YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE STORY OF
^ftarco polo

THE KHAN'S FLEET PASSING THROUGH THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

THE STORY OF

/Bbarco polo

BY
NOAH BROOKS
AUTHOR OF "AMERICAN STATESMEN," " WASHINGTON

IN LINCOLN'S TIME," ETC,

NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
i9°5

Copyright, i8g6, 1897, by
The Century Co.

Ee

F. TAPLEY CO.
New York

PREFACE.

' I ^HE story of Marco Polo and his companions is
-*- one of the most romantic and interesting of
mediaeval or of modern times. The manner of the
return of the Polos long after they had been given up
for dead, the subsequent adventures of Marco Polo,
the incredulity with which his book of travels was
received, the gradual and slow confirmation of the
truth of his reports as later explorations penetrated
the mysterious Orient, and the fact that he may be
justly regarded as the founder of the geography of
Asia, have all combined to give to his narrative a
certain fascination, with which no other story of
travel has been invested. At first read for pure
amusement, Marco Polo's book eventually became an
authoritative account of regions of the earth which
were almost wholly unknown to Europe up to his
time, and some portions of which even now remain
unexplored by Western travellers.

VI PREFACE.
In this little book the author and compiler has
endeavoured to give a connected account of the travels
of Marco Polo for the entertainment and instruction
of young readers, with the hope that maturer minds
may find therein a comprehensive and intelligible
summary of the most valuable and trustworthy parts
of the said book. As far as possible he has allowed
the traveller to speak for himself, refraining from that
fashion of condensation, which suppresses the original
author and gives the reader only a narration which
has been coloured by its passage through the mind
of an editor. In his comments on the text of Marco
Polo, the author has made use of the erudite notes of
Colonel Henry Yule, C.B., whose admirable trans
lation of " The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the
Venetian" (John Murray, London, 1871) has been
made the basis of this volume. The works of the
Abb6 Hue, Williams's "The Middle Kingdom,"
Gilmour's " Among the Mongols," and other less-
known books have been consulted in quest of light
and information for the better understanding of the
great Venetian's pages.
NOAH BROOKS.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
CONCERNING MARCO, HIS FATHER, AND HIS UNCLE — MISTY
NOTIONS OF THE FAR EAST HELD BY MEN OF MEDIAEVAL
TIMES — HOW THE POLOS WENT TO THE DOMINIONS OF
KUBLAI KHAN AND GOT BACK AGAIN— A MARVELLOUS
JOURNEY  I

CHAPTER II.
YOUNG MARCO AT THE COURT OF KUBLAI KHAN — THE GREAT
khan's CONDESCENSION TO THE YOUNG TRAVELLER 
THE MANNER OF THE RETURN OF THE POLOS — HOW
MESSER MARCO POLO WAS CAPTURED BY THE GENOESE,
AND HOW HE WROTE HIS FAMOUS BOOK OF TRAVELS . 12

CHAPtER III.

MARCO DISCOURSES OF ANCIENT ARMENIA — THE KINGDOM
OF GEORGIANIA — THE EXPLOITS OF ALEXANDER THE
GREAT  STORY OF THE MISERLY CALIPH OF BAGDAD
AND HIS GOLD— A GREAT IIARVEL  26
vii

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV. PAGE
THE THREE KINGS — THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 
STORIES AND ADVENTURES IN PERSIA — ORIGIN OF THE
ASSASSINS  39

CHAPTER V.
THE GEMS OF BADAKSHAN — A ROYAL PREROGATIVE — THE
CONJURERS OF CASHMERE  6o
CHAPTER VI.
THE ROOF OF THE WORLD — HOW THE PAMIR COUNTRY
BORDERS ON THREE GREAT EMPIRES — THE GREAT
HORNED SHEEP OF THE STEPPES — A MARVELLOUS STORY
OF SAMARCAND  66
CHAPTER VII.
THE SEA OF SAND AND ITS MARVELS — THE FABLED SALA
MANDER AND ITS TRUE STORY — SOMETHING ABOUT AS
BESTOS  73
CHAPTER VIII.
HOW JENGHIZ KHAN DEFEATED PRESTER JOHN — THE MYTHI
CAL CHRISTIAN KING AND THE MONGOL CONQUEROR —
DIVINERS AND THEIR TRICKS — TATAR MIGRATIONS . 8o

CHAPTER IX.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF A STRANGE PEOPLE  CONCERNING
THE TATARS AND THEIR WAYS — THE ORIGIN OF CON
DENSED MILK  gg

CONTENTS. ix

CHAPTER X. PAGE
TIBET — THE "GRUNTING OXEN" OF THAT REGION — MUSK-
DEER AND OTHER ANIMALS  94

CHAPTER XI.
WHO WERE GOG AND MAGOG? — THE SPLENDOURS OF THE_.-''^
COURT OF KUBLAI KHAN — COLERIDGE's POEM " IN XA
NADU "  .98

CHAPTER XII.
THE TRICKS OF CHINESE CONJURERS — FLYING CUPS AND
AIR-CLIMBERS  IO7

CHAPTER XIII.
HOW THE GREAT EMPEROR WENT TO WAR— KUBLAI KHAN'S
VICTORIOUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST A KINSMAN— HOW THE
KHAN REWARDED THE VALOUR OF HIS CAPTAINS . .Ill

CHAPTER XIV.
THE BEAUTIFUL PALACE OF KUBLAI KHAN — HOW THE EM--"""^
PEROR SPENT HIS TIME — CONCERNING THE MIGHTY
CITY OF CAMBALUC — THE MANNER OF SERVING DINNER
IN THE GREAT KHAN'S PALACE — ANCIENT AND MODERN
PEKING — COSTLY ROBES  1 24

X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV. PAGE
THE KHAN AS A MIGHTY HUNTER — HIS FALCONERS, HAWKS,
AND HUNTING GEAR  RIDING IN A CHAMBER ON ELE
PHANTS' BACKS — RIGHT ROYAL SPORT . . . -139

CHAPTER XVI.
KUBLAl'S FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT — THE GREAT KHAN
AS A MONEY-SPINNER — PRINTING MONEY TO ORDER —
THE emperor's VALUABLE MONOPOLIES — THE TWELVE
BARONS AND THEIR POWERS — POST-RUNNERS WHO
TRAVEL FAST — BURNING " BLACK STONES " FOR FUEL —
THE khan's PATRIARCHAL RULE  147
CHAPTER XVII.
THE GOLDEN KING AND PRESTER JOHN — THE FAMED YEL
LOW RIVER  SOME OF THE WONDERS OF Y'UKNAN — THE
TRAVELLER MEETS WITH CROCODILES — "THE PEOPLE
OF THE GOLD TEETH " — CURIOSITIES OF TATTOOING 
A FAMOUS BATTLE — THE CITY OF MIEN . . . 163
CHAPTER XVIII.
IN SOUTHERN CHINA AND LAOS — CURIOUS CUSTOMS OF A
STRANGE PEOPLE — LIONS AND LION-HUNTING DOGS —
MARVELLOUS PRODUCTS OF SILK — THE REBELLION AND
PUNISHMENT OF LIYTAN  1 85
CHAPTER XIX.
BAYAN HUNDRED-EYES — THE POLO BROTHERS INTRODUCE
WESTERN SIEGE ARTILLERY — THE YANG-TSE-KIANG AND
ITS MONASTERIES — KINSAY (THE CITY OF HEAVEN)
DESCRIBED  Iq6

CONTENTS. xi

CHAPTER XX. PAGE
AN EXCURSION TO CIPANGO, OR JAPAN — INGENIOUS SHIPS
BUILT BY THE CHINESE — THE KHAN FAILS TO CONQUER
JAPAN — THE RHINOCEROS — HISTORY OF SAGAMONI BOR-
CAN, OR BUDDHA — RELIQUES OF ADAM. . . .211

CHAPTER XXI.
THE WONDERS OF INDIA — PEARL-FISHERS AND THEIR PERILS
— A STORY LIKE ONE IN " THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' EN
TERTAINMENTS" — HUNTING DIAMONDS WITH EAGLES . 226

CHAPTER XXII.
A PEEP INTO AFRICA  THE MYTHICAL ROC AND ITS MIGHTY
EGGS  THE EXPLOITS OF KING CAIDU'S DAUGHTER —
CONCLUSION  231

LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE KHAN S FLEET PASSING THROUGH THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO Frontispiece
THE POLO BROTHERS RECEIVING THE TABLET OF GOLD Facing page 8
MARCO polo's GALLEY . . . . . . . ,, „ l8
THE THREE KINGS AT THE WELL ... „ ,, 42
THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN .... ii PI 5^
THE MIRACULOUS COLUMN ... . . „ „ 70
TATARS ON THE MARCH ......„,, 9O
CHINESE PHEASANT .... . . „ „ 96
THE GREAT WALL AND THE RAMPART OF GOG AND MAGOG ,, „ 98
A PAVILION OF THE SUMMER PALACE . . . ¦ ,1 ,, I06
A CHINESE CONJURER  r 11 I08
THE PALACE OF THE GREAT KHAN . . . „ ,, I26
THE WEST GATE OF PEKING . . . . . .,11, I30
THE EAGLE AND ITS VICTIM .  I „ I4O
PART OF THE KHAN's ENCAMPMENT . . . ¦ 1, 11 '44
CATAPULTS, MANGONELS, AND OTHER MACHINES . . ,, ,, I98
AN ISLAND MONASTERY  11 11 202
GOLDEN ISLAND  I 11 2O4
SILVER ISLAND .... . . . „ „ 2IO
THE THREE ASIATIC RHINOCEROSES: INDIAN (uPPER),
SUMATRAN (LOWEr), JAVANESE (mIDDLe) . . „ „ 220
THE ROC  >j 234
xiii

XIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
THE EMPEROR OF CHINA .....•¦ Ok page 3
THE CASTLE OF THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS . . -(in 4°
OVIS POLI ..... ...,,,, 6g
THE GREAT NACCARAS . . . . . . . ii 1) "9
EAST AFRICAN SHEEP  I, „ 232

THE
STORY OF MARCO POLO

THE
STORY OF MARCO POLO.

CHAPTER I.
CONCERNING MARCO, HIS FATHER, AND HIS UNCLE — MISTY
NOTIONS OF THE FAR EAST HELD BY MEN OF MEDIAEVAL
TIMES — HOW THE POLOS WENT TO THE DOMINIONS OF
KUBLAI KHAN AND GOT BACK AGAIN — A MARVELLOUS
JOURNEY.
MANY hundred years ago, in the year 1295, let
US say, before Columbus discovered America,
or the art of printing had been invented, a strange
thing happened in Venice. Three men, dressed
in outlandish garb, partly European and partly
Asiatic, appeared in the streets of that city, making
their way to the gates of a lofty and handsome house
which was then occupied by members of the ancient
family of Polo. The three strangers, whose speech
had a foreign accent, claimed admittance to the
mansion, saying that they were Maffeo and Nicolo
I

2 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
Polo, brothers, and Marco, son of Nicolo, all of whom
had been absent in the wild and barbarous countries
of the Far East for more than twenty-four years, and
had long since been given up as lost
In those days nobody in Europe knew much about
the regions in which the three Polos had travelled,
the little .that was known being derived from
scanty and vague reports. Two friars. Piano Carpini
and William Rubruquis, it is true, had reached the
borders of Cathay, or Northern China, and had
brought back slender accounts of the wonders of that
mysterious land, of which they had heard from the
subjects of the Great Khan, who reigned over a vast
empire. But nobody among the learned and most
travelled people of Europe knew exactly what manner
of people lived, or what countries lay, beyond the
western boundary of Cathay. None knew aught of
the inhabitants (or if there were inhabitants) of the
regions that we now know as India, Sumatra, Japan,
Corea, and the eastern coasts of Asia and Africa.
It was supposed that the farthest extreme, or eastern
edge, of Cathay ran off into a region of continual
darkness, a bog or marsh where all manner of strange
beasts, hobgoblins, and monsters roamed and howled.
And it was not surprising that, when the three Polos
(for these were they) came back from that desperately
savage country and claimed their own, they were
laughed to scorn. It seemed reasonable to believe

I]

RETURN OF THE WANDERERS.

3

that the three, having been gone so many years, had
wandered off into the Sea of Darkness and had
perished miserably, or had been destroyed by the
wild creatures of that terrible region.
How the three Polos so far convinced their rela
tions, who were in possession of the Polo mansion

Ot«- :6mp«rsr of Chin&

in Venice, as to gain admittance, we do not know ;
but John Baptist Ramusio, who has written an
entertaining history of the Polo family, sets forth
what was done by the three Polos to prove that
they were what they claimed to be, after they had
taken possession of their house. They explained
that they had been in the service of the Great
Khan, or Emperor, of the Mongol Empire, and

4 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
that they had amassed wealth while in the region
variously known as Cathay, China, Mongolia, and the
Far East. Here is what the good John Baptist
Ramusio has to tell of the device by which Maffeo,
Nicolo, and young Marco Polo finally convinced
their neighbours of the truth of their marvellous
story :
They invited a number of their kindred to an entertain
ment, which they took care to have prepared with great
state and splendour in that house of theirs ; and when the
hour arrived for sitting down to table, they came forth of
their chamber, all three clothed in crimson satin, fashioned
in long robes reaching to the ground, such as people in
those days wore within doors. And when water for the
hands had been served, and the guests were set, they took
off those robes and put on others of crimson damask, whilst
the first suits were by their orders cut up and divided among
the servants. Then after partaking of some of the dishes,
they went out again and came back in robes of crimson
velvet; and when they had again taken their seats, the
second suits were divided as before. When dinner was
over, they did the like with the robes of velvet, after they
had put on dresses of the ordinary fashion worn by the
rest of the company. These proceedings caused much
wonder and amazement among the guests. But when the
cloth had been drawn, and all the servants had been
ordered to retire from the dining-hall, Messer Marco, as
the youngest of the three, rose from table, and, going into
another chamber, brought forth the three shabby dresses
of coarse stuff which they had worn when they first arrived.
Straightway they took sharp knives and began to rip up
some of the seams and welts, and to take out of them

I-] ALL DOUBTS REMOVED. 5
jewels of the greatest value in vast quantities, such as
rubies, sapphires, carbuncles, diamonds, and emeralds,
which had all been stitched up in those dresses in so artful
a fashion that nobody could have suspected the fact. For
when they took leave of the Great Can, they had changed
all the wealth that he had bestowed upon them into this
mass of rubies, emeralds, and other jewels, being well aware
of the impossibility of carrying with them so great an
amount of gold over a journey of such extreme length and
difficulty. Now this exhibition of such a huge treasure of
jewels and precious stones, all tumbled out upon the table,
threw the guests into fresh amazement, insomuch that they
seemed quite bewildered and dumbfounded. And now
they recognised that in spite of all former doubts these
were in truth those honoured and worthy gentlemen of
the Ca' Polo * that they claimed to be ; and so all paid
them the greatest honour and reverence. And when the
story got wind in Venice, straightway the whole city, gentle
and simple, flocked to the house to embrace them, and
to make much of them, with every conceivable demonstra
tion of affection and respect. On Messer Maffeo, who was
the eldest, they conferred the honours of an office that
was of great dignity in those days ; whilst the young men
came daily to visit and converse with the ever polite and
gracious Messer Marco, and to ask him questions about
Cathay and the Great Can, all of which he answered
with such kindly courtesy that every man felt himself in a
manner his debtor. And as it happened that in the story,
which he was constantly called on to repeat, of the mag
nificence of the Great Can, he would speak of his revenues
as amounting to ten or fifteen millions of gold, and in
like manner, when recounting other instances of great
wealth in those parts, would always make use of the term
* House ol Polo.

6 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
millions, so they gave him the nickname of Messer Marco
MiLLioNi : a thing which I have noted also in the Public
Books of this Republic where mention is made of him.
The Court of his House, too, at S. Giovanni Chrisostomo,
has always from that time been popularly known as the
Court of the Millioni.
It is with the youngest of the three Polos that
our story has to do ; for Marco, the son of Nicolo,
was the author of the book that bears his name;
and he was the most famous traveller of his time,
as we shall presently see. He was seventeen
years old when he first started on his adventurous
journey into Far Cathay. He was forty-one years
old when he returned to his native city of Venice,
with his father and his uncle Maffeo ; and it was
not until three or four years later, while he was a
prisoner of war, that he began to write, or dictate,
the tale of his wonderful travels.
The two Polo brothers, Nicolo and Maffeo, began
their wanderings in the Far East before Marco was
born. After several years of trading and travelling
in that region of the world, which was called the
Levant, because the sun was seen to rise there (from
the French verb lever, to rise), the two Polos were
in Constantinople in 1260. From that city they
went on a trading venture round the northern shore
of the Black Sea to the Crimea and the Sea of Azov,
and thence into Western Asia and to Bokhara, where

I.] THE MONGOLS. ^
they remained three years. While there, they heard
distinct and trustworthy tales of the Great Khan,
as he was called — the Emperor of the Mongols —
and they resolved to go and see the splendours of
his court.
At that time the Mongolian Empire was one of
the largest, if not the largest, in the world. The
Mongols, beginning their wandering life in the
northern part of Asia, had overrun all the western
part of that continent, and as far . to the southward
as the island of Sumatra, excepting India. To the
eastward, the islands of Cipango, or Japan, alone
resisted the dominion of the Great Khan ; and in
the west, his hordes had even broken over the borders
of Europe, had taken possession of the country
now known as Russia, had invaded Poland and
Hungary, and had established themselves on the
mouths of the Danube. During the reign of the
great Jenghiz Khan and his immediate successors,
it has been said, " In Asia and Eastern Europe
scarcely a dog might bark without Mongol leave,
from the borders of Poland and the coast of Cilicia
to the Amur and the Yellow Sea."
When the two Polos arrived at the chief city of
the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan, a grandson of
the great Jenghiz, was the reigning Sovereign. The
Khan had never seen any Europeans, and he was
greatly pleased with the appearance of the Polo

8 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
brothers. This is what MarCo Polo says of the
reception of his father and uncle by Kublai Khan :
When the Two Brothers got to the Great Kaan, he
received them with great honour and hospitality, and
showed much pleasure at their visit, asking them a great
number of questions. First, he asked about the emperors,
how they makitained their dignity and administered justice
in their dominions, and how they went forth to battle,
and so forth. And then he asked the like questions about
the kings and princes and other potentates.
And then he inquired about the Pope and the Church,
and about all that is done at Rome, and all the customs
of the Latins. And the Two Brothers told him the truth
in all its particulars, with order and good sense, like
sensible men as they were; and this they were able to
do, as they knew the Tartar language well.
When that Prince, whose name was Cublay Kaan,
Lord of the Tartars all over the earth, and of all the
kingdoms and provinces and territories of that vast quarter
of the world, had heard all that the Brothers had to tell
him about the ways of the Latins, he was greatly pleased,
and he took it into his head that he would send them on
an Embassy to the Pope. So he urgently desired thera
to undertake this mission along with one of his Barons ;
and they replied that they would gladly execute all his
commands as those of their Sovereign Lord. Then the
Prince sent to summon to his presence one of his Barons
whose name was Cogatal, and desired him to get ready,
for it was proposed to send him to the Pope along with
the Two Brothers. The Baron replied that he would
execute the Lord's commands to the best of his ability.
After this the Prince caused letters from himself to the
Pope to be indited in the Tartar tongue, and committed
them to the Two Brothers and to that Baron of his own,

THE POLO BROTHERS RECEIVING THE TABLET OF GOLD.

I-] THE KHAN'S INSTRUCTIONS. 9
and charged them with what he wished them to say to
the Pope. Now the contents of the letter were to this
purport : He beggedtJiaLJiiePope would send as many
as anjhundred per^cma nf onTyhriiinan ia\~th • inVpHigrpnl-
men^^acqua luted with -tbe_Se:^£tL!^XlS.._a.dl--quaii^^
pr\tPT_Jr^tnj-nr]trny,e'ray apd ahlp r1par]y_JnjTrfwP_hy^fnrf-ff
of argument to idolaters and othf^r kindsLnf /nik, that tb^
Law of^^bfist-^gTesL^jid, that, all other .xeligiaijg....were
false and" naught ; andJ£jhex..miuld-4u:Q*a this, ..hfi- and
all under him "wrnHd become_ Christjans^.and th^^.hurch's
hegemeiT FuSfly he charged his Envoys to bring back
, toTiim some'Oil of the Lamp which burns on the Sepulchre
of our Lord at Jerusalem.
When the Prince had charged them with all his com
mission, he caused to be given them a Tablet of Gold,
on which was inscribed that the three Ambassadors should
be supplied with everything needful in all countries through
which they should pass — with horses, with escorts, and, in
short, with whatever they should require. And when they
had made all needful preparations, the three Ambassadors
took their leave of the Emperor and set out.
So great was the reverence in which the Great
Khan was held by all who frequented his court
that he was called the Lord, or the Lord of the
Earth. Ramusio spells the title variously, sometimes
'.' Kaan," and sometimes " Can." He also calls him
" Cublay " at times, but most scholars give the
name as Kublai. The Seven Arts which the Great
Khan wanted to have brought to his court by
teachers were : Rhetoric, Logic, Grammar, Arith
metic, Astronomy, Music and Geometry. These

lO THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
were then regarded as the sum of human knowledge ;
and if the people of the Great Khan were taught
these, they would know all that the Europeans knew.
Everything went well with the travellers, except that
the Tatar baron fell sick, and had to be left behind.
They reached Acre in 1269, where, finding to their
dismay that the Pope was dead, and that his successor
had not been chosen, they went, says Marco Polo,
to a certain wise Churchman who was Legate for the
whole kingdom of Egypt, and a man of great authority, by
name Theobald of Piacenza, and told him of the mission
on which they were come. When- the Legate heard their
story, he was greatly surprised, and deemed the thing to
be of great honour and advantage for the whole of
Christendom. So his answer to the Two Ambassador
Brothers was this : " Gentlemen, ye see that the Pope is
dead ; wherefore ye must needs have patience until a new
Pope be made, and then shall ye be able to execute your
charge." Seeing well enough that what the Legate said
was just, they observed : " But while the Pope is a-making,
we may as well go to Venice and visit our households."
So they departed from Acre and went to Negropont, and
from Negropont they continued their voyage to Venice.
On their arrival there, Messer Nicolas found that his wife
was dead, and that she had left behind her a son of fifteen
years of age, whose name was Marco ; and 'tis of him this
Book tells. The Two Brothers abode at Venice a couple
of years, tarrying until a Pope should be made.
When the Two Brothers had tarried as long as I have
told you, and saw that never a Pope was made, they said
that their return to the Great Kaan must be put off no
longer. So they set out from Venice, taking Marco along

I-] POPE GREGORY X.

II

with them, and went straight back to Acre, where they
found the Legate of whom we have spoken. They had
a good deal of discourse with him concerning the matter,
and asked his permission to go to Jerusalem to get some
Oil from the Lamp on the Sepulchre, to carry with them
to the Great Kaan, as he had enjoined. The Legate
giving them leave, they went from Acre to Jerusalem and
got some of the Oil, and then returned to Acre, and went
to the Legate and said to him : " As we see no sign of
a Pope's being made, we desire to return to the Great
Kaan ; for we have already tarried long, and there has been
more than enough delay." To which the Legate replied :
"Since 'tis your wish to go back, I am well content."
Wherefore he caused letters to be written for delivery to
the Great Kaan, bearing testimony that the Two Brothers
had come in all good faith to accomplish his charge, but
that as there was no Pope they had been unable to do so.
Armed with these, the Polos started on their
return ; but they had not gone far when they were
overjoyed to learn that their good friend. Archdeacon
Tebaldo, had been chosen Pope. The news was sent
after them, and they went back to Acre, where
Tebaldo, afterwards known as Pope Gregory X.,
received them graciously ; but he could supply them
with only two priestly teachers, and these afterwards
became so alarmed by the dangers of the way that
they drew back. It is related that the Great Khan,
in consequence of this failure to supply him with
Christian teachers, resorted to Tibet, where he found
"holy men who brought for his unruly subjects in
struction in the rehgion of Buddha.

CHAPTER II.
YOUNG MARCO AT THE COURT OF KUBLAI KHAN — THE GREAT
khan's CONDESCENSION TO THE YOUNG TRAVELLER — THE
MANNER OF THE RETURN OF THE POLOS — HOW MESSER
MARCO POLO WAS CAPTURED BY THE GENOESE, AND HOW HE
WROTE HIS FAMOUS BOOK OF TRAVELS.
A /r ARCO and his father and uncle were very
-'-'-*- cordially received when they reached the
court of the Great Khan, ^\ hich was then established
at the imperial summer residence among the hills to
the north of Cambaluc, or Peking. The palace was
a vast group of buildings, and was known as the City
of Peace, or Chandu : its other names were Kemenfu,
Kaiminfu, and Kaipingfu. Here is young Marco's
own account of the reception which the three
Venetians had in the City of Peace :
And what shall I tell you ? When the Two Brothers
and Mark had arrived at that great city, they went to the
Imperial Palace, and there they found the Sovereign
attended by a great company of Barons. So they bent
the knee before him, and paid their respects to him with
all possible reverence, prostrating themselves on the ground.
Then the Lord bade them stand up, and treated them

Ch.H.] MARCO, THE LINGUIST. 1 3
with great honour, showing great pleasure at their coming,
and asked many questions as to their welfare and how they
had sped. They replied that they had in verity sped well,
seeing they had found the Kaan well and safe. Then they
presented the credentials and letters which they had received
from the Pope, which pleased him right well; and after
that they produced the Oil from the Sepulchre, and at
that also he was very glad, for he set great store thereby.
And next, spying Mark, who was then a young gallant,
he asked who was that in their company ? " Sire," said
his father, Messer Nicolo, " 'tis my son and your liegeman."
"Welcome is he too," quoth the Emperor. There was
great rejoicing at the Court because of their arrival ; and
they met with attention and honour from everybody. So
they abode at the Court with the other Barons.
Now it came to pass that Marco, the son of Messer
Nicolo, sped wondrously in learning the customs of the
Tartars as well as their language, their manner of writing,
and their practice of war ; in fact, he came in brief space
to know several languages and four sundry written characters.
And he was discreet and prudent in every way, insomuch
that the Emperor held him in great esteem. And so when
he discerned Mark to have so much sense, and to conduct
himself so well and beseemingly, he sent him on an
ambassage of his, to a country which was a good six months'
journey distant. The young gallant executed his com
mission well and with discretion. Now he had taken note
on several occasions that when the Prince's ambassadors
returned from different parts of the world they were able
to tell him about nothing except the business on which they
had gone, and that the Prince in consequence held them
for no better than fools and dolts, and would say, " I had
far liever hearken about the strange things, and the manners
of the different countries you have seen, than merely be
told of the business you went upon " ; for he took great

14 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
delight in hearing of the affairs of strange countries. Mark,
therefore, as he went and returned, took great pains to
learn about all kinds of different matters in the countries
which he visited, in order to be able to tell about them
to the Great Kaan.
When Mark returned from his ambassage, he presented
himself before the Emperor ; and after making his report
of the business with which he was charged, and its suc
cessful accomplishment, he went on to give an account,
in a pleasant and intelligent manner, of all the novelties
and strange things that he had seen and heard ; insomuch
that the Emperor and all such as heard his story were
surprised, and said : " If this young man live, he will
assuredly come to be a person of great worth and ability."
And so from that time forward he was always entided
Messer Marco Polo, and thus we shall style him hence
forth in this Book of ours, as is but right.
Thereafter Messer Marco abode in the Kaan's employ
ment some seventeen years, continually going and coming,
hither and thither, on the missions that were entrusted
to him by the Lord, and sometimes, with the permission
and authority of the Great Kaan, on his own private affairs.
And as he knew all the Sovereign's ways, like a sensible
man he always took much pains to gather knowledge of
anything that would be likely to interest him, and then
on his return to Court he would relate everything in regular
order, and thus the Emperor came to hold him in great
love and favour. And for this reason also he would employ
him the oftener on the most weighty and most distant of
his missions. These Messer Marco ever carried out with
discretion and success, God be thanked. So the Emperor
became ever more partial to him, and treated him with
the greater distinction, and kept him so close to his person
that some of the Barons waxed very envious thereat.
And thus it came about that Messer Marco Polo had

"•] MARCO, THE EXPLORER. 1 5
knowledge of, or had actually visited, a greater number of
the different countries of the World than any other man ;
the more that he was always giving his mind to get
knowledge, and to spy out and inquire into everything, in
order to have matter to relate to the Lord.
It is pleasant to think of this bright young stranger
in the court of Kublai Khan, winning friends for
himself by his zeal in acquiring knowledge of the
peoples and countries subject to the sway of the
Khan. By his intelligence and agreeable manners
he was able to command the means to explore
countries which, even to this day, are very imperfectly
understood by the rest of the world. Within the
memory of men now living, European travellers
have explored, for the first time since Marco Polo's
visits, the Pamir steppes, other portions of Mongolia,
Tibet, and some of the south-western provinces of
China. He was the first traveller to trace a route across
the whole length of Asia, says one of his biographers,
" describing kingdom after kingdom that he had seen
with his own eyes." He was the first traveller to
explore the deserts and the flowering plains of
Persia, to reveal China with its mighty rivers, its
swarming population, and its huge cities and rich
manufactures ; the first to visit and bring back
accounts of Tibet, Laos, Burmah, Siam, Cochin China,
Japan, the Indian Archipelago, Ceylon, Farther India,

l6 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
and the Andaman Islands ; the first to give any dis-
tinct account of the secluded Christian empire of
Abyssinia ; the first to speak even vaguely of
Zanzibar, Madagascar, and other regions in the
mysterious South, and of Siberia and the Arctic
Ocean in the terrible and much dreaded North.
Although centuries have passed since young Marco
Polo grew to man's estate while threading his danger
ous way among these distant lands, we must still
look back to his discoveries for much that we know
about those countries ; for we have learned nothing
new of many of them since his time.
Years passed while the three Polos were gathering
riches and knowledge in Cathay ; the Great Khan
was growing old and infirm, and the father and the
uncle of Marco were now well stricken in years. It
was time that they took back to Venice their gold,
precious stones, and costly stuffs. But the old
Emperor growled a refusal whenever they suggested
that they would like to leave his court. A lucky
chance gave them an opportunity of getting away.
The Khan of Persia, Arghun, who was a great-
nephew of Kublai Khan, had lost his favourite wife,-
and, fulfilling her dying request, he now sent to the
Mongol court for a lady of .her own kin. The Lady
Kukachin, a lovely damsel of seventeen years, was
selected to be the bride of the Persian Khan, and ,
three envoys of the widowed ruler were told to take

"•] A MISSION TO PERSIA. 1 7
her to him. But the way from Cathay to Persia
was very hazardous, owing to the wars which then
prevailed ; and it was thought best for the party to
take ship from one of the ports of China to Ormus,
on the Persian Gulf. The Tatars are not good
sailors ; and the Persian envoys, who could not get
much help or comfort from their friends in the court
of Kublai Khan when they planned their voyage,
naturally bethought them of engaging the services of
the three hardy and venturous Venetians, who were
voyagers, as well as land travellers.
The Great Khan was most unwilling to part with
his favourite and useful Venetians ; but having con
sented to let them go, he fitted out a noble fleet of
ships ; and giving them friendly messages to many
of the kings and potentates of Europe, including the
king of England, he sped them on their way. They
sailed from Zayton, now called Tsinchau, a seaport
of Fuhkien, on the south-east coast of China, but were
so detained by storms and the illness of some of the
suite that it was twenty-six months before they
arrived at their destination. Two of the three
envoys died on the way ; and when the three
Venetians and the lady who had been confided to
their care reached the court of Persia, they found
that the Persian Khan was dead, and another,
Kaikhatu, reigned in his stead. In that country and
in those days, the wishes of a lady were not much
2

1 8 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
considered in the matter of marriage, and the son of
the reigning Khan, Ghazan, married the young lady
who had journeyed so far to find a husband. It is
recorded that the young lady wept sadly when she
parted with the kindly and noble Venetians ; and so
they took their way homeward, and arrived in Venice,
as we have said, in the year 1295 — more than six
hundred years ago.
At that time Venice and Genoa were rival republics,
not merely Italian cities. Each was an independent
state, and held rich possessions in the Levant, the
Crimea, and around the Mediterranean. They were
almost continually at war with each other and with
the republic of Pisa. It was expected and required
of all rich and noble citizens of these republics, that
they should furnish a certain number of fighters and
war vessels whenever a war was brought on ; and as
most of the fighting was done on the sea, the great
crafts, propelled by oars and called galleys, were
brought into service. In one of these wars the Polo
family took part, for they were rich and noble ; and
Marco Polo, now a man of mature years, was com
mander of a great and powerful galley. He had the
misfortune to be captured in a battle with the Genoese
fleet, off the island of Curzola, on the Dalmatian
coast, in September, 1298.
After that great defeat, Marco Polo was carried a
prisoner to Genoa, where he was held until some time

II-] MARCO'S AMANUENSIS. IQ
during the following year, probably in August, when,
a treaty of peace between the two warring republics
having been signed, he was restored to his own
country. If Marco Polo had not been captured at the
battle of Curzola, or in some other of the many sea-
fights between the two republics, we probably never
would have had his famous book to enlighten us
concerning the lands he saw and described.
And this is how it happened. We have already
seen that it was Marco's sensible custom to tell his
adventures to those who came to ask him about his
travels in the heart of Asia ; and when he found
himself shut up in the prison of Genoa, he speedily
made the acquaintance of his fellow-prisoner, one
Rusticiano of Pisa, who was also a captive of war.
Luckily for us, Rusticiano was a writer of some repute ;
and hearing from Marco's lips many tales of mar
vellous adventure, he besought the traveller to set
these down in writing. But noblemen, and indeed
gentlemen of high degree, in those days did not
think well of writing ; it was no disgrace to be unable
to write anything more than one's name ; and the
high and mighty of the land looked down with con
tempt upon " scriveners and scribes," as writers were
called. The world has gotten bravely over that
notion. Howbeit, Marco agreed to dictate his story to
Rusticiano, having recourse to his own memory, and

20 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
perhaps to the note-books which he must have written
when he was in the service of the Great Khan, and
which may have been sent to him while he was in
the Genoese prison. It is to the book written by
Rusticiano, as the words fell from the lips of Marco
Polo, that we are indebted for the valuable informa
tion and the entertaining knowledge of the East
which is now spread over many books. And it is
because it was dictated, or recited, and not written by
Marco's own hand, that we find that in it Marco is
always spoken of in the third person ; he never says
" I did this and that," but always " Messer Marco
Polo " ; or he uses some such modest terms.
As the art of printing had not then been invented,
Rusticiano was obliged to write on parchment the
story of Marco Polo ; and for many years afterwards,
copies of that book were very precious, for every one
of them had to be written out with infinite labour,
and some of them were illustrated with drawings and
paintings of the wonders described in the book. The
oldest and most valuable of these manuscript books
in existence is in the Great Paris Library ; and, as it
was undoubtedly written during the lifetime of Marco
Polo, and may have been revised by him, it is
regarded as the most authentic, as it is the oldest, of
all the manuscript copies of Marco Polo's book. It
may be the original book. There are, all told, more
than seventy-five manuscript copies of Marco's book

n.] A FAMOUS BOOK. 21
in various parts of Europe, and written in various
languages. The original work was written in French,
then one of the commonest languages of the com
mercial world. The first printed edition of the book
was in German, and was produced in Nuremberg in
1477. There have been several editions printed in
English, the most famous and best of which, " Travels
of Marco Polo," was translated and edited by Colonel
Henry Yule, an English ofificer and scholar of renown.
It is from his book that we derive all the information
collected for the readers of these chapters.
The strange knowledge of the world which the book
of Marco Polo contained, confirmed, among other
things, the tales brought from the East by the Friars
Piano Carpini and William Rubruquis in 1246 and
1253 respectively. People now |earned that the
eastern part of Asia did not run off into an impene
trable swamp covered with clouds of perpetual
darkness ; for the three Venetians had sailed from
the south-eastern coast of Cathay, or China, round
to the Persian Gulf Scholars and travellers were a
long time, however, trying to digest the vast amount
of geographical knowledge brought back by the Polos.
They learned that there was an ocean east of Asia,
as well as an ocean west of Spain and England. Why
didn't they begin to think of crossing westward from
Spain to the Cathay of which such exact accounts
had been brought by Marco Polo ?

22 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
As written books were all that readers had, and
these works were few and costly, the book of Messer
Marco Polo did not have a wide circulation. As we
have seen, people travelled very slowly in those days,
and news and information of all kinds also spread
with even greater slowness. When Christopher
Columbus, who lived in the very city where Marco
Polo had been imprisoned, and in which his book was
written, began to pick up information about the world,
some two hundred years later, he must have come
across some of the tales told by Marco. But there is
no certainty that he ever saw a copy of Polo's book.
Columbus derived from other sources, or at second
hand from Polo, the facts which confirmed him in
his belief that the sea between Europe and Cathay —
the Ocean Sea — was very narrow, and that the round
world was not so big as most people supposed.
But when Columbus finally set forth on his voyage
into " the Sea of Darkness," bound for India and an
unknown land, he carried with him letters written to
the Great Khan by the sovereigns of Spain, Ferdinand
and Isabella. When he lighted upon \\-hat we now
know as the islands of the American Continent, he
supposed that he had touched the dominions of the
Great Khan ; and he was continually on the look-out
for the land of Cipango, spoken of by Marco Polo,
where there were such riches of gold and gems and
fabulously gorgeous commodities.

II.] MARCO, THE TRUTH-TELLER. 23
In his lifetime, and indeed long after, Marco Polo -'
was regarded as an inventor of idle tales. Even
within fifty years, thoughtless and ignorant writers
have alluded to him as a great liar ; but time has set
him right, and recent explorations and rediscoveries
have proved that he told the truth about things and
places that he saw. If he sometimes gave currency
to fables and traditions, he never adopted them as
his own ; he told his readers what he had heard, and
then left them to judge whether these things were
true or not. And some of the wonders that he
described, and which seemed incredible, are now
proved to be not so wonderful after all. Now that
we understand what a volcano is, we can admit
that those, who never saw or heard of one, would
be slow to believe a traveller who told of a burn
ing mountain that continually sent forth fire and
smoke from its inside. To this day some of the
natives of tropical regions refuse to believe that water
becomes a sohd mass in the winter of the North, so
that men and boys can walk on it, and drag heavy
weights over it.
Marco Polo was not a great genius inspired with a
lofty enthusiasm, as Christopher Columbus was ; but
he told the truth, and deserves a very high place
among those who have made notable additions to
the knowledge of the world. Perhaps he suffered
some slight from the people who lived during his

24 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
own time, because they found it hard to believe
that the world was inhabited by human beings all
round it ; that there was no sea of perpetual darkness,
as they had been taught ; and that the people of
Asia were really ingenious and skilful traders and
workers, and not savages and cannibals, as they had
supposed. Perhaps, too, the big, sweUing words and
bombastic style, with which the worthy Rusticiano
set forth Marco's book, caused some people to regard
it with contempt and even suspicion. We cannot
better conclude this chapter than with Rusticiano's
prologue, or preface, to the book of Marco Polo :
Great Princes, Emperors, and Kings, Dukes, and
Marquises, Counts, Knights, and Burgesses ! and People of
all degrees who desire to get knowledge of the various
races of mankind and of the diversities of the sundry
regions of the World, take this Book and cause it to he
read to you. For ye shall find therein all kinds of wonder
ful things, and the divers histories of the great Hermenia,
and of Persia, and of the Land of the Tartars, and of
India, and of many another country of which our Book
doth speak, particularly and in regular succession, according
to the description of Messer Marco Polo, a wise and noble
citizen of Venice, as he saw them with his own eyes.
Some things indeed there be therein which he beheld not ;
but these he heard from men of credit and veracity. And
we shall set down things seen as seen, and things heard as
heard only, so that no jot of falsehood may mar the truth
of our Book, and that all who shall read it or hear it read
may put full faith in the truth of all its contents.
For let me tell you that since our Lord God did mould

11.] RUSTICIANO'S PROLOGUE. 25
with his hands our first Father Adam, even until this day,
never hath there been Christian, or Pagan, or Tartar, or
Indian, or any man of any nation, who in his own person
hath had so much knowledge and experience of the divers
parts of the World and its Wonders as hath had this
Messer Marco ! And for that reason he bethought himself
that it would be a very great pity did he not cause to be
put in writing all the great marvels that he had seen, or on
sure information heard of, so that other people who had
not these advantages might, by his Book, get such know
ledge. And I may tell you that in acquiring this knowledge
he spent in those various parts of the World good
six-and-twenty years. Now, being thereafter an inmate of
the Prison of Genoa, he caused Messer Rusticiano of Pisa,
who was in the said Prison likewise, to reduce the whole to
writing ; and this befell in the year 1 298 from the birth of
Jesus.

CHAPTER III.
MARCO DISCOURSES OF ANCIENT ARMENIA — ^THE KINGDOM OF
GEORGIANIA — THE EXPLOITS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT —
STORY OF THE MISERLY CALIPH OF BAGDAD AND HIS GOLD —
A GREAT MARVEL.
IN the former chapter we had the preface to Marco
Polo's book as it was composed by Rusticiano.
In reading the first chapter of the book itself, we
can imagine the prisoner and illustrious traveller
pacing up and down in his place of confinement,
and dictating to his companion the words that are
to be set down. And this is the first chapter of
the work as dictated by Marco : ,
HERE THE BOOK BEGINS ; AND FIRST IT SPEAKS OF THE
LESSER HERMENIA.
There are two Hermenias, the Greater and the Less.
The Lesser Hermenia is governed by a certain King, who
maintains a just rule in his dominions, but is himself
subject to the Tartar. The country contains numerous
towns and villages, and has everything in plenty ; moreover,
it is a great country for sport in the chase of all manner
of beasts and birds. It is, however, by no means a healthy
26

Ch. III.] ARMENIA. 27
region, but grievously the reverse. In days of old the
nobles there were valiant men, and did doughty deeds of
arms; but nowadays they are poor creatures, and good at
naught. Howbeit, they have a city upon the sea, which
is called Layas, at which there is a great trade. For you
must know that all the spicery, and the cloths of silk and
gold, and other valuable wares that come from the interior,
are brought to that city. And the merchants of Venice
and Genoa, and other countries, come thither to sell their
goods, and to buy what they lack. And whatsoever persons
would travel to the interior (of the East), merchants or
others, they take their way by this city of Layas.
By " Hermenia " we are to understand that the
traveller is speaking of the country now known as
Armenia, a province of Turkey in Asia, lying to
the westward, embracing the regions of the valley
of the Euphrates and the mountainous Ararat. The
subdivisions of the greater and the less Armenia
are not known and used nowadays. Here is what
Marco has to say about the other division of
Armenia :
DESCRIPTION OF THE GREATER HERMENIA.
This is a great country. It begins at a city called
Arzinga, at which they weave the best buckrams in the
world. It possesses also the best baths from natural
springs that are anywhere to be found. The people of
the country are Armenians, and are subject to the Tartar.
The country is indeed a passing great one, and in the
•summer it is frequented by the whole host of the Tartars
of the Levant, because it then furnishes them with such

28 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
excellent pasture for their cattie. But in winter the cold
is past all bounds, so in that season they quit this country
and go to a warmer region where they find other good
pastures. [At a casde called Paipurth, that you pass in
going from Trebizond to Tauris, there is a very good
silver mine.]
And you must know that it is in this country of Her
menia that the Ark of Noah exists on the top of a certain
great mountain, on the summit of which snow is so con
stant that no one can ascend; for the snow never melts,
and is constantly added to by new falls. Below, however,
the snow does melt, and runs down, producing such rich
and abundant herbage that in summer cattle are sent to
pasture from a long way round about, and it never fails
them. The melting snow also causes a great amount of
mud on the mountain.
The country is bounded on the south by a kingdom
called Mosul, the people of which are Jacobite and Nes-
torian Christians, of whom I shall have more to tell you
presently. On the north it is bounded by the Land of
the Georgians, of whom also I shall speak. On the con
fines from Georgiania there is a fountain from which oil
springs in great abundance, insomuch that a hundred ship
loads might be taken from it at one time. This oil is not
good to use with food, but 'tis good to burn, and is also
used to anoint camels that have the mange. People come
from vast distances to fetch it, for in all the countries
round about they have no other oil.
Between Trebizond and Erzerum was Paipurth,
which must be the Baiburt of our day. Even in
Marco Polo's time it appears that something was
known about petroleum, or coal -oil ; for the fountain
of which he speaks is doubtless in the petroleum

"I] Noah's ark. 29
region on the peninsula of Baku, on the western
coasts of the Caspian Sea, from which many ship
loads of oil are now annually exported, chiefly to
Russia, under whose rule the country is now held.
Even later than Marco's day it was believed that
Noah's Ark, or fragments of it, rested on the top
of Mount Ararat ; but as that mountain is nearly
17,000 feet high, and is covered with perpetual
snow, nobody had the courage to go up and find
the ark, until as late as 1829, when the ascent was
made by Professor Parrot, a German traveller.
Every school-boy knows that Bagdad was the
seat of Arabic learning in ancient times, and that
its name often appears in that most delightful book
" The Arabian Nights' Entertainments " with that of
the Caliph, the good Harun-al-Rachid. That famous
personage died long before Marco Polo visited
Bagdad ; but the stories of the Arabian Nights
were commonly believed by the people of those parts,
as we shall see later on in Marco's book.
The kingdom of Georgiania, of which Marco
Polo speaks, is that province of Russia which lies
south of the Caucasian range of mountains, between
the Black Sea and the Caspian. The Georgian
men and women are still famous for their beauty ;
they represent the purest type of the Caucasian
race now known. From this region, for centuries,
Eastern princes and potentates have been wont to

30 the STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
bring the beautiful women of their harems. Other
writers besides Marco refer to the fact that all the
kings of ancient Georgia bore the name of David,
just as each Roman emperor for a time was known
as C^sar, Marco sets down the statement about
the eagle-mark on the right shoulder of the king,
it will be noticed, with some reserve ; he says this
was true " in old times," as if it were a legend in
the country in his day.
The reader will find that Marco uses the words
" Ponent " and " Levant " throughout his book to
distinguish between the extreme East and the more
immediate West. East of the Caspian Sea was,
and is, the Levant : westward, on both sides of
the Black Sea, was the Ponent. Alexander the
Great, whose conquests extended to these parts,
occupied Derbend, or Derbent, a port on the west
shore of the Caspian Sea, where to this day they
will show you the remains of a wall along the
the mountains, known as " Alexander's Rampart."
The story goes that Alexander drove into the
country beyond the mountains several unclean tribes,
who were cannibals and idolaters, and shut them
in by building a huge iron gate, which kept them
securely behind the Caucasus.
Concerning the products of the country of which
our traveller speaks, it may be said that boxwood,
a dense, fine-grained wood, used for engraving

in.] GEORGIANIA AND ITS KINGS. 3 1
pictures for printing, is still brought from those
regions, the Turkish boxwood being the most
highly esteemed. The silk of the province of Gfl,
or Ghell6, is famed for its high quality. In the
Middle Ages one of the sports of royalty and
nobility in Europe, as well as in Far Cathay, was
hunting game with trained hawks, and the goshawks
of Georgia were said to be the best in the world
for that purpose. Marco's tale of the lake in which
a great abundance of fish could be found during
Lent, when all good Catholics eat no meat, and
which were gone during the rest of the year, is
only one of many such traditions of sundry rivers
and lakes in different parts of the world. The
same is told of many lands and countries ; and if
Marco believed what he heard of the miraculous
fish of " St. Leonard's," he really believed one of
the commonest travellers' tales of his time.
OF GEORGIANIA AND THE KINGS THEREOF.
In Georgiania there is a King called David Melic,
which is as much as to say " David King " ; he is subject
to the Tartar. In old times all the kings were born
with the figure of an eagle upon the right shoulder. The
people are very handsome, capital archers, and most valiant
soldiers. They are Christians of the Greek Rite, and have
a fashion of wearing their hair cropped, like Churchmen.
This is the country beyond which Alexander could not
pass when he wished to penetrate to the region of the
Ponent, because that the defile was so narrow and perilous.

32 the story of MARCO POLO. [Ch.
the sea lying on the one hand, and on the other lofty
mountains impassable to horsemen. The strait extends
like this for four leagues, and a handful of people might
hold it against all the world. Alexander caused a very
strong tower to be built there, to prevent the people
beyond from passing to attack him, and this got the name
of the Iron Gate. This is the place that the Book of
Alexander speaks of, when it tells us how he shut up the
Tartars between two mountains ; not that they were really
Tartars, however, for there were no Tartars in those days,
but they consisted of a race of people called Comanians
and many besides.
In this province all the forests are of boxwood. There
are numerous towns and villages, and silk is produced in
great abundance. They also weave cloths of gold, and
all kinds of very fine silk stuffs. The country produces
the best goshawks in the world, which are called Avigi.
It has indeed no lack of anything, and the people live
by trade and handicrafts. 'Tis a very mountainous region,
and full of strait defiles and of fortresses, insomuch that
the Tartars have never been able to subdue it out and out.
There is in this country a certain Convent of Nuns called
St. Leonard's, about which I have to tell you a very
wonderful circumstance. Near the church in question
there is a great lake at the foot of a mountain, and in this
lake are found no fish, great or small, throughout the year
till Lent come. On the first day of Lent they find in
it the finest fish in the world, and great store too thereof;
and these continue to be found till Easter Eve. After
that they are found no more till Lent come round again ;
and so 'tis every year. 'Tis really a passing great miracle 1
That sea whereof I spoke as coming so near the moun
tains is called the Sea of Ghel or Ghelan, and extends
about seven hundred miles. It is twelve days' journey
distant from any other sea, and into it flows the great

Ill] BAGDAD. 33
River Euphrates and many others, whilst it is surrounded
by mountains. Of late the merchants of Genoa have
begun to navigate this sea, carrying ships across and
launching them thereon. It is from the country on this
sea also that the silk called Ghelle is brought. The said
sea produces quantities of fish, especially sturgeon, at the
river-mouths salmon, and other big kinds of fish.
In Marco's day Bagdad was known as Baudas ;
and one of the chapters of his book runs thus :
OF the great city of baudas, and how it
WAS taken.
Baudas is a great city, which used to be the seat of the
Cahf of all the Saracens in the world, just as Rome is
the seat of the Pope of all the Christians. A very great
river flows through the city, and by this you can descend
to the Sea of India. There is a great traffic of merchants
with their goods this way ; they descend some eighteen
days from Baudas, and then come to a certain city called
Kisi, where they enter the Sea of India. There is also
on the river, as you go from Baudas to Kisi, a great city
called Bastra, surrounded by woods, in which grow the
best dates in the world.
In Baudas they weave many different kinds of silk stuffs
and gold brocades, such as nasich, and nac, and cramoisy,
and many other beautiful tissues richly wrought with figures
of beasts and birds. It is the noblest and greatest city in
all those regions.
Now it came to pass on a day in the year of Christ 1255,
that the Lord of the Tartars of the Levant, whose name
was Alaii, orother to the Great Kaan now reigning, gathered
a mighty host and came up against Baudas and took it by
storm. It was a great enterprise ! for in Baudas there were
3

34 the STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
more than one hundred thousand horse, besides foot soldiers.
And when Alaii had taken the place he found therein a tower
of the Calif's, which was full of gold and silver and other
treasure ; in fact, the greatest accumulation of treasure in
one spot that was ever known. When he beheld that great
heap of treasure he was astonished, and, summoning the
Calif to his presence, he said to him : " Calif, tell me now
why thou hast gathered such a huge treasure ? What didst
thou mean to do therewith ? Knewest thou not that I was
thine enemy, and that I was coming against thee with so
great an host to cast thee forth of thine heritage ? Where
fore didst thou not take of thy gear and employ it in paying
knights and soldiers to defend thee and thy city ? "
The Calif wist not what to answer, and said never a
word. So the Prince continued : " Now then, Calif, since
I see what a love thou hast borne thy treasure, I will e'en
give it thee to eat ! " So he shut the Calif up in the
Treasure Tower, and bade that neither meat nor drink
should be given him, saying : " Now, Calif, eat of thy
treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it ;
for never shalt thou have aught else to eat ! "
So the Calif lingered in the tower four days, and then
died like a dog. Truly his treasure would have been of
more service to him had he bestowed it upon men who
would have defended his kingdom and his people, rather
than let himself be taken and deposed and put to death as
he was. Howbeit, since that time, there has been never
another Calif, either at Baudas or anywhere else.
The Bastra of Marco Polo is the modern Basra,
which is situated below the meeting of the Euphrates
and the Tigris, and is still famed for the abundance
of its delicious dates. The beautiful cloths called

III.] THE MISERLY CALIPH. 35
by Marco nac, nasich, and cramoisy were woven of
silk and gold threads ; and when they found their
way to the courts of Europe, long afterwards, they
were worn by the rich and great. In tales of
the time of good Queen Bess we find references
to cramoisy.
Many modern writers have made use of the story
of the miserly Caliph of Bagdad who perished so
miserably in the midst of his gold ; and it is clear
that the poet Longfellow had in mind the tale
told by Marco Polo when he wrote in his " Flower-
de-Luce " the poem of " Kambalu," the chief part
of which runs thus :
I said to the Kalif : Thou art old ;
Thou hast no need of so much gold.
Thou shouldst not have heaped and hidden it here
Till the breath of battle was hot and near,
But have sown through the land these useless hoards,
To spring into shining blades of swords.
And keep thine honour sweet and clear.
Then into his dungeon I locked the drone,
And left him there to feed all alone
In the honey-cells of his golden hive :
Never a prayer nor a cry nor a groan
Was heard from those massive walls of stone,
Nor again was the Kalif seen alive.
This is the story strange and true,
That the great Captain Alau
Told to his brother, the Tartar Khan,
When he rode that day into Kambalu
By the road that leadeth to Ispahan.

36 the story of MARCO POLO. [Ch.
Marco Polo now proceeds to tell us of "a great
marvel that occurred between Baudas and Mansul " :
There was a Calif of Baudas [probably the predecessor
of our miserly friend] who bore a great hatred to Christians,
and was taken up day and night with the thought how he
might bring those that were in his kingdom over to his
own faith, or might procure them all to be slain. And he
used daily to take counsel about this with the devotees and
priests of his faith, for they all bore the Christians like
malice. And, indeed, it is a fact that the whole body of
Saracens throughout the world are always most malignantly
disposed towards the whole body of Christians.
Now it happened that the Calif, with those shrewd
priests of his, got hold of that passage in our Gospel which
says, that if a Christian had faith as a grain of mustard
seed, and should bid a mountain be removed, it would be
removed. And such indeed is the truth. But when they
had got hold of this text they were delighted, for it seemed
to them the very thing whereby either to force all the
Christians to change their faith, or to bring destruction
upon them all. The CaUf therefore called together all the
Christians in his territories, who were extremely numerous,
and when they had come before him he showed them
the Gospel, and made them read the text which I have ¦
mentioned. And when they had read it, he asked them
if that was the truth ? The Christians answered that it
assuredly was so. " Well," said the Calif, " since you say
that it is the truth, I will give you a choice. Among such
a number of you there must needs surely be this small
amount of faith, so you must either move that mountain
there " — and he pointed to a mountain in the neighbour
hood — " or you shall die an ill death ; unless you choose
to eschew death by all becoming Saracens and adopting

ni.] the one-eyed cobbler. 37
our Holy Law. To this end I give you a respite of ten
days ; if the thing be not done by that time, ye shall
die or become Saracens." And when he had said this he
dismissed them to consider what was to be done in this
strait wherein they were.
All the wisest of the Christians took counsel together,
and among them were a number of bishops and priests ;
but they had no resource except to turn to Him from
whom all good things do come, beseeching Him to protect
them from the cruel hands of the Calif
So they were all gathered together in prayer, both men
and women, for eight days and eight nights. And whilst
they were thus engaged in prayer it was revealed in a
vision by a Holy Angel of Heaven to a certain Bishop
who was a very good Christian, that he should desire a
certain Cobbler, who had but one eye, to pray to God,
and that God in His goodness would grant such prayer
because of the Cobbler's holy life.
Now when this vision had visited the Bishop several
times, he related the whole matter to the Christians, and
they agreed with one consent to call the Cobbler before
them. And when he had come, they told him it was their
wish that he should pray, and that God had promised to
accomplish the matter by his means. On hearing their
request, he made many excuses, declaring that he was not
at all so good a man as they represented. But they per
sisted in their request with so much sweetness, that at last
he said he would not tarry, but do what they desired.
And when the appointed day was come, all the Christians
got up early, men and women, small and great — more than
one hundred thousand persons — and went to church, and
heard the Holy Mass. And after Mass had been sung,
they all went forth together in a great procession to the
plain in front of the mountain, carrying the precious Cross
before them, loudly singing and greatly weeping as they

38 the STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. III.
went. And when they arrived at the spot, there they
found the CaUf with all his Saracen host armed to slay
them if they would not change their faith ; for the Saracens
believed not in the least that God would grant such favour
to the Christians. These latter stood, indeed, in great
fear and doubt, but nevertheless they rested their hope on
their God Jesus Christ.
So the Cobbler received the Bishop's benison, and then
threw himself on his knees before the Holy Cross, and
stretched out his hands towards Heaven, and made this
prayer: "Blessed Lord God Almighty, I pray Thee by
Thy goodness that Thou wilt grant this grace unto Thy
people, insomuch that they perish not, nor Thy faith be
cast down, nor abused, nor flouted. Not that I am in
the least worthy to prefer such request unto Thee ; but
for Thy great power and mercy I beseech Thee to hear
this prayer from me Thy servant full of sin."
And when he had ended this his prayer to God the
Sovereign Father and Giver of all grace, and whilst the
Calif and all the Saracens and other people there were
looking on, the mountain rose out of its place, and moved
to the spot which the Calif had pointed out. And when
the Calif and all his Saracens beheld, they stood amazed
at the wonderful miracle that God had wrought for the
Christians, insomuch that a great number of the Saracens
became Christians. And even the Calif caused himself to
be baptised in the Name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost, Amen, and became a Christian,
but in secret. Howbeit, when he died, they found a little
cross hung round his neck ; and therefore the Saracens
would not bury him with the other Califs, but put him in
a place apart. The Christians exulted greatly at this most
holy miracle, and returned to their homes full of joy,
giving thanks to their Creator for that which He had done.

..V s,^%.2^1_ >,

CHAPTER IV.
THE THREE KINGS — THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN — STORIES
AND ADVENTURES IN PERSIA  ORIGIN OF THE ASSASSINS.
DOUBTLESS all our readers are well acquainted
with the Story of the visit of the Three Kings,
or Magi, to Bethlehem, when the Saviour was born.
There is an ancient Christian tradition that the three
men set out from Persia, and that their names were
Melchior, Balthazar, and Kaspar : these wise men ¦
of the East, as they were called, are supposed to have
returned to Persia after their visit to Palestine ; and
Marco Polo tells this tale as it was told to him :
OF the great country of PERSIA ; WITH SOME
ACCOUNT OF THE THREE KINGS.
Persia is a great country, which was in old times very
illustrious and powerful ; but now the Tartars have wasted
and destroyed it. 39

40

the STORY OF MARCO POLO.

[Ch.

In Persia is the city of Saba, from which the Three Magi
set out when they went to worship Jesus Christ; and in
this city they are buried, in three very large and beautiful
monuments • side by side. And above them there is a
square building, carefully kept. The bodies are still entire
with the hair and beard remaining. Messer Marco Polo

THE CASTLE OF THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS.

asked a great many questions of the people of that city as
to those Three Magi, but never one could he find that
knew aught of the matter except that these were Three
Kings who were buried there in days of old. However, at
a place three days' journey distant he heard of what I am
going to tell you. He found a village there which goes by
the name of Cala Ataperistan, which is as much as to say,
"The Castle of the Fire- worshippers." And the name is

IV.] the THREE MAGL 4 1
rightly applied, for the people there do worship fire, and I
will tell you why.
They relate that in old times Three Kings of that country
went away to worship a Prophet that was born, and they
carried with them three manner of offerings. Gold, and
Frankincense, and Myrrh ; in order to ascertain whether
that prophet were God, or an earthly king, or a physician.
For, say they, if He take the Gold, then He is an earthly
king ; if He take the Incense, He is God ; if he take the
Myrrh, he is a physician.
So it came to pass when they had come to the place
where the Child was born, the youngest of the Three Kings
went in first, and found the Child apparently just of his
own age ; so he went forth again, marvelling greatly. The
middle one entered next, and like the first he found the
Child seemingly of his own age ; so he also went forth
again, and marvelled greatly. Lastly, the eldest went in,
and as it had befallen the other two, so it befell him ; and
he went forth very pensive. And when the three had
rejoined one another, each told what he had seen ; and
then they all marvelled the more. So they agreed to go
in all three together, and on doing so they beheld the
Child with the appearance of its actual age, to wit, some
thirteen days. Then they adored, and presented their
Gold, and Incense, and Myrrh. And the Child took all
the three offerings, and then gave them a small closed
box; whereupon the Kings departed to return into their
own land.
And when they had ridden many days, they said they
would see what the Child had given them. So they opened
the little box, and inside it they found a stone. On seeing
this they began to wonder what this might be that the
Child had given them, and what was the import thereof
Now the signification was this : When they presented their
offerings, the Child had accepted all three ; and when they

42 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
saw that, they had said within themselves that He was the
True God, and the True King, and the True Physician.
And what the gift of the stone implied was that this Faith
which had begun in them should abide firm as a rock.
For He well knew what was in their thoughts. Howbeit,
they had no understanding at all of this signification of
the gift of the stone ; so they cast it into a well. Then
straightway a fire from Heaven descended into that well
wherein the stone had been cast.
And when the Three Kings beheld this marvel they were
sore amazed, and it greatly repented them that they had
cast away the stone; for well they then perceived that it
had a great and holy meaning. So they took of that fire,
and carried it into their own country, and placed it in a
rich and beautiful church. And there the people keep it
continually burning, and worship it as a god, and all the
sacrifices they offer are kindled with that fire. And if ever
the fire becomes extinct, they go to other cities round about
where the same faith is held, and obtain of that fire from
them, and carry it to the church. And this is the reason
why the people of this country worship fire. They will
often go ten days' journey to get of that fire.
Such then was the story told by the people of that Castle
to Messer Marco Polo ; they declared to him for a truth
that such was their history, and that one of the Three
Kings was of the city called Saba, and the second of Ava,
and the third of that very Castle where they still worship
fire, with the people of all the country round about.
The latter part of this account of the Three Kings
and their doings undoubtedly refers to the ancient
Persian sect of fire-worshippers, known as Parsees.
The custom of worshipping fire as the source of life,

THE THREE KINGS AT THE WELL.

IV ] THE PARSEES. 43
light, and warmth is almost as old as the human race.
We can readily imagine how profound must have
been the reverence and admiration with which the
primitive man regarded fire when first that element
was brought into his view. The warming, kindhng
flame, its ruddy and changeful colours and shapes,
and the comforting of its warmth, must have inspired
him with rapture and adoration. The sect founded
by Zoroaster, who flourished about six hundred years
before the Christian era, paid reverence to the four
elements of fire, air, earth, and water ; from these
people, it is believed, descended the Persian fire-
worshippers, or Parsees. In the course of time,
however, Persia adopted the Moslem faith, and the
fire-worshippers were expelled from the country.
The greater part of them fled to India, where they
are found in large numbers at the present time ; forty
thousand of them are living in Bombay, and there
are not less than two hundred thousand Parsees in
all India.
The sacred fire which attracted the attention of
Marco Polo is still maintained in the temples of the
Indian fire-wojrshippers ; and if by accident the fire
should die, it is rekindled by coals brought from
another temple, as was the custom among the fire-
worshippers of whom Marco gives account. " The
Towers of Silence," near Bombay, are isolated, lonely
structures where the Parsees expose their dead to be

44 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
devoured by the flocks of vultures that hover around
the place.
In Polo's further account of Persia we have the
following interesting chapter :
OF THE EIGHT KINGDOMS OF PERSIA, AND HOW THEY
ARE NAMED.
Now you must know that Persia is a very great country,
and contains eight kingdoms. I will tell you the names
of them all.
The first kingdom is that at the beginning of Persia, and
it is called Casvin ; the second is further to the south, and
is called Curdistan; the third is called Lor; the fourth
Suolstan ; the fifth Istanit ; the sixth Serazy ; the seventh
Soncara ; the eighth Tunocain, which is at the further
extremity of Persia. All these kingdoms lie in a southerly
direction except one, to wit, Tunocain ; that lies towards
the east, and borders on the country of the Arbre Sol.
In this country of Persia there is a great supply of fine
horses, and people take them to India for sale, for they are
horses of great price, a single one being worth as much of
their money as is equal to 200 livres Tournois ; some will
be more, some less, according to the quality. Here also
are the finest asses in the world, one of them being worth
30 marks of silver, for they are very large and fast, and
acquire a capital amble. Dealers carry their horses to
Kisi and Curmosa, two cities on the shores of the Sea of
India, and there they meet with merchants who take the
horses on to India for sale.
In this country there are many cruel and murderous
people, so that no day passes but there is some homicide
among them. Were it not for the Government, which is
that of the Tartars of the Levant, they would do great

IV.] YASDI AND KERMAN. 45
mischief to merchants; and indeed, maugre the Govern
ment, they often succeed in doing such mischief Unless
merchants be well armed they run the risk of being
murdered, or at least robbed of everything; and it some
times happens that a whole party perishes in this way
when not on their guard. The people are all Saracens,
i.e. followers of the Law of Mahommet.
In the cities there are traders and artisans who live by
their labour and crafts, weaving cloths of gold, and silk
stuffs of sundry kinds. They have plenty of cotton produced
in the country ; and abundance of wheat, barley, millet,
panick, and wine, with fruit of all kinds.
CONCERNING THE GREAT CITY OF YASDI.
Yasdi also is properly in Persia ; it is a good and noble
city, and has a great amount of trade. They weave there
quantities of a certain silk tissue known as Yasdi, which
merchants carry into many quarters to dispose of The
people are worshippers of Mahommet.
When you leave this city to travel further, you ride for
seven days over great plains, finding harbour to receive
you at three places only. There are many fine woods,
producing dates, upon the way, such as one can easily ride
through ; and in them there is great sport to be had in
hunting and hawking, there being partridges and quails
and abundance of other game, so that the merchants who
pass that way have plenty of diversion. There are also
wild asses, handsome creatures. At the end of those seven
marches over the plain you come to a fine kingdom which
is called Kerman. CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF KERMAN.
Kerman is a kingdom which is also properly in Persia,
and formerly it had a hereditary prince. Since the Tartars

46 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
conquered the country the rule is no longer hereditary, but
the Tartar sends to administer whatever lord he pleases.
In this kingdom are produced the stones called turquoises
in great abundance; they are found in the mountains,
where they are extracted from the rocks. There are also
plenty of veins of steel and ondanique. The people
are very skilful in making harness of war ; their saddles,
bridles, spurs, swords, bows, quivers, and arms of every
kind are very well made indeed, according to the fashion
of those parts. The ladies of the country and their
daughters also produce exquisite needlework ¦ in the em
broidery of silk stuffs in different colours, with figures of
beasts and birds, trees and flowers, and a variety of other
patterns. They work hangings for the use of noblemen
so deftly that they are marvels to see, as well as cushions,
pillows, quilts, and all sorts of things.
In the mountains of Kerman are found the best falcons
in the world. They are inferior in size to the peregrine,
red on the breast, under the neck, and between the thighs ;
their flight so swift that no bird can escape them.
On quitting the city you ride on for seven days, always
finding towns, villages, and handsome dwelling-houses, so
that it is very pleasant travelling; and there is excellent
sport also to be had by the way in hunting and hawking.
When you have ridden those seven days over a plain
country, you come to a great mountain ; and when you
have got to the top of the pass, you find a great descent
which occupies some two days to go down. All along you
find a variety and abundance of fruits ; and in former days
there were plenty of inhabited places on the road, but now
there are none ; and you meet with only a few people
looking after their cattle at pasture. From the city of
Kerman to this descent the cold in winter is so great that
you can scarcely abide it, even with a great quantity of
clothing.

IV.] THE ZEBU. 47
OF THE CITY OF CAMADI AND ITS RUINS ; ALSO TOUCHING
THE CARAONA ROBBERS.
After you have ridden downhill those two days, you find
yourself in a vast plain, and at the beginning thereof there
is a city called Camadi, which formerly was a great and
noble place, but now is of little consequence, for the
Tartars in their incursions have several times ravaged it.
The plain whereof I speak is a very hot region ; and the
province that we now enter is called Reobarles.
The fruits of the country are dates, pistachioes, and
apples of Paradise, with others of the like not found in our
cold climate. There are vast numbers of turtle-doves,
attracted by the abundance of fruits ; but the Saracens never
take them, for they hold them in abomination. And on
this plain there is a kind of bird called francolin, but
different from the francolin of other countries, for their
colour is a mixture of black and white, and the feet and
beak are vermilion colour.
The beasts also are peculiar ; and first I will tell you of
their oxen. These are very large, and all over white as
snow ; the hair is very short and smooth, which is owing to
the heat of the country. The horns are short and thick,
not sharp in the point; and between the shoulders they
have a round hump some two palms high. There are no
handsomer creatures in the world. And when they have to
be loaded, they kneel like the camel ; once the load is
adjusted, they rise. Their load is a heavy one, for they
are very strong animals. Then there are sheep here as
big as asses ; and their tails are so large and fat that one
tail shall weigh some thirty pounds. They are fine fat
beasts, and afford capital mutton.
In this plain there ,are a number of villages and towns
which have lofty walls of mud, made as a defence against
the banditti, who are very numerous, and are called

48 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
Caraonas. This name is given them because they are
the sons of Indian mothers by Tartar fathers. And you
must know that when these Caraonas wish to make a
plundering incursion, they have certain devilish enchant
ments whereby they do bring darkness over the face of
day, insomuch that you can scarcely discern your comrade
riding beside you ; and this darkness they will cause to
extend over a space of seven days' journey. They know
the country jthoroughly, and ride abreast, keeping near one
another, sometimes to the number of ten thousand, at other
times more or fewer. In this way they extend across the
whole plain that they are going to harry, and catch every
living thing that is found outside of the towns and villages ;
man, woman, or beast, nothing can escape them ! The old
men whom they take in this way they butcher ; the young
men and the women they sell for slaves in other countries ;
thus the whole land is ruined, and has become well-nigh a
desert. The king of these scoundrels is called Nogodar. This
Nogodar had gone to the Court of Chagatai, who was
own brother to the Great Kaan, with some ten thousand
horsemen of his, and abode with him ; for Chagatai was
his uncle. And whilst there this Nogodar devised a most
audacious enterprise ; and I will tell you what it was. He
left his uncle, who was then ia Greater Armenia, and fled
with a great body of horsemen, cruel, unscrupulous fellows,
first through Badashan, and then through another province
called Pashai-Dir, and then through another called
Ariora-Keshemur. There he lost a great number of
his people and of his horses, for the roads were very
narrow and perilous. And when he had conquered all
those provinces, he entered India at the extremity of a
province called Dalivar. He established himself in that
city and government, which he took from the King of the
country, Asedin Soldan by name, a man of great power

IV.] PERSIA. 49
and wealth. And there abideth Nogodar with his army,
afraid of nobody, and waging war with all the Tartars in
his neighbourhood.
Now that I have told you of those scoundrels and their
history, I must add the fact that Messer Marco himself was
all but caught by their bands in such a darkness as that I
have told you of ; but, as it pleased God, he got off and
threw himself into a village that was hard by, called
CoNOSALMi. Howbeit he lost his whole company except
seven persons who escaped along with him. The rest were
caught, and some of them sold, some put to death.
Marco sometimes regards a city as a province, or
even a kingdom, as he does in this list of the " eight
kingdoms of Persia." It is now supposed by the
most intelligent writers on Persia that Marco refers
to the ancient city of Kazwin, whi h he calls Casvin,
the first on his list. But the province in that
part of Persia, the northern, is now known as Irak.
Curdistan is an old form of spelling Kurdistan. Lor
is Luristan, next to the southward, and the people of
that province are still noted thieves and bandits.
Suolstan, so called by Marco, is probably the modern
Shulistan ; the region known by that name was
inhabited by the Shuls, or Shauls. Marco's Istanit
is now believed to be the famous city of Ispahan ;
and Serazy is readily translatable into the modern
Shiraz. Soncara is the country of the Shawankars ;
Tunocain is Kuhistan, the hill country of Persia, of
which Tun and Kain are the chief cities. 4

so THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [CK.
Persian horses are quite as famous for beauty and
speed as they were in the days when our Venetian
traveller explored the country in which they were
bred. These fine animals are still exported to India,
whence a few of them are ultimately carried to
England and other parts of Europe. Colonel Yule,
in his book about Marco Polo, tells of a horse of this
breed that travelled nine hundred miles in eleven
days, and of another that accomplished about eleven
hundred miles within twelve days, taking two days of
that time for rest. The livre tournois, which Marco
uses as a standard of coin valuation, was worth £\
sterling in modern English money, allowing for the
lower relative value of gold as compared with silver
in those far-off days ; so that a fine Persian steed
would cost about ;^I93, English money, or a httle
more than $950, American money. The silver mark
of that time, thirty of which were paid for a good
donkey, would be about equal to forty English
shillings ; and that sum— thirty marks — again allow
ing for the lower value of gold as related to silver,
would be equal to ;^88 sterling, or $440, American
currency. The fame of Oriental steel blades has extended all
over the world, dating back to the most ancient
times; and marvellous stories are told of the flexibility,
sharpness, and hardness of edged weapons made by
Arabs, Moors, and other warlike tribes of the East.

IV.] FAT-TAILED SHEEP. 5 1
The ondanique of Marco Polo is probably the " Indian
steel " of which many writers have made mention.
It was so manufactured that a blade of this material
possessed an edge of surpassing keenness and hard
ness. It was said that a Kerman sabre would cleave
a European metal helmet in twain without turning
its own edge. The embroidered and woven silk
stuffs and carpets of the Kerman region are still
held in high repute on account of their fineness and
beauty. The francolin, referred to in the extract above
quoted, is the bird known in England and some parts
of America as the black partridge, and is highly
esteemed for its delicate quality. Any inteUigent
youngster will recognise the humped oxen that
attracted the attention of Marco Polo and awakened
his interest. They are to be found in India and
other Eastern countries, and poor is the menagerie
that does not have one or two specimens of the zebu,
or Indian ox, as it is now called. These beasts are
very docile, and are taught to kneel to receive the
loads which they carry on their backs. Fat-tailed
sheep are also common in various portions of Asia
Minor and Africa. The tail is broad and flat,
sometimes weighing fifty or sixty pounds, and is
considered a great delicacy by the inhabitants of
those parts of the world. Some travellers of good
repute have said, that they have seen fat-tailed

52 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
sheep whose tails were so large, that each animal
was provided with a slab of wood, fitted under the
tail, with little trucks, or wheels, attached to the
end that dragged on the ground.
The notion that fogs and mists can be brought
upon the face of the earth by the command of an
enchanter is truly Oriental ; this is still believed in
some parts of India, and Mr. F. Marion Crawford,
the novelist, has made use of an enchanted fog in one
of his romances. It is certain, however, that a dry
fog, which seems to be really a dust-storm, is of
common occurrence in Persia and Northern India.
The phenomenon is strange and baffling, and it is
not surprising that the residents of that country, not
understanding why the air should be filled with dry
dust while it is yet perfectly still, should charge this
to the operations of some enchanter. In such a
dust-storm the raids of robbers, who take advantage
of the panic and the obscurity prevailing, would be
successful, and very disastrous to the unfortunates
whose flocks and herds would be captured and driven
off. The Caraonas, nowadays known as Hazaras,
are bold and daring brigands ; they have sometimes
ridden up to the very gates of the city of Ispahan on
their wild forays in search of plunder, ravaging the
country and leaving behind them nothing that can be
carried off or destroyed.
Here may be given a few extracts from Marco's

IV.] STITCHED SHIPS. 53
interesting account of the city of Hormos and its
inhabitants, showing what they eat and drink, how
they build their ships, and how they avoid the
poison-wind and its terrible effects.
'Tis, he says, a city of immense trade. There are
plenty of towns and villages under it, but it is the capital.
The King is called Ruomedam Ahomet. It is a very sickly
place, and the heat of the sun is tremendous. If any
foreign merchant dies there, the King takes all his property.
In this country they make a wine of dates mixed with
spices, which is very good. When any one not used to
it first drinks this wine, it causes repeated and violent pains ;
but afterwards he is all the better for it, and gets fat upon
it. The people never eat meat and wheaten bread except
when they are ill, and if they take such food when they are
in health it makes them ill. Their food when in health
consists of dates and salt fish (tunny, to wit) and onions,
and this kind of diet they maintain in order to preserve
their health.
Their ships are wretched affairs, and many of them get
lost ; for they have no iron fastenings, and are only stitched
together with twine made from the husk of the Indian nut.
They beat this husk until it becomes like horsehair, and
from that they spin twine, and with this stitch the planks
of the ships together. It keeps well, and is not corroded
by the sea-water, but it will not stand well in a storm.
The ships are not pitched, but are rubbed with fish-oil.
They have one mast, one sail, and one rudder, and have
no deck, but only a cover spread over the cargo when
loaded. This cover consists of hides, and on the top of
these hides they put the horses which they take to India
for sale. They have no iron to make nails of, and for this
reason they use only wooden trenails in their shipbuilding.

54 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
and then stitch the planks with twine as I have told you.
Hence 'tis a perilous business to go a voyage in one of
those ships, and many of them are lost, for in that Sea of
India the storms are often terrible.
The people are black, and are worshippers of Mahommet.
The residents avoid hving in the cities, for the heat in
summer is so great that it would kill them. Hence they
go out (to sleep) at their gardens in the country, where
there are streams and plenty of water. For all that they
would not escape but for one thing that I will mention.
The fact is, you see, that in summer a wind often blows
across the sands which encompass the plain, so intolerably
hot that it would kill everybody, were it not that, when
they perceive that wind coming, they plunge into water up
to the neck, and so abide until the wind have ceased.
And to prove the great heat of this wind, Messer Mark
related a case that befell when he was there. The Lord
of Hormos, not having paid his tribute to the King of
Kerman, the latter resolved to claim it at the time when
the people of Hormos were residing away from the city.
So he caused a force of sixteen hundred horse and five
thousand foot to be got ready, and sent them by the
route of Reobarles to take the others by surprise. Now it
happened one day that through the fault of their guide
they were not able to reach the place appointed for their
night's halt, and were obliged to bivouac in the wilderness
not far from Hormos. In the morning as they were starting
on their march they were caught by that wind, and every
man of them was suffocated, so that not one survived to
carry the tidings to their lord. When the people of
Hormos heard of this, they went forth to bury the bodies,
lest they should breed a pestilence. But when they laid
hold of them by the arms to drag them to the pits, the
bodies proved to be so baked, as it were, by that tremendous
heat, that the arms parted from the trunks, and in the

IV.] THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN. 55
end the people had to dig graves hard by each where it
lay, and so cast them in.
In Marco's account of Persia we find the hero
Alaii again mentioned by name. It was Alaii who
captured the castle of the miserly Caliph ; and he it
was who put an end to the crimes of the wicked
Old Man of the Mountain. Here is the chapter
concerning both of those two personages :
CONCERNING THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN.
Mulehet is a country in which the Old Man of the
Mountain dwelt in former days; and the name means
" Place of the- Aram." I will tell you his whole history as
related by Messer Marco Polo, who heard it from several
natives of that region.
The Old Man was called in their language Aloadin. He
had caused a certain valley between two mountains to be
enclosed, and had turned it into a garden, the largest and
most beautiful that ever was seen, filled with every variety
of fruit. In it were erected pavilions and palaces, the most
elegant that can be imagined, all covered with gilding and
exquisite painting. And there were runnels, too, flowing
freely with wine and milk and honey and water ; and
numbers of ladies, the most beautiful in the world, who
could play on all manner of instruments, and sang most
sweetly, and danced in a manner that it was charming to
behold. For the Old Man desired to make his people
believe that this was actually Paradise. So he had
fashioned it after the description that Mahommet gave of
his Paradise, to wit, that it should be a beautiful garden run
ning with conduits of wine and milk and honey and water ;

$6 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
and sure enough the Saracens of those parts believed that
it was Paradise.
Now no man was allowed to enter the Garden save those
whom he intended to be his Ashishin. There was a
Fortress at the entrance to the Garden, strong enough to
resist all the world, and there was no other way to get in.
He kept at his Court a number of the youths of the country,
from twelve to twenty years of age, such as had a taste for
soldiering, and to these he used to tell tales about Paradise,
just as Mahommet had been wont to do, and they believed
in him just as the Saracens believe in Mahommet. Then he
would introduce them into his Garden, some four, or six,
or ten at a time, having first made them drink a certain
potion which cast them into a deep sleep, and then causing
them to be lifted and carried in. So when they awoke they
found themselves in the Garden.
Now this Prince whom we call the Old One kept his
Court in grand and noble style, and made those simple hill-
folks about him believe firmly that he was a great Prophet.
And when he wanted one of his Ashishin to send on any
mission, he would cause that potion, whereof I spoke, to be
given to one of the youths in the Garden, and then had
him carried into his Palace. So when the young man
awoke, he found himself in the Castle, and no longer in
that Paradise ; whereat he was not over-well pleased. He
was then conducted to the Old Man's presence, and
bowed before him with great veneration, as believing him
self to be in the presence of a true Prophet. The Prince
would then ask whence he came, and he would reply that
he came from Paradise ! and that it was exactly such as
Mahommet had described it in the Law. This of course
gave the others who stood by, and who had not been
admitted, the greatest desire to enter therein.
So when the Old Man would have any Prince slain, he
would say to such a youth : "Go thou and slay So-and-So; and

THE OLD MAN OP THE MOU.VTAIN.

IV.] HIS ASSASSINS. 57
when thou returnest my Angels shall bear thee into Paradise.
And shouldst thou die, natheless even so will I send my
Angels to carry thee back into Paradise." So he caused them
to believe ; and thus there was no order of his that they
would not affront any peril to execute, for the great desire
they had to get back into that Paradise of his. And in this
manner the Old One got his people to murder any one
whom he desired to get rid of Thus, too, the great dread
that he inspired all Princes withal made them become his
tributaries, in order that he might abide at peace and amity
with them.
I should also tell you that the Old Man had certain
others under him, who copied his proceedings and acted
exactly in the same manner. One of these was sent into
the territory of Damascus, and the other into Curdistan.
Now it came to pass in the year 1252, that Alaii, Lord of
the Tartars of the Levant, heard tell of these great crimes
of the Old Man, and resolved to make an end of him. So
he took and sent one of his Barons with a great Army to
that Castle, and they besieged it for three years, but they
could not take it, so strong was it. And indeed if they had
had food within, it never would have been taken. But after
being besieged those three years they ran short of victual,
and were taken. The Old Man was put to death with all
his men, and the Castle with its Garden of Paradise was
levelled with the ground. And since that time he has had
no successor ; and there was an end to all his villainies.
The region in which, according to Marco Polo, the
Old Man of the Mountain lived and reigned was
the mountainous part of Persia, in the far north.
But in the time of the first Crusaders, which was
some two hundred years earlier, the chief of a band

58 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
of scoundrels and men-slayers, one Hassan-ben-Sabah,
had his stronghold in Mount Lebanon, in the southern
part of Syria; and he was also known as the Old
Man of the Mountain.
It is interesting to know that the story of the Old
One was current all over the East, and that we get
our word " assassin " from the vile practices of that
wicked man, who really did exist, and whose fol
lowers are still to be found in remote corners of the
East. The drug which he gave to those whom he
desired to enlist in his band was hashish, or Cannabis
Indica. This is a learned name for Indian hemp,
from which the drug is derived. Men who used the
hashish to give them pleasant sleep and beautiful
dreams were called " hashishiyyin " ; and it was easy
to make the word " assassin " out of hashishiyyin.
That this is the true origin of the English word
nobody need doubt. As Marco passed by the castle
of the Old Man of the Mountain not long after the
defeat of the latter by the Prince Alaii, we can believe
that he heard a true account of what had happened ;
and it is not unlikely that the followers of this chief,
the Assassins, as they were called, were a numerous
band of fanatics who were spread over a considerable
part of the East.
At Taican, three days' journey from Badashan,
Marco is much struck (and no wonder) by the moun
tains of salt :

IV.] MOUNTAINS OF SALT. 59
Taican is a fine place, and the mountains that you see
towards the south are all composed of salt. People from
all the countries round, to some thirty days' journey, come
to fetch this salt, which is the best in the world, and is so
hard that it can only be broken with iron picks. 'Tis in
such abundance that it would supply the whole world to the
end of time.

CHAPTER V.
the GEMS OF BADAKSHAN — A ROYAL PREROGATIVE — ^THE
CONJURERS OF CASHMERE.
"O ADASHAN, of which our traveller wrote an
^-^ interesting account, is now known as Badak
shan ; it lies to the north of that range of mountains
which bears the name of the Hindu Kush, in Central
Asia, south of Bokhara and north of Afghanistan.
Marco's eyes are now turned eastward, and he writes
thus of the country of which the outside world knew
nothing then :
OF THE PROVINCE OF BADASHAN.
Badashan is a Province inhabited by people who worship
Mahommet, and have a peculiar language. It forms a very
great kingdom, and the royalty is hereditary. All those
of the royal blood are descended from King Alexander
and the daughter of King Darius, who was Lord of the
vast Empire of Persia. And all these kings call themselves
in the Saracen tongue Zulcarniain, which is as much as
to say " Alexander " ; and this out of regard for Alexander
the Great.
It is in this province that those fine and valuable gems,
the Balas Rubies, are found. They are got in certain
60

Ch. v.] GEMS OF BADAKSHAN. 6l
rocks among the mountains, and in the search for them
the people dig great caves underground, just as is done
by miners for silver. There is but one special mountain
that produces them, and it is called Syghinan. The stones
are dug on the King's account, and no one else dares dig
in that mountain on pain of forfeiture of life as well as
goods ; nor may any one carry the stones out of the
kingdom. But the King amasses them all, and sends them
to other kings when he has tribute to render, or when he
desires to offer a friendly present; and such only as he
pleases he causes to be sold. Thus he acts in order to
keep the Balas at a high value; for if he were to allow
everybody to dig, they would extract so many that the
world would be glutted with them, and they would cease
to bear any value. Hence it is that he allows so few to
be taken out, and is so strict in the matter.
There is also in the same country another mountain,
in which azure is found ; 'tis the finest in the world, and
is got in a vein like silver. There are also other mountains
which contain a great amount of silver ore, so that the
country is a very rich one ; but it is also (it must be said)
a very cold one. It produces numbers of excellent horses,
remarkable for their speed. They are not shod at all,
although constantly used in mountainous country and on
very bad roads. They go at a great pace even down steep
descents, where other horses neither would nor could do
the like. And Messer Marco was told that not long ago
they possessed in that province a breed of horses, descended
from Alexander's horse Bucephalus, all of which had from
their birth a particular mark on the forehead. This breed
was entirely in the hands of an uncle of the King's; and
in consequence of his refusing to let the King have any of
them, the latter put him to death. The widow then, in
despite, destroyed the whole breed, and it is now extinct.
In the mountains there are vast numbers of sheep —

62 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
400, 500, or 600 in a single flock, and all of them wild;
and though many of them are taken, they never seem to
get aught the scarcer.
Those mountains are so lofty that 'tis a hard day's work,
from morning till evening, to get to the top of them. On
getting up, you find an extensive plain, with great abundance
of grass and trees, and copious springs of pure water running
down through rocks and ravines. In those brooks are
found trout and many other fish of dainty kinds ; and the
air in those regions is so pure, and residence there so
healthful, that when the men who dwell below in the
towns, and in the valleys and plains, find themselves
attacked by any kind of fever or other ailment that may
hap, they lose no time in going to the hills; and after
abiding there two or three days, they quite recover their
health through the excellence of that air. And Messer
Marco said he had proved this by experience; for when
in those parts he had been ill for about a year, but as soon
as he was advised to visit that mountain he did so and
got well at once.
In this kingdom there are many strait and perilous
passes, so difficult to force that the people have no fear
of invasion. Their towns and villages also are on lofty
hills, and in very strong positions. They are excellent
archers, and much given to the chase; indeed, most of
them are dependent for clothing on the skins of beasts,
for stuffs are very dear among them. The great ladies,
however, are arrayed in stuffs, and I will tell you the style
of their dress. They all wear trousers made of cotton
cloth, and into the making of these some will put 60, 80,
or even 100 ells of stuff.
OF THE PROVINCE OF PASHAI.
You must know that ten days' journey to the south of
Badashan there is a Province called Pashai, the people of

v.] HORSES OF BADAKSHAN. 63
which have a peculiar language, and are Idolaters, of a
brown complexion. They are great adepts in sorceries and
the diabolic arts. The men wear earrings and brooches of
gold and silver set with stones and pearls. They are a
pestilent people and a crafty ; and they live upon flesh and
rice. Their country is very hot.
Now let us proceed and speak of another country which
is seven days' journey from this one towards the south-east,
and the name of which is Keshimur.
The Badakshan country is still famed for its
rubies, although the quality of the gems is not so
high as in earlier times ; and the working of the
ruby mines is a monopoly in the hands of the govern
ment. By " azure " Marco means lapis-lazuli, a
semi-precious stone of a beautiful blue colour, greatly
esteemed by gem-workers. As for the horses that
were claimed to have descended from the famous
Bucephalus of Alexander the Great, we may say
that many Oriental people are famous braggarts ;
and although the horses of Badakshan are still so
beautiful and strong that Afghan robbers continually
raid the country to steal them, it is unUkely that
any progeny of Bucephalus were then to be found
in any quarter of the world.
Keshimur, of which our traveller next speaks, is
readily understood to be Cashmere, lying just south
of the Hindu Kush, and famous for its shawls, attar
of roses, and other products. Here is Marco's very
brief account of that province :

64 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
OF THE PROVINCE OF KESHIMUR.
Keshimur also is a Province inhabited by a people who
are Idolaters and have a language of their own. They
have an astonishing acquaintance with the devilries of en
chantment; insomuch that they make their idols to speak.
They can also by their sorceries bring on changes of
weather and produce darkness, and do a "number of things
so extraordinary that no one without seeing them would
believe them. Indeed, this country is the very original
source from which Idolatry has spread abroad.
In this direction you can proceed further till you come
to the Sea of India.
The men are brown and lean, but the women, taking
them as brunettes, are very beautiful. The food of the
people is flesh, and milk, and rice. The clime is finely
tempered, being neither very hot nor very cold.
There are in this country Eremites (after the fashion of
those parts), who dwell in seclusion and practise great
abstinence in eating and drinking. They keep from all
sins forbidden in their law, so that they are regarded by
their own folk as holy persons. They live to a great age.
There are also a number of idolatrous abbeys and
monasteries. The people of the province do not kill
animals nor spill blood ; so if they want to eat meat they
get the Saracens who dwell among them to play the
butcher. The coral which is carried from our parts of
the world has a better sale there than in any other
country. Now we will quit this country, and not go any further
in the same direction; for if we did so we should enter
India, and that I do not wish to do at present. For, on
our return journey, I mean to tell you about India : all in
regular order. Let us go back therefore to Badashan, for
we cannot otherwise proceed on our journey.

v.] MERE JUGGLERY. 65
The conjurers of Cashmere seem to have made
a great impression on Marco, who had seen them
before at the court of Kublai Khan. They had, and
still have, a wide reputation for their skill. Like
many other so-called magicians, they have the power
of-deceiving on-lookers to so great an extent that men
have soberly reported that they saw iron float in the
water, rocks rise in the air without being touched by
any one, and clouds come and go and mists fall, all
at the bidding of the magician. It is, of course, all
mere jugglery.
Marco's statement that Buddhism, or " Idolatry,"
as he styles it, spread from Cashmere, must be taken
with some allowance ; for although that faith did
spread thence into Tibet and other lands where it
holds great power, it first went into Cashmere from
India. One of the first of the Ten Obligations, or
commandments, of Buddhism is to refrain from
taking life ; and the pious Eremites (or hermits) and
Buddhists whom Marco saw, while they did not
hesitate to eat meat, would not kill with their own
hands the animal that was to be eaten. That is still
the custom of the country ; the good Buddhist will
not cause death if he can possibly avoid it.

CHAPTER VI.
THE ROOF OF THE WORLD — HOW THE PAMIR COUNTRY BORDERS
ON THREE GREAT EMPIRES — THE GREAT HORNED SHEEP OF
THE STEPPES — A MARVELLOUS STORY OF SAMARCAND.
"1 T TE have heard much, of late years, about the
* * Pamir country ; and we shall hear more
about it as time goes on : for the Pamir steppe, as
it is sometimes called, lies in the heart of Central
Asia, north-east of Afghanistan, south of Asiatic
Russia, and west of Turkestan. Therefore it borders
on the empires of Russia, China, and British India ;
on its lofty plains may be fought more than one
battle for supremacy. It is a series of plateaus,
1 5,000 feet above the level of the sea ; and some of
its loftiest mountain peaks are 25,000 feet above sea-
level. The first account of this wonderful region
was written by Marco Polo, and is as follows
In leaving Badashan you ride twelve days between east
and north-east, ascending a river that runs through land
belonging to a brother of the Prince of Badashan, and
containing a good many towns and villages and scattered
habitations. The people are Mahommetans, and valiant
66

Ch. VI.] THE ROOF OF THE WORLD. 6j
in war. At the end of those twelve days you come to a
province of no great size, extending indeed no more than
three days' journey in any direction, and this is called
VoKHAN. The people worship Mahommet, and they have
a peculiar language. They are gallant soldiers, and they
have a chief whom they call None, which is as much as
to say Count, and they are liegemen to the Prince of
Badashan. There are numbers of wild beasts of all sorts in this
region. And when you leave this little country, and ride
three days north-east, always among mountains, you get
to such a height that 'tis said to be the highest place in
the world ! And when you have got to this height, you
find a great lake between two mountains, and out of it a
fine river running through a plain clothed with the finest
pasture in the world ; insomuch that a lean beast there
will fatten to your heart's content in ten days. There are
great numbers of all kinds of wild beasts ; among others,
wild sheep of great size, whose horns are a good six palms
in length. From these ' horns the shepherds make great
bowls to eat from, and they use the horns also to enclose
folds for their cattle at night. Messer Marco was told also
that the wolves were numerous, and killed many of those
wild sheep. Hence quantities of their horns and bones
were found, and these were made into great heaps by the
wayside in order to guide travellers when snow was on the
ground. The Plain is called Pamier, and you ride across it for
twelve days together, finding nothing but a desert without
habitations or any green thing, so that travellers are obliged
to carry with them whatever they have need of The
region is so lofty and cold that you do not even see any
birds flying. And I must notice also that because of this
great cold, fire does not burn so brightly, nor give out so
much heat as usual, nor does it cook food so effectually.

68 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
Now, if we go on with our journey towards the east-
north-east, we travel a good forty days, continually passing
over mountains and hills, or through valleys, and crossing
many rivers and tracts of wilderness. And in all this way
you find neither habitation of man, nor any green thing,
but must carry with you whatever you require. The
country is called Bolor. The people dwell high up in
the mountains, and are savage Idolaters, living only by
the chase, and clothing themselves in the skins of beasts.
They are in truth an evil race.
This is an interesting chapter of Marco's book,
because it describes a region of which the outside
world knew nothing from his time until 1838, when
another European traveller, Captain John Wood,
passed over it, and verified the account written by
Marco Polo, more than six hundred years before.
The Tatars call the loftiest part of the Pamir country
the Bam-i-Duniah, or " Roof of the World " ; it is the
highest level region to be found anywhere on the
globe. It is swept by cold winds, and even in
summer the dry snow is driven across its surface.
The great sheep of which Marco speaks are still
to be found there, and they have been named the
Ovis Poli, in honour of Marco Polo, who first
described them. A pair of sheep horns, brought
home by Captain Wood, measured three feet from
tip to tip, and each horn was four feet and eight
inches in length, following the curve of the horn.
The animals are hunted by the Kirghiz who inhabit

VI.] OVIS POLL 69
the lower steppes of that country ; and Wood's
narrative says : " We saw numbers of horns strewed
about in every direction, the spoils of the Kirghiz
hunter. Some of these were of an astonishingly
large size, and belonged to an animal between a
goat and a sheep, inhabiting the steppes of Pamir.
The ends of the horn projecting above the snow
often indicated the direction of the road," which is
precisely what Marco has told us. Captain Wood,

OVIS POLI.

who crossed the Pamir in February, says, when
ever they came in sight of a large number of these
big horns arranged in a semi-circle, they knew that
there had been a summer encampment of the Kirghiz
hunters. What Marco says of the difficulty of cooking by
a fire at a great height is entirely correct. Water
boils at a lower temperature on the top of a high
mountain than it does in the plain at its foot. The
usual boiling-point is at 212 degrees, as every bright
youngster knows ; but on the tops of high mountains

70 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
water boils at 179 or 180, and men unused to so
curious a phenomenon are puzzled to see the water
boiling, and the food remaining uncooked. The
pressure of the atmosphere is less on the mountain
top than it is in the plain, and the heat of the fire
causes the boiling of the water more quickly at the
greater altitude. Water boils at the top of Mount
Blanc at a temperature of 185 degrees.
MARCO TELLS A WONDERFUL STORY.
Samarcand lies in the southern part of Turkestan,
just north of Bokhara, and therefore it was behind
Marco Polo when he had passed the Pamir steppes :
evidently, he did not visit Samarcand, and could
not give us any information about the city ; so he
tells us this story :
Samarcan is a great- and noble city towards the north
west, inhabited by both Christians and Saracens, who are
subject to the great Kaan's nephew, Caidou by name;
he is, however, at bitter enmity with the Kaan. I will tell
you of a great marvel that happened at this city.
It is not a great while ago that Sigatay, own brother to
the Great Kaan, who was lord of this country and of many
an one besides, became a Christian. The Christians re
joiced greaUy at this, and they built a great church in the
city, in honour of John the Baptist ; and by his name the
church was called. And they took a very fine stone which
belonged to the Saracens, and placed it as the pedestal of
a column in the middle of the church, supporting the roof.
It came to pass, however, that Sigatay died. Now the

THE MIRACULOUS COLUMN.

VI.] A GLORIOUS MIRACLE. 71
Saracens were full of rancour about that stone that had been
theirs, and which had been set up in the church of the
Christians ; and when they saw that the Prince was dead,
they said one to another that now was the time to get back
their stone, by fair means or by foul. And that they might
well do, for they were ten times as many as the Christians.
So they gat together and went to the church and said
that the stone they must and would have. The Christians
acknowledged that it was theirs indeed, but offered to pay
a large sum of money and so be quit. Howbeit, the others
replied that they never would give up the stone for any
thing in the world. And words ran so high that the Prince
heard thereof, and ordered the Christians either to arrange
to satisfy the Saracens, if it might be, with money, or to
give up the stone. And he allowed them three days to do
either the one thing or the other.
The Saracens would on no account agree to leave the
stone where it was, and this out of pure despite to the
Christians, for they knew well enough that if the stone
were stirred the church would come down by the run. So
the Christians were in great trouble and wist not what to
do. But they did do the best thing possible ; they besought
Jesus Christ that He would consider their case, so that the
holy church should not come to destruction, nor the name
of its Patron Saint, John the Baptist, be tarnished by its
ruin. And so when the day fixed by the Prince came
round, they went to the church betimes in the morning,
and lo, they found the stone removed from under the
column ; the foot of the column was without support, and
yet it bore the load as stoutly as before ! Between the
foot of the column and the ground there was a space of
three palms. So the Saracens had away their stone, and
mighty littie joy withal. It was a glorious miracle, nay,
it is so, for the column still so standeth, and will stand as
long as God pleaseth.

72 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. VI.
Marco was not often at a loss for real information
concerning the places of which he makes mention.
But in this case he was like some of the geographers,
of whom the wise Plutarch speaks when he says,
that they crowd into the edges of their maps
parts of the world about which they know nothing,
and add notes in the margin to the effect, that
" beyond this Hes nothing but sandy deserts full of
wild beasts and unapproachable bogs." This remark
moved Dean Swift, the author of " Gulliver's Travels,"
to say : So geographers, in Afric maps,
With savage pictures fill their gaps,
And o'er unhabitable downs
Place elephants for want ol towns.

CHAPTER VII.
THE SE|A OF SAND AND ITS MARVELS — THE FABLED SALAMANDER
AND ITS TRUE STORY — SOMETHING ABOUT ASBESTOS.
T EAVING Turkestan, and entering China to the
-*— ' eastward of Kashgar and Yarkand, Marco Polo
crossed the western end of the Great Sandy Desert
of Gobi, or Shamo, otherwise known to the Chinese
as the Sea of Sand. This vast extent of desert
extends over forty degrees of latitude, and has never
been fully explored even in our own day. In Marco's
time it was a haunt of mystery, thought to be peopled
by the strange creatures of the air. That part
traversed by Marco is narrow, and he crossed it in a
south-westerly direction. Here is his account of the
Desert of Lop, or, as it is sometimes called. Lob :
Lop is a large town at the edge of the Desert, which is
called the Desert of Lop, and is situated between east
and north-east. It belongs to the Great Kaan, and the
people worship Mahommet. Now, such persons as pro
pose to cross the Desert take a week's rest in this town
to refresh themselves and their cattle ; and then they make
ready for the journey, taking with them a month's supply for
man and beast. On quitting this city they enter the Desert.
73

74 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
The length of this Desert is so great that 'tis said it
would take a year and more to ride from one end of it to
the other. And here, where its breadth is least, it takes
a month to cross it. 'Tis all composed of hills and valleys
of sand, and not a thing to eat is to be found on, it.
But after riding for a day and a night you find fresh water
enough mayhap for some fifty or a hundred persons with
their beasts, but not for more. And all across the Desert
you will find water in like manner, that is to say, in some
twenty-eight places altogether you will find good water,
but in no great quantity ; and in four places also you find
brackish water.
Beasts there are none ; for there is naught for them to
eat. But there is a marvellous thing related of this Desert,
which is that when travellers are on the move by night,
and one of them chances to lag behind, or to fall asleep
or the like, when he tries to gain his company again he
will hear spirits talking, and will suppose them to be his
comrades. Sometimes the spirits will call him by name;
and thus shall a traveller ofttimes be led astray, so that
he never finds his party. And in this way many have
perished. Sometimes the stray travellers will hear as it
were the tramp and hum of a great cavalcade of people
away from the real line of road, and taking this to be their
own company they will follow the sound ; and when day
breaks they find that a cheat has been put on them, and
that they are in an ill plight. Even in the daytime one
hears those spirits talking. And sometimes yOu shall hear
the sound of a variety of musical instruments, and still
more commonly the sound of drums. Hence in making
this journey 'tis customary for travellers to keep close
together. All the animals too have bells at their necks,
SO that they cannot easily get astray. And at sleeping-time
a signal is put up to show the direction of the next march.
So thus it is that the Desert is crossed.

VII.] A HAUNTED DESERT. 75
Probably this tale of the desert, told by Marco
Polo, was one of those which gave him a bad name
among people who were ignorant of what really
goes on in the midst of a vast desert. From the
earliest times, men have associated deserts of land or
sea with mystery ; and all sorts of evil spirits were
believed to inhabit the waste places of the earth.
And those who heard Marco's stories, or read them
afterwards, thought that they were the idle tales of
Oriental romancers.
But Marco's tale is corroborated by the Chinese
historian Matwanlin, who writes : " You have to
cross a plain of sand, extending for more than one
hundred leagues. You see nothing in any direction
but the sky and the sands, without the slightest trace
of a road ; and traveUers find nothing to guide them
but the bones of men and beasts and the droppings
of camels. During the passage of this wilderness
you hear sounds, sometimes of singing, sometimes of
waiUng; and it has often happened that travellers,
going aside to see what those sounds might be, have
strayed from their course and been entirely lost ;
for they were voices of spirits and goblins." Another
Chinese writer, Hwen Thsang speaks of illusions,
such as visions of troops marching and halting with
gleaming arms and waving banners, constantly
shifting, vanishing, and reappearing. A voice behind
him calls, " Fear not ! fear not ! " Troubled by these

76 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
fantasies on one occasion, Hwen Thsang prayed to
Kwanin (a Buddhist divinity), but could not get rid
of them ; though as soon as he had pronounced a
few words from the Prajna (a holy book) they
vanished in the twinkling of an eye.
And it is undoubtedly true that strange sounds
are often produced by the shifting of the sands,
especially in the night, after a hot day, when the
sand cools and the wind blows. It would be easy
for a superstitious person to believe that these sounds
were the voices of unseen creatures in the air.
Sometimes the sounds are like those of a bell, or of
a drum ; and scientific writers have described the
places where they have been heard in various parts
of the world.
In the story of " The Boy Emigrants," published in
1876, the author tells of a lad who hears, in the
midst of the Great American Desert, as it was
once called, the nine-o'clock bell ringing in his
New England home, far away. This really hap
pened, and the author of the book actually thought
he heard the bell ring. So, too, the same party of
boy emigrants saw what they thought were trees,
water, and lovely hills, floating just above the edge
of the desert. That was a mirage ; and people have
seen on the sea-coast a strange apparition of towers,
palaces, and lofty pinnacles, most beautiful to behold.
This is a natural phenomenon, and is called the

VII.] THE SALAMANDER. 'J^
fata Morgana. So much for this " marvellous "
story, which no doubt has been called " one of
Marco Polo's hes."
In what he says about the fabulous salamander
we find some more truth ; but he uses it to put to
ridicule an ancient fable. Here is his account:
Chingintalas is also a province at the verge of the Desert,
and lying between north-west and north. It is an extent
of sixteen days' journey, and belongs to the Great Kaan,
and contains numerous towns and villages. There are
three different races of people in it — -Idolaters, Saracens,
and some Nestorian Christians. At the northern extremity
of this province there is a mountain in which are excellent
veins of steel and ondanique. And you must know that
in the same mountain there is a vein of the substance from
which Salamander is made. For the real truth is that the
Salamander is no beast, as they allege in our part of the
world, but is a substance found in the earth ; and I will
tell you about it.
Everybody must be aware that it can be no animal's
nature to live in fire, seeing that every animal is com
posed of all the four elements. Now I, Marco Polo, had
a Turkish acquaintance of the name of Zurficar, and he
was a very clever fellow. And this Turk related how
he had lived three years in that region on behalf of the
Great Kaan, in order to procure those Salamanders for
him. He said that the way they got them was by digging
in that mountain till they found a certain vein. The sub
stance of this vein was then taken and crushed, and when
so treated it divides as it were into fibres of wool, which
they set forth to dry. When dry, these fibres were pounded
in a great copper mortar, and then washed, so as to remove

78 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
all the earth, and to leave only the fibres like fibres of
wool. These were then spun, and made into napkins.
When first made, these napkins are not very white, but
by putting them into the fire for a while they come out
as white as snow. And so again whenever they become
dirty they are bleached by being put in the fire.
Now this, and naught else, is the truth about the
Salamander, and the people of the country all say the'
same. Any other account of the matter is fabulous non
sense. And I may add that they have at Rome a napkin
of this stuff, which the Grand Kaan sent to the Pope.
Modern geographers are uncertain as to the
precise location of the province of Chingintalas;
but probably it lies somewhere east of Kamul,
in Chinese Tatary. The story of the salamander,
an animal which could pass unharmed through
the fire, is one of the oldest in the world. The
ancient Greeks thought it true ; and in the Middle
Ages it was believed that the salamander's body was
covered with a soft white wool which could be made
into threads, and spun and woven into cloth. But
the general belief was that the creature was like a
lizard in shape ; and it was said that if anybody
kept a fire burning for one whole year and one day,
without it ever once going out, a salamander would
appear and play about in the live coals.
So far as we know, Marco Polo was the first to
dispose of this fable, and tell the truth about the
salamander. The stuff called by the Tatars "sala-

VII.] ONDANIQUE. 79
mander's wool " was merely asbestos, a mineral sub
stance with a considerable fibre, which can be spun
out and woven. It is indestructible by fire ; and the
crude mass may be cleaned and made into sheets
for various purposes, such as wrapping steam-pipes
and water-pipes, as is done in our own country. The
salamander is heard of no more. The " ondanique," of
which our traveller speaks more than once, is a very
superior kind of iron ore from which the Orientals
made their famous steel sword-blades, which were
of so exceeding fine temper that a blade could be
doubled into a hoop without breaking.

CHAPTER VIII.
HOW JENGHIZ KHAN DEFEATED PRESTER JOHN — THE MYTHICAL
CHRISTIAN KING AND THE MONGOL CONQUEROR —DIVINERS
AND THEIR TRICKS  TATAR MIGRATIONS.
"VTOW we come to a fabulous personage whose
-^ ^ existence was generally believed in by Euro
peans for hundreds of years and up to the time of
Columbus. This was Presbyter John, a Christian
prince, who was supposed to reign over a rich and
powerful kingdom somewhere in Central Asia " east
of Armenia and Persia," which is a pretty vague
way of putting the case. Sometimes he was said
to reign on the eastern coast of Africa ; and his
name was shortened from Presbyter to Prester.
Several European potentates sent letters to Prester
John, and tried to find him and his kingdom. But
the mysterious Sovereign was never found. What
Marco Polo says about Prester John, therefore, must
be taken with many degrees of allowance for the
superstitions of the time. What he says about
Jenghiz Khan, however, is worthy of respect and
belief ; and this account of the origin of the Mongol
So

Ch. VIII.] JENGHIZ KHAN. 8 1
Empire is interesting, for it is history which Marco
gives us now.
OF CHINGHIS, AND HOW HE BECAME THE FIRST
KAAN OF THE TARTARS.
Now it came to pass in the year 1187 that the Tartars
made them a King whose name was Chinghis Kaan.
He was a man of great worth, and of great ability, elo
quence, and valour. And as soon as the news that he
had been chosen King was spread abroad through those
countries, all the Tartars in the world came to him and
owned him for their Lord. And right well did he main
tain the Sovereignty they had given him. What shall I
say? The Tartars gathered to him in astonishing mul
titude, and when he saw such numbers he made a great
furniture of spears and arrows and such other arms as
they used, and set about the conquest of all those regions
till he had conquered eight provinces. When he con
quered a province he did no harm to the people or their
property, but merely established some of his own men in
the country along with a proportion of theirs, whilst he
led the remainder to the conquest of other provinces.
And when those whom he had conquered became aware
how well and safely he protected them against all others,
and how they suffered no ill at his hands, and saw what a
noble prince he was, then they joined him heart and soul
and became his devoted followers. And when he had
thus gathered such a multitude that they seemed to cover
the earth, he began to think of conquering a great part
of the world. Now in the year 1200 he sent an embassy
to Prester John, and desired to have his daughter to
wife. But when Prester John heard that Chinghis Kaan
demanded his daughter in marriage he waxed very wroth,
and said to the Envoys : " What impudence is this, to
6

82 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
ask my daughter to wife ? Wist he not well that he was
my liegeman and serf? Get ye back to him and tell him
that I had liever set my daughter in the fire than give
her in marriage to him, and that he deserves death at my
hand, rebel and traitor that he is ! " So he bade the Envoys
begone at once, and never come into his presence again.
The Envoys, on receiving this reply, departed straightway,
and made haste to their master, and related all that Prester
John had ordered them to say, keeping nothing back.
HOW CHINGHIS MUSTERED HIS PEOPLE TO MARCH
AGAINST PRESTER JOHN.
When Chinghis Kaan heard the brutal message that
Prester John had sent him, such rage seized him that his
heart came nigh to bursting within him, for he was a man
of a very lofty spirit. At last he spoke, and that so loud
that all who were present could hear him : " Never more
might he be Prince if he took not revenge for the brutal
message of Prester John, and such revenge that insult
never in this world was so dearly paid for. And before
long Prester John should know whether he were his serf
or no ! "
So then he mustered all his forces, and levied such a
host as never before was seen or heard of, sending word
to Prester John to be on his defence. And when Prester
John had sure tidings that Chinghis was really coming
against him with such a multitude, he still professed to
treat it as a jest and a trifle, for, quoth he, " These be no
soldiers." Natheless he marshalled his forces and mustered
his people, and made great preparations, in order that if
Chinghis did come he might take him and put him to
death. In fact, he marshalled such an host of many
different nations that it was a world's wonder.
And SO both sides gat ready to battle. Chinghis Kaan

VIII.] READY FOR BATTLE. 83
with all his host arrived at a vast and beautiful plain which
was called Tanduc, belonging to Prester John, and there
he pitched his camp ; and so great was the multitude of
his people that it was impossible to number them. And
when he got tidings that Prester John was coming he
rejoiced greatiy, for the place afforded a fine and ample
battle-ground, so he was right glad to tarry for him there,
and greatly longed for his arrival.
HOW PRESTER JOHN MARCHED TO MEET CHINGHIS.
Now the story goes that when Prester John became aware
that Chinghis with his host was marching against him, he
went forth to meet him with all his forces, and advanced
until he reached the same plain of Tanduc, and pitched
his camp over against that of Chinghis Kaan, at a distance
of twenty miles. And then both armies remained at rest
for two days that they might be fresher and heartier for
battie. So when the two great hosts were pitched on the plains
of Tanduc as you have heard, Chinghis Kaan one day
summoned before him his astrologers, both Christians and
Saracens, and desired them to let him know which of the
two hosts would gam the battle, his own or Prester John's.
The Saracens tried to ascertain, but were unable to give
a true answer; the Christians, however, did give a true
answer, and showed manifestly beforehand how the event
should be. For they got a cane and split it lengthwise, and
laid one half on this side and one half on that, allowing no
one to touch the pieces. And one piece of cane they
called Chinghis Kaan, and the other piece they called
Prester John. And then they said to Chinghis: "Now
mark ! and you will see the event of the battle, and who
shall have the best of it ; for whose cane soever shall get
above the other, to him shall victory be." He rephed that

84 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
he would fain see it, and bade them begin. Then the
Christian astrologers read a Psalm out of the Psalter, and
went through other incantations. And lo 1 whilst all were
beholding, the cane that bore the name of Chinghis Kaan,
without being touched by anybody, advanced to the other
that bore the name of Prester John, and got on the top
of it. When the Prince saw that, he was greatly delighted ;
and seeing how in this matter he found the Christians to
tell the truth, he always treated them with great respect,
and held them for men of truth for ever after.
THE BATTLE BETWEEN CHINGHIS KAAN AND
PRESTER JOHN.
And after both sides had rested well those two days,
they armed for the fight and engaged in desperate combat ;
and it was the greatest battle that ever was seen. The
numbers that were slain .on both sides were very great,
but in the end Chinghis Kaan obtained the victory. And
in the battle Prester John was slain. And from that
time forward, day by day, his kingdom passed into the
hands of Chinghis Kaan till the whole was conquered.
I may tell you that Chinghis Kaan reigned six years
after this battle, engaged continually in conquest, and
taking many a province and city and stronghold. But
at the end of those six years he went against a certain
castie that was called Caaju, and there he was shot with
an arrow in the knee, so that he died of his wound. A
great pity it was, for he was a valiant man and a wise.
It is difficult to understand that " Christian " men
were among the astrologers, who practised magical arts
to find out whether the Great Khan or his adversary
would be victorious in the battle which was to be

VIII.] DIVINING-RODS. 85
fought. We know, however, that Jenghiz Khan was
one of the mighty conquerors of that age ; and that
he was the victor in the fight with the so-called
Prester John we need have no doubt.
Rods and wands have been used for divining
purposes all over the world, and in some parts of the
world they are used to this day ; not only in Oriental
countries, where the people are ignorant and super
stitious, but in England and America. Money-
diggers, or men hunting for buried treasure, pretend
to find the gold underground by means of divining-
rods ; and others hunt for water with wands or forked
sticks from a green tree, the notion being that the
stick will bend down to the earth when the " diviner "
walks over an underground spring.

CHAPTER IX.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF A STRANGE PEOPLE  CONCERNING
THE TATARS AND THEIR WAYS  THE ORIGIN OF CONDENSED
MILK,
"|\ /r ARCO is now on familiar ground, and the
¦^^ -^ accounts which he gives us of the manners
and customs of the Tatars, both in peace and war,
are not only entertaining but true to life.
CONCERNING THE CUSTOMS OF THE TARTARS.
You should be told that all the Grand Kaans, and all
the descendants of Chinghis their first Lord, are carried
to a mountain that is called Altay to be interred. Where
soever the Sovereign may die, he is carried to his burial
in that mountain with his predecessors ; no matter, an
the place of his death were one hundred days' journey
distant, thither must he be carried to his burial.
Let me tell you a strange thing too. When they are
carrying the body of any Emperor to be buried with the
others, the convoy that goes with the body doth put to
the sword all whom they fall in with on the road, saying :
" Go and wait upon your Lord in the other world ! " For
they do in sooth believe that all such as they slay in this
manner do go to serve their Lord in the other world.
86

Ch. IX.] PORTABLE HUTS. 87
They do the same too with horses ; for when the Emperor
dies, they kill all his best horses, in order that he may
have the use of them in the other world, as they believe.
And I tell you as a certain truth, that when Mongou Kaan
died more than twenty thousand persons, who chanced to
meet the body on its way, were slain in the manner I have
told. Now that we have begun to speak of the Tartars, I
have plenty to tell you on that subject. The Tartar custom
is to spend the winter in warm plains, where they find
good pasture for their cattle, whilst in summer they betake
themselves to a cool climate among the mountains and
valleys, where water is to be found as well as woods
and pastures.
Their houses are circular, and are made of wands covered
with felts. These are carried along with them whithersoever
they go; for the wands are so strongly bound together,
and likewise so well combined, that the frame can be made
very light. Whenever they erect these huts the door is
always to the south. They also have waggons covered
with black felt so efficaciously that no rain can get in.
These are drawn by oxen and camels, and the women
and children travel in them. The women do the buying
and seUing, and whatever is necessary to provide for the
husband and household; for the men all lead the life of
gentlemen, troubling themselves about nothing but hunting
and hawking, and looking after their goshawks and falcons,
unless it be the practice of warlike exercises.
They hve on the milk and meat which their herds
supply, and on the produce of the chase ; and they eat
all kinds of flesh, including that of horses and dogs, and
Pharaoh's rats, of which last there are great numbers in
burrows on those plains.

88 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch
CONCERNING THE TARTAR CUSTOMS OF WAR.
All their harness of war is excellent and costly. Their
arms are bows and arrows, sword and mace; but above
all the bow, for they are capital archers, indeed the best
that are known. On their backs they wear armour of
cuirbouly, prepared from buffalo and other hides, which
is very strong. They are excellent soldiers, and passing
valiant in battle. They are also more capable of hardships
than other nations ; for many a time, if need be, they
will go for a month without any supply of food, except
milk and such game as their bows may win them. Their
horses also will subsist entirely on the grass of the plains,
so that there is no need to carry store of barley or straw
or oats ; and they are very docile to their riders. These,
in case of need, will abide on horseback the livelong night,
armed at all points, while the horse will be- continually
grazing. Of all troops in the world these are they which endure
the greatest hardship and fatigue, and which cost the
least ; and they are the best of all for making wide con
quests of country. And this you will perceive from what
you have heard and shall hear in this book ; and (as a
fact) there can be no manner of doubt that now they
are the masters of the biggest half of the world. Their
troops are admirably ordered in the manner that I shall
now relate.
You see, when a Tartar prince goes forth to war, he takes
with him, say, one hundred thousand horse. Well, he
appoints an officer to every ten men, one to every hundred,
one to every thousand, and one to every ten thousand, so
that his own orders have to be given to ten persons only,
and each of these ten persons has to pass the orders only
to other ten, and so on ; no one having to give orders
to more than ten. And every one in turn is responsible

IX.] CONDENSED MILK. 89
only to the officer immediately over him ; and the discipline
and order that comes of this method is marvellous, for
they are a people very obedient to their chiefs. Further,
they call the corps of one hundred thousand men a Tuc ;
that of ten thousand they call a Toman ; the thousand
they call Miny ; the hundred Guz ; the ten On. And
when the army is on the march, they have always two
hundred horsemen, very well mounted, who are sent a
dista."e of two marches in advance to reconnoitre, and
these always keep ahead. They have a similar party
detached in the rear, and on either flank, so that there is
a good look-out kept on all sides against a surprise. When
they are going on a distant expedition, they take no gear
with them except two leather bottles for milk, a httle
earthenware pot to cook their meat in, and a little tent
to shelter them from rain. And in case of great urgency
they will ride ten days without lighting a fire or taking
a meal. They also have milk dried into a kind of paste to carry
with them ; and when they need food they put this into
water, and beat it up till it dissolves, and then drink it.
It is prepared in this way : they boil the milk, and when
the rich part floats on the top they skim it into another
vessel, and of that they make butter; for the milk will
not become solid till this is removed. Then they put the
milk into the sun to dry. And when they go on an expedi
tion, every man takes some ten pounds of this dried milk
with him. And of a morning he will take a half pound of
It and put it in his leather bottle, with as much water
as he pleases. So, as he rides along, the milk-paste and
the water in the bottle get well churned together into a
kind of pap, and that makes his dinner.
When they come to an engagement with the enemy,
they will gain the victory in this fashion. They never let
themselves get into a regular medley, but keep perpetually

90 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
riding round and shooting into the enemy. And as
they do not count it any shame to run away in battie,
they will sometimes pretend to do so, and in running
away they turn in the saddle and shoot hard and strong
at the foe, and in this way make great havoc. Their
horses are trained so perfectly that they will double hither
and thither, just like a dog, in a way thatr is quite aston
ishing. Thus they fight to as good purpose in running
away as if they stood and faced the enemy, because of
the vast volleys of arrows that they shoot in this way,
turning round upon their pursuers, who are fancying that
they have won the battle. But when the Tartars see that
they have killed and wounded a good many horses and
men, they wheel round bodily, and return to the charge
in perfect order and with loud cries ; and in a very short
time the enemy are routed. In truth, they are stout and
valiant soldiers, and inured to war. And you perceive
that it is just when the enemy sees them run, and imagines
that he has gained the battie, that he has in reaUty lost
it; for the Tartars wheel round in a moment when they
judge the right time has come. And after this fashion
they have won many a fight.
All this that I have been telling you is true of the
manners and customs of the genuine Tartars. But I must
add also that in these days they are greatiy degenerated ;
for those who are settled in Cathay have taken up the
practices of the Idolaters of the country, and have aban
doned their own institutions ; whilst those who have settled
in the Levant have adopted the customs of the Saracens.
The huts in which the Tatars lived in Marco Polo's
time were just like those used to-day by the wander
ing tribes of Central Asia. These slight houses were
built of a light frame-work of osiers, or willow wands,

IX,] THE JERBOA. 91
bent to form a rounded, dome-like hut ; and this
was covered with felt, or cloth, made waterproof by
being soaked in tallow or milk. Some of the larger
huts were built on wheels, and when the tribe was
traveUing, the chiefs and their families would ride
within one of these big vehicles very comfortably,
if not luxuriously. One traveUer, Friar Rubruquis,
who saw some of the Tatars on their march, measured
the space between the wheels of one of the great
waggons, and found it to be twenty feet. " The
axle," he says, " was like a ship's mast, and twenty-
two oxen were yoked to the waggon, eleven abreast,"
One of the huts which Rubruquis saw was thirty
feet in diameter and projected ten feet beyond the
wheels. The animals to which Marco refers as " Pharaoh's
rats " were probably a species of marmot, very
common in Egypt, Asia Minor, and Central Asia,
and sometimes called the jerboa. Behind, it is formed
Hke a long-legged Httle beast, and is a famous jumper,
as is the kangaroo rat, which it closely resembles.
The creature feeds on grass and roots, like the
American "prairie dog," and its flesh is esteemed
a delicacy. The Tatars fought with bows and arrows of great
power and weight, with which they wrought havoc
among their enemies, so that they were known among
the other nations as " The Archers." They made

92 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
shields and other harness for warlike purposes of
leather, which had been boiled and then moulded to
any desired form while it was soft and warm. This
is the " cuirbouly " alluded to by Marco.
Evidently the Tatars of those far-off days knew
how to condense milk, although we regard that
process as a modern invention. Marco says that
they dried the milk in the sun. We can understand
how some of his critics would laugh at the notion
that milk could be dried to a paste ; but Marco
is right, for it can be done, nevertheless.
Marco Polo's account of some of the other curious
customs of the Tatars will be found interesting :

CONCERNING THE ADMINISTERING OF JUSTICE AMONG
THE TARTARS.
The way they administer justice is this. When any one
has committed a petty theft, they give him, under the
orders of authority, seven blows of a stick, or seventeen,
or twenty-seven, or thirty-seven, or forty-seven, and so
forth, always increasing by tens in proportion to the injury
done, and running up to one hundred and seven. Of these
beatings sometimes they die. But if the offence be horse
stealing, or some other great matter, they cut the thief in
two with a sword. Howbeit, if he be able to ransom him
self by paying nine times the value of the thing stolen, he
is let off. Every Lord or other person who possesses
beasts has them marked with his peculiar brand, be they
horses, mares, camels, oxen, cows, or other great cattie, and
then they are sent abroad to graze over the plains without

IX.] POSTHUMOUS NUPTIALS. 93
any keeper. They get all mixed together, but eventually
every beast is recovered by means of its owner's brand,
which is known. For their sheep and goats they have
shepherds. All their cattle are remarkably fine, big, and in
good condition.
They have another notable custom, which is this : If
any man have a daughter who dies before marriage, and
another man have had a son also die before marriage, the
parents arrange a grand wedding between the dead lad and
lass. And marry them they do, making a regular contract !
And when the contract papers are made out they put them
in the fire, in order (as they will have it) that the parties
in the other world may know the fact, and so look on each
other as man and wife. And the parents thenceforward
consider themselves sib to each other, just as if their
children had lived and married. Whatever may be agreed
upon between the parties as dowry, those who have to pay
cause it to be painted on pieces of paper, and then put
these in the fire, saying that in that way the dead person
will get all the real articles in the other world.

CHAPTER X.
TIBET — THE "GRUNTING OXEN" OF THAT REGION — MUSK-DEER
AND OTHER ANIMALS.
HAVING given us some description of the
manners and customs of the Mongol Tatars,
Marco Polo works his way south-westward toward the
frontier of Tibet. In the country of Sinju (as he
calls Siningfu, the Chinese city nearest the Tibetan
frontier), he saw many interesting beasts and birds.
In describing some of these he says :
There are wild cattle in that country almost as big as
elephants, splendid creatures, covered everywhere but on
the back with shaggy hair a good four palms long. They
are partly black, partly white, and really wonderfully fine
creatures, and the hair or wool is extremely fine and white,
finer and whiter than silk. Messer Marco brought some to
Venice as a great curiosity, and so it was reckoned by
those who saw it. There are also plenty of them tame,
which have been caught young. These the people use
commonly for burden and general work, and in the plough
as well ; and at the latter they will do full twice as much
work as any other cattle, being such very strong beasts.
In this country, too, is found the best musk in the
world ; and I will tell you how 'tis produced. There exists
94

Ch. X.] YAKS. 95
in that region a kind of wild animal like a gazelle. It has
feet and tail like the gazelle's, and stag's hair of a very
coarse kind, but no horns. It has four tusks, two below,
and two above, about three inches long, and slender in
form, one pair growing upward, and the other downward.
It is a very pretty creature. The musk is found in this
way : When the creature has been taken, they find between
the flesh and the skin something like an impostume full of
blood, which they cut out and remove with all the skin
attached to it. And the blood inside this impostume is
the musk that produces that powerful perfume. There is
an immense number of these beasts in the country we are
speaking of The flesh is very good to eat. Messer
Marco brought the dried head and feet of one of these
animals to Venice with him.
The people are traders and artisans, and also grow
abundance of corn. The province has an extent of twenty-
six days' journey. Pheasants are found there twice as big
as ours, indeed nearly as big as a peacock, and having tails
of seven to ten palms in length ; and besides them other
pheasants in aspect like our own, and birds of many other
kinds, and of beautiful variegated plumage. The people,
who are Idolaters, are fat folks with little noses and black
hair, and no beard, except a few hairs on the upper lip.
The women too have very smooth and white skins, and in
every respect are pretty creatures.
The large animals, mentioned first in the extract we
have given, of which Marco speaks as being " almost
as big as elephants," are yaks, sometimes called
" grunting oxen " on account of the peculiar noise
they make. The yak may be tamed and used as a
beast of burden ; and generations of them have been

g6 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
SO used in Tibet and China. But the wild yak is
much larger than the captive of its species, and is also
very fierce, with big, curving horns, and long white
hair on its lower parts. These creatures are some
times six feet high, and seven or eight feet long.
The Chinese pheasant mentioned by our traveller
is a handsome bird, specimens of which have been
brought to this country since the spread of com
merce between China and the rest of the world.
Marco's description is not exaggerated. The feathers
of the pheasant are partly golden and partly azure,
mingled with a reddish brown ; and the tail feathers
are sometimes seven feet long. Marco's " ten palms"
length was rather an understatement.
Musk-deer are still hunted on the frontiers of
China and Tibet ; and the musk used in the per
fumery trade comes from China and Burmah,
having been previously brought from the region
referred to by Marco Polo. The little animal, how
ever, has only two canine teeth, or "tusks," and not
four, as described by Marco. Formerly musk was
used as a medicine in various parts of the world ; but
doctors in civilised lands do not hold it in high
repute. In China it is still thought to be a very good
medicine ; but the Chinese have queer notions about
cures and charms. Abb6 Hue, a distinguished
traveller, says that when a Tatar doctor finds himself
without his drugs and medicines he is not in the

CHINKSE PHEASANT

X.] PAPER PILLS. 97
least embarrassed. He writes the names of the needed
drugs on slips of paper, and these, being rolled up in
little balls, are swallowed by the sick man. " To
swallow the name of a remedy, or the remedy itself,"
say the Tatars, " comes to precisely the same thing."

CHAPTER XI.
WHO WERE GOG AND MAGOG ? — THE SPLENDOURS OF THE COURT
OF KUBLAI KHAN — COLERIDGE'S POEM "IN XANADU."
'nr^URNING his face again to the eastward, Marco
-•¦ takes us to one of the localities near the Great
Wall ; for although he never once makes mention
of that wonder of the world, many eminent writers
suppose that he had in his mind its ramparts when
he speaks thus of the region which he says is
Tenduc :
" Here also is what we call the country of Gog or Magog ;
they, however, call it Ung and Mungul, after the names of
two races of people that existed in that province before the
migration of the Tartars. Ung was the title of the people
of the country, and Mungul a name sometimes applied to
Tartars." The Great Wall was built before the Tatars, that is
Mongols, had overrun China, and was intended to
keep them out. It begins at the Kiayu Pass, near
the Desert of Gobi, in one of the extreme western
provinces of China, and extends to the mouth of the
98

Ch. XL] GOG AND MAGOG. 99
Gulf of Liau-tong, on the eastern coast, about
fourteen hundred miles. Part of the way, the wall is
double, and even triple, so that the actual length of
the builded structure is estimated to be two thousand
miles. Its height varies, but is generally about
twenty feet ; it is twenty-five feet broad at the base,
and fifteen feet at the top. The towers which are
built along the wall are three hundred feet apart, and
about forty feet high. The material used is brick
and stone laid up in thick walls, and filled in with
earth. The part of the wall which lies to the
westward has been called the Rampart of Gog and
Magog. Who were Gog and Magog? English tradition
says that they were the last of a race of giants who
infested England, until they were destroyed by some
of the Trojans, who went to the British Isles after the
destruction of Troy. Gog and Magog, it is said,
were taken captive to London, where they were
chained at the door of the king's palace. When
they died, wooden images of the two giants were
put in their places. In course of time a great fire
destroyed these ; but now, if you are in London,
you will see in the Guildhall two immense wooden
effigies of men, called Gog and Magog.
But there are other traditions of the two giants.
One is to the effect that, when Alexander the Great
overran Asia, he chased into the mountains of the

ICO THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
North an impure, wicked, and man-eating people,
who were twenty-two nations in number, and who
were shut up with a rampart in which were gates of
brass or iron. One of these nations was Goth and
another Magoth, from which we readily get the
names of the mythical giants. It is probable, how
ever, that the Turks were meant by Gog, and that
the Mongols were the children of Magog. We find
mention made of Gog and Magog in many books,
including the Bible ; but there is the Great WaU and
the Rampart of Gog and Magog, whatever may have
been the fact which gave the names of the two giants
to that portion of the structure.
Outside of the walls, and north of Kalgan, was
the summer palace of Kublai Khan, in the city of
Kaipingfu, or City of Peace ; and here the three
Polos found the Great Khan when they first came
together to visit him. The palace was called Chandu
by Marco, but Xandu is believed to be the proper
way of spelling the title. The traveller's description,
as we shall see, is very enjoyable, and we can imagine
that young Marco had a good time viewing its glories
and its magnificence. He says :
And when you have ridden three days from the city
last mentioned, between north-east and north, you come
to a city called Chandu, which was built by the Kaan
now reigning. There is at the place a very fine Marble
Palace, the rooms of which are all gilt, and painted with

XI.] - A CANF-BUILT PALACE. lOI
figures of men and beasts and birds, and with a variety
of trees and flowers, all executed with such exquisite art
that you regard them with delight and astonishment.
Round this Palace a wall is built, enclosing a compass
of sixteen miles, and inside the Park there are fountains
and rivers and brooks and beautiful meadows, with all
kinds of wild animals (excluding such as are of ferocious
nature), which the Emperor has procured and placed there
to supply food for his gerfalcons and hawks, which he
keeps here in mew. Of these there are more than two
hundred gerfalcons alone, without reckoning the other
hawks. The Kaan himself goes every week to see his
birds sitting in mew, and sometimes he rides through the
Park with a leopard behind him on his horse's croup ;
and then if he sees any animal that takes his fancy, he
slips his leopard at it, and the game when taken is
made over to feed the hawks in mew. This he does
for diversion.
Moreover, at a spot in the Park where there is a charm
ing wood, he has another Palace built of cane, of which
I must give you a description. It is gilt all over, and
most elaborately finished inside. It is stayed on gilt and
lacquered columns, on each side of which is a dragon all
gilt, the tail of which is attached to the column, whilst the
head supports the architrave, and the claws likewise are
stretched out right and left to support the architrave.
The roof, like the rest, is formed of canes, covered with
a varnish so strong and excellent that no amount of rain
will rot them. These canes are a good three palms in
girth, and from ten to fifteen paces in length. They are
cut across at each knot, and then the pieces are split so
as to form from each two hollow tiles, and with these the
house is roofed ; only, every such tile of cane has to be
nailed down to prevent the wind from lifting it. In short,
the whole Palace is built of these canes, which serve also

I02 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
for a great variety of other useful purposes. The con
struction of the Palace is so devised that it can be taken
down and put up again with great celerity; and it can
all be taken to pieces and removed whithersoever the
Emperor may command. When erected, it is braced
against mishaps from the wind by more than two hundred
cords of silk.
The Lord abides at this Park of his, dwelling sometimes
in the Marble Palace and sometimes in the Cane Palace
for three months of the year, to wit, June, July, and
August, preferring this residence because it is by no
means hot ; in fact, it is a very cool place. When the
28th day of August arrives he takes his departure, and
the Cane Palace is taken to pieces. But I must tell you
what happens when he goes away from this Palace every
year on the 28th of August.
You must know that the Kaan keeps an immense stud of
white horses and mares ; in fact, more than ten thousand
of them, and all pure white without a speck. The milk
of these mares is drunk by himself and his family, and
by none else, except by those of one great tribe that
have also the privilege of drinking it. This privilege was
granted them by Chinghis Kaan, on account of a certain
victory that they helped him to win long ago. The name
of the tribe is Horiad.
Now when these mares are passing across the country,
and any one falls in with them, be he the greatest lord
in the land, he must not presume to pass until the mares
have gone by ; he must either tarry where he is, or go
a half-day's journey round if need so be, so as not to
come nigh them; for they are to be treated with the
greatest respect. Well, when the Lord sets out from the
Park on the 28th of August, as I told you, the milk of all
those mares is taken and sprinkled on the ground. And
this is done on the injunction of the Idolaters and Idol

XI.] WEATHER-CONJURERS. IO3
Priests, who say that it is an excellent thing to sprinkle
that milk on the ground every 28th of August, so that the
Earth and the Air and the False Gods shall have their
share of it, and the Spirits likewise that inhabit the Air
and the Earth. And thus those beings will protect and
bless the Kaan and his children and his wives and his
folk and his gear, and his cattle and his horses, his corn,
and all that is his. After this is done, the Emperor is ofl
and away.
But I must now tell you a strange thing that hitherto
I have forgotten to mention. During the three months
of every year that the Lord resides at that place, if it
should happen to be bad weather, there are certain crafty
enchanters and astrologers in his train, who are such adepts
in necromancy and the diabolic arts, that they are able
to prevent any cloud or storm from passing over the spot
on which the Emperor's Palace stands. The sorcerers
who do this are called Tebet and Kesimur, which are the
names of two nations of Idolaters.
There is another marvel performed by those Bacsi, of
whom I have been speaking as knowing so many enchant
ments. For when the Great Kaan is at his capital and
in his great Palace, seated at his table, which stands on
a platform some eight cubits above the ground, his cups
are set before him on a great buffet in the middle of
the hall pavement, at a distance of some ten paces from
his table, and filled with wine, or other good spiced liquor
such as they use. Now when the Lord desires to drink,
these enchanters by their enchantments cause the cups
to move from their places without being touched by any
body, and to present themselves to the Emperor ! This
every one present may witness, and there are ofttimes more
than ten thousand persons thus present. 'Tis a truth and
no lie ! and so will tell you the sages of our own country
who understand necromancy, for they also can perform it.

104 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
And when the Idol Festivals come round, these Bacsi
go to the Prince and say : " Sire, the feast of such a god
is come '' (naming him). " My Lord, you know," the
enchanters will say, " that this god, when he gets no offer
ings, always sends bad weather and spoils our seasons. So
we pray you to give us such and such a number of
black-faced sheep " (naming whatever number they please).
" And we beg also, good my Lord, that we may have such
a quantity of incense, and such a quantity of lignaloes,
and" — so much of this, so much of that, and so much
of t'other, according to their fancy — " that we may perform
a solemn service and a great sacrifice to our Idols, and
that so they may be induced to protect us and all that
is ours."
The Bacsi say these things to the Barons entrusted
with the stewardship, who stand round the Great Kaan,
and these repeat them to the Kaan, and he then orders
the Barons to give everything that the Bacsi have asked
for. And when they have got the articles, they go and
make a great feast in honour of their god, and hold
great ceremonies of worship with grand illuminations and
quantities of incense of a variety of odours, which they
make up from different aromatic spices. And then they
cook the meat, and set it before the Idols, and sprinkle
the broth hither and thither. Thus it is that they keep
their festivals. You must know that each of the Idols
has a name of his own, and a feast-day, just as our Saints
have their anniversaries.
They have also immense Minsters and Abbeys, some
of them as big as a small town, with more than two
thousand monks {i.e. after their fashion) in a single abbey.
These monks dress more decently than the rest of the
people, and have the head and beard shaven. There are
some among these Bacsi who are allowed by their rule
to take wives, and who have plenty of children.

XI.] "IN XANADU." 105
The glories of Chandu, or Xandu, have been cele
brated by many traveUers since Marco's time. The
city and the palace have long since disappeared, but
one traveller saw the ruins still standing when he
visited the site, towards the close of the seventeenth
century. It was just after reading Marco Polo's
description of the splendours of the court of Kublai
Khan at Xandu that Coleridge, the poet, fell asleep
and dreamed the famous poem beginning with these
Unes : In Xanadu did Kublai Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree.
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran,
Through caverns measureless to man,
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round :
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills.
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;
And here were forests, ancient as the hills,
Enfolding spots of sunny greenery.
The Chinese emperors, long after the descendants
of Kublai Khan had vanished from the Celestial
Empire, were in the habit of spending the hot weather
at a very beautiful summer palace, far to the north of
Peking, which was one of the wonders of the world.
It was wantonly destroyed by the allied armies of
France and England, during the war of i860. This
palace, which was filled with a vast quantity of
precious objects of art and rare fabrics, was known as

I06 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. XI.
the Yuen-min-Yuen. One of its pavilions may give
our readers some idea of the appearance, though not
of the extent, of the Great Khan's summer palace
at Xandu.
The " canes " mentioned by Marco as used for
building material were bamboo, of which he might
well say that " it serves also for a great variety of
other useful purposes."
An intelligent native of Arakan, who accompanied
Colonel Yule in Burmah in 1853, used to ask him
many questions about Europe, and seemed able to
understand almost everything except the possibility
of existence in a country without bamboos. These
bamboo huts are all of bamboo — posts and walls,
wall-plates and rafters, floor and thatch, and the
withes that bind them. Indeed, it might almost be
said that, among the Indo-Chinese nations, the staff of
life is a bamboo. At any rate, they eat the green
shoots, and of the canes in various stages of growth
they make an immense number of articles, a few of
which are scaffolding and ladders, fishing apparatus,
oars, masts, yards, sails, cables, spears, arrows, bows,
oil-cans, cooking-pots, musical instruments, footballs,
bellows, paper. And in China, to sum up the whole,
the bamboo maintains order throughout the empire !

a PAVILION OF THE SUMMER PALACE.

CHAPTER XII.
THE TRICKS OF CHINESE CONJURERS— FLYING CUPS AND
AIR-CLIMBERS.
TV J ARCO gives a full account of the wonderful
-'-*-'- tricks of conjuring which he witnessed at
the court of Kublai Khan. No doubt he saw, or
thought he saw the feats which he says were
done before his eyes. He intended to be strictly
truthful, and says, with some notion that he may
be disbelieved, that these things are true, and no lie.
Other and later travellers have described the same
tricks, and have given no explanation of them,
except to say that the spectators were probably
hypnotised — that is to say, they were made to
believe that they saw what did not exist. At the
present day weather-conjuring is practised in China,
Tatary, and India ; and there are so-called conjurers,
who pretend to be able to make fogs and clouds
come and go.
Not many years since, a Chinese emperor found
it necessary to forbid his people to offer prayers for
rain after he had in vain prayed to Heaven for that
107

I08 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
blessing. He indignantly said : " If I, offering up
prayer in sincerity, have yet room to fear that it may
please Heaven to leave my prayer unanswered, it is
truly intolerable that mere common people, wishing
for rain, should at their own caprice set up altars
of earth, and bring together a rabble of Hosgang
[Buddhist priests] to conjure the spirits to gratify
their wishes."
The court jugglers in the time of Kublai Khan
made it appear to those who looked on as if dishes
from the table actually flew through the air. One of
the travellers, who visited the regions of which Marco
gives us some account, says : " And jugglers cause
cups of gold to fly through the air and offer them
selves to all who list to drink." And Ibn Batuta, a
Moor who visited Cathay a century after, gives this
account of a similar incident :
That same night a juggler, who was one of the Kan's
slaves, made his appearance, and the Amir said to him :
" Come and show us some of your marvels." Upon this
he took a wooden ball, with several holes in it, through
which long thongs were passed, and (laying hold of one of
these) slung it into the air. It went up so high that we
lost sight of it altogether. (It was the hottest season of the
year, and we were outside in the middle of the palace
court.) There now remained only a little of the end of a
thong in the conjurer's hand, and he desired one of the
boys who assisted him to lay hold of it and mount. He
did so, climbing by the thong, and we lost sight of him
also ! The conjurer then called to him three times, but

A CHINESE CONJUKER.

XII.] "'tis all HOCUS-POCUS." 109
getting no answer he snatched up a knife as if in a great
rage, laid hold of the thong, and disappeared also ! By-
and-by he threw down one of the boy's hands, then a foot
then the other hand, and then the other foot, then the
trunk, and last of all the head ! Then he came down
himself, all puffing and panting, and with his clothes all
bloody kissed the ground before the Amir, and said some
thing to him in Chinese. The Amir gave some order in
reply, and our friend then took the lad's limbs, laid them
together in their places, and gave a kick, when, presto !
there was the boy, who got up and stood before us ! All
this astonished me beyond measure, and I had an attack of
palpitation like that which overcame me once before in
the presence of the Sultan of India, when he showed me
something of the same kind. The Kazi Afkharuddin was
next to me, and quoth he : " Wallah !¦ — 'tis my opinion
there has been neither going up nor coming down, neither
marring nor mending ; 'tis all hocus-pocus ! "
Mr. Edward Melton, an Anglo-Dutch traveller,
who visited Java in 1670, gives a long description of
the tricks of some Chinese conjurers, who performed
in Batavia while he was there. After describing
various other feats, he says : " But now I am going to
relate a thing which surpasses all belief, and which
1 would scarcely venture to insert here if it had not
been witnessed by thousands before my own eyes."
He then goes on to describe a trick very much the
same as those witnessed by Marco Polo and Ibn
Batuta ; and he adds : " Then straightway we saw
with these eyes all those limbs creep together again,
and in short time a whole man, who could at once

IIO THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. XII.
stand and go just as before, without showing the least
damage ! "
Again, we have in the Memoirs of the Emperor
Jahangir a detail of the wonderful performances of
seven jugglers from Bengal, who exhibited before
him. Two of their feats are thus described :
(i) They produced a man whom they divided limb from
limb, actually severing his head from the body. They
scattered these mutilated members along the ground, and
in this state they lay for some time. They then extended
a sheet or curtain over the spot, and one of the men,
putting himself under the sheet, in a few minutes came
from below, followed by the individual supposed to have
been cut into joints, in perfect health and condition,
having received no wound or injury whatever.
(2) They produced a chain of fifty cubits in length, and
in my presence threw one end of it towards the sky, where
it remained as if fastened to something in the air. A dog,
being then placed at the lower end of the chain, immediately
ran up it, and, reaching the other end, immediately dis
appeared in the air. In the same manner a hog, a panther,
a lion, and a tiger were successively sent up the chain,
and all equally disappeared at the upper end. At last they
took down the chain and put it into a bag, no one ever
discovering in what way the different animals were made to
vanish into the air.

CHAPTER XIII.
HOW THE GREAT EMPEROR WENT TO WAR — KUBLAI KHAN'S
VICTORIOUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST A KINSMAN — HOW THE
KHAN REWARDED THE VALOUR OF HIS CAPTAINS.
"\/"OUNG Marco devoted a great deal of his space
-•- to accounts of the Great Khan's wars and fight
ings, and his hunting. Evidently Marco was himself
fond of sport, for he describes many kinds of game,
both birds and beasts ; and it is easy to see that he
must have hunted somewhat himself, although he
modestly avoids saying much about his own doings
while he was in Cathay. His account of one of the
Great Khan's battles is so vivid that we must quote
what he has to say of it, as well as what he tells us
of the Khan's title :
OF CUBLAY KAAN, THE GREAT KAAN NOW REIGNING, AND
OF HIS GREAT PUISSANCE.
Now am I come to the part of our book in which I shall
tell you of the great and wonderful magnificence of the
Great Kaan now reigning, by name Cublay Kaan ; Kaan
being a title which signifieth " The Great Lord of Lords,"
or Emperor. And of a surety he hath good right to such

112 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
a title, for all men know for a certain truth that he is the
most potent man, as regards forces and lands and treasure,
that existeth in the world, or ever hath existed from the
time of our First Father Adam until this day. All this I
will make clear to you for truth, in this book of ours, so
that every one shall be fain to acknowledge that he is
the greatest Lord that is now in the world, or. ever hath
been. CONCERNING THE REVOLT OF NAYAN, WHO WAS UNCLE
TO THE GREAT KAAN CUBLAY.
Now this Cublay Kaan is of the right Imperial lineage,
being descended from Chinghis Kaan, the first sovereign of
all the Tartars. And he is the sixth Lord in that succession,
as I have already told you in this book. He came to the
throne in the year 1256, and the Empire fell to him be
cause of his ability and valour and great worth, as was right
and reason. His brothers, indeed, and other kinsmen
disputed his claim, but his it remained, both because
maintained by his great valour, and because it was in law
and right his, as being directly sprung of the Imperial
line. Up to the year now running, to wit, 1298, he hath
reigned two-and-forty years, and his age is about eighty-five,
so that he must have been about forty-three years of age
when he first came to the throne. Before that time he
had often been to the wars, and had shown himself a gallant
soldier and an excellent captain. But after coming to
the throne he never went to the wars in person save once.
This befell in the year 1286, and I wiU tell you how he
went. There was a great Tartar Chief, whose name was Nayan,
a young man of thirty. Lord over many lands and many
provinces, and he was Uncle to the Emperor Cublay Kaan

XIII.] NAYAN'S REVOLT. II 3
of whom we are speaking. And when he found himself
in authority, this Nayan waxed proud in the insolence of
his youth and his great power ; for indeed he could bring
into the field three hundred thousand horsemen, though all
the time he was liegeman to his nephew the Great Kaan
Cublay as was right and reason. Seeing then what great
power he had, he took it into his head that he would be
the Great Kaan's vassal no longer; nay, more, he would
fain wrest his empire from him if he could. So this
Nayan sent envoys to another Tartar Prince called Caidu,
also a great and potent Lord, who was a kinsman of his,
and who was a nephew of the Great Kaan and his lawful
liegeman also, though he was in rebellion and at bitter
enmity with his sovereign Lord and Uncle. Now the
message that Nayan sent was this : That he himself was
making ready to march against the Great Kaan with all his
forces (which were great), and he begged Caidu to do like
wise from his side, so that by attacking Cublay on two
sides at once with such great forces they would be able to
wrest his dominion from him.
And when Caidu heard the message of Nayan he was
right glad thereat, and thought the time was come at last
to gain his object. So he sent back answer that he would
do as requested, and got ready his host, which mustered a
good hundred thousand horsemen.
HOW THE GREAT KAAN MARCHED AGAINST NAYAN.
When the Great Kaan heard what was afoot, he made
his preparations in right good heart, like one who feared
not the issue of an attempt so contrary to justice. Con
fident in his own conduct and prowess, he was in no degree
disturbed, but vowed that he would never wear crown again
if he brought not those two traitorous and disloyal Tartar
chiefs to an ill end. So swiftly and secretly were his
8

114 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
preparations made that no one knew of them but his Privy
Council, and all were completed within ten or twelve days.
In that time he had assembled good three hundred and
sixty thousand horsemen and one hundred thousand foot
men — but a small force indeed for him, and consisting only
of those that were in the vicinity. For the rest of his vast
and innumerable forces were too far off to answer so hasty
a summons, being engaged under orders from him on
distant expeditions to conquer divers countries and pro
vinces. If he had waited to summon all his troops, the
multitude assembled would have been beyond all belief,
a multitude such as never was heard of or told of, past
all counting ! In fact, those three hundred and sixty
thousand horsemen that he got together consisted merely
of the falconers and whippers-in that were about the
Court !
And when he had got ready this handful (as it were) of
his troops, he ordered his astrologers to declare whether
he should gain the battle and get the better of his enemies.
After they had made their observations, they told him to go
on boldly, for he would conquer and gain a glorious victory ;
whereat he greatly rejoiced.
So he marched with his army, and after advancing for
twenty days they arrived at a great plain where Nayan lay
with all his host, amounting to some four hundred thousand
horse. Now the Great Kaan's forces arrived so fast and
so suddenly that the others knew nothing of the matter.
For the Kaan had caused such strict watch to be made in
every direction for scouts that every one that appeared was
instantly captured. Thus Nayan had no warning of his
coming, and was completely taken by surprise ; insomuch
that when the Great Kaan's army came up he was asleep.
So thus you see why it was that the Emperor equipped his
force with such speed and secrecy.

XIII.] KUBLAI V. NAYAN. IIS
OF THE BATTLE THAT THE GREAT KAAN FOUGVTT WTTH
NAYAN.
What shall I say about it ? When day had well broken,
there was the Kaan with all his host upon a hill overlooking
the plain where Nayan lay in his tent, in all security, with
out the shghtest thought of any one coming thither to do
him hurt. In fact, this confidence of his was such that he
kept no vedettes whether in front or in rear ; for he knew
nothing of the coming of the Great Kaan, owing to all the
approaches having been completely occupied as I told you.
Moreover the place was in a remote wilderness, more than
thirty marches from the Court, though the Kaan had made
the distance in twenty, so eager was he to come to battle
with Nayan.
And what shall I tell you next ? The Kaan was there
on the hill, mounted on a great wooden bartizan, which
was borne by four well-trained elephants, and over him
was hoisted his standard, so high aloft that it could be seen
from all sides. His troops were ordered in battles * of
thirty thousand men apiece ; and a great part of the horse
men had each a foot-soldier armed with a lance set on the
crupper behind him (for it was thus that the footmen were
disposed of) ; and the whole plain seemed to be covered
with his forces. So it was thus that the Great Kaan's army
was arrayed for battle.
When Nayan and his people saw what happened, they
were sorely confounded, and rushed in haste to arms.
Nevertheless they made them ready in good style and
formed their troops in an orderly manner. And when all
were in battle-array on both sides as I have told you, and
nothing remained but to fall to blows, then might you have
heard a sound arise of many instruments of various music,
* Battalions.

Il6 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
and of the voices of the whole of the two hosts loudly
singing. For this is a custom of the Tartars, that before
they join battle they all unite in singing and playing on
a certain two-stringed instrument of theirs, a thing right
pleasant to hear. And so they continue in their array of
battle, singing and playing in this pleasing manner, until
the great Naccara of the Prince is heard to sound. As soon
as that begins to sound the fight also begins on both sides ;
and in no case before the Prince's Naccara sounds dare any
commence fighting.
So then, as they were thus singing and playing, though
ordered and ready for battle, the great Naccara of the
Great Kaan began to sound. And that of Nayan also
began to sound. And thenceforward the din of battie
began to be heard loudly from this side and from that.
And they rushed to work so doughtily with their bows
and their maces, with their lances and swords, and with
the arblasts * of the footmen, that it was a wondrous sight
to see. Now might you behold such flights of arrows
from this side and from that, that the whole heaven was
canopied with them and they fell like rain. Now might
you see on this side and on that full many a cavalier and
man-at-arms fall slain, insomuch that the whole field seemed
covered with them. For fierce and furious was the battie,
and quarter there was none given.
But why should I make a long story of it ? You must
know that it was the most parlous and fierce and fearful
battle that ever has been fought in our day. Nor have
there ever been such forces in the field in actual fight,
especially of horsemen, as were then engaged ; for, taking
both sides, there were not fewer than seven hundred and
sixty thousand horsemen — a mighty force ! — and that with
out reckoning the footmen, who were also very numerous.
* Cross-bows.

XIII.] NAYAN'S DEFEAT AND DEATH. II7
The battle endured with various fortune on this side and
on that from morning till noon. But at the last, by God's
pleasure and the right that was on his side, the Great
Kaan had the victory, and Nayan lost the battle and was
utterly routed. For the army of the Great Kaan performed
such feats of arms that Nayan and his host could stand
against them no longer, so they turned and fled. But this
availed nothing for Nayan ; for he and all the Barons with
him were taken prisoners, and had to surrender to the
Kaan with all their arms.
Now you must know that Nayan was a baptised
Christian, and bore the Cross on his banner ; but this
naught availed him, seeing how grievously he had done
amiss in rebelling against his Lord. For he was the Great
Kaan's liegeman, and was bound to hold his lands of him
hke all his ancestors before him.
HOW THE GREAT KAAN CAUSED NAYAN TO BE PUT TO
DEATH.
And when the Great Kaan learned that Nayan was taken
right glad was he, and commanded that he should be put
to death straightway and in secret.
And when the Great Kaan had gained this battle, as you
have heard, all the Barons and people of Nayan's provinces
renewed their fealty to the Kaan. Now these provinces
that had been under the Lordship of Nayan were four in
number, to wit : the first called Chorcha ; the second
Cauly ; the third Barscol ; the fourth Sikintinju. Of all
these four great provinces had Nayan been Lord ; it was a
very great dominion.
And after the Great Kaan had conquered Nayan, as you
have heard, it came to pass that the different kinds of
people who were present, Saracens and Idolaters and Jews,
and many others that believed not in God, did gibe those

II 8 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
that were Christians because of the Cross that Nayan had
borne on his standard, and that so grievously that there
was no bearing it. Thus they would say to the 'Christians :
" See now what precious help this Cross of yours hath
rendered Nayan, who was a Christian and a worshipper
thereof" And such a din arose about the matter that it
reached the Great Kaan's own ears. When it did so, he
sharply rebuked those who cast these gibes at the Christians;
and he also bade the Christians be of good heart, " for if
the Cross had rendered no help to Nayan, in that It had
done right well ; nor could that which was good, as It
was, have done otherwise ; for Nayan was a disloyal and
traitorous Rebel against his Lord, and well deserved that
which had befallen him, Wherefore the Cross of your
God did well in that It gave him no help against the right."
And this he said so loud that everybody heard him. The
Christians then replied to the Great Kaan : " Great King,
you say the truth indeed, for our Cross can render no one
help in wrong-doing ; and therefore it was that It aided not
Nayan, who was guilty of crime and disloyalty, for It would
take no part in his evil deeds."
And so thenceforward no more was heard of the floutings
of the unbelievers against the Christians; for they heard
very well what the Sovereign said to the latter about the
Cross on Nayan's banner, and its giving him no help.
Marco makes one or two errors in his account of
the Great Khan's warlike doings. This was not the
only time that the Emperor went to war in person ;
for the Chinese annalists tell of at least one other
occasion when he led his army against his brother
and rival, Arikbuga, in 1261 ; and in his old age he
took the field against Kaidu, a rebel in the North.

XIII.]

WAR-DRUMS.

119

Nayan, whose defeat and tragic death are so vividly
described by Marco, was not the uncle of Kublai
Khan ; he was no more than a cousin many times
removed. A " bartizan " was a sort of tower, made of timber,
and used for purposes of defence or attack. It would
appear that the Great Khan went to war in person.

THE GREAT NACCARAS.

riding in a great wooden tower, which was carried on
the backs of four elephants. On an elephant was
also carried the big war-drum which Polo calls a
naccara. This was an immense kettle-drum shaped
like a brass cauldron, tapering to the bottom and
covered with dried buffalo hide, which had been
scraped thin and tightly stretched for the drum-head.
These drums were sometimes three or four feet across

120 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch,
at the top, and the noise from them when beaten
was something terrific. Two monster drums would
be slung on the back of an elephant, and the drummer,
seated between the two, would beat first one and
then another, when the signal was to be given to the
fighting-men. Imagine four hundred and sixty thousand soldiers,
infantry and cavalry, marching to battle with the
gigantic drums sounding, flags flying, troops shouting,
and over all the war-banner of the great Emperor,
streaming from his castle borne on the backs of four
elephants. Truly that was a " parlous and fierce
and fearful battle," the like of which we have never
seen in our day.
Marco does not attempt to conceal his great admira
tion for the Khan, and takes pleasure in telling of the
grand monarch's liberality and thoughtfulness for his
captains and his people. Here is a characteristic
chapter from our history :
HOW THE KAAN REWARDED THE VALOUR OF HIS
CAPTAINS.
So we will have dorie with this matter of Nayan, and go
on with our account of the great state of the Great Kaan.
We have already told you of his lineage and of his age ;
but now I must tell you what he did after his return, in
regard to those Barons who had behaved well in the battie.
Him who was before captain of one hundred he made
captain of one thousand ; and him who was captain of
one thousand men he made to be captain of ten thousand,

XIII.] TABLETS OF AUTHORITY. 12 1
advancing every man according to his deserts and to his
previous rank. Besides that, he also made them presents
of fine silver plate and other rich appointments ; gave them
Tablets of Authority of a higher degree than they held
before ; and bestowed upon them fine jewels of gold and
silver, and pearls and precious stones ; insomuch that the
amount that fell to each of them was something astonishing.
And yet 'twas not so much as they had deserved ; for never
were men seen who did such feats of arms for the love
and honour of their Lord as these had done on that day
of the battle.
Now those Tablets of Authority, of which I have spoken,
are ordered in this way : The officer who is a captain of
one hundred hath a tablet of silver ; the captain of one
thousand hath a tablet of gold or silver-gilt ; the commander
of ten thousand hath a tablet of gold with a lion's head on
it. And I will tell you the weight of the different tablets,
and what they denote. The tablets of the captains of one
hundred and one thousand weigh each of them one hundred
and twenty saggi; and the tablet with the lion's head en
graven on it, which is that of the commander of ten
thousand, weighs two hundred and twenty saggi. And on
each of the tablets is inscribed a device, which runs : " By
the strength of the great God, and of the great grace which
He hath accorded to our Emperor, may the name of the Kaan
he blessed ; and let all such as will not obey him be slain
and be destroyed." And I tell you besides that all who
hold these tablets likewise receive warrants in writing,
declaring all their powers and privileges.
I should mention too that an officer who holds the chief
command of one hundred thousand men, or who is general-
in-chief of a great host, is entitled to a tablet that weighs
three hundred saggi. It has an inscription thereon to the
same purport that I have told you already, and below the
inscription there is the figure of a lion, and below the lion

122 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
the sun and moon. They have warrants also of their high
rank, command, and power. Every one, moreover, who
holds a tablet of this exalted degree is entitied, whenever
he goes abroad, to have a little golden canopy, such as is
called an umbrella, carried on a spear over his head in
token of his high command. And whenever he sits, he sits
in a silver chair.
To certain very great lords also there is given a tablet
with gerfalcons on it ; this is only to the very greatest of
the Kaan's Barons, and it confers on them his own full
power and authority ; so that if one of those chiefs wishes
to send a messenger anywhither, he can seize the horses
of any man, be he even a king, and any other chattels at
his pleasure.
The tablets of gold and silver, given to special
messengers and officers of the Great Khan, are
frequently mentioned in Marco Polo's book. You
will remember that, when the Khan sent the Polo
brothers to their own country, as narrated in the
first chapter of this book, he gave them a tablet of
gold, on which was engraven an inscription which
would procure for them all things needful for their
journey through his dominions. The smallest of
the tablets mentioned by Marco is said to weigh
one hundred and twenty saggi. The saggio was a
Venetian weight : as used by Polo, it was reckoned
to be equal to about seventy-four grains troy ; and
this would indicate that the smallest of the golden
tablets weighed eighteen and a half ounces troy.
The reader will notice that Polo refers to the

XIII.] UMBRELLAS. 1 23
umbrella as if it were carried only by the favoured
ones, who had won the special mark of approbation
of their Sovereign. The history of the useful article,
now so generally carried, wherever, in civilised coun
tries, the rain or the sun is likely to interfere with
the comfort of men and women, is of very ancient
origin : as suggested by the text above quoted,
it was, at first, probably carried only by great
personages. Among some of the sculptures of old
Egypt may be seen the effigies of royal princesses
protected from the sun by umbrellas. In the
Middle Ages, the umbrella was a large, cumbrous
affair, used in Europe chiefly by the high and
mighty dignitaries of the Church. But in Oriental
countries, the thing was, and still is, employed as a
badge of distinction, being of elaborate and costly
workmanship, and richly decorated. Umbrellas of
inexpensive materials for every-day use were not
common in England and America until very recent
times. The name of Jonas Hanway will always be
connected with this use of the umbrella. Returning
to England from Persia in delicate health, Mr.
Hanway (who died in 1786) shielded himself from
the sun by one of the outlandish " canopies," which
provoked the mirth of wayfarers and excited the
wrath of the drivers of hackney-coaches and the
bearers of sedan-chairs, who thought they saw in
this contrivance a dangerous rival to their vehicles.

CHAPTER XIV.
THE BEAUTIFUL PALACE OF KUBLAI KHAN — HOW THE EMPEROR
SPENT HIS TIME — CONCERNING THE MIGHTY CITY OF
CAMBALUC — THE MANNER OF SERVING DINNER IN THE
GREAT khan's PALACE — ANCIENT AND MODERN PEKING —
COSTLY ROBES.
'T~*HE personal appearance of the Great Khan is
-¦- thus described by Marco : " He is of good
stature, neither tall nor short, but of middle height.
He has a becoming amount of flesh, and is very
shapely in all his limbs. His complexion is white
and red, the eyes black and fine, the nose well
formed and well set on." But the portrait of Kublai
Khan, drawn by a Chinese artist, does not exactly
correspond with the pen portrait given here by Marco.
This drawing leads us to infer that the Emperor was
rather corpulent ; moreover, we know, from Marco's
own narrative, that he was subject to gout in his later
life. After explaining that the family of the Great
Khan are variously named and provided for, Marco
goes on to tell of the glories of the imperial palace
at Cambaluc, otherwise known as Peking :
You must know that for three months of the year, to
124

Ch. XIV.] THE khan's WAR-HARNESS. 125
wit, December, January, and February, the Great Kaan
resides in the capital city of Cathay, which is called Cam
baluc, and which is at the north-eastern extremity of the
country. In that city stands his Great Palace, and now I
will tell you what it is like.
It is enclosed all round by a great wall forming a square,
each side of which is a mile in length ; that is to say, the
whole compass thereof is four miles. It is also very thick
and a good ten paces in height, whitewashed and loop-holed
all round. At each angle of the wall there is a very fine
and rich palace in which the war-harness of the Emperor
is kept, such as bows and quivers, saddles and bridles,
and bowstrings, and everything needful for an army. Also
midway between every two of these Corner Palaces there is
another of the like, so that taking the whole compass of the
enclosure you find eight vast Palaces stored with the Great
King's harness of war. And you must understand that each
Palace is assigned to only one kind of article ; thus, one
is stored with bows, a second with saddles, a third with
bridles, and so on in succession right round.
The great wall has five gates on its southern face, the
middle one being the great gate which is never opened
on any occasion except when the Great Kaan himself
goes forth or enters. Close on either side of this great
gate is a smaller one by which all other people pass ; and
then towards each angle is another great gate, also open
to people in general ; so that on that side there are five
gates in all.
Inside of this wall there is a second, enclosing a space
that is somewhat greater in length than in breadth. This
enclosure also has eight Palaces corresponding to those of
the outer wall, and stored like them with the King's harness
of war. This wall also hath five gates on the southern face,
corresponding to those in the outer wall, and hath one gate
on each of the other faces as the outer wall hath also. In

126 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
the middle of the second enclosure is the King's Great
Palace, and I will tell you what it is like.
You must know that it is the greatest Palace that ever
was. Toward the north it is in contact with the outer
wall, whilst toward the south there is a vacant space which
the Barons and the soldiers are constantly traversing. The
Palace itself hath no upper storey, but is all on the ground
floor, only the basement is raised some ten palms above
the surrounding soil, and this elevation is retained by
a wall of marble raised to the level of the pavement, two
paces in width, and projecting beyond the base of the
Palace so as to form a kind of terrace-walk, by which
people can pass round the building, and which is exposed
to view, whilst on the outer edge of the wall there is a very
fine pillared balustrade; and up to this the people are
allowed to come. The roof is very lofty, and the walls of the
Palace are all covered with gold and silver. They are also
adorned with representations of dragons, sculptured and
gilt, beasts and birds, knights and idols, and sundry other
subjects. And on the ceiling, too, you see nothing but
gold and silver and painting. On each of the four sides
there is a great marble staircase leading to the top of the
marble wall, and forming the approach to the Palace.
The Hall of the Palace is so large that it could easily dine
six thousand people ; and it is quite a marvel to see how
many rooms there are besides. The building is altogether so
vast, so rich, and so beautiful, that no man on earth could
design anything superior to it. The outside of the roof
also is all coloured with vermilion and yellow and green
and blue and other hues, which are fixed with a varnish so
fine and exquisite that they shine like crystal, and lend
a resplendent lustre to the Palace as seen for a great way
round. This roof is made, too, with such strength and
solidity that it is fit to last for ever.
On the interior side of the Palace are large buildings

XIV.] AN EVERGREEN HOBBY. 1 27
with halls and chambers, where the Emperor's private
property is placed, such as his treasures of gold, silver,
gems, pearls, and gold plate, and in which reside the ladies
of the Court.
Between the two walls of the enclosure which I have
described there are fine parks and beautiful trees bearing
a variety of fruits. There are beasts also of sundry kinds,
such as white stags and fallow deer, gazelles and roebucks,
and fine squirrels of various sorts, with numbers also of the
animal that gives the musk, and all manner of other beauti
ful creatures, insomuch that the whole place is full of them,
and no spot remains void except where there is traffic of
people going and coming. The parks are covered with
abundant grass ; and the roads through them being all
paved and raised two cubits above the surface, they never
become muddy; nor does the rain lodge on them, but flows
off into the meadows, quickening the soil and producing
that abundance of herbage.
From that corner of the enclosure which is towards the
north-west there extends a fine lake, containing fish of
different kinds, which the Emperor hath caused to be put
in there, so that whenever he desires any he can have them
at his pleasure. A river enters this lake and issues from it,
but there is a grating of iron or brass put up so that the fish
cannot escape in that way.
Moreover, on the north side of the Palace, about a bow
shot off, there is a hill which has been made by art from
the earth dug out of the lake ; it is a good hundred paces
in height and a mile in compass. This hill is entirely
covered with trees that never lose their leaves, but remain
ever green. And I assure you that wherever a beautiful
tree may exist, and the Emperor gets news of it, he sends
for it, and has it transported bodily with all its roots and the
earth attached to them, and planted on that hill of his. No
matter how big the tree may be, he gets it carried by his

128 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
elephants ; and in this way he has got together the most
beautiful collection of trees in all the world. And he has
also caused the whole hill to be covered with the ore of
azure, which is very green. And thus not only are the
trees all green, but the hill itself is all green likewise ;
and there is nothing to be seen on it that is not green ;
and hence it is called the Green Mount ; and in good
sooth 'tis named well.
On the top of the hill again there is a fine big palace
which is all green inside and out ; and thus the hill, and
the trees, and the palace form together a charming spec
tacle; and it is marvellous to see their uniformity , of
colour ! Everybody who sees them is delighted. And
the Great Kaan has caused this beautiful prospect to be
formed for the comfort and solace and delectation of his
heart. You must know that beside the Palace that we have
been describing, i.e. the Great Palace, the Emperor has
caused another to be built just like his own in every
respect, and this he hath done for his son when he shall
reign and be Emperor after him. Hence it is made just
in the same fashion and of the same size, so that every
thing can be carried on in the same manner after his own
death. It stands on the other side of the lake from the
Great Kaan's Palace, and there is a bridge crossing the
water from one to the other. The Prince in question
holds now a Seal of Empire, but not with such complete
authority as the Great Kaan, who remains supreme as long
as he lives.
Now I am going to tell you of the Chief City of Cathay,
in which these Palaces stand ; and why it was built,
and how.
Before we take up Marco's description of the capital
of Cathay, or China, let us look at Peking, to caU

XIV.] MODERN PEKING. 12^
by its modern name Kublai Khan's city. We shaU
better understand Marco's pages if we know something
of the capital as it exists to-day ; and it is worthy of
remark that the accuracy of the young Venetian's
account is well established by comparing it with what
we know of modern Peking.
The city is one of the oldest in the world, but
was not made the capital until Kublai Khan, some
where about 1282, fixed his court there. Under the
Mongols the name of Peking was Khan-palik, or City
of the Khan ; and this title was easily converted into
Cambaluc, by which name it is known in the accounts
of those times. Peking is now divided into two
parts ; the northern portion is the Tatar city, and
contains about twelve square miles ; in this are the
palaces, government buildings, and military barracks.
The southern part is the Chinese city, and is more
populous than the Tatar, less of its space being
taken up by gardens and public buildings. The
population is estimated at different figures ; but two
milhons appears to be a fair estimate.
'A wall separates the Tatar from the Chinese city,
and a wall of varying height surrounds the whole ; that
of the Tatar section being about fifty feet high, and
that round the Chinese section some thirty feet high.
These walls are of brick and stone filled in with earth
and paved on the top with slabs of stone, affording a
promenade twelve feet wide. There are sixteen gates
9

¦130 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Chs.
in all, and each gateway is fortified with towers of
stone, other towers being fixed at intervals of about
sixty yards all round the walls. These towers pro
ject fifty feet from the outer side of the walls, and
those at the gateways have in front of them a fortifi
cation of a semicircular shape, so that the gate must
be entered from the side, and not from the front.
The Tatar city is divided into three enclosures, each
being surrounded with its own wall, and each inside
of another. The innermost of these is the Prohibited
City, and contains the imperial palaces and offices.
Its circumference is nearly two miles ; the wall is
covered with imperial-yellow tiles, which look brilliant
when seen from a distance. The enclosure next out
side of this is occupied by the government offices,
and by the army appointed to keep guard over the
Emperor and his family. The next outside of this is
the outermost of all, and consists of dwelUng-houses
and shops.
Although Polo begins his account of the chief city
of Cathay with some flourish, he dismisses it, after he
has described the palaces and pleasure-grounds, with
out many words. This is what he has to say of the
capital of the empire :
CONCERNING THE CITY OF CAMBALUC.
Now there was on that spot in old times a great and
noble city called Cambaluc, which is as much as to say
in our tongue "The City of the Emperor." But the

XIV.] ANCIENT PEKING. 131
Great Kaan was informed by his astrologers that this
city would prove rebeUious, and raise great disorders
against his imperial authority. So he caused the present
city to be built close beside the old one, with only a river
between them. And he caused the people of the old
city to be removed to the new town that he had founded ;
and this he called Taidu. However, he allowed a portion
of the people whom he did not suspect to remain in the
old city, because the new one would not hold the whole
of them, big as it is.
As regards the size of this new city, you must know
that it has a compass of twenty-four miles, for each side of
it hath a length of six miles, and it is four-square. And
it is all walled round with walls of earth, which have a
thickness of full ten paces at the bottom, and a height
of more than ten paces ; but they are not so thick at
the top, for they diminish in thickness as they rise, so
at top they are only about three paces thick. And they
are provided throughout with loop-holed battlements, which
are all whitewashed.
There are twelve gates, and over each gate there is a
great and handsome palace, so that there are on each
side of the square three gates and five palaces ; for (I
ought to mention) there is at each angle also a great
and handsome palace. In those palaces are vast halls
in which are kept the arms of the city garrison.
The streets are so straight and wide that you can see
right along them from end to end and from one gate to
the other. And up and down the city there are beautiful
palaces, and many and fine hostelries, and fine houses
in great numbers. All the plots of ground on which the
houses of the city are built are four-square and laid' out
in straight lines, and the plots being occupied by great
and spacious palaces, with courts and gardens of pro
portionate size. All these plots are assigned to different

132 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
heads of families. Each square plot is encompassed by
handsome streets for trafiSc; and thus the whole city is
arranged in squares just like a chess-board, and disposed
in a manner so perfect and masterly that it is impossible
to give a description that should do it justice.
Moreover, in the middle of the city there is a great
clock — that is to say, a bell, which is struck at night. And
after it has struck three times no one must go out in the
city, unless it be for the needs of a woman in labour or
of the sick. And those who go about on such errands
are bound to carry lanterns with them. Moreover, the
established guard at each gate of the city is one thousand
armed men ; not that you are to imagine this guard is
kept up for fear of any attack, but only as a guard of
honour for the Sovereign, who resides there, and to prevent
thieves from doing mischief in the town.
The " great palaces " which Marco saw over the
gates and at the angles of the walls still exist,
although they are now used as defences for the gates
rather than as palaces. The public clock-towers
were probably provided with water-clocks to indicate
the hour ; these were copper basins set one above the
other in brickwork, hke a series of steps ; and the
water flowing downward from one basin to another
marked by its fall the flight of time. The hour was
struck by the watchman on a large gong suspended
in the clock-tower.
That the Great Khan maintained great state in this
wonderful city, and whenever he went abroad, can
well be imagined. Marco Polo tells of the twelve

XIV.] HOW THE KHAN DINES. 133
thousand horsemen, or "Knights devoted to their
Lord," who were continually on guard, three thousand
being detailed to stand guard for three days and
nights, each three thousand being then relieved by
another body of like number, and so on untU the
entire army of knights had been on duty. Concern
ing the great doings in the banquet-halls of the
mighty one. Polo has this glowing description :
THE FASHION OF THE GREAT KAAN's TABLE AT HIS
HIGH FEASTS.
And when the Great Kaan sits at table on any great
Court occasion it is in this fashion : His table is elevated a
good deal above the others, and he sits at the north end of
the hall, looking towards the south, with his chief wife
beside him on the left. On his right sit his sons and his
nephews and other kinsmen of the Blood Imperial, but
lower, so that their heads are on a level with the Emperor's
feet. And then the other Barons sit at other tables lower
still. So also with the women ; for all the wives of the
Lord's sons, and of his nephews and other kinsmen, sit at
the lower table to his right ; and below them again the
ladies of the other Barons and Knights, each in the place
assigned by the Lord's orders. The tables are so disposed
that the Emperor can see the whole of them from end to
end, many as they are. Further, you are not to suppose
that everybody sits at table ; on the contrary, the greater
part of the soldiers and their officers sit at their meal in the
hall on the carpets. Outside the hall will be found more
than forty thousand people ; for there is a great concourse
of folk bringing presents to the Lord, or come from foreign
countries with curiosities.

134 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
In a certain part of the hall near where the Great Kaan
holds his table, there is set a large and very beautiful piece
of workmanship in the form of a square coffer, or buffet,
about three paces each way, exquisitely wrought with figures
of animals, finely carved and gilt. The middle is hollow,
and in it stands a great vessel of pure gold, holding as
much as an ordinary butt ; and at each corner of the great
vessel is one of smaller size, of the capacity of a firkin, and
from the former the wine or beverage flavoured with fine
and costly spices is drawn off into the latter. And on the
buffet aforesaid are set all the Lord's drinking vessels,
among which are certain pitchers of the finest gold, which
are called verniques, and are big enough to hold drink for
eight or ten persons. And one of these is put between
every two persons, besides a couple of golden cups with
handles, so that every man helps himself from the pitcher
that stands between him and his neighbour. And the
ladies are supplied in the same way. The value of these
pitchers and cups is something immense ; in fact, the Great
Kaan has such a quantity of this kind of plate, and of gold
and silver in other shapes, as no one ever before saw or
heard tell of or could believe.
There are certain Barons specially deputed to see that
foreigners, who do not know the customs of the Court, are
provided with places suited to their rank ; and these Barons
are continually moving to and fro in the hall, looking to the
wants of the guests at table, and causing the servants to
supply them promptly with wine, milk, meat, or whatever
they lack. At every door of the hall (or, indeed, wherever
the Emperor may be) there stand a couple of big men like
giants, one on each side, armed with staves. Their business
is to see that no one steps upon the threshold in entering,
and if this does happen they strip the offender of his
clothes, and he must pay a forfeit to have them back again ;
or in lieu of taking his clothes they give him a certain

XIV.] WHEN THE KHAN DRINKS. 135
number of blows. If they are foreigners ignorant of the
order, then there are Barons appointed to introduce them,
and explain it to them. They think, in fact, that it brings
bad luck if any one touches the threshold.
And you must know that those who wait upon the Great
Kaan with his dishes and his drink are some of the great
Barons. They have the mouth and nose muffled with fine
napkins of silk and gold, so that no breath nor odour from
their persons should taint the dish or the goblet presented
to the Lord. And when the Emperor is going to drink, all
the musical instruments, of which he has vast store of every
kind, begin to play. And when he takes the cup, all the
Barons and the rest of the company drop on their knees
and make the deepest obeisance before him, and then the
Emperor doth drink. But each time that he does so the
whole ceremony is repeated.
I will say naught about the dishes, as you may easily con
ceive that there is a great plenty of every possible kind. But
you should know that in every case where a Baron or a Knight
dines at those tables their wives also dine there with the
other ladies. And when all have dined and the tables have
heen removed, then come in a great number of players and
jugglers, adepts at all sorts of wonderful feats, and perform
before the Emperor and the rest of the company, creating
great diversion and mirth, so that everybody is full of
laughter and enjoyment. And when the performance is
over, the company breaks up and every one goes to his
quarters.

The modern Chinese practice, which may have
been that of the Mongols of Polo's time, is to seat at
small tables (two guests at each table) any large
company. In the banqueting-hall of the Great Khan

136 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
there were, probably, many rows of these small tables,
among which the barons, or masters of ceremonies,
moved, looking after the comfort of the guests.
When the feast was over, these tables could be
easily removed, for the better enjoyment of the
sports that were to follow.
The Chinese of our day hold to certain observances
on entering a doorway ; and among the tribes roving
over Mongolia it is not only bad manners, but even
sinful, to touch the ropes of a tent, which are
regarded as representing the threshold. In a
Mahommedan account of an embassy to the court
of one of the Tatar potentates, it is recorded that it
was forbidden to tread on the threshold of the palace.
The reason for this prohibition is not apparent ; but
travellers say that, among the Mongols of the present
day, the feeling about visitors meddUng with the
tent-ropes is so strong, that those, who have, even
in ignorance, transgressed the unwritten rule, are
thenceforth excluded from the hospitality of the
offended family.
Marco is evidently astonished (and so are we) at
the Khan's liberality to his barons in the matter of
clothes ; truly it is, as he says, " a huge business."
Here is the description :

Now you must know that the Great Kaan hath set apart
twelve thousand of his men, who are distinguished by the

XIV.] HOW THE BARONS ARE CLOTHED. 1 37
name of Keshican, as I have told you before ; and on each
of these twelve thousand Barons he bestows thirteen
changes of raiment, which are all different from one
another : I mean that in one set the twelve thousand are
all of one colour ; the next twelve thousand of another
colour, and so on ; so that they are of thirteen different
colours. These robes are garnished with gems and pearls
and other precious things in a very rich and costly manner.
And along with each of these changes of raiment, i.e.
thirteen times in the year, he bestows on each of those
twelve thousand Barons a fine golden girdle of great rich
ness and value, and likewise a pair of boots of Gamut, that
is to say of Borgal, curiously wrought with silver thread ;
insomuch that when they are clothed in these dresses every
man of them looks like a king ! And there is an estab
lished order as to which dress is to be worn at each of
tiiose thirteen feasts. The Emperor himself also has his
thirteen suits corresponding to those of his Barons; in
colour, I mean (though his are grander, richer, and costlier),
so that he is always arrayed in the same colour as his
Barons, who are, as it were, his comrades. And you may
see that all this costs an amount which it is scarcely
possible to calculate.
Now I have told you of the thirteen changes of raiment
received from the Prince by those twelve thousand Barons,
amounting in all to one hundred and fifty-six thousand
suits of so great cost and value, to say nothing of the
girdles and the boots, which are also worth a great sum of
money. All this the Great Lord hath ordered, that he
may attach the more of grandeur and dignity to his
festivals. And now I must mention another thing that I had for
gotten, but which you will be astonished to learn from this
Book. You must know that on the Feast Day a great Lion
is led to the Emperor's presence, and as soon as it sees him

138 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. XIV.
it lies down before him with every sign of the greatest
veneration, as if it acknowledged him for its lord; and it
remains there lying before him, and entirely unchained.
Truly this must seem a strange story to those who have
not seen the thing !

CHAPTER XV.
THE KHAN AS A MIGHTY HUNTER — HIS FALCONERS, HAWKS.
AND HUNTING GEAR  RIDING IN A CHAMBER ON ELEPHANTS'
BACKS  RIGHT ROYAL SPORT.
"IT 7"E have already seen that Marco had a keen
' ^ taste for sport, and it is noticeable that he
describes the hunting-scenes of the Khan with great
gusto, as if he had been present at some of them, and
had a good time in the field with the imperial sports
man. This is what he has to say about the animals
trained to hunt for the Great Khan :
The Emperor hath numbers of leopards trained to the
chase, and hath also a great many lynxes taught in like
manner to catch game, and which afford excellent sport.
He ' hath also several great Lions, bigger than those of
Babylonia, beasts whose skins are coloured in the most
beautiful way, being striped all along the sides with black,
red, and white. These are trained to catch boars and wild
cattle, bears, wild asses, stags, and other great or fierce
beasts. And 'tis a rare sight, I can tell you, to see those
Lions giving chase to such beasts as I have mentioned !
When they are to be so employed, the Lions are taken out
in a covered cart, and every Lion has a little doggie with
him. They are obliged to approach the game against the
139

I40 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
wind, otherwise the animals would scent the approach of
the Lion and be off.
There are also a great number of eagles, all broken to
catch wolves, foxes, deer, and wild goats, and they do catch
them in great numbers. But those especially that are
trained to wolf-catching are very large and powerful birds,
and no wolf is able to get away from them.
This is an accurate description of the manner of
hunting stiU in vogue in some parts of India among
the native princes. The " Hon," to which Marco
refers as being trained to hunt, is the cheetah, a
species of leopard, which is carried to the hunting-
field in a box, with its eyes covered by a hood.
When loosed in the field, the cheetah will bound off
in pursuit of any game which may be in sight, and
seldom fails to bring it down. Hawking was a
fashionable diversion in Europe during Marco's time,
as well as in Cathay. Kublai Khan had hawks of
various kinds taught to fly at feathered game ; and
his trained eagles pursued larger game, such as wolves
and foxes. Here is a detailed account of the Great
Khan's hunting expeditions :
The Emperor hath two Barons who are own brothers,
one called Baian, and the other Mingan ; and these two are
styled Chinuchi (or Cunichi), which is as much as to say,
" The Keepers of the Mastiff Dogs." Each of these
brothers hath ten thousand men under his orders, each
body of ten thousand being dressed alike, the one in red
and the other in blue ; and whenever they accompany the
Kaan to the chase they wear this livery, in, order to be

THE EAGLE AND ITS VICTIM.

XV.J A MIGHTY HUNT. I4I
recognised. Out of each body of ten thousand there are
two thousand men who are each in charge of one or more
great mastiffs, so that the whole number of these' is very
large. And when the Prince goes a-hunting, one of those
Barons, with his ten thousand men and something like
five thousand dogs, goes towards the right, whilst the
other goes towards the left with his party in like manner.
They move along, all abreast of one another, so that the
whole hne extends over a full day's journey, and no animal
can escape them. Truly it is a glorious sight to see the
working of the dogs and the huntsmen on such an occasion !
And as the Kaan rides a-fowling across the plains, you will
see these big hounds coming tearing up, one pack after
a bear, another pack after a stag, or some other beast, as it
may hap, and running the game down now on this side and
now on that, so that it is really a most delightful sport and
spectacle. The Two Brothers I have mentioned are bound by the
tenure of their office to supply the Kaan's Court from
October to the end of March with one thousand head of
game daily, whether of beasts or birds, and not counting
quails; and also with fish to the best of their ability,
allowing fish enough for three persons to reckon as equal
to one head of game.
Now I have told you of the Masters of the Hounds and
all about them, and next will I tell you how the Kaan goes
off on an expedition for the space of three months.
After he has stopped at his capital city those three
months that I mentioned, to wit, December, January,
February, he starts off on the ist day of March, and travels
southward toward the Ocean Sea, a journey of two days.
He takes with him full ten thousand falconers, and some
five hundred gerfalcons, besides peregrines, sakers, and other
hawks in great numbers ; and goshawks also to fly at the
water-fowl. But do not suppose, that he keeps all these

142 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
together by him ; they are distributed about, hither and
thither, one hundred together, or two hundred at the utmost,
as he thinks proper. But they are always fowling as they
advance, and the most part of the quarry taken is carried
to the Emperor. And let me teU you when he goes thus
a-fowling with his gerfalcons and other hawks, he is attended
by full ten thousand men, who are disposed in couples ; and
these are called Toscaol, which is as much as to say,
"Watchers." And the name describes their business.
They are posted from spot to spot, always in couples, and
thus they cover a great deal of ground ! Every man of
them is provided with a whistle and a hood, so as to be able
to call in a hawk and hold it in hand. And when the
Emperor looses a hawk, there is no need that he follow it
up, for those men I speak of keep so good a lookout that
they never lose sight of the birds, and if these have need of
help they are ready to render it.
All the Emperor's hawks, and those of the Barons as
well, have a httle label attached to the leg to mark them,
on which is written the names of the owner and the keeper
of the bird. And in this way the hawk, when caught, is at
once identified and handed over to its owner. But if not,
the bird is carried to a certain Baron, who is styled the
Bularguchi, which is as much as to say, " The Keeper of
Lost Property." And I tell you that whatever may be found
without a known owner, whether it be a horse, or a sword,
or a hawk, or what not, it is carried to that Baron straight
way, and he takes charge of it. And if the finder neglects
to deliver his find to the Baron, the latter punishes him.
Likewise the loser of any article goes to the Baron, and if
the thing be in his hands it is immediately given up to the
owner. Moreover, the said Baron always pitches on the
highest spot of the camp, with his banner displayed, in
order that those who have lost or found anything may
have no difficulty in finding their way to him. Thus

XV.] THE LUXURY OF SPORT. I43
nothing can be lost but it shall be soon found and restored
without delay.
And so the Emperor follows this road that I have men
tioned, leading along in the vicinity of the Ocean Sea
(which is within two days' journey of his capital city,
Cambaluc), and as he goes, there is many a fine sight to
be seen, and plenty of the very best entertainment in
hawking ; in fact, there is no sport in the world to equal it !
The Emperor himself is carried upon four elephants in
a fine chamber made of timber, lined inside with plates of
beaten gold, and outside with lions' skins, for he always
travels in this way on his fowling expeditions, because he
is troubled with gout. He always keeps beside him a
dozen of his choicest gerfalcons, and is attended by several
of his Barons, who ride on horseback alongside. And
sometimes, as they may be going along, and the Emperor
from his chamber is holding discourse with the Barons, one
of the latter shall exclaim : " Sire I look out for the
cranes ! " Then the Emperor instantly has the top of his
chamber thrown open, and, having marked the cranes, he
flies one of his gerfalcons, whichever he ¦ pleases ; and often
the quarry is struck within his view, so that he has the most
exquisite sport and diversion there, as he sits in his chamber
or lies on his bed; and all the Barons with him get the
enjoyment of it likewise I So it is not without reason I tell
you that I do not believe there ever existed in the world, or
ever will exist, a man with such sport and enjoyment as he
has, or with such rare opportunities.
And when he has travelled till he reaches a place called
Cachar Modun, there he finds his tents pitched, with the
tents of his Sons, and his Barons, and those of his ladies
and theirs, so that there shall be full ten thousand tents
in all, and all fine and rich ones. And I will tell you
how his own quarters are disposed. The tent in which he
holds his courts is large enough to give cover easily to one

144 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
thousand souls. It is pitched with its door to the south, and
the Barons and Knights remain in waiting on it, whilst the
Kaan abides in another close to it on the west side. When
he wishes to speak with any one, he causes the person to
be summoned to that other tent. Immediately behind the
Great Tent there is a fine large chamber where the Kaan
sleeps ; and there are also many other tents and chambers,
but they are not in contact with the Great Tent as these
are. The two audience-tents and the sleeping-chamber
are constructed in this way. Each of the audience-tents
has three poles, which are of spice-wood, and are most art
fully covered with lions' skins, striped with black and white
and red, so that they do not suffer from any weather. All
three apartments are also covered outside with similar skins
of striped lions, a substance that lasts for ever. And inside
they are all lined with ermine and sable, these two being
the finest and most costly furs in existence. For a robe of
sable, large enough to line a mantle, is worth two thousand
bezants of gold, or one thousand at least, and this kind of
skin is called by the Tartars " The King of Furs." The
beast itself is about the size of a marten. These two furs
of which I speak are applied and inlaid so exquisitely, that
it is really something worth seeing. All the tent-ropes are
of silk. And, in short, I may say that those tents, to wit
the two audience-halls and the sleeping-chamber, are so
costly that it is not every king could pay for them.
Round about these tents are others, also fine ones and
beautifully pitched, in which are the Emperor's ladies, and
the ladies of the other princes and officers. And then
there are the tents for the hawks and their keepers, so that
altogether the number of tents there on the plain is some
thing wonderful. To see the many people that are thronging
to and fro on every side and every day there, you would
take the camp for a good big city. For you must reckon
the Leeches [doctors], and the Astrologers, and the

xv;] STRICT GAME-LAWS. 145
Falconers, and all the other attendants on so great a
company ; and add that everybody there has his whole
family with him, for such is their custom.
The Kaan remains encamped there until the spring, and
all that time he does nothing but go hawking round about
among the cane-brakes along the lakes and rivers that
abound in that region, and across fine plains on which are
plenty of cranes and swans, and all sorts of other fowl.
The other gentry of the camp also are never done with
hunting and hawking, and every day they bring home great
store of venison and feathered game of all sorts. Indeed,
without having witnessed it, you would never believe what
quantities of game are taken, and what marvellous sport
and diversion they all have whilst they are in camp there.
There is another thing I should mention ; to wit, that
for twenty days' journey round the spot nobody is allowed,
be he who he may, to keep hawks or hounds, though any
where else whosoever list may keep them. And further
more, throughout all the Emperor's territories, nobody,
however audacious, dares to hunt any of these four animals,
to wit, hare, stag, buck, and roe, from the month of March
to the month of October. Anybody who should do so
would rue it bitterly. But those people are so obedient to
the Kaan's commands, that even if a man were to find one
of those animals asleep by the roadside he would not touch
it for the world ! And thus the game multiplies at such
a rate that the whole country swarms with it, and the
Emperor gets as much as he could desire. Beyond the
term I have mentioned, however, to wit, that from March
to October, everybody may take these animals as he lists.
After the Emperor has tarried in that place, enjoying
his sport as I have related, from March to the middle of
May, he moves with all his people, and returns straight to
his capital city of Cambaluc (which is also the capital
of Cathay, as you have been told), but all the while
10

146 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. XV
continuing to take his diversion in hunting and hawking
as he goes along.
In those days, hunting with hawks and falcons
was called a royal sport, although we should consider
it rather cruel to chase the birds of the air with
fierce birds of prey, who are the natural enemies
of the game birds. But that was certainly a royal
manner of hunting in which Kublai Khan went to
the field. Carried in a fine chamber lined with gold
and covered with choice skins, and borne by a double
team of elephants, Kublai Khan had only to sit
and view the scenery until called by his barons to
look out for the game that had been scared up for
him. No wonder that Marco exclaims in his enthu
siasm, that he does not believe that any other man
in the world had such rare opportunities for sport !
But the great Emperor had one drawback, which
must have reminded him that he was, after all,
only a common mortal : with all his magnificence,
riches, and opportunities for enjoyment, this gorgeous
monarch had the gout !

CHAPTER XVI.
KUBLAl'S FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT — THE GREAT KHAN AS
A MONEY-SPINNER  PRINTING MONEY TO ORDER — THE
emperor's VALUABLE MONOPOLIES — THE TWELVE BARONS
AND THEIR POWERS — POST-RUNNERS WHO TRAVEL FAST
— BURNING "BLACK STONES" FOR FUEL — THE KHAN'S
PATRIARCHAL RULE.
"¦ I "HE Great Khan's method for supplying himself
-*- with the money needed to maintain his splendid
state and magnificent expenditure must needs have
excited the admiration of Marco Polo. It appears
that the Khan had hit on the scheme of manufactur
ing paper money, and, contrary to the usages of
modern times, the paper money of the Khan did not
represent gold and silver lying in the vaults of the
imperial treasury. The Khan's officials printed their
money on a soft fabric made from the inner bark of
the mulberry tree, a paper-like substance which is
still used in China and Japan instead of the paper
made from linen or cotton. The fabric was cut into
pieces of different sizes, and on each piece was
printed the value to be placed on the note ; and
Marco says, that each bit of paper was issued with as
'47

148 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
much solemnity and authority as if it were pure
gold or silver : on every piece, he adds, " a variety of
officials, whose duty it is, have to write their names,
and to put their seals. And when all is prepared
duly, the chief officer deputed by the Kaan smears
the seal entrusted to him with vermilion, and impresses
it upon the paper, so that the form of the seal remains
stamped upon it in red ; the money is then authentic.
Any one forging it would be punished with death.
And the Kaan causes every year to be made such
a vast quantity of this money, which costs him
nothing, that it must equal in amount all the treasure
in the world." Curiously enough, the place in which
this paper money was manufactured was called
" The Mint." Usually, a mint is an establishment
in which metal is coined into money.
By an imperial edict, as we may presume, the Great
Khan caused his paper currency to be accepted as
money " universally over all his kingdoms and
provinces and territories, and whithersoever his power
and sovereignty extends." It must have been a fine
thing to be able to make money from paper, and then,
by imperial command, under penalty of death, put it
into circulation. For Marco tells us that these notes
were all taken by the people without question ; he
adds : " And nobody, however important he may think
himself, dares to refuse them, on pain of death."
Not only did the Emperor make his own money in

XVI.] PAPER MONEY. I49
such quantities as he desired, but he had the monopoly
of the markets for all sorts of valuable and costly
commodities. And this was the way in which the
business of buying and selling was managed in the
Great Khan's capital :
Furthermore, all merchants arriving from India or other
countries, and bringing with them gold or silver or gems
and pearls, are prohibited from seUing to any one but the
Emperor. He has twelve experts chosen for this business,
men of shrewdness and experience in such affairs ; these
appraise the articles, and the Emperor then pays a liberal
price for them in those pieces of paper. The merchants
accept his price readily, for in the first place they would not
get so good an one from anybody else, and secondly they
are paid without any delay. And with this paper money
they can buy what they like anywhere over the Empire,
whilst it is also vastly lighter to carry about on their journeys.
And it is a truth that the merchants will several times in
the year bring wares to the amount of four hundred
thousand bezants, and the Grand Sire pays for all in that
paper. So he buys such a quantity of those precious things
every year that his treasure is endless, whilst" all the time
the money he pays away costs him nothing at all. More
over, several times in the year proclamation is made through
the city that any one who may have gold or silver or gems
or pearls, by taking them to the Mint, shall get a handsome
price for them. And the owners are glad to do this,
because they would find no other purchaser give so large a
price. Thus the quantity they bring in is marvellous,
though those who do not choose to do so may let it alone.
Still, in this way, nearly all the valuables in the country
come into the Kaan's possession.
When any of those pieces of paper are spoilt — not that

150 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
they are so very flimsy neither — the owner carries them to
the Mint, and by paying 3 per cent, on the value he gets
new pieces in exchange. And if any Baron or any one
else soever hath need of gold or silver or gems or pearls,
in order to make plate or girdles or the like, he goes to
the Mint and buys as much as he lists, paying in this
paper money.
The bezant of Marco Polo's time was a gold coin
which originated in Constantinople during the exist
ence of the Byzantine Empire, from which mighty
power it derives its common name ; for the true title
of the coin was the solidus ; it was about equal to
the dinar in value ; or, to give a more modern com
parison, a bezant was equal in value to one ounce of
silver. But, in reckoning the value of the silver in
Marco's time, we should bear in mind that the relation
of gold to silver was not as it is now ; it was about
ten to one. History records that the Mongol dynasty,
for years after Marco Polo's time, kept up the policy
of issuing unlimited quantities of paper money ; and
in the end, this practice was the cause of many
financial disasters and much commercial distress.
But we must not infer that paper money was
exclusively used by Kublai Khan. Similar notes
were issued by the Chinese as early as the ninth
century ; and before Marco was born, money made
of stamped leather was current in Italy. The
Japanese also used paper money before the days of
Kublai Khan.

XVI.] THE TWELVE BARONS. 151
Marco Polo spent so much time at the court of
Kublai Khan, that he not only became very familiar
with the conduct of affairs in that vast empire, but
appears to have been filled with admiration for
the methods pursued by the Sovereign. Here is
some account of the Khan's system of government
and his management of his people :

CONCERNING THE TWELVE BARONS WHO ARE SET OVER
ALL THE AFFAIRS OF THE GREAT KAAN.
You must know that the Great Kaan hath chosen twelve
great Barons, to whom he hath committed all the necessary
affairs of thirty-four great provinces ; and now I will tell
you particulars about them and their establishments.
You must know that these twelve Barons reside alto
gether in a very rich and handsome palace, which is inside
the city of Cambaluc, and consists of a variety of edifices,
with many suites of apartments. To every province is
assigned a judge and several clerks, and all reside in this
palace, where each has his separate quarters. These
judges and clerks administer all the affairs of the provinces
to which they are attached, under the direction of the
twelve Barons. Howbeit, when an affair is of very great
importance, the twelve Barons lay it before the Emperor,
and he decides as he thinks best. But the power of
those twelve Barons is so great that they choose the
governors for all those thirty-four great provinces that I
have mentioned, and only after they have chosen do
they inform the Emperor of their choice. This he con
firms, and grants to the person nominated a tablet of gold
such as is appropriate to the rank of his government.
Those twelve Barons also have such authority that they

152 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch,.
can dispose of the movements of the forces, and send
them whither, and in such strength as, they please. This
is done indeed with the Emperor's cognisance, but still
the orders are issued on their authority. They are styled
Shieng, which is as much as to say "The Supreme Court,"
and the palace where they abide is also called Shieng.
This body forms the highest authority at the Court of
the Great Kaan ; and indeed they can favour and advance
whom they will I will not now name the thirty-four
provinces to you, because they will be spoken of in
detail in the course of this Book.
how the kaan's posts and runners are SPED
through many lands and provinces.
Now you must know that from this city of Cambaluc
proceed many roads and highways leading to a variety of
provinces, one to one province, another to another ; and
each road receives the name of the province to which it
leads ; and it is a very sensible plan. And the messengers
of the Emperor in travelling from Cambaluc, be the road
whichsoever they will, find at every twenty-five miles of
the journey a station which they call Yamb, or, as we
should say, the " Horse-Post-House."' And at each of
those stations used by the messengers there is a large
and handsome building for them to put up at, in which
they find all the rooms furnished with fine beds and all
other necessary articles in rich silk, and where they are
provided with everything they can want. If even a king
were to arrive at one of these, he would find himself well
lodged. At some of these stations, moreover, there shall be
posted some four hundred horses standing ready for the
use of the messengers; at others there shall be two
hundred, according to the requirements, and to what the

XVI.] RUNNING POSTMEN. 1 53
Emperor has established in each case. At every twenty-five
miles, as I said, or anyhow at every thirty miles, you find
one of these stations, on all the principal highways leading
to the different provincial governments ; and the same
is the case throughout all the chief provinces subject to
the Great Kaan. Even when the messengers have to
pass through a roadless tract where neither house nor
hostel exists, still there the station-houses have been
established just the same, excepting that the intervals are
somewhat greater, and the day's journey is fixed at thirty-
five to forty-five miles, instead of twenty-five to thirty. But
they are provided with horses and all the other necessaries
just like those we have described, so that the Emperor's
messengers, come they from what region they may, find
everything ready for them.
And in sooth this is a thing done on the greatest scale
of magnificence that ever was seen. Never had emperor,
king, or lord such wealth as this manifests ! For it is a
fact that on all these posts taken together there are more
than three hundred thousand horses kept up, specially for
the use of the messengers. And the great buildings that
I have mentioned are more than ten thousand in number,
all richly furnished as I have told you. The thing is on a
scale so costly and wonderful that it is hard to bring oneself
to describe it.
But now I will tell you of another thing that I had for
gotten, but which ought to be told whilst I am on this
subject. You must know that by the Great Kaan's orders
there has been established between those post-houses at
every interval of three miles a little fort with some forty
houses round about it, in which dwell the people who act
as the Emperor's foot-runners. Every one of those runners
wears a great wide belt, set all over with bells, so that as
they run the three miles from post to post their bells are
heard jingling a long way off. And thus on reaching the

154 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
post the runner finds another man similarly equipped, and
all ready to take his place, who instantly takes over what
soever he has in charge, and with it receives a slip of paper
from the clerk who is always on hand for the purpose;
and so the new man sets off and runs his three miles. At
the next station he finds his relief ready in like manner ;
and so the post proceeds, with a change at every three
miles. And in this way the Emperor, who has an immense
number of these runners, receives despatches with news
from places ten days' journey off in one day and night;
or, if need be, news from a hundred days' off in ten days
and nights ; and that is no small matter !
In fact, in the fruit season many a time fruit shall be
gathered one morning in Cambaluc, and in the evening of
the next day it shall reach the Great Kaan at Chandu, a
distance of ten days' journey. The clerk at each of the
posts notes the time of each courier's arrival and departure ;
and there are often other officers whose business it is to
make monthly visitations of all the posts, and to punish
those runners who have been slack in their work. The
Emperor exempts these men from all tribute and pays
them besides.
Moreover, there are also at those stations other men
equipped similarly with girdles hung with bells, who are
employed for expresses when there is call for great haste
in sending despatches to any governor of a province, or to
give news when any baron has revolted, or in other such
emergencies ; and these men travel a good two hundred
or three hundred miles in the day, and as much in the
night. I'll tell you how it stands. They take a horse
from those at the station which are standing ready saddled,
all fresh and in wind, and mount and go at full speed, as
hard as they can ride in fact. And when those at the
next post hear the bells, they get ready another horse and
a man equipped in the same way, and he takes over the

XVI.] FLEET COURIERS. 155
letter or whatever it be, and is off full speed to the third
station, where again a fresh horse is found all ready, and so
the despatch speeds along from post to post, always at full
gallop with regular change of horses. And the speed at
which they go is marvellous. By night, however, they
cannot go so fast as by day, because they have to be
accompanied by footmen with torclies, who could not
keep up with them at full speed.
Those men are highly prized ; and they could never do
it did they not bind hard the stomach, chest, and head
with strong bands. And each of them carries with him
a gerfalcon tablet, in sign that he is bound on an urgent
express; so that if perchance his horse break down, or
he meet with other mishap, whomsoever he may fall in
with on the road, he is empowered to make him dismount
and give up his horse. Nobody dares refuse in such a
case ; so that the courier hath always a good fresh nag
to carry him.
The system of posting, of which we have this minute
and lucid account, though in existence in the time of
Kublai Khan, was not originated by that monarch ;
it was employed by all the Oriental nations, and is in
vogue to-day in Northern China, Japan, and other
countries, where the railway and the telegraph have
not yet penetrated the vast spaces that lie between
the large cities. The Japanese runners are very fleet ;
and when one of them starts off on a long errand,
he first strips himself of all clothing except a cloth
around his loins : with his light burden slung to
a stick over his shoulder, he will make seven miles
an hour for several consecutive hours. In Burmah

IS6 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
the kings were accustomed to have delicacies brought
by horse-posts from distant points to their capital
at Ava ; and Colonel Yule tells how one of the
caliphs of Cairo in the tenth century, who had a
longing for some of the cherries of Baalbek, was
served by his vizier. The vizier, hearing of the
wish expressed by his master, caused six hundred
pigeons to be let loose in Baalbek, their home being
in Cairo ; and to each leg of each bird was attached
a small silken bag with one cherry therein. So that
the gratified caliph, if all the pigeons came home,
was served with twelve hundred cherries.
In Marco Polo's time very little was known in
Europe concerning coal as a fuel. But although
mineral coal is more generally used in Europe and
America than it is in China, there are vast deposits
of this material in China, where it was used as a
fuel long before our Venetian traveller visited that
country. Here is his account of " the black stones "
which so much excited his admiration :

concerning the black stones that are dug in
CATHAY, and are BURNT FOR FUEL.
It is a fact that all over the country of Cathay there is
a kind of black stone existing in beds in the mountains,
which they dig out and burn like firewood. If you supply
a fire with them at night, and see that they are well
kindled, you will find them still alight in the morning ; and
they make such capital fuel that no other is used throughout

XVI.] COAL. 1 57
the country. It is true that they have plenty of wood also,
but they do not burn it, because these stones burn better
and cost less.
It is said that coal exists in every province of
China, but it is most plentiful in Northern China,
where there are inexhaustible beds of anthracite ;
and the people use it (as Marco says) in preference
to any other kind of fuel. The unwiUingness of
the Chinese Government to allow large commercial
enterprises to be undertaken by foreigners has pre
vented any liberal opening of these coal mines, and
the people only mine the deposits in a feeble and
fitful way. If any one should wonder at Marco's
apparent ignorance of the true nature of mineral coal,
he should remember that coal was not burnt in the
South of Europe, where our traveUer spent his youth,
until very recent times. Even up to late days coal
was known in England, where it was first used, as
" stone coal," to distinguish it from charcoal. As far
back as A.D. 850 mention is made, in the records
of Peterborough Abbey, of " fossil fuel " ; and it is
beheved that the Romans learned from the ancient
Britons the uses of this kind of fuel. Nevertheless,
coal was not commonly used in London until 1240,
some forty years before the time of Marco Polo ;
and as communication between London and Venice
was tedious and uncertain, it was not surprising that
the Venetians knew nothing of coal as a fuel

158 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
The present form of government in China is
beneficent and patriarchal in theory, but by no means
so benevolent in practice, as it would appear to
one who reads only a Chinese version of pohtical
affairs in that empire. Apparently, under Kublai
Khan the administration of the government was
really what the present government professes to
be, as will be seen in the following account taken
from Polo's book :

HOW THE GREAT KAAN CAUSES STORES OF CORN TO BE
made, to help HIS PEOPLE WITHAL IN TIME OF
DEARTH.
You must know that when the Emperor sees that the
corn is cheap and abundant he buys up large quantities,
and has it stored in all his provinces and great granaries,
where it is so well looked after that it will keep for three
or four years.
And this applies, let me tell you, to all kinds of corn,
whether wheat, barley, millet, rice, panic, or what not ; and
when there is any scarcity of a particular kind of corn he
causes that to be issued. And if the price of the corn is at
one bezant the measure, he lets them have it at a bezant
for four measures, or at whatever price will produce general
cheapness ; and every one can have food in this way. And
by this providence of the Emperor's his people can never
suffer from dearth. He does the same over his whole
Empire, causing these supplies to be stored everywhere
according to calculation of the wants and necessities of the
people.

XVI.] A CHARITABLE KHAN. 1 59
OF THE CHARITY OF THE EMPEROR TO THE POOR.
I have told you how the Great Kaan provides for the
distribution of necessaries to his people in time of dearth
by making store in time of cheapness. Now I will tell you
of his alms and great charity to the poor of his city of
Cambaluc. You see he causes selection to be made of a number of
families in the city which are in a state of indigence, and
of such families some may consist of six in the house,
some of eight, some of ten, more or fewer in each as it
may hap, but the whole number being very great. And
each family he causes annually to be supplied with wheat
and other corn sufficient for the whole year. And this he
never fails to do every year. Moreover, all those who
choose to go to the daily dole at the Court receive a great
loaf apiece hot from the baking, and nobody is denied ; for
so the Lord hath ordered. And so some thirty thousand
people go for it every day from year's end to year's end. Now
this is a great goodness in the Emperor to take pity of his
poor people thus ! And they benefit so much by it that
they worship him as he were God.
He also provides the poor with clothes. For he lays a
tithe upon all wool, silk, hemp, and the like from which
clothing can be made ; and he has these woven and laid
up in a building set apart for the purpose; and as all
artisans are bound to give a day's labour weekly, in this
way the Kaan has these stuffs made into clothing for those
poor families, suitable for summer or winter, according to
the time of year. He also provides the clothing for his
troops, and has woollens woven for them in every city, the
material for which is furnished by the tithe aforesaid. You
should know that the Tartars, before they were converted
to the religion of the Idolaters, never practised almsgiving.
Indeed, when any poor man begged of them they would tell

l6o THE STORY bF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
him : " Go with God's curse, for if He loved you as He
loves me He would have provided for you I " But the
sages of the Idolaters, and especially the Bacsis mentioned
before, told the Great Kaan that it was a good work to
provide for the poor, and that his idols would be greatly
pleased if he did so. And since then he has taken to do
for the poor so much as you have heard.
CONCERNING THE VIEWS OF THE CATHAYANS [cHINESe]
AS TO THE SOUL, AND THEIR CUSTOMS.
Their view of the immortality of the soul is after this
fashion : They believe that as soon as a man dies his soul
enters into another body, going from a good to a better, or
from a bad to a worse, according as he hath conducted
himself well or ill. That is to say, a poor man, if he have
passed through life good and sober, shall be born again of
a gentlewoman, and shall be a gentleman ; and on a second
occasion shall be born of a princess, and shall be a prince,
and so on, always rising, till he be absorbed into the Deity.
But if he have borne himself ill, he who was the son of a
gentleman shall be reborn as the son of a boor, and from
a boor shall become a dog, always going down lower and
lower. The people have an ornate style of speech ; they salute
each other with a cheerful countenance, and with great
politeness ; they behave like gentlemen, and eat with great
propriety. They show great respect to their parents ; and
should there be any son who offends his parents, or fails
to minister to their necessities, there is a public office
which has no other charge but that of punishing unnatural
children, who are proved to have acted with ingratitude
towards their parents.
Criminals of sundry kinds who have been imprisoned
aie released at a time fixed by the Great Kaan (which

XVI.] A year's programme. i6i
occurs every three years), but on leaving prison they are
branded on one cheek, that they may be recognised.
The Great Kaan hath prohibited all gambling and
sharping, things more prevalent there than in any other
part of the worid. In doing this, ' he said : " I have
conquered you by force of arms, and all that you have is
mine; if, therefore, you gamble away your property, it is
in fact my property that you are gambling away." Not
that he took anything from them, however.
I must not omit to tell you of the orderly way in which
the Kaan's Barons and others conduct themselves in coming
to his presence. In the first place, within a half-mile of
the place where he is, out of reverence for his exalted
majesty, everybody preserves a mien of the greatest meek
ness and quiet, so that no noise of shrill voices or loud
talk shal be heard.

We may here add Marco's account of the way in
which the year of the Great Khan is spent :
On arriving at his capital of Cambaluc, he stays in his
palace three days and no more during which time he has
great court entertainments and rejoicings. He then quits
his palace at Cambaluc, and proceeds to that city which
he has built, as I told you before, and which is called
Chandu, where he has that grand park and palace of cane.
There he spends the summer, to escape the heat, for the
situation is a very cool one. After stopping there from the
beginning of May to the 28th of August, he takes his
departure, and returns to his capital Cambaluc. There he
stops the month of September to keep his Birthday Feast,
and also throughout October, November, December,
January, and February, in which last month he keeps the
grand feast of the New Year, which they call the White
II

l62 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. XVI.
Feast. He then sets out on his march towards the Ocean
Sea, hunting and hawking, and continues out from the
beginning of March to the middle of May ; and then
comes back for three days only to the capital, during
which he makes merry, and holds a great court and grand
entertainments. In truth, 'tis something astonishing, the
magnificence displayed by the Emperor in those three
days ; and then he starts off again as you know.

CHAPTER XVII.
THE GOLDEN KING AND PRESTER JOHN — THE FAMED YELLOW RIVER
— SOME OF THE WONDERS OF YUNNAN — THE TRAVELLER
MEETS WITH CROCODILES — " THE PEOPLE OF THE GOLD
teeth" — CURIOSITIES OF TATTOOING — A FAMOUS BATTLE
— THE CITY OF MIEN.
A yr ARCO, having told his readers many won-
-'-'-'- derful things about Kublai Khan and his
court and people, then addressed himself to the
narration of some of his adventures in traveUing
about the great Mongolian Empire. This part of
his book he begins by saying :
Now you must know that the Emperor sent the aforesaid
Marco Polo, who is the author of this whole story, on busi
ness of his into the Western Provinces. On that occasion
he travelled from Cambaluc a good four months' journey
toward the west. And so now I will tell you all that he saw
on his travels as he went and returned.
The journey which Marco took was along the
boundary of Cathay, or China, nearest to the Indian
Empire ; the provinces of the Mongolian Empire
through which he passed are now known as Shansi,
Szechwan, and Tibet. We are not able to find on
a modern map all the places of which Marco makes
163

164 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
mention in his account of his journey through the
Western Provinces. But some of the names of cities
are found easily enough. For example, Pianfu, one
of the cities first mentioned in Marco's journal,
was undoubtedly Pingyangfu, as the city is now
called. We are not so certain about Chaicu, which
lies two days' ride farther west.
Here, Marco says, is " a noble castle, built in tiuie
past by a king of that country, whom they used to
call the Golden King," and then relates this story :
Now I will tell you a pretty passage that befell between
this Golden King and Prester John, as it was related by the
people of the Castle.
It came to pass, as they told the tale, that this Golden
King was at war with Prester John. And the King held a
position so strong that Prester John was not able to get at
him or to do him any scathe; wherefore he was in great
wrath. So seventeen gallants belonging to Prester John's
Court came to him in a body, and said that, an he would,
they were ready to bring him the Golden King alive. His
answer was, that he desired nothing better, and would be
much bounden to them if they would do so.
So when they had taken leave of their Lord and Master
Prester John, they set off together, this goodly company of
gallants, and went to the Golden King, and presented
themselves before him, saying that they had come from
foreign parts to enter his service. And he answered by
telling them that they were right welcome, and that he
was glad to have their service, never imagining that they
had any ill intent. And so these mischievous squires took
service with the Golden King, and served him so well
that he grew to love them dearly.

XVII.] THESE MISCHIEVOUS SQUIRES. 165
And when they had abode with that King nearly two
years, conducting themselves like persons who thought of
anything but treason, they one day accompanied the King
on a pleasure party when he had very few else along with
him ; for in those gallants the King had perfect trust, and
thus kept them immediately about his person. So after
they had crossed a certain river that is about a mile from
the Castle, and saw that they were alone with the King,
they said one to another that now was the time to achieve that
they had come for. Then they all incontinently drew near,
and told the King that he must go with them and make no
resistance, or they would slay him. The King at this was
in alarm and great astonishment, and said : " How then,
good my sons, what thing is this ye say ? and whither would
ye have me go ? " They answered and said : " You shall
come with us, will ye nill ye, to Prester John our Lord."
And on this the Golden King was so sorely grieved that
he was like to die. And he said to them : " Good my
sons, for God's sake have pity and compassion upon me.
Ye wot well what honourable and kindly entertainment ye
have had in my house ; and now ye would deliver me into
the hands of mine enemy ! In sooth, if ye do what ye say,
ye will do a very naughty and disloyal deed, and a right
villainous." But they answered only that so it must be,
and away they had him to Prester John their Lord.
And when Prester John beheld the King he was right
glad, and greeted him with something like a malison. The
King answered not a word, as if he wist not what it behoved
him to say. So Prester John ordered him to be taken
forth straightway, and to be put to look after cattle, but to
be well looked after himself also. So they took him and
set him to keep cattle. This did Prester John of the
grudge he bore the King, to heap contumely on him, and
to show what a nothing he was, compared to himself.
And when the King had thus kept cattle for two years,

1 66 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
Prester John sent for him, and treated him with honour,
and clothed him in rich robes, and said to him : " Now,
Sir King, art thou satisfied that thou wast in no way a man
to stand against me ? " " Truly, my good Lord, I know
well and always did know that I was in no way a man to
stand against thee." And when he had said this Prester
John replied : " I ask no more ; but henceforth thou shalt
be waited on and honourably treated." So he caused
horses and harness of war to be given him, with a goodly
train, and sent him back to his own country. And after
that he remained ever friendly to Prester John, and held
fast by him.
When Marco goes on to speak of the great river
Caramoran, it is easy to identify that watercourse
with one of the famous rivers of China. He says :
When you leave Chaicu, and travel about twenty miles
westward, you come to a river called Caramoran, so big
that no bridge can be thrown across it ; for it is of immense
width and depth, and reaches to the Great Ocean that
encircles the Universe — I mean the whole earth. On this
river there are many cities and walled towns, and many
merchants too therein, for much traffic takes place upon the
river, there being a great deal of ginger and a great deal of
silk produced in the country.
This could be none other than the Hoang-Ho,
or Yellow River, sometimes called " The Sorrow of
China," on account of the great destruction of life
and property it brings by its floods. We must bear
in mind that, when Marco wrote, nobody actually
knew what water or land lay to the eastward of

XVII.] THE YELLOW RIVER. 167
China ; therefore he speaks of the " Great Ocean
that encircles the Universe," and this was usually
known as the " Ocean Sea." As the Amazon and
the Mississippi rivers were unknown then, the Yellow
River of China was the largest known, and Marco
was the first to bring back to Europe any detailed
account of that stream.
After crossing the Yellow River and travelling
two days westward Marco reached the city of
Chacanfu, and then eight days westward brought
him to Kenjanfu, of which he makes mention after
this manner :
And when you have travelled those eight days' journey,
you come to that great city which I mentioned, called
Kenjanfu, which in old times was a noble, rich, and
powerful realm, and had many great and wealthy and
puissant kings. But now the king thereof is a prince called
Mangalai, the son of the Great Kaan, who hath given
him this realm, and crowned him king thereof It is a
city of great trade and industry. They have great abun
dance of silk, from which they weave cloths of silk and gold,
of divers kinds, and they also manufacture all sorts of
equipments for an army. They have every necessary of
man's life very cheap. The city lies towards the west ;
and outside the city is the palace of the Prince Mangalai,
crowned king, and son of the Great Kaan, as I told you
before. This is a fine palace and a great, as I will tell you.
It stands in a great plain abounding in lakes and streams
and springs of water. Round about it is a massive and
lofty wall, five miles in compass, well built, and all garnished

l68 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
with battlements. And within this wall is the King's
palace, so great and fine that no one could imagine a
finer. There are in it many great and splendid halls,
and many chambers, all painted and embellished with
work in beaten gold. This Mangalai rules his realm
right and well with justice and equity, and is much be
loved by his people. The troops are quartered round
about the palace, and enjoy the sport that the royal
demesne affords.
Kenjanfu we know to be Singanfu, one of the
ancient and historic cities of China, It was once
the residence of the Chinese Emperor, and is now
the capital of the province of Shansi. It is renowned
as the seat of a Christian colony, of which a remark
able memorial remains. The Christian missionaries,
who penetrated this remote region long before the
coming of Marco Polo, were Nestorians from Persia,
or from Constantinople — -it is not certain \\'hich.
They were Asiatics, and took their name from
Nestorius, one of the early Christian bishops, who
flourished in the fifth century of the Christian era,
and whose seat was in Constantinople. A tablet
has been found in a ruined temple near Singanfu, on
which are inscribed in Chinese and Syriac characters
a full statement of the sum of the Christian doctrine,
an account of the arrival of a Christian missionary
with books, the Emperor's approval of the doctrines,
and his order for the erection of a church. This
tablet, which is seven feet high and three feet wide,

XVII.] BAMBOOZLED ! 169
and is surmounted by a carved likeness of a cross,
is the oldest Christian monument in Asia.
Reaching the southern part of Shansi, Marco
approaches Manzi, or that part of the empire which
Ues south of the Yellow River. The capital of the
province, he says, is called " Acbalec Manzi, which
signifies ' The White City of the Manzi Frontier.' "
In these later days the Americans have had a
White City, which was built for the Columbian Fair
in Chicago.
Passing through Tibet, Marco notices particularly
the bamboos there. He calls them "canes," and
exaggerates a little about them ; but perhaps ex
aggeration was natural, because, before gunpowder
became famihar, no sharp explosive sounds of this
kind were known to ordinary experience. This is
what he says :
In this region you find quantities of canes, full three
palms in girth and fifteen paces in length, with some three
palms' interval between the joints. And let me tell you
that merchants and other travellers are wont at nightfall to
gather these canes and make fires of them ; for as they burn
they make such loud reports that the lions and bears and
other wild beasts are greatly frightened, and make off as
fast as possible; in fact, nothing will induce them to come
nigh a fire of that sort. So you see the travellers make
those fires to protect themselves and their cattle from the
wild beasts, which have so greatly multiplied since the
devastation of the country. And 'tis this great multiplication
of the wild beasts that prevents the country from being

I70 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch
reoccupied. In fact, but for the help of these canes, which
make such a noise in burning that the beasts are terrified
and kept at a distance, no one would be able even to travel
through the land.
I will tell you how it is that the canes make such a noise.
The people cut the green canes, of which there are vast
numbers, and set fire to a heap of them at once. After
they have been awhile burning they burst asunder, and this
makes such a loud report that you might hear it ten miles
off. In fact, any one unused to this noise, who should
hear it unexpectedly, might easily go into a swound or die
of fright. But those who are used to it care nothing about
it. Hence those who are not used to it stuff their ears well
with cotton, and wrap up their heads and faces with all the
clothes they can muster ; and so they get along until they
have become used to the sound. 'Tis just the same with
horses. Those which are unused to these noises are so
alarmed by them that they break away from their halters
and heel-ropes, and many a man has lost his beasts in this
way. So those who would avoid losing their horses take
care to tie all four legs and peg the ropes down strongly,
and to wrap the heads and eyes and ears of the animals
closely, and so they save them. But horses also, when
they have heard the noise several times, cease to mind it.
I tell you the truth, however, when I say that the first time
you hear it nothing can be more alarming. And yet, in
spite of all, the lions and bears and other wild beasts will
sometimes come and do much mischief; for their numbers
are great in those tracts.
Marco's next advance was into the province of
Yunnan, in the extreme south-western corner of
China, north of Siam, and east of Burmah. Even
in these modern times very little is known of

XVII.] ALLIGATORS. 171
Yunnan, the best account of the country having
been written by Mr. T. T. Cooper, an English
traveller, who was killed by one of his own native
guard, in Burmah, in 1878. It is not Ukely that
Kublai Khan knew much about that most remote
of his conquered provinces, and so young Marco
was sent to bring to the Khan whatever information
he could pick up concerning the country and its
resources. Here is part of his report :
MARCO polo's report UPON THE PROVINCE OF
YUNNAN.
In this country gold-dust is found in great quantities;
that is to say, in the rivers and lakes, while in the mountains
gold is also found in pieces of larger size. Gold is indeed
so abundant that they give one saggio of gold for only
six of the same weight in silver. And for small change
they use the porcelain shells, as I mentioned before.
These are not found in the country, however, but are
brought from India.
In this province are found snakes and great serpents of
such vast size as to strike fear into those who see them,
and so hideous that the very account of them must excite
the wonder of those who hear it. I will tell you how long
and big they are.
You may be assured that some of them are ten paces
in length ; some are more and some less. And in bulk
they are equal to a great cask, for the bigger ones are about
ten palms in girth. The head is very big. The mouth
is large enough to swallow a man whole, and is garnished
with great pointed teeth. And in short they are so fierce-
looking and so hideously ugly, that every man and beast

172 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
must stand in fear and trembling of them. There are also
smaller ones, such as of eight paces long, and of five, and of
one pace only.
The way in which they are caught is this : You must
know that by day they live underground because of the
great heat, and in the night they go out jo feed, and devour
every animal they can catch. They go also to drink at
the rivers and lakes and springs. And their weight is so
great that when they travel in search of food or drink,
as they do by night, the tail makes a great furrow in the
soil, as if a full tun of liquor had been dragged along. Now
the huntsmen who go after them take them by a certain
gin [trap] which they set in the track over which the
serpent has passed, knowing that the beast will come back
the same way. They plant a stake deep in the ground, and
fix on the head of this a sharp blade of steel made like
a razor or a lance-point, and then they cover the whole with
sand, so that the serpent cannot see it. Indeed, the hunts
man plants several such stakes and blades on the track.
On coming to the spot, the beast strikes against the iron
blade with such force that it enters his breast and rives
[cuts] him, so that he dies on the spot; and the crows
on seeing the brute dead begin to caw, and then the
huntsmen know that the serpent is dead and come in search
of him.
This then is the way these beasts are taken. Those
who take them proceed to extract the gall from the inside,
and this sells at a great price ; for you must know it
furnishes the material for a most precious medicine.
Thus if a person is bitten by a mad dog, and they give
him but a small pennyweight of this medicine to drink,
he is cured in a moment. Again, if one has any disease
of the skin and applies a small quantity of this gall, he
shall speedily be cured. So you see why it sells at such a
high price.

XVII.] SMALL CHANGE. 1 73
They also sell the flesh of this serpent, for it is excellent
eating, and the people are very fond of it. And when
these serpents are very hungry, sometimes they will
seek out the lairs of lions or bears or other large wild
beasts, and devour their cubs, without the sire and dam
being able to prevent it. Indeed, if they catch the big
ones themselves they devour them too ; they can make no
resistance. This was Marco's first view, we must suppose,
of alligators or crocodiles. No wonder he gazed
upon these horrid "serpents" with so much amaze
ment. But if we leave out his ignorance of the
name, we shall find that his account of the alligator,
as he is now known, is accurate enough. The
creatures are caught and killed now precisely as
he narrates ; and their habits are the same as he
describes them. But we can well imagine that the
incredulous Venetians, to whom these travellers' tales
were told, winked to each other and smiled " in
their sleeves " to hear such marvellous accounts of
strange beasts.
Concerning the use of shells as money, it is hardly
necessary to tell the bright young folks who read
these chapters, that shells of the variety known as
cowrie are still used in some parts of India and in
the islands of the South Pacific for money. Marco
found many people in Tibet and other Indo-Chinese
provinces who used cakes of salt for small change.
Salt is costly ; everybody must have it ; and, in

174 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
default of small money, it was and is used in making
change. The curious customs of the people of Zardandan
attracted the attention of our traveller, who devotes a
large section of one of his chapters to a description
of them :
concerning THE PROVINCE OF ZARDANDAN.
When you have left Carajan and have travelled five
days westward, you find a province called Zardandan.
The capital city is called Vochan.
The people of this country all have their teeth gilt ; or
ra1;her every man covers his teeth with a sort of golden
case made to fit them, both the upper teeth and the under.
The men do this, but not the women. The men also are
wont to gird their arms and legs with bands or fillets
pricked in black, and it is done thus : they take five needles
joined together, and with these they prick the flesh till the
blood comes, and then they rub in a certain black colouring
stuff, and this is perfectly indelible. It is considered a
piece of elegance and the sign of gentility to have this
black bahd. The men are all gentlemen in their fashion,
and do nothing but go to the wars, or go hunting and
hawking. The ladies do all the business, aided by the
slaves who have been taken in war.
They eat all kinds of meat, both raw and cooked, and
they eat rice with their cooked meat as their fashion is.
Their drink is wine made of rice and spices, and excellent
it is. Their money is gold, and for small change they use
pig-shells. And I can tell you they give one weight of
gold for only five of silver; for there is no silver mine
within five months' journey. And this induces merchants
to go thither carrying a large supply of silver to change

XVII.] DEVIL-DOCTORS. 1 75
among that people. And as they have only five weights
of silver to give for one of fine gold, they make immense
profits by their exchange business in that country.
These people have neither idols nor churches, but
worship the progenitor of their family ; " for 'tis he," say
they, "from whom we have all sprung." They have no
letters or writing ; and 'tis no wonder, for the country is
wild and hard of access, full of great woods and mountains
which 'tis impossible to pass, the air in summer is so
impure and bad ; and any foreigners attempting it would
die for certain. When these people have any business
transactions with one another, they take a piece of stick,
round or square, and split it, each taking half And on
either half they cut two or three notches. And when the
account is settled the debtor receives back the other half
of the stick from the creditor.
And let me tell you that in aU those three provinces that
I have been speaking of, to wit, Carajan, Vochan, and
Yachi, there is never a leech. But when any one is ill
they send for their magicians ; that is to say, the Devil-
conjurers and those who are the keepers of the idols.
When these are come the sick man tells them what ails
him, and then the conjurers incontinently begin playing
on their instruments and singing and dancing ; and the
conjurers dance to such a pitch that at last one of them
shall fall to the ground Ufeless, like a dead man. And
then the devil entereth into his body. And when his
comrades see him in this plight they begin to put questions
to him about the sick man's ailment. And he will reply :
" Such or such a spirit hath been meddling with the man,
for that he hath angered the spirit and done it some
despite." Then they say : " We pray thee to pardon him,
and to take of his blood or of his goods what thou wilt
in consideration of thus restoring him to health." And
when they have so prayed the malignant spirit that is in

176 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.

, \

the body of the prostrate man will (mayhap) answer : " The
sick man hath also done great despite unto such another
spirit, and that one is so ill-disposed that it will not pardon
him on any account " ; — this at least is the answer they get,
an the patient be like to die. But if he is to get better
the answer will be that they are to bring two sheep, or
maybe three ; and to brew ten or twelve jars of drink,
very costly and abundantly spiced. Moreover, it shall be
announced that the sheep must be all black-faced, or of
some other particular' colour as it may hap ; and then all
those things are to be offered in sacrifice to such and such
a spirit whose name is given. And they are to bring so
many conjurers and so many ladies, and the business is
to be done with a great singing of lauds, and with many
lights, and store of good perfumes. That is the sort of
answer they get if the patient is to get well. And then
the kinsfolk of the sick man go and procure all that has
been commanded, and do as has been bidden, and the
conjurer who had uttered all that gets on his legs again.
So they fetch the sheep of the colour prescribed, and
slaughter them, and sprinkled the blood over such places
as have been enjoined, in honour and propitiation of the
spirit. And the conjurers come, and the ladies, in the
number that was ordered ; and when all are assembled and
everything is ready, they begin to dance and play and sing
in honour of the spirit. And they take flesh-broth, and
drink, and lign-aloes, and a great number of lights, and go
about hither and thither, scattering the broth and the drink
and the meat also. And when they have done this for
a while, again shall one of the conjurers fall flat and wallow
there foaming at the mouth, and then the others will ask if
he have yet pardoned the sick man. And sometimes he
shall answer Yea ! and sometimes he shall answer No ! And
if the answer be No, they shall be told that something or
other has to be done all over again, and then he will be

XVII.] A FAMOUS BATTLE. 1 77
pardoned ; so this they do. And when all that the spirit
has commanded has been done with great ceremony, then
it shall be announced that the man is pardoned and shall
be speedily cured. So when they at length receive such
a reply, they announce that it is all made up with the spirit,
and that he is propitiated, and they fall to eating and
drinking with great joy and mirth, and he who had been
lying hfeless on the ground gets up and takes his share. So
when they have all eaten and drunken, every man departs
home. And presently the sick man gets sound and well.
of THE BATTLE THAT WAS FOUGHT BY THE GREAT KAAN'S
HOST AG.^INST THE KING OF MIEN AND BAIJGALA.
But I was forgetting to tell you of a famous battle that
was fought in the kingdom of Vochan in the province
of Zardandan, and that ought not to be omitted from our
Book. You see, in the year of Christ 1272, the Great Kaan sent
a large force into the kingdoms of Carajan and Vochan.
Now there was a certain King called the King of Mien
and Bangala, who was a very puissant Prince, with much
territory and treasure and people. And it came to pass
that when this King heard that the host of the Great Kaan
was at Vochan, he said to himself that it behoved him to
go against them with so great a force as should insure his
cutting off the whole of them, insomuch that the Great Kaan
would be very sorry ever to send an army again thither.
So this King prepared a great force and munitions of
war ; and he had, let me tell you, two thousand great
elephants, on each of which was set a tower of timber, well
framed and strong, and carrying from twelve to sixteen
well-armed fighting-men. And besides these, he had of
horsemen and of footmen good sixty thousand men. In
short, he equipped a fine force, as well befitted such a
12

178 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
puissant Prince. It was indeed a host capable of doing
great things.
And what shall I tell you ? When the King had com
pleted these great preparations to fight the Tartars, he
tarried not, but straightway marched against them.
And when the Captain of the Tartar host had certain
news that the King aforesaid was coming against him with
so great a force, he waxed uneasy, seeing that he had with
him but twelve thousand horsemen. Natheless he was a
most vahant and able soldier, of great experience in arms,
and an excellent Captain ; and his name was Nescradin.
His troops too were very good, and he gave them very
particular orders and cautions how to act, and took every
measure for his own defence and that of his army. And
why should I make a long story of it ? The whole force of
the Tartars advanced to receive the enemy in the Plain
of Vochan, and there they waited to give them battle. And
this they did through the good judgment of the excellent
Captain who led them ; for hard by that plain was a great
wood, thick with trees.
And when the army of the King of Mien had arrived in
the plain, and was within a mile of the enemy, he caused
all the castles that were on the elephants to be ordered for
battle, and the fighting-men to take up their posts on them,
and he arrayed his horse and his foot with all skill, like a
wise King as he was. And when he had completed all his
arrangements, he began to advance to engage the enemy.
The Tartars, seeing the foe advance, showed no dismay,
but came on likewise with good order and disciphne to
meet them. And when they were near, and naught re
mained but to begin the fight, the horses of the Tartars
took such fright at the sight of the elephants that they
could not be got to face the foe, but always swerved and
turned back ; whilst all the time the King and his forces,
and all his elephants, continued to advance upon them.

XVII.] A SHREWD GENERAL. 179
And when the Tartars perceived how the case stood,
they were in great wrath, and wist not what to say or do ;
for well enough they saw that unless they could get their
horses to advance all would be lost. But their Captain
acted like a wise leader who had considered everything
beforehand. He immediately gave orders that every man
should dismount and tie his horse to the trees of the
forest that stood hard by, and that then they should take
to their bows, a weapon that they knew how to handle
better than any troops in the world. They did as he
bade them, and plied their bows stoutly, shooting so many
shafts at the advancing elephants that in a short space they
had wounded or slain the greater part of them, as well as of
the men they carried. The enemy also shot at the Tartars,
but the Tartars had the better weapons, and were the
better archers to boot.
And what shall I tell you ? Understand that when
the elephants felt the smart of those arrows that pelted
them like rain, they turned tail and fled, and nothing on
earth would have induced them to turn and face the
Tartars. So off they sped with such a noise and uproar
that you would have trowed the world was coming to an
end ! And then, too, they plunged into the wood and
rushed this way and that, dashing their castles against
the trees, bursting their harness, and smashing and destroy
ing everything that was on them.
So when the Tartars saw that the elephants had turned
tail and could not be brought to face the fight again,
they got to horse at once and charged the enemy. And
then the battle began to rage furiously with sword and
mace. Right fiercely did the two hosts rush together, and
deadly were the blows exchanged. The King's troops were
far more in number than the Tartars, but they were not
of such metal, nor so inured to war ; otherwise the Tartars,
who were so few in number, could never have stood against

l80 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
them. Then might you see swashing blows dealt and
taken firom sword and mace ; then might you see knights
and horses and men-at-arms go down; then might you
see arms and hands and legs and heads hewn off; and
besides the dead that fell, many a wounded man, that
never rose again, for the sore press there was. The din
and uproar were so great from this side and from that, that
God might have thundered and no man would have heard
it ! Great was the medley, and dire and parlous was the
fight that was fought on both sides ; but the Tartars had
the best of it.
In an ill hour indeed for the King and his people was
that battle begun, so many of them were slain therein.
And when they had continued fighting till midday, the
King's troops could stand against the Tartars no longer,
but felt that they were defeated, and turned and fled. And
when the Tartars saw them routed they gave chase, and
hacked and slew so mercilessly that it was a piteous sight
to see. But after pursuing awhile they gave up, and
returned to the wood to catch the elephants that had run
away ; and to manage this they had to cut down great trees
to bar their passage. Even then they would not have been
able to takethem without the help of the King's own men
who had been taken, and who knew better how to deal
with the beasts than the Tartars did. The elephant is an
animal that has more wit than any other ; but in this way
at last they were caught, more than two hundred of them.
And it was from this time forth that the Great Kaan began
to keep numbers of elephants.
OF THE GREAT DESCENT THAT LEADS TOWARDS THE
KINGDOM OF MIEN.
After leaving the province of which I have been speaking,
you come to a great Descent. In fact, you ride for two

XVII.] THE CITY OF MIEN. l8l
days and a half continually downhill. On all this descent
there is nothing worthy of mention, except only that there
is a large place there where occasionally a great market is
held ; for all the people of the country round come thither
on fixed days, three times a week, and hold a market there.
They exchange ^Id for silver; for they have gold in
abundance ; and they give one weight of fine gold for five
weights of fine silver ; so this induces merchants to come
from various quarters, bringing silver which they exchange
for gold with these people ; and in this way the merchants
make great gain. As regards those people of the country
who dispose of gold so cheaply, you must understand that
nobody is acquainted with their places of abode, for they
dwell in inaccessible positions, in sites so wild and strong
that no one can get at them to meddle with them. Nor
will they allow anybody to accompany them, so as to gain
a knowledge of their abodes.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF MIEN AND THE TWO TOWERS
THAT ARE THEREIN.
In this city there is a thing so rich and rare that I must
tell you about it. You see there was in former days a rich
and puissant King in this city, and when he was about to
die he commanded that by his tomb they should erect two
towers (one at either end), one of gold and the other of
silver, in such fashion as I shall tell you. The towers are
built of fine stone ; and then one of them has been covered
with gold a good finger in thickness, so that the tower
looks as if it were all of solid gold ; and the other is
covered with silver in like manner, so that it seems to be all
of solid silver. Each tower is a good ten paces in height
and of breadth in proportion. The upper part of these
towers is round, and girt all about with bells, the top of
the gold tower with gilded bells and the silver tower with

1 82 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
silvered bells, insomuch that whenever the wind blows
among these bells they tinkle. The tomb likewise was
plated partly with gold, and partly with silver. The King
caused these towers to be erected to commemorate his
magnificence and for the good of his soul ; and really they
do form one of the finest sights in the world, so exquisitely
finished are they, so splendid and costly. And when they
are lighted up by the sun they shine most brilhantly, and
are visible from a vast distance.
The name Zardandan signifies " Gold Teeth," and
is derived from the Persian. The custom of covering
the teeth with plates of gold was not confined to the
great ones of Zardandan ; early travellers in Sumatra
tell us, that the wealthy nobles of that country were
accustomed to decorate their teeth in the same
manner. Rashiduddin, who was a contemporary
with Marco Polo, speaks of the Zardandans as inhabit
ing the province on the frontier of Tibet ; and of
them he says : " These people cover their teeth with
a gold case, which they take off when they eat."
Vochan, the chief city of the province of Zardandan,
is undoubtedly the Chinese city of Yungchangfu,
a place of considerable importance, on the great high
road which leads to Ava and Tibet. As for the
curious marking of the bodies of men and women by
pricking into the flesh certain pigments, we know
that tattooing is still practised in many parts of the
world. Indeed, the practice is by no means confined
to semi-barbarous peoples. Many a sailor-man in the

XVII.] SCORE AND TALLY. 1 83
British and American navies has been adorned on
various parts of his body with patriotic emblems and
fanciful pictures, pricked into his flesh in divers
colours. Yunnan is still noted for its ample yield of gold,
so that it is a common saying in China, when a man
lives extravagantly, that his father '' must needs be
governor of Yunnan." But the relative value of gold
and silver is no longer so variable as it was in the
time of Polo. He says that, in the eastern part of
Yunnan, one weight of gold was equal to eight of
silver ; in the western part, it was six to one, and on
the borders of Ava, it was only five of silver to one of
gold. In those days, we must suppose, communication
was infrequent between the different provinces, so
these great variations in the relative values of the
metals were not unnatural.
" Score and tally " was the primitive method of
keeping accounts among our Anglo-Saxon ancestors ;
and it is a matter of record that the great fire,
which destroyed the Houses of ParUament in 1834,
was caused by overheating the flues of the furnaces,
when a vast number of discarded wooden taUies,
which had accumulated in the cellars of the building,
were being burnt. The tally was a square strip of
wood, on each angle of which were cut notches to
represent numbers, or compounds of numbers ; and
the score was a series of marks set down, usually

1 84 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. XVII.
by fives, on any smooth surface accessible to the
person who kept the account. In a case in court,
once upon a time in England, when a taverner's
customer demurred against the account of measures
of ale charged to him, the inn-keeper's door was
removed from its hinges and produced in court by
way of documentary evidence.
Devil-doctors, or exorcists, are still common among
the half-civilised tribes of all lands. The North
American Indians send for their "medicine-man"
when one of their number falls ill This functionary,
assisted by persons whom he calls to his aid, leads
off" in a wild chant, and the entire band make a
prodigious clatter with various implements to " drive
away the evil spirit " who is tormenting the sick man.
If the man dies (and the intolerable din, kept up in
his wigwam, not infrequently hurries him on his
long journey), the medicine-man calmly explains
that the evil spirit was one of the hard and difficult
kind that go not out at the word of any man. All
over the region in which the Aryan race originated,
the custom of devil-dancing, or exorcism, still pre
vails ; moreover, this strange superstitution, or some
thing very like it, may be traced in some of the
darker parts of the world, among non- Aryan peoples.

CHAPTER XVIII.
IN SOUTHERN CHINA AND LAOS — CURIOUS CUSTOMS OF A
STRANGE PEOPLE — LIONS AND LION-HUNTING DOGS — MAR
VELLOUS PRODUCTS OF SILK — THE REBELLION AND PUNISH
MENT OF LIYTAN.
' I ^HE next succeeding chapters of Marco Polo's
-*- book deal chiefly with regions, which the
famous traveller did not visit, but of which he gave
such accounts as he could procure from the people
among whom he travelled, after he left Yunnan and
passed as far as he chose in the direction of Siam
and Burmah. The region which he next proceeds
to describe, you must understand, lies north of Siam
and east of Burmah.
DISCOURSES OF THE PROVINCE OF CAUGIGU.
Caugigu is a province toward the east, which has a king.
The people are Idolaters, and have made their submission
to the Great Kaan, and send him tribute every year. And
let me tell you their king is so given to luxury that he hath
at the least three hundred wives ; for whenever he hears of
any beautiful woman in the land, he takes and marries her.
They find in this country a good deal of gold, and they
also have great abundance of spices. But they are such
185

1 86 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
a long way from the sea that the products are of little value,
and thuS' their price is low. They have elephants in great
numbers, and other cattle of sundry kinds, and plenty of
game. They live on flesh and milk and rice, and have,
wine made of rice and good spices. The whole of the
people, or nearly so, have their skin marked with the
needle in patterns representing lions, dragons, birds, and
what not, done in such a way that it can never be obliter
ated. This work they cause to be wrought over face and
neck and chest, arms and hands, and, in short, the whole
body ; and they look on it as a token of elegance, so that
those who have the largest amount of this embroidery are
regarded with the greatest admiration.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ANIN.
Anin is a province toward the east, the people of which
are subject to the Great Kaan, and are Idolaters. They
live by cattle and tillage, and have a peculiar language.
The women wear on the legs and arms bracelets of gold
and silver of great value, and the men wear such as are
even yet more costly. They have plenty of horses, which
they sell in great numbers to the Indians, making a great
profit thereby. And they have also vast herds of buffaloes
and oxen, having excellent pastures for these. They have
likewise all the necessaries of life in abundance.
Now you must know that between Anin and Caugigu,
which we have left behind us, there is a distance of twenty-
five days' journey ; and from Caugigu to Bangala, the third
province in our rear, is thirty days' journey.
concerning the PROVINCE OF COLOMAN.
CoLOMAN is a province eight days' journey toward the
east, the people of which are Idolaters and have a peculiar
language. They are a tall and very handsome people,

XVIII.] INFESTED WITH "LIONS." 187
though in complexion brown rather than white, and are
good soldiers. They have a good many towns, and a vast
number of villages, among great mountains, and in strong
positions. When any of them die the bodies are burnt, and then they
take the bones and put them in little chests. These are
carried high up the mountains, and placed in great caverns,
where they are hung up in such wise that neither man nor
beast can come at them.
A good deal of gold is found in the country, and for petty
traffic they use porcelain shells such as I have told you
of before. All these provinces that I have been speaking
of, to wit Bangala and Caugigu and Anin, employ for
currency porcelain shells and gold. There are merchants
in this country who are very rich and dispose of large
quantities of goods. The people live on flesh and rice and
milk, and brew their wine from rice and excellent spices.
concerning the PROVINCE OF CUIJU.
Cuiju is a province toward the east. After leaving Colo-
man you travel along a river for twelve days, meeting with
a good number of towns and villages, but nothing worthy
of particular mention. After you have travelled those
twelve days along the river, you come to a great and noble
city which is called Fungul.
The people live by trade and handicrafts, and they
manufacture stuffs of the bark of certain trees which form
very fine summer clothing. They are good soldiers, and
have paper money. For you must understand that hence
forward we are in the countries where the Great Kaan's
paper money is current.
The country swarms with lions to that degree that no
man can venture to sleep outside his house at night.
Moreover, when you travel on that river, and come to

1 88 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
a halt at night, unless you keep a good way from the bank
the lions will spring on the boat and snatch one of the crew
and make off with him and devour him. And but for a
certain help that the inhabitants enjoy, no one could
venture to travel in that province, because of the multitude
of those lions, and because of their strength and ferocity.
But you see they have in this province a large breed of
dogs, so fierce and bold that two of them together will
attack a lion. So every man who goes a journey takes
with him a couple of those dogs ; and when a lion appears
they have at him with the greatest boldness, and the lion
turns on them, but can't touch them', for they are very deft
at eschewing his blows. So they follow him, perpetually
giving tongue, and watching their chance to give him a bite
in the rump or in the thigh, or wherever they may. The
lion makes no reprisal except now and then to turn fiercely
on them, and then indeed were he to catch the dogs it
would be all over with them, but they take good care that
he shall not. So, to escape the dogs' din, the lion makes
off, and gets into the wood, where mayhap he stands at bay
against a tree. And when the travellers see the lion in this
plight they take to their bows, for they are capital archers,
and shoot their arrows at him till he falls dead. And 'tis
thus that travellers in those parts do deliver themselves from
those lions.
They have a good deal of silk and other products, which
are carried up and down, by the river of which we spoke,
into various quarters.
You travel along the river for twelve days more, finding
a good many towns all along, and the people always
Idolaters, and subject to the Great Kaan, with paper money
current, and living by trade and handicrafts. There are
also plenty of fighting-men. And after travelling those
twelve days you arrive at the city of Sindafu, of which we
spoke in this Book some time ago.

XVIIL] CAUGIGU OR LAOS. 1 89
From Sindafu you set out again, and travel some seventy
days through the provinces and cities and towns which
we have already visited, and all which have been already
particularly spoken of in our Book. At the end of those
seventy days you come to Juju, where we were before.
From Juju you set out again and travel four days toward
the south, finding many towns and villages. The people
are great traders and craftsmen, are all Idolaters, and use
the paper money of the Great Kaan their Sovereign. At
the end of those four days you come to the city of Cacanfu,
belonging to the province of Cathay.

There has been a great deal ol discussion about
the title, which Polo gives to the country described
under the name of Caugigu ; and it is not easy to
imagine how the native name of the region has
been so often and so widely misunderstood. It is
enough for us to know, that the country here specified
is, by the best authorities, supposed to be the kingdom
of Laos, a country lying north and east of Siam and
tributary to that power. The people of Laos tattoo
themselves in the manner described by Marco Polo,
and their country is shut in from the sea and
abounds in elephants, as our traveller says. The
province of Anin is believed to be the extreme south
eastern part of Yunnan, the inhabitants of which
have plenty of buffaloes and other domestic animals ;
and they adorn themselves with a profusion of gold
and silver ornaments, as recorded by the great
Venetian. The other provinces of which Marco

I90 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
speaks, Coloman and Cuiju, he to the north-east of
those already mentioned. Cuiju is probably the
ancient name (much distorted) of the Chinese pro
vince of Kweichau, north-east of Yunnan. " The
great and noble city of Fungul " is set down on
modern maps as Phungan, a city of some wealth and
prominence in Marco Polo's time, but now of smaU
note. In that city, however, they still make a fabric
known as grass-cloth, which is manufactured from
vegetable fibres. There are no lions in the Chinese
Empire, the beasts which Polo calls by that name
being undoubtedly tigers, which are very fierce and
common. The great dogs of Kweichau have been
mentioned by modern travellers, and the story of
their pursuing and putting to flight the savage
animals that harass the people is by no means to
be regarded as a fable. And now we pass over into
Pecheh. CONCERNING THE CITIES OF CACANFU AND OF CHANGLU.
Cacanfu is a noble city. The people have plenty of
silk, from which they weave stuffs of silk and gold, and
sandals in large quantities. There are also certain Christians
at this place, who have a church. And the city is at the
head of an important territory containing numerous towns
and villages. A great river passes through it, on which
much merchandise is carried to the city of Cambaluc, for
by many channels and canals it is connected therewith.
We will now set forth again, and travel three days
towards the south, and then we come to a town called

XVIII.] TWO CITIES AND A REBEL. 191
Changlu. This is another great city belonging to the
Great Kaan, and to the province of Cathay. The people
have paper money and burn their dead. They make salt in
great quantities at this place. I will tell you how 'tis done.
A kind of earth is found there which is exceedingly salt.
This they dig up and pile in great heaps. Upon these
heaps they pour water in quantities till it runs out at the
bottom ; and then they take up this water and boil it well
in great iron cauldrons, and as it cools it deposits a fine
white salt in very small grains. This salt they then carry
about for sale to many neighbouring districts, and get great
profit thereby.
There is nothing else worth mentioning, so let us go
forward five days' journey, and we shall come to a city called
Chinangli.

CONCERNING THE CITY OF CHINANGLI AND THAT OF
TADINFU, AND THE REBELLION OF LIYTAN.
Chinangli is a city of Cathay as you go south. There
runs through the city a great and wide river, on which
a large traffic in silk goods and spices and other costly
merchandise passes up and down.
When you travel south from Chinangli for five days, you
meet everywhere with fine towns and villages, the people
of which live by trade and handicrafts, and have all the
necessaries of life in great abundance ; but there is nothing
particular to mention on the way till you come, at the end
of those five days, to Tadinfu.
This, you must know, is a very great city, and in old
times was the seat of a great kingdom ; but the Great
Kaan conquered it by force of arms. Nevertheless it is
still the noblest city in all those provinces. There are
very great merchants here who trade on a great scale, and

192 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
the abundance of silk is something marvellous. They
have, moreover, most charming gardens abounding with
fruit of large size. The city of Tadinfu hath also under its
rule eleven imperial cities of great importance, all of which
enjoy a large and profitable trade, owing to that immense
produce of silk.
Now, you must know, that in the year 1273, the Great
Kaan had sent a certain Baron called Liytan Sangon,
with some eighty thousand horse, to this province and city
to garrison them. And after the said captain had tarried
there awhile, he formed a disloyal and traitorous plot, and
stirred up the great men of the province to rebel against
the Great Kaan. And so they did ; for they broke into
revolt against their Sovereign Lord, and refused all obedience
to him, and made this Liytan, whom their Sovereign had
sent thither for their protection, to be the chief of their
revolt. When the Great Kaan heard thereof he straightway
despatched two of his Barons, one of whom was called
Aguil and the other Mongotay, giving them one hundred
thousand horse and a great force of infantry. But the affair
was a serious one, for the Barons were met by the rebel
Liytan with all those whom he had collected from the
province, mustering more than one hundred thousand horse
and a large force of foot. Nevertheless in the battle Liytan
and his party were utterly routed, and the two Barons
whom the Emperor had sent won the victory. When the
news came to the Great Kaan he was right well pleased,
and ordered that all the chiefs who had rebelled, or excited
others to rebel, should be put to a cruel death, but that
those of lower rank should receive a pardon. And so it
was done. The two Barons had all the leaders of the
enterprise put to a cruel death, and all of those of lower
rank were pardoned. And thenceforward they conducted
themselves with loyalty towards their Lord.

XVIII.] A BISECTED RIVER. I93
CONCERNING THE NOBLE CITY OF SINJUMATU.
On leaving Tadinfu you travel three days towards the
south, always finding numbers of noble and populous towns
and villages flourishing with trade and manufactures.
There is also abundance of game in the country, and every
thing in profusion.
When you have travelled those three days you come to
the noble city of Sinjumatu, a rich and fine place, with
great trade and manufactures. The people are subjects of
the Great Kaan, and have paper money, and they have a
river which I can assure you brings them great gain, and I
will tell you about it.
You see the river in question flows from the south to this
city of Sinjumatu. And the people of the city have divided
this larger river in two, making one half of it flow east and
the other half flow west ; that is to say, the one branch flows
towards Manzi and the other towards Cathay. And it is
a fact that the number of vessels at this city is what no
one would believe without seeing them. The quantity of
merchandise also which these vessels transport to Manzi
and Cathay is something marvellous ; and then they return
loaded with other merchandise, so that the amount of goods
bferne to and fro on those two rivers is quite astonishing.
CONCERNING THE CITIES OF LINJU AND PIJU.
On leaving the city of Sinjumatu you travel for eight days
toward the south, always coming to great and rich towns
and villages flourishing with trade and manufactures. At
the end of those eight days you come to the city of Linju,
in the province of the same name, of which it is the capital.
It is a rich and noble city, and the men are good soldiers.
Natheless they carry on great trade and manufactures.
There is great abundance of game in both beasts and birds,
»3

194 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
and aU the necessaries of life are in profusion. The place
stands on the river of which I told you above. And they
have here great numbers of vessels, even greater than those
of which I spoke before, and these transport a great amount
of costly merchandise.
So, quitting this province and city of Linju, you travel
three days more towards the south, constantly finding
numbers of rich towns and villages. These still belong to
Cathay and the Great Kaan, whose subjects they are. This
is the finest country for game, whether in beasts or birds,
that is anywhere to be found, and all the necessaries of life
are in profusion.
At the end of those three days you find the city of Piju,
a great, rich, and noble city, with large trade and manu
factures, and a great production of silk. This city stands at
the entrance to the great province of Manzi, and there
reside at it a great number of merchants who despatch carts
from this place loaded with great quantities of goods to the
different towns of Manzi. The city brings in a great revenue
to the Great Kaan.
Cacanfu is now known as Hokianfu, in Pecheli.
Chinangli is believed to be the modern Thsinanfu,
now the chief city of the province of Shantung.
The identity of Tadinfu is not so easily established.
As this part of China is not often visited by European
or American travellers, our knowledge of the country
is derived from ancient accounts, such as Polo's book ;
and as he did not in all cases see with his own eyes
the countries which he describes, it is greatly to his
credit that the few reports, which we have from
those long-closed regions, correspond so closely with

XVIIL] THE GREAT CANAL. 195
the Venetian's accounts. Thus Thsinanfu, other
wise Chinangli, is still a city of some importance,
with several fine temples, and buildings, which prove
that it was the capital of the province. Silk is now
a notable product of the province of Shantung, as it
was when Marco Polo wrote his report concerning
the resources of the country. The silkworm of the
mulberry tree is here a native, and the " immense
produce of silk " of which our traveller speaks has
been going on, according to Chinese annals, for many
thousands of years.
The rebellion of Liytan is described in Chinese
^ history, but the date, according to those records, was
1262, and not 1273. The word " Sangon " means " a
general of division," indicating the military rank of
Liytan, whose revolt was quelled, as Marco Polo
relates. The river, which, he tells us, was divided
here at the city of Sinjumatu, is supposed to be a
section of the Great Canal of China, the famous
waterway which connects the lakes and rivers of
China so ingeniously that it may be said to afford
communication between Canton and Peking, a dis
tance of one thousand miles. This canal was
formerly regarded as one of the wonders of the
world ; and even now, after it has been damaged by
wars, inundations, and accidents, it is a work of
great importance and interest.

CHAPTER XIX.
BAYAN HUNDRED-EYES  THE POLO BROTHERS INTRODUCE
WESTERN SIEGE ARTILLERY — THE YANG-TSE-KIANG AND ITS
MONASTERIES — KINSAY (THE CITY OF HEAVEN) DESCRIBED.
A FTER Marco had visited Yunnan, he made an
-^^- excursion into Burmah and Bengal. Return
ing to Cathay, he describes some of the cities of
the southern part of that empire, and tells us
HOW THE GREAT KAAN CONQUERED THE PROVINCE OF
MANZI.
You must know that there was a king and sovereign lord
of the great territory of Manzi who was styled Facfur, so
great and puissant a prince that, for vastness of wealth and
number of subjects and extent of dominion, there was
hardly a greater in all the earth except the Great Kaan
himself. But the people of this land were anything rather
than warriors.
In all his dominion there were no horses ; nor were the
people ever inured to battle or arms, or military service of
any kind. Yet the province of Manzi is very strong by
nature, and all the cities are encompassed by sheets of
water of great depth, and more than an arblast-shot in
width ; so that the country never would have been lost,
had the people been but soldiers. But that is just what
they were not ; so lost it was. 196

Ch. XIX.] BARON BAYAN. I97
Now it came to pass, in the year of Christ's incarnation,
1268, that the Great Kaan, the same that now reigneth,
despatched thither a Baron of his whose name was Bayan
Chincsan, which is as much as to say " Bayan Hundred-
Eyes." And you must know that the King of Manzi had
found in his horoscope that he never should lose his
kingdom except through a man that had an hundred eyes ;
so he held himself assured in his position, for he could not
believe that any man in existence could have an hundred
eyes. There, however, he deluded himself, in his ignorance
of the name of Bayan.
This Bayan had an immense force of horse and foot
entrusted to him by the Great Kaan, and with these he
entered Manzi, and he had also a great number of boats to
carry both horse and foot when need should be. And
when he, with all his host, entered the territory of Manzi,
and arrived at the city of Coiganju, he summoned the
people thereof to surrender to the Great Kaan ; but this
they flatly refused. On this Bayan went on to another
city, with the same result, and then still went forward;
acting thus because he was aware that the Great Kaan
was despatching another great host to follow him up.
What shall I say then ? He advanced to five cities in
succession, but got possession of none of them ; for he did
not wish to engage in besieging them, and they would not
give themselves up. But when he came to the sixth city
he took that by storm, and so with a second, and a third,
and a fourth, until he had taken twelve cities in succession.
And when he had taken all these, he advanced straight
against the capital city of the kingdom, which was called
Kinsay, and which was the residence of the King and
Queen. And when the King beheld Bayan coming with all his
host he was in great dismay, as one unused to see such
sights. So he and a great company of his people got on

198 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
board a thousand ships and fled to the islands of the Ocean
Sea, whilst the Queen, who remained behind in the city,
took all measures in her power for its defence, like a
valiant lady.
Now it came to pass that the Queen asked what was the
name of the captain of the host, and they told her that
it was Bayan Hundred-Eyes. So when she wist that he
was styled Hundred-Eyes, she called to mind how their
astrologers had foretold that a man of an hundred eyes
should strip them of the kingdom. Wherefore she gave
herself up to Bayan, and surrendered to him the whole
kingdom and all the other cities and fortresses, so that no
resistance was made. And in sooth this was a goodly
conquest, for there was no realm on earth half so wealthy.
Marco then proceeds to relate a curious circum
stance connected with the capture of the city of
Saianfu, or Siangyangfu, as it is now called, one of
the cities of Manzi, the province lying south of the
Yellow River. He says:
Now you must know that this city held out against the
Great Kaan for three years after the rest of Manzi had
surrendered. The Great Kaan's troops made incessant
attempts to take it, but they could not succeed because of
the great and deep waters that were round about it, so that
they could approach from one side only, which was the
north. And I tell you they never would have taken it, but
for a circumstance that I am going to relate.
You must know that when the Great Kaan's host had
lain three years before the city without being able to take
it, they were greatly chafed thereat. Then Messer Nicolo
Polo and Messer Maffeo and Messer Marco said, " We
could find you a way of forcing the city to surrender

v-fn

XIX.] SIEGE ARTILLERY. 1 99
speedily " ; whereupon those of the army rephed, that they
would be right glad to know how that should be. All this
talk took place in the presence of the Great Kaan. For
messengers had been despatched from the camp to tell him
that there was no taking the city by blockade, for it
continually received supplies of victual from those sides
which they were unable to invest ; and the Great Kaan
had sent back word that take it they must, and find a way
how. Then spoke up the Two Brothers and Messer Marco
the son, and said : " Great Prince, we have with us among
our followers men who are able to construct mangonels
which shall cast such great stones that the garrison will
never be able to stand them, but will surrender at once, as
soon as the mangonels or trebuchets shall have shot into
the town."
The Kaan bade them with all his heart have such
mangonels made as speedily as possible. Now Messer
Nicolo and his brother and his son immediately caused
timber to be brought, as much as they desired, and fit for
the work in hand. And they had two men among their
followers, a German and a Nestorian Christian, who were
masters of that business, and these they directed to con
struct two or three mangonels capable of casting stones
of three hundred pounds' weight. Accordingly they made
three fine mangonels, each of which cast stones of three
hundred pounds' weight and more. And when they were
complete and ready for use, the Emperor and the others
were greatly pleased to see them, and caused several stones
to be shot in their presence; whereat they marvelled
greatly and greatly praised the work. And the Kaan
ordered that the engines should be carried to his army
which was at the leaguer of Saianfu.
And when the engines were got to the camp they were
forthwith set up, to the great admiration of the Tartars.
And what shall I teU you ? When the engines were set up

200 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
and put in gear, a stone was shot from each of them into
the town. These took effect among the buildings, crashing
and smashing through everything with huge din and
commotion. And when the townspeople witnessed this
new and strange visitation, they were so astonished and
dismayed that they wist not what to do or say. They took
counsel together, but no counsel could be suggested how to
escape from these engines, for the thing seemed to them
to be done by sorcery. They declared that they were all
dead men if they yielded not, so they determined to
surrender on such conditions as they could get.
So the men of the city surrendered, and were received to
terms ; and this all came about through the exertions of
Messer Nicolo and Messer Maffeo and Messer Marco;
and it was no small matter. For this city and province is
one of the best that the Great Kaan possesses, and brings
him in great revenues.
There is some uncertainty about the story, as here
told by Marco, for history relates that the city was
reduced at a period earlier than the time of the
visit of the Polos ; but, possibly, some mistake has
been made in the dates recorded by the Chinese
historians. In any case, however, the employment
of novel engines of war, by the advice of strangers
from the West, was an actual fact ; all histories agree
as to that. A mangonel was an engine of timber
designed to throw great stones a long distance with
terrific force, exactly as described by Marco. In
those ancient times, before the invention of gun
powder, it was customary to use these, and also

XIX.] A VAST RIVER. 201
arblasts, or bows of steel or horn, so tough and
strong that the string had to be drawn back to the
trigger by a lever or a winch. Other contrivances
for throwing bolts and stones were the catapult
and the baUista. It is related that burning stuff to
corrupt the air was sometimes thrown into a city
by the besiegers who used these machines. The
machines used by the Saracens were called trebu
chets — a name sometimes applied to the mangonel.
The Yang-tse-Kiang river aroused the admiration
of Marco, and he devotes much space to an account
of its vastness and the volume of its commerce.
The Chinese name for the stream is " Son of the
Ocean," so great is its depth and width. Of it the
traveller says :
And I assure you this river flows so far and traverses so
many countries and cities that in good sooth there pass and
repass on its waters a great number of vessels, and more
wealth and merchandise than on all the rivers and all the
seas of Christendom put together I It seems indeed more
like a Sea than a River. Messer Marco Polo said that he
once beheld at that city fifteen thousand vessels at one
time. And you may judge, if this city, of no great size, has
such a number, how many must there be altogether,
considering that on the banks of this river there are more
than sixteen provinces and more than two hundred great
cities, besides towns and villages, all possessing vessels ?
Messer Marco Polo aforesaid tells us that he heard from
the officer employed to collect the Great Kaan's duties on
this river that there passed upstream two hundred thousand

202 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
vessels in the year, without counting those that passed
down ! Indeed, as it has a course of such great length,
and receives so many other navigable rivers, it is no wonder
that the merchandise which is borne on it is of vast amount
and value. And the article in largest quantity of all is
salt, which is carried by this river and its branches to all
the cities on their banks, and thence to the other cities in
the interior.
The vessels which ply on this river are decked. They
have but one mast, but they are of great burthen, for I can
assure you they carry, reckoning by our weight, from four
thousand to twelve thousand cantars each. In going
upstream they have to be hauled, for the current is so
strong that they could not make head in any other manner.
Now the tow-line, which is some three hundred paces in
length, is made of nothing but cane. 'Tis in this way:
they have those great canes of which I told you before
that they are some fifteen paces in length ; these they take
and split from end to end into many slender strips, and
then they twist these strips together so as to make a rope
of any length they please. And the ropes so made are
stronger than if they were made of hemp.
There are at many places on this river hills and rocky
eminences pn which the idol-monasteries and other edifices
are built, and you find on its shores a constant succession
of villages and inhabited places.
There is very little exaggeration in this account.
By twelve thousand cantars we should understand
that the traveller refers to a weight equal to a Uttle
more than five hundred tons, which is a large cargo.
The " idol-monasteries " of Marco Polo still stand on
the rocky islets of the Yang-tse-Kiang ; they are

AN ISLAND MONASTERY.

XIX.] THE CITY OF HEAVEN. 203
Buddhist monasteries, and are known as Orphan
Rock, Golden Island, and Silver Island. And they
are very picturesque features of the river scenery.
At the beginning of this chapter Marco has told
us about the conquest of the province of Manzi, with
the surrender of Kinsay, its capital : he now describes
Kinsay itself — the name means " The City of
Heaven " — which, he says, was " beyond dispute the
finest and the noblest in the world."
First and foremost, the city is so great that it hath an
hundred miles of compass. And there are in it twelve
thousand bridges of stone, for the most part so' lofty that a
great fleet could pass beneath them. And let no man
marvel that there are so many bridges, for you see that the
whole city stands as it were in the water and surrounded
by water, so that a great many bridges are required to
give free passage about it. And though the bridges be so
high, the approaches are so well contrived that carts and
horses do cross them.
There are in this city twelve guilds of the different crafts,
and each guild has twelve thousand houses in the occupa
tion of its workmen. Each of these houses contains at
least twelve men, whilst some contain twenty and some
forty — not that these are all masters, but inclusive of the
journeymen who work under the masters. And yet all
these craftsmen had full occupation, for many other cities
of the kingdom are supplied from this city with what they
require. The number and wealth of the merchants, and the
amount of goods that passed through their hands, was so
enormous that no man could form a just estimate thereof
And I should have told you, with regard to those masters of

204 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch,
the different crafts who are at the head of such houses as
I have mentioned, that neither they nor their wives ever
touch a piece of work with their own hands, but live as
nicely and delicately as if they were kings and queens.
The wives indeed are most dainty and angelical creatures !
Moreover, it was an ordinance laid down by the King that
every man should follow his father's business and no other,
no matter if he possessed one hundred thousand bezants.
Inside the city there is a lake which has a compass of
some thirty miles : and all round it are erected beautiful
palaces and mansions, of the richest and most exquisite
structure that you can imagine, belonging to the nobles of
the city. There are also on its shores many abbeys and
churches of the Idolaters. In the middle of the lake are
two islands, on each of which stands a rich, beautiful, and
spacious edifice, furnished in such style as to seem fit for
the palace of an emperor. And when any one of the
citizens desired to hold a marriage feast, or to give any
other entertainment, it used to be done at one of these
palaces. And everything would be found there ready to
order, such as silver plate, trenchers and dishes, napkins
and tablecloths, and whatever else was needful. The King
made this provision for the gratification of his people, and
the place was open to every one who desired to give an
entertainment. Sometimes there would be at these palaces
an hundred different parties; some holding a banquet,
others celebrating a wedding ; and yet all would find good
accommodation in the different apartments and pavilions,
and that in so well-ordered a manner that one party was
never in the way of another.
The houses of the city are provided with lofty towers of
stone, in which articles of value are stored for fear of fire ;
for most of the houses themselves are of timber, and fires
are very frequent in the city.
Since the Great Kaan occupied the city, he has ordained

GOLDEN ISLAND.

XIX.] NIGHT-WATCHMEN. 205
that each of the twelve thousand bridges should be pro
vided with a guard of ten men, in case of any disturbance,
or of any being so rash as to plot treason or insurrection
against him. Each guard is provided with a hollow instru
ment of wood and with a metal basin, and with a time
keeper to enable them to know the hour of the day
or night. And so when one hour of the night is past,
the sentry strikes one on the wooden instrument and
one on the basin, so that the whole quarter of the city
is made aware that one hour of the night is gone. At
the second hour he gives two strokes, and so on, keeping
always wide awake and on the lookout. In the morning
again, from the sunrise, they begin to count anew, and
strike one hour as they did in the night, and so on hour
after hour.
Part of the watch patrols the quarter, to see if any
hght or fire is burning after the lawful hours ; if they find
any they mark the door, and in the morning the owner
is summoned before the magistrates, and unless he can
plead a good excuse he is punished. Also if they find
any one going about the streets at unlawful hours they
arrest him, and in the morning they bring him before the
magistrates. If they see that any house has caught fire,
they immediately beat upon that wooden instrument to
give the alarm, and this brings together the watchmen
from the other bridges to help to extinguish it, and to
save the goods of the merchants or others, either by
removing them to the towers above mentioned, or by
putting them in boats and transporting them to the islands
in the lake. For no citizen dare-= leave his house at
night, or to come near the fire ; only those who own the
property, and those watchmen who flock to help, of whom
there shall come one or two thousand at the least.
Moreover, within the city there is an eminence on which
stands a tower, and at the top of the tower is hung a

206 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch,
slab of wood. Whenever fire or any other alarm breaks
out in the city, a man who stands there with a mallet in
his hand beats upon the slab, making a noise that is
heard to a great distance. So when the blows upon this
slab are heard, everybody is aware that fire has broken
out, or that there is some other cause of alarm.
You must know also that the city of Kinsay has some
three hundred baths, the water of which is supplied by
springs. They are hot baths, aod the people take great
delight in them, frequenting them several times a month,
for they are very cleanly in their persons. They are the
finest and largest baths in the world, large enough for
one hundred persons to bathe together.
The people of this country have a custom, that as soon
as a child is born they write down the day and hour and
the planet and sign under which its birth has taken place,
so that every one among them knows the day of his birth.
And when any one intends a journey he goes to the
astrologers, and gives the particulars of his nativity, in
order to learn whether he shall have good luck or no.
Sometimes they will say No, and in that case the journey
is put off till such day as the astrologer may recommend.
These astrologers are very skilful at their business, and
often their words come to pass, so the people have great
faith in them.
There is another thing I must tell you. It is the custom
for every burgess of this city, and in fact for every description
of person in it, to write over his door his own name, the
name of his wife, and those of his children, his slaves, and
all the inmates of his house, and also the number of animals
that he keeps. And if any one dies in the house then the
name of that person is erased, and if any child is born its
name is added. So in this way the Sovereign is able to
know exactly the population of the city. .
There exists in this city the palace of the King who

XIX.] A HUGE PALACE. 207
fled, him who was Emperor of Manzi, and that is the
greatest palace in the world, as I shall tell you more
particularly. For you must know its demesne hath a
compass of ten miles, all enclosed with lofty battlemented
walls; and inside the walls are the finest and most
delectable gardens upon the earth, and filled too with the
finest fruits. There are numerous fountains in it also, and
lakes full of fish. In the middle is the palace itself, a great
and splendid building. It contains twenty great and hand
some halls, one of which is more spacious than the rest,
and affords room for a vast multitude to dine. It is all
painted in gold, with many histories and representations
of beasts and birds, of knights and dames, and many
marvellous things. It forms a really magnificent spectacle,
for over all the walls and all the ceiling you can see nothing
but paintings in gold. And besides these halls the palace
contains one thousand large and handsome chambers, all
painted in gold and divers colours.
The position of the city is such that it has on one side
a lake of fresh and exquisitely clear water (already spoken
of), and on the other a very large river. The waters of
the latter fiU a number of canals of all sizes which run
through the different quarters of the city, carry away all
impurities, and then enter the lake, whence they issue
again and flow to the Ocean, thus producing a most
excellent atmosphere. By means of these channels, as
weU as by the streets, you can go all about the city. But
the streets and canals are so wide and spacious that carts
on the one and boats on the other can readily pass to and
fro, conveying necessary supplies to the inhabitants.
At the opposite side the city is shut in by a channeh
perhaps forty miles in length, very wide, and full of water
derived from the river aforesaid, which was made by the
ancient kings of the country, in order to relieve the river
when flooding its banks. This serves also as a defence to

2o8 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
the city, and the earth dug from it has been thrown inwards,
forming a kind of mound enclosing the city.
In this part are the ten principal markets, though besides
these there are a vast number of others in the different
parts of the town. The former are all squares of half a
mile to the side, and along their front passes the main
street, which is forty paces in width, and runs straight from
end to end of the city, crossing many bridges of easy and
commodious approach. At every four miles of its length
comes one of those great squares of two miles in compass.
In each of the squares is held a market three days in the
week, frequented by forty or fifty thousand persons, who
bring thither for sale every possible necessary of life, so
that there is always an ample supply of every kind of meat
and game, and of ducks and geese an infinite quantity.
Those markets make a daily display of every kind of
vegetables and fruits ; and among the latter there are in
particular certain pears of enormous size, weighing as much
as ten pounds apiece, and the pulp of which is white and
fragrant like a confection ; besides peaches in their season
both yellow and white, of every delicate flavour.
From the Ocean Sea also come daily supphes of fish in
great quantity. Any one who should see the supply of
fish in the market would suppose it impossible that such
a quantity could ever be sold ; and yet in a few hours the
whole shall be cleared away ; so great is the number of
inhabitants who are accustomed to delicate living. Indeed,
they eat fish and flesh at the same meal.
To give you an example of the vast consumption in this
city, let us take the article of pepper ; and that will enable
you in some measure to estimate what must be the quantity
of victual, such as meat, wine, groceries, which have to
be provided for the general consumption. Now Messer
Marco heard it stated by one of the Great Kaan's officers
of customs, that the quantity of pepper introduced daily for

XIX.] PLEASURE-BARGES. 209
consumption into the city of Kinsay amounted to forty-
three loads, each load being equal to two hundred and
twenty-three pounds.
The natives of the city are men of peaceful character,
both from education and from the example of their kings,
whose disposition was the same. They know nothing of
handling arms, and keep none in their houses. You hear
of no feuds or noisy quarrels or dissensions of any kind
among them. Both in their commercial dealings and in
their manufactures they are thoroughly honest and truthful,
and there is such a degree of good-will and neighbourly
attachment among both men and women that you would
take the people who live in the same street to be all
one family.
They treat the foreigners who visit them for the sake of
trade with great cordiality, and entertain them in the most
winning manner, affording them every help and advice on
their business. But on the other hand they hate to see
soldiers, and not least those of the Great Kaan's garrisons,
regarding them as the cause of their having lost their native
kings and lords.
On the lake of which we have spoken there are numbers
of boats and barges of all sizes for parties of pleasure.
These will hold ten, fifteen, twenty, or more persons, and
are from fifteen to twenty paces in length, with flat bottoms
and ample breadth of beam, so that they always keep their
trim. Any one who desires to go a-pleasuring hires one
of these barges, which are always to be found completely
furnished with tables and chairs and all the other apparatus
for a feast. The roof forms a level deck, on which the
crew stand, and pole the boat along whithersoever may be
desired, for the lake is not more than two paces in depth.
The inside of this roof and the rest of the interior is covered
with ornamental painting in gay colours, with windows all
round that can be shut or opened, so that the party at table
14

2IO THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. XIX.
can enjoy all the beauty and variety of the prospects on
both sides as they pass along. And truly a trip on this
lake is a much more charming recreation than can be
enjoyed on land. For on the one side lies the city in its
entire length, so that the spectators in the barges, from the
distance at which they stand, take in the whole prospect
in its full beauty and grandeur, with its numberless palaces,
temples, monasteries, and gardens, full of lofty trees,
sloping to the shore. And the lake is never without a
number of other such boats, laden with pleasure parties ;
for it is the great delight of the citizens here, after they
have disposed of the day's business, to pass the afternoon
in enjoyment with the ladies of their families, either in
these barges or in driving about the city in carriages.
Of these latter we must also say something, for they afford
one mode of recreation to the citizens in going about the
town, as the boats afford another in going about the lake.
In the main street of the city you meet an infinite succes
sion of these carriages passing to and fro. They are long
covered vehicles, fitted with curtains and cushions, and
affording room for six persons; and they are in constant
request for ladies and gentlemen going on parties of
pleasure. In these they drive to certain gardens, where
they are entertained by the owners in pavilions erected on
purpose, and there they divert themselves the livelong day,
returning home in the evening- in those same carriages.

CHAPTER XX.
AN EXCURSION TO CIPANGO, OR JAPAN — INGENIOUS SHIPS
BUILT BY THE CHINESE — THE KHAN FAILS TO CONQUER
JAPAN — THE RHINOCEROS — HISTORY OF SAGAMONI BORCAN,
OR BUDDHA — RELIQUES OF ADAM.'
\T /"E have already seen that the first accounts
' ' ever written of the countries lying to the south
and east of China were the work of Marco Polo. But
he did not personally visit all these regions ; and
we must be careful not to forget this when reading
his account of the islands of the Indian Archipelago,
concerning which he wrote from the reports given
him by men who had recently come from those parts.
It should also be borne in mind that the people of
Europe knew almost nothing of the remote parts of
the world so described by Polo. Only vague and
misty reports from India had come to Europe when
Marco was writing his book. And considering that
the information given us by the great Venetian was
so derived, it must be admitted that it is all very
full and very accurate. He prefaces his account of
the " Isles of India " thus :
Having finished our discourse concerning those countries
wherewith our Book hath been occupied thus far, we are
211

212 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
now about to enter on the subject of India, and to tell
you of all the wonders thereof
And first let us speak of the ships in which merchants
go to and fro amongst the Isles of India.
These ships, you must know, are of fir timber. They
have but one deck, though each of them contains some
fifty or sixty cabins, wherein the merchants abide greatly
at their ease, every man having one to himself The ship
hath but one rudder, but it hath four masts ; and sometimes
they have two additional masts, which they ship and unship
at pleasure.
Moreover, the larger of their vessels have some thirteen
compartments or severances in the interior, made with
planking strongly framed, in case mayhap the ship should
spring a leak, either by running on a rock or by the blow
of a hungry whale, as shall betide ofttimes ; for when the
ship in her course by night sends a ripple back alongside
of the whale, the creature seeing the foam fancies there is
something to eat afloat, and makes a rush forward, whereby
it often shall stave in some part of the ship. In such case
the water that enters the leak flows to the bilge, which is
always kept clear ; and the mariners having ascertained
where the damage is, empty the cargo from that com
partment into those adjoining, for the planking is so well
fitted that the water cannot pass from one compartment to
another. They then stop the leak and replace the lading.
The fastenings are all of good iron nails and the sides are
double, one plank laid over the other, and caulked outside
and in. The planks are not pitched, for those people do
not have any pitch, but they daub the sides with another
matter, deemed by them far better than pitch ; it is this :
You see they take some lime and some chopped hemp, and
these they knead together with a certain wood-oil; and
when the three are thoroughly amalgamated, they hold like
any glue. And with this mixture they do pay their ships.

XM.J CHINESE JUNKS. 21 3
Each of their great ships requires at least two hundred
mariners, some of them three hundred. They are indeed
of great size, for one ship shall carry five or six thousand
baskets of pepper, and they used formerly to be larger than
they are now. And aboard these ships, you must know,
when there is no wind they use sweeps, and these sweeps
are so big that to pull them requires four mariners to each.
Every great ship has certain large barks or tenders attached
to it ; these are large enough to carry one thousand baskets
of pepper, and carry fifty or sixty mariners apiece, some of
them eighty or a hundred, and they are likewise moved by
oars ; they assist the great ship by towing her, at such times
as her sweeps are in use, or even when she is under sail,
if the wind be somewhat on the beam — not if the wind be
astern, for then the sails of the big ship would take the
wind out of those of the tenders, and she would run them
down. Each ship has two or three of these barks, but one
is bigger than the others. There are also some ten small
boats for the service of each great ship, to lay out the
anchors, catch fish, bring supplies aboard, and the like.
When the ship is under sail she carries these boats slung
to her sides. And the large tenders have their boats in
like manner.
When the ship has been a year in work and they wish
to repair her, they nail on a third plank over the first two,
and caulk and pay it well ; and when another repair is
wanted they nail on yet another plank, and so on year by
year as it is required. Howbeit, they do this only for a
certain number of years, and till there are six thicknesses
of planking. When a ship has come to have six planks on
her sides, one over the other, they take her no more on the
high seas, but make use of her for coasting as long as she
will last, and then they break her up.
Now that I have told you about the ships which sail
upon the Ocean Sea and among the Isles of India, let us

214 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
proceed to speak of the various wonders of India ; but first
and foremost I must tell you about a number of Islands
that there are in that part of the Ocean Sea where we now
are — I mean the Islands lying to the eastward. So let us
begin with an Island which is called Chipangu.
The ships of the Great Khan were better for naviga
tion in distant seas than those of Europe were in
Marco's time. They were better than the vessels
with which Columbus crossed the Atlantic and dis
covered the coast of America. But the Chinese have
made no progress since that day. They build their
junks, as they are called, just as they did one thousand
years ago. Still, it is to be noted that the Mongols,
or Chinese, invented and used water-tight compart
ments in ships ; and our modern ship-builders have
copied the Chinese in this respect at least, even
although the Chinese have not invented anything of
importance to mariners since then.
Now let us see what Marco has to say about Japan ;
for that is the country which he names Chipangu,
and which was variously known afterwards, in those
days of spelling by sound, as Cipango, Zipangu, and
Zumpango. Marco is describing to us the countries subject to
the Great Khan ; and Cipango was interesting to him
because Kublai Khan had lately sent an expedition
against it. He says :
Chipangu is an Island towards the east in the high seas,

XX.] A GOLDEN PALACE. 21 5
fifteen hundred miles distant from the Continent ; and a
very great Island it is.
The people are white, civilised, and well-favoured. They
are Idolaters, and are dependent on nobody. And I can
tell you the quantity of gold they have is endless ; for
they find it in their own Islands, and the King does not
allow it to be exported. Moreover, few merchants visit
this country because it is so far from the mainland, and
thus it comes to pass that their gold is abundant beyond
all measure.
I will tell you a wonderful thing about the Palace of the
Lord of that Island. You must know that he hath a great
Palace which is entirely roofed with fine gold, just as our
churches are roofed with lead, insomuch that it would
scarcely be possible to estimate its value. Moreover, all
the pavement of the Palace and the floors of the chambers
are entirely of gold, in plates like slabs of stone, a good
two fingers thick ; and the windows also are of gold ; so that
altogether the richness of this Palace is past all bounds and
all belief
They have also pearls in abundance, which are of a
rose colour, but fine, big, and round, and quite as valuable
as the white ones. In this Island some of the dead are
buried, and others are burnt. When a body is burnt, they
put one of these pearls in the mouth, for such is their
custom. They have also quantities of other precious
stones. Cublay, the Grand Kaan who now reigneth, having
heard much of the immense wealth that was in this Island,
formed a plan to get possession of it. For this purpose
he sent two of his Barons with a great navy, and a great
force of horse and foot. These Barons were able and
valiant men, one of them called Abacan and the other
Vonsainchin, and they weighed with all their company
from the ports of Zayton and Kinsay, and put out to sea.

2l6 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
They sailed until they reached the Island aforesaid, and
there they landed, and occupied the open country and the
villages, but did not succeed in getting possession of any
city or castle.
Marco Polo next proceeds to explain why the army
of the Great Khan did not succeed in conquering the
kingdom of Cipango. He says, that there was a
bitter jealousy existing between the two Barons in
command of the expedition, " so that one would do
nothing to help the other." Consequently, when a
storm arose, the fleet was scattered and a great many
of the vessels were lost. About thirty thousand men
took refuge on an uninhabited island, and when fair
weather came again the Emperor of Cipango sent a
fleet to take these fugitives. By some stratagem,
according to Marco Polo's account, the invaders got
possession of the ships of the enemy and set sail for
Cipango ; and advancing upon the chief city of the
empire under the banners of the absent forces of
the Emperor, they gained possession of the capital,
and were subsequently besieged there by the forces of
the rightful government of the country. After hold
ing out for seven months, the invaders surrendered
on condition that their lives should be spared and
that they should never leave the island.
Among the other remarkable things told of Cipango,
by those who gave this information to Marco Polo,
was, that eight of the garrison of one of the fortifi-

XX. J A STRANGE TALISMAN. 217
cations taken by the Mongols possessed a charm
which prevented their captors from cutting off their
heads, as had been attempted. This charm consisted
of certain stones inserted under the skin of their flesh,
" and the virtue of these stones was such that those
who wore them could never perish by steel. So when
the Barons heard of this, they ordered the men to be
beaten to death with clubs. And after their death the
stones were extracted from the bodies of all, and were
highly prized." In Marco's time, and indeed up to
a very recent period, charms of this sort were common
among partly civilised nations.
It was this part of Marco's story that was greatly
disbelieved in Europe, when he returned to tell of the
wonders he had seen in the Far East. Possibly, his
account of the marvellous adventures of the Khan's
generals in Cipango threw doubt on his whole story.
The expedition was a failure, and it is hkely that each
of the leaders attempted to put the blame upon the
other : the result was a long and curious tale of
adventure, which, although you may some day like to
read it for yourselves, need not be told here.
But the marvels of the fabled island of Cipango
took strong hold of the European imagination after
a while. As we have already said, Columbus expected
to reach India and Cathay by sailing westward, and
one of the objects of his search was the rich island of
Cipango. When he happened on those islands which

2l8 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
he called mistakenly the West Indies, he was afraid
that he had missed Cipango, and he asked the natives
where the land of gold (Cipango) was situated ; when
they pointed to the south, he made up his mind that
he had sailed by the northern point of Cipango and
had fallen upon one of the Indian islands. Later on,
in 1498, after the discovery of America, John
Cabot and his son Sebastian sailed on an expe
dition into the west, and they too were searching for
the wealthy island of Cipango, which of course they
never found.
Marco gives glowing accounts of the great maritime
cities of Kinsay and Zayton, on the eastern and south
eastern coast of China. Hangchau is the modern
name of Kinsay, which, in Marco's time, was a
port of the very first importance. It is the capital
of Chinkiang. Zayton, which lies south of Hangchau,
and is now known as Chinchau, or Tsinchau, was
the port from which the Khan's fleets sailed for the
capture of Japan ; and from that port also sailed
Marco Polo and his father and uncle on their final
return to Europe, when they took with them the
bride of the Persian Khan. The city was famous,
among other things, for a peculiar, rich, and glossy
silk, which was called satin, from a change of the
name, Zayton, or Zaituni, where it was made and
exported. In the same way, calico takes its name
from the Indian city Calicut, and cambric from

XX.] COCHIN CHINA. 219
Cambrai. Kinsay and Zayton were also objects of
Columbus' search on his first and second voyages.
Another region in the eastern archipelago noted
by Marco is Cochin China, which he calls Chamba.
Cochin China was conquered by the Great Khan,
and Marco visited the country in 1285, he says.
At that time, according to Marco Polo, the king
had a great many wives ; and he also had, " between
sons and daughters, three hundred and twenty-six
children, of whom at least one hundred and fifty
were men fit to carry arms." Of the productions of
the country he writes :
There are very great numbers of elephants in this
kingdom, and they have lignaloes in great abundance.
They have also extensive forests of the wood called Bonus,
which is jet black, and of which chessmen and pen-cases
are made.
Elephants are still very numerous in Cochin China ;
and ebony, the jet-black wood of which Marco speaks,
is also brought from there. We must understand
that lignaloes is the antique name for aloes-wood —
a vegetable product from which is prepared the drug
known in medicine as aloes.
The other countries mentioned by Marco are Java,
of which he gives a very meagre account ; Sumatra,
which he calls " Java the Less " ; and divers other
islands, which are difficult for us now to identify on

220 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
the modern map. Concerning the strange things he
saw in Sumatra, Marco says :
This also is an independent kingdom, and the people
have a language of their own ; but they are just like beasts,
without laws or religion. They call themselves subjects of
the Great Kaan, but they pay him no tribute ; indeed, they
are so far away that his men could not go thither. Still, all
these Islanders declare themselves to be his subjects, and
sometimes they send him curiosities as presents. There
are wild elephants in the country, and numerous unicorns,
which are very nearly as big. They have hair hke that of
a buffalo, feet like those of an elephant, and a horn in the
middle of the forehead, which is black and very thick.
They do no mischief, however, with the horn, but with the
tongue alone; for this is covered all over with long and
strong prickles, and when savage with any one they crush
him under their knees and then rasp him with their tongue.
The head resembles that of a wild boar, and they carry it
ever bent toward the ground. They delight much to abide
in mire and mud. 'Tis a passing ugly beast to look upon.
There are also monkeys here in great numbers and of
sundry kinds, and goshawks as black as crows. These are
very large birds and capital for fowling.
I may tell you, moreover, that when people bring home
pygmies which they allege to come from India, 'tis all a lie
and a cheat. For those little men, as they call them, are
manufactured on this Island, and I will tell you how. You
see there is on the Island a kind of monkey which is very
small, and has a face just like a man's. They take these,
and pluck out all the hair except the hair of the beard and
on the breast, and then they dry them and stuff them and
daub them with saffron and other things until they look
like men. But you see it is all a cheat ; for nowhere in

THE THREE ASIATIC RHINOCEROSES: INDIAN (UPPER), SUMATRAN
(LOWER), JAVANESE (MIDDLE).

XX.] A WICKED CUSTOM. 221
India nor anywhere else in the world were there ever men
seen so small as these pretended pygmies.
Marco confounds the rhinoceros with the fabulous
unicorn, as many other writers of the olden time have
done. The unicorn, which is represented as " fighting
for the crown " with the lion, \\as something like
the horse, with a single horn in his forehead. There
was no such creature ; but the rhinoceros, then very
little known, was mistaken for the unicorn. The
Sumatra rhinoceros, however, usually has two horns ;
it is the Indian beast of this family that has but one
horn. If Marco Polo had with his own eyes seen
the so-called unicorn of Sumatra, he doubtless would
have been very much puzzled.
Marco then makes us shudder by relating a
horrible practice, in which the people of Dagroian,
indulged (their island was close to Sumatra) :
I will tell you a wicked custom of theirs. When one of
them is ill they send for their sorcerers, and put the
question to them, whether the sick man shall recover of his
sickness or no. If they say that he will recover, then they
let him alone till he gets better. But if the sorcerers fore
tell that the sick man is to die, the friends send for certain
judges of theirs to put to death him who has thus been
condemned by the sorcerers to die. These men come, and
lay so many clothes upon the sick man's mouth that they
suffocate him. And when he is dead they have him cooked,
and gather together all the dead man's kin, and eat bin;
And when they have eaten him, they collect his bones and

222 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
put them in fine chests, and carry them away, and place
them in caverns among the mountains where no beast nor
other creature can get at them. And you mu^ know also
that if they take prisoner a man of another country, and he
cannot pay a ranson in coin, they kill him and eat him
straightway. It is a very evil custom and a parlous.
When Marco gets to Ceylon (which he calls Seilan),
he narrates the history of Sagamoni Borcan, or
Buddha, and of the beginning of idolatry.
You must know that in the Island of Seilan there is an
exceeding high mountain ; it rises right up so steep and
precipitous that no one could ascend it, were it not that
they have taken and fixed to it several great and massive
iron chains, so disposed that, by help of these, men are able
to mount to the top. And I tell you they say that on this
mountain is the sepulchre of Adam our first parent ; at
least that is what the Saracens say. But the Idolaters say
that it is the sepulchre of Sagamoni Borcan, before whose
time there were no idols. They hold him to have been
the best of men, a great saint in fact, according to their
fashion, and the first in whose name idols were made.
He was the son, as their story goes, of a great and
wealthy King. And he was of such an holy temper that
he would never listen to any worldly talk, nor would he
consent to be king. And when the father saw that his son
would not be king, nor yet take any part in affairs, he took
it sorely to heart. And first he tried to tempt him with
great promises, offering to crown him king, and to surrender
all authority into his hands. The son, however, would
none of his offers ; so the father was in great trouble, and
all the more that he had no other son but him, to whom he
might bequeath the kingdom at his own death. So, after

XX.] THE STORY OF BUDDHA. 223
taking thought on the matter, the King caused a great
palace to be built, and placed his son therein, and caused him
to be waited on there by a number of maidens, the most
beautiful that could anywhere be found. And he ordered
them to divert themselves with the Prince, and to sing and
dance before him, so as to draw his heart towards worldly
enjoyments. But 'twas all of no avail. And I assure you
he was so staid a youth that he had never gone out of the
palace, and thus he had never seen a dead man, nor any
one who was not hale and sound; for the father never
allowed any man that was aged or infirm to come into his
presence. It came to pass, however, one day that the young
gentieman took a ride, and by the roadside he beheld a
dead man. The sight dismayed him greatly, as he never
had seen such a sight before. Incontinently he demanded
of those who were with him what thing that was, and they
told him it was a dead man. " How, then," quoth the
King's son, " do all men die ? " " Yea, forsooth," said they.
Whereupon the young gentleman said never a word, but
rode on right pensively. And after he had ridden a good
way he fell in with a very aged man who could no longer
walk, and had not a tooth in his head, having lost all
because of his great age. And when the King's son beheld
this old man, he asked what that might mean, and where
fore the man could not walk. Those who were with him
rephed that it was through old age the man could walk no
longer and had lost all his teeth. And so when the King's
son had thus learned about the dead man and about the
aged man, he turned back to his palace and said to himself
. that he would abide no longer in this evil world, but would go
in search of Him Who dieth not and Who had created him.
So what did he one night but take his departure from the
palace privily, and betake himself to certain lofty and pathless
mountains. And there he did abide, leading a life of great
hardship and sanctity, and keeping great abstinence, just as

224 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
if he had been a Christian. And when he died, they found
his body and brought it to his father. And when the
father saw dead before him that son whom he loved better
than himself, he was near going distraught with sorrow.
And he caused an image in the similitude of his son to be
wrought in gold and precious stones, and caused all his
people to adore it. And they all declared him to be a
god ; and so they still say.
They tell, moreover, that he hath died fourscore and four
times. The first time he died as a man, and came to life
again as an ox ; and then he died as an ox and came to
life again as a horse, and so on until he had died fourscore
and four times ; and every time he became some kind of
animal. But when he died the eighty-fourth time they say
he became a god. And they do hold him for the greatest
of all their gods. And they tell that the aforesaid image of
him was the first idol that the Idolaters ever had; and
from that have originated all the other idols. And this
befell in the Island of Seilan in India.
The Idolaters come thither on pilgrimage from very long
distances and with great devotion ; and they maintain fhat
the monument on the mountain is that of the King's son,
according to the story I have been telling you; and that
the teeth, and the hair, and the dish that are there, were
those of the same King's son, whose name was Sagamoni
Borcan, or Sagamoni the Saint. But the Saracens also
come thither on pilgrimage in great numbers, and they say
that it is the sepulchre of Adam our first father, and that the
teeth, and the hair, and the dish were those of Adam.
Whose they were in truth God knoweth ; howbeit,
according to the Holy Scripture of our Church, the sepulchre
of Adam is not in that part of the world.
Now it befell that the Great Kaan heard how on that
mountain there was the sepulchre of our first father Adam,
and that some of his hair and of his teeth, and the dish from

XX.] RELIQUES OF ADAM? 22$
which he used to eat, were still preserved there. So he
thought he would get hold of them somehow or another,
and despatched a great embassy for the purpose, in the
year of Christ 1284. The ambassadors, with a great com
pany, travelled on by sea and by land until they arrived
at the Island of Seilan, and presented themselves before
the King. And they were so urgent with him that they
succeeded in getting two of the grinder teeth, which were
passing great and thick ; and they also got some of the hair,
and the dish from which that personage used to eat, which
is of a very beautiful green porphyry. And when the Great
Kaan's ambassadors had attained the object for which they
had come they were greatly rejoiced, and returned to their
Lord. And when they drew near to the great city of
Cambaluc, where the Great Kaan was staying, they sent
him word that they had brought back that for which he had
sent them. On learning this, the Great Kaan was passing
glad, and ordered all the ecclesiastics and others to go forth
to meet these reliques, which he was led to believe were
those of Adam.
And why should I make a long story of it ? In sooth,
the whole population of Cambaluc went forth to meet those
rehques, and the eccelesiastics took them over and carried
them to the Great Kaan, who received them with great joy
and reverence. And they find it written in their Scriptures
that the vurtue of that dish is such that if food for one man
be put therein it shall become enough for five men ; and
the Great Kaan averred that he had proved the thing and
found that it was really true.

IS

CHAPTER XXI.
THE WONDERS OF INDIA — PEARL-FISHERS AND THEIR PERILS —
A STORY LIKE ONE IN "THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAIN
MENTS" — HUNTING DIAMONDS WITH EAGLES.
MARCO'S description of the pearl-fishery of
Ceylon is not only very interesting, but also
truthful. The general features of the pearl-fishery
of to-day are the same as in his time. The region,
to which Marco gives the name of "Maabar,"
is probably that which we now know as the Coro-
mandel coast. The point which he calls " Bettelar " is
undoubtedly Patlam, on the coast of Ceylon. The
shark-charmers, of whom Marco speaks, are still in
existence. They pretend to be able to charm the
sharks so that the latter will not attack the divers.
The secret of this charm is usually bequeathed from
father to son, and never goes out of the family ; and
it is believed by everybody, including foreigners, that
these shark -charmers do really keep away the sharks.
Marco says :
When you leave the Island of Seilan and sail westward
about sixty miles, you come to the great Province of
226

Ch. XXI.] PEARL-FISHERS. 227
Maabar, which is styled India the Greater ; it is the
best of all the Indies, and is on the mainland.
In this Province there are five kings, who are own
brothers. I wiU tell you about each in turn. The Province
is the finest and noblest in the world.
At this end of the Province reigns one of those five Royal
Brothers, who is a crowned King, and his name is Sonder
Bandi Davar. In this kingdom they find very fine and
great pearls ; and I will tell you how they are got.
The sea here forms a gulf between the Island of Seilan
and the mainland. And all round this gulf the water has a
depth of no more than ten or twelve fathoms, and in some
places no more than two fathoms. The pearl-fishers take
their vessels, great and small, and proceed into this gulf,
where they stop from the beginning of April till the
middle of May. They go first to a place called
Bettelar, and then go sixty miles into the gulf Here
they cast anchor and shift from their large vessels into small
boats. The merchants divide into various companies, and
each of these must engage a number of men on wages, hiring
them for April and half of May. Of all the produce they
have first to pay the King, as his royalty, the tenth part.
And they must also pay those men who charm the great
fishes, to prevent them from injuring the divers whilst
engaged in seeking pearls under water, one twentieth part
of all that they take. These fish-charmers are termed
Abraiaman ; and their charm holds good for that day only,
for at night they dissolve the charm so that the fishes can
work mischief at their will. These Abraiaman know also
how to charm beasts and birds and every living thing.
When the men have got into the small boats they jump into
the water and dive to the bottom, which may be at a depth
of from four to twelve fathoms, and there they remain as
long as they are able. And there they find the shells that
contain the pearls, and these they put into a net bag tied

228 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
t
round the waist, and mount up to the surface with them,
and then dive anew. When they can't hold their breath
any longer they come up again, and after a little down they
go once more, and so they go on all day. These shells are
in fashion like oysters or sea-hoods. And in these shells
are found pearls, great and small, of every kind, sticking in
the flesh of the shell-fish.
In this manner pearls are fished in great quantities, for
thence in fact come the pearls which are spread all over the
world. And the King of that State hath a very great receipt
and treasure from his dues upon those pearls.
Now we come to a marvellous tale of diamonds,
and the way they are obtained, which sounds so
much like a chapter out of "The Arabian Nights'
Entertainments " that we must copy it entire. Marco
says that, after one leaves Maabar and travels about
one thousand miles in a northerly direction, one
comes to the kingdom of Mutfili. No such kingdom
now exists, and it is supposed that by this was meant
Motupall6, in the Madras Presidency. It was in
Mutfili that the Golconda diamonds were found ;
and this is the tale told to Marco of the finding
of them :
It is in this kingdom that diamonds are got ; and I will
tell you how. There are certain lofty mountains in those
parts ; and when the winter rains fall, which are very heavy,
the waters come roaring down the mountains in great
torrents. When the rains are over, and the waters from the
mountains have ceased to flow, they search the beds of the
torrents and find plenty of diamonds. In summer also there

XXI.] HOW TO RAISE DIAMONDS. 229
are plenty to be found in the mountains, but the heat of
the sun is so great that it is scarcely possible to go thither,
nor is there then a drop of water to be found. Moreover,
in those mountains great serpents are rife to a marvellous
degree, besides other vermin, and this owing to the great
heat. The serpents are also the most venomous in exist
ence, insomuch that any one going to that region runs
fearful peril ; for many have been destroyed by these evil
reptiles. Now among these mountains there are certain great and
deep valleys, to the bottom of which there is no access.
Wherefore the men who go in search of the diamonds take
with them pieces of flesh, as lean as they can get, and these
they cast into the bottom of the valley. Now there are
numbers of white eagles that haunt those mountains and
feed upon the serpents. When the eagles see the meat
thrown down they pounce upon it, and carry it up to some
rocky hill-top where they begin to rend it. But there are
men on the watch, and as soon as they see that the eagles
have settied they raise a loud shouting to drive them away.
And when the eagles are thus frightened away the men
recover the pieces of meat, and find them full of diamonds
which have stuck to the meat down in the bottom. For the
abundance of diamonds down there in the depths of the
valleys is astonishing, but nobody can get down ; and if one
could, it would be only to be incontinentiy devoured by the
serpents which are so rife there.
There is also another way of getting the diamonds. The
people go to the nests of those white eagles, of which there
are many, and find plenty of diamonds which the birds have
swallowed in devouring the meat that was cast into the
valleys. And when the eagles themselves are taken,
diamonds are found in their stomachs.
So now I have told you three different ways in which
these stones are found. No other country but this kingdom

230 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. XXL
of Mutfili produces them, but there they are found both abun
dantly and of large size. Those that are brought to our part
of the world are only the refuse, as it were, of the finer and
larger stones. For the flower of the diamonds and other
large gems, as well as the largest pearls, are all carried to
the Great Kaan and other Kings and Princes of those
regions ; in truth, they possess all the great treasures of the
world. The story of the eagles and the diamonds is one
of the oldest in literature. You will find it in the
adventures of Sindbad the Sailor, in "The Arabian
Nights' Entertainments " ; and as it is very unlikely
that Marco Polo ever saw that book, which had not
been translated in his time, we may assume that his
story and that of Sindbad had a common origin among
the Persians ; for it appears in Persian, Chinese,
Arabian, Jewish, and other Oriental legends. In
Herodotus, too, we find a similar narrative, only
the substance got in this indirect way is cinnamon ;
and the Arabs procured it by a kindred device.

CHAPTER XXII.
A PEEP INTO AFRICA — THE MYTHICAL ROC AND ITS MIGHTY
EGGS — THE EXPLOITS OF KING CAIDU'S DAUGHTER — CON
CLUSION.
' I ""HE eastern coast of Africa was an unknown
-*- region in Marco Polo's day ; and when he had
travelled so far to the southern end of Asia that he
began to get glimpses of Africa, he could not believe
that he heard reports from the eastern side of the
African Continent, of which he already knew some
thing, as it formed the southern border of the
Mediterranean Sea. So he speaks of Madagascar
(which he calls Madeigascar) and Zanzibar (which he
calls Zanghibar) as though they were parts of India.
If we remember that Marco was the first writer,
European or Asiatic, to mention Madagascar by that
name, and almost the first to give the world any
information concerning that unknown land, we may
overlook the fact that his geography is sometimes
mixed. But his descriptions of the people and the
animals of Eastern Africa are pretty accurate, as thus :
They are all black, and go naked, with only a little
covering for decency. Their hair is as black as pepper, and
231

232

THE STORY OF MARCO POLO.

[Ch.

so frizzly that even with water you can scarcely straighten it.
And their mouths are so large, their noses so turned up,
their lips so thick, their eyes so big and blood-shot, that they
look like very devils ; they are, in fact, so hideously ugly tha
the world has nothing to show more horrible.
There are also lions that are black and quite different from
ours. And their sheep are all exactly alike in colour — the

body all white and the head black ; no other kind of sheep
is found there, you may rest assured. They have also many
giraffes. This is a beautiful creature, and I must give you a
description of it. Its body is short and somewhat sloped
to the rear, for its hind legs are short, whilst the fore legs
and the neck are both -very long, and thus its head stands
about three paces from the ground. The head is small,
and the animal is not at all mischievous. Its colour is
all red and white in round spots, and it is really a beau
tiful object.

XXII.] THE MYTHICAL ROC. 233
The women of this Island are the ugliest in the world,
with their great mouths and big eyes and thick noses. The
people live on rice and flesh and milk and dates ; and they
make wine of dates and of rice and of good spices and sugar.
There is a great deal of trade, and many merchants and
vessels go thither.
To Abyssinia, which he calls Abash, Marco devotes
a few pages, where we find that branding in the face
with a hot iron forms part of the rite of baptism
among the Abyssinian Christians :
The Christians in this country bear three marks on the
face ; one from the forehead to the middle of the nose, and
one on either cheek. These marks are made with a hot
iron, and form part of their baptism ; for after that they
have been baptised with water, these three marks are made,
partly as a token of gentility, and partly as the completion
of their baptism. There are also Jews in the country, and
these bear two marks, one on either cheek ; and the Saracens
have but one, to wit, on the forehead, extending half-way
down the nose.
It was somewhere in Eastern Africa that Marco
heard of the existence of that marvellous and gigantic
bird, the Roc. Stories like this, no doubt, served to
shake the faith of the Venetians in the truth of the
tales of the Polos when they returned to their native
land. Marco gives us the tale here with some " grains
of salt," as you will see :
You must know that this Island lies so far south that
ships cannot go further south or visit other Islands in that

234 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
direction, except this one and that other of which we have
to tell you, called Zanghibar. This is because the sea-current
runs so strong towards the south that the ships which should
attempt it never would get back again. Indeed, the ships
of Maabar which visit this Island of Madeigascar, and that
other of Zanghibar, arrive thither with marvellous speed, for
great as the distance is they accomplish it in twenty days,
whilst the return voyage takes them more than three months.
This is because of the strong current running south, which
continues with such singular force and in the same direction
at all seasons.
'Tis said that in those other Islands to the south, which
the ships are unable to visit because this strong current
prevents their return, is found the bird Gryphon, which
appears there at certain seasons. The description given of
it is, however, entirely different from what our stories and
pictures make it. For persons who had been there and had
seen it told Messer Marco Polo that it was for all the world
like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size ; so big, in
fact, that its wings covered an extent of thirty paces, and
its quills were twelve paces long, and thick in proportion.
And it is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons
and carry him high into the air, and drop him so that he is
smashed to pieces ; having so killed him, the bird gryphon
swoops down upon him and eats him at leisure. The
people of those isles call the bird Rue, and it has no other
name. So I wot not if this be the real gryphon, or if there
be another manner of bird as great. But this I can tell
you for certain, that they are not half lion and half bird, as
our stories do relate ; but enormous as they be, they are
fashioned just like an eagle.
The Great Kaan sent to those parts to inquire about
these curious matters, and the story was told by those who
went thither. He also sent to procure the release of an
envoy of his who had been despatched thither, and had

XXII.] A COLOSSAL FEATHER. 235
been detained ; so both those envoys had many wonderful
things to tell the Great Kaan about those strange islands,
and about the birds I have just mentioned. They brought
(as I heard) to the Great Kaan a feather of the said Rue,
which was stated to measure ninety spans, whilst the quill
part was two palms in circumference — a marvellous object !
The Great Kaan was delighted with it, and gave great
presents to those who brought it. They also brought two
boar's tusks, which weighed more than fourteen pounds
a piece ; and you may gather how big the boar must have
been that had teeth like that ! They related, indeed, that
there were some of these boars as big as a great buffalo.
There are also numbers of giraffes and wild asses ; and, in
fact, a marvellous number of wild beasts of strange aspect.
The measurements, which were common in Marco
Polo's time, are not much in use nowadays ; but if
the reader wants to figure out the dimensions of
Marco's big bird, a pace may be reckoned as equal
to two and a half feet, a span to nine inches, and
a palm to four inches.
The fable of the Rukh, or Roc, is one of the oldest
in the world— as old as that other which relates the
adventures of the men who got their diamonds from
the valley of the serpents in such curious fashion ;
and we find it in the story of Sindbad the Sailor.
But scientific research has proved that some such
colossal bird did exist in ancient times. There have
been found in Madagascar the remains of an immense
bird, and also a fossil egg of the monster. This egg,
which is in the British Museum, is thirteen and a

236 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
quarter inches long and six and a half inches in
diameter ; its contents would be equal to two and
a half gallons. If the bird were constructed on the
plan of the eagle, for instance, its egg, comparing it
with that of the eagle, would require a bird so big
that its quills would be ten feet long and its wings
would spread over thirty feet.
In New Zealand have been found the bones of a
great bird called the Moa by the natives ; this was a
lazy and stupid creature, incapable of flying, and not
unhke the ostrich in structure and habit The Moa
{Dinornis, as it is named by the scientists) was over
ten feet high. Not long since, there were found, along
side of the remains of a Moa, the bones of a still
bigger bird which resembled the eagle, and was
evidently a bird of prey twice as big as the Moa.
If this creature lived on the Moa as its prey, why
may not some other gigantic bird, like the Roc, have
preyed on the great bird whose egg and bones were
found in Madagascar?
The next succeeding chapters of Marco Polo's book
are taken up chiefly with accounts of the wars of
Kublai Khan, beginning with the battle fought
between him and his mutinous nephew, the King of
Caidu. With these we need not concern ourselves,
though the exploits of Caidu's valiant daughter,
described in Marco's quaint language, are worth
notice :

XXII.] KING caidu's DAUGHTER. 237
Now you must know that King Caidu had a daughter
whose name was Aijaruc, which in the Tartar is as much
as to say "The Bright Moon." This damsel was very
beautiful, but also so strong and brave that in all her father's
realm there was no man who could outdo her in feats of
strength. In all trials she showed greater strength than any
man of them.
Her father often desired to give her in marriage, but she
would none of it. She vowed she would never marry till
she found a man who could vanquish her in every trial;
him she would wed, and none else. And when her father
saw how resolute she was, he gave a formal consent in their
fashion that she should marry whom she list and when she
list. The lady was so tall and muscular, so stout and
shapely withal, that she was almost like a giantess. She had
distributed her challenges over all the kingdoms, declaring
that whosoever should come to try a fall with her, it should
be on these conditions, viz. that if she vanquished him
she should win from him one hundred horses, and if he
vanquished her he should win her to wife. Hence many a
noble youth had come to try his strength against her, but
she beat them all ; and in this way she had won more than
ten thousand horses.
Now it came to pass in the year of Christ 1280, that there
presented himself a noble young gallant, the son of a rich
and puissant king, a man of prowess and valiance and great
strength of body, who had heard word of the damsel's
challenge, and came to match himself against her in the
hope of vanquishing her and winning her to wife. That he
greatly desired, for the young lady was passing fair. He too
was young and handsome, fearless and strong in every way,
insomuch that not a man in all his father's realm could vie
with him. So he came full confidently, and brought with
him one thousand horses to be forfeited if she should
vanquish him. Thus might she gain one thousand horses at

238 THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch.
a single stroke ! But the young gallant had such confidence
in his own strength that he counted securely to win her.
Now ye must know that King- Caidu and the Queen his
vrife, the mother of the stout damsel, did privily beseech
their daughter to let herself be vanquished. For they
greatly desired this prince for their daughter, seeing what a
noble youth he was, and the son of a great king. But the
damsel answered that never would she let herself be van
quished if she could help it ; if, indeed, he should get the
better of her, then she would gladly be his wife, according
to the wager, but not otherwise.
So a day was named for a great gathering at the Palace
of King Caidu, and the King and Queen were there. And
when all the company were assembled, for great numbers
flocked to see the match, the damsel first came forth in a
strait jerkin of sammet ; and then came forth the young
bachelor in a jerkin of sendal ; and a winsome sight they
were to see. When both had taken post in the middle of
the hall, they grappled each other by the arms, and wrestled
this way and that, but for a long time neither could get the
better of the other. At last, however, it so befell that the
damsel threw him right valiantly on the palace pavement.
And when he found himself thus thrown, and her standing
over him, great indeed was his shame and discomfiture.
He gat him up straightway, and without more ado departed
with all his company, and returned to his father full of
shame and vexation, that he who had never yet found a man
that could stand before him should have been thus worsted
by a girl ! And his one thousand horses he left behind him.
As to King Caidu and his wife, they were greatly annoyed,
as I can tell you ; for if they had had their will, this youth
should have won their daughter.
And ye must know that after this her father never went
on a campaign but she went with him. And gladly he took
her, for not a knight in all his train played such feats of

XXII.] RUSTICIANO'S EPILOGUE. 239
arms as she did. Sometimes she would quit her father's
side, and make a dash at the host of the enemy, and seize
some man thereout, as deftly as a hawk pounces on a bird,
and carry him to her father ; and this she did many a time.
Then Marco skips to the far North, and tells us
of the wandering Tatars of that region, and of the
manners and customs of Siberia.
His description of the far North made no such
profound impression on the mind of Europe as did
his account of the countries in the southern and
eastern parts of Asia, and it need not detain us.
Now we have come to the end of Marco Polo's
book, and cannot better close our extracts from it
than with the epilogue, or concluding address, which
Rusticiano, or Ramusio, or some of the earliest
copyists, put down here as a finish to the whole :
CONCLUSION.
And now ye have heard all that we can tell you about
the Tartars and the Saracens and their customs, and like
wise about the other countries of the world, as far as our
researches and information extend. Only we have said
nothing whatever about the Greater Sea and the provinces
that lie round it, although we know it thoroughly. But it
seems to me a needless and useless task to speak about
places which are visited by people every day. For there
are so many who sail all about that sea constantly, Venetians
and Genoese and Pisans, and many others, that everybody
knows all about it, and that is the reason that I pass it over
and say nothing of it.

240

THE STORY OF MARCO POLO. [Ch. XXII.

Of the manner in which we took our departure from the
Court of the Great Kaan you have heard at the beginning
of the Book, in that chapter where we told you of all the
vexation and trouble that Messer Maffeo and Messer Nicolo
and Messer Marco had about getting the Great Kaan's leave
to go ; and in the same chapter is related the lucky chance
that led to our departure. And you may be sure that but
for that lucky chance we should never have got away in
spite of all our trouble, and never have got back to our
country again. But I believe it was God's pleasure that we
should get back, in order that people might learn about the
things that the world contains. For according to what has
been said in the introduction at the beginning of the Book,
there never was a man, be he Christian or Saracen, or
Tartar or Heathen, who ever travelled over so much of the
world as did that noble and illustrious citizen of the City
of Venice, Messer Marco, the son of Messer Nicolo Polo.

INDEX

Abraiaman (shark-charmers),
227
Abyssinia (Abash), 233
Acre, 10
Adam, reliques of, 224
Africa, 231
Alau, 33, 57
Alexander the Great, 30 ; his
horse, Bucephalus, 61
Alligators, 171
Aloadin (the Old Man of the
Mountain), 55 ; his Assassins,
56
Aloes, 219
Anin, province of, 186
Ararat, Mount, 28
Arghun, Khan of Persia, 16
Armenia, 27
Artillery, siege, 199
Arzinga, city of, 27
Asbestos, 79
Assassins, the, 56
Bacsi, or conjurers, 103
Badakshan (Badashan), the gems
of, 60 ; horses of, 61

241

Bagdad, 33 ; the miserly Caliph
of, 34
Baiburt, 28
Bamboos, 106, 169
Bam-i-Duniah (" Roof of the
World "), 68
Barons, Kublai Khan's, 133, 137,
151
Basra (Bastra), 33
Baudas (Bagdad), 33
Bayan Hundred-Eyes, 197
Bengal, 196
Bettelar (Patlam), 226
Bezant, the, 150
Bolor, 68
Bucephalus, 61
Buddha, history of, 222
Buddhism, 65
Burmah, 196
Cacanfu (Hokianfu), city of,
194
Caidu, King, 113; his valiant
daughter, 237
Caliph of Bagdad, the miserly,
34 16

242

INDEX.

Camadi, city of, 47
Cambaluc (Khan-palik), 129, 161
Canal, the Great, 1 59
Cannabis Indica, 58
Caramoran (the Yellow River),
166
Caraonas (Hazaras), the, 48,
52
Carpini, Friar Piano, 2, 21
Cashmere, 63 ; conjurers of, 64
Casvin (Kazwin), city of, 44, 49
Caugigu (Laos), province of,
185
Ceylon, 222
Chamba (Cochin China), 219
Chandu (Xandu) palace, 12, 100,
105
Changlu, city of, 191
Cheetahs, 140
Chinangli (Thsinanfu), 194
Chinchau, 218
Chingintalas, 77
Chipangu, Cipango (Japan), 214
Christ, and the Three Magi, 40
Coal, 156
Cobbler, the one-eyed, 37
Cochin China, 219
Coiganju city, 197
Coleridge, S. T. (" In Xanadu "),
105
Coloman, province of, 186
Columbus, Christopher, 22
Column, the miraculous, 70
Conjurers, of Cashmere, 64 ;
weather-, 103 ; some of their
tricks, 107
Cooper, T. T., 171
Coromandel coast, the, 226
Crawford, F. Marion, 52

Cremation, 187, 215
Crocodiles, 171
Cuiju (Kweichau), province of,
187
Curzola, the battle of, 18
Dagroian island, 221
Derbend, or Derbent, 30
Devil-doctors, 175
Diamonds, how to get, 228
Dinornis (Moa), 236
Divining-rods, 85
Elephants, used in battle, 178 ;
in Cochin China, 219
Exorcists, 184
Facfur, King of Manzi, 196
Fata Morgana, 77
Fire-brigade, 205
Fire-worshippers, the, 40
Francolin, 47, 5 1
Fungul (Phungan), 187
Game laws, 145
Genoa, Marco a prisoner at, 19
Georgiania, kingdom of, 31
Ghelle, or Gil, 31
Gobi, or Shamo, Desert of, 73
Gog and Magog, 98
Golconda diamonds, 228
Golden Island, 203
Golden King, the, 164
Golden Palace, a, 215
Great Wall of China, the, 98
Gregory X., Pope, 10
Gryphon, the, 234
Guilds, 203
Hangchau, 203, 218

INDEX.

243

Hanway, Jonas, introduces um
brella into England, 123
Hassan-ben-Sabah, 58
Hazaras, the, 52
Hermenia (Armenia), 27
Hoang-Ho river, 166
Hokianfu, 190, 194
Hormos, city of, 53
Horses, Persian, 50
Hue, Abbe, 96
Huts, portable, 87
Ibn Batuta, 108
Idol-monasteries, 202
Istanit (Ispahan), 44, 49
Jahangir, Emperor, his Memoirs
quoted, no
Japan, 214
Java, 219
Jenghiz Khan, 7, 81 ; his death,
84
Jerboa ("Pharaoh's rat"), 87,
91
Jerusalem, 11
Junks, 212
Kaikhatu, Khan of Persia, 17
Kaiminfu, 12
Kaipingfu (City of Peace), 12,
100
Kazwin, 44, 49
Kemenfu, 12
Kenjanfu (Singanfu), 167
Kerman, kingdom of, 45
Keshican, Kublai's Barons, 137
Keshimur (Cashmere), 63
Kettledrums, 116, 119
Khan-palik (Cambaluc), 129

King, the Golden, 164
Kinsay (Hangchau), " the City of
Heaven," 203
Kisi, city of, 33
Kublai Khan, 7 ; his reception
of, and instructions to, the
Polos, 8, 9, 12; his titles, 9,
III; the sensible Marco, 13;
sends a mission to Persia, 17 ;
his palaces, 100, 126; his
mares, 102; his court j ugglers,
108 ; how he goes to war, 1 1 1 ;
defeats and slays Nayan, 115;
his naccaras, 116; how he
rewards his ofScers, 120; his
Tablets of Authority, 121 ; his
portrait, 124; his war-harness,
125 ; his evergreens, 127 ; how
he dines, 133 ; when he drinks,
135 ; liberal to his Barons, 136 •
a mighty hunter, 139; his
hawks and eagles, 140 ; the
luxury of sport, 143 ; his hunt
ing encampment, 144 ; his
paper money, 147 ; his system
of government — the Twelve
Barons, 151 ; his postmen, 152 ;
his stores of corn, and charity,
158, 159; how he passes the
time, 161 ; defeats King of
Mien and Bangala, 177 ; quells
Liytan 's rebellion, 192 ; con
quers Manzi, 196 ; adopts siege
artillery, 199 ; fails to conquer
Japan, 215; obtains the
" reliques " of Adam, 225 ; and
a roc's feather, 235
Kuhistan, 44, 49
Kukachin, the Lady, 16

244

INDEX.

Kurdistan, 44, 49
Kweichau, 187
Laos, 189
Layas, city of, 27
Levant, the, 6, 30
Lignaloes, 219
Linju, 193
Livre tournois, 50
Liytan, rebellion of, 192
Longfellow, poem of " Kambalu''
quoted, 35
Lop, or Lob, Desert of, 73
Lor (Luristan), 44, 49
Lost Property Officer, 142
Luristan, 44, 49
Maabar, 226
Madagascar (Madeigascar), 231
Magi, the Three, 39
Mangalai, Prince, 167
Mangonels, 199
Manzi, province of, 196
Matwanlin, the historian, 75
Melton, Edward, 109
Mien and Bangala, King of,
177
Mien, city of, 181
Milk, condensed, 89
Miracles, stories of, 36, 70
Moa (Dinornis), 236
Monasteries, idol-, 202
Mongols, the, 7
Motupall6 (Mutfili), 228
Mount Ararat, 28
Musk-deer, 94, 96
Naccara, the, 1 16, 1 19
Nayan, 112

Nestorians, 168
Noah's Ark, 28
Nogodar, 48
Old Man of the Mountain, 55 ;
his Assassins, 56
Ondanique, 46, 51, 77
Orphan Rock, 203
Ovis Poli, 68
Paipurth (Baiburt), 28
Pamir Steppes, the, 66
Paper money, 147
Parrot, Professor, 29
Parsees, 42
Pashai, province of, 62
Patlam, 226
Pearl-fishing, 227
Peking, 129
Persia, 17, 38 ; the eight king
doms of, 44
Petroleum, 28
Pharaoh's rats, 87
Pheasant, the Chinese, 95
Phungan, 190
Piju, 194
Poison-wind, the, 54
Polo, Maffeo, 2, 6, 199, 240
Polo, Marco, 2, 4 ; Kublai's wel
come to, 12 ; a linguist and
ambassador, 13 ; an explorer,
15 ; despatched to Persia, 17 ;
a prisoner at Genoa, 18 ; his
amanuensis 19 ; a truth-teller,
23 ; discourses of Armenia,
Georgiania, Bagdad and its
miserly Caliph, 26-35 ; of the
miracle worked by the One-
eyed Cobbler, 36 ; of the Three

INDEX.

245

Magi, 39; of the eight king
doms of Persia, 44 ; describes
the zebu, and the fat-tailed
sheep, 47 ; the Caraonas, 48 ;
the city of Hormos and its
inhabitants, 53 ; the Old Man
of the Mountain and his Assas
sins, 55 ; the mountains of
salt, 59 ; the Badakshan rubies
and horses, 61 ; Cashmere and
its conjurers, 64 ; the Ovis Poli
on the Roof of the World, 67 ;
his story of the miraculous
column, 70 ; his tale of the
Lop Desert, 73 ; ridicules the
salamander, 77 ; his account
of the origin of the Mongol
Empire under Jenghiz Khan,
81 ; of the Tatar portable huts,
87 ; of condensed milk, 89 ;
Tatar justice, 92 ; the grunting
oxen, 94 ; refers to Gog and
Magog, 98 ; the Khan's cane-
palace, and his mares, loi,
102 ; weather-conjurers, 103 ;
on Kublai's puissance, in ;
Nayan's revolt, defeat, and
death, 112; the Tablets of
Authority, 121 ; where the
Khan's war-harness is stored,
125 ; the greatest palace that
ever was, 126; the Khan's
evergreen hill, 127 ; Cambaluc,
or Peking, 130 ; the fashion of
the Khan's dinner-table, 133 ;
the Khan's liberality to his
Barons, 137; a mighty hunter,
139 ; a luxurious sportsman,
143 ; on Kublai's finances and

government, 147 ; the Twelve
Barons, 151 ; a postal service,
152 ; the Khan's charity, 159 ;
on the Chinese views of the
soul, 160 ; how the Khan
passes his time, 161 ; a pretty
passage between the Golden
King and Prester John, 164 ;
the Yellow River, 166 ; quan
tities of canes, 169 ; his report
of Yunnan and its crocodiles,
171 ; of Zardandan and its
devil-doctors, 174; the Khan
V. King of Mien, 177 ; on the
city of Mien and its two
towers, 181; in Southern China
and Laos, 185 ; two cities and
a rebel, 191 ; Bayan Hundred-
Eyes, 197 ; introduces siege
artillery, 199 ; the Yang-tse-
Kiang river, 201 ; his account
of the city of Hormos, 203 ;
in Japan, 211; a golden palace,
215; Cochin China and its
elephants, 219; strange things
in Sumatra, 220 ; Buddha's
history, 222 ; Adam's " re
liques," 224 ; the pearl-fishers
of Ceylon, 227 ; how to raise
diamonds, 229 ; his peep into
Africa, 231 ; the roc, 233 ;
the exploits of King Caidu's
daughter, 237
Polo, Nicolo, 2, 6, 199
Ponent, the, 30
Postmen, running, 152
Presbyter, or Prester, John, 80;
outwits the Golden King, 164
Pygmies, manufacture of, 220

246

INDEX.

Ramusio, John Baptist, 3, 9,
239
Rashiduddin, 182
Reobarles, province of, 47
Rhinoceros, 220
Roc, or rue, 233
Roof of the World, the, 67
Rubruquis, Friar William, 2, 21,
91
Rusticiano, Marco's amanuensis,
19, 24, 239
Sagamoni Borcan (Buddha),
222
Saggio, the, 121
Saianfu, 198
St. Leonard's Convent, 32
Salamander, the, 77
Salt, mountains of, 158; used
for money, 173
Samarcand, 70
Saracens, the, 70
Score and tally, 183
Seilan (Ceylon), 222
Serazy (Shiraz), 44, 49
Shamo, or Gobi, Desert of,
73
Shark-charmers, 226
Shawankars, 44, 49
Sheep, fat-tailed, 47, 51; East
African, 232
Shells, used for money, 173
Ship-building, 212
Ships, stitched, 53
Shiraz, 44, 49
Shulistan, 44, 49
Siangyangfu, 198
Sigatay (Kublai's brother), 70 '
Silver Island, 203

Singanfu, 168
Siningfu (Sinju), 94
Sinjumatu, 193
Soncara (Shawankars), 44, 49
Sumatra, 219
Suolstan (Shulistan), 44, 49
Swift, Dean, 72
Tadinfu, 191
Taican, and its salt mountains,
58
Talisman, a strange, 217
Tanduc, battle of, 83
Tatars, their manners and cus
toms, 86-93
Tattooing, 174
Tebaldo of Piacenza (afterwards
Pope Gregory X.), 10
Thsinanfu, 190, 194
Tibet, 94, 169
Trebuchets, 199
Tsinchau, 17, 218
Tunocain (Kuhistan), 44, 49
Turkestan, 70
Umbrellas, 123
Venice, i, 3, 18
Vochan, battle of, 177
Vokhan, 67
Wall, the Great, 98
War-drums, 116, 119
Weather-conjurers, 103, 107
Wood, Captain John, 68
Xandu palace, 100, 105
Yaks, or grunting oxen, 05

INDEX.

247

Yang-tse-Kiang river, 201
Yasdi, city of, 45
Yellow River, the, 166
Yule, Colonel (" Travels of
Marco Polo"), 21, 50, 106, 156
Yungchangfu, 182
Yunnan, 171

Zanzibar (Zanghibar), 231
Zardandan, 174
Zayton (Chinchau, or Tsinchau),
17, 218
Zebu, the, 47, 51
Zipangu, Zumpango (Japan), 214
Zurficar, .77

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