kiss the ground, then stand up and go near him. If he is an Infidel, he kisses his bare hand, but if he is a Christian, he draws his hand into his sleeve, and puts out the sleeve which he must kiss. When the king-sultan sends a messenger, he has at the several stations on the road, horses ready with all that is needed. His messenger, whom he sends, has a bell at his girdle; he covers it with a cloth until he gets near a station, then he removes it and lets it ring. When it is heard at the station, a horse is prepared for him, and he finds it ready. He rides to another station, and there he again finds one ready. This he goes on doing, until he gets to the place to which he was sent. This is done on all the roads of the king-sultan.(11) It is also to be noted, that the king-sultan also sends letters by pigeons, because he has many enemies, and is afraid that they might stop his messengers. They are sent mostly from Archey to Tamasgen, between which places is a great desert. It is also to be noted, how the pigeons are sent to any city to which the king-sultan wishes to have them sent. Two pigeons must be put together, and sugar must be put into their food, and they are not allowed to fly; and when they know each other well, the hen-pigeon is taken to the king, and he keeps it, and marks the cock-pigeon that it may be known from which city it is; it is then put into a separate place that is prepared, and the hen-pigeon is no longer allowed inside. They no longer give him so much to eat, and no more sugar as he used to have; this is done that he may wish to return as soon as possible to the place where he was before, and where he was trained. When they wish to despatch him, the letter is tied under a wing, and he flies away straight for the house where he was trained. There he is caught and the letter taken from him, and they send it to whomsoever it belongs.(12) When a guest comes to the king-sultan, whether he be a lord or a merchant, they give him a pass; and when the letter is shewn in his country, they kneel when it is read, and they kiss it, and shew the guest great honour and attention, and they take him over the country from one place to the other. It is also to be noted, that when the ambassador of a king, or of some other lord of a foreign country, comes, it is the custom among the Infidels to attach to him a chief with three or four hundred, or with six hundred horsemen; and when the king-sultan becomes aware of him, he is seated on his throne in attire ornamented with precious stones, and having seven curtains before him. And when the lord who is sent on the embassage wants to enter, one curtain is withdrawn after the other, and each time he must bow and kiss the ground. When the last is withdrawn, he kneels before the king, who holds out to him his hand; he kisses it and then delivers his message. There is a bird in Arabia called sacka,(13) which is larger than a crane, and has a long neck, and a broad and long beak.