donned his cuirass, snatched up his sword,
and ran to protect his co-religionists from
the effects of what the good people of Kaffa
might consider an impertinence. But the
ringing of the bells had probably drowned
the voice of the mueddin. At any rate, the
strangers were civilly treated.

The traveller describes Kaffa as a handsome
town with beautiful markets, and an
admirable port, where more than two
hundred vessels of war or commerce were
collected. All the people, however, he repeats
in a compassionate parenthesis, are Kafirs.
So on he goes in a waggon to Kiram or
Solyhut, governed for Uzbek Khan by a man
named Toloktomour, who received the
traveller with hospitality. He lodged in the
hermitage of a sheikh, who with a singular
toleration told him in perfect faith of a
Christian monk who inhabited a monastery
situated outside the town, where he gave
himself up to devotional practices and
frequent fastings. He used sometimes to pass
forty days without food, and then only eat a
single bean. The result was wonderful mental
perspicacity, which made him discover the
most hidden things. The good sheikh wished
his guest to visit this monk; but Ibn-Batutah,
with a prejudice natural in a Morocco man,
refused, of which he afterwards repented. It
gave him greater pleasure to see the wise
and pious Moshaffer Eddin, a Greek by birth,
who had sincerely embraced Islamism, without
however losing his barbarous accent.
Leaving Kiram, the traveller set out in
company with the Emir Toloktomour for Sera,
where Sultan Mohammed Uzbek held his
court. For this purpose it was necessary to
buy waggons great four-wheeled vehicles,
drawn sometimes by two or more horses,
sometimes by oxen and camels. The driver
armed with a whip and a goad, mounted
postilion-wise. On the chariot was raised a
kind of tent covered with felt or cloth, aired
by latticed windows. Here the traveller ate,
slept, wrote, or read during the journey.
The caravan started, according to the custom
of the Turks, immediately after the prayer of
dawn, rested from nine or ten. of the morning
until after midday, and then proceeded until
night. During the halt the horses, camels,
and oxen were let loose to graze at will. The
whole country was covered with cattle with-
out shepherds or guards; for the laws of the
Turks were very severe against theft. He
who was found in possession of a stolen
horse was obliged to restore it along with
nine of equal value. If he could not do so, his
children were seized instead; and if he had
no child, they cut his throat. The people
eat no bread nor any other hard
food, but lived on a kind of porridge
made of millet, with bits of meat sometimes
boiled therein. A bowlful, with curdled milk
poured over it, was served to each person.
They drank kimezz or soured mare's milk,
and a kind of fermented liquor made from
millet. Horseflesh was in great request;
but all sweetmeats they abhorred.
According to Toloktomour, the Sultan once
offered freedom to a slave who had forty
children and grandchildren, on condition that
he would devour a sugared dish, but received
for answer: " No; not even if you kill me!"

Eighteen stations from Kiram the caravan
reached, in the midst of the steppe, a vast
expanse of water, which it took a whole day
to ford, and a similar obstacle occurred
further on; but at length they arrived
at the city of Azak, where the Genoese
and other people came to trade. The
reception and consequently of his
companions, was splendid. Tents of silk and
linen were prepared for his reception, with
a wooden throne incrusted with gold. First
came the eating and the drinking, and then
an intellectual entertainment in the shape of
a mighty long sermon, delivered first in
Arabic and then translated into Turkish by
the same speaker. There was also marvellous
singing, and after that much more eating;
and then more preaching and praying all day.

Having rested some days, Ibn-Batutah
proceeded to Majar, one of the finest cities
then belonging to the Turks, situated on the
great river Kouma, and adorned with gardens
yielding many fruits. As usual, the traveller
got a lodging in a hermitage. His host, the
sheikh Mohammed—with whom he prays
God to be satisfied—had about seventy fakirs
with him, Arabs, Persians, Turks, and
Greeks; some married, others not. All lived
on charity dispensed in those times, as ever,
chiefly by the hands of women. Ibu-Batutah
witnessed how a pious preacher prepared for
a journey. He made an excellent sermon,
and then some one got up and said: " He
who has spoken is going to travel, and wants
provisions for that purpose." Then he took
off his own tunic, saying, " This is my gift;"
and being thus stimulated, the remainder of
the congregation began, some to strip, others
to subscribe a horse or else money; and so
at last the worthy man was fitted out like a
prince.

"What struck Ibn-Batutah chiefly during
this journey was the great respect which the
Turks showed to women; who seemed to hold,
in fact, a higher rank than men. He
mentions that on leaving Kiram he met a
princess, wife of an emir, in her chariot. It
was covered with costly blue cloth. The
windows and doors were open, so that he
could see the lady, attended by four young
girls, exquisitely beautiful and wonderfully
dressed. Other chariots filled with
handmaidens followed. She got down to visit
Toloktomour. Thirty girls held up the
skirts of her robe. The emir rose to
receive her; and, after they had eaten and
drunk together, presented her with a dress of
honour. Even the wives of merchants and
small dealers kept up great state; and, in
travelling, had also two or three girls to bear