These Tablets Differ In Size And Weight, According To The Dignity
Of The Wearers.
On each tablet there is an inscription of the following
import:
"By the strength and power of the Almighty God, and by the grace
which He hath given to our empire: Let the name of the great khan be
blessed, and let all die or be destroyed who will not obey his commands."
Besides these badges of distinction all officers have commissions in
writing, in which all their duties, privileges, and authorities are
recited. When the generals appear in public, they have a cloth or canopy
carried over their heads, and they give audience sitting on chairs of
silver. The badge or tablet of a general, weighs three hundred sagi, or
fifty ounces of gold, laving images of the sun and moon; and such as have
the representation of a ger-falcon, may take with them a whole army for
their guard.
Kublai-khan is a comely handsome man of middle stature, with a fresh
complexion, bright black eyes, a well formed nose, and every way well
proportioned. He has four lawful wives, every one of whom has the title of
empress, and the eldest born son of these wives is to succeed him in the
empire. Each of these empresses has her own magnificent palace and peculiar
court, and is attended by three hundred women, besides many eunuchs, and
the suite of each extends at least to ten thousand persons. The great Khan
has also many concubines; and every second year he sends messengers to a
remarkably fair tribe among the Tartars named Virgut, to make search for
die fairest young women among them for his use.
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