And when any man shall die, they set a spear beside him; and when he draws towards death, every man flies out of the house till he is dead; and after that they bury him in the fields. And when the emperor dies, they place him in a chair in the centre of his tent, with a clean table before him, covered with a cloth, and thereon flesh and divers viands, and a cup full of mare's milk. And men put a mare beside him, with her foal, and a horse saddled and bridled; and they lay upon the horse great quantities of gold and silver, and they put about him great plenty of straw, and they make a great and large pit, and, with the tent and all these other things, they put him in the earth; and they say that when he shall come into another world, he shall not be without a house, nor without a horse, nor without gold and silver; and the mare shall give him milk, and bring him forth more horses, till he be well stored in the other world; for they believe that, after their death, they shall be eating and drinking in that other world, and solacing themselves with their wives, as they did here. And after the emperor is thus interred, no man shall be so hardy as to speak of him before his friends. Many cause themselves to be interred privately by night, in wild places, and the grass put again over the pit, to grow; or they cover the pit with gravel and sand, that no man shall perceive where the pit is, to the intent that never after may his friends have mind or remembrance of him. Then they say that he is ravished into another world, where he is a greater lord than he was here. And then, after the death of the emperor, the seven lineages assemble together and choose his eldest son, or the next after him of his blood; and thus they say to him:—"We will, and we pray and ordain, that you be our lord and our emperor." And then he answers, "If you will that I reign over you as lord, each of you do as I shall command him, either to abide or go; and whomsoever I command to be slain, that anon he be slain." And they answer all, with one voice, "Whatsoever you command, it shall be done." Then says the emperor, "Now understand well that my word from henceforth is sharp and biting as a sword." After, they set him upon a black steed, and so bring him to a chair full richly arrayed, and there they crown him. And then all the cities and good towns send him rich presents, so that at that day he shall have more than sixty chariots laden with gold and silver, besides jewels of gold and precious stones, that lords give him, that are beyond estimation; and also horses and cloths of gold, and camakas, and cloth of Tartary, that are innumerable. CHAPTER XXIV. OF THE REALM OF THARSE, AND THE LANDS AND KINGDOMS TOWARDS THE NORTH PARTS, IN COMING DOWN FROM THE LAND OF CATHAY.