Marco Polo vol 1 & 2.odt

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/marco-polo-vol-1-2odt 1/711
water had receded since Prjevalsky's visit, thirteen years before. The Prince says the Lob-nor he saw was not Prjevalsky's, nor was the latter's lake the mass of water on Chinese maps; an old sorceress ave confirmation of the fact to the travellers. !ccordin to a tradition known from one eneration to another, there was at this place a lare inland sea witho"t reeds, and the elders
had seen in their yo"th lare ponds; they say that the earth imprenatedwith saltpetre absorbs the water. The Prince says, accordin to tradition, #Lob# is a local name meanin $wild animals,$ and it was iven to the co"ntry at the time it was crossed by %alm"k caravans; they added to the name #Lob# the &onol word #or# ()reat Lake*. The travellers (p. +* note that in fact the name Lob-nor does not apply to a Lake, b"t to the whole marshy part of the co"ntry watered by the Tarim, from the villae of Lob to end of the river.
The Pievtsov epedition $visited the Lob-nor (/01 feet* and the Tarim, whose proper name is 2arkend-daria (#tarim# means 'a tilled field' in %asharian*. The lake is rapidly dryin "p, and a very old man, ++ years old, whom Pievtsov spoke to (his son, 1/ years old, was the only one who co"ld "nderstand the old man*, said that he wo"ld not have reconi3ed the land if he had been absent all this time. inety years ao there was only a narrow strip of r"shes in the so"th-west part of the lake, and the 2arkend-daria entered it /-+4/ miles to the west of its present mo"th, where now stands the villae of !bdal. The lake was then m"ch deeper, and several villaes, now abandoned, stood on its shores. There was also m"ch more fish, and otters, which "sed to live there, b"t have lon since disappeared. !s to the 2arkend-daria, tradition says that two h"ndred years ao it "sed to enter another smaller lake, 5ch"k"l, which was connected by a channel with the Lob-nor. This old bed, named 6hira-chapkan, can still be traced by the trees which rew alon it. The reater previo"s etension of the Lob-nor is also confirmed by the freshwater moll"scs (#Limnaea "ric"laria#, var. #ventricosa, L. stanalis, L. perera#, and #Planorbis sibiric"s#*, which are fo"nd at a distance from its present banks. !nother lake, 7 miles in circ"mference, %ara-boyoen (#black isthm"s#*, lies, as is known, /8 miles to the so"th-west of Lob- nor. To the east of the lake, a salt desert stretches for a seven days' march, and f"rther on bein the %"m-tah sands, where wild camels live.$ (#)eo. 9o"r.# :. +<8, p. 11/.*
)renard (:::. pp. +7-+1* disc"sses the Lob-nor ="estion and the formation of fo"r new lakes by the %oncheh-daria called by the natives beinnin at the north; %ara %"l, Tayek %"l, 6""t %"l, Tok"m %"l. >e does not accept ?aron v. @ichthofen's theory, and believes that the old Lob is the lake seen by Prjevalsky.
>e says (p. +7*A $Lop m"st be looked for on the act"al road from Charchan to Charkalyk. B"ash 6hahri, five days from Charchan, and where small r"ins are to be fo"nd, corresponds well to the position of Lop accordin to &arco Polo, a few derees of the compass near. ?"t the stream which passes
8/17/2019 Marco Polo vol 1 & 2.odt
at this spot co"ld never be important eno"h for the wants of a considerable centre of habitation and the r"ins of B"ash 6hahri are more of a hamlet than of a town. &oreover, Lop was certainly the meetin point of the roads of %ashar, 5r"mtsi, 6hacha", L'>asa, and %hotan, and it is to this fact that this town, sit"ated in a very poor co"ntry, owed its relative importance. ow, it is impossible that these roads crossed at
B"ash 6hahri. : believe that Lop was b"ilt on the site of Charkalykitself. The enetian traveller ives five days' jo"rney between Charchan and Lop, whilst Charkalyk is really seven days from Charchan; b"t the objection does not appear s"fficient to meA &arco Polo may well have made a mistake of two days.$ (:::. pp. +7-+1.*
The Chinese )overnor of 5r"mtsi fo"nd some years ao to the north-west of the Lob-nor, on the banks of the Tarim, and within five days of Charkalyk, a town bearin the same name, tho"h not on the same site as the Lop of &arco Polo.-->. C.D
BTE /.--$The waste and desert places of the Earth are, so to speak, the characters which sin has visibly impressed on the o"tward creation; its sins and symbols there.... B"t of a tr"e feelin of this, men have ever conceived of the Filderness as the ha"nt of evil spirits. :n the old Persian reliion !hriman and his evil 6pirits inhabit the steppes and wastes of T"ran, to the north of the happy :ran, which stands "nder the dominion of Brm"3d; eactly as with the Eyptians, the evil Typhon is the Lord of the Libyan sand-wastes, and Bsiris of the fertile Eypt.$ (#!rchbp. Trench, 6t"dies in the )ospels#, p. 8.* Terror, and the seemin absence of a beneficent Providence, are s"estions of the Gesert which m"st have led men to associate it with evil spirits, rather than the fi"re with which this passae beins; no spontaneo"s conception s"rely, however appropriate as a moral imae.
$!ccordin to the belief of the nations of Central !sia,$ says :. 9. 6chmidt, $the earth and its interior, as well as the encompassin atmosphere, are filled with 6pirit"al ?eins, which eercise an infl"ence, partly beneficent, partly malinant, on the whole of oranic and inoranic nat"re.... Especially are Geserts and other wild or "ninhabited tracts, or reions in which the infl"ences of nat"re are displayed on a iantic and terrible scale, rearded as the chief abode or rende3vo"s of evil 6pirits.... !nd hence the steppes of T"ran, and in partic"lar the reat sandy Gesert of )obi have been looked on as the dwellin-place of malinant beins, from days of hoar anti="ity.$
The Chinese historian &a Twan-lin informs "s that there were two roads from China into the 5ih"r co"ntry (towards %arashahr*. The lonest b"t easiest road was by %am"l. The other was m"ch shorter, and apparently corresponded, as far as Lop, to that described in this chapter. $?y this yo" have to cross a plain of sand, etendin for more than + lea"es. 2o" see nothin in any direction b"t the sky and the sands, witho"t the slihtest trace of a road; and travellers find nothin to "ide them b"t
the bones of men and beasts and the droppins of camels. G"rin the passae of this wilderness yo" hear so"nds, sometimes of sinin, sometimes of wailin; and it has often happened that travellers oin aside to see what those so"nds miht be have strayed from their co"rse and been entirely lost; for they were voices of spirits and oblins. 'Tis for these reasons that travellers and merchants often prefer the m"ch loner
ro"te by %am"l.$ (#isdelo"#, p. +H.*
$:n the Gesert$ (this same desert*, says Ia-hian, $there are a reat many evil demons; there are also sirocco winds, which kill all who enco"nter them. There are no birds or beasts to be seen; b"t so far as the eye can reach, the ro"te is marked o"t by the bleached bones of men who have perished in the attempt to cross.$
J$The Lew-sha was the s"bject of vario"s most eaerated stories. Fe find more tr"stworthy acco"nts of it in the #Chow sh"#; th"s it is mentioned in that history, that there sometimes arises in this desert a 'b"rnin wind,' pernicio"s to men and cattle; in s"ch cases the old camels of the caravan, havin a presentiment of its approach, flock shriekin to one place, lie down on the ro"nd and hide their heads in the sand. Bn this sinal, the travellers also lie down, close nose and mo"th, and remain in this position "ntil the h"rricane abates. 5nless these preca"tions are taken, men and beasts inevitably perish.$ (#Palladi"s#, l.c. p. 7.*
! friend writes to me that he thinks that the acco"nts of strane noises in the desert wo"ld find a remarkable corroboration in the narratives of travellers thro"h the central desert of !"stralia. They conject"re that they are ca"sed by the s"dden fallin of cliffs of sand as the temperat"re chanes at niht time.-->. C.D
>i"en Tsan, in his passae of the Gesert, both o"tward and homeward, speaks of vis"al ill"sions; s"ch as visions of troops marchin and haltin with leamin arms and wavin banners, constantly shiftin, vanishin, and reappearin, $imaery created by demons.$ ! voice behind him calls, $Iear notK fear notK$ Tro"bled by these fantasies on one occasion, he prays to %wan-yin (a ?"ddhist divinity*; still he co"ld not entirely et rid of them; b"t as soon as he had prono"nced a few words from the #Prajna# (a holy book*, they vanished in the twinklin of an eye.
These )oblins are not pec"liar to the )obi, tho"h that appears to be their most favo"red ha"nt. The awe of the vast and solitary Gesert raises them in all similar localities. Pliny speaks of the phantoms that appear and vanish in the deserts of !frica; !ethic"s, the early Christian cosmorapher, speaks, tho"h incred"lo"s, of the stories that were told of the voices of siners and revellers in the desert; &as'"di tells of the
#)h"ls#, which in the deserts appear to travellers by niht and in lonely ho"rs; the traveller, takin them for comrades, follows and is led astray. ?"t the wise revile them and the )h"ls vanish. Th"s also !polloni"s of Tyana and his companions, in a desert near the :nd"s by moonliht, see an
#Emp"sa# or )h"l takin many forms. They revile it, and it oes off "tterin shrill cries. &as'"di also speaks of the mysterio"s voices heard by lone wayfarers in the Gesert, and he ives a rational eplanation of them. :bn ?at"ta relates a like leend of the Festern 6aharaA $:f the messener be solitary, the demons sport with him and fascinate him, so that he strays from his co"rse and perishes.$ The !fhan and Persian
wildernesses also have their #)h"l-i-?eaban# or )oblin of the Faste, aiantic and fearf"l spectre which devo"rs travellers; and even the )ael of the Fest >ihlands have the #Gireach )hlinn Eitidh#, the Gesert Creat"re of )len Eiti, which, one-handed, one-eyed, one-leed, seems eactly to answer to the !rabian esnas or #Emp"sa#. icolo Conti in the Chaldaean desert is aro"sed at midniht by a reat noise, and sees a vast m"ltit"de pass by. The merchants tell him that these are demons who are in the habit of traversin the deserts. (#6chmidt's 6an. 6et3en#, p. H1/; #. et . de >. T.# /H, /<, /<; #Pliny#, ::. /; #Philostrat"s#, ?k. ::. ch. iv.; #Prairies d'Br#, :::. H+1, H/7; #?eale's Iahian#; #Campbell's Pop"lar Tales of the F. >ihlands#, :. H/0; #:. ?.# :. H</; #Elphinstone#, :. /+; #Chod3ko's Pop. Poetry of Persia#, p. 7<; #Conti#, p. 7; #Iorsyth, 9. @. ). 6.# L::. +<88, p. 7.*
The so"nd of m"sical instr"ments, chiefly of dr"ms, is a phenomenon of another class, and is really prod"ced in certain sit"ations amon sandhills when the sand is dist"rbed. J6ee s"pra.D ! very strikin acco"nt of a phenomenon of this kind rearded as s"pernat"ral is iven by Iriar Bdoric, whose eperience : fancy : have traced to the #@e @"wan# or $Ilowin 6and$ north of %ab"l. ?esides this celebrated eample, which has been described also by the Emperor ?aber, : have noted that e="ally well-known one of the #9ibal ak"s#, or $>ill of the ?ell,$ in the 6inai Gesert; Fadi >amade, in the vicinity of the same Gesert; the
#9ibal-"l-Thab"l#, or $>ill of the Gr"ms,$ between &edina and &ecca; one on the :sland of Ei, in the >ebrides, discovered by >"h &iller; one amon the &edanos or 6andhills of !re="ipa, described to me by &r. C. &arkham; the ?ramador or r"mblin mo"ntain of Tarapaca; one in hills between the 5lba and the :rtish, in the vicinity of the !ltai, called the !lmanac >ills, beca"se the so"nds are s"pposed to pronosticate weather-chanes; and a remarkable eample near %olber on the shore of Pomerania. ! Chinese water had receded since
Prjevalsky's visit, thirteen years before. The Prince says the Lob-nor he saw was not Prjevalsky's, nor was the latter's lake the mass of water on Chinese maps; an old sorceress ave confirmation of the fact to the travellers. !ccordin to a tradition known from one eneration to another, there was at this place a lare inland sea witho"t reeds, and the elders had seen in their yo"th lare ponds; they say that the earth imprenated with saltpetre absorbs the water. The Prince says, accordin to tradition,
#Lob# is a local name meanin $wild animals,$ and it was iven to the co"ntry at the time it was crossed by %alm"k caravans; they added to the name #Lob# the &onol word #or# ()reat Lake*. The travellers (p. +* note that in fact the name Lob-nor does not apply to a Lake, b"t to the whole marshy part of the co"ntry watered by the Tarim, from the villae of
Lob to end of the river.
The Pievtsov epedition $visited the Lob-nor (/01 feet* and the Tarim, whose proper name is 2arkend-daria (#tarim# means 'a tilled field' in %asharian*. The lake is rapidly dryin "p, and a very old man, ++ years old, whom Pievtsov spoke to (his son, 1/ years old, was the only one who
co"ld "nderstand the old man*, said that he wo"ld not have reconi3ed theland if he had been absent all this time. inety years ao there was only a narrow strip of r"shes in the so"th-west part of the lake, and the 2arkend-daria entered it /-+4/ miles to the west of its present mo"th, where now stands the villae of !bdal. The lake was then m"ch deeper, and several villaes, now abandoned, stood on its shores. There was also m"ch more fish, and otters, which "sed to live there, b"t have lon since disappeared. !s to the 2arkend-daria, tradition says that two h"ndred years ao it "sed to enter another smaller lake, 5ch"k"l, which was connected by a channel with the Lob-nor. This old bed, named 6hira-chapkan, can still be traced by the trees which rew alon it. The reater previo"s etension of the Lob-nor is also confirmed by the freshwater moll"scs (#Limnaea "ric"laria#, var. #ventricosa, L. stanalis, L. perera#, and #Planorbis sibiric"s#*, which are fo"nd at a distance from its present banks. !nother lake, 7 miles in circ"mference, %ara-boyoen (#black isthm"s#*, lies, as is known, /8 miles to the so"th-west of Lob- nor. To the east of the lake, a salt desert stretches for a seven days' march, and f"rther on bein the %"m-tah sands, where wild camels live.$ (#)eo. 9o"r.# :. +<8, p. 11/.*
)renard (:::. pp. +7-+1* disc"sses the Lob-nor ="estion and the formation of fo"r new lakes by the %oncheh-daria called by the natives beinnin at the north; %ara %"l, Tayek %"l, 6""t %"l, Tok"m %"l. >e does not accept ?aron v. @ichthofen's theory, and believes that the old Lob is the lake seen by Prjevalsky.
>e says (p. +7*A $Lop m"st be looked for on the act"al road from Charchan to Charkalyk. B"ash 6hahri, five days from Charchan, and where small r"ins are to be fo"nd, corresponds well to the position of Lop accordin to &arco Polo, a few derees of the compass near. ?"t the stream which passes at this spot co"ld never be important eno"h for the wants of a considerable centre of habitation and the r"ins of B"ash 6hahri are more of a hamlet than of a town. &oreover, Lop was certainly the meetin point of the roads of %ashar, 5r"mtsi, 6hacha", L'>asa, and %hotan, and it is to this fact that this town, sit"ated in a very poor co"ntry, owed its relative importance. ow, it is impossible that these roads crossed at B"ash 6hahri. : believe that Lop was b"ilt on the site of Charkalyk itself. The enetian traveller ives five days' jo"rney between Charchan and Lop, whilst Charkalyk is really seven days from Charchan; b"t the objection does not appear s"fficient to meA &arco Polo may well have made a mistake of two days.$ (:::. pp. +7-+1.*
The Chinese )overnor of 5r"mtsi fo"nd some years ao to the north-west of
the Lob-nor, on the banks of the Tarim, and within five days of Charkalyk, a town bearin the same name, tho"h not on the same site as the Lop of &arco Polo.-->. C.D
BTE /.--$The waste and desert places of the Earth are, so to speak, the characters which sin has visibly impressed on the o"tward creation; its
sins and symbols there.... B"t of a tr"e feelin of this, men have ever conceived of the Filderness as the ha"nt of evil spirits. :n the old Persian reliion !hriman and his evil 6pirits inhabit the steppes and wastes of T"ran, to the north of the happy :ran, which stands "nder the dominion of Brm"3d; eactly as with the Eyptians, the evil Typhon is the Lord of the Libyan sand-wastes, and Bsiris of the fertile Eypt.$ (#!rchbp. Trench, 6t"dies in the )ospels#, p. 8.* Terror, and the seemin absence of a beneficent Providence, are s"estions of the Gesert which m"st have led men to associate it with evil spirits, rather than the fi"re with which this passae beins; no spontaneo"s conception s"rely, however appropriate as a moral imae.
$!ccordin to the belief of the nations of Central !sia,$ says :. 9. 6chmidt, $the earth and its interior, as well as the encompassin atmosphere, are filled with 6pirit"al ?eins, which eercise an infl"ence, partly beneficent, partly malinant, on the whole of oranic and inoranic nat"re.... Especially are Geserts and other wild or "ninhabited tracts, or reions in which the infl"ences of nat"re are displayed on a iantic and terrible scale, rearded as the chief abode or rende3vo"s of evil 6pirits.... !nd hence the steppes of T"ran, and in partic"lar the reat sandy Gesert of )obi have been looked on as the dwellin-place of malinant beins, from days of hoar anti="ity.$
The Chinese historian &a Twan-lin informs "s that there were two roads from China into the 5ih"r co"ntry (towards %arashahr*. The lonest b"t easiest road was by %am"l. The other was m"ch shorter, and apparently corresponded, as far as Lop, to that described in this chapter. $?y this yo" have to cross a plain of sand, etendin for more than + lea"es. 2o" see nothin in any direction b"t the sky and the sands, witho"t the slihtest trace of a road; and travellers find nothin to "ide them b"t the bones of men and beasts and the droppins of camels. G"rin the passae of this wilderness yo" hear so"nds, sometimes of sinin, sometimes of wailin; and it has often happened that travellers oin aside to see what those so"nds miht be have strayed from their co"rse and been entirely lost; for they were voices of spirits and oblins. 'Tis for these reasons that travellers and merchants often prefer the m"ch loner ro"te by %am"l.$ (#isdelo"#, p. +H.*
$:n the Gesert$ (this same desert*, says Ia-hian, $there are a reat many evil demons; there are also sirocco winds, which kill all who enco"nter them. There are no birds or beasts to be seen; b"t so far as the eye can reach, the ro"te is marked o"t by the bleached bones of men who have perished in the attempt to cross.$
J$The Lew-sha was the s"bject of vario"s most eaerated stories. Fe find more tr"stworthy acco"nts of it in the #Chow sh"#; th"s it is mentioned in that history, that there sometimes arises in this desert a 'b"rnin wind,' pernicio"s to men and cattle; in s"ch cases the old camels of the caravan, havin a presentiment of its approach, flock shriekin to one place, lie
down on the ro"nd and hide their heads in the sand. Bn this sinal, thetravellers also lie down, close nose and mo"th, and remain in this position "ntil the h"rricane abates. 5nless these preca"tions are taken, men and beasts inevitably perish.$ (#Palladi"s#, l.c. p. 7.*
! friend writes to me that he thinks that the acco"nts of strane noises in the desert wo"ld find a remarkable corroboration in the narratives of travellers thro"h the central desert of !"stralia. They conject"re that they are ca"sed by the s"dden fallin of cliffs of sand as the temperat"re chanes at niht time.-->. C.D
>i"en Tsan, in his passae of the Gesert, both o"tward and homeward, speaks of vis"al ill"sions; s"ch as visions of troops marchin and haltin with leamin arms and wavin banners, constantly shiftin, vanishin, and reappearin, $imaery created by demons.$ ! voice behind him calls, $Iear notK fear notK$ Tro"bled by these fantasies on one occasion, he prays to %wan-yin (a ?"ddhist divinity*; still he co"ld not entirely et rid of them; b"t as soon as he had prono"nced a few words from the #Prajna# (a holy book*, they vanished in the twinklin of an eye.
These )oblins are not pec"liar to the )obi, tho"h that appears to be their most favo"red ha"nt. The awe of the vast and solitary Gesert raises them in all similar localities. Pliny speaks of the phantoms that appear and vanish in the deserts of !frica; !ethic"s, the early Christian cosmorapher, speaks, tho"h incred"lo"s, of the stories that were told of the voices of siners and revellers in the desert; &as'"di tells of the
#)h"ls#, which in the deserts appear to travellers by niht and in lonely ho"rs; the traveller, takin them for comrades, follows and is led astray. ?"t the wise revile them and the )h"ls vanish. Th"s also !polloni"s of Tyana and his companions, in a desert near the :nd"s by moonliht, see an
#Emp"sa# or )h"l takin many forms. They revile it, and it oes off "tterin shrill cries. &as'"di also speaks of the mysterio"s voices heard by lone wayfarers in the Gesert, and he ives a rational eplanation of them. :bn ?at"ta relates a like leend of the Festern 6aharaA $:f the messener be solitary, the demons sport with him and fascinate him, so that he strays from his co"rse and perishes.$ The !fhan and Persian wildernesses also have their #)h"l-i-?eaban# or )oblin of the Faste, a iantic and fearf"l spectre which devo"rs travellers; and even the )ael of the Fest >ihlands have the #Gireach )hlinn Eitidh#, the Gesert Creat"re of )len Eiti, which, one-handed, one-eyed, one-leed, seems eactly to answer to the !rabian esnas or #Emp"sa#. icolo Conti in the Chaldaean desert is aro"sed at midniht by a reat noise, and sees a vast m"ltit"de pass by. The merchants tell him that these are demons who are in
the habit of traversin the deserts. (#6chmidt's 6an. 6et3en#, p. H1/; #. et . de >. T.# /H, /<, /<; #Pliny#, ::. /; #Philostrat"s#, ?k. ::. ch. iv.; #Prairies d'Br#, :::. H+1, H/7; #?eale's Iahian#; #Campbell's Pop"lar Tales of the F. >ihlands#, :. H/0; #:. ?.# :. H</; #Elphinstone#, :. /+; #Chod3ko's Pop. Poetry of Persia#, p. 7<; #Conti#, p. 7; #Iorsyth, 9. @. ). 6.# L::. +<88, p. 7.*
The so"nd of m"sical instr"ments, chiefly of dr"ms, is a phenomenon of another class, and is really prod"ced in certain sit"ations amon sandhills when the sand is dist"rbed. J6ee s"pra.D ! very strikin acco"nt of a phenomenon of this kind rearded as s"pernat"ral is iven by Iriar Bdoric, whose eperience : fancy : have traced to the #@e @"wan# or $Ilowin 6and$ north of %ab"l. ?esides this celebrated eample, which has been described also by the Emperor ?aber, : have noted that e="ally well-known one of the #9ibal ak"s#, or $>ill of the ?ell,$ in the 6inai Gesert; Fadi >amade, in the vicinity of the same Gesert; the
#9ibal-"l-Thab"l#, or $>ill of the Gr"ms,$ between &edina and &ecca; one on the :sland of Ei, in the >ebrides, discovered by >"h &iller; one amon the &edanos or 6andhills of !re="ipa, described to me by &r. C. &arkham; the ?ramador or r"mblin mo"ntain of Tarapaca; one in hills between the 5lba and the :rtish, in the vicinity of the !ltai, called the !lmanac >ills, beca"se the so"nds are s"pposed to pronosticate weather-chanes; and a remarkable eample near %olber on the shore of Pomerania. ! Chinese narrative of the +th cent"ry mentions the phenomenon as known near %wacha", on the eastern border of the Lop Gesert, "nder the name of the $6inin 6ands$; and 6ir I. )oldsmid has recently made "s ac="ainted with a second #@e @"wan#, on a hill near the Perso-!fhan frontier, a little to the north of 6istan. The place is fre="ented in pilrimae. (6ee #Cathay#, pp. ccliv. +10, H<; #@itter#, ::. /7; #!"s der at"r#, Leip3i, o. 78 Jof +<0<D, p. 81/; #@em"sat, >. de %hotan#, p. 87; #Proc. @. ). 6.# ::. +.*
BTE H.--JFe learn from 9oseph &artin, ="oted by )renard, p. +8 (who met this "nfort"nate Irench traveller at %hotan, on his way from Pekin to &arhelan, where he died*, that from 6hacha" to !bdal, on the Lob-nor, there are twelve days of desert, sandy only d"rin the first two days, stony afterwards. Bccasionally a little rass is to be fo"nd for the camels; water is to be fo"nd everywhere. &. ?onin went from 6hacha" to the north-west towards the %ara-nor, then to the west, b"t lack of water compelled him to o back to 6hacha". !lon this road, every five #lis#, are to be fo"nd towers b"ilt with clay, and abo"t H feet hih, abandoned by the Chinese, who do not seem to have kept a remembrance of them in the co"ntry; this ro"te seems to be a contin"ation of the %an 6"h :mperial hihway. ! wall now destroyed connected these towers toether. $There is no do"bt,$ writes &. ?onin, $that all these remains are those of the reat ro"te, vainly so"ht after till now, which, "nder the >an Gynasty, ran to China thro"h ?actria. Pamir, Eastern T"rkestan, the Gesert of )obi, and %an 6"hA it is in part the ro"te followed by &arco Polo, when he went from Charchan to 6hacha", by the city of Lob.$ The ro"te of the >an has been
also looked for, more to the so"th, and it was believed that it was the same as that of the !styn Tah, followed by &r. Littledale in +<H, who travelled one month from !bdal (Lob-nor* to 6hacha"; &. ?onin, who eplored also this ro"te, and was twenty-three days from 6hacha" to Lob-nor, says it co"ld not be a commercial road. Gr. 6ven >edin saw fo"r or five towers eastward of the j"nction of the Tarim and the %oncheh-daria; it
may possibly have been another part of the road seen by &. ?onin. (6ee #La)eoraphie#, +1th &arch, ++, p. +8H.*-->. C.D
C>!PTE@ L.
CBCE@:) T>E )@E!T P@B:CE BI T!)5T.
!fter yo" have travelled thirty days thro"h the Gesert, as : have
described, yo" come to a city called 6!C>:5, lyin between north-east and east; it belons to the )reat %aan, and is in a province called T!)5T.JBTE +D The people are for the most part :dolaters, b"t there are also some estorian Christians and some 6aracens. The :dolaters have a pec"liar lan"ae, and are no traders, b"t live by their aric"lt"re.JBTE /D They have a reat many abbeys and minsters f"ll of idols of s"ndry fashions, to which they pay reat hono"r and reverence, worshippin them and sacrificin to them with m"ch ado. Ior eample, s"ch as have children will feed "p a sheep in hono"r of the idol, and at the ew 2ear, or on the day of the :dol's Ieast, they will take their children and the sheep alon with them into the presence of the idol with reat ceremony. Then they
will have the sheep sla"htered and cooked, and aain present it beforethe idol with like reverence, and leave it there before him, whilst they are recitin the offices of their worship and their prayers for the idol's blessin on their children. !nd, if yo" will believe them, the idol feeds on the meat that is set before itK !fter these ceremonies they take "p the flesh and carry it home, and call toether all their kindred to eat it with them in reat festivity Jthe idol-priests receivin for their portion the head, feet, entrails, and skin, with some part of the meatD. !fter they have eaten, they collect the bones that are left and store them caref"lly in a h"tch.JBTE HD
!nd yo" m"st know that all the :dolaters in the world b"rn their dead. !ndwhen they are oin to carry a body to the b"rnin, the kinsfolk b"ild a wooden ho"se on the way to the spot, and drape it with cloths of silk and old. Fhen the body is oin past this b"ildin they call a halt and set before it wine and meat and other eatables; and this they do with the ass"rance that the def"nct will be received with the like attentions in the other world. !ll the minstrelsy in the town oes playin before the body; and when it reaches the b"rnin-place the kinsfolk are prepared with fi"res c"t o"t of parchment and paper in the shape of men and horses and
camels, and also with ro"nd pieces of paper like old coins, and all these they b"rn alon with the corpse. Ior they say that in the other world the def"nct will be provided with slaves and cattle and money, j"st in proportion to the amo"nt of s"ch pieces of paper that has been b"rnt alon with him.JBTE 7D
?"t they never b"rn their dead "ntil they have Jsent for the astroloers,and told them the year, the day, and the ho"r of the deceased person's birth, and when the astroloers have ascertained "nder what constellation, planet, and sin he was born, they declare the day on which, by the r"les of their art, he o"ht to be b"rntD. !nd till that day arrive they keep the body, so that 'tis sometimes a matter of si months, more or less, before it comes to be b"rnt.JBTE 1D
ow the way they keep the body in the ho"se is thisA They make a coffin first of a ood span in thickness, very caref"lly joined and daintily painted. This they fill "p with camphor and spices, to keep off corr"ption Jstoppin the joints with pitch and limeD, and then they cover it with a fine cloth. Every day as lon as the body is kept, they set a table before the dead covered with food; and they will have it that the so"l comes and eats and drinksA wherefore they leave the food there as lon as wo"ld be necessary in order that one sho"ld partake. Th"s they do daily. !nd worse stillK 6ometimes those soothsayers shall tell them that 'tis not ood l"ck to carry o"t the corpse by the door, so they have to break a hole in the wall, and to draw it o"t that way when it is taken to the b"rnin.JBTE 0D
!nd these, : ass"re yo", are the practices of all the :dolaters of those co"ntries.
>owever, we will ="it this s"bject, and : will tell yo" of another city which lies towards the north-west at the etremity of the desert.
BTE +.--JThe atives of this co"ntry were called by the Chinese #T'an-hian#, and by the &onols #T'an"# or #T'an-w"#, and with the pl"ral s"ffi #Tan"t#. The kindom of Tan"t, or in Chinese, #6i >ia# (Festern >ia*, or #>o si# (Fest of the 2ellow @iver*, was declared independent in </ by Li Chi Ch'ien, who had the dynastic title or #&iao >ao# of Tai Ts". $The r"lers of Tan"t,$ says Gr. ?"shell, $were scions of the Toba race, who reined over orth China as the Fei Gynasty (!.G. H<0- 118*, as well as in some of the minor dynasties which s"cceeded. Claimin
descent from the ancient Chinese >sia Gynasty of the second millenni"m ?.C., they adopted the title of #Ta >sia# (')reat >sia'*, and the dynasty is enerally called by the Chinese >si >sia, or Festern >sia.$ This is a list of the Tan"t sovereins, with the date of their accession to the throneA Tai Ts" (</*, Tai Ts"n (+/*, Chin Ts"n (+H/*, 2i Ts"n (+7*, >"i Ts"n (+0<*, Ch'"n Ts"n (+<8*, 9en Ts"n (++7*, >"an Ts"n (++7*, >sian Ts"n (+/0*, 6hen Ts"n (+/+H*, >ien Ts"n (+//H*, &o Ch" (+//8*. :n fact, the real fo"nder of the Gynasty was Li 2"an-hao, who con="ered in +H+, the cities of %ancha" and 6"hcha" from the 5ih"r T"rks,
declarin himself independent in +H/, and who adopted in +H0 a special script of which we spoke when mentionin the archway at %i"y"n %wan. >is capital was >ia cha", now in hia, on the 2ellow @iver. Chinhi3 invaded Tan"t three times, in +/0, +/+8, and at last in +//1; the final str"le took place the followin year, when %ancha", Liancha", and 6"hcha" fell into the hands of the &onols. !fter the death of Chinhi3 (+//8*, the last
r"ler of Tan"t, Li >'ien, who s"rrendered the same year to Bkkodai, son of the con="eror, was killed. The dominions of Tan"t in the middle of the ++th cent"ry, accordin to the #6i >ia Chi 6hih Pen &o#, ="oted by Gr. ?"shell, $were bo"nded, accordin to the map, by the 6"n Empire on the so"th and east, by the Liao (%hitan* on the north-east, the Tartars (Tata* on the north, the 5ih"r T"rks (>"i-h"* on the west, and the Tibetans on the so"th-west. The !lashan &o"ntains stretch alon the northern frontier, and the western etends to the 9ade )ate (2"e &en %wan* on the border of the Gesert of )obi.$ 5nder the &onol Gynasty, %an 6"h was the official name of one of the twelve provinces of the Empire, and the pop"lar name was Tan"t.
(Gr. 6. F. ?"shellA #:nscriptions in the 9"chen and !llied 6cripts# and #The >si >sia Gynasty of Tan"t#. 6ee above, p. /.*
$The word Tan"tan applied by the Chinese and by Colonel Prjevalsky to a Tibetan-speakin people aro"nd the %oko-nor has been eplained to me in a variety of ways by native Tan"tans. ! very learned lama from the )serdko monastery, so"th-east of the %oko-nor, told me that Tan"tan, !mdoans, and 6ifan were interchaneable terms, b"t : fear his eoraphical knowlede was a little va"e. The followin eplanation of the term Tan"t is taken from the #>si-tsan-f"#. 'The Tan"tans are descendants of the
#Tan-t"-ch"eeh#. The oriin of this name is as followsA :n early days, the Tan"tans lived in the Central !sian Chin-shan, where they were workers of iron. They made a model of the Chin-shan, which, in shape, resembled an iron helmet. ow, in their lan"ae, $iron helmet$ is #Tan-k"eeh#, hence the name of the co"ntry. To the present day, the Tan"tans of the %oko-nor wear a hat shaped like a pot, hih crowned and narrow, rimmed with red frine sewn on it, so that it looks like an iron helmet, and this is a proof of Jthe acc"racy of the derivationD.' !ltho"h the proof is not very satisfactory, it is as ood as we are often offered by a"thors with reater pretension to learnin.
$:f : remember rihtly, Prjevalsky derives the name from two words meanin 'black tents.'$ (#F. F. @ockhill, China ?r. @. !s. 6oc.#, . pp. /8<-/8.*
$Chinese a"thorities tell "s that the name JTan"tD was oriinally borne by a people livin in the !ltai', and that the word is T"rkish.... The pop"lation of Tan"t was a mit"re of Tibetans, T"rks, 5ih"rs, T"k"h"ns, Chinese, etc.$ (#@ockhill#, #@"br"ck#, p. +1, note.-->. C.*D
#6achi"# is 6>!C>!5, $6and-district,$ an o"tpost of China Proper, at the eastern vere of the worst part of the 6andy Gesert. :t is recorded to
have been fortified in the +st cent"ry as a barrier aainst the >ionn".
JThe name of 6hacha" dates from !.G. 0//, when it was fo"nded by the first emperor of the T'an Gynasty. Iormerly, 6hacha" was one of the Chinese colonies established by the >an, at the epense of the >ionn"; it was called T'"n hoan (?.C. +++*, a name still iven to 6hacha"; the other
colonies were %i"-kaan (6"hcha", ?.C. +/+* and Chan-ye (%ancha", ?.C.+++*. (6ee #?retschneider, &ed. @es.# ::. +<.*
$6ha-chow, the present #T"n-hwan-hien# (a few #li# east of the ancient town*.... :n +</, or abo"t that time, an attempt was made to re-establish the ancient direct way between 6ha-chow and %hotan. Fith this object in view, an eplorin party of ten men was sent from %hotan towards 6ha-chow; this party wandered in the desert over a month, and fo"nd neither dwellins nor roads, b"t past"res and water everywhere. &. Polo omits to mention a remarkable place at 6ha-chow, a sandy hillock (a short distance so"th of this town* known "nder the name of #&in-sha shan#--the 'r"mblin sandhill.' The sand, in rollin down the hill, prod"ces a partic"lar so"nd, similar to that of distant th"nder. :n &. Polo's time (+//*, %h"bilai removed the inhabitants of 6ha-chow to the interior of China; fearin, probably, the aression of the seditio"s princes; and his s"ccessor, in +HH, placed there a arrison of ten tho"sand men.$ (#Palladi"s#, l.c. p. 1.*
$6ha-cha" is one of the best oases of Central !sia. :t is sit"ated at the foot of the an-shan rane, at a heiht of H8 feet above the sea, and occ"pies an area of abo"t / s="are miles, the whole of which is thickly inhabited by Chinese. 6ha-cha" is interestin as the meetin-place of three epeditions started independently from @"ssia, :ndia, and China. 9"st two months before Prjevalsky reached this town, it was visited by Co"nt 63echenyi J!pril, +<8D, and eihteen months afterwards P"ndit !-k, whose report of it arees fairly well with that of o"r traveller, also stayed here. ?oth Prejevalsky and 63echenyi remark on some c"rio"s caves in a valley near 6ha-cha" containin ?"ddhistic clay idols.J+D These caves were in &arco Polo's time the resort of n"mero"s worshippers, and are said to date back to the >an Gynasty.$ (#Prejevalsky's 9o"rneys# ... by E. Gelmar &oran, #Proc. @. ). 6.# :. +<<8, pp. /+8-/+<.*-->. C.D
(#@itter#, ::. /1; #e"mann#, p. 0+0; #Cathay#, /0, /87; #Erdmann#, +11; #Erman#, ::. /08; #&a. !siat.# ::. /+H.*
BTE /.--?y #:dolaters#, Polo here means ?"ddhists, as enerally. Fe do not know whether the ?"ddhism here was a recent introd"ction from Tibet, or a relic of the old ?"ddhism of %hotan and other Central !sian kindoms, b"t most probably it was the former, and the $pec"liar lan"ae$ ascribed to them may have been, as e"mann s"pposes, Tibetan. This lan"ae in modern &onolia answers to the Latin of the &ass ?ook, indeed with a c"rio"s eactness, for in both cases the holy ton"e is not that of the oriinal propaators of the respective reliions, b"t that of the
hierarchy which has ass"med their overnment. :n the Lamaitic convents of China and &anch"ria also the Tibetan only is "sed in worship, ecept at one privileed temple at Pekin. (#%oeppen#, ::. /<<.* The lan"ae intended by Polo may, however, have been a Chinese dialect. (6ee notes + and 7.* The estorians m"st have been tolerably n"mero"s in Tan"t, for it formed a metropolitan province of their Ch"rch.
BTE H.--! practice resemblin this is mentioned by Pallas as eistin amon the ?"ddhist %almaks, a relic of their old 6haman s"perstitions, which the Lamas profess to decry, b"t sometimes take part in. $@ich %almaks select from their flock a ram for dedication, which ets the name of #Tenri Tockho#, '>eaven's @am.' :t m"st be a white one with a yellow head. >e m"st never be shorn or sold, b"t when he ets old, and the owner chooses to dedicate a fresh one, then the old one m"st be sacrificed. This is "s"ally done in a"t"mn, when the sheep are fattest, and the neihbo"rs are called toether to eat the sacrifice. ! fort"nate day is selected, and the ram is sla"htered amid the cries of the sorcerer directed towards the s"nrise, and the dilient sprinklin of milk for the benefit of the 6pirits of the !ir. The flesh is eaten, b"t the skeleton with a part of the fat is b"rnt on a t"rf altar erected on fo"r pillars of an ell and a half hih, and the skin, with the head and feet, is then h"n "p in the way practised by the ?"raets.$ (#6amml"nen#, ::. H70.*
BTE 7.--6everal of the c"stoms of Tan"t mentioned in this chapter are essentially Chinese, and are perhaps introd"ced here beca"se it was on enterin Tan"t that the traveller first came in contact with Chinese pec"liarities. This is tr"e of the manner of formin coffins, and keepin them with the body in the ho"se, servin food before the coffin whilst it is so kept, the b"rnin of paper and papier-mache fi"res of slaves, horses, etc., at the tomb. Chinese settlers were very n"mero"s at 6hacha" and the neihbo"rin %wacha", even in the +th cent"ry. (#@itter#, ::. /+H.* J$%eepin a body "nb"ried for a considerable time is called #khn koan#, 'to conceal or store away a coffin,' or #thin koan#, 'to detain a coffin.' :t is, of co"rse, a matter of necessity in s"ch cases to have the cracks and fiss"res, and especially the seam where the case and the lid
join, hermetically ca"lked. This is done by means of a mit"re of ch"nam and oil. The seams, sometimes even the whole coffin, are pasted over with linen, and finally everythin is varnished black, or, in case of a mandarin of rank, red. :n process of time, the varnishin is repeated as many times as the family think desirable or necessary. !nd in order to protect the coffin still better aainst d"st and moist"re, it is enerally covered with sheets of oiled paper, over which comes a white pall.$ (#Ge )root#, :. +0.*-->. C.D Even as reards the 6o"th of China many of the circ"mstances mentioned here are strictly applicable, as may be seen in
#Goolittle's 6ocial Life of the Chinese#. (6ee, for eample, p. +H1; also #!stley#, :. H-1, or &arsden's ="otations from #G"halde#.* The c"stom of b"rnin the dead has been for several cent"ries dis"sed in China, b"t we shall see hereafter that Polo represents it as eneral in his time. Bn the c"stom of b"rnin ilt paper in the form of old coin, as well as of
paper clothin, paper ho"ses, f"rnit"re, slaves, etc., see also #&edh"rst#, p. /+H, and #%idd#, +88-+8<. o one who has read Pere >"c will foret his l"dicro"s acco"nt of the Lama's charitable distrib"tion of paper horses for the ood of disabled travellers. The man"fact"re of mock money is a lare b"siness in Chinese cities. :n I"cha" there are more than thirty lare establishments where it is kept for sale. (#Goolittle#, 17+.*
JThe Chinese believe that sheets of paper, partly tinned over on one side,are, $accordin to the prevailin conviction, t"rned by the process of fire into real silver c"rrency available in the world of darkness, and sent there thro"h the smoke to the so"l; they are called #"n-tsoa#, 'silver paper.' &ost families prefer to previo"sly fold every sheet in the shape of a hollow inot, a 'silver inot,' #"n-kho# as they call it. This re="ires a reat amo"nt of labo"r and time, b"t increases the val"e of the treas"re immensely.$ (#Ge )root#, :. /1.* $Presentin paper money when payin a visit of condolence is a c"stom firmly established, and accordinly complied with by everybody with reat strictness.... The paper is desined for the e="ipment of the coffin, and, accordinly, always denoted by the term #koan-thao-tsoa#, 'coffin paper.' ?"t as the receptacle of the dead is, of co"rse, not spacio"s eno"h to hold the whole mass offered by so many friends, it is re"larly b"rned by lots by the side of the corpse, the ashes bein caref"lly collected to be afterwards wrapped in paper and placed in the coffin, or at the side of the coffin, in the tomb.$ (#Ge )root#, :. H+-H/.*-->. C.D There can be little do"bt that these latter c"stoms are symbols of the ancient sacrifices of h"man beins and val"able property on s"ch occasions; so &anetho states that the Eyptians in days of yore "sed h"man sacrifices, b"t a certain %in !mosis abolished them and s"bstit"ted imaes of wa. Even when the present &anch" Gynasty first occ"pied the throne of China, they still retained the practice of h"man sacrifice. !t the death of %anhi's mother, however, in +8+<, when fo"r yo"n irls offered themselves for sacrifice on the tomb of their mistress, the emperor wo"ld not allow it, and prohibited for the f"t"re the sacrifice of life or the destr"ction of val"ables on s"ch occasions. (#Ge"ines, oy.# :. H7.*
BTE 1.--Even amon the Tibetans and &onols b"rnin is only one of the modes of disposin of the dead. $They sometimes b"ry their deadA often they leave them eposed in their coffins, or cover them with stones, payin reard to the sin "nder which the deceased was born, his ae, the day and ho"r of his death, which determine the mode in which he is to be interred (or otherwise disposed of*. Ior this p"rpose they cons"lt some books which are eplained to them by the Lamas.$ (#Timk.# ::. H+/.* The etraordinary and comple abs"rdities of the books in ="estion are iven in detail by Pallas, and c"rio"sly ill"strate the pararaph in the tet. (6ee #6amml"nen#, ::. /17 se==.* J$The first seven days, incl"din that on which the demise has taken place, are enerally deemed to be l"cky for the b"rial, especially the odd ones. ?"t when they have elapsed, it becomes re="isite to apply to a day-professor.... The pop"lar almanac which chiefly wields sway in !moy and the s"rro"ndin co"ntry, re"larly stimatises a certain n"mber of days as #tin-sn jit#A 'days of
red"plication of death,' beca"se encoffinin or b"ryin a dead person on s"ch a day will entail another loss in the family shortly afterwards.$ (#Ge )root#, :. +H, -+.*-->. C.D
BTE 0.--The Chinese have also, accordin to G"halde, a c"stom of makin a new openin in the wall of a ho"se by which to carry o"t the dead; and in
their prisons a special hole in the wall is provided for this office. Thissame c"stom eists amon the Es="ima", as well as, accordin to 6onnerat, in 6o"thern :ndia, and it "sed to eist in certain parts both of >olland and of Central :taly. :n the $clean villae of ?roek,$ near !msterdam, those special doors may still be seen. !nd in certain towns of 5mbria, s"ch as Per"ia, !ssisi, and )"bbio, this openin was common, elevated some feet above the ro"nd, and known as the $Goor of the Gead.$
: find in a list, printed by Liebrecht, of pop"lar Irench s"perstitions, amo"ntin to 78 in n"mber, condemned by &a"pas d" To"r, ?ishop of Evre" in +007, the followinA $Fhen a woman lies in of a dead child, it m"st not be taken o"t by the door of the chamber b"t by the window, for if it were taken o"t by the door the woman wo"ld never lie in of any b"t dead children.$ The 6amoyedes have the s"perstition mentioned in the tet, and act eactly as Polo describes.
J$The body Jof the "een of ?ali, +8th cent"ryD was drawn o"t of a lare apert"re made in the wall to the riht hand side of the door, in the abs"rd opinion of #cheatin the devil#, whom these islanders believe to lie in wait in the ordinary passae.$ (#9ohn Crawf"rd, >ist. of the :ndian
!rchipelao#, ::. p. /71.*-->. C.D
!nd the @ev. &r. 9aeschke writes to me from Laha"l, in ?ritish TibetA $B"r Lama (from Central Tibet* tells "s that the owner of a ho"se and the members of his family when they die are carried thro"h the ho"se-door; b"t if another person dies in the ho"se his body is removed by some other apert"re, s"ch as a window, or the smokehole in the roof, or a hole in the wall d" epressly for the p"rpose. Br a wooden frame is made, fittin into the doorway, and the body is then carried thro"h; it bein considered that by this contrivance the evil conse="ences are escaped that miht ens"e, were it carried thro"h the ordinary, and, so to say,
#"ndis"ised# ho"se-doorK >ere, in Laha"l and the neihbo"rin co"ntries, we have not heard of s"ch a c"stom.$
(#G"halde#, ="oted by &arsden; #6emedo#, p. +81; #&r. 6ala# in #. and .#, /nd 6. :. H//; #L"bbock#, p. 1; #6onnerat# :. <0; #Liebrecht's )ervasi"s of Tilb"ry#, >anover, +<10, p. //7; #&a. !siat.# ::. H.*
J+D &. ?onin visited in +< these caves which he calls $)rottoes of Tho"sand ?"ddhas$ (#Tsien Io t"n#*. (#La )eoraphie#, +1th &arch, ++, p. +8+.* >e fo"nd a stele dated +H7<, bearin a ?"ddhist prayer
in si different scripts like the inscription at %i" 2"n %wan. (#@ev.
C>!PTE@ L:.
BI T>E P@B:CE BI C!&5L.
Cam"l is a province which in former days was a kindom. :t contains n"mero"s towns and villaes, b"t the chief city bears the name of C!&5L. The province lies between the two deserts; for on the one side is the )reat Gesert of Lop, and on the other side is a small desert of three days' jo"rney in etent.JBTE +D The people are all :dolaters, and have a pec"liar lan"ae. They live by the fr"its of the earth, which they have in plenty, and dispose of to travellers. They are a people who take thins very easily, for they mind nothin b"t playin and sinin, and dancin
and enjoyin themselves.JBTE /D
!nd it is the tr"th that if a foreiner comes to the ho"se of one of these people to lode, the host is delihted, and desires his wife to p"t herself entirely at the "est's disposal, whilst he himself ets o"t of the way, and comes back no more "ntil the straner shall have taken his depart"re. The "est may stay and enjoy the wife's society as lon as he lists, whilst the h"sband has no shame in the matter, b"t indeed considers it an hono"r. !nd all the men of this province are made wittols of by their wives in this way.JBTE HD The women themselves are fair and wanton.
ow it came to pass d"rin the rein of &!)5 %!!, that as lord of thisprovince he came to hear of this c"stom, and he sent forth an order commandin them "nder rievo"s penalties to do so no more Jb"t to provide p"blic hostelries for travellersD. !nd when they heard this order they were m"ch veed thereat. JIor abo"t three years' space they carried it o"t. ?"t then they fo"nd that their lands were no loner fr"itf"l, and that many mishaps befell them.D 6o they collected toether and prepared a rand present which they sent to their Lord, prayin him racio"sly to let them retain the c"stom which they had inherited from their ancestors; for it was by reason of this "sae that their ods bestowed "pon them all the ood thins that they possessed, and witho"t it they saw not how they
co"ld contin"e to eist.JBTE 7D Fhen the Prince had heard their petitionhis reply was $6ince ye m"st needs keep yo"r shame, keep it then,$ and so he left them at liberty to maintain their na"hty c"stom. !nd they always have kept it "p, and do so still.
ow let "s ="it Cam"l, and : will tell yo" of another province which lies between north-west and north, and belons to the )reat %aan.
BTE +.--%am"l (or %om"l* does not fall into the reat line of travel
towards Cathay which &arco is followin. >is notice of it, and of the net province, forms a diression like that which he has already made to 6amarkand. :t appears very do"btf"l if &arco himself had visited it; his father and "ncle may have done so on their first jo"rney, as one of the chief ro"tes to orthern China from Festern !sia lies thro"h this city, and has done so for many cent"ries. This was the ro"te described by
Peolotti as that of the :talian traders in the cent"ry followin Polo; itwas that followed by &arinolli, by the envoys of 6hah @"kh at a later date, and at a m"ch later by ?enedict )oes. The people were in Polo's time apparently ?"ddhist, as the 5ih"rs inhabitin this reion had been from an old dateA in 6hah @"kh's time (+7/* we find a mos="e and a reat ?"ddhist Temple cheek by jowl; whilst @am"sio's friend >ajji &ahomed (circa +11* speaks of %am"l as the first &ahomedan city met with in travellin from China.
%am"l stands on an oasis caref"lly c"ltivated by aid of reservoirs for irriation, and is noted in China for its rice and for some of its fr"its, especially melons and rapes. :t is still a place of some conse="ence, standin near the bif"rcation of two reat roads from China, one passin north and the other so"th of the Thian 6han, and it was the site of the Chinese Commissariat depots for the arrisons to the westward. :t was lost to the Chinese in +<08.
%am"l appears to have been the see of a estorian bishop. ! ?ishop of %am"l is mentioned as present at the ina""ration of the Catholicos Genha in +/00. (#@"ssians in Cent. !sia#, +/; #@itter#, ::. H18 se==.; #Cathay, passim#; #!ssemani#, ::. 711-710.*
J#%am"l# is the T"rkish name of the province called by the &onols #%hamil#, by the Chinese #>ami#; the latter name is fo"nd for the first time in the #2"en 6hi#, b"t it is first mentioned in Chinese history in the +st cent"ry of o"r Era "nder the name of #:-w"-l"# or #:-w"# (#?retschneider, &ed. @es.# ::. p. /*; after the death of Chinhi3, it beloned to his son Chaatai. Irom the )reat Fall, at the Pass of %ia 2"e, to >ami there is a distance of +78 #li#. (#C. :mba"lt->"art. Le Pays de >ami o" %hamil# ... d'apres les a"te"rs chinois, #?"l. de )eo. hist. et desc.#, Paris, +</, pp. +/+-+1.* The Chinese eneral Chan 2ao was in +<88 at >ami, which had s"bmitted in +<08 to the !thalik )ha3i, and made it the basis of his operations aainst the small towns of Chihtam and Pidjam, and 2ak"b %han himself stationed at T"rfan. The :mperial Chinese
!ent in this reion bears the title of #%'" l"n Pan 6he Ta Ch'en# and resides at %'"r"n (5ra*; of lesser rank are the aents (#Pan 6he Ta Ch'en#* of %ashar, %harashar, %"che, !ks", %hotan, and >ami. (6ee a description of >ami by Colonel &. 6. ?ell, #Proc. @. ). 6.# ::. +<, p. /+H.*-->. C.D
BTE /.--Epressed almost in the same words is the character attrib"ted by a Chinese writer to the people of %"che in the same reion. (#Chin. @epos.# :. +/0.* :n fact, the character seems to be enerally applicable
to the people of East T"rkestan, b"t sorely kept down by the riid :slam that is now enforced. (6ee #6haw, passim#, and especially the &ahrambashi's lamentations over the jolly days that were no more, pp. H+, H80.*
BTE H.--Pa"thier's tet has $#sont si# honni #de le"r moliers comme vo"s
ave3 o"y#.$ >ere the Cr"sca has $#sono# bo33i #delle loro molie#,$ andthe Lat. )eo. $#s"nt# be33i #de s"is "orib"s#.$ The Cr"sca ocab. has inserted #bo33o# with the meanin we have iven, on the strenth of this passae. :t occ"rs also in Gante (#Paradiso#, :. +H8*, in the eneral sense of #disraced#.
The shamef"l c"stom here spoken of is ascribed by Polo also to a province of Eastern Tibet, and by pop"lar report in modern times to the >a3aras of the >ind"-%"sh, a people of &onolian blood, as well as to certain nomad tribes of Persia, to say nothin of the like acc"sation aainst o"r own ancestors which has been drawn from Laonic"s Chalcondylas. The old !rab traveller :bn &"halhal (+th cent"ry* also relates the same of the >a3lakh (probably #%harlikh#* T"rksA $G"cis alic"j"s "or vel filia vel soror, =""m mercator"m amen in terram venit, eos adit, eor"m="e l"strat faciem. "or"m si="is ear"m afficit admiratione h"nc dom"m s"am d"cit, e"m="e ap"d se hospitio ecipit, ei="e benine facit. !t="e marito s"o et filio fratri="e rer"m necessariar"m c"ram demandat; ne="e d"m hospes ap"d eam habitat, nisi necessari"m est, marit"s eam adit.$ ! like c"stom prevails amon the Ch"kchis and %oryaks in the vicinity of %amtchatka. (#Elphinstone's Ca"b"l; Food#, p. /+; #?"rnes#, who discredits, ::. +1H, :::. +1; #Laon. Chalcond.# +01, pp. 7<-7; #%"rd de 6chloe3er#, p. +H;
#Erman#, ::. 1H.*
J$:t is remarkable that the Chinese a"thor, #>"n >ao#, who lived a cent"ry before &. Polo, makes mention in his memoirs nearly in the same words of this c"stom of the 5ih"rs, with whom he became ac="ainted d"rin his captivity in the kindom of the #%in#. !ccordin to the chronicle of the Tan"t kindom of 6i-hia, >ami was the n"rsery of ?"ddhism in 6i-hia, and provided this kindom with ?"ddhist books and monks.$ (#Palladi"s#, l.c. p. 0.*-->. C.D
BTE 7.--6o the 9ewish rabble to 9eremiahA $6ince we left off to b"rn incense to the "een of >eaven, and to po"r o"t drink-offerins to her, we have wanted all thins, and have been cons"med by the sword and by famine.$ (#9erem.# liv. +<.*
C>!PTE@ L::.
Chinintalas is also a province at the vere of the Gesert, and lyin between north-west and north. :t has an etent of siteen days' jo"rney, and belons to the )reat %aan, and contains n"mero"s towns and villaes. There are three different races of people in it--:dolaters, 6aracens, and some estorian Christians.JBTE +D !t the northern etremity of this province there is a mo"ntain in which are ecellent veins of steel and ondani="e.JBTE /D !nd yo" m"st know that in the same mo"ntain there is a vein of the s"bstance from which 6alamander is made.JBTE HD Ior the real tr"th is that the 6alamander is no beast, as they allee in o"r part of the world, b"t is a s"bstance fo"nd in the earth; and : will tell yo" abo"t it.
Everybody m"st be aware that it can be no animal's nat"re to live in fire, seein that every animal is composed of all the fo"r elements.JBTE 7D ow :, &arco Polo, had a T"rkish ac="aintance of the name of M"rficar, and he was a very clever fellow. !nd this T"rk related to &esser &arco Polo how he had lived three years in that reion on behalf of the )reat %aan, in
order to proc"re those 6alamanders for him.JBTE 1D >e said that the way they ot them was by diin in that mo"ntain till they fo"nd a certain vein. The s"bstance of this vein was then taken and cr"shed, and when so treated it divides as it were into fibres of wool, which they set forth to dry. Fhen dry, these fibres were po"nded in a reat copper mortar, and then washed, so as to remove all the earth and to leave only the fibres like fibres of wool. These were then sp"n, and made into napkins. Fhen first made these napkins are not very white, b"t by p"ttin them into the fire for a while they come o"t as white as snow. !nd so aain whenever they become dirty they are bleached by bein p"t in the fire.
ow this, and no"ht else, is the tr"th abo"t the 6alamander, and the people of the co"ntry all say the same. !ny other acco"nt of the matter is fab"lo"s nonsense. !nd : may add that they have at @ome a napkin of this st"ff, which the )rand %aan sent to the Pope to make a wrapper for the >oly 6"dari"m of 9es"s Christ.JBTE 0D
Fe will now ="it this s"bject, and : will proceed with my acco"nt of the co"ntries lyin in the direction between north-east and east.
BTE +.--The identification of this province is a diffic"lty, beca"se the
eoraphical definition is va"e, and the name assined to it has not been traced in other a"thors. :t is said to lie #between north-west and north#, whilst %am"l was said to lie #towards the north-west#. The acco"nt of both provinces forms a diression, as is clear from the last words of the present chapter, where the traveller ret"rns to take "p his re"lar ro"te $in the direction between north-east and east.$ The point from which he diresses, and to which he reverts, is 6hacha", and 'tis pres"mably from 6hacha" that he assins bearins to the two provinces formin the s"bject of the diression. >ence, as %am"l lies #vers maistre#, i.e. north-west,
and Chinintalas #entre maistre et tramontaine#, i.e. nor'-nor'-west, Chinintalas can scarcely lie d"e west of %am"l, as &. Pa"thier wo"ld place it, in identifyin it with an obsc"re place called #6aiyintala#, in the territory of 5r"mtsi. &oreover, the province is said to belon to the )reat %aan. ow, #5r"mtsi# or ?ishbalik seems to have beloned, not to the )reat %aan, b"t to the empire of Chaatai, or possibly at this time to
%aid". @ashid"ddin, speakin of the frontier between the %aan and %aid",saysA--$Irom point to point are posted bodies of troops "nder the orders of princes of the blood or other enerals, and they often come to blows with the troops of %aid". Iive of these are cantoned on the vere of the Gesert; a sith in Tan"t, near Chaan-or (Fhite Lake*; a seventh in the vicinity of %arakhoja, a city of the 5ih"rs, which lies between the two 6tates, and maintains ne"trality.$
%arakhoja, this ne"tral town, is near T"rfan, to the so"th-east of 5r"mtsi, which th"s wo"ld lie #witho"t# the %aan's bo"ndary; %am"l and the co"ntry north-east of it wo"ld lie within it. This co"ntry, to the north and north-east of %am"l, has remained till ="ite recently "neplored by any modern traveller, "nless we p"t faith in &r. !tkinson's somewhat ha3y narrative. ?"t it is here that : wo"ld seek for Chinintalas.
6everal possible eplanations of this name have s"ested themselves or been s"ested to me. : will mention two.
+. %laproth states that the &onols applied to Tibet the name of #?aron-tala#, sinifyin the $@iht 6ide,$ i.e. the so"th-west or so"th ="arter, whilst &onolia was called #G3oehn# (or #G3e"n#* #Tala#, i.e. the $Left,$ or north-east side. :t is possible that #Chiin-talas# miht represent #G3e"n Tala# in some like application. The etymoloy of
#G3"naria#, a name which in modern times covers the territory of which we are speakin, is similar.
/. Professor ambery thinks that it is probably #Chinin Tala#, $The ast Plain.$ ?"t nothin can be absol"tely satisfactory in s"ch a case ecept historical evidence of the application of the name.
: have left the identity of this name "ndecided, tho"h pointin to the eneral position of the reion so-called by &arco, as indicated by the vicinity of the Tann"-Bla &o"ntains (p. /+1*. ! passae in the 9o"rney of the Tao"ist Goctor, Chanch"n, as translated by Gr. ?retschneider (#Chinese @ecorder and &iss. 9o"rn.#, 6hanhai, 6ept.-Bct., +<87, p. /1<*, s"ests to me the stron probability that it may be the #%em-kem-j"t# of @ashid"ddin, called by the Chinese teacher #%ien-kien#-cha".
@ashid"ddin co"ples the territory of the %irhi3 with %emkemj"t, b"t defines the co"ntry embracin both with some eactnessA $Bn one side (so"th-eastN*, it bordered on the &onol co"ntry; on a second (north-eastN*, it was bo"nded by the 6elena; on a third (north*, by the 'reat river called !nara, which flows on the confines of :bir-6ibir'
(i.e. of 6iberia*; on a fo"rth side by the territory of the aimans. This reat co"ntry contained #many towns and villaes#, as well as many nomad inhabitants.$ Gr. ?retschneider's Chinese Traveller speaks of it as a co"ntry where #ood iron was fo"nd#, where (rey* s="irrels abo"nded, and wheat was c"ltivated. Bther notices ="oted by him show that it lay to the so"th-east of the %irhi3 co"ntry, and had its name from the #%ien# or
#%en# @. (i.e. the 5pper 2enisei*.
The name (#%ienkien#*, the eneral direction, the eistence of ood iron ($steel and ondani="e$*, the many towns and villaes in a position where we sho"ld little look for s"ch an indication, all point to the identity of this reion with the Chinintalas of o"r tet. The only alteration called for in the :tinerary &ap (o. :.* wo"ld be to spell the name #>inkin#, or
#)hinhin# (as it #is# in the )eoraphic Tet*, and to shift it a very little f"rther to the north.
(6ee #Chinin# in #%ovalevski's &onol Gict.#, o. /+H7; and for #?aron-tala#, etc., see #Gella Penna, ?reve oti3ia del @eno del Thibet#, with %laproth's notes, p. 0; #G'!ve3ac#, p. 10<; #@elation# prefied to G'!nville's !tlas, p. ++; #!lphabet"m Tibetan"m#, 717; and #%ircher, China :ll"strata#, p. 01.*
6ince the first edition was p"blished, &r. ey Elias has traversed the reion in ="estion from east to west; and : learn from him that at %obdo he fo"nd the most "s"al name for that town amon &onols, %almaks, and @"ssians to be 6!%:-hoto. >e had not then tho"ht of connectin this name with Chinhin-talas, and has therefore no information as to its oriin or the etent of its application. ?"t he remarks that Polo's bearin of between north and north-west, if "nderstood to be #from %am"l#, wo"ld point eactly to %obdo. >e also calls attention to the Lake
#6ankin#-dalai, to the north-east of 5lias"t'ai, of which !tkinson ives a sketch. The rec"rrence of this name over so wide a tract may have somethin to do with the Chinhin-talas of Polo. ?"t we m"st still wait for f"rther liht.J+D
J$6"pposin that &. Polo mentions this place on his way from 6ha-chow to 6"-chow, it is nat"ral to think that it is #Chi-kin-talas#, i.e. 'Chi-kin plain' or valley; Chi-kin was the name of a lake, called so even now, and of a defile, which received its name from the lake. The latter is on the way from %ia-y"e kwan to !nsi chow.$ (#Palladi"s#, l.c. p. 8.* $#Chikin#, or more correctly #Chiin#, is a &onol word meanin 'ear.'$ (:bid.* Palladi"s (p. <* addsA $The Chinese acco"nts of Chi-kin are not in contradiction to the statements iven by &. Polo reardin the same s"bject; b"t when the distances are taken into consideration, a serio"s diffic"lty arises; Chi-kin is two h"ndred and fifty or sity #li# distant from 6"-chow, whilst, accordin to &. Polo's statement, ten days are necessary to cross this distance. Bne of the three followin eplanations of this discrepancy m"st be admittedA either Chinintalas is not Chi-kin, or the traveller's memory failed, or, lastly, an error crept into the
n"mber of days' jo"rney. The two last s"ppositions : consider the most probable; the more so that similar diffic"lties occ"r several times in &arco Polo's narrative.$ (L.c. p. <.*-->. C.D
BTE /.--J#Bndani="e#.--Fe have already referred to this word, #%erman#, p. . #Cobinan#, p. +/7. La C"rne de 6ainte-Palaye (#Gict.#*, I. )odefroy
(#Gict.#*, G" Cane (#)loss.#*, all ive to #andain# the meanin of #enjambee#, from the Latin #andare#. )odefroy, #s.v. andaine#, calls it #sorte d'acier o" de fer#, and ="otes besides &arco PoloA
$:. espiel, o" ot fer d'andaine, Gont la lamele n'iert pas tro"ble.$
(>"on de &ery, #Le Tornoiement de l'!ntechrist#, p. H, Tarbe.*
There is a forest in the department of Brne, arrondissement of Gomfront, which beloned to the Crown before +00, and is now 6tate property, called Ioret d'!ndaine; it is sit"ated near some bed of iron. :s this the oriin of the nameN-->. C.D
BTE H.--The !ltai, or one of its ramifications, is probably the mo"ntain of the tet, b"t so little is known of this part of the Chinese territory that we can learn scarcely anythin of its mineral prod"cts. 6till &artini does mention that asbestos is fo"nd $in the Tartar co"ntry of #Tan"#,$ which probably is the #Tann" Bola# branch of the !ltai to the so"th of the 5pper 2enisei, and in the very reion we have indicated as Chinintalas. &r. Elias tells me he in="ired for asbestos by its Chinese name at 5lias"t'ai, b"t witho"t s"ccess.
BTE 7.--
$Geli elementi ="attro principali, Che son la Terra, e l'!c="a, e l'!ria, e'l Ioco,
Composti sono li "niversi !nimali, Piliando di ciasc"no assai o poco.$
(#Gati#, #La 6fera#, p. .*
#M"rficar# in the net sentence is a &ahomedan name, #M"'lfikar#, the title of Jthe ede ofD !li's sword.
BTE 1.-->ere the ). Tet addsA $#Et je meisme le vi#,$ intimatin, : conceive, his havin himself seen specimens of the asbestos--not to his havin been at the place.
BTE 0.--The story of the 6alamander passin "nh"rt thro"h fire is at least as old as !ristotle. ?"t : cannot tell when the fable arose that asbestos was a s"bstance derived from the animal. This belief, however, was eneral in the &iddle !es, both in !sia and E"rope. $The fable of the 6alamander,$ says 6ir Thomas ?rowne, $hath been m"ch promoted by stories
of incomb"stible napkins and tet"res which end"re the fire, whose materials are called by the name of 6alamander's wool, which many, too literally apprehendin, conceive some investin part or inte"ment of the 6alamander.... or is this 6alamander's wool des"med from any animal, b"t a mineral s"bstance, metaphorically so called for this received opinion.$
Those who knew that the 6alamander was a li3ard-like animal were indeedperpleed as to its woolly coat. Th"s the Cardinal de itry is fain to say the creat"re $#profert e c"te# ="asi ="amdam lanam #de ="a 3onae contetae comb"ri non poss"nt ine.#$ ! ?estiary, p"blished by Cahier and &artin, says of itA $#Ge l"i naist "ne cose ="i n'est ne soie ne lin ne laine.#$ 9erome Cardan looked in vain, he says, for hair on the 6alamanderK !lbert"s &an"s calls the incomb"stible fibre #pl"ma 6alamandri#; and accordinly ?old ?a"d"in de 6ebo"rc finds the 6alamander in the Terrestrial Paradise #a kind of bird covered with the whitest pl"mae#; of this he takes some, which he ets woven into a cloth; this he presents to the Pope, and the Pontiff applies it to the p"rpose mentioned in the tet, vi3. to cover the holy napkin of 6t. eronica.
)ervase of Tilb"ry writesA $: saw, when lately at @ome, a broad strap of 6alamander skin, like a irdle for the loins, which had been bro"ht thither by Cardinal Peter of Cap"a. Fhen it had become somewhat soiled by "se, : myself saw it cleaned perfectly, and witho"t receivin harm, by bein p"t in the fire.$
:n Persian the creat"re is called #6amandar, 6amandal#, etc., and some derive the word from #6am#, $fire,$ and #!ndar#, $within.$ Go"btless it is a corr"ption of the )reek J)reekA 6alamandraD, whatever be the oriin of that. ?ak"i says the animal is fo"nd at )h"r, near >erat, and is #like a mo"se#. !nother a"thor, ="oted by G'>erbelot, says it is #like a marten#.
J6ir T. Go"las Iorsyth, in his #:ntrod"ctory @emarks# to Prjevalsky's #Travels to Lob-nor# (p. /*, at !ks" saysA $The asbestos mentioned by &arco Polo as a "tili3ed prod"ct of this reion is not even so known in this co"ntry.$-->. C.D
O :nterestin details reardin the fabrication of cloth and paper from amianth or asbestos are contained in a report presented to the Irench :nstit"te by &. 6ae (#&em. !c. 6ciences#, /e 6em., +<0, p. +/*, of which lare etracts are iven in the #Giction. eneral des Tiss"s#, par &. ?e3on, /e ed. vol. ii. Lyon, +<1, p. 1. >e mentions that a #6"dari"m# of this material is still shown at the atican; we hope it is the cover which %"blai sent.
JThis hope is not to be reali3ed. &r. G"chesne, of the :nstit"t de Irance, writes to me from @ome, from information derived from the keepers of the atican &"se"m, that there is no s"dari"m from the )reat %han, that indeed part of a s"dari"m made of asbestos is shown ("nder lass* in this &"se"m, abo"t / inches lon, b"t it is ancient, and was fo"nd in a Paan
tomb of the !ppian Fay.-->. C.D
&. 6ae ehibited incomb"stible paper made from this material, and had himself seen a small f"rnace of Chinese oriin made from it. &adame Perpente, an :talian lady, who eperimented m"ch with asbestos, fo"nd that from a cr"de mass of that s"bstance threads co"ld be elicited which were
ten times the lenth of the mass itself, and were indeed sometimes severalmetres in lenth, the fibres seemin to be involved, like silk in a cocoon. >er process of preparation was m"ch like that described by &arco. 6he s"cceeded in cardin and reelin the material, made loves and the like, as well as paper, from it, and sent to the :nstit"te a work printed on s"ch paper.
The @ev. !. Filliamson mentions asbestos as fo"nd in 6hant"n. The natives "se it for makin stoves, cr"cibles, and so forth.
(#6ir T. ?rowne#, :. /H; #?onars#, :. ++7; #Cahier et &artin#, :::. /8+; #Cardan, de @er. arietate#, ::. HH; #!lb. &a. Bpera#, +11+, ::. //8, /HH; #Ir. &ichel, @echerches#, etc., ::. +; #)erv. of Tilb"ry#, p. +H; #. et E.# ::. 7H; #G. des Tiss"s#, ::. +-+/; #9. . China ?ranch @.
!. 6.#, Gecember, +<08, p. 8.* J#?erer de ivrey, Traditions teratoloi="es#, 718-71<, 70-70H.-->. C.D
J+D The late &r. !tkinson has been twice all"ded to in this note. : take the opport"nity of sayin that &r. ey Elias, a most competent j"de, who has travelled across the reion in ="estion whilst admittin, as
every one m"st, !tkinson's va"eness and sometimes very careless

BI T>E P@B:CE BI 65%C>5@.
Bn leavin the province of which : spoke before,JBTE +D yo" ride ten days
between north-east and east, and in all that way yo" find no h"mandwellin, or net to none, so that there is nothin for o"r book to speak of.
!t the end of those ten days yo" come to another province called 65%C>5@, in which there are n"mero"s towns and villaes. The chief city is called 65%C>5.JBTE /D The people are partly Christians and partly :dolaters, and all are s"bject to the )reat %aan.
The reat )eneral Province to which all these three provinces belon is called T!)5T.
Bver all the mo"ntains of this province rh"barb is fo"nd in reat ab"ndance, and thither merchants come to b"y it, and carry it thence all over the world.JBTE HD JTravellers, however, dare not visit those
mo"ntains with any cattle b"t those of the co"ntry, for a certain plantrows there which is so poisono"s that cattle which eat it lose their hoofs. The cattle of the co"ntry know it and eschew it.JBTE 7DD The people live by aric"lt"re, and have not m"ch trade. JThey are of a brown compleion. The whole of the province is healthy.D
BTE +.--@eferrin apparently to 6hacha"; see ote + and the closin words of last chapter.
BTE /.--There is no do"bt that the province and city are those of 65>C>!5, b"t there is a reat variety in the readins, and several tets
have a marked difference between the name of the province and that of the city, whilst others ive them as the same. : have adopted those to which the res"ltants of the readins of the best tets seem to point, vi3.
#6"cci"r# and #6"cci"#, tho"h with considerable do"bt whether they sho"ld not be identical. Pa"thier declares that #6"ct"r#, which is the readin of his favo"rite &6., is the eact pron"nciation, after the v"lar &onol manner, of #6"h-cha"-l"#, the #L"# or circ"it of 6"hcha"; whilst e"mann says that the orthern Chinese constantly add an e"phonic particle #or# to the end of words. : confess to little faith in s"ch refinements, when no evidence is prod"ced.
J6"hcha" had been devastated and its inhabitants massacred by Chinhi3 %han in +//0.-->. C.D
6"hcha" is called by @ashid"ddin, and by 6hah @"kh's ambassadors, #6"kch"#, in eact correspondence with the readin we have adopted for the name of the city, whilst the @"ssian Envoy ?oikoff, in the +8th cent"ry, calls it $#6"ktsey#, where the rh"barb rows$; and !nthony 9enkinson, in >akl"yt, by a sliht metathesis, #6owchick#. 6"hcha" lies j"st within the etreme north-west anle of the )reat Fall. :t was at 6"hcha" that ?enedict )oes was detained, waitin for leave to o on to Pekin, eihteen weary months, and there he died j"st as aid reached him.
BTE H.--The real rh"barb J#@he"m palmat"m#D rows wild, on very hih mo"ntains. The central line of its distrib"tion appears to be the hih rane dividin the head waters of the >wan->o, 2al"n, and &in-%ian. The chief markets are 6ininf" (see ch. lvii.*, and %wan-%ian in 63echwan. :n the latter province an inferior kind is rown in fields, b"t the en"ine rh"barb defies c"ltivation. (6ee #@ichthofen#, Letters, o. ::. p. 0.* Till recently it was almost all eported by %iakhta and @"ssia, b"t some now comes via >anka" and 6hanhai.
J$6ee, on the preparation of the root in China, )emelli-Careri. (#Ch"rchill's Collect.#, ?k. :::. ch. v. H01.* :t is said that when Chinhi3 %han was pillain Tan"t, the only thins his minister, 2eh-l"e Ch'"-ts'ai, wo"ld take as his share of the booty were a few Chinese books and a s"pply of rh"barb, with which he saved the lives of a reat n"mber
of &onols, when, a short time after, an epidemic broke o"t in the army.$(#G'Bhsson#, :. H8/.--#@ockhill, @"br"ck#, p. +H, note.*
$Fith respect to rh"barb ... the #6"chowchi# also makes the remark, that the best rh"barb, with olden flowers in the breakin, is athered in this province (district of #6han-tan#*, and that it is e="ally beneficial to men and beasts, preservin them from the pernicio"s effects of the heat.$ (#Palladi"s#, l.c. p. .*-->. C.D
BTE 7.--#Erba# is the title applied to the poisono"s rowth, which may be either $plant$ or $rass.$ :t is not "nlikely that it was a plant akin to the #!ndromeda ovalifolia#, the tradition of the poisono"s character of which prevails everywhere alon the >imalaya from epal to the :nd"s.
:t is notorio"s for poisonin sheep and oats at 6imla and other hill sanitaria; and Gr. Clehorn notes the same circ"mstance reardin it that Polo heard of the plant in Tan"t, vi3. that its effects on flocks imported from the plains are hihly inj"rio"s, whilst those of the hills do not appear to s"ffer, probably beca"se they sh"n the yo"n leaves, which alone are deleterio"s. &r. &arsh attests the like fact reardin the
#%almia an"stifolia# of ew Enland, a plant of the same order (#Ericaceae#*. 6heep bred where it abo"nds almost always avoid browsin on its leaves, whilst those bro"ht from districts where it is "nknown feed "pon it and are poisoned.
Iirishta, ="otin from the #Mafar-amah#, saysA $Bn the road from %ashmir towards Tibet there is a plain on which no other veetable rows b"t a poisono"s rass that destroys all the cattle that taste of it, and therefore no horsemen vent"re to travel that ro"te.$ !nd !bbe Gesodins, writin from E. Tibet, mentions that sheep and oats are poisoned by rhododendron leaves. (#Gr. >"h Clehorn# in #9. !ric"lt"ral and >ortic. 6ociety of :ndia#, :. part 7; #&arsh's &an and at"re#, p. 7; #?ris Iirishta#, :. 77; #?"l. de la 6oc. de )eo.# +<8H, :. HHH.*
J$This poisono"s plant seems to be the #6tipa inebrians# described by the late Gr. >ance in the #9o"rnal of ?ot.# +<80, p. /++, from specimens sent to me by ?elian &issionaries from the !la 6han &o"ntains, west of the 2ellow @iver.$ (#?retschneider, >ist. of ?ot. Gisc.# :. p. 1.*
$&. Polo notices that the cattle not indieno"s to the province lose their hoofs in the 6"h-cha" &o"ntains; b"t that is probably not on acco"nt of some poisono"s rass, b"t in conse="ence of the stony ro"nd.$ (#Palladi"s#, l.c. p. .*-->. C.D
BI T>E C:T2 BI C!&P:C>5.
Campich" is also a city of Tan"t, and a very reat and noble one. :ndeed it is the capital and place of overnment of the

Documents

Marco Polo vol 1 & 2.odt