ore the feast of St John the Baptist, 16th June, when we entered the
land of the black Kitayans, in which the emperor has built a house, where
we were invited to drink, and the resident there for the emperor, caused
the principal people of the city, and even his own two sons, to dance
before us[2]. Going from thence we came to a certain sea, having a small
mountain on its banks, in which there is said to be a hole, whence such
vehement tempests of wind issue in winter, that travellers can hardly pass
without imminent danger. In summer the noise of the wind is heard
proceeding from this hole, but it is then quite gentle. We travelled along
the shore of this sea for several days, leaving it upon our left; and
though this sea is not of very large dimensions, it contains a considerable
number of islands[3]. Ordu, whom we have already mentioned as the senior of
all the Tartar dukes, dwells in this country, in the orda or court of his
father, where one of his wives bears rule. For, according to the Tartar
customs, the courts of princes and nobles are never dissolved at their
deaths, but are kept up under the government of one of his wives, to whom
the gifts are continued which used to be given to their lords. In this
place, therefore, we arrived at the first court under the immediate
jurisdiction of the emperor, in which one of his wives dwelt; but as we had
not yet been presented to the emperor, we were not invited, or even
permitted to enter the station, but were exceedingly well entertained in
our tent, after the Tartar fashion, and were allowed to remain there one
day for rest and refreshment.

[1] The confused geographical notices of this traveller are so
uninstructive, as not to merit any commentary. A good account of the
present state of these immense regions will be found in Pinkerton's
Modern Geography, articles Independent Tartary, Chinese Tartary, and
Asiatic Russia. The ancient and perpetually changing distribution of
nations in Scythia or Tartary, in its most extended sense, almost
elude research, and would require lengthened dissertations instead of
illustrative notes.--E.

[2] From the subsequent travels of Rubruquis, it will appear, that this
ceremony was in honour of the Tartar messengers going from Baatu to
the emperor, not from respect to the papal envoys.--E.

[3] This sea is obviously the lake Balkash, or Palkati-nor, at the south
end of which our maps represent