The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1 quotes

Lord Napier of Magdala, called on an errand of friendship, and at his desire was admitted to see the last of his early friend. When Lord Napier came out, he said to the present writer, in his own reflective way: “

He looks as if he had just settled to some great work.

” With these suggestive words of the great soldier, who was so soon, alas, to follow his old friend to the work of another world, this sketch may fitly close.

Then for four or five years he was Resident at Hyderabad, where he won the enduring friendship of Sir Salar Jung. “Everywhere he showed the same characteristic firm but benignant justice.

Everywhere he gained the lasting attachment of all with whom he had intimate dealings—except tigers and scoundrels.

”

With all the intrinsic interest of Marco Polo’s Book it may perhaps be doubted if it would have continued to exercise such Obscurities of Polo’s Book, and personal History.fascination on many minds through successive generations were it not for the difficult questions which it suggests.

It is a great book of puzzles, whilst our confidence in the man’s veracity is such that we feel certain every puzzle has a solution.

And such difficulties have not attached merely to the identification of places, the interpretation of outlandish terms, or the illustration of obscure customs; for strange entanglements have perplexed also the chief circumstances of the Traveller’s life and authorship.

… been the history of this noble family of the Ca’ Polo, which lasted as we see till the year of our Redemption 1417, in which year died childless Marco Polo, the last of the five sons of Maffeo, and so it came to an end.

Such be the chances and changes of human affairs!

”

Anyhow they were gathering wealth, and after years of exile they began to dread what might follow old Kúblái’s death, and longed to carry their gear and their own grey heads safe home to the Lagoons.

The aged Emperor growled refusal to all their hints, and but for a happy chance we should have lost our mediæval Herodotus.

21. Arghún Khan of Persia, Kúblái’s great-nephew, had in 1286 lost his favourite wife the Khatun Bulughán;

‘He’ll come if God pleases.’ So after two or three days he recognised his old coat on the back of one of those who came to stare at his mad proceedings, and got it back again.

Then, indeed, he was judged to be quite the reverse of a madman!

And from those jewels he built in the contrada of S. Giovanni Grisostomo a very fine palace for those days;

at modern gold value; and the cost for a year to nearly 3160l., exclusive of the victualling of the vessel and the pay of the gentleman-commander. The build or purchase of a galley complete is estimated by the same author at 15,000 florins, or 7012l.

We see that war cost a good deal in money even then.

Besides the ship’s own complement Sanudo gives an estimate for the general staff of a fleet of 60 galleys. This consists of a captain-general, two (vice) admirals, and the following:—

… above water and below, with scutcheons of the count’s arms, the field of which was or with a cross patée gules.[25] He had a good 300 rowers in his galley, and every man of them had a target blazoned with his arms in beaten gold.

And, as they came on, the galley looked to be some flying creature, with such spirit did the rowers spin it along;—or rather, with the rustle of its flags, and the roar of its nacaires and drums and Saracen horns, you might have taken it for a rushing bolt of heaven.

”[26]

And because there are many great and strange things in that Book, which are reckoned past all credence, he was asked by his friends on his death-bed to correct the Book by removing everything that went beyond the facts.

To which his reply was that he had not told one-half of what he had really seen!

”[30]

Forty of their galleys were taken or sunk, and upwards of 9000 prisoners carried to Genoa. In fact so vast a sweep was made of the flower of Pisan manhood that it was a common saying then: “

Che vuol veder Pisa, vada a Genova!

” Many noble ladies of Pisa went in large companies on foot to Genoa to seek their husbands or kinsmen:

and every one who hears this much against the Holy Faith shall pray fervently for their conversion. And he who will not pray shall waste the vigour of his body to convert them.’

I am not in dread of this Book of Marcus, for there is no lie in it.

My eyes beheld him bringing the relics of the holy Church with him, and he left [his testimony], whilst tasting of death, that it was true. And Marcus was a devout man.

“In the country of the Zinghi there is seen a star as big as a sack. I know a man who has seen it, and he told me it had a faint light like a piece of a cloud, and is always in the south.[11]

I have been told of this and other matters by Marco the Venetian, the most extensive traveller and the most diligent inquirer whom I have ever known.

He saw this same star under the Antarctic; he described it as having a great tail, and drew a figure of it thus.

“

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 delight in hearing of the affairs of strange countries.

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 entitled Messer Marco Polo, and thus we shall style him henceforth in this Book of ours, as is but right.

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 region, but grievously the reverse.{3}

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 nought, unless it be at boozing; they are great at that.

Howbeit, they have a city upon the sea, which is called Layas, at which there is a great trade.

in fact the greatest accumulation of treasure in one spot that ever was known.{6} 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?

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.{7} Howbeit, since that time, …

(Assemani in vol. ii. passim; Tournefort, III. 260; Vin. Bell. Spec. Historiale, Lib. XXX. c. cxlii.; see also Mar. Sanut. III. xi. c. 16.)

Persia is a great country, which was in old times very illustrious and powerful; but now the Tartars have wasted and destroyed it.

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 some such view is, I suspect, still common in the East. An old Indian officer told me of the reply of a native friend to whom he had tried to explain the conversion of iron into steel—

“What! You would have me believe that if I put an ass into the furnace it will come forth a horse.”

And Indian Steel again seems to have been regarded as a distinct natural species from ordinary steel.

… thither from India, with ships loaded with spicery and precious stones, pearls, cloths of silk and gold, elephants’ teeth, and many other wares, which they sell to the merchants of Hormos, and which these in turn carry all over the world to dispose of again.

In fact, ’tis 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.

They have no iron to make nails of, and for this reason they use only wooden trenails in their shipbuilding, 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.

{3}

the latter greater island is Kishm or Brakht; the former Jerún,[2] perhaps in old Persian Gerún or Gerán, now again desert though no longer bushy, after having been for three centuries the site of a city which became a poetic type of wealth and splendour.

An Eastern saying ran, “Were the world a ring, Hormuz would be the jewel in it.”

[“The Yüan shi mentions several seaports of the Indian Ocean as carrying on trade with China; Hormuz is not spoken of there. I may, however, quote from the Yüan History a curious statement which perhaps refers to this port. In ch.

… he had fashioned it after the description that Mahommet gave of his Paradise, to wit, that it should be a beautiful garden running with conduits of wine and milk and honey and water, and full of lovely women for the delectation of all its inmates.

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.

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 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.

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.{2}

On cotton, see ch. xxxvi.—On Nestorians, see Kanchau.

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.{1} I will tell you of a great marvel that happened at this city.

And all across the Desert you will find water in like manner, that is to say, in some 28 places altogether you will find good water, but in no great quantity; and in four places also you find brackish water.{1}

Beasts there are none; for there is nought 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 …

Then they will have the sheep slaughtered and cooked, and again present it before the idol with like reverence, and leave it there before him, whilst they are reciting the offices of their worship and their prayers for the idol’s blessing on their children.

And, if you will believe them, the idol feeds on the meat that is set before it!

After these ceremonies they take up the flesh and carry it home, and call together all their kindred to eat it with them in great festivity [the idol-priests receiving for their portion the head, feet, entrails, and skin, with some part of the meat].

They live by the fruits of the earth, which they have in plenty, and dispose of to travellers.

They are a people who take things very easily, for they mind nothing but playing and singing, and dancing and enjoying themselves.

{2}

for it was by reason of this usage that their gods bestowed upon them all the good things that they possessed, and without it they saw not how they could continue to exist.{4} When the Prince had heard their petition his reply was “

Since ye must needs keep your shame, keep it then

,” and so he left them at liberty to maintain their naughty custom. And they always have kept it up, and do so still.

… and some Nestorian Christians.{1} At the northern extremity of this province there is a mountain in which are excellent veins of steel and ondanique.{2} And you must know that in the same mountain there is a vein of the substance from which Salamander is made.{3}

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.

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 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.{2}

From certain circumstances this union fell through, and this was one of the circumstances which opened the breach between the two chiefs. There were, however, several marriages between the families. (Erdmann, 283; others are quoted under ch. lix., note 2.)

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:

“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.

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.

Then they take of the broth and sprinkle it before the door of the house; and that done, they deem that their god and his family have had their share of the dinner.{1}

Their drink is mare’s milk, prepared in such a way that you would take it for white wine; and a right good drink it is, called by them Kemiz.

{2}

a little earthenware pot to cook their meat in, and a little tent to shelter them from rain.{3} And in case of great urgency they will ride ten days on end without lighting a fire or taking a meal.

On such an occasion they will sustain themselves on the blood of their horses, opening a vein and letting the blood jet into their mouths, drinking till they have had enough, and then staunching it.

{4}

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 battle, that he has in reality 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.{6}

And when the Grand Kaan wants Peregrines from the nest, he sends thither to procure them.{3} It is also on islands in that sea that the Gerfalcons are bred.

You must know that the place is so far to the north that you leave the North Star somewhat behind you towards the south!

The gerfalcons are so abundant there that the Emperor can have as many as he likes to send for. And you must not suppose that those gerfalcons which the Christians carry into the Tartar dominions go to the Great Kaan;

[On the Falco peregrinus, Lin., and other Falcons, see Ed. Blanc’s paper mentioned on p. 162. The Falco Saker is to be found all over Central Asia; it is called by the Pekingese Hwang-yng (yellow falcon). (David et Oustalet, Oiseaux de la Chine, 31–32.)—H. C.]

On leaving Campichu, then, you travel five days across a tract in which many spirits are heard speaking in the night season;

and at the end of those five marches, towards the east, you come to a kingdom called Erguiul, belonging to the Great Kaan. It is one of the several kingdoms which make up the great Province of Tangut.

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 360,000 horsemen that he got together consisted merely of the falconers and whippers-in that were about the court!

{1}

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.

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.

From this side and from that such cries arose from the crowds of the wounded and dying that had God thundered, you would not have heard Him!

For fierce and furious was the battle, and quarter there was none given.{4}

Thus they would say to the Christians: “See now what precious help this God’s 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;

In the middle of the second enclosure is the Lord’s Great Palace, and I will tell you what it is like.{6}

You must know that it is the greatest Palace that ever was.

[Towards the north it is in contact with the outer wall, whilst towards the south there is a vacant space which the Barons and the soldiers are constantly traversing.{7} The Palace itself] hath no upper story, but is all on the ground floor, only the …

The Hall of the Palace is so large that it could easily dine 6000 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 …

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,{12} 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.

{13}

… know that the Great Kaan, thirteen times in the year, presents to his Barons and Knights such suits of raiment as I am speaking of.{3} And on each occasion they wear the same colour that he does, a different colour being assigned to each festival.

Hence you may see what a huge business it is, and that there is no prince in the world but he alone who could keep up such customs as these.

On his birthday also, all the Tartars in the world, and all the countries and governments that owe allegiance to the Kaan, offer him great presents according to their several ability, and as prescription or orders have fixed the amount.

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!

{3}

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 move along, all abreast of one another, so that the whole line 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 Lord 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 …

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 nothing can be lost but it shall be incontinently found and restored.

{4}

And then there are the tents for the hawks and their keepers, so that altogether the number of tents there on the plain is something 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, and the Astrologers, and the 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.

And furthermore 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 their Lord’s command, 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.

Thus, he ordered them to regulate their marriages by the Tartar Law, and prohibited their cutting the throats of animals killed for food, ordering them to rip the stomach in the Tartar way.

Now when all this happened Messer Marco was upon the spot.

]{5}

And in doing so I shall make manifest to you how it is that the Great Lord may well be able to accomplish even much more than I have told you, or am going to tell you, in this Book.

For, tell it how I might, you never would be satisfied that I was keeping within truth and reason!

The Emperor’s Mint then is in this same City of Cambaluc, and the way it is wrought is such that you might say he hath the Secret of Alchemy in perfection, and you would be right! For he makes his money after this fashion.

For, tell it how I might, you never would be satisfied that I was keeping within truth and reason!

The Emperor’s Mint then is in this same City of Cambaluc, and the way it is wrought is such that you might say he hath the Secret of Alchemy in perfection, and you would be right!

For he makes his money after this fashion.

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.

With these pieces of paper, made as I have described, he causes all payments on his own account to be made; and he makes them to pass current universally over all his kingdoms and provinces and territories, and whithersoever his power and sovereignty extends.

And it is a truth that the merchants will several times in the year bring wares to the amount of 400,000 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.

Moreover, 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 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 300,000 horses kept up, specially for the use of the messengers.