228 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



" Round about these tents are others, also 

 fine ones and beautifully pitched, in which 

 are the emperor's ladies, and the ladies of 

 the other princes and officers. And then 

 there are the tents for the hawks and their 

 keepers, so that altogether the number of 

 tents there on the plain is something won- 

 derful. 



" To see the many people that are throng- 

 ing to and fro on every side and every day 

 there, you would take the camp for a good 

 big city. For you must reckon the leeches, 

 and the astrologers, and the falconers, and 

 all the other attendants on so great a com- 

 pany, and add that everybody there has his 

 whole family with him, for such is their 

 custom. 



" The lord remains encamped there un- 

 til the spring, and all that time he does no- 

 thing but go hawking round about among 

 the cranebrakes along the lakes and rivers 

 that abound in that region, and across fine 

 plains on which are plenty of cranes and 

 swans, and all sorts of other fowl. The 

 other gentry of the camp also are never 

 done with hunting and hawking, and every 

 day they bring home great store of venison 

 and feathered game of all sorts. Indeed, 



