contrary to the religion and laws of
Russia, they were compelled to this incestuous union. After the death of
their husbands, the Tartar widows seldom marry, unless when a man chooses
to wed his brother's wife or his stepmother. They make no difference
between the son of a wife or of a concubine, of which the following is a
memorable example. The late king of Georgia left two sons, Melich and
David, of whom the former was lawful, and the other born in adultery; but
he left part of his dominions to his bastard. Melich appealed to the Tartar
emperor for justice, and David went likewise to the court, carrying large
gifts; and the emperor confirmed the will of their father, even appointing
David to have the superior authority, because eldest born. When a Tartar
has more than one wife, each has her own house and establishment, and the
husband eats, drinks, and sleeps, sometimes with one and sometimes with
another. One is considered as principal wife, and with her he resides
oftener than with the others; and though they are sometimes numerous, they
very seldom quarrel among themselves.

[1] In the previous account of the travels of Carpini, Hakl. I. 27. this
Andrew is said to have been duke of Sarvogle, or Seirvogle, perhaps
meaning Yeroslave.--E.

SECTION VII.

_Of their Superstitious Traditions_.

In consequence of certain traditions, they consider many indifferent
actions as criminal. One is, to thrust a knife into the fire, or any way to
touch a fire with a knife, to take meat from the pot with a knife, or even
to hew any thing with an axe near a fire; as they consider all these things
as taking away the force of the fire. Another is, to lean upon a whip, for
they use no spurs, or to touch arrows with their whip, to strike their
horse with their bridle, to take or kill young birds, or to break one bone
upon another. Likewise, to spill milk, or any drink, or food, on the
ground, or to make water in a house; for the last offence, if intentional,
a man is slain, or he must pay a heavy fine to the soothsayers to be
purified; in which case, the house, and all that it contains, has to pass
between two fires, before which ceremony no person must enter the house,
nor must any thing be removed from it. If any one takes a bit of meat that
he cannot swallow and spits it out, a hole is made in the floor of the
house, through which he is dragged and put to death. If any one treads on
the threshold of a house belongin