that on one occasion an obstinate battle took place between this princess and one of her enemies ; a great number of her soldiers had been slain, and her whole force was on the point of running away, when Urduja rushed to the front, and forcing her way through the ranks of the combatants till she got at the king himself with whom she was at war, she dealt him a mortal wound, so that he died, and his troops fled. The princess returned with his head carried on a spear, and the king's family paid a vast sum to redeem it. And when the princess rejoined her father he gave her this city of Kailukari, which her brother had previously governed. I heard likewise from the same skipper that various sons of kings had sought Urduja's hand, but she always answered, "I will marry no one but him who shall fight and conquer me !" so they all avoided the trial, for fear of the shame of being beaten by her.'
We quitted the country of Tawâlisi, and after a voyage of seventeen days, during which the wind was always favourable, we arrived in CHINA.
This is a vast country ; and it abounds in all sorts of good things, fruit, corn, gold and silver ; no other country in the world can rival China in that respect. It is traversed by the river which is called Ab-i-Haiyah, signifying the Water of Life. It is also called the river SkRii, just like the Indian river. It source is among the mountains near the city of KHANBALIK, which are known by the name of Kuh-i-Bliznah or Monkey Mountains. This river runs through the heart of China, for a distance of six months' journey, reaching at last Sin-ul-Sin.2 It is bordered throughout with villages, culti-
1 On Tawcdisi, see Note G at the end of the Narrative.
2 See remarks on Ibn Batuta's notion of the great River of China in the introductory notices. Saris is no doubt, as explained by Defrémery, intended for the Mongol word Saris or.Sccri yellow, a translation of the Chinese Hwang-Ho, whilst the Indian River is that of which he has spoken in previous passages of his book (c. ii and iii, 437) as the Sar2cr or Saris, viz., the Saiju, Sarya, or Gogra.
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