Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/310

298 298 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. he alludes to the protection they have always granted to the Christians, who have been exempt from tributes, and living in freedom in their country, " et omnium Chris- tianorum non dentur aliquid de tributum, et fiant franchi in sua terra" and the favours heaped upon them by his grandfather, Ploulagou, and the good Abaga, his father. He then goes on to speak of a certain Ise-Turcimen, or Tse, the Interpreter, with several of his companions, who were sent as envoys, it would seem, to the court of the Pope and some other princes by the Grand Khan, and who had received from them costly robes and perfumes, roba et tus. He himself, he states, as soon as he had re- ceived the favour of the Grand Khan, that is to say, the investiture for the throne of Persia, thought of sending presents to the Pope, ad domino sancto patri mittantur robas et tus. He proposes to restore to the Christians all the advantages they have previously enjoyed, et habe- mus in pensamentum de eos custodire, et facer e gratiam. The long interval that had elapsed since the last em- bassy to the Christian princes is explained by the apostacy of Ahmed, who " anno praiterito Ameto erat intratus in moribus Saracenorum" and who, for that reason, had not kept the land of the Christians. Finally, he pro- mises to the Franks a portion of the land of Scam, that is to say, Egypt, " terram Scami, videlicet Egypti" and he desires the Christian princes to let him know by a man worthy of trust, in what place they propose to join their forces to those of the Mongols, so that the Khan and the Pope may annihilate the power of the Saracens. The letter is dated in the year of the Cock, that is to say, 1285, on the 18th day of Madii, or May. The last words of the letter, in coris, seem to indicate that it was written in the city of Tauris, for it was there that the Mongol princes of Persia habitually resided.