Note E — Chapter IX · THE TATAR INVASIONS—1224-1264.

Pilgrims to the number of 50,000 and more, some of them from the wastes of Kamschatka, visit this monastery annually. The passage of entrance is six feet high, but wide enough for only one person to walk in, and thick with soot from the torches of pilgrims. Eighty bodies of the saints are preserved, exposed to view, enveloped in wrappers of silk, ornamented with silver and gold. A paper on each breast bears the name, and in some instances, a brief record of the deeds of the deceased. Their hands are turned outward to receive the kisses of the devout. Near by are the cells, into which the saints had built themselves, leaving no aperture, save a small square for the handing in of food.