CHAPTER XXXIII. OF THE KINGDOM OF CASCAR. CASCAR is a region lying between north-east and east, and constituted a kingdom in former days, but now it is subject to the Great Kaan. The people worship Mahommet. There are a good number of towns and villages, but the greatest and finest is Cascar itself. The inhabi tants live by trade and handicrafts; they have beautiful gardens and vineyards, and fine estates, and grow a great deal of cotton. From this country many merchants go forth about the world on trading journeys. The natives are a wretched, niggardly set of people; they eat and View of Kashgar. (From Shaw's 'Tartary.') drink in miserable fashion. There are in the country many Nestorian Christians, who have churches of their own. The people of the country have a peculiar language, and the territory extends for five days' journey.' NOTE 1.—Till we possessed the routes of the Mirza and Faiz Bakhsh, it was difficult to understand how the travellers after crossing Pamir should arrive at KASHGAR before Yarkand; but this is clear enough now. Kashgar is now the capital of Ya'kúb Kúshbegi, a soldier of fortune, by descent it is said a Tajik of Shighnan, who, since the Chinese yoke was thrown off, has made a throne for himself in Eastern Turkestan, and subjected the whole basin to his authority, taking the title of Atalik Gházi. It is not easy to see how Kashgar should have been subject to the Great Kaan, except in the sense in which all territories under Mongol rule owed him homage. Yarkand Polo acknowledges to have belonged to Kaidu, and the boundary between Kaidu's territory and the Kaan's lay between Karashahr and Komul, much further east. Kashgar was at this time a metropolitan See of the Nestorian Church. (Cathay, &c., 275, ccxlv.) Many strange sayings have been unduly ascribed to our traveller, but I remember none stranger than this by Colonel Tod: "Marco Polo calls Cashgar, where he was in the sixth century, the birthplace of the Swedes"! (Rajasthan, I. 60.) Petis de la Croix and Tod between them are answerable for this nonsense. (See The Hist. of Genghizcan the Great, p. 116.) CHAPTER XXXIV. OF THE GREAT CITY OF SAMARCAN. SAMARCAN is a great and noble city towards the northwest, inhabited by both Christians and Saracens, who are subject to the great Kaan's nephew, CAIDOU by name; he is however, at bitter enmity with the Kaan.' I will tell you of a great marvel that happened at this city. It is not a great while ago that SIGATAY, own brother to the Great Kaan, who was Lord of this country and of many an one besides, became a Christian. The Christians rejoiced greatly at this, and they built a great church in |