THE KIREI OF THE ALTAI 355 



The following are extracts from one of the letters 

 accredited to Prester John which so greatly stimulated 

 the imagination of the Western mind in the twelfth 

 century : 



** Know and believe that I am the Priest John, the 

 servant of God, and that I surpass in riches, in power, 

 and in virtue all the kings of the earth. Sixty-two 

 kings are tributary to me. . . . We believe that we have 

 no equal, either for the quantity of our riches or the 

 number of our subjects. When we issue forth to make 

 war on our enemies we have borne before us, upon thir- 

 teen cars, thirteen large and precious crosses, ornamented 

 with gold and jewels. Each cross is followed by ten 

 thousand horsemen and a hundred thousand foot-soldiers, 

 without counting the men of war charged to conduct the 

 baggage and the provisions of the army. ... If you 

 can count the sands of the sea, and the stars of 

 heaven, you may number my domains, and reckon my 

 power." 



The writer of this document adds that the variety 

 of fauna found within the dominion of the Kirei 

 includes the elephant, dromedary, camel, and sala- 

 mander ; that there are immense forests filled with 

 serpents, and an arid sea of sand, and their land is the 

 home of Cyclopes, centaurs, pigmies, giants, and canni- 

 bals ! Every conceivable exaggeration grew up around 

 this Eastern potentate and his dominion ; in fact, 

 Prester John and his country became a byword for 

 fantasy, magnificence, and prosperity. 



Foolish as these accounts seem to us now, yet they 

 contain much truth. There is no doubt that Prester 

 John was a real person, and whether there existed 

 more than one Eastern monarch or African potentate 



