t be regarded
as simply inventions if told by one author only, but which seem to deserve
prominent notice from their being recounted by a series of authors,
certainly independent of one another, and writing at long intervals of
time and place. Our first witness is Ibn Batuta, and it will be necessary
to quote him as well as the others in full, in order to show how closely
their evidence tallies. The Arab Traveller was present at a great
entertainment at the Court of the Viceroy of Khansa (_Kinsay_ of Polo, or
Hang-chau fu): "That same night a juggler, who was one of the Kan's
slaves, made his appearance, and the Amir said to him, 'Come and show us
some of your marvels.' Upon this he took a wooden ball, with several holes
in it, through which long thongs were passed, and, laying hold of one of
these, slung it into the air. It went so high that we lost sight of it
altogether. (It was the hottest season of the year, and we were outside in
the middle of the palace court.) There now remained only a little of the
end of a thong in the conjuror's hand, and he desired one of the boys who
assisted him to lay hold of it and mount. He did so, climbing by the
thong, and we lost sight of him also! The conjuror then called to him
three times, but getting no answer, he snatched up a knife as if in a
great rage, laid hold of the thong, and disappeared also! By and bye he
threw down one of the boy's hands, then a foot, then the other hand, and
then the other foot, then the trunk, and last of all the head! Then he
came down himself, all puffing and panting, and with his clothes all
bloody, kissed the ground before the Amir, and said something to him in
Chinese. The Amir gave some order in reply, and our friend then took the
lad's limbs, laid them together in their places, and gave a kick, when,
presto! there was the boy, who got up and stood before us! All this
astonished me beyond measure, and I had an attack of palpitation like that
which overcame me once before in the presence of the Sultan of India, when
he showed me something of the same kind. They gave me a cordial, however,
which cured the attack. The Kazi Afkharuddin was next to me, and quoth he,
'_Wallah!_ 'tis my opinion there has been neither going up nor coming
down, neither marring nor mending; 'tis all hocus pocus!'"

Now let us compare with this, which Ibn Batuta the Moor says he saw in
China about the year 1348, the account which is given us by Edward Melton,
an Anglo-Dutc