ven at that time, the use of
tea must have become an article of constant and extensive consumption in
China, as the emperor derived a large revenue from the tax on that
article[19].

On the sixteenth of the month Shaaban, they were informed that the Dankji,
governor of the borders of Kathay, intended to entertain them that day with
an imperial feast; and on their arrival at his encampment, they found a
square arpent[20] of ground inclosed with tents, the cords of which,
fastened to pegs in the ground, were so interlaced together that there was
no entrance into the inclosure but by four gates, which were left on
purpose. In the midst of this place, they had erected a great and very high
awning of cloth, supported on wooden pillars; at one end of which was an
imperial canopy of state, erected on two richly varnished pillars, between
which stood a great chair of state as if for the emperor, and other seats
on both sides. The ambassadors were placed on the left hand of the imperial
throne, arid the Kathayan officers on the right. Before each ambassador
there were two tables, one of which was covered with various meats and
fruits, and the other with cakes and delicate bread, ornamented with
festoons of silk and paper. The other persons present had only one table to
each. At the opposite end of this great banqueting tent, there stood a
buffet or side-board, full of vessels of china and of silver, for serving
the liquors. During the entertainment, they were regaled by a band of
music, and a number of young persons, in strange dresses, performed various
tricks for their amusement. They were likewise much amused by the
performance of a comedy, the actors of which wore masks representing the
faces of animals; and a child, inclosed in the body of an artificial stork,
walked about and performed a variety of surprising motions. In short,
nothing could be more magnificent.

Next day, being the seventeenth of Shaaban, they continued their journey
through the desert, and arrived in a few days at a karaul[21] or strong
fortress, in the mountains, which is built across the road in a pass or
defile, so that travellers must necessarily enter by one gate and pass
through the other. Here the ambassadors and all the members of their
retinues were carefully numbered, and a new list made of all their names.
From the karaul they went to Sekju or So-chew[22], where they were lodged
in a large public building over the gate of the city; in which, a