1. Of the Great Tartar, I relate what I have heard from trustworthy persons; to wit, that he is very rich, very just, and very generous. He hath under him four realms as big as the realm of France, and well peopled too. In his dominions every person who cannot get a livelihood, may, an he will, have victual and raiment from that lord, all the days of his life.

2. In his dominion is current, in place of money, paper stamped with black ink, with which can be procured gold, silver, silk, gems, and in short all that man can desire.

3. In that empire are idol-temples, and also monasteries of men and women as with us; and they have a choral service and sermons just like us; and the great pontiffs of the idols wear red hats and capes like our cardinals. 'Tis incredible what splendour, what pomp, what festivity is made in the idol sacrifices.

4. There they burn not their dead; nor do they bury them sometimes for ten years. Some defer this because they have not the means to perform the sacrifices and the obsequies as they would wish. But they keep the body in the house, and serve it with food as if it were alive.

5. The great lords, when they die, are buried with a horse, and with one or two of their best beloved slaves alive.