Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/222

210 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. "Parties are first sent out to discover whereabouts the game is most abundant, and according to their report, orders are dispatched to all the tribes encamped within a circle of a month's journey, to let a certain number of their men be employed in forming a circle, and chasing the game towards an appointed spot. These troops are organised into right, left, and centre division; and during the march the officers make frequent reports to the Khan of the game that has been found, and the place to which it has been driven. The circle of hunters, at first immense, is then narrowed, till they stand shoulder to shoulder round the enclosure, a space perhaps of two or three leagues, marked by pieces of felt suspended to cords. The hunters are obliged to be very careful to keep their ranks, that the game may not escape ; and the smallest negligence in this respect is punished with the bastinado. The emperor comes first into the enclosure with his wives, and amuses himself with shooting an immense number of animals of all kinds ; when he is tired of slaughter, he retires to some elevated spot within the enclosure, whence he may witness the performance of the princes and generals. After them, officers of a lower rank may enjoy the sport, and last of all the common men ; and the affair lasts for several days, when the old men present themselves to the emperor as suppliants for whatever game may have escaped the carnage, though some animals are allowed to escape, in order to multiply and furnish material for future hunts. " The flocks and herds of the Tartars consist of sheep, goats, oxen, camels, and especially horses, which furnish their habitual food, and constitute the chief part of their wealth. They eat, however, the flesh of all animals,