the middle of which there flows a great river; and there are many castles in the surrounding mountains[7].  There are many porcupines in this country, which are hunted by dogs; and these animals, contracting themselves with great fury, cast 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 hills are high and steep, and the passes very difficult of access, by which the inhabitants are secured against invasions; and in these mountains there are flocks of from four hundred to six hundred wild sheep, which are very difficult to catch.  If any one contracts an ague by living in the moist plains, he is sure to recover his health by a few days residence in the mountains, which I Marco experienced in my own person after a whole years sickness.