his
career is not a credit to the Faith. I cannot find any satisfactory
corroboration of the claims of supremacy over the Mongols which Polo
ascribes to Aung Khan. But that his power and dignity were considerable,
appears from the term _Padshah_ which Rashiduddin applies to him. He had
at first obtained the sovereignty of the Keraits by the murder of two of
his brothers and several nephews. Yessugai, the father of Chinghiz, had
been his staunch friend, and had aided him effectually to recover his
dominion from which he had been expelled. After a reign of many years he
was again ejected, and in the greatest necessity sought the help of
Temujin (afterwards called Chinghiz Khan), by whom he was treated with the
greatest consideration. This was in 1196. For some years the two chiefs
conducted their forays in alliance, but differences sprang up between
them; the son of Aung Khan entered into a plot to kill Temujin, and in
1202-1203 they were in open war. The result will be related in connection
with the next chapters.

We may observe that the idea which Joinville picked up in the East about
Prester John corresponds pretty closely with that set forth by Marco.
Joinville represents him as one of the princes to whom the Tartars were
tributary in the days of their oppression, and as "their ancient enemy";
one of their first acts, on being organized under a king of their own, was
to attack him and conquer him, slaying all that bore arms, but sparing all
monks and priests. The expression used by Joinville in speaking of the
original land of the Tartars, "_une grande_ berrie _de sablon_," has not
been elucidated in any edition that I have seen. It is the Arabic [Arabic]
_Baeriya_, "a Desert." No doubt Joinville learned the word in Palestine.
(See _Joinville_, p. 143 seqq.; see also _Oppert_, _Der Presb. Johannes in
Sage und Geschichte_, and _Cathay_, etc., pp. 173-182.) [_Fried. Zarncke,
Der Priester Johannes; Cordier, Odoric_.--H. C.]

[1] A passage in Mirkhond extracted by Erdmann (_Temudschin_, p. 532)
seems to make Bala Saghun the same as Bishbalik, now Urumtsi, but this
is inconsistent with other passages abstracted by Oppert (_Presbyter
Johan._ 131-32); and Vambery indicates a reason for its being sought
very much further west (_H. of Bokhara_, 116). [Dr. Bretschneider
(_Med. Res._) has a chapter on Kara-Khitai (I. 208 seqq.) and in a
long note on Bala Sagun, which he calls Belasagun, he says (p. 22