepossessing appearance, with a blue and an innocent eye. addressing me by name, he claimed to have met me in new york at the windsor, and to this claim i gave a qualified assent. i did not remember the fact, but since he was so certain of it, why then--i waited developments. "and what did you think of indiana when you came through?" was the next question. it revealed the mystery of previous acquaintance, and one or two other things. with reprehensible carelessness, my friend of the light-blue eye had looked up the name of his victim in the hotel register and read "india" for indiana. he could not imagine an englishman coming through the states from west to east instead of by the regularly ordained route. my fear was that in his delight at finding me so responsive he would make remarks about new york and the windsor which i could not understand. and indeed, he adventured in this direction once or twice, asking me what i thought of such and such streets, which, from his tone, i gathered were anything but respectable. it is trying to talk unknown new york in almost unknown san francisco. but my friend was merciful. he protested that i was one after his own heart, and pressed upon me rare and curious drinks at more than one bar. these drinks i accepted with gratitude, as also the cigars with which his pockets were stored. he would show me the life of the city. having no desire to watch a weary old play again, i evaded the offer, and received in lieu of the devil's instruction much coarse flattery. curiously constituted is the soul of man. knowing how and where this man lied, waiting idly for the finale, i was distinctly conscious, as he bubbled compliments in my ear, of soft thrills of gratified pride. i was wise, quoth he, anybody could see that with half an eye; sagacious; versed in the affairs of the world; an acquaintance to be desired; one who had tasted the cup of life with discretion. all this pleased me, and in a measure numbed the suspicion that was thoroughly aroused. eventually the blue-eyed one discovered, nay insisted, that i had a taste for cards (this was clumsily worked in, but it was my fault, in that i met him half-way, and allowed him no chance of good acting). hereupon, i laid my head to one side, and simulated unholy wisdom, quoting odds and ends of poker-talk, all ludicrously misapplied. my friend kept his countenance admirably; and well he might, for five minutes later we arrived, always by the purest of chances, at a place where we could play cards, and also frivol with louisiana state lottery tickets. would i play? "nay," said i, "for to me cards have neither meaning nor continuity; but let us assume that i am going to play. how would you and your friends get to work? would you play a straight game, or make me drunk, or--well, the fact is i'm a newspaper man, and i'd be much obliged if you'd let me know something about bunco-steering." my blue-eyed friend cursed me by his gods,--the right and the left bower; he even cursed the very good cigars he had given me. but, the storm over, he quieted down and explained. i apologised for causing him to waste an evening, and we spent a very pleasant time together. inaccuracy, provincialism, and a too hasty rushing to conclusions were the rocks that he had split on; but he got his revenge when he said: "how would i play with you? from all the poppycock" (_anglice_, bosh) "you talked about poker, i'd ha' played a straight game and skinned you. i wouldn't have taken the trouble to make you drunk. you never knew anything of the game; but the way i was mistaken in you makes me sick." he glared at me as though i had done him an injury. to-day i know how it is that, year after year, week after week, the bunco-steerer, who is the confidence-trick and the card-sharper man of other climes, secures his prey. he slavers them over with flattery, as the snake slavers the rabbit. the incident depressed me because it showed i had left the innocent east far behind, and was come to a country where a man must look out for himself. the very hotel bristled with notices about keeping my door locked, and depositing my valuables in a safe. the white man in a lump is bad. weeping softly for o-toyo (little i knew then that my heart was to be torn afresh from my bosom!), i fell asleep in the clanging hotel. next morning i had entered upon the deferred inheritance. there are no princes in america,--at least with crowns on their heads,--but a generous-minded member of some royal family received my letter of introduction. ere the day closed i was a member of the two clubs and booked for many engagements to dinner and party. now this prince, upon whose financial operations be continual increase, had no reason, nor had the others, his friends, to put himself out for the sake of one briton more or less; but he rested not till he had accomplished all in my behalf that a mother could think of for her _débutante_ daughter. do you know the bohemian club of san francisco? they say its fame extends over the world. it was created somewhat on the lines of the savage by men who wrote or drew things, and it has blossomed into most unrepublican luxury. the ruler of the place is an owl--an owl standing upon a skull and cross-bones, showing forth grimly the wisdom of the man of letters and the end of his hopes for immortality. the owl stands on the staircase, a statue four feet high, is carved in the woodwork, flutters on the frescoed ceilings, is stamped on the note paper, and hangs on the walls. he is an ancient and honourable bird. under his wing 'twas my privilege to meet with white men whose lives were not chained down to routine of toil, who wrote magazine articles instead of reading them hurriedly in the pauses of office-work, who painted pictures instead of contenting themselves with cheap etchings picked up at another man's sale of effects. mine were all the rights of social intercourse that india, stony-hearted step-mother of collectors, has swindled us out of. treading soft carpets and breathing the incense of superior cigars, i wandered from room to room studying the paintings in which the members of the club had caricatured themselves, their associates, and their aims. there was a slick french audacity about the workmanship of these men of toil unbending that went straight to the heart of the beholder. and yet it was not altogether french. a dry grimness of treatment, almost dutch, marked the difference. the men painted as they spoke--with certainty. the club indulges in revelries which it calls "jinks"--high and low,--at intervals,--and each of these gatherings is faithfully portrayed in oils by hands that know their business. in this club were no amateurs spoiling canvas because they fancied they could handle oils without knowledge of shadows or anatomy--no gentleman of leisure ruining the temper of publishers and an already ruined market with attempts to write "because everybody writes something these days." my hosts were working, or had worked, for their daily bread with pen or paint, and their talk for the most part was of the shop shoppy--that is to say, delightful. they extended a large hand of welcome and were as brethren, and i did homage to the owl and listened to their talk. an indian club about christmas-time will yield, if properly worked, an abundant harvest of queer tales; but at a gathering of americans from the uttermost ends of their own continent the tales are larger, thicker, more spinous, and even more azure than any indian variety. tales of the war i heard told by an ex-officer of the south over his evening drink to a colonel of the northern army; my introducer, who had served as a trooper in the northern horse, throwing in emendations from time to time. other voices followed with equally wondrous tales of riata-throwing in mexico or arizona, of gambling at army posts in texas, of newspaper wars waged in godless chicago, of deaths sudden and violent in montana and dakota, of the loves of half-breed maidens in the south, and fantastic huntings for gold in mysterious alaska. above all, they told the story of the building of old san francisco, when the "finest collection of humanity on god's earth, sir, started this town, and the water came up to the foot of market street." very terrible were some of the tales, grimly humorous the others, and the men in broadcloth and fine linen who told them had played their parts in them. "and now and again when things got too bad they would toll the city bell, and the vigilance committee turned out and hanged the suspicious characters. a man didn't begin to be suspected in those days till he had committed at least one unprovoked murder," said a calm-eyed, portly old gentleman. i looked at the pictures around me, the noiseless, neat-uniformed waiter behind me, the oak-ribbed ceiling above, the velvety carpet beneath. it was hard to realise that even twenty years ago you could see a man hanged with great pomp. later on i found reason to change my opinion. the tales gave me a headache and set me thinking. how in the world was it possible to take in even one-thousandth of this huge, roaring, many-sided continent? in the silence of the sumptuous library lay professor bryce's book on the american republic. "it is an omen," said i. "he has done all things in all seriousness, and he may be purchased for half a guinea. those who desire information of the most undoubted must refer to his pages. for me is the daily round of vagabondage, the recording of the incidents of the hour, and talk with the travelling companion of the day. i will not 'do' this country at all." and i forgot all about india for ten days while i went out to dinners and watched the social customs of the people, which are entirely different from our customs, and was introduced to the men of many millions. these persons are harmless in their earlier stages; that is to say, a man worth three or four million dollars may be a good talker, clever, amusing, and of the world; a man with twice that amount is to be avoided; and a twenty-million man is--just twenty millions. take an instance. i was speaking to a newspaper man about seeing the proprietor of his journal. my friend snorted indignantly: "see _him_! great scott! _no!_ if he happens to appear in the office, i have to associate with him; but, thank heaven, outside of that i move in circles where he cannot come." and yet the first thing i have been taught to believe is that money was everything in america! no. xxiv shows how through folly i assisted at a murder and was afraid. the rule of the democracy and the despotism of the alien. "poor men--god made, and all for that!" it was a bad business throughout, and the only consolation is that it was all my fault. a man took me round the chinese quarter of san francisco, which is a ward of the city of canton set down in the most eligible business-quarter of the place. the chinaman with his usual skill has possessed himself of good brick fire-proof buildings and, following instinct, has packed each tenement with hundreds of souls, all living in filth and squalor not to be appreciated save by you in india. that cursory investigation ought to have sufficed; but i wanted to know how deep in the earth the pig-tail had taken root. therefore i explored the chinese quarter a second time and alone, which was foolishness. no one in the filthy streets (but for the blessed sea breezes san francisco would enjoy cholera every season) interfered with my movements, though many asked for _cumshaw_. i struck a house about four stories high full of celestial abominations, and began to burrow down; having heard that these tenements were constructed on the lines of icebergs--two-thirds below sight level. downstairs i crawled past chinamen in bunks, opium-smokers, brothels, and gambling hells, till i had reached the second cellar--was in fact, in the labyrinths of a warren. great is the wisdom of the chinaman. in time of trouble that house could be razed to the ground by the mob, and yet hide all its inhabitants in brick-walled and wooden-beamed subterranean galleries, strengthened with iron-framed doors and gates. on the second underground floor a man asked for _cumshaw_ and took me downstairs to yet another cellar, where the air was as thick as butter, and the lamps burned little holes in it not more than an inch square. in this place a poker club had assembled and was in full swing. the chinaman loves "pokel," and plays it with great skill, swearing like a cat when he loses. most of the men round the table were in semi-european dress, their pigtails curled up under billy-cock hats. one of the company looked like a eurasian, whence i argued that he was a mexican--a supposition that later inquiries confirmed. they were a picturesque set of fiends and polite, being too absorbed in their game to look at the stranger. we were all deep down under the earth, and save for the rustle of a blue gown sleeve and the ghostly whisper of the cards as they were shuffled and played, there was no sound. the heat was almost unendurable. there was some dispute between the mexican and the man on his left. the latter shifted his place to put the table between himself and his opponent, and stretched a lean yellow hand towards the mexican's winnings. mark how purely man is a creature of instinct. rarely introduced to the pistol, i saw the mexican half rise in his chair and at the same instant found myself full length on the floor. none had told me that this was the best attitude when bullets are abroad. i was there prone before i had time to think--dropping as the room was filled with an intolerable clamour like the discharge of a cannon. in those close quarters the pistol report had no room to spread any more than the smoke--then acrid in my nostrils. there was no second shot, but a great silence in which i rose slowly to my knees. the chinaman was gripping the table with both hands and staring in front of him at an empty chair. the mexican had gone, and a little whirl of smoke was floating near the roof. still gripping the table, the chinaman said: "ah!" in the tone that a man would use when, looking up from his work suddenly, he sees a well-known friend in the doorway. then he coughed and fell over to his own right, and i saw that he had been shot in the stomach. i became aware that, save for two men leaning over the stricken one, the room was empty; and all the tides of intense fear, hitherto held back by intenser curiosity, swept over my soul. i ardently desired the outside air. it was possible that the chinamen would mistake me for the mexican,--everything horrible seemed possible just then,--and it was more than possible that the stairways would be closed while they were hunting for the murderer. the man on the floor coughed a sickening cough. i heard it as i fled, and one of his companions turned out the lamp. those stairs seemed interminable, and to add to my dismay there was no sound of commotion in the house. no one hindered, no one even looked at me. there was no trace of the mexican. i found the doorway and, my legs trembling under me, reached the protection of the clear cool night, the fog, and the rain. i dared not run, and for the life of me i could not walk. i must have effected a compromise, for i remember the light of a street lamp showed the shadow of one half skipping--caracoling along the pavements in what seemed to be an ecstacy of suppressed happiness. but it was fear--deadly fear. fear compounded of past knowledge of the oriental--only other white man--available witness--three stories underground--and the cough of the chinaman now some forty feet under my clattering boot-heels. it was good to see the shop-fronts and electric lights again. not for anything would i have informed the police, because i firmly believed that the mexican had been dealt with somewhere down there on the third floor long ere i had reached the air; and, moreover, once clear of the place, i could not for the life of me tell where it was. my ill-considered flight brought me out somewhere a mile distant from the hotel; and the clank of the lift that bore me to a bed six stories above ground was music in my ears. wherefore i would impress it upon you who follow after, do not knock about the chinese quarters at night and alone. you may stumble across a picturesque piece of human nature that will unsteady your nerves for half a day. * * * * * and this brings me by natural sequence to the great drink question. as you know, of course, the american does not drink at meals as a sensible man should. indeed, he has no meals. he stuffs for ten minutes thrice a day. also he has no decent notions about the sun being over the yard-arm or below the horizon. he pours his vanity into himself at unholy hours, and indeed he can hardly help it. you have no notion of what "treating" means on the western slope. it is more than an institution; it is a religion, though men tell me that it is nothing to what it was. take a very common instance. at 10.30 a.m. a man is smitten with desire for stimulants. he is in the company of two friends. all three adjourn to the nearest bar,--seldom more than twenty yards away,--and take three straight whiskys. they talk for two minutes. the second and third man then treats in order; and thus each walks into the street, two of them the poorer by three goes of whisky under their belt and one with two more liquors than he wanted. it is not etiquette yet to refuse a treat. the result is peculiar. i have never yet, i confess, seen a drunken man in the streets, but i have heard more about drunkenness among white men, and seen more decent men above or below themselves with drink, than i care to think about. and the vice runs up into all sorts of circles and societies. never was i more astonished than at one pleasant dinner party to hear a pair of pretty lips say casually of a gentleman friend then under discussion, "he was drunk." the fact was merely stated without emotion. that was what startled me. but the climate of california deals kindly with excess, and treacherously covers up its traces. a man neither bloats nor shrivels in this dry air. he continues with the false bloom of health upon his cheeks, an equable eye, a firm mouth, and a steady hand till a day of reckoning arrives, and suddenly breaking up, about the head, he dies, and his friends speak his epitaph accordingly. why people who in most cases cannot hold their liquor should play with it so recklessly i leave to others to decide. this unhappy state of affairs has, however, produced one good result which i will confide to you. in the heart of the business quarter, where banks and bankers are thickest, and telegraph wires most numerous, stands a semi-subterranean bar tended by a german with long blond locks and a crystalline eye. go thither softly, treading on the tips of your toes, and ask him for a button punch. 'twill take ten minutes to brew, but the result is the highest and noblest product of the age. no man but one knows what is in it. i have a theory it is compounded of the shavings of cherubs' wings, the glory of a tropical dawn, the red clouds of sunset, and fragments of lost epics by dead masters. but try you for yourselves, and pause a while to bless me, who am always mindful of the truest interests of my brethren. but enough of the stale spilth of bar-rooms. turn now to the august spectacle of a government of the people, by the people, for the people, as it is understood in the city of san francisco. professor bryce's book will tell you that every american citizen over twenty-one years of age possesses a vote. he may not know how to run his own business, control his wife, or instil reverence into his children, may be pauper, half-crazed with drink, bankrupt, dissolute, or merely a born fool; but he has a vote. if he likes, he can be voting most of his time--voting for his state governor, his municipal officers, local option, sewage contracts, or anything else of which he has no special knowledge. once every four years he votes for a new president. in his spare moments he votes for his own judges--the men who shall give him justice. these are dependent on popular favour for re-election inasmuch as they are but chosen for a term of years--two or three, i believe. such a position is manifestly best calculated to create an independent and unprejudiced administrator. now this mass of persons who vote is divided into two parties--republican and democrat. they are both agreed in thinking that the other part is running creation (which is america) into red flame. also the democrat as a party drinks more than the republican, and when drunk may be heard to talk about a thing called the tariff, which he does not understand, but which he conceives to be the bulwark of the country or else the surest power for its destruction. sometimes he says one thing and sometimes another, in order to contradict the republican, who is always contradicting himself. and this is a true and lucid account of the forepart of american politics. the behind-part is otherwise. since every man has a vote and may vote on every conceivable thing, it follows that there exist certain wise men who understand the art of buying up votes retail, and vending them wholesale to whoever wants them most urgently. now an american engaged in making a home for himself has not time to vote for turn-cocks and district attorneys and cattle of that kind, but the unemployed have much time because they are always on hand somewhere in the streets. they are called "the boys," and form a peculiar class. the boys are young men; inexpert in war, unskilled in labour; who have neither killed a man, lifted cattle, or dug a well. in plain english, they are just the men in the streets who can always be trusted to rally round any cause that has a glass of liquor for a visible heart. they wait--they are on hand--; and in being on hand lies the crown and the glory of american politics. the wise man is he who, keeping a liquor-saloon and judiciously dispensing drinks, knows how to retain within arm's reach a block of men who will vote for or against anything under the canopy of heaven. not every saloon-keeper can do this. it demands careful study of city politics, tact, the power of conciliation, and infinite resources of anecdote to amuse and keep the crowd together night after night, till the saloon becomes a salon. above all, the liquor side of the scheme must not be worked for immediate profit. the boys who drink so freely will ultimately pay their host a thousandfold. an irishman, and an irishman pre-eminently, knows how to work such a saloon parliament. observe for a moment the plan of operations. the rank and file are treated to drink and a little money--and they vote. he who controls ten votes receives a proportionate reward; the dispenser of a thousand votes is worthy of reverence, and so the chain runs on till we reach the most successful worker of public saloons--the man most skilful in keeping his items together and using them when required. such a man governs the city as absolutely as a king. and you would know where the gain comes in? the whole of the public offices of a city (with the exception of a very few where special technical skill is required) are short-term offices distributed according to "political" leanings. what would you have? a big city requires many officials. each office carries a salary and influence worth twice the pay. the offices are for the representatives of the men who keep together and are on hand to vote. the commissioner of sewage, let us say, is a gentleman who has been elected to his office by a republican vote. he knows little and cares less about sewage, but he has sense enough to man the pumping-works and the street-sweeping-machines with the gentlemen who elected him. the commissioner of police has been helped to his post very largely by the influence of the boys at such and such a saloon. he may be the guardian of city morals, but he is not going to allow his subordinates to enforce early closing or abstention from gambling in that saloon. most offices are limited to four years, consequently he is a fool who does not make his office pay him while he is in it. the only people who suffer by this happy arrangement are, in fact, the people who devised the lovely system. and they suffer because they are americans. let us explain. as you know, every big city here holds at least one big foreign vote--generally irish, frequently german. in san francisco, the gathering place of the races, there is a distinct italian vote to be considered, but the irish vote is more important. for this reason the irishman does not kill himself with overwork. he is made for the cheery dispensing of liquors, for everlasting blarney, and possesses a wonderfully keen appreciation of the weaknesses of lesser human nature. also he has no sort of conscience, and only one strong conviction--that of deep-rooted hatred toward england. he keeps to the streets, he is on hand, he votes joyously, spending days lavishly,--and time is the american's dearest commodity. behold the glorious result. to-day the city of san francisco is governed by the irish vote and the irish influence, under the rule of a gentleman whose sight is impaired, and who requires a man to lead him about the streets. he is called officially "boss buckley," and unofficially the "blind white devil." i have before me now the record of his amiable career in black and white. it occupies four columns of small print, and perhaps you would think it disgraceful. summarised, it is as follows: boss buckley, by tact and deep knowledge of the seamy side of the city, won himself a following of voters. he sought no office himself, or rarely: but as his following increased he sold their services to the highest bidder, himself taking toll of the revenues of every office. he controlled the democratic party in the city of san francisco. the people appoint their own judges. boss buckley's people appointed judges. these judges naturally were boss buckley's property. i have been to dinner parties and heard educated men, not concerned with politics, telling stories one to another of "justice," both civil and criminal, being bought with a price from the hands of these judges. such tales they told without heat, as men recording facts. contracts for road-mending, public buildings, and the like are under the control of boss buckley, because the men whom buckley's following sent to the city council adjudicate on these contracts; and on each and every one of these contracts boss buckley levies his percentage for himself and his allies. the republican party in san francisco also have their boss. he is not so great a genius as boss buckley, but i decline to believe that he is any whit more virtuous. he has a smaller number of votes at his command. from sea to sea letters of travel by rudyard kipling new york doubleday, page & company 1913 copyright, 1899, 1907, by rudyard kipling. contents of part ii from sea to sea xxv page tells how i dropped into politics and the tenderer sentiments. contains a moral treatise on american maidens and an ethnological one on the negro. ends with a banquet and a type-writer 3 xxvi takes me through bret harte's country and to portland with "old man california." explains how two vagabonds became homesick through looking at other people's houses 18 xxvii shows how i caught salmon in the clackamas 33 xxviii takes me from vancouver to the yellowstone national park 50 xxix shows how yankee jim introduced me to diana of the crossways on the banks of the yellowstone and how a german jew said i was no true citizen. ends with the celebration of the 4th of july and a few lessons therefrom 62 xxx shows how i entered mazanderan of the persians and saw devils of every colour, and some troopers. hell and the old lady from chicago. the captain and the lieutenant 73 xxxi ends with the cañon of the yellowstone. the maiden from new hampshire--larry--"wrap-up-his-tail"--tom--the old lady from chicago--and a few natural phenomena--including one briton 88 xxxii of the american army and the city of the saints. the temple, the book of mormon, and the girl from dorset. an oriental consideration of polygamy 106 xxxiii how i met certain people of importance between salt lake and omaha 120 xxxiv across the great divide; and how the man gring showed me the garments of the ellewomen 130 xxxv how i struck chicago, and how chicago struck me. of religion, politics, and pig-sticking, and the incarnation of the city among shambles 139 xxxvi how i found peace at musquash on the monongahela 154 xxxvii an interview with mark twain 167 the city of dreadful night i a real live city 185 ii the reflections of a savage 191 iii the council of the gods 199 iv on the banks of the hugli 208 v with the calcutta police 217 vi the city of dreadful night 223 vii deeper and deeper still 233 viii concerning lucia 240 among the railway folk i a railway settlement 249 ii the shops 257 iii vulcan's forge 266 the giridih coal-fields i on the surface 275 ii in the depths 284 iii the perils of the pits 291 part ii from sea to sea no. xxv tells how i dropped into politics and the tenderer sentiments. contains a moral treatise on american maidens and an ethnological one on the negro. ends with a banquet and a type-writer. i have been watching machinery in repose after reading about machinery in action. an excellent gentleman who bears a name honoured in the magazines writes, much as disraeli orated, of "the sublime instincts of an ancient people," the certainty with which they can be trusted to manage their own affairs in their own way, and the speed with which they are making for all sorts of desirable goals. this he called a statement or purview of american politics. i went almost directly afterwards to a saloon where gentlemen interested in ward politics nightly congregate. they were not pretty persons. some of them were bloated, and they all swore cheerfully till the heavy gold watch-chains on their fat stomachs rose and fell again; but they talked over their liquor as men who had power and unquestioned access to places of trust and profit. the magazine-writer discussed theories of government; these men the practice. they had been there. they knew all about it. they banged their fists on the table and spoke of political "pulls," the vending of votes, and so forth. theirs was not the talk of village babblers reconstructing the affairs of the nation, but of strong, coarse, lustful men fighting for spoil and thoroughly understanding the best methods of reaching it. i listened long and intently to speech i could not understand, or only in spots. it was the speech of business, however. i had sense enough to know _that_, and to do my laughing outside the door. then i began to understand why my pleasant and well-educated hosts in san francisco spoke with a bitter scorn of such duties of citizenship as voting and taking an interest in the distribution of offices. scores of men have told me with no false pride that they would as soon concern themselves with the public affairs of the city or state as rake muck. read about politics as the cultured writer of the magazines regards 'em, and then, _and not till then_, pay your respects to the gentlemen who run the grimy reality. i'm sick of interviewing night-editors, who, in response to my demand for the record of a prominent citizen, answer: "well, you see, he began by keeping a saloon," etc. i prefer to believe that my informants are treating me as in the old sinful days in india i was used to treat our wandering globe-trotters. they declare that they speak the truth, and the news of dog-politics lately vouchsafed to me in groggeries incline me to believe--but i won't. the people are much too nice to slangander as recklessly as i have been doing. besides, i am hopelessly in love with about eight american maidens--all perfectly delightful till the next one comes into the room. o-toyo was a darling, but she lacked several things; conversation, for one. you cannot live on giggles. she shall remain unmoved at nagasaki while i roast a battered heart before the shrine of a big kentucky blonde who had for a nurse, when she was little, a negro "mammy." by consequence she has welded on to californian beauty, paris dresses, eastern culture, europe trips, and wild western originality, the queer dreamy superstitions of the negro quarters, and the result is soul-shattering. and she is but one of many stars. _item_, a maiden who believes in education and possesses it, with a few hundred thousand dollars to boot, and a taste for slumming. _item_, the leader of a sort of informal salon where girls congregate, read papers, and daringly discuss metaphysical problems and candy--a sloe-eyed, black-browed, imperious maiden. _item_, a very small maiden, absolutely without reverence, who can in one swift sentence trample upon and leave gasping half a dozen young men. _item_, a millionnairess, burdened with her money, lonely, caustic, with a tongue keen as a sword, yearning for a sphere, but chained up to the rock of her vast possessions. _item_, a typewriter-maiden earning her own bread in this big city, because she doesn't think a girl ought to be a burden on her parents. she quotes théophile gautier, and moves through the world manfully, much respected, for all her twenty inexperienced summers. _item_, a woman from cloudland who has no history in the past, but is discreetly of the present, and strives for the confidences of male humanity on the grounds of "sympathy." (this is not altogether a new type.) _item_, a girl in a "dive" blessed with a greek head and eyes that seem to speak all that is best and sweetest in the world. but woe is me!--she has no ideas in this world or the next, beyond the consumption of beer (a commission on each bottle), and protests that she sings the songs allotted to her nightly with no more than the vaguest notion of their meaning. sweet and comely are the maidens of devonshire; delicate and of gracious seeming those who live in the pleasant places of london; fascinating for all their demureness the damsels of france clinging closely to their mothers, and with large eyes wondering at the wicked world; excellent in her own place and to those who understand her is the anglo-indian "spin" in her second season; but the girls of america are above and beyond them all. they are clever; they can talk. yea, it is said that they think. certainly they have an appearance of so doing. they are original, and look you between the brows with unabashed eyes as a sister might look at her brother. they are instructed in the folly and vanity of the male mind, for they have associated with "the boys" from babyhood, and can discerningly minister to both vices, or pleasantly snub the possessor. they possess, moreover, a life among themselves, independent of masculine associations. they have societies and clubs and unlimited tea-fights where all the guests are girls. they are self-possessed without parting with any tenderness that is their sex-right; they understand; they can take care of themselves; they are superbly independent. when you ask them what makes them so charming, they say: "it is because we are better educated than your girls and--and we are more sensible in regard to men. we have good times all round, but we aren't taught to regard every man as a possible husband. nor is he expected to marry the first girl he calls on regularly." yes, they have good times, their freedom is large, and they do not abuse it. they can go driving with young men, and receive visits from young men to an extent that would make an english mother wink with horror; and neither driver nor drivee have a thought beyond the enjoyment of a good time. as certain also of their own poets have said:- "man is fire and woman is tow, and the devil he comes and begins to blow." in america the tow is soaked in a solution that makes it fire-proof, in absolute liberty and large knowledge; consequently accidents do not exceed the regular percentage arranged by the devil for each class and climate under the skies. but the freedom of the young girl has its drawbacks. she is--i say it with all reluctance--irreverent, from her forty-dollar bonnet to the buckles in her eighteen-dollar shoes. she talks flippantly to her parents and men old enough to be her grandfather. she has a prescriptive right to the society of the man who arrives. the parents admit it. this is sometimes embarrassing, especially when you call on a man and his wife for the sake of information; the one being a merchant of varied knowledge, the other a woman of the world. in five minutes your host has vanished. in another five his wife has followed him, and you are left with a very charming maiden doubtless, but certainly not the person you came to see. she chatters and you grin; but you leave with the very strong impression of a wasted morning. this has been my experience once or twice. i have even said as pointedly as i dared to a man: "i came to see you." "you'd better see me in my office, then. the house belongs to my women-folk--to my daughter, that is to say." he spoke with truth. the american of wealth is owned by his family. they exploit him for bullion, and sometimes it seems to me that his lot is a lonely one. the women get the ha'pence; the kicks are all his own. nothing is too good for an american's daughter (i speak here of the moneyed classes). the girls take every gift as a matter of course. yet they develop greatly when a catastrophe arrives and the man of many millions goes up or goes down and his daughters take to stenography or type-writing. i have heard many tales of heroism from the lips of girls who counted the principals among their friends. the crash came; mamie or hattie or sadie gave up their maid, their carriages and candy, and with a no. 2 remington and a stout heart set about earning their daily bread. "and did i drop her from the list of my friends? no, sir," said a scarlet-lipped vision in white lace. "that might happen to me any day." it may be this sense of possible disaster in the air that makes san franciscan society go with so captivating a rush and whirl. recklessness is in the air. i can't explain where it comes from, but there it is. the roaring winds off the pacific make you drunk to begin with. the aggressive luxury on all sides helps out the intoxication, and you spin for ever "down the ringing groves of change" (there is no small change, by the way, west of the rockies) as long as money lasts. they make greatly and they spend lavishly; not only the rich but the artisans, who pay nearly five pounds for a suit of clothes and for other luxuries in proportion. the young men rejoice in the days of their youth. they gamble, yacht, race, enjoy prize-fights and cock-fights--the one openly, the other in secret--they establish luxurious clubs; they break themselves over horse-flesh and--other things; and they are instant in quarrel. at twenty they are experienced in business; embark in vast enterprises, take partners as experienced as themselves, and go to pieces with as much splendour as their neighbours. remember that the men who stocked california in the fifties were physically, and as far as regards certain tough virtues, the pick of the earth. the inept and the weakly died _en route_ or went under in the days of construction. to this nucleus were added all the races of the continent--french, italian, german, and, of course, the jew. the result you shall see in large-boned, deep-chested, delicate-handed women, and long, elastic, well-built boys. it needs no little golden badge swinging from his watch-chain to mark the native son of the golden west--the country-bred of california. him i love because he is devoid of fear, carries himself like a man, and has a heart as big as his boots. i fancy, too, he knows how to enjoy the blessings of life that his world so abundantly bestows upon him. at least i heard a little rat of a creature with hock-bottle shoulders explaining that a man from chicago could pull the eye-teeth of a californian in business. well, if i lived in fairyland, where cherries were as big as plums, plums as big as apples, and strawberries of no account; where the procession of the fruits of the seasons was like a pageant in a drury lane pantomime and where the dry air was wine, i should let business slide once in a way and kick up my heels with my fellows. the tale of the resources of california--vegetable and mineral--is a fairy tale. you can read it in books. you would never believe me. all manner of nourishing food from sea-fish to beef may be bought at the lowest prices; and the people are well developed and of a high stomach. they demand ten shillings for tinkering a jammed lock of a trunk; they receive sixteen shillings a day for working as carpenters; they spend many sixpences on very bad cigars, and they go mad over a prize-fight. when they disagree, they do so fatally, with firearms in their hands, and on the public streets. i was just clear of mission street when the trouble began between two gentlemen, one of whom perforated the other. when a policeman, whose name i do not recollect, "fatally shot ed. kearney," for attempting to escape arrest, i was in the next street. for these things i am thankful. it is enough to travel with a policeman in a tram-car and while he arranges his coat-tails as he sits down, to catch sight of a loaded revolver. it is enough to know that fifty per cent of the men in the public saloons carry pistols about them. the chinaman waylays his adversary and methodically chops him to pieces with his hatchet. then the press roar about the brutal ferocity of the pagan. the italian reconstructs his friend with a long knife. the press complains of the waywardness of the alien. the irishman and the native californian in their hours of discontent use the revolver, not once, but six times. the press records the fact, and asks in the next column whether the world can parallel the progress of san francisco. the american who loves this country will tell you that this sort of thing is confined to the lower classes. just at present an ex-judge who was sent to jail by another judge (upon my word, i cannot tell whether these titles mean anything) is breathing red-hot vengeance against his enemy. the papers have interviewed both parties and confidently expect a fatal issue. now let me draw breath and curse the negro waiter and through him the negro in service generally. he has been made a citizen with a vote; consequently both political parties play with him. but that is neither here nor there. he will commit in one meal every _bétise_ that a scullion fresh from the plough-tail is capable of, and he will continue to repeat those faults. he is as complete a heavy-footed, uncomprehending, bungle-fisted fool as any _memsahib_ in the east ever took into her establishment. but he is according to law a free and independent citizen--consequently above reproof or criticism. he, and he alone, in this insane city will wait at table (the chinaman doesn't count). he is untrained, inept, but he will fill the place and draw the pay. now god and his father's kismet made him intellectually inferior to the oriental. he insists on pretending that he serves tables by accident--as a sort of amusement. he wishes you to understand this little fact. you wish to eat your meals, and if possible to have them properly served. he is a big, black, vain baby and a man rolled into one. a coloured gentleman who insisted on getting me pie when i wanted something else, demanded information about india. i gave him some facts about wages. "oh hell," said he, cheerfully, "that wouldn't keep me in cigars for a month." then he fawned on me for a ten-cent piece. later he took it upon himself to pity the natives of india--"heathen" he called them, this woolly one whose race has been the butt of every comedy on the asiatic stage since the beginning. and i turned and saw by the head upon his shoulders that he was a yoruba man, if there be any truth in ethnological castes. he did his thinking in english, but he was a yoruba negro, and the race type had remained the same throughout his generations. and the room was full of other races--some that looked exactly like gallas (but the trade was never recruited from that side of africa), some duplicates of cameroon heads, and some kroomen, if ever kroomen wore evening dress. the american does not consider little matters of descent, though by this time he ought to know all about "damnable heredity." as a general rule he keeps himself very far from the negro and says unpretty things about him. there are six million negroes more or less in the states, and they are increasing. the americans once having made them citizens cannot unmake them. he says, in his newspapers, they ought to be elevated by education. he is trying this: but it is like to be a long job, because black blood is much more adhesive than white, and throws back with annoying persistence. when the negro gets a religion he returns, directly as a hiving bee, to the first instincts of his people. just now a wave of religion is sweeping over some of the southern states. up to the present, two messiahs and one daniel have appeared; and several human sacrifices have been offered up to these incarnations. the daniel managed to get three young men, who he insisted were shadrach, meshach, and abednego, to walk into a blast furnace; guaranteeing non-combustion. they did not return. i have seen nothing of this kind, but i have attended a negro church. the congregation were moved by the spirit to groans and tears, and one of them danced up the aisle to the mourners' bench. the motive may have been genuine. the movements of the shaken body were those of a zanzibar stick-dance, such as you see at aden on the coal boats; and even as i watched the people, the links that bound them to the white man snapped one by one, and i saw before me--the _hubshi_ (the woolly one) praying to the god he did not understand. those neatly dressed folk on the benches, the grey-headed elder by the window, were savages--neither more nor less. what will the american do with the negro? the south will not consort with him. in some states miscegenation is a penal offence. the north is every year less and less in need of his services. and he will not disappear. he will continue as a problem. his friends will urge that he is as good as the white man. his enemies ... it is not good to be a negro in the land of the free and the home of the brave. but this has nothing to do with san francisco and her merry maidens, her strong, swaggering men, and her wealth of gold and pride. they bore me to a banquet in honour of a brave lieutenant--carlin, of the _vandalia_--who stuck by his ship in the great cyclone at apia and comported himself as an officer should. on that occasion--'twas at the bohemian club--i heard oratory with the roundest of o's; and devoured a dinner the memory of which will descend with me into the hungry grave. there were about forty speeches delivered; and not one of them was average or ordinary. it was my first introduction to the american eagle screaming for all it was worth. the lieutenant's heroism served as a peg from which those silver-tongued ones turned themselves loose and kicked. they ransacked the clouds of sunset, the thunderbolts of heaven, the deeps of hell, and the splendours of the resurrection, for tropes and metaphors, and hurled the result at the head of the guest of the evening. never since the morning stars sang together for joy, i learned, had an amazed creation witnessed such superhuman bravery as that displayed by the american navy in the samoa cyclone. till earth rotted in the phosphorescent star-and-stripe slime of a decayed universe that god-like gallantry would not be forgotten. i grieve that i cannot give the exact words. my attempt at reproducing their spirit is pale and inadequate. i sat bewildered on a coruscating niagara of--blatherumskite. it was magnificent--it was stupendous; and i was conscious of a wicked desire to hide my face in a napkin and grin. then, according to rule, they produced their dead, and across the snowy tablecloths dragged the corpse of every man slain in the civil war, and hurled defiance at "our natural enemy" (england, so please you!) "with her chain of fortresses across the world." thereafter they glorified their nation afresh, from the beginning, in case any detail should have been overlooked, and that made me uncomfortable for their sakes. how in the world can a white man, a sahib of our blood, stand up and plaster praise on his own country? he can think as highly as he likes, but his open-mouthed vehemence of adoration struck me almost as indelicate. my hosts talked for rather more than three hours, and at the end seemed ready for three hours more. but when the lieutenant--such a big, brave, gentle giant!--rose to his feet, he delivered what seemed to me as the speech of the evening. i remember nearly the whole of it, and it ran something in this way: "gentlemen--it's very good of you to give me this dinner and to tell me all these pretty things, but what i want you to understand--the fact is--what we want and what we ought to get at once is a navy--more ships--lots of 'em--" then we howled the top of the roof off, and i, for one, fell in love with carlin on the spot. wallah! he was a man. the prince among merchants bade me take no heed to the warlike sentiments of some of the old generals. "the sky-rockets are thrown in for effect," quoth he, "and whenever we get on our hind legs we always express a desire to chaw up england. it's a sort of family affair." and indeed, when you come to think of it, there is no other country for the american public speaker to trample upon. france has germany; we have russia; for italy, austria is provided; and the humblest pathan possesses an ancestral enemy. only america stands out of the racket; and therefore, to be in fashion, makes a sand-bag of the mother-country, and bangs her when occasion requires. "the chain of fortresses" man, a fascinating talker, explained to me after the affair that he was compelled to blow off steam. everybody expected it. when we had chanted "the star-spangled banner" not more than eight times, we adjourned. america is a very great country, but it is not yet heaven with electric lights and plush fittings, as the speakers professed to believe. my listening mind went back to the politicians in the saloon who wasted no time in talking about freedom, but quietly made arrangements to impose their will on the citizens. "the judge is a great man, but give thy presents to the clerk," as the proverb saith. and what more remains to tell? i cannot write connectedly, because i am in love with all those girls aforesaid and some others who do not appear in the invoice. the type-writer girl is an institution of which the comic papers make much capital, but she is vastly convenient. she and a companion rent a room in a business quarter, and copy manuscript at the rate of six annas a page. only a woman can manage a type-writing machine, because she has served apprenticeship to the sewing-machine. she can earn as much as a hundred dollars a month, and professes to regard this form of bread-winning as her natural destiny. but oh how she hates it in her heart of hearts! when i had got over the surprise of doing business and trying to give orders to a young woman of coldly clerkly aspect, intrenched behind gold-rimmed spectacles, i made inquiries concerning the pleasures of this independence. they liked it--indeed, they did. 'twas the natural fate of almost all girls,--the recognised custom in america,--and i was a barbarian not to see it in that light. "well, and after?" said i. "what happens?" "we work for our bread." "and then what do you expect?" "then we shall work for our bread." "till you die?" "ye-es--unless--" "unless what? a man works till he dies." "so shall we." this without enthusiasm--"i suppose." said the partner in the firm audaciously: "sometimes we marry our employers--at least that's what the newspapers say." the hand banged on half a dozen of the keys of the machine at once. "yes, i don't care. i hate it--i _hate_ it--i hate it, and you needn't look so!" the senior partner was regarding the rebel with grave-eyed reproach. "i thought you did," said i. "i don't suppose american girls are much different from english ones in instinct." "isn't it théophile gautier who says that the only differences between country and country lie in the slang and the uniform of the police?" now in the name of all the gods at once, what is one to say to a young lady (who in england would be a person) who earns her own bread, and very naturally hates the employ, and slings out-of-the-way quotations at your head? that one falls in love with her goes without saying; but that is not enough. a mission should be established. no. xxvi takes me through bret harte's country, and to portland with "old man california." explains how two vagabonds became homesick through looking at other people's houses. "i walked in the lonesome even, and who so sad as i, as i saw the young men and maidens merrily passing by?" san francisco has only one drawback. 'tis hard to leave. when like the pious hans breitmann i "cut that city by the sea" it was with regrets for the pleasant places left behind, for the men who were so clever, and the women who were so witty, for the "dives," the beer-halls, the bucket-shops, and the poker-hells where humanity was going to the devil with shouting and laughter and song and the rattle of dice-boxes. i would fain have stayed, but i feared that an evil end would come to me when my money was all spent and i descended to the street corner. a voice inside me said: "get out of this. go north. strike for victoria and vancouver. bask for a day under the shadow of the old flag." so i set forth from san francisco to portland in oregon, and that was a railroad run of thirty-six hours. the oakland railway terminus, whence all the main lines start, does not own anything approaching to a platform. a yard with a dozen or more tracks is roughly asphalted, and the traveller laden with hand-bags skips merrily across the metals in search of his own particular train. the bells of half a dozen shunting engines are tolling suggestively in his ears. if he is run down, so much the worse for him. "when the bell rings, look out for the locomotive." long use has made the nation familiar and even contemptuous towards trains to an extent which god never intended. women who in england would gather up their skirts and scud timorously over a level crossing in the country, here talk dress and babies under the very nose of the cow-catcher, and little children dally with the moving car in a manner horrible to behold. we pulled out at the wholly insignificant speed of twenty-five miles an hour through the streets of a suburb of fifty thousand, and in our progress among the carts and the children and the shop fronts slew nobody; at which i was not a little disappointed. when the negro porter bedded me up for the night and i had solved the problem of undressing while lying down,--i was much cheered by the thought that if anything happened i should have to stay where i was and wait till the kerosene lamps set the overturned car alight and burned me to death. it is easier to get out of a full theatre than to leave a pullman in haste. by the time i had discovered that a profusion of nickel-plating, plush, and damask does not compensate for closeness and dust, the train ran into the daylight on the banks of the sacramento river. a few windows were gingerly opened after the bunks had been reconverted into seats, but that long coffin-car was by no means ventilated, and we were a gummy, grimy crew who sat there. at six in the morning the heat was distinctly unpleasant, but seeing with the eye of the flesh that i was in bret harte's own country, i rejoiced. there were the pines and madrone-clad hills his miners lived and fought among; there was the heated red earth that showed whence the gold had been washed; the dry gulch, the red, dusty road where hamblin was used to stop the stage in the intervals of his elegant leisure and superior card-play; there was the timber felled and sweating resin in the sunshine; and, above all, there was the quivering pungent heat that bret harte drives into your dull brain with the magic of his pen. when we stopped at a collection of packing-cases dignified by the name of a town, my felicity was complete. the name of the place was something offensive,--amberville or jacksonburgh,--but it owned a cast-iron fountain worthy of a town of thirty thousand. next to the fountain was a "hotel," at least seventeen feet high including the chimney, and next to the hotel was the forest--the pine, the oak, and the untrammelled undergrowth of the hillside. a cinnamon-bear cub--baby sylvester in the very fur--was tied to the stump of a tree opposite the fountain; a pack-mule dozed in the dust-haze, a red-shirted miner in a slouch hat supported the hotel, a blue-shirted miner swung round the corner, and the two went indoors for a drink. a girl came out of the only other house but one, and shading her eyes with a brown hand stared at the panting train. she didn't recognise me, but i knew her--had known her for years. she was m'liss. she never married the schoolmaster, after all, but stayed, always young and always fair, among the pines. i knew red-shirt too. he was one of the bearded men who stood back when tennessee claimed his partner from the hands of the law. the sacramento river, a few yards away, shouted that all these things were true. the train went on while baby sylvester stood on his downy head, and m'liss swung her sun-bonnet by the strings. "what do you think?" said a lawyer who was travelling with me. "it's a new world to you; isn't it?" "no. it's quite familiar. i was never out of england; it's as if i saw it all." quick as light came the answer: "'yes, they lived once thus at venice when the miners were the kings.'" i loved that lawyer on the spot. we drank to bret harte who, you remember, "claimed california, but california never claimed him. he's turned english." lying back in state, i waited for the flying miles to turn over the pages of the book i knew. they brought me all i desired--from the man of no account sitting on a stump and playing with a dog, to "that most sarcastic man, the quiet mister brown." he boarded the train from out of the woods, and there was venom and sulphur on his tongue. he had just lost a lawsuit. only yuba bill failed to appear. the train had taken his employment from him. a nameless ruffian backed me into a corner and began telling me about the resources of the country, and what it would eventually become. all i remember of his lecture was that you could catch trout in the sacramento river--the stream that we followed so faithfully. then rose a tough and wiry old man with grizzled hair and made inquiries about the trout. to him was added the secretary of a life-insurance company. i fancy he was travelling to rake in the dead that the train killed. but he, too, was a fisherman, and the two turned to meward. the frankness of a westerner is delightful. they tell me that in the eastern states i shall meet another type of man and a more reserved. the californian always speaks of the man from the new england states as a different breed. it is our punjab and madras over again, but more so. the old man was on a holiday in search of fish. when he discovered a brother-loafer he proposed a confederation of rods. quoth the insurance-agent, "i'm not staying any time in portland, but i will introduce you to a man there who'll tell you about fishing." the two told strange tales as we slid through the forests and saw afar off the snowy head of a great mountain. there were vineyards, fruit orchards, and wheat fields where the land opened out, and every ten miles or so, twenty or thirty wooden houses and at least three churches. a large town would have a population of two thousand and an infinite belief in its own capacities. sometimes a flaring advertisement flanked the line, calling for men to settle down, take up the ground, and make their home there. at a big town we could pick up the local newspaper, narrow as the cutting edge of a chisel and twice as keen--a journal filled with the prices of stock, notices of improved reaping and binding machines, movements of eminent citizens--"whose fame beyond their own abode extends--for miles along the harlem road." there was not much grace about these papers, but all breathed the same need for good men, steady men who would plough, and till, and build schools for their children, and make a township in the hills. once only i found a sharp change in the note and a very pathetic one. i think it was a young soul in trouble who was writing poetry. the editor had jammed the verses between the flamboyant advertisement of a real-estate agent--a man who sells you land and lies about it--and that of a jew tailor who disposed of "nobby" suits at "cut-throat prices." here are two verses; i think they tell their own story:- "god made the pine with its root in the earth, its top in the sky; they have burned the pine to increase the worth of the wheat and the silver rye. "go weigh the cost of the soul of the pine cut off from the sky; and the price of the wheat that grows so fine and the worth of the silver rye!" the thin-lipped, keen-eyed men who boarded the train would not read that poetry, or, if they did, would not understand. heaven guard that poor pine in the desert and keep "its top in the sky"! when the train took to itself an extra engine and began to breathe heavily, some one said that we were ascending the siskiyou mountains. we had been climbing steadily from san francisco, and at last won to over four thousand feet above sea-level, always running through forest. then, naturally enough, we came down, but we dropped two thousand two hundred feet in about thirteen miles. it was not so much the grinding of the brakes along the train, or the sight of three curves of track apparently miles below us, or even the vision of a goods-train apparently just under our wheels, or even the tunnels, that made me reflect; it was the trestles over which we crawled,--trestles something over a hundred feet high and looking like a collection of match-sticks. "i guess our timber is as much a curse as a blessing," said the old man from southern california. "these trestles last very well for five or six years; then they get out of repair, and a train goes through 'em, or else a forest fire burns 'em up." this was said in the middle of a groaning, shivering trestle. an occasional plate-layer took a look at us as we went down, but that railway didn't waste men on inspection duty. very often there were cattle on the track, against which the engine used a diabolical form of whistling. the old man had been a driver in his youth, and beguiled the way with cheery anecdotes of what might be expected if we fouled a young calf. "you see, they get their legs under the cow-catcher and that'll put an engine off the line. i remember when a hog wrecked an excursion-train and killed sixty people. 'guess the engineer will look out, though." there is considerably too much guessing about this large nation. as one of them put it rather forcibly: "we guess a trestle will stand for ever, and we guess that we can patch up a washout on the track, and we guess the road's clear, and sometimes we guess ourselves into the _deepot_, and sometimes we guess ourselves into hell." * * * * * the descent brought us far into oregon and a timber and wheat country. we drove through wheat and pine in alternate slices, but pine chiefly, till we reached portland, which is a city of fifty thousand, possessing the electric light of course, equally, of course, devoid of pavements, and a port of entry about a hundred miles from the sea at which big steamers can load. it is a poor city that cannot say it has no equal on the pacific coast. portland shouts this to the pines which run down from a thousand-foot ridge clear up to the city. you may sit in a bedizened bar-room furnished with telephone and clicker, and in half an hour be in the woods. portland produces lumber and jig-saw fittings for houses, and beer and buggies, and bricks and biscuit; and, in case you should miss the fact, there are glorified views of the town hung up in public places with the value of the products set down in dollars. all this is excellent and exactly suitable to the opening of a new country; but when a man tells you it is civilisation, you object. the first thing that the civilised man learns to do is to keep the dollars in the background, because they are only the oil of the machine that makes life go smoothly. portland is so busy that it can't attend to its own sewage or paving, and the four-storey brick blocks front cobble-stones and plank sidewalks and other things much worse. i saw a foundation being dug out. the sewage of perhaps twenty years ago, had thoroughly soaked into the soil, and there was a familiar and oriental look about the compost that flew up with each shovel-load. yet the local papers, as was just and proper, swore there was no place like portland, oregon, u.s.a., chronicled the performances of oregonians, "claimed" prominent citizens elsewhere as oregonians, and fought tooth and nail for dock, rail, and wharfage projects. and you could find men who had thrown in their lives with the city, who were bound up in it, and worked their life out for what they conceived to be its material prosperity. pity it is to record that in this strenuous, labouring town there had been, a week before, a shooting-case. one well-known man had shot another on the street, and was now pleading self-defence because the other man had, or the murderer thought he had, a pistol about him. not content with shooting him dead, he squibbed off his revolver into him as he lay. i read the pleadings, and they made me ill. so far as i could judge, if the dead man's body had been found with a pistol on it, the shooter would have gone free. apart from the mere murder, cowardly enough in itself, there was a refinement of cowardice in the plea. here in this civilised city the surviving brute was afraid he would be shot--fancied he saw the other man make a motion to his hip-pocket, and so on. eventually the jury disagreed. and the degrading thing was that the trial was reported by men who evidently understood all about the pistol, was tried before a jury who were versed in the etiquette of the hip-pocket, and was discussed on the streets by men equally initiate. but let us return to more cheerful things. the insurance-agent introduced us as friends to a real-estate man, who promptly bade us go up the columbia river for a day while he made inquiries about fishing. there was no overwhelming formality. the old man was addressed as "california," i answered indifferently to "england" or "johnny bull," and the real-estate man was "portland." this was a lofty and spacious form of address. so california and i took a steamboat, and upon a sumptuous blue and gold morning steered up the willamette river, on which portland stands, into the great columbia--the river that brings the salmon that goes into the tin that is emptied into the dish when the extra guest arrives in india. california introduced me to the boat and the scenery, showed me the "texas," the difference between a "tow-head" and a "sawyer," and the precise nature of a "slue." all i remember is a delightful feeling that mark twain's huckleberry finn and mississippi pilot were quite true, and that i could almost recognise the very reaches down which huck and jim had drifted. we were on the border line between oregon state and washington territory, but that didn't matter. the columbia was the mississippi so far as i was concerned. we ran along the sides of wooded islands whose banks were caving in with perpetual smashes, and we skipped from one side to another of the mile-wide stream in search of a channel, exactly like a mississippi steamer, and when we wanted to pick up or set down a passenger we chose a soft and safe place on the shore and ran our very snub nose against it. california spoke to each new passenger as he came aboard and told me the man's birthplace. a long-haired tender of kine crashed out of the underwood, waved his hat, and was taken aboard forthwith. "south carolina," said california, almost without looking at him. "when he talks you will hear a softer dialect than mine." and it befell as he said: whereat i marvelled, and california chuckled. every island in the river carried fields of rich wheat, orchards, and a white, wooden house; or else, if the pines grew very thickly, a sawmill, the tremulous whine of whose saws flickered across the water like the drone of a tired bee. from remarks he let fall i gathered that california owned timber ships and dealt in lumber, had ranches too, a partner, and everything handsome about him; in addition to a chequered career of some thirty-five years. but he looked almost as disreputable a loafer as i. "say, young feller, we're going to see scenery now. you shout and sing," said california, when the bland wooded islands gave place to bolder outlines, and the steamer ran herself into a hornet's nest of black-fanged rocks not a foot below the boiling broken water. we were trying to get up a slue, or back channel, by a short cut, and the stern-wheel never spun twice in the same direction. then we hit a floating log with a jar that ran through our system, and then, white-bellied, open-gilled, spun by a dead salmon--a lordly twenty-pound chinook salmon who had perished in his pride. "you'll see the salmon-wheels 'fore long," said a man who lived "way back on the washoogle," and whose hat was spangled with trout-flies. "those chinook salmon never rise to the fly. the canneries take them by the wheel." at the next bend we sighted a wheel--an infernal arrangement of wire-gauze compartments worked by the current and moved out from a barge in shore to scoop up the salmon as he races up the river. california swore long and fluently at the sight, and the more fluently when he was told of the weight of a good night's catch--some thousands of pounds. think of the black and bloody murder of it! but you out yonder insist in buying tinned salmon, and the canneries cannot live by letting down lines. about this time california was struck with madness. i found him dancing on the fore-deck shouting, "isn't she a daisy? isn't she a darling?" he had found a waterfall--a blown thread of white vapour that broke from the crest of a hill--a waterfall eight hundred and fifty feet high whose voice was even louder than the voice of the river. "bridal veil," jerked out the purser. "d--n that purser and the people who christened her! why didn't they call her mechlin lace falls at fifty dollars a yard while they were at it?" said california. and i agreed with him. there are many "bridal veil" falls in this country, but few, men say, lovelier than those that come down to the columbia river. then the scenery began--poured forth with the reckless profusion of nature, who when she wants to be amiable succeeds only in being oppressively magnificent. the river was penned between gigantic stone walls crowned with the ruined bastions of oriental palaces. the stretch of green water widened and was guarded by pine-clad hills three thousand feet high. a wicked devil's thumb nail of rock shot up a hundred feet in midstream. a sand-bar of blinding white sand gave promise of flat country that the next bend denied; for, lo! we were running under a triple tier of fortifications, lava-topped, pine-clothed, and terrible. behind them the white dome of mount hood ran fourteen thousand feet into the blue, and at their feet the river threshed among a belt of cottonwood trees. there i sat down and looked at california half out of the boat in his anxiety to see both sides of the river at once. he had seen my note-book, and it offended him. "young feller, let her go--and you shut your head. it's not you nor anybody like you can put this down. black, the novelist, he could. he can describe salmon-fishing, _he_ can." and he glared at me as though he expected me to go and do likewise. "i can't. i know it," i said humbly. "then thank god that you came along this way." we reached a little railway, on an island, which was to convey us to a second steamer, because, as the purser explained, the river was "a trifle broken." we had a six-mile run, sitting in the sunshine on a dummy wagon, whirled just along the edge of the river-bluffs. sometimes we dived into the fragrant pine woods, ablaze with flowers; but we generally watched the river now narrowed into a turbulent millrace. just where the whole body of water broke in riot over a series of cascades, the united states government had chosen to build a lock for steamers, and the stream was one boiling, spouting mob of water. a log shot down the race, struck on a rock, split from end to end, and rolled over in white foam. i shuddered because my toes were not more than sixty feet above the log, and i feared that a stray splinter might have found me. but the train ran into the river on a sort of floating trestle, and i was upon another steamer ere i fully understood why. the cascades were not two hundred yards below us, and when we cast off to go upstream, the rush of the river, ere the wheel struck the water, dragged us as though we had been towed. then the country opened out; and california mourned for his lost bluffs and crags, till we struck a rock wall four hundred feet high, crowned by the gigantic figure of a man watching us. on a rocky island we saw the white tomb of an old-time settler who had made his money in san francisco, but had chosen to be buried in an indian burying-ground. a decayed wooden "wickyup," where the bones of the indian dead are laid, almost touched the tomb. the river ran into a canal of basaltic rock, painted in yellow, vermilion, and green by indians and, by inferior brutes, adorned with advertisements of "bile beans." we had reached the dalles--the centre of a great sheep and wool district, and the head of navigation. when an american arrives at a new town it is his bounden duty to "take it in." california swung his coat over his shoulder with the gesture of a man used to long tramps, and together, at eight in the evening, we explored the dalles. the sun had not yet set, and it would be light for at least another hour. all the inhabitants seemed to own a little villa and one church apiece. the young men were out walking with the young maidens, the old folks were sitting on the front steps,--not the ones that led to the religiously shuttered best drawing-room, but the side-front-steps,--and the husbands and wives were tying back pear trees or gathering cherries. a scent of hay reached me, and in the stillness we could hear the cattle bells as the cows came home across the lava-sprinkled fields. california swung down the wooden pavements, audibly criticising the housewives' hollyhocks and the more perfect ways of pear-grafting, and, as the young men and maidens passed, giving quaint stories of his youth. i felt that i knew all the people aforetime, i was so interested in them and their life. a woman hung over a gate talking to another woman, and as i passed i heard her say, "skirts," and again, "skirts," and "i'll send you over the pattern"; and i knew they were talking dress. we stumbled upon a young couple saying good-by in the twilight, and "when shall i see you again?" quoth he; and i understood that to the doubting heart the tiny little town we paraded in twenty minutes might be as large as all london and as impassable as an armed camp. i gave them both my blessing, because "when shall i see you again?" is a question that lies very near to hearts of all the world. the last garden gate shut with a click that travelled far down the street, and the lights of the comfortable families began to shine in the confidingly uncurtained windows. "say, johnny bull, doesn't all this make you feel lonesome?" said california. "have you got any folks at home? so've i--a wife and five children--and i'm only on a holiday." "and i'm only on a holiday," i said, and we went back to the spittoon-wood hotel. alas! for the peace and purity of the little town that i had babbled about. at the back of a shop, and discreetly curtained, was a room where the young men who had been talking to the young maidens could play poker and drink and swear, and on the shop were dime novels of bloodshed to corrupt the mind of the little boy, and prurient servant-girl-slush yarns to poison the mind of the girl. california only laughed grimly. he said that all these little one-house towns were pretty much the same all over the states. that night i dreamed i was back in india with no place to sleep in; tramping up and down the station mall and asking everybody, "when shall i see you again?" no. xxvii shows how i caught salmon in the clackamas. "the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong; but time and chance cometh to all." i have lived! the american continent may now sink under the sea, for i have taken the best that it yields, and the best was neither dollars, love, nor real estate. hear now, gentlemen of the punjab fishing club, who whip the reaches of the tavi, and you who painfully import trout to ootacamund, and i will tell you how "old man california" and i went fishing, and you shall envy. we returned from the dalles to portland by the way we had come, the steamer stopping _en route_ to pick up a night's catch of one of the salmon wheels on the river, and to deliver it at a cannery down-stream. when the proprietor of the wheel announced that his take was two thousand two hundred and thirty pounds' weight of fish, "and not a heavy catch, neither," i thought he lied. but he sent the boxes aboard, and i counted the salmon by the hundred--huge fifty-pounders, hardly dead, scores of twenty and thirty-pounders, and a host of smaller fish. the steamer halted at a rude wooden warehouse built on piles in a lonely reach of the river, and sent in the fish. i followed them up a scale-strewn, fishy incline that led to the cannery. the crazy building was quivering with the machinery on its floors, and a glittering bank of tin-scraps twenty feet high showed where the waste was thrown after the cans had been punched. only chinamen were employed on the work, and they looked like blood-besmeared yellow devils, as they crossed the rifts of sunlight that lay upon the floor. when our consignment arrived, the rough wooden boxes broke of themselves as they were dumped down under a jet of water, and the salmon burst out in a stream of quicksilver. a chinaman jerked up a twenty-pounder, beheaded and de-tailed it with two swift strokes of a knife, flicked out its internal arrangements with a third, and cast it into a bloody-dyed tank. the headless fish leaped from under his hands as though they were facing a rapid. other chinamen pulled them from the vat and thrust them under a thing like a chaff-cutter, which, descending, hewed them into unseemly red gobbets fit for the can. more chinamen with yellow, crooked fingers, jammed the stuff into the cans, which slid down some marvellous machine forthwith, soldering their own tops as they passed. each can was hastily tested for flaws, and then sunk, with a hundred companions, into a vat of boiling water, there to be half cooked for a few minutes. the cans bulged slightly after the operation, and were therefore slidden along by the trolleyful to men with needles and soldering irons, who vented them, and soldered the aperture. except for the label, the "finest columbia salmon" was ready for the market. i was impressed, not so much with the speed of the manufacture, as the character of the factory. inside, on a floor ninety by forty, the most civilised and murderous of machinery. outside, three footsteps, the thick-growing pines and the immense solitude of the hills. our steamer only stayed twenty minutes at that place, but i counted two hundred and forty finished cans, made from the catch of the previous night, ere i left the slippery, blood-stained, scale-spangled, oily floors, and the offal-smeared chinamen. we reached portland, california and i, crying for salmon, and the real-estate man, to whom we had been intrusted by "portland" the insurance man, met us in the street saying that fifteen miles away, across country, we should come upon a place called clackamas where we might perchance find what we desired. and california, his coat-tails flying in the wind, ran to a livery stable and chartered a wagon and team forthwith. i could push the wagon about with one hand, so light was its structure. the team was purely american--that is to say, almost human in its intelligence and docility. some one said that the roads were not good on the way to clackamas and warned us against smashing the springs. "portland," who had watched the preparations, finally reckoned "he'd come along too," and under heavenly skies we three companions of a day set forth; california carefully lashing our rods into the carriage, and the bystanders overwhelming us with directions as to the sawmills we were to pass, the ferries we were to cross, and the sign-posts we were to seek signs from. half a mile from this city of fifty thousand souls we struck (and this must be taken literally) a plank-road that would have been a disgrace to an irish village. then six miles of macadamised road showed us that the team could move. a railway ran between us and the banks of the willamette, and another above us through the mountains. all the land was dotted with small townships, and the roads were full of farmers in their town wagons, bunches of tow-haired, boggle-eyed urchins sitting in the hay behind. the men generally looked like loafers, but their women were all well dressed. brown hussar-braiding on a tailor-made jacket does not, however, consort with hay-wagons. then we struck into the woods along what california called a "_camina reale_,"--a good road,--and portland a "fair track." it wound in and out among fire-blackened stumps, under pine trees, along the corners of log-fences, through hollows which must be hopeless marsh in the winter, and up absurd gradients. but nowhere throughout its length did i see any evidence of road-making. there was a track,--you couldn't well get off it,--and it was all you could do to stay on it. the dust lay a foot thick in the blind ruts, and under the dust we found bits of planking and bundles of brushwood that sent the wagon bounding into the air. sometimes we crashed through bracken; anon where the blackberries grew rankest we found a lonely little cemetery, the wooden rails all awry, and the pitiful stumpy headstones nodding drunkenly at the soft green mulleins. then with oaths and the sound of rent underwood a yoke of mighty bulls would swing down a "skid" road, hauling a forty-foot log along a rudely made slide. a valley full of wheat and cherry trees succeeded, and halting at a house we bought ten pound weight of luscious black cherries for something less than a rupee and got a drink of icy-cold water for nothing, while the untended team browsed sagaciously by the roadside. once we found a wayside camp of horse-dealers lounging by a pool, ready for a sale or a swap, and once two sun-tanned youngsters shot down a hill on indian ponies, their full creels banging from the high-pommelled saddles. they had been fishing, and were our brethren therefore. we shouted aloud in chorus to scare a wild-cat; we squabbled over the reasons that had led a snake to cross a road; we heaved bits of bark at a venturesome chipmunk, who was really the little grey squirrel of india and had come to call on me; we lost our way and got the wagon so beautifully fixed on a steep road that we had to tie the two hind-wheels to get it down. above all, california told tales of nevada and arizona, of lonely nights spent out prospecting, of the slaughter of deer and the chase of men; of woman, lovely woman, who is a firebrand in a western city, and leads to the popping of pistols, and of the sudden changes and chances of fortune, who delights in making the miner or the lumberman a quadruplicate millionnaire, and in "busting" the railroad king. that was a day to be remembered, and it had only begun when we drew rein at a tiny farmhouse on the banks of the clackamas and sought horse-feed and lodging ere we hastened to the river that broke over a weir not a quarter of a mile away. imagine a stream seventy yards broad divided by a pebbly island, running over seductive riffles, and swirling into deep, quiet pools where the good salmon goes to smoke his pipe after meals. set such a stream amid fields of breast-high crops surrounded by hills of pines, throw in where you please quiet water, log-fenced meadows, and a hundred-foot bluff just to keep the scenery from growing too monotonous, and you will get some faint notion of the clackamas. portland had no rod. he held the gaff and the whisky. california sniffed upstream and downstream across the racing water, chose his ground, and let the gaudy spoon drop in the tail of a riffle. i was getting my rod together when i heard the joyous shriek of the reel and the yells of california, and three feet of living silver leaped into the air far across the water. the forces were engaged. the salmon tore up stream, the tense line cutting the water like a tide-rip behind him, and the light bamboo bowed to breaking. what happened after i cannot tell. california swore and prayed, and portland shouted advice, and i did all three for what appeared to be half a day, but was in reality a little over a quarter of an hour, and sullenly our fish came home with spurts of temper, dashes head-on, and sarabands in the air; but home to the bank came he, and the remorseless reel gathered up the thread of his life inch by inch. we landed him in a little bay, and the spring-weight checked at eleven and a half pounds. eleven and one-half pounds of fighting salmon! we danced a war dance on the pebbles, and california caught me round the waist in a hug that went near to breaking my ribs while he shouted: "partner! partner! this _is_ glory! now you catch your fish! twenty-four years i've waited for this!" i went into that icy-cold river and made my cast just above a weir, and all but foul-hooked a blue and black water-snake with a coral mouth who coiled herself on a stone and hissed maledictions. the next cast--ah, the pride of it, the regal splendour of it! the thrill that ran down from finger-tip to toe! the water boiled. he broke for the spoon and got it! there remained enough sense in me to give him all he wanted when he jumped not once but twenty times before the upstream flight that ran my line out to the last half-dozen turns, and i saw the nickled reel-bar glitter under the thinning green coils. my thumb was burned deep when i strove to stopper the line, but i did not feel it till later, for my soul was out in the dancing water praying for him to turn ere he took my tackle away. the prayer was heard. as i bowed back, the butt of the rod on my left hip-bone and the top joint dipping like unto a weeping willow, he turned, and i accepted each inch of slack that i could by any means get in as a favour from on high. there be several sorts of success in this world that taste well in the moment of enjoyment, but i question whether the stealthy theft of line from an able-bodied salmon who knows exactly what you are doing and why you are doing it is not sweeter than any other victory within human scope. like california's fish, he ran at me head-on and leaped against the line, but the lord gave me two hundred and fifty pairs of fingers in that hour. the banks and the pine trees danced dizzily round me, but i only reeled--reeled as for life--reeled for hours, and at the end of the reeling continued to give him the butt while he sulked in a pool. california was farther up the reach, and with the corner of my eye i could see him casting with long casts and much skill. then he struck, and my fish broke for the weir in the same instant, and down the reach we came, california and i; reel answering reel even as the morning stars sung together. the first wild enthusiasm of capture had died away. we were both at work now in deadly earnest to prevent the lines fouling, to stall off a downstream rush for deep water just above the weir, and at the same time to get the fish into the shallow bay downstream that gave the best practicable landing. portland bade us both be of good heart, and volunteered to take the rod from my hands. i would rather have died among the pebbles than surrender my right to play and land my first salmon, weight unknown, on an eight-ounce rod. i heard california, at my ear it seemed, gasping: "he's a fighter from fightersville sure!" as his fish made a fresh break across the stream. i saw portland fall off a log fence, break the overhanging bank, and clatter down to the pebbles, all sand and landing-net, and i dropped on a log to rest for a moment. as i drew breath the weary hands slackened their hold, and i forgot to give him the butt. a wild scutter in the water, a plunge and a break for the head-waters of the clackamas was my reward, and the hot toil of reeling-in with one eye under the water and the other on the top joint of the rod, was renewed. worst of all, i was blocking california's path to the little landing-bay aforesaid, and he had to halt and tire his prize where he was. "the father of all salmon!" he shouted. "for the love of heaven, get your _trout_ to bank, johnny bull." but i could no more. even the insult failed to move me. the rest of the game was with the salmon. he suffered himself to be drawn, skipping with pretended delight at getting to the haven where i would fain have him. yet no sooner did he feel shoal water under his ponderous belly than he backed like a torpedo-boat, and the snarl of the reel told me that my labour was in vain. a dozen times at least this happened ere the line hinted he had given up that battle and would be towed in. he was towed. the landing-net was useless for one of his size, and i would not have him gaffed. i stepped into the shallows and heaved him out with a respectful hand under the gill, for which kindness he battered me about the legs with his tail, and i felt the strength of him and was proud. california had taken my place in the shallows, his fish hard held. i was up the bank lying full length on the sweet-scented grass, and gasping in company with my first salmon caught, played and landed on an eight-ounce rod. my hands were cut and bleeding. i was dripping with sweat, spangled like harlequin with scales, wet from the waist down, nose-peeled by the sun, but utterly, supremely, and consummately happy. he, the beauty, the darling, the daisy, my salmon bahadur, weighed twelve pounds, and i had been seven and thirty minutes bringing him to bank! he had been lightly hooked on the angle of the right jaw, and the hook had not wearied him. that hour i sat among princes and crowned heads--greater than them all. below the bank we heard california scuffling with his salmon, and swearing spanish oaths. portland and i assisted at the capture, and the fish dragged the spring-balance out by the roots. it was only constructed to weigh up to fifteen pounds. we stretched the three fish on the grass,--the eleven and a half, the twelve, and fifteen pounder,--and we swore an oath that all who came after should merely be weighed and put back again. how shall i tell the glories of that day so that you may be interested? again and again did california and i prance down that reach to the little bay, each with a salmon in tow, and land him in the shallows. then portland took my rod, and caught some ten-pounders, and my spoon was carried away by an unknown leviathan. each fish, for the merits of the three that had died so gamely, was hastily hooked on the balance and flung back, portland recording the weight in a pocket-book, for he was a real-estate man. each fish fought for all he was worth, and none more savagely than the smallest--a game little six-pounder. at the end of six hours we added up the list. total: 16 fish, aggregate weight 142 lbs. the score in detail runs something like this--it is only interesting to those concerned: 15, 11-1/2, 12, 10, 9-3/4, 8, and so forth; as i have said, nothing under six pounds, and three ten-pounders. very solemnly and thankfully we put up our rods--it was glory enough for all time--and returned weeping in each other's arms--weeping tears of pure joy--to that simple bare-legged family in the packing-case house by the waterside. the old farmer recollected days and nights of fierce warfare with the indians--"way back in the fifties," when every ripple of the columbia river and her tributaries hid covert danger. god had dowered him with a queer crooked gift of expression, and a fierce anxiety for the welfare of his two little sons--tanned and reserved children who attended school daily, and spoke good english in a strange tongue. his wife was an austere woman who had once been kindly and perhaps handsome. many years of toil had taken the elasticity out of step and voice. she looked for nothing better than everlasting work--the chafing detail of housework, and then a grave somewhere up the hill among the blackberries and the pines. but in her grim way she sympathised with her eldest daughter, a small and silent maiden of eighteen, who had thoughts very far from the meals she tended or the pans she scoured. we stumbled into the household at a crisis; and there was a deal of downright humanity in that same. a bad, wicked dressmaker had promised the maiden a dress in time for a to-morrow's railway journey, and, though the barefooted georgie, who stood in very wholesome awe of his sister, had scoured the woods on a pony in search, that dress never arrived. so with sorrow in her heart, and a hundred sister anne glances up the road, she waited upon the strangers, and, i doubt not, cursed them for the wants that stood between her and her need for tears. it was a genuine little tragedy. the mother in a heavy, passionless voice rebuked her impatience, yet sat bowed over a heap of sewing for the daughter's benefit. these things i beheld in the long marigold-scented twilight and whispering night, loafing round the little house with california, who unfolded himself like a lotus to the moon; or in the little boarded bunk that was our bedroom, swapping tales with portland and the old man. most of the yarns began in this way: "red larry was a bull-puncher back of lone county, montanna," or "there was a man riding the trail met a jack-rabbit sitting in a cactus," or "'bout the time of the san diego land boom, a woman from monterey," etc. you can try to piece out for yourselves what sort of stories they were. and next day california tucked me under his wing and told me we were going to see a city smitten by a boom, and catch trout. so we took a train and killed a cow--she wouldn't get out of the way, and the locomotive "chanced" her and slew--and crossing into washington territory won the town of tacoma, which stands at the head of puget sound upon the road to alaska and vancouver. california was right. tacoma was literally staggering under a boom of the boomiest. i do not quite remember what her natural resources were supposed to be, though every second man shrieked a selection in my ear. they included coal and iron, carrots, potatoes, lumber, shipping, and a crop of thin newspapers all telling portland that her days were numbered. california and i struck the place at twilight. the rude boarded pavements of the main streets rumbled under the heels of hundreds of furious men all actively engaged in hunting drinks and eligible corner-lots. they sought the drinks first. the street itself alternated five-storey business blocks of the later and more abominable forms of architecture with board shanties. overhead the drunken telegraph, telephone, and electric-light wires tangled on the tottering posts whose butts were half-whittled through by the knife of the loafer. down the muddy, grimy, unmetalled thoroughfare ran a horse-car line--the metals three inches above road level. beyond this street rose many hills, and the town was thrown like a broken set of dominoes over all. a steam tramway--it left the track the only time i used it--was nosing about the hills, but the most prominent features of the landscape were the foundations in brick and stone of a gigantic opera house and the blackened stumps of the pines. california sized up the town with one comprehensive glance. "big boom," said he; and a few instants later: "about time to step off, _i_ think," meaning thereby that the boom had risen to its limit, and it would be expedient not to meddle with it. we passed down ungraded streets that ended abruptly in a fifteen-foot drop and a nest of brambles; along pavements that beginning in pine-plank ended in the living tree; by hotels with turkish mosque trinketry on their shameless tops, and the pine stamps at their very doors; by a female seminary, tall, gaunt and red, which a native of the town bade us marvel at, and we marvelled; by houses built in imitation of the ones on nob hill, san francisco,--after the dutch fashion; by other houses plenteously befouled with jig-saw work, and others flaring with the castlemented, battlemented bosh of the wooden gothic school. "you can tell just about when those fellers had their houses built," quoth california. "that one yonder wanted to be _i_talian, and his architect built him what he wanted. the new houses with the low straddle roofs and windows pitched in sideways and red brick walls are dutch. that's the latest idea. i can read the history of the town." i had no occasion so to read. the natives were only too glad and too proud to tell me. the hotel walls bore a flaming panorama of tacoma in which by the eye of faith i saw a faint resemblance to the real town. the hotel stationary advertised that tacoma bore on its face all the advantages of the highest civilisation, and the newspapers sang the same tune in a louder key. the real-estate agents were selling house-lots on unmade streets miles away for thousands of dollars. on the streets--the rude, crude streets, where the unshaded electric light was fighting with the gentle northern twilight--men were babbling of money, town lots, and again money--how alf or ed had done such and such a thing that had brought him so much money; and round the corner in a creaking boarded hall the red-jerseyed salvationists were calling upon mankind to renounce all and follow their noisy god. the men dropped in by twos and threes, listened silently for a while, and as silently went their way, the cymbals clashing after them in vain. i think it was the raw, new smell of fresh sawdust everywhere pervading the air that threw upon me a desolating homesickness. it brought back in a moment all remembrances of that terrible first night at school when the establishment has been newly whitewashed, and a soft smell of escaping gas mingles with the odour of trunks and wet overcoats. i was a little boy, and the school was very new. a vagabond among collarless vagabonds, i loafed up the street, looking into the fronts of little shops where they sold slop shirts at fancy prices, which shops i saw later described in the papers as "great." california had gone off to investigate on his own account, and presently returned, laughing noiselessly. "they are all mad here," he said, "all mad. a man nearly pulled a gun on me because i didn't agree with him that tacoma was going to whip san francisco on the strength of carrots and potatoes. i asked him to tell me what the town produced, and i couldn't get anything out of him except those two darned vegetables. say, what do you think." i responded firmly, "i'm going into british territory a little while--to draw breath." "i'm going up the sound, too, for a while," said he, "but i'm coming back--coming back to our salmon on the clackamas. a man has been pressing me to buy real estate here. young feller, don't you buy real estate here." california disappeared with a kindly wave of his overcoat into worlds other than mine,--good luck go with him for he was a true sportsman!--and i took a steamer up puget sound for vancouver, which is the terminus of the canadian pacific railway. that was a queer voyage. the water, landlocked among a thousand islands, lay still as oil under our bows, and the wake of the screw broke up the unquivering reflections of pines and cliffs a mile away. 'twas as though we were trampling on glass. no one, not even the government, knows the number of islands in the sound. even now you can get one almost for the asking; can build a house, raise sheep, catch salmon, and become a king on a small scale--your subjects the indians of the reservation, who glide among the islets in their canoes and scratch their hides monkeywise by the beach. a sound indian is unlovely and only by accident picturesque. his wife drives the canoe, but he himself is so thorough a mariner that he can spring up in his cockle-craft and whack his wife over the head with a paddle without tipping the whole affair into the water. this i have seen him do unprovoked. i fancy it must have been to show off before the whites. have i told you anything about seattle--the town that was burned out a few weeks ago when the insurance men at san francisco took their losses with a grin? in the ghostly twilight, just as the forest fires were beginning to glare from the unthrifty islands, we struck it--struck it heavily, for the wharves had all been burned down, and we tied up where we could, crashing into the rotten foundations of a boathouse as a pig roots in high grass. the town, like tacoma, was built upon a hill. in the heart of the business quarters there was a horrible black smudge, as though a hand had come down and rubbed the place smooth. i know now what being wiped out means. the smudge seemed to be about a mile long, and its blackness was relieved by tents in which men were doing business with the wreck of the stock they had saved. there were shouts and counter-shouts from the steamer to the temporary wharf, which was laden with shingles for roofing, chairs, trunks, provision-boxes, and all the lath and string arrangements out of which a western town is made. this is the way the shouts ran:-"oh, george! what's the best with you?" "nawthin'. got the old safe out. she's burned to a crisp. books all gone." "'save anythin'?" "bar'l o' crackers and my wife's bonnet. goin' to start store on them though." "bully for you. where's that emporium? i'll drop in." "corner what used to be fourth and main--little brown tent close to militia picquet. sa-ay! we're under martial law, an' all the saloons are shut down." "best for you, george. some men gets crazy with a fire, an' liquor makes 'em crazier." "'spect any creator-condemned son of a female dog who has lost all his fixin's in a conflagration is going to put ice on his head an' run for congress, do you? how'd you like us act?" the job's comforter on the steamer retired into himself. "oh george" dived into the bar for a drink. p. s.--among many curiosities i have unearthed one. it was a face on the steamer--a face above a pointed straw-coloured beard, a face with thin lips and eloquent eyes. we conversed, and presently i got at the ideas of the face. it was, though it lived for nine months of the year in the wilds of alaska and british columbia, an authority on the canon law of the church of england--a zealous and bitter upholder of the supremacy of the aforesaid church. into my amazed ears, as the steamer plodded through the reflections of the stars, it poured the battle-cry of the church militant here on earth, and put forward as a foul injustice that in the prisons of british columbia the protestant chaplain did not always belong to the church. the face had no official connection with the august body, and by force of his life very seldom attended service. "but," said he, proudly, "i should think it direct disobedience to the orders of my church if i attended any other places of worship than those prescribed. i was once for three months in a place where there was only a wesleyan methodist chapel, and i never set foot in it once, sir. never once. 'twould have been heresy. rank heresy." and as i leaned over the rail methought that all the little stars in the water were shaking with austere merriment! but it may have been only the ripple of the steamer, after all. no. xxviii takes me from vancouver to the yellowstone national park. "but who shall chronicle the ways of common folk, the nights and days spent with rough goatherds on the snows, and travellers come whence no man knows?" this day i know how a deserter feels. here in victoria, a hundred and forty miles out of america, the mail brings me news from our home--the land of regrets. i was enjoying myself by the side of a trout-stream, and i feel inclined to apologise for every rejoicing breath i drew in the diamond clear air. the sickness, they said, is heavy with you; from rewari to the south good men are dying. two names come in by the mail of two strong men dead--men that i dined and jested with only a little time ago, and it seems unfair that i should be here, cut off from the chain-gang and the shot-drill of our weary life. after all, there is no life like it that we lead over yonder. americans are americans, and there are millions of them; english are english; but we of india are us all the world over, knowing the mysteries of each other's lives and sorrowing for the death of a brother. how can i sit down and write to you of the mere joy of being alive? the news has killed the pleasure of the day for me, and i am ashamed of myself. there are seventy brook trout lying in a creel, fresh drawn from harrison hot springs, and they do not console me. they are like the stolen apples that clinch the fact of a bad boy's playing truant. i would sell them all, with my heritage in the woods and air and the delight of meeting new and strange people, just to be back again in the old galling harness, the heat and the dust, the gatherings in the evenings by the flooded tennis-courts, the ghastly dull dinners at the club when the very last woman has been packed off to the hills and the four or five surviving men ask the doctor the symptoms of incubating smallpox. i should be troubled in body, but at peace in the soul. o excellent and toil-worn public of mine--men of the brotherhood, griffins new joined from the february troopers, and gentlemen waiting for your off-reckonings--take care of yourselves and keep well! it hurts so when any die. there are so few of us, and we know one another too intimately. * * * * * vancouver three years ago was swept off by fire in sixteen minutes, and only one house was left standing. to-day it has a population of fourteen thousand people, and builds its houses out of brick with dressed granite fronts. but a great sleepiness lies on vancouver as compared with an american town: men don't fly up and down the streets telling lies, and the spittoons in the delightfully comfortable hotel are unused; the baths are free and their doors are unlocked. you do not have to dig up the hotel clerk when you want to bathe, which shows the inferiority of vancouver. an american bade me notice the absence of bustle, and was alarmed when in a loud and audible voice i thanked god for it. "give me granite--hewn granite and peace," quoth i, "and keep your deal boards and bustle for yourselves." the canadian pacific terminus is not a very gorgeous place as yet, but you can be shot directly from the window of the train into the liner that will take you in fourteen days from vancouver to yokohama. the _parthia_, of some five thousand tons, was at her berth when i came, and the sight of the ex-cunard on what seemed to be a little lake was curious. except for certain currents which are not much mentioned, but which make the entrance rather unpleasant for sailing-boats, vancouver possesses an almost perfect harbour. the town is built all round and about the harbour, and young as it is, its streets are better than those of western america. moreover, the old flag waves over some of the buildings, and this is cheering to the soul. the place is full of englishmen who speak the english tongue correctly and with clearness, avoiding more blasphemy than is necessary, and taking a respectable length of time to getting outside their drinks. these advantages and others that i have heard about, such as the construction of elaborate workshops and the like by the canadian pacific in the near future, moved me to invest in real estate. he that sold it me was a delightful english boy who, having tried for the army and failed, had somehow meandered into a real-estate office, where he was doing well. i couldn't have bought it from an american. he would have overstated the case and proved me the possessor of the original eden. all the boy said was: "i give you my word it isn't on a cliff or under water, and before long the town ought to move out that way. i'd advise you to take it." and i took it as easily as a man buys a piece of tobacco. _me voici_, owner of some four hundred well-developed pines, a few thousand tons of granite scattered in blocks at the roots of the pines, and a sprinkling of earth. that's a town-lot in vancouver. you or your agent hold to it till property rises, then sell out and buy more land further out of town and repeat the process. i do not quite see how this sort of thing helps the growth of a town, but the english boy says that it is the "essence of speculation," so it must be all right. but i wish there were fewer pines and rather less granite on my ground. moved by curiosity and the lust of trout, i went seventy miles up the canadian pacific in one of the cross-continent cars, which are cleaner and less stuffy than the pullman. a man who goes all the way across canada is liable to be disappointed--not in the scenery, but in the progress of the country. so a batch of wandering politicians from england told me. they even went so far as to say that eastern canada was a failure and unprofitable. the place didn't move, they complained, and whole counties--they said provinces--lay under the rule of the roman catholic priests, who took care that the people should not be overcumbered with the good things of this world to the detriment of their souls. my interest was in the line--the real and accomplished railway which is to throw actual fighting troops into the east some day when our hold of the suez canal is temporarily loosened. all that vancouver wants is a fat earthwork fort upon a hill,--there are plenty of hills to choose from,--a selection of big guns, a couple of regiments of infantry, and later on a big arsenal. the raw self-consciousness of america would be sure to make her think these arrangements intended for her benefit, but she could be enlightened. it is not seemly to leave unprotected the head-end of a big railway; for though victoria and esquimalt, our naval stations on vancouver island, are very near, so also is a place called vladivostok, and though vancouver narrows are strait, they allow room enough for a man-of-war. the people--i did not speak to more than two hundred of them--do not know about russia or military arrangements. they are trying to open trade with japan in lumber, and are raising fruit, wheat, and sometimes minerals. all of them agree that we do not yet know the resources of british columbia, and all joyfully bade me note the climate, which was distinctly warm. "we never have killing cold here. it's the most perfect climate in the world." then there are three perfect climates, for i have tasted 'em--california, washington territory, and british columbia. i cannot say which is the loveliest. when i left by steamer and struck across the sound to our naval station at victoria, vancouver island, i found in that quite english town of beautiful streets quite a colony of old men doing nothing but talking, fishing, and loafing at the club. that means that the retired go to victoria. on a thousand a year pension a man would be a millionnaire in these parts, and for four hundred he could live well. it was at victoria they told me the tale of the fire in vancouver. how the inhabitants of new westminster, twelve miles from vancouver, saw a glare in the sky at six in the evening, but thought it was a forest fire; how later bits of burnt paper flew about their streets, and they guessed that evil had happened; how an hour later a man rode into the city crying that there was no vancouver left. all had been wiped out by the flames in sixteen minutes. how, two hours later, the mayor of new westminster having voted nine thousand dollars from the municipal funds, relief-wagons with food and blankets were pouring into where vancouver stood. how fourteen people were supposed to have died in the fire, but how even now when they laid new foundations the workmen unearth charred skeletons, many more than fourteen. "that night," said the teller, "all vancouver was houseless. the wooden town had gone in a breath. next day they began to build in brick, and you have seen what they have achieved." the sight afar off of three british men-of-war and a torpedo-boat consoled me as i returned from victoria to tacoma and discovered _en route_ that i was surfeited with scenery. there is a great deal in the remark of a discontented traveller: "when you have seen a fine forest, a bluff, a river, and a lake you have seen all the scenery of western america. sometimes the pine is three hundred feet high, and sometimes the rock is, and sometimes the lake is a hundred miles long. but it's all the same, don't you know. i'm getting sick of it." i dare not say getting sick. i'm only tired. if providence could distribute all this beauty in little bits where people most wanted it,--among you in india,--it would be well. but it is _en masse_, overwhelming, with nobody but the tobacco-chewing captain of a river steamboat to look at it. men said if i went to alaska i should see islands even more wooded, snow-peaks loftier, and rivers more lovely than those around me. that decided me not to go to alaska. i went east--east to montana, after another horrible night in tacoma among the men who spat. why does the westerner spit? it can't amuse him, and it doesn't interest his neighbour. but i am beginning to mistrust. everything good as well as everything bad is supposed to come from the east. is there a shooting-scrape between prominent citizens? oh, you'll find nothing of that kind in the east. is there a more than usually revolting lynching? they don't do that in the east. i shall find out when i get there whether this unnatural perfection be real. eastward then to montana i took my way for the yellowstone national park, called in the guide-books "wonderland." but the real wonderland began in the train. we were a merry crew. one gentleman announced his intention of paying no fare and grappled the conductor, who neatly cross-buttocked him through a double plate-glass window. his head was cut open in four or five places. a doctor on the train hastily stitched up the biggest gash, and he was dropped at a wayside station, spurting blood at every hair--a scarlet-headed and ghastly sight. the conductor guessed that he would die, and volunteered the information that there was no profit in monkeying with the north pacific railway. night was falling as we cleared the forests and sailed out upon a wilderness of sage brush. the desolation of montgomery, the wilderness of sind, the hummock-studded desert of bikaneer, are joyous and homelike compared to the impoverished misery of the sage. it is blue, it is stunted, it is dusty. it wraps the rolling hills as a mildewed shroud wraps the body of a long-dead man. it makes you weep for sheer loneliness, and there is no getting away from it. when childe roland came to the dark tower he traversed the sage brush. yet there is one thing worse than sage unadulterated, and that is a prairie city. we stopped at pasco junction, and a man told me that it was the queen city of the prairie. i wish americans didn't tell such useless lies. i counted fourteen or fifteen frame-houses, and a portion of a road that showed like a bruise on the untouched surface of the blue sage, running away and away up to the setting sun. the sailor sleeps with a half-inch plank between himself and death. he is at home beside the handful of people who curl themselves up o' nights with nothing but a frail scantling, almost as thin as a blanket, to shut out the unmeasurable loneliness of the sage. when the train stopped on the road, as it did once or twice, the solid silence of the sage got up and shouted at us. it was like a nightmare, and one not in the least improved by having to sleep in an emigrant-car; the regularly ordained sleepers being full. there was a row in our car toward morning, a man having managed to get querulously drunk in the night. up rose a cornishman with a red head full of strategy, and strapped the obstreperous one, smiling largely as he did so, and a delicate little woman in a far bunk watched the fray and called the drunken man a "damned hog," which he certainly was, though she needn't have put it quite so coarsely. emigrant cars are clean, but the accommodation is as hard as a plank bed. later we laid our bones down to crossing the rockies. an american train can climb up the side of a house if need be, but it is not pleasant to sit in it. we clomb till we struck violent cold and an indian reservation, and the noble savage came to look at us. he was a flathead and unlovely. most americans are charmingly frank about the indian. "let us get rid of him as soon as possible," they say. "we have no use for him." some of the men i meet have a notion that we in india are exterminating the native in the same fashion, and i have been asked to fix a date for the final extinguishment of the aryan. i answer that it will be a long business. very many americans have an offensive habit of referring to natives as "heathen." mahometans and hindus are heathen alike in their eyes, and they vary the epithet with "pagan" and "idolater." but this is beside the matter, which is the stampede tunnel--our actual point of crossing the rockies. thank heaven, i need never take that tunnel again! it is about two miles long, and in effect is nothing more than the gallery of a mine shored with timber and lighted with electric lamps. black darkness would be preferable, for the lamps just reveal the rough cutting of the rocks, and that is very rough indeed. the train crawls through, brakes down, and you can hear the water and little bits of stone falling on the roof of the car. then you pray, pray fervently, and the air gets stiller and stiller, and you dare not take your unwilling eyes off the timber shoring, lest a prop should fall, for lack of your moral support. before the tunnel was built you crossed in the open air by a switchback line. a watchman goes through the tunnel after each train, but that is no protection. he just guesses that another train will pull through, and the engine-driver guesses the same thing. some day between the two of them there will be a cave in the tunnel. then the enterprising reporter will talk about the shrieks and groans of the buried and the heroic efforts of the press in securing first information, and--that will be all. human life is of small account out here. i was listening to yarns in the smoking-compartment of the pullman, all the way to helena, and with very few exceptions, each had for its point, violent, brutal, and ruffianly murder--murder by fraud and the craft of the savage--murder unavenged by the law, or at the most by an outbreak of fresh lawlessness. at the end of each tale i was assured that the old days had passed away, and that these were anecdotes of five years' standing. one man in particular distinguished himself by holding up to admiration the exploits of some cowboys of his acquaintance, and their skill in the use of the revolver. each tale of horror wound up with "and that's the sort of man he was," as who should say: "go and do likewise." remember that the shootings, the cuttings, and the stabbings were not the outcome of any species of legitimate warfare; the heroes were not forced to fight for their lives. far from it. the brawls were bred by liquor in which they assisted--in saloons and gambling-hells they were wont to "pull their guns" on a man, and in the vast majority of cases without provocation. the tales sickened me, but taught one thing. a man who carries a pistol may be put down as a coward--a person to be shut out from every decent mess and club, and gathering of civilised folk. there is neither chivalry nor romance in the weapon, for all that american authors have seen fit to write. i would i could make you understand the full measure of contempt with which certain aspects of western life have inspired me. let us try a comparison. sometimes it happens that a young, a very young, man, whose first dress-coat is yet glossy, gets slightly flushed at a dinner-party among his seniors. after the ladies are gone, he begins to talk. he talks, you will remember, as a "man of the world" and a person of varied experiences, an authority on all things human and divine. the grey heads of the elders bow assentingly to his wildest statement; some one tries to turn the conversation when what the youngster conceives to be wit has offended a sensibility; and another deftly slides the decanters beyond him as they circle round the table. you know the feeling of discomfort--pity mingled with aversion--over the boy who is making an exhibition of himself. the same emotion came back to me, when an old man who ought to have known better appealed from time to time for admiration of his pitiful sentiments. it was right in his mind to insult, to maim, and to kill; right to evade the law where it was strong and to trample over it where it was weak; right to swindle in politics, to lie in affairs of state, and commit perjury in matters of municipal administration. the car was full of little children, utterly regardless of their parents, fretful, peevish, spoilt beyond anything i have ever seen in anglo-india. they in time would grow up into men such as sat in the smoker, and had no regard for the law; men who would conduct papers siding with defiance of any and every law. but it's of no consequence, as mr. toots says. during the descent of the rockies we journeyed for a season on a trestle only two hundred and eighty-six feet high. it was made of iron, but up till two years ago a wooden structure bore up the train, and was used long after it had been condemned by the civil engineers. some day the iron one will come down, just as stampede tunnel will, and the results will be even more startling. late in the night we ran over a skunk--ran over it in the dark. everything that has been said about the skunk is true. it is an awesome stink. no. xxix shows how yankee jim introduced me to diana of the crossways on the banks of the yellowstone, and how a german jew said i was no true citizen. ends with the celebration of the 4th of july and a few lessons therefrom. livingstone is a town of two thousand people, and the junction for the little side-line that takes you to the yellowstone national park. it lies in a fold of the prairie, and behind it is the yellowstone river and the gate of the mountains through which the river flows. there is one street in the town, where the cowboy's pony and the little foal of the brood-mare in the buggy rest contentedly in the blinding sunshine while the cowboy gets himself shaved at the only other barber's shop, and swaps lies at the bar. i exhausted the town, including the saloons, in ten minutes, and got away on the rolling grass downs where i threw myself to rest. directly under the hill i was on, swept a drove of horses in charge of two mounted men. that was a picture i shall not soon forget. a light haze of dust went up from the hoof-trodden green, scarcely veiling the unfettered deviltries of three hundred horses who very much wanted to stop and graze. "yow! yow! yow!" yapped the mounted men in chorus like coyotes. the column moved forward at a trot, divided as it met a hillock and scattered into fan shape all among the suburbs of livingstone. i heard the "snick" of a stock whip, half a dozen "yow, yows," and the mob had come together again, and, with neighing and whickering and squealing and a great deal of kicking on the part of the youngsters, rolled like a wave of brown water toward the uplands. i was within twenty feet of the leader, a grey stallion--lord of many brood-mares all deeply concerned for the welfare of their fuzzy foals. a cream-coloured beast--i knew him at once for the bad character of the troop--broke back, taking with him some frivolous fillies. i heard the snick of the whips somewhere in the dust, and the fillies came back at a canter, very shocked and indignant. on the heels of the last rode both the stockmen--picturesque ruffians who wanted to know "what in hell" i was doing there, waved their hats, and sped down the slope after their charges. when the noise of the troop had died there came a wonderful silence on all the prairie--that silence, they say, which enters into the heart of the old-time hunter and trapper and marks him off from the rest of his race. the town disappeared in the darkness, and a very young moon showed herself over a bald-headed, snow-flecked peak. then the yellowstone, hidden by the water-willows, lifted up its voice and sang a little song to the mountains, and an old horse that had crept up in the dusk breathed inquiringly on the back of my neck. when i reached the hotel i found all manner of preparation under way for the 4th of july, and a drunken man with a winchester rifle over his shoulder patrolling the sidewalk. i do not think he wanted any one. he carried the gun as other folk carry walking-sticks. none the less i avoided the direct line of fire and listened to the blasphemies of miners and stockmen till far into the night. in every bar-room lay a copy of the local paper, and every copy impressed it upon the inhabitants of livingstone that they were the best, finest, bravest, richest, and most progressive town of the most progressive nation under heaven; even as the tacoma and portland papers had belauded their readers. and yet, all my purblind eyes could see was a grubby little hamlet full of men without clean collars and perfectly unable to get through one sentence unadorned by three oaths. they raise horses and minerals round and about livingstone, but they behave as though they raised cherubims with diamonds in their wings. from livingstone the national park train follows the yellowstone river through the gate of the mountains and over arid volcanic country. a stranger in the cars saw me look at the ideal trout-stream below the windows and murmured softly: "lie off at yankee jim's if you want good fishing." they halted the train at the head of a narrow valley, and i leaped literally into the arms of yankee jim, sole owner of a log hut, an indefinite amount of hay-ground, and constructor of twenty-seven miles of wagon-road over which he held toll right. there was the hut--the river fifty yards away, and the polished line of metals that disappeared round a bluff. that was all. the railway added the finishing touch to the already complete loneliness of the place. yankee jim was a picturesque old man with a talent for yarns that ananias might have envied. it seemed to me, presumptuous in my ignorance, that i might hold my own with the old-timer if i judiciously painted up a few lies gathered in the course of my wanderings. yankee jim saw every one of my tales and went fifty better on the spot. he dealt in bears and indians--never less than twenty of each; had known the yellowstone country for years, and bore upon his body marks of indian arrows; and his eyes had seen a squaw of the crow indians burned alive at the stake. he said she screamed considerable. in one point did he speak the truth--as regarded the merits of that particular reach of the yellowstone. he said it was alive with trout. it was. i fished it from noon till twilight, and the fish bit at the brown hook as though never a fat trout-fly had fallen on the water. from pebbly reaches, quivering in the heat-haze where the foot caught on stumps cut foursquare by the chisel-tooth of the beaver; past the fringe of the water-willow crowded with the breeding trout-fly and alive with toads and water-snakes; over the drifted timber to the grateful shadow of big trees that darkened the holes where the fattest fish lay, i worked for seven hours. the mountain flanks on either side of the valley gave back the heat as the desert gives it, and the dry sand by the railway track, where i found a rattlesnake, was hot-iron to the touch. but the trout did not care for the heat. they breasted the boiling river for my fly and they got it. i simply dare not give my bag. at the fortieth trout i gave up counting, and i had leached the fortieth in less than two hours. they were small fish,--not one over two pounds,--but they fought like small tigers, and i lost three flies before i could understand their methods of escape. ye gods! that was fishing, though it peeled the skin from my nose in strips. at twilight yankee jim bore me off, protesting, to supper in the hut. the fish had prepared me for any surprise, wherefore when yankee jim introduced me to a young woman of five-and-twenty, with eyes like the deep-fringed eyes of the gazelle, and "on the neck the small head buoyant, like a bell-flower in its bed," i said nothing. it was all in the day's events. she was california-raised, the wife of a man who owned a stock-farm "up the river a little ways," and, with her husband, tenant of yankee jim's shanty. i know she wore list slippers and did not wear stays; but i know also that she was beautiful by any standard of beauty, and that the trout she cooked were fit for a king's supper. and after supper strange men loafed up in the dim delicious twilight, with the little news of the day--how a heifer had "gone strayed" from nicholson's; how the widow at grant's fork wouldn't part with a little hayland nohow, though "she's an' her big brothers can't manage more than ha-af their land now. she's so darned proud." diana of the crossways entertained them in queenly wise, and her husband and yankee jim bade them sit right down and make themselves at home. then did yankee jim uncurl his choicest lies on indian warfare aforetime; then did the whisky-flask circle round the little crowd; then did diana's husband 'low that he was quite handy with the lariat, but had seen men rope a steer by any foot or horn indicated; then did diana unburden herself about her neighbours. the nearest house was three miles away, "but the women aren't nice, neighbourly folk. they talk so. they haven't got anything else to do seemingly. if a woman goes to a dance and has a good time, they talk, and if she wears a silk dress, they want to know how jest ranchin' folks--folk on a ranche--come by such things; and they make mischief down all the lands here from gardiner city way back up to livingstone. they're mostly montanna raised, and they haven't been nowheres. ah, how they talk!" "were things like this," demanded diana, "in the big world outside, whence i had come?" "yes," i said, "things were very much the same all over the world," and i thought of a far-away station in india where new dresses and the having of good times at dances raised cackle more grammatical perhaps, but no less venomous than the gossip of the "montanna-raised" folk on the ranches of the yellowstone. next morn i fished again and listened to diana telling the story of her life. i forget what she told me, but i am distinctly aware that she had royal eyes and a mouth that the daughter of a hundred earls might have envied--so small and so delicately cut it was. "an' you come back an' see us again," said the simple-minded folk. "come back an' we'll show you how to catch six-pound trout at the head of the cañon." to-day i am in the yellowstone park, and i wish i were dead. the train halted at cinnabar station, and we were decanted, a howling crowd of us, into stages, variously horsed, for the eight-mile drive to the first spectacle of the park--a place called the mammoth hot springs. "what means this eager, anxious throng?" i asked the driver. "you've struck one of rayment's excursion parties--that's all--a crowd of creator-condemned fools mostly. aren't you one of 'em?" "no," i said. "may i sit up here with you, great chief and man with a golden tongue? i do not know mister rayment. i belong to t. cook and son." the other person, from the quality of the material he handles, must be the son of a sea-cook. he collects masses of down-easters from the new england states and elsewhere and hurls them across the continent and into the yellowstone park on tour. a brake-load of cook's continental tourists trapezing through paris (i've seen 'em) are angels of light compared to the rayment trippers. it is not the ghastly vulgarity, the oozing, rampant bessemer-steel self-sufficiency and ignorance of the men that revolts me, so much as the display of these same qualities in the women-folk. i saw a new type in the coach, and all my dreams of a better and more perfect east died away. "are these--um--persons here any sort of persons in their own places?" i asked a shepherd who appeared to be herding them. "why, certainly. they include very many prominent and representative citizens from seven states of the union, and most of them are wealthy. yes, _sir_. representative and prominent." we ran across bare hills on an unmetalled road under a burning sun in front of a volley of playful repartee from the prominent citizens inside. it was the 4th of july. the horses had american flags in their head-stalls, some of the women wore flags and coloured handkerchiefs in their belts, and a young german on the box-seat with me was bewailing the loss of a box of crackers. he said he had been sent to the continent to get his schooling and so had lost his american accent; but no continental schooling writes german jew all over a man's face and nose. he was a rabid american citizen--one of a very difficult class to deal with. as a general rule, praise unsparingly, and without discrimination. that keeps most men quiet: but some, if you fail to keep up a continuous stream of praise, proceed to revile the old country--germans and irish who are more americans than the americans are the chief offenders. this young american began to attack the english army. he had seen some of it on parade and he pitied the men in bearskins as "slaves." the citizen, by the way, has a contempt for his own army which exceeds anything you meet among the most illiberal classes in england. i admitted that our army was very poor, had done nothing, and had been nowhere. this exasperated him, for he expected an argument, and he trampled on the british lion generally. failing to move me, he vowed that i had no patriotism like his own. i said i had not, and further ventured that very few englishmen had; which, when you come to think of it, is quite true. by the time he had proved conclusively that before the prince of wales came to the throne we should be a blethering republic, we struck a road that overhung a river, and my interest in "politics" was lost in admiration of the driver's skill as he sent his four big horses along that winding road. there was no room for any sort of accident--a shy or a swerve would have dropped us sixty feet into the roaring gardiner river. some of the persons in the coach remarked that the scenery, was "elegant." wherefore, even at the risk of my own life, i did urgently desire an accident and the massacre of some of the more prominent citizens. what "elegance" lies in a thousand-foot pile of honey-coloured rock, riven into peak and battlement, the highest peak defiantly crowned by an eagle's nest, the eaglet peering into the gulf and screaming for his food, i could not for the life of me understand. but they speak a strange tongue. _en route_ we passed other carriages full of trippers, who had done their appointed five days in the park, and yelped at us fraternally as they disappeared in clouds of red dust. when we struck the mammoth hot spring hotel--a huge yellow barn--a sign-board informed us that the altitude was six thousand two hundred feet. the park is just a howling wilderness of three thousand square miles, full of all imaginable freaks of a fiery nature. an hotel company, assisted by the secretary of state for the interior, appears to control it; there are hotels at all the points of interest, guide-books, stalls for the sale of minerals, and so forth, after the model of swiss summer places. the tourists--may their master die an evil death at the hand of a mad locomotive!--poured into that place with a joyful whoop, and, scarce washing the dust from themselves, began to celebrate the 4th of july. they called it "patriotic exercises"; elected a clergyman of their own faith as president, and, sitting on the landing of the first floor, began to make speeches and read the declaration of independence. the clergyman rose up and told them they were the greatest, freest, sublimest, most chivalrous, and richest people on the face of the earth, and they all said amen. another clergyman asserted in the words of the declaration that all men were created equal, and equally entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. i should like to know whether the wild and woolly west recognises this first right as freely as the grantors intended. the clergyman then bade the world note that the tourists included representatives of seven of the new england states; whereat i felt deeply sorry for the new england states in their latter days. he opined that this running to and fro upon the earth, under the auspices of the excellent rayment, would draw america more closely together, especially when the westerners remembered the perils that they of the east had surmounted by rail and river. at duly appointed intervals the congregation sang "my country, 'tis of thee" to the tune of "god save the queen" (here they did not stand up) and the "star-spangled banner" (here they did), winding up the exercise with some doggrel of their own composition to the tune of "john brown's body," movingly setting forth the perils before alluded to. they then adjourned to the verandahs and watched fire-crackers of the feeblest, exploding one by one, for several hours. what amazed me was the calm with which these folks gathered together and commenced to belaud their noble selves, their country, and their "institootions" and everything else that was theirs. the language was, to these bewildered ears, wild advertisement, gas, bunkum, blow, anything you please beyond the bounds of common sense. an archangel, selling town-lots on the glassy sea, would have blushed to the tips of his wings to describe his property in similar terms. then they gathered round the pastor and told him his little sermon was "perfectly glorious," really grand, sublime, and so forth, and he bridled ecclesiastically. at the end a perfectly unknown man attacked me and asked me what i thought of american patriotism. i said there was nothing like it in the old country. by the way, always tell an american this. it soothes him. then said he: "are you going to get out your letters,--your letters of naturalisation?" "why?" i asked. "i presoom you do business in this country, and make money out of it,--and it seems to me that it would be your dooty." "sir," said i, sweetly, "there is a forgotten little island across the seas called england. it is not much bigger than the yellowstone park. in that island a man of your country could work, marry, make his fortune or twenty fortunes, and die. throughout his career not one soul would ask him whether he were a british subject or a child of the devil. do you understand?" i think he did, because he said something about "britishers" which wasn't complimentary. no. xxx shows how i entered mazanderan of the persians and saw devils of every colour, and some troopers. hell and the old lady from chicago. the captain and the lieutenant. "that desolate land and lone where the big horn and yellowstone roar down their mountain path." twice have i written this letter from end to end. twice have i torn it up, fearing lest those across the water should say that i had gone mad on a sudden. now we will begin for the third time quite solemnly and soberly. i have been through the yellowstone national park in a buggy, in the company of an adventurous old lady from chicago and her husband, who disapproved of scenery as being "ongodly." i fancy it scared them. we began, as you know, with the mammoth hot springs. they are only a gigantic edition of those pink and white terraces not long ago destroyed by earthquake in new zealand. at one end of the little valley in which the hotel stands the lime-laden springs that break from the pine-covered hillsides have formed a frozen cataract of white, lemon, and palest pink formation, through and over and in which water of the warmest bubbles and drips and trickles from pale-green lagoon to exquisitely fretted basin. the ground rings hollow as a kerosene-tin, and some day the mammoth hotel, guests and all, will sink into the caverns below and be turned into a stalactite. when i set foot on the first of the terraces, a tourist-trampled ramp of scabby grey stuff, i met a stream of iron-red hot water which ducked into a hole like a rabbit. followed a gentle chuckle of laughter, and then a deep, exhausted sigh from nowhere in particular. fifty feet above my head a jet of steam rose up and died out in the blue. it was worse than the boiling mountain at myanoshita. the dirty white deposit gave place to lime whiter than snow; and i found a basin which some learned hotel-keeper has christened cleopatra's pitcher, or mark antony's whisky-jug, or something equally poetical. it was made of frosted silver; it was filled with water as clear as the sky. i do not know the depth of that wonder. the eye looked down beyond grottoes and caves of beryl into an abyss that communicated directly with the central fires of earth. and the pool was in pain, so that it could not refrain from talking about it; muttering and chattering and moaning. from the lips of the lime-ledges, forty feet under water, spurts of silver bubbles would fly up and break the peace of the crystal atop. then the whole pool would shake and grow dim, and there were noises. i removed myself only to find other pools all equally unhappy, rifts in the ground, full of running, red-hot water, slippery sheets of deposit overlaid with greenish grey hot water, and here and there pit-holes dry as a rifled tomb in india, dusty and waterless. elsewhere the infernal waters had first boiled dead and then embalmed the pines and underwood, or the forest trees had taken heart and smothered up a blind formation with greenery, so that it was only by scraping the earth you could tell what fires had raged beneath. yet the pines will win the battle in years to come, because nature, who first forges all her work in her great smithies, has nearly finished this job, and is ready to temper it in the soft brown earth. the fires are dying down; the hotel is built where terraces have overflowed into flat wastes of deposit; the pines have taken possession of the high ground whence the terraces first started. only the actual curve of the cataract stands clear, and it is guarded by soldiers who patrol it with loaded six-shooters, in order that the tourist may not bring up fence-rails and sink them in a pool, or chip the fretted tracery of the formations with a geological hammer, or, walking where the crust is too thin, foolishly cook himself. i manoeuvred round those soldiers. they were cavalry in a very slovenly uniform, dark-blue blouse, and light-blue trousers unstrapped, cut spoon-shape over the boot; cartridge belt, revolver, peaked cap, and worsted gloves--black buttons! by the mercy of allah i opened conversation with a spectacled scot. he had served the queen in the marines and a line regiment, and the "go-fever" being in his bones, had drifted to america, there to serve uncle sam. we sat on the edge of an extinct little pool, that under happier circumstances would have grown into a geyser, and began to discuss things generally. to us appeared yet another soldier. no need to ask his nationality or to be told that the troop called him "the henglishman." a cockney was he, who had seen something of warfare in egypt, and had taken his discharge from a fusilier regiment not unknown to you. "and how do things go?" "very much as you please," said they. "there's not half the discipline here that there is in the queen's service--not half--nor the work either, but what there is, is rough work. why, there's a sergeant now with a black eye that one of our men gave him. they won't say anything about that, of course. our punishments? fines mostly, and then if you carry on too much you go to the cooler--that's the clink. yes, sir. horses? oh, they're devils, these montanna horses. bronchos mostly. we don't slick 'em up for parade--not much. and the amount of schooling that you put into one english troop-horse would be enough for a whole squadron of these creatures. you'll meet more troopers further up the park. go and look at their horses and their turnouts. i fancy it'll startle you. i'm wearing a made tie and a breastpin under my blouse? of course i am! i can wear anything i darn please. we aren't particular here. i shouldn't dare come on parade--no, nor yet fatigue duty--in this condition in the old country; but it don't matter here. but don't you forget, sir, that it's taught me how to trust to myself, and my shooting irons. i don't want fifty orders to move me across the park, and catch a poacher. yes, they poach here. men come in with an outfit and ponies, smuggle in a gun or two, and shoot the bison. if you interfere, they shoot at you. then you confiscate all their outfit and their ponies. we have a pound full of them now down below. there's our captain over yonder. speak to him if you want to know anything special. this service isn't a patch on the old country's service; but you look, if it was worked up it would be just a hell of a service. but these citizens despise us, and they put us on to road-mending, and such like. 'nough to ruin any army." to the captain i addressed myself after my friends had gone. they told me that a good many american officers dressed by the french army. the captain certainly might have been mistaken for a french officer of light cavalry, and he had more than the courtesy of a frenchman. yes, he had read a good deal about our indian border warfare, and had been much struck with the likeness it bore to red indian warfare. i had better, when i reached the next cavalry post, scattered between two big geyser basins, introduce myself to a captain and lieutenant. they could show me things. he himself was devoting all his time to conserving the terraces, and surreptitiously running hot water into dried-up basins that fresh pools might form. "i get very interested in that sort of thing. it's not duty, but it's what i'm put here for." and then he began to talk of his troop as i have heard his brethren in india talk. such a troop! built up carefully, and watched lovingly; "not a man that i'd wish to exchange, and, what's more, i believe not a man that would wish to leave on his own account. we're different, i believe, from the english. your officers value the horses; we set store on the men. we train them more than we do the horses." of the american trooper i will tell you more hereafter. he is not a gentleman to be trifled with. next dawning, entering a buggy of fragile construction, with the old people from chicago, i embarked on my perilous career. we ran straight up a mountain till we could see, sixty miles away, the white houses of cook city on another mountain, and the whiplash-like trail leading thereto. the live air made me drunk. if tom, the driver, had proposed to send the mares in a bee-line to the city, i should have assented, and so would the old lady, who chewed gum and talked about her symptoms. the tub-ended rock-dog, which is but the translated prairie-dog, broke across the road under our horses' feet, the rabbit and the chipmunk danced with fright; we heard the roar of the river, and the road went round a corner. on one side piled rock and shale, that enjoined silence for fear of a general slide-down; on the other a sheer drop, and a fool of a noisy river below. then, apparently in the middle of the road, lest any should find driving too easy, a post of rock. nothing beyond that save the flank of a cliff. then my stomach departed from me, as it does when you swing, for we left the dirt, which was at least some guarantee of safety, and sailed out round the curve, and up a steep incline, on a plank-road built out from the cliff. the planks were nailed at the outer edge, and did not shift or creak very much--but enough, quite enough. that was the golden gate. i got my stomach back again when we trotted out on to a vast upland adorned with a lake and hills. have you ever seen an untouched land--the face of virgin nature? it is rather a curious sight, because the hills are choked with timber that has never known an axe, and the storm has rent a way through this timber, so that a hundred thousand trees lie matted together in swathes; and, since each tree lies where it falls, you may behold trunk and branch returning to the earth whence they sprang--exactly as the body of man returns--each limb making its own little grave, the grass climbing above the bark, till at last there remains only the outline of a tree upon the rank undergrowth. then we drove under a cliff of obsidian, which is black glass, some two hundred feet high; and the road at its foot was made of black glass that crackled. this was no great matter, because half an hour before tom had pulled up in the woods that we might sufficiently admire a mountain who stood all by himself, shaking with laughter or rage. the glass cliff overlooks a lake where the beavers built a dam about a mile and a half long in a zig-zag line, as their necessities prompted. then came the government and strictly preserved them, and, as you shall learn later on, they be damn impudent beasts. the old lady had hardly explained the natural history of beavers before we climbed some hills--it really didn't matter in that climate, because we could have scaled the stars--and (this mattered very much indeed) shot down a desperate, dusty slope, brakes shrieking on the wheels, the mares clicking among unseen rocks, the dust dense as a fog, and a wall of trees on either side. "how do the heavy four-horse coaches take it, tom?" i asked, remembering that some twenty-three souls had gone that way half an hour before. "take it at the run!" said tom, spitting out the dust. of course there was a sharp curve, and a bridge at the bottom, but luckily nothing met us, and we came to a wooden shanty called an hotel, in time for a crazy tiffin served by very gorgeous handmaids with very pink cheeks. when health fails in other and more exciting pursuits, a season as "help" in one of the yellowstone hotels will restore the frailest constitution. then by companies after tiffin we walked chattering to the uplands of hell. they call it the norris geyser basin on earth. it was as though the tide of desolation had gone out, but would presently return, across innumerable acres of dazzling white geyser formation. there were no terraces here, but all other horrors. not ten yards from the road a blast of steam shot up roaring every few seconds, a mud volcano spat filth to heaven, streams of hot water rumbled under foot, plunged through the dead pines in steaming cataracts and died on a waste of white where green-grey, black-yellow, and pink pools roared, shouted, bubbled, or hissed as their wicked fancies prompted. by the look of the eye the place should have been frozen over. by the feel of the feet it was warm. i ventured out among the pools, carefully following tracks, but one unwary foot began to sink, a squirt of water followed, and having no desire to descend quick into tophet i returned to the shore where the mud and the sulphur and the nameless fat ooze-vegetation of lethe lay. but the very road rang as though built over a gulf; and besides, how was i to tell when the raving blast of steam would find its vent insufficient and blow the whole affair into nirvana? there was a potent stench of stale eggs everywhere, and crystals of sulphur crumbled under the foot, and the glare of the sun on the white stuff was blinding. sitting under a bank, to me appeared a young trooper--ex-cape mounted rifles, this man: the real american seems to object to his army--mounted on a horse half-maddened by the noise and steam and smell. he carried only the six-shooter and cartridge-belt. on service the springfield carbine (which is clumsy) and a cartridge-belt slung diagonally complete equipment. the sword is no earthly use for border warfare and, except at state parades, is never worn. the saddle is the mcclellan tree over a four-folded blanket. sweat-leathers you must pay for yourself. and the beauty of the tree is that it necessitates first very careful girthing and a thorough knowledge of tricks with the blanket to suit the varying conditions of the horse--a broncho will bloat in a night if he can get at a bellyful--and, secondly, even more careful riding to prevent galling. crupper and breast-band do not seem to be used,--but they are casual about their accoutrements,--and the bit is the single, jaw-breaking curb which american war-pictures show us. that young man was very handsome, and the grey service hat--most like the under half of a seedy terai--shaded his strong face admirably as his horse backed and shivered and sidled and plunged all over the road, and he lectured from his saddle, one foot out of the heavy-hooded stirrup, one hand on the sweating neck. "he's not used to the park, this brute, and he's a confirmed bolter on parade; but we understand each other." _whoosh!_ went the steam-blast down the road with a dry roar. round spun the troop horse prepared to bolt, and, his momentum being suddenly checked, reared till i thought he would fall back on his rider. "oh no; we've settled that little matter when i was breaking him," said centaur. "he used to try to fall back on me. isn't he a devil? i think you'd laugh to see the way our regiments are horsed. sometimes a big montana beast like mine has a thirteen-two broncho pony for neighbour, and it's annoying if you're used to better things. and oh, how you have to ride your mount! it's necessary; but i can tell you at the end of a long day's march, when you'd give all the world to ride like a sack, it isn't sweet to get extra drill for slouching. when we're turned out, we're turned out for _anything_--not a fifteen-mile trot, but for the use and behoof of all the northern states. i've been in arizona. a trooper there who had been in india told me that arizona was like afghanistan. there's nothing under heaven there except horned toads and rattlesnakes--and indians. our trouble is that we only deal with indians and they don't teach us much, and of course the citizens look down on us and all that. as a matter of fact, i suppose we're really only mounted infantry, but remember we're the best mounted infantry in the world." and the horse danced a fandango in proof. "my faith!" said i, looking at the dusty blouse, grey hat, soiled leather accoutrements, and whalebone poise of the wearer. "if they are all like you, you are." "thanks, whoever you may be. of course if we were turned into a lawn-tennis court and told to resist, say, your heavy cavalry, we'd be ridden off the face of the earth if we couldn't get away. we have neither the weight nor the drill for a charge. my horse, for instance, by english standards, is half-broken, and like all the others, he bolts when we're in line. but cavalry charge against cavalry charge doesn't happen often, and if it did, well--all our men know that up to a hundred yards they are absolutely safe behind this old thing." he patted his revolver pouch. "absolutely safe from any shooting of yours. what man do you think would dare to use a pistol at even thirty yards, if his life depended oh it? not one of _your_ men. they can't shoot. we can. you'll hear about that down the park--further up." then he added, courteously: "just now it seems that the english supply all the men to the american army. that's what makes them so good perhaps." and with mutual expressions of good-will we parted--he to an outlying patrol fifteen miles away, i to my buggy and the old lady, who, regarding the horrors of the fire-holes, could only say, "good lord!" at thirty-second intervals. her husband talked about "dreffel waste of steam-power," and we went on in the clear, crisp afternoon, speculating as to the formation of geysers. "what i say," shrieked the old lady _apropos_ of matters theological, "and what i say more, after having seen all that, is that the lord has ordained a hell for such as disbelieve his gracious works." _nota bene._--tom had profanely cursed the near mare for stumbling. he looked straight in front of him and said no word, but the left corner of his left eye flickered in my direction. "and if," continued the old lady, "if we find a thing so dreffel as all that steam and sulphur allowed on the face of the earth, musn't we believe that there is something ten thousand times more terrible below prepared un_toe_ our destruction?" some people have a wonderful knack of extracting comfort from things. i am ashamed to say i agreed ostentatiously with the old lady. she developed the personal view of the matter. "_now_ i shall be able to say something to anna fincher about her way of living. shan't i, blake?" this to her husband. "yes," said he, speaking slowly after a heavy tiffin. "but the girl's a good girl;" and they fell to arguing as to whether the luckless anna fincher really stood in need of lectures edged with hell fire (she went to dances i believe), while i got out and walked in the dust alongside of tom. "i drive blame cur'ous kinder folk through this place," said he. "blame cur'ous. 'seems a pity that they should ha' come so far just to liken norris basin to hell. 'guess chicago would ha' served 'em, speaking in comparison, jest as good." we curved the hill and entered a forest of spruce, the path serpentining between the tree-boles, the wheels running silent on immemorial mould. there was nothing alive in the forest save ourselves. only a river was speaking angrily somewhere to the right. for miles we drove till tom bade us alight and look at certain falls. wherefore we stepped out of that forest and nearly fell down a cliff which guarded a tumbled river and returned demanding fresh miracles. if the water had run uphill, we should perhaps have taken more notice of it; but 'twas only a waterfall, and i really forget whether the water was warm or cold. there is a stream here called firehole river. it is fed by the overflow from the various geysers and basins,--a warm and deadly river wherein no fish breed. i think we crossed it a few dozen times in the course of a day. then the sun began to sink, and there was a taste of frost about, and we went swiftly from the forest into the open, dashed across a branch of the firehole river and found a wood shanty, even rougher than the last, at which, after a forty-mile drive, we were to dine and sleep. half a mile from this place stood, on the banks of the firehole river, a "beaver-lodge," and there were rumours of bears and other cheerful monsters in the woods on the hill at the back of the building. in the cool, crisp quiet of the evening i sought that river, and found a pile of newly gnawed sticks and twigs. the beaver works with the cold-chisel, and a few clean strokes suffice to level a four-inch bole. across the water on the far bank glimmered, with the ghastly white of peeled dead timber, the beaver-lodge--a mass of dishevelled branches. the inhabitants had dammed the stream lower down and spread it into a nice little lake. the question was would they come out for their walk before it got too dark to see. they came--blessings on their blunt muzzles, they came--as shadows come, drifting down the stream, stirring neither foot nor tail. there were three of them. one went down to investigate the state of the dam; the other two began to look for supper. there is only one thing more startling than the noiselessness of a tiger in the jungle, and that is the noiselessness of a beaver in the water. the straining ear could catch no sound whatever till they began to eat the thick green river-scudge that they call beaver-grass. i, bowed among the logs, held my breath and stared with all my eyes. they were not ten yards from me, and they would have eaten their dinner in peace so long as i had kept absolutely still. they were dear and desirable beasts, and i was just preparing to creep a step nearer when that wicked old lady from chicago clattered down the bank, an umbrella in her hand, shrieking: "beavers, beavers! young man, whurr are those beavers? good lord! what was that now?" the solitary watcher might have heard a pistol shot ring through the air. i wish it had killed the old lady, but it was only the beaver giving warning of danger with the slap of his tail on the water. it was exactly like the "phink" of a pistol fired with damp powder. then there were no more beavers--not a whisker-end. the lodge, however, was there, and a beast lower than any beaver began to throw stones at it because the old lady from chicago said: "p'raps, if you rattle them up they'll come out. i do so want to see a beaver." yet it cheers me to think i have seen the beaver in his wilds. never will i go to the zoo. that even, after supper--'twere flattery to call it dinner--a captain and a subaltern of the cavalry post appeared at the hotel. these were the officers of whom the mammoth springs captain had spoken. the lieutenant had read everything that he could lay hands on about the indian army, especially our cavalry arrangements, and was very full of a scheme for raising the riding red indians--it is not every noble savage that will make a trooper--into frontier levies--a sort of khyber guard. "only," as he said ruefully, "there is no frontier these days, and all our indian wars are nearly over. those beautiful beasts will die out, and nobody will ever know what splendid cavalry they can make." the captain told stories of border warfare--of ambush, firing on the rear-guard, heat that split the skull better than any tomahawk, cold that wrinkled the very liver, night-stampedes of baggage-mules, raiding of cattle, and hopeless stern-chases into inhospitable hills, when the cavalry knew that they were not only being outpaced but outspied. then he spoke of one fair charge when a tribe gave battle in the open and the troopers rode in swordless, firing right and left with their revolvers and--it was excessively uncomfy for that tribe. and i spoke of what men had told me of huntings in burma, of hill-climbing in the black mountain affair, and so forth. "exactly!" said the captain. "nobody knows and nobody cares. what does it matter to the down-easter who wrap-up-his-tail was?" "and what does the fat briton know or care about boh hla-oo?" said i. then both together: "depend upon it, my dear sir, the army in both anglo-saxon countries is a mischievously underestimated institution, and it's a pleasure to meet a man who," etc., etc. and we nodded triangularly in all good will, and swore eternal friendship. the lieutenant made a statement which rather amazed me. he said that, on account of the scarcity of business, many american officers were to be found getting practical instruction from little troubles among the south american republics. when the need broke out they would return. "there is so little for us to do, and the republic has a trick of making us hedge and ditch for our pay. a little road-making on service is not a bad thing, but continuous navvying is enough to knock the heart out of any army." i agreed, and we sat up till two in the morning swapping the lies of east and west. as that glorious chief man-afraid-of-pink-rats once said to the agent on the reservation: "'melican officer good man. heap good man. drink me. drink he. drink me. drink he. drink _he_. me blind. _heap_ good man!" no. xxxi ends with the cañon of the yellowstone. the maiden from new hampshire--larry--"wrap-up-his-tail"--tom--the old lady from chicago--and a few natural phenomena--including one briton. "what man would read and read the selfsame faces and like the marbles which the windmill grinds, rub smooth forever with the same smooth minds, this year retracing last year's every year's dull traces, when there are woods and unmanstifled places?" --_lowell._ once upon a time there was a carter who brought his team and a friend into the yellowstone park without due thought. presently they came upon a few of the natural beauties of the place, and that carter turned his team into his friend's team howling: "get back o' this, jim. all hell's alight under our noses." and they call the place hell's half-acre to this day. we, too, the old lady from chicago, her husband, tom, and the good little mares came to hell's half-acre, which is about sixty acres, and when tom said: "would you like to drive over it?" we said: "certainly no, and if you do, we shall report you to the authorities." there was a plain, blistered and peeled and abominable, and it was given over to the sportings and spoutings of devils who threw mud and steam and dirt at each other with whoops and halloos and bellowing curses. the place smelt of the refuse of the pit, and that odour mixed with the clean, wholesome aroma of the pines in our nostrils throughout the day. be it known that the park is laid out, like ollendorf, in exercises of progressive difficulty. hell's half-acre was a prelude to ten or twelve miles of geyser formation. we passed hot streams boiling in the forest; saw whiffs of steam beyond these, and yet other whiffs breaking through the misty green hills in the far distance; we trampled on sulphur, and sniffed things much worse than any sulphur which is known to the upper world; and so came upon a park-like place where tom suggested we should get out and play with the geysers. imagine mighty green fields splattered with lime beds: all the flowers of the summer growing up to the very edge of the lime. that was the first glimpse of the geyser basins. the buggy had pulled up close to a rough, broken, blistered cone of stuff between ten and twenty feet high. there was trouble in that place--moaning, splashing, gurgling, and the clank of machinery. a spurt of boiling water jumped into the air and a wash of water followed. i removed swiftly. the old lady from chicago shrieked. "what a wicked waste!" said her husband. i think they call it the riverside geyser. its spout was torn and ragged like the mouth of a gun when a shell has burst there. it grumbled madly for a moment or two and then was still. i crept over the steaming lime--it was the burning marl on which satan lay--and looked fearfully down its mouth. you should never look a gift geyser in the mouth. i beheld a horrible slippery slimy funnel with water rising and falling ten feet at a time. then the water rose to lip level with a rush and an infernal bubbling troubled this devil's bethesda before the sullen heave of the crest of a wave lapped over the edge and made me run. mark the nature, of the human soul! i had begun with awe, not to say terror. i stepped back from the flanks of the riverside geyser saying: "pooh! is that all it can do?" yet for aught i knew the whole thing might have blown up at a minute's notice; she, he, or it being an arrangement of uncertain temper. we drifted on up that miraculous valley. on either side of us were hills from a thousand to fifteen hundred feet high and wooded from heel to crest. as far as the eye could range forward were columns of steam in the air, misshapen lumps of lime, most like preadamite monsters, still pools of turquoise blue, stretches of blue cornflowers, a river that coiled on itself twenty times, boulders of strange colours, and ridges of glaring, staring white. the old lady from chicago poked with her parasol at the pools as though they had been alive. on one particularly innocent-looking little puddle she turned her back for a moment, and there rose behind her a twenty-foot column of water and steam. then she shrieked and protested that "she never thought it would ha' done it," and the old man chewed his tobacco steadily, and mourned for steam power wasted. i embraced the whitened stump of a middle-sized pine that had grown all too close to a hot pool's lip, and the whole thing turned over under my hand as a tree would do in a nightmare. from right and left came the trumpetings of elephants at play. i stepped into a pool of old dried blood rimmed with the nodding cornflowers; the blood changed to ink even as i trod; and ink and blood were washed away in a spurt of boiling sulphurous water spat out from the lee of a bank of flowers. this sounds mad, doesn't it? a moonfaced trooper of german extraction--never was park so carefully patrolled--came up to inform us that as yet we had not seen any of the real geysers, that they were all a mile or so up the valley, tastefully scattered round the hotel in which we would rest for the night. america is a free country, but the citizens look down on the soldier. _i_ had to entertain that trooper. the old lady from chicago would have none of him; so we loafed along together, now across half-rotten pine logs sunk in swampy ground, anon over the ringing geyser formation, then knee-deep through long grass. "and why did you 'list?" said i. the moonfaced one's face began to work. i thought he would have a fit, but he told me a story instead--such a nice tale of a naughty little girl who wrote love letters to two men at once. she was a simple village wife, but a wicked "family novelette" countess couldn't have accomplished her ends better. she drove one man nearly wild with her pretty little treachery; and the other man abandoned her and came west to forget. moonface was that man. we rounded a low spur of hill, and came out upon a field of aching snowy lime, rolled in sheets, twisted into knots, riven with rents and diamonds and stars, stretching for more than half a mile in every direction. in this place of despair lay most of the big geysers who know when there is trouble in krakatoa, who tell the pines when there is a cyclone on the atlantic seaboard, and who--are exhibited to visitors under pretty and fanciful names. the first mound that i encountered belonged to a goblin splashing in his tub. i heard him kick, pull a shower-bath on his shoulders, gasp, crack his joints, and rub himself down with a towel; then he let the water out of the bath, as a thoughtful man should, and it all sank down out of sight till another goblin arrived. yet they called this place the lioness and the cubs. it lies not very far from the lion, which is a sullen, roaring beast, and they say that when it is very active the other geysers presently follow suit. after the krakatoa eruption all the geysers went mad together, spouting, spurting, and bellowing till men feared that they would rip up the whole field. mysterious sympathies exist among them, and when the giantess speaks (of her more anon) they all hold their peace. i was watching a solitary spring, when, far across the fields, stood up a plume of spun glass, iridescent and superb, against the sky. "that," said the trooper, "is old faithful. he goes off every sixty-five minutes to the minute, plays for five minutes, and sends up a column of water a hundred and fifty feet high. by the time you have looked at all the other geysers he will be ready to play." so we looked and we wondered at the beehive, whose mouth is built up exactly like a hive; at the turban (which is not in the least like a turban); and at many, many other geysers, hot holes, and springs. some of them rumbled, some hissed, some went off spasmodically, and others lay still in sheets of sapphire and beryl. would you believe that even these terrible creatures have to be guarded by the troopers to prevent the irreverent american from chipping the cones to pieces, or worse still, making the geysers sick? if you take of soft-soap a small barrelful and drop it down a geyser's mouth, that geyser will presently be forced to lay all before you and for days afterwards will be of an irritated and inconsistent stomach. when they told me the tale i was filled with sympathy. now i wish that i had stolen soap and tried the experiment on some lonely little beast of a geyser in the woods. it sounds so probable--and so human. yet he would be a bold man who would administer emetics to the giantess. she is flat-lipped, having no mouth, she looks like a pool, fifty feet long and thirty wide, and there is no ornamentation about her. at irregular intervals she speaks, and sends up a column of water over two hundred feet high to begin with; then she is angry for a day and a half--sometimes for two days. owing to her peculiarity of going mad in the night not many people have seen the giantess at her finest; but the clamour of her unrest, men say, shakes the wooden hotel, and echoes like thunder among the hills. when i saw her trouble was brewing. the pool bubbled seriously, and at five-minute intervals, sank a foot or two, then rose, washed over the rim, and huge steam bubbles broke on the top. just before an eruption the water entirely disappears from view. whenever you see the water die down in a geyser-mouth get away as fast as you can. i saw a tiny little geyser suck in its breath in this way, and instinct made me retire while it hooted after me. leaving the giantess to swear, and spit, and thresh about, we went over to old faithful, who by reason of his faithfulness has benches close to him whence you may comfortably watch. at the appointed hour we heard the water flying up and down the mouth with the sob of waves in a cave. then came the preliminary gouts, then a roar and a rush, and that glittering column of diamonds rose, quivered, stood still for a minute. then it broke, and the rest was a confused snarl of water not thirty feet high. all the young ladies--not more than twenty--in the tourist band remarked that it was "elegant," and betook themselves to writing their names in the bottoms of shallow pools. nature fixes the insult indelibly, and the after-years will learn that "hattie," "sadie," "mamie," "sophie," and so forth, have taken out their hair-pins, and scrawled on the face of old faithful. the congregation returned to the hotel to put down their impressions in diaries and note-books which they wrote up ostentatiously in the verandahs. it was a sweltering hot day, albeit we stood somewhat higher than the summit of jakko, and i left that raw pine-creaking caravanserai for the cool shade of a clump of pines between whose trunks glimmered tents. a batch of troopers came down the road, and flung themselves across country into their rough lines. verily the 'melican cavalry-man _can_ ride, though he keeps his accoutrements pig, and his horse cow-fashion. i was free of that camp in five minutes--free to play with the heavy lumpy carbines, to have the saddles stripped, and punch the horses knowingly in the ribs. one of the men had been in the fight with "wrap-up-his-tail" before alluded to, and he told me how that great chief, his horse's tail tied up in red calico, swaggered in front of the united states cavalry, challenging all to single combat. but he was slain, and a few of his tribe with him. "there's no use in an indian, anyway," concluded my friend. a couple of cowboys--real cowboys, not the buffalo bill article--jingled through the camp amid a shower of mild chaff. they were on their way to cook city, i fancy, and i know that they never washed. but they were picturesque ruffians with long spurs, hooded stirrups, slouch hats, fur weather-cloths over their knees, and pistol-butts easy to hand. "the cowboy's goin' under before long," said my friend. "soon as the country's settled up he'll have to go. but he's mighty useful now. what should we do without the cowboy?" "as how?" said i, and the camp laughed. "he has the money. we have the know-how. he comes in in winter to play poker at the military posts. _we_ play poker--a few. when he's lost his money we make him drunk and let him go. sometimes we get the wrong man." and he told a tale of an innocent cowboy who turned up, cleaned out, at a post, and played poker for thirty-six hours. but it was the post that was cleaned out when that long-haired caucasian ah sin removed himself, heavy with everybody's pay, and declining the proffered liquor. "naow," said the historian, "i don't play with no cowboy unless he's a little bit drunk first." ere i departed i gathered from more than one man that significant fact that _up to one hundred yards_ he felt absolutely secure behind his revolver. "in england, i understand," quoth a limber youth from the south, "in england a man aren't allowed to play with no firearms. he's got to be taught all that when he enlists. i didn't want much teaching how to shoot straight 'fore i served uncle sam. and that's just where it is. but you was talking about your horse guards now?" i explained briefly some peculiarities of equipment connected with our crackest crack cavalry. i grieve to say the camp roared. "take 'em over swampy ground. let 'em run around a bit an' work the starch out of 'em, an' then, almighty, if we wouldn't plug 'em at ease i'd eat their horses!" "but suppose they engaged in the open?" said i. "engage the hades. not if there was a tree-trunk within twenty miles they _couldn't_ engage in the open!" gentlemen, the officers, have you ever seriously considered the existence on earth of a cavalry who by preference would fight in timber? the evident sincerity of the proposition made me think hard as i moved over to the hotel and joined a party exploration, which, diving into the woods, unearthed a pit pool of burningest water fringed with jet black sand--all the ground near by being pure white. but miracles pall when they arrive at the rate of twenty a day. a flaming dragonfly flew over the pool, reeled and dropped on the water, dying without a quiver of his gorgeous wings, and the pool said nothing whatever, but sent its thin steam wreaths up to the burning sky. i prefer pools that talk. there was a maiden--a very trim maiden--who had just stepped out of one of mr. james's novels. she owned a delightful mother and an equally delightful father, a heavy-eyed, slow-voiced man of finance. the parents thought that their daughter wanted change. she lived in new hampshire. accordingly, she had dragged them up to alaska, to the yosemite valley, and was now returning leisurely _via_ the yellowstone just in time for the tail-end of the summer season at saratoga. we had met once or twice before in the park, and i had been amazed and amused at her critical commendation of the wonders that she saw. from that very resolute little mouth i received a lecture on american literature, the nature and inwardness of washington society, the precise value of cable's works as compared with "uncle remus" harris, and a few other things that had nothing whatever to do with geysers, but were altogether delightful. now an english maiden who had stumbled on a dust-grimed, lime-washed, sun-peeled, collarless wanderer come from and going to goodness knows where, would, her mother inciting her and her father brandishing his umbrella, have regarded him as a dissolute adventurer. not so those delightful people from new hampshire. they were good enough to treat me--it sounds almost incredible--as a human being, possibly respectable, probably not in immediate need of financial assistance. papa talked pleasantly and to the point. the little maiden strove valiantly with the accent of her birth and that of her reading, and mamma smiled benignly in the background. balance this with a story of a young english idiot i met knocking about inside his high collars, attended by a valet. he condescended to tell me that "you can't be too careful who you talk to in these parts," and stalked on, fearing, i suppose, every minute for his social chastity. now that man was a barbarian (i took occasion to tell him so), for he comported himself after the manner of the head-hunters of assam, who are at perpetual feud one with another. you will understand that these foolish tales are introduced in order to cover the fact that this pen cannot describe the glories of the upper geyser basin. the evening i spent under the lee of the castle geyser sitting on a log with some troopers and watching a baronial keep forty feet high spouting hot water. if the castle went off first, they said the giantess would be quiet, and _vice versa_; and then they told tales till the moon got up and a party of campers in the woods gave us all something to eat. next morning tom drove us on, promising new wonders. he pulled up after a few miles at a clump of brushwood where an army was drowning. i could hear the sick gasps and thumps of the men going under, but when i broke through the brushwood the hosts had fled, and there were only pools of pink, black, and white lime, thick as turbid honey. they shot up a pat of mud every minute or two, choking in the effort. it was an uncanny sight. do you wonder that in the old days the indians were careful to avoid the yellowstone? geysers are permissible, but mud is terrifying. the old lady from chicago took a piece of it, and in half an hour it died into lime-dust and blew away between her fingers. all _maya_,--illusion,--you see! then we clinked over sulphur in crystals; there was a waterfall of boiling water; and a road across a level park hotly contested by the beavers. every winter they build their dam and flood the low-lying land; every summer that dam is torn up by the government, and for half a mile you must plough axle-deep in water, the willows brushing into the buggy, and little waterways branching off right and left. the road is the main stream--just like the bolan line in flood. if you turn up a byway, there is no more of you, and the beavers work your buggy into next year's dam. then came soft, turfy forest that deadened the wheels, and two troopers--on detachment duty--came noiselessly behind us. one was the wrap-up-his-tail man, and we talked merrily while the half-broken horses bucked about among the trees till we came to a mighty hill all strewn with moss agates, and everybody had to get out and pant in that thin air. but how intoxicating it was! the old lady from chicago clucked like an emancipated hen as she scuttled about the road cramming pieces of rock into her reticule. she sent me fifty yards down the hill to pick up a piece of broken bottle which she insisted was moss agate! "i've some o' that at home an' they shine. you go get it, young feller." as we climbed the long path, the road grew viler and viler till it became without disguise the bed of a torrent; and just when things were at their rockiest we emerged into a little sapphire lake--but never sapphire was so blue--called mary's lake; and that between eight and nine thousand feet above the sea. then came grass downs, all on a vehement slope, so that the buggy following the new-made road ran on to the two off-wheels mostly, till we dipped head-first into a ford, climbed up a cliff, raced along a down, dipped again and pulled up dishevelled at "larry's" for lunch and an hour's rest. only "larry" could have managed that school-feast tent on the lonely hillside. need i say that he was an irishman? his supplies were at their lowest ebb, but larry enveloped us all in the golden glamour of his speech ere we had descended, and the tent with the rude trestle-table became a palace, the rough fare, delicacies of delmonico, and we, the abashed recipients of larry's imperial bounty. it was only later that i discovered i had paid eight shillings for tinned beef, biscuits, and beer, but on the other hand larry had said: "will i go out an' kill a buffalo?" and i felt that for me and for me alone would he have done it. everybody else felt that way. good luck go with larry! "an' now you'll all go an' wash your pocket-handkerchiefs in that beautiful hot spring round the corner," said he. "there's soap an' a washboard ready, an' 'tis not every day that ye can get hot water for nothing." he waved us large-handedly to the open downs while he put the tent to rights. these was no sense of fatigue on the body or distance in the air. hill and dale rode on the eyeball. i could have clutched the far-off snowy peaks by putting out my hand. never was such maddening air. why we should have washed pocket-handkerchiefs larry alone knows. it appeared to be a sort of religious rite. in a little valley overhung with gay painted rocks ran a stream of velvet brown and pink. it was hot--hotter than the hand could bear--and it coloured the boulders in its course. there was the maiden from new hampshire, the old lady from chicago, papa, mamma, the woman who chewed gum, and all the rest of them, gravely bending over a washboard and soap. mysterious virtues lay in that queer stream. it turned the linen white as driven snow in five minutes, and then we lay on the grass and laughed with sheer bliss of being alive. this have i known once in japan, once on the banks of the columbia, what time the salmon came in and "california" howled, and once again in the yellowstone by the light of the eyes of the maiden from new hampshire. four little pools lay at my elbow: one was of black water (tepid), one clear water (cold), one clear water (hot), one red water (boiling); my newly washed handkerchief covered them all. we marvelled as children marvel. "this evening we shall do the grand cañon of the yellowstone?" said the maiden. "together?" said i; and she said yes. the sun was sinking when we heard the roar of falling waters and came to a broad river along whose banks we ran. and then--oh, then! i might at a pinch describe the infernal regions, but not the other place. be it known to you that the yellowstone river has occasion to run through a gorge about eight miles long. to get to the bottom of the gorge it makes two leaps, one of about one hundred and twenty and the other of three hundred feet. i investigated the upper or lesser fall, which is close to the hotel. up to that time nothing particular happens to the yellowstone, its banks being only rocky, rather steep, and plentifully adorned with pines. at the falls it comes round a corner, green, solid, ribbed with a little foam and not more than thirty yards wide. then it goes over still green and rather more solid than before. after a minute or two you, sitting upon a rock directly above the drop, begin to understand that something has occurred; that the river has jumped a huge distance between solid cliff walls and what looks like the gentle froth of ripples lapping the sides of the gorge below is really the outcome of great waves. and the river yells aloud; but the cliffs do not allow the yells to escape. that inspection began with curiosity and finished in terror, for it seemed that the whole world was sliding in chrysolite from under my feet. i followed with the others round the corner to arrive at the brink of the cañon: we had to climb up a nearly perpendicular ascent to begin with, for the ground rises more than the river drops. stately pine woods fringe either lip of the gorge, which is--the gorge of the yellowstone. all i can say is that without warning or preparation i looked into a gulf seventeen hundred feet deep with eagles and fish-hawks circling far below. and the sides of that gulf were one wild welter of colour--crimson, emerald, cobalt, ochre, amber, honey splashed with port-wine, snow-white, vermilion, lemon, and silver-grey, in wide washes. the sides did not fall sheer, but were graven by time and water and air into monstrous heads of kings, dead chiefs, men and women of the old time. so far below that no sound of its strife could reach us, the yellowstone river ran--a finger-wide strip of jade-green. the sunlight took those wondrous walls and gave fresh hues to those that nature had already laid there. once i saw the dawn break over a lake in rajputana and the sun set over the oodey sagar amid a circle of holman hunt hills. this time i was watching both performances going on below me--upside down you understand--and the colours were real! the cañon was burning like troy town; but it would burn for ever, and, thank goodness, neither pen nor brush could ever portray its splendours adequately. the academy would reject the picture for a chromolithograph. the public would scoff at the letter-press for _daily telegraphese_. "i will leave this thing alone," said i; "'tis my peculiar property. nobody else shall share it with me." evening crept through the pines that shadowed us, but the full glory of the day flamed in that cañon as we went out very cautiously to a jutting piece of rock--blood-red or pink it was--that overhung the deepest deeps of all. now i know what it is to sit enthroned amid the clouds of sunset. giddiness took away all sensation of touch or form; but the sense of blinding colour remained. when i reached the mainland again i had sworn that i had been floating. the maid from new hampshire said no word for a very long time. she then quoted poetry, which was perhaps the best thing she could have done. "and to think that this show-place has been going on all these days an' none of we ever saw it," said the old lady from chicago, with an acid glance at her husband. "no, only the injuns," said he, unmoved; and the maiden and i laughed long. inspiration is fleeting, beauty is vain, and the power of the mind for wonder limited. though the shining hosts themselves had risen choiring from the bottom of the gorge they would not have prevented her papa and one baser than himself from rolling stones down those stupendous rainbow-washed slides. seventeen hundred feet of steepest pitch and rather more than seventeen hundred colours for log or boulder to whirl through! so we heaved things and saw them gather way and bound from white rock to red or yellow, dragging behind them torrents of colour, till the noise of their descent ceased and they bounded a hundred yards clear at the last into the yellowstone. "i've been down there," said tom that evening. "it's easy to get down if you're careful--just sit and slide; but getting up is worse. an' i found, down below there, two rocks just marked with a picture of the cañon. i wouldn't sell those rocks not for fifteen dollars." and papa and i crawled down to the yellowstone--just above the first little fall--to wet a line for good luck. the round moon came up and turned the cliffs and pines into silver; a two-pound trout came up also, and we slew him among the rocks, nearly tumbling into that wild river. * * * * * then out and away to livingstone once more. the maiden from new hampshire disappeared; papa and mamma with her disappeared. disappeared, too, the old lady from chicago and all the rest, while i thought of all that i had _not_ seen--the forest of petrified trees with amethyst crystals in their black hearts; the great yellowstone lake where you catch your trout alive in one spring and drop him into another to boil him; and most of all of that mysterious hoodoo region where all the devils not employed in the geysers live and kill the wandering bear and elk, so that the scared hunter finds in death gulch piled carcasses of the dead whom no man has smitten. hoodoo-land with the overhead noises, the bird and beast and devil-rocks, the mazes and the bottomless pits,--all these things i missed. on the return road yankee jim and diana of the crossways gave me kindly greeting as the train paused an instant before their door, and at livingstone whom should i see but tom the driver? "i've done with the yellowstone and decided to clear out east somewheres," said he. "your talkin' about movin' round so gay an' careless made me kinder restless; i'm movin' out." lord forgie us for our responsibility one to another! "and your partner?" said i. "here's him," said tom, introducing a gawky youth with a bundle; and i saw those two young men turn their faces to the east. no. xxxii of the american army and the city of the saints. the temple, the book of mormon, and the girl from dorset. an oriental consideration of polygamy. "a fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him who can tell?" it has just occurred to me with great force that delightful as these letters are to myself their length and breadth and depth may be just the least little bit in the world wearisome to you over there. i will compress myself rigorously, though i should very much like to deliver a dissertation on the american army and the possibilities of its extension. the american army is a beautiful little army. some day, when all the indians are happily dead or drunk, it ought to make the finest scientific and survey corps that the world has ever seen. it does excellent work now, but there is this defect in its nature: it is officered, as you know, from west point, but the mischief of it is that west point seems to be created for the purpose of spreading a general knowledge of military matters among the people. a boy goes up to that institution, gets his pass, and returns to civil life, so they tell me, with a dangerous knowledge that he is a sucking moltke, and may apply his learning when occasion offers. given trouble, that man will be a nuisance, because he is a hideously versatile american to begin with, as cocksure of himself as a man can be, and with all the racial disregard for human life to back him through his demi-semi-professional generalship. in a country where, as the records of the daily papers show, men engaged in a conflict with police or jails are all too ready to adopt a military formation, and get heavily shot in a sort of cheap, half-instructed warfare instead of being decently scared by the appearance of the military, this sort of arrangement does not seem wise. the bond between the states is of amazing tenuity. so long as they do not absolutely march into the district of columbia, sit on the washington statues, and invent a flag of their own, they can legislate, lynch, hunt negroes through swamps, divorce, railroad, and rampage as much as ever they choose. they do not need knowledge of their own military strength to back their genial lawlessness. that regular army, which is a dear little army, should be kept to itself, blooded on detachment duty, turned into the paths of science, and now and again assembled at feasts of freemasons and so forth. it's too tiny to be a political power. the immortal wreck of the grand army of the republic is a political power of the largest and most unblushing description. it ought not to help to lay the foundations of an amateur military power that is blind and irresponsible.... be thankful that the balance of this lecture is suppressed, and with it the account of a "shiveree" which i attended in livingstone city: and the story of the editor and the sub-editor (the latter was a pet cougar, or mountain lion, who used, they said, skilfully to sub-edit disputants in the office) of the livingstone daily paper. omitting a thousand matters of first importance, let me pick up the thread of things on a narrow-gauge line that took me down to salt lake. the run between delhi and ahmedabad on a may day would have been bliss compared to this torture. there was nothing but glare and desert and alkali dust. there was no smoking-accommodation. i sat in the lavatory with the conductor and a prospector who told stories about indian atrocities in the voice of a dreaming child--oath following oath as smoothly as clotted cream laps the mouth of the jug. i don't think he knew he was saying anything out of the way, but nine or ten of those oaths were new to me, and one even made the conductor raise his eyebrows. "and when a man's alone mostly, leadin' his horse across the hills, he gets to talk aloud to himself as it was," said the weather-worn retailer of tortures. a vision rose before me of this man trampling the bannack city trail under the stars--swearing, always swearing! bundles of rags that were pointed out as red indians, boarded the train from time to time. their race privileges allow them free transit on the platforms of the cars. they mustn't come inside of course, and equally of course the train never thinks of pulling up for them. i saw a squaw take us flying and leave us in the same manner when we were spinning round a curve. like the punjabi, the red indian gets out by preference on the trackless plain and walks stolidly to the horizon. he never says where he is going.... _salt lake._ i am concerned for the sake of mr. phil robinson, his soul. you will remember that he wrote a book called _saints and sinners_ in which he proved very prettily that the mormon was almost altogether an estimable person. ever since my arrival at salt lake i have been wondering what made him write that book. on mature reflection, and after a long walk round the city, i am inclined to think it was the sun, which is very powerful hereabouts. by great good luck the evil-minded train, already delayed twelve hours by a burnt bridge, brought me to the city on a saturday by way of that valley which the mormons aver their efforts had caused to blossom like the rose. some hours previously i had entered a new world where, in conversation, every one was either a mormon or a gentile. it is not seemly for a free and independent citizen to dub himself a gentile, but the mayor of ogden--which is the gentile city of the valley--told me that there must be some distinction between the two flocks. long before the fruit orchards of logan or the shining levels of the salt lake had been reached that mayor--himself a gentile, and one renowned for his dealings with the mormons--told me that the great question of the existence of the power within the power was being gradually solved by the ballot and by education. "we have," quoth he, "hills round and about here, stuffed full of silver and gold and lead, and all hell atop of the mormon church can't keep the gentile from flocking in when that's the case. at ogden, thirty miles from salt lake, this year the gentile vote swamped the mormon at the municipal elections, and next year we trust that we shall be able to repeat our success in salt lake itself. in that city the gentiles are only one-third of the total population, but the mass of 'em are grown men, capable of voting. whereas the mormons are cluttered up with children. i guess as soon as we have purely gentile officers in the township, and the control of the policy of the city, the mormons will have to back down considerable. they're bound to go before long. my own notion is that it's the older men who keep alive the opposition to the gentile and all his works. the younger ones, spite of all the elders tell 'em, _will_ mix with the gentile, and read gentile books, and you bet your sweet life there's a holy influence working toward conversion in the kiss of an average gentile--specially when the girl knows that he won't think it necessary for her salvation to load the house up with other woman-folk. i guess the younger generation are giving sore trouble to the elders. what's that you say about polygamy? it's a penal offence now under a bill passed not long ago. the mormon has to elect one wife and keep to her. if he's caught visiting any of the others--do you see that cool and restful brown stone building way over there against the hillside? that's the penitentiary. he is sent there to consider his sins, and he pays a fine, too. but most of the police in salt lake are mormons, and i don't suppose they are too hard on their friends. i presoom there's a good deal of polygamy practised on the sly. but the chief trouble is to get the mormon to see that the gentile isn't the doubly-damned beast that the elders represent. only get the gentiles well into the state, and the whole concern is bound to go to pieces in a very little time." and the wish being father to the thought, "why, certainly," said i, and began to take in the valley of deseret, the home of the latter-day saints, and the abode perhaps of as much misery as has ever been compressed into forty years. the good folk at home will not understand, but you will, what follows. you know how in bengal to this day the child-wife is taught to curse her possible co-wife, ere yet she has gone to her husband's house? and the bengali woman has been accustomed to polygamy for a few hundred years. you know, too, the awful jealousy between mother wife and barren behind the purdah--the jealousy that culminates sometimes in the poisoning of the well-beloved son? now and again, an englishwoman employs a high-caste mussulman nurse, and in the offices of that hire women are apt to forget the differences of colour, and to speak unreservedly as twin daughters under eve's curse. the nurse tells very strange and awful things. she has, and this the mormons count a privilege, been born into polygamy; but she loathes and detests it from the bottom of her jealous soul. and to the lot of the bengali co-wife--"the cursed of the cursed--the daughter of the dunghill--the scald-head and the barren-mute" (you know the rest of that sweet commination-service)--one creed, of all the white creeds to-day, deliberately introduces the white woman taken from centuries of training, which have taught her that it is right to control the undivided heart of one man. to quench her most natural rebellion, that amazing creed and fantastic jumble of mahometanism, the mosaical law, and imperfectly comprehended fragments of freemasonry, calls to its aid all the powers of a hell conceived and elaborated by coarse-minded hedgers and ditchers. a sweet view, isn't it? all the beauty of the valley could not make me forget it. but the valley is very fair. bench after bench of land, flat as a table against the flanks of the ringing hills, marks where the salt lake rested for a while as it sunk from an inland sea to a lake fifty miles long and thirty broad. before long the benches will be covered with houses. at present these are hidden among the green trees on the dead flat of the valley. you have read a hundred times how the streets of salt lake city are very broad, furnished with rows of shade trees and gutters of fresh water. this is true, but i struck the town in a season of great drouth--that same drouth which is playing havoc with the herds of montana. the trees were limp, and the rills of sparkling water that one reads about were represented by dusty, paved courses. main street appears to be inhabited by the commercial gentile, who has made of it a busy, bustling thoroughfare, and, in the eye of the sun, swigs the ungodly lager and smokes the improper cigar all day long. for which i like him. at the head of main street stand the lions of the place; the temple and the tabernacle, the tithing house, and the houses of brigham young, whose portrait is on sale in most of the booksellers' shops. incidentally it may be mentioned that the late amir of utah does not unremotely resemble his highness the amir of afghanistan, whom these fortunate eyes have seen. and i have no desire to fall into the hands of the amir. the first thing to be seen was, of course, the temple, the outward exponent of a creed. armed with a copy of the book of mormon, for better comprehension, i went to form rash opinions. some day the temple will be finished. it was begun only thirty years ago, and up to date rather more than three million dollars and a half have been expended in its granite bulk. the walls are ten feet thick; the edifice itself is about a hundred feet high; and its towers will be nearly two hundred. and that is all there is of it, unless you choose to inspect more closely; always reading the book of mormon as you walk. then the wondrous puerility, of what i suppose we must call the design, becomes apparent. these men, directly inspired from on high, heaped stone on stone and pillar on pillar, without achieving either dignity, relief, or interest. there is, over the main door, some pitiful scratching in stone representing the all-seeing eye, the masonic grip, the sun, moon, and stars, and, perhaps, other skittles. the flatness and meanness of the thing almost makes you weep when you look at the magnificent granite in blocks strewn abroad, and think of the art that three million dollars might have called in to the aid of the church. it is as though a child had said: "let us draw a great, big, fine house--finer than any house that ever was,"--and in that desire had laboriously smudged along with a ruler and pencil, piling meaningless straight lines on compass-drawn curves, with his tongue following every movement of the inept hand. then sat i down on a wheelbarrow and read the book of mormon, and behold the spirit of the book was the spirit of the stone before me. the estimable joseph and hyrum smith struggling to create a new bible, when they knew nothing of the history of old and new testament, and the inspired architect muddling with his bricks--they were brothers. but the book was more interesting than the building. it is written, and all the world has read, how to joseph smith an angel came down from heaven with a pair of celestial gig-lamps, whereby he was marvellously enabled to interpret certain plates of gold scribbled over with dots and scratches, and discovered by him in the ground. which plates joseph smith did translate--only he spelt the mysterious characters "caractors"--and out of the dots and scratches produced a volume of six hundred closely printed pages, containing the books of nephi, first and second, jacob, enos, jarom, omni, mormon, mosiah, the record of zeniff, the book of alma helaman, the third of nephi, the book of ether (the whole thing is a powerful anæsthetic, by the way), and the final book of mononi. three men, of whom one i believe is now living, bear solemn witness that the angel with the spectacles appeared unto them; eight other men swear solemnly that they have seen the golden plates of the revelation; and upon this testimony the book of mormon stands. the mormon bible begins at the days of zedekiah, king of judah, and ends in a wild and weltering quagmire of tribal fights, bits of revelation, and wholesale cribs from the bible. very sincerely did i sympathise with the inspired brothers as i waded through their joint production. as a humble fellow-worker in the field of fiction, i knew what it was to get good names for one's characters. but joseph and hyrum were harder bestead than ever i have been; and bolder men to boot. they created teancum and coriantumy, pakhoran, kishkumen, and gadianton, and other priceless names which the memory does not hold; but of geography they wisely steered clear, and were astutely vague as to the localities of places, because you see they were by no means certain what lay in the next county to their own. they marched and countermarched bloodthirsty armies across their pages; and added new and amazing chapters to the records of the new testament, and reorganised the heavens and the earth as it is always lawful to do in print. but they could not achieve style, and it was foolish of them to let into their weird mosaic pieces of the genuine bible whenever the labouring pen dropped from its toilsome parody to a sentence or two of vile, bad english or downright "penny dreadfulism." "and moses said unto the people of israel: 'great scott! what air you doing?'" there is no sentence in the book of mormon word for word like the foregoing; but the general tone is not widely different. there are the makings of a very fine creed about mormonism. to begin with, the church is rather more absolute than that of rome. drop the polygamy plank in the platform, but on the other hand deal lightly with certain forms of excess. keep the quality of the recruits down to a low mental level and see that the best of the agricultural science available is in the hands of the elders, and you have there a first-class engine for pioneer work. the tawdry mysticism and the borrowings from freemasonry serve the low-caste swede and the dane, the welshman and the cornish cottar, just as well as a highly organised heaven. i went about the streets and peeped into people's front windows, and the decorations upon the tables were after the manner of the year 1850. main street was full of country folk from the outside come in to trade with the zion mercantile co-operative institute. the church, i fancy, looks after the finances of this thing, and it consequently pays good dividends. the faces of the women were not lovely. indeed, but for the certainty that ugly persons are just as irrational in the matter of undivided love as the beautiful, it seemed that polygamy was a blessed institution for the women, and that only the spiritual power could drive the hulking, board-faced men into it. the women wore hideous garments, and the men seemed to be tied up with string. they would market all that afternoon, and on sunday go to the praying-place. i tried to talk to a few of them, but they spoke strange tongues and stared and behaved like cows. yet one woman, and not an altogether ugly one, confided to me that she hated the idea of salt lake city being turned into a show-place for the amusement of the gentile. "if we 'ave our own institutions, that ain't no reason why people should come 'ere and stare at us, his it?" the dropped "h" betrayed her. "and when did you leave england?" i said. "summer of '84. i am from dorset," she said. "the mormon agents was very good to us, and we was very poor. now we're better off--my father an' mother an' me." "then you like the state?" she misunderstood at first. "oh, i ain't livin' in the state of polygamy. not me yet. i ain't married. i like where i am. i've got things o' my own--and some land." "but i suppose you will--" "not me. i ain't like them swedes an' danes. i ain't got nothin' to say for or against polygamy. it's the elders' business, an' between you an' me i don't think it's going on much longer. you'll 'ear them in the 'ouse to-morrer talkin' as if it was spreadin' all over america. the swedes they think it _his_. i know it hisn't." "but you've got your land all right." "oh, yes, we've got our land an' we never say aught against polygamy o' course--father an' mother an' me." it strikes me that there is a fraud somewhere. you've never heard of the rice-christians, have you? i should have liked to have spoken to the maiden at length, but she dived into the zion co-op. and a man captured me, saying that it was my bounden duty to see the sights of salt lake. these comprised the egg-shaped tabernacle, the beehive, and town houses of brigham young; the same great ruffian's tomb with assorted samples of his wives sleeping round him (just as the eleven faithful ones sleep round the ashes of runjit singh outside fort lahore), and one or two other curiosities. but all these things have been described by abler pens than mine. the animal-houses where brigham used to pack his wives are grubby villas; the tabernacle is a shingled fraud, and the tithing house where all the revenue returns seem to be made, much resembles a stable. the mormons have a paper currency of their own--ecclesiastical bank-notes which are exchanged for local produce. but the little boys of the place prefer the bullion of the gentiles. it is not pleasant to be taken round a township with your guide stopping before every third house to say: "that's where elder so and so kept amelia bathershins, his fifth wife--no, his third. amelia she was took on after keziah, but keziah was the elder's pet, an' he didn't dare to let amelia come across keziah for fear of her spilin' keziah's beauty." the mussulmans are quite right. the minute that all the domestic details of polygamy are discussed in the mouths of the people, that institution is ready to fall. i shook off my guide when he had told me his very last doubtful tale, and went on alone. an ordered peace and a perfection of quiet luxury is the note of the city of salt lake. the houses stand in generous and well-groomed grass-plots, none very much worse or better than their neighbours. creepers grow over the house fronts, and there is a very pleasant music of wind among the trees in the vast empty streets bringing a smell of hay and the flowers of summer. on a tableland overlooking all the city stands the united states garrison of infantry and artillery. the state of utah can do nearly anything it pleases until that much-to-be-desired hour when the gentile vote shall quietly swamp out mormonism; but the garrison is kept there in case of accidents. the big, shark-mouthed, pig-eared, heavy-boned farmers sometimes take to their creed with wildest fanaticism, and in past years have made life excessively unpleasant for the gentile when he was few in the land. but to-day, so far from killing openly or secretly, or burning gentile farms, it is all the mormon dares do to feebly try to boycott the interloper. his journals preach defiance to the united states government, and in the tabernacle of a sunday the preachers follow suit. when i went down there the place was full of people who would have been much better for a washing. a man rose up and told them that they were the chosen of god, the elect of israel, that they were to obey their priest, and that there was a good time coming. i fancy that they had heard all this before so many times it produced no impression whatever; even as the sublimest mysteries of another faith lost salt through constant iteration. they breathed heavily through their noses and stared straight in front of them--impassive as flatfish. and that evening i went up to the garrison post--one of the most coveted of all the army commands--and overlooked the city of the saints as it lay in the circle of its forbidding hills. you can speculate a good deal about the mass of human misery, the loves frustrated, the gentle hearts broken, and the strong souls twisted from the law of life to a fiercer following of the law of death, that the hills have seen. how must it have been in the old days when the footsore emigrants broke through into the circle and knew that they were cut off from hope of return or sight of friends--were handed over to the power of the friends that called themselves priests of the most high? "but for the grace of god there goes richard baxter," as the eminent divine once said. it seemed good that fate did not order me to be a brick in the up-building of the mormon church, that has so aptly established herself by the borders of a lake bitter, salt, and hopeless. no. xxxiii how i met certain people of importance between salt lake and omaha. "much have i seen, cities and men." let there be no misunderstanding about the matter. i love this people, and if any contemptuous criticism has to be done, i will do it myself. my heart has gone out to them beyond all other peoples; and for the life of me i cannot tell why. they are bleeding-raw at the edges, almost more conceited than the english, vulgar with a massive vulgarity which is as though the pyramids were coated with christmas-cake sugar-works. cocksure they are, lawless and as casual as they are cocksure; but i love them, and i realised it when i met an englishman who laughed at them. he proved conclusively that they were all wrong, from their tariff to their go-as-you-please civil service, and beneath the consideration of a true briton. "i admit everything," said i. "their government's provisional; their law's the notion of the moment; their railways are made of hair-pins and match-sticks, and most of their good luck lives in their woods and mines and rivers and not in their brains; but for all that, they be the biggest, finest, and best people on the surface of the globe! just you wait a hundred years and see how they'll behave when they've had the screw put on them and have forgotten a few of the patriarchal teachings of the late mister george washington. wait till the anglo-american-german-jew--the man of the future--is properly equipped. he'll have just the least little kink in his hair now and again; he'll carry the english lungs above the teuton feet that can walk for ever; and he will wave long, thin, bony yankee hands with the big blue veins on the wrist, from one end of the earth to the other. he'll be the finest writer, poet, and dramatist, 'specially dramatist, that the world as it recollects itself has ever seen. by virtue of his jew blood--just a little, little drop--he'll be a musician and a painter too. at present there is too much balcony and too little romeo in the life-plays of his fellow-citizens. later on, when the proportion is adjusted and he sees the possibilities of his land, he will produce things that will make the effete east stare. he will also be a complex and highly composite administrator. there is nothing known to man that he will not be, and his country will sway the world with one foot as a man tilts a see-saw plank!" "but this is worse than the eagle at its worst. do you seriously believe all that?" said the englishman. "if i believe anything seriously, all this i most firmly believe. you wait and see. sixty million people, chiefly of english instincts, who are trained from youth to believe that nothing is impossible, don't slink through the centuries like russian peasantry. they are bound to leave their mark somewhere, and don't you forget it." but isn't it sad to think that with all eternity behind and before us we cannot, even though we would pay for it with sorrow, filch from the immensities one hundred poor years of life, wherein to watch the two great experiments? a hundred years hence india and america will be worth observing. at present the one is burned out and the other is only just stoking up. when i left my opponent there was much need for faith, because i fell into the hands of a perfectly delightful man whom i had met casually in the street, sitting in a chair on the pavement, smoking a huge cigar. he was a commercial traveller, and his beat lay through southern mexico, and he told me tales, of forgotten cities, stone gods up to their sacred eyes in forest growth, mexican priests, rebellions, and dictatorships, that made my hair curl. it was he who dragged me forth to bathe in salt lake, which is some fifteen miles away from the city, and reachable by many trains which are but open tram-cars. the track, like all american tracks, was terrifying in its roughness; and the end of the journey disclosed the nakedness of the accommodation. there were piers and band houses and refreshment stalls built over the solid grey levels of the lake, but they only accentuated the utter barrenness of the place. americans don't mix with their scenery as yet. and "have faith," said the commercial traveller as he walked into water heavy as quicksilver. "walk!" i walked, and i walked till my legs flew up and i had to walk as one struggling with a high wind, but still i rode head and shoulders above the water. it was a horrible feeling, this inability to sink. swimming was not much use. you couldn't get a grip of the water, so i e'en sat me down and drifted like a luxurious anemone among the hundreds that were bathing in that place. you could wallow for three-quarters of an hour in that warm, sticky brine and fear no evil consequences; but when you came out you were coated with white salt from top to toe. and if you accidentally swallowed a mouthful of the water, you died. this is true, because i swallowed half a mouthful and was half-dead in consequence. the commercial traveller on our return journey across the level flats that fringe the lake's edge bade me note some of the customs of his people. the great open railway car held about a hundred men and maidens, "coming up with a song from the sea." they sang and they shouted and they exchanged witticisms of the most poignant, and comported themselves like their brothers and sisters over the seas--the 'arries and 'arriets of the older world. and there sat behind me two modest maidens in white, alone and unattended. to these the privileged youth of the car--a youth of a marvellous range of voice--proffered undying affection. they laughed, but made no reply in words. the suit was renewed, and with extravagant imagery; the nearest seats applauding. when we arrived at the city the maidens turned and went their way up a dark tree-shaded street, and the boys elsewhere. whereat, recollecting what the london rough was like, i marvelled that they did not pursue. "it's all right," said the commercial traveller. "if they had followed--well, i guess some one would ha' shot 'em." the very next day on those very peaceful cars returning from the lake some one was shot--dead. he was what they call a "sport," which is american for a finished "leg," and he had an argument with a police officer, and the latter slew him. i saw his funeral go down the main street. there were nearly thirty carriages, filled with doubtful men, and women not in the least doubtful, and the local papers said that deceased had his merits, but it didn't much matter, because if the sheriff hadn't dropped him he would assuredly have dropped the sheriff. somehow this jarred on my sensitive feelings, and i went away, though the commercial traveller would fain have entertained me in his own house, he knowing not my name. twice through the long hot nights we talked, tilting up our chairs on the sidewalk, of the future of america. you should hear the saga of the states reeled off by a young and enthusiastic citizen who had just carved out for himself a home, filled it with a pretty little wife, and is preparing to embark on commerce on his own account. i was tempted to believe that pistol-shots were regrettable accidents and lawlessness only the top scum on the great sea of humanity. i am tempted to believe that still, though baked and dusty utah is very many miles behind me. then chance threw me into the arms of another and very different commercial traveller, as we pulled out of utah on our way to omaha _via_ the rockies. he travelled in biscuits, of which more anon, and fate had smitten him very heavily, having at one stroke knocked all the beauty and joy out of his poor life. so he journeyed with a case of samples as one dazed, and his eyes took no pleasure in anything that he saw. in his despair he had withdrawn himself to his religion,--he was a baptist,--and spoke of its consolation with the artless freedom that an american generally exhibits when he is talking about his most sacred private affairs. there was a desert beyond utah, hot and barren as mian mir in may. the sun baked the car-roof, and the dust caked the windows, and through the dust and the glare the man with the biscuits bore witness to his creed, which seems to include one of the greatest miracles in the world--the immediate unforeseen, self-conscious redemption of the soul by means very similar to those which turned paul to the straight path. "you must experi_ence_ religion," he repeated, his mouth twitching and his eyes black-ringed with his recent loss. "you must experi_ence_ religion. you can't tell when you're goin' to get, or haow; but it will come--it will come, sir, like a lightning stroke, an' you will wrestle with yourself before you receive full conviction and assurance." "how long does that take?" i asked reverently. "it may take hours. it may take days. i knew a man in san jo who lay under conviction for a month an' then he got the sperrit--as you _must_ git it." "and then?" "and then you are saved. you feel that, an' you kin endure anything," he sighed. "yes, anything. i don't care what it is, though i allow that some things are harder than others." "then you have to wait for the miracle to be worked by powers outside yourself. and if the miracle doesn't work?" "but it _must_. i tell you it must. it comes to all who profess with faith." i learned a good deal about that creed as the train fled on; and i wondered as i learned. it was a strange thing to watch that poor human soul, broken and bowed by its loss, nerving itself against each new pang of pain with the iterated assurance that it was safe against the pains of hell. the heat was stifling. we quitted the desert and launched into the rolling green plains of colorado. dozing uneasily with every removable rag removed, i was roused by a blast of intense cold and the drumming of a hundred drums. the train had stopped. far as the eye could range the land was white under two feet of hail--each hailstone as big as the top of a sherry-glass. i saw a young colt by the side of the track standing with his poor little fluffy back to the pitiless pelting. he was pounded to death. an old horse met his doom on the run. he galloped wildly towards the train, but his hind legs dropped into a hole half water and half ice. he beat the ground with his fore-feet for a minute and then rolling over on his side submitted quietly to be killed. when the storm ceased, we picked our way cautiously and crippledly over a track that might give way at any moment. the western driver urges his train much as does the subaltern the bounding pony, and 'twould seem with an equal sense of responsibility. if a foot does go wrong, why there you are, don't you know, and if it is all right, why all right it is, don't you know. but i would sooner be on the pony than the train. this seems a good place wherein to preach on american versatility. when mr. howells writes a novel, when a reckless hero dams a flood by heaving a dynamite-shattered mountain into it, or when a notoriety-hunting preacher marries a couple in a balloon, you shall hear the great american press rise on its hind legs and walk round mouthing over the versatility of the american citizen. and he is versatile--horribly so. the unlimited exercise of the right of private judgment (which, by the way, is a weapon not one man in ten is competent to handle), his blatant cocksureness, and the dry-air-bred restlessness that makes him crawl all over the furniture when he is talking to you, conspire to make him versatile. but what he calls versatility the impartial bystander of anglo-indian extraction is apt to deem mere casualness, and dangerous casualness at that. no man can grasp the inwardness of an employ by the light of pure reason--even though that reason be republican. he must serve an apprenticeship to one craft and learn that craft all the days of his life if he wishes to excel therein. otherwise he merely "puts the thing through somehow;" and occasionally he doesn't. but wherein lies the beauty of this form of mental suppleness? old man california, whom i shall love and respect always, told me one or two anecdotes about american versatility and its consequences that came back to my mind with direful force as the train progressed. we didn't upset, but i don't think that that was the fault of the driver or the men who made the track. take up--you can easily find them--the accounts of ten consecutive railway catastrophes--not little accidents, but first-class fatalities, when the long cars turn over, take fire, and roast the luckless occupants alive. to seven out of the ten you shall find appended the cheerful statement: "the accident is supposed to have been due to the rails spreading." that means the metals were spiked down to the ties with such versatility that the spikes or the tracks drew under the constant vibration of the traffic, and the metals opened out. no one is hanged for these little affairs. we began to climb hills, and then we stopped--at night in darkness, while men threw sand under the wheels and crowbarred the track and then "guessed" that we might proceed. not being in the least anxious to face my maker half asleep and rubbing my eyes, i went forward to a common car, and was rewarded by two hours' conversation with the stranded, broken-down, husband-abandoned actress of a fourth-rate, stranded, broken-down, manager-bereft company. she was muzzy with beer, reduced to her last dollar, fearful that there would be no one to meet her at omaha, and wept at intervals because she had given the conductor a five-dollar bill to change, and he hadn't come back. he was an irishman, so i knew he couldn't steal, and i addressed myself to the task of consolation. i was rewarded, after a decent interval, by the history of a life so wild, so mixed, so desperately improbable, and yet so simply probable, and above all so quick--not fast--in its kaleidoscopic changes that the _pioneer_ would reject any summary of it. and so you will never know how she, the beery woman with the tangled blond hair, was once a girl on a farm in far-off new jersey. how he, a travelling actor, had wooed and won her,--"but paw he was always set against alf,"--and how he and she embarked all their little capital on the word of a faithless manager who disbanded his company a hundred miles from nowhere, and how she and alf and a third person who had not yet made any noise in the world, had to walk the railway-track and beg from the farm-houses; how that third person arrived and went away again with a wail, and how alf took to the whisky and other things still more calculated to make a wife unhappy; and how after barn-stormings, insults, shooting-scrapes, and pitiful collapses of poor companies she had once won an encore. it was not a cheerful tale to listen to. there was a real actress in the pullman,--such an one as travels sumptuously with a maid and dressing-case,--and my draggle-tail thought of appealing to her for help, but broke down after several attempts to walk into the car jauntily as befitted a sister in the profession. then the conductor reappeared,--the five-dollar bill honestly changed,--and she wept by reason of beer and gratitude together, and then fell asleep waveringly, alone in the car, and became almost beautiful and quite kissable; while the man with the sorrow stood at the door between actress and actress and preached grim sermons on the certain end of each if they did not mend their ways and find regeneration through the miracle of the baptist creed. yes, we were a queer company going up to the rockies together. i was the luckiest, because when a breakdown occurred, and we were delayed for twelve hours, i ate all the baptist's sample-biscuits. they were various in composition, but nourishing. always travel with a "drummer." no. xxxiv across the great divide; and how the man gring showed me the garments of the ellewomen. after much dallying and more climbing we came to a pass like all the bolan passes in the world, and the black cañon of the gunnison called they it. we had been climbing for very many hours, and attained a modest elevation of some seven or eight thousand feet above the sea, when we entered a gorge, remote from the sun, where the rocks were two thousand feet sheer, and where a rock-splintered river roared and howled ten feet below a track which seemed to have been built on the simple principle of dropping miscellaneous dirt into the river and pinning a few rails a-top. there was a glory and a wonder and a mystery about that mad ride which i felt keenly (you will find it properly dressed up in the guide-books), until i had to offer prayers for the safety of the train. there was no hope of seeing the track two hundred yards ahead. we seemed to be running into the bowels of the earth at the invitation of an irresponsible stream. then the solid rock would open and disclose a curve of awful twistfulness. then the driver put on all steam, and we would go round that curve on one wheel chiefly, the gunnison river gnashing its teeth below. the cars overhung the edge of the water, and if a single one of the rails had chosen to spread, nothing in the wide world could have saved us from drowning. i knew we should damage something in the end--the sombre horrors of the gorge, the rush of the jade-green water below, and the cheerful tales told by the conductor made me certain of the catastrophe. we had just cleared the black cañon and another gorge, and were sailing out into open country nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, when we came most suddenly round a corner upon a causeway across a waste water--half dam and half quarry-pool. the locomotive gave one wild "hoo! hoo! hoo!" but it was too late. he was a beautiful bull, and goodness only knows why he had chosen the track for a constitutional with his wife. _she_ was flung to the left, but the cow-catcher caught _him_, and turning him round, heaved him shoulder deep into the pool. the expression of blank, blind bewilderment on his bovine, jovine face was wonderful to behold. he was not angry. i don't think he was even scared, though he must have flown ten yards through the air. all he wanted to know was: "will somebody have the goodness to tell a respectable old gentleman what in the world, or out of it, has occurred?" and five minutes later the stream that had been snapping at our heels in the gorges split itself into a dozen silver threads on a breezy upland, and became an innocent trout beck, and we halted at a half-dead city, the name of which does not remain with me. it had originally been built on the crest of a wave of prosperity. once ten thousand people had walked its street; but the boom had collapsed. the great brick houses and the factories were empty. the population lived in little timber shanties on the fringes of the deserted town. there were some railway workshops and things, and the hotel (whose pavement formed the platform of the railway) contained one hundred and more rooms--empty. the place, in its half-inhabitedness, was more desolate than amber or chitor. but a man said: "trout--six pounds--two miles away," and the sorrowful man and myself went in search of 'em. the town was ringed by a circle of hills all alive with little thunder-storms that broke across the soft green of the plain in wisps and washes of smoke and amber. to our tiny party associated himself a lawyer from chicago. we foregathered on the question of flies, but i didn't expect to meet elijah pogram in the flesh. he delivered orations on the future of england and america, and of the great federation that the years will bring forth when america and england will belt the globe with their linked hands. according to the notions of the british, he made an ass of himself, but for all his high-falutin he talked sense. i might knock through england on a four months' tour and not find a man capable of putting into words the passionate patriotism that possessed the little chicago lawyer. and he was a man with points, for he offered me three days' shooting in illinois, if i would step out of my path a little. i might travel for ten years up and down england ere i found a man who would give a complete stranger so much as a sandwich, and for twenty ere i squeezed as much enthusiasm out of a britisher. he and i talked politics and trout-flies all one sultry day as we wandered up and down the shallows of the stream aforesaid. little fish are sweet. i spent two hours whipping a ripple for a fish that i knew was there, and in the pasture-scented dusk caught a three-pounder on a ragged old brown hackle and landed him after ten minutes' excited argument. he was a beauty. if ever any man works the western trout-streams, he would do well to bring out with him the dingiest flies he possesses. the natives laugh at the tiny english hooks, but they hold, and duns and drabs and sober greys seem to tickle the æsthetic tastes of the trout. for salmon (but don't say that i told you) use the spoon--gold on one side, silver on the other. it is as killing as is a similar article with fish of another calibre. the natives seem to use much too coarse tackle. it was a search for a small boy who should know the river that revealed to me a new phase of life--slack, slovenly, and shiftless, but very interesting. there was a family in a packing-case hut on the outskirts of the town. they had seen the city when it was on the boom and made pretence of being the metropolis of the rockies; and when the boom was over, they did not go. she was affable, but deeply coated with dirt; he was grim and grimy, and the little children were simply caked with filth of various descriptions. but they lived in a certain sort of squalid luxury, six or eight of them in two rooms; and they enjoyed the local society. it was their eight-year-old son whom i tried to take out with me, but he had been catching trout all his life and "guessed he didn't feel like coming," though i proffered him six shillings for what ought to have been a day's pleasuring. "i'll stay with maw," he said, and from that attitude i could not move him. maw didn't attempt to argue with him. "if he says he won't come, he won't," she said, as though he were one of the elemental forces of nature instead of a spankable brat; and "paw," lounging by the store, refused to interfere. maw told me that she had been a school-teacher in her not-so-distant youth, but did not tell me what i was dying to know--how she arrived at this mucky tenement at the back of beyond, and why. though preserving the prettinesses of her new england speech, she had come to regard washing as a luxury. paw chewed tobacco and spat from time to time. yet, when he opened his mouth for other purposes, he spoke like a well-educated man. there was a story there, but i couldn't get at it. next day the man with the sorrow and myself and a few others began the real ascent of the rockies; up to that time our climbing didn't count. the train ran violently up a steep place and was taken to pieces. five cars were hitched on to two locomotives, and two cars to one locomotive. this seemed to be a kind and thoughtful act, but i was idiot enough to go forward and watch the coupling-on of the two rear cars in which cæsar and his fortunes were to travel. some one had lost or eaten the regularly ordained coupling, and a man picked up from the tailboard of the engine a single iron link about as thick as a fetter-link watch-chain, and "guessed it would do." get hauled up a simla cliff by the hook of a lady's parasol if you wish to appreciate my sentiments when the cars moved uphill and the link drew tight. miles away and two thousand feet above our heads rose the shoulder of a hill epauletted with the long line of a snow-tunnel. the first section of the cars crawled a quarter of a mile ahead of us, the track snaked and looped behind, and there was a black drop to the left. so we went up and up and up till the thin air grew thinner and the _chunk-chunk-chunk_, of the labouring locomotive was answered by the oppressed beating of the exhausted heart. through the chequed light and shade of the snow tunnels (horrible caverns of rude timbering) we ground our way, halting now and again to allow a down-train to pass. one monster of forty mineral-cars slid past, scarce held by four locomotives, their brakes screaming and chortling in chorus; and in the end, after a glimpse at half america spread mapwise leagues below us, we halted at the head of the longest snow tunnel of all, on the crest of the divide, between ten and eleven thousand feet above the level of the sea. the locomotive wished to draw breath, and the passengers to gather the flowers that nodded impertinently through the chinks of the boarding. a lady passenger's nose began to bleed, and other ladies threw themselves down on the seats and gasped with the gasping train, while a wind as keen as a knife-edge rioted down the grimy tunnel. then, despatching a pilot-engine to clear the way, we began the downward portion of the journey with every available brake on, and frequent shrieks, till after some hours we reached the level plain, and later the city of denver, where the man with the sorrow went his way and left me to journey on to omaha alone, after one hasty glance at denver. the pulse of that town was too like the rushing mighty wind in the rocky mountain tunnel. it made me tired because complete strangers desired me to do something to mines which were in mountains, and to purchase building blocks upon inaccessible cliffs; and once, a woman urged that i should supply her with strong drinks. i had almost forgotten that such attacks were possible in any land, for the outward and visible signs of public morality in american towns are generally safe-guarded. for that i respect this people. omaha, nebraska, was but a halting-place on the road to chicago, but it revealed to me horrors that i would not willingly have missed. the city to casual investigation seemed to be populated entirely by germans, poles, slavs, hungarians, croats, magyars, and all the scum of the eastern european states, but it must have been laid out by americans. no other people would cut the traffic of a main street with two streams of railway lines, each some eight or nine tracks wide, and cheerfully drive tram-cars across the metals. every now and again they have horrible railway-crossing accidents at omaha, but nobody seems to think of building an overhead-bridge. that would interfere with the vested interests of the undertakers. be blessed to hear some details of one of that class. there was a shop the like of which i had never seen before. its windows were filled with dress-coats for men, and dresses for women. but the studs of the shirts were made of stamped cloth upon the shirt front, and there were no trousers to those coats--nothing but a sweep of cheap black cloth falling like an abbé's frock. in the doorway sat a young man reading pollock's _course of time_, and by that i knew that he was an undertaker. his name was gring, which is a beautiful name, and i talked to him on the mysteries of his craft. he was an enthusiast and an artist. i told him how corpses were burnt in india. said he: "we're vastly superior. we hold--that is to say, embalm--our dead. so!" whereupon he produced the horrible weapons of his trade, and most practically showed me how you "held" a man back from that corruption which is his birthright. "and i wish i could live a few generations just to see how my people keep. but i'm sure it's all right. nothing can touch 'em after _i_'ve embalmed 'em." then he displayed one of those ghastly dress-suits, and when i laid a shuddering hand upon it, behold it crumpled to nothing, for the white linen was sewn on to the black cloth and--there was no back to it! that was the horror. the garment was a shell. "we dress a man in that," said gring, laying it out tastily on the counter. "as you see here, our caskets have a plate-glass window in front" (oh me, but that window in the coffin was fitted with plush like a brougham-window!), "and you don't see anything below the level of the man's waistcoat. consequently ..." he unrolled the terrible cheap black cloth that falls down over the stark feet, and i jumped back. "of course a man can be dressed in his own clothes if he likes, but these are the regular things: and for women look at this!" he took up the body of a high-necked dinner-dress in subdued lilac, slashed and puffed and bedeviled with black, but, like the dress-suit, backless, and below the waist turning to shroud. "that's for an old maid. but for young girls we give white with imitation pearls round the neck. that looks very pretty through the window of the casket--you see there's a cushion for the head--with flowers banked all round." can you imagine anything more awful than to take your last rest as much of a dead fraud as ever you were a living lie--to go into the darkness one half of you shaved, trimmed and dressed for an evening party, while the other half--the half that your friends cannot see--is enwrapped in a flapping black sheet? i know a little about burial customs in various places in the world, and i tried hard to make mr. gring comprehend dimly the awful heathendom that he was responsible for--the grotesquerie--the giggling horror of it all. but he couldn't see it. even when he showed me a little boy's last suit, he couldn't see it. he said it was quite right to embalm and trick out and hypocritically bedizen the poor innocent dead in their superior cushioned and pillowed caskets with the window in front. bury me cased in canvas like a fishing-rod, in the deep sea; burn me on a back-water of the hughli with damp wood and no oil; pin me under a pullman car and let the lighted stove do its worst; sizzle me with a fallen electric wire or whelm me in the sludge of a broken river dam; but may i never go down to the pit grinning out of a plate-glass window, in a backless dress-coat, and the front half of a black stuff dressing-gown; not though i were "held" against the ravage of the grave for ever and ever. amen! no. xxxv how i struck chicago, and how chicago struck me. of religion, politics, and pig-sticking, and the incarnation of the city among shambles. "i know thy cunning and thy greed, thy hard, high lust and wilful deed, and all thy glory loves to tell of specious gifts material." i have struck a city,--a real city,--and they call it chicago. the other places do not count. san francisco was a pleasure-resort as well as a city, and salt lake was a phenomenon. this place is the first american city i have encountered. it holds rather more than a million people with bodies, and stands on the same sort of soil as calcutta. having seen it, i urgently desire never to see it again. it is inhabited by savages. its water is the water of the hugli, and its air is dirt. also it says that it is the "boss" town of america. i do not believe that it has anything to do with this country. they told me to go to the palmer house, which is a gilded and mirrored rabbit-warren, and there i found a huge hall of tessellated marble, crammed with people talking about money and spitting about everywhere. other barbarians charged in and out of this inferno with letters and telegrams in their hands, and yet others shouted at each other. a man who had drunk quite as much as was good for him told me that this was "the finest hotel in the finest city on god almighty's earth." by the way, when an american wishes to indicate the next county or state he says, "god a'mighty's earth." this prevents discussion and flatters his vanity. then i went out into the streets, which are long and flat and without end. and verily it is not a good thing to live in the east for any length of time. your ideas grow to clash with those held by every right-thinking white man. i looked down interminable vistas flanked with nine, ten, and fifteen storied houses, and crowded with men and women, and the show impressed me with a great horror. except in london--and i have forgotten what london is like--i had never seen so many white people together, and never such a collection of miserables. there was no colour in the street and no beauty--only a maze of wire-ropes overhead and dirty stone flagging underfoot. a cab-driver volunteered to show me the glory of the town for so much an hour, and with him i wandered far. he conceived that all this turmoil and squash was a thing to be reverently admired; that it was good to huddle men together in fifteen layers, one atop of the other, and to dig holes in the ground for offices. he said that chicago was a live town, and that all the creatures hurrying by me were engaged in business. that is to say, they were trying to make some money, that they might not die through lack of food to put into their bellies. he took me to canals, black as ink, and filled with untold abominations, and bade me watch the stream of traffic across the bridges. he then took me into a saloon, and, while i drank, made me note that the floor was covered with coins sunk into cement. a hottentot would not have been guilty of this sort of barbarism. the coins made an effect pretty enough, but the man who put them there had no thought to beauty, and therefore he was a savage. then my cab-driver showed me business-blocks, gay with signs and studded with fantastic and absurd advertisements of goods, and looking down the long street so adorned it was as though each vender stood at his door howling: "for the sake of money, employ or buy of _me_ and me only!" have you ever seen a crowd at our famine relief distributions? you know then how men leap into the air, stretching out their arms above the crowd in the hope of being seen; while the women dolorously slap the stomachs of their children and whimper. i had sooner watch famine-relief than the white man engaged in what he calls legitimate competition. the one i understand. the other makes me ill. and the cabman said that these things were the proof of progress; and by that i knew he had been reading his newspaper, as every intelligent american should. the papers tell their readers in language fitted to their comprehension that the snarling together of telegraph wires, the heaving up of houses, and the making of money is progress. i spent ten hours in that huge wilderness, wandering through scores of miles of these terrible streets, and jostling some few hundred thousand of these terrible people who talked money through their noses. the cabman left me: but after a while i picked up another man who was full of figures, and into my ears he poured them as occasion required or the big blank factories suggested. here they turned out so many hundred thousand dollars' worth of such and such an article; there so many million other things; this house was worth so many million dollars; that one so many million more or less. it was like listening to a child babbling of its hoard of shells. it was like watching a fool playing with buttons. but i was expected to do more than listen or watch. he demanded that i should admire; and the utmost that i could say was: "are these things so? then i am very sorry for you." that made him angry, and he said that insular envy made me unresponsive. so, you see, i could not make him understand. about four and a half hours after adam was turned out of the garden of eden he felt hungry, and so, bidding eve take care that her head was not broken by the descending fruit, shinned up a cocoanut palm. that hurt his legs, cut his breast, and made him breathe heavily, and eve was tormented with fear lest her lord should miss his footing and so bring the tragedy of this world to an end ere the curtain had fairly risen. had i met adam then, i should have been sorry for him. to-day i find eleven hundred thousand of his sons just as far advanced as their father in the art of getting food, and immeasurably inferior to him in that they think that their palm-trees lead straight to the skies. consequently i am sorry in rather more than a million different ways. in our east bread comes naturally even to the poorest by a little scratching or the gift of a friend not quite so poor. in less favoured countries one is apt to forget. then i went to bed. and that was on a saturday night. sunday brought me the queerest experience of all--a revelation of barbarism complete. i found a place that was officially described as a church. it was a circus really, but that the worshippers did not know. there were flowers all about the building, which was fitted up with plush and stained oak and much luxury, including twisted brass candlesticks of severest gothic design. to these things, and a congregation of savages, entered suddenly a wonderful man completely in the confidence of their god, whom he treated colloquially and exploited very much as a newspaper reporter would exploit a foreign potentate. but, unlike the newspaper reporter, he never allowed his listeners to forget that he and not he was the centre of attraction. with a voice of silver and with imagery borrowed from the auction-room, he built up for his hearers a heaven on the lines of the palmer house (but with all the gilding real gold and all the plate-glass diamond) and set in the centre of it a loud-voiced, argumentative, and very shrewd creation that he called god. one sentence at this point caught my delighted ear. it was _apropos_ of some question of the judgment day and ran: "no! i tell you god doesn't do business that way." he was giving them a deity whom they could comprehend, in a gold and jewel heaven in which they could take a natural interest. he interlarded his performance with the slang of the streets, the counter, and the exchange, and he said that religion ought to enter into daily life. consequently i presume he introduced it _as_ daily life--his own and the life of his friends. then i escaped before the blessing, desiring no benediction at such hands. but the persons who listened seemed to enjoy themselves, and i understood that i had met with a popular preacher. later on when i had perused the sermons of a gentleman called talmage and some others, i perceived that i had been listening to a very mild specimen. yet that man, with his brutal gold and silver idols, his hands-in-pocket, cigar-in-mouth, and hat-on-the-back-of-the-head style of dealing with the sacred vessels would count himself spiritually quite competent to send a mission to convert the indians. all that sunday i listened to people who said that the mere fact of spiking down strips of iron to wood and getting a steam and iron thing to run along them was progress. that the telephone was progress, and the network of wires overhead was progress. they repeated their statements again and again. one of them took me to their city hall and board of trade works and pointed it out with pride. it was very ugly, but very big, and the streets in front of it were narrow and unclean. when i saw the faces of the men who did business in that building i felt that there had been a mistake in their billeting. by the way, 'tis a consolation to feel that i am not writing to an english audience. then should i have to fall into feigned ecstasies over the marvellous progress of chicago since the days of the great fire, to allude casually to the raising of the entire city so many feet above the level of the lake which it faces, and generally to grovel before the golden calf. but you, who are desperately poor, and therefore by these standards of no account, know things, and will understand when i write that they have managed to get a million of men together on flat land, and that the bulk of these men appear to be lower than _mahajans_ and not so companionable as a punjabi _jat_ after harvest. but i don't think it was the blind hurry of the people, their argot, and their grand ignorance of things beyond their immediate interests that displeased me so much as a study of the daily papers of chicago. imprimis, there was some sort of dispute between new york and chicago as to which town should give an exhibition of products to be hereafter holden, and through the medium of their more dignified journals the two cities were ya-hooing and hi-yi-ing at each other like opposition newsboys. they called it humour, but it sounded like something quite different. that was only the first trouble. the second lay in the tone of the productions. leading articles which include gems such as: "back of such and such a place," or "we noticed, tuesday, such an event," or "don't" for "does not" are things to be accepted with thankfulness. all that made me want to cry was that, in these papers, were faithfully reproduced all the war-cries and "back-talk" of the palmer house bar, the slang of the barbers' shops, the mental elevation and integrity of the pullman-car porter, the dignity of the dime museum, and the accuracy of the excited fishwife. i am sternly forbidden to believe that the paper educates the public. then i am compelled to believe that the public educate the paper? just when the sense of unreality and oppression were strongest upon me, and when i most wanted help, a man sat at my side and began to talk what he called politics. i had chanced to pay about six shillings for a travelling-cap worth eighteen pence, and he made of the fact a text for a sermon. he said that this was a rich country and that the people liked to pay two hundred per cent on the value of a thing. they could afford it. he said that the government imposed a protective duty of from ten to seventy per cent on foreign-made articles, and that the american manufacturer consequently could sell his goods for a healthy sum. thus an imported hat would, with duty, cost two guineas. the american manufacturer would make a hat for seventeen shillings and sell it for one pound fifteen. in these things, he said, lay the greatness of america and the effeteness of england. competition between factory and factory kept the prices down to decent limits, but i was never to forget that this people were a rich people, not like the pauper continentals, and that they enjoyed paying duties. to my weak intellect this seemed rather like juggling with counters. everything that i have yet purchased costs about twice as much as it would in england, and when native-made is of inferior quality. moreover, since these lines were first thought of i have visited a gentleman who owned a factory which used to produce things. he owned the factory still. not a man was in it, but he was drawing a handsome income from a syndicate of firms for keeping it closed in order that it might not produce things. this man said that if protection were abandoned, a tide of pauper labour would flood the country, and as i looked at his factory i thought how entirely better it was to have no labour of any kind whatever, rather than face so horrible a future. meantime, do you remember that this peculiar country enjoys paying money for value not received. i am an alien, and for the life of me cannot see why six shillings should be paid for eighteen-penny caps, or eight shillings for half-crown cigar-cases. when the country fills up to a decently populated level a few million people who are not aliens will be smitten with the same sort of blindness. but my friend's assertion somehow thoroughly suited the grotesque ferocity of chicago. see now and judge! in the village of isser jang on the road to montgomery there be four _changar_ women who winnow corn--some seventy bushels a year. beyond their hut lives puran dass, the money-lender, who on good security lends as much as five thousand rupees in a year. jowala singh, the _lohar_, mends the village ploughs--some thirty, broken at the share, in three hundred and sixty-five days; and hukm chund, who is letter-writer and head of the little club under the travellers' tree, generally keeps the village posted in such gossip as the barber and the midwife have not yet made public property. chicago husks and winnows her wheat by the million bushels, a hundred banks lend hundreds of millions of dollars in the year, and scores of factories turn out plough gear and machinery by steam. scores of daily papers do work which hukm chund and the barber and the midwife perform, with due regard for public opinion, in the village of isser jang. so far as manufactures go, the difference between chicago on the lake and isser jang on the montgomery road is one of degree only, and not of kind. as far as the understanding of the uses of life goes isser jang, for all its seasonal cholera, has the advantage over chicago. jowala singh knows and takes care to avoid the three or four ghoul-haunted fields on the outskirts of the village; but he is not urged by millions of devils to run about all day in the sun and swear that his ploughshares are the best in the punjab; nor does puran dass fly forth in a cart more than once or twice a year, and he knows, on a pinch, how to use the railway and the telegraph as well as any son of israel in chicago. but this is absurd. the east is not the west, and these men must continue to deal with the machinery of life, and to call it progress. their very preachers dare not rebuke them. they gloss over the hunting for money and the twice-sharpened bitterness of adam's curse by saying that such things dower a man with a larger range of thoughts and higher aspirations. they do not say: "free yourself from your own slavery," but rather, "if you can possibly manage it, do not set quite so much store on the things of this world." and they do not know what the things of this world are. i went off to see cattle killed by way of clearing my head, which, as you will perceive, was getting muddled. they say every englishman goes to the chicago stockyards. you shall find them about six miles from the city; and once having seen them will never forget the sight. as far as the eye can reach stretches a township of cattle-pens, cunningly divided into blocks so that the animals of any pen can be speedily driven out close to an inclined timber path which leads to an elevated covered way straddling high above the pens. these viaducts are two-storied. on the upper storey tramp the doomed cattle, stolidly for the most part. on the lower, with a scuffling of sharp hooves and multitudinous yells, run the pigs. the same end is appointed for each. thus you will see the gangs of cattle waiting their turn--as they wait sometimes for days; and they need not be distressed by the sight of their fellows running about in the fear of death. all they know is that a man on horseback causes their next-door neighbours to move by means of a whip. certain bars and fences are unshipped, and, behold, that crowd have gone up the mouth of a sloping tunnel and return no more. it is different with the pigs. they shriek back the news of the exodus to their friends, and a hundred pens skirl responsive. it was to the pigs i first addressed myself. selecting a viaduct which was full of them, as i could hear though i could not see, i marked a sombre building whereto it ran, and went there, not unalarmed by stray cattle who had managed to escape from their proper quarters. a pleasant smell of brine warned me of what was coming. i entered the factory and found it full of pork in barrels, and on another storey more pork unbarrelled, and in a huge room, the halves of swine for whose use great lumps of ice were being pitched in at the window. that room was the mortuary chamber where the pigs lie for a little while in state ere they begin their progress through such passages as kings may sometimes travel. turning a corner and not noting an overhead arrangement of greased rail, wheel, and pulley, i ran into the arms of four eviscerated carcasses, all pure white and of a human aspect, being pushed by a man clad in vehement red. when i leaped aside, the floor was slippery under me. there was a flavour of farmyard in my nostrils and the shouting of a multitude in my ears. but there was no joy in that shouting! twelve men stood in two lines--six a-side. between them and overhead ran the railway of death that had nearly shunted me through the window. each man carried a knife, the sleeves of his shirt were cut off at the elbows, and from bosom to heel he was blood-red. the atmosphere was stifling as a night in the rains, by reason of the steam and the crowd. i climbed to the beginning of things and, perched upon a narrow beam, overlooked very nearly all the pigs ever bred in wisconsin. they had just been shot out of the mouth of the viaduct and huddled together in a large pen. thence they were flicked persuasively, a few at a time, into a smaller chamber, and there a man fixed tackle on their hinder legs so that they rose in the air suspended from the railway of death. oh! it was then they shrieked and called on their mothers and made promises of amendment till the tackle-man punted them in their backs, and they slid head down into a brick-floored passage, very like a big kitchen sink that was blood-red. there awaited them a red man with a knife which he passed jauntily through their throats, and the full-voiced shriek became a sputter, and then a fall as of heavy tropical rain. the red man who was backed against the passage wall stood clear of the wildly kicking hoofs and passed his hand over his eyes, not from any feeling of compassion, but because the spurted blood was in his eyes, and he had barely time to stick the next arrival. then that first stuck swine dropped, still kicking, into a great vat of boiling water, and spoke no more words, but wallowed in obedience to some unseen machinery, and presently came forth at the lower end of the vat and was heaved on the blades of a blunt paddle-wheel-thing which said, "hough! hough! hough!" and skelped all the hair off him except what little a couple of men with knives could remove. then he was again hitched by the heels to that said railway and passed down the line of the twelve men--each man with a knife--leaving with each man a certain amount of his individuality which was taken away in a wheel-barrow, and when he reached the last man he was very beautiful to behold, but immensely unstuffed and limp. preponderance of individuality was ever a bar to foreign travel. that pig could have been in no case to visit you in india had he not parted with some of his most cherished notions. the dissecting part impressed me not so much as the slaying. they were so excessively alive, these pigs. and then they were so excessively dead, and the man in the dripping, clammy, hot passage did not seem to care, and ere the blood of such an one had ceased to foam on the floor, such another, and four friends with him, had shrieked and died. but a pig is only the unclean animal--forbidden by the prophet. i was destined to make rather a queer discovery when i went over to the cattle-slaughter. all the buildings here were on a much larger scale, and there was no sound of trouble, but i could smell the salt reek of blood before i set foot in the place. the cattle did not come directly through the viaduct as the pigs had done. they debouched into a yard by the hundred, and they were big red brutes carrying much flesh. in the centre of that yard stood a red texan steer with a headstall on his wicked head. no man controlled him. he was, so to speak, picking his teeth and whistling in an open byre of his own when the cattle arrived. as soon as the first one had fearfully quitted the viaduct, this red devil put his hands in his pockets and slouched across the yard, no man guiding him. then he lowed something to the effect that he was the regularly appointed guide of the establishment and would show them round. they were country folk, but they knew how to behave; and so followed judas some hundred strong, patiently, and with a look of bland wonder in their faces. i saw his broad back jogging in advance of them, up a lime-washed incline where i was forbidden to follow. then a door shut, and in a minute back came judas with the air of a virtuous plough-bullock and took up his place in his byre. somebody laughed across the yard, but i heard no sound of cattle from the big brick building into which the mob had disappeared. only judas chewed the cud with a malignant satisfaction, and so i knew there was trouble, and ran round to the front of the factory and so entered and stood aghast. who takes count of the prejudices which we absorb through the skin by way of our surroundings? it was not the spectacle that impressed me. the first thought that almost spoke itself aloud was: "they are killing kine;" and it was a shock. the pigs were nobody's concern, but cattle--the brothers of the cow, the sacred cow--were quite otherwise. the next time an m.p. tells me that india either sultanises or brahminises a man, i shall believe about half what he says. it is unpleasant to watch the slaughter of cattle when one has laughed at the notion for a few years. i could not see actually what was done in the first instance, because the row of stalls in which they lay was separated from me by fifty impassable feet of butchers and slung carcasses. all i know is that men swung open the doors of a stall as occasion required, and there lay two steers already stunned, and breathing heavily. these two they pole-axed, and half raising them by tackle they cut their throats. two men skinned each carcase, somebody cut off the head, and in half a minute more the overhead rail carried two sides of beef to their appointed place. there was clamour enough in the operating room, but from the waiting cattle, invisible on the other side of the line of pens, never a sound. they went to their death, trusting judas, without a word. they were slain at the rate of five a minute, and if the pig men were spattered with blood, the cow butchers were bathed in it. the blood ran in muttering gutters. there was no place for hand or foot that was not coated with thicknesses of dried blood, and the stench of it in the nostrils bred fear. and then the same merciful providence that has showered good things on my path throughout sent me an embodiment of the city of chicago, so that i might remember it forever. women come sometimes to see the slaughter, as they would come to see the slaughter of men. and there entered that vermilion hall a young woman of large mould, with brilliantly scarlet lips, and heavy eyebrows, and dark hair that came in a "widow's peak" on the forehead. she was well and healthy and alive, and she was dressed in flaming red and black, and her feet (know you that the feet of american women are like unto the feet of fairies?) her feet, i say, were cased in red leather shoes. she stood in a patch of sunlight, the red blood under her shoes, the vivid carcasses packed round her, a bullock bleeding its life away not six feet away from her, and the death factory roaring all round her. she looked curiously, with hard, bold eyes, and was not ashamed. then said i: "this is a special sending. i have seen the city of chicago." and i went away to get peace and rest. no. xxxvi how i found peace at musquash on the monongahela. "prince, blown by many a western breeze our vessels greet you treasure-laden; we send them all--but best of these a free and frank young yankee maiden." it is a mean thing and an unhandsome to "do" a continent in five-hundred-mile jumps. but after those swine and bullocks at chicago i felt that complete change of air would be good. the united states at present hinge in or about chicago, as a double-leaved screen hinges. to be sure, the tiny new england states call a trip to pennsylvania "going west," but the larger-minded citizen seems to reckon his longitude from chicago. twenty years hence the centre of population--that shaded square on the census map--will have shifted, men say, far west of chicago. twenty years later it will be on the pacific slope. twenty years after that america will begin to crowd up, and there will be some trouble. people will demand manufactured goods for their reduced-establishment households at the cheapest possible rates, and the cry that the land is rich enough to afford protection will cease with a great abruptness. at present it is the farmer who pays most dearly for the luxury of high prices. in the old days, when the land was fresh and there was plenty of it and it cropped like the garden of eden, he did not mind paying. now there is not so much free land, and the old acres are needing stimulants, which cost money, and the farmer, who pays for everything, is beginning to ask questions. also the great american nation, which individually never shuts a door behind its noble self, very seldom attempts to put back anything that it has taken from nature's shelves. it grabs all it can and moves on. but the moving-on is nearly finished and the grabbing must stop, and then the federal government will have to establish a woods and forests department the like of which was never seen in the world before. and all the people who have been accustomed to hack, mangle, and burn timber as they please will object, with shots and protestations, to this infringement of their rights. the nigger will breed bounteously, and _he_ will have to be reckoned with; and the manufacturer will have to be contented with smaller profits, and _he_ will have to be reckoned with; and the railways will no longer rule the countries through which they run, and they will have to be reckoned with. and nobody will approve of it in the least. yes; it will be a spectacle for all the world to watch, this big, slashing colt of a nation, that has got off with a flying start on a freshly littered course, being pulled back to the ruck by that very mutton-fisted jockey necessity. there will be excitement in america when a few score millions of "sovereigns" discover that what they considered the outcome of their own government is but the rapidly diminishing bounty of nature; and that if they want to get on comfortably they must tackle every single problem from labour to finance humbly, without gasconade, and afresh. but at present they look "that all the to-morrows shall be as to-day," and if you argue with them they say that the democratic idea will keep things going. they believe in that idea, and the less well-informed fortify themselves in their belief by curious assertions as to the despotism that exists in england. this is pure provincialism, of course; but it is very funny to listen to, especially when you compare the theory with the practice (pistol, chiefly) as proven in the newspapers. i have striven to find out where the central authority of the land lies. it isn't at washington, because the federal government can't do anything to the states save run the mail and collect a federal tax or two. it isn't in the states, because the townships can do as they like; and it isn't in the townships, because these are bossed by alien voters or rings of patriotic homebred citizens. and it certainly is not in the citizens, because they are governed and coerced by despotic power of public opinion as represented by their papers, preachers, or local society. i found one man who told me that if anything went wrong in this huge congress of kings,--if there was a split or an upheaval or a smash,--the people in detail would be subject to the idea of the sovereign people in mass. this is a survival from the civil war, when, you remember, the people in a majority did with guns and swords slay and wound the people in detail. all the same, the notion seems very much like the worship by the savage of the unloaded rifle as it leans against the wall. but the men and women set us an example in patriotism. they believe in their land and its future, and its honour, and its glory, and they are not ashamed to say so. from the largest to the least runs this same proud, passionate conviction to which i take off my hat and for which i love them. an average english householder seems to regard his country as an abstraction to supply him with policemen and fire-brigades. the cockney cad cannot understand what the word means. the bloomin' toffs he knows, and the law, and the soldiers that supply him with a spectacle in the parks; but he would laugh in your face at the notion of any duty being owed by himself to his land. pick an american of the second generation anywhere you please--from the cab-rank, the porter's room, or the plough-tail,--'specially the plough-tail,--and that man will make you understand in five minutes that he understands what manner of thing his republic is. he might laugh at a law that didn't suit his convenience, draw your eye-teeth in a bargain, and applaud 'cuteness on the outer verge of swindling: but you should hear him stand up and sing:- "my country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee i sing!" i have heard a few thousand of them engaged in that employment. i respect him. there is too much romeo and too little balcony about our national anthem. with the american article it is all balcony. there must be born a poet who shall give the english _the_ song of their own, own country--which is to say, of about half the world. remains then only to compose the greatest song of all--the saga of the anglo-saxon all round the earth--a pæan that shall combine the terrible slow swing of the _battle hymn of the republic_ (which, if you know not, get chanted to you) with _britannia needs no bulwarks_, the skirl of the _british grenadiers_ with that perfect quickstep, _marching through georgia_, and at the end the wail of the _dead march_. for we, even we who share the earth between us as no gods have ever shared it, we also are mortal in the matter of our single selves. will any one take the contract? it was with these rambling notions that i arrived at the infinite peace of the tiny township of musquash on the monongahela river. the clang and tumult of chicago belonged to another world. imagine a rolling, wooded, english landscape, under softest of blue skies, dotted at three-mile intervals with fat little, quiet little villages, or aggressive little manufacturing towns that the trees and the folds of the hills mercifully prevented from betraying their presence. the golden-rod blazed in the pastures against the green of the mulleins, and the cows picked their way home through the twisted paths between the blackberry bushes. all summer was on the orchards, and the apples--such apples as we dream of when we eat the woolly imitations of kashmir--were ripe and toothsome. it was good to lie in a hammock with half-shut eyes, and, in the utter stillness, to hear the apples dropping from the trees, and the tinkle of the cowbells as the cows walked statelily down the main road of the village. everybody in that restful place seemed to have just as much as he wanted; a house with all comfortable appliances, a big or little verandah wherein to spend the day, a neatly shaved garden with a wild wealth of flowers, some cows, and an orchard. everybody knew everybody else intimately, and what they did not know, the local daily paper--a daily for a village of twelve hundred people!--supplied. there was a court-house where justice was done, and a jail where some most enviable prisoners lived, and there were four or five churches of four or five denominations. also it was impossible to buy openly any liquor in that little paradise. but--and this is a very serious _but_--you could by procuring a medical certificate get strong drinks from the chemist. that is the drawback of prohibition. it makes a man who wants a drink a shirker and a contriver, which things are not good for the soul of a man, and presently, 'specially if he be young, causes him to believe that he may just as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb; and the end of that young man is not pretty. nothing except a rattling fall will persuade an average colt that a fence is not meant to be jumped over; whereas if he be turned out into the open he learns to carry himself with discretion. one heard a good deal of this same dread of drink in musquash, and even the maidens seemed to know too much about its effects upon certain unregenerate youths, who, if they had been once made thoroughly, effectually, and persistently drunk--with a tepid brandy and soda thrust before their goose-fleshed noses on the terrible next morning--would perhaps have seen the futility of their ways. it was a sin by village canons to imbibe lager, though--_experto crede_--you can get dropsy on that stuff long before you can get drunk. "but what man knows his mind?" besides, it was all their own affair. the little community seemed to be as self-contained as an indian village. had the rest of the land sunk under the sea, musquash would have gone on sending its sons to school in order to make them "good citizens," which is the constant prayer of the true american father, settling its own road-making, local cesses, town-lot arbitrations, and internal government by ballot and vote and due respect to the voices of the headmen (which is the salvation of the ballot), until such time as all should take their places in the cemetery appointed for their faith. here were americans and no aliens--men ruling themselves by themselves and for themselves and their wives and their children--in peace, order, and decency. but what went straightest to this heart, though they did not know it, was that they were methody folk for the most part--ay, methody as ever trod a yorkshire moor, or drove on a sunday to some chapel of the faith in the dales. the old methody talk was there, with the discipline whereby the souls of the just are, sometimes to their intense vexation, made perfect on this earth in order that they may "take out their letters and live and die in good standing." if you don't know the talk, you won't know what that means. the discipline, or dis_cip_line, is no thing to be trifled with, and its working among a congregation depends entirely upon the tact, humanity, and sympathy of the leader who works it. he, knowing what youth's desires are, can turn the soul in the direction of good, gently, instead of wrenching it savagely towards the right path only to see it break away quivering and scared. the arm of the dis_cip_line is long. a maiden told me, as a new and strange fact and one that would interest a foreigner, of a friend of hers who had once been admonished by some elders somewhere--not in musquash--for the heinous crime of dancing. she, the friend, did not in the least like it. she would not. can't you imagine the delightful results of a formal wigging administered by a youngish and austere elder who was not accustomed to make allowances for the natural dancing instincts of the young of the human animal? the hot irons that are held forth to scare may also sear, as those who have ever lain under an unfortunate exposition of the old faith can attest. but it was all immensely interesting--the absolutely fresh, wholesome, sweet life that paid due reverence to the things of the next world, but took good care to get enough tennis in the cool of the evening; that concerned itself as honestly and thoroughly with the daily round, the trivial task (and that same task is anything but trivial when you are "helped" by an american "help") as with the salvation of the soul. i had the honour of meeting in the flesh, even as miss louisa alcott drew them, meg and joe and beth and amy, whom you ought to know. there was no affectation of concealment in their lives who had nothing to conceal. there were many "little women" in that place, because, even as is the case in england, the boys had gone out to seek their fortunes. some were working in the thundering, clanging cities, others had removed to the infinite west, and others had disappeared in the languid, lazy south; and the maidens waited their return, which is the custom of maidens all over the world. then the boys would come back in the soft sunlight, attired in careful raiment, their tongues cleansed of evil words and discourtesy. they had just come to call--bless their carefully groomed heads so they had,--and the maidens in white dresses glimmered like ghosts on the stoop and received them according to their merits. mamma had nothing to do with this, nor papa either, for he was down-town trying to drive reason into the head of a land surveyor; and all along the shaded, lazy, intimate street you heard the garden-gates click and clash, as the mood of the man varied, and bursts of pleasant laughter where three or four--be sure the white muslins were among them,--discussed a picnic past or a buggy-drive to come. then the couples went their ways and talked together till the young men had to go at last on account of the trains, and all trooped joyously down to the station and thought no harm of it. and, indeed, why should they? from her fifteenth year the american maiden moves among "the boys" as a sister among brothers. they are her servants to take her out riding,--which is driving,--to give her flowers and candy. the last two items are expensive, and this is good for the young man, as teaching him to value friendship that costs a little in cash and may necessitate economy on the cigar side. as to the maiden, she is taught to respect herself, that her fate is in her own hands, and that she is the more stringently bound by the very measure of the liberty so freely accorded to her. wherefore, in her own language, "she has a lovely time" with about two or three hundred boys who have sisters of their own, and a very accurate perception that if they were unworthy of their trust a syndicate of other boys would probably pass them into a world where there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage. and so time goes till the maiden knows the other side of the house,--knows that a man is not a demi-god nor a mysteriously veiled monster, but an average, egotistical, vain, gluttonous, but on the whole companionable, sort of person, to be soothed, fed, and managed--knowledge that does not come to her sister in england till after a few years of matrimony. and then she makes her choice. the golden light touches eyes that are full of comprehension; but the light is golden none the less, for she makes just the same sweet, irrational choices that an english girl does. with this advantage: she knows a little more, has experience in entertaining, insight into the businesses, employ, and hobbies of men, gathered from countless talks with the boys, and talks with the other girls who find time at those mysterious conclaves to discuss what tom, ted, stuke, or jack have been doing. thus it happens that she is a companion, in the fullest sense of the word, of the man she weds, zealous for the interest of the firm, to be consulted in time of stress and to be called upon for help and sympathy in time of danger. pleasant it is that one heart should beat for you; but it is better when the head above that heart has been thinking hard on your behalf, and when the lips, that are also very pleasant to kiss, give wise counsel. when the american maiden--i speak now for the rank and file of that noble army--is once married, why, it is finished. she has had her lovely time. it may have been five, seven, or ten years according to circumstances. she abdicates promptly with startling speed, and her place knows her no more except as with her husband. the queen is dead, or looking after the house. this same household work seems to be the thing that ages the american woman. she is infamously "helped" by the irish trollop and the negress alike. it is not fair upon her, because she has to do three parts of the housework herself, and in dry, nerve-straining air the "chores" are a burden. be thankful, o my people, for mauz baksh, kadir baksh, and the _ayah_ while they are with you. they are twice as handy as the unkempt slatterns of the furnished apartments to which you will return, commissioners though you be; and five times as clever as the amelia araminta rebellia secessia jackson (coloured) under whose ineptitude and insolence the young american housewife groans. but all this is far enough from peaceful, placid musquash and its boundless cordiality, its simple, genuine hospitality, and its--what's the french word that just covers all?--_gra_--_gracieuseness_, isn't it? oh, be good to an american wherever you meet him. put him up for the club, and he will hold you listening till three in the morning; give him the best tent, and the gram-fed mutton. i have incurred a debt of salt that i can never repay, but do you return it piecemeal to any of that nation, and the account will be on my head till our paths in the world cross again. he drinks iced water just as we do; but he doesn't quite like our cigars. and how shall i finish the tale? would it interest you to learn of the picnics in the hot, still woods that overhang the monongahela, when those idiotic american buggies that can't turn round got stuck among the brambles and all but capsized; of boating in the blazing sun on the river that but a little time before had cast at the feet of the horrified village the corpses of the johnstown tragedy? i saw one, only one, remnant of that terrible wreck. he had been a minister. house, church, congregation, wife, and children had been swept away from him in one night of terror. he had no employment; he could have employed himself at nothing; but god had been very good to him. he sat in the sun and smiled a little weakly. it was in his poor blurred mind that something had happened--he was not sure what it was, but undoubtedly something had occurred. one could only pray that the light would never return. but there be many pictures on my mind. of a huge manufacturing city of three hundred thousand souls lighted and warmed by natural gas, so that the great valley full of flaming furnaces sent up no smoke wreaths to the clear sky. of musquash itself lighted by the same mysterious agency, flares of gas eight feet long, roaring day and night at the corners of the grass-grown streets because it wasn't worth while to turn them out; of fleets of coal-flats being hauled down the river on an interminable journey to st. louis; of factories nestling in woods where all the axe-handles and shovels in the world seemed to be manufactured daily; and last, of that quaint forgotten german community, the brotherhood of perpetual separation, who founded themselves when the state was yet young and land cheap, and are now dying out because they will neither marry nor give in marriage and their recruits are very few. the advance in the value of land has almost smothered these poor old people in a golden affluence that they never desired. they live in a little village where the houses are built old dutch fashion, with their front doors away from the road, and cobbled paths all about. the cloistered peace of musquash is a metropolitan riot beside the hush of that village. and there is, too, a love-tale tucked away among the flowers. it has taken seventy years in the telling, for the brother and sister loved each other well, but they loved their duty to the brotherhood more. so they have lived and still do live, seeing each other daily, and separated for all time. any trouble that might have been is altogether wiped out of their faces, which are as calm as those of very little children. to the uninitiated those constant ones resemble extremely old people in garments of absurd cut. but they love each other, and that seems to bring one back quite naturally to the girls and the boys in musquash. the boys were nice boys--graduates of yale of course; you mustn't mention harvard here--but none the less skilled in business, in stocks and shares, the boring for oil, and the sale of everything that can be sold by one sinner to another. skilled, too, in baseball, big-shouldered, with straight eyes and square chins--but not above occasional diversion and mild orgies. they will make good citizens and possess the earth, and eventually wed one of the nice white muslin dresses. there are worse things in this world than being "one of the boys" in musquash. no. xxxvii an interview with mark twain. you are a contemptible lot, over yonder. some of you are commissioners, and some lieutenant-governors, and some have the v. c., and a few are privileged to walk about the mall arm in arm with the viceroy; but _i_ have seen mark twain this golden morning, have shaken his hand, and smoked a cigar--no, two cigars--with him, and talked with him for more than two hours! understand clearly that i do not despise you; indeed, i don't. i am only very sorry for you, from the viceroy downward. to soothe your envy and to prove that i still regard you as my equals, i will tell you all about it. they said in buffalo that he was in hartford, conn.; and again they said "perchance he is gone upon a journey to portland"; and a big, fat drummer vowed that he knew the great man intimately, and that mark was spending the summer in europe--which information so upset me that i embarked upon the wrong train, and was incontinently turned out by the conductor three-quarters of a mile from the station, amid the wilderness of railway tracks. have you ever, encumbered with great-coat and valise, tried to dodge diversely-minded locomotives when the sun was shining in your eyes? but i forgot that you have not seen mark twain, you people of no account! saved from the jaws of the cow-catcher, me wandering devious a stranger met. "elmira is the place. elmira in the state of new york--this state, not two hundred miles away;" and he added, perfectly unnecessarily, "slide, kelley, slide." i slid on the west shore line, i slid till midnight, and they dumped me down at the door of a frowzy hotel in elmira. yes, they knew all about "that man clemens," but reckoned he was not in town; had gone east somewhere. i had better possess my soul in patience till the morrow, and then dig up the "man clemens'" brother-in-law, who was interested in coal. the idea of chasing half a dozen relatives in addition to mark twain up and down a city of thirty thousand inhabitants kept me awake. morning revealed elmira, whose streets were desolated by railway tracks, and whose suburbs were given up to the manufacture of door-sashes and window-frames. it was surrounded by pleasant, fat, little hills, rimmed with timber and topped with cultivation. the chemung river flowed generally up and down the town, and had just finished flooding a few of the main streets. the hotel-man and the telephone-man assured me that the much-desired brother-in-law was out of town, and no one seemed to know where "the man clemens" abode. later on i discovered that he had not summered in that place for more than nineteen seasons, and so was comparatively a new arrival. a friendly policeman volunteered the news that he had seen twain or "some one very like him" driving a buggy the day before. this gave me a delightful sense of nearness. fancy living in a town where you could see the author of _tom sawyer_, or "some one very like him," jolting over the pavements in a buggy! "he lives out yonder at east hill," said the policeman; "three miles from here." then the chase began--in a hired hack, up an awful hill, where sunflowers blossomed by the roadside, and crops waved, and _harper's magazine_ cows stood in eligible and commanding attitudes knee-deep in clover, all ready to be transferred to photogravure. the great man must have been persecuted by outsiders aforetime, and fled up the hill for refuge. presently the driver stopped at a miserable, little, white wood shanty, and demanded "mister clemens." "i know he's a big-bug and all that," he explained, "but you can never tell what sort of notions those sort of men take into their heads to live in, anyways." there rose up a young lady who was sketching thistle-tops and goldenrod, amid a plentiful supply of both, and set the pilgrimage on the right path. "it's a pretty gothic house on the left-hand side a little way farther on." "gothic h----," said the driver. "very few of the city hacks take this drive, specially if they know they are coming out here," and he glared at me savagely. it was a very pretty house, anything but gothic, clothed with ivy, standing in a very big compound, and fronted by a verandah full of chairs and hammocks. the roof of the verandah was a trellis-work of creepers, and the sun peeping through moved on the shining boards below. decidedly this remote place was an ideal one for work, if a man could work among these soft airs and the murmur of the long-eared crops. appeared suddenly a lady used to dealing with rampageous outsiders. "mr. clemens has just walked down-town. he is at his brother-in-law's house." then he was within shouting distance, after all, and the chase had not been in vain. with speed i fled, and the driver, skidding the wheel and swearing audibly, arrived at the bottom of that hill without accidents. it was in the pause that followed between ringing the brother-in-law's bell and getting an answer that it occurred to me for the first time mark twain might possibly have other engagements than the entertainment of escaped lunatics from india, be they never so full of admiration. and in another man's house--anyhow, what had i come to do or say? suppose the drawing-room should be full of people,--suppose a baby were sick, how was i to explain that i only wanted to shake hands with him? then things happened somewhat in this order. a big, darkened drawing-room; a huge chair; a man with eyes, a mane of grizzled hair, a brown mustache covering a mouth as delicate as a woman's, a strong, square hand shaking mine, and the slowest, calmest, levellest voice in all the world saying:-"well, you think you owe me something, and you've come to tell me so. that's what i call squaring a debt handsomely." "piff!" from a cob-pipe (i always said that a missouri meerschaum was the best smoking in the world), and, behold! mark twain had curled himself up in the big armchair, and i was smoking reverently, as befits one in the presence of his superior. the thing that struck me first was that he was an elderly man; yet, after a minute's thought, i perceived that it was otherwise, and in five minutes, the eyes looking at me, i saw that the grey hair was an accident of the most trivial. he was quite young. i was shaking his hand. i was smoking his cigar, and i was hearing him talk--this man i had learned to love and admire fourteen thousand miles away. reading his books, i had striven to get an idea of his personality, and all my preconceived notions were wrong and beneath the reality. blessed is the man who finds no disillusion when he is brought face to face with a revered writer. that was a moment to be remembered; the landing of a twelve-pound salmon was nothing to it. i had hooked mark twain, and he was treating me as though under certain circumstances i might be an equal. about this time i became aware that he was discussing the copyright question. here, so far as i remember, is what he said. attend to the words of the oracle through this unworthy medium transmitted. you will never be able to imagine the long, slow surge of the drawl, and the deadly gravity of the countenance, the quaint pucker of the body, one foot thrown over the arm of the chair, the yellow pipe clinched in one corner of the mouth, and the right hand casually caressing the square chin:-"copyright? some men have morals, and some men have--other things. i presume a publisher is a man. he is not born. he is created--by circumstances. some publishers have morals. mine have. they pay me for the english productions of my books. when you hear men talking of bret harte's works and other works and my books being pirated, ask them to be sure of their facts. i think they'll find the books are paid for. it was ever thus. "i remember an unprincipled and formidable publisher. perhaps he's dead now. he used to take my short stories--i can't call it steal or pirate them. it was beyond these things altogether. he took my stories one at a time and made a book of it. if i wrote an essay on dentistry or theology or any little thing of that kind--just an essay that long (he indicated half an inch on his finger), any sort of essay--that publisher would amend and improve my essay. "he would get another man to write some more to it or cut it about exactly as his needs required. then he would publish a book called _dentistry by mark twain_, that little essay and some other things not mine added. theology would make another book, and so on. i do not consider that fair. it's an insult. but he's dead now, i think. i didn't kill him. "there is a great deal of nonsense talked about international copyright. the proper way to treat a copyright is to make it exactly like real-estate in every way. "it will settle itself under these conditions. if congress were to bring in a law that a man's life was not to extend over a hundred and sixty years, somebody would laugh. that law wouldn't concern anybody. the man would be out of the jurisdiction of the court. a term of years in copyright comes to exactly the same thing. no law can make a book live or cause it to die before the appointed time. "tottletown, cal., was a new town, with a population of three thousand--banks, fire-brigade, brick buildings, and all the modern improvements. it lived, it flourished, and it disappeared. to-day no man can put his foot on any remnant of tottletown, cal. it's dead. london continues to exist. bill smith, author of a book read for the next year or so, is real-estate in tottletown. william shakespeare, whose works are extensively read, is real-estate in london. let bill smith, equally with mr. shakespeare now deceased, have as complete a control over his copyright as he would over his real-estate. let him gamble it away, drink it away, or--give it to the church. let his heirs and assigns treat it in the same manner. "every now and again i go up to washington, sitting on a board to drive that sort of view into congress. congress takes its arguments against international copyright delivered ready made, and--congress isn't very strong. i put the real-estate view of the case before one of the senators. "he said: 'suppose a man has written a book that will live for ever?' "i said: 'neither you nor i will ever live to see that man, but we'll assume it. what then?' "he said: 'i want to protect the world against that man's heirs and assigns, working under your theory.' "i said: 'you think that all the world has no commercial sense. the book that will live for ever can't be artificially kept up at inflated prices. there will always be very expensive editions of it and cheap ones issuing side by side.' "take the case of sir walter scott's novels," mark twain continued, turning to me. "when the copyright notes protected them, i bought editions as expensive as i could afford, because i liked them. at the same time the same firm were selling editions that a cat might buy. they had their real estate, and not being fools, recognised that one portion of the plot could be worked as a gold mine, another as a vegetable garden, and another as a marble quarry. do you see?" what i saw with the greatest clearness was mark twain being forced to fight for the simple proposition that a man has as much right to the work of his brains (think of the heresy of it!) as to the labour of his hands. when the old lion roars, the young whelps growl. i growled assentingly, and the talk ran on from books in general to his own in particular. growing bold, and feeling that i had a few hundred thousand folk at my back, i demanded whether tom sawyer married judge thatcher's daughter and whether we were ever going to hear of tom sawyer as a man. "i haven't decided," quoth mark twain, getting up, filling his pipe, and walking up and down the room in his slippers. "i have a notion of writing the sequel to _tom sawyer_ in two ways. in one i would make him rise to great honour and go to congress, and in the other i should hang him. then the friends and enemies of the book could take their choice." here i lost my reverence completely, and protested against any theory of the sort, because, to me at least, tom sawyer was real. "oh, he _is_ real," said mark twain. "he's all the boy that i have known or recollect; but that would be a good way of ending the book"; then, turning round, "because, when you come to think of it, neither religion, training, nor education avails anything against the force of circumstances that drive a man. suppose we took the next four and twenty years of tom sawyer's life, and gave a little joggle to the circumstances that controlled him. he would, logically and according to the joggle, turn out a rip or an angel." "do you believe that, then?" "i think so. isn't it what you call kismet?" "yes; but don't give him two joggles and show the result, because he isn't your property any more. he belongs to us." he laughed--a large, wholesome laugh--and this began a dissertation on the rights of a man to do what he liked with his own creations, which being a matter of purely professional interest, i will mercifully omit. returning to the big chair, he, speaking of truth and the like in literature, said that an autobiography was the one work in which a man, against his own will and in spite of his utmost striving to the contrary, revealed himself in his true light to the world. "a good deal of your life on the mississippi is autobiographical, isn't it?" i asked. "as near as it can be--when a man is writing to a book and about himself. but in genuine autobiography, i believe it is impossible for a man to tell the truth about himself or to avoid impressing the reader with the truth about himself. "i made an experiment once. i got a friend of mine--a man painfully given to speak the truth on all occasions--a man who wouldn't dream of telling a lie--and i made him write his autobiography for his own amusement and mine. he did it. the manuscript would have made an octavo volume, but--good, honest man that he was--in every single detail of his life that i knew about he turned out, on paper, a formidable liar. he could not help himself. "it is not in human nature to write the truth about itself. none the less the reader gets a general impression from an autobiography whether the man is a fraud or a good man. the reader can't give his reasons any more than a man can explain why a woman struck him as being lovely when he doesn't remember her hair, eyes, teeth, or figure. and the impression that the reader gets is a correct one." "do you ever intend to write an autobiography?" "if i do, it will be as other men have done--with the most earnest desire to make myself out to be the better man in every little business that has been to my discredit; and i shall fail, like the others, to make my readers believe anything except the truth." this naturally led to a discussion on conscience. then said mark twain, and his words are mighty and to be remembered:-"your conscience is a nuisance. a conscience is like a child. if you pet it and play with it and let it have everything that it wants, it becomes spoiled and intrudes on all your amusements and most of your griefs. treat your conscience as you would treat anything else. when it is rebellious, spank it--be severe with it, argue with it, prevent it from coming to play with you at all hours, and you will secure a good conscience; that is to say, a properly trained one. a spoiled one simply destroys all the pleasure in life. i think i have reduced mine to order. at least, i haven't heard from it for some time. perhaps i have killed it from over-severity. it's wrong to kill a child, but, in spite of all i have said, a conscience differs from a child in many ways. perhaps it's best when it's dead." here he told me a little--such things as a man may tell a stranger--of his early life and upbringing, and in what manner he had been influenced for good by the example of his parents. he spoke always through his eyes, a light under the heavy eyebrows; anon crossing the room with a step as light as a girl's, to show me some book or other; then resuming his walk up and down the room, puffing at the cob pipe. i would have given much for nerve enough to demand the gift of that pipe--value, five cents when new. i understood why certain savage tribes ardently desired the liver of brave men slain in combat. that pipe would have given me, perhaps, a hint of his keen insight into the souls of men. but he never laid it aside within stealing reach. once, indeed, he put his hand on my shoulder. it was an investiture of the star of india, blue silk, trumpets, and diamond-studded jewel, all complete. if hereafter, in the changes and chances of this mortal life, i fall to cureless ruin, i will tell the superintendent of the workhouse that mark twain once put his hand on my shoulder; and he shall give me a room to myself and a double allowance of paupers' tobacco. "i never read novels myself," said he, "except when the popular persecution forces me to--when people plague me to know what i think of the last book that every one is reading." "and how did the latest persecution affect you?" "robert?" said he, interrogatively. i nodded. "i read it, of course, for the workmanship. that made me think i had neglected novels too long--that there might be a good many books as graceful in style somewhere on the shelves; so i began a course of novel reading. i have dropped it now; it did not amuse me. but as regards robert, the effect on me was exactly as though a singer of street ballads were to hear excellent music from a church organ. i didn't stop to ask whether the music was legitimate or necessary. i listened, and i liked what i heard. i am speaking of the grace and beauty of the style." "you see," he went on, "every man has his private opinion about a book. but that is my private opinion. if i had lived in the beginning of things, i should have looked around the township to see what popular opinion thought of the murder of abel before i openly condemned cain. i should have had my private opinion, of course, but i shouldn't have expressed it until i had felt the way. you have my private opinion about that book. i don't know what my public ones are exactly. they won't upset the earth." he recurled himself into the chair and talked of other things. "i spend nine months of the year at hartford. i have long ago satisfied myself that there is no hope of doing much work during those nine months. people come in and call. they call at all hours, about everything in the world. one day i thought i would keep a list of interruptions. it began this way:-"a man came and would see no one but mr. clemens. he was an agent for photogravure reproductions of salon pictures. i very seldom use salon pictures in my books. "after that man another man, who refused to see any one but mr. clemens, came to make me write to washington about something. i saw him. i saw a third man, then a fourth. by this time it was noon. i had grown tired of keeping the list. i wished to rest. "but the fifth man was the only one of the crowd with a card of his own. he sent up his card. 'ben koontz, hannibal, mo.' i was raised in hannibal. ben was an old schoolmate of mine. consequently i threw the house wide open and rushed with both hands out at a big, fat, heavy man, who was not the ben i had ever known--nor anything like him. "'but _is_ it you, ben?' i said. 'you've altered in the last thousand years.' "the fat man said: 'well, i'm not koontz exactly, but i met him down in missouri, and he told me to be sure and call on you, and he gave me his card, and'--here he acted the little scene for my benefit--'if you can wait a minute till i can get out the circulars--i'm not koontz exactly, but i'm travelling with the fullest line of rods you ever saw.'" "and what happened?" i asked breathlessly. "i shut-the door. he was not ben koontz--exactly--not my old school-fellow, but i had shaken him by both hands in love, and ... i had been bearded by a lightning-rod man in my own house. "as i was saying, i do very little work in hartford. i come here for three months every year, and i work four or five hours a day in a study down the garden of that little house on the hill. of course, i do not object to two or three interruptions. when a man is in the full swing of his work these little things do not affect him. eight or ten or twenty interruptions retard composition." i was burning to ask him all manner of impertinent questions, as to which of his works he himself preferred, and so forth; but, standing in awe of his eyes, i dared not. he spoke on, and i listened, grovelling. it was a question of mental equipment that was on the carpet, and i am still wondering whether he meant what he said. "personally i never care for fiction or story-books. what i like to read about are facts and statistics of any kind. if they are only facts about the raising of radishes, they interest me. just now, for instance, before you came in"--he pointed to an encyclopædia on the shelves--"i was reading an article about 'mathematics.' perfectly pure mathematics. "my own knowledge of mathematics stops at 'twelve times twelve,' but i enjoyed that article immensely. i didn't understand a word of it: but facts, or what a man believes to be facts, are always delightful. that mathematical fellow believed in his facts. so do i. get your facts first, and"--the voice dies away to an almost inaudible drone--"then you can distort 'em as much as you please." bearing this precious advice in my bosom, i left; the great man assuring me with gentle kindness that i had not interrupted him in the least. once outside the door, i yearned to go back and ask some questions--it was easy enough to think of them now--but his time was his own, though his books belonged to me. i should have ample time to look back to that meeting across the graves of the days. but it was sad to think of the things he had not spoken about. in san francisco the men of _the call_ told me many legends of mark's apprenticeship in their paper five and twenty years ago; how he was a reporter delightfully incapable of reporting according to the needs of the day. he preferred, so they said, to coil himself into a heap and meditate until the last minute. then he would produce copy bearing no sort of relationship to his legitimate work--copy that made the editor swear horribly, and the readers of _the call_ ask for more. i should like to have heard mark's version of that, with some stories of his joyous and variegated past. he has been journeyman printer (in those days he wandered from the banks of the missouri even to philadelphia), pilot cub and full-blown pilot, soldier of the south (that was for three weeks only), private secretary to a lieutenant-governor of nevada (that displeased him), miner, editor, special correspondent in the sandwich islands, and the lord only knows what else. if so experienced a man could by any means be made drunk, it would be a glorious thing to fill him up with composite liquors, and, in the language of his own country, "let him retrospect." but these eyes will never see that orgy fit for the gods! the city of dreadful night the city of dreadful night chapter i jan.-feb., 1888 a real live city we are all backwoodsmen and barbarians together--we others dwelling beyond the ditch, in the outer darkness of the mofussil. there are no such things as commissioners and heads of departments in the world, and there is only one city in india. bombay is too green, too pretty, and too stragglesome; and madras died ever so long ago. let us take off our hats to calcutta, the many-sided, the smoky, the magnificent, as we drive in over the hugli bridge in the dawn of a still february morning. we have left india behind us at howrah station, and now we enter foreign parts. no, not wholly foreign. say rather too familiar. all men of a certain age know the feeling of caged irritation--an illustration in the _graphic_, a bar of music or the light words of a friend from home may set it ablaze--that comes from the knowledge of our lost heritage of london. at home they, the other men, our equals, have at their disposal all that town can supply--the roar of the streets, the lights, the music, the pleasant places, the millions of their own kind, and a wilderness full of pretty, fresh-coloured englishwomen, theatres and restaurants. it is their right. they accept it as such, and even affect to look upon it with contempt. and we--we have nothing except the few amusements that we painfully build up for ourselves--the dolorous dissipations of gymkhanas where every one knows everybody else, or the chastened intoxication of dances where all engagements are booked, in ink, ten days ahead, and where everybody's antecedents are as patent as his or her method of waltzing. we have been deprived of our inheritance. the men at home are enjoying it all, not knowing how fair and rich it is, and we at the most can only fly westward for a few months and gorge what, properly speaking, should take seven or eight or ten luxurious years. that is the lost heritage of london; and the knowledge of the forfeiture, wilful or forced, comes to most men at times and seasons, and they get cross. calcutta holds out false hopes of some return. the dense smoke hangs low, in the chill of the morning, over an ocean of roofs, and, as the city wakes, there goes up to the smoke a deep, full-throated boom of life and motion and humanity. for this reason does he who sees calcutta for the first time hang joyously out of the _ticca-ghari_[11] and sniff the smoke, and turn his face toward the tumult, saying: "this is, at last, some portion of my heritage returned to me. this is a city. there is life here, and there should be all manner of pleasant things for the having, across the river and under the smoke." [11] hired carriage. the litany is an expressive one and exactly describes the first emotions of a wandering savage adrift in calcutta. the eye has lost its sense of proportion, the focus has contracted through overmuch residence in up-country stations--twenty minutes' canter from hospital to parade-ground, you know--and the mind has shrunk with the eye. both say together, as they take in the sweep of shipping above and below the hugli bridge: "why, this is london! this is the docks. this is imperial. this is worth coming across india to see!" then a distinctly wicked idea takes possession of the mind: "what a divine--what a heavenly place to _loot_!" this gives place to a much worse devil--that of conservatism. it seems not only a wrong but a criminal thing to allow natives to have any voice in the control of such a city--adorned, docked, wharfed, fronted, and reclaimed by englishmen, existing only because england lives, and dependent for its life on england. all india knows of the calcutta municipality; but has any one thoroughly investigated the big calcutta stink? there is only one. benares is fouler in point of concentrated, pent-up muck, and there are local stenches in peshawar which are stronger than the b. c. s.; but, for diffused, soul-sickening expansiveness, the reek of calcutta beats both benares and peshawar. bombay cloaks her stenches with a veneer of assafoetida and tobacco; calcutta is above pretence. there is no tracing back the calcutta plague to any one source. it is faint, it is sickly, and it is indescribable; but americans at the great eastern hotel say that it is something like the smell of the chinese quarter in san francisco. it is certainly not an indian smell. it resembles the essence of corruption that has rotted for the second time--the clammy odour of blue slime. and there is no escape from it. it blows across the _maidan_; it comes in gusts into the corridors of the great eastern hotel; what they are pleased to call the "palaces of chowringhi" carry it; it swirls round the bengal club; it pours out of by-streets with sickening intensity, and the breeze of the morning is laden with it. it is first found, in spite of the fume of the engines, in howrah station. it seems to be worst in the little lanes at the back of lai bazar where the drinking-shops are, but it is nearly as bad opposite government house and in the public offices. the thing is intermittent. six moderately pure mouthfuls of air may be drawn without offence. then comes the seventh wave and the queasiness of an uncultured stomach. if you live long enough in calcutta you grow used to it. the regular residents admit the disgrace, but their answer is: "wait till the wind blows off the salt lakes where all the sewage goes, and _then_ you'll smell something." that is their defence! small wonder that they consider calcutta is a fit place for a permanent viceroy. englishmen who can calmly extenuate one shame by another are capable of asking for anything--and expecting to get it. if an up-country station holding three thousand troops and twenty civilians owned such a possession as calcutta does, the deputy commissioner or the cantonment magistrate would have all the natives off the board of management or decently shovelled into the background until the mess was abated. then they might come on again and talk of "high-handed oppression" as much as they liked. that stink, to an unprejudiced nose, damns calcutta as a city of kings. and, in spite of that stink, they allow, they even encourage, natives to look after the place! the damp, drainage-soaked soil is sick with the teeming life of a hundred years, and the municipal board list is choked with the names of natives--men of the breed born in and raised off this surfeited muck-heap! they own property, these amiable aryans on the municipal and the bengal legislative council. launch a proposal to tax them on that property, and they naturally howl. they also howl up-country, but there the halls for mass-meetings are few, and the vernacular papers fewer, and with a strong secretary and a president whose favour is worth the having and whose wrath is undesirable, men are kept clean despite themselves, and may not poison their neighbours. why, asks a savage, let them vote at all? they can put up with this filthiness. they _cannot_ have any feelings worth caring a rush for. let them live quietly and hide away their money under our protection, while we tax them till they know through their purses the measure of their neglect in the past, and when a little of the smell has been abolished, let us bring them back again to talk and take the credit of enlightenment. the better classes own their broughams and barouches; the worse can shoulder an englishman into the kennel and talk to him as though he were a cook. they can refer to an english lady as an _aurat_[12]; they are permitted a freedom--not to put it too coarsely--of speech which, if used by an englishman toward an englishman, would end in serious trouble. they are fenced and protected and made inviolate. surely they might be content with all those things without entering into matters which they cannot, by the nature of their birth, understand. [12] woman. now, whether all this genial diatribe be the outcome of an unbiassed mind or the result first of sickness caused by that ferocious stench, and secondly of headache due to day-long smoking to drown the stench, is an open question. anyway, calcutta is a fearsome place for a man not educated up to it. a word of advice to other barbarians. do not bring a north-country servant into calcutta. he is sure to get into trouble, because he does not understand the customs of the city. a punjabi in this place for the first time esteems it his bounden duty to go to the _ajaib-ghar_--the museum. such an one has gone and is even now returned very angry and troubled in the spirit. "i went to the museum," says he, "and no one gave me any abuse. i went to the market to buy my food, and then i sat upon a seat. there came an orderly who said, 'go away, i want to sit here.' i said, 'i am here first.' he said, 'i am a _chaprassi_![13] get out!' and he hit me. now that sitting-place was open to all, so i hit him till he wept. he ran away for the police, and i went away too, for the police here are all sahibs. can i have leave from two o'clock to go and look for that man and hit him again?" [13] messenger. behold the situation! an unknown city full of smell that makes one long for rest and retirement, and a champing servant, not yet six hours in the stew, who has started a blood-feud with an unknown _chaprassi_ and clamours to go forth to the fray. alas! for the lost delusion of the heritage that was to be restored. let us sleep, let us sleep, and pray that calcutta may be better to-morrow. at present it is remarkably like sleeping with a corpse. chapter ii the reflections of a savage. morning brings counsel. _does_ calcutta smell so pestiferously after all? heavy rain has fallen in the night. she is newly washed, and the clear sunlight shows her at her best. where, oh where, in all this wilderness of life shall a man go? the great eastern hums with life through all its hundred rooms. doors slam merrily, and all the nations of the earth run up and down the staircases. this alone is refreshing, because the passers bump you and ask you to stand aside. fancy finding any place outside the levée-room where englishmen are crowded together to this extent! fancy sitting down seventy strong to _tâble d'hôte_ and with a deafening clatter of knives and forks! fancy finding a real bar whence drinks may be obtained! and, joy of joys, fancy stepping out of the hotel into the arms of a live, white, helmeted, buttoned, truncheoned bobby! what would happen if one spoke to this bobby? would he be offended? he is not offended. he is affable. he has to patrol the pavement in front of the great eastern and to see that the crowding carriages do not jam. toward a presumably respectable white he behaves as a man and a brother. there is no arrogance, about him. and this is disappointing. closer inspection shows that he is not a _real_ bobby after all. he is a municipal police something and his uniform is not correct; at least if they have not changed the dress of the men at home. but no matter. later on we will inquire into the calcutta bobby, because he is a white man, and has to deal with some of the "toughest" folk that ever set out of malice aforethought to paint job charnock's city vermilion. you must not, you cannot cross old court house street without looking carefully to see that you stand no chance of being run over. this is beautiful. there is a steady roar of traffic, cut every two minutes by the deep roll of the trams. the driving is eccentric, not to say bad, but there is the traffic--more than unsophisticated eyes have beheld for a certain number of years. it means business, it means money-making, it means crowded and hurrying life, and it gets into the blood and makes it move. here be big shops with plate-glass fronts--all displaying the well-known names of firms that we savages only correspond with through the parcels post.[14] they are all here, as large as life, ready to supply anything you need if you only care to sign. great is the fascination of being able to obtain a thing on the spot without having to write for a week and wait for a month, and then get something quite different. no wonder pretty ladies, who live anywhere within a reasonable distance, come down to do their shopping personally. [14] c.o.d. "look here. if you want to be respectable you mustn't smoke in the streets. nobody does it." this is advice kindly tendered by a friend in a black coat. there is no levée or lieutenant-governor in sight; but he wears the frock-coat because it is daylight, and he can be seen. he refrains from smoking for the same reason. he admits that providence built the open air to be smoked in, but he says that "it isn't the thing." this man has a brougham, a remarkably natty little pill-box with a curious wabble about the wheels. he steps into the brougham and puts on--a top-hat, a shiny black "plug." there was a man up-country once who owned a top-hat. he leased it to amateur theatrical companies for some seasons until the nap wore off. then he threw it into a tree and wild bees hived in it. men were wont to come and look at the hat, in its palmy days, for the sake of feeling homesick. it interested all the station, and died with two seers of _babul_-flower honey in its bosom. but top-hats are not intended to be worn in india. they are as sacred as home letters and old rosebuds. the friend cannot see this. he allows that if he stepped out of his brougham and walked about in the sunshine for ten minutes he would get a bad headache. in half-an-hour he would probably die of sunstroke. he allows all this, but he keeps to his hat and cannot see why a barbarian is moved to inextinguishable laughter at the sight. every one who owns a brougham and many people who hire _ticca-gharis_ keep top-hats and black frock-coats. the effect is curious, and at first fills the beholder with surprise. and now, "let us see the handsome houses where the wealthy nobles dwell." northerly lies the great human jungle of the native city, stretching from burra bazar to chitpore. that can keep. southerly is the _maidan_ and chowringhi. "if you get out into the centre of the _maidan_ you will understand why calcutta is called the city of palaces." the travelled american said so at the great eastern. there is a short tower, falsely called a "memorial," standing in a waste of soft, sour green. that is as good a place to get to as any other. the size of the _maidan_ takes the heart out of any one accustomed to the "gardens" of up-country, just as they say newmarket heath cows a horse accustomed to more a shut-in course. the huge level is studded with brazen statues of eminent gentlemen riding fretful horses on diabolically severe curbs. the expanse dwarfs the statues, dwarfs everything except the frontage of the far-away chowringhi road. it is big--it is impressive. there is no escaping the fact. they built houses in the old days when the rupee was two shillings and a penny. those houses are three-storied, and ornamented with service-staircases like houses in the hills. they are very close together, and they have garden walls of masonry pierced with a single gate. in their shut-upness they are british. in their spaciousness they are oriental, but those service-staircases do not look healthy. we will form an amateur sanitary commission and call upon chowringhi. a first introduction to the calcutta _durwân_ or door-keeper is not nice. if he is chewing _pân_, he does not take the trouble to get rid of his quid. if he is sitting on his cot chewing sugar-cane, he does not think it worth his while to rise. he has to be taught those things, and he cannot understand why he should be reproved. clearly he is a survival of a played-out system. providence never intended that any native should be made a _concierge_ more insolent than any of the french variety. the people of calcutta put a man in a little lodge close to the gate of their house, in order that loafers may be turned away, and the houses protected from theft. the natural result is that the _durwân_ treats everybody whom he does not know as a loafer, has an intimate and vendible knowledge of all the outgoings and incomings in that house, and controls, to a large extent, the nomination of the servants. they say that one of the estimable class is now suing a bank for about three lakhs of rupees.[15] up-country, a lieutenant-governor's servant has to work for thirty years before he can retire on seventy thousand rupees of savings. the calcutta _durwân_ is a great institution. the head and front of his offence is that he will insist upon trying to talk english. how he protects the houses calcutta only knows. he can be frightened out of his wits by severe speech, and is generally asleep in calling hours. if a rough round of visits be any guide, three times out of seven he is fragrant of drink. so much for the _durwân_. now for the houses he guards. [15] say $100,000. very pleasant is the sensation of being ushered into a pestiferously stablesome drawing-room. "does this always happen?" "no, not unless you shut up the room for some time; but if you open the shutters there are other smells. you see the stables and the servants' quarters are close to." people pay five hundred a month for half-a-dozen rooms filled with scents of this kind. they make no complaint. when they think the honour of the city is at stake they say defiantly: "yes, but you must remember we're a metropolis. we are crowded here. we have no room. we aren't like your little stations." chowringhi is a stately place full of sumptuous houses, but it is best to look at it hastily. stop to consider for a moment what the cramped compounds, the black soaked soil, the netted intricacies of the service-staircases, the packed stables, the seethment of human life round the _durwâns'_ lodges and the curious arrangement of little open drains mean, and you will call it a whited sepulchre. men living in expensive tenements suffer from chronic sore throat, and will tell you cheerily that "we've got typhoid in calcutta now." is the pest ever out of it? everything seems to be built with a view to its comfort. it can lodge comfortably on roofs, climb along from the gutter-pipe to piazza, or rise from sink to verandah and thence to the topmost story. but calcutta says that all is sound and produces figures to prove it; at the same time admitting that healthy cut flesh will not readily heal. further evidence may be dispensed with. here come pouring down park street on the _maidân_ a rush of broughams, neat buggies, the lightest of gigs, trim office brownberrys, shining victorias, and a sprinkling of veritable hansom cabs. in the broughams sit men in top-hats. in the other carts, young men, all very much alike, and all immaculately turned out. a fresh stream from chowringhi joins the park street detachment, and the two together stream away across the _maidân_ toward the business quarter of the city. this is calcutta going to office--the civilians to the government buildings and the young men to their firms and their blocks and their wharves. here one sees that calcutta has the best turn-out in the empire. horses and traps alike are enviably perfect, and--mark the touchstone of civilization--_the lamps are in their sockets!_ the country-bred is a rare beast here; his place is taken by the waler,[16] and the waler, though a ruffian at heart, can be made to look like a gentleman. it would be indecorous to applaud the winking harness, the perfectly lacquered panels, and the liveried _saises_. they show well in the outwardly fair roads shadowed by the palaces. [16] imported australian horse. how many sections of the complex society of the place do the carts carry? _first_, the bengal civilian who goes to writers' buildings and sits in a perfect office and speaks flippantly of "sending things to india," meaning thereby referring matters to the supreme government. he is a great person, and his mouth is full of promotion-and-appointment "shop." generally he is referred to as a "rising man." calcutta seems full of "rising men." _secondly_, the government of india man, who wears a familiar simla face, rents a flat when he is not up in the hills, and is rational on the subject of the drawbacks of calcutta. _thirdly_, the man of the "firms," the pure non-official who fights under the banner of one of the great houses of the city, or for his own hand in a neat office, or dashes about clive street in a brougham doing "share work" or something of the kind. he fears not "bengal," nor regards he "india." he swears impartially at both when their actions interfere with his operations. his "shop" is quite unintelligible. he is like the english city man with the chill off, lives well and entertains hospitably. in the old days he was greater than he is now, but still he bulks large. he is rational in so far that he will help the abuse of the municipality, but womanish in his insistence on the excellencies of calcutta. over and above these who are hurrying to work are the various brigades, squads, and detachments of the other interests. but they are sets and not sections, and revolve round belvedere, government house, and fort william. simla and darjeeling claim them in the hot weather. let them go. they wear top-hats and frock-coats. it is time to escape from chowringhi road and get among the long-shore folk, who have no prejudices against tobacco, and who all use very much the same sort of hat. chapter iii the council of the gods. he set up conclusions to the number of nine thousand seven hundred and sixty-four ... he went afterwards to the sorbonne, where he maintained argument against the theologians for the space of six weeks, from four o'clock in the morning till six in the evening, except for an interval of two hours to refresh themselves and take their repasts, and at this were present the greatest part of the lords of the court, the masters of request, presidents, counsellors, those of the accompts, secretaries, advocates, and others; as also the sheriffs of the said town.--_pantagruel._ "the bengal legislative council is sitting now. you will find it in an octagonal wing of writers' buildings: straight across the _maidân_. it's worth seeing." "what are they sitting on?" "municipal business. no end of a debate." so much for trying to keep low company. the long-shore loafers must stand over. without doubt this council is going to hang some one for the state of the city, and sir steuart bayley will be chief executioner. one does not come across councils every day. writers' buildings are large. you can trouble the busy workers of half-a-dozen departments before you stumble upon the black-stained staircase that leads to an upper chamber looking out over a populous street. wild orderlies block the way. the councillor sahibs are sitting, but any one can enter. "to the right of the lât sahib's chair, and go quietly." ill-mannered minion! does he expect the awe-stricken spectator to prance in with a war-whoop or turn catherine-wheels round that sumptuous octagonal room with the blue-domed roof? there are gilt capitals to the half pillars and an egyptian patterned lotus-stencil makes the walls gay. a thick piled carpet covers all the floor, and must be delightful in the hot weather. on a black wooden throne, comfortably cushioned in green leather, sits sir steuart bayley, ruler of bengal. the rest are all great men, or else they would not be there. not to know them argues oneself unknown. there are a dozen of them, and sit six aside at two slightly curved lines of beautifully polished desks. thus sir steuart bayley occupies the frog of a badly made horse-shoe split at the toe. in front of him, at a table covered with books and pamphlets and papers, toils a secretary. there is a seat for the reporters, and that is all. the place enjoys a chastened gloom, and its very atmosphere fills one with awe. this is the heart of bengal, and uncommonly well upholstered. if the work matches the first-class furniture, the inkpots, the carpet, and the resplendent ceilings, there will be something worth seeing. but where is the criminal who is to be hanged for the stench that runs up and down writers' buildings staircases; for the rubbish heaps in the chitpore road; for the sickly savour of chowringhi; for the dirty little tanks at the back of belvedere; for the street full of small-pox; for the reeking ghari-stand outside the great eastern; for the state of the stone and dirt pavements; for the condition of the gullies of shampooker, and for a hundred other things? "this, i submit, is an artificial scheme in supersession of nature's unit, the individual." the speaker is a slight, spare native in a flat hat-turban, and a black alpaca frock-coat. he looks like a scribe to the boot-heels, and, with his unvarying smile and regulated gesticulation, recalls memories of up-country courts. he never hesitates, is never at a loss for a word, and never in one sentence repeats himself. he talks and talks and talks in a level voice, rising occasionally half an octave when a point has to be driven home. some of his periods sound very familiar. this, for instance, might be a sentence from the _indian mirror_: "so much for the principle. let us now examine how far it is supported by precedent." this sounds bad. when a fluent native is discoursing of "principles" and "precedents," the chances are that he will go on for some time. moreover, where is the criminal, and what is all this talk about abstractions? they want shovels not sentiments, in this part of the world. a friendly whisper brings enlightenment: "they are ploughing through the calcutta municipal bill--plurality of votes, you know. here are the papers." and so it is! a mass of motions and amendments on matters relating to ward votes. is _a_ to be allowed to give two votes in one ward and one in another? is section 10 to be omitted, and is one man to be allowed one vote and no more? how many votes does three hundred rupees' worth of landed property carry? is it better to kiss a post or throw it in the fire? not a word about carbolic acid and gangs of sweepers. the little man in the black dressing-gown revels in his subject. he is great on principles and precedents, and the necessity of "popularising our system." he fears that under certain circumstances "the status of the candidates will decline." he riots in "self-adjusting majorities," and "the healthy influence of the educated middle classes." for a practical answer to this, there steals across the council chamber just one faint whiff of the stink. it is as though some one laughed low and bitterly. but no man heeds. the englishmen look supremely bored, the native members stare stolidly in front of them. sir steuart bayley's face is as set as the face of the sphinx. for these things he draws his pay,--a low wage for heavy labour. but the speaker, now adrift, is not altogether to be blamed. he is a bengali, who has got before him just such a subject as his soul loveth,--an elaborate piece of academical reform leading nowhere. here is a quiet room full of pens and papers, and there are men who must listen to him. apparently there is no time limit to the speeches. can you wonder that he talks? he says "i submit" once every ninety seconds, varying the form with "i do submit, the popular element in the electoral body should have prominence." quite so. he quotes one john stuart mill to prove it. there steals over the listener a numbing sense of nightmare. he has heard all this before somewhere--yea; even down to j. s. mill and the references to the "true interests of the ratepayers." he sees what is coming next. yes, there is the old sabha, anjuman journalistic formula--"western education is an exotic plant of recent importation." how on earth did this man drag western education into this discussion? who knows? perhaps sir steuart bayley does. he seems to be listening. the others are looking at their watches. the spell of the level voice sinks the listener yet deeper into a trance. he is haunted by the ghosts of all the cant of all the political platforms of great britain. he hears all the old, old vestry phrases, and once more he smells the smell. _that_ is no dream. western education is an exotic plant. it is the upas tree, and it is all our fault. we brought it out from england exactly as we brought out the ink-bottles and the patterns for the chairs. we planted it and it grew--monstrous as a banian. now we are choked by the roots of it spreading so thickly in this fat soil of bengal. the speaker continues. bit by bit we builded this dome, visible and invisible, the crown of writers' buildings, as we have built and peopled the buildings. now we have gone too far to retreat, being "tied and bound with the chain of our own sins." the speech continues. we made that florid sentence. that torrent of verbiage is ours. we taught him what was constitutional and what was unconstitutional in the days when calcutta smelt. calcutta smells still, but we must listen to all that he has to say about the plurality of votes and the threshing of wind and the weaving of ropes of sand. it is our own fault. the speech ends, and there rises a grey englishman in a black frock-coat. he looks a strong man, and a worldly. surely he will say, "yes, lala sahib, all this may be true talk, but there's a vile smell in this place, and everything must be cleaned in a week, or the deputy commissioner will not take any notice of you in _durbar_." he says nothing of the kind. this is a legislative council, where they call each other "honourable so-and-so's." the englishman in the frock-coat begs all to remember that "we are discussing principles, and no consideration of the details ought to influence the verdict on the principles." is he then like the rest? how does this strange thing come about? perhaps these so english office fittings are responsible for the warp. the council chamber might be a london board-room. perhaps after long years among the pens and papers its occupants grew to think that it really is, and in this belief give _résumés_ of the history of local self-government in england. the black frock-coat, emphasising his points with his spectacle-case, is telling his friends how the parish was first the unit of self-government. he then explains how burgesses were elected, and in tones of deep fervour announces, "commissioners of sewers are elected in the same way." whereunto all this lecture? is he trying to run a motion through under cover of a cloud of words, essaying the well-known "cuttle-fish trick" of the west? he abandons england for a while, and _now_ we get a glimpse of the cloven hoof in a casual reference to hindus and mahometans. the hindus will lose nothing by the complete establishment of plurality of votes. they will have the control of their own wards as they used to have. so there is race-feeling, to be explained away, even among these beautiful desks. scratch the council, and you come to the old, old trouble. the black frock-coat sits down, and a keen-eyed, black-bearded englishman rises with one hand in his pocket to explain his views on an alteration of the vote qualification. the idea of an amendment seems to have just struck him. he hints that he will bring it forward later on. he is academical like the others, but not half so good a speaker. all this is dreary beyond words. why do they talk and talk about owners and occupiers and burgesses in england and the growth of autonomous institutions when the city, the great city, is here crying out to be cleansed? what has england to do with calcutta's evil, and why should englishmen be forced to wander through mazes of unprofitable argument against men who cannot understand the iniquity of dirt? a pause follows the black-bearded man's speech. rises another native, a heavily built babu, in a black gown and a strange head-dress. a snowy white strip of cloth is thrown duster-wise over his shoulders. his voice is high, and not always under control. he begins, "i will try to be as brief as possible." this is ominous. by the way, in council there seems to be no necessity for a form of address. the orators plunge _in medias res_, and only when they are well launched throw an occasional "sir" towards sir steuart bayley, who sits with one leg doubled under him and a dry pen in his hand. this speaker is no good. he talks, but he says nothing, and he only knows where he is drifting to. he says: "we must remember that we are legislating for the metropolis of india, and therefore we should borrow our institutions from large english towns, and not from parochial institutions." if you think for a minute, that shows a large and healthy knowledge of the history of local self-government. it also reveals the attitude of calcutta. if the city thought less about itself as a metropolis and more as a midden, its state would be better. the speaker talks patronisingly of "my friend," alluding to the black frock-coat. then he flounders afresh, and his voice gallops up the gamut as he declares, "and _therefore_ that makes all the difference." he hints vaguely at threats, something to do with the hindus and the mahometans, but what he means it is difficult to discover. here, however, is a sentence taken _verbatim_. it is not likely to appear in this form in the calcutta papers. the black frock-coat had said that if a wealthy native "had eight votes to his credit, his vanity would prompt him to go to the polling-booth, because he would feel better than half-a-dozen _ghari-wans_ or petty traders." (fancy allowing a _ghari-wan_ to vote! he has yet to learn how to drive!) hereon the gentleman with the white cloth: "then the complaint is that influential voters will not take the trouble to vote? in my humble opinion, if that be so, adopt voting-papers. _that_ is the way to meet them. in the same way--the calcutta trades' association--you abolish all plurality of votes: and that is the way to meet _them_." lucid, is it not? up flies the irresponsible voice, and delivers this statement, "in the election for the house of commons plurality are allowed for persons having interest in different districts." then hopeless, hopeless fog. it is a great pity that india ever heard of anybody higher than the heads of the civil service. once more a whiff of the stink. the gentleman gives a defiant jerk of his shoulder-cloth, and sits down. then sir steuart bayley: "the question before the council is," etc. there is a ripple of "ayes" and "noes," and the "noes" have it, whatever it may be. the black-bearded gentleman springs his amendment about the voting qualifications. a large senator in a white waistcoat, and with a most genial smile, rises and proceeds to smash up the amendment. can't see the use of it. calls it in effect rubbish. the black dressing-gown, he who spoke first of all, speaks again, and talks of the "sojourner who comes here for a little time, and then leaves the land." well it is for the black gown that the sojourner does come, or there would be no comfy places wherein to talk about the power that can be measured by wealth and the intellect "which, sir, i submit, cannot be so measured." the amendment is lost; and trebly and quadruply lost is the listener. in the name of sanity and to preserve the tattered shirt-tails of a torn illusion, let us escape! this is the calcutta municipal bill. they have been at it for several saturdays. last saturday sir steuart bayley pointed out that at their present rate they would be about two years in getting it through. now they will sit till dusk, unless sir steuart bayley, who wants to see lord connemara off, puts up the black frock-coat to move an adjournment. it is not good to watch a government close to. this leads to the formation of blatantly self-satisfied judgments, which may be quite as wrong as the cramping system with which we have encompassed ourselves. and in the streets outside englishmen summarise the situation brutally, thus: "the whole thing is a farce. time is money to us. we can't stick out those everlasting speeches in the municipality. the natives choke us off, but we know that if things get too bad the government will step in and interfere, and so we worry along somehow." meantime calcutta continues to cry out for the bucket and the broom. chapter iv on the banks of the hugli. the clocks of the city have struck two. where can a man get food? calcutta is not rich in respect of dainty accommodation. you can stay your stomach at peliti's or bonsard's, but their shops are not to be found in hastings street, or in the places where brokers fly to and fro in office-jauns, sweating and growing visibly rich. there must be some sort of entertainment where sailors congregate. "honest bombay jack" supplies nothing but burma cheroots and whisky in liqueur-glasses, but in lal bazar, not far from "the sailors' coffee-rooms," a board gives bold advertisement that "officers and seamen can find good quarters." in evidence a row of neat officers and seamen are sitting on a bench by the "hotel" door smoking. there is an almost military likeness in their clothes. perhaps "honest bombay jack" only keeps one kind of felt hat and one brand of suit. when jack of the mercantile marine is sober, he is very sober. when he is drunk he is--but ask the river police what a lean, mad yankee can do with his nails and teeth. these gentlemen smoking on the bench are impassive almost as red indians. their attitudes are unrestrained, and they do not wear braces. nor, it would appear from the bill of fare, are they particular as to what they eat when they attend _tâble d'hôte_. the fare is substantial and the regulation "peg"--every house has its own depth of peg if you will refrain from stopping ganymede--something to wonder at. three fingers and a trifle over seems to be the use of the officers and seamen who are talking so quietly in the doorway. one says--he has evidently finished a long story--"and so he shipped for four pound ten with a first mate's certificate and all. and that was in a german barque." another spits with conviction and says genially, without raising his voice, "that was a hell of a ship. who knows her?" no answer from the assembly, but a dane or a german wants to know whether the _myra_ is "up" yet. a dry, red-haired man gives her exact position in the river--(how in the world can he know?)--and the probable hour of her arrival. the grave debate drifts into a discussion of a recent river accident, whereby a big steamer was damaged, and had to put back and discharge cargo. a burly gentleman who is taking a constitutional down lal bazar strolls up and says: "i tell you she fouled her own chain with her own forefoot. hev you seen the plates?" "no." "then how the ---can any ---like you ---say what it ---well was?" he passes on, having delivered his highly flavored opinion without heat or passion. no one seems to resent the garnish. let us get down to the river and see this stamp of men more thoroughly. clarke russell has told us that their lives are hard enough in all conscience. what are their pleasures and diversions? the port office, where live the gentlemen who make improvements in the port of calcutta, ought to supply information. it stands large and fair, and built in an orientalised manner after the italians at the corner of fairlie place upon the great strand road, and a continual clamour of traffic by land and by sea goes up throughout the day and far into the night against its windows. this is a place to enter more reverently than the bengal legislative council, for it controls the direction of the uncertain hugli down to the sandheads, owns enormous wealth, and spends huge sums on the frontaging of river banks, the expansion of jetties, and the manufacture of docks costing two hundred lakhs of rupees. two million tons of sea-going shippage yearly find their way up and down the river by the guidance of the port office, and the men of the port office know more than it is good for men to hold in their heads. they can without reference to telegraphic bulletins give the position of all the big steamers, coming up or going down, from the hugli to the sea, day by day, with their tonnage, the names of their captains and the nature of their cargo. looking out from the verandah of their office over a lancer-regiment of masts, they can declare truthfully the name of every ship within eye-scope, with the day and hour when she will depart. in a room at the bottom of the building lounge big men, carefully dressed. now there is a type of face which belongs almost exclusively to bengal cavalry officers--majors for choice. everybody knows the bronzed, black-moustached, clear-speaking native cavalry officer. he exists unnaturally in novels, and naturally on the frontier. these men in the big room have his cast of face so strongly marked that one marvels what officers are doing by the river. "have they come to book passages for home?" "those men? they're pilots. some of them draw between two and three thousand rupees a month. they are responsible for half-a-million pounds' worth of cargo sometimes." they certainly are men, and they carry themselves as such. they confer together by twos and threes, and appeal frequently to shipping lists. "_isn't_ a pilot a man who always wears a pea-jacket and shouts through a speaking-trumpet?" "well, you can ask those gentlemen if you like. you've got your notions from home pilots. ours aren't that kind exactly. they are a picked service, as carefully weeded as the indian civil. some of 'em have brothers in it, and some belong to the old indian army families." but they are not all equally well paid. the calcutta papers echo the groans of the junior pilots who are not allowed the handling of ships over a certain tonnage. as it is yearly growing cheaper to build one big steamer than two little ones, these juniors are crowded out, and, while the seniors get their thousands, some of the youngsters make at the end of one month exactly thirty rupees. this is a grievance with them, and it seems well-founded. in the flats above the pilot's room are hushed and chapel-like offices, all sumptuously fitted, where englishmen write and telephone and telegraph, and deft babus for ever draw maps of the shifting hugli. any hope of understanding the work of the port commissioners is thoroughly dashed by being taken through the port maps of a quarter of a century past. men have played with the hugli as children play with a gutter-runnel, and, in return, the hugli once rose and played with men and ships till the strand road was littered with the raffle and the carcasses of big ships. there are photos on the walls of the cyclone of '64, when the _thunder_ came inland and sat upon an american barque, obstructing all the traffic. very curious are these photos, and almost impossible to believe. how can a big, strong steamer have her three masts razed to deck level? how can a heavy, country boat be pitched on to the poop of a high-walled liner? and how can the side be bodily torn out of a ship? the photos say that all these things are possible, and men aver that a cyclone may come again and scatter the craft like chaff. outside the port office are the export and import sheds, buildings that can hold a ship's cargo apiece, all standing on reclaimed ground. here be several strong smells, a mass of railway lines, and a multitude of men. "do you see where that trolly is standing, behind the big p. and o. berth? in that place as nearly as may be the _govindpur_ went down about twenty years ago, and began to shift out!" "but that is solid ground." "she sank there, and the next tide made a scour-hole on one side of her. the returning tide knocked her into it. then the mud made up behind her. next tide the business was repeated--always the scour-hole in the mud and the filling up behind her. so she rolled, and was pushed out and out until she got in the way of the shipping right out yonder, and we had to blow her up. when a ship sinks in mud or quicksand she regularly digs her own grave and wriggles herself into it deeper and deeper till she reaches moderately solid stuff. then she sticks." horrible idea, is it not, to go down and down with each tide into the foul hugli mud? close to the port offices is the shipping office, where the captains engage their crews. the men must produce their discharges from their last ships in the presence of the shipping master, or, as they call him, "the deputy shipping." he passes them after having satisfied himself that they are not deserters from other ships, and they then sign articles for the voyage. this is the ceremony, beginning with the "dearly beloved" of the crew-hunting captain down to the "amazement" of the deserter. there is a dingy building, next door to the sailors' home, at whose gate stand the cast-ups of all the seas in all manner of raiment. there are the seedee boys, bombay _serangs_ and madras fishermen of the salt villages, malays who insist upon marrying calcutta women, grow jealous and run _amok_; malay-hindus, hindu-malay-whites, burmese, burma-whites, burma-native-whites, italians with gold earrings and a thirst for gambling, yankees of all the states, with mulattoes and pure buck-niggers, red and rough danes, cingalese, cornish boys fresh taken from the plough-tail, "corn-stalks" from colonial ships where they got four pound ten a month as seamen, tun-bellied germans, cockney mates keeping a little aloof from the crowd and talking in knots together, unmistakable "tommies" who have tumbled into seafaring life by some mistake, cockatoo-tufted welshmen spitting and swearing like cats, broken-down loafers, grey-headed, penniless, and pitiful, swaggering boys, and very quiet men with gashes and cuts on their faces. it is an ethnological museum where all the specimens are playing comedies and tragedies. the head of it all is the "deputy shipping," and he sits, supported by an english policeman whose fists are knobby, in a great chair of state. the "deputy shipping" knows all the iniquity of the river-side, all the ships, all the captains, and a fair amount of the men. he is fenced off from the crowd by a strong wooden railing behind which are gathered the unemployed of the mercantile marine. they have had their spree--poor devils--and now they will go to sea again on as low a wage as three pound ten a month, to fetch up at the end in some shanghai stew or san francisco hell. they have turned their backs on the seductions of the howrah boarding-houses and the delights of colootollah. if fate will, "nightingale's" will know them no more for a season. but what skipper will take some of these battered, shattered wrecks whose hands shake and whose eyes are red? enter suddenly a bearded captain, who has made his selection from the crowd on a previous day, and now wants to get his men passed. he is not fastidious in his choice. his eleven seem a tough lot for such a mild-eyed, civil-spoken man to manage. but the captain in the shipping office and the captain on his ship are two different things. he brings his crew up to the "deputy shipping's" bar, and hands in their greasy, tattered discharges. but the heart of the "deputy shipping" is hot within him, because, two days ago, a howrah crimp stole a whole crew from a down-dropping ship, insomuch that the captain had to come back and whip up a new crew at one o'clock in the day. evil will it be if the "deputy shipping" finds one of these bounty-jumpers in the chosen crew of the _blenkindoon_. the "deputy shipping" tells the story with heat. "i didn't know they did such things in calcutta," says the captain. "do such things! they'd steal the eye-teeth out of your head there, captain." he picks up a discharge and calls for michael donelly, a loose-knit, vicious-looking irish-american who chews. "stand up, man, stand up!" michael donelly wants to lean against the desk, and the english policeman won't have it. "what was your last ship?" "_fairy queen._" "when did you leave her?" "'bout 'leven days." "captain's name?" "flahy." "that'll do. next man: jules anderson." jules anderson is a dane. his statements tally with the discharge-certificate of the united states, as the eagle attesteth. he is passed and falls back. slivey, the englishman, and david, a huge plum-coloured negro who ships as cook, are also passed. then comes bassompra, a little italian, who speaks english. "what's your last ship?" "_ferdinand._" "no, after that?" "german barque." bassompra does not look happy. "when did she sail?" "about three weeks ago." "what's her name?" "_haidée._" "you deserted from her?" "yes, but she's left port." the "deputy shipping" runs rapidly through a shipping-list, throws it down with a bang. "'twon't do. no german barque _haidée_ here for three months. how do i know you don't belong to the _jackson's_ crew? cap'en, i'm afraid you'll have to ship another man. he must stand over. take the rest away and make 'em sign." the bead-eyed bassompra seems to have lost his chance of a voyage, and his case will be inquired into. the captain departs with his men and they sign articles for the voyage, while the "deputy shipping" tells strange tales of the sailorman's life. "they'll quit a good ship for the sake of a spree, and catch on again at three pound ten, and by jove, they'll let their skippers pay 'em at ten rupees to the sovereign--poor beggars. as soon as the money's gone they'll ship, but not before. every one under rank of captain engages here. the competition makes first-mates ship sometimes for five pounds or as low as four ten a month." (the gentleman in the boarding-house was right, you see.) "a first mate's wages are seven ten or eight, and foreign captains ship for twelve pounds a month and bring their own small stores--everything, that is to say, except beef, peas, flour, coffee, and molasses." these things are not pleasant to listen to while the hungry-eyed men in the bad clothes lounge and scratch and loaf behind the railing. what comes to them in the end? they die, it seems, though that is not altogether strange. they die at sea in strange and horrible ways; they die, a few of them, in the kintals, being lost and suffocated in the great sink of calcutta; they die, in strange places by the water-side, and the hugli takes them away under the mooring chains and the buoys, and casts them up on the sands below, if the river police have missed the capture. they sail the sea because they must live; and there is no end to their toil. very, very few find haven of any kind, and the earth, whose ways they do not understand, is cruel to them, when they walk upon it to drink and be merry after the manner of beasts. jack ashore is a pretty thing when he is in a book or in the blue jacket of the navy. mercantile jack is not so lovely. later on, we will see where his "sprees" lead him. chapter v with the calcutta police. "the city was of night--perchance of death, but certainly of night." --_the city of dreadful night._ in the beginning, the police were responsible. they said in a patronising way that they would prefer to take a wanderer round the great city themselves, sooner than let him contract a broken head on his own account in the slums. they said that there were places and places where a white man, unsupported by the arm of the law, would be robbed and mobbed; and that there were other places where drunken seamen would make it very unpleasant for him. "come up to the fire look-out in the first place, and then you'll be able to see the city." this was at no. 22, lal bazar, which is the headquarters of the calcutta police, the centre of the great web of telephone wires where justice sits all day and all night looking after one million people and a floating population of one hundred thousand. but her work shall be dealt with later on. the fire look-out is a little sentry-box on the top of the three-storied police offices. here a native watchman waits to give warning to the brigade below if the smoke rises by day or the flames by night in any ward of the city. from this eyrie, in the warm night, one hears the heart of calcutta beating. northward, the city stretches away three long miles, with three more miles of suburbs beyond, to dum-dum and barrackpore. the lamplit dusk on this side is full of noises and shouts and smells. close to the police office, jovial mariners at the sailors' coffee-shop are roaring hymns. southerly, the city's confused lights give place to the orderly lamp-rows of the _maidân_ and chowringhi, where the respectabilities live and the police have very little to do. from the east goes up to the sky the clamour of sealdah, the rumble of the trams, and the voices of all bow bazar chaffering and making merry. westward are the business quarters, hushed now; the lamps of the shipping on the river; and the twinkling lights on the howrah side. "does the noise of traffic go on all through the hot weather?" "of course. the hot months are the busiest in the year and money's tightest. you should see the brokers cutting about at that season. calcutta _can't_ stop, my dear sir." "what happens then?" "nothing happens; the death-rate goes up a little. that's all!" even in february, the weather would, up-country, be called muggy and stifling, but calcutta is convinced that it is her cold season. the noises of the city grow perceptibly; it is the night side of calcutta waking up and going abroad. jack in the sailors' coffee-shop is singing joyously: "shall we gather at the river--the beautiful, the beautiful, the river?" there is a clatter of hoofs in the courtyard below. some of the mounted police have come in from somewhere or other out of the great darkness. a clog-dance of iron hoofs follows, and an englishman's voice is heard soothing an agitated horse who seems to be standing on his hind legs. some of the mounted police are going out into the great darkness. "what's on?" "a dance at government house. the reserve men are being formed up below. they're calling the roll." the reserve men are all english, and big english at that. they form up and tramp out of the courtyard to line government place, and see that mrs. lollipop's brougham does not get smashed up by sirdar chuckerbutty bahadur's lumbering c-spring barouche with the two raw walers. very military men are the calcutta european police in their set-up, and he who knows their composition knows some startling stories of gentleman-rankers and the like. they are, despite the wearing climate they work in and the wearing work they do, as fine a five-score of englishmen as you shall find east of suez. listen for a moment from the fire look-out to the voices of the night, and you will see why they must be so. two thousand sailors of fifty nationalities are adrift in calcutta every sunday, and of these perhaps two hundred are distinctly the worse for liquor. there is a mild row going on, even now, somewhere at the back of bow bazar, which at nightfall fills with sailormen who have a wonderful gift of falling foul of the native population. to keep the queen's peace is of course only a small portion of police duty, but it is trying. the burly president of the lock-up for european drunks--calcutta central lock-up is worth seeing--rejoices in a sprained thumb just now, and has to do his work left-handed in consequence. but his left hand is a marvellously persuasive one, and when on duty his sleeves are turned up to the shoulder that the jovial mariner may see that there is no deception. the president's labours are handicapped in that the road of sin to the lock-up runs through a grimy little garden--the brick paths are worn deep with the tread of many drunken feet--where a man can give a great deal of trouble by sticking his toes into the ground and getting mixed up with the shrubs. a straight run-in would be much more convenient both for the president and the drunk. generally speaking--and here police experience is pretty much the same all over the civilised world--a woman-drunk is a good deal worse than a man-drunk. she scratches and bites like a chinaman and swears like several fiends. strange people may be unearthed in the lock-ups. here is a perfectly true story, not three weeks old. a visitor, an unofficial one, wandered into the native side of the spacious accommodation provided for those who have gone or done wrong. a wild-eyed babu rose from the fixed charpoy and said in the best of english, "good morning, sir." "_good_ morning. who are you, and what are you in for?" then the babu, in one breath: "i would have you know that i do not go to prison as a criminal but as a reformer. you've read the _vicar of wakefield_?" "ye-es." "well, _i_ am the vicar of bengal--at least that's what i call myself." the visitor collapsed. he had not nerve enough to continue the conversation. then said the voice of the authority: "he's down in connection with a cheating case at serampore. may be shamming insane, but he'll be looked to in time." the best place to hear about the police is the fire look-out. from that eyrie one can see how difficult must be the work of control over the great, growling beast of a city. by all means let us abuse the police, but let us see what the poor wretches have to do with their three thousand natives and one hundred englishmen. from howrah and bally and the other suburbs at least a hundred thousand people come in to calcutta for the day and leave at night. then, too, chandernagore is handy for the fugitive law-breaker, who can enter in the evening and get away before the noon of the next day, having marked his house and broken into it. "but how can the prevalent offence be house-breaking in a place like this?" "easily enough. when you've seen a little of the city you'll see. natives sleep and lie about all over the place, and whole quarters are just so many rabbit-warrens. wait till you see the machua bazar. well, besides the petty theft and burglary, we have heavy cases of forgery and fraud, that leave us with our wits pitted against a bengali's. when a bengali criminal is working a fraud of the sort he loves, he is about the cleverest soul you could wish for. he gives us cases a year long to unravel. then there are the murders in the low houses--very curious things they are. you'll see the house where sheikh babu was murdered presently, and you'll understand. the burra bazar and jora bagan sections are the two worst ones for heavy cases; but colootollah is the most aggravating. there's colootollah over yonder--that patch of darkness beyond the lights. that section is full of tuppenny-ha'penny petty cases, that keep the men up all night and make 'em swear. you'll see colootollah, and then perhaps you'll understand. bamun bustee is the quietest of all, and lal bazar and bow bazar, as you can see for yourself, are the rowdiest. you've no notion what the natives come to the police station for. a man will come on and want a summons against his master for refusing him half-an-hour's leave. i suppose it _does_ seem rather revolutionary to an up-country man, but they try to do it here. now wait a minute, before we go down into the city and see the fire brigade turned out. business is slack with them just now, but you time 'em and see." an order is given, and a bell strikes softly thrice. there is a rush of men, the click of a bolt, a red fire-engine, spitting and swearing with the sparks flying from the furnace, is dragged out of its shelter. a huge brake, which holds supplementary horses, men, and hatchets, follows, and a hose-cart is the third on the list. the men push the heavy things about as though they were pith toys. the men clamber up, some one says softly, "all ready there," and with an angry whistle the fire-engine, followed by the other two, flies out into lal bazar. time--1 min. 40 secs. "they'll find out it's a false alarm, and come back again in five minutes." "why?" "because there will be no constables on the road to give 'em the direction of the fire, and because the driver wasn't told the ward of the outbreak when he went out!" "do you mean to say that you can from this absurd pigeon-loft locate the wards in the night-time?" "what would be the good of a look-out if the man couldn't tell where the fire was?" "but it's all pitchy black, and the lights are so confusing." "you'll be more confused in ten minutes. you'll have lost your way as you never lost it before. you're going to go round bow bazar section." "and the lord have mercy on my soul!" calcutta, the darker portion of it, does not look an inviting place to dive into at night. chapter vi the city of dreadful night. "and since they cannot spend or use aright the little time here given them in trust, but lavish it in weary undelight of foolish toil, and trouble, strife and lust- they naturally clamour to inherit the everlasting future--that their merit may have full scope.... as surely is most just." --_the city of dreadful night._ the difficulty is to prevent this account from growing steadily unwholesome. but one cannot rake through a big city without encountering muck. the police kept their word. in five short minutes, as they had prophesied, their charge was lost as he had never been lost before. "where are we now?" "somewhere off the chitpore road, but you wouldn't understand if you were told. follow now, and step pretty much where we step--there's a good deal of filth hereabouts." the thick, greasy night shuts in everything. we have gone beyond the ancestral houses of the ghoses of the boses, beyond the lamps, the smells, and the crowd of chitpore road, and have come to a great wilderness of packed houses--just such mysterious, conspiring tenements as dickens would have loved. there is no breeze here, and the air is perceptibly warmer. if calcutta keeps such luxuries as commissioners of sewers and paving, they die before they reach this place. the air is heavy with a faint, sour stench--the essence of long-neglected abominations--and it cannot escape from among the tall, three-storied houses. "this, my dear sir, is a _perfectly_ respectable quarter as quarters go. that house at the head of the alley, with the elaborate stucco-work round the top of the door, was built long ago by a celebrated midwife. great people used to live here once. now it's the--aha! look out for that carriage." a big mail-phaeton crashes out of the darkness and, recklessly driven, disappears. the wonder is how it ever got into this maze of narrow streets, where nobody seems to be moving, and where the dull throbbing of the city's life only comes faintly and by snatches. "now it's the what?" "the st. john's wood of calcutta--for the rich babus. that 'fitton' belonged to one of them." "well, it's not much of a place to look at!" "don't judge by appearances. about here live the women who have beggared kings. we aren't going to let you down into unadulterated vice all at once. you must see it first with the gilding on--and mind that rotten board." stand at the bottom of a lift shaft and look upwards. then you will get both the size and the design of the tiny courtyard round which one of these big dark houses is built. the central square may be perhaps ten feet every way, but the balconies that run inside it overhang, and seem to cut away half the available space. to reach the square a man must go round many corners, down a covered-in way, and up and down two or three baffling and confused steps. "now you will understand," say the police, kindly, as their charge blunders, shin-first into a well-dark winding staircase, "that these are not the sort of places to visit alone." "who wants to? of all the disgusting, inaccessible dens--holy cupid, what's this?" a glare of light on the stair-head, a clink of innumerable bangles, a rustle of much fine gauze, and the dainty iniquity stands revealed, blazing--literally blazing--with jewellery from head to foot. take one of the fairest miniatures that the delhi painters draw, and multiply it by ten; throw in one of angelica kaufmann's best portraits, and add anything that you can think of from beckford to lalla rookh, and you will still fall short of the merits of that perfect face! for an instant, even the grim, professional gravity of the police is relaxed in the presence of the dainty iniquity with the gems, who so prettily invites every one to be seated, and proffers such refreshments as she conceives the palates of the barbarians would prefer. her maids are only one degree less gorgeous than she. half a lakh, or fifty thousand pounds' worth--it is easier to credit the latter statement than the former--are disposed upon her little body. each hand carries five jewelled rings which are connected by golden chains to a great jewelled boss of gold in the centre of the back of the hand. ear-rings weighted with emeralds and pearls, diamond nose-rings, and how many other hundred articles make up the list of adornments. english furniture of a gorgeous and gimcrack kind, unlimited chandeliers, and a collection of atrocious continental prints are scattered about the house, and on every landing squats or loafs a bengali who can talk english with unholy fluency. the recurrence suggests--only suggests, mind--a grim possibility of the affectation of excessive virtue by day, tempered with the sort of unwholesome enjoyment after dusk--this loafing and lobbying and chattering and smoking, and unless the bottles lie, tippling, among the foul-tongued handmaidens of the dainty iniquity. how many men follow this double, deleterious sort of life? the police are discreetly dumb. "now don't go talking about 'domiciliary visits' just because this one happens to be a pretty woman. we've _got_ to know these creatures. they make the rich man and the poor spend their money; and when a man can't get money for 'em honestly, he comes under _our_ notice. now do you see? if there was any domiciliary 'visit' about it, the whole houseful would be hidden past our finding as soon as we turned up in the courtyard. we're friends--to a certain extent." and, indeed, it seemed no difficult thing to be friends to any extent with the dainty iniquity who was so surpassingly different from all that experience taught of the beauty of the east. here was the face from which a man could write _lalla rookhs_ by the dozen, and believe every work that he wrote. hers was the beauty that byron sang of when he wrote-"remember, if you come here alone, the chances are that you'll be clubbed, or stuck, or, anyhow, mobbed. you'll understand that this part of the world is shut to europeans--absolutely. mind the steps, and follow on." the vision dies out in the smells and gross darkness of the night, in evil, time-rotten brickwork, and another wilderness of shut-up houses. follows, after another plunge into a passage of a courtyard, and up a staircase, the apparition of a fat vice, in whom is no sort of romance, nor beauty, but unlimited coarse humour. she too is studded with jewels, and her house is even finer than the house of the other, and more infested with the extraordinary men who speak such good english and are so deferential to the police. the fat vice has been a great leader of fashion in her day, and stripped a zemindar raja to his last acre--insomuch that he ended in the house of correction for a theft committed for her sake. native opinion has it that she is a "monstrous well-preserved woman." on this point, as on some others, the races will agree to differ. the scene changes suddenly as a slide in a magic lantern. dainty iniquity and fat vice slide away on a roll of streets and alleys, each more squalid than its predecessor. we are "somewhere at the back of the machua bazar," well in the heart of the city. there are no houses here--nothing but acres and acres, it seems, of foul wattle-and-dab huts, any one of which would be a disgrace to a frontier village. the whole arrangement is a neatly contrived germ and fire trap, reflecting great credit upon the calcutta municipality. "what happens when these pigsties catch fire?" "they're built up again," say the police, as though this were the natural order of things. "land is immensely valuable here." all the more reason, then, to turn several hausmanns loose into the city, with instructions to make barracks for the population that cannot find room in the huts and sleeps in the open ways, cherishing dogs and worse, much worse, in its unwashen bosom. "here is a licensed coffee-shop. this is where your servants go for amusement and to see nautches." there is a huge thatch shed, ingeniously ornamented with insecure kerosene lamps, and crammed with drivers, cooks, small store-keepers and the like. never a sign of a european. why? "because if an englishman messed about here, he'd get into trouble. men don't come here unless they're drunk or have lost their way." the hack-drivers--they have the privilege of voting, have they not?--look peaceful enough as they squat on tables or crowd by the doors to watch the nautch that is going forward. five pitiful draggle-tails are huddled together on a bench under one of the lamps, while the sixth is squirming and shrieking before the impassive crowd. she sings of love as understood by the oriental--the love that dries the heart and consumes the liver. in this place, the words that would look so well on paper have an evil and ghastly significance. the men stare or sup tumblers and cups of a filthy decoction, and the _kunchenee_ howls with renewed vigour in the presence of the police. where the dainty iniquity was hung with gold and gems, she is trapped with pewter and glass; and where there was heavy embroidery on the fat vice's dress, defaced, stamped tinsel faithfully reduplicates the pattern on the tawdry robes of the _kunchenee_. two or three men with uneasy consciences have quietly slipped out of the coffee-shop into the mazes of the huts. the police laugh, and those nearest in the crowd laugh applausively, as in duty bound. perhaps the rabbits grin uneasily when the ferret lands at the bottom of the burrow and begins to clear the warren. "the _chandoo_-shops shut up at six, so you'll have to see opium-smoking before dark some day. no, you won't, though." the detective makes for a half-opened door of a hut whence floats the fragrance of the black smoke. those of the inhabitants who are able promptly clear out--they have no love for the police--and there remain only four men lying down and one standing up. this latter has a pet mongoose coiled round his neck. he speaks english fluently. yes, he has no fear. it was a private smoking party and--"no business to-night--show how you smoke opium." "aha! you want to see. very good, i show. hiya! you"--he kicks a man on the floor--"show how opium-smoke." the kickee grunts lazily and turns on his elbow. the mongoose, always keeping to the man's neck, erects every hair of its body like an angry cat, and chatters in its owner's ear. the lamp for the opium-pipe is the only one in the room, and lights a scene as wild as anything in the witches' revel; the mongoose acting as the familiar spirit. a voice from the ground says, in tones of infinite weariness: "you take _afim_, so"--a long, long pause, and another kick from the man possessed of the devil--the mongoose. "you take _afim_?" he takes a pellet of the black, treacly stuff on the end of a knitting-needle. "and light _afim_." he plunges the pellet into the night-light, where it swells and fumes greasily. "and then you put it in your pipe." the smoking pellet is jammed into the tiny bowl of the thick, bamboo-stemmed pipe, and all speech ceases, except the unearthly chitter of the mongoose. the man on the ground is sucking at his pipe, and when the smoking pellet has ceased to smoke will be half-way to _nibban_. "now you go," says the man with the mongoose. "i am going smoke." the hut floor closes upon a red-lit view of huddled legs and bodies, and the man with the mongoose sinking, sinking on to his knees, his head bowed forward, and the little hairy devil chattering on the nape of his neck. after this the fetid night air seems almost cool, for the hut is as hot as a furnace. "now for colootollah. come through the huts. there is no decoration about _this_ vice." the huts now gave place to houses very tall and spacious and very dark. but for the narrowness of the streets we might have stumbled upon chowringhi in the dark. an hour and a half has passed, and up to this time we have not crossed our trail once. "you might knock about the city for a night and never cross the same line. recollect calcutta isn't one of your poky up-country cities of a lakh and a half of people." "how long does it take to know it then?" "about a lifetime, and even then some of the streets puzzle you." "how much has the head of a ward to know?" "every house in his ward if he can, who owns it, what sort of character the inhabitants are, who are their friends, who go out and in, who loaf about the place at night, and so on and so on." "and he knows all this by night as well as by day?" "of course. why shouldn't he?" "no reason in the world. only it's pitchy black just now, and i'd like to see where this alley is going to end." "round the corner beyond that dead wall. there's a lamp there. then you'll be able to see." a shadow flits out of a gulley and disappears. "who's that?" "sergeant of police just to see where we're going in case of accidents." another shadow staggers into the darkness. "who's _that_?" "soldier from the fort or a sailor from the ships. i couldn't quite see." the police open a shut door in a high wall, and stumble unceremoniously among a gang of women cooking their food. the floor is of beaten earth, the steps that lead into the upper stories are unspeakably grimy, and the heat is the heat of april. the women rise hastily, and the light of the bull's eye--for the police have now lighted a lantern in regular london fashion--shows six bleared faces--one a half-native half-chinese one, and the others bengali. "there are no men here!" they cry. "the house is empty." then they grin and jabber and chew _pan_ and spit, and hurry up the steps into the darkness. a range of three big rooms has been knocked into one here, and there is some sort of arrangement of mats. but an average country-bred is more sumptuously accommodated in an englishman's stable. a horse would snort at the accommodation. "nice sort of place, isn't it?" say the police, genially. "this is where the sailors get robbed and drunk." "they must be blind drunk before they come." "na--na! na sailor men ee--yah!" chorus the women, catching at the one word they understand. "arl gone!" the police take no notice, but tramp down the big room with the mat loose-boxes. a woman is shivering in one of these. "what's the matter?" "fever. seek. vary, _vary_ seek." she huddles herself into a heap on the _charpoy_ and groans. a tiny, pitch-black closet opens out of the long room, and into this the police plunge. "hullo! what's here?" down flashes the lantern, and a white hand with black nails comes out of the gloom. somebody is asleep or drunk in the cot. the ring of lantern light travels slowly up and down the body. "a sailor from the ships. he'll be robbed before the morning most likely." the man is sleeping like a little child, both arms thrown over his head, and he is not unhandsome. he is shoeless, and there are huge holes in his stockings. he is a pure-blooded white, and carries the flush of innocent sleep on his cheeks. the light is turned off, and the police depart; while the woman in the loose-box shivers, and moans that she is "seek; vary, _vary_ seek." chapter vii deeper and deeper still. "i built myself a lordly pleasure-house, wherein at ease for aye to dwell; i said:--'o soul, make merry and carouse. dear soul--for all is well.'" --_the palace of art._ "and where next? i don't like colootollah." the police and their charge are standing in the interminable waste of houses under the starlight. "to the lowest sink of all, but you wouldn't know if you were told." they lead till they come to the last circle of the inferno--a long, quiet, winding road. "there you are; you can see for yourself." but there is nothing to be seen. on one side are houses--gaunt and dark, naked and devoid of furniture; on the other, low, mean stalls, lighted, and with shamelessly open doors, where women stand and mutter and whisper one to another. there is a hush here, or at least the busy silence of an officer of counting-house in working hours. one look down the street is sufficient. lead on, gentlemen of the calcutta police. we do not love the lines of open doors, the flaring lamps within, the glimpses of the tawdry toilet-tables adorned with little plaster dogs, glass balls from christmas-trees, and--for religion must not be despised though women be fallen--pictures of the saints and statuettes of the virgin. the street is a long one, and other streets, full of the same pitiful wares, branch off from it. "why are they so quiet? why don't they make a row and sing and shout, and so on?" "why should they, poor devils?" say the police, and fall to telling tales of horror, of women decoyed and shot into this trap. then other tales that shatter one's belief in all things and folk of good repute. "how can you police have faith in humanity?" "that's because you're seeing it all in a lump for the first time, and it's not nice that way. makes a man jump rather, doesn't it? but, recollect, you've _asked_ for the worst places, and you can't complain." "who's complaining? bring on your atrocities. isn't that a european woman at that door?" "yes. mrs. d----, widow of a soldier, mother of seven children." "nine, if you please, and good evening to you," shrills mrs. d----, leaning against the door-post, her arms folded on her bosom. she is a rather pretty, slightly made eurasian, and whatever shame she may have owned she has long since cast behind her. a shapeless burmo-native trot, with high cheek-bones and mouth like a shark, calls mrs. d---"mem-sahib." the word jars unspeakably. her life is a matter between herself and her maker, but in that she--the widow of a soldier of the queen--has stooped to this common foulness in the face of the city, she has offended against the white race. "you're from up-country, and of course you don't understand. there are any amount of that lot in the city, say the police." then the secret of the insolence of calcutta is made plain. small wonder the natives fail to respect the sahib, seeing what they see and knowing what they know. in the good old days, the honourable the directors deported him or her who misbehaved grossly, and the white man preserved his face. he may have been a ruffian, but he was a ruffian on a large scale. he did not sink in the presence of the people. the natives are quite right to take the wall of the sahib who has been at great pains to prove that he is of the same flesh and blood. all this time mrs. d---stands on the threshold of her room and looks upon the men with unabashed eyes. mrs. d---is a lady with a story. she is not averse to telling it. "what was--ahem--the case in which you were--er--hmn--concerned, mrs. d----?" "they said i'd poisoned my husband by putting something into his drinking water." this is interesting. "and--ah--_did_ you?" "'twasn't proved," says mrs. d---with a laugh, a pleasant, lady-like laugh that does infinite credit to her education and upbringing. worthy mrs. d----! it would pay a novelist--a french one let us say--to pick you out of the stews and make you talk. the police move forward, into a region of mrs. d----'s. everywhere are the empty houses, and the babbling women in print gowns. the clocks in the city are close upon midnight, but the police show no signs of stopping. they plunge hither and thither, like wreckers into the surf; and each plunge brings up a sample of misery, filth, and woe. a woman--eurasian--rises to a sitting position on a cot and blinks sleepily at the police. then she throws herself down with a grunt. "what's the matter with you?" "i live in markiss lane and"--this with intense gravity--"i'm _so_ drunk." she has a rather striking gipsy-like face, but her language might be improved. "come along," say the police, "we'll head back to bentinck street, and put you on the road to the great eastern." they walk long and steadily, and the talk falls on gambling hells. "you ought to see our men rush one of 'em. when we've marked a hell down, we post men at the entrances and carry it. sometimes the chinese bite, but as a rule they fight fair. it's a pity we hadn't a hell to show you. let's go in here--there may be something forward." "here" appears to be in the heart of a chinese quarter, for the pigtails--do they ever go to bed?--are scuttling about the streets. "never go into a chinese place alone," say the police, and swing open a postern gate in a strong, green door. two chinamen appear. "what are we going to see?" "japanese gir--no, we aren't, by jove! catch that chinaman, _quick_." the pigtail is trying to double back across a courtyard into an inner chamber; but a large hand on his shoulder spins him round and puts him in rear of the line of advancing englishmen, who are, be it observed, making a fair amount of noise with their boots. a second door is thrown open, and the visitors advance into a large, square room blazing with gas. here thirteen pigtails, deaf and blind to the outer world, are bending over a table. the captured chinaman dodges uneasily in the rear of the procession. five--ten--fifteen seconds pass, the englishmen standing in the full light less than three paces from the absorbed gang who see nothing. then the burly superintendent brings his hand down on his thigh with a crack like a pistol-shot and shouts: "how do, john?" follows a frantic rush of scared celestials, almost tumbling over each other in their anxiety to get clear. one pigtail scoops up a pile of copper money, another a chinaware soup-bowl, and only a little mound of accusing cowries remains on the white matting that covers the table. in less than half a minute two facts are forcibly brought home to the visitor. first, that a pigtail is largely composed of silk, and rasps the palm of the hand as it slides through; and secondly, that the forearm of a chinaman is surprisingly muscular and well-developed. "what's going to be done?" "nothing. there are only three of us, and all the ringleaders would get away. we've got 'em safe any time we want to catch 'em, if this little visit doesn't make 'em shift their quarters. hi! john. no pidgin to-night. show how you makee play. that fat youngster there is our informer." half the pigtails have fled into the darkness, but the remainder assured and trebly assured that the police really mean "no pidgin," return to the table and stand round while the croupier manipulates the cowries, the little curved slip of bamboo, and the soup-bowl. they never gamble, these innocents. they only come to look on, and smoke opium in the next room. yet as the game progresses their eyes light up, and one by one put their money on odd or even--the number of the cowries that are covered and left uncovered by the little soup-bowl. _mythan_ is the name of the amusement, and, whatever may be its demerits, it is clean. the police look on while their charge plays and loots a parchment-skinned horror--one of swift's struldburgs, strayed from laputa--of the enormous sum of two annas. the return of this wealth, doubled, sets the loser beating his forehead against the table from sheer gratitude. "most immoral game this. a man might drop five whole rupees, if he began playing at sun-down and kept it up all night. don't you ever play whist occasionally?" "now, we didn't bring you round to make fun of this department. a man can lose as much as ever he likes and he can fight as well, and if he loses all his money he steals to get more. a chinaman is insane about gambling, and half his crime comes from it. it _must_ be kept down. here we are in bentinck street and you can be driven to the great eastern in a few minutes. joss houses? oh, yes. if you want more horrors, superintendent lamb will take you round with him to-morrow afternoon at five. good night." the police depart, and in a few minutes the silent respectability of old council house street, with the grim free kirk at the end of it, is reached. all good calcutta has gone to bed, the last tram has passed, and the peace of the night is upon the world. would it be wise and rational to climb the spire of that kirk, and shout: "o true believers! decency is a fraud and a sham. there is nothing clean or pure or wholesome under the stars, and we are all going to perdition together. amen!" on second thoughts it would not; for the spire is slippery, the night is hot, and the police have been specially careful to warn their charge that he must not be carried away by the sight of horrors that cannot be written or hinted at. "good morning," says the policeman tramping the pavement in front of the great eastern, and he nods his head pleasantly to show that he is the representative of law and peace and that the city of calcutta is safe from itself for the present. chapter viii concerning lucia. time must be filled in somehow till five this afternoon, when superintendent lamb will reveal more horrors. why not, the trams aiding, go to the old park street cemetery? "you want go park street? no trams going park street. you get out _here_." calcutta tram conductors are not polite. the car shuffles unsympathetically down the street, and the evicted is stranded in dhurrumtollah, which may be the hammersmith highway of calcutta. providence arranged this mistake, and paved the way to a great discovery now published for the first time. dhurrumtollah is full of the people of india, walking in family parties and groups and confidential couples. and the people of india are neither hindu nor mussulman--jew, ethiop, gueber, or expatriated british. they are the eurasians, and there are hundreds and hundreds of them in dhurrumtollah now. there is papa with a shining black hat fit for a counsellor of the queen, and mamma, whose silken dress is tight upon her portly figure, and the brood made up of straw-hatted, olive-cheeked, sharp-eyed little boys, and leggy maidens wearing white, open-work stockings calculated to show dust. there are the young men who smoke bad cigars and carry themselves lordily--such as have incomes. there are also the young women with the beautiful eyes and the wonderful dresses which always fit so badly across the shoulders. and they carry prayer-books or baskets, because they are either going to mass or the market. without doubt, these are the people of india. they were born in it, bred in it, and will die in it. the englishman only comes to the country, and the natives of course were there from the first, but these people have been made here, and no one has done anything for them except talk and write about them. yet they belong, some of them, to old and honourable families, hold houses in sealdah, and are rich, a few of them. they all look prosperous and contented, and they chatter eternally in that curious dialect that no one has yet reduced to print. beyond what little they please to reveal now and again in the newspapers, we know nothing about their life which touches so intimately the white on the one hand and the black on the other. it must be interesting--more interesting than the colourless anglo-indian article; but who has treated of it? there was one novel once in which the second heroine was an eurasienne. she was a strictly subordinate character, and came to a sad end. the poet of the race, henry derozio,--he of whom mr. thomas edwards wrote a history,--was bitten with keats and scott and shelley, and overlooked in his search for material things that lay nearest to him. all this mass of humanity in dhurrumtollah is unexploited and almost unknown. wanted, therefore, a writer from among the eurasians, who shall write so that men shall be pleased to read a story of eurasian life; then outsiders will be interested in the people of india, and will admit that the race has possibilities. a futile attempt to get to park street from dhurrumtollah ends in the market--the hogg market men call it. perhaps a knight of that name built it. it is not one-half as pretty as the crawford market, in bombay, but ... it appears to be the trysting place of young calcutta. the natural inclination of youth is to lie abed late, and to let the seniors do all the hard work. why, therefore, should pyramus, who has to be ruling account forms at ten, and thisbe, who _cannot_ be interested in the price of second-quality beef, wander, in studiously correct raiment, round and about the stalls before the sun is well clear of the earth? pyramus carries a walking stick with imitation silver straps upon it, and there are cloth tops to his boots; but his collar has been two days worn. thisbe crowns her dark head with a blue velvet tam-o'-shanter; but one of her boots lacks a button, and there is a tear in the left-hand glove. mamma, who despises gloves, is rapidly filling a shallow basket, that the coolie-boy carries, with vegetables, potatoes, purple brinjals, and--oh, pyramus! do you ever kiss thisbe when mamma is not by?--garlic--yea, _lusson_ of the bazaar! mamma is generous in her views on garlic. pyramus comes round the corner of the stall looking for nobody in particular--not he--and is elaborately polite to mamma. somehow, he and thisbe drift off together, and mamma, very portly and very voluble, is left to chaffer and sort and select alone. in the name of the sacred unities do not, young people, retire to the meat-stalls to exchange confidences! come up to this end, where the roses are arriving in great flat baskets, where the air is heavy with the fragrance of flowers, and the young buds and greenery are littering all the floor. they won't--they prefer talking by the dead, unromantic muttons, where there are not so many buyers. there must have been a quarrel to make up. thisbe shakes the blue velvet tam-o'-shanter and says, "oah yess!" scornfully. pyramus answers: "no-a, no-a. do-ant say thatt." mamma's basket is full and she picks up thisbe hastily. pyramus departs. _he_ never came here to do any marketing. he came to meet thisbe, who in ten years will own a figure very much like mamma's. may their ways be smooth before them, and after honest service of the government, may pyramus retire on 250 rupees per mensem, into a nice little house somewhere in monghyr or chunar! from love by natural sequence to death. where _is_ the park street cemetery? a hundred hack-drivers leap from their boxes and invade the market, and after a short struggle one of them uncarts his capture in a burial-ground--a ghastly new place, close to a tramway. this is not what is wanted. the living dead are here--the people whose names are not yet altogether perished and whose tombstones are tended. "where are the _old_ dead?" "nobody goes there," says the driver. "it is up that road." he points up a long and utterly deserted thoroughfare, running between high walls. this is the place, and the entrance to it, with its gardener waiting with one brown, battered rose for the visitor, its grilled door and its professional notices, bears a hideous likeness to the entrance of simla churchyard. but, once inside, the sightseer stands in the heart of utter desolation--all the more forlorn for being swept up. lower park street cuts a great graveyard in two. the guide-books will tell you when the place was opened and when it was closed. the eye is ready to swear that it is as old as herculaneum and pompeii. the tombs are small houses. it is as though we walked down the streets of a town, so tall are they and so closely do they stand--a town shrivelled by fire, and scarred by frost and siege. men must have been afraid of their friends rising up before the due time that they weighted them with such cruel mounds of masonry. strong man, weak woman, or somebody's "infant son aged fifteen months," for each the squat obelisk, the defaced classic temple, the cellaret of chunam, or the candlestick of brickwork--the heavy slab, the rust-eaten railings, the whopper-jawed cherubs, and the apoplectic angels. men were rich in those days and could afford to put a hundred cubic feet of masonry into the grave of even so humble a person as "jno. clements, captain of the country service, 1820." when the "dearly beloved" had held rank answering to that of commissioner, the efforts are still more sumptuous and the verse.... well, the following speaks for itself:- "soft on thy tomb shall fond remembrance shed the warm yet unavailing tear, and purple flowers that deck the honoured dead shall strew the loved and honoured bier." failure to comply with the contract does not, let us hope, entail forfeiture of the earnest-money; or the honoured dead might be grieved. the slab is out of his tomb, and leans foolishly against it; the railings are rotted, and there are no more lasting ornaments than blisters and stains, which are the work of the weather, and not the result of the "warm yet unavailing tear." let us go about and moralise cheaply on the tombstones, trailing the robe of pious reflection up and down the pathways of the grave. here is a big and stately tomb sacred to "lucia," who died in 1776 a.d., aged 23. here also be lichened verses which an irreverent thumb can bring to light. thus they wrote, when their hearts were heavy in them, one hundred and sixteen years ago:- "what needs the emblem, what the plaintive strain, what all the arts that sculpture e'er expressed, to tell the treasure that these walls contain? let those declare it most who knew her best. "the tender pity she would oft display shall be with interest at her shrine returned, connubial love, connubial tears repay, and lucia loved shall still be lucia mourned. "though closed the lips, though stopped the tuneful breath, the silent, clay-cold monitress shall teach- in all the alarming eloquence of death with double pathos to the heart shall preach. "shall teach the virtuous maid, the faithful wife, if young and fair, that young and fair was she, then close the useful lesson of her life, and tell them what she is, they soon must be." that goes well, even after all these years, does it not? and seems to bring lucia very near, in spite of what the later generation is pleased to call the stiltedness of the old-time verse. who will declare the merits of lucia--dead in her spring before there was even a _hickey's gazette_ to chronicle the amusements of calcutta, and publish, with scurrilous asterisks, the _liaisons_ of heads of departments? what pot-bellied east indiaman brought the "virtuous maid" up the river, and did lucia "make her bargain" as the cant of those times went, on the first, second, or third day after her arrival? or did she, with the others of the batch, give a spinsters' ball as a last trial--following the custom of the country? no. she was a fair kentish maiden, sent out, at a cost of five hundred pounds, english money, under the captain's charge, to wed the man of her choice, and _he_ knew clive well, had had dealings with omichand, and talked to men who had lived through the terrible night in the black hole. he was a rich man, lucia's battered tomb proves it, and he gave lucia all that her heart could wish: a green-painted boat to take the air in on the river of evenings. coffree slave-boys who could play on the french horn, and even a very elegant, neat coach with a genteel rutlan roof ornamented with flowers very highly finished, ten best polished plate glasses, ornamented with a few elegant medallions enriched with mother-o'-pearl, that she might take her drive on the course as befitted a factor's wife. all these things he gave her. and when the convoys came up the river, and the guns thundered, and the servants of the honourable the east india company drank to the king's health, be sure that lucia before all the other ladies in the fort had her choice of the new stuffs from england and was cordially hated in consequence. tilly kettle painted her picture a little before she died, and the hot-blooded young writers did duel with small swords in the fort ditch for the honour of piloting her through a minuet at the calcutta theatre or the punch house. but warren hastings danced with her instead, and the writers were confounded--every man of them. she was a toast far up the river. and she walked in the evening on the bastions of fort william, and said, "la! i protest!" it was there that she exchanged congratulations with all her friends on the 20th of october, when those who were alive gathered together to felicitate themselves on having come through another hot season; and the men--even the sober factor saw no wrong here--got most royally and britishly drunk on madeira that had twice rounded the cape. but lucia fell sick, and the doctor--he who went home after seven years with five lakhs and a half, and a corner of this vast graveyard to his account--said that it was a pukka or putrid fever, and the system required strengthening. so they fed lucia on hot curries, and mulled wine worked up with spirits and fortified with spices, for nearly a week; at the end of which time she closed her eyes on the weary river and the fort for ever, and a gallant, with a turn for _belles-lettres_, wept openly as men did then and had no shame of it, and composed the verses above set, and thought himself a neat hand at the pen--stap his vitals! but the factor was so grieved that he could write nothing at all--could only spend his money--and he counted his wealth by lakhs--on a sumptuous grave. a little later on he took comfort, and when the next batch came out-but this has nothing whatever to do with the story of lucia, the virtuous maid, the faithful wife. her ghost went to a big calcutta powder ball that very night, and looked very beautiful. i met her. among the railway folk chapter i mar., 1888 a railway settlement. jamalpur is the headquarters of the east india railway. this in itself is not a startling statement. the wonder begins with the exploration of jamalpur, which is a station entirely made by, and devoted to, the use of those untiring servants of the public, the railway folk. they have towns of their own at toondla and assensole; a sun-dried sanitarium at bandikui; and howrah, ajmir, allahabad, lahore, and pindi know their colonies. but jamalpur is unadulteratedly "railway," and he who has nothing to do with the e. i. railway in some shape or another feels a stranger and an interloper. running always east and southerly, the train carries him from the torments of the northwest into the wet, woolly warmth of bengal, where may be found the hothouse heat that has ruined the temper of the good people of calcutta. the land is fat and greasy with good living, and the wealth of the bodies of innumerable dead things; and here--just above mokameh--may be seen fields stretching, without stick, stone, or bush to break the view, from the railway line to the horizon. up-country innocents must look at the map to learn that jamalpur is near the top left-hand corner of the big loop that the e. i. r. throws out round bhagalpur and part of the bara-banki districts. northward of jamalpur, as near as may be, lies the ganges and tirhoot, and eastward an offshoot of the volcanic rajmehal range blocks the view. a station which has neither judge, commissioner, deputy, or 'stunt, which is devoid of law courts, _ticca-gharies_, district superintendents of police, and many other evidences of an over-cultured civilisation, is a curiosity. "we administer ourselves," says jamalpur, proudly, "or we did--till we had local self-government in--and now the racket-marker administers us." this is a solemn fact. the station, which had its beginnings thirty odd years ago, used, till comparatively recent times, to control its own roads, sewage, conservancy, and the like. but, with the introduction of local self-government, it was ordained that the "inestimable boon" should be extended to a place made by, and maintained for, europeans, and a brand-new municipality was created and nominated according to the many rules of the game. in the skirmish that ensued, the club racket-marker fought his way to the front, secured a place on a board largely composed of babus, and since that day jamalpur's views on government have not been fit for publication. to understand the magnitude of the insult, one must study the city--for station, in the strict sense of the word, it is not. crotons, palms, mangoes, _mellingtonias_, teak, and bamboos adorn it, and the _poinsettia_ and _bougainvillea_, the railway creeper and the _bignonia venusta_, make it gay with many colours. it is laid out with military precision to each house its just share of garden, its red brick path, its growth of trees, and its neat little wicket gate. its general aspect, in spite of the dutch formality, is that of an english village, such a thing as enterprising stage-managers put on the theatres at home. the hills have thrown a protecting arm round nearly three sides of it, and on the fourth it is bounded by what are locally known as the "sheds"; in other words, the station, offices, and workshops of the company. the e. i. r. only exists for outsiders. its servants speak of it reverently, angrily, despitefully, or enthusiastically as "the company"; and they never omit the big, big c. men must have treated the honourable the east india company in something the same fashion ages ago. "the company" in jamalpur is lord dufferin, all the members of council, the body-guard, sir frederick roberts, mr. westland, whose name is at the bottom of the currency notes, the oriental life assurance company, and the bengal government all rolled into one. at first, when a stranger enters this life, he is inclined to scoff and ask, in his ignorance, "_what_ is this company that you talk so much about?" later on, he ceases to scoff; for the company is a "big" thing--almost big enough to satisfy an american. ere beginning to describe its doings, let it be written, and repeated several times hereafter, that the e. i. r. passenger carriages, and especially the second-class, are just now horrid--being filthy and unwashen, dirty to look at, and dirty to live in. having cast this small stone, we will examine jamalpur. when it was laid out, in or before the mutiny year, its designers allowed room for growth, and made the houses of one general design--some of brick, some of stone, some three, four, and six roomed, some single men's barracks and some two-storied--all for the use of the employés. king's road, prince's road, queen's road, and victoria road--jamalpur is loyal--cut the breadth of the station; and albert road, church street, and steam road the length of it. neither on these roads or on any of the cool-shaded smaller ones is anything unclean or unsightly to be found. there is a dreary village in the neighbourhood which is said to make the most of any cholera that may be going, but jamalpur itself is specklessly and spotlessly neat. from st. mary's church to the railway station, and from the buildings where they print daily about half a lakh of tickets, to the ringing, roaring, rattling workshops, everything has the air of having been cleaned up at ten that very morning and put under a glass case. there is a holy calm about the roads--totally unlike anything in an english manufacturing town. wheeled conveyances are few, because every man's bungalow is close to his work, and when the day has begun and the offices of the "loco." and "traffic" have soaked up their thousands of natives and hundreds of europeans, you shall pass under the dappled shadows of the trees, hearing nothing louder than the croon of some bearer playing with a child in the verandah or the faint tinkle of a piano. this is pleasant, and produces an impression of watteau-like refinement tempered with arcadian simplicity. the dry, anguished howl of the "buzzer," the big steam-whistle, breaks the hush, and all jamalpur is alive with the tramping of tiffin-seeking feet. the company gives one hour for meals between eleven and twelve. on the stroke of noon there is another rush back to the works or the offices, and jamalpur sleeps through the afternoon till four or half-past, and then rouses for tennis at the institute. in the hot weather it splashes in the swimming bath, or reads, for it has a library of several thousand books. one of the most nourishing lodges in the bengal jurisdiction--"st. george in the east"--lives at jamalpur, and meets twice a month. its members point out with justifiable pride that all the fittings were made by their own hands; and the lodge in its accoutrements and the energy of the craftsmen can compare with any in india. but the institute is the central gathering place, and its half-dozen tennis-courts and neatly-laid-out grounds seem to be always full. here, if a stranger could judge, the greater part of the flirtation of jamalpur is carried out, and here the dashing apprentice--the apprentices are the liveliest of all--learns that there are problems harder than any he studies at the night school, and that the heart of a maiden is more inscrutable than the mechanism of a locomotive. on tuesdays and fridays, the volunteers parade. a and b companies, 150 strong in all, of the e. i. r. volunteers, are stationed here with the band. their uniform, grey with red facings, is not lovely, but they know how to shoot and drill. they have to. the "company" makes it a condition of service that a man must be a volunteer; and volunteer in something more than name he must be, or some one will ask the reason why. seeing that there are no regulars between howrah and dinapore, the "company" does well in exacting this toll. some of the old soldiers are wearied of drill, some of the youngsters don't like it, but--the way they entrain and detrain is worth seeing. they are as mobile a corps as can be desired, and perhaps ten or twelve years hence the government may possibly be led to take a real interest in them and spend a few thousand rupees in providing them with real soldiers' kits--not uniform and rifle merely. their ranks include all sorts and conditions of men--heads of the "loco." and "traffic," the "company" is no respecter of rank--clerks in the "audit," boys from mercantile firms at home, fighting with the intricacies of time, fare, and freight tables; guards who have grown grey in the service of the company; mail and passenger drivers with nerves of cast-iron, who can shoot through a long afternoon without losing temper or flurrying; light-blue east indians; tyne-side men, slow of speech and uncommonly strong in the arm; lathy apprentices who have not yet "filled out"; fitters, turners, foremen, full, assistant, and sub-assistant station-masters, and a host of others. in the hands of the younger men the regulation martini-henri naturally goes off the line occasionally on hunting expeditions. there is a twelve-hundred yards' range running down one side of the station, and the condition of the grass by the firing butts tells its own tale. scattered in the ranks of the volunteers are a fair number of old soldiers, for the company has a weakness for recruiting from the army for its guards who may, in time, become station-masters. a good man from the army, with his papers all correct and certificates from his commanding officer, can, after depositing twenty pounds to pay his home passage, in the event of his services being dispensed with, enter the company's service on something less than one hundred rupees a month and rise in time to four hundred as a station-master. a railway bungalow--and they are as substantially built as the engines--will cost him more than one-ninth of the pay of his grade, and the provident fund provides for his latter end. think for a moment of the number of men that a line running from howrah to delhi must use, and you will realise what an enormous amount of patronage the company holds in its hands. naturally a father who has worked for the line expects the line to do something for the son; and the line is not backward in meeting his wishes where possible. the sons of old servants may be taken on at fifteen years of age, or thereabouts, as apprentices in the "shops," receiving twenty rupees in the first and fifty in the last year, of their indentures. then they come on the books as full "men" on perhaps rs. 65 a month, and the road is open to them in many ways. they may become foremen of departments on rs. 500 a month, or drivers earning with overtime rs. 370; or if they have been brought into the audit or the traffic, they may control innumerable babus and draw several hundreds of rupees monthly; or, at eighteen or nineteen, they may be ticket-collectors, working up to the grade of guard, etc. every rank of the huge, human hive has a desire to see its sons placed properly, and the native workmen, about three thousand, in the locomotive department only, are, said one man, "making a family affair of it altogether. you see all those men turning brass and looking after the machinery? they've all got relatives, and a lot of 'em own land out monghyr-way close to us. they bring on their sons as soon as they are old enough to do anything, and the company rather encourages it. you see the father is in a way responsible for his son, and he'll teach him all he knows, and in that way the company has a hold on them all. you've no notion how sharp a native is when he's working on his own hook. all the district round here, right up to monghyr, is more or less dependent on the railway." the babus in the traffic department, in the stores, issue department, in all the departments where men sit through the long, long indian day among ledgers, and check and pencil and deal in figures and items and rupees, may be counted by hundreds. imagine the struggle among them to locate their sons in comfortable cane-bottomed chairs, in front of a big pewter inkstand and stacks of paper! the babus make beautiful accountants, and if we could only see it, a merciful providence has made the babu for figures and detail. without him, the dividends of any company would be eaten up by the expenses of english or city-bred clerks. the babu is a great man, and, to respect him, you must see five score or so of him in a room a hundred yards long, bending over ledgers, ledgers, and yet more ledgers--silent as the sphinx and busy as a bee. he is the lubricant of the great machinery of the company whose ways and works cannot be dealt with in a single scrawl. chapter ii the shops. the railway folk, like the army and civilian castes, have their own language and life, which an outsider cannot hope to understand. for instance, when jamalpur refers to itself as being "on the long siding," a lengthy explanation is necessary before the visitor grasps the fact that the whole of the two hundred and thirty odd miles of the loop from luckeeserai to kanu-junction _via_ bhagalpur is thus contemptuously treated. jamalpur insists that it is out of the world, and makes this an excuse for being proud of itself and all its institutions. but in one thing it is badly, disgracefully provided. at a moderate estimate there must be about two hundred europeans with their families in this place. they can, and do, get their small supplies from calcutta, but they are dependent on the tender mercies of the bazaar for their meat, which seems to be hawked from door to door. there is a raja who owns or has an interest in the land on which the station stands, and he is averse to cow-killing. for these reasons, jamalpur is not too well supplied with good meat, and what it wants is a decent meat-market with cleanly controlled slaughtering arrangements. the "company," who gives grants to the schools and builds the institute and throws the shadow of its protection all over the place, might help this scheme forward. the heart of jamalpur is the "shops," and here a visitor will see more things in an hour than he can understand in a year. steam street very appropriately leads to the forty or fifty acres that the "shops" cover, and to the busy silence of the loco. superintendent's office, where, a man must put down his name and his business on a slip of paper before he can penetrate into the temple of vulcan. about three thousand five hundred men are in the "shops," and, ten minutes after the day's work has begun, the assistant superintendent knows exactly how many are "in." the heads of departments--silent, heavy-handed men, captains of five hundred or more--have their names fairly printed on a board which is exactly like a pool-marker. they "star a life" when they come in, and their few names alone represent salaries to the extent of six thousand a month. they are men worth hearing deferentially. they hail from manchester and the clyde, and the great ironworks of the north: pleasant as cold water in a thirsty land is it to hear again the full northumbrian burr or the long-drawn yorkshire "aye." under their great gravity of demeanour--a man who is in charge of a few lakhs' worth of plant cannot afford to be riotously mirthful--lurks melody and humour. they can sing like north-countrymen, and in their hours of ease go back to the speech of the iron countries they have left behind, when "ab o' th' yate" and all "ben briarly's" shrewd wit shakes the warm air of bengal with deep-chested laughter. hear "ruglan' toon," with a chorus as true as the fall of trip-hammers, and fancy that you are back again in the smoky, rattling, ringing north! but this is the "unofficial" side. go forward through the gates under the mango trees, and set foot at once in sheds which have as little to do with mangoes as a locomotive with lakshmi. the "buzzer" howls, for it is nearly tiffin time. there is a rush from every quarter of the shops, a cloud of flying natives, and a procession of more sedately pacing englishmen, and in three short minutes you are left absolutely alone among arrested wheels and belts, pulleys, cranks, and cranes--in a silence only broken by the soft sigh of a far-away steam-valve or the cooing of pigeons. you are, by favour freely granted, at liberty to wander anywhere you please through the deserted works. walk into a huge, brick-built, tin-roofed stable, capable of holding twenty-four locomotives under treatment, and see what must be done to the iron horse once in every three years if he is to do his work well. on reflection, iron horse is wrong. an engine is a she--as distinctly feminine as a ship or a mine. here stands the _echo_, her wheels off, resting on blocks, her underside machinery taken out, and her side scrawled with mysterious hieroglyphics in chalk. an enormous green-painted iron harness-rack bears her piston and eccentric rods, and a neatly painted board shows that such and such englishmen are the fitter, assistant, and apprentice engaged in editing that _echo_. an engine seen from the platform and an engine viewed from underneath are two very different things. the one is as unimpressive as a cart; the other as imposing as a man-of-war in the yard. in this manner is an engine treated for navicular, laminitis, back-sinew, or whatever it is that engines most suffer from. no. 607, we will say, goes wrong at dinapore, assensole, buxar, or wherever it may be, after three years' work. the place she came from is stencilled on the boiler, and the foreman examines her. then he fills in a hospital sheet, which bears one hundred and eighty printed heads under which an engine can come into the shops. no. 607 needs repair in only one hundred and eighteen particulars, ranging from mud-hole-flanges and blower-cocks to lead-plugs, and platform brackets which have shaken loose. this certificate the foreman signs, and it is framed near the engine for the benefit of the three europeans and the eight or nine natives who have to mend no. 607. to the ignorant the superhuman wisdom of the examiner seems only equalled by the audacity of the two men and the boy who are to undertake what is frivolously called the "job." no. 607 is in a sorely mangled condition, but 403 is much worse. she is reduced to a shell--is a very elle-woman of an engine, bearing only her funnel, the iron frame and the saddle that supports the boiler. four-and-twenty engines in every stage of decomposition stand in one huge shop. a travelling crane runs overhead, and the men have hauled up one end of a bright vermilion loco. the effect is the silence of a scornful stare--just such a look as a colonel's portly wife gives through her _pince-nez_ at the audacious subaltern. engines are the "livest" things that man ever made. they glare through their spectacle-plates, they tilt their noses contemptuously, and when their insides are gone they adorn themselves with red lead, and leer like decayed beauties; and in the jamalpur works there is no escape from them. the shops can hold fifty without pressure, and on occasion as many again. everywhere there are engines, and everywhere brass domes lie about on the ground like huge helmets in a pantomime. the silence is the weirdest touch of all. some sprightly soul--an apprentice be sure--has daubed in red lead on the end of an iron tool-box a caricature of some friend who is evidently a riveter. the picture has all the interest of an egyptian cartouche, for it shows that men have been here, and that the engines do not have it all their own way. and so, out in the open, away from the three great sheds, between and under more engines, till we strike a wilderness of lines all converging to one turn-table. here be elephant-stalls ranged round a half-circle, and in each stall stands one engine, and each engine stares at the turn-table. a stolid and disconcerting company is this ring-of-eyes monsters; 324, 432, and 8 are shining like toys. they are ready for their turn of duty, and are as spruce as hansoms. lacquered chocolate, picked out with black, red, and white, is their dress and delicate lemon graces the ceilings of the cabs. the driver should be a gentleman in evening dress with white kid gloves, and there should be gold-headed champagne bottles in the spick and span tenders. huckleberry finn says of a timber raft, "it amounted to something being captain of that raft." thrice enviable is the man who, drawing rs. 220 a month, is allowed to make rs. 150 overtime out of locos nos. 324, 432, or 8. fifty yards beyond this gorgeous trinity are ten to twelve engines who have put in to jamalpur to bait. they are alive, their fires are lighted, and they are swearing and purring and growling one at another as they stand alone. here is evidently one of the newest type--no. 25, a giant who has just brought the mail in and waits to be cleaned up preparatory to going out afresh. the tiffin hour has ended. the buzzer blows, and with a roar, a rattle, and a clang the shops take up their toil. the hubbub that followed on the prince's kiss to the sleeping beauty was not so loud or sudden. experience, with a foot-rule in his pocket, authority in his port, and a merry twinkle in his eye, comes up and catches ignorance walking gingerly round no. 25. "that's one of the best we have," says experience, "a four-wheeled coupled bogie they call her. she's by dobbs. she's done her hundred and fifty miles to-day; and she'll run in to rampore haut this afternoon; then she'll rest a day and be cleaned up. roughly, she does her three hundred miles in the four-and-twenty hours. she's a beauty. she's out from home, but we can build our own engines--all except the wheels. we're building ten locos. now, and we've got a dozen boilers ready if you care to look at them. how long does a loco. last? that's just as may be. she will do as much as her driver lets her. some men play the mischief with a loco. and some handle 'em properly. our drivers prefer hawthorne's old four-wheeled coupled engines because they give the least bother. there is one in that shed, and it's a good 'un to travel. but eighty thousand miles generally sees the gloss off an engine, and she goes into the shops to be overhauled and refitted and replaned, and a lot of things that you wouldn't understand if i told you about them. no. 1, the first loco. on the line, is running still, but very little of the original engine must be left by this time. that one there, came out in the mutiny year. she's by slaughter and grunning, and she's built for speed in front of a light load. french-looking sort of thing, isn't she? that's because her cylinders are on a tilt. we used her for the mail once, but the mail has grown heavier and heavier, and now we use six-wheeled coupled eighteen-inch, inside cylinder, 45-ton locos. to shift thousand-ton trains. _no!_ all locos. aren't alike. it isn't merely pulling a lever. the company likes its drivers to know their locos., and a man will keep his hawthorne for two or three years. the more mileage he gets out of her before she has to be overhauled the better man he is. it pays to let a man have his fancy engine. a man must take an interest in his loco., and that means she must belong to him. some locos. won't do anything, even if you coax and humour them. i don't think there are any unlucky ones now, but some years ago no. 31 wasn't popular. the drivers went sick or took leave when they were told off for her. she killed her driver on the jubbulpore line, she left the rails at kajra, she did something or other at rampur haut, and lord knows what she didn't do or try to do in other places! all the drivers fought shy of her, and in the end she disappeared. they said she was condemned, but i shouldn't wonder if the company changed her number quietly, and changed the luck at the same time. you see, the government inspector comes and looks at our stock now and again, and when an engine's condemned he puts his dhobi-mark on her, and she's broken up. well, no. 31 was condemned, but there was a whisper that they only shifted her number, and ran her out again. when the drivers didn't know, there were no accidents. i don't think we've got an unlucky one running now. some are different from others, but there are no man-eaters. yes, a driver of the mail _is_ somebody. he can make rs. 370 a month if he's a covenanted man. we get a lot of our drivers in the country, and we don't import from england as much as we did. 'stands to reason that, now there's more competition both among lines and in the labour market, the company can't afford to be as generous as it used to be. it doesn't cheat a man though. it's this way with the drivers. a native driver gets about rs. 20 a month, and in his way he's supposed to be good enough for branch work and shunting and such. well, an english driver'll get from rs. 80 to rs. 220, and overtime. the english driver knows what the native gets, and in time they tell the driver that the native'll improve. the driver has that to think of. you see? that's competition!" experience returns to the engine-sheds, now full of clamour, and enlarges on the beauties of sick locomotives. the fitters and the assistants and the apprentices are hammering and punching and gauging, and otherwise technically disporting themselves round their enormous patients, and their language, as caught in snatches, is beautifully unintelligible. but one flying sentence goes straight to the heart. it is the cry of humanity over the task of life, done into unrefined english. an apprentice, grimed to his eyebrows, his cloth cap well on the back of his curly head and his hands deep in his pockets, is sitting on the edge of a tool-box ruefully regarding the very much disorganised engine whose slave is he. a handsome boy, this apprentice, and well made. he whistles softly between his teeth, and his brow puckers. then he addresses the engine, half in expostulation and half in despair, "oh, you condemned old female dog!" he puts the sentence more crisply--much more crisply--and ignorance chuckles sympathetically. ignorance also is puzzled over these engines. chapter iii vulcan's forge. in the wilderness of the railway shops--and machinery that planes and shaves, and bevels and stamps, and punches and hoists and nips--the first idea that occurs to an outsider, when he has seen the men who people the place, is that it must be the birthplace of inventions--a pasture-ground of fat patents. if a writing-man, who plays with shadows and dresses dolls that others may laugh at their antics, draws help and comfort and new methods of working old ideas from the stored shelves of a library, how, in the name of commonsense, his god, can a doing-man, whose mind is set upon things that snatch a few moments from flying time or put power into weak hands, refrain from going forward and adding new inventions to the hundreds among which he daily moves? appealed to on this subject, experience, who had served the e. i. r. loyally for many years, held his peace. "we don't go in much for patents; but," he added, with a praiseworthy attempt to turn the conversation, "we can build you any mortal thing you like. we've got the _bradford leslie_ steamer for the sahibgunge ferry. come and see the brass-work for her bows. it's in the casting-shed." it would have been cruel to have pressed experience further, and ignorance, to foredate matters a little, went about to discover why experience shied off this question, and why the men of jamalpur had not each and all invented and patented something. he won his information in the end, but did not come from jamalpur. _that_ must be clearly understood. it was found anywhere you please between howrah and hoti mardan; and here it is that all the world may admire a prudent and far-sighted board of directors. once upon a time, as every one in the profession knows, two men invented the d. and o. sleeper--cast iron, of five pieces, very serviceable. the men were in the company's employ, and their masters said: "your brains are ours. hand us over those sleepers." being of pay and position, d. and o. made some sort of resistance and got a royalty or a bonus. at any rate, the company had to pay for its sleepers. but thereafter, and the condition exists to this day, they caused it to be written in each servant's covenant, that if by chance he invented aught, his invention was to belong to the company. providence has mercifully arranged that no man or syndicate of men can buy the "holy spirit of man" outright without suffering in some way or another just as much as the purchase. america fully, and germany in part, recognises this law. the e. i. railway's breach of it is thoroughly english. they say, or it is said of them that they say, "we are afraid of our men, who belong to us, wasting their time on trying to invent." is it wholly impossible, then, for men of mechanical experience and large sympathies to check the mere patent-hunter and bring forward the man with an idea? is there no supervision in the "shops," or have the men who play tennis and billiards at the institute not a minute which they can rightly call their very own? would it ruin the richest company in india to lend their model-shop and their lathes to half a dozen, or, for the matter of that, half a hundred, abortive experiments? a massachusetts organ factory, a racine buggy shop, an oregon lumber-yard, would laugh at the notion. an american toy-maker might swindle an employé after the invention, but he would in his own interests help the man to "see what comes of the thing." surely a wealthy, a powerful and, as all jamalpur bears witness, a considerate company might cut that clause out of the covenant and await the issue. there would be quite enough jealousy between man and man, grade and grade, to keep down all but the keenest souls; and, with due respect to the steam-hammer and the rolling-mill, we have not yet made machinery perfect. the "shops" are not likely to spawn unmanageable stephensons or grasping brunels; but in the minor turns of mechanical thought that find concrete expressions in links, axle-boxes, joint packings, valves, and spring-stirrups something might--something would--be done were the practical prohibition removed. will a north countryman give you anything but warm hospitality for nothing? or if you claim from him overtime service as a right, will he work zealously? "onything but t' brass," is his motto, and his ideas are his "brass." gentlemen in authority, if this should meet your august eyes, spare it a minute's thought, and, clearing away the floridity, get to the heart of the mistake and see if it cannot be rationally put right. above all, remember that jamalpur supplied no information. it was as mute as an oyster. there is no one within your jurisdiction to--ahem--"drop upon." let us, after this excursion into the offices, return to the shops and only ask experience such questions as he can without disloyalty answer. "we used once," says he, leading to the foundry, "to sell our old rails and import new ones. even when we used 'em for roof beams and so on, we had more than we knew what to do with. now we have got rolling-mills, and we use the rails to make tie-bars for the d. and o. sleepers and all sorts of things. we turn out five hundred d. and o. sleepers a day. altogether, we use about seventy-five tons of our own iron a month here. iron in calcutta costs about five-eight a hundredweight; ours costs between three-four and three-eight, and on that item alone we save three thousand a month. don't ask me how many miles of rails we own. there are fifteen hundred miles of line, and you can make your own calculation. all those things like babies' graves, down in that shed, are the moulds for the d. and o. sleepers. we test them by dropping three hundredweight and three hundred quarters of iron on top of them from a height of seven feet, or eleven sometimes. they don't often smash. we have a notion here that our iron is as good as the home stuff." a sleek, white, and brindled pariah thrusts himself into the conversation. his house appears to be on the warm ashes of the bolt-maker. this is a horrible machine, which chews red-hot iron bars and spits them out perfect bolts. its manners are disgusting, and it gobbles over its food. "hi, jack!" says experience, stroking the interloper, "you've been trying to break your leg again. that's the dog of the works. at least he makes believe that the works belong to him. he'll follow any one of us about the shops as far as the gate, but never a step further. you can see he's in first-class condition. the boys give him his ticket, and, one of these days, he'll try to get on to the company's books as a regular worker. he's too clever to live." jack heads the procession as far as the walls of the rolling-shed and then returns to his machinery room. he waddles with fatness and despises strangers. "how would you like to be hot-potted there?" says experience, who has read and who is enthusiastic over _she_, as he points to the great furnaces whence the slag is being dragged out by hooks. "here is the old material going into the furnace in that big iron bucket. look at the scraps of iron. there's an old d. and o. sleeper, there's a lot of clips from a cylinder, there's a lot of snipped-up rails, there's a driving-wheel block, there's an old hook, and a sprinkling of boiler-plates and rivets." the bucket is tipped into the furnace with a thunderous roar and the slag below pours forth more quickly. "an engine," says experience, reflectively, "can run over herself so to say. after she's broken up she is made into sleepers for the line. you'll see how she's broken up later." a few paces further on, semi-nude demons are capering over strips of glowing hot iron which are put into a mill as rails and emerge as thin, shapely tie-bars. the natives wear rough sandals and some pretence of aprons, but the greater part of them is "all face." "as i said before," says experience, "a native's cuteness when he's working on ticket is something startling. beyond occasionally hanging on to a red-hot bar too long and so letting their pincers be drawn through the mills, these men take precious good care not to go wrong. our machinery is fenced and guard-railed as much as possible, and these men don't get caught up by the belting. in the first place, they're careful--the father warns the son and so on--and in the second, there's nothing about 'em for the belting to catch on unless the man shoves his hand in. oh, a native's no fool! he knows that it doesn't do to be foolish when he's dealing with a crane or a driving-wheel. you're looking at all those chopped rails? we make our iron as they blend baccy. we mix up all sorts to get the required quality. those rails have just been chopped by this tobacco-cutter thing." experience bends down and sets a vicious-looking, parrot-headed beam to work. there is a quiver--a snap--and a dull smash and a heavy rail is nipped in two like a stick of barley-sugar. elsewhere, a bull-nosed hydraulic cutter is rail-cutting as if it enjoyed the fun. in another shed stand the steam-hammers; the unemployed ones murmuring and muttering to themselves, as is the uncanny custom of all steam-souled machinery. experience, with his hand on a long lever, makes one of the monsters perform: and though ignorance knows that a man designed and men do continually build steam-hammers, the effect is as though experience were maddening a chained beast. the massive block slides down the guides, only to pause hungrily an inch above the anvil, or restlessly throb through a foot and a half of space, each motion being controlled by an almost imperceptible handling of the levers. "when these things are newly overhauled, you can regulate your blow to within an eighth of an inch," says experience. "we had a foreman here once who could work 'em beautifully. he had the touch. one day a visitor, no end of a swell in a tall, white hat, came round the works, and our foreman borrowed the hat and brought the hammer down just enough to press the nap and no more. 'how wonderful!' said the visitor, putting his hand carelessly upon this lever rod here." experience suits the action to the word and the hammer thunders on the anvil. "well, you can guess for yourself. next minute there wasn't enough left of that tall, white hat to make a postage-stamp of. steam-hammers aren't things to play with. now we'll go over to the stores ..." whatever apparent disorder there might have been in the works, the store department is as clean as a new pin, and stupefying in its naval order. copper plates, bar, angle, and rod iron, duplicate cranks and slide bars, the piston rods of the _bradford leslie_ steamer, engine grease, files, and hammer-heads--every conceivable article, from leather laces of beltings to head-lamps, necessary for the due and proper working of a long line, is stocked, stacked, piled, and put away in appropriate compartments. in the midst of it all, neck deep in ledgers and indent forms, stands the many-handed babu, the steam of the engine whose power extends from howrah to ghaziabad. the company does everything, and knows everything. the gallant apprentice may be a wild youth with an earnest desire to go occasionally "upon the bend." but three times a week, between 7 and 8 p.m., he must attend the night-school and sit at the feet of m. bonnaud, who teaches him mechanics and statics so thoroughly that even the awful government inspector is pleased. and when there is no night-school the company will by no means wash its hands of its men out of working-hours. no man can be violently restrained from going to the bad if he insists upon it, but in the service of the company a man has every warning; his escapades are known, and a judiciously arranged transfer sometimes keeps a good fellow clear of the down-grade. no one can flatter himself that in the multitude he is overlooked, or believe that between 4 p.m. and 9 a.m. he is at liberty to misdemean himself. sooner or later, but generally sooner, his goings-on are known, and he is reminded that "britons never shall be slaves"--to things that destroy good work as well as souls. maybe the company acts only in its own interest, but the result is good. best and prettiest of the many good and pretty things in jamalpur is the institute of a saturday when the volunteer band is playing and the tennis courts are full and the babydom of jamalpur--fat, sturdy children--frolic round the band-stand. the people dance--but big as the institute is, it is getting too small for their dances--they act, they play billiards, they study their newspapers, they play cards and everything else, and they flirt in a sumptuous building, and in the hot weather the gallant apprentice ducks his friend in the big swimming-bath. decidedly the railway folk make their lives pleasant. let us go down southward to the big giridih collieries and see the coal that feeds the furnace that smelts the iron that makes the sleeper that bears the loco. that pulls the carriage that holds the freight that comes from the country that is made richer by the great company badahur, the east indian railway. the giridih coal-fields chapter i on the surface. southward, always southward and easterly, runs the calcutta mail from luckeeserai, till she reaches madapur in the sonthal parganas. from madapur a train, largely made up of coal-trucks, heads westward into the hazaribagh district and toward giridih. a week would not have exhausted "jamalpur and its environs," as the guide-books say. but since time drives and man must e'en be driven, the weird, echoing bund in the hills above jamalpur, where the owls hoot at night and hyenas come down to laugh over the grave of "quilem roberts, who died from the effects of an encounter with a tiger near this place, a.d. 1864," goes undescribed. nor is it possible to deal with monghyr, the headquarters of the district, where one sees for the first time the age of old bengal in the sleepy, creepy station, built in a time-eaten fort, which runs out into the ganges, and is full of quaint houses, with fat-legged balustrades on the roofs. pensioners certainly, and probably a score of ghosts, live in monghyr. all the country seems haunted. is there not at pir bahar a lonely house on a bluff, the grave of a young lady, who, thirty years ago, rode her horse down the cliff and perished? has not monghyr a haunted house in which tradition says sceptics have seen much more than they could account for? and is it not notorious throughout the countryside that the seven miles of road between jamalpur and monghyr are nightly paraded by tramping battalions of spectres, phantoms of an old-time army massacred, who knows how long ago? the common voice attests all these things, and an eerie cemetery packed with blackened, lichened, candle-extinguisher tomb-stones persuades the listener to believe all that he hears. bengal is second--or third is it?--in order of seniority among the provinces, and like an old nurse, she tells many witch-tales. but ghosts have nothing to do with collieries, and that ever-present "company," the e. i. r., has more or less made giridih--principally more. "before the e. i. r. came," say the people, "we had one meal a day. now we have two." stomachs do not tell fibs, whatever mouths may say. that "company," in the course of business, throws about five lakhs a year into the hazaribagh district in the form of wages alone, and giridih bazaar has to supply the wants of twelve thousand men, women, and children. but we have now the authority of a number of high-souled and intelligent native prints that the sahib of all grades spends his time in "sucking the blood out of the country," and "flying to england to spend his ill-gotten gains." giridih is perfectly mad--quite insane! geologically, "the country is in the metamorphic higher grounds that rise out of the alluvial flats of lower bengal between the osri and the barakar rivers." translated, this sentence means that you can twist your ankle on pieces of pure white, pinky, and yellowish granite, slip over weather-worn sandstone, grievously cut your boots over flakes of trap, and throw hornblende pebbles at the dogs. never was such a place for stone-throwing as giridih. the general aspect of the country is falsely park-like, because it swells and sinks in a score of grass-covered undulations, and is adorned with plantation-like jungle. there are low hills on every side, and twelve miles away bearing south the blue bulk of the holy hill of parasnath, greatest of the jain tirthankars, overlooks the world. in bengal they consider four thousand five hundred feet good enough for a dagshai or kasauli, and once upon a time they tried to put troops on parasnath. there was a scarcity of water, and thomas of those days found the silence and seclusion prey upon his spirits. since twenty years, therefore, parasnath has been abandoned by her majesty's army. as to giridih itself, the last few miles of train bring up the reek of the "black country." memory depends on smell. a noseless man is devoid of sentiment, just as a noseless woman, in this country, must be devoid of honour. that first breath of the coal should be the breath of the murky, clouded tract between yeadon and dale--or barnsley, rough and hospitable barnsley--or dewsbury and batley and the derby canal on a sunday afternoon when the wheels are still and the young men and maidens walk stolidly in pairs. unfortunately, it is nothing more than giridih--seven thousand miles away from home and blessed with a warm and genial sunshine, soon to turn into something very much worse. the insanity of the place is visible at the station door. a g. b. t. cart once married a bathing-machine, and they called the child _tum-tum_. you who in flannel and cawnpore harness drive bamboo-carts about up-country roads, remember that a giridih _tum-tum_ is painfully pushed by four men, and must be entered crawling on all-fours, head first. so strange are the ways of bengal! they drive mad horses in giridih--animals that become hysterical as soon as the dusk falls and the countryside blazes with the fires of the great coke ovens. if you expostulate tearfully, they produce another horse, a raw, red fiend whose ear has to be screwed round and round, and round and round, before she will by any manner of means consent to start. the roads carry neat little eighteen-inch trenches at their sides, admirably adapted to hold the flying wheel. skirling about this savage land in the dark, the white population beguile the time by rapturously recounting past accidents, insisting throughout on the super-equine "steadiness" of their cattle. deep and broad and wide is their jovial hospitality; but somebody--the tirhoot planters for choice--ought to start a mission to teach the men of giridih what to drive. they know _how_, or they would be severally and separately and many times dead, but they do not, they do not indeed, know that animals who stand on one hind leg and beckon with all the rest, or try to pigstick in harness, are not trap-horses worthy of endearing names, but things to be pole-axed. their feelings are hurt when you say this. "sit tight," say the men of giridih; "we're insured! we can't be hurt." and now with grey hairs, dry mouth, and chattering teeth to the collieries. the e. i. r. estate, bought or leased in perpetuity from the serampore raja, may be about four miles long and between one and two miles across. it is in two pieces, the serampore field being separated from the karharbari (or kurhurballi or kabarbari) field by the property of the bengal coal company. the raneegunge coal association lies to the east of all other workings. so we have three companies at work on about eleven square miles of land. there is no such thing as getting a full view of the whole place. a short walk over a grassy down gives on to an outcrop of very dirty sandstone, which in the excessive innocence of his heart the visitor naturally takes to be the coal lying neatly on the surface. up to this sandstone the path seems to be made of crushed sugar, so white and shiny is the quartz. over the brow of the down comes in sight the old familiar pit-head wheel, spinning for the dear life, and the eye loses itself in a maze of pumping sheds, red-tiled, mud-walled miners' huts, dotted all over the landscape, and railway lines that run on every kind of gradient. there are lines that dip into valleys and disappear round the shoulders of slopes, and lines that career on the tops of rises and disappear over the brow of the slopes. along these lines whistle and pant metre-gauge engines, some with trucks at their tail, and others rattling back to the pit-bank with the absurd air of a boy late for school that an unemployed engine always assumes. there are six engines in all, and as it is easiest to walk along the lines one sees a good deal of them. they bear not altogether unfamiliar names. here, for instance, passes the "cockburn" whistling down a grade with thirty tons of coal at her heels; while the "whitly" and the "olpherts" are waiting for their complement of trucks. now a mr. t. f. cockburn was superintendent of these mines nearly thirty years ago, in the days before the chord-lines from kanu to luckeeserai were built, and all the coal was carted to the latter place; and surely mr. olpherts was an engineer who helped to think out a new sleeper. what may these things mean? "apotheosis of the manager," is the reply. "christen the engines after the managers. you'll find cockburn, dunn, whitly, abbott, olpherts, and saise, knocking about the place. sounds funny, doesn't it? doesn't sound so funny, when one of these idiots does his best to derail saise, though, by putting a line down anyhow. look at that line! laid out in knots--by jove!" to the unprofessional eye the rails seem all correct; but there must be something wrong, because "one of those idiots" is asked why in the name of all he considers sacred he does not ram the ballast properly. "what would happen if you threw an engine off the line?" "can't say that i know exactly. you see, our business is to keep them _on_, and we do that. here's rather a curiosity. you see that pointsman! they say he's an old mutineer, and when he relaxes he boasts of the sahibs he has killed. he's glad enough to eat the company's salt now." such a withered old face was the face of the pointsman at no. 11 point! the information suggested a host of questions, and the answers were these: "you won't be able to understand till you've been down into a mine. we work our men in two ways: some by direct payment--under our own hand, and some by contractors. the contractor undertakes to deliver us the coal, supplying his own men, tools, and props. he's responsible for the safety of his men, and of course the company knows and sees his work. just fancy, among these five thousand people, what sort of effect the news of an accident would produce! it would go all through the sonthal parganas. we have any amount of sonthals besides mahometans and hindus of every possible caste, down to those musahers who eat pig. they don't require much administering in the civilian sense of the word. on sundays, as a rule, if any man has had his daughter eloped with, or anything of that kind, he generally comes up to the manager's bungalow to get the matter put straight. if a man is disabled through accident he knows that as long as he's in the hospital he gets full wages, and the company pays for the food of any of his women-folk who come to look after him. _one_, of course; not the whole clan. that makes our service popular with the people. don't you believe that a native is a fool. you can train him to everything except responsibility. there's a rule in the workings that if there is any dangerous work--we haven't choke-damp; i will show you when we get down--no gang must work without an englishman to look after them. a native wouldn't be wise enough to understand what the danger was, or where it came in. even if he did, he'd shirk the responsibility. we can't afford to risk a single life. all our output is just as much as the company want--about a thousand tons per working day. three hundred thousand in the year. we could turn out more? yes--a little. well, yes, twice as much. i won't go on, because you wouldn't believe me. there's the coal under us, and we work it at any depth from following up an outcrop down to six hundred feet. that is our deepest shaft. we have no necessity to go deeper. at home the mines are sometimes fifteen hundred feet down. well, the thickness of this coal here varies from anything you please to anything you please. there's enough of it to last your time and one or two hundred years longer. perhaps even longer than that. look at that stuff. that's big coal from the pit." it was aristocratic-looking coal, just like the picked lumps that are stacked in baskets of coal agencies at home with the printed legend atop "only 23_s_ a ton." but there was no picking in this case. the great piled banks were all "equal to sample," and beyond them lay piles of small, broken, "smithy" coal. "the company doesn't sell to the public. this small, broken coal is an exception. that is sold, but the big stuff is for the engines and the shops. it doesn't cost much to get out, as you say; but our men can earn as much as twelve rupees a month. very often when they've earned enough to go on with they retire from the concern till they've spent their money and then come on again. it's piece-work and they are improvident. if some of them only lived like other natives they would have enough to buy land and cows with. when there's a press of work they make a good deal by overtime, but they don't seem to keep it. you should see giridih bazaar on a sunday if you want to know where the money goes. about ten thousand rupees change hands once a week there. if you want to get at the number of people who are indirectly dependent or profit by the e. i. r. you'll have to conduct a census of your own. after sunday is over the men generally lie off on monday and take it easy on tuesday. then they work hard for the next four days and make it up. of course there's nothing in the wide world to prevent a man from resigning and going away to wherever he came from--behind those hills if he's a sonthal. he loses his employment, that's all. but they have their own point of honour. a man hates to be told by his friends that he has been guilty of shirking. and now we'll go to breakfast. you shall be 'pitted' to-morrow to any depth you like." chapter ii in the depths. "pitted to any extent you please." the only difficulty was for joseph to choose his pit. giridih was full of them. there was an arch in the side of a little hill, a blackened brick arch leading into thick night. a stationary engine was hauling a procession of coal-laden trucks--"tubs" is the technical word--out of its depths. the tubs were neither pretty nor clean. "we are going down in those when they are emptied. put on your helmet and _keep_ it on, and keep your head down." there is nothing mirth-provoking in going down a coal-mine--even though it be only a shallow incline running to one hundred and forty feet vertical below the earth. "get into the tub and lie down. hang it, no! this is not a railway carriage: you can't see the country out of the windows. lie _down_ in the dust and don't lift your head. let her go!" the tubs strain on the wire rope and slide down fourteen hundred feet of incline, at first through a chastened gloom, and then through darkness. an absurd sentence from a trial report rings in the head: "about this time prisoner expressed a desire for the consolations of religion." a hand with a reeking flare-lamp hangs over the edge of the tub, and there is a glimpse of a blackened hat near it, for those accustomed to the pits have a merry trick of going down sitting or crouching on the coupling of the rear tub. the noise is deafening, and the roof is very close indeed. the tubs bump, and the occupant crouches lovingly in the coal dust. what would happen if the train went off the line? the desire for the "consolations of religion" grows keener and keener as the air grows closer and closer. the tubs stop in darkness spangled by the light of the flare-lamps which many black devils carry. underneath and on both sides is the greasy blackness of the coal, and, above, a roof of grey sandstone, smooth as the flow of a river at evening. "now, remember that if you don't keep your hat on, you'll get your head broken, because you will forget to stoop. if you hear any tubs coming up behind you step off to one side. there's a tramway under your feet: be careful not to trip over it." the miner has a gait as peculiarly his own as tommy's measured pace or the bluejacket's roll. big men who slouch in the light of day become almost things of beauty underground. their foot is on their native heather; and the slouch is a very necessary act of homage to the great earth, which if a man observe not, he shall without doubt have his hat--bless the man who invented pith hats!--grievously cut. the road turns and winds and the roof becomes lower, but those accursed tubs still rattle by on the tramways. the roof throws back their noises, and when all the place is full of a grumbling and a growling, how under earth is one to know whence danger will turn up next? the air brings to the unacclimatised a singing in the ears, a hotness of the eyeballs, and a jumping of the heart. "that's because the pressure here is different from the pressure up above. it'll wear off in a minute. _we_ don't notice it. wait till you get down a four-hundred-foot pit. _then_ your ears will begin to sing, if you like." most people know the one night of each hot weather--that still, clouded night just before the rains break, when there seems to be no more breathable air under the bowl of the pitiless skies, and all the weight of the silent, dark house lies on the chest of the sleep-hunter. this is the feeling in a coal-mine--only more so--much more so, for the darkness is the "gross darkness of the inner sepulchre." it is hard to see which is the black coal and which the passage driven through it. from far away, down the side galleries, comes the regular beat of the pick--thick and muffled as the beat of the labouring heart. "six men to a gang, and they aren't allowed to work alone. they make six-foot drives through the coal--two and sometimes three men working together. the rest clear away the stuff and load it into the tubs. we have no props in this gallery because we have a roof as good as a ceiling. the coal lies under the sandstone here. it's beautiful sandstone." it _was_ beautiful sandstone--as hard as a billiard table and devoid of any nasty little bumps and jags. there was a roaring down one road--the roaring of infernal fires. this is not a pleasant thing to hear in the dark. it is too suggestive. "that's our ventilating shaft. can't you feel the air getting brisker? come and look." imagine a great iron-bound crate of burning coal, hanging over a gulf of darkness faintly showing the brickwork of the base of a chimney. "we're at the bottom of the shaft. that fire makes a draught that sucks up the foul air from the bottom of the pit. there's another down-draw shaft in another part of the mine where the clean air comes in. we aren't going to set the mines on fire. there's an earth and brick floor at the bottom of the pit; the crate hangs over. it isn't so deep as you think." then a devil--a naked devil--came in with a pitchfork and fed the spouting flames. this was perfectly in keeping with the landscape. more trucks, more muffled noises, more darkness made visible, and more devils--male and female--coming out of darkness and vanishing. then a picture to be remembered. a great hall of eblis, twenty feet from inky-black floor to grey roof, upheld by huge pillars of shining coal, and filled with flitting and passing devils. on a shattered pillar near the roof stood a naked man, his flesh olive-coloured in the light of the lamps, hewing down a mass of coal that still clove to the roof. behind him was the wall of darkness, and when the lamps shifted he disappeared like a ghost. the devils were shouting directions, and the man howled in reply, resting on his pick and wiping the sweat from his brow. when he smote the coal crushed and slid and rumbled from the darkness into the darkness, and the devils cried _shabash!_ the man stood erect like a bronze statue, he twisted and bent himself like a japanese grotesque, and anon threw himself on his side after the manner of the dying gladiator. then spoke the still small voice of fact: "a first-class workman if he would only stick to it. but as soon as he makes a little money he lies off and spends it. that's the last of a pillar that we've knocked out. see here. these pillars of coal are square, about thirty feet each way. as you can see, we make the pillar first by cutting out all the coal between. then we drive two square tunnels, about seven feet wide, through and across the pillar, propping it with balks. there's one fresh cut." two tunnels crossing at right angles had been driven through a pillar which in its under-cut condition seemed like the rough draft of a statue for an elephant. "when the pillar stands only on four legs we chip away one leg at a time from a square to an hour-glass shape, and then either the whole of the pillar crashes down from the roof or else a quarter or a half. if the coal lies against the sandstones it carries away clear, but in some places it brings down stone and rubbish with it. the chipped-away legs of the pillars are called stooks." "who has to make the last cut that breaks a leg through?" "oh! englishmen of sorts. we can't trust natives for the job unless it's very easy. the natives take kindly to the pillar-work though. they are paid just as much for their coal as though they had hewed it out of the solid. of course we take very good care to see that the roof doesn't come in on us. you would never understand how and why we prop our roofs with those piles of sleepers. anyway, you can see that we cannot take out a whole line of pillars. we work 'em _en echelon_, and those big beams you see running from floor to roof are our indicators. they show when the roof is going to give. oh! dear no, there's no dramatic effect about it. no splash, you know. our roofs give plenty of warning by cracking and then collapse slowly. the parts of the work that we have cleared out and allowed to fall in are called goafs. you're on the edge of a goaf now. all that darkness there marks the limit of the mine. we have worked that out piece-meal, and the props are gone and the place is down. the roof of any pillar-working is tested every morning by tapping--pretty hard tapping." "hi yi! yi!" shout all the devils in chorus, and the hall of eblis is full of rolling sound. the olive man has brought down an avalanche of coal. "it is a sight to see the whole of one of the pillars come away. they make an awful noise. it would startle you out of your wits. but there's not an atom of risk." ("not an atom of risk." oh, genial and courteous host, when you turned up next day blacker than any sweep that ever swept, with a neat, half-inch gash on your forehead--won by cutting a "stook" and getting caught by a bounding coal-knob--how long and earnestly did you endeavour to show that "stook-cutting" was an employment as harmless and unexciting as wool-samplering!) "our ways are rather primitive, but they're cheap, and safe as houses. doms and bauris, kols and beldars, don't understand refinements in mining. they'd startle an english pit where there was fire-damp. do you know it's a solemn fact that if you drop a davy lamp or snatch it quickly you can blow a whole english pit inside out with all the miners? good for us that we don't know what fire-damp is here. we can use flare-lamps." after the first feeling of awe and wonder is worn out, a mine becomes monotonous. there is only the humming, palpitating darkness, the rumble of the tubs, and the endless procession of galleries to arrest the attention. and one pit to the uninitiated is as like to another as two peas. tell a miner this and he laughs--slowly and softly. to him the pits have each distinct personalities, and each must be dealt with differently. chapter iii the perils of the pits. an engineer, who has built a bridge, can strike you nearly dead with professional facts; the captain of a seventy-horse-power ganges river-steamer can, in one hour, tell legends of the sandheads and the james and mary shoal sufficient to fill half a _pioneer_, but a couple of days spent on, above, and in a coal-mine yields more mixed information than two engineers and three captains. it is hopeless to pretend to understand it all. when your host says, "ah, such an one is a thundering good fault-reader!" you smile hazily, and by way of keeping up the conversation, adventure on the statement that fault-reading and palmistry are very popular amusements. then men explain. every one knows that coal-strata, in common with women, horses, and official superiors, have "faults" caused by some colic of the earth in the days when things were settling into their places. a coal-seam is suddenly sliced off as a pencil is cut through with one slanting blow of the penknife, and one-half is either pushed up or pushed down any number of feet. the miners work the seam till they come to this break-off, and then call for an expert to "read the fault." it is sometimes very hard to discover whether the sliced-off seam has gone up or down. theoretically, the end of the broken piece should show the direction. practically its indications are not always clear. then a good "fault-reader," who must more than know geology, is a useful man, and is much prized; for the giridih fields are full of faults and "dykes." tongues of what was once molten lava thrust themselves sheer into the coal, and the disgusted miner finds that for about twenty feet on each side of the tongue all coal has been burnt away. the head of the mine is supposed to foresee these things and more. he can tell you, without looking at the map, what is the geological formation of any thousand square miles of india; he knows as much about brickwork and the building of houses, arches, and shafts as an average p. w. d. man; he has not only to know the intestines of a pumping or winding engine, but must be able to take them to pieces with his own hands, indicate on the spot such parts as need repair, and make drawings of anything that requires renewal; he knows how to lay out and build railways with a grade of one in twenty-seven; he has to carry, in his head all the signals and points between and over which his locomotive engines work; he must be an electrician capable of controlling the apparatus that fires the dynamite charges in the pits, and must thoroughly understand boring operations with thousand-foot drills. he must know by name, at least, one thousand of the men on the works, and must fluently speak the vernaculars of the low castes. if he has sonthali, which is more elaborate than greek, so much the better for him. he must know how to handle men of all grades, and, while holding himself aloof, must possess sufficient grip of the men's private lives to be able to see at once the merits of a charge of attempted abduction preferred by a clucking, croaking kol against a fluent english-speaking brahmin. for he is literally the light of justice, and to him the injured husband and the wrathful father look for redress. he must be on the spot and take all responsibility when any specially risky job is under way in the pit, and he can claim no single hour of the day or the night for his own. from eight in the morning till one in the afternoon he is coated with coal-dust and oil. from one till eight in the evening he has office work. after eight o'clock he is free to attend to anything that he may be wanted for. this is a soberly drawn picture of a life that sahibs on the mines actually enjoy. they are spared all private socio-official worry, for the company, in its mixture of state and private interest, is as perfectly cold-blooded and devoid of bias as any great department of the empire. if certain things be done, well and good. if certain things be not done the defaulter goes, and his place is filled by another. the conditions of service are graven on stone. there may be generosity; there undoubtedly is justice, but above all, there is freedom within broad limits. no irrepressible shareholder cripples the executive arm with suggestions and restrictions, and no private piques turn men's blood to gall within them. they work like horses and are happy. when he can snatch a free hour, the grimy, sweating, cardigan-jacketed, ammunition-booted, pick-bearing ruffian turns into a well-kept english gentleman, who plays a good game of billiards, and has a batch of new books from england every week. the change is sudden, but in giridih nothing is startling. it is right and natural that a man should be alternately valentine and orson, specially orson. it is right and natural to drive--always behind a mad horse--away and away towards the lonely hills till the flaming coke ovens become glow-worms on the dark horizon, and in the wilderness to find a lovely english maiden teaching squat, filthy sonthal girls how to become christians. nothing is strange in giridih, and the stories of the pits, the raffle of conversation that a man picks up as he passes, are quite in keeping with the place. thanks to the law, which enacts that an englishman must look after the native miners, and if any one be killed must explain satisfactorily that the accident was not due to preventable causes, the death-roll is kept astoundingly low. in one "bad" half-year, six men out of the five thousand were killed, in another four, and in another none at all. as has been said before, a big accident would scare off the workers, for, in spite of the age of the mines--nearly thirty years--the hereditary pitman has not yet been evolved. but to small accidents the men are orientally apathetic. read of a death among the five thousand:-a gang has been ordered to cut clay for the luting of the coke furnaces. the clay is piled in a huge bank in the open sunlight. a coolie hacks and hacks till he has hewn out a small cave with twenty foot of clay above him. why should he trouble to climb up the bank and bring down the eave of the cave? it is easier to cut in. the sirdar of the gang is watching round the shoulder of the bank. the coolie cuts lazily as he stands. sunday is very near, and he will get gloriously drunk in giridih bazaar with his week's earnings. he digs his own grave stroke by stroke, for he has not sense enough to see that undercut clay is dangerous. he is a sonthal from the hills. there is a smash and a dull thud, and his grave has shut down upon him in an avalanche of heavy-caked clay. the sirdar calls to the babu of the ovens, and with the promptitude of his race the babu loses his head. he runs puffily, without giving orders, anywhere, everywhere. finally he runs to the sahib's house. the sahib is at the other end of the collieries. he runs back. the sahib has gone home to wash. then his indiscretion strikes him. he should have sent runners--fleet-footed boys from the coal-screening gangs. he sends them and they fly. one catches the sahib just changed after his bath. "there is a man dead at such a place"--he gasps, omitting to say whether it is a surface or a pit accident. on goes the grimy pit-kit, and in three minutes the sahib's dogcart is flying to the place indicated. they have dug out the sonthal. his head is smashed in, spine and breastbone are broken, and the gang-sirdar, bowing double, throws the blame of the accident on the poor, shapeless, battered dead. "i had warned him, but he would not listen! _twice_ i warned him! these men are witnesses." the babu is shaking like a jelly. "oh, sar, i have never seen a man killed before! look at that eye, sar! i should have sent runners. i ran everywhere! i ran to your house. you were not in. i was running for hours. it was not my fault! it was the fault of the gang-sirdar." he wrings his hands and gurgles. the best of accountants, but the poorest of coroners is he. no need to ask how the accident happened. no need to listen to the sirdar and his "witnesses." the sonthal had been a fool, but it was the sirdar's business to protect him against his own folly. "has he any people here?" "yes, his _rukni_,--his kept-woman,--and his sister's brother-in-law. his home is far-off." the sister's brother-in-law breaks through the crowd howling for vengeance on the sirdar. he will send for the police, he will have the price of his brother's blood full tale. the windmill arms and the angry eyes fall, for the sahib is making the report of the death. "will the government give me _pensin_? i am his wife," a woman clamours, stamping her pewter-ankleted feet. "he was killed in your service. where is his _pensin_? i am his wife." "you lie! you're his _rukni_. keep quiet! go! the pension comes to _us_." the sister's brother-in-law is not a refined man, but the _rukni_ is his match. they are silenced. the sahib takes the report, and the body is borne away. before to-morrow's sun rises the gang-sirdar may find himself a simple "surface-coolie," earning nine _pice_ a day; and in a week some sonthal woman behind the hills may discover that she is entitled to draw monthly great wealth from the coffers of the sirkar. but this will not happen if the sister's brother-in-law can prevent it. he goes off swearing at the _rukni_. in the meantime, what have the rest of the dead man's gang been doing? they have, if you please, abating not one stroke, dug out all the clay, and would have it verified. they have seen their comrade die. he is dead. _bus!_[17] will the sirdar take the tale of clay? and yet, were twenty men to be crushed by their own carelessness in the pit, these same impassive workers would scatter like panic-stricken horses. [17] enough. turning from this sketch, let us set in order a few stories of the pits. in some of the mines the coal is blasted out by the dynamite which is fired by electricity from a battery on the surface. two men place the charges, and then signal to be drawn up in the cage which hangs in the pit-eye. once two natives were intrusted with the job. they performed their parts beautifully till the end, when the vaster idiot of the two scrambled into the cage, gave signal, and was hauled up before his friend could follow. thirty or forty yards up the shaft all possible danger for those in the cage was over, and the charge was accordingly exploded. then it occurred to the man in the cage that his friend stood a very good chance of being, by this time, riven to pieces and choked. but the friend was wise in his generation. he had missed the cage, but found a coal-tub--one of the little iron trucks--and turning this upside down, crawled into it. when the charge went off, his shelter was battered in so much, that men had to hack him out, for the tub had made, as it were, a tinned, sardine of its occupant. he was absolutely unhurt, but for his feelings. on reaching the pit-bank his first words were, "i do not desire to go down to the pit with _that_ man any more." his wish had been already gratified, for "that man" had fled. later on, the story goes, when "that man" found that the guilt of murder was not at his door, he returned, and was made a mere surface-coolie, and his brothers jeered at him as they passed to their better-paid occupation. occasionally there are mild cyclones in the pits. an old working, perhaps a mile away, will collapse: a whole gallery sinking bodily. then the displaced air rushes through the inhabited mine, and, to quote their own expression, blows the pitmen about "like dry leaves." few things are more amusing than the spectacle of a burly tyneside foreman who, failing to dodge round a corner in time, is "put down" by the wind, sitting-fashion, on a knobby lump of coal. but most impressive of all is a tale they tell of a fire in a pit many years ago. the coal caught light. they had to send earth and bricks down the shaft and build great dams across the galleries to choke the fire. imagine the scene, a few hundred feet underground, with the air growing hotter and hotter each moment, and the carbonic acid gas trickling through the dams. after a time the rough dams gaped, and the gas poured in afresh, and the englishmen went down and leeped the cracks between roof and dam-sill with anything they could get. coolies fainted, and had to be taken away, but no one died, and behind the first dams they built great masonry ones, and bested that fire; though for a long time afterwards, whenever they pumped water into it, the steam would puff out from crevices in the ground above. it is a queer life that they lead, these men of the coal-fields, and a "big" life to boot. to describe one-half of their labours would need a week at the least, and would be incomplete then. "if you want to see anything," they say, "you should go over to the baragunda copper-mines; you should look at the barakar ironworks; you should see our boring operations five miles away; you should see how we sink pits; you should, above all, see giridih bazaar on a sunday. why, you haven't seen anything. there's no end of a sonthal mission hereabouts. all the little dev--dears have gone on a picnic. wait till they come back, and see 'em learning to read." alas! one cannot wait. at the most one can but thrust an impertinent pen skin-deep into matters only properly understood by specialists. the country life press garden city, n. y. transcriber's notes use the phase to find the text referenced. page 290 rate will know what i mean. 'known' changed to 'know'. page 353 lanquer stands 'lanquer' may be 'lacquer'. unchanged. page 382 if they show the least disposition 'dispositon' changed to 'disposition'. page 393 door with _cloisonnée_ hinges, cloisonnée also spelled cloissonnée in this book. no change. part 2 page 74 jet of steam 'stream' changed to 'steam'. page 80 black-yellow, and pink pools 'link' changed to 'pink'. page 105 lord forgie us 'forgie' may be a form of dialect meaning 'forgive'. unchanged. page 114 the final book of mononi 'mononi' may be 'moroni'. unchanged. page 193 maidan also spelled maidân and maidàn. no change. page 231 pan also spelled pân. no change. page 292 seam has gone up or down. 'beam' changed to 'seam'. distributed proofreaders the travels of marco polo the complete yule-cordier edition [illustration: h. yule] including the unabridged third edition (1903) of henry yule's annotated translation, as revised by henri cordier; together with cordier's later volume of notes and addenda (1920) in two volumes volume i _containing the first volume of the 1903 edition_ dedication. to the memory of sir roderick i. murchison, bart., k.c.b., g.c.st.a., g.c.st.s., etc. the perfect friend who first brought henry yule and john murray together (he entered into rest, october 22nd, 1871,) and to that of his much loved niece, harriet isabella murchison, wife of kenneth robert murchison, d.l., j.p., (she entered into rest, august 9th, 1902,) under whose ever hospitable roof many of the proof sheets of this edition were read by me, i dedicate these volumes from the old murchison home, in thankful remembrance of all i owe to the abiding affection, sympathy, and example of both. taradale, amy frances yule. ross-shire, september 11th, 1902. scotland. * * * * ed è da noi sì strano, che quando ne ragiono i' non trovo nessuno, che l'abbia navicato, * * * * le parti del levante, là dove sono tante gemme di gran valute e di molta salute: e sono in quello giro balsamo, e ambra, e tiro, e lo pepe, e lo legno aloe, ch' è sì degno, e spigo, e cardamomo, giengiovo, e cennamomo; e altre molte spezie, ciascuna in sua spezie, e migliore, e più fina, e sana in medicina. appresso in questo loco mise in assetto loco li tigri, e li grifoni, leofanti, e leoni cammelli, e dragomene, badalischi, e gene, e pantere, e castoro, le formiche dell' oro, e tanti altri animali, ch' io non so ben dir quail, che son sì divisati, e sì dissomigliati di corpo e di fazione, di sì fera ragione, e di sì strana taglia, ch'io non credo san faglia, ch' alcun uomo vivente potesse veramente per lingua, o per scritture recitar le figure delle bestie, e gli uccelli.... --from _il tesoretto di ser brunetto latini_ (circa mdcclx.). (_florence_, 1824, pp. 83 seqq.) [illustration] [greek: ándra moi hénnepe, mousa, polýtropon, hòs mála pollà plágchthae . . . . . . . pollon d' anthrópon íden ástea kaì nóon égno]. _odyssey_, i. --"i am become a name; for always roaming with a hungry heart much have i seen and known; cities of men, and manners, climates, councils, governments, myself not least, but honoured of them all." tennyson. "a seder ci ponemmo ivi ambodui vôlti a levante, ond' eravam saliti; chè suole a riguardar giovare altrui." dante, _purgatory_, iv. [illustration: messer marco polo, with messer nicolo and messer maffeo, returned from xxvi years' sojourn in the orient, is denied entrance to the ca' polo. (see _int._ p. 4)] contents of vol. i. dedication note by miss yule preface to third edition preface to second edition original preface original dedication memoir of sir henry yule by amy frances yule, l.a.soc. ant. scot. a bibliography of sir henry yule's writings synopsis of contents explanatory list of illustrations to vol. i. introductory notices the book of marco polo. note by miss yule i desire to take this opportunity of recording my grateful sense of the unsparing labour, learning, and devotion, with which my father's valued friend, professor henri cordier, has performed the difficult and delicate task which i entrusted to his loyal friendship. apart from professor cordier's very special qualifications for the work, i feel sure that no other editor could have been more entirely acceptable to my father. i can give him no higher praise than to say that he has laboured in yule's own spirit. the slight memoir which i have contributed (for which i accept all responsibility), attempts no more than a rough sketch of my father's character and career, but it will, i hope, serve to recall pleasantly his remarkable individuality to the few remaining who knew him in his prime, whilst it may also afford some idea of the man, and his work and environment, to those who had not that advantage. no one can be more conscious than myself of its many shortcomings, which i will not attempt to excuse. i can, however, honestly say that these have not been due to negligence, but are rather the blemishes almost inseparable from the fulfilment under the gloom of bereavement and amidst the pressure of other duties, of a task undertaken in more favourable circumstances. nevertheless, in spite of all defects, i believe this sketch to be such a record as my father would himself have approved, and i know also that he would have chosen my hand to write it. in conclusion, i may note that the first edition of this work was dedicated to that very noble lady, the queen (then crown princess) margherita of italy. in the second edition the dedication was reproduced within brackets (as also the original preface), but not renewed. that precedent is again followed. i have, therefore, felt at liberty to associate the present edition of my father's work with the name murchison, which for more than a generation was the name most generally representative of british science in foreign lands, as of foreign science in britain. a. f. yule. preface to third edition little did i think, some thirty years ago, when i received a copy of the first edition of this grand work, that i should be one day entrusted with the difficult but glorious task of supervising the third edition. when the first edition of the _book of ser marco polo_ reached "far cathay," it created quite a stir in the small circle of the learned foreigners, who then resided there, and became a starting-point for many researches, of which the results have been made use of partly in the second edition, and partly in the present. the archimandrite palladius and dr. e. bretschneider, at peking, alex. wylie, at shang-hai--friends of mine who have, alas! passed away, with the exception of the right rev. bishop g. e. moule, of hang-chau, the only survivor of this little group of hard-working scholars,--were the first to explore the chinese sources of information which were to yield a rich harvest into their hands. when i returned home from china in 1876, i was introduced to colonel henry yule, at the india office, by our common friend, dr. reinhold rost, and from that time we met frequently and kept up a correspondence which terminated only with the life of the great geographer, whose friend i had become. a new edition of the travels of friar odoric of pordenone, our "mutual friend," in which yule had taken the greatest interest, was dedicated by me to his memory. i knew that yule contemplated a third edition of his _marco polo_, and all will regret that time was not allowed to him to complete this labour of love, to see it published. if the duty of bringing out the new edition of _marco polo_ has fallen on one who considers himself but an unworthy successor of the first illustrious commentator, it is fair to add that the work could not have been entrusted to a more respectful disciple. many of our tastes were similar; we had the same desire to seek the truth, the same earnest wish to be exact, perhaps the same sense of humour, and, what is necessary when writing on marco polo, certainly the same love for venice and its history. not only am i, with the late charles schefer, the founder and the editor of the _recueil de voyages et de documents pour servir à l'histoire de la géographie depuis le xiii'e jusqu'à la fin du xvi'e siècle_, but i am also the successor, at the ecole des langues orientales vivantes, of g. pauthier, whose book on the venetian traveller is still valuable, so the mantle of the last two editors fell upon my shoulders. i therefore, gladly and thankfully, accepted miss amy francis yule's kind proposal to undertake the editorship of the third edition of the _book of ser marco polo_, and i wish to express here my gratitude to her for the great honour she has thus done me.[1] unfortunately for his successor, sir henry yule, evidently trusting to his own good memory, left but few notes. these are contained in an interleaved copy obligingly placed at my disposal by miss yule, but i luckily found assistance from various other quarters. the following works have proved of the greatest assistance to me:--the articles of general houtum-schindler in the _journal of the royal asiatic society_, and the excellent books of lord curzon and of major p. molesworth sykes on persia, m. grenard's account of dutreuil de rhins' mission to central asia, bretschneider's and palladius' remarkable papers on mediaeval travellers and geography, and above all, the valuable books of the hon. w. w. rockhill on tibet and rubruck, to which the distinguished diplomatist, traveller, and scholar kindly added a list of notes of the greatest importance to me, for which i offer him my hearty thanks. my thanks are also due to h.h. prince roland bonaparte, who kindly gave me permission to reproduce some of the plates of his _recueil de documents de l'epoque mongole_, to m. léopold delisle, the learned principal librarian of the bibliothèque nationale, who gave me the opportunity to study the inventory made after the death of the doge marino faliero, to the count de semallé, formerly french chargé d'affaires at peking, who gave me for reproduction a number of photographs from his valuable personal collection, and last, not least, my old friend comm. nicolò barozzi, who continued to lend me the assistance which he had formerly rendered to sir henry yule at venice. since the last edition was published, more than twenty-five years ago, persia has been more thoroughly studied; new routes have been explored in central asia, karakorum has been fully described, and western and south-western china have been opened up to our knowledge in many directions. the results of these investigations form the main features of this new edition of _marco polo_. i have suppressed hardly any of sir henry yule's notes and altered but few, doing so only when the light of recent information has proved him to be in error, but i have supplemented them by what, i hope, will be found useful, new information.[2] before i take leave of the kind reader, i wish to thank sincerely mr. john murray for the courtesy and the care he has displayed while this edition was going through the press. henri cordier. paris, _1st of october, 1902_. [1] miss yule has written the memoir of her father and the new dedication. [2] paragraphs which have been altered are marked thus +; my own additions are placed between brackets [ ].--h. c. [illustration: "now strike your sailes yee jolly mariners, for we be come into a quiet rode".... --the faerie queene, i. xii. 42.] preface to second edition. the unexpected amount of favour bestowed on the former edition of this work has been a great encouragement to the editor in preparing this second one. not a few of the kind friends and correspondents who lent their aid before have continued it to the present revision. the contributions of mr. a. wylie of shang-hai, whether as regards the amount of labour which they must have cost him, or the value of the result, demand above all others a grateful record here. nor can i omit to name again with hearty acknowledgment signor comm. g. berchet of venice, the rev. dr. caldwell, colonel (now major-general) r. maclagan, r.e., mr. d. hanbury, f.r.s., mr. edward thomas, f.r.s. (corresponding member of the institute), and mr. r. h. major. but besides these old names, not a few new ones claim my thanks. the baron f. von richthofen, now president of the geographical society of berlin, a traveller who not only has trodden many hundreds of miles in the footsteps of our marco, but has perhaps travelled over more of the interior of china than marco ever did, and who carried to that survey high scientific accomplishments of which the venetian had not even a rudimentary conception, has spontaneously opened his bountiful stores of new knowledge in my behalf. mr. ney elias, who in 1872 traversed and mapped a line of upwards of 2000 miles through the almost unknown tracts of western mongolia, from the gate in the great wall at kalghan to the russian frontier in the altai, has done likewise.[1] to the rev. g. moule, of the church mission at hang-chau, i owe a mass of interesting matter regarding that once great and splendid city, the kinsay of our traveller, which has enabled me, i trust, to effect great improvement both in the notes and in the map, which illustrate that subject. and to the rev. carstairs douglas, ll.d., of the english presbyterian mission at amoy, i am scarcely less indebted. the learned professor bruun, of odessa, whom i never have seen, and have little likelihood of ever seeing in this world, has aided me with zeal and cordiality like that of old friendship. to mr. arthur burnell, ph.d., of the madras civil service, i am grateful for many valuable notes bearing on these and other geographical studies, and particularly for his generous communication of the drawing and photograph of the ancient cross at st. thomas's mount, long before any publication of that subject was made on his own account. my brother officer, major oliver st. john, r.e., has favoured me with a variety of interesting remarks regarding the persian chapters, and has assisted me with new data, very materially correcting the itinerary map in kerman. mr. blochmann of the calcutta madrasa, sir douglas forsyth, c.b., lately envoy to kashgar, m. de mas latrie, the historian of cyprus, mr. arthur grote, mr. eugene schuyler of the u.s. legation at st. petersburg, dr. bushell and mr. w.f. mayers, of h.m.'s legation at peking, mr. g. phillips of fuchau, madame olga fedtchenko, the widow of a great traveller too early lost to the world, colonel keatinge, v.c., c.s.i., major-general keyes, c.b., dr. george birdwood, mr. burgess, of bombay, my old and valued friend colonel w. h. greathed, c.b., and the master of mediaeval geography, m. d'avezac himself, with others besides, have kindly lent assistance of one kind or another, several of them spontaneously, and the rest in prompt answer to my requests. having always attached much importance to the matter of illustrations,[2] i feel greatly indebted to the liberal action of mr. murray in enabling me largely to increase their number in this edition. though many are original, we have also borrowed a good many;[3] a proceeding which seems to me entirely unobjectionable when the engravings are truly illustrative of the text, and not hackneyed. i regret the augmented bulk of the volumes. there has been some excision, but the additions visibly and palpably preponderate. the truth is that since the completion of the first edition, just four years ago, large additions have been made to the stock of our knowledge bearing on the subjects of this book; and how these additions have continued to come in up to the last moment, may be seen in appendix l,[4] which has had to undergo repeated interpolation after being put in type. karakorum, for a brief space the seat of the widest empire the world has known, has been visited; the ruins of shang-tu, the "xanadu of cublay khan," have been explored; pamir and tangut have been penetrated from side to side; the famous mountain road of shen-si has been traversed and described; the mysterious caindu has been unveiled; the publication of my lamented friend lieutenant garnier's great work on the french exploration of indo-china has provided a mass of illustration of that yun-nan for which but the other day marco polo was well-nigh the most recent authority. nay, the last two years have thrown a promise of light even on what seemed the wildest of marco's stories, and the bones of a veritable ruc from new zealand lie on the table of professor owen's cabinet! m. vivien de st. martin, during the interval of which we have been speaking, has published a history of geography. in treating of marco polo, he alludes to the first edition of this work, most evidently with no intention of disparagement, but speaks of it as merely a revision of marsden's book. the last thing i should allow myself to do would be to apply to a geographer, whose works i hold in so much esteem, the disrespectful definition which the adage quoted in my former preface[5] gives of the _vir qui docet quod non sapit_; but i feel bound to say that on this occasion m. vivien de st. martin has permitted himself to pronounce on a matter with which he had not made himself acquainted; for the perusal of the very first lines of the preface (i will say nothing of the book) would have shown him that such a notion was utterly unfounded. in concluding these "forewords" i am probably taking leave of marco polo,[6] the companion of many pleasant and some laborious hours, whilst i have been contemplating with him ("_vôlti a levante_") that orient in which i also had spent years not a few. * * * * * and as the writer lingered over this conclusion, his thoughts wandered back in reverie to those many venerable libraries in which he had formerly made search for mediaeval copies of the traveller's story; and it seemed to him as if he sate in a recess of one of these with a manuscript before him which had never till then been examined with any care, and which he found with delight to contain passages that appear in no version of the book hitherto known. it was written in clear gothic text, and in the old french tongue of the early 14th century. was it possible that he had lighted on the long-lost original of ramusio's version? no; it proved to be different. instead of the tedious story of the northern wars, which occupies much of our fourth book, there were passages occurring in the later history of ser marco, some years after his release from the genoese captivity. they appeared to contain strange anachronisms certainly; but we have often had occasion to remark on puzzles in the chronology of marco's story![7] and in some respects they tended to justify our intimated suspicion that he was a man of deeper feelings and wider sympathies than the book of rusticiano had allowed to appear.[8] perhaps this time the traveller had found an amanuensis whose faculties had not been stiffened by fifteen years of malapaga?[9] one of the most important passages ran thus:- "bien est voirs que, après ce que _messires marc pol_ avoit pris fame et si estoit demouré plusours ans de sa vie a _venysse_, il avint que mourut _messires mafés_ qui oncles _monseignour marc_ estoit: (et mourut ausi ses granz chiens mastins qu'avoit amenei dou catai,[10] et qui avoit non _bayan_ pour l'amour au bon chievetain _bayan cent-iex_); adonc n'avoit oncques puis _messires marc_ nullui, fors son esclave _piere le tartar_, avecques lequel pouvoit penre soulas à s'entretenir de ses voiages et des choses dou levant. car la gent de _venysse_ si avoit de grant piesce moult anuy pris des loncs contes _monseignour marc_; et quand ledit _messires marc_ issoit de l'uys sa meson ou sain grisostome, souloient li petit marmot es voies dariere-li courir en cryant _messer marco miliòn! cont' a nu un busiòn!_ que veult dire en françois 'messires marcs des millions di-nous un de vos gros mensonges.' en oultre, la dame _donate_ fame anuyouse estoit, et de trop estroit esprit, et plainne de couvoitise.[11] ansi avint que _messires marc_ desiroit es voiages rantrer durement. "si se partist de _venisse_ et chevaucha aux parties d'occident. et demoura mainz jours es contrées de _provence_ et de _france_ et puys fist passaige aux ysles de la tremontaingne et s'en retourna par _la magne_, si comme vous orrez cy-après. et fist-il escripre son voiage atout les devisements les contrées; mes de la france n'y parloit mie grantment pour ce que maintes genz la scevent apertement. et pour ce en lairons atant, et commencerons d'autres choses, assavoir, de bretaingne la grant." _cy devyse dou roiaume de bretaingne la grant._ "et sachiés que quand l'en se part de _calés_, et l'en nage xx ou xxx milles à trop grant mesaise, si treuve l'en une grandisme ysle qui s'apelle _bretaingne la grant_. elle est à une grant royne et n'en fait treuage à nulluy. et ensevelissent lor mors, et ont monnoye de chartres et d'or et d'argent, et ardent pierres noyres, et vivent de marchandises et d'ars, et ont toutes choses de vivre en grant habondance mais non pas à bon marchié. et c'est une ysle de trop grant richesce, et li marinier de celle partie dient que c'est li plus riches royaumes qui soit ou monde, et qu'il y a li mieudre marinier dou monde et li mieudre coursier et li mieudre chevalier (ains ne chevauchent mais lonc com françois). ausi ont-il trop bons homes d'armes et vaillans durement (bien que maint n'y ait), et les dames et damoseles bonnes et loialles, et belles com lys souef florant. et quoi vous en diroie-je? il y a citez et chasteau assez, et tant de marchéanz et si riches qui font venir tant d'avoir-de poiz et de toute espece de marchandise qu'il n'est hons qui la verité en sceust dire. font venir _d'ynde_ et d'autres parties coton a grant planté, et font venir soye de _manzi_ et de _bangala_, et font venir laine des ysles de la mer occeane et de toutes parties. et si labourent maintz bouquerans et touailles et autres draps de coton et de laine et de soye. encores sachiés que ont vaines d'acier assez, et si en labourent trop soubtivement de tous hernois de chevalier, et de toutes choses besoignables à ost; ce sont espées et glaive et esperon et heaume et haches, et toute espèce d arteillerie et de coutelerie, et en font grant gaaigne et grant marchandise. et en font si grant habondance que tout li mondes en y puet avoir et à bon marchié". _encores cy devise dou dyt roiaume, et de ce qu'en dist messires marcs._ "et sachiés que tient icelle royne la seigneurie de _l'ynde majeure_ et de _mutfili_ et de _bangala_, et d'une moitié de _mien_. et moult est saige et noble dame et pourvéans, si que est elle amée de chascun. et avoit jadis mari; et depuys qu'il mourut bien _xiv_ ans avoit; adonc la royne sa fame l'ama tant que oncques puis ne se voult marier a nullui, pour l'amour le prince son baron, ançois moult maine quoye vie. et tient son royaume ausi bien ou miex que oncques le tindrent li roy si aioul. mes ores en ce royaume li roy n'ont guieres pooir, ains la poissance commence a trespasser à la menue gent et distrent aucun marinier de celes parties à _monseignour marc_ que hui-et-le jour li royaumes soit auques abastardi come je vous diroy. car bien est voirs que ci-arrières estoit ciz pueple de _bretaingne la grant_ bonne et granz et loialle gent qui servoit diex moult volontiers selonc lor usaige; et tuit li labour qu'il labouroient et portoient a vendre estoient honnestement labouré, et dou greigneur vaillance, et chose pardurable; et se vendoient à jouste pris sanz barguignier. en tant que se aucuns labours portoit l'estanpille _bretaingne la grant_ c'estoit regardei com pleges de bonne estoffe. mes orendroit li labours n'est mie tousjourz si bons; et quand l'en achate pour un quintal pesant de toiles de coton, adonc, par trop souvent, si treuve l'en de chascun c pois de coton, bien xxx ou xl pois de plastre de gifs, ou de blanc d'espaigne, ou de choses semblables. et se l'en achate de cammeloz ou de tireteinne ou d'autre dras de laine, cist ne durent mie, ains sont plain d'empoise, ou de glu et de balieures. "et bien qu'il est voirs que chascuns hons egalement doit de son cors servir son seigneur ou sa commune, pour aler en ost en tens de besoingne; et bien que trestuit li autre royaume d'occident tieingnent ce pour ordenance, ciz pueple de _bretaingne la grant_ n'en veult nullement, ains si dient: 'veez-là: n'avons nous pas la _manche_ pour fossé de nostre pourpris, et pourquoy nous penerons-nous pour nous faire homes d'armes, en lessiant nos gaaignes et nos soulaz? cela lairons aus soudaiers.' or li preudhome entre eulx moult scevent bien com tiex paroles sont nyaises; mes si ont paour de lour en dire la verité pour ce que cuident desplaire as bourjois et à la menue gent. "or je vous di sanz faille que, quand _messires marcs pols_ sceust ces choses, moult en ot pitié de cestui pueple, et il li vint à remembrance ce que avenu estoit, ou tens _monseignour nicolas_ et _monseignour mafé_, à l'ore quand _alau_, frère charnel dou grant sire _cublay_, ala en ost seur _baudas_, et print le _calife_ et sa maistre cité, atout son vaste tresor d'or et d'argent, et l'amère parolle que dist ledit alau au calife, com l'a escripte li maistres rusticiens ou chief de cestui livre.[12] "car sachiés tout voirement que _messires marc_ moult se deleitoit à faire appert combien sont pareilles au font les condicions des diverses regions dou monde, et soloit-il clorre son discours si disant en son language de _venisse: 'sto mondo xe fato tondo_, com uzoit dire mes oncles mafés.' "ore vous lairons à conter de ceste matière et retournerons à parler de la loy des genz de _bretaingne la grant_. _cy devise des diverses créances de la gent bretaingne la grant et de ce qu'en cuidoit messires marcs._ "il est voirs que li pueples est crestiens, mes non pour le plus selonc la foy de l'apostoille rommain, ains tiennent le en mautalent assez. seulement il y en a aucun qui sont féoil du dit apostoille et encore plus forment que li nostre prudhome de _venisse_. car quand dit li papes: 'telle ou telle chose est noyre,' toute ladite gent si en jure: 'noyre est com poivre.' et puis se dira li papes de la dite chose: 'elle est blanche,' si en jurera toute ladite gent: 'il est voirs qu'elle est blanche; blanche est com noifs.' et dist _messires marc pol_: 'nous n'avons nullement tant de foy à _venyse_, ne li prudhome de _florence_ non plus, com l'en puet savoir bien apertement dou livre monseignour _dantès aldiguiere_, que j'ay congneu a _padoe_ le meisme an que messires _thibault de cepoy_ à _venisse_ estoit.[13] mes c'est joustement ce que j'ay veu autre foiz près le grant _bacsi_ qui est com li papes des ydres.' "encore y a une autre manière de gent; ce sont de celz qui s'appellent filsoufes;[14] et si il disent: 's'il y a diex n'en scavons nul, mes il est voirs qu'il est une certeinne courance des choses laquex court devers le bien.' et fist _messires marcs_: 'encore la créance des _bacsi_ qui dysent que n'y a ne diex eternel ne juge des homes, ains il est une certeinne chose laquex s'apelle _kerma_.'[15] "une autre foiz avint que disoit un des filsoufes à _monseignour marc_: 'diex n'existe mie jeusqu'ores, ainçois il se fait desorendroit.' et fist encore _messires marcs_: 'veez-là, une autre foiz la créance des ydres, car dient que li seuz diex est icil hons qui par force de ses vertuz et de son savoir tant pourchace que d'home il se face diex presentement. et li tartar l'appelent _borcan_. tiex diex _sagamoni borcan_ estoit, dou quel parle li livres maistre _rusticien_.'[16] "encore ont une autre manière de filsoufes, et dient-il: 'il n'est mie ne diex ne _kerma_ ne courance vers le bien, ne providence, ne créerres, ne sauvours, ne sainteté ne pechiés ne conscience de pechié, ne proyère ne response à proyère, il n'est nulle riens fors que trop minime grain ou paillettes qui ont à nom _atosmes_, et de tiex grains devient chose qui vive, et chose qui vive devient une certeinne creature qui demoure au rivaige de la mer: et ceste creature devient poissons, et poissons devient lezars, et lezars devient blayriaus, et blayriaus devient gat-maimons, et gat-maimons devient hons sauvaiges qui menjue char d'homes, et hons sauvaiges devient hons crestien.' "et dist _messires marc_: 'encore une foiz, biaus sires, li _bacsi_ de _tebet_ et de _kescemir_ et li prestre de _seilan_, qui si dient que l'arme vivant doie trespasser par tous cez changes de vestemens; si com se treuve escript ou livre _maistre rusticien_ que _sagamoni borcan_ mourut iiij vint et iiij foiz et tousjourz resuscita, et à chascune foiz d'une diverse manière de beste, et à la derreniere foyz mourut hons et devint diex, selonc ce qu'il dient.'[17] et fist encore _messires marc_: 'a moy pert-il trop estrange chose se juesques à toutes les créances des ydolastres deust dechéoir ceste grantz et saige nation. ainsi peuent jouer misire li filsoufe atout lour propre perte, mes à l'ore quand tiex fantaisies se respanderont es joenes bacheliers et parmy la menue gent, celz averont pour toute loy _manducemus et bibamus, cras enim moriemur_; et trop isnellement l'en raccomencera la descente de l'eschiele, et d'home crestien deviendra hons sauvaiges, et d'home sauvaige gat maimons, et de gat-maimon blayriaus.' et fist encores _messires marc_: 'maintes contrées et provinces et ysles et citéz je _marc pol_ ay veues et de maintes genz de maintes manières ay les condicionz congneues, et je croy bien que il est plus assez dedens l'univers que ce que li nostre prestre n'y songent. et puet bien estre, biaus sires, que li mondes n'a estés creés à tous poinz com nous creiens, ains d'une sorte encore plus merveillouse. mes cil n'amenuise nullement nostre pensée de diex et de sa majesté, ains la fait greingnour. et contrée n'ay veue ou dame diex ne manifeste apertement les granz euvres de sa tout-poissante saigesse; gent n'ay congneue esquiex ne se fait sentir li fardels de pechié, et la besoingne de phisicien des maladies de l'arme tiex com est nostre seignours ihesus crist, beni soyt son non. pensez doncques à cel qu'a dit uns de ses apostres: _nolite esse prudentes apud vosmet ipsos_; et uns autres: _quoniam multi pseudo-prophetae exierint_; et uns autres: _quod benient in nobissimis diebus illusores ... dicentes, ubi est promissio?_ et encores aus parolles que dist li signours meismes: _vide ergo ne lumen quod in te est tenebrae sint_. _commant messires marcs se partist de l'ysle de bretaingne et de la proyère que fist_. "et pourquoy vous en feroie-je lonc conte? si print nef _messires marcs_ et se partist en nageant vers la terre ferme. or _messires marc pol_ moult ama cel roiaume de _bretaingne la grant_ pour son viex renon et s'ancienne franchise, et pour sa saige et bonne royne (que diex gart), et pour les mainz homes de vaillance et bons chaceours et les maintes bonnes et honnestes dames qui y estoient. et sachiés tout voirement que en estant delez le bort la nef, et en esgardant aus roches blanches que l'en par dariere-li lessoit, _messires marc_ prieoit diex, et disoit-il: 'ha sires diex ay merci de cestuy vieix et noble royaume; fay-en pardurable forteresse de liberté et de joustice, et garde-le de tout meschief de dedens et de dehors; donne à sa gent droit esprit pour ne pas diex guerroyer de ses dons, ne de richesce ne de savoir; et conforte-les fermement en ta foy'...." a loud _amen_ seemed to peal from without, and the awakened reader started to his feet. and lo! it was the thunder of the winter-storm crashing among the many-tinted crags of monte pellegrino,--with the wind raging as it knows how to rage here in sight of the isles of aeolus, and the rain dashing on the glass as ruthlessly as it well could have done, if, instead of aeolic isles and many-tinted crags, the window had fronted a dearer shore beneath a northern sky, and looked across the grey firth to the rain-blurred outline of the lomond hills. but i end, saying to messer marco's prayer, amen. palermo, _31st december, 1874_. [1] it would be ingratitude if this preface contained no acknowledgment of the medals awarded to the writer, mainly for this work, by the royal geographical society, and by the geographical society of italy, the former under the presidence of sir henry rawlinson, the latter under that of the commendatore c. negri. strongly as i feel the too generous appreciation of these labours implied in such awards, i confess to have been yet more deeply touched and gratified by practical evidence of the approval of the two distinguished travellers mentioned above; as shown by baron von richthofen in his spontaneous proposal to publish a german version of the book under his own immediate supervision (a project in abeyance, owing to circumstances beyond his or my control); by mr. ney elias in the fact of his having carried these ponderous volumes with him on his solitary journey across the mongolian wilds! [2] i am grateful to mr. de khanikoff for his especial recognition of these in a kindly review of the first edition in the _academy_. [3] especially from lieutenant garnier's book, mentioned further on; the only existing source of illustration for many chapters of polo. [4] [merged into the notes of the present edition.--h. c.] [5] see page xxix. [6] writing in italy, perhaps i ought to write, according to too prevalent modern italian custom, _polo marco_. i have already _seen_, and in the work of a writer of reputation, the alexandrian geographer styled _tolomeo claudio!_ and if this preposterous fashion should continue to spread, we shall in time have _tasso torquato_, _jonson ben_, africa explored by _park mungo_, asia conquered by _lane tamer_, copperfield david by _dickens charles_, homer englished by _pope alexander_, and the roman history done into french from the original of _live tite_! [7] introduction p. 24, and _passim_ in the notes. [8] ibid., p. 112. [9] see introduction, pp. 51, 57. [10] see title of present volumes. [11] which quite agrees with the story of the document quoted at p. 77 of introduction. [12] vol. i. p. 64, and p. 67. [13] i.e. 1306; see introduction, pp. 68-69. [14] the form which marco gives to this word was probably a reminiscence of the oriental corruption _failsúf_. it recalls to my mind a hindu who was very fond of the word, and especially of applying it to certain of his fellow-servants. but as he used it, _bara failsúf_,- "great philosopher"--meant exactly the same as the modern slang "_artful dodger_"! [15] see for the explanation of _karma_, "the power that controls the universe," in the doctrine of atheistic buddhism, hardy's _eastern monachism_, p. 5. [16] vol. ii. p. 316 (see also i. 348). [17] vol. ii. pp. 318-319. original preface. the amount of appropriate material, and of acquaintance with the mediaeval geography of some parts of asia, which was acquired during the compilation of a work of kindred character for the hakluyt society,[1] could hardly fail to suggest as a fresh labour in the same field the preparation of a new english edition of marco polo. indeed one kindly critic (in the _examiner_) laid it upon the writer as a duty to undertake that task. though at least one respectable english edition has appeared since marsden's,[2] the latter has continued to be the standard edition, and maintains not only its reputation but its market value. it is indeed the work of a sagacious, learned, and right-minded man, which can never be spoken of otherwise than with respect. but since marsden published his quarto (1818) vast stores of new knowledge have become available in elucidation both of the contents of marco polo's book and of its literary history. the works of writers such as klaproth, abel rémusat, d'avezac, reinaud, quatremère, julien, i. j. schmidt, gildemeister, ritter, hammer-purgstall, erdmann, d'ohsson, defrémery, elliot, erskine, and many more, which throw light directly or incidentally on marco polo, have, for the most part, appeared since then. nor, as regards the literary history of the book, were any just views possible at a time when what may be called the _fontal_ mss. (in french) were unpublished and unexamined. besides the works which have thus occasionally or incidentally thrown light upon the traveller's book, various editions of the book itself have since marsden's time been published in foreign countries, accompanied by comments of more or less value. all have contributed something to the illustration of the book or its history; the last and most learned of the editors, m. pauthier, has so contributed in large measure. i had occasion some years ago[3] to speak freely my opinion of the merits and demerits of m. pauthier's work; and to the latter at least i have no desire to recur here. another of his critics, a much more accomplished as well as more favourable one,[4] seems to intimate the opinion that there would scarcely be room in future for new commentaries. something of the kind was said of marsden's at the time of its publication. i imagine, however, that whilst our libraries endure the _iliad_ will continue to find new translators, and marco polo--though one hopes not so plentifully--new editors. the justification of the book's existence must however be looked for, and it is hoped may be found, in the book itself, and not in the preface. the work claims to be judged as a whole, but it may be allowable, in these days of scanty leisure, to indicate below a few instances of what is believed to be new matter in an edition of marco polo; by which however it is by no means intended that all such matter is claimed by the editor as his own.[5] from the commencement of the work it was felt that the task was one which no man, though he were far better equipped and much more conveniently situated than the present writer, could satisfactorily accomplish from his own resources, and help was sought on special points wherever it seemed likely to be found. in scarcely any quarter was the application made in vain. some who have aided most materially are indeed very old and valued friends; but to many others who have done the same the applicant was unknown; and some of these again, with whom the editor began correspondence on this subject as a stranger, he is happy to think that he may now call friends. to none am i more indebted than to the comm. guglielmo berchet, of venice, for his ample, accurate, and generous assistance in furnishing me with venetian documents, and in many other ways. especial thanks are also due to dr. william lockhart, who has supplied the materials for some of the most valuable illustrations; to lieutenant francis garnier, of the french navy. the gallant and accomplished leader (after the death of captain doudart de la grée) of the memorable expedition up the mekong to yun-nan; to the rev. dr. caldwell, of the s.p.g. mission in tinnevelly, for copious and valuable notes on southern india; to my friends colonel robert maclagan, r.e., sir arthur phayre, and colonel henry man, for very valuable notes and other aid; to professor a. schiefner, of st. petersburg, for his courteous communication of very interesting illustrations not otherwise accessible; to major-general alexander cunningham, of my own corps, for several valuable letters; to my friends dr. thomas oldham, director of the geological survey of india, mr. daniel hanbury, f.r.s., mr. edward thomas, mr. james fergusson, f.r.s., sir bartle frere, and dr. hugh cleghorn, for constant interest in the work and readiness to assist its progress; to mr. a. wylie, the learned agent of the b. and f. bible society at shang-hai, for valuable help; to the hon. g. p. marsh, u.s. minister at the court of italy, for untiring kindness in the communication of his ample stores of knowledge, and of books. i have also to express my obligations to comm. nicolò barozzi, director of the city museum at venice, and to professor a. s. minotto, of the same city; to professor arminius vámbéry, the eminent traveller; to professor flückiger of bern; to the rev. h. a. jaeschke, of the moravian mission in british tibet; to colonel lewis pelly, british resident in the persian gulf; to pandit manphul, c.s.i. (for a most interesting communication on badakhshan); to my brother officer, major t. g. montgomerie, r.e., of the indian trigonometrical survey; to commendatore negri the indefatigable president of the italian geographical society; to dr. zotenberg, of the great paris library, and to m. ch. maunoir, secretary-general of the société de géographie; to professor henry giglioi, at florence; to my old friend major-general albert fytche, chief commissioner of british burma; to dr. rost and dr. forbes-watson, of the india office library and museum; to mr. r. h. major, and mr. r. k. douglas, of the british museum; to mr. n. b. dennys, of hong-kong; and to mr. c. gardner, of the consular establishment in china. there are not a few others to whom my thanks are equally due; but it is feared that the number of names already mentioned may seem ridiculous, compared with the result, to those who do not appreciate from how many quarters the facts needful for a work which in its course intersects so many fields required to be collected, one by one. i must not, however, omit acknowledgments to the present earl of derby for his courteous permission, when at the head of the foreign office, to inspect mr. abbott's valuable unpublished report upon some of the interior provinces of persia; and to mr. t. t. cooper, one of the most adventurous travellers of modern times, for leave to quote some passages from his unpublished diary. palermo, _31st december, 1870_. [_original dedication._] to her royal highness, margherita, _princess of piedmont_, this endeavour to illustrate the life and work of a renowned italian is by her royal highness's gracious permission dedicated with the deepest respect by h. yule. [1] _cathay and the way thither, being a collection of minor medieval notices of china_. london, 1866. the necessities of the case have required the repetition in the present work of the substance of some notes already printed (but hardly published) in the other. [2] viz. mr. hugh murray's. i mean no disrespect to mr. t. wright's edition, but it is, and professes to be, scarcely other than a reproduction of marsden's, with abridgment of his notes. [3] in the _quarterly review_ for july, 1868. [4] m. nicolas khanikoff. [5] in the preliminary notices will be found new matter on the personal and family history of the traveller, illustrated by documents; and a more elaborate attempt than i have seen elsewhere to classify and account for the different texts of the work, and to trace their mutual relation. as regards geographical elucidations, i may point to the explanation of the name _gheluchelan_ (i. p. 58), to the discussion of the route from kerman to hormuz, and the identification of the sites of old hormuz, of _cobinan_ and _dogana_, the establishment of the position and continued existence of _keshm_, the note on _pein_ and _charchan_, on _gog_ and _magog_, on the geography of the route from _sindafu_ to _carajan_, on _anin_ and _coloman_, on _mutafili_, _cail_, and _ely_. as regards historical illustrations, i would cite the notes regarding the queens _bolgana_ and _cocachin_, on the _karaunahs_, etc., on the title of king of _bengal_ applied to the k. of burma, and those bearing upon the malay and abyssinian chronologies. in the interpretation of outlandish phrases, i may refer to the notes on _ondanique, nono, barguerlac, argon, sensin, keshican, toscaol, bularguchi, gat-paul_, etc. among miscellaneous elucidations, to the disquisition on the _arbre sol_ or _sec_ in vol. i., and to that on mediaeval military engines in vol. ii. in a variety of cases it has been necessary to refer to eastern languages for pertinent elucidations or etymologies. the editor would, however, be sorry to fall under the ban of the mediaeval adage: "_vir qui docet quod non sapit definitur bestia!_" and may as well reprint here what was written in the preface to _cathay_: i am painfully sensible that in regard to many subjects dealt with in the following pages, nothing can make up for the want of genuine oriental learning. a fair familiarity with hindustani for many years, and some reminiscences of elementary persian, have been useful in their degree; but it is probable that they may sometimes also have led me astray, as such slender lights are apt to do. to henry yule. [illustration] until you raised dead monarchs from the mould and built again the domes of xanadu, i lay in evil case, and never knew the glamour of that ancient story told by good ser marco in his prison-hold. but now i sit upon a throne and view the orient at my feet, and take of you and marco tribute from the realms of old. if i am joyous, deem me not o'er bold; if i am grateful, deem me not untrue; for you have given me beauties to behold, delight to win, and fancies to pursue, fairer than all the jewelry and gold of kublaï on his throne in cambalu. e. c. baber. _20th july, 1884._ memoir of sir henry yule. henry yule was the youngest son of major william yule, by his first wife, elizabeth paterson, and was born at inveresk, in midlothian, on 1st may, 1820. he was named after an _aunt_ who, like miss ferrier's immortal heroine, owned a man's name. on his father's side he came of a hardy agricultural stock,[1] improved by a graft from that highly-cultured tree, rose of kilravock.[2] through his mother, a somewhat prosaic person herself, he inherited strains from huguenot and highland ancestry. there were recognisable traces of all these elements in henry yule, and as was well said by one of his oldest friends: "he was one of those curious racial compounds one finds on the east side of scotland, in whom the hard teutonic grit is sweetened by the artistic spirit of the more genial celt."[3] his father, an officer of the bengal army (born 1764, died 1839), was a man of cultivated tastes and enlightened mind, a good persian and arabic scholar, and possessed of much miscellaneous oriental learning. during the latter years of his career in india, he served successively as assistant resident at the (then independent) courts of lucknow[4] and delhi. in the latter office his chief was the noble ouchterlony. william yule, together with his younger brother udny,[5] returned home in 1806. "a recollection of their voyage was that they hailed an outward bound ship, somewhere off the cape, through the trumpet: 'what news?' answer: 'the king's mad, and humfrey's beat mendoza' (two celebrated prize-fighters and often matched). 'nothing more?' 'yes, bonapart_y_'s made his _mother_ king of holland!' "before his retirement, william yule was offered the lieut.-governorship of st. helena. two of the detailed privileges of the office were residence at longwood (afterwards the house of napoleon), and the use of a certain number of the company's slaves. major yule, who was a strong supporter of the anti-slavery cause till its triumph in 1834, often recalled both of these offers with amusement."[6] william yule was a man of generous chivalrous nature, who took large views of life, apt to be unfairly stigmatised as radical in the narrow tory reaction that prevailed in scotland during the early years of the 19th century.[7] devoid of literary ambition, he wrote much for his private pleasure, and his knowledge and library (rich in persian and arabic mss.) were always placed freely at the service of his friends and correspondents, some of whom, such as major c. stewart and mr. william erskine, were more given to publication than himself. he never travelled without a little 8vo ms. of hafiz, which often lay under his pillow. major yule's only printed work was a lithographed edition of the _apothegms_ of 'ali, the son of abu talib, in the arabic, with an old persian version and an english translation interpolated by himself. "this was privately issued in 1832, when the duchesse d'angoulême was living at edinburgh, and the little work was inscribed to her, with whom an accident of neighbourhood and her kindness to the major's youngest child had brought him into relations of goodwill."[8] henry yule's childhood was mainly spent at inveresk. he used to say that his earliest recollection was sitting with the little cousin, who long after became his wife, on the doorstep of her father's house in george street, edinburgh (now the northern club), listening to the performance of a passing piper. there was another episode which he recalled with humorous satisfaction. fired by his father's tales of the jungle, yule (then about six years old) proceeded to improvise an elephant pit in the back garden, only too successfully, for soon, with mingled terror and delight, he saw his uncle john[9] fall headlong into the snare. he lost his mother before he was eight, and almost his only remembrance of her was the circumstance of her having given him a little lantern to light him home on winter nights from his first school. on sundays it was the major's custom to lend his children, as a picture-book, a folio arabic translation of the four gospels, printed at rome in 1591, which contained excellent illustrations from italian originals.[10] of the pictures in this volume yule seems never to have tired. the last page bore a ms. note in latin to the effect that the volume had been read in the chaldaean desert by _georgius strachanus, milnensis, scotus_, who long remained unidentified, not to say mythical, in yule's mind. but george strachan never passed from his memory, and having ultimately run him to earth, yule, sixty years later, published the results in an interesting article.[11] two or three years after his wife's death, major yule removed to edinburgh, and established himself in regent's terrace, on the face of the calton hill.[12] this continued to be yule's home until his father's death, shortly before he went to india. "here he learned to love the wide scenes of sea and land spread out around that hill--a love he never lost, at home or far away. and long years after, with beautiful sicilian hills before him and a lovely sea, he writes words of fond recollection of the bleak fife hills, and the grey firth of forth."[13] yule now followed his elder brother, robert, to the famous high school, and in the summer holidays the two made expeditions to the west highlands, the lakes of cumberland, and elsewhere. major yule chose his boys to have every reasonable indulgence and advantage, and when the british association, in 1834, held its first edinburgh meeting, henry received a member's ticket. so, too, when the passing of the reform bill was celebrated in the same year by a great banquet, at which lord grey and other prominent politicians were present, henry was sent to the dinner, probably the youngest guest there.[14] at this time the intention was that henry should go to cambridge (where his name was, indeed, entered), and after taking his degree study for the bar. with this view he was, in 1833, sent to waith, near ripon, to be coached by the rev. h. p. hamilton, author of a well-known treatise, _on conic sections_, and afterwards dean of salisbury. at his tutor's hospitable rectory yule met many notabilities of the day. one of them was professor sedgwick. there was rumoured at this time the discovery of the first known (?) fossil monkey, but its tail was missing. "depend upon it, daniel o'conell's got hold of it!" said 'adam' briskly.[15] yule was very happy with mr. hamilton and his kind wife, but on his tutor's removal to cambridge other arrangements became necessary, and in 1835 he was transferred to the care of the rev. james challis, rector of papworth st. everard, a place which "had little to recommend it except a dulness which made reading almost a necessity."[16] mr. challis had at this time two other resident pupils, who both, in most diverse ways, attained distinction in the church. these were john mason neale, the future eminent ecclesiologist and founder of the devoted anglican sisterhood of st. margaret, and harvey goodwin, long afterwards the studious and large-minded bishop of carlisle. with the latter, yule remained on terms of cordial friendship to the end of his life. looking back through more than fifty years to these boyish days, bishop goodwin wrote that yule then "showed much more liking for greek plays and for german than for mathematics, though he had considerable geometrical ingenuity."[17] on one occasion, having solved a problem that puzzled goodwin, yule thus discriminated the attainments of the three pupils: "the difference between you and me is this: you like it and can't do it; i don't like it and can do it. neale neither likes it nor can do it." not bad criticism for a boy of fifteen.[18] on mr. challis being appointed plumerian professor at cambridge, in the spring of 1836, yule had to leave him, owing to want of room at the observatory, and he became for a time, a most dreary time, he said, a student at university college, london. by this time yule had made up his mind that not london and the law, but india and the army should be his choice, and accordingly in feb. 1837 he joined the east india company's military college at addiscombe. from addiscombe he passed out, in december 1838, at the head of the cadets of his term (taking the prize sword[19]), and having been duly appointed to the bengal engineers, proceeded early in 1839 to the headquarters of the royal engineers at chatham, where, according to custom, he was enrolled as a "local and temporary ensign." for such was then the invidious designation at chatham of the young engineer officers of the indian army, who ranked as full lieutenants in their own service, from the time of leaving addiscombe.[20] yule once audaciously tackled the formidable pasley on this very grievance. the venerable director, after a minute's pondering, replied: "well, i don't remember what the reason was, but i have _no_ doubt (_staccato_) it ... was ... a very ... _good_ reason."[21] "when yule appeared among us at chatham in 1839," said his friend collinson, "he at once took a prominent place in our little society by his slightly advanced age [he was then 18-1/2], but more by his strong character.... his earlier education ... gave him a better classical knowledge than most of us possessed; then he had the reserve and self-possession characteristic of his race; but though he took small part in the games and other recreations of our time, his knowledge, his native humour, and his good comradeship, and especially his strong sense of right and wrong, made him both admired and respected.... yule was not a scientific engineer, though he had a good general knowledge of the different branches of his profession; his natural capacity lay rather in varied knowledge, combined with a strong understanding and an excellent memory, and also a peculiar power as a draughtsman, which proved of great value in after life.... those were nearly the last days of the old _régime_, of the orthodox double sap and cylindrical pontoons, when pasley's genius had been leading to new ideas, and when lintorn simmons' power, g. leach's energy, w. jervois' skill, and r. tylden's talent were developing under the wise example of henry harness."[22] in the royal engineer mess of those days (the present anteroom), the portrait of henry yule now faces that of his first chief, sir henry harness. general collinson said that the pictures appeared to eye each other as if the subjects were continuing one of those friendly disputes in which they so often engaged.[23] it was in this room that yule, becher, collinson, and other young r.e.'s, profiting by the temporary absence of the austere colonel pasley, acted some plays, including _pizarro_. yule bore the humble part of one of the peruvian mob in this performance, of which he has left a droll account.[24] on the completion of his year at chatham, yule prepared to sail for india, but first went to take leave of his relative, general white. an accident prolonged his stay, and before he left he had proposed to and been refused by his cousin annie. this occurrence, his first check, seems to have cast rather a gloom over his start for india. he went by the then newly-opened overland route, visiting portugal, stopping at gibraltar to see his cousin, major (afterwards general) patrick yule, r.e.[25] he was under orders "to stop at aden (then recently acquired), to report on the water supply, and to deliver a set of meteorological and magnetic instruments for starting an observatory there. the overland journey then really meant so; tramping across the desert to suez with camels and arabs, a proceeding not conducive to the preservation of delicate instruments; and on arriving at aden he found that the intended observer was dead, the observatory not commenced, and the instruments all broken. there was thus nothing left for him but to go on at once" to calcutta,[26] where he arrived at the end of 1840. his first service lay in the then wild khasia hills, whither he was detached for the purpose of devising means for the transport of the local coal to the plains. in spite of the depressing character of the climate (cherrapunjee boasts the highest rainfall on record), yule thoroughly enjoyed himself, and always looked back with special pleasure on the time he spent here. he was unsuccessful in the object of his mission, the obstacles to cheap transport offered by the dense forests and mighty precipices proving insurmountable, but he gathered a wealth of interesting observations on the country and people, a very primitive mongolian race, which he subsequently embodied in two excellent and most interesting papers (the first he ever published).[27] in the following year, 1842, yule was transferred to the irrigation canals of the north-west with head-quarters at kurnaul. here he had for chief captain (afterwards general sir william) baker, who became his dearest and most steadfast friend. early in 1843 yule had his first experience of field service. the death without heir of the khytul rajah, followed by the refusal of his family to surrender the place to the native troops sent to receive it, obliged government to send a larger force against it, and the canal officers were ordered to join this. yule was detailed to serve under captain robert napier (afterwards f.-m. lord napier of magdala). their immediate duty was to mark out the route for a night march of the troops, barring access to all side roads, and neither officer having then had any experience of war, they performed the duty "with all the elaborate care of novices." suddenly there was an alarm, a light detected, and a night attack awaited, when the danger resolved itself into clerk sahib's _khansamah_ with welcome hot coffee![28] their hopes were disappointed, there was no fighting, and the fort of khytul was found deserted by the enemy. it "was a strange scene of confusion--all the paraphernalia and accumulation of odds and ends of a wealthy native family lying about and inviting loot. i remember one beautiful crutch-stick of ebony with two rams' heads in jade. i took it and sent it in to the political authority, intending to buy it when sold. there was a sale, but my stick never appeared. somebody had a more developed taste in jade.... amid the general rummage that was going on, an officer of british infantry had been put over a part of the palace supposed to contain treasure, and they--officers and all--were helping themselves. henry lawrence was one of the politicals under george clerk. when the news of this affair came to him i was present. it was in a white marble loggia in the palace, where was a white marble chair or throne on a basement. lawrence was sitting on this throne in great excitement. he wore an afghan _choga_, a sort of dressing-gown garment, and this, and his thin locks, and thin beard were streaming in the wind. he always dwells in my memory as a sort of pythoness on her tripod under the afflatus."[29] during his indian service, yule had renewed and continued by letters his suit to miss white, and persistency prevailing at last, he soon after the conclusion of the khytul affair applied for leave to go home to be married. he sailed from bombay in may, 1843, and in september of the same year was married, at bath, to the gifted and large-hearted woman who, to the end, remained the strongest and happiest influence in his life.[30] yule sailed for india with his wife in november 1843. the next two years were employed chiefly in irrigation work, and do not call for special note. they were very happy years, except in the one circumstance that the climate having seriously affected his wife's health, and she having been brought to death's door, partly by illness, but still more by the drastic medical treatment of those days, she was imperatively ordered back to england by the doctors, who forbade her return to india. having seen her on board ship, yule returned to duty on the canals. the close of that year, december, 1845, brought some variety to his work, as the outbreak of the first sikh war called nearly all the canal officers into the field. "they went up to the front by long marches, passing through no stations, and quite unable to obtain any news of what had occurred, though on the 21st december the guns of ferozshah were distinctly heard in their camp at pehoa, at a distance of 115 miles south-east from the field, and some days later they came successively on the fields of moodkee and of ferozshah itself, with all the recent traces of battle. when the party of irrigation officers reached head-quarters, the arrangements for attacking the sikh army in its entrenchments at sobraon were beginning (though suspended till weeks later for the arrival of the tardy siege guns), and the opposed forces were lying in sight of each other."[31] yule's share in this campaign was limited to the sufficiently arduous task of bridging the sutlej for the advance of the british army. it is characteristic of the man that for this reason he always abstained from wearing his medal for the sutlej campaign. his elder brother, robert yule, then in the 16th lancers, took part in that magnificent charge of his regiment at the battle of aliwal (jan. 28, 1846) which the great duke is said to have pronounced unsurpassed in history. from particulars gleaned from his brother and others present in the action, henry yule prepared a spirited sketch of the episode, which was afterwards published as a coloured lithograph by m'lean (haymarket). at the close of the war, yule succeeded his friend strachey as executive engineer of the northern division of the ganges canal, with his head-quarters at roorkee, "the division which, being nearest the hills and crossed by intermittent torrents of great breadth and great volume when in flood, includes the most important and interesting engineering works."[32] at roorkee were the extensive engineering workshops connected with the canal. yule soon became so accustomed to the din as to be undisturbed by the noise, but the unpunctuality and carelessness of the native workmen sorely tried his patience, of which nature had endowed him with but a small reserve. vexed with himself for letting temper so often get the better of him, yule's conscientious mind devised a characteristic remedy. each time that he lost his temper, he transferred a fine of two rupees (then about five shillings) from his right to his left pocket. when about to leave roorkee, he devoted this accumulation of self-imposed fines to the erection of a sun-dial, to teach the natives the value of time. the late sir james caird, who told this legend of roorkee as he heard it there in 1880, used to add, with a humorous twinkle of his kindly eyes, "it was a _very_ handsome dial."[33] from september, 1845, to march, 1847, yule was much occupied intermittently, in addition to his professional work, by service on a committee appointed by government "to investigate the causes of the unhealthiness which has existed at kurnal, and other portions of the country along the line of the delhi canal," and further, to report "whether an injurious effect on the health of the people of the doab is, or is not, likely to be produced by the contemplated ganges canal." "a very elaborate investigation was made by the committee, directed principally to ascertaining what relation subsisted between certain physical conditions of the different districts, and the liability of their inhabitants to miasmatic fevers." the principal conclusion of the committee was, "that in the extensive epidemic of 1843, when kurnaul suffered so seriously ... the greater part of the evils observed had not been the necessary and unavoidable results of canal irrigation, but were due to interference with the natural drainage of the country, to the saturation of stiff and retentive soils, and to natural disadvantages of site, enhanced by excess of moisture. as regarded the ganges canal, they were of opinion that, with due attention to drainage, improvement rather than injury to the general health might be expected to follow the introduction of canal irrigation."[34] in an unpublished note written about 1889, yule records his ultimate opinion as follows: "at this day, and after the large experience afforded by the ganges canal, i feel sure that a verdict so favourable to the sanitary results of canal irrigation would not be given." still the fact remains that the ganges canal has been the source of unspeakable blessings to an immense population. the second sikh war saw yule again with the army in the field, and on 13th jan. 1849, he was present at the dismal 'victory' of chillianwallah, of which his most vivid recollection seemed to be the sudden apparition of henry lawrence, fresh from london, but still clad in the legendary afghan cloak. on the conclusion of the punjab campaign, yule, whose health had suffered, took furlough and went home to his wife. for the next three years they resided chiefly in scotland, though paying occasional visits to the continent, and about 1850 yule bought a house in edinburgh. there he wrote "the african squadron vindicated" (a pamphlet which was afterwards re-published in french), translated schiller's _kampf mit dem drachen_ into english verse, delivered lectures on fortification at the, now long defunct, scottish naval and military academy, wrote on tibet for his friend blackwood's magazine, attended the 1850 edinburgh meeting of the british association, wrote his excellent lines, "on the loss of the _birkenhead_," and commenced his first serious study of marco polo (by whose wondrous tale, however, he had already been captivated as a boy in his father's library--in marsden's edition probably). but the most noteworthy literary result of these happy years was that really fascinating volume, entitled _fortification for officers of the army and students of military history_, a work that has remained unique of its kind. this was published by blackwood in 1851, and seven years later received the honour of (unauthorised) translation into french. yule also occupied himself a good deal at this time with the practice of photography, a pursuit to which he never after reverted. in the spring of 1852, yule made an interesting little semi-professional tour in company with a brother officer, his accomplished friend, major r. b. smith. beginning with kelso, "the only one of the teviotdale abbeys which i had not as yet seen," they made their way leisurely through the north of england, examining with impartial care abbeys and cathedrals, factories, brick-yards, foundries, timber-yards, docks, and railway works. on this occasion yule, contrary to his custom, kept a journal, and a few excerpts may be given here, as affording some notion of his casual talk to those who did not know him. at berwick-on-tweed he notes the old ramparts of the town: "these, erected in elizabeth's time, are interesting as being, i believe, the only existing sample in england of the bastioned system of the 16th century.... the outline of the works seems perfect enough, though both earth and stone work are in great disrepair. the bastions are large with obtuse angles, square orillons, and double flanks originally casemated, and most of them crowned with cavaliers." on the way to durham, "much amused by the discussions of two passengers, one a smooth-spoken, semi-clerical looking person; the other a brusque well-to-do attorney with a northumbrian burr. subject, among others, protection. the attorney all for 'cheap bread'-'you wouldn't rob the poor man of his loaf,' and so forth. 'you must go with the _stgheam_, sir, you must go with the stgheam.' 'i never did, mr thompson, and i never will,' said the other in an oily manner, singularly inconsistent with the sentiment." at durham they dined with a dignitary of the church, and yule was roasted by being placed with his back to an enormous fire. "coals are cheap at durham," he notes feelingly, adding, "the party we found as heavy as any edinburgh one. smith, indeed, evidently has had little experience of really stupid edinburgh parties, for he had never met with anything approaching to this before." (happy smith!) but thanks to the kindness and hospitality of the astronomer, mr. chevalier, and his gifted daughter, they had a delightful visit to beautiful durham, and came away full of admiration for the (then newly established) university, and its grand _locale_. they went on to stay with an uncle by marriage of yule's, in yorkshire. at dinner he was asked by his host to explain foucault's pendulum experiment. "i endeavoured to explain it somewhat, i hope, to the satisfaction of his doubts, but not at all to that of mr. g. m., who most resolutely declined to take in _any_ elucidation, coming at last to the conclusion that he entirely differed with me as to what north meant, and that it was useless to argue until we could agree about that!" they went next to leeds, to visit kirkstall abbey, "a mediaeval fossil, curiously embedded among the squalid brickwork and chimney stalks of a manufacturing suburb. having established ourselves at the hotel, we went to deliver a letter to mr. hope, the official assignee, a very handsome, aristocratic-looking gentleman, who seemed as much out of place at leeds as the abbey." at leeds they visited the flax mills of messrs. marshall, "a firm noted for the conscientious care they take of their workpeople.... we mounted on the roof of the building, which is covered with grass, and formerly was actually grazed by a few sheep, until the repeated inconvenience of their tumbling through the glass domes put a stop to this." they next visited some tile and brickworks on land belonging to a friend. "the owner of the tile works, a well-to-do burgher, and the apparent model of a west riding radical, received us in rather a dubious way: 'there are a many people has come and brought introductions, and looked at all my works, and then gone and set up for themselves close by. now des you mean to say that you be really come all the way from beng_u_l?' 'yes, indeed we have, and we are going all the way back again, though we didn't exactly come from there to look at your brickworks.' 'then you're not in the brick-making line, are you?' 'why we've had a good deal to do with making bricks, and may have again; but we'll engage that if we set up for ourselves, it shall be ten thousand miles from you.' this seemed in some degree to set his mind at rest...." "a dismal day, with occasional showers, prevented our seeing sheffield to advantage. on the whole, however, it is more cheerful and has more of a country-town look than leeds--a place utterly without beauty of aspect. at leeds you have vast barrack-like factories, with their usual suburbs of squalid rows of brick cottages, and everywhere the tall spiracles of the steam, which seems the pervading power of the place. everything there is machinery--the machine is the intelligent agent, it would seem, the man its slave, standing by to tend it and pick up a broken thread now and then. at sheffield ... you might go through most of the streets without knowing anything of the kind was going on. and steam here, instead of being a ruler, is a drudge, turning a grindstone or rolling out a bar of steel, but all the accuracy and skill of hand is the man's. and consequently there was, we thought, a healthier aspect about the men engaged. none of the rodgers remain who founded the firm in my father's time. i saw some pairs of his scissors in the show-room still kept under the name of _persian_ scissors."[35] from sheffield yule and his friend proceeded to boston, "where there is the most exquisite church tower i have ever seen," and thence to lincoln, peterborough, and ely, ending their tour at cambridge, where yule spent a few delightful days. in the autumn the great duke of wellington died, and yule witnessed the historic pageant of his funeral. his furlough was now nearly expired, and early in december he again embarked for india, leaving his wife and only child, of a few weeks old, behind him. some verses dated "christmas day near the equator," show how much he felt the separation. shortly after his return to bengal, yule received orders to proceed to aracan, and to examine and report upon the passes between aracan and burma, as also to improve communications and select suitable sites for fortified posts to hold the same. these orders came to yule quite unexpectedly late one saturday evening, but he completed all preparations and started at daybreak on the following monday, 24th jan. 1853. from calcutta to khyook phyoo, yule proceeded by steamer, and thence up the river in the _tickler_ gunboat to krenggyuen. "our course lay through a wilderness of wooded islands (50 to 200 feet high) and bays, sailing when we could, anchoring when neither wind nor tide served ... slow progress up the river. more and more like the creeks and lagoons of the niger or a guiana river rather than anything i looked for in india. the densest tree jungle covers the shore down into the water. for miles no sign of human habitation, but now and then at rare intervals one sees a patch of hillside rudely cleared, with the bare stems of the burnt trees still standing.... sometimes, too, a dark tunnel-like creek runs back beneath the thick vault of jungle, and from it silently steals out a slim canoe, manned by two or three wild-looking mugs or kyens (people of the hills), driving it rapidly along with their short paddles held vertically, exactly like those of the red men on the american rivers." at the military post of bokhyong, near krenggyuen, he notes (5th feb.) that "captain munro, the adjutant, can scarcely believe that i was present at the duke of wellington's funeral, of which he read but a few days ago in the newspapers, and here am i, one of the spectators, a guest in this wild spot among the mountains--2-1/2 months since i left england." yule's journal of his arduous wanderings in these border wilds is full of interest, but want of space forbids further quotation. from a note on the fly-leaf it appears that from the time of quitting the gun-boat at krenggyuen to his arrival at toungoop he covered about 240 miles on foot, and that under immense difficulties, even as to food. he commemorated his tribulations in some cheery humorous verse, but ultimately fell seriously ill of the local fever, aided doubtless by previous exposure and privation. his servants successively fell ill, some died and others had to be sent back, food supplies failed, and the route through those dense forests was uncertain; yet under all difficulties he seems never to have grumbled or lost heart. and when things were nearly at the worst, yule restored the spirits of his local escort by improvising a wappenshaw, with a sheffield gardener's knife, which he happened to have with him, for prize! when at last yule emerged from the wilds and on 25th march marched into prome, he was taken for his own ghost! "found fraser (of the engineers) in a rambling phoongyee house, just under the great gilt pagoda. i went up to him announcing myself, and his astonishment was so great that he would scarcely shake hands!" it was on this occasion at prome that yule first met his future chief captain phayre--"a very young-looking man--very cordial," a description no less applicable to general sir arthur phayre at the age of seventy! after some further wanderings, yule embarked at sandong, and returned by water, touching at kyook phyoo and akyab, to calcutta, which he reached on 1st may--his birthday. the next four months were spent in hard work at calcutta. in august, yule received orders to proceed to singapore, and embarked on the 29th. his duty was to report on the defences of the straits settlements, with a view to their improvement. yule's recommendations were sanctioned by government, but his journal bears witness to the prevalence then, as since, of the penny-wise-pound-foolish system in our administration. on all sides he was met by difficulties in obtaining sites for batteries, etc., for which heavy compensation was demanded, when by the exercise of reasonable foresight, the same might have been secured earlier at a nominal price. yule's journal contains a very bright and pleasing picture of singapore, where he found that the majority of the european population "were evidently, from their tongues, from benorth the tweed, a circumstance which seems to be true of four-fifths of the singaporeans. indeed, if i taught geography, i should be inclined to class edinburgh, glasgow, dundee, and singapore together as the four chief towns of scotland." work on the defences kept yule in singapore and its neighbourhood until the end of november, when he embarked for bengal. on his return to calcutta, yule was appointed deputy consulting engineer for railways at head-quarters. in this post he had for chief his old friend baker, who had in 1851 been appointed by the governor-general, lord dalhousie, consulting engineer for railways to government. the office owed its existence to the recently initiated great experiment of railway construction under government guarantee. the subject was new to yule, "and therefore called for hard and anxious labour. he, however, turned his strong sense and unbiased view to the general question of railway communication in india, with the result that he became a vigorous supporter of the idea of narrow gauge and cheap lines in the parts of that country outside of the main trunk lines of traffic."[36] the influence of yule, and that of his intimate friends and ultimate successors in office, colonels r. strachey and dickens, led to the adoption of the narrow (metre) gauge over a great part of india. of this matter more will be said further on; it is sufficient at this stage to note that it was occupying yule's thoughts, and that he had already taken up the position in this question that he thereafter maintained through life. the office of consulting engineer to government for railways ultimately developed into the great department of public works. as related by yule, whilst baker "held this appointment, lord dalhousie was in the habit of making use of his advice in a great variety of matters connected with public works projects and questions, but which had nothing to do with guaranteed railways, there being at that time no officer attached to the government of india, whose proper duty it was to deal with such questions. in august, 1854, the government of india sent home to the court of directors a despatch and a series of minutes by the governor-general and his council, in which the constitution of the public works department as a separate branch of administration, both in the local governments and the government of india itself, was urged on a detailed plan." in this communication lord dalhousie stated his desire to appoint major baker to the projected office of secretary for the department of public works. in the spring of 1855 these recommendations were carried out by the creation of the department, with baker as secretary and yule as under secretary for public works. meanwhile yule's services were called to a very different field, but without his vacating his new appointment, which he was allowed to retain. not long after the conclusion of the second burmese war, the king of burma sent a friendly mission to the governor-general, and in 1855 a return embassy was despatched to the court of ava, under colonel arthur phayre, with henry yule as secretary, an appointment the latter owed as much to lord dalhousie's personal wish as to phayre's good-will. the result of this employment was yule's first geographical book, a large volume entitled _mission to the court of ava in 1855_, originally printed in india, but subsequently re-issued in an embellished form at home (see over leaf). to the end of his life, yule looked back to this "social progress up the irawady, with its many quaint and pleasant memories, as to a bright and joyous holiday."[37] it was a delight to him to work under phayre, whose noble and lovable character he had already learned to appreciate two years before in pegu. then, too, yule has spoken of the intense relief it was to escape from the monotonous scenery and depressing conditions of official life in bengal (resort to simla was the exception, not the rule, in these days!) to the cheerfulness and unconstraint of burma, with its fine landscapes and merry-hearted population. "it was such a relief to find natives who would laugh at a joke," he once remarked in the writer's presence to the lamented e. c. baber, who replied that he had experienced exactly the same sense of relief in passing from india to china. yule's work on burma was largely illustrated by his own sketches. one of these represents the king's reception of the embassy, and another, the king on his throne. the originals were executed by yule's ready pencil, surreptitiously within his cocked hat, during the audience. from the latter sketch yule had a small oil-painting executed under his direction by a german artist, then resident in calcutta, which he gave to lord dalhousie.[38] the government of india marked their approval of the embassy by an unusual concession. each of the members of the mission received a souvenir of the expedition. to yule was given a very beautiful and elaborately chased small bowl, of nearly pure gold, bearing the signs of the zodiac in relief.[39] on his return to calcutta, yule threw himself heart and soul into the work of his new appointment in the public works department. the nature of his work, the novelty and variety of the projects and problems with which this new branch of the service had to deal, brought yule into constant, and eventually very intimate association with lord dalhousie, whom he accompanied on some of his tours of inspection. the two men thoroughly appreciated each other, and, from first to last, yule experienced the greatest kindness from lord dalhousie. in this intimacy, no doubt the fact of being what french soldiers call _pays_ added something to the warmth of their mutual regard: their forefathers came from the same _airt_, and neither was unmindful of the circumstance. it is much to be regretted that yule preserved no sketch of lord dalhousie, nor written record of his intercourse with him, but the following lines show some part of what he thought: "at this time [1849] there appears upon the scene that vigorous and masterful spirit, whose arrival to take up the government of india had been greeted by events so inauspicious. no doubt from the beginning the governor-general was desirous to let it be understood that although new to india he was, and meant to be, master;... lord dalhousie was by no means averse to frank dissent, provided _in the manner_ it was never forgotten that he was governor-general. like his great predecessor lord wellesley, he was jealous of all familiarity and resented it.... the general sentiment of those who worked under that [greek: ánax andron] was one of strong and admiring affection ... and we doubt if a governor-general ever embarked on the hoogly amid deeper feeling than attended him who, shattered by sorrow and physical suffering, but erect and undaunted, quitted calcutta on the 6th march 1856."[40] his successor was lord canning, whose confidence in yule and personal regard for him became as marked as his predecessor's. in the autumn of 1856, yule took leave and came home. much of his time while in england was occupied with making arrangements for the production of an improved edition of his book on burma, which so far had been a mere government report. these were completed to his satisfaction, and on the eve of returning to india, he wrote to his publishers[41] that the correction of the proof sheets and general supervision of the publication had been undertaken by his friend the rev. w. d. maclagan, formerly an officer of the madras army (and now archbishop of york). whilst in england, yule had renewed his intimacy with his old friend colonel robert napier, then also on furlough, a visitor whose kindly sympathetic presence always brought special pleasure also to yule's wife and child. one result of this intercourse was that the friends decided to return together to india. accordingly they sailed from marseilles towards the end of april, and at aden were met by the astounding news of the outbreak of the mutiny. on his arrival in calcutta yule, who retained his appointment of under secretary to government, found his work indefinitely increased. every available officer was called into the field, and yule's principal centre of activity was shifted to the great fortress of allahabad, forming the principal base of operations against the rebels. not only had he to strengthen or create defences at allahabad and elsewhere, but on yule devolved the principal burden of improvising accommodation for the european troops then pouring into india, which ultimately meant providing for an army of 100,000 men. his task was made the more difficult by the long-standing chronic friction, then and long after, existing between the officers of the queen's and the company's services. but in a far more important matter he was always fortunate. as he subsequently recorded in a note for government: "through all consciousness of mistakes and shortcomings, i have felt that i had the confidence of those whom i served, a feeling which has lightened many a weight." it was at allahabad that yule, in the intervals of more serious work, put the last touches to his burma book. the preface of the english edition is dated, "fortress of allahabad, oct. 3, 1857," and contains a passage instinct with the emotions of the time. after recalling the "joyous holiday" on the irawady, he goes on: "but for ourselves, standing here on the margin of these rivers, which a few weeks ago were red with the blood of our murdered brothers and sisters, and straining the ear to catch the echo of our avenging artillery, it is difficult to turn the mind to what seem dreams of past days of peace and security; and memory itself grows dim in the attempt to repass the gulf which the last few months has interposed between the present and the time to which this narrative refers."[42] when he wrote these lines, the first relief had just taken place, and the second defence of lucknow was beginning. the end of the month saw sir colin campbell's advance to the second--the real--relief of lucknow. of sir colin, yule wrote and spoke with warm regard: "sir colin was delightful, and when in a good humour and at his best, always reminded me very much, both in manner and talk, of the general (i.e. general white, his wife's father). the voice was just the same and the quiet gentle manner, with its underlying keen dry humour. but then if you did happen to offend sir colin, it was like treading on crackers, which was not our general's way." when lucknow had been relieved, besieged, reduced, and finally remodelled by the grand roads and demolitions scheme of his friend napier, the latter came down to allahabad, and he and yule sought diversion in playing quoits and skittles, the only occasion on which either of them is known to have evinced any liking for games. before this time yule had succeeded his friend baker as _de facto_ secretary to government for public works, and on baker's retirement in 1858, yule was formally appointed his successor.[43] baker and yule had, throughout their association, worked in perfect unison, and the very differences in their characters enhanced the value of their co-operation; the special qualities of each friend mutually strengthened and completed each other. yule's was by far the more original and creative mind, baker's the more precise and, at least in a professional sense, the more highly-trained organ. in chivalrous sense of honour, devotion to duty, and natural generosity, the men stood equal; but while yule was by nature impatient and irritable, and liable, until long past middle age, to occasional sudden bursts of uncontrollable anger, generally followed by periods of black depression and almost absolute silence,[44] baker was the very reverse. partly by natural temperament, but also certainly by severe self-discipline, his manner was invincibly placid and his temper imperturbable.[45] yet none was more tenacious in maintaining whatever he judged right. baker, whilst large-minded in great matters, was extremely conventional in small ones, and yule must sometimes have tried his feelings in this respect. the particulars of one such tragic occurrence have survived. yule, who was colour-blind,[46] and in early life whimsically obstinate in maintaining his own view of colours, had selected some cloth for trousers undeterred by his tailor's timid remonstrance of "not _quite_ your usual taste, sir." the result was that the under-secretary to government startled official calcutta by appearing in brilliant claret-coloured raiment. baker remonstrated: "claret-colour! nonsense, my trousers are silver grey," said yule, and entirely declined to be convinced. "i think i _did_ convince him at last," said baker with some pride, when long after telling the story to the present writer. "and _then_ he gave them up?" "oh, no," said sir william ruefully, "he wore those claret-coloured trousers to the very end." that episode probably belonged to the dalhousie period. when yule resumed work in the secretariat at calcutta at the close of the mutiny, the inevitable arrears of work were enormous. this may be the proper place to notice more fully his action with respect to the choice of gauge for indian railways already adverted to in brief. as we have seen, his own convictions led to the adoption of the metre gauge over a great part of india. this policy had great disadvantages not at first foreseen, and has since been greatly modified. in justice to yule, however, it should be remembered that the conditions and requirements of india have largely altered, alike through the extraordinary growth of the indian export, especially the grain, trade, and the development of new necessities for imperial defence. these new features, however, did but accentuate defects inherent in the system, but which only prolonged practical experience made fully apparent. at the outset the supporters of the narrow gauge seemed to have the stronger position, as they were able to show that the cost was much less, the rails employed being only about 2/3rds the weight of those required by the broad gauge, and many other subsidiary expenses also proportionally less. on the other hand, as time passed and practical experience was gained, its opponents were able to make an even stronger case against the narrow gauge. the initial expenses were undoubtedly less, but the durability was also less. thus much of the original saving was lost in the greater cost of maintenance, whilst the small carrying capacity of the rolling stock and loss of time and labour in shifting goods at every break of gauge, were further serious causes of waste, which the internal commercial development of india daily made more apparent. strategic needs also were clamant against the dangers of the narrow gauge in any general scheme of indian defence. yule's connection with the public works department had long ceased ere the question of the gauges reached its most acute stage, but his interest and indirect participation in the conflict survived. in this matter a certain parental tenderness for a scheme which he had helped to originate, combined with his warm friendship for some of the principal supporters of the narrow gauge, seem to have influenced his views more than he himself was aware. certainly his judgment in this matter was not impartial, although, as always in his case, it was absolutely sincere and not consciously biased. in reference to yule's services in the period following the mutiny, lord canning's subsequent minute of 1862 may here be fitly quoted. in this the governor-general writes: "i have long ago recorded my opinion of the value of his services in 1858 and 1859, when with a crippled and overtaxed staff of engineer officers, many of them young and inexperienced, the g.-g. had to provide rapidly for the accommodation of a vast english army, often in districts hitherto little known, and in which the authority of the government was barely established, and always under circumstances of difficulty and urgency. i desire to repeat that the queen's army in india was then greatly indebted to lieut.-colonel yule's judgment, earnestness, and ability; and this to an extent very imperfectly understood by many of the officers who held commands in that army. "of the manner in which the more usual duties of his office have been discharged it is unnecessary for me to speak. it is, i believe, known and appreciated as well by the home government as by the governor-general in council." in the spring of 1859 yule felt the urgent need of a rest, and took the, at that time, most unusual step of coming home on three months' leave, which as the voyage then occupied a month each way, left him only one month at home. he was accompanied by his elder brother george, who had not been out of india for thirty years. the visit home of the two brothers was as bright and pleasant as it was brief, but does not call for further notice. in 1860, yule's health having again suffered, he took short leave to java. his journal of this tour is very interesting, but space does not admit of quotation here. he embodied some of the results of his observations in a lecture he delivered on his return to calcutta. during these latter years of his service in india, yule owed much happiness to the appreciative friendship of lord canning and the ready sympathy of lady canning. if he shared their tours in an official capacity, the intercourse was much more than official. the noble character of lady canning won from yule such wholehearted chivalrous devotion as, probably, he felt for no other friend save, perhaps in after days, sir bartle frere. and when her health failed, it was to yule's special care that lord canning entrusted his wife during a tour in the hills. lady canning was known to be very homesick, and one day as the party came in sight of some ilexes (the evergreen oak), yule sought to cheer her by calling out pleasantly: "look, lady canning! there are _oaks_!" "no, no, yule, _not_ oaks," cried sir c. b. "they are (solemnly) ibexes." "no, _not_ ibexes, sir c., you mean silexes," cried capt. ----, the a.d.c.; lady canning and yule the while almost choking with laughter. on another and later occasion, when the governor-general's camp was peculiarly dull and stagnant, every one yawning and grumbling, yule effected a temporary diversion by pretending to tap the telegraph wires, and circulating through camp, what purported to be, the usual telegraphic abstract of news brought to bombay by the latest english mail. the news was of the most astounding character, with just enough air of probability, in minor details, to pass muster with a dull reader. the effect was all he could wish--or rather more--and there was a general flutter in the camp. of course the governor-general and one or two others were in the secret, and mightily relished the diversion. but this pleasant and cheering intercourse was drawing to its mournful close. on her way back from darjeeling, in november, 1861, lady canning (not then in yule's care) was unavoidably exposed to the malaria of a specially unhealthy season. a few days' illness followed, and on 18th november, 1861, she passed calmly to "that remaining rest where night and tears are o'er."[47] it was to yule that lord canning turned in the first anguish of his loss, and on this faithful friend devolved the sad privilege of preparing her last resting-place. this may be told in the touching words of lord canning's letter to his only sister, written on the day of lady canning's burial, in the private garden at barrackpoor[48]:-"the funeral is over, and my own darling lies buried in a spot which i am sure she would have chosen of all others.... from the grave can be seen the embanked walk leading from the house to the river's edge, which she made as a landing-place three years ago, and from within 3 or 4 paces of the grave there is a glimpse of the terrace-garden and its balustrades, which she made near the house, and of the part of the grounds with which she most occupied herself.... i left calcutta yesterday ... and on arriving here, went to look at the precise spot chosen for the grave. i could see by the clear full moon ... that it was exactly right. yule was there superintending the workmen, and before daylight this morning a solid masonry vault had been completely finished. "bowie [military secretary] and yule have done all this for me. it has all been settled since my poor darling died. she liked yule. they used to discuss together her projects of improvement for this place, architecture, gardening, the cawnpore monument, etc., and they generally agreed. he knew her tastes well...." the coffin, brought on a gun-carriage from calcutta, "was carried by twelve soldiers of the 6th regiment (queen's), the a.d.c.'s bearing the pall. there were no hired men or ordinary funeral attendants of any kind at any part of the ceremony, and no lookers-on.... yule was the only person not of the household staff. had others who had asked" to attend "been allowed to do so, the numbers would have been far too large. "on coming near the end of the terrace walk i saw that the turf between the walk and the grave, and for several yards all round the grave, was strewed thick with palm branches and bright fresh-gathered flowers--quite a thick carpet. it was a little matter, but so exactly what she would have thought of."[49] and, therefore, yule thought of this for her! he also recorded the scene two days later in some graceful and touching lines, privately printed, from which the following may be quoted: "when night lowered black, and the circling shroud of storm rolled near, and stout hearts learned dismay; not hers! to her tried lord a light and stay even in the earthquake and the palpable cloud of those dark months; and when a fickle crowd panted for blood and pelted wrath and scorn on him she loved, her courage never stooped: but when the clouds were driven, and the day poured hope and glorious sunshine, she who had borne, the night with such strong heart, withered and drooped, our queenly lily, and smiling passed away. now! let no fouling touch profane her clay, nor odious pomps and funeral tinsels mar our grief. but from our england's cannon car let england's soldiers bear her to the tomb prepared by loving hands. before her bier scatter victorious palms; let rose's bloom carpet its passage...." yule's deep sympathy in this time of sorrow strengthened the friendship lord canning had long felt for him, and when the time approached for the governor-general to vacate his high office, he invited yule, who was very weary of india, to accompany him home, where his influence would secure yule congenial employment. yule's weariness of india at this time was extreme. moreover, after serving under such leaders as lord dalhousie and lord canning, and winning their full confidence and friendship, it was almost repugnant to him to begin afresh with new men and probably new measures, with which he might not be in accord. indeed, some little clouds were already visible on the horizon. in these circumstances, it is not surprising that yule, under an impulse of lassitude and impatience, when accepting lord canning's offer, also 'burnt his boats' by sending in his resignation of the service. this decision yule took against the earnest advice of his anxious and devoted wife, and for a time the results justified all her misgivings. she knew well, from past experience, how soon yule wearied in the absence of compulsory employment. and in the event of the life in england not suiting him, for even lord canning's good-will might not secure perfectly congenial employment for his talents, she knew well that his health and spirits would be seriously affected. she, therefore, with affectionate solicitude, urged that he should adopt the course previously followed by his friend baker, that is, come home on furlough, and only send in his resignation after he saw clearly what his prospects of home employment were, and what he himself wished in the matter. lord canning and yule left calcutta late in march, 1862; at malta they parted never to meet again in this world. lord canning proceeded to england, and yule joined his wife and child in rome. only a few weeks later, at florence, came as a thunderclap the announcement of lord canning's unexpected death in london, on 17th june. well does the present writer remember the day that fatal news came, and yule's deep anguish, not assuredly for the loss of his prospects, but for the loss of a most noble and magnanimous friend, a statesman whose true greatness was, both then and since, most imperfectly realised by the country for which he had worn himself out.[50] shortly after yule went to england,[51] where he was cordially received by lord canning's representatives, who gave him a touching remembrance of his lost friend, in the shape of the silver travelling candlesticks, which had habitually stood on lord canning's writing-table.[52] but his offer to write lord canning's _life_ had no result, as the relatives, following the then recent example of the hastings family, in the case of another great governor-general, refused to revive discussion by the publication of any memoir. nor did yule find any suitable opening for employment in england, so after two or three months spent in visiting old friends, he rejoined his family in the black forest, where he sought occupation in renewing his knowledge of german. but it must be confessed that his mood both then and for long after was neither happy nor wholesome. the winter of 1862 was spent somewhat listlessly, partly in germany and partly at the hôtel des bergues, geneva, where his old acquaintance colonel tronchin was hospitably ready to open all doors. the picturesque figure of john ruskin also flits across the scene at this time. but yule was unoccupied and restless, and could neither enjoy mr. ruskin's criticism of his sketches nor the kindly hospitality of his genevan hosts. early in 1863 he made another fruitless visit to london, where he remained four or five months, but found no opening. though unproductive of work, this year brought yule official recognition of his services in the shape of the c.b., for which lord canning had long before recommended him.[53] on rejoining his wife and child at mornex in savoy, yule found the health of the former seriously impaired. during his absence, the kind and able english doctor at geneva had felt obliged to inform mrs. yule that she was suffering from disease of the heart, and that her life might end suddenly at any moment. unwilling to add to yule's anxieties, she made all necessary arrangements, but did not communicate this intelligence until he had done all he wished and returned, when she broke it to him very gently. up to this year mrs. yule, though not strong and often ailing, had not allowed herself to be considered an invalid, but from this date doctor's orders left her no choice in the matter.[54] about this time, yule took in hand the first of his studies of mediaeval travellers. his translation of the _travels of friar jordanus_ was probably commenced earlier; it was completed during the leisurely journey by carriage between chambéry and turin, and the dedication to sir bartle frere written during a brief halt at genoa, from which place it is dated. travelling slowly and pleasantly by _vetturino_ along the riviera di levante, the family came to spezzia, then little more than a quiet village. a chance encounter with agreeable residents disposed yule favourably towards the place, and a few days later he opened negotiations for land to build a house! most fortunately for himself and all concerned these fell through, and the family continued their journey to tuscany, and settled for the winter in a long rambling house, with pleasant garden, at pisa, where yule was able to continue with advantage his researches into mediaeval travel in the east. he paid frequent visits to florence, where he had many pleasant acquaintances, not least among them charles lever ("harry lorrequer"), with whom acquaintance ripened into warm and enduring friendship. at florence he also made the acquaintance of the celebrated marchese gino capponi, and of many other italian men of letters. to this winter of 1863-64 belongs also the commencement of a lasting friendship with the illustrious italian historian, villari, at that time holding an appointment at pisa. another agreeable acquaintance, though less intimate, was formed with john ball, the well-known president of the alpine club, then resident at pisa, and with many others, among whom the name of a very cultivated german scholar, h. meyer, specially recurs to memory. in the spring of 1864, yule took a spacious and delightful old villa, situated in the highest part of the bagni di lucca,[55] and commanding lovely views over the surrounding chestnut-clad hills and winding river. here he wrote much of what ultimately took form in _cathay, and the way thither_. it was this summer, too, that yule commenced his investigations among the venetian archives, and also visited the province of friuli in pursuit of materials for the history of one of his old travellers, the _beato odorico_. at verona--then still austrian--he had the amusing experience of being arrested for sketching too near the fortifications. however, his captors had all the usual austrian _bonhomie_ and courtesy, and yule experienced no real inconvenience. he was much more disturbed when, a day or two later, the old mother of one of his venetian acquaintances insisted on embracing him on account of his supposed likeness to garibaldi! as winter approached, a warmer climate became necessary for mrs. yule, and the family proceeded to sicily, landing at messina in october, 1864. from this point, yule made a very interesting excursion to the then little known group of the lipari islands, in the company of that eminent geologist, the late robert mallet, f.r.s., a most agreeable companion. on martinmas day, the yules reached the beautiful capital of sicily, palermo, which, though they knew it not, was to be their home--a very happy one--for nearly eleven years. during the ensuing winter and spring, yule continued the preparation of _cathay_, but his appetite for work not being satisfied by this, he, when in london in 1865, volunteered to make an index to the third decade of the _journal of the royal geographical society_, in exchange for a set of such volumes as he did not possess. that was long before any index society existed; but yule had special and very strong views of his own as to what an index should be, and he spared no labour to realise his ideal.[56] this proved a heavier task than he had anticipated, and he got very weary before the index was completed. in the spring of 1866, _cathay and the way thither_ appeared, and at once took the high place which it has ever since retained. in the autumn of the same year yule's attention was momentarily turned in a very different direction by a local insurrection, followed by severe reprisals, and the bombardment of palermo by the italian fleet. his sick wife was for some time under rifle as well as shell fire; but cheerfully remarking that "every bullet has its billet," she remained perfectly serene and undisturbed. it was the year of the last war with austria, and also of the suppression of the monastic orders in sicily; two events which probably helped to produce the outbreak, of which yule contributed an account to _the times_, and subsequently a more detailed one to the _quarterly review_.[57] yule had no more predilection for the monastic orders than most of his countrymen, but his sense of justice was shocked by the cruel incidence of the measure in many cases, and also by the harshness with which both it and the punishment of suspected insurgents was carried out. cholera was prevalent in italy that year, but sicily, which had maintained stringent quarantine, entirely escaped until large bodies of troops were landed to quell the insurrection, when a devastating epidemic immediately ensued, and re-appeared in 1867. in after years, when serving on the army sanitary committee at the india office, yule more than once quoted this experience as indicating that quarantine restrictions may, in some cases, have more value than british medical authority is usually willing to admit. in 1867, on his return from london, yule commenced systematic work on his long projected new edition of the _travels of marco polo_. it was apparently in this year that the scheme first took definite form, but it had long been latent in his mind. the public libraries of palermo afforded him much good material, whilst occasional visits to the libraries of venice, florence, paris, and london, opened other sources. but his most important channel of supply came from his very extensive private correspondence, extending to nearly all parts of europe and many centres in asia. his work brought him many new and valued friends, indeed too many to mention, but amongst whom, as belonging specially to this period, three honoured names must be recalled here: commendatore (afterwards baron) cristoforo negri, the large-hearted founder and first president of the geographical society of italy, from whom yule received his first public recognition as a geographer, commendatore guglielmo berchet (affectionately nicknamed _il bello e buono_), ever generous in learned help, who became a most dear and honoured friend, and the hon. george p. marsh, u.s. envoy to the court of italy, a man, both as scholar and friend, unequalled in his nation, perhaps almost unique anywhere. those who only knew yule in later years, may like some account of his daily life at this time. it was his custom to rise fairly early; in summer he sometimes went to bathe in the sea,[58] or for a walk before breakfast; more usually he would write until breakfast, which he preferred to have alone. after breakfast he looked through his notebooks, and before ten o'clock was usually walking rapidly to the library where his work lay. he would work there until two or three o'clock, when he returned home, read the _times_, answered letters, received or paid visits, and then resumed work on his book, which he often continued long after the rest of the household were sleeping. of course his family saw but little of him under these circumstances, but when he had got a chapter of _marco_ into shape, or struck out some new discovery of interest, he would carry it to his wife to read. she always took great interest in his work, and he had great faith in her literary instinct as a sound as well as sympathetic critic. the first fruits of yule's polo studies took the form of a review of pauthier's edition of _marco polo_, contributed to the _quarterly review_ in 1868. in 1870 the great work itself appeared, and received prompt generous recognition by the grant of the very beautiful gold medal of the geographical society of italy,[59] followed in 1872 by the award of the founder's medal of the royal geographical society, while the geographical and asiatic societies of paris, the geographical societies of italy and berlin, the academy of bologna, and other learned bodies, enrolled him as an honorary member. reverting to 1869, we may note that yule, when passing through paris early in the spring, became acquainted, through his friend m. charles maunoir, with the admirable work of exploration lately performed by lieut. francis garnier of the french navy. it was a time of much political excitement in france, the eve of the famous _plébiscite_, and the importance of garnier's work was not then recognised by his countrymen. yule saw its value, and on arrival in london went straight to sir roderick murchison, laid the facts before him, and suggested that no other traveller of the year had so good a claim to one of the two gold medals of the r.g.s. as this french naval lieutenant. sir roderick was propitious, and accordingly in may the patron's medal was assigned to garnier, who was touchingly grateful to yule; whilst the french minister of marine marked his appreciation of yule's good offices by presenting him with the magnificent volumes commemorating the expedition.[60] yule was in paris in 1871, immediately after the suppression of the commune, and his letters gave interesting accounts of the extraordinary state of affairs then prevailing. in august, he served as president of the geographical section of the british association at its edinburgh meeting. on his return to palermo, he devoted himself specially to the geography of the oxus region, and the result appeared next year in his introduction and notes to wood's _journey_. soon after his return to palermo, he became greatly interested in the plans, about which he was consulted, of an english church, the gift to the english community of two of its oldest members, messrs ingham and whitaker. yule's share in the enterprise gradually expanded, until he became a sort of volunteer clerk of the works, to the great benefit of his health, as this occupation during the next three years, whilst adding to his interests, also kept him longer in the open air than would otherwise have been the case. it was a real misfortune to yule (and one of which he was himself at times conscious) that he had no taste for any out-of-door pursuits, neither for any form of natural science, nor for gardening, nor for any kind of sport nor games. nor did he willingly ride.[61] he was always restless away from his books. there can be no doubt that want of sufficient air and exercise, reacting on an impaired liver, had much to do with yule's unsatisfactory state of health and frequent extreme depression. there was no lack of agreeable and intelligent society at palermo (society that the present writer recalls with cordial regard), to which every winter brought pleasant temporary additions, both english and foreign, the best of whom generally sought yule's acquaintance. old friends too were not wanting; many found their way to palermo, and when such came, he was willing to show them hospitality and to take them excursions, and occasionally enjoyed these. but though the beautiful city and surrounding country were full of charm and interest, yule was too much pre-occupied by his own special engrossing pursuits ever really to get the good of his surroundings, of which indeed he often seemed only half conscious. by this time yule had obtained, without ever having sought it, a distinct and, in some respects, quite unique position in geographical science. although his _essay on the geography of the oxus region_ (1872) received comparatively little public attention at home, it had yet made its mark once for all,[62] and from this time, if not earlier, yule's high authority in all questions of central asian geography was generally recognised. he had long ere this, almost unconsciously, laid the broad foundations of that "yule method," of which baron von richthofen has written so eloquently, declaring that not only in his own land, "but also in the literatures of france, italy, germany, and other countries, the powerful stimulating influence of the yule method is visible."[63] more than one writer has indeed boldly compared central asia before yule to central africa before livingstone! yule had wrought from sheer love of the work and without expectation of public recognition, and it was therefore a great surprise as well as gratification to him, to find that the demand for his _marco polo_ was such as to justify the appearance of a second edition only a few years after the first. the preparation of this enlarged edition, with much other miscellaneous work (see subjoined bibliography), and the superintendence of the building of the church already named, kept him fully occupied for the next three years. amongst the parerga and miscellaneous occupations of yule's leisure hours in the period 1869-74, may be mentioned an interesting correspondence with professor w. w. skeat on the subject of _william of palerne_ and sicilian examples of the werwolf; the skilful analysis and exposure of klaproth's false geography;[64] the purchase and despatch of sicilian seeds and young trees for use in the punjab, at the request of the indian forestry department; translations (prepared for friends) of tracts on the cultivation of sumach and the collection of manna as practised in sicily; also a number of small services rendered to the south kensington museum, at the request of the late sir henry cole. these latter included obtaining italian and sicilian bibliographic contributions to the science and art department's _catalogue of books on art_, selecting architectural subjects to be photographed;[65] negotiating the purchase of the original drawings illustrative of padre b. gravina's great work on the cathedral of monreale; and superintending the execution of a copy in mosaic of the large mosaic picture (in the norman palatine chapel, palermo,) of the entry of our lord into jerusalem. in the spring of 1875, just after the publication of the second edition of _marco polo_, yule had to mourn the loss of his noble wife. he was absent from sicily at the time, but returned a few hours after her death on 30th april. she had suffered for many years from a severe form of heart disease, but her end was perfect peace. she was laid to rest, amid touching tokens of both public and private sympathy, in the beautiful camposanto on monte pellegrino. what her loss was to yule only his oldest and closest friends were in a position to realise. long years of suffering had impaired neither the soundness of her judgment nor the sweetness, and even gaiety, of her happy, unselfish disposition. and in spirit, as even in appearance, she retained to the very last much of the radiance of her youth. nor were her intellectual gifts less remarkable. few who had once conversed with her ever forgot her, and certainly no one who had once known her intimately ever ceased to love her.[66] shortly after this calamity, yule removed to london, and on the retirement of his old friend, sir william baker, from the india council early that autumn, lord salisbury at once selected him for the vacant seat. nothing would ever have made him a party-man, but he always followed lord salisbury with conviction, and worked under him with steady confidence. in 1877 yule married, as his second wife, the daughter of an old friend,[67] a very amiable woman twenty years his junior, who made him very happy until her untimely death in 1881. from the time of his joining the india council, his duties at the india office of course occupied a great part of his time, but he also continued to do an immense amount of miscellaneous literary work, as may be seen by reference to the subjoined bibliography, (itself probably incomplete). in council he invariably "showed his strong determination to endeavour to deal with questions on their own merits and not only by custom and precedent."[68] amongst subjects in which he took a strong line of his own in the discussions of the council, may be specially instanced his action in the matter of the cotton duties (in which he defended native indian manufactures as against hostile manchester interests); the vernacular press act, the necessity for which he fully recognised; and the retention of kandahar, for which he recorded his vote in a strong minute. in all these three cases, which are typical of many others, his opinion was overruled, but having been carefully and deliberately formed, it remained unaffected by defeat. in all matters connected with central asian affairs, yule's opinion always carried great weight; some of his most competent colleagues indeed preferred his authority in this field to that of even sir henry rawlinson, possibly for the reason given by sir m. grant duff, who has epigrammatically described the latter as good in council but dangerous in counsel.[69] yule's courageous independence and habit of looking at all public questions by the simple light of what appeared to him right, yet without fads or doctrinairism, earned for him the respect of the successive secretaries of state under whom he served, and the warm regard and confidence of his other colleagues. the value attached to his services in council was sufficiently shown by the fact that when the period of ten years (for which members are usually appointed), was about to expire, lord hartington (now duke of devonshire), caused yule's appointment to be renewed for life, under a special act of parliament passed for this purpose in 1885. his work as a member of the army sanitary committee, brought him into communication with miss florence nightingale, a privilege which he greatly valued and enjoyed, though he used to say: "she is worse than a royal commission to answer, and, in the most gracious charming manner possible, immediately finds out all i don't know!" indeed his devotion to the "lady-in-chief" was scarcely less complete than kinglake's. in 1880, yule was appointed to the board of visitors of the government indian engineering college at cooper's hill, a post which added to his sphere of interests without materially increasing his work. in 1882, he was much gratified by being named an honorary fellow of the society of antiquaries of scotland, more especially as it was to fill one of the two vacancies created by the deaths of thomas carlyle and dean stanley. yule had been president of the hakluyt society from 1877, and in 1885 was elected president also of the royal asiatic society. he would probably also have been president of the royal geographical society, but for an untoward incident. mention has already been made of his constant determination to judge all questions by the simple touchstone of what he believed to be right, irrespective of personal considerations. it was in pursuance of these principles that, at the cost of great pain to himself and some misrepresentation, he in 1878 sundered his long connection with the royal geographical society, by resigning his seat on their council, solely in consequence of their adoption of what he considered a wrong policy. this severance occurred just when it was intended to propose him as president. some years later, at the personal request of the late lord aberdare, a president in all respects worthy of the best traditions of that great society, yule consented to rejoin the council, which he re-entered as a vice-president. in 1883, the university of edinburgh celebrated its tercentenary, when yule was selected as one of the recipients of the honorary degree of ll.d. his letters from edinburgh, on this occasion, give a very pleasant and amusing account of the festivity and of the celebrities he met. nor did he omit to chronicle the envious glances cast, as he alleged, by some british men of science on the splendours of foreign academic attire, on the yellow robes of the sorbonne, and the palms of the institute of france! pasteur was, he wrote, the one most enthusiastically acclaimed of all who received degrees. i think it was about the same time that m. renan was in england, and called upon sir henry maine, yule, and others at the india office. on meeting just after, the colleagues compared notes as to their distinguished but unwieldy visitor. "it seems that _le style n'est pas l'homme même_ in _this_ instance," quoth "ancient law" to "marco polo." and here it may be remarked that yule so completely identified himself with his favourite traveller that he frequently signed contributions to the public press as marcus paulus venetus or m.p.v. his more intimate friends also gave him the same _sobriquet_, and once, when calling on his old friend, dr. john brown (the beloved chronicler of _rab and his friends_), he was introduced by dr. john to some lion-hunting american visitors as "our marco polo." the visitors evidently took the statement in a literal sense, and scrutinised yule closely.[70] in 1886 yule published his delightful _anglo-indian glossary_, with the whimsical but felicitous sub-title of _hobson-jobson_ (the name given by the rank and file of the british army in india to the religious festival in celebration of hassan and husaïn). this _glossary_ was an abiding interest to both yule and the present writer. contributions of illustrative quotations came from most diverse and unexpected sources, and the arrival of each new word or happy quotation was quite an event, and gave such pleasure to the recipients as can only be fully understood by those who have shared in such pursuits. the volume was dedicated in affecting terms to his elder brother, sir george yule, who, unhappily, did not survive to see it completed. in july 1885, the two brothers had taken the last of many happy journeys together, proceeding to cornwall and the scilly isles. a few months later, on 13th january 1886, the end came suddenly to the elder, from the effects of an accident at his own door.[71] it may be doubted if yule ever really got over the shock of this loss, though he went on with his work as usual, and served that year as a royal commissioner on the occasion of the indian and colonial exhibition of 1886. from 1878, when an accidental chill laid the foundations of an exhausting, though happily quite painless, malady, yule's strength had gradually failed, although for several years longer his general health and energies still appeared unimpaired to a casual observer. the condition of public affairs also, in some degree, affected his health injuriously. the general trend of political events from 1880 to 1886 caused him deep anxiety and distress, and his righteous wrath at what he considered the betrayal of his country's honour in the cases of frere, of gordon, and of ireland, found strong, and, in a noble sense, passionate expression in both prose and verse. he was never in any sense a party man, but he often called himself "one of mr. gladstone's converts," i.e. one whom gladstonian methods had compelled to break with liberal tradition and prepossessions. nothing better expresses yule's feeling in the period referred to than the following letter, written in reference to the r. e. gordon memorial,[72] but of much wider application: "will you allow me an inch or two of space to say to my brother officers, 'have nothing to do with the proposed gordon memorial.' "that glorious memory is in no danger of perishing and needs no memorial. sackcloth and silence are what it suggests to those who have guided the action of england; and englishmen must bear the responsibility for that action and share its shame. it is too early for atoning memorials; nor is it possible for those who take part in them to dissociate themselves from a repulsive hypocrisy. "let every one who would fain bestow something in honour of the great victim, do, in silence, some act of help to our soldiers or their families, or to others who are poor and suffering. "in later days our survivors or successors may look back with softened sorrow and pride to the part which men of our corps have played in these passing events, and charles gordon far in the front of all; and then they may set up our little tablets, or what not--not to preserve the memory of our heroes, but to maintain the integrity of our own record of the illustrious dead." happily yule lived to see the beginning of better times for his country. one of the first indications of that national awakening was the right spirit in which the public, for the most part, received lord wolseley's stirring appeal at the close of 1888, and yule was so much struck by the parallelism between lord wolseley's warning and some words of his own contained in the pseudo-polo fragment (see above, end of preface), that he sent lord wolseley the very last copy of the 1875 edition of _marco polo_, with a vigorous expression of his sentiments. that was probably yule's last utterance on a public question. the sands of life were now running low, and in the spring of 1889, he felt it right to resign his seat on the india council, to which he had been appointed for life. on this occasion lord cross, then secretary of state for india, successfully urged his acceptance of the k.c.s.i., which yule had refused several years before. in the house of lords, viscount cross subsequently referred to his resignation in the following terms. he said: "a vacancy on the council had unfortunately occurred through the resignation from ill-health of sir henry yule, whose presence on the council had been of enormous advantage to the natives of the country. a man of more kindly disposition, thorough intelligence, high-minded, upright, honourable character, he believed did not exist; and he would like to bear testimony to the estimation in which he was held, and to the services which he had rendered in the office he had so long filled."[73] this year the hakluyt society published the concluding volume of yule's last work of importance, the _diary of sir william hedges_. he had for several years been collecting materials for a full memoir of his great predecessor in the domain of historical geography, the illustrious rennell.[74] this work was well advanced as to preliminaries, but was not sufficiently developed for early publication at the time of yule's death, and ere it could be completed its place had been taken by a later enterprise. during the summer of 1889, yule occupied much of his leisure by collecting and revising for re-issue many of his miscellaneous writings. although not able to do much at a time, this desultory work kept him occupied and interested, and gave him much pleasure during many months. it was, however, never completed. yule went to the seaside for a few weeks in the early summer, and subsequently many pleasant days were spent by him among the surrey hills, as the guest of his old friends sir joseph and lady hooker. of their constant and unwearied kindness, he always spoke with most affectionate gratitude. that autumn he took a great dislike to the english climate; he hankered after sunshine, and formed many plans, eager though indefinite, for wintering at cintra, a place whose perfect beauty had fascinated him in early youth. but increasing weakness made a journey to portugal, or even the south of france, an alternative of which he also spoke, very inexpedient, if not absolutely impracticable. moreover, he would certainly have missed abroad the many friends and multifarious interests which still surrounded him at home. he continued to take drives, and occasionally called on friends, up to the end of november, and it was not until the middle of december that increasing weakness obliged him to take to his bed. he was still, however, able to enjoy seeing his friends--some to the very end, and he had a constant stream of visitors, mostly old friends, but also a few newer ones, who were scarcely less welcome. he also kept up his correspondence to the last, three attached brother r.e.'s, general collinson, general maclagan, and major w. broadfoot, taking it in turn with the present writer to act as his amanuensis. on friday, 27th december, yule received a telegram from paris, announcing his nomination that day as corresponding member of the institute of france (académie des inscriptions), one of the few distinctions of any kind of which it can still be said that it has at no time lost any of its exalted dignity. an honour of a different kind that came about the same time, and was scarcely less prized by him, was a very beautiful letter of farewell and benediction from miss florence nightingale,[75] which he kept under his pillow and read many times. on the 28th, he dictated to the present writer his acknowledgment, also by telegraph, of the great honour done him by the institute. the message was in the following words: "reddo gratias, illustrissimi domini, ob honores tanto nimios quanto immeritos! mihi robora deficiunt, vita collabitur, accipiatis voluntatem pro facto. cum corde pleno et gratissimo moriturus vos, illustrissimi domini, saluto. yule." sunday, 29th december, was a day of the most dense black fog, and he felt its oppression, but was much cheered by a visit from his ever faithful friend, collinson, who, with his usual unselfishness, came to him that day at very great personal inconvenience. on monday, 30th december, the day was clearer, and henry yule awoke much refreshed, and in a peculiarly happy and even cheerful frame of mind. he said he felt so comfortable. he spoke of his intended book, and bade his daughter write about the inevitable delay to his publisher: "go and write to john murray," were indeed his last words to her. during the morning he saw some friends and relations, but as noon approached his strength flagged, and after a period of unconsciousness, he passed peacefully away in the presence of his daughter and of an old friend, who had come from edinburgh to see him, but arrived too late for recognition. almost at the same time that yule fell asleep, his "stately message,"[76] was being read under the great dome in paris. some two hours after yule had passed away, f.-m. lord napier of magdala, called on an errand of friendship, and at his desire was admitted to see the last of his early friend. when lord napier came out, he said to the present writer, in his own reflective way: "he looks as if he had just settled to some great work." with these suggestive words of the great soldier, who was so soon, alas, to follow his old friend to the work of another world, this sketch may fitly close. * * * * * the following excellent verses (of unknown authorship) on yule's death, subsequently appeared in the _academy_:[77] "'moriturus vos saluto' breathes his last the dying scholar- tireless student, brilliant writer; he 'salutes his age' and journeys to the undiscovered country. there await him with warm welcome all the heroes of old story- the venetians, the cà polo, marco, nicolo, maffeo, odoric of pordenone, ibn batuta, marignolli, benedict de goës--'seeking lost cathay and finding heaven.' many more whose lives he cherished with the piety of learning; fading records, buried pages, failing lights and fires forgotten, by his energy recovered, by his eloquence re-kindled. 'moriturus vos saluto' breathes his last the dying scholar, and the far off ages answer: _immortales te salutant_. d. m." the same idea had been previously embodied, in very felicitous language, by the late general sir william lockhart, in a letter which that noble soldier addressed to the present writer a few days after yule's death. and yule himself would have taken pleasure in the idea of those meetings with his old travellers, which seemed so certain to his surviving friends.[78] he rests in the old cemetery at tunbridge wells, with his second wife, as he had directed. a great gathering of friends attended the first part of the burial service which was held in london on 3rd january, 1890. amongst those present were witnesses of every stage of his career, from his boyish days at the high school of edinburgh downwards. his daughter, of course, was there, led by the faithful, peerless friend who was so soon to follow him into the undiscovered country.[79] she and his youngest nephew, with two cousins and a few old friends, followed his remains over the snow to the graveside. the epitaph subsequently inscribed on the tomb was penned by yule himself, but is by no means representative of his powers in a kind of composition in which he had so often excelled in the service of others. as a composer of epitaphs and other monumental inscriptions few of our time have surpassed, if any have equalled him, in his best efforts. sir george udny yule, c.b., k.c.s.i.[80] george udny yule, born at inveresk in 1813, passed through haileybury into the bengal civil service, which he entered at the age of 18 years. for twenty-five years his work lay in eastern bengal. he gradually became known to the government for his activity and good sense, but won a far wider reputation as a mighty hunter, alike with hog-spear and double barrel. by 1856 the roll of his slain tigers exceeded four hundred, some of them of special fame; after that he continued slaying his tigers, but ceased to count them. for some years he and a few friends used annually to visit the plains of the brahmaputra, near the garrow hills--an entirely virgin country then, and swarming with large game. yule used to describe his once seeing seven rhinoceroses at once on the great plain, besides herds of wild buffalo and deer of several kinds. one of the party started the theory that noah's ark had been shipwrecked there! in those days george yule was the only man to whom the maharajah of nepaul, sir jung bahadur, conceded leave to shoot within his frontier. yule was first called from his useful obscurity in 1856. the year before, the sonthals in insurrection disturbed the long unbroken peace of the delta. these were a numerous non-aryan, uncivilised, but industrious race, driven wild by local mismanagement, and the oppressions of hindoo usurers acting through the regulation courts. after the suppression of their rising, yule was selected by sir f. halliday, who knew his man, to be commissioner of the bhagulpoor division, containing some six million souls, and embracing the hill country of the sonthals. he obtained sanction to a code for the latter, which removed these people entirely from the court system, and its tribe of leeches, and abolished all intermediaries between the sahib and the sonthal peasant. through these measures, and his personal influence, aided by picked assistants, he was able to effect, with extraordinary rapidity, not only their entire pacification, but such a beneficial change in their material condition, that they have risen from a state of barbarous penury to comparative prosperity and comfort. george yule was thus engaged when the mutiny broke out, and it soon made itself felt in the districts under him. to its suppression within his limits, he addressed himself with characteristic vigour. thoroughly trusted by every class--by his government, by those under him, by planters and by zemindars--he organised a little force, comprising a small detachment of the 5th regiment, a party of british sailors, mounted volunteers from the districts, etc., and of this he became practically the captain. elephants were collected from all quarters to spare the legs of his infantry and sailors; while dog-carts were turned into limbers for the small three-pounders of the seamen. and with this little army george yule scoured the trans-gangetic districts, leading it against bodies of the mutineers, routing them upon more than one occasion, and out-manoeuvring them by his astonishing marches, till he succeeded in driving them across the nepaul frontier. no part of bengal was at any time in such danger, and nowhere was the danger more speedily and completely averted. after this yule served for two or three years as chief commissioner of oudh, where in 1862 he married miss pemberton, the daughter of a very able father, and the niece of sir donald macleod, of honoured and beloved memory. then for four or five years he was resident at hyderabad, where he won the enduring friendship of sir salar jung. "everywhere he showed the same characteristic firm but benignant justice. everywhere he gained the lasting attachment of all with whom he had intimate dealings--except tigers and scoundrels." many years later, indignant at the then apparently supine attitude of the british government in the matter of the abyssinian captives, george yule wrote a letter (necessarily published without his name, as he was then on the governor-general's council), to the editor of an influential indian paper, proposing a private expedition should be organised for their delivery from king theodore, and inviting the editor (dr. george smith) to open a list of subscriptions in his paper for this purpose, to which yule offered to contribute £2000 by way of beginning. although impracticable in itself, it is probable that, as in other cases, the existence of such a project may have helped to force the government into action. the particulars of the above incident were printed by dr. smith in his _memoir of the rev. john wilson_, but are given here from memory. from hyderabad he was promoted in 1867 to the governor-general's council, but his health broke down under the sedentary life, and he retired and came home in 1869. after some years of country life in scotland, where he bought a small property, he settled near his brother in london, where he was a principal instrument in enabling sir george birdwood to establish the celebration of primrose day (for he also was "one of mr. gladstone's converts"). sir george yule never sought 'london society' or public employment, but in 1877 he was offered and refused the post of financial adviser to the khedive under the dual control. when his feelings were stirred he made useful contributions to the public press, which, after his escape from official trammels, were always signed. the very last of these (_st. james gazette_, 24th february 1885) was a spirited protest against the snub administered by the late lord derby, as secretary of state, to the colonies, when they had generously offered assistance in the soudan campaign. he lived a quiet, happy, and useful life in london, where he was the friend and unwearied helper of all who needed help. he found his chief interests in books and flowers, and in giving others pleasure. of rare unselfishness and sweet nature, single in mind and motive, fearing god and knowing no other fear, he was regarded by a large number of people with admiring affection. he met his death by a fall on the frosty pavement at his door, in the very act of doing a kindness. an interesting sketch of sir george yule's indian career, by one who knew him thoroughly, is to be found in sir edward braddon's _thirty years of shikar_. an account of his share in the origin of primrose day appeared in the _st. james' gazette_ during 1891. [1] there is a vague tradition that these yules descend from the same stock as the scandinavian family of the same name, which gave denmark several men of note, including the great naval hero niels juel. the portraits of these old danes offer a certain resemblance of type to those of their scots namesakes, and henry yule liked to play with the idea, much in the same way that he took humorous pleasure in his reputed descent from michael scott, the wizard! (this tradition was more historical, however, and stood thus: yule's great grandmother was a scott of ancrum, and the scotts of ancrum had established their descent from sir michael scott of balwearie, reputed to be the wizard.) be their origin what it may, yule's forefathers had been already settled on the border hills for many generations, when in the time of james vi. they migrated to the lower lands of east lothian, where in the following reign they held the old fortalice of fentoun tower of nisbet of dirleton. when charles ii. empowered his lord lyon to issue certificates of arms (in place of the lyon records removed and lost at sea by the cromwellian government), these yules were among those who took out confirmation of arms, and the original document is still in the possession of the head of the family. though yules of sorts are still to be found in scotland, the present writer is the only member of the fentoun tower family now left in the country, and of the few remaining out of it most are to be found in the army list. [2] the literary taste which marked william yule probably came to him from his grandfather, the rev. james rose, episcopal minister of udny, in aberdeenshire. james rose, a non-jurant (i.e. one who refused to acknowledge allegiance to the hanoverian king), was a man of devout, large, and tolerant mind, as shown by writings still extant. his father, john rose, was the younger son of the 14th hugh of kilravock. he married margaret udny of udny, and was induced by her to sell his pleasant ross-shire property and invest the proceeds in her own bleak buchan. when george yule (about 1759) brought home elizabeth rose as his wife, the popular feeling against the episcopal church was so strong and bitter in lothian, that all the men of the family- themselves presbyterians--accompanied mrs. yule as a bodyguard on the occasion of her first attendance at the episcopal place of worship. years after, when dissensions had arisen in the church of scotland, elizabeth yule succoured and protected some of the dissident presbyterian ministers from their persecutors. [3] general collinson in _royal engineers' journal_ 1st feb. 1890. the gifted author of this excellent sketch himself passed away on 22nd april 1902. [4] the grave thoughtful face of william yule was conspicuous in the picture of a durbar (by an italian artist, but _not_ zoffany), which long hung on the walls of the nawab's palace at lucknow. this picture disappeared during the mutiny of 1857. [5] colonel udny yule, c.b. "when he joined, his usual _nomen_ and _cognomen_ puzzled the staff-sergeant at fort-william, and after much boggling on the cadet parade, the name was called out _whirly wheel_, which produced no reply, till some one at a venture shouted, 'sick in hospital.'" (_athenaeum_, 24th sept. 1881.) the ship which took udny yule to india was burnt at sea. after keeping himself afloat for several hours in the water, he was rescued by a passing ship and taken back to the mauritius, whence, having lost everything but his cadetship, he made a fresh start for india, where he and william for many years had a common purse. colonel udny yule commanded a brigade at the siege of cornelis (1811), which gave us java, and afterwards acted as resident under sir stamford raffles. forty-five years after the retrocession of java, henry yule found the memory of his uncle still cherished there. [6] article on the oriental section of the british museum library in _athenaeum_, 24th sept. 1881. major yule's oriental library was presented by his sons to the british museum a few years after his death. [7] it may be amusing to note that he was considered an almost dangerous person because he read the _scotsman_ newspaper! [8] _athenaeum_, 24th sept. 1881. a gold chain given by the last dauphiness is in the writer's possession. [9] dr. john yule (b. 176-d. 1827), a kindly old _savant_. he was one of the earliest corresponding members of the society of antiquaries of scotland, and the author of some botanical tracts. [10] according to brunet, by lucas pennis after antonio tempesta. [11] _concerning some little-known travellers in the east_. asiatic quarterly, vol. v. (1888). [12] william yule died in 1839, and rests with his parents, brothers, and many others of his kindred, in the ruined chancel of the ancient norman church of st. andrew, at gulane, which had been granted to the yule family as a place of burial by the nisbets of dirleton, in remembrance of the old kindly feeling subsisting for generations between them and their tacksmen in fentoun tower. though few know its history, a fragrant memorial of this wise and kindly scholar is still conspicuous in edinburgh. the magnificent wall-flower that has, for seventy summers, been a glory of the castle rock, was originally all sown by the patient hand of major yule, the self-sowing of each subsequent year, of course, increasing the extent of bloom. lest the extraordinarily severe spring of 1895 should have killed off much of the old stock, another (but much more limited) sowing on the northern face of the rock was in that year made by his grand-daughter, the present writer, with the sanction and active personal help of the lamented general (then colonel) andrew wauchope of niddrie marischal. in scotland, where the memory of this noble soldier is so greatly revered, some may like to know this little fact. may the wall-flower of the castle rock long flourish a fragrant memorial of two faithful soldiers and true-hearted scots. [13] obituary notice of yule, by gen. r. maclagan, r.e. _proceedings, r. g. s._ 1890. [14] this was the famous "grey dinner," of which the shepherd made grim fun in the _noctes_. [15] probably the specimen from south america, of which an account was published in 1833. [16] rawnsley, _memoir of harvey goodwin, bishop of carlisle_. [17] biog. sketch of yule, by c. trotter, _proceedings, r.s.e._ vol. xvii. [18] biog. sketch of yule, by c. trotter, _proceedings, r.s.e._ vol. xvii. [19] after leaving the army, yule always used this sword when wearing uniform. [20] the engineer cadets remained at addiscombe a term (= 6 months) longer than the artillery cadets, and as the latter were ordinarily gazetted full lieutenants six months after passing out, unfair seniority was obviated by the engineers receiving the same rank on passing out of addiscombe. [21] yule, in _memoir of general becher_. [22] collinson's _memoir of yule_ in _r. e. journal_. [23] the picture was subscribed for by his brother officers in the corps, and painted in 1880 by t. b. wirgman. it was exhibited at the royal academy in 1881. a reproduction of the artist's etching from it forms the frontispiece of this volume. [24] in _memoir of gen. john becher_. [25] general patrick yule (b. 1795, d. 1873) was a thorough soldier, with the repute of being a rigid disciplinarian. he was a man of distinguished presence, and great charm of manner to those whom he liked, which were by no means all. the present writer holds him in affectionate remembrance, and owes to early correspondence with him much of the information embodied in preceding notes. he served on the canadian boundary commission of 1817, and on the commission of national defence of 1859, was prominent in the ordnance survey, and successively commanding r.e. in malta and scotland. he was engineer to sir c. fellows' expedition, which gave the nation the lycian marbles, and while commanding r.e. in edinburgh, was largely instrumental in rescuing st. margaret's chapel in the castle from desecration and oblivion. he was a thorough scot, and never willingly tolerated the designation n.b. on even a letter. he had cultivated tastes, and under a somewhat austere exterior he had a most tender heart. when already past sixty, he made a singularly happy marriage to a truly good woman, who thoroughly appreciated him. he was the author of several memoirs on professional subjects. he rests in st. andrew's, gulane. [26] collinson's _memoir of yule_. [27] notes on the iron of the khasia hills and notes on the khasia hills and people both in journal of the r. asiatic society of bengal, vols. xi. and xiii. [28] mr. (afterwards sir) george clerk, political officer with the expedition. was twice governor of bombay and once governor of the cape: "a diplomatist of the true english stamp--undaunted in difficulties and resolute to maintain the honour of his country." (sir h. b. edwardes, _life of henry lawrence_, i. 267). he died in 1889. [29] note by yule, communicated by him to mr. r. b. smith and printed by the latter in _life of lord lawrence_. [30] and when nearing his own end, it was to her that his thoughts turned most constantly. [31] yule and maclagan's _memoir of sir w. baker_. [32] maclagan's _memoir of yule, p.r.g.s._, feb. 1890. [33] on hearing this, yule said to him, "your story is quite correct except in one particular; you understated the _amount_ of the fine." [34] yule and maclagan's _memoir of baker_. [35] it would appear that major yule had presented the rodgers with some specimens of indian scissors, probably as suggestions in developing that field of export. scissors of elaborate design, usually damascened or gilt, used to form a most important item in every set of oriental writing implements. even long after adhesive envelopes had become common in european turkey, their use was considered over familiar, if not actually disrespectful, for formal letters, and there was a particular traditional knack in cutting and folding the special envelope for each missive, which was included in the instruction given by every competent _khoja_ as the present writer well remembers in the quiet years that ended with the disasters of 1877. [36] collinson's _memoir of yule, royal engineer journal_. [37] extract from preface to _ava_, edition of 1858. [38] the present whereabouts of this picture is unknown to the writer. it was lent to yule in 1889 by lord dalhousie's surviving daughter (for whom he had strong regard and much sympathy), and was returned to her early in 1890, but is not named in the catalogue of lady susan's effects, sold at edinburgh in 1898 after her death. at that sale the present writer had the satisfaction of securing for reverent preservation the watch used throughout his career by the great marquess. [39] now in the writer's possession. it was for many years on exhibition in the edinburgh and south kensington museums. [40] article by yule on lord lawrence, _quarterly review_ for april, 1883. [41] messrs. smith & elder. [42] preface to _narrative of a mission to the court of ava_. before these words were written, yule had had the sorrow of losing his elder brother robert, who had fallen in action before delhi (19th june, 1857), whilst in command of his regiment, the 9th lancers. robert abercromby yule (born 1817) was a very noble character and a fine soldier. he had served with distinction in the campaigns in afghanistan and the sikh wars, and was the author of an excellent brief treatise on cavalry tactics. he had a ready pencil and a happy turn for graceful verse. in prose his charming little allegorical tale for children, entitled _the white rhododendron_, is as pure and graceful as the flower whose name it bears. like both his brothers, he was at once chivalrous and devout, modest, impulsive, and impetuous. no officer was more beloved by his men than robert yule, and when some one met them carrying back his covered body from the field and enquired of the sergeant: "who have you got there?" the reply was: "colonel yule, and better have lost half the regiment, sir." it was in the chivalrous effort to extricate some exposed guns that he fell. some one told afterwards that when asked to go to the rescue, he turned in the saddle, looked back wistfully on his regiment, well knowing the cost of such an enterprise, then gave the order to advance and charge. "no stone marks the spot where yule went down, but no stone is needed to commemorate his valour" (archibald forbes, in _daily news_, 8th feb. 1876). at the time of his death colonel r. a. yule had been recommended for the c.b. his eldest son, colonel j. h. yule, c.b., distinguished himself in several recent campaigns (on the burma-chinese frontier, in tirah, and south africa). [43] baker went home in november, 1857, but did not retire until the following year. [44] nothing was more worthy of respect in yule's fine character than the energy and success with which he mastered his natural temperament in the last ten years of his life, when few would have guessed his original fiery disposition. [45] not without cause did sir j. p. grant officially record that "to his imperturbable temper the government of india owed much." [46] yule's colour-blindness was one of the cases in which dalton, the original investigator of this optical defect, took special interest. at a later date (1859) he sent yule, through professor wilson, skeins of coloured silks to name. yule's elder brother robert had the same peculiarity of sight, and it was also present in two earlier and two later generations of their mother's family--making five generations in all. but in no case did it pass from parent to child, always passing in these examples, by a sort of knight's move, from uncle to nephew. another peculiarity of yule's more difficult to describe was the instinctive association of certain architectural forms or images with the days of the week. he once, and once only (in 1843), met another person, a lady who was a perfect stranger, with the same peculiarity. about 1878-79 he contributed some notes on this obscure subject to one of the newspapers, in connection with the researches of mr. francis galton, on visualisation, but the particulars are not now accessible. [47] from yule's verses on her grave. [48] lord canning to lady clanricarde: letter dated barrackpoor, 19th nov. 1861, 7 a.m., printed in _two noble lives_, by a. j. c. hare, and here reproduced by mr. hare's permission. [49] lord canning's letter to lady clanricarde. he gave to yule lady canning's own silver drinking-cup, which she had constantly used. it is carefully treasured, with other canning and dalhousie relics, by the present writer. [50] many years later yule wrote of lord canning as follows: "he had his defects, no doubt. he had not at first that entire grasp of the situation that was wanted at such a time of crisis. but there is a virtue which in these days seems unknown to parliamentary statesmen in england--magnanimity. lord canning was an english statesman, and he was surpassingly magnanimous. there is another virtue which in holy writ is taken as the type and sum of all righteousness--justice--and he was eminently just. the misuse of special powers granted early in the mutiny called for lord canning's interference, and the consequence was a flood of savage abuse; the violence and bitterness of which it is now hard to realise." (_quarterly review_, april, 1883, p. 306.) [51] during the next ten years yule continued to visit london annually for two or three months in the spring or early summer. [52] now in the writer's possession. they appear in the well-known portrait of lord canning reading a despatch. [53] lord canning's recommendation had been mislaid, and the india office was disposed to ignore it. it was lord canning's old friend and eton chum, lord granville, who obtained this tardy justice for yule, instigated thereto by that most faithful friend, sir roderick murchison. [54] i cannot let the mention of this time of lonely sickness and trial pass without recording here my deep gratitude to our dear and honoured friend, john ruskin. as my dear mother stood on the threshold between life and death at mornex that sad spring, he was untiring in all kindly offices of friendship. it was her old friend, principal a. j. scott (then eminent, now forgotten), who sent him to call. he came to see us daily when possible, sometimes bringing mss. of rossetti and others to read aloud (and who could equal his reading?), and when she was too ill for this, or himself absent, he would send not only books and flowers to brighten the bare rooms of the hillside inn (then very primitive), but his own best treasures of turner and w. hunt, drawings and illuminated missals. it was an anxious solace; and though most gratefully enjoyed, these treasures were never long retained. [55] villa mansi, nearly opposite the old ducal palace. with its private chapel, it formed three sides of a small _place_ or court. [56] he also at all times spared no pains to enforce that ideal on other index-makers, who were not always grateful for his sound doctrine! [57] he saw a good deal of the outbreak when taking small comforts to a friend, the commandent of the military school, who was captured and imprisioned by the insurgents. [58] after 1869 he discontinued sea-bathing. [59] this was yule's first geographical honour, but he had been elected into the athenaeum club, under "rule ii.," in january, 1867. [60] garnier took a distinguished part in the defence of paris in 1870-71, after which he resumed his naval service in the east, where he was killed in action. his last letter to yule contained the simple announcement "_j'ai pris hanoï_" a modest terseness of statement worthy of the best naval traditions. [61] one year the present writer, at her mother's desire, induced him to take walks of 10 to 12 miles with her, but interesting and lovely as the scenery was, he soon wearied for his writing-table (even bringing his work with him), and thus little permanent good was effected. and it was just the same afterwards in scotland, where an old highland gillie, describing his experience of the yule brothers, said: "i was liking to take out sir george, for _he_ takes the time to enjoy the hills, but (plaintively), the kornel is no good, for he's just as restless as a water-wagtail!" if there be any _mal de l'écritoire_ corresponding to _mal du pays_, yule certainly had it. [62] the russian government in 1873 paid the same work the very practical compliment of circulating it largely amongst their officers in central asia. [63] "auch in den literaturen von frankreich, italien, deutschland und andere ländern ist der mächtig treibende einfluss der yuleschen methode, welche wissenschaftliche grundlichkeit mit anmuthender form verbindet, bemerkbar." (_verhandlungen der gesellschaft für erdkunde zu berlin_, band xvii. no. 2.) [64] this subject is too lengthy for more than cursory allusion here, but the patient analytic skill and keen venatic instinct with which yule not only proved the forgery of the alleged _travels of georg ludwig von ----_ (that had been already established by lord strangford, whose last effort it was, and sir henry rawlinson), but step by step traced it home to the arch-culprit klaproth, was nothing less than masterly. [65] this is probably the origin of the odd misstatement as to yule occupying himself at palermo with photography, made in the delightful _reminiscences_ of the late colonel balcarres ramsay. yule never attempted photography after 1852. [66] she was a woman of fine intellect and wide reading; a skilful musician, who also sang well, and a good amateur artist in the style of aug. delacroix (of whom she was a favourite pupil). of french and italian she had a thorough and literary mastery, and how well she knew her own language is shown by the sound and pure english of a story she published in early life, under the pseudonym of max lyle (_fair oaks, or the experiences of arnold osborne, m.d._, 2 vols., 1856). my mother was partly of highland descent on both sides, and many of her fine qualities were very characteristic of that race. before her marriage she took an active part in many good works, and herself originated the useful school for the blind at bath, in a room which she hired with her pocket-money, where she and her friend miss elwin taught such of the blind poor as they could gather together. in the tablet which he erected to her memory in the family burial-place of st. andrew's, gulane, her husband described her thus:--"a woman singular in endowments, in suffering, and in faith; to whom to live was christ, to die was gain." [67] mary wilhelmina, daughter of f. skipwith, esq., b.c.s. [68] collinson's _memoir of yule_. [69] see _notes from a diary_, 1888-91. [70] the identification was not limited to yule, for when travelling in russia many years ago, the present writer was introduced by an absent-minded russian _savant_ to his colleagues as _mademoiselle marco paulovna_! [71] see note on sir george yule's career at the end of this memoir. [72] addressed to the editor, _royal engineers' journal_, who did not, however, publish it. [73] debate of 27th august, 1889, as reported in _the times_ of 28th august. [74] yule had published a brief but very interesting memoir of major rennell in the _r. e. journal_ in 1881. he was extremely proud of the circumstance that rennell's surviving grand-daughter presented to him a beautiful wax medallion portrait of the great geographer. this wonderfully life-like presentment was bequeathed by yule to his friend sir joseph hooker, who presented it to the royal society. [75] knowing his veneration for that noble lady, i had written to tell her of his condition, and to ask her to give him this last pleasure of a few words. the response was such as few but herself could write. this letter was not to be found after my father's death, and i can only conjecture that it must either have been given away by himself (which is most improbable), or was appropriated by some unauthorised outsider. [76] so sir m. e. grant duff well calls it. [77] _academy_, 19th march, 1890. [78] he was much pleased, i remember, by a letter he once received from a kindly franciscan friar, who wrote: "you may rest assured that the beato odorico will not forget all you have done for him." [79] f.-m. lord napier of magdala, died 14th january, 1890. [80] this notice includes the greater part of an article written by my father, and published in the _st. james' gazette_ of 18th january, 1886, but i have added other details from personal recollection and other sources.--a. f. y. a bibliography of sir henry yule's writings compiled by h. cordier and a. f. yule[1] 1842 notes on the iron of the kasia hills. (_jour. asiatic soc. bengal_, xi. part ii. july-dec. 1842, pp. 853-857.) reprinted in _proceedings of the museum of economic geology_, 1852. 1844 notes on the kasia hills and people. by lieut. h. yule. (_jour. asiatic soc. bengal_, xii. part ii. july-dec. 1844, pp. 612-631.) 1846 a canal act of the emperor akbar, with some notes and remarks on the history of the western jumna canals. by lieut. yule. (_jour. asiatic society bengal_, xv. 1846, pp. 213-223.) 1850 the african squadron vindicated. by lieut. h. yule. second edition. london, j. ridgway, 1850, 8vo, pp. 41. had several editions. reprinted in the colonial magazine of march, 1850. ---l'escadre africaine vengée. par le lieutenant h. yule. traduit du _colonial magazine_ de mars, 1850. (_revue coloniale_, mai, 1850.) 1851 fortification for officers of the army and students of military history, with illustrations and notes. by lieut. h. yule, blackwood, mdcccli. 8vo, pp. xxii.-210. (there had been a previous edition privately printed.) ---la fortification mise à la portée des officiers de l'armée et des personnes qui se livrent à l'étude de l'histoire militaire (avec atlas). par h. yule. traduit de l'anglais par m. sapia, chef de bataillon d'artillerie de marine et m. masselin, capitaine du génie. paris, j. corréard, 1858, 8vo, pp. iii.-263, and atlas. 1851 the loss of the _birkenhead_ (verses). (_edinburgh courant_, dec. 1851.) republished in henley's _lyra heroica_, a book of verse for boys. london, d. nutt, 1890. 1852 tibet. (_blackwood's edinburgh magazine_, 1852.) 1856 narrative of major phayre's mission to the court of ava, with notices of the country, government, and people. compiled by capt. h. yule. printed for submission to the government of india. calcutta, j. thomas,... 1856, 4to, pp. xxix. + 1 f. n. ch. p. l. er. + pp. 315 + pp. cxiv. + pp. iv. and pp. 70. the last pp. iv.-70 contain: notes on the geological features of the banks of the river irawadee and on the country north of the amarapoora, by thomas oldham ... calcutta, 1856. ---a narrative of the mission sent by the governor-general of india to the court of ava in 1855, with notices of the country, government, and people. by capt. h. yule. with numerous illustrations. london, smith, elder & co., 1858, 4to. 1857 on the geography of burma and its tributary states, in illustration of a new map of those regions. (_journal, r.g.s._, xxvii. 1857, pp. 54-108.) ---notes on the geography of burma, in illustration of a map of that country. (_proceedings r. g. s._, vol. i. 1857, pp. 269-273.) 1857 an account of the ancient buddhist remains at pagân on the iráwadi. by capt. h. yule. (_jour. asiatic society, bengal_, xxvi. 1857, pp. 1-51.) 1861 a few notes on antiquities near jubbulpoor. by lieut.-col. h. yule. (_journal asiatic society, bengal_, xxx. 1861, pp. 211-215.) ---memorandum on the countries between thibet, yunân, and burmah. by the very rev. thomine d'mazure (sic), communicated by lieut.-col. a. p. phayre (with notes and a comment by lieut.-col. h. yule) with a map of the n. e. frontier, prepared in the office of the surveyor-gen. of india, calcutta, aug. 1861. (_jour. asiatic soc. bengal_, xxx. 1861, pp. 367-383.) 1862 notes of a brief visit to some of the indian remains in java. by lieut.-col. h. yule. (_jour. asiatic society, bengal_, xxxi. 1862, pp. 16-31.) ---sketches of java. a lecture delivered at the meeting of the bethune society, calcutta, 13th feb. 1862. ---fragments of unprofessional papers gathered from an engineer's portfolio after twenty-three years of service. calcutta, 1862. ten copies printed for private circulation. 1863 _mirabilia descripta_. the wonders of the east. by friar jordanus, of the order of preachers and bishop of columbum in india the greater (circa 1330). translated from the latin original, as published at paris in 1839, in the _recueil de voyages et de mémoires_, of the society of geography, with the addition of a commentary, by col. h. yule, london. printed for the hakluyt society, m.dccc.lxiii, 8vo, p. iv.-xvii.-68. ---report on the passes between arakan and burma [written in 1853]. (_papers on indian civil engineering_, vol. i. roorkee.) 1866 notices of cathay. (_proceedings, r.g.s._, x. 1866, pp. 270-278.) ---cathay and the way thither, being a collection of mediaeval notices of china. translated and edited by col. h. yule with a preliminary essay on the intercourse between china and the western nations previous to the discovery of the cape route. london, printed for the hakluyt society. m.dccc.lxvi. 2 vols. 8vo. 1866 the insurrection at palermo. (_times_, 29th sep., 1866.) ---lake people. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2042, 15th dec. 1866, p. 804.) letter dated palermo, 3rd dec. 1866. 1867 general index to the third ten volumes of the journal of the royal geographical society. compiled by col. h. yule. london, john murray, m.dccclxvii, 8vo, pp. 228. ---a week's republic at palermo. (_quarterly review_, jan. 1867.) ---on the cultivation of sumach (_rhus coriaria_), in the vicinity of colli, near palermo. by prof. inzenga. translated by col. h. yule. communicated by dr. cleghorn. _from the trans. bot. society_, vol. ix., 1867-68, ppt. 8vo, p. 15. original first published in the _annali di agricoltura siciliana, redatti per l'istituzione del principe di castelnuovo_. palermo, 1852. 1868 marco polo and his recent editors. (_quarterly review_, vol. 125, july and oct. 1868, pp. 133 and 166.) 1870 an endeavour to elucidate rashiduddin's geographical notices of india. (_journal r. asiatic society_, n.s. iv. 1870, pp. 340-356.) ---some account of the senbyú pagoda at mengún, near the burmese capital, in a memorandum by capt. e. h. sladen, political agent at mandalé; with remarks on the subject, by col. h. yule. (ibid. pp. 406-429.) ---notes on analogies of manners between the indo-chinese and the races of the malay archipelago. (_report fortieth meeting british association, liverpool_, sept. 1870, p. 178.) 1871 the book of ser marco polo, the venetian, concerning the kingdoms and marvels of the east. newly translated and edited with notes. by col. h. yule. in two volumes. with maps and other illustrations. london, john murray, 1871, 2 vols. 8vo. ---the book of ser marco polo, the venetian, concerning the kingdoms and marvels of the east. newly translated and edited, with notes, maps, and other illustrations. by col. h. yule. second edition. london, john murray, 1875, 2 vols. 8vo. 1871 address by col. h. yule (_report forty-first meeting british association, edinburgh_, aug. 1871, pp. 162-174.) 1872 a journey to the source of the river oxus. by captain john wood, indian navy. new edition, edited by his son. with an essay on the geography of the valley of the oxus. by col. h. yule. with maps. london, john murray, 1872. in-8, pp. xc.-280. ---papers connected with the upper oxus regions. (_journal_, xlii. 1872, pp. 438-481.) ---letter [on yule's edition of wood's _oxus_]. (_ocean highways_, feb. 1874, p. 475.) palermo, 9th jan. 1874. 1873 letter [about the route of m. polo through southern kerman]. (_ocean highways_, march, 1873, p. 385.) palermo, 11th jan. 1873. ---on northern sumatra and especially achin. (_ocean highways_, aug. 1873, pp. 177-183.) ---notes on hwen thsang's account of the principalities of tokharistan, in which some previous geographical identifications are reconsidered. (_jour. royal asiatic society_, n.s. vi. 1873, pp, 92-120 and p. 278.) 1874 francis garnier (in memoriam). (_ocean highways_, pp. 487-491.) march, 1874. ---remarks on mr. phillips's paper [_notices of southern mangi_]. (_journal_, xliv. 1874, pp. 103-112.) palermo, 22nd feb. 1874. ---[sir frederic goldsmid's] "telegraph and travel." (_geographical magazine_, april, 1874, p. 34; oct. 1874, pp. 300-303.) ---geographical notes on the basins of the oxus and the zarafshán. by the late alexis fedchenko. (_geog. mag._, may, 1874, pp. 46-54.) ---[mr. ashton dilke on the valley of the ili.] (_geog. mag._, june, 1874, p. 123.) palermo, 16th may, 1874. ---the _atlas sinensis_ and other sinensiana. (_geog. mag._, 1st july, 1847, pp. 147-148.) ---letter [on belasaghun]. (_geog. mag._, 1st july, 1874, p. 167; ibid. 1st sept. 1874, p. 254.) palermo, 17th june, 1874; 8th aug. 1874. 1874 bala sagun and karakorum. by eugene schuyler. with note by col. yule. (_geog. mag._, 1st dec. 1874, p. 389.) ---m. khanikoff's identifications of names in clavijo. (ibid. pp. 389-390.) 1875 notes [to the translation by eugene schuyler of palladius's version of _the journey of the chinese traveller, chang fe-hui_]. (_geog. mag._, 1st jan. 1875, pp. 7-11). ---some unscientific notes on the history of plants. (_geog. mag._, 1st feb. 1875, pp. 49-51) ---trade routes to western china. (_geog. mag._, april, 1875, pp. 97-101.) ---garden of transmigrated souls [friar odoric]. (_geog. mag._, 1st may, 1875, pp. 137-138.) ---a glance at the results of the expedition to hissar. by herr p. lerch. (_geog. mag._, 1st nov. 1875, pp. 334-339.) ---kathay or cathay. (_johnson's american cyclopaedia_.) ---achín. (_encycl. brit._ 9th edition, 1875, i. pp. 95-97.) ---afghânistân. (ibid. pp. 227-241.) ---andaman islands. (ibid. ii. 1875, pp. 11-13.) ---india [ancient]. (map no. 31, 1874, in _an atlas of ancient geography, edited by william smith and george grove_. london, john murray, 1875.) 1876 mongolia, the tangut country, and the solitudes of northern tibet, being a narrative of three years' travel in eastern high asia. by lieut.-col. n. prejevalsky, of the russian staff corps; mem. of the imp. russ. geog. soc. translated by e. delmar morgan, f.r.g.s. with introduction and notes by col. h. yule. with maps and illustrations. london, sampson low, 1876, 8vo. ---_tibet_ ... edited by c. r. markham. notice of. (_times_, 1876, ----?) ---eastern persia. letter. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2559, 11th nov. 1876.) ---review of _h. howorth's history of the mongols_, part i. (the athenaeum, no. 2560, 18th nov. 1876, pp. 654-656.) correspondence. (ibid. no. 2561, 25th nov. 1876.) ---review of _t. e. gordon's roof of the world_. (_the academy_, 15th july, 1876, pp. 49-50.) 1876 cambodia. (_encycl. brit._ iv. 1876, pp. 723-726.) 1877 champa. (_geog. mag._, 1st march, 1877, pp. 66-67.) article written for the _encycl. brit._ 9th edition, but omitted for reasons which the writer did not clearly understand. ---_quid, si mundus evolvatur?_ (_spectator_, 24th march, 1877.) written in 1875.--signed marcus paulus venetus. ---on louis de backer's _l'extrême-orient au moyen-age_. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2598, 11th aug. 1877, pp. 174-175.) ---on p. dabry de thiersant's _catholicisme en chine_. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2599, 18th aug. 1877, pp. 209-210.) ---review of _thomas de quincey, his life and writings. by h. a. page_. (_times_, 27th aug. 1877.) ---companions of faust. letter on the claims of p. castaldi. (_times_, sept. 1877.) 1878 the late col. t. g. montgomerie, r.e. (bengal). (_r. e. journal_, april, 1878.) 8vo, pp. 8. ---mr. henry m. stanley and the royal geographical society; being the record of a protest. by col. h. yule and h. m. hyndman b.a., f.r.g.s. london: bickers and son, 1878, 8vo, pp. 48 ---review of _burma, past and present; with personal reminiscences of the country_. by lieut.-gen. albert fytche. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2634, 20th april, 1878, pp. 499-500.) ---kayal. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2634, 20th april, 1878, p. 515.) letter dated april, 1878. ---missions in southern india. (letter to _pall mall gazette_, 20th june, 1878.) ---mr. stanley and his letters of 1875. (letter to _pall mall gazette_, 30th jan. 1878.) ---review of _richthofen's china_, bd. i. (_the academy_, 13th april, 1878, pp. 315-316.) ---[a foreshadowing of the phonograph.] (_the athenaeum_, no. 2636, 4th may, 1878.) 1879 a memorial of the life and services of maj.-gen. w. w. h. greathed, c.b., royal engineers (bengal), (1826-1878). compiled by a friend and brother officer. london, printed for private circulation, 1879, 8vo, pp. 57. ---review of _gaur: its ruins and inscriptions_. by john henry ravenshaw. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2672, 11th jan. 1879, pp. 42-44.) ---wellington college. (letter to _pall mall gazette_, 14th april, 1879.) ---dr. holub's travels. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2710, 4th oct. 1879, pp. 436-437.) ---letter to comm. berchet, dated 2nd dec. 1878. (_archivio veneto_ xvii. 1879, pp. 360-362.) regarding some documents discovered by the ab. cav. v. zanetti. ---gaur. (_encyclop. brit._ x. 1879, pp. 112-116.) ---ghazni. (ibid. pp. 559-562.) ---gilgit. (ibid. pp. 596-599.) ---singular coincidences. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2719, 6th dec. 1879.) 1880 [brief obituary notice of] general w. c. macleod. (_pall mall gazette_, 10th april, 1880.) ---[obituary notice of] gen. w. c. macleod. (_proc. r. geog. soc._, june, 1880.) ---an ode in brown pig. suggested by reading mr. lang's _ballades in blue china_. [signed marcus paulus venetus.] (_st. james' gazette_, 17th july, 1880.) ---notes on analogies of manners between the indo-chinese races and the races of the indian archipelago. by col. yule (_journ. anthrop. inst. of great britain and ireland_, vol. ix., 1880, pp. 290-301.) ---sketches of asia in the thirteenth century and of marco polo's travels, delivered at royal engineer institute, 18th nov. 1880. [this lecture, with slight modification, was also delivered on other occasions both before and after. doubtful if ever fully reported.] ---dr. holub's collections. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2724, 10th jan. 1880.) ---prof. max müller's paper at the royal asiatic society. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2731, 28th feb. 1880, p. 285.) ---the temple of buddha gaya. (review of _dr. rajendralála mitra's buddha gaya_.) (_sat. rev._, 27th march, 1870.) ---mr. gladstone and count karoiyi. (letter to _the examiner_, 22nd may, 1880, signed tristram shandy.) 1880 stupa of barhut. [review of cunningham's work.] (_sat. rev._, 5th june, 1880.) ---from africa: southampton, fifth october, 1880. [verses to sir bartle frere.] (_blackwood's edinburgh magazine_, nov. 1880.) ---review of _h. howorth's history of the mongols_, part ii. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2762, 2nd oct. 1880, pp. 425-427.) ---_verboten ist_, a rhineland rhapsody. (printed for private circulation only.) ---hindú-kúsh. (_encyclop. brit._ xi. 1880, pp. 837-839.) ---the river of golden sand, the narrative of a journey through china and eastern tibet to burmah, with illustrations and ten maps from original surveys. by capt. w. gill, royal engineers. with an introductory essay. by col. h. yule, london, john murray,... 1880, 2 vols. 8vo, pp. 95-420, 11-453; ---the river of golden sand: being the narrative of a journey through china and eastern tibet to burmah. by the late capt. w. gill, r.e. condensed by edward colborne baber, chinese secretary to h.m.'s legation at peking. edited, with a memoir and introductory essay, by col. h. yule. with portrait, map, and woodcuts. london, john murray, 1883, 8vo., pp. 141-332. ---memoir of captain w. gill, r.e., and introductory essay as prefixed to the new edition of the "river of golden sand." by col. h. yule. london, john murray,... 1884, 8vo. [paged 19-141.] 1881 [notice on william yule] in persian manuscripts in the british museum. by sir f. j. goldsmid. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2813, 24th sept. 1881, pp. 401-403.) ---il beato odorico di pordenone, ed i suoi viaggi: cenni dettati dal col. enrico yule, quando s'inaugurava in pordenone il busto di odorico il giorno, 23° settembre, mdccclxxxi, 8vo. pp. 8. ---hwen t'sang. (_encyclop. brit._ xii. 1881, pp. 418-419.) ---ibn batuta. (ibid. pp. 607-609.) ---kâfiristân. (ibid. xiii. 1881, pp. 820-823.) ---major james rennell, f.r.s., of the bengal engineers. [reprinted from the _royal engineers' journal_], 8vo., pp. 16. (dated 7th dec. 1881.) 1881 notice of sir william e. baker. (_st. james' gazette_, 27th dec. 1881.) ---parallels [matthew arnold and de barros]. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2790, 16th april, 1881, pp. 536.) 1882 memoir of gen. sir william erskine baker, k.c.b., royal engineers (bengal). compiled by two old friends, brother officers and pupils. london. printed for private circulation, 1882, 8vo., pp. 67. by h. y[ule] and r. m. [gen. r. maclagan]. ---etymological notes. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2837, 11th march, 1882; no. 2840, 1st april, 1882, p. 413.) ---lhása. (_encyclop. brit._ xiv. 1882, pp. 496-503.) ---_wadono_. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2846, 13th may, 1882, p. 602.) ---dr. john brown. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2847, 20th may, 1882, pp. 635-636.) ---a manuscript of marco polo. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2851, 17th june, 1882, pp. 765-766.) [about baron nordenskiöld's facsimile edition.] ---review of _ancient india as described by ktesias the knidian_, etc. by j. w. m'crindle. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2860, 19th aug. 1882, pp. 237-238.) ---the silver coinage of thibet. (review of terrien de lacouperie's paper.) (_the academy_, 19th aug. 1882, pp 140-141.) ---review of _the indian balhara and the arabian intercourse with india_. by edward thomas. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2866, 30th sept. 1882, pp. 428-429.) ---the expedition of professor palmer, capt. gill, and lieut. charrington. (letter in _the times_, 16th oct. 1882.) ---obituary notice of dr. arthur burnell. (_times_, 20th oct. 1882.) ---capt. william gill, r.e. [notice of]. (_the times_, 31st oct. 1882.) see supra, first col. of this page. ---notes on the oldest records of the sea route to china from western asia. by col. yule. _proc. of the royal geographical society, and monthly record of geography_, nov. no. 1882, 8vo. _proceedings_, n.s. iv. 1882, pp. 649-660. read at the geographical section, brit. assoc., southampton meeting, augmented and revised by the author. 1883 lord lawrence. [review of _life of lord lawrence_. by r. bosworth smith.] (_quarterly review_, vol. 155, april, 1883, pp. 289-326.) ---review of _across chrysé_. by a. r. colquhoun. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2900, 26th may, 1883, pp. 663-665.) ---la terra del fuoco e carlo darwin. (extract from letter published by the _fanfulla_, rome 2nd june, 1883.) ---how was the trireme rowed? (_the academy_, 6th oct. 1883, p. 237.) ---_across chrysé_. (_the athenaeum_, no. 2922, 27th oct. 1883.) ---political fellowship in the india council. (letter in _the times_, 15th dec. 1883.) [heading was not yule's.] ---maldive islands. (_encyclop. brit._ xv. 1883, pp. 327-332.) ---mandeville. (ibid. pp. 473-475.) 1884 a sketch of the career of gen. john reid becher, c.b., royal engineers (bengal). by an old friend and brother officer. printed for private circulation, 1884, 8vo, pp. 40. ---rue quills. (_the academy_, no. 620, 22nd march, 1884, pp. 204-205.) reprinted in present ed. of marco polo, vol. ii. p. 596. ---lord canning. (letter in _the times_, 2nd april, 1884.) ---sir bartle frere [letter respecting memorial of]. (_st. james' gazette_, 27th july, 1884.) ---odoric. (_encyclop. brit._ xviii. 1884, pp. 728-729.) ---ormus. (ibid. pp. 856-858.) 1885 memorials of gen. sir edward harris greathed, k.c.b. compiled by the late lieut.-gen. alex. cunningham robertson, c.b. printed for private circulation. (with a prefatory notice of the compiler.) london, harrison & sons,... 1885, 8vo, pp. 95. the prefatory notice of gen. a. c. robertson is by h. yule, june, 1885, p. iii.-viii. ---anglo-indianisms. (letter in the _st. james' gazette_, 30th july, 1885.) ---obituary notice of col. grant allan, madras army. (_from the army and navy gazette_, 22nd aug. 1885.) ---shameless advertisements. (letter in _the times_, 28th oct. 1885.) 1886 marco polo. (_encyclop. brit._ xix. 1885, pp. 404-409.) ---prester john. (ibid. pp. 714-718.) ---brief notice of sir edward clive bayley. pages ix.-xiv. [prefixed to _the history of india as told by its own historians: gujarat_. by the late sir edward clive bayley.] london, allen, 1886, 8vo. ---sir george udny yule. in memoriam (_st. james' gazette_, 18th jan. 1886.) ---cacothanasia. [political verse, signed [greek: maenin aeide]] (_st. james' gazette_, 1st feb. 1886.) ---william kay, d.d. [notice of]. (letter to _the guardian_, 3rd feb. 1886.) ---col. george thomson, c.b., r.e. (_royal engineers' journal_, 1886.) ---col. george thomson, c.b. [note]. (_st. james' gazette_, 16th feb. 1886.) ---hidden virtues [a satire on w. e. gladstone]. (letter to the _st. james' gazette_, 21st march, 1886. signed m. p. v.) ---burma, past and present. (_quart. rev._ vol. 162, jan. and april, 1886, pp. 210-238.) ---errors of facts, in two well-known pictures. (_the athenaeum_, no. 3059, 12th june, 1886, p. 788.) ---[obituary notice of] lieut.-gen. sir arthur phayre, c.b., k.c.s.i., g.c.m.g. (_proc. r.g.s._, n.s. 1886, viii. pp. 103-112.) ---"lines suggested by a portrait in the millais exhibition." privately printed and (though never published) widely circulated. these powerful verses on gladstone are those several times referred to by sir mountstuart grant duff, in his published diaries. ---introductory remarks on _the rock-cut caves and statues of bamian_. by capt. the hon. m. g. talbot. (_journ. r. as. soc._ n.s. xviii. 1886, pp. 323-329.) ---opening address. (ibid. pp. i.-v.) ---opening address. (ibid. xix. pp. i.-iii.) ---hobson-jobsoniana. by h. yule (_asiatic quarterly review_, vol. i. 1886, pp. 119-140.) ---hobson-jobson: being a glossary of anglo-indian colloquial words and phrases, and of kindred terms; etymological, historical, geographical, and discursive. by col. h. yule, and the late arthur coke burnell, ph.d., c.i.e., author of "the elements of south indian palaeography," etc., london, john murray, 1886. (all rights reserved), 8vo, p. xliii.-870. preface, etc. a new edition is in preparation under the editorship of mr. william crooke (1902). 1886 john bunyan. (letter in _st. james' gazette_, circa 31st dec. 1886. signed m. p. v.) ---rennell. (_encyclop. brit._ xx. 1886, pp. 398-401.) ---rubruquis (ibid. xxi. 1886, pp. 46-47.) 1887 lieut.-gen. w. a. crommelen, c.b., r.e. (_royal engineers' journal_, 1887.) ---[obituary notice] col. sir j. u. bateman champain. (_times_, 2nd feb. 1887). ---"pulping public records." (_notes and queries_, 19th march, 1887.) ---a filial remonstrance (political verses). signed m. p. v. (_st. james' gazette_, 8th aug. 1887.) ---memoir of major-gen. j. t. boileau, r.e., f.r.s. by c. r. low, i.n., f.r.g.s. with a preface by col. h. yule, c.b., london, allen, 1887. ---the diary of william hedges, esq. (afterwards sir william hedges), during his agency in bengal; as well as on his voyage out and return overland (1681-1687). transcribed for the press, with introductory notes, etc., by r. barlow, esq., and illustrated by copious extracts from unpublished records, etc., by col. h. yule. pub. for hakluyt society. london, 1887-1889, 3 vols. 8vo. 1888 concerning some little known travellers in the east. (_asiatic quarterly review_, v. 1888, pp. 312-335.) no. i.--george strachan. ---concerning some little known travellers in the east. (_asiatic quarterly review_, vi. 1888, pp. 382-398.) no. ii.--william, earl of denbigh; sir henry skipwith; and others. ---notes on the st. james's of the 6th jan. [a budget of miscellaneous interesting criticism.] (letter to _st. james' gazette_, 9th jan. 1888.) ---deflections of the nile. (letter in _the times_, 15th oct. 1888.) ---the history of the pitt diamond, being an excerpt from documentary contributions to a biography of thomas pitt, prepared for issue [in hedges' diary] by the hakluyt society. london, 1888, 8vo. pp. 23. fifty copies printed for private circulation. 1889 the remains of pagan. by h. yule. (_trübner's record_, 3rd ser. vol. i. pt. i. 1889, p. 2.) to introduce notes by dr. e forchammer. ---a coincident idiom. by h. yule. (_trübner's record_, 3rd ser. vol. i. pt. iii. pp. 84-85.) ---the indian congress [a disclaimer], (letter to _the times_, 1st jan. 1889.) ---arrowsmith, the friend of thomas poole. (letter in _the academy_, 9th feb. 1889, p. 96.) biographies of sir henry yule. ---colonel sir henry yule, k.c.s.i., c.b., ll.d., r.e. by general robert maclagan, r.e. (_proceed. roy. geog. soc._ xii. 1890, pp. 108-113.) ---colonel sir henry yule, k.c.s.i., c.b., ll.d., r.e., etc. (with a portrait). by e. delmar morgan. (_scottish geographical magazine_, vi. 1890, pp. 93-98.) contains a very good bibliography. ---col. sir h. yule, r.e., c.b., k.c.s.i., by maj.-gen. t. b. collinson, r.e., _royal engineers' journal_, march, 1890. [this is the best of the notices of yule which appeared at the time of his death.] ---sir henry yule, k.c.s.i, c.b., ll.d., r.e., by e. h. giglioli. roma, 1890, ppt. 8vo, pp. 8. estratto dal _bollettino della società geografica italiana_, marzo, 1890. ---sir henry yule. by j. s. c[otton]. (_the academy_, 11th jan. 1890, no. 923, pp. 26-27.) ---sir henry yule. (_the athenaeum_, no. 3245, 4th jan. 1900, p. 17; no. 3246, 11th jan. p. 53; no. 3247, 18th jan. p. 88.) ---_in memoriam_. sir henry yule. by d. m. (_the academy_, 29th march, 1890, p. 222.) see end of _memoir_ in present work. ---le colonel sir henry yule. par m. henri cordier. extrait du _journal asiatique_. paris, imprimerie nationale, mdcccxc, in-8, pp. 26. ---the same, _bulletin de la société de géographie_. par m. henri cordier. 1890, 8vo, pp. 4. meeting 17th jan. 1890. 1889 baron f. von richthofen. (_verhandlungen der gesellschaft für erdkunde zu berlin_, xvii. 2.) ---colonel sir henry yule, r.e., c.b., k.c.s.i. memoir by general r. maclagan, _journ. r. asiatic society_, 1890. ---memoir of colonel sir henry yule, r.e., c.b., k.c.s.i., ll.d., etc. by coutts trotter. (_proceedings of the royal society of edinburgh_, 1891. p. xliii. to p. lvi.) 1889 sir henry yule (1820-1889). by coutts trotter. (_dict. of national biography_, lxiii. pp. 405-407.) 1903 memoir of colonel sir henry yule, r.e., c.b., k.c.s.i., corr. inst. france, by his daughter, amy frances yule, l.a.soc. ant. scot., etc. written for third edition of yule's marco polo. reprinted for private circulation only. [1] this list is based on the excellent preliminary list compiled by e. delmar morgan, published in the _scottish geographical magazine_, vol. vi., pp. 97-98, but the present compilers have much more than doubled the number of entries. it is, however, known to be still incomplete, and any one able to add to the list, will greatly oblige the compilers by sending additions to the publisher.--a. f. y. synopsis of contents. marco polo and his book. introductory notices. i. obscurities in the history of his life and book. ramusio's statements § 1. obscurities, etc. 2. ramusio his earliest biographer; his account of polo. 3. he vindicates polo's geography. 4. compares him with columbus. 5. recounts a tradition of the traveller's return to venice. 6. recounts marco's capture by the genoese. 7. his statements about marco's liberation and marriage. 8. his account of the family polo and its termination. ii. sketch of the state of the east at the time of the journeys of the polo family § 9. state of the levant. 10. the various mongol sovereignties in asia and eastern europe. 11. china. 12. india and indo-china. iii. the polo family. personal history of the travellers till their final return from the east § 13. alleged origin of the polos. 14. claims to nobility. 15. the elder marco polo. 16. nicolo and maffeo polo commence their travels. 17. their intercourse with kúblái kaan. 18. their return home, and marco's appearance on the scene. 19. second journey of the polo brothers, accompanied by marco. (see app. l. 1.) 20. marco's employment by kúblái kaan; and his journeys. 21. circumstances of the departure of the polos from the kaan's court. 22. they pass by persia to venice. their relations there. iv. digression concerning the mansion of the polo family at s. giovanni grisostomo § 23. probable period of their establishment at s. giovanni grisostomo. 24. relics of the casa polo in the corte sabbionera. 24a. recent corroboration as to traditional site of the casa polo. v. digression concerning the war-galleys of the mediterranean states in the middle ages. § 25. arrangement of the rowers in mediaeval galleys; a separate oar to every man. 26. change of system in 16th century. 27. some details of 13th-century galleys. 28. fighting arrangements. 29. crew of a galley and staff of a fleet. 30. music and miscellaneous particulars. vi. the jealousies and naval wars of venice and genoa. lamba doria's expedition to the adriatic; battle of curzola; and imprisonment of marco polo by the genoese § 31. growing jealousies and outbreaks between the republics. 32. battle in bay of ayas in 1294. 33. lamba doria's expedition to the adriatic. 34. the fleets come in sight of each other at curzola. 35. the venetians defeated, and marco polo a prisoner. 36. marco polo in prison dictates his book to rusticiano of pisa. release of venetian prisoners. 37. grounds on which the story of marco polo's capture at curzola rests. vii. rusticiano or rustichello of pisa, marco polo's fellow-prisoner at genoa, the scribe who wrote down the travels § 38. rusticiano, perhaps a prisoner from meloria. 39. a person known from other sources. 40. character of his romance compilations. 41. identity of the romance compiler with polo's fellow-prisoner. 42. further particulars regarding rusticiano. viii. notices of marco polo's history after the termination of his imprisonment at genoa § 43. death of marco's father before 1300. will of his brother maffeo. 44. documentary notices of polo at this time. the sobriquet of _milione_. 45. polo's relations with thibault de cepoy. 46. his marriage, and his daughters. marco as a merchant. 47. his last will; and death. 48. place of sepulture. professed portraits of polo. 49. further history of the polo family. 49 _bis_. reliques of marco polo. ix. marco polo's book; and the language in which it was first written § 50. general statement of what the book contains. 51. language of the original work. 52. old french text of the société de géographie. 53. conclusive proof that the old french text is the source of all the others. 54. greatly diffused employment of french in that age. x. various types of text of marco polo's book § 55. four principal types of text. _first_, that of the geographic or oldest french. 56. _second_, the remodelled french text; followed by pauthier. 57. the bern ms. and two others form a sub-class of this type. 58. _third_, friar pipino's latin. 59. the latin of grynaeus, a translation at fifth hand. 60. _fourth_, ramusio's italian. 61. injudicious tamperings in ramusio. 62. genuine statements peculiar to ramusio. 63. hypothesis of the sources of the ramusian version. 64. summary in regard to text of polo. 65. notice of a curious irish version. xi. some estimate of the character of polo and his book § 66. grounds of polo's pre-eminence among mediaeval travellers. 67. his true claims to glory. 68. his personal attributes seen but dimly. 69. absence of scientific notions. 70. map constructed on polo's data. 71. singular omissions of polo in regard to china; historical inaccuracies. 72. was polo's book materially affected by the scribe rusticiano? 73. marco's reading embraced the alexandrian romances. examples. 74. injustice long done to polo. singular modern example. xii. contemporary recognition of polo and his book. § 75. how far was there diffusion of his book in his own day? 76. contemporary references to polo. t. de cepoy; pipino; jacopo d'acqui; giov. villani. 77. pietro d'abano; jean le long of ypres. 78. curious borrowings from polo in the romance of bauduin de sebourc. 78 _bis._ chaucer and marco polo. xiii. nature of polo's influence on geographical knowledge § 79. tardy operation, and causes thereof. 80. general characteristics of mediaeval cosmography. 81. roger bacon as a geographer. 82. arab geography. 83. marino sanudo the elder. 84. the catalan map of 1375, the most complete mediaeval embodiment of polo's geography. 85. fra mauro's map. confusions in cartography of the 16th century from the endeavour to combine new and old information. 86. gradual disappearance of polo's nomenclature. 87. alleged introduction of block-printed books into europe by marco polo in connexion with the fiction of the invention of printing by castaldi of feltre. 88. frequent opportunities for such introduction in the age following polo's. xiv. explanations regarding the basis adopted for the present translation § 89. texts followed by marsden and by pauthier. 90. eclectic formation of the english text of this translation. 91. mode of rendering proper names. the book of marco polo. prologue. preliminary address of rusticiano of pisa i.--how the two brothers polo set forth from constantinople to traverse the world notes.--1. chronology. 2. "the great sea." the port of soldaia. ii.--how the two brothers went on beyond soldaia notes.--1. site and ruins of sarai. 2. city of bolghar. 3. alau lord of the levant (i.e. _hulaku_). 4. ucaca on the volga. 5. river tigeri. iii.--how the two brothers, after crossing a desert, came to the city of bocara, and fell in with certain envoys there notes.--1. "bocara a city of persia." 2. the great kaan's envoys. iv.--how the two brothers took the envoys' counsel, and went to the court of the great kaan v.--how the two brothers arrived at the court of the great kaan vi.--how the great kaan asked all about the manners of the christians, and particularly about the pope of rome note.--apostoille. the name _tartar_. vii.--how the great kaan sent the two brothers as his envoys to the pope notes.--1. the great kaan's letter. 2. the seven arts. 3. religious indifference of the mongol princes. viii.--how the great kaan gave them a tablet of gold, bearing his orders in their behalf notes.--1. the tablet. 2. the port of ayas. ix.--how the two brothers came to the city of acre; and thence to venice notes.--1. names of the deceased pope and of the legate. 2. negropont. 3. mark's age. x.--how the two brothers again departed from venice, on their way back to the great kaan, and took with them mark, the son of messer nicolo note.--oil from the holy sepulchre. xi.--how the two brothers set out from acre, and mark along with them note.--pope gregory x. and his election. xii.--how the two brothers presented themselves before the new pope notes.--1. william of tripoli. 2. powers conceded to missionary friars. 3. bundúkdár and his invasion of armenia; his character. 4. the templars in cilician armenia. xiii.--how messer nicolo and messer maffeo polo, accompanied by mark, travelled to the court of the great kaan note.--the city of kemenfu, summer residence of kúblái. xiv.--how messer nicolo and messer maffeo polo and marco presented themselves before the great kaan notes.--1. verbal. 2. "vostre homme." xv.--how the lord sent mark on an embassy of his notes.--1. the four characters learned by marco, what? 2. ramusio's addition. 3. nature of marco's employment. xvi.--how mark returned from the mission whereon he had been sent xvii.--how messer nicolo, messer maffeo, and messer marco, asked leave of the great kaan to go their way notes.--1. risks to foreigners on a change of sovereign. 2. the lady bolgana. 3. passage from ramusio. xviii.--how the two brothers and messer marco took leave of the great kaan, and returned to their own country notes.--1. mongol royal messengers. 2. mongol communication with the king of england. 3. mediaeval ships of china. 4. passage from china to sumatra. 5. mortality among the party. 6. the lady cocachin in persian history. 7. death of the kaan. 8. the princess of manzi. book first. _account of regions visited or heard of on the journey from the lesser armenia to the court of the great kaan at chandu._ i.--here the book begins; and first it speaks of the lesser hermenia notes.--1. little armenia. 2. meaning of _chasteaux_. 3. sickliness of cilician coast. 4. the phrase "_fra terre_." ii.--concerning the province of turcomania notes.--1. brutality of the people. 2. application of name _turcomania_. turcoman hordes. iii.--description of the greater hermenia notes.--1. erzingan. _buckrams_, what were they? 2. erzrum. 3. baiburt. 4. ararat. 5. oil wells of baku. iv.--of georgiania and the kings thereof notes.--1. georgian kings. 2. the georgians. 3. the iron gates and wall of alexander. 4. box forests. 5. goshawks. 6. fish miracle. 7. sea of ghel or ghelan. names ending in _-án_. 8. names of the caspian, and navigation thereon. 9. fish in the caspian. v.--of the kingdom of mausul notes.--1. atabeks of mosul. 2. nestorian and jacobite christians. 3. mosolins. 4. the kurds. 5. mush and mardin. vi.--of the great city of baudas, and how it was taken notes.--1. baudas, or baghdad. 2. island of kish. 3. basra. 4. baldachins and other silk textures; animal patterns. 5, 6. hulákú's expedition. 7. the death of the khalíf mosta'sim. 8. froissart. vii.--how the calif of baudas took counsel to slay all the christians in his land notes.--1. chronology. 2. "ses _regisles_ et ses _casses_." viii.--how the christians were in great dismay because of what the calif had said note.--the word "_cralantur_." ix.--how the one-eyed cobler was desired to pray for the christians x.--how the prayer of the one-eyed cobler caused the mountain to move note.--the mountain miracle. xi.--of the noble city of tauris notes.--1. tabriz. 2. cremesor. 3. traffic at tabriz. 4. the _torizi_. 5. character of city and people. xii.--of the monastery of saint barsamo on the borders of tauris note.--the monastery of barsauma. xiii.--of the great country of persia; with some account of the three kings notes.--1. kala' atishparastán. 2. the three kings. xiv.--how the three kings returned to their own country notes.--1. the three mystic gifts. 2. the worshipped fire. 3. sávah and avah. the legend in mas'udi. embellishments of the story of the magi. xv.--of the eight kingdoms of persia, and how they are named notes.--1. the eight kingdoms. 2. export of horses, and prices. 3. persian brigands. 4. persian wine. xvi.--concerning the great city of yasdi notes.--1. yezd. 2. yezd to kerman. the woods spoken of. xvii.--concerning the kingdom of kerman notes.--1. city and province of kerman. 2. turquoises. 3. _ondanique_ or indian steel. 4. manufactures of kerman. 5. falcons. xviii.--of the city of camadi and its ruins; also touching the carauna robbers notes.--1. products of the warmer plains. 2. humped oxen and fat-tailed sheep. 3. _scarani_. 4. the karaunahs and nigudarian bands. 5. canosalmi. xix.--of the descent to the city of hormos notes.--1. site of old hormuz and geography of the route from kerman to hormuz. 2. dates and fish diet. 3. stitched vessels. "_one rudder_," why noticed as peculiar. 4. great heat at hormuz. 5. the simúm. 6. history of hormuz, and polo's ruomedan acomat. 7. second route between hormuz and kerman. xx.--of the wearisome and desert road that has now to be travelled notes.--1. kerman to kúbenán. 2. desert of lút. 3. subterraneous canals. xxi.--concerning the city of cobinan and the things that are made there notes.--1. kuh-banán. 2. production of tútíá. xxii.--of a certain desert that continues for eight days' journey notes.--1. deserts of khorasan. 2. the _arbre sol_ or _arbre sec_. xxiii.--concerning the old man of the mountain note.--the assassins, hashíshîn, or muláhidah. xxiv.--how the old man used to train his assassins notes.--1. the story widely spread. notable murders by the sectaries. 2. their different branches. xxv.--how the old man came by his end note.--history of the apparent destruction of the sect by hulákú; its survival to the present time. castles of alamut and girdkuh. xxvi.--concerning the city of sapurgan note.--shibrgân, and the route followed. dried melons. xxvii.--of the city of balc notes.--1. balkh. 2. country meant by dogana. 3. lions in the oxus valley. xxviii.--of taican, and the mountains of salt. also of the province of casem notes.--1. talikan. 2. mines of rock-salt. 3. ethnological characteristics. 4. kishm. 5. porcupines. 6. cave dwellings. 7. old and new capitals of badakhshan. xxix.--of the province of badashan notes.--1. dialects of badakhshan. alexandrian lineage of the princes. 2. badakhshan and the balas ruby. 3. azure mines. 4. horses of badakhshan. 5. naked barley. 6. wild sheep. 7. scenery of badakhshan. 8. repeated devastation of the country from war. 9. amplitude of feminine garments. xxx.--of the province of pashai note.--on the country intended by this name. xxxi.--of the province of keshimur notes.--1. kashmir language. 2. kashmir conjurers. (_see app. l. 2._) 3. importance of kashmir in history of buddhism. 4. character of the people. 5. vicissitudes of buddhism in kashmir. 6. buddhist practice as to slaughter of animals. 7. coral. xxxii.--of the great river of badashan; and plain of pamier notes.--1. the upper oxus and wakhan. the title _nono_, (_see app. l. 3._) 2. the plateau of pamir. (_see app. l. 4 and 5._) the great wild sheep. fire at great altitudes. 3. bolor. xxxiii.--of the kingdom of cascar note.--kashgar. xxxiv.--of the great city of samarcan notes.--1. christians in samarkand. 2. chagatai's relation to kúblái mis-stated. 3. the miracle of the stone. xxxv.--of the province of yarcan note.--yarkand. goître prevalent there. xxxvi.--of a province called cotan notes.--1. government. 2. "adoration of mahommet." 3. khotan. xxxvii.--of the province of pein notes.--1. position of pein (app. l. 6.) 2. the yu or jade. 3. temporary marriages. xxxviii.--of the province of charchan note.--position of charchan and lop. xxxix.--of the city of lop, and the great desert notes.--1. geographical discrepancy. 2. superstitions as to deserts: their wide diffusion. the sound of drums on certain sandy acclivities. 3. sha-chau to lob-nor. xl.--concerning the great province of tangut notes.--1. tangut. 2. buddhism encountered here. 3. kalmak superstition, the "_heaven's ram_." 4. chinese customs described here. 5. mongol disposal of the dead. 6. superstitious practice of avoiding to carry out the dead by the house-door; its wide diffusion. xli.--of the province of camul notes.--1. kamul. 2. character of the people. 3. shameless custom. 4. parallel. xlii.--of the province of chingintalas notes.--1. the country intended. 2. ondanique. 3. asbestos mountain. 4. the four elements. 5 and 6. the story of the salamander. asbestos fabrics. xliii.--of the province of sukchur notes.--1. explanatory. 2. the city of suhchau. 3. rhubarb country. 4. poisonous pasture. xliv.--of the city of campichu notes.--1. the city of kanchau. 2. recumbent buddhas. 3. buddhist days of special worship. 4. matrimonial customs. 5. textual. xlv.--of the city of etzina notes.--1. position of yetsina. 2. textual. 3. the wild ass of mongolia. xlvi.--of the city of caracoron notes.--1. karakorum. 2. tartar. 3. chorcha. 4. prester john. xlvii.--of chinghis, and how he became the first kaan of the tartars notes.--1. chronology. 2. relations between chinghiz and aung khan, the prester john of polo. xlviii.--how chinghis mustered his people to march against prester john xlix.--how prester john marched to meet chinghis notes.--1. plain of tanduc. 2. divination by twigs and arrows. l.--the battle between chinghis kaan and prester john. death of chinghis note.--real circumstances and date of the death of chinghiz. li.--of those who did reign after chinghis kaan, and of the customs of the tartars notes.--1. origin of the _cambuscan_ of chaucer. 2. historical errors. 3. the place of sepulture of chinghiz. 4. barbarous funeral superstition. lii.--concerning the customs of the tartars notes.--1. tartar huts. 2. tartar waggons. 3. pharaoh's rat. 4. chastity of the women. 5. polygamy and marriage customs. liii.--concerning the god of the tartars notes.--1. the old tartar idols. 2. kumiz. liv.--concerning the tartar customs of war notes.--1. tartar arms. 2. the decimal division of their troops. 3. textual. 4. blood-drinking. 5. _kurút_, or tartar curd. 6. the mongol military rapidity and terrorism. 7. corruption of their nomade simplicity. lv.--concerning the administering of justice among the tartars notes.--1. the cudgel. 2. punishment of theft. 3. marriage of the dead. 4. textual. lvi.--sundry particulars on the plain beyond caracoron notes.--1. textual. 2. bargu, the mecrit, the reindeer, and chase of water-fowl. 3. the bird _barguerlac_, the syrrhaptes. 4. gerfalcons. lvii.--of the kingdom of erguiul, and province of sinju notes.--1. erguiul. 2. siningfu. 3. the yak. 4. the musk deer. 5. reeves's pheasant. lviii.--of the kingdom of egrigaia notes.--1. egrigaia. 2. calachan 3. white camels, and camlets: siclatoun. lix.--concerning the province of tenduc, and the descendants of prester john notes.--1. the name and place tenduc. king george. 2. standing marriage compact. the title _gurgán_. 3. azure. 4. the terms _argon_ and _guasmul_. the _dungens_. 5. the rampart of gog and magog. 6. tartary cloths. 7. siuen-hwa fu. lx.--concerning the kaan's palace of chagannor. notes.--1. palace. 2. the word _sesnes_. 3. chagan-nor. 4. the five species of crane described by polo. 5. the word _cator_. lxi.--of the city of chandu, and the kaan's palace there notes.--1. two roads. 2. chandu, properly shangtu. 3. leopards. 4. the bamboo palace. uses of the bamboo. 5. kúblái's annual migration to shangtu. 6. the white horses. the oirad tribe. 7. the mare's milk festival. 8. weather conjuring. 9. ascription of cannibalism to tibetans, etc. 10. the term _bacsi_. 11. magical feats ascribed to the lamas. 12. lamas. 13. vast extent of lama convents. 14. married lamas. 15. bran. 16. patarins. 17. the ascetics called _sensin_. 18. textual. 19. tao-sze idols. book second. part i. i.--of cublay kaan, the great kaan now reigning, and of his great puissance note.--eulogies of kúblái. ii.--concerning the revolt of nayan, who was uncle to the great kaan cublay notes.--1. chronology. 2. kúblái's age. 3. his wars. 4. nayan and his true relationship to kúblái. iii.--how the great kaan marched against nayan note.--addition from ramusio. iv.--of the battle that the great kaan fought with nayan notes.--1. the word _bretesche_. 2. explanatory. 3. the nakkára. 4. parallel passages. 5. verbal. 6. the story of nayan. (_see app. l. 7._) v.--how the great kaan caused nayan to be put to death notes.--1. the shedding of royal blood avoided. 2. chorcha, kaoli, barskul, sikintinju. 3. jews in china. vi.--how the great kaan went back to the city of cambaluc note.--passage from ramusio respecting the kaan's views of religion. remarks. vii.--how the kaan rewarded the valour of his captains notes.--1. parallel from sanang setzen. 2. the golden honorary tablets or _paizah_ of the mongols. 3. umbrellas. 4. the gerfalcon tablets. viii.--concerning the person of the great kaan notes.--1. colour of his eyes. 2. his wives. 3. the kungurat tribe. competitive examination in beauty. ix.--concerning the great kaan's sons notes.--1. kúblái's intended heir. 2. his other sons. x.--concerning the palace of the great kaan notes.--1. palace wall. 2. the word _tarcasci_ 3. towers. 4. arsenals of the palace. 5. the gates. 6. various readings. 7. barracks. 8. wide diffusion of the kind of palace here described. 9. parallel description. 10. "divine" park. 11. modern account of the lake, etc. 12. "_roze de l'açur_." 13. the green mount. 14. textual. 15. bridge. xi.--concerning the city of cambaluc notes.--1. chronology, etc., of peking. 2. the city wall. 3. changes in the extent of the city. 4. its ground plan. 5. aspect. 6. public towers. 7. addition from ramusio. xii.--how the great kaan maintains a guard of twelve thousand horse, which are called keshican note.--the term _quescican_. xiii.--the fashion of the great kaan's table at his high feasts notes.--1. order of the tables. 2. the word _vernique_. 3. the buffet of liquors. 4. the superstition of the threshold. 5. chinese etiquettes. 6. jugglers at the banquet. xiv.--concerning the great feast held by the grand kaan every year on his birthday notes.--1. the chinese year. 2. "beaten gold." 3. textual. festal changes of costume. 4. festivals. xv.--of the great festival which the kaan holds on new year's day notes.--1. the white month. 2. mystic value of the number 9. 3. elephants at peking. 4. adoration of tablets. k'o-tow. xvi.--concerning the twelve thousand barons who receive robes of cloth of gold from the emperor on the great festivals, thirteen changes a-piece notes.--1. textual. 2. the words _camut_ and _borgal_. 3. tame lions. xvii.--how the great kaan enjoineth his people to supply him with game note.--parallel passage. xviii.--of the lions and leopards and wolves that the kaan keeps for the chase notes.--1. the cheeta or hunting leopard. 2. lynxes. 3. the tiger, termed _lion_ by polo. 4. the búrgút eagle. xix.--concerning the two brothers who have charge of the kaan's hounds note.--the masters of the hounds, and their title. xx.--how the emperor goes on a hunting expedition notes.--1. direction of the tour. 2. hawking establishments. 3. the word _toskáúl_. 4. the word _bularguchi_. 5. kúblái's litter. 6. kachar modun. 7. the kaan's great tents. 8. the sable and ermine. 9. pétis de la croix. xxi.--how the great kaan, on returning from his hunting expedition, holds a great court and entertainment note.--this chapter peculiar to the 2nd type of mss. xxii.--concerning the city of cambaluc, and its great traffic and population notes.--1. suburbs of peking. 2. the word _fondaco_. xxiii.--[concerning the oppressions of achmath the bailo, and the plot that was formed against him] notes.--1. chapter peculiar to ramusio. 2. kúblái's administration. the rise of ahmad. 3. the term _bailo_. 4. the conspiracy against ahmad as related by gaubil from the chinese. 5. marco's presence and upright conduct commemorated in the chinese annals. the kaan's prejudice against mahomedans. xxiv.--how the great kaan causeth the bark of trees, made into something like paper, to pass for money over all his country note.--chinese paper currency. xxv.--concerning the twelve barons who are set over all the affairs of the great kaan note.--the ministers of the mongol dynasty. the term _sing_. xxvi.--how the kaan's posts and runners are sped through many lands and provinces notes.--1. textual. 2. the word _yam_. 3. government hostelries. 4. digression from ramusio. 5. posts extraordinary. 6. discipline of the posts. 7. antiquity of posts in china, etc. xxvii.--how the emperor bestows help on his people, when they are afflicted with dearth or murrain note.--kúblái's remissions, and justice. xxviii.--how the great kaan causes trees to be planted by the highways note.--kúblái's avenues. xxix.--concerning the rice-wine drunk by the people of cathay note.--rice-wine. xxx.--concerning the black stones that are dug in cathay, and are burnt for fuel note.--distribution and consumption of coal in china. xxxi.--how the great kaan causes stores of corn to be made, to help his people withal in time of dearth note.--the chinese public granaries. xxxii.--of the charity of the emperor to the poor. note.--buddhist influence, and chinese charities. xxxiii.--[concerning the astrologers in the city of cambaluc] notes.--1. the word _tacuin_.--the chinese almanacs. the observatory. 2. the chinese and mongol cycle. xxxiv.--[concerning the religion of the cathayans; their views as to the soul; and their customs] notes.--1. textual. 2. do. 3. exceptions to the general charge of irreligion brought against the chinese. 4. politeness. 5. filial piety. 6. pocket spitoons. explanatory list of illustrations to volume i. inserted plates and maps. portrait of sir henry yule. from the painting by mr. t. b. wirgman, in the royal engineers' mess house at chatham. illuminated title, with medallion representing the polos arriving at venice after 26 years' absence, and being refused admittance to the family mansion; as related by ramusio, p. 4 of introductory essay. drawn by signor quinto cenni, no. 7 via solferino, milan; from a design by the editor. doorway of the house of marco polo in the corte sabbionera at venice. woodcut from a drawing by signor l. rosso, venice. _corte del milione_, venice. _malibran theatre_, venice. entrance to the corte del milione, venice. from photographs taken for the present editor, by signor naya. figures from st. sabba's, sent to venice. from a photograph of signor naya. church of san matteo, at genoa. _palazzo di s. giorgio_, at genoa. _miracle of s. lorenzo_. from the painting by v. carpaccio. facsimile of the will of marco polo, preserved in st. mark's library. lithographed from a photograph specially taken by bertani at venice. pavement in front of s. lorenzo. mosaic portrait of marco polo, at genoa. the pseudo marco polo at canton. porcelain incense-burner, from the louvre. temple of 500 genii, at canton, after a drawing by félix régamey. probable view of marco polo's own geography: a map of the world, formed as far as possible from the traveller's own data. drawn by the editor. part of the _catalan map_ of 1375. marco polo's itineraries, no. 1. western asia. this includes also "sketch showing the chief monarchies of asia, in the latter part of the 13th century." map illustrating the geographical position of the city of sarai. plan of part of the remains of the same city. reduced from a russian plan published by _m. grigorieff_. reduced facsimile of the buddhist inscription of the mongol era, on the archway at kiu-yong kwan in the pass of nan-k'au, north-west of peking, showing the characters in use under the mongol dynasty. photogravure from the _recueil des documents de l'epoque mongole_, by h.h. prince roland bonaparte. _see an article by_ mr. wylie _in the j. r. a. s. for 1870, p. 14._ plan of ayas, the laias of polo. _from an admiralty chart_. plan of position of diláwar, the supposed site of the dilavar of polo. _ext. from a survey by lt.-col. d. g. robinson, r.e._ marco polo's itineraries, no. ii. routes between kerman and hormuz. marco polo's itineraries, no. iii. regions on and near the upper oxus. heading, in the old chinese seal-character, of an inscription on a memorial raised by kúblái kaan to a buddhist ecclesiastic, in the vicinity of his summer-palace at shangtu in mongolia. reduced from a facsimile obtained on the spot by _dr. s. w. bushell_, 1872, and by him lent to the editor. the cho-khang. the grand temple of buddha at _lhasa_, from _the journey to lhasa_, by sarat chandra das, by kind permission of the royal geographical society. "_table d'or de commandement_;" the païza of the mongols, from a specimen found in siberia. _reduced to one-half the scale of the original, from an engraving in a paper by_ i. j. schmidt _in the_ bulletin de la classe historico-philologique de l'acad. imp. des sciences, st. pétersbourg, tom. iv. no. 9. second example of a mongol païza with superscription in the uighúr character, found near the dnieper river, 1845. from _trans. of the oriental section, imp. soc. of archaeology_ of st. petersburg, vol. v. the inscription on this runs: "_by the strength of eternal heaven, and thanks to its great power, the man who obeys not the order of abdullah shall be guilty, shall die._" plan of peking as it is, and as it was about a.d. 1290. bank-note of the ming dynasty, on one-half the scale of the original. reduced from a genuine note in the possession of the british museum. was brought back from peking after the siege of the legations in 1900. mongol "compendium instrument." mongol armillary sphere. observatory terrace. observatory instruments of the jesuits. all these from photographs kindly lent to the present editor by count de semallé. marco polo's itineraries. no. iv. eastern asia. this includes also sketch map of the ruins of shangtu, after dr. bushell; and enlarged sketch of the passage of the hwang-ho or karamoran on the road to si-ngan fu (see vol. ii. pp. 25-27) from the data of _baron von richthofen_. woodcuts printed with the text. introductory notices. a mediaeval ship. coat of arms of sir henry yule. arms of the polo family, according to priuli. arms of the polo family, according to marco barbaro. (see p. 7, note.) autograph of hethum or hayton i. king of (cicilian) armenia; copied from _codice diplomatico del sacro militare ordine gerosolemitano_, i. 135. the signature is attached to a french document without date, granting the king's daughter "damoiselle femie" (euphemia) in marriage to sire julian, son of the lady of sayete (sidon). the words run: _thagávor haiwetz_ ("rex armenorum"), followed by the king's cypher or monogram; but the initial letter is absent, probably worn off the original document. the piazzetta at venice in the 14th century. from a portion of the frontispiece miniature of the ms. of marco polo in the bodleian. (borrowed from the _national miscellany_, published by j. h. parker, oxford, for 1853-55; and see _street's brick and marble_, etc., 1855, pp. 150-151.) [see vol. ii. p. 529.] three extracts from maps of venice, showing the site of the ca' polo at three different periods, (1) from the great woodcut map or view of venice, dated 1500, and commonly called albert dürer's. (2) from a plan by cav. ludovico ughi, 1729. (3) from the modern official plan of the city. diagram of arrangement of oars in galleys. extract from a fresco by spinello aretini, in the municipal palace at siena, representing a galley fight (perhaps imaginary) between the venetians and the fleet of the emperor frederick barbarossa, and illustrating the arrangements of mediaeval galleys. drawn from a very dim and imperfect photograph, after personal study of the original, by the editor. extract from a picture by domenico tintoretto in the ducal palace at venice, representing the same galley-fight. after an engraving in the _theatrum venetum_. marco polo's galley going into action at curzola. drawn by signor q. cenni, from a design by the editor. map to illustrate the sea-fight at curzola, where marco polo was taken prisoner. seal of the pisan prisoners in genoa, after the battle of meloria (1284). from _manni, osservazioni storiche sopra sigilli antichi_, tom. xii. engraved by t. adeney. the convent and church of s. lorenzo, the burial-place of marco polo, as it existed in the 15th century. from the map of 1500 (see above). engraved by the same. arms of the trevisan family, according to priuli. tailed star near the antarctic, as marco polo drew it for pietro d'abano. from the _conciliator_ of pietro d'abano. prologue. remains of the castle of soldaia or sudák. after _dubois de montpereux, voyage autour du caucase_, atlas, 3d s. pl. 64. ruins of bolghar. after _demidoff, voyage dans la russie méridionale_, pl. 75. the great kaan delivering a golden tablet to the two elder polos. from a miniature in the _livre des merveilles du monde_ (fr. 2810) in the library at paris, fol. 3 verso. castle of ayas. after _langlois, voyage en cilicie._ plan of acre as it was when lost (a.d. 1291). reduced and translated from the contemporary plan in the _secreta fidelium crucis_ of marino sanudo the elder, engraved in _bongars, gesta dei per francos_, vol. ii. portrait of pope gregory x. after _j. b. de cavaleriis pontificum romanorum effigies_, etc. romae, 1580. ancient chinese war vessel. from the chinese encyclopaedia called _san-thsai-thou-hoei_, in the paris library. book first. coin of king hetum i. and queen isabel of cilician armenia. from an original in the british museum. engraved by adeney. castle of baiburt. after _texier, l'arménie_, pl. 3. mediaeval georgian fortress. from a drawing by padre cristoforo di castelli of the theatine mission, made in 1634, and now in the communal library at palermo. the name of the place has been eaten away, and i have not yet been able to ascertain it. view of derbend. after a cut from a drawing by m. moynet in the _tour du monde_, vol. i. coin of badruddín lolo of mosul (a.h. 620). after _marsden's numismata orientalia_, no. 164. by adeney. gházán khan's mosque at tabriz. borrowed from _fergusson's history of architecture._ kashmir scarf with animals, etc. after photograph from the scarf in the indian museum. humped oxen from the assyrian sculptures at kouyunjik. from _rawlinson's ancient monarchies._ portrait of a hazara. from a photograph, kindly taken for the purpose, by m.-gen. _c. p. keyes_, c.b., commanding the panjáb frontier force. illustrations of the use of the double rudder in the middle ages. 7 figures, viz., no. 1, the navicello of giotto in the porch of st. peter's. from _eastlake's h. of painting_; nos. 2 and 3, from _pertz, scriptores_, tom. xviii. after a genoese chronicle; no. 4, sketch from fresco of spinello aretini at siena; no. 5, seal of port of winchelsea, from _sussex archaeological collections_, vol. i. 1848; no. 6, sculpture on leaning tower at pisa, after _jal, archéologie navale_; no. 7, from the monument of peter martyr, the persecutor of the lombard _patarini_, in the church of st. eustorgius at milan, after _le tombe ed i monumenti illustri d'italia_, mil. 1822-23. the _arbre sec_, and _arbres du soleil et de la lune_. from a miniature in the prose romance of alexander, in the brit. museum ms. called the _shrewsbury book_ (reg. xv. e. 6). the chinár or oriental plane, viz., that called the tree of godfrey of boulogne at buyukdéré, near constantinople. borrowed from _le monde végétal_ of figuier. portrait of h. h. agha khán meheláti, late representative of the old man of the mountain. from a photograph by messrs. shepherd and bourne. ancient silver patera of debased greek art, formerly in the possession of the princes of badakhshan, now in the india museum. ancient buddhist temple at pandrethan in káshmir. borrowed from _fergusson's history of architecture_. horns of the _ovis poli_, or great sheep of pamir. drawn by the editor from the specimen belonging to the royal asiatic society. figure of the _ovis poli_ or great sheep of pamir. from a drawing by mr. severtsof in a russian publication. head of a native of kashgar. after verchaguine. from the _tour du monde_. view of kashgar. from _mr. r. shaw's tartary_. view of samarkand. from a sketch by mr. d. ivanoff, engraved in a russian illustrated paper (kindly sent by mr. i. to the editor). colossal figure; buddha entering nirvana. sketched by the editor at pagán in burma. great lama monastery, viz., that at jehol. after _staunton's narrative of lord macartney's embassy_. the _kyang_, or wild ass of mongolia. after a plate by wolf in the _journal of the royal zoological society_. the situation of karákorum. entrance to the erdeni tso, great temple. from marcel monnier's _tour d' asie_, by kind permission of m. plon. death of chinghiz khan. from a miniature in the _livre des merveilles_. dressing up a tent, from marcel monnier's _tour d' asie_, by kind permission of m. plon. mediaeval tartar huts and waggons. drawn by sig. quinto cenni, on a design compiled by the editor from the descriptions of mediaeval and later travellers. tartar idols and kumis churn. drawn by the editor after data in _pallas_ and _zaleski_ (_vie des steppes kirghiz_). the _syrrhaptes pallasii; bargherlac_ of marco polo. from a plate by wolf in the _ibis_ for april, 1860. reeves's pheasant. after an engraving in _wood's illustrated natural history_. the rampart of gog and magog. from a photograph of the great wall of china. borrowed from _dr. rennie's peking and the pekingese_. a pavilion at yuen-ming-yuen, to illustrate the probable style of kúblái kaan's summer palace. borrowed from _michie's siberian overland route_. chinese conjuring extraordinary. extracted from an engraving in _edward melton's zeldzaame reizen_, etc. amsterdam, 1702. a monastery of lamas. borrowed from the _tour du monde_. a tibetan bacsi. sketched from the life by the editor. book second.--part first. nakkaras. from a chinese original in the _lois des empereurs mandchous_ (_thai-thsing-hoei-tien-thou_), in the paris library. nakkaras. after one of the illustrations in blochmann's edition of the _ain-i-akbari_. seljukian coin, with the lion and the sun (a.h. 640). after _marsden's numismata orientalia_, no. 98. engraved by adeney. sculptured gerfalcon from the gate of iconium. copied from _hammer's falknerklee_. portrait of the great kaan kúblái. from a chinese engraving in the encyclopaedia called _san thsai-thou-hoei_; in the paris library. ideal plan of the ancient palaces of the mongol emperors at khanbaligh, according to dr. bretschneider. palace at khan-baligh. from the _livre des merveilles_. the winter palace at peking. borrowed from _fergusson's history of architecture_. view of the "green mount." from a photograph kindly lent to the present editor by count de semallé. the _yüan ch'eng_. from a photograph kindly lent to the present editor by count de semallé. south gate of the "imperial city" at peking. from an original sketch belonging to the late _dr. w. lockhart_. the bûgút eagle. after _atkinson's oriental and western siberia_. the tents of the emperor k'ien-lung. from a drawing in the _staunton collection_ in the british museum. plain of cambaluc; the city in the distance; from the hills on the north-west. from a photograph. borrowed from _dr. rennie's peking_. the great temple of heaven at peking. from _michie's siberian overland route_. marble archway erected under the mongol dynasty at kiu-yong kwan in the nan-k'au pass, n.w. of peking. from a photograph in the possession of the present editor. marco polo and his book. introductory notices. i. obscurities in the history of his life and book. ramusio's statements. [illustration: doorway of the house of marco polo in the corte sabbionera, at venice] [sidenote: obscurities of polo's book, and personal history.] 1. with all the intrinsic interest of marco polo's book it may perhaps be doubted if it would have continued to exercise such fascination on many minds through succesive generations were it not for the difficult questions which it suggests. it is a great book of puzzles, whilst our confidence in the man's veracity is such that we feel certain every puzzle has a solution. and such difficulties have not attached merely to the identification of places, the interpretation of outlandish terms, or the illustration of obscure customs; for strange entanglements have perplexed also the chief circumstances of the traveller's life and authorship. the time of the dictation of his book and of the execution of his last will have been almost the only undisputed epochs in his biography. the year of his birth has been contested, and the date of his death has not been recorded; the critical occasion of his capture by the genoese, to which we seem to owe the happy fact that he did not go down mute to the tomb of his fathers, has been made the subject of chronological difficulties; there are in the various texts of his story variations hard to account for; the very tongue in which it was written down has furnished a question, solved only in our own age, and in a most unexpected manner. [sidenote: ramusio, his earliest biographer. his account of polo.] 2. the first person who attempted to gather and string the facts of marco polo's personal history was his countryman, the celebrated john baptist ramusio. his essay abounds in what we now know to be errors of detail, but, prepared as it was when traditions of the traveller were still rife in venice, a genuine thread runs through it which could never have been spun in later days, and its presentation seems to me an essential element in any full discourse upon the subject. ramusio's preface to the book of marco polo, which opens the second volume of his famous collection of voyages and travels, and is addressed to his learned friend jerome fracastoro, after referring to some of the most noted geographers of antiquity, proceeds:[1]- "of all that i have named, ptolemy, as the latest, possessed the greatest extent of knowledge. thus, towards the north, his knowledge carries him beyond the caspian, and he is aware of its being shut in all round like a lake,--a fact which was unknown in the days of strabo and pliny, though the romans were already lords of the world. but though his knowledge extends so far, a tract of 15 degrees beyond that sea he can describe only as terra incognita; and towards the south he is fain to apply the same character to all beyond the equinoxial. in these unknown regions, as regards the south, the first to make discoveries have been the portuguese captains of our own age; but as regards the north and north-east the discoverer was the magnifico messer marco polo, an honoured nobleman of venice, nearly 300 years since, as may be read more fully in his own book. and in truth it makes one marvel to consider the immense extent of the journeys made, first by the father and uncle of the said messer marco, when they proceeded continually towards the east north-east, all the way to the court of the great can and the emperor of the tartars; and afterwards again by the three of them when, on their return homeward, they traversed the eastern and indian seas. nor is that all, for one marvels also how the aforesaid gentleman was able to give such an orderly description of all that he had seen; seeing that such an accomplishment was possessed by very few in his day, and he had had a large part of his nurture among those uncultivated tartars, without any regular training in the art of composition. his book indeed, owing to the endless errors and inaccuracies that had crept into it, had come for many years to be regarded as fabulous; and the opinion prevailed that the names of cities and provinces contained therein were all fictitious and imaginary, without any ground in fact, or were (i might rather say) mere dreams. [sidenote: ramusio vindicates polo's geography.] 3. "howbeit, during the last hundred years, persons acquainted with persia have begun to recognise the existence of cathay. the voyages of the portuguese also towards the north-east, beyond the golden chersonese, have brought to knowledge many cities and provinces of india, and many islands likewise, with those very names which our author applies to them; and again, on reaching the land of china, they have ascertained from the people of that region (as we are told by sign. john de barros, a portuguese gentleman, in his geography) that canton, one of the chief cities of that kingdom, is in 30-2/3° of latitude, with the coast running n.e. and s.w.; that after a distance of 275 leagues the said coast turns towards the n.w.; and that there are three provinces along the sea-board, mangi, zanton, and quinzai, the last of which is the principal city and the king's residence, standing in 46° of latitude. and proceeding yet further the coast attains to 50°.[2] seeing then how many particulars are in our day becoming known of that part of the world concerning which messer marco has written, i have deemed it reasonable to publish his book, with the aid of several copies written (as i judge) more than 200 years ago, in a perfectly accurate form, and one vastly more faithful than that in which it has been heretofore read. and thus the world shall not lose the fruit that may be gathered from so much diligence and industry expended upon so honourable a branch of knowledge." 4. ramusio, then, after a brief apologetic parallel of the marvels related by polo with those related by the ancients and by the modern discoverers in the west, such as columbus and cortes, proceeds:- [sidenote: ramusio compares polo with columbus.] and often in my own mind, comparing the land explorations of these our venetian gentlemen with the sea explorations of the aforesaid signor don christopher, i have asked myself which of the two were really the more marvellous. and if patriotic prejudice delude me not, methinks good reason might be adduced for setting the land journey above the sea voyage. consider only what a height of courage was needed to undertake and carry through so difficult an enterprise, over a route of such desperate length and hardship, whereon it was sometimes necessary to carry food for the supply of man and beast, not for days only but for months together. columbus, on the other hand, going by sea, readily carried with him all necessary provision; and after a voyage of some 30 or 40 days was conveyed by the wind whither he desired to go, whilst the venetians again took a whole year's time to pass all those great deserts and mighty rivers. indeed that the difficulty of travelling to cathay was so much greater than that of reaching the new world, and the route so much longer and more perilous, may be gathered from the fact that, since those gentlemen twice made this journey, no one from europe has dared to repeat it,[3] whereas in the very year following the discovery of the western indies many ships immediately retraced the voyage thither, and up to the present day continue to do so, habitually and in countless numbers. indeed those regions are now so well known, and so thronged by commerce, that the traffic between italy, spain, and england is not greater. [sidenote: recounts a tradition of the travellers' return to venice.] 5. ramusio goes on to explain the light regarding the first part or prologue of marco polo's book that he had derived from a recent piece of luck which had made him partially acquainted with the geography of abulfeda, and to make a running commentary on the whole of the preliminary narrative until the final return of the travellers to venice:- "and when they got thither the same fate befel them as befel ulysses, who, when he returned, after his twenty years' wanderings, to his native ithaca, was recognized by nobody. thus also those three gentlemen who had been so many years absent from their native city were recognized by none of their kinsfolk, who were under the firm belief that they had all been dead for many a year past, as indeed had been reported. through the long duration and the hardships of their journeys, and through the many worries and anxieties that they had undergone, they were quite changed in aspect, and had got a certain indescribable smack of the tartar both in air and accent, having indeed all but forgotten their venetian tongue. their clothes too were coarse and shabby, and of a tartar cut. they proceeded on their arrival to their house in this city in the confine of st. john chrysostom, where you may see it to this day. the house, which was in those days a very lofty and handsome palazzo, is now known by the name of the _corte del millioni_ for a reason that i will tell you presently. going thither they found it occupied by some of their relatives, and they had the greatest difficulty in making the latter understand who they should be. for these good people, seeing them to be in countenance so unlike what they used to be, and in dress so shabby, flatly refused to believe that they were those very gentlemen of the ca' polo whom they had been looking upon for ever so many years as among the dead.[4] so these three gentlemen,--this is a story i have often heard when i was a youngster from the illustrious messer gasparo malpiero, a gentleman of very great age, and a senator of eminent virtue and integrity, whose house was on the canal of santa marina, exactly at the corner over the mouth of the rio di s. giovanni chrisostomo, and just midway among the buildings of the aforesaid corte del millioni, and he said he had heard the story from his own father and grandfather, and from other old men among the neighbours,--the three gentlemen, i say, devised a scheme by which they should at once bring about their recognition by their relatives, and secure the honourable notice of the whole city; and this was it:- "they invited a number of their kindred to an entertainment, which they took care to have prepared with great state and splendour in that house of theirs; and when the hour arrived for sitting down to table they came forth of their chamber all three clothed in crimson satin, fashioned in long robes reaching to the ground such as people in those days wore within doors. and when water for the hands had been served, and the guests were set, they took off those robes and put on others of crimson damask, whilst the first suits were by their orders cut up and divided among the servants. then after partaking of some of the dishes they went out again and came back in robes of crimson velvet, and when they had again taken their seats, the second suits were divided as before. when dinner was over they did the like with the robes of velvet, after they had put on dresses of the ordinary fashion worn by the rest of the company.[5] these proceedings caused much wonder and amazement among the guests. but when the cloth had been drawn, and all the servants had been ordered to retire from the dining hall, messer marco, as the youngest of the three, rose from table, and, going into another chamber, brought forth the three shabby dresses of coarse stuff which they had worn when they first arrived. straightway they took sharp knives and began to rip up some of the seams and welts, and to take out of them jewels of the greatest value in vast quantities, such as rubies, sapphires, carbuncles, diamonds and emeralds, which had all been stitched up in those dresses in so artful a fashion that nobody could have suspected the fact. for when they took leave of the great can they had changed all the wealth that he had bestowed upon them into this mass of rubies, emeralds, and other jewels, being well aware of the impossibility of carrying with them so great an amount in gold over a journey of such extreme length and difficulty. now this exhibition of such a huge treasure of jewels and precious stones, all tumbled out upon the table, threw the guests into fresh amazement, insomuch that they seemed quite bewildered and dumbfounded. and now they recognized that in spite of all former doubts these were in truth those honoured and worthy gentlemen of the ca' polo that they claimed to be; and so all paid them the greatest honour and reverence. and when the story got wind in venice, straightway the whole city, gentle and simple, flocked to the house to embrace them, and to make much of them, with every conceivable demonstration of affection and respect. on messer maffio, who was the eldest, they conferred the honours of an office that was of great dignity in those days; whilst the young men came daily to visit and converse with the ever polite and gracious messer marco, and to ask him questions about cathay and the great can, all which he answered with such kindly courtesy that every man felt himself in a manner his debtor. and as it happened that in the story, which he was constantly called on to repeat, of the magnificence of the great can, he would speak of his revenues as amounting to ten or fifteen _millions_ of gold; and in like manner, when recounting other instances of great wealth in those parts, would always make use of the term _millions_, so they gave him the nickname of messer marco millioni: a thing which i have noted also in the public books of this republic where mention is made of him.[6] the court of his house, too, at s. giovanni chrisostomo, has always from that time been popularly known as the court of the millioni. [sidenote: recounts marco's capture by the genoese.] 6. "not many months after the arrival of the travellers at venice, news came that lampa doria, captain of the genoese fleet, had advanced with 70 galleys to the island of curzola, upon which orders were issued by the prince of the most illustrious signory for the arming of 90 galleys with all the expedition possible, and messer marco polo for his valour was put in charge of one of these. so he with the others, under the command of the most illustrious messer andrea dandolo, procurator of st. mark's, as captain general, a very brave and worthy gentleman, set out in search of the genoese fleet. they fought on the september feast of our lady, and, as is the common hazard of war, our fleet was beaten, and polo was made prisoner. for, having pressed on in the vanguard of the attack, and fighting with high and worthy courage in defence of his country and his kindred, he did not receive due support, and being wounded, he was taken, along with dandolo, and immediately put in irons and sent to genoa. "when his rare qualities and marvellous travels became known there, the whole city gathered to see him and to speak with him, and he was no longer entreated as a prisoner but as a dear friend and honoured gentleman. indeed they showed him such honour and affection that at all hours of the day he was visited by the noblest gentlemen of the city, and was continually receiving presents of every useful kind. messer marco finding himself in this position, and witnessing the general eagerness to hear all about cathay and the great can, which indeed compelled him daily to repeat his story till he was weary, was advised to put the matter in writing. so having found means to get a letter written to his father here at venice, in which he desired the latter to send the notes and memoranda which he had brought home with him, after the receipt of these, and assisted by a genoese gentleman, who was a great friend of his, and who took great delight in learning about the various regions of the world, and used on that account to spend many hours daily in the prison with him, he wrote this present book (to please him) in the latin tongue. "to this day the genoese for the most part write what they have to write in that language, for there is no possibility of expressing their natural dialect with the pen.[7] thus then it came to pass that the book was put forth at first by messer marco in latin; but as many copies were taken, and as it was rendered into our vulgar tongue, all italy became filled with it, so much was this story desired and run after. [sidenote: ramusio's account of marco's liberation and marriage.] 7. "the captivity of messer marco greatly disturbed the minds of messer maffio and his father messer nicolo. they had decided, whilst still on their travels, that marco should marry as soon as they should get to venice; but now they found themselves in this unlucky pass, with so much wealth and nobody to inherit it. fearing that marco's imprisonment might endure for many years, or, worse still, that he might not live to quit it (for many assured them that numbers of venetian prisoners had been kept in genoa a score of years before obtaining liberty); seeing too no prospect of being able to ransom him,--a thing which they had attempted often and by various channels,--they took counsel together, and came to the conclusion that messer nicolo, who, old as he was, was still hale and vigorous, should take to himself a new wife. this he did; and at the end of four years he found himself the father of three sons, stefano, maffio, and giovanni. not many years after, messer marco aforesaid, through the great favour that he had acquired in the eyes of the first gentlemen of genoa, and indeed of the whole city, was discharged from prison and set free. returning home he found that his father had in the meantime had those three other sons. instead of taking this amiss, wise and discreet man that he was, he agreed also to take a wife of his own. he did so accordingly, but he never had any son, only two girls, one called moreta and the other fantina. "when at a later date his father died, like a good and dutiful son he caused to be erected for him a tomb of very honourable kind for those days, being a great sarcophagus cut from the solid stone, which to this day may be seen under the portico before the church of s. lorenzo in this city, on the right hand as you enter, with an inscription denoting it to be the tomb of messer nicolo polo of the contrada of s. gio. chrisostomo. the arms of his family consist of a _bend_ with three birds on it, and the colours, according to certain books of old histories in which you see all the coats of the gentlemen of this city emblazoned, are the field _azure_, the bend _argent_, and the three birds _sable_. these last are birds of that kind vulgarly termed _pole_,[8] or, as the latins call them, _gracculi_. [sidenote: ramusio's account of the family polo and its termination.] 8. "as regards the after duration of this noble and worthy family, i find that messer andrea polo of san felice had three sons, the first of whom was messer marco, the second maffio, the third nicolo. the two last were those who went to constantinople first, and afterwards to cathay, as has been seen. messer marco the elder being dead, the wife of messer nicolo who had been left at home with child, gave birth to a son, to whom she gave the name of marco in memory of the deceased, and this is the author of our book. of the brothers who were born from his father's second marriage, viz. stephen, john, and matthew, i do not find that any of them had children, except matthew. he had five sons and one daughter called maria; and she, after the death of her brothers without offspring, inherited in 1417 all the property of her father and her brothers. she was honourably married to messer azzo trevisano of the parish of santo stazio in this city, and from her sprung the fortunate and honoured stock of the illustrious messer domenico trevisano, procurator of st. mark's, and valorous captain general of the sea forces of the republic, whose virtue and singular good qualities are represented with augmentation in the person of the most illustrious prince ser marc' antonio trevisano, his son.[9] "such has been the history of this noble family of the ca' polo, which lasted as we see till the year of our redemption 1417, in which year died childless marco polo, the last of the five sons of maffeo, and so it came to an end. such be the chances and changes of human affairs!" [illustration: arms of the ca' polo.] [1] the preface is dated venice, 7th july, 1553. fracastorius died in the same year, and ramusio erected a statue of him at padua. ramusio himself died in july, 1557. [2] the geography of de barros, from which this is quoted, has never been printed. i can find nothing corresponding to this passage in the decades. [3] a grievous error of ramusio's. [4] see the decorated title-page of this volume for an attempt to realise the scene. [5] at first sight this fantastic tradition seems to have little verisimilitude; but when we regard it in the light of genuine mongol custom, such as is quoted from rubruquis, at p. 389 of this volume, we shall be disposed to look on the whole story with respect. [6] this curious statement is confirmed by a passage in the records of the great council, which, on a late visit to venice, i was enabled to extract, through an obliging communication from professor minotto. (see below, p. 67.) [7] this rather preposterous skit at the genoese dialect naturally excites a remonstrance from the abate spotorno. (_storia letteraria della liguria_, ii. 217.) [8] _jackdaws_, i believe, in spite of some doubt from the imbecility of ordinary dictionaries in such matters. they are under this name made the object of a similitude by dante (surely a most unhappy one) in reference to the resplendent spirits flitting on the celestial stairs in the sphere of saturn:- "e come per lo natural costume _le pole_ insieme, al cominciar del giorno, si muovono a scaldar le fredde piume: poi altre vanno vià senza ritorno, altre rivolgon sè, onde son mosse, ed altre roteando fan soggiorno."--_parad._ xxi. 34. there is some difference among authorities as to the details of the polo blazon. according to a ms. concerning the genealogies of venetian families written by marco barbaro in 1566, and of which there is a copy in the museo civico, the field is _gules_, the bend _or_. and this i have followed in the cut. but a note by s. stefani of venice, with which i have been favoured since the cut was made, informs me that a fine 15th-century ms. in his possession gives the field as _argent_, with no _bend_, and the three birds _sable_ with beaks _gules_, disposed thus ***. [illustration: arms of the polo[a]] [a] [this coat of arms is reproduced from the genealogies of priuli, archivio di stato, venice.--h. c.] [9] marco antonio trevisano was elected doge, 4th june, 1553, but died on the 31st of may following. we do not here notice ramusio's numerous errors, which will be corrected in the sequel. [see p. 78.] ii. sketch of the state of the east at the time of the journeys of the polo family. 9. the story of the travels of the polo family opens in 1260. [sidenote: state of the levant.] christendom had recovered from the alarm into which it had been thrown some 18 years before when the tartar cataclysm had threatened to engulph it. the tartars themselves were already becoming an object of curiosity rather than of fear, and soon became an object of hope, as a possible help against the old mahomedan foe. the frail latin throne in constantinople was still standing, but tottering to its fall. the successors of the crusaders still held the coast of syria from antioch to jaffa, though a deadlier brood of enemies than they had yet encountered was now coming to maturity in the dynasty of the mamelukes, which had one foot firmly planted in cairo, the other in damascus. the jealousies of the commercial republics of italy were daily waxing greater. the position of genoese trade on the coasts of the aegean was greatly depressed, through the predominance which venice had acquired there by her part in the expulsion of the greek emperors, and which won for the doge the lofty style of lord of three-eighths of the empire of romania. but genoa was biding her time for an early revenge, and year by year her naval strength and skill were increasing. both these republics held possessions and establishments in the ports of syria, which were often the scene of sanguinary conflicts between their citizens. alexandria was still largely frequented in the intervals of war as the great emporium of indian wares, but the facilities afforded by the mongol conquerors who now held the whole tract from the persian gulf to the shores of the caspian and of the black sea, or nearly so, were beginning to give a great advantage to the caravan routes which debouched at the ports of cilician armenia in the mediterranean and at trebizond on the euxine. tana (or azov) had not as yet become the outlet of a similar traffic; the venetians had apparently frequented to some extent the coast of the crimea for local trade, but their rivals appear to have been in great measure excluded from this commerce, and the genoese establishments which so long flourished on that coast, are first heard of some years after a greek dynasty was again in possession of constantinople.[1] [sidenote: the various mongol sovereignties in asia and eastern europe.] 10. in asia and eastern europe scarcely a dog might bark without mongol leave, from the borders of poland and the gulf of scanderoon to the amur and the yellow sea. the vast empire which chinghiz had conquered still owned a nominally supreme head in the great kaan,[2] but practically it was splitting up into several great monarchies under the descendants of the four sons of chinghiz, juji, chaghatai, okkodai, and tuli; and wars on a vast scale were already brewing between them. hulaku, third son of tuli, and brother of two great kaans, mangku and kúblái, had become practically independent as ruler of persia, babylonia, mesopotamia, and armenia, though he and his sons, and his sons' sons, continued to stamp the name of the great kaan upon their coins, and to use the chinese seals of state which he bestowed upon them. the seljukian sultans of iconium, whose dominion bore the proud title of rúm (rome), were now but the struggling bondsmen of the ilkhans. the armenian hayton in his cilician kingdom had pledged a more frank allegiance to the tartar, the enemy of his moslem enemies. barka, son of juji, the first ruling prince of the house of chinghiz to turn mahomedan, reigned on the steppes of the volga, where a standing camp, which eventually became a great city under the name of sarai, had been established by his brother and predecessor batu. the house of chaghatai had settled upon the pastures of the ili and the valley of the jaxartes, and ruled the wealthy cities of sogdiana. kaidu, the grandson of okkodai who had been the successor of chinghiz in the kaanship, refused to acknowledge the transfer of the supreme authority to the house of tuli, and was through the long life of kúblái a thorn in his side, perpetually keeping his north-western frontier in alarm. his immediate authority was exercised over some part of what we should now call eastern turkestan and southern central siberia; whilst his hordes of horsemen, force of character, and close neighbourhood brought the khans of chaghatai under his influence, and they generally acted in concert with him. the chief throne of the mongol empire had just been ascended by kúblái, the most able of its occupants after the founder. before the death of his brother and predecessor mangku, who died in 1259 before an obscure fortress of western china, it had been intended to remove the seat of government from kara korum on the northern verge of the mongolian desert to the more populous regions that had been conquered in the further east, and this step, which in the end converted the mongol kaan into a chinese emperor,[3] was carried out by kúblái. [sidenote: china.] 11. for about three centuries the northern provinces of china had been detached from native rule, and subject to foreign dynasties; first to the _khitan_, a people from the basin of the sungari river, and supposed (but doubtfully) to have been akin to the tunguses, whose rule subsisted for 200 years, and originated the name of khitai, khata, or cathay, by which for nearly 1000 years china has been known to the nations of inner asia, and to those whose acquaintance with it was got by that channel.[4] the khitan, whose dynasty is known in chinese history as the _liao_ or "iron," had been displaced in 1123 by the chúrchés or niu-chen, another race of eastern tartary, of the same blood as the modern manchus, whose emperors in their brief period of prosperity were known by the chinese name of tai-_kin_, by the mongol name of the _altun_ kaans, both signifying "golden." already in the lifetime of chinghiz himself the northern provinces of china proper, including their capital, known as chung-tu or yen-king, now peking, had been wrenched from them, and the conquest of the dynasty was completed by chinghiz's successor okkodai in 1234. southern china still remained in the hands of the native dynasty of the sung, who had their capital at the great city now well known as hang-chau fu. their dominion was still substantially untouched, but its subjugation was a task to which kúblái before many years turned his attention, and which became the most prominent event of his reign. [sidenote: india, and indo-china.] 12. in india the most powerful sovereign was the sultan of delhi, nassiruddin mahmud of the turki house of iltitmish;[5] but, though both sind and bengal acknowledged his supremacy, no part of peninsular india had yet been invaded, and throughout the long period of our traveller's residence in the east the kings of delhi had their hands too full, owing to the incessant incursions of the mongols across the indus, to venture on extensive campaigning in the south. hence the dravidian kingdoms of southern india were as yet untouched by foreign conquest, and the accumulated gold of ages lay in their temples and treasuries, an easy prey for the coming invader. in the indo-chinese peninsula and the eastern islands a variety of kingdoms and dynasties were expanding and contracting, of which we have at best but dim and shifting glimpses. that they were advanced in wealth and art, far beyond what the present state of those regions would suggest, is attested by vast and magnificent remains of architecture, nearly all dating, so far as dates can be ascertained, from the 12th to the 14th centuries (that epoch during which an architectural afflatus seems to have descended on the human race), and which are found at intervals over both the indo-chinese continent and the islands, as at pagán in burma, at ayuthia in siam, at angkor in kamboja, at borobodor and brambánan in java. all these remains are deeply marked by hindu influence, and, at the same time, by strong peculiarities, both generic and individual. [illustration: autograph of hayton, king of armenia, circa a.d. 1243. "... e por so qui cestes lettres soient fermes e establis ci avuns escrit l'escrit de notre main vermoil e sayelé de notre ceau pendant...."] [1] see heyd, _le colonie commerciali degli italiani_, etc., passim. [2] we endeavour to preserve throughout the book the distinction that was made in the age of the mongol empire between _khán_ and _kaán_ ([arabic] and [arabic] as written by arabic and persian authors). the former may be rendered _lord_, and was applied generally to tartar chiefs whether sovereign or not; it has since become in persia, and especially in afghanistan, a sort of "esq.," and in india is now a common affix in the names of (musulman) hindustanis of all classes; in turkey alone it has been reserved for the sultan. _kaán_, again, appears to be a form of _khákán_, the [greek: chagános] of the byzantine historians, and was the peculiar title of the supreme sovereign of the mongols; the mongol princes of persia, chaghatai, etc., were entitled only to the former affix (khán), though _kaán_ and _khakán_ are sometimes applied to them in adulation. polo always writes _kaan_ as applied to the great khan, and does not, i think, use _khan_ in any form, styling the subordinate princes by their name only, as _argon, alau_, etc. _ilkhan_ was a special title assumed by huláku and his successors in persia; it is said to be compounded from a word _il_, signifying tribe or nation. the relation between _khán_ and _khakán_ seems to be probably that the latter signifies "_khán of kháns_" lord of lords. chinghiz, it is said, did not take the higher title; it was first assumed by his son okkodai. but there are doubts about this. (see _quatremère's rashid_, pp. 10 seqq. and _pavet de courteille, dict. turk-oriental._) the tendency of swelling titles is always to degenerate, and when the value of khan had sunk, a new form, _khán-khánán_, was devised at the court of delhi, and applied to one of the high officers of state. [mr. rockhill writes (_rubruck_, p. 108, note): "the title _khan_, though of very great antiquity, was only used by the turks after a.d. 560, at which time the use of the word _khatun_ came in use for the wives of the khan, who himself was termed _ilkhan_. the older title of _shan-yü_ did not, however, completely disappear among them, for albiruni says that in his time the chief of the ghuz turks, or turkomans, still bore the title of _jenuyeh_, which sir henry rawlinson (_proc. r. g. s._, v. 15) takes to be the same word as that transcribed _shan-yü_ by the chinese (see _ch'ien han shu_, bk. 94, and _chou shu_, bk. 50, 2). although the word _khakhan_ occurs in menander's account of the embassy of zemarchus, the earliest mention i have found of it in a western writer is in the _chronicon_ of albericus trium fontium, where (571), under the year 1239, he uses it in the form _cacanus_"--cf. _terrien de lacouperie, khan, khakan, and other tartar titles_. lond., dec. 1888.--h. c.] [3] "china is a sea that salts all the rivers that flow into it."--_p. parrenin_ in _lett. édif._ xxiv. 58. [4] e.g. the russians still call it khitai. the pair of names, _khitai_ and _machin_, or cathay and china, is analogous to the other pair, _seres_ and _sinae_. _seres_ was the name of the great nation in the far east as known by land, _sinae_ as known by sea; and they were often supposed to be diverse, just as cathay and china were afterwards. [5] there has been much doubt about the true form of this name. _iltitmish_ is that sanctioned by mr. blochmann (see _proc. as. soc. bengal_, 1870, p. 181). iii. the polo family. personal history of the travellers down to their final return from the east. [sidenote: alleged origin of the polos.] 13. in days when history and genealogy were allowed to draw largely on the imagination for the _origines_ of states and families, it was set down by one venetian antiquary that among the companions of king venetus, or of prince antenor of troy, when they settled on the northern shores of the adriatic, there was one lucius polus, who became the progenitor of our traveller's family;[1] whilst another deduces it from paolo the first doge[2] (paulus lucas anafestus of heraclea, a.d. 696). more trustworthy traditions, recorded among the family histories of venice, but still no more it is believed than traditions, represent the family of polo as having come from sebenico in dalmatia, in the 11th century.[3] before the end of the century they had taken seats in the great council of the republic; for the name of domenico polo is said to be subscribed to a grant of 1094, that of pietro polo to an act of the time of the doge domenico michiele in 1122, and that of a domenico polo to an acquittance granted by the doge domenico morosini and his council in 1153.[4] the ascertained genealogy of the traveller, however, begins only with his grandfather, who lived in the early part of the 13th century. two branches of the polo family were then recognized, distinguished by the _confini_ or parishes in which they lived, as polo of s. geremia, and polo of s. felice. andrea polo of s. felice was the father of three sons, marco, nicolo, and maffeo. and nicolo was the father of our marco. [sidenote: claims to be styled noble.] 14. till quite recently it had never been precisely ascertained whether the immediate family of our traveller belonged to the _nobles_ of venice properly so called, who had seats in the great council and were enrolled in the libro d'oro. ramusio indeed styles our marco _nobile_ and _magnifico_, and rusticiano, the actual scribe of the traveller's recollections, calls him "_sajes et noble citaiens de venece_," but ramusio's accuracy and rusticiano's precision were scarcely to be depended on. very recently, however, since the subject has been discussed with accomplished students of the venice archives, proofs have been found establishing marco's personal claim to nobility, inasmuch as both in judicial decisions and in official resolutions of the great council, he is designated _nobilis vir_, a formula which would never have been used in such documents (i am assured) had he not been technically noble.[5] [sidenote: marco the elder.] 15. of the three sons of andrea polo of s. felice, marco seems to have been the eldest, and maffeo the youngest.[6] they were all engaged in commerce, and apparently in a partnership, which to some extent held good even when the two younger had been many years absent in the far east.[7] marco seems to have been established for a time at constantinople,[8] and also to have had a house (no doubt of business) at soldaia, in the crimea, where his son and daughter, nicolo and maroca by name, were living in 1280. this year is the date of the elder marco's will, executed at venice, and when he was "weighed down by bodily ailment." whether he survived for any length of time we do not know. [sidenote: nicolo and maffeo commence their travels.] 16. nicolo polo, the second of the brothers, had two legitimate sons, marco, the author of our book, born in 1254,[9] and maffeo, of whose place in the family we shall have a few words to say presently. the story opens, as we have said, in 1260, when we find the two brothers, nicolo and maffeo the elder, at constantinople. how long they had been absent from venice we are not distinctly told. nicolo had left his wife there behind him; maffeo apparently was a bachelor. in the year named they started on a trading venture to the crimea, whence a succession of openings and chances, recounted in the introductory chapters of marco's work, carried them far north along the volga, and thence first to bokhara, and then to the court of the great kaan kúblái in the far east, on or within the borders of cathay. that a great and civilized country so called existed in the extremity of asia had already been reported in europe by the friars plano carpini (1246) and william rubruquis (1253), who had not indeed reached its frontiers, but had met with its people at the court of the great kaan in mongolia; whilst the latter of the two with characteristic acumen had seen that they were identical with the seres of classic fame. [sidenote: their intercourse with kúblái kaan.] 17. kúblái had never before fallen in with european gentlemen. he was delighted with these venetians, listened with strong interest to all that they had to tell him of the latin world, and determined to send them back as his ambassadors to the pope, accompanied by an officer of his own court. his letters to the pope, as the polos represent them, were mainly to desire the despatch of a large body of educated missionaries to convert his people to christianity. it is not likely that religious motives influenced kúblái in this, but he probably desired religious aid in softening and civilizing his rude kinsmen of the steppes, and judged, from what he saw in the venetians and heard from them, that europe could afford such aid of a higher quality than the degenerate oriental christians with whom he was familiar, or the tibetan lamas on whom his patronage eventually devolved when rome so deplorably failed to meet his advances. [sidenote: their return home, and marco's appearance on the scene.] 18. the brothers arrived at acre in april,[10] 1269, and found that no pope existed, for clement iv. was dead the year before, and no new election had taken place. so they went home to venice to see how things stood there after their absence of so many years. the wife of nicolo was no longer among the living, but he found his son marco a fine lad of fifteen. the best and most authentic mss. tell us no more than this. but one class of copies, consisting of the latin version made by our traveller's contemporary, francesco pipino, and of the numerous editions based indirectly upon it, represents that nicolo had left venice when marco was as yet unborn, and consequently had never seen him till his return from the east in 1269.[11] we have mentioned that nicolo polo had another legitimate son, by name maffeo, and him we infer to have been younger than marco, because he is named last (_marcus et matheus_) in the testament of their uncle marco the elder. we do not know if they were by the same mother. they could not have been so if we are right in supposing maffeo to have been the younger, and if pipino's version of the history be genuine. if however we reject the latter, as i incline to do, no ground remains for supposing that nicolo went to the east much before we find him there viz., in 1260, and maffeo may have been born of the same mother during the interval between 1254 and 1260. if on the other hand pipino's version be held to, we must suppose that maffeo (who is named by his uncle in 1280, during his father's second absence in the east) was born of a marriage contracted during nicolo's residence at home after his first journey, a residence which lasted from 1269 to 1271.[12] [illustration: the piazzetta at venice. (from the bodleian ms. of polo.)] [sidenote: second journey of the polo brothers, accompanied by marco.] 19. the papal interregnum was the longest known, at least since the dark ages. those two years passed, and yet the cardinals at viterbo had come to no agreement. the brothers were unwilling to let the great kaan think them faithless, and perhaps they hankered after the virgin field of speculation that they had discovered; so they started again for the east, taking young mark with them. at acre they took counsel with an eminent churchman, tedaldo (or tebaldo) visconti, archdeacon of liège, whom the book represents to have been legate in syria, and who in any case was a personage of much gravity and influence. from him they got letters to authenticate the causes of the miscarriage of their mission, and started for the further east. but they were still at the port of ayas on the gulf of scanderoon, which was then becoming one of the chief points of arrival and departure for the inland trade of asia, when they were overtaken by the news that a pope was at last elected, and that the choice had fallen upon their friend archdeacon tedaldo. they immediately returned to acre, and at last were able to execute the kaan's commission, and to obtain a reply. but instead of the hundred able teachers of science and religion whom kúblái is said to have asked for, the new pope, gregory x., could supply but two dominicans; and these lost heart and drew back when they had barely taken the first step of the journey. judging from certain indications we conceive it probable that the three venetians, whose second start from acre took place about november 1271, proceeded by ayas and sivas, and then by mardin, mosul, and baghdad, to hormuz at the mouth of the persian gulf, with the view of going on by sea, but that some obstacle arose which compelled them to abandon this project and turn north again from hormuz.[13] they then traversed successively kerman and khorasan, balkh and badakhshan, whence they ascended the panja or upper oxus to the plateau of pamir, a route not known to have been since followed by any european traveller except benedict goës, till the spirited expedition of lieutenant john wood of the indian navy in 1838.[14] crossing the pamir highlands the travellers descended upon kashgar, whence they proceeded by yarkand and khotan, and the vicinity of lake lob, and eventually across the great gobi desert to tangut, the name then applied by mongols and persians to territory at the extreme north-west of china, both within and without the wall. skirting the northern frontier of china they at last reached the presence of the kaan, who was at his usual summer retreat at kai-ping fu, near the base of the khingan mountains, and nearly 100 miles north of the great wall at kalgan. if there be no mistake in the time (three years and a half) ascribed to this journey in all the existing texts, the travellers did not reach the court till about may of 1275.[15] [sidenote: marco's employment by kúblái kaan; and his journeys.] 20. kúblái received the venetians with great cordiality, and took kindly to young mark, who must have been by this time one-and-twenty. the _joenne bacheler_, as the story calls him, applied himself to the acquisition of the languages and written characters in chief use among the multifarious nationalities included in the kaan's court and administration; and kúblái after a time, seeing his discretion and ability, began to employ him in the public service. m. pauthier has found a record in the chinese annals of the mongol dynasty, which states that in the year 1277, a certain polo was nominated a second-class commissioner or agent attached to the privy council, a passage which we are happy to believe to refer to our young traveller.[16] his first mission apparently was that which carried him through the provinces of shan-si, shen-si, and sze-ch'wan, and the wild country on the east of tibet, to the remote province of yun-nan, called by the mongols karájàng, and which had been partially conquered by an army under kúblái himself in 1253, before his accession to the throne.[17] mark, during his stay at court, had observed the kaan's delight in hearing of strange countries, their marvels, manners, and oddities, and had heard his majesty's frank expressions of disgust at the stupidity of his commissioners when they could speak of nothing but the official business on which they had been sent. profiting by these observations, he took care to store his memory or his note-books with all curious facts that were likely to interest kúblái, and related them with vivacity on his return to court. this first journey, which led him through a region which is still very nearly a _terra incognita_, and in which there existed and still exists, among the deep valleys of the great rivers flowing down from eastern tibet, and in the rugged mountain ranges bordering yun-nan and kwei-chau, a vast ethnological garden, as it were, of tribes of various race and in every stage of uncivilisation, afforded him an acquaintance with many strange products and eccentric traits of manners, wherewith to delight the emperor. mark rose rapidly in favour, and often served kúblái again on distant missions, as well as in domestic administration, but we gather few details as to his employments. at one time we know that he held for three years the government of the great city of yang-chau, though we need not try to magnify this office, as some commentators have done, into the viceroyalty of one of the great provinces of the empire; on another occasion we find him with his uncle maffeo, passing a year at kan-chau in tangut; again, it would appear, visiting kara korum, the old capital of the kaans in mongolia; on another occasion in champa or southern cochin china; and again, or perhaps as a part of the last expedition, on a mission to the indian seas, when he appears to have visited several of the southern states of india. we are not informed whether his father and uncle shared in such employments;[18] and the story of their services rendered to the kaan in promoting the capture of the city of siang-yang, by the construction of powerful engines of attack, is too much perplexed by difficulties of chronology to be cited with confidence. anyhow they were gathering wealth, and after years of exile they began to dread what might follow old kúblái's death, and longed to carry their gear and their own grey heads safe home to the lagoons. the aged emperor growled refusal to all their hints, and but for a happy chance we should have lost our mediaeval herodotus. [sidenote: circumstances of the departure of the polos from the kaan's court.] 21. arghún khan of persia, kúblái's great-nephew, had in 1286 lost his favourite wife the khatun bulughán; and, mourning her sorely, took steps to fulfil her dying injunction that her place should be filled only by a lady of her own kin, the mongol tribe of bayaut. ambassadors were despatched to the court of kaan-baligh to seek such a bride. the message was courteously received, and the choice fell on the lady kokáchin, a maiden of 17, "_moult bele dame et avenant_." the overland road from peking to tabriz was not only of portentous length for such a tender charge, but was imperilled by war, so the envoys desired to return by sea. tartars in general were strangers to all navigation; and the envoys, much taken with the venetians, and eager to profit by their experience, especially as marco had just then returned from his indian mission, begged the kaan as a favour to send the three _firinghis_ in their company. he consented with reluctance, but, having done so, fitted the party out nobly for the voyage, charging the polos with friendly messages for the potentates of europe, including the king of england. they appear to have sailed from the port of zayton (as the westerns called t'swan-chau or chin-cheu in fo-kien) in the beginning of 1292. it was an ill-starred voyage, involving long detentions on the coast of sumatra, and in the south of india, to which, however, we are indebted for some of the best chapters in the book; and two years or upwards passed before they arrived at their destination in persia.[19] the three hardy venetians survived all perils, and so did the lady, who had come to look on them with filial regard; but two of the three envoys, and a vast proportion of the suite, had perished by the way.[20] arghún khan too had been dead even before they quitted china;[21] his brother kaikhátú reigned in his stead; and his son gházán succeeded to the lady's hand. we are told by one who knew both the princes well that arghún was one of the handsomest men of his time, whilst gházán was, among all his host, one of the most insignificant in appearance. but in other respects the lady's change was for the better. gházán had some of the highest qualities of a soldier, a legislator and a king, adorned by many and varied accomplishments; though his reign was too short for the full development of his fame. [sidenote: they pass by persia to venice. their relations there.] 22. the princess, whose enjoyment of her royalty was brief, wept as she took leave of the kindly and noble venetians. they went on to tabriz, and after a long halt there proceeded homewards, reaching venice, according to all the texts some time in 1295.[22] we have related ramusio's interesting tradition, like a bit out of the arabian nights, of the reception that the travellers met with from their relations, and of the means that they took to establish their position with those relations, and with venetian society.[23] of the relations, marco the elder had probably been long dead;[24] maffeo the brother of our marco was alive, and we hear also of a cousin (_consanguineus_) felice polo, and his wife fiordelisa, without being able to fix their precise position in the family. we know also that nicolo, who died before the end of the century, left behind him two illegitimate sons, stefano and zannino. it is not unlikely that these were born from some connection entered into during the long residence of the polos in cathay, though naturally their presence in the travelling company is not commemorated in marco's prologue.[25] [1] _zurla_, i. 42, quoting a ms. entitled _petrus ciera s. r. e. card, de origine venetorum et de civitate venetiarum_. cicogna says he could not find this ms. as it had been carried to england; and then breaks into a diatribe against foreigners who purchase and carry away such treasures, "not to make a serious study of them, but for mere vain-glory ... or in order to write books contradicting the very mss. that they have bought, and with that dishonesty and untruth which are so notorious!" (iv. 227.) [2] _campidoglio veneto_ of cappellari (ms. in st. mark's lib.), quoting "the venetian annals of giulio faroldi." [3] the _genealogies_ of marco barbaro specify 1033 as the year of the migration to venice; on what authority does not appear (ms. copy in _museo civico_ at venice). [4] _cappellari_, u.s., and _barbaro_. in the same century we find (1125, 1195) indications of polos at torcello, and of others (1160) at equileo, and (1179, 1206) lido maggiore; in 1154 a marco polo of rialto. contemporary with these is a family of polos (1139, 1183, 1193, 1201) at chioggia (_documents and lists of documents from various archives at_ venice). [5] see appendix c, nos. 4, 5, and 16. it was supposed that an autograph of marco as member of the great council had been discovered, but this proves to be a mistake, as will be explained further on (see p. 74, note). in those days the demarcation between patrician and non-patrician at venice, where all classes shared in commerce, all were (generally speaking) of one race, and where there were neither castles, domains, nor trains of horsemen, formed no wide gulf. still it is interesting to establish the verity of the old tradition of marco's technical nobility. [6] marco's seniority rests only on the assertion of ramusio, who also calls maffeo older than nicolo. but in marco the elder's will these two are always (3 times) specified as "_nicolaus et matheus_." [7] this seems implied in the elder marco's will (1280): "_item de bonis quae me habere contingunt_ de fraternâ compagniâ _a suprascriptis nicolao et matheo paulo_," etc. [8] in his will he terms himself "ego marcus polo quondam de constantinopoli." [9] there is no real ground for doubt as to this. all the extant mss. agree in making marco fifteen years old when his father returned to venice in 1269. [10] baldelli and lazari say that the bern ms. specifies 30th april; but this is a mistake. [11] pipino's version runs: "invenit dominus nicolaus paulus uxorem suam esse de functam, quae in recessu suo fuit praegnans. invenitque filium, marcum nomine, qui jam annos xv. habebat aetatis, qui post discessum ipsius de venetiis natus fuerat de uxore sua praefatâ." to this ramusio adds the further particular that the mother died in giving birth to mark. the interpolation is older even than pipino's version, for we find in the rude latin published by the société de géographie "quam cum venetiis primo recessit praegnantem dimiserat." but the statement is certainly an _interpolation_, for it does not exist in any of the older texts; nor have we any good reason for believing that it was an _authorised_ interpolation. i suspect it to have been introduced to harmonise with an erroneous date for the commencement of the travels of the two brothers. lazari prints: "messer nicolò trovò che la sua donna era morta, e n'era rimasto un fanciullo di _dodici_ anni per nome marco, _che il padre non avea veduto mai, perchè non era ancor nato quando egli partì_." these words have no equivalent in the french texts, but are taken from one of the italian mss. in the magliabecchian library, and are i suspect also interpolated. the _dodici_ is pure error (see p. 21 infra). [12] the last view is in substance, i find, suggested by cicogna (ii. 389). the matter is of some interest, because in the will of the younger maffeo, which is extant, he makes a bequest to his uncle (_avunculus_) jordan trevisan. this seems an indication that his mother's name may have been trevisan. the same maffeo had a daughter _fiordelisa_. and marco the elder, in his will (1280), appoints as his executors, during the absence of his brothers, the same jordan trevisan and his own sister-in-law _fiordelisa_ ("jordanum trivisanum de confinio s. antonini: et flordelisam cognatam meam"). hence i conjecture that this _cognata fiordelisa_ (trevisan?) was the wife of the absent nicolo, and the mother of maffeo. in that case of course maffeo and marco were the sons of different mothers. with reference to the above suggestion of nicolo's second marriage in 1269 there is a curious variation in a fragmentary venetian polo in the barberini library at rome. it runs, in the passage corresponding to the latter part of ch. ix. of prologue: "i qual do fratelli steteno do anni in veniezia aspettando la elletion de nuovo papa, _nel qual tempo mess. nicolo si tolse moier et si la lasò graveda._" i believe, however, that it is only a careless misrendering of pipino's statement about marco's birth. [13] [major sykes, in his remarkable book on _persia_, ch. xxiii. pp. 262-263, does not share sir henry yule's opinion regarding this itinerary, and he writes: "to return to our travellers, who started on their second great journey in 1271, sir henry yule, in his introduction,[a] makes them travel via sivas to mosul and baghdád, and thence by sea to hormuz, and this is the itinerary shown on his sketch map. this view i am unwilling to accept for more than one reason. in the first place, if, with colonel yule, we suppose that ser marco visited baghdád, is it not unlikely that he should term the river volga the tigris,[b] and yet leave the river of baghdád nameless? it may be urged that marco believed the legend of the reappearance of the volga in kurdistán, but yet, if the text be read with care and the character of the traveller be taken into account, this error is scarcely explicable in any other way, than that he was never there. "again, he gives no description of the striking buildings of baudas, as he terms it, but this is nothing to the inaccuracy of his supposed onward journey. to quote the text, 'a very great river flows through the city,... and merchants descend some eighteen days from baudas, and then come to a certain city called kisi,[c] where they enter the sea of india.' surely marco, had he travelled down the persian gulf, would never have given this description of the route, which is so untrue as to point to the conclusion that it was vague information given by some merchant whom he met in the course of his wanderings. "finally, apart from the fact that baghdád, since its fall, was rather off the main caravan route, marco so evidently travels east from yezd and thence south to hormuz, that unless his journey be described backwards, which is highly improbable, it is only possible to arrive at one conclusion, namely, that the venetians entered persia near tabriz, and travelled to sultania, kashán, and yezd. thence they proceeded to kermán and hormuz, where, probably fearing the sea voyage, owing to the manifest unseaworthiness of the ships, which he describes as 'wretched affairs,' the khorasán route was finally adopted. hormuz, in this case, was not visited again until the return from china, when it seems probable that the same route was retraced to tabriz, where their charge, the lady kokachin, 'moult bele dame et avenant,' was married to gházan khán, the son of her fiancé arghun. it remains to add that sir henry yule may have finally accepted this view in part, as in the plate showing _probable view of marco polo's own geography_,[d] the itinerary is not shown as running to baghdád." i may be allowed to answer that when marco polo _started_ for the east, baghdád was not rather off the main caravan route. the fall of baghdád was not immediately followed by its decay, and we have proof of its prosperity at the beginning of the 14th century. tauris had not yet the importance it had reached when the polos visited it on their _return_ journey. we have the will of the venetian pietro viglioni, dated from tauris, 10th december, 1264 (_archiv. veneto_, xxvi. 161 165), which shows that he was but a pioneer. it was only under arghún khan (1284-1291) that tauris became the great market for foreign, especially genoese, merchants, as marco polo remarks on his return journey; with gházán and the new city built by that prince, tauris reached a very high degree of prosperity, and was then really the chief emporium on the route from europe to persia and the far east. sir henry yule had not changed his views, and if in the plate showing _probable view of marco polo's own geography_, the itinerary is not shown as running to baghdád, it is mere neglect on the part of the draughtsman.--h. c.] [a] page 19. [b] _vide yule_, vol. i. p. 5. it is noticeable that john of pian de carpine, who travelled 1245 to 1247, names it correctly. [c] the modern name is keis, an island lying off linga. [d] vol. i. p. 110 (introduction). [14] it is stated by neumann that this most estimable traveller once intended to have devoted a special work to the elucidation of marco's chapters on the oxus provinces, and it is much to be regretted that this intention was never fulfilled. pamir has been explored more extensively and deliberately, whilst this book was going through the press, by colonel gordon, and other officers, detached from sir douglas forsyth's mission. [we have made use of the information given by these officers and by more recent travellers.--h. c.] [15] half a year earlier, if we suppose the three years and a half to count from venice rather than acre. but at that season (november) kúblái would not have been at kai-ping fu (otherwise shang-tu). [16] _pauthier_, p. ix., and p. 361. [17] that this was marco's first mission is positively stated in the ramusian edition; and though this may be only an editor's gloss it seems well-founded. the french texts say only that the great kaan, "l'envoia en un message en une terre ou bien avoit vj. mois de chemin." the traveller's actual itinerary affords to vochan (yung-ch'ang), on the frontier of burma, 147 days' journey, which with halts might well be reckoned six months in round estimate. and we are enabled by various circumstances to fix the date of the yun-nan journey between 1277 and 1280. the former limit is determined by polo's account of the battle with the burmese, near vochan, which took place according to the chinese annals in 1277. the latter is fixed by his mention of kúblái's son, mangalai, as governing at kenjanfu (si-ngan fu), a prince who died in 1280. (see vol. ii. pp. 24, 31, also 64, 80.) [18] excepting in the doubtful case of kan-chau, where one reading says that the three polos were there on business of their own not necessary to mention, and another, that only maffeo and marco were there, "_en légation_." [19] persian history seems to fix the arrival of the lady kokáchin in the north of persia to the winter of 1293-1294. the voyage to sumatra occupied three months (vol. i. p. 34); they were five months detained there (ii. 292); and the remainder of the voyage extended to eighteen more (i. 35),--twenty-six months in all. the data are too slight for unexceptional precision, but the following adjustment will fairly meet the facts. say that they sailed from fo-kien in january 1292. in april they would be in sumatra, and find the s.w. monsoon too near to admit of their crossing the bay of bengal. they remain in port till september (five months), and then proceed, touching (perhaps) at ceylon, at kayal, and at several ports of western india. in one of these, e.g. kayal or tana, they pass the s.w. monsoon of 1293, and then proceed to the gulf. they reach hormuz in the winter, and the camp of the persian prince gházán, the son of arghún, in march, twenty-six months from their departure. i have been unable to trace hammer's authority (not wassáf i find), which perhaps gives the precise date of the lady's arrival in persia (see infra, p. 38). from his narrative, however (_gesch. der ilchane_, ii. 20), march 1294 is perhaps too late a date. but the five months' stoppage in sumatra _must_ have been in the s.w. monsoon; and if the arrival in persia is put earlier, polo's numbers can scarcely be held to. or, the eighteen months mentioned at vol. i. p. 35, must _include_ the five months' stoppage. we may then suppose that they reached hormuz about november 1293, and gházán's camp a month or two later. [20] the french text which forms the _basis_ of my translation says that, excluding mariners, there were 600 souls, out of whom only 8 survived. the older ms. which i quote as g. t., makes the number 18, a fact that i had overlooked till the sheets were printed off. [21] died 12th march, 1291. [22] all dates are found so corrupt that even in this one i do not feel absolute confidence. marco in dictating the book is aware that gházán had attained the throne of persia (see vol. i. p. 36, and ii. pp. 50 and 477), an event which did not occur till october, 1295. the date assigned to it, however, by marco (ii. 477) is 1294, or the year _before_ that assigned to the return home. the travellers may have stopped some time at constantinople on their way, or even may have visited the northern shores of the black sea; otherwise, indeed, how did marco acquire his knowledge of that sea (ii. 486-488) and of events in kipchak (ii. 496 seqq.)? if 1296 was the date of return, moreover, the six-and-twenty years assigned in the preamble as the period of marco's absence (p. 2) would be nearer accuracy. for he left venice in the spring or summer of 1271. [23] marco barbaro, in his account of the polo family, tells what seems to be the same tradition in a different and more mythical version:- "from ear to ear the story has past till it reached mine, that when the three kinsmen arrived at their home they were dressed in the most shabby and sordid manner, insomuch that the wife of one of them gave away to a beggar that came to the door one of those garments of his, all torn, patched, and dirty as it was. the next day he asked his wife for that mantle of his, in order to put away the jewels that were sewn up in it; but she told him she had given it away to a poor man, whom she did not know. now, the stratagem he employed to recover it was this. he went to the bridge of rialto, and stood there turning a wheel, to no apparent purpose, but as if he were a madman, and to all those who crowded round to see what prank was this, and asked him why he did it, he answered: 'he'll come if god pleases.' so after two or three days he recognised his old coat on the back of one of those who came to stare at his mad proceedings, and got it back again. then, indeed, he was judged to be quite the reverse of a madman! and from those jewels he built in the contrada of s. giovanni grisostomo a very fine palace for those days; and the family got among the vulgar the name of the _ca' million_, because the report was that they had jewels to the value of a million of ducats; and the palace has kept that name to the present day--viz., 1566." (_genealogies_, ms. copy in _museo civico_; quoted also by _baldelli boni, vita_, p. xxxi.) [24] the will of the elder marco, to which we have several times referred, is dated at rialto 5th august, 1280. the testator describes himself as formerly of constantinople, but now dwelling in the confine of s. severo. his brothers _nicolo_ and _maffeo_, if at venice, are to be his sole trustees and executors, but in case of their continued absence he nominates _jordano trevisano_, and his sister-in-law _fiordelisa_ of the confine of s. severo. the proper tithe to be paid. all his clothes and furniture to be sold, and from the proceeds his funeral to be defrayed, and the balance to purchase masses for his soul at the discretion of his trustees. particulars of money due to him from his partnership with donato grasso, now of justinople (capo d'istria), 1200 _lire_ in all. (fifty-two lire due by said partnership to angelo di tumba of s. severo.) the above money bequeathed to his son _nicolo_, living at _soldachia_, or failing him, to his beloved brothers _nicolo_ and _maffeo_. failing them, to the sons of his said brothers (_sic_) _marco_ and _maffeo_. failing them, to be spent for the good of his soul at the discretion of his trustees. to his son nicolo he bequeaths a silver-wrought girdle of vermilion silk, two silver spoons, a silver cup without cover (or saucer? _sine cembalo_), his desk, two pairs of sheets, a velvet quilt, a counterpane, a feather-bed--all on the same conditions as above, and to remain with the trustees till his son returns to venice. meanwhile the trustees are to invest the money at his son's risk and benefit, but only here in venice (_investiant seu investire, faciant_). from the proceeds to come in from his partnership with his brothers nicolo and maffeo, he bequeaths 200 lire to his daughter maroca. from same source 100 lire to his natural son antony. has in his desk (_capsella_) two hyperperae (byzantine gold coins), and three golden florins, which he bequeaths to the sister-in-law _fiordelisa_. gives freedom to all his slaves and handmaidens. leaves his house in soldachia to the minor friars of that place, reserving life-occupancy to his son nicolo and daughter maroca. the rest of his goods to his son nicolo. [25] the terms in which the younger maffeo mentions these half-brothers in his will (1300) seem to indicate that they were still young. iv. digression concerning the mansion of the polo family at venice. [illustration: corte del milione, venice.] [illustration: malibran theatre venice] [sidenote: probable period of their establishment at s. giovanni grisostomo.] 23. we have seen that ramusio places the scene of the story recently alluded to at the mansion in the parish of s. giovanni grisostomo, the court of which was known in his time as the corte del millioni; and indeed he speaks of the travellers as at once on their arrival resorting to that mansion as their family residence. ramusio's details have so often proved erroneous that i should not be surprised if this also should be a mistake. at least we find (so far as i can learn) no previous intimation that the family were connected with that locality. the grandfather andrea is styled of _san felice_. the will of maffeo polo the younger, made in 1300, which we shall give hereafter in abstract, appears to be the first document that connects the family with s. giovanni grisostomo. it indeed styles the testator's father "the late nicolo paulo of the confine of st. john chrysostom," but that only shows what is not disputed, that the travellers after their return from the east settled in this locality. and the same will appears to indicate a surviving connexion with s. felice, for the priests and clerks who drew it up and witness it are all of the church of s. felice, and it is to the parson of s. felice and his successor that maffeo bequeaths an annuity to procure their prayers for the souls of his father, his mother, and himself, through after the successor the annuity is to pass on the same condition to the senior priest of s. giovanni grisostomo. marco polo the elder is in his will described as of _s. severo_, as is also his sister-in-law fiordelisa, and the document contains no reference to s. giovanni. on the whole therefore it seems probable that the palazzo in the latter parish was purchased by the travellers after their return from the east.[1] [sidenote: relic of the casa polo in the corte sabbionera.] 24. the court which was known in the 16th century as the corte del millioni has been generally understood to be that now known as the corte sabbionera, and here is still pointed out a relic of marco polo's mansion. [indeed it is called now (1899) _corte del milione_; see p. 30.--h. c.] m. pauthier's edition is embellished with a good engraving which purports to represent the house of marco polo. but he has been misled. his engraving in fact exhibits, at least as the prominent feature, an embellished representation of a small house which exists on the _west side_ of the sabbionera, and which had at one time perhaps that pointed style of architecture which his engraving shows, though its present decoration is paltry and unreal. but it is on the _north side_ of the court, and on the foundations now occupied by the malibran theatre, that venetian tradition and the investigations of venetian antiquaries concur in indicating the site of the casa polo. at the end of the 16th century a great fire destroyed the palazzo,[2] and under the description of "an old mansion ruined from the foundation" it passed into the hands of one stefano vecchia, who sold it in 1678 to giovanni carlo grimani. he built on the site of the ruins a theatre which was in its day one of the largest in italy, and was called the theatre of s. giovanni grisostomo; afterwards the _teatro emeronitio_. when modernized in our own day the proprietors gave it the name of malibran, in honour of that famous singer, and this it still bears.[3] [in 1881, the year of the venice international geographical congress, a tablet was put up on the theatre with the following inscription:- qvi furono le case di marco polo che viaggiò le più lontane regioni dell' asia e le descrisse per decreto del comune mdccclxxxi]. there is still to be seen on the north side of the court an arched doorway in italo-byzantine style, richly sculptured with scrolls, disks, and symbolical animals, and on the wall above the doorway is a cross similarly ornamented.[4] the style and the decorations are those which were usual in venice in the 13th century. the arch opens into a passage from which a similar doorway at the other end, also retaining some scantier relics of decoration, leads to the entrance of the malibran theatre. over the archway in the corte sabbionera the building rises into a kind of tower. this, as well as the sculptured arches and cross, signor casoni, who gave a good deal of consideration to the subject, believed to be a relic of the old polo house. but the tower (which pauthier's view does show) is now entirely modernized.[5] [illustration: the site of the ca' polo. fig. a. from the diner map a. d. 1500. fig. b. from map by ludovico ughi a.d. 1729 scale 1 to 2500. fig. c. from recent map. scale 1 to 1315.] other remains of byzantine sculpture, which are probably fragments of the decoration of the same mansion, are found imbedded in the walls of neighbouring houses.[6] it is impossible to determine anything further as to the form or extent of the house of the time of the polos, but some slight idea of its appearance about the year 1500 may be seen in the extract (fig. a) which we give from the famous pictorial map of venice attributed erroneously to albert dürer. the state of the buildings in the last century is shown in (fig. b) an extract from the fine map of ughi; and their present condition in one (fig. c) reduced from the modern official map of the municipality. [coming from the church of s. g. grisostomo to enter the calle del teatro on the left and the passage (_sottoportico_) leading to the _corte del milione_, one has in front of him a building with a door of the epoch of the renaissance; it was the office of the _provveditori_ of silk; on the architrave are engraved the words: provisores serici and below, above the door, is the tablet which] in the year 1827 the abate zenier caused to be put up with this inscription:-aedes proxima thaliae cvltvi modo addicta marci polo p. v. itinervm fama praeclari jam habitatio fvit. [illustration: entrance to the corte del milione venice] [sidenote: recent corroboration as to the traditional site of the casa polo.] 24a. i believe that of late years some doubts have been thrown on the tradition of the site indicated as that of the casa polo, though i am not aware of the grounds of such doubts. but a document recently discovered at venice by comm. barozzi, one of a series relating to the testamentary estate of marco polo, goes far to confirm the tradition. this is the copy of a technical definition of two pieces of house property adjoining the property of marco polo and his brother stephen, which were sold to marco polo by his wife donata[7] in june 1321. though the definition is not decisive, from the rarity of topographical references and absence of points of the compass, the description of donata's tenements as standing on the rio (presumably that of s. giovanni grisostomo) on one side, opening by certain porticoes and stairs on the other to the court and common alley leading to the church of s. giovanni grisostomo, and abutting in two places on the ca' polo, the property of her husband and stefano, will apply perfectly to a building occupying the western portion of the area on which now stands the theatre, and perhaps forming the western side of a court of which casa polo formed the other three sides.[8] we know nothing more of polo till we find him appearing a year or two later in rapid succession as the captain of a venetian galley, as a prisoner of war, and as an author. [1] marco barbaro's story related at p. 25 speaks of the ca' million as _built_ by the travellers. from a list of parchments existing in the archives of the _casa di ricovero_, or great poor house, at venice, comm. berchet obtained the following indication:- "_no. 94. marco galetti invests_ marco polo _s. of_ nicolo _with the ownership of his possessions_ (beni) _in_ s. giovanni grisostomo; _10 september, 1319; drawn up by the notary nicolo, priest of s. canciano._" this document would perhaps have thrown light on the matter, but unfortunately recent search by several parties has failed to trace it. [the document has been discovered since: see vol. ii., _calendar_, no. 6.--h. c.] [2] --"sua casa che era posta nel confin di s. giovanni chrisostomo, _che hor fà l'anno s'abbrugiò totalmente_, con gran danno di molti." (_doglioní, hist. venetiana_, ven. 1598, pp. 161-162.) "1596. 7 _nov. senato_ (arsenal ... ix c. 159 t). "essendo conveniente usar qualche ricognizione a quelli della maestranza del-l'arsenal nostro, che prontamente sono concorsi all' incendio occorso ultimamente a s. zuane grizostomo nelli stabeli detti di ca' milion dove per la relazion fatta nell collegio nostro dalli patroni di esso arsenal hanno nell' estinguere il foco prestato ogni buon servitio...."--(comm. by cav. cecchetti through comm. berchet.) [3] see a paper by g. c. (the engineer giovanni casoni) in _teatro emeronitio almanacco par l'anno 1835_. [4] this cross is engraved by mr. ruskin in vol. ii. of the _stones of venice_: see p. 139, and pl. xi. fig. 4. [5] casoni's only doubt was whether the _corte del millioni_ was what is now the sabbionera, or the interior area of the theatre. the latter seems most probable. one illustration of this volume, p. 1, shows the archway in the corte sabbionera, and also the decorations of the soffit. [6] see _ruskin_, iii. 320. [7] comm. barozzi writes: "among us, contracts between husband and wife are and were very common, and recognized by law. the wife sells to the husband property not included in dowry, or that she may have inherited, just as any third person might." [8] see appendix c, no. 16. v. digression concerning the war-galleys of the mediterranean states in the middle ages. [sidenote: arrangement of the rowers in mediaeval galleys: a separate oar to every man.] 25. and before entering on this new phase of the traveller's biography it may not be without interest that we say something regarding the equipment of those galleys which are so prominent in the mediaeval history of the mediterranean.[1] eschewing that "serbonian bog, where armies whole have sunk" of books and commentators, the theory of the classification of the biremes and triremes of the ancients, we can at least assert on secure grounds that in _mediaeval_ armament, up to the middle of the 16th century or thereabouts, the characteristic distinction of galleys of different calibres, so far as such differences existed, was based _on the number of rowers that sat on one bench pulling each his separate oar, but through one_ portella _or rowlock-port_.[2] and to the classes of galleys so distinguished the italians, of the later middle age at least, did certainly apply, rightly or wrongly, the classical terms of _bireme_, _trireme_, and _quinquereme_, in the sense of galleys having two men and two oars to a bench, three men and three oars to a bench, and five men and five oars to a bench.[3] that this was the mediaeval arrangement is very certain from the details afforded by marino sanudo the elder, confirmed by later writers and by works of art. previous to 1290, sanudo tells us, almost all the galleys that went to the levant had but two oars and men to a bench; but as it had been found that three oars and men to a bench could be employed with great advantage, after that date nearly all galleys adopted this arrangement, which was called _ai terzaruoli_.[4] moreover experiments made by the venetians in 1316 had shown that four rowers to a bench could be employed still more advantageously. and where the galleys could be used on inland waters, and could be made more bulky, sanudo would even recommend five to a bench, or have gangs of rowers on two decks with either three or four men to the bench on each deck. [sidenote: change of system in the 16th century.] 26. this system of grouping the oars, and putting only one man to an oar, continued down to the 16th century, during the first half of which came in the more modern system of using great oars, equally spaced, and requiring from four to seven men each to ply them, in the manner which endured till late in the last century, when galleys became altogether obsolete. captain pantero pantera, the author of a work on naval tactics (1616), says he had heard, from veterans who had commanded galleys equipped in the antiquated fashion, that _three_ men to a bench, with separate oars, answered better than three men to one great oar, but four men to one great oar (he says) were certainly more efficient than four men with separate oars. the new-fashioned great oars, he tells us, were styled _remi di scaloccio_, the old grouped oars _remi a zenzile_,--terms the etymology of which i cannot explain.[5] it may be doubted whether the four-banked and five-banked galleys, of which marino sanudo speaks, really then came into practical use. a great five-banked galley on this system, built in 1529 in the venice arsenal by vettor fausto, was the subject of so much talk and excitement, that it must evidently have been something quite new and unheard of.[6] so late as 1567 indeed the king of spain built at barcelona a galley of thirty-six benches to the side, and seven men to the bench, with a separate oar to each in the old fashion. but it proved a failure.[7] down to the introduction of the great oars the usual system appears to have been three oars to a bench for the larger galleys, and two oars for lighter ones. the _fuste_ or lighter galleys of the venetians, even to about the middle of the 16th century, had their oars in pairs from the stern to the mast, and single oars only from the mast forward.[8] [sidenote: some details of the 13th century galleys.] 27. returning then to the three-banked and two-banked galleys of the latter part of the 13th century, the number of benches on each side seems to have run from twenty-five to twenty-eight, at least as i interpret sanudo's calculations. the 100-oared vessels often mentioned (e.g. by _muntaner_, p. 419) were probably two-banked vessels with twenty-five benches to a side. [illustration] the galleys were very narrow, only 15-1/2 feet in beam.[9] but to give room for the play of the oars and the passage of the fighting-men, &c., this width was largely augmented by an _opera-morta_, or outrigger deck, projecting much beyond the ship's sides and supported by timber brackets.[10] i do not find it stated how great this projection was in the mediaeval galleys, but in those of the 17th century it was _on each side_ as much as 2/9ths of the true beam. and if it was as great in the 13th-century galleys the total width between the false gunnels would be about 22-1/4 feet. in the centre line of the deck ran, the whole length of the vessel, a raised gangway called the _corsia_, for passage clear of the oars. [illustration] the benches were arranged as in this diagram. the part of the bench next the gunnel was at right angles to it, but the other two-thirds of the bench were thrown forward obliquely, _a, b, c_, indicate the position of the three rowers. the shortest oar _a_ was called _terlicchio_, the middle one _b posticcio_, the long oar _c piamero_.[11] [illustration: galley-fight, from a mediaeval fresco at siena. (see p. 36)] i do not find any information as to how the oars worked on the gunnels. the siena fresco (see p. 35) appears to show them attached by loops and pins, which is the usual practice in boats of the mediterranean now. in the cut from d. tintoretto (p. 37) the groups of oars protrude through regular ports in the bulwarks, but this probably represents the use of a later day. in any case the oars of each bench must have worked in very close proximity. sanudo states the length of the galleys of his time (1300-1320) as 117 feet. this was doubtless length of _keel_, for that is specified ("_da ruoda a ruoda_") in other venetian measurements, but the whole oar space could scarcely have been so much, and with twenty-eight benches to a side there could not have been more than 4 feet gunnel-space to each bench. and as one of the objects of the grouping of the oars was to allow room between the benches for the action of cross-bowmen, &c., it is plain that the rowlock space for the three oars must have been very much compressed.[12] the rowers were divided into three classes, with graduated pay. the highest class, who pulled the poop or stroke oars, were called _portolati_; those at the bow, called _prodieri_, formed the second class.[13] some elucidation of the arrangements that we have tried to describe will be found in our cuts. that at p. 35 is from a drawing, by the aid of a very imperfect photograph, of part of one of the frescoes of spinello aretini in the municipal palace at siena, representing a victory of the venetians over the emperor frederick barbarossa's fleet, commanded by his son otho, in 1176; but no doubt the galleys, &c., are of the artist's own age, the middle of the 14th century.[14] in this we see plainly the projecting _opera-morta_, and the rowers sitting two to a bench, each with his oar, for these are two-banked. we can also discern the latin rudder on the quarter. (see this volume, p. 119.) in a picture in the uffizj, at florence, of about the same date, by pietro laurato (it is in the corridor near the entrance), may be seen a small figure of a galley with the oars also very distinctly coupled.[15] casoni has engraved, after cristoforo canale, a pictorial plan of a venetian trireme of the 16th century, which shows the arrangement of the oars in _triplets_ very plainly. the following cut has been sketched from an engraving of a picture by domenico tintoretto in the doge's palace, representing, i believe, the same action (real or imaginary) as spinello's fresco, but with the costume and construction of a later date. it shows, however, very plainly, the projecting _opera-morta_ and the arrangement of the oars in fours, issuing through row-ports in high bulwarks. [illustration: part of a sea fight, after dom. tintoretto] [sidenote: fighting arrangements.] 28. midships in the mediaeval galley a castle was erected, of the width of the ship, and some 20 feet in length; its platform being elevated sufficiently to allow of free passage under it and over the benches. at the bow was the battery, consisting of mangonels (see vol. ii. p. 161 seqq.) and great cross-bows with winding gear,[16] whilst there were shot-ports[17] for smaller cross-bows along the gunnels in the intervals between the benches. some of the larger galleys had openings to admit horses at the stern, which were closed and caulked for the voyage, being under water when the vessel was at sea.[18] it seems to have been a very usual piece of tactics, in attacking as well as in awaiting attack, to connect a large number of galleys by hawsers, and sometimes also to link the oars together, so as to render it difficult for the enemy to break the line or run aboard. we find this practised by the genoese on the defensive at the battle of ayas (infra, p. 43), and it is constantly resorted to by the catalans in the battles described by ramon de muntaner.[19] sanudo says the toil of rowing in the galleys was excessive, almost unendurable. yet it seems to have been performed by freely-enlisted men, and therefore it was probably less severe than that of the great-oared galleys of more recent times, which it was found impracticable to work by free enlistment, or otherwise than by slaves under the most cruel driving.[20] i am not well enough read to say that war-galleys were never rowed by slaves in the middle ages, but the only doubtful allusion to such a class that i have met with is in one passage of muntaner, where he says, describing the neapolitan and catalan fleets drawing together for action, that the gangs of the galleys had to toil _like_ "forçats" (p. 313). indeed, as regards venice at least, convict rowers are stated to have been first introduced in 1549, previous to which the gangs were of _galeotti assoldati_.[21] [sidenote: crew of a galley and staff of a fleet.] 29. we have already mentioned that sanudo requires for his three-banked galley a ship's company of 250 men. they are distributed as follows:- _comito_ or master 1 quartermasters 8 carpenters 2 caulkers 2 in charge of stores and arms 4 orderlies 2 cook 1 arblasteers 50 rowers 180 ---- 250 [22] this does not include the _sopracomito_, or gentleman-commander, who was expected to be _valens homo et probus_, a soldier and a gentleman, fit to be consulted on occasion by the captain-general. in the venetian fleet he was generally a noble.[23] the aggregate pay of such a crew, not including the sopracomito, amounted monthly to 60 _lire de' grossi_, or 600 florins, equivalent to 280_l._ at modern gold value; and the cost for a year to nearly 3160_l._, exclusive of the victualling of the vessel and the pay of the gentleman-commander. the build or purchase of a galley complete is estimated by the same author at 15,000 florins, or 7012_l._ we see that war cost a good deal in money even then. besides the ship's own complement sanudo gives an estimate for the general staff of a fleet of 60 galleys. this consists of a captain-general, two (vice) admirals, and the following:- 6 _probi homines_, or gentlemen of character, forming a council to the captain-general; 4 commissaries of stores; 2 commissaries over the arms; 3 physicians; 3 surgeons; 5 master engineers and carpenters; 15 master smiths; 12 master fletchers; 5 cuirass men and helmet-makers; 15 oar-makers and shaft-makers; 10 stone cutters for stone shot; 10 master arblast-makers; 20 musicians; 20 orderlies, &c. [sidenote: music; and other particulars.] 30. the musicians formed an important part of the equipment. sanudo says that in going into action every vessel should make the greatest possible display of colours; gonfalons and broad banners should float from stem to stern, and gay pennons all along the bulwarks; whilst it was impossible to have too much of noisy music, of pipes, trumpets, kettle-drums, and what not, to put heart into the crew and strike fear into the enemy.[24] so joinville, in a glorious passage, describes the galley of his kinsman, the count of jaffa, at the landing of st. lewis in egypt:- "that galley made the most gallant figure of them all, for it was painted all over, above water and below, with scutcheons of the count's arms, the field of which was _or_ with a cross _patée gules_.[25] he had a good 300 rowers in his galley, and every man of them had a target blazoned with his arms in beaten gold. and, as they came on, the galley looked to be some flying creature, with such spirit did the rowers spin it along;--or rather, with the rustle of its flags, and the roar of its nacaires and drums and saracen horns, you might have taken it for a rushing bolt of heaven."[26] the galleys, which were very low in the water,[27] could not keep the sea in rough weather, and in winter they never willingly kept the sea at night, however fair the weather might be. yet sanudo mentions that he had been with armed galleys to sluys in flanders. i will mention two more particulars before concluding this digression. when captured galleys were towed into port it was stern foremost, and with their colours dragging on the surface of the sea.[28] and the custom of saluting at sunset (probably by music) was in vogue on board the galleys of the 13th century.[29] we shall now sketch the circumstances that led to the appearance of our traveller in the command of a war-galley. [1] i regret not to have had access to jal's learned memoirs (_archéologie navale_, paris, 1839) whilst writing this section, nor since, except for a hasty look at his essay on the difficult subject of the oar arrangements. i see that he rejects so great a number of oars as i deduce from the statements of sanudo and others, and that he regards a large number of the rowers as supplementary. [2] it seems the more desirable to elucidate this, because writers on mediaeval subjects so accomplished as buchon and capmany have (it would seem) entirely misconceived the matter, assuming that all the men on one bench pulled at one oar. [3] see _coronelli, atlante veneto_, i. 139, 140. marino sanudo the elder, though not using the term _trireme_, says it was well understood from ancient authors that the romans employed their rowers _three to a bench_ (p. 59). [4] "_ad terzarolos_" (_secreta fidelium crucis_, p. 57). the catalan worthy, ramon de muntaner, indeed constantly denounces the practice of manning _all_ the galleys with _terzaruoli_, or _tersols_, as his term is. but his reason is that these thirds-men were taken from the oar when crossbowmen were wanted, to act in that capacity, and as such they were good for nothing; the crossbowmen, he insists, should be men specially enlisted for that service and kept to that. he would have some 10 or 20 per cent, only of the fleet built very light and manned in threes. he does not seem to have contemplated oars three-banked, and crossbowmen _besides_, as sanudo does. (see below; and _muntaner_, pp. 288, 323, 525, etc.) in sanudo we have a glimpse worth noting of the word _soldiers_ advancing towards the modern sense; he expresses a strong preference for _soldati_ (viz. _paid_ soldiers) over _crusaders_ (viz. volunteers), p. 74. [5] _l'armata navale_, roma, 1616, pp. 150-151. [6] see a work to which i am indebted for a good deal of light and information, the engineer giovanni casoni's essay: "_dei navigli poliremi usati nella marina dagli antichi veneziani_," in "_esercitazioni dell' ateneo veneto_," vol. ii. p. 338. this great _quinquereme_, as it was styled, is stated to have been struck by a fire-arrow, and blown up, in january 1570. [7] _pantera_, p. 22. [8] _lazarus bayfius de re navali veterum_, in _gronovii thesaurus_, ven. 1737, vol. xi. p. 581. this writer also speaks of the quinquereme mentioned above (p. 577). [9] _marinus sanutius_, p. 65. [10] see the woodcuts opposite and at p. 37; also _pantera_, p. 46 (who is here, however, speaking of the great-oared galleys), and _coronelli_, i. 140. [11] _casoni_, p. 324. he obtains these particulars from a manuscript work of the 16th century by cristoforo canale. [12] signor casoni (p. 324) expresses his belief that no galley of the 14th century had more than 100 oars. i differ from him with hesitation, and still more as i find m. jal agrees in this view. i will state the grounds on which i came to a different conclusion. (1) marino sanudo assigns 180 rowers for a galley equipped _ai terzaruoli_ (p. 75). this seemed to imply something near 180 oars, for i do not find any allusion to reliefs being provided. in the french galleys of the 18th century there were no reliefs except in this way, that in long runs without urgency only half the oars were pulled. (see _mém. d'un protestant condamné aux galères_, etc., réimprimés, paris, 1865, p. 447.) if four men to a bench were to be employed, then sanudo seems to calculate for his smaller galleys 220 men actually rowing (see pp. 75-78). this seems to assume 55 benches, i.e., 28 on one side and 27 on the other, which with 3-banked oars would give 165 rowers. (2) casoni himself refers to pietro martire d'anghieria's account of a great galley of venice in which he was sent ambassador to egypt from the spanish court in 1503. the crew amounted to 200, of whom 150 were for working the sails and oars, _that being the number of oars in each galley_, one man to each oar and three to each bench. casoni assumes that this vessel must have been much larger than the galleys of the 14th century; but, however that may have been, sanudo to his galley assigns the larger crew of 250, of whom almost exactly the same proportion (180) were rowers. and in he _galeazza_ described by pietro martire the oars were used only as an occasional auxiliary. (see his _legationis babylonicae libri tres_, appended to his 3 decads concerning the new world; _basil_. 1533, f. 77 _ver._) (3) the galleys of the 18th century, with their great oars 50 feet long pulled by six or seven men each, had 25 benches to the side, and only 4' 6" (french) gunnel-space to each oar. (see _mém. d'un protest._, p. 434.) i imagine that a smaller space would suffice for the 3 light oars of the mediaeval system, so that this need scarcely be a difficulty in the face of the preceding evidence. note also the _three hundred rowers_ in joinville's description quoted at p. 40. the great galleys of the malay sultan of achin in 1621 had, according to beaulieu, from 700 to 800 rowers, but i do not know on what system. [13] _marinus sanutius_, p. 78. these titles occur also in the _documenti d'amore_ of fr. barberino referred to at p. 117 of this volume:- "convienti qui manieri _portolatti e prodieri_ e presti galeotti aver, e forti e dotti." [14] spinello's works, according to vasari, extended from 1334 till late in the century. a religious picture of his at siena is assigned to 1385, so the frescoes may probably be of about the same period. of the battle represented i can find no record. [15] engraved in jal, i. 330; with other mediaeval illustrations of the same points. [16] to these casoni adds _sifoni_ for discharging greek fire; but this he seems to take from the greek treatise of the emperor leo. though i have introduced greek fire in the cut at p. 49, i doubt if there is evidence of its use by the italians in the thirteenth century. joinville describes it like something strange and new. in after days the artillery occupied the same position, at the bow of the galley. great beams, hung like battering rams, are mentioned by sanudo, as well as iron crow's-feet with fire attached, to shoot among the rigging, and jars of quick-lime and soft soap to fling in the eyes of the enemy. the lime is said to have been used by doria against the venetians at curzola (infra, p. 48), and seems to have been a usual provision. francesco barberini specifies among the stores for his galley: "_calcina_, con lancioni, pece, pietre, e ronconi" (p. 259.) and christine de pisan, in her _faiz du sage roy charles_ (v. of france), explains also the use of the soap: "_item_, on doit avoir pluseurs vaisseaulx legiers à rompre, comme _poz plains de chauls_ ou pouldre, et gecter dedens; et, par ce, seront comme avuglez, au brisier des poz. _item_, on doit avoir autres _poz de mol savon_ et gecter es nefzs des adversaires, et quant les vaisseaulx brisent, le savon est glissant, si ne se peuent en piez soustenir et chiéent en l'eaue" (pt. ii. ch. 38). [17] _balislariae_, whence no doubt _balistrada_ and our _balustrade_. wedgwood's etymology is far-fetched. and in his new edition (1872), though he has shifted his ground, he has not got nearer the truth. [18] _sanutius_, p. 53; _joinville_, p. 40; _muntaner_, 316, 403. [19] see pp. 270, 288, 324, and especially 346. [20] see the _protestant_, cited above, p. 441, et seqq. [21] _venezia e le sue lagune_, ii. 52. [22] _mar. sanut._ p. 75. [23] _mar. sanut._, p. 30. [24] the catalan admiral roger de loria, advancing at daybreak to attack the provençal fleet of charles of naples (1283) in the harbour of malta, "did a thing which should be reckoned to him rather as an act of madness," says muntaner, "than of reason. he said, 'god forbid that i should attack them, all asleep as they are! let the trumpets and nacaires sound to awaken them, and i will tarry till they be ready for action. no man shall have it to say, if i beat them, that it was by catching them asleep.'" (_munt._ p. 287.) it is what nelson might have done! the turkish admiral sidi 'ali, about to engage a portuguese squadron in the straits of hormuz, in 1553, describes the franks as "dressing their vessels with flags and coming on." (_j. as._ ix. 70.) [25] a cross _patée_, is one with the extremities broadened out into _feet_ as it were. [26] page 50. [27] the galley at p. 49 is somewhat too high; and i believe it should have had no _shrouds_. [28] see _muntaner_, passim, e.g. 271, 286, 315, 349. [29] ibid. 346. vi. the jealousies and naval wars of venice and genoa. lamba doria's expedition to the adriatic; battle of curzola; and imprisonment of marco polo by the genoese. [sidenote: growing jealousies and outbreaks between the republics.] 31. jealousies, too characteristic of the italian communities, were, in the case of the three great trading republics of venice, genoa, and pisa, aggravated by commercial rivalries, whilst, between the two first of those states, and also between the two last, the bitterness of such feelings had been augmenting during the whole course of the 13th century.[1] the brilliant part played by venice in the conquest of constantinople (1204), and the preponderance she thus acquired on the greek shores, stimulated her arrogance and the resentment of her rivals. the three states no longer stood on a level as bidders for the shifting favour of the emperor of the east. by treaty, not only was venice established as the most important ally of the empire and as mistress of a large fraction of its territory, but all members of nations at war with her were prohibited from entering its limits. though the genoese colonies continued to exist, they stood at a great disadvantage, where their rivals were so predominant and enjoyed exemption from duties, to which the genoese remained subject. hence jealousies and resentments reached a climax in the levantine settlements, and this colonial exacerbation reacted on the mother states. a dispute which broke out at acre in 1255 came to a head in a war which lasted for years, and was felt all over syria. it began in a quarrel about a very old church called st. sabba's, which stood on the common boundary of the venetian and genoese estates in acre,[2] and this flame was blown by other unlucky occurrences. acre suffered grievously.[3] venice at this time generally kept the upper hand, beating genoa by land and sea, and driving her from acre altogether. + four ancient porphyry figures from st. sabba's were sent in triumph to venice, and with their strange devices still stand at the exterior corner of st. mark's, towards the ducal palace.[4] but no number of defeats could extinguish the spirit of genoa, and the tables were turned when in her wrath she allied herself with michael palaeologus to upset the feeble and tottering latin dynasty, and with it the preponderance of venice on the bosphorus. the new emperor handed over to his allies the castle of their foes, which they tore down with jubilations, and now it was their turn to send its stones as trophies to genoa. mutual hate waxed fiercer than ever; no merchant fleet of either state could go to sea without convoy, and wherever their ships met they fought.[5] it was something like the state of things between spain and england in the days of drake. [illustration: figures from st. sabba's, sent to venice.] the energy and capacity of the genoese seemed to rise with their success, and both in seamanship and in splendour they began almost to surpass their old rivals. the fall of acre (1291), and the total expulsion of the franks from syria, in great measure barred the southern routes of indian trade, whilst the predominance of genoa in the euxine more or less obstructed the free access of her rival to the northern routes by trebizond and tana. [sidenote: battle in bay of ayas in 1294.] 32. truces were made and renewed, but the old fire still smouldered. in the spring of 1294 it broke into flame, in consequence of the seizure in the grecian seas of three genoese vessels by a venetian fleet. this led to an action with a genoese convoy which sought redress. the fight took place off ayas in the gulf of scanderoon,[6] and though the genoese were inferior in strength by one-third they gained a signal victory, capturing all but three of the venetian galleys, with rich cargoes, including that of marco basilio (or basegio), the commodore. this victory over their haughty foe was in its completeness evidently a surprise to the genoese, as well as a source of immense exultation, which is vigorously expressed in a ballad of the day, written in a stirring salt-water rhythm.[7] it represents the venetians, as they enter the bay, in arrogant mirth reviling the genoese with very unsavoury epithets as having deserted their ships to skulk on shore. they are described as saying:- "'off they've slunk! and left us nothing; we shall get nor prize nor praise; nothing save those crazy timbers only fit to make a blaze.'" so they advance carelessly- "on they come! but lo their blunder! when our lads start up anon, breaking out like unchained lions, with a roar, 'fall on! fall on!'"[8] after relating the battle and the thoroughness of the victory, ending in the conflagration of five-and-twenty captured galleys, the poet concludes by an admonition to the enemy to moderate his pride and curb his arrogant tongue, harping on the obnoxious epithet _porci leproxi_, which seems to have galled the genoese.[9] he concludes:- "nor can i at all remember ever to have heard the story of a fight wherein the victors reaped so rich a meed of glory!"[10] the community of genoa decreed that the victory should be commemorated by the annual presentation of a golden pall to the monastery of st. german's, the saint on whose feast (28th may) it had been won.[11] the startling news was received at venice with wrath and grief, for the flower of their navy had perished, and all energies were bent at once to raise an overwhelming force.[12] the pope (boniface viii.) interfered as arbiter, calling for plenipotentiaries from both sides. but spirits were too much inflamed, and this mediation came to nought. further outrages on both sides occurred in 1296. the genoese residences at pera were fired, their great alum works on the coast of anatolia were devastated, and caffa was stormed and sacked; whilst on the other hand a number of the venetians at constantinople were massacred by the genoese, and marco bembo, their bailo, was flung from a house-top. amid such events the fire of enmity between the cities waxed hotter and hotter. [sidenote: lamba doria's expedition to the adriatic.] 33. in 1298 the genoese made elaborate preparations for a great blow at the enemy, and fitted out a powerful fleet which they placed under the command of lamba doria, a younger brother of uberto of that illustrious house, under whom he had served fourteen years before in the great rout of the pisans at meloria. the rendezvous of the fleet was in the gulf of spezia, as we learn from the same pithy genoese poet who celebrated ayas. this time the genoese were bent on bearding st. mark's lion in his own den; and after touching at messina they steered straight for the adriatic:- "now, as astern otranto bears, pull with a will! and, please the lord, let them who bragged, with fire and sword, to waste our homesteads, look to theirs!"[13] on their entering the gulf a great storm dispersed the fleet the admiral with twenty of his galleys got into port at antivari on the albanian coast, and next day was rejoined by fifty-eight more, with which he scoured the dalmatian shore, plundering all venetian property. some sixteen of his galleys were still missing when he reached the island of curzola, or scurzola as the more popular name seems to have been, the black corcyra of the ancients--the chief town of which, a rich and flourishing place, the genoese took and burned.[14] thus they were engaged when word came that the venetian fleet was in sight. venice, on first hearing of the genoese armament, sent andrea dandolo with a large force to join and supersede maffeo quirini, who was already cruising with a squadron in the ionian sea; and, on receiving further information of the strength of the hostile expedition, the signory hastily equipped thirty-two more galleys in chioggia and the ports of dalmatia, and despatched them to join dandolo, making the whole number under his command up to something like ninety-five. recent drafts had apparently told heavily upon the venetian sources of enlistment, and it is stated that many of the complements were made up of rustics swept in haste from the euganean hills. to this the genoese poet seems to allude, alleging that the venetians, in spite of their haughty language, had to go begging for men and money up and down lombardy. "did _we_ do like that, think you?" he adds:- "beat up for aliens? _we_ indeed? when lacked we homeborn genoese? search all the seas, no salts like these, for courage, seacraft, wit at need."[15] of one of the venetian galleys, probably in the fleet which sailed under dandolo's immediate command, went marco polo as _sopracomito_ or gentleman-commander.[16] [sidenote: the fleets come in sight of each other at curzola.] 34. it was on the afternoon of saturday the 6th september that the genoese saw the venetian fleet approaching, but, as sunset was not far off, both sides tacitly agreed to defer the engagement.[17] the genoese would appear to have occupied a position near the eastern end of the island of curzola, with the peninsula of sabbioncello behind them, and meleda on their left, whilst the venetians advanced along the south side of curzola. (see map on p. 50). according to venetian accounts the genoese were staggered at the sight of the venetian armaments, and sent more than once to seek terms, offering finally to surrender galleys and munitions of war, if the crews were allowed to depart. this is an improbable story, and that of the genoese ballad seems more like truth. doria, it says, held a council of his captains in the evening at which they all voted for attack, whilst the venetians, with that overweening sense of superiority which at this time is reflected in their own annals as distinctly as in those of their enemies, kept scout-vessels out to watch that the genoese fleet, which they looked on as already their own, did not steal away in the darkness. a vain imagination, says the poet:- "blind error of vainglorious men to dream that we should seek to flee after those weary leagues of sea crossed, but to hunt them in their den!"[18] [sidenote: the venetians defeated, and marco polo a prisoner.] 35. the battle began early on sunday and lasted till the afternoon. the venetians had the wind in their favour, but the morning sun in their eyes. they made the attack, and with great impetuosity, capturing ten genoese galleys; but they pressed on too wildly, and some of their vessels ran aground. one of their galleys too, being taken, was cleared of her crew and turned against the venetians. these incidents caused confusion among the assailants; the genoese, who had begun to give way, took fresh heart, formed a close column, and advanced boldly through the venetian line, already in disorder. the sun had begun to decline when there appeared on the venetian flank the fifteen or sixteen missing galleys of doria's fleet, and fell upon it with fresh force. this decided the action. the genoese gained a complete victory, capturing all but a few of the venetian galleys, and including the flagship with dandolo. the genoese themselves lost heavily, especially in the early part of the action, and lamba doria's eldest son octavian is said to have fallen on board his father's vessel.[19] the number of prisoners taken was over 7000, and among these was marco polo.[20] [illustration: marco polo's galley going into action at curzola. "il sembloit que la galie volast, par les nageurs qui la contreingnoient aux avirons, et sembloit que foudre cheist des ciex, au bruit que les pennoncians menoient, et que les nacaues les tabours et les cors sarrazinnois menoient, qui estoient en sa galie" (_joinville_, vide _ante_, p. 40)] [illustration: scene of the battle of curzola.] the prisoners, even of the highest rank, appear to have been chained. dandolo, in despair at his defeat, and at the prospect of being carried captive into genoa, refused food, and ended by dashing his head against a bench.[21] a genoese account asserts that a noble funeral was given him after the arrival of the fleet at genoa, which took place on the evening of the 16th october.[22] it was received with great rejoicing, and the city voted the annual presentation of a pallium of gold brocade to the altar of the virgin in the church of st. matthew, on every 8th of september, the madonna's day, on the eve of which the battle had been won. to the admiral himself a palace was decreed. it still stands, opposite the church of st. matthew, though it has passed from the possession of the family. on the striped marble façades, both of the church and of the palace, inscriptions of that age, in excellent preservation, still commemorate lamba's achievement.[23] malik al mansúr, the mameluke sultan of egypt, as an enemy of venice, sent a complimentary letter to doria accompanied by costly presents.[24] [illustration: church of san matteo, genoa] the latter died at savona 17th october, 1323, a few months before the most illustrious of his prisoners, and his bones were laid in a sarcophagus which may still be seen forming the sill of one of the windows of s. matteo (on the right as you enter). over this sarcophagus stood the bust of lamba till 1797, when the mob of genoa, in idiotic imitation of the french proceedings of that age, threw it down. all of lamba's six sons had fought with him at meloria. in 1291 one of them, tedisio, went forth into the atlantic in company with ugolino vivaldi on a voyage of discovery, and never returned. through caesar, the youngest, this branch of the family still survives, bearing the distinctive surname of _lamba-doria_.[25] as to the treatment of the prisoners, accounts differ; a thing usual in such cases. the genoese poet asserts that the hearts of his countrymen were touched, and that the captives were treated with compassionate courtesy. navagiero the venetian, on the other hand, declares that most of them died of hunger.[26] [sidenote: marco polo in prison dictates his book to rusticiano of pisa. release of venetian prisoners.] 36. howsoever they may have been treated, here was marco polo one of those many thousand prisoners in genoa; and here, before long, he appears to have made acquaintance with a man of literary propensities, whose destiny had brought him into the like plight, by name rusticiano or rustichello of pisa. it was this person perhaps who persuaded the traveller to defer no longer the reduction to writing of his notable experiences; but in any case it was he who wrote down those experiences at marco's dictation; it is he therefore to whom we owe the preservation of this record, and possibly even that of the traveller's very memory. this makes the genoese imprisonment so important an episode in polo's biography. to rusticiano we shall presently recur. but let us first bring to a conclusion what may be gathered as to the duration of polo's imprisonment. it does not appear whether pope boniface made any new effort for accommodation between the republics; but other italian princes did interpose, and matteo visconti, captain-general of milan, styling himself vicar-general of the holy roman empire in lombardy, was accepted as mediator, along with the community of milan. ambassadors from both states presented themselves at that city, and on the 25th may, 1299, they signed the terms of a peace. these terms were perfectly honourable to venice, being absolutely equal and reciprocal; from which one is apt to conclude that the damage to the city of the sea was rather to her pride than to her power; the success of genoa, in fact, having been followed up by no systematic attack upon venetian commerce.[27] among the terms was the mutual release of prisoners on a day to be fixed by visconti after the completion of all formalities. this day is not recorded, but as the treaty was ratified by the doge of venice on the 1st july, and the latest extant document connected with the formalities appears to be dated 18th july, we may believe that before the end of august marco polo was restored to the family mansion in s. giovanni grisostomo. [sidenote: grounds on which the story of marco polo's capture at curzola rests.] 37. something further requires to be said before quitting this event in our traveller's life. for we confess that a critical reader may have some justification in asking what evidence there is that marco polo ever fought at curzola, and ever was carried a prisoner to genoa from that unfortunate action? a learned frenchman, whom we shall have to quote freely in the immediately ensuing pages, does not venture to be more precise in reference to the meeting of polo and rusticiano than to say of the latter: "in 1298, being in durance in the prison of genoa, he there became acquainted with marco polo, whom the genoese had deprived of his liberty _from motives equally unknown_."[28] to those who have no relish for biographies that round the meagre skeleton of authentic facts with a plump padding of what _might have been_, this sentence of paulin paris is quite refreshing in its stern limitation to positive knowledge. and certainly no contemporary authority has yet been found for the capture of our traveller at curzola. still i think that the fact is beyond reasonable doubt. ramusio's biographical notices certainly contain many errors of detail; and some, such as the many years' interval which he sets between the battle of curzola and marco's return, are errors which a very little trouble would have enabled him to eschew. but still it does seem reasonable to believe that the main fact of marco's command of a galley at curzola, and capture there, was derived from a genuine tradition, if not from documents. let us then turn to the words which close rusticiano's preamble (see _post_, p. 2):--"lequel (messire marc) puis demorant en le charthre de jene, fist retraire toutes cestes chouses a messire rustacians de pise que en celle meissme charthre estoit, au tens qu'il avoit 1298 anz que jezu eut vesqui." these words are at least thoroughly consistent with marco's capture at curzola, as regards both the position in which they present him, and the year in which he is thus presented. there is however another piece of evidence, though it is curiously indirect. the dominican friar jacopo of acqui was a contemporary of polo's, and was the author of a somewhat obscure chronicle called _imago mundi_.[29] now this chronicle does contain mention of marco's capture in action by the genoese, but attributes it to a different action from curzola, and one fought at a time when polo could not have been present. the passage runs as follows in a manuscript of the ambrosian library, according to an extract given by baldelli boni:- "in the year of christ mcclxxxxvi, in the time of pope boniface vi., of whom we have spoken above, a battle was fought in arminia, at the place called layaz, between xv. galleys of genoese merchants and xxv. of venetian merchants; and after a great fight the galleys of the venetians were beaten, and (the crews) all slain or taken; and among them was taken messer marco the venetian, who was in company with those merchants, and who was called _milono_, which is as much as to say 'a thousand thousand pounds,' for so goes the phrase in venice. so this messer marco milono the venetian, with the other venetian prisoners, is carried off to the prison of genoa, and there kept for a long time. this messer marco was a long time with his father and uncle in tartary, and he there saw many things, and made much wealth, and also learned many things, for he was a man of ability. and so, being in prison at genoa, he made a book concerning the great wonders of the world, i.e., concerning such of them as he had seen. and what he told in the book was not as much as he had really seen, because of the tongues of detractors, who, being ready to impose their own lies on others, are over hasty to set down as lies what they in their perversity disbelieve, or do not understand. and because there are many great and strange things in that book, which are reckoned past all credence, he was asked by his friends on his death-bed to correct the book by removing everything that went beyond the facts. to which his reply was that he had not told _one-half_ of what he had really seen!"[30] this statement regarding the capture of marco _at the battle of ayas_ is one which cannot be true, for we know that he did not reach venice till 1295, travelling from persia by way of trebizond and the bosphorus, whilst the battle of ayas of which we have purposely given some detail, was fought in may, 1294. the date mcclxxxxvi assigned to it in the preceding extract has given rise to some unprofitable discussion. could that date be accepted, no doubt it would enable us also to accept this, the sole statement from the traveller's own age of the circumstances which brought him into a genoese prison; it would enable us to place that imprisonment within a few months of his return from the east, and to extend its duration to three years, points which would thus accord better with the general tenor of ramusio's tradition than the capture of curzola. but the matter is not open to such a solution. the date of the battle of ayas is not more doubtful than that of the battle of the nile. it is clearly stated by several independent chroniclers, and is carefully established in the ballad that we have quoted above.[31] we shall see repeatedly in the course of this book how uncertain are the transcriptions of dates in roman numerals, and in the present case the lxxxxvi is as certainly a mistake for lxxxxiv as is boniface vi. in the same quotation a mistake for boniface viii. but though we cannot accept the statement that polo was taken prisoner at _ayas, in the spring of 1294_, we may accept the passage as evidence from a contemporary source that he was _taken prisoner in some sea-fight with the genoese_, and thus admit it in corroboration of the ramusian tradition of his capture in a sea-fight at curzola in 1298, which is perfectly consistent with all other facts in our possession. [1] in this part of these notices i am repeatedly indebted to _heyd._ (see supra, p. 9.) [2] on or close to the hill called _monjoie_; see the plan from marino sanudo at p. 18. [3] "throughout that year there were not less than 40 machines all at work upon the city of acre, battering its houses and its towers, and smashing and overthrowing everything within their range. there were at least ten of those engines that shot stones so big and heavy that they weighed a good 1500 lbs. by the weight of champagne; insomuch that nearly all the towers and forts of acre were destroyed, and only the religious houses were left. and there were slain in this same war good 20,000 men on the two sides, but chiefly of genoese and spaniards." (_lettre de jean pierre sarrasin_, in _michel's joinville_, p. 308.) [4] the origin of these columns is, however, somewhat uncertain. [see _cicogna_, i. p. 379.] [5] in 1262, when a venetian squadron was taken by the greek fleet in alliance with the genoese, the whole of the survivors of the captive crews were _blinded_ by order of palaeologus. (_roman._ ii. 272.) [6] see pp. 16, 41, and plan of ayas at beginning of bk. i. [7] see _archivio storico italiano_, appendice, tom. iv. [8] niente ne resta a prender se no li corpi de li legni: preixi som senza difender; de bruxar som tute degni! * * * * como li fom aproximai queli si levan lantor como leon descaenai tuti criando "_alor! alor!_" this _alor! alor!_ ("up, boys, and at 'em"), or something similar, appears to have been the usual war-cry of both parties. so a trumpet-like poem of the troubadour warrior bertram de born, whom dante found in such evil plight below (xxviii. 118 seqq.), in which he sings with extraordinary spirit the joys of war:- "le us die que tan no m'a sabor manjars, ni beure, ni dormir, cum a quant ang cridar, alor! d'ambas la partz; et aug agnir cavals voits per l'ombratge...." "i tell you a zest far before aught of slumber, or drink, or of food, i snatch when the shouts of alor ring from both sides: and out of the wood comes the neighing of steeds dimly seen...." in a galley fight at tyre in 1258, according to a latin narrative, the genoese shout "ad arma, ad arma! _ad ipsos, ad ipsos!_" the cry of the venetians before engaging the greeks is represented by martino da canale, in his old french, as "_or à yaus! or à yaus!_" that of the genoese on another occasion as _aur! aur!_ and this last is the shout of the catalans also in ramon de muntaner. (_villemain, litt. du moyen age_, i. 99; _archiv. stor. ital._ viii. 364, 506; _pertz, script._ xviii. 239; _muntaner_, 269, 287.) recently in a sicilian newspaper, narrating an act of gallant and successful reprisal (only too rare) by country folk on a body of the brigands who are such a scourge to parts of the island, i read that the honest men in charging the villains raised a shout of "_ad iddi! ad iddi!_" [9] a phrase curiously identical, with a similar sequence, is attributed to an austrian general at the battle of skalitz in 1866. (_stoffel's letters._) [10] e no me posso aregordar dalcuno romanzo vertadé donde oyse uncha cointar alcun triumfo si sobré! [11] _stella_ in _muratori_, xvii. 984. [12] _dandulo_, ibid. xii. 404-405. [13] or entram con gran vigor, en de sperando aver triumpho, queli zerchando inter lo gorfo chi menazeram zercha lor! and in the next verse note the pure scotch use of the word _bra_:- sichè da otranto se partim quella bra compagnia, per assar in ihavonia, d'avosto a vinte nove di. [14] the island of curzola now counts about 4000 inhabitants; the town half the number. it was probably reckoned a dependency of venice at this time. the king of hungary had renounced his claims on the dalmatian coasts by treaty in 1244. (_romanin_, ii. 235.) the gallant defence of the place against the algerines in 1571 won for curzola from the venetian senate the honourable title in all documents of _fedelissima_. (_paton's adriatic_, i. 47.) [15] ma sé si gran colmo avea perchè andava mendigando per terra de lombardia peccunia, gente a sodi? pone mente tu che l'odi se noi tegnamo questa via? no, ma più! ajamo omi nostrar destri, valenti, e avisti, che mai par de lor n' o visti in tuti officj de mar. [16] in july 1294, a council of thirty decreed that galleys should be equipped by the richest families in proportion to their wealth. among the families held to equip one galley each, or one galley among two or more, in this list, is the ca' polo. but this was before the return of the travellers from the east, and just after the battle of ayas. (_romanin_, ii. 332; this author misdates ayas, however.) when a levy was required in venice for any expedition the heads of each _contrada_ divided the male inhabitants, between the ages of twenty and sixty, into groups of twelve each, called _duodene_. the dice were thrown to decide who should go first on service. he who went received five _lire_ a month from the state, and one _lira_ from each of his colleagues in the _duodena_. hence his pay was sixteen _lire_ a month, about 2_s._ a day in silver value, if these were _lire ai grossi_, or 1_s._ 4_d._ if _lire dei piccoli_. (see _romanin_, ii. 393-394.) money on such occasions was frequently raised by what was called an _estimo_ or _facion_, which was a force loan levied on the citizens in proportion to their estimated wealth; and for which they were entitled to interest from the state. [17] several of the italian chroniclers, as ferreto of vicenza and navagiero, whom muratori has followed in his "annals," say the battle was fought on the 8th september, the so-called birthday of the madonna. but the inscription on the church of st. matthew at genoa, cited further on, says the 7th, and with this agree both stella and the genoese poet. for the latter, though not specifying the day of the month, says it was on a sunday:- "lo di de domenga era passa prima en l'ora bona stormezam fin provo nona con bataio forte e fera." now the 7th september, 1298, fell on a sunday. [18] ma li pensavam grande error che in fuga se fussem tuti metui che de si lonzi eram vegnui per cerchali a casa lor. [19] "note here that the genoese generally, commonly, and by nature, are the most covetous of men, and the love of gain spurs them to every crime. yet are they deemed also the most valiant men in the world. such an one was lampa, of that very doria family, a man of an high courage truly. for when he was engaged in a sea-fight against the venetians, and was standing on the poop of his galley, his son, fighting valiantly at the forecastle, was shot by an arrow in the breast, and fell wounded to the death; a mishap whereat his comrades were sorely shaken, and fear came upon the whole ship's company. but lampa, hot with the spirit of battle, and more mindful of his country's service and his own glory than of his son, ran forward to the spot, loftily rebuked the agitated crowd, and ordered his son's body to be cast into the deep, telling them for their comfort that the land could never have afforded his boy a nobler tomb. and then, renewing the fight more fiercely than ever, he achieved the victory." (_benvenuto of imola_, in _comment. on dante. in muratori, antiq._ i. 1146.) ("yet like an english general will i die, and all the ocean make my spacious grave; women and cowards on the land may lie, the sea's the tomb that's proper for the brave!" --_annus mirabilis_.) [20] the particulars of the battle are gathered from _ferretus vicentinus_, in _murat._ ix. 985 seqq.; _and. dandulo_, in xii. 407-408; _navagiero_, in xxiii. 1009-1010; and the genoese poem as before. [21] _navagiero_, u.s. dandulo says, "after a few days he died of grief"; ferretus, that he was killed in the action and buried at curzola. [22] for the funeral, a ms. of cibo recco quoted by _jacopo doria_ in _la chiesa di san matteo descritta_, etc., genova, 1860, p. 26. for the date of arrival the poem so often quoted:- "_de oitover_, a zoia, _a seze di_ lo nostro ostel, con gran festa en nostro porto, a or di sesta domine de restitui." [23] s. matteo was built by martin doria in 1125, but pulled down and rebuilt by the family in a slightly different position in 1278. on this occasion is recorded a remarkable anticipation of the feats of american engineering: "as there was an ancient and very fine picture of christ upon the apse of the church, it was thought a great pity that so fine a work should be destroyed. and so they contrived an ingenious method by which the apse bodily was transported without injury, picture and all, for a distance of 25 ells, and firmly set upon the foundations where it now exists." (_jacopo de varagine_ in _muratori_, vol. ix. 36.) the inscription on s. matteo regarding the battle is as follows:--"_ad honorem dei et beate virginis marie anno mcclxxxxviii die dominico vii septembris iste angelus captus fuit in gulfo venetiarum in civitate scursole et ibidem fuit prelium galearum lxxvi januensium cum galeis lxxxxvi veneciarum. capte fuerunt lxxxiiii per nobilem virum dominum lambam aurie capitaneum et armiratum tunc comunis et populi janue cum omnibus existentibus in eisdem, de quibus conduxit janue homines vivos carceratos vii cccc et galeas xviii, reliquas lxvi fecit cumburi in dicto gulfo veneciarum. qui obiit sagone i. mcccxxiii._" it is not clear to what the _angelus_ refers. [24] _rampoldi, ann. musulm._ ix. 217. [25] _jacopo doria_, p. 280. [26] _murat._ xxiii. 1010. i learn from a genoese gentleman, through my friend professor henry giglioli (to whose kindness i owe the transcript of the inscription just given), that a faint tradition exists as to the place of our traveller's imprisonment. it is alleged to have been a massive building, standing between the _grazie_ and the mole, and bearing the name of the _malapaga_, which is now a barrack for doganieri, but continued till comparatively recent times to be used as a civil prison. "it is certain," says my informant, "that men of fame in arms who had fallen into the power of the genoese _were_ imprisoned there, and among others is recorded the name of the corsican giudice dalla rocca and lord of cinarca, who died there in 1312;" a date so near that of marco's imprisonment as to give some interest to the hypothesis, slender as are its grounds. another genoese, however, indicates as the scene of marco's captivity certain old prisons near the old arsenal, in a site still known as the _vico degli schiavi_. (_celesia, dante in liguria_, 1865, p. 43.) [was not the place of polo's captivity the basement of the _palazzo del capitan del popolo_, afterwards _palazzo del comune al mare_, where the customs (_dogana_) had their office, and from the 15th century the _casa_ or _palazzo di s. giorgio?_--h. c.] [27] the treaty and some subsidiary documents are printed in the genoese _liber jurium_, forming a part of the _monumenta historiae patriae_, published at turin. (see _lib. jur._ ii. 344, seqq.) muratori in his annals has followed john villani (bk. viii. ch. 27) in representing the terms as highly unfavourable to venice. but for this there is no foundation in the documents. and the terms are stated with substantial accuracy in navagiero. (_murat. script._ xxiii. 1011.) [28] _paulin paris, les manuscrits françois de la bibliothèque du roi_, ii. 355. [29] though there is no precise information as to the birth or death of this writer, who belonged to a noble family of lombardy, the bellingeri, he can be traced with tolerable certainty as in life in 1289, 1320, and 1334. (see the introduction to his chronicle in the turin _monumentà_, _scriptores_ iii.) [30] there is another ms. of the _imago mundi_ at turin, which has been printed in the _monumenta_. the passage about polo in that copy differs widely in wording, is much shorter, and contains no date. but it relates his capture as having taken place at _là glazà_, which i think there can be no doubt is also intended for ayas (sometimes called _giàzza_), a place which in fact is called _glaza_ in three of the mss. of which various readings are given in the edition of the société de géographie (p. 535). [31] "e per meio esse aregordenti de si grande scacho mato correa mille duxenti zonto ge novanta e quatro." the armenian prince hayton or héthum has put it under 1293. (see _langlois, mém. sur les relations de gênes avec la petite-arménie_.) vii. rusticiano or rustichello of pisa, marco polo's fellow-prisoner at genoa, the scribe who wrote down the travels. 38. we have now to say something of that rusticiano to whom all who value polo's book are so much indebted. [sidenote: rusticiano, perhaps a prisoner from meloria.] the relations between genoa and pisa had long been so hostile that it was only too natural in 1298 to find a pisan in the gaol of genoa. an unhappy multitude of such prisoners had been carried thither fourteen years before, and the survivors still lingered there in vastly dwindled numbers. in the summer of 1284 was fought the battle from which pisa had to date the commencement of her long decay. in july of that year the pisans, at a time when the genoese had no fleet in their own immediate waters, had advanced to the very port of genoa and shot their defiance into the proud city in the form of silver-headed arrows, and stones belted with scarlet.[1] they had to pay dearly for this insult. the genoese, recalling their cruisers, speedily mustered a fleet of eighty-eight galleys, which were placed under the command of another of that illustrious house of doria, the scipios of genoa as they have been called, uberto, the elder brother of lamba. lamba himself with his six sons, and another brother, was in the fleet, whilst the whole number of dorias who fought in the ensuing action amounted to 250, most of them on board one great galley bearing the name of the family patron, st. matthew.[2] the pisans, more than one-fourth inferior in strength, came out boldly, and the battle was fought off the porto pisano, in fact close in front of leghorn, where a lighthouse on a remarkable arched basement still marks the islet of meloria, whence the battle got its name. the day was the 6th of august, the feast of st. sixtus, a day memorable in the pisan fasti for several great victories. but on this occasion the defeat of pisa was overwhelming. forty of their galleys were taken or sunk, and upwards of 9000 prisoners carried to genoa. in fact so vast a sweep was made of the flower of pisan manhood that it was a common saying then: "_che vuol veder pisa, vada a genova_!" many noble ladies of pisa went in large companies on foot to genoa to seek their husbands or kinsmen: "and when they made enquiry of the keepers of the prisons, the reply would be, 'yesterday there died thirty of them, to-day there have died forty; all of whom we have cast into the sea; and so it is daily.'"[3] [illustration: seal of the pisan prisoners.] a body of prisoners so numerous and important naturally exerted themselves in the cause of peace, and through their efforts, after many months of negotiation, a formal peace was signed (15th april, 1288). but through the influence, as was alleged, of count ugolino (dante's) who was then in power at pisa, the peace became abortive; war almost immediately recommenced, and the prisoners had no release.[4] and, when the 6000 or 7000 venetians were thrown into the prisons of genoa in october 1298, they would find there the scanty surviving remnant of the pisan prisoners of meloria, and would gather from them dismal forebodings of the fate before them. it is a fair conjecture that to that remnant rusticiano of pisa may have belonged. we have seen ramusio's representation of the kindness shown to marco during his imprisonment by a certain genoese gentleman who also assisted him to reduce his travels to writing. we may be certain that this genoese gentleman is only a distorted image of rusticiano, the pisan prisoner in the gaol of genoa, whose name and part in the history of his hero's book ramusio so strangely ignores. yet patriotic genoese writers in our own times have striven to determine the identity of this their imaginary countryman![5] [sidenote: rusticiano, a person known from other sources.] 39. who, then, was rusticiano, or, as the name actually is read in the oldest type of ms., "messire rustacians de pise"? our knowledge of him is but scanty. still something is known of him besides the few words concluding his preamble to our traveller's book, which you may read at pp. 1-2 of the body of this volume. in sir walter scott's "essay on romance," when he speaks of the new mould in which the subjects of the old metrical stories were cast by the school of prose romancers which arose in the 13th century, we find the following words:- "whatever fragments or shadows of true history may yet remain hidden under the mass of accumulated fable which had been heaped upon them during successive ages, must undoubtedly be sought in the metrical romances.... but those prose authors who wrote under the imaginary names of rusticien de pise, robert de borron, and the like, usually seized upon the subject of some old minstrel; and recomposing the whole narrative after their own fashion, with additional character and adventure, totally obliterated in that operation any shades which remained of the original and probably authentic tradition," &c.[6] evidently, therefore, sir walter regarded rustician of pisa as a person belonging to the same ghostly company as his own cleishbothams and dryasdusts. but in this we see that he was wrong. in the great paris library and elsewhere there are manuscript volumes containing the stories of the round table abridged and somewhat clumsily combined from the various prose romances of that cycle, such as _sir tristan, lancelot, palamedes, giron le courtois_, &c., which had been composed, it would seem, by various anglo-french gentlemen at the court of henry iii., styled, or styling themselves, gasses le blunt, luces du gast, robert de borron, and hélis de borron. and these abridgments or recasts are professedly the work of _le maistre rusticien de pise_. several of them were printed at paris in the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries as the works of rusticien de pise; and as the preambles and the like, especially in the form presented in those printed editions, appear to be due sometimes to the original composers (as robert and hélis de borron) and sometimes to rusticien de pise the recaster, there would seem to have been a good deal of confusion made in regard to their respective personalities. from a preamble to one of those compilations which undoubtedly belongs to rustician, and which we shall quote at length by and bye, we learn that master rustician "translated" (or perhaps _transferred?_) his compilation from a book belonging to king edward of england, at the time when that prince went beyond seas to recover the holy sepulchre. now prince edward started for the holy land in 1270, spent the winter of that year in sicily, and arrived in palestine in may 1271. he quitted it again in august, 1272, and passed again by sicily, where in january, 1273, he heard of his father's death and his own consequent accession. paulin paris supposes that rustician was attached to the sicilian court of charles of anjou, and that edward "may have deposited with that king the romances of the round table, of which all the world was talking, but the manuscripts of which were still very rare, especially those of the work of helye de borron[7] ... whether by order, or only with permission of the king of sicily, our rustician made haste to read, abridge, and re-arrange the whole, and when edward returned to sicily he recovered possession of the book from which the indefatigable pisan had extracted the contents." but this i believe is, in so far as it passes the facts stated in rustician's own preamble, pure hypothesis, for nothing is cited that connects rustician with the king of sicily. and if there be not some such confusion of personality as we have alluded to, in another of the preambles, which is quoted by dunlop as an utterance of rustician's, that personage would seem to claim to have been a comrade in arms of the two de borrons. we might, therefore, conjecture that rustician himself had accompanied prince edward to syria.[8] [sidenote: character of rustician's romance compilations.] 40. rustician's literary work appears from the extracts and remarks of paulin paris to be that of an industrious simple man, without method or much judgment. "the haste with which he worked is too perceptible; the adventures are told without connection; you find long stories of tristan followed by adventures of his father meliadus." for the latter derangement of historical sequence we find a quaint and ingenuous apology offered in rustician's epilogue to giron le courtois:- "cy fine le maistre rusticien de pise son conte en louant et regraciant le père le filz et le saint esperit, et ung mesme dieu, filz de la benoiste vierge marie, de ce qu'il m'a doné grace, sens, force, et mémoire, temps et lieu, de me mener à fin de si haulte et si noble matière come ceste-cy dont j'ay traicté les faiz et proesses recitez et recordez à mon livre. et se aucun me demandoit pour quoy j'ay parlé de tristan avant que de son père le roy meliadus, le respons que ma matière n'estoist pas congneue. car je ne puis pas scavoir tout, ne mettre toutes mes paroles par ordre. et ainsi fine mon conte. amen."[9] in a passage of these compilations the emperor charlemagne is asked whether in his judgment king meliadus or his son tristan were the better man? the emperor's answer is: "i should say that the king meliadus was the better man, and i will tell you why i say so. as far as i can see, everything that tristan did was done for love, and his great feats would never have been done but under the constraint of love, which was his spur and goad. now that never can be said of king meliadus! for what deeds he did, he did them not by dint of love, but by dint of his strong right arm. purely out of his own goodness he did good, and not by constraint of love." "it will be seen," remarks on this paulin paris, "that we are here a long way removed from the ordinary principles of round table romances. and one thing besides will be manifest, viz., that rusticien de pise was no frenchman!"[10] the same discretion is shown even more prominently in a passage of one of his compilations, which contains the romances of arthur, gyron, and meliadus (no. 6975--see last note but one):-"no doubt," rustician says, "other books tell the story of the queen ginevra and lancelot differently from this; and there were certain passages between them of which the master, in his concern for the honour of both those personages, will say not a word." alas, says the french bibliographer, that the copy of lancelot, which fell into the hands of poor francesca of rimini, was not one of those _expurgated_ by our worthy friend rustician![11] [sidenote: identity of the romance compiler with polo's fellow-prisoner.] 41. a question may still occur to an attentive reader as to the identity of this romance-compiler rusticien de pise with the messire _rustacians de pise_, of a solitary ms. of polo's work (though the oldest and most authentic), a name which appears in other copies as _rusta pisan, rasta pysan, rustichelus civis pisanus, rustico, restazio da pisa, stazio da pisa_, and who is stated in the preamble to have acted as the traveller's scribe at genoa. m. pauthier indeed[12] asserts that the french of the ms. romances of rusticien de pise is of the same barbarous character as that of the early french ms. of polo's book to which we have just alluded, and which we shall show to be the nearest presentation of the work as originally dictated by the traveller. the language of the latter ms. is so peculiar that this would be almost perfect evidence of the identity of the writers, if it were really the fact. a cursory inspection which i have made of two of those mss. in paris, and the extracts which i have given and am about to give, do not, however, by any means support m. pauthier's view. nor would that view be consistent with the judgment of so competent an authority as paulin paris, implied in his calling rustician a _nom recommandable_ in old french literature, and his speaking of him as "versed in the secrets of the french romance tongue."[13] in fact the difference of language in the two cases would really be a difficulty in the way of identification, if there were room for doubt. this, however, paulin paris seems to have excluded finally, by calling attention to the peculiar formula of preamble which is common to the book of marco polo and to one of the romance compilations of rusticien de pise. the former will be found in english at pp. 1, 2, of our translation; but we give a part of the original below[14] for comparison with the preamble to the romances of meliadus, tristan, and lancelot, as taken from ms. 6961 (fr. 340) of the paris library:- "_seigneurs empereurs et princes, ducs et contes et barons et chevaliers et vavasseurs et bourgeois, et tous les preudommes de cestui monde qui avez talent de vous deliter en rommans, si prenez cestui (livre) et le faites lire de chief en chief, si orrez toutes les grans aventure_ qui advindrent entre les chevaliers errans du temps au roy uter pendragon, jusques à le temps au roy artus son fils, et des compaignons de la table ronde. et sachiez tout vraiment que cist livres fust translatez du livre monseigneur edouart le roy d'engleterre en cellui temps qu'il passa oultre la mer au service nostre seigneur damedieu pour conquester le sant sepulcre, et maistre rusticiens de pise, lequel est ymaginez yci dessus,[15] compila ce rommant, car il en translata toutes les merveilleuses nouvelles et aventures qu'il trouva en celle livre et traita tout certainement de toutes les aventures du monde, et si sachiez qu'il traitera plus de monseigneur lancelot du lac, et mons'r tristan le fils au roy meliadus de leonnoie que d'autres, porcequ'ilz furent sans faille les meilleurs chevaliers qui à ce temps furent en terre; et li maistres en dira de ces deux pluseurs choses et pluseurs nouvelles que l'en treuvera escript en tous les autres livres; et porce que le maistres les trouva escript au livre d'engleterre." [illustration: palazzo di s giorgio genoa] "certainly," paulin paris observes, "there is a singular analogy between these two prefaces. and it must be remarked that the formula is not an ordinary one with translators, compilers, or authors of the 13th and 14th centuries. perhaps you would not find a single other example of it."[16] this seems to place beyond question the identity of the romance-compiler of prince edward's suite in 1270, and the prisoner of genoa in 1298. [sidenote: further particulars concerning rustician.] 42. in dunlop's history of fiction a passage is quoted from the preamble of _meliadus_, as set forth in the paris printed edition of 1528, which gives us to understand that rusticien de pise had received as a reward for some of his compositions from king henry iii. the prodigal gift of two _chateaux_. i gather, however, from passages in the work of paulin paris that this must certainly be one of those confusions of persons to which i have referred before, and that the recipient of the chateaux was in reality helye de borron, the author of some of the originals which rustician manipulated.[17] this supposed incident in rustician's scanty history must therefore be given up. we call this worthy _rustician_ or _rusticiano_, as the nearest probable representation in italian form of the _rusticien_ of the round-table mss. and the _rustacians_ of the old text of polo. but it is highly probable that his real name was _rustichello_, as is suggested by the form _rustichelus_ in the early latin version published by the _société de géographie_. the change of one liquid for another never goes for much in italy,[18] and rustichello might easily gallicize himself as rusticien. in a very long list of pisan officials during the middle ages i find several bearing the name of _rustichello_ or _rustichelli_, but no _rusticiano_ or _rustigiano_.[19] respecting him we have only to add that the peace between genoa and venice was speedily followed by a treaty between genoa and pisa. on the 31st july, 1299, a truce for twenty-five years was signed between those two republics. it was a very different matter from that between genoa and venice, and contained much that was humiliating and detrimental to pisa. but it embraced the release of prisoners; and those of meloria, reduced it is said to less than one tithe of their original number, had their liberty at last. among the prisoners then released no doubt rustician was one. but we hear of him no more. [1] _b. marangone, croniche della c. di pisa_, in _rerum ital. script._ of _tartini_, florence, 1748, i. 563; _dal borgo, dissert. sopra l'istoria pisana_, ii. 287. [2] the list of the whole number is preserved in the doria archives, and has been published by sign. jacopo d'oria. many of the baptismal names are curious, and show how far sponsors wandered from the church calendar. _assan, alton, turco, soldan_ seem to come of the constant interest in the east. _alaone_, a name which remained in the family for several generations, i had thought certainly borrowed from the fierce conqueror of the khalif (infra, p. 63). but as one alaone, present at this battle, had a son also there, he must surely have been christened before the fame of hulaku could have reached genoa. (see _la chiesa di s. matteo_, pp. 250, seqq.) in documents of the kingdom of jerusalem there are names still more anomalous, e.g., _gualterius baffumeth, joannes mahomet_. (see _cod. dipl. del sac. milit. ord. gerosol._ i. 2-3, 62.) [3] _memorial. potestat. regiens._ in _muratori_, viii. 1162. [4] see _fragm. hist. pisan._ in _muratori_, xxiv. 651, seqq.; and _caffaro_, _id._ vi. 588, 594-595. the cut in the text represents a striking memorial of those pisan prisoners, which perhaps still survives, but which at any rate existed last century in a collection at lucca. it is the seal of the prisoners as a body corporate: sigillum universitatis carceratorum pisanorum janue detentorum, and was doubtless used in their negotiations for peace with the genoese commissioners. it represents two of the prisoners imploring the madonna, patron of the duomo at pisa. it is from _manni, osserv. stor. sopra sigilli antichi_, etc., firenze, 1739, tom. xii. the seal is also engraved in _dal borgo_, op. cit. ii. 316. [5] the abate spotorno in his _storia letteraria della liguria_, ii. 219, fixes on a genoese philosopher called andalo del negro, mentioned by boccaccio. [6] i quote from galignani's ed. of prose works, v. 712. this has "rusticien de _puise_." in this view of the fictitious character of the names of rusticien and the rest, sir walter seems to have been following ritson, as i gather from a quotation in dunlop's h. of fiction. (_liebrecht's_ german version, p. 63.) [7] _giron le courtois_, and the conclusion of _tristan_. [8] the passage runs thus as quoted (from the preamble of the _meliadus_--i suspect in one of the old printed editions):- "aussi luces du gau (gas) translata en langue françoise une partie de l'hystoire de monseigneur tristan, et moins assez qu'il ne deust. moult commença bien son livre et si ny mist tout les faicts de tristan, ains la greigneur partie. après s'en entremist messire gasse le blond, qui estoit parent au roy henry, et divisa l'hystoire de lancelot du lac, et d'autre chose ne parla il mye grandement en son livre. messire robert de borron s'en entremist et helye de borron, par la prière du dit robert de borron, _et pource que compaignons feusmes d'armes longuement_, je commencay mon livre," etc. (_liebrecht's dunlop_, p. 80.) if this passage be authentic it would set beyond doubt the age of the de borrons and the other writers of anglo-french round table romances, who are placed by the _hist. littéraire de la france_, and apparently by fr. michel, under henry ii. i have no means of pursuing the matter, and have preferred to follow paulin paris, who places them under henry iii. i notice, moreover, that the _hist. litt._ (xv. p. 498) puts not only the de borrons but rustician himself under henry ii.; and, as the last view is certainly an error, the first is probably so too. [9] transc. from ms. 6975 (now fr. 355) of paris library. [10] _mss. françois_, iii. 60-61. [11] ibid. 56-59. [12] _introd._ pp. lxxxvi.-vii. note. [13] see _jour. as._ sér. ii. tom. xii. p. 251. [14] "_seignors enperaor, & rois, dux & marquois, cuens, chevaliers & bargions_ [for borgiois] _& toutes gens qe uoles sauoir les deuerses jenerasions des homes_, & les deuersités des deuerses region dou monde, _si prennés cestui lire & le feites lire & chi trouerés toutes les grandismes meruoilles_," etc. [15] the portrait of rustician here referred to would have been a precious illustration for our book. but unfortunately it has not been transferred to ms. 6961, nor apparently to any other noticed by paulin paris. [16] _jour. as._ as above. [17] see _liebrecht's dunlop_, p. 77; and _mss. françois_, ii. 349, 353. the alleged gift to rustician is also put forth by d'israeli the elder in his _amenities of literature_, 1841, i. p. 103. [18] e.g. geronimo, _girolamo_; and garofalo, _garofano_; cristoforo, _cristovalo_; gonfalone, _gonfanone_, etc. [19] see the list in _archivio stor. ital._ vi. p. 64, seqq. viii. notices of marco polo's history, after the termination of his imprisonment at genoa. 43. a few very disconnected notices are all that can be collected of matter properly biographical in relation to the quarter century during which marco polo survived the genoese captivity. [sidenote: death of marco's father before 1300. will of his brother maffeo.] we have seen that he would probably reach venice in the course of august, 1299. whether he found his aged father alive is not known; but we know at least that a year later (31st august, 1300) messer nicolo was no longer in life. this we learn from the will of the younger maffeo, marco's brother, which bears the date just named, and of which we give an abstract below.[1] it seems to imply strong regard for the testator's brother marco, who is made inheritor of the bulk of the property, failing the possible birth of a son. i have already indicated some conjectural deductions from this document. i may add that the terms of the second clause, as quoted in the note, seem to me to throw considerable doubt on the genealogy which bestows a large family of sons upon this brother maffeo. if he lived to have such a family it seems improbable that the draft which he thus left in the hands of a notary, to be converted into a will in the event of his death (a curious example of the validity attaching to all acts of notaries in those days), should never have been superseded, but should actually have been so converted after his death, as the existence of the parchment seems to prove. but for this circumstance we might suppose the marcolino mentioned in the ensuing paragraph to have been a son of the younger maffeo. messer maffeo, the uncle, was, we see, alive at this time. we do not know the year of his death. but it is alluded to by friar pipino in the preamble to his translation of the book, supposed to have been executed about 1315-1320; and we learn from a document in the venetian archives (see p. 77) that it must have been previous to 1318, and subsequent to february 1309, the date of his last will. the will itself is not known to be extant, but from the reference to it in this document we learn that he left 1000 _lire_ of public debt[2] (_? imprestitorum_) to a certain marco polo, called _marcolino_. the relationship of this marco to old maffeo is not stated, but we may suspect him to have been an illegitimate son. [marcolino was a son of nicolo, son of marco the elder; see vol. ii., _calendar_, no. 6.--h. c.] [sidenote: documentary notices of polo at this time. the sobriquet of milione.] 44. in 1302 occurs what was at first supposed to be a glimpse of marco as a citizen, slight and quaint enough; being a resolution on the books of the great council to exempt the respectable marco polo from the penalty incurred by him on account of the omission to have his water-pipe duly inspected. but since our marco's claims to the designation of _nobilis vir_ have been established, there is a doubt whether the _providus vir_ or _prud'-homme_ here spoken of may not have been rather his namesake marco polo of cannareggio or s. geremia, of whose existence we learn from another entry of the same year.[3] it is, however, possible that marco the traveller was called to the great council _after_ the date of the document in question. we have seen that the traveller, and after him his house and his book, acquired from his contemporaries the surname, or nickname rather, of _il milione_. different writers have given different explanations of the origin of this name; some, beginning with his contemporary fra jacopo d'acqui, (supra, p. 54), ascribing it to the family's having brought home a fortune of a million of _lire_, in fact to their being _millionaires_. this is the explanation followed by sansovino, marco barbaro, coronelli, and others.[4] more far-fetched is that of fontanini, who supposes the name to have been given to the book as containing a great number of stories, like the _cento novelle_ or the _thousand and one nights!_ but there can be no doubt that ramusio's is the true, as it is the natural, explanation; and that the name was bestowed on marco by the young wits of his native city, because of his frequent use of a word which appears to have been then unusual, in his attempts to convey an idea of the vast wealth and magnificence of the kaan's treasury and court.[5] ramusio has told us that he had seen marco styled by this sobriquet in the books of the signory; and it is pleasant to be able to confirm this by the next document which we cite. this is an extract from the books of the great council under both april, 1305, condoning the offence of a certain bonocio of mestre in smuggling wine, for whose penalty one of the sureties had been the nobilis vir marchus paulo milioni.[6] it is alleged that long after our traveller's death there was always, in the venetian masques, one individual who assumed the character of marco milioni, and told munchausenlike stories to divert the vulgar. such, if this be true, was the honour of our prophet among the populace of his own country.[7] 45. a little later we hear of marco once more, as presenting a copy of his book to a noble frenchman in the service of charles of valois. [sidenote: polo's relations with thibault de cepoy.] this prince, brother of philip the fair, in 1301 had married catharine, daughter and heiress of philip de courtenay, titular emperor of constantinople, and on the strength of this marriage had at a later date set up his own claim to the empire of the east. to this he was prompted by pope clement v., who in the beginning of 1306 wrote to venice, stimulating that government to take part in the enterprise. in the same year, charles and his wife sent as their envoys to venice, in connection with this matter, a noble knight called thibault de cepoy, along with an ecclesiastic of chartres called pierre le riche, and these two succeeded in executing a treaty of alliance with venice, of which the original, dated 14th december, 1306, exists at paris. thibault de cepoy eventually went on to greece with a squadron of venetian galleys, but accomplished nothing of moment, and returned to his master in 1310.[8] [illustration: miracle of s. lorenzo] during the stay of thibault at venice he seems to have made acquaintance with marco polo, and to have received from him a copy of his book. this is recorded in a curious note which appears on two existing mss. of polo's book, viz., that of the paris library (10,270 or fr. 5649), and that of bern, which is substantially identical in its text with the former, and is, as i believe, a copy of it.[9] the note runs as follows:- "here you have the book of which my lord thiebault, knight and lord of cepoy, (whom may god assoil!) requested a copy from sire marc pol, burgess and resident of the city of venice. and the said sire marc pol, being a very honourable person, of high character and respect in many countries, because of his desire that what he had witnessed should be known throughout the world, and also for the honour and reverence he bore to the most excellent and puissant prince my lord charles, son of the king of france and count of valois, gave and presented to the aforesaid lord of cepoy the first copy (that was taken) of his said book after he had made the same. and very pleasing it was to him that his book should be carried to the noble country of france and there made known by so worthy a gentleman. and from that copy which the said messire thibault, sire de cepoy above-named, did carry into france, messire john, who was his eldest son and is the present sire de cepoy,[10] after his father's decease did have a copy made, and that very first copy that was made of the book after its being carried into france he did present to his very dear and dread lord monseigneur de valois. thereafter he gave copies of it to such of his friends as asked for them. "and the copy above-mentioned was presented by the said sire marc pol to the said lord de cepoy when the latter went to venice, on the part of monseigneur de valois and of madame the empress his wife, as vicar general for them both in all the territories of the empire of constantinople. and this happened in the year of the incarnation of our lord jesus christ one thousand three hundred and seven, and in the month of august." of the bearings of this memorandum on the literary history of polo's book we shall speak in a following section. [sidenote: his marriage and his daughters. marco as a merchant.] 46. when marco married we have not been able to ascertain, but it was no doubt early in the 14th century, for in 1324, we find that he had two married daughters besides one unmarried. his wife's christian name was _donata_, but of her family we have as yet found no assurance. i suspect, however, that her name may have been loredano (vide infra, p. 77). under 1311 we find a document which is of considerable interest, because it is the only one yet discovered which exhibits marco under the aspect of a practical trader. it is the judgment of the court of requests upon a suit brought by the noble marco polo of the parish of s. giovanni grisostomo against one paulo girardo of s. apollinare. it appears that marco had entrusted to the latter as a commission agent for sale, on an agreement for half profits, a pound and a half of musk, priced at six _lire of grossi_ (about 22_l._ 10_s._ in value of silver) the pound. girardo had sold half-a-pound at that rate, and the remaining pound which he brought back was deficient of a _saggio_, or, one-sixth of an ounce, but he had accounted for neither the sale nor the deficiency. hence marco sues him for three _lire of grossi_, the price of the half-pound sold, and for twenty _grossi_ as the value of the saggio. and the judges cast the defendant in the amount with costs, and the penalty of imprisonment in the common gaol of venice if the amounts were not paid within a suitable term.[11] again in may, 1323, probably within a year of his death, ser marco appears (perhaps only by attorney), before the doge and his judicial examiners, to obtain a decision respecting a question touching the rights to certain stairs and porticoes in contact with his own house property, and that obtained from his wife, in s. giovanni grisostomo. to this allusion has been already made (supra, p. 31). [sidenote: marco polo's last will and death.] 47. we catch sight of our traveller only once more. it is on the 9th of january, 1324; he is labouring with disease, under which he is sinking day by day; and he has sent for giovanni giustiniani, priest of s. proculo and notary, to make his last will and testament. it runs thus:-[illustration: marco polo's last will] [illustration: slightly reduced from a photograph specially taken in st. mark's library by signor bertani.] "in the name of the eternal god amen! "in the year from the incarnation of our lord jesus christ 1323, on the 9th day of the month of january, in the first half of the 7th indiction,[12] at rialto. "it is the counsel of divine inspiration as well as the judgment of a provident mind that every man should take thought to make a disposition of his property before death become imminent, lest in the end it should remain without any disposition: "wherefore i marcus paulo of the parish of st. john chrysostom, finding myself to grow daily feebler through bodily ailment, but being by the grace of god of a sound mind, and of senses and judgment unimpaired, have sent for john giustiniani, priest of s. proculo and notary, and have instructed him to draw out in complete form this my testament: "whereby i constitute as my trustees donata my beloved wife, and my dear daughters fantina, bellela, and moreta,[13] in order that after my decease they may execute the dispositions and bequests which i am about to make herein. "first of all: i will and direct that the proper tithe be paid.[14] and over and above the said tithe i direct that 2000 _lire_ of venice denari be distributed as follows:[15] "viz., 20 _soldi_ of venice _grossi_ to the monastery of st. lawrence where i desire to be buried. "also 300 _lire_ of venice denari to my sister-in-law ysabeta quirino,[16] that she owes me. "also 40 _soldi_ to each of the monasteries and hospitals all the way from grado to capo d'argine.[17] "also i bequeath to the convent of ss. giovanni and paolo, of the order of preachers, that which it owes me, and also 10 _lire_ to friar renier, and 5 _lire_ to friar benvenuto the venetian, of the order of preachers, in addition to the amount of his debt to me. "i also bequeath 5 _lire_ to every congregation in rialto, and 4 _lire_ to every guild or fraternity of which i am a member.[18] "also i bequeath 20 _soldi_ of venetian grossi to the priest giovanni giustiniani the notary, for his trouble about this my will, and in order that he may pray the lord in my behalf. "also i release peter the tartar, my servant, from all bondage, as completely as i pray god to release mine own soul from all sin and guilt. and i also remit him whatever he may have gained by work at his own house; and over and above i bequeath him 100 _lire_ of venice denari.[19] "and the residue of the said 2000 _lire_ free of tithe, i direct to be distributed for the good of my soul, according to the discretion of my trustees. "out of my remaining property i bequeath to the aforesaid donata, my wife and trustee, 8 _lire_ of venetian grossi annually during her life, for her own use, over and above her settlement, and the linen and all the household utensils,[20] with 3 beds garnished. "and all my other property movable and immovable that has not been disposed of [here follow some lines of mere technicality] i specially and expressly bequeath to my aforesaid daughters fantina, bellela, and moreta, freely and absolutely, to be divided equally among them. and i constitute them my heirs as regards all and sundry my property movable and immovable, and as regards all rights and contingencies tacit and expressed, of whatsoever kind as hereinbefore detailed, that belong to me or may fall to me. save and except that before division my said daughter moreta shall receive the same as each of my other daughters hath received for dowry and outfit [here follow many lines of technicalities, ending] "and if any one shall presume to infringe or violate this will, may he incur the malediction of god almighty, and abide bound under the anathema of the 318 fathers; and farthermore he shall forfeit to my trustees aforesaid five pounds of gold;[21] and so let this my testament abide in force. the signature of the above named messer marco paulo who gave instructions for this deed. "* i peter grifon, priest, witness. "* i humfrey barberi, witness. "* i john giustiniani, priest of s. proculo, and notary, have completed and authenticated (this testament)."[22] we do not know, as has been said, how long marco survived the making of this will, but we know, from a scanty series of documents commencing in june of the following year (1325), that he had _then_ been some time dead.[23] [sidenote: place of sepulture. professed portraits of polo.] 48. he was buried, no doubt, according to his declared wish, in the church of s. lorenzo; and indeed sansovino bears testimony to the fact in a confused notice of our traveller.[24] but there does not seem to have been any monument to marco, though the sarcophagus which had been erected to his father nicolo, by his own filial care, existed till near the end of the 16th century in the porch or corridor leading to the old church of s. lorenzo, and bore the inscription: "sepultura domini nicolai paulo de contrata s. ioannis grisostemi." the church was renewed from its foundations in 1592, and then, probably, the sarcophagus was cast aside and lost, and with it all certainty as to the position of the tomb.[25] [illustration: pavement in front of san lorenzo, venice.] [illustration: s. lorenzo as it was in the 15th century] there is no portrait of marco polo in existence with any claim to authenticity. the quaint figure which we give in the _bibliography_, vol. ii. p. 555, extracted from the earliest printed edition of his book, can certainly make no such pretension. the oldest one after this is probably a picture in the collection of monsignor badia at rome, of which i am now able, by the owner's courtesy, to give a copy. it is set down in the catalogue to titian, but is probably a work of 1600, or thereabouts, to which the aspect and costume belong. it is inscribed "_marcus polvs venetvs totivs orbis et indie peregrator primus._" its history unfortunately cannot be traced, but i believe it came from a collection at urbino. a marble statue was erected in his honour by a family at venice in the 17th century, and is still to be seen in the palazzo morosinigattemburg in the campo s. stefano in that city. the medallion portrait on the wall of the _sala dello scudo_ in the ducal palace, and which was engraved in bettom's "collection of portraits of illustrious italians," is a work of imagination painted by francesco griselini in 1761.[26] from this, however, was taken the medal by fabris, which was struck in 1847 in honour of the last meeting of the italian congresso scientifico; and from the medal again is copied, i believe, the elegant woodcut which adorns the introduction to m. pauthier's edition, though without any information as to its history. a handsome bust, by augusto gamba, has lately been placed among the illustrious venetians in the inner arcade of the ducal palace.[27] there is also a mosaic portrait of polo, opposite the similar portrait of columbus in the municipio at genoa. [sidenote: further history of the polo family.] 49. from the short series of documents recently alluded to,[28] we gather all that we know of the remaining history of marco polo's immediate family. we have seen in his will an indication that the two elder daughters, fantina and bellela, were married before his death. in 1333 we find the youngest, moreta, also a married woman, and bellela deceased. in 1336 we find that their mother donata had died in the interval. we learn, too, that fantina's husband was marco bragadino, and moreta's, ranuzzo dolfino.[29] the name of bellela's husband does not appear. fantina's husband is probably the marco bragadino, son of pietro, who in 1346 is mentioned to have been sent as provveditore-generale to act against the patriarch of acquileia.[30] and in 1379 we find donna fantina herself, presumably in widowhood, assessed as a resident of s. giovanni grisostomo, on the _estimo_ or forced loan for the genoese war, at 1300 _lire_, whilst pietro bragadino of the same parish--her son as i imagine--is assessed at 1500 _lire_.[31] [see vol. ii., _calendar_.] the documents show a few other incidents which may be briefly noted. in 1326 we have the record of a charge against one zanino grioni for insulting donna moreta in the campo of san vitale; a misdemeanour punished by the council of forty with two months' imprisonment. [illustration: mosaic portrait of marco polo at genoa] [illustration: the pseudo marco polo at canton] in march, 1328, marco polo, called marcolino, of st. john chrysostom (see p. 66), represents before the _domini advocatores_ of the republic that certain _imprestita_ that had belonged to the late maffeo polo the elder, had been alienated and transferred in may 1318, by the late marco polo of st. john chrysostom and since his death by his heirs, without regard to the rights of the said marcolino, to whom the said messer maffeo had bequeathed 1000 _lire_ by his will executed on 6th february, 1308 (i.e. 1309). the advocatores find that the transfer was to that extent unjust and improper, and they order that to the same extent it should be revoked and annulled. two months later the lady donata makes rather an unpleasant figure before the council of forty. it would seem that on the claim of messer bertuccio quirino a mandate of sequestration had been issued by the court of requests affecting certain articles in the ca' polo; including two bags of money which had been tied and sealed, but left in custody of the lady donata. the sum so sealed was about 80 _lire_ of grossi (300_l._ in silver value), but when opened only 45 _lire_ and 22 _grossi_ (about 170_l._) were found therein, and the lady was accused of abstracting the balance _non bono modo_. probably she acted, as ladies sometimes do, on a strong sense of her own rights, and a weak sense of the claims of law. but the council pronounced against her, ordering restitution, and a fine of 200 _lire_ over and above "_ut ceteris transeat in exemplum._"[32] it will have been seen that there is nothing in the amounts mentioned in marco's will to bear out the large reports as to his wealth, though at the same time there is no positive ground for a deduction to the contrary.[33] the mention in two of the documents of agnes loredano as the sister of the lady donata suggests that the latter may have belonged to the loredano family, but as it does not appear whether agnes was maid or wife this remains uncertain.[34] respecting the further history of the family there is nothing certain, nor can we give unhesitating faith to ramusio's statement that the last male descendant of the polos of s. giovanni grisostomo was marco, who died castellano of verona in 1417 (according to others, 1418, or 1425),[35] and that the family property then passed to maria (or _anna_, as she is styled in a ms. statement furnished to me from venice), who was married in 1401 to benedetto cornaro, and again in 1414 to azzo trevisan. her descendant in the fourth generation by the latter was marc antonio trevisano,[36] who was chosen doge in 1553. [illustration: arms of the trevisan family.] the genealogy recorded by marco barbaro, as drawn up from documents by ramusio, makes the castellano of verona a grandson of our marco by a son maffeo, whom we may safely pronounce not to have existed, and makes maria the daughter of maffeo, marco's brother--that is to say, makes a lady marry in 1414 and have children, whose father was born in 1271 at the very latest! the genealogy is given in several other ways, but as i have satisfied myself that they all (except perhaps this of barbaro's, which we see to be otherwise erroneous) confound together the two distinct families of polo of s. geremia and polo of s. giov. grisostomo, i reserve my faith, and abstain from presenting them. assuming that the marco or marcolino polo, spoken of in the preceding page, was a near relation (as is probable, though perhaps an illegitimate one), he is the only male descendant of old andrea of san felice whom we can indicate as having survived marco himself; and from a study of the links in the professed genealogies i think it not unlikely that both marco the castellano of verona and maria trevisan belonged to the branch of s. geremia.[37] [see vol. ii., _app. c_, p. 510.] [49. _bis._--it is interesting to note some of the _reliques_ left by our traveller. i. the unfortunate doge of venice, marino faliero, seems to have possessed many souvenirs of marco polo, and among them two manuscripts, one in the handwriting of his celebrated fellow-citizen(?), and one adorned with miniatures. m. julius von schlosser has reprinted (_die ältesten medaillen und die antike_, bd. xviii., _jahrb. d. kunsthist. samml. d. allerhöchsten kaiserhauses_, vienna, 1897, pp. 42-43) from the _bulletino di arti, industrie e curiosità veneziane_, iii., 1880-81, p. 101,[38] the inventory of the curiosities kept in the "red chamber" of marino faliero's palace in the parish of the ss. apostles; we give the following abstract of it:- anno ab incarnacione domini nostri jesu christi 1351° indictione sexta mensis aprilis. inuentarium rerum qui sunt in camera rubea domi habitationis clarissimi domini marini faletro de confinio ss. apostolorum, scriptum per me johannem, presbiterum, dicte ecclesie. _item_ alia capsaleta cum ogiis auri et argenti, inter quos unum anulum con inscriptione que dicit: _ciuble can marco polo_, et unum torques cum multis animalibus tartarorum sculptis, que res donum dedit predictus marcus cuidam faletrorum. _item_ 2 capsalete de corio albo cum variis rebus auri et argenti, quas habuit praedictus marcus a barbarorum rege. _item_ 1 ensem mirabilem, qui habet 3 enses simul, quem habuit in suis itineribus praedictus marcus. _item_ 1 tenturam de pannis indicis, quam habuit praedictus marcus. _item_ de itineribus marci praedicti liber in corio albo cum multis figuris. _item_ aliud volumen quod vocatur _de locis mirabilibus tartarorum, scriptum manu praedicti_ marci. ii. there is kept at the louvre, in the very valuable collection of china ware given by m. ernest grandidier, a white porcelain incense-burner said to come from marco polo. this incense-burner, which belonged to baron davillier, who received it, as a present, from one of the keepers of the treasury of st. mark's at venice, is an octagonal _ting_ from the fo-kien province, and of the time of the sung dynasty. by the kind permission of m. p. grandidier, we reproduce it from pl. ii. 6, of the _céramique chinoise_, paris, 1894, published by this learned amateur.--h. c.] [1] 1. the will is made in prospect of his voyage to crete. 2. he had drafted his will with his own hand, sealed the draft, and made it over to pietro pagano, priest of s. felice and notary, to draw out a formal testament in faithful accordance therewith in case of the testator's death; and that which follows is the substance of the said draft rendered from the vernacular into latin. ("ego matheus paulo ... volens ire in cretam, ne repentinus casus hujus vite fragilis me subreperet intestatum, mea propria manu meum scripsi et condidi testamentum, rogans petrum paganum ecclesie scti. felicis presbiterum et notarium, sana mente et integro consilio, ut, secundum ipsius scripturam quam sibi tunc dedi meo sigillo munitam, meum scriberet testamentum, si me de hoc seculo contigeret pertransire; cujus scripture tenor translato vulgari in latinum per omnia talis est.") 3. appoints as trustees messer maffeo polo his uncle, marco polo his brother, messer nicolo secreto (or sagredo) his father-in-law, and felix polo his cousin (_consanguineum_). 4. leaves 20 _soldi_ to each of the monasteries from grado to capo d'argine; and 150 _lire_ to all the congregations of rialto, on condition that the priests of these maintain an annual service in behalf of the souls of his father, mother, and self. 5. to his daughter fiordelisa 2000 _lire_ to marry her withal. to be invested in safe mortgages in venice, and the interest to go to her. also leaves her the interest from 1000 _lire_ of his funds in public debt (? _de meis imprestitis_) to provide for her till she marries. after her marriage this 1000 _lire_ and its interest shall go to his male heir if he has one, and failing that to his brother marco. 6. to his wife catharine 400 _lire_ and all her clothes as they stand now. to the lady maroca 100 _lire_. 7. to his natural daughter pasqua 400 _lire_ to marry her withal. or, if she likes to be a nun, 200 _lire_ shall go to her convent and the other 200 shall purchase securities for her benefit. after her death these shall come to his male heir, or failing that be sold, and the proceeds distributed for the good of the souls of his father, mother, and self. 8. to his natural brothers stephen and giovannino he leaves 500 _lire_. if one dies the whole to go to the other. if both die before marrying, to go to his male heir; failing such, to his brother marco or _his_ male heir. 9. to his uncle giordano trevisano 200 _lire_. to marco de tumba 100. to fiordelisa, wife of felix polo, 100. to maroca, the daughter of the late pietro trevisano, living at negropont, 100. to agnes, wife of pietro lion, 100; and to francis, son of the late pietro trevisano, in negropont, 100. 10. to buy public debt producing an annual 20 _lire ai grossi_ to be paid yearly to pietro pagano, priest of s. felice, who shall pray for the souls aforesaid: on death of said pietro the income to go to pietro's cousin lionardo, clerk of s. felice; and after him always to the senior priest of s. giovanni grisostomo with the same obligation. 11. should his wife prove with child and bear a son or sons they shall have his whole property not disposed of. if a daughter, she shall have the same as fiordelisa. 12. if he have no male heir his brother marco shall have the testator's share of his father's bequest, and 2000 _lire_ besides. cousin nicolo shall have 500 _lire_, and uncle maffeo 500. 13. should daughter fiordelisa die unmarried her 2000 _lire_ and interest to go to his male heir, and failing such to brother marco and his male heir. but in that case marco shall pay 500 _lire_ to cousin nicolo or his male heir. 14. should his wife bear him a male heir or heirs, but these should die under age, the whole of his undisposed property shall go to brother marco or his male heir. but in that case 500 _lire_ shall be paid to cousin nicolo. 15. should his wife bear a daughter and she die unmarried, her 2000 _lire_ and interest shall go to brother marco, with the same stipulation in behalf of cousin nicolo. 16. should the whole amount of his property between cash and goods not amount to 10,000 _lire_ (though he believes he has fully as much), his bequests are to be ratably diminished, except those to his own children which he does not wish diminished. should any legatee die before receiving the bequest, its amount shall fall to the testator's heir male, and failing such, the half to go to marco or his male heir, and the other half to be distributed for the good of the souls aforesaid. the witnesses are lionardo priest of s. felice, lionardo clerk of the same, and the notary pietro pagano priest of the same. [2] according to romanin (i. 321) the _lira dei grossi_ was also called _lira d'imprestidi_, and if the _lire_ here are to be so taken, the sum will be 10,000 ducats, the largest amount by far that occurs in any of these polo documents, unless, indeed, the 1000 _lire_ in § 5 of maffeo junior's will be the like; but i have some doubt if such lire are intended in either case. [3] "(resolved) that grace be granted to the respectable marco paulo, relieving him of the penalty he has incurred for neglecting to have his water-pipe examined, seeing that he was ignorant of the order on that subject." (see _appendix c_. no. 3.) the other reference, to m. polo, of s. geremia, runs as follows:- [_mcccii. indic. xv. die viii. macii q fiat gra guillo aurifici q ipe absolvat a pena i qua dicit icurisse p uno spotono sibi iueto veuiedo de mestre ppe domu maci pauli de canareglo ui descenderat ad bibendu._] "that grace be granted to william the goldsmith, relieving him of the penalty which he is stated to have incurred on account of a spontoon (_spontono_, a loaded bludgeon) found upon him near the house of marco paulo of cannareggio, where he had landed to drink on his way from mestre." (see _cicogna_, v. p. 606.) [4] _sansovino, venezia, città nobilissima e singolare, descritta_, etc., ven. 1581, f. 236 v.; _barbaro, alberi; coronelli, allante veneto_, i. 19. [5] the word _millio_ occurs several times in the chronicle of the doge andrea dandolo, who wrote about 1342; and _milion_ occurs at least once (besides the application of the term to polo) in the history of giovanni villani; viz. when he speaks of the treasury of avignon:- "_diciotto_ milioni _di fiorini d'oro_ ec. _che ogni_ milione _è mille migliaja di fiorini d' oro la valuta_." (xi. 20, § 1; _ducange_, and _vocab. univ. ital._). but the definition, thought necessary by villani, in itself points to the use of the word as rare. _domilion_ occurs in the estimated value of houses at venice in 1367, recorded in the _cronaca magna_ in st. mark's library. (_romanin_, iii. 385). [6] "also; that pardon be granted to bonocio of mestre for that 152 _lire_ in which he stood condemned by the captains of the posts, on account of wine smuggled by him, in such wise: to wit, that he was to pay the said fine in 4 years by annual instalments of one fourth, to be retrenched from the pay due to him on his journey in the suite of our ambassadors, with assurance that anything then remaining deficient of his instalments should be made good by himself or his securities. and his securities are the nobles pietro morosini and marco paulo milion." under _milion_ is written in an ancient hand "_mortuus_." (see _appendix c_, no. 4.) [7] humboldt tells this (_examen_, ii. 221), alleging _jacopo d'acqui_ as authority; and libri (_h. des sciences mathématiques_, ii. 149), quoting _doglioni, historia veneziana_. but neither authority bears out the citations. the story seems really to come from amoretti's commentary on the _voyage du cap. l. f. maldonado_, plaisance, 1812, p. 67. amoretti quotes as authority _pignoria, degli dei antichi_. an odd revival of this old libel was mentioned to me recently by mr. george moffatt. when he was at school it was common among the boys to express incredulity by the phrase: "oh, what a marco polo!" [8] thibault, according to ducange, was in 1307 named grand master of the arblasteers of france; and buchon says his portrait is at versailles among the admirals (no. 1170). ramon de muntaner fell in with the seigneur de cepoy in greece, and speaks of him as "but a captain of the wind, as his master was king of the wind." (see _ducange, h. de l'empire de const. sous les emp. françois_, venice ed. 1729, pp. 109, 110; _buchon, chroniques etrangères_, pp. lv. 467-470.) [9] the note is not found in the bodleian ms., which is the third known one of this precise type. [10] messire jean, the son of thibault, is mentioned in the accounts of the latter in the _chambre des comptes_ at paris, as having been with his father in romania. and in 1344 he commanded a confederate christian armament sent to check the rising power of the turks, and beat a great turkish fleet in the greek seas. (_heyd._ i. 377; _buchon_, 468.) [11] the document is given in _appendix c_, no. 5. it was found by comm. barozzi, the director of the museo civico, when he had most kindly accompanied me to aid in the search for certain other documents in the archives of the _casa di ricovero_, or poor house of venice. these archives contain a great mass of testamentary and other documents, which probably have come into that singular depository in connection with bequests to public charities. the document next mentioned was found in as strange a site, viz., the _casa degli esposti_ or foundling hospital, which possesses similar muniments. this also i owe to comm. barozzi, who had noted it some years before, when commencing an arrangement of the archives of the institution. [12] the legal year at venice began on the 1st of march. and 1324 was 7th of the indiction. hence the date is, according to the modern calendar, 1324. [13] marsden says of moreta and fantina, the only daughters named by ramusio, that these may be thought rather familiar terms of endearment than baptismal names. this is a mistake however. _fantina_ is from one of the parochial saints of venice, s. fantino, and the male name was borne by sundry venetians, among others by a son of henry dandolo's. moreta is perhaps a variation of maroca, which seems to have been a family name among the polos. we find also the male name of bellela, written _bellello, bellero, belletto_. [14] the _decima_ went to the bishop of castello (eventually converted into patriarch of venice) to divide between himself, the clergy, the church, and the poor. it became a source of much bad feeling, which came to a head after the plague of 1348, when some families had to pay the tenth three times within a very short space. the existing bishop agreed to a composition, but his successor paolo foscari (1367) claimed that on the death of every citizen an exact inventory should be made, and a full tithe levied. the signory fought hard with the bishop, but he fled to the papal court and refused all concession. after his death in 1376 a composition was made for 5500 ducats yearly. (_romanin_, ii. 406; iii. 161, 165.) [15] there is a difficulty about estimating the value of these sums from the variety of venice pounds or _lire_. thus the _lira dei piccoli_ was reckoned 3 to the ducat or zecchin, the _lira ai grossi_ 2 to the ducat, but the _lira_ dei _grossi_ or _lira d'imprestidi_ was equal to 10 ducats, or (allowing for higher value of silver then) about 3_l._ 15_s._; a little more than the equivalent of the then pound sterling. this last money is _specified_ in some of the bequests, as in the 20 soldi (or 1 lira) to st. lorenzo, and in the annuity of 8 lire to polo's wife; but it seems doubtful what money is meant when _libra_ only or _libra denariorum venetorum_ is used. and this doubt is not new. gallicciolli relates that in 1232 giacomo menotto left to the church of s. cassiano as an annuity _libras denariorum venetorum quatuor_. till 1427 the church received the income as of _lire dei piccoli_, but on bringing a suit on the subject it was adjudged that _lire ai grossi_ were to be understood. (_delle mem. venet. ant._ ii. 18.) this story, however, cuts both ways, and does not decide our doubt. [16] the form of the name _ysabeta_ aptly illustrates the transition that seems so strange from _elizabeth_ into the _isabel_ that the spaniards made of it. [17] i.e. the extent of what was properly called the dogado, all along the lagoons from grado on the extreme east to capo d'argine (cavarzere at the mouth of the adige) on the extreme west. [18] the word rendered _guilds_ is "_scholarum_." the crafts at venice were united in corporations called _fraglie_ or _scholae_, each of which had its statutes, its head called the _gastald_, and its place of meeting under the patronage of some saint. these acted as societies of mutual aid, gave dowries to poor girls, caused masses to be celebrated for deceased members, joined in public religious processions, etc., nor could any craft be exercised except by members of such a guild. (_romanin_, i. 390.) [19] a few years after ser marco's death (1328) we find the great council granting to this peter the rights of a natural venetian, as having been a long time at venice, and well-conducted. (see app. c, _calendar of documents_, no. 13.) this might give some additional colour to m. pauthier's supposition that this peter the tartar was a faithful servant who had accompanied messer marco from the east 30 years before. but yet the supposition is probably unfounded. slavery and slave-trade were very prevalent at venice in the middle ages, and v. lazari, a writer who examined a great many records connected therewith, found that by far the greater number of slaves were described as _tartars_. there does not seem to be any clear information as to how they were imported, but probably from the factories on the black sea, especially tana after its establishment. a tax of 5 ducats per head was set on the export of slaves in 1379, and as the revenue so received under the doge tommaso mocenigo (1414-1423) amounted (so says lazari) to 50,000 ducats, the startling conclusion is that 10,000 slaves yearly were exported! this it is difficult to accept. the slaves were chiefly employed in domestic service, and the records indicate the women to have been about twice as numerous as the men. the highest price recorded is 87 ducats paid for a russian girl sold in 1429. all the higher prices are for young women; a significant circumstance. with the existence of this system we may safely connect the extraordinary frequence of mention of illegitimate children in venetian wills and genealogies. (see _lazari, del traffico degli schiavi in venezia_, etc., in _miscellanea di storia italiana_, i. 463 seqq.) in 1308 the khan toktai of kipchak (see polo, ii. 496), hearing that the genoese and other franks were in the habit of carrying off tartar children to sell, sent a force against caffa, which was occupied without resistance, the people taking refuge in their ships. the khan also seized the genoese property in sarai. (_heyd._ ii. 27.) [20] "_stracium et omne capud massariciorum_"; in scotch phrase "_napery and plenishing_." a venetian statute of 1242 prescribes that a bequest of _massariticum_ shall be held to carry to the legatee all articles of common family use except those of gold and silver plate or jeweller's work. (see _ducange, sub voce._) _stracci_ is still used technically in venice for "household linen." [21] in the original _aureas libras quinque_. according to marino sanudo the younger (_vite dei dogi_ in _muratori_ xxii. 521) this should be pounds or _lire_ of _aureole_, the name of a silver coin struck by and named after the doge _aurio_ mastropietro (1178-1192): "ancora fu fatta una moneta d'argento che si chiamava _aureola_ per la casata del doge; _è quella moneta che i notai de venezia mettevano di pena sotto i loro instrumenti_." but this was a vulgar error. an example of the penalty of 5 pounds of gold is quoted from a decree of 960; and the penalty is sometimes expressed "_auri purissimi librae_ 5." a coin called the _lira d'oro_ or _redonda_ is alleged to have been in use before the ducat was introduced. (see _gallicciolli_, ii. 16.) but another authority seems to identify the _lira a oro_ with the _lira dei grossi_. (see _zanetti, nuova racc. delle monete &c. d'italia_, 1775. i. 308) [22] we give a photographic reduction of the original document. this, and the other two polo wills already quoted, had come into the possession of the noble filippo balbi, and were by him presented in our own time to the st. mark's library. they are all on parchment, in writing of that age, and have been officially examined and declared to be originals. they were first published by _cicogna, iscrizioni veneziane_, iii. 489-493. we give marco's in the original language, line for line with the facsimile, in _appendix c_. there is no signature, as may be seen, except those of the witnesses and the notary. the sole presence of a notary was held to make a deed valid, and from about the middle of the 13th century in italy it is common to find no actual signature (even of witnesses) except that of the notary. the peculiar flourish before the notary's name is what is called the _tabellionato_, a fanciful distinctive monogram which each notary adopted. marco's will is unfortunately written in a very cramp hand with many contractions. the other two wills (of marco the elder and maffeo) are in beautiful and clear gothic penmanship. [23] we have noticed formerly (pp. 14-15, _note_) the recent discovery of a document bearing what was supposed to be the autograph signature of our traveller. the document in question is the minute of a resolution of the great council, attested by the signatures of three members, of whom the last is marcus paullo. but the date alone, 11th march, 1324, is sufficient to raise the gravest doubts as to this signature being that of our marco. and further examination, as i learn from a friend at venice, has shown that the same name occurs in connection with analogous entries on several subsequent occasions up to the middle of the century. i presume that this marco polo is the same that is noticed in our _appendix b_, ii. as a voter in the elections of the doges marino faliero and giovanni gradenigo. i have not been able to ascertain his relation to either branch of the polo family; but i suspect that he belonged to that of s. geremia, of which there _was_ certainly a marco about the middle of the century. [24] "under the _angiporta_ (of s. lorenzo) [see plate] is buried that marco polo surnamed milione, who wrote the travels in the new world, and who was the first before christopher columbus to discover new countries. no faith was put in him because of the extravagant things that he recounted; but in the days of our fathers columbus augmented belief in him, by discovering that part of the world which eminent men had heretofore judged to be uninhabited." (_venezia ... descritta_, etc., f. 23 _v._) marco barbaro attests the same inscription in his genealogies (copy in museo civico at venice). [25] _cicogna_, ii. 385. [26] _lazari_, xxxi. [27] in the first edition i noticed briefly a statement that had reached me from china that, in the temple at canton vulgarly called "of the 500 gods," there is a foreign figure which from the name attached had been supposed to represent marco polo! from what i have heard from mr. wylie, a very competent authority, this is nonsense. the temple contains 500 figures of _arhans_ or buddhist saints, and one of these attracts attention from having a hat like a sailor's straw hat. mr. wylie had not remarked the name. [a model of this figure was exhibited at venice at the international geographical congress, in 1881. i give a reproduction of this figure and of the temple of 500 genii (_fa lum sze_) at canton, from drawings by félix régamey made after photographs sent to me by my late friend, m. camille imbault huart, french consul at canton.--h. c.] [28] these documents are noted in appendix c, nos. 9-12, 14, 17, 18. [29] i can find no _ranuzzo_ dolfino among the venetian genealogies, but several _reniers_. and i suspect ranuzzo may be a form of the latter name. [30] _cappellari_ (see p. 77, footnote) under _bragadino_. [31] ibid. and _gallicciolli_, ii. 146. [32] the _lire_ of the fine are not specified; but probably _ai grossi_, which would be = 37_l._ 10_s._; not, we hope, _dei_ grossi! [33] yet, if the family were so wealthy as tradition represents, it is strange that marco's brother maffeo, _after_ receiving a share of his father's property, should have possessed barely 10,000 _lire_, probably equivalent to 5000 ducats at most. (see p. 65, supra.) [34] an agnes loredano, abbess of s. maria delle vergini, died in 1397. (_cicogna_, v. 91 and 629.) the interval of 61 years makes it somewhat improbable that it should be the same. [35] in the _museo civico_ (no. 2271 of the cicogna collection) there is a commission addressed by the doge michiel steno in 1408, "_nobili viro marcho paulo_," nominating him podestà of arostica (a castello of the vicentino). this is probably the same marco. [36] the descent runs: (1) azzo = maria polo; (2) febo, captain at padua; (3) zaccaria, senator; (4) domenico, procurator of st. mark's; (5) marc' antonio, doge (_cappellari_, _campidoglio veneto_, ms. st. mark's lib.). marc' antonio _nolebat ducari_ and after election desired to renounce. his friends persuaded him to retain office, but he lived scarcely a year after. (_cicogna_, iv. 566.) [see p. 8.] [37] in appendix b will be found tabulated all the facts that seem to be positively ascertained as to the polo genealogies. in the venetian archives occurs a procuration executed by the doge in favour of the _nobilis vir_ ser marco paulo that he may present himself before the king of sicily; under date, venice 9th november, 1342. and some years later we have in the sicilian archives an order by king lewis of sicily, directed to the maestri procuratori of messina, which grants to marco polo of venice, on account of services rendered to the king's court, the privilege of free import and export at the port of messina, without payment of customs of goods to the amount annually of 20 ounces. dated in catania 13th january, 1346 (1347?). for the former notice i am indebted to the courtesy of signor b. cecchetti of the venetian archives, who cites it as "transcribed in the _commemor._ iv. p. 5"; for the latter to that of the abate carini of the _reale archivio_ at palermo; it is in _archivio della regia cancellaria_ 1343-1357, f. 58. the mission of this marco polo is mentioned also in a rescript of the sicilian king peter ii., dated messina, 14th november, 1340, in reference to certain claims of venice, about which the said marco appeared as the doge's ambassador. this is printed in f. testa, _de vitâ et rebus gestis federici ii., siciliae regis_, panormi, 1775, pp. 267 seqq. the sicilian antiquary rosario gregorio identifies the envoy with our marco, dead long before. (see _opere scelte del canon ros. gregorio_, palermo, 1845, 3za ediz., p. 352.) it is possible that this marco, who from the latter notice seems to have been engaged in mercantile affairs, may have been the marcolino above mentioned, but it is perhaps on the whole more probable that this _nobilis vir_ is the marco spoken of in the note at p. 74. [38] _la collezione del doge marin faliero e i tesori di marco polo_, pp. 98-103. i have seen this article.--h. c. ix. marco polo's book; and the language in which it was first written. [illustration: porcelain incense burner, from the louvre] [sidenote: general statement of what the book contains.] 50. the book itself consists essentially of two parts. _first_, of a prologue, as it is termed, the only part which is actual personal narrative, and which relates, in a very interesting but far too brief manner, the circumstances which led the two elder polos to the kaan's court, and those of their second journey with mark, and of their return to persia through the indian seas. _secondly_, of a long series of chapters of very unequal length, descriptive of notable sights and products, of curious manners and remarkable events, relating to the different nations and states of asia, but, above all, to the emperor kúblái, his court, wars, and administration. a series of chapters near the close treats in a verbose and monotonous manner of sundry wars that took place between the various branches of the house of chinghiz in the latter half of the 13th century. this last series is either omitted or greatly curtailed in all the copies and versions except one; a circumstance perfectly accounted for by the absence of interest as well as value in the bulk of these chapters. indeed, desirous though i have been to give the traveller's work complete, and sharing the dislike that every man who _uses_ books must bear to abridgments, i have felt that it would be sheer waste and dead-weight to print these chapters in full. [illustration: temple of 500 genii at canton _after a drawing by_ felix regamey] this second and main portion of the work is in its oldest forms undivided, the chapters running on consecutively to the end.[1] in some very early italian or venetian version, which friar pipino translated into latin, it was divided into three books, and this convenient division has generally been adhered to. we have adopted m. pauthier's suggestion in making the final series of chapters, chiefly historical, into a fourth. [sidenote: language of the original work.] 51. as regards the language in which marco's book was first committed to writing, we have seen that ramusio assumed, somewhat arbitrarily, that it was _latin_; marsden supposed it to have been the _venetian_ dialect; baldelli boni first showed, in his elaborate edition (florence, 1827), by arguments that have been illustrated and corroborated by learned men since, that it was _french_. that the work was originally written in _some_ italian dialect was a natural presumption, and slight contemporary evidence can be alleged in its favour; for fra pipino, in the latin version of the work, executed whilst marco still lived, describes his task as a translation _de vulgari_. and in one ms. copy of the same friar pipino's chronicle, existing in the library at modena, he refers to the said version as made "_ex vulgari idiomate_ lombardico." but though it may seem improbable that at so early a date a latin version should have been made at second hand, i believe this to have been the case, and that some internal evidence also is traceable that pipino translated _not_ from the original but from an italian _version_ of the original. the oldest ms. (it is supposed) in any italian dialect is one in the magliabecchian library at florence, which is known in italy as _l'ottima_, on account of the purity of its tuscan, and as _della crusca_ from its being one of the authorities cited by that body in their vocabulary.[2] it bears on its face the following note in italian:- "this book called the navigation of messer marco polo, a noble citizen of venice, was written in florence by michael ormanni my great grandfather by the mother's side, who died in the year of grace one thousand three hundred and nine; and my mother brought it into our family of del riccio, and it belongs to me pier del riccio and to my brother; 1452." as far as i can learn, the age which this note implies is considered to be supported by the character of the ms. itself.[3] if it be accepted, the latter is a performance going back to within eleven years _at most_ of the first dictation of the travels. at first sight, therefore, this would rather argue that the original had been written in pure tuscan. but when baldelli came to prepare it for the press he found manifest indications of its being a translation from the _french_. some of these he has noted; others have followed up the same line of comparison. we give some detailed examples in a note.[4] [sidenote: old french text published by the société de géographie.] 52. the french text that we have been quoting, published by the geographical society of paris in 1824, affords on the other hand the strongest corresponding proof that it is an original and not a translation. rude as is the language of the manuscript (fr. 1116, formerly no. 7367, of paris library), it is, in the correctness of the proper names, and the intelligible exhibition of the itineraries, much superior to any form of the work previously published. the language is very peculiar. we are obliged to call it french, but it is not "frenche of paris." "its style," says paulin paris, "is about as like that of good french authors of the age, as in our day the natural accent of a german, an englishman, or an italian, is like that of a citizen of paris or blois." the author is at war with all the practices of french grammar; subject and object, numbers, moods, and tenses, are in consummate confusion. even readers of his own day must at times have been fain to guess his meaning. italian words are constantly introduced, either quite in the crude or rudely gallicized.[5] and words also, we may add, sometimes slip in which appear to be purely oriental, just as is apt to happen with anglo-indians in these days.[6] all this is perfectly consistent with the supposition that we have in this ms. a copy at least of the original words as written down by rusticiano a tuscan, from the dictation of marco an orientalized venetian, in french, a language foreign to both. but the character of the language _as french_ is not its only peculiarity. there is in the style, apart from grammar or vocabulary, a rude angularity, a rough dramatism like that of oral narrative; there is a want of proportion in the style of different parts, now over curt, now diffuse and wordy, with at times even a hammering reiteration; a constant recurrence of pet colloquial phrases (in which, however, other literary works of the age partake); a frequent change in the spelling of the same proper names, even when recurring within a few lines, as if caught by ear only; a literal following to and fro of the hesitations of the narrator; a more general use of the third person in speaking of the traveller, but an occasional lapse into the first. all these characteristics are strikingly indicative of the unrevised product of dictation, and many of them would _necessarily_ disappear either in translation or in a revised copy. of changes in representing the same proper name, take as an example that of the kaan of persia whom polo calls _quiacatu_ (kaikhátú), but also _acatu, catu_, and the like. as an example of the literal following of dictation take the following:- "let us leave rosia, and i will tell you about the great sea (the euxine), and what provinces and nations lie round about it, all in detail; and we will begin with constantinople--first, however, i should tell you about a province, etc.... there is nothing more worth mentioning, so i will speak of other subjects,--but there is one thing more to tell you about rosia that i had forgotten.... now then let us speak of the great sea as i was about to do. to be sure many merchants and others have been here, but still there are many again who know nothing about it, so it will be well to include it in our book. we will do so then, and let us begin first with the strait of constantinople. "at the straits leading into the great sea, on the west side, there is a hill called the faro.--but since beginning on this matter i have changed my mind, because so many people know all about it, so we will not put it in our description but go on to something else." (see vol. ii. p. 487 seqq.) and so on. as a specimen of tautology and hammering reiteration the following can scarcely be surpassed. the traveller is speaking of the _chughi_, i.e. the indian jogis:- "and there are among them certain devotees, called _chughi_; these are longer-lived than the other people, for they live from 150 to 200 years; and yet they are so hale of body that they can go and come wheresoever they please, and do all the service needed for their monastery or their idols, and do it just as well as if they were younger; and that comes of the great abstinence that they practise, in eating little food and only what is wholesome; for they use to eat rice and milk more than anything else. and again i tell you that these chughi who live such a long time as i have told you, do also eat what i am going to tell you, and you will think it a great matter. for i tell you that they take quicksilver and sulphur, and mix them together, and make a drink of them, and then they drink this, and they say that it adds to their life; and in fact they do live much longer for it; and i tell you that they do this twice every month. and let me tell you that these people use this drink from their infancy in order to live longer, and without fail those who live so long as i have told you use this drink of sulphur and quicksilver." (see g. t. p. 213.) such talk as this does not survive the solvent of translation; and we may be certain that we have here the nearest approach to the traveller's reminiscences as they were taken down from his lips in the prison of genoa. [sidenote: conclusive proof that the old french text is the source of all the others.] 53. another circumstance, heretofore i believe unnoticed, is in itself enough to demonstrate the geographic text to be the source of all other versions of the work. it is this. in reviewing the various classes or types of texts of polo's book, which we shall hereafter attempt to discriminate, there are certain proper names which we find in the different texts to take very different forms, each class adhering in the main to one particular form. thus the names of the mongol ladies introduced at pp. 32 and 36 of this volume, which are in proper oriental form _bulughán_ and _kukáchin_, appear in the class of mss. which pauthier has followed as _bolgara_ and _cogatra_; in the mss. of pipino's version, and those founded on it, including ramusio, the names appear in the correcter forms _bolgana_ or _balgana_ and _cogacin_. now _all the forms_ bolgana, balgana, bolgara, _and_ cogatra, cocacin _appear in the geographic text_. kaikhátú kaan appears in the pauthier mss. as _chiato_, in the pipinian as _acatu_, in the ramusian as _chiacato. all three forms_, chiato, achatu, and quiacatu _are found in the geographic text_. the city of koh-banan appears in the pauthier mss. as _cabanant_, in the pipinian and ramusian editions as _cobinam_ or _cobinan_. _both forms are found in the geographic text_. the city of the great kaan (khanbalig) is called in the pauthier mss. _cambaluc_, in the pipinian and ramusian less correctly _cambalu_. _both forms appear in the geographic text_. the aboriginal people on the burmese frontier who received from the western officers of the mongols the persian name (translated from that applied by the chinese) of _zardandán_, or gold-teeth, appear in the pauthier mss. most accurately as zardandan, but in the pipinian as _ardandan_ (still further corrupted in some copies into _arcladam_). now _both forms are found in the geographic text_. other examples might be given, but these i think may suffice to prove that this text was the common source of both classes. in considering the question of the french original too we must remember what has been already said regarding rusticien de pise and his other french writings; and we shall find hereafter an express testimony borne in the next generation that marco's book was composed _in vulgari gallico_. [sidenote: greatly diffused employment of french in that age.] 54. but, after all, the circumstantial evidence that has been adduced from the texts themselves is the most conclusive. we have then every reason to believe both that the work was written in french, and that an existing french text is a close representation of it as originally committed to paper. and that being so we may cite some circumstances to show that the use of french or quasi-french for the purpose was not a fact of a very unusual or surprising nature. the french language had at that time almost as wide, perhaps relatively a wider, diffusion than it has now. it was still spoken at the court of england, and still used by many english writers, of whom the authors or translators of the round table romances at henry iii.'s court are examples.[7] in 1249 alexander iii. king of scotland, at his coronation spoke in latin and french; and in 1291 the english chancellor addressing the scotch parliament did so in french. at certain of the oxford colleges as late as 1328 it was an order that the students should converse _colloquio latino vel saltern gallico_.[8] late in the same century gower had not ceased to use french, composing many poems in it, though apologizing for his want of skill therein:- "et si jeo nai de francois la faconde * * * * * jeo suis englois; si quier par tiele voie estre excusé."[9] indeed down to nearly 1385, boys in the english grammar-schools were taught to construe their latin lessons into french.[10] st. francis of assisi is said by some of his biographers to have had his original name changed to francesco because of his early mastery of that language as a qualification for commerce. french had been the prevalent tongue of the crusaders, and was that of the numerous frank courts which they established in the east, including jerusalem and the states of the syrian coast, cyprus, constantinople during the reign of the courtenays, and the principalities of the morea. the catalan soldier and chronicler ramon de muntaner tells us that it was commonly said of the morean chivalry that they spoke as good french as at paris.[11] quasi-french at least was still spoken half a century later by the numerous christians settled at aleppo, as john marignolli testifies;[12] and if we may trust sir john maundevile the soldan of egypt himself and four of his chief lords "_spak frensche righte wel!_"[13] gházán kaan, the accomplished mongol sovereign of persia, to whom our traveller conveyed a bride from cambaluc, is said by the historian rashiduddin to have known something of the frank tongue, probably french.[14] nay, if we may trust the author of the romance of richard coeur-de-lion, french was in his day the language of still higher spheres![15] nor was polo's case an exceptional one even among writers on the east who were not frenchmen. maundevile himself tells us that he put his book first "out of latyn into frensche," and then out of french into english.[16] the history of the east which the armenian prince and monk hayton dictated to nicolas faulcon at poictiers in 1307 was taken down in french. there are many other instances of the employment of french by foreign, and especially by italian authors of that age. the latin chronicle of the benedictine amato of monte cassino was translated into french early in the 13th century by another monk of the same abbey, at the particular desire of the count of militrée (or malta), "_pour ce qu'il set lire et entendre fransoize et s'en delitte._"[17] martino da canale, a countryman and contemporary of polo's, during the absence of the latter in the east wrote a chronicle of venice in the same language, as a reason for which he alleges its general popularity.[18] the like does the most notable example of all, brunetto latini, dante's master, who wrote in french his encyclopaedic and once highly popular work _li tresor_.[19] other examples might be given, but in fact such illustration is superfluous when we consider that rusticiano himself was a compiler of french romances. but why the language of the book as we see it in the geographic text should be so much more rude, inaccurate, and italianized than that of rusticiano's other writings, is a question to which i can suggest no reply quite satisfactory to myself. is it possible that we have in it a literal representation of polo's own language in dictating the story,--a rough draft which it was intended afterwards to reduce to better form, and which was so reduced (after a fashion) in french copies of another type, regarding which we shall have to speak presently?[20] and, if this be the true answer, why should polo have used a french jargon in which to tell his story? is it possible that his own mother venetian, such as he had carried to the east with him and brought back again, was so little intelligible to rusticiano that french of some kind was the handiest medium of communication between the two? i have known an englishman and a hollander driven to converse in malay; chinese christians of different provinces are said sometimes to take to english as the readiest means of intercommunication; and the same is said even of irish-speaking irishmen from remote parts of the island. it is worthy of remark how many notable narratives of the middle ages have been dictated instead of being written by their authors, and that in cases where it is impossible to ascribe this to ignorance of writing. the armenian hayton, though evidently a well-read man, possibly could not write in roman characters. but joinville is an illustrious example. and the narratives of four of the most famous mediaeval travellers[21] seem to have been drawn from them by a kind of pressure, and committed to paper by other hands. i have elsewhere remarked this as indicating how little diffused was literary ambition or vanity; but it would perhaps be more correct to ascribe it to that intense dislike which is still seen on the shores of the mediterranean to the use of pen and ink. on certain of those shores at least there is scarcely any inconvenience that the majority of respectable and good-natured people will not tolerate--inconvenience to their neighbours be it understood--rather than put pen to paper for the purpose of preventing it. [1] 232 chapters in the oldest french which we quote as the _geographic text_ (or g. t.), 200 in pauthier's text, 183 in the crusca italian. [2] the ms. has been printed by baldelli as above, and again by bartoli in 1863. [3] this is somewhat peculiar. i traced a few lines of it, which with del riccio's note were given in facsimile in the first edition. [4] the crusca is cited from bartoli's edition. french idioms are frequent, as _l'uomo_ for the french _on_; _quattro-vinti_ instead of _ottanta_; etc. we have at p. 35, "_questo piano è molto_ cavo," which is nonsense, but is explained by reference to the french (g. t.) "_voz di qu'il est celle plaingne mout_ chaue" (_chaude_). the bread in kerman is bitter, says the g. t. "_por ce que l'eive hi est_ amer," because the water there is bitter. the crusca mistakes the last word and renders (p. 40) "_e questi è per lo_ mare _che vi viene_." "_sachiés de voir qe_ endementiers," know for a truth that whilst----, by some misunderstanding of the last word becomes (p. 129) "_sappiate di vero_ sanza mentire." "_mès de sel_ font-il monoie"--"they make money of salt," becomes (p. 168) "_ma fannole_ da loro," _sel_ being taken for a pronoun, whilst in another place _sel_ is transferred bodily without translation. "_chevoil_," "hair" of the old french, appears in the tuscan (p. 20) as _cavagli_, "horses."--"_la grant provence_ jereraus," the great general province, appears (p. 68) as a province whose proper name is _ienaraus_. in describing kúblái's expedition against mien or burma, polo has a story of his calling on the jugglers at his court to undertake the job, promising them a captain and other help, "_cheveitain et aide_." this has fairly puzzled the tuscan, who converts these (p. 186) into two tartar tribes, "_quegli d'_ aide _e quegli di_ caveità." so also we have _lievre_ for hare transferred without change; _lait_, milk, appearing as _laido_ instead of _latte_; _très_, rendered as "three"; _bue_, "mud," italianised as _buoi_, "oxen," and so forth. finally, in various places when polo is explaining oriental terms we find in the tuscan ms. "_cioè a dire in_ francesco." the blunders mentioned are intelligible enough as in a version _from the french_; but in the description of the indian pearl-fishery we have a startling one not so easy to account for. the french says, "the divers gather the sea-oysters (_hostrige de mer_), and in these the pearls are found." this appears in the tuscan in the extraordinary form that the divers catch those fishes called _herrings_ (aringhe), and in those herrings are found the pearls! [5] as examples of these italianisms: "_et ont del_ olio _de la lanpe dou_ sepolchro _de crist_"; "_l'angel ven en vision pour mesajes de deu à un_ veschevo _qe mout estoient home de_ sante vite"; "_e certes il estoit bien_ beizongno"; "_ne trop caut ne trop_ fredo"; "_la_ crense" (_credenza_); "remort" for noise (_rumore_) "inverno"; "jorno"; "dementiqué" (_dimenticato_); "enferme" for sickly; "leign" (_legno_); "devisce" (_dovizia_); "ammalaide" (_ammalato_), etc. etc. professor bianconi points out that there are also traces of _venetian_ dialect, as _pare_ for _père_; _mojer_ for wife; _zabater_, cobbler; _cazaor_, huntsman, etc. i have not been able to learn to what extent books in this kind of mixed language are extant. i have observed one, a romance in verse called _macaire_ (_altfranzosische gedichte aus venez. handschriften_, von _adolf mussafia_, wien, 1864), the language of which is not unlike this jargon of rustician's, e.g.:- "'dama,' fait-il, 'molto me poso merviler de ves enfant quant le fi batecer de un signo qe le vi sor la spal'a droiturer qe non ait nul se no filz d'inperer.'"--(p. 41) [6] as examples of such orientalisms: _bonus_, "ebony," and _calamanz_, "pencases," seem to represent the persian abnús and kalamdàn; the dead are mourned by _les mères et les_ araines, the _harems_; in speaking of the land of the ismaelites or assassins, called _mulhete_, i.e. the arabic _muláhidah_, "heretics," he explains this term as meaning "des _aram_" (_harám_, "the reprobate"). speaking of the viceroys of chinese provinces, we are told that they rendered their accounts yearly to the _safators_ of the great kaan. this is certainly an oriental word. sir h. rawlinson has suggested that it stands for _dafátir_ ("registers or public books"), pl. of _daftar_. this seems probable, and in that case the true reading may have been _dafators_. [7] luces du gast, one of the first of these, introduces himself thus:- "je luces, chevaliers et sires du chastel du gast, voisins prochain de salebieres, comme chevaliers amoureus enprens à translater du latin en françois une partie de cette estoire, non mie pour ce que je sache gramment de françois, ainz apartient plus ma langue et ma parleure à la manière de l'engleterre que à celle de france, comme cel qui fu en engleterre nez, mais tele est ma volentez et mon proposement, que je en langue françoise le translaterai." (_hist. litt. de la france_, xv. 494.) [8] _hist. litt. de la france_, xv. 500. [9] ibid. 508. [10] _tyrwhitt's essay on lang., etc., of chaucer_, p. xxii. (moxon's ed. 1852.) [11] _chroniques etrangères_, p. 502. [12] "_loquuntur linguam quasi gallicam, scilicet quasi de cipro_." (see _cathay_ p. 332.) [13] page 138. [14] _hammers ilchan_, ii. 148. [15] after the capture of acre, richard orders 60,000 saracen prisoners to be executed:- "they wer brought out off the toun, save twenty, he heeld to raunsoun. they wer led into the place ful evene: _ther they herden aungeles off hevene_: _they sayde_: 'seynyors, tuez, tuez! 'spares hem nought! behedith these!' kyng rychard herde the aungelys voys, and thankyd god, and the holy croys." --_weber_, ii. 144. note that, from the rhyme, the angelic french was apparently pronounced "_too-eese! too-eese!_" [16] [refer to the edition of mr. george f. warner, 1889, for the roxburghe club, and to my own paper in the _t'oung pao_, vol. ii., no. 4, regarding the compilation published under the name of maundeville. also _app. l_. 13--h. c.] [17] _l'ystoire de li normand_, etc., edited by m. champollion-figeac, paris, 1835, p. v. [18] "_porce que lengue frenceise cort parmi le monde, et est la plus delitable à lire et à oir que nule autre, me sui-je entremis de translater l'ancien estoire des veneciens de latin en franceis._" (archiv. stor. ital. viii. 268.) [19] "_et se aucuns demandoit por quoi cist livres est escriz en romans, selonc le langage des francois, puisque nos somes ytaliens, je diroie que ce est por. ij. raisons: l'une, car nos somes en france; et l'autre porce que la parleure est plus delitable et plus commune à toutes gens._" (li livres dou tresor, p. 3.) [20] it is, however, not improbable that rusticiano's hasty and abbreviated original was extended by a scribe who knew next to nothing of french; otherwise it is hard to account for such forms as _perlinage_ (pelerinage), _peseries_ (espiceries), _proque_ (see vol. ii. p. 370), _oisi_ (g.t. p. 208), _thochere_ (toucher), etc. (see _bianconi_, 2nd mem. pp. 30-32.) [21] polo, friar odoric, nicolo conti, ibn batuta. x. various types of text of marco polo's book. [sidenote: four principal types of text. first, that of the geographic, or oldest french.] 55. in treating of the various texts of polo's book we must necessarily go into some irksome detail. those texts that have come down to us may be classified under four principal types. i. the first type is that of the geographic text of which we have already said so much. this is found nowhere _complete_ except in the unique ms. of the paris library, to which it is stated to have come from the old library of the french kings at blois. but the italian _crusca_, and the old latin version (no. 3195 of the paris library) published with the geographic text, are evidently derived entirely from it, though both are considerably abridged. it is also demonstrable that neither of these copies has been translated from the other, for each has passages which the other omits, but that both have been taken, the one as a copy more or less loose, the other as a translation, from an intermediate _italian_ copy.[1] a special difference lies in the fact that the latin version is divided into three books, whilst the crusca has no such division. i shall show in a tabular form the _filiation_ of the texts which these facts seem to demonstrate (see appendix g). there are other italian mss. of this type, some of which show signs of having been derived independently from the french;[2] but i have not been able to examine any of them with the care needful to make specific deductions regarding them. [sidenote: second; the remodelled french text, followed by pauthier.] 56. ii. the next type is that of the french mss. on which m. pauthier's text is based, and for which he claims the highest authority, as having had the mature revision and sanction of the traveller. there are, as far as i know, five mss. which may be classed together under this type, three in the great paris library, one at bern, and one in the bodleian. the high claims made by pauthier on behalf of this class of mss. (on the first three of which his text is formed) rest mainly upon the kind of certificate which two of them bear regarding the presentation of a copy by marco polo to thibault de cepoy, which we have already quoted (supra p. 69). this certificate is held by pauthier to imply that the original of the copies which bear it, and of those having a general correspondence with them, had the special seal of marco's revision and approval. to some considerable extent their character is corroborative of such a claim, but they are far from having the perfection which pauthier attributes to them, and which leads him into many paradoxes. it is not possible to interpret rigidly the bearing of this so-called certificate, as if no copies had previously been taken of _any_ form of the book; nor can we allow it to impugn the authenticity of the geographic text, which demonstratively represents an older original, and has been (as we have seen) the parent of all other versions, including some very old ones, italian and latin, which certainly owe nothing to this revision. the first idea apparently entertained by d'avezac and paulin paris was that the geographic text was _itself_ the copy given to the sieur de cepoy, and that the differences in the copies of the class which we describe as type ii. merely resulted from the modifications which would naturally arise in the process of transcription into purer french. but closer examination showed the differences to be too great and too marked to admit of this explanation. these differences consist not only in the conversion of the rude, obscure, and half italian language of the original into good french of the period. there is also very considerable curtailment, generally of tautology, but also extending often to circumstances of substantial interest; whilst we observe the omission of a few notably erroneous statements or expressions; and a few insertions of small importance. none of the mss. of this class contain more than a few of the historical chapters which we have formed into book iv. the only _addition_ of any magnitude is that chapter which in our translation forms chapter xxi. of book ii. it will be seen that it contains no new facts, but is only a tedious recapitulation of circumstances already stated, though scattered over several chapters. there are a few minor additions. i have not thought it worth while to collect them systematically here, but two or three examples are given in a note.[3] there are also one or two corrections of erroneous statements in the g. t. which seem not to be accidental and to indicate some attempt at revision. thus a notable error in the account of aden, which seems to conceive of the red sea as a _river_, disappears in pauthier's mss. a and b.[4] and we find in these mss. one or two interesting names preserved which are not found in the older text.[5] but on the other hand this class of mss. contains many erroneous readings of names, either adopting the worse of two forms occurring in the g. t. or originating blunders of its own.[6] m. pauthier lays great stress on the character of these mss. as the sole authentic form of the work, from their claim to have been specially revised by marco polo. it is evident, however, from what has been said, that this revision can have been only a very careless and superficial one, and must have been done in great measure by deputy, being almost entirely confined to curtailment and to the improvement of the expression, and that it is by no means such as to allow an editor to dispense with a careful study of the older text. [sidenote: the bern ms. and two others form a sub-class of this type.] 57. there is another curious circumstance about the mss. of this type, viz., that they clearly divide into two distinct recensions, of which both have so many peculiarities and errors in common that they must necessarily have been both derived from _one_ modification of the original text, whilst at the same time there are such differences between the two as cannot be set down to the accidents of transcription. pauthier's mss. a and b (nos. 16 and 15 of the list in app. f) form one of these subdivisions: his c (no. 17 of list), bern (no. 56), and oxford (no. 6), the other. between a and b the differences are only such as seem constantly to have arisen from the whims of transcribers or their dialectic peculiarities. but between a and b on the one side, and c on the other, the differences are much greater. the readings of proper names in c are often superior, sometimes worse; but in the latter half of the work especially it contains a number of substantial passages[7] which are to be found in the g. t., but are altogether absent from the mss. a and b; whilst in one case at least (the history of the siege of saianfu, vol. ii. p. 159) it diverges considerably from the g. t. _as well_ as from a and b.[8] i gather from the facts that the ms. c represents an older form of the work than a and b. i should judge that the latter had been derived from that older form, but intentionally modified from it. and as it is the ms. c, with its copy at bern, that alone presents the certificate of derivation from the book given to the sieur de cepoy, there can be no doubt that it is the true representative of that recension. [sidenote: third; friar pipino's latin.] 58. iii. the next type of text is that found in friar pipino's latin version. it is the type of which mss. are by far the most numerous. in it condensation and curtailment are carried a good deal further than in type ii. the work is also divided into three books. but this division does not seem to have originated with pipino, as we find it in the ruder and perhaps older latin version of which we have already spoken under type i. and we have demonstrated that this ruder latin is a translation from an italian copy. it is probable therefore that an italian version similarly divided was the common source of what we call the geographic latin and of pipino's more condensed version.[9] pipino's version appears to have been executed in the later years of polo's life.[10] but i can see no ground for the idea entertained by baldelli-boni and professor bianconi that it was executed with polo's cognizance and retouched by him. [sidenote: the latin of grynaeus a translation at fifth hand.] 59. the absence of effective publication in the middle ages led to a curious complication of translation and retranslation. thus the latin version published by grynaeus in the _novus orbis_ (basle, 1532) is different from pipino's, and yet clearly traceable to it as a base. in fact it is a retranslation into latin from some version (marsden thinks the printed portuguese one) of pipino. it introduces many minor modifications, omitting specific statements of numbers and values, generalizing the names and descriptions of specific animals, exhibiting frequent sciolism and self-sufficiency in modifying statements which the editor disbelieved.[11] it is therefore utterly worthless as a text, and it is curious that andreas müller, who in the 17th century devoted himself to the careful editing of polo, should have made so unfortunate a choice as to reproduce this fifth-hand translation. i may add that the french editions published in the middle of the 16th century are _translations_ from grynaeus. hence they complete this curious and vicious circle of translation: french--italian--pipino's latin--portuguese?--grynaeus's latin--french![12] [sidenote: fourth; ramusio's italian.] 60. iv. we now come to a type of text which deviates largely from any of those hitherto spoken of, and the history and true character of which are involved in a cloud of difficulty. we mean that italian version prepared for the press by g. b. ramusio, with most interesting, though, as we have seen, not always accurate preliminary dissertations, and published at venice two years after his death, in the second volume of the _navigationi e viaggi_.[13] the peculiarities of this version are very remarkable. ramusio seems to imply that he used as one basis at least the latin of pipino; and many circumstances, such as the division into books, the absence of the terminal historical chapters and of those about the magi, and the form of many proper names, confirm this. but also many additional circumstances and anecdotes are introduced, many of the names assume a new shape, and the whole style is more copious and literary in character than in any other form of the work. whilst some of the changes or interpolations seem to carry us further from the truth, others contain facts of asiatic nature or history, as well as of polo's own experiences, which it is extremely difficult to ascribe to any hand but the traveller's own. this was the view taken by baldelli, klaproth, and neumann;[14] but hugh murray, lazari, and bartoli regard the changes as interpolations by another hand; and lazari is rash enough to ascribe the whole to a _rifacimento_ of ramusio's own age, asserting it to contain interpolations not merely from polo's own contemporary hayton, but also from travellers of later centuries, such as conti, barbosa, and pigafetta. the grounds for these last assertions have not been cited, nor can i trace them. but i admit _to a certain extent_ indications of modern tampering with the text, especially in cases where proper names seem to have been identified and more modern forms substituted. in days, however, where an editor's duties were ill understood, this was natural. [sidenote: injudicious tamperings in ramusio.] 61. thus we find substituted for the _bastra_ (or _bascra_) of the older texts the more modern and incorrect _balsora_, dear to memories of the arabian nights; among the provinces of persia we have _spaan_ (ispahan) where older texts read _istanit_; for _cormos_ we have _ormus_; for _herminia_ and _laias, armenia_ and _giazza; coulam_ for the older _coilum; socotera_ for _scotra_. with these changes may be classed the chapter-headings, which are undisguisedly modern, and probably ramusio's own. in some other cases this editorial spirit has been over-meddlesome and has gone astray. thus _malabar_ is substituted wrongly for _maabar_ in one place, and by a grosser error for _dalivar_ in another. the age of young marco, at the time of his father's first return to venice, has been arbitrarily altered from 15 to 19, in order to correspond with a date which is itself erroneous. thus also polo is made to describe ormus as on an island, contrary to the old texts and to the fact; for the city of hormuz was not transferred to the island, afterwards so famous, till some years after polo's return from the east. it is probably also the editor who in the notice of the oil-springs of caucasus (i. p. 46) has substituted _camel-loads_ for _ship-loads_, in ignorance that the site of those alluded to was probably baku on the caspian. other erroneous statements, such as the introduction of window-glass as one of the embellishments of the palace at cambaluc, are probably due only to accidental misunderstanding. [sidenote: genuine statements peculiar to ramusio.] 62. of circumstances certainly genuine, which are peculiar to this edition of polo's work, and which it is difficult to assign to any one but himself, we may note the specification of the woods east of yezd as composed of _date trees_ (vol. i pp. 88-89); the unmistakable allusion to the subterranean irrigation channels of persia (p. 123); the accurate explanation of the term _mulehet_ applied to the sect of assassins (pp. 139-142); the mention of the lake (sirikul?) on the plateau of pamer, of the wolves that prey on the wild sheep, and of the piles of wild rams' horns used as landmarks in the snow (pp. 171-177). to the description of the tibetan yak, which is in all the texts, ramusio's version alone adds a fact probably not recorded again till the present century, viz., that it is the practice to cross the yak with the common cow (p. 274). ramusio alone notices the prevalence of _goître_ at yarkand, confirmed by recent travellers (i. p. 187); the vermilion seal of the great kaan imprinted on the paper-currency, which may be seen in our plate of a chinese note (p. 426); the variation in chinese dialects (ii. p. 236); the division of the hulls of junks into water-tight compartments (ii. p. 249); the introduction into china from egypt of the art of refining sugar (ii. p. 226). ramusio's account of the position of the city of sindafu (ch'eng-tu fu) encompassed and intersected by many branches of a great river (ii. p. 40), is much more just than that in the old text, which speaks of but one river through the middle of the city. the intelligent notices of the kaan's charities as originated by his adoption of "idolatry" or buddhism; of the astrological superstitions of the chinese, and of the manners and character of the latter nation, are found in ramusio alone. to whom but marco himself, or one of his party, can we refer the brief but vivid picture of the delicious atmosphere and scenery of the badakhshan plateaux (ip. 158), and of the benefit that messer marco's health derived from a visit to them? in this version alone again we have an account of the oppressions exercised by kúblái's mahomedan minister ahmad, telling how the cathayans rose against him and murdered him, with the addition that messer marco was on the spot when all this happened. now not only is the whole story in substantial accordance with the chinese annals, even to the name of the chief conspirator,[15] but those annals also tell of the courageous frankness of "polo, assessor of the privy council," in opening the kaan's eyes to the truth. many more such examples might be adduced, but these will suffice. it is true that many of the passages peculiar to the ramusian version, and indeed the whole version, show a freer utterance and more of a literary faculty than we should attribute to polo, judging from the earlier texts. it is possible, however, that this may be almost, if not entirely, due to the fact that the version is the result of a double translation, and probably of an editorial fusion of several documents; processes in which angularities of expression would be dissolved.[16] [sidenote: hypothesis of the sources of the ramusian version.] 63. though difficulties will certainly remain,[17] the most probable explanation of the origin of this text seems to me to be some such hypothesis as the following:--i suppose that polo in his latter years added with his own hand supplementary notes and reminiscences, marginally or otherwise, to a copy of his book; that these, perhaps in his lifetime, more probably after his death, were digested and translated into latin;[18] and that ramusio, or some friend of his, in retranslating and fusing them with pipino's version for the _navigationi_, made those minor modifications in names and other matters which we have already noticed. the mere facts of digestion from memoranda and double translation would account for a good deal of unintentional corruption. that more than one version was employed in the composition of ramusio's edition we have curious proof in at least one passage of the latter. we have pointed out at p. 410 of this volume a curious example of misunderstanding of the old french text, a passage in which the term _roi des pelaines_, or "king of furs," is applied to the sable, and which in the crusca has been converted into an imaginary tartar phrase _leroide pelame_, or as pipino makes it _rondes_ (another indication that pipino's version and the crusca passed through a common medium). but ramusio exhibits _both_ the true reading and the perversion: "_e li tartari la chiamano_ regina delle pelli" (there is the true reading), "_e gli animali si chiamano_ rondes" (and there the perverted one). we may further remark that ramusio's version betrays indications that one of its bases either was in the venetian dialect, or had passed through that dialect; for a good many of the names appear in venetian forms, e.g., substituting the _z_ for the sound of _ch, j_, or soft _g_, as in _goza, zorzania, zagatay, gonza_ (for giogiu), _quenzanfu, coiganzu, tapinzu, zipangu, ziamba_. [sidenote: summary in regard to text of polo.] 64. to sum up. it is, i think, beyond reasonable dispute that we have, in what we call the geographic text, as nearly as may be an exact transcript of the traveller's words as originally taken down in the prison of genoa. we have again in the mss. of the second type an edition pruned and refined, probably under instructions from marco polo, but not with any critical exactness. and lastly, i believe, that we have, imbedded in the ramusian edition, the supplementary recollections of the traveller, noted down at a later period of his life, but perplexed by repeated translation, compilation, and editorial mishandling. and the most important remaining problem in regard to the text of polo's work is the discovery of the supplemental manuscript from which ramusio derived those passages which are found only in his edition. it is possible that it may still exist, but no trace of it in anything like completeness has yet been found; though when my task was all but done i discovered a small part of the ramusian peculiarities in a ms. at venice.[19] 65. whilst upon this subject of manuscripts of our author, i will give some particulars regarding a very curious one, containing a version in the _irish_ language. [sidenote: notice of a curious irish version of polo.] this remarkable document is found in the _book of lismore_, belonging to the duke of devonshire. that magnificent book, finely written on vellum of the largest size, was discovered in 1814, enclosed in a wooden box, along with a superb crozier, on opening a closed doorway in the castle of lismore. it contained lives of the saints, the (romance) history of charlemagne, the history of the lombards, histories and tales of irish wars, etc., etc., and among the other matter this version of marco polo. a full account of the book and its mutilations will be found in _o'curry's lectures on the ms. materials of ancient irish history_, p. 196 seqq., dublin, 1861. the _book of lismore_ was written about 1460 for finghin maccarthy and his wife catharine fitzgerald, daughter of gerald, eighth earl of desmond. the date of the translation of polo is not known, but it may be supposed to have been executed about the above date, probably in the monastery of lismore (county of waterford). from the extracts that have been translated for me, it is obvious that the version was made, with an astounding freedom certainly, from friar francesco pipino's latin. both beginning and end are missing. but what remains opens thus; compare it with friar pipino's real prologue as we give it in the appendix![20] "[irish uncial text: riguib ocus tassech na cathar sin. bai bratair rigui anaibit san fnses inn cathr intansin. ba eoluc dano ss' nahilberlaib fransiscus aainm. bhur iarum du ambant na maste ucut ocus cuingst fair inleabor doclod fcula otengaid natartaired cg inteng laitanda]." &c. --"kings and chieftains of that city. there was then in the city a princely friar in the habit of st. francis, named franciscus, who was versed in many languages. he was brought to the place where those nobles were, and they requested of him to translate the book from the tartar (!) into the latin language. 'it is an abomination to me,' said he, 'to devote my mind or labour to works of idolatry and irreligion.' they entreated him again. 'it shall be done,' said he; 'for though it be an irreligious narrative that is related therein, yet the things are miracles of the true god; and every one who hears this much against the holy faith shall pray fervently for their conversion. and he who will not pray shall waste the vigour of his body to convert them.' i am not in dread of this book of marcus, for there is no lie in it. my eyes beheld him bringing the relics of the holy church with him, and he left [his testimony], whilst tasting of death, that it was true. and marcus was a devout man. what is there in it, then, but that franciscus translated this book of marcus from the tartar into latin; and the years of the lord at that time were fifteen years, two score, two hundred, and one thousand" (1255). it then describes _armein bec_ (little armenia), _armein mor_ (great armenia), _musul, taurisius, persida, camandi_, and so forth. the last chapter is that on _abaschia_:- "abaschia also is an extensive country, under the government of seven kings, four of whom worship the true god, and each of them wears a golden cross on the forehead; and they are valiant in battle, having been brought up fighting against the gentiles of the other three kings, who are unbelievers and idolaters. and the kingdom of aden; a soudan rules over them. "the king of abaschia once took a notion to make a pilgrimage to the sepulchre of jesus. 'not at all,' said his nobles and warriors to him, 'for we should be afraid lest the infidels through whose territories you would have to pass, should kill you. there is a holy bishop with you,' said they; 'send him to the sepulchre of jesus, and much gold with him'"-the rest is wanting. [1] in the following citations, the geographic text (g. t.) is quoted by page from the printed edition (1824); the latin published in the same volume (g. l.) also by page; the crusca, as before, from bartoli's edition of 1863. references in parentheses are to the present translation:- a. _passages showing the g. l. to be a translation from the italian, and derived from the same italian text as the_ crusca. page (1). g.t. 17 (i. 43). il hi se laborent _le souran tapis_ dou monde. crusca, 17 .. e quivi si fanno _i sovrani tappeti_ del mondo. g.l. 311 .. et ibi fiunt _soriani et tapeti_ pulcriores de mundo. (2). g.t. 23 (i. 69). et adonc le calif mande par tuit les cristiez ... _que en sa tere estoient_. crusca, 27 .. _ora mandò_ lo aliffo per tutti gli cristiani _ch' erano di lá_. g.l. 316 .. _or misit_ califus pro christianis _qui erant ultra fluvium_ (the last words being clearly a misunderstanding of the italian _di là_). (3). g.t. 198 (ii. 313). ont _sosimain_ (sesamum) de coi il font le olio. crusca, 253 .. hanno _sosimai_ onde fanno l' olio. g.l. 448 .. habent _turpes manus_ (taking _sosimani_ for _sozze mani_ "dirty hands"!). (4). crusca, 52 (i. 158). _cacciare e uccellare_ v' è lo migliore del mondo. g.l. 332 .. et est ibi optimum _caciare et ucellare_. (5). g.t. 124 (ii. 36). adonc treuve ... une provence _qe est encore_ de le confin dou mangi. crusca, 162-3 .. l' uomo truova una provincia _ch' è chiamata ancora_ delle confine de' mangi. g.l. 396 .. invenit unam provinciam _quae vocatur anchota_ de confinibus mangi. (6). g.t. 146 (ii. 119.) les dames portent as jambes et es braces, braciaus d'or et d'arjent de grandisme vailance. crusca, 189 .. le donne _portano alle braccia e alle gambe bracciali d'oro_ e d'ariento di gran valuta. g.l. 411 .. dominae eorum _portant ad brachia et ad gambas brazalia de auro_ et de argento magni valoris. b. _passages showing additionally the errors, or other peculiarities of a translation from a french original, common to the italian and the latin._ (7). g.t. 32 (i. 97.) est celle plaingne mout _chaue_ (chaude). crusca, 35 .. questo piano è molto _cavo_. g.l. 322 .. ista planities est multum _cava_. (8). g.t. 36 (i. 110). avent por ce que l'eive hi est _amer_. crusca, 40 .. e questo è _per lo mare_ che vi viene. g.l. 324 .. istud est _propter mare_ quod est ibi. (9). g.t. 8 (i. 50.) un roi qi est apelés par tout tens davit melic, que veut à dir _en fransois_ davit roi. crusca, 20 .. uno re il quale si chiama _sempre_ david melic, ciò è a dire _in francesco_ david re. g.l. 312 .. rex qui _semper_ vocatur david mellic, quod sonat _in gallico_ david rex. these passages, and many more that might be quoted, seem to me to demonstrate (1) that the latin and the crusca have had a common original, and (2) that this original was an italian version from the french. [2] thus the _pucci_ ms. at florence, in the passage regarding the golden king (vol. ii. p. 17) which begins in g. t. "_lequel fist faire_ jadis _un rois qe fu apellés le roi dor_," renders "_lo quale fa fare_ jaddis _uno re_," a mistake which is not in the crusca nor in the latin, and seems to imply derivation from the french directly, or by some other channel (_baldelli boni_). [3] in the prologue (vol. i. p. 34) this class of mss. alone names the king of england. in the account of the battle with nayan (i. p. 337) this class alone speaks of the two-stringed instruments which the tartars played whilst awaiting the signal for battle. but the circumstance appears elsewhere in the g. t. (p. 250). in the chapter on _malabar_ (vol. ii. p. 390), it is said that the ships which go with cargoes towards alexandria are not one-tenth of those that go to the further east. this is not in the older french. in the chapter on _coilun_ (ii. p. 375), we have a notice of the columbine ginger so celebrated in the middle ages, which is also absent from the older text. [4] see vol. ii. p. 439. it is, however, remarkable that a like mistake is made about the persian gulf (see i. 63, 64). perhaps polo _thought_ in persian, in which the word _darya_ means either _sea_ or a _large river_. the same habit and the ambiguity of the persian _sher_ led him probably to his confusion of lions and tigers (see i. 397). [5] such are pasciai-_dir_ and _ariora_ kesciemur (i. p. 98.) [6] thus the mss. of this type have elected the erroneous readings _bolgara, cogatra, chiato, cabanant_, etc., instead of the correcter _bolgana, cocacin, quiacatu, cobinan_, where the g. t. presents both (supra, p. 86). they read _esanar_ for the correct _etzina_; _chascun_ for _casvin_; _achalet_ for _acbalec_; _sardansu_ for _sindafu_, _kayteu, kayton, sarcon_ for _zaiton_ or _caiton_; _soucat_ for _locac_; _falec_ for _ferlec_, and so on, the worse instead of the better. they make the _mer occeane_ into _mer occident_; the wild asses (_asnes_) of the kerman desert into wild geese (_oes_); the _escoillez_ of bengal (ii. p. 115) into _escoliers_; the _giraffes_ of africa into _girofles_, or cloves, etc., etc. [7] there are about five-and-thirty such passages altogether. [8] the bern ms. i have satisfied myself is an actual _copy_ of the paris ms. c. the oxford ms. closely resembles both, but i have not made the comparison minutely enough to say if it is an exact copy of either. [9] the following comparison will also show that these two latin versions have probably had a common source, such as is here suggested. at the end of the prologue the geographic text reads simply:- "or puis que je voz ai contez tot le fat dou prolegue ensi con voz avés oï, adonc (commencerai) le livre." whilst the geographic latin has:- "_postquam recitavimus et diximus facta et condictiones morum, itinerum_ et ea quae nobis contigerunt per vias, _incipiemus dicere ea quae vidimus. et primo dicemus de minore hermenia_." and pipino:- "_narratione facta nostri itineris, nunc ad ea narranda quae vidimus accedamus. primo autem armeniam minorem describemus breviter_." [10] friar francesco pipino of bologna, a dominican, is known also as the author of a lengthy chronicle from the time of the frank kings down to 1314; of a latin translation of the french history of the conquest of the holy land, by bernard the treasurer; and of a short itinerary of a pilgrimage to palestine in 1320. extracts from the chronicle, and the version of bernard, are printed in muratori's collection. as pipino states himself to have executed the translation of polo by order of his superiors, it is probable that the task was set him at a general chapter of the order which was held at bologna in 1315. (see _muratori_, ix. 583; and _quétif, script. ord. praed._ i. 539). we do not know why ramusio assigned the translation specifically to 1320, but he may have had grounds. [11] see _bianconi_, 1st mem. 29 seqq. [12] c. dickens somewhere narrates the history of the equivalents for a sovereign as changed and rechanged at every frontier on a continental tour. the final equivalent received at dover on his return was some 12 or 13 shillings; a fair parallel to the comparative value of the first and last copies in the circle of translation. [13] the ramusios were a family of note in literature for several generations. paolo, the father of gian battista, came originally from rimini to venice in 1458, and had a great repute as a jurist, besides being a littérateur of some eminence, as was also his younger brother girolamo. g. b. ramusio was born at treviso in 1485, and early entered the public service. in 1533 he became one of the secretaries of the council of x. he was especially devoted to geographical studies, and had a school for such studies in his house. he retired eventually from public duties, and lived at villa ramusia, near padua. he died in the latter city, 10th july, 1557, but was buried at venice in the church of s. maria dell' orto. there was a portrait of him by paul veronese in the hall of the great council, but it perished in the fire of 1577; and that which is now seen in the sala dello scudo is, like the companion portrait of marco polo, imaginary. paolo ramusio, his son, was the author of the well-known history of the capture of constantinople. (_cicogna_, ii. 310 seqq.) [14] the old french texts were unknown in marsden's time. hence this question did not present itself to him. [15] _wangcheu_ in the chinese annals; _vanchu_ in ramusio. i assume that polo's _vanchu_ was pronounced as in english; for in venetian the _ch_ very often has that sound. but i confess that i can adduce no other instance in ramusio where i suppose it to have this sound, except in the initial sound of _chinchitalas_ and twice in _choiach_ (see ii. 364). professor bianconi, who has treated the questions connected with the texts of polo with honest enthusiasm and laborious detail, will admit nothing genuine in the ramusian interpolations beyond the preservation of some _oral traditions_ of polo's supplementary recollections. but such a theory is out of the question in face of a chapter like that on ahmad. [16] old purchas appears to have greatly relished ramusio's comparative lucidity: "i found (says he) this booke translated by master hakluyt out of the latine (i.e. among hakluyt's ms. collections). but where the blind leade the blind both fall: as here the corrupt _latine_ could not but yeeld a corruption of truth in _english_. ramusio, secretarie to the _decemviri_ in _venice_, found a better copie and published the same, whence you have the worke in manner new: so renewed, that i have found the proverbe true, that it is better to pull downe an old house and to build it anew, then to repaire it; as i also should have done, had i knowne that which in the event i found. the _latine_ is latten, compared to _ramusio's_ gold. and hee which hath the _latine_ hath but _marco polo's_ carkasse or not so much, but a few bones, yea, sometimes stones rather then bones; things divers, averse, adverse, perverted in manner, disjoynted in manner, beyond beliefe. i have seene some authors maymed, but never any so mangled and so mingled, so present and so absent, as this vulgar _latine_ of _marco polo_; not so like himselfe, as the three _polo's_ were at their returne to _venice_, where none knew them.... much are wee beholden to _ramusio_, for restoring this _pole_ and load-starre of _asia_, out of that mirie poole or puddle in which he lay drouned." (iii. p. 65.) [17] of these difficulties the following are some of the more prominent:- 1. the mention of the death of kúblái (see note 7, p. 38 of this volume), whilst throughout the book polo speaks of kúblái as if still reigning. 2. mr. hugh murray objects that whilst in the old texts polo appears to look on kúblái with reverence as a faultless prince, in the ramusian we find passages of an opposite tendency, as in the chapter about ahmad. 3. the same editor points to the manner in which one of the ramusian additions represents the traveller to have visited the palace of the chinese kings at kinsay, which he conceives to be inconsistent with marco's position as an official of the mongol government. (see vol. ii. p. 208.) if we could conceive the ramusian additions to have been originally notes written by old maffeo polo on his nephew's book, this hypothesis would remove almost all difficulty. one passage in ramusio seems to bear a reference to the date at which these interpolated notes were amalgamated with the original. in the chapter on samarkand (i. p. 191) the conversion of the prince chagatai is said in the old texts to have occurred "not a great while ago" (_il ne a encore grament de tens_). but in ramusio the supposed event is fixed at "one hundred and twenty-five years since." this number could not have been uttered with reference to 1298, the year of the dictation at genoa, nor to any year of polo's own life. hence it is probable that the original note contained a date or definite term which was altered by the compiler to suit the date of his own compilation, some time in the 14th century.] [18] in the first edition of ramusio the preface contained the following passage, which is omitted from the succeeding editions; but as even the first edition was issued after ramusio's own death, i do not see that any stress can be laid on this: "a copy of the book of marco polo, as it was originally written in latin, marvellously old, and perhaps directly copied from the original as it came from m. marco's own hand, has been often consulted by me and compared with that which we now publish, having been lent me by a nobleman of this city, belonging to the ca' ghisi." [19] for a moment i thought i had been lucky enough to light on a part of the missing original of ramusio in the barberini library at rome. a fragment of a venetian version in that library (no. 56 in our list of mss.) bore on the fly-leaf the title "_alcuni primi capi del libro di s. marco polo, copiati dall esemplare manoscritto di paolo rannusio._" but it proved to be of no importance. one brief passage of those which have been thought peculiar to ramusio; viz., the reference to the martyrdom of st. blaize at sebaste (see p. 43 of this volume), is found also in the geographic latin. it was pointed out by lazari, that another passage (vol. i. p. 60) of those otherwise peculiar to ramusio, is found in a somewhat abridged latin version in a ms. which belonged to the late eminent antiquary emanuel cicogna. (see list in appendix f, no. 35.) this fact induced me when at venice in 1870 to examine the ms. throughout, and, though i could give little time to it, the result was very curious. i find that this ms. contains, not one only, but at least _seven_ of the passages otherwise peculiar to ramusio, and must have been one of the elements that went to the formation of his text. yet of his more important interpolations, such as the chapter on ahmad's oppressions and the additional matter on the city of kinsay, there is no indication. the seven passages alluded to are as follows; the words corresponding to ramusian peculiarities are in italics, the references are to my own volumes. 1. in the chapter on georgia: "mare quod dicitur gheluchelan _vel abacu_".... "est ejus stricta via et dubia. ab una parte est mare _quod dixi de abacu_ et ab aliâ nemora invia," etc. (see i. p. 59, note 8.) 2. "et ibi optimi austures _dicti avigi_" (i. 50). 3. after the chapter on mosul is another short chapter, already alluded to: "_prope hanc civitatem (est) alia provincia dicta mus e meredien in quâ nascitur magna quantitas bombacis, et hic fiunt bocharini et alia multa, et sunt mercatores homines et artiste_." (see i. p. 60.) 4. in the chapter on _tarcan_ (for carcan, i.e. yarkand): "_et maior pars horum habent unum ex pedibus grossum et habent gosum in gulâ_; et est hic fertilis contracta." (see i. p. 187.) 5. in the desert of lop: "_homines trasseuntes appendunt bestiis suis capanullas_ [i.e. campanellas] _ut ipsas senciant et ne deviare possint_" (i. p. 197.) 6. "ciagannor, _quod sonat in latino stagnum album_." (i. p. 296.) 7. "et in medio hujus viridarii est palacium sive logia, _tota super columpnas. et in summitate cujuslibet columnae est draco magnus circundans totam columpnam, et hic substinet eorum cohoperturam cum ore et pedibus_; et est cohopertura tota de cannis hoc modo," etc. (see i. p. 299.) [20] my valued friend sir arthur phayre made known to me the passage in _o'curry's lectures_. i then procured the extracts and further particulars from mr. j. long, irish transcriber and translator in dublin, who took them from the transcript of the _book of lismore_, in the possession of the royal irish academy. [cf. _anecdota oxoniensia. lives of the saints from the book of lismore, edited with a translation ... by_ whitley stokes, oxford, 1890.--_marco polo_ forms fo. 79 a, 1--fo. 89 b, 2, of the ms., and is described pp. xxii.-xxiv. of mr. whitley stokes' book, who has since published the text in the _zeit. f. celtische philol._ (see _bibliography_, vol. ii. p. 573.)- h. c.] xi. some estimate of the character of polo and his book. [sidenote: grounds of polo's pre-eminence among mediaeval travellers.] 66. that marco polo has been so universally recognised as the king of mediaeval travellers is due rather to the width of his experience, the vast compass of his journeys, and the romantic nature of his personal history, than to transcendent superiority of character or capacity. the generation immediately preceding his own has bequeathed to us, in the report of the franciscan friar william de rubruquis,[1] on the mission with which st. lewis charged him to the tartar courts, the narrative of one great journey, which, in its rich detail, its vivid pictures, its acuteness of observation and strong good sense, seems to me to form a book of travels of much higher claims than _any one series_ of polo's chapters; a book, indeed, which has never had justice done to it, for it has few superiors in the whole library of travel. enthusiastic biographers, beginning with ramusio, have placed polo on the same platform with columbus. but where has our venetian traveller left behind him any trace of the genius and lofty enthusiasm, the ardent and justified previsions which mark the great admiral as one of the lights of the human race?[2] it is a juster praise that the spur which his book eventually gave to geographical studies, and the beacons which it hung out at the eastern extremities of the earth helped to guide the aims, though scarcely to kindle the fire, of the greater son of the rival republic. his work was at least a link in the providential chain which at last dragged the new world to light.[3] [sidenote: his true claims to glory.] 67. surely marco's real, indisputable, and, in their kind, unique claims to glory may suffice! _he was the first traveller to trace a route across the whole longitude of_ asia, _naming and describing kingdom after kingdom which he had seen with his own eyes; the deserts of_ persia, _the flowering plateaux and wild gorges of_ badakhshan, _the jade-bearing rivers of_ khotan, _the_ mongolian _steppes, cradle of the power that had so lately threatened to swallow up christendom, the new and brilliant court that had been established at_ cambaluc: _the first traveller to reveal_ china _in all its wealth and vastness, its mighty rivers, its huge cities, its rich manufactures, its swarming population, the inconceivably vast fleets that quickened its seas and its inland waters; to tell us of the nations on its borders with all their eccentricities of manners and worship; of_ tibet _with its sordid devotees; of_ burma _with its golden pagodas and their tinkling crowns; of_ laos, _of_ siam, _of_ cochin china, _of_ japan, _the eastern thule, with its rosy pearls and golden-roofed palaces; the first to speak of that museum of beauty and wonder, still so imperfectly ransacked, the_ indian archipelago, _source of those aromatics then so highly prized and whose origin was so dark; of_ java _the pearl of islands; of_ sumatra _with its many kings, its strange costly products, and its cannibal races; of the naked savages of_ nicobar _and_ andaman; _of_ ceylon _the isle of gems with its sacred mountain and its tomb of adam; of_ india the great, _not as a dream-land of alexandrian fables, but as a country seen and partially explored, with its virtuous brahmans, its obscene ascetics, its diamonds and the strange tales of their acquisition, its sea-beds of pearl, and its powerful sun; the first in mediaeval times to give any distinct account of the secluded christian empire of_ abyssinia, _and the semi-christian island of_ socotra; _to speak, though indeed dimly, of_ zangibar _with its negroes and its ivory, and of the vast and distant_ madagascar, _bordering on the dark ocean of the south, with its ruc and other monstrosities; and, in a remotely opposite region, of_ siberia _and the_ arctic ocean, _of dog-sledges, white bears, and reindeer-riding tunguses_. that all this rich catalogue of discoveries should belong to the revelations of one man and one book is surely ample ground enough to account for and to justify the author's high place in the roll of fame, and there can be no need to exaggerate his greatness, or to invest him with imaginary attributes.[4] [sidenote: his personal attributes seen but dimly.] 68. what manner of man was ser marco? it is a question hard to answer. some critics cry out against personal detail in books of travel; but as regards him who would not welcome a little more egotism! in his book impersonality is carried to excess; and we are often driven to discern by indirect and doubtful indications alone, whether he is speaking of a place from personal knowledge or only from hearsay. in truth, though there are delightful exceptions, and nearly every part of the book suggests interesting questions, a desperate meagreness and baldness does extend over considerable tracts of the story. in fact his book reminds us sometimes of his own description of khorasan:--"_on chevauche par beaus plains et belles costieres, là où il a moult beaus herbages et bonne pasture et fruis assez.... et aucune fois y treuve l'en un desert de soixante milles ou de mains, esquels desers ne treuve l'en point d'eaue; mais la convient porter o lui!_" still, some shadowy image of the man may be seen in the book; a practical man, brave, shrewd, prudent, keen in affairs, and never losing his interest in mercantile details, very fond of the chase, sparing of speech; with a deep wondering respect for saints, even though they be pagan saints, and their asceticism, but a contempt for patarins and such like, whose consciences would not run in customary grooves, and on his own part a keen appreciation of the world's pomps and vanities. see, on the one hand, his undisguised admiration of the hard life and long fastings of sakya muni; and on the other how enthusiastic he gets in speaking of the great kaan's command of the good things of the world, but above all of his matchless opportunities of sport![5] [illustration: probable view of marco polo's own geography] of humour there are hardly any signs in his book. his almost solitary joke (i know but one more, and it pertains to the [greek: ouk anaékonta]) occurs in speaking of the kaan's paper-money when he observes that kúblái might be said to have the true philosopher's stone, for he made his money at pleasure out of the bark of trees.[6] even the oddest eccentricities of outlandish tribes scarcely seem to disturb his gravity; as when he relates in his brief way of the people called gold-teeth on the frontier of burma, that ludicrous custom which mr. tylor has so well illustrated under the name of the _couvade_. there is more savour of laughter in the few lines of a greek epic, which relate precisely the same custom of a people on the euxine:- --"in the tibarenian land when some good woman bears her lord a babe, 'tis _he_ is swathed and groaning put to bed; whilst _she_, arising, tends his baths, and serves nice possets for her husband in the straw."[7] [sidenote: absence of scientific notions.] 69. of scientific notions, such as we find in the unveracious maundevile, we have no trace in truthful marco. the former, "lying with a circumstance," tells us boldly that he was in 33° of south latitude; the latter is full of wonder that some of the indian islands where he had been lay so far to the south that you lost sight of the pole-star. when it rises again on his horizon he estimates the latitude by the pole-star's being so many _cubits_ high. so the gallant baber speaks of the sun having mounted _spear-high_ when the onset of battle began at paniput. such expressions convey no notion at all to such as have had their ideas sophisticated by angular perceptions of altitude, but similar expressions are common among orientals,[8] and indeed i have heard them from educated englishmen. in another place marco states regarding certain islands in the northern ocean that they lie so very far to the north that in going thither one actually leaves the pole-star a trifle behind towards the south; a statement to which we know only one parallel, to wit, in the voyage of that adventurous dutch skipper who told master moxon, king charles ii.'s hydrographer, that he had sailed two degrees beyond the pole! [sidenote: map constructed on polo's data.] 70. the book, however, is full of bearings and distances, and i have thought it worth while to construct a map from its indications, in order to get some approximation to polo's own idea of the face of that world which he had traversed so extensively. there are three allusions to maps in the course of his work (ii. 245, 312, 424). in his own bearings, at least on land journeys, he usually carries us along a great general traverse line, without much caring about small changes of direction. thus on the great outward journey from the frontier of persia to that of china the line runs almost continuously "_entre levant et grec_" or e.n.e. in his journey from cambaluc or peking to mien or burma, it is always _ponent_ or w.; and in that from peking to zayton in fo-kien, the port of embarkation for india, it is _sceloc_ or s.e. the line of bearings in which he deviates most widely from truth is that of the cities on the arabian coast from aden to hormuz, which he makes to run steadily _vers maistre_ or n.w., a conception which it has not been very easy to realise on the map.[9] [sidenote: singular omissions of polo in regard to china; historical inaccuracies.] 71. in the early part of the book we are told that marco acquired several of the languages current in the mongol empire, and no less than four written characters. we have discussed what these are likely to have been (i. pp. 28-29), and have given a decided opinion that chinese was not one of them. besides intrinsic improbability, and positive indications of marco's ignorance of chinese, in no respect is his book so defective as in regard to chinese manners and peculiarities. the great wall is never mentioned, though we have shown reason for believing that it was in his mind when one passage of his book was dictated.[10] the use of tea, though he travelled through the tea districts of fo-kien, is never mentioned;[11] the compressed feet of the women and the employment of the fishing cormorant (both mentioned by friar odoric, the contemporary of his later years), artificial egg-hatching, printing of books (though the notice of this art seems positively challenged in his account of paper-money), besides a score of remarkable arts and customs which one would have expected to recur to his memory, are never alluded to. neither does he speak of the great characteristic of the chinese writing. it is difficult to account for these omissions, especially considering the comparative fulness with which he treats the manners of the tartars and of the southern hindoos; but the impression remains that his associations in china were chiefly with foreigners. wherever the place he speaks of had a tartar or persian name he uses that rather than the chinese one. thus _cathay, cambaluc, pulisanghin, tangut, chagannor, saianfu, kenjanfu, tenduc, acbalec, carajan, zardandan, zayton, kemenfu, brius, caramoran, chorcha, juju_, are all mongol, turki, or persian forms, though all have chinese equivalents.[12] in reference to the then recent history of asia, marco is often inaccurate, e.g. in his account of the death of chinghiz, in the list of his successors, and in his statement of the relation ship between notable members of that house.[13] but the most perplexing knot in the whole book lies in the interesting account which he gives of the siege of sayanfu or siang-yang, during the subjugation of southern china by kúblái. i have entered on this matter in the notes (vol. ii. p. 167), and will only say here that m. pauthier's solution of the difficulty is no solution, being absolutely inconsistent with the story as told by marco himself, and that i see none; though i have so much faith in marco's veracity that i am loath to believe that the facts admit of no reconciliation. our faint attempt to appreciate some of marco's qualities, as gathered from his work, will seem far below the very high estimates that have been pronounced, not only by some who have delighted rather to enlarge upon his frame than to make themselves acquainted with his work,[14] but also by persons whose studies and opinions have been worthy of all respect. our estimate, however, does not abate a jot of our intense interest in his book and affection for his memory. and we have a strong feeling that, owing partly to his reticence, and partly to the great disadvantages under which the book was committed to writing, we have in it a singularly imperfect image of the man. [sidenote: was polo's book materially affected by the scribe rusticiano?] 72. a question naturally suggests itself, how far polo's narrative, at least in its expression, was modified by passing under the pen of a professed littérateur of somewhat humble claims, such as rusticiano was. the case is not a singular one, and in our own day the ill-judged use of such assistance has been fatal to the reputation of an adventurous traveller. we have, however, already expressed our own view that in the geographic text we have the nearest possible approach to a photographic impression of marco's oral narrative. if there be an exception to this we should seek it in the descriptions of battles, in which we find the narrator to fall constantly into a certain vein of bombastic commonplaces, which look like the stock phrases of a professed romancer, and which indeed have a strong resemblance to the actual phraseology of certain metrical romances.[15] whether this feature be due to rusticiano i cannot say, but i have not been able to trace anything of the same character in a cursory inspection of some of his romance-compilations. still one finds it impossible to conceive of our sober and reticent messer marco pacing the floor of his genoese dungeon, and seven times over rolling out this magniloquent bombast, with sufficient deliberation to be overtaken by the pen of the faithful amanuensis! [sidenote: marco's reading embraced the alexandrian romances. examples.] 73. on the other hand, though marco, who had left home at fifteen years of age, naturally shows very few signs of reading, there are indications that he had read romances, especially those dealing with the fabulous adventures of alexander. to these he refers explicitly or tacitly in his notices of the irongate and of gog and magog, in his allusions to the marriage of alexander with darius's daughter, and to the battle between those two heroes, and in his repeated mention of the _arbre sol_ or _arbre sec_ on the khorasan frontier. the key to these allusions is to be found in that legendary history of alexander, entirely distinct from the true history of the macedonian conqueror, which in great measure took the place of the latter in the imagination of east and west for more than a thousand years. this fabulous history is believed to be of graeco-egyptian origin, and in its earliest extant compiled form, in the greek of the pseudo-callisthenes, can be traced back to at least about a.d. 200. from the greek its marvels spread eastward at an early date; some part at least of their matter was known to moses of chorene, in the 5th century;[16] they were translated into armenian, arabic, hebrew, and syriac; and were reproduced in the verses of firdusi and various other persian poets; spreading eventually even to the indian archipelago, and finding utterance in malay and siamese. at an early date they had been rendered into latin by julius valerius; but this work had probably been lost sight of, and it was in the 10th century that they were re-imported from byzantium to italy by the archpriest leo, who had gone as envoy to the eastern capital from john duke of campania.[17] romantic histories on this foundation, in verse and prose, became diffused in all the languages of western europe, from spain to scandinavia, rivalling in popularity the romantic cycles of the round table or of charlemagne. nor did this popularity cease till the 16th century was well advanced. the heads of most of the mediaeval travellers were crammed with these fables as genuine history.[18] and by the help of that community of legend on this subject which they found wherever mahomedan literature had spread, alexander magnus was to be traced everywhere in asia. friar odoric found tana, near bombay, to be the veritable city of king porus; john marignolli's vainglory led him to imitate king alexander in setting up a marble column "in the corner of the world over against paradise," i.e. somewhere on the coast of travancore; whilst sir john maundevile, with a cheaper ambition, borrowed wonders from the travels of alexander to adorn his own. nay, even in after days, when the portuguese stumbled with amazement on those vast ruins in camboja, which have so lately become familiar to us through the works of mouhot, thomson, and garnier, they ascribed them to alexander.[19] prominent in all these stories is the tale of alexander's shutting up a score of impure nations, at the head of which were gog and magog, within a barrier of impassable mountains, there to await the latter days; a legend with which the disturbed mind of europe not unnaturally connected that cataclysm of unheard-of pagans that seemed about to deluge christendom in the first half of the 13th century. in these stories also the beautiful roxana, who becomes the bride of alexander, is _darius's_ daughter, bequeathed to his arms by the dying monarch. conspicuous among them again is the legend of the oracular trees of the sun and moon, which with audible voice foretell the place and manner of alexander's death. with this alexandrian legend some of the later forms of the story had mixed up one of christian origin about the dry tree, _l'arbre sec_. and they had also adopted the oriental story of the land of darkness and the mode of escape from it, which polo relates at p. 484 of vol. ii. [sidenote: injustice long done to polo. singular modern instance.] 74. we have seen in the most probable interpretation of the nickname _milioni_ that polo's popular reputation in his lifetime was of a questionable kind; and a contemporary chronicler, already quoted, has told us how on his death-bed the traveller was begged by anxious friends to retract his extraordinary stories.[20] a little later one who copied the book "_per passare tempo e malinconia_" says frankly that he puts no faith in it.[21] sir thomas brown is content "to carry a wary eye" in reading "paulus venetus"; but others of our countrymen in the last century express strong doubts whether he ever was in tartary or china.[22] marden's edition might well have extinguished the last sparks of scepticism.[23] hammer meant praise in calling polo "_der vater orientalischer hodogetik_," in spite of the uncouthness of the eulogy. but another grave german writer, ten years after marsden's publication, put forth in a serious book that the whole story was a clumsy imposture![24] [1] m. d'avezac has refuted the common supposition that this admirable traveller was a native of brabant. the form _rubruquis_ of the name of the traveller william de rubruk has been habitually used in this book, perhaps without sufficient consideration, but it is the most familiar in england, from its use by hakluyt and purchas. the former, who first published the narrative, professedly printed from an imperfect ms. belonging to the lord lumley, which does not seem to be now known. but all the mss. collated by messrs. francisque-michel and wright, in preparing their edition of the traveller, call him simply willelmus de rubruc or rubruk. some old authors, apparently without the slightest ground, having called him _risbroucke_ and the like, it came to be assumed that he was a native of ruysbroeck, a place in south brabant. but there is a place still called _rubrouck_ in french flanders. this is a commune containing about 1500 inhabitants, belonging to the canton of cassel and _arrondissement_ of hazebrouck, in the department du nord. and we may take for granted, till facts are alleged against it, that _this_ was the place from which the envoy of st. lewis drew his origin. many documents of the middle ages, referring expressly to this place rubrouck, exist in the library of st. omer, and a detailed notice of them has been published by m. edm. coussemaker, of lille. several of these documents refer to persons bearing the same name as the traveller, e.g., in 1190, thierry de rubrouc; in 1202 and 1221, gauthier du rubrouc; in 1250, jean du rubrouc; and in 1258, woutermann de rubrouc. it is reasonable to suppose that friar william was of the same stock. see _bulletin de la soc. de géographie_, 2nd vol. for 1868, pp. 569-570, in which there are some remarks on the subject by m. d'avezac; and i am indebted to the kind courtesy of that eminent geographer himself for the indication of this reference and the main facts, as i had lost a note of my own on the subject. it seems a somewhat complex question whether a native even of _french_ flanders at that time should be necessarily claimable as a frenchman;[a] but no doubt on this point is alluded to by m. d'avezac, so he probably had good ground for that assumption. [see also _yule's_ article in the _encyclopaedia britannica_, and _rockhill's rubruck_, int., p. xxxv.--h. c.] that cross-grained orientalist, i. j. schmidt, on several occasions speaks contemptuously of this veracious and delightful traveller, whose evidence goes in the teeth of some of his crotchets. but i am glad to find that professor peschel takes a view similar to that expressed in the text: "the narrative of ruysbroek [rubruquis], almost immaculate in its freedom from fabulous insertions, may be indicated on account of its truth to nature as the greatest geographical masterpiece of the middle ages." (_gesch. der erdkunde_, 1865, p. 151.) [a] the county of flanders was at this time in large part a fief of the french crown. (see _natalis de wailly_, notes to joinville, p. 576.) but that would not much affect the question either one way or the other. [2] high as marco's name deserves to be set, his place is not beside the writer of such burning words as these addressed to ferdinand and isabella: "from the most tender age i went to sea, and to this day i have continued to do so. whosoever devotes himself to this craft must desire to know the secrets of nature here below. for 40 years now have i thus been engaged, and wherever man has sailed hitherto on the face of the sea, thither have i sailed also. i have been in constant relation with men of learning, whether ecclesiastic or secular, latins and greeks, jews and moors, and men of many a sect besides. to accomplish this my longing (to know the secrets of the world) i found the lord favourable to my purposes; it is he who hath given me the needful disposition and understanding. he bestowed upon me abundantly the knowledge of seamanship: and of astronomy he gave me enough to work withal, and so with geometry and arithmetic.... in the days of my youth i studied works of all kinds, history, chronicles, philosophy, and other arts, and to apprehend these the lord opened my understanding. under his manifest guidance i navigated hence to the indies; for it was the lord who gave me the will to accomplish that task, and it was in the ardour of that will that i came before your highnesses. all those who heard of my project scouted and derided it; all the acquirements i have mentioned stood me in no stead; and if in your highnesses, and in you alone, faith and constancy endured, to whom are due the lights that have enlightened you as well as me, but to the holy spirit?" (quoted in _humboldt's examen critique_, i. 17, 18.) [3] libri, however, speaks too strongly when he says: "the finest of all the results due to the influence of marco polo is that of having stirred columbus to the discovery of the new world. columbus, jealous of polo's laurels, spent his life in preparing means to get to that zipangu of which the venetian traveller had told such great things; his desire was to reach china by sailing westward, and in his way he fell in with america." (_h. des sciences mathém._ etc. ii. 150.) the fact seems to be that columbus knew of polo's revelations only at second hand, from the letters of the florentine paolo toscanelli and the like; and i cannot find that he _ever_ refers to polo by name. [how deep was the interest taken by colombus in marco polo's travels is shown by the numerous marginal notes of the admiral in the printed copy of the latin version of pipino kept at the bib. colombina at seville. see _appendix h_. p. 558.--h. c.] though to the day of his death he was full of imaginations about zipangu and the land of the great kaan as being in immediate proximity to his discoveries, these were but accidents of his great theory. it was the intense conviction he had acquired of the absolute smallness of the earth, of the vast extension of asia eastward, and of the consequent narrowness of the western ocean, on which his life's project was based. this conviction he seems to have derived chiefly from the works of cardinal pierre d'ailly. but the latter borrowed his collected arguments from roger bacon, who has stated them, erroneous as they are, very forcibly in his _opus majus_ (p. 137), as humboldt has noticed in his _examen_ (vol. i. p. 64). the spanish historian mariana makes a strange jumble of the alleged guides of columbus, saying that some ascribed his convictions to "the information given by _one marco polo, a florentine physician!_" ("como otros dizen, por aviso que le dio _un cierto marco polo, medico florentin_;" _hist. de españa_, lib. xxvi. cap 3). toscanelli is called by columbus _maestro paulo_, which seems to have led to this mistake; see sign. _g. uzielli_, in _boll. della soc. geog. ital._ ix. p. 119, [also by the same: _paolo dal pozzo toscanelli iniziatore della scoperta d' america_, florence, 1892; _toscanelli_, no. 1; _toscanelli_, vol. v. of the _raccolta colombiana_, 1894.--h. c.] [4] "c'est diminuer l'expression d'un éloge que de l'exagérer." (_humboldt, examen_, iii. 13.) [5] see vol. ii. p. 318, and vol. i. p. 404. [6] vol. i. p. 423. [7] vol. ii. p. 85, and _apollonius rhodius, argonaut_. ii. 1012. [8] chinese observers record the length of comets' tails by _cubits_! [9] the map, perhaps, gives too favourable an idea of marco's geographical conceptions. for in such a construction much has to be supplied for which there are no data, and that is apt to take mould from modern knowledge. just as in the book illustrations of ninety years ago we find that princesses of abyssinia, damsels of otaheite, and beauties of mary stuart's court have all somehow a savour of the high waists, low foreheads, and tight garments of 1810. we are told that prince pedro of portugal in 1426 received from the signory of venice a map which was supposed to be either an original or a copy of one by marco polo's own hand. (_majors p. henry_, p. 62.) there is no evidence to justify any absolute expression of disbelief; and if any map-maker with the spirit of the author of the carta catalana then dwelt in venice, polo certainly could not have gone to his grave uncatechised. but i should suspect the map to have been a copy of the old one that existed in the sala dello scudo of the ducal palace. the maps now to be seen painted on the walls of that hall, and on which polo's route is marked, are not of any great interest. but in the middle of the 15th century there was an old _descriptio orbis sive mappamundus_ in the hall, and when the apartment was renewed in 1459 a decree of the senate ordered that such a map should be repainted on the new walls. this also perished by a fire in 1483. on the motion of ramusio, in the next century, four new maps were painted. these had become dingy and ragged, when, in 1762, the doge marco foscarini caused them to be renewed by the painter francesco grisellini. he professed to have adhered closely to the old maps, but he certainly did not, as morelli testifies. eastern asia looks as if based on a work of ramusio's age, but western asia is of undoubtedly modern character. (see _operetti di iacopo morelli_, ven. 1820, i. 299.) [10] "humboldt confirms the opinion i have more than once expressed that too much must not be inferred from the silence of authors. he adduces three important and perfectly undeniable matters of fact, as to which no evidence is to be found where it would be most anticipated: in the archives of barcelona no trace of the triumphal entry of columbus into that city; _in marco polo no allusion to the chinese wall_; in the archives of portugal nothing about the voyages of amerigo vespucci in the service of that crown." (_varnhagen_ v. _ense_, quoted by hayward, _essays_, 2nd ser. i. 36.) see regarding the chinese wall the remarks referred to above, at p. 292 of this volume. [11] [it is a strange fact that polo never mentions the use of _tea_ in china, although he travelled through the tea districts in fu kien, and tea was then as generally drunk by the chinese as it is now. it is mentioned more than four centuries earlier by the mohammedan merchant soleyman, who visited china about the middle of the 9th century. he states (_reinaud, relation des voyages faits par les arabes et les persans dans l'inde et à la chine_, 1845, i. 40): "the people of china are accustomed to use as a beverage an infusion of a plant, which they call _sakh_, and the leaves of which are aromatic and of a bitter taste. it is considered very wholesome. this plant (the leaves) is sold in all the cities of the empire." (_bretschneider, hist. bot. disc._i. p. 5.)--h. c.] [12] it is probable that persian, which had long been the language of turanian courts, was also the common tongue of foreigners at that of the mongols. _pulisanghin_ and _zardandán_, in the preceding list, are pure persian. so are several of the oriental phrases noted at p. 84. see also notes on _ondanique_ and _vernique_ at pp. 93 and 384 of this volume, on _tacuin_ at p. 448, and a note at p. 93 supra. the narratives of odoric, and others of the early travellers to cathay, afford corroborative examples. lord stanley of alderley, in one of his contributions to the hakluyt series, has given evidence from experience that chinese mahomedans still preserve the knowledge of numerous persian words. [13] compare these errors with like errors of herodotus, e.g., regarding the conspiracy of the false smerdis. (see rawlinson's introduction, p. 55.) there is a curious parallel between the two also in the supposed occasional use of oriental state records, as in herodotus's accounts of the revenues of the satrapies, and of the army of xerxes, and in marco polo's account of kinsay, and of the kaan's revenues. (vol. ii pp. 185, 216.) [14] an example is seen in the voluminous _annali musulmani_ of _g. b. rampoldi_, milan, 1825. this writer speaks of the travels of marco polo with his _brother_ and uncle; declares that he visited _tipango_ (_sic_), java, ceylon, and the _maldives_, collected all the geographical notions of his age, traversed the two peninsulas of the indies, examined the islands of _socotra, madagascar, sofala_, and traversed with _philosophic eye_ the regions of zanguebar, abyssinia, nubia, and egypt! and so forth (ix. 174). and whilst malte-brun bestows on marco the sounding and ridiculous title of "_the humboldt of the 13th century_," he shows little real acquaintance with his book. (see his _précis_, ed. of 1836, i. 551 seqq.) [15] see for example vol. i. p. 338, and note 4 at p. 341; also vol. ii. p. 103. the descriptions in the style referred to recur in all seven times; but most of them (which are in book iv.) have been omitted in this translation. [16] [on the subject of moses of chorene and his works, i must refer to the clever researches of the late auguste carrière, professor of armenian at the école des langues orientales.--h. c.] [17] _zacher, forschungen zur critik, &c., der alexandersage_, halle, 1867, p. 108. [18] even so sagacious a man as roger bacon quotes the fabulous letter of alexander to aristotle as authentic. (_opus majus_, p. 137.) [19] _j. as._ sér. vi. tom. xviii. p. 352. [20] see passage from jacopo d'acqui, supra, p. 54. [21] it is the transcriber of one of the florence mss. who appends this terminal note, worthy of mrs. nickleby:--"here ends the book of messer m. p. of venice, written with mine own hand by me amalio bonaguisi when podestà of cierreto guidi, to get rid of time and _ennui_. the contents seem to me incredible things, not lies so much as miracles; and it may be all very true what he says, but i don't believe it; though to be sure throughout the world very different things are found in different countries. but these things, it has seemed to me in copying, are entertaining enough, but not things to believe or put any faith in; that at least is my opinion. and i finished copying this at cierreto aforesaid, 12th november, a.d. 1392." [22] _vulgar errors_, bk. i. ch. viii.; _astley's voyages_, iv. 583. [23] a few years before marsden's publication, the historical branch of the r. s. of science at göttingen appears to have put forth as the subject of a prize essay the geography of the travels of carpini, rubruquis, and especially of marco polo. (see _l. of m. polo_, by _zurla_, in _collezione di vite e ritratti d'illustri italiani_. pad. 1816.) [24] see _städtewesen des mittelalters_, by _k. d. hüllmann_, bonn, 1829, vol. iv. after speaking of the missions of pope innocent iv. and st. lewis, this author sketches the travels of the polos, and then proceeds:- "such are the clumsily compiled contents of this ecclesiastical fiction (_kirchengeschichtlichen dichtung_) disguised as a book of travels, a thing devised generally in the spirit of the age, but specially in the interests of the clergy and of trade.... this compiler's aim was analogous to that of the inventor of the song of roland, to kindle enthusiasm for the conversion of the mongols, and so to facilitate commerce through their dominions.... assuredly the poli never got further than great bucharia, which was then reached by many italian travellers. what they have related of the regions of the mongol empire lying further east consists merely of recollections of the bazaar and travel-talk of traders from those countries; whilst the notices of india, persia, arabia, and ethiopia, are borrowed from arabic works. the compiler no doubt carries his audacity in fiction a long way, when he makes his hero marcus assert that he had been seventeen years in kúblái's service," etc. etc. (pp. 360-362). in the french edition of _malcolm's history of persia_ (ii. 141), marco is styled "_prêtre venetien_"! i do not know whether this is due to sir john or to the translator. [polo is also called "a venetian priest," in a note, vol. i., p. 409, of the original edition of london, 1815, 2 vols., 4to.--h. c.] xii. contemporary recognition of polo and his book. [sidenote: how far was there diffusion of his book in his own day?] 75. but we must return for a little to polo's own times. ramusio states, as we have seen, that immediately after the first commission of polo's narrative to writing (in latin as he imagined), many copies of it were made, it was translated into the vulgar tongue, and in a few months all italy was full of it. the few facts that we can collect do not justify this view of the rapid and diffused renown of the traveller and his book. the number of mss. of the latter dating from the 14th century is no doubt considerable, but a large proportion of these are of pipino's condensed latin translation, which was not put forth, if we can trust ramusio, till 1320, and certainly not much earlier. the whole number of mss. in various languages that we have been able to register, amounts to about eighty. i find it difficult to obtain statistical data as to the comparative number of copies of different works existing in manuscript. with dante's great poem, of which there are reckoned close upon 500 mss.,[1] comparison would be inappropriate. but of the travels of friar odoric, a poor work indeed beside marco polo's, i reckoned thirty-nine mss., and could now add at least three more to the list. [i described seventy-three in my edition of _odoric_.--h. c.] also i find that of the nearly contemporary work of brunetto latini, the _tresor_, a sort of condensed encyclopaedia of knowledge, but a work which one would scarcely have expected to approach the popularity of polo's book, the editor enumerates some fifty mss. and from the great frequency with which one encounters in catalogues both mss. and early printed editions of sir john maundevile, i should suppose that the lying wonders of our english knight had a far greater popularity and more extensive diffusion than the veracious and more sober marvels of polo.[2] to southern italy polo's popularity certainly does not seem at any time to have extended. i cannot learn that any ms. of his book exists in any library of the late kingdom of naples or in sicily.[3] dante, who lived for twenty-three years after marco's work was written, and who touches so many things in the seen and unseen worlds, never alludes to polo, nor i think to anything that can be connected with his book. i believe that no mention of _cathay_ occurs in the _divina commedia_. that distant region is indeed mentioned more than once in the poems of a humbler contemporary, francesco da barberino, but there is nothing in his allusions besides this name to suggest any knowledge of polo's work.[4] neither can i discover any trace of polo or his work in that of his contemporary and countryman, marino sanudo the elder, though this worthy is well acquainted with the somewhat later work of hayton, and many of the subjects which he touches in his own book would seem to challenge a reference to marco's labours. [sidenote: contemporary references to polo.] 76. of contemporary or nearly contemporary references to our traveller by name, the following are all that i can produce, and none of them are new. first there is the notice regarding his presentation of his book to thibault de cepoy, of which we need say no more (supra, p. 68). next there is the preface to friar pipino's translation, which we give at length in the appendix (e) to these notices. the phraseology of this appears to imply that marco was still alive, and this agrees with the date assigned to the work by ramusio. pipino was also the author of a chronicle, of which a part was printed by muratori, and this contains chapters on the tartar wars, the destruction of the old man of the mountain, etc., derived from polo. a passage not printed by muratori has been extracted by prof. bianconi from a ms. of this chronicle in the modena library, and runs as follows:- "the matters which follow, concerning the magnificence of the tartar emperors, whom in their language they call _cham_ as we have said, are related by marcus paulus the venetian in a certain book of his which has been translated by me into latin out of the lombardic vernacular. having gained the notice of the emperor himself and become attached to his service, he passed nearly 27 years in the tartar countries."[5] again we have that mention of marco by friar jacopo d'acqui, which we have quoted in connection with his capture by the genoese, at p. 54.[6] and the florentine historian giovanni villani,[7] when alluding to the tartars, says:- "let him who would make full acquaintance with their history examine the book of friar hayton, lord of colcos in armenia, which he made at the instance of pope clement v., and also the book called _milione_ which was made by messer marco polo of venice, who tells much about their power and dominion, having spent a long time among them. and so let us quit the tartars and return to our subject, the history of florence."[8] [sidenote: further contemporary references.] 77. lastly, we learn from a curious passage in a medical work by pietro of abano, a celebrated physician and philosopher, and a man of polo's own generation, that he was personally acquainted with the traveller. in a discussion on the old notion of the non-habitability of the equatorial regions, which pietro controverts, he says:[9] [illustration: star at the antarctic as sketched by marco polo[10].] "in the country of the zinghi there is seen a star as big as a sack. i know a man who has seen it, and he told me it had a faint light like a piece of a cloud, and is always in the south.[11] i have been told of this and other matters by marco the venetian, the most extensive traveller and the most diligent inquirer whom i have ever known. he saw this same star under the antarctic; he described it as having a great tail, and drew a figure of it _thus_. he also told me that he saw the antarctic pole at an altitude above the earth apparently equal to the length of a soldier's lance, whilst the arctic pole was as much below the horizon. 'tis from that place, he says, that they export to us camphor, lign-aloes, and brazil. he says the heat there is intense, and the habitations few. and these things he witnessed in a certain island at which he arrived by sea. he tells me also that there are (wild?) men there, and also certain very great rams that have very coarse and stiff wool just like the bristles of our pigs."[12] in addition to these five i know no other contemporary references to polo, nor indeed any other within the 14th century, though such there must surely be, excepting in a chronicle written after the middle of that century by john of ypres, abbot of st. bertin, otherwise known as friar john the long, and himself a person of very high merit in the history of travel, as a precursor of the ramusios, hakluyts and purchases, for he collected together and translated (when needful) into french all of the most valuable works of eastern travel and geography produced in the age immediately preceding his own.[13] in his chronicle the abbot speaks at some length of the adventures of the polo family, concluding with a passage to which we have already had occasion to refer: "and so messers nicolaus and maffeus, with certain tartars, were sent a second time to these parts; but marcus pauli was retained by the emperor and employed in his military service, abiding with him for a space of 27 years. and the cham, on account of his ability despatched him upon affairs of his to various parts of tartary and india and the islands, on which journeys he beheld many of the marvels of those regions. and concerning these he afterwards composed a book in the french vernacular, which said book of marvels, with others of the same kind, we do possess." (_thesaur. nov. anecdot._ iii. 747.) [sidenote: curious borrowings from polo in the romance of bauduin de sebourc.] 78. there is, however, a notable work which is ascribed to a rather early date in the 14th century, and which, though it contains no reference to polo by name, shows a thorough acquaintance with his book, and borrows themes largely from it this is the poetical romance of bauduin de sebourc, an exceedingly clever and vivacious production, partaking largely of that bantering, half-mocking spirit which is, i believe, characteristic of many of the later mediaeval french romances.[14] bauduin is a knight who, after a very wild and loose youth, goes through an extraordinary series of adventures, displaying great faith and courage, and eventually becomes king of jerusalem. i will cite some of the traits evidently derived from our traveller, which i have met with in a short examination of this curious work. bauduin, embarked on a dromond in the indian sea, is wrecked in the territory of baudas, and near a city called falise, which stands on the river of baudas. the people of this city were an unbelieving race. "il ne créoient dieu, mahon, né tervogant, ydole, cruchéfis, déable, né tirant." p. 300. their only belief was this, that when a man died a great fire should be made beside his tomb, in which should be burned all his clothes, arms, and necessary furniture, whilst his horse and servant should be put to death, and then the dead man would have the benefit of all these useful properties in the other world.[15] moreover, if it was the king that died- "sé li rois de la terre i aloit trespassant, * * * * * si fasoit-on tuer, .viij. jour en un tenant, tout chiaus c'on encontroit par la chité passant, pour tenir compaingnie leur ségnor soffisant. telle estoit le créanche ou païs dont je cant!"[16] p. 301. baudin arrives when the king has been dead three days, and through dread of this custom all the people of the city are shut up in their houses. he enters an inn, and helps himself to a vast repast, having been fasting for three days. he is then seized and carried before the king, polibans by name. we might have quoted this prince at p. 87 as an instance of the diffusion of the french tongue: "polibans sot fransois, car on le doctrina: j. renoiés de franche. vij. ans i demora, qui li aprist fransois, si que bel en parla." p. 309. bauduin exclaims against their barbarous belief, and declares the christian doctrine to the king, who acknowledges good points in it, but concludes: "vassaus, dist polibans, à le chière hardie, jà ne crerrai vou dieux, à nul jour de ma vie; né vostre loy ne vaut une pomme pourie!" p. 311. bauduin proposes to prove his faith by fighting the prince, himself unarmed, the latter with all his arms. the prince agrees, but is rather dismayed at bauduin's confidence, and desires his followers, in case of his own death, to burn with him horses, armour, etc., asking at the same time which of them would consent to burn along with him, in order to be his companions in the other world: "là en i ot. ij'e. dont cascuns s'escria: nous morons volentiers, quant vo corps mort sara!"[17] p. 313. bauduin's prayer for help is miraculously granted; polibans is beaten, and converted by a vision. he tells bauduin that in his neighbourhood, beyond baudas- "ou. v. liewes, ou. vi. ché un felles prinches, orgoellieus et despis; de la rouge-montaingne est prinches et marchis. or vous dirai comment il a ses gens nouris: je vous di que chius roys a fait un paradis tant noble et gratieus, et plain de tels déliis, * * * * * car en che paradis est un riex establis, qui se partist en trois, en che noble pourpris: en l'un coert li clarés, d'espises bien garnis; et en l'autre li miés, qui les a resouffis; et li vins di pieument i queurt par droit avis- * * * * * il n'i vente, né gèle. che liés est de samis, de riches dras de soie, bien ouvrés à devis. et aveukes tout che que je chi vous devis, i a. ij'e puchelles qui moult ont cler les vis, carolans et tresquans, menans gales et ris. et si est li dieuesse, dame et suppellatis, qui doctrine les autres et en fais et en dis, celle est la fille au roy c'on dist des _haus-assis_."[18] pp. 319-320. this lady ivorine, the old man's daughter, is described among other points as having- "les iex vairs com faucons, nobles et agentis."[19] p. 320. the king of the mountain collects all the young male children of the country, and has them brought up for nine or ten years: "dedens un lieu oscur: là les met-on toudis aveukes males bestes; kiens, et cas, et soris, culoères, et lisaerdes, escorpions petis. là endroit ne peut nuls avoir joie, né ris." pp. 320-321. and after this dreary life they are shown the paradise, and told that such shall be their portion if they do their lord's behest. "s'il disoit à son homme: 'va-t-ent droit à paris; si me fier d'un coutel le roy de saint denis, jamais n'aresteroit, né par nuit né par dis, s'aroit tué le roy, voïant tous ches marchis; et déuist estre à fources traïnés et mal mis.'" p. 321. bauduin determines to see this paradise and the lovely ivorine. the road led by baudas: "or avoit à che tamps, sé l'istoire ne ment, en le chit de baudas kristiens jusqu' à cent; qui manonent illoec par tréu d'argent, que cascuns cristiens au roy-calife rent. li pères du calife, qui régna longement, ama les crestiens, et dieu primièrement: * * * * * et lor fist establir. j. monstier noble et gent, où crestien faisoient faire lor sacrement. une mout noble pière lor donna proprement, où on avoit posé mahon moult longement."[20] p. 322. the story is, in fact, that which marco relates of samarkand.[21] the caliph dies. his son hates the christians. his people complain of the toleration of the christians and their minister; but he says his father had pledged him not to interfere, and he dared not forswear himself. if, without doing so, he could do them an ill turn, he would gladly. the people then suggest their claim to the stone: "or leur donna vos pères, dont che fu mesprisons. ceste pierre, biaus sire, crestiens demandons: il ne le porront rendre, pour vrai le vous disons, si li monstiers n'est mis et par pièches et par mons; et s'il estoit desfais, jamais ne le larons refaire chi-endroit. ensément averons faites et acomplies nostres ententions." p. 324. the caliph accordingly sends for maistre thumas, the priest of the christians, and tells him the stone must be given up: "il a. c. ans ut plus c'on i mist à solas mahon, le nostre dieu: dont che n'est mie estas que li vous monstiers soit fais de nostre harnas!" p. 324. master thomas, in great trouble, collects his flock, mounts the pulpit, and announces the calamity. bauduin and his convert polibans then arrive. bauduin recommends confession, fasting, and prayer. they follow his advice, and on the third day the miracle occurs: "l'escripture le dist, qui nous achertéfie que le pierre mahon, qui ou mur fut fiquie, sali hors du piler, coi que nul vous en die, droit enmi le monstier, c'onques ne fut brisie. et demoura li traus, dont le pière ert widie, sans pière est sans quailliel, à cascune partie; chou deseure soustient, par divine maistrie, tout en air proprement, n'el tenés a falie. encore le voit-on en ichelle partie: qui croire ne m'en voelt, si voist; car je l'en prie!" p. 327. the caliph comes to see, and declares it to be the devil's doing. seeing polibans, who is his cousin, he hails him, but polibans draws back, avowing his christian faith. the caliph in a rage has him off to prison. bauduin becomes very ill, and has to sell his horse and arms. his disease is so offensive that he is thrust out of his hostel, and in his wretchedness sitting on a stone he still avows his faith, and confesses that even then he has not received his deserts. he goes to beg in the christian quarter, and no one gives to him; but still his faith and love to god hold out: "ensément bauduins chelle rue cherqua, tant qu'à .j. chavetier bauduins s'arresta, qui chavates cousoit; son pain en garigna: jones fu et plaisans, apertement ouvra. bauduins le regarde, c'onques mot ne parla." p. 334. the cobler is charitable, gives him bread, shoes, and a grey coat that was a foot too short. he then asks bauduin if he will not learn his trade; but that is too much for the knightly stomach: "et bauduins respont, li preus et li membrus: j'ameroie trop miex que je fuisse pendus!" p. 335. the caliph now in his council expresses his vexation about the miracle, and says he does not know how to disprove the faith of the christians. a very sage old saracen who knew hebrew, and latin, and some thirty languages, makes a suggestion, which is, in fact, that about the moving of the mountain, as related by marco polo.[22] master thomas is sent for again, and told that they must transport the high mountain of _thir_ to the valley of _joaquin_, which lies to the westward. he goes away in new despair and causes his clerk to _sonner le clocke_ for his people. whilst they are weeping and wailing in the church, a voice is heard desiring them to seek a certain holy man who is at the good cobler's, and to do him honour. god at his prayer will do a miracle. they go in procession to bauduin, who thinks they are mocking him. they treat him as a saint, and strive to touch his old coat. at last he consents to pray along with the whole congregation. the caliph is in his palace with his princes, taking his ease at a window. suddenly he starts up exclaiming: "'seignour, par mahoumet que j'aoure et tieng chier, le mont de thir enportent le déable d'enfeir!' li califes s'écrie: 'seignour, franc palasin, voïés le mont de thir qui ch'est mis au chemin! vés-le-là tout en air, par mon dieu apolin; jà bientost le verrons ens ou val joaquin!'" p. 345. the caliph is converted, releases polibans, and is baptised, taking the name of bauduin, to whom he expresses his fear of the viex de la montagne with his _hauts-assis_, telling anew the story of the assassin's paradise, and so enlarges on the beauty of ivorine that bauduin is smitten, and his love heals his malady. toleration is not learned however: "bauduins, li califes, fist baptisier sa gent, et qui ne voilt dieu crore, li teste on li pourfent!" p. 350. the caliph gives up his kingdom to bauduin, proposing to follow him to the wars of syria. and bauduin presents the kingdom to the cobler. bauduin, the caliph, and prince polibans then proceed to visit the mountain of the old man. the caliph professes to him that they want help against godfrey of bouillon. the viex says he does not give a _bouton_ for godfrey; he will send one of his _hauts-assis_ straight to his tent, and give him a great knife of steel between _fie et poumon!_ after dinner they go out and witness the feat of devotion which we have quoted elsewhere.[23] they then see the paradise and the lovely ivorine, with whose beauty bauduin is struck dumb. the lady had never smiled before; now she declares that he for whom she had long waited was come. bauduin exclaims: "'madame, fu-jou chou qui sui le vous soubgis?' quant la puchelle l'ot, lors li geta. j. ris; et li dist: 'bauduins, vous estes mes amis!'" pp. 362-363. the old one is vexed, but speaks pleasantly to his daughter, who replies with frightfully bad language, and declares herself to be a christian. the father calls out to the caliph to kill her. the caliph pulls out a big knife and gives him a blow that nearly cuts him in two. the amiable ivorine says she will go with bauduin: "'sé mes pères est mors, n'en donne. j. paresis!'" p. 364. we need not follow the story further, as i did not trace beyond this point any distinct derivation from our traveller, with the exception of that allusion to the incombustible covering of the napkin of st. veronica, which i have quoted at p. 216 of this volume. but including this, here are at least seven different themes borrowed from marco polo's book, on which to be sure his poetical contemporary plays the most extraordinary variations. [sidenote: chaucer and marco polo.] [78 _bis._--in the third volume of _the complete works of geoffrey chaucer_, oxford, 1894, the rev. walter w. skeat gives (pp. 372 seqq.) an _account of the sources of the canterbury tales_. regarding _the squieres tales_, he says that one of his sources was the travels of marco; mr. keighley in his _tales and popular fictions_, published in 1834, at p. 76, distinctly derives chaucer's tale from the travels of marco polo. (_skeat, l. c._, p. 463, note.) i cannot quote all the arguments given by the rev. w. w. skeat to support his theory, pp. 463-477. regarding the opinion of professor skeat of chaucer's indebtedness to marco polo, cf. _marco polo and the squire's tale_, by professor john matthews manly, vol. xi. of the _publications of the modern language association of america_, 1896, pp. 349-362. mr. manly says (p. 360): "it seems clear, upon reviewing the whole problem, that if chaucer used marco polo's narrative, he either carelessly or intentionally confused all the features of the setting that could possibly be confused, and retained not a single really characteristic trait of any person, place or event. it is only by twisting everything that any part of chaucer's story can be brought into relation with any part of polo's. to do this might be allowable, if any rational explanation could be given for chaucer's supposed treatment of his 'author,' or if there were any scarcity of sources from which chaucer might have obtained as much information about tartary as he seems really to have possessed; but such an explanation would be difficult to devise, and there is no such scarcity. any one of half a dozen accessible accounts could be distorted into almost if not quite as great resemblance to the _squire's tale_ as marco polo's can." mr. a. w. pollard, in his edition of _the squire's tale_ (lond., 1899) writes: "a very able paper, by prof. j. m. manly, demonstrates the needlessness of prof. skeat's theory, which has introduced fresh complications into an already complicated story. my own belief is that, though we may illustrate the squire's tale from these old accounts of tartary, and especially from marco polo, because he has been so well edited by colonel yule, there is very little probability that chaucer consulted any of them. it is much more likely that he found these details where he found more important parts of his story, i.e. in some lost romance. but if we must suppose that he provided his own local colour, we have no right to pin him down to using marco polo to the exclusion of other accessible authorities." mr. pollard adds in a note (p. xiii.): "there are some features in these narratives, e.g. the account of the gorgeous dresses worn at the kaan's feast, which chaucer with his love of colour could hardly have helped reproducing if he had known them."--h. c.] [1] see _ferrazzi, manuele dantesca_, bassano, 1865, p. 729. [2] in quaritch's catalogue for nov. 1870 there is only one old edition of polo; there are _nine_ of maundevile. in 1839 there were nineteen mss. of the latter author _catalogued_ in the british museum library. there are _now_ only six of marco polo. at least twenty-five editions of maundevile and only five of polo were printed in the 15th century. [3] i have made personal enquiry at the national libraries of naples and palermo, at the communal library in the latter city, and at the benedictine libraries of monte cassino, monreale, s. martino, and catania. in the 15th century, when polo's book had become more generally diffused we find three copies of it in the catalogue of the library of charles vi. of france, made at the louvre in 1423, by order of the duke of bedford. the estimates of value are curious. they are in _sols parisis_, which we shall not estimate very wrongly at a shilling each:- "no. 295. _item_. marcus paulus; _en ung cahier escript de lettre formée en françois, à deux coulombes. commt. ou ii'e fo._ 'deux frères prescheurs,' _et ou derrenier_ 'que sa arrières.' _x. s. p._ "no. 334. _item_. marcus paulus. _couvert de drap d'or, bien escript & enluminé, de lettre de forme en françois, à deux coulombes. commt. ou ii'e fol._; 'il fut roys,' _& ou derrenier_ 'propremen,' _à deux fermouers de laton. xv. s. p._ "no. 336. _item_. marcus paulus; _non enluminé, escript en françois, de lettre de forme. commt. ou ii'e fo._ 'vocata moult grant,' _& ou derrenier_ 'ilec dist il.' _couvert de cuir blanc, à deux fermouers de laton. xii. s. p._" (_inventaire de la bibliothèque du roi charles vi._, etc. paris, société des bibliophiles, 1867.) [4] see _del reggimento e de' costumi delle donne di messer francesco da barberino_, roma, 1815, pp. 166 and 271. the latter passage runs thus, on _slavery_:- "e fu indutta prima da noé, e fu cagion lo vin, perchè si egge: ch' egli è un paese, dove son molti servi in parte di cathay: che per questa cagione hanno a nimico il vino, e non ne beon, nè voglion vedere." the author was born the year before dante (1264), and though he lived to 1348 it is probable that the poems in question were written in his earlier years. _cathay_ was no doubt known by dim repute long before the final return of the polos, both through the original journey of nicolo and maffeo, and by information gathered by the missionary friars. indeed, in 1278 pope nicolas iii., in consequence of information said to have come from abaka khan of persia, that kúblái was a baptised christian, sent a party of franciscans with a long letter to the kaan _quobley_, as he is termed. they never seem to have reached their destination. and in 1289 nicolas iv. entrusted a similar mission to friar john of monte corvino, which eventually led to very tangible results. neither of the papal letters, however, mentions _cathay_. (see _mosheim_, app. pp. 76 and 94.) [5] see _muratori_, ix. 583, seqq.; _bianconi_, mem. i. p. 37. [6] this friar makes a strange hotch-potch of what he had read, e.g.: "the tartars, when they came out of the mountains, made them a king, viz., the son of prester john, who is thus vulgarly termed _vetulus de la montagna!_" (_mon. hist. patr._ script. iii. 1557.) [7] g. villani died in the great plague of 1348. but his book was begun soon after marco's was written, for he states that it was the sight of the memorials of greatness which he witnessed at rome, during the jubilee of 1300, that put it into his head to write the history of the rising glories of florence, and that he began the work after his return home. (bk. viii. ch. 36.) [8] book v. ch. 29. [9] _petri aponensis medici ac philosophi celeberrimi, conciliator_, venice, 1521, fol. 97. peter was born in 1250 at abano, near padua, and was professor of medicine at the university in the latter city. he twice fell into the claws of the unholy office, and only escaped them by death in 1316. [10] [it is curious that this figure is almost exactly that which among oriental carpets is called a "cloud." i have heard the term so applied by vincent robinson. it often appears in old persian carpets, and also in chinese designs. mr. purdon clarke tells me it is called _nebula_ in heraldry; it is also called in chinese by a term signifying cloud; in persian, by a term which he called _silen-i-khitai_, but of this i can make nothing.--_ms. note by yule_.] [11] the great magellanic cloud? in the account of vincent yanez pinzon's voyage to the s.w. in 1499 as given in ramusio (iii. 15) after pietro martire d'anghieria, it is said:--"taking the astrolabe in hand, and ascertaining the antarctic pole, they did not see any star like our pole star; but they related that they saw another manner of stars very different from ours, and which they could not clearly discern because of a certain dimness which diffused itself about those stars, and obstructed the view of them." also the kachh mariners told lieutenant leech that midway to zanzibar there was a town (?) called marethee, where the north pole star sinks below the horizon, and they steer by _a fixed cloud in the heavens_. (bombay govt. selections, no. xv. n.s. p. 215.) the great magellan cloud is mentioned by an old arab writer as a white blotch at the foot of canopus, visible in the tehama along the red sea, but not in nejd or 'irák. humboldt, in quoting this, calculates that in a.d. 1000 the great magellan would have been visible at aden some degrees above the horizon. (_examen_, v. 235.) [12] this passage contains points that are omitted in polo's book, besides the drawing implied to be from marco's own hand! the island is of course sumatra. the animal is perhaps the peculiar sumatran wild-goat, figured by marsden, the hair of which on the back is "coarse and strong, almost like bristles." (_sumatra_, p. 115.) [13] a splendid example of abbot john's collection is the _livre des merveilles_ of the great french library (no. 18 in our _app. f._). this contains polo, odoric, william of boldensel, the book of the estate of the great kaan by the archbishop of soltania, maundevile, hayton, and ricold of montecroce, of which all but polo and maundevile are french versions by this excellent long john. a list of the polo miniatures is given in _app. f_. of this edition, p. 527. it is a question for which there is sufficient ground, whether the persian historians rashiduddin and wassáf, one or other or both, did not derive certain information that appears in their histories, from marco polo personally, he having spent many months in persia, and at the court of tabriz, when either or both may have been there. such passages as that about the cotton-trees of guzerat (vol. ii. p. 393, and note), those about the horse trade with maabar (id. p. 340, and note), about the brother-kings of that country (id. p. 331), about the naked savages of necuveram (id. p. 306), about the wild people of sumatra calling themselves subjects of the great kaan (id. pp. 285, 292, 293, 299), have so strong a resemblance to parallel passages in one or both of the above historians, as given in the first and third volumes of elliot, that the probability, at least, of the persian writers having derived their information from polo might be fairly maintained. [14] _li romans de bauduin de sebourc iii'e roy de jhérusalem_; poème du xiv'e siècle; valenciennes, 1841. 2 vols. 8vo. i was indebted to two references of m. pauthier's for knowledge of the existence of this work. he cites the legends of the mountain, and of the stone of the saracens from an abstract, but does not seem to have consulted the work itself, nor to have been aware of the extent of its borrowings from marco polo. m. génin, from whose account pauthier quotes, ascribes the poem to an early date after the death of philip the fair (1314). see _pauthier_, pp. 57, 58, and 140. [15] see polo, vol. i. p. 204, and vol. ii. p. 191. [16] see polo, vol. i. p. 246. [17] see polo, vol. ii. p. 339. [18] see polo, vol. i. p. 140. _hashishi_ has got altered into _haus assis_. [19] see vol. i. p. 358, note. [20] see vol. i. p. 189, note 2. [21] vol. i. pp. 183-186. [22] vol. i. pp. 68 seqq. the virtuous cobler is not left out, but is made to play second fiddle to the hero bauduin [23] vol. i. p. 144. xiii. nature of polo's influence on geographical knowledge. [sidenote: tardy operation, and causes thereof.] 79. marco polo contributed such a vast amount of new facts to the knowledge of the earth's surface, that one might have expected his book to have had a sudden effect upon the science of geography: but no such result occurred speedily, nor was its beneficial effect of any long duration. no doubt several causes contributed to the slowness of its action upon the notions of cosmographers, of which the unreal character attributed to the book, as a collection of romantic marvels rather than of geographical and historical facts, may have been one, as santarem urges. but the essential causes were no doubt the imperfect nature of publication before the invention of the press; the traditional character which clogged geography as well as all other branches of knowledge in the middle ages; and the entire absence of scientific principle in what passed for geography, so that there was no organ competent to the assimilation of a large mass of new knowledge. of the action of the first cause no examples can be more striking than we find in the false conception of the caspian as a gulf of the ocean, entertained by strabo, and the opposite error in regard to the indian sea held by ptolemy, who regards it as an enclosed basin, when we contrast these with the correct ideas on both subjects possessed by herodotus. the later geographers no doubt knew his statements, but did not appreciate them, probably from not possessing the evidence on which they were based. [sidenote: general characteristics of mediaeval cosmography.] 80. as regards the second cause alleged, we may say that down nearly to the middle of the 15th century cosmographers, as a rule, made scarcely any attempt to reform their maps by any elaborate search for new matter, or by lights that might be collected from recent travellers. their world was in its outline that handed down by the traditions of their craft, as sanctioned by some father of the church, such as orosius or isidore, as sprinkled with a combination of classical and mediaeval legend; solinus being the great authority for the former. almost universally the earth's surface is represented as filling the greater part of a circular disk, rounded by the ocean; a fashion that already existed in the time of aristotle and was ridiculed by him.[1] no dogma of false geography was more persistent or more pernicious than this. jerusalem occupies the central point, because it was found written in the prophet ezekiel: "_haec dicit dominus deus: ista est jerusalem_, in medio gentium _posui eam, et in circuitu ejus terras_;"[2] a declaration supposed to be corroborated by the psalmist's expression, regarded as prophetic of the death of our lord: "_deus autem, rex noster, ante secula operatus est salutem_ in medio terrae" (ps. lxxiii. 12).[3] the terrestrial paradise was represented as occupying the extreme east, because it was found in genesis that the lord planted a garden east ward in eden.[4] _gog and magog_ were set in the far north or north-east, because it was said again in ezekiel: "_ecce ego super te gog principem capitis mosoch et thubal ... et ascendere te faciam de lateribus aquilonis_," whilst probably the topography of those mysterious nationalities was completed by a girdle of mountains out of the alexandrian fables. the loose and scanty nomenclature was mainly borrowed from pliny or mela through such fathers as we have named; whilst vacant spaces were occupied by amazons, arimaspians, and the realm of prester john. a favourite representation of the inhabited earth was this [symbol]; a great o enclosing a t, which thus divides the circle in three parts; the greater or half-circle being asia, the two quarter circles europe and africa.[5] these maps were known to st. augustine.[6] [sidenote: roger bacon as a geographer.] 81. even ptolemy seems to have been almost unknown; and indeed had his geography been studied it might, with all its errors, have tended to some greater endeavours after accuracy. roger bacon, whilst lamenting the exceeding deficiency of geographical knowledge in the latin world, and purposing to essay an exacter distribution of countries, says he will not attempt to do so by latitude and longitude, for that is a system of which the latins have learned nothing. he himself, whilst still somewhat burdened by the authoritative dicta of "saints and sages" of past times, ventures at least to criticise some of the latter, such as pliny and ptolemy, and declares his intention to have recourse to the information of those who have travelled most extensively over the earth's surface. and judging from the good use he makes, in his description of the northern parts of the world, of the travels of rubruquis, whom he had known and questioned, besides diligently studying his narrative,[7] we might have expected much in geography from this great man, had similar materials been available to him for other parts of the earth. he did attempt a map with mathematical determination of places, but it has not been preserved.[8] it may be said with general truth that the world-maps current up to the end of the 13th century had more analogy to the mythical cosmography of the hindus than to any thing properly geographical. both, no doubt, were originally based in the main on real features. in the hindu cosmography these genuine features are symmetrised as in a kaleidoscope; in the european cartography they are squeezed together in a manner that one can only compare to a pig in brawn. here and there some feature strangely compressed and distorted is just recognisable. a splendid example of this kind of map is that famous one at hereford, executed about a.d. 1275, of which a facsimile has lately been published, accompanied by a highly meritorious illustrative essay.[9] 82. among the arabs many able men, from the early days of islám, took an interest in geography, and devoted labour to geographical compilations, in which they often made use of their own observations, of the itineraries of travellers, and of other fresh knowledge. but somehow or other their maps were always far behind their books. though they appear to have had an early translation of ptolemy, and elaborate tables of latitudes and longitudes form a prominent feature in many of their geographical treatises, there appears to be no arabic map in existence, laid down with meridians and parallels; whilst _all_ of their best known maps are on the old system of the circular disk. this apparent incapacity for map-making appears to have acted as a heavy drag and bar upon progress in geography among the arabs, notwithstanding its early promise among them, and in spite of the application to its furtherance of the great intellects of some (such as abu rihán al-biruni), and of the indefatigable spirit of travel and omnivorous curiosity of others (such as mas'údi). [sidenote: marino sanudo the elder.] 83. some distinct trace of acquaintance with the arabian geography is to be found in the world-map of marino sanudo the elder, constructed between 1300 and 1320; and this may be regarded as an exceptionally favourable specimen of the cosmography in vogue, for the author was a diligent investigator and compiler, who evidently took a considerable interest in geographical questions, and had a strong enjoyment and appreciation of a map.[10] nor is the map in question without some result of these characteristics. his representation of europe, northern africa, syria, asia minor, arabia and its two gulfs, is a fair approximation to general facts; his collected knowledge has enabled him to locate, with more or less of general truth, georgia, the iron gates, cathay, the plain of moghan, euphrates and tigris, persia, bagdad, kais, aden (though on the wrong side of the red sea), abyssinia (_habesh_), zangibar (_zinz_), jidda (zede), etc. but after all the traditional forms are too strong for him. jerusalem is still the centre of the disk of the habitable earth, so that the distance is as great from syria to gades in the extreme west, as from syria to the india interior of prester john which terminates the extreme east. and africa beyond the arabian gulf is carried, according to the arabian modification of ptolemy's misconception, far to the eastward until it almost meets the prominent shores of india. [sidenote: the catalan map of 1375, the most complete mediaeval embodiment of polo's geography.] 84. the first genuine mediaeval attempt at a geographical construction that i know of, absolutely free from the traditional _idola_, is the map of the known world from the portulano mediceo (in the laurentian library), of which an extract is engraved in the atlas of baldelli-boni's polo. i need not describe it, however, because i cannot satisfy myself that it makes much use of polo's contributions, and its facts have been embodied in a more ambitious work of the next generation, the celebrated catalan map of 1375 in the great library of paris. this also, but on a larger scale and in a more comprehensive manner, is an honest endeavour to represent the known world on the basis of collected facts, casting aside all theories pseudo-scientific or pseudo-theological; and a very remarkable work it is. in this map it seems to me marco polo's influence, i will not say on geography, but on map-making, is seen to the greatest advantage. his book is the basis of the map as regards central and further asia, and partially as regards india. his names are often sadly perverted, and it is not always easy to understand the view that the compiler took of his itineraries. still we have cathay admirably placed in the true position of china, as a great empire filling the south-east of asia. the eastern peninsula of india is indeed absent altogether, but the peninsula of hither india is for the first time in the history of geography represented with a fair approximation to its correct form and position,[11] and sumatra also (_java_) is not badly placed. carajan, vocian, mien, and bangala, are located with a happy conception of their relation to cathay and to india. many details in india foreign to polo's book,[12] and some in cathay (as well as in turkestan and siberia, which have been entirely derived from other sources) have been embodied in the map. but the study of his book has, i conceive, been essentially the basis of those great portions which i have specified, and the additional matter has not been in mass sufficient to perplex the compiler. hence we really see in this map something like the idea of asia that the traveller himself would have presented, had he bequeathed a map to us. [some years ago, i made a special study of the far east in the catalan map. (_l'extrême-orient dans l'atlas catalan de charles v._, paris, 1895), and i have come to the conclusion that the cartographer's knowledge of eastern asia is drawn almost entirely from marco polo. we give a reproduction of part of the catalan map.--h. c.] [illustration: part of the catalan map (1375).] [sidenote: confusions in cartography of the 16th century, from the endeavour to combine new and old information.] 85. in the following age we find more frequent indications that polo's book was diffused and read. and now that the spirit of discovery began to stir, it was apparently regarded in a juster light as a book of facts, and not as a mere _romman du grant kaan_.[13] but in fact this age produced new supplies of crude information in greater abundance than the knowledge of geographers was prepared to digest or co-ordinate, and the consequence is that the magnificent work of fra mauro (1459), though the result of immense labour in the collection of facts and the endeavour to combine them, really gives a considerably less accurate idea of asia than that which the catalan map had afforded.[14] and when at a still later date the great burst of discovery eastward and westward took effect, the results of all attempts to combine the new knowledge with the old was most unhappy. the first and crudest forms of such combinations attempted to realise the ideas of columbus regarding the identity of his discoveries with the regions of the great kaan's dominion;[15] but even after america had vindicated its independent position on the surface of the globe, and the new knowledge of the portuguese had introduced china where the catalan map of the 14th century had presented cathay, the latter country, with the whole of polo's nomenclature, was shoved away to the north, forming a separate system.[16] henceforward the influence of polo's work on maps was simply injurious; and when to his nomenclature was added a sprinkling of ptolemy's, as was usual throughout the 16th century, the result was a most extraordinary hotch-potch, conveying no approximation to any consistent representation of facts. thus, in a map of 1522,[17] running the eye along the north of europe and asia from west to east, we find the following succession of names: groenlandia, or greenland, as a great peninsula overlapping that of norvegia and suecia; livonia, plescovia and moscovia, tartaria bounded on the south by _scithia extra imaum_, and on the east, by the rivers _ochardes_ and _bautisis_ (out of ptolemy), which are made to flow into the arctic sea. south of these are _aureacithis_ and _asmirea_ (ptolemy's _auxacitis_ and _asmiraea_), and _serica regio_. then following the northern coast _balor regio_,[18] _judei clausi_, i.e. the ten tribes who are constantly associated or confounded with the shut-up nations of gog and magog. these impinge upon the river _polisacus_, flowing into the northern ocean in lat. 75°, but which is in fact no other than polo's _pulisanghin!_[19] immediately south of this is _tholomon provincia_ (polo's again), and on the coast _tangut_, _cathaya_, the rivers _caramoran_ and _oman_ (a misreading of polo's _quian_), _quinsay_ and _mangi_. [sidenote: gradual disappearance of polo's nomenclature.] 86. the maps of mercator (1587) and magini (1597) are similar in character, but more elaborate, introducing china as a separate system. such indeed also is blaeu's map (1663) excepting that ptolemy's contributions are reduced to one or two. in sanson's map (1659) the data of polo and the mediaeval travellers are more cautiously handled, but a new element of confusion is introduced in the form of numerous features derived from edrisi. it is scarcely worth while to follow the matter further. with the increase of knowledge of northern asia from the russian side, and that of china from the maps of martini, followed by the surveys of the jesuits, and with the real science brought to bear on asiatic geography by such men as de l'isle and d'anville, mere traditional nomenclature gradually disappeared. and the task which the study of polo has provided for the geographers of later days has been chiefly that of determining the true localities that his book describes under obsolete or corrupted names. [my late illustrious friend, baron _a. e. nordenskiöld_, who has devoted much time and labour to the study of marco polo (see his _periplus_, stockholm, 1897), and published a facsimile edition of one of the french mss. kept in the stockholm royal library (see vol. ii. _bibliography_, p. 570), has given to _the geographical journal_ for april, 1899, pp. 396-406, a paper on _the influence of the "travels of marco polo" on jacobo gastaldi's maps of asia_. he writes (p. 398) that as far as he knows, none "of the many learned men who have devoted their attention to the discoveries of marco polo, have been able to refer to any maps in which all or almost all those places mentioned by marco polo are given. all friends of the history of geography will therefore be glad to hear that such an atlas from the middle of the sixteenth century really does exist, viz. gastaldi's 'prima, seconda e terza parte dell asia.'" all the names of places in ramusio's marco polo are introduced in the maps of asia of jacobo gastaldi (1561). cf. _periplus_, liv., lv., and lvi. i may refer to what both yule and myself say supra of the catalan map.--h. c.] [sidenote: alleged introduction of block-printed books into europe by marco polo.] 87. before concluding, it may be desirable to say a few words on the subject of important knowledge other than geographical, which various persons have supposed that marco polo must have introduced from eastern asia to europe. respecting the mariner's compass and gunpowder i shall say nothing, as no one now, i believe, imagines marco to have had anything to do with their introduction. but from a highly respectable source in recent years we have seen the introduction of block-printing into europe connected with the name of our traveller. the circumstances are stated as follows:[20] "in the beginning of the 15th century a man named pamphilo castaldi, of feltre ... was employed by the seignory or government of the republic, to engross deeds and public edicts of various kinds ... the initial letters at the commencement of the writing being usually ornamented with red ink, or illuminated in gold and colours "according to sansovino, certain stamps or types had been invented some time previously by pietro di natali, bishop of aquiloea.[21] these were made at murano of glass, and were used to stamp or print the outline of the large initial letters of public documents, which were afterwards filled up by hand.... pamphilo castaldi improved on these glass types, by having others made of wood or metal, and having seen several chinese books which the famous traveller marco polo had brought from china, and of which the entire text was printed with wooden blocks, he caused moveable wooden types to be made, each type containing a single letter; and with these he printed several broadsides and single leaves, at venice, in the year 1426. some of these single sheets are said to be preserved among the archives at feltre.... "the tradition continues that john faust, of mayence ... became acquainted with castaldi, and passed some time with him, at his _scriptorium_,... at feltre;" and in short developed from the knowledge so acquired the great invention of printing. mr. curzon goes on to say that panfilo castaldi was born in 1398, and died in 1490, and that he gives the story as he found it in an article written by dr. jacopo facen, of feltre, in a (venetian?) newspaper called _il gondoliere_, no. 103, of 27th december, 1843. in a later paper mr. curzon thus recurs to the subject:[22] "though none of the early block-books have dates affixed to them, many of them are with reason supposed to be more ancient than any books printed with moveable types. their resemblance to chinese block-books is so exact, that they would almost seem to be copied from the books commonly used in china. _the impressions are taken off on one side of the paper only, and in binding, both the chinese, and ancient german, or dutch block-books, the blank sides of the pages are placed opposite each other_, and sometimes pasted together.... the impressions are not taken off with printer's ink, but _with a brown paint or colour, of a much thinner description, more in the nature of indian ink, as we call it, which is used in printing chinese books_. altogether the german and oriental block-books are so precisely alike, in almost every respect, that ... we must suppose that the process of printing then must have been copied from ancient chinese specimens, brought from that country by some early travellers, whose names have not been handed down to our times." the writer then refers to the tradition about _guttemberg_ (so it is stated on this occasion, not faust) having learned castaldi's art, etc., mentioning a circumstance which he supposes to indicate that guttemberg had relations with venice; and appears to assent to the probability of the story of the art having been founded on specimens brought home by marco polo. this story was in recent years diligently propagated in northern italy, and resulted in the erection at feltre of a public statue of panfilo castaldi, bearing this inscription (besides others of like tenor):- "_to panfilo castaldi the illustrious inventor of movable printing types, italy renders this tribute of honour, too long deferred._" in the first edition of this book i devoted a special note to the exposure of the worthlessness of the evidence for this story.[23] this note was, with the present essay, translated and published at venice by comm. berchet, but this challenge to the supporters of the patriotic romance, so far as i have heard, brought none of them into the lists in its defence. but since castaldi has got his statue from the printers of lombardy, would it not be mere equity that the mariners of spain should set up a statue at huelva to the pilot alonzo sanchez of that port, who, according to spanish historians, after discovering the new world, died in the house of columbus at terceira, and left the crafty genoese to appropriate his journals, and rob him of his fame? seriously; if anybody in feltre cares for the real reputation of his native city, let him do his best to have that preposterous and discreditable fiction removed from the base of the statue. if castaldi has deserved a statue on other and truer grounds let _him_ stand; if not, let him be burnt into honest lime! i imagine that the original story that attracted mr. curzon was more _jeu d'esprit_ than anything else; but that the author, finding what a stone he had set rolling, did not venture to retract. [sidenote: frequent opportunities for such introduction in the age following polo's.] 88. mr. curzon's own observations, which i have italicised about the resemblance of the two systems are, however, very striking, and seem clearly to indicate the derivation of the art from china. but i should suppose that in the tradition, if there ever was any genuine tradition of the kind at feltre (a circumstance worthy of all doubt), the name of marco polo was introduced merely because it was so prominent a name in eastern travel. the fact has been generally overlooked and forgotten[24] that, for many years in the course of the 14th century, not only were missionaries of the roman church and houses of the franciscan order established in the chief cities of china, but a regular trade was carried on overland between italy and china, by way of tana (or azov), astracan, otrar and kamul, insomuch that instructions for the italian merchant following that route form the two first chapters in the mercantile handbook of balducci pegolotti (circa 1340).[25] many a traveller besides marco polo might therefore have brought home the block-books. and this is the less to be ascribed to him because he so curiously omits to speak of the art of printing, when his subject seems absolutely to challenge its description. [1] "they draw nowadays the map of the world in a laughable manner, for they draw the inhabited earth as a circle; but this is impossible, both from what we see and from reason." (_meteorolog. lib._ ii. cap. 5.) cf. _herodotus_, iv. 36. [2] in dante's cosmography, jerusalem is the centre of our [greek: oikouménae], whilst the mount of purgatory occupies the middle of the antipodal hemisphere:- "come ciò sia, se'l vuoi poter pensare, dentro raccolto immagina sion con questo monte in su la terra stare, sì, ch' ambodue hann' un solo orrizon e diversi emisperi".... --_purg._ iv. 67. [3] the belief, with this latter ground of it, is alluded to in curious verses by jacopo alighieri, dante's son:- "_e molti gran profeti filosofi e poeti_ fanno il colco dell' emme dov' è gerusalemme; _se le loro scritture hanno vere figure: e per la santa fede cristiana ancor si vede che' l' suo principio cristo_ nel suo mezzo _conquisto per cui prese morte e vi pose la sorte_." --(_rime antiche toscane_, iii. 9.) though the general meaning of the second couplet is obvious, the expression _il colco dell' emme_, "the couch of the m," is puzzling. the best solution that occurs to me is this: in looking at the world map of marino sanudo, noticed on p. 133, as engraved by bongars in the _gesta dei per francos_, you find geometrical lines laid down, connecting the n.e., n.w., s.e., and s.w. points, and thus forming a square inscribed in the circular disk of the earth, with its diagonals passing through the central zion. the eye easily discerns in these a great m inscribed in the circle, with its middle angular point at jerusalem. gervasius of tilbury (with some confusion in his mind between tropic and equinoxial, like that which pliny makes in speaking of the indian mons malleus) says that "some are of opinion that the centre is in the place where the lord spoke to the woman of samaria at the well, for there, at the summer solstice, the noonday sun descends perpendicularly into the water of the well, casting no shadow; a thing which the philosophers say occurs at syene"! (_otia imperialia_, by liebrecht, p. 1.) [4] this circumstance does not, however, show in the vulgate. [5] "veggiamo in prima in general la terra come risiede e come il mar la serra. un t dentro ad un o mostra il disegno come in tre parti fu diviso il mondo, e la superiore è il maggior regno che quasi piglia la metà del tondo. asia chiamata: il gambo ritto è segno che parte il terzo nome dal secondo affrica dico da europa: il mare mediterran tra esse in mezzo appare." --_la sfera_, di f. leonardo di stagio dati, lib. iii. st. 11. [6] _de civ. dei_, xvi. 17, quoted by _peschel_, 92. [7] _opus majus_, venice ed. pp. 142, seqq. [8] _peschel_, p. 195. this had escaped me. [9] by the rev. w. l. bevan, m.a., and the rev. h. w. phillott, m.a. in asia, they point out, the only name showing any recognition of modern knowledge is samarcand. [10] his work, _liber secretorum fidelium crucis_, intended to stimulate a new crusade, has three capital maps, besides that of the world, one of which, translated, but otherwise in facsimile, is given at p. 18 of this volume. but besides these maps, he gives, in a tabular form of parallel columns, the reigning sovereigns in europe and asia connected with his historical retrospect, just on the plan presented in sir harris nicolas's chronology of history. [11] i do not see that al-birúni deserves the credit in this respect assigned to him by professor peschel, so far as one can judge from the data given by sprenger (_peschel_, p. 128; _post und reise-routen_, 81-82.) [12] for example, _delli_, which polo does not name; _diogil_ (deogír); on the coromandel coast _setemelti_, which i take to be a clerical error for _sette-templi_, the seven pagodas; round the gulf of cambay we have _cambetum_ (kambayat), _cocintaya_ (kokan-tana, see vol. ii. p. 396), _goga, baroche, neruala_ (anharwala), and to the north _moltan_. below multan are _hocibelch_ and _bargelidoa_, two puzzles. the former is, i think, _uch-baligh_, showing that part of the information was from perso-mongol sources. [13] i see it stated by competent authority that _romman_ is often applied to any prose composition in a romance language. in or about 1426, prince pedro of portugal, the elder brother of the illustrious prince henry, being on a visit to venice, was presented by the signory with a copy of marco polo's book, together with a map already alluded to. (_major's p. henry_, pp. 61, 62.) [14] this is partly due also to fra mauro's reversion to the fancy of the circular disk limiting the inhabited portion of the earth. [15] an early graphic instance of this is ruysch's famous map (1508). the following extract of a work printed as late as 1533 is an example of the like confusion in verbal description: "the territories which are beyond the limits of ptolemy's tables have not yet been described on certain authority. behind the sinae and the seres, and beyond 180° of east longitude, many countries were discovered by one [_quendam_] marco polo a venetian and others, and the sea-coasts of those countries have now recently again been explored by columbus the genoese and amerigo vespucci in navigating the western ocean.... to this part (of asia) belong the territory called that of the _bachalaos_ [or codfish, newfoundland], _florida_, _the desert of lop_, _tangut_, _cathay_, the realm of _mexico_ (wherein is the vast city of _temistitan_, built in the middle of a great lake, but which the older travellers styled quinsay), besides _paria_, _uraba_, and the countries of the _canibals_." (_joannis schoneri carolostadtii opusculum geogr._, quoted by humboldt, _examen_, v. 171, 172.) [16] in robert parke's dedication of his translation of mendoza's, london, 1st of january, 1589, he identifies china and japan with the regions of which _paulus venetus_ and _sir john mandeuill_ "wrote long agoe." --_ms. note by yule_. [17] "_totius europae et asiae tabula geographica, auctore thoma d. aucupario. edita argentorati_, mdxxii." copied in witsen. [18] this strange association of _balor_ (i.e., bolor, that name of so many odd vicissitudes, see pp. 178-179 infra) with the shut-up israelites must be traced to a passage which athanasius kircher quotes from _r. abraham pizol_ (qu. peritsol?): "_regnum_, inquit, belor _magnum et excelsum nimis, juxta omnes illos qui scripserunt historicos_. sunt in eo judaei _plurimi inclusi, et illud in latere orientali et boreali_," etc. (_china illustrata_, p. 49.) [19] vol. ii. p. 1. [20] _a short account of libraries of italy_, by the hon. r. curzon (the late lord de la zouche); in _bibliog. and hist. miscellanies; philobiblon society_, vol. i, 1854, pp. 6. seqq. [21] p. del natali was bishop of equilio, a city of the venetian lagoons, in the latter part of the 14th century. (see _ughelli, italia sacra_, x. 87.) there is no ground whatever for connecting him with these inventions. the story of the glass types appears to rest entirely and solely on one obscure passage of sansovino, who says that under the doge marco corner (1365-1367): "_certe natale veneto lasciò un libro della materie delle forme da giustar intorno alle lettere, ed il modo di formarle di vetro_." there is absolutely nothing more. some kind of stencilling seems indicated. [22] _history of printing in china and europe_, in _philobiblon_, vol. vi. p. 23. [23] see _appendix l_. in first edition. [24] ramusio himself appears to have been entirely unconscious of it, vide supra, p. 3 [25] this subject has been fully treated in _cathay and the way thither_. xiv. explanations regarding the basis adopted for the present translation. 89. it remains to say a few words regarding the basis adopted for our english version of the traveller's record. [sidenote: text followed by marsden and by pauthier.] ramusio's recension was that which marsden selected for translation. but at the date of his most meritorious publication nothing was known of the real literary history of polo's book, and no one was aware of the peculiar value and originality of the french manuscript texts, nor had marsden seen any of them. a translation from one of those texts is a translation at first hand; a translation from ramusio's italian is, as far as i can judge, the translation of a translated compilation from two or more translations, and therefore, whatever be the merits of its matter, inevitably carries us far away from the spirit and style of the original narrator. m. pauthier, i think, did well in adopting for the text of his edition the mss. which i have classed as of the second type, the more as there had hitherto been no publication from those texts. but editing a text in the original language, and translating, are tasks substantially different in their demands. [sidenote: eclectic formation of the english text of this translation.] 90. it will be clear from what has been said in the preceding pages that i should not regard as a fair or full representation of polo's work, a version on which the geographic text did not exercise a material influence. but to adopt that text, with all its awkwardnesses and tautologies, as the absolute subject of translation, would have been a mistake. what i have done has been, in the first instance, to translate from pauthier's text. the process of abridgment in this text, however it came about, has been on the whole judiciously executed, getting rid of the intolerable prolixities of manner which belong to many parts of the original dictation, but _as a general rule_ preserving the matter. having translated this,--not always from the text adopted by pauthier himself, but with the exercise of my own judgment on the various readings which that editor lays before us,--i then compared the translation with the geographic text, and transferred from the latter not only all items of real substance that had been omitted, but also all expressions of special interest and character, and occasionally a greater fulness of phraseology where condensation in pauthier's text seemed to have been carried too far. and finally i introduced _between brackets_ everything peculiar to ramusio's version that seemed to me to have a just claim to be reckoned authentic, and that could be so introduced without harshness or mutilation. many passages from the same source which were of interest in themselves, but failed to meet one or other of these conditions, have been given in the notes.[1] [sidenote: mode of rendering proper names.] 91. as regards the reading of proper names and foreign words, in which there is so much variation in the different mss. and editions, i have done my best to select what seemed to be the true reading from the g. t. and pauthier's three mss., only in some rare instances transgressing this limit. where the mss. in the repetition of a name afforded a choice of forms, i have selected that which came nearest the real name when known. thus the g. t. affords _baldasciain, badascian, badasciam, badausiam, balasian_. i adopt badascian, or in english spelling badashan, because it is closest to the real name _badakhshan_. another place appears as cobinan, _cabanat, cobian_. i adopt the first because it is the truest expression of the real name _koh-benán_. in chapters 23, 24 of book i., we have in the g. t. _asisim, asciscin, asescin_, and in pauthier's mss. _hasisins, harsisins_, etc. i adopt asciscin, or in english spelling ashishin, for the same reason as before. so with _creman, crerman, crermain_, querman, anglicè kerman; cormos, hormos, and many more.[2] in two or three cases i have adopted a reading which i cannot show _literatim_ in any authority, but because such a form appears to be the just resultant from the variety of readings which are presented; as in surveying one takes the mean of a number of observations when no one can claim an absolute preference. polo's proper names, even in the french texts, are _in the main_ formed on an italian fashion of spelling.[3] i see no object in preserving such spelling in an english book, so after selecting the best reading of the name i express it in english spelling, printing _badashan, pashai, kerman_, instead of _badascian, pasciai, querman_, and so on. and when a little trouble has been taken to ascertain the true form and force of polo's spelling of oriental names and technical expressions, it will be found that they are in the main as accurate as italian lips and orthography will admit, and not justly liable either to those disparaging epithets[4] or to those exegetical distortions which have been too often applied to them. thus, for example, _cocacin, ghel_ or _ghelan, tonocain, cobinan, ondanique, barguerlac, argon, sensin, quescican, toscaol, bularguci, zardandan, anin, caugigu, coloman, gauenispola, mutfili, avarian, choiach_, are not, it will be seen, the ignorant blunderings which the interpretations affixed by some commentators would imply them to be, but are, on the contrary, all but perfectly accurate utterances of the names and words intended. the _-tchéou_ (of french writers), _-choo_, _-chow_, or _-chau_[5] of english writers, which so frequently forms the terminal part in the names of chinese cities, is almost invariably rendered by polo as _-giu_. this has frequently in the mss., and constantly in the printed editions, been converted into _-gui_, and thence into _-guy_. this is on the whole the most constant canon of polo's geographical orthography, and holds in _caagiu_ (ho-chau), _singiu_ (sining-chau), _cui-giu_ (kwei-chau), _sin-giu_ (t'sining-chau), _pi-giu_ (pei-chau), _coigangiu_ (hwaingan-chau), _si-giu_ (si-chau), _ti-giu_ (tai-chau), _tin-giu_ (tung-chau), _yan-giu_ (yang-chau), _sin-giu_ (chin-chau), _cai-giu_ (kwa-chau), _chinghi-giu_ (chang-chau), _su-giu_ (su-chau), _vu-giu_ (wu-chau), and perhaps a few more. in one or two instances only (as _sinda-ciu_, _caiciu_) he has _-ciu_ instead of _-giu_. the chapter-headings i have generally taken from pauthier's text, but they are no essential part of the original work, and they have been slightly modified or enlarged where it seemed desirable. * * * * * "behold! i see the haven nigh at hand, to which i meane my wearie course to bend; vere the maine shete, and beare up with the land, the which afore is fayrly to be kend, and seemeth safe from storms that may offend. * * * * * there eke my feeble barke a while may stay, till mery wynd and weather call her thence away." --the faerie queene, i. xii. 1. [illustration] [1] this "eclectic formation of the english text," as i have called it for brevity in the marginal rubric, has been disapproved by mr. de khanikoff, a critic worthy of high respect. but i must repeat that the duties of a translator, and of the editor of an original text, at least where the various recensions bear so peculiar a relation to each other as in this case, are essentially different; and that, on reconsidering the matter after an interval of four or five years, the plan which i have adopted, whatever be the faults of execution, still commends itself to me as the only appropriate one. let mr. de khanikoff consider what course he would adopt if he were about to publish marco polo in russian. i feel certain that with whatever theory he might set out, before his task should be concluded he would have arrived practically at the same system that i have adopted. [2] in polo's diction c frequently represents h., e.g., _cormos_ = hormuz; _camadi_ probably = hamadi; _caagiu_ probably = hochau; _cacianfu_ = hochangfu, and so on. this is perhaps attributable to rusticiano's tuscan ear. a true pisan will absolutely contort his features in the intensity of his efforts to aspirate sufficiently the letter c. filippo villani, speaking of the famous aguto (sir j. hawkwood), says his name in english was _kauchouvole_. (_murat. script._ xiv. 746.) [3] in the venetian dialect _ch_ and _j_ are often sounded as in english, not as in italian. some traces of such pronunciation i think there are, as in _coja, carajan_, and in the chinese name _vanchu_ (occurring only in ramusio, supra, p. 99). but the scribe of the original work being a tuscan, the spelling is in the main tuscan. the sound of the _qu_ is, however, french, as in _quescican, quinsai_, except perhaps in the case of _quenianfu_, for a reason given in vol. ii. p. 29. [4] for example, that enthusiastic student of mediaeval geography, joachim lelewel, speaks of polo's "gibberish" (_le baragouinage du venitien_) with special reference to such names as _zayton_ and _kinsay_, whilst we now know that these names were in universal use by all foreigners in china, and no more deserve to be called gibberish than _bocca-tigris_, _leghorn_, _ratisbon_, or _buda_. [5] i am quite sensible of the diffidence with which any outsider should touch any question of chinese language or orthography. a chinese scholar and missionary (mr. moule) objects to my spelling _chau_, whilst he, i see, uses _chow_. i imagine we mean the same sound, according to the spelling which i try to use throughout the book. dr. c. douglas, another missionary scholar, writes _chau_. [illustration: marco polo's itineraries, no. i. (prologue; book i. chapters 1-36; and book iv.)] [illustration: sketch showing chief monarchies of asia in latter part of 13th century] the book of marco polo. prologue. great princes, emperors, and kings, dukes and marquises, counts, knights, and burgesses! and people of all degrees who desire to get knowledge of the various races of mankind and of the diversities of the sundry regions of the world, take this book and cause it to be read to you. for ye shall find therein all kinds of wonderful things, and the divers histories of the great hermenia, and of persia, and of the land of the tartars, and of india, and of many another country of which our book doth speak, particularly and in regular succession, according to the description of messer marco polo, a wise and noble citizen of venice, as he saw them with his own eyes. some things indeed there be therein which he beheld not; but these he heard from men of credit and veracity. and we shall set down things seen as seen, and things heard as heard only, so that no jot of falsehood may mar the truth of our book, and that all who shall read it or hear it read may put full faith in the truth of all its contents. for let me tell you that since our lord god did mould with his hands our first father adam, even until this day, never hath there been christian, or pagan, or tartar, or indian, or any man of any nation, who in his own person hath had so much knowledge and experience of the divers parts of the world and its wonders as hath had this messer marco! and for that reason he bethought himself that it would be a very great pity did he not cause to be put in writing all the great marvels that he had seen, or on sure information heard of, so that other people who had not these advantages might, by his book, get such knowledge. and i may tell you that in acquiring this knowledge he spent in those various parts of the world good six-and-twenty years. now, being thereafter an inmate of the prison at genoa, he caused messer rusticiano of pisa, who was in the said prison likewise, to reduce the whole to writing; and this befell in the year 1298 from the birth of jesus. chapter i. how the two brothers polo set forth from constantinople to traverse the world. it came to pass in the year of christ 1260, when baldwin was reigning at constantinople,[note 1] that messer nicolas polo, the father of my lord mark, and messer maffeo polo, the brother of messer nicolas, were at the said city of constantinople, whither they had gone from venice with their merchants' wares. now these two brethren, men singularly noble, wise, and provident, took counsel together to cross the greater sea on a venture of trade; so they laid in a store of jewels and set forth from constantinople, crossing the sea to soldaia.[note 2] note 1.--baldwin ii (de courtenay), the last latin emperor of constantinople, reigned from 1237 to 1261, when he was expelled by michael palaeologus. the date in the text is, as we see, that of the brothers' voyage across the black sea. it stands 1250 in all the chief texts. but the figure is certainly wrong. we shall see that, when the brothers return to venice in 1269, they find mark, who, according to ramusio's version, was _born after their departure_, a lad of fifteen. hence, if we rely on ramusio, they must have left venice about 1253-54. and we shall see also that they reached the volga in 1261. hence their start from constantinople may well have occurred in 1260, and this i have adopted as the most probable correction. where they spent the interval between 1254 (if they really left venice so early) and 1260, nowhere appears. but as their brother, mark the elder, in his will styles himself "_whilom of constantinople_," their headquarters were probably there. [illustration: castle of soldaia or sudak] note 2.--in the middle ages the euxine was frequently called _mare magnum_ or _majus_. thus chaucer:- "in the grete see, at many a noble armee hadde he be." the term black sea (_mare maurum_ v. _nigrum_) was, however, in use, and abulfeda says it was general in his day. that name has been alleged to appear as early as the 10th century, in the form [greek: skoteinae], "the dark sea"; but an examination of the passage cited, from constantine porphyrogenitus, shows that it refers rather to the baltic, whilst that author elsewhere calls the euxine simply pontus. (_reinaud's abulf._ i. 38, _const. porph. de adm. imp._ c. 31, c. 42.) + _sodaya, soldaia_, or _soldachia_, called by orientals _súdak_, stands on the s.e. coast of the crimea, west of kaffa. it had belonged to the greek empire, and had a considerable greek population. after the frank conquest of 1204 it apparently fell to trebizond. it was taken by the mongols in 1223 for the first time, and a second time in 1239, and during that century was the great port of intercourse with what is now russia. at an uncertain date, but about the middle of the century, the venetians established a factory there, which in 1287 became the seat of a consul. in 1323 we find pope john xxii. complaining to uzbek khan of sarai that the christians had been ejected from soldaia and their churches turned into mosques. ibn batuta, who alludes to this strife, counts sudak as one of the four great ports of the world. the genoese got soldaia in 1365 and built strong defences, still to be seen. kaffa, with a good anchorage, in the 14th century, and later on tana, took the place of soldaia as chief emporium in south russia. some of the arab geographers call the sea of azov the sea of sudak. the elder marco polo in his will (1280) bequeaths to the franciscan friars of the place a house of his in _soldachia_, reserving life occupation to his own son and daughter, then residing in it. probably this establishment already existed when the two brothers went thither. (_elie de laprimaudare_, passim; _gold. horde_, 87; _mosheim_, app. 148; _ibn bat._ i. 28, ii. 414; _cathay_, 231-33; _heyd_, ii. passim.) chapter ii. how the two brothers went on beyond soldaia. having stayed a while at soldaia, they considered the matter, and thought it well to extend their journey further. so they set forth from soldaia and travelled till they came to the court of a certain tartar prince, barca kaan by name, whose residences were at sara[note 1] and at bolgara [and who was esteemed one of the most liberal and courteous princes that ever was among the tartars.][note 2] this barca was delighted at the arrival of the two brothers, and treated them with great honour; so they presented to him the whole of the jewels that they had brought with them. the prince was highly pleased with these, and accepted the offering most graciously, causing the brothers to receive at least twice its value. [illustration: map to illustrate the geographical position of the city of sarai] [illustration: part of the remains of the city of sarai near tzarev north of the akhtuba branch of the volga] after they had spent a twelvemonth at the court of this prince there broke out a great war between barca and aláu, the lord of the tartars of the levant, and great hosts were mustered on either side.[note 3] but in the end barca, the lord of the tartars of the ponent, was defeated, though on both sides there was great slaughter. and by reason of this war no one could travel without peril of being taken; thus it was at least on the road by which the brothers had come, though there was no obstacle to their travelling forward. so the brothers, finding they could not retrace their steps, determined to go forward. quitting bolgara, therefore, they proceeded to a city called ucaca, which was at the extremity of the kingdom of the lord of the ponent;[note 4] and thence departing again, and passing the great river tigris, they travelled across a desert which extended for seventeen days' journey, and wherein they found neither town nor village, falling in only with the tents of tartars occupied with their cattle at pasture.[note 5] note 1.-+ barka khan, third son of jújí, the first-born of chinghiz, ruled the _ulús_ of juji and empire of kipchak (southern russia) from 1257 to 1265. he was the first musulman sovereign of his race. his chief residence was at sarai (sara of the text), a city founded by his brother and predecessor bátú, on the banks of the akhtuba branch of the volga. in the next century ibn batuta describes sarai as a very handsome and populous city, so large that it made half a day's journey to ride through it. the inhabitants were mongols, aás (or alans), kipchaks, circassians, russians, and greeks, besides the foreign moslem merchants, who had a walled quarter. another mahomedan traveller of the same century says the city itself was not walled, but, "the khan's palace was a great edifice surmounted by a golden crescent weighing two _kantars_ of egypt, and encompassed by a wall flanked with towers," etc. pope john xxii., on the 26th february 1322, defined the limits of the new bishopric of kaffa, which were sarai to the east and varna to the west. sarai became the seat of both a latin and a russian metropolitan, and of more than one franciscan convent. it was destroyed by timur on his second invasion of kipchak (1395-6), and extinguished by the russians a century later. it is the scene of chaucer's half-told tale of cambuscan:- "at _sarra_, in the londe of tartarie, there dwelt a king that werried russie." ["_mesalek-al-absar_ (285, 287), says sarai, meaning 'the palace,' was founded by bereké, brother of batu. it stood in a salty plain, and was without walls, though the palace had walls flanked by towers. the town was large, had markets, _madrasas_--and baths. it is usually identified with selitrennoyé gorodok, about 70 miles above astrakhan." (_rockhill, rubruck_, p. 260, note.)--h. c.] several sites exhibiting extensive ruins near the banks of the akhtuba have been identified with sarai; two in particular. one of these is not far from the great elbow of the volga at tzaritzyn: the other much lower down, at selitrennoyé gorodok or saltpetre-town, not far above astrakhan. the upper site exhibits by far the most extensive traces of former population, and is declared unhesitatingly to be the sole site of sarai by m. gregorieff, who carried on excavations among the remains for four years, though with what precise results i have not been able to learn. the most dense part of the remains, consisting of mounds and earth-works, traces of walls, buildings, cisterns, dams, and innumerable canals, extends for about 7-1/2 miles in the vicinity of the town of tzarev, but a tract of 66 miles in length and 300 miles in circuit, commencing from near the head of the akhtuba, presents remains of like character, though of less density, marking the ground occupied by the villages which encircled the capital. about 2-1/2 miles to the n.w. of tzarev a vast mass of such remains, surrounded by the traces of a brick rampart, points out the presumable position of the imperial palace. m. gregorieff appears to admit no alternative. yet it seems certain that the indications of abulfeda, pegolotti, and others, with regard to the position of the capital in the early part of the 14th century, are not consistent with a site so far from the caspian. moreover, f. h. müller states that the site near tzarev is known to the tartars as the "sarai of janibek khan" (1341-1357). now it is worthy of note that in the coinage of janibek we repeatedly find as the place of mintage, _new sarai_. arabsháh in his history of timur states that 63 years had elapsed from the foundation to the destruction of sarai. but it must have been at least 140 years since the foundation of batu's city. is it not possible, therefore, that both the sites which we have mentioned were successively occupied by the mongol capital; that the original sarai of batu was at selitrennoyé gorodok, and that the _new sarai_ of janibek was established by him, or by his father uzbeg in his latter days, on the upper akhtuba? pegolotti having carried his merchant from tana (azov) to gittarchan (astrakhan), takes him _one day_ by river to sara, and from sara to _saracanco_, also by river, eight days more. (_cathay_, p. 287.) in the work quoted i have taken saracanco for saraichik, on the yaik. but it was possibly the upper or new sarai on the akhtuba. ibn batuta, marching on the frozen river, reached sarai in three days from astrakhan. this could not have been at tzarev, 200 miles off. in corroboration (_quantum valeat_) of my suggestion that there must have been two sarais near the volga, professor bruun of odessa points to the fact that fra mauro's map presents _two_ cities of sarai on the akhtuba; only the sarai of janibeg is with him no longer _new_ sarai, but _great_ sarai. the use of the latter name suggests the possibility that in the _saracanco_ of pegolotti the latter half of the name may be the mongol _kúnk_ "great." (see _pavet de courteille_, p. 439.) professor bruun also draws attention to the impossibility of ibn batuta's travelling from astrakhan to tzarev in three days, an argument which had already occurred to me and been inserted above. [the empire of kipchak founded after the mongol conquest of 1224, included also parts of siberia and khwarizm; it survived nominally until 1502.--h. c.] (_four years of archaeological researches among the ruins of sarai_ [in russian] by m. gregorieff [who appears to have also published a pamphlet specially on the site, but this has not been available]; _historischgeographische darstellung des stromsystems der wolga, von ferd. heinr. müller_, berlin, 1839, 568-577; _ibn. bat._ ii. 447; _not. et extraits_, xiii. i. 286; _pallas, voyages; cathay_, 231, etc.; _erdmann, numi asiatici_, pp. 362 seqq.; _arabs._ i. p. 381.) note 2.--bolghar, our author's bolgara, was the capital of the region sometimes called great bulgaria, by abulfeda _inner bulgaria_, and stood a few miles from the left bank of the volga, in latitude about 54° 54', and 90 miles below kazan. the old arab writers regarded it as nearly the limit of the habitable world, and told wonders of the cold, the brief summer nights, and the fossil ivory that was found in its vicinity. this was exported, and with peltry, wax, honey, hazel-nuts, and russia leather, formed the staple articles of trade. the last item derived from bolghar the name which it still bears all over asia. (see bk. ii. ch. xvi., and note.) bolghar seems to have been the northern limit of arab travel, and was visited by the curious (by ibn batuta among others) in order to witness the phenomena of the short summer night, as tourists now visit hammerfest to witness its entire absence. russian chroniclers speak of an earlier capital of the bulgarian kingdom, brakhimof, near the mouth of the kama, destroyed by andrew, grand duke of rostof and susdal, about 1160; and this may have been the city referred to in the earlier arabic accounts. the fullest of these is by ibn fozlán, who accompanied an embassy from the court of baghdad to bolghar, in a.d. 921. the king and people had about this time been converted to islam, having previously, as it would seem, professed christianity. nevertheless, a mahomedan writer of the 14th century says the people had then long renounced islam for the worship of the cross. (_not. et extr._ xiii. i. 270.) [illustration: ruins of bolghar.] bolghar was first captured by the mongols in 1225. it seems to have perished early in the 15th century, after which kazan practically took its place. its position is still marked by a village called bolgari, where ruins of mahomedan character remain, and where coins and inscriptions have been found. coins of the kings of bolghar, struck in the 10th century, have been described by fraehn, as well as coins of the mongol period struck at bolghar. its latest known coin is of a.h. 818 (a.d. 1415-16). a history of bolghar was written in the first half of the 12th century by yakub ibn noman, kadhi of the city, but this is not known to be extant. fraehn shows ground for believing the people to have been a mixture of fins, slavs, and turks. nicephorus gregoras supposes that they took their name from the great river on which they dwelt ([greek: boúlga]). ["the ruins [of bolghar]," says bretschneider, in his _mediaeval researches_, published in 1888, vol. ii. p. 82, "still exist, and have been the subject of learned investigation by several russian scholars. these remains are found on the spot where now the village _uspenskoye_, called also _bolgarskoye_ (bolgari), stands, in the district of spask, province of kazan. this village is about 4 english miles distant from the volga, east of it, and 83 miles from kazan." part of the bulgars removed to the balkans; others remained in their native country on the shores of the azov sea, and were subjugated by the khazars. at the beginning of the 9th century, they marched northwards to the volga and the kama, and established the kingdom of great bulgaria. their chief city, bolghar, was on the bank of the volga, but the river runs now to the west; as the kama also underwent a change in its course, it is possible that formerly bolghar was built at the junction of the two rivers. (cf. _reclus, europe russe_, p. 761.) the bulgars were converted to islam in 922. their country was first invaded by the mongols under subutai in 1223; this general conquered it in 1236, the capital was destroyed the following year, and the country annexed to the kingdom of kipchak. bolghar was again destroyed in 1391 by tamerlan. in 1438, ulugh mohammed, cousin of toka timur, younger son of juji, transformed this country into the khanate of kazan, which survived till 1552. it had probably been the capital of the golden horde before sarai. with reference to the early christianity of the bulgarians, to which yule refers in his note, the _laurentian chronicle_ (a.d. 1229), quoted by shpilevsky, adduces evidence to show that in the great city, i.e. _bulgar_, there were russian christians and a christian cemetery, and the death of a bulgarian christian martyr is related in the same chronicle as well as in the nikon, tver, and tatischef annals in which his name is given. (cf. shpilevsky, _anc. towns and other bulgaro-tartar monuments_, kazan, 1877, p. 158 seq.; _rockhill's rubruck_, hakl. soc. p. 121, note.) --h. c.] the severe and lasting winter is spoken of by ibn folzán and other old writers in terms that seem to point to a modern mitigation of climate. it is remarkable, too, that ibn fozlán speaks of the aurora as of very frequent occurrence, which is not now the case in that latitude. we may suspect this frequency to have been connected with the greater cold indicated, and perhaps with a different position of the magnetic pole. ibn fozlán's account of the aurora is very striking:--"shortly before sunset the horizon became all very ruddy, and at the same time i heard sounds in the upper air, with a dull rustling. i looked up and beheld sweeping over me a fire-red cloud, from which these sounds issued, and in it movements, as it were, of men and horses; the men grasping bows, lances, and swords. this i saw, or thought i saw. then there appeared a white cloud of like aspect; in it also i beheld armed horsemen, and these rushed against the former as one squadron of horse charges another. we were so terrified at this that we turned with humble prayer to the almighty, whereupon the natives about us wondered and broke into loud laughter. we, however, continued to gaze, seeing how one cloud charged the other, remained confused with it a while, and then sundered again. these movements lasted deep into the night, and then all vanished." (_fraehn, ueber die wolga bulgaren_, petersb. 1832; _gold. horde_, 8, 9, 423-424; _not. et extr._ ii. 541; _ibn bat._ ii. 398; _büschings mag._ v. 492; _erdmann, numi asiat._ i. 315-318, 333-334, 520-535; _niceph. gregoras_, ii. 2, 2.) note 3.--alau is polo's representation of the name of hulákú, brother of the great kaans mangu and kublai and founder of the mongol dynasty in persia. in the mongol pronunciation guttural and palatal consonants are apt to be elided, hence this spelling. the same name is written by pope alexander iv., in addressing the khan, _olao_, by pachymeres and gregoras [greek: chalaù] and [greek: chalaon], by hayton _haolon_, by ibn batuta _huláún_, as well as in a letter of hulaku's own, as given by makrizi. the war in question is related in rashíduddín's history, and by polo himself towards the end of the work. it began in the summer of 1262, and ended about eight months later. hence the polos must have reached barka's court in 1261. marco always applies to the mongol khans of persia the title of "lords of the east" (_levant_), and to the khans of kipchak that of "lords of the west" (_ponent_). we use the term _levant_ still with a similar specific application, and in another form _anatolia_. i think it best to preserve the terms _levant_ and _ponent_ when used in this way. [robert parke in his translation out of spanish of mendoza, _the historie of the great and mightie kingdome of china_ ... london, printed by i. wolfe for edward white, 1588, uses the word _ponent_: "you shall understande that this mightie kingdome is the orientalest part of all asia, and his next neighbour towards the _ponent_ is the kingdome of _quachinchina_ ... (p. 2)."--h. c.] note 4.--ucaca or ukek was a town on the right bank of the volga, nearly equidistant between sarai and bolghar, and about six miles south of the modern saratov, where a village called _uwek_ still exists. ukek is not mentioned before the mongol domination, and is supposed to have been of mongol foundation, as the name ukek is said in mongol to signify a dam of hurdles. the city is mentioned by abulfeda as marking the extremity of "the empire of the barka tartars," and ibn batuta speaks of it as "one day distant from the hills of the russians." polo therefore means that it was the frontier of the ponent towards russia. ukek was the site of a franciscan convent in the 14th century; it is mentioned several times in the campaigns of timur, and was destroyed by his army. it is not mentioned under the form ukek after this, but appears as _uwek_ and _uwesh_ in russian documents of the 16th century. perhaps this was always the slavonic form, for it already is written _uguech_ (= uwek) in wadding's 14th century catalogue of convents. anthony jenkinson, in hakluyt, gives an observation of its latitude, as _oweke_ (51° 40'), and christopher burrough, in the same collection, gives a description of it as _oueak_, and the latitude as 51° 30' (some 7' too much). in his time (1579) there were the remains of a "very faire stone castle" and city, with old tombs exhibiting sculptures and inscriptions. all these have long vanished. burrough was told by the russians that the town "was swallowed into the earth by the justice of god, for the wickednesse of the people that inhabited the same." lepechin in 1769 found nothing remaining but part of an earthen rampart and some underground vaults of larger bricks, which the people dug out for use. he speaks of coins and other relics as frequent, and the like have been found more recently. coins with mongol-arab inscriptions, struck at ukek by tuktugai khan in 1306, have been described by fraehn and erdmann. (_fraehn, ueber die ehemalige mong. stadt ukek_, etc., petersb. 1835; _gold. horde_; _ibn bat._ ii. 414; _abulfeda, in büsching_, v. 365; _ann. minorum_, sub anno 1400; _pétis de la croix_, ii. 355, 383, 388; _hakluyt_, ed. 1809, i. 375 and 472; _lepechin, tagebuch der reise_, etc., i. 235-237; _rockhill, rubruck_, 120-121, note 2.) note 5.--the great river tigeri or tigris is the volga, as pauthier rightly shows. it receives the same name from the monk pascal of vittoria in 1338. (_cathay_, p. 234.) perhaps this arose out of some legend that the tigris was a reappearance of the same river. the ecclesiastical historian, nicephorus callistus, appears to imply that the tigris coming from paradise flows under the caspian to emerge in kurdistan. (see ix. 19.) the "17 days" applies to one stretch of desert. the whole journey from ukek bokhara would take some 60 days at least. ibn batuta is 58 days from sarai to bokhara, and of the last section he says, "we entered the desert which extends between khwarizm and bokhara, and _which has an extent of 18 days' journey_." (iii. 19.) chapter iii. how the two brothers, after crossing a desert, came to the city of bocara, and fell in with certain envoys there. after they had passed the desert, they arrived at a very great and noble city called bocara, the territory of which belonged to a king whose name was barac, and is also called bocara. the city is the best in all persia.[note 1] and when they had got thither, they found they could neither proceed further forward nor yet turn back again; wherefore they abode in that city of bocara for three years. and whilst they were sojourning in that city, there came from alau, lord of the levant, envoys on their way to the court of the great kaan, the lord of all the tartars in the world. and when the envoys beheld the two brothers they were amazed, for they had never before seen latins in that part of the world. and they said to the brothers: "gentlemen, if ye will take our counsel, ye will find great honour and profit shall come thereof." so they replied that they would be right glad to learn how. "in truth," said the envoys, "the great kaan hath never seen any latins, and he hath a great desire so to do. wherefore, if ye will keep us company to his court, ye may depend upon it that he will be right glad to see you, and will treat you with great honour and liberality; whilst in our company ye shall travel with perfect security, and need fear to be molested by nobody."[note 2] note 1.--hayton also calls bokhara a city of persia, and i see vámbéry says that, up till the conquest by chinghiz, bokhara, samarkand, balkh, etc., were considered to belong to persia. (_travels_, p. 377.) the first mongolian governor of bokhara was buka bosha. king barac is borrak khan, great-grandson of chagatai, and sovereign of the ulús of chagatai, from 1264 to 1270. the polos, no doubt, reached bokhara before 1264, but borrak must have been sovereign some time before they left it. note 2.--the language of the envoys seems rather to imply that they were the great kaan's own people returning from the court of hulaku. and rashid mentions that sartak, the kaan's ambassador to hulaku, returned from persia in the year that the latter prince died. it may have been his party that the venetians joined, for the year almost certainly was the same, viz. 1265. if so, another of the party was bayan, afterwards the greatest of kublai's captains, and much celebrated in the sequel of this book. (see _erdmann's temudschin_, p. 214.) marsden justly notes that marco habitually speaks of _latins_, never of _franks_. yet i suspect his own mental expression was _farangi_. chapter iv. how the two brothers took the envoys' counsel, and went to the court of the great kaan. so when the two brothers had made their arrangements, they set out on their travels, in company with the envoys, and journeyed for a whole year, going northward and north-eastward, before they reached the court of that prince. and on their journey they saw many marvels of divers and sundry kinds, but of these we shall say nothing at present, because messer mark, who has likewise seen them all, will give you a full account of them in the book which follows. chapter v. how the two brothers arrived at the court of the great kaan. when the two brothers got to the great kaan, he received them with great honour and hospitality, and showed much pleasure at their visit, asking them a great number of questions. first, he asked about the emperors, how they maintained their dignity, and administered justice in their dominions; and how they went forth to battle, and so forth. and then he asked the like questions about the kings and princes and other potentates. chapter vi. how the great kaan asked all about the manners of the christians, and particularly about the pope of rome. and then he inquired about the pope and the church, and about all that is done at rome, and all the customs of the latins. and the two brothers told him the truth in all its particulars, with order and good sense, like sensible men as they were; and this they were able to do as they knew the tartar language well.[note 1] note 1.--the word generally used for pope in the original is _apostoille_ (_apostolicus_), the usual french expression of that age. it is remarkable that for the most part the text edited by pauthier has the correcter oriental form _tatar_, instead of the usual _tartar_. _tattar_ is the word used by yvo of narbonne, in the curious letter given by matthew paris under 1243. we are often told that _tartar_ is a vulgar european error. it is in any case a very old one; nor does it seem to be of european origin, but rather armenian;[1] though the suggestion of tartarus may have given it readier currency in europe. russian writers, or rather writers who have been in russia, sometimes try to force on us a specific limitation of the word _tartar_ to a certain class of oriental turkish race, to whom the russians appropriate the name. but there is no just ground for this. _tátár_ is used by oriental writers of polo's age exactly as tartar was then, and is still, used in western europe, as a generic title for the turanian hosts who followed chinghiz and his successors. but i believe the name in this sense was unknown to western asia before the time of chinghiz. and general cunningham must overlook this when he connects the _tátaríya_ coins, mentioned by arab geographers of the 9th century, with "the scythic or tátár princes who ruled in kabul" in the beginning of our era. tartars on the indian frontier in those centuries are surely to be classed with the frenchmen whom brennus led to rome, or the scotchmen who fought against agricola. [1] see _j. as._ sér. v. tom. xi. p. 203. chapter vii. how the great kaan sent the two brothers as his envoys to the pope. when that prince, whose name was cublay kaan, lord of the tartars all over the earth, and of all the kingdoms and provinces and territories of that vast quarter of the world, had heard all that the brothers had to tell him about the ways of the latins, he was greatly pleased, and he took it into his head that he would send them on an embassy to the pope. so he urgently desired them to undertake this mission along with one of his barons; and they replied that they would gladly execute all his commands as those of their sovereign lord. then the prince sent to summon to his presence one of his barons whose name was cogatal, and desired him to get ready, for it was proposed to send him to the pope along with the two brothers. the baron replied that he would execute the lord's commands to the best of his ability. after this the prince caused letters from himself to the pope to be indited in the tartar tongue,[note 1] and committed them to the two brothers and to that baron of his own, and charged them with what he wished them to say to the pope. now the contents of the letter were to this purport: he begged that the pope would send as many as an hundred persons of our christian faith; intelligent men, acquainted with the seven arts,[note 2] well qualified to enter into controversy, and able clearly to prove by force of argument to idolaters and other kinds of folk, that the law of christ was best, and that all other religions were false and naught; and that if they would prove this, he and all under him would become christians and the church's liegemen. finally he charged his envoys to bring back to him some oil of the lamp which burns on the sepulchre of our lord at jerusalem.[note 3] note 1.-+ the appearance of the great kaan's letter may be illustrated by two letters on so-called corean paper preserved in the french archives; one from arghún khan of persia (1289), brought by buscarel, and the other from his son oljaitu (may, 1305), to philip the fair. these are both in the mongol language, and according to abel rémusat and other authorities, in the uighúr character, the parent of the present mongol writing. facsimiles of the letters are given in rémusat's paper on intercourse with mongol princes, in _mém. de l' acad. des inscript._ vols. vii. and viii., reproductions in j. b. chabot's _hist. de mar jabalaha iii._, paris, 1895, and preferably in prince roland bonaparte's beautiful _documents mongols_, pl. xiv., and we give samples of the two in vol. ii.[1] note 2.--"the seven arts," from a date reaching back nearly to classical times, and down through the middle ages, expressed the whole circle of a liberal education, and it is to these seven arts that the degrees in arts were understood to apply. they were divided into the _trivium_ of rhetoric, logic, and grammar, and the _quadrivium_ of arithmetic, astronomy, music, and geometry. the 38th epistle of seneca was in many mss. (according to lipsius) entitled "_l. annaei senecae liber de septem artibus liberalibus._" i do not find, however, that seneca there mentions categorically more than five, viz., grammar, geometry, music, astronomy, and arithmetic. in the 5th century we find the seven arts to form the successive subjects of the last seven books of the work of martianus capella, much used in the schools during the early middle ages. the seven arts will be found enumerated in the verses of tzetzes (_chil. xi._ 525), and allusions to them in the mediaeval romances are endless. thus, in one of the "gestes d'alexandre," a chapter is headed "_comment aristotle aprent à alixandre les sept arts._" in the tale of the seven wise masters, diocletian selects that number of tutors for his son, each to instruct him in one of the seven arts. in the romance of _erec and eneide_ we have a dress on which the fairies had portrayed the seven arts (_franc. michel, recherches_, etc. ii. 82); in the _roman de mahommet_ the young impostor is master of all the seven. there is one mediaeval poem called the _marriage of the seven arts_, and another called the _battle of the seven arts_. (see also dante, _convito_, trat. ii. c. 14; _not. et ex._ v., 491 seqq.) note 3.--the chinghizide princes were eminently liberal--or indifferent-in religion; and even after they became mahomedan, which, however, the eastern branch never did, they were rarely and only by brief fits persecutors. hence there was scarcely one of the non-mahomedan khans of whose conversion to christianity there were not stories spread. the first rumours of chinghiz in the west were as of a christian conqueror; tales may be found of the christianity of chagatai, hulaku, abaka, arghun, baidu, ghazan, sartak, kuyuk, mangu, kublai, and one or two of the latter's successors in china, all probably false, with one or two doubtful exceptions. [1] see plates with ch. xvii. of bk. iv. see also the uighúr character in the second _païza_, bk. ii. ch. vii. [illustration: the great kaan delivering a golden tablet to the brothers. from a miniature of the 14th century.] chapter viii. how the great kaan gave them a tablet of gold, bearing his orders in their behalf. when the prince had charged them with all his commission, he caused to be given them a tablet of gold, on which was inscribed that the three ambassadors should be supplied with everything needful in all the countries through which they should pass--with horses, with escorts, and, in short, with whatever they should require. and when they had made all needful preparations, the three ambassadors took their leave of the emperor and set out. when they had travelled i know not how many days, the tartar baron fell sick, so that he could not ride, and being very ill, and unable to proceed further, he halted at a certain city. so the two brothers judged it best that they should leave him behind and proceed to carry out their commission; and, as he was well content that they should do so, they continued their journey. and i can assure you, that whithersoever they went they were honourably provided with whatever they stood in need of, or chose to command. and this was owing to that tablet of authority from the lord which they carried with them.[note 1] so they travelled on and on until they arrived at layas in hermenia, a journey which occupied them, i assure you, for three years.[note 2] it took them so long because they could not always proceed, being stopped sometimes by snow, or by heavy rains falling, or by great torrents which they found in an impassable state. [illustration: castle of ayas.] note 1.--on these tablets, see a note under bk. ii. ch. vii. note 2.--ayas, called also ayacio, aiazzo, giazza, glaza, la jazza, and _layas_, occupied the site of ancient aegae, and was the chief port of cilician armenia, on the gulf of scanderoon. _aegae_ had been in the 5th century a place of trade with the west, and the seat of a bishopric, as we learn from the romantic but incomplete story of mary, the noble slave-girl, told by gibbon (ch. 33). as ayas it became in the latter part of the 13th century one of the chief places for the shipment of asiatic wares arriving through tabriz, and was much frequented by the vessels of the italian republics. the venetians had a _bailo_ resident there. ayas is the _leyes_ of chaucer's knight,- ("at leyes was he and at satalie")-and the layas of froissart. (bk. iii. ch. xxii.) the gulf of layas is described in the xix. canto of ariosto, where mafisa and astolfo find on its shores a country of barbarous amazons:- "fatto è 'l porto a sembranza d' una luna," etc. marino sanuto says of it: "laiacio has a haven, and a shoal in front of it that we might rather call a reef, and to this shoal the hawsers of vessels are moored whilst the anchors are laid out towards the land." (ii. iv. ch. xxvi.) the present ayas is a wretched village of some 15 huts, occupied by about 600 turkmans, and standing inside the ruined walls of the castle. this castle, which is still in good condition, was built by the armenian kings, and restored by sultan suleiman; it was constructed from the remains of the ancient city; fragments of old columns are embedded in its walls of cut stone. it formerly communicated by a causeway with an advanced work on an island before the harbour. the ruins of the city occupy a large space. (_langlois, v. en cilicie_, pp. 429-31; see also _beaufort's karamania_, near the end.) a plan of ayas will be found at the beginning of bk. i. --h. y. and h. c. chapter ix. how the two brothers came to the city of acre. [ilustration: acre as it was when lost (a.d. 1291). from the plan given by marino sanuto] they departed from layas and came to acre, arriving there in the month of april, in the year of christ 1269, and then they learned that the pope was dead. and when they found that the pope was dead (his name was pope * *), [note 1] they went to a certain wise churchman who was legate for the whole kingdom of egypt, and a man of great authority, by name theobald of piacenza, and told him of the mission on which they were come. when the legate heard their story, he was greatly surprised, and deemed the thing to be of great honour and advantage for the whole of christendom. so his answer to the two ambassador brothers was this: "gentlemen, ye see that the pope is dead; wherefore ye must needs have patience until a new pope be made, and then shall ye be able to execute your charge." seeing well enough that what the legate said was just, they observed: "but while the pope is a-making, we may as well go to venice and visit our households." so they departed from acre and went to negropont, and from negropont they continued their voyage to venice.[note 2] on their arrival there, messer nicolas found that his wife was dead, and that she had left behind her a son of fifteen years of age, whose name was marco; and 'tis of him that this book tells.[note 3] the two brothers abode at venice a couple of years, tarrying until a pope should be made. note 1.--the deceased pope's name is omitted both in the geog. text and in pauthier's, clearly because neither rusticiano nor polo remembered it. it is supplied correctly in the crusca italian as _clement_, and in ramusio as _clement iv._ it is not clear that _theobald_, though generally adopted, is the ecclesiastic's proper name. it appears in different mss. as _teald_ (g. t.), _ceabo_ for _teabo_ (pauthier), _odoaldo_ (crusca), and in the riccardian as _thebaldus de vice-comitibus de placentia_, which corresponds to ramusio's version. most of the ecclesiastical chroniclers call him _tedaldus_, some _thealdus_. _tedaldo_ is a real name, occurring in boccaccio. (day iii. novel 7.) note 2.--after the expulsion of the venetians from constantinople, negropont was the centre of their influence in romania. on the final return of the travellers they again take negropont on their way. [it was one of the ports on the route from venice to constantinople, tana, trebizond.--h. c.] note 3.--the _edition_ of the soc. de géographie makes mark's age _twelve_, but i have verified from inspection the fact noticed by pauthier that the _manuscript_ has distinctly xv. like all the other old texts. in ramusio it is _nineteen_, but this is doubtless an arbitrary correction to suit the mistaken date (1250) assigned for the departure of the father from constantinople. there is nothing in the old french texts to justify the usual statement that marco was born after the departure of his father from venice. all that the g. t. says is: "meser nicolau treuve que sa fame estoit morte, et les remès un filz de xv. anz que avoit à nom marc," and pauthier's text is to the same effect. ramusio, indeed, has: "m. nicolò trovò, che sua moglie era morta, la quale nella sua partita haveva partorito un figliuolo," and the other versions that are based on pipino's seem all to have like statements. chapter x. how the two brothers again departed from venice, on their way back to the great kaan, and took with them mark, the son of messer nicolas. when the two brothers had tarried as long as i have told you, and saw that never a pope was made, they said that their return to the great kaan must be put off no longer. so they set out from venice, taking mark along with them, and went straight back to acre, where they found the legate of whom we have spoken. they had a good deal of discourse with him concerning the matter, and asked his permission to go to jerusalem to get some oil from the lamp on the sepulchre, to carry with them to the great kaan, as he had enjoined.[note 1] the legate giving them leave, they went from acre to jerusalem and got some of the oil, and then returned to acre, and went to the legate and said to him: "as we see no sign of a pope's being made, we desire to return to the great kaan; for we have already tarried long, and there has been more than enough delay." to which the legate replied: "since 'tis your wish to go back, i am well content." wherefore he caused letters to be written for delivery to the great kaan, bearing testimony that the two brothers had come in all good faith to accomplish his charge, but that as there was no pope they had been unable to do so. note 1.--in a pilgrimage of date apparently earlier than this, the pilgrim says of the sepulchre: "the lamp which had been placed by his head (when he lay there) still burns on the same spot day and night. _we took a blessing from it_ (i.e. apparently took some of the oil as a beneficent memorial), and replaced it." (_itinerarium antonini placentini_ in _bollandists_, may, vol. ii. p. xx.) ["five great oil lamps," says daniel, the russian hégoumène, 1106-1107 (_itinéraires russes en orient_, trad. pour la soc. de l'orient latin, par mme. b. de khitrowo, geneva, 1889, p. 13), "burning continually night and day, are hung in the sepulchre of our lord."--h. c.] chapter xi. how the two brothers set out from acre, and mark along with them. when the two brothers had received the legate's letters, they set forth from acre to return to the grand kaan, and got as far as layas. but shortly after their arrival there they had news that the legate aforesaid was chosen pope, taking the name of pope gregory of piacenza; news which the two brothers were very glad indeed to hear. and presently there reached them at layas a message from the legate, now the pope, desiring them, on the part of the apostolic see, not to proceed further on their journey, but to return to him incontinently. and what shall i tell you? the king of hermenia caused a galley to be got ready for the two ambassador brothers, and despatched them to the pope at acre.[note 1] [illustration: portrait of pope gregory x.] note 1.--the death of pope clement iv. occurred on st andrew's day (29th november), 1268; the election of tedaldo or tebaldo of piacenza, a member of the visconti family, and archdeacon of liège, did not take place till 1st september, 1271, owing to the factions among the cardinals. and it is said that some of them, anxious only to get away, voted for theobald in full belief that he was dead. the conclave, in its inability to agree, had named a committee of six with full powers which the same day elected theobald, on the recommendation of the cardinal bishop of portus (john de toleto, said, in spite of his name, to have been an englishman). this facetious dignitary had suggested that the roof should be taken off the palace at viterbo where they sat, to allow the divine influences to descend more freely on their counsels (_quia nequeunt ad nos per tot tecta ingredi_). according to some, these doggerel verses, current on the occasion, were extemporised by cardinal john in the pious exuberance of his glee:- "papatûs munus tulit archidiaconus unus quem patrem patrum fecit discordia fratrum." the archdeacon, a man of great weight of character, in consequence of differences with his bishop (of liège), who was a disorderly liver, had gone to the holy land, and during his stay there he contracted great intimacy with prince edward of england (edward i.). some authors, e.g. john villani (viii. 39), say that he was legate in syria; others, as rainaldus, deny this; but polo's statement, and the authority which the archdeacon took on himself in writing to the kaan, seem to show that he had some such position. he took the name of gregory x., and before his departure from acre, preached a moving sermon on the text, "_if i forget thee, o jerusalem_," etc. prince edward fitted him out for his voyage. gregory reigned barely four years, dying at arezzo 10th january, 1276. his character stood high to the last, and some of the northern martyrologies enrolled him among the saints, but there has never been canonisation by rome. the people of arezzo used to celebrate his anniversary with torch-light gatherings at his tomb, and plenty of miracles were alleged to have occurred there. the tomb still stands in the duomo at arezzo, a handsome work by margaritone, an artist in all branches, who was the pope's contemporary. there is an engraving of it in _gonnelli, mon. sepolc. di toscana_. (_fra pipino_ in _muratori_, ix. 700; _rainaldi annal._ iii. 252 seqq.; _wadding_, sub. an. 1217: _bollandists_, 10th january; _palatii, gesta pontif. roman._ vol. iii., and _fasti cardinalium_, i. 463, etc.) chapter xii. how the two brothers presented themselves before the new pope. and when they had been thus honourably conducted to acre they proceeded to the presence of the pope, and paid their respects to him with humble reverence. he received them with great honour and satisfaction, and gave them his blessing. he then appointed two friars of the order of preachers to accompany them to the great kaan, and to do whatever might be required of them. these were unquestionably as learned churchmen as were to be found in the province at that day--one being called friar nicolas of vicenza, and the other friar william of tripoli.[note 1] he delivered to them also proper credentials, and letters in reply to the great kaan's messages [and gave them authority to ordain priests and bishops, and to bestow every kind of absolution, as if given by himself in proper person; sending by them also many fine vessels of crystal as presents to the great kaan].[note 2] so when they had got all that was needful, they took leave of the pope, receiving his benediction; and the four set out together from acre, and went to layas, accompanied always by messer nicolas's son marco. now, about the time that they reached layas, bendocquedar, the soldan of babylon, invaded hermenia with a great host of saracens, and ravaged the country, so that our envoys ran a great peril of being taken or slain. [note 3] and when the preaching friars saw this they were greatly frightened, and said that go they never would. so they made over to messer nicolas and messer maffeo all their credentials and documents, and took their leave, departing in company with the master of the temple.[note 4] note 1.--friar william, of tripoli, of the dominican convent at acre, appears to have served there as early as 1250. [he was born circa 1220, at tripoli, in syria, whence his name.--h. c.] he is known as the author of a book, _de statu saracenorum post ludovici regis de syriâ reditum_, dedicated to theoldus, archdeacon of liège (i.e. pope gregory). of this some extracts are printed in duchesne's _hist. francorum scriptores_. there are two mss. of it, with different titles, in the paris library, and a french version in that of berne. a ms. in cambridge univ. library, which contains among other things a copy of pipino's polo, has also the work of friar william:--"_willelmus tripolitanus, aconensis conventus, de egressu machometi et saracenorum, atque progressu eorumdem, de statu saracenorum_," etc. it is imperfect; it is addressed theobaldo _ecclesiarcho digno sancte terre peregrino sancto_. and from a cursory inspection i imagine that the tract appended to one of the polo mss. in the british museum (addl. mss., no. 19,952) is the same work or part of it. to the same author is ascribed a tract called _clades damiatae_. (_duchesne_, v. 432; _d'avezac_ in _rec. de voyages_, iv. 406; _quétif, script. ord. praed._ i. 264-5; _catal. of mss. in camb. univ. library_, i. 22.) note 2.--i presume that the powers, stated in this passage from ramusio to have been conferred on the friars, are exaggerated. in letters of authority granted in like cases by pope gregory's successors, nicolas iii. (in 1278) and boniface viii. (in 1299), the missionary friars to remote regions are empowered to absolve from excommunication and release from vows, to settle matrimonial questions, to found churches and appoint _idoneos rectores_, to authorise oriental clergy who should publicly submit to the apostolic see to enjoy the _privilegium clericale_, whilst in the absence of bishops those among the missionaries who were priests might consecrate cemeteries, altars, palls, etc., admit to the order of acolytes, but nothing beyond. (see _mosheim, hist. tartar. eccles._ app. nos. 23 and 42.) note 3.--the statement here about bundúkdár's invasion of cilician armenia is a difficulty. he had invaded it in 1266, and his second devastating invasion, during which he burnt both layas and sis, the king's residence, took place in 1275, a point on which marino sanuto is at one with the oriental historians. now we know from rainaldus that pope gregory left acre in november or december, 1271, and the text appears to imply that our travellers left acre before him. the utmost corroboration that i can find lies in the following facts stated by makrizi:-on the 13th safar, a.h. 670 (20th september 1271), bundúkdár arrived unexpectedly at damascus, and after a brief raid against the ismaelians he returned to that city. in the middle of rabi i. (about 20-25 october) the tartars made an incursion in northern syria, and the troops of aleppo retired towards hamah. there was great alarm at damascus; the sultan sent orders to cairo for reinforcements, and these arrived at damascus on the 9th november. the sultan then advanced on aleppo, sending corps likewise towards marash (which was within the armenian frontier) and harran. at the latter place the tartars were attacked and those in the town slaughtered; the rest retreated. the sultan was back at damascus, and off on a different expedition, by 7th december. hence, if the travellers arrived at ayas towards the latter part of november they would probably find alarm existing at the advance of bundúkdár, though matters did not turn out so serious as they imply. "babylon," of which bundúkdár is here styled sultan, means cairo, commonly so styled (_bambellonia d'egitto_) in that age. babylon of egypt is mentioned by diodorus quoting ctesias, by strabo, and by ptolemy; it was the station of a roman legion in the days of augustus, and still survives in the name of _babul_, close to old cairo. malik dáhir ruknuddín bíbars bundúkdári, a native of kipchak, was originally sold at damascus for 800 dirhems (about 18_l._), and returned by his purchaser because of a blemish. he was then bought by the amir aláuddín aidekín _bundúkdár_ ("the arblasteer") whose surname he afterwards adopted. he became the fourth of the mameluke sultans, and reigned from 1259 to 1276. the two great objects of his life were the repression of the tartars and the expulsion of the christians from syria, so that his reign was one of constant war and enormous activity. william of tripoli, in the work above mentioned, says: "bondogar, as a soldier, was not inferior to julius caesar, nor in malignity to nero." he admits, however, that the sultan was sober, chaste, just to his own people, and even kind to his christian subjects; whilst makrizi calls him one of the best princes that ever reigned over musulmans. yet if we take bibars as painted by this admiring historian and by other arabic documents, the second of friar william's comparisons is justified, for he seems almost a devil in malignity as well as in activity. more than once he played tennis at damascus and cairo within the same week. a strange sample of the man is the letter which he wrote to boemond, prince of antioch and tripoli, to announce to him the capture of the former city. after an ironically polite address to boemond as having by the loss of his great city had his title changed from princeship (_al-brensíyah_) to countship (_al-komasíyah_), and describing his own devastations round tripoli, he comes to the attack of antioch: "we carried the place, sword in hand, at the 4th hour of saturday, the 4th day of ramadhán,... hadst thou but seen thy knights trodden under the hoofs of the horses! thy palaces invaded by plunderers and ransacked for booty! thy treasures weighed out by the hundredweight! thy ladies (_dámátaka_, 'tes dames') bought and sold with thine own gear, at four for a dinár! hadst thou but seen thy churches demolished, thy crosses sawn in sunder, thy garbled gospels hawked about before the sun, the tombs of thy nobles cast to the ground; thy foe the moslem treading thy holy of the holies; the monk, the priest, the deacon slaughtered on the altar; the rich given up to misery; princes of royal blood reduced to slavery! couldst thou but have seen the flames devouring thy halls; thy dead cast into the fires temporal with the fires eternal hard at hand; the churches of paul and of cosmas rocking and going down--, then wouldst thou have said, 'would god that i were dust!' ... as not a man hath escaped to tell thee the tale, i tell it thee!" a little later, when a mission went to treat with boemond, bibars himself accompanied it in disguise, to have a look at the defences of tripoli. in drawing out the terms, the envoys styled boemond _count_, not _prince_, as in the letter just quoted. he lost patience at their persistence, and made a movement which alarmed them. bibars nudged the envoy mohiuddin (who tells the story) with his foot to give up the point, and the treaty was made. on their way back the sultan laughed heartily at their narrow escape, "sending to the devil all the counts and princes on the face of the earth." (_quatremère's makrizi_, ii. 92-101, and 190 seqq.; _j. as._ sér. i. tom. xi. p. 89; _d'ohsson_, iii. 459-474; _marino sanuto_ in bongars, 224-226, etc.) note 4.--the ruling master of the temple was thomas berard (1256-1273), but there is little detail about the order in the east at this time. they had, however, considerable possessions and great influence in cilician armenia, and how much they were mixed up in its affairs is shown by a circumstance related by makrizi. in 1285, when sultan mansúr, the successor of bundúkdár, was besieging the castle of markab, there arrived in camp the commander of the temple (_kamandúr-ul dewet_) of the country of armenia, charged to negotiate on the part of the king of sis (i.e. of lesser armenia, leon iii. 1268-1289, successor of hayton i. 1224-1268), and bringing presents from him and from the master of the temple, berard's successor, william de beaujeu (1273-1291). (iii. 201.)--h. y. and h. c. chapter xiii. how messer nicolo and messer maffeo polo, accompanied by mark, travelled to the court of the great kaan. so the two brothers, and mark along with them, proceeded on their way, and journeying on, summer and winter, came at length to the great kaan, who was then at a certain rich and great city, called kemenfu.[note 1] as to what they met with on the road, whether in going or coming, we shall give no particulars at present, because we are going to tell you all those details in regular order in the after part of this book. their journey back to the kaan occupied a good three years and a half, owing to the bad weather and severe cold that they encountered. and let me tell you in good sooth that when the great kaan heard that messers nicolo and maffeo polo were on their way back, he sent people a journey of full 40 days to meet them; and on this journey, as on their former one, they were honourably entertained upon the road, and supplied with all that they required. note 1.--the french texts read _clemeinfu_, ramusio _clemenfu_. the pucci ms. guides us to the correct reading, having _chemensu_ (_kemensu_) for _chemenfu_. kaipingfu, meaning something like "city of peace," and called by rashiduddin _kaiminfu_ (whereby we see that polo as usual adopted the persian form of the name), was a city founded in 1256, four years before kublai's accession, some distance to the north of the chinese wall. it became kublai's favourite summer residence, and was styled from 1264 _shangtu_ or "upper court." (see infra, bk. i. ch. lxi.) it was known to the mongols, apparently by a combination of the two names, as _shangdu keibung_. it appears in d'anville's map under the name of _djao-naiman sumé_. dr. bushell, who visited shangtu in 1872, makes it 1103 _li_ (367 miles) by road distance viâ kalgan from peking. the busy town of dolonnúr lies 26 miles s.e. of it, and according to kiepert's _asia_ that place is about 180 miles in a direct line north of peking. (see _klaproth_ in _j. as._ xi. 365; _gaubil_, p. 115; _cathay_, p. 260; _j. r. g. s._ vol. xiiii.) chapter xiv. how messer nicolo and messer maffeo polo and marco presented themselves before the great kaan. and what shall i tell you? when the two brothers and mark had arrived at that great city, they went to the imperial palace, and there they found the sovereign attended by a great company of barons. so they bent the knee before him, and paid their respects to him, with all possible reverence [prostrating themselves on the ground]. then the lord bade them stand up, and treated them with great honour, showing great pleasure at their coming, and asked many questions as to their welfare, and how they had sped. they replied that they had in verity sped well, seeing that they found the kaan well and safe. then they presented the credentials and letters which they had received from the pope, which pleased him right well; and after that they produced the oil from the sepulchre, and at that also he was very glad, for he set great store thereby. and next, spying mark, who was then a young gallant,[note 1] he asked who was that in their company? "sire," said his father, messer nicolo, "'tis my son and your liegeman."[note 2] "welcome is he too," quoth the emperor. and why should i make a long story? there was great rejoicing at the court because of their arrival; and they met with attention and honour from everybody. so there they abode at the court with the other barons. note 1.--"_joenne bacheler_." note 2.--"_sire, il est mon filz et vostre_ homme." the last word in the sense which gives us the word _homage_. thus in the miracle play of theophilus (13th century), the devil says to theophilus:- "or joing tes mains, et si devien _mes hom_. _theoph._ vez ci que je vous faz _hommage_." so infra (bk. i. ch. xlvii.) aung khan is made to say of chinghiz: "_il est_ mon homes _et mon serf_." (see also bk. ii. ch. iv. note.) st. lewis said of the peace he had made with henry iii.: "il m'est mout grant honneur en la paix que je foiz au roy d'angleterre pour ce qu'il est _mon home_, ce que n'estoit pas devant." and joinville says with regard to the king, "je ne voz faire point de serement, car je n'estoie pas _son home_" (being a vassal of champagne). a famous saturday reviewer quotes the term applied to a lady: "_eddeva puella_ homo _stigandi archiepiscopi_." (_théâtre français au moyen age_, p. 145; _joinville_, pp. 21, 37; _s. r._, 6th september, 1873, p. 305.) chapter xv. how the emperor sent mark on an embassy of his. now it came to pass that marco, the son of messer nicolo, sped wondrously in learning the customs of the tartars, as well as their language, their manner of writing, and their practice of war; in fact he came in brief space to know several languages, and four sundry written characters. and he was discreet and prudent in every way, insomuch that the emperor held him in great esteem.[note 1] and so when he discerned mark to have so much sense, and to conduct himself so well and beseemingly, he sent him on an ambassage of his, to a country which was a good six months' journey distant.[note 2] the young gallant executed his commission well and with discretion. now he had taken note on several occasions that when the prince's ambassadors returned from different parts of the world, they were able to tell him about nothing except the business on which they had gone, and that the prince in consequence held them for no better than fools and dolts, and would say: "i had far liever hearken about the strange things, and the manners of the different countries you have seen, than merely be told of the business you went upon;"--for he took great delight in hearing of the affairs of strange countries. mark therefore, as he went and returned, took great pains to learn about all kinds of different matters in the countries which he visited, in order to be able to tell about them to the great kaan.[note 3] note 1.--the word emperor stands here for _seigneur_. what the four characters acquired by marco were is open to discussion. the chronicle of the mongol emperors rendered by gaubil mentions, as characters used in their empire, the uíghúr, the persian and arabic, that of the lamas (tibetan), that of the niuché, introduced by the kin dynasty, the khitán, and the _báshpah_ character, a syllabic alphabet arranged, on the basis of the tibetan and sanskrit letters chiefly, by a learned chief lama so-called, under the orders of kublai, and established by edict in 1269 as the official character. coins bearing this character, and dating from 1308 to 1354, are extant. the forms of the niuché and khitán were devised in imitation of chinese writing, but are supposed to be syllabic. of the khitán but one inscription was known, and no key. "the khitan had two national scripts, the 'small characters' (_hsiao tzu_) and the 'large characters' (ta tzu)." s. w. bushell, _insc. in the juchen and allied scripts_, cong. des orientalistes, paris, 1897.--_die sprache und schrift der juchen_ von dr. w. grube, leipzig, 1896, from a polyglot ms. dictionary, discovered by dr. f. hirth and now kept in the royal library, berlin.--h. y. and h. c. chinghiz and his first successors used the uíghúr, and sometimes the chinese character. of the uíghúr character we give a specimen in bk. iv. it is of syriac origin, undoubtedly introduced into eastern turkestan by the early nestorian missions, probably in the 8th or 9th century. the oldest known example of this character so applied, the _kudatku bilik_, a didactic poem in uíghúr (a branch of oriental turkish), dating from a.d. 1069, was published by prof. vámbéry in 1870. a new edition of the _kudatku bilik_ was published at st. petersburg, in 1891, by dr. w. radloff. vámbéry had a pleasing illustration of the origin of the uíghúr character, when he received a visit at pesth from certain nestorians of urumia on a begging tour. on being shown the original ms. of the _kudatku bilik_, they read the character easily, whilst much to their astonishment they could not understand a word of what was written. this uíghúr is the basis of the modern mongol and manchu characters. (cf. e. bretschneider, _mediaeval researches_, i. pp. 236, 263.)--h. y. and h. c. [illustration: hexaglot inscription on the east side of the kiu yong kwan] [illustration: hexaglot inscription on the west side of the kiu yong kwan] [at the village of keuyung kwan, 40 miles north of peking, in the subprefecture of ch'ang ping, in the chih-li province, the road from peking to kalgan runs beyond the pass of nankau, under an archway, a view of which will be found at the end of this volume, on which were engraved, in 1345, two large inscriptions in six different languages: sanskrit, tibetan, mongol, _báshpah_, uíghúr, chinese, and a language unknown till recently. mr. wylie's kindness enabled sir henry yule to present a specimen of this. (a much better facsimile of these inscriptions than wylie's having since been published by prince roland bonaparte in his valuable _recueil des documents de l'époque mongole_, this latter is, by permission, here reproduced.) the chinese and mongol inscriptions have been translated by m. ed. chavannes; the tibetan by m. sylvain lévi (_jour. asiat._, sept.-oct. 1894, pp. 354-373); the uíghúr, by prof. w. radloff (ibid. nov.-dec. 1894, pp. 546, 550); the mongol by prof. g. huth. (ibid. mars-avril 1895, pp. 351-360.) the sixth language was supposed by a. wylie (_j. r. a. s._ vol. xvii. p. 331, and n.s., vol. v. p. 14) to be neuchih, niuché, niuchen or juchen. m. devéria has shown that the inscription is written in _si hia_, or the language of tangut, and gave a facsimile of a stone stèle (_pei_) in this language kept in the great monastery of the clouds (ta yun ssu) at liangchau in kansuh, together with a translation of the chinese text, engraved on the reverse side of the slab. m. devéria thinks that this writing was borrowed by the kings of tangut from the one derived in 920 by the khitans from the chinese. (_stèle si-hia de leang-tcheou_ ... _j. as._, 1898; _l'éctriture du royaumes de si-hia ou tangout_, par m. devéria ... ext. des mém ... présentés à l'ac. des. ins. et b. let. 1'ère sér. xi., 1898.) dr. s. w. bushell in two papers (_inscriptions in the juchen and allied scripts, actes du xi. congrés orientalistes_, paris, 1897, 2nd. sect., pp. 11, 35, and the _hsi hsia dynasty of tangut, their money and their peculiar script, j. china br. r. a. s._, xxx. n.s. no. 2, pp. 142, 160) has also made a special study of the same subject. the si hia writing was adopted by yuan ho in 1036, on which occasion he changed the title of his reign to ta ch'ing, i.e. "great good fortune." unfortunately, both the late m. devéria and dr. s. w. bushell have deciphered but few of the si hia characters.--h. c.] the orders of the great kaan are stated to have been published habitually in six languages, viz., mongol, uíghúr, arabic, persian, tangutan (si-hia), and chinese.--h. y. and h. c. gházán khan of persia is said to have understood mongol, arabic, persian, something of kashmiri, of tibetan, of chinese, and a little of the _frank_ tongue (probably french). the annals of the ming dynasty, which succeeded the mongols in china, mention the establishment in the 11th moon of the 5th year yong-lo (1407) of the _sse yi kwan_, a linguistic office for diplomatic purposes. the languages to be studied were niuché, mongol, tibetan, sanskrit, bokharan (persian?) uíghúr, burmese, and siamese. to these were added by the manchu dynasty two languages called _papeh_ and _pehyih_, both dialects of the s.w. frontier. (see infra, bk. ii. ch. lvi.-lvii., and notes.) since 1382, however, official interpreters had to translate mongol texts; they were selected among the academicians, and their service (which was independent of the _sse yi kwan_ when this was created) was under the control of the _han-lin-yuen_. there may have been similar institutions under the yuen, but we have no proof of it. at all events, such an office could not then be called _sse yi kwan_ (_sse yi_, barbarians from four sides); niuché (niuchen) was taught in yong-lo's office, but not manchu. the _sse yi kwan_ must not be confounded with the _hui t'ong kwan_, the office for the reception of tributary envoys, to which it was annexed in 1748. (_gaubil_, p. 148; _gold. horde_, 184; _ilchan._ ii. 147; _lockhart_ in _j. r. g. s._ xxxvi. 152; _koeppen_, ii. 99; g. devéria, _hist. du collége des interprétes de peking_ in _mélanges_ charles de harlez, pp. 94-102; ms. note of prof. a. vissière; _the tangut script in the nan-k'ou pass_, by dr. s. w. bushell, _china review_, xxiv. ii. pp. 65-68.)--h. y. and h. c. pauthier supposes mark's four acquisitions to have been _báshpah-mongol, arabic, uighúr_, and _chinese_. i entirely reject the chinese. sir h. yule adds: "we shall see no reason to believe that he knew either language or character" [chinese]. the blunders polo made in saying that the name of the city, suju, signifies in our tongue "earth" and kinsay "heaven" show he did not know the chinese characters, but we read in bk. ii. ch. lxviii.: "and messer marco polo himself, of whom this book speaks, did govern this city (yanju) for three full years, by the order of the great kaan." it seems to me [h. c.] hardly possible that marco could have for three years been governor of so important and so chinese a city as yangchau, in the heart of the empire, without acquiring a knowledge of the spoken language.--h. c. the other three languages seem highly probable. the fourth may have been tibetan. but it is more likely that he counted separately two varieties of the same character (e.g. of the arabic and persian) as two "_lettres de leur escriptures_"--h. y. and h. c. note 2.--[ramusio here adds: "ad und città, detta carazan," which, as we shall see, refers to the yun-nan province.]--h. c. note 3.--from the context no doubt marco's employments were honourable and confidential; but _commissioner_ would perhaps better express them than ambassador in the modern sense. the word _ilchi_, which was probably in his mind, was applied to a large variety of classes employed on the commissions of government, as we may see from a passage of rashiduddin in d'ohsson, which says that "there were always to be found in every city from one to two hundred _ilchis_, who forced the citizens to furnish them with free quarters," etc., iii. 404. (see also 485.) chapter xvi. how mark returned from the mission whereon he had been sent. when mark returned from his ambassage he presented himself before the emperor, and after making his report of the business with which he was charged, and its successful accomplishment, he went on to give an account in a pleasant and intelligent manner of all the novelties and strange things that he had seen and heard; insomuch that the emperor and all such as heard his story were surprised, and said: "if this young man live, he will assuredly come to be a person of great worth and ability." and so from that time forward he was always entitled messer marco polo, and thus we shall style him henceforth in this book of ours, as is but right. thereafter messer marco abode in the kaan's employment some seventeen years, continually going and coming, hither and thither, on the missions that were entrusted to him by the lord [and sometimes, with the permission and authority of the great kaan, on his own private affairs.] and, as he knew all the sovereign's ways, like a sensible man he always took much pains to gather knowledge of anything that would be likely to interest him, and then on his return to court he would relate everything in regular order, and thus the emperor came to hold him in great love and favour. and for this reason also he would employ him the oftener on the most weighty and most distant of his missions. these messer marco ever carried out with discretion and success, god be thanked. so the emperor became ever more partial to him, and treated him with the greater distinction, and kept him so close to his person that some of the barons waxed very envious thereat. and thus it came about that messer marco polo had knowledge of, or had actually visited, a greater number of the different countries of the world than any other man; the more that he was always giving his mind to get knowledge, and to spy out and enquire into everything in order to have matter to relate to the lord. chapter xvii. how messer nicolo, messer maffeo, and messer marco, asked leave of the great kaan to go their way. when the two brothers and mark had abode with the lord all that time that you have been told [having meanwhile acquired great wealth in jewels and gold], they began among themselves to have thoughts about returning to their own country; and indeed it was time. [for, to say nothing of the length and infinite perils of the way, when they considered the kaan's great age, they doubted whether, in the event of his death before their departure, they would ever be able to get home.[note 1]] they applied to him several times for leave to go, presenting their request with great respect, but he had such a partiality for them, and liked so much to have them about him, that nothing on earth would persuade him to let them go. now it came to pass in those days that the queen bolgana, wife of argon, lord of the levant, departed this life. and in her will she had desired that no lady should take her place, or succeed her as argon's wife, except one of her own family [which existed in cathay]. argon therefore despatched three of his barons, by name respectively oulatay, apusca, and coja, as ambassadors to the great kaan, attended by a very gallant company, in order to bring back as his bride a lady of the family of queen bolgana, his late wife.[note 2] when these three barons had reached the court of the great kaan, they delivered their message, explaining wherefore they were come. the kaan received them with all honour and hospitality, and then sent for a lady whose name was cocachin, who was of the family of the deceased queen bolgana. she was a maiden of 17, a very beautiful and charming person, and on her arrival at court she was presented to the three barons as the lady chosen in compliance with their demand. they declared that the lady pleased them well.[note 3] meanwhile messer marco chanced to return from india, whither he had gone as the lord's ambassador, and made his report of all the different things that he had seen in his travels, and of the sundry seas over which he had voyaged. and the three barons, having seen that messer nicolo, messer maffeo, and messer marco were not only latins, but men of marvellous good sense withal, took thought among themselves to get the three to travel with them, their intention being to return to their country by sea, on account of the great fatigue of that long land journey for a lady. and the ambassadors were the more desirous to have their company, as being aware that those three had great knowledge and experience of the indian sea and the countries by which they would have to pass, and especially messer marco. so they went to the great kaan, and begged as a favour that he would send the three latins with them, as it was their desire to return home by sea. the lord, having that great regard that i have mentioned for those three latins, was very loath to do so [and his countenance showed great dissatisfaction]. but at last he did give them permission to depart, enjoining them to accompany the three barons and the lady. note 1.--pegolotti, in his chapters on mercantile ventures to cathay, refers to the dangers to which foreigners were always liable on the death of the reigning sovereign. (see _cathay_, p. 292.) note 2.--several ladies of the name of bulughan ("zibellina") have a place in mongol-persian history. the one here indicated, a lady of great beauty and ability, was known as the _great khátún_ (or lady) bulughan, and was (according to strange mongol custom) the wife successively of abáka and of his son arghun, the argon of the text, mongol sovereign of persia. she died on the banks of the kur in georgia, 7th april, 1286. she belonged to the mongol tribe of bayaut, and was the daughter of hulákú's chief secretary gúgah. (_ilchan._ i. 374 _et passim; erdmann's temudschin_, p. 216.) the names of the envoys, uladai, apushka, and koja, are all names met with in mongol history. and rashiduddin speaks of an apushka of the mongol tribe of urnaut, who on some occasion was sent as envoy to the great kaan from persia,--possibly the very person. (see _erdmann_, 205.) of the lady cocachin we shall speak below. note 3.--ramusio here has the following passage, genuine no doubt: "so everything being ready, with a great escort to do honour to the bride of king argon, the ambassadors took leave and set forth. but after travelling eight months by the same way that they had come, they found the roads closed, in consequence of wars lately broken out among certain tartar princes; so being unable to proceed, they were compelled to return to the court of the great kaan." chapter xviii. how the two brothers and messer marco took leave of the great kaan, and returned to their own country. and when the prince saw that the two brothers and messer marco were ready to set forth, he called them all three to his presence, and gave them two golden tablets of authority, which should secure them liberty of passage through all his dominions, and by means of which, whithersoever they should go, all necessaries would be provided for them, and for all their company, and whatever they might choose to order.[note 1] he charged them also with messages to the king of france, the king of england,[note 2] the king of spain, and the other kings of christendom. he then caused thirteen ships to be equipt, each of which had four masts, and often spread twelve sails.[note 3] and i could easily give you all particulars about these, but as it would be so long an affair i will not enter upon this now, but hereafter, when time and place are suitable. [among the said ships were at least four or five that carried crews of 250 or 260 men.] and when the ships had been equipt, the three barons and the lady, and the two brothers and messer marco, took leave of the great kaan, and went on board their ships with a great company of people, and with all necessaries provided for two years by the emperor. they put forth to sea, and after sailing for some three months they arrived at a certain island towards the south, which is called java,[note 4] and in which there are many wonderful things which we shall tell you all about by-and-bye. quitting this island they continued to navigate the sea of india for eighteen months more before they arrived whither they were bound, meeting on their way also with many marvels, of which we shall tell hereafter. and when they got thither they found that argon was dead, so the lady was delivered to casan, his son. but i should have told you that it is a fact that, when they embarked, they were in number some 600 persons, without counting the mariners; but nearly all died by the way, so that only eight survived.[note 5] the sovereignty when they arrived was held by kiacatu, so they commended the lady to him, and executed all their commission. and when the two brothers and messer marco had executed their charge in full, and done all that the great kaan had enjoined on them in regard to the lady, they took their leave and set out upon their journey.[note 6] and before their departure, kiacatu gave them four golden tablets of authority, two of which bore gerfalcons, one bore lions, whilst the fourth was plain, and having on them inscriptions which directed that the three ambassadors should receive honour and service all through the land as if rendered to the prince in person, and that horses and all provisions, and everything necessary, should be supplied to them. and so they found in fact; for throughout the country they received ample and excellent supplies of everything needful; and many a time indeed, as i may tell you, they were furnished with 200 horsemen, more or less, to escort them on their way in safety. and this was all the more needful because kiacatu was not the legitimate lord, and therefore the people had less scruple to do mischief than if they had had a lawful prince.[note 7] another thing too must be mentioned, which does credit to those three ambassadors, and shows for what great personages they were held. the great kaan regarded them with such trust and affection, that he had confided to their charge the queen cocachin, as well as the daughter of the king of manzi,[note 8] to conduct to argon the lord of all the levant. and those two great ladies who were thus entrusted to them they watched over and guarded as if they had been daughters of their own, until they had transferred them to the hands of their lord; whilst the ladies, young and fair as they were, looked on each of those three as a father, and obeyed them accordingly. indeed, both casan, who is now the reigning prince, and the queen cocachin his wife, have such a regard for the envoys that there is nothing they would not do for them. and when the three ambassadors took leave of that lady to return to their own country, she wept for sorrow at the parting. what more shall i say? having left kiacatu they travelled day by day till they came to trebizond, and thence to constantinople, from constantinople to negropont, and from negropont to venice. and this was in the year 1295 of christ's incarnation. and now that i have rehearsed all the prologue as you have heard, we shall begin the book of the description of the divers things that messer marco met with in his travels. note 1.--on these plates or tablets, which have already been spoken of, a note will be found further on. (bk. ii. ch. vii.) plano carpini says of the mongol practice in reference to royal messengers: "nuncios, quoscunque et quotcunque, et ubicunque transmittit, oportet quod dent eis sine morâ equos subductitios et expensas" (669). note 2.--the mention of the king of england appears for the first time in pauthier's text. probably we shall never know if the communication reached him. but we have the record of several embassies in preceding and subsequent years from the mongol khans of persia to the kings of england; all with the view of obtaining co-operation in attack on the egyptian sultan. such messages came from ábáka in 1277; from arghún in 1289 and 1291; from gházán in 1302; from oljaitu in 1307. (see _rémusat_ in _mém. de l'acad._ vii.) [illustration: ancient chinese war vessel.] note 3.--ramusio has "_nine_ sails." marsden thinks even this lower number an error of ramusio's, as "it is well known that chinese vessels do not carry any kind of topsail." this is, however, a mistake, for they do sometimes carry a small topsail of cotton cloth (and formerly, it would seem from lecomte, even a topgallant sail at times), though only in quiet weather. and the evidence as to the number of sails carried by the great chinese junks of the middle ages, which evidently made a great impression on western foreigners, is irresistible. friar jordanus, who saw them in malabar, says: "with a fair wind they carry ten sails;" ibn batuta: "one of these great junks carries from three sails to twelve;" joseph, the indian, speaking of those that traded to india in the 15th century: "they were very great, and had sometimes twelve sails, with innumerable rowers." (_lecomte_, i. 389; _fr. jordanus_, hak. soc., p. 55; _ibn batuta_, iv. 91; _novus orbis_, p. 148.) a fuller account of these vessels is given at the beginning of bk. iii. note 4.--i.e. in this case sumatra, as will appear hereafter. "it is quite possible for a fleet of fourteen junks which required to keep together to take three months at the present time to accomplish a similar voyage. a chinese trader, who has come annually to singapore in junks for many years, tells us that he has had as long a passage as sixty days, although the average is eighteen or twenty days." (_logan_ in _j. ind. archip._ ii. 609.) note 5.--ramusio's version here varies widely, and looks more probable: "from the day that they embarked until their arrival there died of mariners and others on board 600 persons; and of the three ambassadors only one survived, whose name was goza (_coja_); but of the ladies and damsels died but one." it is worth noting that in the case of an embassy sent to cathay a few years later by gházán khan, on the return by this same route to persia, the chief of the two persian ambassadors, and the great khan's envoy, who was in company, both died by the way. their voyage, too, seems to have been nearly as long as polo's; for they were seven years absent from persia, and of these only four in china. (see _wassáf_ in _elliot_, iii. 47.) note 6.--ramusio's version states that on learning arghún's death (which they probably did on landing at hormuz), they sent word of their arrival to kiacatu, who directed them to conduct the lady to casan, who was then in the region of the _arbre sec_ (the province of khorasan) guarding the frontier passes with 60,000 men, and that they did so, and then turned back to kiacatu (probably at tabriz), and stayed at his court nine months. even the geog. text seems to imply that they had become personally known to casan, and i have no doubt that ramusio's statement is an authentic expansion of the original narrative by marco himself, or on his authority. arghún khan died 10th march, 1291. he was succeeded (23rd july) by his brother kaikhátú (_quiacatu_ of polo), who was put to death 24th march, 1295. we learn from hammer's history of the ilkhans that when gházán, the son of arghún (_casan_ of polo), who had the government of the khorasan frontier, was on his return to his post from tabriz, where his uncle kaikhatu had refused to see him, "he met at abher the ambassador whom he had sent to the great khan to obtain in marriage a relative of the great lady bulghán. this envoy brought with him the lady kúkáchin (our author's _cocachin_), with presents from the emperor, and the marriage was celebrated with due festivity." abher lies a little west of kazvín. hammer is not, i find, here copying from wassáf, and i have not been able to procure a thorough search of the work of rashiduddin, which probably was his authority. as well as the date can be made out from the history of the ilkhans, gházán must have met his bride towards the end of 1293, or quite the beginning of 1294. rashiduddin in another place mentions the fair lady from cathay; "the _ordu_ (or establishment) of tukiti khatun was given to kukachi khatun, who had been brought from the kaan's court, and who was a kinswoman of the late chief queen bulghán. kúkáchi, the wife of the padshah of islam, gházán khan, died in the month of shaban, 695," i.e. in june, 1296, so that the poor girl did not long survive her promotion. (see _hammer's ilch._ ii. 20, and 8, and i. 273; and _quatremère's rashiduddin_, p. 97.) kukachin was the name also of the wife of chingkim, kublai's favourite son; but she was of the kungurát tribe. (_deguignes_, iv. 179.) note 7.--here ramusio's text says: "during this journey messers nicolo, maffeo, and marco heard the news that the great khan had departed this life; and this caused them to give up all hope of returning to those parts." note 8.--this princess of manzi, or southern china, is mentioned only in the geog. text and in the crusca, which is based thereon. i find no notice of her among the wives of gházán or otherwise. on the fall of the capital of the sung dynasty--the kinsay of polo--in 1276, the princesses of that imperial family were sent to peking, and were graciously treated by kublai's favourite queen, the lady jamui. this young lady was, no doubt, one of those captive princesses who had been brought up at the court of khánbálik. (see _de mailla_, ix. 376, and infra bk. ii. ch. lxv., note 6.) book first. account of regions visited or heard of on the journey from the lesser armenia to the court of the great kaan at chandu. [illustration: aias, the laias of polo, from an admiralty chart] [illustration: position of _diláwar_, the supposed site of polo's dilavar] book i. chapter i. here the book begins; and first it speaks of the lesser hermenia. there are two hermenias, the greater and the less. the lesser hermenia is governed by a certain king, who maintains a just rule in his dominions, but is himself subject to the tartar.[note 1] the country contains numerous towns and villages,[note 2] and has everything in plenty; moreover, it is a great country for sport in the chase of all manner of beasts and birds. it is, however, by no means a healthy region, but grievously the reverse.[note 3] in days of old the nobles there were valiant men, and did doughty deeds of arms; but nowadays they are poor creatures, and good at nought, unless it be at boozing; they are great at that. howbeit, they have a city upon the sea, which is called layas, at which there is a great trade. for you must know that all the spicery, and the cloths of silk and gold, and the other valuable wares that come from the interior, are brought to that city. and the merchants of venice and genoa, and other countries, come thither to sell their goods, and to buy what they lack. and whatsoever persons would travel to the interior (of the east), merchants or others, they take their way by this city of layas.[note 4] having now told you about the lesser hermenia, we shall next tell you about turcomania. note 1.--the _petite hermenie_ of the middle ages was quite distinct from the armenia minor of the ancient geographers, which name the latter applied to the western portion of armenia, west of the euphrates, and immediately north of cappadocia. but when the old armenian monarchy was broken up (1079-80), rupen, a kinsman of the bagratid kings, with many of his countrymen, took refuge in the taurus. his first descendants ruled as _barons_; a title adopted apparently from the crusaders, but still preserved in armenia. leon, the great-great-grandson of rupen, was consecrated king under the supremacy of the pope and the western empire in 1198. the kingdom was at its zenith under hetum or hayton i., husband of leon's daughter isabel (1224-1269); he was, however, prudent enough to make an early submission to the mongols, and remained ever staunch to them, which brought his territory constantly under the flail of egypt. it included at one time all cilicia, with many cities of syria and the ancient armenia minor, of isauria and cappadocia. the male line of rupen becoming extinct in 1342, the kingdom passed to john de lusignan, of the royal house of cyprus, and in 1375 it was put an end to by the sultan of egypt. leon vi., the ex-king, into whose mouth froissart puts some extraordinary geography, had a pension of 1000_l._ a year granted him by our richard ii., and died at paris in 1398. [illustration: coin of king hetum and his queen isabel.] the chief remaining vestige of this little monarchy is the continued existence of a _catholicos_ of part of the armenian church at sis, which was the royal residence. some armenian communities still remain both in hills and plains; and the former, the more independent and industrious, still speak a corrupt armenian. polo's contemporary, marino sanuto, compares the kingdom of the pope's faithful armenians to one between the teeth of four fierce beasts, the _lion_ tartar, the _panther_ soldan, the turkish _wolf_, the corsair _serpent_. (_dulaurier_, in _j. as._ sér. v. tom. xvii.; _st. martin, arm._; _mar. san._ p. 32; _froissart_, bk. ii. ch. xxii. seqq.; _langlois, v. en cilicie_, 1861, p. 19.) note 2.--"_maintes villes et maint chasteaux_" this is a constantly recurring phrase, and i have generally translated it as here, believing _chasteaux (castelli)_ to be used in the frequent old italian sense of a _walled_ village or small walled town, or like the eastern _kala'_ applied in khorasan "to everything--town, village, or private residence-surrounded by a wall of earth." (_ferrier_, p. 292; see also _a. conolly_, i. p. 211.) martini, in his _atlas sinensis_, uses "_urbes_, _oppida_, castella," to indicate the three classes of chinese administrative cities. note 3.--"_enferme durement_." so marino sanuto objects to lesser armenia as a place of debarkation for a crusade "_quia terra est infirma_" langlois, speaking of the cilician plain: "in this region once so fair, now covered with swamps and brambles, fever decimates a population which is yearly diminishing, has nothing to oppose to the scourge but incurable apathy, and will end by disappearing altogether," etc. (_voyage_, p. 65.) cilician armenia retains its reputation for sport, and is much frequented by our naval officers for that object. ayas is noted for the extraordinary abundance of turtles. note 4.--the phrase twice used in this passage for the _interior_ is _fra terre_, an italianism (_fra terra_, or, as it stands in the geog. latin, "_infra terram orientis_"), which, however, murray and pauthier have read as an allusion to the _euphrates_, an error based apparently on a marginal gloss in the published edition of the soc. de géographie. it is true that the province of comagene under the greek empire got the name of _euphratesia_, or in arabic _furátiýah_, but that was not in question here. the great trade of ayas was with tabriz, viâ sivas, erzingan, and erzrum, as we see in pegolotti. elsewhere, too, in polo we find the phrase _fra terre_ used, where euphrates could possibly have no concern, as in relation to india and oman. (see bk. iii. chs. xxix. and xxxviii., and notes in each case.) with regard to the phrase _spicery_ here and elsewhere, it should be noted that the italian _spezerie_ included a vast deal more than ginger and other things "hot i' the mouth." in one of pegolotti's lists of _spezerie_ we find drugs, dye-stuffs, metals, wax, cotton, etc. chapter ii. concerning the province of turcomania. in turcomania there are three classes of people. first, there are the turcomans; these are worshippers of mahommet, a rude people with an uncouth language of their own.[note 1] they dwell among mountains and downs where they find good pasture, for their occupation is cattle-keeping. excellent horses, known as _turquans_, are reared in their country, and also very valuable mules. the other two classes are the armenians and the greeks, who live mixt with the former in the towns and villages, occupying themselves with trade and handicrafts. they weave the finest and handsomest carpets in the world, and also a great quantity of fine and rich silks of cramoisy and other colours, and plenty of other stuffs. their chief cities are conia, savast [where the glorious messer saint blaise suffered martyrdom], and casaria, besides many other towns and bishops' sees, of which we shall not speak at present, for it would be too long a matter. these people are subject to the tartar of the levant as their suzerain.[note 2] we will now leave this province, and speak of the greater armenia. note 1.--ricold of montecroce, a contemporary of polo, calls the turkmans _homines bestiales_. in our day ainsworth notes of a turkman village: "the dogs were very ferocious;... the people only a little better." (_j. r. g. s._ x. 292.) the ill report of the people of this region did not begin with the turkmans, for the emperor constantine porphyrog. quotes a greek proverb to the disparagement of the three _kappas_, cappadocia, crete, and cilicia. (in _bandurit_ i. 6.) note 2.--in turcomania marco perhaps embraces a great part of asia minor, but he especially means the territory of the decaying seljukian monarchy, usually then called by asiatics _rúm_, as the ottoman empire is now, and the capital of which was iconium, kuniyah, the conia of the text, and coyne of joinville. ibn batuta calls the whole country turkey (_al-turkiýah_), and the people _turkmán_; exactly likewise does ricold (_thurchia_ and _thurchimanni_). hayton's account of the various classes of inhabitants is quite the same in substance as polo's. [the turkmans emigrated from turkestan to asia minor before the arrival of the seljukid turks. "their villages," says cuinet, _turquie d'asie_, ii. p. 767, "are distinguished by the peculiarity of the houses being built of sun-baked bricks, whereas it is the general habit in the country to build them of earth or a kind of plaster, called _djès_"--h. c.] the migratory and pastoral turkmans still exist in this region, but the kurds of like habits have taken their place to a large extent. the fine carpets and silk fabrics appear to be no longer produced here, any more than the excellent horses of which polo speaks, which must have been the remains of the famous old breed of cappadocia. [it appears, however (vital cuinet's _turquie d'asie_, i. p. 224), that fine carpets are still manufactured at koniah, also a kind of striped cotton cloth, called _aladja_.--h. c.] a grant of privileges to the genoese by leon ii., king of lesser armenia, dated 23rd december, 1288, alludes to the export of horses and mules, etc., from ayas, and specifies the duties upon them. the horses now of repute in asia as turkman come from the east of the caspian. and asia minor generally, once the mother of so many breeds of high repute, is now poorer in horses than any province of the ottoman empire. (_pereg. quat._ p. 114; _i.b._ ii. 255 seqq.; _hayton_, ch. xiii.; _liber jurium reip. januensis_, ii. 184; _tchihatcheff, as. min._, 2'de partie, 631.) [the seljukian sultanate of iconium or rúm, was founded at the expense of the byzantines by suleiman (1074-1081); the last three sovereigns of the dynasty contemporaneous with marco polo are ghiath ed-din kaïkhosru iii. (1267-1283), ghiath ed-din mas'ud ii. (1283-1294), ala ed-din kaïkobad iii. (1294-1308), when this kingdom was destroyed by the mongols of persia. privileges had been granted to venice by ghiath ed-din kaïkhosru i. (+ 1211), and his sons izz ed-din kaikaua (1211-1220), and ala ed-din kaïkobad i. (1220-1237); the diploma of 1220 is unfortunately the only one of the three known to be preserved. (cf. heyd, i. p. 302.)--h. c.] though the authors quoted above seem to make no distinction between turks and turkmans, that which we still understand does appear to have been made in the 12th century: "that there may be some distinction, at least in name, between those who made themselves a king, and thus achieved such glory, and those who still abide in their primitive barbarism and adhere to their old way of life, the former are nowadays termed _turks_, the latter by their old name of _turkomans_." (_william of tyre_, i. 7.) casaria is kaisaríya, the ancient caesareia of cappadocia, close to the foot of the great mount argaeus. _savast_ is the armenian form (_sevasd_) of sebaste, the modern sivas. the three cities, iconium, caesareia, and sebaste, were metropolitan sees under the catholicos of sis. [the ruins of sebaste are situated at about 6 miles to the east of modern sivas, near the village of gavraz, on the _kizil irmak_. in the 11th century, the king of armenia, senecherim, made his capital of sebaste. it belonged after to the seljukid turks, and was conquered in 1397 by bayezid ilderim with tokat, castambol and sinope. (cf. _vital cuinet_.) one of the oldest churches in sivas is st. george (_sourp-kévork_), occupied by the greeks, but claimed by the armenians; it is situated near the centre of the town, in what is called the "black earth," the spot where timur is said to have massacred the garrison. a few steps north of st. george is the church of st. blasius, occupied by the roman catholic armenians. the tomb of st. blasius, however, is shown in another part of the town, near the citadel mount, and the ruins of a very beautiful seljukian medresseh. (from a ms. note by sir h. yule. the information had been supplied by the american missionaries to general sir c. wilson, and forwarded by him to sir h. yule.) it must be remembered that at the time of the seljuk turks, there were four medressehs at sivas, and a university as famous as that of amassia. children to the number of 1000, each a bearer of a copy of the koran, were crushed to death under the feet of the horses of timur, and buried in the "black earth"; the garrison of 4000 soldiers were buried alive. st. blasius, bishop of sebaste, was martyred in 316 by order of agricola, governor of cappadocia and lesser armenia, during the reign of licinius. his feast is celebrated by the latin church on the 3rd of february, and by the greek church on the 11th of february. he is the patron of the republic of ragusa in dalmatia, and in france of wool-carders. at the village of hullukluk, near sivas, was born in 1676 mekhitar, founder of the well-known armenian order, which has convents at venice, vienna, and trieste.--h. c.] chapter iii. description of the greater hermenia. this is a great country. it begins at a city called arzinga, at which they weave the best buckrams in the world. it possesses also the best baths from natural springs that are anywhere to be found.[note 1] the people of the country are armenians, and are subject to the tartar. there are many towns and villages in the country, but the noblest of their cities is arzinga, which is the see of an archbishop, and then arziron and arzizi.[note 2] the country is indeed a passing great one, and in the summer it is frequented by the whole host of the tartars of the levant, because it then furnishes them with such excellent pasture for their cattle. but in winter the cold is past all bounds, so in that season they quit this country and go to a warmer region, where they find other good pastures. [at a castle called paipurth, that you pass in going from trebizond to tauris, there is a very good silver mine.[note 3]] and you must know that it is in this country of armenia that the ark of noah exists on the top of a certain great mountain [on the summit of which snow is so constant that no one can ascend;[note 4] for the snow never melts, and is constantly added to by new falls. below, however, the snow does melt, and runs down, producing such rich and abundant herbage that in summer cattle are sent to pasture from a long way round about, and it never fails them. the melting snow also causes a great amount of mud on the mountain]. the country is bounded on the south by a kingdom called mosul, the people of which are jacobite and nestorian christians, of whom i shall have more to tell you presently. on the north it is bounded by the land of the georgians, of whom also i shall speak. on the confines towards georgiania there is a fountain from which oil springs in great abundance, insomuch that a hundred shiploads might be taken from it at one time. this oil is not good to use with food, but 'tis good to burn, and is also used to anoint camels that have the mange. people come from vast distances to fetch it, for in all the countries round about they have no other oil.[note 5] now, having done with great armenia, we will tell you of georgiania. note 1.--[erzinjan, erzinga, or eriza, in the vilayet of erzrum, was rebuilt in 1784, after having been destroyed by an earthquake. "arzendjan," says ibn batuta, ii. p. 294, "is in possession of well-established markets; there are manufactured fine stuffs, which are called after its name." it was at erzinjan that was fought in 1244 the great battle, which placed the seljuk turks under the dependency of the mongol khans.--h. c.] i do not find mention of its hot springs by modern travellers, but lazari says armenians assured him of their existence. there are plenty of others in polo's route through the country, as at ilija, close to erzrum, and at hássan kalá. the _buckrams_ of arzinga are mentioned both by pegolotti (circa 1340) and by giov. d'uzzano (1442). but what were they? buckram in the modern sense is a coarse open texture of cotton or hemp, loaded with gum, and used to stiffen certain articles of dress. but this was certainly _not_ the mediaeval sense. nor is it easy to bring the mediaeval uses of the term under a single explanation. indeed mr. marsh suggests that probably two different words have coalesced. fr.-michel says that _bouqueran_ was _at first_ applied to a light cotton stuff of the nature of muslin, and _afterwards_ to linen, but i do not see that he makes out this history of the application. douet d'arcq, in his _comptes de l'argenterie_, etc., explains the word simply in the modern sense, but there seems nothing in his text to bear this out. a quotation in raynouard's romance dictionary has "_vestirs de polpra e de_ bisso _que est_ bocaran," where raynouard renders _bisso_ as _lin_; a quotation in ducange also makes buckram the equivalent of bissus; and michel quotes from an inventory of 1365, "_unam culcitram pinctam_ (qu. punctam?) _albam factam_ de bisso _aliter_ boquerant." mr. marsh again produces quotations, in which the word is used as a proverbial example of _whiteness_, and inclines to think that it was a bleached cloth with a lustrous surface. it certainly was not _necessarily_ linen. giovanni villani, in a passage which is curious in more ways than one, tells how the citizens of florence established races for their troops, and, among other prizes, was one which consisted of a _bucherame di bambagine_ (of cotton). polo, near the end of the book (bk. iii. ch. xxxiv.), speaking of abyssinia, says, according to pauthier's text: "_et si y fait on moult beaux_ bouquerans et autres draps de coton." the g. t. is, indeed, more ambiguous: "_il hi se font maint biaus dras_ banbacin e bocaran" (cotton _and_ buckram). when, however, he uses the same expression with reference to the delicate stuffs woven on the coast of telingana, there can be no doubt that a cotton texture is meant, and apparently a fine muslin. (see bk. iii. ch. xviii.) buckram is _generally_ named as an article of price, _chier bouquerant_, _rice boquerans_, etc, but not always, for polo in one passage (bk. ii. ch. xlv.) seems to speak of it as the clothing of the poor people of eastern tibet. plano carpini says the tunics of the tartars were either of buckram (_bukeranum_), of _purpura_ (a texture, perhaps velvet), or of _baudekin_, a cloth of gold (pp. 614-615). when the envoys of the old man of the mountain tried to bully st. lewis, one had a case of daggers to be offered in defiance, another a _bouqueran_ for a winding sheet (_joinville_, p. 136.) in accounts of materials for the use of anne boleyn in the time of her prosperity, _bokeram_ frequently appears for "lyning and taynting" (?) gowns, lining sleeves, cloaks, a bed, etc., but it can scarcely have been for mere stiffening, as the colour of the buckram is generally specified as the same as that of the dress. a number of passages seem to point to a _quilted_ material. boccaccio (day viii. novel 10) speaks of a quilt (_coltre_) of the whitest buckram of cyprus, and uzzano enters buckram quilts (_coltre di bucherame_) in a list of _linajuoli_, or linen-draperies. both his handbook and pegolotti's state repeatedly that buckrams were sold by the piece or the half-score pieces--never by measure. in one of michel's quotations (from _baudouin de sebourc_) we have: "gaufer li fist premiers armer d'un auqueton qui fu de _bougherant_ et _plaine de bon coton_." mr. hewitt would appear to take the view that buckram meant a quilted material; for, quoting from a roll of purchases made for the court of edward i., an entry for ten buckrams to make sleeves of, he remarks, "the sleeves appear to have been of _pourpointerie_," i.e. quilting. (_ancient armour_, i. 240.) this signification would embrace a large number of passages in which the term is used, though certainly not all. it would account for the mode or sale by the piece, and frequent use of the expression _a_ buckram, for its habitual application to _coltre_ or counterpanes, its use in the _auqueton_ of baudouin, and in the jackets of falstaff's "men in buckram," as well as its employment in the frocks of the mongols and tibetans. the winter _chapkan_, or long tunic, of upper india, a form of dress which, i believe, correctly represents that of the mongol hosts, and is probably derived from them, is almost universally of quilted cotton.[1] this signification would also facilitate the transfer of meaning to the substance now called buckram, for that is used as a _kind_ of quilting. the derivation of the word is very uncertain. reiske says it is arabic, _abu-kairám_, "pannus cum intextis figuris"; wedgwood, attaching the modern meaning, that it is from it., _bucherare_, to pierce full of holes, which might be if _bucherare_ could be used in the sense of _puntare_, or the french _piquer_; marsh connects it with the _bucking_ of linen; and d'avezac thinks it was a stuff that took its name from _bokhara_. if the name be local, as so many names of stuffs are, the french form rather suggests _bulgaria_. [heyd, ii. 703, says that buckram (bucherame) was principally manufactured at erzinjan (armenia), mush, and mardin (kurdistan), ispahan (persia), and in india, etc. it was shipped to the west at constantinople, satalia, acre, and famagusta; the name is derived from bokhara.--h. c.] (_della decima_, iii. 18, 149, 65, 74, 212, etc.; iv. 4, 5, 6, 212; _reiske's_ notes to _const. porphyrogen._ ii.; _d'avezac_, p. 524; _vocab. univ. ital.; franc.-michel, recherches_, etc. ii. 29 seqq.; _philobiblon soc. miscell._ vi.; _marsh's wedgwood's etym. dict._ sub voce.) [illustration: castle of baiburt.] note 2.--arziron is erzrum, which, even in tournefort's time, the franks called _erzeron_ (iii. 126); [it was named _garine_, then _theodosiopolis_, in honour of theodosius the great; the present name was given by the seljukid turks, and it means "roman country"; it was taken by chinghiz khan and timur, but neither kept it long. odorico (_cathay_, i. p. 46), speaking of this city, says it "is mighty cold." (see also on the low temperature of the place, tournefort, _voyage du levant_, ii. pp. 258-259.) arzizi, arjish, in the vilayet of van, was destroyed in the middle of the 19th century; it was situated on the road from van to erzrum. arjish kalá was one of the ancient capitals of the kingdom of armenia; it was conquered by toghrul i., who made it his residence. (cf. vital cuinet, _turquie d'asie_, ii. p. 710).--h. c.] arjish is the ancient _arsissa_, which gave the lake van one of its names. it is now little more than a decayed castle, with a village inside. notices of kuniyah, kaisariya, sivas, arzan-ar-rumi, arzangan, and arjish, will be found in polo's contemporary abulfeda. (see _büsching_, iv. 303-311.) note 3.--paipurth, or baiburt, on the high road between trebizond and erzrum, was, according to neumann, an armenian fortress in the first century, and, according to ritter, the castle _baiberdon_ was fortified by justinian. it stands on a peninsular hill, encircled by the windings of the r. charok. [according to ramusio's version baiburt was the third relay from trebizund to tauris, and travellers on their way from one of these cities to the other passed under this stronghold.--h. c.] the russians, in retiring from it in 1829, blew up the greater part of the defences. the nearest silver mines of which we find modern notice, are those of _gumish-khánah_ ("silverhouse"), about 35 miles n.w. of baiburt; they are more correctly mines of lead rich in silver, and were once largely worked. but the _masálak-al-absár_ (14th century), besides these, speaks of two others in the same province, one of which was near _bajert_. this quatremère reasonably would read _babert_ or baiburt. (_not. et extraits_, xiii. i. 337; _texier_, _arménie_, i. 59.) note 4.--josephus alludes to the belief that noah's ark still existed, and that pieces of the pitch were used as amulets. (_ant._ i. 3. 6.) ararat (16,953 feet) was ascended, first by prof. parrot, september 1829; by spasski aotonomoff, august 1834; by behrens, 1835; by abich, 1845; by seymour in 1848; by khodzko, khanikoff, and others, for trigonometrical and other scientific purposes, in august 1850. it is characteristic of the account from which i take these notes (_longrimoff_, in _bull. soc. géog. paris_, sér. iv. tom. i. p. 54), that whilst the writer's countrymen, spasski and behrens, were "moved by a noble curiosity," the englishman is only admitted to have "gratified a tourist's whim"! note 5.--though mr. khanikoff points out that springs of naphtha are abundant in the vicinity of tiflis, the mention of _ship-loads_ (in ramusio indeed altered, but probably by the editor, to _camel-loads_), and the vast quantities spoken of, point to the naphtha-wells of the baku peninsula on the caspian. ricold speaks of their supplying the whole country as far as baghdad, and barbaro alludes to the practice of anointing camels with the oil. the quantity collected from the springs about baku was in 1819 estimated at 241,000 _poods_ (nearly 4000 tons), the greater part of which went to persia. (_pereg. quat._ p. 122; _ramusio_, ii. 109; _el. de laprim._ 276; _v. du chev. gamba_, i. 298.) [the phenomenal rise in the production of the baku oil-fields between 1890-1900, may be seen at a glance from the official statistics where the total output for 1900 is given as 601,000,000 poods, about 9,500,000 tons. (cf. _petroleum_, no. 42, vol. ii. p. 13.)] [1] polo's contemporary, the indian poet amír khusrú, puts in the mouth of his king kaikobád a contemptuous gibe at the mongols with their cotton-quilted dresses. (_elliot_, iii. p. 526.) chapter iv. of georgiania and the kings thereof. in georgiania there is a king called david melic, which is as much as to say "david king"; he is subject to the tartar.[note 1] in old times all the kings were born with the figure of an eagle upon the right shoulder. the people are very handsome, capital archers, and most valiant soldiers. they are christians of the greek rite, and have a fashion of wearing their hair cropped, like churchmen.[note 2] this is the country beyond which alexander could not pass when he wished to penetrate to the region of the ponent, because that the defile was so narrow and perilous, the sea lying on the one hand, and on the other lofty mountains impassable to horsemen. the strait extends like this for four leagues, and a handful of people might hold it against all the world. alexander caused a very strong tower to be built there, to prevent the people beyond from passing to attack him, and this got the name of the iron gate. this is the place that the book of alexander speaks of, when it tells us how he shut up the tartars between two mountains; not that they were really tartars, however, for there were no tartars in those days, but they consisted of a race of people called comanians and many besides.[note 3] [illustration: mediaeval georgian fortress, from a drawing dated 1634. "la provence est tonte plene de grant montagne et d'estroit pas et de fort"] [in this province all the forests are of box-wood.[note 4]] there are numerous towns and villages, and silk is produced in great abundance. they also weave cloths of gold, and all kinds of very fine silk stuffs. the country produces the best goshawks in the world [which are called _avigi_].[note 5] it has indeed no lack of anything, and the people live by trade and handicrafts. 'tis a very mountainous region, and full of strait defiles and of fortresses, insomuch that the tartars have never been able to subdue it out and out. there is in this country a certain convent of nuns called st. leonard's, about which i have to tell you a very wonderful circumstance. near the church in question there is a great lake at the foot of a mountain, and in this lake are found no fish, great or small, throughout the year till lent come. on the first day of lent they find in it the finest fish in the world, and great store too thereof; and these continue to be found till easter eve. after that they are found no more till lent come round again; and so 'tis every year. 'tis really a passing great miracle![note 6] that sea whereof i spoke as coming so near the mountains is called the sea of ghel or ghelan, and extends about 700 miles.[note 7] it is twelve days' journey distant from any other sea, and into it flows the great river euphrates and many others, whilst it is surrounded by mountains. of late the merchants of genoa have begun to navigate this sea, carrying ships across and launching them thereon. it is from the country on this sea also that the silk called _ghellé_ is brought.[note 8] [the said sea produces quantities of fish, especially sturgeon, at the river-mouths salmon, and other big kinds of fish.][note 9] note 1.--ramusio has: "one part of the said province is subject to the tartar, and the other part, owing to its fortresses, remains subject to the king david." we give an illustration of one of these mediaeval georgian fortresses, from a curious collection of ms. notices and drawings of georgian subjects in the municipal library at palermo, executed by a certain p. cristoforo di castelli of that city, who was a theatine missionary in georgia, in the first half of the 17th century. the g. t. says the king was _always_ called david. the georgian kings of the family of bagratidae claimed descent from king david through a prince shampath, said to have been sent north by nebuchadnezzar; a descent which was usually asserted in their public documents. timur in his institutes mentions a suit of armour given him by the king of georgia as forged by the hand of the psalmist king. david is a very frequent name in their royal lists. [the dynasty of the bagratidae, which was founded in 786 by ashod, and lasted until the annexation of georgia by russia on the 18th january, 1801, had nine reigning princes named david. during the second half of the 12th century the princes were: dawith (david) iv. narin (1247-1259), dawith v. (1243-1272), dimitri ii. thawdadebuli (1272-1289), wakhtang ii. (1289-1292), dawith vi. (1292-1308).--h. c.] there were two princes of that name, david, who shared georgia between them under the decision of the great kaan in 1246, and one of them, who survived to 1269, is probably meant here. the name of david was borne by the last titular king of georgia, who ceded his rights to russia in 1801. it is probable, however, as marsden has suggested, that the statement about the king _always_ being called david arose in part out of some confusion with the title of _dadian_, which, according to chardin (and also to p. di castelli), was always assumed by the princes of mingrelia, or colchis as the latter calls it. chardin refers this title to the persian _dád_, "equity." to a portrait of "alexander, king of iberia," or georgia proper, castelli attaches the following inscription, giving apparently his official style: "with the sceptre of david, crowned by heaven, first king of the orient and of the world, king of israel," adding, "they say that he has on his shoulder a small mark of a cross, '_factus est principatus super humerum ejus_,' and they add that he has all his ribs in one piece, and not divided." in another place he notes that when attending the king in illness his curiosity moved him strongly to ask if these things were true, but he thought better of it! (_khanikoff; jour. as._ ix. 370, xi. 291, etc.; _tim. instit._ p. 143; _castelli_ mss.) [a descendant of these princes was in st. petersburg about 1870. he wore the russian uniform, and bore the title of prince bagration-mukransky.] note 2.--this fashion of tonsure is mentioned by barbaro and chardin. the latter speaks strongly of the beauty of both sexes, as does della valle, and most modern travellers concur. note 3.--this refers to the pass of derbend, apparently the sarmatic gates of ptolemy, and _claustra caspiorum_ of tacitus, known to the arab geographers as the "gate of gates" (_báb-ul-abwáb_), but which is still called in turkish _demír-kápi_, or the iron gate, and to the ancient wall that runs from the castle of derbend along the ridges of caucasus, called in the east _sadd-i-iskandar_, the rampart of alexander. bayer thinks the wall was probably built originally by one of the antiochi, and renewed by the sassanian kobad or his son naoshirwan. it is ascribed to the latter by abulfeda; and according to klaproth's extracts from the _derbend námah_, naoshirwan completed the fortress of derbend in a.d. 542, whilst he and his father together had erected 360 towers upon the caucasian wall which extended to the gate of the alans (i.e. the pass of dariel). mas'údi says that the wall extended for 40 parasangs over the steepest summits and deepest gorges. the russians must have gained some knowledge as to the actual existence and extent of the remains of this great work, but i have not been able to meet with any modern information of a very precise kind. according to a quotation from _reinegg's kaukasus_ (i. 120, a work which i have not been able to consult), the remains of defences can be traced for many miles, and are in some places as much as 120 feet high. m. moynet indeed, in the _tour du monde_ (i. 122), states that he traced the wall to a distance of 27 versts (18 miles) from derbend, but unfortunately, instead of describing remains of such high interest from his own observation, he cites a description written by alex. dumas, which he says is quite accurate. ["to the west of narin-kaleh, a fortress which from the top of a promontory rises above the city, the wall, strengthened from distance to distance by large towers, follows the ridge of the mountains, descends into the ravines, and ascends the slopes to take root on some remote peak. if the natives were to be believed, this wall, which, however, no longer has any strategetical importance, had formerly its towers bristling upon the caucasus chain from one sea to another; at least, this rampart did protect all the plains at the foot of the eastern caucasus, since vestiges were found up to 30 kilometres from derbend." (_reclus, asie russe_, p. 160.) it has belonged to russia since 1813. the first european traveller who mentions it is benjamin of tudela. bretschneider (ii. p. 117) observes: "yule complains that he was not able to find any modern information regarding the famous caucasian wall which begins at derbend. i may therefore observe that interesting details on the subject are found in legkobytov's _survey of the russian dominions beyond the caucasus_ (in russian), 1836, vol. iv. pp. 158-161, and in dubois de montpéreux's _voyage autour du caucase_, 1840, vol. iv. pp. 291-298, from which i shall give here an abstract." (he then proceeds to give an abstract, of which the following is a part:) "the famous _dagh bary_ (mountain wall) now begins at the village of _djelgan_ 4 versts south-west of derbend, but we know that as late as the beginning of the last century it could be traced down to the southern gate of the city. this ancient wall then stretches westward to the high mountains of tabasseran (it seems the tabarestan of mas'údi).... dubois de montpéreux enumerates the following sites of remains of the wall:--in the famous defile of _dariel_, north-east of kazbek. in the valley of the _assai_ river, near wapila, about 35 versts north-east of dariel. in the valley of the kizil river, about 15 versts north-west of kazbek. farther west, in the valley of the _fiag_ or _pog_ river, between _lacz_ and _khilak_. from this place farther west about 25 versts, in the valley of the _arredon_ river, in the district of _valaghir_. finally, the westernmost section of the caucasian wall has been preserved, which was evidently intended to shut up the maritime defile of _gagry_, on the black sea."--h. c.] there is another wall claiming the title of _sadd-i-iskandar_ at the s.e. angle of the caspian. this has been particularly spoken of by vámbéry, who followed its traces from s.w. to n.e. for upwards of 40 miles. (see his _travels in c. asia_, 54 seqq., and _julius braun_ in the _ausland_, no. 22, of 1869.) yule (ii. pp. 537-538) says, "to the same friendly correspondent [professor braun] i owe the following additional particulars on this interesting subject, extracted from _eichwald, periplus des kasp. m._ i. 128. "'at the point on the mountain, at the extremity of the fortress (of derbend), where the double wall terminates, there begins a single wall constructed in the same style, only this no longer runs in a straight line, but accommodates itself to the contour of the hill, turning now to the north and now to the south. at first it is quite destroyed, and showed the most scanty vestiges, a few small heaps of stones or traces of towers, but all extending in a general bearing from east to west.... it is not till you get 4 versts from derbend, in traversing the mountains, that you come upon a continuous wall. thenceforward you can follow it over the successive ridges ... and through several villages chiefly occupied by the tartar hill-people. the wall ... makes many windings, and every 3/4 verst it exhibits substantial towers like those of the city-wall, crested with loop-holes. some of these are still in tolerably good condition; others have fallen, and with the wall itself have left but slight vestiges.' "eichwald altogether followed it up about 18 versts (12 miles) not venturing to proceed further. in later days this cannot have been difficult, but my kind correspondent had not been able to lay his hand on information. [illustration: view of derbend "alexandre ne poit paser quand il vost aler au ponent ... car de l'un les est la mer, et de l'autre est gran montagne que ne se poent cavaucher. la vre est mout estroit entre la montagne et la mer."] "a letter from mr. eugene schuyler communicates some notes regarding inscriptions that have been found at and near derbend, embracing cufic of a.d. 465, pehlvi, and even cuneiform. alluding to the fact that the other _iron-gate_, south of shahrsabz, was called also _kalugah_, or _kohlugah_ he adds: 'i don't know what that means, nor do i know if the russian kaluga, south-west of moscow, has anything to do with it, but i am told there is a russian popular song, of which two lines run: '"ah derbend, derbend kaluga, derbend my little treasure!"' "i may observe that i have seen it lately pointed out that _koluga_ is a mongol word signifying a _barrier_; and i see that timkowski (i. 288) gives the same explanation of _kalgan_, the name applied by mongols and russians to the gate in the great wall, called chang-kia-kau by the chinese, leading to kiakhta." the story alluded to by polo is found in the mediaeval romances of alexander, and in the pseudo-callisthenes on which they are founded. the hero chases a number of impure cannibal nations within a mountain barrier, and prays that they may be shut up therein. the mountains draw together within a few cubits, and alexander then builds up the gorge and closes it with gates of brass or iron. there were in all twenty-two nations with their kings, and the names of the nations were goth, magoth, anugi, eges, exenach, etc. godfrey of viterbo speaks of them in his rhyming verses:- "finibus indorum species fuit una virorum; goth erat atque magoth dictum cognomen eorum * * * * * narrat esias, isidorus et apocalypsis, tangit et in titulis magna sibylla suis. patribus ipsorum tumulus fuit venter eorum," etc. among the questions that the jews are said to have put, in order to test mahommed's prophetic character, was one series: "who are gog and magog? where do they dwell? what sort of rampart did zu'lkarnain build between them and men?" and in the koran we find (ch. xviii. _the cavern_): "they will question thee, o mahommed, regarding zu'lkarnain. reply: i will tell you his history"--and then follows the story of the erection of the rampart of yájúj and májúj. in ch. xxi. again there is an allusion to their expected issue at the latter day. this last expectation was one of very old date. thus the cosmography of aethicus, a work long believed (though erroneously) to have been abridged by st. jerome, and therefore to be as old at least as the 4th century, says that the turks of the race of gog and magog, a polluted nation, eating human flesh and feeding on all abominations, never washing, and never using wine, salt, nor wheat, shall come forth in the day of antichrist from where they lie shut up behind the caspian gates, and make horrid devastation. no wonder that the irruption of the tartars into europe, heard of at first with almost as much astonishment as such an event would produce now, was connected with this prophetic legend![1] the emperor frederic ii., writing to henry iii. of england, says of the tartars: "'tis said they are descended from the ten tribes who abandoned the law of moses, and worshipped the golden calf. they are the people whom alexander magnus shut up in the caspian mountains." [see the chapter _gog et magog dans le roman en alexandrins_, in paul meyer's _alexandre le grand dans la littérature française_. paris, 1886, ii. pp. 386-389.--h. c.]: "gos et margos i vienent de la tiere des turs et. cccc. m. hommes amenerent u plus, il en jurent la mer dont sire est neptunus et le porte d'infier que garde cerberus que l'orguel d'alixandre torneront a reüs por çou les enclot puis es estres desus. dusc' al tans antecrist n'en istera mais nus." according to some chroniclers, the emperor heraclius had already let loose the shut-up nations to aid him against the persians, but it brought him no good, for he was beaten in spite of their aid, and died of grief. the theory that the tartars were gog and magog led to the rampart of alexander being confounded with the wall of china (see infra, bk. i. ch. lix.), or being relegated to the extreme n.e. of asia, as we find it in the carta catalana. these legends are referred to by rabbi benjamin, hayton, rubruquis, ricold, matthew paris, and many more. josephus indeed speaks of the pass which alexander fortified with gates of steel. but his saying that the king of hyrcania was lord of this pass points to the hyrcanian gates of northern persia, or perhaps to the wall of gomushtapah, described by vámbéry. ricold of montecroce allows two arguments to connect the tartars with the jews who were shut up by alexander; one that the tartars hated the very name of alexander, and could not bear to hear it; the other, that their manner of writing was very like the chaldean, meaning apparently the syriac (_anté_, p. 29). but he points out that they had no resemblance to jews, and no knowledge of the law. edrisi relates how the khalif wathek sent one salem the dragoman to explore the rampart of gog and magog. his route lay by tiflis, the alan country, and that of the bashkirds, to the far north or north-east, and back by samarkand. but the report of what he saw is pure fable. in 1857, dr. bellew seems to have found the ancient belief in the legend still held by afghan gentlemen at kandahar. at gelath in imeretia there still exists one valve of a large iron gate, traditionally said to be the relic of a pair brought as a trophy from derbend by david, king of georgia, called the restorer (1089-1130). m. brosset, however, has shown it to be the gate of ganja, carried off in 1139. (_bayer in comment. petropol._ i. 401 seqq.; _pseudo-callisth._ by _müller_, p. 138; _gott. viterb._ in _pistorii nidani script. germ._ ii. 228; _alexandriade_, pp. 310-311; _pereg._ iv. p. 118; _acad. des insc. divers savans_, ii. 483; _edrisi_, ii. 416-420, etc.) note 4.--the box-wood of the abkhasian forests was so abundant, and formed so important an article of genoese trade, as to give the name of _chao de bux_ (cavo di bussi) to the bay of bambor, n.w. of sukum kala', where the traffic was carried on. (see _elie de laprim._ 243.) abulfeda also speaks of the forest of box (_shará' ul-buks_) on the shores of the black sea, from which box-wood was exported to all parts of the world; but his indication of the exact locality is confused. (_reinaud's abulf._ i. 289.) at the present time "boxwood abounds on the southern coast of the caspian, and large quantities are exported from near resht to england and russia. it is sent up the volga to tsaritzin, from thence by rail to the don, and down that river to the black sea, from whence it is shipped to england." (_ms. note_, h. y.) [cf. v. helm's _cultivated plants_, edited by j. s. stallybrass, lond., 1891, _the box tree_, pp. 176-179.--h. c.] note 5.--jerome cardan notices that "the best and biggest goshawks come from armenia," a term often including georgia and caucasus. the name of the bird is perhaps the same as _'afçi_, "falco montanus." (see _casiri_, i. 320.) major st. john tells me that the _terlán_, or goshawk, much used in persia, is still generally brought from caucasus. (_cardan, de rer. varietate_, vii. 35.) note 6.--a letter of warren hastings, written shortly before his death, and after reading marsden's marco polo, tells how a fish-breeder of banbury warned him against putting pike into his fish-pond, saying, "if you should leave them where they are _till shrove tuesday_ they will be sure to spawn, and then you will never get any other fish to breed in it." (_romance of travel_, i. 255.) edward webbe in his travels (1590, reprinted 1868) tells us that in the "land of siria there is a river having great store of fish like unto salmon-trouts, but no jew can catch them, though either christian and turk shall catch them in abundance with great ease." the circumstance of fish being got only for a limited time in spring is noticed with reference to lake van both by tavernier and mr. brant. but the exact legend here reported is related (as m. pauthier has already noticed) by wilibrand of oldenburg of a stream under the castle of adamodana, belonging to the hospitallers, near naversa (the ancient _anazarbus_), in cilicia under taurus. and khanikoff was told the same story of a lake in the district of akhaltziké in western georgia, in regard to which he explains the substance of the phenomenon as a result of the rise of the lake's level by the melting of the snows, which often coincides with lent. i may add that moorcroft was told respecting a sacred pond near sir-i-chashma, on the road from kabul to bamian, that the fish in the pond were not allowed to be touched, but that they were accustomed to desert it for the rivulet that ran through the valley regularly every year _on the day of the vernal equinox_, and it was then lawful to catch them. like circumstances would produce the same effect in a variety of lakes, and i have not been able to identify the convent of st. leonard's. indeed leonard (_sant lienard_, g. t.) seems no likely name for an armenian saint; and the patroness of the convent (as she is of many others in that country) was perhaps saint _nina_, an eminent personage in the armenian church, whose tomb is still a place of pilgrimage; or possibly st. _helena_, for i see that the russian maps show a place called _elenovka_ on the shores of lake sevan, n.e. of erivan. ramusio's text, moreover, says that the lake was _four days in compass_, and this description will apply, i believe, to none but the lake just named. this is, according to monteith, 47 miles in length and 21 miles in breadth, and as far as i can make out he travelled round it in three very long marches. convents and churches on its shores are numerous, and a very ancient one occupies an island on the lake. the lake is noted for its fish, especially magnificent trout. (_tavern._ bk. iii. ch. iii.; _j. r. g. s._ x. 897; _pereg. quat._ p. 179; _khanikoff_, 15; _moorcroft_, ii. 382; _j. r. g. s._ iii. 40 seqq.) ramusio has: "in this province there is a fine city called tiflis, and round about it are many castles and walled villages. it is inhabited by christians, armenians, georgians, and some saracens and jews, but not many." note 7.--the name assigned by marco to the caspian, "mer de gheluchelan" or "ghelachelan," has puzzled commentators. i have no doubt that the interpretation adopted above is the correct one. i suppose that marco said that the sea was called "la mer de ghel ou (de) ghelan," a name taken from the districts of the ancient _gelae_ on its south-western shores, called indifferently _gíl_ or _gílán_, just as many other regions of asia have like duplicate titles (singular and plural), arising, i suppose, from the change of a _gentile_ into a _local_ name. such are lár, lárán, khutl, khutlán, etc., a class to which badakhshán, wakhán, shaghnán, mungán, chág-hanián, possibly bámián, and many others have formerly belonged, as the adjectives in some cases surviving, _badakhshi, shaghni, wákhi_, etc., show[2] the change exemplified in the induration of these _gentile plurals_ into _local singulars_ is everywhere traced in the passage from earlier to later geography. the old indian geographical lists, such as are preserved in the puránas, and in pliny's extracts from megasthenes, are, in the main, lists of _peoples_, not of provinces, and even where the real name seems to be local a _gentile_ form is often given. so also _tochari_ and _sogdi_ are replaced by _tokháristán_ and _sughd_; the _veneti_ and _taurini_ by venice and turin; the _remi_ and the _parisii_, by rheims and paris; _east-saxons_ and _south-saxons_ by essex and sussex; not to mention the countless _-ings_ that mark the tribal settlement of the saxons in britain. abulfeda, speaking of this territory, uses exactly polo's phrase, saying that the districts in question are properly called _kíl-o-kílán_, but by the arabs _jíl-o-jílán_. teixeira gives the persian name of the sea as _darya ghiláni_. (see _abulf._ in _büsching_, v. 329.) [the province of gíl (gílán), which is situated between the mountains and the caspian sea, and between the provinces of azerbaíján and mazandéran (h. c.)], gave name to the silk for which it was and is still famous, mentioned as _ghelle_ (_gílí_) at the end of this chapter. this _seta ghella_ is mentioned also by pegolotti (pp. 212, 238, 301), and by uzzano, with an odd transposition, as seta _leggi_, along with seta _masandroni_, i.e. from the adjoining province of mazanderán (p. 192). may not the spanish _geliz_, "a silk-dealer," which seems to have been a puzzle to etymologists, be connected with this? (see _dosy and engelmann_, 2nd ed. p. 275.) [prof. f. de filippi (_viaggo in persia nel_ 1862,... milan, 1865, 8vo) speaks of the silk industry of ghílán (pp. 295-296) as the principal product of the entire province.--h. c] the dimensions assigned to the caspian in the text would be very correct if length were meant, but the geog. text with the same figure specifies _circuit_ (_zire_). ramusio again has "a circuit of 2800 miles." possibly the original reading was 2700; but this would be in excess. note 8.--the caspian is termed by vincent of beauvais _mare seruanicum_, the sea of shirwan, another of its numerous oriental names, rendered by marino sanuto as _mare salvanicum_. (iii. xi. ch. ix.) but it was generally known to the franks in the middle ages as the sea of bacu. thus berni:- "fuor del deserto la diritta strada lungo il mar di bacu miglior pareva." (_orl. innam._ xvii. 60.) and in the _sfera_ of lionardo dati (circa 1390):- "da tramontana di quest' asia grande tartari son sotto la fredda zona, gente bestial di bestie e vivande, fin dove _l'onda di baccù_ risuona," etc. (p. 10.) this name is introduced in ramusio, but probably by interpolation, as well as the correction of the statement regarding euphrates, which is perhaps a branch of the notion alluded to in _prologue_, ch. ii. note 5. in a later chapter marco calls it the _sea of sarai_, a title also given in the carta catalana. [odorico calls it sea of _bacuc_ (_cathay_) and sea of _bascon_ (cordier). the latter name is a corruption of abeskun, a small town and island in the s.e. corner of the caspian sea, not far from ashurada.--h. c.] we have little information as to the genoese navigation of the caspian, but the great number of names exhibited along its shores in the map just named (1375) shows how familiar such navigation had become by that date. see also _cathay_, p. 50, where an account is given of a remarkable enterprise by genoese buccaneers on the caspian about that time. mas'údi relates an earlier history of how about the beginning of the 9th century a fleet of 500 russian vessels came out of the volga, and ravaged all the populous southern and western shores of the caspian. the unhappy population was struck with astonishment and horror at this unlooked-for visitation from a sea that had hitherto been only frequented by peaceful traders or fishermen. (ii. 18-24.) note 9.--[the enormous quantity of fish found in the caspian sea is ascribed to the mass of vegetable food to be found in the shallower waters of the north and the mouth of the volga. according to reclus, the caspian fisheries bring in fish to the annual value of between three and four millions sterling.--h. c.] [1] see letter of frederic to the roman senate, of 20th june, 1241, in _bréholles_. mahommedan writers, contemporary with the mongol invasions, regarded these as a manifest sign of the approaching end of the world. (see elliot's _historians_, ii. p. 265.) [2] when the first edition was published, i was not aware of remarks to like effect regarding names of this character by sir h. rawlinson in the _j. r. as. soc._ vol. xi. pp. 64 and 103. chapter v. of the kingdom of mausul. on the frontier of armenia towards the south-east is the kingdom of mausul. it is a very great kingdom, and inhabited[note 1] by several different kinds of people whom we shall now describe. first there is a kind of people called arabi, and these worship mahommet. then there is another description of people who are nestorian and jacobite christians. these have a patriarch, whom they call the jatolic, and this patriarch creates archbishops, and abbots, and prelates of all other degrees, and sends them into every quarter, as to india, to baudas, or to cathay, just as the pope of rome does in the latin countries. for you must know that though there is a very great number of christians in those countries, they are all jacobites and nestorians; christians indeed, but not in the fashion enjoined by the pope of rome, for they come short in several points of the faith.[note 2] all the cloths of gold and silk that are called _mosolins_ are made in this country; and those great merchants called _mosolins_, who carry for sale such quantities of spicery and pearls and cloths of silk and gold, are also from this kingdom.[note 3] there is yet another race of people who inhabit the mountains in that quarter, and are called curds. some of them are christians, and some of them are saracens; but they are an evil generation, whose delight it is to plunder merchants.[note 4] [near this province is another called mus and merdin, producing an immense quantity of cotton, from which they make a great deal of buckram[note 5] and other cloth. the people are craftsmen and traders, and all are subject to the tartar king.] note 1.--polo could scarcely have been justified in calling mosul a very great kingdom. this is a bad habit of his, as we shall have to notice again. badruddin lúlú, the last atabeg of mosul of the race of zenghi had at the age of 96 taken sides with hulaku, and stood high in his favour. his son malik sálih, having revolted, surrendered to the mongols in 1261 on promise of life; which promise they kept in mongol fashion by torturing him to death. since then the kingdom had ceased to exist as such. coins of badruddín remain with the name and titles of mangku kaan on their reverse, and some of his and of other atabegs exhibit curious imitations of greek art. (_quat. rash._ p. 389 _jour. as._ iv. vi. 141.).--h. y. and h. c. [mosul was pillaged by timur at the end of the 14th century; during the 15th it fell into the hands of the turkomans, and during the 16th, of ismail, shah of persia.--h. c.] [the population of mosul is to-day 61,000 inhabitants--(48,000 musulmans, 10,000 christians belonging to various churches, and 3000 jews).--h. c.] [illustration: coin of badruddín of mausul.] note 2.--the nestorian church was at this time and in the preceding centuries diffused over asia to an extent of which little conception is generally entertained, having a chain of bishops and metropolitans from jerusalem to peking. the church derived its name from nestorius, patriarch of constantinople, who was deposed by the council of ephesus in 431. the chief "point of the faith" wherein it came short, was (at least in its most tangible form) the doctrine that in our lord there were two persons, one of the divine word, the other of the man jesus; the former dwelling in the latter as in a temple, or uniting with the latter "as fire with iron." _nestorin_, the term used by polo, is almost a literal transcript of the arab form _nastúri_. a notice of the metropolitan sees, with a map, will be found in _cathay_, p. ccxliv. _játhalík_, written in our text (from g. t.) _jatolic_, by fr. burchard and ricold _jaselic_, stands for [greek: katholikós]. no doubt it was originally _gáthalík_, but altered in pronunciation by the arabs. the term was applied by nestorians to their patriarch; among the jacobites to the _mafrián_ or metropolitan. the nestorian patriarch at this time resided at baghdad. (_assemani_, vol. iii. pt. 2; _per. quat._ 91, 127.) the jacobites, or jacobins, as they are called by writers of that age (ar. _ya'úbkiy_), received their name from jacob baradaeus or james zanzale, bishop of edessa (so called, mas'údi says, because he was a maker of _barda'at_ or saddle-cloths), who gave a great impulse to their doctrine in the 6th century. [at some time between the years 541 and 578, he separated from the church and became a follower of the doctrine of eutyches.--h. c.] the jacobites then formed an independent church, which at one time spread over the east at least as far as sístán, where they had a see under the sassanian kings. their distinguishing tenet was _monophysitism_, viz., that our lord had but one nature, the divine. it was in fact a rebound from nestorian doctrine, but, as might be expected in such a case, there was a vast number of shades of opinion among both bodies. the chief locality of the jacobites was in the districts of mosul, tekrit, and jazírah, and their patriarch was at this time settled at the monastery of st. matthew, near mosul, but afterwards, and to the present day, at or near mardin. [they have at present two patriarchates: the monastery of zapharan near baghdad and etchmiadzin.--h. c.] the armenian, coptic, abyssinian, and malabar churches all hold some shade of the jacobite doctrine, though the first two at least have patriarchs apart. (_assemani_, vol. ii.; _le quien_, ii. 1596; _mas'údi_, ii. 329-330; _per. quat._ 124-129.) note 3.--we see here that _mosolin_ or _muslin_ had a very different meaning from what it has now. a quotation from ives by marsden shows it to have been applied in the middle of last century to a strong cotton cloth made at mosul. dozy says the arabs use _mauçili_ in the sense of muslin, and refers to passages in 'the arabian nights.' [bretschneider (_med. res._ ii. p. 122) observes "that in the narrative of ch'ang ch'un's travels to the west in 1221, it is stated that in samarkand the men of the lower classes and the priests wrap their heads about with a piece of white _mo-sze_. there can be no doubt that mo-sze here denotes 'muslin,' and the chinese author seems to understand by this term the same material which we are now used to call muslin."--h. c.] i have found no elucidation of polo's application of _mosolini_ to a class of merchants. but, in a letter of pope innocent iv. (1244) to the dominicans in palestine, we find classed as different bodies of oriental christians, "_jacobitae, nestoritae, georgiani, graeci, armeni, maronitae, et_ mosolini." (_le quien_, iii. 1342.) note 4.--"the curds," says ricold, "exceed in malignant ferocity all the barbarous nations that i have seen.... they are called _curti_, not because they are curt in stature, but from the persian word for _wolves_.... they have three principal vices, viz., murder, robbery, and treachery." some say they have not mended since, but his etymology is doubtful. _kúrt_ is turkish for a wolf, not persian, which is _gurg_; but the name (_karduchi, kordiaei_, etc.) is older, i imagine, than the turkish language in that part of asia. quatremère refers it to the persian _gurd_, "strong, valiant, hero." as regards the statement that some of the kurds were christians, mas'údi states that the jacobites and certain other christians in the territory of mosul and mount judi were reckoned among the kurds. (_not. et ext._ xiii. i. 304.) [the kurds of mosul are in part nomadic and are called _kotcheres_, but the greater number are sedentary and cultivate cereals, cotton, tobacco, and fruits. (_cuinet._) old kurdistan had shehrizor (kerkuk, in the sanjak of that name) as its capital.--h. c.] note 5.--ramusio here, as in all passages where other texts have _bucherami_ and the like, puts _boccassini_, a word which has become obsolete in its turn. i see both _bochayrani_ and _bochasini_ coupled, in a genoese fiscal statute of 1339, quoted by pardessus. (_lois maritimes_, iv. 456.) mush and mardin are in very different regions, but as their actual interval is only about 120 miles, they _may_ have been under one provincial government. mush is essentially armenian, and, though the seat of a pashalik, is now a wretched place. mardin, on the verge of the mesopotamian plain, rises in terraces on a lofty hill, and there, says hammer, "sunnis and shias, catholic and schismatic armenians, jacobites, nestorians, chaldaeans, sun-, fire-, calf-, and devil-worshippers dwell one over the head of the other." (_ilchan._ i. 191.) chapter vi. of the great city of baudas, and how it was taken. baudas is a great city, which used to be the seat of the calif of all the saracens in the world, just as rome is the seat of the pope of all the christians.[note 1] a very great river flows through the city, and by this you can descend to the sea of india. there is a great traffic of merchants with their goods this way; they descend some eighteen days from baudas, and then come to a certain city called kisi, where they enter the sea of india.[note 2] there is also on the river, as you go from baudas to kisi, a great city called bastra, surrounded by woods, in which grow the best dates in the world.[note 3] in baudas they weave many different kinds of silk stuffs and gold brocades, such as _nasich_, and _nac_, and _cramoisy_, and many another beautiful tissue richly wrought with figures of beasts and birds. it is the noblest and greatest city in all those regions.[note 4] now it came to pass on a day in the year of christ 1255, that the lord of the tartars of the levant, whose name was alaü, brother to the great kaan now reigning, gathered a mighty host and came up against baudas and took it by storm.[note 5] it was a great enterprise! for in baudas there were more than 100,000 horse, besides foot soldiers. and when alaü had taken the place he found therein a tower of the califs, which was full of gold and silver and other treasure; in fact the greatest accumulation of treasure in one spot that ever was known.[note 6] when he beheld that great heap of treasure he was astonished, and, summoning the calif to his presence, he said to him: "calif, tell me now why thou hast gathered such a huge treasure? what didst thou mean to do therewith? knewest thou not that i was thine enemy, and that i was coming against thee with so great an host to cast thee forth of thine heritage? wherefore didst thou not take of thy gear and employ it in paying knights and soldiers to defend thee and thy city?" the calif wist not what to answer, and said never a word. so the prince continued, "now then, calif, since i see what a love thou hast borne thy treasure, i will e'en give it thee to eat!" so he shut the calif up in the treasure tower, and bade that neither meat nor drink should be given him, saying, "now, calif, eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it; for never shalt thou have aught else to eat!" so the calif lingered in the tower four days, and then died like a dog. truly his treasure would have been of more service to him had he bestowed it upon men who would have defended his kingdom and his people, rather than let himself be taken and deposed and put to death as he was.[note 7] howbeit, since that time, there has been never another calif, either at baudas or anywhere else.[note 8] now i will tell you of a great miracle that befell at baudas, wrought by god on behalf of the christians. note 1.--this form of the mediaeval frank name of baghdad, _baudas_ [the chinese traveller, ch'ang te, _si shi ki_, xiii. cent., says, "the kingdom of _bao-da_," h. c.], is curiously like that used by the chinese historians, _paota_ (_pauthier; gaubil_), and both are probably due to the mongol habit of slurring gutturals. (see _prologue_, ch. ii. note 3.) [baghdad was taken on the 5th of february, 1258, and the khalif surrendered to hulaku on the 10th of february.--h. c.] note 2.--polo is here either speaking without personal knowledge, or is so brief as to convey an erroneous impression that the tigris flows to kisi, whereas three-fourths of the length of the persian gulf intervene between the river mouth and kisi. the latter is the island and city of kish or kais, about 200 miles from the mouth of the gulf, and for a long time one of the chief ports of trade with india and the east. the island, the _cataea_ of arrian, now called ghes or kenn, is singular among the islands of the gulf as being wooded and well supplied with fresh water. the ruins of a city [called harira, according to lord curzon,] exist on the north side. according to wassáf, the island derived its name from one kais, the son of a poor widow of síráf (then a great port of indian trade on the northern shore of the gulf), who on a voyage to india, about the 10th century, made a fortune precisely as dick whittington did. the proceeds of the cat were invested in an establishment on this island. modern attempts to nationalise whittington may surely be given up! it is one of the tales which, like tell's shot, the dog gellert, and many others, are common to many regions. (_hammer's ilch._ i. 239; _ouseley's travels_, i. 170; _notes and queries_, 2nd s. xi. 372.) mr. badger, in a postscript to his translation of the history of omán (_hak. soc._ 1871), maintains that kish or kais was at this time a city on the mainland, and identical from síráf. he refers to ibn batuta (ii. 244), who certainly does speak of visiting "the city of kais, called also síráf." and polo, neither here nor in bk. iii. ch. xl., speaks of kisi as an island. i am inclined, however, to think that this was from not having visited it. ibn batuta says nothing of síráf as a seat of trade; but the historian wassáf, who had been in the service of jamáluddín al-thaibi, the lord of kais, in speaking of the export of horses thence to india, calls it "the _island_ of kais." (elliot, iii. 34.) compare allusions to this horse trade in ch. xv. and in bk. iii. ch. xvii. wassáf was precisely a contemporary of polo. note 3.--the name is _bascra_ in the mss., but this is almost certainly the common error of _c_ for _t_. basra is still noted for its vast date-groves. "the whole country from the confluence of the euphrates and tigris to the sea, a distance of 30 leagues, is covered with these trees." (_tav._ bk. ii. ch. iii.) note 4.--from baudas, or baldac, i.e. baghdad, certain of these rich silk and gold brocades were called _baldachini_, or in english _baudekins_. from their use in the state canopies and umbrellas of italian dignitaries, the word _baldacchino_ has come to mean a canopy, even when architectural. [_baldekino, baldacchino_, was at first entirely made of silk, but afterwards silk was mixed (_sericum mixtum_) with cotton or thread. when hulaku conquered baghdad part of the tribute was to be paid with that kind of stuff. later on, says heyd (ii. p. 697), it was also manufactured in the province of ahwaz, at damas and at cyprus; it was carried as far as france and england. among the articles sent from baghdad to okkodai khan, mentioned in the _yüan ch'ao pi shi_ (made in the 14th century), quoted by bretschneider (_med. res._ ii. p. 124), we note: _nakhut_ (a kind of gold brocade), _nachidut_ (a silk stuff interwoven with gold), _dardas_ (a stuff embroidered in gold). bretschneider (p. 125) adds: "with respect to _nakhut_ and _nachidut_, i may observe that these words represent the mongol plural form of _nakh_ and _nachetti_.... i may finally mention that in the _yüan shi_, ch. lxxviii. (on official dresses), a stuff, _na-shishi_, is repeatedly named, and the term is explained there by _kin kin_ (gold brocade)."--h. c.] the stuffs called _nasich_ and _nac_ are again mentioned by our traveller below (ch. lix.). we only know that they were of silk and gold, as he implies here, and as ibn batuta tells us, who mentions _nakh_ several times and _nasíj_ once. the latter is also mentioned by rubruquis (_nasic_) as a present made to him at the kaan's court. and pegolotti speaks of both _nacchi_ and _nacchetti_ of silk and gold, the latter apparently answering to _nasich_. _nac, nacques, nachiz, nacíz, nasís_, appear in accounts and inventories of the 14th century, french and english. (see _dictionnaire des tissus_, ii. 199, and _douet d' arcq, comptes de l'argenterie des rois de france_, etc., 334.) we find no mention of _nakh_ or _nasíj_ among the stuffs detailed in the _aín akbari_, so they must have been obsolete in the 16th century. [cf. heyd, _com. du levant_, ii. p. 698; _nacco_, nachetto, comes from the arabic _nakh_ (_nekh_); _nassit_ (_nasith_) from the arabic _nécidj_.--h. c.] _quermesis_ or cramoisy derived its name from the kermes insect (ar. _kirmiz_) found on _quercus coccifera_, now supplanted by cochineal. the stuff so called is believed to have been originally a crimson velvet, but apparently, like the mediaeval _purpura_, if not identical with it, it came to indicate a tissue rather than a colour. thus fr.-michel quotes velvet of vermeil cramoisy, of violet, and of blue cramoisy, and _pourpres_ of a variety of colours, though he says he has never met with _pourpre blanche_. i may, however, point to plano carpini (p. 755), who describes the courtiers at karakorum as clad in white _purpura_. the london prices of _chermisi_ and _baldacchini_ in the early part of the 15th century will be found in uzzano's work, but they are hard to elucidate. babylon, of which baghdad was the representative, was famous for its variegated textures in very early days. we do not know the nature of the goodly babylonish garment which tempted achan in jericho, but josephus speaks of the affluence of rich stuffs carried in the triumph of titus, "gorgeous with life-like designs from the babylonian loom," and he also describes the memorable veil of the temple as a [greek: péplos babylónios] of varied colours marvellously wrought. pliny says king attalus invented the intertexture of cloth with gold; but the weaving of damasks of a variety of colours was perfected at babylon, and thence they were called babylonian. the brocades wrought with figures of animals in gold, of which marco speaks, are still a _spécialité_ at benares, where they are known by the name of _shikárgáh_ or hunting-grounds, which is nearly a translation of the name _thard-wahsh_ "beast-hunts," by which they were known to the mediaeval saracens. (see _q. makrizi_, iv. 69-70.) plautus speaks of such patterns in carpets, the produce of alexandria--"_alexandrina_ belluata _conchyliata tapetia_." athenaeus speaks of persian carpets of like description at an extravagant entertainment given by antiochus epiphanes; and the same author cites a banquet given in persia by alexander, at which there figured costly curtains embroidered with animals. in the 4th century asterius, bishop of amasia in pontus, rebukes the christians who indulge in such attire: "you find upon them lions, panthers, bears, huntsmen, woods, and rocks; whilst the more devout display christ and his disciples, with the stories of his miracles," etc. and sidonius alludes to upholstery of like character: "peregrina det supellex * * * ubi torvus, et per artem resupina flexus ora, it equo reditque telo simulacra bestiarum fugiens fugansque parthus." (_epist._ ix. 13.) a modern kashmír example of such work is shown under ch. xvii. (_d'avezac_, p. 524; _pegolotti_, in _cathay_, 295, 306; _i. b._ ii. 309, 388, 422; iii. 81; _della decima_, iv. 125-126; _fr.-michel, recherches_, etc., ii. 10-16, 204-206; _joseph. bell. jud._ vii. 5, 5, and v. 5, 4; _pliny_, viii. 74 (or 48); _plautus, pseudolus_, i. 2; _yonge's athenaeus_, v. 26 and xii. 54; _mongez_ in _mém. acad._ iv. 275-276.) note 5.--[bretschneider (_med. res._ i. p. 114) says: "hulagu left karakorum, the residence of his brother, on the 2nd may, 1253, and returned to his ordo, in order to organize his army. on the 19th october of the same year, all being ready, he started for the west." he arrived at samarkand in september, 1255. for this chapter and the following of polo, see: _hulagu's expedition to western asia, after the mohammedan authors_, pp. 112-122, and the _translation of the si shi ki_ (ch'ang te), pp. 122-156, in bretschneider's _mediaeval researches_, i.--h. c.] note 6.--["hulagu proceeded to the lake of _ormia_ (urmia), when he ordered a castle to be built on the island of _tala_, in the middle of the lake, for the purpose of depositing here the immense treasures captured at baghdad. a great part of the booty, however, had been sent to mangu khan." (_hulagu's exp._, bretschneider, _med. res._ i. p. 120.) ch'ang te says (_si shi ki_, p. 139): "the palace of the ha-li-fa was built of fragrant and precious woods. the walls of it were constructed of black and white jade. it is impossible to imagine the quantity of gold and precious stones found there."--h. c.] note 7.- "i said to the kalif: 'thou art old, thou hast no need of so much gold. thou shouldst not have heaped and hidden it here, till the breath of battle was hot and near, but have sown through the land these useless hoards to spring into shining blades of swords, and keep thine honour sweet and clear. * * * * * then into his dungeon i locked the drone, and left him to feed there all alone in the honey-cells of his golden hive: never a prayer, nor a cry, nor a groan was heard from those massive walls of stone, nor again was the kalif seen alive.' this is the story, strange and true, that the great captain alau told to his brother, the tartar khan, when he rode that day into cambalu. by the road that leadeth to ispahan." (_longfellow_.)[1] the story of the death of mosta'sim billah, the last of the abbaside khalifs, is told in much the same way by hayton, ricold, pachymeres, and joinville. the memory of the last glorious old man must have failed him, when he says the facts were related by some merchants who came to king lewis, when before saiette (or sidon), viz. in 1253, for the capture of baghdad occurred five years later. mar. sanuto says melted gold was poured down the khalif's throat--a transfer, no doubt, from the old story of crassus and the parthians. contemporary armenian historians assert that hulaku slew him with his own hand. all that rashiduddin says is: "the evening of wednesday, the 14th of safar, 656 (20th february, 1258), the khalif was put to death in the village of wakf, with his eldest son and five eunuchs who had never quitted him." later writers say that he was wrapt in a carpet and trodden to death by horses. [cf. _the story of the death of the last abbaside caliph, from the vatican ms. of ibn-al-furat_, by g. le strange (_jour. r. as. soc._, april, 1900, pp. 293-300). this is the story of the death of the khalif told by ibn-al-furat (born in cairo, 1335 a.d.): "then hulagu gave command, and the caliph was left a-hungering, until his case was that of very great hunger, so that he called asking that somewhat might be given him to eat. and the accursed hulagu sent for a dish with gold therein, and a dish with silver therein, and a dish with gems, and ordered these all to be set before the caliph al musta'sim, saying to him, 'eat these.' but the caliph made answer, 'these be not fit for eating.' then said hulagu: 'since thou didst so well know that these be not fit for eating, why didst thou make a store thereof? with part thereof thou mightest have sent gifts to propitiate us, and with part thou shouldst have raised an army to serve thee and defend thyself against us! and hulagu commanded them to take forth the caliph and his son to a place without the camp, and they were here bound and put into two great sacks, being afterwards trampled under foot till they both died--the mercy of allah be upon them."--h. c.] the foundation of the story, so widely received among the christians, is to be found also in the narrative of nikbi (and mirkhond), which is cited by d'obsson. when the khalif surrendered, hulaku put before him a plateful of gold, and told him to eat it. "but one does not eat gold," said the prisoner. "why, then," replied the tartar, "did you hoard it, instead of expending it in keeping up an army? why did you not meet me at the oxus?" the khalif could only say, "such was god's will!" "and that which has befallen you was also god's will," said hulaku. wassáf's narrative is interesting:--"two days after his capture the khalif was at his morning prayer, and began with the verse (_koran_, iii. 25), 'say god is the possessor of dominion! it shall be given to whom he will; it shall be taken from whom he will: whom he will he raiseth to honour; whom he will he casteth to the ground.' having finished the regular office he continued still in prayer with tears and importunity. bystanders reported to the ilkhan the deep humiliation of the khalif's prayers, and the text which seemed to have so striking an application to those two princes. regarding what followed there are different stories. some say that the ilkhan ordered food to be withheld from the khalif, and that when he asked for food the former bade a dish of gold be placed before him, etc. eventually, after taking counsel with his chiefs, the padishah ordered the execution of the khalif. it was represented that the blood-drinking sword ought not to be stained with the gore of mosta'sim. he was therefore rolled in a carpet, just as carpets are usually rolled up, insomuch that his limbs were crushed." the avarice of the khalif was proverbial. when the mongol army was investing miafarakain, the chief, malik kamál, told his people that everything he had should be at the service of those in need: "thank god, i am not like mosta'sim, a worshipper of silver and gold!" (_hayton_ in _ram._ ch. xxvi.; _per. quat._ 121; _pachym. mic. palaeol._ ii. 24; _joinville_, p. 182; _sanuto_, p. 238; _j. as._ sér. v. tom. xi. 490, and xvi. 291; _d'ohsson_, iii. 243; _hammer's wassáf_, 75-76; _quat. rashid._ 305.) note 8.--nevertheless froissart brings the khalif to life again one hundred and twenty years later, as "_le galifre de baudas_." (bk. iii. ch. xxiv.) [1] not that alaü (_pace_ mr. longfellow) ever did see cambalu. chapter vii. how the calif of baudas took counsel to slay all the christians in his land. i will tell you then this great marvel that occurred between baudas and mausul. it was in the year of christ[note 1] ... that there was a calif at baudas who bore a great hatred to christians, and was taken up day and night with the thought how he might either bring those that were in his kingdom over to his own faith, or might procure them all to be slain. and he used daily to take counsel about this with the devotees and priests of his faith,[note 2] for they all bore the christians like malice. and, indeed, it is a fact, that the whole body of saracens throughout the world are always most malignantly disposed towards the whole body of christians. now it happened that the calif, with those shrewd priests of his, got hold of that passage in our gospel which says, that if a christian had faith as a grain of mustard seed, and should bid a mountain be removed, it would be removed. and such indeed is the truth. but when they had got hold of this text they were delighted, for it seemed to them the very thing whereby either to force all the christians to change their faith, or to bring destruction upon them all. the calif therefore called together all the christians in his territories, who were extremely numerous. and when they had come before him, he showed them the gospel, and made them read the text which i have mentioned. and when they had read it he asked them if that was the truth? the christians answered that it assuredly was so. "well," said the calif, "since you say that it is the truth, i will give you a choice. among such a number of you there must needs surely be this small amount of faith; so you must either move that mountain there,"--and he pointed to a mountain in the neighbourhood--"or you shall die an ill death; unless you choose to eschew death by all becoming saracens and adopting our holy law. to this end i give you a respite of ten days; if the thing be not done by that time, ye shall die or become saracens." and when he had said this he dismissed them, to consider what was to be done in this strait wherein they were. note 1.--the date in the g. text and pauthier is 1275, which of course cannot have been intended. ramusio has 1225. [the khalifs in 1225 were abu'l abbas ahmed vii. en-nassir lidini 'llah (1180-1225) and abu nasr mohammed ix. ed-dhahir bi-emri 'llah (1225-1226).--h. c.] note 2.--"_cum sez regisles et cum sez casses._" (g. t.) i suppose the former expression to be a form of _regules_, which is used in polo's book for persons of a religious _rule_ or order, whether christian or pagan. the latter word (_casses_) i take to be the arabic _kashísh_, properly a christian presbyter, but frequently applied by old travellers, and habitually by the portuguese (_caxiz, caxix_), to mahomedan divines. (see _cathay_, p. 568.) it may, however, be _kází_. pauthier's text has simply "à ses prestres de la loi." chapter viii. how the christians were in great dismay because of what the calif had said. the christians on hearing what the calif had said were in great dismay, but they lifted all their hopes to god, their creator, that he would help them in this their strait. all the wisest of the christians took counsel together, and among them were a number of bishops and priests, but they had no resource except to turn to him from whom all good things do come, beseeching him to protect them from the cruel hands of the calif. so they were all gathered together in prayer, both men and women, for eight days and eight nights. and whilst they were thus engaged in prayer it was revealed in a vision by a holy angel of heaven to a certain bishop who was a very good christian, that he should desire a certain christian cobler,[note 1] who had but one eye, to pray to god; and that god in his goodness would grant such prayer because of the cobler's holy life. now i must tell you what manner of man this cobler was. he was one who led a life of great uprightness and chastity, and who fasted and kept from all sin, and went daily to church to hear mass, and gave daily a portion of his gains to god. and the way how he came to have but one eye was this. it happened one day that a certain woman came to him to have a pair of shoes made, and she showed him her foot that he might take her measure. now she had a very beautiful foot and leg; and the cobler in taking her measure was conscious of sinful thoughts. and he had often heard it said in the holy evangel, that if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, rather than sin. so, as soon as the woman had departed, he took the awl that he used in stitching, and drove it into his eye and destroyed it. and this is the way he came to lose his eye. so you can judge what a holy, just, and righteous man he was. note 1.--here the g. t. uses a strange word: "_or te vais a tel_ cralantur." it does not occur again, being replaced by _chabitier_ (savetier). it has an oriental look, but i can make no satisfactory suggestion as to what the word meant. chapter ix. how the one-eyed cobler was desired to pray for the christians. now when this vision had visited the bishop several times, he related the whole matter to the christians, and they agreed with one consent to call the cobler before them. and when he had come they told him it was their wish that he should pray, and that god had promised to accomplish the matter by his means. on hearing their request he made many excuses, declaring that he was not at all so good a man as they represented. but they persisted in their request with so much sweetness, that at last he said he would not tarry, but do what they desired. chapter x. how the prayer of the one-eyed cobler caused the mountain to move. and when the appointed day was come, all the christians got up early, men and women, small and great, more than 100,000 persons, and went to church, and heard the holy mass. and after mass had been sung, they all went forth together in a great procession to the plain in front of the mountain, carrying the precious cross before them, loudly singing and greatly weeping as they went. and when they arrived at the spot, there they found the calif with all his saracen host armed to slay them if they would not change their faith; for the saracens believed not in the least that god would grant such favour to the christians. these latter stood indeed in great fear and doubt, but nevertheless they rested their hope on their god jesus christ. so the cobler received the bishop's benison, and then threw himself on his knees before the holy cross, and stretched out his hands towards heaven, and made this prayer: "blessed lord god almighty, i pray thee by thy goodness that thou wilt grant this grace unto thy people, insomuch that they perish not, nor thy faith be cast down, nor abused nor flouted. not that i am in the least worthy to prefer such request unto thee; but for thy great power and mercy i beseech thee to hear this prayer from me thy servant full of sin." and when he had ended this his prayer to god the sovereign father and giver of all grace, and whilst the calif and all the saracens, and other people there, were looking on, the mountain rose out of its place and moved to the spot which the calif had pointed out! and when the calif and all his saracens beheld, they stood amazed at the wonderful miracle that god had wrought for the christians, insomuch that a great number of the saracens became christians. and even the calif caused himself to be baptised in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost, amen, and became a christian, but in secret. howbeit, when he died they found a little cross hung round his neck; and therefore the saracens would not bury him with the other califs, but put him in a place apart. the christians exulted greatly at this most holy miracle, and returned to their homes full of joy, giving thanks to their creator for that which he had done.[note 1] and now you have heard in what wise took place this great miracle. and marvel not that the saracens hate the christians; for the accursed law that mahommet gave them commands them to do all the mischief in their power to all other descriptions of people, and especially to christians; to strip such of their goods, and do them all manner of evil, because they belong not to their law. see then what an evil law and what naughty commandments they have! but in such fashion the saracens act, throughout the world. now i have told you something of baudas. i could easily indeed have told you first of the affairs and the customs of the people there. but it would be too long a business, looking to the great and strange things that i have got to tell you, as you will find detailed in this book. so now i will tell you of the noble city of tauris. note 1.--we may remember that at a date only three years before marco related this story (viz. in 1295), the cottage of loreto is asserted to have changed its locality for the third and last time by moving to the site which it now occupies. some of the old latin copies place the scene at tauris. and i observe that a missionary of the 16th century does the same. the mountain, he says, is between tauris and nakhshiwan, and is called _manhuc_. (_gravina_, _christianita nell' armenia_, etc., roma, 1605, p. 91.) the moving of a mountain is one of the miracles ascribed to gregory thaumaturgus. such stories are rife among the mahomedans themselves. "i know," says khanikoff, "at least half a score of mountains which the musulmans allege to have come from the vicinity of mecca." ramusio's text adds here: "all the nestorian and jacobite christians from that time forward have maintained a solemn celebration of the day on which the miracle occurred, keeping a fast also on the eve thereof." f. göring, a writer who contributes three articles on marco polo to the _neue züricher-zeitung_, 5th, 6th, 8th april, 1878, says: "i heard related in egypt a report which marco polo had transmitted to baghdad. i will give it here in connection with another which i also came across in egypt. "'many years ago there reigned in babylon, on the nile, a haughty khalif who vexed the christians with taxes and corvées. he was confirmed in his hate of the christians by the khakam chacham bashi or chief rabbi of the jews, who one day said to him: "the christians allege in their books that it shall not hurt them to drink or eat any deadly thing. so i have prepared a potion that one of them shall taste at my hand: if he does not die on the spot then call me no more chacham bashi!" the khalif immediately sent for his holiness the patriarch of babylon, and ordered him to drink up the potion. the patriarch just blew a little over the cup and then emptied it at a draught, and took no harm. his holiness then on his side demanded that the chacham bashi should quaff a cup to the health of the khalif, which he (the patriarch) should first taste, and this the khalif found only fair and right. but hardly had the chacham bashi put the cup to his lips than he fell down and expired.' still the musulmans and jews thirsted for christian blood. it happened at that time that a mass of the hill mokattani became loose and threatened to come down upon babylon. this was laid to the door of the christians, and they were ordered to stop it. the patriarch in great distress has a vision that tells him summon the saintly cobbler (of whom the same story is told as here)--the cobbler bids the rock to stand still and it does so to this day. 'these two stories may still be heard in cairo'--from whom is not said. the hill that threatened to fall on the egyptian babylon is called in turkish _dur dagh_, 'stay, or halt-hill.' (l.c. april, 1878")--_ms. note_, h. y. chapter xi. of the noble city of tauris. tauris is a great and noble city, situated in a great province called yrac, in which are many other towns and villages. but as tauris is the most noble i will tell you about it.[note 1] the men of tauris get their living by trade and handi crafts, for they weave many kinds of beautiful and valuable stuffs of silk and gold. the city has such a good position that merchandize is brought thither from india, baudas, cremesor,[note 2] and many other regions; and that attracts many latin merchants, especially genoese, to buy goods and transact other business there; the more as it is also a great market for precious stones. it is a city in fact where merchants make large profits.[note 3] the people of the place are themselves poor creatures; and are a great medley of different classes. there are armenians, nestorians, jacobites, georgians, persians, and finally the natives of the city themselves, who are worshippers of mahommet. these last are a very evil generation; they are known as taurizi.[note 4] the city is all girt round with charming gardens, full of many varieties of large and excellent fruits.[note 5] now we will quit tauris, and speak of the great country of persia. [from tauris to persia is a journey of twelve days.] note 1.--abulfeda notices that tabríz was vulgarly pronounced _tauriz_, and this appears to have been adopted by the franks. in pegolotti the name is always _torissi_. tabriz is often reckoned to belong to armenia, as by hayton. properly it is the chief city of _azerbaiján_, which never was included in 'irak. but it may be observed that ibn batuta generally calls the mongol ilkhan of persia _sáhib_ or _malik ul-'irák_, and as tabriz was the capital of that sovereign, we can account for the mistake, whilst admitting it to be one. [the destruction of baghdad by hulaku made tabriz the great commercial and political city of asia, and diverted the route of indian products from the mediterranean to the euxine. it was the route to the persian gulf by kashan, yezd, and kermán, to the mediterranean by lajazzo, and later on by aleppo,--and to the euxine by trebizond. the destruction of the kingdom of armenia closed to europeans the route of tauris.--h. c.] note 2.--_cremesor_, as baldelli points out, is garmsir, meaning a hot region, a term which in persia has acquired several specific applications, and especially indicates the coast-country on the n.e. side of the persian gulf, including hormuz and the ports in that quarter. note 3.--[of the italians established at tabriz, the first whose name is mentioned is the venetian pietro viglioni (vioni); his will, dated 10th december, 1264, is still in existence. (_archiv. venet._ xxvi. pp. 161-165; _heyd_, french ed., ii. p. 110.)--h. c.] at a later date (1341) the genoese had a factory at tabriz headed by a consul with a council of twenty four merchants, and in 1320 there is evidence of a venetian settlement there. (_elie de la prim_, 161; _heyd_, ii. 82.) rashiduddin says of tabriz that there were gathered there under the eyes of the padishah of islam "philosophers, astronomers, scholars, historians, of all religions, of all sects; people of cathay, of machin, of india, of kashmir, of tibet, of the uighúr and other turkish nations, arabs and franks." ibn batuta, "i traversed the bazaar of the jewellers, and my eyes were dazzled by the varieties of precious stones which i beheld. handsome slaves, superbly dressed, and girdled with silk, offered their gems for sale to the tartar ladies, who bought great numbers. [odoric (ed. cordier) speaks also of the great trade of tabriz.] tabriz maintained a large population and prosperity down to the 17th century, as may be seen in chardin. it is now greatly fallen, though still a place of importance." (_quat. rash._, p. 39; _i. b._ ii. 130.) [illustration: ghazan khan's mosque at tabriz.--(from fergusson.)] note 4.--in pauthier's text this is _touzi_, a mere clerical error, i doubt not for _torizi_, in accordance with the g. text ("_le peuple de la cité que sunt apelés_ tauriz"), with the latin, and with ramusio. all that he means to say is that the people are called _tabrizís_. not recondite information, but 'tis his way. just so he tells us in ch[*illegible*]u that the people of hermenia are called hermins, and elsewhere that the people of tebet are called tebet. so hayton thinks it not inappropriate to say that the people of catay are called cataini, that the people of corasmia are called corasmins, and that the people of the cities of persia are called persians. note 5.--hamd allah mastaufi, the geographer, not long after polo's time, gives an account of tabriz, quoted in barbier de meynard's _dict. de la perse_, p. 132. this also notices the extensive gardens round the city, the great abundance and cheapness of fruits, the vanity, insolence, and faithlessness of the tabrízis, etc. (p. 132 seqq.) our cut shows a relic of the mongol dynasty at tabriz. chapter xii. of the monastery of st. barsamo on the borders of tauris. on the borders of (the territory of) tauris there is a monastery called after saint barsamo, a most devout saint. there is an abbot, with many monks, who wear a habit like that of the carmelites, and these to avoid idleness are continually knitting woollen girdles. these they place upon the altar of st. barsamo during the service, and when they go begging about the province (like the brethren of the holy spirit) they present them to their friends and to the gentlefolks, for they are excellent things to remove bodily pain; wherefore every one is devoutly eager to possess them.[note 1] note 1.--barsauma ("the son of fasting") was a native of samosata, and an archimandrite of the asiatic church. he opposed the nestorians, but became himself still more obnoxious to the orthodox as a spreader of the monophysite heresy. he was condemned by the council of chalcedon (451), and died in 458. he is a saint of fame in the jacobite and armenian churches, and several monasteries were dedicated to him; but by far the most celebrated, and doubtless that meant here, was near malatia. it must have been famous even among the mahomedans, for it has an article in bákúi's geog. dictionary. (_dír-barsúma_, see _n. et ext._ ii. 515.) this monastery possessed relics of barsauma and of st. peter, and was sometimes the residence of the jacobite patriarch and the meeting-place of the synods. a more marvellous story than marco's is related of this monastery by vincent of beauvais: "there is in that kingdom (armenia) a place called st. brassamus, at which there is a monastery for 300 monks. and 'tis said that if ever an enemy attacks it, the defences of the monastery move of themselves, and shoot back the shot against the besieger." (_assemani_ in vol. ii. _passim; tournefort_, iii. 260; _vin. bell. spec. historiale_, lib. xxx. c. cxlii.; see also _mar. sanut._ iii. xi. c. 16.) chapter xiii. of the great country of persia; with some account of the three kings. persia is a great country, which was in old times very illustrious and powerful; but now the tartars have wasted and destroyed it. in persia is the city of saba, from which the three magi set out when they went to worship jesus christ; and in this city they are buried, in three very large and beautiful monuments, side by side. and above them there is a square building, carefully kept. the bodies are still entire, with the hair and beard remaining. one of these was called jaspar, the second melchior, and the third balthasar. messer marco polo asked a great many questions of the people of that city as to those three magi, but never one could he find that knew aught of the matter, except that these were three kings who were buried there in days of old. however, at a place three days' journey distant he heard of what i am going to tell you. he found a village there which goes by the name of cala ataperistan,[note 1] which is as much as to say, "the castle of the fire-worshippers." and the name is rightly applied, for the people there do worship fire, and i will tell you why. they relate that in old times three kings of that country went away to worship a prophet that was born, and they carried with them three manner of offerings, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh; in order to ascertain whether that prophet were god, or an earthly king, or a physician. for, said they, if he take the gold, then he is an earthly king; if he take the incense he is god; if he take the myrrh he is a physician. so it came to pass when they had come to the place where the child was born, the youngest of the three kings went in first, and found the child apparently just of his own age; so he went forth again marvelling greatly. the middle one entered next, and like the first he found the child seemingly of his own age; so he also went forth again and marvelled greatly. lastly, the eldest went in, and as it had befallen the other two, so it befell him. and he went forth very pensive. and when the three had rejoined one another, each told what he had seen; and then they all marvelled the more. so they agreed to go in all three together, and on doing so they beheld the child with the appearance of its actual age, to wit, some thirteen days.[note 2] then they adored, and presented their gold and incense and myrrh. and the child took all the three offerings, and then gave them a small closed box; whereupon the kings departed to return into their own land. note 1.--_kala' atishparastán_, meaning as in the text. (_marsden_.) note 2.--according to the collectanea ascribed to bede, melchior was a hoary old man; balthazar in his prime, with a beard; gaspar young and beardless. (_inchofer, tres magi evangelici_, romae, 1639.) chapter xiv. what befell when the three kings returned to their own country. and when they had ridden many days they said they would see what the child had given them. so they opened the little box, and inside it they found a stone. on seeing this they began to wonder what this might be that the child had given them, and what was the import thereof. now the signification was this: when they presented their offerings, the child had accepted all three, and when they saw that they had said within themselves that he was the true god, and the true king, and the true physician.[note 1] and what the gift of the stone implied was that this faith which had begun in them should abide firm as a rock. for he well knew what was in their thoughts. howbeit, they had no understanding at all of this signification of the gift of the stone; so they cast it into a well. then straightway a fire from heaven descended into that well wherein the stone had been cast. and when the three kings beheld this marvel they were sore amazed, and it greatly repented them that they had cast away the stone; for well they then perceived that it had a great and holy meaning. so they took of that fire, and carried it into their own country, and placed it in a rich and beautiful church. and there the people keep it continually burning, and worship it as a god, and all the sacrifices they offer are kindled with that fire. and if ever the fire becomes extinct they go to other cities round about where the same faith is held, and obtain of that fire from them, and carry it to the church. and this is the reason why the people of this country worship fire. they will often go ten days' journey to get of that fire.[note 2] such then was the story told by the people of that castle to messer marco polo; they declared to him for a truth that such was their history, and that one of the three kings was of the city called saba, and the second of ava, and the third of that very castle where they still worship fire, with the people of all the country round about.[note 3] having related this story, i will now tell you of the different provinces of persia, and their peculiarities. note 1.--"_mire_." this was in old french the popular word for a leech; the politer word was _physicien_. (_n. et e._ v. 505.) chrysostom says that the gold, myrrh, and frankincense were mystic gifts indicating king, man, god; and this interpretation was the usual one. thus prudentius:- "regem, deumque adnunciant thesaurus et fragrans odor thuris sabaei, at myrrheus pulvis sepulchrum praedocet." (_hymnus epiphanius_.) and the paris liturgy:- "offert aurum _caritas_, et myrrham _austeritas_, et thus _desiderium_. auro _rex_ agnoscitur, _homo_ myrrha, colitur thure _deus_ gentium." and in the "hymns, ancient and modern":- "sacred gifts of mystic meaning: incense doth their god disclose, gold the king of kings proclaimeth, myrrh his sepulchre foreshows." note 2.--"feruntque (magi), si justum est credi, etiam ignem caelitus iapsum apud se sempiternis foculis custodire, cujus portionem exiguam, ut faustam praeisse quondam asiaticis regibus dicunt." (_ammian. marcell._ xxiii. 6.) note 3.--saba or sava still exists as sávah, about 50 miles s.w. of tehrân. it is described by mr. consul abbott, who visited it in 1849, as the most ruinous town he had ever seen, and as containing about 1000 families. the people retain a tradition, mentioned by hamd allah mastaufi, that the city stood on the shores of a lake which dried up miraculously at the birth of mahomed. sávah is said to have possessed one of the greatest libraries in the east, until its destruction by the mongols on their first invasion of persia. both sávah and ávah (or ábah) are mentioned by abulfeda as cities of jibal. we are told that the two cities were always at loggerheads, the former being sunni and the latter shiya. [we read in the _travels_ of thévenot, a most intelligent traveller, "qu'il n'a rien érit de l'ancienne ville de sava qu'il trouva sur son chemin, et où il a marqué lui-même que son esprit de curiosité l'abandonna." (_voyages_, éd. 1727, vol. v. p. 343. he died a few days after at miana, in armenia, 28th november, 1667). (_ms. note._--h. y.)] as regards the position of avah, abbott says that a village still stands upon the site, about 16 miles s.s.e. of sávah. he did not visit it, but took a bearing to it. he was told there was a mound there on which formerly stood a gueber castle. at sávah he could find no trace of marco polo's legend. chardin, in whose time sávah was not quite so far gone to decay, heard of an alleged tomb of samuel, at 4 leagues from the city. this is alluded to by hamd allah. keith johnston and kiepert put ávah some 60 miles w.n.w. of sávah, on the road between kazvin and hamadan. there seems to be some great mistake here. friar odoric puts the locality of the magi at _kashan_, though one of the versions of ramusio and the palatine ms. (see cordier's odoric, pp. xcv. and 41 of his itinerary), perhaps corrected in this, puts it at _saba_--h. y. and h. c. we have no means of fixing the _kala' atishparastán_. it is probable, however, that the story was picked up on the homeward journey, and as it seems to be implied that this castle was reached three days _after leaving_ sávah, i should look for it between sávah and abher. ruins to which the name _kila'-i-gabr_, "gueber castle," attaches are common in persia. as regards the legend itself, which shows such a curious mixture of christian and parsi elements, it is related some 350 years earlier by mas'údi: "in the province of fars they tell you of a well called the well of fire, near which there was a temple built. when the messiah was born the king koresh sent three messengers to him, the first of whom carried a bag of incense, the second a bag of myrrh, and the third a bag of gold. they set out under the guidance of the star which the king had described to them, arrived in syria, and found the messiah with mary his mother. this story of the three messengers is related by the christians with sundry exaggerations; it is also found in the gospel. thus they say that the star appeared to koresh at the moment of christ's birth; that it went on when the messengers went on, and stopped when they stopped. more ample particulars will be found in our historical annals, where we have given the versions of this legend as current among the guebers and among the christians. it will be seen that mary gave the king's messengers a round loaf, and this, after different adventures, they hid under a rock in the province of fars. the loaf disappeared underground, and there they dug a well, on which they beheld two columns of fire to start up flaming at the surface; in short, all the details of the legend will be found in our annals." the editors say that mas'údi had carried the story to fars by mistaking _shíz_ in azerbaiján (the atropatenian ecbatana of sir h. rawlinson) for _shiraz_. a rudiment of the same legend is contained in the arabic gospel of the infancy. this says that mary gave the magi one of the bands in which the child was swathed. on their return they cast this into their sacred fire; though wrapt in the flame it remained unhurt. we may add that there was a christian tradition that the star descended into a well between jerusalem and bethlehem. gregory of tours also relates that in a certain well, at bethlehem, from which mary had drawn water, the star was sometimes seen, by devout pilgrims who looked carefully for it, to pass from one side to the other. but only such as merited the boon could see it. (see _abbott_ in _j. r. g. s._ xxv. 4-6; _assemani_, iii. pt. 2, 750; _chardin_, ii. 407; _n. et ext._ ii. 465; _dict. de la perse_, 2, 56, 298; _cathay_, p. 51; _mas'udi_, iv. 80; _greg. turon. libri miraculorum_, paris, 1858, i. 8.) several of the fancies that legend has attached to the brief story of the magi in st. matthew, such as the royal dignity of the persons; their location, now in arabia, now (as here) at saba in persia, and again (as in hayton and the catalan map) in tarsia or eastern turkestan; the notion that one of them was a negro, and so on, probably grew out of the arbitrary application of passages in the old testament, such as: "_venient legati ex aegypto_: aethiopia _praevenit manus ejus deo_" (ps. lxviii. 31). this produced the negro who usually is painted as one of the three. "_reges_ tharsis _et insulae munera offerent: reges_ arabum _et_ saba _dona adducent_" (lxxii. 10). this made the three into kings, and fixed them in tarsia, arabia, and sava. "_mundatio camelorum operiet te, dromedarii madian et_ epha: _omnes de_ saba _venient aurum et thus deferentes et laudem domino annunciantes_" (is. lx. 6). here were ava and sava coupled, as well as the gold and frankincense. one form of the old church legend was that the three were buried at _sessania adrumetorum_ (hadhramaut) in arabia, whence the empress helena had the bodies conveyed to constantinople, [and later to milan in the time of the emperor manuel comnenus. after the fall of milan (1162), frederic barbarossa gave them to archbishop rainald of dassel (1159-1167), who carried them to cologne (23rd july, 1164).--h. c.] the names given by polo, gaspar, melchior, and balthasar, have been accepted from an old date by the roman church; but an abundant variety of other names has been assigned to them. hyde quotes a syriac writer who calls them aruphon, hurmon, and tachshesh, but says that some call them gudphorbus, artachshasht, and labudo; whilst in persian they were termed amad, zad-amad, drust-amad, i.e. _venit, cito venit, sincerus venit_. some called them in greek, apellius, amerus, and damascus, and in hebrew, magaloth, galgalath, and saracia, but otherwise ator, sator, and petatoros! the armenian church used the same names as the roman, but in chaldee they were kaghba, badadilma, badada kharida. (_hyde, rel. vet. pers._ 382-383; _inchofer, ut supra; j. as._ sér. vi. ix. 160.) [just before going to press we have read major sykes' new book on _persia_. major sykes (ch. xxiii.) does not believe that marco visited baghdád, and he thinks that the venetians entered persia near tabriz, and travelled to sultania, kashán, and yezd. thence they proceeded to kerman and hormuz. we shall discuss this question in the introduction.--h. c.] chapter xv. of the eight kingdoms of persia, and how they are named. now you must know that persia is a very great country, and contains eight kingdoms. i will tell you the names of them all. the first kingdom is that at the beginning of persia, and it is called casvin; the second is further to the south, and is called curdistan; the third is lor; the fourth [suolstan]; the fifth istanit; the sixth serazy; the seventh soncara; the eighth tunocain, which is at the further extremity of persia. all these kingdoms lie in a southerly direction except one, to wit, tunocain; that lies towards the east, and borders on the (country of the) arbre sol.[note 1] in this country of persia there is a great supply of fine horses; and people take them to india for sale, for they are horses of great price, a single one being worth as much of their money as is equal to 200 livres tournois; some will be more, some less, according to the quality.[note 2] here also are the finest asses in the world, one of them being worth full 30 marks of silver, for they are very large and fast, and acquire a capital amble. dealers carry their horses to kisi and curmosa, two cities on the shores of the sea of india, and there they meet with merchants who take the horses on to india for sale. in this country there are many cruel and murderous people, so that no day passes but there is some homicide among them. were it not for the government, which is that of the tartars of the levant, they would do great mischief to merchants; and indeed, maugre the government, they often succeed in doing such mischief. unless merchants be well armed they run the risk of being murdered, or at least robbed of everything; and it sometimes happens that a whole party perishes in this way when not on their guard. the people are all saracens, i.e. followers of the law of mahommet.[note 3] in the cities there are traders and artizans who live by their labour and crafts, weaving cloths of gold, and silk stuffs of sundry kinds. they have plenty of cotton produced in the country; and abundance of wheat, barley, millet, panick, and wine, with fruits of all kinds. [some one may say, "but the saracens don't drink wine, which is prohibited by their law." the answer is that they gloss their text in this way, that if the wine be boiled, so that a part is dissipated and the rest becomes sweet, they may drink without breach of the commandment; for it is then no longer called wine, the name being changed with the change of flavour.[note 4]] note 1.--the following appear to be polo's eight kingdoms:-i. kazvín; then a flourishing city, though i know not why he calls it a kingdom. persian 'irák, or the northern portion thereof, seems intended. previous to hulaku's invasion kazvín seems to have been in the hands of the ismailites or assassins. ii. kurdistan. i do not understand the difficulties of marsden, followed by lazari and pauthier, which lead them to put forth that kurdistan is not kurdistan but something else. the boundaries of kurdistan according to hamd allah were arabian 'irak, khuzistán, persian 'irak, azerbaijan and diarbekr. (_dict. de la p._ 480.) [cf. curzon, _persia pass._--h. c.] persian kurdistan, in modern as in mediaeval times, extends south beyond kermanshah to the immediate border of polo's next kingdom, viz.: iii. lúr or lúristán. [on lúristán, see curzon, _persia_, ii. pp. 273-303, with the pedigree of the ruling family of the feili lurs (pusht-i-kuh), p. 278.--h. c.] this was divided into two principalities, great lúr and little lúr, distinctions still existing. the former was ruled by a dynasty called the _faslúyah_ atabegs, which endured from about 1155 to 1424, [when it was destroyed by the timurids; it was a kurd dynasty, founded by emad ed-din abu thaher (1160-1228), and the last prince of which was ghiyas ed-din (1424). in 1258 the general kitubuka (hulagu's _exp. to persia_, bretschneider, _med. res._ i. p. 121) is reported to have reduced the country of lúr or lúristán and its atabeg teghele.--h. c.]. their territory lay in the mountainous district immediately west of ispahan, and extended to the river of dizfúl, which parted it from little lúr. the stronghold of the atabegs was the extraordinary hill fort of mungasht, and they had a residence also at aidhej or mal-amir in the mountains south of shushan, where ibn batuta visited the reigning prince in 1327. sir h. rawlinson has described mungasht, and mr. layard and baron de bode have visited other parts, but the country is still very imperfectly known. little lúristán lay west of the r. dizfúl, extending nearly to the plain of babylonia. its dynasty, called kurshid, [was founded in 1184 by the kurd shodja ed-din khurshid, and existed till shah-werdy lost his throne in 1593.--h. c.]. the lúrs are akin to the kurds, and speak a kurd dialect, as do all those ilyáts, or nomads of persia, who are not of turkish race. they were noted in the middle ages for their agility and their dexterity in thieving. the tribes of little lúr "do not affect the slightest veneration for mahomed or the koran; their only general object of worship is their great saint baba buzurg," and particular disciples regard with reverence little short of adoration holy men looked on as living representatives of the divinity. (_ilchan._ i. 70 seqq.; _rawlinson_ in _j. r. g. s._ ix.; _layard_ in _do._ xvi. 75, 94; _ld. strangford_ in _j. r. a. s._ xx. 64; _n. et e._ xiii. i. 330, _i. b._ ii. 31; _d'ohsson_, iv. 171-172.) iv. shúlistán, best represented by ramusio's _suolstan_, whilst the old french texts have _cielstan_ (i.e. shelstán); the name applied to the country of the _shúls_, or _shauls_, a people who long occupied a part of lúristán, but were expelled by the lúrs in the 12th century, and settled in the country between shíráz and khuzistán (now that of the mamaseni, whom colonel pelly's information identifies with the shúls), their central points being naobanján and the fortress called kala' safed or "white castle." ibn batuta, going from shiraz to kazerun, encamped the first day in the country of the shúls, "a persian desert tribe which includes some pious persons." (_q. r._ p. 385; _n. et e._ xiii. i. 332-333; _ilch._ i. 71; _j. r. g. s._ xiii. map; _i. b._ ii. 88.) ["adjoining the kuhgelus on the east are the tents of the mamasenni (qy. mohammed huseini) lúrs, occupying the country still known as shúlistán, and extending as far east and south-east as fars and the plain of kazerun. this tribe prides itself on its origin, claiming to have come from seistán, and to be directly descended from rustam, whose name is still borne by one of the mamasenni clans." (curzon, _persia_, ii. p. 318.)--h. c.] v. ispahan? the name is in ramusio _spaan_, showing at least that he or some one before him had made this identification. the unusual combination _ff_, i.e. sf, in manuscript would be so like the frequent one _ft_, i.e. st, that the change from isfan to istan would be easy. but why istan_it_? vi. shíráz [(_shir_ = milk, or _shir_ = lion)--h. c.] representing the province of fars or persia proper, of which it has been for ages the chief city. [it was founded after the arab conquest in 694 a.d., by mohammed, son of yusuf kekfi. (curzon, _persia_, ii. pp. 93-110.)--h. c.] the last dynasty that had reigned in fars was that of the salghur atabegs, founded about the middle of the 12th century. under abubakr (1226-1260) this kingdom attained considerable power, embracing fars, kermán, the islands of the gulf and its arabian shores; and shíráz then flourished in arts and literature; abubakr was the patron of saadi. from about 1262, though a salghurian princess, married to a son of hulaku, had the nominal title of atabeg, the province of fars was under mongol administration. (_ilch. passim_.) vii. shawánkára or shabánkára. the g. t. has _soucara_, but the crusca gives the true reading _soncara_. it is the country of the shawánkárs, a people coupled with the shúls and lúrs in mediaeval persian history, and like them of kurd affinities. their princes, of a family faslúyah, are spoken of as influential before the mahomedan conquest, but the name of the people comes prominently forward only during the mongol era of persian history. [shabánkára was taken in 1056 from the buyid dynasty, who ruled from the 10th century over a great part of persia, by fazl ibn hassan (fazluïeh-hasunïeh). under the last sovereign, ardeshir, shabánkára was taken in 1355 by the modhafferians, who reigned in irak, fars, and kermán, one of the dynasties established at the expense of the mongol ilkhans after the death of abu saïd (1335), and were themselves subjugated by timur in 1392.--h. c.] their country lay to the south of the great salt lake east of shíráz, and included niriz and darábjird, fassa, forg, and tárum. their capital was i/g or i/j, called also irej, about 20 miles north-west of daráb, with a great mountain fortress; it was taken by hulaku in 1259. the son of the prince was continued in nominal authority, with mongol administrators. in consequence of a rebellion in 1311 the dynasty seems to have been extinguished. a descendant attempted to revive their authority about the middle of the same century. the latest historical mention of the name that i have found is in abdurrazzák's _history of shah rukh_, under the year h. 807 (1404). (see _jour. as._ 3d. s. vol. ii. 355.) but a note by colonel pelly informs me that the name shabánkára is still applied (1) to the district round the towns of runiz and gauristan near bandar abbas; (2) to a village near maiman, in the old country of the tribe; (3) to a _tribe_ and district of dashtistan, 38 farsakhs west of shíráz. with reference to the form in the text, _soncara_, i may notice that in two passages of the _masálak-ul-absár_, translated by quatremère, the name occurs as _shankárah_. (_q. r._ pp. 380, 440 seqq.; _n. et e._ xiii.; _ilch._ i. 71 and _passim; ouseley's travels_, ii. 158 seqq.) viii. tún-o-kâin, the eastern kuhistán or hill country of persia, of which tún and káin are chief cities. the practice of indicating a locality by combining two names in this way is common in the east. elsewhere in this book we find _ariora-keshemur_ and _kes-macoran_ (kij-makrán). upper sind is often called in india by the sepoys _rori-bakkar_, from two adjoining places on the indus; whilst in former days, lower sind was often called _diul-sind. karra-mánikpúr, uch-multán, kunduz-baghlán_ are other examples. the exact expression _tún-o-káin_ for the province here in question is used by baber, and evidently also by some of hammer's authorities. (_baber_, pp. 201, 204; see _ilch._ ii. 190; i. 95, 104, and _hist. de l'ordre des assassins_, p. 245.) [we learn from (sir) c. macgregor's (1875) _journey through khorasan_ (i. p. 127) that the same territory including gháín or kaïn is now called by the analogous name of tabas-o-tún. tún and kaïn (gháín) are both described in their modern state, by macgregor. (ibid. pp. 147 and 161.)--h. c.] note that the identification of _suolstan_ is due to quatremère (see _n. et e._ xiii. i. circa p. 332); that of _soncara_ to defréméry (_j. as._ sér. iv. tom. xi. p. 441); and that of _tunocain_ to malte-brun. (_n. ann. des v._ xviii. p. 261.) i may add that the _lúrs_, the _shúls_, and the shabánkáras are the subjects of three successive sections in the _masálak-al-absár_ of _shihábuddin dimishki_, a work which reflects much of polo's geography. (see _n. et e._ xiii. i. 330-333; curzon, _persia_, ii. pp. 248 and 251.) note 2.--the horses exported to india, of which we shall hear more hereafter, were probably the same class of "gulf arabs" that are now carried thither. but the turkman horses of persia are also very valuable, especially for endurance. kinneir speaks of one accomplishing 900 miles in eleven days, and ferrier states a still more extraordinary feat from his own knowledge. in that case one of those horses went from tehran to tabriz, returned, and went again to tabriz, within twelve days, including two days' rest. the total distance is about 1100 miles. the _livre tournois_ at this period was equivalent to a little over 18 francs of modern french silver. but in bringing the value to our modern gold standard we must add one-third, as the ratio of silver to gold was then 1:12 instead of 1:16. hence the equivalent in gold of the livre tournois is very little less than 1_l._ sterling, and the price of the horse would be about 193_l._[1] mr. wright quotes an ordinance of philip iii. of france (1270-1285) fixing the maximum price that might be given for a palfrey at 60 _livres tournois_, and for a squire's _roncin_ at 20 livres. joinville, however, speaks of a couple of horses presented to st. lewis in 1254 by the abbot of cluny, which he says would at the time of his writing (1309) have been worth 500 livres (the pair, it would seem). hence it may be concluded in a general way that the _ordinary_ price of imported horses in india approached that of the highest class of horses in europe. (_hist. of dom. manners_, p. 317; _joinville_, p. 205.) about 1850 a very fair arab could be purchased in bombay for 60_l._, or even less; but prices are much higher now. with regard to the donkeys, according to tavernier, the fine ones used by merchants in persia were imported from arabia. the mark of silver was equivalent to about 44_s._ of our silver money, and allowing as before for the lower relative value of gold, 30 marks would be equivalent to 88_l._ sterling. _kisi_ or kish we have already heard of. _curmosa_ is hormuz, of which we shall hear more. with a pisan, as rusticiano was, the sound of _c_ is purely and strongly aspirate. giovanni d'empoli, in the beginning of the 16th century, another tuscan, also calls it _cormus_. (see _archiv. stor. ital._ append. iii. 81.) note 3.--the character of the nomad and semi-nomad tribes of persia in those days--kurds, lúrs, shúls, karaunahs, etc.--probably deserved all that polo says, and it is not changed now. take as an example rawlinson's account of the bakhtyáris of luristán: "i believe them to be individually brave, but of a cruel and savage character; they pursue their blood feuds with the most inveterate and exterminating spirit.... it is proverbial in persia that the bakhtiyaris have been compelled to forego altogether the reading of the _fatihah_ or prayer for the dead, for otherwise they would have no other occupation. they are also most dextrous and notorious thieves." (_j. r. g. s._ ix. 105.) note 4.--the persians have always been lax in regard to the abstinence from wine. according to athenaeus, aristotle, in his _treatise on drinking_ (a work lost, i imagine, to posterity), says, "if the wine be moderately boiled it is less apt to intoxicate." in the preparation of some of the sweet wines of the levant, such as that of cyprus, the must is boiled, but i believe this is not the case _generally_ in the east. baber notices it as a peculiarity among the kafirs of the hindu kush. tavernier, however, says that at shíráz, besides the wine for which that city was so celebrated, a good deal of _boiled wine_ was manufactured, and used among the poor and by travellers. no doubt what is meant is the sweet liquor or syrup called _dúsháb_, which della valle says is just the italian _mostocotto_, but better, clearer, and not so mawkish (i. 689). (_yonge's athen._ x. 34; _baber_, p. 145; _tavernier_, bk. v. ch. xxi.) [1] the _encyc. britann._, article "money," gives the livre tournois of this period as 18.17 francs. a french paper in _notes and queries_ (4th s. iv. 485) gives it under st. lewis and philip iii. as equivalent to 18.24 fr., and under philip iv. to 17.95. and lastly, experiment at the british museum, made by the kind intervention of my friend, mr. e. thomas, f.r.s., gave the weights of the _sols_ of st. lewis (1226-1270) and philip iv. (1285-1314) respectively as 63 grains and 61-1/2 grains of remarkably pure silver. these trials would give the _livres_ (20 sols) as equivalent to 18.14 fr. and 17.70 fr. respectively. chapter xvi. concerning the great city of yasdi. yasdi also is properly in persia; it is a good and noble city, and has a great amount of trade. they weave there quantities of a certain silk tissue known as _yasdi_, which merchants carry into many quarters to dispose of. the people are worshippers of mahommet.[note 1] when you leave this city to travel further, you ride for seven days over great plains, finding harbour to receive you at three places only. there are many fine woods [producing dates] upon the way, such as one can easily ride through; and in them there is great sport to be had in hunting and hawking, there being partridges and quails and abundance of other game, so that the merchants who pass that way have plenty of diversion. there are also wild asses, handsome creatures. at the end of those seven marches over the plain you come to a fine kingdom which is called kerman.[note 2] note 1.--yezd, an ancient city, supposed by d'anville to be the _isatichae_ of ptolemy, is not called by marco a kingdom, though having a better title to the distinction than some which he classes as such. the atabegs of yezd dated from the middle of the 11th century, and their dynasty was permitted by the mongols to continue till the end of the 13th, when it was extinguished by ghazan, and the administration made over to the mongol diwan. yezd, in pre-mahomedan times, was a great sanctuary of the gueber worship, though now it is a seat of fanatical mahomedanism. it is, however, one of the few places where the old religion lingers. in 1859 there were reckoned 850 families of guebers in yezd and fifteen adjoining villages, but they diminish rapidly. [heyd (_com. du levant_, ii. p. 109) says the inhabitants of yezd wove the finest silk of taberistan.--h. c.] the silk manufactures still continue, and, with other weaving, employ a large part of the population. the _yazdi_, which polo mentions, finds a place in the persian dictionaries, and is spoken of by d'herbelot as _kumásh-i-yezdi_, "yezd stuff." ["he [nadir shah] bestowed upon the ambassador [hakeem ataleek, the prime minister of abulfiez khan, king of bokhara] a donation of a thousand mohurs of hindostan, twenty-five pieces of _yezdy_ brocade, a rich dress, and a horse with silver harness...." (_memoirs of khojah abdulkurreem, a cashmerian of distinction ... transl. from the original persian_, by francis gladwin ... calcutta, 1788, 8vo, p. 36.)--h. c.] yezd is still a place of important trade, and carries on a thriving commerce with india by bandar abbási. a visitor in the end of 1865 says: "the external trade appears to be very considerable, and the merchants of yezd are reputed to be amongst the most enterprising and respectable of their class in persia. some of their agents have lately gone, not only to bombay, but to the mauritius, java, and china." (_ilch._ i. 67-68; _khanikoff, mém._ p. 202; _report by major r. m. smith_, r.e.) friar odoric, who visited yezd, calls it the third best city of the persian emperor, and says (_cathay_, i. p. 52): "there is very great store of victuals and all other good things that you can mention; but especially is found there great plenty of figs; and raisins also, green as grass and very small, are found there in richer profusion than in any other part of the world." [he also gives from the smaller version of ramusio's an awful description of the sea of sand, one day distant from yezd. (cf. tavernier, 1679, i. p. 116.)--h. c.] note 2.--i believe della valle correctly generalises when he says of persian travelling that "you always travel in a plain, but you always have mountains on either hand" (i. 462). [compare macgregor, i. 254: "i really cannot describe the road. every road in persia as yet seems to me to be exactly alike, so ... my readers will take it for granted that the road went over a waste, with barren rugged hills in the distance, or near; no water, no houses, no people passed."--h. c.] the distance from yezd to kermán is, according to khanikoff's survey, 314 _kilomètres_, or about 195 miles. ramusio makes the time eight days, which is probably the better reading, giving a little over 24 miles a day. westergaard in 1844, and khanikoff in 1859, took _ten_ days; colonel goldsmid and major smith in 1865 _twelve_. ["the distance from yezd to kermán by the present high road, 229 miles, is by caravans, generally made in nine stages; persons travelling with all comforts do it in twelve stages; travellers whose time is of some value do it easily in _seven_ days." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. pp. 490-491.)--h. c.] khanikoff observes on this chapter: "this notice of woods easy to ride through, covering the plain of yezd, is very curious. now you find it a plain of great extent indeed from n.w. to s.e., but narrow and arid; indeed i saw in it only thirteen inhabited spots, counting two caravanserais. water for the inhabitants is brought from a great distance by subterraneous conduits, a practice which may have tended to desiccate the soil, for every trace of wood has completely disappeared." abbott travelled from yezd to kermán in 1849, by a road through báfk, _east_ of the usual road, which khanikoff followed, and parallel to it; and it is worthy of note that he found circumstances more accordant with marco's description. before getting to báfk he says of the plain that it "extends to a great distance north and south, and is probably 20 miles in breadth;" whilst báfk "is remarkable for its _groves of date-trees_, in the midst of which it stands, and which occupy a considerable space." further on he speaks of "wild tufts and bushes growing abundantly," and then of "thickets of the _ghez_ tree." he heard of the wild asses, but did not see any. in his report to the foreign office, alluding to marco polo's account, he says: "it is still true that wild asses and other game are found in the _wooded spots_ on the road." the ass is the _asinus onager_, the _gor khar_ of persia, or _kulan_ of the tartars. (_khan. mém._ p. 200; id. _sur marco polo_, p. 21; _j. r. g. s._ xxv. 20-29; _mr. abbott's ms. report in foreign office_.) [the difficulty has now been explained by general houtum-schindler in a valuable paper published in the _jour. roy. as. soc._ n.s. xiii., october, 1881, p. 490. he says: "marco polo travelled from yazd to kermán viâ báfk. his description of the road, seven days over great plains, harbour at three places only, is perfectly exact. the fine woods, producing dates, are at báfk itself. (the place is generally called báft.) partridges and quails still abound; wild asses i saw several on the western road, and i was told that there were a great many on the báfk road. travellers and caravans now always go by the eastern road viâ anár and bahrámábád. before the sefavíehs (i.e. before a.d. 1500) the anár road was hardly, if ever, used; travellers always took the báfk road. the country from yazd to anár, 97 miles, seems to have been totally uninhabited before the sefavíehs. anár, as late as a.d. 1340, is mentioned as the frontier place of kermán to the north, on the confines of the yazd desert. when sháh abbás had caravanserais built at three places between yazd and anár (zein ud-dín, kermán-sháhán, and shamsh), the eastern road began to be neglected." (cf. major sykes' _persia_, ch. xxiii.)--h. c.] chapter xvii. concerning the kingdom of kerman. kerman is a kingdom which is also properly in persia, and formerly it had a hereditary prince. since the tartars conquered the country the rule is no longer hereditary, but the tartar sends to administer whatever lord he pleases.[note 1] in this kingdom are produced the stones called turquoises in great abundance; they are found in the mountains, where they are extracted from the rocks.[note 2] there are also plenty of veins of steel and _ondanique_.[note 3] the people are very skilful in making harness of war; their saddles, bridles, spurs, swords, bows, quivers, and arms of every kind, are very well made indeed according to the fashion of those parts. the ladies of the country and their daughters also produce exquisite needlework in the embroidery of silk stuffs in different colours, with figures of beasts and birds, trees and flowers, and a variety of other patterns. they work hangings for the use of noblemen so deftly that they are marvels to see, as well as cushions, pillows quilts, and all sorts of things.[note 4] in the mountains of kerman are found the best falcons in the world. they are inferior in size to the peregrine, red on the breast, under the neck, and between the thighs; their flight so swift that no bird can escape them.[note 5] on quitting the city you ride on for seven days, always finding towns, villages, and handsome dwelling-houses, so that it is very pleasant travelling; and there is excellent sport also to be had by the way in hunting and hawking. when you have ridden those seven days over a plain country, you come to a great mountain; and when you have got to the top of the pass you find a great descent which occupies some two days to go down. all along you find a variety and abundance of fruits; and in former days there were plenty of inhabited places on the road, but now there are none; and you meet with only a few people looking after their cattle at pasture. from the city of kerman to this descent the cold in winter is so great that you can scarcely abide it, even with a great quantity of clothing.[note 6] note 1.--kermán is mentioned by ptolemy, and also by ammianus amongst the cities of the country so called (_carmania_): "_inter quas nitet_ carmana _omnium mater_." (xxiii. 6.) m. pauthier's supposition that _sirján_ was in polo's time the capital, is incorrect. (see _n. et e._ xiv. 208, 290.) our author's kermán is the city still so called; and its proper name would seem to have been _kuwáshír_. (see _reinaud, mém. sur l'inde_, 171; also _sprenger p. and r. r._ 77.) according to khanikoff it is 5535 feet above the sea. kermán, on the fall of the beni búya dynasty, in the middle of the 11th century, came into the hands of a branch of the seljukian turks, who retained it till the conquests of the kings of khwarizm, which just preceded the mongol invasion. in 1226 the amir borák, a kara khitaian, who was governor on behalf of jaláluddin of khwarizm, became independent under the title of kutlugh sultan. [he died in 1234.] the mongols allowed this family to retain the immediate authority, and at the time when polo returned from china the representative of the house was a lady known as the _pádishah khátún_ [who reigned from 1291], the wife successively of the ilkhans abaka and kaikhatu; an ambitious, clever, and masterful woman, who put her own brother siyurgutmish to death as a rival, and was herself, after the decease of kaikhatu, put to death by her brother's widow and daughter [1294]. the dynasty continued, nominally at least, to the reign of the ilkhan khodabanda (1304-13), when it was extinguished. [see major sykes' _persia_, chaps, v. and xxiii.] kermán was a nestorian see, under the metropolitan of fars. (_ilch. passim; weil_, iii. 454; _lequien_, ii. 1256.) ["there is some confusion with regard to the names of kermán both as a town and as a province or kingdom. we have the names kermán, kuwáshír, bardshír. i should say the original name of the whole country was kermán, the ancient karamania. a province of this was called kúreh-i-ardeshír, which, being contracted, became kuwáshír, and is spoken of as the province in which ardeshír bábekán, the first sassanian monarch, resided. a part of kúreh-i-ardeshír was called bardshír, or bard-i-ardeshír, now occasionally bardsír, and the present city of kermán was situated at its north-eastern corner. this town, during the middle ages, was called bardshír. on a coin of qara arslán beg, king of kermán, of a.h. 462, mr. stanley lane poole reads yazdashír instead of bardshír. of al idrísí's yazdashír i see no mention in histories; bardshír was the capital and the place where most of the coins were struck. yazdashír, if such a place existed, can only have been a place of small importance. it is, perhaps, a clerical error for bardshír; without diacritical points, both words are written alike. later, the name of the city became kermán, the name bardshír reverting to the district lying south-west of it, with its principal place mashíz. in a similar manner mashíz was often, and is so now, called bardshír. another old town sometimes confused with bardshír was sírján or shírján, once more important than bardshír; it is spoken of as the capital of kermán, of bardshír, and of sardsír. its name now exists only as that of a district, with principal place s'aídábád. the history of kermán, 'agd-ul-'olá, plainly says bardshír is the capital of kermán, and from the description of bardshír there is no doubt of its having been the present town kermán. it is strange that marco polo does not give the name of the city. in assemanni's _bibliotheca orientalis_ kuwáshír and bardashír are mentioned as separate cities, the latter being probably the old mashíz, which as early as a.h. 582 (a.d. 1186) is spoken of in the _history of kermán_ as an important town. the nestorian bishop of the province kermán, who stood under the metropolitan of fars, resided at hormúz." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. pp. 491-492.) there does not seem any doubt as to the identity of bardashir with the present city of kermán. (see _the cities of kirman in the time of hamd-allah mustawfi and marco polo_, by guy le strange, _jour. r. as. soc._ april, 1901, pp. 281, 290.) hamd-allah is the author of the cosmography known as the _nuzhat-al-kulub_ or "heart's delight." (cf. major sykes' _persia_, chap. xvi., and the _geographical journal_ for february, 1902, p. 166.)--h. c.] note 2.--a ms. treatise on precious stones cited by ouseley mentions _shebavek_ in kermán as the site of a turquoise mine. this is probably _shahr-i-babek_, about 100 miles west of the city of kermán, and not far from _párez_, where abbott tells us there is a mine of these stones, now abandoned. goebel, one of khanikoff's party, found a deposit of turquoises at taft, near yezd. (_ouseley's travels_, i. 211; _j. r. g. s._ xxvi. 63-65; _khan. mém._ 203.) ["the province kermán is still rich in turquoises. the mines of páríz or párez are at chemen-i-mó-aspán, 16 miles from páríz on the road to bahrámábád (principal place of rafsinján), and opposite the village or garden called gód-i-ahmer. these mines were worked up to a few years ago; the turquoises were of a pale blue. other turquoises are found in the present bardshír plain, and not far from mashíz, on the slopes of the chehel tan mountain, opposite a hill called the bear hill (tal-i-khers). the shehr-i-bábek turquoise mines are at the small village kárík, a mile from medvár-i-bálá, 10 miles north of shehr-i-bábek. they have two shafts, one of which has lately been closed by an earthquake, and were worked up to about twenty years ago. at another place, 12 miles from shehr-i-bábek, are seven old shafts now not worked for a long period. the stones of these mines are also of a very pale blue, and have no great value." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. 1881, p. 491.) the finest turquoises came from khorasan; the mines were near maaden, about 48 miles to the north of nishapür. (heyd, _com. du levant_, ii. p. 653; ritter, _erdk._ pp. 325-330.) it is noticeable that polo does not mention indigo at kermán.--h. c.] note 3.--edrisi says that excellent iron was produced in the "cold mountains" n.w. of jiruft, i.e. somewhere south of the capital; and _jihán numá_, or great turkish geography, that the steel mines of niriz, on the borders of kermán, were famous. these are also spoken of by teixeira. major st. john enables me to indicate their position, in the hills east of niriz. (_edrisi_, vol. i. p. 430; _hammer, mém. lur la perse_, p. 275; _teixeira, relaciones_, p. 378; and see map of itineraries, no. ii.) ["marco polo's steel mines are probably the parpa iron mines on the road from kermán to shíráz, called even to-day m'aden-i-fúlád (steel mine); they are not worked now. old kermán weapons, daggers, swords, old stirrups, etc., made of steel, are really beautiful, and justify marco polo's praise of them" (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. p. 491)--h. c.] _ondanique_ of the geog. text, _andaine_ of pauthier's, _andanicum_ of the latin, is an expression on which no light has been thrown since ramusio's time. the latter often asked the persian merchants who visited venice, and they all agreed in stating that it was a sort of steel of such surpassing value and excellence, that in the days of yore a man who possessed a mirror, or sword, of _andanic_ regarded it as he would some precious jewel. this seems to me excellent evidence, and to give the true clue to the meaning of _ondanique_. i have retained the latter form because it points most distinctly to what i believe to be the real word, viz. _hundwáníy_, "indian steel."[1] (see _johnson's pers. dict._ and _de sacy's chrestomathie arabe_, ii. 148.) in the _vocabulista arabico_, of about a.d. 1200 (florence, 1871, p. 211), _hunduwán_ is explained by _ensis_. vüllers explains _hundwán_ as "anything peculiar to india, especially swords," and quotes from firdúsi, "_khanjar-i-hundwán_," a hanger of indian steel. the like expression appears in the quotation from edrisi below as _hindiah_, and found its way into spanish in the shapes of _alhinde, alfinde, alinde_, first with the meaning of _steel_, then assuming, that of _steel mirror_, and finally that of metallic foil of a glass mirror. (see _dozy_ and _engelmann_, 2d ed. pp. 144-145.) _hint_ or _al-hint_ is used in berber also for steel. (see _j. r. a. s._ ix. 255.) the sword-blades of india had a great fame over the east, and indian steel, according to esteemed authorities, continued to be imported into persia till days quite recent. its fame goes back to very old times. ctesias mentions two wonderful swords of such material that he got from the king of persia and his mother. it is perhaps the _ferrum candidum_ of which the malli and oxydracae sent a 100 talents weight as a present to alexander.[2] indian iron and steel ([greek: sídaeros indikòs kaì stómoma]) are mentioned in the _periplus_ as imports into the abyssinian ports. _ferrum indicum_ appears (at least according to one reading) among the oriental _species_ subject to duty in the law of marcus aurelius and commodus on that matter. salmasius notes that among surviving greek chemical treatises there was one [greek: perì baphaes indikou sidaérou], "on the tempering of indian steel." edrisi says on this subject: "the hindus excel in the manufacture of iron, and in the preparation of those ingredients along with which it is fused to obtain that kind of soft iron which is usually styled _indian steel_ (hindiah).[3] they also have workshops wherein are forged the most famous sabres in the world.... it is impossible to find anything to surpass the edge that you get from indian steel (_al-hadíd al-hindí_)." allusions to the famous sword-blades of india would seem to be frequent in arabic literature. several will be found in hamása's collection of ancient arabic poems translated by freytag. the old commentator on one of these passages says: "_ut optimos gladios significet_ ... indicos _esse dixit_," and here the word used in the original is _hundwániyah_. in manger's version of arabshah's _life of timur_ are several allusions of the same kind; one, a quotation from _antar_, recalls the _ferrum candidum_ of curtius: "albi (gladii) indici _meo in sanguine abluuntur_." in the histories, even of the mahomedan conquest of india, the hindu infidels are sent to _jihannam_ with "the well-watered blade of the hindi sword"; or the sword is personified as "a hindu of good family." coming down to later days, chardin says of the steel of persia: "they combine it with indian steel, which is more tractable ... and is much more esteemed." dupré, at the beginning of this century, tells us: "i used to believe ... that the steel for the famous persian sabres came from certain mines in khorasan. but according to all the information i have obtained, i can assert that no mine of steel exists in that province. what is used for these blades comes in the shape of disks from lahore." pottinger names _steel_ among the imports into kermán from india. elphinstone the accurate, in his _caubul_, confirms dupré: "indian steel [in afghanistan] is most prized for the material; but the best swords are made in persia and in syria;" and in his _history of india_, he repeats: "the steel of india was in request with the ancients; it is celebrated in the oldest persian poem, and is still the material of the scimitars of khorasan and damascus."[4] klaproth, in his _asia polyglotta_, gives _andun_ as the ossetish and _andan_ as the wotiak, for steel. possibly these are essentially the same with _hundwáníy_ and _alhinde_, pointing to india as the original source of supply. [in the _sikandar nama, e bará_ (or "book of alexander the great," written a.d. 1200, by abu muhammad bin yusuf bin mu, ayyid-i-nizamu-'d-din), translated by captain h. wilberforce clarke (lond., 1881, large 8vo), steel is frequently mentioned: canto xix. 257, p. 202; xx. 12, p. 211; xlv. 38, p. 567; lviii. 32, pp. 695, 42, pp. 697, 62, 66, pp. 699; lix. 28, p. 703.--h. c.] avicenna, in his fifth book _de animâ_, according to roger bacon, distinguishes three very different species of iron: "1st. iron which is good for striking or bearing heavy strokes, and for being forged by hammer and fire, but not for cutting-tools. of this hammers and anvils are made, and this is what we commonly call _iron_ simply. 2nd. that which is purer, has more heat in it, and is better adapted to take an edge and to form cutting-tools, but is not so malleable, viz. _steel_. and the 3rd is that which is called andena. this is less known among the latin nations. its special character is that like silver it is malleable and ductile under a very low degree of heat. in other properties it is intermediate between iron and steel." (_fr. r. baconis opera inedita_, 1859, pp. 382-383.) the same passage, apparently, of avicenna is quoted by vincent of beauvais, but with considerable differences. (see _speculum naturale_, vii. ch. lii. lx., and _specul. doctrinale_, xv. ch. lxiii.) the latter author writes _alidena_, and i have not been able to refer to avicenna, so that i am doubtful whether his _andena_ is the same term with the _andaine_ of pauthier and our _ondanique_. the popular view, at least in the middle ages, seems to have regarded _steel_ as a distinct natural species, the product of a necessarily different _ore_, from iron; and some such view is, i suspect, still common in the east. an old indian officer told me of the reply of a native friend to whom he had tried to explain the conversion of iron into steel--"what! you would have me believe that if i put an ass into the furnace it will come forth a horse." and indian steel again seems to have been regarded as a distinct natural species from ordinary steel. it is in fact made by a peculiar but simple process, by which the iron is converted _directly_ into cast-steel, without passing through any intermediate stage analogous to that of _blister-steel_. when specimens were first examined in england, chemists concluded that the steel was made direct from the _ore_. the _ondanique_ of marco no doubt was a fine steel resembling the indian article. (_müller's ctesias_, p. 80; _curtius_, ix. 24; _müller's geog. gr. min._ i. 262; _digest. novum_, lugd. 1551, lib. xxxix. tit. 4; _salmas. ex. plinian._ ii. 763; _edrisi_, i. 65-66; _j. r. s. a._ a. 387 seqq.; _hamasae carmina_, i. 526; _elliot_, ii. 209, 394; _reynolds's utbi_, p. 216.) [illustration: texture, with animals, etc., from a cashmere scarf in the indian museum. "de deverses maineres laborés à bestes et ausiaus mout richement."] note 4.--paulus jovius in the 16th century says, i know not on what authority, that kermán was then celebrated for the fine temper of its steel in scimitars and lance-points. these were eagerly bought at high prices by the turks, and their quality was such that one blow of a kermán sabre would cleave an european helmet without turning the edge. and i see that the phrase, "kermání blade" is used in poetry by marco's contemporary amír khusrú of delhi. (_p. jov. hist. of his own time_, bk. xiv.; _elliot_, iii. 537.) there is, or was in pottinger's time, still a great manufacture of _matchlocks_ at kerman; but rose-water, shawls, and carpets are the staples of the place now. polo says nothing that points to shawl-making, but it would seem from edrisi that some such manufacture already existed in the adjoining district of bamm. it is possible that the "hangings" spoken of by polo may refer to the carpets. i have seen a genuine kermán carpet in the house of my friend, sir bartle frere. it is of very short pile, very even and dense; the design, a combination of vases, birds, and floral tracery, closely resembling the illuminated frontispiece of some persian mss. the shawls are inferior to those of kashmir in exquisite softness, but scarcely in delicacy of texture and beauty of design. in 1850, their highest quality did not exceed 30 _tomans_ (14_l._) in price. about 2200 looms were employed on the fabric. a good deal of kermán wool called _kurk_, goes viâ bandar abbási and karáchi to amritsar, where it is mixed with the genuine tibetan wool in the shawl manufacture. several of the articles named in the text, including _pardahs_ ("cortines") are woven in shawl-fabric. i scarcely think, however, that marco would have confounded woven shawl with needle embroidery. and mr. khanikoff states that the silk embroidery, of which marco speaks, is still performed with great skill and beauty at kermán. our cut illustrates the textures figured with animals, already noticed at p. 66. the guebers were numerous here at the end of last century, but they are rapidly disappearing now. the musulman of kermán is, according to khanikoff, an epicurean gentleman, and even in regard to wine, which is strong and plentiful, his divines are liberal. "in other parts of persia you find the scribblings on the walls of serais to consist of philosophical axioms, texts from the koran, or abuse of local authorities. from kermán to yezd you find only rhymes in praise of fair ladies or good wine." (_pottinger's travels_; _khanik. mém._ 186 seqq., and _notice_, p. 21; _major smith's report_; _abbott's ms. report_ in f. o.; _notes by major o. st. john_, r.e.) note 5.--parez is famous for its falcons still, and so are the districts of aktúr and sirján. both mr. abbott and major smith were entertained with hawking by persian hosts in this neighbourhood. the late sir o. st. john identifies the bird described as the _sháhín_ (falco _peregrinator_), one variety of which, the _fársi_, is abundant in the higher mountains of s. persia. it is now little used in that region, the _terlán_ or goshawk being most valued, but a few are caught and sent for sale to the arabs of oman. (_j. r. g. s._ xxv. 50, 63, and _major st. john's notes_.) ["the fine falcons, 'with red breasts and swift of flight,' come from páríz. they are, however, very scarce, two or three only being caught every year. a well-trained páríz falcon costs from 30 to 50 tomans (12_l._ to 20_l._), as much as a good horse." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. p. 491.) major sykes, _persia_, ch. xxiii., writes: "marco polo was evidently a keen sportsman, and his description of the _sháhin_, as it is termed, cannot be improved upon." major sykes has a list given him by a khán of seven hawks of the province, all black and white, except the _sháhin_, which has yellow eyes, and is the third in the order of size.--h. c.] note 6.--we defer geographical remarks till the traveller reaches hormuz. [1] a learned friend objects to johnson's _hundwáníy_ = "indian steel," as too absolute; some word for _steel_ being wanted. even if it be so, i observe that in three places where polo uses _ondanique_ (here, ch. xxi., and ch. xlii.), the phrase is always "_steel and ondanique_." this looks as if his mental expression were _púlád-i-hundwáni_, rendered by an idiom like virgil's _pocula et aurum_. [2] kenrick suggests that the "bright iron" mentioned by ezekiel among the wares of tyre (ch. xxvii. 19) can hardly have been anything else than indian steel, because named with cassia and _calamus_. [3] literally rendered by mr. redhouse: "the indians do well the combining of mixtures of the chemicals with which they (smelt and) cast the soft iron, and it becomes _indian_ (steel), being referred to india (in this expression)." [4] in _richardson's pers. dict._, by johnson, we have a word _rohan, rohina_ (and other forms). "the finest indian steel, of which the most excellent swords are made; also the swords made of that steel." chapter xviii. of the city of camadi and its ruins; also touching the carauna robbers. after you have ridden down hill those two days, you find yourself in a vast plain, and at the beginning thereof there is a city called camadi, which formerly was a great and noble place, but now is of little consequence, for the tartars in their incursions have several times ravaged it. the plain whereof i speak is a very hot region; and the province that we now enter is called reobarles. the fruits of the country are dates, pistachioes, and apples of paradise, with others of the like not found in our cold climate. [there are vast numbers of turtledoves, attracted by the abundance of fruits, but the saracens never take them, for they hold them in abomination.] and on this plain there is a kind of bird called francolin, but different from the francolin of other countries, for their colour is a mixture of black and white, and the feet and beak are vermilion colour.[note 1] the beasts also are peculiar; and first i will tell you of their oxen. these are very large, and all over white as snow; the hair is very short and smooth, which is owing to the heat of the country. the horns are short and thick, not sharp in the point; and between the shoulders they have a round hump some two palms high. there are no handsomer creatures in the world. and when they have to be loaded, they kneel like the camel; once the load is adjusted, they rise. their load is a heavy one, for they are very strong animals. then there are sheep here as big as asses; and their tails are so large and fat, that one tail shall weigh some 30 lbs. they are fine fat beasts, and afford capital mutton.[note 2] in this plain there are a number of villages and towns which have lofty walls of mud, made as a defence against the banditti,[note 3] who are very numerous, and are called caraonas. this name is given them because they are the sons of indian mothers by tartar fathers. and you must know that when these caraonas wish to make a plundering incursion, they have certain devilish enchantments whereby they do bring darkness over the face of day, insomuch that you can scarcely discern your comrade riding beside you; and this darkness they will cause to extend over a space of seven days' journey. they know the country thoroughly, and ride abreast, keeping near one another, sometimes to the number of 10,000, at other times more or fewer. in this way they extend across the whole plain that they are going to harry, and catch every living thing that is found outside of the towns and villages; man, woman, or beast, nothing can escape them! the old men whom they take in this way they butcher; the young men and the women they sell for slaves in other countries; thus the whole land is ruined, and has become well-nigh a desert. the king of these scoundrels is called nogodar. this nogodar had gone to the court of chagatai, who was own brother to the great kaan, with some 10,000 horsemen of his, and abode with him; for chagatai was his uncle. and whilst there this nogodar devised a most audacious enterprise, and i will tell you what it was. he left his uncle who was then in greater armenia, and fled with a great body of horsemen, cruel unscrupulous fellows, first through badashan, and then through another province called pashai-dir, and then through another called ariora-keshemur. there he lost a great number of his people and of his horses, for the roads were very narrow and perilous. and when he had conquered all those provinces, he entered india at the extremity of a province called dalivar. he established himself in that city and government, which he took from the king of the country, asedin soldan by name, a man of great power and wealth. and there abideth nogodar with his army, afraid of nobody, and waging war with all the tartars in his neighbourhood.[note 4] now that i have told you of those scoundrels and their history, i must add the fact that messer marco himself was all but caught by their bands in such a darkness as that i have told you of; but, as it pleased god, he got off and threw himself into a village that was hard by, called conosalmi. howbeit he lost his whole company except seven persons who escaped along with him. the rest were caught, and some of them sold, some put to death.[note 5] note 1.--ramusio has "adam's apple" for apples of paradise. this was some kind of _citrus_, though lindley thinks it impossible to say precisely what. according to jacques de vitry it was a beautiful fruit of the citron kind, in which the bite of human teeth was plainly discernible. (note to _vulgar errors_, ii. 211; _bongars_, i. 1099.) mr. abbott speaks of this tract as "the districts (of kermán) lying towards the south, which are termed the ghermseer or hot region, where the temperature of winter resembles that of a charming spring, and where the palm, orange, and lemon-tree flourish." (_ms. report_; see also _j. r. g. s._ xxv. 56.) ["marco polo's apples of paradise are more probably the fruits of the konár tree. there are no plantains in that part of the country. turtle doves, now as then, are plentiful, and as they are seldom shot, and are said by the people to be unwholesome food, we can understand marco polo's saying that the people do not eat them." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. pp. 492-493.)--h. c.] the francolin here spoken of is, as major smith tells me, the _darráj_ of the persians, the _black partridge_ of english sportsmen, sometimes called the red-legged francolin. the darráj is found in some parts of egypt, where its peculiar call is interpreted by the peasantry into certain arabic words, meaning "sweet are the corn-ears! praised be the lord!" in india, baber tells us, the call of the black partridge was (less piously) rendered "_shír dáram shakrak_," "i've got milk and sugar!" the bird seems to be the [greek: attagàs] of athenaeus, a fowl "speckled like the partridge, but larger," found in egypt and lydia. the greek version of its cry is the best of all: "[greek: trìs tois kakoúrgois kaká]" ("threefold ills to the ill-doers!"). this is really like the call of the black partridge in india as i recollect it. [_tetrao francolinus_.--h. c.] (_chrestomathie arabe_, ii. 295; _baber_, 320; _yonge's atken._ ix. 39.) note 2.--abbott mentions the humped (though small) oxen in this part of persia, and that in some of the neighbouring districts they are taught to kneel to receive the load, an accomplishment which seems to have struck mas'udi (iii. 27), who says he saw it exhibited by oxen at rai (near modern tehran). the aín akbari also ascribes it to a very fine breed in bengal. the whimsical name _zebu_, given to the humped or indian ox in books of zoology, was taken by buffon from the exhibitors of such a beast at a french fair, who probably invented it. that the humped breeds of oxen existed in this part of asia in ancient times is shown by sculptures at kouyunjik. (see cut below.) [illustration: humped oxen from the assyrian sculptures at koyunjik.] a letter from agassiz, printed in the proc. as. soc. bengal (1865), refers to wild "zebus," and calls the species a small one. there is no wild "zebu," and some of the breeds are of enormous size. ["white oxen, with short thick horns and a round hump between the shoulders, are now very rare between kermán and bender 'abbás. they are, however, still to be found towards belúchistán and mekrán, and they kneel to be loaded like camels. the sheep which i saw had fine large tails; i did not, however, hear of any having so high a weight as thirty pounds." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. p. 493.)--h. c.] the fat-tailed sheep is well known in many parts of asia and part of africa. it is mentioned by ctesias, and by aelian, who says the shepherds used to extract the tallow from the live animal, sewing up the tail again; exactly the same story is told by the chinese pliny, ma twan-lin. marco's statements as to size do not surpass those of the admirable kampfer: "in size they so much surpass the common sheep that it is not unusual to see them as tall as a donkey, whilst all are much more than three feet; and as to the tail i shall not exceed the truth, though i may exceed belief, if i say that it sometimes reaches 40 lbs. in weight." captain hutton was assured by an afghan sheep-master that tails had occurred in his flocks weighing 12 tabriz _mans_, upwards of 76 lbs.! the afghans use the fat as an aperient, swallowing a dose of 4 to 6 lbs! captain hutton's friend testified that trucks to bear the sheep-tails were sometimes used among the taimúnis (north of herat). this may help to locate that ancient and slippery story. josafat barbaro says he had seen the thing, but is vague as to place. (_aelian nat. an._ iii. 3, iv. 32; _amoen. exoticae; ferrier_, h. of afghans, p. 294; _j. a. s._ b. xv. 160.) [rabelais says (bk. i. ch. xvi.): "si de ce vous efmerveillez, efmerveillez vous d'advantage de la queue des béliers de la scythie, qui pesait plus de trente livres; et des moutons de surie, esquels fault (si tenaud, dict vray) affuster une charrette au cul, pour la porter tant qu'elle est longue et pesante." (see g. capus, _a travers le roy. de tamerlan_, pp. 21-23, on the fat sheep.)--h. c.] note 3.--the word rendered _banditti_ is in pauthier _carans_, in g. text _caraunes_, in the latin "_a_ scaranis _et malandrinis_." the last is no doubt correct, standing for the old italian _scherani_, bandits. (see _cathay_, p. 287, note.) note 4.--this is a knotty subject, and needs a long note. the karaunahs are mentioned often in the histories of the mongol regime in persia, first as a mongol tribe forming a _tuman_, i.e. a division or corps of 10,000 in the mongol army (and i suspect it was the phrase the _tuman of the karaunahs_ in marco's mind that suggested his repeated use of the number 10,000 in speaking of them); and afterwards as daring and savage freebooters, scouring the persian provinces, and having their headquarters on the eastern frontiers of persia. they are described as having had their original seats on the mountains north of the chinese wall near _karaún jidun_ or _khidun_; and their special accomplishment in war was the use of naphtha fire. rashiduddin mentions the _karánut_ as a branch of the great mongol tribe of the kunguráts, who certainly had their seat in the vicinity named, so these may possibly be connected with the karaunahs. the same author says that the tuman of the karaunahs formed the _injú_ or _peculium_ of arghún khan. wassáf calls them "a kind of goblins rather than human beings, the most daring of all the mongols"; and mirkhond speaks in like terms. dr. bird of bombay, in discussing some of the indo-scythic coins which bear the word _korano_ attached to the prince's name, asserts this to stand for the name of the karaunah, "who were a graeco-indo-scythic tribe of robbers in the punjab, who are mentioned by marco polo," a somewhat hasty conclusion which pauthier adopts. there is, quatremère observes, no mention of the karaunahs before the mongol invasion, and this he regards as the great obstacle to any supposition of their having been a people previously settled in persia. reiske, indeed, with no reference to the present subject, quotes a passage from hamza of ispahan, a writer of the 10th century, in which mention is made of certain troops called _karáunahs_. but it seems certain that in this and other like cases the real reading was _kazáwinah_, people of kazvin. (see _reiske's constant. porphyrog._ bonn. ed. ii. 674; _gottwaldt's hamza ispahanensis_, p. 161; and _quatremère_ in _j. a._ sér. v. tom. xv. 173.) ibn batuta only once mentions the name, saying that tughlak sháh of dehli was "one of those turks called _karáunas_ who dwell in the mountains between sind and turkestan." hammer has suggested the derivation of the word _carbine_ from _karáwinah_ (as he writes), and a link in such an etymology is perhaps furnished by the fact that in the 16th century the word _carbine_ was used for some kind of irregular horseman. (_gold. horde_, 214; _ilch._ i. 17, 344, etc.; _erdmann_, 168, 199, etc.; _j. a. s._, b. x. 96; _q. r._ 130; _not. et ext._ xiv. 282; _i. b._ iii. 201; _ed. webbe, his travailes_, p. 17, 1590. reprinted 1868.) as regards the account given by marco of the origin of the caraonas, it seems almost necessarily a mistaken one. as khanikoff remarks, he might have confounded them with the biluchis, whose turanian aspect (at least as regards the brahuis) shows a strong infusion of turki blood, and who might be rudely described as a cross between tartars and indians. it is indeed an odd fact that the word _karáni_ (vulgo _cranny_) is commonly applied in india at this day to the mixed race sprung from european fathers and native mothers, and this might be cited in corroboration of marsden's reference to the sanskrit _karana_, but i suspect the coincidence arises in another way. _karana_ is the name applied to a particular class of mixt blood, whose special occupation was writing and accounts. but the prior sense of the word seems to have been "clever, skilled," and hence a writer or scribe. in this sense we find _karáni_ applied in ibn batuta's day to a ship's clerk, and it is used in the same sense in the _ain akbari_. clerkship is also the predominant occupation of the east-indians, and hence the term karáni is applied to them from their business, and not from their mixt blood. we shall see hereafter that there is a tartar term _arghún_, applied to fair children born of a mongol mother and _white_ father; it is possible that there may have been a correlative word like _karáun_ (from _kará_, black) applied to dark children born of mongol father and black mother, and that this led marco to a false theory. [major sykes (_persia_) devotes a chapter (xxiv.) to _the karwán expedition_ in which he says: "is it not possible that the karwánis are the caraonas of marco polo? they are distinct from the surrounding baluchis, and pay no tribute."--h. c.] [illustration: portrait of a hazára.] let us turn now to the name of nogodar. contemporaneously with the karaunahs we have frequent mention of predatory bands known as _nigúdaris_, who seem to be distinguished from the karaunahs, but had a like character for truculence. their headquarters were about sijistán, and quatremère seems disposed to look upon them as a tribe indigenous in that quarter. hammer says they were originally the troops of prince nigudar, grandson of chaghatai, and that they were a rabble of all sorts, mongols, turkmans, kurds, shúls, and what not. we hear of their revolts and disorders down to 1319, under which date mirkhond says that there had been one-and-twenty fights with them in four years. again we hear of them in 1336 about herat, whilst in baber's time they turn up as _nukdari_, fairly established as tribes in the mountainous tracts of karnúd and ghúr, west of kabul, and coupled with the hazáras, who still survive both in name and character. "among both," says baber, "there are some who speak the mongol language." hazáras and _takdaris_ (read _nukdaris_) again occur coupled in the _history of sind_. (see _elliot_, i. 303-304.) [on the struggle against timur of toumen, veteran chief of the nikoudrians (1383-84), see major david price's _mahommedan history_, london, 1821, vol. iii. pp. 47-49, h. c.] in maps of the 17th century, as of hondius and blaeuw, we find the mountains north of kabul termed _nochdarizari_, in which we cannot miss the combination nigudar-hazárah, whencesoever it was got. the hazáras are eminently mongol in feature to this day, and it is very probable that they or some part of them are the descendants of the karáunahs or the nigudaris, or of both, and that the origination of the bands so called, from the scum of the mongol inundation, is thus in degree confirmed. the hazáras generally are said to speak an old dialect of persian. but one tribe in western afghanistan retains both the name of mongols and a language of which six-sevenths (judging from a vocabulary published by major leech) appear to be mongol. leech says, too, that the hazáras generally are termed _moghals_ by the ghilzais. it is worthy of notice that abu'l fázl, who also mentions the nukdaris among the nomad tribes of kabul, says the hazáras were the remains of the chaghataian army which mangu kaan sent to the aid of hulaku, under the command of nigudar oghlan. (_not. et ext._ xiv. 284; _ilch._ i. 284, 309, etc,; _baber_, 134, 136, 140; _j. as._ sér. iv. tom. iv. 98; _ayeen akbery_, ii. 192-193.) so far, excepting as to the doubtful point of the relation between karáunahs and nigudaris, and as to the origin of the former, we have a general accordance with polo's representations. but it is not very easy to identify with certainty the inroad on india to which he alludes, or the person intended by nogodar, nephew of chaghatai. it seems as if two persons of that name had each contributed something to marco's history. we find in hammer and d'ohsson that one of the causes which led to the war between barka khan and hulaku in 1262 (see above, _prologue_, ch. ii.) was the violent end that had befallen three princes of the house of juji, who had accompanied hulaku to persia in command of the contingent of that house. when war actually broke out, the contingent made their escape from persia. one party gained kipchak by way of derbend; another, in greater force, led by nigudar and onguja, escaped to khorasan, pursued by the troops of hulaku, and thence eastward, where they seized upon ghazni and other districts bordering on india. but again: nigudar aghul, or oghlan, son of (the younger) juji, son of _chaghatai_, was the leader of the chaghataian contingent in hulaku's expedition, and was still attached to the mongol-persian army in 1269, when borrak khan, of the house of chaghatai, was meditating war against his kinsman, abaka of persia. borrak sent to the latter an ambassador, who was the bearer of a secret message to prince nigudar, begging him not to serve against the head of his own house. nigudar, upon this, made a pretext of retiring to his own headquarters in _georgia_, hoping to reach borrak's camp by way of derbend. he was, however, intercepted, and lost many of his people. with 1000 horse he took refuge in georgia, but was refused an asylum, and was eventually captured by abaka's commander on that frontier. his officers were executed, his troops dispersed among abaka's army, and his own life spared under surveillance. i find no more about him. in 1278 hammer speaks of him as dead, and of the nigudarian bands as having been formed out of his troops. but authority is not given. the second nigudar is evidently the one to whom abu'l fázl alludes. khanikoff assumes that the nigudar who went off towards india about 1260 (he puts the date earlier) was nigudar, the grandson of chaghatai, but he takes no notice of the second story just quoted. in the former story we have bands under _nigudar_ going off by ghazni, _and conquering country on the indian frontier_. in the latter we have _nigudar, a descendant of chaghatai_, trying to escape from his camp _on the frontier of great armenia_. supposing the persian historians to be correct, it looks as if marco had rolled two stories into one. some other passages may be cited before quitting this part of the subject. a chronicle of herat, translated by barbier de meynard, says, under 1298: "the king fakhruddin (of herat) had the imprudence to authorise _the amir nigudar_ to establish himself in a quarter of the city, with 300 adventurers from 'irak. this little troop made frequent raids in kuhistan, sijistan, farrah, etc., spreading terror. khodabanda, at the request of his brother ghazan khan, came from mazanderan to demand the immediate surrender of these brigands," etc. and in the account of the tremendous foray of the chaghataian prince kotlogh shah, on the east and south of persia in 1299, we find one of his captains called _nigudar_ bahadur. (_gold. horde_, 146, 157, 164; _d'ohsson_, iv. 378 seqq., 433 seqq., 513 seqq.; _ilch._ i. 216, 261, 284; ii. 104; _j. a._ sér. v. tom. xvii. 455-456, 507; _khan. notice_, 31.) as regards the route taken by prince nogodar in his incursion into india, we have no difficulty with badakhshan. pashai-dir is a copulate name; the former part, as we shall see reason to believe hereafter, representing the country between the hindu kush and the kabul river (see infra, ch. xxx.); the latter (as pauthier already has pointed out), dir, the chief town of panjkora, in the hill country north of peshawar. in _ariora-keshemur_ the first portion only is perplexing. i will mention the most probable of the solutions that have occurred to me, and a second, due to that eminent archaeologist, general a. cunningham. (1) _ariora_ may be some corrupt or mongol form of _aryavartta_, a sacred name applied to the holy lands of indian buddhism, of which kashmir was eminently one to the northern buddhists. _oron_, in mongol, is a region or realm, and may have taken the place of _vartta_, giving _aryoron_ or ariora. (2) "_ariora_," general cunningham writes, "i take to be the _harhaura_ of sanscrit--i.e. the western panjáb. harhaura was the north-western division of the _navakhanda_, or nine divisions of ancient india. it is mentioned between _sindhu-sauvira_ in the west (i.e. sind), and _madra_ in the north (i.e. the eastern panjáb, which is still called _madar-des_). the name of harhaura is, i think, preserved in the haro river. now, the sind-sagor doab formed a portion of the kingdom of kashmir, and the joint names, like those of sindhu-sauvira, describe only one state." the names of the nine divisions in question are given by the celebrated astronomer, varaha mihira, who lived in the beginning of the 6th century, and are repeated by al biruni. (see _reinaud, mém. sur l'inde_, p. 116.) the only objection to this happy solution seems to lie in al biruni's remark, that the names in question were in general no longer used even in his time (a.d. 1030). there can be no doubt that _asidin soldan_ is, as khanikoff has said, ghaiassuddin balban, sultan of delhi from 1266 to 1286, and for years before that a man of great power in india, and especially in the panjáb, of which he had in the reign of ruknuddin (1236) held independent possession. firishta records several inroads of mongols in the panjáb during the reign of ghaiassuddin, in withstanding one of which that king's eldest son was slain; and there are constant indications of their presence in sind till the end of the century. but we find in that historian no hint of the chief circumstances of this part of the story, viz., the conquest of kashmir and the occupation of _dalivar_ or _dilivar_ (g. t.), evidently (whatever its identity) in the plains of india. i do find, however, in the history of kashmir, as given by lassen (iii. 1138), that in the end of 1259, lakshamana deva, king of kashmir, was killed in a campaign against the _turushka_ (turks or tartars), and that their leader, who is called kajjala, got hold of the country and held it till 1287.[1] it is difficult not to connect this both with polo's story and with the escapade of nigudar about 1260, noting also that this occupation of kashmir extended through the whole reign of ghaiassuddin. we seem to have a memory of polo's story preserved in one of elliot's extracts from wassáf, which states that in 708 (a.d. 1308), after a great defeat of a mongol inroad which had passed the ganges, sultan ala'uddin khilji ordered a pillar of mongol heads to be raised before the badáun gate, "_as was done with the_ nigudari _moghuls_" (iii. 48). we still have to account for the occupation and locality of _dalivar_; marsden supposed it to be _lahore_; khanikoff considers it to be _diráwal_, the ancient desert capital of the bhattis, properly (according to tod) _deoráwal_, but by a transposition common in india, as it is in italy, sometimes called _diláwar_, in the modern state of bháwalpúr. but general cunningham suggests a more probable locality in diláwar on the west bank of the jelam, close to dárápúr, and opposite to mung. these two sites, diláwar-dárápúr on the west bank, and mung on the east, are identified by general cunningham (i believe justly) with alexander's bucephala and nicaea. the spot, which is just opposite the battlefield of chiliánwála, was visited (15th december, 1868) at my request, by my friend colonel r. maclagan, r.e. he writes: "the present village of diláwar stands a little above the town of dárápúr (i mean on higher ground), looking down on dárápúr and on the river, and on the cultivated and wooded plain along the river bank. the remains of the old diláwar, in the form of quantities of large bricks, cover the low round-backed spurs and knolls of the broken rocky hills around the present village, but principally on the land side. they cover a large area of very irregular character, and may clearly be held to represent a very considerable town. there are no indications of the form of buildings,... but simply large quantities of large bricks, which for a long time have been carried away and used for modern buildings.... after rain coins are found on the surface.... there can be no doubt of a very large extent of ground, of very irregular and uninviting character, having been covered at some time with buildings. the position on the jelam would answer well for the diláwar which the mongol invaders took and held.... the strange thing is that the name should not be mentioned (i believe it is not) by any of the well-known mahomedan historians of india. so much for diláwar.... the people have no traditions. but there are the remains; and there is the name, borne by the existing village on part of the old site." i had come to the conclusion that this was almost certainly polo's dalivar, and had mapped it as such, before i read certain passages in the _history of zíyáuddín barni_, which have been translated by professor dowson for the third volume of elliot's _india_. when the comrades of ghaiassuddin balban urged him to conquests, the sultan pointed to the constant danger from the mongols,[2] saying: "these accursed wretches have heard of the wealth and condition of hindustan, and have set their hearts upon conquering and plundering it. _they have taken and plundered lahor within my territories, and no year passes that they do not come here and plunder the villages_.... they even talk about the conquest and sack of delhi." and under a later date the historian says: "the sultan... marched to lahor, and ordered the rebuilding of the fort which the mughals had destroyed in the reigns of the sons of shamsuddin. the towns and villages of lahor which the mughals had devastated and laid waste he repeopled." considering these passages, and the fact that polo had no personal knowledge of upper india, i now think it probable that marsden was right, and that _dilivar_ is really a misunderstanding of "_città_ di livar" for _lahàwar_ or lahore. the _magical darkness_ which marco ascribes to the evil arts of the karaunas is explained by khanikoff from the phenomenon of _dry fog_, which he has often experienced in khorasan, combined with the _dust storm_ with which we are familiar in upper india. in sind these phenomena often produce a great degree of darkness. during a battle fought between the armies of sindh and kachh in 1762, such a fog came on, obscuring the light of day for some six hours, during which the armies were intermixed with one another and fighting desperately. when the darkness dispersed they separated, and the consternation of both parties was so great at the events of the day that both made a precipitate retreat. in 1844 this battle was still spoken of with wonder. (_j. bomb. br. r. a. s._ i. 423.) major st. john has given a note on his own experience of these curious kermán fogs (see _ocean highways_, 1872, p. 286): "not a breath of air was stirring, and the whole effect was most curious, and utterly unlike any other fog i have seen. no deposit of dust followed, and the feeling of the air was decidedly damp. i unfortunately could not get my hygrometer till the fog had cleared away." [_general houtum-schindler_, l.c. p. 493, writes: "the magical darkness might, as colonel yule supposes, be explained by the curious dry fogs or dust storms, often occurring in the neighbourhood of kermán, but it must be remarked that marco polo was caught in one of these storms down in jíruft, where, according to the people i questioned, such storms now never occur. on the 29th of september, 1879, at kermán, a high wind began to blow from s.s.w. at about 5 p.m. first there came thick heavy clouds of dust with a few drops of rain. the heavy dust then settled down, the lighter particles remained in the air, forming a dry fog of such density that large objects, like houses, trees, etc., could not even faintly be distinguished at a distance of a hundred paces. the barometers suffered no change, the three i had with me remained in _statu quo_." "the heat is over by the middle of september, and after the autumnal equinox, there are a few days of what is best described as a dense dry fog. this was undoubtedly the haze referred to by marco polo." (_major sykes_, ch. iv.) --h. c.] richthofen's remarkable exposition of the phenomena of the _löss_ in north china, and of the sub-aerial deposits of the steppes and of central asia throws some light on this. but this hardly applies to st john's experience of "no deposit of dust." (see richthofen, _china_, pp. 96-97 s. _ms. note_, h. y.) the belief that such opportune phenomena were produced by enchantment was a thoroughly tartar one. d'herbelot relates (art. _giagathai_) that in an action with a rebel called mahomed tarabi, the mongols were encompassed by a dust storm which they attributed to enchantment on the part of the enemy, and it so discouraged them that they took to flight. note 5.--the specification that only _seven_ were saved from marco's company is peculiar to pauthier's text, not appearing in the g. t. several names compounded of _salm_ or _salmi_ occur on the dry lands on the borders of kermán. edrisi, however (i. p. 428), names a place called kanát-ul-shám as the first march in going from jiruft to walashjird. walashjird is, i imagine, represented by _galashkird_, major r. smith's third march from jiruft (see my map of routes from kermán to hormuz); and as such an indication agrees with the view taken below of polo's route, i am strongly disposed to identify kanát-ul-shám with his _castello_ or walled village of _canosalmi_. ["marco polo's conosalmi, where he was attacked by robbers and lost the greater part of his men, is perhaps the ruined town or village kamasal (kahn-i-asal = the honey canal), near kahnúj-i-pancheh and vakílábád in jíruft. it lies on the direct road between shehr-i-daqíánús (camadi) and the nevergún pass. the road goes in an almost due southerly direction. the nevergún pass accords with marco polo's description of it; it is very difficult, on account of the many great blocks of sandstone scattered upon it. its proximity to the bashakird mountains and mekrán easily accounts for the prevalence of robbers, who infested the place in marco polo's time. at the end of the pass lies the large village shamíl, with an old fort; the distance thence to the site of hormúz or bender 'abbás (lying more to the west) is 52 miles, two days' march. the climate of bender 'abbás is very bad, strangers speedily fall sick, two of my men died there, all the others were seriously ill." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. pp. 495-496.) major sykes (ch. xxiii.) says: "two marches from camadi was kahn-i-panchur, and a stage beyond it lay the ruins of fariáb or pariáb, which was once a great city, and was destroyed by a flood, according to local legend. it may have been alexander's salmous, as it is about the right distance from the coast, and if so, could not have been marco's _cono salmi_. continuing on, galashkird mentioned by edrisi, is the next stage."--h. c.] the raids of the mekranis and biluchis long preceded those of the karaunas, for they were notable even in the time of mahmud of ghazni, and they have continued to our own day to be prosecuted nearly on the same stage and in the same manner. about 1721, 4000 horsemen of this description plundered the town of bander abbasi, whilst captain alex. hamilton was in the port; and abbott, in 1850, found the dread of bilúch robbers to extend almost to the gates of ispahan. a striking account of the bilúch robbers and their characteristics is given by general ferrier. (see _hamilton_, i. 109; _j. r. g. s._ xxv.; _khanikoff's mémoire; macd. kinneir_, 196; _caravan journeys_, p. 437 seq.) [1] _khajlak_ is mentioned as a leader of the mongol raids in india by the poet amir khusrú (a.d. 1289; see _elliot_ iii. 527). [2] professor cowell compares the mongol inroads in the latter part of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, in their incessant recurrence, to the incursions of the danes in england. a passage in wassáf (_elliot_, iii. 38) shows that the mongols were, circa 1254-55, already in occupation of sodia on the chenab, and districts adjoining. chapter xix. of the descent to the city of hormos. the plain of which we have spoken extends in a southerly direction for five days' journey, and then you come to another descent some twenty miles in length, where the road is very bad and full of peril, for there are many robbers and bad characters about. when you have got to the foot of this descent you find another beautiful plain called the plain of formosa. this extends for two days' journey; and you find in it fine streams of water with plenty of date-palms and other fruit-trees. there are also many beautiful birds, francolins, popinjays, and other kinds such as we have none of in our country. when you have ridden these two days you come to the ocean sea, and on the shore you find a city with a harbour which is called hormos.[note 1] merchants come thither from india, with ships loaded with spicery and precious stones, pearls, cloths of silk and gold, elephants' teeth, and many other wares, which they sell to the merchants of hormos, and which these in turn carry all over the world to dispose of again. in fact, 'tis a city of immense trade. there are plenty of towns and villages under it, but it is the capital. the king is called ruomedam ahomet. it is a very sickly place, and the heat of the sun is tremendous. if any foreign merchant dies there, the king takes all his property. in this country they make a wine of dates mixt with spices, which is very good. when any one not used to it first drinks this wine, it causes repeated and violent purging, but afterwards he is all the better for it, and gets fat upon it. the people never eat meat and wheaten bread except when they are ill, and if they take such food when they are in health it makes them ill. their food when in health consists of dates and salt-fish (tunny, to wit) and onions, and this kind of diet they maintain in order to preserve their health.[note 2] their ships are wretched affairs, and many of them get lost; for they have no iron fastenings, and are only stitched together with twine made from the husk of the indian nut. they beat this husk until it becomes like horse-hair, and from that they spin twine, and with this stitch the planks of the ships together. it keeps well, and is not corroded by the sea-water, but it will not stand well in a storm. the ships are not pitched, but are rubbed with fish-oil. they have one mast, one sail, and one rudder, and have no deck, but only a cover spread over the cargo when loaded. this cover consists of hides, and on the top of these hides they put the horses which they take to india for sale. they have no iron to make nails of, and for this reason they use only wooden trenails in their shipbuilding, and then stitch the planks with twine as i have told you. hence 'tis a perilous business to go a voyage in one of those ships, and many of them are lost, for in that sea of india the storms are often terrible.[note 3] the people are black, and are worshippers of mahommet. the residents avoid living in the cities, for the heat in summer is so great that it would kill them. hence they go out (to sleep) at their gardens in the country, where there are streams and plenty of water. for all that they would not escape but for one thing that i will mention. the fact is, you see, that in summer a wind often blows across the sands which encompass the plain, so intolerably hot that it would kill everybody, were it not that when they perceive that wind coming they plunge into water up to the neck, and so abide until the wind have ceased.[note 4] [and to prove the great heat of this wind, messer mark related a case that befell when he was there. the lord of hormos, not having paid his tribute to the king of kerman the latter resolved to claim it at the time when the people of hormos were residing away from the city. so he caused a force of 1600 horse and 5000 foot to be got ready, and sent them by the route of reobarles to take the others by surprise. now, it happened one day that through the fault of their guide they were not able to reach the place appointed for their night's halt, and were obliged to bivouac in a wilderness not far from hormos. in the morning as they were starting on their march they were caught by that wind, and every man of them was suffocated, so that not one survived to carry the tidings to their lord. when the people of hormos heard of this they went forth to bury the bodies lest they should breed a pestilence. but when they laid hold of them by the arms to drag them to the pits, the bodies proved to be so _baked_, as it were, by that tremendous heat, that the arms parted from the trunks, and in the end the people had to dig graves hard by each where it lay, and so cast them in.][note 5] the people sow their wheat and barley and other corn in the month of november, and reap it in the month of march. the dates are not gathered till may, but otherwise there is no grass nor any other green thing, for the excessive heat dries up everything. when any one dies they make a great business of the mourning, for women mourn their husbands four years. during that time they mourn at least once a day, gathering together their kinsfolk and friends and neighbours for the purpose, and making a great weeping and wailing. [and they have women who are mourners by trade, and do it for hire.] now, we will quit this country. i shall not, however, now go on to tell you about india; but when time and place shall suit we shall come round from the north and tell you about it. for the present, let us return by another road to the aforesaid city of kerman, for we cannot get at those countries that i wish to tell you about except through that city. i should tell you first, however, that king ruomedam ahomet of hormos, which we are leaving, is a liegeman of the king of kerman.[note 6] on the road by which we return from hormos to kerman you meet with some very fine plains, and you also find many natural hot baths; you find plenty of partridges on the road; and there are towns where victual is cheap and abundant, with quantities of dates and other fruits. the wheaten bread, however, is so bitter, owing to the bitterness of the water, that no one can eat it who is not used to it. the baths that i mentioned have excellent virtues; they cure the itch and several other diseases.[note 7] now, then, i am going to tell you about the countries towards the north, of which you shall hear in regular order. let us begin. note 1.--having now arrived at hormuz, it is time to see what can be made of the geography of the route from kermán to that port. the port of hormuz, [which had taken the place of kish as the most important market of the persian gulf (h. c.)], stood upon the mainland. a few years later it was transferred to the island which became so famous, under circumstances which are concisely related by abulfeda:--"hormuz is the port of kermán, a city rich in palms, and very hot. one who has visited it in our day tells me that the ancient hormuz was devastated by the incursions of the tartars, and that its people transferred their abode to an island in the sea called zarun, near the continent, and lying west of the old city. at hormuz itself no inhabitants remain, but some of the lowest order." (in _büsching_, iv. 261-262.) friar odoric, about 1321, found hormuz "on an island some 5 miles distant from the main." ibn batuta, some eight or nine years later, discriminates between hormuz or moghistan on the mainland, and new hormuz on the island of jeraun, but describes only the latter, already a great and rich city. the site of the island hormuz has often been visited and described; but i could find no published trace of any traveller having verified the site of the more ancient city, though the existence of its ruins was known to john de barros, who says that a little fort called _cuxstac_ (_kuhestek_ of p. della valle, ii. p. 300) stood on the site. an application to colonel pelly, the very able british resident at bushire, brought me from his own personal knowledge the information that i sought, and the following particulars are compiled from the letters with which he has favoured me:-"the ruins of old hormuz, well known as such, stand several miles up a creek, and in the centre of the present district of minao. they are extensive (though in large part obliterated by long cultivation over the site), and the traces of a long pier or bandar were pointed out to colonel pelly. they are about 6 or 7 miles from the fort of minao, and the minao river, or its stony bed, winds down towards them. the creek is quite traceable, but is silted up, and to embark goods you have to go a farsakh towards the sea, where there is a custom-house on that part of the creek which is still navigable. colonel pelly collected a few bricks from the ruins. from the mouth of the old hormuz creek to the new hormuz town, or town of turumpak on the island of hormuz, is a sail of about three farsakhs. it may be a trifle more, but any native tells you at once that it is three farsakhs from hormuz island to the creek where you land to go up to minao. _hormuzdia_ was the name of the region in the days of its prosperity. some people say that hormuzdia was known as _jerunia_, and old hormuz town as _jerun_." (in this i suspect tradition has gone astray.) "the town and fort of minao lie to the n.e. of the ancient city, and are built upon the lowest spur of the bashkurd mountains, commanding a gorge through which the rudbar river debouches on the plain of hormuzdia." in these new and interesting particulars it is pleasing to find such precise corroboration both of edrisi and of ibn batuta. the former, writing in the 12th century, says that hormuz stood on the banks of a canal or creek from the gulf, by which vessels came up to the city. the latter specifies the breadth of sea between old and new hormuz as _three farsakhs_. (_edrisi_, i. 424; _i. b._ ii. 230.) i now proceed to recapitulate the main features of polo's itinerary from kermán to hormuz. we have:- marches 1. from kermán across a plain to the top of a mountain-pass, where _extreme cold was experienced_ . . . . . . . . 7 2. a descent, occupying . . . . . . . 2 3. a great plain, called _reobarles_, in a much warmer climate, abounding in francolin partridge, and in dates and tropical fruit, with a ruined city of former note, called _camadi_, near the head of the plain, which extends for . . . . . . . . 5 4. a second very bad pass, descending for 20 miles, say 1 5. a well-watered fruitful plain, which is crossed to _hormuz_, on the shores of the gulf . . . . 2 - total 17 no european traveller, so far as i know, has described the most direct road from kermán to hormuz, or rather to its nearest modern representative bander abbási,--i mean the road by báft. but a line to the eastward of this, and leading through the plain of jiruft, was followed partially by mr. abbott in 1850, and completely by major r. m. smith, r.e., in 1866. the details of this route, except in one particular, correspond closely in essentials with those given by our author, and form an excellent basis of illustration for polo's description. major smith (accompanied at first by colonel goldsmid, who diverged to mekran) left kermán on the 15th of january, and reached bander abbási on the 3rd of february, but, as three halts have to be deducted, his total number of marches was exactly the same as marco's, viz. 17. they divide as follows:- marches 1. from kermán to the caravanserai of deh bakri in the pass so called. "the ground as i ascended became covered with snow, and the weather bitterly cold" (_report_) . . . . . . . . . 6 2. two miles _over very deep snow_ brought him to the top of the pass; he then descended 14 miles to his halt. two miles to the south of the crest he passed a second caravanserai: "the two are evidently built so near one another to afford shelter to travellers who may be unable to cross the ridge during heavy snow-storms." the next march continued the descent for 14 miles, and then carried him 10 miles along the banks of the rudkhanah-i-shor. the approximate height of the pass above the sea is estimated at 8000 feet. we have thus for the descent the greater part of . . . . 2 3. "clumps of date-palms growing near the village showed that i had now reached a totally different climate." (_smith's report_.) and mr. abbott says of the same region: "partly wooded ... and with thickets of reeds abounding with francolin and _jirufti_ partridge.... the lands yield grain, millet, pulse, frenchand horse-beans, rice, cotton, henna, palma christi, and dates, and in part are of great fertility.... rainy season from january to march, after which a luxuriant crop of grass." across this plain (districts of jiruft and rudbar), the height of which above the sea, is something under 2000 feet . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4. 6-1/2 hours, "nearly the whole way over a most difficult mountain-pass," called the pass of nevergun . . . 1 5. two long marches over a plain, part of which is described as "continuous cultivation for some 16 miles," and the rest as a "most uninteresting plain" . . . . . 2 - total as before . . . . 17 in the previous edition of this work i was inclined to identify marco's route _absolutely_ with this itinerary. but a communication from major st. john, who surveyed the section from kermán towards deh bakri in 1872, shows that this first section does not answer well to the description. the road is not all plain, for it crosses a mountain pass, though not a formidable one. neither is it through a thriving, populous tract, for, with the exception of two large villages, major st. john found the whole road to deh bakri from kermán as desert and dreary as any in persia. on the other hand, the more direct route to the south, which is that always used except in seasons of extraordinary severity (such as that of major smith's journey, when this route was impassable from snow), answers better, as described to major st. john by muleteers, to polo's account. the first _six days_ are occupied by a gentle ascent through the districts of bardesir and kairat-ul-arab, which are the best-watered and most fertile uplands of kermán. from the crest of the pass reached in those six marches (which is probably more than 10,000 feet above the sea, for it was closed by snow on 1st may, 1872), an easy descent of _two days_ leads to the garmsir. this is traversed in four days, and then a very difficult pass is crossed to reach the plains bordering on the sea. the cold of this route is much greater than that of the deh bakri route. hence the correspondence with polo's description, as far as the descent to the garmsir, or reobarles, seems decidedly better by this route. it is admitted to be quite possible that on reaching this plain the two routes coalesced. we shall assume this provisionally, till some traveller gives us a detailed account of the bardesir route. meantime all the remaining particulars answer well. [general houtum-schindler (l.c. pp. 493-495), speaking of the itinerary from kermán to hormúz and back, says: "only two of the many routes between kermán and bender 'abbás coincide more or less with marco polo's description. these two routes are the one over the deh bekrí pass [see above, colonel smith], and the one viâ sárdú. the latter is the one, i think, taken by marco polo. the more direct roads to the west are for the greater part through mountainous country, and have not twelve stages in plains which we find enumerated in marco polo's itinerary. the road viâ báft, urzú, and the zendán pass, for instance, has only four stages in plains; the road, viâ ráhbur, rúdbár and the nevergún pass only six; and the road viâ sírján also only six." marches. the sárdú route, which seems to me to be the one followed by marco polo, has five stages through fertile and populous plains to sarvízan . . . . . 5 one day's march ascends to the top of the sarvízan pass 1 two days' descent to ráhjird, a village close to the ruins of old jíruft, now called shehr-i-daqíánús . . 2 six days' march over the "vast plain" of jírúft and rúdbár to faríáb, joining the deh bekrí route at kerímábád, one stage south of the shehr-i-daqíánús . . . . 6 one day's march through the nevergún pass to shamíl, descending . . . . . . . . . 1 two days' march through the plain to bender 'abbás or hormúz . . . . . . . . . . 2 - in all . . . . . . 17 the sárdú road enters the jíruft plain at the ruins of the old city, the deh bekrí route does so at some distance to the eastward. the first six stages performed by marco polo in seven days go through fertile plains and past numerous villages. regarding the cold, "which you can scarcely abide," marco polo does not speak of it as existing on the mountains only; he says, "from the city of kermán to this descent the cold in winter is very great," that is, from kermán to near jíruft. the winter at kermán itself is fairly severe; from the town the ground gradually but steadily rises, the absolute altitudes of the passes crossing the mountains to the south varying from 8000 to 11,000 feet. these passes are up to the month of march always very cold; in one it froze slightly in the beginning of june. the sárdú pass lies lower than the others. the name is sárdú, not sardú from sard, "cold." major sykes (_persia_, ch. xxiii.) comes to the same conclusion: "in 1895, and again in 1900, i made a tour partly with the object of solving this problem, and of giving a geographical existence to sárdu, which appropriately means the 'cold country.' i found that there was a route which exactly fitted marco's conditions, as at sarbizan the sárdu plateau terminates in a high pass of 9200 feet, from which there is a most abrupt descent to the plain of jíruft, komádin being about 35 miles, or two days' journey from the top of the pass. starting from kermán, the stages would be as follows:--i. jupár (small town); 2. bahrámjird (large village); 3. gudar (village); 4. ráin (small town).... thence to the sarbizan pass is a distance of 45 miles, or three desert stages, thus constituting a total of 110 miles for the seven days. this is the camel route to the present day, and absolutely fits in with the description given.... the question to be decided by this section of the journey may then, i think, be considered to be finally and most satisfactorily settled, the route proving to lie between the two selected by colonel yule, as being the most suitable, although he wisely left the question open."--h. c.] in the abstract of major smith's itinerary as we have given it, we do not find polo's city of _camadi_. major smith writes to me, however, that this is probably to be sought in "the ruined city, the traces of which i observed in the plain of jíruft near kerimabad. the name of the city is now apparently lost." it is, however, known to the natives as the _city of dakiánús_, as mr. abbott, who visited the site, informs us. this is a name analogous only to the arthur's ovens or merlin's caves of our own country, for all over mahomedan asia there are old sites to which legend attaches the name of _dakianus_ or the emperor decius, the persecuting tyrant of the seven sleepers. "the spot," says abbott, "is an elevated part of the plain on the right bank of the hali rúd, and is thickly strewn with kiln-baked bricks, and shreds of pottery and glass.... after heavy rain the peasantry search amongst the ruins for ornaments of stone, and rings and coins of gold, silver, and copper. the popular tradition concerning the city is that it was destroyed by a flood long before the birth of mahomed." [general houtum-schindler, in a paper in the _jour. r. as. soc._, jan. 1898, p. 43, gives an abstract of dr. houtsma's (of utrecht) memoir, _zur geschichte der saljuqen von kerman_, and comes to the conclusion that "from these statements we can safely identify marco polo's camadi with the suburb qumadin, or, as i would read it, qamadin, of the city of jiruft."-(cf. _major sykes' persia_, chap. xxiii.: "camadi was sacked for the first time, after the death of toghrul shah of kermán, when his four sons reduced the province to a condition of anarchy.") major p. molesworth sykes, _recent journeys in persia_ (_geog. journal_, x. 1897, p. 589), says: "upon arrival in rudbar, we turned north wards and left the farman farma, in order to explore the site of marco polo's 'camadi.'... we came upon a huge area littered with yellow bricks eight inches square, while not even a broken wall is left to mark the site of what was formerly a great city, under the name of the sher-i-jiruft."--h. c.] the actual distance from bamm to the city of dakianus is, by abbott's journal, about 66 miles. the name of reobarles, which marco applies to the plain intermediate between the two descents, has given rise to many conjectures. marsden pointed to _rúdbár_, a name frequently applied in persia to a district on a river, or intersected by streams--a suggestion all the happier that he was not aware of the fact that there is a district of rudbar exactly in the required position. the last syllable still requires explanation. i ventured formerly to suggest that it was the arabic _lass_, or, as marco would certainly have written it, _les_, a robber. reobarles would then be rudbar-i-lass, "robber's river district." the appropriateness of the name marco has amply illustrated; and it appeared to me to survive in that of one of the rivers of the plain, which is mentioned by both abbott and smith under the title of _rúdkhánah-i-duzdi_, or robbery river, a name also applied to a village and old fort on the banks of the stream. this etymology was, however, condemned as an inadmissible combination of persian and arabic by two very high authorities both as travellers and scholars--sir h. rawlinson and mr. khanikoff. the _les_, therefore, has still to be explained.[1] [major sykes (_geog. journal_, 1902, p. 130) heard of robbers, some five miles from mináb, and he adds: "however, nothing happened, and after crossing the gardan-i-pichal, we camped at birinti, which is situated just above the junction of rudkhána duzdi, or 'river of theft,' and forms part of the district of rudán, in fars." "the jíruft and rúdbár plains belong to the germsír (hot region), dates, pistachios, and konars (apples of paradise) abound in them. reobarles is rúdbár or rüdbáris." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. 1881, p. 495.)--h. c.] we have referred to marco's expressions regarding the great cold experienced on the pass which formed the first descent; and it is worthy of note that the title of "the cold mountains" is applied by edrisi to these very mountains. mr. abbott's ms. report also mentions in this direction, _sardu_, said to be a cold country (as its name seems to express [see above,--h. c.]), which its population (iliyáts) abandon in winter for the lower plains. it is but recently that the importance of this range of mountains has become known to us. indeed the _existence_ of the chain, as extending continuously from near kashán, was first indicated by khanikoff in 1862. more recently major st. john has shown the magnitude of this range, which rises into summits of 15,000 feet in altitude, and after a course of 550 miles terminates in a group of volcanic hills some 50 miles s.e. of bamm. yet practically this chain is ignored on all our maps! marco's description of the "plain of formosa" does not apply, now at least, to the _whole_ plain, for towards bander abbási it is barren. but to the eastward, about minao, and therefore about old hormuz, it has not fallen off. colonel pelly writes: "the district of minao is still for those regions singularly fertile. pomegranates, oranges, pistachio-nuts, and various other fruits grow in profusion. the source of its fertility is of course the river, and you can walk for miles among lanes and cultivated ground, partially sheltered from the sun." and lieutenant kempthorne, in his notes on that coast, says of the same tract: "it is termed by the natives the paradise of persia. it is certainly most beautifully fertile, and abounds in orange-groves, and orchards containing apples, pears, peaches, and apricots; with vineyards producing a delicious grape, from which was at one time made a wine called _amber-rosolli_"--a name not easy to explain. _'ambar-i-rasúl_, "the prophet's bouquet!" would be too bold a name even for persia, though names more sacred are so profaned at naples and on the moselle. sir h. rawlinson suggests _'ambar-'asali_, "honey bouquet," as possible. when nearchus beached his fleet on the shore of _harmozeia_ at the mouth of the _anamis_ (the river of minao), arrian tells us he found the country a kindly one, and very fruitful in every way except that there were no olives. the weary mariners landed and enjoyed this pleasant rest from their toils. (_indica_, 33; _j. r. g. s._ v. 274.) [illustration: marco polo's itineraries no. ii. kerman to hormuz (bk i. ch. 19)] the name formosa is probably only rusticiano's misunderstanding of _harmuza_, aided, perhaps, by polo's picture of the beauty of the plain. we have the same change in the old _mafomet_ for mahomet, and the converse one in the spanish _hermosa_ for _formosa_. teixeira's chronicle says that the city of hormuz was founded by xa mahamed dranku, i.e. shah mahomed dirhem-ko, in "a plain of the same name." the statement in ramusio that hormuz stood upon an island, is, i doubt not, an interpolation by himself or some earlier transcriber. when the ships of nearchus launched again from the mouth of the anamis, their first day's run carried them past a certain desert and bushy island to another which was large and inhabited. the desert isle was called _organa_; the large one by which they anchored _oaracta_. (_indica_, 37.) neither name is quite lost; the latter greater island is kishm or _brakht_; the former _jerún_,[2] perhaps in old persian _gerún_ or _gerán_, now again desert though no longer bushy, after having been for three centuries the site of a city which became a poetic type of wealth and splendour. an eastern saying ran, "were the world a ring, hormuz would be the jewel in it." ["the _yüan shi_ mentions several seaports of the indian ocean as carrying on trade with china; hormuz is not spoken of there. i may, however, quote from the yüan history a curious statement which perhaps refers to this port. in ch. cxxiii., biography of arsz-lan, it is recorded that his grandson hurdutai, by order of kubilai khan, accompanied _bu-lo no-yen_ on his mission to the country of _ha-rh-ma-sz_. this latter name may be intended for hormuz. i do not think that by the noyen _bulo_, m. polo could be meant, for the title noyen would hardly have been applied to him. but rashid-eddin mentions a distinguished mongol, by name _pulad_, with whom he was acquainted in persia, and who furnished him with much information regarding the history of the mongols. this may be the _bu-lo no-yen_ of the yüan history." (bretschneider, _med. res._ ii. p. 132.)--h. c.] note 2.--a spirit is still distilled from dates in persia, mekran, sind, and some places in the west of india. it is mentioned by strabo and dioscorides, according to kämpfer, who says it was in his time made under the name of a medicinal stomachic; the rich added _radix chinae_, ambergris, and aromatic spices; the poor, liquorice and persian absinth. (_sir b. frere_; _amoen. exot._ 750; _macd. kinneir_, 220.) ["the _date_ wine with spices is not now made at bender 'abbás. date arrack, however, is occasionally found. at kermán a sort of wine or arrack is made with spices and alcohol, distilled from sugar; it is called má-ul-háyát (water of life), and is recommended as an aphrodisiac. grain in the shamíl plain is harvested in april, dates are gathered in august." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. p. 496.) see "remarks on the use of wine and distilled liquors among the mohammedans of turkey and persia," pp. 315-330 of _narrative of a tour through armenia, kurdistan, persia, and mesopotamia_.... by the rev. horatio southgate,... london, 1840, vol. ii.--h. c.] [sir h. yule quotes, in a ms. note, these lines from moore's _light of the harem_: "wine, too, of every clime and hue, around their liquid lustre threw _amber rosolli_[3]--the bright dew from vineyards of the green sea gushing."] see above, p. 114. [illustration: the double or latin rudder, as shown in the navicella of giotto. (from eastlake.)] the date and dry-fish diet of the gulf people is noticed by most travellers, and p. del a valle repeats the opinion about its being the only wholesome one. ibn batuta says the people of hormuz had a saying, "_khormá wa máhí lút-i-pádshahi_," i.e. "dates and fish make an emperor's dish!" a fish, exactly like the tunny of the mediterranean in general appearance and habits, is one of the great objects of fishery off the sind and mekran coasts. it comes in pursuit of shoals of anchovies, very much like the mediterranean fish also. (_i. b._ ii. 231; _sir b. frere_.) [friar odoric (_cathay_, i. pp. 55-56) says: "and there you find (before arriving at hormuz) people who live almost entirely on dates, and you get forty-two pounds of dates for less than a groat; and so of many other things."] note 3.--the stitched vessels of kermán ([greek: ploiária raptà]) are noticed in the _periplus_. similar accounts to those of our text are given of the ships of the gulf and of western india by jordanus and john of montecorvino. (_jord._ p. 53; _cathay_, p. 217.) "stitched vessels," sir b. frere writes, "are still used. i have seen them of 200 tons burden; but they are being driven out by iron-fastened vessels, as iron gets cheaper, except where (as on the malabar and coromandel coasts) the pliancy of a stitched boat is useful in a surf. till the last few years, when steamers have begun to take all the best horses, the arab horses bound to bombay almost all came in the way marco polo describes." some of them do still, standing over a date cargo, and the result of this combination gives rise to an extraordinary traffic in the bombay bazaar. from what colonel pelly tells me, the stitched build in the gulf is _now_ confined to fishing-boats, and is disused for sea-going craft. [friar odoric (_cathay_, i. p. 57) mentioned these vessels: "in this country men make use of a kind of vessel which they call _jase_, which is fastened only with stitching of twine. on one of these vessels i embarked, and i could find no iron at all therein." _jase_ is for the arabic _djehaz_.--h. c.] the fish-oil used to rub the ships was whale-oil. the old arab voyagers of the 9th century describe the fishermen of siraf in the gulf as cutting up the whale-blubber and drawing the oil from it, which was mixed with other stuff, and used to rub the joints of ships' planking. (_reinaud_, i. 146.) both montecorvino and polo, in this passage, specify _one rudder_, as if it was a peculiarity of these ships worth noting. the fact is that, in the mediterranean at least, the double rudders of the ancients kept their place to a great extent through the middle ages. a marseilles ms. of the 13th century, quoted in ducange, says: "a ship requires three rudders, two in place, and one to spare." another: "every two-ruddered bark shall pay a groat each voyage; every one-ruddered bark shall," etc. (see due. under _timonus_ and _temo_.) numerous proofs of the use of two rudders in the 13th century will be found in "_documenti inediti riguardanti le due crociate di s. ludovico ix., re di francia_, etc., da _l. t. belgrano_, genova, 1859." thus in a specification of ships to be built at genoa for the king (p. 7), each is to have "_timones duo_, affaiticos, grossitudinis palmorum viiii et dimidiae, longitudinis cubitorum xxiiii." extracts given by capmany, regarding the equipment of galleys, show the same thing, for he is probably mistaken in saying that one of the _dos timones_ specified was a spare one. joinville (p. 205) gives incidental evidence of the same: "those marseilles ships have each two rudders, with each a tiller (? _tison_) attached to it in such an ingenious way that you can turn the ship right or left as fast as you would turn a horse. so on the friday the king was sitting upon one of these tillers, when he called me and said to me," etc.[4] francesco da barberino, a poet of the 13th century, in the 7th part of his _documenti d'amore_ (printed at rome in 1640), which instructs the lover to whose lot it may fall to escort his lady on a sea-voyage (instructions carried so far as to provide even for the case of her death at sea!), alludes more than once to these plural rudders. thus- "---se vedessi avenire che vento ti rompesse _timoni_ ... in luogo di timoni fa spere[5] e in aqua poni." (p. 272-273.) [illustration: illustrations of the double rudder of the middle ages 12th century illumination (after pertz) seal of winchelsea. 12th century illumination (after pertz) from leaning tower (after jal) after spinello aretini at siena from monument of st peter martyr] and again, when about to enter a port, it is needful to be on the alert and ready to run in case of a hostile reception, so the galley should enter stern foremost--a movement which he reminds his lover involves the reversal of the ordinary use of the two rudders:- "_l' un timon leva suso l' altro leggier tien giuso_, ma convien levar mano non mica com soleàno, ma per contraro, e face cosi 'l guidar verace." (p. 275.) a representation of a vessel over the door of the leaning tower at pisa shows this arrangement, which is also discernible in the frescoes of galley-fights by spinello aretini, in the municipal palace at siena. [godinho de eredia (1613), describing the smaller vessels of malacca which he calls _bâlos_ in ch. 13, _de embarcaçôes_, says: "at the poop they have two rudders, one on each side to steer with." e por poupa dos bâllos, tem 2 lêmes, hum en cada lado pera o governo. (_malacca, l'inde mérid. et le cathay_, bruxelles, 1882, 4to, f. 26.)--h. c.] the midship rudder seems to have been the more usual in the western seas, and the double quarter-rudders in the mediterranean. the former are sometimes styled _navarresques_ and the latter _latins_. yet early seals of some of the cinque ports show vessels with the double rudder; one of which (that of winchelsea) is given in the cut. in the mediterranean the latter was still in occasional use late in the 16th century. captain pantero pantera in his book, _l'armata navale_ (rome, 1614, p. 44), says that the galeasses, or great galleys, had the helm _alla navarresca_, but also a great oar on each side of it to assist in turning the ship. and i observe that the great galeasses which precede the christian line of battle at lepanto, in one of the frescoes by vasari in the royal hall leading to the sistine chapel, have the quarter-rudder very distinctly. the chinese appear occasionally to employ it, as seems to be indicated in a woodcut of a vessel of war which i have traced from a chinese book in the national library at paris. (see above, p. 37.) [for the chinese words for _rudder_, see p. 126 of j. edkins' article on _chinese names for boats and boat gear, jour. n. china br. r. as. soc._ n.s. xi. 1876.--h. c.] it is also used by certain craft of the indian archipelago, as appears from mr. wallace's description of the prau in which he sailed from macassar to the aru islands. and on the caspian, it is stated in smith's "dict. of antiquities" (art. _gubernaculum_), the practice remained in force till late times. a modern traveller was nearly wrecked on that sea, because the two rudders were in the hands of two pilots who spoke different languages, and did not understand each other! (besides the works quoted see _jal, archéologie navale_, ii. 437-438, and _capmany, memorias_, iii. 61.) [major sykes remarks (_persia_, ch. xxiii.): "some unrecorded event, probably the sight of the unseaworthy craft, which had not an ounce of iron in their composition, made our travellers decide that the risks of the sea were too great, so that we have the pleasure of accompanying them back to kermán and thence northwards to khorasán."--h. c.] note 4.--so also at bander abbási tavernier says it was so unhealthy that foreigners could not stop there beyond march; everybody left it in april. not a hundredth part of the population, says kämpfer, remained in the city. not a beggar would stop for any reward! the rich went to the towns of the interior or to the cool recesses of the mountains, the poor took refuge in the palm-groves at the distance of a day or two from the city. a place called 'ishin, some 12 miles north of the city, was a favourite resort of the european and hindu merchants. here were fine gardens, spacious baths, and a rivulet of fresh and limpid water. the custom of lying in water is mentioned also by sir john maundevile, and it was adopted by the portuguese when they occupied insular hormuz, as p. della valle and linschoten relate. the custom is still common during great heats, in sind and mekran (sir b. f.). an anonymous ancient geography (_liber junioris philosophi_) speaks of a people in india who live in the terrestrial paradise, and lead the life of the golden age.... the sun is so hot _that they remain all day in the river!_ the heat in the straits of hormuz drove abdurrazzak into an anticipation of a verse familiar to english schoolboys: "even the bird of rapid flight was burnt up in the heights of heaven, as well as the fish in the depths of the sea!" (_tavern._ bk. v. ch. xxiii.; _am. exot._ 716, 762; _müller, geog. gr. min._ ii. 514; _india in xv. cent._ p. 49.) note 5.--a like description of the effect of the _simúm_ on the human body is given by ibn batuta, chardin, a. hamilton, tavernier, thévenot, etc.; and the first of these travellers speaks specially of its prevalence in the desert near hormuz, and of the many graves of its victims; but i have met with no reasonable account of its poisonous action. i will quote chardin, already quoted at greater length by marsden, as the most complete parallel to the text: "the most surprising effect of the wind is not the mere fact of its causing death, but its operation on the bodies of those who are killed by it. it seems as if they became decomposed without losing shape, so that you would think them to be merely asleep, when they are not merely dead, but in such a state that if you take hold of any part of the body it comes away in your hand. and the finger penetrates such a body as if it were so much dust." (iii. 286.) burton, on his journey to medina, says: "the people assured me that this wind never killed a man in their allah-favoured land. i doubt the fact. at bir abbas the body of an arnaut was brought in swollen, and decomposed rapidly, the true diagnosis of death by the poison-wind." khanikoff is very distinct as to the immediate fatality of the desert wind at khabis, near kermán, but does not speak of the effect on the body after death. this major st. john does, describing a case that occurred in june, 1871, when he was halting, during intense heat, at the post-house of pasangan, a few miles south of kom. the bodies were brought in of two poor men, who had tried to start some hours before sunset, and were struck down by the poisonous blast within half-a-mile of the post-house. "it was found impossible to wash them before burial.... directly the limbs were touched they separated from the trunk." (_oc. highways, ut. sup._) about 1790, when timúr sháh of kabul sent an army under the sirdár-i-sirdárán to put down a revolt in meshed, this force on its return was struck by simúm in the plain of farrah, and the sirdár perished, with a great number of his men. (_ferrier, h. of the afghans_, 102; _j. r. g. s._ xxvi. 217; _khan. mém._ 210.) note 6.--the history of hormuz is very imperfectly known. what i have met with on the subject consists of--(1) an abstract by teixeira of a chronicle of hormuz, written by thurán sháh, who was himself sovereign of hormuz, and died in 1377; (2) some contemporary notices by wassáf, which are extracted by hammer in his history of the ilkhans; (3) some notices from persian sources in the 2nd decade of de barros (ch. ii.). the last do not go further back than gordun sháh, the father of thurán sháh, to whom they erroneously ascribe the first migration to the island. one of teixeira's princes is called _ruknuddin mahmud_, and with him marsden and pauthier have identified polo's ruomedam acomet, or as he is called on another occasion in the geog. text, _maimodi acomet_. this, however, is out of the question, for the death of ruknuddin is assigned to a.h. 675 (a.d. 1277), whilst there can, i think, be no doubt that marco's account refers to the period of his return from china, viz. 1293 or thereabouts. we find in teixeira that the ruler who succeeded in 1290 was _amir masa'úd_, who obtained the government by the murder of his brother saifuddin nazrat. masa'úd was cruel and oppressive; most of the influential people withdrew to baháuddin ayaz, whom saifuddin had made wazir of kalhát on the arabian coast. this wazir assembled a force and drove out masa'úd after he had reigned three years. he fled to kermán and died there some years afterwards. baháuddin, who had originally been a slave of saifuddin nazrat's, succeeded in establishing his authority. but about 1300 great bodies of turks (i.e. tartars) issuing from turkestan ravaged many provinces of persia, including kermán and hormuz. the people, unable to bear the frequency of such visitations, retired first to the island of kishm, and then to that of jerún, on which last was built the city of new hormuz, afterwards so famous. this is teixeira's account from thurán sháh, so far as we are concerned with it. as regards the transfer of the city it agrees substantially with abulfeda's, which we have already quoted (supra, note 1). hammer's account from wassáf is frightfully confused, chiefly i should suppose from hammer's own fault; for among other things he assumes that hormuz was always on an island, and he distinguishes between the island of hormuz and the island of jerún! we gather, however, that hormuz before the mongol time formed a government subordinate to the salghur atabegs of fars (see note 1, ch. xv.), and when the power of that dynasty was falling, the governor mahmúd kalháti, established himself as prince of hormuz, and became the founder of a petty dynasty, being evidently identical with teixeira's ruknuddin mahmud above-named, who is represented as reigning from 1246 to 1277. in wassáf we find, as in teixeira, mahmúd's son masa'úd killing his brother nazrat, and baháuddin expelling masa'úd. it is true that hammer's surprising muddle makes nazrat kill masa'úd; however, as a few lines lower we find masa'úd alive and nazrat dead, we may safely venture on this correction. but we find also that masa'úd appears as _ruknuddin_ masa'úd, and that baháuddin does not assume the princely authority himself, but proclaims that of _fakhruddin ahmed_ ben ibrahim at-thaibi, a personage who does not appear in teixeira at all. a ms. history, quoted by ouseley, _does_ mention fakhruddin, and ascribes to him the transfer to jerún. wassáf seems to allude to baháuddin as a sort of sea rover, occupying the islands of larek and jerún, whilst fakhruddin reigned at hormuz. it is difficult to understand the relation between the two. it is _possible_ that polo's memory made some confusion between the names of ruknuddin masa'úd and fakhruddin ahmed, but i incline to think the latter is his ruomedan ahmed. for teixeira tells us that masa'úd took refuge at the court of kermán, and wassáf represents him as supported in his claims by the atabeg of that province, whilst we see that polo seems to represent ruomedan acomat as in hostility with that prince. to add to the imbroglio i find in a passage of wassáf malik fakhruddin ahmed at-thaibi sent by ghazan khan in 1297 as ambassador to khanbalig, staying there some years, and dying off the coromandel coast on his return in 1305. (elliot, iii. pp. 45-47.) masa'úd's seeking help from kermán to reinstate him is not the first case of the same kind that occurs in teixeira's chronicle, so there may have been some kind of colour for marco's representation of the prince of hormuz as the vassal of the atabeg of kermán ("_l'homme de cest roy de creman_;" see _prologue_, ch. xiv. note 2). m. khanikoff denies the _possibility_ of the existence of any _royal dynasty_ at hormuz at this period. that there _was_ a dynasty of _maliks_ of hormuz, however, at this period we must believe on the concurring testimony of marco, of wassáf, and of thurán sháh. there was also, it would seem, another _quasi_-independent principality in the island of kais. (_hammer's ilch._ ii. 50, 51; _teixeira, relacion de los reyes de hormuz; khan. notice_, p. 34.) the ravages of the tartars which drove the people of hormuz from their city may have begun with the incursions of the nigudaris and karaunahs, but they probably came to a climax in the great raid in 1299 of the chaghataian prince kotlogh shah, son of dua khan, a part of whose bands besieged the city itself, though they are said to have been repulsed by baháuddin ayas. [the dynasty of hormuz was founded about 1060 by a yemen chief mohammed dirhem ko, and remained subject to kermán till 1249, when rokn ed-din mahmúd iii. kalháti (1242-1277) made himself independent. the immediate successors of rokn ed-din were saif ed-din nazrat (1277-1290), masa'úd (1290-1293), bahad ed-din ayaz sayfin (1293-1311). hormuz was captured by the portuguese in 1510 and by the persians in 1622.--h. c.] note 7.--the indications of this alternative route to kermán are very vague, but it may probably have been that through finn, tárum, and the sírján district, passing out of the plain of hormuz by the eastern flank of the ginao mountain. this road would pass near the hot springs at the base of the said mountain, sarga, khurkhu, and ginao, which are described by kämpfer. being more or less sulphureous they are likely to be useful in skin-diseases: indeed, hamilton speaks of their efficacy in these. (i. 95.) the salt-streams are numerous on this line, and dates are abundant. the bitterness of the bread was, however, more probably due to another cause, as major smith has kindly pointed out to me: "throughout the mountains in the south of persia, which are generally covered with dwarf oak, the people are in the habit of making bread of the acorns, or of the acorns mixed with wheat or barley. it is dark in colour, and very hard, bitter, and unpalatable." major st. john also noticed the bitterness of the bread in kermán, but his servants attributed it to the presence in the wheat-fields of a bitter leguminous plant, with a yellowish white flower, which the kermánis were too lazy to separate, so that much remained in the thrashing, and imparted its bitter flavour to the grain (surely the _tare_ of our lord's parable!). [general houtum-schindler says (l.c. p. 496): "marco polo's return journey was, i am inclined to think, viâ urzú and báft, the shortest and most direct road. the road viâ tárum and sírján is very seldom taken by travellers intending to go to kermán; it is only frequented by the caravans going between bender 'abbás and bahrámábád, three stages west of kermán. hot springs, 'curing itch,' i noticed at two places on the urzú-báft road. there were some near qal'ah asgber and others near dashtáb; they were frequented by people suffering from skin-diseases, and were highly sulphureous; the water of those near dashtáb turned a silver ring black after two hours' immersion. another reason of my advocating the urzú road is that the bitter bread spoken of by marco polo is only found on it, viz. at báft and in bardshír. in sírján, to the west, and on the roads to the east, the bread is sweet. the bitter taste is from the khúr, a bitter leguminous plant, which grows among the wheat, and whose grains the people are too lazy to pick out. there is not a single oak between bender 'abbás and kermán; none of the inhabitants seemed to know what an acorn was. a person at báft, who had once gone to kerbelá viâ kermánsháh and baghdád, recognised my sketch of tree and fruit immediately, having seen oak and acorn between kermánsháh and qasr-i-shírín on the baghdád road." major sykes writes (ch. xxiii.): "the above description undoubtedly refers to the main winter route, which runs viâ sírján. this is demonstrated by the fact that under the kuh-i-ginao, the summer station of bandar abbás, there is a magnificent sulphur spring, which, welling from an orifice 4 feet in diameter, forms a stream some 30 yards wide. its temperature at the source is 113 degrees, and its therapeutic properties are highly appreciated. as to the bitterness of the bread, it is suggested in the notes that it was caused by being mixed with acorns, but, to-day at any rate, there are no oak forests in this part of persia, and i would urge that it is better to accept our traveller's statement, that it was due to the bitterness of the water."--however, i prefer gen. houtum-schindler's theory.--h. c.] [1] it is but fair to say that scholars so eminent as professors sprenger and blochmann have considered the original suggestion lawful and probable. indeed, mr. blochmann says in a letter: "after studying a language for years, one acquires a natural feeling for anything un-idiomatic; but i must confess i see nothing un-persian in _rúdbár-i-duzd_, nor in _rúdbár-i-lass_.... how common _lass_ is, you may see from one fact, that it occurs in children's reading-books." we must not take _reobarles_ in marco's french as rhyming to (french) _charles_; every syllable sounds. it is remarkable that _las_, as the name of a small state near our sind frontier, is said to mean, "in the language of the country," _a level plain_. (_j. a. s. b._ viii. 195.) it is not clear what is meant by the language of the country. the chief is a brahui, the people are lumri or numri bilúchis, who are, according to tod, of jat descent. [2] sir henry rawlinson objects to this identification (which is the same that dr. karl müller adopts), saying that _organa_ is more probably "angan, formerly argan." to this i cannot assent. nearchus sails 300 stadia from the mouth of anamis to oaracta, and _on his way_ passes organa. taking 600 stadia to the degree (dr. müller's value), i make it just 300 stadia from the mouth of the hormuz creek to the eastern point of kishm. organa must have been either jerún or lárek; angan (_hanjám_ of mas'udi) is out of the question. and as a straight run must have passed quite close to jerún, not to larek, i find the former most probable. nearchus next day proceeds 200 stadia along oaracta, and anchors in sight of another island (neptune's) which was separated by 40 stadia from oaracta. _this_ was angan; no other island answers, and for this the distances answer with singular precision. [3] moore refers to _persian tales_. [4] this _tison_ can be seen in the cuts from the tomb of st. peter martyr and the seal of winchelsea. [5] _spere_, bundles of spars, etc., dragged overboard. chapter xx. of the wearisome and desert road that has now to be travelled. on departing from the city of kerman you find the road for seven days most wearisome; and i will tell you how this is.[note 1] the first three days you meet with no water, or next to none. and what little you do meet with is bitter green stuff, so salt that no one can drink it; and in fact if you drink a drop of it, it will set you purging ten times at least by the way. it is the same with the salt which is made from those streams; no one dares to make use of it, because of the excessive purging which it occasions. hence it is necessary to carry water for the people to last these three days; as for the cattle, they must needs drink of the bad water i have mentioned, as there is no help for it, and their great thirst makes them do so. but it scours them to such a degree that sometimes they die of it. in all those three days you meet with no human habitation; it is all desert, and the extremity of drought. even of wild beasts there are none, for there is nothing for them to eat.[note 2] after those three days of desert [you arrive at a stream of fresh water running underground, but along which there are holes broken in here and there, perhaps undermined by the stream, at which you can get sight of it. it has an abundant supply, and travellers, worn with the hardships of the desert, here rest and refresh themselves and their beasts.][note 3] you then enter another desert which extends for four days; it is very much like the former except that you do see some wild asses. and at the termination of these four days of desert the kingdom of kerman comes to an end, and you find another city which is called cobinan. note 1. ["the present road from kermán to kúbenán is to zerend about 50 miles, to the sár i benán 15 miles, thence to kúbenán 30 miles--total 95 miles. marco polo cannot have taken the direct road to kúbenán, as it took him seven days to reach it. as he speaks of waterless deserts, he probably took a circuitous route to the east of the mountains, viâ kúhpáyeh and the desert lying to the north of khabis." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. pp. 496-497.) (cf. _major sykes_, ch. xxiii.)--h. c.] note 2.--this description of the desert of kermán, says mr. khanikoff, "is very correct. as the only place in the desert of lút where water is found is the dirty, salt, bitter, and green water of the rivulet called _shor-rúd_ (the salt river), we can have no doubt of the direction of marco polo's route from kermán so far." nevertheless i do not agree with khanikoff that the route lay n.e. in the direction of ambar and kain, for a reason which will appear under the next chapter. i imagine the route to have been nearly due north from kermán, in the direction of tabbas or of tún. and even such a route would, according to khanikoff's own map, pass the shor-rúd, though at a higher point. i extract a few lines from that gentleman's narrative: "in proportion as we got deeper into the desert, the soil became more and more arid; at daybreak i could still discover a few withered plants of _caligonum_ and _salsola_, and not far from the same spot i saw a lark and another bird of a whitish colour, the last living things that we beheld in this dismal solitude.... the desert had now completely assumed the character of a land accursed, as the natives call it. not the smallest blade of grass, no indication of animal life vivified the prospect; no sound but such as came from our own caravan broke the dreary silence of the void." (_mém._ p. 176.) [major p. molesworth sykes (_geog. jour._ x. p. 578) writes: "at tun, i was on the northern edge of the great dash-i-lut (naked desert), which lay between us and kerman, and which had not been traversed, in this particular portion, since the illustrious marco polo crossed it, in the opposite direction, when travelling from kerman to 'tonocain' viâ cobinan." major sykes (_persia_, ch. iii.) seems to prove that geographers have, without sufficient grounds, divided the great desert of persia into two regions, that to the north being termed dasht-i-kavir, and that further south the dasht-i-lut--and that lut is the one name for the whole desert, dash-i-lut being almost a redundancy, and that _kavir_ (the arabic _kafr_) is applied to every saline swamp. "this great desert stretches from a few miles out of tehrán practically to the british frontier, a distance of about 700 miles."--h. c.] note 3.--i can have no doubt of the genuineness of this passage from ramusio. indeed some such passage is necessary; otherwise why distinguish between three days of desert and four days more of desert? the underground stream was probably a subterraneous canal (called _kanát_ or _kárez_), such as is common in persia; often conducted from a great distance. here it may have been a relic of abandoned cultivation. khanikoff, on the road between kermán and yezd, not far west of that which i suppose marco to be travelling, says: "at the fifteen inhabited spots marked upon the map, they have water which has been brought from a great distance, and at considerable cost, by means of subterranean galleries, to which you descend by large and deep wells. although the water flows at some depth, its course is tracked upon the surface by a line of more abundant vegetation." (ib. p. 200.) elphinstone says he has heard of such subterranean conduits 36 miles in length. (i. 398.) polybius speaks of them: "there is no sign of water on the surface; but there are many underground channels, and these supply tanks in the desert, that are known only to the initiated.... at the time when the persians got the upper hand in asia, they used to concede to such persons as brought spring-water to places previously destitute of irrigation, the usufruct for five generations. and taurus being rife with springs, they incurred all the expense and trouble that was needed to form these underground channels to great distances, insomuch that in these days even the people who make use of the water don't know where the channels begin, or whence the water comes." (x. 28.) chapter xxi. concerning the city of cobinan and the things that are made there. cobinan is a large town.[note 1] the people worship mahommet. there is much iron and steel and _ondanique_, and they make steel mirrors of great size and beauty. they also prepare both _tutia_ (a thing very good for the eyes) and _spodium_; and i will tell you the process. they have a vein of a certain earth which has the required quality, and this they put into a great flaming furnace, whilst over the furnace there is an iron grating. the smoke and moisture, expelled from the earth of which i speak, adhere to the iron grating, and thus form _tutia_, whilst the slag that is left after burning is the _spodium_.[note 2] note 1.--kuh-banán is mentioned by mokaddasi (a.d. 985) as one of the cities of bardesír, the most northerly of the five circles into which he divides kermán. (see _sprenger, postund reise-routen des orients_, p. 77.) it is the subject of an article in the geog. dictionary of yákút, though it has been there mistranscribed into _kubiyán_ and _kukiyán_. (see leipzig ed. 1869, iv. p. 316, and _barbier de meynard_, _dict. de la perse_, p. 498.) and it is also indicated by mr. abbott (_j. r. g. s._ xxv. 25) as the name of a district of kermán, lying some distance to the east of his route when somewhat less than half-way between yezd and kermán. it would thus, i apprehend, be on or near the route between kermán and tabbas; one which i believe has been traced by no modern traveller. we may be certain that there is now no place at kuh-banán deserving the title of _une cité grant_, nor is it easy to believe that there was in polo's time; he applies such terms too profusely. the meaning of the name is perhaps "hill of the terebinths, or wild pistachioes," "a tree which grows abundantly in the recesses of bleak, stony, and desert mountains, e.g. about shamákhi, about shiraz, and in the deserts of luristan and lar." (_kämpfer_, 409, 413.) ["it is strange that marco polo speaks of kúbenán only on his return journey from kermán; on the down journey he must have been told that kúbenán was in close proximity; it is even probable that he passed there, as persian travellers of those times, when going from kermán to yazd, and _vice versá_, always called at kúbenán." (_houtum-schindler_, l.c. p. 490.) in all histories this name is written kúbenán, not kúhbenán; the pronunciation to-day is kóbenán and kobenún.--h. c.] i had thought my identification of _cobinan_ original, but a communication from mr. abbott, and the opportunity which this procured me of seeing his ms. report already referred to, showed that he had anticipated me many years ago. the following is an extract: "_districts of kerman * * * kooh benan_. this is a hilly district abounding in fruits, such as grapes, peaches, pomegranates, _sinjid_ (sweet-willow), walnuts, melons. a great deal of madder and some asafoetida is produced there. _this is no doubt the country alluded to by marco polo, under the name of cobinam_, as producing iron, brass, and tutty, and which is still said to produce iron, copper, and tootea." there appear to be lead mines also in the district, as well as asbestos and sulphur. mr. abbott adds the names of nine villages, which he was not able to verify by comparison. these are púz, tarz, gújard, aspaj, kuh-i-gabr, dahnah, búghín, bassab, radk. the position of kuh banán is stated to lie between bahabád (a place also mentioned by yákút as producing _tutia_) and ráví, but this does not help us, and for approximate position we can only fall back on the note in mr. abbott's field-book, as published in the _j. r. g. s._, viz. that the _district_ lay in the mountains e.s.e. from a caravanserai 10 miles s.e. of gudran. to get the seven marches of polo's itinerary we must carry the _town_ of kuh banán as far north as this indication can possibly admit, for abbott made only five and a half marches from the spot where this observation was made to kermán. perhaps polo's route deviated for the sake of the fresh water. that a district, such as mr. abbott's report speaks of, should lie unnoticed, in a tract which our maps represent as part of the great desert, shows again how very defective our geography of persia still is. ["during the next stage to darband, we passed ruins that i believe to be those of marco polo's 'cobinan' as the modern kúhbenán does not at all fit in with the great traveller's description, and it is just as well to remember that in the east the caravan routes seldom change." (captain p. m. sykes, _geog. jour._ x. p. 580.--see _persia_, ch. xxiii.) kuh banán has been visited by mr. e. stack, of the indian civil service. (_six months in persia_, london, 1882, i. 230.)--h. c.] note 2.--_tutty_ (i.e. tutia) is in modern english an impure oxide of zinc, collected from the flues where brass is made; and this appears to be precisely what polo describes, unless it be that in his account the production of tutia from an ore of zinc is represented as the object and not an accident of the process. what he says reads almost like a condensed translation of galen's account of _pompholyx_ and _spodos_: "pompholyx is produced in copper-smelting as _cadmia_ is; and it is also produced from cadmia (carbonate of zinc) when put in the furnace, as is done (for instance) in cyprus. the master of the works there, having no copper ready for smelting, ordered some pompholyx to be prepared from cadmia in my presence. small pieces of cadmia were thrown into the fire in front of the copper-blast. the furnace top was covered, with no vent at the crown, and intercepted the soot of the roasted cadmia. this, when collected, constitutes _pompholyx_, whilst that which falls on the hearth is called _spodos_, a great deal of which is got in copper-smelting." pompholyx, he adds, is an ingredient in salves for eye discharges and pustules. (_galen, de simpl. medic._, p. ix. in latin ed., venice, 1576.) matthioli, after quoting this, says that pompholyx was commonly known in the laboratories by the arabic name of _tutia_. i see that pure oxide of zinc is stated to form in modern practice a valuable eye-ointment. teixeira speaks of tutia as found only in kermán, in a range of mountains twelve parasangs from the capital. the ore got here was kneaded with water, and set to bake in crucibles in a potter's kiln. when well baked, the crucibles were lifted and emptied, and the _tutia_ carried in boxes to hormuz for sale. this corresponds with a modern account in milburne, which says that the tutia imported to india from the gulf is made from an argillaceous ore of zinc, which is moulded into tubular cakes, and baked to a moderate hardness. the accurate garcia da horta is wrong for once in saying that the tutia of kermán is no mineral, but the ash of a certain tree called _goan_. (_matth. on dioscorides_, ven. 1565, pp. 1338-40; _teixeira, relacion de persia_, p. 121; _milburne's or. commerce_, i. 139; _garcia_, f. 21 v.; _eng. cyc._, art. _zinc_.) [general a. houtum-schindler (_jour. r. as. soc._ n.s. xiii. october, 1881, p. 497) says: "the name tútíá for collyrium is now not used in kermán. tútíá, when the name stands alone, is sulphate of copper, which in other parts of persia is known as kát-i-kebúd; tútíá-i-sabz (green tútíá) is sulphate of iron, also called záj-i-síyah. a piece of tútíá-i-zard (yellow tútíá) shown to me was alum, generally called záj-i-safíd; and a piece of tútíá-í-safíd (white tútíá) seemed to be an argillaceous zinc ore. either of these may have been the earth mentioned by marco polo as being put into the furnace. the lampblack used as collyrium is always called surmah. this at kermán itself is the soot produced by the flame of wicks, steeped in castor oil or goat's fat, upon earthenware saucers. in the high mountainous districts of the province, kúbenán, páríz, and others, surmah is the soot of the gavan plant (garcia's goan). this plant, a species of astragalus, is on those mountains very fat and succulent; from it also exudes the tragacanth gum. the soot is used dry as an eye-powder, or, mixed with tallow, as an eye-salve. it is occasionally collected on iron gratings. "tútíá is the arabicised word dúdhá, persian for smokes. "the shems-ul-loghát calls tútíá a medicine for eyes, and a stone used for the fabrication of surmah. the tohfeh says tútíá is of three kinds--yellow and blue mineral tútíá, tútíá-i-qalam (collyrium) made from roots, and tútíá resulting from the process of smelting copper ore. 'the best tútíá-i-qalam comes from kermán.' it adds, 'some authors say surmah is sulphuret of antimony, others say it is a composition of iron'; i should say any _black_ composition used for the eyes is surmah, be it lampblack, antimony, iron, or a mixture of all. "teixeira's tútíá was an impure oxide of zinc, perhaps the above-mentioned tútíá-i-safíd, baked into cakes; it was probably the east india company's lapis tútíá, also called tutty. the company's tutenague and tutenage, occasionally confounded with tutty, was the so-called 'chinese copper,' an alloy of copper, zinc, and iron, brought from china." major sykes (ch. xxiii.) writes: "i translated marco's description of _tutia_ (which is also the modern persian name), to a khán of kubenán, and he assured me that the process was the same to-day; spodium he knew nothing about, but the sulphate of zinc is found in the hills to the east of kubenán." heyd (_com._ ii. p. 675) says in a note: "il résulte de l'ensemble de ce passage que les matières désignées par marco polo sous le nom de 'espodie' (spodium) étaient des scories métalliques; en général, le mot spodium désigne les résidus de la combustion des matières végétales ou des os (de l'ivoire)."--h. c.] chapter xxii. of a certain desert that continues for eight days' journey. when you depart from this city of cobinan, you find yourself again in a desert of surpassing aridity, which lasts for some eight days; here are neither fruits nor trees to be seen, and what water there is is bitter and bad, so that you have to carry both food and water. the cattle must needs drink the bad water, will they nill they, because of their great thirst. at the end of those eight days you arrive at a province which is called tonocain. it has a good many towns and villages, and forms the extremity of persia towards the north.[note 1] it also contains an immense plain on which is found the arbre sol, which we christians call the _arbre sec_; and i will tell you what it is like. it is a tall and thick tree, having the bark on one side green and the other white; and it produces a rough husk like that of a chestnut, but without anything in it. the wood is yellow like box, and very strong, and there are no other trees near it nor within a hundred miles of it, except on one side, where you find trees within about ten miles' distance. and there, the people of the country tell you, was fought the battle between alexander and king darius.[note 2] the towns and villages have great abundance of everything good, for the climate is extremely temperate, being neither very hot nor very cold. the natives all worship mahommet, and are a very fine-looking people, especially the women, who are surpassingly beautiful. note 1.--all that region has been described as "a country divided into deserts that are salt, and deserts that are not salt." (_vigne_, i. 16.) _tonocain_, as we have seen (ch. xv. note 1), is the eastern kuhistan of persia, but extended by polo, it would seem to include the whole of persian khorasan. no city in particular is indicated as visited by the traveller, but the view i take of the position of the _arbre sec_, as well as his route through kuh-banán, would lead me to suppose that he reached the province of tun-o-kain about tabbas. ["marco polo has been said to have traversed a portion of (the dash-i-kavir, great salt desert) on his supposed route from tabbas to damghan, about 1272; although it is more probable that he marched further to the east, and crossed the northern portion of the dash-i-lut, great sand desert, separating khorasan in the south-east from kermán, and occupying a sorrowful parallelogram between the towns of neh and tabbas on the north, and kermán and yezd on the south." (curzon, _persia_, ii. pp. 248 and 251.) lord curzon adds in a note (p. 248): "the tunogan of the text which was originally mistaken for damghan, is correctly explained by yule as tun-o(i.e. and) káin." major sykes writes (ch. xxiii.): "the section of the lut has not hitherto been rediscovered, but i know that it is desert throughout, and it is practically certain that marco ended these unpleasant experiences at tabas, 150 miles from kubenán. to-day the district is known as tun-o-tabas, káin being independent of it."--h. c.] note 2.--this is another subject on which a long and somewhat discursive note is inevitable. one of the bulletins of the soc. de géographie (sér. iii. tom. iii. p. 187) contains a perfectly inconclusive endeavour, by m. roux de rochelle, to identify the _arbre sec_ or _arbre sol_ with a manna-bearing oak alluded to by q. curtius as growing in hyrcania. there can be no doubt that the tree described is, as marsden points out, a _chínár_ or oriental plane. mr. ernst meyer, in his learned _geschichte der botanik_ (königsberg, 1854-57, iv. 123), objects that polo's description of the _wood_ does not answer to that tree. but, with due allowance, compare with his whole account that which olearius gives of the chinar, and say if the same tree be not meant. "the trees are as tall as the pine, and have very large leaves, closely resembling those of the vine. the fruit looks like a chestnut, but has no kernel, so it is not eatable. the wood is of a very brown colour, and full of veins; the persians employ it for doors and window-shutters, and when these are rubbed with oil they are incomparably handsomer than our walnut-wood joinery." (i. 526.) the chinar-wood is used in kashmir for gunstocks. the whole tenor of the passage seems to imply that some eminent _individual_ chinar is meant. the appellations given to it vary in the different texts. in the g. t. it is styled in this passage, "the _arbre seule_ which the christians call the _arbre sec_," whilst in ch. cci. of the same (infra, bk. iv. ch. v.) it is called "_l'arbre sol_, which in the book of alexander is called _l'arbre seche_" pauthier has here "_l'arbre solque_, que nous appelons _l'arbre sec_," and in the later passage "_l'arbre soul_, que le livre alexandre apelle _arbre sec_;" whilst ramusio has here "_l'albero del sole_ che si chiama per i cristiani _l'albor secco_," and does not contain the later passage. so also i think all the old latin and french printed texts, which are more or less based on pipino's version, have "the _tree of the sun_, which the latins call the _dry tree_." [g. capus says (_a travers le roy. de tamerlan_, p. 296) that he found at khodjakent, the remains of an enormous plane-tree or _chinar_, which measured no less than 48 metres (52 yards) in circumference at the base, and 9 metres diameter inside the rotten trunk; a dozen tourists from tashkent one day feasted inside, and were all at ease.--h. c.] pauthier, building as usual on the reading of his own text (_solque_), endeavours to show that this odd word represents _thoulk_, the arabic name of a tree to which forskal gave the title of _ficus vasta_, and this ficus vasta he will have to be the same as the chinar. _ficus vasta_ would be a strange name surely to give to a plane-tree, but forskal may be acquitted of such an eccentricity. the _tholak_ (for that seems to be the proper vocalisation) is a tree of arabia felix, very different from the chinar, for it is the well-known indian banyan, or a closely-allied species, as may be seen in forskal's description. the latter indeed says that the arab botanists called it _delb_, and that (or _dulb_) is really a synonym for the chinar. but de sacy has already commented upon this supposed application of the name delb to the _tholak_ as erroneous. (see _flora aegyptiaco-arabica_, pp. cxxiv. and 179; _abdallatif, rel. de l'egypte_, p. 80; _j. r. g. s._ viii. 275; _ritter_, vi. 662, 679.) the fact is that the _solque_ of m. pauthier's text is a mere copyist's error in the reduplication of the pronoun _que_. in his chief ms. which he cites as a (no. 10,260 of bibl. nationale, now _fr_. 5631) we can even see how this might easily happen, for one line ends with _solque_ and the next begins with _que_. the true reading is, i doubt not, that which this ms. points to, and which the g. text gives us in the second passage quoted above, viz. _arbre_ sol, occurring in ramusio as _albero del_ sole. to make this easier of acceptation i must premise two remarks: first, that _sol_ is "the sun" in both venetian and provençal; and, secondly, that in the french of that age the prepositional sign is not _necessary_ to the genitive. thus, in pauthier's own text we find in one of the passages quoted above, "_le livre alexandre_, i.e. liber alexandri;" elsewhere, "_cazan le fils argon_," "_à la mère sa femme_," "_le corps monseigneur saint thomas si est en ceste province_;" in joinville, "_le commandemant mahommet_" "_ceux de la_ haulequa _estoient logiez entour les héberges le soudanc, et establiz pour le cors le soudanc garder_;" in baudouin de sebourc, "_de l'amour bauduin esprise et enflambée_." moreover it is the tree of the sun that is prominent in the legendary history of alexander, a fact sufficient in itself to rule the reading. a character in an old english play says:- "_peregrine_. drake was a didapper to mandevill: candish and hawkins, frobisher, all our voyagers went short of mandevil. but had he reached to this place--here--yes, here--this wilderness, and seen the _trees of the sun and moon_, that speak and told king alexander of his death; he then had left a passage ope to travellers that now is kept and guarded by wild beasts." (_broome's antipodes_, in _lamb's specimens_.) the same trees are alluded to in an ancient low german poem in honour of st. anno of cologne. speaking of the four beasts of daniel's vision:- "the third beast was a libbard; four eagle's wings he had; this signified the grecian alexander, who with four hosts went forth to conquer lands even to the world's end, known by its golden pillars. in india he the wilderness broke through _with trees twain he there did speak_," etc. (in _schilteri thesaurus antiq. teuton._ tom. i.[1]) these oracular trees of the sun and moon, somewhere on the confines of india, appear in all the fabulous histories of alexander, from the pseudo-callisthenes downwards. thus alexander is made to tell the story in a letter to aristotle: "then came some of the towns-people and said, 'we have to show thee something passing strange, o king, and worth thy visiting; for we can show thee trees that talk with human speech.' so they led me to a certain park, in the midst of which were the sun and moon, and round about them a guard of priests of the sun and moon. and there stood the two trees of which they had spoken, like unto cypress trees; and round about them were trees like the myrobolans of egypt, and with similar fruit. and i addressed the two trees that were in the midst of the park, the one which was male in the masculine gender, and the one that was female in the feminine gender. and the name of the male tree was the sun, and of the female tree the moon, names which were in that language _muthu_ and _emausae_.[2] and the stems were clothed with the skins of animals; the male tree with the skins of he-beasts, and the female tree with the skins of she-beasts.... and at the setting of the sun, a voice, speaking in the indian tongue, came forth from the (sun) tree; and i ordered the indians who were with me to interpret it. but they were afraid and would not," etc. (_pseudo-callisth._ ed. müller, iii. 17.) the story as related by firdusi keeps very near to the greek as just quoted, but does not use the term "tree of the sun." the chapter of the sháh námeh containing it is entitled _dídan sikandar dirakht-i-goyárá_, "alexander's interview with the speaking tree." (_livre des rois_, v. 229.) in the _chanson d'alixandre_ of lambert le court and alex. de bernay, these trees are introduced as follows:- "'signor,' fait alixandre, 'je vus voel demander, se des merveilles d'inde me saves rien conter.' cil li ont respondu: 'se tu vius escouter ja te dirons merveilles, s'es poras esprover. la sus en ces desers pues ii arbres trover qui c pies ont de haut, et de grossor sunt per. li solaus et la lune les ont fait si serer que sevent tous langages et entendre et parler.'" (ed. 1861 (dinan), p. 357.) maundevile informs us precisely where these trees are: "a 15 journeys in lengthe, goynge be the deserts of the tother side of the ryvere beumare," if one could only tell where that is![3] a mediaeval chronicler also tells us that ogerus the dane (_temp. caroli magni_) conquered all the parts beyond sea from hierusalem to the trees of the sun. in the old italian romance also of _guerino detto il meschino_, still a chapbook in s. italy, the hero (ch. lxiii.) visits the trees of the sun and moon. but this is mere imitation of the alexandrian story, and has nothing of interest. (_maundevile_, pp. 297-298; _fasciculus temporum_ in _germ. script. pistorii nidani_, ii.) it will be observed that the letter ascribed to alexander describes the two oracular trees as resembling two cypress-trees. as such the trees of the sun and moon are represented on several extant ancient medals, e.g. on two struck at perga in pamphylia in the time of aurelian. and eastern story tells us of two vast cypress-trees, sacred among the magians, which grew in khorasan, one at kashmar near turshiz, and the other at farmad near tuz, and which were said to have risen from shoots that zoroaster brought from paradise. the former of these was sacrilegiously cut down by the order of the khalif motawakkil, in the 9th century. the trunk was despatched to baghdad on rollers at a vast expense, whilst the branches alone formed a load for 1300 camels. the night that the convoy reached within one stage of the palace, the khalif was cut in pieces by his own guards. this tree was said to be 1450 years old, and to measure 33-3/4 cubits in girth. the locality of _this_ "arbor sol" we see was in khorasan, and possibly its fame may have been transferred to a representative of another species. the plane, as well as the cypress, was one of the distinctive trees of the magian paradise. in the peutingerian tables we find in the n.e. of asia the rubric "_hic alexander responsum accepit_," which looks very like an allusion to the tale of the oracular trees. if so, it is remarkable as a suggestion of the antiquity of the alexandrian legends, though the rubric may of course be an interpolation. the trees of the sun and moon appear as located in india ultima to the east of persia, in a map which is found in mss. (12th century) of the _floridus of lambertus_; and they are indicated more or less precisely in several maps of the succeeding centuries. (_ouseley's travels_, i. 387; _dabistan_, i. 307-308; _santarem, h. de la cosmog._ ii. 189, iii. 506-513, etc.) nothing could show better how this legend had possessed men in the middle ages than the fact that vincent of beauvais discerns an allusion to these trees of the sun and moon in the blessing of moses on joseph (as it runs in the vulgate), "_de pomis fructuum solis ac lunae_." (deut. xxxiii. 14.) marco has mixt up this legend of the alexandrian romance, on the authority, as we shall see reason to believe, of some of the recompilers of that romance, with a famous subject of _christian_ legend in that age, the arbre sec or dry tree, one form of which is related by maundevile and by johan schiltberger. "a lytille fro ebron," says the former, "is the mount of mambre, of the whyche the valeye taketh his name. and there is a tree of oke that the saracens clepen _dirpe_, that is of abraham's tyme, the which men clepen the drye tree." [schiltberger adds that the heathen call it _kurru thereck_, i.e. (turkish) _kúrú dirakht_ = dry tree.] "and theye seye that it hathe ben there sithe the beginnynge of the world; and was sumtyme grene and bare leves, unto the tyme that oure lord dyede on the cros; and thanne it dryede; and so dyden alle the trees that weren thanne in the world. and summe seyn be hire prophecyes that a lord, a prynce of the west syde of the world, shalle wynnen the lond of promyssioun, i.e. the holy lond, withe helpe of cristene men, and he schalle do synge a masse under that drye tree, and than the tree shall wexen grene and bere both fruyt and leves. and thorghe that myracle manye sarazines and jewes schulle ben turned to cristene feithe. and, therefore, they dou gret worschipe thereto, and kepen it fulle besyly. and alle be it so that it be drye, natheless yit he berethe great vertue," etc. the tradition seems to have altered with circumstances, for a traveller of nearly two centuries later (friar anselmo, 1509) describes the oak of abraham at hebron as a tree of dense and verdant foliage: "the saracens make their devotions at it, and hold it in great veneration, for it has remained thus green from the days of abraham until now; and they tie scraps of cloth on its branches inscribed with some of their writing, and believe that if any one were to cut a piece off that tree he would die within the year." indeed even before maundevile's time friar burchard (1283) had noticed that though the famous old tree was dry, another had sprung from its roots. and it still has a representative. as long ago as the time of constantine a fair was held under the terebinth of mamre, which was the object of many superstitious rites and excesses. the emperor ordered these to be put a stop to, and a church to be erected at the spot. in the time of arculph (end of 7th century) the dry trunk still existed under the roof of this church; just as the immortal banyan-tree of prág exists to this day in a subterranean temple in the fort of allahabad. it is evident that the story of the dry tree had got a great vogue in the 13th century. in the _jus du pelerin_, a french drama of polo's age, the pilgrim says:- "s'ai puis en maint bon lieu et à maint saint esté, s'ai esté au _sec-arbre_ et dusc'à duresté." and in another play of slightly earlier date (_le jus de st. nicolas_), the king of africa, invaded by the christians, summons all his allies and feudatories, among whom appear the admirals of coine (_iconium_) and orkenie (_hyrcania_), and the _amiral d'outre l'arbre-sec_ (as it were of "the back of beyond") in whose country the only current coin is millstones! friar odoric tells us that he heard at tabriz that the _arbor secco_ existed in a mosque of that city; and clavijo relates a confused story about it in the same locality. of the _dürre baum_ at tauris there is also a somewhat pointless legend in a cologne ms. of the 14th century, professing to give an account of the east. there are also some curious verses concerning a mystical _dürre bom_ quoted by fabricius from an old low german poem; and we may just allude to that other mystic _arbor secco_ of dante- --"una pianta dispogliata di fiori e d'altra fronda in ciascun ramo," though the dark symbolism in the latter case seems to have a different bearing. (_maundevile_, p. 68; _schiltberger_, p. 113; anselm. in _canisii thesaurus_, iv. 781; _pereg. quat._ p. 81; _niceph. callist._ viii. 30; _théâtre français au moyen age_, pp. 97, 173; _cathay_, p. 48; _clavijo_, p. 90; _orient und occident_, göttingen, 1867, vol. i.; _fabricii vet. test. pseud._, etc., i. 1133; _dante, purgat._ xxxii. 35.) but why does polo bring this _arbre sec_ into connection with the sun tree of the alexandrian legend? i cannot answer this to my own entire satisfaction, but i can show that such a connection had been imagined in his time. paulin paris, in a notice of ms. no. 6985. (_fonds ancien_) of the national library, containing a version of the _chansons de geste d'alixandre_, based upon the work of l. le court and alex. de bernay, but with additions of later date, notices amongst these latter the visit of alexander to the valley perilous, where he sees a variety of wonders, among others the _arbre des pucelles_. another tree at a great distance from the last is called the arbre sec, and reveals to alexander the secret of the fate which attends him in babylon. (_les mss. français de la bibl. du roi_, iii. 105.)[4] again the english version of _king alisaundre_, published in weber's collection, shows clearly enough that in _its_ french original the term _arbre sec_ was applied to the oracular trees, though the word has been miswritten, and misunderstood by weber. the king, as in the greek and french passages already quoted, meeting two old churls, asks if they know of any marvel in those parts:- "'ye, par ma fay,' quoth heo, 'a great merveille we wol telle the; that is hennes in even way the mountas of ten daies journey, thou shalt find trowes[5] two: seyntes and holy they buth bo; higher than in othir countray all. arbeset men heom callith.' * * * * * 'sire kyng,' quod on, 'by myn eyghe either trough is an hundrod feet hygh, they stondith up into the skye; that on to the _sonne_, sikirlye; that othir, we tellith the nowe, is sakret in the _mone_ vertue.'" (_weber_, i. 277.) weber's glossary gives "_arbeset_ = strawberry tree, _arbous, arbousier, arbutus_"; but that is nonsense. further, in the french prose romance of alexander, which is contained in the fine volume in the british museum known as the shrewsbury book (reg. xv. e. 6), though we do not find the arbre sec so named, we find it described and pictorially represented. the romance (fol. xiiii. v.) describes alexander and his chief companions as ascending a certain mountain by 2500 steps which were attached to a golden chain. at the top they find the golden temple of the sun and an old man asleep within. it goes on:-"quant le viellart les vit si leur demanda s'ils vouloient veoir les arbres sacrez de la lune et du soleil que nous annuncent les choses qui sont à avenir. quant alexandre ouy ce si fut rempli de mult grant ioye. si lui respondirent, 'ouye sur, nous les voulons veoir.' et cil lui dist, 'se tu es nez de prince malle et de femelle il te convient entrer en celui lieu.' et alexandre lui respondi, 'nous somes nez de compagne malle et de femelle.' dont se leve le viellart du lit ou il gesoit, et leur dist, 'hostez vos vestemens et vos chauces.' et tholomeus et antigonus et perdiacas le suivrent. lors comencèrent à aler parmy la forest qui estoit enclose en merveilleux labour. illec trouvèrent les arbres semblables à loriers et oliviers. et estoient de cent pies de haults, et decouroit d'eulz incens ypobaume[6] à grant quantité. après entrèrent plus avant en la forest, et trouvèrent _une arbre durement hault qui n'avoit ne fueille ne fruit_. si seoit sur cet arbre une grant oysel qui avoit en son chief une creste qui estoit semblable au paon, et les plumes du col resplendissants come fin or. et avoit la couleur de rose. dont lui dist le viellart, 'cet oysel dont vous vous merveillez est appelés fenis, lequel n'a nul pareil en tout le monde.' dont passèrent outre, et allèrent aux arbres du soleil et de la lune. et quant ils y furent venus, si leur dist le viellart, 'regardez en haut, et pensez en votre coeur ce que vous vouldrez demander, et ne le dites de la bouche.' alisandre luy demanda en quel language donnent les arbres response aux gens. et il lui respondit, 'l'arbre du soleil commence à parler indien.' dont baisa alexandre les arbres, et comença en son ceur à penser s'il conquesteroit tout le monde et retourneroit en macedonie atout son ost. dont lui respondit l'arbre du soleil, 'alexandre tu seras roy de tout le monde, mais macedonie tu ne verras jamais,'" etc. the appearance of the arbre sec in maps of the 15th century, such as those of andrea bianco (1436) and fra mauro (1459), may be ascribed to the influence of polo's own work; but a more genuine evidence of the prevalence of the legend is found in the celebrated hereford map constructed in the 13th century by richard de haldingham. this, in the vicinity of india and the terrestrial paradise, exhibits a tree with the rubric "_albor balsami est arbor sicca_." the legends of the dry tree were probably spun out of the words of the vulgate in ezekiel xvii. 24: "_humiliavi lignum sublime et exaltavi lignum humile; et siccavi lignum viride_ et frondescere feci lignum aridum." whether the _rue de l'arbre sec_ in paris derives its name from the legend i know not. [the name of the street is taken from an old sign-board; some say it is derived from the gibbet placed in the vicinity, but this is more than doubtful.--h. c.] [illustration: commentles arbres du soleil et de la lune prophe tiserent la mort alixandre.] the actual tree to which polo refers in the text was probably one of those so frequent in persia, to which age, position, or accident has attached a character of sanctity, and which are styled _dirakht-i-fazl_, trees of excellence or grace, and often receive titles appropriate to holy persons. vows are made before them, and pieces torn from the clothes of the votaries are hung upon the branches or nailed to the trunks. to a tree of such a character, imposing in decay, lucan compares pompey: "stat magni nominis umbra. qualis frugifero quercus sublimis in agro, _exuvias veteres populi sacrataque gestans dona ducum_ * * * * * --quamvis primo nutet casura sub euro, tot circum silvae firmo se robore tollant, sola tamen colitur." (_pharsalia_, i. 135.) the tree of mamre was evidently precisely one of this class; and those who have crossed the suez desert before railway days will remember such a _dirakht-i-fazl_, an aged mimosa, a veritable _arbre seul_ (could we accept that reading), that stood just half-way across the desert, streaming with the _exuviae veteres_ of mecca pilgrims. the majority of such holy trees in persia appear to be plane-trees. admiration for the beauty of this tree seems to have occasionally risen into superstitious veneration from a very old date. herodotus relates that the carians, after their defeat by the persians on the marsyas, rallied in the sacred grove of plane-trees at labranda. and the same historian tells how, some years later, xerxes on his march to greece decorated a beautiful chinar with golden ornaments. mr. hamilton, in the same region, came on the remains of a giant of the species, which he thought might possibly be the very same. pliny rises to enthusiasm in speaking of some noble plane-trees in lycia and elsewhere. chardin describes one grand and sacred specimen, called king hosain's chinar, and said to be more than 1000 years old, in a suburb of ispahan, and another hung with amulets, rags, and tapers in a garden at shiraz.[7] one sacred tree mentioned by the persian geographer hamd allah as distinguishing the grave of a holy man at bostam in khorasan (the species is not named, at least by ouseley, from whom i borrow this) comes into striking relation with the passage in our text. the story went that it had been the staff of mahomed; as such it had been transmitted through many generations, until it was finally deposited in the grave of abu abdallah dásitáni, where it struck root and put forth branches. and it is explicitly called _dirakht-i-khushk_, i.e. literally l'arbre sec. this last legend belongs to a large class. the staff of adam, which was created in the twilight of the approaching sabbath, was bestowed on him in paradise and handed down successively to enoch and the line of patriarchs. after the death of joseph it was set in jethro's garden, and there grew untouched, till moses came and got his rod from it. in another form of the legend it is seth who gets a branch of the tree of life, and from this moses afterwards obtains his rod of power. these rabbinical stories seem in later times to have been developed into the christian legends of the wood destined to form the cross, such as they are told in the golden legend or by godfrey of viterbo, and elaborated in calderon's _sibila del oriente_. indeed, as a valued friend who has consulted the latter for me suggests, probably all the arbre sec legends of christendom bore mystic reference to the cross. in calderon's play the holy rood, seen in vision, is described as a tree:- ----"cuyas hojas, secas mustias y marchitas, desnudo el tronco dejaban que, entre mil copas floridas de los árboles, el solo sin pompa y sin bizaria era cadáver del prado." there are several dry-tree stories among the wonders of buddhism; one is that of a sacred tree visited by the chinese pilgrims to india, which had grown from the twig which sakya, in hindu fashion, had used as a tooth-brush; and i think there is a like story in our own country of the glastonbury thorn having grown from the staff of joseph of arimathea. ["st francis' church is a large pile, neere which, yet a little without the citty, growes a tree which they report in their legend grew from the saint's staff, which on going to sleepe he fixed in the ground, and at his waking found it had grown a large tree. they affirm that the wood of its decoction cures sundry diseases." (_evelyn's diary_, october, 1644.)--h. c.] in the usual form of the mediaeval legend, adam, drawing near his end, sends seth to the gate of paradise, to seek the promised oil of mercy. the angel allows seth to put his head in at the gate. doing so (as an old english version gives it)- --"he saw a fair well, of whom all the waters on earth cometh, as the book us doth tell; over the well stood a tree, with bowës broad and lere ac it _ne bare leaf ne rind, but as it for-olded were_; a nadder it had beclipt about, all naked withouten skin, that was the tree and the nadder that first made adam do sin!" the adder or serpent is coiled about the denuded stem; the upper branches reach to heaven, and bear at the top a new-born wailing infant, swathed in linen, whilst (here we quote a french version)- "les larmes qui de lui issoient contreval l'arbre en avaloient; adonc regarda l'enfant seth tout contreval de l'arbre secq; les rachines qui le tenoient jusques en enfer s'en aloient, les larmes qui de lui issirent jusques dedans enfer cheïrent." the angel gives seth three kernels from the fruit of the tree. seth returns home and finds his father dead. he buries him in _the valley of hebron_, and places the three grains under his tongue. a triple shoot springs up of cedar, cypress, and pine, symbolising the three persons of the trinity. the three eventually unite into one stem, and this tree survives in various forms, and through various adventures in connection with the scripture history, till it is found at the bottom of the pool of bethesda, to which it had imparted healing virtue, and is taken thence to form the cross on which our lord suffered. the english version quoted above is from a ms. of the 14th century in the bodleian, published by dr. morris in his collection of _legends of the holy rood_. i have modernised the spelling of the lines quoted, without altering the words. the french citation is from a ms. in the vienna library, from which extracts are given by sign. adolfo mussafia in his curious and learned tract (_sulla legenda del legno della croce_, vienna, 1870), which gives a full account of the fundamental legend and its numerous variations. the examination of these two works, particularly sign. mussafia's, gives an astonishing impression of the copiousness with which such christian mythology, as it may fairly be called, was diffused and multiplied. there are in the paper referred to notices of between fifty and sixty different _works_ (not mss. or _copies_ of works merely) containing this legend in various european languages. (_santarem_, iii. 380, ii. 348; _ouseley_, i. 359 seqq. and 391; _herodotus_, vii. 31; _pliny_, xii. 5; _chardin_, vii. 410, viii. 44 and 426; _fabricius_, _vet. test. pseud._ i. 80 seqq.; _cathay_, p. 365; _beal's fah-hian_, 72 and 78; _pèlerins bouddhistes_, ii. 292; _della valle_, ii. 276-277.) [illustration: chinar, or oriental plane] he who injured the holy tree of bostam, we are told, perished the same day: a general belief in regard to those _trees of grace_, of which we have already seen instances in regard to the sacred trees of zoroaster and the oak of hebron. we find the same belief in eastern africa, where certain trees, regarded by the natives with superstitious reverence, which they express by driving in votive nails and suspending rags, are known to the european residents by the vulgar name of _devil trees_. burton relates a case of the verification of the superstition in the death of an english merchant who had cut down such a tree, and of four members of his household. it is the old story which ovid tells; and the tree which erisichthon felled was a _dirakht-i-fazl_: "vittae mediam, memoresque tabellae sertaque cingebant, voti argumenta potentis." (_metamorph._ viii. 744.) though the coincidence with our text of hamd allah's dry tree is very striking, i am not prepared to lay stress on it as an argument for the geographical determination of marco's _arbre sec_. his use of the title more than once to characterise the whole frontier of khorasan can hardly have been a mere whim of his own: and possibly some explanation of that circumstance will yet be elicited from the persian historians or geographers of the mongol era. meanwhile it is in the vicinity of bostam or damghan that i should incline to place this landmark. if no one _very_ cogent reason points to this, a variety of minor ones do so; such as the direction of the traveller's journey from kermán through kuh banán; the apparent vicinity of a great ismailite fortress, as will be noticed in the next chapter; the connection twice indicated (see _prologue_, ch. xviii. note 6, and bk. iv. ch. v.) of the arbre sec with the headquarters of ghazan khan in watching the great passes, of which the principal ones debouche at bostam, at which place also buildings erected by ghazan still exist; and the statement that the decisive battle between alexander and darius was placed there by local tradition. for though no such battle took place in that region, we know that darius was murdered near hecatompylos. some place this city west of bostam, near damghan; others east of it, about jah jerm; ferrier has strongly argued for the vicinity of bostam itself. firdusi indeed places the final battle on the confines of kermán, and the death of darius within that province. but this could not have been the tradition polo met with. i may add that the temperate climate of bostam is noticed in words almost identical with polo's by both fraser and ferrier. the chinar abounds in khorasan (as far as any tree can be said to _abound_ in persia), and even in the oases of tun-o-kain wherever there is water. travellers quoted by ritter notice chinars of great size and age at shahrúd, near bostam, at meyomid, and at mehr, west of sabzawar, which last are said to date from the time of naoshirwan (7th century). there is a town to the n.w. of meshid called _chinárán_, "the planes." p. della valle, we may note, calls tehran "la città dei platani." the following note by de sacy regarding the chinar has already been quoted by marsden, and though it may be doubtful whether the term arbre sec had any relation to the idea expressed, it seems to me too interesting to be omitted: "its sterility seems to have become proverbial among certain people of the east. for in a collection of sundry moral sentences pertaining to the sabaeans or christians of st. john ... we find the following: 'the vainglorious man is like a showy plane tree, rich in boughs but producing nothing, and affording no fruit to its owner.'" the same reproach of sterility is cast at the plane by ovid's walnut:- "at postquam platanis, _sterilem praebentibus umbram_, uberior quâvis arbore venit honos; nos quoque fructiferae, si nux modo ponor in illis, coepimus in patulas luxuriare comas." (_nux_, 17-20.) i conclude with another passage from khanikoff, though put forward in special illustration of what i believe to be a mistaken reading (_arbre seul_): "where the chinar is of spontaneous growth, or occupies the centre of a vast and naked plain, this tree is even in our own day invested with a quite exceptional veneration, and the locality often comes to be called 'the place of the solitary tree.'" (_j. r. g. s._ xxix. 345; _ferrier_, 69-76; _fraser_, 343; _ritter_, viii. 332, xi. 512 seqq.; _della valle_, i. 703; _de sacy's abdallatif_, p. 81; _khanikoff_, _not._ p. 38.) [see in fr. zarncke, _der priester johannes_, ii., in the chap. _der baum des seth_, pp. 127-128, from ms. (14th century) from cambridge, this curious passage (p. 128): "tandem rogaverunt eum, ut arborem siccam, de qua multum saepe loqui audierant, liceret videre. quibus dicebat: 'non est appellata arbor sicca recto nomine, sed arbor seth, quoniam seth, filius adae, primi patris nostri, eam plantavit.' et ad arborem seth fecit eos ducere, prohibens eos, ne arborem transmearent, sed [si?] ad patriam suam redire desiderarent. et cum appropinquassent, de pulcritudine arboris mirati sunt; erat enim magnae immensitatis et miri decoris. omnium enim colorum varietas inerat arbori, condensitas foliorum et fructuum diversorum; diversitas avium omnium, quae sub coelo sunt. folia vero invicem se repercutientia dulcissimae melodiae modulamine resonabant, et aves amoenos cantus ultra quam credi potest promebant; et odor suavissimus profudit eos, ita quod paradisi amoenitate fuisse. et cum admirantes tantam pulcritudinem aspicerent, unus sociorum aliquo eorum maior aetate, cogitans [cogitavit?] intra se, quod senior esset et, si inde rediret, cito aliquo casu mori posset. et cum haec secum cogitasset, coepit arborem transire, et cum transisset, advocans socios, iussit eos post se ad locum amoenissimum, quem ante se videbat plenum deliciis sibi paratum [paratis?] festinare. at illi retrogressi sunt ad regem, scilicet presbiterum iohannem. quos donis amplis ditavit, et qui cum eo morari voluerunt libenter et honorifice detinuit. alii vero ad patriam reversi sunt."--in common with marsden and yule, i have no doubt that the _arbre sec_ is the _chínár_. odoric places it at tabriz and i have given a very lengthy dissertation on the subject in my edition of this traveller (pp. 21-29), to which i must refer the reader, to avoid increasing unnecessarily the size of the present publication.--h. c.] [1] "daz dritte dier was ein lebarte vier arin vederich her havite; der beceichnote den criechiskin alexanderin, der mit vier herin vür aftir landin, unz her die werilt einde, bi guldinin siulin bikante. in indea her die wusti durchbrach, _mit zwein boumin her sich da gesprach_," etc. [2] it is odd how near the word _emausae_ comes to the e. african _mwezi_; and perhaps more odd that "the elders of u-nya-mwezi ('the land of the moon') declare that their patriarchal ancestor became after death the first tree, and afforded shade to his children and descendants. according to the arabs the people still perform pilgrimage to a holy tree, and believe that the penalty of sacrilege in cutting off a twig would be visited by sudden and mysterious death." (_burton_ in _f. r. g. s._ xxix. 167-168.) [3] "the river _buemar_, in the furthest forests of india," appears to come up in one of the versions of alexander's letter to aristotle, though i do not find it in müller's edition. (see zacher's _pseudo-callisthenes_, p. 160.) 'tis perhaps ab-i-ámú! [4] it is right to notice that there may be some error in the _reference_ of paulin paris; at least i could not trace the _arbre sec_ in the ms. which he cites, nor in the celebrated bodleian alexander, which appears to contain the same version of the story. [the fact is that paulin paris refers to the _arbre_, but without the word _sec_, at the top of the first column of fol. 79 _recto_ of the ms. no. _fr._ 368 (late 6985).--h. c.] [5] trees. [6] opobalsamum. [7] a recent traveler in china gives a perfectly similar description of sacred trees in shansi. many bore inscriptions in large letters. "if you pray, you will certainly be heard."--_rev. a. williamson_, _journeys in n. china_, i. 163, where there is a cut of such a tree near taiyuanfu. (see this work, i. ch. xvi.) mr. williamson describes such a venerated tree, an ancient acacia, known as the acacia of the t'ang, meaning that it existed under that dynasty (7th to 10th century). it is renowned for its healing virtues, and every available spot on its surface was crowded with votive tablets and inscriptions. (ib. 303.) chapter xxiii. concerning the old man of the mountain. mulehet is a country in which the old man of the mountain dwelt in former days; and the name means "_place of the aram_." i will tell you his whole history as related by messer marco polo, who heard it from several natives of that region. the old man was called in their language aloadin. he had caused a certain valley between two mountains to be enclosed, and had turned it into a garden, the largest and most beautiful that ever was seen, filled with every variety of fruit. in it were erected pavilions and palaces the most elegant that can be imagined, all covered with gilding and exquisite painting. and there were runnels too, flowing freely with wine and milk and honey and water; and numbers of ladies and of the most beautiful damsels in the world, who could play on all manner of instruments, and sung most sweetly, and danced in a manner that it was charming to behold. for the old man desired to make his people believe that this was actually paradise. so he had fashioned it after the description that mahommet gave of his paradise, to wit, that it should be a beautiful garden running with conduits of wine and milk and honey and water, and full of lovely women for the delectation of all its inmates. and sure enough the saracens of those parts believed that it _was_ paradise! now no man was allowed to enter the garden save those whom he intended to be his ashishin. there was a fortress at the entrance to the garden, strong enough to resist all the world, and there was no other way to get in. he kept at his court a number of the youths of the country, from 12 to 20 years of age, such as had a taste for soldiering, and to these he used to tell tales about paradise, just as mahommet had been wont to do, and they believed in him just as the saracens believe in mahommet. then he would introduce them into his garden, some four, or six, or ten at a time, having first made them drink a certain potion which cast them into a deep sleep, and then causing them to be lifted and carried in. so when they awoke, they found themselves in the garden.[note 1] note 1.--says the venerable sire de joinville: "_le vieil de la montaingne ne créoit pas en mahommet, ainçois créoit en la loi de haali, qui fu oncle mahommet._" this is a crude statement, no doubt, but it has a germ of truth. adherents of the family of 'ali as the true successors of the prophet existed from the tragical day of the death of husain, and among these, probably owing to the secrecy with which they were compelled to hold their allegiance, there was always a tendency to all manner of strange and mystical doctrines; as in one direction to the glorification of 'ali as a kind of incarnation of the divinity, a character in which his lineal representatives were held in some manner to partake; in another direction to the development of pantheism, and release from all positive creed and precepts. of these aliites, eventually called _shiáhs_, a chief sect, and parent of many heretical branches, were the ismailites, who took their name, from the seventh imam, whose return to earth they professed to expect at the end of the world. about a.d. 1090 a branch of the ismaili stock was established by hassan, son of sabah, in the mountainous districts of northern persia; and, before their suppression by the mongols, 170 years later, the power of the quasi-spiritual dynasty which hassan founded had spread over the eastern kohistan, at least as far as káïn. their headquarters were at alamút ("eagle's nest"), about 32 miles north-east of kazwin, and all over the territory which they held they established fortresses of great strength. de sacy seems to have proved that they were called _hashíshíya_ or _hashíshín_, from their use of the preparation of hemp called _hashísh_; and thence, through their system of murder and terrorism, came the modern application of the word assassin. the original aim of this system was perhaps that of a kind of _vehmgericht_, to punish or terrify orthodox persecutors who were too strong to be faced with the sword. i have adopted in the text one of the readings of the g. text _asciscin_, as expressing the original word with the greatest accuracy that italian spelling admits. in another author we find it as _chazisii_ (see _bollandists_, may, vol. ii. p. xi.); joinville calls them _assacis_; whilst nangis and others corrupt the name into _harsacidae_, and what not. the explanation of the name mulehet as it is in ramusio, or _mulcete_ as it is in the g. text (the last expressing in rusticiano's pisan tongue the strongly aspirated _mulhete_), is given by the former: "this name of mulehet is as much as to say in the saracen tongue '_the abode of heretics_,'" the fact being that it does represent the arabic term _mulhid_, pl. _muláhidah_, "impii, heretici," which is in the persian histories (as of rashíduddín and wassáf) the title most commonly used to indicate this community, and which is still applied by orthodox mahomedans to the nosairis, druses, and other sects of that kind, more or less kindred to the ismaili. the writer of the _tabakat-i-násiri_ calls the sectarians of alamút _muláhidat-ul-maut_, "heretics of death."[1] the curious reading of the g. text which we have preserved "_vaut à dire des_ aram," should be read as we have rendered it. i conceive that marco was here unconsciously using one oriental term to explain another. for it seems possible to explain _aram_ only as standing for _harám_, in the sense of "wicked" or "reprobate." in pauthier's text, instead of _des aram_, we find "_veult dire en françois_ diex terrien," or terrestrial god. this may have been substituted, in the correction of the original rough dictation, from a perception that the first expression was unintelligible. the new phrase does not indeed convey the meaning of _muláhidah_, but it expresses a main characteristic of the heretical doctrine. the correction was probably made by polo himself; it is certainly of very early date. for in the romance of bauduin de sebourc, which i believe dates early in the 14th century, the caliph, on witnessing the extraordinary devotion of the followers of the old man (see note 1, ch. xxiv.), exclaims: "par mahon ... vous estes _diex en terre_, autre coze n'i a!" (i. p. 360.) so also fr. jacopo d'aqui in the _imago mundi_, says of the assassins: "dicitur iis quod sunt in paradiso magno _dei terreni_"--expressions, no doubt, taken in both cases from polo's book. khanikoff, and before him j. r. forster, have supposed that the name _mulehet_ represents _alamút_. but the resemblance is much closer and more satisfactory to _mulhid_ or _muláhidah_. _mulhet_ is precisely the name by which the kingdom of the ismailites is mentioned in armenian history, and _mulihet_ is already applied in the same way by rabbi benjamin in the 12th century, and by rubruquis in the 13th. the chinese narrative of hulaku's expedition calls it the kingdom of _mulahi_. (_joinville_, p. 138; _j. as._ sér. ii., tom. xii. 285; _benj. tudela_, p. 106; _rub._ p. 265; _rémusat_, _nouv. mélanges_, i. 176; _gaubil_, p. 128; _pauthier_, pp. cxxxix.-cxli.; _mon. hist. patr. scriptorum_, iii. 1559, turin, 1848.) [cf. on _mulehet_, _melahideh_, heretics, plural of _molhid_. heretic, my note, pp. 476-482 of my ed. of friar odoric.--h. c.] "old man of the mountain" was the title applied by the crusaders to the chief of that branch of the sect which was settled in the mountains north of lebanon, being a translation of his popular arabic title _shaikh-ul-jibal_. but according to hammer this title properly belonged, as polo gives it, to the prince of alamút, who never called himself sultan, malik, or amir; and this seems probable, as his territory was known as the _balad-ul-jibal_. (see _abulf._ in _büsching_, v. 319.) [1] elliot, ii. 290. chapter xxiv. how the old man used to train his assassins. when therefore they awoke, and found themselves in a place so charming, they deemed that it was paradise in very truth. and the ladies and damsels dallied with them to their hearts' content, so that they had what young men would have; and with their own good will they never would have quitted the place. now this prince whom we call the old one kept his court in grand and noble style, and made those simple hill-folks about him believe firmly that he was a great prophet. and when he wanted one of his _ashishin_ to send on any mission, he would cause that potion whereof i spoke to be given to one of the youths in the garden, and then had him carried into his palace. so when the young man awoke, he found himself in the castle, and no longer in that paradise; whereat he was not over well pleased. he was then conducted to the old man's presence, and bowed before him with great veneration as believing himself to be in the presence of a true prophet. the prince would then ask whence he came, and he would reply that he came from paradise! and that it was exactly such as mahommet had described it in the law. this of course gave the others who stood by, and who had not been admitted, the greatest desire to enter therein. so when the old man would have any prince slain, he would say to such a youth: "go thou and slay so and so; and when thou returnest my angels shall bear thee into paradise. and shouldst thou die, natheless even so will i send my angels to carry thee back into paradise." so he caused them to believe; and thus there was no order of his that they would not affront any peril to execute, for the great desire they had to get back into that paradise of his. and in this manner the old one got his people to murder any one whom he desired to get rid of. thus, too, the great dread that he inspired all princes withal, made them become his tributaries in order that he might abide at peace and amity with them.[note 1] i should also tell you that the old man had certain others under him, who copied his proceedings and acted exactly in the same manner. one of these was sent into the territory of damascus, and the other into curdistan.[note 2] note 1.--romantic as this story is, it seems to be precisely the same that was current over all the east. it is given by odoric at length, more briefly by a chinese author, and again from an arabic source by hammer in the _mines de l'orient_. the following is the chinese account as rendered by rémusat: "the soldiers of this country (mulahi) are veritable brigands. when they see a lusty youth, they tempt him with the hope of gain, and bring him to such a point that he will be ready to kill his father or his elder brother with his own hand. after he is enlisted, they intoxicate him, and carry him in that state into a secluded retreat, where he is charmed with delicious music and beautiful women. all his desires are satisfied for several days, and then (in sleep) he is transported back to his original position. when he awakes, they ask what he has seen. he is then informed that if he will become an assassin, he will be rewarded with the same felicity. and with the texts and prayers that they teach him they heat him to such a pitch that whatever commission be given him he will brave death without regret in order to execute it." the arabic narrative is too long to extract. it is from a kind of historical romance called the _memoirs of hakim_, the date of which hammer unfortunately omits to give. its close coincidence in substance with polo's story is quite remarkable. after a detailed description of the paradise, and the transfer into it of the aspirant under the influence of _bang_, on his awaking and seeing his chief enter, he says, "o chief! am i awake or am i dreaming?" to which the chief: "o such an one, take heed that thou tell not the dream to any stranger. know that ali thy lord hath vouchsafed to show thee the place destined for thee in paradise.... hesitate not a moment therefore in the service of the imam who thus deigns to intimate his contentment with thee," and so on. william de nangis thus speaks of the syrian shaikh, who alone was known to the crusaders, though one of their historians (_jacques de vitry_, in _bongars_, i. 1062) shows knowledge that the headquarters of the sect was in persia: "he was much dreaded far and near, by both saracens and christians, because he so often caused princes of both classes indifferently to be murdered by his emissaries. for he used to bring up in his palace youths belonging to his territory, and had them taught a variety of languages, and above all things to fear their lord and obey him unto death, which would thus become to them an entrance into the joys of paradise. and whosoever of them thus perished in carrying out his lord's behests was worshipped as an angel." as an instance of the implicit obedience rendered by the _fidáwí_ or devoted disciples of the shaikh, fra pipino and marino sanuto relate that when henry count of champagne (titular king of jerusalem) was on a visit to the old man of syria, one day as they walked together they saw some lads in white sitting on the top of a high tower. the shaikh, turning to the count, asked if he had any subjects as obedient as his own? and without giving time for reply made a sign to two of the boys, who immediately leapt from the tower, and were killed on the spot. the same story is told in the _cento novelle antiche_, as happening when the emperor frederic was on a visit (imaginary) to the veglio. and it is introduced likewise as an incident in the romance of bauduin de sebourc: "vollés veioir merveilles? dist li rois seignouris" to bauduin and his friends, and on their assenting he makes the signal to one of his men on the battlements, and in a twinkling "quant le vinrent en l'air salant de tel avis, et aussi liément, et aussi esjois, qu'il deust conquester mil livres de parisis! ains qu'il venist a tière il fut mors et fenis, surles roches agues desrompis corps et pis,"[1] etc. (_cathay_, 153; _rémusat, nouv. mél._ i. 178; _mines de l'orient_, iii. 201 seqq.; _nangis_ in _duchesne_, v. 332; _pipino_ in _muratori_, ix. 705; _defrémery_ in _j. as._ sér. v. tom. v. 34 seqq.; _cent. nov. antiche_, firenze, 1572, p. 91; _bauduin de sebourc_, i. 359.) the following are some of the more notable murders or attempts at murder ascribed to the ismailite emissaries either from syria or from persia:-a.d. 1092. nizum-ul-mulk, formerly the powerful minister of malik shah, seljukian sovereign of persia, and a little later his two sons. 1102. the prince of homs, in the chief mosque of that city. 1113. maudúd, prince of mosul, in the chief mosque of damascus. about 1114. abul muzafar 'ali, wazir of sanjár shah, and chakar beg, grand-uncle of the latter. 1116. ahmed yel, prince of maragha, at baghdad, in the presence of mahomed, sultan of persia. 1121. the amir afdhal, the powerful wazir of egypt, at cairo. 1126. kasim aksonkor, prince of mosul and aleppo, in the great mosque at mosul. 1127. moyin-uddin, wazir of sanjár shah of persia. 1129. amír billah, khalif of egypt. 1131. taj-ul mulúk buri, prince of damascus. 1134. shams-ul-mulúk, son of the preceding. 1135-38. the khalif mostarshid, the khalif rashíd, and daùd, seljukian prince of azerbaijan. 1149. raymond, count of tripoli. 1191. kizil arzlan, prince of azerbaijan. 1192. conrad of montferrat, titular king of jerusalem; a murder which king richard has been accused of instigating. 1217. oghulmish, prince of hamadán. and in 1174 and 1176 attempts to murder the great saladin. 1271. attempt to murder ala'uddin juwaini, governor of baghdad, and historian of the mongols. 1272. the attempt to murder prince edward of england at acre. in latter years the _fidáwí_ or ismailite adepts appear to have let out their services simply as hired assassins. bibars, in a letter to his court at cairo, boasts of using them when needful. a mahomedan author ascribes to bibars the instigation of the attempt on prince edward. (_makrizi_, ii. 100; _j. as._ xi. 150.) note 2.--hammer mentions as what he chooses to call "grand priors" under the shaikh or "grand master" at alamút, the chief, in syria, one in the kuhistan of e. persia (tun-o-kain), one in kumis (the country about damghan and bostam), and one in irák; he does not speak of any in kurdistan. colonel monteith, however, says, though without stating authority or particulars, "there were several divisions of them (the assassins) scattered throughout syria, _kurdistan_ (near the lake of wan), and asia minor, but all acknowledging as imaum or high priest the chief residing at alamut." and it may be noted that odoric, a generation after polo, puts the old man at _millescorte_, which looks like _malasgird_, north of lake van, (_h. des assass._ p. 104; _j. r. g. s._ iii. 16; _cathay_, p. ccxliii.) [1] this story has been transferred to peter the great, who is alleged to have exhibited the docility of his subjects in the same way to the king of denmark, by ordering a cossack to jump from the round tower at copenhagen, on the summit of which they were standing. chapter xxv. how the old man came by his end. now it came to pass, in the year of christ's incarnation, 1252, that alaü, lord of the tartars of the levant, heard tell of these great crimes of the old man, and resolved to make an end of him. so he took and sent one of his barons with a great army to that castle, and they besieged it for three years, but they could not take it, so strong was it. and indeed if they had had food within it never would have been taken. but after being besieged those three years they ran short of victual, and were taken. the old man was put to death with all his men [and the castle with its garden of paradise was levelled with the ground]. and since that time he has had no successor; and there was an end to all his villainies.[note 1] now let us go back to our journey. note 1.--the date in pauthier is 1242; in the g. t. and in ramusio 1262. neither is right, nor certainly could polo have meant the former. when mangku kaan, after his enthronement (1251), determined at a great _kurultai_ or diet, on perfecting the mongol conquests, he entrusted his brother kúblái with the completion of the subjugation of china and the adjacent countries, whilst his brother hulaku received the command of the army destined for persia and syria. the complaints that came from the mongol officers already in persia determined him to commence with the reduction of the ismailites, and hulaku set out from karakorum in february, 1254. he proceeded with great deliberation, and the oxus was not crossed till january, 1256. but an army had been sent long in advance under "one of his barons," kitubuka noyan, and in 1253 it was already actively engaged in besieging the ismailite fortresses. in 1255, during the progress of the war, ala'uddin mahomed, the reigning prince of the assassins (mentioned by polo as alaodin), was murdered at the instigation of his son ruknuddin khurshah, who succeeded to the authority. a year later (november, 1256) ruknuddin surrendered to hulaku. [bretschneider (_med. res._ ii. p. 109) says that alamút was taken by hulaku, 20th december, 1256.--h. c.] the fortresses given up, all well furnished with provisions and artillery engines, were 100 in number. two of them, however, lembeser and girdkuh, refused to surrender. the former fell after a year; the latter is stated to have held out for _twenty years_-actually, as it would seem, about fourteen, or till december, 1270. ruknuddin was well treated by hulaku, and despatched to the court of the kaan. the accounts of his death differ, but that most commonly alleged, according to rashiduddin, is that mangku kaan was irritated at hearing of his approach, asking why his post-horses should be fagged to no purpose, and sent executioners to put ruknuddin to death on the road. alamút had been surrendered without any substantial resistance. some survivors of the sect got hold of it again in 1275-1276, and held out for a time. the dominion was extinguished, but the sect remained, though scattered indeed and obscure. a very strange case that came before sir joseph arnould in the high court at bombay in 1866 threw much new light on the survival of the ismailis. some centuries ago a _dai_ or missionary of the ismailis, named sadruddín, made converts from the hindu trading classes in upper sind. under the name of _khojas_ the sect multiplied considerably in sind, kach'h, and guzerat, whence they spread to bombay and to zanzibar. their numbers in western india are now probably not less than 50,000 to 60,000. their doctrine, or at least the books which they revere, appear to embrace a strange jumble of hindu notions with mahomedan practices and shiah mysticism, but the main characteristic endures of deep reverence, if not worship, of the person of their hereditary imám. to his presence, when he resided in persia, numbers of pilgrims used to betake themselves, and large remittances of what we may call _ismail's pence_ were made to him. abul hassan, the last imám but one of admitted lineal descent from the later shaikhs of alamút, and claiming (as they did) descent from the imám ismail and his great ancestor 'ali abu tálib, had considerable estates at meheláti, between kúm and hamadán, and at one time held the government of kermán. his son and successor, shah khalilullah, was killed in a brawl at yezd in 1818. fatteh 'ali sháh, fearing ismailite vengeance, caused the homicide to be severely punished, and conferred gifts and honours on the young imám, agha khan, including the hand of one of his own daughters. in 1840 agha khan, who had raised a revolt at kermán, had to escape from persia. he took refuge in sind, and eventually rendered good service both to general nott at kandahár and to sir c. napier in sind, for which he receives a pension from our government. for many years this genuine heir and successor of the _viex de la montaingne_ has had his headquarters at bombay, where he devotes, or for a long time did devote, the large income that he receives from the faithful to the maintenance of a racing stable, being the chief patron and promoter of the bombay turf! a schism among the khojas, owing apparently to the desire of part of the well-to-do bombay community to sever themselves from the peculiarities of the sect and to set up as respectable sunnis, led in 1866 to an action in the high court, the object of which was to exclude agha khan from all rights over the khojas, and to transfer the property of the community to the charge of orthodox mahomedans. to the elaborate addresses of mr. howard and sir joseph arnould, on this most singular process before an english court, i owe the preceding particulars. the judgment was entirely in favour of the old man of the mountain. [illustration: h. h. agha khán meheláti, late representative of the old man of the mountain. "le seigneur viel, que je vous ai dit si tient sa court ... et fait à croire à cele simple gent qui li est entour que il est un grant prophete."] [sir bartle frere writes of agha khan in 1875: "like his ancestor, the old one of marco polo's time, he keeps his court in grand and noble style. his sons, popularly known as 'the persian princes,' are active sportsmen, and age has not dulled the agha's enjoyment of horse-racing. some of the best blood of arabia is always to be found in his stables. he spares no expense on his racers, and no prejudice of religion or race prevents his availing himself of the science and skill of an english trainer or jockey when the races come round. if tidings of war or threatened disturbance should arise from central asia or persia, the agha is always one of the first to hear of it, and seldom fails to pay a visit to the governor or to some old friend high in office to hear the news and offer the services of a tried sword and an experienced leader to the government which has so long secured him a quiet refuge for his old age." agha khan died in april, 1881, at the age of 81. he was succeeded by his son agha ali sháh, one of the members of the legislative council. (see _the homeward mail, overland times of india_, of 14th april, 1881.)] the _bohras_ of western india are identified with the imámí-ismáilís in some books, and were so spoken of in the first edition of this work. this is, however, an error, originally due, it would seem, to sir john malcolm. the nature of their doctrine, indeed, seems to be very much alike, and the bohras, like the ismáilís, attach a divine character to their _mullah_ or chief pontiff, and make a pilgrimage to his presence once in life. but the _persons_ so reverenced are quite different; and the bohras recognise all the 12 imáms of ordinary shiahs. their first appearance in india was early, the date which they assign being a.h. 532 (a.d. 1137-1138). their chief seat was in yemen, from which a large emigration to india took place on its conquest by the turks in 1538. ibn batuta seems to have met with bohras at gandár, near baroch, in 1342. (_voyages_, iv. 58.) a chinese account of the expedition of hulaku will be found in rémusat's _nouveaux mélanges_ (i.), and in pauthier's introduction. (_q. r._ 115-219, esp. 213; _ilch._ vol. i.; _j. a. s. b._ vi. 842 seqq.) [a new and complete translation has been given by dr. e. bretschneider, _med. res._ i. 112 seqq.--h. c.] there is some account of the rock of alamút and its exceedingly slender traces of occupancy, by colonel monteith, in _j. r. g. s._ iii. 15, and again by sir justin sheil in vol. viii. p. 431. there does not seem to be any specific authority for assigning the paradise of the shaikh to alamút; and it is at least worthy of note that another of the castles of the muláhidah, destroyed by hulaku, was called _firdús_, i.e. paradise. in any case, i see no reason to suppose that polo visited alamút, which would have been quite out of the road that he is following. it is possible that "the castle," to which he alludes at the beginning of next chapter, and which set him off upon this digression, was _girdkuh_.[1] it has not, as far as i know, been identified by modern travellers, but it stood within 10 or 12 miles of damghan (to the west or north-west). it is probably the _tigado_ of hayton, of which he thus speaks: "the assassins had an impregnable castle called tigado, which was furnished with all necessaries, and was so strong that it had no fear of attack on any side. howbeit, haloön commanded a certain captain of his that he should take 10,000 tartars who had been left in garrison in persia, and with them lay siege to the said castle, and not leave it till he had taken it. wherefore the said tartars continued besieging it for seven whole years, winter and summer, without being able to take it. at last the assassins surrendered, from sheer want of clothing, but not of victuals or other necessaries." so ramusio; other copies read "27 years." in any case it corroborates the fact that girdkuh was said to have held out for an extraordinary length of time. if rashiduddin is right in naming 1270 as the date of surrender, this would be quite a recent event when the polo party passed, and draw special attention to the spot. (_j. as._ sér. iv. tom. xiii. 48; _ilch._ i. 93, 104, 274; _q. r._ p. 278; _ritter_, viii. 336.) a note which i have from _djihan numa_ (i. 259) connects girdkuh with a district called _chinar_. this may be a clue to the term _arbre sec_; but there are difficulties. [1] [ghirdkuh means "round mountain"; it was in the district of kumis, three parasangs west of damghan. under the year 1257, the _yüan shi_ mentions the taking of the fortress of _ghi-rh-du-kie_ by _k'ie-di-bu-hua_. (_bretschneider, med. res._ i. p. 122; ii. 110.)--h. c.] chapter xxvi. concerning the city of sapurgan. on leaving the castle, you ride over fine plains and beautiful valleys, and pretty hill-sides producing excellent grass pasture, and abundance of fruits, and all other products. armies are glad to take up their quarters here on account of the plenty that exists. this kind of country extends for six days' journey, with a goodly number of towns and villages, in which the people are worshippers of mahommet. sometimes also you meet with a tract of desert extending for 50 or 60 miles, or somewhat less, and in these deserts you find no water, but have to carry it along with you. the beasts do without drink until you have got across the desert tract and come to watering places. so after travelling for six days as i have told you, you come to a city called sapurgan. it has great plenty of everything, but especially of the very best melons in the world. they preserve them by paring them round and round into strips, and drying them in the sun. when dry they are sweeter than honey, and are carried off for sale all over the country. there is also abundance of game here, both of birds and beasts.[note 1] note 1.--sapurgan may closely express the pronunciation of the name of the city which the old arabic writers call _sabúrkán_ and _shabúrkán_, now called _shibrgán_, lying some 90 miles west of balkh; containing now some 12,000 inhabitants, and situated in a plain still richly cultivated, though on the verge of the desert.[1] but i have seen no satisfactory solution of the difficulties as to the time assigned. this in the g. t. and in ramusio is clearly six days. the point of departure is indeed uncertain, but even if we were to place that at sharakhs on the extreme verge of cultivated khorasan, which would be quite inconsistent with other data, it would have taken the travellers something like double the time to reach shíbrgán. where i have followed the g. t. in its reading "_quant l'en a chevauchés six jornée tel che je vos ai contés, adunc treuve l'en une cité_," etc., pauthier's text has "_et quant l'en a chevauchié_ les vi cités, _si treuve l'en une cité qui a nom sapurgan_," and to this that editor adheres. but i suspect that _cités_ is a mere lapsus for _journées_ as in the reading in one of his three mss. what could be meant by "_chevauchier les_ vi _cités_"? whether the true route be, as i suppose, by nishapúr and meshid, or, as khanikoff supposes, by herat and badghis, it is strange that no one of those famous cities is mentioned. and we feel constrained to assume that something has been misunderstood in the dictation, or has dropt out of it. as a _probable_ conjecture i should apply the six days to the extent of pleasing country described in the first lines of the chapter, and identify it with the tract between sabzawur and the cessation of fertile country beyond meshid. the distance would agree well, and a comparison with fraser or ferrier will show that even now the description, allowing for the compression of an old recollection, would be well founded; e.g. on the first march beyond nishapúr: "fine villages, with plentiful gardens full of trees, that bear fruit of the highest flavour, may be seen all along the foot of the hills, and in the little recesses formed by the ravines whence issues the water that irrigates them. it was a rich and pleasing scene, and out of question by far the most populous and cultivated tract that i had seen in persia.... next morning we quitted derrood ... by a very indifferent but interesting road, the glen being finely wooded with walnut, mulberry, poplar, and willow-trees, and fruit-tree gardens rising one above the other upon the mountain-side, watered by little rills.... these gardens extended for several miles up the glen; beyond them the bank of the stream continued to be fringed with white sycamore, willow, ash, mulberry, poplar, and woods that love a moist situation," and so on, describing a style of scenery not common in persia, and expressing diffusely (as it seems to me) the same picture as polo's two lines. in the valley of nishapúr, again (we quote arthur conolly): "'this is persia!' was the vain exclamation of those who were alive to the beauty of the scene; 'this is persia!' _bah! bah!_ what grass, what grain, what water! _bah! bah!_ ['if there be a paradise on the face of the earth, this is it! this is it! this is it!'"]--(i. 209.) (see _fraser_, 405, 432-433, 434, 436.) with reference to the dried melons of shibrgán, quatremère cites a history of herat, which speaks of them almost in polo's words. ibn batuta gives a like account of the melons of khárizm: "the surprising thing about these melons is the way the people have of slicing them, drying them in the sun, and then packing them in baskets, just as malaga figs are treated in our part of the world. in this state they are sent to the remotest parts of india and china. there is no dried fruit so delicious, and all the while i lived at delhi, when the travelling dealers came in, i never missed sending for these dried strips of melon." (_q. r._ 169; _i. b._ iii. 15.) here, in the 14th century, we seem to recognise the afghan dealers arriving in the cities of hindustan with their annual camel-loads of dried fruits, just as we have seen them in our own day. [1] the oldest form of the name is _asapuragán_, which rawlinson thinks traceable to its being an ancient seat of the _asa_ or _asagartii_. (_j. r. a. s._ xi. 63.) chapter xxvii. of the city of balc. balc is a noble city and a great, though it was much greater in former days. but the tartars and other nations have greatly ravaged and destroyed it. there were formerly many fine palaces and buildings of marble, and the ruins of them still remain. the people of the city tell that it was here that alexander took to wife the daughter of darius. here, you should be told, is the end of the empire of the tartar lord of the levant. and this city is also the limit of persia in the direction between east and north-east.[note 1] now, let us quit this city, and i will tell you of another country called dogana.[note 2] when you have quitted the city of which i have been speaking, you ride some 12 days between north-east and east, without finding any human habitation, for the people have all taken refuge in fastnesses among the mountains, on account of the banditti and armies that harassed them. there is plenty of water on the road, and abundance of game; there are lions too. you can get no provisions on the road, and must carry with you all that you require for these 12 days.[note 3] note 1.--balkh, "the mother of cities," suffered mercilessly from chinghiz. though the city had yielded without resistance, the whole population was marched by companies into the plain, on the usual mongol pretext of counting them, and then brutally massacred. the city and its gardens were fired, and all buildings capable of defence were levelled. the province long continued to be harried by the chaghataian inroads. ibn batuta, sixty years after marco's visit, describes the city as still in ruins, and as uninhabited: "the remains of its mosques and colleges," he says, "are still to be seen, and the painted walls traced with azure." it is no doubt the vaeq (valq) of clavijo, "very large, and surrounded by a broad earthen wall, thirty paces across, but breached in many parts." he describes a large portion of the area within as sown with cotton. the account of its modern state in burnes and ferrier is much the same as ibn batuta's, except that they found some population; two separate towns within the walls according to the latter. burnes estimates the circuit of the ruins at 20 miles. the bulk of the population has been moved since 1858 to takhtapul, 8 miles east of balkh, where the afghan government is placed. (_erdmann_, 404-405; _i. b._ iii. 59; _clavijo_, p. 117; _burnes_, ii. 204-206; _ferrier_, 206-207.) according to the legendary history of alexander, the beautiful roxana was the daughter of darius, and her father in a dying interview with alexander requested the latter to make her his wife:- "une fille ai mult bele; se prendre le voles. vus en seres de l'mont tout li mius maries," etc. (_lambert le court_, p. 256.) note 2.--the country called _dogana_ in the g. text is a puzzle. in the former edition i suggested _juzgána_, a name which till our author's time was applied to a part of the adjoining territory, though not to that traversed in quitting balkh for the east. sir h. rawlinson is inclined to refer the name to _dehgán_, or "villager," a term applied in bactria, and in kabul, to tajik peasantry[1]. i may also refer to certain passages in baber's "memoirs," in which he speaks of a place, and apparently a district, called _dehánah_, which seems from the context to have lain in the vicinity of the ghori, or aksarai river. there is still a village in the ghori territory, called _dehánah_. though this is worth mentioning, where the true solution is so uncertain, i acknowledge the difficulty of applying it. i may add also that baber calls the river of ghori or aksarai, the _dogh_-ábah. (_sprenger, p. und r. routen_, p. 39 and map; _anderson_ in _j. a. s. b._ xxii. 161; _ilch._ ii. 93; _baber_, pp. 132, 134, 168, 200, also 146.) note 3.--though burnes speaks of the part of the road that we suppose necessarily to have been here followed from balkh towards taican, as barren and dreary, he adds that the ruins of _aqueducts_ and houses proved that the land had at one time been peopled, though now destitute of water, and consequently of inhabitants. the country would seem to have reverted at the time of burnes' journey, from like causes, nearly to the state in which marco found it after the mongol devastations. _lions_ seem to mean here the real king of beasts, and not tigers, as hereafter in the book. tigers, though found on the s. and w. shores of the caspian, do not seem to exist in the oxus valley. on the other hand, rashiduddin tells us that, when hulaku was reviewing his army after the passage of the river, several lions were started, and two were killed. the lions are also mentioned by sidi 'ali, the turkish admiral, further down the valley towards hazárasp: "we were obliged to fight with the lions day and night, and no man dared to go alone for water." moorcroft says of the plain between kunduz and the oxus: "deer, foxes, wolves, hogs, and _lions_ are numerous, the latter resembling those in the vicinity of hariana" (in upper india). wood also mentions lions in kuláb, and at kila'chap on the oxus. q. curtius tells how alexander killed a great lion in the country north of the oxus towards samarkand. [a similar story is told of timur in _the mulfuzat timury_, translated by major charles stewart, 1830 (p. 69): "during the march '(near balkh)' two lions made their appearance, one of them a male, the other a female. i (timur) resolved to kill them myself, and having shot them both with arrows, i considered this circumstance as a lucky omen."--h. c.] (_burnes_, ii. 200; _q. r._ 155; _ilch._ i. 90; _j. as._ ix. 217; _moorcroft_, ii. 430; _wood_, ed. 1872, pp. 259,260; _q. c._ vii. 2.) [1] it may be observed that the careful elphinstone distinguishes from this general application of dehgán or dehkán, the name _deggán_ applied to a tribe "once spread over the north-east of afghanistan, but now as a separate people only in kunar and laghman." chapter xxviii. of taican, and the mountains of salt. also of the province of casem. after those twelve days' journey you come to a fortified place called taican, where there is a great corn market.[note 1] it is a fine place, and the mountains that you see towards the south are all composed of salt. people from all the countries round, to some thirty days' journey, come to fetch this salt, which is the best in the world, and is so hard that it can only be broken with iron picks. 'tis in such abundance that it would supply the whole world to the end of time. [other mountains there grow almonds and pistachioes, which are exceedingly cheap.][note 2] when you leave this town and ride three days further between north-east and east, you meet with many fine tracts full of vines and other fruits, and with a goodly number of habitations, and everything to be had very cheap. the people are worshippers of mahommet, and are an evil and a murderous generation, whose great delight is in the wine shop; for they have good wine (albeit it be boiled), and are great topers; in truth, they are constantly getting drunk. they wear nothing on the head but a cord some ten palms long twisted round it. they are excellent huntsmen, and take a great deal of game; in fact they wear nothing but the skins of the beasts they have taken in the chase, for they make of them both coats and shoes. indeed, all of them are acquainted with the art of dressing skins for these purposes.[note 3] when you have ridden those three days, you find a town called casem,[note 4] which is subject to a count. his other towns and villages are on the hills, but through this town there flows a river of some size. there are a great many porcupines hereabouts, and very large ones too. when hunted with dogs, several of them will get together and huddle close, shooting their quills at the dogs, which get many a serious wound thereby.[note 5] this town of casem is at the head of a very great province, which is also called casem. the people have a peculiar language. the peasants who keep cattle abide in the mountains, and have their dwellings in caves, which form fine and spacious houses for them, and are made with ease, as the hills are composed of earth.[note 6] after leaving the town of casem, you ride for three days without finding a single habitation, or anything to eat or drink, so that you have to carry with you everything that you require. at the end of those three days you reach a province called badashan, about which we shall now tell you.[note 7] note 1.--the _taican_ of polo is the still existing talikan in the province of kataghan or kunduz, but it bears the former name (_tháîkán_) in the old arab geographies. both names are used by baber, who says it lay in the _ulugh bágh_, or great garden, a name perhaps acquired by the plains of talikan in happier days, but illustrating what polo says of the next three days' march. the castle of talikan resisted chinghiz for seven months, and met with the usual fate (1221). [in the travels of sidi ali, son of housaïn (_jour. asiat._, october, 1826, p. 203), "talikan, in the country of badakhschan" is mentioned.--h. c.] wood speaks of talikan in 1838 as a poor place of some 300 or 400 houses, mere hovels; a recent account gives it 500 families. market days are not usual in upper india or kabul, but are universal in badakhshan and the oxus provinces. the bazaars are only open on those days, and the people from the surrounding country then assemble to exchange goods, generally by barter. wood chances to note: "a market was held at talikan.... the thronged state of the roads leading into it soon apprised us that the day was no ordinary one." (_abulf._ in _büsching_, v. 352; _sprenger_, p. 50; _p. de la croix_, i. 63; _baber_, 38, 130; _burnes_, iii. 8; _wood_, 156; _pandit manphul's report_.) the distance of talikan from balkh is about 170 miles, which gives very short marches, if twelve days be the correct reading. ramusio has _two_ days, which is certainly wrong. xii. is easily miswritten for vii., which would be a just number. note 2.--in our day, as i learn from pandit manphul, the mines of rock salt are at ak bulák, near the lataband pass, and at darúná, near the kokcha, and these supply the whole of badakhshan, as well as kunduz and chitrál. these sites are due _east_ of talikan, and are in badakhshan. but there is a mine at _chál_, s.e. or s.s.e. of talikan and within the same province. there are also mines of rock-salt near the famous "stone bridge" in kuláb, north of the oxus, and again on the south of the alaï steppe. (papers by _manphul_ and by _faiz baksh_; also _notes_ by _feachenko_.) both pistachioes and wild almonds are mentioned by pandit manphul; and see _wood_ (p. 252) on the beauty and profusion of the latter. note 3.--wood thinks that the tajik inhabitants of badakhshan and the adjoining districts are substantially of the same race as the kafir tribes of hindu kúsh. at the time of polo's visit it would seem that their conversion to islam was imperfect. they were probably in that transition state which obtains in our own day for some of the hill mahomedans adjoining the kafirs on the south side of the mountains the reproachful title of _nímchah musulmán_, or half-and-halfs. thus they would seem to have retained sundry kafir characteristics; among others that love of wine which is so strong among the kafirs. the boiling of the wine is noted by baber (a connoisseur) as the custom of nijrao, adjoining, if not then included in, kafir-land; and elphinstone implies the continuance of the custom when he speaks of the kafirs as having wine of _the consistence of jelly_, and very strong. the wine of _kápishí_, the greek kapisa, immediately south of hindu kúsh, was famous as early as the time of the hindu grammarian pánini, say three centuries b.c. the cord twisted round the head was probably also a relic of kafir costume: "few of the kafirs cover the head, and when they do, it is with a narrow band or fillet of goat's hair ... about a yard or a yard and a half in length, wound round the head." this style of head-dress seems to be very ancient in india, and in the sanchi sculptures is that of the supposed dasyas. something very similar, i.e. a scanty turban cloth twisted into a mere cord, and wound two or three times round the head, is often seen in the panjab to this day. the _postín_ or sheepskin coat is almost universal on both sides of the hindu kúsh; and wood notes: "the shoes in use resemble half-boots, made of goatskin, and mostly of home manufacture." (_baber_, 145; _j. a. s. b._ xxviii. 348, 364; _elphinst._ ii. 384; _ind. antiquary_, i. 22; _wood_, 174, 220; _j. r. a. s._ xix. 2.) note 4.--marsden was right in identifying _scassem_ or _casem_ with the _kechem_ of d'anville's map, but wrong in confounding the latter with the _kishmabad_ of elphinstone--properly, i believe, _kishnabad_--in the anderab valley. kashm, or keshm, found its way into maps through pétis de la croix, from whom probably d'anville adopted it; but as it was ignored by elphinstone (or by macartney, who constructed his map), and by burnes, it dropped out of our geography. indeed, wood does not notice it except as giving name to a high hill called the hill of kishm, and the position even of that he omits to indicate. the frequent mention of kishm in the histories of timur and humayun (e.g. _p. de la croix_, i. 167; _n. et e._ xiv. 223, 491; _erskine's baber and humayun_, ii. 330, 355, etc.) had enabled me to determine its position within tolerably narrow limits; but desiring to fix it definitely, application was made through colonel maclagan to pandit manphul, c.s.i., a very intelligent hindu gentleman, who resided for some time in badakhshan as agent of the panjab government, and from him arrived a special note and sketch, and afterwards a ms. copy of a report,[1] which set the position of kishm at rest. kishm is the _kilissemo_, i.e. karisma or krishma, of hinen tsang; and sir h. rawlinson has identified the hill of kishm with the mount kharesem of the zend-avesta, on which jamshid placed the most sacred of all the fires. it is now a small town or large village on the right bank of the varsach river, a tributary of the kokcha. it was in 1866 the seat of a district ruler under the mír of badakhshan, who was styled the mír of kishm, and is the modern counterpart of marco's _quens_ or count. the modern caravan-road between kunduz and badakhshan does not pass through kishm, which is left some five miles to the right, but through the town of mashhad, which stands on the same river. kishm is the warmest district of badakhshan. its fruits are abundant, and ripen a month earlier than those at faizabad, the capital of that country. the varsach or mashhad river is marco's "_flum auques grant_." wood (247) calls it "the largest stream we had yet forded in badakhshan." it is very notable that in ramusio, in pipino, and in one passage of the g. text, the name is written _scasem_, which has led some to suppose the _ish-káshm_ of wood to be meant. that place is much too far east--in fact, beyond the city which forms the subject of the next chapter. the apparent hesitation, however, between the forms _casem_ and _scasem_ suggests that the kishm of our note may formerly have been termed s'kashm or ish-kashm, a form frequent in the oxus valley, e.g. _ish-kimish, ish-káshm, ishtrakh, ishpingao_. general cunningham judiciously suggests (_ladak_, 34) that this form is merely a vocal corruption of the initial _s_ before a consonant, a combination which always troubles the musulman in india, and converts every mr. smith or mr. sparks into ismit or ispak sahib. [there does not seem to me any difficulty about this note: "shibarkhan (afghan turkistan), balkh, kunduz, khanabad, talikan, kishm, badakhshan." i am tempted to look for dogana at khanabad.--h. c.] note 5.--the belief that the porcupine _projected_ its quills at its assailants was an ancient and persistent one--"_cum intendit cutem missiles_," says pliny (viii. 35, and see also _aelian. de nat. an._ i. 31), and is held by the chinese as it was held by the ancients, but is universally rejected by modern zoologists. the huddling and coiling appears to be a true characteristic, for the porcupine always tries to shield its head. note 6.--the description of kishm as a "very great" province is an example of a bad habit of marco's, which recurs in the next chapter. what he says of the cave-dwellings may be illustrated by burnes's account of the excavations at bamian, in a neighbouring district. these "still form the residence of the greater part of the population.... the hills at bamian are formed of indurated clay and pebbles, which renders this excavation a matter of little difficulty." similar occupied excavations are noticed by moorcroft at heibak and other places towards khulm. curiously, pandit manphul says of the districts about the kokcha: "both their hills and plains are productive, the former _being mostly composed of earth, having very little of rocky substance_." note 7.--the capital of badakhshan is now faizabad, on the right bank of the kokcha, founded, according to manphul, by yarbeg, the first mír of the present dynasty. when this family was displaced for a time, by murad beg of kunduz, about 1829, the place was abandoned for years, but is now re-occupied. the ancient capital of badakhshan stood in the dasht (or plain) of bahárak, one of the most extensive pieces of level in badakhshan, in which the rivers vardoj, zardeo, and sarghalan unite with the kokcha, and was apparently termed _jaúzgún_. this was probably the city called badakhshan by our traveller.[2] as far as i can estimate, by the help of wood and the map i have compiled, this will be from 100 to 110 miles distant from talikan, and will therefore suit fairly with the six marches that marco lays down. wood, in 1838, found the whole country between talikan and faizabad nearly as depopulated as marco found that between kishm and badakhshan. the modern depopulation was due--in part, at least--to the recent oppressions and _razzias_ of the uzbeks of kunduz. on their decline, between 1840 and 1850, the family of the native mírs was reinstated, and these now rule at faizabad, under an acknowledgment, since 1859, of afghan supremacy. [1] since published in _j. k. g. s._ vol. xlii. [2] wilford, in the end of the 18th century, speaks of faizabad as "the new capital of badakhshan, built near the site of the old one." the chinese map (vide _j. r. g. s._ vol. xlii.) represents the city of _badakhshan_ to the east of faizabad. faiz bakhsh, in an unpublished paper, mentions a tradition that the lady zobeidah, dear to english children, the daughter of al-mansúr and wife of ar-rashid, delighted to pass the spring at jauzgún, and built a palace there, "the ruins of which are still visible." chapter xxix. of the province of badashan. badashan is a province inhabited by people who worship mahommet, and have a peculiar language. it forms a very great kingdom, and the royalty is hereditary. all those of the royal blood are descended from king alexander and the daughter of king darius, who was lord of the vast empire of persia. and all these kings call themselves in the saracen tongue zulcarniain, which is as much as to say _alexander_; and this out of regard for alexander the great.[note 1] it is in this province that those fine and valuable gems the balas rubies are found. they are got in certain rocks among the mountains, and in the search for them the people dig great caves underground, just as is done by miners for silver. there is but one special mountain that produces them, and it is called syghinan. the stones are dug on the king's account, and no one else dares dig in that mountain on pain of forfeiture of life as well as goods; nor may any one carry the stones out of the kingdom. but the king amasses them all, and sends them to other kings when he has tribute to render, or when he desires to offer a friendly present; and such only as he pleases he causes to be sold. thus he acts in order to keep the balas at a high value; for if he were to allow everybody to dig, they would extract so many that the world would be glutted with them, and they would cease to bear any value. hence it is that he allows so few to be taken out, and is so strict in the matter.[note 2] there is also in the same country another mountain, in which azure is found; 'tis the finest in the world, and is got in a vein like silver. there are also other mountains which contain a great amount of silver ore, so that the country is a very rich one; but it is also (it must be said) a very cold one.[note 3] it produces numbers of excellent horses, remarkable for their speed. they are not shod at all, although constantly used in mountainous country, and on very bad roads. [they go at a great pace even down steep descents, where other horses neither would nor could do the like. and messer marco was told that not long ago they possessed in that province a breed of horses from the strain of alexander's horse bucephalus, all of which had from their birth a particular mark on the forehead. this breed was entirely in the hands of an uncle of the king's; and in consequence of his refusing to let the king have any of them, the latter put him to death. the widow then, in despite, destroyed the whole breed, and it is now extinct.[note 4]] the mountains of this country also supply saker falcons of excellent flight, and plenty of lanners likewise. beasts and birds for the chase there are in great abundance. good wheat is grown, and also barley without husk. they have no olive oil, but make oil from sesamé, and also from walnuts.[note 5] [in the mountains there are vast numbers of sheep--400, 500, or 600 in a single flock, and all of them wild; and though many of them are taken, they never seem to get aught the scarcer.[note 6] those mountains are so lofty that 'tis a hard day's work, from morning till evening, to get to the top of them. on getting up, you find an extensive plain, with great abundance of grass and trees, and copious springs of pure water running down through rocks and ravines. in those brooks are found trout and many other fish of dainty kinds; and the air in those regions is so pure, and residence there so healthful, that when the men who dwell below in the towns, and in the valleys and plains, find themselves attacked by any kind of fever or other ailment that may hap, they lose no time in going to the hills; and after abiding there two or three days, they quite recover their health through the excellence of that air. and messer marco said he had proved this by experience: for when in those parts he had been ill for about a year, but as soon as he was advised to visit that mountain, he did so and got well at once.[note 7]] [illustration: ancient silver patera of debased greek art, formerly in the possession of the princes of badakhshan, now in the india museum. (four-ninths of the diameter of the original.)] in this kingdom there are many strait and perilous passes, so difficult to force that the people have no fear of invasion. their towns and villages also are on lofty hills, and in very strong positions.[note 8] they are excellent archers, and much given to the chase; indeed, most of them are dependent for clothing on the skins of beasts, for stuffs are very dear among them. the great ladies, however, are arrayed in stuffs, and i will tell you the style of their dress! they all wear drawers made of cotton cloth, and into the making of these some will put 60, 80, or even 100 ells of stuff. this they do to make themselves look large in the hips, for the men of those parts think that to be a great beauty in a woman.[note 9] note 1.--"the population of badakhshan proper is composed of tajiks, turks, and arabs, who are all sunnis, following the orthodox doctrines of the mahomedan law, and speak persian and turki, whilst the people of the more mountainous tracts are tajiks of the shiá creed, having separate provincial dialects or languages of their own, the inhabitants of the principal places combining therewith a knowledge of persian. thus, the _shighnáni_ [sometimes called _shighni_] is spoken in shignán and roshán, the _ishkáshami_ in ishkásham, the _wakhi_ in wakhán, the _sanglichì_ in sanglich and zebák, and the _minjáni_ in minján. all these dialects materially differ from each other." (_pand. manphul._) it may be considered almost certain that badakhshan proper also had a peculiar dialect in polo's time. mr. shaw speaks of the strong resemblance to _kashmírís_ of the badakhshán people whom he had seen. the legend of the alexandrian pedigree of the kings of badakhshan is spoken of by baber, and by earlier eastern authors. this pedigree is, or was, claimed also by the chiefs of karátegín, darwáz, roshán, shighnán, wakhán, chitrál, gilgít, swát, and khapolor in bálti. some samples of those genealogies may be seen in that strange document called "gardiner's travels." in badakhshan proper the story seems now to have died out. indeed, though wood mentions one of the modern family of mírs as vaunting this descent, these are in fact _sáhibzádahs_ of samarkand, who were invited to the country about the middle of the 17th century, and were in no way connected with the old kings. the traditional claims to alexandrian descent were probably due to a genuine memory of the graeco-bactrian kingdom, and might have had an origin analogous to the sultan's claim to be "caesar of rome"; for the real ancestry of the oldest dynasties on the oxus was to be sought rather among the tochari and ephthalites than among the greeks whom they superseded. the cut on p. 159 presents an interesting memorial of the real relation of bactria to greece, as well as of the pretence of the badakhshan princes to grecian descent. this silver patera was sold by the family of the mírs, when captives, to the minister of the uzbek chief of kunduz, and by him to dr. percival lord in 1838. it is now in the india museum. on the bottom is punched a word or two in pehlvi, and there is also a word incised in syriac or uighúr. it is curious that a _pair_ of paterae were acquired by dr. lord under the circumstances stated. the other, similar in material and form, but apparently somewhat larger, is distinctly sassanian, representing a king spearing a lion. _zu-'lkarnain_, "the two-horned," is an arabic epithet of alexander, with which legends have been connected, but which probably arose from the horned portraits on his coins. [capus, l.c. p. 121, says, "iskandr zoulcarneïn or alexander _le cornu_, horns being the emblem of strength." --h. c.] the term appears in chaucer (_troil. and cress._ iii. 931) in the sense of _non plus_:- "i am, till god me better minde send, at _dulcarnon_, right at my wittes end." and it is said to have still colloquial existence in that sense in some corners of england. this use is said to have arisen from the arabic application of the term (_bicorne_) to the 47th proposition of euclid. (_baber_, 13; _n. et e._ xiv. 490; _n. an. des v._ xxvi. 296; _burnes_, iii. 186 seqq.; _wood_, 155, 244; _j. a. s. b._ xxii. 300; _ayeen akbery_, ii. 185; see _n. and q._ 1st series, vol. v.) note 2.--i have adopted in the text for the name of the country that one of the several forms in the g. text which comes nearest to the correct name, viz. _badascian_. but _balacian_ also appears both in that and in pauthier's text. this represents _balakhshán_, a form also sometimes used in the east. hayton has _balaxcen_, clavijo _balaxia_, the catalan map _baldassia_. from the form _balakhsh_ the balas ruby got its name. as ibn batuta says: "'the mountains of badakhshan have given their name to the badakhshi ruby, vulgarly called _al balaksh_." albertus magnus says the _balagius_ is the female of the carbuncle or ruby proper, "and some say it is his house, and hath thereby got the name, quasi _palatium_ carbunculi!" the balais or balas ruby is, like the spinel, a kind inferior to the real ruby of ava. the author of the _masálak al absár_ says the finest balas ever seen in the arab countries was one presented to malek 'adil ketboga, at damascus; it was of a triangular form and weighed 50 drachms. the prices of _balasci_ in europe in that age may be found in pegolotti, but the needful problems are hard to solve. "no sapphire in inde, no rubie rich of price, there lacked than, nor emeraud so grene, _balès_, turkès, ne thing to my device." (_chaucer, 'court of love.'_) "l'altra letizia, che m'era già nota, preclara cosa mi si fece in vista, qual fin _balascio_ in che lo sol percuoto." (_paradiso_, ix. 67.) some account of the balakhsh from oriental sources will be found in _j. as._ sér v. tom. xi. 109. (_i. b._ iii. 59, 394; _alb. mag. de mineralibus; pegol._ p. 307; _n. et e._ xiii. i. 246.) ["the mohammedan authors of the mongol period mention badakhshan several times in connection with the political and military events of that period. guchluk, the 'gurkhan of karakhitai,' was slain in badakhshan in 1218 (_d'ohsson_, i. 272). in 1221, the mongols invaded the country (l.c. i. 272). on the same page, d'ohsson translates a short account of badakhshan by yakut (+ 1229), stating that this mountainous country is famed for its precious stones, and especially rubies, called _balakhsh_." (bretschneider, _med. res._ ii. p. 66.)--h. c.] the account of the royal monopoly in working the mines, etc., has continued accurate down to our own day. when murad beg of kunduz conquered badakhshan some forty years ago, in disgust at the small produce of the mines, he abandoned working them, and sold nearly all the population of the place into slavery! they continue still unworked, unless clandestinely. in 1866 the reigning mír had one of them opened at the request of pandit manphul, but without much result. the locality of the mines is on the right bank of the oxus, in the district of ish káshm and on the borders of shignan, the _syghinan_ of the text. (_p. manph.; wood_, 206; _n. ann. des. v._ xxvi. 300.) [the ruby mines are really in the gháran country, which extends along both banks of the oxus. barshar is one of the deserted villages; the boundary between gháran and shignán is the kuguz parin (in shighai dialect means "holes in the rock"); the persian equivalent is "rafak-i-somakh." (cf. captain trotter, _forsyth's mission_, p. 277.)--h. c.] note 3.--the mines of _lájwurd_ (whence _l'azur_ and _lazuli_) have been, like the ruby mines, celebrated for ages. they lie in the upper valley of the kokcha, called korán, within the tract called _yamgán_, of which the popular etymology is _hamah-kán_, or "all-mines," and were visited by wood in 1838. the produce now is said to be of very inferior quality, and in quantity from 30 to 60 _poods_ (36 lbs each) annually. the best quality sells at bokhara at 30 to 60 tillas, or 12_l._ to 24_l._ the pood (_manphúl_). surely it is ominous when a british agent writing of badakhshan products finds it natural to express weights in russian poods! the yamgán tract also contains mines of iron, lead, alum, salammoniac, sulphur, ochre, and copper. the last are not worked. but i do not learn of any silver mines nearer than those of paryán in the valley of panjshir, south of the crest of the hindu-kúsh, much worked in the early middle ages. (see _cathay_, p. 595.) note 4.--the kataghan breed of horses from badakhshan and kunduz has still a high reputation. they do not often reach india, as the breed is a favourite one among the afghan chiefs, and the horses are likely to be appropriated in transit. (_lumsden, mission to kandahar_, p. 20.) [the kirghiz between the yangi hissar river and sirikol are the only people using the horse generally in the plough, oxen being employed in the plains, and yaks in sirikol. (lieutenant-colonel gordon, p. 222, _forsyth's mission_.)--h. c.] what polo heard of the bucephalid strain was perhaps but another form of a story told by the chinese, many centuries earlier, when speaking of this same region. a certain cave was frequented by a wonderful stallion of supernatural origin. hither the people yearly brought their mares, and a famous breed was derived from the foals. (_rém. n. mél. as._ i. 245.) note 5.--the huskless barley of the text is thus mentioned by burnes in the vicinity of the hindu-kúsh: "they rear a barley in this elevated country which has no husk, and grows like wheat; but it is barley." it is not properly _huskless_, but when ripe it bursts the husk and remains so loosely attached as to be dislodged from it by a slight shake. it is grown abundantly in ladak and the adjoining hill states. moorcroft details six varieties of it cultivated there. the kind mentioned by marco and burnes is probably that named by royle _hordeum aegiceras_, and which has been sent to england under the name of tartarian wheat, though it is a genuine barley. _naked barley_ is mentioned by galen as grown in cappadocia; and matthioli speaks of it as grown in france in his day (middle of 16th century). it is also known to the arabs, for they have a name for it-_sult_. (_burnes_, iii. 205; _moorc._ ii. 148 seqq.; _galen, de aliment. facult._ lat. ed. 13; _matthioli_, ven. 1585, p. 420; _eng. cyc._, art. hordeum.) sesamé is mentioned by p. manphul as one of the products of badakhshan; linseed is another, which is also used for oil. walnut-trees abound, but neither he nor wood mention the oil. we know that walnut oil is largely manufactured in kashmir. (_moorcroft_, ii. 148.) [see on saker and lanner falcons (_f. sakar_, briss.; _f. lanarius_, schlegel) the valuable paper by edouard blanc, _sur l'utilisation des oiseaux de proie en asie centrale_ _in rev. des sciences natur. appliquées_, 20th june, 1895. "hawking is the favourite sport of central asian lords," says g. capus. (_a travers le royaume de tamerlan_, p. 132. see pp. 132-134.) the mirza says (l.c. p. 157) that the mountains of wakhán "are only noted for producing a breed of hawks or falcons which the hardy wâkhânis manage to catch among the cliffs. these hawks are much esteemed by the chiefs of badakhshan, bokhara, etc. they are celebrated for their swiftness, and known by their white colour."--h. c.] note 6.--these wild sheep are probably the kind called _kachkár_, mentioned by baber, and described by mr. blyth in his monograph of wild sheep, under the name of _ovis vignei_. it is extensively diffused over all the ramifications of hindu-kúsh, and westward perhaps to the persian elburz. "it is gregarious," says wood, "congregating in herds of _several hundreds_." in a later chapter polo speaks of a wild sheep apparently different and greater. (see _j. a. s. b._, x. 858 seqq.) note 7.--this pleasant passage is only in ramusio, but it would be heresy to doubt its genuine character. marco's recollection of the delight of convalescence in such a climate seems to lend an unusual enthusiasm and felicity to his description of the scenery. such a region as he speaks of is probably the cool plateau of shewá, of which we are told as extending about 25 miles eastward from near faizabad, and forming one of the finest pastures in badakhshan. it contains a large lake called by the frequent name sar-i-kol. no european traveller in modern times (unless mr. gardner) has been on those glorious table-lands. burnes says that at kunduz both natives and foreigners spoke rapturously of the vales of badakhshan, its rivulets, romantic scenes and glens, its fruits, flowers, and nightingales. wood is reticent on scenery, naturally, since nearly all his journey was made in winter. when approaching faizabad on his return from the upper oxus, however, he says: "on entering the beautiful lawn at the gorge of its valley i was enchanted at the quiet loveliness of the scene. up to this time, from the day we left talikan, we had been moving in snow; but now it had nearly vanished from the valley, and the fine sward was enamelled with crocuses, daffodils, and snowdrops." (_p. manphul; burnes_, iii. 176; _wood_, 252.) note 8.--yet scarcely any country in the world has suffered so terribly and repeatedly from invasion. "enduring decay probably commenced with the wars of chinghiz, for many an instance in eastern history shows the permanent effect of such devastations.... century after century saw only progress in decay. even to our own time the progress of depopulation and deterioration has continued." in 1759, two of the khojas of kashgar, escaping from the dominant chinese, took refuge in badakhshan; one died of his wounds, the other was treacherously slain by sultan shah, who then ruled the country. the holy man is said in his dying moments to have invoked curses on badakhshan, and prayed that it might be three times depopulated; a malediction which found ample accomplishment. the misery of the country came to a climax about 1830, when the uzbek chief of kunduz, murad beg kataghan, swept away the bulk of the inhabitants, and set them down to die in the marshy plains of kunduz. (_cathay_, p. 542; _faiz bakhsh_, etc.) note 9.--this "bombasticall dissimulation of their garments," as the author of _anthropometamorphosis_ calls such a fashion, is no longer affected by the ladies of badakhshan. but a friend in the panjab observes that it still survives _there_. "there are ladies' trousers here which might almost justify marco's very liberal estimate of the quantity of stuff required to make them;" and among the afghan ladies, dr. bellew says, the silken trousers almost surpass crinoline in amplitude. it is curious to find the same characteristic attaching to female figures on coins of ancient kings of these regions, such as agathocles and pantaleon. (the last name is appropriate!) chapter xxx. of the province of pashai you must know that ten days' journey to the south of badashan there is a province called pashai, the people of which have a peculiar language, and are idolaters, of a brown complexion. they are great adepts in sorceries and the diabolic arts. the men wear earrings and brooches of gold and silver set with stones and pearls. they are a pestilent people and a crafty; and they live upon flesh and rice. their country is very hot.[note 1] now let us proceed and speak of another country which is seven days' journey from this one towards the south-east, and the name of which is keshimur. note 1.--the name of pashai has already occurred (see ch. xviii.) linked with dir, as indicating a tract, apparently of very rugged and difficult character, through which the partizan leader nigúdar passed in making an incursion from badakhshan towards káshmir. the difficulty here lies in the name _pashai_, which points to the south-west, whilst _dir_ and all other indications point to the south-east. but pashai seems to me the reading to which all texts tend, whilst it is clearly expressed in the g. t. (_pasciai_), and it is contrary to all my experience of the interpretation of marco polo to attempt to torture the name in the way which has been common with commentators professed and occasional. but dropping this name for a moment, let us see to what the other indications do point. in the meagre statements of this and the next chapter, interposed as they are among chapters of detail unusually ample for polo, there is nothing to lead us to suppose that the traveller ever personally visited the countries of which these two chapters treat. i believe we have here merely an amplification of the information already sketched of the country penetrated by the nigudarian bands whose escapade is related in chapter xviii., information which was probably derived from a mongol source. and these countries are in my belief _both_ regions famous in the legends of the northern buddhists, viz. udyána and káshmir. udyána lay to the north of pesháwar on the swát river, but from the extent assigned to it by hiuen tsang, the name probably covered a large part of the whole hill-region south of the hindu-kúsh from chitrál to the indus, as indeed it is represented in the map of vivien de st. martin (_pèlerins bouddhistes_, ii.). it is regarded by fahian as the most northerly province of india, and in his time the food and clothing of the people were similar to those of gangetic india. it was the native country of padma sambhava, one of the chief apostles of lamaism, i.e. of tibetan buddhism, and a great master of enchantments. the doctrines of sakya, as they prevailed in udyána in old times, were probably strongly tinged with sivaitic magic, and the tibetans still regard that locality as the classic ground of sorcery and witchcraft. hiuen tsang says of the inhabitants: "the men are of a soft and pusillanimous character, _naturally inclined to craft and trickery_. they are fond of study, but pursue it with no ardour. _the science of magical formulae is become a regular professional business with them_. they generally wear clothes of white cotton, and rarely use any other stuff. their spoken language, in spite of some differences, has a strong resemblance to that of india." these particulars suit well with the slight description in our text, and the indian atmosphere that it suggests; and the direction and distance ascribed to pashai suit well with chitral, which may be taken as representing udyána when approached from badakhshan. for it would be quite practicable for a party to reach the town of chitrál in ten days from the position assigned to the old capital of badakhshan. and from chitrál the road towards káshmir would lie over the high lahori pass to dir, which from its mention in chapter xviii. we must consider an obligatory point. (_fah-hian_, p. 26; _koeppen_, i. 70; _pèlerins boud._ ii. 131-132.) ["tao-lin (a buddhist monk like hiuen tsang) afterwards left the western regions and changed his road to go to northern india; he made a pilgrimage to _kia-che-mi-louo_ (káshmir), and then entered the country of _u-ch'ang-na_ (udyána)...." (ed. chavannes, _i-tsing_, p. 105.)--h. c.] we must now turn to the name _pashai_. the pashai tribe are now mahomedan, but are reckoned among the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, which the afghans are not. baber mentions them several times, and counts their language as one of the dozen that were spoken at kabul in his time. burnes says it resembles that of the kafirs. a small vocabulary of it was published by leech, in the seventh volume of the _j. a. s. b._, which i have compared with vocabularies of siah-posh kafir, published by raverty in vol. xxxiii. of the same journal, and by lumsden in his _report of the mission to kandahar_, in 1837. both are aryan, and seemingly of professor max müller's class _indic_, but not very close to one another.[1] ibn batuta, after crossing the hindu-kúsh by one of the passes at the head of the panjshir valley, reaches the mountain bashái (pashai). in the same vicinity the pashais are mentioned by sidi 'ali, in 1554. and it is still in the neighbourhood of panjshir that the tribe is most numerous, though they have other settlements in the hill-country about nijrao, and on the left bank of the kabul river between kabul and jalalabad. _pasha_ and _pasha_-gar is also named as one of the chief divisions of the kafirs, and it seems a fair conjecture that it represents those of the pashais who resisted or escaped conversion to islam. (see _leech's reports_ in collection pub. at calcutta in 1839; _baber_, 140; _elphinstone_, i. 411; _j. a. s. b._ vii. 329, 731, xxviii. 317 seqq., xxxiii. 271-272; _i. b._ iii. 86; _j. as._ ix. 203, and _j. r. a. s._ n.s. v. 103, 278.) the route of which marco had heard must almost certainly have been one of those leading by the high valley of zebák, and by the doráh or the nuksán pass, over the watershed of hindu-kúsh into chitrál, and so to dir, as already noticed. the difficulty remains as to how he came to apply the name _pashai_ to the country south-east of badakhshan. i cannot tell. but it is at least possible that the name of the pashai tribe (of which the branches even now are spread over a considerable extent of country) may have once had a wide application over the southern spurs of the hindukúsh.[2] our author, moreover, is speaking here from hearsay, and hearsay geography without maps is much given to generalising. i apprehend that, along with characteristics specially referable to the tibetan and mongol traditions of udyána, the term pashai, as polo uses it, vaguely covers the whole tract from the southern boundary of badakhshan to the indus and the kabul river. but even by extending its limits to attok, we shall not get within seven marches of káshmir. it is 234 miles by road from attok to srinagar; more than twice seven marches. and, according to polo's usual system, the marches should be counted from chitrál, or some point thereabouts. sir h. rawlinson, in his _monograph on the oxus_, has indicated the probability that the name _pashai_ may have been originally connected with _aprasin_ or _paresín_, the zendavestian name for the indian caucasus, and which occurs in the babylonian version of the behistun inscription as the equivalent of gaddra in the persian, i.e. _gandhára_, there applied to the whole country between bactria and the indus. (see _j. r. g. s._ xlii. 502.) some such traditional application of the term pashai might have survived. [1] the kafir dialect of which mr. trumpp collected some particulars shows in the present tense of the substantive verb these remarkable forms:- _ei sum_, _tu sis_, _siga se_; _ima simis_, _wi sik_, _sige sin_. [2] in the _tabakat-i-násiri_ (_elliot_, ii. 317) we find mention of the highlands of _pasha-afroz_, but nothing to define their position. chapter xxxi. of the province of keshimur. keshimur also is a province inhabited by a people who are idolaters and have a language of their own.[note 1] they have an astonishing acquaintance with the devilries of enchantment; insomuch that they make their idols to speak. they can also by their sorceries bring on changes of weather and produce darkness, and do a number of things so extraordinary that no one without seeing them would believe them.[note 2] indeed, this country is the very original source from which idolatry has spread abroad.[note 3] in this direction you can proceed further till you come to the sea of india. the men are brown and lean, but the women, taking them as brunettes, are very beautiful. the food of the people is flesh, and milk, and rice. the clime is finely tempered, being neither very hot nor very cold. there are numbers of towns and villages in the country, but also forests and desert tracts, and strong passes, so that the people have no fear of anybody, and keep their independence, with a king of their own to rule and do justice.[note 4] there are in this country eremites (after the fashion of those parts), who dwell in seclusion and practise great abstinence in eating and drinking. they observe strict chastity, and keep from all sins forbidden in their law, so that they are regarded by their own folk as very holy persons. they live to a very great age.[note 5] there are also a number of idolatrous abbeys and monasteries. [the people of the province do not kill animals nor spill blood; so if they want to eat meat they get the saracens who dwell among them to play the butcher.[note 6]] the coral which is carried from our parts of the world has a better sale there than in any other country.[note 7] [illustration: ancient buddhist temple at pandrethan in káshmir] now we will quit this country, and not go any further in the same direction; for if we did so we should enter india; and that i do not wish to do at present. for, on our return journey, i mean to tell you about india: all in regular order. let us go back therefore to badashan, for we cannot otherwise proceed on our journey. note 1.--i apprehend that in this chapter marco represents buddhism (which is to be understood by his expression _idolatry_, not always, but usually) as in a position of greater life and prosperity than we can believe it to have enjoyed in káshmir at the end of the 13th century, and i suppose that his knowledge of it was derived in great part from tales of the mongol and tibetan buddhists about its past glories. i know not if the spelling _kesciemur_ represents any peculiar mongol pronunciation of the name. plano carpini, probably the first modern european to mention this celebrated region, calls it _casmir_ (p. 708). "the cashmeerians," says abu'l fazl, "have a language of their own, but their books are written in the shanskrit tongue, although the character is sometimes cashmeerian. they write chiefly upon _tooz_ [birch-bark], which is the bark of a tree; it easily divides into leaves, and remains perfect for many years." (_ayeen akbery_, ii. 147.) a sketch of kashmiri grammar by mr. edgeworth will be found in vol. x. of the _j. a. s. b._, and a fuller one by major leech in vol. xiii. other contributions on the language are in vol. xxxv. pt. i. p. 233 (godwin-austen); in vol. xxxix. pt. i. p. 95 (dr. elmslie); and in _proceedings_ for 1866, p. 62, seqq. (sir g. campbell and bábú rájendra lál mitra). the language, though in large measure of sanskrit origin, has words and forms that cannot be traced in any other indian vernacular. (_campbell_, pp. 67, 68). the character is a modification of the panjáb nagari. note 2.--the kashmirian conjurers had made a great impression on marco, who had seen them at the court of the great kaan, and he recurs in a later chapter to their weather sorceries and other enchantments, when we shall make some remarks. meanwhile let us cite a passage from bernier, already quoted by m. pauthier. when crossing the pír panjál (the mountain crossed on entering káshmir from lahore) with the camp of aurangzíb, he met with "an old hermit who had dwelt upon the summit of the pass since the days of jehangir, and whose religion nobody knew, although it was said that he could work miracles, and used at his pleasure to produce extraordinary thunderstorms, as well as hail, snow, rain, and wind. there was something wild in his countenance, and in his long, spreading, and tangled hoary beard. he asked alms fiercely, allowing the travellers to drink from earthen cups that he had set out upon a great stone, but signing to them to go quickly by without stopping. he scolded those who made a noise, 'for,' said he to me (after i had entered his cave and smoothed him down with a half rupee which i put in his hand with all humility), 'noise here raises furious storms. aurangzíb has done well in taking my advice and prohibiting it. shah jehan always did the like. but jehangir once chose to laugh at what i said, and made his drums and trumpets sound; the consequence was he nearly lost his life.'" (_bernier_, amst. ed. 1699, ii. 290.) a successor of this hermit was found on the same spot by p. desideri in 1713, and another by vigne in 1837. note 3.--though the earliest entrance of buddhism into tibet was from india proper, yet káshmir twice in the history of tibetan buddhism played a most important part. it was in káshmir that was gathered, under the patronage of the great king kanishka, soon after our era, the fourth buddhistic council, which marks the point of separation between northern and southern buddhism. numerous missionaries went forth from káshmir to spread the doctrine in tibet and in central asia. many of the pandits who laboured at the translation of the sacred books into tibetan were kashmiris, and it was even in káshmir that several of the translations were made. but these were not the only circumstances that made káshmir a holy land to the northern buddhists. in the end of the 9th century the religion was extirpated in tibet by the julian of the lamas, the great persecutor langdarma, and when it was restored, a century later, it was from káshmir in particular that fresh missionaries were procured to reinstruct the people in the forgotten law. (see _koeppen_, ii. 12-13, 78; _j. as._ sér. vi. tom. vi. 540.) "the spread of buddhism to káshmir is an event of extraordinary importance in the history of that religion. thenceforward that country became a mistress in the buddhist doctrine and the headquarters of a particular school.... the influence of káshmir was very marked, especially in the spread of buddhism beyond india. from káshmir it penetrated to kandahar and kabul,... and thence over bactria. tibetan buddhism also had its essential origin from káshmir;... so great is the importance of this region in the history of buddhism." (_vassilyev, der buddhismus_, i. 44.) in the account which the mahawanso gives of the consecration of the great tope at ruanwelli, by dutthagamini, king of ceylon (b.c. 157), 280,000 priests (!) come from káshmir, a far greater number than is assigned to any other country except one. (_j. a. s. b._ vii. 165.) it is thus very intelligible how marco learned from the mongols and the lamas with whom he came in contact to regard káshmir as "the very original source from which their religion had spread abroad." the feeling with which they looked to káshmir must have been nearly the same as that with which the buddhists of burma look to ceylon. but this feeling towards káshmir does not _now_, i am informed, exist in tibet. the reverence for the holy places has reverted to bahar and the neighbouring "cradle-lands" of buddhism. it is notable that the historian firishta, in a passage quoted by tod, uses marco's expression in reference to káshmir, almost precisely, saying that the hindoos derived their idolatry from káshmir, "the foundry of magical superstition." (_rajasthan_, i. 219.) note 4.--the people of káshmir retain their beauty, but they are morally one of the most degraded races in asia. long oppression, now under the lords of jamu as great as ever, has no doubt aggravated this. yet it would seem that twelve hundred years ago the evil elements were there as well as the beauty. the chinese traveller says: "their manners are light and volatile, their characters effeminate and pusillanimous.... they are very handsome, but their natural bent is to fraud and trickery." (_pèl. boud._ ii. 167-168.) vigne's account is nearly the same. (ii. 142-143.) "they are as mischievous as monkeys, and far more malicious," says mr. shaw (p. 292). [bernier says: "the women [of kachemire] especially are very handsome; and it is from this country that nearly every individual, when first admitted to the court of the great mogul, selects wives or concubines, that his children may be whiter than the indians, and pass for genuine moguls. unquestionably, there must be beautiful women among the higher classes, if we may judge by those of the lower orders seen in the streets and in the shops." (_travels in the mogul empire_, edited by archibald constable, 1891, p. 404.)] note 5.--in the time of hiuen tsang, who spent two years studying in káshmir in the first half of the 7th century, though there were many brahmans in the country, buddhism was in a flourishing state; there were 100 convents with about 5000 monks. in the end of the 11th century a king (harshadeva, 1090-1102) is mentioned _exceptionally_ as a protector of buddhism. the supposition has been intimated above that marco's picture refers to a traditional state of things, but i must notice that a like picture is presented in the chinese account of hulaku's war. one of the thirty kingdoms subdued by the mongols was "the kingdom of fo (buddha) called _kishimi_. it lies to the n.w. of india. there are to be seen the men who are counted the successors of shakia; their ancient and venerable air recalls the countenance of bodi-dharma as one sees it in pictures. they abstain from wine, and content themselves with a gill of rice for their daily food, and are occupied only in reciting the prayers and litanies of fo." (_rém. n. mél. asiat._ i. 179.) abu'l fazl says that on his third visit with akbar to káshmir he discovered some old men of the religion of buddha, but none of them were _literati_. the _rishis_, of whom he speaks with high commendation as abstaining from meat and from female society, as charitable and unfettered by traditions, were perhaps a modified remnant of the buddhist eremites. colonel newall, in a paper on the rishis of káshmir, traces them to a number of shiáh sayads, who fled to káshmir in the time of timur. but evidently the _genus_ was of much earlier date, long preceding the introduction of islam. (_vie et v. de h. t._ p. 390; _lassen_, iii. 709; _ayeen akb._ ii. 147, iii. 151; _j. a. s. b._ xxxix. pt. i. 265.) we see from the _dabistan_ that in the 17th century káshmir continued to be a great resort of magian mystics and sages of various sects, professing great abstinence and credited with preternatural powers. and indeed vámbéry tells us that even in our own day the kashmiri dervishes are pre-eminent among their mahomedan brethren for cunning, secret arts, skill in exorcisms, etc. (_dab._ i. 113 seqq. ii. 147-148; _vámb. sk. of cent. asia_, 9.) note 6.--the first precept of the buddhist decalogue, or ten obligations of the religious body, is not to take life. but _animal food_ is not forbidden, though restricted. indeed it is one of the circumstances in the legendary history of sakya muni, which looks as if it _must_ be true, that he is related to have aggravated his fatal illness by eating a dish of pork set before him by a hospitable goldsmith. giorgi says the butchers in tibet are looked on as infamous; and people selling sheep or the like will make a show of exacting an assurance that these are not to be slaughtered. in burma, when a british party wanted beef, the owner of the bullocks would decline to make one over, but would point one out that might be shot by the foreigners. in tibetan history it is told of the persecutor langdarma that he compelled members of the highest orders of the clergy to become hunters and butchers. a chinese collection of epigrams, dating from the 9th century, gives a facetious list of _incongruous conditions_, among which we find a poor parsi, a sick physician, a fat bride, a teacher who does not know his letters, and a _butcher who reads the scriptures_ (of buddhism)! (_alph. tib._ 445; _koeppen_, i. 74; _n. and q., c. and j._ iii. 33.) note 7.--coral is still a very popular adornment in the himalayan countries. the merchant tavernier says the people to the north of the great mogul's territories and in the mountains of assam and tibet were the greatest purchasers of coral. (_tr. in india_, bk. ii. ch. xxiii.) chapter xxxii. of the great river of badashan. in leaving badashan you ride twelve days between east and north-east, ascending a river that runs through land belonging to a brother of the prince of badashan, and containing a good many towns and villages and scattered habitations. the people are mahommetans, and valiant in war. at the end of those twelve days you come to a province of no great size, extending indeed no more than three days' journey in any direction, and this is called vokhan. the people worship mahommet, and they have a peculiar language. they are gallant soldiers, and they have a chief whom they call none, which is as much as to say _count_, and they are liegemen to the prince of badashan.[note 1] there are numbers of wild beasts of all sorts in this region. and when you leave this little country, and ride three days north-east, always among mountains, you get to such a height that 'tis said to be the highest place in the world! and when you have got to this height you find [a great lake between two mountains, and out of it] a fine river running through a plain clothed with the finest pasture in the world; insomuch that a lean beast there will fatten to your heart's content in ten days. there are great numbers of all kinds of wild beasts; among others, wild sheep of great size, whose horns are good six palms in length. from these horns the shepherds make great bowls to eat from, and they use the horns also to enclose folds for their cattle at night. [messer marco was told also that the wolves were numerous, and killed many of those wild sheep. hence quantities of their horns and bones were found, and these were made into great heaps by the way-side, in order to guide travellers when snow was on the ground.] the plain is called pamier, and you ride across it for twelve days together, finding nothing but a desert without habitations or any green thing, so that travellers are obliged to carry with them whatever they have need of. the region is so lofty and cold that you do not even see any birds flying. and i must notice also that because of this great cold, fire does not burn so brightly, nor give out so much heat as usual, nor does it cook food so effectually.[note 2] now, if we go on with our journey towards the east-north-east, we travel a good forty days, continually passing over mountains and hills, or through valleys, and crossing many rivers and tracts of wilderness. and in all this way you find neither habitation of man, nor any green thing, but must carry with you whatever you require. the country is called bolor. the people dwell high up in the mountains, and are savage idolaters, living only by the chase, and clothing themselves in the skins of beasts. they are in truth an evil race.[note 3] note 1.--["the length of little pamir, according to trotter, is 68 miles.... to find the twelve days' ride in the plain of marco polo, it must be admitted, says severtsof (_bul. soc. géog._ xi. 1890, pp. 588-589), that he went down a considerable distance along the south-north course of the aksu, in the aktash valley, and did not turn towards tásh kurgán, by the neza tash pass, crossed by gordon and trotter. the descent from this pass to tásh kurgán finishes with a difficult and narrow defile, which may well be overflowed at the great melting of snow, from the end of may till the middle of june, even to july. "therefore he must have left the aksu valley to cross the pass of tagharma, about 50 or 60 kilometres to the north of the neza tash pass; thence to kashgar, the distance, in a straight line, is about 200 kilometres, and less than 300 by the shortest route which runs from the tagharma pass to little kara kul, and from there down to yangi hissar, along the ghidjik. and marco polo assigns _forty_ days for this route, while he allows but _thirty_ for the journey of 500 kilometres (at least) from jerm to the foot of the tagharma pass." professor paquier (_bul. soc. géog._ 6'e sér. xii. pp. 121-125) remarks that the moonshee, sent by captain trotter to survey the oxus between ishkashm and kila wamár, could not find at the spot marked by yule on his map, the mouth of the shakh-dara, but northward 7 or 8 miles from the junction of the murghab with the oxus, he saw the opening of an important water-course, the suchnan river, formed by the shakh-dara and the ghund-dara. marco arrived at a place between northern wakhán and shihgnan; from the central pamir, polo would have taken a route identical with that of the mirza (1868-1869) by the chichiklik pass. professor paquier adds: "i have no hesitation in believing that marco polo was in the neighbourhood of that great commercial road, which by the _vallis comedarum_ reached the foot of the imaüs. he probably did not venture on a journey of fifty marches in an unknown country. at the top of the shihgnan valley, he doubtless found a road marked out to little bukharia. this was the road followed in ancient times from bactrian to serica; and ptolemy has, so to speak, given us its landmarks after marinus of tyre, by the _vallis comedarum_ (valley of actual shihgnan); the _turris lapidea_ and the _statio mercatorum_, neighbourhood of tash kurgan, capital of the present province of sar-i-kol." i must say that accepting, as i do, for polo's itinerary, the route from wakhán to kashgar by the taghdum-bash pamir, and tásh kurgán, i do not agree with professor paquier's theory. but though i prefer sir h. yule's route from badakhshan, by the river vardoj, the pass of ishkashm, the panja, to wakhán, i do not accept his views for the itinerary from wakhán to kashgar; see p. 175.--h. c.] the river along which marco travels from badakhshan is no doubt the upper stream of the oxus, known locally as the panja, along which wood also travelled, followed of late by the mirza and faiz bakhsh. it is true that the river is reached from badaskhshan proper by ascending another river (the vardoj) and crossing the pass of ishkáshm, but in the brief style of our narrative we must expect such condensation. wakhán was restored to geography by macartney, in the able map which he compiled for elphinstone's _caubul_, and was made known more accurately by wood's journey through it. [the district of wakhán "comprises the valleys containing the two heads of the panjah branch of the oxus, and the valley of the panjah itself, from the junction at zung down to ishkashím. the northern branch of the panjah has its principal source in the lake victoria in the great pamir, which as well as the little pámir, belongs to wakhán, the aktash river forming the well recognized boundary between kashgaria and wakhán." (captain trotter, _forsyth's mission_, p. 275.) the southern branch is the sarhadd valley.--h. c.] the lowest part is about 8000 feet above the sea, and the highest _kishlak_, or village, about 11,500. a few willows and poplars are the only trees that can stand against the bitter blasts that blow down the valley. wood estimated the total population of the province at only 1000 souls, though it might be capable of supporting 5000.[1] he saw it, however, in the depth of winter. as to the peculiar language, see note i, ch. xxix. it is said to be a very old dialect of persian. a scanty vocabulary was collected by hayward. (_j. r. g. s._ xxi. p. 29.) the people, according to shaw, have aryan features, resembling those of the kashmiris, but harsher. [cf. captain trotter's _the oxus below wakhan, forsyth's mission_, p. 276.] we appear to see in the indications of this paragraph precisely the same system of government that now prevails in the oxus valleys. the central districts of faizabad and jerm are under the immediate administration of the mír of badakhshan, whilst fifteen other districts, such as _kishm, rusták, zebák, ishkáshm, wakhán_, are dependencies "held by the _relations of the mír_, or by hereditary rulers, on a feudal tenure, conditional on fidelity and military service in time of need, the holders possessing supreme authority in their respective territories, and paying little or no tribute to the paramount power." (_pandit manphul_.) the first part of the valley of which marco speaks as belonging to a brother of the prince, may correspond to ishkáshm, or perhaps to vardoj; the second, wakhán, seems to have had a hereditary ruler; but both were vassals of the prince of badakhshan, and therefore are styled _counts_, not kings or _seigneurs_. the native title which marco gives as the equivalent of count is remarkable. _non_ or _none_, as it is variously written in the texts, would in french form represent _nono_ in italian. pauthier refers this title to the "_rao_-nana (or nano) _rao_" which figures as the style of kanerkes in the indo-scythic coinage. but wilson (_ariana antiqua_, p. 358) interprets _raonano_ as most probably a genitive plural of rao, whilst the whole inscription answers precisely to the greek one [greek: basileus basileon kanaerkou] which is found on other coins of the same prince. general cunningham, a very competent authority, adheres to this view, and writes: "i do not think _none_ or _non_ can have any connection with the _nana_ of the coins." it is remarkable, however, that nono (said to signify "younger," or lesser) is in tibet the title given to a younger brother, deputy, or subordinate prince. in cunningham's _ladak_ (259) we read: "_nono_ is the usual term of respect which is used in addressing any young man of the higher ranks, and when prefixed to _kahlon_ it means the younger or deputy minister." and again (p. 352): "_nono_ is the title given to a younger brother. nono sungnam was the younger brother of chang raphtan, the kahlon of bazgo." i have recently encountered the word used independently, and precisely in marco's application of it. an old friend, in speaking of a journey that he had made in our tibetan provinces, said incidentally that he had accompanied the commissioner _to the installation of a new_ nono (i think in spiti). the term here corresponds so precisely with the explanation which marco gives of _none_ as a count subject to a superior sovereign, that it is difficult to regard the coincidence as accidental. the _yuechi_ or indo-scyths who long ruled the oxus countries are said to have been of tibetan origin, and al-biruni repeats a report that this was so. (_elliot._ ii. 9.)[2] can this title have been a trace of their rule? or is it indian? note 2.--this chapter is one of the most interesting in the book, and contains one of its most splendid anticipations of modern exploration, whilst conversely lieutenant john wood's narrative presents the most brilliant confirmation in detail of marco's narrative. we have very old testimony to the recognition of the great altitude of the plateau of pamir (the name which marco gives it and which it still retains), and to the existence of the lake (or lakes) upon its surface. the chinese pilgrims hwui seng and sung yun, who passed this way a.d. 518, inform us that these high lands of the tsung ling were commonly said to be midway between heaven and earth. the more celebrated hiuen tsang, who came this way nearly 120 years later (about 644) on his return to china, "after crossing the mountains for 700 _li_, arrived at the valley of _pomilo_ (pamir). this valley is 1000 _li_ (about 200 miles) from east to west, and 100 _li_ (20 miles) from north to south, and lies between two snowy ranges in the centre of the tsung ling mountains. the traveller is annoyed by sudden gusts of wind, and the snow-drifts never cease, spring or summer. as the soil is almost constantly frozen, you see but a few miserable plants, and no crops can live. the whole tract is but a dreary waste, without a trace of human kind. in the middle of the valley is a great lake 300 _li_ (60 miles) from east to west, and 500 _li_ from north to south. this stands in the centre of jambudwipa (the buddhist [greek: oikouménae]) on a plateau of prodigious elevation. an endless variety of creatures peoples its waters. when you hear the murmur and clash of its waves you think you are listening to the noisy hum of a great market in which vast crowds of people are mingling in excitement.... the lake discharges to the west, and a river runs out of it in that direction and joins the _potsu_ (oxus).... the lake likewise discharges to the east, and a great river runs out, which flows eastward to the western frontier of _kiesha_ (káshgar), where it joins the river sita, and runs eastward with it into the sea." the story of an eastern outflow from the lake is, no doubt, legend, connected with an ancient hindu belief (see _cathay_, p. 347), but burnes in modern times heard much the same story. and the mirza, in 1868, took up the same impression regarding the smaller lake called pamir kul, in which the southern branch of the panja originates. "after quitting the (frozen) surface of the river," says wood, "we ... ascended a low hill, which apparently bounded the valley to the eastward. on surmounting this, at 3 p.m. of the 19th february, 1838, we stood, to use a native expression, upon the _bám-i-duniah_, or 'roof of the world,' while before us lay stretched a noble but frozen sheet of water, from whose western end issued the infant river of the oxus. this fine lake (sirikol) lies in the form of a crescent, about 14 miles long from east to west, by an average breadth of 1 mile. on three sides it is bordered by swelling hills about 500 feet high, while along its southern bank they rise into mountains 3500 feet above the lake, or 19,000 feet above the sea, and covered with perpetual snow, from which never-failing source the lake is supplied.... its elevation, measured by the temperature of boiling water, is 15,600 feet." the absence of birds on pamir, reported by marco, probably shows that he passed very late or early in the season. hiuen tsang, we see, gives a different account; wood was there in the winter, but heard that in summer the lake swarmed with water-fowl. [cf. captain trotter, p. 263, in _forsyth's mission_.] the pamir steppe was crossed by benedict goës late in the autumn of 1603, and the narrative speaks of the great cold and desolation, and the difficulty of breathing. we have also an abstract of the journey of abdul mejid, a british agent, who passed pamir on his way to kokan in 1861:--"fourteen weary days were occupied in crossing the steppe; the marches were long, depending on uncertain supplies of grass and water, which sometimes wholly failed them; food for man and beast had to be carried with the party, for not a trace of human habitation is to be met with in those inhospitable wilds.... the steppe is interspersed with tamarisk jungle and the wild willow, and in the summer with tracts of high grass." (_neumann_, _pilgerfahrten buddh. priester_, p. 50; _v. et v. de h. t._ 271-272; _wood_, 232; _proc. r. g. s._ x. 150.) there is nothing absolutely to decide whether marco's route from wakhán lay by wood's lake "sirikol," or victoria, or by the more southerly source of the oxus in pamir kul. these routes would unite in the valley of táshkurgán, and his road thence to kashgar was, i apprehend, nearly the same as the mirza's in 1868-1869, by the lofty chichiklik pass and kin valley. but i cannot account for the forty days of wilderness. the mirza was but thirty-four days _from faizabad to kashgar_, and faiz bakhsh only twenty-five. [severtsof (_bul. soc. géog._ xi. 1890, p. 587), who accepts trotter's route, by the pamir khurd (little pamir), says there are three routes from wakhán to little pamir, going up the sarhadd: one during the winter, by the frozen river; the two others available during the spring and the summer, up and down the snowy chain along the right bank of the sarhadd, until the valley widens out into a plain, where a swelling is hardly to be seen, so flat is it; this chain is the dividing ridge between the sarhadd and the aksu. from the summit, the traveller, looking towards the west, sees _at his feet_ the mountains he has crossed; to the east, the pamir kul and the aksu, the river flowing from it. the pasture grounds around the pamir kul and the sources of the sarhadd are magnificent; but lower down, the aksu valley is arid, _dotted_ only with pasture grounds of little extent, and few and far between. it is to this part of pamir that marco polo's description applies; more than any other part of this _ensemble_ of high valleys, this line of water parting, of the sarhadd and the aksu, has the aspect of a _roof of the world_ (_bam-i-dunya_, persian name of pamir).--h. c.]. [we can trace marco polo's route from wakhán, on comparing it with captain younghusband's itinerary from kashgar, which he left on the 22nd july, 1891, for little pamir: little pamir at bozai-gumbaz, joins with the pamir-i-wakhán at the wakhijrui pass, first explored by colonel lockhart's mission. hence the route lies by the old fort of kurgan-i-ujadbai at the junction of the two branches of the tagh-dum-bash pamir (supreme head of the mountains), the tagh-dum-bash pamir, tásh kurgán, bulun kul, the gez defile and kashgar. (_proc. r. g. s._ xiv. 1892, pp. 205-234.)--h. c.] we may observe that severtsof asserts _pamir_ to be a generic term, applied to all high plateaux in the thian shan.[3] ["the pámír plateau may be described as a great, broad, rounded ridge, extending north and south, and crossed by thick mountain chains, between which lie elevated valleys, open and gently sloping towards the east, but narrow and confined, with a rapid fall towards the west. the waters which run in all, with the exception of the eastern flow from the tághdúngbásh, collect in the oxus; the áksú from the little pámír lake receiving the eastern drainage, which finds an outlet in the áktásh valley, and joining the múrgháb, which obtains that from the alichór and síríz pámirs. as the eastern tághdúngbásh stream finds its way into the yarkand river, the watershed must be held as extending from that pámír, down the range dividing it from the little pámír, and along the neza tásh mountains to the kizil art pass, leading to the alái." (colonel gordon, _forsyth's mission_, p. 231.) lieutenant-colonel gordon (_forsyth's mission_, p. 231) says also: "regarding the name 'pámír,' the meaning appears to be wilderness--a place depopulated, abandoned, waste, yet capable of habitation. i obtained this information on the great pámír from one of our intelligent guides, who said in explanation--'in former days, when this part was inhabited by kirghiz, as is shown by the ruins of their villages and burial-grounds, the valley was not all called pámír, as it is now. it was known by its village names, as is the country beyond sirikol, which being now occupied by kirghiz is not known by one name, but partly as chárling, bas robát, etc. if deserted it would be pámír." in a note sir t. d. forsyth adds that the same explanation of the word was given to him at yangi-hissar, and that it is in fact a khokandi-turki word.--h. c.] it would seem, from such notices as have been received, that there is not, strictly speaking, one steppe called pamir, but a variety of _pamirs_, which are lofty valleys between ranges of hills, presenting luxuriant summer pasture, and with floors more or less flat, but nowhere more than 5 or 6 miles in width and often much less. [this is quite exact; mr. e. delmar morgan writes in the _scottish geog. mag._ january, 1892, p. 17: "following the terminology of yule adopted by geographers, and now well established, we have (1) pamir alichur; (2) pamir khurd (or "little"); (3) pamir kalan (or "great"); (4) pamir khargosi ("of the hare"); (5) pamir sares; (6) pamir rang-kul."--h. c.] [illustration: horns of _ovis poli_.] wood speaks of the numerous wolves in this region. and the great sheep is that to which blyth, in honour of our traveller, has given the name of _ovis poli_.[4] a pair of horns, sent by wood to the royal asiatic society, and of which a representation is given above, affords the following dimensions:--length of one horn on the curve, 4 feet 8 inches; round the base 14-1/4 inches; distance of tips apart 3 feet 9 inches. this sheep appears to be the same as the _rass_, of which burnes heard that the horns were so big that a man could not lift a pair, and that foxes bred in them; also that the carcass formed a load for two horses. wood says that these horns supply shoes for the kirghiz horses, and also a good substitute for stirrup-irons. "we saw numbers of horns strewed about in every direction, the spoils of the kirghiz hunter. some of these were of an astonishingly large size, and belonged to an animal of a species between a goat and a sheep, inhabiting the steppes of pamir. _the ends of the horns projecting above the snow often indicated the direction of the road_; and wherever they were heaped in large quantities and disposed in a semicircle, there our escort recognised the site of a kirghiz summer encampment.... we came in sight of a rough-looking building, decked out with the horns of the wild sheep, and all but buried amongst the snow. it was a kirghiz burying-ground." (pp. 223, 229, 231) [with reference to wood's remark that the horns of the _ovis poli_ supply shoes for the kirghiz horses, mr. rockhill writes to me that a paris newspaper of 24th november, 1894, observes: "horn shoes made of the horn of sheep are successfully used in lyons. they are especially adapted to horses employed in towns, where the pavements are often slippery. horses thus shod can be driven, it is said, at the most rapid pace over the worst pavement without slipping." (cf. rockhill, _rubruck_, p. 69; _chasses et explorations dans la région des pamirs_, par le vte. ed. de poncins, paris, 1897, 8vo.--h. c.).] [illustration: _ovis poli_, the great sheep of pamir. (after severtsof.) "el hi a grant montitude de monton sauvages qe sunt grandisme, car out lee cornes bien six paumes"....] in 1867 this great sheep was shot by m. severtsof, on the plateau of aksai, in the western thian shan. he reports these animals to go in great herds, and to be very difficult to kill. however, he brought back two specimens. the narin river is stated to be the northern limit of the species.[5] severtsof also states that the enemies of the _ovis poli_ are the wolves, [and colonel gordon says that the leopards and wolves prey almost entirely upon them. (on the _ovis poli_, see captain deasy, _in tibet_, p. 361.)--h. c.] colonel gordon, the head of the exploring party detached by sir douglas forsyth, brought away a head of _ovis poli_, which quite bears out the account by its eponymus of horns "good 6 palms in length," say 60 inches. this head, as i learn from a letter of colonel gordon's to a friend, has one horn perfect which measures 65-1/2 inches on the curves; the other, broken at the tip measures 64 inches; the straight line between the tips is 55 inches. [captain younghusband [1886] "before leaving the altai mountains, picked up several heads of the _ovis poli_, called argali by the mongols. they were somewhat different from those which i afterwards saw at yarkand, which had been brought in from the pamir. those i found in the gobi were considerably thicker at the base, there was a less degree of curve, and a shorter length of horn." a full description of the _ovis poli_, with a large plate drawing of the horns, may be seen in colonel gordon's _roof of the world_. (see p. 81.) (_proc. r. g. s._ x. 1888, p. 495.) some years later, captain younghusband speaks repeatedly of the great sport of shooting _ovis poli_. (_proc. r. g. s._ xiv. 1892, pp. 205, 234.)--h. c.] as to the pasture, timkowski heard that "the pasturage of pamir is so luxuriant and nutritious, that if horses are left on it for more than forty days they die of repletion." (i. 421.) and wood: "the grass of pamir, they tell you, is so rich that a sorry horse is here brought into good condition in less than twenty days; and its nourishing qualities are evidenced in the productiveness of their ewes, which almost invariably bring forth two lambs at a birth." (p. 365.) with regard to the effect upon fire ascribed to the "great cold," ramusio's version inserts the expression "_gli fu affermato per miracolo_," "it was asserted to him as a wonderful circumstance." and humboldt thinks it so strange that marco should not have observed this personally that he doubts whether polo himself passed the pamir. "how is it that he does not say that he himself had seen how the flames disperse and leap about, as i myself have so often experienced at similar altitudes in the cordilleras of the andes, especially when investigating the boiling-point of water?" (_cent. asia_, germ. transl. i. 588.) but the words quoted from ramusio do not exist in the old texts, and they are probably an editorial interpolation indicating disbelief in the statement. mm. huc and gabet made a like observation on the high passes of north-eastern tibet: "the _argols_ gave out much smoke, but would not burn with any flame"; only they adopted the native idea that this as well as their own sufferings in respiration was caused by some pernicious exhalation. major montgomerie, r.e., of the indian survey, who has probably passed more time nearer the heavens than any man living, sends me the following note on this passage: "what marco polo says as to fire at great altitudes not cooking so effectually as usual is perfectly correct as far as anything _boiled_ is concerned, but i doubt if it is as to anything _roasted_. the want of brightness in a fire at great altitudes is, i think, altogether attributable to the poorness of the fuel, which consists of either small sticks or bits of roots, or of _argols_ of dung, all of which give out a good deal of smoke, more especially the latter if not quite dry; but i have often seen a capital blaze made with the argols when perfectly dry. as to cooking, we found that rice, _dál_, and potatoes would never soften properly, no matter how long they were boiled. this, of course, was due to the boiling-point being only from 170° to 180°. our tea, moreover, suffered from the same cause, and was never good when we were over 15,000 feet. this was very marked. some of my natives made dreadful complaints about the rice and dál that they got from the village-heads in the valleys, and vowed that they only gave them what was very old and hard, as they could not soften it!" [illustration: marco polo's itineraries no. iii regions on and near the upper oxus] note 3.--bolor is a subject which it would take several pages to discuss with fulness, and i must refer for such fuller discussion to a paper in the _j. r. g. s._ vol. xlii. p. 473. the name _bolor_ is very old, occurring in hiuen tsang's travels (7th century), and in still older chinese works of like character. general cunningham has told us that balti is still termed _balor_ by the dards of gilghit; and mr. shaw, that _palor_ is an old name still sometimes used by the kirghiz for the upper part of chitrál. the indications of hiuen tsang are in accordance with general cunningham's information; and the fact that chitrál is described under the name of bolor in chinese works of the last century entirely justifies that of mr. shaw. a pushtu poem of the 17th century, translated by major raverty, assigns the mountains of _bilaur_-istán, as the northern boundary of swát. the collation of these indications shows that the term bolor must have been applied somewhat extensively to the high regions adjoining the southern margin of pamir. and a passage in the _táríkh rashídí_, written at kashgar in the 16th century by a cousin of the great baber, affords us a definition of the tract to which, in its larger sense, the name was thus applied: "_malaur_ (i.e. balaur or bolor) ... is a country with few level spots. it has a circuit of four months' march. the eastern frontier borders on kashgar and yarkand; it has badakhshan to the north, kabul to the west, and kashmír to the south." the writer was thoroughly acquainted with his subject, and the region which he so defines must have embraced sirikol and all the wild country south of yarkand, balti, gilghit, yasin, chitrál, and perhaps kafiristán. this enables us to understand polo's use of the term. the name of bolor in later days has been in a manner a symbol of controversy. it is prominent in the apocryphal travels of george ludwig von ----, preserved in the military archives at st. petersburg. that work represents a town of bolor as existing to the north of badakhshan, with wakhán still further to the north. this geography we now know to be entirely erroneous, but it is in full accordance with the maps and tables of the jesuit missionaries and their pupils, who accompanied the chinese troops to kashgar in 1758-1759. the paper in the _geographical society's journal_, which has been referred to, demonstrates how these erroneous data must have originated. it shows that the jesuit geography was founded on downright accidental error, and, as a consequence, that the narratives which profess _de visu_ to corroborate that geography must be downright forgeries. when the first edition was printed, i retained the belief in a _bolor_ where the jesuits placed it. [the chinese traveller, translated by m. gueluy (_desc. de la chine occid._ p. 53), speaks of bolor, to the west of yarkand, inhabited by mahomedans who live in huts; the country is sandy and rather poor. severtsof says, (_bul. soc. géog._ xi. 1890, p. 591) that he believes that the name of _bolor_ should be expunged from geographical nomenclature as a source of confusion and error. humboldt, with his great authority, has too definitely attached this name to an erroneous orographical system. lieutenant-colonel gordon says that he "made repeated enquiries from kirghiz and wakhis, and from the mír [of wakhán], fatteh ali shah, regarding 'bólór,' as a name for any mountain, country, or place, but all professed perfect ignorance of it." (_forsyth's mission._)--h. c.] the _j. a. s. bengal_ for 1853 (vol. xxii.) contains extracts from the diary of a mr. gardiner in those central regions of asia. these read more like the memoranda of a dyspeptic dream than anything else, and the only passage i can find illustrative of our traveller is the following; the region is described as lying twenty days south-west of kashgar: "the keiaz tribe live in caves on the highest peaks, subsist by hunting, keep no flocks, said to be anthropophagous, but have handsome women; eat their flesh raw." (p. 295; _pèlerins boud._ iii. 316, 421, etc.; _ladak_, 34, 45, 47; _mag. asiatique_, i. 92, 96-97; _not. et ext._ ii. 475, xiv. 492; _j. a. s. b._ xxxi. 279; mr. r. shaw in _geog. proceedings_, xvi. 246, 400; _notes regarding bolor_, etc., _j. r. g. s._ xlii. 473.) as this sheet goes finally to press we hear of the exploration of pamir by officers of mr. forsyth's mission. [i have made use of the information collected by them.--h. c.] [1] "yet this barren and inaccessible upland, with its scanty handful of wild people, finds a place in eastern history and geography from an early period, and has now become the subject of serious correspondence between two great european governments, and its name, for a few weeks at least, a household word in london. indeed, this is a striking accident of the course of modern history. we see the slav and the englishman--representatives of two great branches of the aryan race, but divided by such vast intervals of space and time from the original common starting-point of their migration--thus brought back to the lap of pamir to which so many quivering lines point as the centre of their earliest seats, there by common consent to lay down limits to mutual encroachment." (_quarterly review_, april, 1873, p. 548.) [2] ibn haukal reckons wakhán as an indian country. it is a curious coincidence (it can scarcely be more) that _nono_ in the garo tongue of eastern bengal signifies "a younger brother." (_j. a. s. b._ xxii. 153, xviii. 208.) [3] according to colonel tod, the hindu bard chand speaks of "pamer, chief of mountains." (i. p. 24.) but one may like and respect colonel tod without feeling able to rely on such quotations of his unconfirmed. [4] usually written _polii_, which is nonsense. [5] ["the tian shan wild sheep has since been described as the _ovis karelini_, a species somewhat smaller than the true _ovis poli_ which frequents the pamirs." (colonel gordon, _roof of the world_, p. 83, note.)--h. c.] chapter xxxiii. of the kingdom of cascar. [illustration: head of a native of kashgar] cascar is a region lying between north-east and east, and constituted a kingdom in former days, but now it is subject to the great kaan. the people worship mahommet. there are a good number of towns and villages, but the greatest and finest is cascar itself. the inhabitants live by trade and handicrafts; they have beautiful gardens and vineyards, and fine estates, and grow a great deal of cotton. from this country many merchants go forth about the world on trading journeys. the natives are a wretched, niggardly set of people; they eat and drink in miserable fashion. there are in the country many nestorian christians, who have churches of their own. the people of the country have a peculiar language, and the territory extends for five days' journey.[note 1] [illustration: view of kashgar (from shaw's "tartary")] note 1.--[there is no longer any difficulty in understanding how the travellers, after crossing pamir, should have arrived at kashgar if they followed the route from táshkurgán through the gez defile. the itinerary of the mirza from badakhshan (fáizabad) is the following: zebak, ishkashm, on the panja, which may be considered the beginning of the wakhán valley, panja fort, in wakhán, raz khan, patur, near lunghar (commencement of pamir steppe), pamir kul, or barkút yassin, 13,300 feet, aktash, sirikul táshkurgán, shukrab, chichik dawan, akul, kotul, chahul station (road to yarkand) kila karawal, aghiz gah, yangi-hissar, opechan, yanga shahr, kashgar, where he arrived on the 3rd february, 1869. (cf. _report of "the mirza's" exploration from caubul to kashgar_. by major t. g. montgomerie, r.e.... (_jour. r. geog. soc._ xli. 1871, pp. 132-192.) major montgomerie (l.c. p. 144) says: "the alterations in the positions of kashgar and yarkund in a great measure explains why marco polo, in crossing from badakhshan to eastern turkestan, went first to kashgar and then to yarkund. with the old positions of yarkund and kashgar it appeared that the natural route from badakhshan would have led first to yarkund; with the new positions, and guided by the light of the mirza's route, from which it is seen that the direct route to yarkund is not a good one, it is easy to understand how a traveller might prefer going to kashgar first, and then to yarkund. it is satisfactory to have elicited this further proof of the general accuracy of the great traveller's account of his journey through central asia." the itinerary of lieutenant-colonel gordon (_sirikol, the pámírs and wakhán_, ch. vi. of _forsyth's mission to yarkund in_ 1873) runs thus: "left káshgar (21st march), yangi-hissar, kaskasú pass, descent to chihil gumbaz (forty domes), where the road branches off to yárkand (110 miles), torut pass, tangi-tár (defile), 'to the foot of a great elevated slope leading to the chichiklik pass, plain, and lake (14,700 feet), below the yámbulák and kok-moinok passes, which are used later in the season on the road between yangi-hissár and sirikol, to avoid the tangi-tár and shindi defiles. as the season advances, these passes become free from snow, while the defiles are rendered dangerous and difficult by the rush of the melting snow torrents. from the chichiklik plain we proceeded down the shindi ravine, over an extremely bad stony road, to the sirikol river, up the banks of which we travelled to táshkurgán, reaching it on the tenth day from yangi-hissar. the total distance is 125 miles.' then táshkurgán (ancient name _várshídi_): 'the open part of the sirikol valley extends from about 8 miles below táshkurgán to apparently a very considerable distance towards the kunjút mountain range;' left táshkurgán for wákhan (2nd april, 1873); leave sirikol valley, enter the shindán defile, reach the áktásh valley, follow the áktásh stream (called áksú by the kirghiz) through the little pamir to the gházkul (little pamir) lake or barkat yássín, from which it takes its rise, four days from táshkurgán. little pamir 'is bounded on the south by the continuation of the neza tásh range, which separates it from the tághdúngbásh pámir,' west of the lake, langar, sarhadd, 30 miles from langar, and seven days from sirikol, and kila panj, twelve days from sirikól."--h. c.] [i cannot admit with professor paquier (l.c. pp. 127-128) that marco polo did not visit kashgar.--grenard (ii. p. 17) makes the remark that it took marco polo seventy days from badakhshan to kashgar, a distance that, in the plain of turkestan, he shall cross in sixteen days.--the chinese traveller, translated by m. gueluy (_desc. de la chine occidentale_, p. 45), says that the name kashgar is made of _kash_, fine colour, and _gar_, brick house.--h. c.] kashgar was the capital, from 1865 to 1877, of ya'kúb kúshbegi, a soldier of fortune, by descent it is said a tajik of shighnan, who, when the chinese yoke was thrown off, made a throne for himself in eastern turkestan, and subjected the whole basin to his authority, taking the title of _atalik gházi_. it is not easy to see how kashgar should have been subject to the great kaan, except in the sense in which all territories under mongol rule owed him homage. yarkand, polo acknowledges to have belonged to kaidu, and the boundary between kaidu's territory and the kaan's lay between karashahr and komul [bk. i. ch. xli.], much further east. [bretschneider, _med. res._ (ii. p. 47), says: "marco polo states with respect to the kingdom of _cascar_ (i. 189) that it was subject to the great khan, and says the same regarding _cotan_ (i. 196), whilst _yarcan_ (i. 195), according to marco polo, belonged to kaidu. this does not agree with rashid's statements about the boundary between kaidu's territory and the khan's."--h. c.] kashgar was at this time a metropolitan see of the nestorian church. (_cathay_, etc. 275, ccxlv.) many strange sayings have been unduly ascribed to our traveller, but i remember none stranger than this by colonel tod: "_marco polo calls cashgar, where he was in the 6th century_, the birthplace of the swedes"! (_rajasthan_, i. 60.) pétis de la croix and tod between them are answerable for this nonsense. (see _the hist. of genghizcan the great_, p. 116.) on _cotton_, see ch. xxxvi.--on nestorians, see kanchau. chapter xxxiv. of the great city of samarcan. samarcan is a great and noble city towards the north-west, inhabited by both christians and saracens, who are subject to the great kaan's nephew, caidou by name; he is, however, at bitter enmity with the kaan.[note 1] i will tell you of a great marvel that happened at this city. [illustration: view of samarcand. (from a sketch by mr. ivanoff.) "samarcan est une grandisme cité et noble."] it is not a great while ago that sigatay, own brother to the great kaan, who was lord of this country and of many an one besides, became a christian.[note 2] the christians rejoiced greatly at this, and they built a great church in the city, in honour of john the baptist; and by his name the church was called. and they took a very fine stone which belonged to the saracens, and placed it as the pedestal of a column in the middle of the church, supporting the roof. it came to pass, however, that sigatay died. now the saracens were full of rancour about that stone that had been theirs, and which had been set up in the church of the christians; and when they saw that the prince was dead, they said one to another that now was the time to get back their stone, by fair means or by foul. and that they might well do, for they were ten times as many as the christians. so they gat together and went to the church and said that the stone they must and would have. the christians acknowledged that it was theirs indeed, but offered to pay a large sum of money and so be quit. howbeit, the others replied that they never would give up the stone for anything in the world. and words ran so high that the prince heard thereof, and ordered the christians either to arrange to satisfy the saracens, if it might be, with money, or to give up the stone. and he allowed them three days to do either the one thing or the other. what shall i tell you? well, the saracens would on no account agree to leave the stone where it was, and this out of pure despite to the christians, for they knew well enough that if the stone were stirred the church would come down by the run. so the christians were in great trouble and wist not what to do. but they did do the best thing possible; they besought jesus christ that he would consider their case, so that the holy church should not come to destruction, nor the name of its patron saint, john the baptist, be tarnished by its ruin. and so when the day fixed by the prince came round, they went to the church betimes in the morning, and lo, they found the stone removed from under the column; the foot of the column was without support, and yet it bore the load as stoutly as before! between the foot of the column and the ground there was a space of three palms. so the saracens had away their stone, and mighty little joy withal. it was a glorious miracle, nay, it _is_ so, for the column still so standeth, and will stand as long as god pleaseth.[note 3] now let us quit this and continue our journey. note 1.--of kaidu, kúblái kaan's kinsman and rival, and their long wars, we shall have to speak later. he had at this time a kind of joint occupancy of samarkand and bokhara with the khans of chagatai, his cousins. [on samarkand generally see: _samarqand_, by w. radloff, translated into french by l. leger, _rec. d'itin. dans l'asie centrale_, ecole des langues orient., paris, 1878, p. 284 et seq.; _a travers le royaume de tamerlan (asie centrale)_ ... par guillaume capus ... paris, 1892, 8vo.--h. c.] marco evidently never was at samarkand, though doubtless it was visited by his father and uncle on their first journey, when we know they were long at bokhara. having, therefore, little to say descriptive of a city he had not seen, he tells us a story:- "so geographers, in afric maps, with savage pictures fill their gaps, and o'er unhabitable downs place elephants for want of towns." as regards the christians of samarkand who figure in the preceding story, we may note that the city had been one of the metropolitan sees of the nestorian church since the beginning of the 8th century, and had been a bishopric perhaps two centuries earlier. prince sempad, high constable of armenia, in a letter written from samarkand in 1246 or 1247, mentions several circumstances illustrative of the state of things indicated in this story: "i tell you that we have found many christians scattered all over the east, and many fine churches, lofty, ancient, and of good architecture, which have been spoiled by the turks. hence, the christians of this country came to the presence of the reigning kaan's grandfather (i.e. chinghiz); he received them most honourably, and granted them liberty of worship, and issued orders to prevent their having any just cause of complaint by word or deed. _and so the saracens, who used to treat them with contempt, have now the like treatment in double measure._" shortly after marco's time, viz. in 1328, thomas of mancasola, a dominican, who had come from samarkand with a mission to the pope (john xxii.) from ilchigadai, khan of chagatai, was appointed latin bishop of that city. (_mosheim_, p. 110, etc.; _cathay_, p. 192.) note 2.--chagatai, here called sigatay, was uncle, not brother, to the great kaan (kúblái). nor was kaidu either chagatai's son or kúblái's nephew, as marco here and elsewhere represents him to be. (see bk. iv. ch. i.) the term used to describe chagatai's relationship is _frère charnel_, which excludes ambiguity, cousinship, or the like (such as is expressed by the italian _fratello cugíno_), and corresponds, i believe, to the _brother german_ of scotch law documents. note 3.--one might say, these things be an allegory! we take the fine stone that belongs to the saracens (or papists) to build our church on, but the day of reckoning comes at last, and our (irish protestant) christians are afraid that the church will come about their ears. may it stand, and better than that of samarkand has done! there is a story somewhat like this in d'herbelot, about the karmathian heretics carrying off the black stone from mecca, and being obliged years after to bring it back across the breadth of arabia; on which occasion the stone conducted itself in a miraculous manner. there _is_ a remarkable stone at samarkand, the _kok-tash_ or green stone, on which timur's throne was set. tradition says that, big as it is, it was brought by him from brusa;--but tradition may be wrong. (see _vámbéry's travels_, p. 206.) [also _h. moser, a travers l'asie centrale_, 114-115. --h. c.] [the archimandrite palladius (_chinese recorder_, vi. p. 108) quotes from the _chi shun chin-kiang chi_ (description of chin-kiang), 14th century, the following passage regarding the pillar: "there is a temple (in samarcand) supported by four enormous wooden pillars, each of them 40 feet high. one of these pillars is in a hanging position, and stands off from the floor more than a foot."--h. c.] chapter xxxv. of the province of yarcan. yarcan is a province five days' journey in extent. the people follow the law of mahommet, but there are also nestorian and jacobite christians. they are subject to the same prince that i mentioned, the great kaan's nephew. they have plenty of everything, [particularly of cotton. the inhabitants are also great craftsmen, but a large proportion of them have swoln legs, and great crops at the throat, which arises from some quality in their drinking-water.] as there is nothing else worth telling we may pass on.[note 1] note 1.--yarkan or yarken seems to be the general pronunciation of the name to this day, though we write yarkand. [a chinese traveller, translated by m. gueluy (_desc. de la chine occidentales_, p. 41), says that the word _yarkand_ is made of _iar_, earth, and _kiang_ (_kand?_), large, vast, but this derivation is doubtful. the more probable one is that yarkand is made up of _yar_, new, and _kand, kend_, or _kent_, city.--h. c.] mir 'izzat ullah in modern days speaks of the prevalence of goitre at yarkand. and mr. shaw informs me that during his recent visit to yarkand (1869) he had numerous applications for iodine as a remedy for that disease. the theory which connects it with the close atmosphere of valleys will not hold at yarkand. (_j. r. a. s._ vii. 303.) [dr. sven hedin says that three-fourths of the population of yarkand are suffering from goitre; he ascribes the prevalence of the disease to the bad quality of the water, which is kept in large basins, used indifferently for bathing, washing, or draining. only hindu and "andijdanlik" merchants, who drink well water, are free from goitre. lieutenant roborovsky, the companion of pievtsov, in 1889, says: "in the streets one meets many men and women with large goitres, a malady attributed to the bad quality of the water running in the town conduits, and drunk by the inhabitants in its natural state. it appears in men at the age of puberty, and in women when they marry." (_proc. r. g. s._ 2 ser. xii. 1890, p. 36.) formerly the mirza (_j. r. g. s._ 1871, p. 181) said: "goitre is very common in the city [of yarkund], and in the country round, but it is unknown in kashgar." general pievtsov gives to the small oasis of yarkand (264 square miles) a population of 150,000, that is, 567 inhabitants per square mile. he, after prjevalsky's death, started, with v. l. roborovsky (botanist) and p. k. kozlov (zoologist), who were later joined by k. i. bogdanovich (geologist), on his expedition to tibet (1889-1890). he followed the route yarkand, khotan, kiria, nia, and charchan.--h. c.] chapter xxxvi. of a province called cotan. cotan is a province lying between north-east and east, and is eight days' journey in length. the people are subject to the great kaan,[note 1] and are all worshippers of mahommet.[note 2] there are numerous towns and villages in the country, but cotan, the capital, is the most noble of all, and gives its name to the kingdom. everything is to be had there in plenty, including abundance of cotton, [with flax, hemp, wheat, wine, and the like]. the people have vineyards and gardens and estates. they live by commerce and manufactures, and are no soldiers.[note 3] note 1.--[the buddhist government of khotan was destroyed by boghra khân (about 980-990); it was temporarily restored by the buddhist kutchluk khân, chief of the naïmans, who came from the banks of the ili, destroyed the mahomedan dynasty of boghra khân (1209), but was in his turn subjugated by chinghiz khan. the only christian monument discovered in khotan is a bronze cross brought back by grenard (iii. pp. 134-135); see also devéria, _notes d'epigraphie mongole_, p. 80.--h. c.] note 2.--"_aourent mahommet_". though this is marco's usual formula to define mahomedans, we can scarcely suppose that he meant it literally. but in other cases it was _very_ literally interpreted. thus in _baudouin de sebourc_, the dame de pontieu, a passionate lady who renounces her faith before saladin, says:- "'et je renoië dieu, et le pooir qu'il a; et marie, sa mère, qu'on dist qui le porta; _mahom voel aourer_, aportez-le-moi chà!' * * * * li soudans commanda _qu'on aportast mahom; et celle l'aoura_." (i. p. 72.) the same romance brings in the story of the stone of samarkand, adapted from ch. xxxiv., and accounts for its sanctity in saracen eyes because it had long formed a pedestal for mahound! and this notion gave rise to the use of _mawmet_ for an idol in general; whilst from the _mahommerie_ or place of islamite worship the name of _mummery_ came to be applied to idolatrous or unmeaning rituals; both very unjust etymologies. thus of mosques in _richard coeur de lion_: "kyrkes they made of crystene lawe, and her _mawmettes_ lete downe drawe." (_weber_, ii. 228.) so correa calls a golden idol, which was taken by da gama in a ship of calicut, "an image of mahomed" (372). don quixote too, who ought to have known better, cites with admiration the feat of rinaldo in carrying off, in spite of forty moors, a golden image of mahomed. note 3.--800 _li_ (160 miles) east of _chokiuka_ or yarkand, hiuen tsang comes to _kiustanna_ (kustána) or khotan. "the country chiefly consists of plains covered with stones and sand. the remainder, however, is favourable to agriculture, and produces everything abundantly. from this country are got woollen carpets, fine felts, well woven taffetas, white and black jade." chinese authors of the 10th century speak of the abundant grapes and excellent wine of khotan. chinese annals of the 7th and 8th centuries tell us that the people of khotan had chronicles of their own, a glimpse of a lost branch of history. their writing, laws, and literature were modelled upon those of india. ilchi, the modern capital, was visited by mr. johnson, of the indian survey, in 1865. the country, after the revolt against the chinese in 1863, came first under the rule of habíb-ullah, an aged chief calling himself _khán bádshah_ of khotan; and since the treacherous seizure and murder of habíb-ullah by ya'kub beg of kashgar in january 1867, it has formed a part of the kingdom of the latter. mr. johnson says: "the chief grains of the country are indian corn, wheat, barley of two kinds, _bájra, jowár_ (two kinds of _holcus_), buckwheat and rice, all of which are superior to the indian grains, and are of a very fine quality.... the country is certainly superior to india, and in every respect equal to kashmir, over which it has the advantage of being less humid, and consequently better suited to the growth of fruits. _olives_ (?), pears, apples, peaches, apricots, mulberries, grapes, currants, and melons, all exceedingly large in size and of a delicious flavour, are produced in great variety and abundance.... cotton of valuable quality, and raw silk, are produced in very large quantities." [khotan is the chief place of turkestan for cotton manufactures; its _khàm_ is to be found everywhere. this name, which means raw in persian, is given to a stuff made with cotton thread, which has not undergone any preparation; they manufacture also two other cotton stuffs: _alatcha_ with blue and red stripes, and _tchekmen_, very thick and coarse, used to make dresses and sacks; if _khàm_ is better at khotan, _alatcha_ and _tchekmen_ are superior at kashgar. (_grenard_, ii. pp. 191-192.) grenard (ii. pp. 175-177), among the fruits, mentions apricots (_ourouk_), ripe in june, and so plentiful that to keep them they are dried up to be used like garlic against mountain sickness; melons (_koghoun_) water-melons (_tarbouz_, the best are from hami); vine (_tâl_)--the best grapes (_uzum_) come from boghâz langar, near keria; the best dried grapes are those from turfan; peaches (_shaptâlou_); pomegranates (_anár_, best from kerghalyk), etc.; the best apples are those of nia and sadju; pears are very bad; cherries and strawberries are unknown. grenard (ii. p. 106) also says that grapes are very good, but that khotan wine is detestable, and tastes like vinegar. the chinese traveller, translated by m. gueluy (_desc. de la chine occidentale_, p. 45), says that all the inhabitants of khotan are seeking for precious stones, and that melons and fruits are more plentiful than at yarkand.--h. c.] mr. johnson reports the whole country to be rich in soil and very much under-peopled. ilchi, the capital, has a population of about 40,000, and is a great place for manufactures. the chief articles produced are silks, felts, carpets (both silk and woollen), coarse cotton cloths, and paper from the mulberry fibre. the people are strict mahomedans, and speak a turki dialect. both sexes are good-looking, with a slightly tartar cast of countenance. (_v. et v. de h. t._ 278; _rémusat, h. de la v. de khotan_, 37, 73-84; _chin. repos._ ix. 128; _j. r. g. s._ xxxvii. 6 seqq.) [in 1891, dutreuil de rhins and grenard at the small village of yotkán, about 8 miles to the west of the present khotan, came across what they considered the most important and probably the most ancient city of southern chinese turkestan. the natives say that yotkàn is the site of the old capital. (cf. _grenard_, iii. p. 127 et seq. for a description and drawings of coins and objects found at this place.) the remains of the ancient capital of khotan were accidentally discovered, some thirty-five years ago, at yotkàn, a village of the borazân tract. a great mass of highly interesting finds of ancient art pottery, engraved stones, and early khotan coins with kharosthi-chinese legends, coming from this site, have recently been thoroughly examined in dr. hoernle's report on the "british collection of central asian antiquities." _stein_.--(see _three further collections of ancient manuscripts from central asia_, by dr. a. f. r. hoernle ... calcutta, 1897, 8vo.) "the sacred sites of buddhist khotan which hiuen tsang and fa-hian describe, can be shown to be occupied now, almost without exception, by mohamedan shrines forming the object of popular pilgrimages." (m. a. stein, _archaeological work about khotan, jour. r. as. soc._, april, 1901, p. 296.) it may be justly said that during the last few years numerous traces of hindu civilisation have been found in central asia, extending from khotan, through the takla-makan, as far as turfan, and perhaps further up. dr. sven hedin, in the year 1896, during his second journey through takla-makan from khotan to shah yar, visited the ruins between the khotan daria and the kiria daria, where he found the remains of the city of takla-makan now buried in the sands. he discovered figures of buddha, a piece of papyrus with unknown characters, vestiges of habitations. this asiatic pompei, says the traveller, at least ten centuries old, is anterior to the mahomedan invasion led by kuteïbe ibn-muslim, which happened at the beginning of the 8th century. its inhabitants were buddhist, and of aryan race, probably originating from hindustan.--dutreuil de rhins and grenard discovered in the kumâri grottoes, in a small hill on the right bank of the karakash daria, a manuscript written on birch bark in _k_harosh_t_hi characters; these grottoes of kumâri are mentioned in hiuen tsang. (ii. p. 229.) dr. sven hedin followed the route kashgar, yangi-hissar, yarkand to khotan, in 1895. he made a stay of nine days at ilchi, the population of which he estimated at 5500 inhabitants (5000 musulmans, 500 chinese). (see also sven hedin, _die geog. wissenschaft. ergebnisse meiner reisen in zentralasien_, 1894-1897. _petermann's mitt._, ergänz. xxviii. (hft. 131), gotha, 1900.--h. c.] chapter xxxvii. of the province of pein. pein is a province five days in length, lying between east and north-east. the people are worshippers of mahommet, and subjects of the great kaan. there are a good number of towns and villages, but the most noble is pein, the capital of the kingdom.[note 1] there are rivers in this country, in which quantities of jasper and chalcedony are found.[note 2] the people have plenty of all products, including cotton. they live by manufactures and trade. but they have a custom that i must relate. if the husband of any woman go away upon a journey and remain away for more than 20 days, as soon as that term is past the woman may marry another man, and the husband also may then marry whom he pleases.[note 3] i should tell you that all the provinces that i have been speaking of, from cascar forward, and those i am going to mention [as far as the city of lop] belong to great turkey. note 1.--"in old times," says the _haft iklím._, "travellers used to go from khotan to cathay in 14 (?) days, and found towns and villages all along the road [excepting, it may be presumed, on the terrible gobi], so that there was no need to travel in caravans. in later days the fear of the kalmaks caused this line to be abandoned, and the circuitous one occupied 100 days." this directer route between khotan and china must have been followed by fa-hian on his way to india; by hiuen tsang on his way back; and by shah rukh's ambassadors on their return from china in 1421. the circuitous route alluded to appears to have gone north from khotan, crossed the tarimgol, and fallen into the road along the base of the thian shan, eventually crossing the desert southward from komul. former commentators differed very widely as to the position of pein, and as to the direction of polo's route from khotan. the information acquired of late years leaves the latter no longer open to doubt. it must have been nearly coincident with that of hiuen tsang. the perusal of johnson's report of his journey to khotan, and the itineraries attached to it, enabled me to feel tolerable certainty as to the position of charchan (see next chapter), and as to the fact that marco followed a direct route from khotan to the vicinity of lake lop. pein, then, was identical with pima,[1] which was the first city reached by hiuen tsang on his return to china after quitting khotan, and which lay 330 _li_ east of the latter city.[2] other notices of pima appear in rémusat's history of khotan; some of these agree exactly as to the distance from the capital, adding that it stood on the banks of a river flowing from the east and entering the sandy desert; whilst one account seems to place it at 500 _li_ from khotan. and in the turkish map of central asia, printed in the _jahán numá_, as we learn from sir h. rawlinson, the town of _pím_ is placed a little way north of khotan. johnson found khotan rife with stories of former cities overwhelmed by the shifting sands of the desert, and these sands appear to have been advancing for ages; for far to the north-east of pima, even in the 7th century, were to be found the deserted and ruined cities of the ancient kingdoms of _tuholo_ and _shemathona_. "where anciently were the seats of flourishing cities and prosperous communities," says a chinese author speaking of this region, "is nothing now to be seen but a vast desert; all has been buried in the sands, and the wild camel is hunted on those arid plains." pima cannot have been very far from _kiria_, visited by johnson. this is a town of 7000 houses, lying east of ilchi, and about 69 miles distant from it. the road for the most part lies through a highly cultivated and irrigated country, flanked by the sandy desert at three or four miles to the left. after passing _eastward_ by kiria it is said to make a great elbow, turning north; and within this elbow lie the sands that have buried cities and fertile country. here mr. shaw supposes pima lay (perhaps upon the river of kiria). at pima itself, in a. d. 644, there was a story of the destruction of a city lying further north, a judgment on the luxury and impiety of the people and their king, who, shocked at the eccentric aspect of a holy man, had caused him to be buried in sand up to the mouth. (_n. et e._ xiv. 477; _h. de la ville de khotan_, 63-66; _klap. tabl. historiques_, p. 182; _proc. r. g. s._ xvi. 243.) [dutreuil de rhins and grenard took the road from khotan to charchan; they left khotan on the 4th may, 1893, passed kiria, nia, and instead of going direct to charchan through the desert, they passed kara say at the foot of the altyn tâgh, a route three days longer than the other, but one which was less warm, and where water, meat, milk, and barley could be found. having passed kapa, they crossed the karamuren, and went up from achan due north to charchan, where they stayed three months. nowhere do they mention pein, or pima, for it appears to be _kiria itself_, which is the only real town between khotan and the lobnor. grenard says in a note (p. 54, vol. ii.): "_pi-mo_ (keria) recalls the tibetan _byé-ma_, which is pronounced _péma_, or _tchéma_, and which means _sand_. such is perhaps also the origin of _pialma_, a village near khotan, and of the old name of charchan, _tché-mo-to-na_, of which the two last syllables would represent _grong_ (pronounce _tong_ = town), or _kr'om_ (_t'om_ = bazaar). now, not only would this etymology be justified because these three places are indeed surrounded with sand remarkably deep, but as they were the first three important places with which the tibetans met coming into the desert of gobi, either by the route of gurgutluk and of polor, or by karakoram and sandju, or by tsadam, and they had thus as good a pretext to call them 'towns of sand' as the chinese had to give to t'un-hwang the name of _shachau_, viz. city of sand. kiria is called _ou-mi_, under the han, and the name of pi-mo is found for the first time in hiuen tsang, that is to say, before the tibetan invasions of the 8th century. it is not possible to admit that the incursion of the tu-ku-hun in the 5th century could be the cause of this change of name. the hypothesis remains that pi-mo was really the ancient name forced by the first tibetan invaders spoken of by legend, that _ou-mi_ was either another name of the town, or a fancy name invented by the chinese, like yu-t'ien for khotan, su-lo for kashgar...." sir t. d. forsyth (_j. r. g. s._, xlvii., 1877, p. 3) writes: "i should say that peim or pima must be identical with kiria."--h. c.] note 2.--the jasper and chalcedony of our author are probably only varieties of the semi-precious mineral called by us popularly _jade_, by the chinese _yü_, by the eastern turks _kásh_, by the persians _yashm_, which last is no doubt the same word with [greek: íaspis], and therefore with _jásper_. the greek jaspis was in reality, according to mr. king, a green chalcedony. the jade of turkestan is largely derived from water-rolled boulders fished up by divers in the rivers of khotan, but it is also got from mines in the valley of the karákásh river. "some of the jade," says timkowski, "is as white as snow, some dark green, like the most beautiful emerald (?), others yellow, vermilion, and jet black. the rarest and most esteemed varieties are the white speckled with red and the green veined with gold." (i. 395.) the jade of khotan appears to be first mentioned by chinese authors in the time of the han dynasty under wu-ti (b.c. 140-86). in a.d. 541 an image of buddha sculptured in jade was sent as an offering from khotan; and in 632 the process of fishing for the material in the rivers of khotan, as practised down to modern times, is mentioned. the importation of jade or _yü_ from this quarter probably gave the name of _kia-yü kwan_ or "jade gate" to the fortified pass looking in this direction on the extreme n. w. of china proper, between shachau and suhchau. since the detachment from china the jade industry has ceased, the musulmans having no taste for that kind of _virtù_. (_h. de la v. de khotan_, 2, 17, 23; also see _j. r. g. s._ xxxvi. 165, and _cathay_, 130, 564; _ritter_, ii. 213; _shaw's high tartary_, pp. 98, 473.) [on the 11th january, 1895, dr. sven hedin visited one of the chief places where jade is to be found. it is to the north-east of khotan, in the old bed of the yurun kash. the bed of the river is divided into _claims_ like gold-fields; the workmen are chinese for the greater part, some few are musulmans. grenard (ii. pp. 186-187) says that the finest jade comes from the high karákásh (black jade) river and yurungkásh (white jade); the jade river is called su-tásh. at khotan, jade is polished up by sixty or seventy individuals belonging to twenty-five workshops. "at 18 miles from su-chau, kia-yu-kwan, celebrated as one of the gates of china, and as the fortress guarding the extreme north-west entrance into the empire, is passed." (_colonel m. s. bell, proc. r. g. s._ xii. 1890, p. 75.) according to the chinese characters, the name of kia-yü kwan does not mean "jade gate," and as mr. rockhill writes to me, it can only mean something like "barrier of the pleasant valley."--h. c.] note 3.--possibly this may refer to the custom of temporary marriages which seems to prevail in most towns of central asia which are the halting-places of caravans, and the morals of which are much on a par with those of seaport towns, from analogous causes. thus at meshid, khanikoff speaks of the large population of young and pretty women ready, according to the accommodating rules of shiah mahomedanism, to engage in marriages which are perfectly lawful, for a month, a week, or even twenty-four hours. kashgar is also noted in the east for its _chaukans_, young women with whom the traveller may readily form an alliance for the period of his stay, be it long or short. (_khan. mém._ p. 98; _russ. in central asia_, 52; _j. a. s. b._ xxvi. 262; _burnes_, iii. 195; vigne, ii. 201.) [1] _pein_ may easily have been miscopied for _pem_ which is indeed the reading of some mss. ramusio has _peym_. [2] m. vivien de st. martin, in his map of hiuen tsang's travels, places pima to the _west_ of khotan. though one sees bow the mistake originated, there is no real ground for this in either of the versions of the chinese pilgrim's journey. (see _vie et voyages_, p. 288, and _mémoires_, vol. ii. 242-243.) chapter xxxviii. of the province of charchan. charchan is a province of great turkey, lying between north-east and east. the people worship mahommet. there are numerous towns and villages, and the chief city of the kingdom bears its name, charchan. the province contains rivers which bring down jasper and chalcedony, and these are carried for sale into cathay, where they fetch great prices. the whole of the province is sandy, and so is the road all the way from pein, and much of the water that you find is bitter and bad. however, at some places you do find fresh and sweet water. when an army passes through the land, the people escape with their wives, children, and cattle a distance of two or three days' journey into the sandy waste; and knowing the spots where water is to be had, they are able to live there, and to keep their cattle alive, whilst it is impossible to discover them; for the wind immediately blows the sand over their track. quitting charchan, you ride some five days through the sands, finding none but bad and bitter water, and then you come to a place where the water is sweet. and now i will tell you of a province called lop, in which there is a city, also called lop, which you come to at the end of those five days. it is at the entrance of the great desert, and it is here that travellers repose before entering on the desert.[note 1] note 1.--though the _lake_ of lob or lop appears on all our maps, from chinese authority, the latter does not seem to have supplied information as to a town so called. we have, however, indications of the existence of such a place, both mediaeval and recent. the history of mirza haidar, called the táríkh-i-rashídí, already referred to, in describing the great basin of eastern turkestan, says: "formerly there were several large cities in this plain; the names of two have survived--_lob_ and _kank_, but of the rest there is no trace or tradition; all is buried under the sand." [forsyth (_j. r. g. s._ xlvii. 1877, p. 5) says that he thinks that this kank is probably the katak mentioned by mirza haidar.--h. c.] in another place the same history says that a boy heir of the house of chaghatai, to save him from a usurper, was sent away to sárígh uighúr and _lob-kank_, far in the east. again, in the short notices of the cities of turkestan which mr. wathen collected at bombay from pilgrims of those regions on their way to mecca, we find the following: "_lopp_.--lopp is situated at a great distance from yarkand. the inhabitants are principally chinese; but a few uzbeks reside there. lopp is remarkable for a salt-water lake in its vicinity." johnson, speaking of a road from tibet into khotan, says: "this route ... leads not only to ilchi and yarkand, but also viâ _lob_ to the large and important city of karashahr." and among the routes attached to mr. johnson's original report, we have:-"route no. vii. _kiria_ (see note 1 to last chapter) to chachan and lob (_from native information_)." this first revealed to me the continued existence of marco's charchan; for it was impossible to doubt that in the chachan and lob of this itinerary we had his charchan and lop; and his route to the verge of the great desert was thus made clear. mr. johnson's information made the journey from kiria to charchan to be 9 marches, estimated by him to amount to 154 miles, and adding 69 miles from ilchi to kiria (which he actually traversed) we have 13 marches or 223 miles for the distance from ilchi to charchan. mr. shaw has since obtained a route between ilchi and lob on very good authority. this makes the distance to charchan, or _charchand_, as it is called, 22 marches, which mr. shaw estimates at 293 miles. both give 6 marches from charchand to lob, which is in fair accordance with polo's 5, and shaw estimates the whole distance from ilchi to lob at 373, or by another calculation at 384 miles, say roundly 380 miles. this higher estimate is to be preferred to mr. johnson's for a reason which will appear under next chapter. mr. shaw's informant, rozi of khotan, who had lived twelve years at charchand, described the latter as a small town with a district extending on both sides of a stream which flows to lob, _and which affords jade_. the people are musulmans. they grow wheat, indian corn, pears, and apples, etc., but no cotton or rice. it stands in a great plain, but the mountains are not far off. the nature of the products leads mr. shaw to think it must stand a good deal higher than ilchi (4000), perhaps at about 6000 feet. i may observe that the chinese hydrography of the kashgar basin, translated by julien in the _n. an. des voyages_ for 1846 (vol. iii.), seems to imply that mountains from the south approach within some 20 miles of the tarim river, between the longitude of shayar and lake lop. the people of lob are musulman also, but very uncivilised. the lake is salt. the hydrography calls it about 200 _li_ (say 66 miles) from e. to w. and half that from n. to s., and expresses the old belief that it forms the subterranean source of the hwang-ho. shaw's itinerary shows "salt pools" at six of the stations between kiria and charchand, so marco's memory in this also was exact. _nia_, a town two marches from kiria according to johnson, or four according to shaw, is probably the ancient city of ni-jang of the ancient chinese itineraries, which lay 30 or 40 miles on the china side of pima, in the middle of a great marsh, and formed the eastern frontier of khotan bordering on the desert. (_j. r. g. s._ xxxvii. pp. 13 and 44; also sir h. rawlinson in xlii. p. 503: _erskine's baber and humayun_, i. 42; _proc. r. g. s._ vol. xvi. pp. 244-249; _j. a. s. b._ iv. 656; _h. de la v. de khotan_, u.s.) [the charchan of marco polo seems to have been built to the west of the present oasis, a little south of the road to kiria, where ruined houses have been found. it must have been destroyed before the 16th century, since mirza haidar does not mention it. it was not anterior to the 7th century, as it did not exist at the time of hiuen tsang. (cf. _grenard_, iii. p. 146.) grenard says (pp. 183-184) that he examined the remains of what is called the old town of charchan, traces of the ancient canal, ruins of dwellings deep into the sand, of which the walls built of large and solid-baked bricks, are pretty well preserved. save these bricks, "i found hardly anything, the inhabitants have pillaged everything long ago. i attempted some excavating, which turned out to be without result, as far as i was concerned; but the superstitious natives declared that they were the cause of a violent storm which took place soon after. there are similar ruins in the environs, at yantak koudouk, at tatrang, one day's march to the north, and at ouadjchahari at five days to the north-east, which corresponds to the position assigned to lop by marco polo." (see _grenard's haute asie_ on _nia_.) palladius is quite mistaken (l.c. p. 3.) in saying that the "charchan" of marco polo is to be found in the present province of karashar. (cf. _t. w. kingsmill's notes on marco polo's route from khoten to china_, _chinese recorder_, vii. pp. 338-343; _notes on doctor sven hedin's discoveries in the valley of the tarim, its cities and peoples_, _china review_, xxiv. no. ii. pp. 59-64.)--h. c.] chapter xxxix. of the city of lop and the great desert. lop is a large town at the edge of the desert, which is called the desert of lop, and is situated between east and north-east. it belongs to the great kaan, and the people worship mahommet. now, such persons as propose to cross the desert take a week's rest in this town to refresh themselves and their cattle; and then they make ready for the journey, taking with them a month's supply for man and beast. on quitting this city they enter the desert. the length of this desert is so great that 'tis said it would take a year and more to ride from one end of it to the other. and here, where its breadth is least, it takes a month to cross it. 'tis all composed of hills and valleys of sand, and not a thing to eat is to be found on it. but after riding for a day and a night you find fresh water, enough mayhap for some 50 or 100 persons with their beasts, but not for more. and all across the desert you will find water in like manner, that is to say, in some 28 places altogether you will find good water, but in no great quantity; and in four places also you find brackish water.[note 1] beasts there are none; for there is nought for them to eat. but there is a marvellous thing related of this desert, which is that when travellers are on the move by night, and one of them chances to lag behind or to fall asleep or the like, when he tries to gain his company again he will hear spirits talking, and will suppose them to be his comrades. sometimes the spirits will call him by name; and thus shall a traveller ofttimes be led astray so that he never finds his party. and in this way many have perished. [sometimes the stray travellers will hear as it were the tramp and hum of a great cavalcade of people away from the real line of road, and taking this to be their own company they will follow the sound; and when day breaks they find that a cheat has been put on them and that they are in an ill plight.[note 2]] even in the day-time one hears those spirits talking. and sometimes you shall hear the sound of a variety of musical instruments, and still more commonly the sound of drums. [hence in making this journey 'tis customary for travellers to keep close together. all the animals too have bells at their necks, so that they cannot easily get astray. and at sleeping-time a signal is put up to show the direction of the next march.] so thus it is that the desert is crossed.[note 3] note 1.--lop appears to be the _napopo, i.e. navapa_, of hiuen tsang, called also the country of _leulan_, in the desert. (mém. ii. p. 247.) _navapa_ looks like sanskrit. if so, this carries ancient indian influence to the verge of the great gobi. [see supra, p. 190.] it is difficult to reconcile with our maps the statement of a thirty days' journey across the desert from lop to shachau. ritter's extracts, indeed, regarding this desert, show that the constant occurrence of sandhills and deep drifts (our traveller's "hills and valleys of sand") makes the passage extremely difficult for carts and cattle. (iii. 375.) but i suspect that there is some material error in the longitude of lake lop as represented in our maps, and that it should be placed _something like three degrees_ more to the westward than we find it (e.g.) in kiepert's map of asia. by that map khotan is not far short of 600 miles from the western extremity of lake lop. by johnson's itinerary (including his own journey to kiria) it is only 338 miles from ilchi to lob. mr. shaw, as we have seen, gives us a little more, but it is only even then 380. polo unfortunately omits his usual estimate for the extent of the "province of charchan," so he affords us no complete datum. but his distance between charchan and lob agrees fairly, as we have seen, with that both of johnson and of shaw, and the elbow on the road from kiria to charchan (supra, p. 192) necessitates our still further abridging the longitude between khotan and lop. (see shaw's remarks in _proc. r. g. s._ xvi. 243.) [this desert was known in china of old by the name of _lew-sha_, i.e. "quicksand," or literally, "flowing sands." (_palladius, jour. n. china b. r. as. soc._ n.s. x. 1875, p. 4.) a most interesting problem is connected with the situation of lob-nor which led to some controversy between baron von richthofen and prjevalsky. the latter placed the lake one degree more to the south than the chinese did, and found that its water was sweet. richthofen agreed with the chinese topographers and wrote in a letter to sir henry yule: "i send you two tracings; one of them is a true copy of the chinese map, the other is made from a sketch which i constructed to-day, and on which i tried to put down the chinese topography together with that of prjevalsky. it appears evident--(1) that prjevalsky travelled by the ancient road to a point south of the true lop-noor; (2) that long before he reached this point he found the river courses quite different from what they had been formerly; and (3) that following one of the new rivers which flows due south by a new road, he reached the two sweet-water lakes, one of which answers to the ancient khas-omo. i use the word 'new' merely by way of comparison with the state of things in kien-long's time, when the map was made. it appears that the chinese map shows the khas lake too far north to cover the kara-koshun. the bifurcation of the roads south of the lake nearly resembles that which is marked by prjevalsky." (preface of e. d. morgan's transl. of _from kulja across the tian shan to lob-nor_, by colonel n. prjevalsky, london, 1879, p. iv.) in this same volume baron von richthofen's remarks are given (pp. 135-159, with a map, p. 144), showing comparison between chinese and prjevalsky's geography from tracings by baron von richthofen and (pp. 160-165) a translation of prjevalsky's replies to the baron's criticisms. now the swedish traveller, dr. sven hedin, claims to have settled this knotty point. going from korla, south-west of kara-shahr, by a road at the foot of the kurugh-tagh and between these mountains and the koncheh daria, he discovered the ruins of two fortresses, and a series of milestones (potaïs). these tall pyramids of clay and wood, indicating distances in _lis_ show the existence at an ancient period of a road with a large traffic between korla and an unknown place to the south-east, probably on the shores of the chinese lob-nor. prjevalsky, who passed between the lower tarim and the koncheh daria, could not see a lake or the remains of a lake to the east of this river. the koncheh daria expands into a marshy basin, the malta kul, from which it divides into two branches, the kuntiekkich tarim (east river) and the ilek (river) to the e.s.e. dr. sven hedin, after following the course of the ilek for three days (4th april, 1896) found a large sheet of water in the valley at the very place marked by the chinese topographers and richthofen for the lob-nor. this mass of water is divided up by the natives into avullu kul, kara kul, tayek kul, and arka kul, which are actually almost filled up with reeds. dr. sven hedin afterwards visited the lob-nor of prjevalsky, and reached its western extremity, the kara-buran (black storm) on the 17th april. in 1885, prjevalsky had found the lob-nor an immense lake; four years later prince henri d'orleans saw it greatly reduced in size, and dr. sven hedin discovered but pools of water. in the meantime, since 1885, the northern (chinese) lob-nor has gradually filled up, so the lake is somewhat vagrant. dr. sven hedin says that from his observations he can assert that prjevalsky's lake is of recent formation. so marco polo's lob-nor should be the northern or chinese lake. another proof of this given by dr. sven hedin is that the chinese give the name of lob to the region between arghan and tikkenlik, unknown in the country of the southern lake. the existence of two lakes shows what a quantity of water from the thian shan, the eastern pamir, and northern tibet flows into the basin of the tarim. the russian lieutenant k. p. kozlov has tried since to prove that the chinese lob-nor is the karakoshun (black district), which is a second lake formed by the tarim, which discharges into and issues from the lake kara-buran. kozlov's arguments are published in the _isvestia_ of the russian geographical society, and in a separate pamphlet. _the geog. jour._ (june, 1898, pp. 652-658) contains _the lob-nor controversy_, a full statement of the case, summarising kozlov's pamphlet. among the documents relating to the controversy, kozlov "quotes passages from the chinese work _si-yui-shuidao-tsi_, published in 1823, relative to the region, and gives a reduced copy of the chinese map published by dr. georg wegener in 1863, upon which map richthofen and sven hedin based their arguments." kozlov's final conclusions (_geog. jour._ l.c. pp. 657-658) are the following: "the koncheh-daria, since very remote times till the present day, has moved a long way. the spot gherelgan may be taken as a spot of relative permanence of its bed, while the basis of its delta is a line traced from the farthest northern border of the area of salt clays surrounding the lob-nor to the tarim. at a later period the koncheh-daria mostly influenced the lower tarim, and each time a change occurred in the latter's discharge, the koncheh took a more westward course, to the detriment of its old eastern branch (ilek). always following the gradually receding humidity, the vegetable life changed too, while moving sands were taking its place, conquering more and more ground for the desert, and marking their conquest by remains of old shore-lines.... "the facts noticed by sven hedin have thus another meaning--the desert to the east of the lakes, which he discovered, was formed, not by lob-nor, which is situated 1° southwards, but by the koncheh-daria, in its unremitted deflection to the west. the old bed ilek, lake-shaped in places, and having a belt of salt lagoons and swamps along its eastern shores, represents remains of waters belonging, not to lob-nor, but to the shifting river which has abandoned this old bed. "these facts and explanations refute the second point of the arguments which were brought forward by sven hedin in favour of his hypothesis, asserting the existence of some other lob-nor. "i accept the third point of his objections, namely, that the grandfathers of the present inhabitants of the lob-nor lived by a lake whose position was more to the north of lob-nor; that was mentioned already by pievtsov, and the lake was uchu-kul. "why marco polo never mentioned the lob-nor, i leave to more competent persons to decide. "the only inference which i can make from the preceding account is that the kara-koshun-kul is not only the lob-nor of my lamented teacher, n. m. prjevalsky, but also _the ancient, the historical, and the true lob-nor_ of the chinese geographers. so it was during the last thousand years, and so will it remain, if 'the river of time' in its running has not effaced it from the face of the earth." to kozlov's query: "why marco polo never mentioned the lob-nor, i leave to more competent persons to decide," i have little hesitation in replying that he did not mention the lob-nor because he did not see it. from charchan, he followed, i believe, neither prjevalsky's nor pievtsov's route, but the old route from khotan to si-ngan fu, in the old bed of the charchan daria, above and almost parallel to the new bed, to the tarim,--then between sven hedin's and prjevalsky's lakes, and across the desert to shachau to join the ancient chinese road of the han dynasty, partly explored by m. bonin from shachau. there is no doubt as to the discovery of prjevalsky's lob-nor, but this does not appear to be the old chinese lob-nor; in fact, there may have been several lakes co-existent; probably there was one to the east of the mass of water described by dr. sven hedin, near the old route from korla to shachau; there is no fixity in these waterspreads and the soil of this part of asia, and in the course of a few years some discrepancies will naturally arise between the observations of different travellers. but as i think that marco polo did not see one of the lob-nor, but travelled between them, there is no necessity to enlarge on this question, fully treated of in this note. see besides the works mentioned above: _nord--tibet und lob-nur gebiet_... herausg. von dr. g. wegener. berlin, 1893. (sep. abd. _zeit. ges. f. erdk._)--_die geog. wiss. ergebnisse meiner reisen in zentralasien_, 1894-1897, von dr. sven hedin, gotha, j. perthes, 1900. bonvalot and prince henri d'orléans (_de paris au tonkin, à travers le tibet inconnu_, paris, 1892) followed this itinerary: semipalatinsk, kulja, korla, lob-nor, charkalyk, altyn tagh, almost a straight line to tengri nor, then to batang, ta tsien lu, ning-yuan, yun-nan-fu, mong-tsu, and tung-king. bonvalot (28th october, 1889) describes lob in this manner: "the village of lob is situated at some distance from [the charchan daria]; its inhabitants come to see us; they are miserable, hungry, _étiques_; they offer us for sale smoked fish, duck taken with _lacet_. some small presents soon make friends of them. they apprize us that news has spread that pievtsov, the russian traveller, will soon arrive" (l.c. p. 75). from charkalyk, prince henri d'orléans and father dedeken visited lob-nor (l.c. p. 77 et seq.), but it was almost dry; the water had receded since prjevalsky's visit, thirteen years before. the prince says the lob-nor he saw was not prjevalsky's, nor was the latter's lake the mass of water on chinese maps; an old sorceress gave confirmation of the fact to the travellers. according to a tradition known from one generation to another, there was at this place a large inland sea without reeds, and the elders had seen in their youth large ponds; they say that the earth impregnated with saltpetre absorbs the water. the prince says, according to tradition, _lob_ is a local name meaning "wild animals," and it was given to the country at the time it was crossed by kalmuk caravans; they added to the name _lob_ the mongol word _nor_ (great lake). the travellers (p. 109) note that in fact the name lob-nor does not apply to a lake, but to the whole marshy part of the country watered by the tarim, from the village of lob to end of the river. the pievtsov expedition "visited the lob-nor (2650 feet) and the tarim, whose proper name is yarkend-daria (_tarim_ means 'a tilled field' in kashgarian). the lake is rapidly drying up, and a very old man, 110 years old, whom pievtsov spoke to (his son, 52 years old, was the only one who could understand the old man), said that he would not have recognized the land if he had been absent all this time. ninety years ago there was only a narrow strip of rushes in the south-west part of the lake, and the yarkend-daria entered it 2-1/2 miles to the west of its present mouth, where now stands the village of abdal. the lake was then much deeper, and several villages, now abandoned, stood on its shores. there was also much more fish, and otters, which used to live there, but have long since disappeared. as to the yarkend-daria, tradition says that two hundred years ago it used to enter another smaller lake, uchukul, which was connected by a channel with the lob-nor. this old bed, named shirga-chapkan, can still be traced by the trees which grew along it. the greater previous extension of the lob-nor is also confirmed by the freshwater molluscs (_limnaea uricularia_, var. _ventricosa, l. stagnalis, l. peregra_, and _planorbis sibiricus_), which are found at a distance from its present banks. another lake, 400 miles in circumference, kara-boyön (_black isthmus_), lies, as is known, 27 miles to the south-west of lobnor. to the east of the lake, a salt desert stretches for a seven days' march, and further on begin the kum-tagh sands, where wild camels live." (_geog. jour._ ix. 1897, p. 552.) grenard (iii. pp. 194-195) discusses the lob-nor question and the formation of four new lakes by the koncheh-daria called by the natives beginning at the north; kara kul, tayek kul, sugut kul, tokum kul. he does not accept baron v. richthofen's theory, and believes that the old lob is the lake seen by prjevalsky. he says (p. 149): "lop must be looked for on the actual road from charchan to charkalyk. ouash shahri, five days from charchan, and where small ruins are to be found, corresponds well to the position of lop according to marco polo, a few degrees of the compass near. but the stream which passes at this spot could never be important enough for the wants of a considerable centre of habitation and the ruins of ouash shahri are more of a hamlet than of a town. moreover, lop was certainly the meeting point of the roads of kashgar, urumtsi, shachau, l'hasa, and khotan, and it is to this fact that this town, situated in a very poor country, owed its relative importance. now, it is impossible that these roads crossed at ouash shahri. i believe that lop was built on the site of charkalyk itself. the venetian traveller gives five days' journey between charchan and lop, whilst charkalyk is really seven days from charchan; but the objection does not appear sufficient to me: marco polo may well have made a mistake of two days." (iii. pp. 149-150.) the chinese governor of urumtsi found some years ago to the north-west of the lob-nor, on the banks of the tarim, and within five days of charkalyk, a town bearing the same name, though not on the same site as the lop of marco polo.--h. c.] note 2.--"the waste and desert places of the earth are, so to speak, the characters which sin has visibly impressed on the outward creation; its signs and symbols there.... out of a true feeling of this, men have ever conceived of the wilderness as the haunt of evil spirits. in the old persian religion ahriman and his evil spirits inhabit the steppes and wastes of turan, to the north of the happy iran, which stands under the dominion of ormuzd; exactly as with the egyptians, the evil typhon is the lord of the libyan sand-wastes, and osiris of the fertile egypt." (_archbp. trench, studies in the gospels_, p. 7.) terror, and the seeming absence of a beneficent providence, are suggestions of the desert which must have led men to associate it with evil spirits, rather than the figure with which this passage begins; no spontaneous conception surely, however appropriate as a moral image. "according to the belief of the nations of central asia," says i. j. schmidt, "the earth and its interior, as well as the encompassing atmosphere, are filled with spiritual beings, which exercise an influence, partly beneficent, partly malignant, on the whole of organic and inorganic nature.... especially are deserts and other wild or uninhabited tracts, or regions in which the influences of nature are displayed on a gigantic and terrible scale, regarded as the chief abode or rendezvous of evil spirits.... and hence the steppes of turan, and in particular the great sandy desert of gobi have been looked on as the dwelling-place of malignant beings, from days of hoar antiquity." the chinese historian ma twan-lin informs us that there were two roads from china into the uighúr country (towards karashahr). the longest but easiest road was by kamul. the other was much shorter, and apparently corresponded, as far as lop, to that described in this chapter. "by this you have to cross a plain of sand, extending for more than 100 leagues. you see nothing in any direction but the sky and the sands, without the slightest trace of a road; and travellers find nothing to guide them but the bones of men and beasts and the droppings of camels. during the passage of this wilderness you hear sounds, sometimes of singing, sometimes of wailing; and it has often happened that travellers going aside to see what those sounds might be have strayed from their course and been entirely lost; for they were voices of spirits and goblins. 'tis for these reasons that travellers and merchants often prefer the much longer route by kamul." (_visdelou_, p. 139.) "in the desert" (this same desert), says fa-hian, "there are a great many evil demons; there are also sirocco winds, which kill all who encounter them. there are no birds or beasts to be seen; but so far as the eye can reach, the route is marked out by the bleached bones of men who have perished in the attempt to cross." ["the lew-sha was the subject of various most exaggerated stories. we find more trustworthy accounts of it in the _chow shu_; thus it is mentioned in that history, that there sometimes arises in this desert a 'burning wind,' pernicious to men and cattle; in such cases the old camels of the caravan, having a presentiment of its approach, flock shrieking to one place, lie down on the ground and hide their heads in the sand. on this signal, the travellers also lie down, close nose and mouth, and remain in this position until the hurricane abates. unless these precautions are taken, men and beasts inevitably perish." (_palladius_, l.c. p. 4.) a friend writes to me that he thinks that the accounts of strange noises in the desert would find a remarkable corroboration in the narratives of travellers through the central desert of australia. they conjecture that they are caused by the sudden falling of cliffs of sand as the temperature changes at night time.--h. c.] hiuen tsang, in his passage of the desert, both outward and homeward, speaks of visual illusions; such as visions of troops marching and halting with gleaming arms and waving banners, constantly shifting, vanishing, and reappearing, "imagery created by demons." a voice behind him calls, "fear not! fear not!" troubled by these fantasies on one occasion, he prays to kwan-yin (a buddhist divinity); still he could not entirely get rid of them; but as soon as he had pronounced a few words from the _prajna_ (a holy book), they vanished in the twinkling of an eye. these goblins are not peculiar to the gobi, though that appears to be their most favoured haunt. the awe of the vast and solitary desert raises them in all similar localities. pliny speaks of the phantoms that appear and vanish in the deserts of africa; aethicus, the early christian cosmographer, speaks, though incredulous, of the stories that were told of the voices of singers and revellers in the desert; mas'údi tells of the _ghúls_, which in the deserts appear to travellers by night and in lonely hours; the traveller, taking them for comrades, follows and is led astray. but the wise revile them and the ghúls vanish. thus also apollonius of tyana and his companions, in a desert near the indus by moonlight, see an _empusa_ or ghúl taking many forms. they revile it, and it goes off uttering shrill cries. mas'údi also speaks of the mysterious voices heard by lone wayfarers in the desert, and he gives a rational explanation of them. ibn batuta relates a like legend of the western sahara: "if the messenger be solitary, the demons sport with him and fascinate him, so that he strays from his course and perishes." the afghan and persian wildernesses also have their _ghúl-i-beában_ or goblin of the waste, a gigantic and fearful spectre which devours travellers; and even the gael of the west highlands have the _direach ghlinn eitidh_, the desert creature of glen eiti, which, one-handed, one-eyed, one-legged, seems exactly to answer to the arabian nesnás or _empusa_. nicolò conti in the chaldaean desert is aroused at midnight by a great noise, and sees a vast multitude pass by. the merchants tell him that these are demons who are in the habit of traversing the deserts. (_schmidt's san. setzen_, p. 352; _v. et v. de h. t._ 23, 28, 289; _pliny_, vii. 2; _philostratus_, bk. ii. ch. iv.; _prairies d'or_, iii. 315, 324; _beale's fahian_; _campbell's popular tales of the w. highlands_, iv. 326; _i. b._ iv. 382; _elphinstone_, i. 291; _chodzko's pop. poetry of persia_, p. 48; _conti_, p. 4; _forsyth, j. r. g. s._ xlvii. 1877, p. 4.) the sound of musical instruments, chiefly of drums, is a phenomenon of another class, and is really produced in certain situations among sandhills when the sand is disturbed. [see supra.] a very striking account of a phenomenon of this kind regarded as supernatural is given by friar odoric, whose experience i fancy i have traced to the _reg ruwán_ or "flowing sand" north of kabul. besides this celebrated example, which has been described also by the emperor baber, i have noted that equally well-known one of the _jibal nakús_, or "hill of the bell," in the sinai desert; wadi hamade, in the vicinity of the same desert; the _jibal-ul-thabúl_, or "hill of the drums," between medina and mecca; one on the island of eigg, in the hebrides, discovered by hugh miller; one among the medanos or sandhills of arequipa, described to me by mr. c. markham; the bramador or rumbling mountain of tarapaca; one in hills between the ulba and the irtish, in the vicinity of the altai, called the almanac hills, because the sounds are supposed to prognosticate weather-changes; and a remarkable example near kolberg on the shore of pomerania. a chinese narrative of the 10th century mentions the phenomenon as known near kwachau, on the eastern border of the lop desert, under the name of the "singing sands"; and sir f. goldsmid has recently made us acquainted with a second _reg ruwán_, on a hill near the perso-afghan frontier, a little to the north of sístán. the place is frequented in pilgrimage. (see _cathay_, pp. ccxliv. 156, 398; _ritter_, ii. 204; _aus der natur_, leipzig, no. 47 [of 1868], p. 752; _rémusat, h. de khotan_, p. 74; _proc. r. g. s._ xvii. 91.) note 3.--[we learn from joseph martin, quoted by grenard, p. 170 (who met this unfortunate french traveller at khotan, on his way from peking to marghelan, where he died), that from shachau to abdal, on the lob-nor, there are twelve days of desert, sandy only during the first two days, stony afterwards. occasionally a little grass is to be found for the camels; water is to be found everywhere. m. bonin went from shachau to the north-west towards the kara-nor, then to the west, but lack of water compelled him to go back to shachau. along this road, every five _lis_, are to be found towers built with clay, and about 30 feet high, abandoned by the chinese, who do not seem to have kept a remembrance of them in the country; this route seems to be a continuation of the kan suh imperial highway. a wall now destroyed connected these towers together. "there is no doubt," writes m. bonin, "that all these remains are those of the great route, vainly sought after till now, which, under the han dynasty, ran to china through bactria. pamir, eastern turkestan, the desert of gobi, and kan suh: it is in part the route followed by marco polo, when he went from charchan to shachau, by the city of lob." the route of the han has been also looked for, more to the south, and it was believed that it was the same as that of the astyn tagh, followed by mr. littledale in 1893, who travelled one month from abdal (lob-nor) to shachau; m. bonin, who explored also this route, and was twenty-three days from shachau to lob-nor, says it could not be a commercial road. dr. sven hedin saw four or five towers eastward of the junction of the tarim and the koncheh-daria; it may possibly have been another part of the road seen by m. bonin. (see _la géographie_, 15th march, 1901, p. 173.)--h. c.] chapter xl. concerning the great province of tangut. after you have travelled thirty days through the desert, as i have described, you come to a city called sachiu, lying between north-east and east; it belongs to the great kaan, and is in a province called tangut.[note 1] the people are for the most part idolaters, but there are also some nestorian christians and some saracens. the idolaters have a peculiar language, and are no traders, but live by their agriculture.[note 2] they have a great many abbeys and minsters full of idols of sundry fashions, to which they pay great honour and reverence, worshipping them and sacrificing to them with much ado. for example, such as have children will feed up a sheep in honour of the idol, and at the new year, or on the day of the idol's feast, they will take their children and the sheep along with them into the presence of the idol with great ceremony. then they will have the sheep slaughtered and cooked, and again present it before the idol with like reverence, and leave it there before him, whilst they are reciting the offices of their worship and their prayers for the idol's blessing on their children. and, if you will believe them, the idol feeds on the meat that is set before it! after these ceremonies they take up the flesh and carry it home, and call together all their kindred to eat it with them in great festivity [the idol-priests receiving for their portion the head, feet, entrails, and skin, with some part of the meat]. after they have eaten, they collect the bones that are left and store them carefully in a hutch.[note 3] and you must know that all the idolaters in the world burn their dead. and when they are going to carry a body to the burning, the kinsfolk build a wooden house on the way to the spot, and drape it with cloths of silk and gold. when the body is going past this building they call a halt and set before it wine and meat and other eatables; and this they do with the assurance that the defunct will be received with the like attentions in the other world. all the minstrelsy in the town goes playing before the body; and when it reaches the burning-place the kinsfolk are prepared with figures cut out of parchment and paper in the shape of men and horses and camels, and also with round pieces of paper like gold coins, and all these they burn along with the corpse. for they say that in the other world the defunct will be provided with slaves and cattle and money, just in proportion to the amount of such pieces of paper that has been burnt along with him.[note 4] but they never burn their dead until they have [sent for the astrologers, and told them the year, the day, and the hour of the deceased person's birth, and when the astrologers have ascertained under what constellation, planet, and sign he was born, they declare the day on which, by the rules of their art, he ought to be burnt]. and till that day arrive they keep the body, so that 'tis sometimes a matter of six months, more or less, before it comes to be burnt.[note 5] now the way they keep the body in the house is this: they make a coffin first of a good span in thickness, very carefully joined and daintily painted. this they fill up with camphor and spices, to keep off corruption [stopping the joints with pitch and lime], and then they cover it with a fine cloth. every day as long as the body is kept, they set a table before the dead covered with food; and they will have it that the soul comes and eats and drinks: wherefore they leave the food there as long as would be necessary in order that one should partake. thus they do daily. and worse still! sometimes those soothsayers shall tell them that 'tis not good luck to carry out the corpse by the door, so they have to break a hole in the wall, and to draw it out that way when it is taken to the burning.[note 6] and these, i assure you, are the practices of all the idolaters of those countries. however, we will quit this subject, and i will tell you of another city which lies towards the north-west at the extremity of the desert. note 1.--[the natives of this country were called by the chinese _t'ang-hiang_, and by the mongols _t'angu_ or _t'ang-wu_, and with the plural suffix _tangut_. the kingdom of tangut, or in chinese, _si hia_ (western hia), or _ho si_ (west of the yellow river), was declared independent in 982 by li chi ch'ien, who had the dynastic title or _miao hao_ of tai tsu. "the rulers of tangut," says dr. bushell, "were scions of the toba race, who reigned over north china as the wei dynasty (a.d. 386557), as well as in some of the minor dynasties which succeeded. claiming descent from the ancient chinese hsia dynasty of the second millennium b.c., they adopted the title of _ta hsia_ ('great hsia'), and the dynasty is generally called by the chinese hsi hsia, or western hsia." this is a list of the tangut sovereigns, with the date of their accession to the throne: tai tsu (982), tai tsung (1002), ching tsung (1032), yi tsung (1049), hui tsung (1068), ch'ung tsung (1087), jen tsung (1140), huan tsung (1194), hsiang tsung (1206), shên tsung (1213), hien tsung (1223), mo chu (1227). in fact, the real founder of the dynasty was li yuan-hao, who conquered in 1031, the cities of kanchau and suhchau from the uighúr turks, declaring himself independent in 1032, and who adopted in 1036 a special script of which we spoke when mentioning the archway at kiuyung kwan. his capital was hia chau, now ning hia, on the yellow river. chinghiz invaded tangut three times, in 1206, 1217, and at last in 1225; the final struggle took place the following year, when kanchau, liangchau, and suhchau fell into the hands of the mongols. after the death of chinghiz (1227), the last ruler of tangut, li h'ien, who surrendered the same year to okkodaï, son of the conqueror, was killed. the dominions of tangut in the middle of the 11th century, according to the _si hia chi shih pên mo_, quoted by dr. bushell, "were bounded, according to the map, by the sung empire on the south and east, by the liao (khitan) on the north-east, the tartars (tata) on the north, the uighúr turks (hui-hu) on the west, and the tibetans on the south-west. the alashan mountains stretch along the northern frontier, and the western extends to the jade gate (yü mên kwan) on the border of the desert of gobi." under the mongol dynasty, kan suh was the official name of one of the twelve provinces of the empire, and the popular name was tangut. (dr. s. w. bushell: _inscriptions in the juchen and allied scripts_ and _the hsi hsia dynasty of tangut_. see above, p. 29.) "the word tangutan applied by the chinese and by colonel prjevalsky to a tibetan-speaking people around the koko-nor has been explained to me in a variety of ways by native tangutans. a very learned lama from the gserdkog monastery, south-east of the koko-nor, told me that tangutan, amdoans, and sifan were interchangeable terms, but i fear his geographical knowledge was a little vague. the following explanation of the term tangut is taken from the _hsi-tsang-fu_. 'the tangutans are descendants of the _tang-tu-chüeh_. the origin of this name is as follows: in early days, the tangutans lived in the central asian chin-shan, where they were workers of iron. they made a model of the chin-shan, which, in shape, resembled an iron helmet. now, in their language, "iron helmet" is _tang-küeh_, hence the name of the country. to the present day, the tangutans of the koko-nor wear a hat shaped like a pot, high crowned and narrow, rimmed with red fringe sewn on it, so that it looks like an iron helmet, and this is a proof of [the accuracy of the derivation].' although the proof is not very satisfactory, it is as good as we are often offered by authors with greater pretension to learning. "if i remember rightly, prjevalsky derives the name from two words meaning 'black tents.'" (_w. w. rockhill, china br. r. as. soc._, xx. pp. 278-279.) "chinese authorities tell us that the name [tangut] was originally borne by a people living in the altaï', and that the word is turkish.... the population of tangut was a mixture of tibetans, turks, uighúrs, tukuhuns, chinese, etc." (_rockhill_, _rubruck_, p. 150, note.--h. c.)] _sachiu_ is shachau, "sand-district," an outpost of china proper, at the eastern verge of the worst part of the sandy desert. it is recorded to have been fortified in the 1st century as a barrier against the hiongnu. [the name of shachau dates from a.d. 622, when it was founded by the first emperor of the t'ang dynasty. formerly, shachau was one of the chinese colonies established by the han, at the expense of the hiongnu; it was called t'ung hoang (b.c. 111), a name still given to shachau; the other colonies were kiu-kaan (suhchau, b.c. 121) and chang-yé (kanchau, b.c. 111). (see _bretschneider, med. res._ ii. 18.) "sha-chow, the present _tun-hwang-hien_ (a few _li_ east of the ancient town).... in 1820, or about that time, an attempt was made to re-establish the ancient direct way between sha-chow and khotan. with this object in view, an exploring party of ten men was sent from khotan towards sha-chow; this party wandered in the desert over a month, and found neither dwellings nor roads, but pastures and water everywhere. m. polo omits to mention a remarkable place at sha-chow, a sandy hillock (a short distance south of this town) known under the name of _ming-sha shan_--the 'rumbling sandhill.' the sand, in rolling down the hill, produces a particular sound, similar to that of distant thunder. in m. polo's time (1292), khubilaï removed the inhabitants of sha-chow to the interior of china; fearing, probably, the aggression of the seditious princes; and his successor, in 1303, placed there a garrison of ten thousand men." (_palladius_, l.c. p. 5.) "sha-chau is one of the best oases of central asia. it is situated at the foot of the nan-shan range, at a height of 3700 feet above the sea, and occupies an area of about 200 square miles, the whole of which is thickly inhabited by chinese. sha-chau is interesting as the meeting-place of three expeditions started independently from russia, india, and china. just two months before prjevalsky reached this town, it was visited by count szechényi [april, 1879], and eighteen months afterwards pundit a-k, whose report of it agrees fairly well with that of our traveller, also stayed here. both prejevalsky and szechényi remark on some curious caves in a valley near sha-chau containing buddhistic clay idols.[1] these caves were in marco polo's time the resort of numerous worshippers, and are said to date back to the han dynasty." (_prejevalsky's journeys_ ... by e. delmar morgan, _proc. r. g. s._ ix. 1887, pp. 217-218.)--h. c.] (_ritter_, ii. 205; _neumann_, p. 616; _cathay_, 269, 274; _erdmann_, 155; _erman_, ii. 267; _mag. asiat._ ii. 213.) note 2.--by _idolaters_, polo here means buddhists, as generally. we do not know whether the buddhism here was a recent introduction from tibet, or a relic of the old buddhism of khotan and other central asian kingdoms, but most probably it was the former, and the "peculiar language" ascribed to them may have been, as neumann supposes, tibetan. this language in modern mongolia answers to the latin of the mass book, indeed with a curious exactness, for in both cases the holy tongue is not that of the original propagators of the respective religions, but that of the hierarchy which has assumed their government. in the lamaitic convents of china and manchuria also the tibetan only is used in worship, except at one privileged temple at peking. (_koeppen_, ii. 288.) the language intended by polo may, however, have been a chinese dialect. (see notes 1 and 4.) the nestorians must have been tolerably numerous in tangut, for it formed a metropolitan province of their church. note 3.--a practice resembling this is mentioned by pallas as existing among the buddhist kalmaks, a relic of their old shaman superstitions, which the lamas profess to decry, but sometimes take part in. "rich kalmaks select from their flock a ram for dedication, which gets the name of _tengri tockho_, 'heaven's ram.' it must be a white one with a yellow head. he must never be shorn or sold, but when he gets old, and the owner chooses to dedicate a fresh one, then the old one must be sacrificed. this is usually done in autumn, when the sheep are fattest, and the neighbours are called together to eat the sacrifice. a fortunate day is selected, and the ram is slaughtered amid the cries of the sorcerer directed towards the sunrise, and the diligent sprinkling of milk for the benefit of the spirits of the air. the flesh is eaten, but the skeleton with a part of the fat is burnt on a turf altar erected on four pillars of an ell and a half high, and the skin, with the head and feet, is then hung up in the way practised by the buraets." (_sammlungen_, ii. 346.) note 4.--several of the customs of tangut mentioned in this chapter are essentially chinese, and are perhaps introduced here because it was on entering tangut that the traveller first came in contact with chinese peculiarities. this is true of the manner of forming coffins, and keeping them with the body in the house, serving food before the coffin whilst it is so kept, the burning of paper and papier-maché figures of slaves, horses, etc., at the tomb. chinese settlers were very numerous at shachau and the neighbouring kwachau, even in the 10th century. (_ritter_, ii. 213.) ["keeping a body unburied for a considerable time is called _khng koan_, 'to conceal or store away a coffin,' or _thîng koan_, 'to detain a coffin.' it is, of course, a matter of necessity in such cases to have the cracks and fissures, and especially the seam where the case and the lid join, hermetically caulked. this is done by means of a mixture of chunam and oil. the seams, sometimes even the whole coffin, are pasted over with linen, and finally everything is varnished black, or, in case of a mandarin of rank, red. in process of time, the varnishing is repeated as many times as the family think desirable or necessary. and in order to protect the coffin still better against dust and moisture, it is generally covered with sheets of oiled paper, over which comes a white pall." (_de groot_, i. 106.)--h. c.] even as regards the south of china many of the circumstances mentioned here are strictly applicable, as may be seen in _doolittle's social life of the chinese_. (see, for example, p. 135; also _astley_, iv. 93-95, or marsden's quotations from _duhalde_.) the custom of burning the dead has been for several centuries disused in china, but we shall see hereafter that polo represents it as general in his time. on the custom of burning gilt paper in the form of gold coin, as well as of paper clothing, paper houses, furniture, slaves, etc., see also _medhurst_, p. 213, and _kidd_, 177-178. no one who has read père huc will forget his ludicrous account of the lama's charitable distribution of paper horses for the good of disabled travellers. the manufacture of mock money is a large business in chinese cities. in fuchau there are more than thirty large establishments where it is kept for sale. (_doolittle_, 541.) [the chinese believe that sheets of paper, partly tinned over on one side, are, "according to the prevailing conviction, turned by the process of fire into real silver currency available in the world of darkness, and sent there through the smoke to the soul; they are called _gûn-tsoá_, 'silver paper.' most families prefer to previously fold every sheet in the shape of a hollow ingot, a 'silver ingot,' _gûn-khò_ as they call it. this requires a great amount of labour and time, but increases the value of the treasure immensely." (_de groot_, i. 25.) "presenting paper money when paying a visit of condolence is a custom firmly established, and accordingly complied with by everybody with great strictness.... the paper is designed for the equipment of the coffin, and, accordingly, always denoted by the term _koan-thaô-tsoá_, 'coffin paper.' but as the receptacle of the dead is, of course, not spacious enough to hold the whole mass offered by so many friends, it is regularly burned by lots by the side of the corpse, the ashes being carefully collected to be afterwards wrapped in paper and placed in the coffin, or at the side of the coffin, in the tomb." (_de groot_, i. 31-32.)--h. c.] there can be little doubt that these latter customs are symbols of the ancient sacrifices of human beings and valuable property on such occasions; so manetho states that the egyptians in days of yore used human sacrifices, but a certain king amosis abolished them and substituted images of wax. even when the present manchu dynasty first occupied the throne of china, they still retained the practice of human sacrifice. at the death of kanghi's mother, however, in 1718, when four young girls offered themselves for sacrifice on the tomb of their mistress, the emperor would not allow it, and prohibited for the future the sacrifice of life or the destruction of valuables on such occasions. (_deguignes, voy._ i. 304.) note 5.--even among the tibetans and mongols burning is only one of the modes of disposing of the dead. "they sometimes bury their dead: often they leave them exposed in their coffins, or cover them with stones, paying regard to the sign under which the deceased was born, his age, the day and hour of his death, which determine the mode in which he is to be interred (or otherwise disposed of). for this purpose they consult some books which are explained to them by the lamas." (_timk._ ii. 312.) the extraordinary and complex absurdities of the books in question are given in detail by pallas, and curiously illustrate the paragraph in the text. (see _sammlungen_, ii. 254 seqq.) ["the first seven days, including that on which the demise has taken place, are generally deemed to be lucky for the burial, especially the odd ones. but when they have elapsed, it becomes requisite to apply to a day-professor.... the popular almanac which chiefly wields sway in amoy and the surrounding country, regularly stigmatises a certain number of days as _tîng-sng jít_: 'days of reduplication of death,' because encoffining or burying a dead person on such a day will entail another loss in the family shortly afterwards." (_de groot_, i. 103, 99-100.)--h. c.] note 6.--the chinese have also, according to duhalde, a custom of making a new opening in the wall of a house by which to carry out the dead; and in their prisons a special hole in the wall is provided for this office. this same custom exists among the esquimaux, as well as, according to sonnerat, in southern india, and it used to exist in certain parts both of holland and of central italy. in the "clean village of broek," near amsterdam, those special doors may still be seen. and in certain towns of umbria, such as perugia, assisi, and gubbio, this opening was common, elevated some feet above the ground, and known as the "door of the dead." i find in a list, printed by liebrecht, of popular french superstitions, amounting to 479 in number, condemned by maupas du tour, bishop of evreux in 1664, the following: "when a woman lies in of a dead child, it must not be taken out by the door of the chamber but by the window, for if it were taken out by the door the woman would never lie in of any but dead children." the samoyedes have the superstition mentioned in the text, and act exactly as polo describes. ["the body [of the queen of bali, 17th century] was drawn out of a large aperture made in the wall to the right hand side of the door, in the absurd opinion of _cheating the devil_, whom these islanders believe to lie in wait in the ordinary passage." (_john crawfurd, hist. of the indian archipelago_, ii. p. 245.)--h. c.] and the rev. mr. jaeschke writes to me from lahaul, in british tibet: "our lama (from central tibet) tells us that the owner of a house and the members of his family when they die are carried through the house-door; but if another person dies in the house his body is removed by some other aperture, such as a window, or the smokehole in the roof, or a hole in the wall dug expressly for the purpose. or a wooden frame is made, fitting into the doorway, and the body is then carried through; it being considered that by this contrivance the evil consequences are escaped that might ensue, were it carried through the ordinary, and, so to say, _undisguised_ house-door! here, in lahaul and the neighbouring countries, we have not heard of such a custom." (_duhalde_, quoted by marsden; _semedo_, p. 175; _mr. sala_ in _n. and q._, 2nd s. xi. 322; _lubbock_, p. 500; _sonnerat_ i. 86; _liebrecht's gervasius of tilbury_, hanover, 1856, p. 224; _mag. asiat._ ii. 93.) [1] m. bonin visited in 1899 these caves which he calls "grottoes of thousand buddhas" (_tsien fo tung_). (_la géographie_, 15th march, 1901, p. 171.) he found a stèle dated 1348, bearing a buddhist prayer in six different scripts like the inscription at kiu yung kwan. (_rev. hist. des religions_, 1901, p. 393.)--h. c. chapter xli. of the province of camul. camul is a province which in former days was a kingdom. it contains numerous towns and villages, but the chief city bears the name of camul. the province lies between the two deserts; for on the one side is the great desert of lop, and on the other side is a small desert of three days' journey in extent.[note 1] the people are all idolaters, and have a peculiar language. they live by the fruits of the earth, which they have in plenty, and dispose of to travellers. they are a people who take things very easily, for they mind nothing but playing and singing, and dancing and enjoying themselves.[note 2] and it is the truth that if a foreigner comes to the house of one of these people to lodge, the host is delighted, and desires his wife to put herself entirely at the guest's disposal, whilst he himself gets out of the way, and comes back no more until the stranger shall have taken his departure. the guest may stay and enjoy the wife's society as long as he lists, whilst the husband has no shame in the matter, but indeed considers it an honour. and all the men of this province are made wittols of by their wives in this way.[note 3] the women themselves are fair and wanton. now it came to pass during the reign of mangu kaan, that as lord of this province he came to hear of this custom, and he sent forth an order commanding them under grievous penalties to do so no more [but to provide public hostelries for travellers]. and when they heard this order they were much vexed thereat. [for about three years' space they carried it out. but then they found that their lands were no longer fruitful, and that many mishaps befell them.] so they collected together and prepared a grand present which they sent to their lord, praying him graciously to let them retain the custom which they had inherited from their ancestors; for it was by reason of this usage that their gods bestowed upon them all the good things that they possessed, and without it they saw not how they could continue to exist.[note 4] when the prince had heard their petition his reply was "since ye must needs keep your shame, keep it then," and so he left them at liberty to maintain their naughty custom. and they always have kept it up, and do so still. now let us quit camul, and i will tell you of another province which lies between north-west and north, and belongs to the great kaan. note 1.--kamul (or komul) does not fall into the great line of travel towards cathay which marco is following. his notice of it, and of the next province, forms a digression like that which he has already made to samarkand. it appears very doubtful if marco himself had visited it; his father and uncle may have done so on their first journey, as one of the chief routes to northern china from western asia lies through this city, and has done so for many centuries. this was the route described by pegolotti as that of the italian traders in the century following polo; it was that followed by marignolli, by the envoys of shah rukh at a later date, and at a much later by benedict goës. the people were in polo's time apparently buddhist, as the uighúrs inhabiting this region had been from an old date: in shah rukh's time (1420) we find a mosque and a great buddhist temple cheek by jowl; whilst ramusio's friend hajji mahomed (circa 1550) speaks of kamul as the first mahomedan city met with in travelling from china. kamul stands on an oasis carefully cultivated by aid of reservoirs for irrigation, and is noted in china for its rice and for some of its fruits, especially melons and grapes. it is still a place of some consequence, standing near the bifurcation of two great roads from china, one passing north and the other south of the thian shan, and it was the site of the chinese commissariat depôts for the garrisons to the westward. it was lost to the chinese in 1867. kamul appears to have been the see of a nestorian bishop. a bishop of kamul is mentioned as present at the inauguration of the catholicos denha in 1266. (_russians in cent. asia_, 129; _ritter_, ii. 357 seqq.; _cathay, passim_; _assemani_, ii. 455-456.) [_kamul_ is the turkish name of the province called by the mongols _khamil_, by the chinese _hami_; the latter name is found for the first time in the _yuen shi_, but it is first mentioned in chinese history in the 1st century of our era under the name of _i-wu-lu_ or _i-wu_ (_bretschneider, med. res._ ii. p. 20); after the death of chinghiz, it belonged to his son chagataï. from the great wall, at the pass of kia yü, to hami there is a distance of 1470 _li_. (_c. imbault-huart. le pays de hami ou khamil_ ... d'après les auteurs chinois, _bul. de géog. hist. et desc._, paris, 1892, pp. 121-195.) the chinese general chang yao was in 1877 at hami, which had submitted in 1867 to the athalik ghazi, and made it the basis of his operations against the small towns of chightam and pidjam, and yakúb khan himself stationed at turfan. the imperial chinese agent in this region bears the title of _k'u lun pan she ta ch'en_ and resides at k'urun (urga); of lesser rank are the agents (_pan she ta ch'en_) of kashgar, kharashar, kuché, aksu, khotan, and hami. (see a description of hami by colonel m. s. bell, _proc. r. g. s._ xii. 1890, p. 213.)--h. c.] note 2.--expressed almost in the same words is the character attributed by a chinese writer to the people of kuché in the same region. (_chin. repos._ ix. 126.) in fact, the character seems to be generally applicable to the people of east turkestan, but sorely kept down by the rigid islam that is now enforced. (see _shaw, passim_, and especially the mahrambáshi's lamentations over the jolly days that were no more, pp. 319, 376.) note 3.--pauthier's text has "_sont si_ honni _de leur moliers comme vous avez ouy_." here the crusca has "_sono_ bozzi _delle loro moglie_," and the lat. geog. "_sunt_ bezzi _de suis uxoribus_." the crusca vocab. has inserted _bozzo_ with the meaning we have given, on the strength of this passage. it occurs also in dante (_paradiso_, xix. 137), in the general sense of _disgraced_. the shameful custom here spoken of is ascribed by polo also to a province of eastern tibet, and by popular report in modern times to the hazaras of the hindu-kush, a people of mongolian blood, as well as to certain nomad tribes of persia, to say nothing of the like accusation against our own ancestors which has been drawn from laonicus chalcondylas. the old arab traveller ibn muhalhal (10th century) also relates the same of the hazlakh (probably _kharlikh_) turks: "ducis alicujus uxor vel filia vel soror, quum mercatorum agmen in terram venit, eos adit, eorumque lustrat faciem. quorum siquis earum afficit admiratione hunc domum suam ducit, eumque apud se hospitio excipit, eique benigne facit. atque marito suo et filio fratrique rerum necessariarum curam demandat; neque dum hospes apud eam habitat, nisi necessarium est, maritus eam adit." a like custom prevails among the chukchis and koryaks in the vicinity of kamtchatka. (_elphinstone's caubul; wood_, p. 201; _burnes_, who discredits, ii. 153, iii. 195; _laon. chalcond._ 1650, pp. 48-49; _kurd de schloezer_, p. 13; _erman_, ii. 530.) ["it is remarkable that the chinese author, _hung hao_, who lived a century before m. polo, makes mention in his memoirs nearly in the same words of this custom of the uighúrs, with whom he became acquainted during his captivity in the kingdom of the _kin_. according to the chronicle of the tangut kingdom of si-hia, hami was the nursery of buddhism in si-hia, and provided this kingdom with buddhist books and monks." (_palladius_, l.c. p. 6.)--h. c.] note 4.--so the jewish rabble to jeremiah: "since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by famine." (_jerem._ xliv. 18.) chapter xlii. of the province of chingintalas. chingintalas is also a province at the verge of the desert, and lying between north-west and north. it has an extent of sixteen days' journey, and belongs to the great kaan, and contains numerous towns and villages. there are three different races of people in it--idolaters, saracens, and some nestorian christians.[note 1] at the northern extremity of this province there is a mountain in which are excellent veins of steel and ondanique.[note 2] and you must know that in the same mountain there is a vein of the substance from which salamander is made.[note 3] for the real truth is that the salamander is no beast, as they allege in our part of the world, but is a substance found in the earth; and i will tell you about it. everybody must be aware that it can be no animal's nature to live in fire, seeing that every animal is composed of all the four elements.[note 4] now i, marco polo, had a turkish acquaintance of the name of zurficar, and he was a very clever fellow. and this turk related to messer marco polo how he had lived three years in that region on behalf of the great kaan, in order to procure those salamanders for him.[note 5] he said that the way they got them was by digging in that mountain till they found a certain vein. the substance of this vein was then taken and crushed, and when so treated it divides as it were into fibres of wool, which they set forth to dry. when dry, these fibres were pounded in a great copper mortar, and then washed, so as to remove all the earth and to leave only the fibres like fibres of wool. these were then spun, and made into napkins. when first made these napkins are not very white, but by putting them into the fire for a while they come out as white as snow. and so again whenever they become dirty they are bleached by being put in the fire. now this, and nought else, is the truth about the salamander, and the people of the country all say the same. any other account of the matter is fabulous nonsense. and i may add that they have at rome a napkin of this stuff, which the grand kaan sent to the pope to make a wrapper for the holy sudarium of jesus christ.[note 6] we will now quit this subject, and i will proceed with my account of the countries lying in the direction between north-east and east. note 1.--the identification of this province is a difficulty, because the geographical definition is vague, and the name assigned to it has not been traced in other authors. it is said to lie _between north-west and north_, whilst kamul was said to lie _towards the north-west_. the account of both provinces forms a digression, as is clear from the last words of the present chapter, where the traveller returns to take up his regular route "in the direction between north-east and east." the point from which he digresses, and to which he reverts, is shachau, and 'tis presumably from shachau that he assigns bearings to the two provinces forming the subject of the digression. hence, as kamul lies _vers maistre_, i.e. north-west, and chingintalas _entre maistre et tramontaine_, i.e. nor'-nor'-west, chingintalas can scarcely lie due west of kamul, as m. pauthier would place it, in identifying it with an obscure place called _saiyintala_, in the territory of urumtsi. moreover, the province is said to belong to the great kaan. now, _urumtsi_ or bishbalik seems to have belonged, not to the great kaan, but to the empire of chagatai, or possibly at this time to kaidu. rashiduddin, speaking of the frontier between the kaan and kaidu, says:--"from point to point are posted bodies of troops under the orders of princes of the blood or other generals, and they often come to blows with the troops of kaidu. five of these are cantoned on the verge of the desert; a sixth in tangut, near chagan-nor (white lake); a seventh in the vicinity of karakhoja, a city of the uighúrs, which lies between the two states, and maintains neutrality." karakhoja, this neutral town, is near turfan, to the south-east of urumtsi, which thus would lie _without_ the kaan's boundary; kamul and the country north-east of it would lie within it. this country, to the north and north-east of kamul, has remained till quite recently unexplored by any modern traveller, unless we put faith in mr. atkinson's somewhat hazy narrative. but it is here that i would seek for chingintalas. several possible explanations of this name have suggested themselves or been suggested to me. i will mention two. 1. klaproth states that the mongols applied to tibet the name of _baron-tala_, signifying the "right side," i.e. the south-west or south quarter, whilst mongolia was called _dzöhn_ (or _dzegun_) _tala_, i.e. the "left," or north-east side. it is possible that _chigin-talas_ might represent _dzegun tala_ in some like application. the etymology of _dzungaria_, a name which in modern times covers the territory of which we are speaking, is similar. 2. professor vámbéry thinks that it is probably _chingin tala_, "the vast plain." but nothing can be absolutely satisfactory in such a case except historical evidence of the application of the name. i have left the identity of this name undecided, though pointing to the general position of the region so-called by marco, as indicated by the vicinity of the tangnu-ola mountains (p. 215). a passage in the journey of the taouist doctor, changchun, as translated by dr. bretschneider (_chinese recorder and miss. journ._, shanghai, sept.-oct., 1874, p. 258), suggests to me the strong probability that it may be the _kem-kém-jút_ of rashiduddin, called by the chinese teacher _kien-kien_-chau. rashiduddin couples the territory of the kirghiz with kemkemjút, but defines the country embracing both with some exactness: "on one side (south-east?), it bordered on the mongol country; on a second (north-east?), it was bounded by the selenga; on a third (north), by the 'great river called angara, which flows on the confines of ibir-sibir' (i.e. of siberia); on a fourth side by the territory of the naimans. this great country contained _many towns and villages_, as well as many nomad inhabitants." dr. bretschneider's chinese traveller speaks of it as a country where _good iron was found_, where (grey) squirrels abounded, and wheat was cultivated. other notices quoted by him show that it lay to the south-east of the kirghiz country, and had its name from the _kien_ or _ken_ r. (i.e. the upper yenisei). the name (_kienkien_), the general direction, the existence of good iron ("steel and ondanique"), the many towns and villages in a position where we should little look for such an indication, all point to the identity of this region with the chingintalas of our text. the only alteration called for in the itinerary map (no. iv.) would be to spell the name _hinkin_, or _ghinghin_ (as it _is_ in the geographic text), and to shift it a very little further to the north. (see _chingin_ in _kovalevski's mongol dict._, no. 2134; and for _baron-tala_, etc., see _della penna, breve notizia del regno del thibet_, with klaproth's notes, p. 6; _d'avezac_, p. 568; _relation_ prefixed to d'anville's atlas, p. 11; _alphabetum tibetanum_, 454; and _kircher, china illustrata_, p. 65.) since the first edition was published, mr. ney elias has traversed the region in question from east to west; and i learn from him that at kobdo he found the most usual name for that town among mongols, kalmaks, and russians to be sankin-hoto. he had not then thought of connecting this name with chinghin-talas, and has therefore no information as to its origin or the extent of its application. but he remarks that polo's bearing of between north and north-west, if understood to be _from kamul_, would point exactly to kobdo. he also calls attention to the lake _sankin_-dalai, to the north-east of uliasut'ai, of which atkinson gives a sketch. the recurrence of this name over so wide a tract may have something to do with the chinghin-talas of polo. but we must still wait for further light.[1] ["supposing that m. polo mentions this place on his way from sha-chow to su-chow, it is natural to think that it is _chi-kin-talas_, i.e. 'chi-kin plain' or valley; chi-kin was the name of a lake, called so even now, and of a defile, which received its name from the lake. the latter is on the way from kia-yü kwan to ansi chow." (_palladius_, l.c. p. 7.) "_chikin_, or more correctly _chigin_, is a mongol word meaning 'ear.'" (ibid.) palladius (p. 8) adds: "the chinese accounts of chi-kin are not in contradiction to the statements given by m. polo regarding the same subject; but when the distances are taken into consideration, a serious difficulty arises; chi-kin is two hundred and fifty or sixty _li_ distant from su-chow, whilst, according to m. polo's statement, ten days are necessary to cross this distance. one of the three following explanations of this discrepancy must be admitted: either chingintalas is not chi-kin, or the traveller's memory failed, or, lastly, an error crept into the number of days' journey. the two last suppositions i consider the most probable; the more so that similar difficulties occur several times in marco polo's narrative." (l.c. p. 8.)--h. c.] note 2.--[_ondanique_.--we have already referred to this word, _kermán_, p. 90. _cobinan_, p. 124. la curne de sainte-palaye (_dict._), f. godefroy (_dict._), du cange (_gloss._), all give to _andain_ the meaning of _enjambée_, from the latin _andare_. godefroy, _s.v. andaine_, calls it _sorte d'acier ou de fer_, and quotes besides marco polo: "i. espiel, ou ot fer d'andaine, dont la lamele n'iert pas trouble." (huon de mery, _le tornoiement de l'antechrist_, p. 3, tarbé.) there is a forest in the department of orne, arrondissement of domfront, which belonged to the crown before 1669, and is now state property, called forêt d'andaine; it is situated near some bed of iron. is this the origin of the name?--h. c.] note 3.--the altai, or one of its ramifications, is probably the mountain of the text, but so little is known of this part of the chinese territory that we can learn scarcely anything of its mineral products. still martini does mention that asbestos is found "in the tartar country of _tangu_," which probably is the _tangnu oola_ branch of the altai to the south of the upper yenisei, and in the very region we have indicated as chingintalas. mr. elias tells me he inquired for asbestos by its chinese name at uliasut'ai, but without success. note 4.- "degli elementi quattro principali, che son la terra, e l'acqua, e l'aria, e'l foco, composti sono gli universi animali, pigliando di ciascuno assai o poco." (_dati_, _la sfera_, p. 9.) _zurficar_ in the next sentence is a mahomedan name, _zu'lfikár_, the title of [the edge of] ali's sword. note 5.--here the g. text adds: "_et je meisme le vi_," intimating, i conceive, his having himself seen specimens of the asbestos--not to his having been at the place. note 6.--the story of the salamander passing unhurt through fire is at least as old as aristotle. but i cannot tell when the fable arose that asbestos was a substance derived from the animal. this belief, however, was general in the middle ages, both in asia and europe. "the fable of the salamander," says sir thomas browne, "hath been much promoted by stories of incombustible napkins and textures which endure the fire, whose materials are called by the name of salamander's wool, which many, too literally apprehending, conceive some investing part or integument of the salamander.... nor is this salamander's wool desumed from any animal, but a mineral substance, metaphorically so called for this received opinion." those who knew that the salamander was a lizard-like animal were indeed perplexed as to its woolly coat. thus the cardinal de vitry is fain to say the creature "_profert ex cute_ quasi quamdam lanam _de quâ zonae contextae comburi non possunt igne._" a bestiary, published by cahier and martin, says of it: "_de lui naist une cose qui n'est ne soie ne lin ne laine._" jerome cardan looked in vain, he says, for hair on the salamander! albertus magnus calls the incombustible fibre _pluma salamandri_; and accordingly bold bauduin de sebourc finds the salamander in the terrestrial paradise _a kind of bird covered with the whitest plumage_; of this he takes some, which he gets woven into a cloth; this he presents to the pope, and the pontiff applies it to the purpose mentioned in the text, viz. to cover the holy napkin of st. veronica. gervase of tilbury writes: "i saw, when lately at rome, a broad strap of salamander skin, like a girdle for the loins, which had been brought thither by cardinal peter of capua. when it had become somewhat soiled by use, i myself saw it cleaned perfectly, and without receiving harm, by being put in the fire." in persian the creature is called _samandar, samandal_, etc., and some derive the word from _sam_, "fire," and _andar_, "within." doubtless it is a corruption of the greek [greek: salamándra], whatever be the origin of that. bakui says the animal is found at ghur, near herat, and is _like a mouse_. another author, quoted by d'herbelot, says it is _like a marten_. [sir t. douglas forsyth, in his _introductory remarks_ to prjevalsky's _travels to lob-nor_ (p. 20), at aksu says: "the asbestos mentioned by marco polo as a utilized product of this region is not even so known in this country."--h. c.] + interesting details regarding the fabrication of cloth and paper from amianth or asbestos are contained in a report presented to the french institute by m. sage (_mém. ac. sciences_, 2e sem., 1806, p. 102), of which large extracts are given in the _diction. général des tissus_, par m. bezon, 2e éd. vol. ii. lyon, 1859, p. 5. he mentions that a _sudarium_ of this material is still shown at the vatican; we hope it is the cover which kúblái sent. [this hope is not to be realized. mgr. duchesne, of the institut de france, writes to me from rome, from information derived from the keepers of the vatican museum, that there is no sudarium from the great khan, that indeed part of a sudarium made of asbestos is shown (under glass) in this museum, about 20 inches long, but it is ancient, and was found in a pagan tomb of the appian way.--h. c.] m. sage exhibited incombustible paper made from this material, and had himself seen a small furnace of chinese origin made from it. madame perpenté, an italian lady, who experimented much with asbestos, found that from a crude mass of that substance threads could be elicited which were ten times the length of the mass itself, and were indeed sometimes several metres in length, the fibres seeming to be involved, like silk in a cocoon. her process of preparation was much like that described by marco. she succeeded in carding and reeling the material, made gloves and the like, as well as paper, from it, and sent to the institute a work printed on such paper. the rev. a. williamson mentions asbestos as found in shantung. the natives use it for making stoves, crucibles, and so forth. (_sir t. browne_, i. 293; _bongars_, i. 1104; _cahier et martin_, iii. 271; _cardan, de rer. varietate_, vii. 33; _alb. mag. opera_, 1551, ii. 227, 233; _fr. michel, recherches_, etc., ii. 91; _gerv. of tilbury_, p. 13; _n. et e._ ii. 493; _d. des tissus_, ii. 1-12; _j. n. china branch r. a. s._, december, 1867, p. 70.) [_berger de xivrey, traditions tératologiques_, 457-458, 460-463.--h. c.] [1] the late mr. atkinson has been twice alluded to in this note. i take the opportunity of saying that mr. ney elias, a most competent judge, who has travelled across the region in question whilst admitting, as every one must, atkinson's vagueness and sometimes very careless statements, is not at all disposed to discredit the truth of his narrative. chapter xliii. of the province of sukchur. on leaving the province of which i spoke before,[note 1] you ride ten days between north-east and east, and in all that way you find no human dwelling, or next to none, so that there is nothing for our book to speak of. at the end of those ten days you come to another province called sukchur, in which there are numerous towns and villages. the chief city is called sukchu.[note 2] the people are partly christians and partly idolaters, and all are subject to the great kaan. the great general province to which all these three provinces belong is called tangut. over all the mountains of this province rhubarb is found in great abundance, and thither merchants come to buy it, and carry it thence all over the world.[note 3] [travellers, however, dare not visit those mountains with any cattle but those of the country, for a certain plant grows there which is so poisonous that cattle which eat it lose their hoofs. the cattle of the country know it and eschew it.[note 4]] the people live by agriculture, and have not much trade. [they are of a brown complexion. the whole of the province is healthy.] note 1.--referring apparently to shachau; see note 1 and the closing words of last chapter. note 2.--there is no doubt that the province and city are those of suhchau, but there is a great variety in the readings, and several texts have a marked difference between the name of the province and that of the city, whilst others give them as the same. i have adopted those to which the resultants of the readings of the best texts seem to point, viz. _succiur_ and _succiu_, though with considerable doubt whether they should not be identical. pauthier declares that _suctur_, which is the reading of his favourite ms., is the exact pronunciation, after the vulgar mongol manner, of _suh-chau-lu_, the _lu_ or circuit of suhchau; whilst neumann says that the northern chinese constantly add an euphonic particle _or_ to the end of words. i confess to little faith in such refinements, when no evidence is produced. [suhchau had been devastated and its inhabitants massacred by chinghiz khan in 1226.--h. c.] suhchau is called by rashiduddin, and by shah rukh's ambassadors, _sukchú_, in exact correspondence with the reading we have adopted for the name of the city, whilst the russian envoy boikoff, in the 17th century, calls it "_suktsey_, where the rhubarb grows"; and anthony jenkinson, in hakluyt, by a slight metathesis, _sowchick_. suhchau lies just within the extreme north-west angle of the great wall. it was at suhchau that benedict goës was detained, waiting for leave to go on to peking, eighteen weary months, and there he died just as aid reached him. note 3.--the real rhubarb [_rheum palmatum_] grows wild, on very high mountains. the central line of its distribution appears to be the high range dividing the head waters of the hwang-ho, yalung, and min-kiang. the chief markets are siningfu (see ch. lvii.), and kwan-kian in szechwan. in the latter province an inferior kind is grown in fields, but the genuine rhubarb defies cultivation. (see _richthofen_, letters, no. vii. p. 69.) till recently it was almost all exported by kiakhta and russia, but some now comes viâ hankau and shanghai. ["see, on the preparation of the root in china, gemelli-careri. (_churchill's collect._, bk. iii. ch. v. 365.) it is said that when chinghiz khan was pillaging tangut, the only things his minister, yeh-lü ch'u-ts'ai, would take as his share of the booty were a few chinese books and a supply of rhubarb, with which he saved the lives of a great number of mongols, when, a short time after, an epidemic broke out in the army." (_d'ohsson_, i. 372.--_rockhill, rubruck_, p. 193, note.) "with respect to rhubarb ... the _suchowchi_ also makes the remark, that the best rhubarb, with golden flowers in the breaking, is gathered in this province (district of _shan-tan_), and that it is equally beneficial to men and beasts, preserving them from the pernicious effects of the heat." (_palladius_, l.c. p. 9.)--h. c.] note 4.--_erba_ is the title applied to the poisonous growth, which may be either "plant" or "grass." it is not unlikely that it was a plant akin to the _andromeda ovalifolia_, the tradition of the poisonous character of which prevails everywhere along the himalaya from nepal to the indus. it is notorious for poisoning sheep and goats at simla and other hill sanitaria; and dr. cleghorn notes the same circumstance regarding it that polo heard of the plant in tangut, viz. that its effects on flocks imported from the plains are highly injurious, whilst those of the hills do not appear to suffer, probably because they shun the young leaves, which alone are deleterious. mr. marsh attests the like fact regarding the _kalmia angustifolia_ of new england, a plant of the same order (_ericaceae_). sheep bred where it abounds almost always avoid browsing on its leaves, whilst those brought from districts where it is unknown feed upon it and are poisoned. firishta, quoting from the _zafar-námah_, says: "on the road from kashmir towards tibet there is a plain on which no other vegetable grows but a poisonous grass that destroys all the cattle that taste of it, and therefore no horsemen venture to travel that route." and abbé desgodins, writing from e. tibet, mentions that sheep and goats are poisoned by rhododendron leaves. (_dr. hugh cleghorn_ in _j. agricultural and hortic. society of india_, xiv. part 4; _marsh's man and nature_, p. 40; _briggs firishta_, iv. 449; _bul. de la soc. de géog._ 1873, i. 333.) ["this poisonous plant seems to be the _stipa inebrians_ described by the late dr. hance in the _journal of bot._ 1876, p. 211, from specimens sent to me by belgian missionaries from the ala shan mountains, west of the yellow river." (_bretschneider, hist. of bot. disc._ i. p. 5.) "m. polo notices that the cattle not indigenous to the province lose their hoofs in the suh-chau mountains; but that is probably not on account of some poisonous grass, but in consequence of the stony ground." (_palladius_, l.c. p. 9.)--h. c.] chapter xliv. of the city of campichu. campichu is also a city of tangut, and a very great and noble one. indeed it is the capital and place of government of the whole province of tangut.[note 1] the people are idolaters, saracens, and christians, and the latter have three very fine churches in the city, whilst the idolaters have many minsters and abbeys after their fashion. in these they have an enormous number of idols, both small and great, certain of the latter being a good ten paces in stature; some of them being of wood, others of clay, and others yet of stone. they are all highly polished, and then covered with gold. the great idols of which i speak lie at length.[note 2] and round about them there are other figures of considerable size, as if adoring and paying homage before them. now, as i have not yet given you particulars about the customs of these idolaters, i will proceed to tell you about them. you must know that there are among them certain religious recluses who lead a more virtuous life than the rest. these abstain from all lechery, though they do not indeed regard it as a deadly sin; howbeit if any one sin against nature they condemn him to death. they have an ecclesiastical calendar as we have; and there are five days in the month that they observe particularly; and on these five days they would on no account either slaughter any animal or eat flesh meat. on those days, moreover, they observe much greater abstinence altogether than on other days.[note 3] among these people a man may take thirty wives, more or less, if he can but afford to do so, each having wives in proportion to his wealth and means; but the first wife is always held in highest consideration. the men endow their wives with cattle, slaves, and money, according to their ability. and if a man dislikes any one of his wives, he just turns her off and takes another. they take to wife their cousins and their fathers' widows (always excepting the man's own mother), holding to be no sin many things that we think grievous sins, and, in short, they live like beasts.[note 4] messer maffeo and messer marco polo dwelt a whole year in this city when on a mission.[note 5] now we will leave this and tell you about other provinces towards the north, for we are going to take you a sixty days' journey in that direction. note 1.--campichiu is undoubtedly kanchau, which was at this time, as pauthier tells us, the chief city of the administration of _kansuh_ corresponding to polo's tangut. _kansuh_ itself is a name compounded of the names of the two cities _kan_-chau and _suh_-chau. [kanchau fell under the tangut dominion in 1208. (_palladius_, p. 10.) the musulmans mentioned by polo at shachau and kanchau probably came from khotan.--h. c.] the difficulties that have been made about the form of the name _campiciou_, etc., in polo, and the attempts to explain these, are probably alike futile. quatremère writes the persian form of the name after abdurrazzak as _kamtcheou_, but i see that erdmann writes it after rashid, i presume on good grounds, as _ckamidschu_, i.e. _kamiju_ or _kamichu_. and that this _was_ the western pronunciation of the name is shown by the form which pegolotti uses, _camexu_, i.e. camechu. the _p_ in polo's spelling is probably only a superfluous letter, as in the occasional old spelling of _dampnum_, _contempnere_, _hympnus_, _tirampnus_, _sompnour_, _dampne deu_. in fact, marignolli writes polo's _quinsai_ as _campsay_. it is worthy of notice that though ramusio's text prints the names of these two cities as _succuir_ and _campion_, his own pronunciation of them appears to have been quite well understood by the persian traveller hajji mahomed, for it is perfectly clear that the latter recognized in these names suhchau and kanchau. (see _ram._ ii. f. 14v.) the second volume of the _navigationi_, containing polo, was published after ramusio's death, and it is possible that the names as he himself read them were more correct (e.g. _succiur, campjou_). [illustration: colossal figure, buddha entering nirvana. "et si voz di qu'il ont de ydres que sunt grant dix pas.... ceste grant ydres gigent."...] note 2.--this is the meaning of the phrase in the g. t.: "_ceste grande ydre_ gigent," as may be seen from ramusio's _giaciono distesi_. lazari renders the former expression, "giganteggia un idolo," etc., a phrase very unlike polo. the circumstance is interesting, because this recumbent colossus at kanchau is mentioned both by hajji mahomed and by shah rukh's people. the latter say: "in this city of kanchú there is an idol-temple 500 cubits square. in the middle is an idol lying at length which measures 50 paces. the sole of the foot is nine paces long, and the instep is 21 cubits in girth. behind this image and overhead are other idols of a cubit (?) in height, besides figures of _bakshis_ as large as life. the action of all is hit off so admirably that you would think they were alive." these great recumbent figures are favourites in buddhist countries still, e.g. in siam, burma, and ceylon. they symbolise sakya buddha entering _nirvána_. such a recumbent figure, perhaps the prototype of these, was seen by hiuen tsang in a vihara close to the sál grove at kusinágara, where sakya entered that state, i.e. died. the stature of buddha was, we are told, 12 cubits; but brahma, indra, and the other gods vainly tried to compute his dimensions. some such rude metaphor is probably embodied in these large images. i have described one 69 feet long in burma (represented in the cut), but others exist of much greater size, though probably none equal to that which hiuen tsang, in the 7th century, saw near bamian, which was 1000 feet in length! i have heard of but one such image remaining in india, viz. in one of the caves at dhamnár in málwa. this is 15 feet long, and is popularly known as "bhim's baby." (_cathay_, etc., pp. cciii., ccxviii.; _mission to ava_, p. 52; _v. et v. de h. t._, p. 374: _cunningham's archael. reports_, ii. 274; _tod_, ii. 273.) ["the temple, in which m. polo saw an idol of buddha, represented in a lying position, is evidently _wo-fo-sze_, i.e. 'monastery of the lying buddha.' it was built in 1103 by a tangut queen, to place there three idols representing buddha in this posture, which have since been found in the ground on this very spot." (_palladius_, l.c. p. 10.) rubruck (p. 144) says, "a nestorian, who had come from cathay told me that in that country there is an idol so big that it can be seen from two days off." mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, p. 144, _note_) writes, "the largest stone image i have seen is in a cave temple at yung kan, about 10 miles north-west of ta t'ung fu in shan-si. père gerbillon says the emperor k'ang hsi measured it himself and found it to be 57 _chih_ high (61 feet). (_duhalde, description_, iv. 352.) i have seen another colossal statue in a cave near pinchou in north-west shan-si, and there is another about 45 miles south of ning hsia fu, near the left bank of the yellow river. (_rockhill, land of the lamas_, 26, and _diary_, 47.) the great recumbent figure of the 'sleeping buddha' in the wo fo ssu, near peking, is of clay." king haython (brosset's ed. p. 181) mentions the statue in clay, of an extraordinary height, of a god (buddha) aged 3040 years, who is to live 370,000 years more, when he will be superseded by another god called _madri_ (maitreya).--h. c.] [illustration: great lama monastery] note 3.--marco is now speaking of the lamas, or clergy of tibetan buddhism. the customs mentioned have varied in details, both locally and with the changes that the system has passed through in the course of time. the institutes of ancient buddhism set apart the days of new and full moon to be observed by the _sramanas_ or monks, by fasting, confession, and listening to the reading of the law. it became usual for the laity to take part in the observance, and the number of days was increased to three and then to four, whilst hiuen tsang himself speaks of "the six fasts of every month," and a chinese authority quoted by julien gives the days as the 8th, 14th, 15th, 23rd, 29th, and 30th. fabian says that in ceylon preaching took place on the 8th, 14th, and 15th days of the month. four is the number now most general amongst buddhist nations, and the days may be regarded as a kind of buddhist sabbath. in the southern countries and in nepal they occur at the moon's changes. in tibet and among the mongol buddhists they are not at equal intervals, though i find the actual days differently stated by different authorities. pallas says the mongols observed the 13th, 14th, and 15th, the three days being brought together, he thought, on account of the distance many lamas had to travel to the temple--just as in some scotch country parishes they used to give two sermons in one service for like reason! koeppen, to whose work this note is much indebted, says the tibetan days are the 14th, 15th, 29th, 30th, and adds as to the manner of observance: "on these days, by rule, among the lamas, nothing should be tasted but farinaceous food and tea; the very devout refrain from all food from sunrise to sunset. the temples are decorated, and the altar tables set out with the holy symbols, with tapers, and with dishes containing offerings in corn, meal, tea, butter, etc., and especially with small pyramids of dough, or of rice or clay, and accompanied by much burning of incense-sticks. the service performed by the priests is more solemn, the music louder and more exciting, than usual. the laity make their offerings, tell their beads, and repeat _om mani padma hom_," etc. in the _concordat_ that took place between the dalai-lama and the altun khaghan, on the reconversion of the mongols to buddhism in the 16th century, one of the articles was the entire prohibition of hunting and the slaughter of animals on the monthly fast days. the practice varies much, however, even in tibet, with different provinces and sects--a variation which the ramusian text of polo implies in these words: "for five days, or _four days_, or _three_ in each month, they shed no blood," etc. in burma the worship day, as it is usually called by europeans, is a very gay scene, the women flocking to the pagodas in their brightest attire. (_h. t. mémoires_, i. 6, 208; _koeppen_, i. 563-564, ii. 139, 307-308; _pallas, samml._ ii. 168-169). note 4.--these matrimonial customs are the same that are afterwards ascribed to the tartars, so we defer remark. note 5.--so pauthier's text, "_en legation_." the g. text includes nicolo polo, and says, "on business of theirs that is not worth mentioning," and with this ramusio agrees. chapter xlv. of the city of etzina. when you leave the city of campichu you ride for twelve days, and then reach a city called etzina, which is towards the north on the verge of the sandy desert; it belongs to the province of tangut.[note 1] the people are idolaters, and possess plenty of camels and cattle, and the country produces a number of good falcons, both sakers and lanners. the inhabitants live by their cultivation and their cattle, for they have no trade. at this city you must needs lay in victuals for forty days, because when you quit etzina, you enter on a desert which extends forty days' journey to the north, and on which you meet with no habitation nor baiting-place.[note 2] in the summer-time, indeed, you will fall in with people, but in the winter the cold is too great. you also meet with wild beasts (for there are some small pine-woods here and there), and with numbers of wild asses.[note 3] when you have travelled these forty days across the desert you come to a certain province lying to the north. its name you shall hear presently. [illustration: wild ass of mongolia.] note 1.--deguignes says that yetsina is found in a chinese map of tartary of the mongol era, and this is confirmed by pauthier, who reads it _itsinai_, and adds that the text of the map names it as one of the seven _lu_ or circuits of the province of kansuh (or tangut). indeed, in d'anville's atlas we find a river called _etsina pira_, running northward from kanchau, and a little below the 41st parallel joining another from suhchau. beyond the junction is a town called _hoa-tsiang_, which probably represents etzina. yetsina is also mentioned in gaubil's history of chinghiz as taken by that conqueror in 1226, on his last campaign against tangut. this capture would also seem from pétis de la croix to be mentioned by rashiduddin. gaubil says the chinese geography places yetsina north of kanchau and north-east of suhchau, at a distance of 120 leagues from kanchau, but observes that this is certainly too great. (_gaubil_, p. 49.) [i believe there can be no doubt that etzina must be looked for on the river _hei-shui_, called _etsina_ by the mongols, east of suhchau. this river empties its waters into the two lakes soho-omo and sopo-omo. etzina would have been therefore situated on the river on the border of the desert, at the top of a triangle whose bases would be suhchau and kanchau. this river was once part of the frontier of the kingdom of tangut. (cf. _devéria, notes d'épigraphie mongolo-chinoise_, p. 4.) reclus (_géog. univ., asie orientale_, p. 159) says: "to the east [of hami], beyond the chukur gobi, are to be found also some permanent villages and the remains of cities. one of them is perhaps the 'cité d'etzina' of which marco polo speaks, and the name is to be found in that of the river az-sind." "through kanchau was the shortest, and most direct and convenient road to _i-tsi-nay_.... i-tsi-nay, or _echiné_, is properly the name of a lake. khubilaï, disquieted by his factious relatives on the north, established a military post near lake i-tsi-nay, and built a town, or a fort on the south-western shore of this lake. the name of i-tsi-nay appears from that time; it does not occur in the chronicle of the tangut kingdom; the lake had then another name. vestiges of the town are seen to this day; the buildings were of large dimensions, and some of them were very fine. in marco polo's time there existed a direct route from i-tsi-nay to karakorum; traces of this road are still noticeable, but it is no more used. this circumstance, i.e. the existence of a road from i-tsi-nay to karakorum, probably led marco polo to make an excursion (a mental one, i suppose) to the residence of the khans in northern mongolia." (_palladius_, l.c. pp. 10-11.)--h. c.] note 2.--"_erberge_" (g. t.). pauthier has _herbage_. note 3.--the wild ass of mongolia is the _dshiggetai_ of pallas (_asinus hemionus_ of gray), and identical with the tibetan _kyang_ of moorcroft and trans-himalayan sportsmen. it differs, according to blyth, only in shades of colour and unimportant markings from the _ghor khar_ of western india and the persian deserts, the _kulan_ of turkestan, which marco has spoken of in a previous passage (_suprà_, ch. xvi.; _j. a. s. b._ xxviii. 229 seqq.). there is a fine kyang in the zoological gardens, whose portrait, after wolf, is given here. but mr. ney elias says of this animal that he has little of the aspect of his nomadic brethren. [the wild ass (tibetan _kyang_, mongol _holu_ or _hulan_) is called by the chinese _yeh ma_, "wild horse," though "every one admits that it is an ass, and should be called _yeh lo-tzu_." (_rockhill, land of the lamas_, 151, note.)--h. c.] [captain younghusband (1886) saw in the altaï mountains "considerable numbers of wild asses, which appeared to be perfectly similar to the kyang of ladak and tibet, and wild horses too--the _equus prejevalskii_--roaming about these great open plains." (_proc. r. g. s._ x. 1888, p. 495.) dr. sven hedin says the _habitat_ of the _kulan_ is the heights of tibet as well as the valley of the tarim; it looks like a mule with the mane and tail of an ass, but shorter ears, longer than those of a horse; he gives a picture of it.--h. c.] chapter xlvi. of the city of caracoron. caracoron is a city of some three miles in compass. [it is surrounded by a strong earthen rampart, for stone is scarce there. and beside it there is a great citadel wherein is a fine palace in which the governor resides.] 'tis the first city that the tartars possessed after they issued from their own country. and now i will tell you all about how they first acquired dominion and spread over the world.[note 1] originally the tartars[note 2] dwelt in the north on the borders of chorcha.[note 3] their country was one of great plains; and there were no towns or villages in it, but excellent pasture-lands, with great rivers and many sheets of water; in fact it was a very fine and extensive region. but there was no sovereign in the land. they did, however, pay tax and tribute to a great prince who was called in their tongue unc can, the same that we call prester john, him in fact about whose great dominion all the world talks.[note 4] the tribute he had of them was one beast out of every ten, and also a tithe of all their other gear. now it came to pass that the tartars multiplied exceedingly. and when prester john saw how great a people they had become, he began to fear that he should have trouble from them. so he made a scheme to distribute them over sundry countries, and sent one of his barons to carry this out. when the tartars became aware of this they took it much amiss, and with one consent they left their country and went off across a desert to a distant region towards the north, where prester john could not get at them to annoy them. thus they revolted from his authority and paid him tribute no longer. and so things continued for a time. note 1.--karákorum, near the upper course of the river orkhon, is said by chinese authors to have been founded by búkú khan of the hoei-hu or uigúrs, in the 8th century, in the days of chinghiz, we are told that it was the headquarters of his ally, and afterwards enemy, togrul wang khan, the prester john of polo. ["the name of this famous city is mongol, _kara_, 'black,' and _kuren_, 'a camp,' or properly 'pailing.'" it was founded in 1235 by okkodai, who called it ordu balik, or "the city of the ordu," otherwise "the royal city." mohammedan authors say it took its name of karákorum from the mountains to the south of it, in which the orkhon had its source. (_d'ohsson_, ii. 64.) the chinese mention a range of mountains from which the orkhon flows, called _wu-tê kien shan_. (_t'ang shu_, bk. 43b.) probably these are the same. rashiduddin speaks of a tribe of utikien uigúrs living in this country. (_bretschneider, med. geog._ 191; _d'ohsson_, i. 437. _rockhill, rubruck_, 220, note.)--karákorum was called by the chinese _ho-lin_ and was chosen by chinghiz, in 1206, as his capital; the full name of it, _ha-la ho-lin_, was derived from a river to the west. (_yuen shi_, ch. lviii.) gaubil (_holin_, p. 10) says that the river, called in his days in tartar _karoha_, was, at the time of the mongol emperors, named by the chinese _ha-la ho-lin_, in tartar language _ka la ko lin_, or _cara korin_, or _kara koran_. in the spring of 1235, okkodai had a wall raised round ho-lin and a palace called _wang an_, built inside the city. (_gaubil, gentchiscan_, 89.) after the death of kúblái, _ho-lin_ was altered into _ho-ning_, and, in 1320, the name of the province was changed into _ling-pé_ (mountainous north, i.e. the _yin-shan_ chain, separating china proper from mongolia). in 1256, mangu kaan decided to transfer the seat of government to kaiping-fu, or shangtu, near the present dolonnor, north of peking. (_suprà_ in prologue, ch. xiii. note 1.) in 1260, kúblái transferred his capital to _ta-tu_ (peking). plano carpini (1246) is the first western traveller to mention it by name which he writes _caracoron_; he visited the sira orda, at half a day's journey from karákorum, where okkodai used to pass the summer; it was situated at a place ormektua. (_rockhill, rubruck_, 21, iii.) rubruquis (1253) visited the city itself; the following is his account of it: "as regards the city of caracoron, you must understand that if you set aside the kaan's own palace, it is not as good as the borough of st. denis; and as for the palace, the abbey of st. denis is worth ten of it! there are two streets in the town; one of which is occupied by the saracens, and in that is the marketplace. the other street is occupied by the cathayans, who are all craftsmen. besides these two streets there are some great palaces occupied by the court secretaries. there are also twelve idol temples belonging to different nations, two mahummeries in which the law of mahomet is preached, and one church of the christians at the extremity of the town. the town is enclosed by a mud-wall and has four gates. at the east gate they sell millet and other corn, but the supply is scanty; at the west gate they sell rams and goats; at the south gate oxen and waggons; at the north gate horses.... mangu kaan has a great court beside the town rampart, which is enclosed by a brick wall, just like our priories. inside there is a big palace, within which he holds a drinking-bout twice a year;... there are also a number of long buildings like granges, in which are kept his treasures and his stores of victual" (345-6; 334). where was karákorum situated? the archimandrite palladius is very prudent (l.c. p. 11): "everything that the studious chinese authors could gather and say of the situation of karakhorum is collected in two chinese works, _lo fung low wen kao_ (1849), and _mungku yew mu ki_ (1859). however, no positive conclusion can be derived from these researches, chiefly in consequence of the absence of a tolerably correct map of northern mongolia." abel rémusat (_mém. sur géog. asie centrale_, p. 20) made a confusion between karábalgasun and karákorum which has misled most writers after him. sir henry yule says: "the evidence adduced in abel rémusat's paper on karákorum (_mém. de l' acad. r. des insc._ vii. 288) establishes the site on the north bank of the orkhon, and about five days' journey above the confluence of the orkhon and tula. but as we have only a very loose knowledge of these rivers, it is impossible to assign the geographical position with accuracy. nor is it likely that ruins exist beyond an outline perhaps of the kaan's palace walls." in the _geographical magazine_ for july, 1874 (p. 137), sir henry yule has been enabled, by the kind aid of madame fedtchenko in supplying a translation from the russian, to give some account of mr. paderin's visit to the place, in the summer of 1873, along with a sketch-map. "the site visited by mr. paderin is shown, by the particulars stated in that paper, to be sufficiently identified with karákorum. it is precisely that which rémusat indicated, and which bears in the jesuit maps, as published by d'anville, the name of _talarho hara palhassoun_ (i.e. kará balghásun), standing 4 or 5 miles from the left bank of the orkhon, in lat. (by the jesuit tables) 47° 32' 24". it is now known as kara-kharam (rampart) or kara balghasun (city). the remains consist of a quadrangular rampart of mud and sun-dried brick, of about 500 paces to the side, and now about 9 feet high, with traces of a higher tower, and of an inner rampart parallel to the other. but these remains probably appertain to the city as re-occupied by the descendants of the yuen in the end of the 14th century, after their expulsion from china." dr. bretschneider (_med. res._ i. p. 123) rightly observes: "it seems, however, that paderin is mistaken in his supposition. at least it does not agree with the position assigned to the ancient mongol residence in the mongol annals _erdenin erikhe_, translated into russian, in 1883, by professor pozdneiev. it is there positively stated (p. 110, note 2) that the monastery of _erdenidsu_, founded in 1585, was erected on the ruins of that city, which once had been built by order of ogotai khan, and where he had established his residence; and where, after the expulsion of the mongols from china, togontemur again had fixed the mongol court. this vast monastery still exists, one english mile, or more, east of the orkhon. it has even been astronomically determined by the jesuit missionaries, and is marked on our maps of mongolia. pozdneiev, who visited the place in 1877, obligingly informs me that the square earthen wall surrounding the monastery of erdenidsu, and measuring about an english mile in circumference, may well be the very wall of ancient karákorum." recent researches have fully confirmed the belief that the erdeni tso, or eideni chao, monastery occupies the site of karákorum, near the bank of the orkhon, between this river and the kokchin (old) orkhon. (see map in _inscriptions de l'orkhon_, helsingfors, 1892; a plan of the vicinity and of the erdeni tso is given (plate 36) in _w. radloff's atlas der alterthümer der mongolei_, st. pet., 1892.) [illustration] according to a work of the 13th century quoted by the late professor g. devéria, the distance between the old capital of the uighúr, kara balgasún, on the left bank of the orkhon, north of erdeni tso, and the ho-lin or karákorum of the mongols, would be 70 _li_ (about 30 miles), and such is the space between erdeni tso and kara balgasún. m. marcel monnier (_itinéraires_, p. 107) estimates the bird's-eye distance from erdeni tso to kara balgasún at 33 kilom. (about 20-1/2 miles). "when the brilliant epoch of the power of the chinghizkhanides," says professor axel heikel, "was at an end, the city of karákorum fell into oblivion, and towards the year 1590 was founded, in the centre of this historically celebrated region of the orkhon, the most ancient of buddhist monasteries of mongolia, this of erdeni tso [erdeni chao]. it was built, according to a mongol chronicle, on the ruins of the town built by okkodaï, son of chinghiz khan, that is to say, on the ancient karákorum. (_inscriptions de l'orkhon_.)" so professor heikel, like professor pozdneiev, concludes that erdeni tso was built on the site of karákorum and cannot be mistaken for karabalgásun. indeed it is highly probable that one of the walls of the actual convent belonged to the old mongol capital. the travels and researches by expeditions from finland and russia have made these questions pretty clear. some most interesting inscriptions have been brought home and have been studied by a number of orientalists: g. schlegel, o. donner, g. devéria, vasiliev, g. von der gabelentz, dr. hirth, g. huth, e. h. parker, w. bang, etc., and especially professor vilh. thomsen, of copenhagen, who deciphered them (_déchiffrement des inscriptions de l'orkhon et de l'iénissei, copenhague_, 1894, 8vo; _inscriptions de l'orkhon déchiffrées, par_ v. thomsen, helsingfors, 1894, 8vo), and professor w. radloff of st. petersburg (_atlas der alterthumer der mongolei_, 1892-6, fol.; _die alttürkischen inschriften der mongolei_, 1894-7, etc.). there is an immense literature on these inscriptions, and for the bibliography, i must refer the reader to _h. cordier, etudes chinoises_ (1891-1894), leide, 1895, id. (1895-1898), leide, 1898, 8vo. the initiator of these discoveries was n. iarindsev, of irkutsk, who died at barnaoul in 1894, and the first great expedition was started from finland in 1890, under the guidance of professor axel heikel. (_inscriptions de l'orkhon recueillies par l'expédition finnoise, 1890, et publiées par la société finno-ougrienne_, helsingfors, 1892, fol.) the russian expedition left the following year, 1891, under the direction of the academician w. radloff. m. chaffanjon (_nouv. archiv. des missions scient._ ix., 1899, p. 81), in 1895, does not appear to know that there is a difference between kará korum and kará balgásun, as he writes: "forty kilometres south of kara korum _or_ kara balgásun, the convent of erdin zoun." a plan of kara balgásun is given (plate 27) in _radloff's atlas_. see also _henri cordier et gaubil, situation de holin en tartarie_, leide, 1893. in rubruquis's account of karákorum there is one passage of great interest: "then master william [guillaume l'orfèvre] had made for us an iron to make wafers ... he made also a silver box to put the body of christ in, with relics in little cavities made in the sides of the box." now m. marcel monnier, who is one of the last, if not the last traveller who visited the region, tells me that he found in the large temple of erdeni tso an iron (the cast bore a latin cross; had the wafer been nestorian, the cross should have been greek) and a silver box, which are very likely the objects mentioned by rubruquis. it is a new proof of the identity of the sites of erdeni tso and karákorum.--h. c.] [illustration: entrance to the erdeni tso great temple.] note 2.--[mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, 113, note) says: "the earliest date to which i have been able to trace back the name tartar is a.d. 732. we find mention made in a turkish inscription found on the river orkhon and bearing that date, of the _tokuz tatar_, or 'nine (tribes of) tatars,' and of the _otuz tatar_, or 'thirty (tribes of) tatars.' it is probable that these tribes were then living between the oguz or uigúr turks on the west, and the kitan on the east. (_thomsen, inscriptions de l'orkhon_, 98, 126, 140.) mr. thos. watters tells me that the tartars are first mentioned by the chinese in the period extending from a.d. 860 to 874; the earliest mention i have discovered, however, is under date of a.d. 880. (_wu tai shih_, bk. 4.) we also read in the same work (bk. 74, 2) that 'the ta-ta were a branch of the mo-ho (the name the nû-chen tartars bore during the sui and t'ang periods: _ma tuan-lin_, bk. 327, 5). they first lived to the north of the kitan. later on they were conquered by this people, when they scattered, a part becoming tributaries of the kitan, another to the p'o-hai (a branch of the mo-ho), while some bands took up their abode in the yin shan in southern mongolia, north of the provinces of chih-li and shan-si, and took the name of _ta-ta_.' in 981 the chinese ambassador to the prince of kao-chang (karakhodjo, some 20 miles south-east of turfan) traversed the ta-ta country. they then seem to have occupied the northern bend of the yellow river. he gives the names of some nine tribes of ta-ta living on either side of the river. he notes that their neighbours to the east were kitan, and that for a long time they had been fighting them after the occupation of kan-chou by the uigúrs. (_ma tuan-lin_, bk. 336, 12-14.) we may gather from this that these tartars were already settled along the yellow river and the yin shan (the valley in which is now the important frontier mart of kwei-hua ch'eng) at the beginning of the ninth century, for the uigúrs, driven southward by the kirghiz, first occupied kan-chou in north-western kan-suh, somewhere about a.d. 842."] note 3.--chorcha (_ciorcia_) is the manchu country, whose people were at that time called by the chinese _yuché_ or _niuché_, and by the mongols _churché_, or as it is in sanang setzen, _jurchid_. the country in question is several times mentioned by rashiduddin as churché. the founders of the _kin_ dynasty, which the mongols superseded in northern china, were of churché race. [it was part of nayan's appanage. (see bk. ii. ch. v.)--h. c.] note 4.--the idea that a christian potentate of enormous wealth and power, and bearing this title, ruled over vast tracts in the far east, was universal in europe from the middle of the 12th to the end of the 13th century, after which time the asiatic story seems gradually to have died away, whilst the royal presbyter was assigned to a locus in abyssinia; the equivocal application of the term _india_ to the east of asia and the east of africa facilitating this transfer. indeed i have a suspicion, contrary to the view now generally taken, that the term may from the first have belonged to the abyssinian prince, though circumstances led to its being applied in another quarter for a time. it appears to me almost certain that the letter of pope alexander iii., preserved by r. hoveden, and written in 1177 to the _magnificus rex indorum, sacerdotum sanctissimus_, was meant for the king of abyssinia. be that as it may, the inordinate report of prester john's magnificence became especially diffused from about the year 1165, when a letter full of the most extravagant details was circulated, which purported to have been addressed by this potentate to the greek emperor manuel, the roman emperor frederick, the pope, and other christian sovereigns. by the circulation of this letter, glaring fiction as it is, the idea of this christian conqueror was planted deep in the mind of europe, and twined itself round every rumour of revolution in further asia. even when the din of the conquests of chinghiz began to be audible in the west, he was invested with the character of a christian king, and more or less confounded with the mysterious prester john. the first notice of a conquering asiatic potentate so styled had been brought to europe by the syrian bishop of gabala (_jibal_, south of laodicea in northern syria), who came, in 1145, to lay various grievances before pope eugene iii. he reported that not long before a certain john, inhabiting the extreme east, king and nestorian priest, and claiming descent from the three wise kings, had made war on the _samiard_ kings of the medes and persians, and had taken ecbatana their capital. he was then proceeding to the deliverance of jerusalem, but was stopped by the tigris, which he could not cross, and compelled by disease in his host to retire. m. d'avezac first showed to whom this account must apply, and the subject has more recently been set forth with great completeness and learning by dr. gustavus oppert. the conqueror in question was the founder of kara khitai, which existed as a great empire in asia during the last two-thirds of the 12th century. this chief was a prince of the khitan dynasty of liao, who escaped with a body of followers from northern china on the overthrow of that dynasty by the _kin_ or niuchen about 1125. he is called by the chinese historians yeliu tashi; by abulghazi, nuzi taigri ili; and by rashiduddin, nushi (or fushi) taifu. being well received by the uighúrs and other tribes west of the desert who had been subject to the khitan empire, he gathered an army and commenced a course of conquest which eventually extended over eastern and western turkestan, including khwarizm, which became tributary to him. he took the title of _gurkhan_, said to mean universal or suzerain khan, and fixed at bala sagun, north of the thian shan, the capital of his empire, which became known as _kará_ (black) _khitai_.[1] [the dynasty being named by the chinese _si-liao_ (western liao) lasted till it was destroyed in 1218.--h. c.] in 1141 he came to the aid of the king of khwarizm against _sanjar_ the seljukian sovereign of persia (whence the _samiard_ of the syrian bishop), who had just taken samarkand, and defeated that prince with great slaughter. though the gurkhan himself is not described to have extended his conquests into persia, the king of khwarizm followed up the victory by an invasion of that country, in which he plundered the treasury and cities of sanjar. admitting this karacathayan prince to be the first conqueror (in asia, at all events) to whom the name of prester john was applied, it still remains obscure how that name arose. oppert supposes that _gurkhan_ or _kurkhan_, softened in west turkish pronunciation into _yurkan_, was confounded with _yochanan_ or _johannes_; but he finds no evidence of the conqueror's profession of christianity except the fact, notable certainly, that the daughter of the last of his brief dynasty is recorded to have been a christian. indeed, d'ohsson says that the first gurkhan was a buddhist, though on what authority is not clear. there seems a probability at least that it was an error in the original ascription of christianity to the karacathayan prince, which caused the confusions as to the identity of prester john which appear in the next century, of which we shall presently speak. leaving this doubtful point, it has been plausibly suggested that the title of presbyter johannes was connected with the legends of the immortality of john the apostle ([greek: ho presbýteros], as he calls himself in the 2nd and 3rd epistles), and the belief referred to by some of the fathers that he would be the forerunner of our lord's second coming, as john the baptist had been of his first. a new theory regarding the original prester john has been propounded by professor bruun of odessa, in a russian work entitled _the migrations of prester john_. the author has been good enough to send me large extracts of this essay in (french) translation; and i will endeavour to set forth the main points as well as the small space that can be given to the matter will admit. some remarks and notes shall be added, but i am not in a position to do justice to professor bruun's views, from the want of access to some of his most important authorities, such as brosset's _history of georgia_, and its appendices. it will be well, before going further, to give the essential parts of the passage in the history of bishop otto of freisingen (referred to in vol i. p. 229), which contains the first allusion to a personage styled prester john: "we saw also there [at rome in 1145] the afore-mentioned bishop of gabala, from syria.... we heard him bewailing with tears the peril of the church beyond-sea since the capture of edessa, and uttering his intention on that account to cross the alps and seek aid from the king of the romans and the king of the franks. he was also telling us how, not many years before, one john, king and priest, who dwells in the extreme orient beyond persia and armenia, and is (with his people) a christian, but a nestorian, had waged war against the brother kings of the persians and medes who are called the samiards, and had captured ecbatana, of which we have spoken above, the seat of their dominion. the said kings having met him with their forces made up of persians, medes, and assyrians, the battle had been maintained for 3 days, either side preferring death to flight. but at last presbyter john (for so they are wont to style him), having routed the persians, came forth the victor from a most sanguinary battle. after this victory (he went on to say) the aforesaid john was advancing to fight in aid of the church at jerusalem; but when he arrived at the tigris, and found there no possible means of transport for his army, he turned northward, as he had heard that the river in that quarter was frozen over in winter-time. halting there for some years[2] in expectation of a frost, which never came, owing to the mildness of the season, he lost many of his people through the unaccustomed climate, and was obliged to return homewards. this personage is said to be of the ancient race of those magi who are mentioned in the gospel, and to rule the same nations that they did, and to have such glory and wealth that he uses (they say) only an emerald sceptre. it was (they say) from his being fired by the example of his fathers, who came to adore christ in the cradle, that he was proposing to go to jerusalem, when he was prevented by the cause already alleged." professor bruun will not accept oppert's explanation, which identifies this king and priest with the gur-khan of karacathay, for whose profession of christianity there is indeed (as has been indicated--supra) no real evidence; who could not be said to have made an attack upon any pair of brother kings of the persians and the medes, nor to have captured ecbatana (a city, whatever its identity, of media); who could never have had any intention of coming to jerusalem; and whose geographical position in no way suggested the mention of armenia. professor bruun thinks he finds a warrior much better answering to the indications in the georgian prince john orbelian, the general-in-chief under several successive kings of georgia in that age. at the time when the gur-khan defeated sanjar the real brothers of the latter had been long dead; sanjar had withdrawn from interference with the affairs of western persia; and hamadán (if this is to be regarded as ecbatana) was no residence of his. but it was the residence of sanjar's nephew mas'úd, in whose hands was now the dominion of western persia; whilst mas'úd's nephew, dáúd, held media, i.e. azerbeiján, arrán, and armenia. it is in these two princes that professor bruun sees the _samiardi fratres_ of the german chronicler. again the expression "extreme orient" is to be interpreted by local usage. and with the people of little armenia, through whom probably such intelligence reached the bishop of gabala, the expression the _east_ signified specifically great armenia (which was then a part of the kingdom of georgia and abkhasia), as dulaurier has stated.[3] it is true that the georgians were not really nestorians, but followers of the greek church. it was the fact, however, that in general, the armenians, whom the greeks accused of following the jacobite errors, retorted upon members of the greek church with the reproach of the opposite heresy of nestorianism. and the attribution of nestorianism to a georgian prince is, like the expression "_extreme east_," an indication of the armenian channel through which the story came. the intention to march to the aid of the christians in palestine is more like the act of a georgian general than that of a karacathayan khan; and there are in the history of the kingdom of jerusalem several indications of the proposal at least of georgian assistance. the personage in question is said to have come from the country of the magi, from whom he was descended. but these have frequently been supposed to come from great armenia. e.g. friar jordanus says they came from moghán.[4] the name _ecbatana_ has been so variously applied that it was likely to lead to ambiguities. but it so happens that, in a previous passage of his history, bishop otto of freisingen, in rehearsing some oriental information gathered apparently from the same bishop of gabala, has shown what was the place that he had been taught to identify with ecbatana, viz. the old armenian city of ani.[5] now this city was captured from the turks, on behalf of the king of georgia, david the restorer, by his great _sbasalar_,[6] john orbelian, in 1123-24. professor bruun also lays stress upon a passage in a german chronicle of date some years later than otho's work: "1141. liupoldus dux bawariorum obiit, henrico fratre ejus succedente in ducatu. iohannes presbyter rex armeniae et indiae cum duobus regibus fratribus persarum et medorum pugnavit et vicit."[7] he asks how the gur-khan of karakhitai could be styled king of _armenia_ and of india? it may be asked, _per contra_, how either the king of georgia or his _peshwa_ (to use the mahratta analogy of john orbelian's position) could be styled king of armenia and of _india_? in reply to this, professor bruun adduces a variety of quotations which he considers as showing that the term _india_ was applied to some caucasian region. my own conviction is that the report of otto of freisingen is not merely the _first mention_ of a great asiatic potentate called prester john, but that his statement is the whole and sole basis of good faith on which the story of such a potentate rested; and i am quite as willing to believe, on due evidence, that the nucleus of fact to which his statement referred, and on which such a pile of long-enduring fiction was erected, occurred in armenia as that it occurred in turan. indeed in many respects the story would thus be more comprehensible. one cannot attach any value to the quotation from the annalist in pertz, because there seems no reason to doubt that the passage is a mere adaptation of the report by bishop otto, of whose work the annalist makes other use, as is indeed admitted by professor bruun, who (be it said) is a pattern of candour in controversy. but much else that the professor alleges is interesting and striking. the fact that azerbeijan and the adjoining regions were known as "the east" is patent to the readers of this book in many a page, where the khan and his mongols in occupation of that region are styled by polo _lord of the_ levant, _tartars of the_ levant (i.e. of the east), even when the speaker's standpoint is in far cathay.[8] the mention of _aní_ as identical with the ecbatana of which otto had heard is a remarkable circumstance which i think even oppert has overlooked. that this georgian hero _was_ a christian and that his name _was_ john are considerable facts. oppert's conversion of korkhan into yokhanan or john is anything but satisfactory. the identification proposed again makes it quite intelligible how the so-called prester john should have talked about coming to the aid of the crusaders; a point so difficult to explain on oppert's theory, that he has been obliged to introduce a duplicate john in the person of a greek emperor to solve that knot; another of the weaker links in his argument. in fact, professor bruun's thesis seems to me more than fairly successful in _paving the way_ for the introduction of a caucasian prester john; the barriers are removed, the carpets are spread, the trumpets sound royally--but the conquering hero comes not! he does very nearly come. the almost royal power and splendour of the orbelians at this time is on record: "they held the office of _sbasalar_ or generalissimo of all georgia. all the officers of the king's palace were under their authority. besides that they had 12 standards of their own, and under each standard 1000 warriors mustered. as the custom was for the king's flag to be white and the pennon over it red, it was ruled that the orpelian flag should be red and the pennon white.... at banquets they alone had the right to couches whilst other princes had cushions only. their food was served on silver; and to them it belonged to crown the kings."[9] orpel ivané, i.e. john orbelian, grand _sbasalar_, was for years the pride of georgia and the hammer of the turks. in 1123-1124 he wrested from them tiflis and the whole country up to the araxes, including _ani_, as we have said. his king david, the restorer, bestowed on him large additional domains from the new conquests; and the like brilliant service and career of conquest was continued under david's sons and successors, demetrius and george; his later achievements, however, and some of the most brilliant, occurring after the date of the bishop of gabala's visit to rome. but still we hear of no actual conflict with the chief princes of the seljukian house, and of no event in his history so important as to account for his being made to play the part of presbyter johannes in the story of the bishop of gabala. professor bruun's most forcible observation in reference to this rather serious difficulty is that the historians have transmitted to us extremely little detail concerning the reign of demetrius ii., and do not even agree as to its duration. carebat vate sacro: "it was," says brosset, "long and glorious, but it lacked a commemorator." if new facts can be alleged, the identity may still be proved. but meantime the conquests of the gur-khan and his defeat of sanjar, just at a time which suits the story, are indubitable, and this great advantage oppert's thesis retains. as regards the claim to the title of _presbyter_ nothing worth mentioning is alleged on either side. when the mongol conquests threw asia open to frank travellers in the middle of the 13th century, their minds were full of prester john; they sought in vain for an adequate representative, but it was not in the nature of things but they should find _some_ representative. in fact they found _several_. apparently no real tradition existed among the eastern christians of any such personage, but the persistent demand produced a supply, and the honour of identification with prester john, after hovering over one head and another, settled finally upon that of the king of the keraits, whom we find to play the part in our text. thus in plano carpini's single mention of prester john as the king of the christians of india the greater, who defeats the tartars by an elaborate stratagem, oppert recognizes sultan jaláluddín of khwarizm and his temporary success over the mongols in afghanistan. in the armenian prince sempad's account, on the other hand, this christian king of india is _aided_ by the tartars to defeat and harass the neighbouring saracens, his enemies, and becomes the mongol's vassal. in the statement of rubruquis, though distinct reference is made to the conquering gurkhan (under the name of coir cham of caracatay), the title of _king john_ is assigned to the naiman prince (_kushluk_), who had married the daughter of the last lineal sovereign of karakhitai, and usurped his power, whilst, with a strange complication of confusion, unc, prince of the crit and merkit (kerait and merkit, two great tribes of mongolia)[10] and lord of karákorum, is made the brother and successor of this naiman prince. his version of the story, as it proceeds, has so much resemblance to polo's, that we shall quote the words. the crit and merkit, he says, were nestorian christians. "but their lord had abandoned the worship of christ to follow idols, and kept by him those priests of the idols who are all devil-raisers and sorcerers. beyond his pastures, at the distance of ten or fifteen days' journey, were the pastures of the moal (mongol), who were a very poor people, without a leader and without any religion except sorceries and divinations, such as all the people of those parts put so much faith in. next to moal was another poor tribe called tartar. king john having died without an heir, his brother unc got his wealth, and caused himself to be proclaimed cham, and sent out his flocks and herds even to the borders of moal. at that time there was a certain blacksmith called chinghis among the tribe of moal, and he used to lift the cattle of unc chan as often as he had a chance, insomuch that the herdsmen of unc chan made complaint to their master. the latter assembled an army, and invaded the land of the moal in search of chinghis, but he fled and hid himself among the tartars. so unc, having plundered the moal and tartars, returned home. and chinghis addressed the tartars and moal, saying: 'it is because we have no leader that we are thus oppressed by our neighbours.' so both tartars and moal made chinghis himself their leader and captain. and having got a host quietly together, he made a sudden onslaught upon unc and conquered him, and compelled him to flee into cathay. on that occasion his daughter was taken, and given by chinghis to one of his sons, to whom she bore mangu, who now reigneth.... the land in which they (the mongols) first were, and where the residence of chinghis still exists, is called _onan kerule_.[11] but because caracoran is in the country which was their first conquest, they regard it as a royal city, and there hold the elections of their chan." here we see plainly that the unc chan of rubruquis is the unc can or unecan of polo. in the narrative of the former, unc is only _connected_ with king or prester john; in that of the latter, rehearsing the story as heard some 20 or 25 years later, the two are _identified_. the shadowy _rôle_ of prester john has passed from the ruler of kara khitai to the chief of the keraits. this transfer brings us to another history. we have already spoken of the extensive diffusion of nestorian christianity in asia during the early and middle ages. the christian historian gregory abulfaraj relates a curious history of the conversion, in the beginning of the 11th century, of the king of _kerith_ with his people, dwelling in the remote north-east of the land of the turks. and that the keraits continued to profess christianity down to the time of chinghiz is attested by rashiduddin's direct statement, as well as by the numerous christian princesses from that tribe of whom we hear in mongol history. it is the chief of this tribe of whom rubruquis and polo speak under the name of unc khan, and whom the latter identifies with prester john. his proper name is called tuli by the chinese, and togrul by the persian historians, but the kin sovereign of northern china had conferred on him the title of _wang_ or king, from which his people gave him the slightly corrupted cognomen of [arabic], which some scholars read _awang_, and _avenk_ khan, but which the spelling of rubruquis and polo shows probably to have been pronounced as _aung_ or _ung_ khan.[12] the circumstance stated by rubruquis of his having abandoned the profession of christianity, is not alluded to by eastern writers; but in any case his career is not a credit to the faith. i cannot find any satisfactory corroboration of the claims of supremacy over the mongols which polo ascribes to aung khan. but that his power and dignity were considerable, appears from the term _pádsháh_ which rashiduddin applies to him. he had at first obtained the sovereignty of the keraits by the murder of two of his brothers and several nephews. yessugai, the father of chinghiz, had been his staunch friend, and had aided him effectually to recover his dominion from which he had been expelled. after a reign of many years he was again ejected, and in the greatest necessity sought the help of temujin (afterwards called chinghiz khan), by whom he was treated with the greatest consideration. this was in 1196. for some years the two chiefs conducted their forays in alliance, but differences sprang up between them; the son of aung khan entered into a plot to kill temujin, and in 1202-1203 they were in open war. the result will be related in connection with the next chapters. we may observe that the idea which joinville picked up in the east about prester john corresponds pretty closely with that set forth by marco. joinville represents him as one of the princes to whom the tartars were tributary in the days of their oppression, and as "their ancient enemy"; one of their first acts, on being organized under a king of their own, was to attack him and conquer him, slaying all that bore arms, but sparing all monks and priests. the expression used by joinville in speaking of the original land of the tartars, "_une grande_ berrie _de sablon_," has not been elucidated in any edition that i have seen. it is the arabic [arabic] _bäríya_, "a desert." no doubt joinville learned the word in palestine. (see _joinville_, p. 143 seqq.; see also _oppert_, _der presb. johannes in sage und geschichte_, and _cathay_, etc., pp. 173-182.) [_fried. zarncke, der priester johannes; cordier, odoric_.--h. c.] [1] a passage in mirkhond extracted by erdmann (_temudschín_, p. 532) seems to make bálá sághún the same as bishbálik, now urumtsi, but this is inconsistent with other passages abstracted by oppert (_presbyter johan._ 131-32); and vámbéry indicates a reason for its being sought very much further west (_h. of bokhara_, 116). [dr. bretschneider (_med. res._) has a chapter on kara-khitaí (i. 208 seqq.) and in a long note on bala sagun, which he calls belasagun, he says (p. 226) that "according to the tarikh djihan kúshai (_d'ohsson_, i. 433), the city of belasagun had been founded by buku khan, sovereign of the uigurs, in a well-watered plain of turkestan with rich pastures. the arabian geographers first mention belasagun, in the ninth or tenth century, as a city beyond the sihun or yaxartes, depending on _isfidjab_ (sairam, according to lerch), and situated east of taras. they state that the people of turkestan considered belasagun to represent 'the navel of the earth,' on account of its being situated in the middle between east and west, and likewise between north and south." (_sprenger's poststr. d. or., mavarannahar_). dr. bretschneider adds (p. 227): "it is not improbable that ancient belasagun was situated at the same place where, according to the t'ang history, the khan of one branch of the western t'u kue (turks) had his residence in the seventh century. it is stated in the t'ang shu that _ibi shabolo shehu khan_, who reigned in the first half of the seventh century, placed his ordo on the northern border of the river _sui ye_. this river, and a city of the same name, are frequently mentioned in the t'ang annals of the seventh and eighth centuries, in connection with the warlike expeditions of the chinese in central asia. _sui ye_ was situated on the way from the river _ili_ to the city of ta-lo-sz' (talas). in 679 the chinese had built on the sui ye river a fortress; but in 748 they were constrained to destroy it." (comp. _visdelou_ in _suppl. bibl. orient._ pp. 110-114; _gaubil's hist. de la dyn. des thang_, in _mém. conc. chin._ xv. p. 403 seqq.).--h. c.] [2] sic: _per aliquot annos_, but an evident error. [3] _j. as._ sér. v. tom. xi. 449. [4] the great plain on the lower araxes and cyrus. the word moghán = _magi_: and abulfeda quotes this as the etymology of the name. (_reinaud's abulf._ i. 300.)--y. [_cordier, odoric_, 36.] [5] here is the passage, which is worth giving for more reasons than one: "that portion of ancient babylon which is still occupied is (as we have heard from persons of character from beyond sea) styled baldach, whilst the part that lies, according to the prophecy, deserted and pathless extends some ten miles to the tower of babel the inhabited portion called baldach is very large and populous; and though it should belong to the persian monarchy it has been conceded by the kings of the persians to their high priest, whom they call the _caliph_; in order that in this also a certain analogy [_quaedam habitudo_] such as has been often remarked before, should be exhibited between babylon and rome. for the same (privilege) that here in the city of rome has been made over to our chief pontiff by the christian emperor, has there been conceded to their high priest by the pagan kings of persia, to whom babylonia has for a long time been subject. but the kings of the persians (just as our kings have their royal city, like aachen) have themselves established the seat of their kingdom at egbatana, which, in the book of judith, arphaxat is said to have founded, and which in their tongue is called hani, containing as they allege 100,000 or more fighting men, and have reserved to themselves nothing of babylon except the nominal dominion. finally, the place which is now vulgarly called babylonia, as i have mentioned, is not upon the euphrates (at all) as people suppose, but on the nile, about 6 days' journey from alexandria, and is the same as memphis, to which cambyses, the son of cyrus, anciently gave the name of babylon."--ottonis frising. lib. vii. cap. 3, in _germanic hist. illust. etc. christiani urstisii basiliensis_, francof. 1585.--y. [6] sbasalar, or "general-in-chief," = pers. _sipáhsálár_.--y. [7] _continuatio ann. admutensium_, in pertz, scriptores, ix. 580. [8] e.g. ii. 42. [9] _st. martin, mém. sur l'arménie_, ii. 77. [10] ["the keraits," says mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, 111, note), "lived on the orkhon and the tula, south-east of lake baikal; abulfaraj relates their conversion to christianity in 1007 by the nestorian bishop of merv. rashideddin, however, says their conversion took place in the time of chingis khan. (_d'ohsson_, i. 48; _chabot, mar jabalaha, iii._ 14.) d'avezac (536) identifies, with some plausibility, i think, the keraits with the _kí-lê_ (or _t'íeh-lê_) of the early chinese annals. the name k'í-lê was applied in the 3rd century a.d. to _all_ the turkish tribes, such as the _hui-hu_ (uigúrs), _kieh-ku_ (kirghiz) alans, etc., and they are said to be the same as the _kao-ch'ê_, from whom descended the _cangle_ of rubruck. (_t'ang shu_, bk. 217, i.; _ma tuan-lin_, bk. 344, 9, bk. 347, 4.) as to the merkits, or merkites, they were a nomadic people of turkish stock, with a possible infusion of mongol blood. they are called by mohammedan writers uduyut, and were divided into four tribes. they lived on the lower selinga and its feeders. (_d'ohsson_, i. 54; _howorth, history_, i., pt. i. 22, 698.)"--h. c.] [11] [_onan kerule_ is "the country watered by the orkhon and kerulun rivers, i.e. the country to the south and south-east of lake baikal. the headquarters (_ya-chang_) of the principal chief of the uigurs in the eighth century was 500 _li_ (about 165 miles) south-west of the confluence of the wen-kun ho (orkhon) and the tu-lo ho (tura). its ruins, sometimes, but wrongly, confounded with those of the mongol city of karakorum, some 20 miles from it, built in 1235 by ogodai, are now known by the name of kara balgasun, 'black city.'" [see p. 228.] the name _onankerule_ seems to be taken from the form _onan-ou keloran_, which occurs in mohammedan writers. (_quatremère_, 115 et seq.; see also _t'ang shu_, bk. 43b; _rockhill_, _rubruck_, 116, note.)--h. c.] [12] vámbéry makes _ong_ an uighúr word, signifying "right." [palladius (l.c. 23) says: "the consonance of the names of wang-khan and wang-ku (ung-khan and ongu--ongot of rashiduddin, a turkish tribe) led to the confusion regarding the tribes and persons, which at m. polo's time seems to have been general among the europeans in china; m. polo and johannes de monte corvino transfer the title of prester john from wang-khan, already perished at that time, to the distinguished family of wang-ku."--h. c.] chapter xlvii. of chinghis, and how he became the first kaan of the tartars. now it came to pass in the year of christ's incarnation 1187 that the tartars made them a king whose name was chinghis kaan.[note 1] he was a man of great worth, and of great ability (eloquence), and valour. and as soon as the news that he had been chosen king was spread abroad through those countries, all the tartars in the world came to him and owned him for their lord. and right well did he maintain the sovereignty they had given him. what shall i say? the tartars gathered to him in astonishing multitude, and when he saw such numbers he made a great furniture of spears and arrows and such other arms as they used, and set about the conquest of all those regions till he had conquered eight provinces. when he conquered a province he did no harm to the people or their property, but merely established some of his own men in the country along with a proportion of theirs, whilst he led the remainder to the conquest of other provinces. and when those whom he had conquered became aware how well and safely he protected them against all others, and how they suffered no ill at his hands, and saw what a noble prince he was, then they joined him heart and soul and became his devoted followers. and when he had thus gathered such a multitude that they seemed to cover the earth, he began to think of conquering a great part of the world. now in the year of christ 1200 he sent an embassy to prester john, and desired to have his daughter to wife. but when prester john heard that chinghis kaan demanded his daughter in marriage he waxed very wroth, and said to the envoys, "what impudence is this, to ask my daughter to wife! wist he not well that he was my liegeman and serf? get ye back to him and tell him that i had liever set my daughter in the fire than give her in marriage to him, and that he deserves death at my hand, rebel and traitor that he is!" so he bade the envoys begone at once, and never come into his presence again. the envoys, on receiving this reply, departed straightway, and made haste to their master, and related all that prester john had ordered them to say, keeping nothing back.[note 2] note 1.--temujin was born in the year 1155, according to all the persian historians, who are probably to be relied on; the chinese put the event in 1162. 1187 does not appear to be a date of special importance in his history. his inauguration as sovereign under the name of chinghiz kaan was in 1202 according to the persian authorities, in 1206 according to the chinese. in a preceding note (p. 236) we have quoted a passage in which rubruquis calls chinghiz "a certain blacksmith." this mistaken notion seems to have originated in the resemblance of his name _temújin_ to the turki _temúrjí_, a blacksmith; but it was common throughout asia in the middle ages, and the story is to be found not only in rubruquis, but in the books of hayton, the armenian prince, and of ibn batuta, the moor. that cranky orientalist, dr. isaac jacob schmidt, positively reviles william rubruquis, one of the most truthful and delightful of travellers, and certainly not inferior to his critic in mother-wit, for adopting this story, and rebukes timkowski--not for adopting it, but for merely telling us the very interesting fact that the story was still, in 1820, current in mongolia. (_schmidt's san. setz._ 376, and _timkowski_, i. 147.) note 2.--several historians, among others abulfaraj, represent chinghiz as having married a daughter of aung khan; and this is current among some of the mediaeval european writers, such as vincent of beauvais. it is also adopted by pétis de la croix in his history of chinghiz, apparently from a comparatively late turkish historian; and both d'herbelot and st. martin state the same; but there seems to be no foundation for it in the best authorities: either persian or chinese. (see _abulfaragius_, p. 285; _speculum historiale_, bk. xxix. ch. lxix.; _hist. of genghiz can_, p. 29; and _golden horde_, pp. 61-62.) but there is a real story at the basis of polo's, which seems to be this: about 1202, when aung khan and chinghiz were still acting in professed alliance, a double union was proposed between aung khan's daughter jaur bigi and chinghiz's son juji, and between chinghiz's daughter kijin bigi and togrul's grandson kush buka. from certain circumstances this union fell through, and this was one of the circumstances which opened the breach between the two chiefs. there were, however, several marriages between the families. (_erdmann_, 283; others are quoted under ch. lix., note 2.) chapter xlviii. how chinghis mustered his people to march against prester john. when chinghis kaan heard the brutal message that prester john had sent him, such rage seized him that his heart came nigh to bursting within him, for he was a man of a very lofty spirit. at last he spoke, and that so loud that all who were present could hear him: "never more might he be prince if he took not revenge for the brutal message of prester john, and such revenge that insult never in this world was so dearly paid for. and before long prester john should know whether he were his serf or no!" so then he mustered all his forces, and levied such a host as never before was seen or heard of, sending word to prester john to be on his defence. and when prester john had sure tidings that chinghis was really coming against him with such a multitude, he still professed to treat it as a jest and a trifle, for, quoth he, "these be no soldiers." natheless he marshalled his forces and mustered his people, and made great preparations, in order that if chinghis did come, he might take him and put him to death. in fact he marshalled such an host of many different nations that it was a world's wonder. and so both sides gat them ready to battle. and why should i make a long story of it? chinghis kaan with all his host arrived at a vast and beautiful plain which was called tanduc, belonging to prester john, and there he pitched his camp; and so great was the multitude of his people that it was impossible to number them. and when he got tidings that prester john was coming, he rejoiced greatly, for the place afforded a fine and ample battle-ground, so he was right glad to tarry for him there, and greatly longed for his arrival. but now leave we chinghis and his host, and let us return to prester john and his people. chapter xlix. how prester john marched to meet chinghis. now the story goes that when prester john became aware that chinghis with his host was marching against him, he went forth to meet him with all his forces, and advanced until he reached the same plain of tanduc, and pitched his camp over against that of chinghis kaan at a distance of 20 miles. and then both armies remained at rest for two days that they might be fresher and heartier for battle.[note 1] so when the two great hosts were pitched on the plains of tanduc as you have heard, chinghis kaan one day summoned before him his astrologers, both christians and saracens, and desired them to let him know which of the two hosts would gain the battle, his own or prester john's. the saracens tried to ascertain, but were unable to give a true answer; the christians, however, did give a true answer, and showed manifestly beforehand how the event should be. for they got a cane and split it lengthwise, and laid one half on this side and one half on that, allowing no one to touch the pieces. and one piece of cane they called _chinghis kaan_, and the other piece they called _prester john_. and then they said to chinghis: "now mark! and you will see the event of the battle, and who shall have the best of it; for whose cane soever shall get above the other, to him shall victory be." he replied that he would fain see it, and bade them begin. then the christian astrologers read a psalm out of the psalter, and went through other incantations. and lo! whilst all were beholding, the cane that bore the name of chinghis kaan, without being touched by anybody, advanced to the other that bore the name of prester john, and got on the top of it. when the prince saw that he was greatly delighted, and seeing how in this matter he found the christians to tell the truth, he always treated them with great respect, and held them for men of truth for ever after.[note 2] note 1.--polo in the preceding chapter has stated that this plain of tanduc was in prester john's country. he plainly regards it as identical with the tanduc of which he speaks more particularly in ch. lix. as belonging to prester john's descendants, and which must be located near the chinese wall. he is no doubt wrong in placing the battle there. sanang setzen puts the battle between the two, the only one which he mentions, "at the outflow of the onon near kulen buira." the same action is placed by de mailla's authorities at calantschan, by p. hyacinth at kharakchin schatu, by erdmann after rashid in the vicinity of hulun barkat and kalanchinalt, which latter was on the borders of the churché or manchus. all this points to the vicinity of buir nor and hulan or kalon nor (though the onon is far from these). but this was _not_ the final defeat of aung khan or prester john, which took place some time later (in 1203) at a place called the chacher ondur (or heights), which gaubil places between the tula and the kerulun, therefore near the modern urga. aung khan was wounded, and fled over the frontier of the naiman; the officers of that tribe seized and killed him. (_schmidt_, 87, 383; _erdmann_, 297; _gaubil_, p. 10.) note 2.--a tartar divination by twigs, but different from that here employed, is older than herodotus, who ascribes it to the scythians. we hear of one something like the last among the alans, and (from tacitus) among the germans. the words of hosea (iv. 12), "my people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them," are thus explained by theophylactus: "they stuck up a couple of sticks, whilst murmuring certain charms and incantations; the sticks then, by the operation of devils, direct or indirect, would fall over, and the direction of their fall was noted," etc. the chinese method of divination comes still nearer to that in the text. it is conducted by tossing in the air two symmetrical pieces of wood or bamboo of a peculiar form. it is described by mendoza, and more particularly, with illustrations, by doolittle.[1] but rubruquis would seem to have witnessed nearly the same process that polo describes. he reprehends the conjuring practices of the nestorian priests among the mongols, who seem to have tried to rival the indigenous _káms_ or medicine-men. visiting the lady kuktai, a christian queen of mangu kaan, who was ill, he says: "the nestorians were repeating certain verses, i know not what (they said it was part of a psalm), over two twigs which were brought into contact in the hands of two men. the monk stood by during the operation" (p. 326).[2] pétis de la croix quotes from thévenot's travels, a similar mode of divination as much used, before a fight, among the barbary corsairs. two men sit on the deck facing one another and each holding two arrows by the points, and hitching the notches of each pair of arrows into the other pair. then the ship's writer reads a certain arabic formula, and it is pretended that whilst this goes on, the two sets of arrows, _of which one represents the turks and the other the christians_, struggle together in spite of the resistance of the holders, and finally one rises over the other. this is perhaps the divination by arrows which is prohibited in the koran. (_sura_, v. v. 92.) it is related by abulfeda that mahomed found in the kaaba an image of abraham with such arrows in his hand. p. della valle describes the same process, conducted by a mahomedan conjuror of aleppo: "by his incantations he made the four points of the arrows come together without any movement of the holders, and by the way the points spontaneously placed themselves, obtained answers to interrogatories." and mr. jaeschke writes from lahaul: "there are many different ways of divination practised among the buddhists; and that also mentioned by marco polo is known to our lama, but in a slightly different way, making use of _two arrows_ instead of a cane split up, wherefore this kind is called _da-mo_, 'arrow-divination.'" indeed the practice is not extinct in india, for in 1833 mr. vigne witnessed its application to detect the robber of a government chest at lodiana. as regards chinghiz's respect for the christians there are other stories. abulfaragius has one about chinghiz seeing in a dream a religious person who promised him success. he told the dream to his wife, aung khan's daughter, who said the description answered to that of the bishop who used to visit her father. chinghiz then inquired for a bishop among the uighúr christians in his camp, and they indicated mar denha. chinghiz thenceforward was milder towards the christians, and showed them many distinctions (p. 285). vincent of beauvais also speaks of rabbanta, a nestorian monk, who lived in the confidence of chinghiz's wife, daughter of "the christian king david or prester john," and who used by divination to make many revelations to the tartars. we have already said that there seems no ground for assigning a daughter of aung khan as wife to chinghiz. but there was a _niece_ of the former, named abika, among the wives of chinghiz. and rashiduddin _does_ relate a dream of the kaan's in relation to her. but it was to the effect that he was divinely commanded to give her away; and this he did next morning! (_rawlins. herod._ iv. 67; _amm. marcell._ xxxi. 2; _delvio, disq. magic._ 558; _mendoza_, hak. soc. i. 47; _doolittle_, 435-436; _hist. of genghizcan_, pp. 52-53; _preston's al-hariri_, p. 183; _p. della v._ ii. 865-866; _vigne_, i. 46; _d'ohsson_, i. 418-419). [1] [on the chinese divining-twig, see _dennys, folk-lore of china_, 57.--h. c.] [2] [with reference to this passage from _rubruck_, mr. rockhill says (195, note): "the mode of divining here referred to is apparently the same as that described by polo. it must not however be confounded with rabdomancy, in which bundles of wands or arrows were used." ammianus marcellinus (xxxi. 2. 350) says this mode of divination was practised by the alans. "they have a singular way of divining: they take straight willow wands and make bundles of them, and on examining them at a certain time, with certain secret incantations, they know what is going to happen."--h. c.] chapter l. the battle between chinghis kaan and prester john. [illustration: death of chinghiz khan. (from a miniature in the _livre des merveilles_.)] and after both sides had rested well those two days, they armed for the fight and engaged in desperate combat; and it was the greatest battle that ever was seen. the numbers that were slain on both sides were very great, but in the end chinghis kaan obtained the victory. and in the battle prester john was slain. and from that time forward, day by day, his kingdom passed into the hands of chinghis kaan till the whole was conquered. i may tell you that chinghis kaan reigned six years after this battle, engaged continually in conquest, and taking many a province and city and stronghold. but at the end of those six years he went against a certain castle that was called caaju, and there he was shot with an arrow in the knee, so that he died of his wound. a great pity it was, for he was a valiant man and a wise.[note 1] i will now tell you who reigned after chinghis, and then about the manners and customs of the tartars. note 1.--chinghiz in fact survived aung khan some 24 years, dying during his fifth expedition against tangut, 18th august 1227, aged 65 according to the chinese accounts, 72 according to the persian. sanang setzen says that kurbeljin goa khatún, the beautiful queen of tangut, who had passed into the tents of the conqueror, did him some bodily mischief (it is not said what), and then went and drowned herself in the karamuren (or hwang-ho), which thenceforth was called by the mongols the _khátún-gol_, or lady's river, a name which it in fact still bears. carpini relates that chinghiz was killed by lightning. the persian and chinese historians, however, agree in speaking of his death as natural. gaubil calls the place of his death lou-pan, which he says was in lat. 38°. rashiduddin calls it leung-shan, which appears to be the mountain range still so called in the heart of shensi. the name of the place before which polo represents him as mortally wounded is very variously given. according to gaubil, chinghiz was in reality dangerously wounded by an arrow-shot at the siege of taitongfu in 1212. and it is possible, as oppert suggests, that polo's account of his death before _caagiu_ (as i prefer the reading), arose out of a confusion between this circumstance and those of the death of _mangku kaan_, which is said to have occurred at the assault of hochau in sze-ch'uan, a name which polo would write _caagiu_, or nearly so. abulfaragius specifically says that mangku kaan died _by an arrow_; though it is true that other authors say he died of disease, and haiton that he was drowned; all which shows how excusable were polo's errors as to events occurring 50 to 100 years before his time. (see _oppert's presbyter johannes_, p. 76; _de mailla_, ix. 275, and note; _gaubil_, 18, 50, 52, 121; _erdmann_, 443; _ss. setzen_, 103.) it is only by referring back to ch. xlvii., where we are told that chinghiz "began to think of conquering a great part of the world," that we see polo to have been really aware of the vast extent and aim of the conquests of chinghiz; the _aim_ being literally the conquest of the world as he conceived it; the _extent_ of the empire which he initiated actually covering (probably) one half of the whole number of the human race. (see remarks in _koeppen, die relig. des buddha_, ii. 86.) chapter li. of those who did reign after chinghis kaan, and of the customs of the tartars. now the next that reigned after chinghis kaan, their first lord,[note 1] was cuy kaan, and the third prince was batuy kaan, and the fourth was alacou kaan, the fifth mongou kaan, the sixth cublay kaan, who is the sovereign now reigning, and is more potent than any of the five who went before him; in fact, if you were to take all those five together, they would not be so powerful as he is.[note 2] nay, i will say yet more; for if you were to put together all the christians in the world, with their emperors and their kings, the whole of these christians,--aye, and throw in the saracens to boot,--would not have such power, or be able to do so much as this cublay, who is the lord of all the tartars in the world, those of the levant and of the ponent included; for these are all his liegemen and subjects. i mean to show you all about this great power of his in this book of ours. you should be told also that all the grand kaans, and all the descendants of chinghis their first lord, are carried to a mountain that is called altay to be interred. wheresoever the sovereign may die, he is carried to his burial in that mountain with his predecessors; no matter an the place of his death were 100 days' journey distant, thither must he be carried to his burial.[note 3] let me tell you a strange thing too. when they are carrying the body of any emperor to be buried with the others, the convoy that goes with the body doth put to the sword all whom they fall in with on the road, saying: "go and wait upon your lord in the other world!" for they do in sooth believe that all such as they slay in this manner do go to serve their lord in the other world. they do the same too with horses; for when the emperor dies, they kill all his best horses, in order that he may have the use of them in the other world, as they believe. and i tell you as a certain truth, that when mongou kaan died, more than 20,000 persons, who chanced to meet the body on its way, were slain in the manner i have told.[note 4] note 1.--before parting with chinghiz let me point out what has not to my knowledge been suggested before, that the name of "_cambuscan_ bold" in chaucer's tale is only a corruption of the name of chinghiz. the name of the conqueror appears in fr. ricold as _camiuscan_, from which the transition to cambuscan presents no difficulty. _camius_ was, i suppose, a clerical corruption out of _canjus_ or _cianjus_. in the chronicle of st. antonino, however, we have him called "_chinghiscan rectius_ tamgius _cam_" (xix. c. 8). if this is not merely the usual blunder of _t_ for _c_, it presents a curious analogy to the form _tankiz khán_ always used by ibn batuta. i do not know the origin of the latter, unless it was suggested by _tankis_ (ar.) "turning upside down." (see _pereg. quat._, p. 119; _i. b._ iii. 22, etc.) note 2.--polo's history here is inadmissible. he introduces into the list of the supreme kaans _batu_, who was only khan of kipchak (the golden horde), and _hulaku_ who was khan of persia, whilst he omits _okkodai_, the immediate successor of chinghiz. it is also remarkable that he uses the form _alacou_ here instead of _alaü_ as elsewhere; nor does he seem to mean the same person, for he was quite well aware that _alaü_ was lord of the levant, who sent ambassadors to the great khan cúbláy, and could not therefore be one of his predecessors. the real succession ran: 1. chinghiz; 2. okkodai; 3. kuyuk; 4. mangku; 5. kúblái. there are quite as great errors in the history of haiton, who had probably greater advantages in this respect than marco. and i may note that in teixeira's abridgment of mirkhond, hulaku is made to succeed mangku kaan on the throne of chinghiz. (_relaciones_, p. 338.) note 3.--the altai here certainly does not mean the great south siberian range to which the name is now applied. both _altai_ and _altun-khan_ appear sometimes to be applied by sanang setzen to the khingan of the chinese, or range running immediately north of the great wall near kalgan. (see ch. lxi. note i.) but in reference to this matter of the burial of chinghiz, he describes the place as "the district of yekeh utek, between the shady side of the altai-khan and the sunny side of the kentei-khan." now the kentei-khan (_khan_ here meaning "mountain") is near the sources of the onon, immediately to the north-east of urga; and altai-khan in this connection cannot mean the hills near the great wall, 500 miles distant. according to rashiduddin, chinghiz was buried at a place called _búrkán káldún_ ("god's hill"), or _yekeh kúrúk_ ("the great sacred or tabooed place"); in another passage he calls the spot _búdah undúr_ (which means, i fancy, the same as búrkán káldún), near the river selenga. búrkán kaldún is often mentioned by sanang setzen, and quatremère seems to demonstrate the identity of this place with the mountain called by pallas (and timkowski) _khanoolla_. this is a lofty mountain near urga, covered with dense forest, and is indeed the first woody mountain reached in travelling from peking. it is still held sacred by the mongols and guarded from access, though the tradition of chinghiz's grave seems to be extinct. now, as this khanoolla ("mount royal," for _khan_ here means "sovereign," and _oolla_ "mountain") stands immediately to the south of the _kentei_ mentioned in the quotation from s. setzen, this identification agrees with his statement, on the supposition that the khanoolla is the altai of the same quotation. the khanoolla must also be the _han_ mountain which mongol chiefs claiming descent from chinghiz named to gaubil as the burial-place of that conqueror. note that the khanoolla, which we suppose to be the altai of polo, and here of sanang setzen, belongs to a range known as _khingan_, whilst we see that setzen elsewhere applies altai and altan-khan to the other khingan near the great wall. erdmann relates, apparently after rashiduddin, that chinghiz was buried at the foot of a tree which had taken his fancy on a hunting expedition, and which he had then pointed out as the place where he desired to be interred. it was then conspicuous, but afterwards the adjoining trees shot up so rapidly, that a dense wood covered the whole locality, and it became impossible to identify the spot. (_q. r._ 117 seqq.; _timk._ i. 115 seqq., ii. 475-476; _san. setz._ 103, 114-115, 108-109; _gaubil_, 54; _erd._ 444.) ["there are no accurate indications," says palladius (l.c. pp. 11-13), "in the documents of the mongol period on the burial-places of chingiz khan and of the khans who succeeded him. the _yuan-shi_ or 'history of the mongol dynasty in china,' in speaking of the burial of the khans, mentions only that they used to be conveyed from peking to the north, to their common burial-ground in the _k'i-lien_ valley. this name cannot have anything in common with the ancient _k'i-lien_ of the hiung-nu, a hill situated to the west of the mongol desert; the _k'i-lien_ of the mongols is to be sought more to the east. when khubilai marched out against prince nayan, and reached the modern talnor, news was received of the occupation of the khan's burial-ground by the rebels. they held out there very long, which exceedingly afflicted khubilai [_yuan shi lui pien_]; and this goes to prove that the tombs could not be situated much to the west. some more positive information on this subject is found in the diary of the campaign in mongolia in 1410, of the ming emperor yung-lo [_pe ching lu_]. he reached the kerulen at the place where this river, after running south, takes an easterly direction. the author of the diary notes, that from a place one march and a half before reaching the kerulen, a very large mountain was visible to the north-east, and at its foot a solitary high and pointed hillock, covered with stones. the author says, that the sovereigns of the house of yuan used to be buried near this hill. it may therefore be plausibly supposed that the tombs of the mongol khans were near the kerulen, and that the 'k'i-lien' of the _yuan shi_ is to be applied to this locality; it seems to me even, that k'i-lien is an abbreviation, customary to chinese authors, of kerulen. the way of burying the mongol khans is described in the _yuan shi_ (ch. 'on the national religious rites of the mongols'), as well as in the _ch'ue keng lu_, 'memoirs of the time of the yuan dynasty.' when burying, the greatest care was taken to conceal from outside people the knowledge of the locality of the tomb. with this object in view, after the tomb was closed, a drove of horses was driven over it, and by this means the ground was, for a considerable distance, trampled down and levelled. it is added to this (probably from hearsay) in the _ts'ao mu tze memoirs_ (also of the time of the yuan dynasty), that a young camel used to be killed (in the presence of its mother) on the tomb of the deceased khan; afterwards, when the time of the usual offerings of the tomb approached, the mother of this immolated camel was set at liberty, and she came crying to the place where it was killed; the locality of the tomb was ascertained in this way." the archimandrite palladius adds in a footnote: "our well-known mongolist n. golovkin has told us, that according to a story actually current among the mongols, the tombs of the former mongol khans are situated near tasola hill, equally in the vicinity of the kerulen. he states also that even now the mongols are accustomed to assemble on that hill on the seventh day of the seventh moon (according to an ancient custom), in order to adore chingiz khan's tomb. altan tobchi (translated into russian by galsan gomboeff), in relating the history of the mongols after their expulsion from china, and speaking of the khans' tombs, calls them _naiman tzagan gher_, i.e. 'eight white tents' (according to the number of chambers for the souls of the chief deceased khans in peking), and sometimes simply _tzagan gher_, 'the white tent,' which, according to the translator's explanation, denotes only chingiz khan's tomb." "according to the chinese annals (_t'ung kien kang mu_), quoted by dr. e. bretschneider (_med. res._ i. p. 157), chinghiz died near the _liu p'an shan_ in 1227, after having subdued the tangut empire. on modern chinese maps _liu p'an shan_ is marked south of the city of _ku yüan chou_, department of _p'ing liang_, in _kan suh_. the _yüan shí_ however, implies that he died in northern mongolia. we read there, in the annals, _s.a._ 1227, that in the fifth intercalary month the emperor moved to the mountain _liu p'an shan_ in order to avoid the heat of the summer. in the sixth month the empire of the _hia_ (tangut) submitted. chinghiz rested on the river _si kiang_ in the district of _ts'ing shui_ (in kansuh; it has still the same name). in autumn, in the seventh month (august), on the day _jen wu_, the emperor fell ill, and eight days later died in his palace _ha-lao-t'u_ on the river _sa-li_. this river sali is repeatedly mentioned in the _yüan shi_, viz. in the first chapter, in connection with the first military doings of chinghiz. rashid reports (_d'ohsson_, i. 58) that chinghiz in 1199 retired to his residence _sari kihar_. the _yüan chao pi shi_ (palladius' transl., 81) writes the same name _saari keher_ (_keher_ in modern mongol means 'a plain'). on the ancient map of mongolia found in the _yüan shi lei pien_, _sa-li k'ie-rh_ is marked south of the river _wa-nan_ (the _onon_ of our maps), and close to _sa-li k'ie-rh_ we read: 'here was the original abode of the yüan' (mongols). thus it seems the passage in the yüan history translated above intimates that chinghiz died in mongolia, and not near the _liu p'an shan_, as is generally believed. the _yüan ch'ao pi shi_ (palladius' transl., 152) and the _'ts'in cheng lu_ (palladius' transl., 195) both agree in stating that, after subduing the tangut empire, chinghiz returned home, and then died. colonel yule, in his _marco polo_ (i. 245), states 'that rashid calls the place of chinghiz' death _leung shan_, which appears to be the mountain range still so-called in the heart of shensi.' i am not aware from what translation of rashid, yule's statement is derived, but d'ohsson (i. 375, note) seems to quote the same passage in translating from rashid: '_liu-p'an-shan_ was situated on the frontiers of the _churche_ (empire of the _kin_), _nangias_ (empire of the _sung_) and _tangut_;' which statement is quite correct." we now come to the mongol tradition, which places the tomb of chinghiz in the country of the ordos, in the great bend of the yellow river. two belgian missionaries, mm. de vos and verlinden, who visited the tomb of chinghiz khan, say that before the mahomedan invasion, on a hill a few feet high, there were two courtyards, one in front of the other, surrounded by palisades. in the second courtyard, there were a building like a chinese dwelling-house and six tents. in a double tent are kept the remains of the _bokta_ (the holy). the neighbouring tents contained various precious objects, such as a gold saddle, dishes, drinking-cups, a tripod, a kettle, and many other utensils, all in solid silver. (_missions catholiques_, no. 315, 18th june, 1875.)--this periodical gives (p. 293) a sketch of the tomb of the conqueror, according to the account of the two missionaries. prjevalsky (_mongolia and tangut_) relates the story of the _khatún gol_ (see supra, p. 245), and says that her tomb is situated at 11 versts north-east of lake of dzaïdemin nor, and is called by the mongols tumir-alku, and by the chinese djiou-djin fu; one of the legends mentioned by the russian traveller gives the ordo country as the burial-place of chinghiz, 200 versts south of lake dabasun nor; the remains are kept in two coffins, one of wood, the other of silver; the khan prophesied that after eight or ten centuries he would come to life again and fight the emperor of china, and being victorious, would take the mongols from the ordos back to their country of khalka; prjevalsky did not see the tomb, nor did potanin. "their holiest place [of the mongols of ordos] is a collection of felt tents called 'edjen-joro,' reputed to contain the bones of jenghiz khan. these sacred relics are entrusted to the care of a caste of darhats, numbering some fifty families. every summer, on the twenty-first day of the sixth moon, sacrifices are offered up in his honour, when numbers of people congregate to join in the celebration, such gatherings being called _táilgan_." on the southern border of the ordos are the ruins of boro-balgasun [grey town], said to date from jenghiz khan's time. (_potanin_, _proc. r. g. s._ ix. 1887, p. 233.) the last traveller who visited the tomb of chinghiz is m. c. e. bonin, in july 1896; he was then on the banks of the yellow river in the northern part of the ordo country, which is exclusively inhabited by nomadic and pastoral mongols, forming seven tribes or hords, djungar, talat, wan, ottok, djassak, wushun and hangkin, among which are eastward the djungar and in the centre the wan; according to their own tradition, these tribes descend from the seven armies encamped in the country at the time of chinghiz's death; the king of djungar was 67 years of age, and was the chief of all the tribes, being considered the 37th descendant of the conqueror in a direct line. his predecessor was the wushun wang. m. bonin gives (_revue de paris_, 15th february 1898) the following description of the tomb and of the country surrounding it. between the _yamen_ (palace) of the king (wang) of djungar and the tomb of chinghiz-khan, there are five or six marches made difficult by the sands of the gobi, but horses and camels may be used for the journey. the road, southward through the desert, passes near the great lama-monastery called _barong-tsao_ or _si-tsao_ (monastery of the west), and in chinese _san-t'ang sse_ (three temples). this celebrated monastery was built by the king of djungar to hold the tablets of his ancestors--on the ruins of an old temple, said to have been erected by chinghiz himself. more than a thousand lamas are registered there, forty of them live at the expense of the emperor of china. crossing afterwards the two upper branches of the ulan múren (red river) on the banks of which chinghiz was murdered, according to local tradition, close to the lake of chahan nor (white lake), near which are the tents of the prince of wan, one arrives at last at the spot called _yeke-etjen-koro_, in mongol: the abode of the great lord, where the tomb is to be found. it is erected to the south-east of the village, comprising some twenty tents or tent-like huts built of earth. two large white felt tents, placed side by side, similar to the tents of the modern mongols, but much larger, cover the tomb; a red curtain, when drawn, discloses the large and low silver coffin, which contains the ashes of the emperor, placed on the ground of the second tent; it is shaped like a big trunk, with great rosaces engraved upon it. the emperor, according to local tradition, was cremated on the bank of the ulan muren, where he is supposed to have been slain. on the twenty-first day of the third moon the anniversary fête of mongolia takes place; on this day of the year only are the two mortuary tents opened, and the coffin is exhibited to be venerated by people coming from all parts of mongolia. many other relics, dispersed all over the ordo land, are brought thither on this occasion; these relics called in mongol _chinghiz bogdo_ (sacred remains of chinghiz) number ten; they are in the order adopted by the mongols: the saddle of chinghiz, hidden in the wan territory; the bow, kept at a place named hu-ki-ta-lao hei, near yeke etjen-koro; the remains of his war-horse, called antegan-tsegun (more), preserved at kebere in the djungar territory; a fire-arm kept in the palace of the king of djungar; a wooden and leather vase called pao-lao-antri, kept at the place shien-ni-chente; a wax figure containing the ashes of the khan's equerry, called altaqua-tosu, kept at ottok (one of the seven tribes); the remains of the second wife, who lay at kiasa, on the banks of the yellow river, at a place called on prjevalsky's map in chinese djiou-djin-fu, and in mongol tumir-alku; the tomb of the third wife of chinghiz, who killed him, and lay to-day at bagha-ejen-koro, "the abode of the little sovereign," at a day's march to the south of the djungar king's palace; the very tomb of yeke-etjen-koro, which is supposed to contain also the ashes of the first wife of the khan; and last, his great standard, a black wood spear planted in the desert, more than 150 miles to the south of the tomb; the iron of it never gets rusty; no one dares touch it, and therefore it is not carried to yeke-etjen-koro with the other relics for the yearly festival. (see also _rockhill, diary_, p. 29.) --h. c.] note 4.--rashiduddin relates that the escort, in carrying chinghiz to his burial, slew all whom they met, and that forty noble and beautiful girls were despatched to serve him in the other world, as well as superb horses. as mangku kaan died in the heart of china, any attempt to carry out the barbarous rule in his case would involve great slaughter. (_erd._ 443; _d'ohsson_, i. 381, ii. 13; and see _cathay_, 507-508.) sanang setzen ignores these barbarities. he describes the body of chinghiz as removed to his native land on a two-wheeled waggon, the whole host escorting it, and wailing as they went: "and kiluken bahadur of the sunid tribe (one of the khan's old comrades) lifted up his voice and sang- 'whilom thou didst swoop like a falcon: a rumbling waggon now trundles thee off: o my king! hast thou in truth then forsaken thy wife and thy children and the diet of thy people? o my king! circling in pride like an eagle whilom thou didst lead us, o my king! but now thou hast stumbled and fallen, like an unbroken colt, o my king!'" (p. 108.) ["the burying of living men with the dead was a general custom with the tribes of eastern asia. favourite servants and wives were usually buried in this way. in china, the chief wives and those concubines who had already borne children, were exempted from this lot. the tunguz and other tribes were accustomed to kill the selected victims by strangulation. in china they used to be buried alive; but the custom of burying living men ceased in a.d. 1464. [_hwang ming ts'ung sin lu_.] in the time of the present manchu dynasty, the burying of living men was prohibited by the emperor kang-hi, at the close of the 17th century, i.e. the forced burying; but voluntary sepulture remained in force [_yu chi wen_]. notwithstanding this prohibition, cases of forced burying occurred again in remote parts of manchuria; when a concubine refused to follow her deceased master, she was forcibly strangled with a bow-string [_ninguta chi_]. i must observe, however, that there is no mention made in historical documents of the existence of this custom with the mongols; it is only an hypothesis based on the analogy between the religious ideas and customs of the mongols and those of other tribes." (_palladius_, p. 13.) in his _religious system of china_, ii., dr. j. j. m. de groot devotes a whole chapter (ix. 721 seqq.), _concerning the sacrifice of human beings at burials, and usages connected therewith_. the oldest case on record in china dates as far back as b.c. 677, when sixty-six men were killed after the ruler wu of the state of ts'in died. the official annals of the tartar dynasty of liao, quoted by professor j. j. m. de groot (_religious system of china_, vol. ii. 698), state that "in the tenth year of the t'ung hwo period (a.d. 692) the killing of horses for funeral and burial rites was interdicted, as also the putting into the tombs of coats of mail, helmets, and articles and trinkets of gold and silver." professor de groot writes (l.c. 709): "but, just as the placing of victuals in the graves was at an early date changed into sacrifices of food outside the graves, so burying horses with the dead was also modified under the han dynasty into presenting them to the dead without interring them, and valueless counterfeits were on such occasions substituted for the real animals."--h. c.] chapter lii. concerning the customs of the tartars. now that we have begun to speak of the tartars, i have plenty to tell you on that subject. the tartar custom is to spend the winter in warm plains, where they find good pasture for their cattle, whilst in summer they betake themselves to a cool climate among the mountains and valleys, where water is to be found as well as woods and pastures. their houses are circular, and are made of wands covered with felts.[note 1] these are carried along with them whithersoever they go; for the wands are so strongly bound together, and likewise so well combined, that the frame can be made very light. whenever they erect these huts the door is always to the south. they also have waggons covered with black felt so efficaciously that no rain can get in. these are drawn by oxen and camels, and the women and children travel in them.[note 2] the women do the buying and selling, and whatever is necessary to provide for the husband and household; for the men all lead the life of gentlemen, troubling themselves about nothing but hunting and hawking, and looking after their goshawks and falcons, unless it be the practice of warlike exercises. they live on the milk and meat which their herds supply, and on the produce of the chase; and they eat all kinds of flesh, including that of horses and dogs, and pharaoh's rats, of which last there are great numbers in burrows on those plains.[note 3] their drink is mare's milk. they are very careful not to meddle with each other's wives, and will not do so on any account, holding that to be an evil and abominable thing. the women too are very good and loyal to their husbands, and notable housewives withal.[note 4] [ten or twenty of them will dwell together in charming peace and unity, nor shall you ever hear an ill word among them.] the marriage customs of tartars are as follows. any man may take a hundred wives an he so please, and if he be able to keep them. but the first wife is ever held most in honour, and as the most legitimate [and the same applies to the sons whom she may bear]. the husband gives a marriage payment to his wife's mother, and the wife brings nothing to her husband. they have more children than other people, because they have so many wives. they may marry their cousins, and if a father dies, his son may take any of the wives, his own mother always excepted; that is to say the eldest son may do this, but no other. a man may also take the wife of his own brother after the latter's death. their weddings are celebrated with great ado.[note 5] note 1.--the word here in the g. t. is "_fennes_," which seems usually to mean _ropes_, and in fact pauthier's text reads: "_il ont mesons de verges et les cueuvrent de cordes_." ramusio's text has _feltroni_, and both muller and the latin of the s. g. have _filtro_. this is certainly the right reading. but whether _fennes_ was ever used as a form of _feltres_ (as _pennes_ means _peltry_) i cannot discover. perhaps some words have dropped out. a good description of a kirghiz hut (35 feet in diameter), and exactly corresponding to polo's account, will be found in _atkinson's siberia_, and another in _vámbéry's travels_. how comfortable and civilised the aspect of such a hut may be, can be seen also in burnes's account of a turkoman dwelling of this kind. this description of hut or tent is common to nearly all the nomade tribes of central asia. the trellis-work forming the skeleton of the tent-walls is (at least among the turkomans) loosely pivoted, so as to draw out and compress like "lazy-tongs." [illustration: dressing up a tent.] rubruquis, pallas, timkowski, and others, notice the custom of turning the door to the south; the reason is obvious. (_atkinson_, 285; _vámb._ 316; _burnes_, iii. 51; _conolly_, i. 96) but throughout the altai, mr. ney elias informs me, k'alkas, kirghiz, and kalmaks all pitch their tents facing _east_. the prevailing winter wind is there _westerly_. [mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, p. 56, note) says that he has often seen mongol tents facing east and south-east. he adds: "it is interesting to find it noted in the _chou shu_ (bk. 50, 3) that the khan of the turks, who lived always on the tu-kin mountains, had his tent invariably facing south, so as to show reverence to the sun's rising place."--h. c.] note 2.--aeschylus already knows the "wandering scyths who dwell in latticed huts high-poised on easy wheels." (_prom. vinct._ 709-710.) and long before him hesiod says phineus was carried by the harpies- "to the land of the milk-fed nations, whose houses are waggons." (_strabo_, vii. 3-9.) ibn batuta describes the tartar waggon in which he travelled to sarai as mounted on four great wheels, and drawn by two or more horses:-"on the waggon is put a sort of pavilion of wands laced together with narrow thongs. it is very light, and is covered with felt or cloth, and has latticed windows, so that the person inside can look out without being seen. he can change his position at pleasure, sleeping or eating, reading or writing, during the journey." these waggons were sometimes of enormous size. rubruquis declares that he measured between the wheel-tracks of one and found the interval to be 20 feet. the axle was like a ship's mast, and twenty-two oxen were yoked to the waggon, eleven abreast. (see opposite cut.) he describes the huts as not usually taken to pieces, but carried all standing. the waggon just mentioned carried a hut of 30 feet diameter, for it projected beyond the wheels at least 5 feet on either side. in fact, carpini says explicitly, "some of the huts are speedily taken to pieces and put up again; such are packed on the beasts. others cannot be taken to pieces, but are carried bodily on the waggons. to carry the smaller tents on a waggon one ox may serve; for the larger ones three oxen or four, or even more, according to the size." the carts that were used to transport the tartar valuables were covered with felt soaked in tallow or ewe's milk, to make them waterproof. the tilts of these were rectangular, in the form of a large trunk. the carts used in kashgar, as described by mr. shaw, seem to resemble these latter. (_i. b._ ii. 381-382; _rub._ 221; _carp._ 6, 16.) the words of herodotus, speaking generally of the scyths, apply perfectly to the mongol hordes under chinghiz: "having neither cities nor forts, and carrying their dwellings with them wherever they go; accustomed, moreover, one and all, to shoot from horseback; and living not by husbandry but on their cattle, their waggons the only houses that they possess, how can they fail of being unconquerable?" (bk. iv. ch. 46, p. 41, _rawlins._) scythian prisoners in their waggons are represented on the column of theodosius at constantinople; but it is difficult to believe that these waggons, at least as figured in banduri, have any really scythian character. it is a curious fact that the practice of carrying these _yurts_ or felt tents upon waggons appears to be entirely obsolete in mongolia. mr. ney elias writes: "i frequently showed your picture [that opposite] to mongols, chinese, and russian border-traders, but none had ever seen anything of the kind. the only cart i have ever seen used by mongols is a little low, light, roughly-made bullock-dray, _certainly_ of chinese importation." the old system would, however, appear to have been kept up to our own times by the nogai tartars, near the sea of azof. (see note from heber, in _clark's travels_, 8vo ed. i. 440, and dr. clark's vignette at p. 394 in the same volume.) [illustration: mediaeval tartar huts and waggons.] note 3.--_pharaoh's rat_ was properly the gerboa of arabia and north africa, which the arabs also regard as a dainty. there is a kindred animal in siberia, called _alactaga_, and a kind of kangaroo-rat (probably the same) is mentioned as very abundant on the mongolian steppe. there is also the _zieselmaus_ of pallas, a dormouse, i believe, which he says the kalmaks, even of distinction, count a delicacy, especially cooked in sour milk. "they eat not only the flesh of all their different kinds of cattle, including horses and camels, but also that of many wild animals which other nations eschew, e.g. marmots and _zieselmice_, beavers, badgers, otters, and lynxes, leaving none untouched except the dog and weasel kind, and also (unless _very_ hard pressed) the flesh of the fox and the wolf." (_pallas, samml._ i. 128; also _rubr._ 229-230.) ["in the mongol biography of chinghiz khan (mongol text of the _yuan ch'ao pi shi_), mention is made of two kinds of animals (mice) used for food; the tarbagat (_aritomys bobac_) and _kuchugur_." (_palladius_, l.c. p. 14.) regarding the marmots called _sogur_ by rubruquis, mr. rockhill writes (p. 69): "probably the _mus citillus_, the _suslik_ of the russians.... m. grenard tells me that _soghur_, more usually written _sour_ in turki, is the ordinary name of the marmot."--h. c.] note 4.--"their wives are chaste; nor does one ever hear any talk of their immodesty," says carpini;--no boccaccian and chaucerian stories. note 5.--"the mongols are not prohibited from having a plurality of wives; the first manages the domestic concerns, and is the most respected." (_timk._ ii. 310.) naturally polygamy is not so general among the mongols as when asia lay at their feet. the buraets, who seem to retain the old mongol customs in great completeness, are polygamists, and have as many wives as they choose. polygamy is also very prevalent among the yakuts, whose lineage seems to be eastern turk. (_ritter_, iii. 125; _erman_, ii. 346.) of the custom that entitled the son on succeeding to take such as he pleased of his deceased father's wives, we have had some illustration (see _prologue_, ch. xvii. note 2), and many instances will be found in hammer's or other mongol histories. the same custom seems to be ascribed by herodotus to the scyths (iv. 78). a number of citations regarding the practice are given by quatremère. (_q. r._ p. 92.) a modern mongol writer in the _mélanges asiatiques_ of the petersburg academy, states that the custom of taking a deceased brother's wives is now obsolete, but that a proverb preserves its memory (ii. 656). it is the custom of some mahomedan nations, notably of the afghans, and is one of those points that have been cited as a supposed proof of their hebrew lineage. "the kalin is a present which the bridegroom or his parents make to the parents of the bride. all the pagan nations of siberia have this custom; they differ only in what constitutes the present, whether money or cattle." (_gmelin_, i. 29; see also _erman_, ii. 348.) chapter liii. concerning the god of the tartars. this is the fashion of their religion. [they say there is a most high god of heaven, whom they worship daily with thurible and incense, but they pray to him only for health of mind and body. but] they have [also] a certain [other] god of theirs called natigay, and they say he is the god of the earth, who watches over their children, cattle, and crops. they show him great worship and honour, and every man hath a figure of him in his house, made of felt and cloth; and they also make in the same manner images of his wife and children. the wife they put on the left hand, and the children in front. and when they eat, they take the fat of the meat and grease the god's mouth withal, as well as the mouths of his wife and children. then they take of the broth and sprinkle it before the door of the house; and that done, they deem that their god and his family have had their share of the dinner.[note 1] their drink is mare's milk, prepared in such a way that you would take it for white wine; and a right good drink it is, called by them _kemiz_.[note 2] the clothes of the wealthy tartars are for the most part of gold and silk stuffs, lined with costly furs, such as sable and ermine, vair and fox-skin, in the richest fashion. note 1.--there is no reference here to buddhism, which was then of recent introduction among the mongols; indeed, at the end of the chapter, polo speaks of their new adoption of the chinese idolatry, i.e. buddhism. we may add here that the buddhism of the mongols decayed and became practically extinct after their expulsion from china (1368-1369). the old shamanism then apparently revived; nor was it till 1577 that the great reconversion of mongolia to lamaism began. this reconversion is the most prominent event in the mongol history of sanang setzen, whose great-grandfather khutuktai setzen, prince of the ordos, was a chief agent in the movement. the supreme good spirit appears to have been called by the mongols _tengri_ (heaven), and _khormuzda_, and is identified by schmidt with the persian hormuzd. in buddhist times he became identified with indra. plano carpini's account of this matter is very like marco's: "they believe in one god, the maker of all things, visible and invisible, and the distributor of good and evil in this world; but they worship him not with prayers or praises or any kind of service. natheless, they have certain idols of felt, imitating the human face, and having underneath the face something resembling teats; these they place on either side of the door. these they believe to be the guardians of the flocks, from whom they have the boons of milk and increase. others they fabricate of bits of silk, and these are highly honoured;... and whenever they begin to eat or drink, they first offer these idols a portion of their food or drink." the account agrees generally with what we are told of the original shamanism of the tunguses, which recognizes a supreme power over all, and a small number of potent spirits called _ongot_. these spirits among the buraets are called, according to one author, _nougait_ or _nogat_, and according to erman _ongotui_. in some form of this same word, _nogait, ongot, onggod, ongotui_, we are, i imagine, to trace the _natigay_ of polo. the modern representative of this shamanist _lar_ is still found among the buraets, and is thus described by pallas under the name of _immegiljin_: "he is honoured as the tutelary god of the sheep and other cattle. properly, the divinity consists of _two_ figures, hanging side by side, one of whom represents the god's wife. these two figures are merely a pair of lanky flat bolsters with the upper part shaped into a round disk, and the body hung with a long woolly fleece; eyes, nose, breasts, and navel, being indicated by leather knobs stitched on. the male figure commonly has at his girdle the foot-rope with which horses at pasture are fettered, whilst the female, which is sometimes accompanied by smaller figures representing her children, has all sorts of little nicknacks and sewing implements." galsang czomboyef, a recent russo-mongol writer already quoted, says also: "among the buryats, in the middle of the hut and place of honour, is the _dsaiagaçhi_ or 'chief creator of fortune.' at the door is the _emelgelji_, the tutelary of the herds and young cattle, made of sheepskins. outside the hut is the _chandaghatu_, a name implying that the idol was formed of a white hare-skin, the tutelary of the chase and perhaps of war. all these have been expelled by buddhism except dsaiagachi, who is called _tengri_, and introduced among the buddhist divinities." [illustration: tartar idols and kumis churn.] [dorji banzaroff, in his dissertation _on the black religion_, i.e. shamanism, 1846, "is disposed to see in natigay of m. polo, the ytoga of other travellers, i.e. the mongol _etugen_--'earth,' as the object of veneration of the mongol shamans. they look upon it as a divinity, for its power as _delegei in echen_, i.e. 'the lord of earth,' and on account of its productiveness, _altan delegei_, i.e. 'golden earth.'" palladius (l.c. pp. 14-16) adds one new variant to what the learned colonel yule has collected and set forth with such precision, on the shaman household gods. "the dahurs and barhus have in their dwellings, according to the number of the male members of the family, puppets made of straw, on which eyes, eyebrows, and mouth are drawn; these puppets are dressed up to the waist. when some one of the family dies, his puppet is taken out of the house, and a new puppet is made for every newly-born member of the family. on new year's day offerings are made to the puppets, and care is taken not to disturb them (by moving them, etc.), in order to avoid bringing sickness upon the family." (_he lung kiang wai ki_.) (cf. _rubruck_, 58-59, and mr. rockhill's note, 59-60.)--h. c.] note 2.--kimiz or kumiz, the habitual drink of the mongols, as it still is of most of the nomads of asia. it is thus made. fresh mare's milk is put in a well-seasoned bottle-necked vessel of horse-skin; a little _kurút_ (see note 5, ch. liv.) or some sour cow's milk is added; and when acetous fermentation is commencing it is violently churned with a peculiar staff which constantly stands in the vessel. this interrupts fermentation and introduces a quantity of air into the liquid. it is customary for visitors who may drop in to give a turn or two at the churn-stick. after three or four days the drink is ready. kumiz keeps long; it is wonderfully tonic and nutritious, and it is said that it has cured many persons threatened with consumption. the tribes using it are said to be remarkably free from pulmonary disease; and indeed i understand there is a regular _galactopathic_ establishment somewhere in the province of orenburg for treating pulmonary patients with kumiz diet. it has a peculiar foreand after-taste which, it is said, everybody does not like. yet i have found no confession of a dislike to kumiz. rubruquis tells us it is pungent on the tongue, like _vinum raspei_ (_vin rapé_ of the french), whilst you are drinking it, but leaves behind a pleasant flavour like milk of almonds. it makes a man's inside feel very cosy, he adds, even turning a weak head, and is strongly diuretic. to this last statement, however, modern report is in direct contradiction. the greeks and other oriental christians considered it a sort of denial of the faith to drink kumiz. on the other hand, the mahomedan converts from the nomad tribes seem to have adhered to the use of kumiz even when strict in abstinence from wine; and it was indulged in by the early mamelukes as a public solemnity. excess on such an occasion killed bibars bundukdari, who was passionately fond of this liquor. the intoxicating power of kumiz varies according to the _brew_. the more advanced is the vinous fermentation the less acid is the taste and the more it sparkles. the effect, however, is always slight and transitory, and leaves no unpleasant sensation, whilst it produces a strong tendency to refreshing sleep. if its good qualities amount to half what are ascribed to it by dr. w. f. dahl, from whom we derive some of these particulars, it must be the pearl of all beverages. "with the nomads it is the drink of all from the suckling upwards, it is the solace of age and illness, and the greatest of treats to all!" there was a special kind called _kará kumiz_, which is mentioned both by rubruquis and in the history of wassáf. it seems to have been strained and clarified. the modern tartars distil a spirit from kumiz of which pallas gives a detailed account. (_dahl, ueber den kumyss_ in _baer's beiträge_, vii.; _lettres sur le caucase et la crimée_, paris, 1859, p. 81; _makrizi_, ii. 147; _j. as._ xi. 160; _levchine_, 322-323; _rubr._ 227-228, 335; _gold. horde_, p. 46; _erman_, i. 296; _pallas, samml._ i. 132 seqq.) [in the _si yu ki_, travels to the west of ch'ang ch'un, we find a drink called _tung lo_. "the chinese characters, _tung lo_," says bretschneider (_med. res._ i. 94), "denote according to the dictionaries preparations from mare's or cow's milk, as kumis, sour milk, etc. in the _yuan shi_ (ch. cxxviii.) biography of the kipchak prince _tú-tú-ha_, it is stated that 'black mare's milk' (evidently the cara cosmos of rubruck), very pleasant to the taste, used to be sent from kipchak to the mongol court in china." (on the drinks of the mongols, see mr. rockhill's note, _rubruck_, p. 62.)--the mongols indulge in sour milk (_tarak_) and distilled mare's milk (_arreki_), but mr. rockhill (_land of the lamas_, 130) says he never saw them drink _kumiz_.--h. c.] the mare's-milk drink of scythian nomads is alluded to by many ancient authors. but the manufacture of kumiz is particularly spoken of by herodotus. "the (mare's) milk is poured into deep wooden casks, about which the blind slaves are placed, and then the milk is stirred round. that which rises to the top is drawn off, and considered the best part; the under portion is of less account." strabo also speaks of the nomads beyond the cimmerian chersonesus, who feed on horse-flesh and other flesh, mare's-milk cheese, mare's milk, and sour milk ([greek: óxygalakta]) "_which they have a particular way of preparing_." perhaps herodotus was mistaken about the wooden tubs. at least all modern attempts to use anything but the orthodox skins have failed. priscus, in his narrative of the mission of himself and maximin to attila, says the huns brought them a drink made from _barley_ which they called [greek: kámos]. the barley was, no doubt, a misapprehension of his. (_herod._ bk. iv. p. 2, in _rawl._; _strabo_, vii. 4, 6; _excerpta de legationibus_, in _corp. hist. byzant._ i. 55.) chapter liv. concerning the tartar customs of war. all their harness of war is excellent and costly. their arms are bows and arrows, sword and mace; but above all the bow, for they are capital archers, indeed the best that are known. on their backs they wear armour of cuirbouly, prepared from buffalo and other hides, which is very strong.[note 1] they are excellent soldiers, and passing valiant in battle. they are also more capable of hardships than other nations; for many a time, if need be, they will go for a month without any supply of food, living only on the milk of their mares and on such game as their bows may win them. their horses also will subsist entirely on the grass of the plains, so that there is no need to carry store of barley or straw or oats; and they are very docile to their riders. these, in case of need, will abide on horseback the livelong night, armed at all points, while the horse will be continually grazing. of all troops in the world these are they which endure the greatest hardship and fatigue, and which cost the least; and they are the best of all for making wide conquests of country. and this you will perceive from what you have heard and shall hear in this book; and (as a fact) there can be no manner of doubt that now they are the masters of the biggest half of the world. their troops are admirably ordered in the manner that i shall now relate. you see, when a tartar prince goes forth to war, he takes with him, say, 100,000 horse. well, he appoints an officer to every ten men, one to every hundred, one to every thousand, and one to every ten thousand, so that his own orders have to be given to ten persons only, and each of these ten persons has to pass the orders only to other ten, and so on; no one having to give orders to more than ten. and every one in turn is responsible only to the officer immediately over him; and the discipline and order that comes of this method is marvellous, for they are a people very obedient to their chiefs. further, they call the corps of 100,000 men a _tuc_; that of 10,000 they call a _toman_; the thousand they call...; the hundred _guz_; the ten....[note 2] and when the army is on the march they have always 200 horsemen, very well mounted, who are sent a distance of two marches in advance to reconnoitre, and these always keep ahead. they have a similar party detached in the rear, and on either flank, so that there is a good look-out kept on all sides against a surprise. when they are going on a distant expedition they take no gear with them except two leather bottles for milk; a little earthenware pot to cook their meat in, and a little tent to shelter them from rain.[note 3] and in case of great urgency they will ride ten days on end without lighting a fire or taking a meal. on such an occasion they will sustain themselves on the blood of their horses, opening a vein and letting the blood jet into their mouths, drinking till they have had enough, and then staunching it.[note 4] they also have milk dried into a kind of paste to carry with them; and when they need food they put this in water, and beat it up till it dissolves, and then drink it. [it is prepared in this way; they boil the milk, and when the rich part floats on the top they skim it into another vessel, and of that they make butter; for the milk will not become solid till this is removed. then they put the milk in the sun to dry. and when they go on an expedition, every man takes some ten pounds of this dried milk with him. and of a morning he will take a half pound of it and put it in his leather bottle, with as much water as he pleases. so, as he rides along, the milk-paste and the water in the bottle get well churned together into a kind of pap, and that makes his dinner.[note 5]] when they come to an engagement with the enemy, they will gain the victory in this fashion. [they never let themselves get into a regular medley, but keep perpetually riding round and shooting into the enemy. and] as they do not count it any shame to run away in battle, they will [sometimes pretend to] do so, and in running away they turn in the saddle and shoot hard and strong at the foe, and in this way make great havoc. their horses are trained so perfectly that they will double hither and thither, just like a dog, in a way that is quite astonishing. thus they fight to as good purpose in running away as if they stood and faced the enemy, because of the vast volleys of arrows that they shoot in this way, turning round upon their pursuers, who are fancying that they have won the battle. but when the tartars see that they have killed and wounded a good many horses and men, they wheel round bodily, and return to the charge in perfect order and with loud cries; and in a very short time the enemy are routed. in truth they are stout and valiant soldiers, and inured to war. and you perceive that it is just when the enemy sees them run, and imagines that he has gained the battle, that he has in reality lost it; for the tartars wheel round in a moment when they judge the right time has come. and after this fashion they have won many a fight.[note 6] all this that i have been telling you is true of the manners and customs of the genuine tartars. but i must add also that in these days they are greatly degenerated; for those who are settled in cathay have taken up the practices of the idolaters of the country, and have abandoned their own institutions; whilst those who have settled in the levant have adopted the customs of the saracens.[note 7] note 1.--the bow was the characteristic weapon of the tartars, insomuch that the armenian historians often call them "the archers." (_st. martin_, ii. 133.) "cuirbouly, leather softened by boiling, in which it took any form or impression required, and then hardened." (_wright's dict._) the english adventurer among the tartars, whose account of them is given by archbishop ivo of narbonne, in matthew paris (_sub._ 1243), says: "de coriis bullitis sibi arma levia quidem, sed tamen impenetrabilia coaptarunt." this armour is particularly described by plano carpini (p. 685). see the tail-piece to book iv. [mr. e. h. parker (_china review_, xxiv. iv. p. 205) remarks that "the first coats of mail were made in china in 1288: perhaps the idea was obtained from the malays or arabs."--h. c.] note 2.--m. pauthier has judiciously pointed out the omissions that have occurred here, perhaps owing to rusticiano's not properly catching the foreign terms applied to the various grades. in the g. text the passage runs: "_et sachiés que les cent mille est apellé un_ tut (read _tuc_) _et les dix mille un_ toman, _et les por milier et por centenier et por desme_." in pauthier's (uncorrected) text one of the missing words is supplied: "_et appellent les c.m. un_ tuc; _et les x.m. un_ toman; _et un millier_ guz _por centenier et por disenier_." the blanks he supplies thus from abulghazi: "_et un millier_: [un miny]; _guz, por centenier et_ [un] _por disenier_." the words supplied are turki, but so is the _guz_, which appears already in pauthier's text, whilst _toman_ and _tuc_ are common to turki and mongol. the latter word, _túk_ or _túgh_, is the horse-tail or yak-tail standard which among so many asiatic nations has marked the supreme military command. it occurs as _taka_ in ancient persian, and cosmas indicopleustes speaks of it as _tupha_. the nine orloks or marshals under chinghiz were entitled to the _tuk_, and theirs is probably the class of command here indicated as of 100,000, though the figure must not be strictly taken. timur ordains that every amir who should conquer a kingdom or command in a victory should receive a title of honour, the _tugh_ and the _nakkárá_. (infra, bk. ii. ch. iv. note 3.) baber on several occasions speaks of conferring the _tugh_ upon his generals for distinguished service. one of the military titles at bokhara is still _tokhsabai_, a corruption of _túgh-sáhibi_, (master of the tugh). we find the whole gradation except the _tuc_ in a rescript of janibeg, khan of sarai, in favour of venetian merchants dated february 1347. it begins in the venetian version: "_la parola de zanibeck allo puovolo di mogoli, alli_ baroni di thomeni,[1] delli miera, delli centenera, delle dexiene." (_erdmann_, 576; _d'avezac_, 577-578; _rémusat, langues tartares_, 303; _pallas, samml._ i. 283; _schmidt_, 379, 381; _baber_, 260, etc.; _vámbéry_, 374; _timour inst._ pp. 283 and 292-293; _bibl. de l'ec. des chartes_, tom. lv. p. 585.) the decimal division of the army was already made by chinghiz at an early period of his career, and was probably much older than his time. in fact we find the myriarch and chiliarch already in the persian armies of darius hystaspes. from the tartars the system passed into nearly all the musulman states of asia, and the titles _min-bashi_ or _bimbashi_, _yuzbashi_, _onbashi_, still subsist not only in turkestan, but also in turkey and persia. the term _tman_ or _tma_ was, according to herberstein, still used in russia in his day for 10,000. (_ramus._ ii. 159.) [the king of an-nam, dinh tiên-hòang (a.d. 968) had an army of 1,000,000 men forming 10 corps of 10 legions; each legion forming 10 cohorts of 10 centuries; each century forming 10 squads of 10 men.--h. c.] note 3.--ramusio's edition says that what with horses and mares there will be an average of eighteen beasts (?) to every man. note 4.--see the oriental account quoted below in note 6. so dionysius, combining this practice with that next described, relates of the massagetae that they have no delicious bread nor native wine: "but with horse's blood and white milk mingled set their banquets forth." (_orbis desc._ 743-744.) and sidonius: "solitosque cruentum lac potare getas, et pocula tingere venis." (_parag. ad avitum._) ["the scythian soldier drinks the blood of the first man he overthrows in battle." (_herodotus_, _rawlinson_, bk. iv. ch. 64, p. 54.)--h. c.] "when in lack of food, they bleed a horse and suck the vein. if they need something more solid, they put a sheep's pudding full of blood under the saddle; this in time gets coagulated and cooked by the heat, and then they devour it." (_georg. pachymeres_, v. 4.) the last is a well-known story, but is strenuously denied and ridiculed by bergmann. (_streifereien_, etc. i. 15.) joinville tells the same story. hans schiltberger asserts it very distinctly: "ich hon och gesehen wann sie in reiss ylten, das sie ein fleisch nemen, und es dunn schinden und legents unter den sattel, und riten doruff; und essents wann sie hungert" (ch. 35). botero had "heard from a trustworthy source that a tartar of perekop, travelling on the steppes, lived for some days on the blood of his horse, and then, not daring to bleed it more, cut off and ate its _ears_!" (_relazione univers._ p. 93.) the turkmans speak of such practices, but conolly says he came to regard them as hyperbolical talk (i. 45). [abul-ghazi khan, in his history of mongols, describing a raid of russian (_ourous_) cossacks, who were hemmed in by the uzbeks, says: "the russians had in continued fighting exhausted all their water. they began to drink blood; the fifth day they had not even blood remaining to drink." (_transl. by baron des maisons_, st. petersburg, ii. 295.)] note 5.--rubruquis thus describes this preparation, which is called _kurút_: "the milk that remains after the butter has been made, they allow to get as sour as sour can be, and then boil it. in boiling, it curdles, and that curd they dry in the sun; and in this way it becomes as hard as iron-slag. and so it is stored in bags against the winter. in the winter time, when they have no milk, they put that sour curd, which they call _griut_, into a skin, and pour warm water on it, and they shake it violently till the curd dissolves in the water, to which it gives an acid flavour; that water they drink in place of milk. but above all things they eschew drinking plain water." from pallas's account of the modern practice, which is substantially the same, these cakes are also made from the leavings of distillation in making milk-arrack. the kurút is frequently made of ewe-milk. wood speaks of it as an indispensable article in the food of the people of badakhshan, and under the same name it is a staple food of the afghans. (_rubr._ 229; _samml._ i. 136; _dahl_, u.s.; _wood_, 311.) [it is the _ch'ura_ of the tibetans. "in the kokonor country and tibet, this _krut_ or _chura_ is put in tea to soften, and then eaten either alone or mixed with parched barley meal (_tsamba_)." (_rockhill, rubruck_, p. 68, note.)--h. c.] note 6.--compare with marco's account the report of the mongols, which was brought by the spies of mahomed, sultan of khwarizm, when invasion was first menaced by chinghiz: "the army of chinghiz is countless, as a swarm of ants or locusts. their warriors are matchless in lion-like valour, in obedience, and endurance. they take no rest, and flight or retreat is unknown to them. on their expeditions they are accompanied by oxen, sheep, camels, and horses, and sweet or sour milk suffices them for food. their horses scratch the earth with their hoofs and feed on the roots and grasses they dig up, so that they need neither straw nor oats. they themselves reck nothing of the clean or the unclean in food, and eat the flesh of all animals, even of dogs, swine, and bears. they will open a horse's vein, draw blood, and drink it.... in victory they leave neither small nor great alive; they cut up women great with child and cleave the fruit of the womb. if they come to a great river, as they know nothing of boats, they sew skins together, stitch up all their goods therein, tie the bundle to their horses' tails, mount with a hard grip of the mane, and so swim over." this passage is an absolute abridgment of many chapters of carpini. still more terse was the sketch of mongol proceedings drawn by a fugitive from bokhara after chinghiz's devastations there. it was set forth in one unconscious hexameter: "_ámdand u khandand u sokhtand u kushtand u burdand u raftand!_" "they came and they sapped, they fired and they slew, trussed up their loot and were gone!" juwaini, the historian, after telling the story, adds: "the cream and essence of whatever is written in this volume might be represented in these few words." a musulman author quoted by hammer, najmuddin of rei, gives an awful picture of the tartar devastations, "such as had never been heard of, whether in the lands of unbelief or of islam, and can only be likened to those which the prophet announced as signs of the last day, when he said: 'the hour of judgment shall not come until ye shall have fought with the turks, men small of eye and ruddy of countenance, whose noses are flat, and their faces like hide-covered shields. those shall be days of horror!' 'and what meanest thou by horror?' said the companions; and he replied, 'slaughter! slaughter!' this beheld the prophet in vision 600 years ago. and could there well be worse slaughter than there was in rei, where i, wretch that i am, was born and bred, and where the whole population of five hundred thousand souls was either butchered or dragged into slavery?" marco habitually suppresses or ignores the frightful brutalities of the tartars, but these were somewhat less, no doubt, in kúblái's time. the hindustani poet amir khosru gives a picture of the mongols more forcible than elegant, which elliot has translated (iii. 528). this is hayton's account of the parthian tactics of the tartars: "they will run away, but always keeping their companies together; and it is very dangerous to give them chase, for as they flee they shoot back over their heads, and do great execution among their pursuers. they keep very close rank, so that you would not guess them for half their real strength." carpini speaks to the same effect. baber, himself of mongol descent, but heartily hating his kindred, gives this account of their military usage in his day: "such is the uniform practice of these wretches the moghuls; if they defeat the enemy they instantly seize the booty; if they are defeated, they plunder and dismount their own allies, and, betide what may, carry off the spoil." (_erdmann_, 364, 383, 620; _gold. horde_, 77, 80; _elliot_, ii. 388; _hayton_ in _ram._ ch. xlviii.; _baber_, 93; _carpini_, p. 694.) note 7.--"the scythians" (i.e. in the absurd byzantine pedantry, _tartars_), says nicephorus gregoras, "from converse with the assyrians, persians, and chaldaeans, in time acquired their manners and adopted their religion, casting off their ancestral atheism.... and to such a degree were they changed, that though in former days they had been wont to cover the head with nothing better than a loose felt cap, and for other clothing had thought themselves well off with the skins of wild beasts or ill-dressed leather, and had for weapons only clubs and slings, or spears, arrows, and bows extemporised from the oaks and other trees of their mountains and forests, now, forsooth, they will have no meaner clothing than brocades of silk and gold! and their luxury and delicate living came to such a pitch that they stood far as the poles asunder from their original habits" (ii. v. 6). [1] this is _chomeni_ in the original, but i have ventured to correct it. chapter lv. concerning the administering of justice among the tartars. the way they administer justice is this. when any one has committed a petty theft, they give him, under the orders of authority, seven blows of a stick, or seventeen, or twenty-seven, or thirty-seven, or forty-seven, and so forth, always increasing by tens in proportion to the injury done, and running up to one hundred and seven. of these beatings sometimes they die.[note 1] but if the offence be horse-stealing, or some other great matter, they cut the thief in two with a sword. howbeit, if he be able to ransom himself by paying nine times the value of the thing stolen, he is let off. every lord or other person who possesses beasts has them marked with his peculiar brand, be they horses, mares, camels, oxen, cows, or other great cattle, and then they are sent abroad to graze over the plains without any keeper. they get all mixt together, but eventually every beast is recovered by means of its owner's brand, which is known. for their sheep and goats they have shepherds. all their cattle are remarkably fine, big, and in good condition.[note 2] they have another notable custom, which is this. if any man have a daughter who dies before marriage, and another man have had a son also die before marriage, the parents of the two arrange a grand wedding between the dead lad and lass. and marry them they do, making a regular contract! and when the contract papers are made out they put them in the fire, in order (as they will have it) that the parties in the other world may know the fact, and so look on each other as man and wife. and the parents thenceforward consider themselves sib to each other, just as if their children had lived and married. whatever may be agreed on between the parties as dowry, those who have to pay it cause to be painted on pieces of paper and then put these in the fire, saying that in that way the dead person will get all the real articles in the other world.[note 3] now i have told you all about the manners and customs of the tartars; but you have heard nothing yet of the great state of the grand kaan, who is the lord of all the tartars and of the supreme imperial court. all that i will tell you in this book in proper time and place, but meanwhile i must return to my story which i left off in that great plain when we began to speak of the tartars.[note 4] note 1.--the cudgel among the mongols was not confined to thieves and such like. it was the punishment also of military and state offences, and even princes were liable to it without fatal disgrace. "if they give any offence," says carpini, "or omit to obey the slightest beck, the tartars themselves are beaten like donkeys." the number of blows administered was, according to wassáf, always odd, 3, 5, and so forth, up to 77. (_carp._ 712; _ilchan._ i. 37.) ["they also punish with death grand larceny, but as for petty thefts, such as that of a sheep, so long has one has not repeatedly been taken in the act, they beat him cruelly, and if they administer an hundred blows they must use an hundred sticks." (_rockhill, rubruck_, p. 80.)--h. c.] note 2.--"they have no herdsmen or others to watch their cattle, because the laws of the turks (i.e. tartars) against theft are so severe.... a man in whose possession a stolen horse is found is obliged to restore it to its owner, _and to give nine of the same value_; if he cannot, his children are seized in compensation; if he have no children, he is slaughtered like a mutton." (_ibn batuta_, ii. 364.) note 3.--this is a chinese custom, though no doubt we may trust marco for its being a tartar one also. "in the province of shansi they have a ridiculous custom, which is to marry dead folks to each other. f. michael trigault, a jesuit, who lived several years in that province, told it us whilst we were in confinement. it falls out that one man's son and another man's daughter die. whilst the coffins are in the house (and they used to keep them two or three years, or longer) the parents agree to marry them; they send the usual presents, as if the pair were alive, with much ceremony and music. after this they put the two coffins together, hold the wedding dinner in their presence, and, lastly, lay them together in one tomb. the parents, from this time forth, are looked on not merely as friends but as relatives--just as they would have been had their children been married when in life." (_navarrete_, quoted by _marsden._) kidd likewise, speaking of the chinese custom of worshipping at the tombs of progenitors, says: "so strongly does veneration for this tribute after death prevail that parents, in order to secure the memorial of the sepulchre for a daughter who has died during her betrothal, give her in marriage after her decease to her intended husband, who receives with nuptial ceremonies at his own house a paper effigy made by her parents, and after he has burnt it, erects a tablet to her memory--an honour which usage forbids to be rendered to the memory of unmarried persons. the law seeks without effect to abolish this absurd custom." (_china_, etc., pp. 179-180.) [professor j. j. m. de groot (_religious system of china_) gives several instances of marriages after death; the following example (ii. 804-805) will illustrate the custom: "an interesting account of the manner in which such _post-mortem_ marriages were concluded at the period when the sung dynasty governed the empire, is given by a contemporary work in the following words: 'in the northern parts of the realm it is customary, when an unmarried youth and an unmarried girl breathe their last, that the two families each charge a match-maker to demand the other party in marriage. such go-betweens are called match-makers for disembodied souls. they acquaint the two families with each other's circumstances, and then cast lots for the marriage by order of the parents on both sides. if they augur that the union will be a happy one, (wedding) garments for the next world are cut out, and the match-makers repair to the grave of the lad, there to set out wine and fruit for the consummation of the marriage. two seats are placed side by side, and a small streamer is set up near each seat. if these streamers move a little after the libation has been performed, the souls are believed to approach each other; but if one of them does not move, the party represented thereby is considered to disapprove of the marriage. each family has to reward its match-maker with a present of woven stuffs. such go-betweens make a regular livelihood out of these proceedings.'"--h. c.] the ingushes of the caucasus, according to klaproth, have the same custom: "if a man's son dies, another who has lost his daughter goes to the father and says, 'thy son will want a wife in the other world; i will give him my daughter; pay me the price of the bride.' such a demand is never refused, even though the purchase of the bride amount to thirty cows." (_travels, eng. trans._ 345.) note 4.--there is a little doubt about the reading of this last paragraph. the g. t. has--"_mès desormès volun retorner à nostre conte en_ la grant plaingne _où nos estion quant nos comechames des fais des tartars_," whilst pauthier's text has "_mais desormais vueil retourner à mon conte que je lessai_ d'or plain _quant nous commençames des faiz des tatars."_ the former reading looks very like a misunderstanding of one similar to the latter, where _d'or plain_ seems to be an adverbial expression, with some such meaning as "just now," "a while ago." i have not, however, been able to trace the expression elsewhere. cotgrave has _or primes_, "but even now," etc.; and has also _de plain_, "presently, immediately, out of hand." it seems quite possible that _d'or plain_ should have had the meaning suggested. chapter lvi. sundry particulars of the plain beyond caracoron. and when you leave caracoron and the altay, in which they bury the bodies of the tartar sovereigns, as i told you, you go north for forty days till you reach a country called the plain of bargu.[note 1] the people there are called mescript; they are a very wild race, and live by their cattle, the most of which are stags, and these stags, i assure you, they used to ride upon. their customs are like those of the tartars, and they are subject to the great kaan. they have neither corn nor wine.[they get birds for food, for the country is full of lakes and pools and marshes, which are much frequented by the birds when they are moulting, and when they have quite cast their feathers and can't fly, those people catch them. they also live partly on fish.[note 2]] and when you have travelled forty days over this great plain you come to the ocean, at the place where the mountains are in which the peregrine falcons have their nests. and in those mountains it is so cold that you find neither man or woman, nor beast nor bird, except one kind of bird called _barguerlac_, on which the falcons feed. they are as big as partridges, and have feet like those of parrots and a tail like a swallow's, and are very strong in flight. and when the grand kaan wants peregrines from the nest, he sends thither to procure them.[note 3] it is also on islands in that sea that the gerfalcons are bred. you must know that the place is so far to the north that you leave the north star somewhat behind you towards the south! the gerfalcons are so abundant there that the emperor can have as many as he likes to send for. and you must not suppose that those gerfalcons which the christians carry into the tartar dominions go to the great kaan; they are carried only to the prince of the levant.[note 4] now i have told you all about the provinces northward as far as the ocean sea, beyond which there is no more land at all; so i shall proceed to tell you of the other provinces on the way to the great kaan. let us, then, return to that province of which i spoke before, called campichu. note 1.--the readings differ as to the length of the journey. in pauthier's text we seem to have first a journey of forty days from near karakorúm to the plain of bargu, and then a journey of forty days more across the plain to the northern ocean. the g. t. seems to present only _one_ journey of forty days (ramusio, of sixty days), but leaves the interval from karakorúm undefined. i have followed the former, though with some doubt. note 2.--this paragraph from ramusio replaces the following in pauthier's text: "in the summer they got abundance of game, both beasts and birds, but in winter, there is none to be had because of the great cold." marco is here dealing, i apprehend, with hearsay geography, and, as is common in like cases, there is great compression of circumstances and characteristics, analogous to the like compression of little-known regions in mediaeval maps. the name _bargu_ appears to be the same with that often mentioned in mongol history as barguchin tugrum or barguti, and which rashiduddin calls the northern limit of the inhabited earth. this commenced about lake baikal, where the name still survives in that of a river (_barguzin_) falling into the lake on the east side, and of a town on its banks (_barguzinsk_). indeed, according to rashid himself, bargu was the name of one of the tribes occupying the plain; and a quotation from father hyacinth would seem to show that the country is still called _barakhu_. [the archimandrite palladius (_elucidations_, 16-17) writes:--"in the mongol text of chingis khan's biography, this country is called barhu and barhuchin; it is to be supposed, according to colonel yule's identification of this name with the modern barguzin, that this country was near lake baikal. the fact that merkits were in bargu is confirmed by the following statement in chingis khan's biography: 'when chingis khan defeated his enemies, the merkits, they fled to barhuchin tokum.' _tokum_ signifies 'a hollow, a low place,' according to the chinese translation of the above-mentioned biography, made in 1381; thus barhuchin tokum undoubtedly corresponds to m. polo's plain of bargu. as to m. polo's statement that the inhabitants of bargu were merkits, it cannot be accepted unconditionally. the merkits were not indigenous to the country near baikal, but belonged originally,--according to a division set forth in the mongol text of the _yuan ch'ao pi shi_,--to the category of tribes _living in yurts_, i.e. nomad tribes, or tribes of the desert. meanwhile we find in the same biography of chingis khan, mention of a people called barhun, which belonged to the category of tribes _living in the forests_; and we have therefore reason to suppose that the barhuns were the aborigines of barhu. after the time of chingis khan, this ethnographic name disappears from chinese history; it appears again in the middle of the 16th century. the author of the _yyu_ (1543-1544), in enumerating the tribes inhabiting mongolia and the adjacent countries, mentions the barhu, as a strong tribe, able to supply up to several tens of thousands (?) of warriors, armed with steel swords; but the country inhabited by them is not indicated. the mongols, it is added, call them black ta-tze (khara mongols, i.e. 'lower mongols'). "at the close of the 17th century, the barhus are found inhabiting the western slopes of the interior hing'an, as well as between lake kulon and river khalkha, and dependent on a prince of eastern khalkhas, doro beile. (manchu title.) "at the time of galdan khan's invasion, a part of them fled to siberia with the eastern khalkhas, but afterwards they returned. [_mung ku yew mu ki_ and _lung sha ki lio_.] after their rebellion in 1696, quelled by a manchu general, they were included with other petty tribes (regarding which few researches have been made) in the category _butkha_, or hunters, and received a military organisation. they are divided into old and new barhu, according to the time when they were brought under manchu rule. the barhus belong to the mongolian, not to the tungusian race; they are sometimes considered even to have been in relationship with the khalkhas. (_he lung kiang wai ki_ and _lung sha ki lio_.) "this is all the substantial information we possess on the barhu. is there an affinity to be found between the modern barhus and the barhuns of chingis khan's biography?--and is it to be supposed, that in the course of time, they spread from lake baikal to the hing'an range? or is it more correct to consider them a branch of the mongol race indigenous to the hing'an mountains, and which received the general archaic name of bargu, which might have pointed out the physical character of the country they inhabited [_kin shi_], just as we find in history the urianhai of altai and the urianhai of western manchuria? it is difficult to solve this question for want of historical data."--h. c.] _mescript_, or _mecri_, as in g. t. the _merkit_, a great tribe to the south-east of the baikal, were also called _mekrit_ and sometimes _megrin_. the mekrit are spoken of also by carpini and rubruquis. d'avezac thinks that the _kerait_, and not the _merkit_, are intended by all three travellers. as regards polo, i see no reason for this view. the name he uses is _mekrit_, and the position which he assigns to them agrees fairly with that assigned on good authority to the merkit or mekrit. only, as in other cases, where he is rehearsing hearsay information, it does not follow that the identification of the name involves the correctness of all the circumstances that he connects with that name. we saw in ch. xxx. that under _pashai_ he seemed to lump circumstances belonging to various parts of the region from badakhshan to the indus; so here under _mekrit_ he embraces characteristics belonging to tribes extending far beyond the mekrit, and which in fact are appropriate to the tunguses. rashiduddin seems to describe the latter under the name of _uriangkut_ of the woods, a people dwelling beyond the frontier of barguchin, and in connection with whom he speaks of their reindeer obscurely, as well as of their tents of birch bark, and their hunting on snow-shoes. the mention of the reindeer by polo in this passage is one of the interesting points which pauthier's text omits. marsden objects to the statement that the stags are ridden upon, and from this motive mis-renders "_li qual' anche_ cavalcano," as, "which they make use of for the purpose of travelling." yet he might have found in witsen that the reindeer are _ridden_ by various siberian tribes, but especially by the tunguses. erman is very full on the reindeer-riding of the latter people, having himself travelled far in that way in going to okhotsk, and gives a very detailed description of the saddle, etc., employed. the reindeer of the tunguses are stated by the same traveller to be much larger and finer animals than those of lapland. they are also used for pack-carriage and draught. old richard eden says that the "olde wryters" relate that "certayne scythians doe ryde on hartes." i have not traced to what he refers, but if the statement be in any ancient author it is very remarkable. some old editions of olaus magnus have curious cuts of laplanders and others riding on reindeer, but i find nothing in the text appropriate. we hear from travellers of the lapland deer being occasionally mounted, but only it would seem in sport, not as a practice. (_erdmann_, 189, 191; _d'ohsson_, i. 103; _d'avezac_, 534 seqq.; _j. as._ sér. ii. tom. xi.; sér. iv. tom. xvii. 107; _n. et e._ xiii. i. 274-276; _witsen_, ii. 670, 671, 680; _erman_, ii. 321, 374, 429, 449 seqq., and original german, ii. 347 seqq.; _notes on russia_, hac. soc. ii. 224; _j. a. s. b._ xxix. 379.) the numerous lakes and marshes swarming with water-fowl are very characteristic of the country between yakutsk and the kolyma. it is evident that marco had his information from an eye-witness, though the whole picture is compressed. wrangell, speaking of nijni kolyma, says: "it is at the moulting season that the great bird-hunts take place. the sportsmen surround the nests, and slip their dogs, which drive the birds to the water, on which they are easily knocked over with a gun or arrow, or even with a stick.... this chase is divided into several periods. they begin with the ducks, which moult first; then come the geese; then the swans.... in each case the people take care to choose the time when the birds have lost their feathers." the whole calendar with the yakuts and russian settlers on the kolyma is a succession of fishing and hunting seasons which the same author details. (i. 149, 150; 119-121.) note 3.--what little is said of the _barguerlac_ points to some bird of the genus _pterocles_, or sand grouse (to which belong the so-called rock pigeons of india), or to the allied _tetrao paradoxus_ of pallas, now known as _syrrhaptes pallasii_. indeed, we find in zenker's dictionary that _boghurtlák_ (or _baghírtlák_, as it is in pavet de courteille's) in oriental turkish is the _kata_, i.e. i presume, the _pterocles alchata_ of linnaeus, or large pin-tailed sand grouse. mr. gould, to whom i referred the point, is clear that the _syrrhaptes_ is marco's bird, and i believe there can be no question of it. [passing through ch'ang-k'ou, mr. rockhill found the people praying for rain. "the people told me," he says, in his journey (p. 9), "that they knew long ago the year would be disastrous, for the sand grouse had been more numerous of late than for years, and the saying goes _sha-ch'i kuo, mai lao-po_, 'when the sand grouse fly by, wives will be for sale.'"--h. c.] the chief difficulty in identification with the syrrhaptes or any known bird, would be "the feet like a parrot's." the feet of the syrrhaptes are not indeed like a parrot's, though its awkward, slow, and waddling gait on the ground, may have suggested the comparison; and though it has very odd and anomalous feet, a circumstance which the chinese indicate in another way by calling the bird (according to hue) _lung kio_, or "dragon-foot." [mr. rockhill (_journey_) writes in a note (p. 9): "i, for my part, never heard any other name than _sha-ch'i_, 'sand-fowl,' given them. this name is used, however, for a variety of birds, among others the partridge."--h. c.] the hind-toe is absent, the toes are unseparated, recognisable only by the broad flat nails, and fitted below with a callous couch, whilst the whole foot is covered with short dense feathers like hair, and is more like a quadruped's paw than a bird's foot. the home of the syrrhaptes is in the altai, the kirghiz steppes, and the country round lake baikal, though it also visits the north of china in great flights. "on plains of grass and sandy deserts," says gould (_birds of great britain_, part iv.), "at one season covered with snow, and at another sun-burnt and parched by drought, it finds a congenial home; in these inhospitable and little-known regions it breeds, and when necessity compels it to do so, wings its way ... over incredible distances to obtain water or food." hue says, speaking of the bird on the northern frontier of china: "they generally arrive in great flights from the north, especially when much snow has fallen, flying with astonishing rapidity, so that the movement of their wings produces a noise like hail." it is said to be very delicate eating. the bird owes its place in gould's _birds of great britain_ to the fact--strongly illustrative of its being _moult volant_, as polo says it is--that it appeared in england in 1859, and since then, at least up to 1863, continued to arrive annually in pairs or companies in nearly all parts of our island, from penzance to caithness. and gould states that it was breeding in the danish islands. a full account by mr. a. newton of this remarkable immigration is contained in the _ibis_ for april, 1864, and many details in _stevenson's birds of norfolk_, i. 376 seqq. there are plates of _syrrhaptes_ in _radde's reisen im süden von ost-sibirien_, bd. ii.; in vol. v. of _temminck_, planches coloriées, pl. 95; in _gould_, as above; in _gray, genera of birds_, vol. iii. p. 517 (life size); and in the _ibis_ for april, 1860. from the last our cut is taken. [see _a. david et oustalet_, _oiseaux de la chine_, 389, on _syrrhaptes pallasii_ or _syrrhaptes paradoxus_.--h. c.] [illustration: syrrhaptes pallasii.] note 4.--gerfalcons (_shonkár_) were objects of high estimation in the middle ages, and were frequent presents to and from royal personages. thus among the presents sent with an embassy from king james ii. of aragon to the sultan of egypt, in 1314, we find three white gerfalcons. they were sent in homage to chinghiz and to kúblái, by the kirghiz, but i cannot identify the mountains where they or the peregrines were found. the peregrine falcon was in europe sometimes termed _faucon tartare_. (see _ménage_ s. v. _sahin_.) the peregrine of northern japan, and probably therefore that of siberia, is identical with that of europe. witsen speaks of an island in the sea of tartary, from which falcons were got, apparently referring to a chinese map as his authority; but i know nothing more of it. (_capmany_, iv. 64-65; _ibis_, 1862, p. 314; _witsen_, ii. 656.) [on the _falco peregrinus_, lin., and other falcons, see ed. blanc's paper mentioned on p. 162. the _falco saker_ is to be found all over central asia; it is called by the pekingese _hwang-yng_ (yellow falcon), (_david et oustalet_, _oiseaux de la chine_, 31-32.)--h. c.] chapter lvii. of the kingdom of erguiul, and province of sinju. on leaving campichu, then, you travel five days across a tract in which many spirits are heard speaking in the night season; and at the end of those five marches, towards the east, you come to a kingdom called erguiul, belonging to the great kaan. it is one of the several kingdoms which make up the great province of tangut. the people consist of nestorian christians, idolaters, and worshippers of mahommet.[note 1] there are plenty of cities in this kingdom, but the capital is erguiul. you can travel in a south-easterly direction from this place into the province of cathay. should you follow that road to the south-east, you come to a city called sinju, belonging also to tangut, and subject to the great kaan, which has under it many towns and villages.[note 2] the population is composed of idolaters, and worshippers of mahommet, but there are some christians also. there are wild cattle in that country [almost] as big as elephants, splendid creatures, covered everywhere but on the back with shaggy hair a good four palms long. they are partly black, partly white, and really wonderfully fine creatures [and the hair or wool is extremely fine and white, finer and whiter than silk. messer marco brought some to venice as a great curiosity, and so it was reckoned by those who saw it]. there are also plenty of them tame, which have been caught young. [they also cross these with the common cow, and the cattle from this cross are wonderful beasts, and better for work than other animals.] these the people use commonly for burden and general work, and in the plough as well; and at the latter they will do full twice as much work as any other cattle, being such very strong beasts.[note 3] in this country too is found the best musk in the world; and i will tell you how 'tis produced. there exists in that region a kind of wild animal like a gazelle. it has feet and tail like the gazelle's, and stag's hair of a very coarse kind, but no horns. it has four tusks, two below and two above, about three inches long, and slender in form, one pair growing upwards, and the other downwards. it is a very pretty creature. the musk is found in this way. when the creature has been taken, they find at the navel between the flesh and the skin something like an impostume full of blood, which they cut out and remove with all the skin attached to it. and the blood inside this impostume is the musk that produces that powerful perfume. there is an immense number of these beasts in the country we are speaking of. [the flesh is very good to eat. messer marco brought the dried head and feet of one of these animals to venice with him.[note 4]] the people are traders and artizans, and also grow abundance of corn. the province has an extent of 26 days' journey. pheasants are found there twice as big as ours, indeed nearly as big as a peacock, and having tails of 7 to 10 palms in length; and besides them other pheasants in aspect like our own, and birds of many other kinds, and of beautiful variegated plumage.[note 5] the people, who are idolaters, are fat folks with little noses and black hair, and no beard, except a few hairs on the upper lip. the women too have very smooth and white skins, and in every respect are pretty creatures. the men are very sensual, and marry many wives, which is not forbidden by their religion. no matter how base a woman's descent may be, if she have beauty she may find a husband among the greatest men in the land, the man paying the girl's father and mother a great sum of money, according to the bargain that may be made. note 1.--no approximation to the name of erguiul in an appropriate position has yet been elicited from chinese or other oriental sources. we cannot go widely astray as to its position, five days east of kanchau. klaproth identifies it with liangchau-fu; pauthier with the neighbouring city of yungchang, on the ground that the latter was, in the time of kúblái, the head of one of the _lús_, or circles, of kansuh or tangut, which he has shown some reason for believing to be the "kingdoms" of marco. it is probable, however, that the _town_ called by polo erguiul lay north of both the cities named, and more in line with the position assigned below to _egrigaya_. (see note 1, ch. lviii.) i may notice that the structure of the name ergui-ul or ergiu-ul, has a look of analogy to that of _tang-keu-ul_, named in the next note. ["erguiul is erichew of the mongol text of the _yuen ch'ao pi shi_, si-liang in the chinese history, the modern _liang chow fu_. klaproth, on the authority of rashid-eddin, has already identified this name with that of si-liang." (_palladius_, p. 18.) m. bonin left ning-h'ia at the end of july, 1899, and he crossed the desert to liangchau in fifteen days from east to west; he is the first traveller who took this route: prjevalsky went westward, passing by the residence of the prince of alashan, and obrutchev followed the route south of bonin's.--h. c.] note 2.--no doubt marsden is right in identifying this with sining-chau, now sining-fu, the chinese city nearest to tibet and the kokonor frontier. grueber and dorville, who passed it on their way to lhasa, in 1661, call it _urbs ingens_. sining was visited also by huc and gabet, who are unsatisfactory, as usually on geographical matters. they also call it "an immense town," but thinly peopled, its commerce having been in part transferred to tang-keu-ul, a small town closer to the frontier. [sining belonged to the country called hwang chung; in 1198, under the sung dynasty, it was subjugated by the chinese, and was named si-ning chau; at the beginning of the ming dynasty (from 1368), it was named si-ning wei, and since 1726 si-ning fu. (cf. gueluy, _chine_, p. 62.) from liangchau, m. bonin went to sining through the lao kou kau pass and the ta-tung ho. obrutchev and grum grijmaïlo took the usual route from kanchau to sining. after the murder of dutreuil de rhins at tung bu _m_do, his companion, grenard, arrived at sining, and left it on the 29th july, 1894. dr. sven hedin gives in his book his own drawing of a gate of sining-fu, where he arrived on the 25th november, 1896.--h. c.] sining is called by the tibetans _ziling_ or jiling, by the mongols _seling khoto_. a shawl wool texture, apparently made in this quarter, is imported into kashmir and ladak, under the name of _s'ling_. i have supposed sining to be also the _zilm_ of which mr. shaw heard at yarkand, and am answerable for a note to that effect on p. 38 of his _high tartary_. but mr. shaw, on his return to europe, gave some rather strong reasons against this. (see _proc. r. g. s._ xvi. 245; _kircher_, pp. 64, 66; _della penna_, 27; _davies's report_, app. p. ccxxix.; _vigne_, ii. 110, 129.) [at present sining is called by the tibetans seling k'ar or kuar, and by the mongols, seling k'utun, _k'ar_ and _k'utun_ meaning "fortified city." (_rockhill, land of the lamas_, 49, note.)--h. c.] [mr. rockhill (_diary of a journey_, 65) writes: "there must be some scotch blood in the hsi-ningites, for i find they are very fond of oatmeal and of cracked wheat. the first is called _yen-mei ch'en_, and is eaten boiled with the water in which mutton has been cooked, or with neat's-foot oil (_yang-t'i yu_). the cracked wheat (_mei-tzü fan_) is eaten prepared in the same way, and is a very good dish."--h. c.] note 3.--the _dong_, or wild yak, has till late years only been known by vague rumour. it has always been famed in native reports for its great fierceness. the _haft iklím_ says that "it kills with its horns, by its kicks, by treading under foot, and by tearing with its teeth," whilst the emperor humáyún himself told sidi 'ali, the turkish admiral, that when it had knocked a man down it skinned him from head to heels by licking him with its tongue! dr. campbell states, in the _journal of the as. soc. of bengal_, that it was said to be four times the size of the domestic yak. the horns are alleged to be sometimes three feet long, and of immense girth; they are handed round full of strong drink at the festivals of tibetan grandees, as the urus horns were in germany, according to caesar. a note, with which i have been favoured by dr. campbell (long the respected superintendent of british sikkim) says: "captain smith, of the bengal army, who had travelled in western tibet, told me that he had shot many wild yaks in the neighbourhood of the mansarawar lake, and that he measured a bull which was 18 hands high, i.e. 6 feet. all that he saw were _black_ all over. he also spoke to the fierceness of the animal. he was once charged by a bull that he had wounded, and narrowly escaped being killed. perhaps my statement (above referred to) in regard to the relative size of the wild and tame yak, may require modification if applied to all the countries in which the yak is found. at all events, the finest specimen of the tame yak i ever saw, was not in nepal, sikkim, tibet, or bootan, but in the _jardin des plantes_ at _paris_; and that one, a male, was brought from shanghai. the best drawing of a yak i know is that in turner's _tibet_." [lieutenant samuel turner gave a very good description of the yak of tartary, which he calls _soora-goy_ or the bushy-tailed bull of tibet. (_asiat. researches_, no. xxiii, pp. 351-353, with a plate.) he says with regard to the colour: "there is a great variety of colours amongst them, but black or white are the most prevalent. it is not uncommon to see the long hair upon the ridge of the back, the tail, tuft upon the chest, and the legs below the knee white, when all the rest of the animal is jet black." a good drawing of "an enormous" yak is to be found on p. 183 of captain wellby's _unknown tibet_. (see also captain deasy's work on _tibet_, p. 363.) prince henri d'orléans brought home a fine specimen, which he shot during his journey with bonvalot; it is now exhibited in the galleries of the muséum d'histoire naturelle. some yaks were brought to paris on the 1st april, 1854, and the celebrated artist, mme. rosa bonheur, made sketches after them. (see _jour. soc. acclimatation_, june, 1900, 39-40.)--h. c.] captain prjevalsky, in his recent journey (1872-1873), shot twenty wild yaks south of the koko nor. he specifies one as 11 feet in length exclusive of the tail, which was 3 feet more; the height 6 feet. he speaks of the yak as less formidable than it looks, from apathy and stupidity, but very hard to kill; one having taken eighteen bullets before it succumbed. [mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, 151, note) writes: "the average load carried by a yak is about 250 lbs. the wild yak bull is an enormous animal, and the people of turkestan and north tibet credit him with extraordinary strength. mirza haidar, in the _tarikhi rashidi_, says of the wild yak or _kutás_: 'this is a very wild and ferocious beast. in whatever manner it attacks one it proves fatal. whether it strikes with its horns, or kicks, or overthrows its victim. if it has no opportunity of doing any of these things, it tosses its enemy with its tongue twenty _gaz_ into the air, and he is dead before reaching the ground. one male _kutás_ is a load for twelve horses. one man cannot possibly raise a shoulder of the animal.'" --captain deasy (_in tibet_, 363) says: "in a few places on lofty ground in tibet we found yaks in herds numbering from ten to thirty, and sometimes more. most of the animals are black, brown specimens being very rare. their roving herds move with great agility over the steep and stony ground, apparently enjoying the snow and frost and wind, which seldom fail.... yaks are capable of offering formidable resistance to the sportsman....'"--h. c.] the tame yaks are never, i imagine, "caught young," as marco says; it is a domesticated _breed_, though possibly, as with buffaloes in bengal, the breed may occasionally be refreshed by a cross of wild blood. they are employed for riding, as beasts of burden, and in the plough. [lieutenant s. turner, l.c., says, on the other hand: "they are never employed in agriculture, but are extremely useful as beasts of burthen."--h. c.] in the higher parts of our himalayan provinces, and in tibet, the yak itself is most in use; but in the less elevated tracts several breeds crossed with the common indian cattle are more used. they have a variety of names according to their precise origin. the inferior yaks used in the plough are ugly enough, and "have more the appearance of large shaggy bears than of oxen," but the yak used for riding, says hoffmeister, "is an infinitely handsomer animal. it has a stately hump, a rich silky hanging tail nearly reaching the ground, twisted horns, a noble bearing, and an erect head." cunningham, too, says that the _dso_, one of the mixed breeds, is "a very handsome animal, with long shaggy hair, generally black and white." many of the various tame breeds appear to have the tail and back white, and also the fringe under the body, but black and red are the prevailing colours. some of the crossbred cows are excellent milkers, better than either parent stock. notice in this passage the additional and interesting particulars given by ramusio, e.g. the use of the mixed breeds. "finer than silk," is an exaggeration, or say an _hyberbole_, as is the following expression, "as big as elephants," even with ramusio's apologetic _quasi_. caesar says the hercynian urus was _magnitudine paullo infra elephantos_. the tame yak is used across the breadth of mongolia. rubruquis saw them at karakorum, and describes them well. mr. ney elias tells me he found yaks common everywhere along his route in mongolia, between the tui river (long. circa 101°) and the upper valleys of the kobdo near the siberian frontier. at uliasut'ai they were used occasionally by chinese settlers for drawing carts, but he never saw them used for loads or for riding, as in tibet. he has also seen yaks in the neighbourhood of kwei-hwa-ch'eng. (_tenduc_, see ch. lix. note 1.) this may be taken as the eastern limit of the employment of the yak; the western limit is in the highlands of khokand. these animals had been noticed by cosmas [who calls them _agriobous_] in the 6th century, and by aelian in the 3rd. the latter speaks of them as black cattle with white tails, from which fly-flappers were made for indian kings. and the great kalidása thus sang of the yak, according to a learned (if somewhat rugged) version ascribed to dr. mill. the poet personifies the himálaya:- "for him the large yaks in his cold plains that bide whisk here and there, playful, their tails' bushy pride, and evermore flapping those fans of long hair which borrowed moonbeams have made splendid and fair, proclaim at each stroke (what our flapping men sing) his title of honour, 'the dread mountain king.'" who can forget père huc's inimitable picture of the hairy yaks of their caravan, after passing a river in the depth of winter, "walking with their legs wide apart, and bearing an enormous load of stalactites, which hung beneath their bellies quite to the ground. the monstrous beasts _looked exactly as if they were preserved in sugar-candy_." or that other, even more striking, of a great troop of wild yaks, caught in the upper waters of the kin-sha kiang, as they swam, in the moment of congelation, and thus preserved throughout the winter, gigantic "flies in amber." (_n. et e._ xiv. 478; _j. as._ ix. 199; _j. a. s. b._ ix. 566, xxiv. 235; _shaw_, p. 91; _ladak_, p. 210; _geog. magazine_, april, 1874; _hoffmeister's travels_, p. 441; _rubr._ 288; _ael. de nat. an._ xv. 14; _j. a. s. b._ i. 342; _mrs. sinnett's huc_, pp. 228, 235.) note 4.--ramusio adds that the hunters seek the animal at new moon, at which time the musk is secreted. the description is good except as to the _four_ tusks, for the musk deer has canine teeth only in the upper jaw, slender and prominent as he describes them. the flesh of the animal is eaten by the chinese, and in siberia by both tartars and russians, but that of the males has a strong musk flavour. the "immense number" of these animals that existed in the himalayan countries may be conceived from tavernier's statement, that on one visit to patna, then the great indian mart for this article, he purchased 7673 pods of musk. these presumably came by way of nepal; but musk pods of the highest class were also imported from khotan viâ yarkand and leh, and the lowest price such a pod fetched at yarkand was 250 tankas, or upwards of 4_l._ this import has long been extinct, and indeed the trade in the article, except towards china, has altogether greatly declined, probably (says mr. hodgson) because its repute as a medicine is becoming fast exploded. in sicily it is still so used, but apparently only as a sort of decent medical _viaticum_, for when it is said "the doctors have given him musk," it is as much as to say that they have given up the patient. ["here marco polo speaks of musk; musk and rhubarb (which he mentions before, sukchur, ch. xliii.) are the most renowned and valuable of the products of the province of kansu, which comparatively produces very little; the industry in both these articles is at present in the hands of the tanguts of that province [_su chow chi_]." (_palladius_, p. 18.) writing under date 15th february, 1892, from lusar (coming from sining), mr. rockhill says: "the musk trade here is increasing, cantonese and ssu-ch'uanese traders now come here to buy it, paying for good musk four times its weight in silver (_ssu huan_, as they say). the best test of its purity is an examination of the colour. the tibetans adulterate it by mixing tsamba and blood with it. the best time to buy it is from the seventh to the ninth moon (latter part of august to middle of november)." mr. rockhill adds in a note: "mongols call musk _owo_; tibetans call it _latsé_. the best musk they say is 'white musk,' _tsahan owo_ in mongol, in tibetan _latsé karpo_. i do not know whether white refers to the colour of the musk itself or to that of the hair on the skin covering the musk pouch." (_diary of a journey_, p. 71.)--h. c.] three species of the _moschus_ are found in the mountains of tibet, and _m. chrysogaster_ which mr. hodgson calls "the loveliest," and which chiefly supplies the highly-prized pod called _kághazi_, or "thin-as-paper," is almost exclusively confined to the chinese frontier. like the yak, the _moschus_ is mentioned by cosmas (circa a.d. 545), and _musk_ appears in a greek prescription by aëtius of amida, a physician practising at constantinople about the same date. (_martini_, p. 39; _tav., des indes_, bk. ii. ch. xxiv.; _j. a. s. b._ xi. 285; _davies's rep._ app. p. ccxxxvii.; _dr. flückiger in schweiz. wochenschr. für pharmacie_, 1867; _heyd, commerce du levant_, ii. 636-640.) note 5.--the china pheasant answering best to the indications in the text, appears to be _reeves's pheasant_. mr. gould has identified this bird with marco's in his magnificent _birds of asia_, and has been kind enough to show me a specimen which, with the body, measured 6 feet 8 inches. the tail feathers alone, however, are said to reach to 6 and 7 feet, so that marco's ten palms was scarcely an exaggeration. these tail-feathers are often seen on the chinese stage in the cap of the hero of the drama, and also decorate the hats of certain civil functionaries. [illustration: reeves's pheasant] _size_ is the point in which the bird fails to meet marco's description. in that respect the latter would rather apply to the _crossoptilon auritum_, which is nearly as big as a turkey, or to the glorious _múnál (lopophorus impeyanus)_, but then that has no length of tail. the latter seems to be the bird described by aelian: "magnificent cocks which have the crest variegated and ornate like a crown of flowers, and the tail feathers not curved like a cock's, but broad and carried in a train like a peacock's; the feathers are partly golden, and partly azure or emerald-coloured." (_wood's birds_, 610, from which i have copied the illustration; _williams, m. k._ i. 261; _ael. de nat. an._ xvi. 2.) a species of _crossoptilon_ has recently been found by captain prjevalsky in alashan, the egrigaia (as i believe) of next chapter, and one also by abbé armand david at the koko nor. [see on the phasianidae family in central and western asia, _david et oustalet, oiseaux de la chine_, 401-421; the _phasianus reevesii_ or _veneratus_ is called by the chinese of tung-lin, near peking, _djeu-ky_ (hen-arrow); the _crossoptilon auritum_ is named _ma-ky_.--h. c.] chapter lviii. of the kingdom of egrigaia. starting again from erguiul you ride eastward for eight days, and then come to a province called egrigaia, containing numerous cities and villages, and belonging to tangut.[note 1] the capital city is called calachan.[note 2] the people are chiefly idolaters, but there are fine churches belonging to the nestorian christians. they are all subjects of the great kaan. they make in this city great quantities of camlets of camel's wool, the finest in the world; and some of the camlets that they make are white, for they have white camels, and these are the best of all. merchants purchase these stuffs here, and carry them over the world for sale.[note 3] we shall now proceed eastward from this place and enter the territory that was formerly prester john's. note 1.--chinghiz invaded tangut in all five times, viz. in 1205, 1207, 1209 (or according to erdmann, 1210-1211), 1218, and 1226-1227, on which last expedition he died. a. in the third invasion, according to d'ohsson's chinese guide (father hyacinth), he took the town of _uiraca_, and the fortress of imen, and laid siege to the capital, then called chung-sing or chung-hing, now ning-hsia. rashid, in a short notice of this campaign, calls the first city _erica_, _erlaca_, or, as erdmann has it, _artacki_. in de mailla it is _ulahai_. b. on the last invasion (1226), d'ohsson's chinese authority says that chinghiz took kanchau and suhchau, cholo and khola in the province of liangcheu, and then proceeded to the yellow river, and invested lingchau, south of ning-hsia. erdmann, following his reading of rashiduddin, says chinghiz took the cities of tangut, called _arucki_, _kachu_, _sichu_, and _kamichu_, and besieged deresgai (d'ohsson, _derssekai_), whilst shidergu, the king of tangut, betook himself to his capital _artackin_. d'ohsson, also professing to follow rashid, calls this "his capital _irghai_, which the mongols call _ircaya_." klaproth, illustrating polo, reads "eyircai, which the mongols call _eyircayá_." pétis de la croix, relating the same campaign and professing to follow fadlallah, i.e. rashiduddin, says the king "retired to his fortress of _arbaca_." c. sanang setzen several times mentions a city called _irghai_, _apparently_ in tangut; but all we can gather as to his position is that it seems to have lain east of kanchau. we perceive that the _arbaca_ of p. de la croix, the _eyircai_ of klaproth, the _uiraca_ of d'ohsson, the _artacki_ or _artackin_ of erdmann, are all various readings or forms of the same name, and are the same with the chinese form _ulahai_ of de mailla, and most probably the place is the _egrigaia_ of polo. we see also that erdmann mentions another place _aruki_ ([arabic]) in connection with kanchau and suhchau. this is, i suspect, the _erguiul_ of polo, and perhaps the irghai of sanang setzen. rashiduddin seems wrong in calling ircayá the capital of the king, a circumstance which leads klaproth to identify it with ning-hsia. pauthier, identifying ulahai with egrigaya, shows that the former was one of the circles of tangut, but _not_ that of ning-hsia. its position, he says, is uncertain. klaproth, however, inserts it in his map of asia, in the era of kúblái (_tabl. hist._ pl. 22), as _ulakhai_ to the north of ning-hsia, near the great bend eastward of the hwang-ho. though it may have extended in this direction, it is probable, from the name referred to in next note, that egrigaia or ulahai is represented by the modern principality of alashan, visited by prjevalsky in 1871 and 1872. [new travels and researches enable me to say that there can be no doubt that _egrigaia = ning-hsia_. palladius (l.c. 18) says: "_egrigaia_ is erigaia of the mongol text. klaproth was correct in his supposition that it is modern ning-h'ia. even now the eleuths of alashan call ning-h'ia, _yargai_. in m. polo's time this department was famous for the cultivation of the safflower (_carthamus tinctorius_). [_siu t'ung kien_, a.d. 1292.]" mr. rockhill (cf. his _diary of a journey_) writes to me that ning-hsia is still called _irge khotun_ by mongols at the present day. m. bonin (_j. as._, 1900. i. 585) mentions the same fact. palladius (19) adds: "_erigaia_ is not to be confounded with _urahai_, often mentioned in the history of chingis khan's wars with the tangut kingdom. urahai was a fortress in a pass of the same name in the alashan mountains. chingis khan spent five months there (an. 1208), during which he invaded and plundered the country in the neighbourhood. [_si hia shu shi._] the alashan mountains form a semicircle 500 _li_ in extent, and have over forty narrow passes leading to the department of ning-hia; the broadest and most practicable of these is now called ch'i-mu-k'ow; it is not more than 80 feet broad. [_ning hia ju chi._] it may be that the urahai fortress existed near this pass." "from liang-chow fu, m. polo follows a special route, leaving the modern postal route on his right; the road he took has, since the time of the emperor k'ang-hi, been called the courier's route." (palladius, 18.)--h. c.] note 2.--_calachan_, the chief town of egrigaia, is mentioned, according to klaproth, by rashiduddin, among the cities of tangut, as kalaján. the name and approximate position suggest, as just noticed, identity with alashan, the modern capital of which, called by prjevalsky dyn-yuan-yin, stands some distance west of the hwang-ho, in about lat. 39°. polo gives no data for the interval between this and his next stage. [the _dyn-yuan-yin_ of prjevalsky is the camp of _ting-yuan-yng_ or fu-mafu of m. bonin, the residence of the si-wang (western prince), of alashan, an abbreviation of alade-shan (_shan_, mountain in chinese), alade = eleuth or oelöt; the sister of this prince married a son of prince tuan, the chief of the _boxers_. (_la géographie_, 1901. i. 118.) palladius (l.c. 19) says: "under the name of calachan, polo probably means the summer residence of the tangut kings, which was 60 _li_ from ning-hia, at the foot of the alashan mountains. it was built by the famous tangut king yuen-hao, on a large scale, in the shape of a castle, in which were high terraces and magnificent buildings. traces of these buildings are visible to this day. there are often found coloured tiles and iron nails 1 foot, and even 2 feet long. the last tangut kings made this place their permanent residence, and led there an indolent and sensual life. the chinese name of this residence was ho-lan shan _li-kung_. there is sufficient reason to suppose that this very residence is named (under the year 1226) in the mongol text _alashai nuntuh_; and in the chronicles of the tangut kingdom, _halahachar_, otherwise _halachar_ apparently in the tangut language. thus m. polo's calachan can be identified with the halachar of the _si hia shu shi_, and can be taken to designate the alashan residence of the tangut kings."--h. c.] note 3.--among the buraets and chinese at kiakhta snow-white camels, without albino character, are often seen, and probably in other parts of mongolia. (see _erdmann_, ii. 261.) philostratus tells us that the king of taxila furnished white camels to apollonius. i doubt if the present king of taxila, whom anglo-indians call the commissioner of ráwal pindi, could do the like. _cammellotti_ appear to have been fine woollen textures, by no means what are now called camlets, nor were they necessarily of camel's wool, for those of angora goat's wool were much valued. m. douet d'arcq calls it "a fine stuff of wool approaching to our cashmere, and sometimes of silk." indeed, as mr. marsh points out, the word is arabic, and has nothing to do with _camel_ in its origin; though it evidently came to be associated therewith. _khamlat_ is defined in f. johnson's dict.: "camelot, silk and camel's hair; also all silk or velvet, especially pily and plushy," and _khaml_ is "pile or plush." _camelin_ was a different and inferior material. there was till recently a considerable import of different kinds of woollen goods from this part of china into ladakh, kashmir, and the northern panjáb. [leaving ning-hsia, mr. rockhill writes (_diary_, 1892, 44): "we passed on the road a cart with jardine and matheson's flag, coming probably from chung-wei hsien, where camel's wool is sold in considerable quantities to foreigners. this trade has fallen off very much in the last three or four years on account of the chinese middlemen rolling the wool in the dirt so as to add to its weight, and practising other tricks on buyers."--h. c.] among the names of these were _sling_, _shirum_, _gurun_, and _khoza_, said to be the names of the towns in china where the goods were made. we have supposed _sling_ to be sining (note 2, ch. lvii.), but i can make nothing of the others. cunningham also mentions "camlets of camel's hair," under the name of _suklát_, among imports from the same quarter. the term _suklát_ is, however, applied in the _panjáb_ trade returns to _broadcloth_. does not this point to the real nature of the _siclatoun_ of the middle ages? it is, indeed, often spoken of as used for banners, which implies that it was not a _heavy_ woollen: "there was mony gonfanoun of gold, sendel, and siclatoun." (_king alisaundre_, in weber, i. 85.) but it was also a material for ladies' robes, for quilts, leggings, housings, pavilions. franc. michel does not decide what it was, only that it was generally _red_ and wrought with gold. dozy renders it "silk stuff brocaded with gold"; but this seems conjectural. dr. rock says it was a thin glossy silken stuff, often with a woof of gold thread, and seems to derive it from the arabic sakl, "polishing" (a sword), which is improbable. perhaps the name is connected with _sikiliyat_, "sicily." (_marsh on wedgwood_, and _on webster_ in _n. y. nation_, 1867; _douet d'arcq_, p. 355; _punjab trade rep._, app. ccxix.-xx.; _ladak_, 242; _fr.-michel rech._ i. 221 seqq.; _dozy_, _dict. des vêtements_, etc.; _dr. rock's ken. catal._ xxxix.-xl.) chapter lix. concerning the province of tenduc, and the descendants of prester john. tenduc is a province which lies towards the east, and contains numerous towns and villages; among which is the chief city, also called tenduc. the king of the province is of the lineage of prester john, george by name, and he holds the land under the great kaan; not that he holds anything like the whole of what prester john possessed.[note 1] it is a custom, i may tell you, that these kings of the lineage of prester john always obtain to wife either daughters of the great kaan or other princesses of his family.[note 2] in this province is found the stone from which azure is made. it is obtained from a kind of vein in the earth, and is of very fine quality.[note 3] there is also a great manufacture of fine camlets of different colours from camel's hair. the people get their living by their cattle and tillage, as well as by trade and handicraft. the rule of the province is in the hands of the christians, as i have told you; but there are also plenty of idolaters and worshippers of mahommet. and there is also here a class of people called _argons_, which is as much as to say in french _guasmul_, or, in other words, sprung from two different races: to wit, of the race of the idolaters of tenduc and of that of the worshippers of mahommet. they are handsomer men than the other natives of the country, and having more ability, they come to have authority; and they are also capital merchants.[note 4] you must know that it was in this same capital city of tenduc that prester john had the seat of his government when he ruled over the tartars, and his heirs still abide there; for, as i have told you, this king george is of his line, in fact, he is the sixth in descent from prester john. here also is what _we_ call the country of gog and magog; _they_, however, call it ung and mungul, after the names of two races of people that existed in that province before the migration of the tartars. _ung_ was the title of the people of the country, and _mungul_ a name sometimes applied to the tartars.[note 5] and when you have ridden seven days eastward through this province you get near the provinces of cathay. you find throughout those seven days' journey plenty of towns and villages, the inhabitants of which are mahommetans, but with a mixture also of idolaters and nestorian christians. they get their living by trade and manufactures; weaving those fine cloths of gold which are called _nasich_ and _naques_, besides silk stuffs of many other kinds. for just as we have cloths of wool in our country, manufactured in a great variety of kinds, so in those regions they have stuffs of silk and gold in like variety.[note 6] all this region is subject to the great kaan. there is a city you come to called sindachu, where they carry on a great many crafts such as provide for the equipment of the emperor's troops. in a mountain of the province there is a very good silver mine, from which much silver is got: the place is called ydifu. the country is well stocked with game, both beast and bird.[note 7] now we will quit that province and go three days' journey forward. note 1.--marco's own errors led commentators much astray about tanduc or tenduc, till klaproth put the matter in its true light. our traveller says that tenduc had been the seat of aung khan's sovereignty; he has already said that it had been the scene of his final defeat, and he tells us that it was still the residence of his descendants in their reduced state. to the last piece of information he can speak as a witness, and he is corroborated by other evidence; but the second statement we have seen to be almost certainly erroneous; about the first we cannot speak positively. klaproth pointed out the true position of tenduc in the vicinity of the great northern bend of the hwang-ho, quoting chinese authorities to show that _thianté_ or _thianté-kiun_ was the name of a district or group of towns to the north of that bend, a name which he supposes to be the original of polo's _tenduc_. the general position entirely agrees with marco's indications; it lies on his way eastward from tangut towards chagannor, and shangtu (see ch. lx., lxi.), whilst in a later passage (bk. ii. ch. lxiv.), he speaks of the caramoran or hwang-ho in its lower course, as "coming from the lands of prester john." m. pauthier finds severe fault with klaproth's identification of the _name_ tenduc with the thianté of the chinese, belonging to a city which had been destroyed 300 years before, whilst he himself will have that name to be a corruption of _tathung_. the latter is still the name of a city and fu of northern shansi, but in mongol time its circle of administration extended beyond the chinese wall, and embraced territory on the left of the hwang-ho, being in fact the first _lu_, or circle, entered on leaving tangut, and therefore, pauthier urges, the "kingdom of tanduc" of our text. i find it hard to believe that marco could get no nearer tathung than in the form of _tanduc_ or _tenduc_. the origin of the last may have been some mongol name, not recovered. but it is at least conceivable that a name based on the old _thianté-kiun_ might have been retained among the tartars, from whom, and not from the chinese, polo took his nomenclature. thianté had been, according to pauthier's own quotations, the _military post of tathung_; klaproth cites a chinese author of the mongol era, who describes the hwang-ho as passing through _the territory of the ancient chinese city of thianté_; and pauthier's own quotation from the modern imperial geography seems to imply that a place in that territory was recently known as fung-chau-_thianté-kiun_. in the absence of preciser indications, it is reasonable to suppose that the plain of tenduc, with its numerous towns and villages, was the extensive and well-cultivated plain which stretches from the hwang-ho, past the city of kuku-khotan, or "blue town." this tract abounds in the remains of cities attributed to the mongol era. and it is not improbable that the city of tenduc was kuku-khotan itself, now called by the chinese kwei-hwa ch'eng, but which was known to them in the middle ages as _tsing-chau_, and to which we find the kin emperor of northern china sending an envoy in 1210 to demand tribute from chinghiz. the city is still an important mart and a centre of lamaitic buddhism, being the residence of a _khutukhtu_, or personage combining the characters of cardinal and voluntarily re-incarnate saint, as well as the site of five great convents and fifteen smaller ones. gerbillon notes that kuku khotan had been a place of great trade and population during the mongol dynasty. [the following evidence shows, i think, that we must look for the city of tenduc to _tou ch'eng_ or _toto ch'eng_, called _togto_ or _tokto_ by the mongols. mr. rockhill (_diary_, 18) passed through this place, and 5 _li_ south of it, reached on the yellow river, ho-k'ou (in chinese) or dugus or dugei (in mongol). gerbillon speaks of toto in his sixth voyage in tartary. (_du halde_, iv. 345.) mr. rockhill adds that he cannot but think that yule overlooked the existence of togto when he identified kwei-hwa ch'eng with tenduc. tou ch'eng is two days' march west of kwei-hwa ch'eng, "on the loess hill behind this place are the ruins of a large camp, orch'eng, in all likelihood the site of the old town" (l.c. 18). m. bonin (_j. as._ xv. 1900, 589) shares mr. rockhill's opinion. from kwei-hwa ch'eng, m. bonin went by the valley of the hei shui river to the hwang ho; at the junction of the two rivers stands the village of ho-k'au (ho-k'ou) south of the small town to ch'eng, surmounted by the ruins of the old square mongol stronghold of tokto, the walls of which are still in a good state of preservation.--(_la géographie_, i. 1901, p. 116.) on the other hand, it is but fair to state that palladius (21) says: "the name of tenduc obviously corresponds to t'ien-te kiun, a military post, the position of which chinese geographers identify correctly with that of the modern kuku-hoton (_ta tsing y t'ung chi_, ch. on the tumots of kuku-hoton). the t'ien-te kiun post existed under this name during the k'itan (liao) and kin dynasties up to khubilai's time (1267); when under the name of fung-chow it was left only a district town in the department of ta-t'ung fu. the kin kept in t'ien-te kiun a military chief, _chao-t'aoshi_, whose duty it was to keep an eye on the neighbouring tribes, and to use, if needed, military force against them. the t'ien-te kiun district was hardly greater in extent than the modern aïmak of tumot, into which kuku-hoton was included since the 16th century, i.e. 370 _li_ from north to south, and 400 _li_ from east to west; during the kin it had a settled population, numbering 22,600 families." in a footnote, palladius refers to the geographical parts of the _liao shi, kin shi_, and _yuen shi_, and adds: "m. polo's commentators are wrong in suspecting an anachronism in his statement, or trying to find tenduc elsewhere." we find in the _north-china herald_ (29th april, 1887, p. 474) the following note from the _chinese times_: "there are records that the position of this city [kwei-hwa ch'eng] was known to the builder of the great wall. from very remote times, it appears to have been a settlement of nomadic tribes. during the last 1000 years it has been alternately possessed by the mongols and chinese. about a.d. 1573, emperor wan-li reclaimed it, enclosed a space within walls, and called it kwei-hwa ch'êng." potanin left peking on the 13th may, 1884, for kuku-khoto (or kwei-hwa-ch'eng), passing over the triple chain of mountains dividing the plain of peking from that on which kuku-khoto is situate. the southernmost of these three ridges bears the chinese name of wu-tai-shan, "the mountain of five sacrificial altars," after the group of five peaks, the highest of which is 10,000 feet above the sea, a height not exceeded by any mountain in northern china. at its southern foot lies a valley remarkable for its buddhist monasteries and shrines, one of which, "shing-tung-tze," is entirely made of brass, whence its name. "kuku-khoto is the depôt for the mongolian trade with china. it contains two hundred tea-shops, five theatres, fifteen temples, and six mongol monasteries. among its sights are the buddhist convent of utassa, with its five pinnacles and has-reliefs, the convent of fing-sung-si, and a temple containing a statue erected in honour of the chinese general, pai-jinjung, who avenged an insult offered to the emperor of china." (_proc. r. g. s._ ix. 1887, p. 233.)--h. c.] a passage in rashiduddin does seem to intimate that the kerait, the tribe of aung khan, _alias_ prester john, did occupy territory close to the borders of cathay or northern china; but neither from chinese nor from other oriental sources has any illustration yet been produced of the existence of aung khan's descendants as rulers in this territory under the mongol emperors. there is, however, very positive evidence to that effect supplied by other european travellers, to whom the fables prevalent in the west had made the supposed traces of prester john a subject of strong interest. thus john of monte corvino, afterwards archbishop of cambaluc or peking, in his letter of january, 1305, from that city, speaks of polo's king george in these terms: "a certain king of this part of the world, by name george, belonging to the sect of the nestorian christians, and of the illustrious lineage of that great king who was called prester john of india, in the first year of my arrival here [circa 1295-1296] attached himself to me, and, after he had been converted by me to the verity of the catholic faith, took the lesser orders, and when i celebrated mass used to attend me wearing his royal robes. certain others of the nestorians on this account accused him of apostacy, but he brought over a great part of his people with him to the true catholic faith, and built a church of royal magnificence in honour of our god, of the holy trinity, and of our lord, the pope, giving it the name of _the roman church_. this king george, six years ago, departed to the lord, a true christian, leaving as his heir a son scarcely out of the cradle, and who is now nine years old. and after king george's death, his brothers, perfidious followers of the errors of nestorius, perverted again all those whom he had brought over to the church, and carried them back to their original schismatical creed. and being all alone, and not able to leave his majesty the cham, i could not go to visit the church above-mentioned, which is twenty days' journey distant.... i had been in treaty with the late king george, if he had lived, to translate the whole latin ritual, that it might be sung throughout the extent of his territory; and whilst he was alive i used to celebrate mass in his church according to the latin rite." the distance mentioned, twenty days' journey from peking, suits quite well with the position assigned to tenduc, and no doubt the roman church was in the city to which polo gives that name. friar odoric, travelling from peking towards shensi, about 1326-1327, also visits the country of prester john, and gives to its chief city the name of _tozan_, in which perhaps we may trace _tathung_. he speaks as if the family still existed in authority. king george appears again in marco's own book (bk. iv. ch. ii.) as one of kúblái's generals against kaidu, in a battle fought near karakorúm. (_journ. as._ ix. 299 seqq.; _d'ohsson_, i. 123; _huc's tartary_, etc. i. 55 seqq.; _koeppen_, ii. 381; _erdmann's temudschin_; _gerbillon_ in _astley_, iv. 670; _cathay_, pp. 146 and 199 seqq.) note 2.--such a compact is related to have existed reciprocally between the family of chinghiz and that of the chief of the kunguráts; but i have not found it alleged of the kerait family except by friar odoric. we find, however, many _princesses_ of this family married into that of chinghiz. thus three nieces of aung khan became wives respectively of chinghiz himself and of his sons juji and tului; she who was the wife of the latter, serkukteni bigi, being the mother of mangú, hulaku, and kúblái. dukuz khatun, the christian wife of hulaku, was a grand-daughter of aung khan. the name _george_, of prester john's representative, may have been actually jirjis, yurji, or some such oriental form of georgius. but it is possible that the title was really _gurgán_, "son-in-law," a title of honour conferred on those who married into the imperial blood, and that this title may have led to the statements of marco and odoric about the nuptial privileges of the family. gurgán in this sense was one of the titles borne by timur.[1] [the following note by the archimandrite palladius (_eluc._ 21-23) throws a great light on the relations between the families of chinghiz khan and of prester john. "t'ien-te kiun was bounded on the north by the _yn-shan_ mountains, in and beyond which was settled the sha-t'o tu-k'iu tribe, i.e. tu-k'iu of the sandy desert. the k'itans, when they conquered the northern borders of china, brought also under their rule the dispersed family of these tuk'iu. with the accession of the kin, a wang ku [ongot] family made its appearance as the ruling family of those tribes; it issued from those shat'o tu-k'iu, who once reigned in the north of china as the how t'ang dynasty (923-936 a.d.). it split into two branches, the wang-ku of the ynshan, and the wang-ku of the lin-t'ao (west of kan-su). the kin removed the latter branch to liao-tung (in manchuria). the yn-shan wang-ku guarded the northern borders of china belonging to the kin, and watched their herds. when the kin, as a protection against the inroads of the tribes of the desert, erected a rampart, or new wall, from the boundary of the tángut kingdom down to manchuria, they intrusted the defence of the principal places of the yn-shan portion of the wall to the wang-ku, and transferred there also the liao-tung wang-ku. at the time chingiz khan became powerful, the chief of the wang-ku of the yn-shan was alahush; and at the head of the liao-tung wang-ku stood _pa-sao-ma-ie-li_. alahush proved a traitor to the kin, and passed over to chinghiz khan; for this he was murdered by the malcontents of his family, perhaps by pa-sao-ma-ie-li, who remained true to the kin. later on, chingiz khan married one of his daughters to the son of alahush, by name po-yao-ho, who, however, had no children by her. he had three sons by a concubine, the eldest of whom, kiun-pu-hwa, was married to kuyuk khan's daughter. kiun-pu-hwa's son, koli-ki-sze, had two wives, both of imperial blood. during a campaign against haidu, he was made prisoner in 1298, and murdered. his title and dignities passed over in a.d. 1310 to his son _chuan_. nothing is known of alahush's later descendants; they probably became entirely chinese, like their relatives of the liao-tung branch. "the wang-ku princes were thus _de jure_ the sons-in-law of the mongol khans, and they had, moreover, the hereditary title of kao-t'ang princes (kao-t'ang wang); it is very possible that they had their residence in ancient t'ien-te kiun (although no mention is made of it in history), just as at present the tumot princes reside in kuku-hoton. "the consonance of the names of wang-khan and wang-ku (ung-khan and ongu) led to the confusion regarding the tribes and persons, which at marco polo's time seems to have been general among the europeans in china; marco polo and johannes de monte corvino transfer the title of prester john from wang-khan, already perished at that time, to the distinguished family of wang-ku. their georgius is undoubtedly ko-li-ki-sze, alahush's great-grandson. that his name is a christian one is confirmed by other testimonies; thus in the asu (azes) regiment of the khan's guards was ko-li-ki-sze, _aliàs_ kow-r-ki (d. 1311), and his son ti-mi-ti-r. there is no doubt that one of them was georgius, and the other demetrius. further, in the description of _chin-kiang_ in the time of the yuen, mention is made of ko-li-ki-sze ye-li-ko-wen, i.e. ko-li-ki-sze, the christian, and of his son lu-ho (luke). "ko-li-ki-sze of wang-ku is much praised in history for his valour and his love for confucian doctrine; he had in consequence of a special favour of the khan two mongol princesses for wives at the same time (which is rather difficult to conciliate with his being a christian). the time of his death is correctly indicated in a letter of joannes de m. corvino of the year 1305: _ante sex annos migravit ad dominum_. he left a young son _chu-an_, who probably is the joannes of the letter of ioannes (giovani) de m. corvino, so called _propter nomen meum_, says the missionary. in another wang-ku branch, si-li-ki-sze reminds one also of the christian name _sergius_."--h. c.] note 3.--"the _lapis armenus_, or azure,... is produced in the district of tayton-fu (i.e. _tathung_), belonging to shansi." (_du halde_ in _astley_, iv. 309; see also _martini_, p. 36.) note 4.--this is a highly interesting passage, but difficult, from being corrupt in the g. text, and over-curt in pauthier's mss. in the former it runs as follows: "_hil hi a une jenerasion de jens que sunt appellés_ argon, _qe vaut à dire en françois_ guasmul, _ce est à dire qu'il sunt né del deus generasions de la lengnée des celz_ argon tenduc et des celz reduc et des celz que aorent maomet. _il sunt biaus homes plus que le autre dou païs et plus sajes et plus mercaant_." pauthier's text runs thus: "_il ont une generation de gens, ces crestiens qui ont la seigneurie, qui s'appellent_ argon, _qui vaut a dire_ gasmul; _et sont plus beaux hommes que les autres mescreans et plus sages. et pour ce ont il la seigneurie et sont bons marchans._" and ramusio: "_vi è anche una sorte di gente che si chiamano_ argon, _per che sono nati di due generazioni_, cioè da quella di tenduc che adorano gl' idoli, e da quella che osservano la legge di macometto. _e questi sono i piu belli uomini che si trovino in quel paese e più savi, e più accorti nella mercanzia._" in the first quotation the definition of the _argon_ as sprung _de la lengnée_, etc., is not intelligible as it stands, but seems to be a corruption of the same definition that has been rendered by ramusio, viz. that the argon were half-castes between the race of the tenduc buddhists and that of the mahomedan settlers. these two texts do not assert that the argon were christians. pauthier's text at first sight seems to assert this, and to identify them with the christian rulers of the province. but i doubt if it means more than that the christian _rulers have under them_ a people called argon, etc. the passage has been read with a bias, owing to an erroneous interpretation of the word _argon_ in the teeth of polo's explanation of it. klaproth, i believe, first suggested that _argon_ represents the term _arkhaiún_, which is found repeatedly applied to oriental christians, or their clergy, in the histories of the mongol era.[2] no quite satisfactory explanation has been given of the origin of that term. it is barely possible that it may be connected with that which polo uses here; but he tells us as plainly as possible that he means by the term, not a christian, but a _half-breed_. and in this sense the word is still extant in tibet, probably also in eastern turkestan, precisely in marco's form, argon. it is applied in ladak, as general cunningham tells us, specifically to the mixt race produced by the marriages of kashmirian immigrants with bot (tibetan) women. and it was apparently to an analogous cross between caucasians and turanians that the term was applied in tenduc. moorcroft also speaks of this class in ladak, calling them _argands_. mr. shaw styles them "a set of ruffians called _argoons_, half-bred between toorkistan fathers and ladak mothers.... they possess all the evil qualities of both races, without any of their virtues." and the author of the dabistan, speaking of the tibetan lamas, says: "their king, if his mother be not of royal blood, is by them called _arghún_, and not considered their true king." [see p. 291, my reference to _wellby's tibet_.--h. c.] cunningham says the word is probably turki, [arabic], _arghún_, "fair," "not _white_," as he writes to me, "but _ruddy_ or _pink_, and therefore 'fair.' _arghún_ is both turki and mogholi, and is applied to all fair children, both male and female, as _arghun beg, arghuna khatun_," etc.[3] we find an _arghún_ tribe named in timur's institutes, which probably derived its descent from such half-breeds. and though the arghún dynasty of kandahar and sind claimed their descent and name from arghún khan of persia, this may have had no other foundation. there are some curious analogies between these argons of whom marco speaks and those mahomedans of northern china and chinese turkestan lately revolted against chinese authority, who are called _tungani_, or as the russians write it _dungen_, a word signifying, according to professor vámbéry, in turki, "a convert."[4] these tungani are said by one account to trace their origin to a large body of uighúrs, who were transferred _to the vicinity of the great wall_ during the rule of the thang dynasty (7th to 10th century). another tradition derives their origin from samarkand. and it is remarkable that rashiduddin speaks of a town to the west or north-west of peking, "most of the inhabitants of which are natives of samarkand, and have planted a number of gardens in the samarkand style."[5] the former tradition goes on to say that marriages were encouraged between the western settlers and the chinese women. in after days these people followed the example of their kindred in becoming mahomedans, but they still retained the practice of marrying chinese wives, though bringing up their children in islam. the tungani are stated to be known in central asia for their commercial integrity; and they were generally selected by the chinese for police functionaries. they are passionate and ready to use the knife; but are distinguished from both manchus and chinese by their strength of body and intelligent countenances. their special feature is their predilection for mercantile speculations. looking to the many common features of the two accounts--the origin as a half-breed between mahomedans of western extraction and northern chinese, the position in the vicinity of the great wall, the superior physique, intelligence, and special capacity for trade, it seems highly probable that the tungani of our day are the descendants of marco's argons. otherwise we may at least point to these analogies as a notable instance of like results produced by like circumstances on the same scene; in fact, of history repeating itself. (see _the dungens_, by _mr. h. k. heins_, in the _russian military journal_ for august, 1866, and _western china_, in the _ed. review_ for april, 1868;[6] cathay, p. 261.) [palladius (pp. 23-24) says that "it is impossible to admit that polo had meant to designate by this name the christians, who were called by the mongols _erkeun_ [_ye li ke un_]. he was well acquainted with the christians in china, and of course could not ignore the name under which they were generally known to such a degree as to see in it a designation of a cross-race of mahommetans and heathens." from the _yuen ch'ao pi shi_ and the _yuen shi_, palladius gives some examples which refer to mahommedans. professor devéria (_notes d'épig._ 49) says that the word [greek: árchon] was used by the mongol government as a designation for the members of the christian clergy at large; the word is used between 1252 and 1315 to speak of _christian_ priests by the historians of the yuen dynasty; it is not used before nor is it to be found in the si-ngan-fu inscription (l.c. 82). mr. e. h. parker (_china review_, xxiv. p. 157) supplies a few omissions in devéria's paper; we note among others: "ninth moon of 1329. buddhist services ordered to be held by the uighúr priests, and by the christians [_ye li ke un_]." captain wellby writes (_unknown tibet_, p. 32): "we impressed into our service six other muleteers, four of them being argoons, who are really half-castes, arising from the merchants of turkestan making short marriages with the ladakhi women."--h. c.] our author gives the odd word _guasmul_ as the french equivalent of argon. m. pauthier has first, of polo's editors, given the true explanation from ducange. the word appears to have been in use in the levant among the franks as a name for the half-breeds sprung from their own unions with greek women. it occurs three times in the history of george pachymeres. thus he says (_mich. pal._ iii. 9), that the emperor michael "depended upon the _gasmuls_, or mixt breeds ([greek: symmíktoi]), which is the sense of this word of the italian tongue, for these were born of greeks and italians, and sent them to man his ships; for the race in question inherited at once the military wariness and quick wit of the greeks, and the dash and pertinacity of the latins." again (iv. 26) he speaks of these "gasmuls, whom a greek would call [greek: digeneis], men sprung from greek mothers and italian fathers." nicephorus gregoras also relates how michael palaeologus, to oppose the projects of baldwin for the recovery of his fortunes, manned 60 galleys, chiefly with the tribe of gasmuls ([greek: génos tou gasmoulikou]), to whom he assigns the same characteristics as pachymeres. (iv. v. 5, also vi. iii. 3, and xiv. x. 2.) one ms. of nicetas choniates also, in his annals of manuel comnenus (see paris ed. p. 425), speaks of "the light troops whom we call _basmuls_." thus it would seem that, as in the analogous case of the _turcopuli_, sprung from turk fathers and greek mothers, their name had come to be applied technically to a class of troops. according to buchon, the laws of the venetians in candia mention, as different races in that island, the _vasmulo_, latino, blaco, and griego. ducange, in one of his notes on joinville, says: "during the time that the french possessed constantinople, they gave the name of _gas-moules_ to those who were born of french fathers and greek mothers; or more probably _gaste-moules_, by way of derision, as if such children by those irregular marriages ... had in some sort debased the wombs of their mothers!" i have little doubt (_pace tanti viri_) that the word is in a gallicized form the same with the surviving italian _guazzabúglio_, a hotch-potch, or mish-mash. in davanzati's _tacitus_, the words "colluviem _illam nationum_" (_annal._ ii. 55) are rendered "_quello_ guazzabuglio _di nazioni_," in which case we come very close to the meaning assigned to _guasmul_. the italians are somewhat behind in matters of etymology, and i can get no light from them on the history of this word. (see _buchon_, _chroniques etrangères_, p. xv.; _ducange_, _gloss. graecitatis_, and his note on _joinville_, in _bohn's chron. of the crusades_, 466.) note 5.--it has often been cast in marco's teeth that he makes no mention of the great wall of china, and that is true; whilst the apologies made for the omission have always seemed to me unsatisfactory. [i find in sir g. staunton's account of macartney's embassy (ii. p. 185) this most amusing explanation of the reason why marco polo did not mention the wall: "a copy of marco polo's route to china, taken from the doge's library at venice, is sufficient to decide this question. by this route it appears that, in fact, that traveller did not pass through tartary to pekin, but that after having followed the usual track of the caravans, as far to the eastward from europe as samarcand and cashgar, he bent his course to the south-east across the river ganges to bengal (!), and, keeping to the southward of the thibet mountains, reached the chinese province of shensee, and through the adjoining province of shansee to the capital, without interfering with the line of the great wall."--h. c.] we shall see presently that the great wall is spoken of by marco's contemporaries rashiduddin and abulfeda. yet i think, if we read "between the lines," we shall see reason to believe that the wall _was_ in polo's mind at this point of the dictation, whatever may have been his motive for withholding distincter notice of it.[7] i cannot conceive why he should say: "here is what we call the country of gog and magog," except as intimating "here we are _beside the_ great wall known as the rampart of gog and magog," and being there he tries to find a reason why those names should have been applied to it. why they were really applied to it we have already seen. (supra, ch. iv. note 3.) abulfeda says: "the ocean turns northward along the east of china, and then expands in the same direction till it passes china, and comes opposite to the rampart of yájúj and májúj;" whilst the same geographer's definition of the boundaries of china exhibits that country as bounded on the west by the indo-chinese wildernesses; on the south, by the seas; on the east, by the eastern ocean; on the north, by the _land of yájúj and májúj_, and other countries unknown. ibn batuta, with less accurate geography in his head than abulfeda, maugre his travels, asks about the rampart of gog and magog (_sadd yájúj wa majúj_) when he is at sin kalán, i.e. canton, and, as might be expected, gets little satisfaction. [illustration: the rampart of gog and magog] apart from this interesting point marsden seems to be right in the general bearing of his explanation of the passage, and i conceive that the two classes of people whom marco tries to identify with gog and magog do substantially represent the two genera or species, turks and mongols, or, according to another nomenclature used by rashiduddin, the _white_ and _black_ tartars. to the latter class belonged chinghiz and his mongols proper, with a number of other tribes detailed by rashiduddin, and these i take to be in a general way the mungul of our text. the _ung_ on the other hand, are the ung-_kut_, the latter form being presumably only the mongol plural of ung. the ung-kút were a turk tribe who were vassals of the kin emperors of cathay, and were intrusted with the defence of the wall of china, or an important portion of it, which was called by the mongols _ungu_, a name which some connect with that of the tribe. [see note pp. 288-9.] erdmann indeed asserts that the wall by which the ung-kut dwelt was not the great wall, but some other. there are traces of other great ramparts in the steppes north of the present wall. but erdmann's arguments seem to me weak in the extreme. [mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, p. 112) writes: "the earliest mention i have found of the name _mongol_ in oriental works occurs in the chinese annals of the after t'ang period (a.d. 923-934), where it occurs in the form _meng-ku_. in the annals of the liao dynasty (a.d. 916-1125) it is found under the form _meng-ku-li_. the first occurrence of the name in the _tung chien kang mu_ is, however, in the 6th year shao-hsing of kao-tsung of the sung (a.d. 1136). it is just possible that we may trace the word back a little earlier than the after t'ang period, and that the _meng-wa_ (or _ngo_ as this character may have been pronounced at the time), a branch of the shih-wei, a tungusic or kitan people living around lake keule, to the east of the baikal, and along the kerulun, which empties into it, during the 7th and subsequent centuries, and referred to in the _t'ang shu_ (bk. 219), is the same as the later meng-ku. though i have been unable to find, as stated by howorth (_history_, i. pt. i. 28), that the name _meng-ku_ occurs in the t'ang shu, his conclusion that the northern shih-wei of that time constituted the mongol nation proper is very likely correct.... i. j. schmidt (_ssanang setzen_, 380) derives the name _mongol_ from _mong_, meaning 'brave, daring, bold,' while rashiduddin says it means 'simple, weak' (_d'ohsson_, i. 22). the chinese characters used to transcribe the name mean 'dull, stupid,' and 'old, ancient,' but they are used purely phonetically.... the mongols of the present day are commonly called by the chinese _ta-tzu_, but this name is resented by the mongols as opprobrious, though it is but an abbreviated form of the name _ta-ta-tzu_, in which, according to rubruck, they once gloried."--h. c.] vincent of beauvais has got from some of his authorities a conception of the distinction of the tartars into two races, to which, however, he assigns no names: "_sunt autem duo genera tartarorum, diversa quidem habentia idiomata, sed unicam legem ac ritum, sicut franci et theutonici_." but the result of _his_ effort to find a realisation of gog and magog is that he makes _guyuk kaan_ into gog, and _mangu kaan_ into magog. even the intelligent friar ricold says of the tartars: "they say themselves that they are descended from gog and magog: and on this account they are called _mogoli_, as if from a corruption of _magogoli_." (_abulfeda_ in _büsching_, iv. 140, 274-275; _i. b._ iv. 274; _golden horde_, 34, 68; _erdmann_, 241-242, 257-258; _timk._ i. 259, 263, 268; _vinc. bellov. spec. hist._ xxix. 73, xxxi. 32-34; _pereg. quat._ 118; _not. et ext._ ii. 536.) note 6.--the towns and villages were probably those immediately north of the great wall, between 112° and 115° east longitude, of which many remains exist, ascribed to the time of the yuen or mongol dynasty. this tract, between the great wall and the volcanic plateau of mongolia, is extensively colonised by chinese, and has resumed the flourishing aspect that polo describes. it is known now as the _ku-wei_, or extramural region. [after kalgan, captain younghusband, on the 12th april, 1886, "passed through the [outer] great wall ... entering what marco polo calls the land of gog and magog. for the next two days i passed through a hilly country inhabited by chinese, though it really belongs to mongolia; but on the 14th i emerged on to the real steppes, which are the characteristic features of mongolia proper." (_proc. r. g. s._ x., 1888, p. 490.)--h. c.] of the cloths called _nakh_ and _nasij_ we have spoken before (supra ch. vi. note 4). these stuffs, or some such as these, were, i believe, what the mediaeval writers called _tartary cloth_, not because they were made in tartary, but because they were brought from china and its borders through the tartar dominions; as we find that for like reason they were sometimes called stuffs of _russia_. dante alludes to the supposed skill of turks and tartars in weaving gorgeous stuffs, and boccaccio, commenting thereon, says that tartarian cloths are so skilfully woven that no painter with his brush could equal them. maundevile often speaks of cloths of tartary (e.g. pp. 175, 247). so also chaucer: "on every trumpe hanging a broad banere of fine _tartarium_." again, in the french inventory of the _garde-meuble_ of 1353 we find two pieces of _tartary_, one green and the other red, priced at 15 crowns each. (_flower and leaf_, 211; _dante, inf._ xvii. 17, and _longfellow_, p. 159; _douet d'arcq_, p. 328; _fr.-michel, rech._ i. 315, ii. 166 seqq.) note 7.--sindachu (sindacui, suidatui, etc., of the mss.) is siuen-hwa-fu, called under the kin dynasty _siuen-te-chau_, more than once besieged and taken by chinghiz. it is said to have been a summer residence of the later mongol emperors, and fine parks full of grand trees remain on the western side. it is still a large town and the capital of a _fu_, about 25 miles south of the gate on the great wall at chang kia kau, which the mongols and russians call kalgan. there is still a manufacture of felt and woollen articles here. [mr. rockhill writes to me that this place is noted for the manufacture of buckskins.--h. c.] _ydifu_ has not been identified. but baron richthofen saw old mines north-east of kalgan, which used to yield argentiferous galena; and pumpelly heard of silver-mines near yuchau, in the same department. [in the _yuen-shi_ it is "stated that there were gold and silver mines in the districts of siuen-te-chow and yuchow, as well as in the kiming shan mountains. these mines were worked by the government itself up to 1323, when they were transferred to private enterprise. marco polo's _ydifu_ is probably a copyist's error, and stands instead of yuchow." (_palladius_, 24, 25.)--h. c.] [1] mr. ney elias favours me with a curious but tantalising communication on this subject: "an old man called on me at kwei-hwa ch'eng (tenduc), who said he was neither chinaman, mongol, nor mahomedan, and lived on ground a short distance to the north of the city, especially allotted to his ancestors by the emperor, and where there now exist several families of the same origin. he then mentioned the connection of his family with that of the emperor, but in what way i am not clear, and said that he ought to be, or had been, a prince. other people coming in, he was interrupted and went away.... he was not with me more than ten minutes, and the incident is a specimen of the difficulty in obtaining interesting information, except by mere chance.... the idea that struck me was, that he was perhaps a descendant of king george of tenduc; for i had your m. p. before me, and had been inquiring as much as i dared about subjects it suggested.... at kwei-hwa ch'eng i was very closely spied, and my servant was frequently told to warn me against asking too many questions." i should mention that oppert, in his very interesting monograph, _der presbyter johannes_, refuses to recognise the kerait chief at all in that character, and supposes polo's king george to be the representative of a prince of the liao (supra, p. 205), who, as we learn from de mailla's history, after the defeat of the kin, in which he had assisted chinghiz, settled in liaotung, and received from the conqueror the title of king of the liao. this seems to me geographically and otherwise quite inadmissible. [2] the term _arkaiun_, or _arkaun_, in this sense, occurs in the armenian history of stephen orpelian, quoted by st. martin. the author of the _tárikh jahán kushai_, cited by d'ohsson, says that christians were called by the mongols _arkáún_. when hulaku invested baghdad we are told that he sent a letter to the judges, shaikhs, doctors and _arkauns_, promising to spare such as should act peaceably. and in the subsequent sack we hear that no houses were spared except those of a few _arkauns_ and foreigners. in rashiduddin's account of the council of state at peking, we are told that the four _fanchan_, or ministers of the second class, were taken from the four nations of tájiks, cathayans, uighúrs, and _arkaun_. sabadin _arkaun_ was the name of one of the envoys sent by arghun khan of persia to the pope in 1288. traces of the name appear also in chinese documents of the mongol era, as denoting _some_ religious body. some of these have been quoted by mr. wylie; but i have seen no notice taken of a very curious extract given by visdelou. this states that kúblái in 1289 established a board of nineteen chief officers to have surveillance of the affairs of the religion of the cross, of the _marha_, the _siliepan_, and the _yelikhawen_. this board was raised to a higher rank in 1315: and at that time 72 minor courts presiding over the religion of the _yelikhawen_ existed under its supervision. here we evidently have the word _arkhaiun_ in a chinese form; and we may hazard the suggestion that _marha_, _siliepan_ and _yelikhawen_ meant respectively the armenian, syrian, or jacobite, and nestorian churches. (_st. martin, mém._ ii. 133, 143, 279; _d'ohsson_, ii. 264; _ilchan_, i. 150, 152; _cathay_, 264; _acad._ vii. 359; wylie in _j. as._ v. xix. 406. suppt. to _d'herbelot_, 142.) [3] the word is not in zenker or pavet de courteille. [4] mr. shaw writes _toongânee_. the first mention of this name that i know of is in izzat ullah's journal. (vide _j. r. a. s._ vii. 310.) the people are there said to have got the name from having first settled in _tungan_. tung-gan is in the same page the name given to the strong city of t'ung kwan on the hwang-ho. (see bk. ii. ch. xli. note 1.) a variety of etymologies have been given, but vámbéry's seems the most probable. [5] probably no man could now say what this means. but the following note from mr. ney elias is very interesting in its suggestion of analogy: "in my report to the geographical society i have noticed the peculiar western appearance of kwei-hwa-ch'eng, and the little gardens of creepers and flowers in pots which are displayed round the porches in the court-yards of the better class of houses, and which i have seen in no other part of china. my attention was especially drawn to these by your quotation from rashiduddin." [6] a translation of _heins'_ was kindly lent me by the author of this article, the lamented mr. j. w. s. wyllie. [7] i owe the suggestion of this to a remark in _oppert's presbyter johannes_, p. 77. chapter lx. concerning the kaan's palace of chagannor. at the end of those three days you find a city called chagan nor [which is as much as to say white pool], at which there is a great palace of the grand kaan's;[note 1] and he likes much to reside there on account of the lakes and rivers in the neighbourhood, which are the haunt of swans[note 2] and of a great variety of other birds. the adjoining plains too abound with cranes, partridges, pheasants, and other game birds, so that the emperor takes all the more delight in staying there, in order to go a-hawking with his gerfalcons and other falcons, a sport of which he is very fond.[note 3] there are five different kinds of cranes found in those tracts, as i shall tell you. first, there is one which is very big, and all over as black as a crow; the second kind again is all white, and is the biggest of all; its wings are really beautiful, for they are adorned with round eyes like those of a peacock, but of a resplendent golden colour, whilst the head is red and black on a white ground. the third kind is the same as ours. the fourth is a small kind, having at the ears beautiful long pendent feathers of red and black. the fifth kind is grey all over and of great size, with a handsome head, red and black.[note 4] near this city there is a valley in which the emperor has had several little houses erected in which he keeps in mew a huge number of _cators_ which are what we call the great partridge. you would be astonished to see what a quantity there are, with men to take charge of them. so whenever the kaan visits the place he is furnished with as many as he wants. [note 5] note 1.--[according to the _siu t'ung kien_, quoted by palladius, the palace in chagannor was built in 1280.--h. c.] note 2.--"_ou demeurent_ sesnes." _sesnes, cesnes, cecini, cesanae_, is a mediaeval form of _cygnes, cigni_, which seems to have escaped the dictionary-makers. it occurs in the old italian version of _brunetto latini's tresor_, bk. v. ch. xxv., as _cecino_; and for other examples, see _cathay_, p. 125. note 3.--the city called by polo chagan-nor (meaning in mongol, as he says, "white lake") is the _chaghan balghasun_ mentioned by timkowski as an old city of the mongol era, the ruined rampart of which he passed about 30 miles north of the great wall at kalgan, and some 55 miles from siuen-hwa, adjoining the imperial pastures. it stands near a lake still called chaghan-nor, and is called by the chinese pe-ching-tzu, or white city, a translation of chaghan balghasun. dr. bushell says of one of the lakes (ichi-nor), a few miles east of chaghan-nor: "we ... found the water black with waterfowl, which rose in dense flocks, and filled the air with discordant noises. _swans_, geese, and ducks predominated, and _three different species of cranes_ were distinguished." the town appears as _tchahan toloho_ in d'anville. it is also, i imagine, the _arulun tsaghan balghasun_ which s. setzen says kúblái built about the same time with shangtu and another city "on the shady side of the altai," by which here he seems to mean the khingan range adjoining the great wall. (_timk._ ii. 374, 378-379; _j. r. g. s._ vol. xliii.; _s. setz._ 115.) i see ritter has made the same identification of chaghan-nor (ii. 141). note 4.--the following are the best results i can arrive at in the identification of these five cranes. 1. radde mentions as a rare crane in south siberia _grus monachus_, called by the buraits _kará togorü_, or "black crane." atkinson also speaks of "a beautiful black variety of crane," probably the same. the _grus monachus_ is not, however, jet black, but brownish rather. (_radde, reisen_, bd. ii. p. 318; _atkinson. or. and w. sib._ 548.) 2. _grus leucogeranus_ (?) whose chief habitat is siberia, but which sometimes comes as far south as the punjab. it is the largest of the genus, snowy white, with red face and beak; the ten largest quills are black, but this barely shows as a narrow black line when the wings are closed. the resplendent golden eyes on the wings remain unaccounted for; no naturalist whom i have consulted has any knowledge of a crane or crane-like bird with such decorations. when 'tis discovered, let it be the _grus poli_! 3. _grus cinerea_. 4. the colour of the pendants varies in the texts. pauthier's and the g. text have _red and black_; the lat. s. g. _black_ only, the crusca _black and white_, ramusio _feathers red and blue_ (not pendants). the _red and black_ may have slipt in from the preceding description. i incline to believe it to be the demoiselle, _anthropoides virgo_, which is frequently seen as far north as lake baikal. it has a tuft of pure _white_ from the eye, and a beautiful black pendent ruff or collar; the general plumage purplish-grey. 5. certainly the indian _sáras_ (vulgo cyrus), or _grus antigone_, which answers in colours and grows to 52 inches high. note 5.--_cator_ occurs only in the g. text and the crusca, in the latter with the interpolated explanation "_cioè contornici_" (i.e. quails), whilst the s. g. latin has _coturnices_ only. i suspect this impression has assisted to corrupt the text, and that it was originally written or dictated _ciacor_ or _çacor_, viz. _chakór_, a term applied in the east to more than one kind of "great partridge." its most common application in india is to the himalayan red-legged partridge, much resembling on a somewhat larger scale the bird so called in europe. it is the "francolin" of moorcroft's travels, and the _caccabis chukor_ of gray. according to cunningham the name is applied in ladak to the bird sometimes called the snow-pheasant, jerdan's snow-cock, _tetraogallus himalayensis_ of gray. and it must be the latter which moorcroft speaks of as "the gigantic chukor, much larger than the common partridge, found in large coveys on the edge of the snow;... one plucked and drawn weighed 5 lbs."; described by vigne as "a partridge as large as a hen-turkey"; the original perhaps of that partridge "larger than a vulture" which formed one of the presents from an indian king to augustus caesar. [with reference to the large tibetan partridge found in the nan-shan mountains in the meridian of sha-chau by prjevalsky, m. e. d. morgan in a note (_p. r. geog. s._ ix. 1887, p. 219), writes: "_megaloperdrix thibetanus_. its general name in asia is _ullar_, a word of kirghiz or turkish origin; the mongols call it _hailik_, and the tibetans _kung-mo_. there are two other varieties of this bird found in the himalaya and altai mountains, but the habits of life and call-note of all three are the same."] from the extensive diffusion of the term, which seems to be common to india, tibet, and persia (for the latter, see _abbott_ in _j. r. g. s._ xxv. 41), it is likely enough to be of mongol origin, not improbably _tsokhor_, "dappled or pied." (_kovalevsky_, no. 2196, and _strahlenberg's_ vocabulary; see also _ladak_, 205; _moorcr._ i. 313, 432; _jerdan's birds of india_, iii. 549, 572; _dunlop, hunting in himalaya_, 178; _j. a. s. b._ vi. 774.) the chakór is mentioned by baber (p. 282); and also by the hindi poet chand (_rás mála_, i. 230, and _ind. antiquary_, i. 273). if the latter passage is genuine, it is adverse to my mongol etymology, as chand lived before the mongol era. the keeping of partridges for the table is alluded to by chaucer in his portrait of the franklin, _prologue, cant. tales_: "it snewed in his hous of mete and drinke, of alle deyntees that men coud of thinke, after the sondry sesons of the yere, so changed he his mete and his soupere. _full many a fat partrich hadde he in mewe_, and many a breme and many a luce in stewe." chapter lxi. of the city of chandu, and the kaan's palace there. and when you have ridden three days from the city last mentioned, between north-east and north, you come to a city called chandu,[note 1] which was built by the kaan now reigning. there is at this place a very fine marble palace, the rooms of which are all gilt and painted with figures of men and beasts and birds, and with a variety of trees and flowers, all executed with such exquisite art that you regard them with delight and astonishment.[note 2] round this palace a wall is built, inclosing a compass of 16 miles, and inside the park there are fountains and rivers and brooks, and beautiful meadows, with all kinds of wild animals (excluding such as are of ferocious nature), which the emperor has procured and placed there to supply food for his gerfalcons and hawks, which he keeps there in mew. of these there are more than 200 gerfalcons alone, without reckoning the other hawks. the kaan himself goes every week to see his birds sitting in mew, and sometimes he rides through the park with a leopard behind him on his horse's croup; and then if he sees any animal that takes his fancy, he slips his leopard at it,[note 3] and the game when taken is made over to feed the hawks in mew. this he does for diversion. moreover [at a spot in the park where there is a charming wood] he has another palace built of cane, of which i must give you a description. it is gilt all over, and most elaborately finished inside. [it is stayed on gilt and lackered columns, on each of which is a dragon all gilt, the tail of which is attached to the column whilst the head supports the architrave, and the claws likewise are stretched out right and left to support the architrave.] the roof, like the rest, is formed of canes, covered with a varnish so strong and excellent that no amount of rain will rot them. these canes are a good 3 palms in girth, and from 10 to 15 paces in length. [they are cut across at each knot, and then the pieces are split so as to form from each two hollow tiles, and with these the house is roofed; only every such tile of cane has to be nailed down to prevent the wind from lifting it.] in short, the whole palace is built of these canes, which (i may mention) serve also for a great variety of other useful purposes. the construction of the palace is so devised that it can be taken down and put up again with great celerity; and it can all be taken to pieces and removed whithersoever the emperor may command. when erected, it is braced [against mishaps from the wind] by more than 200 cords of silk.[note 4] the lord abides at this park of his, dwelling sometimes in the marble palace and sometimes in the cane palace for three months of the year, to wit, june, july, and august; preferring this residence because it is by no means hot; in fact it is a very cool place. when the 28th day of [the moon of] august arrives he takes his departure, and the cane palace is taken to pieces.[note 5] but i must tell you what happens when he goes away from this palace every year on the 28th of the august [moon]. you must know that the kaan keeps an immense stud of white horses and mares; in fact more than 10,000 of them, and all pure white without a speck. the milk of these mares is drunk by himself and his family, and by none else, except by those of one great tribe that have also the privilege of drinking it. this privilege was granted them by chinghis kaan, on account of a certain victory that they helped him to win long ago. the name of the tribe is horiad.[note 6] now when these mares are passing across the country, and any one falls in with them, be he the greatest lord in the land, he must not presume to pass until the mares have gone by; he must either tarry where he is, or go a half-day's journey round if need so be, so as not to come nigh them; for they are to be treated with the greatest respect. well, when the lord sets out from the park on the 28th of august, as i told you, the milk of all those mares is taken and sprinkled on the ground. and this is done on the injunction of the idolaters and idol-priests, who say that it is an excellent thing to sprinkle that milk on the ground every 28th of august, so that the earth and the air and the false gods shall have their share of it, and the spirits likewise that inhabit the air and the earth. and thus those beings will protect and bless the kaan and his children and his wives and his folk and his gear, and his cattle and his horses, his corn and all that is his. after this is done, the emperor is off and away.[note 7] but i must now tell you a strange thing that hitherto i have forgotten to mention. during the three months of every year that the lord resides at that place, if it should happen to be bad weather, there are certain crafty enchanters and astrologers in his train, who are such adepts in necromancy and the diabolic arts, that they are able to prevent any cloud or storm from passing over the spot on which the emperor's palace stands. the sorcerers who do this are called tebet and kesimur, which are the names of two nations of idolaters. whatever they do in this way is by the help of the devil, but they make those people believe that it is compassed by dint of their own sanctity and the help of god.[note 8] [they always go in a state of dirt and uncleanness, devoid of respect for themselves, or for those who see them, unwashed, unkempt, and sordidly attired.] these people also have a custom which i must tell you. if a man is condemned to death and executed by the lawful authority, they take his body and cook and eat it. but if any one die a natural death then they will not eat the body.[note 9] there is another marvel performed by those bacsi, of whom i have been speaking as knowing so many enchantments.[note 10] for when the great kaan is at his capital and in his great palace, seated at his table, which stands on a platform some eight cubits above the ground, his cups are set before him [on a great buffet] in the middle of the hall pavement, at a distance of some ten paces from his table, and filled with wine, or other good spiced liquor such as they use. now when the lord desires to drink, these enchanters by the power of their enchantments cause the cups to move from their place without being touched by anybody, and to present themselves to the emperor! this every one present may witness, and there are ofttimes more than 10,000 persons thus present. 'tis a truth and no lie! and so will tell you the sages of our own country who understand necromancy, for they also can perform it.[note 11] and when the idol festivals come round, these _bacsi_ go to the prince and say: "sire, the feast of such a god is come" (naming him). "my lord, you know," the enchanter will say, "that this god, when he gets no offerings, always sends bad weather and spoils our seasons. so we pray you to give us such and such a number of black-faced sheep," naming whatever number they please. "and we beg also, good my lord, that we may have such a quantity of incense, and such a quantity of lignaloes, and"--so much of this, so much of that, and so much of t'other, according to their fancy--"that we may perform a solemn service and a great sacrifice to our idols, and that so they may be induced to protect us and all that is ours." the _bacsi_ say these things to the barons entrusted with the stewardship, who stand round the great kaan, and these repeat them to the kaan, and he then orders the barons to give everything that the bacsi have asked for. and when they have got the articles they go and make a great feast in honour of their god, and hold great ceremonies of worship with grand illuminations and quantities of incense of a variety of odours, which they make up from different aromatic spices. and then they cook the meat, and set it before the idols, and sprinkle the broth hither and thither, saying that in this way the idols get their bellyful. thus it is that they keep their festivals. you must know that each of the idols has a name of his own, and a feast-day, just as our saints have their anniversaries.[note 12] they have also immense minsters and abbeys, some of them as big as a small town, with more than two thousand monks (i.e. after their fashion) in a single abbey.[note 13] these monks dress more decently than the rest of the people, and have the head and beard shaven. there are some among these _bacsi_ who are allowed by their rule to take wives, and who have plenty of children.[note 14] then there is another kind of devotees called sensin, who are men of extraordinary abstinence after their fashion, and lead a life of such hardship as i will describe. all their life long they eat nothing but bran,[note 15] which they take mixt with hot water. that is their food: bran, and nothing but bran; and water for their drink. 'tis a lifelong fast! so that i may well say their life is one of extraordinary asceticism. they have great idols, and plenty of them; but they sometimes also worship fire. the other idolaters who are not of this sect call these people heretics--_patarins_ as we should say[note 16]--because they do not worship their idols in their own fashion. those of whom i am speaking would not take a wife on any consideration.[note 17] they wear dresses of hempen stuff, black and blue,[note 18] and sleep upon mats; in fact their asceticism is something astonishing. their idols are all feminine, that is to say, they have women's names.[note 19] now let us have done with this subject, and let me tell you of the great state and wonderful magnificence of the great lord of lords; i mean that great prince who is the sovereign of the tartars, cublay by name, that most noble and puissant lord. note 1.--[there were two roads to go from peking to shangtu: the eastern road through tu-shi-k'ow, and the western (used for the return journey) road by ye-hu ling. polo took this last road, which ran from peking to siuen-te chau through the same places as now; but from the latter town it led, not to kalgan as it does now, but more to the west, to a place called now shan-fang pú where the pass across the ye-hu ling range begins. "on both these roads _nabo_, or temporary palaces, were built, as resting-places for the khans; eighteen on the eastern road, and twenty-four on the western." (_palladius_, p. 25.) the same author makes (p. 26) the following remarks: "m. polo's statement that he travelled three days from siuen-te chau to chagannor, and three days also from the latter place to shang-tu, agrees with the information contained in the 'researches on the routes to shangtu.' the chinese authors have not given the precise position of lake chagannor; there are several lakes in the desert on the road to shangtu, and their names have changed with time. the palace in chagannor was built in 1280" (according to the _siu t'ung kien_).--h. c.] note 2.--_chandu_, called more correctly in ramusio _xandu_, i.e. shandu, and by fr. odorico _sandu_, viz. shang-tu or "upper court," the chinese title of kúblái's summer residence at kaipingfu, _mongolicè_ keibung (see ch. xiii. of prologue) [is called also _loan king_, i.e. "the capital on the loan river," according to palladius, p. 26.--h. c.]. the ruins still exist, in about lat. 40° 22', and a little west of the longitude of peking. the site is 118 miles in direct line from chaghan-nor, making polo's three marches into rides of unusual length.[1] the ruins bear the mongol name of _chao naiman sumé khotan_, meaning "city of the 108 temples," and are about 26 miles to the north-west of dolon-nor, a bustling, dirty town of modern origin, famous for the manufactory of idols, bells, and other ecclesiastical paraphernalia of buddhism. the site was visited (though not described) by père gerbillon in 1691, and since then by no european traveller till 1872, when dr. bushell of the british legation at peking, and the hon. t. g. grosvenor, made a journey thither from the capital, by way of the nan-kau pass (supra p. 26), kalgan, and the vicinity of chaghan-nor, the route that would seem to have been habitually followed, in their annual migration, by kúblái and his successors. the deserted site, overgrown with rank weeds and grass, stands but little above the marshy bed of the river, which here preserves the name of shangtu, and about a mile from its north or left bank. the walls, of earth faced with brick and unhewn stone, still stand, forming, as in the tartar city of peking, a double _enceinte_, of which the inner line no doubt represents the area of the "marble palace" of which polo speaks. this forms a square of about 2 _li_ (2/3 of a mile) to the side, and has three gates--south, east, and west, of which the southern one still stands intact, a perfect arch, 20 ft. high and 12 ft. wide. the outer wall forms a square of 4 _li_ (1-1/3 mile) to the side, and has six gates. the foundations of temples and palace-buildings can be traced, and both enclosures are abundantly strewn with blocks of marble and fragments of lions, dragons, and other sculptures, testifying to the former existence of a flourishing city, but exhibiting now scarcely one stone upon another. a broken memorial tablet was found, half buried in the ground, within the north-east angle of the outer rampart, bearing an inscription in an antique form of the chinese character, which proves it to have been erected by kúblái, in honour of a buddhist ecclesiastic called yun-hien. yun-hien was the abbot of one of those great minsters and abbeys of _bacsis_, of which marco speaks, and the exact date (no longer visible) of the monument was equivalent to a.d. 1288.[2] [illustration: heading in the old chinese seal-character, of an inscription on a memorial raised by kúblái-kaan to a buddhist ecclesiastic in the vicinity of his summer-palace at shang-tu in mongolia. reduced from a facsimile obtained on the spot by dr. _s. w. bushell_, 1872. (about oneforth the length and breadth of original.)] this city occupies the south-east angle of a more extensive enclosure, bounded by what is now a grassy mound, and embracing, on dr. bushell's estimate, about 5 square miles. further knowledge may explain the discrepancy from marco's dimension, but this must be the park of which he speaks.[3] the woods and fountains have disappeared, like the temples and palaces; all is dreary and desolate, though still abounding in the game which was one of kúblái's attractions to the spot. a small monastery, occupied by six or seven wretched lamas, is the only building that remains in the vicinity. the river shangtu, which lower down becomes the lan [or loan]-ho, was formerly navigated from the sea up to this place by flat grain-boats. [mgr. de harlez gave in the _t'oung pao_ (x. p. 73) an inscription in _chuen_ character on a _stele_ found in the ruins of shangtu, and built by an officer with the permission of the emperor; it is probably a token of imperial favour; the inscription means: _great longevity_.--h. c.] in the wail which sanang setzen, the poetical historian of the mongols, puts, perhaps with some traditional basis, into the mouth of toghon temur, the last of the chinghizide dynasty in china, when driven from his throne, the changes are rung on the lost glories of his capital _daïtu_ (see infra, book ii. ch. xi.) and his summer palace _shangtu_; thus (i translate from schott's amended german rendering of the mongol): "my vast and noble capital, my daïtu, my splendidly adorned! and thou my cool and delicious summer-seat, my shangtu-keibung! ye, also, yellow plains of shangtu, delight of my godlike sires! i suffered myself to drop into dreams,--and lo! my empire was gone! ah thou my daïtu, built of the nine precious substances! ah my shangtu-keibung, union of all perfections! ah my fame! ah my glory, as khagan and lord of the earth! when i used to awake betimes and look forth, how the breezes blew loaded with fragrance! and turn which way i would all was glorious perfection of beauty! * * * * * alas for my illustrious name as the sovereign of the world! alas for my daïtu, seat of sanctity, glorious work of the immortal kúblái! all, all is rent from me!" it was, in 1797, whilst reading this passage of marco's narrative in old purchas that coleridge fell asleep, and dreamt the dream of kúblái's paradise, beginning: "in xanadu did kubla khan a stately pleasure-dome decree: where alph, the sacred river, ran through caverns measureless to man down to a sunless sea. so twice five miles of fertile ground with walls and towers were girdled round: and there were gardens bright with sinuous rills where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; and here were forests ancient as the hills, enfolding sunny spots of greenery." it would be a singular coincidence in relation to this poem were klaproth's reading correct of a passage in rashiduddin which he renders as saying that the palace at kaiminfu was "called langtin, and was built after a plan that kúblái had seen in a dream, and had retained in his memory." but i suspect d'ohsson's reading is more accurate, which runs: "kúblái caused a palace to be built for him east of kaipingfu, called lengten; _but he abandoned it in consequence of a dream._" for we see from sanang setzen that the palaces of lengten and kaiming or shangtu were distinct; "between the year of the rat (1264), when kúblái was fifty years old, and the year of the sheep (1271), in the space of eight years, he built four great cities, viz. for summer residence shangtu keibung kürdu balgasun, for winter residence yeke daïtu khotan, and on the shady side of the altai (see ch. li. note 3, supra) arulun tsaghan balgasun, and erchügin langting balgasun." a valuable letter from dr. bushell enables me now to indicate the position of langtin: "the district through which the river flows eastward from shangtu is known to the mongolians of the present day by the name of _lang-tírh_ (_lang-ting'rh_).... the ruins of the city are marked on a chinese map in my possession pai-dseng-tzu, i.e. 'white city,' implying that it was formerly an imperial residence. the remains of the wall are 7 or 8 _li_ in diameter, of stone, and situated about 40 _li_ north-north-west from dolon-nor." (_gerbillon_ in _astley_, iv. 701-716; klaproth, in _j. as._ sèr. ii. tom. xi. 345-350; _schott, die letzten jahre der mongolenherrschaft in china_ (berl. acad. d. wissensch. 1850, pp. 502-503); _huc's tartary_, etc., p. seqq.; _cathay_, 134, 261; _s. setzen_, p. 115; _dr. s. w. bushell, journey outside the great wall_, in _j. r. g. s._ for 1874, and ms. notes.) one of the pavilions of the celebrated yuen-ming-yuen may give some idea of the probable style, though not of the scale, of kúblái's summer palace. hiuen tsang's account of the elaborate and fantastic ornamentation of the famous indian monasteries at nalanda in bahár, where mr. broadley has lately made such remarkable discoveries, seems to indicate that these fantasies of burmese and chinese architecture may have had a direct origin in india, at a time when timber was still a principal material of construction there: "the pavilions had pillars adorned with dragons, and posts that glowed with all the colours of the rainbow, sculptured frets, columns set with jade, richly chiselled and lackered, with balustrades of vermilion, and carved open work. the lintels of the doors were tastefully ornamented, and the roofs covered with shining tiles, the splendours of which were multiplied by mutual reflection and from moment to moment took a thousand forms." (_vie et voyages_, 157.) note 3.--[rubruck says, (_rockhill_, p. 248): "i saw also the envoy of a certain soldan of india, who had brought eight leopards and ten _greyhounds_, taught to sit on horses' backs, as leopards sit."--h. c.] note 4.--ramusio's is here so much more lucid than the other texts, that i have adhered mainly to his account of the building. the roof described is of a kind in use in the indian archipelago, and in some other parts of transgangetic india, in which the semi-cylinders of bamboo are laid just like roman tiles. rashiduddin gives a curious account of the way in which the foundations of the terrace on which this palace stood were erected in a lake. he says, too, in accord with polo: "inside the city itself a second palace was built, about a bowshot from the first: but the kaan generally takes up his residence in the palace outside the town," i.e., as i imagine, in marco's cane palace. (_cathay_, pp. 261-262.) ["_the palace of canes_ is probably the palm hall, _tsung tien_, alias _tsung mao tien_, of the chinese authors, which was situated in the western palace garden of shangtu. mention is made also in the _altan tobchi_ of a cane tent in shangtu." (_palladius_, p. 27.)--h. c.] [illustration: pavilion at yuen-ming-yuen.] marco might well say of the bamboo that "it serves also a great variety of other purposes." an intelligent native of arakan who accompanied me in wanderings on duty in the forests of the burmese frontier in the beginning of 1853, and who used to ask many questions about europe, seemed able to apprehend almost everything except the possibility of existence in a country without bamboos! "when i speak of bamboo huts, i mean to say that posts and walls, wall-plates and rafters, floor and thatch, and the withes that bind them, are all of bamboo. in fact, it might almost be said that among the indo-chinese nations the staff of life is _a bamboo!_ scaffolding and ladders, landing-jetties, fishing apparatus, irrigation wheels and scoops, oars, masts, and yards [and in china, sails, cables, and caulking, asparagus, medicine, and works of fantastic art], spears and arrows, hats and helmets, bow, bowstring and quiver, oil-cans, water-stoups and cooking-pots, pipe-sticks [tinder and means of producing fire], conduits, clothes-boxes, pawn-boxes, dinner-trays, pickles, preserves, and melodious musical instruments, torches, footballs, cordage, bellows, mats, paper; these are but a few of the articles that are made from the bamboo;" and in china, to sum up the whole, as barrow observes, it maintains order throughout the empire! (_ava mission_, p. 153; and see also _wallace, ind. arch._ i. 120 seqq.) note 5.--"the emperor ... began this year (1264) to depart from yenking (peking) in the second or third month for shangtu, not returning until the eighth month. every year he made this passage, and all the mongol emperors who succeeded him followed his example." (_gaubil_, p. 144.) ["the khans usually resorted to shangtu in the 4th moon and returned to peking in the 9th. on the 7th day of the 7th moon there were libations performed in honour of the ancestors; a shaman, his face to the north, uttered in a loud voice the names of chingiz khan and of other deceased khans, and poured mare's milk on the ground. the propitious day for the return journey to peking was also appointed then." (_palladius_, p. 26.)--h. c.] note 6.--white horses were presented in homage to the kaan on new year's day (_the white feast_), as we shall see below. (bk. ii. ch. xv.) odoric also mentions this practice; and, according to huc, the mongol chiefs continued it at least to the time of the emperor k'ang-hi. indeed timkowski speaks of annual tributes of white camels and white horses from the khans of the kalkas and other mongol dignitaries, in the present century. (_huc's tartary_, etc.; _tim._ ii. 33.) by the horiad are no doubt intended the uirad or oirad, a name usually interpreted as signifying the "closely allied," or confederates; but vámbéry explains it as (turki) _oyurat_, "grey horse," to which the statement in our text appears to lend colour. they were not of the tribes properly called mongol, but after their submission to chinghiz they remained closely attached to him. in chinghiz's victory over aung-khan, as related by s. setzen, we find turulji taishi, the son of the chief of the oirad, one of chinghiz's three chief captains; perhaps that is the victory alluded to. the seats of the oirad appear to have been about the head waters of the kem, or upper yenisei. in a.d. 1295 there took place a curious desertion from the service of gházán khan of persia of a vast corps of the oirad, said to amount to 18,000 _tents_. they made their way to damascus, where they were well received by the mameluke sultan. but their heathenish practices gave dire offence to the faithful. they were settled in the _sáhil_, or coast districts of palestine. many died speedily; the rest embraced islam, spread over the country, and gradually became absorbed in the general population. their sons and daughters were greatly admired for their beauty. (_s. setz._ p. 87; _erdmann_, 187; _pallas, samml._ i. 5 seqq.; _makrizi_, iii. 29; _bretschneider, med. res._ ii. p. 159 seqq.) [with reference to yule's conjecture, i may quote palladius (l.c. p. 27): "it is, however, strange that the oirats alone enjoyed the privilege described by marco polo; for the highest position at the mongol khan's court belonged to the kunkrat tribe, out of which the khans used to choose their first wives, who were called empresses of the first _ordo_."--h. c.] note 7.--rubruquis assigns such a festival to the month of may: "on the 9th day of the may moon they collect all the white mares of their herds and consecrate them. the christian priests also must then assemble with their thuribles. they then sprinkle new cosmos (_kumíz_) on the ground, and make a great feast that day, for according to their calendar, it is their time of first drinking new cosmos, just as we reckon of our new wine at the feast of st. bartholomew (24th august), or that of st. sixtus (6th august), or of our fruit on the feast of st. james and st. christopher" (25th july). [with reference to this feast, mr. rockhill gives (_rubruck_, p. 241, note) extracts from _pallas, voyages_, iv. 579, and _professor radloff, aus siberien_, i. 378.--h. c.] the yakuts also hold such a festival in june or july, when the mares foal, and immense wooden goblets of kumíz are emptied on that occasion. they also pour out kumíz for the spirits to the four quarters of heaven. the following passage occurs in the narrative of the journey of chang te-hui, a chinese teacher, who was summoned to visit the camp of kúblái in mongolia, some twelve years before that prince ascended the throne of the kaans:[4] "on the 9th day of the 9th moon (october), the prince, having called his subjects before his chief tent, performed the libation of the milk of a white mare. this was the customary sacrifice at that time. the vessels used were made of birch-bark, not ornamented with either silver or gold. such here is the respect for simplicity.... "at the last day of the year the mongols suddenly changed their camping-ground to another place, for the mutual congratulation on the 1st moon. then there was every day feasting before the tents for the lower ranks. beginning with the prince, all dressed themselves in white fur clothing....[5] "on the 9th day of the 4th moon (may) the prince again collected his vassals before the chief tent for the libation of the milk of a white mare. this sacrifice is performed twice a year." it has been seen (p. 308) that rubruquis also names the 9th day of the may moon as that of the consecration of the white mares. the autumn libation is described by polo as performed on the 28th day of the august moon, probably because it was unsuited to the circumstances of the court at cambaluc, where the kaan was during october, and the day named was the last of his annual stay in the mongolian uplands. baber tells that among the ceremonies of a mongol review the khan and his staff took kumiz and sprinkled it towards the standards. an armenian author of the mongol era says that it was the custom of the tartars, before drinking, to sprinkle drink towards heaven, and towards the four quarters. mr. atkinson notices the same practice among the kirghiz: and i found the like in old days among the kasias of the eastern frontier of bengal. the time of year assigned by polo for the ceremony implies some change. perhaps it had been made to coincide with the festival of water consecration of the lamas, with which the time named in the text seems to correspond. on that occasion the lamas go in procession to the rivers and lakes and consecrate them by benediction and by casting in offerings, attended by much popular festivity. rubruquis seems to intimate that the nestorian priests were employed to consecrate the white mares by incensing them. in the rear of lord canning's camp in india i once came upon the party of his _shutr suwárs_, or dromedary-express riders, busily engaged in incensing with frankincense the whole of the dromedaries, which were kneeling in a circle. i could get no light on the practice, but it was very probably a relic of the old mongol custom. (_rubr._ 363; _erman_, ii. 397; _billings' journey_, fr. tr. i. 217; _baber_, 103; _j. as._ sèr. v. tom. xi. p. 249; _atk. amoor_, p. 47; _j. a. s. b._ xiii. 628; _koeppen_, ii. 313.) note 8.--the practice of weather-conjuring was in great vogue among the mongols, and is often alluded to in their history. the operation was performed by means of a stone of magical virtues, called _yadah_ or _jadah-tásh_, which was placed in or hung over a basin of water with sundry ceremonies. the possession of such a stone is ascribed by the early arab traveller ibn mohalhal to the _kímák_, a great tribe of the turks. in the war raised against chinghiz and aung khan, when still allies, by a great confederation of the naiman and other tribes in 1202, we are told that sengun, the son of aung khan, when sent to meet the enemy, caused them to be enchanted, so that all their attempted movements against him were defeated by snow and mist. the fog and darkness were indeed so dense that many men and horses fell over precipices, and many also perished with cold. in another account of (apparently) the same matter, given by mir-khond, the conjuring is set on foot by the _yadachi_ of buyruk khan, prince of the naiman, but the mischief all rebounds on the conjurer's own side. in tului's invasion of honan in 1231-1232, rashiduddin describes him, when in difficulty, as using the _jadah_ stone with success. timur, in his memoirs, speaks of the jets using incantations to produce heavy rains which hindered his cavalry from acting against them. a _yadachi_ was captured, and when his head had been taken off the storm ceased. baber speaks of one of his early friends, khwaja ka mulai, as excelling in falconry and acquainted with _yadagarí_ or the art of bringing on rain and snow by means of enchantment. when the russians besieged kazan in 1552 they suffered much from the constant heavy rains, and this annoyance was universally ascribed to the arts of the tartar queen, who was celebrated as an enchantress. shah abbas believed he had learned the tartar secret, and put much confidence in it. (_p. delia v._ i. 869.) [grenard says (ii. p. 256) the most powerful and most feared of sorcerers [in chinese turkestan] is the _djâduger_, who, to produce rain or fine weather, uses a jade stone, given by noah to japhet. grenard adds (ii. 406-407) there are sorcerers (ngag-pa-snags-pa) whose specialty is to make rain fall; they are similar to the turkish _yadachi_ and like them use a stone called "water cristal," _chu shel_; probably jade stone. mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, p. 245, note) writes: "rashideddin states that when the urianghit wanted to bring a storm to an end, they said injuries to the sky, the lightning and thunder. i have seen this done myself by mongol storm-dispellers. (see _diary_, 201, 203.) 'the other mongol people,' he adds, 'do the contrary. when the storm rumbles, they remain shut up in their huts, full of fear.' the subject of storm-making, and the use of stones for that purpose, is fully discussed by quatremère, _histoire_, 438-440." (cf. also _rockhill_, l.c. p. 254.)--h. c.] an edict of the emperor shi-tsung, of the reigning dynasty, addressed in 1724-1725 to the eight banners of mongolia, warns them against this rain-conjuring: "if i," indignantly observes the emperor, "offering prayer in sincerity have yet room to fear that it may please heaven to leave my prayer unanswered, it is truly intolerable that mere common people wishing for rain should at their own caprice set up altars of earth, and bring together a rabble of hoshang (buddhist bonzes) and taossé to conjure the spirits to gratify their wishes." ["lamas were of various extraction; at the time of the great assemblies, and of the khan's festivities in shangtu, they erected an altar near the khan's tent and prayed for fine weather; the whistling of shells rose up to heaven." these are the words in which marco polo's narrative is corroborated by an eye-witness who has celebrated the remarkable objects of shangtu (_loan king tsa yung_). these lamas, in spite of the prohibition by the buddhist creed of bloody sacrifices, used to sacrifice sheep's hearts to mahakala. it happened, as it seems, that the heart of an executed criminal was also considered an agreeable offering; and as the offerings could be, after the ceremony, eaten by the sacrificing priests, marco polo had some reason to accuse the lamas of cannibalism. (_palladius_, 28.)--h. c.] the practice of weather-conjuring is not yet obsolete in tartary, tibet, and the adjoining countries.[6] weather-conjuring stories were also rife in europe during the middle ages. one such is conspicuously introduced in connection with a magical fountain in the romance of the _chevalier au lyon_: "et s'i pant uns bacins d'or fin a une si longue chaainne qui dure jusqu'a la fontainne, lez la fontainne troveras un perron tel con tu verras * * * * s'au bacin viaus de l'iaue prandre et dessor le perron espandre, la verras une tel tanpeste qu'an cest bois ne remandra beste," etc. etc.[7] the effect foretold in these lines is the subject of a woodcut illustrating a welsh version of the same tale in the first volume of the _mabinogion_. and the existence of such a fountain is alluded to by alexander neckam. (_de naturis rerum_, bk. ii. ch. vii.) in the _cento novelle antiche_ also certain necromancers exhibit their craft before the emperor frederic (barbarossa apparently): "the weather began to be overcast, and lo of a sudden rain began to fall with continued thunders and lightnings, as if the world were come to an end, and hailstones that looked like steel-caps," etc. various other european legends of like character will be found in _liebrecht's gervasius von tilbury_, pp. 147-148. rain-makers there are in many parts of the world; but it is remarkable that those also of samoa in the pacific operate by means of a _rain-stone_. such weather conjurings as we have spoken of are ascribed by ovid to circe: "concipit illa preces, et verba venefica dicit; ignotosque deos ignoto carmine adorat, * * * * _tunc quoque cantato densetur carmine caelum, et nebulas exhalat humus_."--_metam._ xiv. 365. and to medea:- --"quum volui, ripis mirantibus, amnes in fontes rediere suos ... (another feat of the lamas) ... _nubila pello, nubilaque induco; ventos abigoque, vocoque_."--ibid. vii. 199. and by tibullus to the _saga_ (_eleg._ i. 2, 45); whilst empedocles, in verses ascribed to him by diogenes laertius, claims power to communicate like secrets of potency:- "by my spells thou may'st to timely sunshine turn the purple rains, and parching droughts to fertilising floods." (see _cathay_, p. clxxxvii.; _erdm._ 282; _oppert_, 182 seqq.; _erman_, i. 153; _pallas, samml._ ii. 348 seqq.; _timk._ i. 402; _j. r. a. s._ vii. 305-306; _d'ohsson_, ii. 614; and for many interesting particulars, _q. r._ p. 428 seqq., and _hammers golden horde_, 207 and 435 seqq.) note 9.--it is not clear whether marco attributes this cannibalism to the tibetans and kashmirians, or brings it in as a particular of tartar custom which he had forgotten to mention before. the accusations of cannibalism indeed against the tibetans in old accounts are frequent, and i have elsewhere (see _cathay_, p. 151) remarked on some singular tibetan practices which go far to account for such charges. della penna, too, makes a statement which bears curiously on the present passage. remarking on the great use made by certain classes of the lamas of human skulls for magical cups, and of human thigh bones for flutes and whistles, he says that to supply them with these _the bodies of executed criminals were stored up of the disposal of the lamas_; and a hindu account of tibet in the _asiatic researches_ asserts that when one is killed in a fight both parties rush forward and struggle for the liver, which they eat (vol. xv). [carpini says of the people of tibet: "they are pagans; they have a most astonishing, or rather horrible, custom, for, when any one's father is about to give up the ghost, all the relatives meet together, and they eat him, as was told to me for certain." mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, p. 152, note) writes: "so far as i am aware, this charge [of cannibalism] is not made by any oriental writer against the tibetans, though both arab travellers to china in the ninth century and armenian historians of the thirteenth century say the chinese practised cannibalism. the armenians designate china by the name _nankas_, which i take to be chinese _nan-kuo_, 'southern country,' the _manzi_ country of marco polo."--h. c.] but like charges of cannibalism are brought against both chinese and tartars very positively. thus, without going back to the anthropophagous scythians of ptolemy and mela, we read in the _relations_ of the arab travellers of the ninth century: "in china it occurs sometimes that the governor of a province revolts from his duty to the emperor. in such a case he is slaughtered and eaten. _in fact, the chinese eat the flesh of all men who are executed by the sword_." dr. rennie mentions a superstitious practice, the continued existence of which in our own day he has himself witnessed, and which might perhaps have given rise to some such statement as that of the arab travellers, if it be not indeed a relic, in a mitigated form, of the very practice they assert to have prevailed. after an execution at peking certain large pith balls are steeped in the blood, and under the name of _blood-bread_ are sold as a medicine for consumption. _it is only to the blood of decapitated criminals that any such healing power is attributed_. it has been asserted in the annals of the _propagation de la foi_ that the chinese executioners of m. chapdelaine, a missionary who was martyred in kwang-si in 1856 (28th february), were seen to eat the heart of their victim; and m. huot, a missionary in the yun-nan province, recounts a case of cannibalism which he witnessed. bishop chauveau, at ta ts'ien-lu, told mr. cooper that he had seen men in one of the cities of yun-nan eating the heart and brains of a celebrated robber who had been executed. dr. carstairs douglas of amoy also tells me that the like practices have occurred at amoy and swatau. [with reference to cannibalism in china see _medical superstitions an incentive to anti-foreign riots in china_, by _d. j. macgowan, north china herald_, 8th july, 1892, pp. 60-62. mr. e. h. parker (_china review_, february-march, 1901, 136) relates that the inhabitants of a part of kwang-si boiled and ate a chinese officer who had been sent to pacify them. "the idea underlying this horrible act [cannibalism] is, that by eating a portion of the victim, especially the heart, one acquires the valour with which he was endowed." (_dennys' folk-lore of china_, 67.)--h. c.] hayton, the armenian, after relating the treason of a saracen, called parwana (he was an iconian turk), against abaka khan, says: "he was taken and cut in two, and orders were issued that in all the food eaten by abaka there should be put a portion of the traitor's flesh. of this abaka himself ate, and caused all his barons to partake. _and this was in accordance with the custom of the tartars_." the same story is related independently and differently by friar ricold, thus: "when the army of abaga ran away from the saracens in syria, a certain great tartar baron was arrested who had been guilty of treason. and when the emperor khan was giving the order for his execution the tartar ladies and women interposed, and begged that he might be made over to them. having got hold of the prisoner they boiled him alive, and cutting his body up into mince-meat gave it to eat to the whole army, as an example to others." vincent of beauvais makes a like statement: "when they capture any one who is at bitter enmity with them, they gather together and eat him in vengeance of his revolt, and like infernal leeches suck his blood," a custom of which a modern mongol writer thinks that he finds a trace in a surviving proverb. among more remote and ignorant franks the cannibalism of the tartars was a general belief. ivo of narbonne, in his letter written during the great tartar invasion of europe (1242), declares that the tartar chiefs, with their dog's head followers and other _lotophagi_ (!), ate the bodies of their victims like so much bread; whilst a venetian chronicler, speaking of the council of lyons in 1274, says there was a discussion about making a general move against the tartars, "_porce qu'il manjuent la char humaine._" these latter writers no doubt rehearsed mere popular beliefs, but hayton and ricold were both intelligent persons well acquainted with the tartars, and hayton at least not prejudiced against them. the old belief was revived in prussia during the seven years' war, in regard to the kalmaks of the russian army; and bergmann says the old kalmak warriors confessed to him that they had done what they could to encourage it by cutting up the bodies of the slain in presence of their prisoners, and roasting them! but levchine relates an act on the part of the kirghiz kazaks which was no jest. they drank the blood of their victim if they did not eat his flesh. there is some reason to believe that cannibalism was in the middle ages generally a less strange and unwonted horror than we should at first blush imagine, and especially that it was an idea tolerably familiar in china. m. bazin, in the second part of _chine moderne_, p. 461, after sketching a chinese drama of the mongol era ("the devotion of chao-li"), the plot of which turns on the acts of a body of cannibals, quotes several other passages from chinese authors which indicate this. nor is this wonderful in the age that had experienced the horrors of the mongol wars. that was no doubt a fable which carpini heard in the camp of the great kaan, that in one of the mongol sieges in cathay, when the army was without food, one man in ten of their own force was sacrificed to feed the remainder.[8] but we are told in sober history that the force of tului in honan, in 1231-1232, was reduced to such straits as to eat grass and human flesh. at the siege of the kin capital kaifongfu, in 1233, the besieged were reduced to the like extremity; and the same occurred the same year at the siege of tsaichau; and in 1262, when the rebel general litan was besieged in tsinanfu. the taiping wars the other day revived the same horrors in all their magnitude. and savage acts of the same kind by the chinese and their turk partisans in the defence of kashgar were related to mr. shaw. probably, however, nothing of the kind in history equals what abdallatif, a sober and scientific physician, describes as having occurred before his own eyes in the great egyptian famine of a.h. 597 (1200). the horrid details fill a chapter of some length, and we need not quote from them. nor was christendom without the rumour of such barbarities. the story of king richard's banquet in presence of saladin's ambassadors on the head of a saracen curried (for so it surely was),- "soden full hastily with powder and with spysory, and with saffron of good colour"-fable as it is, is told with a zest that makes one shudder; but the tale in the _chanson d'antioche_, of how the licentious bands of ragamuffins, who hung on the army of the first crusade, and were known as the _tafurs_,[9] ate the turks whom they killed at the siege, looks very like an abominable truth, corroborated as it is by the prose chronicle of worse deeds at the ensuing siege of marrha:- "a lor cotiaus qu'il ont trenchans et afilés escorchoient les turs, aval parmi les près. voiant paiens, les ont par pièces découpés. en l'iave et el carbon les ont bien quisinés, volontiers les menjuent sans pain et dessalés."[10] (_della penna_, p. 76; _reinaud, rel._ i. 52; _rennie's peking_, ii. 244; _ann. de la pr. de la f._ xxix. 353, xxi. 298; _hayton_ in _ram._ ch. xvii.; _per. quat._ p. 116; _m. paris_, sub. 1243; _mél. asiat. acad. st. pétersb._ ii. 659; _canale_ in _arch. stor. ital._ viii.; _bergm. nomad. streifereien_, i. 14; _carpini_, 638; _d'ohsson_, ii. 30, 43, 52; _wilson's ever victorious army_, 74; _shaw_, p. 48; _abdallatif_, p. 363 seqq.; _weber_, ii. 135; _littré, h. de la langue franç._ i. 191; _gesta tancredi_ in _thes. nov. anecd._ iii. 172.) note 10.--_bakhshi_ is generally believed to be a corruption of _bhikshu_, the proper sanscrit term for a religious mendicant, and in particular for the buddhist devotees of that character. _bakhshi_ was probably applied to a class only of the lamas, but among the turks and persians it became a generic name for them all. in this sense it is habitually used by rashiduddin, and thus also in the ain akbari: "the learned among the persians and arabians call the priests of this (buddhist) religion _bukshee_, and in tibbet they are styled lamas." according to pallas the word among the modern mongols is used in the sense of _teacher_, and is applied to the oldest and most learned priest of a community, who is the local ecclesiastical chief. among the kirghiz kazzaks again, who profess mahomedanism, the word also survives, but conveys among them just the idea that polo seems to have associated with it, that of a mere conjuror or "medicine-man"; whilst in western turkestan it has come to mean a bard. the word bakhshi has, however, wandered much further from its original meaning. from its association with persons who could read and write, and who therefore occasionally acted as clerks, it came in persia to mean a clerk or secretary. in the petrarchian vocabulary, published by klaproth, we find _scriba_ rendered in _comanian_, i.e. turkish of the crimea, by _bacsi_. the transfer of meaning is precisely parallel to that in regard to our clerk. under the mahomedan sovereigns of india, _bakhshi_ was applied to an officer performing something like the duties of a quartermaster-general; and finally, in our indian army, it has come to mean a paymaster. in the latter sense, i imagine it has got associated in the popular mind with the persian _bakhshídan_, to bestow, and _bakhshísh_. (see a note in _q. r._ p. 184 seqq.; _cathay_, p. 474; _ayeen akbery_, iii. 150; _pallas, samml._ ii. 126; _levchine_, p. 355; _klap. mém._ iii.; _vámbéry, sketches_, p. 81.) the sketch from the life, on p. 326, of a wandering tibetan devotee, whom i met once at hardwár, may give an idea of the sordid _bacsis_ spoken of by polo. note 11.--this feat is related more briefly by odoric: "and jugglers cause cups of gold full of good wine to fly through the air, and to offer themselves to all who list to drink." (_cathay_, p. 143.) in the note on that passage i have referred to a somewhat similar story in the _life of apollonius_. "such feats," says mr. jaeschke, "are often mentioned in ancient as well as modern legends of buddha and other saints; and our lamas have heard of things very similar performed by conjuring _bonpos_." (see p. 323.) the moving of cups and the like is one of the sorceries ascribed in old legends to simon magus: "he made statues to walk; leapt into the fire without being burnt; flew in the air; made bread of stones; changed his shape; assumed two faces at once; converted himself into a pillar; caused closed doors to fly open spontaneously; made the vessels in a house seem to move of themselves," etc. the jesuit delrio laments that credulous princes, otherwise of pious repute, should have allowed diabolic tricks to be played before them, "as, for example, things of iron, and silver goblets, or other heavy articles, to be moved by bounds from one end of a table to the other, without the use of a magnet or of any attachment." the pious prince appears to have been charles ix., and the conjuror a certain cesare maltesio. another jesuit author describes the veritable mango-trick, speaking of persons who "within three hours' space did cause a genuine shrub of a span in length to grow out of the table, besides other trees that produced both leaves and fruit." in a letter dated 1st december, 1875, written by mr. r. b. shaw, after his last return from kashgar and lahore, this distinguished traveller says; "i have heard stories related regarding a buddhist high priest whose temple is said to be not far to the east of lanchau, which reminds me of marco polo and kúblái khan. this high priest is said to have the magic power of attracting cups and plates to him from a distance, so that things fly through the air into his hands." (_ms. note_.--h. y.) the profession and practice of exorcism and magic in general is greatly more prominent in lamaism or tibetan buddhism than in any other known form of that religion. indeed, the old form of lamaism as it existed in our traveller's day, and till the reforms of tsongkhapa (1357-1419), and as it is still professed by the _red_ sect in tibet, seems to be a kind of compromise between indian buddhism and the old indigenous shamanism. even the reformed doctrine of the yellow sect recognises an orthodox kind of magic, which is due in great measure to the combination of sivaism with the buddhist doctrines, and of which the institutes are contained in the vast collection of the _jud_ or tantras, recognised among the holy books. the magic arts of this code open even a short road to the buddhahood itself. to attain that perfection of power and wisdom, culminating in the cessation of sensible existence, requires, according to the ordinary paths, a period of three _asankhyas_ (or say uncountable time × 3), whereas by means of the magic arts of the _tantras_ it may be reached in the course of three _rebirths_ only, nay, of one! but from the tantras also can be learned how to acquire miraculous powers for objects entirely selfish and secular, and how to exercise these by means of _dhárani_ or mystic indian charms. still the orthodox yellow lamas professedly repudiate and despise the grosser exhibitions of common magic and charlatanism which the reds still practise, such as knife-swallowing, blowing fire, cutting off their own heads, etc. but as the vulgar will not dispense with these marvels, every great orthodox monastery in tibet _keeps a conjuror_, who is a member of the unreformed, and does not belong to the brotherhood of the convent, but lives in a particular part of it, bearing the name of _choichong_, or protector of religion, and is allowed to marry. the magic of these choichong is in theory and practice different from the orthodox tantrist magic. the practitioners possess no literature, and hand down their mysteries only by tradition. their fantastic equipments, their frantic bearing, and their cries and howls, seem to identify them with the grossest shamanist devil dancers. sanang setzen enumerates a variety of the wonderful acts which could be performed through the _dhárani_. such were, sticking a peg into solid rock; restoring the dead to life; turning a dead body into gold; penetrating everywhere as air does; flying; catching wild beasts with the hand; reading thoughts; making water flow backwards; eating tiles; sitting in the air with the legs doubled under, etc. some of these are precisely the powers ascribed to medea, empedocles, and simon magus, in passages already cited. friar ricold says on this subject: "there are certain men whom the tartars honour above all in the world, viz. the _baxitae_ (i.e. _bakhshis_), who are a kind of idol-priests. these are men from india, persons of deep wisdom, well-conducted, and of the gravest morals. they are usually acquainted with magic arts, and depend on the counsel and aid of demons; they exhibit many illusions, and predict some future events. for instance, one of eminence among them was said to fly; the truth, however, was (as it proved), that he did not fly, but did walk close to the surface of the ground without touching it; and _would seem to sit down without having any substance to support him_." this last performance was witnessed by ibn batuta at delhi, in the presence of sultan mahomed tughlak; and it was professedly exhibited by a brahmin at madras in the present century, a descendant doubtless of those brahmans whom apollonius saw walking two cubits from the ground. it is also described by the worthy francis valentyn as a performance known and practised in his own day in india. it is related, he says, that "a man will first go and sit on three sticks put together so as to form a tripod; after which, first one stick, then a second, then the third shall be removed from under him, and the man shall not fall but shall still remain sitting in the air! yet i have spoken with two friends who had seen this at one and the same time; and one of them, i may add, mistrusting his own eyes, had taken the trouble to feel about with a long stick if there were nothing on which the body rested; yet, as the gentleman told me, he could neither feel nor see any such thing. still, i could only say that i could not believe it, as a thing too manifestly contrary to reason." akin to these performances, though exhibited by professed jugglers without claim to religious character, is a class of feats which might be regarded as simply inventions if told by one author only, but which seem to deserve prominent notice from their being recounted by a series of authors, certainly independent of one another, and writing at long intervals of time and place. our first witness is ibn batuta, and it will be necessary to quote him as well as the others in full, in order to show how closely their evidence tallies. the arab traveller was present at a great entertainment at the court of the viceroy of khansa (_kinsay_ of polo, or hang-chau fu): "that same night a juggler, who was one of the kán's slaves, made his appearance, and the amír said to him, 'come and show us some of your marvels.' upon this he took a wooden ball, with several holes in it, through which long thongs were passed, and, laying hold of one of these, slung it into the air. it went so high that we lost sight of it altogether. (it was the hottest season of the year, and we were outside in the middle of the palace court.) there now remained only a little of the end of a thong in the conjuror's hand, and he desired one of the boys who assisted him to lay hold of it and mount. he did so, climbing by the thong, and we lost sight of him also! the conjuror then called to him three times, but getting no answer, he snatched up a knife as if in a great rage, laid hold of the thong, and disappeared also! by and bye he threw down one of the boy's hands, then a foot, then the other hand, and then the other foot, then the trunk, and last of all the head! then he came down himself, all puffing and panting, and with his clothes all bloody, kissed the ground before the amír, and said something to him in chinese. the amír gave some order in reply, and our friend then took the lad's limbs, laid them together in their places, and gave a kick, when, presto! there was the boy, who got up and stood before us! all this astonished me beyond measure, and i had an attack of palpitation like that which overcame me once before in the presence of the sultan of india, when he showed me something of the same kind. they gave me a cordial, however, which cured the attack. the kazi afkharuddin was next to me, and quoth he, '_wallah!_ 'tis my opinion there has been neither going up nor coming down, neither marring nor mending; 'tis all hocus pocus!'" now let us compare with this, which ibn batuta the moor says he saw in china about the year 1348, the account which is given us by edward melton, an anglo-dutch traveller, of the performances of a chinese gang of conjurors, which he witnessed at batavia about the year 1670 (i have forgotten to note the year). after describing very vividly the _basketmurder_ trick, which is well known in india, and now also in europe, and some feats of bamboo balancing similar to those which were recently shown by japanese performers in england, only more wonderful, he proceeds: "but now i am going to relate a thing which surpasses all belief, and which i should scarcely venture to insert here had it not been witnessed by thousands before my own eyes. one of the same gang took a ball of cord, and grasping one end of the cord in his hand slung the other up into the air with such force that its extremity was beyond reach of our sight. he then immediately climbed up the cord with indescribable swiftness, and got so high that we could no longer see him. i stood full of astonishment, not conceiving what was to come of this; when lo! a leg came tumbling down out of the air. one of the conjuring company instantly snatched it up and threw it into the basket whereof i have formerly spoken. a moment later a hand came down, and immediately on that another leg. and in short all the members of the body came thus successively tumbling from the air and were cast together into the basket. the last fragment of all that we saw tumble down was the head, and no sooner had that touched the ground than he who had snatched up all the limbs and put them in the basket turned them all out again topsy-turvy. then straightway we saw with these eyes all those limbs creep together again, and in short, form a whole man, who at once could stand and go just as before, without showing the least damage! never in my life was i so astonished as when i beheld this wonderful performance, and i doubted now no longer that these misguided men did it by the help of the devil. for it seems to me totally impossible that such things should be accomplished by natural means." the same performance is spoken of by valentyn, in a passage also containing curious notices of the basket-murder trick, the mango trick, the sitting in the air (quoted above), and others; but he refers to melton, and i am not sure whether he had any other authority for it. the cut on this page is taken from melton's plate. [illustration: chinese conjuring extraordinary.] again we have in the memoirs of the emperor jahángir a detail of the wonderful performances of seven jugglers from bengal who exhibited before him. two of their feats are thus described: "_ninth_. they produced a man whom they divided limb from limb, actually severing his head from the body. they scattered these mutilated members along the ground, and in this state they lay for some time. they then extended a sheet or curtain over the spot, and one of the men putting himself under the sheet, in a few minutes came from below, followed by the individual supposed to have been cut into joints, in perfect health and condition, and one might have safely sworn that he had never received wound or injury whatever ... _twenty-third_. they produced a chain of 50 cubits in length, and in my presence threw one end of it towards the sky, _where it remained as if fastened to something in the air_. a dog was then brought forward, and being placed at the lower end of the chain, immediately ran up, and reaching the other end, _immediately disappeared in the air_. in the same manner a hog, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were successively sent up the chain, and all equally disappeared at the upper end of the chain. at last they took down the chain and put it into a bag, no one ever discovering in what way the different animals were made to vanish into the air in the mysterious manner above described." [there would appear (says the _times of india_, quoted by the _weekly dispatch_, 15th september, 1889) to be a fine field of unworked romance in the annals of indian jugglery. one siddeshur mitter, writing to the calcutta paper, gives a thrilling account of a conjurer's feat which he witnessed recently in one of the villages of the hooghly district. he saw the whole thing himself, he tells us, so there need be no question about the facts. on the particular afternoon when he visited the village the place was occupied by a company of male and female jugglers, armed with bags and boxes and musical instruments, and all the mysterious paraphernalia of the peripatetic _jadugar_. while siddeshur was looking on, and in the broad, clear light of the afternoon, a man was shut up in a box, which was then carefully nailed up and bound with cords. weird spells and incantations of the style we are all familiar with were followed by the breaking open of the box, which, "to the unqualified amazement of everybody, was found to be perfectly empty." all this is much in the usual style; but what followed was so much superior to the ordinary run of modern indian jugglery that we must give it in the simple siddeshur's own words. when every one was satisfied that the man had really disappeared, the principal performer, who did not seem to be at all astonished, told his audience that the vanished man had gone up to the heavens to fight indra. "in a few moments," says siddeshur, "he expressed anxiety at the man's continued absence in the aerial regions, and said that he would go up to see what was the matter. a boy was called, who held upright a long bamboo, up which the man climbed to the top, whereupon we suddenly lost sight of him, and the boy laid the bamboo on the ground. then there fell on the ground before us the different members of a human body, all bloody,--first one hand, then another, a foot, and so on, until complete. the boy then elevated the bamboo, and the principal performer, appearing on the top as suddenly as he had disappeared, came down, and seeming quite disconsolate, said that indra had killed his friend before he could get there to save him. he then placed the mangled remains in the same box, closed it, and tied it as before. our wonder and astonishment reached their climax when, a few minutes later, on the box being again opened, the man jumped out perfectly hearty and unhurt." is not this rather a severe strain on one's credulity, even for an indian jugglery story?] in philostratus, again, we may learn the antiquity of some juggling tricks that have come up as novelties in our own day. thus at taxila a man set his son against a board, and then threw darts tracing the outline of the boy's figure on the board. this feat was shown in london some fifteen or twenty years ago, and humorously commemorated in _punch_ by john leech. (_philostratus_, fr. transl. bk. iii. ch. xv. and xxvii.; _mich. glycas_, ann. ii. 156, paris ed.; _delrio, disquis. magic._ pp. 34, 100; _koeppen_, i. 31, ii. 82, 114-115, 260, 262, 280; _vassilyev_, 156; _della penna_, 36; _s. setzen_, 43, 353; _pereg. quat._ 117; _i. b._ iv. 39 and 290 seqq.; _asiat. researches_, xvii. 186; _valentyn_, v. 52-54; _edward melton, engelsch edelmans, zeldzaame en gedenkwaardige zee en land reizen, etc., aangevangen in den jaare 1660 en geendigd in den jaare 1677_, amsterdam, 1702, p. 468; _mem. of the emp. jahangueir_, pp. 99, 102.) [illustration: grand temple of buddha at lhasa] note 12.--["the maintenance of the lamas, of their monasteries, the expenses for the sacrifices and for transcription of sacred books, required enormous sums. the lamas enjoyed a preponderating influence, and stood much higher than the priests of other creeds, living in the palace as if in their own house. the perfumes, which m. polo mentions, were used by the lamas for two purposes; they used them for joss-sticks, and for making small turrets, known under the name of _ts'a-ts'a_; the joss-sticks used to be burned in the same way as they are now; the _ts'a-ts'a_ were inserted in _suburgas_ or buried in the ground. at the time when the _suburga_ was built in the garden of the peking palace in 1271, there were used, according to the empress' wish, 1008 turrets made of the most expensive perfumes, mixed with pounded gold, silver, pearls, and corals, and 130,000 _ts'a-ts'a_ made of ordinary perfumes." (_palladius_, 29.--h. c.)] note 13.--there is no exaggeration in this number. turner speaks of 2500 monks in one tibetan convent. huc mentions chorchi, north of the great wall, as containing 2000; and kúnbúm, where he and gabet spent several months, on the borders of shensi and tibet, had nearly 4000. the missionary itinerary from nepal to l'hasa given by giorgi, speaks of a group of convents at a place called brephung, which formerly contained 10,000 inmates, and at the time of the journey (about 1700) still contained 5000, including attendants. dr. campbell gives a list of twelve chief convents in l'hasa and its vicinity (not including the potala or residence of the grand lama), of which one is said to have 7500 members, resident and itinerary. major montgomerie's pandit gives the same convent 7700 lamas. in the great monastery at l'hasa called _labrang_, they show a copper kettle holding more than 100 buckets, which was used to make tea for the lamas who performed the daily temple service. the monasteries are usually, as the text says, like small towns, clustered round the great temples. that represented at p. 224 is at jehol, and is an imitation of the potala at l'hasa. (_huc's tartary_, etc., pp. 45, 208, etc.; _alph. tibetan_, 453; _j. a. s. b._ xxiv. 219; _j. r. g. s._ xxxviii. 168; _koeppen_, ii. 338.) [_la géographie_, ii. 1901, pp. 242-247, has an article by mr. j. deniker, _la première photographie de lhassa_, with a view of _potala_, in 1901, from a photograph by m. o. norzunov; it is interesting to compare it with the view given by kircher in 1670.--h. c.] ["the monasteries with numbers of monks, who, as m. polo asserts, behaved decently, evidently belonged to chinese buddhists, _ho-shang_; in kúblái's time they had two monasteries in shangtu, in the north-east and north-west parts of the town." (_palladius_, 29.) rubruck (_rockhill's_ ed. p. 145) says: "all the priests (of the idolaters) shave their heads, and are dressed in saffron colour, and they observe chastity from the time they shave their heads, and they live in congregations of one or two hundred."--h. c.] [illustration: monastery of lamas.] note 14.--there were many anomalies in the older lamaism, and it permitted, at least in some sects of it which still subsist, the marriage of the clergy under certain limitations and conditions. one of giorgi's missionaries speaks of a lama of high _hereditary_ rank as a spiritual prince who marries, but separates from his wife as soon as he has a son, who after certain trials is deemed worthy to be his successor. ["a good number of lamas were married, as m. polo correctly remarks; their wives were known amongst the chinese, under the name of _fan-sao_." (_ch'ue keng lu_, quoted by _palladius_, 28.)--h. c.] one of the "_reforms_" of tsongkhapa was the absolute prohibition of marriage to the clergy, and in this he followed the institutes of the oldest buddhism. even the _red lamas_, or unreformed, cannot now marry without a dispensation. but even the oldest orthodox buddhism had its lay brethren and lay sisters (_upásaka_ and _upásiká_), and these are to be found in tibet and mongolia ( _voués au blanc_, as it were). they are called by the mongols, by a corruption of the sanskrit, _ubashi_ and _ubashanza_. their vows extend to the strict keeping of the five great commandments of the buddhist law, and they diligently ply the rosary and the prayer-wheel, but they are not pledged to celibacy, nor do they adopt the tonsure. as a sign of their amphibious position, they commonly wear a red or yellow girdle. these are what some travellers speak of as the lowest order of lamas, permitted to marry; and polo may have regarded them in the same light. (_koeppen_, ii. 82, 113, 276, 291; _timk._ ii. 354; _erman_, ii. 304; _alph. tibet._ 449.) note 15.--[mr. rockhill writes to me that "bran" is certainly tibetan _tsamba_ (parched barley).--h. c.] note 16.--marco's contempt for _patarins_ slips out in a later passage (bk. iii. ch. xx.). the name originated in the eleventh century in lombardy, where it came to be applied to the "heretics," otherwise called "cathari." muratori has much on the origin of the name patarini, and mentions a monument, which still exists, in the piazza de' mercanti at milan, in honour of oldrado podestà of that city in 1233, and which thus, with more pith than grammar, celebrates his meritorious acts:- "qui solium struxit catharos _ut debuit_ uxit." other cities were as piously catholic. a mantuan chronicler records under 1276: "captum fuit sermionum seu redditum fuit ecclesiae, et capti fuerunt cercha cl patarini contra fidem, inter masculos et feminas; qui omnes ducti fuerunt veronam, et ibi incarcerati, _et pro magna parte_ combusti." (_murat. dissert._ iii. 238; _archiv. stor. ital._ n.s. i. 49.) note 17.--marsden, followed by pauthier, supposes these unorthodox ascetics to be hindu sanyasis, and the latter editor supposes even the name _sensi_ or _sensin_ to represent that denomination. such wanderers do occasionally find their way to tartary; gerbillon mentions having encountered five of them at kuku khotan (supra, p. 286), and i think john bell speaks of meeting one still further north. but what is said of the great and numerous idols of the _sensin_ is inconsistent with such a notion, as is indeed, it seems to me, the whole scope of the passage. evidently no occasional vagabonds from a far country, but some indigenous sectaries, are in question. nor would bran and hot water be a hindu regimen. the staple diet of the tibetans is _chamba_, the meal of toasted barley, mixed sometimes with warm water, but more frequently with hot tea, and i think it is probable that these were the elements of the ascetic diet rather than the mere _bran_ which polo speaks of. semedo indeed says that some of the buddhist devotees professed never to take any food but tea; knowing people said they mixed with it pellets of sun-dried beef. the determination of the sect intended in the text is, i conceive, to be sought in the history of chinese or tibetan buddhism and their rivals. both baldelli and neumann have indicated a general opinion that the _taossé_ or some branch of that sect is meant, but they have entered into no particulars except in a reference by the former to _shien-sien_, a title of perfection affected by that sect, as the origin of polo's term _sensin_. in the substance of this i think they are right. but i believe that in the text this chinese sect are, rightly or wrongly, identified with the ancient tibetan sect of _bon-po_, and that part of the characters assigned belong to each. first with regard to the taossé. these were evidently the _patarini_ of the buddhists in china at this time, and polo was probably aware of the persecution which the latter had stirred up kúblái to direct against them in 1281--persecution at least it is called, though it was but a mild proceeding in comparison with the thing contemporaneously practised in christian lombardy, for in heathen cathay, books, and not human creatures, were the subjects doomed to burn, and even that doom was not carried out. ["the tao-sze," says m. polo, "were looked upon as heretics by the other sects; that is, of course; by the lamas and ho-shangs; in fact in his time a passionate struggle was going on between buddhists and tao-sze, or rather a persecution of the latter by the former; the buddhists attributed to the doctrine of the tao-sze a pernicious tendency, and accused them of deceit; and in support of these assertions they pointed to some of their sacred books. taking advantage of their influence at court, they persuaded kúblái to decree the burning of these books, and it was carried out in peking." (_palladius_, 30.)--h. c.] the term which polo writes as _sensin_ appears to have been that popularly applied to the taossé sect at the mongol court. thus we are told by rashíduddín in his history of cathay: "in the reign of din-wang, the 20th king of this (the 11th) dynasty, tai shang lái kún, was born. this person is stated to have been accounted a prophet by the people of khitá; his father's name was hán; like shák-múni he is said to have been conceived by light, and it is related that his mother bore him in her womb no less a period than 80 years. the people who embraced his doctrine were called [arabic] (_shan-shan_ or _shinshin_)." this is a correct epitome of the chinese story of _laokiun_ or _lao-tsé_, born in the reign of _ting wang_ of the cheu dynasty. the whole title used by rashíduddín, _tai shang lao kiun_, "the great supreme venerable ruler," is that formerly applied by the chinese to this philosopher. further, in a mongol [and chinese] inscription of the year 1314 from the department of si-ngan fu, which has been interpreted and published by mr. wylie, the taossé priests are termed _senshing_. [see _devéria, notes d'épigraphie_, pp. 39-43, and prince _r. bonaparte's recueil_, pl. xii. no. 3.--h. c.] seeing then that the very term used by polo is that applied by both mongol and persian authorities of the period to the taossé, we can have no doubt that the latter are indicated, whether the facts stated about them be correct or not. the word senshing-ud (the mongol plural) is represented in the chinese version of mr. wylie's inscription by _sín-sang_, a conventional title applied to literary men, and this perhaps is sufficient to determine the chinese word which _sensin_ represents. i should otherwise have supposed it to be the _shin-sian_ alluded to by baldelli, and mentioned in the quotations which follow; and indeed it seems highly probable that two terms so much alike should have been confounded by foreigners. semedo says of the taossé: "they pretend that by means of certain exercises and meditations one shall regain his youth, and others shall attain to be _shien-sien_, i.e. 'terrestrial beati,' in whose state every desire is gratified, whilst they have the power to transport themselves from one place to another, however distant, with speed and facility." schott, on the same subject, says: "by _sian_ or _shin-sian_ are understood in the old chinese conception, and particularly in that of the tao-kiao [or taossé] sect, persons who withdraw to the hills to lead the life of anchorites, and who have attained, either through their ascetic observances or by the power of charms and elixirs, to the possession of miraculous gifts and of terrestrial immortality." and m. pauthier himself, in his translation of the journey of khieu, an eminent doctor of this sect, to the camp of the great chinghiz in turkestan, has related how chinghiz bestowed upon this personage "a seal with a tiger's head and a diploma" (surely a lion's head, _p'aizah_ and _yarligh_; see infra, bk. ii. ch. vii. note 2), "wherein he was styled _shin sien_ or divine anchorite." _sian-jin_ again is the word used by hiuen tsang as the equivalent to the name of the indian _rishis_, who attain to supernatural powers. ["_sensin_ is a sufficiently faithful transcription of _sien-seng_ (sien-shing in pekingese); the name given by the mongols in conversation as well as in official documents, to the tao-sze, in the sense of preceptors, just as lamas were called by them _bacshi_, which corresponds to the chinese _sien-seng_. m. polo calls them fasters and ascetics. it was one of the sects of taouism. there was another one which practised cabalistic and other mysteries. the tao-sze had two monasteries in shangtu, one in the eastern, the other in the western part of the town." (_palladius_, 30.) --h.c.] one class of the tao priests or devotees does marry, but another class never does. many of them lead a wandering life, and derive a precarious subsistence from the sale of charms and medical nostrums. they shave the sides of the head, and coil the remaining hair in a tuft on the crown, in the ancient chinese manner; moreover, says williams, they "_are recognised by their slate-coloured robes_." on the feast of one of their divinities whose title williams translates as "high emperor of the sombre heavens," they assemble before his temple, "and having made a great fire, about 15 or 20 feet in diameter, go over it barefoot, preceded by the priests and bearing the gods in their arms. they firmly assert that if they possess a sincere mind they will not be injured by the fire; but both priests and people get miserably burnt on these occasions." escayrac de lauture says that on those days they leap, dance, and whirl round the fire, striking at the devils with a straight roman-like sword, and sometimes wounding themselves as the priests of baal and moloch used to do. (_astley_, iv. 671; _morley_ in _j. r. a. s._ vi. 24; _semedo_, 111, 114; _de mailla_, ix. 410; _j. as._ sér. v. tom. viii. 138; _schott über den buddhismus_ etc. 71; _voyage de khieou_ in _j. as._ sér. vi. tom. ix. 41; _middle kingdom_, ii. 247; _doolittle_, 192; _esc. de lauture, mém. sur la chine, religion_, 87, 102; _pèler. boudd._ ii. 370, and iii. 468.) let us now turn to the _bon-po_. of this form of religion and its sectaries not much is known, for it is now confined to the eastern and least known part of tibet. it is, however, believed to be a remnant of the old pre-buddhistic worship of the powers of nature, though much modified by the buddhistic worship with which it has so long been in contact. mr. hodgson also pronounces a collection of drawings of bonpo divinities, which were made for him by a mendicant friar of the sect from the neighbourhood of tachindu, or ta-t'sien-lu, to be saturated with _sakta_ attributes, i.e. with the spirit of the tantrika worship, a worship which he tersely defines as "a mixture of lust, ferocity, and mummery," and which he believes to have originated in an incorporation with the indian religions of the rude superstitions of the primitive turanians. mr. hodgson was told that the bonpo sect still possessed numerous and wealthy vihars (or abbeys) in tibet. but from the information of the catholic missionaries in eastern tibet, who have come into closest contact with the sect, it appears to be now in a state of great decadence, "oppressed by the lamas of other sects, the _peunbo_ (bonpo) think only of shaking off the yoke, and getting deliverance from the vexations which the smallness of their number forces them to endure." in june, 1863, apparently from such despairing motives, the lamas of tsodam, a bonpo convent in the vicinity of the mission settlement of bonga in e. tibet, invited the rev. gabriel durand to come and instruct them. "in this temple," he writes, "are the _monstrous idols_ of the sect of peunbo; horrid figures, whose features only satan could have inspired. they are disposed about the enclosure according to their power and their seniority. above the pagoda is a loft, the nooks of which are crammed with all kinds of diabolical trumpery; little idols of wood or copper, hideous masques of men and animals, superstitious lama vestments, drums, trumpets of human bones, sacrificial vessels, in short, all the utensils with which the devil's servants in tibet honour their master. and what will become of it all? the great river, whose waves roll to martaban (the lu-kiang or salwen), is not more than 200 or 300 paces distant.... besides the infernal paintings on the walls, eight or nine monstrous idols, seated at the inner end of the pagoda, were calculated by their size and aspect to inspire awe. in the middle was _tamba-shi-rob_, the great doctor of the sect of the peunbo, squatted with his right arm outside his red scarf, and holding in his left the vase of knowledge.... on his right hand sat _keumta-zon-bo_, 'the allgood,' ... with ten hands and three heads, one over the other.... at his right is _dreuma_, the most celebrated goddess of the sect. on the left of tamba-shi-rob was another goddess, whose name they never could tell me. on the left again of this anonymous goddess appeared _tam-pla-mi-ber_,... a monstrous dwarf environed by flames and his head garnished with a diadem of skulls. _he trod with one foot on the head of shakia-tupa_ [_shakya thubba_, i.e. 'the mighty shakya,' the usual tibetan appellation of sakya buddha himself].... the idols are made of a coarse composition of mud and stalks kneaded together, on which they put first a coat of plaster and then various colours, or even silver or gold.... _four oxen would scarcely have been able to draw one of the idols_." mr. emilius schlagintweit, in a paper on the subject of this sect, has explained some of the names used by the missionary. _tamba-shi-rob_ is "_bs_tanpa _g_shen-rabs," i.e. the doctrine of shen-rabs, who is regarded as the founder of the bon religion. [cf. _grenard_, ii. 407.--h. c.] _keun-tu-zon-bo_ is "kun-tu-_b_zang-po," "_the all best_." [_bon-po_ seems to be (according to grenard, ii. 410) a "coarse naturism combined with ancestral worship" resembling taoism. it has, however, borrowed a good deal from buddhism. "i noticed," says mr. rockhill (_journey_, 86), "a couple of grimy volumes of bönbo sacred literature. one of them i examined; it was a funeral service, and was in the usual bönbo jargon, three-fourths buddhistic in its nomenclature." the bon-po lamas are above all sorcerers and necromancers, and are very similar to the _kam_ of the northern turks, the _bô_ of the mongols, and lastly to the _shamans_. during their operations, they wear a tall pointed black hat, surmounted by the feather of a peacock, or of a cock, and a human skull. their principal divinities are the white god of heaven, the black goddess of earth, the red tiger and the dragon; they worship an idol called _kye'-p'ang_ formed of a mere block of wood covered with garments. their sacred symbol is the _svastika_ turned from right to left [symbol]. the most important of their monasteries is zo-chen gum-pa, in the north-east of tibet, where they print most of their books. the bonpos lamas "are very popular with the agricultural tibetans, but not so much so with the pastoral tribes, who nearly all belong to the gélupa sect of the orthodox buddhist church." a. k. says, "buddhism is the religion of the country; there are two sects, one named mangba and the other chiba or baimbu." _explorations made by a----k----_, 34. _mangba_ means "esoteric," _chiba_ (_p'yi-ba_), "exoteric," and _baimbu_ is bönbo. _rockhill, journey_, 289, _et passim.; land of the lamas_, 217-218; _grenard, mission scientifique_, ii. 407 seqq.--h. c.] there is an indication in koeppen's references that the followers of the _bon_ doctrine are sometimes called in tibet _nag-choi_, or "black sect," as the old and the reformed lamas are called respectively the "red" and the "yellow." if so, it is reasonable to conclude that the first appellation, like the two last, has a reference to the colour of clothing affected by the priesthood. the rev. mr. jaeschke writes from lahaul: "there are no bonpos in our part of the country, and as far as we know there cannot be many of them in the whole of western tibet, i.e. in ladak, spiti, and all the non-chinese provinces together; we know, therefore, not much more of them than has been made known to the european public by different writers on buddhism in tibet, and lately collected by emil de schlagintweit.... whether they can be with certainty identified with the chinese _taossé_ i cannot decide, as i don't know if anything like historical evidence about their chinese origin has been detected anywhere, or if it is merely a conclusion from the similarity of their doctrines and practices.... but the chinese author of the _wei-tsang-tu-shi_, translated by klaproth, under the title of _description du tubet_ (paris, 1831), renders _bonpo_ by _taossé_. so much seems to be certain that it was the ancient religion of tibet, before buddhism penetrated into the country, and that even at later periods it several times gained the ascendancy when the secular power was of a disposition averse to the lamaitic hierarchy. another opinion is that the bon religion was originally a mere fetishism, and related to or identical with shamanism; this appears to me very probable and easy to reconcile with the former supposition, for it may afterwards, on becoming acquainted with the chinese doctrine of the 'taossé,' have adorned itself with many of its tenets.... with regard to the following particulars, i have got most of my information from our lama, a native of the neighbourhood of tashi lhunpo, whom we consulted about all your questions. the extraordinary asceticism which struck marco polo so much is of course not to be understood as being practised by all members of the sect, but exclusively, or more especially, by the _priests_. that these _never_ marry, and are consequently more strictly celibatary than many sects of the lamaitic priesthood, was confirmed by our lama." (mr. jaeschke then remarks upon the _bran_ to much the same effect as i have done above.) "the bonpos are by all buddhists regarded as heretics. though they worship idols partly the same, at least in name, with those of the buddhists,... their rites seem to be very different. the most conspicuous and most generally known of their customs, futile in itself, but in the eyes of the common people the greatest sign of their sinful heresy, is that they perform the religious ceremony of making a turn round a sacred object _in the opposite direction_ to that prescribed by buddhism. as to their dress, our lama said that they had no particular colour of garments, but their priests frequently wore red clothes, as some sects of the buddhist priesthood do. mr. heyde, however, once on a journey in our neighbouring county of langskar, saw a man _clothed in black with blue borders_, who the people said was a _bonpo_." [mr. rockhill (_journey _, 63) saw at kao miao-tzu "a _red_-gowned, long-haired bönbo lama," and at kumbum (p. 68), "was surprised to see quite a large number of bönbo lamas, recognisable by their huge mops of hair and their _red_ gowns, and also from their being dirtier than the ordinary run of people."--h. c.] the identity of the bonpo and taossé seems to have been accepted by csoma de kórös, who identifies the chinese founder of the latter, lao-tseu, with the shen-rabs of the tibetan bonpos. klaproth also says, "bhonbp'o, bhanpo, and _shen_, are the names by which are commonly designated (in tibetan) the taoszu, or follower of the chinese philosopher laotseu."[11] schlagintweit refers to schmidt's tibetan grammar (p. 209) and to the calcutta edition of the _fo-kouè-ki_ (p. 218) for the like identification, but i do not know how far any two of these are independent testimonies. general cunningham, however, fully accepts the identity, and writes to me: "fahian (ch. xxiii.) calls the heretics who assembled at râmagrâma _taossé_,[12] thus identifying them with the chinese finitimists. the taossé are, therefore, the same as the _swâstikas_, or worshippers of the mystic cross _swasti_, who are also _tirthakaras_, or 'pure-doers.' the synonymous word _punya_ is probably the origin of _pon_ or _bon_, the tibetan finitimists. from the same word comes the burmese _p'ungyi_ or _pungi_." i may add that the chinese envoy to cambodia in 1296, whose narrative rémusat has translated, describes a sect which he encountered there, apparently brahminical, as _taossé_. and even if the bonpo and the taossé were not fundamentally identical, it is extremely probable that the tibetan and mongol buddhists should have applied to them one name and character. each played towards them the same part in tibet and in china respectively; both were heretic sects and hated rivals; both made high pretensions to asceticism and supernatural powers; both, i think we see reason to believe, affected the dark clothing which polo assigns to the _sensin_; both, we may add, had "great idols and plenty of them." we have seen in the account of the taossé the ground that certain of their ceremonies afford for the allegation that they "sometimes also worship fire," whilst the whole account of that rite and of others mentioned by duhalde,[13] shows what a powerful element of the old devil-dancing shamanism there is in their practice. the french jesuit, on the other hand, shows us what a prominent place female divinities occupied in the bon-po pantheon,[14] though we cannot say of either sect that "their idols are all feminine." a strong symptom of relation between the two religions, by the way, occurs in m. durand's account of the bon temple. we see there that _shen-rabs_, the great doctor of the sect, occupies a chief and central place among the idols. now in the chinese temples of the taossé the figure of _their_ doctor _lao-tseu_ is one member of the triad called the "three pure ones," which constitute the chief objects of worship. this very title recalls general cunningham's etymology of bonpo. [illustration: tibetan bacsi] [at the quarterly fair (_yueh kai_) of ta-li (yun-nan), mr. e. c. baber (_travels_, 158-159) says: "a fakir with a praying machine, which he twirled for the salvation of the pious at the price of a few cash, was at once recognised by us; he was our old acquaintance, the bakhsi, whose portrait is given in _colonel yule's marco polo_."--h. c.] (_hodgson_, in _j. r. a. s._ xviii. 396 seqq.; _ann. de la prop, de la foi_, xxxvi. 301-302, 424-427; _e. schlagintweit, ueber die bon-pa sekte in tibet_, in the _sitzensberichte_ of the munich acad. for 1866, heft i. pp. 1-12; _koeppen_, ii. 260; _ladak_, p. 358; _j. as._ sér. ii. tom. i. 411-412; _rémusat. nouv. mél. asiat._ i. 112; _astley_, iv. 205; _doolittle_, 191.) note 18.--pauthier's text has _blons_, no doubt an error for _blous_. in the g. text it is _bloies_. pauthier interprets the latter term as "blond ardent," whilst the glossary to the g. text explains it as both _blue_ and _white_. _raynouard's romance dict._ explains _bloi_ as "blond." ramusio has _biave_, and i have no doubt that _blue_ is the meaning. the same word (_bloie_) is used in the g. text, where polo speaks of the bright colours of the palace tiles at cambaluc, and where pauthier's text has "_vermeil et jaune et vert_ et blou," and again (infra, bk. ii. ch. xix.), where the two corps of huntsmen are said to be clad respectively in _vermeil_ and in _bloie_. here, again, pauthier's text has _bleu_. the crusca in the description of the _sensin_ omits the colours altogether; in the two other passages referred to it has _bioda, biodo_. ["the tao-sze, says marco polo, wear dresses of black and blue linen; i.e. they wear dresses made of tatters of black and blue linen, as can be seen also at the present day." (_palladius_, 30.)--h. c.] note 19.--["the idols of the tao-sze, according to marco polo's statement, have female names; in fact, there are in the pantheon of taoism a great many female divinities, still enjoying popular veneration in china; such are _tow mu_ (the 'ursa major,' constellation), _pi-hia-yuen kiun_ (the celestial queen), female divinities for lying-in women, for children, for diseases of the eyes; and others, which are to be seen everywhere. the tao-sze have, besides these, a good number of male divinities, bearing the title of _kiun_ in common with female divinities; both these circumstances might have led marco polo to make the above statement." (_palladius_, p. 30.)--h. c.] [1] this distance is taken from a tracing of the map prepared for dr. bushell's paper quoted below. but there is a serious discrepancy between this tracing and the observed position of dolon-nor, which determines that of shang-tu, as stated to me in a letter from dr. bushell. [see note 1.] [2] these particulars were obtained by dr. bushell through the archimandrite palladius, from the ms. account of a chinese traveller who visited shangtu about two hundred years ago, when probably the whole inscription was above ground. the inscription is also mentioned in the imp. geography of the present dynasty, quoted by klaproth. this work gives the interior wall 5 _li_ to the side, instead of a _li_, and the outer wall 10 _li_, instead of 4 _li_. by dr. bushell's kindness, i give a reduction of his sketch plan (see _itinerary map_, no. iv. at end of this volume), and also a plate of the heading of the inscription. the translation of this is: "monument conferred by the emperor of the august yuen (dynasty) in memory of his high eminence yun hien (styled) chang-lao (canonised as) shou-kung (prince of longevity)." [see _missions de chine et du congo_ no. 28, mars, 1891, bruxelles.] [3] ramusio's version runs thus: "the palace presents one side to the centre of the city and the other to the city wall. and from either extremity of the palace where it touches the city wall, there runs another wall, which fetches a compass and encloses a good 16 miles of plain, and so that no one can enter this enclosure except by passing through the palace." [4] this narrative, translated from chinese into russian by father palladius, and from the russian into english by mr. eugene schuyler, secretary of the u.s. legation at st. petersburg, was obligingly sent to me by the latter gentleman, and appeared in the _geographical magazine_ for january, 1875, p. 7. [5] see bk. ii. chap. xiv. note 3. [6] in the first edition i had supposed a derivation of the persian words _jádú_ and _jádúgari_, used commonly in india for conjuring, from the tartar use of _yadah_. and pallas says the kirghiz call their witches _jádugar_. (_voy._ ii. 298.) but i am assured by sir h. rawlinson that this etymology is more than doubtful, and that at any rate the persian (_jádú_) is probably older than the turkish term. i see that m. pavet de courteille derives _yadah_ from a mongol word signifying "change of weather," etc. [7] [see w. foerster's ed., _halle_, 1887, p. 15, 386.--h. c.] [8] a young afghan related in the presence of arthur conolly at herat that on a certain occasion when provisions ran short the russian general gave orders that 50,000 men should be killed and served out as rations! (i. 346.) [9] ar. _táfir_, a sordid, squalid fellow. [10] [cf. paulin paris's ed., 1848, ii. p. 5.--h. c.] [11] _shen_, or coupled with _jin_ "people," _shenjin_, in this sense affords another possible origin of the word _sensin_; but it may in fact be at bottom, as regards the first syllable, the same with the etymology we have preferred. [12] i do not find this allusion in mr. beal's new version of fahian. [see rémusat's éd. p. 227; klaproth says (ibid. p. 230) that the _tao-szu_ are called in tibetan _bonbò_ and youngdhroungpa.--h. c.] [13] apparently they had at their command the whole encyclopaedia of modern "spiritualists." duhalde mentions among their sorceries the art of producing by their invocations the figures of lao-tseu and their divinities in the air, and of _making a pencil to write answers to questions without anybody touching it_. [14] it is possible that this may point to some report of the mystic impurities of the tantrists. the _saktián_, or tantrists, according to the dabistan, hold that the worship of a female divinity affords a greater recompense. (ii. 155.) book second. (1.) account of the great kaan cublay; of his palaces and capital; his court, government, and sports. (2.) cities and provinces visited by the traveller on one journey westward from the capital to the frontiers of mien in the direction of india. (3.) and on another southward from the capital to fuchu and zayton. book ii. part i.--the kaan, his court and capital. chapter i. of cublay kaan, the great kaan now reigning, and of his great puissance. now am i come to that part of our book in which i shall tell you of the great and wonderful magnificence of the great kaan now reigning, by name cublay kaan; _kaan_ being a title which signifyeth "the great lord of lords," or emperor. and of a surety he hath good right to such a title, for all men know for a certain truth that he is the most potent man, as regards forces and lands and treasure, that existeth in the world, or ever hath existed from the time of our first father adam until this day. all this i will make clear to you for truth, in this book of ours, so that every one shall be fain to acknowledge that he is the greatest lord that is now in the world, or ever hath been. and now ye shall hear how and wherefore.[note 1] note 1.--according to sanang setzen, chinghiz himself discerned young kúblái's superiority. on his deathbed he said: "the words of the lad kúblái are well worth attention; see, all of you, that ye heed what he says! one day he will sit in my seat and bring you good fortune such as you have had in my day!" (p. 105). the persian history of wassáf thus exalts kúblái: "although from the frontiers of this country ('irák) to the centre of empire, the focus of the universe, the genial abode of the ever-fortunate emperor and just kaan, is a whole year's journey, yet the stories that have been spread abroad, even in these parts, of his glorious deeds, his institutes, his decisions, his justice, the largeness and acuteness of his intellect, his correctness of judgment, his great powers of administration, from the mouths of credible witnesses, of well-known merchants and eminent travellers, are so surpassing, that one beam of his glories, one fraction of his great qualities, suffices to eclipse all that history tells of the caesars of rome, of the chosroes of persia, of the khagans of china, of the (himyarite) kails of arabia, of the tobbas of yemen, and the rajas of india, of the monarchs of the houses of sassan and búya, and of the seljukian sultans." (_hammer's wassaf_, orig. p. 37.) some remarks on kúblái and his government by a chinese author, in a more rational and discriminative tone, will be found below under ch. xxiii., note 2. a curious low-german ms. at cologne, giving an account of the east, says of the "keyser von kathagien--syn recht name is der groisse _hunt!_" (magnus canis, the big bow-wow as it were. see _orient und occident_, vol. i. p. 640.) chapter ii. concerning the revolt of nayan, who was uncle to the great kaan cublay. now this cublay kaan is of the right imperial lineage, being descended from chinghis kaan, the first sovereign of all the tartars. and he is the sixth lord in that succession, as i have already told you in this book. he came to the throne in the year of christ, 1256, and the empire fell to him because of his ability and valour and great worth, as was right and reason.[note 1] his brothers, indeed, and other kinsmen disputed his claim, but his it remained, both because maintained by his great valour, and because it was in law and right his, as being directly sprung of the imperial line. up to the year of christ now running, to wit 1298, he hath reigned two-and-forty years, and his age is about eighty-five, so that he must have been about forty-three years of age when he first came to the throne.[note 2] before that time he had often been to the wars, and had shown himself a gallant soldier and an excellent captain. but after coming to the throne he never went to the wars in person save once.[note 3] this befel in the year of christ, 1286, and i will tell you why he went. there was a great tartar chief, whose name was nayan,[note 4] a young man [of thirty], lord over many lands and many provinces; and he was uncle to the emperor cublay kaan of whom we are speaking. and when he found himself in authority this nayan waxed proud in the insolence of his youth and his great power; for indeed he could bring into the field 300,000 horsemen, though all the time he was liegeman to his nephew, the great kaan cublay, as was right and reason. seeing then what great power he had, he took it into his head that he would be the great kaan's vassal no longer; nay more, he would fain wrest his empire from him if he could. so this nayan sent envoys to another tartar prince called caidu, also a great and potent lord, who was a kinsman of his, and who was a nephew of the great kaan and his lawful liegeman also, though he was in rebellion and at bitter enmity with his sovereign lord and uncle. now the message that nayan sent was this: that he himself was making ready to march against the great kaan with all his forces (which were great), and he begged caidu to do likewise from his side, so that by attacking cublay on two sides at once with such great forces they would be able to wrest his dominion from him. and when caidu heard the message of nayan, he was right glad thereat, and thought the time was come at last to gain his object. so he sent back answer that he would do as requested; and got ready his host, which mustered a good hundred thousand horsemen. now let us go back to the great kaan, who had news of all this plot. note 1.--there is no doubt that kúblái was proclaimed kaan in 1260 (4th month), his brother mangku kaan having perished during the seige of hochau in ssechwan in august of the preceding year. but kúblái had come into cathay some years before as his brother's lieutenant. he was the _fifth_, not sixth, supreme kaan, as we have already noticed. (bk. i. ch. li. note 2.) note 2.--kúblái was born in the eighth month of the year corresponding to 1216, and had he lived to 1298 would have been eighty-two years old. [according to dr. e. bretschneider (_peking_, 30), quoting the _yuen-shi_, kúblái died at khanbaligh, in the tze-t'an tien in february, 1294.--h. c.] but by mahomedan reckoning he would have been close upon eighty-five. he was the fourth son of tuli, who was the youngest of chinghiz's four sons by his favourite wife burté fujin. (see _de mailla_, ix. 255, etc.) note 3.--this is not literally true; for soon after his accession (in 1261) kúblái led an army against his brother and rival arikbuga, and defeated him. and again in his old age, if we credit the chinese annalist, in 1289, when his grandson kanmala (or kambala) was beaten on the northern frontier by kaidu, kúblái took the field himself, though on his approach the rebels disappeared. kúblái and his brother hulaku, young as they were, commenced their military career on chinghiz's last expedition (1226-1227). his most notable campaign was the conquest of yunnan in 1253-1254. (_de mailla_, ix. 298, 441.) note 4.--nayan was no "uncle" of kúblái's, but a cousin in a junior generation. for kúblái was the grandson of chinghiz, and nayan was the great-great-grandson of chinghiz's brother uchegin, called in the chinese annals pilgutai. [belgutai was chinghiz's step-brother. (_palladius_.)--h. c.] on this brother, the great-uncle of kúblái, and the commander of the latter's forces against arikbuga in the beginning of the reign, both chinghiz and kúblái had bestowed large territories in eastern tartary towards the frontier of corea, and north of liaotong towards the manchu country. ["the situation and limits of his appanage are not clearly defined in history. according to belgutai's biography, it was between the onon and kerulen (_yuen shi_), and according to shin yao's researches (_lo fung low wen kao_), at the confluence of the argun and shilka. finally, according to harabadur's biography, it was situated in abalahu, which geographically and etymologically corresponds to modern butkha (_yuen shi_); abalahu, as kúblái himself said, was rich in fish; indeed, after the suppression of nayan's rebellion, the governor of that country used to send to the peking court fishes weighing up to a thousand chinese pounds (_kin_.). it was evidently a country near the amur river." (_palladius_, l.c. 31.)--h. c.] nayan had added to his inherited territory, and become very powerful. ["history has apparently connected nayan's appanage with that of hatan (a grandson of hachiun, brother of chinghiz khan), whose _ordo_ was contiguous to nayan's, on the left bank of the amur, hypothetically east of blagovietschensk, on the spot, where still the traces of an ancient city can be seen. nayan's possessions stretched south to kwang-ning, which belonged to his appanage, and it was from this town that he had the title of prince of kwang-ning (_yuen shi_)." (_palladius_, l.c. 31.)--h. c.] kaidu had gained influence over nayan, and persuaded him to rise against kúblái. a number of the other mongol princes took part with him. kúblái was much disquieted at the rumours, and sent his great lieutenant bayan to reconnoitre. bayan was nearly captured, but escaped to court and reported to his master the great armament that nayan was preparing. kúblái succeeded by diplomacy in detaching some of the princes from the enterprise, and resolved to march in person to the scene of action, whilst despatching bayan to the karakorum frontier to intercept kaídu. this was in the summer of 1287. what followed will be found in a subsequent note (ch. iv. note 6). (for nayan's descent, see the genealogical table in the appendix (a).) chapter iii. how the great kaan marched against nayan. when the great kaan heard what was afoot, he made his preparations in right good heart, like one who feared not the issue of an attempt so contrary to justice. confident in his own conduct and prowess, he was in no degree disturbed, but vowed that he would never wear crown again if he brought not those two traitorous and disloyal tartar chiefs to an ill end. so swiftly and secretly were his preparations made, that no one knew of them but his privy council, and all were completed within ten or twelve days. in that time he had assembled good 360,000 horsemen, and 100,000 footmen,--but a small force indeed for him, and consisting only of those that were in the vicinity. for the rest of his vast and innumerable forces were too far off to answer so hasty a summons, being engaged under orders from him on distant expeditions to conquer divers countries and provinces. if he had waited to summon all his troops, the multitude assembled would have been beyond all belief, a multitude such as never was heard of or told of, past all counting. in fact, those 360,000 horsemen that he got together consisted merely of the falconers and whippers-in that were about the court![note 1] and when he had got ready this handful (as it were) of his troops, he ordered his astrologers to declare whether he should gain the battle and get the better of his enemies. after they had made their observations, they told him to go on boldly, for he would conquer and gain a glorious victory: whereat he greatly rejoiced. so he marched with his army, and after advancing for 20 days they arrived at a great plain where nayan lay with all his host, amounting to some 400,000 horse. now the great kaan's forces arrived so fast and so suddenly that the others knew nothing of the matter. for the kaan had caused such strict watch to be made in every direction for scouts that every one that appeared was instantly captured. thus nayan had no warning of his coming and was completely taken by surprise; insomuch that when the great kaan's army came up, he was asleep in the arms of a wife of his of whom he was extravagantly fond. so thus you see why it was that the emperor equipped his force with such speed and secrecy. note 1.--i am afraid marco, in his desire to impress on his readers the great power of the kaan, is here giving the reins to exaggeration on a great scale. ramusio has here the following explanatory addition:--"you must know that in all the provinces of cathay and mangi, and throughout the great kaan's dominions, there are too many disloyal folk ready to break into rebellion against their lord, and hence it is needful in every province containing large cities and much population, to maintain garrisons. these are stationed four or five miles from the cities, and the latter are not allowed to have walls or gates by which they might obstruct the entrance of the troops at their pleasure. these garrisons as well as their commanders the great khan causes to be relieved every two years; and bridled in this way the people are kept quiet, and can make no disturbance. the troops are maintained not only by the pay which the kaan regularly assigns from the revenues of each province, but also by the vast quantities of cattle which they keep, and by the sale of milk in the cities, which furnishes the means of buying what they require. they are scattered among their different stations, at distances of 30, 40, or 60 days (from the capital); and had cublay decided to summon but the half of them, the number would have been incredible," etc. [palladius says (p. 37) that in the mongol-chinese documents, the mongol garrisons cantoned near the chinese towns are mentioned under the name of _aolu_, but no explanation of the term is given.--h. c.] the system of controlling garrisons, quartered at a few miles from the great cities, is that which the chinese followed at kashgar, yarkand, etc. it is, in fact, our own system in india, as at barrackpúr, dinapúr, sikandarábád, mián mír. chapter iv. of the battle that the great kaan fought with nayan. what shall i say about it? when day had well broken, there was the kaan with all his host upon a hill overlooking the plain where nayan lay in his tent, in all security, without the slightest thought of any one coming thither to do him hurt. in fact, this confidence of his was such that he kept no vedettes whether in front or in rear; for he knew nothing of the coming of the great kaan, owing to all the approaches having been completely occupied as i told you. moreover, the place was in a remote wilderness, more than thirty marches from the court, though the kaan had made the distance in twenty, so eager was he to come to battle with nayan. and what shall i tell you next? the kaan was there on the hill, mounted on a great wooden bartizan,[note 1] which was borne by four well-trained elephants, and over him was hoisted his standard, so high aloft that it could be seen from all sides. his troops were ordered in battles of 30,000 men apiece; and a great part of the horsemen had each a foot-soldier armed with a lance set on the crupper behind him (for it was thus that the footmen were disposed of);[note 2] and the whole plain seemed to be covered with his forces. so it was thus that the great kaan's army was arrayed for battle. when nayan and his people saw what had happened, they were sorely confounded, and rushed in haste to arms. nevertheless they made them ready in good style and formed their troops in an orderly manner. and when all were in battle array on both sides as i have told you, and nothing remained but to fall to blows, then might you have heard a sound arise of many instruments of various music, and of the voices of the whole of the two hosts loudly singing. for this is a custom of the tartars, that before they join battle they all unite in singing and playing on a certain two-stringed instrument of theirs, a thing right pleasant to hear. and so they continue in their array of battle, singing and playing in this pleasing manner, until the great naccara of the prince is heard to sound. as soon as that begins to sound the fight also begins on both sides; and in no case before the prince's naccara sounds dare any commence fighting. [note 3] so then, as they were thus singing and playing, though ordered and ready for battle, the great naccara of the great khan began to sound. and that of nayan also began to sound. and thenceforward the din of battle began to be heard loudly from this side and from that. and they rushed to work so doughtily with their bows and their maces, with their lances and swords, and with the arblasts of the footmen, that it was a wondrous sight to see. now might you behold such flights of arrows from this side and from that, that the whole heaven was canopied with them and they fell like rain. now might you see on this side and on that full many a cavalier and man-atarms fall slain, insomuch that the whole field seemed covered with them. from this side and from that such cries arose from the crowds of the wounded and dying that had god thundered, you would not have heard him! for fierce and furious was the battle, and quarter there was none given.[note 4] but why should i make a long story of it? you must know that it was the most parlous and fierce and fearful battle that ever has been fought in our day. nor have there ever been such forces in the field in actual fight, especially of horsemen, as were then engaged--for, taking both sides, there were not fewer than 760,000 horsemen, a mighty force! and that without reckoning the footmen, who were also very numerous. the battle endured with various fortune on this side and on that from morning till noon. but at the last, by god's pleasure and the right that was on his side, the great khan had the victory, and nayan lost the battle and was utterly routed. for the army of the great kaan performed such feats of arms that nayan and his host could stand against them no longer, so they turned and fled. but this availed nothing for nayan; for he and all the barons with him were taken prisoners, and had to surrender to the kaan with all their arms. now you must know that nayan was a baptized christian, and bore the cross on his banner; but this nought availed him, seeing how grievously he had done amiss in rebelling against his lord. for he was the great kaan's liegeman,[note 5] and was bound to hold his lands of him like all his ancestors before him.[note 6] note 1.--"_une grande_ bretesche." _bretesche, bertisca_ (whence old english _brattice_, and _bartizan_), was a term applied to any boarded structure of defence or attack, but especially to the timber parapets and roofs often placed on the top of the flanking-towers in mediaeval fortifications; and this use quite explains the sort of structure here intended. the term and its derivative _bartizan_ came later to be applied to projecting _guérites_ or watch-towers of masonry. _brattice_ in english is now applied to a fence round a pit or dangerous machinery. (see _muratori_, _dissert._ i. 334; _wedgwood's dict. of etym._ sub. v. _brattice_; _viollet le duc_, by _macdermott_, p. 40; _la curne de sainte-palaye, dict._; _f. godefroy, dict._) [john ranking (_hist. res. on the wars and sports of the mongols and romans_) in a note regarding this battle writes (p. 60): "it appears that it is an old custom in persia, to use four elephants a-breast." the senate decreed gordian iii. to represent him triumphing after the persian mode, with chariots drawn with four elephants. _augustan hist._ vol. ii. p. 65. see plate, p. 52.--h. c.] note 2.--this circumstance is mentioned in the extract below from gaubil. he _may_ have taken it from polo, as it is not in pauthier's chinese extracts; but gaubil has other facts not noticed in these. [elephants came from the indo-chinese kingdoms, burma, siam, ciampa. --h. c.] note 3.--the specification of the tartar instrument of two strings is peculiar to pauthier's texts. it was no doubt what dr. clarke calls "the _balalaika_ or two-stringed lyre," the most common instrument among the kalmaks. the sounding of the nakkára as the signal of action is an old pan-asiatic custom, but i cannot find that this very striking circumstance of the whole host of tartars playing and singing in chorus, when ordered for battle and waiting the signal from the boom of the big drum, is mentioned by any other author. the _nakkárah_ or _nagárah_ was a great kettledrum, formed like a brazen caldron, tapering to the bottom and covered with buffalo-hide--at least 3-1/2 or 4 feet in diameter. bernier, indeed, tells of _nakkáras_ in use at the court of delhi that were not less than a fathom across; and tod speaks of them in rájpútána as "about 8 or 10 feet in diameter." the tartar nakkárahs were usually, i presume, carried on a camel; but as kúblái had begun to use elephants, his may have been carried on an elephant, as is sometimes the case in india. thus, too, p. della valle describes those of an indian embassy at ispahan: "the indian ambassador was also accompanied by a variety of warlike instruments of music of strange kinds, and particularly by certain naccheras of such immense size that each pair had an elephant to carry them, whilst an indian astride upon the elephant between the two naccheras played upon them with both hands, dealing strong blows on this one and on that; what a din was made by these vast drums, and what a spectacle it was, i leave you to imagine." joinville also speaks of the nakkara as the signal for action: "so he was setting his host in array till noon, and then he made those drums of theirs to sound that they call _nacaires_, and then they set upon us horse and foot." the great nakkara of the tartars appears from several oriental histories to have been called _kúrkah_. i cannot find this word in any dictionary accessible to me, but it is in the _ain akbari_ (_kawargah_) as distinct from the _nakkárah_. abulfazl tells us that akbar not only had a rare knowledge of the science of music, but was likewise an excellent performer--especially on the _nakkárah!_ [illustration: nakkaras. (from a chinese original.)] the privilege of employing the nakkara in personal state was one granted by the sovereign as a high honour and reward. the crusades naturalised the word in some form or other in most european languages, but in our own apparently with a transfer of meaning. for wright defines _naker_ as "a cornet or horn of brass." and chaucer's use seems to countenance this:- "pipes, trompes, nakeres, and clariounes, that in the bataille blowen blody sounes." --_the knight's tale_. on the other hand, nacchera, in italian, seems always to have retained the meaning of _kettle-drum_, with the slight exception of a local application at siena to a metal circle or triangle struck with a rod. the fact seems to be that there is a double origin, for the arabic dictionaries not only have _nakkarah_, but _nakír_ and _nákúr_, "cornu, tuba." the orchestra of bibars bundukdári, we are told, consisted of 40 pairs of kettle-drums, 4 drums, 4 hautbois, and 20 trumpets (_nakír_). (_sir b. frere; della valle_, ii. 21; _tod's rájasthán_, i. 328; _joinville_, p. 83; _n. et e._ xiv. 129, and following note; blochmann's _ain-i-akbari_, pp. 50-51; _ducange_, by haenschel, s.v.; _makrizi_, i. 173.) [dozy (_supp. aux dict. arabes_) has [arabic] [_naqqarè_] "petit tambour ou timbale, bassin de cuivre ou de terre recouvert d'une peau tendue," and "grosses timbales en cuivre portées sur un chameau ou un mulet."--devic (_dict. étym._) writes: "bas latin, _nacara_; bas grec, [greek: anáchara]. ce n'est point comme on l'a dit, l'arabe [arabic] _naqïr_ ou [arabic] _náqör_, qui signifient _trompette_, _clairon_, mais le persan [arabic] en arabe, [arabic] _naqara_, _timbale_." it is to be found also in abyssinia and south of gondokoro; it is mentioned in the _sedjarat malayu_. in french, it gives _nacaire_ and _gnacare_ from the italian _gnacare_. "quatre jouent de la guitare, quatre des castagnettes, quatre des gnacares." (molière, _pastorale comique_.)--h. c.] [illustration: nakkaras. (from an indian original.)] note 4.--this description of a fight will recur again and again till we are very tired of it. it is difficult to say whether the style is borrowed from the historians of the east or the romancers of the west. compare the two following parallels. first from an oriental history:-"the ear of heaven was deafened with the din of the great _kurkahs_ and drums, and the earth shook at the clangour of the trumpets and clarions. the shafts began to fall like the rain-drops of spring, and blood flowed till the field looked like the oxus." (_j. a. s._ sér. iv. tom. xix. 256) next from an occidental romance:- "now rist grete tabour betyng, blaweyng of pypes, and ek trumpyng, stedes lepyng, and ek arnyng, of sharp speres, and avalyng of stronge knighttes, and wyghth meetyng; launces breche and increpyng; knighttes fallyng, stedes lesyng; herte and hevedes thorough kervyng; swerdes draweyng, lymes lesyng hard assaylyng, strong defendyng, stiff withstondyng and wighth fleigheyng. sharp of takyng armes spoylyng; so gret bray, so gret crieyng, ifor the folk there was dyeyng; _so muche dent, noise of sweord, the thondur blast no myghte beo hirde_, no the sunne hadde beo seye, for the dust of the poudré! _no the weolkyn seon be myght, so was arewes and quarels flyght_." --_king alisaunder, in weber_, i. 93-94. and again:- "the eorthe quaked heom undur, _no scholde mon have herd the thondur_." --ibid. 142. also in a contemporary account of the fall of acre (1291): "renovatur ergo bellum terribile inter alterutros ... clamoribus interjectis hine et inde ad terrorem; _ita ut nec deus tonans in sublime coaudiri potuisset_." (_de excidio acconis_, in _martene et durand_, v. 780.) note 5.--"_car il estoit_ homme _au grant kaan_." (see note 2, ch. xiv., in prologue.) note 6.--in continuation of note 4, chap. ii., we give gaubil's conclusion of the story of nayan: "the emperor had gone ahead with a small force, when nayan's general came forward with 100,000 men to make a reconnaissance. the sovereign, however, put on a bold front, and though in great danger of being carried off, showed no trepidation. it was night, and an urgent summons went to call troops to the emperor's aid. they marched at once, the horsemen taking the foot soldiers on the crupper behind them. nayan all this while was taking it quietly in his camp, and his generals did not venture to attack the emperor, suspecting an ambuscade. liting then took ten resolute men, and on approaching the general's camp, caused a fire-_pao_ to be discharged; the report caused a great panic among nayan's troops, who were very ill disciplined at the best. meanwhile the chinese and tartar troops had all come up, and nayan was attacked on all sides: by liting at the head of the chinese, by yusitemur at the head of the mongols, by tutuha and the emperor in person at the head of his guards and the troops of _kincha_ (kipchak). the presence of the emperor rendered the army invincible, and nayan's forces were completely defeated. that prince himself was taken, and afterwards put to death. the battle took place in the vicinity of the river liao, and the emperor returned in triumph to shangtu" (207). the chinese record given in detail by pauthier is to the like effect, except as to the kaan's narrow escape, of which it says nothing. as regards the fire-_pao_ (the latter word seems to have been applied to military machines formerly, and now to artillery), i must refer to favé and reinaud's very curious and interesting treatise on the greek fire (_du feu grégeois_). they do not seem to assent to the view that the arms of this description which are mentioned in the mongol wars were cannon, but rather of the nature of rockets. [dr. g. schlegel (_t'oung pao_, no. 1, 1902), in a paper entitled, _on the invention and use of fire-arms and gunpowder in china, prior to the arrival of europeans_, says that "now, notwithstanding all what has been alleged by different european authors against the use of gunpowder and fire-arms in china, i maintain that not only the mongols in 1293 had cannon, but that they were already acquainted with them in 1232." among his many examples, we quote the following from the books of the ming dynasty: "what were anciently called _p'ao_ were all machines for hurling stones. in the beginning of the mongol dynasty (a.d. 1260), _p'ao_ (catapults) of the western regions were procured. in the siege [in 1233] of the city of _ts'ai chow_ of the _kin_ (tatars), fire was for the first time employed (in these _p'ao_), but the art of making them was not handed down, and they were afterwards seldom used."--h. c.] chapter v. how the great kaan caused nayan to be put to death. and when the great kaan learned that nayan was taken right glad was he, and commanded that he should be put to death straightway and in secret, lest endeavours should be made to obtain pity and pardon for him, because he was of the kaan's own flesh and blood. and this was the way in which he was put to death: he was wrapt in a carpet, and tossed to and fro so mercilessly that he died. and the kaan caused him to be put to death in this way because he would not have the blood of his line imperial spilt upon the ground or exposed in the eye of heaven and before the sun.[note 1] and when the great kaan had gained this battle, as you have heard, all the barons and people of nayan's provinces renewed their fealty to the kaan. now these provinces that had been under the lordship of nayan were four in number; to wit, the first called chorcha; the second cauly; the third barscol; the fourth sikintinju. of all these four great provinces had nayan been lord; it was a very great dominion.[note 2] and after the great kaan had conquered nayan, as you have heard, it came to pass that the different kinds of people who were present, saracens and idolaters and jews,[note 3] and many others that believed not in god, did gibe those that were christians because of the cross that nayan had borne on his standard, and that so grievously that there was no bearing it. thus they would say to the christians: "see now what precious help this god's cross of yours hath rendered nayan, who was a christian and a worshipper thereof." and such a din arose about the matter that it reached the great kaan's own ears. when it did so, he sharply rebuked those who cast these gibes at the christians; and he also bade the christians be of good heart, "for if the cross had rendered no help to nayan, in that it had done right well; nor could that which was good, as it was, have done otherwise; for nayan was a disloyal and traitorous rebel against his lord, and well deserved that which had befallen him. wherefore the cross of your god did well in that it gave him no help against the right." and this he said so loud that everybody heard him. the christians then replied to the great kaan: "great king, you say the truth indeed, for our cross can render no one help in wrong-doing; and therefore it was that it aided not nayan, who was guilty of crime and disloyalty, for it would take no part in his evil deeds." and so thenceforward no more was heard of the floutings of the unbelievers against the christians; for they heard very well what the sovereign said to the latter about the cross on nayan's banner, and its giving him no help. note 1.--friar ricold mentions this tartar maxim: "one khan will put another to death, to get possession of the throne, but he takes great care that the blood be not spilt. for they say that it is highly improper that the blood of the great khan should be spilt upon the ground; so they cause the victim to be smothered somehow or other." the like feeling prevails at the court of burma, where a peculiar mode of execution without bloodshed is reserved for princes of the blood. and kaempfer, relating the conspiracy of faulcon at the court of siam, says that two of the king's brothers, accused of participation, were beaten to death with clubs of sandal-wood, "for the respect entertained for the blood-royal forbids its being shed." see also note 6, ch. vi. bk. i., on the death of the khalif mosta'sim billah. (_pereg. quat._ p. 115; _mission to ava_, p. 229; _kaempfer_; i. 19.) note 2.--chorcha is the manchu country, niuché of the chinese. (supra, note 2, ch. xlvi. bk. i.) ["chorcha is churchin.--nayan, as vassal of the mongol khans, had the commission to keep in obedience the people of manchuria (subdued in 1233), and to care for the security of the country (_yuen shi_); there is no doubt that he shared these obligations with his relative hatan, who stood nearer to the native tribes of manchuria." (_palladius_, 32.)--h. c.] kauli is properly corea, probably here a district on the frontier thereof, as it is improbable that nayan had any rule over corea. ["the corean kingdom proper could not be a part of the prince's appanage. marco polo might mean the northern part of corea, which submitted to the mongols in a.d. 1269, with sixty towns, and which was subordinated entirely to the central administration in liao-yang. as to the southern part of corea, it was left to the king of corea, who, however, was a vassal of the mongols." (_palladius_, 32.) the king of corea (_ko rye, kao-li_) was in 1288 chyoung ryel wang (1274-1298); the capital was syong-to, now kai syeng (k'ai-ch'eng).--h. c.] barskul, "leopard-lake," is named in sanang setsen (p. 217), but seems there to indicate some place in the west of mongolia, perhaps the _barkul_ of our maps. this barskul must have been on the manchu frontier. [there are in the _yuen-shi_ the names of the department of _p'u-yü-lu_, and of the place _pu-lo-ho_, which, according to the system of chinese transcription, approach to barscol; but it is difficult to prove this identification, since our knowledge of these places is very scanty; it only remains to identify barscol with abalahu, which is already known; a conjecture all the more probable as the two names of p'u-yü-lu and pu-lo-ho have also some resemblance to abalahu. (_palladius_, 32.) mr. e. h. parker says (_china review_, xviii. p. 261) that barscol may be pa-la ssu or bars koto [in tsetsen]. "this seems the more probable in that cauly and chorcha are clearly proved to be corea and niuché or manchuria, so that bars koto would naturally fall within nayan's appanage."--h. c.] the reading of the fourth name is doubtful, _sichuigiu, sichingiu_ (g. t.), _sichin-tingiu_ etc. the chinese name of mukden is _shing-king_, but i know not if it be so old as our author's time. i think it very possible that the real reading is _sinchin-tingin_, and that it represents shangking-tungking, expressing the two capitals of the khitan dynasty in this region, the position of which will be found indicated in no. iv. map of polo's itineraries. (see _schott, aelteste nachrichten von mongolen und tartaren_, berlin acad. 1845, pp. 11-12.) [sikintinju is kien chau "belonging to a town which was in nayan's appanage, and is mentioned in the history of his rebellion. there were two kien-chow, one in the time of the kin in the modern aimak of khorchin; the other during the mongol dynasty, on the upper part of the river ta-ling ho, in the limits of the modern aimak of kharachin (_man chow yuen lew k'ao_); the latter depended on kuang-ning (_yuen-shi_). mention is made of kien-chow, in connection with the following circumstance. when nayan's rebellion broke out, the court of peking sent orders to the king of corea, requiring from him auxiliary troops; this circumstance is mentioned in the corean annals, under the year 1288 (_kao li shi_, ch. xxx. f. 11) in the following words:--'in the present year, in the fourth month, orders were received from peking to send five thousand men with provisions to kien-chow, which is 3000 _li_ distant from the king's residence.' this number of _li_ cannot of course be taken literally; judging by the distances estimated at the present day, it was about 2000 _li_ from the corean k'ai-ch'eng fu (then the corean capital) to the mongol kien-chow; and as much to the kien-chow of the kin (through mukden and the pass of fak'u mun in the willow palisade). it is difficult to decide to which of these two cities of the same name the troops were ordered to go, but at any rate, there are sufficient reasons to identify sikintinju of marco polo with kien-chow." (_palladius_, 33.)--h. c.] we learn from gaubil that the rebellion did not end with the capture of nayan. in the summer of 1288 several of the princes of nayan's league, under hatan (apparently the _abkan_ of erdmann's genealogies), the grandson of chinghiz's brother kajyun [hachiun], threatened the provinces north-east of the wall. kúblái sent his grandson and designated heir, teimur, against them, accompanied by some of his best generals. after a two days' fight on the banks of the river kweilei, the rebels were completely beaten. the territories on the said river _kweilei_, the _tiro_, or _torro_, and the _liao_, are mentioned both by gaubil and de mailla as among those which had belonged to nayan. as the kweilei and toro appear on our maps and also the better-known liao, we are thus enabled to determine with tolerable precision nayan's country. (see _gaubil_, p. 209, and _de mailla_, 431 seqq.) ["the rebellion of nayan and hatan is incompletely and contradictorily related in chinese history. the suppression of both these rebellions lasted four years. in 1287 nayan marched from his _ordo_ with sixty thousand men through eastern mongolia. in the 5th moon (_var._ 6th) of the same year khubilai marched against him from shangtu. the battle was fought in south-eastern mongolia, and gained by khubilai, who returned to shangtu in the 8th month. nayan fled to the south-east, across the mountain range, along which a willow palisade now stands; but forces had been sent beforehand from shin-chow (modern mukden) and kuang-ning (probably to watch the pass), and nayan was made prisoner. "two months had not passed, when hatan's rebellion broke out (so that it took place in the same year 1287). it is mentioned under the year 1288, that hatan was beaten, and that the whole of manchuria was pacified; but in 1290, it is again recorded that hatan disturbed southern manchuria, and that he was again defeated. it is to this time that the narratives in the biographies of liting, yuesi femur, and mangwu ought to be referred. according to the first of these biographies, hatan, after his defeat by liting on the river kui lui (kuilar?), fled, and perished. according to the second biography, hatan's dwelling (on the amur river) was destroyed, and he disappeared. according to the third, mangwu and naimatai pursued hatan to the extreme north, up to the eastern sea-coast (the mouth of the amur). hatan fled, but two of his wives and his son lao-ti were taken; the latter was executed, and this was the concluding act of the suppression of the rebellion in manchuria. we find, however, an important _variante_ in the history of corea; it is stated there that in 1290, hatan and his son lao-ti were carrying fire and slaughter to corea, and devastated that country; they slew the inhabitants and fed on human flesh. the king of corea fled to the kiang-hwa island. the coreans were not able to withstand the invasion. the mongols sent to their aid in 1291, troops under the command of two generals, seshekan (who was at that time governor of liao-tung) and namantai (evidently the above-mentioned naimatai). the mongols conjointly with the coreans defeated the insurgents, who had penetrated into the very heart of the country; their corpses covered a space 30 _li_ in extent; hatan and his son made their way through the victorious army and fled, finding a refuge in the niuchi (djurdji) country, from which laotai made a later incursion into corea. such is the discrepancy between historians in relating the same fact. the statement found in the corean history seems to me more reliable than the facts given by chinese history." (_palladius_, 35-37.)--h. c.] note 3.--this passage, and the extract from ramusio's version attached to the following chapter, contain the only allusions by marco to jews in china. john of monte corvino alludes to them, and so does marignolli, who speaks of having held disputations with them at cambaluc; ibn batuta also speaks of them at khansa or hangchau. much has been written about the ancient settlement of jews at kaifungfu, in honan. one of the most interesting papers on the subject is in the _chinese repository_, vol. xx. it gives the translation of a chinese-jewish inscription, which in some respects forms a singular parallel to the celebrated christian inscription of si-ngan fu, though it is of far more modern date (1511). it exhibits, as that inscription does, the effect of chinese temperament or language, in modifying or diluting doctrinal statements. here is a passage: "with respect to the israelitish religion, we find on inquiry that its first ancestor, adam, came originally from india, and that during the (period of the) chau state the sacred writings were already in existence. the sacred writings, embodying eternal reason, consist of 53 sections. the principles therein contained are very abstruse, and the eternal reason therein revealed is very mysterious, being treated with the same veneration as heaven. the founder of the religion is abraham, who is considered the first teacher of it. then came moses, who established the law, and handed down the sacred writings. after his time, during the han dynasty (b.c. 206 to a.d. 221), this religion entered china. in (a.d.) 1164, a synagogue was built at p'ien. in (a.d.) 1296, the old temple was rebuilt, as a place in which the sacred writings might be deposited with veneration." [according to their oral tradition, the jews came to china from _si yih_ (western regions), probably persia, by khorasan and samarkand, during the first century of our era, in the reign of the emperor ming-ti (a.d. 58-75) of the han dynasty. they were at times confounded with the followers of religions of india, _t'ien chu kiao_, and very often with the mohammedans _hwui-hwui_ or _hwui-tzu_; the common name of their religion was _tiao kin kiao_, "extract sinew religion." however, three lapidary inscriptions, kept at kaï-fung, give different dates for the arrival of the jews in china: one dated 1489 (2nd year hung che, ming dynasty) says that seventy jewish families arrived at p'ien liang (kaï-fung) at the time of the sung (a. d. 960-1278); one dated 1512 (7th year chêng têh) says that the jewish religion was introduced into china under the han dynasty (b.c. 206-a.d. 221), and the last one dated 1663 (2nd year k'ang-hi) says that this religion was first preached in china under the chau dynasty (b.c. 1122-255); this will not bear discussion. the synagogue, according to these inscriptions, was built in 1163, under the sung emperor hiao; under the yuen, in 1279, the rabbi rebuilt the ancient temple known as _ts'ing chen sse_, probably on the site of a ruined mosque; the synagogue was rebuilt in 1421 during the reign of yung-lo; it was destroyed by an inundation of the hwang-ho in 1642, and the jews began to rebuild it once more in 1653. the first knowledge europeans had of a colony of jews at k'aï-fung fu, in the ho-nan province, was obtained through the jesuit missionaries at peking, at the beginning of the 17th century; the celebrated matteo ricci having received the visit of a young jew, the jesuits aleni (1613), gozani (1704), gaubil and domenge who made in 1721 two plans of the synagogue, visited kaï-fung and brought back some documents. in 1850, a mission of enquiry was sent to that place by the _london society for promoting christianity among the jews_; the results of this mission were published at shang-hai, in 1851, by bishop g. smith of hongkong; fac-similes of the hebrew manuscripts obtained at the synagogue of kaï-fung were also printed at shang-haï at the london missionary society's press, in the same year. the jewish merchants of london sent in 1760 to their brethren of kaï-fung a letter written in hebrew; a jewish merchant of vienna, j. l. liebermann, visited the kaï-fung colony in 1867. at the time of the t'aï-p'ing rising, the rebels marched against kaï-fung in 1857, and with the rest of the population, the jews were dispersed. (_j. tobar, insc. juives de kaï-fong-fou_, 1900; _henri cordier_, _les juifs en chine_, and _fung and wagnall's jewish encyclopedia_.) palladius writes (p. 38), "the jews are mentioned for the first time in the _yuen shi_ (ch. xxxiii. p. 7), under the year 1329, on the occasion of the re-establishment of the law for the collection of taxes from dissidents. mention of them is made again under the year 1354, ch. xliii. fol. 10, when on account of several insurrections in china, rich mahommetans and jews were invited to the capital in order to join the army. in both cases they are named _chu hu_ (djuhud)."--h. c.] the synagogue at kaifungfu has recently been demolished for the sake of its materials, by the survivors of the jewish community themselves, who were too poor to repair it. the tablet that once adorned its entrance, bearing in gilt characters the name eszloyih (israel), has been appropriated by a mosque. the 300 or 400 survivors seem in danger of absorption into the mahomedan or heathen population. the last rabbi and possessor of the sacred tongue died some thirty or forty years ago, the worship has ceased, and their traditions have almost died away. (_cathay_, 225, 341, 497; _ch. rep._ xx. 436; _dr. martin_, in _j. n. china br. r. a. s._ 1866, pp. 32-33.) chapter vi. how the great kaan went back to the city of cambaluc. and after the great kaan had defeated nayan in the way you have heard, he went back to his capital city of cambaluc and abode there, taking his ease and making festivity. and the other tartar lord called caydu was greatly troubled when he heard of the defeat and death of nayan, and held himself in readiness for war; but he stood greatly in fear of being handled as nayan had been.[note 1] i told you that the great kaan never went on a campaign but once, and it was on this occasion; in all other cases of need he sent his sons or his barons into the field. but this time he would have none go in command but himself, for he regarded the presumptuous rebellion of nayan as far too serious and perilous an affair to be otherwise dealt with. note 1.--here ramusio has a long and curious addition. kúblái, it says, remained at cambaluc till march, "in which our easter occurs; and learning that this was one of our chief festivals, he summoned all the christians, and bade them bring with them the book of the four gospels. this he caused to be incensed many times with great ceremony, kissing it himself most devoutly, and desiring all the barons and lords who were present to do the same. and he always acts in this fashion at the chief christian festivals, such as easter and christmas. and he does the like at the chief feasts of the saracens, jews, and idolaters. on being asked why, he said: 'there are four prophets worshipped and revered by all the world. the christians say their god is jesus christ; the saracens, mahommet; the jews, moses; the idolaters, sogomon borcan [_sakya-muni burkhan_ or buddha], who was the first god among the idols; and i worship and pay respect to all four, and pray that he among them who is greatest in heaven in very truth may aid me.' but the great khan let it be seen well enough that he held the christian faith to be the truest and best--for, as he says, it commands nothing that is not perfectly good and holy. but he will not allow the christians to carry the cross before them, because on it was scourged and put to death a person so great and exalted as christ. "some one may say: 'since he holds the christian faith to be best, why does he not attach himself to it, and become a christian?' well, this is the reason that he gave to messer nicolo and messer maffeo, when he sent them as his envoys to the pope, and when they sometimes took occasion to speak to him about the faith of christ. he said: 'how would you have me to become a christian? you see that the christians of these parts are so ignorant that they achieve nothing and can achieve nothing, whilst you see the idolaters can do anything they please, insomuch that when i sit at table the cups from the middle of the hall come to me full of wine or other liquor without being touched by anybody, and i drink from them. they control storms, causing them to pass in whatever direction they please, and do many other marvels; whilst, as you know, their idols speak, and give them predictions on whatever subjects they choose. but if i were to turn to the faith of christ and become a christian, then my barons and others who are not converted would say: "what has moved you to be baptised and to take up the faith of christ? what powers or miracles have you witnessed on his part?" (you know the idolaters here say that their wonders are performed by the sanctity and power of their idols.) well, i should not know what answer to make; so they would only be confirmed in their errors, and the idolaters, who are adepts in such surprising arts, would easily compass my death. but now you shall go to your pope, and pray him on my part to send hither an hundred men skilled in your law, who shall be capable of rebuking the practices of the idolaters to their faces, and of telling them that they too know how to do such things but will not, because they are done by the help of the devil and other evil spirits, and shall so control the idolaters that these shall have no power to perform such things in their presence. when we shall witness this we will denounce the idolaters and their religion, and then i will receive baptism; and when i shall have been baptised, then all my barons and chiefs shall be baptised also, and their followers shall do the like, and thus in the end there will be more christians here than exist in your part of the world!' "and if the pope, as was said in the beginning of this book, had sent men fit to preach our religion, the grand kaan would have turned christian; for it is an undoubted fact that he greatly desired to do so." in the simultaneous patronage of different religions, kúblái followed the practice of his house. thus rubruquis writes of his predecessor mangku kaan: "it is his custom, on such days as his diviners tell him to be festivals, or any of the nestorian priests declare to be holydays, to hold a court. on these occasions the christian priests enter first with their paraphernalia, and pray for him, and bless his cup. they retire, and then come the saracen priests and do likewise; the priests of the idolaters follow. he all the while believes in none of them, though they all follow his court as flies follow honey. he bestows his gifts on all of them, each party believes itself to be his favourite, and all prophesy smooth things to him." abulfaragius calls kúblái "a just prince and a wise, who loved christians and honoured physicians of learning, whatsoever their nation." there is a good deal in kúblái that reminds us of the greatest prince of that other great mongol house, akbar. and if we trusted the first impression of the passage just quoted from ramusio, we might suppose that the grandson of chinghiz too had some of that real wistful regard towards the lord jesus christ, of which we seem to see traces in the grandson of baber. but with kúblái, as with his predecessors, religion seems to have been only a political matter; and this aspect of the thing will easily be recognised in a re-perusal of his conversation with messer nicolas and messer maffeo. the kaan must be obeyed; how man shall worship god is indifferent; this was the constant policy of his house in the days of its greatness. kúblái, as koeppen observes, the first of his line to raise himself above the natural and systematic barbarism of the mongols, probably saw in the promotion of tibetan buddhism, already spread to some extent among them, the readiest means of civilising his countrymen. but he may have been quite sincere in saying what is here ascribed to him in _this_ sense, viz.: that if the latin church, with its superiority of character and acquirement, had come to his aid as he had once requested, he would gladly have used _its_ missionaries as his civilising instruments instead of the lamas and their trumpery. (_rubr._ 313; _assemani_, iii. pt. ii. 107; _koeppen_, ii. 89, 96.) chapter vii. how the kaan rewarded the valour of his captains. so we will have done with this matter of nayan, and go on with our account of the great state of the great kaan. we have already told you of his lineage and of his age; but now i must tell you what he did after his return, in regard to those barons who had behaved well in the battle. him who was before captain of 100 he made captain of 1000; and him who was captain of 1000 men he made to be captain of 10,000, advancing every man according to his deserts and to his previous rank. besides that, he also made them presents of fine silver plate and other rich appointments; gave them tablets of authority of a higher degree than they held before; and bestowed upon them fine jewels of gold and silver, and pearls and precious stones; insomuch that the amount that fell to each of them was something astonishing. and yet 'twas not so much as they had deserved; for never were men seen who did such feats of arms for the love and honour of their lord, as these had done on that day of the battle.[note 1] now those tablets of authority, of which i have spoken, are ordered in this way. the officer who is a captain of 100 hath a tablet of silver; the captain of 1000 hath a tablet of gold or silver-gilt; the commander of 10,000 hath a tablet of gold, with a lion's head on it. and i will tell you the weight of the different tablets, and what they denote. the tablets of the captains of 100 and 1000 weigh each of them 120 _saggi_; and the tablet with the lion's head engraven on it, which is that of the commander of 10,000, weighs 220 _saggi_. and on each of the tablets is inscribed a device, which runs: "_by the strength of the great god, and of the great grace which he hath accorded to our emperor, may the name of the kaan be blessed; and let all such as will not obey him be slain and be destroyed_." and i will tell you besides that all who hold these tablets likewise receive warrants in writing, declaring all their powers and privileges. i should mention too that an officer who holds the chief command of 100,000 men, or who is general-in-chief of a great host, is entitled to a tablet that weighs 300 _saggi_. it has an inscription thereon to the same purport that i have told you already, and below the inscription there is the figure of a lion, and below the lion the sun and moon. they have warrants also of their high rank, command, and power.[note 2] every one, moreover, who holds a tablet of this exalted degree is entitled, whenever he goes abroad, to have a little golden canopy, such as is called an umbrella, carried on a spear over his head in token of his high command. and whenever he sits, he sits in a silver chair.[note 3] to certain very great lords also there is given a tablet with gerfalcons on it; this is only to the very greatest of the kaan's barons, and it confers on them his own full power and authority; so that if one of those chiefs wishes to send a messenger any whither, he can seize the horses of any man, be he even a king, and any other chattels at his pleasure. [note 4] note 1.--so sanang setzen relates that chinghiz, on returning from one of his great campaigns, busied himself in reorganising his forces and bestowing rank and title, according to the deserts of each, on his nine _orlok_, or marshals, and all who had done good service. "he named commandants over hundreds, over thousands, over ten thousands, over hundred thousands, and opened his treasury to the multitude of the people" (p. 91). note 2.--we have several times already had mention of these tablets. (see prologue, ch. viii. and xviii.) the earliest european allusion to them is in rubruquis: "and mangu gave to the moghul (whom he was going to send to the king of france) a bull of his, that is to say, a golden plate of a palm in breadth and half a cubit in length, on which his orders were inscribed. whosoever is the bearer of that may order what he pleases, and his order shall be executed straightway." these golden bulls of the mongol kaans appear to have been originally tokens of high favour and honour, though afterwards they became more frequent and conventional. they are often spoken of by the persian historians of the mongols under the name of _páizah_, and sometimes _páizah sir-i-sher_, or "lion's head paizah." thus, in a firmán of ghazan khan, naming a viceroy to his conquests in syria, the khan confers on the latter "the sword, the august standard, the drum, and the _lion's head paizah_." most frequently the grant of this honour is coupled with _yarlígh_; "to such an one were granted yarlígh and páizah" the former word (which is still applied in turkey to the sultan's rescripts) denoting the written patent which accompanies the grant of the tablet, just as the sovereign's warrant accompanies the badge of a modern order. of such written patents also marco speaks in this passage, and as he uttered it, no doubt the familiar words _yarlígh u páizah_ were in his mind. the armenian history of the orpelians, relating the visit of prince sempad, brother of king hayton, to the court of mangku kaan, says: "they gave him also a _p'haiza_ of gold, i.e. a tablet whereon the name of god is written by the great kaan himself; and this constitutes the greatest honour known among the mongols. farther, they drew up for him a sort of patent, which the mongols call _iarlekh_," etc. the latin version of a grant by uzbek khan of kipchak to the venetian andrea zeno, in 1333,[1] ends with the words: "_dedimus_ baisa _et_ privilegium _cum bullis rubeis_," where the latter words no doubt represent the _yarlígh al-tamghá_, the warrant with the red seal or stamp,[2] as it may be seen upon the letter of arghun khan. (see plate at ch. xvii. of bk. iv.). so also janibek, the son of uzbek, in 1344, confers privileges on the venetians, "_eisdem dando_ baissinum _de auro_"; and again bardibeg, son, murderer, and successor of janibeg, in 1358, writes: "avemo dado comandamento [i.e. yarlíg] cum le bolle rosse, et lo _paysam_." under the persian branch, at least, of the house the degree of honour was indicated by the _number_ of lions' heads upon the plate, which varied from 1 to 5. the lion and sun, a symbol which survives, or has been revived, in the modern persian decoration so called, formed the emblem of the sun in leo, i.e. in highest power. it had already been used on the coins of the seljukian sovereigns of persia and iconium; it appears on coins of the mongol ilkhans ghazan, oljaitu, and abusaid, and it is also found on some of those of mahomed uzbek khan of kipchak. [illustration: seljukian coin with the lion and sun.] hammer gives regulations of ghazan khan's on the subject of the paizah, from which it is seen that the latter were of different _kinds_ as well as degrees. some were held by great governors and officers of state, and these were cautioned against letting the paizah out of their own keeping; others were for officers of inferior order; and, again, "for persons travelling on state commissions with post-horses, particular paizah (which hammer says were of brass) are appointed, on which their names are inscribed." these last would seem therefore to be merely such permissions to travel by the government post-horses as are still required in russia, perhaps in lineal derivation from mongol practice. the terms of ghazan's decree and other contemporary notices show that great abuses were practised with the paizah, as an authority for living at free quarters and making other arbitrary exactions. [illustration: "table d'or de commandement," the paiza of the mongols. from a specimen found in e. siberia.] the word _paizah_ is said to be chinese, _pai-tseu_, "a tablet." a trace of the name and the thing still survives in mongolia. the horse-_bai_ is the name applied to a certain ornament on the horse caparison, which gives the rider a title to be furnished with horses and provisions on a journey. [illustration: second example of a mongol paiza, with superscription in the _uighúr_ character, found near the river dnieper, 1845.] where i have used the venetian term _saggio_, the french texts have here and elsewhere _saics_ and _saies_, and sometimes _pois_. _saic_ points to _saiga_, which, according to dupré de st. maur, is in the salic laws the equivalent of a denier or the twelfth part of a sol. _saggio_ is possibly the same word, or rather may have been confounded with it, but the saggio was a recognised venetian weight equal to 1/6 of an ounce. we shall see hereafter that polo appears to use it to indicate the _miskál_, a weight which may be taken at 74 grains troy. on that supposition the smallest tablet specified in the text would weigh 18-1/2 ozs. troy. i do not know if any gold paizah has been discovered, but several of silver have been found in the russian dominions; one near the dnieper, and two in eastern siberia. the first of our plates represents one of these, which was found in the minusinsk circle of the government of yenisei in 1846, and is now in the asiatic museum of the academy of st. petersburg, for the sake of better illustration of our text, i have taken the liberty to represent the tablet as of gold, instead of silver with only the inscription gilt. the moulded ring inserted in the orifice, to suspend the plate by, is of iron. on the reverse side the ring bears some chinese characters engraved, which are interpreted as meaning "publication no. 42." the inscription on the plate itself is in the mongol language and baspa character (supra, prologue, note 1, ch. xv.), and its purport is a remarkable testimony to the exactness of marco's account, and almost a proof of his knowledge of the language and character in which the inscriptions were engraved. it runs, according to schmidt's version: "_by the strength of the eternal heaven! may the name of the khagan be holy! who pays him not reverence is to be slain, and must die!_" the inscriptions on the other plates discovered were essentially similar in meaning. our second plate shows one of them with the inscription in the uighúr character. the superficial dimensions of the yenisei tablet, as taken from schmidt's full-size drawing, are 12.2 in. by 3.65 in. the weight is not given. in the french texts nothing is said of the size of the tablets. but ramusio's copy in the prologue, where the tables given by kiacatu are mentioned (supra, p. 35), says that they were a cubit in length and 5 fingers in breadth, and weighed 3 to 4 marks each, i.e. 24 to 32 ounces. (_dupré de st. maur_, _essai sur les monnoies_, etc., 1746, p. viii.; also (on _saiga_) see _pertz_, _script._ xvii. 357; _rubruq._ 312; _golden horde_, 219-220, 521; _ilch._ ii. 166 seqq., 355-356; _d'ohsson_, iii. 412-413; _q. r._ 177-180; _ham. wassáf_, 154, 176; _makrizi_, iv. 158; _st. martin_, _mém. sur l'arménie_, ii. 137, 169; _m. mas latrie_ in _bibl. de l'éc. des chartes_, iv. 585 seqq.; _j. as._ sér. v. tom. xvii. 536 seqq.; _schmidt, über eine mongol. quadratinschrift_, etc., acad. st. p., 1847; russian paper by _grigorieff_ on same subject, 1846.) ["the history tells us (_liao shih_, bk. lvii. f. 2) that the official silver tablets _p'ai tzu_ of the period were 600 in number, about a foot in length, and that they were engraved with an inscription like the above ['our imperial order for post horses. urgent.'] in national characters (_kuo tzu_), and that when there was important state business the emperor personally handed the tablet to the envoy, which entitled him to demand horses at the post stations, and to be treated as if he were the emperor himself travelling. when the tablet was marked 'urgent,' he had the right to take private horses, and was required to ride, night and day, 700 _li_ in twenty-four hours. on his return he had to give back the tablet to the emperor, who handed it to the prince who had the custody of the state tablets and seals." (_dr. s. w. bushell, actes xi. cong. int. orient._, paris, p. 17.) "the kin, in the thirteenth century, used badges of office made of silver. they were rectangular, bore the imperial seal, and an inscription indicative of the duty of the bearer. (_chavannes, voyageurs chez les khitans_, 102.) the nü-chên at an earlier date used wooden _pai-tzu_ tied to each horseman and horse, to distinguish them by. (_ma tuan-lin_, bk. 327, 11.)" (_rockhill, rubruck_, p. 181, note.) "tiger's tablets--_sinice hu fu_, and _p'ai tsze_ in the common language. the mongols had them of several kinds, which differed by the metal, of which they were made, as well as by the number of pearls (one, two, or three in number), which were incrusted in the upper part of the tablet. falcon's tablets with the figure of a falcon were round, and used to be given only to special couriers and envoys of the khan. [_yuen shi lui pien_ and _yuen ch'ao tien chang_.] the use of the _hu-fu_ was adopted by the mongols probably from the kin." (_palladius_, l.c. p. 39.) rubruquis (rockhill's ed. pp. 153-154) says:--"and whenever the principal envoy [of longa] came to court he carried a highly-polished tablet of ivory about a cubit long and half a palm wide. every time he spoke to the chan or some great personage, he always looked at that tablet as if he found there what he had to say, nor did he look to the right or the left, nor in the face of him with whom he was talking. likewise, when coming into the presence of the lord, and when leaving it, he never looked at anything but his tablet." mr. rockhill observes: "these tablets are called _hu_ in chinese, and were used in china and korea; in the latter country down to quite recent times. they were made of jade, ivory, bamboo, etc., according to the rank of the owner, and were about three feet long. the _hu_ was originally used to make memoranda on of the business to be submitted by the bearer to the emperor or to write the answers to questions he had had submitted to them. odoric also refers to 'the tablets of white ivory which the emperor's barons held in their hands as they stood silent before him.'" (cf. the golden tablets which were of various classes with a tiger for image and pearls for ornaments, _devéria, epigraphie_, p. 15 et seq.) --h. c.] note 3.--_umbrella_. the phrase in pauthier's text is "_palieque que on dit_ ombrel." the latin text of the soc. de géographie has "_unum pallium_ de auro," which i have adopted as probably correct, looking to burma, where the old etiquettes as to umbrellas are in full force. these etiquettes were probably in both countries of old hindu origin. _pallium_, according to muratori, was applied in the middle ages to a kind of square umbrella, by which is probably meant rather a canopy on four staves, which was sometimes assigned by authority as an honourable privilege. but the genuine umbrella would seem to have been used also, for polo's contemporary, martino da canale, says that, when the doge goes forth of his palace, "_si vait apres lui un damoiseau qui porte une umbrele de dras à or sur son chief_," which umbrella had been given by "_monseigneur l'apostoille_." there is a picture by girolamo gambarota, in the sala del gran consiglio, at venice, which represents the investiture of the doge with the umbrella by pope alexander iii., and frederick barbarossa (concerning which see _sanuto_ junior, in _muratori_, xxii. 512). the word _parasol_ also occurs in the petrarchian vocabulary, (14th century) as the equivalent of _saioual_ (pers. _sáyában_ or _sáiwán_, an umbrella). carpini notices that umbrellas (_solinum vel tentoriolum in hastâ_) were carried over the tartar nobles and their wives, even on horseback; and a splendid one, covered with jewels, was one of the presents made to kuyuk kaan on his enthronement. with respect to the honorary character attaching to umbrellas in china, i may notice that recently an english resident of ningpo, on his departure for europe, was presented by the chinese citizens, as a token of honour, with a pair of _wan min sàn_, umbrellas of enormous size. the umbrella must have gone through some curious vicissitudes; for at one time we find it familiar, at a later date apparently unknown, and then reintroduced as some strange novelty. arrian speaks of the [greek: skiádia], or umbrellas, as used by all indians of any consideration; but the thing of which he spoke was familiar to the use of greek and roman ladies, and many examples of it, borne by slaves behind their mistresses, are found on ancient vase-paintings. athenaeus quotes from anacreon the description of a "beggar on horseback" who "like a woman bears an ivory parasol over his delicate head." an indian prince, in a sanskrit inscription of the 9th century, boasts of having wrested from the king of márwár the two umbrellas pleasing to parvati, and white as the summer moonbeams. prithi ráj, the last hindu king of delhi, is depicted by the poet chand as shaded by a white umbrella on a golden staff. an unmistakable umbrella, copied from a saxon ms. in the harleian collection, is engraved in _wright's history of domestic manners_, p. 75. the fact that the gold umbrella is one of the paraphernalia of high church dignitaries in italy seems to presume acquaintance with the thing from a remote period. a decorated umbrella also accompanies the host when sent out to the sick, at least where i write, in palermo. ibn batuta says that in his time all the people of constantinople, civil and military, great and small, carried great umbrellas over their heads, summer and winter. ducange quotes, from a ms. of the paris library, the byzantine court regulations about umbrellas, which are of the genuine pan-asiatic spirit;--[greek: skiádia chrysokókkina] extend from the hypersebastus to the grand stratopedarchus, and so on; exactly as used to be the case, with different titles, in java. and yet it is curious that john marignolli, ibn batuta's contemporary in the middle of the 14th century, and barbosa in the 16th century, are alike at pains to describe the umbrella as some strange object. and in our own country it is commonly stated that the umbrella was first used in the last century, and that jonas hanway (died 1786) was one of the first persons who made a practice of carrying one. the word _umbrello_ is, however, in minsheu's dictionary. [see _hobson-jobson_, s.v. _umbrella_.--h. c.] (_murat. dissert._ ii. 229; _archiv. storic. ital._ viii. 274, 560; _klapr. mém._ iii.; _carp._ 759; _n. and q., c. and j._ ii. 180; _arrian, indica_, xvi.; _smith's dict., g. and r. ant._, s. v. _umbraculum_; _j. r. a. s._ v. 351; _rás mála_, i. 221; _i. b._ ii. 440; _cathay_, 381; _ramus._ i. f. 301.) alexander, according to athenaeus, feasted his captains to the number of 6000, and made them all sit upon silver chairs. the same author relates that the king of persia, among other rich presents, bestowed upon entimus the gortynian, who went up to the king in imitation of themistocles, _a silver chair and a gilt umbrella_. (bk. i. epit. ch. 31, and ii. 31.) the silver chair has come down to our own day in india, and is much affected by native princes. note 4.--i have not been able to find any allusion, except in our author, to tablets, with gerfalcons (_shonkár_). the _shonkár_ appears, however, according to erdmann, on certain coins of the golden horde, struck at sarai. there is a passage from wassáf used by hammer, in whose words it runs that the sayad imámuddín, appointed (a.d. 683) governor of shiraz by arghun khan, "was invested with _both_ the mongol symbols of delegated sovereignty, the golden lion's head, and the golden _cat's head_." it would certainly have been more satisfactory to find "gerfalcon's head" in lieu of the latter; but it is probable that the same object is meant. the cut below exhibits the conventional effigy of a gerfalcon as sculptured over one of the gates of iconium, polo's conia. the head might easily pass for a conventional representation of a cat's head, and is indeed strikingly like the grotesque representation that bears that name in mediaeval architecture. (_erdmann, numi asiatici_, i. 339; _ilch._ i. 370.) [illustration: sculptured gerfalcon. (from the gate of iconium.)] [1] "in anno simiae, octavâ lunâ, die quarto exeunte, juxta fluvium cobam (_the kuban_), apud ripam rubeam existentes scripsimus." the original was in _linguâ persaycá_. [2] see _golden horde_, p. 218. chapter viii. concerning the person of the great kaan. the personal appearance of the great kaan, lord of lords, whose name is cublay, is such as i shall now tell you. he is of a good stature, neither tall nor short, but of a middle height. he has a becoming amount of flesh, and is very shapely in all his limbs. his complexion is white and red, the eyes black and fine,[note 1] the nose well formed and well set on. he has four wives, whom he retains permanently as his legitimate consorts; and the eldest of his sons by those four wives ought by rights to be emperor;--i mean when his father dies. those four ladies are called empresses, but each is distinguished also by her proper name. and each of them has a special court of her own, very grand and ample; no one of them having fewer than 300 fair and charming damsels. they have also many pages and eunuchs, and a number of other attendants of both sexes; so that each of these ladies has not less than 10,000 persons attached to her court.[note 2] when the emperor desires the society of one of these four consorts, he will sometimes send for the lady to his apartment and sometimes visit her at her own. he has also a great number of concubines, and i will tell you how he obtains them. you must know that there is a tribe of tartars called ungrat, who are noted for their beauty. now every year an hundred of the most beautiful maidens of this tribe are sent to the great kaan, who commits them to the charge of certain elderly ladies dwelling in his palace. and these old ladies make the girls sleep with them, in order to ascertain if they have sweet breath [and do not snore], and are sound in all their limbs. then such of them as are of approved beauty, and are good and sound in all respects, are appointed to attend on the emperor by turns. thus six of these damsels take their turn for three days and nights, and wait on him when he is in his chamber and when he is in his bed, to serve him in any way, and to be entirely at his orders. at the end of the three days and nights they are relieved by other six. and so throughout the year, there are reliefs of maidens by six and six, changing every three days and nights.[note 3] [illustration: portrait of kúblái kaan. (from a chinese engraving.)] note 1.--we are left in some doubt as to the colour of kúblái's eyes, for some of the mss. read _vairs_ and _voirs_, and others _noirs_. the former is a very common epithet for eyes in the mediaeval romances. and in the ballad on the death of st. lewis, we are told of his son tristram:- "droiz fu comme un rosel, _iex vairs comme faucon_, dès le tens moysel ne nasqui sa façon." the word has generally been interpreted _bluish-grey_, but in the passage just quoted, fr.-michel explains it by _brillans_. however, the evidence for _noirs_ here seems strongest. rashiduddin says that when kúblái was born chinghiz expressed surprise at the child's being so _brown_, as its father and all his other sons were fair. indeed, we are told that the descendants of yesugai (the father of chinghiz) were in general distinguished by blue eyes and reddish hair. (_michel's joinville_, p. 324; _d'ohsson_, ii. 475; _erdmann_, 252.) note 2.--according to hammer's authority (rashid?) kúblái had _seven_ wives; gaubil's chinese sources assign him _five_, with the title of empress (_hwang-heu_). of these the best beloved was the beautiful jamúi khátún (lady or empress jamúi, illustrating what the text says of the manner of styling these ladies), who bore him four sons and five daughters. rashiduddin adds that she was called _kún kú_, or the great consort, evidently the term _hwang-heu_. (gen. tables in _hammer's ilkhans_; _gatibil_, 223; _erdmann_, 200.) ["kúblái's four wives, i.e. the empresses of the first, second, third, and fourth _ordos_. _ordo_ is, properly speaking, a separate palace of the khan, under the management of one of his wives. chinese authors translate therefore the word _ordo_ by 'harem.' the four _ordo_ established by chingis khan were destined for the empresses, who were chosen out of four different nomad tribes. during the reign of the first four khans, who lived in mongolia, the four _ordo_ were considerably distant one from another, and the khans visited them in different seasons of the year; they existed nominally as long as china remained under mongol domination. the custom of choosing the empress out of certain tribes, was in the course of time set aside by the khans. the empress, wife of the last mongol khan in china, was a corean princess by birth; and she contributed in a great measure to the downfall of the mongol dynasty." (_palladius_, 40.) i do not believe that rashiduddin's _kún kú_ is the term _hwang-keu_; it is the term _kiun chu_, king or queen, a sovereign.--h. c.] note 3.--_ungrat_, the reading of the crusca, seems to be that to which the others point, and i doubt not that it represents the great mongol tribe of kungurat, which gave more wives than any other to the princes of the house of chinghiz; a conclusion in which i find i have been anticipated by de mailla or his editor (ix. 426). to this tribe (which, according to vámbéry, took its name from (turki) _kongur-at_, "chestnut horse") belonged burteh fujin, the favourite wife of chinghiz himself, and mother of his four heirs; to the same tribe belonged the two wives of chagatai, two of hulaku's seven wives, one of mangku kaan's, two at least of kúblái's including the beloved jamúi khátún, one at least of abaka's, two of ahmed tigudar's, two of arghun's, and two of ghazan's. the seat of the kungurats was near the great wall. their name is still applied to one of the tribes of the uzbeks of western turkestan, whose body appears to have been made up of fractions of many of the turk and mongol tribes. kungurat is also the name of a town of khiva, near the sea of aral, perhaps borrowed from the uzbek clan. the conversion of _kungurat_ into _ungrat_ is due, i suppose, to that mongol tendency to soften gutturals which has been before noticed. (_erdm._ 199-200; _hammer, passim; burnes_, iii. 143, 225.) the ramusian version adds here these curious and apparently genuine particulars:-"the great kaan sends his commissioners to the province to select four or five hundred, or whatever number may be ordered, of the most beautiful young women, according to the scale of beauty enjoined upon them. and they set a value upon the comparative beauty of the damsels in this way. the commissioners on arriving assemble all the girls of the province, in presence of appraisers appointed for the purpose. these carefully survey the points of each girl in succession, as (for example) her hair, her complexion, eyebrows, mouth, lips, and the proportion of all her limbs. they will then set down some as estimated at 16 carats, some at 17, 18, 20, or more or less, according to the sum of the beauties or defects of each. and whatever standard the great kaan may have fixed for those that are to be brought to him, whether it be 20 carats or 21, the commissioners select the required number from those who have attained that standard, and bring them to him. and when they reach his presence he has them appraised anew by other parties, and has a selection made of 30 or 40 of those, who then get the highest valuation." marsden and murray miss the meaning of this curious statement in a surprising manner, supposing the carat to represent some absolute value, 4 grains of gold according to the former, whence the damsel of 20 carats was estimated at 13_s._ 4_d._! this is sad nonsense; but marsden would not have made the mistake had he not been fortunate enough to live before the introduction of competitive examinations. this kungurat business was in fact a competitive examination in beauty; total marks attainable 24; no candidate to pass who did not get 20 or 21. _carat_ expresses _n_ ÷ 24, not any absolute value. apart from the mode of valuation, it appears that a like system of selection was continued by the ming, and that some such selection from the daughters of the manchu nobles has been maintained till recent times. herodotus tells that the like custom prevailed among the adyrmachidae, the libyan tribe next egypt. old eden too relates it of the "princes of moscovia." (_middle km._ i. 318; _herod._ iv. 168, rawl.; _notes on russia_, hak. soc. ii. 253.) chapter ix. concerning the great kaan's sons. the emperor hath, by those four wives of his, twenty-two male children; the eldest of whom was called chinkin for the love of the good chinghis kaan, the first lord of the tartars. and this chinkin, as the eldest son of the kaan, was to have reigned after his father's death; but, as it came to pass, he died. he left a son behind him, however, whose name is temur, and he is to be the great kaan and emperor after the death of his grandfather, as is but right; he being the child of the great kaan's eldest son. and this temur is an able and brave man, as he hath already proven on many occasions.[note 1] the great kaan hath also twenty-five other sons by his concubines; and these are good and valiant soldiers, and each of them is a great chief. i tell you moreover that of his children by his four lawful wives there are seven who are kings of vast realms or provinces, and govern them well; being all able and gallant men, as might be expected. for the great kaan their sire is, i tell you, the wisest and most accomplished man, the greatest captain, the best to govern men and rule an empire, as well as the most valiant, that ever has existed among all the tribes of tartars.[note 2] note 1.--kúblái had a son older than chimkin or chingkim, to whom hammer's genealogical table gives the name of _jurji_, and attributes a son called ananda. the chinese authorities of gaubil and pauthier call him _turchi_ or _torchi_, i.e. _dorjé_, "noble stone," the tibetan name of a sacred buddhist emblem in the form of a dumb-bell, representing the _vajra_ or thunderbolt. probably dorjé died early, as in the passage we shall quote from wassáf also chingkim is styled the eldest son: marco is probably wrong in connecting the name of the latter with that of chinghiz. schmidt says that he does not know what _chingkim_ means. [mr. parker says that chen kim was the _third_ son of kúblái (_china review_, xxiv. p. 94.) teimur, son of chen kim, wore the temple name (_miao-hao_) of _ch'êng tsung_ and the title of reign (_nien-hao_) of _yuen chêng_ and _ta téh._--h. c.] chingkim died in the 12th moon of 1284-1285, aged 43. he had received a chinese education, and the chinese annals ascribe to him all the virtues which so often pertain in history to heirs apparent who have not reigned. "when kúblái approached his 70th year," says wassáf, "he desired to raise his eldest son chimkin to the position of his representative and declared successor, during his own lifetime; so he took counsel with the chiefs, in view to giving the prince a share of his authority and a place on the imperial throne. the chiefs, who are the pillars of majesty and props of the empire, represented that his majesty's proposal to invest his son, during his own lifetime, with imperial authority, was not in accordance with the precedents and institutes (_yasa_) of the world-conquering padshah chinghiz khan; but still they would consent to execute a solemn document, securing the kaanship to chimkin, and pledging themselves to lifelong obedience and allegiance to him. it was, however, the divine fiat that the intended successor should predecease him who bestowed the nomination.... the dignitaries of the empire then united their voices in favour of teimur, the son of chimkin." teimur, according to the same authority, was the third son of chimkin; but the eldest, kambala, _squinted_; the second, tarmah (properly _tarmabala_ for _dharmaphala_, a buddhist sanskrit name) was rickety in constitution; and on the death of the old kaan (1294) teimur was unanimously named to the throne, after some opposition from kambala, which was put down by the decided bearing of the great soldier bayan. (_schmidt_, p. 399; _de mailla_, ix. 424; _gaubil_, 203; _wassáf_, 46.) [the rev. w. s. ament (_marco polo in cambaluc_, p. 106), makes the following remarks regarding this young prince (chimkin): "the historians give good reasons for their regard for chen chin. he had from early years exhibited great promise and had shown great proficiency in the military art, in government, history, mathematics, and the chinese classics. he was well acquainted with the condition and numbers of the inhabitants of mongolia and china, and with the topography and commerce of the empire (howorth). he was much beloved by all, except by some of his father's own ministers, whose lives were anything but exemplary. that kúblái had full confidence in his son is shown by the fact that he put the collecting of taxes in his hands. the native historians represent him as economical in the use of money and wise in the choice of companions. he carefully watched the officers in his charge, and would tolerate no extortion of the people. after droughts, famines or floods, he would enquire into the condition of the people and liberally supply their needs, thus starting them in life again. polo ascribes all these virtues to the khan himself. doubtless he possessed them in greater or less degree, but father and son were one in all these benevolent enterprises."--h. c.] note 2.--the chinese annals, according to pauthier and gaubil, give only _ten_ sons to kúblái, at least by his legitimate wives; hammer's table gives _twelve_. it is very probable that xxii. was an early clerical error in the texts of polo for xii. _dodeci_ indeed occurs in one ms. (no. 37 of our appendix f), though not one of much weight. of these legitimate sons polo mentions, in different parts of his work, five by name. the following is the list from hammer and d'ohsson, with the chinese forms from pauthier in parentheses. the seven whose names are in capitals had the title of _wang_ or "king" of particular territories, as m. pauthier has shown from the chinese annals, thus confirming marco's accuracy on that point. i. jurji or dorjé (torchi). ii. chimkin or chingkim (yu tsung, king of yen, i.e. old peking). iii. mangalai (mankola, "king of the pacified west"), mentioned by polo (infra, ch. xli.) as king of kenjanfu or shensi. iv. numugan (numukan, "pacifying king of the north"), mentioned by polo (bk. iv. ch. ii.) as with king george joint leader of the kaan's army against kaidu. v. kuridai (not in chinese list). vi. hukaji (hukochi, "king of yunnan"), mentioned by polo (infra, ch. xlix.) as king of carajan. vii. aghrukji or ukuruji (gaoluchi, "king of siping" or tibet). viii. abaji (gaiyachi?). ix. kukju or geukju (khokhochu, "king of ning" or tangut). x. kutuktemur (hutulu temurh). xi. tukan (thohoan, "king of chinnan"). his command lay on the tungking frontier, where he came to great grief in 1288, in consequence of which he was disgraced. (see _cathay_, p. 272.) xii. temkan (not in chinese list). gaubil's chinese list omits _hutulu temurh_, and introduces a prince called _gantanpouhoa_ as 4th son. m. pauthier lays great stress on polo's intimate knowledge of the imperial affairs (p. 263) because he knew the name of the hereditary prince to be teimur; this being, he says, the private name which could not be known until after the owner's death, except by those in the most confidential intimacy. the public only then discovered that, like the irishman's dog, his real name was turk, though he had always been called toby! but m. pauthier's learning has misled him. at least the secret must have been very badly kept, for it was known in teimur's lifetime not only to marco, but to rashiduddin in persia, and to hayton in armenia; to say nothing of the circumstance that the name _temur khaghan_ is also used during that emperor's life by oljaitu khan of persia in writing to the king of france a letter which m. pauthier himself republished and commented upon. (see his book, p. 780.) chapter x. concerning the palace of the great kaan. you must know that for three months of the year, to wit december, january, and february, the great kaan resides in the capital city of cathay, which is called cambaluc, [and which is at the north-eastern extremity of the country]. in that city stands his great palace, and now i will tell you what it is like. it is enclosed all round by a great wall forming a square, each side of which is a mile in length; that is to say, the whole compass thereof is four miles. this you may depend on; it is also very thick, and a good ten paces in height, whitewashed and loop-holed all round.[note 1] at each angle of the wall there is a very fine and rich palace in which the war-harness of the emperor is kept, such as bows and quivers,[note 2] saddles and bridles, and bowstrings, and everything needful for an army. also midway between every two of these corner palaces there is another of the like; so that taking the whole compass of the enclosure you find eight vast palaces stored with the great lord's harness of war.[note 3] and you must understand that each palace is assigned to only one kind of article; thus one is stored with bows, a second with saddles, a third with bridles, and so on in succession right round.[note 4] the great wall has five gates on its southern face, the middle one being the great gate which is never opened on any occasion except when the great kaan himself goes forth or enters. close on either side of this great gate is a smaller one by which all other people pass; and then towards each angle is another great gate, also open to people in general; so that on that side there are five gates in all.[note 5] inside of this wall there is a second, enclosing a space that is somewhat greater in length than in breadth. this enclosure also has eight palaces corresponding to those of the outer wall, and stored like them with the lord's harness of war. this wall also hath five gates on the southern face, corresponding to those in the outer wall, and hath one gate on each of the other faces, as the outer wall hath also. in the middle of the second enclosure is the lord's great palace, and i will tell you what it is like.[note 6] you must know that it is the greatest palace that ever was. [towards the north it is in contact with the outer wall, whilst towards the south there is a vacant space which the barons and the soldiers are constantly traversing.[note 7] the palace itself] hath no upper story, but is all on the ground floor, only the basement is raised some ten palms above the surrounding soil [and this elevation is retained by a wall of marble raised to the level of the pavement, two paces in width and projecting beyond the base of the palace so as to form a kind of terrace-walk, by which people can pass round the building, and which is exposed to view, whilst on the outer edge of the wall there is a very fine pillared balustrade; and up to this the people are allowed to come]. the roof is very lofty, and the walls of the palace are all covered with gold and silver. they are also adorned with representations of dragons [sculptured and gilt], beasts and birds, knights and idols, and sundry other subjects. and on the ceiling too you see nothing but gold and silver and painting. [on each of the four sides there is a great marble staircase leading to the top of the marble wall, and forming the approach to the palace.] [note 8] the hall of the palace is so large that it could easily dine 6000 people; and it is quite a marvel to see how many rooms there are besides. the building is altogether so vast, so rich, and so beautiful, that no man on earth could design anything superior to it. the outside of the roof also is all coloured with vermilion and yellow and green and blue and other hues, which are fixed with a varnish so fine and exquisite that they shine like crystal, and lend a resplendent lustre to the palace as seen for a great way round.[note 9] this roof is made too with such strength and solidity that it is fit to last for ever. [on the interior side of the palace are large buildings with halls and chambers, where the emperor's private property is placed, such as his treasures of gold, silver, gems, pearls, and gold plate, and in which reside the ladies and concubines. there he occupies himself at his own convenience, and no one else has access.] between the two walls of the enclosure which i have described, there are fine parks and beautiful trees bearing a variety of fruits. there are beasts also of sundry kinds, such as white stags and fallow deer, gazelles and roebucks, and fine squirrels of various sorts, with numbers also of the animal that gives the musk, and all manner of other beautiful creatures,[note 10] insomuch that the whole place is full of them, and no spot remains void except where there is traffic of people going and coming. [the parks are covered with abundant grass; and the roads through them being all paved and raised two cubits above the surface, they never become muddy, nor does the rain lodge on them, but flows off into the meadows, quickening the soil and producing that abundance of herbage.] from that corner of the enclosure which is towards the north-west there extends a fine lake, containing foison of fish of different kinds which the emperor hath caused to be put in there, so that whenever he desires any he can have them at his pleasure. a river enters this lake and issues from it, but there is a grating of iron or brass put up so that the fish cannot escape in that way.[note 11] moreover on the north side of the palace, about a bow-shot off, there is a hill which has been made by art [from the earth dug out of the lake]; it is a good hundred paces in height and a mile in compass. this hill is entirely covered with trees that never lose their leaves, but remain ever green. and i assure you that wherever a beautiful tree may exist, and the emperor gets news of it, he sends for it and has it transported bodily with all its roots and the earth attached to them, and planted on that hill of his. no matter how big the tree may be, he gets it carried by his elephants; and in this way he has got together the most beautiful collection of trees in all the world. and he has also caused the whole hill to be covered with the ore of azure,[note 12] which is very green. and thus not only are the trees all green, but the hill itself is all green likewise; and there is nothing to be seen on it that is not green; and hence it is called the green mount; and in good sooth 'tis named well.[note 13] on the top of the hill again there is a fine big palace which is all green inside and out; and thus the hill, and the trees, and the palace form together a charming spectacle; and it is marvellous to see their uniformity of colour! everybody who sees them is delighted. and the great kaan had caused this beautiful prospect to be formed for the comfort and solace and delectation of his heart. you must know that beside the palace (that we have been describing), i.e. the great palace, the emperor has caused another to be built just like his own in every respect, and this he hath done for his son when he shall reign and be emperor after him.[note 14] hence it is made just in the same fashion and of the same size, so that everything can be carried on in the same manner after his own death. [it stands on the other side of the lake from the great kaan's palace, and there is a bridge crossing the water from one to the other.][note 15] the prince in question holds now a seal of empire, but not with such complete authority as the great kaan, who remains supreme as long as he lives. now i am going to tell you of the chief city of cathay, in which these palaces stand; and why it was built, and how. note 1.--[according to the _ch'ue keng lu_, translated by bretschneider, 25, "the wall surrounding the palace ... is constructed of bricks, and is 35 _ch'i_ in height. the construction was begun in a.d. 1271, on the 17th of the 8th month, between three and five o'clock in the afternoon, and finished next year on the 15th of the 3rd month."--h. c.] note 2.--_tarcasci_ (g. t.) this word is worthy of note as the proper form of what has become in modern french _carquois_. the former is a transcript of the persian _tarkash_; the latter appears to be merely a corruption of it, arising perhaps clerically from the constant confusion of _c_ and _t_ in mss. (see _defrémery_, quoted by pauthier, _in loco._) [old french _tarquais_ (13th century), hatzfeldt and darmesteter's _dict._ gives; "coivres orent ceinz et tarchais." (wace, _rou_, iii., 7698; 12th century).] note 3.--["it seems to me [dr. bretschneider] that polo took the towers, mentioned by the chinese author, in the angles of the galleries and of the kung-ch'eng for palaces; for further on he states, that 'over each gate [of cambaluc] there is a great and handsome palace.' i have little doubt that over the gates of cambaluc, stood lofty buildings similar to those over the gates of modern peking. these tower-like buildings are called _lou_ by the chinese. it may be very likely, that at the time of marco polo, the war harness of the khan was stored in these towers of the palace wall. the author of the _ch'ue keng lu_, who wrote more than fifty years later, assigns to it another place." (_bretschneider, peking_, 32.) --h.c.] [illustration: ideal plan of the ancient palaces of the mongol emperors at khanbaligh according to dr. bretschneider] note 4.--the stores are now outside the walls of the "prohibited city," corresponding to polo's palace-wall, but within the walls of the "imperial city." (_middle kingdom_, i. 61.) see the cut at p. 376. note 5.--the two gates near the corners apparently do not exist in the palace now. "on the south side there are three gates to the palace, both in the inner and the outer walls. the middle one is absolutely reserved for the entrance or exit of the emperor; all other people pass in and out by the gate to the right or left of it." (_trigautius_, bk. i. ch. vii.) this custom is not in china peculiar to royalty. in private houses it is usual to have three doors leading from the court to the guestrooms, and there is a great exercise of politeness in reference to these; the guest after much pressing is prevailed on to enter the middle door, whilst the host enters by the side. (see _deguignes, voyages_, i. 262.) [see also _h. cordier's hist. des relat. de la chine_, iii. ch. x. _audience impériale_.] ["it seems polo took the three gateways in the middle gate (_ta-ming men_) for three gates, and thus speaks of five gates instead of three in the southern wall." (_bretschneider, peking_, 27, note.)--h. c.] note 6.--ramusio's version here diverges from the old mss. it makes the inner enclosure a mile square; and the second (the city of taidu) six miles square, as here, but adds, at a mile interval, a third of eight miles square. now it is remarkable that mr. a. wylie, in a letter dated 4th december 1873, speaking of a recent visit to peking, says: "i found from various inquiries that there are several remains of a very much larger city wall, inclosing the present city; but time would not allow me to follow up the traces." pauthier's text (which i have corrected by the g. t.), after describing the _outer inclosure_ to be a _mile every way_, says that the inner inclosure lay at _an interval of a mile within it!_ [dr. bretschneider observes "that in the ancient chinese works, three concentric inclosures are mentioned in connection with the palace. the innermost inclosed the _ta-nei_, the middle inclosure, called _kung-ch'eng_ or _huang-ch'eng_, answering to the wall surrounding the present prohibited city, and was about 6 _li_ in circuit. besides this there was an outer wall (a rampart apparently) 20 _li_ in circuit, answering to the wall of the present imperial city (which now has 18 _li_ in circuit)." the _huang-ch'eng_ of the yuen was measured by imperial order, and found to be 7 _li_ in circuit; the wall of the mongol palace was 6 _li_ in circuit, according to the _ch'ue keng lu_. (_bretschneider, peking_, 24.)--marco polo's mile could be approximately estimated = 2.77 chinese _li_. (ibid. 24, note.) the common chinese _li_ = 360 _pu_, or 180 chang, or 1800 _ch'i_ (feet); 1 _li_ = 1894 english feet or 575 mètres; at least according to the old venice measures quoted in _yule's marco polo_, ii., one pace = 5 feet. besides the common _li_, the chinese have another _li_, used for measuring fields, which has only 240 _pu_ or 1200 _ch'i_. this is the _li_ spoken of in the _ch'ue keng lu_. (ibid. 13, note.)--h. c.] note 7.--["near the southern face of the wall are barracks for the life guards." (_ch'ue keng lu_, translated by bretschneider, 25.)--h. c.] note 8.--this description of palace (see opposite cut), an elevated basement of masonry with a superstructure of timber (in general carved and gilded), is still found in burma, siam, and java, as well as in china. if we had any trace of the palaces of the ancient asokas and vikramadityas of india, we should probably find that they were of the same character. it seems to be one of those things that belonged to some ancient panasiatic fashion, as the palaces of nineveh were of a somewhat similar construction. in the audience halls of the moguls at delhi and agra we can trace the ancient form, though the superstructure has there become an arcade of marble instead of a pavilion on timber columns. [illustration: palace at khan-baligh. (from the _livre des merveilles_.)] ["the _ta-ming tien_ (hall of great brightness) is without doubt what marco polo calls 'the lord's great palace.'... he states, that it 'hath no upper story'; and indeed, the palace buildings which the chinese call _tien_ are always of one story. polo speaks also of a 'very fine pillared balustrade' (the _chu lang_, pillared verandah, of the chinese author). marco polo states that the basement of the great palace 'is raised some ten palms above the surrounding soil.' we find in the _ku kung i lu_: 'the basement of the ta-ming tien is raised about 10 _ch'i_ above the soil.' there can also be no doubt that the ta-ming tien stood at about the same place where now the _t'ai-ho tien_, the principal hall of the palace, is situated." (_bretschneider, peking_, 28, note.) [illustration: winter palace at peking.] the _ch'ue keng lu_, translated by bretschneider, 25, contains long articles devoted to the description of the palace of the mongols and the adjacent palace grounds. they are too long to be reproduced here.--h. c.] note 9.--"as all that one sees of these palaces is varnished in those colours, when you catch a distant view of them at sunrise, as i have done many a time, you would think them all made of, or at least covered with, pure gold enamelled in azure and green, so that the spectacle is at once majestic and charming." (_magaillans_, p. 353.) note 10.--[this is the _ling yu_ or "divine park," to the east of the _wan-sui shan_, "in which rare birds and beasts are kept. before the emperor goes to shang-tu, the officers are accustomed to be entertained at this place." (_ch'ue keng lu_, quoted by bretschneider, 36.)--h. c.] note 11.--"on the west side, where the space is amplest, there is a lake very full of fish. it is in the form of a fiddle, and is an italian mile and a quarter in length. it is crossed at the narrowest part, which corresponds to gates in the walls, by a handsome bridge, the extremities of which are adorned by two triumphal arches of three openings each.... the lake is surrounded by palaces and pleasure houses, built partly in the water and partly on shore, and charming boats are provided on it for the use of the emperor when he chooses to go a-fishing or to take an airing." (ibid. 282-283.) the marble bridge, as it now exists, consists of nine arches, and is 600 feet long. (_rennie's peking_, ii. 57.) ramusio specifies another lake in the _city_, fed by the same stream before it enters the palace, and used by the public for watering cattle. ["the lake which marco polo saw is the same as the _t'ai-yi ch'i_ of our days. it has, however, changed a little in its form. this lake and also its name _t'ai-yi ch'i_ date from the twelfth century, at which time an emperor of the kin first gave orders to collect together the water of some springs in the hills, where now the summer palaces stand, and to conduct it to a place north of his capital, where pleasure gardens were laid out. the river which enters the lake and issues from it exists still, under its ancient name _kin-shui_." (_bretschneider, peking_, 34.)--h. c.] note 12.--the expression here is in the geog. text, "_roze de l'açur_," and in pauthier's "_de rose et de l'asur_." _rose minerale_, in the terminology of the alchemists, was a red powder produced in the sublimation of gold and mercury, but i can find no elucidation of the term rose of azure. the crusca italian has in the same place _terra dello azzurro_. having ventured to refer the question to the high authority of mr. c. w. king, he expresses the opinion that _roze_ here stands for _roche_, and that probably the term _roche de l'azur_ may have been used loosely for _blue-stone_, i.e. carbonate of copper, which would assume a green colour through moisture. he adds: "nero, according to pliny, actually used _chrysocolla_, the siliceous carbonate of copper, in powder, for strewing the circus, to give the course the colour of his favourite faction, the _prasine_ (or green). there may be some analogy between this device and that of kúblái khan." this parallel is a very happy one. [illustration: mei shan] note 13.--friar odoric gives a description, short, but closely agreeing in substance with that in the text, of the palace, the park, the lake, and the green mount. a green mount, answering to the description, and about 160 feet in height, stands immediately in rear of the palace buildings. it is called by the chinese _king-shan_, "court mountain," _wan-su-shan_, "ten thousand year mount," and _mei-shan_, "coal mount," the last from the material of which it is traditionally said to be composed (as a provision of fuel in case of siege).[1] whether this is kúblái's green mount does not seem to be quite certain. dr. lockhart tells me that, according to the information he collected when living at peking, it is not so, but was formed by the ming emperors from the excavation of the existing lake on the site which the mongol palace had occupied. there is another mount, he adds, adjoining the east shore of the lake, which must be of older date even than kúblái, for a dagoba standing on it is ascribed to the _kin_. [the "green mount" was an island called _k'iung-hua_ at the time of the kin; in 1271 it received the name of _wan-sui shan_; it is about 100 feet in height, and is the only hill mentioned by chinese writers of the mongol time who refer to the palace grounds. it is not the present _king-shan_, north of the palace, called also _wan-sui-shan_ under the ming, and now the _mei-shan_, of more recent formation. "i have no doubt," says bretschneider (_peking_, l.c. 35), "that marco polo's handsome palace on the top of the green mount is the same as the _kuang-han tien_" of the _ch'ue keng lu_. it was a hall in which there was a jar of black jade, big enough to hold more than 30 piculs of wine; this jade had white veins, and in accordance with these veins, fish and animals have been carved on the jar. (ibid. 35.) "the _ku kung i lu_, in describing the _wan-sui-shan_, praises the beautiful shady green of the vegetation there." (ibid. 37.) --h. c.] ["near the eastern end of the bridge (_kin-ao yü-tung_ which crosses the lake) the visitor sees a circular wall, which is called _yüan ch'eng_ (round wall). it is about 350 paces in circuit. within it is an imperial building _ch'eng-kuang tien_, dating from the mongol time. from this circular enclosure, another long and beautifully executed marble bridge leads northwards, to a charming hill, covered with shady trees, and capped by a magnificent white _suburga_." (_bretschneider_, p. 22.)--h. c.] in a plate attached to next chapter, i have drawn, on a small scale, the existing cities of peking, as compared with the mongol and chinese cities in the time of kúblái. the plan of the latter has been constructed (1) from existing traces, as exhibited in the russian survey republished by our war office; (2) from information kindly afforded by dr. lockhart; and (3) from polo's description and a few slight notices by gaubil and others. it will be seen, even on the small scale of these plans, that the general arrangement of the palace, the park, the lakes (including that in the city, which appears in ramusio's version), the bridge, the mount, etc., in the existing peking, very closely correspond with polo's indications; and i think the strong probability is that the ming really built on the old traces, and that the lake, mount, etc., as they now stand, are substantially those of the great mongol, though chinese policy or patriotism may have spread the belief that the foreign traces were obliterated. indeed, if that belief were true, the mongol palace must have been very much out of the axis of the city of kúblái, which is in the highest degree improbable. the _bulletin de la soc. de geographie_ for september 1873, contains a paper on peking by the physician to the french embassy there. whatever may be the worth of the meteorological and hygienic details in that paper, i am bound to say that the historical and topographical part is so inaccurate as to be of no value. note 14.--for son, read grandson. but the g. t. actually names the emperor's son chingkim, whose death our traveller has himself already mentioned. [illustration: yuan ch'eng] note 15.--["marco polo's bridge, crossing the lake from one side to the other, must be identified with the wooden bridge mentioned in the _ch'ue keng lu_. the present marble bridge spanning the lake was only built in 1392." "a marble bridge connects this island (an islet with the hall _it'ien tien_) with the _wan-sui shan_. another bridge, made of wood, 120 _ch'i_ long and 22 broad, leads eastward to the wall of the imperial palace. a third bridge, a wooden draw-bridge 470 _ch'i_ long, stretches to the west over the lake to its western border, where the palace _hing-sheng kung_ [built in 1308] stands." (_bretschneider_, _peking_, 36.)--h. c.] [1] some years ago, in calcutta, i learned that a large store of charcoal existed under the soil of fort william, deposited there, i believe, in the early days of that fortress. ["the _jihia_ says that the name of _mei shan_ (coal hill) was given to it from the stock of coal buried at its foot, as a provision in case of siege." (_bretschneider, peking_, 38.)--h. c.] chapter xi. concerning the city of cambaluc. now there was on that spot in old times a great and noble city called cambaluc, which is as much as to say in our tongue "the city of the emperor."[note 1] but the great kaan was informed by his astrologers that this city would prove rebellious, and raise great disorders against his imperial authority. so he caused the present city to be built close beside the old one, with only a river between them.[note 2] and he caused the people of the old city to be removed to the new town that he had founded; and this is called taidu. [however, he allowed a portion of the people which he did not suspect to remain in the old city, because the new one could not hold the whole of them, big as it is.] as regards the size of this (new) city you must know that it has a compass of 24 miles, for each side of it hath a length of 6 miles, and it is four-square. and it is all walled round with walls of earth which have a thickness of full ten paces at bottom, and a height of more than 10 paces;[note 3] but they are not so thick at top, for they diminish in thickness as they rise, so that at top they are only about 3 paces thick. and they are provided throughout with loop-holed battlements, which are all whitewashed. there are 12 gates, and over each gate there is a great and handsome palace, so that there are on each side of the square three gates and five palaces; for (i ought to mention) there is at each angle also a great and handsome palace. in those palaces are vast halls in which are kept the arms of the city garrison.[note 4] the streets are so straight and wide that you can see right along them from end to end and from one gate to the other. and up and down the city there are beautiful palaces, and many great and fine hostelries, and fine houses in great numbers. [all the plots of ground on which the houses of the city are built are four-square, and laid out with straight lines; all the plots being occupied by great and spacious palaces, with courts and gardens of proportionate size. all these plots were assigned to different heads of families. each square plot is encompassed by handsome streets for traffic; and thus the whole city is arranged in squares just like a chess-board, and disposed in a manner so perfect and masterly that it is impossible to give a description that should do it justice.][note 5] moreover, in the middle of the city there is a great clock--that is to say, a bell--which is struck at night. and after it has struck three times no one must go out in the city, unless it be for the needs of a woman in labour, or of the sick.[note 6] and those who go about on such errands are bound to carry lanterns with them. moreover, the established guard at each gate of the city is 1000 armed men; not that you are to imagine this guard is kept up for fear of any attack, but only as a guard of honour for the sovereign, who resides there, and to prevent thieves from doing mischief in the town.[note 7] note 1.-+ the history of the city on the site of peking goes back to very old times, for it had been [under the name of _ki_] the capital of the kingdom of yen, previous to b.c. 222, when it was captured by the prince of the t'sin dynasty. [under the t'ang dynasty (618-907) it was known under the name of yu-chau.] it became one of the capitals of the khitans in a.d. 936, and of the kin sovereigns, who took it in 1125, in 1151 under the name of chung-tu. under the name of yenking, [given to this city in 1013] it has a conspicuous place in the wars of chinghiz against the latter dynasty. he captured it in 1215. in 1264, kúblái adopted it as his chief residence, and founded in 1267, the new city of tatu ("great court"), called by the mongols taidu or daitu since 1271 (see bk. i. ch. lxi. note 1), at a little distance--odoric says half a mile--to the north-east of the old yenking. tatu was completed in the summer of 1267. old yenking had, when occupied by the kin, a circuit of 27 _li_ (commonly estimated at 9 miles, but in early works the _li_ is not more than 1/5 of a mile), afterwards increased to 30 _li_. but there was some kind of outer wall about the city and its suburbs, the circuit of which is called 75 _li_. ["at the time of the yuen the walls still existed, and the ancient city of the kin was commonly called nan-ch'eng (southern city), whilst the mongol capital was termed the northern city." _bretschneider, peking_, 10.--h. c.] (_lockhart_; and see _amyot_, ii. 553, and note 6 to last chapter.) polo correctly explains the name _cambaluc_, i.e. _kaan-baligh_, "the city of the kaan." note 2.--the river that ran between the old and new city must have been the little river _yu_, which still runs through the modern tartar city, and fills the city ditches. [dr. bretschneider (_peking_, 49) thinks that there is a strong probability that polo speaks of the _wen-ming ho_, a river which, according to the ancient descriptions, ran near the southern wall of the mongol capital.--h. c.] [illustration: south gate of imperial city at peking. "elle a donze portes, et sor chascune porte a une grandisme palais et biaus."] note 3.--this height is from pauthier's text; the g. text has, "_twenty_ paces," i.e. 100 feet. a recent french paper states the dimensions of the existing walls as 14 mètres (45-1/2 feet) high, and 14.50 (47-1/4 feet) thick, "the top forming a paved promenade, unique of its kind, and recalling the legendary walls of thebes and babylon." (_ann. d'hygiène publique_, 2nd s. tom, xxxii. for 1869, p. 21.) [according to the french astronomers (fleuriais and lapied) sent to peking for the transit of venus in december, 1875, the present tartar city is 23 kil. 55 in circuit, viz. if 1 _li_ = 575 m., 41 _li_; from the north to the south 5400 mètres; from east to west 6700 mètres; the wall is 13 mètres in height and 12 mètres in width.--h. c.] [illustration: peking as it is and as it was, about 1290] [illustration: yenking or old cambaluc a.d. 1290] note 4.--our attempted plan of cambaluc, as in 1290, differs somewhat from this description, but there is no getting over certain existing facts. the existing tartar city of peking (technically _neï-ch'ing_, "the interior city," or _king-ch'ing_, "city of the court") stands on the site of taidu, and represents it. after the expulsion of the mongols (1368) the new native dynasty of ming established their capital at nanking. but this was found so inconvenient that the third sovereign of the dynasty reoccupied taidu or cambaluc, the repairs of which began in 1409. he reduced it in size by cutting off nearly a third part of the city at the north end. the remains of this abandoned portion of wall are, however, still in existence, approaching 30 feet in height all round. this old wall is called by the chinese _the wall of the yuen_ (i.e. the mongol dynasty), and it is laid down in the russian survey. [the capital of the ming was 40 _li_ in circuit, according to the _ch'ang an k'o hua_.] the existing walls were built, or restored rather (the north wall being in any case, of course, entirely new), in 1437. there seems to be no doubt that the present south front of the tartar city was the south front of taidu. the whole outline of taidu is therefore still extant, and easily measurable. if the scale on the war office edition of the russian survey be correct, the long sides measure close upon 5 miles and 500 yards; the short sides, 3 miles and 1200 yards. hence the whole perimeter was just about 18 english miles, or less than 16 italian miles. if, however, a pair of compasses be run round taidu and yenking (as we have laid the latter down from such data as could be had) _together_, the circuit will be something like 24 italian miles, and this may have to do with polo's error. ["the _yuen shi_ states that _ta-tu_ was 60 _li_ in circumference. the _ch'ue keng lu_, a work published at the close of the yuen dynasty, gives the same number of _li_ for the circuit of the capital, but explains that _li_ of 240 _pu_ each are meant. if this statement be correct, it would give only 40 common or geographical _li_ for the circuit of the mongol town." (_bretschneider_, _peking_, 13.) dr. bretschneider writes (p. 20): "the outlines of khanbaligh, partly in contradiction with the ancient chinese records, if my view be correct, would have measured about 50 common _li_ in circuit (13 _li_ and more from north to south, 11.64 from east to west.")--h. c.] polo [and odoric] again says that there were 12 gates--3 to every side. both gaubil and martini also say that there were 12 gates. but i believe that both are trusting to marco. there are 9 gates in the present tartar city--viz. 3 on the south side and 2 on each of the other sides. the old chinese accounts say there were 11 gates in taidu. (see _amyot_, _mém._ ii. 553.) i have in my plan, therefore, assumed that one gate on the east and one on the west were obliterated in the reduction of the _enceinte_ by the ming. but i must observe that mr. lockhart tells me he did not find the traces of gates in those positions, whilst the 2 gates on the _north_ side of the old mongol rampart are quite distinct, with the barbicans in front, and the old mongol bridge over the ditch still serving for the public thoroughfare.[1] ["the _yuen shi_ as well as the _ch'ue keng lu_, and other works of the yuen, agree in stating that the capital had eleven gates. they are enumerated in the following order: southern wall--(1) the gate direct south (mid.) was called _li-cheng men_; (2) the gate to the left (east), _wen-ming men_; (3) the gate to the right (west), _shun-ch'eng men_. eastern wall--(4) the gate direct east (mid.), _ch'ung-jen men_; (5) the gate to the south-east, _ts'i-hua men_; (6) the gate to the north-east, _kuang-hi men_. western wall--(7) the gate direct west (mid.), _ho-i men_; (8) the gate to the south-west, _p'ing-tse men_; (9) the gate to the north-west, _su-ts'ing men_. northern wall--(10) the gate to the north-west, _k'ien-te men_; (11) the gate to the north-east, _an-chen men_." (_bretschneider_, _peking_, 13-14.)--h. c.] when the ming established themselves on the old mongol site, population seems to have gathered close about the southern wall, probably using material from the remains of yenking. this excrescence was inclosed by a new wall in 1554, and was called the "outer town." it is what is called by europeans the _chinese city_. its western wall exhibits in the base sculptured stones, which seem to have belonged to the old palace of yenking. some traces of yenking still existed in gaubil's time; the only relic of it now pointed out is a pagoda outside of the kwang-an-man, or western gate of the outer city, marked in the war office edition of the russian map as "tower." (information from _dr. lockhart._) the "great palaces" over the gates and at the corner bastions are no doubt well illustrated by the buildings which still occupy those positions. there are two such lofty buildings at each of the gates of the modern city, the outer one (shown on p. 376) forming an elevated redoubt. note 5.--the french writer cited under note 3 says of the city as it stands: "la ville est de la sorte coupée en échiquier à peu près régulier dont les quadres circonscrits par des larges avenues sont percés eux-mêmes d'une multitude de rues et ruelles ... qui toutes à peu prés sont orientées n. et s., e. et o. une seule volonté a évidemment présidé à ce plan, et jamais édilité n'a eu à exécuter d'un seul coup aussi vaste entreprise." note 6.--martini speaks of the public clock-towers in the chinese cities, which in his time were furnished with water-clocks. a watchman struck the hour on a great gong, at the same time exhibiting the hour in large characters. the same person watched for fires, and summoned the public with his gong to aid in extinguishing them. [the rev. g. b. farthing mentions (_north-china herald_, 7th september, 1884) at t'ai-yuen fu the remains of an object in the bell-tower, which was, and is still known, as one of the eight wonders of this city; it is a vessel of brass, a part of a water-clock from which water formerly used to flow down upon a drum beneath and mark off time into equal divisions.--h. c.] the tower indicated by marco appears still to exist. it occupies the place which i have marked as alarm tower in the plan of taidu. it was erected in 1272, but probably rebuilt on the ming occupation of the city. ["the _yuen yi t'ung chi_, or 'geography of the mongol empire' records: 'in the year 1272, the bell-tower and the drum-tower were built in the _middle_ of the capital.' a bell-tower (_chung-lou_) and a drum-tower (_ku-lou_) exist still in peking, in the northern part of the tartar city. the _ku-lou_ is the same as that built in the thirteenth century, but the bell-tower dates only from the last century. the bell-tower of the yuen was a little to the east of the drum-tower, where now the temple _wan-ning sse_ stands. this temple is nearly in the middle of the position i (bretschneider) assign to khanbaligh." (_bretschneider, peking_, 20.)--h. c.] in the court of the old observatory at peking there is preserved, with a few other ancient instruments, which date from the mongol era, a very elaborate water-clock, provided with four copper basins embedded in brickwork, and rising in steps one above the other. a cut of this courtyard, with its instruments and aged trees, also ascribed to the mongol time, will be found in ch. xxxiii. (_atlas sinensis_, p. 10; _magaillans_, 149-151; _chine moderne_, p. 26; _tour du monde_ for 1864, vol. ii. p. 34.) note 7.--"nevertheless," adds the ramusian, "there does exist i know not what uneasiness about the people of cathay." [1] mr. wylie confirms my assumption: "whilst in peking i traced the old mud wall,... and found it quite in accordance with the outline in your map. mr. gilmour (a missionary to the mongols) and i rode round it, he taking the outside and i the inside.... neither of us observed the arch that dr. lockhart speaks of.... _there_ are _gate-openings about the middle of the east and west sides_, but no barbicans." (4th december 1873.) chapter xii. how the great kaan maintains a guard of twelve thousand horse, which are called keshican. you must know that the great kaan, to maintain his state, hath a guard of twelve thousand horsemen, who are styled keshican, which is as much as to say "knights devoted to their lord." not that he keeps these for fear of any man whatever, but merely because of his own exalted dignity. these 12,000 men have four captains, each of whom is in command of 3000; and each body of 3000 takes a turn of three days and nights to guard the palace, where they also take their meals. after the expiration of three days and nights they are relieved by another 3000, who mount guard for the same space of time, and then another body takes its turn, so that there are always 3000 on guard. thus it goes until the whole 12,000, who are styled (as i said) keshican, have been on duty; and then the tour begins again, and so runs on from year's end to year's end.[note 1] note 1.--i have _deduced_ a reading for the word _quescican_ (keshican), which is not found precisely in any text. pauthier reads _questiau_ and _quesitau_; the g. text has _quesitam_ and _quecitain_; the crusca _questi tan_; ramusio, _casitan_; the riccardiana, _quescitam_. recollecting the constant clerical confusion between _c_ and _t_, what follows will leave no doubt i think that the true reading to which all these variations point is _quescican_.[1] in the institutes of ghazan khan, we find established among other formalities for the authentication of the royal orders, that they should be stamped on the back, in black ink, with the seals of the _four commanders_ of the _four kiziks_, or _corps of the life guard_. wassáf also, in detailing the different classes of the great dignitaries of the mongol monarchy, names (1) the _noyáns_ of the ulus, or princes of the blood; (2) the great chiefs of the tribes; (3) the _amírs of the four keshik_, or _corps of the body guard_; (4) the officers of the army, commanding ten thousands, thousands, and so on. moreover, in rashiduddin, we find the identical plural form used by our author. he says that, after the sack of baghdad, hulaku, who had escaped from the polluted atmosphere of the city, sent "ilká noyán and karábúgá, with 3000 moghul horse into baghdad, in order to have the buildings repaired, and to put things generally in order. these chiefs posted sentries from the kishíkán ([arabic]), and from their own followings in the different quarters of the town, had the carcases of beasts removed from the streets, and caused the bazaars to be rebuilt." we find _kishik_ still used at the court of hindustan, under the great kings of timur's house, for the corps on tour of duty at the palace; and even for the sets of matchlocks and sabres, which were changed weekly from akbar's armoury for the royal use. the royal guards in persia, who watch the king's person at night, are termed _keshikchi_, and their captain _keshikchi bashi_. ["on the night of the 11th of jemady ul sany, a.h. 1160 (or 8th june, 1747), near the city of khojoon, three days' journey from meshed, mohammed kuly khan ardemee, who was of the same tribe with nadir shah, his relation, and kushukchee bashee, with seventy of the _kukshek_ or guard,... bound themselves by an oath to assassinate nadir shah." (_memoirs of khojeh abdulkurreem ... transl. by f. gladwin_, calcutta, 1788, pp. 166-167).] friar odoric speaks of the four barons who kept watch by the great kaan's side as the _cuthé_, which probably represents the chinese form _kiesie_ (as in de mailla), or _kuesie_ (as in gaubil). the latter applies the term to four devoted champions of chinghiz, and their descendants, who were always attached to the kaan's body-guard, and he identifies them with the _quesitan_ of polo, or rather with the captains of the latter; adding expressly that the word _kuesie_ is mongol. i see _kishik_ is a proper name among the kalmak chiefs; and _keshikten_ also is the name of a mongol tribe, whose territory lies due north of peking, near the old site of shangtu. (bk. i. ch. lxi.) [_keshikhteng_, a tribe (_pu_; mong. _aimak_) of the chao uda league (_mêng_; mong. _chogolgân_) among the twenty-four tribes of the _nei mung-ku_ (inner mongols). (see _mayers' chinese government_, p. 81.)--h. c.] in kovalevsky, i find the following:-(no. 2459) "_keshik_, grace, favour, bounty, benefit, good fortune, charity." (no. 2461) "_keshikten_, fortunate, happy, blessed." (no. 2541) "_kichyeku_, to be zealous, assiduous, devoted." (no. 2588) "_kushiku_, to hinder, to bar the way to," etc. the third of these corresponds closely with polo's etymology of "knights devoted to their lord," but perhaps either the first or the last may afford the real derivation. in spite of the different initials ([arabic] instead of [arabic]), it can scarcely be doubted that the _kalchi_ and _kalakchi_ of timur's institutes are mere mistranscriptions of the same word, e.g.: "i ordered that 12,000 _kalchi_, men of the sword completely armed, should be cantoned in the palace; to the right and to the left, to the front, and in the rear of the imperial diwán; thus, that 1000 of those 12,000 should be every night upon guard," etc. the translator's note says of _kalchi_, "a mogul word supposed to mean _guards_." we see that even the traditional number of 12,000, and its division into four brigades, are maintained. (see _timour's inst._, pp. 299 and 235, 237.) i must add that professor vámbéry does not assent to the form _keshikán_, on the ground that this persian plural is impossible in an old tartar dialect, and he supposes the true word to be _kechilan_ or _kechiklen_, "the night-watchers," from _kiche_ or _kichek_ (chag. and uighúr), = "night." i believe, however, that persian was the colloquial language of foreigners at the kaan's court, who would not scruple to make a persian plural when wanted; whilst rashid has exemplified the actual use of this one. (_d'ohsson_, iv. 410; _gold. horde_, 228, 238; _ilch._ ii. 184; _q. r._ pp. 308-309; _ayeen akb._ i. 270, and _blochmann's_, p. 115; _j. as._ sèr. iv. tom. xix. 276; _olearius_, ed. 1659, i. 656; _cathay_, 135; _de mailla_, ix. 106; _gaubil_, p. 6; _pallas_, _samml._ i. 35.) ["by _keshican_ in _colonel yule's marco polo_, _keshikten_ is evidently meant. this is a general mongol term to designate the khan's lifeguard. it is derived from the word _keshik_, meaning a guard by turns; a corps on tour of duty. _keshik_ is one of the archaisms of the mongol language, for now this word has another meaning in mongol. colonel yule has brought together several explanations of the term. it seems to me that among his suppositions the following is the most consistent with the ancient meaning of the word:-"we find _kishik_ still used at the court of hindustan, under the great kings of timur's house, for the corps on tour of duty at the palace.... the royal guards in persia, who watch the king's person at night, are termed _keshikchi_." "the keshikten was divided into a day-watch called _turgaut_ and a night-watch _kebteul_. the kebte-ul consisted of pure mongols, whilst the turgaut was composed of the sons of the vassal princes and governors of the provinces, and of hostages. the watch of the khan was changed every three days, and contained 400 men. in 1330 it was reduced to 100 men." (_palladius_, 42-43.) mr. e. h. parker writes in the _china review_, xviii. p. 262, that they "are evidently the 'body guards' of the modern viceroys, now pronounced kashiha, but, evidently, originally _kêshigha_." --h. c.] [1] one of the nearest readings is that of the brandenburg latin collated by müller, which has _quaesicam_. chapter xiii. the fashion of the great kaan's table at his high feasts. and when the great kaan sits at table on any great court occasion, it is in this fashion. his table is elevated a good deal above the others, and he sits at the north end of the hall, looking towards the south, with his chief wife beside him on the left. on his right sit his sons and his nephews, and other kinsmen of the blood imperial, but lower, so that their heads are on a level with the emperor's feet. and then the other barons sit at other tables lower still. so also with the women; for all the wives of the lord's sons, and of his nephews and other kinsmen, sit at the lower table to his right; and below them again the ladies of the other barons and knights, each in the place assigned by the lord's orders. the tables are so disposed that the emperor can see the whole of them from end to end, many as they are.[note 1] [further, you are not to suppose that everybody sits at table; on the contrary, the greater part of the soldiers and their officers sit at their meal in the hall on the carpets.] outside the hall will be found more than 40,000 people; for there is a great concourse of folk bringing presents to the lord, or come from foreign countries with curiosities. in a certain part of the hall near where the great kaan holds his table, there [is set a large and very beautiful piece of workmanship in the form of a square coffer, or buffet, about three paces each way, exquisitely wrought with figures of animals, finely carved and gilt. the middle is hollow, and in it] stands a great vessel of pure gold, holding as much as an ordinary butt; and at each corner of the great vessel is one of smaller size [of the capacity of a firkin], and from the former the wine or beverage flavoured with fine and costly spices is drawn off into the latter. [and on the buffet aforesaid are set all the lord's drinking vessels, among which are certain pitchers of the finest gold,] which are called _verniques_,[note 2] and are big enough to hold drink for eight or ten persons. and one of these is put between every two persons, besides a couple of golden cups with handles, so that every man helps himself from the pitcher that stands between him and his neighbour. and the ladies are supplied in the same way. the value of these pitchers and cups is something immense; in fact, the great kaan has such a quantity of this kind of plate, and of gold and silver in other shapes, as no one ever before saw or heard tell of, or could believe.[note 3] [there are certain barons specially deputed to see that foreigners, who do not know the customs of the court, are provided with places suited to their rank; and these barons are continually moving to and fro in the hall, looking to the wants of the guests at table, and causing the servants to supply them promptly with wine, milk, meat, or whatever they lack. at every door of the hall (or, indeed, wherever the emperor may be) there stand a couple of big men like giants, one on each side, armed with staves. their business is to see that no one steps upon the threshold in entering, and if this does happen, they strip the offender of his clothes, and he must pay a forfeit to have them back again; or in lieu of taking his clothes, they give him a certain number of blows. if they are foreigners ignorant of the order, then there are barons appointed to introduce them, and explain it to them. they think, in fact, that it brings bad luck if any one touches the threshold. howbeit, they are not expected to stick at this in going forth again, for at that time some are like to be the worse for liquor, and incapable of looking to their steps.[note 4]] and you must know that those who wait upon the great kaan with his dishes and his drink are some of the great barons. they have the mouth and nose muffled with fine napkins of silk and gold, so that no breath nor odour from their persons should taint the dish or the goblet presented to the lord. and when the emperor is going to drink, all the musical instruments, of which he has vast store of every kind, begin to play. and when he takes the cup all the barons and the rest of the company drop on their knees and make the deepest obeisance before him, and then the emperor doth drink. but each time that he does so the whole ceremony is repeated.[note 5] i will say nought about the dishes, as you may easily conceive that there is a great plenty of every possible kind. but you should know that in every case where a baron or knight dines at those tables, their wives also dine there with the other ladies. and when all have dined and the tables have been removed, then come in a great number of players and jugglers, adepts at all sorts of wonderful feats,[note 6] and perform before the emperor and the rest of the company, creating great diversion and mirth, so that everybody is full of laughter and enjoyment. and when the performance is over, the company breaks up and every one goes to his quarters. note 1.--we are to conceive of rows of small tables, at each of which were set probably but two guests. this seems to be the modern chinese practice, and to go back to some very old accounts of the tartar nations. such tables we find in use in the tenth century, at the court of the king of bolghar (see _prologue_, note 2, ch. ii.), and at the chinese entertainments to shah rukh's embassy in the fifteenth century. megasthenes described the guests at an indian banquet as having a table set before each individual. (_athenaeus_, iv. 39, _yonge's transl._) [compare rubruck's account, rockhill's ed., p. 210: "the chan sits in a high place to the north, so that he can be seen by all...." (see also friar odoric, _cathay_, p. 141.)--h. c.] note 2.--this word (g. t. and ram.) is in the crusca italian transformed into an adjective, "_vaselle_ vernicate _d'oro_," and both marsden and pauthier have substantially adopted the same interpretation, which seems to me in contradiction with the text. in pauthier's text the word is _vernigal_, pl. _vernigaux_, which he explains, i know not on what authority, as "_coupes sans anses vernies ou laquées d'or_." there is, indeed, a venetian sea-term, _vernegal_, applied to a wooden bowl in which the food of a mess is put, and it seems possible that this word may have been substituted for the unknown _vernique_. i suspect the latter was some oriental term, but i can find nothing nearer than the persian _barni_, ar. _al-barníya_, "vas fictile in quo quid recondunt," whence the spanish word _albornia_, "a great glazed vessel in the shape of a bowl, with handles." so far as regards the form, the change of _barniya_ into _vernique_ would be quite analogous to that change of _hundwáníy_ into _ondanique_, which we have already met with. (see _dozy et engelmann, glos. des mots espagnols_, etc., 2nd ed., 1867, p. 73; and _boerio, diz. del. dial. venez._) [_f. godefroy, dict., s.v. vernigal_, writes: "coupe sans anse, vernie ou laquée d'or," and quotes, besides marco polo, the _regle du temple_, p. 214, éd. soc. hist. de france: "les _vernigaus_ et les escuelles." about _vernegal_, cf. _rockhill, rubruck_, p. 86, note. rubruck says (_soc. de géog._ p. 241): "implevimus unum _veringal_ de biscocto et platellum unum de pomis et aliis fructibus." mr. rockhill translates _veringal_ by _basket_. dr. bretschneider (_peking_, 28) mentions "a large jar made of wood and _varnished_, the inside lined with silver," and he adds in a note "perhaps this statement may serve to explain marco polo's _verniques_ or _vaselle_ vernicate _d'oro_, big enough to hold drink for eight or ten persons."--h. c.] a few lines above we have "of the capacity of a _firkin_." the word is _bigoncio_, which is explained in the _vocab. univ. ital._ as a kind of tub used in the vintage, and containing 3 _mine_, each of half a _stajo_. this seems to point to the _tuscan_ mina, or half stajo, which is = 1/3 of a bushel. hence the _bigoncio_ would = a bushel, or, in old liquid measure, about a firkin. note 3.--a buffet, with flagons of liquor and goblets, was an essential feature in the public halls or tents of the mongols and other asiatic races of kindred manners. the ambassadors of the emperor justin relate that in the middle of the pavilion of dizabulus, the khan of the turks, there were set out drinking-vessels, and flagons and great jars, all of gold; corresponding to the _coupes_ (or _hanas à mances_), the _verniques_, and the _grant peitere_ and _petietes peiteres_ of polo's account. rubruquis describes in batu khan's tent a buffet near the entrance, where _kumiz_ was set forth, with great goblets of gold and silver, etc., and the like at the tent of the great kaan. at a festival at the court of oljaitu, we are told, "before the throne stood golden buffets ... set out with full flagons and goblets." even in the private huts of the mongols there was a buffet of a humbler kind exhibiting a skin of _kumiz_, with other kinds of drink, and cups standing ready; and in a later age at the banquets of shah abbas we find the great buffet in a slightly different form, and the golden flagon still set to every two persons, though it no longer contained the liquor, which was handed round. (_cathay_, clxiv., cci.; _rubr._ 224, 268, 305; _ilch._ ii. 183; _della valle_, i. 654 and 750-751.) [referring to the "large and very beautiful piece of workmanship," mr. rockhill, _rubruck_, 208-209, writes: "similar works of art and mechanical contrivances were often seen in eastern courts. the earliest i know of is the golden plane-tree and grape vine with bunches of grapes in precious stones, which was given to darius by pythius the lydian, and which shaded the king's couch. (herodotus, iv. 24.) the most celebrated, however, and that which may have inspired mangu with the desire to have something like it at his court, was the famous throne of solomon ([greek: solomónteos thrónos]) of the emperor of constantinople, theophilus (a.d. 829-842).... abulfeda states that in a.d. 917 the envoys of constantine porphyrogenitus to the caliph el moktader saw in the palace of bagdad a tree with eighteen branches, some of gold, some of silver, and on them were gold and silver birds, and the leaves of the tree were of gold and silver. by means of machinery, the leaves were made to rustle and the birds to sing. mirkhond speaks also of a tree of gold and precious stones in the city of sultanieh, in the interior of which were conduits through which flowed drinks of different kinds. clavijo describes a somewhat similar tree at the court of timur." dr. bretschneider (_peking_, 28, 29) mentions a clepsydra with a lantern. by means of machinery put in motion by water, at fixed times a little man comes forward exhibiting a tablet, which announces the hours. he speaks also of a musical instrument which is connected, by means of a tube, with two peacocks sitting on a cross-bar, and when it plays, the mechanism causes the peacocks to dance.--h. c.] odoric describes the great jar of liquor in the middle of the palace hall, but in his time it was made of a great mass of jade (p. 130). note 4.--this etiquette is specially noticed also by odoric, as well as by makrizi, by rubruquis, and by plano carpini. according to the latter the breach of it was liable to be punished with death. the prohibition to tread on the threshold is also specially mentioned in a mahomedan account of an embassy to the court of barka khan. and in regard to the tents, rubruquis says he was warned not to touch the ropes, for these were regarded as representing the threshold. a russo-mongol author of our day says that the memory of this etiquette or superstition is still preserved by a mongol proverb: "step not on the threshold; it is a sin!" but among some of the mongols more than this survives, as is evident from a passage in mr. michie's narrative: "there is a right and a wrong way of approaching _yourt_ also. outside the door there are generally ropes lying on the ground, held down by stakes, for the purpose of tying up the animals when they want to keep them together. there is a way of getting over or round these ropes that i never learned, but on one occasion the ignorant breach of the rule on our part excluded us from the hospitality of the family." the feeling or superstition was in full force in persia in the 17th century, at least in regard to the threshold of the king's palace. it was held a sin to tread upon it in entering. (_cathay_, 132; _rubr._ 255, 268, 319; _plan. carp._ 625, 741; _makrizi_, i. 214; _mél. asiat. ac. st. petersb._ ii. 660; _the siberian overland route_, p. 97; _p. della valle_, ii. 171.) [mr. rockhill writes (_rubruck_, p. 104): "the same custom existed among the fijians, i believe. i may note that it also prevailed in ancient china. it is said of confucius 'when he was standing he did not occupy the middle of the gate-way; when he passed in or out, he did not tread on the threshold.' (_lun-yü_, bk. x. ch. iv. 2.) in china, the bride's feet must not touch the threshold of the bridegroom's house, (cf. _denny's folk-lore in china_, p. 18.) "the author of the _ch'ue keng lu_ mentions also the athletes with clubs standing at the door, at the time of the khan's presence in the hall. he adds, that next to the khan, two other life-guards used to stand, who held in their hands 'natural' axes of jade (axes found fortuitously in the ground, probably primitive weapons)." (_palladius_, p. 43.)--h. c.] note 5.--some of these etiquettes were probably rather chinese than mongol, for the regulations of the court of kúblái apparently combined the two. in the visit of shah rukh's ambassadors to the court of the emperor ch'êng tsu of the ming dynasty in 1421, we are told that by the side of the throne, at an imperial banquet, "there stood two eunuchs, each having a band of thick paper over his mouth, and extending to the tips of his ears.... every time that a dish, or a cup of _darassun_ (rice-wine) was brought to the emperor, all the music sounded." (_n. et ext._ xiv. 408, 409.) in one of the persepolitan sculptures, there stands behind the king an eunuch bearing a fan, and with his mouth covered; at least so says heeren. (_asia_, i. 178.) note 6.--"_jongleours et entregetours de maintes plusieurs manieres de granz experimenz_" (p.); "_de giuculer et de tregiteor_" (g. t.). ital. _tragettatore_, a juggler; romance, _trasjitar, tragitar_, to juggle. thus chaucer:- "there saw i playing jogelours, magiciens, and _tragetours_, and phetonisses, charmeresses, old witches, sorceresses," etc. --_house of fame_, iii. 169. and again:- "for oft at festes have i wel herd say, that _tregetoures_, within an halle large, have made come in a water and a barge, and in the halle rowen up and doun. somtime hath semed come a grim leoun; * * * * * somtime a castel al of lime and ston, and whan hem liketh, voideth it anon." --_the franklin's tale_, ii. 454. performances of this kind at chinese festivities have already been spoken of in note 9 to ch. lxi. of book i. shah rukh's people, odoric, ysbrandt ides, etc., describe them also. the practice of introducing such _artistes_ into the dining-hall after dinner seems in that age to have been usual also in europe. see, for example, _wright's domestic manners_, pp. 165-166, and the court of the emperor frederic ii., in _kington's life_ of that prince, i. 470. (see also _n. et e._ xiv. 410; _cathay_, 143; _ysb. ides_, p. 95.) chapter xiv. concerning the great feast held by the grand kaan every year on his birthday. you must know that the tartars keep high festival yearly on their birthdays. and the great kaan was born on the 28th day of the september moon, so on that day is held the greatest feast of the year at the kaan's court, always excepting that which he holds on new year's day, of which i shall tell you afterwards.[note 1] now, on his birthday, the great kaan dresses in the best of his robes, all wrought with beaten gold;[note 2] and full 12,000 barons and knights on that day come forth dressed in robes of the same colour, and precisely like those of the great kaan, except that they are not so costly; but still they are all of the same colour as his, and are also of silk and gold. every man so clothed has also a girdle of gold; and this as well as the dress is given him by the sovereign. and i will aver that there are some of these suits decked with so many pearls and precious stones that a single suit shall be worth full 10,000 golden bezants. and of such raiment there are several sets. for you must know that the great kaan, thirteen times in the year, presents to his barons and knights such suits of raiment as i am speaking of.[note 3] and on each occasion they wear the same colour that he does, a different colour being assigned to each festival. hence you may see what a huge business it is, and that there is no prince in the world but he alone who could keep up such customs as these. on his birthday also, all the tartars in the world, and all the countries and governments that owe allegiance to the kaan, offer him great presents according to their several ability, and as prescription or orders have fixed the amount. and many other persons also come with great presents to the kaan, in order to beg for some employment from him. and the great kaan has chosen twelve barons on whom is laid the charge of assigning to each of these supplicants a suitable answer. on this day likewise all the idolaters, all the saracens, and all the christians and other descriptions of people make great and solemn devotions, with much chaunting and lighting of lamps and burning of incense, each to the god whom he doth worship, praying that he would save the emperor, and grant him long life and health and happiness. and thus, as i have related, is celebrated the joyous feast of the kaan's birthday.[note 4] now i will tell you of another festival which the kaan holds at the new year, and which is called the white feast. note 1.--the chinese year commences, according to duhalde, with the new moon nearest to the sun's passage of the middle point of aquarius; according to pauthier, with the new moon immediately preceding the sun's entry into pisces. (these would almost always be identical, but not always.) generally speaking, the first month will include part of february and part of march. the eighth month will then be september-october (_v. ante_, ch. ii. note 2). [according to dr. s. w. williams (_middle kingdom_, ii. p. 70): "the year is lunar, but its commencement is regulated by the sun. new year falls on the first new moon after the sun enters aquarius, which makes it come not before january 21st nor after february 19th." "the beginning of the civil year, writes peter hoang (_chinese calendar_, p. 13), depends upon the good pleasure of the emperors. under the emperor hwang-ti (2697 b.c.) and under the hsia dynasty (2205 b.c.), it was made to commence with the 3rd month _yin-yüeh_ [pisces]; under the shang dynasty (1766 b.c.) with the 2nd month _ch'ou-yüeh_ [aquarius], and under the chou dynasty (1122 b.c.) with the 1st month _tzu-yüeh_ [capricorn]."--h. c.] note 2.--the expression "_à or batuz_" as here applied to robes, is common among the mediaeval poets and romance-writers, e.g. chaucer:- "full yong he was and merry of thought, and in samette with birdes wrought and with gold beaten full fetously, his bodie was clad full richely." --_rom. of the rose_, 836-839. m. michel thinks that in a stuff so termed the gold wire was _beaten out_ after the execution of the embroidery, a process which widened the metallic surface and gave great richness of appearance. the fact was rather, however, according to dr. rock, that the gold used in weaving such tissues was _not_ wire but beaten sheets of gold cut into narrow strips. this would seem sufficient to explain the term "beaten gold," though dr. rock in another passage refers it to a custom which he alleges of sewing goldsmith's work upon robes. (_fr. michel_, _recherches_, ii. 389, also i. 371; _rock's catalogue_, pp. xxv. xxix. xxxviii. cvi.) note 3.--the number of these festivals and distributions of dresses is _thirteen_ in all the old texts, except the latin of the geog. soc., which has _twelve_. thirteen would seem therefore to have been in the original copy. and the ramusian version expands this by saying, "thirteen great feasts that the tartars keep with much solemnity to each of the thirteen moons of the year."[1] it is possible, however, that this latter sentence is an interpolated gloss; for, besides the improbability of munificence so frequent, pauthier has shown some good reasons why _thirteen_ should be regarded as an error for _three_. the official history of the mongol dynasty, which he quotes, gives a detail of raiment distributed in presents on great state occasions _three_ times a year. such a mistake might easily have originated in the first dictation, _treize_ substituted for _trois_, or rather for the old form _tres_; but we must note that the number 13 is repeated and corroborated in ch. xvi. odoric speaks of _four_ great yearly festivals, but there are obvious errors in what he says on this subject. hammer says the great mongol feasts were three, viz. new year's day, the kaan's birthday, and the feast of the herds. something like the changes of costume here spoken of is mentioned by rubruquis at a great festival of four days' duration at the court of mangku kaan: "each day of the four they appeared in different raiment, suits of which were given them for each day of a different colour, but everything on the same day of one colour, from the boots to the turban." so also carpini says regarding the assemblies of the mongol nobles at the inauguration of kuyuk kaan: "the first day they were all clad in white pourpre (? _albis purpuris_, see bk. i. ch. vi. note 4), the second day in ruby pourpre, the third day in blue pourpre, the fourth day in the finest baudekins." (_cathay_, 141; _rubr._ 368; _pl. car._ 755.) [mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, p. 247, note) makes the following remarks: "odoric, however, says that the colours differed according to the rank. the custom of presenting _khilats_ is still observed in central asia and persia. i cannot learn from any other authority that the mongols ever wore turbans. odoric says the mongols of the imperial feasts wore 'coronets' (_in capite coronati_)."--h. c.] note 4.--["the accounts given by marco polo regarding the feasts of the khan and the festival dresses at his court, agree perfectly with the statements on the same subject of contemporary chinese writers. banquets were called in the common mongol language _chama_, and festival dresses _chisun_. general festivals used to be held at the new year and at the birthday of the khan. in the _mongol-chinese code_, the ceremonies performed in the provinces on the khan's birthday are described. one month before that day the civil and military officers repaired to a temple, where a service was performed to the khan's health. on the morning of the birthday a sumptuously adorned table was placed in the open air, and the representatives of all classes and all confessions were obliged to approach the table, to prostrate themselves and exclaim three times: _wan-sui_ (i.e. 'ten thousand years' life to the khan). after that the banquet took place. in the same code (in the article on the _ye li ke un_ [christians, _erke-un_]) it is stated, that in the year 1304,--owing to a dispute, which had arisen in the province of kiang-nan between the _ho-shang_ (buddhist priests) and the christian missionaries, as to precedence in the above-mentioned ceremony,--a special edict was published, in which it was decided that in the rite of supplication, christians should follow the buddhist and taouist priests." (_palladius_, pp. 44-45.)--h. c.] [1] there are thirteen months to the chinese year in seven out of every nineteen. ["this interval of 10 years comprises 235 lunar months, generally 125 _long_ months of 30 days 110 _short_ months of 29 days, (but sometimes 124 _long_ and 111 _short_ months), and 7 _intercalary_ months. the year of twelve months is called a common year, that of thirteen months, an _intercalary_ year." (_p. hoang, chinese calendar_, p. 12. --h. c.)] chapter xv. of the great festival which the kaan holds on new year's day. the beginning of their new year is the month of february, and on that occasion the great kaan and all his subjects made such a feast as i now shall describe. it is the custom that on this occasion the kaan and all his subjects should be clothed entirely in white; so, that day, everybody is in white, men and women, great and small. and this is done in order that they may thrive all through the year, for they deem that white clothing is lucky.[note 1] on that day also all the people of all the provinces and governments and kingdoms and countries that own allegiance to the kaan bring him great presents of gold and silver, and pearls and gems, and rich textures of divers kinds. and this they do that the emperor throughout the year may have abundance of treasure and enjoyment without care. and the people also make presents to each other of white things, and embrace and kiss and make merry, and wish each other happiness and good luck for the coming year. on that day, i can assure you, among the customary presents there shall be offered to the kaan from various quarters more than 100,000 white horses, beautiful animals, and richly caparisoned. [and you must know 'tis their custom in offering presents to the great kaan (at least when the province making the present is able to do so), to present nine times nine articles. for instance, if a province sends horses, it sends nine times nine or 81 horses; of gold, nine times nine pieces of gold, and so with stuffs or whatever else the present may consist of.][note 2] on that day also, the whole of the kaan's elephants, amounting fully to 5000 in number, are exhibited, all covered with rich and gay housings of inlaid cloth representing beasts and birds, whilst each of them carries on his back two splendid coffers; all of these being filled with the emperor's plate and other costly furniture required for the court on the occasion of the white feast.[note 3] and these are followed by a vast number of camels which are likewise covered with rich housings and laden with things needful for the feast. all these are paraded before the emperor, and it makes the finest sight in the world. moreover, on the morning of the feast, before the tables are set, all the kings, and all the dukes, marquesses, counts, barons, knights, and astrologers, and philosophers, and leeches, and falconers, and other officials of sundry kinds from all the places round about, present themselves in the great hall before the emperor; whilst those who can find no room to enter stand outside in such a position that the emperor can see them all well. and the whole company is marshalled in this wise. first are the kaan's sons, and his nephews, and the other princes of the blood imperial; next to them all kings; then dukes, and then all others in succession according to the degree of each. and when they are all seated, each in his proper place, then a great prelate rises and says with a loud voice: "bow and adore!" and as soon as he has said this, the company bow down until their foreheads touch the earth in adoration towards the emperor as if he were a god. and this adoration they repeat four times, and then go to a highly decorated altar, on which is a vermilion tablet with the name of the grand kaan inscribed thereon, and a beautiful censer of gold. so they incense the tablet and the altar with great reverence, and then return each man to his seat.[note 4] when all have performed this, then the presents are offered, of which i have spoken as being so rich and costly. and after all have been offered and been seen by the emperor, the tables are set, and all take their places at them with perfect order as i have already told you. and after dinner the jugglers come in and amuse the court as you have heard before; and when that is over, every man goes to his quarters. note 1.--the first month of the year is still called by the mongols _chaghan_ or _chaghan sara_, "the white" or the "white month"; and the wearing of white clothing on this festive occasion must have been purely a mongol custom. for when shah rukh's ambassadors were present at the new year's feast at the court of the succeeding _chinese_ dynasty (2nd february, 1421) they were warned that _no one_ must wear white, as that among the chinese was the colour of mourning. (_koeppen_, i. 574, ii. 309; _cathay_, p. ccvii.) note 2.--on the mystic importance attached to the number 9 on all such occasions among the mongols, see _hammer's golden horde_, p. 208; _hayton_, ch. iii. in ramusio ii.; _not. et ext._ xiv. pt. i. 32; and _strahlenberg_ (ii. 210 of amsterd. ed. 1757). vámbéry, speaking of the _kálín_ or marriage price among the uzbegs, says: "the question is always how many times _nine_ sheep, cows, camels, or horses, or how many times nine ducats (as is the custom in a town), the father is to receive for giving up his daughter." (_sketches of cent. asia_, p. 103.) sheikh ibrahim of darband, making offerings to timur, presented _nines_ of everything else, but of slaves _eight_ only. "where is the ninth?" enquired the court official. "who but i myself?" said the sheikh, and so won the heart of timur. (_a. arabsiadis ... timuri hist._ p. 357.) note 3.--the elephant stud of the son of heaven had dwindled till in 1862 dr. rennie found but one animal; now none remain. [dr. s. w. williams writes (_middle kingdom_, i. pp. 323-324): "elephants are kept at peking for show, and are used to draw the state chariot when the emperor goes to worship at the altars of heaven and earth, but the sixty animals seen in the days of kienlung, by bell, have since dwindled to one or two. van braam met six going into peking, sent thither from yun-nan." these were no doubt carrying tribute from burmah.--h. c.] it is worth noticing that the housings of cut cloth or _appliqué_ work ("_draps entaillez_") are still in fashion in india for the caparison of elephants. note 4.--in 1263 kúblái adopted the chinese fashion of worshipping the tablets of his own ancestors, and probably at the same time the adoration of his own tablet by his subjects was introduced. van braam ingenuously relates how he and the rest of the dutch legation of 1794 performed the adoration of the emperor's tablet on first entering china, much in the way described in the text. there is a remarkable amplification in the last paragraph of the chapter as given by ramusio: "when all are in their proper places, a certain great personage, or high prelate as it were, gets up and says with a loud voice: 'bow yourselves and adore!' on this immediately all bend and bow the forehead to the ground. then the prelate says again: 'god save and keep our lord the emperor, with length of years and with mirth and happiness.' and all answer: 'so may it be!' and then again the prelate says: 'may god increase and augment his empire and its prosperity more and more, and keep all his subjects in peace and goodwill, and may all things go well throughout his dominion!' and all again respond: 'so may it be!' and this adoration is repeated four times." one of pauthier's most interesting notes is a long extract from the official directory of ceremonial under the mongol dynasty, which admirably illustrates the chapters we have last read. i borrow a passage regarding this adoration: "the musician's song having ceased, the ministers shall recite with a loud voice the following prayer: 'great heaven, that extendest over all! earth which art under the guidance of heaven! we invoke you and beseech you to heap blessings upon the emperor and the empress! grant that they may live ten thousand, a hundred thousand years!' "then the first chamberlain shall respond: 'may it be as the prayer hath said!' the ministers shall then prostrate themselves, and when they rise return to their places, and take a cup or two of wine." the k'o-tow (_khéu-théu_) which appears repeatedly in this ceremonial and which in our text is indicated by the four prostrations, was, pauthier alleges, not properly a chinese form, but only introduced by the mongols. baber indeed speaks of it as the _kornish_, a moghul ceremony, in which originally "the person who performed it kneeled nine times and touched the earth with his brow each time." he describes it as performed very elaborately (nine times _twice_) by his younger uncle in visiting the elder. but in its essentials the ceremony must have been of old date at the chinese court; for the annals of the thang dynasty, in a passage cited by m. pauthier himself,[1] mention that ambassadors from the famous hárún ar rashíd in 798 had to perform the "ceremony of kneeling and striking the forehead against the ground." and m. pauthier can scarcely be right in saying that the practice was disused by the ming dynasty and only reintroduced by the manchus; for in the story of shah rukh's embassy the performance of the k'o-tow occurs repeatedly. ["it is interesting to note," writes mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, p. 22), "that in a.d. 981 the chinese envoy, wang yen-tê, sent to the uigur prince of kao-chang, refused to make genuflexions (_pai_) to him, as being contrary to the established usages as regards envoys. the prince and his family, however, on receiving the envoy, all faced eastward (towards peking) and made an obeisance (_pai_) on receiving the imperial presents (_shou-tzu_)." (_ma twan-lin_, bk 336, 13.)--h. c.] (_gaubil_, 142; _van braam_, i. 20-21; _baber_, 106; _n. et e._ xiv. pt. i. 405, 407, 418.) the enumeration of _four_ prostrations in the text is, i fancy, quite correct. there are several indications that this number was used instead of the three times three of later days. thus carpini, when introduced to the great kaan, "bent the left knee four times." and in the chinese bridal ceremony of "worshipping the tablets," the genuflexion is made four times. at the court of shah abbas an obeisance evidently identical was repeated four times. (_carp._ 759; _doolittle_, p. 60; _p. della valle_, i. 646.) [1] _gaubil_, cited in _pauthier's hist. des relations politiques de la chine_, etc., p. 226. chapter xvi. concerning the twelve thousand barons who receive robes of cloth of gold from the emperor on the great festivals, thirteen changes a-piece. now you must know that the great kaan hath set apart 12,000 of his men who are distinguished by the name of _keshican_, as i have told you before; and on each of these 12,000 barons he bestows thirteen changes of raiment, which are all different from one another: i mean that in one set the 12,000 are all of one colour; the next 12,000 of another colour, and so on; so that they are of thirteen different colours. these robes are garnished with gems and pearls and other precious things in a very rich and costly manner.[note 1] and along with each of these changes of raiment, i.e. 13 times in the year, he bestows on each of those 12,000 barons a fine golden girdle of great richness and value, and likewise a pair of boots of _camut_, that is to say of _borgal_, curiously wrought with silver thread; insomuch that when they are clothed in these dresses every man of them looks like a king![note 2] and there is an established order as to which dress is to be worn at each of those thirteen feasts. the emperor himself also has his thirteen suits corresponding to those of his barons; in _colour_, i mean (though his are grander, richer, and costlier), so that he is always arrayed in the same colour as his barons, who are, as it were, his comrades. and you may see that all this costs an amount which it is scarcely possible to calculate. now i have told you of the thirteen changes of raiment received from the prince by those 12,000 barons, amounting in all to 156,000 suits of so great cost and value, to say nothing of the girdles and the boots which are also worth a great sum of money. all this the great lord hath ordered, that he may attach the more of grandeur and dignity to his festivals. and now i must mention another thing that i had forgotten, but which you will be astonished to learn from this book. you must know that on the feast day a great lion is led to the emperor's presence, and as soon as it sees him it lies down before him with every sign of the greatest veneration, as if it acknowledged him for its lord; and it remains there lying before him, and entirely unchained. truly this must seem a strange story to those who have not seen the thing![note 3] note 1.--on the _keshican_, see note 1 to chap. xii., and on the changes of raiment note 3 to chap. xiv., and the remarks there as to the number of distributions. i confess that the stress laid upon the number 13 in this chapter makes the supposition of error more difficult. but there is something odd and unintelligible about the whole of the chapter except the last paragraph. for the 12,000 _keshican_ are here all elevated to _barons_; and at the same time the statement about their changes of raiment seems to be merely that already made in chapter xiv. this repetition occurs only in the french mss., but as it is in all these we cannot reject it. note 2.--the words _camut_ and _borgal_ appear both to be used here for what we call _russia-leather_. the latter word in one form or another, _bolghár, borgháli_, or _bulkál_, is the term applied to that material to this day nearly all over asia. ibn batuta says that in travelling during winter from constantinople to the wolga he had to put on three pairs of boots, one of wool (which we should call stockings), a second of wadded linen, and a third of _borgháli_, "i.e. of horse-leather lined with wolf-skin." horse-leather seems to be still the favourite material for boots among all the tartar nations. the name was undoubtedly taken from _bolghar_ on the wolga, the people of which are traditionally said to have invented the art of preparing skins in that manner. this manufacture is still one of the staple trades of kazan, the city which in position and importance is the nearest representative of bolghar now. _camut_ is explained by klaproth to be "leather made from the back-skin of a camel." it appears in johnson's persian dictionary as _kámú_, but i do not know from what language it originally comes. the word is in the latin column of the petrarchian vocabulary with the persian rendering _sagri_. this shows us what is meant, for _saghrí_ is just our word _shagreen_, and is applied to a fine leather granulated in that way, which is much used for boots and the like by the people of central asia. [in turkish _saghri_ or _saghri_ is the name both for the buttocks of a horse and the leather called _shagreen_ prepared with them. (see _devic, dict. étym._)--h. c.] in the commercial lists of our indian north-west frontier we find as synonymous _saghri_ or _kímukht_, "horse or ass-hide." no doubt this latter word is a form of _kámú_ or _camut_. it appears (as _keimukht_, "a sort of leather") in a detail of imports to aden given by _ibn al wardi_, a geographer of the 13th century. instead of camut, ramusio has _camoscia_, i.e. chamois, and the same seems to be in all the editions based on fra pipino's version. it may be a misrendering of _camutum_ or _camutium_; or is there any real connexion between the oriental _kámú kímukht_, and the italian _camoscia_? (_i. b._ ii. 445; _klapr. mém._ vol. iii.; _davies's trade report_, app. p. ccxx.; _vámbéry's travels_, 423; _not. et ext._ ii. 43.) fraehn (writing in 1832) observes that he knew no use of the word _bolghár_, in the sense of russian leather, older than the 17th century. but we see that both marco and ibn batuta use it. (_f. on the wolga bulghars_, pp. 8-9.) pauthier in a note (p. 285) gives a list of the garments issued to certain officials on these ceremonial occasions under the mongols, and sure enough this list includes "pairs of boots in red leather." odoric particularly mentions the broad golden girdles worn at the kaan's court. [la curne, _dict._, has _bulga_, leather bag; old gallic word from which are derived _bouge_ et _bougete, bourse_; he adds in a note, "festus writes: '_bulgas_ galli sacculos scorteos vocant.'"--h. c.] note 3.--"then come mummers leading lions, which they cause to salute the lord with reverence." (_odoric_, p. 143.) a lion sent by mirza baisangar, one of the princes of timur's house, accompanied shah rukh's embassy as a present to the emperor; and like presents were frequently repeated. (see _amyot_, xiv. 37, 38.) chapter xvii. how the great kaan enjoineth his people to supply him with game. the three months of december, january, and february, during which the emperor resides at his capital city, are assigned for hunting and fowling, to the extent of some 40 days' journey round the city; and it is ordained that the larger game taken be sent to the court. to be more particular: of all the larger beasts of the chase, such as boars, roebucks, bucks, stags, lions, bears, etc., the greater part of what is taken has to be sent, and feathered game likewise. the animals are gutted and despatched to the court on carts. this is done by all the people within 20 or 30 days' journey, and the quantity so despatched is immense. those at a greater distance cannot send the game, but they have to send the skins after tanning them, and these are employed in the making of equipments for the emperor's army.[note 1] note 1.--so magaillans: "game is so abundant, especially at the capital, that every year during the three winter months you see at different places, intended for despatch thither, besides great piles of every sort of wildfowl, rows of four-footed game of a gunshot or two in length: the animals being all frozen and standing on their feet. among other species you see three sundry kinds of bears ... and great abundance of other animals, as stags and deer of different sorts, boars, elks, hares, rabbits, squirrels, wild-cats, rats, geese, ducks, very fine jungle-fowl, etc., and all so cheap that i never could have believed it" (pp. 177-178). as this writer mentions _wild-cats_, we may presume that the "lions" of polo also were destined to be eaten. ["kubilai khan kept a whole army, 14,000 men, huntsmen, distributed in peking and other cities in the present province of chili (_yuen-shi_). the khan used to hunt in the peking plain from the beginning of spring, until his departure to shang-tu. there are in the peking department many low and marshy places, stretching often to a considerable extent and abounding in game. in the biography of _ai-sie_ (_yuen shi_, chap. cxxxiv.), who was a christian, it is mentioned that kubilai was hunting also in the department of pao-ting fu." (_palladius_, p. 45.)--h. c.] chapter xviii. of the lions and leopards and wolves that the kaan keeps for the chase. the emperor hath numbers of leopards[note 1] trained to the chase, and hath also a great many lynxes taught in like manner to catch game, and which afford excellent sport.[note 2] he hath also several great lions, bigger than those of babylonia, beasts whose skins are coloured in the most beautiful way, being striped all along the sides with black, red, and white. these are trained to catch boars and wild cattle, bears, wild asses, stags, and other great or fierce beasts. and 'tis a rare sight, i can tell you, to see those lions giving chase to such beasts as i have mentioned! when they are to be so employed the lions are taken out in a covered cart, and every lion has a little doggie with him. [they are obliged to approach the game against the wind, otherwise the animals would scent the approach of the lion and be off.][note 3] there are also a great number of eagles, all broken to catch wolves, foxes, deer, and wild goats, and they do catch them in great numbers. but those especially that are trained to wolf-catching are very large and powerful birds, and no wolf is able to get away from them.[note 4] note 1.--the cheeta or hunting-leopard, still kept for the chase by native noblemen in india, is an animal very distinct from the true leopard. it is much more lanky and long-legged than the pure felines, is unable to climb trees, and has claws only partially retractile. wood calls it a link between the feline and canine races. one thousand cheetas were attached to akbar's hunting establishment; and the chief one, called semend-manik, was carried to the field in a palankin with a kettledrum beaten before him. boldensel in the first half of the 14th century speaks of the cheeta as habitually used in cyprus; but, indeed, a hundred years before, these animals had been constantly employed by the emperor frederic ii. in italy, and accompanied him on all his marches. they were introduced into france in the latter part of the 15th century, and frequently employed by lewis xi., charles viii., and lewis xii. the leopards were kept in a ditch of the castle of amboise, and the name still borne by a gate hard by, _porte des lions_, is supposed to be due to that circumstance. the _moeurs et usages du moyen age_ (lacroix), from which i take the last facts, gives copy of a print by john stradanus representing a huntsman with the leopard on his horse's crupper, like kúblái's (supra, bk. i. ch. lxi.); frederic ii. used to say of his cheetas, "they knew how to ride." this way of taking the cheeta to the field had been first employed by the khalif yazid, son of moáwiyah. the cheeta often appears in the pattern of silk damasks of the 13th and 14th centuries, both asiatic and italian. (_ayeen akbery_, i. 304, etc.; _boldensel_, in _canisii thesaurus_, by _basnage_, vol. iv. p. 339; _kington's fred. ii._ i. 472, ii. 156; _bochart_, _hierozoica_, 797; _rock's catalogue, passim_.) [the hunting equipment of the sultan consisted of about thirty falconers on horseback who carried each a bird on his fist. these falconers were in front of seven horsemen, who had behind a kind of tamed tiger at times employed by his highness for hare-hunting, notwithstanding what may be said to the contrary by those who are inclined not to believe the fact. it is a thing known by everybody here, and cannot be doubted except by those who admit that they believe nothing of foreign customs. these tigers were each covered with a brocade cloth--and their peaceful attitude, added to their ferocious and savage looks, caused at the same time astonishment and fear in the soul of those whom they looked upon. (_journal d'antoine galland_, trad. par ch. schefer, i. p. 135.) the cheeta (_gueparda jubata_) was, according to sir w. jones, first employed in hunting antelopes by hushing, king of persia, 865 b.c.--h. c.] note 2.--the word rendered lynxes is _leu cervers_ (g. text), _louz serviers_ of pauthier's ms. c, though he has adopted from another _loups_ simply, which is certainly wrong. the _geog. latin_ has "_linceos i.e. lupos cerverios_." there is no doubt that the _loup-cervier_ is the lynx. thus brunetto latini, describing the loup-cervier, speaks of its remarkable powers of vision, and refers to its agency in the production of the precious stone called _liguire_ (i.e. _ligurium_), which the ancients fancied to come from _lync-urium_; the tale is in theophrastus). yet the quaint bestiary of philip de thaun, published by mr. wright, identifies it with the greek hyena:- "_hyena_ e griu num, que nus beste apellum, ceo est _lucervere_, oler fait et mult est fere." [the abbé armand david writes (_missions cathol._ xxi. 1889, p. 227) that there is in china, from the mountains of manchuria to the mountains of tibet, a lynx called by the chinese _t'u-pao_ (earth-coloured panther); a lynx somewhat similar to the _loup-cervier_ is found on the western border of china, and has been named _lyncus desgodinsi_.--h. c.] hunting lynxes were used at the court of akbar. they are also mentioned by a. hamilton as so used in sind at the end of the 17th century. this author calls the animal a _shoe-goose! i.e. siya-gosh_ (black-ear), the persian name of the lynx. it is still occasionally used in the chase by natives of rank in india. (_brunetto lat. tresor_, p. 248; _popular treatises on science written during mid. ages_, 94; _ayeen akbery_, u.s.; _hamilt. e. indies_, i. 125; _vigne_, i. 42.) note 3.--the conception of a tiger seems almost to have dropped out of the european mind during the middle ages. thus in a mediaeval bestiary, a chapter on the tiger begins: "_une beste est qui est apelée tigre c'est une manière de_ serpent." hence polo can only call the tigers, whose portrait he draws here not incorrectly, _lions_. so also nearly 200 years later barbaro gives a like portrait, and calls the animal _leonza_. marsden supposes judiciously that the confusion may have been promoted by the ambiguity of the persian _sher_. [illustration: the búrgút eagle. (after atkinson) "il a encore aiglies qe sunt afaités à prendre leus et voupes et dain et chavrion, et en prennent assez."] the chinese pilgrim, sung-yun (a.d. 518), saw two young lions at the court of gandhára. he remarks that the pictures of these animals common in china, were not at all good likenesses. (_beal_, p. 200.) we do not hear in modern times of tigers trained to the chase, but chardin says of persia: "in hunting the larger animals they make use of beasts of prey trained for the purpose, _lions_, leopards, _tigers_, panthers, ounces." note 4.--this is perfectly correct. in eastern turkestan, and among the kirghiz to this day, eagles termed _búrgút_ (now well known to be the golden eagle) are tamed and trained to fly at wolves, foxes, deer, wild goats, etc. a kirghiz will give a good horse for an eagle in which he recognises capacity for training. mr. atkinson gives vivid descriptions and illustrations of this eagle (which he calls "bear coote"), attacking both deer and wolves. he represents the bird as striking one claw into the neck, and the other into the back of its large prey, and then tearing out the liver with its beak. in justice both to marco polo and to mr. atkinson, i have pleasure in adding a vivid account of the exploits of this bird, as witnessed by one of my kind correspondents, the governor-general's late envoy to kashgar. and i trust sir douglas forsyth will pardon my quoting his own letter just as it stands[1]:--"now for a story of the _burgoot_--atkinson's 'bearcoote.' i think i told you it was the golden eagle and supposed to attack wolves and even bears. one day we came across a wild hog of enormous size, far bigger than any that gave sport to the tent club in bengal. the burgoot was immediately let loose, and went straight at the hog, which it kicked, and flapped with its wings, and utterly _flabbergasted_, whilst our kashgaree companions attacked him with sticks and brought him to the ground. as friar odoric would say, i, t. d. f., have seen this with mine own eyes."--shaw describes the rough treatment with which the búrgút is tamed. baber, when in the bajaur hills, notices in his memoirs: "this day búrgút took a deer." (_timkowski_, i. 414; _levchine_, p. 77; _pallas_, _voyages_, i. 421; _j. r. a. s._ vii. 305; _atkinson's siberia_, 493; and _amoor_, 146-147; _shaw_, p. 157; _baber_, p. 249.) [the golden eagle (_aquila chrysaetus_) is called at peking _hoy tiao_ (black eagle). (_david et oustalet_, _oiseaux de la chine_, p. 8.)--h. c.] [1] dated yangi hissar, 10th april, 1874. chapter xix. concerning the two brothers who have charge of the kaan's hounds. the emperor hath two barons who are own brothers, one called baian and the other mingan; and these two are styled _chinuchi_ (or _cunichi_), which is as much as to say, "the keepers of the mastiff dogs."[note 1] each of these brothers hath 10,000 men under his orders; each body of 10,000 being dressed alike, the one in red and the other in blue, and whenever they accompany the lord to the chase, they wear this livery, in order to be recognized. out of each body of 10,000 there are 2000 men who are each in charge of one or more great mastiffs, so that the whole number of these is very large. and when the prince goes a-hunting, one of those barons, with his 10,000 men and something like 5000 dogs, goes towards the right, whilst the other goes towards the left with his party in like manner. they move along, all abreast of one another, so that the whole line extends over a full day's journey, and no animal can escape them. truly it is a glorious sight to see the working of the dogs and the huntsmen on such an occasion! and as the lord rides a-fowling across the plains, you will see these big hounds coming tearing up, one pack after a bear, another pack after a stag, or some other beast, as it may hap, and running the game down now on this side and now on that, so that it is really a most delightful sport and spectacle. [the two brothers i have mentioned are bound by the tenure of their office to supply the kaan's court from october to the end of march with 1000 head of game daily, whether of beasts or birds, and not counting quails; and also with fish to the best of their ability, allowing fish enough for three persons to reckon as equal to one head of game.] now i have told you of the masters of the hounds and all about them, and next will i tell you how the lord goes off on an expedition for the space of three months. note 1.--though this particular bayan and mingan are not likely to be mentioned in history, the names are both good mongol names; _bayan_ that of a great soldier under kúblái, of whom we shall hear afterwards; and _mingan_ that of one of chinghiz's generals. the title of "master of the mastiffs" belonged to a high court official at constantinople in former days, _sámsúnji báshi_, and i have no doubt marco has given the exact interpretation of the title of the two barons: though it is difficult to trace its elements. it is read variously _cunici_ (i.e. _kunichi_) and _cinuci_ (i.e. _chinuchi_). it is evidently a word of analogous structure to _kushchi_, the master of the falcons; _parschi_, the master of the leopards. professor schiefner thinks it is probably corrupted from _noghaichi_, which appears in kovalevski's mongol dict. as "_chaesseur qui a soins des chiens courants_." this word occurs, he points out, in sanang setzen, where schmidt translates it _aufseher über hunde_. (see _s. s._ p. 39.) the metathesis of _noghai_-chi into _kuni_-chi is the only drawback to this otherwise apt solution. we generally shall find polo's oriental words much more accurately expressed than this would imply--as in the next chapter. i have hazarded a suggestion of (or. turkish) _chong-lt-chi_, "keeper of the big dogs," which professor vámbéry thinks possible. (see "_chong_, big, strong," in his _tschagataische sprachstudien_, p. 282, and note in _lord strangford's selected writings_, ii. 169.) in east turkestan they call the chinese _chong káfir_, "the big heathen." this would exactly correspond to the rendering of pipino's latin translation, "_hoc est canum magnorum praefecti_." _chinuchi_ again would be (in mongol) "wolf-keepers." it is at least possible that the great dogs which polo terms mastiffs may have been known by such a name. we apply the term wolfdog to several varieties, and in macbeth's enumeration we have- ----"hounds, and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, shoughs, water rugs, and _demi-wolves_." lastly the root-word may be the chinese _kiuen_ "dog," as pauthier says. the mastiffs were probably tibetan, but may have come through china, and brought a name with them, like _boule-dogues_ in france. [palladius (p. 46) says that _chinuchi_ or _cunici_ "have no resemblance with any of the names found in the _yuen shi_, ch. xcix., article _ping chi_ (military organisation), and relating to the hunting staff of the khan, viz.: _si pao ch'i_ (falconers), _ho r ch'i_ (archers), and _ke lien ch'i_ (probably those who managed the hounds)."--h. c.] chapter xx. how the emperor goes on a hunting expedition. after he has stopped at his capital city those three months that i mentioned, to wit, december, january, february, he starts off on the 1st day of march, and travels southward towards the ocean sea, a journey of two days.[note 1] he takes with him full 10,000 falconers, and some 500 gerfalcons besides peregrines, sakers, and other hawks in great numbers; and goshawks also to fly at the water-fowl.[note 2] but do not suppose that he keeps all these together by him; they are distributed about, hither and thither, one hundred together, or two hundred at the utmost, as he thinks proper. but they are always fowling as they advance, and the most part of the quarry taken is carried to the emperor. and let me tell you when he goes thus a-fowling with his gerfalcons and other hawks, he is attended by full 10,000 men who are disposed in couples; and these are called _toscaol_, which is as much as to say, "watchers." and the name describes their business.[note 3] they are posted from spot to spot, always in couples, and thus they cover a great deal of ground! every man of them is provided with a whistle and hood, so as to be able to call in a hawk and hold it in hand. and when the emperor makes a cast, there is no need that he follow it up, for those men i speak of keep so good a look out that they never lose sight of the birds, and if these have need of help they are ready to render it. all the emperor's hawks, and those of the barons as well, have a little label attached to the leg to mark them, on which is written the names of the owner and the keeper of the bird. and in this way the hawk, when caught, is at once identified and handed over to its owner. but if not, the bird is carried to a certain baron, who is styled the _bularguchi_, which is as much as to say "the keeper of lost property." and i tell you that whatever may be found without a known owner, whether it be a horse, or a sword, or a hawk, or what not, it is carried to that baron straightway, and he takes charge of it. and if the finder neglects to carry his trover to the baron, the latter punishes him. likewise the loser of any article goes to the baron, and if the thing be in his hands it is immediately given up to the owner. moreover, the said baron always pitches on the highest spot of the camp, with his banner displayed, in order that those who have lost or found anything may have no difficulty in finding their way to him. thus nothing can be lost but it shall be incontinently found and restored.[note 4] and so the emperor follows this road that i have mentioned, leading along in the vicinity of the ocean sea (which is within two days' journey of his capital city, cambaluc), and as he goes there is many a fine sight to be seen, and plenty of the very best entertainment in hawking; in fact, there is no sport in the world to equal it! the emperor himself is carried upon four elephants in a fine chamber made of timber, lined inside with plates of beaten gold, and outside with lions' skins [for he always travels in this way on his fowling expeditions, because he is troubled with gout]. he always keeps beside him a dozen of his choicest gerfalcons, and is attended by several of his barons, who ride on horseback alongside. and sometimes, as they may be going along, and the emperor from his chamber is holding discourse with the barons, one of the latter shall exclaim: "sire! look out for cranes!" then the emperor instantly has the top of his chamber thrown open, and having marked the cranes he casts one of his gerfalcons, whichever he pleases; and often the quarry is struck within his view, so that he has the most exquisite sport and diversion, there as he sits in his chamber or lies on his bed; and all the barons with him get the enjoyment of it likewise! so it is not without reason i tell you that i do not believe there ever existed in the world or ever will exist, a man with such sport and enjoyment as he has, or with such rare opportunities.[note 5] and when he has travelled till he reaches a place called cachar modun,[note 6] there he finds his tents pitched, with the tents of his sons, and his barons, and those of his ladies and theirs, so that there shall be full 10,000 tents in all, and all fine and rich ones. and i will tell you how his own quarters are disposed. the tent in which he holds his courts is large enough to give cover easily to a thousand souls. it is pitched with its door to the south, and the barons and knights remain in waiting in it, whilst the lord abides in another close to it on the west side. when he wishes to speak with any one he causes the person to be summoned to that other tent. immediately behind the great tent there is a fine large chamber where the lord sleeps; and there are also many other tents and chambers, but they are not in contact with the great tent as these are. the two audience-tents and the sleeping-chamber are constructed in this way. each of the audience-tents has three poles, which are of spice-wood, and are most artfully covered with lions' skins, striped with black and white and red, so that they do not suffer from any weather. all three apartments are also covered outside with similar skins of striped lions, a substance that lasts for ever.[note 7] and inside they are all lined with ermine and sable, these two being the finest and most costly furs in existence. for a robe of sable, large enough to line a mantle, is worth 2000 bezants of gold, or 1000 at least, and this kind of skin is called by the tartars "the king of furs." the beast itself is about the size of a marten.[note 8] these two furs of which i speak are applied and inlaid so exquisitely, that it is really something worth seeing. all the tent-ropes are of silk. and in short i may say that those tents, to wit the two audience-halls and the sleeping-chamber, are so costly that it is not every king could pay for them. round about these tents are others, also fine ones and beautifully pitched, in which are the emperor's ladies, and the ladies of the other princes and officers. and then there are the tents for the hawks and their keepers, so that altogether the number of tents there on the plain is something wonderful. to see the many people that are thronging to and fro on every side and every day there, you would take the camp for a good big city. for you must reckon the leeches, and the astrologers, and the falconers, and all the other attendants on so great a company; and add that everybody there has his whole family with him, for such is their custom. the lord remains encamped there until the spring, and all that time he does nothing but go hawking round about among the canebrakes along the lakes and rivers that abound in that region, and across fine plains on which are plenty of cranes and swans, and all sorts of other fowl. the other gentry of the camp also are never done with hunting and hawking, and every day they bring home great store of venison and feathered game of all sorts. indeed, without having witnessed it, you would never believe what quantities of game are taken, and what marvellous sport and diversion they all have whilst they are in camp there. there is another thing i should mention; to wit, that for 20 days' journey round the spot nobody is allowed, be he who he may, to keep hawks or hounds, though anywhere else whosoever list may keep them. and furthermore throughout all the emperor's territories, nobody however audacious dares to hunt any of these four animals, to wit, hare, stag, buck, and roe, from the month of march to the month of october. anybody who should do so would rue it bitterly. but those people are so obedient to their lord's command, that even if a man were to find one of those animals asleep by the roadside he would not touch it for the world! and thus the game multiplies at such a rate that the whole country swarms with it, and the emperor gets as much as he could desire. beyond the term i have mentioned, however, to wit that from march to october, everybody may take these animals as he list.[note 9] after the emperor has tarried in that place, enjoying his sport as i have related, from march to the middle of may, he moves with all his people, and returns straight to his capital city of cambaluc (which is also the capital of cathay, as you have been told), but all the while continuing to take his diversion in hunting and hawking as he goes along. note 1.--"_vait vers midi jusques à la mer occeane, ou il y a deux journées._" it is not possible in any way to reconcile this description as it stands with truth, though i do not see much room for doubt as to the direction of the excursion. peking is 100 miles as the crow flies from the nearest point of the coast, at least six or seven days' march for such a camp, and the direction is south-east, or nearly so. the last circumstance would not be very material as polo's compass-bearings are not very accurate. we shall find that he makes the general line of bearing from peking towards kiangnan, _sciloc_ or s. east, hence his _midi_ ought in consistency to represent _s. west_, an impossible direction for the ocean. it is remarkable that ramusio has _greco_ or _n. east_, which would by the same relative correction represent _east_. and other circumstances point to the frontier of liao-tong as the direction of this excursion. leaving the _two days_ out of question, therefore, i should suppose the "ocean sea" to be struck at shan-hai-kwan near the terminus of the great wall, and that the site of the standing hunting-camp is in the country to the north of that point. the jesuit verbiest accompanied the emperor kanghi on a tour in this direction in 1682, and almost immediately after passing the wall the emperor and his party seem to have struck off to the left for sport. kúblái started on the "1st of march," probably however the 1st of the second chinese month. kanghi started from peking on the 23rd of march, on the hunting-journey just referred to. note 2.--we are told that bajazet had 7000 falconers and 6000 dog-keepers; whilst sultan mahomed tughlak of india in the generation following polo's, is said to have had 10,000 falconers, and 3000 other attendants as beaters. (_not. et ext._ xiii. p. 185.) the oriental practice seems to have assigned one man to the attendance on every hawk. this kaempfer says was the case at the court of persia at the beginning of last century. there were about 800 hawks, and each had a special keeper. the same was the case with the emperor kanghi's hawking establishment, according to gerbillon. (_am. exot._ p. 83; _gerb._ 1st journey, in _duhalde_.) note 3.--the french mss. read _toscaor_; the reading in the text i take from ramusio. it is turki, _toskáúl_, [arabic], defined as "gardien, surveillant de la route; wächter, wache, wegehüter." (see _zenker_, and _pavet de courteille_.) the word is perhaps also mongol, for rémusat has _tosiyal_ = "veille." (_mél. as._ i. 231.) such an example of polo's correctness both in the form and meaning of a turki word is worthy of especial note, and shows how little he merits the wild and random treatment which has been often applied to the solution of like phrases in his book. [palladius (p. 47) says that he has heard from men well acquainted with the customs of the mongols, that at the present day in "battues," the leaders of the two flanks which surround the game, are called _toscaul_ in mongol.--h. c.] note 4.--the remark in the previous note might be repeated here. the _bularguji_ was an officer of the mongol camp, whose duties are thus described by mahomed hindú shah in a work on the offices of the persomongol court. "he is an officer appointed by the council of state, who, at the time when the camp is struck, goes over the ground with his servants, and collects slaves of either sex, or cattle, such as horses, camels, oxen, and asses, that have been left behind, and retains them until the owners appear and prove their claim to the property, when he makes it over to them. the _bularguji_ sticks up a flag by his tent or hut to enable people to find him, and so recover their lost property." (_golden horde_, p. 245.) and in the appendix to that work (p. 476) there is a copy of a warrant to such a bularguji or provost marshal. the derivation appears therein as from _bularghu_, "lost property." here again it was impossible to give both form and meaning of the word more exactly than polo has done. though hammer writes these terminations in _ji_ (_dschi_), i believe _chi_ (tschi) is preferable. we have this same word _bularghu_ in a grant of privileges to the venetians by the ilkhan abusaid, 22nd december, 1320, which has been published by m. mas latrie: "_item, se algun cavalo_ bolargo _fosse trovado apreso de algun vostro veneciano_," etc.--"if any stray horse shall be found in the possession of a venetian," etc. (see _bibl. de l'ecole des chartes, 1870--tirage à part_, p. 26.) ["there are two mongol terms, which resemble this word _bularguchi_, viz. _balagachi_ and _buluguchi_. but the first was the name used for the door-keeper of the tent of the khan. by buluguchi the mongols understood a hunter and especially sable hunters. no one of these terms can be made consistent with the accounts given by m. polo regarding the bularguchi. in the _kui sin tsa shi_, written by chow mi, in the former part of the 14th century, interesting particulars regarding mongol hunting are found." (_palladius_, 47.) in chapter 101. _djan-ch'i_, of the _yuen-shi_, falconers are called _ying fang pu lie_, and a certain class of the falconers are termed _bo-lan-ghi_. (_bretschneider, med. res._ i. p. 188.)--h. c.] note 5.--a like description is given by odoric of the mode in which a successor of kúblái travelled between cambaluc and shangtu, with his falcons also in the chamber beside him. what kúblái had adopted as an indulgence to his years and gout, his successors probably followed as a precedent without these excuses. [with regard to the gout of kúblái khan, palladius (p. 48) writes: "in the corean history allusion is made twice to the khan's suffering from this disease. under the year 1267, it is there recorded that in the 9th month, envoys of the khan with a letter to the king arrived in corea. kubilai asked for the skin of the _akirho munho_, a fish resembling a cow. the envoy was informed that, as the khan suffered from swollen feet it would be useful for him to wear boots made of the skin of this animal, and in the 10th month, the king of corea forwarded to the khan seventeen skins of it. it is further recorded in the corean history, that in the 8th month of 1292, sorcerers and _shaman_ women from corea were sent at the request of the khan to cure him of a disease of the feet and hands. at that time the king of corea was also in peking, and the sorcerers and shaman women were admitted during an audience the king had of the khan. they took the khan's hands and feet and began to recite exorcisms, whilst kubilai was laughing."--h. c.] note 6.--marsden and pauthier identify cachar modun with _tchakiri mondou_, or _moudon_, which appears in d'anville's atlas as the title of a "levée de terre naturelle," in the extreme east of manchuria, and in lat. 44°, between the khinga lake and the sea. this position is out of the question. it is more than 900 miles, _in a straight line_ from peking, and the mere journey thither and back would have taken kúblái's camp something like six months. the name _kachar modun_ is probably mongol, and as _katzar_ is = "land, region," and _modun_ = "wood" or "tree," a fair interpretation lies on the surface. such a name indeed has little individuality. but the jesuit maps have a _modun khotan_ ("wood-ville") just about the locality supposed, viz. in the region north of the eastern extremity of the great wall. [captain gill writes (_river of golden sand_, i. p. 111): "this country around urh-chuang is admirably described [in _marco polo_, pp. 403, 406], and i should almost imagine that the kaan must have set off south-east from peking, and enjoyed some of his hawking not far from here, before he travelled to cachar modun, wherever that may have been." "with respect to cachar modun, marco polo intends perhaps by this name ho-si wu, which place, together with yang-ts'un, were comprised in the general name _ma t'ou_ (perhaps the _modun_ of m. polo). ma-t'ou is even now a general term for a jetty in chinese. ho-si in the mongol spelling was ha-shin. d'ohsson, in his translation of rashid-eddin renders _ho-si_ by _co-shi_ (_hist. des mongols_, i. p. 95), but rashid in that case speaks not of ho-si wu, but of the tangut empire, which in chinese was called ho-si, meaning west of the (yellow) river. (see supra, p. 205). ho-si wu, as well as yang-ts'un, both exist even now as villages on the pei-ho river, and near the first ancient walls can be seen. ho-si wu means: 'custom's barrier west of the (pei-ho) river.'" (_palladius_, p. 45.) this identification cannot be accepted on account of the position of ho-si wu. --h. c.] note 7.--i suppose the best accessible illustration of the kaan's great tent may be that in which the emperor kienlung received lord macartney in the same region in 1793, of which one view is given in staunton's plates. another exists in the staunton collection in the b. m., of which i give a reduced sketch. kúblái's great tent, after all, was but a fraction of the size of akbar's audience-tents, the largest of which held 10,000 people, and took 1000 _farráshes_ a week's work to pitch it, with machines. but perhaps the manner of _holding_ people is differently estimated. (_aín akb._ 53.) in the description of the tent-poles, pauthier's text has "_trois coulombes de fust_ de pieces _moult bien encuierées_," etc. the g. t. has "_de leing_ d'especies _mout bien curés_," etc. the crusca, "_di_ spezie _molto belle_," and ramusio going off at a tangent, "_di legno intagliate con grandissimo artificio e indorate_." i believe the translation in the text to indicate the true reading. it might mean camphor-wood, or the like. the tent-covering of tiger-skins is illustrated by a passage in sanang setzen, which speaks of a tent covered with panther-skins, sent to chinghiz by the khan of the solongos (p. 77). [illustration: the tents of the emperor kienlung.] [grenard (pp. 160-162) gives us his experience of tents in central asia (khotan). "these tents which we had purchased at tashkent were the 'tentes-abris' which are used in campaign by russian military workshops, only we made them larger by a third. they were made of grey kirghiz felt, which cannot be procured at khotan. the felt manufactured in this town not having enough consistency or solidity, we took aksu felt, which is better than this of khotan, though inferior to the felt of russian turkestan. these felt tents are extremely heavy, and, once damp, are dried with difficulty. these drawbacks are not compensated by any important advantage; it would be an illusion to believe that they preserve from the cold any better than other tents. in fact, i prefer the manchu tent in use in the chinese army, which is, perhaps, of all military tents the most practical and comfortable. it is made of a single piece of double cloth of cotton, very strong, waterproof for a long time, white inside, blue outside, and weighs with its three tipped sticks and its wooden poles, 25 kilog. set up, it forms a ridge roof 7 feet high and shelters fully ten men. it suits servants perfectly well. for the master who wants to work, to write, to draw, occasionally to receive officials, the ideal tent would be one of the same material, but of larger proportions, and comprising two parallel vertical partitions and surmounted by a ridge roof. the round form of kirghiz and mongol tents is also very comfortable, but it requires a complicated and inconvenient wooden frame-work, owing to which it takes some considerable time to raise up the tent."--h. c.] note 8.--the expressions about the sable run in the g. t., "_et l'apellent les tartarz les_ roi des pelaines," etc. this has been curiously misunderstood both in versions based on pipino, and in the geog. latin and crusca italian. the geog. latin gives us "_vocant eas tartari_ lenoidae pellonae"; the crusca, "_chiamanle li tartari_ leroide pelame"; ramusio in a very odd way combines both the genuine and the blundered interpretation: "_e li tartari la chiamano_ regina delle pelli; _e gli animali si chiamano_ rondes." fraehn ingeniously suggested that this _rondes_ (which proves to be merely a misunderstanding of the french words _roi des_) was a mistake for _kunduz_, usually meaning a "beaver," but also a "sable." (see _ibn foszlan_, p. 57.) _condux_, no doubt with this meaning, appears coupled with _vair_, in a venetian treaty with egypt (1344), quoted by heyd. (ii. 208.) ibn batuta puts the ermine above the sable. an ermine pelisse, he says, was worth in india 1000 dinárs of that country, whilst a sable one was worth only 400 dinárs. as ibn batuta's indian dinárs are _rupees_, the estimate of price is greatly lower than polo's. some years ago i find the price of a _sack_, as it is technically called by the russian traders, or robe of fine sables, stated to be in the siberian market about 7000 banco rubels, i.e. i believe about 350_l._ the same authority mentions that in 1591 the tzar theodore ivanovich made a present of a pelisse valued at the equivalent of 5000 _silver_ rubels of modern russian money, or upwards of 750_l._ atkinson speaks of a _single_ sable skin of the highest quality, for which the trapper demanded 18_l._ the great mart for fine sables is at olekma on the lena. (see _i. b._ ii. 401-402; _baer's beiträge_, vii. 215 seqq.; _upper and lower amoor_, 390.) note 9.--hawking is still common in north china. pétis de la croix the elder, in his account of the _yasa_, or institutes of chinghiz, quotes one which lays down that between march and october "no one should take stags, deer, roebucks, hares, wild asses, nor some certain birds," in order that there might be ample sport in winter for the court. this would be just the reverse of polo's statement, but i suspect it is merely a careless adoption of the latter. there are many such traps in pétis de la croix. (engl. vers. 1722, p. 82.) chapter xxi. rehearsal of the way the year of the great kaan is distributed. on arriving at his capital of cambaluc,[note 1] he stays in his palace there three days and no more; during which time he has great court entertainments and rejoicings, and makes merry with his wives. he then quits his palace at cambaluc, and proceeds to that city which he has built, as i told you before, and which is called chandu, where he has that grand park and palace of cane, and where he keeps his gerfalcons in mew. there he spends the summer, to escape the heat, for the situation is a very cool one. after stopping there from the beginning of may to the 28th of august, he takes his departure (that is the time when they sprinkle the white mares' milk as i told you), and returns to his capital cambaluc. there he stops, as i have told you also, the month of september, to keep his birthday feast, and also throughout october, november, december, january, and february, in which last month he keeps the grand feast of the new year, which they call the white feast, as you have heard already with all particulars. he then sets out on his march towards the ocean sea, hunting and hawking, and continues out from the beginning of march to the middle of may; and then comes back for three days only to the capital, during which he makes merry with his wives, and holds a great court and grand entertainments. in truth, 'tis something astonishing, the magnificence displayed by the emperor in those three days; and then he starts off again as you know. thus his whole year is distributed in the following manner: six months at his chief palace in the royal city of cambaluc, to wit, _september, october, november, december, january, february_; then on the great hunting expedition towards the sea, _march, april, may_; then back to his palace at cambaluc for _three days_; then off to the city of chandu which he has built, and where the cane palace is, where he stays _june, july, august_; then back again to his capital city of cambaluc. so thus the whole year is spent; six months at the capital, three months in hunting, and three months at the cane palace to avoid the heat. and in this way he passes his time with the greatest enjoyment; not to mention occasional journeys in this or that direction at his own pleasure. note 1.--this chapter, with its wearisome and whimsical reiteration, reminding one of a game of forfeits, is peculiar to that class of mss. which claims to represent the copy given to thibault de cepoy by marco polo. dr. bushell has kindly sent me a notice of a chinese document (his translation of which he had unfortunately mislaid), containing a minute contemporary account of the annual migration of the mongol court to shangtu. having traversed the kiu yung kwan (or nankau) pass, where stands the great mongol archway represented at the end of this volume, they left what is now the kalgan post-road at tumuyi, making straight for chaghan-nor (supra, p. 304), and thence to shangtu. the return journey in autumn followed the same route as far as chaghan-nor, where some days were spent in fowling on the lakes, and thence by siuen-hwa fu ("_sindachu_," supra, p. 295) and the present post-road to cambaluc. chapter xxii. concerning the city of cambaluc, and its great traffic and population. you must know that the city of cambaluc hath such a multitude of houses, and such a vast population inside the walls and outside, that it seems quite past all possibility. there is a suburb outside each of the gates, which are twelve in number;[note 1] and these suburbs are so great that they contain more people than the city itself [for the suburb of one gate spreads in width till it meets the suburb of the next, whilst they extend in length some three or four miles]. in those suburbs lodge the foreign merchants and travellers, of whom there are always great numbers who have come to bring presents to the emperor, or to sell articles at court, or because the city affords so good a mart to attract traders. [there are in each of the suburbs, to a distance of a mile from the city, numerous fine hostelries[note 2] for the lodgment of merchants from different parts of the world, and a special hostelry is assigned to each description of people, as if we should say there is one for the lombards, another for the germans, and a third for the frenchmen.] and thus there are as many good houses outside of the city as inside, without counting those that belong to the great lords and barons, which are very numerous. [illustration: plain of cambaluc; the city in the distance; from the hills on the north-west] you must know that it is forbidden to bury any dead body inside the city. if the body be that of an idolater it is carried out beyond the city and suburbs to a remote place assigned for the purpose, to be burnt. and if it be of one belonging to a religion the custom of which is to bury, such as the christian, the saracen, or what not, it is also carried out beyond the suburbs to a distant place assigned for the purpose. and thus the city is preserved in a better and more healthy state. moreover, no public woman resides inside the city, but all such abide outside in the suburbs. and 'tis wonderful what a vast number of these there are for the foreigners; it is a certain fact that there are more than 20,000 of them living by prostitution. and that so many can live in this way will show you how vast is the population. [guards patrol the city every night in parties of 30 or 40, looking out for any persons who may be abroad at unseasonable hours, i.e. after the great bell hath stricken thrice. if they find any such person he is immediately taken to prison, and examined next morning by the proper officers. if these find him guilty of any misdemeanour they order him a proportionate beating with the stick. under this punishment people sometimes die; but they adopt it in order to eschew bloodshed; for their _bacsis_ say that it is an evil thing to shed man's blood]. to this city also are brought articles of greater cost and rarity, and in greater abundance of all kinds, than to any other city in the world. for people of every description, and from every region, bring things (including all the costly wares of india, as well as the fine and precious goods of cathay itself with its provinces), some for the sovereign, some for the court, some for the city which is so great, some for the crowds of barons and knights, some for the great hosts of the emperor which are quartered round about; and thus between court and city the quantity brought in is endless. as a sample, i tell you, no day in the year passes that there do not enter the city 1000 cart-loads of silk alone, from which are made quantities of cloth of silk and gold, and of other goods. and this is not to be wondered at; for in all the countries round about there is no flax, so that everything has to be made of silk. it is true, indeed, that in some parts of the country there is cotton and hemp, but not sufficient for their wants. this, however, is not of much consequence, because silk is so abundant and cheap, and is a more valuable substance than either flax or cotton. round about this great city of cambaluc there are some 200 other cities at various distances, from which traders come to sell their goods and buy others for their lords; and all find means to make their sales and purchases, so that the traffic of the city is passing great. note 1.--it would seem to have been usual to reckon _twelve_ suburbs to peking down to modern times. (see _deguignes_, iii. 38.) note 2.--the word here used is _fondaco_, often employed in mediaeval italian in the sense nearly of what we call a _factory_. the word is from the greek [greek: pandokeion], but through the arabic _fandúk_. the latter word is used by ibn batuta in speaking of the hostelries at which the mussulman merchants put up in china. chapter xxiii. [concerning the oppressions of achmath the bailo, and the plot that was formed against him.[note 1] you will hear further on how that there are twelve persons appointed who have authority to dispose of lands, offices, and everything else at their discretion. now one of these was a certain saracen named achmath, a shrewd and able man, who had more power and influence with the grand kaan than any of the others; and the kaan held him in such regard that he could do what he pleased. the fact was, as came out after his death, that achmath had so wrought upon the kaan with his sorcery, that the latter had the greatest faith and reliance on everything he said, and in this way did everything that achmath wished him to do. this person disposed of all governments and offices, and passed sentence on all malefactors; and whenever he desired to have any one whom he hated put to death, whether with justice or without it, he would go to the emperor and say: "such an one deserves death, for he hath done this or that against your imperial dignity." then the lord would say: "do as you think right," and so he would have the man forthwith executed. thus when people saw how unbounded were his powers, and how unbounded the reliance placed by the emperor on everything that he said, they did not venture to oppose him in anything. no one was so high in rank or power as to be free from the dread of him. if any one was accused by him to the emperor of a capital offence, and desired to defend himself, he was unable to bring proofs in his own exculpation, for no one would stand by him, as no one dared to oppose achmath. and thus the latter caused many to perish unjustly.[note 2] moreover, there was no beautiful woman whom he might desire, but he got hold of her; if she were unmarried, forcing her to be his wife, if otherwise, compelling her to consent to his desires. whenever he knew of any one who had a pretty daughter, certain ruffians of his would go to the father, and say: "what say you? here is this pretty daughter of yours; give her in marriage to the bailo achmath (for they called him 'the bailo,' or, as we should say, 'the vicegerent'),[note 3] and we will arrange for his giving you such a government or such an office for three years." and so the man would surrender his daughter. and achmath would go to the emperor, and say: "such a government is vacant, or will be vacant on such a day. so-and-so is a proper man for the post." and the emperor would reply: "do as you think best;" and the father of the girl was immediately appointed to the government. thus either through the ambition of the parents, or through fear of the minister, all the beautiful women were at his beck, either as wives or mistresses. also he had some five-and-twenty sons who held offices of importance, and some of these, under the protection of their father's name, committed scandals like his own, and many other abominable iniquities. this achmath also had amassed great treasure, for everybody who wanted office sent him a heavy bribe. in such authority did this man continue for two-and-twenty years. at last the people of the country, to wit the cathayans, utterly wearied with the endless outrages and abominable iniquities which he perpetrated against them, whether as regarded their wives or their own persons, conspired to slay him and revolt against the government. amongst the rest there was a certain cathayan named chenchu, a commander of a thousand, whose mother, daughter, and wife had all been dishonoured by achmath. now this man, full of bitter resentment, entered into parley regarding the destruction of the minister with another cathayan whose name was vanchu, who was a commander of 10,000. they came to the conclusion that the time to do the business would be during the great kaan's absence from cambaluc. for after stopping there three months he used to go to chandu and stop there three months; and at the same time his son chinkin used to go away to his usual haunts, and this achmath remained in charge of the city; sending to obtain the kaan's orders from chandu when any emergency arose. so vanchu and chenchu, having come to this conclusion, proceeded to communicate it to the chief people among the cathayans, and then by common consent sent word to their friends in many other cities that they had determined on such a day, at the signal given by a beacon, to massacre all the men with beards, and that the other cities should stand ready to do the like on seeing the signal fires. the reason why they spoke of massacring the bearded men was that the cathayans naturally have no beard, whilst beards are worn by the tartars, saracens, and christians. and you should know that all the cathayans detested the grand kaan's rule because he set over them governors who were tartars, or still more frequently saracens, and these they could not endure, for they were treated by them just like slaves. you see the great kaan had not succeeded to the dominion of cathay by hereditary right, but held it by conquest; and thus having no confidence in the natives, he put all authority into the hands of tartars, saracens, or christians who were attached to his household and devoted to his service, and were foreigners in cathay. wherefore, on the day appointed, the aforesaid vanchu and chenchu having entered the palace at night, vanchu sat down and caused a number of lights to be kindled before him. he then sent a messenger to achmath the bailo, who lived in the old city, as if to summon him to the presence of chinkin, the great kaan's son, who (it was pretended) had arrived unexpectedly. when achmath heard this he was much surprised, but made haste to go, for he feared the prince greatly. when he arrived at the gate he met a tartar called cogatai, who was captain of the 12,000 that formed the standing garrison of the city; and the latter asked him whither he was bound so late? "to chinkin, who is just arrived." quoth cogatai, "how can that be? how could he come so privily that i know nought of it?" so he followed the minister with a certain number of his soldiers. now the notion of the cathayans was that, if they could make an end of achmath, they would have nought else to be afraid of. so as soon as achmath got inside the palace, and saw all that illumination, he bowed down before vanchu, supposing him to be chinkin, and chenchu who was standing ready with a sword straightway cut his head off. as soon as cogatai, who had halted at the entrance, beheld this, he shouted "treason!" and instantly discharged an arrow at vanchu and shot him dead as he sat. at the same time he called his people to seize chenchu, and sent a proclamation through the city that any one found in the streets would be instantly put to death. the cathayans saw that the tartars had discovered the plot, and that they had no longer any leader, since vanchu was killed and chenchu was taken. so they kept still in their houses, and were unable to pass the signal for the rising of the other cities as had been settled. cogatai immediately dispatched messengers to the great kaan giving an orderly report of the whole affair, and the kaan sent back orders for him to make a careful investigation, and to punish the guilty as their misdeeds deserved. in the morning cogatai examined all the cathayans, and put to death a number whom he found to be ringleaders in the plot. the same thing was done in the other cities, when it was found that the plot extended to them also. after the great kaan had returned to cambaluc he was very anxious to discover what had led to this affair, and he then learned all about the endless iniquities of that accursed achmath and his sons. it was proved that he and seven of his sons (for they were not all bad) had forced no end of women to be their wives, besides those whom they had ravished. the great kaan then ordered all the treasure that achmath had accumulated in the old city to be transferred to his own treasury in the new city, and it was found to be of enormous amount. he also ordered the body of achmath to be dug up and cast into the streets for the dogs to tear; and commanded those of his sons that had followed the father's evil example to be flayed alive.[note 4] these circumstances called the kaan's attention to the accursed doctrines of the sect of the saracens, which excuse every crime, yea even murder itself, when committed on such as are not of their religion. and seeing that this doctrine had led the accursed achmath and his sons to act as they did without any sense of guilt, the kaan was led to entertain the greatest disgust and abomination for it. so he summoned the saracens and prohibited their doing many things which their religion enjoined. thus, he ordered them to regulate their marriages by the tartar law, and prohibited their cutting the throats of animals killed for food, ordering them to rip the stomach in the tartar way. now when all this happened messer marco was upon the spot.][note 5] note 1.--this narrative is from ramusio's version, and constitutes one of the most notable passages peculiar to that version. the name of the oppressive minister is printed in ramusio's collection _achmach_. but the _c_ and _t_ are so constantly interchanged in mss. that i think there can be no question this was a mere clerical error for _achmath_, and so i write it. i have also for consistency changed the spelling of _xandu_, _chingis_, etc., to that hitherto adopted in our text of _chandu_, _chinkin_, etc. note 2.--the remarks of a chinese historian on kúblái's administration may be appropriately quoted here: "hupilai han must certainly be regarded as one of the greatest princes that ever existed, and as one of the most successful in all that he undertook. this he owed to his judgment in the selection of his officers, and to his talent for commanding them. he carried his arms into the most remote countries, and rendered his name so formidable that not a few nations spontaneously submitted to his supremacy. nor was there ever an empire of such vast extent. he cultivated literature, protected its professors, and even thankfully received their advice. yet he never placed a chinese in his cabinet, and he employed foreigners only as ministers. these, however, he chose with discernment, _always excepting the ministers of finance_. he really loved his subjects; and if they were not always happy under his government, it is because they took care to conceal their sufferings. there were in those days no public censors whose duty it is to warn the sovereign of what is going on: and no one dared to speak out for fear of the resentment of the ministers, who were the depositaries of the imperial authority, and the authors of the oppressions under which the people laboured. several chinese, men of letters and of great ability, who lived at hupilai's court, might have rendered that prince the greatest service in the administration of his dominions, but they never were intrusted with any but subordinate offices, and they were not in a position to make known the malversations of those public blood-suckers." (_de mailla_, ix. 459-460.) ahmad was a native of fenáket (afterwards sháh-rúkhia), near the jaxartes, and obtained employment under kúblái through the empress jamui khatun, who had known him before her marriage. to her court he was originally attached, but we find him already employed in high financial office in 1264. kúblái's demands for money must have been very large, and he eschewed looking too closely into the character of his financial agents or the means by which they raised money for him. ahmad was very successful in this, and being a man of great talent and address, obtained immense influence over the emperor, until at last nothing was done save by his direction, though he always _appeared_ to be acting under the orders of kúblái. the chinese authorities in gaubil and de mailla speak strongly of his oppressions, but only in general terms, and without affording such particulars as we derive from the text. the hereditary prince chingkim was strongly adverse to ahmad; and some of the high chinese officials on various occasions made remonstrance against the minister's proceedings; but kúblái turned a deaf ear to them, and ahmad succeeded in ruining most of his opponents. (_gaubil_, 141, 143, 151; _de mailla_, ix. 316-317; _d'ohsson_, ii. 468-469.) [the rev. w. s. ament (_marco polo in cambaluc_, 105) writes: "no name is more execrated than that of ah-ha-ma (called achmath by polo), a persian, who was chosen to manage the finances of the empire. he was finally destroyed by a combination against him while the khan was absent with crown prince chen chin, on a visit to shang tu." achmath has his biography under the name of _a-ho-ma_ (ahmed) in the ch. 205 of the _yuen-shi_, under the rubric "villanous ministers." (_bretschneider, med. res._ i. p. 272.)--h. c.] note 3.--this term _bailo_ was the designation of the representative of venetian dignity at constantinople, called _podestà_ during the period of the latin rule there, and it has endured throughout the turkish empire to our own day in the form _balios_ as the designation of a frank consul. [there was also a venetian _bailo_ in syria.--h. c.] but that term itself could scarcely have been in use at cambaluc, even among the handful of franks, to designate the powerful minister, and it looks as if marco had confounded the word in his own mind with some oriental term of like sound, possibly the arabic _wáli_, "a prince, governor of a province,... a chief magistrate." (_f. johnson._) in the _roteiro_ of the voyage of vasco da gama (2nd ed. lisbon, 1861, pp. 53-54) it is said that on the arrival of the ships at calicut the king sent "a man who was called the _bale_, which is much the same as _alquaide_." and the editor gives the same explanation that i have suggested. i observe that according to pandit manphúl the native governor of kashgar, under the chinese amban, used to be called the _baili beg_. [in this case _baili_ stands for _beilêh_.--h. c.] (_panjab trade report_, app. p. cccxxxvii.) note 4.--the story, as related in de mailla and gaubil, is as follows. it contains much less detail than the text, and it differs as to the manner of the chief conspirator's death, whilst agreeing as to his name and the main facts of the episode. in the spring of 1282 (gaubil, 1281) kúblái and prince chingkim had gone off as usual to shangtu, leaving ahmad in charge at the capital. the whole country was at heart in revolt against his oppressions. kúblái alone knew, or would know, nothing of them. wangchu, a chief officer of the city, resolved to take the opportunity of delivering the empire from such a curse, and was joined in his enterprise by a certain sorcerer called kao hoshang. they sent two lamas to the council board with a message that the crown prince was returning to the capital to take part in certain buddhist ceremonies, but no credit was given to this. wangchu then, pretending to have received orders from the prince, desired an officer called chang-y (perhaps the chenchu of polo's narrative) to go in the evening with a guard of honour to receive him. late at night a message was sent to summon the ministers, as the prince (it was pretended) had already arrived. they came in haste with ahmad at their head, and as he entered the palace wangchu struck him heavily with a copper mace and stretched him dead. wangchu was arrested, or according to one account surrendered, though he might easily have escaped, confident that the crown prince would save his life. intelligence was sent off to kúblái, who received it at chaghan-nor. (see book i. ch. lx.) he immediately despatched officers to arrest the guilty and bring them to justice. wangchu, chang-y, and kao hoshang were publicly executed at the old city; wangchu dying like a hero, and maintaining that he had done the empire an important service which would yet be acknowledged. (_de mailla_, ix. 412-413; _gaubil_, 193-194; _d'ohsson_, ii. 470.) [cf. _g. phillips_, in _t'oung-pao_, i. p. 220.--h. c.] note 5.--and it is a pleasant fact that messer marco's presence, and his upright conduct upon this occasion, have not been forgotten in the chinese annals: "the emperor having returned from chaghan-nor to shangtu, desired polo, assessor of the privy council, to explain the reasons which had led wangchu to commit this murder. polo spoke with boldness of the crimes and oppressions of ahama (ahmad), which had rendered him an object of detestation throughout the empire. the emperor's eyes were opened, and he praised the courage of wangchu. he complained that those who surrounded him, in abstaining from admonishing him of what was going on, had thought more of their fear of displeasing the minister than of the interests of the state." by kúblái's order, the body of ahmad was taken up, his head was cut off and publicly exposed, and his body cast to the dogs. his son also was put to death with all his family, and his immense wealth confiscated. 714 persons were punished, one way or other, for their share in ahmad's malversations. (_de mailla_, ix. 413-414.) what is said near the end of this chapter about the kaan's resentment against the saracens has some confirmation in circumstances related by rashiduddin. the refusal of some mussulman merchants, on a certain occasion at court, to eat of the dishes sent them by the emperor, gave great offence, and led to the revival of an order of chinghiz, which prohibited, under pain of death, the slaughter of animals by cutting their throats. this endured for seven years, and was then removed on the strong representation made to kúblái of the loss caused by the cessation of the visits of the mahomedan merchants. on a previous occasion also the mahomedans had incurred disfavour, owing to the ill-will of certain christians, who quoted to kúblái a text of the koran enjoining the killing of polytheists. the emperor sent for the mullahs, and asked them why they did not act on the divine injunction? all they could say was that the time was not yet come! kúblái ordered them for execution, and was only appeased by the intercession of ahmad, and the introduction of a divine with more tact, who smoothed over obnoxious applications of the text. (d'ohsson, ii. 492-493.) chapter xxiv. how the great kaan causeth the bark of trees, made into something like paper, to pass for money over all his country. now that i have told you in detail of the splendour of this city of the emperor's, i shall proceed to tell you of the mint which he hath in the same city, in the which he hath his money coined and struck, as i shall relate to you. and in doing so i shall make manifest to you how it is that the great lord may well be able to accomplish even much more than i have told you, or am going to tell you, in this book. for, tell it how i might, you never would be satisfied that i was keeping within truth and reason! the emperor's mint then is in this same city of cambaluc, and the way it is wrought is such that you might say he hath the secret of alchemy in perfection, and you would be right! for he makes his money after this fashion. he makes them take of the bark of a certain tree, in fact of the mulberry tree, the leaves of which are the food of the silkworms,--these trees being so numerous that whole districts are full of them. what they take is a certain fine white bast or skin which lies between the wood of the tree and the thick outer bark, and this they make into something resembling sheets of paper, but black. when these sheets have been prepared they are cut up into pieces of different sizes. the smallest of these sizes is worth a half tornesel; the next, a little larger, one tornesel; one, a little larger still, is worth half a silver groat of venice; another a whole groat; others yet two groats, five groats, and ten groats. there is also a kind worth one bezant of gold, and others of three bezants, and so up to ten. all these pieces of paper are [issued with as much solemnity and authority as if they were of pure gold or silver; and on every piece a variety of officials, whose duty it is, have to write their names, and to put their seals. and when all is prepared duly, the chief officer deputed by the kaan smears the seal entrusted to him with vermilion, and impresses it on the paper, so that the form of the seal remains printed upon it in red; the money is then authentic. any one forging it would be punished with death.] and the kaan causes every year to be made such a vast quantity of this money, which costs him nothing, that it must equal in amount all the treasure in the world. with these pieces of paper, made as i have described, he causes all payments on his own account to be made; and he makes them to pass current universally over all his kingdoms and provinces and territories, and whithersoever his power and sovereignty extends. and nobody, however important he may think himself, dares to refuse them on pain of death. and indeed everybody takes them readily, for wheresoever a person may go throughout the great kaan's dominions he shall find these pieces of paper current, and shall be able to transact all sales and purchases of goods by means of them just as well as if they were coins of pure gold. and all the while they are so light that ten bezants' worth does not weigh one golden bezant. furthermore all merchants arriving from india or other countries, and bringing with them gold or silver or gems and pearls, are prohibited from selling to any one but the emperor. he has twelve experts chosen for this business, men of shrewdness and experience in such affairs; these appraise the articles, and the emperor then pays a liberal price for them in those pieces of paper. the merchants accept his price readily, for in the first place they would not get so good an one from anybody else, and secondly they are paid without any delay. and with this paper-money they can buy what they like anywhere over the empire, whilst it is also vastly lighter to carry about on their journeys. and it is a truth that the merchants will several times in the year bring wares to the amount of 400,000 bezants, and the grand sire pays for all in that paper. so he buys such a quantity of those precious things every year that his treasure is endless, whilst all the time the money he pays away costs him nothing at all. moreover, several times in the year proclamation is made through the city that any one who may have gold or silver or gems or pearls, by taking them to the mint shall get a handsome price for them. and the owners are glad to do this, because they would find no other purchaser give so large a price. thus the quantity they bring in is marvellous, though these who do not choose to do so may let it alone. still, in this way, nearly all the valuables in the country come into the kaan's possession. when any of those pieces of paper are spoilt--not that they are so very flimsy neither--the owner carries them to the mint, and by paying three per cent, on the value he gets new pieces in exchange. and if any baron, or any one else soever, hath need of gold or silver or gems or pearls, in order to make plate, or girdles, or the like, he goes to the mint and buys as much as he list, paying in this paper-money.[note 1] now you have heard the ways and means whereby the great kaan may have, and in fact _has_, more treasure than all the kings in the world; and you know all about it and the reason why. and now i will tell you of the great dignitaries which act in this city on behalf of the emperor. note 1.--it is surprising to find that, nearly two centuries ago, magaillans, a missionary who had lived many years in china, and was presumably a chinese scholar, should have utterly denied the truth of polo's statements about the paper-currency of china. yet the fact even then did not rest on polo's statement only. the same thing had been alleged in the printed works of rubruquis, roger bacon, hayton, friar odoric, the archbishop of soltania, and josaphat barbaro, to say nothing of other european authorities that remained in manuscript, or of the numerous oriental records of the same circumstance. the issue of paper-money in china is at least as old as the beginning of the 9th century. in 1160 the system had gone to such excess that government paper equivalent in nominal value to 43,600,000 ounces of silver had been issued in six years, and there were local notes besides; so that the empire was flooded with rapidly depreciating paper. the _kin_ or "golden" dynasty of northern invaders who immediately preceded the mongols took to paper, in spite of their title, as kindly as the native sovereigns. their notes had a course of seven years, after which new notes were issued to the holders, with a deduction of 15 per cent. the mongols commenced their issues of paper-money in 1236, long before they had transferred the seat of their government to china. kúblái made such an issue in the first year of his reign (1260), and continued to issue notes copiously till the end. in 1287 he put out a complete new currency, one note of which was to exchange against _five_ of the previous series of equal nominal value! in both issues the paper-money was, in official valuation, only equivalent to half its nominal value in silver; a circumstance not very easy to understand. the paper-money was called _chao_. the notes of kúblái's first issue (1260-1287) with which polo maybe supposed most familiar, were divided into three classes; (1) _notes of tens_, viz. of 10, 20, 30, and 50 _tsien_ or cash; (2) _notes of hundreds_, viz. of 100, 200, and 500 _tsien_; and (3) _notes of strings_ or _thousands_ of cash, or in other words of _liangs_ or ounces of silver (otherwise _tael_), viz. of 1000 and 2000 _tsien_. there were also notes printed on silk for 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 ounces each, valued at par in silver, but these would not circulate. in 1275, it should be mentioned, there had been a supplementary issue of small notes for 2, 3, and 5 cash each. marsden states an equation between marco's values of the notes and the actual chinese currency, to which biot seems to assent. i doubt its correctness, for his assumed values of the groat or _grosso_ and tornesel are surely wrong. the grosso ran at that time 18 to the gold ducat or sequin, and allowing for the then higher relative value of silver, should have contained about 5_d._ of silver. the ducat was also equivalent to 2 _lire_, and the _tornese_ (romanin, iii. 343) was 4 deniers. now the denier is always, i believe 1/240 of the _lira_. hence the _tornese_ would be 9/60 of the _grosso_. but we are not to look for _exact_ correspondences, when we see polo applying round figures in european coinage to chinese currency. [illustration: bank-note of the ming dynasty] his bezant notes, i agree with marsden, here represent the chinese notes for one and more ounces of silver. and here the correspondence of value is much nearer than it seems at first sight. the chinese _liang_ or ounce of silver is valued commonly at 6_s._ 7_d._, say roundly 80_d._[1] but the relation of gold and silver in civilized asia was then (see ch. i. note 4, and also _cathay_, pp. ccl. and 442) as 10 to 1, not, as with us now, more than 15 to 1. wherefore the _liang_ in relation to gold would be worth 120_d._ or 10_s._, a little over the venetian ducat and somewhat less than the bezant or dínár. we shall then find the table of chinese issues, as compared with marco's equivalents, to stand thus:-chinese issues, as recorded. marco polo's statement. for 10 ounces of silver (viz. } the chinese _ting_)[2] } 10 bezants. for 1 ounce of silver, i.e. 1 _liang_, } or 1000 _tsien_ (cash) } 1 " for 500 _tsien_ . . . . . . 10 groats. 200 " . . . . . . . 5 " (should have been 4). 100 " . . . . . . . 2 " 50 " . . . . . . . 1 " 30 " . . . . . . . 1/2 " (but the proportionate equivalent of half a groat would be 25 _tsien_). 20 " . . . . . . . 10 " . . . . . . . 1 tornesel (but the proportionate equivalent would be 7-1/2 _tsien_). 5 " . . . . . . . 1/2 " (but prop. equivalent 3-3/4 _tsien_). pauthier has given from the chinese annals of the mongol dynasty a complete table of the issues of paper-money during every year of kúblái's reign (1260-1294), estimated at their nominal value in _ting_ or tens of silver ounces. the lowest issue was in 1269, of 228,960 _ounces_, which at the rate of 120_d._ to the ounce (see above) = 114,480_l._, and the highest was in 1290, viz. 50,002,500 ounces, equivalent at the same estimate to 25,001,250_l._! whilst the total amount in the 34 years was 249,654,290 ounces or 124,827,144_l._ in nominal value. well might marco speak of the vast quantity of such notes that the great kaan issued annually! to complete the history of the chinese paper-currency so far as we can: in 1309, a new issue took place with the same provision as in kúblái's issue of 1287, i.e. each note of the new issue was to exchange against 5 of the old of the same nominal value. and it was at the same time prescribed that the notes should exchange at par with metals, which of course it was beyond the power of government to enforce, and so the notes were abandoned. issues continued from time to time to the end of the mongol dynasty. the paper-currency is spoken of by odoric (1320-30), by pegolotti (1330-40), and by ibn batuta (1348), as still the chief, if not sole, currency of the empire. according to the chinese authorities, the credit of these issues was constantly diminishing, as it is easy to suppose. but it is odd that all the western travellers speak as if the notes were as good as gold. pegolotti, writing for mercantile men, and from the information (as we may suppose) of mercantile men, says explicitly that there was no depreciation. the ming dynasty for a time carried on the system of paper-money; with the difference that while under the mongols no other currency had been admitted, their successors made payments in notes, but accepted only hard cash from their people![3] in 1448 the _chao_ of 1000 cash was worth but 3. barbaro still heard talk of the chinese paper-currency from travellers whom he met at azov about this time; but after 1455 there is said to be no more mention of it in chinese history. i have never heard of the preservation of any note of the mongols; but some of the ming survive, and are highly valued as curiosities in china. the late sir g. t. staunton appears to have possessed one; dr. lockhart formerly had two, of which he gave one to sir harry parkes, and retains the other. the paper is so dark as to explain marco's description of it as black. by dr. lockhart's kindness i am enabled to give a reduced representation of this note, as near a facsimile as we have been able to render it, but with some _restoration_, e.g. of the _seals_, of which on the original there is the barest indication remaining. [mr. vissering (_chinese currency_, addenda, i.-iii.) gives a facsimile and a description of a chinese banknote of the ming dynasty belonging to the collection of the asiatic museum of the academy of sciences at st. petersburg. "in the eighth year of the period _hung-wu_ (1375), the emperor tai-tsu issued an order to his minister of finances to make the _pao-tsao_ (precious bills) of the _ta-ming_ dynasty, and to employ as raw material for the composition of those bills the fibres of the mulberry tree."--h. c.] notwithstanding the disuse of government issues of paper-money from that time till recent years, there had long been in some of the cities of china a large use of private and local promissory notes as currency. in fuchau this was especially the case; bullion was almost entirely displaced, and the banking-houses in that city were counted by hundreds. these were under no government control; any individual or company having sufficient capital or credit could establish a bank and issue their bills, which varied in amount from 100 cash to 1000 dollars. some fifteen years ago the imperial government seems to have been induced by the exhausted state of the treasury, and these large examples of the local use of paper-currency, to consider projects for resuming that system after the disuse of four centuries. a curious report by a committee of the imperial supreme council, on a project for such a currency, appears among the papers published by the russian mission at peking. it is unfavourable to the particular project, but we gather from other sources that the government not long afterwards did open banks in the large cities of the empire for the issue of a new paper-currency, but that it met with bad success. at fuchau, in 1858, i learn from one notice, the dollar was worth from 18,000 to 20,000 cash in government bills. dr. rennie, in 1861, speaks of the dollar at peking as valued at 15,000, and later at 25,000 paper cash. sushun, the regent, had issued a vast number of notes through banks of his own in various parts of peking. these he failed to redeem, causing the failure of all the banks, and great consequent commotion in the city. the regent had led the emperor [hien fung] systematically into debauched habits which ended in paralysis. on the emperor's death the empress caused the arrest and execution of sushun. his conduct in connection with the bank failures was so bitterly resented that when the poor wretch was led to execution (8th november, 1861), as i learn from an eye-witness, the defrauded creditors lined the streets and cheered.[4] the japanese also had a paper-currency in the 14th century. it is different in form from that of china. that figured by siebold is a strip of strong paper doubled, 6-1/4 in. long by 1-3/4 in. wide, bearing a representation of the tutelary god of riches, with long inscriptions in chinese characters, seals in black and red, and an indication of value in ancient japanese characters. i do not learn whether notes of considerable amount are still used in japan; but sir r. alcock speaks of banknotes for small change from 30 to 500 cash and more, as in general use in the interior. two notable and disastrous attempts to imitate the chinese system of currency took place in the middle ages; one of them in persia, apparently in polo's very presence, the other in india some 36 years later. the first was initiated in 1294 by the worthless kaikhatu khan, when his own and his ministers' extravagance had emptied the treasury, on the suggestion of a financial officer called 'izzuddín muzaffar. the notes were direct copies of kúblái's, even the chinese characters being imitated as part of the device upon them.[5] the chinese name _chao_ was applied to them, and the mongol resident at tabriz, pulad chingsang, was consulted in carrying out the measure. expensive preparations were made for this object; offices called _cháo-khánahs_ were erected in the principal cities of the provinces, and a numerous staff appointed to carry out the details. ghazan khan in khorasan, however, would have none of it, and refused to allow any of these preparations to be made within his government. after the constrained use of the chao for two or three days tabriz was in an uproar; the markets were closed; the people rose and murdered 'izzuddín; and the whole project had to be abandoned. marco was in persia at this time, or just before, and sir john malcolm not unnaturally suggests that he might have had something to do with the scheme; a suggestion which excites a needless commotion in the breast of m. pauthier. we may draw from the story the somewhat notable conclusion that _block-printing_ was practised, at least for this one purpose, at tabriz in 1294. the other like enterprise was that of sultan mahomed tughlak of delhi, in 1330-31. this also was undertaken for like reasons, and was in professed imitation of the chao of cathay. mahomed, however, used copper tokens instead of paper; the copper being made apparently of equal weight to the gold or silver coin which it represented. the system seems to have had a little more vogue than at tabriz, but was speedily brought to an end by the ease with which forgeries on an enormous scale were practised. the sultan, in hopes of reviving the credit of his currency, ordered that every one bringing copper tokens to the treasury should have them cashed in gold or silver. "the people who in despair had flung aside their copper coins like stones and bricks in their houses, all rushed to the treasury and exchanged them for gold and silver. in this way the treasury soon became empty, but the copper coins had as little circulation as ever, and a very grievous blow was given to the state." an odd issue of currency, not of paper, but of leather, took place in italy a few years before polo's birth. the emperor frederic ii., at the siege of faenza in 1241, being in great straits for money, issued pieces of leather stamped with the mark of his mint at the value of his golden augustals. this leather coinage was very popular, especially at florence, and it was afterwards honourably redeemed by frederic's treasury. popular tradition in sicily reproaches william the bad among his other sins with having issued money of leather, but any stone is good enough to cast at a dog with such a surname. [ma twan-lin mentions that in the fourth year of the period yuen show (b.c. 119), a currency of white metal and _deer-skin_ was made. mr. vissering (_chinese currency_, 38) observes that the skin-tallies "were purely tokens, and have had nothing in common with the leather-money, which was, during a long time, current in russia. this russian skin-money had a truly representative character, as the parcels were used instead of the skins from which they were cut; the skins themselves being too bulky and heavy to be constantly carried backward and forward, only a little piece was cut off, to figure as a token of possession of the whole skin. the ownership of the skin was proved when the piece fitted in the hole." mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, 201 note) says: "as early as b.c. 118, we find the chinese using 'leather-money' (_p'i pi_). these were pieces of white deer-skin, a foot square, with a coloured border. each had a value of 40,000 cash. (_ma twan-lin_, bk. 8, 5.)" mr. charles f. keary (_coins and medals_, by s. lane poole, 128) mentions that "in the reign of elizabeth there was a very extensive issue of private tokens in lead, tin, latten, and _leather_."--h. c.] (_klapr._ in _mém. rel. à l'asie_, i. 375 seqq.; _biot_, in _j. as._ sér. iii. tom. iv.; _marsden_ and _pauthier_, in loco; _parkes_, in _j. r. a. s._ xiii. 179; _doolittle_, 452 seqq.; _wylie, j. of shanghai lit. and scient. soc._ no. i.; _arbeiten der kais. russ. gesandsch. zu peking_, i. p. 48; _rennie, peking_, etc., i. 296, 347; _birch_, in. _num. chron._ xii. 169; information from _dr. lockhart_; _alcock_, ii. 86; _d'ohsson_, iv. 53; _cowell_, in _j. a. s. b._ xxix. 183 seqq.; _thomas, coins of patan sovs. of hind._, (from _numism. chron._ 1852), p. 139 seqq.; _kington's fred. ii._ ii. 195; _amari_, iii. 816; _w. vissering, on chinese currency_, leiden, 1877.) ["without doubt the mongols borrowed the bank-note system from the kin. up to the present time there is in si-ngan-fu a block kept, which was used for printing the bank-notes of the kin dynasty. i have had the opportunity of seeing a print of those bank-notes, they were of the same size and shape as the bank-notes of the ming. a reproduction of the text of the kin bank-notes is found in the _kin shi ts'ui pien_. this copy has the characters _pao kilan_ (precious charter) and the years of reign _chêng yew_, 1213-1216. the first essay of the mongols to introduce bank-notes dates from the time of ogodai khan (1229-1242), but chinese history only mentions the fact without giving details. at that time silk in skeins was the only article of a determinate value in the trade and on the project of _ye lü ch'u ts'ai_, minister of ogodai, the taxes were also collected in silk delivered by weight. it can therefore be assumed that the name _sze ch'ao_ (i.e. bank-notes referring to the weight of silk) dates back to the same time. at any rate, at a later time, as, under the reign of kubilai, the issuing of banknotes was decreed, silk was taken as the standard to express the value of silver and 1000 _liang_ silk was estimated = 50 _liang_ (or 1 _ting_) silver. thus, in consequence of those measures, it gradually became a rule to transfer the taxes and rents originally paid in silk, into silver. the wealth of the mongol khans in precious metals was renowned. the accounts regarding their revenues, however, which we meet with occasionally in chinese history, do not surprise by their vastness. in the year 1298, for instance, the amount of the revenue is stated in the _siu t'ung kien_ to have been:- 19,000 _liang_ of gold = (190,000 _liang_ of silver, according to the exchange of that time at the rate of 1 to 10). 60,000 _liang_ of silver. 3,600,000 _ting_ of silver in bank-notes (i.e. 180 millions _liang_); altogether 180,250,000 _liang_ of silver. the number seems indeed very high for that time. but if the exceedingly low exchange of the bank-notes be taken into consideration, the sum will be reduced to a modest amount." (_palladius_, pp. 50-51.)--h. c.] [dr. bretschneider (_hist. bot. disc._, i. p. 4) makes the following remark:--"polo states (i. 409) that the great kaan causeth the bark of great mulberry-trees, made into something like paper, to pass for money." he seems to be mistaken. paper in china is not made from mulberry-trees but from the _broussonetia papyrifera_, which latter tree belongs to the same order of moraceae. the same fibres are used also in some parts of china for making cloth, and marco polo alludes probably to the same tree when stating (ii. 108) "that in the province of cuiju (kwei chau) they manufacture stuff of the bark of certain trees, which form very fine summer clothing."--h. c.] [1] even now there are at least eight different _taels_ (or liangs) in extensive use over the empire, and varying as much as from 96 to 106; and besides these are many local _taels_, with about the same limits of variation.--(_williamson's journeys_, i. 60.) [2] [the archimandrite palladius (l.c., p. 50, note) says that "the _ting_ of the mongol time, as well as during the reign of the kin, was a unit of weight equivalent to fifty _liang_, but not to ten _liang_. cf. _ch'u keng lu_, and _yuen-shi_, ch. xcv. the _yuen pao_, which as everybody in china knows, is equivalent to fifty _liang_ (taels) of silver, is the same as the ancient _ting_, and the character _yuen_ indicates that it dates from the _yuen_ dynasty."--h. c.] [3] this is also, as regards customs payments, the system of the government of modern italy. [4] the first edition of this work gave a facsimile of one of this unlucky minister's notes. [5] on both sides, however, was the mahomedan formula, and beneath that the words _yiranjín túrjí_, a title conferred on the kings of persia by the kaan. there was also an inscription to the following effect: that the emperor in the year 693 (a.h.) had issued these auspicious _chao_, that all who forged or uttered false notes should be summarily punished, with their wives and children, and their property confiscated; and that when these auspicious notes were once in circulation, poverty would vanish, provisions become cheap, and rich and poor be equal (_cowell_). the use of the term _chao_ at tabriz may be compared with that of _banklot_, current in modern india. chapter xxv. concerning the twelve barons who are set over all the affairs of the great kaan. you must know that the great kaan hath chosen twelve great barons to whom he hath committed all the necessary affairs of thirty-four great provinces; and now i will tell you particulars about them and their establishments. you must know that these twelve barons reside all together in a very rich and handsome palace, which is inside the city of cambaluc, and consists of a variety of edifices, with many suites of apartments. to every province is assigned a judge and several clerks, and all reside in this palace, where each has his separate quarters. these judges and clerks administer all the affairs of the provinces to which they are attached, under the direction of the twelve barons. howbeit, when an affair is of very great importance, the twelve barons lay in before the emperor, and he decides as he thinks best. but the power of those twelve barons is so great that they choose the governors for all those thirty-four great provinces that i have mentioned, and only after they have chosen do they inform the emperor of their choice. this he confirms, and grants to the person nominated a tablet of gold such as is appropriate to the rank of his government. those twelve barons also have such authority that they can dispose of the movements of the forces, and send them whither, and in such strength, as they please. this is done indeed with the emperor's cognizance, but still the orders are issued on their authority. they are styled shieng, which is as much as to say "the supreme court," and the palace where they abide is also called _shieng_. this body forms the highest authority at the court of the great kaan; and indeed they can favour and advance whom they will. i will not now name the thirty-four provinces to you, because they will be spoken of in detail in the course of this book.[note 1] note 1.--pauthier's extracts from the chinese annals of the dynasty, in illustration of this subject, are interesting. these, as he represents them, show the council of ministers usually to have consisted of twelve high officials, viz.: two _ch'ing-siang_ [chinese] or (chief) ministers of state, one styled, "of the right," and the other "of the left"; four called _p'ing-chang ching-ssé_, which seems to mean something like ministers in charge of special departments; four assistant ministers; two counsellors. rashiduddin, however, limits the council to the first two classes: "strictly speaking, the council of state is composed of four ch'ing-sang (_ch'ing-siang_) or great officers (_wazírs_ he afterwards terms them), and four fanchán (_p'ing-chang_) or associated members, taken from the nations of the tajiks, cathayans, ighurs, and arkaun" (i.e. nestorian christians). (compare p. 418, supra.) [a samarkand man, seyyd tadj eddin hassan ben el khallal, quoted in the _masálak al absár_, says: "near the khan are two amírs who are his ministers; they are called _djing san_ [arabic] (ch'ing-siang). after them come the two _bidjan_ [arabic] (p'ing chang), then the two _zoudjin_ [arabic] (tso chen), then the two _yudjin_ [arabic] (yu chen), and at last the _landjun_ [arabic] (lang chang), head of the scribes, and secretary of the sovereign. the khan holds a sitting every day in the middle of a large building called _chen_ [arabic] (sheng), which is very like our palace of justice." (_c. schefer, cent. ec. langues or._, pp. 18-19.)--h. c.] in a later age we find the twelve barons reappearing in the pages of mendoza: "the king hath in this city of tabin (peking), where he is resident, a royal council of twelve counsellors and a president, chosen men throughout all the kingdom, and such as have had experience in government many years." and also in the early centuries of the christian era we hear that the khan of the turks had his twelve grandees, divided into those of the right and those of the left, probably a copy from a chinese order then also existing. but to return to rashiduddin: "as the kaan generally resides at the capital, he has erected a place for the sittings of the great council, called _sing_.... the dignitaries mentioned above are expected to attend daily at the sing, and to make themselves acquainted with all that passes there." the _sing_ of rashid is evidently the shieng or sheng (_scieng_) of polo. m. pauthier is on this point somewhat contemptuous towards neumann, who, he says, confounds marco polo's twelve barons or ministers of state with the chiefs of the twelve great provincial governments called _sing_, who had their residence at the chief cities of those governments; whilst in fact polo's _scieng_ (he asserts) has nothing to do with the _sing_, but represents the chinese word _siang_ "a minister," and "the office of a minister." [there was no doubt a confusion between _siang_ [chinese] and _sheng_ [chinese].--h. c.] it is very probable that two different words, _siang_ and _sing_, got confounded by the non-chinese attachés of the imperial court; but it seems to me quite certain that they applied the same word, sing or sheng, to both institutions, viz. to the high council of state, and to the provincial governments. it also looks as if marco polo himself had made that very confusion with which pauthier charges neumann. for whilst here he represents the twelve barons as forming a council of state at the capital, we find further on, when speaking of the city of yangchau, he says: "_et si siet en ceste cité uns des xii barons du grant kaan; car elle est esleue pour un des xii sieges_," where the last word is probably a mistranscription of _sciengs_, or _sings_, and in any case the reference is to a distribution of the empire into twelve governments. to be convinced that _sing_ was used by foreigners in the double sense that i have said, we have only to proceed with rashiduddin's account of the administration. after what we have already quoted, he goes on: "the _sing_ of khanbaligh is the most eminent, and the building is very large.... _sings_ do not exist in all the cities, but only in the capitals of great provinces.... in the whole empire of the kaan there are twelve of these sings; but that of khanbaligh is the only one which has ching-sangs amongst its members." wassáf again, after describing the greatness of khanzai (kinsay of polo) says: "these circumstances characterize the capital itself, but four hundred cities of note, and embracing ample territories, are dependent on its jurisdiction, insomuch that the most inconsiderable of those cities surpasses baghdad and shiraz. in the number of these cities are lankinfu and zaitun, and chinkalán; for they call khanzai a _shing_, i.e. a great city in which the high and mighty council of administration holds its meetings." friar odoric again says: "this empire hath been divided by the lord thereof into twelve parts, each one thereof is termed a singo." polo, it seems evident to me, knew nothing of chinese. his _shieng_ is no direct attempt to represent _any_ chinese word, but simply the term that he had been used to employ in talking persian or turki, in the way that rashiduddin and wassáf employ it. i find no light as to the thirty-four provinces into which polo represents the empire as divided, unless it be an enumeration of the provinces and districts which he describes in the second and third parts of bk. ii., of which it is not difficult to reckon thirty-three or thirty-four, but not worth while to repeat the calculation. [china was then divided into twelve _sheng_ or provinces: cheng-tung, liao-yang, chung-shu, shen-si, ling-pe (karakorum), kan-suh, sze-ch'wan, ho-nan kiang-pe, kiang-ché, kiang-si, hu-kwang and yun-nan. rashiduddin (_j. as._, xi. 1883, p. 447) says that of the twelve sing, khanbaligh was the only one with _chin-siang_. we read in _morrison's dict._ (pt. ii. vol. i. p. 70): "chin-seang, a minister of state, was so called under the ming dynasty." according to mr. e. h. parker (_china review_, xxiv. p. 101), _ching siang_ were abolished in 1395. i imagine that the thirty-four provinces refer to the _fu_ cities, which numbered however _thirty-nine_, according to _oxenham's historical atlas_.--h. c.] (_cathay_, 263 seqq. and 137; _mendoza_, i. 96; _erdmann_, 142; _hammer's wassáf_, p. 42, but corrected.) chapter xxvi. how the kaan's posts and runners are sped through many lands and provinces. now you must know that from this city of cambaluc proceed many roads and highways leading to a variety of provinces, one to one province, another to another; and each road receives the name of the province to which it leads; and it is a very sensible plan.[note 1] and the messengers of the emperor in travelling from cambaluc, be the road whichsoever they will, find at every twenty-five miles of the journey a station which they call _yamb_,[note 2] or, as we should say, the "horse-post-house." and at each of those stations used by the messengers, there is a large and handsome building for them to put up at, in which they find all the rooms furnished with fine beds and all other necessary articles in rich silk, and where they are provided with everything they can want. if even a king were to arrive at one of these, he would find himself well lodged. at some of these stations, moreover, there shall be posted some four hundred horses standing ready for the use of the messengers; at others there shall be two hundred, according to the requirements, and to what the emperor has established in each case. at every twenty-five miles, as i said, or anyhow at every thirty miles, you find one of these stations, on all the principal highways leading to the different provincial governments; and the same is the case throughout all the chief provinces subject to the great kaan.[note 3] even when the messengers have to pass through a roadless tract where neither house nor hostel exists, still there the station-houses have been established just the same, excepting that the intervals are somewhat greater, and the day's journey is fixed at thirty-five to forty-five miles, instead of twenty-five to thirty. but they are provided with horses and all the other necessaries just like those we have described, so that the emperor's messengers, come they from what region they may, find everything ready for them. and in sooth this is a thing done on the greatest scale of magnificence that ever was seen. never had emperor, king, or lord, such wealth as this manifests! for it is a fact that on all these posts taken together there are more than 300,000 horses kept up, specially for the use of the messengers. and the great buildings that i have mentioned are more than 10,000 in number, all richly furnished, as i told you. the thing is on a scale so wonderful and costly that it is hard to bring oneself to describe it.[note 4] but now i will tell you another thing that i had forgotten, but which ought to be told whilst i am on this subject. you must know that by the great kaan's orders there has been established between those post-houses, at every interval of three miles, a little fort with some forty houses round about it, in which dwell the people who act as the emperor's foot-runners. every one of those runners wears a great wide belt, set all over with bells, so that as they run the three miles from post to post their bells are heard jingling a long way off. and thus on reaching the post the runner finds another man similarly equipt, and all ready to take his place, who instantly takes over whatsoever he has in charge, and with it receives a slip of paper from the clerk, who is always at hand for the purpose; and so the new man sets off and runs his three miles. at the next station he finds his relief ready in like manner; and so the post proceeds, with a change at every three miles. and in this way the emperor, who has an immense number of these runners, receives despatches with news from places ten days' journey off in one day and night; or, if need be, news from a hundred days off in ten days and nights; and that is no small matter! (in fact in the fruit season many a time fruit shall be gathered one morning in cambaluc, and the evening of the next day it shall reach the great kaan at chandu, a distance of ten days' journey.[note 5] the clerk at each of the posts notes the time of each courier's arrival and departure; and there are often other officers whose business it is to make monthly visitations of all the posts, and to punish those runners who have been slack in their work.[note 6]) the emperor exempts these men from all tribute, and pays them besides. moreover, there are also at those stations other men equipt similarly with girdles hung with bells, who are employed for expresses when there is a call for great haste in sending despatches to any governor of a province, or to give news when any baron has revolted, or in other such emergencies; and these men travel a good two hundred or two hundred and fifty miles in the day, and as much in the night. i'll tell you how it stands. they take a horse from those at the station which are standing ready saddled, all fresh and in wind, and mount and go at full speed, as hard as they can ride in fact. and when those at the next post hear the bells they get ready another horse and a man equipt in the same way, and he takes over the letter or whatever it be, and is off full-speed to the third station, where again a fresh horse is found all ready, and so the despatch speeds along from post to post, always at full gallop, with regular change of horses. and the speed at which they go is marvellous. (by night, however, they cannot go so fast as by day, because they have to be accompanied by footmen with torches, who could not keep up with them at full speed.) those men are highly prized; and they could never do it, did they not bind hard the stomach, chest and head with strong bands. and each of them carries with him a gerfalcon tablet, in sign that he is bound on an urgent express; so that if perchance his horse break down, or he meet with other mishap, whomsoever he may fall in with on the road, he is empowered to make him dismount and give up his horse. nobody dares refuse in such a case; so that the courier hath always a good fresh nag to carry him.[note 7] now all these numbers of post-horses cost the emperor nothing at all; and i will tell you the how and the why. every city, or village, or hamlet, that stands near one of those post-stations, has a fixed demand made on it for as many horses as it can supply, and these it must furnish to the post. and in this way are provided all the posts of the cities, as well as the towns and villages round about them; only in uninhabited tracts the horses are furnished at the expense of the emperor himself. (nor do the cities maintain the full number, say of 400 horses, always at their station, but month by month 200 shall be kept at the station, and the other 200 at grass, coming in their turn to relieve the first 200. and if there chance to be some river or lake to be passed by the runners and horse-posts, the neighbouring cities are bound to keep three or four boats in constant readiness for the purpose.) and now i will tell you of the great bounty exercised by the emperor towards his people twice a year. note 1.--the g. text has "_et ce est mout sçue chouse_"; pauthier's text, "_mais il est moult celé_" the latter seems absurd. i have no doubt that _sçue_ is correct, and is an italianism, _saputo_ having sometimes the sense of prudent or judicious. thus p. della valle (ii. 26), speaking of shah abbas: "_ma noti v.s. i tiri di questo re_, saputo insieme e bizzarro," "acute with all his eccentricity." note 2.--both neumann and pauthier seek chinese etymologies of this mongol word, which the tartars carried with them all over asia. it survives in persian and turki in the senses both of a post-house and a post-horse, and in russia, in the former sense, is a relic of the mongol dominion. the ambassadors of shah rukh, on arriving at sukchu, were lodged in the _yám-khána_, or post-house, by the city gate; and they found ninety-nine such yams between sukchu and khanbaligh, at each of which they were supplied with provisions, servants, beds, night-clothes, etc. odoric likewise speaks of the hostelries called _yam_, and rubruquis applies the same term to quarters in the imperial camp, which were assigned for the lodgment of ambassadors. (_cathay_, ccii. 137; _rubr._ 310.) [mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, 101, note) says that these post-stations were established by okkodai in 1234 throughout the mongol empire. (_d'ohsson_, ii. 63.) dr. g. schlegel (_t'oung pao_, ii. 1891, 265, note) observes that _iam_ is not, as pauthier supposed, a contraction of _yi-mà_, horse post-house (_yi-mà_ means post-horse, and pauthier makes a mistake), but represents the chinese character [chinese], pronounced at present _chán_, which means in fact a road station, a post. in annamite, this character [chinese] is pronounced _tram_, and it means, according to _bonet's dict. annamite-français_: "relais de poste, station de repos." (see _bretschneider, med. res._ i. p. 187 note.)--h. c.] note 3.--martini and magaillans, in the 17th century, give nearly the same account of the government hostelries. note 4.--here ramusio has this digression: "should any one find it difficult to understand how there should be such a population as all this implies, and how they can subsist, the answer is that all the idolaters, and saracens as well, take six, eight, or ten wives apiece when they can afford it, and beget an infinity of children. in fact, you shall find many men who have each more than thirty sons who form an armed retinue to their father, and this through the fact of his having so many wives. with us, on the other hand, a man hath but one wife; and if she be barren, still he must abide by her for life, and have no progeny; thus we have not such a population as they have. "and as regards food, they have abundance; for they generally consume rice, panic, and millet (especially the tartars, cathayans, and people of manzi); and these three crops in those countries render an hundred-fold. those nations use no bread, but only boil those kinds of grain with milk or meat for their victual. their wheat, indeed, does not render so much, but this they use only to make vermicelli, and pastes of that description. no spot of arable land is left untilled; and their cattle are infinitely prolific, so that when they take the field every man is followed by six, eight, or more horses for his own use. thus you may clearly perceive how the population of those parts is so great, and how they have such an abundance of food." note 5.--the burmese kings used to have the odoriferous _durian_ transmitted by horse-posts from tenasserim to ava. but the most notable example of the rapid transmission of such dainties, and the nearest approach i know of to their despatch by telegraph, was that practised for the benefit of the fatimite khalif aziz (latter part of 10th century), who had a great desire for a dish of cherries of balbek. the wazir yakub ben-kilis caused six hundred pigeons to be despatched from balbek to cairo, each of which carried attached to either leg a small silk bag containing a cherry! (_quat. makrizi_, iv. 118.) note 6.--"note is taken at every post," says amyot, in speaking of the chinese practice of last century, "of the time of the courier's arrival, in order that it may be known at what point delays have occurred." (_mém._ viii. 185.) note 7.--the post-system is described almost exactly as in the text by friar odoric and the archbishop of soltania, in the generation after polo, and very much in the same way by magaillans in the 17th century. posts had existed in china from an old date. they are spoken of by mas'udi and the _relations_ of the 9th century. they were also employed under the ancient persian kings; and they were in use in india, at least in the generation after polo. the mongols, too, carried the institution wherever they went. polo describes the couriers as changed at short intervals, but more usually in asiatic posts the same man rides an enormous distance. the express courier in tibet, as described by "the pandit," rides from gartokh to lhasa, a distance of 800 miles, travelling day and night. the courier's coat is _sealed_ upon him, so that he dares not take off his clothes till the seal is officially broken on his arrival at the terminus. these messengers had faces cracked, eyes bloodshot and sunken, and bodies raw with vermin. (_j. r. g. s._ xxxviii. p. 149.) the modern turkish post from constantinople to baghdad, a distance of 1100 miles, is done in twenty days by four tartars riding night and day. the changes are at sivas, diarbekir, and mosul. m. tchihatcheff calculates that the night riding accomplishes only one quarter of the whole. (_asie mineure_, 2'de ptie. 632-635.)--see i. p. 352, _paï tze_. chapter xxvii. how the emperor bestows help on his people, when they are afflicted with dearth or murrain. now you must know that the emperor sends his messengers over all his lands and kingdoms and provinces, to ascertain from his officers if the people are afflicted by any dearth through unfavourable seasons, or storms or locusts, or other like calamity; and from those who have suffered in this way no taxes are exacted for that year; nay more, he causes them to be supplied with corn of his own for food and seed. now this is undoubtedly a great bounty on his part. and when winter comes, he causes inquiry to be made as to those who have lost their cattle, whether by murrain or other mishap, and such persons not only go scot free, but get presents of cattle. and thus, as i tell you, the lord every year helps and fosters the people subject to him. [there is another trait of the great kaan i should tell you; and that is, that if a chance shot from his bow strike any herd or flock, whether belonging to one person or to many, and however big the flock may be, he takes no tithe thereof for three years. in like manner, if the arrow strike a boat full of goods, that boat-load pays no duty; for it is thought unlucky that an arrow strike any one's property; and the great kaan says it would be an abomination before god, were such property, that has been struck by the divine wrath, to enter into his treasury.[note 1]] note 1.--the chinese author already quoted as to kúblái's character (note 2, ch. xxiii. supra) says: "this prince, at the sight of some evil prognostic, or when there was dearth, would remit taxation, and cause grain to be distributed to those who were in destitution. he would often complain that there never lacked informers if balances were due, or if _corvées_ had been ordered, but when the necessities of the people required to be reported, not a word was said." wassáf tells a long story in illustration of kúblái's justice and consideration for the peasantry. one of his sons, with a handful of followers, had got separated from the army, and halted at a village in the territory of bishbaligh, where the people gave them sheep and wine. next year two of the party came the same way and _demanded_ a sheep and a stoup of wine. the people gave it, but went to the kaan and told the story, saying they feared it might grow into a perpetual exaction. kúblái sharply rebuked the prince, and gave the people compensation and an order in their favour. (_de mailla_, ix. 460; _hammer's wassaf_, 38-39.)] chapter xxviii. how the great kaan causes trees to be planted by the highways. the emperor moreover hath taken order that all the highways travelled by his messengers and the people generally should be planted with rows of great trees a few paces apart; and thus these trees are visible a long way off, and no one can miss the way by day or night. even the roads through uninhabited tracts are thus planted, and it is the greatest possible solace to travellers. and this is done on all the ways, where it can be of service. [the great kaan plants these trees all the more readily, because his astrologers and diviners tell him that he who plants trees lives long.[note 1] but where the ground is so sandy and desert that trees will not grow, he causes other landmarks, pillars or stones, to be set up to show the way.] note 1.--in this kúblái imitated the great king asoka, or priyadarsi, who in his graven edicts (circa b.c. 250) on the delhi pillar, says: "along the high roads i have caused fig-trees to be planted, that they may be for shade to animals and men. i have also planted mango-trees; and at every half-coss i have caused wells to be constructed, and resting-places for the night. and how many hostels have been erected by me at various places for the entertainment of man and beast." (_j. a. s. b._ iv. 604.) there are still remains of the fine avenues of kúblái and his successors in various parts of northern china. (see _williamson_, i. 74.) chapter xxix. concerning the rice-wine drunk by the people of cathay. most of the people of cathay drink wine of the kind that i shall now describe. it is a liquor which they brew of rice with a quantity of excellent spice, in such fashion that it makes better drink than any ther kind of wine; it is not only good, but clear and pleasing to the eye.[note 1] and being very hot stuff, it makes one drunk sooner than any other wine. note 1.--the mode of making chinese rice-wine is described in amyot's _mémoires_, v. 468 seqq. a kind of yeast is employed, with which is often mixed a flour prepared from fragrant herbs, almonds, pine-seeds, dried fruits, etc. rubruquis says this liquor was not distinguishable, except by smell, from the best wine of auxerre; a wine so famous in the middle ages, that the historian friar, salimbene, went from lyons to auxerre on purpose to drink it.[1] ysbrand ides compares the rice-wine to rhenish; john bell to canary; a modern traveller quoted by davis, "in colour, and a little in taste, to madeira." [friar odoric (_cathay_, i. p. 117) calls this wine _bigni_; dr. schlegel (_t'oung pao_, ii. p. 264) says odoric's wine was probably made with the date _mi-yin_, pronounced _bi-im_ in old days. but marco's wine is made of rice, and is called _shao hsing chiu_. mr. rockhill (_rubruck_, p. 166, note) writes: "there is another stronger liquor distilled from millet, and called _shao chiu_: in anglo-chinese, _samshu_; mongols call it _araka, arrak_, and _arreki_. ma twan-lin (bk. 327) says that the moho (the early nu-chên tartars) drank rice wine (_mi chiu_), but i fancy that they, like the mongols, got it from the chinese." dr. emil bretschneider (_botanicon sinicum_, ii. pp. 154-158) gives a most interesting account of the use and fabrication of intoxicating beverages by the chinese. "the invention of wine or spirits in china," he says, "is generally ascribed to a certain i ti, who lived in the time of the emperor yü. according to others, the inventor of wine was tu k'ang." one may refer also to dr. macgowan's paper _on the "mutton wine" of the mongols and analogous preparations of the chinese_. (_jour. n. china br. r. as. soc._, 1871-1872, pp. 237-240.)--h. c.] [1] _kington's fred. ii._ ii. 457. so, in a french play of the 13th century, a publican in his _patois_ invites custom, with hot bread, hot herrings, and wine of auxerre in plenty:- "chaiens, fait bon disner chaiens; chi a caut pain et caus herens, _et vin d'aucheurre_ à plain tonnel."- (_théat. franç. au moyen age_, 168.) chapter xxx. concerning the black stones that are dug in cathay, and are burnt for fuel. it is a fact that all over the country of cathay there is a kind of black stones existing in beds in the mountains, which they dig out and burn like firewood. if you supply the fire with them at night, and see that they are well kindled, you will find them still alight in the morning; and they make such capital fuel that no other is used throughout the country. it is true that they have plenty of wood also, but they do not burn it, because those stones burn better and cost less.[note 1] [moreover with that vast number of people, and the number of hot baths that they maintain--for every one has such a bath at least three times a week, and in winter if possible every day, whilst every nobleman and man of wealth has a private bath for his own use--the wood would not suffice for the purpose.] note 1.--there is a great consumption of coal in northern china, especially in the brick stoves, which are universal, even in poor houses. coal seems to exist in every one of the eighteen provinces of china, which in this respect is justly pronounced to be one of the most favoured countries in the world. near the capital coal is mined at yuen-ming-yuen, and in a variety of isolated deposits among the hills in the direction of the kalgan road, and in the district round siuen-hwa-fu. (_sindachu_ of polo, ante ch. lix.) but the most important coal-fields in relation to the future are those of shan-tung hu-nan, ho-nan, and shan-si. the last is eminently _the_ coal and iron province of china, and its coal-field, as described by baron richthofen, combines, in an extraordinary manner, all the advantages that can enhance the value of such a field except (at present) that of facile export; whilst the quantity available is so great that from southern shan-si alone he estimates the whole world could be supplied, at the present rate of consumption, for several thousand years. "adits, miles in length, could be driven within the body of the coal.... these extraordinary conditions ... will eventually give rise to some curious features in mining... if a railroad should ever be built from the plain to this region ... branches of it will be constructed within the body of one or other of these beds of anthracite." baron richthofen, in the paper which we quote from, indicates the revolution in the deposit of the world's wealth and power, to which such facts, combined with other characteristics of china, point as probable; a revolution so vast that its contemplation seems like that of a planetary catastrophe. in the coal-fields of hu-nan "the mines are chiefly opened where the rivers intersect the inclined strata of the coal-measures and allow the coal-beds to be attacked by the miner immediately at their out-croppings." at the highest point of the great kiang, reached by sarel and blakiston, they found mines on the cliffs over the river, from which the coal was sent down by long bamboo cables, the loaded baskets drawing up the empty ones. [many coal-fields have been explored since; one of the most important is the coal-field of the yun-nan province; the finest deposits are perhaps those found in the bend of the kiang; coal is found also at mong-tzu, lin-ngan, etc.; this rich coal region has been explored in 1898 by the french engineer a. leclère. (see _congrès int. géog._, paris, 1900, pp. 178-184.)--h. c.] in various parts of china, as in che-kiang, sze-ch'wan, and at peking, they form powdered coal, mixed with mud, into bricks, somewhat like our "patent fuel." this practice is noticed by ibn batuta, as well as the use of coal in making porcelain, though this he seems to have misunderstood. rashiduddin also mentions the use of coal in china. it was in use, according to citations of pauthier's, before the christian era. it is a popular belief in china, that every provincial capital is bound to be established over a coal-field, so as to have a provision in case of siege. it is said that during the british siege of canton mines were opened to the north of the city. (_the distribution of coal in china_, by baron richthofen, in _ocean highways_, n.s., i. 311; _macgowan_ in _ch. repos._ xix. 385-387; _blakiston_, 133, 265; _mid. kingdom_, i. 73, 78; _amyot_, xi. 334; _cathay_, 261, 478, 482; _notes by rev. a. williamson_ in _j. n. ch. br. r. a. s._, december, 1867; _hedde and rondot_, p. 63.) aeneas sylvius relates as a miracle that took place before his eyes in scotland, that poor and almost naked beggars, when _stones_ were given them as alms at the church doors, went away quite delighted; for stones of that kind were imbued either with brimstone or with some oily matter, so that they could be burnt instead of wood, of which the country was destitute. (quoted by _jos. robertson, statuta eccles. scotic._ i. xciii.) chapter xxxi. how the great kaan causes stores of corn to be made, to help his people withal in time of dearth. you must know that when the emperor sees that corn is cheap and abundant, he buys up large quantities, and has it stored in all his provinces in great granaries, where it is so well looked after that it will keep for three or four years.[note 1] and this applies, let me tell you, to all kinds of corn, whether wheat, barley, millet, rice, panic, or what not, and when there is any scarcity of a particular kind of corn, he causes that to be issued. and if the price of the corn is at one bezant the measure, he lets them have it at a bezant for four measures, or at whatever price will produce general cheapness; and every one can have food in this way. and by this providence of the emperor's, his people can never suffer from dearth. he does the same over his whole empire; causing these supplies to be stored everywhere, according to calculation of the wants and necessities of the people. note 1.--"_le fait si bien_ estuier _que il dure bien trois ans ou quatre_" (pauthier): "_si bien_ estudier" (g.t.). the word may be _estiver_ (it. _stivare_), to stow, but i half suspect it should be _estuver_ in the sense of "kiln-dry," though both the geog. latin and the crusca render it _gubernare_.[1] lecomte says: "rice is always stored in the public granaries for three or four years in advance. it keeps long if care be taken to air it and stir it about; and although not so good to the taste or look as new rice, it is said to be more wholesome." the archbishop of soltania (a.d. 1330) speaks of these stores. "the said emperor is very pitiful and compassionate ... and so when there is a dearth in the land he openeth his garners, and giveth forth of his wheat and his rice for half what others are selling it at." kúblái kaan's measures of this kind are recorded in the annals of the dynasty, as quoted by pauthier. the same practice is ascribed to the sovereigns of the t'ang dynasty by the old arab _relations_. in later days a missionary gives in the _lettres edifiantes_ an unfavourable account of the action of these public granaries, and of the rascality that occurred in connection with them. (_lecomte_, ii. 101; _cathay_, 240; _relat._ i. 39; _let. ed._ xxiv. 76.) [the _yuen-shi_ in ch. 96 contains sections on dispensaries (_hui min yao kü_), granary regulations (_shi ti_), and regulations for a time of dearth (_chen sü_). (_bretschneider_, _med. res._ i. p. 187.)--h. c.] [1] marsden observes incidentally (_hist. of sumatra_, 1st edition, p. 71) that he was told in bengal they used to dry-kiln the rice for exportation, "owing to which, or to some other process, it will continue good for several years." chapter xxxii. of the charity of the emperor to the poor. i have told you how the great kaan provides for the distribution of necessaries to his people in time of dearth, by making store in time of cheapness. now i will tell you of his alms and great charity to the poor of his city of cambaluc. you see he causes selection to be made of a number of families in the city which are in a state of indigence, and of such families some may consist of six in the house, some of eight, some of ten, more or fewer in each as it may hap, but the whole number being very great. and each family he causes annually to be supplied with wheat and other corn sufficient for the whole year. and this he never fails to do every year. moreover, all those who choose to go to the daily dole at the court receive a great loaf apiece, hot from the baking, and nobody is denied; for so the lord hath ordered. and so some 30,000 people go for it every day from year's end to year's end. now this is a great goodness in the emperor to take pity of his poor people thus! and they benefit so much by it that they worship him as he were god. [he also provides the poor with clothes. for he lays a tithe upon all wool, silk, hemp, and the like, from which clothing can be made; and he has these woven and laid up in a building set apart for the purpose; and as all artizans are bound to give a day's labour weekly, in this way the kaan has these stuffs made into clothing for those poor families, suitable for summer or winter, according to the time of year. he also provides the clothing for his troops, and has woollens woven for them in every city, the material for which is furnished by the tithe aforesaid. you should know that the tartars, before they were converted to the religion of the idolaters, never practised almsgiving. indeed, when any poor man begged of them they would tell him, "go with god's curse, for if he loved you as he loves me, he would have provided for you." but the sages of the idolaters, and especially the _bacsis_ mentioned before, told the great kaan that it was a good work to provide for the poor, and that his idols would be greatly pleased if he did so. and since then he has taken to do for the poor so much as you have heard.[note 1]] note 1.--this is a curious testimony to an ameliorating effect of buddhism on rude nations. the general establishment of medical aid for men and animals is alluded to in the edicts of asoka;[1] and hospitals for the diseased and destitute were found by fahian at palibothra, whilst hiuen tsang speaks of the distribution of food and medicine at the _punyasálás_ or "houses of beneficence," in the panjáb. various examples of a charitable spirit in chinese institutions will be found in a letter by père d'entrecolles in the xvth recueil of _lettres edifiantes_; and a similar detail in _nevius's china and the chinese_, ch. xv. (see _prinsep's essays_, ii. 15; _beal's fah-hian_, 107; _pèl. boudd._ ii. 190.) the tartar sentiment towards the poor survives on the arctic shores:--"the yakuts regard the rich as favoured by the gods; the poor as rejected and cast out by them." (_billings_, fr. tranls. i. 233.) [1] as rendered by j. prinsep. but i see that professor h. h. wilson did not admit the passage to bear that meaning. chapter xxxiii. [concerning the astrologers in the city of cambaluc.] [there are in the city of cambaluc, what with christians, saracens, and cathayans, some five thousand astrologers and soothsayers, whom the great kaan provides with annual maintenance and clothing, just as he provides the poor of whom we have spoken, and they are in the constant exercise of their art in this city. they have a kind of astrolabe on which are inscribed the planetary signs, the hours and critical points of the whole year. and every year these christian, saracen, and cathayan astrologers, each sect apart, investigate by means of this astrolabe the course and character of the whole year, according to the indications of each of its moons, in order to discover by the natural course and disposition of the planets, and the other circumstances of the heavens, what shall be the nature of the weather, and what peculiarities shall be produced by each moon of the year; as, for example, under which moon there shall be thunderstorms and tempests, under which there shall be disease, murrain, wars, disorders, and treasons, and so on, according to the indications of each; but always adding that it lies with god to do less or more according to his pleasure. and they write down the results of their examination in certain little pamphlets for the year, which are called _tacuin_, and these are sold for a groat to all who desire to know what is coming. those of the astrologers, of course whose predictions are found to be most exact, are held to be the greatest adepts in their art, and get the greater fame.[note 1] and if any one having some great matter in hand, or proposing to make a long journey for traffic or other business, desires to know what will be the upshot, he goes to one of these astrologers and says: "turn up your books and see what is the present aspect of the heavens, for i am going away on such and such a business." then the astrologer will reply that the applicant must also tell the year, month, and hour of his birth; and when he has got that information he will see how the horoscope of his nativity combines with the indications of the time when the question is put, and then he predicts the result, good or bad, according to the aspect of the heavens. you must know, too, that the tartars reckon their years by twelves; the sign of the first year being the lion, of the second the ox, of the third the dragon, of the fourth the dog, and so forth up to the twelfth;[note 2] so that when one is asked the year of his birth he answers that it was in the year of the lion (let us say), on such a day or night, at such an hour, and such a moment. and the father of a child always takes care to write these particulars down in a book. when the twelve yearly symbols have been gone through, then they come back to the first, and go through with them again in the same succession.] note 1.--it is odd that marsden should have sought a chinese explanation of the arabic word _takwím_ even with tavernier before him: "they sell in persia an annual almanac called _tacuim_, which is properly an ephemeris containing the longitude and latitude of the planets, their conjunctions and oppositions, and other such matter. the _tacuim_ is full of predictions regarding war, pestilence, and famine; it indicates the favourable time for putting on new clothes, for getting bled or purged, for making a journey, and so forth. they put entire faith in it, and whoever can afford one governs himself in all things by its rules." (bk. v. ch. xiv.) the use of the term by marco may possibly be an illustration of what i have elsewhere propounded, viz. that he was not acquainted with chinese, but that his intercourse and conversation lay chiefly with the foreigners at the kaan's court, and probably was carried on in the persian language. but not long after the date of our book we find the word used in italian by jacopo alighieri (dante's son):- "a voler giudicare si conviene adequare inprimo il _taccuino_, per vedere il cammino come i pianeti vanno per tutto quanto l'anno." --_rime antiche toscane_, iii. 10. marco does not allude to the fact that almanacs were published by the government, as they were then and still are. pauthier (515 seqq.) gives some very curious details on this subject from the annals of the yuen. in the accounts of the year 1328, it appears that no less than 3,123,185 copies were printed in three different sizes at different prices, besides a separate almanac for the _hwei-hwei_ or mahomedans. had polo not omitted to touch on the issue of almanacs by government he could scarcely have failed to enter on the subject of printing, on which he has kept a silence so singular and unaccountable. the chinese government still "considers the publication of a calendar of the first importance and utility. it must do everything in its power, not only to point out to its numerous subjects the distribution of the seasons,... but on account of the general superstition it must mark in the almanac the lucky and unlucky days, the best days for being married, for undertaking a journey, for making their dresses, for buying or building, for presenting petitions to the emperor, and for many other cases of ordinary life. by this means the government keeps the people within the limits of humble obedience; it is for this reason that the emperors of china established the academy of astronomy." (_timk._ i. 358.) the acceptance of the imperial almanac by a foreign prince is considered an acknowledgment of vassalage to the emperor. it is a penal offence to issue a pirated or counterfeit edition of the government almanac. no one ventures to be without one, lest he become liable to the greatest misfortunes by undertaking the important measures on black-balled days. the price varies now, according to williams, from 1-1/2_d._ to 5_d._ a copy. the price in 1328 was 1 _tsien_ or cash for the cheapest edition, and 1 _liang_ or tael of silver for the _édition de luxe_; but as these prices were in paper-money it is extremely difficult to say, in the varying depreciation of that currency, what the price really amounted to. [illustration: mongol compendium instrument seen in the observatory garden] [illustration: mongol armillary sphere in the observatory garden] ["the calendars for the use of the people, published by imperial command, are of two kinds. the first, _wan-nien-shu, the calendar of ten thousand years_, is an abridgment of the calendar, comprising 397 years, viz. from 1624 to 2020. the second and more complete calendar is the _annual calendar_, which, under the preceding dynasties, was named _li-je, order of days_, and is now called _shih-hsien-shu, book of constant conformity (with the heavens)_. this name was given by the emperor _shun-chih_, in the first year of his reign (1644), on being presented by father john schall (_tang jo-wang_) with a new calendar, calculated on the principles of european science. this _annual calendar_ gives the following indications: (1°) the cyclical signs of the current year, of the months, and of all the days; (2°) the _long_ and _short_ months, as well as the _intercalary_ month, as the case maybe; (3°) the designation of each day by the 5 _elements_, the 28 constellations, and the 12 _happy presages_; (4°) the day and hour of the new moon, of the full moon, and of the two dichotomies, _shang-hsien_ and _hsia-hsien_; (5°) the day and hour for the _positions_ of the sun in the 24 zodiacal signs, calculated for the various capitals of china as well as for manchuria, mongolia, and the tributary kingdoms; (6°) the hour of sunrise and sunset and the length of day and night for the principal days of the month in the several capitals; (7°) various superstitious indications purporting to point out what days and hours are auspicious or not for such or such affairs in different places. those superstitious indications are stated to have been introduced into the calendar under the _yüan_ dynasty." (_p. hoang, chinese calendar_, pp. 2-3.)--h. c.] we may note that in polo's time one of the principal officers of the mathematical board was _gaisue_, a native of _folin_ or the byzantine empire, who was also in charge of the medical department of the court. regarding the observatory, see note at p. 378, supra. and i am indebted yet again to the generous zeal of mr. wylie of shanghai, for the principal notes and extracts which will, i trust, satisfy others as well as myself that the instruments in the garden of the observatory belong to the period of marco polo's residence in china.[1] the objections to the alleged age of these instruments were entirely based on an inspection of photographs. the opinion was given very strongly that no instrument of the kind, so perfect in theory and in execution, could have been even imagined in those days, and that nothing of such scientific quality could have been made except by the jesuits. in fact it was asserted or implied that these instruments must have been made about the year 1700, and were therefore not earlier in age than those which stand on the terraced roof of the observatory, and are well known to most of us from the representation in duhalde and in many popular works. the only authority that i could lay hand on was lecomte, and what he says was not conclusive. i extract the most pertinent passages: "it was on the terrace of the tower that the chinese astronomers had set their instruments, and though few in number they occupied the whole area. but father verbiest, the director of the observatory, considering them useless for astronomical observation, persuaded the emperor to let them be removed, to make way for several instruments of his own construction. the instruments set aside by the european astronomers are still in a hall adjoining the tower, buried in dust and oblivion; and we saw them only through a grated window. they appeared to us to be very large and well cast, in form approaching our astronomical circles; that is all that we could make out. there was, however, thrown into a back yard by itself, a celestial globe of bronze, of about 3 feet in diameter. of this we were able to take a nearer view. its form was somewhat oval; the divisions by no means exact, and the whole work coarse enough. "besides this in a lower hall they had established a gnomon.... this observatory, not worthy of much consideration for its ancient instruments, much less for its situation, its form, or its construction, is now enriched by several bronze instruments which father verbiest has placed there. these are large, well cast, adorned in every case with figures of dragons," etc. he then proceeds to describe them: "(1). armillary zodiacal sphere of 6 feet diameter. this sphere reposes on the heads of four dragons, the bodies of which after various convolutions come to rest upon the extremities of two brazen beams forming a cross, and thus bear the entire weight of the instrument. these dragons ... are represented according to the notion the chinese form of them, enveloped in clouds, covered above the horns with long hair, with a tufted beard on the lower jaw, flaming eyes, long sharp teeth, the gaping throat ever vomiting a torrent of fire. four lion-cubs of the same material bear the ends of the cross beams, and the heads of these are raised or depressed by means of attached screws, according to what is required. the circles are divided on both exterior and interior surface into 360 degrees; each degree into 60 minutes by transverse lines, and the minutes into sections of 10 seconds each by the sight-edge[2] applied to them." of verbiest's other instruments we need give only the names: (2) equinoxial sphere, 6 feet diameter. (3) azimuthal horizon, same diam. (4) great quadrant, of 6 feet radius. (5) sextant of about 8 feet radius. (6) celestial globe of 6 feet diameter. as lecomte gives no details of the old instruments which he saw through a grating, and as the description of this zodiacal sphere (no. 1) corresponds in some of its main features with that represented in the photograph, i could not but recognize the _possibility_ that this instrument of verbiest's had for some reason or other been removed from the terrace, and that the photograph might therefore possibly _not_ be a representation of one of the ancient instruments displaced by him.[3] the question having been raised it was very desirable to settle it, and i applied to mr. wylie for information, as i had received the photographs from him, and knew that he had been mr. thomson's companion and helper in the matter. "let me assure you," he writes (21st august, 1874), "the jesuits had nothing to do with the manufacture of the so-called mongol instruments; and whoever made them, they were certainly on the peking observatory before loyola was born. they are not made for the astronomical system introduced by the jesuits, but are altogether conformable to the system introduced by kúblái's astronomer ko show-king.... i will mention one thing which is quite decisive as to the jesuits. _the circle is divided into 365-1/4 degrees_, each degree into 100 minutes, and each minute into 100 seconds. the jesuits always used the sexagesimal division. lecomte speaks of the imperfection of the division on the jesuit-made instruments; but _those on the mongol instruments are immeasurably coarser_. "i understand it is not the ornamentation your friend objects to?[4] if it is, i would observe that there is no evidence of progress in the decorative and ornamental arts during the ming dynasty; and even in the jesuit instruments that part of the work is purely chinese, excepting in one instrument, which i am persuaded must have been made in europe. "i have a chinese work called _luh-king-t'oo-kaou_, 'illustrations and investigations of the six classics.' this was written in a.d. 1131-1162, and revised and printed in 1165-1174. it contains a representation of an armillary sphere, which appears to me to be much the same as the sphere in question. there is a solid horizon fixed to a graduated outer circle. inside the latter is a meridian circle, at right angles to which is a graduated colure; then the equator, apparently a double ring, and the ecliptic; also two diametric bars. the cut is rudely executed, but it certainly shows that some one imagined something more perfect. the instrument stands on a cross frame, with 4 dragon supporters and a prop in the centre.[5] "it should be remembered that under the mongol dynasty the chinese had much intercourse with central asia; and among others yelewchootsae, as confidential minister and astronomer, followed chinghiz in his western campaign, held intercourse with the astronomers of samarkand, and on his return laid some astronomical inventions before the emperor. "i append a notice of the observatory taken from a popular description of peking, by which it will be seen that the construction of these instruments is attributed to ko show-king, one of the most renowned astronomers of china. he was the chief astronomer under kúblái kaan" [to whom he was presented in 1262; he was born in 1231.--h. c.] "it must be remembered that there was a special vitality among the chinese under the yuen with regard to the arts and sciences, and the emperor had the choice of artizans and men of science from all countries. from the age of the yuen till the arrival of the jesuits, we hear nothing of any new instruments having been made; and it is well known that astronomy was never in a lower condition than under the ming."[6] mr. wylie then draws attention to the account given by trigault of the instruments that matteo ricci saw at nanking, when he went (in the year 1599) to pay a visit to some of the _literati_ of that city. he transcribes the account from the french _hist. de l'expédition chrestienne en la chine_, 1618. but as i have the latin, which is the original and is more lucid, by me, i will translate from that.[7] "not only at peking, but in this capital also (nanking) there is a college of chinese mathematicians, and this one certainly is more distinguished by the vastness of its buildings than by the skill of its professors. they have little talent and less learning, and do nothing beyond the preparation of the almanacs on the rules of calculation made by the ancients; and when it chances that events do not agree with their calculation they assert that what they had calculated was the regular course of things, but that the aberrant conduct of the stars was a prognostic from heaven of something going to happen on the earth. this something they make out according to their fancy, and so spread a veil over their own blunders. these gentlemen did not much trust father matteo, fearing, no doubt, lest he should put them to shame; but when at last they were freed from this apprehension they came and amicably visited the father in hope of learning something from him. and when he went to return their visit he saw something that really was new and beyond his expectation. "there is a high hill at one side of the city, but still within the walls. on the top of the hill there is an ample terrace, capitally adapted for astronomical observation, and surrounded by magnificent buildings which form the residence of the professors.... on this terrace are to be seen astronomical instruments of cast-metal, well worthy of inspection whether for size or for beauty; _and we certainly have never seen or read of anything in europe like them_. for nearly 250 years they have stood thus exposed to the rain, the snow, and all other atmospheric inclemencies, and yet they have lost absolutely nothing of their original lustre. and lest i should be accused of raising expectations which i do not justify, i will do my best in a digression, probably not unwelcome, to bring them before the eyes of my readers. "the larger of these instruments were four in number. first we inspected a great globe [a], graduated with meridians and parallels; we estimated that three men would hardly be able to embrace its girth.... a second instrument was a great sphere [b], not less in diameter than that measure of the outstretched arms which is commonly called a geometric pace. it had a horizon and poles; instead of circles it was provided with certain double hoops (_armillae_), the void space between the pair serving the purpose of the circles of our spheres. all these were divided into 365 degrees and some odd minutes. there was no globe to represent the earth in the centre, but there was a certain tube, bored like a gun-barrel, which could readily be turned about and fixed to any azimuth or any altitude so as to observe any particular star through the tube, just as we do with our vane-sights;[8]--not at all a despicable device! the third machine was a gnomon [c], the height of which was twice the diameter of the former instrument, erected on a very large and long slab of marble, on the northern side of the terrace. the stone slab had a channel cut round the margin, to be filled with water in order to determine whether the slab was level or not, and the style was set vertical as in hour-dials.[9] we may suppose this gnomon to have been erected that by its aid the shadow at the solstices and equinoxes might be precisely noted, for in that view both the slab and the style were graduated. the fourth and last instrument, and the largest of all, was one consisting as it were of three or four huge astrolabes in juxtaposition [d]; each of them having a diameter of such a geometrical pace as i have specified. the fiducial line, or _alhidada_, as it is called, was not lacking, nor yet the _dioptra_.[10] of these astrolabes, one having a tilted position in the direction of the south, represented the equator; a second, which stood crosswise on the first, in a north and south plane, the father took for a meridian; but it could be turned round on its axis; a third stood in the meridian plane with its axis perpendicular, and seemed to stand for a vertical circle; but this also could be turned round so as to show any vertical whatever. moreover all these were graduated, and the degrees marked by prominent studs of iron, so that in the night the graduation could be read by the touch without a light. all this compound astrolabe instrument was erected on a level marble platform with channels round it for levelling. on each of these instruments explanations of everything were given in chinese characters; and there were also engraved the 24 zodiacal constellations which answer to our 12 signs, 2 to each.[11] there was, however, one error common to all the instruments, viz. that, in all, the elevation of the pole was assumed to be 36°. now there can be no question about the fact that the city of nanking lies in lat. 32-1/4°; whence it would seem probable that these instruments were made for another locality, and had been erected at nanking, without reference to its position, by some one ill versed in mathematical science.[12] [illustration: observatory terrace] [illustration: observatory instruments of the jesuits.] "some years afterwards father matteo saw similar instruments at peking, or rather the same instruments, so exactly alike were they, insomuch that they had unquestionably been made by the same artist. and indeed it is known that they were cast at the period when the tartars were dominant in china; and we may without rashness conjecture that they were the work of some foreigner acquainted with our studies. but it is time to have done with these instruments."--(_lib._ iv. _cap._ 5.) in this interesting description it will be seen that the armillary sphere [b] agrees entirely with that represented in illustration facing p. 450. and the second of his photographs in my possession, but not, i believe, yet published, answers _perfectly_ to the curious description of the 4th instrument [d]. indeed, i should scarcely have been able to translate that description intelligibly but for the aid of the photograph before me. it shows the three _astrolabes_ or graduated circles with travelling indexes arranged exactly as described, and pivoted on a complex frame of bronze; (1) circle in the plane of the equator for measuring right ascensions; (2) circle with its axis vertical to the plane of the last, for measuring declinations: (3) circle with vertical axis, for zenith distances? the gnomon [a] was seen by mr. wylie in one of the lower rooms of the observatory (see below). of the globe we do not now hear; and that mentioned by lecomte among the ancient instruments was inferior to what ricci describes at peking. i now transcribe mr. wylie's translation of an extract from a popular description of peking: "the observatory is on an elevated stage on the city wall, in the south-east corner of the (tartar) city, and was built in the year (a.d. 1279). in the centre was the _tze-wei_[13] palace, inside of which were a pair of scrolls, and a cross inscription, by the imperial hand. formerly it contained the _hwan-t'ien-e_ [b] 'armillary sphere'; the _keen-e_ [d?] 'transit instrument' (?); the _tung-kew_ [a] 'brass globe'; and the _leang-t'ien-ch'ih_, 'sector,' which were constructed by ko show-king under the yuen dynasty. "in (1673) the old instruments having stood the wear of long past years, had become almost useless, and six new instruments were made by imperial authority. these were the _t'ien-t'ee_ 'celestial globe' (6); _chih-taoue_ 'equinoctial sphere' (2); _hwang-taoue_ 'zodiacal sphere' (1); _te-p'ing kinge_ 'azimuthal horizon' (3); _te-p'ing weie_ 'altitude instrument' (4); _ke-yene_ 'sextant' (5). these were placed in the observatory, and to the present day are respectfully used. the old instruments were at the same time removed, and deposited at the foot of the stage. in (1715) the _te-ping king-wei-e_ 'azimuth and altitude instrument' was made;[14] and in 1744 the _ke-hang-foo-chin-e_ (literally 'sphere and tube instrument for sweeping the heavens'). all these were placed on the observatory stage. "there is a wind-index-pole called the 'fair-wind-pennon,' on which is an iron disk marked out in 28 points, corresponding in number to the 28 constellations."[15] + mr. wylie justly observes that the evidence is all in accord, and it leaves, i think, no reasonable room for doubt that the instruments now in the observatory garden at peking are those which were cast aside by father verbiest[16] in 1673 (or 1668); which father ricci saw at peking at the beginning of the century, and of which he has described the duplicates at nanking; and which had come down from the time of the mongols, or, more precisely, of kúblái khan. ricci speaks of their age as nearly 250 years in 1599; verbiest as nearly 300 years in 1668. but these estimates evidently point to the _termination_ of the mongol dynasty (1368), to which the chinese would naturally refer their oral chronology. we have seen that kúblái's reign was the era of flourishing astronomy, and that the instruments are referred to his astronomer ko shéu-king; nor does there seem any ground for questioning this. in fact, it being once established that the instruments existed when the jesuits entered china, all the objections fall to the ground. we may observe that the number of the ancient instruments mentioned in the popular chinese account agrees with the number of important instruments described by ricci, and the titles of three at least out of the four seem to indicate the same instruments. the catalogue of the new instruments of 1673 (or 1668) given in the native work also agrees _exactly_ with that given by lecomte.[17] and in reference to my question as to the _possibility_ that one of verbiest's instruments might have been removed from the terrace to the garden, it is now hardly worth while to repeat mr. wylie's assurance that there is no ground whatever for such a supposition. the instruments represented by lecomte are all still on the terrace, only their positions have been somewhat altered to make room for the two added in last century. probably, says mr. wylie, more might have been added from chinese works, especially the biography of ko shéu-king. but my kind correspondent was unable to travel beyond the books on his own shelves. nor was it needful. it will have been seen that, beautiful as the art and casting of these instruments is, it would be a mistake to suppose that they are entitled to equally high rank in scientific accuracy. mr. wylie mentioned the question that had been started to freiherr von gumpach, who was for some years professor of astronomy in the peking college. whilst entirely rejecting the doubts that had been raised as to the age of the mongol instruments, he said that he had seen those of tycho brahe, and the former are quite unworthy to be compared with tycho's in scientific accuracy. the doubts expressed have been useful in drawing attention to these remarkable reliques of the era of kúblái's reign, and of marco polo's residence in cathay, though i fear they are answerable for having added some pages to a work that required no enlargement! [mr. wylie sent a most valuable paper on _the mongol astronomical instruments at peking_ to the congress of orientalists held at st. petersburg, which was reprinted at shanghai in 1897 in _chinese researches_. some of the astronomical instruments have been removed to potsdam by the germans since the siege of the foreign legations at peking in 1900.--h. c.] on these auguries, and on diviners and fortune-tellers, see _semedo_, p. 118 seqq.; _kidd_, p. 313 (also for preceding references, _mid. kingdom_, ii. 152; _gaubil_, 136). note 2.-+ the real cycle of the mongols, which was also that of the chinese, runs: 1. rat; 2. ox; 3. tiger; 4. hare; 5. dragon; 6. serpent; 7. horse; 8. sheep; 9. ape; 10. cock; 11. dog; 12. swine. but as such a cycle [12 earthly branches, _ti-chih_] is too short to avoid confusion, it is combined with a co-efficient cycle of _ten_ epithets [celestial stems, _t'ien-kan_] in such wise as to produce a 60-year cycle of compound names before the same shall recur. these co-efficient epithets are found in four different forms: (1) from the elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, water, attaching to each a masculine and feminine attribute so as to make ten epithets. (2) from the colours: blue, red, yellow, white, black, similarly treated. (3) by terms without meaning in mongol, directly adopted or imitated from the chinese, _ga_, yi, bing, ting, etc. (4) by the five cardinal points: east, south, middle, west, north. thus 1864 was the first year of a 60-year cycle:- 1864 = (masc.) _wood-rat_ year = (masc.) _blue-rat_ year. 1865 = (fem.) _wood-ox_ year = (fem.) _blue-ox_ year. 1866 = (masc.) _fire-tiger_ year = (masc.) _red-tiger_ year. 1867 = (fem.) _fire-hare_ year = (fem.) _red-hare_ year. 1923 = (fem.) _water-swine_ year = (fem.) _black-swine_ year. and then a new cycle commences just as before. this calendar was carried by the mongols into all their dominions, and it would appear to have long survived them in persia. thus a document issued in favour of sir john chardin by the _shaikh-ul-islám_ of ispahan, bears the strange date for a mahomedan luminary of "the year of the swine." the hindus also had a 60-year cycle, but with them each year had an independent name. the mongols borrowed their system from the chinese, who attribute its invention to the emperor hwang-ti, and its initiation to the 61st year of his reign, corresponding to b.c. 2637. ["it was ta-nao, minister to the emperor hwang-ti, who, by command of his sovereign, devised the sexagenary cycle. hwang-ti began to reign 2697 b.c., and the 61st year of his reign was taken for the first cyclical sign." _p. hoang_, _chinese calendar_; p. 11.--h. c.] the characters representing what we have called the ten coefficient epithets are called by the chinese the "heavenly stems"; those equivalent to the twelve animal symbols are the "earthly branches," and they are applied in their combinations not to years only, but to cycles of months, days, and hours, such hours being equal to two of ours. thus every year, month, day, and hour will have two appropriate characters, and the four pairs belonging to the time of any man's birth constitute what the chinese call the "eight characters" of his age, to which constant reference is made in some of their systems of fortune-telling, and in the selection of propitious days for the transaction of business. to this system the text alludes. a curious account of the principles of prognostication on such a basis will be found in _doolittle's social life of the chinese_ (p. 579 seqq.; on the calendar, see schmidt's preface to _s. setzen_; _pallas, sammlungen_, ii. 228 seqq.; _prinsep's essays_, _useful tables_, 146.) ["kubilai khan established in peking two astronomical boards and two observatories. one of them was a chinese observatory (_sze t'ien t'ai_), the other a mohammedan observatory (_hui hui sze t'ien t'ai_), each with its particular astronomical and chronological systems, its particular astrology and instruments. the first astronomical and calendar system was compiled for the mongols by ye-liu ch'u-ts'ai, who was in chingis khan's service, not only as a high counsellor, but also as an astronomer and astrologer. after having been convinced of the obsoleteness and incorrectness of the astronomical calculations in the _ta ming li_ (the name of the calendar system of the kin dynasty), he thought out at the time he was at samarcand a new system, valid not only for china, but also for the countries conquered by the mongols in western asia, and named it in memory of chingis khan's expedition _si ching keng wu yüan li_, i.e., 'astronomical calendar beginning with the year _keng wu_, compiled during the war in the west.' keng-wu was the year 1210 of our era. ye-liu ch'u-ts'ai chose this year, and the moment of the winter solstice, for the beginning of his period; because, according to his calculations, it coincided with the beginning of a new astronomical or planetary period. he took also into consideration, that since the year 1211 chingis khan's glory had spread over the whole world. ye-liu ch'u-ts'ai's calendar was not adopted in china, but the system of it is explained in the _yuen-shi_, in the section on astronomy and the calendar. "in the year 1267, the mohammedans presented to kubilai their astronomical calendar (_wan nien li_, i.e.), the calendar of ten thousand years. by taking this denomination in its literal sense, we may conclude that the mahommedans brought to china the ancient persian system, founded on the period of 10,000 years. the compilers of the _yuen-shi_ seem not to have had access to documents relating to this system, for they give no details about it. finally by order of kubilai the astronomers _hui-heng_ and _ko show-king_ composed a new calculation under the name of _shou-shi-li_ which came into use from the year 1280. it is thoroughly explained in the _yuen-shi_. notwithstanding the fame this system generally enjoyed, its blemishes came soon to light. in the sixth month of 1302 an eclipse of the sun happened, and the calculation of the astronomer proved to be erroneous (it seems the calculation had anticipated the real time). the astronomers of the ming dynasty explained the errors in the _shou-shi-li_ by the circumstance, that in that calculation the period for one degree of precession of the equinox was taken too long (eighty-one years). but they were themselves hardly able to overcome these difficulties." (_palladius_, pp. 51-53.)--h. c.] [1] besides the works quoted in the text i have only been able to consult gaubil's notices, as abstracted in lalande; and the introductory remarks to mr. j. williams's _observations of comets ... extracted from the chinese annals_, london, 1871. [2] _pinnula_. the french _pinnule_ is properly a sight-vane at the end of a traversing bar. the _transverse lines_ imply that minutes were read by the system of our _diagonal scales_; and these i understand to have been subdivided still further by aid of a divided edge attached to the sight-vane; qu. a vernier? [3] verbiest himself speaks of the displaced instruments thus ... "ut nova instrumenta astronomica facienda mihi imponeret, quae scilicet more europaeo affabre facta, et in specula astroptica pekinensi collocata, aeternam imperii tartarici memoriam apud posteritatem servarent, _prioribus instrumentis sinicis rudioris minervae, quae jam a_ trecentis _proxime_ annis _speculam occupabant, inde amotis_. imperator statim annuit illorum postulatis. et totius rei curam, publico diplomate mihi imposuit. ego itaque intra quadriennis spatium sex diversi generis instrumenta confeci." this is from an account of the observatory written by verbiest himself, and printed at peking in 1668 (_liber organicus astronomiae europaeae apud sinas restitutae_, etc.). my friend mr. d. hanbury made the extract from a copy of this rare book in the london institution library. an enlarged edition was published in europe. (dillingen, 1687.) [4] on the contrary, he considered the photographs interesting, as showing to how late a period the art of fine casting had endured. [5] this ancient instrument is probably the same that is engraved in pauthier's _chine ancienne_ under the title of "the sphere of the emperor shun" (b.c. 2255!). [6] after the death of kúblái astronomy fell into neglect, and when hongwu, the first ming sovereign, took the throne (1368) the subject was almost forgotten. nor was there any revival till the time of ching. the latter was a prince who in 1573 associated himself with the astronomer hing-yun-lu to reform the state of astronomy. (_gaubil_.) what ricci has recorded (in trigautius) of the dense ignorance of the chinese _literati_ in astronomical matters is entirely consistent with the preceding statements. [7] i had entirely forgotten to look at trigault till mr. wylie sent me the extract. the copy i use (_de christianá expeditione apud sinas ... auct. nicolao trigautio_) is of _lugdun_. 1616. the first edition was published at _august. vindelicorum_ (augsburg) in 1615: the french, at lyons, in 1616. [8] "pinnulis." [9] "_et stilus eo modo quo in horologiis ad perpendiculum collocatus_." [10] the _alidada_ is the traversing index bar which carries the _dioptra_, _pinnules_, or sight-vanes. the word is found in some older english dictionaries, and in france and italy is still applied to the traversing index of a plane table or of a sextant. littré derives it from (ar.) _'adád_, enumeration; but it is really from a quite different word, _al-idádat_ [arabic] "a door-post," which is found in this sense in an arabic treatise on the astrolabe. (see _dozy and engelmann_, p. 140.) [11] this is an error of ricci's, as mr. wylie observes, or of his reporter. the chinese divide their year into 24 portions of 15 days each. of these 24 divisions twelve called _kung_ mark the twelve places in which the sun and moon come into conjunction, and are thus in some degree analogous to our 12 signs of the zodiac. the names of these _kung_ are entirely different from those of our sign, though since the 17th century the western zodiac, with paraphrased names, has been introduced in some of their books. but besides that, they divide the heavens into 28 stellar spaces. the correspondence of this division to the hindu system of the 28 lunar mansions, called _nakshatras_, has given rise to much discussion. the chinese _sieu_ or stellar spaces are excessively unequal, varying from 24° in equatorial extent down to 24'. (_williams_, op. cit.) [see _p. hoang_, supra p. 449.] [12] mr. wylie is inclined to distrust the accuracy of this remark, as the only city nearly on the 36th parallel is p'ing-yang fu. but we have noted in regard to this (polo's pianfu, vol. ii. p. 17) that a college for the education of mongol youth was instituted here, by the great minister yeliu chutsai, whose devotion to astronomy mr. wylie has noticed above. in fact, two colleges were established by him, one at yenking, i.e. peking, the other at p'ing-yang; and astronomy is specified as one of the studies to be pursued at these. (see _d'ohsson_, ii. 71-72, quoting _de mailla_.) it seems highly probable that the two sets of instruments were originally intended for these two institutions, and that one set was carried to nanking, when the ming set their capital there in 1368. [13] the 28 _sieu_ or stellar spaces, above spoken of, do not extend to the pole; they are indeed very unequal in extent on the meridian as well as on the equator. and the area in the northern sky not embraced in them is divided into three large spaces called _yuen_ or enclosures, of which the field of circumpolar stars (or circle of perpetual apparition) forms one which is called _tze-wei_. (_williams_.) the southern circumpolar stars form a fourth space, beyond the 28 _sieu_. ibid. [14] "this was obviously made in france. there is nothing chinese about it, either in construction or ornament. it is very different from all the others." (_note by mr. wylie._) [15] "there follows a minute description of the brass clepsydra, and the brass gnomon, which it is unnecessary to translate. i have seen both these instruments, in two of the lower rooms."--id. [16] [ferdinand verbiest, s.j., was born at pitthens, near courtrai; he arrived in china in 1659 and died at peking on the 29th january, 1688.--h. c.] [17] we have attached letters a, b, c, to indicate the correspondences of the ancient instruments, and cyphers 1, 2, 3, to indicate the correspondences of the modern instruments. chapter xxxiv. [concerning the religion of the cathayans;[note 1] their views as to the soul; and their customs. as we have said before, these people are idolaters, and as regards their gods, each has a tablet fixed high up on the wall of his chamber, on which is inscribed a name which represents the most high and heavenly god; and before this they pay daily worship, offering incense from a thurible, raising their hands aloft, and gnashing their teeth[note 2] three times, praying him to grant them health of mind and body; but of him they ask nought else. and below on the ground there is a figure which they call _natigai_, which is the god of things terrestrial. to him they give a wife and children, and they worship him in the same manner, with incense, and gnashing of teeth,[note 2] and lifting up of hands; and of him they ask seasonable weather, and the fruits of the earth, children, and so forth.[note 3] their view of the immortality of the soul is after this fashion. they believe that as soon as a man dies, his soul enters into another body, going from a good to a better, or from a bad to a worse, according as he hath conducted himself well or ill. that is to say, a poor man, if he have passed through life good and sober, shall be born again of a gentlewoman, and shall be a gentleman; and on a second occasion shall be born of a princess and shall be a prince, and so on, always rising, till he be absorbed into the deity. but if he have borne himself ill, he who was the son of a gentleman shall be reborn as the son of a boor, and from a boor shall become a dog, always going down lower and lower. the people have an ornate style of speech; they salute each other with a cheerful countenance, and with great politeness; they behave like gentlemen, and eat with great propriety.[note 4] they show great respect to their parents; and should there be any son who offends his parents, or fails to minister to their necessities, there is a public office which has no other charge but that of punishing unnatural children, who are proved to have acted with ingratitude towards their parents.[note 5] criminals of sundry kinds who have been imprisoned, are released at a time fixed by the great kaan (which occurs every three years), but on leaving prison they are branded on one cheek that they may be recognized. the great kaan hath prohibited all gambling and sharping, things more prevalent there than in any other part of the world. in doing this, he said: "i have conquered you by force of arms, and all that you have is mine; if, therefore, you gamble away your property, it is in fact my property that you are gambling away." not that he took anything from them however. i must not omit to tell you of the orderly way in which the kaan's barons and others conduct themselves in coming to his presence. in the first place, within a half mile of the place where he is, out of reverence for his exalted majesty, everybody preserves a mien of the greatest meekness and quiet, so that no noise of shrill voices or loud talk shall be heard. and every one of the chiefs and nobles carries always with him a handsome little vessel to spit in whilst he remain in the hall of audience--for no one dares spit on the floor of the hall,--and when he hath spitten he covers it up and puts it aside.[note 6] so also they all have certain handsome buskins of white leather, which they carry with them, and, when summoned by the sovereign, on arriving at the entrance to the hall, they put on these white buskins, and give their others in charge to the servants, in order that they may not foul the fine carpets of silk and gold and divers colours.] note 1.--ramusio's heading has _tartars_, but it is manifestly of the cathayans or chinese that the author speaks throughout this chapter. note 2.--"_sbattendo i denti_." this is almost certainly, as marsden has noticed, due to some error of transcription. probably _battono i fronti_, or something similar, was the true reading. [see following note, p. 461.--h. c.] note 3.--the latter part of this passage has, i doubt not, been more or less interpolated, seeing that it introduces again as a _chinese_ divinity the rude object of primitive tartar worship, of which we have already heard in bk. i. ch. liii. and regarding the former part of the passage, one cannot but have some doubt whether what was taken for the symbol of the most high was not the ancestral tablet, which is usually placed in one of the inner rooms of the house, and before which worship is performed at fixed times, and according to certain established forms. something, too, may have been known of the emperor's worship of heaven at the great circular temple at peking, called _t'ien-t'ân_, or altar of heaven (see p. 459), where incensed offerings are made before a tablet, on which is inscribed the name yuh-hwang shang-ti, which some interpret as "the supreme ruler of the imperial heavens," and regard as the nearest approach to pure theism of which there is any indication in chinese worship (see _doolittle_, pp. 170, 625; and _lockhart_ in _j. r. g. s._, xxxvi. 142). this worship is mentioned by the mahomedan narrator of shah rukh's embassy (1421): "every year there are some days on which the emperor eats no animal food.... he spends his time in an apartment which contains no idol, and says that he is worshipping the god of heaven."[1] (_ind. antiquary_, ii. 81.) [illustration: great temple of heaven, peking.] the charge of irreligion against the chinese is an old one, and is made by hayton in nearly the same terms as it often is by modern missionaries: "and though these people have the acutest intelligence in all matters wherein material things are concerned, yet you shall never find among them any knowledge or perception of spiritual things." yet it is a mistake to suppose that this insensibility has been so universal as it is often represented. to say nothing of the considerable numbers who have adhered faithfully to the roman catholic church, the large number of mahomedans in china, of whom many must have been proselytes, indicates an interest in religion; and that buddhism itself was in china once a spiritual power of no small energy will, i think, be plain to any one who reads the very interesting extracts in schott's essay on buddhism in upper asia and china. (_berlin acad. of sciences_, 1846.) these seem to be so little known that i will translate two or three of them. "in the years _yuan-yeu_ of the sung (a.d. 1086-1093), a pious matron with her two servants lived entirely to the land of enlightenment. one of the maids said one day to her companion: 'to-night i shall pass over to the realm of amita.' the same night a balsamic odour filled the house, and the maid died without any preceding illness. on the following day the surviving maid said to the lady: 'yesterday my deceased companion appeared to me in a dream, and said to me: "thanks to the persevering exhortations of our mistress, i am become a partaker of paradise, and my blessedness is past all expression in words."' the matron replied: 'if she will appear to me also then i will believe what you say.' next night the deceased really appeared to her, and saluted her with respect. the lady asked: 'may i, for once, visit the land of enlightenment?' 'yea,' answered the blessed soul, 'thou hast but to follow thy handmaiden.' the lady followed her (in her dream), and soon perceived a lake of immeasurable expanse, overspread with innumerable red and white lotus flowers, of various sizes, some blooming, some fading. she asked what those flowers might signify? the maiden replied: 'these are all human beings on the earth whose thoughts are turned to the land of enlightenment. the very first longing after the paradise of amita produces a flower in the celestial lake, and this becomes daily larger and more glorious, as the self-improvement of the person whom it represents advances; in the contrary case, it loses in glory and fades away.'[2] the matron desired to know the name of an enlightened one who reposed on one of the flowers, clad in a waving and wondrously glistening raiment. her whilom maiden answered: 'that is yangkie.' then asked she the name of another, and was answered: 'that is mahu.' the lady then said: 'at what place shall i hereafter come into existence?' then the blessed soul led her a space further, and showed her a hill that gleamed with gold and azure. 'here,' said she, 'is your future abode. you will belong to the first order of the blessed.' when the matron awoke she sent to enquire for yangkie and mahu. the first was already departed; the other still alive and well. and thus the lady learned that the soul of one who advances in holiness and never turns back, may be already a dweller in the land of enlightenment, even though the body still sojourn in this transitory world" (pp. 55-56). what a singular counterpart the striking conclusion here forms to dante's tremendous assault on a still living villain,--or enemy! --"che per sua opra in anima in cocito già si bagna, ed in corpo par vivo ancor di sopra." --_infern._ xxxiii. 155. again: "i knew a man who during his life had killed many living beings, and was at last struck with an apoplexy. the sorrows in store for his sin-laden soul pained me to the heart; i visited him, and exhorted him to call on the amita; but he obstinately refused, and spoke only of indifferent matters. his illness clouded his understanding; in consequence of his misdeeds he had become hardened. what was before such a man when once his eyes were closed? wherefore let men be converted while there is yet time! in this life the night followeth the day, and the winter followeth the summer; that, all men are aware of. but that life is followed by death, no man will consider. oh, what blindness and obduracy is this!" (p. 93). again: "hoang-ta-tie, of t'ancheu (changshu-fu in honan), who lived under the sung, followed the craft of a blacksmith. whenever he was at his work he used to call without intermission on the name of amita buddha. one day he handed to his neighbours the following verses of his own composing to be spread about:- 'ding dong! the hammer-strokes fall long and fast, until the iron turns to steel at last! now shall the long long day of rest begin, the land of bliss eternal calls me in.' thereupon he died. but his verses spread all over honan, and many learned to call upon buddha" (103). once more: "in my own town there lived a physician by name chang-yan-ming. he was a man who never took payment for his treatment from any one in poor or indifferent circumstances; nay, he would often make presents to such persons of money or corn to lighten their lot. if a rich man would have his advice and paid him a fee, he never looked to see whether it were much or little. if a patient lay so dangerously ill that yanming despaired of his recovery, he would still give him good medicine to comfort his heart, but never took payment for it. i knew this man for many a year, and i never heard the word _money_ pass his lips! one day a fire broke out in the town, and laid the whole of the houses in ashes; only that of the physician was spared. his sons and grandsons reached high dignities" (p. 110). of such as this physician the apostle said: "of a truth i perceive that god is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." ["by the 'most high and heavenly god,' worshipped by the chinese, as marco polo reports, evidently the chinese _t'ien_, 'heaven' is meant, _lao t'ien ye_ in the common language. regarding 'the god of things terrestrial,' whose figure the chinese, according to m. polo, 'placed below on the ground,' there can also be no doubt that he understands the _t'u-ti_, the local 'lar' of the chinese, to which they present sacrifices on the floor, near the wall under the table. "m. polo reports, that the chinese worship their god offering incense, raising their hands aloft, and gnashing their teeth. of course he means that they placed the hands together, or held kindled joss-stick bundles in their hands, according to the chinese custom. the statement of m. polo _sbattendo i denti_ is very remarkable. it seems to me, that very few of the chinese are aware of the fact, that this custom still exists among the taouists. in the rituals of the taouists the _k'ow-ch'i_ (_ko'w_ = 'to knock against,'_ch'i_ = 'teeth') is prescribed as a comminatory and propitiatory act. it is effected by the four upper and lower foreteeth. the taouists are obliged before the service begins to perform a certain number of '_k'ow-ch'i_, turning their heads alternately to the left and to the right, in order to drive away mundane thoughts and aggressions of bad spirits. the _k'ow-ch'i_ repeated three times is called _ming fa ku_ in chinese, i.e. 'to beat the spiritual drum.' the ritual says, that it is heard by the most high ruler, who is moved by it to grace. "m. polo observed this custom among the lay heathen. indeed, it appears from a small treatise, written in china more than a hundred years before m. polo, that at the time the chinese author wrote, all devout men, entering a temple, used to perform the _k'ow-ch'i_, and considered it an expression of veneration and devotion to the idols. thus this custom had been preserved to the time of m. polo, who did not fail to mention this strange peculiarity in the exterior observances of the chinese. as regards the present time it seems to me, that this custom is not known among the people, and even with respect to the taouists it is only performed on certain occasions, and not in all taouist temples." (_palladius_, pp. 53-54.)--h. c.] note 4.--"true politeness cannot of course be taught by rules merely, but a great degree of urbanity and kindness is everywhere shown, whether owing to the naturally placable disposition of the people, or to the effects of their early instruction in the forms of politeness." (_mid. kingdom_, ii. 68.) as regards the "ornate style of speech," a well-bred chinaman never says _i_ or _you_, but for the former "the little person," "the disciple," "the inferior," and so on; and for the latter, "the learned man," "the master," or even "the emperor." these phrases, however, are not confined to china, most of them having exact parallels in hindustani courtesy. on this subject and the courteous disposition of the chinese, see _fontaney_, in _lett. edif._ vii. 287 seqq.; also xi. 287 seqq.; _semedo_, 36; _lecomte_, ii. 48 seqq. there are, however, strong differences of opinion expressed on this subject; there is, apparently, much more genuine courtesy in the north than in the south. note 5.--"filial piety is the fundamental principle of the chinese polity." (_amiot_, v. 129.) "in cases of extreme unfilial conduct, parents sometimes accuse their children before the magistrate, and demand his official aid in controlling or punishing them; but such instances are comparatively rare.... if the parent require his son to be publicly whipped by the command of the magistrate, the latter is obliged to order the infliction of the whipping.... if after punishment the son remain undutiful and disobedient, and his parents demand it at the hands of the magistrate, the latter must, with the consent of the maternal uncles of the son, cause him to be taken out to the high wall in front of the yamun, and have him there publicly whipped to death." (_doolittle_, 102-103.) note 6.--[mr. rockhill writes to me that pocket-spitoons are still used in china.--h. c.] [1] "in the worship carried on here the emperor acts as a high priest. he only worships; and no subject, however high in rank, can join in the adoration." (_lockhart_.) the actual temple dates from 1420-1430; but the _institution_ is very ancient, and i think there is evidence that such a structure existed under the mongols, probably only _restored_ by the ming. [it was built during the 18th year of the reign of the third ming emperor yung loh (1403-1425); it was entirely restored during the 18th year of k'ien lung; it was struck by lightning and burnt down in 1889; it is being re-built.--h. c.] [2] in 1871 i saw in bond street an exhibition of (so-called) "spirit" drawings, i.e. drawings alleged to be executed by a "medium" under extraneous and invisible guidance. a number of these extraordinary productions (for extraordinary they were undoubtedly) professed to represent the "spiritual flowers" of such and such persons; and the explanation of this as presented in the catalogue was in substance exactly that given in the text. it is highly improbable that the artist had any cognizance of schott's essay, and the coincidence was assuredly very striking. end of vol i. [illustration: marco polo's itineraries no. iv (book i, chapter 36 to end & chief part of book ii.)] [illustration: plan of shangtu from an eye sketch by dr. s w bushell 1872] [illustration: archway erected under the mongol dynasty at kiu yung kwan, n.w. of peking.[1]] [1] on the walls of this archway is engraved the inscription in six characters, of which a representation accompanies ch. xv. of prologue, note 1.