fore the reign of Genghis Khan, says that, among
other objects of research and investigation which occupied his mind,
he was directed to ascertain the truth in respect to the two famous
nations Gog and Magog, or, as they are designated in his account,
Yagog and Magog. The story that had been told of these two nations by
the Arabian writers, and which was extensively believed, was, that the
people of Yagog were of the ordinary size of men, but those of Magog
were only about two feet high. These people had made war upon the
neighboring nations, and had destroyed many cities and towns, but had
at last been overpowered and shut up in prison.

Salam, the traveler whom the calif sent to ascertain whether their
accounts were true, traveled at the head of a caravan containing fifty
men, and with camels bearing stores and provisions for a year. He was
gone a long time. When he came back he gave an account of his travels;
and in respect to Gog and Magog, he said that he had found that the
accounts which had been heard respecting them were true. He traveled
on, he said, from the country of one chieftain to another till he
reached the Caspian Sea, and then went on beyond that sea for thirty
or forty days more. In one place the party came to a tract of low
black land, which exhaled an odor so offensive that they were obliged
to use perfumes all the way to overpower the noxious smells. They were
ten days in crossing this fetid territory. After this they went on a
month longer through a desert country, and at length came to a fertile
land which was covered with the ruins of cities that the people of Gog
and Magog had destroyed.

In six days more they reached the country of the nation by which the
people of Gog and Magog had been conquered and shut up in prison. Here
they found a great many strong castles. There was a large city here
too, containing temples and academies of learning, and also the
residence of the king.

The travelers took up their abode in this city for a time, and while
they were there they made an excursion of two days' journey into the
country to see the place where the people of Gog and Magog were
confined. When they arrived at the place they found a lofty mountain.
There was a great opening made in the face of this mountain two or
three hundred feet wide. The opening was protected on each side by
enormous buttresses, between which was placed an immense double gate,
the buttresses and the gate being all of iron.