to take a certain castle called Thaigin, he approached too near the walls, and was wounded in the knee by an arrow, of which wound he died, and was buried in the mountain of Altai.  Zingis was the first king of the Tartars; the second was Khen-khan, the third Bathyn-khan, the fourth Esu-khan, the fifth Mangu-khan, the sixth Kublai-khan, whose power is greater than that of all his predecessors, as, besides having inherited all their acquisitions, he has added almost the whole world to his empire, during a long and prosperous reign of sixty years[5].  All the great khans and princes of the blood of Zingis, are carried for burial to the mountains of Altai, even from the distance of an hundred days journey; and those who attend the body, kill all whom they meet by the way, ordering them to go and serve their lord in the other world, and a great number of fine horses are slain on the same occasion and pretence.  It is said that the soldiers, who accompanied the body of Mangu-khan to the mountain of Altai, slew above ten thousand men during their journey.

The Tartar women are remarkably faithful to their husbands, considering adultery as the greatest and most unpardonable of crimes; yet it is accounted lawful and honest for the men to have as many wives as they can maintain, but the first married is always accounted the principal and most honourable.  These wives live all in one house, in the utmost harmony and most admirable concord; in which they carry on various manufactures, buy and sell, and procure all things necessary for their husbands and families, the men employing themselves only in hunting and hawking, and in martial affairs.  They have the best falcons in the world, and great numbers of excellent dogs, and they live upon flesh and milk, and what they procure by hunting.  They eat the flesh of horses and camels, and even of dogs, if fat; and their chief drink is cosmos, made of mares milk in a particular manner, and very much resembling white wine.  When the father of a family dies, the son may marry all his fathers wives, except only his own mother, neither do they marry their sisters; and on the death of a brother, the surviving brother may marry the widow of the deceased.  The husbands receive no portions with their wives, but must assign sufficient dowries to their wives and mothers.  As the Tartars have many wives, they often have great numbers of children; neither is the multitude of their wives very burthensome, as they gain much by their labour, and they are exceedingly careful in the management of family concerns, in the preparation of food, and in all other household duties.