532 - The Difcovery, Settlement, and Commerce Book I. 
fame kind ; that the Eunuch obferving him to look ftead- 
fafdy upon his Bread, faid, • 44 I fee you keep your Eyes 
44 fixed upon my Stomach, what may be the Meaning of 
st it ?” The Merchant immediately cried out, I am fur - 
prifed at the Beauty of that little Vefi , which appears under 
your other Garments . The Eunuch laughed, and held out 
his Shirt-fieeve to him \ Count, fays he, how many Veils 
1 have above it : He did fo, and counted five, one on ano- 
ther ; and the Waiftcoat, or fhort Yeft was underneath. 
Thefe Garments are wove with raw Silk, which has never 
been wafhed or fulled and what is worn by the Princes 
or Governors, is ft ill more rich, and more exquifitely 
wrought. 
The Chinefe furpafs all Nations in all Arts, and particu- 
larly in Painting •, and they perform fuch perfect Work 
as others can but faintly imitate. When an Artificer 
has finifhed a fine Piece, he carries it to the Prince’s Pa- 
lace to demand the Reward he thinks he deferves for the 
Beauty of his Performance ; and the Cuftom is, for the 
Prince to order him to leave his Work at the Palace-gate, 
where it ftands a whole Year ; if, during that Time, no 
Perfon finds a Fault therein, the Artificer is rewarded, 
and admitted into the Body of Artifts ; but if the lead 
Fault be found, it is rejected, and the Workman fent away 
empty. 
It happened once, as the Story goes, that one of thefe 
Painters drew an Ear of Corn, with a Bird perched on it, 
upon a Piece of Silk and his Performance was fo admi- 
rable, that all who beheld it were aftonifhed. This Piece 
Hood expofed to publick View, till one Day a crooked 
Fellow palfmg by the Palace, found fault with the Picture, 
and was immediately conduced to the Prince or Gover- 
nor of the City, who at the fame Time fent for the Pain- 
ter. Then he alked this crooked Fellow, what Fault he 
had to find with this Piece-, to which he anfwered, 
« Every body knows that a Bird never fettles upon an Ear 
« of Corn but it bends under him, whereas this Painter 
st has reprefented his Ear bolt upright, though he has 
« perched a Bird upon it •, this is the Fault I have to 
« find.” The Objection was held juft, and the Prince 
bellowed no Reward upon the Artift. They pretend by 
this, and fuch other Means, to excite their Workmen to 
Perfection, by engaging them to be extremely nice and 
circumfped in what they undertake, and to apply their 
whole Genius to what is to go out of their Hands e. 
38. There was formerly a Man of the Tribe of Korkifhy 
whofe Name was Ebn Wahah , defcended of Hebar the 
Son of Al Afud , and he dwelt at Bafra ; this Man left 
Bafra when that City was fack’d, and came to Siraf, 
where he faw a Ship ready to fail for China. The Hu- 
mour took him to go on board of this Ship, and in her 
he went to China , where in the Sequel he had the Curio- 
fity to travel to the Emperor’s Court ; and leaving Canfu , 
lie reached Cumdam y after a Journey of two Months ; he 
ftaid a long time at the Emperor’s Court, and prefented 
feveral Petitions ; wherein he fignified that he was of the 
Family of the Prophet of the Arabs. Having waited a 
confiderable while, the Emperor at laft ordered him to be 
lodged in a Houfe appointed for him, and to be fupplied 
with every Thing he wanted. This done, the Emperor 
wrote to the Governor of Canfu , commanding him care- 
fully to inform himfelf among the Merchants concerning 
the Relation this Man pretended to bear to the Prophet of 
the Arabs ; and the Governor, by his Anfwers, confirming 
the Truth of what he had faid, touching his Extraction, 
the Emperor gave him Audience, and made him rich 
Prefents, wherewith he returned to Brack. 
This Man, when we faw him, was much advanced in 
Years, but had his Senfes perfectly, and told us, that 
when he had his Audience, the Emperor afked him many 
Queftions about the Arabs , and particularly how they 
had deftroyed the Kingdom of the Perfmns. Ebn Wahah 
made Anfwer,. that they did it by the Affiftance of God 1 
and becaufe the Perfians were immerfed in Idolatry, ado- 
ring the Stai s, the oun and iVioon, lnftead of worthipnino’ 
the true God. 1 r 0 . 
To this the Emperor replied, that the Arabs had con- 
quered the moft llluftrious Kingdom of the whole Earth 
the belt cultivated, the moft opulent, the moft pregnant 
of fine Wits, and of the moft extenfive Fame. Then faid 
he, JB hat Account do the People in your Parts make of the 
other Kings of the Earth ? To which the Arab replied 
that he knew them not. Then faid the Emperor to th ’ 
Interpreter, 44 Tell him we efteem but five Kings that he 
“ whofe Kingdom is of wideft Extent, is the Mafter of 
Cfi Iraki for he is in the midft of the World, -and fur*. 
“ rounded by the Territories of other Kings ; and we find 
“ he is called the King of Kings. After him we reckon 
£C our Emperor here prefent, and we find that he is {tiled 
“ the King of Mankind, for no King is invefted with a 
“ more abfolute Authority over his Subjects, nor is there 
“ a People under the Sun more dutiful and fubmiffive to 
tc their Sovereign, than the People of this Country. We 
“ therefore, in this refpeCt, are the Kings of the human 
“ Race ; after us the King of the Turks , whofe Kingdom 
“ borders upon us, and him we call the King of Lions. 
“ Next is the King of the Elephants, who is the King of 
££ the Indies , whom we alfo call the King of Wifdom, 
££ becaufe he derives his Origin from the Indians. And 
££ laft of all the King of Greece , whom we ftile the King 
££ of Men ; for upon the Face of the Earth, there are no 
££ Men of better Manners, nor of comber Prelence, than 
“ h j, s Subjects. Thefe, added he, are the moft illuftrious 
££ of all Kings, nor are others to compare with them.” 
Then faid EbnW^ahab, he ordered the Interpreter to afk. 
me. If I knew my Mafter and my Lord, meaning the 
“ Prophet {Mohammed.) and if I had feen him ?” I made 
Anfwer, 44 How fhould I have feen him who is with 
££ God ?” He replied, 44 That is not what I mean, I alk 
££ you, what fort of a Man he was in his Perfon ?” I re- 
££ plied, that he was very handfome.” Then he called for 
a great Box, and opening it, he took out another contained 
therein, which he fet before him, and faid to the Inter- 
preter, 44 {hew him his Mafter and his Lord;” and I 
faw in the Box, the Image of the Prophets ; whereat I 
moved my Lips, praying to myfelf in Honour of their 
Memory. 
The Emperor did not imagine I fhould know them 
again, and faid to the Interpreter, 44 Afk him why he 
44 moves his Lips ?” I anfwered, 46 I was praying in 
“ Memory of the Prophets How do you know them , 
faid the Emperor ? I replied, that I knew them by the 
Reprefentation of their Hiftories ; 4 4 There, faid I, is 
44 Noah in the Ark, who was faved with thofe that were 
44 with him at the fame Time,” and I made the iifual 
Salute to Noah and his Company. Then the Emperor 
laughed, and faid, 44 Thou art not miftaken in the Name 
44 of Noah , and thou haft named him right ; but as for the 
44 univerfal Deluge, it is what we know not. It is true, 
44 indeed, that a Flood covered Part of the Earth ; but 
44 it reached not our Country, nor even the Indies.*’ I 
made my Anfwer to this, and endeavoured to remove his 
Objections the beft I could ; and then faid again to him, 
44 There is Mofes with his Rod, and the Children of If- 
44 raelH He agreed with me, as to the fmall Extent of 
their Country, and the Manner how the ancient Inhabi- 
tants were deftroyed by Mofes. I then faid to him •, 44 He 
44 there, is Jesus, upon an Afs, and here are his Apoftles 
t There is nothing very furprifing in this Account, for the very fame Method had been in Ufe among the Greeks long before, and has been fince 
practifed in Italy and elfewhere ; and without doubt, it is the true Method of coming at the juft Knowledge of the Value of fuch Performances ; and 
therefore fomething of this fort is annually pradtifed at Paris. 
h It feems a little ftrange, that the learned Abbe Renaudot did not endeavour to fettle the Time when this Arabian Traveller went to China, efpe- 
cially when there is a Circumftance which feems to fix it, viz. the plundering of Bajfora , upon which it is faid he took a Refolution of going to Siraf . 
In order to fupply this Defect, I have confulted Abul-Pharajus, who informs us, that A. H. 285 . which anfwers to A. D. 898, there was one Abu- 
Said, who revolted againft the Khaliff, and ruined Bajfora , which occafioned the walling and fortifying that City, which coft fourteen thoufand 
Pieces of Gold. The Khaliff then reigning was At Mohated, in whofe Time Elmacinus informs us, things were in great Confufion ; and he like- 
wife takes notice of this Rebellion. The Date agrees very well with the reft of this Hiftory, and particularly with the Account given by this Man, 
©f the Reafons which induced him to quit his Country in his Conference with the Emperor of China, 
4 44 with , 
