ABSTRACT
I have also been in Great Tartaria, and of the custom of the country it is to be noted, first, that nothing besides millet is sown. They do not eat bread, and they do not drink wine, but they drink the milk of mares and of camels, and they also eat camel and horse flesh. It is also to be noted, that the king of these countries and his vassals pass winter and summer in the fields, with their wives and children, with cattle and all that belongs to them; and they go from one pasturage to the other, because it is a flat country. It is also to be noted, that when they choose a king, they take him and seat him on white felt, and raise him in it three times.(2) Then they lift him up and carry him round the tent, and seat him on a throne, and put a golden sword in his hand. Then he must be sworn as is the custom.
