ast their sharp quills at the men
and dogs, and often wound them. The nation has a peculiar language, and the
shepherds dwell in caves in the mountains. We went three days journey from
thence, without meeting any inhabitants, to the province of Balaxiam,
Balascia or Balasagan, which is inhabited by Mahometans, who have a
peculiar language. Their kings, who succeed each other hereditarily,
pretend to derive their lineage from Alexander and the daughter of Darius,
and are called Dulcarlen, which signifies Alexandrians. In this country the
famous Ballas rubies are found, and other precious stones of great value,
particularly in the mountains of Sicinam. No person dares either to dig for
these stones, or to send them out of the country, without the consent and
licence of the king, on pain of death; and he only sends them to such as he
thinks fit, either as presents, or in payment of tribute; he likewise
exchanges many of them for gold and silver, lest they should become too
cheap and common. In other mountains of the same province, the best lapis
lazuli in the world is found, from which azure or ultramarine is made.
There are mines also of silver, copper, and lead. The climate is very cold,
yet it produces abundance of large, strong, and swift horses, which have
such hard and tough hoofs, that they do not require iron shoes, although
they have to run among rocks. It is said, that not many years ago, the
king's uncle was in the exclusive possession of a breed of horses descended
from the famous Bucephalus, and marked on the forehead exactly as he was;
and refusing to let the king have any of his stud, he was put to death, on
which his widow, in revenge, destroyed the whole race. The mountains of
this country produce the sacre falcon, the lanner, the goshawk, and the
sparrowhawk, all excellent in their kind, and much used by the inhabitants
in the chase, as they are all much addicted to hunting. The soil of this
country produces excellent wheat, and barley without husks, and oil made of
nuts and mustard, which resembles the oil from lintseed, but is more
savoury than other oil. The men of the country are excellent archers and
keen hunters, and are mostly clothed in the skins of beasts; while the
women contrive to put sixty or eighty yards of cotton cloth into the skirts
of their garments, as the bulkier they look they are esteemed the
handsomer. The plains of this country are large, and well watered with fine
rivers, but the hil