Book Two, Chapters 38–41

Of the province of Caniclu, and the infamous custom of its inhabitants. Chap. XXXVIII.

The province of Caniclu borders Thebeth on the western side. It has its own king, although he pays tribute to the Great Khan. There is a lake there in which pearls are found in such abundance that, if everyone were free to carry them away at will, they would no longer be valued at all. For this reason, on pain of death, no one may fish in the lake and take pearls from it without the express will and permission of the Great Khan. This province also has beasts called Gadderi, which yield musk in great abundance. Besides, the lake so rich in pearls is full of fish, and the country abounds in wild animals, such as lions, bears, stags, fallow deer, ounces, roe deer, and birds of various kinds. No wine grows there; instead they make excellent drinks from wheat, rice, and various spices. Cloves are found in great abundance, harvested from certain trees with small branches and white flowers that bear a fruit enclosing the cloves like little grains. Ginger likewise grows in great quantity, along with cinnamon and other spices that are not carried as far as our western country. In the mountains of this region there are also precious stones called turquoises, very beautiful ones, but no one dares take them out of the country without the Great Khan’s leave and permission. The people worship idols, by which they are so deceived that they think it a pleasing act, worthy of reward, to offer their wives and daughters to all comers for their pleasure. For if strangers passing through lodge in their houses, the head of the household immediately summons his wife, his daughters, and any other women and serving girls in his house, and orders them to obey his guests in everything. He then goes away, leaving his guests and their companions in the house, and does not return until they have departed. Meanwhile the chief foreign guest lodging there spreads his cloak, or some other token, before the door. When the master returns and sees by this sign that his guests have not yet gone, he will not enter his house, but returns to the fields to wait until they have left. Thus a stranger can stay in one house for two or three days. Such a custom, infamous though it is, is observed throughout Caniclu. No one there considers it dishonorable to give his wife or daughter to a stranger traveling through the country; rather, they believe they do this for the glory of their gods, whom they hope thereby to make more gracious and favorable to them. For money they have small rods of gold of a fixed weight, which determines their value; these gold rods are the highest and most valuable currency. But they also have a currency of lesser value made in this way: they boil salt in a cauldron over the fire, shape it in molds into little lumps, press and bind them together, and put them into circulation as money. Leaving this province, one travels for ten days, passing several castles and villages whose inhabitants live by the same custom as those of Caniclu. At last one reaches a river called Brius, which marks one of the boundaries of Caniclu. In the sands of this river is found a great quantity of gold, which they call Paglola; cinnamon likewise grows abundantly on its banks.

Of the province of Caraiam. Chap. XXXIX.

Beyond the river Brius lies the province of Caraiam, comprising seven kingdoms and subject to the Great Khan, to whom it pays tribute. One of his sons, named Esentemur, was lieutenant and governor of the province when I was in that country. Its inhabitants worship idols. It produces very fine horses, and has a language of its own, though one difficult and troublesome to pronounce. Its capital is called Jaci, a large and celebrated city where many fairs are held and much merchandise is traded. A few Nestorian Christians and many Muslims live there as well. They have plenty of wheat and rice, yet do not eat wheat bread, since they could not digest it without great pain and weakness of the stomach; instead they make their bread from rice. They also make their drinks from various spices, though these intoxicate them more readily than wine. In place of money they use small pieces found in the sea, some golden and others white. In this city they make a great quantity of salt from well water, from which the king derives considerable profit and revenue. The people of the country are so dull and unthinking that they do not care if anyone makes love to their wives, provided the women are willing. There is a lake here well suited to fishing, measuring more than thirty leagues around. The peasants eat raw meat, but prepare it in this way: first they mince it very finely, then steep it in fragrant oils and good spices, and afterward eat it thus dressed.

Of a certain part of the province of Caraiam where there are serpents of incredible size. Chapitre XL.

Departing from the city of Jaci and traveling for ten days, one reaches another kingdom whose capital is called Caraiam. Its king and governor at that time was Cogracam, one of the sons of Emperor Kublai. The city of Caraiam has given its name to the whole province. In the rivers of this country a great quantity of gold is found, called Paglola; it is found in some pools and in the mountains too, but there it is of another kind. The inhabitants worship idols. In certain places the country produces great serpents, some ten paces long and ten spans around the girth. Some have no feet in front, but in their place have great claws like a lion’s or a falcon’s. Their heads are enormous and their eyes as large as two loaves of bread; moreover, the opening of their mouths is so wide and terrifying that they can swallow and devour a whole man. There is no need to ask whether their jaws are well furnished with very large, sharp teeth: no man or beast can look at them without great fear, much less dare approach them. Yet they are caught in this way. By day the serpent usually hides in caves underground or in hollows of mountains or rocks. By night it comes out and ranges through the country seeking the haunts of other beasts for food, for it fears no beast whatever, however large. It devours great beasts and small, lions, bears, or others, and, once it has feasted and filled its belly, returns to its cave and den. Since the country is very sandy, it is astonishing to see the place where it has rolled and the tracks its body leaves in the sand: one would think a barrel full of wine had been rolled and turned there. The hunters who try to catch it drive many large stakes into the sand by day, strong and rigid, with their ends shod in iron like sharp teeth. They cover them with sand so that the serpent cannot see them, and plant a great number in the ground, especially near places where they know it retreats. When it comes out at night as usual to seek its prey and drags that great bulk across the yielding sand, it sometimes impales its stomach on the pointed stakes, killing or gravely wounding itself. Then the hunters emerge from their hiding places and kill it if it is still alive. They remove its gall and sell it dearly, for it is highly medicinal. If anyone bitten by a rabid dog drinks a little of it, as much as the weight of a denier, he is cured at once. Likewise, if a woman in labor takes a little, her delivery is greatly hastened. And if anyone suffers from hemorrhoids or sores at the anus, anointing the painful place with a little of this gall will cure him entirely in a short time. They also sell the serpent’s flesh, which the inhabitants gladly eat. Very fine horses are found here too, and merchants take them to sell in India. They customarily remove two or three joints of the horses’ tails, so that they will not strike their riders with them or swing their tails from side to side, which the people consider unseemly. In war they use shields and armor made of buffalo hides, and all their lances, javelins, and arrows are poisoned. Before the Great Khan Kublai brought this province under his rule, its people observed a wretched and detestable custom. If a person from a foreign country, virtuous and well mannered, prudent in deeds and words—in short, excellent in every honorable quality—lodged among them, they killed him at night, under the absurd belief that his good manners, prudence, honesty, gifts, and even the dead man’s soul would remain forever in that house. This treachery and detestable cruelty led to the murder and slaughter of many good people. But as soon as the Great Khan conquered the country and brought it into his empire, he wholly eradicated this impiety and extreme folly.

Of the province of Arcladam and the sacrifices and idolatries of its inhabitants. Chap. XLI.

Going beyond Caraiam, after five days’ travel we came to the province of Arcladam, which is likewise subject to the Great Khan. Its chief city is called Unchiam. The inhabitants trade and use gold by weight instead of money, for no silver is found anywhere in this country or the surrounding regions. But those who bring silver there can readily exchange it for gold, and make a great profit. Their drink is a preparation of rice with various spices, as we have said above. The men and women of the country cover their teeth with very thin little plates of gold, which they fit so skillfully that their teeth seem to be set in gold. The men are skilled in war, and indeed have no occupation but warfare and hunting, both beasts and birds. The women manage the household with the help of purchased slaves, bound perpetually to their service. There is another custom in this province: when a woman has given birth, she gets up as soon as she can to attend diligently to the affairs of the house, while her husband takes the new mother’s place in bed and tends the child. The mother does nothing for the child but give it the breast when needed. Meanwhile relatives and friends come to visit the husband lying in bed, just as in our country people visit women after childbirth. For they say it is only reasonable that the woman who has labored so hard to carry the child in her womb and bring it into the world should be free from the burden and trouble of tending it for forty days; nevertheless, she waits on her husband in bed. There are no other idols in this province: each family worships its father. They live chiefly in wooded places and mountains, but foreigners do not climb their hillsides, being unable to bear the air, which is said to be badly corrupted there. They have no letters or written characters, but make contracts and obligations with small tablets divided in half. Each party keeps one half, and afterward they bring the halves together and match their signs and marks, thereby recognizing the terms of the contract. There are no physicians in this country, any more than in the provinces of Caniclu and Caraiam. When someone is sick, however, they assemble their wise men, the ministers of their idols, to whom the patient describes his illness. On hearing it, they begin to dance and play certain instruments, singing and howling loudly in honor of their gods, until one of them, leaping, playing, and singing, falls to the ground, overcome and possessed by the devil. The wise men then stop dancing, go to their demonic companion stretched on the ground, and ask him what caused the patient’s illness and what remedy will best cure him. The evil spirit answers through the possessed man’s mouth that, because the patient did this or that, or grievously offended one god or another, he has fallen ill. Then the wise men pray that the god will forgive his offense, promising and vowing that if the patient recovers, he will offer sacrifices and oblations of his own blood. If the evil spirit sees that the illness is so severe and dangerous that the patient cannot recover, he answers: “This man has offended such a god so grievously that no oblations or sacrifices can ever appease him.” But if the patient is to recover from this illness, he commands a sacrifice of a certain number of black-horned sheep, the preparation of a certain quantity of particular drinks, and the assembly of a set number of wise men and an equal number of their wives, by whose hands the sacrifice must be made and presented to appease that god’s anger. On hearing this answer, the sick man’s nearest relatives arrange as quickly as they can to carry out the evil spirit’s commands in full. They kill the appointed number of sheep and fling and splash their blood toward heaven. Then they summon the wise men and their wives, who light great torches and fill the whole house with incense and smoke from aloe wood. They cast the broth of the sacrificed meat into the air along with drinks made from aromatic spices. Once all this has duly been accomplished, they begin dancing again in honor of the idol they believe they have appeased and made favorable to the patient, singing in dreadful, terrifying voices. Then they again ask their demonic companion whether their deeds have appeased the idol. If he answers no, they immediately prepare to carry out whatever further orders he gives. But if he answers that the god is content and satisfied, all these ministers and sorcerers sit down together and joyfully eat the flesh of the sacrificed beasts and drink the beverages prepared and offered in sacrifice to their gods. When the meal is finished, everyone goes home. As for the sick man, if by such diabolical provision he is delivered from his illness and recovers, these poor deluded people give thanks to their demonic idols rather than the true God, of whom they have no knowledge.

On the province of Caniclu and the shameful custom of its inhabitants. Chap. XXXVIII.

The province of Caniclu borders Thebeth on its western side. It has its own king, but he pays tribute to the Great Khan. There is a lake there with so many pearls that, if everyone could take away as many as they liked, pearls would lose all value. For this reason, fishing in the lake and taking pearls without the Great Khan's express permission is forbidden on pain of death. The province also has animals called Gadderi, which produce plenty of musk. The lake is full of fish, and the country has wild animals including lions, bears, deer, fallow deer, ounces, roe deer, and various birds. No grapes for wine grow there. Instead, people make very good drinks from wheat, rice, and different spices. Cloves grow there in abundance. They are gathered from trees with small branches and white flowers that produce a fruit containing cloves like little seeds. Ginger also grows in abundance, along with cinnamon and other spices that are not brought as far as our western country. In the mountains there are beautiful precious stones called turquoises, but no one may take them out of the country without the Great Khan's permission. The inhabitants worship idols. They are so misled by these idols that they think they please them and earn a reward by letting every newcomer have his pleasure with their wives and daughters. If foreign travelers stay in a man's house, its master immediately calls his wife, daughters, and any other women and maids in the house and orders them to obey his guests in everything. He then goes out, leaving the guests and their companions in his house, and does not return until they have left. Meanwhile, the principal foreign guest hangs his cloak or another sign outside the door. If the master returns and sees by this sign that his guests are still there, he does not enter but goes back into the fields to wait until they leave. In this way a foreigner can stay in a house for two or three days. This custom, though shameful, is followed throughout Caniclu. No one there considers it dishonorable to offer his wife or daughter to a foreigner passing through. Instead, they think it brings glory to their gods, who they hope will favor them more for it. For money they use small gold rods of fixed weight, whose value depends on their weight. These gold rods are their most valuable money. They also have a less valuable kind made as follows. They boil salt in a cauldron over a fire, form it into small lumps in molds, join and weld the lumps together, and use them as money. Leaving this province, one travels for ten days past several castles and villages, whose inhabitants follow the same custom as the people of Caniclu. Finally one comes to a river called Brius, which marks one boundary of Caniclu. Much gold, called Paglola, is found in its sands, and cinnamon grows abundantly along its banks.

On the province of Caraiam. Chap. XXXIX.

Beyond the river Brius lies the province of Caraiam. It contains seven kingdoms and is subject to the Great Khan and pays him tribute. One of his sons, named Esentemur, was its lieutenant and governor when I was there. The inhabitants worship idols. The province produces very good horses. It has its own language, though it is difficult and awkward to pronounce. Its capital, Jaci, is a large, well-known city where many fairs are held and much trade is done. A few Nestorian Christians and many Muslims live there too. They have plenty of wheat and rice, though they do not eat wheat bread: they could not digest it without severe pain and weakness in the stomach. Instead they make rice bread. They also make drinks with various spices, which get them drunk more easily than wine. Instead of money they use small objects found in the sea, some golden and others white. They make a great deal of salt in this city from well water, earning the king large profits and revenue. The people are so dull and foolish that they do not mind if others make love to their wives, as long as the women consent. There is a lake well suited to fishing, more than thirty leagues around. The peasants eat raw meat, but prepare it in this way: first they mince it finely, then steep it in fragrant oils and good spices, and eat it so prepared.

On a part of Caraiam where there are snakes of incredible size. Chapter XL.

After leaving the city of Jaci and traveling ten days, one reaches another kingdom whose capital is called Caraiam. Cogracam, one of Emperor Kublai's sons, was then its king and governor. This city gave its name to the entire province. Much gold, which they call Paglola, is found in the sands of the rivers. It is also found in some marshes and in the mountains, but that is another kind. The inhabitants worship idols. In some parts the country produces enormous snakes. Some are ten paces long and ten spans around. Some have no feet at the front, but instead have large claws like a lion's or a falcon's. Their heads are very large, and their eyes are as big as two loaves of bread. Their mouths are so huge and frightening that they can swallow and devour a whole man. There is no need to ask whether their jaws are filled with very large, sharp teeth. No man or animal can look at them without great fear, much less dare approach them. Yet people catch them in the following way. The snake usually hides by day in caves underground or hollows in mountains or rocks. At night it comes out and roams the country, searching for other animals' dens to find food. It fears no animal, however big, and devours large and small ones, whether lions, bears, or others. When it has eaten its fill, it returns to its cave and den. Because the country is very sandy, the place where it has rolled and the tracks its body leaves in the sand are astonishing to see. It looks as though a barrel full of wine has been rolled about there. Hunters who want to catch it drive many thick, strong, stiff stakes with sharp iron tips into the sand by day. They cover these stakes with sand so the snake will not see them, planting many near the places where they know it goes back to its den. When it comes out at night as usual to hunt and drags its huge body across the yielding sand, it sometimes impales its belly on the pointed stakes and kills or badly wounds itself. The hunters then come out of hiding and kill it if it is still alive. They remove its gall and sell it at a high price, since it is considered good medicine. If someone bitten by a rabid dog drinks even a little of it, as much as the weight of a penny, he is immediately cured. Likewise, a little of it greatly speeds childbirth for a woman in labor. If someone has hemorrhoids or sores around the anus, rubbing a little of this gall on the painful place soon cures him completely. They sell the snake's meat too, as the local people like to eat it. There are also very good horses there that merchants take to sell in India. They customarily remove two or three joints of their tails to prevent them from striking their riders and swishing their tails from side to side, which they consider unsightly. In war they use shields and armor made from buffalo hide. All their lances, darts, and arrows are poisoned. Before the Great Khan Kublai brought this province under his rule, its people practiced a terrible and detestable custom. If a foreign visitor who was virtuous, well mannered, wise in deeds and speech, and, in short, outstanding in every honorable quality stayed in their country, they killed him at night. They did this because they foolishly believed that his good manners, wisdom, integrity, virtues, and even his soul would remain in that house forever. This treachery and terrible cruelty led to the murder of many good people. But as soon as the Great Khan conquered the country and incorporated it into his empire, he completely abolished this wicked and utterly foolish practice.

On the province of Arcladam and its inhabitants' sacrifices and idol worship. Chap. XLI.

Traveling beyond Caraiam for five days, we reached the province of Arcladam, also subject to the Great Khan. Its chief city is called Unchiam. The inhabitants trade using gold weighed out as money, since no silver is found anywhere in this country or the neighboring regions. Those who bring silver can easily exchange it for gold at a great profit. Their drink is made from rice with various spices, as described above. The men and women cover their teeth with thin little sheets of gold. They fit them so neatly that their teeth seem set in gold. The men are skilled fighters, and do nothing but fight and hunt animals and birds. The women look after the household with the help of purchased slaves, who must serve them permanently. Another custom in this province is that a woman who gives birth gets up as soon as she can to attend carefully to household business. Her husband takes her place in bed and looks after the baby. The mother does nothing for the child except nurse it when necessary. Meanwhile, relatives and friends visit the husband lying in bed, just as people here visit new mothers. They say it is only right that a woman who has worked so hard carrying and delivering the child should not have the burden of caring for it for forty days. Even so, she looks after her husband in bed. In this province there are no other idols: each family worships its father. People mostly live in wooded areas and mountains. Foreigners do not climb their hills, for they could not bear the air there, which is said to be very unhealthy. The inhabitants have no letters or written characters. Instead, they make contracts and binding agreements with little tablets split in half. Each party keeps one half, and later they put the halves together and match the marks against each other to establish what the agreement concerned. There are no doctors here, as in Caniclu and Caraiam. When someone is ill, they gather their wise men, the ministers of their idols, and the patient tells them about the illness. On hearing him, they dance and play instruments, singing and howling loudly in honor of their gods, until one of them falls to the ground while leaping, playing, and singing, seized and possessed by the devil. Then the wise men stop dancing and ask their possessed companion on the ground what caused the patient's illness and what remedy will cure it. The evil spirit replies through him that the patient fell ill because he did this or that, or greatly offended one god or another. The wise men then pray for that god to forgive the offense, promising and vowing that if the patient recovers he will make sacrifices and offerings of his own blood. If the evil spirit sees that the illness is so severe and dangerous that the patient cannot recover, he replies that the patient offended that god so badly that no offering or sacrifice can appease him. But if the patient will recover, the spirit commands him to sacrifice a certain number of black-horned sheep, prepare a specified quantity of drinks, and gather a specified number of wise men and as many of their wives to make and present the sacrifice to calm the god's anger. After hearing this response, the sick person's close relatives arrange as quickly as possible to carry out all the evil spirit's commands. They slaughter the sheep, throw and scatter the blood toward the sky, and gather the wise men and their wives. They light great torches and perfume the whole house with incense and the smoke of aloe wood. They throw the broth from the sacrificed meat into the air along with drinks made from aromatic spices. When this is done, they again dance in honor of the idol they believe they have appeased and made favorable to the patient, singing in frightening, terrible voices. Then they ask their possessed companion whether their actions have appeased the idol. If he says no, they immediately prepare to do whatever else he commands. But if he says it is satisfied, all these ministers and enchanters sit down and happily eat the sacrificed animals' meat and drink the beverages prepared and offered to their gods. After dinner, each goes home. If the sick person recovers through this devilish intervention, these misled people thank their devilish idols, not the true God, of whom they know nothing.