d please the sultan better to receive his message
through persons of his own religious faith. Besides, the three persons
whom he appointed were natives of Turkestan, and they were, of course,
well acquainted with the language of the country and with the country
itself.

Besides the merchants and the embassadors, Genghis Khan gave
permission to each of his wives, and also to each of the great lords
of his court, to send a servant or messenger with the caravan, to
select and purchase for their masters and mistresses whatever they
might find most curious or useful in the Mohammedan cities which the
caravan might visit. The lords and ladies were all very glad to avail
themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them.

All these persons, the embassadors and their suite, the merchants and
their servants, and the special messengers sent by the lords and
ladies of the court, formed, as may well be supposed, a very numerous
company. It is said that the caravan, when ready to commence its
march, contained no less than four hundred and fifty persons.

Every thing being at last made ready, the caravan set out on its long
journey. It was accompanied by a suitable escort, and, in order to
provide still more effectually for the safety of the rich merchandise
and the valuable lives committed to it, Genghis Khan sent on orders
beforehand to all the military stations on the way, directing the
captains to double the guard on their respective sections of the road
while the caravan was passing.

By means of these and other similar precautions the expedition
accomplished the journey in safety, and arrived without any misfortune
in the Mohammedan country. Very serious misfortunes, however, awaited
them there immediately after their arrival, arising out of a train of
events which had been for some time in progress, and which I must now
go back a little to describe.

It seems that some difference had arisen some time before this between
the Sultan Mohammed and the Calif of Bagdad, who was the great head of
the Mohammedan power. Mohammed applied to the calif to grant him
certain privileges and powers which had occasionally been bestowed on
other sultans who had rendered great services to the Mohammedan
empire. He claimed that he had merited these rewards by the services
which he had rendered. He had conquered, he said, more than one
hundred princes and chieftains, and had cut off their heads and
annexed their territories to his dominions,