AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 463
wearing an ample mantle of goat's hair which greatly took my fancy, so that I could not help saying to myself "I wish to God that he would give it me !" When I went to take my leave of him he got up, went into a corner of his cave, took off this mantle and made me put it on, as well as a high cap which he took from his head, and then himself put on a coat all covered with patches. The fakirs told me that the shaikh was not in the habit of wearing the dress in question, and that he only put it on at the time of my arrival, saying to them : "The man of the West will ask for this dress ; a Pagan king will take it from him, and give it to our Brother Burhânuddin of S6gharj to whom it belongs, and for whom it was made !" When the fakirs told me this, my answer was : " I've got the shaikh's blessing now he has put his mantle on me, and I'll take care not to wear it in visiting any king whatever, be he idolator or be he Islamite." So I quitted the shaikh, and a good while afterwards it came to pass that when I was travelling in China I got to the city of Khansâ.' The crowd about us was so great that my companions got separated from me. Now it so happened that I had on this very dress of which we are speaking, and that in a certain street of the city the wazir was passing with a great following, and his eye lighted on me. He called me to him, took my hand, asked questions about my journey, and did not let me go till we had reached the residence of the sultana I then wanted to quit him ; however he would not let me go, but took me in and introduced me to the prince, who began to ask me questions about the various Mussulman sovereigns. Whilst I was answering his questions, his eyes were fixed with admiration on my mantle. "Take it off," said the wazir ; and there was no possibility of disobeying. So the
1 Quinsai, Cansay, etc., of our European travellers, see pp. 113, 289, 354, &c.
2 The viceroy, as appears more clearly below. But some of the viceroys under the Mongols seem to have borne the title of Wang or King, so that Ibn Batuta may not be altogether wrong in calling him Sultan.
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