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CHAPTER XXXVIII.

WOE TO THE CALIPH.

HAVE mentioned that, in the middle of the
thirteenth century, the Moguls, or Tartars, were
the terror of Asia and Europe. In considering their
energy and cruelty as warriors, is it wonderful that
their movements should have been regarded with
lively alarm? From the Yellow River to the banks
of the Danube they had marched, conquering and
slaughtering ; marking their way with devastation,
and making the two continents resound with the
tumult of war and the crash of empires.

Originally a number of hordes, inhabiting the
waste regions that lie between ancient Emaiis, Si-
beria, and China, and the sea of Kamschatka, the
Tartars formed several nations of hunters and_ shep-
herds, living under tents, with their families sub-
sisting on the produce of the chase and the flesh
of their flocks, and acknowledging one God, the
sovereign of heaven, but reserving their worship for
the genil, who, as they believed, followed their steps,
and watched over the safety of their families. They
moved from place to place, despising agriculture, and
not deigning to build. Even as late as the twelfth