some months before they reached the
camps on the Volga of one of the great Mongol lords. Indeed, "if it
had not been for the grace of God and the biscuit which we brought
with us, we had surely perished," remarks the pious friar in the history
of his adventures. Never once did they enjoy the shelter of a house
or tent, but passed the nights in the open air in a cart. At last they
were ordered to appear at the Court of the great ruler with all their
books and vestments.

"We were commanded to array ourselves in our sacred vestments to appear
before the prince. Putting on, therefore, our most precious ornaments,
I took a cushion in my arms, together with the Bible I had from the
King of France and the beautiful Psalter which the Queen bestowed upon
me: my companion at the same time carried the missal and a crucifix;
and the clerk, clothed in his surplice, bore a censer in his hand.
In this order we presented ourselves ... singing the Salve Regina."
It is a strange picture this--the European friars, in all the vestments
of their religion, standing before the Eastern prince of this far-off
country. They would fain have carried home news of his conversion,
but they were told in angry tones that the prince was "not a Christian,
but a Mongol."

[Illustration: INITIAL LETTER FROM THE MS. OF RUBRUQUIS AT CAMBRIDGE.
Probably representing the friars starting on their journey.]

They were dismissed with orders to visit the Great Khan at Karakorum.
Resuming their journey early in August, the messengers did not arrive
at the Court of the Great Khan till the day after Christmas. They were
miserably housed in a tiny hut with scarcely room for their beds and
baggage. The cold was intense. The bare feet of the friars caused great
astonishment to the crowds of onlookers, who stared at the strange
figures as though they had been monsters. However, they could not keep
their feet bare long, for very soon Rubruquis found that his toes were
frozen.

Chanting in Latin the hymn of the Nativity, the visitors were at last
admitted to the Imperial tent, hung about with cloth of gold, where
they found the Khan. He was seated on a couch--a "little man of moderate
height, aged about forty-five, and dressed in a skin spotted and glossy
like a seal." The Mongol Emperor asked numerous questions about the
kingdom of France and the possibility of conquering it, to the
righteous indignation of the friars. They stayed in the country till
the end of May