nyghe 2000 myle in circuyt. With something of the bearing of a botanist, he speaks of the trees that beren mele, hony, wyn, and venym, and of othere mervayilles and customes used in the yles marchinge thereabouten. This yle, he tells you, is fulle wel inhabyted: there growen alle maner of spicerie, more plentyfous liche than in ony other contree; as of gyngevere, clowegylofres, canelle, zedewalle, notemuges, and maces. And wytethe wel that the notemuge berethe the maces; for righte as the note of the haselle hathe an husk with outen, that the note is closed intil it be ripe and aftre fallethe out, righte so it is of the notemuge and of the maces. Manye other spices and manye other godes growen in that yle. As Pliny the naturalist had done before him, Sir John avouches the existence of certain extraordinary lacustrine canes found in this island, and he concludes his summary of their uses, with the asseveration-and deme no man that I seye it but for a truffule, for I have seen of the cannes, with myn owne eyzen fulle manye times, lyggynge upon the ryvere of that lake, of the whiche 20 of oure felowes ne myghten not liften up ne beren on to the erthe. Among the yles in the See Occean, he continues, there is a gret yle and good and fayr, and men clepen it Nacumera, and it is in kompass aboute more than a 1000 myle. And alle the men and women han Houndes Hedes, and thei ben clept Cynocephali, and thei ben fulle resonable and of gode undirstondynge, saf that thei worschipen an Ox for here god. And also everyche of hem berethe an ox of gold or of sylver in his forhed, in token that thei loven wel here god. And thei gon alle naked saf a lityelle clout that thei coveren with here knees and hire members. Thei ben grete folke and wel fyghtynge, and thei han a gret targe that coverethe alle the bodye, and a spere in here hond to fighte with. And zif thei taken ony man in bataylle, anon thei eten him. Here stands the cy

nocephalous portraiture, exhibiting a marked resemblance to Anubis, with symbols of the Egyptian mythology.

Marvels and satyres, cyclopes and hermaphrodites, panotes and hippopodes, monkes and babewynes, dwerghes and geauntes, with folk of dyverse schap and merveylously disfigured, are main topics in the nineteenth chapter of our knyghte's lucubrations. He depicts the "Lond of Pigmaus" with much vivacity.

"There," he says, "the folk ben of lityelle stature that ben but 3 span long, and thei ben ryghte faire and gentylle aftre here quantytees, both the men and the women. And thei maryen hem whan thei ben half zere of age and geten children; and thei lyven not but 6 zeer or 7 at the moste. And he that lyvethe 8 zeer, men holden him there ryghte passynge old. Theise men ben the beste, worcheres of gold, sylver, cotoun, sylk, and of alle suche thinges, of ony other, that be in the world. And they han often times werre

with the briddes of the contree that thei taken and eten. This litylle folk nouther labouren in londes ne in vynes; but thei han grete men amonges hem, of oure stature, that tylen the fond and labouren amonges the vynes for hem; and of tho men of our stature have thei als grete skorne and wondre as we wolde have amonges us of geauntes, zif thei weren amonges us. There is a gode cytee amonges othere where is duellynge gret plentee of tho lityelle folk; and it is a gret cytee and a faire, and the men ben grete that duellen amonges hem; but whan thei geten ony children thei ben als litylle as the pygmeyes, and therfore thei ben alle, for the most part, alle pigmeyes, for the nature of the lond is suche. And alle be it that the pigmeyes ben litylle, zit thei ben fulle resonable aftre here age, and connen bothen wytt and gode and malice y now."

The great" Chane of Chatay" obtains a full share of our knyghte's attention, and the journalist appears to speak, in part at least, from personal observation. He relates, in ample detail, the circumstances of this prince's court and kingdom, beginning with the rialtee of the Chane's palays, how he sits at Mete, and the grete number of officers that serve him. We are then entrusted with a knowledge of the reasons wherefore this mighty monarch is denominated, or clept, the Grete Chane; with the style of his letters and the superscriptions on his seals; with the governance of his court whan he maketh solemn feasts, four times in the year; and with an account of his array when he rideth through the country. We cannot fail of admiring the magnificence of his domestic economy, as displayed in Sir John's programme of an imperial entertainment. In addition to the nobles and other high personages usually admitted to the enjoymennt of royal hospitality, we are informed, with a pleasing seriousness, that

"At o syde of the Emperour's table, sitten manye Philosofres that ben preved for wise men, in manye dyverse scyences; as of astronomye, nigromancye, geomancye, pyromancye, ydromancye, and augurye. And everyche of hem han before hem astrolabres of gold, sum speres, sum the brayn-panne of a ded man, sum vesselles of gold fulle of gravele or sond, sum vesselles of gold fulle of coles brennynge, sum vesselles of gold fulle of watre and of wyn and of oyle, and sum oriloges of gold mad ful nobely and richly wroughte, and manye othere maner of instruments after hire scyences. And at certyn houres whan hem thinkethe tyme thei seyn to certeyn officeres that stonden before hem, ordeynd for the tyme to fuifille hire comaundements, Makethe Pees; and than seyn the officeres, now Pees lystenethe. And aftre that, seyth another of the philosofres, everyche man do reverence and enclyne to the Emperour that is Goddes sone and soverayn lord of alle the world, for now is tyme; and thanne everyche man bowethe his hed toward the erthe. And thanne cōmaundethe the same philosophre azen, Stondethe up; and thei don so. And at another houre seythe another philosophre, Putte the zoure litylle fynger in zoure eres; and anon thei don so. And at another houre, seythe anothre philosophre, Puttethe zoure honde before zoure mouthe; and anon thei don so. And at another houre, seythe another philosophre, Puttethe zoure honde upon zoure hed. And aftre that, he byddethe hem to done here honde a wey; and thei don so. And so from houre to houre thei comaunden certeyn thinges; and thei seyn that tho thinges han dyverse significaciouns. And I asked hem prevyly what tho thinges betokened; and on of the maistres told me that the bowynge of the hed at that houre betokened this, that alle tho that boweden here hedes sholden evere more aftre ben obeyssant and true to the Emperour, and nevere for ziftes ne for promys in no kynde ben fals ne traytour unto him for gode ne evylle. And the puttynge of the lityelle fynger in the ere betokenethe that none of hem ne schalle not here, speke no contrarious thing to the Emperour, but that he schalle telle it anon to his conseille or discovere it to sum men that wille make relacioun to the Emperour, though he were his fadre or brother or sone. And so forthe of alle othere thinges that is don be the philosophres, thei tolde the causes of manye dy. verse thinges; and trustethe righte wel in certeyn that no man dothe no thing to the Emperoure that belongethe unto him, nouther clothinge, ne bred, ne wyn, ne bathe, ne non othere thinge that longethe to him, but at certeyn houres that his philosophres wille devysen. And zif there falle werre in ony side to the Emperour, anon the philosophres comen and seyn here avys aftre here calculaciouns, and conseylen the Emperour of here avys be here scyences; so that the Emperour dothe no thing with outen here conseille."

The "Grete Chane" also keeps his "Jogulours and Enchauntoures," and dancing damsels, and keepers of wild beasts, and "knyghtes to jousten in armes fulle lustyly, and thei rennen to gidere fulle fiercely, and thei breken here speres so rudely that the troncheons flew in sprotes and peces alle aboute the halle." He has likewise of

"Mynstralles the nombre of 13 cumancz; and he hathe of certeyn men, as though thei were zomen, that kepen bryddes, as ostryches, gerfacouns, sparehaukes, faukons, gentyls, lanyeres, sacres, sacrettes, papyngayes wel spekynge, and bryddes syngynge; and also of wylde bestes as of olifauntz, babewynes, apes, marmesettes, and othere dyverse bestes; the mountance of 15 cumancz of zomen. And of physicyens cristene he hathe 200, and of leches that ben cristene he hathe 210, and of leches and physicyens that ben Sarrazines 20. This Emperour may dispenden als moche as he wille with outen estymacioun, for he dispendethe not ne makethe no moneye but of le. ther emprented or of papyre; and of that moneye is som of gretten prys and som of lasse prys, aftre the dyversitee of his statutes; and whan that moneye hathe ronne so longe that it begynnethe to waste, than men beren it to the Emperoure's tresorye, and than thei taken newe moneye for the olde; and that moneye gothe thorghe out alle the contree and alle his provynces; and therefore he may dispende y now and outrageously."

Our "Voiagere" next discourses upon the "Lawe and Customes of the Tartariennes duellynge in Chatay;" and, in this portion of his Boke he communicates many interesting particulars concerning this extraordinary people, and these certainly deserve the attention of students desirous of procuring an acquaintance with the elements of oriental history. The following subjects are treated more rapidly, but

they give sketches of men and manners which modern travellers have confirmed. Here, he treats of the Roialme of Tharse and the londes and kyngdomes towardes the septentrionale partes, in comynge down from the land of Cathay of the Emperour of Persye and of the lond of derknesse, and of othere kyngdomes that belongen to the Grete Chane of Cathay, and other londes of his unto the See of Grece: and of the contrees and yles that ben bezonde the Lond of Cathay, of the Frutes there, and of 22 kynges enclosed within the montaynes. To the admirers of vegetable marvayles, Sir John's remarks on the Frutes of these contrees may afford edification.

"Wherefore I seye zou," he observes, "that, in passynge be the Lond of Cathay toward the highe Ynde and toward Bacharye, men passen be a kyngdome that men clepen Caldilhe, that is a fulle fair contree. And there growethe a maner of fruyt as thoughe it weren gowrdes, and whan thei ben rype men kutten hem a to, and men fynden with inne a lytylle best, in flessche in bön and blode, as thoughe it were a lytylle lomb with outen wolle. And men eten both the frute and the best, and that is a grete marveyle: of that fruyt I have eten, alle thoughe it were wonderfulle, but that I know wel that God is marveylous in his werkes."

Prester John's country and his royal estate are painted in fair colours; and, somewhat in the foreground, stands an account of a riche man that made a marveyllous castelle and cleped it Paradys. In this dread sovereign's dominions is the " Gravely See," and

"A 3 iourneys long fro that see, ben gret montaynes, out of the whiche gothe out a gret flome that comethe out of paradys, and it rennethe thorghe the desert on that o syde, so that it makethe the see gravely. And in that desert ben manye wylde men that been hidouse to foken on, for thei ben