_Of the Hunger, Thirst, and other Miseries we endured_.
There was no end of hunger and thirst, and cold and weariness. In the
morning they gave us something to drink, or some boiled millet; but
afterwards we had nothing to eat until the evening, when they bestowed some
flesh upon us, being generally the shoulder and breast of a ram, and every
one was allowed a proportion of the broth to drink; and we considered
ourselves fortunate when we had enough of broth, as it was exceedingly
refreshing, pleasant, and nutritive. Sometimes we were constrained to eat
our meat half boiled, or even almost raw, for want of fuel, especially when
we were benighted and obliged to pass the night in the fields, because we
could not conveniently gather horse or cow-dung to make a fire, and we
seldom found any other fuel, except a few thorns here and there, and a few
rare woods on the banks of some rivers. Every Saturday I remained fasting
until night, and was then constrained, to my great grief, to eat flesh, as
I could not procure any other food in the desert. In the beginning of our
journey our guide disdained us exceedingly, and seemed quite indignant at
being obliged to take charge of such base fellows as he seemed to esteem
us; but he afterwards behaved better, and often took us purposely to the
courts of rich Moals, who requested us to pray for them; and if I had been
so fortunate as to have a good interpreter, I might have been able to do
some good among these ignorant people.
Zingis, the first great khan or emperor of the Tartars, left four sons,
from whom descended many grandsons, who are daily multiplying and
dispersing over that immense waste desert, which is boundless like the
ocean. These Moals whom we visited and prayed for, were astonished when we
refused their proffered gifts of gold and silver and fine garments. They
often enquired whether the great Pope was actually 500 years old, as they
had heard from report. They likewise enquired into the nature and
productions of our country, especially whether we had abundance of cattle,
sheep, and horses. When we spoke to them about the ocean, they could form
no adequate conception of its immense expanse, without banks or limits.
On the feast of All-Saints, 1st November, as the people had now descended
very much to the southwards, we now discontinued our eastern route, and
journied directly south for eight days, along certain high mountains. In
the desert we saw many wild asses resembling mules, called colan or coulan
by the Tartars, which our guide and his companions often chased with great
eagerness, but without success, owing to the great swiftness of these
animals. Upon the seventh day of our southern route, we saw directly before
us some exceedingly high mountains, and we entered upon a fine cultivated
plain, which was irrigated like a garden. Next day, 7th November, we
arrived at a town belonging to the Mahometans named Kenchat, the governor
of which came out to meet our guide with ale and other refreshments; for it
is the custom of all the subjected cities, to welcome the messengers of
Baatu and Mangu with meat and drink on their arrival. At this season, the
ice was fully bearing, and we found frost in the desert before the feast of
St Michael, 29th September. I inquired the name of the province, but being
in a strange land they could not inform me, and could only tell me the name
of this city, which is very small. Into this district a large river
descends from the mountains, which the inhabitants lead off to water or
irrigate the whole region; so that this river does not discharge itself
into any sea, but after forming many pools or marshes, is absorbed into the
earth. In this region we saw vines growing, and drank twice of their wines.