INTRODUCTION.

In presenting to the members of the Hakluyt Society a reprint of the cotemporary English translation by Parke of Mendoza's interesting and now rare account of China, the editor thinks it due to his readers that some explanation should be given of the circumstances under which the original work was compiled, and that at the same time it should be shown what previous accounts had reached Europe respecting that remarkable country. The interest of the narrative itself, abounding as it does with minute and curious details of the manners and customs of so peculiar a race as the Chinese, requires no vindication: it will speak for itself. It will nevertheless interest those who appreciate the objects of the Society, to know, that the present translation was made at Hakluyt's own suggestion, shortly after the appearance of Mendoza's original work in Spanish.

It is the leading purpose of the Hakluyt Society to deal with the Archæology of Geography, and more especially so in connexion with the progress made by our own English ancestors in the advancement of that important science. In pursuance of that object, therefore, Mendoza's account of China has been selected for re-publication, as being the earliest detailed account of that country ever published in the English language. We say detailed account, because we must not omit to mention that it was preceded by a short but interesting document, published by Richard Eden in his History of Travayle in the West and East Indies, entitled "Reportes of the Province of China," of the history and contents of which we shall hereafter speak in its proper place. While, however, in the selection for re-publication, respect is paid to the earliest narratives which appeared in our own tongue, the reader's appreciation of the subject is best secured by an introductory notice of all the antecedent descriptions which may at intervals have appeared in other languages. This plan is more especially desirable with respect to those earlier glimmerings of information which Europe obtained respecting a country so removed from the civilized world, by its geographical position and ethnological peculiarities, as China, yet so marvellously in advance of it at the times of which we speak, both in its intellectual and moral developments. In such notice, meanwhile, we propose to pass by all discussion as to the much disputed question of the position of the Thinæ of Eratosthenes, Strabo, and the Periplus of the Erythræan Sea, or of the application of Marinus's Serica, as preserved to us by Ptolemy, to the kingdom of China. Upon these more uncertain data we shall dwell no longer than to state, that our own impression agrees with that of Vossius, that China is the country referred to, and that the Seres of Ammianus Marcellinus, corresponding as they so closely do in character with the modern Chinese, were intended to represent that people. That the Romans possessed some knowledge of China, would seem to be shown by a discovery made by the learned De Guignes, of a statement in a Chinese historical work, that in the year of our Lord 166, an embassy, said to have come by sea, arrived from An-thon (Antoninus) to the Emperor Yan-hi; and the use of the "serica vestis", alluded to by Horace and Propertius, would appear to confirm the impression, provided only that silk, and not muslin, were the commodity really alluded to.

On these less certain points, however, we are, as we have said, unwilling to dwell. We pass on therefore to the mention of more explicit and unquestionable record. First of these is the narrative given in an Arabic manuscript, written about the year 1173, describing the observations of two Arab merchants, who, from the style of the documents, were evidently in China a couple of centuries earlier. Their respective dates, indeed, are concluded to be 851 and 867. This curious and valuable manuscript, discovered by the learned M. Eusèbe Renaudot in the Comte de Seignelay's library, was translated by him into French, and published at Paris in 1718. A translation appeared in English in 1733. Although thus concealed from the acquaintance of Europeans till this comparatively recent date, it rightly takes its place here as comprising the two earliest accounts of China, of which we have as yet received any information. Though adulterated with some few exaggerations, and statements manifestly fabulous, they contain so many curious particulars, which even now, from the permanence of institutions and manners in China, may be considered as accurate, that no doubt can be entertained of their genuineness, or of the intelligence of the narrators.

The two narratives were written consecutively, one of them forming a sort of comment or supplement to the other.

The country is described as extensive, but, though more populous, less extensive than the Indies, and divided into many principalities. It is represented as fruitful, and containing no deserts, while India is said to contain some of great extent.

Tea, under the name of tcha, is distinctly referred to, as being universally drunk infused in hot water, and supposed to be a cure for every disease.

Porcelain is spoken of as an excellent kind of earth, of which is made a ware as fine and transparent as glass.

The Chinese are described as more handsome than the Indians, and are

The knowledge of reading and writing is described as being general amongst them, all important transactions being put into writing. Idolatry is mentioned as very prevalent, and a hideous and incomprehensible statement is made, of human flesh being publicly exposed for sale in the markets. At the same time the punishment of vice is represented as most severe, and the surveillance over individuals extremely rigid, "for everybody in China, whether a native, an Arab, or any other foreigner, is obliged to declare all he knows of himself, nor can he possibly be excused for so doing". And thieves are put to death as soon as caught.

Canfu (Canton) is mentioned as the seaport of China, resorted to by Arabian shipping; and Cumdan, described as a very splendid city, supposed to be Nanking, was the residence of the monarch.

Renaudot, to whom the world is indebted for rescuing this narrative from obscurity, believes that it supplied Edrisi, the celebrated Arab geographer of the twelfth century, with the materials for the observations on China which occur in his Geographia Nubiensis; but this reproach would seem to be unfounded, inasmuch as his details are too few and vague, to warrant the conclusion that they were digested from the more lucid and ample account to which we have been referring. The most observable point of information with which Edrisi supplies us, is the fact, that the northern parts of Sin had by that time been conquered by a Tartar nation, whom he calls the Baghargar Turks. Abulfeda also, who flourished nearly two centuries later, seems to have been equally ignorant of the existence of the two Arab travellers; for he gives, as an apology for the ignorance of the geographers of that day respecting China, that no one had been there from whom they could procure information.

The incidental reference to China by Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish traveller in the east, of the twelfth century, should not be omitted. It is but a reference, but curious enough to be quoted. It is as follows:—

The first European reference to China described by a traveller from hearsay, is that given by the Minorite friar John de Plano Carpini, who, with five other brothers of the order, in 1245 was sent by Pope Innocent IV into the country of the Mongolians. The purpose of this mission was, if possible, to divert these devastating conquerors from Europe, and to instigate them rather to a war with the Turks and Saracens. At the same time they were to inculcate, as much as might be, the Christian faith, and at all events to collect every possible information respecting a people so little known.

Carpini was absent sixteen months. A copy of his narrative, formerly belonging to Lord Lumley, is in the British Museum, and is the same which was used by Hakluyt for his Principal Navigations, from which the following extract is taken. It is after describing a battle between the Mongals and the Chinese, whom he calls Kythayans, that he describes the latter as follows:

The first traveller, from whom accounts collected from personal experience respecting China were received in Europe, was William Van Ruysbroeck, commonly known by the name of De Rubruquis, a friar of the Minorite order, and sometimes called William of Tripoli, from the circumstance of the narrative of his travels having been transmitted from Tripoli to St. Louis, king of France, at whose instance they were undertaken. The cause of his mission was a rumour, which had spread through Europe, that the Mongolian chief, Mangu Khan, had embraced the Christian religion; and St. Louis being then engaged in the fourth Crusade against the Saracens, was anxious to cement an alliance with the Tartars, who were at that time in hostility with the same power on the side of Persia. This political purpose was enhanced by sanguine hopes that the Tartars were even then, or likely soon to be, converted to the Christian faith. The passage of Rubruquis was by Constantinople over the Black Sea, through the Crimea, to the district of the city of the Caraci, in the Gobi Desert, where Mangu Khan was then residing.

His first reception was not of the most hospitable kind, but nine days after his arrival he succeeded in obtaining an imperial audience; and when Mangu Khan, a short time after, departed for Karakorum, a city on the east side of the river Orchon, he and his companions followed in his train. This city, of which no traces have been found in the desert for some centuries, is mentioned by Marco Polo, who visited it about eighteen years after Rubruquis, as having been the first in which these Tartars ever fixed their residence, and was at that time the capital of Mangu Khan, and the only considerable city in that part of Asia. Rubruquis, in describing it, says: "There are two grand streets in it, one of the Saracens, where the friars are kept and many merchants resort thither, and one other street of the Catayans (Chinese), who are all artificers." The explanation of this is, that the Tartars had already conquered the greater part of northern China, then known under the name of Cathay.

Rubruquis and his companions, who by this time had gained considerable favour in the eyes of the Khan, entered Karakorum with great distinction. He describes the city itself as not equal to the village of St. Denis, near Paris, the monastery of which he asserts was "tenne times more worth than the palace, and more too." The place was surrounded by a mud wall, and had four gates. The description of the palace conveys the idea of a hall, at one end of which was a raised seat for the Khan, on which he "sitteth above like a god". In this city the friar found to his surprise a French goldsmith, named Guillaume Bouchier, who is not unfrequently mentioned by early writers under the name of William of Paris, and who had constructed a piece of mechanism, the ingenuity of which deserves the highest praise, when the early period at which he worked is taken into consideration. Its description is thus given by Purchas, in a translation of the greater part of the travels of Rubruquis, inserted in the third volume of his Pilgrimes.

Amongst the various points of information gathered by Rubruquis respecting the Chinese or Catayans, as they were so long called, occur the following important items. The characteristic principle of their religious and political creed, embodied the great truth of the existence of one supreme presiding deity, under whom the grand khan maintained the presidency over his extensive dominions, and resistance to that dominion consequently involved not only treason but heinous impiety. Another curious fact, first communicated by Rubruquis, and afterwards confirmed by Marco Polo, is that of paper currency, which was not adopted in Europe for some centuries after, being then in general use in China. To him also we are indebted for some notion of the peculiar characters and mode of writing practised by the Chinese, who, as he says, do not write with pens as we do, but with small brushes, such as are used by our painters, and in one character or figure give a whole word.

He also speaks at length of a strong drink called Cosmos, which he describes as follows:—

This limited stock of information, however, valuable as it is from the priority of its date, sinks into insignificance before the detailed and almost cotemporaneous narrative of that once reviled but now much honoured pioneer of geographical investigation, Marco Polo. In the present advanced age, when enlarged facilities have opened up to the knowledge of the world the characteristic peculiarities of remote countries and their inhabitants, we can do justice to the courage and fidelity of those who, six centuries ago, could dare to describe such apparent anomalies, while at the same time we can find an excuse for the disbelief of those who regarded them as extravagant and impudent fictions. Nor can we, indeed, conceive of any country and people, the description of which, unconfirmed by the repeated observation of many, was more calculated to excite suspicion and disbelief, while those very peculiarities, now that they are authenticated, become the staple proof of the trustworthiness of the early narrator. The father and uncle of Marco Polo, natives of Venice, had in 1254 made a trading journey to Tartary; the exploration of the east, and the importation of its rich and beautiful productions, offering a peculiar attraction to the commercial enterprise of that great and flourishing city. Marco was not born till some months after the departure of his father, but by the time of the return of the two brothers was become a young man, fifteen years having been devoted to their interesting and extraordinary peregrinations. They had crossed the Euxine Sea to Armenia, whence they travelled by land to the court of a great Tartarian chief named Barba. By him they were favorably received, and were enabled to effect advantageous sales of their merchandise. After a year, however, spent in his capital, a war broke out between him and a neighbouring chieftain, and the return of the travellers to Europe being thus intercepted, they took a circuitous course round the head of the Caspian, and so through the desert of Karak to Bokhara.

After an abode there of three years, during which they obtained a knowledge of the Tartar language, they attached themselves to the company of an ambassador going to the court of Kublai, grand Khan of the Tartars, where they arrived after a year's journey. This potent monarch gave them a gracious reception, and was curious in his enquiries concerning the affairs of Europe and the Christian religion. Learning from them that the Pope was the person regarded with the greatest veneration in Europe, he resolved on despatching them as his ambassadors to His Holiness, with the request that he would send persons to instruct his people in the true faith. Protected by his signet they set out, and pursuing their journey across Asia, arrived in Venice in the year 1269. At this time there was a vacancy in the popedom, and the brothers remained in Venice two years before it was filled. At length, on the accession of Gregory X, they obtained letters from him, accompanied with presents to Kublai Khan, and taking with them young Marco, now seventeen years of age, and accompanied by two friars of the order of Preachers, they again departed for the east. They landed at a port in Armenia named Giuzza (Ayas), but finding that the Sultan of Babylon was at war with the province, the two friars became intimidated and returned home. The three Venetians, however, pursued their way, and after travelling for three years and a half across Asia, and encountering numerous perils and disasters, at length reached the court of Kublai. He was greatly pleased at their return, and Marco, becoming a great favourite with him, was employed by the Khan in various important missions to distant provinces. After a residence of seventeen years at the court of Kublai, the three Venetians were extremely desirous of returning to their native land, and at length obtained permission to accompany the ambassadors of a king of India, who had come to demand a princess of the Khan's family in marriage for their sovereign. It was a voyage of a year and a half through the Indian seas before they arrived at the court of this king, named Argon. Thence they travelled to Constantinople, and finally reached Venice in 1295.

Such is the narrative of the travels and foreign residence of the three Polos, as related by Marco. They returned rich in jewels and valuable effects, after an absence of twenty-four years, which had so altered them, that nothing less than a display of their wealth was necessary to procure their recognition by their kindred. Hence, Marco gained the name of Il Millione, the house in which he had lived in Venice being still known in the time of Ramusio under the name of "La Corte del Millioni." Not long afterwards, news came to Venice that the Genoese were approaching with a powerful armament, and a number of galleys were immediately fitted out to oppose them, and Marco Polo was made sopracomito of one of them. In an engagement that ensued he fell into the hands of the Genoese Admiral Lampa Doria, and was carried prisoner to Genoa, to which circumstance we owe the advantage of possessing a permanent record of his travels. Then he spent four years in prison; but the interest excited amongst the Genoese nobles by the stirring narrative of his adventures, led them to urge him to allow an account of his travels to be drawn up from his notes and dictation. His narrative was thus taken from his mouth in his prison at Genoa, by the hand of his friend and fellow-traveller Rustichello, a native of Pisa. He afterwards regained his liberty, but of his subsequent history little or nothing is known.

The most interesting portion of his narrative is unquestionably that which refers to China, of which he speaks under the names of Kataia and Manji; the former, as we have already stated, denoting the northern, and the latter the southern part of the empire. The northern kingdom of Kataia contained the residence of Kublai Khan, while the south, although subjugated, had not been completely incorporated into the almost boundless Tartar dominion, which had been established by Kublai's victorious ancestor, the renowned Zenghis Khan.

The route by which Polo entered China was along the northern frontier, and is thus referred to by Mr. Marsden:—"Having reached the borders of Northern China, and spoken of two places (Succuir, the modern Sucheu, and Kampion, the modern Kancheu) that are within what is named the Great Wall, our author ceases to pursue a direct route, and proceeds to the account of places lying to the north and south, some of them in the vicinity and others in distant parts of Tartary, according to the information he had acquired of them on various occasions. Nor does he in the sequel furnish any distinct idea of the line he took upon entering China, in company with his father and uncle, on their journey to the emperor's court, although there is reason to believe that he went from Kan-cheu to Sining, and there fell into the great road from Thibet to Peking." Before reaching the latter city, however, they visited Karakorum, already referred to as the capital of the Khan's dominions visited by Rubruquis. This city, Mr. Marsden says, was built by Oktar Khan, the son and successor of Jenghis Khan, about the year 1235, whose nephew Mangu Khan, made it his principal residence. No traces of it have been in existence for some centuries, but its position is noted in the Jesuits' and Danville's maps. J. Reinhold Forster, however, on the authority of Fischer's History of Siberia, observes, that it must be looked for on the east side of the river Orchon, and not on the Onghin or Onguimuren, where D'Anville has placed it.

From the length of time which had elapsed since Nicolo and Maffeo Polo had left China as Kublai's ambassadors, they were forgotten, but as soon as the Khan, who was then absent, heard of their arrival at Karakorum, he issued orders that they should be received with all honour and escorted to his presence. The appearance of young Marco produced a highly favourable impression upon the Khan, who immediately took him under his especial protection. The assiduity of Marco in studying the language and manners of the Tartars, and the wisdom and prudence which he exhibited in the exercise of the various important functions in which he was employed by the Khan, caused him rapidly to rise in the estimation and favour of that liberal-minded monarch. Upon the removal of the Khan to Khambalu, a corruption of Khambalig (capital of the Khan), and understood to be the modern Pekin, Marco followed in his train. This city was found to surpass in splendour everything that he had yet met with. The dimensions of the palace comprehended a square, each side of which was six miles long, a statement not very widely different from the truth. This enclosure, however, comprised all the royal armouries, as well as fields and meadows, stored with various descriptions of game. The roofs of the spacious halls were covered with gorgeous gilding, and painting in brilliant colours, while representations of dragons and battles were carved upon the sides. To the north of the palace stood an eminence called the Green Mountain, of about a mile in circuit, covered with the finest trees which could be collected from all parts of the empire, and which had been brought by elephants to this spot.

This account strikingly agrees with those of modern travellers, and the description of the internal government of the country, its postal arrangements, and the beneficent distribution of grain from the imperial granaries in times of scarcity, agree with since recognized Chinese history.

Marco subsequently made an excursion into the country of Manji, or Southern China, his route lying by the course of the imperial canal. In his southward progress, after passing by various cities, he at length reached Tinqui (Taitcheou), distant about three days' journey from the sea, where there is an extensive manufactory of salt, an article which forms a leading article of commerce in China. He next came to Yanqui (Yangtcheoufou), at the mouth of the river Yang-tsi-kiang, the seat of a viceroy, in which Polo himself exercised for the space of three years the supreme jurisdiction. His subsequent route lay along the banks of the Yang-tsi-kiang, and he incidentally alludes to the noble city of Nanghin (Nanking), where he speaks of the manufacture of cloths of gold and silver, but does not seem to have visited the city itself. Taking thence a southward course, he reached Quinsai (Hang-cheou), or the city of heaven, the splendour of which still important place was at that time such, that he speaks of it in the following terms: "In the world there is not the like, nor a place in which there are found so many pleasures, that a man would imagine himself in paradise." This city, then the metropolis of Manji, was in the height of its glory, and may well be supposed to have surpassed in grandeur any city which Polo had seen; and if he is to be charged with exaggeration in describing it as one hundred miles in circumference, and to have contained one million six hundred thousand houses, and twelve thousand bridges, it must be remembered that its really immense extent was calculated to mislead the judgment of an observer, and to make him credulous of the accounts of the inhabitants. It is still a splendid and very extensive city, and it is not to be wondered at that Polo, who witnessed its unfaded glories, should have dwelt with enthusiasm on its spacious and beautiful palaces, and its waters covered with richly decorated barges. The character of the inhabitants he describes as effeminate, luxurious, and unwarlike.

In his southward journey Polo mentions many great cities in Manji, which it would be difficult to identify with their modern nomenclature. Among these Unguen, a city of the province of Fokien, is referred to, as remarkable for its extensive manufacture of sugar, sent from thence to Khambalu; its natives being described as skilled in the art of refining it with wood ashes, from persons belonging to Babylonia (Egypt). It is also worthy of notice, that his embarcation took place at a famous port called Zaitun, which was much frequented by ships with rich cargoes from India for the supply of Manji and Kataia, and exceedingly productive in revenue to the grand Khan, who received ten per cent. on all merchandise. In spite of this impost, and the heavy freights, amounting to nearly fifty per cent., the merchants are described as making enormous profits.

The inhabitants of the place are represented as distinguished for their skill in embroidery and tapestry. This has been supposed to mean Fou-cheou-fu, Amoy, or some neighbouring port in Fokien; but it is difficult to reconcile this with the statement that one arm of the river on which this city stood reached to Quinsay, which, as we have already stated, appears to be intended for the great city of Hang-cheou.

The next in rotation on our list of eastern travellers, is Giovanni di Monte Corvino, a Franciscan monk of Calabria, who went as ambassador from Pope Nicholas IV in 1288 to the grand Khan, and died in Khambalu, that is, Pekin, holding the distinguished position of archbishop of the missions in that city. His letters refer to little more than the progress he made in the advancement of the Roman Catholic religion in that capital.

The next traveller in China of whom we have to speak is Oderico Mattheussi, a Minorite friar, more commonly known under the name of Oderico de Pordenone, from Pordenone in Friuli, in which place he was born about the year 1285. He undertook a journey in 1317, accompanied by several other monks, through Tartary, by Trebizond, to China, and returned by Thibet to Europe. In 1330, a year before his death, he dictated in Padua, to Guglielmo di Solagno, a monk, an account of his travels as they occurred to his memory, in the Italian language. An English translation is given by Hakluyt in his second volume, from which we quote the following extracts.

The next traveller of whom we have to make a short mention, is the celebrated Arabian author Ibn Batuta, the date of whose journey is 1324. His point of arrival in China was Zaitun, the port already mentioned of Marco Polo's embarcation. Its identity is not easy of recognition. From this port he would seem to have travelled to Hang-cheou and back again, embarking again at Zaitun. Although his route is not distinctly traceable, the account he gives of the country appears very accurate. He particularizes the facility and safety of travelling, and the convenient, but at the same time rigid surveillance of the hostelries, in which a register was kept of all strangers who lodged in them. Silkworms and silk are mentioned, but the latter as being inferior in value to cotton. The paper money and the manufacture of porcelain are also referred to.

In pursuance of our chronological arrangement of travels in China, we shall here introduce the account of an embassy, though not European, sent by Mirza Shah Rokh, one of the sons of Tamerlane, to Cathay, in the year 1419. The ambassadors set out from Herat in Persia, about the month of November in that year, and reached a spot in the desert within twelve stages of Sekju (Sucheu), near the great wall in Shensi, on the 14th of June 1420. At this place they were met, by order of the khan, by some Cathayans, who erected tents or huts for their accommodation in the desert, and plentifully supplied them with roasted geese, fowls, and various kinds of meat, fruits, etc., which were served to them on china dishes; they likewise regaled them with a variety of strong liquors, together with a pot of Chinese tea. The chief person in the embassy was the Emir Sadi Khoja; and, according to the list of the names of the ambassadors and the number of their retinue, taken down by some Cathayan secretaries, the entire embassy, including merchants, amounted to eight hundred and sixty persons. In taking this list, the Cathayan officers earnestly desired that the exact number should be stated, as a want of truthfulness would involve them in discredit. Two days after their arrival, they were invited to the encampment of the dankji or governor of the borders of Cathay, by whom they were entertained with a magnificent feast. On reaching the spot, they found a square space of ground enclosed with tents, in the centre of which was a lofty awning of cloth supported on wooden pillars, with an imperial canopy of state at one end, where the throne was placed, as if for the emperor, with other seats on each side: on the left of this throne were placed the ambassadors, and on the right the Cathayan officers. Each ambassador had placed before him two tables, the one covered with a variety of meats and fruits, the other with cakes and bread, gracefully ornamented with silk and paper. The other persons present had but one table apiece. At the lower end of the tent stood a sideboard covered with silver and china. After the banquet they were entertained with music and a comedy, in which the actors wore masks representing the faces of animals: among these a child, enclosed in the body of an artificial stork, amused them by performing a variety of curious antics. On the next day they reached a karawl, a strongly fortified outpost, built in a defile in the mountains, through which all travellers that way must unavoidably go. Here their retinue was again carefully numbered. They next arrived at Sucheu, a large and strong square city, where they had lodgings appointed to them in a public building over the city gates, and were amply provided with every convenience and comfort for themselves and their horses, even the servants having mattresses and counterpanes allowed them for their beds.

They next came to a city called Khamchu, after which we find them crossing the river Karamoran by a bridge of boats, and arriving at a magnificent city containing many splendid temples. From the beauty of the women, who, contrary to usual Chinese observances, were seen standing at the doors of the taverns, they designated this town in the Persian language, Rhosnabad, the city of Beauty. After passing several rivers they reached Sedinfur, a large city, in which they saw a cast image of gilt metal of immense proportions, having a great number of hands with an eye in each. This image rested on a pedestal of polished stone, and was surrounded by six tiers of balustrades.

In December 1420, after a journey of ninety-five days, they reached Kambalu or Pekin, the whole road thither from Sucheu being through so populous a country that they lodged every night in a large town. Workmen were at that time still occupied in building the walls of Kambalu. Immediately on their arrival they were conducted to the palace, and, though before sunrise, they found a multitude assembled in the outer court, amounting apparently to no less than one hundred thousand men. At sunrise, at beat of drum, the prince took his seat on a lofty throne, placed under a canopy at the outside of the palace, and amidst profound silence a number of criminals were led in, who had been brought to the capital from all parts of the empire. Each man had a board fastened to his neck, specifying his crime and his legal punishment, and was led by the hair to the emperor, who after inspecting the board pronounced sentence. Upon the dismissal of the criminals, the Persian ambassadors were introduced, and after prostrating themselves as demanded, were graciously received by the emperor. An amusing occurrence, however, had nearly destroyed all their prospects of success. The monarch having been slightly injured by a fall from a horse which had been presented to him by the ambassadors, was so exasperated, that he condemned them all to imprisonment for life in a distant part of the empire. He afterwards, however, thought better of his resolution, and merely upbraiding Sadi Khoja, with the taunt that such a horse ought not to be presented by one sovereign to another, overlooked the offence; and on hearing that the animal was sent to him by Tamerlane as an especial favourite, his anger was entirely appeased.

Previous to their departure, a circumstance occurred which threw a gloom over the imperial court—the most beloved of the emperor's wives died. And here, par parenthèse, we would mention a curious custom recorded in this narrative, respecting the burial of ladies belonging to the imperial family: they are interred on a certain mountain, on which all the horses belonging to them are turned out to graze at liberty for the rest of their lives; all the maidens of their retinue also are placed in attendance on the grave, and have provisions allowed them for about five years, and when these are exhausted they are left to die of famine. In addition to this loss of his favourite wife, the new palace of the emperor was struck by lightning on the night after the funeral, the flames causing fearful devastation and loss of life. These afflictions so affected the emperor, that he fell sick, and the prince his son assuming the reins of government, gave the ambassadors their audience of leave. On their return through Cathay they were furnished as before with every necessary, and at Sucheu, some articles which had been detained were honourably restored to them. They took their departure by a circuitous route, in consequence of intestine commotions, and passing through Khoten and Cashgar proceeded homewards to Herat, which they reached in September 1422.

Hitherto we have had to treat of travellers who in the middle ages reached China by an overland journey; we have now to allude to those who have visited that country by sea, subsequent to that grand achievement of the Portuguese, the discovery of the passage by the Cape of Good Hope.

The Portuguese themselves were, as might be expected, the first to take advantage of this expeditious route, and about the same time that they had succeeded in establishing a communication with the King of Siam they aimed at forming relations with China. On gaining information of the boundless wealth of the east and its empires in the productions of nature and art, King Manoel determined on despatching a squadron farther eastward to Bengal and China. This squadron, consisting of eight sail, the commander of which was Fernando Peres d'Andrade, selected on account of the ability he had shown previously in India, especially at Malacca, departed, after various unsuccessful cruises, from Malacca on the 17th June 1517, and arrived on the 15th August at the Island of Tamang (called by the Portuguese Beniaga), lying three miles from the mainland, where all foreign ships that trade to Canton must lie at anchor and transact their business.[3] In the harbour Andrade found Edward Coelho, who, in a previous expedition, had been separated from him by a storm, had wintered at Siam, and had already been there a month. Andrade caused it to be notified to the commander of the Chinese fleet, which was stationed off the coast there for the protection of merchant ships against pirates, that he was come on a peaceful embassy from the King of Portugal to the Emperor of China. The commander bade him welcome, but referred him to the Pio (great admiral) at Nanto upon the subject of his business. After various delays and difficulties, occasioned by the numerous gradations of rank amongst the Chinese authorities, their ceremoniousness, and the mistrust, imperfectly veiled by civility, of the Chinese towards strangers, Andrade reached Canton at the close of September, and ran into the harbour with all the usual nautical ceremonies. When surprise was expressed at this, he justified himself by referring to the practice of the Chinese in this particular when their ships came to Portuguese Malacca. He then begged that he might forward to the emperor the ambassador and the presents which he had brought with him, and that the Portuguese fleet might be dismissed as soon as possible. He was answered civilly, that they would receive the ambassador, and as soon as permission was obtained from the emperor, would escort him to court. Meanwhile the commander had permission