The History of Voyages & Travels (All 18 Volumes). Robert Kerr

first slain most of the inhabitants, in the hope that he might involve all the members of the royal family in this general massacre, that no one might remain to dispute with him for the empire. He then advanced to Cumdan[1], the capital city, whence the emperor was obliged to make a precipitate retreat to the city of Hamdu, on the frontiers towards Thibet. Puffed up with these great successes, Baichu made himself master of almost the whole country, there being no one able to dispute his authority. At length the emperor wrote to the king of the Tagazgaz in Turkestan, with whom he was in some degree allied by marriage, imploring his assistance to subdue the rebellion. The king of the Tagazgaz dispatched his son, at the head of a very numerous army, into China, and after a long and arduous contest, and many battles, Baichu was utterly defeated, and it was never known afterwards what became of him; some believing that he fell in the last battle, while others supposed that he ended his days in a different manner. The emperor of China now returned to his capital, much weakened and dispirited in consequence of the embezzlement of his treasures, and the loss of the best of his officers and troops, and the horrible devastations, calamities, and losses which his empire had sustained; yet he made himself master of all the provinces which had revolted from his authority. He would not, however, lay his hands upon the goods of his subjects, notwithstanding the exhausted state of his finances, but satisfied himself with what was still left in his coffers, and the small remains of the public money that was to be found, requiring nothing from his subjects, but what they were willing to give, and only demanding obedience to the laws and to his authority, considering that they had been already severely oppressed in consequence of the rebellion. Thus, China became like the empire of Alexander, after the defeat and death of Darius, when he divided the provinces among his chiefs, who became so many kings. For now, each of the Chinese princes, or viceroys, joined themselves into petty alliances, making wars among themselves without the authority of the emperor; and when the stronger had subdued the weaker, and acquired possession of his province, the subjects of the vanquished prince were unmercifully wasted and plundered, and even barbarously devoured: a cruel practice allowed by the laws of their religion, which even permit human flesh to be exposed to public sale in the markets. There arose from all these confusions many unjust dealings with the merchants; and there was no grievance so intolerable, or treatment so bad, but what was exercised upon the Arab merchants, and captains of ships, extorting from them what was altogether uncustomary, seizing upon their effects, and behaving towards them quite contrary to all the ancient usages; so that our merchants were forced to return in crowds to Siraff and Oman[2].

      [1] From the description of this place afterwards, in the travels of Ebn Wahab, in this article, it appears to have been Nankin.--E.

      [2] The chronology of the Chinese history is attended with extreme difficulty. According to Du Halde: In the reign of the emperor Hi Tseng, the 18th of the Tsong dynasty, the empire fell into great confusion, in consequence of heavy taxations, and a great famine occasioned by the inundation of the rivers, and the ravages of locusts. These things caused many insurrections, and a rebel, named Hoan Tsia put himself at the head of the malcontents, and drove the emperor from the imperial city. But he was afterwards defeated, and the emperor restored. It must be owned that there are about twenty years difference between the time of the rebellion mentioned in the text, and the date of the great revolt, as assigned by Du Halde; but whether the mistake lies in the Arabian manuscript, or in the difficulties of Chinese chronology, I cannot take upon me to determine; yet both stories probably relate to the same event. --Harris.

      The punishment of married persons, convicted of adultery, as well as for the crimes of homicide and theft, is as follows: The hands are bound fast together, and forced backwards over the head, till they rest on the neck. The right foot is then fastened to the right hand, and the left foot to the left hand, and all drawn tight together behind the back, so that the criminal is incapable to stir; and by this torture the neck is dislocated, the joints of the arms start from their sockets, and the thigh bones are disjointed;--in short, the tortured wretch would soon expire without any farther process; yet, in that state, he is beaten by bamboos till at the last gasp, and is then abandoned to the people, who devour the body.

      There are women in China who refuse to marry, and prefer to live a dissolute life of perpetual debauchery. A woman who has made this election, presents herself in full audience before the commanding officer of a city, declares her aversion to marriage, and desires to be enrolled among the public women. Her name is then inserted in the register, with the name of her family, the place of her abode, the number and description of her jewels, and the particulars of her dress. She has then a string put round her neck, to which is appended a copper ring, marked with the king's signet, and she receives a writing, certifying that she is received into the list of prostitutes, and by which she is entitled to a pension from the public treasury of so many falus yearly, and in which the punishment of death is denounced against any man who should take her to wife. Every year, regulations are published respecting these women, and such as have grown old in the service are struck off the list. In the evening, these women walk abroad in dresses of different colours, unveiled, and prostitute themselves to all strangers who love debauchery; but the Chinese themselves send for them to their houses, whence they do not depart till next morning.

      The Chinese coin no money, except the small pieces of copper like those we falus, nor will they allow gold and silver to be coined into specie, like our dinars and drams; for they allege that a thief may carry off ten thousand pieces of gold from the house of an Arab, and almost as many of silver, without being much burthened, and so ruin the man who suffers the loss; but in the house of a Chinese, he can only carry off ten thousand falus at the most, which do not make above ten meticals or gold dinars in value. These pieces of copper are alloyed with some other metal, and are about the size of a dram, or the piece of silver called bagli, having a large hole in the middle to string them by. A thousand of them are worth a metical or gold dinar; and they string them by thousands, with a knot distinguishing the hundreds. All their payments, whether for land, furniture, merchandize, or any thing else, are made in this money, of which there are some pieces at Siraff, inscribed with Chinese characters. The city of Canfu is built of wood and canes interwoven, just like our lattice-work of split canes, the whole washed over with a kind of varnish made of hempseed, which becomes as white as milk, having a wonderfully fine gloss. There are no stairs in their houses, which are all of one storey, and all their valuables are placed in chests upon wheels, which in case of fire can easily be drawn from place to place, without any hinderance from stairs.

      The inferior officers of the cities, and those commonly who have the direction of the customs and of the treasury, are almost all eunuchs, some of whom have been captured on the frontiers and made so, while others are so treated by their fathers, and sent as presents to the emperors. These officers are at the head of the principal affairs of state, and have the management of the emperor's private affairs, and of the treasury; and those, particularly, who are sent to Canfu, are selected from this class. It is customary for them, and for the viceroys or governors of the cities, to appear abroad from time to time in solemn procession. On these occasions, they are preceded by men who carry great pieces of wood, like those used in the Levant instead of bells by the Christians, on which they make a noise which is heard at a great distance, upon which every person gets out of the way of the prince or eunuch. Even if a man is at his door, he goes in, and keeps his door shut till the great personage has gone by. Thus, not a soul is in the way, and this is enjoined that they may strike a dread into the people, and be held in veneration; and the people are not allowed to see them often, lest they should grow so familiar as to speak to them.. All these officers wear very magnificent dresses of silk, so fine that none such is brought into the country of the Arabs, as the Chinese hold it at a very high price. One of our chief merchants, a man of perfect credibility, waited upon an eunuch who had been sent to Canfu, to purchase some goods from the country of the Arabs. The eunuch had upon his breast a short and beautiful silk vest, which was under another silk vest, and seemed to have two other vests over that again; and perceiving that the Arab eyed him very steadfastly, he asked him the cause; and being told that he admired the beauty of the little vest under his other garments, the eunuch laughed, and holding out his sleeve to him, desired him to count how many vests he had above that which he so much admired. He did so, and found five, one over the other, and the little rich vest undermost. These garments are all wove of raw silk, which has never been washed or fulled; and those worn by the princes