y one
according to his abilities. In this other temple I found the priests of the
idols, who open and adorn the temples at the Kalends, and the people make
offerings of bread and fruits. I shall first describe the general rites of
idolatry, and then those of the Jugurs, who are a kind of sect different
from the others. They all worship towards the north, with joined hands,
prostrating themselves upon their knees to the earth, and resting their
foreheads on their hands. For which reason the Nestorians never join their
hands in prayer, but spread their hands on their breasts. Their temples are
built from east to west, having a chamber or vestry for the priests on the
north; or if the building is square, they have a similar chamber on the
middle of the north side in place of a choir, and before it is placed a
long broad chest like a table, behind which, facing the south, stands the
principal idol. That which I saw at Caracarum was as large as the picture
of St Christopher. A Nestorian priest, who came from Catay, told me there
was an idol in that country so large, that it could be seen at the distance
of two days journey[2]. Other idols are placed around the principal one,
and all are beautifully gilt; All the gates of their temples open to the
south, contrary to the customs of the Mahometans; and they have large
bells, as is the case with us, wherefore the oriental Christians will not
use them, though they are customary among the Russians and the Greeks in
Casaria.

[1] The Saracens are here much abused by the mistake of our traveller; as,
however erroneous their religious opinions, they worship the true God
only, and abhor even the least semblance of idolatry.--E.

[2] The Nestorian probably said an idol-house; meaning one of the high
towers usually erected near Chinese temples: and even this must have
stood upon a very elevated situation, in an extensive plain, to be
seen from so great a distance, perhaps of sixty miles.--E.

SECTION XXVII.

_Of their Temples and Idols, and the Worship of their Gods_.

All their priests shave their heads and beards, and are clothed in yellow;
and they live in companies of one or two hundred together, observing strict
celibacy. On holy days, they sit in the temple on long benches, placed
directly opposite each other, holding books in their hands, which they
sometimes lay on the benches; and all the time they remain in the temples,
they have their heads bare,