On the twenty-second of Rajeb they arrived at Kabul[17], in which place Amir Fakr’oddin had built a fine mosque; near which was a temple of the idolaters, set round with images, and strange figures of various sizes, and at the doors there were two gigantic statues that seemed to fight.  Mengli Timur Bayri, a handsome young man, was governor of this city.  Departing thence on the twenty-fifth of Rajeb, they entered on the desert of Noman Cobi, where they only found water once in two days; and on the twelfth of Shaaban, they saw lions, oxen, and other wild beasts; the oxen, named Gau Kottahs, are very large and strong, insomuch that they are able to toss a man and horse into the air.  Their tails are remarkably long and hairy, and are in great estimation all over the East, where they are often carried on long poles, by way of ornament, and are likewise much employed for driving away flies.  On the fourteenth, they arrived at a place within twelve stages of Sekju[18], the first city in Kathay.  From this time, the Kathayans came daily to meet them, erecting tents or huts, adorned with green boughs, in the desert for their accommodation, and plentifully supplied their tables with fowls, and various kinds of flesh, fruits, fresh and dried, and other victuals, all served on porcelain or china dishes, besides several kinds of strong liquors; and henceforwards they were as splendidly regaled in the desert as they afterwards were in the cities of Kathay.  According to the list taken by the Kathayans, Amir Shadi Khoja, and Gaksheh, had 200 persons in their retinue; Soltan Ahmed and Gayath-addin, 500; Argdak, sixty; Ardvan, fifty; and Taj’oddin, fifty; in all 860 persons; among whom were many merchants, who were passed as belonging to the retinue of the ambassadors, and who were, afterwards under the necessity of performing the services which fell to their lot, according to the register.  In taking this list, the Kathayan officers made them swear that there were no other persons besides those named, and informed them that they would be despised if they did not tell the truth.

It is remarkable, that among the many viands and liquors supplied to them, in the before-mentioned entertainment, there was a pot of Chinese tea, which the Jesuit Trigault imagined had only come into use in China of late years.  Tea is called Tscha by the Chinese, and its use is very ancient, as the earlier of the two Mahometan travellers, who wrote in 851 and 867, mention the use, by the Chinese in that early period, of the infusion of the leaves of a shrub called sah or tsha.  Even at that time, the use of tea must have become an article of constant and extensive consumption in China, as the emperor derived a large revenue from the tax on that article[19].