a captain of 100 hath a tablet of silver; the
captain of 1000 hath a tablet of gold or silver-gilt; the commander of
10,000 hath a tablet of gold, with a lion's head on it. And I will tell
you the weight of the different tablets, and what they denote. The tablets
of the captains of 100 and 1000 weigh each of them 120 _saggi_; and the
tablet with the lion's head engraven on it, which is that of the commander
of 10,000, weighs 220 _saggi_. And on each of the tablets is inscribed a
device, which runs: "_By the strength of the great God, and of the great
grace which He hath accorded to our Emperor, may the name of the Kaan be
blessed; and let all such as will not obey him be slain and be
destroyed_." And I will tell you besides that all who hold these tablets
likewise receive warrants in writing, declaring all their powers and
privileges.

I should mention too that an officer who holds the chief command of
100,000 men, or who is general-in-chief of a great host, is entitled to a
tablet that weighs 300 _saggi_. It has an inscription thereon to the same
purport that I have told you already, and below the inscription there is
the figure of a lion, and below the lion the sun and moon. They have
warrants also of their high rank, command, and power.[NOTE 2] Every one,
moreover, who holds a tablet of this exalted degree is entitled, whenever
he goes abroad, to have a little golden canopy, such as is called an
umbrella, carried on a spear over his head in token of his high command.
And whenever he sits, he sits in a silver chair.[NOTE 3]

To certain very great lords also there is given a tablet with gerfalcons
on it; this is only to the very greatest of the Kaan's barons, and it
confers on them his own full power and authority; so that if one of those
chiefs wishes to send a messenger any whither, he can seize the horses of
any man, be he even a king, and any other chattels at his pleasure.
[NOTE 4]

NOTE 1.--So Sanang Setzen relates that Chinghiz, on returning from one of
his great campaigns, busied himself in reorganising his forces and
bestowing rank and title, according to the deserts of each, on his nine
_Orlok_, or marshals, and all who had done good service. "He named
commandants over hundreds, over thousands, over ten thousands, over
hundred thousands, and opened his treasury to the multitude of the people"
(p. 91).

NOTE 2.--We have several times already had mention of these tablets. (See
Prologue, ch. viii. and xvii