CONDITION OF THE EMPIRE. 95 persons ; by little and little, evil disposed men began to gather round liira ; his name became formidable ; his resources increased ; his ambition was fired ; and among the cities of China that he attacked was Khan-Fou, a port at which the Arab merchants disembark. Be- tween this city and the sea there is a distance of some days' journey ; it is seated on a great river, and bathed with sweet water. " The people of Khan-Fou having closed their gates, the rebel besieged them for a long while. That took place in the course of the year 264 (a.d. 878). The town was at length taken, and the inhabitants put to the sword. Persons acquainted with events that take place in China, report that on this occasion there perished a hundred and twenty thousand persons — Mussulmans, Jews, Christians, and Magi, who had set- tled in the city for the sake of trade ; not to mention the numbers killed who were natives of the country. The number of persons of the four religions mentioned who perished is known, because the Chinese government levied a tax upon them according to their number. The rebel, moreover, cut down the mulberry and other trees which were on the territory of the city. We mention the mulberry in particular, because the leaves of this tree serve to feed the worm which makes the silk, until the creature constructs for itself its last dwelling. This was the reason why silk was no longer sent to Arabia and other countries." The Empire of China was after that time, concludes the Arab narrator, much in the state Persia was in for- merly, when Alexander killed Darius, and divided its provinces among his generals. According to the testi- mony of the Arab traveller, there were at Khan-Fou
