l hath stricken thrice. If they find any such person he is
immediately taken to prison, and examined next morning by the proper
officers. If these find him guilty of any misdemeanour they order him a
proportionate beating with the stick. Under this punishment people
sometimes die; but they adopt it in order to eschew bloodshed; for their
_Bacsis_ say that it is an evil thing to shed man's blood].

To this city also are brought articles of greater cost and rarity, and in
greater abundance of all kinds, than to any other city in the world. For
people of every description, and from every region, bring things
(including all the costly wares of India, as well as the fine and precious
goods of Cathay itself with its provinces), some for the sovereign, some
for the court, some for the city which is so great, some for the crowds of
Barons and Knights, some for the great hosts of the Emperor which are
quartered round about; and thus between court and city the quantity
brought in is endless.

As a sample, I tell you, no day in the year passes that there do not enter
the city 1000 cart-loads of silk alone, from which are made quantities of
cloth of silk and gold, and of other goods. And this is not to be wondered
at; for in all the countries round about there is no flax, so that
everything has to be made of silk. It is true, indeed, that in some parts
of the country there is cotton and hemp, but not sufficient for their
wants. This, however, is not of much consequence, because silk is so
abundant and cheap, and is a more valuable substance than either flax or
cotton.

Round about this great city of Cambaluc there are some 200 other cities at
various distances, from which traders come to sell their goods and buy
others for their lords; and all find means to make their sales and
purchases, so that the traffic of the city is passing great.

NOTE 1.--It would seem to have been usual to reckon _twelve_ suburbs to
Peking down to modern times. (See _Deguignes_, III. 38.)

NOTE 2.--The word here used is _Fondaco_, often employed in mediaeval
Italian in the sense nearly of what we call a _factory_. The word is from
the Greek [Greek: pandokeion], but through the Arabic _Fanduk_. The latter
word is used by Ibn Batuta in speaking of the hostelries at which the
Mussulman merchants put up in China.

CHAPTER XXIII.

[CONCERNING THE OPPRESSIONS OF ACHMATH THE BAILO, AND THE PLOT THAT WAS
FORMED AGAINST HIM.[NOTE 1]

You will he