96 A TRANSLATION OF THE KEDDAH ANNALS. 
jesty embraced and kissed bis daughter, and joyfully shook 
hands with the Prince of Rum, after which he led the latter 
by the hand and placed him close to his right hand. He also 
directed the chest to be removed to the palace. ( But where, 
exclaimed his Majesty is the Rumish Ambassador V The 
latter soon made his appearance when the king asked.—‘Is 
this your Master T —pointing to the Prince. The former re¬ 
plied, e yes your Majesty, it was he who sailed for China with 
so many hundreds of vessels which were lost with all in them, 
thousands in number. I have been staying three years here 
in China in the hope of gaining intelligence of you, my liege 5 — 
addressing the Prince of Rum i Oh Shahbandcird ’, rejoined 
the Prince, your lordship has done me a great kindness. 
But if I had not fortunately met with the Prophet Suliman, 
who knows where I might have died/ Hurmanshah now 
got leave to depart, and after him the Shabundara bearing a 
letter took his leave. 
The Emperor next ordered letters to be despatched to the 
Rajds of all the countries subject to China, directing them to 
forward to court supplies of provisions of all kinds, and com¬ 
plimentary gifts [or hadiya.] When every thing was ready 
the nuptials were solemnized with the pomp and circumstance 
usual with mighty Princes. ( n ) [6] 
NOTES. 
[6] I cannot help believing that the preceding description, how¬ 
ever it may be dressed up in the garb of fiction, had some facts for 
its foundation. But 1 suspect that our author was not well read in 
the customs of China when he wrote—and that he borrowed some 
traits and manners from those prevailing at Malayan courts. Thus, 
amongst other things, he makes the Emperor an eater of betel 
leaf, a luxury which Chinese, notwithstanding all their very strange 
dietetical fancies, do not seem to have e?er approved of. 
Respecting the wall in the palace of China which was covered 
with mirrors, it may be remarked that they were probably brought 
from the west, although the Chinese doubtless made inferior kinds 
to those of that portion of the world. The Malays who were never 
a manufacturing people—at least as to the article of glass, were 
provided with mirrors long before the arrival of Europeans to trade 
to the eastward. In the Malayan Annals we find it stated— 
“ As for Tun Hassan—he had a mirror as large as himself standing 
(n) That the marriage noticed by Marco Polo was the only one of the kind 
can scarcely be supposed. So long as the Chinese Mahometan Emperors, 
regarded with reverential or friendly feelings the potentates of the same faith 
in the west, for so long would they seek to ally themselves with these by rati; 
riages. 
