who m they must obey in whatsoever he commanded. The manner in which he proposed they should elect a king was as follows : of the fifty-two tribes of which the Tartars were composed, each tribe should bring him an arrow* marked with the name and seal of the tribe. This was agreed to by all the people; and when done, the whole fifty-two arrows were placed before a child of five years old, and from the tribe whose arrow the child should pick, the king was to be chosen. The child having taken an arrow, all the tribes were ordered to retire ; and fifty-two men, the most learned and valiant, were selected from the tribe to whom the arrow belonged, among whom was their adviser; and each of them holding an arrow apart signed with his name, they made a child of five years old take one of these arrows, the owner of which was to be their king or ruler. By accident the choice of the child fell on the arrow of him who had proposed the measure, to the great joy of the whole nation. Having caused silence to be proclaimed, he said,— u Gentlemen, if you wish that I should be your lord, you will swear by Him who made the heavens and earth, that you will obey my commands." And they all took the oath. After this, he gave them many useful instructions, very excellent for keeping a nation in peace at home. One of his regulations was, that no one should seize the goods of another without his will, nor to his loss ; and that no one should strike another, under pain of hie hand being cut off. Another, that no one should force the wife or daughter of any one, under penalty of death. Many other good laws did he promulgate for the preservation of peace among them. Having given them these instructions, he remonstrated with them on their ancient enemy Prester John, and how great his hatred was against them ; and, in conclusion, said,— * TTie lord de Joinville has made a mistake by attributing; to the Tartars the election of their king by the number of arrows. This circumstance is told of the Turks and Turcomans by William of Tyre, who lived before the name of Tartars was heard of, in the first book and seventh chapter, and by Albericus in the year 1059, when they possessed themselves of the lands of the king of Persia.