Clavijo gives an account of the insolent message of the Chinese envoys, which excited the wrath of the aged warrior, who resolved upon invading the celestial empire in the depth of winter. He marched out of Samarkand, on the 8th of January, 1405, in a heavy fall of snow, and, crossing the River Jaxartes upon the ice, he encamped at a place called Otrar {He took with him several thousand loads of corn, intending to sow it along the line of march, as a supply for his troops on their return.-Ali of Yezd}. In February he was attacked by fever and ague, and he died on the 17th of that month, in the year 1405, aged sixty-nine, leaving thirty-six male descendants. Timur's body was embalmed with musk and rose water, wrapped in linen, laid in an ebony coffin, and sent to Samarkand, where it was buried.
