On going to visit this temple, I found the priests sitting under the outer
portal; and those whom I saw, appeared, by their shaven beards, like French
friars.
They wore conical caps of paper on their heads; and all the priests
of the Jugurs wear this cap continually, and yellow strait tunics fastened
down the middle like those in France; besides which, they wear a cloak on
their left shoulder, flowing loosely before and behind, but leaving the
right arm free, somewhat like a deacon carrying the pix in Lent. Their mode
of writing is adopted by the Tartars. They begin to write at the top of the
page, and extend their lines downwards, reading and writing from left to
right. They make great use of written papers in their magical incantations,
and their temples are hung round with short written sentences. The letters
sent by Mangu-khan to your majesty, are written in these characters, and in
the language of the Moal. These people burn their dead in the manner of the
ancients, and deposit the ashes on the top of certain pyramids. After
sitting for some time beside these priests, and having entered their temple
to look at their many images, some large and others small, I asked what was
their belief concerning God? To which they answered, that they believed in
one God only. On asking them whether he was a spirit or of a corporeal
nature, they said he was a spirit.
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